St Landrew

That's OK, I didn't think you were anyway. Incidentally, there was a time in Cyril Smith's political life when he was a member of the Labour Party, so he certainly had a mind and opinion of his own. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyril_Smith

NO..!

Of course. It's sad for those in Christchurch and surrounding districts of Canterbury. Luckily, no one was killed, although there were a few injuries. I see you've mentioned Kaikoura, Thorpe. Any special reason why you picked on that one..? My mum and dad in-law lived there for many years. Nice little coastal town and I've drunk in The Blue bar a few times, eaten lovely crayfish there too, and done the obvious Sperm Whale watching. Notable for black [volcanic..?] sand on the beach, as I remember. Haven't been back since 1999.

...err, actually Christchurch, New Zealand. Sorry, the headline was pure Goon Show. Funny things, earthquakes. I remember spending my first night in my new country, in Winters Road, Papanui, Christchurch, and just getting off to sleep. I'd only been in NZ, probably 12-15 hours, when I was awoken by the bed shaking violently. In GB, you think the girlfriend/wife has just got up/come back after a pee/checked something/[and for you families out there]dealt with the ankle biter, and your luck is either in/out/nowhere. But I was all alone. I knelt up in bed, and looked out of the window. All was completely black, except for the stars. Next morning, I got up, and over the breakfast table mentioned the shaking bed. I remember one relly [family member] said, awl yeeah, et wasn't up ta much. That was my introduction to the wonderful land of NZ. Of strikingly bright day skies and occasionally shaky ground.

Perhaps I should have said, A great Politician then. I wasn't aware that he was in favour of those two major Liberal no-nos. He wasn't a career politician, but more of a life long one. He always counted. EDIT: Quite a few typos, hamster. Was that yardarm a little higher in the sky, this evening..?

Another one of those BBC4 moments. I'm not even remotely a fan of mountaineering, even though I've done a little cliff climbing, when I was younger, and a bit more of a risk taker. Yet I watched the documentary of the The Eiger: Wall of Death which refers to the famous north face and I found it compelling viewing. One hour long, so those with a 10 minute attention span need not click the link. Though, I think you could give it a go, just to see if you're as shallow as you believe you are.

That's right Deppo, keep 'em guessing.

xenophobia

Not EVERYTHING is related to football. RIP to a great Liberal.

He's not asking you whether you can see it happening, just your reaction if it did happen. Y'know..? Fantasy football stuff. Don't think I'd stand there slack jawed, as when I first heard that Saints had signed Keegan, all those years back, but I'd certainly raise a glass and realise we are back on track. Alan who..?

4 Days in, re: Saints, and I still feel flat. Someone mentioned elsewhere about Cortese doing this or that, but mainly taking a big bunch of flowers round to Pardew and asking him back into the fold. When AP was introduced to us, I thought... Hmph..! I suppose we could do a lot worse. That's once again the feeling and my fear. At least with AP, we knew what the score was [pun not intended]. We pretty much knew his weaknesses; his strengths; that fact that he'd screw up occasionally, but not often; the interviews where he saw the same game as us supporters; and the simple feeling that, despite everything, he'd probably do the job right enough, in the end. At least, in this division. Over his time with us, I'd built up faith in him. He was a Southampton man. But now we've got to do it all again. The new manager is probably going to be a disappointment, unless he is high profile enough to satisfy this group of supporters expectations. All the talk of Zola, Shearer and such, and headline names though they may be, but I'd rather have Pardew back, simply because he's proven. You know what you'd get, and it would almost certainly be good enough. So I don't want Eddie Howe, despite his excellence at Bournemouth. I don't want Tony Mowbray, with his attacking style, but no defence. No Hoddle or Keegan, or other has beens. I don't really want Billy Davies, or his ilk, although I'd have less objection. There are the so-called managers who are out of work who wouldn't stoop to the depths of League One, like Martin O'Neill, and I would say that his appointment would certainly make me feel better. But the good feeling has certainly gone for the moment. I know we still don't know the reasons for why AP has gone, but I hope we find out eventually, for everyone's sake. Otherwise it remains a strange decision, and not a single person comes out of it looking well. I believe Cortese does what he thinks is absolutely right for the club, and so I'll back him. But still, 4 days in, I think I just want Pardew back as the man. I want continuity.

Prunella. Follow that..!

You'll probably not believe this, but I've just finished watching The Godfather trilogy, for the first time ever. Before, I've not so much as spent as 30 seconds viewing any of it. The reason I've put it off all these years is because, by all reports, it portrays Italians as knife/gun wielding killers, which have become a sort of general stereotype. I remember my ex-wife telling me that her mother said I'd be a knife carrier, when she told her she'd met me. As if..! But back to the films... Have to say, that as far as culture and Italian mannerisms are concerned, the films hit the feeling right on the button. Italians [OK, Sicilians in this case] are generally demonstrative of their emotions. It's their way. It was certainly my father's way, and his brothers, and although I don't remember my Italian grandfather well, I can see him in Vito Corleone, and the principle older characters. It was almost spooky, at times..! So as far as getting the feel right, I'd say 10/10 for all three films. As I get older, I'm strangely drawn to the architecture and culture of Italy, perhaps due to the 50% Italian in my genes. I have wondered whether this is somehow "hard-wired-in", as Chomsky would have put it. So these films must have got something right for bringing it to the fore, despite their subject matter. As far as that is concerned, it isn't something that appeals to me, though it was compelling, also. So 9/10 for the original, and 8/10 for the sequels.

I'm not a great fan of films which often centre around violence of some form. Kubrick tells a story and allows his audience to use their intellect. Actually, they are really different directors, who come at their subjects in different ways. Kubrick films tend to be milestones of their time. He's clearly the better director, IMO. A better comparison for Scorsese would be Francis Ford Coppola, and I think the latter is also the superior of the two.

As would Swindon's Danny Wilson. I'm hanging out for Sir Alex Ferguson, myself. I'd be satisfied we mean business then.

No doubt it'll be Red Stig. The last colour they'll ever select..? Green.

Not even a bit of drizzle in a teacup. Matty is entitled to say what he thinks, if asked. He has said what anyone would say. I wasn't aware of any problems and I don't know. That's as much as anyone can say.

nurture

ghost

Then don't spend it on this: A Ferrari on ebay. It says the engine is built from scratch, but I'll tell you, there's more than a little MV Agusta in that machine if I can recognise any famous engine casings. Reynolds 531..? That's for bicycles. This is an expensive machine, whoever it was made in tribute to.

Except that one where we held the record for least amount of wins in the professional football leagues over the last 2 decades. Hopefully, that was a myth, but if it wasn't, hopefully again, we got enough wins last season to make some other team the record holder.

I would never suggest the JPT is a bit of a joke. It's a perfectly serious competition, of which Saints should be using to their advantage, this season. Don't forget, it gave Nicola Cortese, Alan Pardew and Us a nice taste of footballing success. And ultimately, it gave Markus Liebherr a great first personal payback in owning Southampton FC.

Personally, I'm not that bothered about the competition either. I don't disrespect it at all, but Saints priorities need to be elsewhere. The club is one season away from NOT being able to defend it, or should be. As a useful tool for player sharpening it is excellent, and should be used as such, IMO. If it gets in the way of the main priority then it would be better to bow out now. However, once in, then we should defend the trophy, and blood new talent, at the same time. I can see some up and coming players getting a few games via the JPT, if we play it well.

So be it.

The only SAABs I've owned were proper SAABs. Not GM cars, so I don't think my opinion would count. Still the prettiest front end on a standard saloon car, on the road though.