Whitey Grandad

MY apologies if it has been posted before but, Number 37!

I was thinking a Cassegrain for personal observation and astrophotography. I know I shan't use it much but it's always been a fantasy of mine. The trouble is the bigger the telescope the better the imaging but the less likely you are to cart it off somewhere and start observing. We have a caravan and in a couple of years time I'm hoping to be able to nip over to northern France and sit outside for a bit.

I fear that's the problem. It's put a big dampener on the whole summer.

How's the Swan at Mansbridge these days?

One of the large Meades probably. I'd like to link it to an imager and a PC. The trouble is the light polution in Chandlers Ford. Mind you, you can see Vegas form a hundred miles away at night, but at least the air is clearer there.

A lot of aircraft from the Spanish Air Force were used in the film 'Battle of Britain'. You can tell that the 109s have Merlins because the cowlings are different. The Daimler-Benz engines were used inverted. The book by Bob Stanford-Tuck 'Fly for your life' is a good read in which he describes flying a captured Me109 and compares it to his Spitfire.

I can't quit get my head round it. That photo has a field of view equivalent to a tennis ball at the other end of a football field so you can just imagine how many galaxies there are out there. The estimate is that there are 7 x 10 to the power 22 stars in the universe. That's 7 with 22 zeroes after it, although I don't know who counted them.

You see.... I told you it wasn't just me!

Here's another thought. In any one of those galaxies, how many football clubs are there on average? What's football like if every player has three feet and two heads?

I've found the Auvergne in France to be quite good. We stopped at a camp site in Aumont-Aubrac a few years ago. Over 3000 feet up and no big towns for miles. The stars went right down to the horizon and it's the first time I've really seen the milky way. I'm going to buy myself a proper astronomical telescope later this year. We're visiting New York on a cruise from Southampton so I can buy one there and bring it back on the boat. They are half price in the States.

The point is this: moving to the Chapel or not, it will involve giving up your position and football friends that you have known for decades. It won't be a question of buying a season ticket in another part of the ground, it'll be giving up the ticket altogether and maybe going to the odd game now and then. Or not going at all. It's not just the erstwhile supporter who loses out, the club do too.

Man Utd don't want a ground full of season tickets. They want a steady churn of different supporters throughout the season because they will visit the club shop and buy all the accessories, Wayne Rooney wigs, Ryan Giggs duvet covers, that sort of thing.

You may have missed my edit above. Wigan have held their prices steady for five years and renewals on the halfway line are £295 for adults, £225 for seniors (65 and over)

We can look at some other clubs to see where we stand on ticket prices, and I have not done a full comparison but here we go: (renewal, halfway line, adult) Wigan £295 (£225 65+) Blackburn £399 (£285 65+) although Riverside stand centre is £225 (£145 65+) Bolton £369 (£229 65+) Blackpool £391 (£297 60+) Derby County £460 (£235 60+) Bristol City £495 (£330 65+) Coventry City £385 (£286 60+) Leicester City £379 (£299 60+) These were the first that I could think of. I'm sure there are several more expensive, Leeds certainly are.

Indeed, and was also one of the causes for the poor performance of the stock market, which in turn reduces the money that is available for company investment.

If it's any comfort I also have to work until I drop, not having a pension and all that sort of thing.

As long as any age concessions are applied equally to both (and any) sexes then the club can set the threshold at any age that they choose. Nationally some clubs choose 60 and some choose 65. As far as I can recall Southampton have always set it at 60, but others may correct me.

Actually it's two seats that I'm talking about. An increase from £600 to £1030.

Wise words. Even the number of season tickets sold will not be a true indication as many may cherry-pick their games instead. (Not that we shall be playing them this year).

And if they don't? How many do you think will give up their seats because of these increases? It won't be none. Everybody I know who has given up their seats has never regretted it, and they very rarely go back, even for the odd game. Some advice for you: If a long-term customer complains never, ever tell them that they are 'whinging'.

That would mean an empty seat elsewhere in the ground. you're not much good at this marketing thingy are you?

I'm prepared to pay. It's the removal of the age concession that is the complaint. There are plenty of people who sat around me who will have seen an increase from £300 to £415 whilst I and others are facing and increase to £515, even retired women. Even £415 is at the high end of the range of prices charged by other championship clubs and dearer than the most expensive at Wigan, Blackburn, Bolton (without concession).

No I've sat in the corners and ends and it's a rubbish view.

Thanks, Crab Lungs. I'll see your VFT and raise you a Hubble Deep Field: Every one of these smudges is a galaxy. Full story here : http://hubblesite.org/hubble_discoveries/hubble_deep_field/ And Spudgun, you can, you just need to move to somewhere high up with no people. Not really 'World's Beauty' though, is it? More like 'Universe's Beauty' but hey, who's complaining?

Well they are more expensive than more established Championship clubs. The biggest hike is a result of the removal of senior discounts for those aged 60 to 64, male or female.