CHAPEL END CHARLIE

I always liked Dan Harding and obviously, like all right thinking fans, I wish him well for the future. Indeed is he not one of the best free transfers this club has signed in recent years? Time for a embarrassing admission now - try as I might - I still can't see this vast gulf in class that supposedly exists between Harding & Fox in all honesty. However as NA clearly prefers Fox then I'm happy enough to go along with his judgment. But is even Danny Fox really Premier League standard ? Remembering just how easily Reading's attack took him apart at St Marys (costing us the Championship title perhaps) the prospect of Fox v the best attacking players in the English game is not one that I look forward to with particular relish. Our obvious interest in signing another Left Back suggests that more important people than this ordinary fan think the much the same.

Yes all avoidable violence is wrong in principle and adults should try to find a better way of disciplining children. That is a fine academic theory of what idealized 21st century child care could be. But kids aren't raised in laboratory conditions by perfect human beings, they are reared in the real world within families that are often composed of very imperfect Human Beings alas. It is in our nature to become subject to stress and loss our temper, just as it is in a normal child's nature to establish where their boundaries lay. It seems to me part of what being a parent means is to be engaged in a 18 year long power struggle with your own children, a fight the parent dare not lose for everyone in society's sake. When confronted with a reckless 3 year old intent on having his own way (kids have a way of pushing every 'button' somehow) even the most liberal of parents might lose their temper and apply a good old fashioned smack every now and again. Now that may be right, or it may be wrong, depending upon your point of view. But what it isn't is anybody else's business .. as long as any punishment administered amounts to reasonable chastisement rather than serious physical or mental abuse of course. How do we tell the difference then? Well if you've seen children who have be subject to real abuse then trust me you'd readily understand the clear difference between what is a occasionally smacked child - and a truly damaged one.

Yes I view them on DVD. As if being a obsessive Doctor Who fan isn't nerdy enough, I must also admit to loving all the extras 2/Entertain pack these DVD's with. I literally can't get enough of all the background 'Making Of' type documentaries, and I'll even happily watch stuff such as the regular 'now & then' look at how much the old outside locations have changed, slide shows of production stills ...etc. Truth be told the fascinating extras on offer are half the reason I collect these DVD's. If anyone is thinking of starting their own Who collection, then in my experience you seldom need to pay more than £5 or £7 for most of them - the exception being more recent releases that can still be quite expensive. eBay prices tend to often exceed that which you can find on Amazon for some strange reason. Car Boots sales (if you are lucky) and local markets are also good places to hunt them down. But beware because the collecting mania is a powerful force ! As for Yeti's in the underground (Pat Troughton's 'The Web of Fear' of course) it so happens that is my very earliest Doctor Who memory. Yet another 1960's Who serial now (almost entirely) lost I'm very sorry to say ....

I believe you may be recalling a Patrick Troughton yarn entitled - The Moonbase. Unfortunately only two the four episodes are still in existence.

I've just finished yet another ancient Doctor Who serial - 'The Web Planet' - from 1965, which coming from the second season of TV's longest running Sci Fi series features the terminally grumpy (and shocking amoral at times) William Hartnell as the Doctor. I was still in my nappies when this was originally broadcast so I came to it without even the faintest of memories, a viewing approach which I'm learning to enjoy. The Tardis lands of the planet Vortis and (as per usual) the Doctor and his companions (Barbara, Ian & Vicki) are soon separated from each other and they become involved in the brutal struggle between the various insect like races that inhabit this planet, principally the 'Zarbi' a species of large Ant, and the 'Menoptra' which are best described as sort of intelligent Butterfly. Vortis was once a relatively harmonious place but now a sinister creature 'The Animus' has gained control over the (not very bright) Zarbi and forced them into making war on the unfortunate Menoptra. Can the Doctor resist the Animus's attempts to force him into helping it defeat the noble Menoptra, and can Barbara survive her terrible ordeal in the Crater of Needles ? A bit of a mixed bag this one with elements that were too ambitious for the limited time & budget at the programme makers disposal, but some parts on the other hand that are surprising successful. I thought the Zarbi were well realized (memories of the old movie 'Them' keep flooding back), a interesting electronic sound effect assisting greatly. The Menoptra however are less successful, but the actors underneath the silly costume (including a young Martin Jarvis) make a decent fist of turning them into a semi believable species. Seeing the Menoptra actualy fly (on wires like a stage act) is good fun and the bizarre use of Vaseline lightly smeared over the camera lens does give proceedings a strange 'otherworldly' look to it I suppose. I see in the post above this that some younger viewers don't like old Star Trek because the effects are not up to modern standards. Well if that's true then trust me a much greater suspension of disbelief will be required to enjoy old 'Who' to the degree that I do. But if you can get past that, there is still much to enjoy in these vintage TV programmes - for their historical interest almost as much as their entertainment value. Next up: 'The Robots of Death' with Tom Baker - now that one I do remember.

I've been calling for some time now for the Chapel Stand to be refitted with chintz pattern Parker Knoll arm chairs, with inbuilt Thermos holders of course. I'm still awaiting a official reply from the Don to this entirely reasonable request. At £500 a bloody ST, you'd think they could throw in the odd packet of Wherters as well ......

Some awesome tales of everyday Human tragedy in this thread that I personally find a genuinely moving experience just to read, yet alone live with. Although I can't claim to have had an equivalent experience myself, I too have known depression and the depressed in my life - perhaps we all do - and I can appreciate how difficult it must be to recall such painful memories as the loss of friends and family to the tragedy of suicide must be. I knew someone who only a few weeks ago died after a long struggle with cancer (in great pain I might add) and although he had prepared a means to end his life at a time of his own choosing, ultimately he decided to endure his illness to the very end in circumstances I wouldn't wish on anybody. Draw whatever conclusions from that you like. All I say is that however bleak life seems, with the perspective of age I now know that all things will pass in time - the bad as well as the good. Our little lives are precious things that should be cherished while we have them.

He may enjoy the limelight a tad too much for some, he probably takes a unwise delight in being deliberately outspoken & controversial, but by thunder anyone who saw Starkey's new history 'The Churchills' (C4 Thursday) will have to concede that he's a historian and broadcaster of the first rank. In examining the life's of the two most distinguished members of the Churchill family - Sir Winston Churchill and his 17/18th century ancestor John Churchill, The 1st Duke of Marlborough - Starkey drew our attention to just how key Winston's deep understanding of the 1st Duke's role in countering the grandiose military ambitions of Louis XIV became in comprehending the danger (long before others did) that Adolph Hitler posed to Europe in the middle 1930's. It's a terrible old cliche for sure, but to understand the present you must first seek to understand the past. Louis - the so called 'Sun King' - and Hitler both incubated what we might now call a 'Personality Cult' and each harbored a nationalistic love of military expansionism that reached insane proportions. The persecution these two megalomaniac leaders heaped on their respective oppressed minority populations - be it German Jews or French Protestants - is also a telling analogy indeed. Amid a sea of Olympic tosh that is dominating our screens, television of this quality shines out like a beacon in the night.

Just seen the conclusion to the 2nd season of 'The Killing' (C4 Wednesday) and without giving too much away this series ended with some pretty awesome developments for both Mayor Richmond, and the unfortunate Larson family to deal with. Although in most crime series the victim is often portrayed as little more than a plot element soon forgotten in the cut & trust of solving the mystery, in this series we were never allowed to forget how devastating the loss of a Human life can become to everyone involved - be they the police investigating the case, friends & family of the victim, even the perpetrator of the crime and those drawn into the case as suspects. Ripples in a bottomless pool of grief ....... So was it a good idea to continue the investigation of this one case over to a second series, or should they have started afresh with Linden & Holder investigating a new crime ? Much as I've admired this series I think in the end the plot became rather too convoluted, with the numerous 'twists & turns' of the investigation becoming perhaps a tad much for its audience to follow easily. Real life crime can be convoluted and involved of course, but a more compact narrative may have resulted in a more satisfactory drama in my view. But this series was ultimately still worth the considerable investment in time required to follow it to a conclusion in my view. PS - I wouldn't be at all surprised to see more of Joel Kinnaman (Detective Holder) in future - this young actor has a certain 'star quality' about him methinks.

The Western Isles must be a terrible place to live. Mother nature putting on a sublime display of natural beauty all around you. The kind of tranquility, space and population density that gives a man a fighting chance of holding on to his sanity ... oh and a almost total absence of anything that even resembles the 'Rat Race' as we overcrowded mainlanders know it. Who could possibly want any of that ? Heaven on Earth if you ask me - as long you can find a way of earning a honest living and you don't mind some real weather every now and again that is.

I'm hoping for Aston Martin but expecting Austin Morris.

Watching a series of different 'tin pot' dictators all make exactly the same mistake is a illustrative experience. The longer they hold on to power the harder (and more bloody) their eventual fall will become. But power is all they know and even the dimmest of them can see that to yield even a inch to the forces of democracy will result in their eventual political demise anyway. A classic Catch 22 situation. The fall of the vile Assad regime is surely just a matter of time now, alas the Syrian people will pay a heavy price indeed for their freedom. History shows that liberty always comes at a price I'm afraid. That blood price could be much reduced however were it not for the sheer idiocy of Russia and China blocking outside assistance in the UN Security Council, and allowing themselves to be caught so obviously on the wrong side of history in the process. Assad's near inevitable fall will become just another footnote in history. But the fact that the leaders of really powerful nations so manifestly fail to comprehend the world should be a cause for concern to us all.

Blackburn demanding a pretty steep £6m for Dann now apparently: http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/sport/saints/news/9833012.Blackburn_slap___6million_price_tag_on_Dann/

If you like old movies then Film 4 will be showing a personal favorite of mine tomorrow: the magnificent 'Bad Day at Black Rock' (MGM 1955). In certain respects you could say this is a 'cowboy' genre film, but that is to do it a major disservice because it's so much more than just another old oater. Set just after the end of WWII Spencer Tracy plays a disabled ex Army officer on a mission to visit the small desert hometown of a wartime (Japanese-American) comrade. His mighty Union Pacific Express train stops (for the first time in many years) at the dusty little station in the middle of nowhere New Mexico, but right away the strangely hostile locals make it perfectly clear that both he, and his inquires regarding the whereabouts of his old comrade, are most unwelcome. But whatever level of coercion the citizens of Black Rock put him under, he's still not the type of man who's prepared to back down in a hurry ...... I'll say no more because I don't want to ruin this superb film for anyone who has never seen it before. But greed, fear, corruption, prejudice, violence, dignity, restraint but above all 'courage' - well all human life is here I suppose. What more could you want from any film ?

It's a shame but by the look of this article I think we can wrap this one up now and file it under 'Not going to Happen'. As I'd never even heard of him a few weeks ago his non signing now hardly seems a real cause for any despondency. If those at the club involved in player transfers know their business - and I'm quite confident they do - then we will already have alternate left side players in mind.

I really don't know why you'd think I'm angry, but thanks for the show of concern anyway.

Take a care ! Your post count increasing alarmingly, anyone would think you had nothing better to do than argue with me.

I expect the Liebherr family would find this obvious libel deeply offensive, but well beneath their level of dignity to be worth taking further - in the highly unlikely event of it coming to their attention in the first place that is. Leaving that to one side, we should rise above this ridiculous OTT hatred of another football club and celebrate the fact that few (if any) Saints fans would stoop quite that low. PFC - a failing football club with a fanbase so unhinged that their extreme hatred of us causes some of them to exhibit indications of mental illness. Pathetic.

You regard yourself as superior to those who choose to converse with others via the net, employing a internet forum to convey this message. How odd.

Don't worry my friend, we didn't take you seriously for one moment.

Every opposition manager will say something nice about us in the press, but nearly all of them will see us as another 3 points on the table for them. It so very easy to parrot tired old cliché's about the dangers of underestimating the opposition etc, but it's a harder thing to do in practice. In their heart of hearts I suspect some at our club thought that two games against Bristol City would earn us at least 4 points last season - well that didn't happen and I wouldn't be at all surprised to see that pattern repeat itself this season.

I see the prospect of a splendid new Royal Yacht has arisen again - to much all party support in Parliament: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/9410585/David-Cameron-and-Ed-Miliband-show-rare-unity-over-UK-flagship.html I also take it that with no public money, or even Royal Navy crew involved, even the most chippy of Republicans and Communists on here won't object all that much .... will they

You may be right, but as I must admit to not following Scottish football all that closely (I avoid it like the plague in all honesty) I don't feel I have any grounds to believe that Steven Davis is significantly better than Jack Cork right now - time will tell I suppose. In any case Cork would be a good option to have on the bench at the very least.

It really should come as no surprise to us that Jack Cork can play a bit - last season proved the point to anyone who was paying attention I would have thought. Yes Brazil are "different class" to the likes of Doncaster Rovers or Coventry City (to put it mildly!) but if you have a good football head on your shoulders - as this lad certainly has - then you won't look out of place in almost any company. Corky will do alright this season I reckon.

This dismal lack of productivity on behalf of this nations murdering classes appalls me. When I was a youngster you could get your throat slit just for asking for a refund at Woolworth's. Nowadays hoards of defenceless grannies and disabled people roam the streets in their mobility scooters free from even the merest hint of danger. I understand that even taxi drivers, prostitutes, and runaway teenagers now have a better that even chance of surviving into middle-age - do we have no lorry drivers left in this country anymore ? You'd think even the laziest example of British youth could manage the odd bit of manslaughter every now and then - but even that now seems too much to ask. Sod this, I'm off to Juarez Mexico where they at least still make some kind of decent effort.