CHAPEL END CHARLIE

Has anyone else seen 'The Worlds Most Dangerous Roads' ? A bit like a Top Gear challenge without Clarkson I suppose, but so damn entertaining I don't mind the lack of originality at all. The Dalton Highway adventure in Alaska was great, but last night's very hairy journey along Nepal's awful road system was almost worth a months license fee all on its own.

Your position is secure. As long as you don't retire from this forum then I will happily work another 10 years just to pay for your meagre pension. xxx

Oh I wasn't referring to you personally, because you're my hero actually and worth every penny .....

It's much cheaper for the Government if a workers retirement and death dates are brought more into line - ideally if we could all just die a week before we are due to retire then that would be just perfect. Of course as everyone is now middle class, doing some undemanding desk job in the public sector and earning well in excess of 30k a year this should come as no real problem. Indeed, what are we all moaning about ?

A case of 'force majeure' it seems so not real criticism of the managers selection is valid, but frankly our back four & goalkeeper yesterday never looked liked a proper unit - indeed you could have driven several buses through the gaps were left on the field and still had space to spare. The full backs in particular were very disappointing, Jack Cork has the excuse that he's more of a midfield player these days, but as for performance Danny Fox put in (how much did we pay for him ?) I can only say that I've seldom seem a Saints Left Back caught so frequently out of position. A fine passer of a football for sure - but primarily they are supposed to be there to defend I thought. Contrary to some views expressed on here during the summer, from what I saw yesterday Dan Harding's place in the team is not under serious threath at this time.

I don't know what recording you were hearing, but I have to say that if you really can't comprehend the greatness of the late Johnny Cash recordings then frankly there's something wrong with you. Cash was of course highly successful in his (wild) youth, but for my money what he achieved in old age (in large part courtesy of that musical visionary Rick Rubin) was perhaps one of the most remarkable achievements in modern popular music. Sit down and listen to all the pain & humanity inherent in his monumental 'American Recordings'. Then, and only then, come on here and post something quite as misguided as this.

Whether you believe in the supernatural or not, it is common decency is it not that when you see another human being in distress you offer to help them if you can, or at the very least show them a modicum of understanding and compassion. Some of the replies on this thread at little short of a disgrace.

I have offerded to be an offical club minder - with special reposibilty for keeping our players out of all local nightclubs .....

I saw 'Super 8' the other day and left the cinema still not quite sure of what to make of it. Probably best summarized as a confused mix of whimsical kids Sci Fi fantasy (Think of ET) and hard-core monster adventure (Think Cloverfield) it should come as no surprise to learn that both Steven Spielberg and J J Abrams were intimately involved in its production. Both these noteworthy filmmakers have made movies that will live longer in the memory I suspect. Nevertheless, despite its confused nature and lack of originality, I still kind of enjoyed it. The mostly young cast made a good fist of it and the production values (as we've come to expect these days) are top class - the CGI generated/live action train crash sequence in particular being truly spectacular. I can't really recommend it, but you could do a lot worse.

I adore both Alien and Aliens - but I fear younger film goers may struggle to understand the immense impact Ridley Scott's seminal Sci-Fi movie made on it's public way back in 1979. With the possible exception of the seldom seen 'Darkstar' no film before it had dared to depicted a spaceship as a dark, filthy place, indeed this was a quite revolutionary departure. As for HR Giger's 'Alien' design ... well this is a work of true genius in my view. Although the infamous 'chest burster' scene has rightly earned its place in cinema history, for me the prolonged sequence set in the ventilation shaft system when the unfortunate Capt Dallas tries (and fails) to deal with the Nostromo's most unwelcome visitor set a new standard in suspense that has perhaps only ever been equaled in Hitchcock's Psycho. But none of that lessens my admiration for James Cameron's sequel. Most of the time when a director exchanges plot & suspense (Alien) for action (Aliens) the result is a inferior film. But Cameron is the master of the action movie (see Terminator II) and viewed as a hybrid Sci Fi/combat film Aliens is right up with the very best of them. I recommend anyone interested in modern film history should view the extras included on the Aliens DVD. The struggle between a uncompromising US director and his unionized UK film crew (who were still in love with the way Ridley worked) is almost worth a movie itself. Near the end of Aliens just before the climatic battle with the 'b1tch', the scene where Corporal Hicks (urged on by Ripley) says "lets get the hell out of here & nuke the whole damn place from orbit - the best ferking idea in cinema history! And yes, I am a self confessed Sci-fi nut.

The rational part of me dismisses the possibility of the supernatural as fictional hogwash, fit only for cheap entertainment and the fevered imagination of the gullible. But if I'm perfectly honest - in the 'dead of night' - sometimes an older, more instinctive, part of the human brain can still reassert itself. It is kinda like religious belief - I don't share in the faith of believers, but a man has to question his point of view sometimes when he see's so many reasonable and intelligent people that are convinced of the truth of it. If I take the OP's story at face value, then I must confess that I too would be freaked out by what he is reportedly experiencing. I only wish I had something more constructive in the way of practical help to offer.

If I recall correctly it's a small suburb located just to the east of Poole.

On the other hand Ridley Scott's much superior Blade Runner only makes sense in it's 'Directors Cut' version, with the dubious voice-over and tacked-on happy ending removed. It's all about the Unicorn you see ........

The inevitable You Tube link for anyone who missed the all fun: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLv4onfFks4

If he steps on our Monet we'll have to put that bloody train picture back up instead. I think we can all agree that would be a step backwards.

Yep, that's a pretty fair summary. He's what you might call a real 'tryer', he'll throw himself into every challenge, boot the ball away upfield if he can, and give you absolutley everything he's got every single game. The trouble is he just hasn't that much real quality to give - kinda like a Centre Half version of Paul Wotton. A back up player in this squad at best.

The English language is a wonderful thing, and just the right word exists for explaining why a Saints fan might feel just a little sorry for this youngsters horror debut at Old Trafford. Empathy n. the power of understanding and imaginatively entering into another person's feelings. Obviously a concept too alien to their thought processes for some on here to grasp. AOC was (in my view) ill-advised to leave this club when he did as both his football, and emotional, development would have been better served with one more season here. What may be called the 'set up for life' argument holds little water as (barring some unlikely career ending injury) he will certainly play in the Premier League before very long anyway. But like many before him, the lure of the 'big city lights' was just too strong. As I see it this common failing of youth does not justify the hostility directed at him. Mature fans should readily understand by now that although we as fans might 'live & breathe' Southampton Football Club, to most of our players it remains merely their employer - not the love of their life.

Not a bad shout that. Cork played CB for us before and did pretty well if I recall correctly - and that was as a relatively raw youngster. The point you raise regarding the advantages of finding a starting place for Morgan Schneiderlin (far too good for the bench IMO) is equally valid. The drawback of course is that we would miss out on Jack Cork's excellent attacking midfield play. Nevertheless, this option is a real possibility should we fail to sign a quality CB to play alongside Fonte.

I have just seen the highlights and to be honest it looked like we were desperately unlucky. The crucial 3rd goal just before halftime was clearly a foul on Lambert (The referees union has obviously decided to give him nothing this season) and we created more than enough chances in the 2nd half to (at the very least) draw the game. Reduce the number of defensive the errors, and we're going to gain a hell of a lot more points than we lose this season.

I've just seen 'Too Much, Too Young' a BBC 4 programme covering the mysterious (and often overlooked) world of the Medieval child. Presented by one of these telegenic young academics that seem now to dominate this type of production (in this case Dr Stephen Baxter) I found it both throughly informative and entertaining. It seems that the 1960's idea that childhood as we know it just didn't exist as a distinctly different stage of life back in the middle ages turns out to be very mistaken. Children, then as now, did manage to find the time in their hard life's to play games and have fun, and although they only had an appalling 1 in 2 chance of surviving into adulthood each child was as precious and loved by their parents as any of their modern equivalents. When you think about it people don't really change that much do they. When you consider that we can (And do) today imprison children as young as 10 years old, it was illuminating to discover that as far back as Anglo-Saxon times a child was not considered fully adult until they reached the age of 12. Something tells me on that particular question our ancestors were more right than we are. Probably still available on that iPlayer thingy, I can recommend it to all.

You have to remember that for all his business experience the Don is still a relative newcomer when it comes to the strange world of English football. Not so long ago we were signing good players (Such as Lambert or Fonte) for around a £1m - and that was quite enough to win us promotion out of the 3rd Division and a wonderful day out at Wembley. It's quite a sobering mental adjustment to make went it suddenly dawns on you that to get players good enough to take the next step up you may need to spend 5 times that amount, or more. Football makes no sense as a business - just look at the situation that even a well run club such as Everton are in. Decades of uninterrupted Premier league income, a decent squad of players, and one of the best young managers in the British game - and yet for all of that their reward is to find themselves mid-table and more or less broke. It seems to me that we've missed out on players this summer because we are desperately trying to find some real value in this crazy market - unfortunately the higher you rise in the game the less value it seems to offer. I've consistently said (arguing from a emotional standpoint) that I want to see this grand old club back where it belongs among the elite clubs of English football. But sometimes a man has to wonder whether it might just be better to curb our enthusiasm, park our Stalinist 5 year plan, and look to build a stable Championship club instead.

It seems our (Rejected) bid was for £4.5m : http://www.burnleyexpress.net/sport/football/burnley-fc/clarets_boss_wants_to_end_speculation_over_players_1_3713937 A lot of money at this level I know, but you wonder if we were to up our bid another £500,000 whether they might just be tempted? There's only one way to find out .....

On the subject of Daleks, I met John Levene (Sergeant Benton from UNIT) at the Fleet Air Arm museum's 'Dalek Day' a few weeks ago. Had a long chat with him and he came across as a lovely old chap full of great stories of his time with John Pertwee & Roger Dalgardo ....etc. You my find my John Levene tale somewhat dull, but I say it's a sight more interesting than the rest of this fred.

He was very much the same this time last season, but then managed to recover thankfully. It seems this player is unable to maintain his fitness levels during the summer break for some reason. Unlike some on here I'm not at all persuaded that Seaborne has miraculously developed into a top quality defender overnight, and Martin is too raw at this stage for my tastes. So the way things are going I've a feeling we are going to need Jaidi's services before very long.

From which exact threat does our independent nuclear deterrent supposedly protect us? Russia - Will only need to threaten to turn the gas off to get their way in future. Terrorist Groups - Not a easily targeted nation state in the first place and so irrational they are unlikely to be deterred by SLBM's anyway. 'Rogue' Nations - Adequately countered by a combination of the existing US deterrent and a NATO wide ABM system in my view. The US nuclear force will almost certainly continue whatever we do here, so what real justification still exists for prolonging what some might describe as a out dated relic of the cold-war ? I've seen unofficial estimates for the true costs of the 'successor' programme (you must include significant costs associated with major investments required at the AWE Aldermarston) and trust me they're truly frightening. If it comes down to a choice of having effective conventional forces or a shiny new fleet of mega expensive SSBN's that will come close to bankrupting the defence budget ... well I vote for the former.