Adieu

So long little buddy.



Thanks for all the memories..

You want to know something about me?

Do you want to know something about me? OK, here is a picture of a De Havilland Chipmunk - the first, and thus far only, plane I have piloted:


Picture courtesy of Oxford University Air Squadron at www.oxforduas.co.uk

Now your turn...

Fortes fortuna adiuvat

It is true!

15th September 2009 Edit:
OK, perhaps I should qualify what I mean. It has been known for me to take the path of least resistance at times. It is not through laziness, rather through a combination of impatience with the tasks with which I am currently engrossed and desire to attain my goals in life quicker than "the little steps" can get me there. Regardless, I am finding it very useful to continually remind myself that fortune does indeed favour the bold!

What makes a weekend?

Friends, both old and new.

Food, both cooked and raw.

Cricket, both in person and on the radio.

Lord Broad

On to more important matters.

Today Stuart Broad produced the most memorable display with the ball that I can remember. OK, Fred at Lord's was impressive, but today was history. At 23 Broad is still a young guy, but today he demonstrated maturity beyond his years. Allowed to bowl his natural game, he was beyond match for the Australian batsmen.

If Paul Collingwood gets an MBE for two innings of 7 and 10 at The Oval in 2005, Stuart Broad deserves... a CBE?

There is still a long way to go so let's not get ahead of ourselves.

Last word on the subject...

Actually, I decided not to delete my comments. Having rested on my words for 24 hours I find the issue more disgusting, offensive and reprehensible.

He is a convicted murder! Of 270 people!!

Megrahi, Gaddafi and those who released the killer - may you all suffer the same slow, painful demise. You deserve it!

The News

Been an eventful couple of days. Firstly to football matters...

I was never a fan of Neil Warnock's before he was appointed to the helm of Crystal Palace by Simon Jordan, but I've warmed to him. His outspoken nature stems from passion for the game and that is admirable. You may have witnessed the gross injustice that was Palace's visit to Bristol City at the weekend. Simply atrocious that a professional referee and his assistant should disallow a goal that hit the back of the net. Rob Shoebridge should never work in football again. A harsh punishment for a solitary error you may think but he has proven he is incapable of performing his job and any other professional body would not hesitate in dismissing someone for such gross incompetence.

Then to cricket...

Today was an interesting day at The Oval. England underperformed with the bat again, but 303-8 is not terrible so the game is still alive. I was also very impressed by the score at Taunton. Sure it is traditionally an easy batting pitch but Murray Goodwin's 344 was a mighty impressive knock.

Finally a touch of controversy...

I want to keep certain subjects off this forum. Indeed politics is one of those subjects, but there are some things that rile me so much... I accept that cancer is a terrible disease and anyone suffering from it is undergoing a pain I hope I never experience. When, however, did cancer become admonishment for the murder of 270 innocent people?

I'll probably delete that last bit soon, although being associated with that decision makes me ashamed to be British.

The Latest Attack

Did you know that squirrels eat Swiss chard?

Neither did I.

Until last week.

Little swines.

Am growing some more to compensate for my losses... well, better than claiming on insurance. Swiss chard grows well in the shorter months so I should be OK getting a yield despite it being late in the year. Not just a UK thing tough, seems to happen across the pond too.

Famous Bodger

You may have heard of Antony Gormley's latest exhibit on the 4th plinth in Trafalgar Square. It is very contemporary art and not really to my taste as I feel it caters rather too much to the "Big Brother Generation" of public exhibitionism. However, I was pleased to hear that my mate Robin was accepted as one of the plinth-toppers to restore an element of natural style to proceedings. Seems he had a good time atop the stone early on Sunday morning. Here's his post on the experience. Well done Robin! I've not yet viewed the whole hour but look fwd to Jed's first appearance, albeit only audio, on the interweb.

Here and there

Hello again.

Some months I post lots, some months I post little. I don't know why. It isn't directly related to my activity levels. Maybe it is weather dependent!? Regardless, we approach the back end of August and therefore autumn is nigh.

So what's been going on?

Well, we've seen friends, seen families, tidied the house, harvested veg, got mortgage quotes, dined out at a fine French restaurant... done quite a lot and yet I feel strangely unfulfilled. Looking fwd to the final test of the Ashes of course. Glad the football season has started too. Possibly a little reserved about the magnitude of upcoming work travel - visiting clients in Stockholm and six Israeli cities, followed by at least a week in California and Colorado. All nice places. Well mostly nice places. And all enjoyable travels. But lots of time away from home.

So what am I going to do about it?

Well, be realistic is a good start. Mapping out the hurdles into small, manageable steps is the usual good place to start. Enriching the weekend time might stop it flying by so quickly too. Could be several changes in the Plutus household soon so I guess that is something to look forward to as well!

Ramprakash set for the fifth test...

No, this isn't a world exclusive, it is my attempt to come to terms with events since Friday.

I tend to get too emotionally involved in events outside of my control but I enjoy it. So I do it! The are many excuses for the dire Friday morning performance with which the twelfth man could present Messrs Bowden, Rauf and (possibly) Ponting scrawled on a piece of paper during a drinks break in England's first innings. None of them, however, are acceptable. Eleven professional athletes with team a psychologist should not let themselves get into the mire we witnessed. To our disappointment, they did! Only infrequently do I let myself indulge in the notion that people are controlling our destiny but, in this case, it is possible that subversive means have engineered what could be the pinnacle of our sporting summer. 1-1, one to play, England must win, Australia have the "momentum". There is talk of what must change in the England dressing room. Having ruminated and cogitated the issue to quite some extent these 24 hours, I have to think that very little should change. OK, Steve Harmison and Ian Bell seem to have the diametrically opposed effect on the dressing room to the presence of Andrew Flintoff and Kevin Pietersen and I think the former should be replaced by Ryan Sidebottom. Other than that, I am loathe to change too many players - after all, they are the guys who got England to 1-1 with one to play! Let me know whether you agree:

Strauss - Has to stay
Cook - Never been convinced by him but no alternative, especially considering the ECB's invetment in him
Bopara - Under huge pressure but he has class. OK, he's been nervous, unlucky and sometimes dreadful this series but if you drop him now, you destroy his career. Give him the chance to prove himself, it may be just the motivation he needs
Bell - As a Surrey fan, I love the idea of Mark Ramprakash inspiring England to an Ashes win but think it would be a decision made out of panic. Latest news implies Flintoff will be fit. Bring him in for Bell!
Collingwood - He may have under-performed but he is an experienced pro who is still excellent in the field. He stays!
Prior - Stays without doubt, except his back
Broad - I was having doubts about him prior to the 4th test but his performance (albeit with the bat once pressure was gone on Sunday) illustrates the positive influence of a vote of confidence
Swann - There is need for one spinner at the Oval and his batting is very useful
Anderson - Assuming he is fit, he stays
Harmison - No, no and no. I would love Steve Harmison to be a game changer but his head is all wrong. Needs to be replaced, Sidebottom is the man
Onions - I guess Liam Plunkett would be the only alternative but why? Onions stays

Yep, I know that replacing Bell with Flintoff seems like a bold move. I would move Collingwood up the order to 4th and slot Fred in at 5th. Prior, Broad, Swann, Sidebottom and (to an extent) Anderson can all add useful runs so I have confidence in my selection.

Over to you Messrs Miller, Flower and Strauss. Make the right decision...

Last NYC Post

OK, last New York post.

A group of pics from some of our travels:



Some details:
- view of St Patrick's Cathedral and the Rockerfeller Center from our room in the New York Palace Hotel
- Lion outside New York City Library
- Empire State Building
- Brooklyn Bridge
- Manhattan Skyline
- Central Park from above
- Villard House
- Rockerfeller Center in a storm

So that's it. New York is a distant, yet wonderful, memory...