And There's More

Another brilliant day for team GB. It's fair to say it is extremely unlikely our haul of medals will catch either China or the USA but nevertheless things are looking very good in deed for this little island nation.

Ben Ainslie won his fourth gold by taking the lead in the Men's Sailing Finn, making him the most decorated Olympic sailor in history.

Later in the day Andy Murray destroyed Roger Federer, winning in straight sets (6-2, 6-1, 6-4) to take the the Men's Singles Tennis title. (A couple of hours later Murray and partner Laura Robson won silver in the Mixed Tennis final)

Team GB now has 10 bronze, 11 silver and 16 gold. China has 61 medals and the USA 60.

(Best not to mention what's been happening at Headingley in the Cricket LOL) 

Points Make Prizes

With the London Olympics just over a week away I can't help but notice how many of the competing countries flags incorporate the Union Flag. Take the Aussie and Kiwi flags- both feature the UK flag in the top left corner, taking up about a quarter of the total. It's a homage of sorts to the Mother Country and an acknowledgement of the historic links between our nations.

New Zealand

Australia









With this in mind, may I suggest that twenty-five percent of all medals the Aussies and Kiwis win at the Olympics are awarded instead to the host nation? It's only fair LOL.

Inabottle

What a great name for a beer and it's 4.1% dontchaknow.

Visit the Dorset Piddle Brewery here.

After Dinner

Readers of this blog may recall one of my favourite films is Ridley Scott's Alien. Absolutely love it and despite pretty much knowing it inside out, I still find it exciting and somewhat scary.

You can imagine my delight at the thought of a trip to the cinema this week to see Prometheus, Scott's (possibly maybe) prequel. Definitely set in the same universe and playing by the same rules or as I think Scott put it, it shares the same DNA. A good film- certainly superior to Alien 3- with big spectacle set pieces to please. Not as scary as perhaps I would have liked but there you go.

Regardless of whether Prometheus fits into the Alien canon, there was I noted quite a big plot hole that got over looked. Just taking the film as a stand alone, a pretty big plot device had been used and then contradicted later on. I won't spoil things here, see if you can work it out.

Oh and while I think of it, I had real difficulties with the main character being named after a well known After Dinner Mint brand. Would have thought fellow Brit Scott would have known LOL...

Has anyone noticed today is meant to be the longest day (at least in the northern hemisphere)? It's more or less rained all day (see previous post re- summer weather) with temperatures likely to have struggled to get to the low 20's grrr. Of course now all we can look forward to is the nights gradually drawing in as we head towards Christmas. Cheerful soul aren't I?

By the way has anyone else been enjoying the excellent sitcom 2 Broke Girl$? See what they did there with the title LOL? Nothing ground breaking and a bit obvious at times but quite fun.  

Ferenginar

You know, looking at the weather this past week or so I can't help but wonder if the UK has somehow been swapped with the Ferengi home world from the Star Trek franchise LOL. Sooner or later summer must start, surely?

Best brush up on the Rules of Acquisition I guess*.



*Getting in touch with my inner Trekkie LOL.

Long To Rain* Over Us

Wouldn't you know it- public holiday in the UK and it's chilly and raining! What happened to all the glorious weather we were enjoying last weekend? I'm seriously thinking about having to put the central heating back on for a bit.

Loving all the repackaged items currently in the shops, just in time for the Jubilee and Olympics.












* "God save our gracious Queen
Long live our noble Queen
God save the Queen
Send her victorious
Happy and glorious
Long to reign over us
God save the Queen"

I guess you might conclude I'm a bit of a Royalist at heart...

G8

Our leaders took time out on Saturday night from trying to fix the world economy (or whatever it is they think they were doing) to watch the European Champions League football final. That's the football played with a round ball. English team Chelsea were taking on the might of Germany's Bayern Munich.

British Prime Minister David Cameron (left) looks rather pleased, while German Chancellor Angela Merkel seems to be rather concerned. Not at all sure who the fella in the middle was rooting for.












I'm just so pleased to see they had their priorities right: that saving western economies from going bung wasn't quite as important as spending 90 plus minutes watching a bag of air being chased around a pitch by a bunch of over-paid pretty boys LOL.

For anyone not interested in world finance, the score at the end of 90 minutes being one each and penalties being used to decide the outcome. The final score was Chelsea 4 - 3 Bayern Munich.

Star Wars Day

May The Fourth Be With You.

Watch Out!

Keep an eye out for someone sporting a bag like this. They can only be trouble.

You have been warned LOL.

Nice Card

You know how it is- just as you press the shutter, the subject pulls the card up and hides behind it!

Nearly But Not Quite Christmas

LL came to visit today and spend some time with Dad and SM, who are staying for a few days. We all had lunch together and exchanged some gifts afterwards. This evening we had a go at tracking the progress of the Fat Man, here. Excellent fun. Maybe bookmark for next year..?

Don't you just feel all festive?












Only one more sleep to go...

Hands Off?

There's been mixed reaction to the news BBC Worldwide (the commercial arm of the BBC) are planning a big screen film version of Doctor Who. Apparently Harry Potter director David Yates is one of the prime movers behind this announcement. Now I don't know about you but I thought he did quite a decent job with the later instalments of that franchise. However Andrew M Brown in the Telegraph even went so far in his blog to seemingly list many of the reasons often cited as being behind the series cancellation (in the 1990's) as reasons why "Hollywood" should keep well away. So because it used to be seen as fairly low budget- and I guess against the average episode of say Battlestar Galactica it still is- Hollywood money shouldn't be used to (possibly) improve these things? I dunno.

But this is not the first time Doctor Who has appeared on the big screen. Those two 1960's Peter Cushing films weren't too bad. Surely?

 Yes that was the Bernard Cribbins co-starring.

For me the jury is still out and I'll wait to hear more information before passing judgement. Perhaps a new film will be a welcome addition to the canon and assuming they move quickly maybe even a fitting 50th anniversary celebration in 2013...



1 Nov Nottingham Forest 1 - 0 Reading
6 Nov Reading 1 - 0 Birmingham

Dance

I think I am in danger of becoming addicted to Strictly Come Dancing (or Dancing With The Stars, as it is known elsewhere). Read more here.

Star Chelsee Healy and professional dance partner Pasha Kovalev. Can't see what the attraction is myself LOL.














So how come with all the great British talent in the series, why is it two former Aussie soap stars seem to be leading the field?

But seriously I'm finding it rather good and quite unmissable. Must be getting old...

Crunch

Those clever marketing girls and boys at Kellogg have excelled themselves. Recently they left on my doorstep a full size (390g) box of cereal to try out. Lucky me.

It's claimed to be a great start to the day and high in fibre. That'll keep me going LOL.


...And it was actually about 2 degrees higher than forecast. Perhaps the BBQ will be coming out for one last gasp this year...

How Could I Resist?

Why can't more products have cool and descriptive packaging?

Poppy

Thought I would share this picture I took in my front garden around 8 this morning. For some reason my poppies seem to be a little behind those in the surrounding area but it's good to see the first couple flowering.





















It's been said poppies only really grow on former battlefield sites; something to do with corpses making for good manure. Well I'm not sure about that and although Reading has seen it's share over the years, I'm not convinced any skirmishes were held at my exact location. Maybe there's just a body down there somewhere following a grisly murder LOL?

Morph

Take a listen to this: it's amazing just how easily Lady GaGa's "Born This Way" could morph into Madonna's "Express Yourself." I believe the Young People call it a 'mash up,' which frankly was something I thought you did to root vegetables using a little butter, milk and seasoning but there you go LOL.

This is an acoustic recording by Doll & The Kicks. Enjoy.






















Disclaimer: This is a non profit making Blog. Copyright remains with respective authors and rights holders. No infringement intended.

Super

Apparently tonight's "Super Moon," where our nearest natural satellite is at it's closest to us for 19 years, will herald the end of the World. Or something like that lol. Thought I'd best post my own (poor) image quick before the whole of time and space goes up it's own you-know-what.

And should you wish to see some professional, in focus pictures take a look at the Daily Mail site.

While I'm about it, here's a picture of LL taken last weekend (yes, a bit late I know) when we went down to visit Dad and SM. If the World does go boom, this might be the last chance to see him lol.
















It's serious business eating Ice Cream, dontchaknow.

Illegal

Thought I would share these pictures of illegal immigrants found smuggling themselves into the Reading area, hiding in the back of a truck.

Someone has too much time on their hands but I'm not admitting to anything LOL!


Also I've read Warner Bros have announced that next year there will be a Harry Potter themed tour over here at the film studios. Don't think it will be a patch on the Florida theme park. Still sounds like it might be fun.


05 March 2011 Reading 5 - 2 Middlesbrough

Brush Up

I've recently switched to using an electric tooth brush. No big deal you say and I quite agree. The fact is both my dentist and hygienist have been suggesting for some time I should introduce such a device to my regime. I guess if it saves me pain on my twice yearly visits, I'm all for it. And it might just help keep my dental bills down.














Anyway while fighting with the hermetically sealed packaging I studied the bullet points thoughtfully laid out for my instruction by Braun.

Apparently I'm encouraged to "brush like a dentist." I imagine that doesn't actually mean donning a protective smock and face mask LOL?