Oh How We Were All Dreaming Of Havant and Waterlooville Winning

Havant and Waterlooville were the 100/1 outsiders before the game and when Richard Pacquette's header put Havant and Waterlooville ahead we were all laughing are arses off in shock more than anything else. The mobiles phones of England were in meltdown as football supporters up and the country dreamed of the biggest cup shock of all time. Then reality struck in the foot of Lucas who equalised for Liverpool with a superb 25-yard curler. It seemed that the dream had died but then the unthinkable happened and they had the cheek to score again. Havant and Waterlooville went 2-1 up. The 6,000 travelling Havant fans were going delirious the upset was back on.

It was looking that the boys of Havant were going to go in at half-time with the lead but Yossi Benayoun made it 2-2 from 15 yards just before te break. Still we would of all loved to have been in the Havant and Waterlooville dressing room at half time. I cannot imagine what the Havant manager would of said at half-time, though before the game manager had said "We come to Liverpool to have go" and so they did.

They started their cup run at Bognor and their they were at half time drawing at Anfield. The second half though was when Liverpool showed their class. Liverpool raised their game and took the lead for the first time in the match when Pennant crossed for Benayoun, who swivelled and unleashed a fierce shot which went in off the underside of the bar.

It put Liverpool 3-2 up and to be honest then fitness started to play a part and Liverpool won out 5-2 in the end with Benayoun scoring probably the least celebrated hat-trick in Liverpool history. It would have been harsh on Havant, had Liverpool go on to record a huge victory. The brave men of Havant and Waterlooville did themsleves proud and caught the imagination of football fans up and down the country. I would like to just say thanks to Havant for making the dream of the biggest shock in cup history seem possible for a whole 45 minutes. They deserve all the press and praise they will get for the next few days. Well done Havant and Waterlooville.

The Danish Have The Right Attitude - Embrace Hygge

This post is dedicated to my Danish Friend Astrid.

Hygge what the hell does that mean? Well for a start it is Danish and I am not even sure I can pronounce it right. Then why is it my favourite word? Well it is what this word means that I really like. Hygge closest translation is to English is I guess “snugness”. Hygge is all to do with uplifting oneself up through the winter gloom/darkness with small pleasures such as sitting in front of an open fire, warming yourself up with a brandy, in a nice warm café drinking hot-chocolate with your friends and other simple delights. There just isn’t an English word that works.

Anyone knows me will know that I hate cold weather, snow, and long dark grey days. In England we all know about SAD (seasonal affected disorder) that we don’t get enough daylight and that apparently makes us unhappy. We get all sorts of all wacky new age ideas like using light boxes to make sure we get enough simulated natural light to remain happy.

Well hearing about Hygge has mad me think about the winter months in a different light. I still hate being cold but maybe we should look in the positive aspects to being cold (yes I know that being cold in England isn’t like other places like Canada where it is probably -108 degrees centigrade now) like hanging out with friends in a nice warm bar drinking warming ports and brandy or making thick homemade soups (I do love pumpkin soup).

This sort of way of thinking kept our ancestors sane I guess when they didn’t have things like central heating and outdoor toilet. In modern times we don’t have that much to worry about and we should all stop complain about cold weather (It will be hard to change a whole lifetimes character trait).

Let’s all put on some warm clothes, call a mate, go to a nice warm café and order a big mug of hot chocolate with marshmallows and embrace “Hygge” (If your in nice warm Australia reading this………..I am not jealous anymore I have Hygge)!

Have A Good Weekend Guys.

Cheers

Neil

 

 I Hope This Wasn't A Result Of A Drunken Wager

This is just to make you smile as you get ready for the weekend. There is only one more day to go. We all do silly things and this guy you have to admit has a great sense of humour and well to take the joke as far as he did takes conviction. I don't know who he is but kudos to him for going through with it.

Is He English Or Amercican I Am Not Sure?

Tooldepip

Neil

When You Just Can't Say No When Maybe You Should

Face it we all have guilty pleasures that we know we shouldn’t like but like a moth to a flame we cannot resist the urge to indulge them. I like many have several myself some of these of my own making whilst others I can “thank” others for. The first pleasure for my sins that I can’t resist is thanks to one Kate Laffort. Who in an act of kindness of more likely sneaky underhandness brought about the first guilty pleasure that I will share with you.

1. Trashy Romance Novels

My dalliance with romance novels started with the previously mentioned Kate Laffort lending me several books that she “thought I might enjoy” when I was embarking on a trip to Australia. There were several books but unbeknown to me at the bottom of the pile was a novel by Amy Jenkins or the like. It had the usual kind of plot girl accidentally meet world famous actor, world famous actor and girl hit if off, girl and actor fall in love, girl then thinks actor is having an affair and doesn’t really love her, girls finds out actor really does love her and they live happily ever after.

It was utter tosh and I loved every damn word of the thing. I was a usual guy who read Andy McNabb novels and science fiction. Now I read all the romance novels I can get my hands on. I knew it had gone to far when I ended up watching Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants and actually cried at the end. I am tragic I know. Check the link below for a bit of fun. It is just something I found on the net.

Use your picture to make a romace novel cover.

2. Iron Chef and Iron Chef America

I am not sure if you all know about these TV programmes. Originally dreamt up in Japan and then recreated in America this TV show involves two chefs battling it out with each other to cook the best dishes. There are up to four Iron Chefs and one challenger per show gets to take on one of the iron chefs. The contest is to see who can create the best dishes (minimum of four) using a secret ingredient that neither knows about before the show.

The Japanese dubbed version is absolutely great television and the chefs are unbelievable and it is just a wonderful way to spend an hour of your life when you know you should be out exercising, doing housework or socialising.

3. Scrabble

I am sure there are more people out there that care to admit it love scrabble but can’t admit it because it is considered by many seriously uncool. I can think of nothing better than on a lovely Sunday summers day sitting in the garden playing scrabble with your friends over a Gin and tonic or two, talking rubbish and getting a little drunk. Come on, shout it out and be proud and say I love scrabble.

4. Waffles covered in melted chocolate

Pretty self explanatory very unhealthy but quite frankly too delicious to deny yourself; whatever mood I find myself in a good waffle covered in chocolate only lifts my mood and makes me even happier.

5. Keeley Hazzel

She maybe two-thirds my age but my god she in the best of British as you get older I am over 30 now you start to get your daily treats from anywhere you can get them and I know a lot of guys my age will happen upon a picture of good old Keeley in the papers (and quite frankly she is everywhere) and may take a few seconds to peruse the two wonderful delights that Keeley has to offer the world. Thank you God for delivering us Keeley

We all have guilty pleasures and most of us like to keep them a secret as we are afraid of what other people may think. I reckon we should all embrace these pleasures and be proud of them. Life is too short and we should all have fun.

 What Is Africa like………I Have No Idea

Well good weekend one and all and thanks for the response so far to my little blog. The whole site is still a work in progress and I hope it gets bigger and better over the next few weeks. I have some really positive responses so far and it looks like Africa has taking a cheeky little lead.

I have never really been to Africa (just a couple of days in Morocco) and have always wanted to go and do the place properly and spend some real time there. It looks like I might be getting the opportunity soon. I guess I better gets freakin’ jabs sorted out. All the people I have met who have been to Africa have all said they have loved it irrespective of where they have been.

One friend Pete Moorman wrote about Africa thus "Neil I know you have got your cool website and all! (Congrats on being a brewer you said you would) but I have been on safari in Kenya and I am going back again you will never regret Africa!" That sounds like quite a good endorsement to me from a wise man.

I would love to hear from more people who either live in Africa or have been to visit. I know little about the place and any tips or recommendations would really be helpful.

I guess the way it will work is by the end of this month I will chose whichever continent that has won the poll. Then in February I will let people decide which part of the continent to go to for example if it is Africa should I visit West, Central, East or South. Then once that has been decided then pick the country and then the place itself and voila that will be my starting point for my journey.

It all sounds very exciting and I hope that people will follow me, join in and vote on where I go and the stuff I get up to. This website I going to be my journal of the trip. I hope to have words, photos and video.

If anybody has other suggestions I would love to hear you as I stress again the whole project is a work in progress and I am sure to make a few mistakes along the way.

Anyhow, thank you for your time and enjoy the rest of your weekend.

 Cheers

 Neil

 

Hello I am On The Train……Can You Here Me…..Hello?

This rant is dedicated to my techno buddy in crime Matt “Nine’s” O’Connor.

I am not sure how it all happened; I remember quite clearly about 5 years ago being about the last stand-out amongst my friends when it came to getting a mobile phone (cell for my N. American buddies). I claimed I didn’t need it and that civilization had managed to go a very long time without having to be in 24 hour contact with each other.

It was simple if you really needed to contact me then you either phoned me on a landline or sent me a message by carrier pigeon. Oh, how I now miss Tim my old carrier pigeon. Tim just another sad victim of the technological revolution oh how I cast him aside without a second thought.

Well anyway when I first got my mobile I always left it at home which peed everyone off and what was the point of owning one really. Slowly the freakin’ thing started to become addictive still one day (sorry to put this picture into people’s heads) you actually answer a call when you are taking a dump! How did it come to this? There is something very wrong about that.

Now it seems the first inane thought that comes into my head has to be told to someone else via the use of the mobile phone. I know it is true I do it quite often and then when I press send to let the text message go off into the ether and then onto someone else’s phone I think why the bloody hell did I send that? They will just think what a tosser.

This is the list of things I now have that I didn’t have five years ago:-

1. A mobile phone – It takes pictures, is a radio, connects to the internet, is an MP3 player and I use none of it. I just use it for texts and calling people. (I paid £100 for this when I should have just got a £9.99 Nokia that just makes calls and texts!)
2. I have seven websites – Who the hell needs seven websites! I also have the domain rights to several more  (I own www.letintinmovie.com why?)
3. I have a MP4 watch that I can play/download videos on. Now I love this gadget and it really is cool but you do feel a bit like of a pratt when you are on public transport staring like a loon at your watch.
4. I own about several MP3 players of various descriptions (I do like my Ipod Shuffle and now all the others just do nothing).
5. I own a laptop – actually that has been a good purchase.
6. Digital camera – They are good inventions because no we no longer have to print hundreds of crap pictures of our own finger or lens caps. We can just delete them.
7. I am on the a networking site - Why do I feel the need to let everyone know what I am doing all the time?

Guess what though I am waiting for a video camera to arrive that I purchased online in a sale. Will I ever really use it? Well it is debatable.

As for digital cameras how many of your own more than one? I bet 90% of you because they are developing so fast. We all bought 3 mega pixel cameras that took great pictures but then all went out and bought 5 mega pixel cameras because we told they were better and we could blow up the images to the size of a house without any pixilation. Has anybody blown-up a picture to the size of their house?

Bloody technology I love it and can’t wait to se what else comes out. I just hope they invent the tele-porter in my life time. Beam Me Up Scotty!

Who Would Marry An Idiot?

Good afternoon well I have been thinking about all Playfoot's allegedly descending from a village idiot as I discussed in my last post. It got me thinking yes well it is all well and good to say that is our family history but the question you have to ask is:-

Who the hell would marry such a feeble minded individual?

Yeh, that's right this guy who got his name from playing with his foot whilst sitting on a barrel couldn't have been the best catch in the village. I am sure in the great scheme of things he was probably about as good a proposition as Millhouse in The Simpsons. In fact that is not really fair on Millhouse (sorry made up cartoon character).

That really begs the question as to what kind of girl married this gentleman. It really does bear thinking about really. Was she forced into the union or did this girl go willingly? Mind you she might have well been sat on the barrel next to his looking all doe eyed playing with her foot thinking life didn’t get much better than this.

The fact I am not typing this blog with my feet seems to suggest that at some point some better genes came along and we Playfoots’ managed to evolve and now as a descendant I am probably the fifth least desirable catch in the town I happen to live in which must be considered progress.

However back to Janice who started me on this train of thought with her message from Canada that I should visit all the Playfoots’ I can. I like the idea and would be glad to meet some Playfoots’ on my travels and say hello. Even if some may or may not still being sitting somewhere on a barrel in a small village outside Timbuktu, Mali still very interested in what is attached to the end of his/her leg (and I don’t mean their own arse). Sorry if there happens to be some Playarses out there.

Cheers

Neil

Playfoot's - We Are All Descended From One Idiot

Well this blog has not only been quoted in other part of cyberspace but has now allowed me to get in touch with another Playfoot in another part of the world. This is actually quite exciting as they aren’t all that many of us.

This Playfoot was a very nice one too although Janice is no longer a Playfoot having now married. As far as I can work out all Playfoots’ are originally from Kent. When I was much younger I was told by an English teacher about the origin of the name. Now I have to take into account that said teacher really didn’t like me so her information may have to be taken with a pinch of salt.

She claims that the Playfoot name is taken from one guy who was the village idiot who spent all day on  a barrel playing with his foot. I swear to god this is true and she said this in front of everyone else who happened to be in class. It was highly embarrassing and I was ribbed remorselessly as a result.

Mind you does explain quite a bit as I was always a bit dim and now I have a great excuse for being uncoordinated, lacking common sense, have no tact what so ever and an a great ability to fall over. It is fair to say I can’t chew gum and walk at the same time as that would be considered multi-tasking which is beyond my feeble brain.

The whole travelling lark and the fact I seem to be good at it amazes people who know me as I seem to go off and find amazing places. The real reasons I come back with the odd good photo and story is that I usually get lost and people take pity on me and help me out and show me around.

It seems being descended from a complete twit does have some advantages.

Remeber don't forget to send in your suggestions

Cheers

Neil

This Works Really Well!

I have just found this tip and iti s so good that I had to share it. It will seriously speed up your browser. It only works for those using Firefow though. In my opinion it is much better than Internet Explorer. Firefox usually waits a while before it starts to a web page because it might still be waiting for data to arrive. You can speed up the display of web pages by telling it to start drawing the pages straight away. Enter "about:config" (without the quotes) into Firefoxe's address box and then right click in the list of settings displayed. Select New, Integer and entering the following name (without quotes) at the prompt: "nglayout.initialpaint.delay". Click OK and then when you are promted for a value, enter 0 (zero).

I did this a couple of days ago and it really makes thing a whole lot quicker.

Cheers

Neil

 Happy New Year

Well first of all happy new year to you all.  I am now going to begin the democracy in earnest. I have even purchased a video camera so I can make a video blog (So excited). I not sure I really need it but hell it is another gadget and all guys love gadgets. I am hoping it arrives this week. Then I will spend all weekend trying to work it out before finally actually getting around to reading the instructions on Monday.

Well thanks to you all for your comments so far. There have been some good and some bad. My idea falls into two camps. The people that think it is a good idea and telling me to go for it and those that look at me as a complete loon, dribbling down my chin with eejitt written on my face.

One dear friend (Sofia) although behind the idea was quoted as saying “Good to see you are still made as snakes” (whatever that means). She is getting married in March (congratulations Sofia) and has suggested that I start my trip over there. This sounds like a capital idea to me but of course it is not up to me to decide. The other suggestions so far have been Chicago, Boulder (Colorado), Paris amongst others.

The most ludicrous suggestion so far but one I still have to record is by one Greg Lewis. Now in theory his suggestion is a wonderful idea but not sure how I am supposed to pull it off and it is slightly out of my budget. He is suggesting that I become the first brewer to go to outer space. Thanks Mr. Lewis but if anyone from Nasa or in the Russian Space Programme is reading this then I am your man.

Mr. Lewis brought me The Diceman for my birthday which I am reading at the moment. It is a great book so far and I started to read it like a manual and it gave me some great ideas. Although Luke (the main character) is now starting to get deranged I hope that is not what is in store for me. Incidentally if you have never read the book he uses a dice to make the majority of decisions in his life with at least one of his dice options being completely warped.

Well Please keep the suggestions coming in and I will be building up this website over the coming weeks. I hope to have a video on here by next week (although the chances are slim as I am a bit of a technophobe).

Cheers

Neil

PS I had my first bit of recogniton "life is an inexact science and time only goes one way" was the quote of the week on the following website Cheap Thrills In Boston.