Argghhh! Christmas!

There was a time when I loved Christmas, and really looked forward to it. I can remember around this time of year we used to buy the TV guides, to see what smashing programmes where being lined up for us to watch. I always used to have a look to see if there was going to be any really old movies to be shown. Especially a bit of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rodgers. I LOVE those films! In fact I'm quite a sucker for old films generally, I'll have to do a post about my favourites.
But for now back to Christmas, after I got married, and had my girls, I still enjoyed Christmas. It was very hectic and busy but I loved watching my daughters open their presents. That made up for everything else.
NOW it is one big hassle from start to end. Work is mad, (working in a pub I'm there Xmas Eve and New Years Eve as standard). You worry about what presents to get everyone, and whether you will have enough cash to afford it all. Christmas Day for me is mainly spent in the kitchen. At least we've got a dishwasher now and I wont spend ages washing up!
This year is going to be very strange. Michelle is in Japan of course, and my youngest daughter, Kirsty will be spending her 1st Christmas living with her boyfriend. Boxing Day is usually spent at my in laws, but my Father in Law is still in hospital so that get together wont happen this year. Anyway, it falls on a normal work day for me, so I will be in over teatime I would think.
Ah well, there's always the hope of a bit of Fred and Ginger on the TV!

Just a quick post.

I thought I'd better post as its been nearly a week since my last update. To be honest things are pretty quiet here. RL season has finished, although a big well done to the GB lads in winning the test series against New Zealand!
Leeds Utd had their first defeat of the season away to leaders Carlisle on Saturday. I suppose it had to come sooner or later, and at least it was against a good team. I hope the departure of Wisey's no 2 Gus Poyet to Spurs hasn't unsettled things too much.

Usually at this time of year there are loads of rumours about who we (Hull FC) maybe signing, but it has been very quiet. Until today. There are reports we are talking to Aussie forward and Desperate Dan lookalike Willie Mason. That would be a fantastic signing, but I'm keeping my powder dry on this story.
The other whisper is we've signed NZ Warriors utility back Todd Byrne. So I think it's matter of watch this space!

My earliest TV memory.

My earliest memory of watching TV was of the Beatles, and of Ringo in particular as he was riding an exercise bike! This has long been a vivid memory of mine, I cant recall many things from when I was young, but this has stayed. I always thought I must have imagined it, till today.
I was having a meander through You Tube, linking from one thing to the next as you do, and started watching some Beatles songs. Anyway, the memory of Ringo popped into my mind again, so I just put in the search box 'Ringo on a bike' and there it was on the first page!!
The song is ' I feel fine',which I didn't remember. Apparently this was released in November 1964, so if this was filmed about then, I was just about to have my 6th birthday!
I'm so glad I wasn't imagining it! :)

Engrish!

One of my daughter Shells favourite things about Japan is the way nearly everything has some random English written on it. More often than not it doesn't make a lot of sense. It seems to me that what they want to say is put through some sort of translation machine, and they get some strange results!
Here's a few pics she has sent me:
On a note pad:


Going into an arcade:



On the window of a Cafe I think:



On the side of a special type of photo booth: (you can decorate the pics and print them out as stickers apparently)



I'm sure I'll have plenty more to post in the future! :)

Into the Void.

Yes dear readers, it's the time all us of The Faithful dread, the close season. My God I hate it! By the time Christmas is over I'm starting to twitch! There doesn't seem to be any new signings on the horizon either, but then Hull FC are very good at keeping things under their hats! I know there's the big union game on tomorrow, and good luck to England of course. But blimey o'riley, you cant compare League with union, its like the difference between cashmere and an oily rag!
Of course I now can concentrate on the Mighty Whites. We are away to Brighton tomorrow. I'm hoping for a good performance as although we've been getting the right results, we haven't played all that well the last couple of weeks. Oh OK, I'm moaning I know lol.
I'm also able to follow The Oakland Raiders a lot more this season. Sky are showing loads of games on a Sunday and if the Raiders aren't on there, I can get them on an internet feed. Consistency seems to be a problem for them. They can have a fantastic spell, and then fall to bits. Considering I've only been following them a couple of years they seem to be falling into the perfect pattern of airliebird teams, Awful depths, but fantastic highs!!
On the personal front things aren't too bad. Shell seems to be doing pretty well in Japan, and keeping very busy. We are definitely going to go over there next year, it will be some initiation for me as I have never flown before!
My youngest daughter Kirsty has just started the last year of her degree at University and seems to be doing very well. She's just moved into a new place with her boyfriend, it's a very nice big place.
I know this against everything I believe in, but I'm going to try and get some exercise and get some weight off before we go to Japan. Swimming is the only thing I can really do as it is low impact. That is the only kind I can do considering my arthritis. Anyway, after Christmas/ New Year, the pub I work in is being re-furbished, so I'm going to use the time off to good effect.
I'm actually a lazy bugger, but it will be to my benefit in the end wont it?

For all cat lovers.

Someone sent me this short animation and I thought I'd post it on here. This has happened to me many times!


I don't know who the animator is, but he/she is definitely a cat owner!

And now...........

A video of the new kit! :) There's an escapologist and that!

Better Picture

Here's a much better picture of the kits in full:

Very nice. :)

As Promised...

The new Hull FC shirts for the 2008/09 season not very good quality pics though unfortunately, I'm sure I'll be able to post better ones later :

The home shirt has gone back to a very traditional style The hoops are just the right thickness etc. We haven't had such a shirt since I'd say the late 80's early 90's. With us only having one main shirt sponsor, we have a very clean look to our shirts that you don't get with many clubs.
Very pleased!

The away shirt is on a similar theme to the special French away shirt we had a couple of years back. Not as traditional of course, but very smart. I'm sure it will be a lot cooler for the guys to wear than an all black kit.
The lads are going to look very smart next season! :)

Michelle in Japan.

My eldest daughter Shell has been in Japan over a week now and seems to be settling well. She didn't start her studies properly till yesterday, so has had that week to find her feet etc. I've been able to talk to her over Skype as I mentioned in an earlier post, and by email too. She has had to get a new mobile as Japanese mobiles run on a completely different bandwidth to ours. They also dont use texts like we do, but emails. She has a special email address and any emails I send her go straight to her phone. They have free allowances for emails as we do for texts over here. It's considered bad manners to speak over your phone on buses, trains etc (if only they did that here!) and so phone emails are very popular.
I have to say I'm really thankful for the technology that has helped me talk to her and keep in touch. Just a few years ago it would have been letters and the odd phone call wouldn't it?!!
It all helps to know she is alright, because I have to admit to worrying quite a lot this last few days!
I've just got a first batch of pics from her so I'll post a couple here. The first is the Entrance to the International House where she lives on campus, you can see the apartments in the background.

And heres a pic of a Shinto Shrine:


In just over half an hour the new Hull FC shirt for 2008 will be unveiled, so as soon as I get a pic I will post it!
Last night I had my first chance to see Leeds Utd on TV. It was a professional 1-0 win. Although 9 first teamers where rested, the lads looked well drilled and comfortable on the ball. We had our first look at the boy Da Costa, and he looks a bit of talent! Some of those lads looked SO young though, babies!! It does get disconcerting when you watch your team (I feel the same with Hull FC) and you realise that you are old enough to be their mothers! lol.

Yet another win....

.....for the mighty whites, what a fabulous season this is turning out to be! It's exactly what happened to my rugby team Hull FC, things got so bad it looked like the end of the club, then it all turned out fantastically well!

I had a long chat to Shell today, she seems to be settling in really well. I must admit that has put my mind at rest a bit, to be able to talk to her properly.
She hasn't got an internet connection in her room yet, so I thought I'd put some credit onto Skype and call the landline phone in her room. I put on €10 (€11.50 with vat) and got straight through. We chatted for 45-50 minutes and it cost just about a euro which is fantastic.
Of course, chatting PC to PC is free, but I was really impressed with using Skype and recommend it to anyone making calls overseas. You need a decent broadband connection though, a headset/microphone or a special handset that you plug into your usb port.

She sent me a photo of a sticker on her loo, which asks gents to wee seated! I'll post it here as I found it pretty funny!

You obviously have to point your baseball cap the other way too! :)

Free Burma!

More info at:
free-burma.org

Cop a load of this! :)

My darling Hull FC where knocked out of the play-offs, we were a bit unlucky I suppose but now we will all look forward to next season and guess who any new signings will be.
But no, I wasn't sad for long because this happened with the last kick of the game last night between Oldham and the Mighty Whites themselves Leeds Utd.
Enjoy my friends!!


Thanks to the original poster, he must have a top phone as its a darn good picture!

Bon Voyage!

My Eldest daughter Michelle flies off to Japan for the best part of a year today. I'm just doing a quick post as I wait for her to get out of the bathroom so i can get dressed. I wont be doing that again for a while!
I've mentioned before in other posts that both of my daughters are doing degrees at University. With Michelle its Japanese studies. Her 2nd year will be spent studying at Kumamoto University in the South of Japan.
So good luck Michelle, do your best and have a great time!
(Of course I'll worry about her even though she's 24 and no baby!)

Serious for a change.

I use blogger regularly and usually post about frivolous things like rugby and football. But sometimes blogging can be a really important service.
I'm sure anyone who has watched the news in the last few days will know about the situation in Burma (now named Myanmar) and how Buddhist monks are leading protests against the military regime there.
I came across some links to bloggers over there, posting about the situation. Now these people are very brave to report what is going on, something in this country we just take for granted.
Here are the links to the 2 blogs I have read:
dawn_109's blog
ko htike

You can sign e petitions here:
No 10 petition

UN petition

If you have time please visit and give your support.

Jai Ganesha!!

Crikey, it looks like Lord Ganesha looked kindly on all my lads this past weekend.
Friday saw Hull FC progress to the next round of the play offs with a win over Huddersfield 22-16. It was a bit nerve wracking at the end I can tell you, the Giants pushed us all the way! I have to say I'm pleased with just winning our 1st play off game, I'm happy with that whatever happens now. We have had through treachery, and injury 4 pivotal players leaving the club through the season, and a bout of flu that laid everyone low for some time. You can call Hull FC what you like, but you cant say they're not fighters!!

Talking of fighters, on Saturday, the divine Mighty Whites had their 7th straight win with a 2-0 defeat of Swansea. We are now 18th in the league and out of the relegation Zone. The way Wisey and the boys have battled everything has been quite frankly dazzling!

Even the Oakland Raiders after (I believe) was 10 straight defeats through from last season beat the Cleveland Browns 26-24!

So like I say, maybe Lord Ganesha really did............

All the best lads!

Just a quick post to wish both my teams very good luck, n their games today. The mighty whites are at home to Swansea, will they go on their unbeaten run? Of course they will!!!!
Tonight Hull FC start their playoff campaign with a home tie against Huddersfield. A win will give us another home tie against Wigan. We have a great chance to progress, and after the terrible beginning to the season we had, the lads have done fantastically well!
I have an Indian penpal who is a follower of the Hindu religion, and they have just had a festival for the elephant headed God Lord Ganesh. He is the remover of all obstacles.Hopefully Ganesh will look kindly on the lads today! :)

Anniversary bugs!

As I write there is 10 minutes left of my 26th wedding anniversary, and as per usual the Hubster is away working! Except for last year (because it was our Silver wedding) something always crops up and he has to go away to work. At the moment he is in France. It's not his fault of course, these things just crop up. But it can be annoying!

Talking about things annoying, last night I clicked on a file that someone had sent me over Msn Messenger. Now I'm usually very careful, as I know there are a lot of viruses about. But the message accompanying the file said 'I've just dyed my hair take a look. ' Now as this person is always dyeing their hair I clicked on the file. WRONG! It was a virus that went on to send the file, and messages to all my on line pals! It was murder trying to get around them all telling them not to open the file!
Anyway, since then I've been trying to get rid of it. I thought I'd cracked it a couple of times, then about 10 minutes into being signed into Messenger, it would kick in again!!!
I've done scan after scan today and nothing! Then I did an on line scan at the Kaspersky site, it found some infected files but you had to buy the product to remove them which was a pain. So I tried to Remove them myself but they kept coming back! Then tonight I noticed on the Kaspersky list there was another iffy file I had missed, called service.exe in the Windows System32 folder. Now a file called services.exe (note the plural) is a real file. but service.exe isnt! Eureka! I thought. But yes, you guessed it, the little blighter wouldn't delete!
Well I did some digging and found a little program called Killbox, and that deleted it straight away!
As of writing I have been on Messenger for a couple of hours and all seems ok. (Fingers crossed)
So the moral of this story is: if you are sent a file on Messenger and you don't know what it is, ask the sender before the click!

Excellent win for the FC

Not a great pic but this is my lads on their way to a great win against Bradford tonight 20-10. It was a real grafting performance. We took a hell of a hammering in the 1st half and when we had a player sent to the sin bin in the 2nd half I thought we'd had it. But we really dug in and got the win.
It really looks as if the awful loss against the Sith has kicked us (very timely) up the ass.
So, next week we have our 1st play off game against either Wigan or Huddersfield. If we're on our game we can beat anyone.
So go get em lads!

just wanted to post this pic....

...........off the TV tonight. after our great win 3-0 away to Bristol Rovers. Its means the mighty whites are off the bottom, in fact out of the relegation zone! It may change tomorrow but we've done our talking on the pitch after the -15 penalty. Well done lads, and keep it up!