Cute cat video alert!

Awww sweet! :)

Roll on the 8th of Feb!

That's our first game of the 2008 season away at Warrington. That is a Friday night so it could mean the game will be televised. I always love it when the fixtures come out, it seems as if the season isn't so far far away!



I was looking for internet TV streams for my daughter (she still isn't good with the lingo enough to follow Japanese TV!) I found a music channel, watched it for a bit and saw this song. Apparently the group Avion are taking a hiatus, but the lead singer and songwriter, Steve Bertrand has just released a new album.
This track is called 'Seven Days Without You' and is lovely easy listening.


If you like it, you can listen to more of Steve's music here: LINK
I don't know if his new album is available in the UK. Will have to do some digging.

Ok, a word about England......

Well, what a load of old hogwash the game was. There was no fight, too many players just seemed to think they were having a kick about at the local park! (I do exclude Peter Crouch and David Beckham from that comment) Steve McClaren just wasn't good enough for the job, and I've always been of that opinion right from the off.
We need someone now with stature, who can inspire respect and maybe even a little bit of fear in the 20 or so millionaires that make up the England squad.
I'd go for Jose Mourinho. But then the bloke isn't daft. According to the BBC news website he has ruled himself out already.
Who will want to take on the poison chalice this time I wonder...........

Confirmation came today that we have indeed signed South Sydney Rabbitohs captain Peter Cusack, whilst showing Hutch Maiava the door for 'gross misconduct'
In a way i'ts quite a relief Hutch started to misbehave off the pitch, so we could get rid of him without (I believe) paying up his contract. He has to be honest, been a disaster. I saw him have one good game (the home win against Saints last season) and that was it.
Tara Hutch, forgive me for not waving you off!

New signing?

It's looking very likely, although I don't want to tempt fate in any way, that we have signed South Sydney forward, Peter Cusack.
I've done a bit of reading up on him on fan's forums etc, and he seems to be just the right sort of player to strengthen our pack. Although 30, he seems to have been free of any serious injuries in his career so far, and of course forwards don't really mature until their late 20's early 30's. At 6ft 4, he definitely seems to be my sort of player !
I'm looking forward to next season, a very good, experienced Hull FC squad is going to hit Superleague, I think we may just stir the pot a wee bit !

Good look to the Mighty Whites at home to Swindon! Another step towards the top lads!

The End of the Affair........I hope!

From BBC Sport:

Cooke suspended over Hull KR move

Hull KR's Paul Cooke will miss the first six weeks of next season after being found guilty of misconduct over his controversial move from Hull.

Cooke, 26, was banned until 17 March for approaching Rovers with a view to joining them without permission from Hull FC, when he was under contract.

He resigned from Hull in April, saying he had never signed his contract.

Cooke, who has yet to comment on the case, was ordered to pay the costs of the hearing. He has 14 days to appeal.

The Rugby Football League accepted his registration and cleared the stand-off to make his Rovers debut on 27 April against Huddersfield.

He went on to make 14 appearances for the club for the club he supported as a boy, including two victories over Hull, which helped keep Rovers in Super league.

In those 14 games he scored one try, 36 goals and two drop goals.

Hull KR were cleared of any wrong-doing over the affair, and have given their public backing to the player

Link: BBC Sport

I'm sick to death of the bloke, always moaning about how badly done to he is. I'm happy to see the back of him. Although you could say Hull FC could sue for compensation, I'd leave it now, and resign the whole matter to the dustbin.

Although he caused a lot of disruption last season, that is in the past. No man is bigger than Hull FC, Paul bloody Cooke certainly isn't!

I love the Foo Fighters!

I just cant stop listening to their new album 'Echoes, silence, patience and grace' It's fabulous.
Here's track 2 Let it Die:



Highly Recommended!!

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!)