I was looking for another you, and I looked round by you were gone

George Best, often regarded as the greatest footballer to have played, died yesterday at the age of 59. If you don't know anything about his history then you must've been living on a desert island [if so then a big 'hello' from me and the new world order and click here to find out more].

It was announced a few days ago that his death was imminent and that there was nothing that could be done for him. He was going to die very soon and that was that, a life wasted? Maybe. Could it have been avoided? Possibly. But I couldn't believe some of the comments I heard over the past few days. Several people at the pub said that they hoped he would die! What? And after he had passed away they said that he deserved it and that it was good news! Their argument was that he'd been given so many chances, been given a new liver [drink related], but had still gone back on the booze, and as that was his last chance then he deserved to die.

I can't believe that anyone would wish someone were dead. We may say it from time to time but do we mean it? Well sometimes.....

At the end of the day [a great footballing cliche] he was a man who had too much talent, too much too young ,and in the end used alcohol to alleviate the pressure on him. Okay he did have some great times in his life, some that we'd give right arms for, but he was a celebrity that men wanted to be and that women wanted to be with, and alcohol seemed like a way out. It seems that the more you are graced with talent the more you are prone to lapses and the need to release. Alcoholism is a disease, one that you can never beat. Even if you stop drinking you will still class yourself as an alcoholic, and temptation is only a bottle away.

I know he was given chances but if you have a self-destructive psyche can you ever do what's best? I don't think so and so we say goodbye to one of the greats, who was always destined to be substituted before the end of the game of life but only after scoring the winning goal and causing the crowd to go wild.

[if you need help with alcoholism, either yourself or someone you know, then click here for info and links]

You're as cool as ice

Last night I saw the documentary "Touching the Void" which recounts the true story of two British climbers and their journey up the west face of Siula Grande in the Peruvian Andes in 1985. They reached the summit but what happened on the way down has got to be one of the most amazing feats of human will, endurance, and perseverance that I have ever known of.

It's an amazing documentary and I'd reccommend it to anyone. If it had been me in that situation I believe I would've given up and died, but these guys didn't. Watch it.

--------------------------------------------
Over at SwissToni's Place he gets a guest editor to submit their Earworms* on his friday slot.

Earworm, a loan translation of the German Ohrwurm, is a term for a song stuck in one's head, particularly an annoying one. Use of the English translation was introduced by James Kellaris, an associate professor of marketing at the University of Cincinnati. His studies appeared to demonstrate that different people have varying susceptibilities to earworms, but that almost everybody has been afflicted with one at some time or another.

I often wondered how he selected his contributers and it happens to be quite random. Last thursday I opened my inbox and there was an email from Mr ST...

hello mate - not in the least related to this post, but would you be free willing and able to be my guest editor on the Earworms of the Week slot over at my blog? All i would need is a list of the 10 songs stuck in your head over the next week, along with a little story about each?WHat do you say? Next Friday?

Well I sent off my choices yesterday so hopefully they will go up sometime today.

I ain't got a fever got a permanent disease, It'll take more than a doctor to prescribe a remedy

I've got ANOTHER cold!!!! I used to never get ill, I think it's because I never believed in it.

The thing is that because I work at a University I'm prone to being in contact with hundreds of people with different strains of cold and I can't be immune to all of them so they're queuing up to invade my body [the viruses not the students]. When I was a student I didn't get many colds but I think this is put down to me pickling my body with alcohol.

So I've got my 3rd cold in about a month, which stinks. My usual efforts to expunging the illness is to have a hot curry (last night) and to take vitamin C tablets, and getting drunk always helps but this isn't an option till Friday [time to join the rest of Britain in binge drinking].

I now put it to you [see I'm getting interactive] to tell me what your best cold cures are. Go on, tell me.

Erase and rewind

My last post was, let's admit it, slightly boring and non-engaging. The fact is that after an absence of blogging my current material hasn't been up to much and has slipped from the personal into something more clinical and impersonal. The best blogs are once which engage the reader in the personal lives of the blogger and which fulfil our voyeuristic needs.

A while back I was posting regularly and was getting quite a few hits and comments, but now I only get the odd couple from a select few who have endured through the mire of mediocrity of what 'The Big Blog' has become. I have to get my ego back and start talking about ME and MY world. So it's back to basics and talking about stuff that I care about.

Well here we go...............

Okay I've got nothing to say at the moment.

somehow the vital connection is made

I am blogging wireless!

I ordered a 3com Wireless ADSL Modem Router from Ebuyer.com which included a free 802.11g Pcmcia Card (is it really free or do they just whack the price up and put it in the box?) which came to £64.99 (incl. VAT) plus £5 postage. There were a few cheaper options but 3com are a recognised name and I read the reviews on the site and most were extremely positive.

It arrived on Thursday and I left work early so I could try it out! It was very simple and initially involved loading the software and plugging in the gagdets. I then had to go to an admin screen on the web and configure the connection, change passwords, usernames, and activate other security features. I connected the desktop to the modem via cable and used the card in my laptop. A few wizard steps later and I was wireless!

Obviosuly the novelty of walking around the house with the laptop has worn off but I'm thinking of morefun to be had. I'm thinking that I could possibly be able to get the wireless at the local pub from the reception from my house! It may invlove getting a stronger attenna for the modem but it would be bit of novelty althoug hit would interfere with drinking.

I haven't set up a network yet because I can't be bothered at the moment but that will be the next step. The one thing stopping me is the crap that's on the desktop PC. It's slowed down from what it was before to to the extreme amount of crap on it. I really need to delete a lot of stuff from in and maybe transfer some of it onto DVD. I made a start before but it's going to take quite a while.

That's the end of the techy post but all I can say is that if you're looking to go wireless then the 3com Wireless ADSL Modem Router is a good deal and very easy to set up. If you want something else then remember to get a modem and router together, unlike my friend Tim who also just bought a router, saw ASDL in the title, and thought it had a modem. WRONG. Always read the small print thoroughly. Lesson learned.

Laters all.

Arrivederci its one on one

At Preston FC we've had a bit of a turn around over the past 2 weeks and have won our last 2 games. The first was against Pfizer (the guys who make Viagra), a team who we have a little history with, after they played against us with an inelegible player, and had to replay the game. Well it was a divisional cup game and we won 2-1 with a penalty in the last 5 minutes of extra-time, very sweet and we were on a high (no game for me due to a slight pull on the old hammy). This week we were playing a team one point and one place above us so we had to win it to move up the table. We won 5-2 and team moral is high going into future games. It's great to see the team doing doing well and everyone is very positive. It's amazing what a difference a few weeks can do.

The website is going really well and although I haven't played for a couple of weeks I've been able to take some good photos of the games and upload them. The forum's now had 896 posts in just over a month and the website has had 900 hits too! Great.

But we did nothing, absolutely butkis that day

England 19-23 New Zealand

Damn it. We went up the pub at 2:30pm to watch the rugby....and stayed out till the pubs shut, so a fair bit of alcohol was consumed...and I've got to go to footy in an hour!

We made a detour from out normal pub route and actually visited a pub that's just re-opened, The Wheatsheaf. It used to be a bit of a dive and closed down for quite a while but has now reopened with a new owner and decor. It's still nothing special, has no TV, and is full of dodgy old men, but what it has got is a jukebox and pints for £2.30, which is a 50p saving on normal pub prices. Also the pool table was brokenlast night so we got to play on it for free!

Speak laters

What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet

When you are registering a domain check to see if they can be read differently. (borrowed from THE RAW FEED)

Who Represents? - www.whorepresents.com

Experts Exchange - www.expertsexchange.com

Pen Island - www.penisland.net

Therapist Finder - www.therapistfinder.com

Mole Station Nursery - www.molestationnursery.com

Power-Gen Italia - www.powergenitalia.com

A few dodgy choices there.

Seven Rides for Seven Brothers

I finished reading 'Porno' by Irvine Welsh on Wednesday and now I'm bookless.

The novel is a sequel to 'Trainspotting' which I must admit I've only seen on the big screen and not read but this gave me a great mental imagery of the characters and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. Welsh's use of dialogue and character accents adds something brilliant to the book and although slightly challenging at first I found myself slipping into the language and terminology.

I'd reccommend it to those who enjoyed Trainspotting, and best of all I picked up the book for £1.50 from the Cancer Research shop. Bargain.

I need to go out and get a DVD of Trainspotting pretty soonish as I need my fix.

New Laptop

I've got a laptop! A friend of mine was able to get me a refurbished IBM Thinkpad T23 for £175 which was quite a good bargain.

I must admit that I don't need a laptop at this time but at that price I couldn't really say no.

Its basic specs are PIII 1.133Mhz processor, 768MB Ram, 40gig Hard-drive, 14.1" screen, and it also came with a docking station.

I spent Sunday installing XP on it along with various other programmes and just getting to grips with it and checking out what it can do.

I've also ordered a wireless modem/router so that I'll be free to use the internet around the house. This should hopefully come tomorrow so next blog I may be using the laptop instead of the desktop.

Message in a bottle

I've been looking at installing some kind of chat feature on my football club's website prestonhellings.co.uk but all the ones I've come across haven't been exactly brilliant. I installed a forum on the site using YaBB 2.0 which is absolutely brilliant and involvesjust a little bittle of tinkering on the server side. It's been going for a month and has already (i've just checked) had 479 posts on it which is amazing when you consider that there's only 17 members signed up.

Many of the guys on the team work in offices and have the forum on in the background and comment throughout the day but it would make better sense to have something like MSN messenger on the site. I scoped the net for solutions and first tried a chatroom but the free ones you can get are pretty bad without much admin control (you can upgrade to these features), also you still need the browser window open which lead me to the idea of a messenger type thingy.

I found neomessenger.com which gives you a pop-up messenger but the features are bit poor in that even though it is site specific you have to manually search for people to add to your friends list.

I really want a free web-based messenger that has heavy admin controlls. It must also involve no software downloads as many offices don't allow this. If anyone can help me on this matter I'd be very happy.

--------------------------------------------------------
I've got bowling tonight at AMF in Margate with the football club. I'll chat with them about it too I think.

I’m sick and tired, of always being sick and tired

I had quite a nice weekend. On Friday we went around to Dan's for a poker night. I took round my table and chips along with the PS2. Tom and Ian were the big winners taking home £30 each but at least when I got knocked out I got to play the new Pro Evo 5!

On Saturday I had a bit of a clear-up in the garden, finally putting away the BBQ, the garden chairs, and sweeping up all the leaves on the patio, then in the evening I went to Andy and Mel's housewarming and fireworks party.

On Sunday I had football, a county cup game in Dover. We had a full squad but alas no strikers (all crocked) so yours truly went up front with Stiffy (midfielder). In the first half we dominated and I bagged a 2-yarder after a bit of a goalline scramble (not goal of the season, although it's my first). At half-time we were leading 1-0 although we should've got a few more goals. The opponents looked more determined in the 2nd half and in the space of 2 minutes they had got 2 goals which was enough to win them the match. Damnn! Could my day get any worse?....Well I also got a slight pull on my hamstring and then fet really ill in the evening.

Here I am on tuesday morning still feeling ill. I was physically sick on early Monday morning (1am) and didn't get any sleep due to the constant shivers which resulted in me wearing socks, tracksuit bottoms, and a t-shirt in bed cover up by a fleece blanket, a crochet blanket and a duvet! Obviously I didn't feel well yesterday so I got the day off work and caught up on some sleep in the afternoon. I'm feeling a lot better today although I still ache all over and have a headache so I'm staying at home again today although I'll try and do some work later.

So that's been my week so far.....It can only get better.

Come and have a go if you think you're hard enough

Man Utd 1:0 Chelsea

Wahey!!!! Now for those of you who follow football you'll know what this means. I am not a supporter of either team and actually hate them with great fervour. It is something quentessentially British that we like to see those once great figureheads fall, be it a celebrity or in this case a footbal team. I used to just hate Manchester United but once they got crap then I didn't mind them as much, now my hate has projected to Chelsea who tonight lost for the first time in 40 league games.

So there we go.

Step 2: Instead of shit say poo, as in "bull poo", "poo head" and this "poo is cold"

Here's another brilliant post on a scientific tangent today....well kind of.

Blogland is an open place where you can talk about anything so I'm going to exercise my right and talk about defecation. [if this offends then stop reading here]

All week I've been feeling quite ill with a sore throat (I'm prone to throat infections when I get tired and exhausted) and also dull headaches and general dull aches in my joints. I'm not moaning but it's at times like this that I will generally eat comfort food which contains things that make me feel better (in the short term). These food items include burgers, chocolate, icecream and generally not anything healthy. The sugar and fat contents in these give me a high that will make me feel immediately a lot better but after a few hours result in me feeling sluggish both physically and mentally. It also leads to a catch-22 scenario whereby I'm eating bad food to feel better but in fact it makes me feel worse.

Now onto the poo bit. It makes sense that you can tell how you are doing in the health stakes by examining your feces. Not in a sicko scat kinda way but just a quick look before flushing. Yesterday I went for a number 2 at work and damn it the old fella wouldn't flush, he just floated there and wouldn't go down, which was unusual for when I "drop the kids off at the pool". Normally they sink to the bottom and that's the last I see of them, but this one didn't want to leave...I think he was trying to tell me something!

When I was a schoolboy I was chatting with someone about "floaters" and they told me that their grandma had told them that poos only float if you're unhealthy. Blimey....and he was right. Apparently poo will float if it has a high gas content or a high fat content!

So Mr Hanky told me that my feeling ill was not only because of a cold virus which had initially started the illness but my over zealous munching of bad things which had exaserbated the situation and maybe added new symptoms. I had to do something.

Yesterday I only ate good things. For lunch I had a Tesco healthy eating Curry, and then for dinner I had pork chops with new potatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots. I made sure I chewed everything instead of gulping it down (this removes the gas) and I removed the small amount of fat from the chop. I did get a bit peckish later on but instead I had a few bananas and a mullerlight yogurt (cherry).

I don't normally look at my poos, unless I'm a bit curious or they won't flush, but today I made an exception and had a peek....Those babies had sunk to the bottom and were flushed without a trace.

Today I'm feeling much better although the effects of the cold are still there a bit but I do feel quite good (maybe it's because the weekend is here almost). I think they vegetables helped out too and also the fruit.

I hope you liked my talk of poo. If this is something on your level then why not check out:

The Scoop on Poop

I Gave my Cat an Enema

Rate my Poo

"Howdy-ho!"

As we are told that this is the end

Quite a few of my past posts have been a little sparse in content and have been a bit run of the mill so I'm going to talk about something a little controversial.

I THINK PEOPLE SHOULD DIE

I don't mean that we should commit genocide or blow up the world I just believe that there are too many people on earth. I may not believe in a higher-being (I don't rule it out though) but I do believe that there is a design to life and to nature.

I look at the news and see that millions are dying from AIDS, Cancer, and a variety of other diseases, and I sometimes think to myself "maybe that is a good thing?". I wouldn't wish this fate on anyone and know that they are horrible inflictions to have which cause great amounts of suffering but do we ever ask ourselves why this is happening?

It used to be that the world was kept in order, something died, something was born, and in general everything was hunky-dory. From time to time nature would have a big shake up but apart from that everything was cool. Then during the last couple of centuries humans have been reproducing at an expenential rate which can be seen in the graph below (along with future predictions).

I'm not saying that my views are neccesarily correct but it is something to think about. I think that nature is trying to find new ways of keeping our population to an amount that is sustainable on earth with regards to resourses etc. Everytime a new disease comes along we find a cure and then something else even worse comes along. We are now finding cures for Cancer (not 100% but survival rates have increased) and there are now treatments to extend the lives of AIDS sufferers (which will lead to a cure in the future) but I believe that new, more virilant disease will come along and continue to try and keep our population down.

I don't like it that anyone should die but it is what nature intended. Roll-on Avian Flu!

Maybe this is what we have in store?

Hello

Hi all,
I'm just checking in to say I'm still alive. Not much has been happening, well nothing of any significance, so this is a pretty useless post.

I still haven't made my effort to start cycling to work due to many excuses the main one being that I can't trust the weather. I really don't like cycling in the rain as I end up soaked and have to sit in the same clothes at work. tsk tsk tsk.

I've got a poker evening coming up on Friday...should be fun....

yada yada yada.

I won't bore you with any more, except leave you with this link to check out...very funny.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/mb606/F2241577?thread=1247780