Signals, and the lack thereof

I am not nearly as prolific as Golfy in bringing you snippets from the web. However, this morning I was rather amused by a story that is obviously a practical joke by Blackberry owners. Take a look and see if you find it slightly amusing. I can only assume that the designers were left handed, or maybe right eared, in any case the opposite to the majority of the gullible public (I am picking on them as the only ones to queue for three hours just to spend a lot of money), since it seems that if you hold the new iPhone in your left hand you block the antennae and lose your signal. It may worsen all those overheard conversations "I'm on the train, using my new iPhone... sorry, you still there?"


We have a barbie planned for Sunday, so it will be in-laws, burgers (veggie of course) and FOOTBALL.

COME ON ENGLAND

it's round, and it's in the back of the net

At last, for the first half at least, the English football team managed to perform as well as we expect, and as they do week in week out for their clubs.  A goal settled their nerves and then they began to play with confidence.  There were some good signs with the team.  Gerrard, better.  Lampard, better.  Milner, nice one.  Rooney, still not convinced.  Praying he is off colour, and will come on colour shortly so he can do what we all want him to do, however yesterday, it was the right thing to sub him.

So now we get to play our arch rivals Germany, who have not looked so assured themselves.  May the best team win.  If England are the best team win.  Otherwise, may England win any which way they can.

A day of rest, or two

Well folks, what a fantastic weekend we had.  We have been so blinking busy of late that we just needed a weekend when we had nothing on.  And this weekend was that weekend.

Saturday AM was spent as a Parent-and-Child science morning at Maggot 1's school, which was greatly enjoyed by all.  The school have been working on capturing the children's imagination, and they have done this by delivering a box of unknown stuff to each class (even teacher did not know what was in the box) for them to do experiments.  Any experiments.

So on Saturday, we were presented with a whole load of trifle-related ingredients.  Whole trifles in tubs, squirty cream, those funny little finger buscuits your gran puts or put in to her trifles, custard and a lot of other incidental ingredients.  There was also proper science stuff like pipettes, stop clocks, thermometers and other stuff that, had we been wearing one, we would have definitely put in the pocket of our white lab coat.

Our goal was simply to invent an experiment.  The science lady asked us to think "what changes, and what stays the same", and with a few words of encouragement from the school science lead, off we went.

Our first experiment was to test the absorbency of finger biscuits with various different liquids.  Surprising the vinegar was the most absorbent.  Who would have thought it?  Or really care?

Our second experiment was how far different amounts of cream on a biscuit splattered when a 1Kg weight was dropped from a height of 30cm.  That was really just coz we needed to make some mess.

The rest of the day was spent at home, doing stuff, some of it even classifiable as chores, but all making us feel more in control and with some important things off our to do list.

Oh, and of course there was a footy match to watch.  More words have been written about that already than had previously existed in the whole history of the planet, so I will keep my comments brief.

1.  How we played - not bad, could do better, key players performed under-par, so look out world when they have a good game.

2.  The USA goal - poor old Green, reckon he has the strength to recover, is probably an OK goalie, and certainly did a great save in the second half.  Having said that, I am a Pompey fan, so not too unhappy if the big man Jammo gets the next game.

3.  Will we win the cup - doubt it.  Happy to hope.  That is the English curse.  Always looking for hope to triumph over experience.

Have a good week.

So here we are then

Spending Tuesday to Thursday in London is a very intense experience.  I do at least a week's work in those three days, yet I also have a day either end working at home which is obviously still work, but does seem like overtime.  All that is to say, today is Friday but it most definitely feels like Saturday.  And we all know what a bummer feeling that is.

Today is, of course, the first day of the 2010 World Cup.  Only if you have been living on another planet, or Gloucester* as we Londoners** call it, can you have missed the fact that we are about to enter three weeks of either "glorious sporting endeavour" or "the wost three weeks of the summer, but never mind, I need to tidy up the loft and paint the kitchen anyway", depending on which side of the spherical divide you sit.

Me?  I love it.  I have to admit that somewhere through the first week the prospect of three games of football in one day between teams I have no interest in does pale slightly, however overall it is a delicious prospect, and I do rather enjoy all the spectacle and the buzz that is created amongst the England-supporting members of the community.  I even love flags, which would probably rank as an extreme social faux pas were I not already a self-confessed 'vanner, and I expect we will have one or two around the house.  It's not for me, it is for my children of course.  I am just trying to work out if I can dye the lawn in my back garden with a red cross, and must remember to borrow the ladder off my dad so I can fit the ten metre square roof-top tarpaulin***.


Tomorrow, England play their first game.  We had planned a family pizza and footy session, but Maggot 1 has just been invited to a sleep-over birthday bash, so we are recording it to watch on Sunday.  Obviously that will be "watch it for the second time" for us adults, but don't tell the children.


Have a good weekend, speak next week, and ...

... COME ON ENGLAND!!!!

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*  Remember, you can't sue if it is funny.

** Did you notice that?  I have only been and gone and called myself a Londoner.  Whatever next?

*** Remember, as long as it is funny****, you don't need to be truthful either.
**** Humour is, like beauty, in the eyes of the beholder.