Saturday, Aug. 22, 2009 - 23:49

Apologies, once more, for a lack of quality. Also I must say that I am sorry that a lack of ability to form coherant narrative has meant I am going to write another entry as disconnected points in a list.

1. Bit of a grouchy last couple of days of the week at work. Had to do far too much stuff in order to clean up other people's stupidity and laziness, and in the end just gave up and resorted to writing arsey e-mails whilst copying in people's bosses.

2. Most interestingly sportingwise in the first two days of the test, England got into a very good situation. The pitch was a little dusty and cracked (giving some uneven bounce) which allowed England - mostly via 5 from Broad and 4 from Swann - to take all the Aussie wickets for 160, a defecit of 172 runs on England's first innings.

3. Today, the English made a decent effort at building a lead. Attacking play from Broad and Flintoff getting quick twenties, Swann getting sixty-something at a run a ball, and highly patient play from Trott (getting a hundred and nineteen on debut!) and Strauss (70+) scoring slower innings. In the end they declared on 373/9, setting the Aussies 546 to win.

4. Despite this being a thoroughly unlikely target - 418 being the greatest score a team has got in the last innings to win, and only once has a team scored in excess of 451 in the fourth innings - the tourists made a very good start in pursuit and (helped by some iffy bowling) reached 80/0 from 20 overs by stumps.

5. Chatted to my Ma last night about my week, and ended up blethering to her about hw tired and unhappy the last few weeks at work has made me. In truth it's a bit more deeper than that - I've been suffering existential doubts about there not being any point to it all too - but it was interesting that a lot came flooding out.

6. I need a break, and/or I need to have some fun. I do have plenty of things that I enjoy doing, but I don't have as much unbridled fun as maybe I need. Should see my friends a little more - make more of an effort ('cause they are paired off now, it's not the same as it was when we were all twenty, not that I necessarily want that same thing back) and I should book time off and have a holiday.

7. Chatted to my big sister this morning, and she suggested that she and I maybe go off on a little city trip. She's in the UK for a few days next month and it'd be nice to meet up with her. So that sounds good - I'll have to have a think about nice places to go.

8. Who would win in a fight between Minnie Riperton and Fern Kinney? Well, since the former has been dead (of cancer, unfortunately) for thirty years, and the latter appears to be still alive even if not working prolifically.. probably that's a bit of an unfair scrap.

9. I really do wish that people would use the word 'ta llywhacker' a little more often. It's a top word for a penis.

10. In 1971, Tanguito was charged with heading a drug trafficking cartel. He was diagnosed as mentally insane and committed to a neuropsychiatric hospital, where he was submitted to insulin shock treatment and other therapies designed to wane him off amphetamines. Instead of recovering, his mental health deteriorated to the point that in 1972 he was committed to the hospital's long-term care facility. Tanguito escaped from the hospital on the dawn of May 19, 1972. He managed to reach the Pacífico train station, where he apparently waited for a train to his parents' home. At 10:50 a.m. he fell on the tracks and was fatally hit by an oncoming train.

11. Had some oatmeal and raisin cookies after lunch today. They were nice, but appear to have given me the trots.

12. So.. will any of the terrestrial TV channels take up coverage (or even highlights) of NFL in the coming season? I like a bit o' gridiron, would be a shame to miss out on the fun.

13. Put your hands up if you've been fucked in the arse. All ten of you!!

14. Reading (morbid, I know) about industrial accidents and school disasters today, I found out about The Bath School Disaster. Nasty stuff. It's a moot point, but I myself can see why someone, if they reached that unhinged point of insanity and hatred, would target a school.

15. More than 50% of the world's population harbour Helicobacter pylori in their upper gastrointestinal tract. Infection is more prevalent in developing countries, and incidence is decreasing in western countries. The route of transmission is unknown, although it is known individuals typically become infected in childhood. H. pylori's helical morphology (from which the generic name is derived) is thought to have evolved to penetrate the mucoid lining of the stomach.

16. Tomorrow I have the exciting prospect of typing up an audit, and also doing some laundry. I shall probably do the former whilst listening to the cricket (hopefully which'll be a victory in the Ashes decider). I'm actually not 100% certain I'll do laundry because I have enough clean shirts and trousers to last the week.

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18. I didn't know that Sandy Denny died partly as a result of falling down a staircase - perhaps due to an underlying brain tumour. Very similar end as Laura Ashley (aside from the level of prematurity, I admit).

19. Wigan faced Man United at the DW Stadium, and kept it tight in the first half. It was nil-nil at half time, but in the second half the reigning champions turned on the style and scored five. Bugger. So that's not a repeat of United's capitulation to Burnley in midweek.

20. Arsenal hosted Portsmouth, and continued on their excellent start to the season, winning 4-1 with goals through Abou Diaby, Gallas and Aaron Ramsey.

21. I went to the local ASDA this morning and saw the Wolves supporters getting on the coaches to travel up to Eastlands. This evening they'll have returned feeling a bit disappointed, having lost 1-0 to Manchester City's millionaires. In some ways they could've been pleased at the performance and the low scoreline, but a loss is a loss.

22. Birmingham welcomed Stoke to St. Andrews, and the game was a bit of a scrappy basement battle - finishing 0-0. Birmingham will be satisfied with four points from two potential relegation six-pointers they've played this week.

23. Blackburn went to Sunderland, and did take the lead through Gael Givet, only to have the tables turned on them by two Kenwyne Jones goals. Sunderland look like they'll have enough quality to avoid a relegation scrap - they are winning against the teams they'll be in a bottom-half scrap with.

24. Bolton played at Hull, and went down to the solitary goal of the game by Ghilas - Hull's first win at home in 2009. I know it's early days, but the Trotters haven't scored yet or got a point, and look likely that they'll struggle.

25. Down at The Riverside, Middlesbro' were visited by Doncaster, and the Teessider's good start to the season continued with a 2-0 win. They move up to top of the Championship, just above Newcastle (who also won) and West Brom. It looks like the teams relegated from the Premiership last year are currently looking good for immediate bounce back.

26. The robots are taking over - they are trying to kill us all! "Kenji Urada (c. 1944-1981) was one of the first individuals killed by a robot. Urada was a 37-year old maintenance engineer at a Japanese Kawasaki plant. While working on a broken robot, he failed to turn it off completely, resulting in the robot pushing him into a grinding machine with its hydraulic arm. He died as a result." This violates Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics :-) The Economist has an article on robot ethics etc.

LISTENING TO:- The same sort of stuff as I mentioned I was listening to earlier in the week. A bit of Type O Negative and Sepultura ('Roots Bloody Roots' by the latter accompanied my walk to the supermarket this morning) plus some recently acquired alt-country type stuff too.