Gamer's Thumb

Was over in East Kilbride at the in-law's last night. Graeme (my brother-in-law) was there with his Gamecube, so needless to say we had the opportunity to have a game of FIFA 2005 there.

I'm really out of touch with this game. Since I got Pro Evolution Soccer 4 my allegiance has changed, to the point where more experienced FIFA players (e.g. Graeme and my best friend Neil) absolutely wipe the floor with me. Of course sometimes I don't help myself by doing things like accidentally getting my goalkeeper to dribble out of the penalty area with the ball, allowing Graeme an easy goal into an empty net.

Anyway, I'm feeling the effects the day after. My left thumb, cut open by doctors at Wishaw General in January is a touch tender again. I can't help but think that the Nintendo game pad design with the grip on top of the left analog stick really doesn't help with this, although obviously I can't prove that.

(And no, that isn't an excuse for losing 3-1 and 4-0 in back-to-back games.)

Field of Dreams

Saw the end of this wonderful film again on Five yesterday. Lorraine was somewhat bemused as to why I had to see the end of a film I own on video, but it really is that good.

Of course it is also the one film that can also move me to tears, and a different line in it set me off this time. It would have given Lorraine a good laugh, had she not needed a nap at the time.

And the best quote of the film? Definitely this:

"The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It's been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt, and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game, is a part of our past, Ray. It reminds us of all that once was good, and that could be again. Oh people will come, Ray. People will most definitely come."

<tingling>

And yes, I know that the film isn't ultimately about baseball, but I love it regardless of that fact.

By the way I'm really tired today. Not good this early in the week.

Geoff Thomas, Podcasts and Nuthin' Else (for now)

In the past couple of weeks I've really begun to enjoy some podcasts from various websites (thanks to my Father-in-law for passing on a complimentary .mp3 player he received). This morning I was listening to some of the Palace Radio podcasts while waiting for my train.

The two clips I had downloaded were from the night of the recent rematch of the two 1990 F.A. Cup Final sides in aid of Leukaemia Research. Of course former Palace captain Geoff Thomas has recently overcome the disease, and it was his idea to stage the game to raise funds. Pretty good idea too, I wish I could have been there.

One of the clips I had downloaded was with Geoff himself. The beginning of the interview might be a one of the strangest introductions I've ever heard. What happened to the cancer survivor and captain of arguably the greatest ever Palace side? Yep, he had the sprinklers turned on him! Only at Palace.

You can donate to Geoff's appeal at www.geoff-thomas.com.

Happy New Year!

I've been quite good in updating this recently, until I realised that I haven't written anything since before Christmas. Not good - let's rectify that now.

Christmas - Santa (not to mention my wife, friends and family) were very good to me. Got just about everything I wanted, including the Palace away shirt and Madden 2004 (sleeping is over-rated, especially late at night).

New Year's Eve was quite quiet, but enjoyable. We started the evening round at Lucy's before making the customary annual visit to John and Liz Phillips (hospitality superb as always).

Lorraine and I both managed to pick up a horrible cold though. It has been really hurting my throat since New Year's Day. Being woken up after three and a half hours' sleep by the on-call phone didn't help either!

Happy New Year everyone!

Random notes on a Saturday night

Just a few notes for the time being.

• As we speak it is the Pop Idol final. I like Mark, Lorraine likes Michelle - at least one of us wins!
• Both Lorraine and I had our Christmas work "do" yesterday. Lorraine got in from her night out just before 1am, I got back from my lunch at 8.30pm (yes, it was a lunch). Nothing too dramatic or funny happened this year, just one instance of someone referring to their George Foreman grill as a "George Formby".
• Palace's game with Reading has just finished, with Palace winning 3-0. The game was live on Sky, and when Andy Johnson scored Palace's first goal I let out an enormous shout of "Yes!" Unfortunately Cookie was alongside me on the sofa at the time, and he got a bit frightened. I gave him enough of a fuss to earn forgiveness, but when I slid onto the floor to celebrate Wayne Routledge scoring the second Cookie also went onto the floor, not to return! Oops...

My Best Friend's, Er... Visit

Yep, Neil was up this weekend. Managed to really enjoy ourselves, even though we didn't get in the usual mad games of NHL 2003 on the PC.

(We've already said we're making up for that next time - we're going to have an epic play-off battle!)

Had a big Sunday lunch today, for which we invited our friends Lucy and Douglas round for. Lorraine was up at 9am this morning to put the Roast Beef on, so I'm glad to say her hard work paid off. Lunch was lovely.

Got the week off. Should be a nice relaxing time.

A late addition to the Christmas list

This week I've been starting work at 9.30am. The problem has been that Lorraine has been starting at 7.30am, and as a result I've been getting into Glasgow at about 8.15am (there's nowt to do in Motherwell before 9am, so you're best off commuting on one of the really early, quiet trains).

Reverting to old habits I've been in Borders for opening time, and have taken myself up to the second floor. On Monday I found out that their sports department has multiple copies of "Moneyball" by Michael Lewis in stock. I picked up a copy and started flicking through it. It was hard to put it down!

It looks at the Oakland Athletics and how they go about their Baseball business. It reads very easily and if you like Baseball (like moi) it is absolutely compelling.

Hinting over!

Not the best weekend

Well, on a sporting front anyway. Palace lost 4-1 at Preston on Saturday, and then the Dolphins lost in New England last night (a result which locked up the AFC East for the Patriots). I have to say that at about 11pm last night I was kicking an empty bottle of Diet Coke around the kitchen. I wasn't happy.

Why do all my teams have to become utterly useless? In two games last week the Ducks (yes, the Stanley Cup Finalists of six months ago) conceded thirteen goals in two games. Just when I didn't think it could get any worse I read that the Braves will be cutting their payroll for the upcoming season. Great.

It didn't even feel that I had an especially productive weekend doing anything. At least Lorraine enjoyed herself - she visited Ibrox last night for the first time, and Rangers beat Dundee United 2-1.

On the bright side Neil is coming up for the weekend on Friday. And I heard the Lightning Seeds' song "Marvellous" on the radio for the first time in years last night. I'm tempted to make it my theme song for next year:

"Things could be marvellous,
Things could be fabulous... soon."

Good song on a bad day.

JFK - 40 years on

Well it is now over 40 years on and still the debate rages. Sunday night saw another programme on the topic ("The Kennedy Assassination: Beyond Conspiracy" on BBC2), and it seems that most people who saw it have now accepted that Lee Harvey Oswald was a lone assassin as freely as they previously accepted that there was a conspiracy behind Kennedy's murder.

Even my best friend Neil and I were talking about this on the phone last night. We took opposite views on the subject, during which time I suggested the following (points which I had made elsewhere on Monday):

A few things that have come to mind upon what I've seen of last night's programme so far (not seen it all, but taped it).

1) Why did it take 40 years for it to come out that Connelly was sitting below and just inside of JFK? Why the need for the whole "Magic Bullet Theory" as reported by the Warren Commission?

2) In like manner, why is it only now that Oswald's record as a "sharpshooter" has come to light? Again, why shoot him from behind when the easier shot for a lone gunman is when the motorcade approaches the School Book Depository from Houston Street?

3) If Oswald was the assassin how on earth could the authorities let someone into the building holding him with a gun? Think about it, when we go to a football game involving a "notorious" opponent we all get searched. Yet in a far more serious situation (security-wise) and with far fewer people one person gets through and manages to get off a fatal shot at the alleged assassin. Bit convenient, no?

4) If there was no other shooter why have so many people who have testified otherwise gone missing or died in suspicious circumstances?

What worries me more than anything else is the way a lot of people stop thinking logically about things. The facts behind the assassination will not result in JFK regaining his life, or anyone being convicted of the crime. However if people stop thinking logically about things like this, what else might they stop thinking logically about?

It is time to look beyond what we are told, apply our minds to the information we have, step back and make logical, informed decisions over the things which matter most.

Being busy!

Why no update for so long? Well, there are a number of reasons. The main ones are:

1. I keep forgetting to put relevant events here!
2. I've actually been very busy lately.

Also at the moment I'm not feeling particularly well. Just run-down, pretty tired, slightly feverish. Lorraine's been pretty much the same. I've had to succumb to it and take some days off work, which I really didn't want to do.

I'll make a point to put more updates in here from now on, I promise!