Sandown Park

The weather almost turned out perfectly for the Sports and Social trip to the Races last night.

It was my first visit to the races and Sandown Park was far more popular than I was thinking it might be, lots of people all enjoying themselves in the sun.

Sadly I didn't pick any winners, but I do recommend a visit as it was an enjoyable experience.

I must admit though that I prefer the excitement of Greyhound Racing, I think the closeness to the action and the time betweeb races really helps to build the excitement in the crowd. Hopefully we will be able to sort another visit to Wimbledon later in the year.

A night off this evening, then another game of golf tomorrow.

And they're off.........

A very relaxing 5 day weekend it was too, managed to get to Southsea on Thursday, which although the weather looked rather inclement when we left Alton, turned out rather nice on the end.

Friday, Saturday and Sunday were spen chilling on the sofa and Monday saw us go for a drive and due to the adventurous part of me, we ended up on the outskirts of Chichester, oops, oh well, we made it back safe and sound and the weather was much nicer in the car than it was out of it.

Off Horse Racing this evening after work with the Sports and Social commitee, which I rather looking forward to.

Hi to Mum and Dad, glad to have you along for the ride.

Good signing of Rosicky, farewell to Bobby (Pires) many thanks for all you have done for Arsenal over the past 6 seasons, best of luck in Spain, lets hope he doesn't return to haunt us.

That's all for now

M

That was the week that was

Well it's been a week or so since the last blog, the early part of last week was spent in nervous anticipation of the Champions League final, fearing that the Arsenal would not perform on the big stage.

I need not have worried, Thierry and his men did us proud, having gone down to ten men after Jens Lehman was sent off for tripping Samuel Eto'o, Sol Campbell's towering header put us 1-0 up.

Arsenal coped easily with the Barcelona attack, with Lehman's replacement, Manuel Almunia only being called upon once in the first half, smartly delfecting an Eto'o effort onto the post.

The second half was a similar story to the First, Arsenal looking mostly comfortable as Barcelona tried without any real purpose to level things. The introduction of Larsson changed the game on it's head, a clever flick to Eto'o (who appeared to be offside when the ball was played to him) allowed the striker to cleverly beat Almunia at the near post, and then a reverse ball to Belletti found the right bak free, and despite the best efforts of Flamini, who came on to replce the tiring Fabregas, and Almunia, the ball found it's way into the back of the net via the unlucky Spaniard's shin.

So that was that a 2-1 defeat, but a magnificent effort to do so well and to hold out with ten men for so long.

As soon as the final whistle blew in Paris, speculation over Thierry Henry's future started, as differeing opinions were aired regarding the mercurial Frenchman.

We didn't have to wait long, Thursdays late news seemed to have the inside story, HENRY STAYS, blaired the headlines, and the press conference on Friday confirmed the re-sigining of one of the Premiership's greatest players. Four more years should see us safely settled into the Emirates stadium, and must take him close to catching the record Premiership goal scorers.

Up the Arsenal.

Wet weekend, so didn't have much chance to do a great deal, am now drinking in the White Horse to avoid any unecessary confrontations with the Dickless Chav, had a good Saturday and Sunday night there. Am looking forward to becoming a regular there.

Paid the deposit for the wedding Saturday, need to confirm with the hotel that our choice of buffet menu is ok.

A Chav-tastic weekend

Well that was the weekend that was, and what an eventful one too.

Friday was most enjoyable, we very much enjoyed the BBQ at Jo's house, though not sure about leaving at gone 3am. It was an amusing stroll home as Lucy was staggering just a teeny bit, so I am certain we covered twice the actual distance we'd needed to.

Kitbag rather kindly sent me a letter explaining what had gone wrong with my football shirt order and apologising. My account on the website now shows my order cancelled and my cash refunded, so imagine my surprise when Lucy told me my shirt had arrived from them. So now I have to spend more time sorting that out, it never rains but it pours.

Bed at gone 4am eventually. Up at 10am though christ knows why. We were both looking fairly un-human so managed to walk to Town for lunch and a stroll around the Craft Fair etc, left town an hour later looking far happier with life.

Watched the second half of the F.A. Cup which was a great match, a shame there had to be a loser really, but Liverpool held their nerve in the penalty shootout to win the cup.

And then to the main event of the weekend, my Saturday night. I always look forward to Saturday night, it is really the one day over the weekend I can really let my hair down. Sadly it was ruined by a Chav I now know to be called Jason. I never really liked Jason, he was always loud and obnoxious (and looks like a chav obviously), but generally he and his little thicko mates stayed down the other end of the Pub and never really caused any problems....until Saturday.

Jason, the Dickless Chav as I shall always now refer to him, was obviously in high spirits, but then he would be, as he is the type of person who loves any opportunity to spend all day in the Pub, drinking and getting louder and louder and louder. Which is where I enter the Pub. Looking forward to a great evening of banter and darts with my mates, but having to put up with the Dickless Chav putting the corniest of Ballad type songs on the Jukebox and he and his dickless friends singing their arses off, right next to the Dart Board. The rest of the pub is basically empty, I assume they were near the dart board purely to annoy us.

Well, I am the one who reacts badly to unacceptable noise, so even though I was playing some great darts, I finally had enough and buggered off to the other end of the bar in a huff. L came down and we agreed to go somewhere else, so when I finished my pint we went to collect our stuff from the far end to leave.

Cue the Dickless Chav again, not content with ruining my evening and forcing me to have to go to another Pub, up he pipes with one of those comments that I can never just let go, so I asked him outside. Yes, yes the Dickless one is probably far harder than I am, which is why once I got to the door and was insistently calling him over, the realisation of what I was doing rather hit home, so I started to try to diffuse the situation by saying that I want to talk to him and nothing else.

Well eventually Dickless wanders over, his ultra Chavvy friend (who apparently never liked me anyway, hmm he will be pleased to know the feeling is mutul no doubt) was pulling at his arm to stop him coming at me, we start to discuss the events of the evening in a adult way (well I did, he just grunted a bit), the Landlord and Landlady intervened and that was that, Lucy and I walked away with me vowing never to come back.

Ok so there is a good amount of this incident which I am to be blamed for, but if it happened again tomorrow I would react the very same way. I will always refuse to allow myself to be walked all over by anyone, especially a Dickless Chav.

Well life is like that sometimes, so Sunday we stayed in and watched NCIS, a top programme, so at least I saved myself some cash and was not bored.

And here we are, left Publess again just because of a Chav, his mates, a weak Landlord and Landlady and my lack of restraint, such is life.

Friday...

...has arrived at last, seems as though it has been a particularly long week so far, but then with the Bank Holidays recently it sort of has been a bit longer that we got used to for a while there.

So, the first Test Match of the Summer is under way amidst amazing weather at Lords, and it looks as though it is going to continue through today also. Trezzer blazed a hundred on his return to the England side, and home debutant Alistair Cook (89) and Pietersen (50 odd not out) looked to have already made the game safet after just one day.

Suffice to say that I will be enjoying the hospitality of the Goldsworth Arms at lunchtime today to catch an hour of the action with Gary et al. Hopefull England can push on towards 500 before lunch, and we will be bowling by the time we get to the Pub.

BBQ tonight, quite looking forward to it actually, always nice to some different things rather than the same old same old every Friday night. Trying to find some veggie bbq recipes to hopefully make before we go to surprise Jo, not having a great deal of luck at the moment, but will keep trying.

Although Jo is a veggie, I thankfully am not, and although I do not want to upset her by bringing huge hunks of meat to cook up on her bbq (we may very take our own little desposable bbq's) I do enjoy looking around the super market for unusual things to cook. A couple of summers ago I was taking Ostrich steaks to BBQ's which were a real hit, very nice indeed.

I hope to find perhaps a marinade recipe for my steak also, superb, lets hope this wonderful weather lasts well into the evening.

M

Another fine evening

Two great evenings on the trot, I should tell more people I am getting married!!

Last night saw L and I meet up for dinner and drinkies with James, myBest Man, and Louise his wife at the Percy Hobbs.

Very nice it was too, part of the Brewers Fayre chain of pubs, which although takining some of the character out of a local Pub and it's menu, does allow for a high standard of food and service, which I would like to add was superb.

I had a bloody good go at the Mixed grill, shame I managed to leve the chips but ate the Gammon, Chciken Sausage, Steak and the Egg, all of which were gorgeous.

A few pints whilst Jimbo and Lou ran us through ideas for our Honeymoon, especially by recounting the wonderful time they had on their own last year at Sandals, Montego Bay, Jamaica. They have practically sold it to us, as it sounds like an amazing place. Some research required I think, but Sandals must be high up on the list of possibles.

My Mum and Dad are getting a laptop soon, so hopefully they will be tuning in fairly regularly to see what has been happening in my life. With the football season finished (other than the Champs league final of course) I am going to have to find something else to talk about. Hmmm.

Going to a BBQ Friday evening at our friend Jo's house, am looking forward to that as it will be the first of the year, hopefully the weather will hold for us.

Kitbag have finally (after 6 e-mails and a letter) replied to me regarding the Arsenal Home shirt with free Thierry Henry printing I ordered on the 30th April, which for whatever reason they could not supply. Bunch of muppetts, I have decided that as this is the second time they have mucked me around with an order, and it took them 8 days to reply to my e-mails that I will give them a miss when looking to order things in the future. You are well advised to take my advice. Anyway apparently the cash is due to be refunded shortly, at which time it may very well be used to purchase some more Adidas Samba trainers.

Anyway, Test Match starts today so will be dipping in and out of the live online commentary on Sky Sports, it generally gets amusing, comments like this one "Of course this is the first Test match in England ever to be shown live on Sky Sports. It's one of those cases where you will always remember where you were, like when JFK was shot, when Neil Armstrong walked on the moon and the time you actually laughed during an episode of Bread." which all helps to while the day away.

Right, nothing actually planned for this evening, so I may not even Blog tomorrow, who knows, toodlepip

Monday, Monday

So how comes nobody told me that planning a wedding wasn't easy!!

L and I have been trying to work out the details for our wedding day, (10th August 2007) it can be a little frustrating at times. Half the time neither of us quite fully understand what exactly the other one means and we end up talking cross purposes; but I think we are getting there finally. Just a matter of confirming with the Hotel today, and arranging another time to pop down and have a chat with the manager, which hopefully will be this Saturday coming.

I was very pleased last week, when my very good friend James agreed to be my Best Man, even better was that he appeared to be as happy about it as I was. We are off to dinner with he and his wife Louise tomorrow evening, just as we haven't seen them for three months and to run through the basic plan so far, will be great to see them both again.

Off to L's brother's this evening to ask if his Son's would like to perform a piece of music after the ceremony.

James and my thoughts must surely now turn to the STAG WEEKEND and no doubt it will come up for discreet discussion on Wednesday over dinner (out of earshot of the girls of course) and again over the coming months, any suggestions for where we can go, ideally overseas as I like flying so much, please feel free to comment.

My neighbour Claire returned to her flat over the weekend, almost a month to the day after the accident that claimed the life of her boyfriend Mike. Seems that the move had to be cancelled, which is a real shame for her, but it is really good to have her back and we look forward to perhaps getting to know her a bit better and offering any support that we are able to.

That's your lot for now. See ya tomorrow!

A recent survey I undertook has revealed...

...that Uriah Rennie is the worst referee currently officiating in the Premier League.

That's right out of the people asked, a massive 50% agreed that Rennie couldn't referee his way out of a sopping wet paper bag, the results speak for themselves as the other 50% of people asked refused to even take part in the survey, I think that tells you everything you need to know about this amazingly inept official. **

Thankfully despite the Premier Leagues best efforts to even up the end of the season by sending Rennie to try and ruin the Arsenal's final game at Highbury, the Redcurrants triumphed over a spirited Wigan side whilst Sickness ridden Spurs crashed to defeat at West Ham, finally we forgive West Ham for beating us a) In the 1980 Cup Final and b) Earlier this season.

So Arsenal take the last Champions League place without even kicking a ball in Paris, hopefully the relase of tension will spur the Gunners on to victory over Barcelona.

The game started we for Arsenal, Robert Pires stabbing home from a corner in the 8th Minute and the Party had started. Celebrations were short lived as Rennie astonishingly stripped off his Referee top and donned a Wigan shirt to give the first of many incredibly dubious free kicks to the visitors. Wigan appear to be a side who enjoy the physical side of the game, but then spend a lot more time falling theatrically to the ground when it suits them. Anyway, Thompson whipped the free kick in and Scharner equalized, Ten minutes gone and 1-1.

The game progressed steadily, Arsenal creating chances on the break against a well organized Wigan defence, Pires going close after a neat pass from Reyes. But then shock horror, another ducious and soft free kick and Thompson caught Lehman out from 40 odd yards,rather Quedrue esque a wonderful piece of thinking. Arsenal 1 - Wigan 2.

Tensions were running high, with Fabregas and Gilberto unable to break down the Wigan midfield, 40 minutes gone, the score at Upton park cheered the buoyant Highbury crowd 1-1 as it stood Arsenal were Champions League bound, they had even more to cheer as Henry skipped through the defence to slot home past Mike Pollett Half Time 2-2.

Half time and a much needed cigarette to calm the nerves, the Second Half started with a renewed purpose, Arsenal took the lead after Thompson's misplaced back pass found the marauding Thierry Henry, who round Pollett for his second of the game, Arsenal 3 - Wigan 2.

The atmosphere at the ground, superb anyway, was occasionally spiked with louder cheers, no more so than when WestHam took the lead against Spurs.

Paul Jewell took off Thompson, who was looking tired and replaced him with Johansson, who's first and only act of the game was to pull the recently introduced Ljunberg to the ground six yards out, Johannson didn't even get to touch the ball before Rennie, in a shock move that saw him get not just one decision right, actually saw him get to right in a row, sent the Wigan player off and awarded a penalty, Henry despatched from the spot for his 9th Arsenal Hattrick, and that saw off Wigan as a force in the game.

Arsenal had done it, 4th spot doesn't sounds that good, but in the context of the season it was like winning the Champions League, which is exactly what I hope we do on the 17th May.

** Admittedly the survey organizers only managed to ask two people, and admittedly one of them was me (the other being Lucy who wasn't that bothered either way) but the sentiment behind the survey was honest and decent.

Up the Arsenal

Diaby and stuff

News filtered through after the Sunderland game on Monday evening that Abou Diaby had fractured and disclocated his ankle and is facing a long 9 months out of the game, Abou had been developing well in the team and this has come as a really cruel blow especially with the Champions League final under two weeks away.

Ahsley Cole looks very likely to be making his first start in over threre months this evening as the Gunners travel to Eastlands to take on Manchester City. Another must win game for the Redcurrants as they continue to chase the last Champions league place.

Reyes, Gilberto and Hleb should all return, Senderos, Walcott and of course Diaby miss out through injury, Bergkamp is rested.

Up the Arsenal!!

Bank Holiday Weekend

Relatively quiet Bank Holiday weekend, despite having been paid last Friday.

A pleasant stroll to The Greyfriars Friday evening for a meal, pricey but atmospheric, service left a little to be desired, and we left feeling that they were not too bothered whether we came back or not, which was a shame.

Saturday was quietish, Lucy and I met the Manager of the Alton House Hotel as we are finally well down the path to organizing our Wedding. I am quite excited (for a bloke, it's all relative you know!!). They have a day that we like the sound of, so will be heading back their soon to provisionally book Friday the 10th August 2007.

Spent what felt like the afternoon wading through thousands of Vinyl samples trying to find one that would match the colour of the Bathroom walls, still struggling to actually find anything, but no doubt the perfect one does exist, somewhere.

Saturday evening saw us head to the Dukes, not a great night out, a bit niggly here and there, but that's life sometimes. Left a bit early to find L who had gone to the Weybridge with Jo.

Sunday, spend more time laying the Hardboard over the underlay in the bathroom, until I got bored and stopped. Went to the White Horse for a quiet drink but was hijacked by Mick the totally nutty Northerner from the Dukes.

Finished the Bathroom floor by mid afternoon in time to sit and watch the Arsenal comfortably beat Sunderland, who were a bit better than the 3-0 scoreline suggested (though not that much better). The game ended (literally as it was the 91st minute) with Dan Smith some Sunderland nipper catching my pal Abou Diaby with a rather late reckless tackle.

Poor old Abou has fractured and dislocated his Ankle ruling him out of the Champions League final in two weeks time. Everybody feels for him, let's hope that time heals and he comes back strong next season.

As for the Sunderland lad, I agree with Mr Wenger when he said that the only person who didn't think it was a Red Card was the referee, it was very late and very dangerous, as proven by the damage caused.

Goals from Fabregas and and exquisite Henry freekick followed an Own Goal and victory was assured as the biys went in 3-0 up at half time.

Van Persie and Henry could have made it worse for the hosts, but reward enough was to see Ashley Cole back and fit again.

Roll on Thursday and Manchester City away, hopefully Reyes, Gilberto, Senderos and Flamini could all be in line for returns from injury, one hopefully to replace the stricken Diaby.