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Post by John Parry on Jul 21, 2010 17:04:24 GMT -5
Dave
It's a Monarch - lovely examples of a migratory species. You're right - our 'normal' butterflies are scarce this year (Red Admirals, Peacocks, Commas and so on), but I've seen more Skippers and unusual smaller butterflies than ever before. Climate change?
Regards - John
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Post by John Parry on Jul 20, 2010 15:09:27 GMT -5
Where else in the world would you ever get a hosepipe ban, a drought order, and a flood warning simultaneously?
Regards - John
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Post by John Parry on Jul 19, 2010 17:04:29 GMT -5
eBay's a different thing though. You post your best price bid and hope nobody gazumps you while you turn off the computer for a day or two.
Or don't you guys do it like that?
Regards - John
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Post by John Parry on Jul 14, 2010 17:35:07 GMT -5
Dee
Hard as it is to admit this, I don't think I own a camera that I know how to work everything on. And I own quite a few.
And on the modern digitals I'm sure I'll never be able to work my way through the menu - life's too short to stuff mushrooms.
I'm probably a flawed character...
Regards - John
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Post by John Parry on Jul 12, 2010 16:11:21 GMT -5
So we've a new name on the trophy. A deserved win for Spain, who I thought had lost their way somewhat before the tournament started. Good to see the footballing side win against the rather shameful tactics of the Dutch. The ref is being slated by both sides - too harsh by the Holland team, and too lenient by the Spaniards.
I tend to go with the Spanish - if he'd sent a player off (probably de Jong) earlier in the game, it wouldn't have turned out to be the yellow card-fest that it was.
I'm glad the better team scored before the horrible penalty shoot-out that the Dutch were obviously playing for. But in fact the play-off for third place was a much better match for the neutral to watch.
Regards - John
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Post by John Parry on Jul 7, 2010 15:53:48 GMT -5
Mik
Sadly, 5 o'clock in the morning is something that happens to other people. I know it exists theoretically, but like belief in ghosts, I'll believe it when I see it...
Regards - John
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Post by John Parry on Jul 6, 2010 17:08:02 GMT -5
Oh, but pity the poor magical fairy having to deal with a USA win! Few people, fairies included, know the USA was one of the original signatories to FIFA and not only played in the first World Cup, but actually finished third! Their next claim to soccer fame would not occur for 20 years when, in Brazil in 1950, they defeated the highly favored England 1–0. The English press, certain the news they received was a typo, initiallly reported the result as England 10 - USA 1. The unexpected USA win led to the match being described as the "Miracle on Grass." However, the USA did not even qualify to participate for another 40 years! The 2010 Cup is the farthest the USA has progessed since 1930! The only thing craftier than wishing to live long enough to see England win the World Cup again would be to wish to live long enough for the USA to win it at all! Ron, Don't undersell yourselves! For many years that 1950 US victory was drilled into every English schoolboy as an example of the dangers of complacency! If truth be told, the English team went into every WC from then until 1966 as serious under-achievers. Alf Ramsay knocked that out of them - anybody who was over-confident was ruthlessly dropped (one of the country's leading goalscorers at the time - Jimmy Greaves, was never selected). He went for a team of players who worked for each other (as the US team did in this year's competition). In 1970 he took an even better team to Mexico, where they were beset by bad luck - as PeterW's mentioned, the loss of our incredible goalkeeper Gordon Banks being the worst of our problems. Since then, we've never looked like winning it. I think with the number of good youngsters you've got coming up, if you stick with the work ethic thing, with one or two superstars, you could be serious contenders next time round. Meanwhile, I'll go on rescuing fairies.... LOL! Regards - John
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Post by John Parry on Jul 6, 2010 16:25:02 GMT -5
Wayne
If I ever get re-incarnated as a bear, I'll be a grizzly....
Regards - John
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Post by John Parry on Jul 5, 2010 16:30:52 GMT -5
Our red squirrels are more of a russet colour. I saw one in Niagara (right by the falls - couldn't believe it - and it was a bright orange red).
You're right Dave - the disease you're talking about seems to be something like TB - it takes a while to catch it, but when they have, its fatal. The grey squirrels are carriers but they don't get the symptoms. A bit like Typhoid Mary.
In Cumbria the reds are a separate race, and they seem to have slightly more resistance to the disease than elsewhere, but they're also helped by the local farmers shooting any grey squirrels they see - tree rats as they call them. (Mind you, they call the hikers crag rats - its a Cumbrian thing).
Regards - John
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Post by John Parry on Jul 5, 2010 15:59:58 GMT -5
Anyway, this morning I was in the garden and happened to see a fairy struggling to get out of a flower which contained a pool of water. With great delicacy, I managed to fish the fairy out, and she awarded me one wish.
Obviously I said the first thing that came into my mind - "I'd like to live forever".
Her reply was "Sadly, I don't have the power to confer immortality to any human being".
I took a moment to think then, and finally asked for "I'd like to live long enough to see England win the World Cup again".
"Oh, you crafty devil !"
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Post by John Parry on Jun 30, 2010 15:20:07 GMT -5
You're right Bob - they worked really well. I 'specially like the first.
Regards - John
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Post by John Parry on Jun 29, 2010 17:18:24 GMT -5
Ron - I know how difficult it is, but for the first time in history the South Africans replayed every angle of every goal attempt on the screens overlooking the match (FIFA have promised to stop that bad habit). You'd have thought the referee would have gone over to the linesman and asked him if he was sure about his decision, while raising his eyebrows and inclining his head towards the screen. No - he was certain it wasn't a goal, so let him go down in history.
Peter - I'm not defending them. Capello said he would never play a player who wasn't fit (Rooney and Barry), and he would never play a player who wasn't in his club's first team (Joe Cole and Shaun Wright-Phillips). Compound that with repeatedly playing players out of position (John Terry, Shaun Wright-Phillips and Joe Cole), and it's no wonder we didn't perform.
OK, I'm just a bad loser. Gnghhhh!
ps Ron - 44 years ago - I get confused!
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Post by John Parry on Jun 28, 2010 15:04:51 GMT -5
To a certain extent, what goes around comes around. Germany have always contended that they scored during the 1966 World Cup, and that if the goal had been allowed to stand it would have changed the whole game.
England started off very poorly against Germany (although I would say that Germany's first goal was a very well worked set-piece. Did you see the German keeper's run-up to achieve the distance on that goal kick and their striker's superb positioning right on the end of it?). Their second goal caught our defense all over the place.
But then we started something of a fight-back. Upson's was a well taken goal (also from a set-piece), and if Lampard's goal had been allowed to stand, we'd have gone in level at half time after coming back from 2 -0 down. Who can say what would have happened then in the second half if we'd come out with our tails up?
But that's all in the land of Might Have Been. You're right Peter, we were terrible from half-time onwards. We pushed forwards trying to claw back that second goal and were caught on the break by textbook errors for the German third and fourth goals. Rooney didn't turn up, and the player everyone'd bring on if you really needed a goal of course, would be Emile Heskey. The worst defeat in our World Cup history. It was awful.
Mik - blame Sepp Blatter. He wants to retain the 'human element' for refereeing decisions, but he's making his referees look like idiots. As you say, the whole world saw that ball land squarely a metre over the line only seconds after the referee disallowed the goal. That referee and linesman will never live down that decision.
Ron - There are decisions and decisions! In another area that I know you're interested, somebody came on 5-Live (our main nation-wide sport radio network) this morning with some interesting statistics about the number of UEFA qualified coaches in the various European countries. It turns out that Germany heads the list with 30-odd thousand (I can't remember the actual numbers), but Italy and France have 20-odd thousand and Spain something like 15 thousand. England have two thousand.
While I generally take statistics with a pinch of salt, that one made me stop and think!
ps I've never seen a film, TV footage or photograph of Germany's 1966 'goal' that showed the ball actually crossing the line!
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Post by John Parry on Jun 25, 2010 23:01:32 GMT -5
Good luck against S Korea, Julio. I'll always support a team in sky blue - except Argentina once we've put Germany to bed...
LOL
Regards - John
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Post by John Parry on Jun 25, 2010 22:16:55 GMT -5
And in London, the government charges you a special tax for the privilege of driving in that nightmare. Wayne - haven't you realised, none of us go there... It's a strange situation, the government put out propaganda TV programs to try and convince everybody that people actually live there (East-enders), but nobody's convinced. Who would be that stupid? Regards - John
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