Monday 8th March 2010 08:13

Well blow me down with a Flymo, it wasn't a chest infection after all, it was Acute Bronchitis, an infection of the bronchial tree. The bronchial tree is comprised of the tubes that carry air into your lungs, and when these tubes become infected, they swell, and mucus forms inside them, making it difficult to breathe. Unlike Chronic Bronchitis, Acute Bronchitis lasts a short time (several weeks or less), whilst the Chronic form is long-lasting and often recurring, especially if irritated by smoking. Luckily, for me, it's almost two and a half years since I last smoked and I have absolutely no desire whatsoever to start again.



The website I'm going to provide a link to today is an American one and it won me over for two reasons, the first was that it appears to be incredibly comprehensive about most ailments, the second is that, unlike most of the medical websites, they've actually spent a little time on their logo as well. All the information provided on the website has been written and reviewed by physicians and patient education professionals at the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP).
Please click on the logo above to find out more, unless of course, you're a hypochondriac.

Sunday 7th March 2010 13:15

More about the two remaining FA Cup quarter final fixtures and me harping on about still being ill.
Exciting stuff, coming soon...



In the meantime, Strepsils have now joined my line of defence, so please feel free to click on the logo above and watch a strange cartoon character, who goes by the name, 'Mr T'. He has a permanently soothed throat, yet one of his eyes (depending on which way he's facing) seems to be perpetually hovering above his head.

Saturday 6th March 2010 02:23

Yes, look at the time of this blog... all down to the fact that my ailment became gradually worse over the course of yesterday evening and into the early hours, to the point where it felt like I was in a hallucinatory state. Since going to bed at about 10:30 last night, I'd been drifting in and out of sleep, sweating like a pig in bed and suffering with an intensely sore throat and an explosive nose.
Even though I thought I was on the mend on Friday afternoon, Tanya insisted that I made an appointment with my GP and I'm so thankful I did, particularly as I managed to grab a cancellation at 8am on Monday morning. I know I have a chest infection which will mean being treated with antibiotics, yet again; meaning the third course since the beginning of December. Not good.

Anyway, the fact that I felt so shit meant that it was a day spent watching television... two FA Cup quarter final matches... one of which was bordering on compellingly boring, the other being the complete opposite. In between the two matches, I also managed to watch the West Ham United v Bolton Wanderers Premiership tie, played at West Ham's home, Upton Park. The game was pretty much decided within the first 15 minutes with goals from Kevin Davies, a powerful header in the 10th minute and an acrobatic finish by Jack Wilshere in the 15th minute. The game ended 1-2 to Bolton, after Alessandro Diamanti curled in a superb strike in the 88th minute. Nevertheless, it was a priceless win for Bolton and steadies the boat somewhat in the relegation battle.



Back to the FA Cup, the midday kick-off between Portsmouth v Birmingham City was the first of the four quarter final matches to be played this weekend (Four quarter final matches? Spooky - Ed) With the ongoing administration problems at Pompey, the team desperately needed to win this tie, for self belief and dignity, as well as the obvious financial gain.
The first half left me with little to shout about, except, perhaps, something like, "wake up, you're all half asleep". Having said that though, Frederic Piquionne was by far the best player on the field. Sure enough, the second half started off lively and continued that way with both teams playing as if they actually wanted to win. Someone actually commented that Birmingham were playing for the draw, since they thought Portsmouth wouldn't be able to afford to travel to the replay. Harsh, yet quite funny all the same.

So, in the 67th minute, after a pathetic corner, John Utaka poked a weak shot towards goal. Joe Hart then tried to smother it, only for Scott Dann to slide in too, the ball was then forced upwards due to the collision which Hart then tried to kick out of the way, only it fell into the path of Piquionne to tap in from two yards out. A crap goal but a vital one nonetheless. Could Pompey do it?
Sure enough, just three minutes later, Jamie O'Hara picked out Piquionne with a superb pass, leaving him one and one with Liam Ridgewell, the striker dummied the defender by dropping a shoulder and leaving him standing. Well inside the area, he delayed his shot as Ridgewell returned, dummying him once again and then shot, with the ball going under Ridgewell and between the exasperated 'keeper's legs. Delightful finish.
In the 81st minute, Birmingham had a perfectly acceptable goal disallowed, which became a huge debate post-match. If it had been given, it may well have provided the impetus that Birmingham needed... who knows? So the quarter final tie finished Pompey 2-0 Birmingham City... a well-deserved result and the first of four clubs to reach the semi-finals that will be played at Wembley Stadium.

Friday 5th March 2010 10:32

There was a televised news article during the week that included a particular MP who happens to be the Shadow Schools Secretary. I usually avoid politics like the plague, for the majority of them are paid to talk utter bollocks, Michael Gove being the exception. Not only does he talk utter bollocks, he's a jumped-up prick with one of those faces that you'd be more than happy to pummel all day. Oh, and the hair either side of my arsehole has more style than the sad excuse he has for a haircut.



Not only did I take an instant dislike to him, his persona and aura made my blood boil. He's condemned lads' mags for a start, stating that they, 'encourage young men to think like primitive beasts'. Hey, I'm 42 and they encourage me to think that way as well, you ageist bastard. He also said that publications such as 'Zoo' and 'Nuts' were guilty of, 'reinforcing a very narrow conception of beauty and a shallow approach towards women'. What the fuck is wrong with you? Have you been sent from the Victorian times or something? These women choose, yes, choose to reveal their breasts, let them get on with it, and in the meantime, become a priest or something.



Delving into his past, it turns out that one of his antics in the past ended up with the vivid headline ‘Union hacks in five in a bed romp shocker’. It was an article published in the Oxford student newspaper Cherwell which claimed that in January 1988, when Michael Gove was just 20 years old and president of the Oxford Union debating society, was one of a group of student politicians who ended up in bed together after a ball. When the Daily Mail confronted him with it, he apparently muttered, "I had better get back to you on that one". Surprisingly, he was later unavailable for comment.
So, he looks like a prick, is a prick and has double standards. Typical MP if you ask me.

Thursday 4th March 2010 02:54

In the early hours of this morning, my body decided to let a virus into it. Take note of the time, that's when it eventually made it increasingly difficult to breathe without violently coughing. Fucking detest being ill, it's not that I cannot cope with the illness, it's just the lack of sleep and rawness of the throat and all its accessories.







The only other thing I detest more is when clever fuckers think you're making a meal of it... you long for nothing more than for them to become afflicted to it, in the hope that it may also be exacerbated in the process. Twats.
Click on any of the logos to find out what sort of shit I'm taking to alleviate it.

Wednesday 3rd March 2010 19:30

Tonight saw England's international friendly against Egypt at Wembley Stadium. Today was also World Maths Day (or Math Day, depending where you're from). All in all, I was hoping for a large accumulation of goals, obviously in England's favour.



Anyway, back to World Maths Day for the moment. The website can be accessed from all over the world, although it appears as if it's only available in English (not that numbers particularly change from language to language), nevertheless, the wording on the website is all in English, so I'd go as far to say as the results are determined by English-speaking foreigners.
What happens is that students aged between the brackets of 5-8, 9-13 and 14-18 take part in an online competition. Students can play at home or at school against other students around the world in live games of mental arithmetic. Each game lasts for a minute and students are able to play up to 500 games (that's if they have the time!), earning points for each correct answer. Obviously the students who answer the most questions correctly, appear in the Hall of Fame. Having looked at the final results, it was great to see an entry from the United Kingdom in amongst the top ten, although nine entries in the top one hundred is piss poor. As a matter of interest, the United States managed fourteen and Hong Kong had an impressive four just in the top twenty alone.
To find out more, please click on the logo above.



On to the football now. This would be England's last game of any kind until the World Cup finals begin in South Africa in a hundred day's time. The match started high tempo but it wasn't long before England were making schoolboy errors; short passes with no weight behind them, losing the connection they needed and generally looking confused and lacklustre. Sure enough, this is how England continued to play throughout the whole of the first half, giving Egypt the incentive, which they took with venom in the 22nd minute when Mohamed Zidan powered home a great strike.
In the second half, Fabio Capello made some strategic changes, the most effective being the change from Jermain Defoe's disappointing contribution with 6ft 7in Peter Crouch. Suddenly the hosts were actually playing as if they wanted to win, especially with the intorduction of James Milner, Michael Carrick and Shaun Wright-Phillips. It wasn't long before England penetrated Egypt's defence with nothing short of a superlative goal by Peter Crouch in the 55th minute, courtesy of some excellent build-up play from Steven Gerrard and Gareth Barry.
Just short of twenty minutes later, Shaun Wright-Phillips managed to put away a great volley in the 74th minute after Egyptian 'keeper Essam El Hadary had parried out a stinging shot by James Milner. Crouch then went on to score his second goal in the 79th minute, albeit from what looked to be an offside position, lifting his current international tally to an impressive 20 goals in 37 internationals. The match ended 3-1 to England although I have my doubts as to whether they have a legitimately high expectations for their progression in the World Cup.

Tuesday 2nd March 2010 22:40

Tim Burton. A rather famous chap in many respects, especially within the film industry. Famous for directing such dark and peculiar films like Beetlejuice and Edward Scissorhands, he's also produced blockbusters including Batman, Batman Returns, Sleepy Hollow and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. The American director frequently works with his close friend, Johnny Depp and partner Helena Bonham Carter with his next film, Alice in Wonderland, due for release this month, stars both.
As well as being an incredibly successful film director and producer, he's also taken his had to writing, albeit on a much smaller scale and, quite surprisingly, he's an excellent artist as well, having said that though, he did attend the California Institute of the Arts.



He created 'Stainboy', of which there are a series of Flash animation shorts that were animated by Flinch Studios. The character originally appeared in two short poems in the book 'The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy' that he also created and illustrated. Stainboy works for the Burbank police where he is given a brief and then ordered to investigate and bring in social outcasts.
By clicking on Stainboy (pictured above), you can view some of the series.



Tim now has his own online art gallery, featuring Stainboy in an interactive section where you can walk him into a building and view a public gallery and a private gallery (you will need to provide an email address to access that one). There's some stunning work within, despite it being rather small to view, even when you do click on works within the gallery, the pop-up window is still on the small side.
Nevertheless, it's well worth a look and can be accessed by clicking on the logo above.



If you're more than impressed with the work you see, you can always buy it via Steeles Publishing. There are 430 pages, plus foldouts, as well as there being over 1000 of his illustrations, giving you the opportunity to have a comprehensive look at his personal and project artwork. With limited quantities, copies will not be sold in bookstores, they will only be available via steelespublishing.com.
Please click on the Steeles Publishing logo above to find out more.

Monday 1st March 2010 19:48

First of all, to the growing number of Welsh visitors, happy St. David's Day.

Hands up, how many of us at some point have Googled ourselves? Thought so. I suppose the weirder the name, the more chance you have of finding yourself, where you appear and maybe the websites you frequent. I'm sure some of my audience, particularly the Welsh, would rather that not be known, after all, how embarrassing would it be so see all those male voice choir hits?



I'm sure the results would be rather easy to find if say, you shared the same name as a girl that was in the same form as me at secondary school called Deandre Crank (I kid you not - strangely enough, getting married was one of the first things she did when she left) and, in my sister's year, the year below me, there was a lad called... Wayne King... seriously.
Anyway, where's all this going? Well, some weeks ago, I stumbled upon a website called 'Pipl' and have wanted an opportunity to talk about it.

The site works within what's commonly known as 'the deep web', which refers to the vast repository of cyberspace's underlying content, such as documents in online databases, those that the usual web crawlers cannot detect. Remarkably, or not so, as the case may be, the deep web content has been estimated at being 500 times the size of the 'surface web', mostly undiscovered due to the limitations of the more common search engines.
Pipl is one of those sites that explores 'the deep web', making it possible for you to search for lost relatives, ex-classmates, business contacts or even old flames.
Please click on the logo above to find out more.