524 days ago
With neither of the two Irish sides in Qatar for the World Cup it must be hard for blood soaked IRA, oops sorry Sinn Fein, celebrity Gerry Adams to know who to support. But maybe not as the old bastard has taken to twitter to give us all a clue as you can see below.
527 days ago
My son Joshua has now spent well over half of his life in Wales. And, though he was born in England to parents who support Northern Ireland and England respectively, he considers himself a proud Welshman. He leads us as we say grace in Welsh each night and there are more and more Welsh phrases exchanged between him and me as I also start to grapple with the language from hell. Today his school is celebrating the fact that Wales has made it through to the World Cup finals, by everyone wearing red tops.
552 days ago
Yesterday I discussed how BBC Radio 4’s flagship show, Woman’s Hour, consistently ignores facts on the gender pay gap to push its narrative of victimhood. But this is not an isolated occurrence. Just before the start of the Women’s Rugby World Cup, an England player was on for interview.
562 days ago
As a progressive sort of chap, the second team I support in International soccer is, after Northern Ireland, our friends across the border in the Republic. But the Irish girls team don’t seem to like folks like me very much.
1748 days ago
For some reason, my wife’s family seem to be the only Indians on this planet who do not give two hoots about cricket. After seven years with the Mrs, I still found myself yesterday trying to explain what is a four, a six and an overthrow. None the less, as yesterday afternoon went on we had two TVs going at my mother-in-law’s house: one for tennis and one for cricket. Gradually even the Tennis goggle box became a cricket one as my mother and father in law became engrossed by the World Cup Final, without doubt the most exciting ODI ever.
2115 days ago
For reasons explained in the podcast my walk up into the mountains is postponed until Saturday. So the suffering is delayed. Don't delay with a donation to Woodlarks HERE. In the bearcast itself I look at Evil Knievil's World Cup gambles and who he is backing in the final, at a potentially horrid spat at Bacanora (BCN) which looks set to get very nasty indeed, into murky share deals at Cabot Energy (CAB) - a massive scandal in the making and in real detail at the Telit (TCM) disposal announced today. The numbers just do not stack up.
2120 days ago
I start by looking back to where I watch the World Cup Final 4 years ago and where I will be watching the semi on Wednesday. When you have finished donating a tenner to Woodlarks HERE, this podcast covers the current scandal surrounding the big 4 and KPMG in particular. Sam Antar used KPMG in his 18 year fraud but is it fair to pick on one firm? Is the system inherently flawed? What would I do to make things better?
2120 days ago
A Survation poll taken on Saturday shows the Tories falling fast to 38% and Labour rising to 40%. And the Brexit betrayal backlash is only just beginning. For starters, Mrs May’s henchmen have so far managed to gag most Tory MPs with threats while they spin the line that her betrayal is a good deal for Britain and is essentially what we 17.4 million voted for. That gag and that lie won’t hold for long. And secondly many of us were too bothered about the World Cup and associated drinking to take on board the full scale of the treachery, of the red lines and ,manifesto pledges abandoned. Only now is that sinking in.
2123 days ago
Maybe if you write for the Guardian you don't despise England in a fashionable North London sort of way you just hate folks being happy. After all this is the newspaper that, year in year out, laments the arrival of Christmas. But now it is the World Cup and the progress of England which as seen a nation party and show joy in a way we have not seen for years.
2615 days ago
Some bear raiders are on the pitch...they think it is all over: it is now! Nope not West Ham winning the World Cup but the stockmarket career of AIM fraud Cloudtag (CTAG). Nomad Cairn has brought forward its resignation from April 10 to last night, the £975,000 placing announced last week has been pulled and it is ouzo time for me while on the council estates the LSE Asylum rampers gnash their teeth. Come on guys, say it slowly "Yet again Tom Winnifrith was right and we are morons, we apologise for all the abuse we gave him, the Sheriff of AIM rocks!"
2793 days ago
Given that she is due to give birth to our son in nine days time I might just forgive her but the Mrs is pushing her luck.
Among the very few possessions of mine that are allowed in the house as opposed to the garage are a signed and framed Mark Cavendish shirt which, given what team it is from, is actually quite rare and a framed and signed Geoff Hurst 1966
3126 days ago
Big Nose, the mother of my Welsh speaking daughter, has obtained this exclusive photo of the English rugby squad to show that they are all ready for the Rugby World Cup quarter finals. The Celtic party continues.
3576 days ago
I have no internet at The Greek Hovel. And I am damned if I will drive back there in the dark from the local taverna along the long and winding road. And so I must miss the Germany vs Argentina World Cup Final. Shucks. Do I care who wins?
No. I’d like both teams to lose. The Argies are a conceited and dirty side and have not worked out that the Falklands are not called the Malvinas. As for the Krauts? They are also arrogant. There is the little matter of two contests at their National Sport during the last Century and a German win will undoubtedly see the Evil Empire claiming that “The World Cup has been won by the EU”. So I’d like both sides to lose.
Accepting that this cannot happen, I conclude that the Argies really are dirty cheats. And our contest with them at the National Sport of Germany was more recent than our bouts with the Hun. And so thinking of the Falklands if I care at all I rather hope that the Krauts scrape a win.
3583 days ago
Cineworld Group (CINE) has updated that trading for its half year ended 26th June 2014 “has been in line with our expectations” and that, “taking into account the strength of film line up in the second half, we are on track with our plans for the year as a whole”.
This follows pro forma (reflecting the 28th February completed acquisition of Cinema City) box office revenues increasing by 1.5% in the period (admissions up by 1%), retail spend per person increasing by 2.6% and ‘other income’ declining by 2.5% (though excluding phasing effects of distribution incomes being 3.2% higher).
It was noted that “in the final weeks of the half, as expected, admissions in certain countries have been lower due to the World Cup”
3593 days ago
Wandering down to the Avon on Sunday, the Mrs and I passed through the sort of streets where everyone currently has an Enger-land flag on display in their window. This is of course to celebrate the National Side playing the National Sport in Brazil.
I am not sure of the etiquette here but when should those flags go down? Should it have been last week when Enger-land’s status as rank no-hopers was officially confirmed with an early World Cup Exit? Should the flags have gone down after Roy Hodgson’s over-rated prima donnas failed to defeat Costa Rica thereby ensuring an early exit without a win? Or do the flags say up all summer as a sign that “We may be rubbish but we don’t care?” As of tonight the flags are still up.
I only ask.
3598 days ago
Tonight’s first World Cup game sees Islamofascists Iran up against the Argies. As a keen supporter of the Falkland Islands but also not a great fan of a country which strings gays up from cranes, treats women like third class citizens and wishes to complete Hitler’s work when it comes to the Jews this is a dilemma.
In an ideal world both would be found guilty of cheating and lose 10 points. Or maybe Argentina could default on its debt at half time (as it does every few years) and like a football league side lose 20 points?
It is too hard to call…on balance I suppose you have to go for the underdogs. Come on Iran!
3605 days ago
So Ireland did not make it to Brazil. That leaves me with a dilemma – who to support? If this was Rugby and Ireland were not playing it would be simple: anyone playing England. The swagger, pomposity and arrogance of English rugby drives me to supporting anyone up against the Old Enemy. But I just don’t feel that way about soccer.
The selection of Neanderthal half-wits who wear the England shirt and whichever hapless sap is in charge do not rile me in the slightest. I feel a general sense of contempt for all the Premiership prima donnas but there is no great hostility towards England as a national side. And so on balance I wish England well and will naturally cheer them on for their entire campaign. All three matches.
But I’d rather like to be rooting for a side with a good chance of making it through to the second phases. And also I really find it hard to root for any team that has as its talisman Wayne Rooney. And every time I see Joe hart on TV earning yet more money promoting shampoo I find myself wishing the mercenary pig nothing but ill. As such my mind had wandered to Greece. I was told that the Greek team – who collectively earn less than Mr Rooney does on his own – are not that bad. Having now seen them play I accept that they are quite bad.
Having completed a fiendishly complex sweepstake created on an Excel spreadsheet by a friend of the Mrs which forced the Mrs and I to predict every result and how many goals Messi scores, I now reckon that the last four will be Holland, Portugal, Brazil and the Argies. And I’d go for an all South American final with the hosts winning.
So I cheer for Greece and England. And as neither will make it past the group stages there is unlikely to be a time when I have to choose between the two. After that – how about Holland. As they play in Orange the Ulsterman in me sees the links and they were superb against Spain.
3716 days ago
My bear piece yesterday on Bulletin Board darling Monitise was always going to generate a stack of abuse from “the believers.” I knew it, I expected it and I was not disappointed. Among those commenting was this week’s Bulletin Board Moron of the week, Michael, who posted in the comments section on the original piece. The Moron writes…
I rarely comment on articles especially after viewing your YouTube videos but one minor point in your article. When did West Ham win the World Cup as you state?
Not going to even respond to the rest of your points as your article lacks understanding of tech, mobile payments and plus football. Not to mention a lack of attention to detail.
Ends.
West Ham won the World Cup in 1966. Real football fans know the joke well as they remember who skippered England and who scored the goals. I suspect that Michael is the sort of football fan who thinks that a headhunter at Stamford Bridge is, and always has been, the sort of fellow who finds City chaps a new job. That is an aside.
Michael as with all good BB morons plays the man not the ball. That is to say he does not like my videos and he asserts my lack of attention to detail without going into detail himself as to why I lack detail. That is because there is no answer to the points raised in the piece. But that does not make him a moron, just a fool.
My article was centred on hard financial metrics - slowing rate of sales growth, failure to deliver any operational gearing at all, aggressive accounting viz capitalisation of costs and above all the fact that Monitise is running out of cash fast. Michael seems to regard all these matters as irrelevant,
