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I'm back again

Dad is back home and feeling much better. Thank you very much for your messages.

Little Georgina is growing fast. She's more than 26 inches long now.

A couple of weeks ago the family travelled to Burton Albion FC to see Blues in action. Georgina met Matthew Upson . The guy was a star; only too happy to pose for the camera and have a chat. Although his poor pass in Malaysia led to the events which say Cunningham being sent off, I'm sure that under Bruce's guidance he'll become a top defender. Anyway, we had a top day out helped by meeting Bluetitch, Rags, Squealy, Bakewell and his son Matthew. Oh, and the large tray of chips and mushy peas. :-)

For those of you who don't read Small Heath Alliance, here are a couple more photos of my wee one.

Bike Stuff



Once again the biking world is mourning the loss of a rider. Steve Hislop may have been "getting too old" as his last team made sure the knife was firmly in when they sacked him, but, as we've seen with other British riders, being older than the rest of the field is no handicap. Steve Hislop, who died in a helicopter crash near Hawick on Wednesday aged 41, was the current British Superbike champion, and the first man to set an average lap speed of more than 120mph at the Isle of Man TT Festival.

In all, Hislop, known as "The Flying Haggis", won three British Championships and 11 TT races during a career which was dogged by ill fortune. In his chosen sport, it was not surprising that he should have suffered serious injuries - in the Brands Hatch World Superbike round of 2000 he broke his neck - but he also had to contend with money worries and the early deaths of both his father and younger brother.

His lack of commercial acumen, and failure to employ a manager, meant that he did not reap the financial rewards of many other riders, and among his sponsors and teams he had the reputation of being difficult to deal with - he was sacked three times - although he was unfailingly good company among fans, reporters and other riders. His career also suffered from his early concentration on the TT, rather than circuit races.

In 2000, Hislop was involved in an appalling crash at the Brands Hatch WSB round approaching the Paddock Hill bend at about 120 mph. He was struck twice on the head by his 350lb machine as he flew through the air, cartwheeling four times. He signed himself out of hospital that day; after having difficulty racing during the next few weeks, he had a scan which revealed that his neck had been broken.

Hislop, who lived on the Isle of Man, had been considering retirement. He published an autobiography, Hizzy, earlier this year and had hoped to qualify as a commercial helicopter pilot.

He separated from his girlfriend Kelly Bailey last year, and is survived by their two sons, Aaron and Connor.

As always, I hope God has a nice bit of tarmac and a few sets of super stickies.


Nice little clip of target fixation
posted by kwacky at 11:21 am