KwAcKy's Konfessional |
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Nothing of interest; just mindless links to bikes Birmingham City Football Club and useless junk  
  
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27 December 2003
I'm truly international 
Hits on me blog seem to be coming from all directions:- uk United Kingdom com Companies net Networks se Sweden tc Turks and Ciacos Islands au Australia sg Singapore ch Switzerland fr France nz New Zealand org Organizations be Belgium br Brazil ca Canada de Germany Now I can work out the Turks hits (Hello Alasadair. I will reply to your mail soon I promise) and Sweden (God dag Jonaz) but the rest are beyond me! No hits from the US. Strange that ;-) Some more Blues stuff First up is a Manc's match review followed by Bluenose Ron's report then some BBC audio . Blues remain 8th, just 2 points away from top of the second Premier league but only 9 points from the bottom 3. Yep, this has to be one of the tightest leagues for a long time. Some suggest that the Prem is poor this season but I disagree, I think it shows how much closer it has become. Most teams have a player or 2 that other teams eye with envy. It's only because the top 3 have a reserve squad that other managers would love to call their own that allows this mini league of 3 to break away. Then cheer yourself with a reminder of last season's fun at the expense of those down the road. Ickle Georgie is on the road to recovery after scaring the shite out of us with her bronciolitis. She became so ill we took her into hospital. Normally she's bright and entertaining and never without a smile but at hospital she was ashen and lifeless, flaking out on the examination table and too weak to sit up to be weighed. She's getting back to her old ways, entertaining and demanding to be entertained. I'll have some photos of her on Christmas Day posted soon. Got to admit that I'm not much of a fan of Crimble, it just seems so wasteful. It's not supposed to be about greed and gluttony. Me and Mrs Kwacky only buy each other a couple of gifts to open on the day. Being happy and blessed with the wee one is more than money can buy. I told my relatives not to bother getting little Georgina anything because she's only 7 months old and won't know what's going on. If they wanted to get her a gift then vouchers would be fine so she can have things as she needs them, rather than 50 musical toys on one day. Guess what? Only one person listened. I'm not being ungrateful but does a 7 month baby really need more than 40 presents? What is she going to do with all of those toys? I'm minded to give them to a good cause but Mrs Kwacky thinks I'll upset people. You just can't win.  26 December 2003
At last 
A home win and one to be proud of. Despite having most of the possession and being the better footballing side, Blues quickly went a goal down to some nice but simple football played by the pale blue mancs. In the seoncd half we looked like a swarm of ants in the Manc Blue's half. We dominated in every department and put them under pressure from the off. For 15 minutes I waited for Keegan to throw in the towel. City fought back but without passion and Blues soon pushed them back with just reward. The crowd responded. This was more than a win. It was a home win after going 1 down. It was a win with the full backing and support of the crowd. BBC Sport Ananova Sky Sports .Sporting Life Taylor - 7 - Not much to do and couldn't do much about their first Kenna - 8 - slow and old but wise and wiley Cunningham - 7- simple but sound Upson - 7 - unlucky not to score early on Lazaridis - 6 - confusion between him thinking he was a wing back and the rest of the defence thinking it was flat back four Clemence - 6 - in and out of the game Savage - 8 - Robbie of old. The yellow card just seems to egg him on. My man of the match. Dunn - 7 - Better on the left and good with the ball at his feet but left ain't his role DJ - 7- loves that right midfield position. Him and Kenna over lapped well. Morrisson - 7 - takes him a while to settle into the game and the fans don't seem able to show him any where near the same patience they've shown Dugarry. Shame. Gvie him time and I reckon he'll produce. Forssell - 7- hard to give marks to a man how does so much amd makes it look so simple. I reckon his goal was a Man C own goal but who cares? Cisse - 6 - didn't have to do much. I would still like to see him sweep infront of a 3 man defence. Kirovski - 7 - Gave good protection to the left and puts in a nice cross 23 December 2003
A biker's tale This is a tale I've stolen from someone who stole it. Stolen property becomes free property if it's been nicked enough times ;-) Here we go, I never dreamed slowly cruising through a residential neighborhood could be so incredibly dangerous! Studies have shown that motorcycling requires more decisions per second, and more sheer data processing than nearly any other common activity or sport. The reactions and accurate decision making abilities needed have been likened to the reactions of fighter pilots! The consequences of bad decisions or poor situational awareness are pretty much the same for both groups too. Occasionally, as a rider I have caught myself starting to make bad or late decisions while riding. In flight training, my instructors called this being "behind the power curve". It is a mark of experience that when this begins to happen, the rider recognizes the situation, and more importantly, does something about it. A short break, a meal, or even a gas stop can set things right again as it gives the brain a chance to catch up. Good, accurate, and timely decisions are essential when riding a motorcycle…at least if you want to remain among the living. In short, the brain needs to keep up with the machine. I had been banging around the roads of east Texas and as I headed back into Dallas, found myself in very heavy, high-speed traffic on the freeways. Normally, this is not a problem, I commute in these conditions daily, but suddenly I was nearly run down by a cage that decided it needed my lane more than I did. This is not normally a big deal either, as it happens around here often, but usually I can accurately predict which drivers are not paying attention and avoid them before we are even close. This one I missed seeing until it was nearly too late, and as I took evasive action I nearly broadsided another car that I was not even aware was there! Two bad decisions and insufficient situational awareness…all within seconds. I was behind the power curve. Time to get off the freeway. I hit the next exit, and as I was in an area I knew pretty well, headed through a few big residential neighborhoods as a new route home. As I turned onto the nearly empty streets I opened the visor on my full-face helmet to help get some air. I figured some slow riding through the quiet surface streets would give me time to relax, think, and regain that "edge" so frequently required when riding. Little did I suspect… As I passed an oncoming car, a brown furry missile shot out from under it and tumbled to a stop immediately in front of me. It was a squirrel, and must have been trying to run across the road when it encountered the car. I really was not going very fast, but there was no time to brake or avoid it—it was that close. I hate to run over animals…and I really hate it on a motorcycle, but a squirrel should pose no danger to me. I barely had time to brace for the impact. Animal lovers, never fear. Squirrels can take care of themselves! Inches before impact, the squirrel flipped to his feet. He was standing on his hind legs and facing the oncoming Valkyrie with steadfast resolve in his little beady eyes. His mouth opened, and at the last possible second, he screamed and leapt! I am pretty sure the scream was squirrel for, "Banzai!" or maybe, "Die you gravy-sucking, heathen scum!" as the leap was spectacular and he flew over the windshield and impacted me squarely in the chest. Instantly he set upon me. If I did not know better I would have sworn he brought twenty of his little buddies along for the attack. Snarling, hissing, and tearing at my clothes, he was a frenzy of activity. As I was dressed only in a light t-shirt, summer riding gloves, and jeans this was a bit of a cause for concern. This furry little tornado was doing some damage! Picture a large man on a huge black and chrome cruiser, dressed in jeans, a t-shirt, and leather gloves puttering maybe 25mph down a quiet residential street…and in the fight of his life with a squirrel. And losing. I grabbed for him with my left hand and managed to snag his tail. With all my strength I flung the evil rodent off the left of the bike, almost running into the right curb as I recoiled from the throw. That should have done it. The matter should have ended right there. It really should have. The squirrel could have sailed into one of the pristinely kept yards and gone on about his business, and I could have headed home. No one would have been the wiser. But this was no ordinary squirrel. This was not even an ordinary pissed-off squirrel. This was an evil attack squirrel of death! Somehow he caught my gloved finger with one of his little hands, and with the force of the throw swung around and with a resounding thump and an amazing impact he landed square on my back and resumed his rather anti-social and extremely distracting activities. He also managed to take my left glove with him! The situation was not improved. Not improved at all. His attacks were continuing, and now I could not reach him. I was startled to say the least. The combination of the force of the throw, only having one hand (the throttle hand) on the handlebars, and my jerking back unfortunately put a healthy twist through my right hand and into the throttle. A healthy twist on the throttle of a Valkyrie can only have one result. Torque. This is what the Valkyrie is made for, and she is very, very good at it. The engine roared as the front wheel left the pavement. The squirrel screamed in anger. The Valkyrie screamed in ecstasy. I screamed in…well…I just plain screamed. Now picture a large man on a huge black and chrome cruiser, dressed in jeans, a slightly squirrel torn t-shirt, and only one leather glove roaring at maybe 70mph and rapidly accelerating down a quiet residential street…on one wheel and with a demonic squirrel on his back. The man and the squirrel are both screaming bloody murder. With the sudden acceleration I was forced to put my other hand back on the handlebars and try to get control of the bike. This was leaving the mutant squirrel to his own devices, but I really did not want to crash into somebody's tree, house, or parked car. Also, I had not yet figured out how to release the throttle…my brain was just simply overloaded. I did manage to mash the back brake, but it had little affect against the massive power of the big cruiser. About this time the squirrel decided that I was not paying sufficient attention to this very serious battle (maybe he is a Scottish attack squirrel of death), and he came around my neck and got IN my full-face helmet with me. As the faceplate closed partway and he began hissing in my face I am quite sure my screaming changed tone and intensity. It seemed to have little affect on the squirrel however. The rpm's on The Dragon maxed out (I was not concerned about shifting at the moment) and her front end started to drop. Now picture the large man on the huge black and chrome cruiser, dressed in jeans, a very ragged torn t-shirt, and wearing one leather glove, roaring at probably 80mph, still on one wheel, with a large puffy squirrel's tail sticking out his mostly closed full-face helmet. By now the screams are probably getting a little hoarse. Finally I got the upper hand…I managed to grab his tail again, pulled him out of my helmet, and slung him to the left as hard as I could. This time it worked…sort-of. Spectacularly sort-of, so to speak. Picture the scene. You are a cop. You and your partner have pulled off on a quiet residential street and parked with your windows down to do some paperwork. Suddenly a large man on a huge black and chrome cruiser, dressed in jeans, a torn t-shirt flapping in the breeze, and wearing one leather glove, moving at probably 80mph on one wheel, and screaming bloody murder roars by and with all his strength throws a live squirrel grenade directly into your police car. I heard screams. They weren't mine... I managed to get the big motorcycle under directional control and dropped the front wheel to the ground. I then used maximum braking and skidded to a stop in a cloud of tire smoke at the stop sign at a busy cross street. I would have returned to fess up (and to get my glove back). I really would have. Really. But for two things. First, the cops did not seem interested or the slightest bit concerned about me at the moment. One of them was on his back in the front yard of the house they had been parked in front of and was rapidly crabbing backwards away from the patrol car. The other was standing in the street and was training a riot shotgun on the police cruiser. So the cops were not interested in me. They often insist to "let the professionals handle it" anyway. That was one thing. The other? Well, I swear I could see the squirrel, standing in the back window of the patrol car among shredded and flying pieces of foam and upholstery, and shaking his little fist at me. I think he was shooting me the finger… That is one dangerous squirrel. And now he has a patrol car… I took a deep breath, turned on my turn-signal, made an easy right turn, and sedately left the neighborhood. As for my easy and slow drive home? Screw it. Faced with a choice of 80mph cars and inattentive drivers, or the evil, demonic, attack squirrel of death...I'll take my chances with the freeway. Every time. And I'll buy myself a new pair of gloves. 
It seems that these nasty rodents are ganging up on all of us! 17 December 2003
14 December 2003
STOP THE PRESS!! Morrison scores! Saddam is captured! Kwacky updates his blog! Yeah I know, I've been lazy. Saddam Found 'Saddam Hussein captured' (AP, Reuters) 14 December 2003 BAGHDAD, Iraq - Saddam Hussein has been captured alive in his hometown of Tikrit, a member of the US-appointed Governing Council said on Sunday. Council member Dara Noor Al Din told the Associated Press that the council was informed of the former dictator’s capture in a telephone call from L. Paul Bremer, the US administrator for Iraq. “Bremer has confirmed to the Governing Council that Saddam was captured in Tikrit,” Noor al-Din said. “He spoke on the phone to several members, including Ahmad Chalabi.” Chalabi is a leading member of the council who has close links to the US administration of President George W. Bush. Earlier, the official Iranian news agency IRNA quoted PUK leader Jalal Talabani as saying that Saddam had been captured in his home town of Tikrit. “The American forces in Tikrit announced that Saddam was arrested on Sunday. The Americans said that they will announce the news officially in the next few hours,” IRNA quoted Talabani as saying. The news agency report was from Qasr-e Shirin in Iran across the border from Iraq. A Talabani aide said the Kurdish leader was in Teheran on his way to France. The US Defence Department said it could not confirm the report. Washington has made Saddam number one on its list of 55 most-wanted Iraqis, and placed a $25 million reward on his head. US officials had said Saddam, 66, had eluded American troops by moving every few hours, probably in disguise and aided by members of his clan. The capture of Saddam would be a major morale boost for US troops in Iraq, who have been under daily attack from shadowy guerrillas, some of whom they believe may have been directed by the former president from hiding. A US-led coalition toppled Saddam in April. His arrest would be a boost for US President George W. Bush, whose campaign for re-election next year has been imperilled by setbacks and casualties in Iraq Aljazeera report that it's Blair who confirmed his captured, whilst US Forces refuse to comment. Ananova and the BBC run with similar reports. 
I doubt if his capture will make matters any easier for the occupying troops. It's generally accepted that the more organised and devasting attacks are run by "outside" influences who oppose the US and her international policies. Blues finally win It's been a tough few weeks for Blues. The press finally notice us sitting pretty in 4th or 5th spot keeping so many clean sheets so we decide to prove a point and go for a run of 7 or 8 games with just one win and in the last 3 games letting in 10 goals with just one in reply. Although Leciester were reduced to 9 me (one elbow and one handall by their keeper about 10 yards outside his area) Blues took all 3 points and with goals by Morrison and Forssell and kept a lcean sheet in the process. With the league being so tight this season we had to turn things around. As I type a bottom of the table decided is being played - Villa V Wolves. Come on you dogheads ;-)  |
