Alcohol Limits

I don’t usually get up early at the weekends, however, we got up early on a Saturday to go on a coach trip. Being first on we were asked to sit right at the front, behind the driver. We were on  one of the modern coaches with a huge window at the front easily 6 feet by 10 feet, so we had a good view of the road ahead.
After picking up some more trippers and going down the equivalent of an A road, ahead we noticed some police cars slowing traffic down and stopping at random some cars. As we approached we slowed down and so a sign in Spanish which translated said “Alcohol Check”.
The police we breathalysing the stopped motorists. I had only seen this done in Australia. Now its starting in Spain. The Spanish coach driver told us that its been this way for years but the police were using it more and more especially after holidays and football matches!

It’s my Birthday

Today is my Birthday. So Happy Birthday to me.
For the first time in many a year I have my brothers with me. Because of the World Cup we are all together in Spain. My sisters are in the UK. Here is my horoscope:

• A transitional year is forecast--one in which little changes foretell new directions to come. Most of the year, Jupiter blesses you with the ability to take things in stride as it harmonizes with your own sign from fellow Water sign, Pisces.
• You are more intellectually curious this year, and you may have opportunities to travel, study, go abroad, expand your horizons, and meet people who are of diverse backgrounds.
• Business dealings, particularly long-distance ones and those involving publicity and promotion, are likely to be profitable in 2010. Work might be readily found through these avenues. September can bring a surprising opportunity for an adventure.
• Career matters, while they might begin rather sluggishly in the first few months of the year, are approaching a very pleasant peak. Building your skills and expanding your reach are very advisable now, as they will benefit you greatly as you move towards an especially successful period in your life.
• There are likely to be some pressures on the home front, but also opportunities to really get our domestic life into order. Organizing or reorganizing your home, downsizing and streamlining where necessary, and establishing better and more efficient routines will be helpful.
• There is a sense of "old versus new" again this year, as you weight the pros and cons of sticking to tried and true patterns and moving forward to unexplored territory. Some of you will be struggling with a strong desire to reach new levels of achievement and success, and the simultaneous desire for security by keeping the status quo.
• Big decisions shouldn't be made on the spur of the moment, but do keep your eyes open for ways to break out of any rut you might have gotten yourself into.
• Relationships are intense, serious, and changeful, but also extremely rewarding. Depth in your connections is what you seek.
• Finances are also going through some changes, starting off on the sluggish side, but improving as the year moves forward. Great opportunities for increasing income from your job arrive this year, as well as sponsorships, loans, refunds related to health, and other such forms of support. May 20-June 14 brings special opportunities for love and romance.

England v Germany Match Report

            1                                4
Beaten by a better side, even taking into account the ‘goal that never was’.
The best team moves on and we get the millionaires, who play football for a living, but can't produce a decent footballing performance in 4 games, back to England.
Lucky to be second in our group, a group we should have won, never producing a worthwhile performance in this world cup. All the players but especially Gerrard, Lampard, Terry and Rooney should be ashamed that they did not do better. No excuses, apologise to the supporters.
The bar I was in was rocking and at the end very disappointed, if this was mirrored around the world, there are lots of dejected Brits this morning. Aplogise please!

Weather in Spain 21st June – 27th June 2010

Monday: Warm and sunny but a brisk wind. Daily temp of 23C. Warm overnight with a temp of 19C.
Tuesday: Hot and sunny. Daily temp of 26C. Warm overnight with a temp of 20C
Wednesday: Hot and sunny. Daily temp of 28C. Warm overnight with a temp of 20C
Thursday: Hot and sunny. Daily temp of 29C. Warm overnight with a temp of 19C
Friday: Hot and sunny. Day temp of 30C. Warm overnight with a temp of 22C
Saturday: Hot and sunny. Day temp of 30C. Warm overnight with a temp of 19C
Sunday: Hot and sunny. Day temp of 29C. Warm overnight with a temp of 18C

England v Germany Match Preview

This world Cup is like World War II. The French and the Italians surrendered early, the USA are coming in late and England are fighting the Germans.
I can see this going either way (fence sitting is my new sport!), but please not penalties.
I expect a 4-4-2 formation with the team that started against Slovenia. However, I would go for 4-2-3-1 with Rooney up front, Gerrard behind him and Joe Cole and Milner playing in Midfield. No changes in defence. But then I am not Capello.
I want England playing like its a Premier League game. Press this young German side, give them no time and hopefully show no mercy. We owe them big time. So now lets do it!

Diane Abbot

Poor Diane Abbott. Just because she is a woman and black, she has been forced by her own party into being on the ballot for Leader of the Labour Party.
Although she herself was able to get only a handful of supporters for the Labour leadership contest and so could not on her own merits make it to the ballot list, she has been pushed and shoved into the race at the 11th hour by other Labour MPs who wouldn’t otherwise support her and all, supposedly, in the name of diversity.
As late as a few hours before the ballot list deadline last week, Abbott had the backing of just 10 MPs out of a required 33. So, because it looked as if the leadership contestants would be embarrassingly all-male, all-Oxbridge and all-white, the parliamentary Labour party machine cranked into action: Harriet Harman, the acting Labour leader, encouraged enough other MPs to nominate Abbott, after they had been persuaded that a privileged all-white male line-up would not go down at all well with the public or the unions.
The name for this is not diversity. Its name is tokenism, aggravated by PR manipulation and the deepest of undemocratic cynicism. It is positive discrimination at its most depressing.
Yet Abbott seems quite oblivious of her humiliation. Abbott seems to feel thoroughly entitled to run, even though several people who in the end nominated her have no intention of voting for her and even though Harman has made it entirely clear that her reason for nominating her was to ensure that a woman was on the ballot paper.
To ensure no humiliation she must get 33 votes in the first round, in September, otherwise her nomination has been a fix. 

Correos – Registered Letter for Speeding

I have stated in this blog that the Spanish Correos deliver to post boxes outside of the urbanisation. However, I have now discovered that they call to the home with registered letters.
Having signed for the letter, I opened it, low and behold, it was a fine for speeding. A nice picture of the Rover 75 doing 124kph in a 100kph zone. The wording translated we found that we were being fined 100 Euros for excessive speeding. But who was the culprit.
After discovering the date and time the defaulter owned up, it was the Lady of the Villa (smug smile on while I type this). She had taken the youngest daughter out shopping when she was over in May and in their haste to shop, or return with the goods had ignored the speedometer and the road signs.
1-0 I think!

World Cup Week 2

Best Player of the week: Messi

Best Team of the week: Portugal

Best Howler of the week: France not qualifying

Most annoying thing: The noise from the Vuvuzelas

Best Coverage overall: BBC

Best Anchorman: Colin Murray

Best Match to Watch: Portugal v N. Korea (closely followed by S. Africa v France. Lol)

Worst Match to Watch: England v Algeria

England v Slovenia match report

 0                              1

So they did it. And now its Germany on Sunday, I was on a flight back to Spain when the match was on (dont ask!), so I have only seen the highlights. They looked better than in the previous two games, which isn't difficult, but now the real test begins.

I am sure they would rather play Ghana than Germany in the last 16, but hey, I was carking it after Algeria so lets hope this new confidence and spirit prevails. 

 

Greece first then Spain

Spain’s Caja’s  are still trying to merge in the hope of beating the June 30 deadline to tap a €99 billion (£84 billion) government bank rescue fund. The Spanish government wants the 45 regional caja banks to shrink to 15. It is part of a desperate government effort to restore confidence in the faltering economy, which threatens to drag down the rest of the eurozone.
The currency faces further pressure from Greece, which is studying plans to restructure its debt despite a multi-billion-euro bailout from Germany, France and the IMF.  The Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR), a London economics consultancy that is advising the Athens government, said Greece would be unable to escape its debt trap unless it devalued its currency to boost exports.
The only way for this to happen is for Greece to leave the euro. Until now, this has been played down as it would set in motion the break-up of the single currency.
Spain has the highest unemployment in Europe at 20% and a budget deficit that is 9.3% of GDP, and similar to Greece the unions are fighting anything that increases unemployment, by striking. The Spanish government has recently passed by just one vote 15 billion euros of cuts, including a 5% across-the-board pay reduction for civil servants.
All this is pain, just like Greece, is causing disruption to the economy. If Greece leaves the euro and devalues giving it breathing space, Spain will follow quickly. It is the easy way out. Back to the peseta.

England v Slovenia match preview

The qualification should have been assured by now by but it's not. I am sitting here this morning thinking "what am I gong to write? what do I think will happen? who will play? what formation?"

Here a the bare facts.

If England beat Slovenia they qualify.
If England win and USA win, England must win by a bigger margin to get top spot.
A draw, proberbly means elimination, unless its a high scoring draw and the USA/Algerian game is a low scoring draw. However, if Englands draw is two goals higher than that involving the USA lots are drawn.
Dont mess about lads just win it...............please. Gulp.

Weather in Spain week 14th June 2010 – 20th June 2010

Monday: Overnight rain gave way to overcast morning. Temp of 22C. Cloudy afternoon with bouts of rain, temp of 25C. Overnight heavy rain with a temp of 19C.
Tuesday: Overcast start. Later hot and sunny with thunderstorms and rain showers. Temp of 22C. Warm overnight with a temp of 17C
Wednesday: Thunderstorms all day. Temp of 19C. Warm overnight with a temp of 16C
Thursday: Hot and sunny. Daily temp of 24C. Warm overnight with a temp of 18C
Friday: Hot and sunny but with a high wind. Temp of 19C. Warm overnight with a temp of 17C
Saturday: Hot and sunny. Daily temp of 25C. Warm overnight with a temp of 20C
Sunday: Very Hot and sunny. Daily temp of 30C. Warm overnight with a temp of 21C
For an advanced forecast in the area I live in see http://www.metcheck.com/V40/UK/FREE/europe_forecast_7days.asp?locationID=3222 which is Mercia Airport, our nearest point on this site.

Soldiers deaths in Afghanistan

Soldiers deaths in Afghanistan are getting less and less attention in the press. Is the press, and there for us, getting used to it? Just over 100 words (“Two die in Helmand”, in the Sunday Times) is the norm these days.
British commanders say that patrols are vital “to reassure the local population following insurgent intimidation”.  I am convinced that this approach has never worked in the past, is not working now nor will it in the future. I believe that the people of Afghanistan see our troops as occupiers.
After the lat summit on Afghanistan, Cameron said: “Our national security is best served by an Afghanistan that has a measure of stability and that is free of terrorists,” and that in the past “We have been too hazy in defining success.”  I personally find this hard to believe. I think the Afghan government is a corrupt organisation feeding on US/UK funds and are best served (as are their Swiss bank accounts) by a prolonged war.
We have always been too hazy about what we want to achieve in Afghanistan. We still are.
Time to leave… asap.

World Cup Week 1

Best Player of the week: Lionel Messi (Argentina)

Best Team of the week: Germany

Best Howler of the week: Robert Green (England)

Most annoying thing: The noise from the Vuvuzelas

Best Coverage overall: BBC

Best Anchorman: Adrian Childs

Best Match to Watch: Germany v Australia

Worst Match to Watch: Algeria v Slovenia (close contender Japan v Cameroon)

England v Algeria match report

 

   
         0                                  0
WHAT THE ******* HELL WAS THAT!
The England players get paid over £1,000,000 A WEEK, and all they could dish up was a messy, mish mash of kick about football.
It was pathetic. The fans quite correctly booed them off. If the players dont like it tough, it was what that performance deserved. I have never seen a more abject England performance. Words fail me.......  

Peter C funeral

Back in the UK for a funeral. An uncle, who was a little bit older than me, and was more like an older brother, had died of Cancer.
Weeks before he died he wanted to put his affairs ‘in order’. He knew that I had done this for my mother a couple of years ago when she died and wanted me to act as his executor, but with a twist. He wanted to liquidate his assets and the before he dies give gifts to his family with some of the remainder to pay for his funeral and the residue passed on to his ex-wife.
Most of his assets were in ISA’s and savings with the Halifax. After what seemed an awful lot of form filling, identification checks, to-ing and fro-ing and I must say help from the staff in the Halifax I managed in a week to get the job done.
We then had a surreal moment when he wrote the cheques out to his grandchildren ready to pass them on ‘when the time comes’.
That time came and now as executer I must close all his accounts, pay the funeral bill and pass the remainder on to his ex-wife.

R.I.P Peter C.

England v Algeria match preview

                  
This on paper should be the easiest game of the group but many a slip between ……

Again a strong team to steam roll the Algerians with them fading in the second half. If we dominate as expected and get a few (three) early goals he may rest some of his first team players and give others a chance. But please more than 5 minutes!

The defence just need to concentrate and not let the Algerians get a view of the goal never mind a shot on target. I am expecting a clean sheet and a good result 3-0.

BP and Union Carbide

BP has been coming under some extraordinary pressure from the USA recently. To some it is well deserved, after all they have created the greatest ecological disaster the US has ever experienced. The US president has put the blame on BP and in particular Tony Haywood BP’s chief executive and Obama will ensure that they pay for the clean up and any compensation, which experts say will run into Billions and may bankrupt one of Britain's biggest companies.
Seems on the face of it quite fair.
However, if you consider the fate of Union Carbide the US company that caused the deaths of over 3,000 people in India in 1984 (with some estimates putting the death toll at 25,000.
The then Union Carbide boss Warren Anderson was indicted but skipped his bail and resides in the USA. India have been refused permission to extradite him. The company itself paid £313 million in “full and final” settlement for this disaster. On average each victim received only £350 each.
Seems on the face of it unfair.

One rule for the rich debtors one for the poor

Reading an article in this weeks Sunday Times provoked a thought. The article says that Sameer Al Ansari has resigned from Dubai International Capital (DIC). Not in itself remarkable as DIC owe £1.7 billion to banks and want to have a three month extension to a loan of £0.8 billion due this month.

Now forgive me, but, is this the same Dubai that puts people in jail if they owe money to a bank or cant pay back a loan?
One rule for the rich debtors one rule for the poor.

Rob Green - Apology: your having a laugh

I was sitting there after the Germany/Australia game when ITV did a quick post mortem on the England/USA game.
In it Rob Green came on and said things like: “I know I will get abuse over this but I am big enough to take it on the chin. just bring it on, let it come I can take it.”
What I expected was something along the lines of “Sorry, big mistake, I hope all the fans can forgive me, I will never let this happen again.”
Arrogant bugger. I hope you never get selected again!

Weather in Spain week 7th June 2010 – 13th June 2010

Monday: Hot and sunny. Temp of 28C. Overnight warm with a temp of 17C
Tuesday: Hot and sunny. Temp of 29C. Overnight warm with a temp of 18C
Wednesday: Cloudy start with the sun eventually burning off the cloud by 11am. Still hot with a temp of 28C. Clouded over in the afternoon. Overnight overcast and warm with a temp of 17C
Thursday: Hot and sunny. Temp of 28C. Overnight warm with a temp of 20C
Friday: Temp of x29C. Overnight warm with a temp of 19C. 
Saturday: Hot and sunny. Temp of 27C. Overnight warm with a temp of 20C
Sunday: Hot and sunny. Temp of x29C. Overnight warm with a temp of 19C
For an advanced forecast in the area I live in see http://www.metcheck.com/V40/UK/FREE/europe_forecast_7days.asp?locationID=3222 which is Mercia Airport, our nearest point on this site.

Algeria v Slovenia

Just watched this game on TV. What a boring game. If England even draw against these teams, they should not show their faces in England again.

They both will defend, but, they should be no competition to the likes of Rooney, Gerrard and Lampard.

Surely?

England v USA Match report

 

                                  1                  1
So England played 4-4-2. I did not see much of that in the first half. It looked like 3-6-2, with a combination of the midfield, defenders and forwards all cahsing the ball loke kids in the playground. Shape, I dont think so! The goal came from a likely place, Gerrard, but the build up and the link play leading to the goal was all kick and rush.
Having said that, they played better a better shape in the second half. Carra looked slow once or twice, Lennon should be replaced with Cole and Heskey with anybody. Maybe a 4-5-1 formation with Rooney on his own is better.
As for the USA goal, the less said the better. If Green is our best keeper then God help us. The first howler in the World Cup and its our keeper! The USA hit the post from a save by Green, but thats what you expect from a "world class keeper". He did not reedem himself with that save. That was his job. 
Overall England should have won. Cant see Green, King or Heskey playing again. With a switch to 4-5-1 and an extra midfield player in all supporting Rooney up front would do. 4-4-2 then Crouch in place of Heskey.
Next two games are must win with goals important if we are to head off the USA. I know we are slow starters, but, no excuses, we should have had more goals. We now need them more than ever.
 

Liverpool Options

Having a chat, on the phone, with a number of football friends. We talked about the World Cup and the Liverpoool situation. A few alternatives for the vacant managerial position at Liverpool came up.
The names, (in no particular order) where:

• Martin O’Neil (twice)
• Sven Erickson
• Kenny Dalglish (twice)

My option was different: no Manager appointed until late in August. After the yanks have sold, Gerrard (Real Madrid), Torres (Man City) and Mascherano (Inter) collecting the best part of £150 million to pay off some of the debts. Of course this will upset the fans, but so what? I cant see the owners caring, they know they are hated.
The paying off of debt makes the club more attractive to buyers. The new manager can sell off the dead wood (Lucas, Riera , Babel, Ngog, El Zhar, Degan etc.) and start afresh. The fans wont blame him or the new owners in the first year it will still be H and G.
This will give the manager and new owners time to get a squad together and money for a new stadium.

QED

England v USA match preview

          
I think this is a must win match for England. The USA good as they are should be no match for the boys wearing the three lions. If they win it puts more pressure on USA to do well in their game against Slovenia – the last game in the group.
We should be well up for this game with no injury worries and Capello should play his best eleven with his favourite 4-4-2 formation. It will be interesting to see if Rooney leads the line with Gerrard playing behind the front two, or he plays Rooney behind a front two.
I am expecting a 2-0 result here as Capello likes and wants a clean sheet.

Owners or Manager first?

After three years under the calamitous ownership of the Yanks, Liverpool find themselves typing in on the Liverpool badged  SatNav, (£299 from the Club store),“the Premiership Title”. The message back –“ cant do it from here, need a driver”. Is that a Manager or an Owner?
For any club, identifying a suitable manager is a huge decision, identifying suitable owners massive. Matters are no better for Liverpool as the decision must be made under time pressure. At the moment the spotlight is off Liverpool as this is a World Cup year. But come the morning of July 12, at the latest, Cristian Purslow, Martin Broughton and King Kenny better have a plan not just for a Manager but for new owners.
They can plead with the banks and they can appoint the best manager they can find but none of this guarantees restoring Liverpool to an even keel, let alone to the glories with which the club remain synonymous.
In this new Football World it is the owners who count, Liverpool, a legendary club, can attract the right manager if they have the right owners. In this world of bluffers, chancers, parasites and charlatans , the right owners will not be easy to find, but this is Liverpool, THIS IS ANFIELD, as the poster in my study says. The right owners must be out there, it is just a question of whether there is time to find them.

Maybe just maybe, that the paying off Benitez, was a preamble for new owners to take over. If so they must be serious bidders and have a new Manager lined up. Maybe!

The Ultimate Disaster – Eroski Closed

The local Eroski supermarket closed down, taken over by a Consum a rival. This in itself should not have been a disaster as we have all kinds of supermarkets around. But we considered it the ultimate disaster.
Eroski had something that no other supermarket has, good cheap wine both red and white. And not only is it good wine it is 80p a litre!
We had to go about 20 mile trip to stock up the wine fridge – hence the picture above. We bought 24 litres less than £20. Bargain.

Spanish Footballers Win!

The Spanish World Cup Squad will receive the most money out of all 32 World Cup teams if it wins the World Cup, and several Spanish political parties are unhappy at the figure with the country facing an economic crisis.
The Spanish media said each player could earn 600,000 euros (C$755,545) for winning the title, and collect 120,000 euros (C$151,125) just for reaching the July 11 final.
Politicians have asked how such an amount could be paid "in the context of a general crisis where pensions are being frozen and salaries are dropping."
Goalkeeper Iker Casillas says the players have family and friends "suffering from the crisis" but that "you shouldn't mix one thing with the other."
Spain opens Group H against Switzerland on June 16.

Austerity Plan for Spain

Spanish government has recently approved an austerity plan aimed at reducing the country's large fiscal deficit and easing concerns that Spain could follow Greece into a debt crisis. The tough cost cutting measures are expected to save the Spanish government 15 billion euros in 2010 and 2011.

The plan is expected to reduce Spain's deficit from its current level of more than 11 percent of gross domestic product to 6% of GDP by 2011 and to 3% by 2013. The plan calls for

• slashing salaries of Cabinet ministers and other senior officials by 15 percent.
• an average five-percent pay cut for public sector workers from June,
• and a pay freeze from 2011.

Unions in Spain have reacted to the austerity plan and have called a public sector strike today the 8th June to protest against government's tough cost cutting measures.
The latest austerity plan is over and above a 50-billion-euro austerity package announced in January to reduce Spain's budget deficit from the 11.2% of GDP posted last year to the eurozone limit of 3% by 2013.
The approval of the latest set of austerity measures by the Spanish government comes after official data indicated that the country has managed to move out of recession in the first quarter of this year. Data released revealed that the country had posted a growth rate of 0.1% in the first quarter, mainly due to a rise in exports and household spending.
Though Spain managed to move out of recession in the first quarter, the country's unemployment rate remains at 20%, which is almost twice the eurozone average.
Could recession get worse in Spain? I think so. For an economy that depends so much on the tourist trade, which in turn depends on three factors:

• people having disposable income
• flights being available
• the weather

The first two are under the hammer as most of Europe is in recession and the Icelandic Volcano is causing massive disruption when it hiccups. The third is probably the only certainty along with the situation getting worse in Spain.

Weather in Spain week 31st May 2010 - 6th June 2010

Monday: Hot and sunny. Temp of 30C. Hottest day this year. Overnight warm with a temp of 20C
Tuesday: Hot and sunny. Temp of 32C, beating yesterdays high. Overnight warm with a temp of 19C
Wednesday: Warm and sunny morning with an overcast afternoon. Still warm with a temp of 26C. Overnight overcast and warm with a temp of 13C
Thursday: Overcast day with sunny spells. Temp of 22C. Overnight thunder storms with a temp of 12C.
Friday: Hot and sunny. Temp of 28C. Overnight warm with a temp of 16C
Saturday: Hot and sunny. Temp of 27C. Overnight warm with a temp of 17C
Sunday: Hot and sunny. Temp of 28C. Overnight warm with a temp of 17C
For an advanced forecast in the area I live in see http://www.metcheck.com/V40/UK/FREE/europe_forecast_7days.asp?locationID=3222 which is Mercia Airport, our nearest point on this site.

England World Cup Suits

I must have been asleep and missed the England team showing off their official World Cup suits.
To be honest I don’t like them. I don’t like the thin lapels, or the slanted pockets and the badge makes it look like a school uniform. And the waist coat? Who wears a one these days?
Now I am retired I don’t wear suits but if I did I would not be buying one from Marks and Spencer’s.

England World Cup Shirts

The Home shirt and the Away Shirt (the one I prefer) that England will wear in the World Cup.










So its about to start. And yet again I am full of hope that at long last we will win the World Cup. My heart says England, but my brain is saying (in Order) Brazil or Spain. Please let my brain be wrong again.



My three brothers and wives are over with us in Spain to watch the games, the sun is shining here, the beers are cold and the BBQ is a gas one so it can be warmed up almost instantaneously.
So COME ON ENGLAND.

FIFA World Rankings

Here is the official FIFA Rankings for the world Cup.

Only the top twenty are shown to save space

Rank	Team	Points
1	Brazil	1611
2	Spain	1565
3	Portugal	1249
4	Holland	1221
5	Italy	1184
6	Germany	1107
7	Argentina	1084
8	England	1068
9	Croatia	1052
10	France	1044
11	Russia	1003
12	Greece	968
13	Egypt	967
14	USA	950
15	Chile	948
16	Serbia	944
17	Mexico	936
18	Uruguay	902
19	Cameroon	887
20	Nigeria	883
20	Australia	883

Muchas gracias

Gracias  Rafa Benetiz

• June 2004: Appointed Liverpool manager
• May 2005: Liverpool beat Milan on penalties to win Champions League final
• May 2006: Liverpool beat West Ham on penalties to win FA Cup
• Feb 2007: Tom Hicks and George Gillett buy Liverpool
• May 2007: Liverpool beaten by Milan in Champions League final
• July 2007: Fernando Torres joins Liverpool for club record fee of £26.5m
• May 2009: Liverpool finish runners-up to Manchester United in the Premier League
• May 2010: Liverpool finish seventh in the Premier League, their worst league finish since 1999
• 3 June 2010: Benitez leaves Liverpool by mutual consent

Quant Model

Move over, Brazil.
Step aside, Italy.
England will win the World Cup in 2010.
Stop snickering, you. The financial wizards at J.P. Morgan have used "Quant Models" to determine that the Three Lions will sink their teeth into Spain in the World Cup final and the world will hear them roar.
J.P. Morgan describes Quant Models as "mathematical methods built to efficiently screen and identify stocks" and says it has applied that method to soccer data such as FIFA rankings and historical match scores to come up with its result.
Although every Englishman including me seems to fancy the national team's chances in every World Cup, few outside Old Blighty see them as favourites when the cup rolls around every four years.
Yes, England has in recent years become home to the top professional league in all of soccer, but that's largely because the Big Four Premier League teams are chock full of foreign players lured from the far corners of the earth by owners that throw around sums of money that would make Crosus blush.
The home of football has largely faced international futility since lifting the World Cup in 1966. But this time it could be different according to JP Morgan staff.
I wish it was true, however, the adage GIGO comes to mind. Garbage In, Garbage Out.

World Cup Zone

From here on in until the World Cup Final this blog could be exclusively about the World Cup.
Football is a passion and Liverpool FC is my religion and I worship at Anfield.
However, once every 4 years the only place to worship is at the World Cup. This year it is in South Africa.
Let’s rock!

Return from the UK

We flew in from the UK despite the grumblings of the volcano in Iceland and we brought the Lady of the Villa’s mother and sister with us.
The M-in-L is not as handy on her feet as she used to be so we had the airport provide us with help and a wheelchair. The flight was no problem and we got to the villa early evening. to find:

• Pool had leaked – ye Gods!
• The satellite TV not working
• The cleaner not done her work as we had parked the car so far up the drive she could not open the security gate
• The garden had gone crazy as only Spanish gardens can and it looked like we had been away for 6 months!

Still it was good to be home and I am sure we can overcome all these problems over the coming weeks

The unseen howlers in web addresses

I read this in the Sunday Times this weekend. Funny.

When Big Al’s bowling alley and restaurant wanted a jaunty name for its website, I Love Big Al’s seemed the obvious choice.
It was only when the site was up and running that the horrible truth dawned: run the words together and you might also attract visitors looking for women who swing both ways — I Love Bi Gals.
The business, in Vancouver, Washington state, is one of the tamer entries in a new compendium of websites whose names seemed safe enough at the time, but become somewhat unfortunate when strung together as a web address.
With hindsight, the compilers of a list of celebrity agents called Who Represents would probably have thought twice about calling their website whorepresents.com.

Les Bocages, a team of British tree surgeons working in Brittany, might also have chosen something other than the French word for “groves” — especially if they’d seen it written as lesbocages, which conjures up an altogether different image.

And spare a thought for the Mole Station nursery, a garden products company in New South Wales, Australia, whose web address used to be molestationnursery. It has now been changed to the not-at-all-amusing molerivernursery.
“In a world without spaces we mentally insert our own,” said Andy Geldman, a software designer and author of Slurls: They Called Their Website What? “And you might not stick yours where I stick mine.”
His book lists more than 150 such sites, anything from American Scrap Metal (or americanscrapmetal) to ustinc.com.
Website names have inspired pranksters. At first glance you might think that Powergen, the energy firm, had made a terrible error with the site of its Italian branch: powergenitalia. Actually it has nothing to do with Powergen.
There is also suspicion that Pen Island, a firm that apparently offers a range of bespoke pens, knew exactly what it was doing when it named its website penisland.net.
Most of the ambiguities prompt the response: what were they thinking? Log on to menlove.com and you do not expect to find the site of a Toyota dealer in sleepy Utah. Likewise, would you feel comfortable as a hotel owner renting bedlinen from ladrape.co.uk? Yet this is the site of a Cheshire firm.
Most website owners seem to be philosophical about the ambiguity. A spokesman for therapistfinder, which lists therapists in California, sighed and then admitted: “We have received a few bizarre phone calls.”
Others fail to see the funny side. A spokesman for Choose Spain, a company offering holiday villas on its website, called choosespain.com, said flatly: “It was too late to change it once we realised.”
Sometimes it takes a while for the horrible truth to sink in. When Michelle Aisworth was setting up her mobile dog-grooming service in Warwickshire, she wanted a name that explained what the company was all about. So she chose doggiestyles for her website, completely unaware, she says, of its sexual meaning.
So the moral is this: when choosing a name for your business in this cyber age, always think how it would read on a web address. If all else fails, just look it up on Go Ogle.

Books read in May 2010

Broken. Martina Cole. Another in the series of London villains and there goings on. Another excellent read with multiple story lines gradually pulled together over the 400 pages. So many story lines with differing characters that I am sure one or two lose ends still lie around. However, the book is such a good read that can be forgiven. 3.5 Stars.
Exit Wound. Andy McNab. I really like McNab’s books, cant explain it, I just do! This story (A Nick Stone Thriller) had Taliban, Russian Businessmen, CIA, MI6/MI5 and civilian characters and moved from Dubai, UK, Russia, Iran and all points in between. Wrapped up a little bit quickly for my liking seeing that 7/8ths of the book had been taken up ‘setting the scene’ so to speak. But sill an enjoyable read. 4 Stars.
Flash Forward. Robert J Sawyer. Set in 2009, which was more than ten years in the future when he wrote the book the novel has everyone in the world blacking out in the present for two minutes as they glimpse the future 20 years ahead. The book is an intellectual puzzle, drawing on theoretical physics to raise questions about time and space and the existence of free will, and proves once again that good science fiction does not need visual special effects to thrill. 4.5 stars.
The First Rumpole Omnibus. John Mortimer. Thirteen individual stories from the pen of John Mortimer about that that lovable barrister Rumpole. If you loved the TV series this book is for you. If not don’t read it. I loved the series and this book. 4 Stars.
Strip Jack. Ian Rankin. Another enjoyable Inspector Rebus novel. This one containing such Characters as an MP, a “rat pack”, and a new boss for Rebus. Full of clues that lead you along, full of twists that make your deductions seem faulty, with a final twist that makes you understand the whole book. Well worth the time spent reading it. 4 Stars.