Hehehehe...

I scanned this picture from a very, very, VERY old primary school 'news book' - I think I was about 5 or 6 at the time I drew it?

Apparently, I spent most of that weekend defending a castle from parachuting spacemen using arrows fired either from my trusty bow, or from the amazing automatic arrow turret (see centre of picture, beware - high awesome content).

And in case you're wondering, that cannon really is SAYING 'boom' :)

Random Vintage SWG Screenshot

Deepsea sits in one of the alcoves of the DarkR trading post, by the shuttleport at the city of Reavers Retreat, on Lok.

These three vendors were my three main 'space' ones, for selling chassis blueprints, guns, armour, engines and so on. The free-rotation and placement of objects within the environment made for some interesting and innovative displays!

I spent many hours here stock taking, restocking, relisting, discounting, deliberately undercutting the Shipwright opposition etc. etc.

Good times :)

Roll on the Emulator!

Football Lookalikes

I challenge you to avoid laughing at these! Absolute quality.

I was sent them a good while ago by a mate, but decided to condense what I consider the best ones into one single image to put it here. As you can see by the tag I added, they were originally from www.football365.com.

Huzzah!

Timing. It's a funny thing, isn't it.

Having been unemployed since mid-July, I'd put all my energy into finding something else but had no luck. A lot of companies seem to advertise jobs which aren't actually there (which they only tell you when you've PASSED the interview) so that they can put you on a shortlist to call when (if?) they need you.

This creates the tension and indescribable annoyance of having lots of people say 'yes, you're great, we'll definitely hire you' - and then nothing happens. As I didn't want to have to deal with the political faff and form filling of applying for JobSeeker's Allowance, I'd held off and held off until my financial reserves were absolutely at breaking point. I'd had a good interview on Friday for a job, which I'd also passed and been told that as soon as a start date could be agreed, I'd be in there. All well and good - again. But no firm date is a painful thing when you're wallowing in ever-deepening red ink...

So, nerves in tatters and more than a little down in the mouth, I bit my pride and went down to the JobCentre for my arranged meeting to start a JSA claim today, having been reassured by the person I'd spoken to on the phone (who wanted to know the far end of a fart, by the way) that I could easily backdate my claim from the first date that my last temporary post ended. 'That's good' I thought, 'that should give me a little breathing room for a short while'.

Turns out that she'd been talking bollocks. I was told that while I could, if I wanted to, put that earlier date, the odds of getting any payment for it beyond a simple National Insurance credit would be extremely small. I could claim from the 7th of September, which is when I first started the ball rolling to make a claim (I knew it'd take a few weeks) - oh, less the 3 day waiting period (!) which would make it from the 10th instead. She'd also asked tons of totally irrelevant questions on the phone, some extremely invasive to be frank, and I had to fill in another form from scratch when I arrived! Jolly good, you call centre numpty!

After glumly trudging through the paperwork, and accepting the signing on form & booklet with all the bitter reverence of a cyanide coated turd, I made my way home. Josie had been dropped at my Mam's house earlier on, as Sharon had to pop to the Doctor's at a similar time to my appointment.

After a bit of a cuddle from the little 'un, a bit of a moan and gripe about how shite the administration of the benefit system in this country is, and a good cup of tea, we all popped back home just round the corner. I then checked my phone, which had a missed call on it.

'Probably the JobCentre asking me to come back to measure my inside leg or something' I mused, checking my voicemail. However, it was Claire from Select recruitment (a very nice lady who had taken me through my interview and tests for the Friday interview I mentioned earlier). I called her back, and she told me that she had a start date for the admin job I'd been tested and accepted for.

Tomorrow!!!!!!!

The relief is incredible. It's like a 10 stone weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I can sign-off that horrid little claim form to show that my last day of claim is TODAY, post it off, and wait for the interim payment to enter my account. This should help tide me over until my first weekly pay goes in, which will be the friday after this coming one. Yes. Weekly pay, too. Awesomeness.

My sleep patterns are all to shit, so it would have been nice to have just a couple of days to pull them round, but I'm not really complaining. We don't live in an ideal world, but the timing of things that have happened today is about as ideal as it could get. I don't believe in an all powerful deity, or fate, or providence - but I'm just one lucky, lucky boy.....

Timing. It's a funny thing, isn't it. :)

Unsettlingly Accurate Battlestar Galactica Parallel

Wise Words - Indeed!

(reproduced from nufc.com - hope they don't mind, it's a top site, please visit it!)
_____________________________________________________________

Quotes that came directly from Dennis Wise in February 2008 (home match programme v Middlesbrough):

"Kevin has the final word - no-one else.

"A lot of people have got mixed up with the reason why I'm here and we need to straighten that out quickly.

"I'm not here to be involved in the first team, I'm not here to manage. I'm here to help Kevin as much as possible with bringing young players through and also recommending certain players to him.

“He'll say yes or no. He has the final word, no-one else. I'm not going to do things like bring players in behind his back - I'm not into that.

“Everything that happens will be run past him and he'll say yes or no. I get on very well with Kevin. He's a good man and has a good rapport with the players. He treats players like proper men. He treats players with respect and that's why he gets the best out of them.

"I've got to concentrate more on the academy, we need some young blood coming through of our own, that's something that needs to be looked at.

"We also need to look abroad for players and that's my intention over the next few years."

Goodbye King Kev

He's resigned now - I've not been this angry in a long time.

Will be interested to see :

a) Who Ashley & co. try to install as the new manager. If it's Wise, then they DEFINITELY don't understand what fans up here are like. The guy is universally despised, and seen as pivotal to the issues KK brought up over the last few days.

b) How many turn up to the Hull game, how loud they are - and what they're chanting!!

c) Will Ashley dare to sit with the fans at any game, anytime soon? He better have minders with him; or get someone to check his pint for arsenic. He's totally underestimated how KK was viewed up here. The 'Messiah' thing is a joke created by the London media to paint Toon fans as mindless zealots, the reality is that the guy was extremely well liked and respected as being 'one of us' who would always give you a straight answer and made the players understand what it means to the fans to wear the shirt.

d) Who even declares an interest in a manager's job where it's now explicit that control over players in/out is completely and utterly out of their hands...?

When Kev was first asked about Wise coming in, he said that 'he (ie. KK) still retains full control over comings and goings'. The position was simply meant to provide a streamlined scouting network to largely suggest YOUNGER players to sign for the long run, nothing to do with proper first team matters in most respects. Did KK misunderstand, was he lied to, or did the goalposts change?

Already the media are laughing their arses off over 'crybaby' Keegan running away again (gimme a break, learn to read) and what a joke the Toon are.

They can only really import a foreign manager now, who is totally compliant and used to working 'the european way' where, basically, they simply and purely coach what they are given by the higher-ups, and keep their trap shut. I didn't rate Curbishley, but KK and Curbs walking within a couple of days over essentially the same issue? This has to be a wake-up call that this is two more clubs turning into corporate committees, and away from their roots.

Could you see the Glaziers telling Fergie who to buy? I think not.

I read someone elsewhere make a really good point - look at Portsmouth! They were sinking out of sight under the 'new european way', but as soon as they cleared out the totally unnecessary 'admin & meddling' layer at the club and let Harry wheel and deal, they were on the up and up.

Iam seething.Even if 'the new guy' somehow steadies the ship, it'll take an awful lot to bring the fans back on-side, and Ashley & co. will be stained badly by this. He needs to sell up, take his cronies (all of them - Wise, Vetere, Llambias, Jimenez) and play Champ Manager 08 or something, where he cannot revive then slowly strangle a real club ever again.

The 'Good Wife Guide'

This just goes to show how much attitudes have changed towards being a wife in the 53 year gap.

It's absolutely hilarious. If this was published now, the magazine offices would be burned down for sure.

I particularly like the last two points; just about guaranteed to get a sharp object thrown at you if you were to even suggest them to a girl in 2008... :)

"Kevin Keegan - Official NUFC Statement

NEWCASTLE United can confirm that meetings between members of the Board and manager Kevin Keegan were held both yesterday and today.

Kevin has raised a number of issues and those have been discussed with him.

The Club wants to keep progressing with its long-term strategy and would like to stress that Kevin is extremely important, both now and in the future.

Newcastle United values the effort and commitment shown by Kevin since his return to St. James' Park and wants him to continue to play an instrumental role as manager of the Club.

For the avoidance of doubt the Club has not sacked Kevin Keegan as manager."

This statement appeared today on the official NUFC website, following a full day of feverish speculation and assassination of the club, manager and fans by the London media. The wording and content of this statement, to me, is extremely clear in what it's trying to set out; 'WE'VE NOT PULLED THE TRIGGER'. I reckon they've put this out there in good time prior to Keegan deciding to walk, so that the club isn't painted as the villain in all this.

Although things were explained to KK regarding how the club is set up now (with the poison Dwarf Wise and co. being 'in charge' of transfers) I think he - quite rightly- wanted more input over who we get in. He's not used to working like this, and could quite rightly be angry by the fact that we have one loanee and one new signing when he's been told we've got about 3 almost dead certs to come in.

After all, you'd think if Wise & co. purely DO that kind of thing, as their dedicated and sole task, they'd be able to come good in time. Kev has probably sounded off to the board about how sluggish the new structure is compared to other clubs, and hence the apparent impasse.

I'm sure Spurs would be happier if Comolli had sod all to do with transfers, instead of the huge number of flops he brought in. I have a strong feeling that, if KK had been allowed to target and pursue the players he wanted, in his own way, we'd be a lot more positive about this whole situation. I wonder if KK feels as much of a passenger in this as the fans do..?

More news on this tomorrow, I hope.