Liverpool 0-2 Arsenal: Slick Arsenal storm to Anfield victory

Liverpool 0-2 Arsenal: Slick Arsenal storm to Anfield victory / Sport / Home - Morning Star
First of all, the picture, posted on Facebook, apparently it is for noodles.  It brings a new term to the use of sex to sell items! 

Right, Arsenal.  We have finally won a match.  I think that we have done well to keep three clean sheets, something that hopefully will last.  After all, I was brought up on the 1-0 to the Arsenal days and it is good to see no goals against us.  We were lucky, there was a penalty that was not given that should have been give against us.  But Diaby has been playing well, and being Black and tall, there are the obvious comparisons being made with Viera, comparisons that I made years ago, but comparisons that due to injury he has not built up on.  Olivier Giroud has been given the vote of confidence by Arsène Wenger and I have to agree that I think that he will do well.  So long as he is given a chance and is not played out of position.  And we have Wilshere to return as well.  While things may not be looking good at the moment, I have faith that things will get better.

Arsene Wenger has just won his first title in over half a decade
Superseller on eBay  

One Direction   The reason we should have killed Justin Bieber before he layed eggs. 

David Cameron, giving Paralympic gold medals with one hand, taking away disability benefits with the other.  

"Dad, why did you & Mum split up?" "To improve your chances on X Factor son!"

Evening all.  The end of the weekend and sometime spent with the kids again.  Today we got some of the things that my son will need before his first day at school this week.  Tomorrow is my daughters last day of the holidays, and then she is back to school.  My son starts on Thursday.  At first, it will be short days, then the days will become longer.  One big step for them as they grow up and I remember the words of Angela, a Midwife I used to work with, that they are not our children, but that we only have them on loan.
And yes, I know that the song is about a daughter, but it applies to both the kids.  Anyway, have to go and put the two angels to bed.

If this weather stays like this, they will have to start paying OAPs a summer fuel allowance payment.

Of course, saying that, summer is over.  Yesterday was the last day.  And to be fair, we have had a few days of summer.  It is just that compared to the week we spent in Malta, it was not that many compared to the last few years, and of course, going across the Channel to France, seeing blue skies in France and grey skies in the UK that rubbed it in.  The night before last was freezing, and last night was cold as well.  I made a bet with my wife that we would have a warmer December night.  I say bet, she agreed with me! Anyway, still on a high from last night watching Red Sky July.  My wife woke up having a dream that they came over to play at home!  I suspect that is related to her eagerness to listen to them again, assuming that they do come over again next year, and the conversation that she had with all three of them.

I have to say that thanks have to go to my mother for coming up to babysit the kids.  Not that I think that she minds spending time with them.  And they love seeing her as well.  Yesterday she brought up a bow and arrow from Brave for my daughter and she loved it.  She brought up a Spiderman mask for my son, only he refused to wear it despite him asking for it.  He tried to have fun with his toy Nerf Gun, only found it hard to fire it and instead shot himself on the nose when he was looking down the barrel at it.  Just as well he do not have real guns.  (In case you are wondering, this is not something we encourage as we would like him to have two working eyes by the time he grows up.)

Red Sky July at Little Rabbit Barn

Just got back from seeing Red Sky July at the Little Rabbit Barn.  What a night! It was not just them, first of all, there was a young lady called Rafferty McKelvey who was supported by her brother and they ended with a brilliant version of Mr Brightside.After this, there was a group called Jakob Deist.  It was the lead singer, Jakob Deist who was supported by a bloke with a funky box and a guitarist.Needless to say, I loved it.  I will have to admit that the first two were great live, I am not sure how good it will be to listen to both when they are not singing in front of me.  What is a shame is that Rafferty McKelvey has not got any of her original stuff uploaded on YouTube at the time of posting, or has a CD. Apparently it is a work in progress and based on what I heard live, it is a work worth waiting for.

The great thing about listening to music live at the Little Rabbit Barn is that is only has seats for about 60 people, which means that you are up close to the performers and this is brilliant.  Live music is great, but being in a venue like this is even better.  My wife does not want too many people to know about this as she would like to go back there again, a view I have to say I agree with.  She is on a high from talking to the three members, Shelly Poole (from Alisha's Attic), Ally McErlaine (from Texas) and Charity Hair from The Alice Band.  So thanks to the Little Rabbit Barn, the three members Red Sky July and of course Rafferty McKelvey and Jakob Deist for a great night.

Got to be weird being a British Paralympian under this government, knowing that a medal means you'll lose your Disability Living Allowance.

Afternoon all. We are back in the UK! Yesterday we took the Eurotunnel back to the UK. The sky was blue south of the channel. I told my wife it would be grey once we were on the other side, and I was right! But saying that it is great to be back in Blighty. The kids miss both Malta and France but are glad to be at home, where they have all the toys that they love, cherish and leave for me to step on and swear!  Anyway, despite the rain, I love being home.

I've just seen on the news that France and Germany are having Greek talks, and it's no wonder the Eurozone is in such a state. Surely they would understand a lot more if the talks were in French or German?

Morning all. Those who link to this on Facebook will be able to tell that I am posting this from France. Yesterday we flew back from that much needed (and much appreciated) holiday in Malta and now we are in France for the day. My daughter has been at a French club and has been picking up a few words after school. Having a day trip to France is something that we have thought about for a while, and we thought that as we were flying into Gatwick, with passports and our driving licence, why not pop across the Channel? So the kids woke up yesterday in Malta and went to bed in France. We used the EuroTunnel to travel across, a new experience for all of us. I am not sure how much the two kids will learn from this, but at least they have had the chance to travel to France. Anyway, this is only meant to be a quick post. Enjoy the songs and goodnight. Text from Prince Harry. "you know that Lion I won in Vegas..." Police in Essex say that a lion is reportedly on the loose. They have marksmen ready to shoot anything that is orange and has a big mouth. The cast of TOWIE have been told to stay indoors, just incase. BREAKING NEWS: Lion on the loose in Essex Locals are urged to remain indoors until further notice. Police are however keen on all members of TOWIE to immediately join the search.

I got an e-mail saying 'At Google Earth we can read maps backwards!' I thought, "That's just spam."

I hate my new Premier League football sticker book...

For some reason, none of the Arsenal stickers will stay attatched. Evening all.  Right, the trip to Malta has finished.  And I have to say, we had a great time on holiday.  I did not make use of the internet when on holiday, so I will make the post about it now.  The kids did not know that we were to go there.  We stayed at Gatwick overnight, the kids being told that it was a surprise for my wife for our anniversary.  They fell for it!  Anyway, they were excited about the room.  And it was a good one, two single beds for the kids, a sofa bed as well, and the double bed for the two of us.  Although the service in the restaurant that we ate in was not perfect, the food was good enough and the kids had a great time.  It would have been a better choice to eat at one of the other places that served food, had we arrived earlier, but that fault was with me.  I had stayed at work in the morning trying to clear a load of overdue paperwork before leaving.  My wife and I have stayed at the hotel before, and other than the service at the meal not being as good as we would like, it was great and we would certainly stay there again.

Come the morning, and we had to wake early, we took the kids into the airport.  It was only when we were waiting for the check in desk that they realised and needless to say, more excitement. As we had woken up a bit later than we should (and to be fair, I had wanted to wake later, it was the wife who had said that we needed to get up as early as we did) we did not get to spend a lot of time in Duty Free.  A rush to the plane but EasyJet were great.  My son being only four allowed us to board early (otherwise being small, he would probably be trampled otherwise), something that happened both on the flight to Malta, and the flight back.  Of course, Malta meant nothing to the kids.  It meant loads to my wife and I.  We had stayed there in the past, BC (before children) at the Westin Dragonara Resort, but could not remember when.  Back then (the staff told us that it was probably in 2003) we had arrived at the same time that a conference for an Italian petrol company was being held.  Unfortunately, our room had been double booked.  We were to be moved to a different hotel for a day or two, the Intercontinental, or as I called it after our first night, the Incontinental.  We had paid for an upgraded room at the Westin and were given a Club room at the new place.  I thought that would mean that we could take advantage of the club lounge.  This was not to be, and we were kicked out when we went there for complimentary drinks.  The Westin had arranged for us to have a meal at their best restaurant, and when we were there, the manager came over to see how we were.  You see, we had arrived on my wife's birthday.  We had wanted a sea view room, and ended up with a view of a car park.  Anyway, we got a free bottle of wine, and a promise that things would be better when we were moved back to the Westin.  When we were moved back, I thought that we would have a room upgrade, and we did.  To the penthouse!  And we had booked to stay there for two weeks!  The penthouse was bigger than our house at the time!

Anyway, this time, I have to say that the kids loved it.  And just as we had in the past, so did my wife and I.  We ate at the different restaurants there, and while we did not have as good an experience at Palio's (in fact it was a fairly bad one), others who ate there liked it and when the hotel found out about it, we had the bill removed from our bill.  The service at the hotel was brilliant almost all the time, and when it was not, other than the night in Palio's it was still very good.  Eating at Quadro, which was the Compass Rose when we were there last was amazing.  Excellent, patient and understanding service, the like of which it is hard to find anywhere on the planet as the people there retained the warmth for which the Island is famous.  And the food there!  I lost my watch, and the cleaning lady who found it had seen us waiting to be picked up in the lobby and came and found us before we left (I do wish we had given her a bigger tip).  It is somewhere I do think that we will be returning to. While there we met up with some friends who had come over on holiday to see family.  We did not get to see much of the island as we did not think that the kids, being so young would appreciate it, and my wife and I had seen most things when we were there before.  So instead, they spent time in the pool.  Loads of time and gained more confidence in the pool.  On most days, around lunch in one of the pools, there is a 'Kids club' which the two took part in.  On the first day, it was not that inclusive, but there was a wide range of ages there and the older kids dominated things, but on the other days the two had charmed the young ladies who ran it and took part in the activities.

Anyway, time to go, as usual, take are all.  And I hope you like the jokes.

RIP Neil Armstrong. The man responsible for the United States' most unique achievement: planting the Stars and Stripes somewhere without having to kill anyone.

Police have reported that with further observation, it turns out the lion in Essex is just a snow leopard with a spray tan and hair extensions.