So much for my not drinking too much over the next couple of weeks before my birthday. It all went wrong on Wednesday, when I was having a bad day at the office [e.g. the phoenix sound desk] so I decided to have a pint of John Smiths, and as the night finished reasonably earlier I grabbed another pint while the band was clearing the stage area, before powering down the PA. This in turn lead to me being lured into Voodoo Lounge by a friend that I bumped into on the way home, although I was reasonably sensible on the drinking front! Next night I went to the Phoenix to take some pictures of the bands playing, although originally I was meant to be doing the sound for Redemption Unnamed, but I let Rich [the house soundman for the night] take control for RU, he may not be the sharpest tool in the box, but he manages to get a good sound in the end! While at the Phoenix, I receive a call from Stephen asking if I wanted to go for a drink, and mentioned that I was thinking of going to the Quay Club, so he said he would come down [although I probably wouldn’t have gone out if he didn’t come down, as I wasn’t really up for it]. Anyway we didn’t get to the Quay Club, we stumbled upon a new rock/metal night in the Warehouse, which is part of the C103 complex, which has to be said was dead, only a handful of people, infact I think there was more staff than customers, too much like Friday night in my opinion. Then again on Friday, it was JFK’s night, so although I was feeling tired and shouldn’t have gone out in reality, I did, seems that I am hooked on JFK’s again, there’s something about loud rock and metal that does it for me, probably because I can’t crank the amps at home, neighbours and shit! I regret all the going out-ness now as I managed to spend £70 in three days, which I can’t actually afford this month, I am now hoping that my Telewest bill won’t be due until after the 28th as I don’t have enough to cover both BT and Telewest bills at the moment. Guess I need to start being more sensible with my cash from now on, maybe I am just holding onto my fast diminishing youth, only another 12 months and 11 days and I’ll be 30 :/
In sport, Plymouth Argyle was disappointing at home against Paul Sturrock’s Sheffield Wednesday. Plymouth threw the game away in the 24th minute when Akos Buzsaky managed to head the ball past Romain Larrieu to gift the visitors the lead. Wednesday went close shortly after before Plymouth got to grips with the game and started to pile on the pressure, but couldn’t break through until the 78th minute when David Norris tangled with Frank Simek in the 18 yard box, Paul Wotton made no mistake from the penalty spot drilling the ball into the bottom left of the Sheffield goal. So a 1 – 1 draw, which isn’t a good result, Paul Sturrock will be the happier of the two managers, taking a point away from Home Park. Argyle manager Tony Pulis has admitted that a lot of work needs to be done to turn Argyle’s season around, but at least we aren’t losing games so easily now, a point is better than nothing, which it could have so easily been, if it wasn’t for a dubious penalty decision. Plymouth will have to step up their game if they wish to do anything in their next match away at Loftus Road against our big rival from the old Division 2, Queens Park Rangers!
In Formula One, Renault have wrapped up the double winning season, adding the constructors crown to Fernando Alonso’s drivers crown. Alonso lead from start to finish and despite a spirited charge by Kimi Raikkonen in the final 10 laps, it wasn’t enough as the Spaniard cruised home with a four second cushion. Renault team mate Giancarlo Fisichella came home in fourth place after being penalised for obstructive driving, holding up the pack while his team mate refuelled to avoid being queued during a safety car period. This annoys me as McLaren did exactly the same thing in the Spa Francorchamps grand prix, after which the rules were changed. I don’t understand how the FIA can change rules mid season, that is unfair on the other teams, when McLaren got away scot-free, McLaren should have penalised as well for it, or the rule should have been changed from the next season onwards, OK rant over, back to the race, It wasn’t a good day for the Brits, with both DC and JB suffering when they both pitted before the safety car period, and suddenly found themselves in 7th & 8th after running in 5th & 6th before the stops. Both Brits got caught out in the seconds stops when they again lost out in another safety car period, slipping back to 10th & 11th, but clawed back some positions, finishing in 8th and 9th respectively, neither driver did anything wrong, they were just victims of circumstance really. I would say that Couthard will be the happier of the two Brits based on this seasons performance, as BAR has taken a huge step backwards and RBR have take a huge step forward in terms of what Jaguar did last season, who were bought out by Red Bull. So that’s it for this season, no more F1 until March next year, although I will have quite a bit to rant about over the winter months will all the bollocks that Mosley, and Ecclestone is bound to spout!
Finally, BT has announced that it will be extending its trial of 8mbps ADSL in preparation for a full roll out next spring. BT needs to do something to compete with NTL and Telewest, who are offering 10mbps cable connections for around £35. I welcome the news of faster ADSL connections coming soon, although I do wonder at what cost, will BT charge an extortionate amount for this new 8mbps service or will they upgrade existing customers of their 2mbps service to 8mbps for free. I think that realistically they will need too, or at least match the £35 that Telewest and NTL are offering, although they may have to keep it at £30 to keep customers as Telewest have a connection 2mbps faster for no extra money, especially considering that I pay £30 for a 2mbps now, which puts it into perspective. Although I have to admit 2mbps is fast enough for me at the moment, I don’t use the internet that heavily to need any more speed, although I’ll take it if its being offered for free!