I did go out to see that live gig at the Hub as I previously mentioned, and not only that, I find out about half hour before that Stephen, Martin and Darren were going as well, which surprised me as I didn’t think they were into live music that much, especially not local music. Anyway, my intention was to go to the Hub, then go straight home, but things didn’t work out that way, in fact I didn’t get home at all that night! I got talked into going to JFK’s after all, although I might as well not gone, as I spent my taxi fare home on entry, then got thrown out for being too drunk about half hour later. But what annoys, yet amuses me is that I was no more drunk when I got thrown out than I was when I walked in, and paid the £5 door tax! What happened was I was sat down on the steps by the dance floor when Chris and Tash unexpectedly grabbed me and pulled me towards the dance floor, when I slipped on one of the steps and went diving head first onto the dance floor. At which point the bouncer came over and politely asked me to leave believing I was too drunk to be in the club. It did occur to me to argue the point, and try to get my money back, but ultimately I didn’t really want to be there anyway. So I eventually ended up at my dad’s house, as he lives a hell of a lot closer than I do to town. I did go into work, expected a bollocking in the morning for not having my work uniform, but none of the management said anything about it, which is good; maybe they realised that it’s so out of character for me, and must have assumed that something was wrong, which it wasn’t really, I was just hungover!
Italy may be on a high after winning the World Cup; but in domestic football there has been some major punishments handed out, and the ‘big four’ teams have been punished for match fixing in Serie A. Juventus have been hardest hit, being demoted to Serie B, and deducted 30 points from next seasons point tally, which will mean that the Turin based team will almost certainly spend at least two seasons in the second tier. Also they have been barred from competing in Europe, and have been stripped of their last two Serie A titles. Lazio and Fiorentina have also been demoted to Serie B; and will also serve a ban from Europe, but wont have a points deducted from their points total next season unlike Juventus. AC Milan have gotten off relatively lightly compared to their rivals, they will remain in Serie A, but will have 15 points deducted from their points come the end of the season. The most interesting thing will be how many ‘star’ players of the clubs demoted will stick with the clubs, I would say not many as players like that have no loyalty to any club, and only want to play for top flight clubs. Juventus have the most to lose with sixteen internationals from France and Italy. You really cant feel sorry for these teams; if they are going to be corrupt, and try to fix matches, then they deserve the punishment, maybe this will send a message to other teams that are considering fixing matches for financial gain in the future. In other football, pre-season matches for Plymouth Argyle have gone well beating Tiverton Town 4 – 0, then going on to beat Grays Athletic 3 – 0; OK I know that they are hardly stiff competition, but its good for morale going into the new season. But the big news is that Plymouth will play a friendly against Spanish giants Real Madrid as part of their pre-season warm-up; obviously this is somewhat of coup for Argyle, its not often a second tier team gets a chance to play against a top flight Spanish team, it just a shame that it will be played in Austria, and not at Home Park, it would be a guaranteed sell-out, I would be there without hesitation; even if I had to lose a days pay to see the game!
Finally something to amuse you; yesterday while in work; I heard a story from one of the chefs about something that happened on Friday night. He was stood at the bar waiting to get served, when he spotted an attractive woman stood next to him. When he was finally served, he went to turn around and lean on the bar to talk to this woman, only to miss the bar completely, and fall flat on his face. Upon realising what happened, he picked himself off the floor, grabbed his drinks and walked away as quick as he could out of embarrassment!
Additional: I just stumbed across this article on The Register – possibly the best error message ever… who said that IT people don’t have a sense of humour eh?
Additional: Additional: For sale: One ex-Manchester United player (cheat); and while you’re reading that, have a look at this and this as well; it’s all relative you know!!!