THE BRITISH THREAD II

English teams are renowned for their ability to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
It ain't over till the fat lady sings.

It's all over now Mac. It matters not what the fat lady does.

And Mr Ponting should be retired forthwith. Accepting the umpire's decision with grace is the first rule of cricket.

I agree with you spendi, its curtains for the Aussie boys. Have no fear the axe will fall tomorrow and with it a few heads. Your boys have done well!

Yeah? Is that just by de-fault? Don't know much about cricket but I just assumed we would be crap at that as well as most other sports. he he

Well--it's the men really innit dp. Men are crap aren't they? he he. What we need are some new sports like eating competitions and whinging championships and then our ladies can restore our pre-eminence.

Go Tracey Barlow.

Yes! I reckon I would be a contender for world champion at any kind of whinging competitions. Not sure about the eating. I reckon men would still have the edge on that one.

Apparently KP wound the Aussies up by at first "admitting" he had touched the ball, when the TV record says he didn't, and that got Ponting going. And they thereby wasted one Review. Gamesmanship.)

Sorry! It wasn't a Christmas concert.
But the Vienna's Konzerthaus Society's New Year's Concert. (Konzerthaus Vienna)

And the orchestra had a different name as well, it was the Strauss Festival Orchestra Vienna

Has been really very good - they made a dvd of that concert, too.

Wasn't that a bit early for a New Year's concert?
How did the whole Vienna trip go?
There's to be a big swing programme on TV here at New Year...I'll try to record it for you.
Apparently British DVDs can play on German recorders- I just sent one to Tony and (after he had bought a new machine) he was able to play it.

And there you have it, England win by an innings an 157 runs and retain the Ashes. It's taken them less than an hour and a half, and it's their biggest win over Australia since Old Trafford in 1956 - emphatic, to say the least. Man-hugs and back-slaps all round on the field, the Barmy Army fill the 'G with noise! As the England team leave the field they're met by the coaches and technical staff, Andy Flower is there and congratulates each and every one of them.

This has been a thoroughly deserved win, England led the game from the moment the coin was tossed. They used the conditions perfectly to dismantle Australia in the first innings, surged ahead with the bat, and finished the job with more than a day and a half to spare. After setting the tone with the bat at Brisbane, they took the a lead in the series with an-innings-and-71-run win at Adelaide. It appeared there was life in Australia yet when an inspired Mitchell Johnson helped them bounce back at Perth, but England showed depth, determination and killer instinct to take this game by the scruff of the neck and keep hold of the urn.

What more can I say, congratulations spendi, far to good this time!

They play it three times: yesterday and today in the evening, on New Year's day at 11 o'clock. (Which seems to be reasoned by the huge membership of the concert house society, and the rather low capacity of just 1.900 spectators in the great hall.)

Trip was excellent (is, leaving in the afternoon), but accompanied with a rather cold wind.

After the ice and snow had melted, yesterday I slipped and fell on some wet muddy ground as I was walking through a local park.
I couldn't do my famous forward roll, 'cause my foot slipped again as I was trying to descend in a more graceful and controlled manner, so I fell heavily and bruised my ribs. The ground was still frozen hard, although the surface was slimy.
My wife was gracious enough not to laugh (as she usually does).
Just thought I would share.

Remarkably prescient of you, McTaggle, old bean!

I keep out of parks Mac. But I'm sorry to read of your accident. I hope it isn't too painful. How come your wife didn't break your fall? Had she let go of the straps?

She was walking ahead, and turned round when she heard "Oh! Oh! Oh! Wohh!" in time to see me thud into some blackish slime.
I got some odd looks from passers-by on the way home.

Margo, as you know I haven't got a dog in this fight, being a Jock, but it would be a shame for the Poms not to win the Sydney test as well.
I don't like cricket much, but I quite enjoy seeing the edited highlights.
Can Ricky Pointing not get a new hat? His old one's seen better days.

Not much happening here.

I see from today's Guardian that the Government figures for the cost of their proposed changes to the social security system have been badly under-estimated.

More flak for Smorgs at the coalface.

We've had a wee bit of snow here, fell last night.

I'm waiting in for a man (or it could be a woman) from Virgin Media to fix our telly, the one connected to the cable. It's semi-broke, summat's up. Sometimes it doesn't work, and sometimes it works jerkily, and a "BAD SIGNAL" message comes up. Eight till one.

Telly fixed, no problem.

It was something to do with AV1 and AV2.

Don't forget to take your Christmas decorations down.

Why? I just have to put them up again next year!

That is so.
If no rain in Sydney, England ought to edge this one.
644 is a whopper innings.
Well done, Strauss's stunnas. But to put it in perspective, South Africa and Pakistan are supposed to be better.