Eddie

I must confess that I'm confused. You're not suggesting that I have a bit of an alcohol hobbit, are you?

Just had an email from Beeronweb. They have just received confirmation from HMRC that any future orders shipped to the UK costing less than £135 will no longer attract alcohol duty - just VAT. A few people I know from various Belgian beer enthusiasts' sites have had orders impounded pending the payment of alcohol duty, so I might consider ordering from abroad again.

I'd like to see some real pace and bounce in the wicket this season.

Yep. Missing an offside by 10 yards takes a special kind of white stick and guide dog. Not that I minded, of course.

Atwell is Atwell. He is probably a mistake himself.

I wasn't referring to the World Cup incident - rather, it occurred in the home game v Real Madrid. Same guy, same requirement for spectacles.

The worst decision I have ever seen in my life was perpetrated by linesman Tofiq Bakhramov - but Robert Madley's crazy 5 seconds at Burnley ran it close.

Really enjoyed the game. I love a battle just as much as I love players showing silky skills. Whereas the first half saw plenty of slick passing and moves, the way the team rolled their sleeves up and got the job done in the second gives a great feeling of confidence. We earned that win tonight. To paraphrase the great man, "More of the same please gentlemen."

You may be having some difficulty determining the difference between a statement of fact and criticism, even though the criticism may have a founding in truth. Let me try to make things clearer. Factual statement: "I've not read many comments from kevinhectoring lately." Criticism: "I've not read many comments from kevinhectoring lately because, frankly, nothing he posts is ever worth reading so I either skip over them or stick pins in my eyes."

I watched "Tommy" while wasted. When Tina Turner started singing "Acid Queen" I think my brain exploded. Thanks for prompting a wonderful memory.

I got the impression that their fee was to do with the actual running costs of the club, as opposed to them just trousering it with a cry of 'Yoink'.

Nov 19 is also World Toilet Day.

The Memsahib said that yesterday was International Women's Day and I fell for it, asking her when International Men's Day was. "All the others" was the reply.

There's a few on here who.... Hang about. You said "in their right minds". As you were.

Aye.

We're up to series 6. Really good. Incidentally, we are now up to series 25 of Silent Witness. It fell very flat for a while, but the last couple of series seemed to pick up again. I can't say that I totally agree with some of the sentiments expressed on here that it tried too hard to be 'politically correct' and some gave up on it for those reasons- in my opinion, they dealt with a few very difficult subjects very well - perhaps just not in the way that agreed with the sentiments of others.

Were 'Pieces of Eight' the original Bitcoins? Asking for a pirate friend.

Here we go again, @Archied - agreeing again. In the last few days, I have first Niemöllered the thread then Santayanaed it. Going for a hat-trick now: "An eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind" - Louis Fischer (Gandhi's biographer, attributing the philosophy or message, if not the actual words, to Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi)

It's relevant to every war - there is always a precedent, and the irony of a people who historically suffered genocide now seemingly thinking that it's perhaps not such a bad idea is not lost on me.

Counter point... Arsenal are the first team in the Prem (since Sky invented football) to win three successive away games by 5 or more.

I Niemöllered the thread a few days ago. Perhaps it's time to Santayana it. "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."

Currently ploughing through 'Shetland'. It's ok.