daveydave

At the risk of being labelled a racist, national front-supporting nazi by the über-PC idiots: Happy St George's Day. Not just to the good folk of England, but also the citizens of the following countries, regions and cities where St George is also patron saint: Georgia, Germany, Greece, Lithuania, Palestine, Portugal, Aragon, Catalonia, Genoa, Istanbul, Moscow and Venice. I'm not a jingoistic flag-waver by any stretch of the imagination, but I do find it wierd that we English types seem to celebrate St Patrick's Day and even Australia Day more than our own patron saint. Shame really. Have yourself a nice warm ale and a bag of chips. External links: BBC: St George's Day Royal Society of St George

I haven't been a season ticket holder as St. James for some years now, but I felt I must say something about Shearer and his retirement from the game. I was there, outside the Leazes end 10 years ago, when Alan Shearer signed for Newcastle United. I had a very extended lunch and endured what seemed like hours of that idiot Alan Robson telling me what I should sing, just to see Shearer lift his arms to the sky that first time in black and white. Last week, at the Wear-Tyne derby, we saw that action one last time. It is such a sad way for Shearer to finish his career, limping off 3 games early after tearing a ligament in his knee. If there was any justice he would have been scoring a hatrick against Chelsea on the last day of this season. Sadly it's not to be. Shearer has been a fantastic asset to Newcastle and England, a fabulous sportsman and almost impossible to replace. All the best Alan, in whatever you do in your retirement - it's been an absolute pleasure watching you.

Those of you who keep an eye on this blog may have noticed a couple of posts on clay pigeon shooting. In order to keep a reasonable level of focus on this new interest of mine, I've started a dedicated blog: Breaking Clays . There isn't much there at the minute but, as I progress and learn more about the sport and the equipment, that is where I will post my thoughts and findings.

A Japanese film based on a comic I believe (aren't they all) The story revolves around a group of 10 kids who have been brought up and trained to serve one purpose: assassination. The central character, Azumi, is the only girl in the group. Once the scene of early life and the training has been set, we quickly move on to the real task in hand. The group leave their mountain retreat, where they have been living in splendid isolation learning their craft, out into the outside world to await their orders. Many battles ensue leading, naturally, to a big final fight. And boy it's a big one. This film is not all about killing, however. Loyalty, betrayal and the questioning of your destiny all come out over the course of the 2 hours. Azumi is full of quality acting, breathtaking martial arts and wonderfully interesting characters: this is a gem of a film. Quality moment: Azumi dispatches an arrow heading directly for her forehead with one swift application of her sword - the arrow is

For those of you who trot off to Europe on your hols and are used to dropping by your local Post Office for an E111 form: they are no more. The humble E111 has now been replaced by the European Health Insurance Card. They are free and easy to get online by pointing your browser at the online EHIC application form . I applied for one on Wednesday night and it arrived this morning (Saturday) which seems like a pretty speedy turnaround time if you ask me. The EHIC does the same thing as the old E111 - that is, allows you to claim health services throughout European Economic Area countries and Switzerland. Very handy. It only covers treatment that becomes medically necessary during your visit to that country - so no free boob jobs. You should also get proper travel insurance too - particularly those of you who love zipping down mountains on planks of wood. Further information is available on the FAQ page . This information is only valid for UK residents, not including Channel Islands or Is

...you were ordered to leave your home by your government, moved to some place 800 miles away that you've never been before, and told you could never return? Pretty upset I'll bet, annoyed even. So here's a question: who do you reckon did this to a community 35 years ago. China, perhaps? North Korea? Guess again. The community in question are the Chagos islanders and the government responsible is the British Government. During the late 60's the British Government leased the island of Diego Garcia to the Americans for use as an airbase. Diego Garcia was part of the Crown Colony of Mauritius at the time. The people living on the islands to the north of Diego Garcia were served eviction orders and moved. Some ended up dumped in Mauritius or the Seychelles, others resettled in the UK. They have never been allowed to return, until last week. And then only for a short visit. Diego Garcia is now part of the British Indian Ocean Territory, one of 13 remaining territories belong

After an entertaining shooting lesson last week, I went back for more... So, today was shooting lesson number two. Last week my instructor started me off shooting one clay at a time before moving on to report pairs (second clay launched on hearing the first shot.) Today it was straight on to pairs, so your 25 booms go by pretty sharpish. We moved on to the second stage today: starting with the gun down from the shoulder. Shout pull, watch for the clay, gun into the shoulder, track and bang. I only missed 4 today, so I was well pleased. I've got to say, Jack is an excellent instructor and has got me comfortable with the shotgun very quickly. His words to me on leaving the range were basically, you've got the basics, get a gun and practice. Next stop: a gun case.

I watched this film again the other night, even though I didn't really enjoy it when I saw it at the cinema after its release last year. The script is poor, the acting highly questionable in places and Orlando Bloom is totally wrong for the lead part. The reasons I decided to watch it again were twofold: the look of the thing and the performance of Ghassan Massoud as Saladin. Totally believable in the role and projecting an on-screen presence that Bloom and others can only dream about. This guy seems a very fine actor indeed. I'm hoping to track down some of his other performances. His latest film appears to be Valley of the Wolves: Iraq.

It's less than 24 hours after installing the new visitors tool, and I have a message from the other side of the world. Hello to Ivan in Brazil, thanks for your visit. His blog is in Portugese but why not drop by: Ivan Goulart - Professor e Pedagogo

Those hawk-eyed readers out there may have noticed a new addition to the righthand panel of this blog. Nestling comfortably between my flickr preview and the Google adverts lies a nifty little gadget that shows where visitors to this blog are from. Looks a bit sad and lonely at present, as it can't take into account those who visited before the thing was activated. However, it should be interesting to see who actually wanders into this blog other than the 5 or 6 UK-based people who I know keep half an eye on it. You can get this thing from NeoWorx

You may be wondering what the hell that title is all about. Well, it kind of starts with the Commonwealth Games (see earlier post ) and the shooting in particular. You know when you see something on the telly and you go, "yeah, that looks good." Or, "done that before, was fun." And then you change channels, buttocks remaining firmly glued to the sofa. Well I got that sort of feeling while watching the men's skeet shoot, but this time I did something. I reached for the internet and then the phone. That's a rather round about way of saying I went clay pigeon shooting on Sunday. Most enjoyable it was too. It's been a couple of years since I last handled a shotgun, but I think I smashed about half of the clays - so that's not too bad. I think I have a taste for it now, so I'm booked in for another lesson next week. It'll be gun certificates and so forth before you know it. You know how these things take hold...