He Shoots, He Scores AGAIN!!!

Having recovered from the chest injury that so nearly forced me out of last night's 5-a-side match against Fulwood FC, I succumbed to a hamstring strain shortly before kick off (my own fault, I was hammering shots in and overdid it). I was still able to run, it just hurt like hell to shoot but we had a man advantage because only 4 of their players turned up.

We swiftly went 1-0 up when Joe tucked one away, doubling our advantage shortly afterwards when Neil put me through to slot past the advancing goalkeeper in a one on one (I didn't have to blast it so no pain there!). By half time we were 5-0 up, Ed, another from Joe and Neil. My leg was agony by then but I was forced to come back on because Joe was told to leave the field of play for wearing moulded studs just as Naz was also coming off, however my impact was imediate. Jim rolled the ball out to me, with everybody in front I hit the pass of the match, bypassing everybody, giving Neil the simple task of diverting the pass beyond the keeper with one deft flick and that was how the game finished, their goalkeeper being equal to everything we threw at them. Final score Fulwood FC 0 Magic All Stars 6.

Don't forget to watch Life On Mars again tonight...

"Life on Mars" Gene Hunt quote of the day...

"I reckon we can take him. I'll jump on him, you grab his gun and Cartwright can jump up and down on his knackers."

Jen's having no luck with her car

We had a lovely night out last night at one of Jen's workmate's engagement party. We decided to stay at the Ibis in Rotherham so we could both drive and the evening was great, had plenty of beers at the pub (forgotten the name) and then went back to their place for a few more, arriving back at the hotel at about 3am. Woke up and left the hotel doors at about 11am with plans to go and get some junk food and watch Sky Movies all day...until we got to the car. Some little scrotum had smashed the window in, nothing stolen, they'd not even bothered to open the glove compartment, just smashed the window. Phoned the police, who for once were great, the hotel had CCTV cameras pointed at the car all night so were reviewing the footage, but the real kick in the nuts is the insurance company. AA will only allow one glass claim per year and the car window was put through last April. the result is a £157 bill for absolutely no reason. I really hope they catch the little shits because it really leaves you with a sense of injustice that your hard earned cash is pissed away due to those little tossers. Right, rant over...but I really would love to get my hands on them.

Supposed to be playing football tomorrow evening but may have to pull out through injury. My return to 5-a-side action was marred last Monday by a last minute knock to the ribs (the source of my last two football-related injuries) and it still hurts. I think I may have pulled/strained/torn a muscle or something because it's certainly not broken or bruised. It feels better today so I'll see how it goes.

Watched "King King" this afternoon which was a bit overlong (rather like this posting so I'll wrap it up in a moment). Entertaining but the endless dinosaur attacks went on a little bit for my liking, great ending though. Jens' downstairs watching last night's "Casualty" on Teleport (strangely my suggestion of "Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires" that's just started on The Horror Channel was turned down flat), nothign left to do but wait for Autoglass...

"Life On Mars" Gene Hunt quote of the day...

Ray: "I think it was a heart attack."
Gene: "Then it must have exploded out of his arse 'cos he's got blood all over his back."

He shoots, HE SCORES!!!

Made my comeback in the world of 5-a-side football last night after a year out through injury/laziness and showed no ill effects from the two broken ribs that kept me out for 6 months! Played with the Hallam boys in a new league they entered last week and myself and Naz (who put in a remarkable defensive display), the two new additions, had a lot to live up to after the team lost 8-1 last week. Things didn't look good after I gave away a penalty just 1 minute in for the heinous crime of passing back to the goalkeeper from inside the area, great save by Jim in goal. But it was to be but a brief reprieve, the opponents taking the lead after a mistake by Ed let their striker through to slot home 0-1.

We equalised shortly afterwards, no idea who scored and just a minute later I put Ian through with a delicious, defence splitting through ball. He finished with all the pedigree of a world class forward to put us 2-1 up at half time. By this time I was knackered! Our opponents laid siege to our goal early in the second half, without really looking like scoring, until Jim pulled off a magnificent save to keep us ahead and then came the moment our travelling support of one (Ed's girlfriend!) was waiting for. I received the ball on the left, cut inside and unleashed a daisy cutter from distance that just crept inside the far post, 3-1. And that's how it stayed, if anything we should have increased our lead were it not for poor finishing (guilty as charged) and one incredible save from their keeper from a shot on the turn by me that was heading for the top corner.

Man of the Match - Jim (9)
Ref Watch - Poor decision with the penalty but redeemed himself by letting the game flow (6)

"LIFE ON MARS" GENE HUNT QUOTE OF THE DAY...

"If a villain so much as farts in this city, my snouts will be able to tell you the arsehole from whence it came."

A Good weekend

The weekend started well with the addition, finally, of SKY Movies to our TV package. We got a great deal because of VirginMedia's takeover of Telewest, we rang them, told them we were thinking of moving to SKY and they fell over themselves trying to keep us. We got all 12 movie and cinema channels, plus the Talk Anytime phone package for just an extra fiver a month! Bargain!!! Already taken advantage by watching a lovely little film from Danny Boyle called "Millions", had never heard of it before, and Nicholas Cage movie "National Treasure" which I was quite surprised with. I was expecting a "Tomb Raider" type of movie but it probably had more in common with "Mission Impossible". Not bad at all.

We spent Saturday night at Rachel and Simon's, complete with the usual array of beers and Si cooked a superb meal. Rachel is an RSPCA officer and took two abandoned puppies in as their own, they're great fun to play with although they've no respect for other people's safety. Both decided to jump on me at the same time and in their excitement, trod on my head drawing blood. Fortunately I was three sheets to the wind at the time and didn't feel a thing but all in all a great weekend.

"LIFE ON MARS" Gene Hunt quote of the day...

Sam: "This place is like Guantanamo Bay."
Gene: "Come off it, it's nothing like Spain."

Did you get a card?

Of course I just got the one but it was the one that mattered, my wife to be giving me a lovely start to the day. We generally don't buy each other presents for Valentine's because Jen's birthday was just two weeks ago and mine is next week so it seems a little pointless. We also choose to stay in and cook a meal, Jen rustled up a fabulous Cheese Fondue with bread and ham which was amazing, especially washed down with a 9 year old Moet left over from last year. A very pleasant evening.

Congratulations to Matlock Town who did indeed make it 9th time lucky, beating Gresley 4-1 in the Unibond League Cup 2nd round after 7 postponements and an abandoned game. Of course I've not yet mentioned Leeds United's fine 2-1 win over Crystal Palace which means, for the first time in about a month, survival is in our own hands. We may still be 2 points off safety but, with game in hand, that difference could be wiped out. I just hope the team doesn't suffer from the controversy surrounding the apparent divulgance of the team sheet by a Leeds player to Palace. The footballing world frequently throws up people stating the obvious, "If we score more goals than them then we'll win", "The title's not decided in November", "If that had gone in it would have been a goal", but Shaun Derry's agent telling the world his client is not a mole was a step too far for me...

I think it's fairly obvious which is which to be fair, but a big thank you to the agent nonetheless for avoiding any future confusion for Elland Road's pest control.

"LIFE ON MARS" GENE HUNT QUOTE OF THE DAY...

"If I was as worried as you I'd never fart for fear of shitting myself."

9th time lucky for Matlock!

Occasionally, when working as a sports journalist, a story that makes you chuckle comes along and really puts into perspective what a bunch of soft pansies professional footballers can be. Remember the kerfuffle when Arsenal and Liverpool had to replay their Carling Cup game because they were worried about fixture congestion? Tonight Matlock Town will try for the 9th time to get their unibond League Cup second round match against Gresley played. It's been postponed 7 times and abandoned once, including on Saturday which was supposed to be quarter final day! They can't even play on their own pitch because it's still waterlogged so they have to borrow Belper's! Anyway, good luck Matlock and let's pray it doesn't end in a draw or the replay may have to be played next season!

I have definitive evidence that record companies are putting artificial intelligence into CD's to try and get us all to buy Ipods. How many of you own a CD with only two or three good tracks on it? And how many of you, when you try and play that shiny disc in your car stereo, find that the same two or three tracks jump all over the place whilst the other 12 or 13 crap tracks all work fine? The truth is out there...

Don't miss "Life on Mars" tonight and to get you in the mood,

"LIFE ON MARS" GENE HUNT QUOTE OF THE DAY...

(To a bunch of kids playing football in the street) "Right, anything happens to this motor, I'll come around your houses and stamp on all your toys. Got it? Good kids."

Winter Wonderland

Ahhh, there's nothing quite like the first snowfall of the year, the morning of the 8th of February greeting us with a rather nice dusting of the cold white stuff. Thought I'd catch the moment for posterity now that we've finally got ourselves a battery recharger that actually recharges the battery of our digital camera rather than heat it up a bit. That green monstrosity on the bottom left is my car, soon (but not soon enough in my eyes) to be replaced. Seems my luck with cars has been passed on to Jen who woke up to the unwelcome site of a smashed wing mirror, the perils of living on a main road. Oh well, only 5 more sleeps until "Life On Mars" starts!

"LIFE ON MARS" quote of the day...

"Are you feeling alright, you look paler than a ginger birds arse."

Another celebrity date

Not content with dining with The Arctic Monkeys last weekend, this weekend me and Jen are going to the wedding of the fella you see in the above picture! Jen used to work at HSBC in Sheffield and one of her workmates was seeing one half of Jive Bunny, they got married a few weeks ago in Antihua and we've been invited to the reception this evening at Aston Hall. Apparently he's very embarrassed talking about his previous guise as a cartoon character but it obviously still pays the bills.

Anyway, remembering Jive Bunny got me thinking about other 80's/90's bands/people who have been forgotten and wondered if anybody can recall this fella (left). I personally think he may have overestimated the length of his time in the limelight by 51 weeks but it was a good tunes and I have very fond memories of listening to it. Never likely to grace many radio playlists today but a forgotten gem all the same.

"LIFE ON MARS" GENE HUNT QUOTE OF THE DAY...

Can somebody put some bog roll in the loo, I've just had to wipe my arse on Francis Lee"