A new challenge...

I've just agreed to 'ghost write' the David Wilson blog for my old school mate, Dave 'Snooks' Wilson. The URL is http://thedavidwilson.blogspot.com/ and although I have a free hand in what I report, I have been given strict boundaries including a must inclusion of Aston Villa at least once a week. As we, along with Phil Finney and Richard (1099) Phillips were the only Villa fans in our year at school, then that shouldn't be too hard.

in reference to: Bob De Bilde (view on Google Sidewiki)

Was it my multi-blogged moan?

Was it my multi-blogged moan that un-locked my new blog http://sequels-and-trilogies.blogspot.com/ ?
I know that blogger took the full 20 days to un-lock a blog of a friend of mine. Now his block WAS highly political but there should be no difference.
Perhaps it was my genuine threat to move to wordpress?

Who knows?

Thank You blogger for acting quickly

Bob de Bilde

in reference to: Prequels, Sequels & Trilogies (view on Google Sidewiki)

Bob de Bilde gets his 15 minutes of fame...

on IS A C*NT...

http://isacunt.blogspot.com/2010/01/bob-de-bilde.html

Thanks to GOT & the crew

in reference to: Bob De Bilde (view on Google Sidewiki)

My Disgust at Blogger

Blogger has marked one of my blogs (Prequels, Sequels & Trilogies) as spam...

It will be deleted within 20 days if I do not lodge a review

WTF Blogger... I am seriously considering moving all my blogs to the more versatile Wordpress !

I am reposting this on ALL my other open blogs using the sidewikibar thingy!!!

in reference to: My Sony Ericsson Sucks: My Disgust at Blogger (view on Google Sidewiki)

Buying an apartment in China?

Reposted from my title blog.
Lesson one in buying an apartment in China : make sure the building has a foundation.

YES, IT IS A 13 STORY BUILDING LYING ON THE GROUND.

(1) An underground garage was being dug on the south side, to a depth of 4.6 meters

(2) The excavated dirt was being piled up on the north side, to a height of 10 meters

(3) The building experienced uneven lateral pressure from south and north

(4) This resulted in a lateral pressure of 3,000 tonnes, which was greater than what the pilings could tolerate.

Thus the building toppled over in the southerly direction.

First, the apartment building was constructed
Then the plan called for an underground garage to be dug out.

The excavated soil was piled up on the other side of the building.
Heavy rains resulted in water seeping into the ground..


The building began to shift and the concrete pilings were snapped
due to the uneven lateral pressures.

The building began to tilt.
And thus came the eighth wonder of the world.

If the buildings were closer together there would also have been a domino effect.











They built 13 stories on grade, with no basement, and tied it all down to hollow pilings with no re-bar.

Brought to you by the same folks that make your kids' toys, who want to build your car and are currently flooding our retail arena with extremely cheap produce...

Aston Villa 6 Blackburn Rovers 4; Villa win 7-4 on agg

Not quite as mad as the Wigan-Spurs game last year but still noteworthy here...

Somewhere amid the 10 goals, the sending-off and the pitch invasion, Aston Villa reached their first major final since 2000. If you are going to Wembley, you might as well do it with lashings of excitement, though Sam Allardyce’s heart surgeon, who probably finished this match a shivering wreck behind his sofa, would no doubt disagree.

This had more twists and turns than a Dan Brown thriller, and in truth the 6-4 score line does not do Allardyce or Blackburn Rovers justice. For 30 minutes they tore Villa to pieces, the home side doing no more than hanging on, their one-goal advantage gone within 10 minutes.

Their grip on the final worn to nothing more than a fingertip hold, thanks to two first-half goals from Nikola Kalinic.

But strikes from Stephen Warnock, James Milner, a Steven N’Zonzi own goal, Gabriel Agbonlahor­­, Ashley Young, and even one from Emile Heskey, ensured it would be Villa who contest the final on Sunday Feb 28.

“Was it 6-4?” a breathless O’Neill asked. “I’m delighted.”

Allardyce, understandably, was not. “The only reason we’re not going to Wembley is the referee,” he said in a stinging attack on Martin Atkinson.

It is unfortunate that there should be a sour aftertaste for Blackburn. Milner’s goal at Ewood Park last week forced them to play the aggressors, and they went at Villa with primordial passion, overrunning their opponents in midfield, spending the first 10 minutes occupying prime real estate in front of Brad Guzan’s goal.

David Dunn’s corner in the 10th minute was headed off the back of Warnock’s neck by Kalinic, and into the Villa goal in front of an aghast Holte End. Rapturous support drained away, replaced by gloomy silence as Villa struggled to extricate themselves from their own half. Blackburn had the fires burning fiercely in their bellies, a situation which demanded that Villa snuff out the flames by depriving their opponents of the oxygen of possession. Instead they flapped, which everyone knows only makes fire burn brighter.

Thus it was that Morten Gamst Pedersen found the ball on the right and Martin Olsson, inexplicably, was allowed to pop up in between Richard Dunne and James Collins and head the cross goalwards from six yards. Guzan produced a reflex stop, but Kalinic was lurking.

Desperate times for Villa, two goals required and barely a sign of one to come. With Heskey’s aerial impact neutralised by the gangly N’Zonzi, and Agbonlahor with only the 6 ft 4 in Blackburn centre-back Christopher Samba for company, goals would need to come from elsewhere.

Warnock answered the distress call. Young whipped a dangerous cross into the area, the ball eluded Ryan Nelsen, Samba and Pascal Chimbonda, leaving Warnock free to finish at the far post. A discreet shove from Agbonlahor might account for Nelsen’s failure to intercept the ball, leaving Allardyce crying foul.

“Let me choose my words as carefully,” he said. “It is not contentious decision for the penalty or the sending off. We had done a fantastic job in unhinging Villa. This was the decision which stopped us going to Wembley.”

Seeing the light, Heskey released Agbonlahor with a ball over the top, but Samba came in from behind. Atkinson went to his pocket for the red, and Milner converted from the spot, Villa Park suddenly rediscovering its voice.

The noise redoubled when Dunne’s effort went in off N’Zonzi for Villa’s third, and it had become a crescendo by the time Milner’s shot deflected off Agbonlahor into the bottom left corner – another goal Allardyce took issue with, as it seemed to come off Agbonlahor’s arm. “That’s two goals they shouldn’t have had,” the Blackburn manager said.

The home fans were fairly falling out of their seats when Heskey rounded

Paul Robinson. Even Olsson’s scissor volley a minute later, followed by Brett Emerton’s goal five minutes from time didn’t dampen the spirit. When Young rounded things off in time added on, and Atkinson blew the final whistle, they flooded the pitch.

This was Villa’s biggest game in a decade. There is an even more important one waiting next month. Here’s hoping it is just as exhilarating.

LET ME SEE IF I GET THIS RIGHT...

If you cross the North Korean border illegally you

• get 12 years hard labour.

If you cross the Iranian border illegally you

• are detained indefinitely.

If you cross the Afghan border illegally you

• get shot.

If you cross the Saudi Arabian border illegally you

• will be jailed.

If you cross the Chinese border illegally you

• may never be heard from again.

If you cross the Venezuelan border illegally you

• will be branded a spy and your fate will be sealed.

If you cross the Cuban border illegally you

• will be thrown into political prison to rot.

LET ME SEE IF I GET THIS RIGHT...

If you cross the UK border illegally you

• get a job,
• a drivers licence,
• social security card,
• welfare payments,
• food stamps, credit cards,
• subsidized rent or a loan to buy a house,
• free education,
• free health care,
• a lobbyist in Westminster
• billions of pounds worth of public documents printed in your language
• money to go home if you do not like it in the UK.
• The right to carry your country’s flag while you protest that you don’t get enough respect
• and, in many instances, you can vote.

I just wanted to make sure I had a firm grasp on the situation…

Criminals clear snow from Midlands paths

Offenders have been drafted in to help clear snow and ice from pathways in the West Midlands as the freezing conditions continue.

Teams of people serving community sentences are clearing frozen snow off paths at churches and parks, including Sutton Park.

The move came as temperatures dropped to -13C (8F) in parts of the region.

The icy conditions also caused long delays for passengers using Birmingham New Street station.

Signalling problems just outside the station at about 1010 GMT led to delays of more than an hour on some services to and from London and the east of England.

Many trains were cancelled, diverted or were terminating outside Birmingham.

Network Rail said the problems had been caused by electrical faults and they were trying to determine if that was due to the freezing temperatures.

A spokeswoman said services were starting to return to normal.

The groups of offenders have also been using grit from council bins to treat roads as part of their supervised community service.

A spokeswoman for the West Midlands Probation Service said churches, schools and other groups had approached them asking for help to clear their pathways.

She added that the offenders could see a "real public benefit" to what they were doing.

The emergency services urged drivers to avoid non-essential journeys because of treacherous driving conditions with black ice affecting minor roads.

West Midlands Police said they dealt with many accidents caused by vehicles skidding on black ice on Thursday.

More than 120 schools across Birmingham and the Black Country remained shut on Friday.

The Met Office said temperatures were unlikely to rise above freezing in the West Midlands at any point on Friday.