July 2nd 2013 and half the year is completed and today I procrastinate playing games against he computer another 750000 on Mah-jong Egyptian, ten games of chess where I am repeatedly failing to achieves more than 30 games in succession at level three but where in Free Cell Patience I am well on the way towards 300 having also achieved 500 previously on this computer and 1000 in the now distant path. However later I reached professional at tennis level on Wii sport after 50 games, where last time it was over 80 and then three more bronze medals so there is onoy golf professional and I have matched the previous character apart from the Fit where I reached an amazing not to be repeated 22 because of the tests the computer selected and brilliant performance on my part though I say myself. With the next character I propose two games a time at tennis and six holes of golf with a month to achieve professional performance the initial target
On Sunday I went on my first trip for some 15 years with the Durham supporters club to Scarborough to watch the team play Yorkshire in a 20 over per side game. Previously I went by coach to watch Durham at Grace Road Leicestershire and at Uxbridge to watch Middlesex in competitive latter round trophy games with 50 overs per side long before the game was reduced to 40 overs and the 20 20 was thought over. Next season the 20 20 games are being played once a week during the season and the 40 over game reverts to 50 overs which is the standard for International matches.
I was equipped with my new pocket digital radio £70 and a new Thermos flask because on Friday evening for the first 20 20 game of the new season after a day of solid rain and I had placed my rucksack too firmly on the concrete of the Member’s balcony and cracked the base spilling hot soup over the radio and which after showing some signs of station life quickly faded and I was desperate to be able to keep contact with other sporting events taking place during the day. I purchased an expensive pocket digit radio from Argos £69 which has a recharge battery and 24 hours of play at a time. I have quickly learned how to operate the pre set 20 stations which includes Five Live extra where I was able to listen to the swimming trials late afternoon. I must learn more of the options although I doubt if I will be able to pick up the BBC cricket commentaries ( A quick check on the Internet failed to reveal the frequencies and whether the cricket commentaries have an Digital radio frequency as well as Internet which logically there should be and a quick Google search suggests it is. More before the next trip and to listen to Durham when I visit on Sunday. I also purchased another flask on Saturday from Asda for a modest six pounds although as has occurred before using the milk contained at the top only work if you keep the flask vertical otherwise the milk spills out so I was left with strong black coffee which I left behind in the car although have used brewing on the gas stove.
Friday’s first game against Lancs also got off to bad start as on the slip road down from the AIM to the roundabout with roads to Sunderland and Chester le street the front hub cap or wheel trim as they are now called came off and fortunately missed the car to my left who signalled what had happened. However I was in no mood to dot eh round trip to the previous junction and then back to try and locate the cap or on the homewards trip. Irritatingly although logical they are only sold in sets of four from around £15 basic to £30 with fitting for £5 extra. I may delay a purchase to see if it on the roadside when I repeat the journey this weekend.
According to the BBC weather it would rain until four which it did and sometimes hard so that I was able to fill several pails of water from the bucket placed below the gutter down pipe from the side roof in the garage area. On Wednesday I had returned to B and Q noting that they now had a full supply of the larger and the slim line water barrels and I purchased a slim line green. I placed this in the corner of the dividing wall and house almost out of view from where I sit having sawn through the plastic pipe after forcing the wall ties off their screws, but leaving a sufficient length to be inserted in the barrel to provide support, However the up turned plastic bowl was a failure and from he pressure of water from the two down pipes used the bowl had squished making it impossible to fill the large watering can so I had to go back to square, slowly emptying the water into containers until the barrel could be out and the squashed plastic bowl removed. I replaced with a wood structured cassette tape holder with six drawers. These were removed and the inside filled with earth to provide ballast and then the water replaced. I have placed the mini shelf mini greenhouse from the space created for the water barrel against the third down pipe from the garage roof which I cannot use without a metal cutter and given the volume of water collected from the two down pipes on Friday a third will not be needed.
Other changes have included clearing and cleaning the breakfast table which may be used for meals over the coming weeks of summer, as I am leaving clear until I can find a washable plastic table cloth coloured green ideally. I forgot to mention that I have plants now on the top shelf of both mini greenhouses within the garage area so that I a great view of green, the flowering plants and hanging baskets along the wall of the house as well as the window boxes and those on the old table and the two mini green houses along the dividing wall. The only thing I need to do is to put something on the top shelf of the fifth green house in corner between the day room and this which I overlooked. The earth from the similar use plastic grow bag is now in the two large plastic containers which were previously used for paper waste collections before the inserts were provided to the blue recycle bins. I had tried to use one of these for water collection until finding that there are small holes in the base along one side
I have now taken photos of the changes as well as placing a plant on the top shelf in the corner. I have then uploaded all the photos from the camera to the computer and viewed the three groups of subjects, crossing the ferry to North Shields the trip along the river from Newcastle to the mouth of the river and back and at the Scarborough Cricket ground which remains the intended focus of this catch up of weekend of sport but first lunch needs to be organised. I switched on the TV to check on the cricket and find that England has ended the Essex innings and are batting again 45 for 0 wicket 180 runs ahead. They will now bat all day and then try and bowl Essex out otherwise they will not have the kind of an Ashes warm up competitive match as planned.
For lunch I shall have a corn on the cob starter followed by a medallion of beef plus the rest of tinned tomatoes, baked beans and processed peas used yesterday with a pork chop. I had run out of main course items and went to Asda yesterday buying two packs of the medallions (£3.50 three packs of lamb steaks £10 and two packs of pork chops £32) all per pack, plus frozen sausage and mash and breakfasts, some cheese slices and grated, fresh parsnips, tomatoes and carrots, two loaves of bread in a special total 31 and now frozen along with the meats and some A A long life batteries as four are needed for the Wii fit board £8 a two pack discount of £2. There was a saving of £7 on the total of £50.75 which also included two pints of milk. No goodies or dried figs with the latter out of stocks.
Previously I have restocked on tins of vegetables and rice puddings, Frozen Pizza’s, Baguettes, individual quiches, some hot chicken wings, two packs of prawns in shell special offer two for £7 instead of £8. Some baguettes and Petit pan for baking and six display books at £1.20 special offer and great value and with this bill coming to £41.5 net. I have also collected the second pair of size 7 ½ Hush Puppy wide fitted shiny reddy brown leather shoes from Clark’s in South Shields, having gone all the way into Newcastle for the first pair before realising there was a branch in the High Street. They are very comfortable and with the shoe horn £3 purchased I should rope vent early damage to the heel support The Wouldhave House collection of offices and shops and now been demolished but the new Riverside parkland amphitheatre so there was no large screen relay from Glastonbury. More on Glastonbury later but now for the cricket, the tennis, more athletic, swimming and the Formula 1 race at Silverstone, noting on the radio that Warrington won at Rugby League and on TV that the Lion Rugby Union team lost in the last moments against Australia, this time the kick was not missed
On Friday I was apprehensive about play given the quantity of water that had fallen but there was no delay and with the sun shinning as the game progressed. Durham won the toss and decided on a run chase but Lancs played well on what appeared to be a good paced and comfortable wicket with the ball holding up along the ground from the water so Lancs went for high shots over the required infield avoiding the fielders allowed at the boundary.
The main damage was done by opener Moore who made 75 before being run out by Stokes with opener Prince 32 and adding 777 for the first wicket and then with Katich who once played for Durham, adding 68 for the third wicket with the innings ending at 165 , kept lower than first expected by some tight bowling at the end. Durham commenced in a great way scoring 10 an over but then Stoneman ran himself out for 33 and Mustard was out with adding to the total 53 so when Borthwick went at 60 the run rate dipped and then dropped below that achieved by Lancs and they never recovered with no batsman able to take command and they ended nine runs short with two wickets in hand. I left with two overs to go and had I not been on a coach trip I may well have taken a similar decision at Scarborough.
On Sunday I arrived at the Emirates in good time for the 10.30 coach and had opportunity to examine the complete new Mechano style stand judging that where the pathway had been relaid marked the part that would kept, I assume with the additional seating packed under the remainder for use in other special matches. The seats are an attractive deep blue but there appeared to have been no progress of the previous week. This is because a new two tier prefabricated has been created between the media centre and the main stand extension. This might well prove a permanent structure..
The coach had about ten passengers located at the rear and then made three stops in and around Durham before collecting two more at Darlington and this part of the journey took three quarters of an hour as we did not depart from the Riverside until 10.45 arriving in the main road outside the ground just after one.
I have previously enjoyed the route across the North Yorkshire Moors to Whitby, Robin Hood bay and Scarborough, especially remembered is the journey taken early one morning when I had attended a dinner with over night accommodation as guests of the Social Services Inspectorate and decided to get back to my office desk at the usual time missing the provided cooked breakfast, leaving the staff to recover from their night out clubbing. The coach took the road which runs at the outskirts of Whitby giving a dramatic view of the town straddling both sides of the river Esk with the Abbey Church of St Mary on the southern bank.
I was impressed with the Scarborough ground in two respects, he quality of the wicket and out field was as good as seen anywhere tribute to the weather earlier in the year and that it was possible to get a seat higher than the sight screen just to its right and therefore directly over the wicket which leads me to exclaim shame on Durham in this respect. There is a good range of seating provided, including a large area of benches without backs below the entrance area giving a side on view and with the tea room and ice creams, burgers etc and adopted by the local barmy army as well as families. I was impressed by the number of paying customers and this leads to another tale as having purchased my ticket on line it was left at home and+ I had to purchased entry at the gate and then lost the little ticket given when means that I am unlikely to get reimbursement although I will be asking when this writing is done to see i I can get a credit for my ticket for the Championship game at the end fo August.
I assumed that the Pavilion is restricted to Members of the Scarborough club and on the walk around note the tradition under stand bar which did a great trade throughout the match which what looked like a good fifteen plus with queue which meant those in the line missed key moments of the short match.
Durham won the toss and asked Yorkshire to bat with Gayle and Lythe scoring well in the restricted field overs 34 and 21 respectively but then Durham tightened up and the local crowd became quiet with some around me frustrated as like Durham,, Yorkshire had lost their first game and were anxious for a win. Only spirited innings but former Durham player Liam Plunkett (30) run out in a daft way enabled Yorks to reach 146 and therefore leaving Durham with a gettable 147.
However pessimism spread among the large contingent of Durham supporters who had made their way to the ground especially as Durham were restricted to 10 batsmen as Collingwood had damaged his hand and was away being treated, I have yet to find out how he is and if he will be able play in the two 20 20 games this weekend. Durham had a bad start with Stonman going for 4 Borthwick at 25 and Smith and Stokes and 64 and 65. The start was worryingly slow with only 23 runs on the board from the first five overs. Only the Colonel making steady progress brought hope until he went from a catch off the bowling of Plunkett for 49. The hero was Gordon Muchall and 44 who with Richardson hitting a four off his first ball in the last over with only 9 runs originally required got the 1 run need for victory with the penultimate ball and Durham won an unexpected but important victory, having already booked my ticket, accommodation and car parking for finals day on August 17th.
On Monday night Nottingham beat Lancashire in their second match which pleased me however I wanted Lancs to win on Tuesday at Derby because the home side had achieved two out of two win and a lost would mean both sides having four points from three games enabling Durham to get in touch with another win at 3.75 points to their four and then press head when they next play them with Derby at the Emirates before I visit them at Chesterfield later in the month and going to Lancs in two week’s time. Unfortunately Shiv Chanderpaul who seems to stay only at a club a season, last season Warwickshire and Durham in their Championship winning rout was his impressive form hitting sixes and fours watching every ball as her does with great concentration. Now with two loses Lancs will be on fire when we go while Derby floundering in the championship and destined to return to the second division as things stand have three from three and begin to look a good bet for the quarter finals.
I listened to Mo Farah winning the 5000 meters at the Birmingham Athletics stadium and later watched the I player recording which included another great win for Jessica Judd in the 800 meters and whose time qualifies for the world championships in Moscow. I listened to the Formula I race from Silverstone until Lewis Hamilton had to drop out with tyre failure and managed to get his way back from last to fourth. We were robbed.
It was the British Swimming championships at Sheffield this weekend and I listened to some of the racing on the homeward journey. This is the era without Rebecca Adlington but she has a new role with commentating, coaching and personal appearances to keep her busy and involved in the sport suggesting her had a long term future in media and the sport ahead of her, as well as marriage having recently become engaged to another swimming athlete. There were some excellent times which suggests recovery from the poor showing at he Olympics London which has led to changes in team management and coaching.
I have been writing to this keeping one eye on the TV screen where England are 154 1, Cook 73 and Trott 47 with the only wicket that of Root 26 on top of his 41 first innings which makes is move to opener replacing Compton not as great as success as was hoped for by selectors. England struggles in their first innings rescued after they were only 212 for 8 by Bresnan 105 and Swann 94 making a more respectable 413 for 9 declared. Essex also made a respectable 278 with Mickleborough 90 and where the best bowler was none other than Joe Root with 4 for 72 off 23. Graham Onions was unable seize his return to an England first squad with 1 for 54 off 18 main squad and will have to do better to replace the present top five pacemen. I will report what happens in the rest of the game next weekend.
The story of Wimbledon 2013 will not be completed until next Sunday and if all goes well tomorrow and Friday I will be face with the choice of a Durham’s next 20 20 game and Andy Murray at Wimbledon. I have checked at Durham’s game against Notts in on Saturday and on TV so all is well if Andy Murray makes it again he has been impressive so far with only near to losing a set yesterday to make the quarterfinal tomorrow. With Roger Federer going out and been more of a surprise Nadal in the first round a Murray seeded 2 and Djorkovic (1) final remains a great possibility. There is no indications whether the BBC will broadcast in 3D as last year and with TV Cinema transmissions which suggests it is not doing so.
There could well have been a conflict with Durham games had young teenage Laura Robson who had got off to a flying get everyone talking start by beating the number ten seed in two sets and on paper a good chance of reaching the quarter finals. Because of rain she had a harder game second round game on Thursday where she hesitated in the first set but winning 64 and then taking the second 61 to get herself on the front as well as back pages especially as. Everyone else in the singles doubles for both sexes and mixed doubles from team GB were going down apart from Andy. This meant she had to play a young woman from New Zealand on the Saturday losing the first set 6 games to 1 and then with a lost break of serve appearing to go down in the second so I switched off only to get a text message saying how about that then and to find that she had come back to take the second and then win the third and given the manner of her victory she immediately became the latest national heroine. Sadly yesterday she and two chances to take first set but failed to close out and then lost on the tie break and failed to recover. With a number of leading contenders going out the door was open all the way to the final. Oh dear me.
While writing this I am also listening the Glastonbury recordings on the special BBC Glastonbury site, I did stay up on Saturday evening to watch the second hour of the Rolling Stones now in their late sixties and seventies but with dark hair and a 28 inch waist am I envious I am. Having seen the Stones perform live at Wembley Stadium with a large group of young women, on stage I mean. Contractual arrangements meant that only the second hour was live on TV. They left their most familiar hits to the end and the session was an item on the main news because of the size of crowd well over 100000, some put at 130000 and after over 50 years of performing.
They were significant better than the top billing Artic Monkeys who appeared on the main stage, the Pyramid on the Friday night but I enjoyed more Mumford and Sons with their folksy and rock mixture. On Sunday their closing of the festival number joined by Haim and others was also a great success with everyone going off happy and content with their investment and the camping conditions although you can have a luxury prepared double bed, shows and cooking facilities accommodation at a price.
During the writing and TV watching I listened and occasionally watched the artists on the introducing stage courtesy of BBC Glastonbury site in the Internet. I started to do a rating of 1 to 10 butt then created three groups b because a number of established artists and friends of Glastonbury came along to perform additional sets to those they had been contracted for on other stages
The Socialist revolutionary Billy Bragg was on great form in his 22 minute set available commencing with Sexuality and honest statement starting his third gig of the day before supper time and was his usual direct and honest self with songs subject which have contemporary relevance. (Nobody knows nothing anymore, Handyman Blues, Times they are a changing, Scousers Never buy the sun, and one other).
Tom Odell is already signed and with an album making it to number one piano playing singer song writer was excellent with a number I think is called Another love commencing an 18 minute set immediately after appearing on the John Peel Stage He was closely followed in terms of performance with another already established singing duo XX who also appeared on other stages and who performed two numbers.
Apart from Billy Bragg my favourites were Tom Erza with Did you hear the rain and Daughter with Home (Take me), I enjoyed very much .
The twin female singers of Katanas with Chained was better than average so too Bite the Buffalo with I get down and around
And then rest Mikhill with Summer in the City was OK and also Siblings with Twin Falls and Skuff with Darkside just about OK before I called it a night but will continue with others today alongside the cricket and tennis while I finish writing up The Game of Thrones season three and the two related volumes, three and four in the epic series.
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