Bombard

Heard at the weekend being played by a traditional Breton band was the bombard (or bombarde?). Very interesting sound - has been described like someone strangling a cat - but when played within a group of instruments such as bagpipes, drums and other woodwind items it sounded pretty good. I'm almost tempted to check out Amazon for a suitable recording, but although the instrument has roots in the Middle East and Northern Africa, at the end of the day it's still a bit too Scottish sounding. No offence!

http://www.virtualmuseum.ca/Exhibitions/Instruments/Anglais/mcc_j_txt03a_en.htm

44-22

A rather flattering scoreline in the end following an incredibly tense match, particularly during the 3rd quarter when the boys in blue got back to within 4 points and then camped out on the England line. Had Samoa sneaked ahead at that point then no doubt England would have panicked and crumbled, but fortunately they didn't so there's actually no need to debate the whys and wherefores of that one.

Credit to the non-English support who got behind Samoa with some impressive singing. Lucky really that Samoa also wear blue shirts otherwise they would have been stuck for a suitable song!

The Real Jambo

For anyone out there with a Scouting background, or for anyone wondering just what exactly they meant on Why Don't You when they said...."switch off your TV set and go do something less boring instead", check out the Youtube link or go to the bottom of the page to view the efforts of Andy, Ben and Boo who spent 2 weeks in the summer living it up at the World Scout Jamboree.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=8n5myx_BVsY

Just try not to dwell too much on the fact that these guys represent our future........

Much much better.......

Scotland 0 - New Zealand 40, do I need to say anymore?

And at last Scotland will now have to face a test on a neutral ground for a change on Saturday. So come on all you good red blooded Englishmen, lets hear it for Italy......

Do I Feel Better?

So Romania are to Scotland what England are to South Africa. Interesting fact, we're one of only six nations to play in a RWC match and not score any points - ever. What does this mean in the grand scheme of things? Well, to be honest, I don't really know, but on the basis that a problem shared is a problem halved etc then I think I do feel a bit better. After all, it wasn't just us!

Oh Dear

Hmmm, could England be the only team in the 2007 RWC to not score in a game? We'll know in a couple of weeks. Good news though, tickets came good for the England vs Samoa game in Nantes this weekend. Involves a quick jaunt on the Fast Cat to Caen and a drive down, but the atmos on both Friday and Saturday promises to be great. Spare a thought for my young Cousin Toby who was lined up to come, but then had the mockers put on it by his folks because they didn't want him to take a sicky from college. Can't really say I approve, surely the learning experience of a weekend in France would outweigh anything that even our best educational establishment could provide, but I guess rules are rules, right.......??

Sky Diving

Ok, so not actually jumping from a plane but check out the awesome thrills of Airkix http://www.airkix.co.uk/. For the wee sum of 100 notes they will give you 8 minutes of free fall joy (or indoor bodyflight to give it the correct name) in a vertical wind tunnel in the happening town of Milton Keynes (it's right next to the Snow Dome for any MK afficionados). I recommend saving up a tenner a month for a year and then treating yourself. We splashed out this time and bought the girls a couple of minutes of flight time each as well. The instructors look after them, they get half a minute getting used to the sensation then they take them up, up and away into the column spinning around with mad grins on their faces. Me personally, I'm starting to get the hang of it, launching myself, going forwards and backwards, spinning around and most recently side slides. Would I do the real thing? I don't know, it seems crazy to me when the indoor option is available, but I'm told that even though you have the feeling of 120 miles an hour of wind rushing towards your face in the tunnel it's just not the same as experiencing the ground hurtling towards your head at that speed.........

Swing Low

So the rugby world cup finally got underway, excitment all round. Unfortunately mistimed the start of the England USA game, was lucky(?) to see the second half with it's worrying 7-7 scoreline. Personally I'm with Brian Moore on this one, the underdogs will have no doubt come out fighting and looking to make a good show, but how long will they last after a few injuries and after getting tired etc? Sounds like a good bit of BS to me for quoting in the pub......

And discovers......

......that he has nothing to write about. Incredible!
But still, at least he has finally made the start that he has been promising himself for so long. Better than nothing, right?

Here we go.....

Jonny Fantastic starts his blog..........