Nobbys Back!

It's been a whirlwind couple of days in the land of NUFC - Owen, Englands Number 1 striker joins up for 16 million quid, and late breaking news just a few hours before the midnight transfer deadline, it looks like Nobby Solano will be back where he belongs, wearing the black and white stripes once again.

I think everyone on Tyneside thought the sale of Nobby in the first place wasn't ideal, and Ambrose never developed into a suitable replacement. Villa loved him, and he consistently was their best player last year, but he always loved it here, and jumped at the chance to come back. I wonder if he'll end up back living on Mr Walker's street like last time (although Pete claimed this, I never saw him there).

The usual Guardian/Fiver sarcasm below

"You've done so much in football but this must be one of your proudest moments," simpered Jim to Magpies boss Graeme Souness, whose numerous high-profile trophy wins as a player and manager (of other teams) clearly pale into insignificance compared to securing a Real Madrid reject nobody else wanted on a four-year deal. "We've really done the business today," agreed Souey, adopting a turn of phrase not heard around St James's Park for several months. "He was my first choice, we've got him and the supporters will love him. He's an honest up-front guy as well as a top-class footballer."


SOLANO SET FOR NEWCASTLE RETURN

276 Unique Names of MI6 Officers

No idea if this list is real or not, but I had a quick look through to see if there was anyone on here that I knew. Only like candidates would be Nick, Phil or Pete (the only 3 people from down south and with possible connections to Cambridge/Oxford). Actually, Nick was the only one I really considered, coz I think he would make a pretty good spy.

276 Unique Names of MI6 Officers

Owen is a Geordie

Confirmation that we've signed Owen greeted me into work today. I needed something to cheer me up after a rough work day yesterday, and this definitely did that.

He's not going to fix everything that's been wrong the first four games, but he'll definitely not make any of it any worse.

And great job to the Chairman et al for pulling this one off - it seemed certain we were in the middle of another Rooney'esque incident where we get used to push up the price of a player, only to have him sign for someone else at the last minute.

Owen set to complete Magpies move

New bikini is chest great

Is it April 1st? Is this a major issue for women? Can you order extra water capacity for the underendowed?

All of these questions and more will probably never be answered on this site (apart from the fact that it's August, not April, I think).

And can someone back home ring up the Sun and tell them the organization of their website is particularly shocking - making your online stuff look like your actually hard copy newspaper went out back in the late 90's I thought..... Still, it did allow me to find out that Celeb Love Island Danan nicked knickers!?!?!?

New bikini is chest great

Lets start a phone bill fund

So Alan is doing his best to convince little Michael Owen that his time this season (and hopefully beyond) should be spent saving Souness's job, Shearer's reputation, and the hope of millions of Geordies. Obviously we're all for this - we no longer have Bellamy and Kluivert to pop up every now and again to score a vital goal (or create some dodgy headline in the papers), and so far this season, we've looked woefully inadequate (but not just up front).

Anyway, he says it's costing him a fortune - maybe the 70 or so grand a week he's getting from Newcastle won't cover the phone bill? Lets get the lads out with buckets in the city cent(e)r(e) collecting to help him out.

Shearer Keen on Owen

Back to the real world

In case anyone didn't realise, my Nana died, so I went back to England for the funeral, hence the lack of posts (or rather, the lack of desire to create posts, as I did have the computer with me). Anyway, it was a good service, and we had the compulsory post funeral trip to the pub with the family etc. It went as well as these things can.

It also meant we got stuck in the BA strike thing - flight out got cancelled, which caused a lot of stress for a day or two, but finally got out (without food) and arrived the day before the funeral. Only sandwiches on the way back as well (I think they're back to hot meals now) but BA staff were pretty exceptional as usual despite the position they were put in. They also kindly dumped 50,000 miles into my account without telling me - i presume as some sort of compensation for all of the hassle - which was a pretty nice thing to do, especially as I never quite get status on BA. Somehow trying to imagine United doing that doesn't quite work, despite the fact I hit status with them pretty much every year.

Anyway, life is getting back to normal (which means travel again), but got the very first company bar-b-q to look forward to this year. It's kindly been organized about 100 yards from my front door, which means staggering home after finishing off the keg shouldn't be too difficult (he says ominously...).

She'll be missed 8-(

Man forgets wife at gas station

I almost forgot to put the fuel filler cap back on once, but this might be a little on the unbelievable side of things.

CNN.com - Man forgets wife at gas station - Aug 8, 2005

Brothers give you grief

Apparently I spend too much time doing this blogging thing than working, which means I get the pleasure of working the weekends. Little does he know how quickly you can add stuff, so this is to show him just how quick an old guy can be......

Over before it begins

So a ball (or player) hasn't been kicked in anger in the Premiership season yet, and already Newcastle have blown it. A spectacular loss in the Interto(n)to Cup today (2-1, 4-2 on aggregate) means the boys in black and white won't be playing in Europe for the rest of the season. Unlucky, but hardly surprising.

What this also probably means it that without the extra cash from Europe, and without the incentive of European Football, our chances of signing Michael Owen from Real Madrid just disappeared (if they existed in the first place).

Now I know I might sound like a pessimist, but given that I've been following the team for the last 34 years, and they still haven't won anything in that time, I'm turning into the grumpy old men I used to stand in front of (and make fun of) in the Gallowgate end.

And can someone please tell me why we sold Aaron Hughes?

Sign Of The Times

I don't think much explanation is needed here. Sorry for the blurriness - I'm betting it was a camera phone pic

The Penguin Classics Library Complete Collection

I didn't even know this was possible, but apparently you can now buy the complete collection of classics from Penguin in one (very) big box.

The price might seem a little steep (nearly 8 thousand bucks), but it is a saving of over 5 grand from the list price. And luckily, it comes with free shipping, otherwise there might be a few issues with the savings.

Amazon.com: The Penguin Classics Library Complete Collection

Climb Dance

The best 5 minutes you could spend on the web. Trust me.....

I wanna head down to Pikes Peak right now.

IFILM - Action Sports: Climb Dance