hardtack

Close... okonomiyaki (no ‘e’), so we’ll pay that ?. I went a couple of times to a really old Okonomiyaki restaurant in the Tokyo district of Asakusa, called Sometaro. It was still in its original building and operated by the same family, and was over 100 years old. Soooo good! Were you connected with the armed forces in some way (Yokosuka was and maybe still is, the home of a US base).

I don't know how you can make such a sweeping generalisation. I love some Japanese food and some Vietnamese food and some Chinese food. Having been married to a Japanese person for over 20 years and having traveled there numerous times, I am more than familiar with the many different dishes (many of which are not to be found here)... some of which are, to my taste, inedible (try the dried fish called Kusaya, or Nama-ko which is a raw sea cucumber dish. What we get here is just a fraction of what is available in those countries... particularly Chinese food (in China) as there are so many distinctly different regional dishes... and of course, to my tastes, some are almost inedible as well. Anyway, how can we tie this in to post game discussion... kicking around the foodie's football?

I was actually thinking he could come in for an obviously out of form Hannan... he has the pace and he is a decent shot on goal; but I get the feeling that they might listen to the Demonland selection panel and instead go with a half paced Bennell, which concerns me a little. It would be interesting to know just how Hunt has been performing in the scratch matches and what sort of a role he's been playing. How's LA by the way? Or did you flee back to the safety of Melbourne ??

I love the food in China! So many choices and different styles of cuisine that we never get to see here.

Nice to see that our sponsors are across what the club is up to ???

I'm thinking the changes will be Harmes in for Jones, Lockhart in for Hibberd (let him rest his ankle) and Fritsch in for Hannan. I doubt that there will be wholesale changes, but if they do go for more, I'd think Pickett could get a rest and one of ANB or Bedford gets a run.

Who cares what he or anyone else thinks? Ratten gracefully accepted the decision as he understands that the system is not perfect and that they have to respect the umpire's decision (I think he used that old chestnut "it is what it is"). The technology is not perfect (far from it, in fact) and is even less perfect at remote grounds where the logistics involved probably make it impossible for them to implement the full system. Essentially, they are doing what they did before the technology and review system were available; that is, the umpires are having to make the call based on how they actually see things. Based on the vision available, none of us will ever know if the umpire got it right or wrong.

Are there likely to be a few crucifixions on the chapel wall if the result doesn't go our way? I thought we would struggle against the Dogs, but I also feel we somehow perform better against the Saints (maybe my memory is failing me?). I'm not dismissing our chances for today.

Is Warne supposed to be giving a "blue steel" look in that ad? If so, it just 'aint working!

Gee I don't know... maybe it's because he is CEO of the club and that it might be good for him to be around the players and the officials; a show of solidarity even? Seriously, I simply don't understand why people just seem to look for things to complain about with this club.

Just what is the difference between him working from the hub or working from home in Melbourne? You do realise that if he were in Melbourne, he would be subject to ALL of the restrictions in place meaning that all business would have to be conducted online regardless.

Well, racism exists on both sides of the political divide... the only way it could be political is if it is institutionalised racism, and in this case it is not.

Yes, reading that reaffirmed every reason that I intensely hate those pond scum!

Unfortunate design flaw with the Brisbane outfit today... makes them look like a team of Harry High-pants.

If we can't win this (and/or next week's game), then in the event that we do somehow manage to make it to the finals, we'll just be making up the numbers. This game and next week's game against the Saints are our two make or break games. Personally, I think that momentum is a great thing and that we should manage to get across the line today, but I'd suggest this is probably our biggest hurdle thus far.

There was actually a comment yesterday on the Tweet posted above that simply said "sleazy" (Pies supporter, I think)... thankfully, it appears to have been removed.

As much as I like Bennell, I'd disagree with this. Despite not having the pace that he used to have, Jones did lay a couple of important tackles on Saturday (with good second efforts), whereas Bennell seems to have been avoiding tackling, rather waiting for the ball to emerge so he can run with it. I get the feeling that Bennell is being played more to test his calves and build some endurance, but we won't be seeing anything near his best until next year, after a full pre-season.

I get the feeling that Ethan is working towards the release of a desktop calendar, with a pithy one line observation at the bottom of each page; a la public service issue calendars that always seemed to have sayings by the mysterious WPG.

I wonder if it's likely to be a twilight GF as well (another first)?

Yes, there were literally centimetres in it.

I’m more concerned about this week’s Dogs game... they looked very good today, much better than the Saints looked in their game.

I’ve been watching the bikes for several decades and have never seen anything like todays Austrian GP... major major crashes in two classes; the fact that Rossi was not seriously injured or worse, is nothing short of miraculous...

One of the better captions!

I noticed that Weed seems to be developing a marking style where as he takes the grab, he twists/spins his body around in a quite pronounced fashion to protect the ball... he did it earlier further out from goal, but didn’t hold the grab.

How is the market for sow's ears made from silk purses?