Diamond_Jim

That is what Goodwin is paid for... no finals = new coach There is no question he has the cattle and this year there are no excuses.

What did you guys think of Halt and Catch Fire? I thought the first three seasons were great but perhaps the last season could have been a little tighter in its scripting and plot line. For those who liked the Good Wife, the cable version now just about to start of its spin off (second season), the "Good Fight" is a very watchable show. The new British dramas, the Girlfriends and MacMafia are okay also, without being up there with some of the more recent British shows. And of course there is a new season of Spiral (Engrenage).... one of my long time favourites. Glad you are enjoying Ozark Macca...wonder how many seasons it will run And I'll also vote for Maigret !

What did you guys think of Halt and Catch Fire? I thought the first three seasons were great but perhaps the last season could have been a little tighter in its scripting and plot line. For those who liked the Good Wife, the cable version now just about to start of its spin off (second season), the "Good Fight" is a very watchable show. The new British dramas, the Girlfriends and MacMafia are okay also, without being up there with some of the more recent British shows. And of course there is a new season of Spiral (Engrenage).... one of my long time favourites. Glad you are enjoying Ozark Macca...wonder how many seasons it will run And I'll also vote for Maigret !

When the market starts shorting your stock watch out. It becomes a self fulfilling prophecy. Profits though are over rated it seems... just look at Facebook, Uber etc and the other darlings that lose money hand over fist. Facebook will probably come good simply because marketers cannot ignore the platform (unfortunately)but Uber will always be an easy target for competition. In Asia it is Grab for example. Good Luck Macca .. if someone's going to make the money it may as well be an ex Demon

Looking at that list other than Petracca and Tom Mc Donald (UFA) you would think that most would sign on as the year progresses. Good players among the rest but no real stars. 2019 has Hogan and Oliver amongst others. Would like to see them both signed this year but who knows.

Don't blink... you may miss it https://www.theguardian.com/media/2018/jan/10/slow-train-coming-sbs-to-air-17-hour-ghan-train-on-sunday Following the success/controversy of airing a three-hour extract of a train trip through the Australian outback, SBS has decided to air a 17-hour version of the journey on Sunday. Could be interesting... trying to remember but didn't SBS have a test pattern or similar years ago that rated quite well?

Starting to get a little concerned about how long it is taking Timmy Cahill to find a new club. At his time of leaving Melbourne City, Muscat opined that Timmy had already lined somewhere up but it is now one month later and nothing. Hard to think of a club that will give him good service and also be prepared to take on a stop gap striker that wants guaranteed game time. A genuine conundrum which I hope is quickly settled. Of course he may take the view that as the A league is ending in around a month he really has little to lose by not playing in that league. Perhaps a third level European club might be an answer (assuming he can't get a second level club)

Makes one think the AFL has an agenda.... and guess what.. MFC is not part of it

Could be right there LdC.... Had a look at their membership site and they sell a special package to ACT members. Strangely enough the ACT could turn into a better market long term for GWS than Western Sydney. Manuka stadium is very well located and the ACT population of 400k (mostly middle income) is a reasonable base to work with as a one team city (Brumbies and Raiders aside). Also offers the possibility of road trips for Victorian based fans thus avoiding high priced air fares etc.

Vale the Zephyr for 2017 ... may he come back and sweep all before him in 2018. In the "old" days there would perhaps be talk of putting him over the jumps but alas no longer

Interesting figures for GWS membership. It shows a membership of over 20k for 2017 but I cannot remember them attracting crowds of much more than 13k for any of their home games not to mention their 15k for the final against West Coast. Must be some arbitrage system on GF tickets at play methinks.

Interesting Dr G... I very much agree Geelong is a god case in point. Would not be surprised if they play some of their bigger games down at Karidinia Park and make it a high priced ticket affair. I suspect that they would do better with 35k ticketed game as compared to 65k at the MCG where 20k or so are MCC and AFL members

In a country that carries the death sentence for drug trafficking this has to rate as a way out means of marriage proposal: IPOH: This Christmas Eve would be unforgettable for 20-year-old administrator Yew Kar Yee after she saw the love of her life hauled away by auxiliary police personnel for the possession of an illegal substance at the Sultan Azlan Shah airport. But that is not the reason why it is particularly memorable. She was overwhelmed with relief and happiness when she learned that it was all just a staged act, planned by her sweetheart Cheung Chan Choon, 30, who popped the big question to her. https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2017/12/24/boyfriend-arrested-for-drugs-turns-out-to-be-an-act-for-proposal/ Merry Christmas guys from the Equator

Minneapolis StPaul has a population of around 3.3 million according to Wikipedia and the stadium capacity is 67k for the 8 or so games of NFL. Many years ago I lived in Washington DC. Even then tickets to a Redskins game were impossible to obtain. People literally left their entitlements by will to family members. I managed to get to a practice game two rounds before the start of the regular season. The stadium was full even for that. In the year before I went to live in DC, Congress passed a law requiring the NFL to broadcast matches into cities where they were played if no tickets were available. This was almost 15 years or so before the AFL allowed live broadcasts of the Grand Final when they were sell outs. We are very lucky with our ability to attend games and the price while not insubstantial is low by comparison to followers overseas. I often wonder how traditional supporters of the likes of Manchester United and Liverpool ever afford to follow their teams.

Another run for the Zephyr .... fantastic news.... excuse the pun but I hope the jockey can "boot him home" for all of us !

Like the Dees "The Zephyr" will come good but I am not sure we can say he is young and inexperienced .... perhaps a run in Darwin next winter might be good for our horse

Go the Zephyr !! Pakenham Park.... remember when it was just Pakenham and a country race meeting at that. Now it's the major Saturday venue ... Melbourne is growing ... very appropriate venue for our horse given the Casey connection. Love the form guide.... "not the worst"

Have been reading with great interest the story of the Zephyr and feel that I vicariously know each leg of this horse. Any chance of a photo and good luck Zephyr !!

wonder if you can guess number 1.... a clue it's British If it was an Australian countdown I suspect number 3 would be tops

Came across this youtube compilation today entitled top UK 100 of the '70's. It features 10 second clips of each song and only goes for 15 minutes or so. Worth watching for some of the clips alone let alone the costumes PS and who are number '74 above

3 for 117 and Australia use their only two reviews ... no refreshes these days ... please don't let England win !!!

Rather important two sessions coming up. Strange decision by Smith not to enforce the follow on. The ball swinging in the evening session is nothing new and while England bowlers may not be quick they can certainly swing that ball. 354 not an easy target so hopefully we can have them 7 down for 100 at stumps tonight 3 for 150 or thereabouts could make for an interesting last day

So my opening match in good old Kazan is Australia v France... will have to take the right coloured scarf Who would have thought that when I bought my series tickets. Will pretty well decide Australia's chances... hopefully a draw or a 1-0 loss. If we repeat the German loss 4-0 a la South Africa that is almost certainly the end of our chances. Australia's second game (Denmark) is in Samara which is not far from Kazan so I might think about the logistics of trying to catch that game as well. Spain play Iran in Kazan followed by Germany v South Korea. The other game is Poland v Colombia which should be a close game. Round 16 match is most likely France v Croatia or possibly Nigeria. Should be fun. Looking at heading to Moscow for a week before going to Kazan but accommodation is seriously expensive. Wouldn't mind tripping around Kazan but so far have not managed to crack the code for independent tourism given that most web sites are in Cyrillic Russian.

Given that he is stick thin and makes Weideman look muscled I think there might be a deceptive camera angle in that shot with Hogan. Would be interested in training observers' comments

Half way through Godless the new Netflix "Western" mini series. Thought after the first few episodes that it might rival Deadwood but after episode 3 I don't think so. That being said well worth watching. Guardian gave it five stars: "Godless, Netflix’s new seven-part miniseries, opens in 1884, in Creede, Colorado, with a thick cloud of smog shrouding the camera. The haze slowly dissolves to reveal a chilling landscape: parched bodies being tended to by swarms of flies; a man, sedentary, with a gunshot through his head; a train-wreck near which a young boy hangs from a noose; and a woman, crouched over a corpse, singing mournfully about Christ. It’s a near-wordless several minutes, a triumph of mood and cinematography, that evokes the sort of rough-and-tumble anarchy of the great filmic frontiersman. Soon after, we’re in La Belle, New Mexico, where we learn who’s responsible for the massacre, and from thereon it’s guns blazing. " https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2017/nov/22/godless-review-netflix-wonderfully-wicked-western-fires-on-all-cylinders watch out for spoilers in the comments