Earl Hood

I had this match penciled in as I work across the road from the ground but just realised it is my wedding anniversary! No chance now.

RL are you referring to old wino's with bottles masked in brown paper bags or a place where grapes are grown, picked, processed, stored until ready to be decanted as wine? I have seen plenty of the former in Richmond but not the latter unless you are referring to the Chateau Royal Oak?

RL It could be Kellybrook Winery in Wonga Park. Can't think of a closer one. They make wine from apples I think and cider. Can't vouch for the wines but the food is good and the restaurant is in a very pleasant setting.

Thanks for that Biff and BBO! This weekend I had the choice of doing the Hawthorn Open Houses tour with SWMBO or attending Ballarat for our NAB challenge. It all depended on being able to garrantee a good dinner after the game for SWMBO. I asked in good faith about the possibility of one getting a quinoa salad up that way possibly at Graigs Hotel but was advised that the best I could do would be a mixed grill! So I reluctantly trudge off to Hawthorn only to hear of your 8 course degustation!!! With expensive red wine. Thanks for nothing and by the way can we clarify who really did pay for the dinner? So far we have conflicting accounts of what happened. A Royal Commission my be on the cards.

DFrog not anymore. Cyclone Olwyn has taken out all the banana trees in Carnarvon! What price for a banana now?

DC better pack the steering lock and wheel clamps if you park near the Gat. Hope you are not driving anything fancy?

Sri Lanka having a real dip at the moment. Dilshan 7 fours in a row, six off Johnston! If Sangakkara stays in they are a chance, arguably the best cricketer in the game at the moment. Their supporters are going mental.

Thanks for that Macca. Great memories of the Master Blaster in those visuals. My only claim to fame with Sir Viv is that I was holidaying in India in 1987/88 for a few months and found myself staying at the Presidents Hotel in Bombay at the time with the West Indian team. I happened to share the lift a number of times at night with Sir Viv I remember. Viv was always with some pretty young Indian girl heading up to a party on the upper floors as I remember it. He was certainly a batting genius!

Macca Sorry I am a Luddite but I have tried to upload the latest Utube copy of Sir Viv Richards singing his new song Smokin Joe. Average Barry White simile but the video of Viv is classic stuff. Can you please help.

Gee they say every dark cloud has a silver lining they say. I feel for the bananna farmers in Queensland but I have a holiday place somewhere down on the Surf Coast is all I will say. Anyway the old guy next door who has lived there for years has a cluster of bananna trees on his property right on our fence line. I, oh I mean he could be sitting on a fortune. TR4 won't jump to the coast any time soon. The old boy doesn't keep up with the news much these days, maybe I will offer my services at harvest time and the produce will need to be marketed of course. Opportunity knocks!

Could be a draw I think, depends on how long Jazza can stay off the fags. BBO you have gone this far why slide back, why not continue, think about the weight you have shed, how well you feel. I say continue the good fight and stay alcohol free. Those bottles of Shiraz do you need them really? Let me deal with them instead, let me remove your temptation. It is the least I can do for you and there is no need to thank me. It is my lot in life, noblesse oblige, I believe it is termed?

OD this thread is not the place for rational thoughts like yours!

I feel your pain. My wife and family are all Hawks and the hardest part for me is battling to keep my hatred in check. I had to attend last years post GF entertainment with a forced smile on my face to indulge in their celebrations, such are the obligations of a husband and son in law. If I have to endure a threepeat this year it might be all too much for me.

You are right R&B it is more about me and my pathological hatred of the Hawks. Every loss to them is a day of total darkness to me. And my God there have been a lot of them in the past 40 years!!!

DF White Night was great. Do we have Dark Days? Yes I am predicting that May 16 (round 7) at the G could get very dark!

Moon you were correct, thousands of people everywhere. I had hoped to rendezvous with DC, BBO and the lads at Flinders Street but unfortunately I could not get the horse and carriage through the mob. And yes the sweaty odour of the seething masses was quite off putting.

Gracias señor DC y si que lo hice!

I am off to White Night in the city. No doubt BBO, Jazza and DC will also be going? I will be on the corner of Flinders and Swanston streets if you want catch up! I will be wearing a Demons tie. Shouldn't be too many people about.

And Borewood as well! No one shall be spared!

BBO on the contrary, in another thread I congratulated Sir WYL on his knighthood and stressed that we needed to stick together because at the time our beloved Prime Minister Tony Abbott, defender of the Aristocracy and the natural order, was under siege from his own party. Should he be toppled I truly feared that we faced the rule of the Mob! Tony survived but still I believe that without him we face a real and present threat to the natural order of things. Should the Mob rise up we all face ruin from Fitzroy to Romsey.

DF Forget the bananas, about 10 years ago I had some fabulous scallops from the Fisherman's CoOp in Carnarvon. They are all exported to Japan unless you show up to the factory outlet. Drove on to Coral Bay and cooked up a storm. Never had better since, although the surroundings may have influenced my thinking.

And no one has mentioned Todd Viney beating Boom Boom Boris Becker in an under age tennis tournament! Todd must have been a late starter as well. If Gary's son has been playing rugby, he should pick up AFL quickly given his athletism and the gene pool. But only if he really wants it.

Yes I realised that was a poor usage of words but did not want to erouse Jazza anymore than normal so did not correct myself. Jazza spends most of his time milking cows, following the Dees as well? Forget the other strange behaviour,

Gee you were a bit stiff Jazza, I was down at Anglesea last night and it rained steadily from about 6 p.m to 6 a.m with some heavy downpours for a good hour early morning. The rain must have been coming in from the east rather than the south west.

Is this the Brian Cook that could soon be CEO or coach from that other thread?