Days On, Days Off

So after a couple of days of dedicated blogging I have once more abandoned my virtual quill, dry of virtual ink.

Mainly, I just couldn't be bothered though. Is that simply lazy? Perhaps! But hey.

I have much to report on - Paul's stag do at the weekend, which was enjoyable, a busy day on at least one of the previous days this week, I am not sure which, and certainly conversations and events from work to mention.

However, I will instead dedicate this entire blog to Tim, and his most fantastic question on Saturday: "So, Andrew, how's your .... person?"

The pause above is not for dramatic effect, this was Tim selecting the correct word. Where so many presented themselves, it is almost impressive that he eventually settled on 'person'. And yes, Chrissi is fine.

World Cup Moments

Recently there have been a lot of programs on television with the countdowns of the best World Cup moments, most memorable, most shocking, and so on. It's some entertaining stuff mostly, but it's inspired me to try and make my own list. I limited it to just the top ten, decided by me entirely arbitrarily.

To allow me to include whatever I like, I'm dubbing it the 'Ten Most Iconic World Cup Moments'. Some surprise picks make it into this list. Look out for them.

10. 1970, England 0 - 1 Brazil
We typically hear of the great moments of strikers, the great goals, fabulous moments of skill. This one is dedicated to the goalkeepers, and it again does it justice that everyone knows what you mean by saying 'Banks saves from Pele'. (watch)

9. 1950, Uruguay 2 - 1 Brazil
It was the only World Cup without a final - instead a final group would decide the champions. As it turned out, the final game would decide the tournament. Hosts and favourites Brazil only needed a draw to win the title for the first time. But Uruguay won, and claimed their second title at the Maracana in Brazil, leaving the hosts in shock.

8. 2006, France 1 - 1 Italy (aet)
A moment of madness and shocking disbelief. Zinedine Zidane, one of the best players in the world over the preceding decade, headbutts Marco Materazzi in extra time and is sent off. France lose the penalty shoot-out. Not only is it a shockingly rare incident, but it was Zidane's last professional game. The moment as he walks off the pitch past the trophy is particularly memorable. (watch)

7. 1954, Hungary 8 - 3 West Germany
The birth of cynicism. West Germany play a weakened team against the best team in the world, Hungary. They are happy to lose and contest a play-off to get to the quarter-finals with an easier route to the final. Not only that, but the Hungarian's best player (and arguably one of the best ever), Ferenc Puskas, was deliberately injured, only returned for the final and was a shadow of his majestic self. West Germany beat Hungary in the final to complete the victory of tactical gamesmanship.

6. 1966, England 4 - 2 West Germany (aet)
As much as England do go on about it, the fourth goal itself is a rare moment in finals when it was right on balance, a pivotal moment at the end instead of the game being played out. A minute to go, England ahead by a controversial goal. And then the ball comes to Hurst. The immortal commentary by Kenneth Wolstenholme sums it up better than anything else ever could. (watch)

5. 1998, Holland 2 - 1 Argentina
The last minute of normal time and Frank de Boer plays a long pass forward from defense for Dennis Bergkamp to run onto. Three peerless touches later and the ball is in the net, and Holland have won. An outstanding moment of perfect control under immense pressure at a crucial moment. (watch)

4. 1986, Argentina 2 - 1 England
The Hand of God. It doesn't need more of a description than that. Argentina won the 1986 tournament due to the genius of their inspirational captain Maradona - but also due to his cheating. Sometimes decisions can be debated. This one cannot. (watch)

3. 1978, Algeria 2 - 1 West Germany
A surprising pick, especially this high up. But this result was iconic. An unknown team from Africa beat the great West Germany, the world champions. For the entire game that ranks higher than a moment of brilliance.

2. 1986, Argentina 2 - 1 England
Beauty and the beast it has been described as. We have seen the beast already. This is the beauty. A sublime goal, arguably one of the best scored in a World Cup. But to be done against the backdrop of the first goal makes this an utterly iconic moment. The twisted genius Maradona struck again. (watch)

1. 1970, Brazil 4 - 1 Italy
It had to be. The fourth goal. Carlos Alberto's goal. Brazil's goal. It's a wonderful goal and moment - everything about it is sublime. The icing on the cake to the ultimate final. (watch)

However, I'm sure anyone who cares may disagree. I don't have anyone who cares reading this, but if you have any thoughts, let me know any I missed out that I should definitely have left in!

Morning Interjection

As I suspect I will not be returning early enough tonight to post a blog, I have decided to get up this morning just with the purpose of entertaining my loyal readers.*

This morning I do have some things to do - Dad is returning today from his nearly two-and-a-half week holiday, so I should ensure that the house is tidy enough. I also need to buy bread and milk - all exciting tasks. I have already been up for about an hour and sort of gone for a run, something I am pleased with.

Something I am regretting is that I did, in my organisation of last weekend, book an eye appointment for this weekend. Without thinking it is booked for 10:00 on Sunday - I suspect I may be a little tired. We'll see how that goes!

* This is not actually true.

Evening One Report

So having just got back from Mike's, I could talk about that - how it was a fabulous barbecue with excellent enjoyment. However, I'm not going to and instead going to talk about me instead, then the weather.

Let's start with me - and a note first on my effort, then my epic procrastination. I'm quite pleased how coming back from work early (due to a training day today), and despite my best efforts to stop myself from going for a run, I did eventually manage it. My epic procrastination also deserves a note - having got home early, and hence in plenty of time to get to Mike's on time, I managed to take more time because I had lots of time, and so was impressively late!

Weather in a separate note - it's almost unpleasantly warm right now, very sticky. When I went for a run this evening it was really still and close - not great overall! It needs a good storm to blow it out. Hopefully tomorrow will be better during the day - or at least a bit more of a breeze during our day in London! Decision will await as to whether trousers or shorts is the correct call. The fact that I have few pairs of shorts that are comfy may help tip the scales!

Rude Awakening

As it was hot last night, I left my window - resulting in a great surprise when this morning I was awoken at 4:52am by a bird screeching loudly just outside.

Shocked at how light it was, I did have a two-second panic that it was in fact 4:52pm and that I had slept through the entire day. After another two hours of dozing, I did then get up in a more proper fashion and with a little more decorum.

The next couple of days I have events happening! Tomorrow is a barbecue as it is Mike's birthday, and Saturday will feature Paul's stag evening in London. I'm sure I may report back on either one or the other if not both.

Lazy Saturdays

So usually my Saturdays are marked by getting up early afternoon, not achieving very much and putting off my long list until the Sunday, when the same pattern repeats and everything is put off until next week.

Today I broke the mould entirely. Firstly, I got up just after 9am, and managed to do the not-so-exciting chores - buying milk, bread and fruit juice the main purpose, but also got some much needed tidying, cleaning away and washing sorted.

Spurred on by these early successes, I then ended up going into Woking - as I always plan to do. I managed to tick off all the things on my list, by purchasing a new belt (this time I checked it fitted), new earphones, new trainers and sorting out some overdue banking changes.

A successful days, and it's not even 4:30pm!

Two Off, One On

I mentioned the other day about getting back into routines and ticking things off my list. Well, I'm not necessarily back into the routine, but I am starting to cross things off my list.

Off my list today is a couple of purchases that were overdue! A belt to replace the one that is falling apart, and a new pair of smart shoes. The latter purchase is due to my existing pair having somehow split clean across the sole from the instep. Very bizarre! So a replacement was necessary, and duly purchased.

I also found a bonus in that there was still £15 on a Next giftcard I'd forgotten I had in my wallet - unexpected discount!

World Cup Warm-Up

So with the World Cup now in day four, I was glad to return to the football pitch myself to take this opportunity to showcase my own skills.

However, having not played since late April, I was not only hideously out of form but woefully out of condition too. My best moment was a neat flick which led to a goal. I was starting to get the range of passing more towards the end, but it really showed that I hadn't played for a while!

Hopefully we'll have enough for next week too, and can try and do a bit better then!

Weekend of Warmth

So this weekend has had some lovely weather and has been mostly relaxing. I had a list of things to do, of which I have done some and mostly ignored the rest.

This weekend Chrissi has been away in Vegas, which is very nice but has left me at a bit of a loose end. I spend most of my weekend chatting to her or playing games with her, so it's a bit unusual to not have her around! I have been watching bits of the World Cup, but there's so many games on that I don't have the time to watch them all religiously.

I did watch the England game last night though, and having predicted 1-1 in advance and put a small bet on, I was torn between disappointment and smug self-satisfaction at the end. The latter won easily. It was a very poor game, however, and a terrible spectacle. England didn't impress, the US were too defensive, but looked neat without being threatening. Overall very average.

Hopefully there'll be some better games in the weeks ahead!

Normal Required

I mentioned yesterday that blogging was just one part of my daily routine which had lapsed a little bit since my return from holiday. Other things to have taken a leave of absence include resuming my laughable attempted pursuit of better fitness, proper sleep routines and an all-out assult on my backlog of tasks.

We'll see how this goes, but this weekend is going to be the acid test! I am feeling in a mostly productive mood, but we'll see how far that goes when the weather - utterly gorgeous - distracts!

Today is also Mark's birthday, so I should probably note that by saying something along the lines of 'happy birthday'. I forgot to add in your card a mocking comment about being a quarter-century old now, so this'll have to do!

Normalising the Routine

So this is the first blog for a while, only the second since I've been back, the first one of June and really the first 'home' blog. Perhaps I've not been blogging because I don't want to pretend I'm home and if I don't, I'm still on holiday?

Unlikely - although in all routines I've liked to pretend I'm still on holiday!

Irrelevant of the minimal motivation, I have had a couple of not so busy weeks to talk about, and there has been a little lack of inspiration. Tonight was poker night, which followed this underwhelming theme as there were only a handful of people. I played a bit differently tonight having read some poker books and magazines while on holiday. It worked out quite well and was fun, and was doing nicely until I hit a bad beat with a Q-8 in against a Q-7 when my opponent hit a 7 on the river.

Tomorrow marks the start of the World Cup and possibly some more regular blogging - that one the jury is out on though! One day at a time.