graffiti on cancelled trains, and cricket deaths and sledging

Two items in the news recently.

First of all, there's been trains cancelled because of offensive graffiti on their sides. These have been cancelled at the last minute, leaving commuters fuming and frustrated. An recent example is here.

ThamesLink have tweeted "We can't drive around all day with 'the F word' emblazoned on a train".

That is fair enough, but l have an idea.
It apparently costs about £5,000 to remove the graffiti, but why not just spray over the offensive slogan or image to make it unintelligible, so the train can carry on it's normal route, to then be taken off and cleaned at a later date. That would only take a couple of minutes, and you'd only be spraying where it needed to be cleaned anyway. If it costs a bit more to clean, it's worth it to keep the passengers happy, and prevents vandals deliberately trying to prevent trains running.

Also, cricket sledging has been under scrutiny, after the inquest into the death of Phillip Hughes. He was bowled by Doug Bollinger, who, it has been alleged (by Mathew Day), stated that "I am going to kill you" beforehand. Bowlers deliberately bowl short to cause 'bouncers', which are aimed at intimidating the batsman, often trying to hit and hurt them.
Before others die, here's a suggestion (from someone who knows bugger all about cricket).
Have a line marked in front of the batsman, where the ball has to bounce in beforehand, to eliminate the high bounces of the ball. If a bowler misses it a set amount of times by bowling short, he is unable to carry on bowling during that match, and may face suspension for later matches. Batsmen may still suffer some injury, but it would be pretty unlikely to be in the head area, therefore being a lot safer.

As for piss taking sledging - my favourite quote (by Eddo Brandes) when asked by the batsman (Glen McGrath) why he was so fat, replied  "Because every time l fuck your wife, she gives me a biscuit". I've changed that slightly, replacing 'fuck' with 'shag', and 'biscuit' with 'cracker', and have used it while out and about on many an occasion.  Long may that kind of sledging continue.

Any more advice needed on how to run things, you know where to find me.

toodle pip

the dylan quiz

Think you know your Bob Dylan from your Dylan Thomas?
Try the Dylan quiz
Here's my result, which l must admit l was disappointed with.
                                         
toolde pip

marilyn monroe quote

I'm selfish, impatient and a little insecure. I make mistakes, I am out of control and at times hard to handle. But if you can't handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don't deserve me at my best. This is the sort of thing that people always put up on Facebook, but it's still a good quote. toodle pip

an octopus sunbathing

Here's something you don't see every day, an Octopus catching some rays by Mount Vesuvius. I have (on my many travels) been to Italy, been to Pompeii, been to Mount Vesuvius, but never seen anything like this (not that l was looking out for a lurking Octopus). It's enough to put you off going into the sea, but from what l remember of the Naples area, a lot of it was crap, definitely not the 'See Naples and die' beauty l was led to believe, so l was a bit dubious about going for a dip around those parts anyway.

Photograph by Pasquale Vassallo.

toodle pip

advantages of being rich and famous

Good to see Peter Crouch being so honest in an interview


Interviewer: "Peter, what do you think you'd be if you weren't a Premiership footballer?"

Crouch: "Um... probably a virgin."

george best and noel gallagher

I was listening to the Russell Brand show today (Saturdays show), with Noel from Oasis as a guest/co-presenter as usual. I have always loved Noels sense of humour and some of the things he comes out with, but today's was a corker. Talking about hellraisers and then George Best on the Wogan show, Russell compared Noel (who was drinking) to George. Noel replied he was happy with that as George was cool. When Russell asked how a Manchester City could say that, Noel said "George didn't play for United, he played for the World". Top man.
Toodle pip