Getting Old

According to today's regulators and bureaucrats, those of us who Were kids in the 60's, 70's and early 80's probably shouldn't have survived, because our baby cots were covered with brightly coloured lead-based paint which was promptly chewed and licked.

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, or latches on doors or cabinets and it was fine to play with pans.

When we rode our bikes, we wore no helmets, just flip-flops and had fluorescent 'spokey dokey's' on our wheels.

As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or airbags - riding in the passenger seat was a treat.

We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle and it tasted the same.

We ate chips, bread and butter pudding and drank fizzy drink with sugar in it, but we were never overweight because we were always outside playing.

We shared one drink with four friends, from one bottle or can and no-one actually died from this.

We would spend hours building go-carts out of scraps and then went top speed down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into stinging nettles a few times, we learned to solve the problem.

We would leave home in the morning and could play all day, as long as we were back before it got dark. No one was able to reach us and no one minded. We did not have Play stations or X-Boxes, no video games at all. No 99 channels on TV, no videotape movies, no surround sound, no mobile

phones, no personal computers, no DVDs, no Internet chat rooms. We had friends - we went outside and found them.

We played cricket and rounders, and sometimes that ball really hurt! We fell out of trees, got cut, and broke bones but there were no law suits. We had full on fist fights but no prosecution followed from other parents.

We played knock-the-door-run-away and were actually afraid of the owners catching us. We walked to friends' homes. We also, believe it or not, WALKED to school; we didn't rely on mummy or daddy to drive us to school, which was just round the corner.

We made up games with sticks and tennis balls. We rode bikes in packs of 7 and wore our coats by only the hood.

The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke a law was unheard of...They actually sided with the law.

This generation has produced some of the best risk-takers and problem solvers and inventors, ever. The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas. We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned how to deal with it all. And you're one of them. Congratulations! Pass this on to others who have had the luck to grow as real kids, before lawyers and government regulated our lives, for our own good. For those of you who aren't old enough, thought you might like to read about us.

This my friends, is surprisingly frightening......and it might put a smile on your face: The majority of students in universities today were born in 1986........They are called youth. They have never heard of We are the World, We are the children, and the Uptown Girl they know is by Westlife not Billy Joel. They have never heard of Rick Astley, Bananarama, Nena Cherry or Belinda Carlisle. For them, there has always been only one Germany and one Vietnam. AIDS has existed since they were born. CD's have existed since they were born. Michael Jackson has always been white. To them John Travolta has always been round in shape and they can't imagine how this fat guy could be a god of dance. They believe that Charlie's Angels and Mission Impossible are Films from last year. They can never imagine life before computers. They'll never have pretended to be the A Team, RedHand Gang or the Famous Five. They'll never have applied to be on Jim'll Fix It or Why Don't You. They can't believe a black and white television ever existed. And they will never understand how we could leave the house without a mobile phone.

Now let's check if we're getting old...



1. You understand what was written above and you smile.

2. You need to sleep more, usually until the afternoon, after a night

out.

3. Your friends are getting married/already married.

4. You are always surprised to see small children playing comfortably

with computers.

5. When you see teenagers with mobile phones, you shake your head.

6. You remember watching Dirty Den in EastEnders the first time around.

7. You meet your friends from time to time, talking about the good old

days, repeating again all the funny times you have experienced together.

8. Having read this , you are thinking of mailing it to some other friends

because you think they will like it too...



Yes, you're getting old!!!

With thanks too
The Ego and Southampton RFC

The Legend Begins

"On a crisp fall day in 1823 William Webb Ellis picked up a football in his hands and ran with it. To this day, backs throughout the world hail this moment as the birth of rugby. Forwards, however, know that the game was not really invented until 1.5 seconds later, when Roland Dimrumple drove a squealing Mr. Ellis' face into the turf, kicked him in the solar plexus and told him to "keep his sodding hands off the ball"."

Man in the middle

After 3 years of reffing junior matches I have finally decided it's time to give the senior teams some abuse :)

So this weekend I take charge of my first senior match for Hampshire Society And to be honest it's daunting. I have got used to dealing with the Junior teams (Under13's to Under 16's)the kids tend to listen without arguement for the most part. But seniors ..... some of them have played Rugby for many many years, tend to try and Referee the game for you and it's this side of it that's going to be the trying part. \i sm not used to having every decision I make questioned ( on the pitch that is)so we will wait and see how it goes. Stay tuned for match reports from the reffing and the Under 15's I'm coaching this year

"Cricket"

Now that the Aussies have decided it's all right, after all, to call everyone "mate," I'd just like to clarify the status of another charming native expression.
There was, at one time, a fashion for referring to we British visitors as "Shitface Pommy Bastards."

Is that now, in, or out?

Perhaps some Shitface Digger Bastard would care to enlighten us.

P.S. Sorry about the cricket. Not.

Rugby Season

Well it's back to Rugby ...Glorious September .... With this in mind ..... here is a quick ditty to commemorate the occasion


You've got to be mad to play Rugby
And throw yourself into a scrum
You get scrapped bashed and bitten
And spend half the match
with your nose up some other guys bum

But you go through the pain
and you'll do it again
'Cos the best bit of rugby by far
Is singing rude songs in the shower
And downing the pints in the bar