Well, this is my last post of the year, and I'm going to use it to say congratulations to Tim Berners-Lee - the inventor of the world wide web - who has been awarded a knighthood in the New Year honours list. England's World Cup winning rugby team and their coach, also get awards. Congratulations!
The Caps were disappointing last night. I stayed up to listen to the game but I really shouldn't have bothered. The Caps took the lead and things were looking good, but Boston netted the next three goals, and the Caps finished their penultimate game of 2003 with a 3-1 loss. Buffalo are up next tomorrow night.
Whilst the 0-0 draw at Leeds on Boxing Day wasn't a bad result, Villa really could have done with all three points. Still, they made up for it by thumping Fulham 3-0 yesterday. Villa have now taken 10 points from a possible 12 in their last four games, and are just two points behind the hated enemy.
Over the other side of the pond, the Caps beat the Canadiens 3-2 last Tuesday night, thanks to a last minute goal by Peter Bondra. On Saturday night, despite taking the lead, the Caps were dropped 3-1 by Buffalo. The Boston Bruins are the visitors to MCI Center tonight - a home win would be nice!
If you were in your local supermarket, and you found a carrier bag with £15,000 cash in it by the checkout, what would you do? Would you quickly tuck it under your coat and walk out, or would you hand it in like the woman in this article did? I'm not too sure what I would have done. Thanks to Vishal for the link!
So who's going to win World Idol then? I voted for Kelly Clarkson. She was head and shoulders above everyone else. The Canadian contestant was quite good, and the British contestant - Will Young - was too, but Kelly just blew them all away with a superior performance. Trust me, she'll win it by a mile.
Merry Christmas!
As it does every year, the North American Aerospace Defence Command (NORAD) is currently tracking Santa's progress around the world. Now as I'm writing this, the NORDAD tracking radar says he's here in the UK somewhere, but he hasn't arrived at my house yet... maybe it's because I'm still awake?
My beloved Aston Villa won their first away game since January on Saturday! They beat Blackburn 2-0 thanks to goals from youngster Stefan Moore and that man Juan Pablo Angel, who's on fire right now! The win moves them well away from the relegation zone, and within three points of the hated enemy.
Over the other side of the pond, the Caps tied the Maple Leafs 2-2 in a hard fought game on Friday night. However, the Caps let a two goal lead slip in a 5-4 loss on Sunday night, giving the Islanders two points, and their first win in Washington since 1997! The Canadiens are up next later on tonight.
If you're in the mood for a bit of online festive fun, you should check out the awesome Turkey Killer, a rather addictive flash shoot 'em up. You score points by shooting as many bouncing turkeys as you can. Listen out for the hilarious sound sample if you're accurate enough to score a head shot. Brilliant!
I've just upgraded this site to Movable Type v2.65. You, of course, won't notice any difference, but the upgrade was necessary to fix a security flaw. I'm also working on a slight redesign of this site. I'm writing all the pages in XHTML rather than plain old HTML, and those adverts will definitely be going.
I finally finished reading Land Of The Living by Nicci French a few days ago. It's a great novel and I highly recommend it. I'm now reading Lost Light by Michael Connelly. It hooked me from the first couple of chapters with its great plot. In fact, I feel the urge to go read another chapter or two right now...
Woohoo! Superb result at Villa Park last night! Villa beat Chelsea 2-1 to go through to the semi-final of the Carling Cup, thanks to a late goal from McCann, and an absolute screamer of a goal from Juan Pablo Angel. Villa face Bolton in the semi-final, which is over two legs, so a trip to the final might be on the cards.
I was watching the Sharks take on the Red Wings on TV last night, during which the commentators speculated that the Flyers' recent acquisition of the rights to Comrie from the Oilers might prompt the Rangers to trade for Jagr. Look guys, it isn't going to happen, ok? Besides, Jagr doesn't want to leave!
The Caps tied up the Florida Panthers 2-2 last night. Rookie goalie Maxime Ouellet had another good game, stopping 20 of 22 shots. I must admit though, I worry about the offensive capability of the Caps when Jagr doesn't play (he was injured during the game in Atlanta on Tuesday night).
Rookie goalie Maxime Ouellet was absolutely stellar on his Caps debut! Ouellet stopped all 37 shots he faced last night to earn the Caps their first shutout of the season, and his first NHL win in a 5-0 victory over Atlanta. I wonder if coach Hanlon will start Ouellet against the Florida Panthers tonight? I do hope so.
Despite taking the lead on a Jagr goal, the Caps lost 5-1 to the Red Wings on Saturday night. But at least they didn't give up the fight like in previous games. The Caps are in Atlanta tonight to take on the southeast division leading Thrashers, with rookie goalie Maxime Ouellet set to make his Caps debut.
Back over this side of the pond, two goals from Juan Pablo Angel helped Villa beat Wolves 3-2 at Villa Park. The win gave Villa a valuable three points - lifting them out of the relegation zone - but despite all that, Villa boss David O'Leary was unhappy with the performance. Next up for Villa: Chelsea in the Carling Cup.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we got him."
And with those words, Paul Bremer - U.S. chief administrator in Iraq - announced the capture of Saddam Hussien by U.S. troops. Woohoo! This is excellent news!
Well, it wasn't pretty, but at least they got the win! The Caps beat Boston 6-5 last night to get their first win under new head coach, Glen Hanlon. It's a good job Jagr and others were on hand to provide some scoring last night - that defence leaks more goals than my bank account does money!
I've decided against doing a complete redesign of this site for 2004 - I just can't seem to settle on a design that I like! I'm going to make some minor adjustments to the existing design instead. I'll most likely get rid of the adverts and use the right column for something else. I'm not sure what yet.
When you read this article in today's Washington Post, you kind of get the sense that the firing of Caps coach Bruce Cassidy should have come sooner - way sooner. Glen Hanlon is going to have to work miracles to salvage this season, that's for sure. A win against Boston tonight would be a good start.
I'm currently reading Land Of The Living by Nicci French. After a somewhat slow start in my opinion, the book is quickly gathering pace, and developing into one of those books you just can't put down. As of today, I'm already over halfway through it, and might have it completely read by the weekend.
Due to other events today, it had completely escaped my attention that the Caps had fired head coach Bruce Cassidy. Glen Hanlon, who was already a coach with the team, has been appointed as the new head coach - the 13th in franchise history - and his first career NHL head coaching position.
I can't say I'm surprised at the announcement, though. A record of 8-18-1-1 (the second worst in the NHL, and 10 games below .500) so far this season, along with an ill advised personal attack on his players families last week, plus several arguments with his top players, and the writing was on the wall.
I've just received a phone call telling me that I won't be offered the job I was interviewed for today. I should have stayed at home in bed after all. Apparently, the other candidates had more experience in certain areas than me, which they would have known anyway had they of read my CV. What a waste of time.
I still wasn't feeling well when I woke up this morning. But after a little thought, I decided to get myself ready and to attend the interview. It was pretty clear to the interviewers that I wasn't well, but perhaps the fact I made the effort to attend will work in my favour. I'll know either later this evening or tomorrow.
Argh! Sore throat, blocked nose, runny nose, headache, sickness, and constant tiredness. Why now? Of all the times to be sick, why do I have to be sick the day before a job interview? I'm going to sleep on it, and hopefully - with the help of some Lemsip Max - I'll feel well enough tomorrow to attend.
It has been a bad weekend for my teams. After winning their last two games, Villa were beaten 4-0 by Manchester United on Saturday. The defeat drops Villa back to 18th in the league, and in serious danger of relegation. Saturday's home game - a local derby against Wolves - is a must win game.
Over the other side of the pond, the Caps, who, like Villa, had also won their last two games, were beaten 3-0 by the New Jersey Devils on Thursday night. They then followed that up by getting hammered 7-3 at Los Angeles on Saturday night. The Caps are in Colorado to face the Avs tonight.
Yeah! For the first time this season, the Caps have won two games in a row! The Caps beat up the Islanders 4-1 last night, with top forwards Lang and Jagr continuing their point streaks. I hope the Caps keep this winning momentum going now. The New Jersey Devils are up next on Thursday night.
Earlier on this evening Villa booked their place in the quarterfinal of the Carling Cup with a 3-0 win against Crystal Palace. Villa never really looked in any danger of losing the game, and the only worrying thing for me was the amount of chances they missed to put the game beyond Palace well before half time!
I finally heard off that company I went for a pre-employment test with. Yet again it was another rejection letter. I can't believe my luck. I guess I won't be escaping this place before Christmas then. Still, I mustn't get myself too down about it - I've got that interview next Wednesday to prepare for now.
D.C. United parted company with head coach Ray Hudson yesterday. I must admit I was surprised when I read about this. After all, he did guide an injury-plagued team to the playoffs for the first time since 1999. So, was this a good decision, or a bad decision? I'm not sure. Ask me again this time next year.
The last episode of the second season of Millennium was really upsetting! Executive Producers Glen Morgan and James Wong effectively brought the show's world to an end with a brilliant piece of TV drama. Whilst I wasn't overly thrilled with some of the changes they made, the second season was still awesome.
I have an interview on December 10th at 10am for a job I applied for at my old University. I shouldn't have any problems finding my way there, so the only thing I'll have to worry about is impressing them! I still haven't heard off the company I went for a pre-employment test with last week, though...
Those inconsistent Caps are continuing to frustrate me. They followed their 5-2 defeat in Buffalo with a 5-3 home defeat by Montreal on Friday night. However, they bounced back on Saturday night with a 5-3 victory in Columbus, thanks to a Peter Bondra hat trick. The Islanders are up next on Tuesday.
Back over this side of the pond, Villa got themselves a well deserved 1-0 win against Southampton, thanks to another stellar display from striker turned defender Dion Dublin. Villa has a difficult away game against Manchester United this Saturday, and whilst a win would be nice, I'd settle for a draw.
The new version of Championship Manager was released last week. I'd go out and buy it, but my confidence in Sports Interactive was shot to pieces after the last version they released was full of bugs and required five patches to make it fully playable. I still think it needs another patch even now.
Finally, you'll notice that I've changed this site's background to reflect the time of year I love the most - Christmas! I'm also working on a brand new site design, which, if all goes according to plan, I hope to debut on January 1st 2004. I haven't settled on the final design yet, but I'll be making my mind up shortly.