Holland v Hungary - Part Two

Here's the rest of the pictures...

http://mossleysmiffy.jalbum.net/HollandHungary/

So tomorrow sees me watching Hungary v Poland @ Stalybridge for the 3rd/4th Place Play-Off - and I must try to get orgainised for Saturday @ Boundary Park for the Final - use the "Mossley connection" maybe ??
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Holland v Hungary - early draft !

The "other" semi-final of the INAS-FID Championships - England were beating Poland 3-2 in the one at Boundary Park this (last?) evening. Due to it being 0030 I can offer up only these few f'now - Holland won 3-0 by the way - Hungary's cause not really helped by an early (10 minutes ?) red card...

I give you more tomorrow - but for now - the three goals (and the third will make Tigerroar (NonLeague Photographers site) go "grrrrr" - I know this to be true ...



Some of the Portuguese squad in the crowd - Texeira and Paulo for two anyway ...



1-0



2-0



3-0 - oops - beaten for speed - maybe a Canon rather than a Sigma might just have .....



We're in the Final !!
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Tidy Tidy Fuji Fuji

In the absence of me "going footy" tonight, I felt it time to clear all the crap (and the good stuff mind) off the trusty FujiFinepixA500 that travels with me always - just in case I get that "once in a lifetime" chance (remember the IRA bomb in Manchester - I know Carl who was "in the right place at the right time" !!)

So I give you ......



My windowsill @ work - my view on Agency staff - courtesy of Dilbert and a little "tweaking" ...



The fields over Belper Meadows - the day after the Belper/Hednesford game when me and Mrs Smiffy went for a gentle stroll (i.e. less than 7 miles !)



Last Friday @ Levenshulme - "just a couple" - as they say !!



Tonight @ Stalybridge - the "ones in the know" may have noticed the feather pointing towards Manchester Victoria - and a Trans-Pennine train (i.e. a Manchester Piccadilly train) heading towards it - apparently a signal failure at Picc..

Football - tomorrow - yep it's the semi at Curzon - hot news is that there might be a couple of my pix in the local paper on Thursday from last Wednesday's England v Portugal game - I might have have a lot in last season's Mossley prog/wbsite - and some on the Stalybridge Celtic site as well (thanks Iain !!) - but this will be a first "in print"...

Today the "Reporter" - tomorrow .... something else !!
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Anglezarke Moor

..between Horwich and Chorley. No football today - a wander round the West Pennine Moors on possibly the hottest day of the year (?) I've since heard that Holland beat Poland 4-1 today, so it's England v Poland on Wednesday @ Boundary Park, and Portugal v Holland on Wednesday @ Curzon Ashton....

...but I digress - a few snaps from today



A view across Anglezarke and Rivington Reservoirs



I have this thing about "dead trees" ...



Sign on the fence at White Coppice Cricket Club !!!



The old (Round Loaf - ancient burial mound) and the new (Winter Hill "telly stuff").

Football - looking to Wednesday now I think - tomorrow night it's the train to Stockport then Edale - just for the night - where Mrs Smiffy and friends are camping...back to work Tuesday.
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France v Portugal

Avoiding the hype that was probably occuring up Boundary Park, Oldham way I trotted down to the Tameside Stadium for the third time in less than a week to see the battle for 3rd/4th place in Group A - finished 4-1 to Portugal. In the other game, England beat Hungary 3-1, so they go through to the semi-final - at Boundary Park. Hungary will play either Poland or Holland at Curzon - both games next Wednesday.

Pix from today at ..

http://mossleysmiffy.jalbum.net/FrancePortugal/

.... it might have been the "bottom two" in the group, but there was some real class out there today - the unknown "number 9" had great vision and a sweet left foot - the tubby "Lister lookalike" Teixera belied his physique - and it was a hot afternoon. The French were certainly not outclassed, but the right team won - no arguments there.

Now to find out what else has happened "in the vicinity" today - eek yesterday ...did clock a bit of City losing @ Hamburg on the Curzon telly - but you know what I mean ....

Oh and nearly forgot - Curzon v Notts Forest on Monday - don't think I'll be there - but a certain "Mr A. Cole" is a definite starter (and I don't mean Ashley !!) ...that's what I've been told anywhere....
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England v Portugal - 24 hours late ...

.........thinking through - there's nowt from my second half at the Mossley game on Tuesday - bloody close season too much to squeeze in !) - good night at the England game last night - plenty of atmosphere - flags, face painting - and a crowd of over 600 - and we all saw England win 5-1 after going one down - pix at

http://mossleysmiffy.jalbum.net/EnglandPortugal/

..and here's the "tempter" - to drag you all in - whoo-ha-ha-ha .....



A very good night out indeed - hats off to Curzon Ashton who did much of the stuff themselves (that means you Mr Galloway !!) - the FA may have been handing out the complimentaries, but I for one am really disappointed with the publicity machine behind this tourney - it could have been sooooooo much better - maybe when Ingerland get through the Group Stage into the knock-out (pretty much guaranteed after a 10-0 and a 5-1 !!!) it may well kick into action - especially with the use of Boundary Park (where England play Hungary on Saturday - and where one of the semi-finals - yes the one which WILL involve Ingerland - will take place) - one silly thing that stood out for me last night was when a member of the Hungary squad (who were there watching) came up to me and said "Excuse me - man toilet ??" - well his English is far far better than my Magyar !!! Naturally I directed him to the room where the ref left his clothes ... not !

Tuesday - Mossley - Hyde - well I did only get there at half-time - and I was playing with a new lens (not as good as hoped - blame it on lights !!) - here's a couple or three from that night where Mossley turned a 2-1 deficit into a 5-3 win




Liam



Darryl



Hyde's Lee Rick I believe - Aaron asked for this one !!!



Same as ....

- an altogether belting performance with a cameo "four goals in not very many minutes" by Danny Egan - the better stuff can/will be found on Aaron's site - not yet mind (skool hols as well - slacker !!!) but check out ...

http://www.mossleyweb.com/MwebFrameset0809.htm

for a few.....

Saturday will probably see me at Curzon again - for the France v Portugal game (avoiding the Ingerland hype @ Oldham - leave that to others ...)

Poland v Sweden - 24 hours late !!

...well I've stuff to do - even now it's after one in the morning and Mossley have beaten Hyde United 5-3 tonight (I only got to second half - furniture removals etc etc tonight) !!! However last night (!) @ Curzon is here to see ..

http://mossleysmiffy.jalbum.net/PolandSweden/

8-0 to Poland - thoroughly deserved (I lost count to be honest - thought it was six !!) The Poland number 10 - Rafal Mordon - one tasty player ! A shame about the poor attendance

Tonight at Mossley is a different story - maybe later - maybe even later I'm maybe @ England v Portugal @ Curzon (gotta complimentary !)... who knows...

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The Great Fire of Manchester 2008

Some pix etc taken on the way home (by train) yesterday (courtesy "BabyFuji)"




Coming into Piccadilly from Cheadle Hulme



Heading out to Stalybridge - just before Ardwick Junction .....

...and a bonus video - coming past Longsight Depot ...




When I get home tonight I'll try to sort out the stuff from the Poland v Sweden game ...
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We've been Away ....Part 37

A 40th birthday party - not mine - in Belper (coupled with the Belper Town v Hednesford Town friendly - 2-1 to Belper)

Football pix at

http://mossleysmiffy.jalbum.net/BelperHednesford/

This coming week - will have to try one of the "European Learning Disability Championship" games - Poland v Sweden tomorrow (@ Curzon Ashton) or maybe Poland v Germany on Thursday night (@ Stalybridge Celtic). Here's hoping the rapidly increasing Polish population in Tameside are aware of this - should add some noise and colour to the proceedings as well ....England play Portugal on Wednesday @ Curzon and there are some midweek afternoon games ... sod it - get your head round this link - full fixture list !

http://www.thefa.com/England/DisabledTeams/INAS-FIDEuro2008/INAS-FIDEuro2008.htm

Now to bed - the teachers and pupils may have broken up - but the computer geeks still have to suffer the slings and arrows of idiot users and thieving management - allegedly ...
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The Great British Summer... NOT

As I sit here at 0025 - eek - listening to the rain hammering down outside - as it has on and off all bloody night - I panic - and this at pre-season friendly stage !! Already there is a post on the Mossley message board worrying about the game against Droylsden today (weather related post that is) - OK I won't be there myself (it's Belper Town v Hednesford Town for me) but when you're worrying about waterlogged pitches - IN JULY - something's horribly wrong .... and you can't blame the "credit-crunch" for it either !

Did I mention a possible new lens in the offing ?? I've blown some ciggy money on a 24-60 f2.8 - Sigma of course (cheapskate - or credit crunch watcher - you choose !) - gives the option of just standing close to the net (under cover ?) on a sh*tty wet July evening and getting some stuff like that - and if it's not up to footy it will at least replace at the 28-105 in my bag ! Must stop now - I'm quoting numbers and sounding geeky - anyone looked at http://www.graphjam.com - tis funny - I particularly like the "cake or death" and the "Beach Boys California Girls" graphs - who thinks of this stuff ?

.. and did I mention Todd Rundgren @ Manchester Academy in November ?? Tickets booked - naturally ..........
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EB Streymur 0-2 Man City

Well that was the plan - Mrs Smiffy out on an "End of Term Teacher Jolly" - home to find "it's on Sultana Sprouts" !!!!

Too late home to see first half - 1946 to the Railway @ Greenfield to see second half in a "Blue Friendly" boozer - only to find two guys hogging the box watching Oldham v Doncaster - as in Rugby - that northern version !!!!

Now getting to the Faroe Islands is tricky - getting to Boundary Park to watch an Oldham home game is not - so big poooo to you lazy barstewards - that's the sort of "travel" behaviour you get from Manchester United fans ...

Anyroad up City win 2-0 - and I get to see the latest in the Greenfield Station update .... my God... Northern Rail blue stuff, stone cladding and the roof supports are wooden - will they be putting Yorkshire Slates on top ??? What a mish-mash .......

Other news - I'm now officially "licenced to snap" at Conference Level (thank you Keirina) - now I'm allowed "big league" standard, I'd better learn how to use the bloody camera I guess !!
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Mossley v Stalybridge Celtic ...

..for the Frank Robinson Trophy - that's two wins to one for Mossley now after tonight's 3-1 win - it's far to late to talk stuff - the first friendly of the season for both so read into that what you will - and remember - the phrase is "not too much" !! (Pass this on to 'Celtic1909' - he appears to have given up on 2008/09 already !!!)

Some pix at

http://mossleysmiffy.jalbum.net/MossleyBridge/

At one stage there were 27 photographers within 47 inches of each other - we'll see how Aaron's (MAFC) and Mrs Bob's (Celtic) turn out later no doubt ...there may have been more !!
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Panic DEFINITELY Over ...

Weird eh ?? The only way to sort it is to delete ALL your internet/e-mail protection - to get the e-mail that tells you you can't receive any e-mail or get on the internet !

Not to worry - all back up and running - AVG back on - and the new version of Zone Alarm (the cause of all this sh...) now loaded .....

So - tomorrow - Mossley v Stalybridge Celtic - tonight it is raining - tomorrow - well ..... oh and referring to a previous post - the pictures I sent off for from www. snapmad.com arrived today - and they look rather good at 7x5 - hopefully Martin Pearson (the Stalybridge Celtic keeper in said pix) will be up at Seel Park tomorrow night. The last time I tried something like this (viz Peter Wright's header for Mossley against Leek) he left the blooming club 7 days after the pix were taken/processed/prepared to "hand over" !!

Anyroad up - now we're back and running - some pix from the weekend up Dent way ...



Flinter Gill



The "Old and the New" - High Laning Campsite



Saturday Night sunset looking towards the Lake District ....yeah I'm sure I could faff with the picture to bring up the dry-stone wall in the foreground - but life is short ... !!



Sheep-shearing near Rawridding Farm - the wool is sold for 5p per kilo - the big money is made further down the "fiscal line" !!! Yes, the rip-off world is everywhere - no wonder some farmers just burn the stuff - honest !
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We Appear to be Back ......

...albeit warily - I've been deleting left right and centre this evening - including the complete uninstall of Zone Alarm - which seemed to do the trick !!!!!!!!! I open up e-mail to find one from Zone Labs (allegedly - have sent a copy to work to verify) which said (don't click on the link unless you're sure - I'm not - yet !) ....

Dear Customer,

Installation of Microsoft Update KB951748 may result in loss of Internet connectivity.

Click here for more information on how to resolve this issue.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.

Thank you - ZoneLabs ...

Still Quiet

Appear to have internet issues @ home - eek. Camping knocked on head however due to weather - look out ! Here comes the boss !!

Having a Quiet Week ....

... i.e. no football - catching up on "Life on Mars" Series 2 - only the final episode to watch now - football option this week would have been Woodley on Thursday - however it's me at boy's "Parent's Evening" that night ... Saturday would have been Curzon v Duki Town, but we're weekend camping in Dent (I'll try to avoid pix of Ribblehead Viaduct !!) - bet the weather's gonna be sh*te !

Have twiddled with some pictures tonight and sent them (electronic like) to an on-line photo-processing place - if they come out "oreet" I'll give the place a plug - 7 pix (7" x 5") for £2-18 inc p&p - we'll see how it turns out...

Next season's fixtures all out now (Conf & Unibond) - places to go, matches to see, calendar to fill, wife to keep sweet (!!) - still waiting for me Conference "ticket" to come through - time yet though ...

Mossley Training Session @ Hollins School

You really think I went ???????????????????????????????????????????

Jeez - I know football may well be the drug to take over from Nick O'Tine - but .... a training session - on a skool pitch ??? Come on ...........

So I didn't - Mrs Smiffy went into darkest Manchester to meet friend - I hoovered (Dysoned ?) before heading the same way about two hours later (stops at the "Brit" in Mossley - Brakspears Bitter - and Stalybridge Buffet Bar - Copper Dragon Golden Pippin) - on a different tack however - my aim was to see the "mega-pic" in the Urbis Centre in Manc - 300 pics taken from the top of the Beetham Tower and "collaged" together on a wall @ Urbis - I got there - and it's roped off !!!! Some special gig tonight - probably in aid of the bloomin picture !! Anyway - best plug ... Aidan O'Rourke is the photographer - check out

http://www.eyeonmanchester.com/

I then had a wander round the Manga exhibition in very same building - having had kids in the Pokeman era - and one who still watches Akira as well ... me, I'm a Miyazaki man but - a well laid-out exhibition which I believe will be there until September - and yes it's free - and worth a look !!



Thence to the Royal Exchange to meet Mrs S and our mates from Rochdale (Penny & Paul) and watch "HayFever" - a Noel Coward play that was brill - very very funny - very well acted (the cast were all "into it" and it bounced off the audience really well - thoroughly recommended if you get the chance)

And my day's pictures - with the baby Fuji - are at ...............

http://mossleysmiffy.jalbum.net/InManchester/
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"Reduced" EBay Action tonight ...

... as in "cheap cheap" - and we had a winner !! A ticket stub for a Steve Hillage gig at Newcastle City Hall in 1979 - I saw him on that same tour in Sheffield City Hall - I was at Sheffield Poly at the time (got some photos somewhere as well) ....

99p plus a quid p&p - cheaper than all this photographic gubbins eh what ...... since read about that lens I "nearly" got the other night - review said "not good for moving objects" ... so maybe a blessing in disguise....now going to check out Sigma 24-60mm f2.8 and/or (maybe just maybe) a Canon 85mm f1.8.

Oh and for the pic people - this was on at Stalybridge Buffet Bar earlier this week ...

"The Snip" - Something to Do ...

...well Murray's out so - I bought a new iron and tidied up my left wrist - you know what irons look like (if you don't you're a sexist old git who should be sat in front of the telly being waited on hand and foot by wife, who would of course be reading this to you as well) ... but ... left wrist ... here goes ...

Here's all the crap "in situ" - Leeds 2006, Download 2007 and Alton Towers 2008..



Next - Mrs Smiffy with Mr Snipper



Oooooh look - Mr Snipper "goes for it" ..... at speed ....




eeek - see the bare wrist .....



..and finally - the "remnants" next to some hastily scribbled Blue Square North fixtures for next season (they're out today you know ......)



... who knows where the next game comes from .....I didn't get an NLP last Sunday so ... we'll see ...
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Summer Football - HA !!

Well .... a balmy July evening in downtown Woodley - that's Woodley Stockport not the Reading version ... last night's "predicted" timetable worked well - the problems began for as the 330 bus left Hyde about 1925, and it started "spitting" - I got off @ Woodley precinct (under reconstruction) to be greeted by bloody monsoon conditions - it's a several minute walk from the "main road" through to the ground - all it took me to get p*ss wet through and panic about the water resistancy of my camera bag. Into ground (free) - into bar - get beer check gear - all OK. Started to dry self and went for a peep outside - they'd started somewhat earlier than 2000 - OK 15 minutes but ... the next 70 minutes were spent under the shed, out for a bit, getting wet, drying off a bit - then getting wetter than I was in the first place, whipping out the beer towel and generally doing all the stuff you're supposed to do between November and February - in the end I gave up (about 2115 - so about 10/15 minutes missed) - it was 1-1 when I left - the Duki Town equaliser was a screamer that I (+ camera) did NOT expect (a poor excuse for "I missed it !!").

Some pictures at ...

http://mossleysmiffy.jalbum.net/WoodleyDuki/


I got the 2130 back to Ashton - thence to Stalybridge Buffet Bar for a couple - then home - then here ....
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Football Kick-Off Alert

Tomorrow (eek today) the Woodley Sports v Dukinfield Town pre-season friendly game will be kicking off at 2000 hours - and not seven as originally touted !)

Handy for me anyway - Mrs Smiffy in Leeds (via train there and back) - me picking up car @ Stockport at 1700 (our Michelle moving to Stoke and bringing car "part way back") - I then pick up our Peter from his "work experience jobbie" in Guide Bridge (finishes @ 1800) and return him - and car - home. I can then get the 1857 train to Ashton, folowed by 1915 (?) bus to Woodley .....

Football's coming home/back/whatever .....

...oh and if anyone wants to see any more Dragonboat pix - there's a few at

http://mossleysmiffy.jalbum.net/DragonBoats/

enjoy .........