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[Tant Pis mon ami]

What a wonderful performance in the second half by the French back row and especially the centres.  The Kiwis didn't know what hit them.  I'm surrounded by Aussies (of course) and Kiwis at work here in the bush and the latter have been walking around for the last month ensuring everyone hears about how they will win.  Well, Tant Pis mon ami.

I am disappointed that Oz lost but am delighted that my "second" team won.  In so far as I'd love to see Fiji beat S.Africa I think we'll have a France-S.Africa final.  I trust there'll be NO Irish (apart from the misguided few in the wee six) supporting France's opposition next weekend.

PS. Some dumbfcuk commentator here made a comment about how Australia were beaten by those from "the motherland".  Dunno if Teqiri or Gregan see it that way.

Am tallin ye, ah wanner av at wiz Ullans themuns wiz ganchin an in wudd hay bay as kratikall? Nah, deed sowl hay wuddnayah been.  Thon gipe.  Ah wush summidy wudd dra tha slack a thur hon in belt im wan.  Galloot, gulpin, gipe. Lay aff the mo'r tung.

yes, it looks like Carlton are to get the services of Chris Judd after he chose them over Collingwood (thank God).  No contract details to report but many millions no doubt to feature.  That will be great for the Cork men no doubt helping to develop theirs and the games of all the other younger inexperienced players on the squad.   Suddenly Carlton are no longer the whipping boys of the league. 

Aye Stephenite, the vultures are out and their talons are sharp.  Also "reported" was that Ben Cousins was with him earlier in the evening and of course the insinuations are flying left, right and centre; his wife and children were out of town and the scum were suggesting it was because they were experiencing marriage difficulties.  Jesus H Christ when will the dignity of children and the family be above selling lies?  I hope the family sues the feckers. 

Sad news from Perth this morning with the sudden passing of Chris Mainwaring at only 41 years old.  A heart attack is suspected at this stage.  He was a two-time premiership winner with the Egos in 1992 and 1994.

"NI flag" - not an internationally recognised flag

GSTQ - an inappropriate dirge, unrecognised and unused by Scotland or Wales for their games, so why the occupied 6?

There is no such thing as a nation of "northern Ireland".

The times they have a-changed...accept.

Yes, an exciting game.  Congratulations to Fiji.   

I got wind of it on Monday whilst in Perth so I texted (sp?) a source in Broome (former WAFL player) who gave me the low down.  It got a mention on the radio too, over the weekend but I didn't hear it.  I think the Subiaco Spin Doctors are working overtime on this one (if it is true) as they know it will be the end of the cheat and questions will be asked about the behaviour of the club in protecting him.

Twig-brain was asked how she liked living in Melbourne to which she commented it was so much fun and lively etc (I paraphrase) at which she realised what she was saying and then tried backpedalling by saying 'not that Perth isn't...ah...ummm...err...'  She is on C7 as a weather girl...says it all really.  Nothing but her looks to go by.  Sad.

We all know Perth isn't Melbourne or Sydney but it is a helluva lot cleaner and safer.  I was going to suggest cheaper but that is definitely not the case.

West Coast EGOs drug cheat supreme, Ben Cousins, he of the Meth-Amphet induced 0% body fat physique has apparently been busted for possession of drugs at The Waifs concert in Broome last Wednesday.  It hasn't hit the headlines but for obvious reasons things are very quiet in the Egos' camp. 

I'm actually not surprised Chris Judd has left.  And thank fcuk he has taken that dimwit skank of a girlfriend with him.  She earned no kudos with her drunken (actually probably drug-induced, seeing as she is associated with the Egos) slur on Perth at the Brownlow Medal show on Monday night.

Give me a Macallam (sp?) 12 or 18 y.o. with a couple of rocks of ice.  Effing magic the best whiskey in the world.  Single malt of course I might add.

At home we have a bottle of Pilwinnig 12 y.o unopened in its original velve pouch in the original box too.  No longer distilled from what I can gather.  Wonder what it's worth?

Anyone tried Johnny Walker Blue label?

Judd is by far the best, provided he is fit.  Riewoldt comes into the category of a tall forward so doesn't work near as hard as Judd.  Mind you Judd is about 6'1" or 6'2".
Franklin is still young and is an out and out forward with pretty good feet but again nowhere near as the Judd-ernaut.  If Cousins was clean for all these past few years he'd be very close to Judd but as it is he will be forever known as the drug cheat and the Egos as the club that shielded him.

A wheena stories.

I was in Cambodia 10 years ago and we decided to stay in accom. beside a lake to the north of Phnom Penh.  Very classy it definitely WASN'T.  In the evening the rats were scurrying all over the verandah as we sat and watched the sunset over the lake full of tampons and bags of rubbish.  Then later that night I was awakened by the sound of scratching above my head.  I sat up to find three rats running along the beam about 4ft above me.  That was it.  Packed the bags and went to the city centre hostel for the rest of the stay.

One winter's evening in Nagoya, Japan, I was approaching the entrance to the underground system when I saw this young couple of lovers kneeling down and feeding  what looked like a cat.  As I approached I realised it was the biggest feckin rat I have ever seen in my life.  I told them what it was and they nearly shat themselves, she squeeled like a cut pig and the feckin rat just toddled off into some undergrowth.

In Ho chi Minh city, there are alot of homeless people and they use the pavement as their toilet for all sorts of bodily functions.  Don't walk in the dark streets at night as chances are you'll either step in shite or on one of the rats having a nibble at the contents.

The neighbour used to have a battery hen shed beside ours.  One year he lost over 500 birds due to a big feckin black rat that got in and got greedy.  Fecker got blown away one evening.

We used to have a Jack Russell at home, and he was an awesome ratter.  Mind you the poor hoor could never understand why he was not allowed in the house for a couple of days after catching rats. 

Aerlik 3000m in rain at 150kts appears more like 500m to the jockies.

I'm not sure what it is you mean by that. There's no indication of any wind at 150kts...that's a hurricane/cyclone lad.  The airport would definitely be closed.

As for your ATC comment I may not have made myself clear. It was merely a technicality but ATC may only close an airport or refuse clearance to land. They cannot 'divert' an aircraft in the sense that media suggest they frequently do. The Captain decides where the aircraft goes. 

Of course they can divert aircraft.  It happens often, especially in inclement weather.  Once the aircraft has been given a clearance to land it is up to the pilot to proceed though.

[have got every right]

Like I said in the post re. Colin McRae, the media are at their vulture-worst after any aviation accident especially where fatalities are concerned, picking through the scraps of innuendo and then piecing together what they want the general public to believe, and I am speaking from experience having known a pilot who was killed over here last year.  I was the last to speak to him on the ground and heard his last call to Brisbane Centre before the accident happened.  The media then dragged out some cnut who wouldn't know his arse from his elbow and had him blame the engineering firm not pilot error.  To date the Air Transport Safety Bureau (Oz) has yet to release its findings.
Already after this latest tragedy the scum press here in Oz are hypothesing picking bits of an interview by an aviation expert and changing them around completely, thus contradicting everything he said.
Which brings me to this discussion.

5times, in General Aviation the figure for pilot error is much higher more like over 90% and fuel starvation is one of the biggest killers.  Human error is indeed a factor in all aviation-related accidents but based on the weather supplied by Muppet there is absolutely nothing to suggest that the weather was dangerously bad.  To be honest if I were to get that weather forecast every time I flew to Newman during the wet season I'd he happy.  One must draw the line between the forecast weather and actual weather.  There is absolutely no suggestion of thunderstorm activity in that weather forecast.  And because there is no indication of thunderstorms, there is little or no likelihood of windsheer, the scariest phenomenon to experience on approach.  It will either lift you or slam you.   What would be more beneficial to read would be the Terminal Area Forecast or even better the Trend Type Forecast, which are increasingly more accurate; the latter supercedes the others and is what is used by pilots at major centres.  Not all airports have such reporting facilities sadly.  
Briefly the 1000/3000/4000 is the visibility in metres; of these the 1000m is a concern as the shortest in Perth is 2400m. But light rain (-RA) and rain (RA) was falling
270011kt is wind speed from the west at 11 knots.  Nothing special.  One assumes he was landing towards the west.
SCT015 is scattered cloud (36-48% cloud coverage) at 1500ftAGL. Very easily dealty with and it ties in with the temperatures given of e.g. 23/22 meaning that at the ground level the temp was 23C (approx) and at 1000ft AGL the temp was 22C meaning that condensation layer was approx. 1000ft AGL, hence the scattered cloud at 1500ft.
BKN300 (are you sure that is correct?) means 84-96% cloud coverage at 30,000feetAMSL.  I'm not so sure that is correct.  It might be BKN030 (3000ft) which would tie in with the conditions at the time of the crash.
Q1006 refers to barometric pressure.  Nothing exceptional there considering the other weather.
I don'know what the A2973 represents though.

Based on the account given by one John Gerald O'Connell, an Irish survivor shown on TV around the world, he mentioned the plane coming in very fast and  then touching down and going up again and then going down....crash.  Well, it's a fact that unless you are flying at 5 ft above a runway it is extremely difficult to judge speed.  It happens to me as I come in to land.  In the cruise it seems to take forever to get anywhere but in those last few seconds, even though you are at approach speed (Vref) the ground and the trees suddenly come rushing towards you...well they weren't effing there at 30.000ft so it's inevitable that you think you're going too fast.  And it pisses me off to hear gonads on the ground masquerading as witnesses saying the plane seemed to be coming in too fast.  You have absolutely no idea how fast a plane is going unless you are in the cockpit.  And as a matter of fact, even 10kts too fast is just that, too fast.  With regard to the plane bouncing up again, well I dunno, the voice cockpit recorder will shed some light on that.  Perhaps the pilot decided to go around below his "decision altitude" the point where an approach can be continued or aborted if the runway isn't sighted, and considered it safer to land the aircraft and power up as he had distance and momentum, I dunno.  Time will tell.

Muppet I'm not sure if you are intending to be flippant or serious with your comment that every single flight had the option of diverting to another airport.    It is true we do have the option of cancelling the flight and it is the responsibility of the Pilot in command to make that decision.  I have done so in my career...better to be down here wishing you were up there than up there wishing you were down here.  We don't always have the option of diverting due to a wide range of factors but in the planning stage, alternate an alternate airport must be given.

Re. two crew requirements.  It's mandatory for all aircraft above certain weight and performance limits.  Both are endorsed on the type of aircraft.  The captain is pilot-in-command while he is in the left seat and the co-pilot is his back-up, there to provide redundancy and therefore safety and to share the workload.   Eventually the First Officer will have accrued enough co-pilot time to be offered the role of captain which requires more training/testing.  The autopilot is flicked on a few seconds after take-off as in big jets the workload would be too great.  Hell why not use it when it's there to lessen the load and allow you to concentrate on monitoring systems etc.   So if the captain went for a piss/passed out, then the first officer would continue to monitor the cockpit systems.  There is no indication at this stage if the FO was actually flying the aircraft on approach. The cockpit of any aircraft is a very methodical place where certain procedures must be performed at specific times with cross-communication vital.  Hence the need for the cockpit voice recorder. For your info, flight crew are not allowed to eat fish while on duty.  I believe most companies insist the flight crew eat different meals too.

Muppet, I don't know where you got your information but Air Traffic Control have got every right to divert aircraft and do so all the time.  I get diverted from Perth every time I fly in.  I want a straight route through but almost always get pushed out of the roads while the big jets are landing or taking off and just last Wednesday, I overheard Melbourne Centre (which covers the bottom half of Australia outside capital cities and when radar coverage is available - effing big country with lots of blank zones) advising two southbound jets that the weather was so bad in Perth and there was such a hold up of traffic waiting to get in that they should prepare to be diverted to Kalgoorlie and even back to Pt.hedland, over 1000nm to the north.  

Let's all wait and see. Please.

Feck feck feck

I had to listen to the game from Highland radio via Galway Bay FM, and thon commentator sounded like he was watching Brazil.

I'll eventually get to see the game, but the Derry lads have provided us exiles with a thrilling year's entertainment.  Well done boys anyway.

Feck feck feck, it would have been nice to see  Kilrea lad parading through the town with the national cup.  I bet you Coleraine Borough Council are breathing a sigh of relief though

Feck