Scary Photo

Well today is Halloween. The time of scary faces and pumpkin heads. So here is a pumpkin head photo (Click to enlarge) from a few weeks ago. The left side of my face is very swollen and it came on all of sudden. No pain was involved but I couldn't close my jaw. I hot footed it to the Doctors to discover I had a Speichelstein, which in layman's terms is a stone blocking one of my saliva glands.

It's quite funny really as I don't remember eating and stones that day. The swelling had got a lot bigger by the time I reached the Doctors surgery, and I joked with the receptionist that my face was about to explode. She didn't laugh, but I guess that's a German humour thing. Anyway the remedy for the situation was to chew gum and eat lemon flavoured sweets. Happy Halloween.

Technorati Tags: Halloween, Marburg, Speichelstein, Haddock

The week that was

This week the Juniorette has been at Football School with the 1. FFC Frankfurt and has had a great time, learnt a lot and met a lot of top Women Footballers. She attended with a couple of her team mates from Marburg and the total group consisted of 44 girls with ages ranging from 7 to 16. FFC Frankfurt are the top Women's team in Germany and are the current UEFA cup holders which is the premier tournament in Europe.

Early in the week her coaches were a German national player (Steffi Jones) and a Danish national player (Louise Hansen). The standard of training was extremely high and well worth the daily drive to and fro from Frankfurt. Mrs H and I attended for a day to watch and were lucky enough to be included in the schools outing, which was a trip to Aarlen to watch a Women’s International game – Germany v England. Germany won 5 – 1 and Birgit Prinz (FIFA’s current women’s player of the year) scored her 100^th goal for Germany, on her 29^th Birthday. It was a great game with a great atmosphere. Afterwards the girls got autographs from a lot of the German players. The following day Brigit Prinz showed up at the football school to chat to the girls and sign autographs.

The week finished off with a football match between the parents. I played and my legs are not what they used to be (neither are my heart & lungs!). It was good fun and I realised that I really do miss playing football from time to time. There was then an awards ceremony where the kids received their certificates and medals, and these were handed out by Nia Künzer who scored the winning goal in the final in 2003 when Germany won the World Cup. It was a super week for the Juniorette, pure football heaven, and to top it off, she and Mrs H then went direct to Mainz to watch Werder Bremen play. Werder won 6 - 1

Overall it was an excellent week for the Juniorette who now wants to attend Football School again next Easter. Mrs H and I were very impressed with the setup there, it was very professional, a lot of fun and they really cared for the kids.

Technorati Tags: Juniorette, FFC Frankfurt, Football,Germany

It made me laugh!

Apple Computer reported today that it has developed computer chips that can store and play music inside women's breasts.
This is considered to be a major breakthrough because women are always complaining about men staring at their breasts and not listening to them.

Technorati Tags: Humour, Breasts, Joke

Bloody Lorry Drivers

Since Germany placed a toll on lorries driving on its autobahns, many lorry drivers have sought alternative routes to cut down on their costs. This has resulted in many villages having a constant stream of trucks thundering though their quiet streets on a 24 hour basis. Marburg has struck back and has banned lorries from driving on the small roads from Marburg up to Kassel. This is great news.

We recently drove up to Kassel and I couldn't believe the amount of trucks on the road. Of course the ban has provisions for vehicles that are dropping goods off in the area, but it should stop the long distance lorries clogging up the roads. It is hoped the ban will stop in excess of 900 trucks a day. Unfortunately the fine for breaking the ban is only €20. A lot of people have commented that this fine is way to low. I agree the drivers should be made to pay much more and be flogged in public as a deterent to others! - I hate lorry drivers! :)

Technorati Tags: Lorries, Marburg, Autobahn

Just an old Mötorhead fan

Yesterday my train ride home after a hectic night shift was rather packed. Firstly Frankfurt were playing away in Hannover and a lot of their fans were travelling to watch them. So were a large contingent of Police officers equipped with riot helmets and muzzled dogs. I noticed a few of the ‘fans’ were hardcore, walking with an air of arrogance and menace about them. Not to be messed with.

I found a relatively quiet carriage near the front of the train, but it didn’t stay that way for long. It filled up with punks who are harmless enough. Their music was harsh and brash which upset a few fellow passengers. As an old Mötorhead fan the music didn’t really bother me. They did however become mildly annoying when they spilt wine & beer everywhere and then started smoking. But when one punk tired to open the window where I was sitting I told him No. They had already opened other windows and it was starting to get cold. I explained that to him whilst holding his stare. He walked off. Needless to say if it had been one of the hardcore fans I’d seen earlier I wouldn’t have said a word. There is a natural pecking order in the world and to survive at times it’s good to know ones place in it.

Hopefully the journey home again in a few hours will be a lot quieter.

Technorati Tags: Motorhead, Punks, Football,Frankfurt

Achtung Baby!

A strange thing happened earlier this week when the Juniorette and I were watching an U21 International football game on TV. England were playing Germany, and the Juniorette asked me who I was cheering for. I replied instantly and without thought……the answer was Germany. I wasn’t shocked by my reply as it was instinctive. But I guess I really do consider Germany my home nowadays.

The Juniorette didn't really care who won, she just wanted the Werder Bremen player Aaron Hunt (who like her is also half English, half German) to play well. In the end England won 2-0.

Technorati Tags: Juniorette, England, Football,Germany

Juniorette plays ball

As promised a while ago her is a short clip of the Juniorette playing football in a recent tournament. My video skills are not that great, and the recording was done using the Juniorette's basic point and shoot digital camera. Unfortunately I kept on forgetting to record when she had the ball. I took a lot of short movie clips but most were pretty useless.

The Juniorette in this clip is wearing the number 9 shirt and her friend Isa is wearing number 13.

I think it could be a while before I recieve an Oscar nomination!

Technorati Tags: Juniorette, Marburg, Football,Video

Penultimate Tournament

The Juniorette played in a football tournament on Sunday. It was the Home tournament so Mrs H was involved with selling food and drink, whereas I lucked in with just having to carry some crates of drinks from the cold store to the bar. Think lucky, be lucky. The Juniorette’s team played very well and won all their games resulting in them winning the tournament. She played well and put in some crunching tackles.

During one game it was announced that everyone had to leave the field as a helicopter was coming into land. An ambulance turned up as well carrying a very young child that had been badly burnt with scolding water. Once the doctors had stabilised the child it was transferred to the helicopter and whisked off to hospital. This whole incident really upset the Juniorette, and there were a lot of tears in the evening as she was really worried about the young child. As of yet we haven’t heard any further news of the child’s condition.

Next week is the last outdoor tournament of the season. Further tournaments and training sessions are then held inside, in sports halls. In two weeks time the Juniorette and two fellow team players are off to football school with the 1. Frauen Fussball Club Frankfurt (who are current Women’s UEFA cup champions). She is really looking forward to this. I took a few small movies of the Juniorette playing football last Sunday, but I have not had time to sort them and upload one – but it’s on my ‘to do’ list.

Technorati Tags: Juniorette, Marburg, Football

The Final Rounds

Bob has now made it through to the final rounds of NBC's Star Tomorrow and needs your votes again. This time the format is different. Bands are no longer playing head to head, it's every band for themselves, and the top six performers with the most votes advance to the next round, to try and win the coveted price of a record deal.

This rounds performance by Bob and his band is of the song 'Upside down' - one of my favourites. To vote for Bob follow the instructions below.

1-Login/register here

2-Click Vote at the top of the screen and then be sure to choose (or that you are already on) this week, Week 10, on the dropdown menu. (For subsequent weeks, you'll choose Week 11, 12, and so on.)

3-You'll see Bob's mug shot there with Bob Gentry under it on the right. As always, click it and his video will play. Then vote for Bob Gentry by clicking the thumbs up image that's under the video. (The page should refresh and the thumbs up image will turn red.)

Check out Bob's Blog for latest news and what's happening!

Technorati Tags: Bob Gentry, Star Tomorrow, Music

It'll soon be winter

Yesterday we took delivery of 3 cubic meters of wood for our wood burner. It was mainly Beech and Oak and was already chopped to the correct size and dried. It can get as cold as it likes this winter, the Haddock family will stay cosy and warm. Of course that amount of wood takes time to move into the cellar and stack – 3 hours to be precise. I may have missed going to the gym this week, but I think it’s fair to say I had enough exercise yesterday.

The Juniorette has another football tournament today, and she has recently discovered that blogs can contain video. She has requested that I capture some footage of her playing football and post it here. I will try my best but cannot promise anything, but one thing is sure, she is definitely not a shy kid.

Technorati Tags: Juniorette, Marburg, Wood, Football