As Time Goes By

Hm… I’ve just noticed that the clock just skipped an hour. It’s that time of year again when we lose a precious hour of our lives!

But at least it’s ‘officially’ summer now… and the evenings will be lighter for longer! So that’s all good.

This daylight saving time thing sometimes makes me wonder. How come not all places do it? Britain, Ireland and (most of) Europe do it, also America and some places in Canada. But why not others?

Another thing is time zones. They’re so irregular it’s weird. Like, Britain’s time in GMT, but France is an hour ahead, even though France is directly to the south. I’ve read that France used to use GMT, but when they were occupied by the Nazis, it changed and then the French never bothered to change it back. And also, when in China and cross to border to Afghanistan, you have to set the clocks back by three and a half hours.

Three and a half hours? That’s just taking the piss, that! Imagine living by the border and you thought you’d just pop over the border to have a cup of tea or buy the local paper… and then to find out they’re closed because they’re hours ahead. But not that it may be possible to do that there; I don’t think they have such a thing as Schengen in that part of the world.

And it’s not even darker there, either. So if the sun sets at half past six in that part of China, then it’s sunset at 3 o’clock in Afghanistan?

And there’s this place in Alaska that has two sunset on one(?) day of the year. On the 9th of August, a sunset happens at the early hours of the day, and then they set the clocks back, and then there’s another sunset towards the end of the day. They celebrate it, too. Seems awesome. I think I’ll have to see for myself one day!

But why are the clocks being set back and forward an hour? Apparently it’s because of working hours. For some people who have crappy jobs in offices, they find it depressing to go to work early in the morning when it’s dark, and then come home in the late afternoon as it’s getting dark. So to reduce the depression and suicide rates, maybe they thought to go in early-ish when it’s lighter, and then go home when it’s aaages till dark! I think that’s the reason. Could be more reasons, which are more plausible than that theory… but I’m not going to search for them!

And one thing that annoys me about the changes, is that I have to change the clocks everywhere. On my phone, I set it to manual, because when automatic, it decides it wants to be somewhere else and change timezones. And in my car, the buttons are awkward and I'm guaranteed to screw it up and press too hard or too many times so that it goes too far, meaning I have to go over it again and possibly run the risk of buggering it up again!

6 Nations table (as of 21st March 2009)

1 – Ireland Played: 5 Won: 5 Drawn: 0 Lost: 0 Points: 10
2 – England Played: 5 Won: 3 Drawn: 0 Lost: 2 Points: 6
3 – France Played: 5 Won: 3 Drawn: 0 Lost: 2 Points: 6
4 – Wales Played: 5 Won: 3 Drawn: 0 Lost: 2 Points: 6
5 – Scotland Played: 5 Won: 0 Drawn: 0 Lost: 4 Points: 2
6 – Italy Played: 5 Won: 0 Drawn: 0 Lost: 5 Points: 0

As with all 6 Nations tournaments, there is no telling what the outcome will be. Before this year’s tournament started, Wales were favourites to win it, after all, they had won it last year. Ireland and England were under new management and it was thought they weren’t serious contenders for it. France were just France and nobody would know what they’d do. Scotland have been weak recently, and so have Italy, though they’ve improved a lot over the years, but didn’t pose too much of a threat to anyone.

But, the table above shows that anything can happen. As expected, Scotland and Italy did finish on the bottom, but they proved that they weren’t pushovers in some games.

France were also unpredictable, especially when they changed from beating Wales, to get hammered by England, and then go and put 50 points against Italy.

England started sketchy, but it was their discipline that made them lose games and give points away. But they really did get over that problem in the last two games.

Ireland had recently got a new coach and it seemed to have transformed the team that struggled in the World Cup in 2007. And after all these years of coming so close but falling at the last hurdle, they finally got their second Grand Slam and first 6 Nations title.

Wales ended up being fourth on the table due to points difference, but unfortunately, Wales couldn’t rack up the points against Italy as hoped and France did manage that.

But hopefully next year will go more for Wales’ way!

Wales v Ireland

So… I think it’s about time I mentioned this game.

Unfortunately, Wales were beaten by France, so this couldn’t be a Grand Slam decider. However, it was still a Triple Crown and potential title decider! Wales had to beat Ireland by at least 13 points to come up on top. But I had that gut feeling it wouldn’t happen, I knew it was going to be close, and we wouldn’t be able to get that far ahead.

For this game, the pub was absolutely packed, mostly with Irish people. A lot of drunk Irish people. There were about four of us Welsh surrounded by about 60 or 70 Irish. But it was still good despite us being overwhelmingly outnumbered. There was a really good atmosphere there!

But the game started off slow, and not much really happened in the first half. And I don’t think there’s much to mention about it, apart from Wales led by 6-0.

The second half was much better. But I’m afraid not for Wales’ favour. Ireland scored two tries in two minutes within the first minutes of the second half. The first one being by O’Driscoll, it was one of those tries, which was scored after endless phases and rucks by the tryline, and the second one was scored by a kick downfield, the ball bounced up and picked up by an Irishman who just ran the rest of the way to the line.

Wales didn’t score any tries, but penalties mostly and a drop goal all by Stephen Jones. However, it got Wales one point ahead with 15-14 and 5 minutes to go. However, at the 77th or 78th minute, Ronan O’Gara also got a drop goal in that seemed to have sealed the game. But at the last minute, and Irish player conceded a penalty by putting his hands in the ruck. Thing was, it was on the half way line, and a kick had to be done.

The whole outcome of the game and the tournament depended on this last kick. If it went over, Wales would win the game and the Triple Crown, but no Title. And if missed, Ireland would win the game, Title, Triple Crown and Grand Slam.

It was such a difficult kick, not only the distance, but also its importance. Stephen Jones had the whole nation on his shoulders, maybe even the nation of Ireland on his shoulders, too. It was a lot to ask for. But he kicked it accurately, but just too short.
And for the second time ever, and first time since 1948, Ireland have won the Grand Slam. It was Wales with 15 and Ireland with 17.

England v Scotland

The Calcutta Cup, which is one of the oldest trophy cup still in competition (and also still the original cup from when it was first made), is competed between the English and Scottish rugby teams. This is the 116th time the cup was competed for, and for the last 5 encounters, it has switched sides each time. But today, it seemed as if it would sit on the English trophy shelf for the following year, as England were favourites, especially after the complete change in game-play the previous week. Scotland improved over the course of the tournament, but still didn’t seem strong enough for the taking.

Scotland did start the game well and had close sights of the try line a couple of times, but unfortunately, the English backs tend to run fast and caught them out just short. But the English got tries in, and they were rather impressive. I really am not sure how the team transformed from how they were, but it seemed there really was a different team out there. England were just too superior for the Scots, and beat them by 26 points to 12.

Italy v France

The week before, Wales rather struggled against Italy, who were not going to let the Welsh win so easily. But luckily, Wales just managed to get ahead again in the last few minutes of the game. The next day, France were trod over by England, who put on one of their best performances in some time, while the French were running around like headless chickens trying to sort out the wine and cheese party they were going to have in the second half. But the French did get two tries in that half, so I guess they couldn’t find any 1961 Burgundy Pinot Noir, just gave up and remembered why they were there in the first place.

However, in this game, France were all over the Italians. It was quiet for the first quarter, until France scored three great tries in six minutes, and then went to score more in the second half. Italy only managed to get one towards the end, but that was it for them… oh, and a penalty they scored earlier, too! But the Azzuri had a couple of good chances, but it’s the same thing that happens all the time when they get close to the line… they either fall or fumble the ball at the most crucial moment.

In the end, France finished off the game with 50 points, and Italy only had 8 and also the winners of the Wooden Spoon. It was a vast improvement from the week before, but it did mean that it made things more difficult for Wales because of the points differences.

RAF Laarbruch

Over the weekend, I went up to pick my friend, Dai up from Weeze airport near the Dutch border. He had been spending the weekend down in Italy for the rugby and as the airport isn’t exactly regarded as a bustling metropolitan international, he asked me to pick him up and drive him to actual civilisation so he could catch a train.

So, I went up to the flat lands of what was nearly the Netherlands, I noticed I was running a little early. I decided to take a look and see what Weeze itself had to offer.

Nothing really.

The village seemed typical Dutch, with roads made of brick and the houses and buildings made of red brick. And nobody around. The only place that seemed open was a kebab shop and a chippy.

However, I did find something of interest, a canal bank with a small castle manor thing upstream (or upcanal), but that was a bit too far to take photos of, especially with trees in the way. Oh, there were ducks, too! Feeding them was verboten, though, as a sign stated our food would make them ill and fat.

I went over to see what the Rathaus was like. It seemed very interesting, in fact. Picture a typical Rathaus in a typical German town. They have a historical and detailed architecture, with high roofs and possibly some sculptures and little statues of local prominent people, or a King, or a Saint carved into the stone. Then there is another carving of the town’s Wappen, maybe in a shape of a simple shield or decorated with all the works, like leaves and lions and such.

But the Rathaus in Weeze was not like that.

Picture a city, an industrial city with a high population. Picture all those blocks of flats that would accommodate these people. Picture Nelson Mandela House.

This building was literally something salvaged from the block of council flats that previously occupied the site. It was hideous. I don’t think I’ve seen such a Rathaus before, but I have seen buildings just as bad. Thing is, they normally came with graffiti all over them, a couple of burnt out cars outside, a few boarded up windows and a group of dodgy looking people with cans of Special Brew.

However, outside the Rathaus I did notice something else that reminded me of home. I guess, twinned with Watton, they received a British red telephone box. But as I got closer to it, I noticed that all the windows were smashed to bits, as if some chav lobbed a grenade inside it. Pity really… the red telephone boxes deserve some respect, at least from the German/Dutch people. But next to the telephone box there was also a British red post-box, too. Not the pillar type, though. It was one of those types that were built into the wall. But they had to build a wall to put this thing in.

Anyway, time was up and I went over to the airport to meet Dai.

And as I drove through, I was convinced some nuclear war broke out and wiped this place clean of everyone. It was definitely an old military base, as I recognised the layout of the buildings and their shape after being to so many others before. But these buildings were surrounded by trees, and all overgrown and obviously just abandoned and left to rot. It was really eerie to see weeds sprouting from the road and ivy suffocating the walls. Even the parade ground had its own little nature park.

The streets were all fenced off, too. But there were still cars parked there. I drove past other buildings that looked like old offices or supply stores, but the windows were missing. An old hangar was red because it was all rust. I really felt as if I were driving through a war-torn base. The only things that were missing were bullet holes and burnt out tanks.

But no, it was not war-torn; it was just left as it was. Seemed very authentic, yet surreal. It seemed like something out of one of those films where civilisation survives no more and the population has been wiped out, like 28 Days Later or I Am Legend.

However, as I turned the corner, there were large car parks full of cars, and the modern Weeze Airport terminal. It was like stepping in and out of two different worlds. But it wasn't a result of a nuclear fallout, it is the former RAF Laarbruch, which closed in 1999, but I'm afraid I don't know what goes on there now, as some buildings still seem to be occupied.

6 Nations table (as of 15th March 2009)

1 – Ireland Played: 4 Won: 4 Drawn: 0 Lost: 0 Points: 8
2 – Wales Played: 4 Won: 3 Drawn: 0 Lost: 1 Points: 6
3 – England Played: 4 Won: 2 Drawn: 0 Lost: 2 Points: 4
4 – France Played: 4 Won: 2 Drawn: 0 Lost: 2 Points: 4
5 – Scotland Played: 4 Won: 1 Drawn: 0 Lost: 3 Points: 2
6 – Italy Played: 4 Won: 0 Drawn: 0 Lost: 4 Points: 0

The following scores were:

Italy 15 – Wales 20

Scotland 15 – Ireland 22

England 34 – France 10


The highlights and reports can be found on the 6 Nations Website

http://www.rbs6nations.com

England v France

I didn’t see the game, but read the report and the highlights, and it seems that England have overcome their problem over discipline. I don’t know what Johnson has said or done, but it seemed to have worked. However, England did play their best game of rugby in a long time, the passes and tries were quality, and the French apparently didn’t know what they were doing… it’s a pity they didn’t play like that against Wales. But you know the French, they are predictably unpredictable!

Final score, 34 – 10.

Scotland v Ireland

A much better game than the Italy v Wales game, and Scotland seemed to have been the better team for most, if not all, of the game. Unfortunately, Ireland did get the better of them in what has seen Scotland best performance so far.

Final score, 15 – 22.

Italy v Wales

This game as no walkover as people may have thought. Italy are often regarded as the easier team. They are not the best team in the tournament, but they certainly have improved over the years.

And being in Rome, the Italians should not be underestimated. And maybe that’s what happened Saturday. Wales made a lot of changes, including a new front row, which wasn’t the strongest, either.

It was one of those games that could not be enjoyed. Italy proved to be tougher than first thought. There were times when it looked that they could actually win the game. But the only points they managed were penalties. They didn’t really threaten the Welsh try line. Was this due to lack of discipline in the Welsh team?

And the kicking wasn’t the best either… not just the goal kicks (they weren’t too bad), but the kicking downfield and into touch and all that. They weren’t going anywhere, and that’s for both sides, too.

But thankfully, Wales got ahead again. Shane Williams scored the first try, which was very good work by Gavin Henson, who followed the ball from one side to the pitch to the other, and got the ball and passed to Williams, who then side stepped over the line. Shanklin’s try was also good, even though he gave Italy 3 points through a penalty and put them in the lead, he ran over the line after a dummy pass to score and Wales were five points clear after the conversion. It ended with Wales having 20 points, and Italy with 15.

But it was all too close for comfort. I don’t know what exactly it was, but Wales just weren’t wholly in the game. If they play like that against Ireland, who knows… but then, we’re back in Cardiff!

We’ll just have to wait and see.

6 Nations table (as of 28th February 2009)

1 – Ireland Played: 3 Won: 3 Drawn: 0 Lost: 0 Points: 6
2 – Wales Played: 3 Won: 2 Drawn: 0 Lost: 1 Points: 4
3 – France Played: 3 Won: 2 Drawn: 0 Lost: 1 Points: 4
4 – England Played: 3 Won: 1 Drawn: 0 Lost: 2 Points: 2
5 – Scotland Played: 3 Won: 1 Drawn: 0 Lost: 2 Points: 2
6 – Italy Played: 3 Won: 0 Drawn: 0 Lost: 3 Points: 0

This was meant to be for the weekend 2 weeks ago (27th – 28th February), but I post this now, because I totally forgot to do so when the weekend was over…

But the following scores were…

France 21 – Wales 16

Scotland 26 – Italy 6

Ireland 14 – England 13

The highlights and reports can be found on the 6 Nations website

http://www.rbs6nations.com/

Interlude

Sorry for not writing much on here for a while… for the first time in a long time, nothing much has been happening at all. It has been a quiet month, there isn’t even much happening at school, either.

But I have a couple of things to mention, too… so I’ll get onto it!

France v Wales

The first ever game of both Five and Six Nations to be played on a Friday (or any other day apart from Saturday and Sunday, in fact), was in Paris between France and Wales. It was a close game, Wales led 13-3, however, France came back and came to beat us by 21-16.

Naturally, I am disappointed that Wales lost against France, but I’m not devastated by not being able to get the Grand Slam. It was never going to be a walk over for us being in Paris, but we still had a good go and got close to a win. Wales haven’t been playing as good this year as they did last year, but it was still a good match and the last few minutes were very exciting. It may have been the best match of the tournament so far (but don’t quote me, I haven’t seen every single game, just highlights).

But Wales are still in second position behind the Irish, and we play them in Cardiff on the last game of this year’s championship. So there is still a chance for Wales to win the Triple Crown and also the Title. I think that will be the deciding game.

If there is another team I’d like to see winning the 6 Nations, it’s Ireland. They have preformed so much better than last year, and this year could be their second ever Grand Slam. It would be nice to see that happen, especially how they’ve played over the years, which has been very good with a few Triple Crowns and Titles, they deserve to win the Grand Slam sometime, and maybe this is their best chance to get it in a long time.

Oh, well… as long as we beat the English, eh!

Karneval – Schweinesteaks, Löwenbrau and missed trains.

The third day was a costume day. We went to the same place, but met others outside the Dom, however, when I met up with Laura (dressed as a leopard), Laura (dressed as an aubergine), Emma and Rachel (both dressed in wigs, possible an Eighties style, though don’t quote me by that), we lost Rob and Dai, who followed me, but got lost in the crowd.

But finally met up with them all and thought we’d try meeting with the Regensburg people at the parade. There were too many people there and couldn’t reach them, so we decided to make our way to the riverbank, again next to the boat.

We found Dracula, Ghostbusters and a guy with a trolley collecting bottles, maybe a relation to Olaf? Anyway, as the weather was getting a bit cold and wet, we decided to quickly finish off the crate by haste consumption and flogging a couple of bottles and headed to a Löwebrau pub. But not before we found this Schell-Imbiss place that did really good steaks!

Time was running out for us, as Dai needed to get a train to go back to mine, get his stuff, and then catch a train back home to Schleswig-Holstein. So, we said goodbye to the others and quickly made our way to the station.

But, I was again in need of the lav, so I rushed on ahead, and then got on the train, and could only find Dai. Dai said Rob also went to the toilet, but then the train pulled off. Dai had all of Rob’s stuff apart from his wallet, so there was no chance in getting hold of him. I then saw Rob on the platform as we going out of the station.

I got everything off Dai, gave him my key, and got off the next station to head back. I assumed that Rob went back to the others in the pub, so I legged it back there only to find he wasn’t there. But the others were. I thought there was no chance in finding him now, so I just stayed there.

I caught the train back home after everyone left. It turns out that Rob caught a faster train back to Recklinghausen in an attempt to catch us up. But he got there, found Dai and Dai got back home alright, and Rob got my key and stayed in my place until I got home.

But other than that mishap, everything went good! On the train home, I managed to get a small bottle holder thingy that goes around your neck, and it has the Köln Wappen on there. This woman gave me a small packet of Haribo, too!

Karneval – Late starts and flawed card games

The second day of Karneval wasn’t as hectic as the previous. After the first day, it was a good idea to take things a bit easier this time. We decided not to wear the costumes this time, as they needed a bit of airing and some time to get the smoke off them. And we were also under the impression that the others weren’t going to wear theirs, either…

But they did. But we couldn’t care; we weren’t going to stay for as long. So we went down to the riverbank next to the boat we were on the night before. We weren’t sure what to do exactly, so we just sat/stood there and tried to play card games. We got the cards, but nowhere suitable to play them. Most sat on the ground, but it worked out to some extent. However, we were fast running out of beer, so me and Louise went on a quest in search of one, which success, of course! I got a few Kölsch, unaware that some of them weren’t fans of the stuff. But more for me, I thought!

Though the time spent at Köln this time wasn’t as long, unfortunately. And so we had to leave, and we were not intending to miss any trains this time.

Karneval – Beer crates, chickens and boats

Went to Karneval last week. And I must say it was absolutely amazing. I didn’t really know what to expect there… but I have been told about a lot of people dressing up, drinking a lot of beer and there was a lot of music.

I’m not the biggest fan on dressing up; I have never been keen on the idea. However, everyone does it for Karneval, and not being dressed up was shunned upon… kind of. Anyway, me and Rob and Dai went to see what we could find.

We went to a shopping centre in Gelsenkirchen and had a look there. After much thought, we decided to go for the convict look. Not so original, so we had a look for random things to go with it. Rob got this theatrical type mask and a stop and go sign. And I got me a tiny clown hat and a chicken hat. The chicken hat was particularly awesome.

It all fully kicked off on the Saturday, so we got ourselves some crates of beer, a bottle of Jägermeister and a medicinal bottle of green absinthe. Then we went over to Düsseldorf for a bit, went up the Fernsehturm, as Dai hadn’t been there yet. And had a look about. I kind of dropped my clown hat coming out of the tower, so had to go back and get it. You could say that I had a few funny looks as people saw this prisoner walking down the bank of the Rhein with a chicken perched on his head.

So, afterwards, we made our way into Köln. We met with a few other people there who were at the uni in Regensburg. We finished off our crate and went into the Alstadt for some more alcohol. And sooner or later we ended up in this club on a boat.

To be honest, I was kind of wasted by now. And just remember a lot of flashy lights and drinking on the boat. It took me until the next day to realise that we were actually on a boat. I was in a bad state. Good, though!

So it was time to go, and we missed the last train to Recklinghausen and decided to get the first one in the morning… around 4, I think. But in the station, there were a lot of people gathering around these other people who were playing drums. They were really good at it. And I’m sure they were improvising and making it all up as they went along. However, they played really well. I may have taken a good few photos of them. And later we dumped ourselves in the station for a bit and got entertained by Olaf.

Olaf was probably not his name. It was who these German guys next to us called him. But he was this old drunk man who was collecting bottles for Pfand. Bless. I thought I’d go up and give him a bottle, and in turn he hugged me. I’d say bless, but I was choking on the smoke coming from him.

Eventually, our train arrived to go to Essen and it was probably one of the worst ones ever. It was a Schnellbahn, which means ‘quick train’. But it wasn’t that at all. It stopped at least two dozen times at everywhere. It could have even doubled back on itself… I would have been none the wiser, as I couldn’t really keep awake.

But after hearing the announcements for the last time, we arrived at Essen where we had some time to wait. But the thing with Essen station, it’s like a construction site at the moment. It’s all a big mess. And after being constantly woken by the voice on the train telling us how many stations there are at Düsseldorf and needing a toilet, I wasn’t in the best of moods. What capped it was the fact there weren’t any toilets about, however, there were signs. Just couldn’t find them. I began to shout at the train station for just being crap.

Anyway, after traversing half of Essen to get to the other side of the station, the train was at the platform, and I ran for the toilet. Thing was, the door was a bit dodgy and kept opening, at which point I couldn’t care less. The toilet was also blocked and was almost full to the rim with piss, paper, shit and God knows what else. There may have been an apple in there somewhere. Luckily, the train wasn’t in motion, as the toilet would probably have emptied rather hastily, and most probably in my direction.

Another annoying thing about the train journey was this guy dressed as a surgeon who kept onto us about ‘a lovely piss’, reference to when Rob went, and being careful not to have the contents of the toilet bowl covering him as the train may have pulled off any moment. I was in the right mind to kick him as he walked by.

And after a day of being convicts, being covered in yellow absinthe stains, getting my clown hat thrown overboard and abusing train station for the lack of facilities, I could safely say we experienced the Karneval at Köln for the first time. But getting home at half past seven in the morning, we thought we’d give it another go later on. However, not as heavy as we did!