Two weeks ago, I made my annual pilgrimage to the Surbiton Trophy where I enjoyed a day in the sun watching an excellent Men’s Final between Frank Dancevic and Kevin Anderson. Norman Junior III also plays tennis at Surbiton albeit not to such a high standard. In the lull between the main event and the Men’s Doubles Final, Norman Junior III and the juniors came on to entertain a handful of spectators on the two main courts, performing some standard drills with their coaches. ...

Oracle AppsLab is one of my longest standing and favourite blogs. Jake Kuramoto (and the AppsLab team) always post interesting and thought provoking articles and I also share a few areas of common interest (Twitter, Disqus, FriendFeed et al). Although I happen to work for the same company as Jake Kuramoto, I have never actually met Jake in person. Curiously, I have had more interactions with Jake by commenting on the blog as opposed to communications via Oracle email. ...

On Friday I returned from a very enjoyable week in Brussels. Hard work, challenging customer and miscellaneous technical issues. However, unusually, I had the pleasure of the company of a few of colleagues so we were able to have a chat over a meal and share a few excellent beers together. Over the past five years, I have visited so many European airports, that they all tend to blur into one. However, certain key characteristics soon reminded me that I was indeed back in Brussels. ...

I suspect I have different audiences reading my blog, Tumblr, Friendfeed, Jaiku, GR Shared Items. I call this ‘reader fragmentation’ but haven’t applied for copyright yet. Should I ?

The Chameleons used to cover ATV’s ‘Splitting in Two’ for an encore. Reg (guitar) played the drums and John (drums) played bass. Mark Burgess threw himself into the crowd and chaos ensued. Burgess also used to improvise snippets of The Fall’s ‘Rowche Rumble’ and occasionally Joy Division’s Love Will Tear Us Apart and some Beatles tune. 8 minutes of pure, manic, unsurpassed joy. I once asked Mark Perry of ATV (via email) what he thought of the cover. He replied that he loved it and had even guested with The Chameleons for an encore at a gig at The Lesser Free Trade Hall. ...

Since I started blogging, three intelligent friends have complimented me on my musical taste and 123 people have accused me of being stuck in an ‘manic depressive, 80’s time warp’. Obviously, this is preferable to being told you have abysmal taste in music and started me thinking. So here is another in the very occasional and popular ‘30 second’ series: ‘Superlative’ - You love everything I love. You despise everything I despise and I have actually discovered new bands from your recommendation engine. ‘Unexpectedly good’ - You love ‘The Chameleons’ who broke up before you were even born. ‘Excellent’ - You like everything I like and you hate everything I hate. ‘Mixed’ - You like Devo. ‘Eclectic’ - as above but also includes Test Department. ‘80’s time warp’ - Admirable but no overlap with my own particular 80’s time warp. ‘Dinner party music’ - You tend to overindulge when hosting a dinner party and reach for Dire Straits ‘Brothers in Arms’. ‘Esoteric’ - You like a Devo song and it isn’t even ‘Are we not men ?’ ‘70’s time warp’ - You have a penchant for vinyl, Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin. Seek medical help immediately. ‘Unbelievably varied’ - Your name (pseudonym alert) is Ontario Emperor.

Thursday 15 May - Manchester, near England 107,239 hungover Rangers’ supporters (and an exiled Scotsman who drove up from Coventry) firmly blamed Great Manchester Police for last night’s scenes of fighting, violent disorder and urinating in the street. One fan, Jimmy ‘Och Aye Jimmy’ McTavish from Glasgow, claimed: ‘Everyone was having a great time in Piccadilly Gardens, sunbathing, drinking and joking around with the police. At 19:35, everyone went to the toilet, big Gordon put the kettle on, Doug popped out for popcorn and we all sat down to enjoy Rangers’ biggest game in 36 years on the big screen. ...

Define your favourite Web 2.0 service in two words (or less) Blogging: ‘Dear diary’ Flickr: ‘Cat photos’ FriendFeed: ‘Friend’s Feeds’ Tumblr: ‘Disposable blogging’ Wikipedia: ‘Online encyclopedia’ Twitter: ‘Inane drivel’ del.icio.us: ‘Period overload’ Disqus: ‘Modern flamewars’ Digg: ‘Technical narcissism’ Last.fm: ‘Dire Straits’ YouTube: ‘Cat videos’ LinkedIn: ‘Gizza job’

There is a new, improved Monthly Archives plugin available for Habari which is now installed on this blog. I realise that I’m probably the only person to ever scan the historical archives but I really like it so, once again, many thanks to Chris Meller and the Habari community.

I have to say I am a little surprised at this breaking news. Still, I guess Eriksson will draw another excessive compensation package while he seeks alternative employment. In my view, buying all those expensive foreigners, beating United twice and finishing mid-table was a creditable first season. Mind you, I always had niggling reservations about Mr. Shinawatra. So, who’s next for the job at Manchester City - Jose Mourinho ?