Corpo Aero Italiano – The Italian Contribution “A large force of Italian bombers raided London (sic) during the night. They have returned bearing the marks of combat, but with the glorious certainty of great victory” Corpo Aero Italiano | History of the Battle of Britain | Exhibitions & Displays | Research | RAF Museum
And this to look forward to in October! All being well... "The World Conker Championships (WCC) are held annually on the second Sunday in October" World Conker Championships World Conker Championships - Wikipedia WCC Rules Players' Rules of Engagement for the Noble Game of Conkers as follows: Prior to the game, over 2,000 conkers (horse chestnuts) of the required 1.25-inch (30 mm) width are collected, drilled and strung ready by tournament officials.[1] Each game will commence with a toss of a coin, the winner of the toss may elect to strike or receive. A distance of no less than 8" or 20 cm of lace must be between knuckle and nut. Each player then takes three alternate strikes at the opponent's conker. Each attempted strike must be clearly aimed at the nut, no deliberate miss hits. The game will be decided once one of the conkers is smashed. A small piece of nut or skin remaining shall be judged out, it must be enough to mount an attack. If both nuts smash at the same time then the match shall be replayed. Any nut being knocked from the lace but not smashing may be re threaded and the game continued. A player causing a knotting of the laces (a snag) will be noted, three snags will lead to disqualification. If a game lasts for more than five minutes then play will halt and the "5-minute rule" will come into effect. Each player will be allowed up to nine further strikes at their opponent's nut, again alternating three strikes each. If neither conker has been smashed at the end of the nine strikes then the player who strikes the nut the most times during this period will be judged the winner. It's interesting that it's "European Championship" and "World Cup" and no mention of "football" or "soccer" - but bizarrely "World Conker Championships" seems to requite qualification - ;-)
Does baking in the over work Does pickling in vinegar work or is it just picking the right one at the right time not sure the re lacing is the correct way.once its off its off
Returning to the air raids, my Italian husband, ex-Italian air force, has never heard of them either!!
Not sure, but I think "football" grew from similar small acorns... History - WCC It's a tragic "might have been" that conkers missed out... Volata - Wikipedia Edit: And "inevitably" ;-) http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/190863.stm "Tournament Ring Master and Conker Club chairman Richard Howard denied the defeat meant that the sport was destined to follow cricket and football with national teams being repeatedly humiliated by those who had learned the game from the UK. "This is no reflection of the state of the national game," he said."
Red Arrows to fly over Wembley tonight at 7.48pm 1. Bournemouth Aerodrome - 7.27pm 2. North of Verwood - 7.29pm 3. West of Tisbury - 7.31pm 4. East of Devizes - 7.34pm 5. North of Andover - 7.37pm 6. West of Newbury - 7.39pm 7. West of Reading - 7.41pm 8.West of Henley-on-Thames - 7.42pm 9. North of Maidenhead - 7.44pm 10.North of Slough - 7.46pm 11. Wembley Flypast - 7.48pm 12. East of Willesden - 7.49pm 13. North East of Hertford - 7.52pm 14. West of Huntingdon - 7.57pm 15. North West of Stamford - 8.01pm 16. South East of Melton Mowbray - 8.03pm 17. West of North Hykeham - 8.08pm 18. RAF Scampton AD - 8.10pm
What I will never understand is why our own media, be it the newspapers or television, seem to want to fire up the opposition so much. Not just this week, but in every tournament. A moronic section of our own so-called fans regularly manage to set the rest of the world against us as it is without the media joining in with their own approach. “It’s coming home” this, “coming home” that, 19-bloody-66 to the point where I wish (may God strike me down) we’d never won the bleedin’ thing. It just makes us look arrogant, as if all we need to do is turn up and, in my humble opinion, can work against us. Yesterday Channel 4 decide to rerun the ‘66 Final and today ITV put The Italian Job on - both amazing coincidences I’m sure! I doubt the Italians are sitting there watching the film, of course, but it possibly gets back to them and gets their goat. And nobody likes their goat got. And relax...
Martin agree we need to win it and this bloke is the sort of chap you want on your side in a fight and he is against us
Well done Italy totally deserved the win and out played the tactically inept English 1 nil down and turned it around and played well Currently the best team in the world
Well played Italy. Apart from the opening stunning goal, England was outplayed and it would have been a touch embarrassing if we had won the penalty shootout.
The main thing is that the Three Lions are finally back on stage: In Germany, this was very welcomed, because England is one of the traditional "favorite enemies" in soccer, along with the Netherlands and Italy: Such games are always absolute highlights What would good soccer be without such rivalries? So: Get up, knock off the dust, keep going!
I checked the record and though its an even match if we take all games since 1930 most people only have a memory of such a rivalry since 1966. In that period Germany has the far better record winning 15, losing 8 and 3 were draws. The reason the country goes absolutely insane over a 'win' is because it bucks the trend. It is also very much tied in with a certain vote a few years back where Germany is seen by many (and I dare say the majority of devout football supporters) to be The Great Satan. It would be naïve to claim this is not an issue.
I find British football and "bulldog nationalism" truly bizarre - His names John Bull, he's a 55 year old working class man from London. His family used to make a living from the Thames but he stocks tampons on shelves in Tesco and has a 20 year old female boss. His Grandad fought the Nazi's in WW2 and he loves Churchill and Spitfires because Piers Morgan tells him he should. He supports Arsenal Football Club, a team that has 2 white English players, and if you support Chelsea he'll fight you over it. When he goes to the pub he proves how patriotic he is by wearing an England football shirt with the name of a 19 year old millionaire African on the back while chanting "Two World Wars, One World Cup!". ............. the term Bread and Circuses comes to mind does it not?
We were amazing for, oooo, three minutes but after that Italy just played with us, cat with a mouse stuff, it was a tactical masterclass and they thoroughly deserved it, not just for their Final performance but for how they’d played the whole tournament. To be fair, Gareth Southgate has done bloody well as I know I for one was left scratching my head when they appointed him, not that he needs my approval. Fair play to him though, a World Cup semi and European Final, not bad on your international CV and I doubt any of us expected that. What I do like is that he gives everyone a chance, especially the youngsters, and it is good to see the England squad is no longer the closed shop it once seemed to be where certain names only disappeared when they deigned to retire. I hope that with so many younger heads in the squad nowadays they can only get better and more experienced, but only time will tell. Let’s hope they learned something from the Italians last night. But bugger all that sensible talk, it’s the World Cup next year and as we all know - (all together now) “It’s coming home, it’s coming home, 1966...”