ITV Rugby World Cup:
This looks like it will really be something to see.
"ITV's coverage of the Rugby World Cup 2003 is the most extensive ever undertaken by the broadcaster for any major sporting event with over 200 hours of programming dedicated to the tournament.
Every one of the 48 matches will be shown live on ITV1 or ITV2 and there will also be three opportunities to see a 60-minute highlights programme on each match day. ITV2 will air highlights at 7pm, the ITV News Channel at 9pm and ITV1 at around 11pm. "

First - what's with all these new channels?
Second - Who will be bringing us the matches?

The usual suspects - "The team will be headed by award-winning presenter Jim Rosenthal with commentators that include former internationals John Taylor and Nigel Starmer-Smith and pundits that include Francois Pienaar and Will Carling."

So the USA stuck five goals on Nigeria last night. It was 2-0 when I checked in during my virus fighting marathon. I missed a goodie, then, obviously. Check out the official site:

"Mia Hamm’s team mates have come to expect big games from her. But Thursday night’s performance in the USA’s 5-0 win over Nigeria was out of the ordinary even for the world’s all-time leader in international goals.
“Mia’s play on and off the ball tonight was magnificent,” said U.S. coach April Heinrichs. “It was a whole other level of play for her.”

Hamm got the Americans off to a quick lead, converting a penalty kick just six minutes in. She added a second goal in the 12th minute, sending a free kick from 30 yards over the head of Nigeria goalkeeper Precious Dede.

“Honestly, I was trying to serve the ball into the box,” said Hamm, admitting that she was not trying to score on the set piece. But Hamm’s play off the ball was equal to her goal-scoring ability."

So I think I have posted & not published. Let's see if my previous 4 posts show up with this one.

I spent last night cleaning a virus off my home computer, which will hopefully restore my internet options and formatting back to normal. We will see this evening.
Have also set up a new blog (how many blogs does one man need?)... This one to track my updates & changes to my main history website, The John Rodgers Jewitt Hub. The blog is a crimsonblog (for formatting reasons, & ye olde virus on ye home PC) and is located at http://johnjewitt.crimsonblog.com/. I plan to record updates to the site, as well as contacts and guestbook postings. I have made a lot of changes there and feel the need to keep track. Otherwise it gets messy & my decisions appear to lack purpose. I am also, clearly, blog-crazy.

And now, to publish...

Vuelta Ciclista España 2003

So the tour of Spain has been going for a while now without any acknowledgement from me!! "The 18th stage is the shortest road stage of this year's Vuelta and forms part of the last four stages that are to take place in the Madrid Region. Judging by the current standing, there seems little likelyhood of important changes taking place in the General Classification." Only three or four more days to go, it seems.

Iain Murray's into political pubs. I, frankly, am just grateful for the mention of the pub. I can almost smell the soggy cardboard coasters & the smoke.

Read what the Instapundit has to say on the subject....

Wesley Clarke, John Edwards, Howard Dean, and a very "Fear & Loathing on the Campaign Trail" assessment of Clinton & MacAuliffe. Is it McGovern & Muskie all over again?

or something. Check out the news to see what's going on with the cleanup.

Interlude from a previous life WASHINGTON, Sept. 18 — Newly discovered traces of ancient roads, bridges, and plazas in Brazil’s tropical forest may help dispel the once-popular impression of an “untouched” Amazon before the Europeans’ arrival. In southern Brazil, archaeologists have found the remains of a network of urban communities that apparently hosted a population many thousands strong. Reporting their findings in the journal Science, published by AAAS, the science society, the researchers say the people who dwelled there dramatically changed their local landscape.

Johnny Cash passed away last night. This is a man who was the soul of American Music for half a century. There's a huge tribute on blogcritics.com. Cash's last big hit was Hurt:

I hurt myself today To see if I still feel I focus on the pain The only thing that's real The needle tears a hole The old familiar sting Try to kill it all away But I remember everything What have I become? My sweetest friend Everyone I know Goes away in the end You could have it all My empire of dirt I will let you down I will make you hurt

I wear this crown of thorns Upon my liar's chair Full of broken thoughts I cannot repair Beneath the stain of time The feeling disappears You are someone else I am still right here What have I become? My sweetest friend Everyone I know Goes away in the end You could have it all My empire of dirt I will let you down I will make you hurt If I could start again A million miles away I would keep myself I would find a way

I wasn’t going to write anything about anything the back end of this week. I was going to let Kris Murray speak for me:

“Today is now one of the hardest days of my life. Never before had I a day of mourning that was so personal and so universal. This is my grandparent's December 7th. This is my parent's November 22nd. I suppose there will be a day like this for my daughter but I'm on my knees praying there won't be.”

But I can’t blog from work any more. (New job, slow computer, not allowed, really) so that didn’t get up yesterday.

Then this morning I heard third-hand word of the passing of a figure from my childhood, whom I remember as a little ginger bundle of fun. This is painful to me because it has brought pain to my old friends, and also because it reminds me of the distance between me & some of the folks who were and are important to me.
Whether that distance is time, or miles, or life-stages, or whatever, I have decided to work harder to be a traveler in my life and not a tourist. Even when I don’t know where I’m going I want to have a very strong and clear sense of where I’ve been, and I want that sense to be built on connections with people who were there, and may still be. So bring me some 80 cent stamps & a DSL connection. It is time to build some bridges.

Lileks has it cracked: "Confidence that comes from the heart & gut usually plays better than confidence that comes from the brain. Whoa! A new theory, developed here at the kitchen table at 12:13 AM! It’s like Rock-paper-scissors.

Heart and gut beat brain.
Brain beats heart if there's no gut.
Gut beats brain if brain has no heart.
Brain and gut beans heart.

Okay, I’m just making this up as I go along. But consider: Clinton had a spectacular ability to combine heart, brain and gut into one meaty electable package. Reagan was mostly gut. Nixon was brain. Carter: heart and brain, no gut. Mondale: brain. Dukakis: brain. Dole: gut, but one that concluded in a colostomy bag. Gore: brain. Bush 2000: ran on brain-heart ticket, probably elected because people suspected he had gut. Bush 04: heart-gut. Dean: BRAINBRAINBRAIN.
"

In the words of Brandi Chastain:

"[The team wants to] give the fans what they deserve. A creative, exciting, and an inside look into the team that they call their own. This has been the backbone of the success of the US Women's National Team for more than a decade, and we have been so thankful for the support and passion of the fans. So, a big shout out to all the fans that either have a chance to come to the games, wear their favorite players jersey, paint their face and chant USA or watch it on TV. This Cup is for YOU!!!"

From ABC News: "People searching for art that was stolen by the Nazis have a new tool: a Web site that allows U.S. museum collections to be checked for long-lost pieces. The Nazi-Era Provenance Internet Portal is a searchable registry for people looking for items that disappeared in Europe between 1932 and 1946. It goes online Monday.

So far 66 museums have signed up to participate in the program overseen by the American Association of Museums. They include the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the Chicago Institute of Art. The Web site has indexed 5,761 of their objects and an additional 1,663 are in process.

Similar sites in Europe will be reachable through a link with the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington.

The Nazis and their allies may have stolen as many as 1.5 million objects by the end of World War II. Estimates of the number still missing run as high as 100,000 works of museum quality. Some have found their way to the United States."

Boston Globe: The old ballpark opened its doors way back in 1912, but it wasn't until last night that it finally got, as Bruce Springsteen called it, "a good old rock 'n' roll baptism."
And because it was such a special occasion -- the first true rock concert in Fenway Park history -- Springsteen shook the place from center field with a "rock 'n' roll house party, a rock 'n' roll baptism, rock 'n' roll bar mitzvah, a rock 'n' roll exorcism."

And the fans -- chanting "Bruuuuuuce," waving their arms, bowing to Springsteen, dancing in the aisles -- nearly turned Fenway to rubble, going seemingly nuts when the E Street band played right next to the Green Monster.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Supreme Court Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer and Anthony Kennedy played a role in the opening night of the Washington Opera's 2003-2004 season Saturday night, at the DAR Constitution Hall.

They came on stage during the raucous party scene in Johann Strauss Jr.'s comedic opera "Die Fledermaus," about mistaken identities and romantic temptations at the hands of a friend seeking revenge.

Wearing judicial robes, they were introduced as distinguished guests of Prince Orlofsky. Except for a colorful fan carried by Justice Ginsburg, they looked as if they had walked right off the bench onto the stage.

Just when I think that my sites are the hugest folly of vanity & craziness ever attempted, I see this little can of spam on blogdex. It seems to be a collaborative fiction project that smooshes the genres of science fiction (specifically Star Trek) and Naval Epic (Master & Commander / Hornblower) together to create who knows what. The United Federation of Planets as the third British Empire? An intriguing project that is both somewhat appealing and leads me to the conclusion that these folks have way too much spare time.....

England squad:

Forwards: Jason Leonard (NEC Harlequins), Phil Vickery (Gloucester), Julian White (Leicester Tigers), Trevor Woodman (Gloucester), Mark Regan (Leeds Tykes), Steve Thompson (Northampton Saints), Dorian West (Leicester Tigers), Danny Grewcock (Bath), Martin Johnson, (Leicester Tigers, captain), Ben Kay (Leicester Tigers), Neil Back (Leicester Tigers), Martin Corry, (Leicester Tigers), Lawrence Dallaglio (London Wasps), Richard Hill (Saracens), Lewis Moody (Leicester Tigers), Joe Worsley (London Wasps).

Backs: Iain Balshaw (Bath), Ben Cohen (Northampton Saints), Josh Lewsey (London Wasps), Dan Luger (Perpignan), Jason Robinson (Sale Sharks), Stuart Abbott (London Wasps), Will Greenwood (NEC Harlequins), Mike Tindall (Bath), Mike Catt (Bath), Paul Grayson (Northampton Saints), Jonny Wilkinson (Newcastle Falcons, vice-captain), Kyran Bracken (Saracens), Matt Dawson (Northampton Saints), Andy Gomarsall (Gloucester).

England's Pool C RWC fixtures:

v Georgia, Sunday, October 11
v South Africa, Saturday, October 18
v Samoa, Sunday, October 26
v Uruguay, Saturday, November 2

from eight hours away. Here's the discussion of tonight's show.

I have added sitemeter to this site, so that I will be able to see where my readers are coming from & what they're interested in.

From the Boston Globe: "When Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band take the stage tonight at Fenway Park, someone in the audience will make a cellphone call and start an unusual virtual concert experience for diehard fans who cannot be at the show.
The call is made to a Springsteen fan called a "poster," who sits at a computer and sends online reports of the entire concert, song-by-song, up to the last bring-down-the-house encore. That includes not only what Springsteen plays but sometimes how he introduces the songs and just about everything he does on stage."
Sample a review from 8/31/03 E. Rutherford, NJ (Night 10--Sunday)

Train to be a space cadet with Buzz Lightyear. What more is there?

From BBC Newsround: "Thousands of Star Wars fans are rallying together to try and get a Canadian boy a part in the next film. They hope it will make 15-year-old Ghyslain feel better after he was embarrassed by a video of him pretending to use a light sabre was put on the internet. So far more than 83,000 people have put their names to an online petition that they're planning on sending to Star Wars director George Lucas." Check out the petition.

Newsround also features the scoop on Jedi's and the census: "Star Wars fans have made Jedi the fourth most popular "religion" in England and Wales. In the census in 2001, which counted everyone in England and Wales, people were asked what faith they believed in. An incredible 390,000 people put "Jedi" - making it the fourth most-popular choice, after Christianity, Islam and Hinduism!"

From ITN News - American illusionist David Blaine is spending his first full day suspended in a clear plastic box with nothing but water to sustain him in his toughest challenge yet.

The self-styled modern-day Houdini from New York is planning to live for 44 days and nights in a plastic box measuring 7ft deep, 7ft long and 3ft wide, with no distraction, communication or food while dangling precariously over the river Thames in London.

Blaine entered his tiny temporary home suspended between Tower Bridge and the Greater London Assembly building last night and is not now due to emerge until Sunday October 19 at 9pm.

ITN also has a feature about whether Blaine measures up to Guinness Record Holders. What would Roy Castle, Norris McWhirter & Cheryl Baker make of it all?

England 45-14 France. England gave their World Cup preparations the perfect finish with a five-try victory over France at Twickenham on Saturday night. Having seen a largely second-choice line-up lose by a single point in Marseille a week earlier, England's senior stars turned the tables against France's understudies to underscore their status as potential champions down under. From BBC News. More at Rugby Rugby.com's England News Page.

wearing pants (trousers). But seriously. MSN entertainment has the scoop, month by month, about the movies that are coming up. I am especially interested in Underworld, Shaolin Soccer, and of course the return of Tarantino with Kill Bill. The ultimate boom or bust that I will probably blog the heck out of as we get nearer the time (witness my May & June archives) is Matrix Revolutions - the third and final installment. I might as well just move my couch (sofa) into a theater (cinema). :-)

Well - That was surprisingly easy. Makes me wonder what other fancy features are out there. After a brief and fruitful google search I have added blogback comments to this page. The folks at blogback make it clear that their service is compatible with blogger. I am not completely happy with the way the comments link sits at the very bottom of the post space, and as you'll see the comments float in their own window above the post rather than being inline with the permalink post a-la Moveable Type, but hey... at least folks who read my posts can annotate what I've written now. The blog lives and grows. By the way: The service will be withdrawn if nothing is posted in a three-month period, so if you're here reading this blog, leave me a little note to keep the comments feature alive.

Update: It seems that a similar service (that may be a bit easier on the eye) is offered by Haloscan.com, but they've just moved their server and are currently not accepting new signups. We'll see.

I'm posting this as a reminder to myself, more than anything else. I am looking into ways to allow readers to comment on my posts (without me having to pay for hosting). It seems that rateyourmusic.com may make it possible. Their site is down at the moment though. I will look into it when their site comes back, & perhaps search for other options.

Have discovered a couple of campaign websites. I found the blog of John Edwards from blogdex. Of course the candidate that everyone's talking about in terms of cyber-politics is Howard Dean. Guess what? He has a blog too.

With apologies to Dr Seuss
So I happened to visit my old blog in passing today & was surprised to see 1: that it is actually up :-) and 2: that the referrer script that keeps track of my readers for 24 hours had a comparatively huge list of origin sites on it. I have readers that number in the low ones. :-) Have therefore resolved to install the script on this site too (I had thought it was a bit excessive & a bit slow) and to subscribe to the blogging brits ring w/ the new site. It seems that most of my old blog guests are coming from there, and I currently have no way to tell whether they're making the leap to super groovy blogspot with me.

Which all brings up something else. After reading a couple of other blogs by strangers (picked at random from blogger's "recently published" list) I am suddenly struck by the absurdity of the whole blog thing. For one, who really cares what I think? For two, who is even reading what I post? For three, who shares my bizarre melange of interests and experiences? Am I going to stop posting? Probably not. But do I have a vastly expanded sense of the ridiculous? Absolutely.

How do you stay there? Britney is clearly full of ideas.

ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico (CNN) -- Hoping to stem efforts by President Bush to make inroads with Latino voters, the 2004 Democratic presidential candidates will square off Thursday night in a debate that will be simulcast in Spanish across the country.

The 90-minute event at the University of New Mexico is the first of six major debates sponsored by the Democratic National Committee. It will be hosted by the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, who is Latino.