Cider, Squirrels and Celtic

Well,

having been indisposed for over a fortnight, I thought it was high time I committed my ruminations to scrutiny again. My lengthy preview of the Man United Game preceded a 3-2 loss for my team. I was wrong about Louis Saha........an excellent forward! We could have won this game but for some slack passing.

Anyway, we went on to win three Scottish Premier League Games(including beating Rangers 2-0); and then defeated Copenhagen 1-0 in our second CL group game.

Celtic are doing fine thank you very much!

We we out for a run in the car yesterday. A meandering drive took us from Grantshouse to Haddington via the Whiteadder reservoir and Garvald. Just outside Abbey St Bathans, we saw a young red squirrel on the road and halted as is slowly made it's way across and into the undergrowth. These beautiful creatures are becoming scarcer. Hopefully the one we saw will produce many others.

The cider we produced is maturing nicely. Fortunately, my daughter's smaller scale brewing exercise did not kill or maim anyone! Her 1.5litre glass bottle specimen exploded in the kitchen two nights ago. Glass and cider flew all over the place, breaking a window and a picture glass. Shards embedded several areas of wall and ceiling. The cat may have detonated the mixture as it leapt from the room as the bomb went off. No harm done. We fixed the window and the picture today. Our cider brew will kept in the garage as a precaution!

Our three hens have disappeared, no doubt in the direction of the fox's lair. It will be a while before I consider keeping hens again.

More later,

like the terrier being in heat for the last fortnight(we have four dogs and one bitch!); my indisposition; the last days of Socrates; how to thwart aggressive geese; and other matters.

Manchester United versus Celtic

Manchester United versus Celtic

This match will, in my humble opinion, be the making of a great Celtic side. Probable team selection:

1 Artur Boruc

For the first time since Pat Bonner, we have a class-act between the posts. The Polish keeper is the reason why I'm sticking my money on a Celtic win tonight. He is a shot-stopper in the Schmeikel mould.

2. Mark Wilson

Wilson has made an excellent start to his Celtic career. Energetic and thoughtful in his play, he will look to create opportunities for his team-mates rather than simply tackle and hoof. Consistent performer.

3. Lee Naylor

Impressive in his first few games. Again, consistent and thoughtful. An attack -minded overlapper. Needs support behind him when he takes off down the wing. Terrific long throw and has a reputation as a dead-ball expert. Played for nine years at Wolverhampton and seems to have been underestimated in his career. An excellent player.

4. Garry Cauldwell

I really rate this guy. Was captain of Hibernian prior to joining us. A ball-playing defender, he has had a few mixed reviews from less patient supporters. He looks like a future club, and international captain. Reminds me of Hanson in his youth. A big performance tonight may well be the making of him.

5. Stephen McManus

With a good season under his belt, McManus seems to be forging a real partnership with Cauldwell. Looks like an old fashioned stopper in the McCarthy mould. Needs a performance tonight and consistently over the CL group if he is to aspire to anything approaching McNeill status. Solid no-nonsense, player-finding (or at least non-opposition finding) clearances please!
More than capable centre-back.

6. Neil Lennon

Top player and Celtic captain. Not the fastest but quick thinker. Brilliant positional sense. When Neil plays well (which is 99% of games) Celtic win. Breaks up opposition attacks, steadies the ship with changes in tempo and intelligent passing. Calm in tight play, always available for an alternative pass.

7. Shunsuke Nakamura

Class act. A very skillful player. Small in stature, big in heart, takes a lot of physical punishment. Can drift out of the game. I therefore see him used in part tonight. Can score from free kicks and excellent passer. Needs referee protection to express his magical skills.

8. Thomas Graveson

Powerful, skilled, dominant attacking midfielder. A fantastic acquisition by the club. A real leader.
Will, without question, be a candidate for man of the match in any game he plays.

9. Kenny Miller

I highly rate this player. Has struggled to score goals in his short Celtic career. He offers much more than just goals however. He set up the winner at Aberdeen on Saturday and will run himself into the ground for the cause of Celtic and Scotland. Expect no less tonight. An excellent defending attacker!

10. Jan Venegoor Of Hesselink

Two games, two winning goals. Great start for Celtic. Strong personality. Powerful physical presence. Experienced international and CL campaigner. Expect a goal(s) from him tonight.

11. Aiden McGeady

Class act. Has improved his body strength in last year. Confident on the ball and becoming more and more a team player. Sometimes criticized for failing to beat his man. This is unmerited as he, along with nakamura will beat his man more often than not and will perservere in dribbling. An exciting and skillful player. Can be a matchwinner and has the stage at Old Trafford to show his brilliance.

Subs Stephen Pearson

May start the game. A favourite of mine (great player and real Celtic-minded guy). Powerful and direct. Another match-winner. Needs a decent run in the team. Seen as a back-up player. Can defend and is very fast. Will do a job tonight if asked.

Scot Cuthbert

Reserve team captain. Centre-back who will provide cover in in case of defensive injuries. Youthful and full of promise.

Derek Riordan

Yet to play his part since joining from Hibernian. Rumours of a bust-up with the manager. Has been injured recently. A fantastic player who could set Old Trafford on fire with his attacking skills.

Magic Zurawski

May start match. Slow start to the season . Prolific goalscorer. Great movement in the channels. Miller has the edge in terms of sheer energy. Could easily score tonight.

David Marshall

Not many starts since Artur Buruc became first choice keeper. Has failed to inspire on the few occasions called on recently.

Evander Sno

Excellent acquisition in the summer. May not have the experience for a game of this magnitude. Next year maybe. A very skilled midfield prospect.

Jiri Jarosik

May well feature as part of a five-man midfield tonight. Has skills and energy. Needs greater positional awareness, or at least awareness of his team-mates and their strengths and weaknesses. A very skillful player who may well come into his own in the CL.

Craig Beattie

Last season blighted by injury. A goal machine in the making(hamstring permitting). Fast, direct, and has the confidence to take his chances. If he gets an opportunity he will do the business for Celtic tonight.


Manchester United (probable)

Edwin Van Der Sar is an excellent keeper.

He is a bit suspect on high balls.

Gary Neville:

a hard working team captain. Can be beaten with pace and dribbling. Also can get dragged out of position, leaving defensive gaps.

Wes Brown:

poor concentration and lack of positional sense will be exploited by Celtic

Rio Ferdinand:

arrogant and lacking in concentration at times. Guilty of underestimating opponents. Seems more interested in his looks than his job on the field.


Mikail Silvestre:

average full-back. Lacks vision in attack and poor passing ability.

Michael Carrick:

big money buy. Yet to find his feet at United and midfield lacks balance. Excellent skills on the ball but can be marked out of the game. Can get lost in a battle.

Darren Fletcher:

execellent player. Has the skill, vision and sheer energy to hurt any team. Well known by his fellow Scottish internationals in the Celtic side. Will need close attention tonight.
Paul Scholes:

brilliant midfield general. Celtic will need to play close attention to this guy. Can be a match winner. Also inclined to see red. Graveson will go head to head with him.

Lous Saha:

flatters to deceive. Misses the target more often than not and can drift out of a game.

Wayne Rooney:

fantastic player. Difficult to stop when he drives with the ball at his feet. Fearless and inclined to get himself into trouble with referees. Clumsy in the tackle and can injure himself as well as others when he dives in. Is undoubtedly, with Fletcher Scholes and Giggs, a dangerous adversary.

Ryan Giggs:

brilliant winger. Must not be allowed space to run. Can be marked out of the game. Drifts out of things when he doesn't get his own way.

My prediction:

Celtic will be up for this one. Although United have four supremely gifted players, in Fletcher, Scholes, Giggs and Rooney, Celtic will use pace and passing to surprise our hosts. Celtic will attack when we have the ball and press when we don't.

Mental strength, concentration and desire are key to this game. Celtic have the TEAM to beat United's individuals. Our manager is no mug. Sir Alex might have done it all in the past. However, one can't help wondering if his United are coming to the end of an era. Strachan's Celtic are definitely at the start of something big. We also have our terrific support to drive us home!



Manchester United 0 Celtic 2

The cat!

The cat climbed up a tree in the garden. We knew this because she ran back down again with a pigeon's egg in her mouth, dropped it and ran away. The egg rolled under the verandah and my wife retrieved it. The egg was warm, so I decided to try and put it back in the nest. Unfortunately, the ladder couldn't reach. We have a few doves living behind the gable of an old tin shed. I took the egg and placed it with four other warm, white eggs. Will it hatch? The egg incident happened about two weeks ago so time will tell!

The cat is cheeky; the cat sleeps a lot; and, when awake, the cat is hyper! She likes running about the place, climbing (rapidly) up curtains, trees, walls, fences........She likes tormenting the dogs. Her claws are particularly sharp when she decides to rugby-tackle you or jumps on your back or head. Apart from that I like the cat.

Celtic play Manchester United at Old Trafford tomorrow night. The press are writing us off. Old players berate our lack of skills. Paddy Crerrand and Lou Macari say we will get well beaten. Old-media hacks say we will be out-paced and out-classed by the mighty Man United.

We will see about that! I'll be putting my fiver on a Celtic win.

The match is sold-out and there will be plenty of green and white scarves in the stadium. Our fans will make a difference. Much is being made of the pre-season friendly when a young Man United team outplayed a Celtic team without many first team players. Tomorrow night will be totally different. Nakamura says Celtic are not ready for this match and didn't play well as a team on Saturday. Something might have gotten lost in translation, since team mates Thomas Graveson and Jan Venegoor of Hesselink, not to mention manager Gordon Strachan were quick to praise the team after the Aberdeen win.

It will be down to mental strength and desire to win. Our players are good enough to beat Manchester United.

I hope we run them ragged, and our keeper, Artur Boruc plays like the cat!

My prediction 2-0 to the Celts!

The Kingfisher Navigates

At Houndwood, a hamlet by the A1 trunk road, there is a walkway (contructed as part of a dual carriageway project a couple of years ago) which is roughly circular and crosses the Eye Water via two bridges. Wild flowers are beginning to take hold (harebells, reed mace, geraniums, cowslips, ragged-robin, pink campion, meadowsweet, yarrow, vetches, peas, and masses of oxeye daisies.........and the river supports plenty of wild animals. Dragonflies, butterflies of all shades and colours, small brown trout aplenty, supporting Kingfishers, Herons.......... and, for a month or so this summer a Black Stork(a very rare migrant first spotted in Scotland by me and the Mrs! at about 6pm on 25th June as it landed in a field across from the house!).

Buzzards, hawks, ducks, jackdaws, carrion crows, magpies, jays, wrens, dunnocks, snipes, treecreepers, nuthatches, dippers, grey wagtails, swallows, sandmartins...........
the area supports plently of wild birds and mammals, rats, weasels, otters, badgers, deer, squirrels(red and grey), bats........... All find homes where the East-Coast Mainline Railway, The Great North Road, and the little Eye Water pass by.

As I walked the dogs, I stopped by the larger of the two bridges. As I looked north- westwards along the Eye Water a beautiful irredescent Kingfisher flew towards the bridge. It was intent on passing under the bridge but noticed me, made a u-turn and headed back up the river about fifty yards. It then turned round again, flew back towards me, veered to my left and passed by the side of the bridge. The Kingfisher then flew back onto the river and made it's way south eastwards and out of sight in the distance. A thrilling sight!

Celtic and the hummingbird Hawk Moth

Celtic get the three points and I get to see a Hummingbird Hawk Moth.

Celtic visited Pittodrie and came away with three points after a hard fought match. Aberdeen played for a draw and it took the introduction of Kenny Miller midway through the second half to change the game. Kenny set up Jan Venegoor of Hesselink's goal, and we won 1-0. Thomas Graveson made his debut and was excellent!

After watching the match on tv, I went out to the garden. I spotted a Hummingbird Hawk Moth feeding on Lavender. Beautiful creature. I could see why some people confuse it with the Humming Bird. Apparently the moth is a migrant to these shores during hot summers. 2000 and 2006 are particularly good years for sightings in Britain. I've never seen one before.

Celtic websites and Cider (which is good for you) and the beautiful Jay

Health experts are saying that cider is good for you.

The Daughter's boyfriend (no, we still haven't shifted the sheep) is therefore busy building a cider press.

We have six variably productive apple trees, and the harvest is nigh! His boss also has a tree or two and we aim to convert nature's providence into something alcoholic.

Our idea is that a wooden frame, a tray and a car jack will crush the nectar from the fruits of the Lord. We will then put the liquid sustenance into big buckets with some yeast and wait till it is at least 10% proof!

As the picture demonstrates, we are using Brunnel, suspension construction principles.

In time, we hope to be incoholically affluenced.


Celtic play at Aberdeen tomorrow. Prediction 1-0 Celtic

The best Celtic Website?

I ,very occasionally, post on Celtic Quick News. CQN is an okely dokely, county the money site. It is close to the board and is often first with the news. A cornucopia of views can be debated there. The elite posters are, unfortunately or perhaps by necessity, a bunch of capitalist wee shites. The odd poster is socialist (or even communist) by self-definition. Revolutionaries are few and far between.

I have to say CQN is the best Celtic fan site on the web(apart from E-Tims, due almost entirely to The Rumour Mill!). The thing about CQN is the creator Paul67 seems to be sincere in all he does. The site is therefore a haven for the gentle at heart. CQN is as green as it gets.

I suppose fandom reflects the current epoch, the level of political consciousness extant.

We are living in a period of reaction, and the voice of reaction is amplified. The believers in capitalism don't know it, but socialism will replace their system, just as theirs replaced feudalism. No doubt the CQNers will continue to debate everything their love of Celtic demands, from the specific to the general. Good luck and Hail! Hail! to them.

When we win the league, I'll raise a toast to them and Celts everywhere.

Unfortunately, the daughter's boyfriend won't, as he is a hun!

At least he isn't a capitalist.

My daughter was walking in the woods next to our cottage. Oak, Ash, Hazel, Blackthorn, Elder, Scots Pine. She found the feather pictured. The Jay is a crow which enjoys the fruit of the Oak,
just as we will soon be enjoying the fruit of the Apple Tree!

The future is ours!

pissed off prozac

Last year, I pissed(or pished as we say where I'm from) off from prozac, the serotonin of life!

Man, it was good to feel emotion again. I got a virus a couple of years ago which led to a diagnosis of ME or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. I went through all the "tests" and whop de dop, I'd got ME!

The treatment for ME in Scotland is to get the psychiatrist involved, you know what I mean?

I could hardly stand, never mind walk when I was "diagnosed." It follows that I couldn't work(I'd been fortunate enough to work in the NHS for 28 years non-stop before I became an ME).

Naturally enough I was a bit down with it all, and the Mental Health Team got involved in my care. The doctor assigned to me was a good guy. However, as a psychiatrist, his main treatment plan for me was anti-depressants in ever increasing doses. He also recommended fatty acids and steroids as an adjunct to my serotonin fix. I gave it a try. I even paid good money for a light box to combat the dark winter nights. The doctor used to like visiting. He liked tea and biscuits. He liked me. I should confess that I was a respected(I think?) Community Psychiatric Nurse, prior to my "break-down," and the therapeutic relationship we enjoyed was (I think) mutual.

I have been depressed in my life. I defy anyone to say different (well, anyone with feelings).

The thing about anti-depressants, and I used to recommend(get)general practitioners to prescribe them to the people, is they are useful in treating mood disorders. The can, however blunt your mood, your emotions. Serotonin is a naturally occuring, sunshine, brain chemical. The prozac type pills are supposed to boost your fluoxetine (prozac)levels. SSRI(selective serotin reuptake inhibitors) are the business for depression: maybee's aye, maybee's naw!

What the SSRI's are good for (in my humble opinion)is treating anxiety: you know..... the heartbroken angst..........the fear of dying (at the heart of phobias)............the acute distress of traumatic events. The pity is, the drug business could not, until recently, see beyond the profits to be made from people with "depression," and therefore failed to find the true niche for the SSRI: anxiety(like I said, in my opinion).

People with that collection of disorders called anxiety are often written-off as "walking- wounded, " or hysterical inadequates. Diazepam, so marketable "on the street," is the reluctant recourse of the primary care practitioner, and for good reason: it is short-lasting, addictive shite( as we say where I come from). SSRI's are in my view(as practitioner and practitionee?) good, mainly for short-term acute distress, accompanying other physical or mental illnesses.

I know treatment of illness is a very complex matter. Serotonin anti-depressents have their specific uses. My general rule, however, is they are not brilliant in treating ME long-term.

As I said at the start, It's good to feel the beat of your heart, to feel emotion.


Neil Lennon, the Celtic captain recently spoke of his periodic depressions. He was high in my regard. He is now sky high!

Here's hoping we beat Aberdeen at Pittodrie on Saturday, and Manchester United at Old Trafford next Wednesday!


ps the above picture is of a time I was depressed

Celtic Navigator
RMN

Lithuania 1 Scotland 2

Great result for the Scots. Much more of the old jaggy thistle, fighting spirit!

Best player on the park? A toss-up between Kenny Miller and Darren Fletcher. These guys ran their socks off for the cause. Kenny trapped the ball on his chest as he drove through two or three defenders to volley home. Christian Dailly had earlier risen magnificently to head the opener from a Naysmith Corner. The Lithuania goal came on 84 minutes with a fantastic bycicle kick following a corner. Half- time 0-0. Full-time 1-2

The pitch was very poor. The result means 6 points from two games. Next match France at Hampden!

The great John Thomson died 75 years ago yesterday. He was the finest goalkeeper ever to play for Celtic. John died as a result of an accidental challenge when he saved a goal. He was only 22 years old.

John was from Cardenden in Fife and followed his father down the mine at the age of 14. He played for Wellesley Juniors before signing for Celtic.

The author James Handley wrote,

"....... a generation that did not see John Thomson has missed a touch of greatness in sport, for he was a brilliant virtuoso."

Rest in peace John.

Too much solidarity?

I used to be a Shop Steward in the National Health Service. In 1988 the Thatcher government decided to privatise NHS support services (laundry, cleaning, catering, etc.). They bought off the trade union bureacrats by picking and choosing(with complicity) which services were to be hived-off.

We had a slogan, All-Out Strike-The Only Way To Win! Kind of indicates our response, huh?

Anyway ,

I remember highly charged members meeting at our hospital. Nurses, cleaners, porters, kitchen workers.......all got together to discuss the campaign. A few Laundry workers from another nearby hospital were in attendance. In the middle of the meeting a wee guy called Jimmy entered the meeting and approached the platform, asking where said attendees were as the Laundry workers were locked-out!

The meeting put Jimmy's information to the vote and we immediately held a solidarity sit-in strike!

It was only some days afterwards we found out that, although the Laundry workers were indeed locked-out, this was due to the fact that they had lost the keys to the laundry!

Wee Jimmy became known as Jimmy the Keys!

picture of Che at Gleneagles for the G8, lifted froman anarchist site

It has been a quiet few days. Berwickshire weather a trifle moist. Most of the wheat, barley, oats harvested in the county. It has been a dry old summer and a bit of rain is welcome.

My daughter obtained(at the height of the foot and mouth epidemic) an orphaned lamb. The ewe turned out to be a tup(!) and spends his time between three bits of garden ground. He eats anything in sight, except nettles and brambles(unfortunately) but prefers white bread, by the loaf, and, unfortunately, tree bark. When we got the sheep, the name Morag was applied. When it became obviously inappropriate he got the shortened , more masculine version, Mo!

The time is upon us when we must "move the Mo." This is easier said than done, and involves, for example, crossing the Great North (trunk) Road. Mo is an obstinate sheep and puts considerable effort into opposing any attempt to get him to go anywhere he doesn't want to go.

We (my daughter's boyfriend and I) have been thinking about moving Mo for the last fortnight or so. It ain't easy, and the temptation is to provide him with extra bread in lieu of the verdant pastures which lie over the A1 road............to be continued............

Talking of the A1, a poor otter got splattered just up the road from the house. I had never seen one in the flesh, alive or dead, before. Shame. The Eye Water flows past on the other side of the road. Presumably (hopefully) there are other otters who will survive the road carnage.

Celtic managed to keep hold of Neil Lennon and Stephen Pearson, with no new arrivals by the close of the transfer window on August 31st. Things are looking good for the campaigns ahead. We lie top of the Scottish League, despite an indifferent start. The UEFA Champions League campaign will begin on Wednesday 13th September when we visit Manchester United. Injuries and suspensions (Ferdinand and Ronaldo) will undoubtedly weaken United. Our new signings will lack settling-in time, having played only two or three games prior to the United match. Jan Venegoor Of Hesselink, Thomas Graveson and Lee Naylor are seasoned professionals and will hopefully slot in well.

There are reports that Portugese teams will be banned from international competition due to involvement of courts in a football player registration issue. There are suggestions our group will be reduced to three teams with Benfica banned. I do not believe this will happen and look forward to our meetings with one of the European greats. Benfica have won the European Cup on two occasions and have contested no less than seven EC finals!

The Group has a nice balance to it with Manchester United favourites;Benfica, Copenhagen and ourselves are supposedly better suited to the battle for the second qualification place. Third in the group will mean entry to the UEFA Cup.

Another topic entirely is............... SOCIALISM,

about which I intend to wax lyrical!

I have applied to rejoin the Scottish Socialist Party.

All Hail the Scottish Workers Republic!