Got Some Soup?

Of all the weighty questions facing the Football Association today, by far the most important is: who threw the soup at Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson?

All the main suspects went to ground this morning, refusing to own up to the offence - or even clarify the flavour. First reports suggested pea soup, but tomato has not been ruled out, and there have even been suggestions that Ferguson was actually hit by something a lot more solid ... like a sandwich.

As yet United's manager - normally happy to accuse Arsenal of most things - has not entered football's hottest debate, which was sparked by his unexpected change of clothes before sunday's post-match television interview.

The usual suspects


Sol Campbell

Suspicion immediately falls on him because he shares a surname with a Soup Company. And his blood would have been brought to the boil following the penalty awarded for his mistimed tackle on Wayne Rooney. Campbell rarely loses his temper but a carton of steaming broth coupled with the sight of Fergie in his puffa jacket might have been too hard to resist.

Gabriel Heinze

With a surname like Heinz, there are 57 reasons why he cannot be ignored. As a newcomer to Old Trafford, the Argentinian might not be fully aware of Fergie's famous short temper. Perhaps he thought it was traditional in English football to mark a famous victory by anointing his manager. But surely he would have chosen beef.

Internet Bubble Part 2

The cheerleading for Google from the analysts at leading brokerage firms is starting to sound a lot like the days of the dot-com bubble, when some of the same analysts appeared on TV trumpeting ever higher prices for profitless Internet companies.

Google shares are running like the bulls in Pamplona at the moment. The stock, which went public at $85 per share in August, climbed another $14.97 yesterday to finish at $187.40. Google shares have soared about 23 percent over the past three trading days, driven by the company's admittedly outstanding quarterly financial report last week.

Google marked another milestone in its astronomical ascent Monday, passing Yahoo in market value. Google has a market value of $51.4 billion compared to $47.9 billion for Internet rival Yahoo.

Such an enormous increase in the value of a company over a few weeks recalls the day in December 1998 when Henry Blodget, then an analyst for Oppenheimer & Company, famously predicted that Amazon.com, then trading at $240, would soon rise to $400. It reached that target in three weeks.

There has to be some irrational exuberance at those prices. It's precisely like it was five years ago, it feels like the bubble all over again.

Collaborating for Success

Collaborating on the web
...useless miscellany: "What a great way to collaborate! [Kevin's Stuff] The cool part of it though was how we were able to..."

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The future is all about ideas. It's seeing what is and imaging, discussing, and planning what could be. It's also about connecting to the people that can help make great ideas a reality.

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Moving On

I was on my way home the other night being too tired to wait for a bus, I decided to use a Taxi. The taxi driver asked for my destination and I replied "Twickenham green". There was a brief silence while in the taxi and then suddenly he mentioned that it is not a good idea to mention Twickenham Green these days. He said this in reference to The evil that resides somewhere near home.

I couldn't help wondering wether this was the main reason I cannot get a hot date nowadays. Even longtime female friends are relunctant to visit me, instead they insist I travel to see them.

A few sundays ago I attended a moving and well-attended public service that was held on Twickenham Green on as a tribute to murdered student Amlie Delagrange.

Rev Mike Starkey from Holy Trinity Church captured the mood perfectly when he spoke of people wanting to "reclaim the green" for the community.

Until that fateful month, Twickenham Green was a pleasant triangle of open space frequented by dog walkers, people taking a short cut between the Hampton Road and Staines Road sides (I happen to live on Staines Road), and others taking their leisure out in the fresh air.

Then on August 19 a dreadful atrocity took place. A young woman, a guest in this country from overseas, was brutally slain by an unknown maniac who had, police believe, been lurking in wait for a random victim.

Understandably, the attack has caused enormous distress in the community. The principal reactions were outrage and sadness at the loss of Amlie, sympathy for her family and fear of further attacks.

The strength of feeling was symbolised by the huge pile of flowers which accumulated on the Green.

However, a few weeks have gone by and Twickenham Green must now move on.

The Search for WMDs

The search for WMDs continues, I mean Woman of My Dreams. While Blair and Bush have failed to find their WMDs and have had to appologise publicly, I'll will be parading my WMDs to the world soon.

I reckon, their strategy was faulty,they relied too much on technology and an inefficient Intelligency service. I'm taking a hands on approach, no online dating, personal ads, drunken parties or bars. This is like looking for WMDs in Iraq, they simply do not exist, you only find what looks like WMDs.

I have produced my own dossier rather than download it from the net.
My dossier will not be disclosed to the public because it contains names of people and places I wish to protect.

Fickle Anglo American

This reminds me of what has happened to me. I'm not angry, just pacified. I'm first angry and then pacified towards people who raise your hopes and dash them the moment the melt your heart or smelt your copper. Take for instance Zambia's besotted copper lover Anglo-American Corporation is Keen On Returning to Zambia'. Hit me again, please.

You abandoned me love does not live here anymore. Ok, let's be friends, or you just want me for my Copper Prices Rally , really.

Now, I know this time around that you are only after one thing. Reconciliation is an attitude or relation, and dwelt upon the fact that it is a mutual affair. But precisely after repentance!

Gutted...

I have been smstext-out. I just received a text today from my love interest stating
Lex, I do not see any future between us only friendship.

After I recover from the shock of this form of new-age cruelty. I will publish my new strategy in finding 'the one'. I like new technology really, because I make a living from it. If she really wants to be my friend, she will respond to my invitation to join my network of friends. It is free to join and free to send smstexts.

Anyone who wants to be a friend is welcome. I believe that friends make you rich. Honestly, I really need the money.

Butterflies....

I'm too engrossed in work to have straight thoughts. I have borrowed a passage from someone that summarises my mood. My source is http://www.pseudopodium.org/ht-20011119.html

There are lemon-yellow butterflies, and there are lemon-yellow Chinese. In a certain sense, then, one can say that the butterfly is the winged, middle-European, dwarf Chinese. Butterflies and Chinese are both familiar as images of sexual desire. Here the thought is formulated for the first time of the previously unrecognized commonality between the great ages of lepidopteral fauna and Chinese culture. That butterflies have wings and the Chinese do not is only a superficial phenomenon. If ever a zoologist had understood anything about the ultimate and deepest ideas of technology, it would not have been left to me to be the first to disclose the significance of the fact that butterflies did not invent gunpowder precisely because the Chinese had done so already. The suicidal predilection of certain kinds of nocturnal moths for bright light is a relic of this morphological connection to Sinology, a connection hard to explain in terms of everyday reason.

It really makes no difference what it is that is to be proved by such means.

The Fool in Love

I do not know what it is about this woman, the young woman. I'm not easily swayed by emotions, this time on my bended knees I plead love.