Methven Hornet

Roads not far from here closed today. Snow gates shut and everything.

Tense times in Perth. In 1993 we had unprecedented floods that caused millions of pounds of damage when much of the city centre, plus nearby housing estates, was inundated when the Tay broke its banks. Flood defences costing £25 million were built to "provide protection from flood levels caused by the equivalent of a one-in-200-year flood flow in the river coinciding with a one-in-100-year high tide". Those defences are in serious danger of being breached tonight. High tide is at 11:30pm, I believe.

He certainly seems to have something. What he did with Hamilton was extraordinary, and although Norwich are a much better club it is no small achievement to get them pack in the top flight.

Cup final - come on Caley Thistle (St Johnstone qualify for Europe if they win).

That should be a cracking tie; is it winnable do you think? If so, will they be at home in the next round on 17th July? I ask because I'm in mid-Wales that week (daughter's graduation) and I wouldn't mind popping along. St Johnstone have drawn FC Luzern from Switzerland, which is certainly more welcome than last year's tie with FC Minsk. The authorities don't seem to understand the needs of travelling football fans regarding visas.

Cup Final Day! Come On You Saints!

We love you Saintees, we do... St Johnstone beat Aberdeen 2-1 to reach the Scottish Cup final for the first time in our 130 year history. A Tayside derby with Dundee United awaits.

Hibs too, perhaps.

Of course, I'd forgotten all about that. A very versayile sportsman.

Can't even win the 'diddy' cup!

Yes, Dennis Waterman captained the side.

There's always Gretna (2008) in the Lowland League.

I've just realised that Rochdale are mathematically safe from relegation.

Proxima, by Stephen Baxter. Mr Baxter like to blow things up - in Moonseed he blew up Venus in the first few pages, eventually followed by Arthur's Seat, Edinburgh, Scotland, Greate Britain, and then pretty much planet Earth - and in Proxima his destructive instincts haven't deserted him. Before that, though, there is our migration to the stars to describe...

Yes, it is.

Rendezvous with Rama is the first book in the series, surely? I've read it a few weeks ago after I spotted it in a charity shop - it is good and I'm looking forward to the others. Series:- Rendezvous with Rama (1972) ISBN 978-0-553-28789-9 Rama II (1989) ISBN 978-0-553-28658-8 The Garden of Rama (1991) ISBN 978-0-553-29817-8 Rama Revealed (1993) ISBN 978-0-553-56947-6

Moth Smoke - Mohsin Hamid A good bit of sex, drugs, and general decadence.

Sums the whole thing up.

Wasn't there some mention of a regional component to Championship 1? (or some such wording) I don't think there was an awful lot of attention given to the subject in the proposals document, tbh.

That last line crossed my mind as well. Couldn't we improve the NRL in a similar way? After a certain number of regular games the borrom 8 go off and play in a competition with the best 4 each from the NSW and Queensland Cups. The top eight of that go into next season's NRL. That would certainly jeopardise things a little.

St Mirren and Ross County - and the rumours flying around at the time was that a certain club fae Govan - who were dead against the change - 'persuaded' the two to vote against. And, talking about a certain club fae Govan “There is no threat of Administration II. Categorically, there is no threat of Administration II.”

Oh, you said wanting. I should go to specsavers.

It failed in Switzerland, which was used as an argument against introducing it in Scotland. It failed to be introduced in Scotland.

Abou the 8 club Super League. I take the proposals of 12x2, 3x8 as being a recognition that there probably are about 8 clubs that are there or thereabouts in terms of being the right standard. I would think that this restructure is going to formalise this group over a number of seasons, so you are going to have a fairly fixed group of 8 elite clubs getting the biggest crowds, the largest amounts of central funding and sponsorship and, thus, the ability keep themselves at the top. The rest will just be fighting it out for the right to play them each season.

Indeedy!