Arcticterntalk.org

The blog of a travelling psychiatrist and football lover. Who happens to be a halfway decent photographer. Takes a cynical view of the world

Archive for the tag “rain”

13 Jan 2013

Carshalton 2 Cray Wanderers 1. Ryman Premier


The weather was unhelpful this weekend and many games got called off in non-league but this game thankfully survived. The pitch looked like a mud bath and that was maybe because it was. Having said that the football played was perfectly fine and the ground staff need to take some praise although I understand that not a lot was done to the pitch from the preceding tuesday night game.

Carshalton have had a troubled season to date. Change of manager few months ago, awful start and currently bottom of the Ryman Premier, seemingly heading even at this stage for Ryman South next season. Things of late however have changed. A surprise away win on boxing day at Hampton, followed by a few decent results and another victory a few days ago versus Enfield. This was a key game against a mid-table club.

The first half was surprisingly low key. Little in the way of flying tackles etc. The second half very different. Cray were awarded a penalty by an unconvincing referee in the 25th minute and Carshalton scored with a long range shot that maybe should have been saved in the 31st minute. Little else to warm the soul. I had to resort to eating the last cornish paste, which I suspect was left over from tuesday, which tuesday I will not speculate, but it tasted divine in the cold.

The second half was all about end to end stuff, with Carshalton scoring the winning goal in the 84th minute with a truly special goal from Luke Nolan. This was a goal that you never think can happen. A run by the left full back, beating a few players cutting inside and hitting a shot from around 30 yards that roared into the top left hand corner of the net. With no exaggeration this is one of the best goals I have seen this season. Michael Kamara was highly visible all game with his bandage making him look more like Monty Panesar but played a decent game. Nick Hamann the goalkeeper has to be one of the best keepers at this level and I suspect could play higher. The German flag you can see behind the goal reflects his nationality.

This is a club trying to play their way out of trouble. They have left it late but maybe not too late with now 3 wins in their last 5 games. A lot will depend on key games, injuries and of course luck. I shall be following their progress and now count myself as a fan. As the crowd was 201 it is fair to say that I increased the crowd size by 0.5%.
Bandage Cray shot IMG_8224 IMG_8225 IMG_8231 IMG_8232 IMG_8238 IMG_8244 IMG_8252 IMG_8274 IMG_8286 IMG_8300 IMG_8318 IMG_8340 IMG_8374 IMG_8380 Luke Nolan running

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10 Jan 2013

The Root Canal of All Evil


Although a doctor I can claim to know nothing about teeth, nothing at all. But this last week has been most unpleasant. The tooth story started almost 6 months ago when I had a temporary filling put in a tooth that was earmarked for root canal treatment. Although temporary it actually did the trick and the reality was that there was little time to have any more procedures done.

Sadly since then things have gone awry. In December a lump appeared on my upper gum and even with no knowledge of anything in life it was clear that this was an abscess. Antibiotics helped it better within days and took me over the xmas period. 

This week, the tooth has been a disaster. The tooth was poked down, cleaned out and whatever else was done using what looked to me like torture chamber size toothpicks, filled with some sort of cement and allegedly left for a week to ” settle down”. The tooth however had other ideas and refused to stop hurting and the lump on the gum re-appeared in large size, and frankly made me feel awful. Back to the dentist, lump poked, some musing and indeed more antibiotics provided. Metronidazole is actually quite a good choice for an antibiotic as it has the same effects as antabuse if you drink alcohol , so best not to. Hence no alcohol for me for a week. What will happen? Well next tuesday the next battle round takes place. Could be more cleaning and preening of those tooth holes called root canals, or maybe just an extraction. I favour the latter.

Despite having all this done I know nothing of a root canal so thought best to investigate what they are. Here is my detective work.

A root canal is the space within the root of a tooth. It is part of a naturally occurring space within a tooth that consists of the pulp chamber (within the coronal part of the tooth), the main canal(s), and more intricate anatomical branches that may connect the root canals to each other or to the surface of the root.

For those of you desperate to know how to say root canal in Latin,

canalis radicis dentis

 

That even sounds painful without anything going wrong, and talking of pain I have not even mentioned the bill as yet. Apparently there are lots of these canals, rather like caves, and if one is missed and the dreaded pulp not removed, then the infection remains. Worse still they can have kinks in them and it has been known that the stick things that get poked down can break off inside. The joy does not stop there, oh no. These root canals if not treated properly can then spread their dreaded infection to local other tissues, jaw bones and finally cause a life-threatening constriction of the throat. This is not good news at all. But the good news is that these infernal canals can be found and apparently ” electronic apex locators” are just the thing. Sounds like those cameras you put down a drain to see where they are blocked, and also see just what the contents of the sewage are from your next door neighbours. Now there is a party theme. ImageImage
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05 Jan 2013

Kingstonian 2 Wealdstone 0. Photos


 

A grey day but far from a grey game. A Ryman Premier game played at a fast pace and with no little skill. The game could have gone either way with both these high-flying but inconsistent teams pushing for play-offs at a minimum. My prediction is that they will indeed meet at some stage post-season. Kingstonian, although playing at their ground, in fact groundshare with AFC Wimbledon and as a result the ground is a grand place to play Ryman League football. The floodlights also though far from perfect, are not at all bad for this level. The usual 10£ entry and 2£ for a decent programme, but £4.30 for a burger and kit-kat is a little steep, and in fact was the worst non-league burger I have sampled for some time. Before you ask, the best was Tooting.

A crowd of  451 watched the game, and I would estimate that at least 150 came from Wealdstone. There are far better places to get match reports than here but essentially Weladstone dominated the first-half and should have gone in ahead. The second half Kingstonian played with far better pace and passion and fully deserved their 2-0 victory and even had a player sent off for two yellow cards. Altogether a good day out and in terms of an overall football experience I would score it 7/10 which compares with Tooting last week which struggled to make it 3/10.

overhead kickIMG_8078IMG_8074In the air SIMG_8054IMG_8035IMG_8039IMG_8038IMG_8129

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02 Jan 2013

Flooding near Esher


Even now that the rain has allegedly stopped, the flooding is still present in many areas in Surrey. Certainly in Cobham the Thames is very high still and these photos are of a nice filed that is often used for picnics and cricket, not at the same time, in the summer. Near Esher and in fact opposite Garson’s Farm in Winterdown Lane. The cruel ones amongst us might suggest we are looking at the new QPR football ground with ample space for their legions of fans watching a team that has been the most consistent in the football league this season!

photo1photo

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30 Dec 2012

Tooting 1 Horsham 3. Ryman South. Dec 29th 2012


In a life of a football fan and especially a non-league photographer a day of hideous weather such as yesterday, is not wanted. Most games were called off and the challenge was to find a game that was actually on. For me this would have represented a challenge to the management of a club that wanted to boost their attendance by getting the word out there that the game is on, or even off. Some clubs did this very well. Respect due to Sutton who even replied to my humble tweet to them about if the game was on. A club that did badly on all counts was Tooting and Mitcham FC. I could find no social media nor internet site to answer my question. The websites attributed to Tooting seem to have been last updated months if not years ago. No Twitter account. No Facebook page. I might add that all these media are freely available and indeed free. Many other clubs did well to update their fans. Lets throw some praise around. Walton and Hersham have both twitter and facebook and their fans knew the night before that the game was off. Horsham regularly tweet game updates during the game.

I belong to a closed group on Facebook related to non-league photography and from the multiple postings there it was clear that our little coterie could have been driven to any game probably on, hence boosting attendances by a few, but multiply this up and clubs could have done themesleves a real favour.

Having guessed correctly that the game might be on I arrived 2.20pm at Tooting to find no information available. Was the game on or off? Turnstiles all locked. No signs. No clues. No programmes. A few stewards appeared, mostly young lads, doing a grand job I must say, of about 13-14 years, who appreciated the issue and went away to solve the problem. Turnstiles duly opened at 2.40pm. A thin paper based programme was on sale from a cheery gentleman for 2£. In all honesty the poorest non-league programme I have seen for some years. I do not exaggerate but I could have printed this off from my computer in far better format. Little to no food was available in the snack bar. A wait for 10 minutes led to a burger. Priced at the not so cheap price of 3.50£. Entrance to the ground was 10£.

The pitch was not in bad condition at all considering the rain .

I will stop my social media rant here, but what opportunities are being missed by clubs who want to boost their crowds. Each week we read that non-league football needs larger crowds but clubs must promote themselves a little better to get new fans. Tooting missed this opportunity big time yesterday.

 

The game itself was not a phenomenal one. The better side won easily. The reality was that Horsham looked fitter and better, by a bit, but maybe more interested as a team. No players stood out. no one disgraced themselves. Tooting might have felt a little aggrieved that they did not get an equaliser in the second half but maybe this would have been unfair. The Tooting manager in his technical area spent most of the second half swearing badly at his team, with some non-funny sarcastic comments thrown in. Seemingly oblivious to the fact that children could hear each and every of his well chosen words. I cannot say I warmed to him and wonder if his team does. Neither side will win anything this season and neither will get relegated, although on a bad run, Tooting might be drawn into the relegation battle. The low crowd of 155 should however be of concern to the club as based on this performance will not be getting any larger.

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Small Crowd at Tooting

Small Crowd at Tooting

IMG_7946IMG_7904IMG_7929IMG_7942IMG_7945IMG_7954IMG_7910IMG_7950IMG_7942IMG_7950

 

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30 Dec 2012

Reflections on Non-League football and social Media opportunities. Missed by Tooting FC . From a Non-League photographers perspective. Facebook and Twitter for non-league clubs.


In a life of a football fan and especially a non-league photographer a day of hideous weather such as yesterday, is not wanted. Most games were called off and the challenge was to find a game that was actually on. For me this would have represented a challenge to the management of a club that wanted to boost their attendance by getting the word out there that the game is on, or even off. Some clubs did this very well. Respect due to Sutton who even replied to my humble tweet to them about if the game was on. A club that did badly on all counts was Tooting and Mitcham FC. I could find no social media nor internet site to answer my question. The websites attributed to Tooting seem to have been last updated months if not years ago. No Twitter account. No Facebook page. I might add that all these media are freely available and indeed free. Many other clubs did well to update their fans. Lets throw some praise around. Walton and Hersham have both twitter and facebook and their fans knew the night before that the game was off. Horsham regularly tweet game updates during the game.

I belong to a closed group on Facebook related to non-league photography and from the multiple postings there it was clear that our little coterie could have been driven to any game probably on, hence boosting attendances by a few, but multiply this up and clubs could have done themesleves a real favour.

Having guessed correctly that the game might be on I arrived 2.20pm at Tooting to find no information available. Was the game on or off? Turnstiles all locked. No signs. No clues. No programmes. A few stewards appeared, mostly young lads, doing a grand job I must say, of about 13-14 years, who appreciated the issue and went away to solve the problem. Turnstiles duly opened at 2.40pm. A thin paper based programme was on sale from a cheery gentleman for 2£. In all honesty the poorest non-league programme I have seen for some years. I do not exaggerate but I could have printed this off from my computer in far better format. Little to no food was available in the snack bar. A wait for 10 minutes led to a burger. Priced at the not so cheap price of 3.50£. Entrance to the ground was 10£.

The pitch was not in bad condition at all considering the rain .

I will stop my social media rant here, but what opportunities are being missed by clubs who want to boost their crowds. Each week we read that non-league football needs larger crowds but clubs must promote themselves a little better to get new fans. Tooting missed this opportunity big time yesterday.

IMG_7965

Small Crowd at Tooting

Small Crowd at Tooting

 

IMG_7965

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28 Dec 2012
1 Comment

WH Smith’s. A mistake or a big Xmas con?


A few days before xmas we were shopping in Wimbledon and looking around an impressive WH Smith shop that maybe focuses on books. To be fair there were many true bargains there. But what caught my eye was a shelf that had many ” £20 for 2 books” offers on there, some of them again real bargains, like Guiness Book of Records, £19.99 each or 2 for £20. But I digress. There was also a huge selection of books far less than £10 included in the 2 for £20 offer and stickered. I did an A level in Maths ( or as the Americans like to say, Math)so was not too numerically challenged by this. But there are folks who struggle with numbers and these are the folks who maybe may have been taken in by this. For one book, one might say a simple error, but at least 5 books, suggests perhaps not. This suggests a cynical ploy  that does not endear me to WH Smiths, and one that maybe they might like to explain.

So as a few examples here are some I Phone photos, less than perfect but nonetheless clearly visible what the stickers are offering. The worst culprit was a £2.49 book, that had never even been £10 at full price, so could never in any system generated by a computer be suggested as stock that should be sold in this great alleged bargain.

wsmithwhsmith 2whsmith con

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20 Dec 2012

Ann Wildgust. A UK painter to watch out for.


Ann Wildgust has her latest exhibition at Holt, a small Norfolk town in UK. A truly superb series of paintings all around a theme. European links with early US settlers, hence some are painted in UK and others in Holland, Leiden. Well worth a visit. What is equally amazing is that Ann has only been painting now for a few years but is starting to attract attention as she is working in different styles and themes. We are fortunate enough to have one of her paintings and another print of one in our house. IMG_7887 2IMG_7880IMG_7871IMG_7875

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15 Dec 2012

Carshalton 0 Canvey Island 2. Ryman Premier


On a damp day 208 souls turned up to watch an entertaining game which until Canvey scored their second goal could have gone any way. Carshalton are currently bottom of the league and the second goal deflated them as did the sending off of one their players for a rash and bad tackle. the first half saw Canvey score in the 3rd minute and by half time Carshalton should have at least equalised , missing 3 relatively easy chances. But a good game with good banter from the crowd. For the remainder of the season? Carshalton will struggle. their defence was not solid and they did not take chances in front of goal, but their effort levels were high and a run of decent results could get them out of trouble. The run needs to start soon. Canvey looked a strong and solid side who will be in the top half of the table. Carshalton also do an excellent burger and Chips. Thanks to Parcelforce however there were no programmes today.

IMG_7778IMG_7783IMG_7784IMG_7800IMG_7802IMG_7814IMG_7820IMG_7834IMG_7839keeper

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17 Nov 2012
2 Comments

Woking 1 Alfreton 2. Blue Square Conference. Photos and short report


There were a few games that could be chosen today. Brentford were away at Preston and that was a trip too far. This game stood out as Woking is a friendly club, reasonably close, easy parking anf the two sides were close enough together in the league to suggest an even game. I think I am correct also in that both these sides are not full-time like an increasing number of conference sides are. A crowd of 1500 arrived on a pleasant if cool afternoon but the rain held of. 15£ is the admission price and £3 for a programmes and 3.50 for a cheeseburger.

The game was an even game but one felt that Alfreton always had the edge. Alfreton took the lead with a goal midway through the first half and Woking equalised before half time. The winning goal, a diving header that was unchallenged came around the 60th minute and from then on Woking never really looked like scoring again. Alfreton look like a side that will exist easily in mid-table but Woking need to hope that there are 4 worse sides come end of April.

Woking is also a good ground at which to photograph during daylight but today the light was poor and the floodlights not very strong, and I would guess that there were two stops difference in areas of the pitch. For those with photographic interest, most of my shots were taken initially with 1/1000th and 4.5, using ISO around 600, but by the end the ISO was up to 6400 and shutter speed down to 1/320th.  A decent day out.

 

Old Main Stand at Woking

Alfreton defending Gangnam Style

Alfreton Score First Goal

 

 

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