Travels with Dinno - Goole

Following our family's move to the Costa Del Worksop we needed to find a new rugby club for my son. He had played at Huddersfield RUFC since the age of 5. We had a number of club choices in the 'greater' Worksop area. Worksop has a rugby club but not one that plays age group rugby. So the choices were Mansfield, Sheffield and Dinnington. We were invited to the end of season festival at Dinnington and were given a very warm welcome.

So that is where we started the season. The coaches seemed to like Tom and were excited that he could play in a few positions. First match of the season was against Market Rasen. This was a team which we had never played before.  When I was just a parent standing on the sidelines I used to judge a club by its bacon rolls and hot food. Market Rasen served very good bacon rolls and hot chocolate.

Tom started his first match at blindside flanker. He performed reasonably well and did the job he was asked to do. Unfortunately the team lost 31-25. It was a game of two halves with the development team starting the first and showing promise. The first team came on and scored 5 unanswered tries.

The club's next game was a local derby against Sheffield. The last time Tom visited this club he had to play without boots. the last time he played against them he was on a losing team. Two matches were played. The first team played the first game. After a slow start the first team absolutely dominated and came out 31-12. The second team won their match 15 - 13. This was a display of forward power. Two tries were drive over tries and one was a piece of individual brilliance by our beast of a flanker who is henceforth known as Rupert. The boy played on the wing and had a reasonably good game again. Since joining Dinno his tackling has improved somewhat

The food was very good but the parking was lousy.

Today we visited Goole another new club for us. So what did I learn today? That Google Maps has no idea about how to get somewhere. The food was pretty good. Bacon and brie rolls and very good hot chocolate. Only one minor criticism. When you are serving a customer don't tell your helper to give the customer a smaller mug for his hot chocolate.

The rugby was good. The squad was smaller than usual (a mere 24 players). The stars were new boy Jake and the beast that is Rupert. The club has a definite first team and a number of the players in the 'development' team are good enough to be in the first team. The coaches have made a point of telling the whole squad this. The boy started on the wing and made some good drives and some good tackles. At half time the game was comfortable. Changes were then made and the team switched off and then Goole got back into the match. However, the team kept the scoreboard ticking over and ended up winning 36 - 26. The boy had another solid performance and just needs to get the ball in space and he will start to do some serious damage.

The players meal was, according to the boy, the best he has ever had. For the record it was some kind of stew inside a huge Yorkshire pudding.

Throughout the season I will be reporting on our travels around the country to points north, south, east and west.

Come on Dinno!!!!

TV books and film of the week

Well what have I been watching of late.

Since my last post last year the current Mrs K and I have got into a few programmes.  Each week we both watch This Week. For those not in the UK this a political discussion programme hosted by Andrew Neil and featuring Michael Portillo and various other luminaries from the worlds of politics, journalism and entertainment.  The discussions are relaxed and at the same time challenging on the issues of the week.

We also started to watch Once Upon A Time. The premise here is that all your favourite fairytale characters have been dragged into our world and are living in some sort of bubble. The series started out and looked promising but like Flashforward it never managed to sustain our interest to the extent that we recorded it for weeks and eventually gave up watching it.  The series has been recommissioned but I am not sure where they can go with it to be honest. After a while we stopped caring about the characters and decided to move on.

Our new favourite TV series is Person of Interest. The lead is Jim Caviezel who went from playing Christ and then to Number 6 in the remake of The Prisoner. He plays an ex CIA/black ops type who is recruited by an eccentric billionaire ( aren't they all!!!) to help prevent crimes. Featuring the talents of J J Abrams (Lost, Star Trek) and Jonathan Nolan (who helped to write Memento, The Prestige and The Dark Knight) the series is intelligent, action packed and leaves you wondering what is going to happen next. The series has been renewed for a second season. Think of it as a cross between The Equalizer, Enemy of the State and any other series featuring ex CIA agents.

In terms of reading I currently have a couple of books on the go. As you can see from the front page of the blog I am reading Bernard Cornwell's The Last Kingdom, the first part of his Alfred series. I am in fact re-reading it as part of a process to try and decide which books to keep and which to give to charity. One of my rules is never throw a book away.  I am also reading Steven Eriksson's Gardens of the Moon. Apart from the incomprehensible plot it is well written and I will definitely read the next book in the series. Recently I read The Long Earth by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter. Pratchett's non- Discworld stuff is variable in quality but this shows promise. I have also read two books based around the premise of stopping the assassination of JFK. Tim Kring's book Shift was decidedly unsatisfying. Stephen King's 11.22.63 was a much better book. The story is excellent and the ideas underlying are also strong. The weakness comes in the execution of it. The book is overlong. I have also recently read new James Bond stories. Devil May Care by Sebastian Faulks is very much written a la Ian Fleming and is set in the time of the original Bond's and is very good. Jeffrey Deaver's Carte Blanche is a different beast and is overlong. Fleming would have taken half the space to tell the same story.

I have been exploring my DVD collection in recent weeks. In the last few days I have watched Avengers Assemble. It was much hyped and in the hands of Joss Whedon (Buffy, Firefly and Serenity) it delivers. Of the films featuring the characters leading up to this only the Iron Man films have delivered. This is largely down to the fact that Robert Downey Jr is an excellent lead. This is not to say that the other films were bad. They weren't but they could have been better.

Plans are afoot for more films featuring the characters. The film is funny, dramatic and you get the impression that the actors had a ball making it. The best line for me is when Downey Jr challenged by Tom Hiddlestone's Loki claiming that he is a God says yes 'But we have a Hulk'. Hiddlestone is then smashed up later by said Hulk who calls him a 'puny God'.  I have also been watching the deliciously violent Desperado with Antonio Banderas and Salma Hayek.

Happy viewing and reading.

Well hello again followers I am back in the blogging business.

Since my last post in August last year a lot has changed. I found work then left work when the family moved to a new town. I am now living back not far from where I grew up. My son is going to the same school I attended nearly a quarter of a century ago.

We have changed rugby clubs. My son now plays for Dinnington RUFC. Currently he is in their development team. This isn't a reflection on his ability more the fact that their first team is very strong and he has to learn the Dinno way and work his way into the first team. He made his debut last week in a 36 - 25 loss to Market Rasen.

Today we were at Sheffield RUFC. The A team beat Sheffield 31 - 12. The boy then came on to play in the B team match. He played at wing. Dinno won 15 - 12.  We have both been made welcome by the people at Dinnington and so the change has been made easier.

Apart from irritations caused by doctors the move has been a fantastic success. Since moving I have found work. The house we are renting is fabulous and we are trying to buy it. We have also seen other houses in case we can't. I am walking more because everything is so close that I don't need the car. We go out walking in the forest regularly and the bike is getting dusted down.

My job at University of Sheffield has been great. So all we need to do now is find our own house and get my wife a job nearer to home. There are plenty of jobs out there you just need to be flexible in your outlook and be picky about what you apply for.

Well in the coming weeks more travels with Dinno and other exciting things.