Schadenfreude

Wow! Ireland have beaten Pakistan in the world cup. That eliminates Pakistan from progressing to the next stage. Given the way the Pakistani board tried to subvert the rules to get their drug cheats in the side, I have no sympathy for them at all. So now is the time to embrace my maternal grandfather's heritage and cheer the Irish on. Adding that to the Kiwi victory over England makes for a pretty good weekend of cricket.

A bit like PJ O'Rourke in that respect

I have just read the latest Jeremy Clarkson book Born to be Riled. It is a collection of magazine articles. Clearly with Clarkson that means that they are mostly about cars. Now here is the thing about cars - they get outdated pretty quickly. So therefore does the writing about them. But a book published in 2006 should be fairly up to date and relevant. Except that most of the articles were written in the late '90s. It can be a little difficult working out exactly when each one was written because they are not in chronological order or any other order that I can see apart from "throw them in the air and see how they land". Clarkson doesn't let stuff go either. The articles repeat themselves a lot, particularly when it comes to cars that he either loves or loathes. That isn't when they are contradictory that is. Then there is the non-car stuff. I just never ever agree with his position on anything. Really, nothing at all. Heck I don't agree with a lot of the car stuff either. Which makes the fact that this book is compelling and hilarious reading all the more strange. I couldn't put it down. Jezza really is an astonishingly entertaining bloke. I think I need to go wash my eyes. Either that or go for a really fast drive.