Edinburgh, here we come!

Last night, we had our second to last game of the season. Although I enjoy doing the sports action photography, I couldn't wait for it to be over because it was the last thing I had to get done before we go off to Edinburgh tomorrow! I can't wait! Edinburgh is supposed to be a great city and we'll be there for the Fringe Festival and our anniversary! And we're seeing the Military Tattoo which will be great but I know I'm going to be wishing I had a press pass for it, lol.

We have so many things planned, we had to make a schedule to fit it all in. We'll only be there for 3 days and now I wish we'd planned for longer. Steve says he'll be able to post blog updates from Edinburgh on his iPhone but that's probably easier said then done, lol.

I just hope the weather is okay. Yesterday, it was sunny when I got up, then it rained, then the sun came out, then it rained again, then sun came out again. I was just grateful it didn't rain during the game, I HATE shooting in the rain! This morning, the sun has been out but the weather gets worse the farther north you go so I don't know what Edinburgh will be like.

Anyway, I should go start packing! I will leave you with my photos from the game last night. Expect lots of pictures from Edinburgh when I come back, although they may not be any good depending on the weather (it certainly didn't cooperate in Wales!)

Surprise! I'm a spider

Last night, after a long day at work (another match), I let out an almighty shriek as I opened the bathroom door, flicked the light switch and there on the floor sat a rather giant spider. Steve rushed to my aid with killer tissues in hand but upon seeing the size of the spider, he said "You know, I think I'll use a shoe instead".

I felt bad about my shriek because it was the kind that might have made Steve think something was actually wrong, not just my freakishly inexplicable fear of spiders. It always reminds me of the story Mom tells about when James was little and started screaming "Mom! Mom! Come quick!" So she rushed outside, thinking something was seriously wrong, maybe he'd even been hurt... only to find him pointing up at the sky and shouting "Look! A plane!" That's me with spiders, except I am actually terrified, not shouting for joy.

I definitely need to buy this shirt that Ange showed me! (To the right).

So, as mentioned, we also had a game last night, which you can see pictures from on my flickr account here. No major incidences like last time, unless you count the fan who tried to throw a bottle at the ref. We could get fined for that but apparently the match official said it was somewhat understandable given the call the ref had just made, lol.

And more from our boring lives...

It seems the only thing eventful in our lives at the moment is rugby games! Bah! But here's some juicy gossip: last night, one of the "fans" verbally abused our head coach in a very threatening manner. Apparently, Shaun (the coach) was visibly shook up and admitted he should have walked away but was afraid if he turned his back on the guy, he would be physically attacked from behind. Shaun is a pretty tough guy and though he's never shown that side to me, I imagine he can be very intimidating. So for him to be shook up and fearful means this "fan" must have been very aggressive and threatening.

So apparently, despite Salford beating a few of the best teams in the league this season, when we lose, our "fans" are entitled to abuse our head coach. I'd like to blame it on the alcohol but apparently the same guy has since been on the unofficial forum proudly bragging about the altercation.

The good news is, Paul witnessed it all, we know who the guy is and we will be banning him for at least the rest of the season. Next season, he can "plead his case" but it's not guaranteed the ban will be lifted next season either. If he attempts to gain entry to one of the games during his ban, it will be extended to a life time ban and Steve will get the police involved. I don't understand people who behave this way to begin with but least of all do I understand how they think they can get away with it, especially when they go bragging about it on the internet.

And in other, slightly related good news, I think I got some really good shots from this game (one of them being to the left). I've set up a flickr account because uploading to blogspot reduces the image quality so much. All my work is up there now, including the rest from the match last night.

Been a while

Sorry, I haven't posted in so long. I wish I could say we've been really busy but in fact, our lives are just that boring, I had nothing to post about, lol. But now I do.

Last night Salford had a game so it was our usual 13 hour work day and not surprisingly, it was RAINING. And we lost. I haven't processed the photos from it either so that's about it for that topic.

Today, there was a City friendly being played in South Africa and they aired it on a big screen at the City stadium. It was also the opening of the new shop and release of the new shirt. They advertised it as "family fun" and were supposed to have lots of activities there so I went along but the whole thing was very disappointing. In terms of "family fun", they had soccer kick game set up (you know, kick the ball and try to hit a target), a man on stilts making balloon animals and a face painter. I thought it would be more than that - more games or maybe even rides. So we decide to go into the new shop but as we round the corner, there was such a long ling to get in, we decided to skip it. We were hearing some engine noises and wanted to check it out - I think it was a motorbike race - but it was £10 each to get in so we axed that as well, lol. The only thing left was to watch the game on the big screen. Only trouble was, they couldn't get the satellite working! Took them 32 minutes after the game had started to get it working. We stayed until half time but it was threatening to rain so we got out of there. All that to watch 13 minutes of the game! But I did manage to snap some pictures so here they are (Aoife was very grumpy!):

Happy 4th of July from England!

Tonight, Amanda and I are going to Ladies Night! Another one of the players is celebrating his 10th year with the team and it's customary for him to hold several events for it. There's a fancy dinner dance one, a golf day, a ladies night, etc.

So anyway, I decided to go shopping for something to wear last minute and while at the Trafford Centre, Selfridges (a department store) had a bunch of American food brands you don't normally find over here for the 4th of July! Steve tells me they always have this stuff at Selfridges (they just had it out on the front display for Independence Day) but I'm sure if I'd known that, I would have taken advantage of it before now!

On another happy note, Salford had a surprising win last night against St Helens - haven't had time to process the pics from it yet but for now, here's a picture of all the American foods I got at Selfridges (yes, that's our couch in the background). I'm now off to get ready for Ladies Night - hopefully I'm not too worse for wear tomorrow for webcam! lol

Robin Gets Hit by a Ball

That's right, last night I got hit by my first ball. After narrowly escaping being hit from the front thanks to my quick reflexes, it bounced off the boards behind me and hit me in the back. Luckily, by that point it had lost much of it's momentum and didn't hurt. But the fact that it came inches from hitting my camera, which would have then hit me in the face, did shake me up a bit. As I result, anytime the action got anywhere near me again, I was too busy making sure the ball wasn't coming my way to take any pictures!

That, combined with the fact that Salford played poorly and were defending more than they were on the offense (which meant they were all the way at the other end of the field where even a 300mm lens can't reach) meant I did not come away with many photos.

But here they are - this was an away game so that's why Salford are in black instead of red.





And now, I'm off to lounge in the rare English sunshine!