Red & White

Red and white, blue suede shoes
I'm Uncle Sam, how do you do?
Gimme five, still alive
Ain't no luck, I learned to duck.

Check my pulse, it don't change
Stay seventy two, come shine or rain.
Wave the flag, pop the bag
Rock the boat, skin the goat.

Wave that flag, wave it wide and high.
Summertime done come and gone, my oh my.

US Blues, Garcia/Hunter.

Saw the American flag flying outside someone's house and my attention was caught by the way it had flipped over on itself and it was backlit by the sun.

Not only did it give me excuse to reproduce the lyrics of one of my favourite Grateful Dead songs but it also celebrates Stoke City's defeat of Birmingham City today. Stoke's strip, or uniform as the Americans say, is red and white striped shirts and white shorts.

I watched the game on the computer this afternoon, courtesy of ESPN3. It was a game Stoke desperately needed to win, following four consecutive defeats. That is Dallas Cowboys form and not good. Just ask Wade Phillips who was fired yesterday as head coach of the Cowboys.

Fortunately for Stoke's manager/coach, the club's owner is not a meglomaniac like Jerry Jones, owner of the Dallas Cowboys.

In a five-goal thriller, Stoke City eventually emerged as the winners.

Stoke led 2-0 at one point but Birmingham came back to draw level. Just as it looked as if the momentum was swinging Birmingham's way, Stoke scrambled the winner with five minutes to go, plus the five minutes added on by the referee.

A big sigh of relief sounded across Riverside.

On the virus front, I woke up this morning feeling absolutely dreadful but after breakfast I seemed to perk up and haven't done too badly. Now whether worse is to come in the ensuing days, I don't know. But if it follows the same course as it has done with my wife, I am going to get a lot worse before I get better. But then we all have different metabolisms, so I am trying to look on the bright side. I must be ill then. :-)