Good King Glenn McGrath looked out
On the Feast of Stephen
Where the pitch lay round about
Just a bit uneven
Brightly shone Shane Warne that night
Though the Poms were cruel
Then A Flintoff came in sight
Batting like a foo-oo-el.

Adara and I returned last night from three days in Newcastle visiting her grandmother and having the time of her life playing with some of her second cousins. She is now the proud owner of surely the bulk of the Dora the Explorer merchandise catalogue. If you or your superannuation fund holds a stake in Viacom, think of us next time you receive a share dividend.

This morning was a celebration of the real reason for Christmas, namely the commemoration of the birth of Jesus Christ. Lessons and carols at All Saints this morning. Wonderful stuff.

Adara and Di head to Adelaide tonight for Christmas week with their relatives. My family engagements are complete, and I am exhausted. Time for bloggage-as-therapy before the Obligatory Christmas Afternoon Nap. Currently listening to John Fahey's rendition of some Christmas music being played on WNYC-FM from New York.

You really, truly, haven't lived till you've heard Twisted Sister's performance of "O Come All Ye Faithful", which sounds so much like "We're Not Gonna Take It" that it will make your 1980s long hair stand on end.

Well I'll be.

I really thought he was going to stay on for the 2009 Ashes. What we will now see is a SCG dead-rubber which plays second fiddle to Warnie's swan-song in the manner of Steve Waugh 2004.

Here's the SMH report broken just a few minutes ago.

I wonder if Cricket Australia will give him a gold watch, or maybe a gold mobile phone...

With two dead erasers still to go in The Ashes of 2006-07, The Biggest Tasmanian Since Errol Flynn has a slender lead in the polling for the Midwinter-Midwinter.

B.T.S.E.Flynn is one point ahead of The Bloke Named After Eddie's Football Team, with, not the Lord of the Rings, but the Lord of the Text Alerts one point further back in third place.

For an explanation of what the hell the Midwinter-Midwinter is all about, refer to my post of November 24 on the subject.

"What depresses me most is not the fact that England lose in Australia, but that they're laying down and dying."

These were the words of Ray Illingworth yesterday, one of the many who have tried and failed the seemingly impossible task of elevating England to a competitive cricketing nation.

The Ashes are ours again!

Analysis later.

Uproar this week over the release of "Barney Cam 5: Barney's Christmas Adventure", the latest in an annual series of documentaries produced by, and starring, the US Scottie-in-Chief, Barney the Dog.

Featured in this nine-minute expose of the corridors of White House power are the President's special adviser, Rove McManus, and the US Underscottie-in-Chief, Miss Beazley.

And, I can reveal here exclusively that Miss Beazley's previously-undisclosed first name is Kim.

This is a real hoot. Klezmer is traditional Jewish music, and in 1998 an American klezmer band called the Klezmonauts decided to have a go at some Christmas songs. Hence the wonderfully tongue-in-cheek album entitled "Oy To The World".

And on the markets this Saturday morning: Dax are up, Dow closes on a record high, and Australia are 100-1 on to win the Ashes (source: Paddypower)

Having missed almost all of the second day's play due to AGMs and children (although I did happen to chance upon seeing the conclusion of the England innings), I'll refer instead to the comments of others.