I Caught You a Delicious Bass

Did I ever tell anyone I met this guy?

2007-03-20T23:07:00.000Z

i Tunes

2007-02-28T21:14:00.000Z

i Tunes has proven to be a bit of a cultural time machine for me. Today I bought "Epic" and "Falling to Pieces" by Faith No More. These are from their album "The Real Thing" which proved to be a somewhat important pivot point for the development of my musical taste. A friend lent me a tape of this on the way back from watching a hockey match and it was my first real introduction to the world of hard rock/metal (whichever you please to tag it) and moved me away from the tastes of my brothers (mainly U2 and REM) into my own tastes. It led to a greater liking for things with a harder edge and with a bit of a difference about them.

The good thing is that the songs that I have downloaded today sound as good as I remember them to be. Now let me go and dig out "Angel Dust"...

Messi and Me

2006-09-28T20:45:00.000+01:00

Vader

2006-09-17T22:55:00.000+01:00

I have a photo of Darth Vader that I was planning to put a speech bubble on and get him to say something amusing but have never got round to doing it. This will fill in the blank and is from the blog de jour Apropos Comics

More Apropos Comics

2006-09-13T23:25:00.000+01:00

Click on the picture for an enlarged image to see it better

Numbers oddity

2006-09-12T19:40:00.000+01:00

My iTunes is showing that I have 818 artists and 919 albums in my library.

Does me noticing this and finding it interesting make me a little bit autistic?

Apropos Comics

2006-09-10T17:38:00.000+01:00

There's a new link in my Link bar, linking you to Apropos Comics a funny page featuring comics, with the words changed. Check it out. I found it funny, but then I am a comics geek and find these types of things funny, kind of like the G. I. Joe cartoons with the words changed

Its a short distance from happiness to despair

2006-09-10T17:09:00.000+01:00

I love the fact that in this photo, showing David Healy after his third (and winning) goal against the Spanish, Healy himself cuts the picture in two.

On one side we have the happy Norn Irishers, celebrating with abandon, and on the other, the Spaniards, heads in hands.

Two happy greens with arms in the air, two unhappy reds with heads in hands, a replay of the goal on the big screen behind, and the realisation of what has just happened sinking in to the players minds.

New Club, same colours, same problems...

2006-09-10T16:46:00.000+01:00

Spot the familiar tale in this story about Juve starting their Serie B campaign, from the BBC:

Juventus started their campaign in Italy's Serie B by being held to a 1-1 draw at 10-man Rimini.

Defender Matteo Paro gave them the lead on the hour mark and Rimini midfielder Domenico Cristiano was then sent off for a challenge on Pavel Nedved.

But a misunderstanding between Robert Kovac and Jean-Alain Boumsong allowed Adrian Ricchiuti in for the equaliser.

It was Juve's first-ever match outside Serie A following their relegation after the match-fixing scandal.

Their punishment also included a 17-point deduction.

Coach Didier Deschamps said: "We already knew we faced an uphill battle this season. All the matches will be like this.

"It will take time for us to adapt. Unfortunately we don't have much of it."

Healy's Third Goal

2006-09-07T22:05:00.000+01:00

From Marca, via Google Translate:

"To its back, Healey reached the leather and it placed with a petroleum jelly over Squares, completing therefore the defeat and the Spanish disaster in Belfast"

Branded

2006-09-06T08:57:00.000+01:00

There was an interesting bit of news on the BBC Football website this morning:

Sevilla striker Fredi Kanoute has been allowed to wear a shirt without the club's sponsors 888.com on it, as the company promotes online gambling which is against Kanoute's Muslim faith

This is the frist time I have heard of a footballer refusing to wear a sponsor's name on their shirt due to moral/religious reasons and it brings up an interesting area. I think that we have just got used to seeing sponsors' names splashed across the front (and back and sides and sleeves in some cases) of football shirts that we don't really see them there anymore. They are as much part of the shirt as the badge.

But they are there and they are seen by millions across the world. Whenever Man Utd play, people will see 11 adverts for "AIG", when it is Inter Milan "Pirelli" is plastered across the front in nicely contrasting white letters. In some cases where clubs have longstanding associations with sponsors, the logo becomes an integral part of the kit (imagine Ajax's red and white striped shirt without "ABN Amro" running vertically down the side of it). Fans who buy the shirt are not only showing their support for their team but also carrying around a mini-promotion on their chest. The only time I have heard of clubs having to play sans sponsor is when Liverpool played in Europe, and some countries ban advertising of alcohol on television. Therefore, the 'Pool had to remove "Carlsberg" and play with a simple red shirt. This highlights the fact that what they are doing week by week is just that, advertising alcohol on television.

The Kanoute case is interesting because the world of online gambling has pushed its way into a prominent position over the last couple of years in the area of shirt sponsorship. Middlesborough, Blackburn, Aston Villa in England have all had sponsorship from online gambling, meaning that kids in the north east, the north west and the midlands are, no doubt running around with little adverts for gambling on their fronts and watching their heroes endorsing it by default. Good on Kanoute for standing up and highlighting the morals of the situation.

The solution to this? Maybe everyone should look to Barcelona, who still deign their red and blue stripes to be too precious to sully with a sponsor's logo. They have continued to stick to their guns, despite effectively plugging that route of income.

New Italy Kit: Large Dolphin Costume?

2006-09-02T21:29:00.000+01:00

The apparent appointment of Wayne Coyne, lead singer of the Flaming Lips, as the new Italian national team manager opens up a whole new world of possibilities for the World Champions.

Previous coach, Marcello Lippi, had been quoted as saying he wanted to alter the way the Italian team played and was pushing inovation. Mr Coyne has been pushing the boundaries of popular music for the last decade or so and should fit well into this new world.

Apparently his first orders were to introduce a new home kit, a large dolphin costume in traditional azzuri blue and orders to players to douse their faces with fake blood 3/4 of the way through games, in order to get the crowd going.

The azzuri are to embark on a 32 date world tour later on in the year to promote their new album "At War With Les Bleus"

A man's best friend, the elephant

2006-08-22T19:59:00.000+01:00

If someone stole your elephants, what would you do? This dude choses to go after the crooks and kick some ass.

Done in a refreshing way, free from wire work and arty pretentions.

It looks pretty painful.

The Protector

Why pray together?

2006-08-19T18:26:00.000+01:00

"Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching."

How do we encourage each other as Christians?

How do we spur one another on toward love and good deeds?

How do Christians distinguish themselves from non-Christians when they meet together?

Surely meeting together to pray is an important part of Christian fellowship and is a key way in which we encourage one another and a method, given from God, to spur us on in the living the life in an world where we stand out as different.

"And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints"

"Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful"

"pray continually"

Beneath the clothes, we find the man... and beneath the man we find his... nucleus

2006-08-13T17:21:00.000+01:00

Went to see Nacho Libre last night. It is not as funny as Napoleon Dynamite but retains the ridiculousness of that film. I think its great that people make films like this, that don't have to make sense and, while not everything in it is funny, if they didn't try the world would be a much sadder place to live.

Below is an amusing soundboard of Nacho Libre, hug hug, liddle kiess...

Nacho Libre Soundboard

The Joker

2006-08-02T11:24:00.000+01:00

Heath Ledger has been signed up for the next Batman film, "The Dark Knight", to play the Joker. Its hard to tell how he will look in the role, so I thought I'd do a bit of publc service and try and represent him.

Here he is looking fairly normal, but importantly flashing a smile, which is all important for the playing of the white faced psycho.
And here he is after my limited Adobe Illustrator skills got to work on him. I'm going to sit back now and wait for Christopher Nolan to contact me about the job as concept designer for the new film...

Pictures from my computer No. 14

2006-08-02T10:29:00.000+01:00

Umm, yeah, can't quite remember what this was all about but I think it was from a toy fair in Japan...

Japan looks fun, I hope to go there some day...

Cause for optimism

2006-08-01T17:50:00.000+01:00

Sometimes a story comes along that makes you optimistic for the state of the world:

Click here

Favourite Sketches No. 1

2006-07-31T16:05:00.000+01:00

Channel 4 did a run down of the Top 50 sketches last week. Dissapointingly, a Little Britain sketch came No. 1. I say dissapointingly because Little Britain is one of those shows which a lot of people find funny but I don't. It seems to me that very little writing goes into some of the sketches and it is just a case of putting the same jokes in a different situation.

The sketch that won was that one where the guy in the wheelchair can actually walk and does something when the other guy, who's looking after him, is away, or has his back turned, and then returns to his chair before the other guy comes back. Do you know the one I'm talking about? The one, two, five or ten that I'm talking about, as they are all the same joke?

Compare that with Vic and Bob, Monty Python or even old school greats like the Two Ronnies and Morcambe and Wise.

I'll put a few sketches up over the next wee while, things that I find very funny. Little Britain won't be among them.

A favourite of mine that didn't make the list is shown below. It's related to Little Britain, as the comedy is drawn from the same things happening all over again. Only this has imagination, a surreal edge and, most importantly, is funny.

Monty Python's Flying Circus - Deja Vu

1. Paper

2006-07-28T09:28:00.000+01:00

I'll do graffiti, if you sing to me in french

2006-07-27T22:27:00.000+01:00

I don't know if other people are familar with this phenomenon but sometimes albums that you have had for a while seem to jump on you and wrestle you to the ground in ways that they never did before.

I've had "A Certain Trigger" by Maximo Park for a good while now and thought it was mostly OK. It had a couple of excellent songs, namely Going Missing and Graffiti but the rest, while not being bad, never struck me.

I was sitting doing corrections for one of my thesis chapters tonight and decided to stick it on iTunes just for something different and it has just sounded better than it ever did before. I can't explain why but the music is clicking, the enthusiasm is coming through strong and making me smile, the lyrics and sometimes jerky style is working, rather than mildly annoying like it has been in the past.

Its great and less than £6 on Amazon.co.uk, bargin. Apparently they are brilliant live too. My brother saw them on the NME tour that was supposed to be the Arctic Monkeys' property but he far preferred Maximo Park as they put a lot of heart and soul into the performance. I will try and catch them sometime.

My only regret is that I don't quite know how to do that double dot of the i needed to accurately spell the name.

Its all Dutch to me

2006-07-25T17:28:00.000+01:00

Are we sure that the Dutch language was not put in place by God to let the rest of the world laugh, while the Dutch themselves were relaxed and good natured enough not to take offence.

Take this quote from Dutch footballing great Johan Neeskens about joining Barcelona as a coach. I'm no expert in Dutch, but I might be able to work out what he saying here:

Neeskens: "Barcelona is mijn droomclub"

Yeash...

Martin Jol for Prime Minister!

Go on Duffer!

2006-07-23T15:41:00.000+01:00

Hopefully this is the first signing of many this summer for Newcastle. It would be great if this was also setting the benchmark for the quality of signings that are going to come in, as Damien Duff is a great player.

I think that Glenn Roeder seems intelligent enough to not spend all the money the club have on bringing in a left winger when we still need plenty of options right up front, so it might be an indicator of more money being available than had been thought. Freddie Shepard is a fool and has sat over some really bad mismanagement of the club in recent years but also seems to be able to sign players that it wouldn't seem possible to get. Michael Owen came to us last season and now Duff, after rumoured interest from Liverpool.

It has also now been revealed that the fee was only £5M, which is an absolute bargin! Obviously he is going to be earning a good wage, but what decent premiership player isn't these days. This is a top way to kick off the transfers. I'm hoping for more where this came from.

It's good to think that my friend from Dundalk will now be shouting "Go on Duffer!" at the TV whenever Newcastle are playing

Space (I Believe In)

2006-07-21T11:45:00.000+01:00

Yesterday was the 36th anniversary of the Apollo 11 space mission allowing the first men to walk on the Moon. I have been reading Moondust recently, in which the author travels round trying to speak to the men who have been to the moon and see how it has affected them, both while they were there, but more when they have come back.

Some of it is fascinating. Even the description of the moon landing excited me greatly, talking through how it set down and creating images of the men in the Eagle lander looking out the windows to see the surface of another planetary body. I have read much more fantastical things in science fiction before but the massive difference is that this is fact, that people have actually walked on the small, grey sphere that you see in the sky each night.

At one point the author is rememebering watching the landing on TV and running outside to look up at the moon in the night sky thinking, "There are actually people walking on that, right now". The astronauts had the privilige of looking back and seeing the whole Earth above them, containing the whole of humanity, apart from them. They were the only members of the human race who were not on that beautiful piece of rock, floating above them.

Having spent a childhood obsessed with space, superheros, sci-fi and having also carried that into my adult life, it blows my mind sometimes.

I think I'll sign up if they ever want people to go back

Yeah Yeah Yeahs: Cheated Hearts

2006-07-20T12:40:00.000+01:00

The Yeah Yeah Yeahs are one of those bands that inspires a great devotion in their fans, maybe mainly due to their front-woman, Karen O, being extremely bonkers in performances and dressing like she was catapulted through a charity shop and came out the other side.

They used this devotion to their advantage in the making of their latest video and got fans from around the world to send in videos of themselves being the band. They spliced them all together to make the video below. I got this from You Tube, which also seems to have quite a few posts of videos that were made for the competition.

Superman Returns

2006-07-20T10:22:00.000+01:00

I should be going to see Superman Returns tomorrow night and have just heard a good review of it from Mark Kermode on Radio Five's podcast. It was quite encouraging and he said that while the film is not groundbreaking, or does not fit the trend of the "dark superhero" films (Batman obviously, the Spiderman series less so), it is an enjoyable film.

A couple of things give me hope added to this; The poster above, showing Superman hovering in space, above the Earth, the similar scene in the trailer when he is listening to the world from a similar position and the great bit in the trailer when the stereotypical "bad guy" shoots him, point blank, in the eye, only for the bullet to squish like a fly hitting a fast-moving juggernaut. All these things show that the director, Bryan Singer, understands a bit of what makes Superman who he is and is willing to play around with the powers he has to good effect. This can only be a good thing.

We will see though. I have a habit of being dissapointed with these type of films, although Batman Begins didn't let me down, maybe his buddy won't either.

I know its old but its still funny

2006-07-20T10:09:00.000+01:00

The Empire BrokeBack

A nice surprise

2006-07-18T21:31:00.000+01:00

This is maybe a bit long and goes round the houses a bit but I have had a nice surprise this evening and it's all because Airplane! is on TV tomorrow night. I'll tell you why...

Airplane! is one of my favourite films, due to its ridiculous amount of jokes and its sense of humour. It is on Channel Five tomorrow night.

Wednesday nights are my wife and I's "Date Night", a night in the week where we make sure that we are not doing anything else with other people, or that we do not have washing/shopping etc. to do and relax together and have some chill time. It is important to do this because we otherwise find that our weeks fill up very quickly and we never see each other. We basically do something that people would on a date.

This Wednesday we were deciding between going to see Superman Returns, or staying in, having a nice tea and watching Capote on DVD.

Obviously, Airplane! being on in the early evening doesn't really fit in with this plan, so I decided to tape it and watch it at some other time. The probelm being that I didn't really know what was on all the tapes I had lying around in the living room, so thought I would go through them and see what things were there and what things could be taped over.

I had forgotten that I had taped a lot of stuff. There was a series, Mirrorball, that was on Channel 4 a long time ago that focused on the work of a different music video director each week, including the guys who worked on Sexy Boy by Air (Mike Mills), Rabbit in Your Headlights by UNKLE (Jonathon Glazer), Smack My Bitch Up by The Prodigy (some Swedish guy whose name escapes me at the minute) and the guy who made the disturbing videos for Aphex Twin's classics, Come To Daddy and Windowlicker (Chris Cuningham. If you have never seen them, approach with caution!). There was plenty of old South Park, including the first appearance of Mr Macky, and before the whole show got so obsessed with shocking and offending everyone. There was the series Catterick, the brainchild of Vic and Bob, featuring the characters Chris and Kinky John (now playing a policeman, "I am the American Eagle") who took part in The Club ("I might just be wrats!"). I found Match of the Day from the first day of the 98/99 season, which had the amusement of picking out Kevin Davis being a good investment for Blackburn, and also highlights of Arsenal playing Fiorentina at Wembley in the Champions league with Rui Costa, Batistuta, Petit, Overmars and Adams all on view. Flims I'd forgotten I had included the Game, The Blair Witch Project (the most poo-inducing film I think I've seen), Fargo and Seven

That was all a nice surprise but not what I'm posting about.

One of the tapes had some of 4Later contained on it, including a show, Really Good Videos (I think was the name but I could be wrong) where they played a video by Adam Green called "Jessica". It was a good song that I had never heard before but had heard of Adam Green as he was also in a band called The Moldy Peaches, whose CD I bought many years ago. I bought Jessica on iTunes and listening to it and searching around the internet for info about him lead my mind back to The Moldy Peaches CD.

Its an odd one due to it being very lo-fi in its production and by the cleverness of some of the lyrics being so linked to the simpleness of some of the music. The Adam Green song seemed a lot more expansive, featuring strings and normal production values (shock horror). Hearing it made me want to go and find my Moldy Peaches CD and give it another listen, a re-visit.

I dug it out of my boxes of CDs, along with a couple of Dinosaur Jr CDs and "Scream, Dracula, Scream" by Rocket from the Crypt, that I happened to see in the course of my search, and opened it up put in my computer.

That's when the surprise came. Sitting in the case, along with the Moldy Peaches CD was my copy of Sigur Ros's first album, Agaetis Byrjun, which I had thought I had lost somewhere along the way as I had opened up the case of it one day to find that it was not there, was not in my CD holder elsewhere and no where to be seen. I was a bit sad because it is one of the most amazing albums around and I mourned the loss of it (despite the fact that I had already put it on my computer and therefore could still listen to it).

I have no idea why I put it there, or when, but I now have it back in circulation, and all because Airplane! is on TV on Wednesday night.

Pocoyo

2006-07-17T16:35:00.000+01:00

I was told at the weekend that I reminded someone of Pocoyo, the cute little boy in the CiTV show. Apparently it is because of his big smile.

Its a great show and proves that TV for young kids doesn't have to be bland, boring or patronising.

The makers of the show are obviously quite cool too, having their own blog to tell people stuff about how the show was put together and where the characters came from.

I'll have to go out and buy myself a blue hat and a little blue suit...

Feeding Horses Polos

2006-07-12T15:35:00.000+01:00

Back to work after some lunch and whatnot and carrying on with the Top Rated shuffle for this afternoon. We'll see what comes up.

Elvis Presley - An American Trilogy
Avril Lavigne (!) - Complicated (Umm...I have varied tastes......)
Hundred Reasons - Silver
Daft Punk - Human After All
Johnny Cash - Boy Named Sue
Neil Young - Rockin' in the Free World
Tom McRae - Draw Down the Stars
Pulp - His 'n' Hers
Arctic Monkeys - From the Ritz to the Rubble
Mogwai - Yes! I am a long way from home
Veruca Salt - Seether
AC/DC - Dirty Deeds Done Cheap
Al Green - Glad You're Mine
Weezer - The Good Life
Therapy? - Trigger Inside
The Divine Comedy - Little Acts of Kindness

And with that, I am becoming bored by writing this, so I'm sure that anyone reading it will be bored as well.

It's good that I have spent most of the day listening to good music, and having a few unexpected treats thrown up in the mix.

And remember:

Little acts of kindness
Make us all feel better
Unexpected flowers
Unrequested letter

So when somebody calls you
Give a friendly answer
And when somebody fails to call
Remember that weve all been there before

Little acts of kindness
Ill-conceived and reckless
Stay in bed this morning
Let me make you breakfast

So when somebody needs you
Do your best to help them
'Cos when somebody needs your help
Remember - well, we've all been there before

Little acts of kindness
Little things you can do
Helping those with blindness
Saying "please" and "thank you"
Making cups of coffee
Giving friends your rolo
Going to the offy
Feeding horses polos
Keeping your bedroom neat
Giving children dairylea
Putting down the loo seat
Doing work for charity

Truffle Shuffle

2006-07-12T11:55:00.000+01:00

I've put all my top rated songs on shuffle in iTunes to see me through working this morning. So far I've had the joys of:

The Smiths - Panic
The Eagles - Hotel California
Johnny Cash - Sam Hall
Radiohead - Planet Telex
At The Drive-In - Rolodex Propaganda
Malcolm Middleton - Loneliness Shines
Dirty Pretty Things - Bang Bang You're Dead
Weezer - Butterfly
Lambchop - Is a Woman
The Smiths (again!) - How Soon is Now?
U2 - The Fly (live in Boston)
Radiohead - Talk Show Host
Dinosaur Jr - Out There
Damien Rice - Cold Water
Public Enemy - Give it Up

Where I now break for lunch, a bit of Five Live or Jeremy Vine, Neighbours and the chance to think about something other than chemistry...

The World Cup's Over...

2006-07-12T10:25:00.000+01:00

What am I going to do, and write about, now? I have to get on with writing my PhD and not have the little bright spots of football matches popping up throughout the day...

So long, thanks for all the memories...

2006-07-10T10:37:00.000+01:00

World Cup 2006 Awards

Congratulations Italy

They won the most important thing of all but here are a few of my own awards for those in Germany over the last month:

Best Goal
Maxi Rodriguez

I always prefer individual goals to team ones. Argentina gave us the best of both and this one wins out in terms of sheer skill and excitement

Best Team
Germany

A team that had looked shamoblic in defence and had been derided by the media in the build up showed a very un-German, attacking style of play. The enthusiasm created by the first match carried them through, with the team improving all the time, giving a new national pride and identity across the country. Enthusiasm only gets you so far, though, and their talent just wasn't enough to get them past Italy in the semis. Despite that, they were like a breath of fresh air. 3rd place has been celebrated like a win in the host country.

Most Disapointing Team
Brazil

To whom much is given, much is expected. Brazil turned up at the tournament with the biggest number of potential match winners but failed to perform, besides a thrilling 45 minutes against the Japanese. Ronaldo - fat, unfit but seemingly untouchable, Ronaldinho - well below par, Adriano - lumbering, Kaka - faded after a promising start, Robinho added some of the missing spark but was criminally underused.

Least Inspiring Team
England

They always talked a good game, even after some terrible ones. Always promised that they would play better. They sucked so much of the life out of the game and the tournament when they stepped on the pitch. The so called Golden Generation lacked sparkle and value.

Lack of passion, pace, strong leadership, intelligent play and skill. They presented themselves as the Bolton of international football.

Most Lovable Manager
Jurgen Klinsmann

Like his team, entered this World Cup with a country against him and left with the country firmly behind him. His energy on the sidelines and his celebrations of goals were, at times, heartwarming. He managed to change the perception of German football in the space of a month by having a vision and sticking to it. Good on ye, Klinsi.

Best Game
Germany vs Italy

Right from the start both teams went for it. They continued to try and win all the way through extra time and Italy delivered the dramatic finish the game deserved

Best Team Performance
Argentina vs Serbia and Montenegro

Six goals, five scorers and those 24 passes, yet no player stood out above anyother. They were all brilliant.

Best Individual Performance
Zinedine Zidane vs Brazil

The highlight of my World Cup. Reminded everyone what he used to be and why we all loved it.

Best Newbies
Ghana and Ivory Coast

Ukraine got the furthest but were boring, Togo brought a certain ramshackle charm, the Czech's shone brightly.

The Ivory Coast were unlucky to be drawn in a tough group and it was great to see them celebrating the winning of the match against Serbia and Montenegro with such joy.

Ghana were fiercely competative and confounded expectations. It was a pity that they went out in such a limp match as that against Brazil

Much Ado About Nothing Award
Wayne Rooney

Could be given to the whole of the England squad but Rooney summed up their campaign. Everything promised, nothing delivered. England fans must have felt like Ricardo Carvalho and experienced a collective kick in the groin.

Best Young Player
Franck Ribery

Not a great deal of choice with players who burst on the scene in Germany. Franck Ribery, though, became my personal cult figure through his looks and playing style. He was called up due to public demand and, like the rest of the French squad, started terribly but got better and better as the tournament progressed. His style of playing incorporated pace, skill and commitment. He also looks like someone who will only become a well known figure through his sheer ability, as he is not what some people may call conventionly attractive. You want attacking players to be exciting and unpredictable when they get the ball and Franck certainly was.

An honourable mention should also go to Phillip Lahm. Again, he was a player who gave everything and allied it with a great footballing ability. The fact he reminded me of Phil Neville never dulled my enjoyment of watching him. Robinho caught the eye but was not used enough and, despite eveything else, you cannot deny Cristiano Ronaldo is highly talented.

Moment that Left You Thinking of What Once Was but Most Likely Will Never be Again
A portly Ronaldo running in on goal against Ghana, doing a trademark step over and sliding in his recordbreaking 15th goal in World Cups...but all slightly slower and more clumsy than it used to be...

Best Goal Celebration
Fabio Grosso
If he ever gives up football he should take up doing impressions. His Marco Tardelli, after scoring the late goal against Germany in the semi final, was very good.

Best Bit of Commentary

"Holding his pants there, just a little tug on the pants" - David Pleat, the kindly old, unintentionally comedy, uncle of the punditry world

Worst Bit of Commentary
Sorry, don't have the time or the space to make a list that big. Suffice to say that ITV win hands down, although the BBC are closer to challenging them than in the past.

Best Fans
South Korea

Throughout their match with France, the South Korea fans never gave up hope, never gave up making as much noise as they could and raised the volume (in a strangely high pitched tone) when their team looked to mount an attack.

Be the Reds!

Man Who Looked Least Likely to be a World Cup Manager

Otto Pfister

With a black shirt open to the belly, showing his medallion, coupled with pair of saggy blue jeans, and an equally saggy face Otto struck a very strange figure on the sidelines during Togo's opening match with South Korea.

Most Outrageous Show of Self Confidence
Zidane chipping his penalty in the World Cup final

If anyone else had done it you would have to have branded it arrogance but with Zidane it was mere self confidence. Buffon went the way of Zidane's semi final penalty, the ball went the way no one would have expected. You could almost believe that Zizou hit the bar on purpose.

Extra marks for the ball having enough spin to bounce back out, hitting the bar for a second time

Most Outrageous Show of Arrogance

Basically anything Cristiano Ronaldo did at this World Cup. The Craig Bellamy of top class, international football. You'd like to admit he is brilliant but you can't quite bring yourself to do it.

New Pantomine Villan for English fans
Cristiano Ronaldo

The complain ing to the referee, the diving, the showboating, the arrongance, the wink, the pout, the kissing of the ball and the triumphant penalty.

In the building tide of general dislike of the Portugese, Ronaldo was always going to be at the top of the list.

All together now....BOOOOO!!!!

(whisper it, he was brilliant at times though)

The Biggest "Oh NO!" Moment
The realistion of what Zidane had done, that he was being sent off and that was the end of his career.

I could go on and on but will leave with a heartwarming sight after such a heartbreaking one

Moment of Unexpected Beauty
The sunset over Berlin during the final

Thank you to the BBC for all the great photos

Pictures from my computer No. 13

2006-07-07T17:04:00.000+01:00

Marco Tardelli, and friends, after scoring for Italy in the '82 World Cup Final

The Man in Black

2006-07-07T16:33:00.000+01:00

Well, you wonder why I always dress in black,
Why you never see bright colors on my back,
And why does my appearance seem to have a somber tone.
Well, there's a reason for the things that I have on.

I wear the black for the poor and the beaten down,
Livin' in the hopeless, hungry side of town,
I wear it for the prisoner who has long paid for his crime,
But is there because he's a victim of the times.

I wear the black for those who never read,
Or listened to the words that Jesus said,
About the road to happiness through love and charity,
Why, you'd think He's talking straight to you and me.

Well, we're doin' mighty fine, I do suppose,
In our streak of lightnin' cars and fancy clothes,
But just so we're reminded of the ones who are held back,
Up front there ought 'a be a Man In Black.

I wear it for the sick and lonely old,
For the reckless ones whose bad trip left them cold,
I wear the black in mournin' for the lives that could have been,
Each week we lose a hundred fine young men.

And, I wear it for the thousands who have died,
Believen' that the Lord was on their side,
I wear it for another hundred thousand who have died,
Believen' that we all were on their side.

Well, there's things that never will be right I know,
And things need changin' everywhere you go,
But 'til we start to make a move to make a few things right,
You'll never see me wear a suit of white.

Ah, I'd love to wear a rainbow every day,
And tell the world that everything's OK,
But I'll try to carry off a little darkness on my back,
'Till things are brighter, I'm the Man In Black.
By: John R. Cash, © 1971 House of Cash, Inc.

The Man in Black

2006-07-07T14:54:00.000+01:00

I'm just going to select all my Johnny Cash songs, put my iTunes on shuffle and spend the afternoon in the company of one of the greatest voices in American music

Good news for the final...

2006-07-07T07:17:00.000+01:00

Italy are the designated "home" team for Sunday's final and so will wear their traditional blue kit with France in white and red.

(The Guardian)

Hopes for the World Cup Final

2006-07-06T10:18:00.000+01:00

I hope that Zidane plays like he did against Brazil, rather than how he did against Portugal

I hope Italy are as positive as they were in the semi-final, rather than revert to type

I hope that there is a lack of diving and rolling around on the pitch

I hope that France wear white, to save us from an apearance by the horrendous Italy away shirt

I hope that Henry shows his Arsenal form not his french form

I hope we are talking about Zidane, Totti, Henry and Del Piero after the match, rather than Cannavaro, Thuram, Gallas and Buffon

I hope the support in the stadium isn't as negative as it was in Munich for the France vs Portugal. The crowd was whistling constantly, booing Cristiano Ronaldo (understandable) and booing Zidane (ridiculous)

I hope that there are no red cards

I hope there are no penalties

I hope we see a goal to rival the goals of the tournament

I hope Zidane adds a significant performance to close out his fantastic career and leaves us with a great memory, win or lose

I hope Totti finally lives up to his hype in a major tournament

I hope both teams follow Marco Van Basten's advice: "we have to be brave enough to play to win - and not be afraid to lose."

I hope it's an epic

All going to schedule

2006-07-05T10:53:00.000+01:00

Recently, as the World Cup got underway and Italy were playing Ghana in their first match, my brother pointed out that Italy get to the final every 12 years, last doing so when they were beaten in 94 by Brazil. Before that it was '82, where they beat Germany in the final, and '70, being swept away by Pele's Brazil.

Last night they won a great game against Germany to go through to the final on Sunday, twelve years after appearing in the USA final. It was a great match and Italy stood out as the better team and were quite un-Italian in the way they looked to attack for most of the game.

Their reward came in two minutes at the end of extra time. Italy looked as the prospect of facing Germany in a penalty shoot out was not an option, bearing in mind the fact that only one German player has ever missed a penalty in 5 shootouts.

To their great credit, Germany were not playing for penalties either and were piling forward for most of the half hour. At times there seemed to be two games of "attack vs defence" with a massive amount of space in the middle.

Grosso was the man to finally break the collective heart of Germany, both players and nation, with a wonderful left foot, curling finish when Germany first failed to clear a corner and then left him completely unmarked ten yards from goal.

He seemed to subconciously emulate Marco Tardelli's celebration in the 1982 final and ran away, eyes closed, head shaking and face that seemed to want to show 3 or 4 emotions at once, each of them battling for supremacy.

A minute later Del Piero hammered the nail in the coffin with another wonderful finish, after a quick break and cute pass from Gilardino and Italy were through to the final after another 12 year wait.

In Spain, as has been well documented, the Italy campaign was shrouded in the fall out of a corruption scandal and the team took a long while to find their feet.

It looked to me that they had definitely found their feet last night.

Return of Zizou

2006-07-03T17:15:00.000+01:00

The World cup this year has produced a lot of good things, great goals and great performances but the one that has warmed my heart more than any was the performance of Zinedine Zidane on Saturday night against Brazil.

I would say that he is the best player I have seen in my lifetime but for a long time he seems to have been written off at Madrid and with France. From what I have read it seems rightly that this has been the case, as he has not performed in any way like his old self for the last couple of seasons, definitely not at the Euros in 2004 or the World Cup in 2002.

This competition seemed to start off in the same vein as those two other recent tournaments. Zidane was off the pace, the French seemed completely disjointed and potentially going home early.

Zidane was substituted against South Korea and it looked like the master had departed the international football scene in an undignified way, he had already been booked in the game, meaning that he would miss the last group game against Togo. He looked tired, angry and annoyed as he walked off the pitch and sat down in the dugout.

Then something happened in the Spain match, Zidane woke up and showed little glimpses of what I remembered from Euro 2000 and France 98. Maybe the substitution brought it home to him that his career was literally at stake. A little stepover here, a spin there and then his wonderful finish for the third French goal, seemingly twisting his legs in knots to shoot the way no one was expecting.

The penny dropped that he was retiring and that if they lost that match he was going home and never coming back to play in a professional football match ever again. He responded in the right way and started rolling back the years. He also found players, in Ribery and Henry, who were going to be inspired by the change and start to play themselves. It was only a little glimpse but more than had been seen in recent history.

In the Brazil game he started where he had finished against Spain by gliding away from three Brazil players within the first couple of minutes. He continued on throughout the game, aided by Vieira, Henry and Ribery, and it was all there, the touch, the movement, the effortless skill, the ability to glide past players and deliver a visionary pass.

Touchingly, Robinho, the Brazil and Real Madrid striker who had remained on the bench for far too longin this match, came over to him at the end, high fived and gave him a big hug. He was showing his appreciation for someone playing football as it should be played. Zidane may wear adidas boots but this performance was pure "Joga Bonito"

It was the best individual display of this World Cup so far and reminded me of what a joy it is to watch Zizou at this level of his game. He appears so effortless and majestic, never rushed, not gifted with great pace but just sublime talent and able to do so much with a football.

It gave my wife a further insight into my obsession with football as I think she was a bit baffled at me getting so excited by the performance of one player.

If Zidane continues in this vein of form he has rediscovered after so long, and the rest of the French team perform as they did alongside him, there might be a glorious end to the career of a glorious player.

Allez les Bleus!

Why do they bring trailers out so far in advance these days?

2006-06-30T15:47:00.000+01:00

It just promises something that will not be delivered anytime soon!

Click here or on the picture for the trailer

The first two were good and this one shows promise with the Sandman and a load of black liquid moving around....

The trailer for Transformers is up on the web too, although it shows little and not quite as excitement inducing as Spidey

I am quite excited by this prospect

2006-06-29T17:04:00.000+01:00

My brother used to own the video of this and it was amazing. Its a band at their peak in performance and creativity. I think people forget how big of a risk and a departure that U2 took to go this direction from where they were at come the end of the Joshua Tree and Rattle and Hum eras. My oldest brother queued up at midnight for the release of Achtung Baby and said that when he put it on the first time he thought that the cd was broken. Roll on September release!

From u2.com

ZOO TV On DVD

‘Zoo TV Live From Sydney’ is set for DVD release in September. As well as the legendary live show, now digitally remastered, the new release comes with a bonus DVD of live tracks, mini-documentaries and the inimitable ‘Video Confessional’. Details here.

Filmed at the Football Stadium in Sydney, Australia, in November 1993 - and now only available on something called VHS – the film is directed by David Mallet and produced by Ned O’Hanlon and Rocky Oldham. More on the background to the DVD release in the next few days, meantime, here’s the running order.

Disc One

Show Opening
Zoo Station
The Fly
Even Better Than The Real Thing
Mysterious Ways
One
Unchained Melody
Until The End Of The World
New Year’s Day
Numb
Angel Of Harlem
Stay (Faraway, So Close!)
Satellite Of Love
Dirty Day
Bullet The Blue Sky
Running To Stand Still
Where The Streets Have No Name
Pride (In The Name Of Love)
Daddy’s Gonna Pay For Your Crashed Car
Lemon
With Or Without You
Love Is Blindness
Can’t Help Falling In Love

And from it here is a brilliant version of "Running to Stand Still" that shows how U2 can change the already great recorded versions of songs into sublime moments

Pictures from my computer No. 12

2006-06-29T09:46:00.000+01:00

This is just up the road from where I grew up and where my parents still live. Everytime I see its picture it reminds me of home.

The Phenomenon

2006-06-28T18:04:00.000+01:00

I was really glad to see Ronaldo score yesterday, his 15th in the World Cup, meaning he is the top goal scorer in World Cup history.

He has been at the top of the game all through the time I have been watching football and he is a great player.

He was brilliant in France, right up to the final, and his performance 4 years ago, after having injury worries for almost all the time between the two World Cups, showed immense talent and character.

Although, as he ran through on goal, looking twice the weight he used to be, with half the pace, I couldn't help lamenting and pining for the Ronaldo that I remembered from a few years ago.

And I thought I'd leave you with a little compilation of proabably his peak period in club football. He came to Barcelona from PSV and was in top form for a season before transfering to Inter Milan, where it seemed to start going downhill from then on. The Barca shirt from this season is the first one I ever bought. I should wear it next week in football as a tribute.

(Sorry about the music in this video, not my fault!)

Premium, premium, premium....

2006-06-28T17:40:00.000+01:00

Lahm is first in the agenda of the Barça

The main objective of the azulgrana club is Philipp Lahm, lateral the left one of the German selection that is dazzling in this World-wide one, although Txiki Begiristain has not discovered it now. For a long time that the club already had put the sights in this lateral one of 23 years. Great defender, with offensive projection, knows to use the two legs, which turns to him a multipurpose player who can act in the two bands. In addition, chut has a fort since it has already demonstrated in this World-wide one. In fact, Lahm was the player who obtained the first goal in Germany with an extraordinary firing from outside the area.

Yet more premium translation

2006-06-28T17:33:00.000+01:00

I may be having too much fun in doing this. It may wear off soon but, for the minute, it is making me laugh a lot:

Neeskens recommends to the Barça the draftee of the Australian Lucas Neill

Johan Neeskens is in Germany, where it is the second of Hiddink in the Australian selection, the Dutch signed two weeks ago like assistant of Rijkaard in the Barça and, so far, he will have to hope to begin to exert because its selection, Australia, gamble spends to quarterfinals before Italy Monday. Even so, Neeskens already is thinking about the Barça and, in declarations to the newspaper `The Sidney Morning Herald', has recognized who Lucas Neill, the defense `aussie' that plays in the Blackburn Rovers, would be a good reinforcement for the Barça. “Lucas has demonstrated that she can act at a great level. He has demonstrated in his equipment that can play in the best clubs. So… So that no?

More premium translation

2006-06-28T17:29:00.000+01:00

The Espanyol does not discard the draftee of Saviola

Javier “the Rabbit” Saviola, Argentine player who has played this season in the Seville yielded by Barcelona, returns to enter the plans of the Espanyol. The international Argentinean was on the verge of the past filing by “the perico” set summer, but in the end its incorporation remained in “water of borrajas” and ended up playing in Seville.

Premium translation

2006-06-28T17:23:00.000+01:00

I thought that I would take advantage of the translate tool that is in Firefox to have a look at the Spanish paper Marca's website. This is what I got from one of the stories:

The father of Messi discards that his son goes to Real Madrid

Jorge Messi, father and representative of Leo, reiterated that the Argentinean will follow in the Barça and discarded that he could go to Real Madrid. “Each one will know what does but that cannot be done to him to the Barça. Leo is a boy very wanted by all the liking and insurance that will not make a treason of this type”, explained. Messi has appeared in the list of the candidates to the presidency of Madrid but the ancestor of Messi made clear that he has not connected with any of them. However, he understands that the soccer player can become an electoral weapon: “In these cases always he happens the same and he is used players who are responding”.

Pictures from my computer No. 11

2006-06-28T16:07:00.000+01:00

(Why can't movies based on comics be better than they turn out to be?)

Goooooooaaaaall de Brasiiiil!

2006-06-27T09:56:00.000+01:00

How do you make football even more exciting than it already has the potential to be?

One way is if all the TV networks across the world employed commentators from Brazil. I would much prefer listening to this than John Motson or any old duffer that ITV choses to put on. I especially like the "Brasil!" after Ronaldo's second goal, as it sounds like its introducing a fighter in Street Fighter 2

Suburban Homesick Alien

2006-06-26T09:58:00.000+01:00

An alien spacecraft landed in the university campus near where we live last week, so my wife and I headed down to have a look round inside and take some pictures:

Picture from my computer No. 10

2006-06-25T14:20:00.000+01:00

What a shame this awesome character was wasted in such a terrible movie

New Shoes

2006-06-24T15:41:00.000+01:00

Does anyone rememember the character from Twin Peaks who only ever said "New shoes..." after a while?

Anyway, I bought new shoes for football today. A bit blue but I'm taking a chance and I like a bit of Puma action in my shoes. They are the coolest sports manufacturer in the world of football boots, in my opinion

First comments left

2006-06-23T17:14:00.000+01:00

I've had my first comments left on my blog. Hurrah. In some ways I would probably just write this if no one else was looking as it provides me with something to do and to somehow formulate my thoughts into a coherent package but its nice to have people looking.

Someone for New York commented on the football/christian post below.

Hello Nu Yoik!

Pictures from my computer No. 9

2006-06-23T10:26:00.000+01:00

During the course of the Brazil match last night the cameras kept showing Pele sitting watching the match. We've also seen Beckenbauer at pretty much every match, Cruyff at the Holland matches and Maradonna acting like a complete loon during the Argentina matches.

It struck me that the from the collection of "Greatest Footballers Ever" that George Best was the first one to go. He didn;t quite have the global impact of some of the others, as being from Northern Ireland you don't get to play in many World Cups.

The others have driven their teams on to at least the final and, apart from Cruyff, have lifted the World Cup themselves once or twice. In Maradonna's case he almost singlehandedly delivered the World Cup with some of his performances in '86.

Despite this there was a lot of reaction to Best dying and a lot of plaudits from round the world. It will be strange when the rest of them start to shuffle off the planet, as they inevitably will, and to see the tributes that will be paid to them.

I've been lucky enough to see Ronaldo, Zidane and Ronaldinho at their best and it has been thrilling and a delight but imagine what it must have been like to watch some of the fellows listed above...

We're Ghana Win!

2006-06-22T17:34:00.000+01:00

I think I'll start supporting Ghana in the World Cup after seeing them beat the USA to go through to the next round.

One of the main reasons is that when they blew the final whistle there were shots of the players praying on the pitch together, one of who got up to show a t-shirt under his top proclaiming "Wonderful Jesus". The back of the shirt said "John Mensah, The Rock of Gibraltar"...slightly less edifying but good for the comedy value.

What might cause a problem with the supporting of Ghana for these reasons is that they are through to the next round to possibly play Brazil, who should beat Japan later on today.

This is because of them having Kaka and Cafu (along with a few others) who are proud to ally themselves with Christ in the world of football.

When Brazil won the World Cup four years ago, Cafu went up to collect it after having "100 % Jesus" written across the front of his football shirt, ensuring that the message would reach the millions watching around the world.

I've already drawn attention to Kaka with an earlier post showing the embroidery on his boots, proclaiming "I Belong to Jesus". He also got married to his childhood sweetheart and was proud to tell people that he was still a virgin when he did so. How often would you find that in the world that the footballers of today inhabit.

This fact about his marriage, and through it his faith, has popped up in a lot of the articles that have been written about him leading up to the Wolrd Cup. He is tipped to be the star of the team, adding consistency to the Brazillian flair.

SO I'm behind Ghana, but also behind Brazil, most of all I am behind Christ and the Christians across the world, including those who are appearing in the football.

Brazil seem the most likely to come through the next round but you never know. If the Ghanaians can keep their enthusiasm and energy it could be an interesting match in prospect.

Pictures from my computer No. 8

2006-06-22T11:17:00.000+01:00

Pictures from my computer No. 7

2006-06-21T14:18:00.000+01:00

Big Bad Boba Fett

Pictures from my computer No. 6

2006-06-21T11:13:00.000+01:00

Victory for the Comic Muse

2006-06-21T11:00:00.000+01:00

The Divine Comedy release their latest album this week. I have it sitting beside me on my desk but am waiting for the OK to open it from my wife (who is the one who ordered it, so its only fair she gets the say)

What I've heard of it is promising. I'm a long time fan of the band/collective/Neil Hannon and he is one of those guys who you just will to keep being good. Not all the Divine Comedy albums have been brilliant but they always have a redeeming wit and intelligence that shines through. The last effort, Absent Friends, was half a brilliant album and had loads of great song writing contained within it but some of it was unfortunately hidden behind over complicated and ambitious musical arrangements. I'm not against ambition in music and seeking to do something new but sometimes simplicity is the best way to go.

I don't know whether "simple" could apply to any of the DC albums but this one seems to return to a more tightly contained musical canvas to paint the songs on and it benefits from it.

The video for the latest single, "Diva Lady", shows Neil's sense of humour and you can watch it below, courtesy of You Tube

Big in Germany

2006-06-20T16:29:00.000+01:00

In this month where most of the world's attention is hooked on Germany, with the BBC's studio overlooking the Brandenburg Gate it seems apt to post about The Hoff.

This little delight appeared in Pitchfork's Top 100 Videos and is potentially possibly the worst and the best thing ever at the same time.

I give you The Hoff

Pictures from my computer No. 5

2006-06-20T16:21:00.000+01:00

A little memory of one of the best football matches I have ever seen

Pictures from my computer No. 4

2006-06-20T10:27:00.000+01:00

The Hoff

Quote:

2006-06-20T10:22:00.000+01:00

"I have left him to boil in his own soup. He's a fantastic guy, but he must change his computer chip."

Italy coach Marcello Lippi after Daniele De Rossi's sending off for elbowing the USA's Brian McBride

Pictures from my computer no.3

2006-06-19T14:53:00.000+01:00

Pictures from my computer No. 2

2006-06-19T12:53:00.000+01:00

Kaka's Boots

DJ Joe Bloggs

2006-06-19T11:16:00.000+01:00

One half of Portished is also a DJ and a DJ with a very normal name. No "Danger Mouse", "Shadow" or similar, he simply goes by the name DJ Andy Smith.

I remember years ago that my brother bought his mix cd, the Document, which was cool mix of hip-hop, funk and soul (including a fine Tom Jones song)

Its nice to find out that he is one of those decent fellas who gives people a chance to hear what he is like on his website through some free mp3s. There are a couple of mixes he did for Radio 1 and a few other live things that are worth checking out.

Radio 1 Essential mix part 1

Radio 1 Essential mix part 2

Picture from my computer No. 1

2006-06-19T11:08:00.000+01:00

Pictures from my computer - intro

2006-06-19T11:05:00.000+01:00

Before you run for the hills over that post title I should start by stating that I am no dodgy, Garry Glitter type, figure.

Over the years I have picked up the habit of just saving pictures to my computer when a ool one pops up on a website that I am looking at. I thought that I would take advantage of the ability on this blog website to upload them that I didn't have over at Livejournal.

I may add a little explanation of them but mostly I will probably just stick the picture up, with maybe a name of what it is.

Football, football, football

2006-06-17T17:59:00.000+01:00

I have been watching loads and loads of football over the last week due to the wonderful World Cup being on and me being in the alright position of being around at home all day. I have finally seen the up side of writing up a PhD, namely the loads of free time that is potentially afforded to you being used for something that you enjoy doing and not feeling guilty or crap about doing it.

People may disagree, but I think football is a great thing both in terms of the game itself and also for it ability to bring men together and have something common to talk about.

Men are often closed and emotionally deficient souls, who sometimes struggle to talk to anyone in a relaxed manner but the common ground for discussion that is the World Cup breaks through that somewhat.

I have been in a few countries in the world and talked to many people from many countries here in England too and you can bet that if you need something to have a way in and talk to people, the subject of football will be the key.

In Romania 6 years ago we ended up playing football against some guys who lived in the town we were staying in. It didn;t matter that we couldn't speak Romanian at all and they had very limited English, we became friends by kicking a small, white, leather bound object around a pitch for a while every night.

Then, in Durban a couple of years ago, my limited knowledge of the Kaizer Chiefs (not the band! The Jo'burg based football team) made getting to know the guy we were working with, Amon, so much easier. Conversations about "Shoes" Mosheeau, the Chiefs midfield maestro, broke the ice nicely and created an ease of conversation that may have taken too long to get to.

Also in Durban I spent a time one afternoon kicking a football around with a young guy from the site we were working on. Again there was a complete language barrier that was smashed with a well placed right foot shot.

Those who complain at this time of year shouldn't be too quick to criticise and just drink in the atmosphere and a bit of the play. Its been a great tournament so far this year, with goals and great play in almost every match that has been on and Brazil are still yet to get to where people know where they can get.

So watch a few matches, enjoy the spectacle and try and file a few of the names and big results away in your memory. You don't know when you'll find yourself sitting beside a Ghanaian and find that bringing up Gyan's goal against the Czech Republic opens so many doors.

Hello

2006-06-16T10:26:00.000+01:00

I decided to hop over to the Blogger website from livejournal, as all the blogs I see here look better and more polished than the ones at LJ.

We will se how it goes. I wasn't too excited by the whole blogging thing there for a while, and to be honest, I'm not too excited by it now but I just can't quite shake it off.