The End Of Civilization

First getting beaten by Warnock's goblin horde and now this. Quite beyond belief.

The End of '06

I am a very happy chappy after today's matches.
Wish Bob and John could say the same.
Having fun in Miami, Robert? It's bloody snowing here!!!

My Favorite Movies of 2006

Last year we discovered Netflix largely because friends such as Blubber Boy vouched for it. We haven’t looked back since. KC and I still enjoy the experience of going out to see a big movie on a big canvas in a darkened auditorium surrounded by people, but in a town that doesn’t get a lot of the documentaries, foreign and independent films that we find most satisfying, Netflix has been a lifeline. This year the list of “Didn’t Show in Jax” includes Half Nelson, Little Children, Fur, Volver and Who Killed the Electric Car; but we’ll see them on Netflix in 2007. Here are a few that we enjoyed this year that you might want to put in your “Queue:”

1) When the Levees Broke – Spike Lee’s scathing critique of the Bush response to Katrina. It's four hours long and best seen over several sittings.
2) Cache (Hidden) – Peter Hoeneke asks whether a young boy is culpable for French colonialism in Algeria. The kind of movie that has you talking about it for hours after you've seen it.
3) Little Miss Sunshine – The comedy of the year, with a great cast including the comic genius of Alan Arkin. A road picture with a heart.
4) The Silence of Sleep – Michel Gondry’s electrifying flight of fancy with a sweet romantic comedy inside. Charlie Kaufman’s influence has been palpable.
5) The Edukators - Teenage German anarchists break into bourgeois homes in the middle of the night to play pranks on their inhabitants. High jinks ensue.
6) Catch a Fire – Unlike earlier movies about apartheid, this one puts the focus where it should be – on the activism of the townships.
7) Fast Food Nation – Richard Linklater interprets Eric Schlosser’s book on the fast food industry with remarkable agility.
8) Babel – Alejandro Innaritu’s latest multi-narrative is messy at times, but his message that we aren’t talking to each other rings true.
9) Prairie Home Companion – Robert Altman’s swan song is a sweetly nostalgic look at old timey music hall.
10) Thank You For Smoking – A smart satire about marketing deadly products. It reminds us of the cynical black heart of corporate America.
11) The Good Shepherd – Robert DeNiro’s epic (it’s more than three hours long!) look at the formation of the CIA.
12) Don’t Come Knocking – Wim Wenders dives into the American West again, with Jessica Lange and Sam Shepard along for the ride.

Others You Might Like:
Factotum – Matt Dillon plays Charles Bukowski
Kinky Boots – British comedy about a shoe factory saved by making boots for drag queens
The Proposition – A unique and bloody look at 19th century Australian outback life, with Guy Pearce, Emily Watson and Ray Winstone
Quincenera – A pregnant Latina awaits her fifteenth birthday celebration
Hollywoodland – Ben Affleck has never been better than he is as George
the original Superman
The Matador – Newly liberated from the Bond mantel, Pierce Brosnan has a ball as a hit man in Mexico
Accepted – On the face it’s a teen exploitation movie, but underneath is a paean to progressive education
The Inside Man – Spike Lee takes a break from the agit-prop to make a good old fashioned heist movie with Denzel Washington
Friends with Money – Nicole Holefcener’s latest comedy of female manners hits home with some truths about friends and....money
The Devil Wears Prada – Meryl Streeps munches the scenery as Vogue’s Anna Wintour
Tsotsi – A bleak look at life in South Africa’s shantytowns.

Lifetime Achievement Award – “49 Up” – The latest installment of Michael Apted’s epic “7 Up” series of documentaries arrived in the midst of my putting together this list. It’s still one of the most electrifying film moments to see those seven year old kids growing up in front of your eyes. See it now.

Disappointments:
The Black Dahlia – Da Palma’s pale imitation of noir
The Departed – Marty Scorcese’s latest bloodfest
The Night Listener – A dud thriller that goes nowhere
United 93 – A 9/11 movie with “history” stitched out of cellphone calls
Art School Confidential – a satire that is dark rather than funny

Worst Movie of 2006:
Marie Antoinette – Sofia Coppola’s lame attempt to resuscitate the Bourbon monarchy – off with her head!

Great Dig At The US Broadcasters During The World Cup

Here's a bit of quality during a quiet week from the GuardianUnlimited website. Enjoy it HERE

The Greatest Games of all Time!!!

Gentlemen, I just finished listening to a fascinating two hour talk on the greatest games of all time. On the panel were Sir Trevor Brooking, Barry Davis and Steve Clarrige. A lot of good games were talked about and discarded. The final ten to be voted on by going to the Five Live website after Jan 2 are as follows:
1) 1968 European Cup Final Manchester United 4 Benefica 1
2) 1982 World Cup Finals Italy 3 Brazil 2
3) 2005 Champions League Final Liverpool 3 AC Milan 3
4) 1967 European Cup Final Celtic 2 Inter Milan 1
5) 1966 World Cup Final England 4 West Germany 2
6) 1953 F.A. Cup Final Blackpool 4 Bolton 3
7) 1960 European Cup Final Real Madrid 7 Eintract Fankfurt 3
8) 1970 World Cup Final Brazil 4 Italy 1
9) 1989 Championship Decider Liverpool 0 Arenal 2
10) 2001 World Cup Qualifer Germany 1 Enland 5


The games that lost out right at the end of the list were '99 United/Bayern,
'96 England/Holland and'70 England/Brazil
Your thoughts?
Make sure you vote.

Fergie's Christmas Present from Rio

Silly season is around the corner but the silliest story of the day concerns Rio Ferdinand and Sir Alex Ferguson. According to reliable sources, Rio's Christmas giftie to the gaffer was an Ipod Nano loaded with songs "reflecting Rio's current musical tastes." No details yet, but you can only imagine what's on that playlist. Fergie might be down with Snoop's "Gin and Juice" but I'm not sure what he'll make of The Clipse hit "Wamp Wamp," which contains the following enigmatic lines:

"I got the wamp wamp when I move it its still damp
Mildew-ish when I heat it, it turn bluish
It cools to a tight wad, the Pyrex is Jewish
I get paper, it seems I get foolish
Take it to Jacob and play "Which hues the bluest?"

Any other playlist suggestions?

My Favorite Books of 2006

Books on CD played a big role in my “reading” consumption this year. In the spring I was driving over five hundred miles a week to and from Gville, so I got through a whole load of books on CD. Here were some of my favorites and disappointments:

1) Michael Berube – What’s Liberal about the Liberal Arts – A passionate defense of the liberal arts and a fascinating look inside the college classroom.
2) Zadie Smith – On Beauty – Zadie uses E.M. Forster to analyze the dynamics of a small college town.
3) James Loewen – Sundown Towns – Loewen uncovers the secret history of towns across the U.S. that drove out its Black and immigrant populations.
4) David Winner – Those Feet – In Brilliant Orange, Winner dissected Dutch football; in his latest, he gets under the skin of English footballing culture.
5) Kazuo Ishiguro – Never Let Me Go – Ishiguro’s latest novel starts with a group of innocent boarding school students and builds to a shocking and sad revelation.
6) Mike Davis – Planet of Slums – Davis outlines a nightmare vision of the future with a global sprawl of desperately poor urban areas.
7) Gary Younge – No Place Like Home – Younge takes a bus trip that replicates the 1964 “Freedom Rides” through the segregated south.
8) Anthony Hayward – Which Side are You On? – Hayward traces the career of Ken Loach – my favorite director – from his early “kitchen sink” tv dramas to his latest victories at the Cannes Festival.
9) Jonathan Kozol – Shame of the Nation – Kozol has been documenting the sorry state of public education for forty years; in his latest, he exposes the return of segregation to our nation’s schools.
10) Jonathan Safran Foer – Extremely Close and Incredibly Loud – Foer’s protagonist is a young boy who uses old letters and helpful neighbors to retrieve the memory and history of his father.
11) Glenn Greenwald – How Would a Patriot Act? – A constitutional lawyer takes on the outrageous illegalities of the Bush administration.
12) Carl Hiassen – Skinny Dip – Hiassen gets a lot of the flavor of Florida right in his bright, breezy novels like this tale of a wife getting her righteous revenge on her ne'er-do-well husband.

Other Notables:
Chuck Palahniuk – Diary
Andrea Levy – Small Island
Robert Jensen – Citizens of the Empire:
Elizabeth McCracken – Niagara Falls All Over Again

Most Embarrassing:
Tom Wolfe – I Am Charlotte Simmons – The septuagenarian uncovers the shocking reality of sex and drugs on American college campuses.

Worst Book of the Year:
David Horowitz – The Professors – A modern-day McCarthyite blacklist.

Happy Boxing Day!

Jingle bells
ManYoo smells
Chelski ran away
Oh what fun it is to watch Leeds on Boxing Da-ay!

Join me for the festivities today, won't you?

What Do You Want for Christmas?

Merry Christmas, lads! Now that you've opened up all of those sweaters, pen sets and bottles of aftershave, what do you really want for Christmas? That is, what would you like your team to get for the holidays? Do you need a new striker, a tackling midfielder, a world class goalkeeper? Wish away, lads. Wish away.

I'll go first. At Elland Road, we need to be humble, so I'll take a Jerzy Dudek, a Sol Campbell and two heaping helpings of Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Mark Viduka please, Father Christmas!

My Favorite Music of '06

I've been trading this list with Bob-san for a few years.

For a start, this was the year of the iPod for me. I bought one and immediately understood why the CD format is largely dead. I always thought that I wanted a CD as a tangible object to have, and because of that was willing to wade through a lot of filler to get those 5-or-6 must have songs. With a MP3 player and access to a music service like iTunes or whatnot, you can pay for exactly what you want, and leave the contractual obligation stuff behind. Whether that's going to have a chilling effect on music in the future is an open question. Certainly what it means is that I'm going to download songs from any future British Sea Power, Franz Ferdinand, Killers, and any other bands that came blasting out with dynamite debuts followed by poor sophomore efforts.


What makes sense to me this year is to list the songs that really knocked me out as well as my records of the year.

My Song list:

Crazy -- Gnarls Barkley - Hands down, the song of the year. It's great pop music expertly done.

Devil Town -- Tony Lucca - This is a really cool cover that was played over an emotional scene in NBC's "Friday Night Lights." It's a Daniel Johnson song and I haven't found a recording, but this is an excellent tune.

Mount Wroclai(Idle Days) -- Beirut - A 19 year old American takes an Eastern-European folk-song and recasts it as a waltz with a choral overdub with accordian and tamborine and skittery percussion. It's admittedly a "What The Hell?" experience, but in a good way. Oh yes, a very good way.

Songbird -- Willie Nelson - I love Willie, but I would have to say that he may not be able to write those killer songs anymore. Is it the dope or that he's over 70 now? Never mind. He still can get it done by covering this Fleetwood Mac chestnut. Sorry Christine McVie, Willie's version is now the standard.

Throw It All Away -- Zero 7 - A great swingy and warm late night electronic frolic.

Such Great Heights -- The Postal Service - Once in a while, when your 14 year-old is watching something on the WB, you stop and say "hey, what's that playing in this scene?" Warm and approachable emo. It's a guilty pleasure as is...

Someone Great -- LCD Soundsystem - Opens like Kraftwerk and turns into Belle and Sebastian.

Put Your Records On -- Corinne Bailey Rae - This has the same addictive quality that Nelly Furtado's "I'm Like A Bird" had. You'll play this over and over.

Honorable mentions go to Zuco 103 for "Love Is Queen Omega", Apollo Nove for "86", Sukhwinder Singh for "Chaiyya Chaiyya", Regina Spektor for "Fidelity", Belle Orchestre for "Throw It On A Fire", The Flaming Lips for "Yeah, Yeah, Yeah Song", and the Raconteurs for "Steady As She Goes."

There are still artists doing things that I want to reward by buying the whole cd. But they are becoming fewer and fewer as I get (sigh) older and older.


Cibelle -- The Shine Of Electric Dried Leaves -- Here's why. Cibelle put out the most interesting debut Brazilian record assisted by her Serbian producer Suba. Suba then dies in a horrific apartment fire in Sao Paolo and she moves to London. Her sophomore effort has less of a Brazilian Electro-Bossa flavor and more of a Massive-Attack feeling that really works. She did a free show in Washington that was spell-binding.

Marisa Monte -- Infinito Particular and Universo Ao Meu Redor -- Another Brazilian. She's a very established and celebrated artist who's been taking off some time with her new baby. But evidently, she's been writing all that time and had a back-log of songs. And at the same time, she was listening to classic Brazilian tunes from the 30's-40's-and-50's and has released a record of her covers of these songs.

Bill Frisell -- Unspeakable -- A departure of sorts for Bill. His new band is harder, funkier, and though some of these are new versions of old Frisell songs, they're reborn in these new arrangements.

Booker T and the MGs -- Stax Profiles(Selected by Elvis Costello) -- You've heard "Green Onions" enough times for a lifetime, but not a live version from some sweaty dump of a club. And I bet you've never heard the Indian Stomp that is "Fuquawi." Costello has the nous and taste to pick just the right recordings to ensure a fresh experience.

Trojan Ska Revival Box -- Bad Manners, The Selector, The Coventry Automatics who became The Specials doing live and up-tempo versions of those classic songs. Huge nostalgia for those of us who lived through that late seventies revival.

Konono #1 -- Congotronics -- These guys play trance music on thumb pianos, home-made xylophones, and masses of drums all played through PA systems powered by car batteries. It's indescribably weird and their show in DC was probably my favorite concert of the year.


I was able to complete a "Holy Grail" quest this year when I finally tracked down the definitive collection of Sparks tunes called Profile. It has been o-o-p for about 7 years and any time it showed on Ebay, nutter collectors like me swarmed on it and unlike me, bid the 2-disc set above $100. Finally, a set with water damaged inserts finally showed up and stayed in my price range.

The most interesting development that I've seen this year is the International Mix-Tape Project. There's a guy here in DC that's organizing an international swap of music. The concept is once a month, he emails you an address of someone in the system somewhere. Your job is to burn a cd with what's interesting to you and then send it to that address. In return, someone in the system is sent your name and is charged with burning a mix for you. I'm waiting for my first assignment and I'll let you know how this works out.

Another tip is to sign up for WFMU's email "A Blast Of Hot Air." It's a monthly guide to the odd and weird, but how else are you going to find 9-year-old Troy, the Electric Boy's "Electro 1000" or a song from Brian Eno's early band The Winkies called "The Paw-Paw Negro Blowtorch?" The latter sounds like Brian Ferry on speed.

That's enough from me. I'm interested in what you're listening to and what your teenagers are listening to. Let's be having ya.

Holly Jolly Footie Christmas!

I'm blogging early this morning because of a certain relegation six-point dogfight - Leeds vs. Hull City. Yes, this is what Leeds fans have been reduced to. We're both on twenty points with the bottom dwellers Southend on sixteen. Only a win will do.

Last Minute Christmas Idea

Alright lads, in case you're in need of a last minute gift idea for Christmas, here you go. Definitely the funniest bit that's been on SNL in yonks. Enjoy!

(P.S. - it's the uncensored version, so be careful round the kiddies)

Carling Cup, Quarterfinals!

The big match-up of Liverpool vs. Arsenal at Anfield was postponed for - wait for it - fog, yesterday. Yes, that's right - excessive fog. However, Wycombe are through to the semi-finals after knocking off woeful Charlton and we have two more quarterfinals on the docket today:

Newcastle vs. Chelski

Tottenham vs. Southend

Pour yourself a Black Label and join me for the festivities!

Footie Trivia Question of the Week

There have been ten England players who have been sent off in international play. Name them and, if possible, the circumstances under which they were shown the red card. Also, one player has been sent off twice - name him and the games involved.

Lakenheath Old Boys

Lakenheath Old Boys

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3b2dOYjNZU

Goal of the Year!

Goals I Remember

It's amazing what you can find these days on You Tube. I've recently noticed that there are loads of goals from the 70s out there. So, here's the first in what I hope will be a series of posts remembering the great goals of our youth. Frank Worthington for Bolton against the Tractor Boys in 1974. Enjoy!

Come on You Hammers!

Since Dave is off on his dirty weekend with the missus, it's an ideal time for ManYoo to drop some points. So, come on you Hammers - get it done for Curbs!
Here are the sides for today's crucial match:
West Ham: Green, Spector, Ferdinand, Collins, Konchesky, Bowyer, Reo-Coker, Mullins, Etherington, Harewood, Zamora.
Subs: Carroll, McCartney, Sheringham, Benayoun, Tevez.

Man Utd: Van der Sar, Neville, Ferdinand, Vidic, Heinze, Ronaldo, Carrick, Scholes, Giggs, Rooney, Saha.
Subs: Kuszczak, Park, Solskjaer, O'Shea, Silvestre.

Gotta Love Saturday!

Another week has spun around and it's time for the Premiership. Here are the fixtures:

Arsenal v Portsmouth

Aston Villa v Bolton

Charlton v Liverpool

Newcastle v Watford

Reading v Blackburn

Wigan v Sheff Utd

Couple of New Videos

Some funny stuff. First, some nutter invades the FAI offices, douses himself with petrol, and starts a standoff.

Then, some bloke names Donnacha O'Callaghan tries to set himself for a rugby line-out. He's not wearing shorts and you have to laugh at the discomfort of the man in front of him.

Champions League Round of Sixteen

Full draw:

Porto v CHELSEA
CELTIC v AC Milan
PSV Eindhoven v ARSENAL
Lille v MANCHESTER UNITED
Roma v Lyon
Barcelona v LIVERPOOL
Real Madrid v Bayern Munich
Inter Milan v Valencia

(Ties to be played on 21/22 February and 6/7 March)

ESPN Nabs Euro 2008!

Great news! ESPN/ABC have picked up the exclusive English language rights to Euro 2008 in the United States. That means no longer having to shell out $20 to the Irish mafia called Setanta down the pub. It looks as if ABC will show two games (likely the opener and the final) and ESPN, the Deuce and ESPN Classic will share the rest. Roll on 2008!

Midweek Prem Madness

What a treat! I'm home early from Gville today, FSC is showing one of the Premiership "make-up" matches - Chelsea vs. Newcastle - and life is good. If any of you workaholics is loafing as well today, join me on the blog, eh? Cheers.

Footie Trivia Question of the Week

After watching some cracking goals over the weekend, I was inspired to give you a goal-related trivia question this week.

"There are three players who've scored hat-tricks for three separate Premiership sides. Two of them - Les Ferdinand and Kevin Campbell - have since retired or sunk into obscurity. However, the third is still plying his trade in the Premiership. Name him and the three clubs."

Good luck, lads!

Adu to RSL!

In a genius move, Freddie's been sent to Real Salt Lake along with Nick-the-expensive-wonder-drawf-Rimando for a back-up keeper, an international allocation to be named later and a portion of the proceeds when Freddie inevitably goes away to a European league.

I say genius move because the weight of expectation surrounding Adu will only get heavier this year, prompting more tantrums that DCU can ill afford. Adu will be reunited with his youth coach who may be a better influence on him and curb some of the petulance that he's developed. And DCU is out from under Freddie's massive salary allocation, a problem that's kept us from getting new blood in to fill the striker role and barely concealed resentment from his teammates who put in more useful minutes for far less money.

And as an added bonus, if anyone is silly enough to put Nick Rimando in goal again, maybe we can start victimizing him the way the other clubs have victimized us.

Win-win!

Alan Pardew

The second managerial casualty of the season.
Is it deserved? Should he have been given more time after last season's success?
Replacement? Curbishley? The dreaded Swede?
Your thoughts

Arsene tries to remember the French word for Schadenfreude

Huge surprise! Pardew out. West Ham can now fight their way out of the relegation zone without that albatross around his neck.

Arsenal vs. Chelski Live!

Arsenal vs. Chelski - it's a massive game. It's also Cashley's return. If you're out there watching - and honestly why wouldn't you be? - drop in for a cuppa this morning, won't you?

Premiership Saturday

It's another big Premiership/Coke weekend, starting now. First up - the Manchester derby on Setanta, followed by a full schedule of Premiership and Coke games. The big one may be tomorrow, but there is still plenty of interest today. Do join me for the action, won't you?

Dempsey to Fulham!

U.S. soccer announced this week that Fulham have agreed on a deal for Clint Dempsey for an undisclosed amount (probably around £2 million). I think it's a great move for the kid. It's not a big, big club where he wouldn't get a regular game, there are a couple of Yanks in the side to show him the ropes, and it's at the Premiership level where he'll only sharpen his game. Your thoughts, gents?

A BIG WEDNESDAY!!!!

A very nervous day for me. I knew no one would be on the blog so this is post match comments.

Champions League - Gameday 6

We've finally reached the final week of games in the Champions League and things are on a knife's edge. The two English sides playing today - Chelski and Liverpool - have already qualified. However, there will be an absolute dogfight between Barca and Werder Bremen at the Neu Camp. I predict that Werder can get a draw and will knock Barca - the current holders - out of the competition. This will really open things up in the quarterfinals.

Join me if you're out there watching.

Footie Trivia Question of the Week

An FA Cup related question for this week when the Third Round fixtures were announced.

"Which are the six teams that have won the FA Challenge Cup most often? How many times have they won?"

Skippy Dives Again!

Did Cristiano Ronaldo dive against Boro on Saturday? You be the ref!!

FA CUP THIRD ROUND DRAW

Full draw:

Blackpool v Aldershot/Basingstoke
Barnet v Colchester
Sheff Utd v Swansea
Reading v Burnley
Portsmouth v Wigan
Mansfield/Doncaster v Bolton
West Ham v Brighton
Leicester v Fulham
Derby v Wrexham
Wolves v Oldham
Bury/Chester v Ipswich
Man Utd v Aston Villa
Sheff Wed v Man City
Tamworth v Norwich
Salisbury/Nottm For v Charlton
Cardiff v Tottenham
Preston v Sunderland
Liverpool v Arsenal
Bristol Rovers/Bournemouth v Hereford
Watford v Stockport
Crystal Palace v Swindon
Bristol City v Coventry
Peterborough v Plymouth
QPR v Luton
Southend v Barnsley
West Brom v Leeds
Hull v Middlesbrough
Birmingham v Newcastle
Torquay/Leyton Orient v Southampton
Everton v Blackburn
Chelsea v Macclesfield
Stoke v Bradford/Millwall

Ties will be played on the 6 and 7 of January.

Saturday Again

I am here for a while before I have to go to the kids basketball.
Hope to have some company.