I wanna play football soccer....

...football soccer the greatest game of all.

That is the main lyric of the cheesiest song I have ever heard in my life, it plays a lot in the menu screens of the latest Pro Evolution Soccer incarnation. I fear it may slowly drive me mad over the next 12 months, if anyone spots me singing it just shoot me no warnings it would be a mercy.

Anyone that knows me will know of my love of the Pro Evolution Soccer series of football games. I have been playing since it was International Superstar Soccer Pro on the original Playstation. I didn't buy the SNES versions which I believe were meant to be pretty good. Anyway PES 2008 is out and I've been play the X-Box 360 version with added glossy shiny next gen trimmings.

I have some reservations, yes initial impression is that the main game is true to the spirit of the series and that is one of the most important things. I'm still getting to grips with using a 360 controller over the PS2 one, but I can't help think it's a little rough around the edges. The much trumpeted improved AI I don't see many signs of yet, how it interprets some passing options is a bit shaky. Not dreadful, it is possibly just that one has to take even more care to things like your players body shape and what foot he is using than before and that when fully acclimatised to the new version these things will not happen. There is still a lot of promise and it is infinately better than the bodged 360 version of PES6 which I had the misfortune to even play at all.

Other less important but still annoying grips include the editing system, it is quite frankly poor. In theory the amount one can shape the players face should allow great flexibility but in reality I find a lot of the players just end up looking rather similar. In previous versions one could use this build face option or choose one of many different stocked images. It was fairly easy usually to find someone that looked a bit like who you were trying to imitate and get a reasonable likeness. What would be ideal would be allowing ayou to choose from a list of templates and then aloowing you to use the tools provided to tweak these images into something a bit closer to desired effect.

The choice of templates for strips is also smaller, about 12 basic designs to choose from. To edit in a Motherwell team I had to use something that was like a 1950's throwback. That said the abilty to scan in images and use them could drasticaly improve this aspect, I haven't yet investigated how to utilise this side of the editing process.

The harshness of some of the referees is also beyond a joke, cards a flying for next to nothing. Red cards for slightly late challenges with player in corner. The new dive option I approve of as it is part of the game but ref books you for it 95% of the time, which I would object to if real refs were only so consistent. But in reality play should just be waved on more often. You can't seem to choose the referee and the number of stadiums seems to have been reduced. Like the classic teams maybe more can be unlocked as you achieve success in cups, but the PES shop has been done away with for straightforward rewarding of success.

Every new one takes some time to get used to and it is more positive than negative so far, I'm sure once mastered the game a bit better these minor niggles will seem trivial. One improvement is the replays seem to be a touch longer incorporating just that bit more of the build up to goals. Mind you on the downside the first showing of any replay is strangely jerky and annoying, only for goals once you get to the bit where you can control it can you truly enjoy the repeat of your masterful play.

Some days it is just not your day...

...and playing football last saturday proved it.

It is a bit of a transitional period for Fir Park Corner at the present, a few players have left and a few new ones have joined. Mostly without any great loss in quality, although our first choice keeper and pacy striker have been sorely missed. Arguably wee joe our nippy forward hadn't been at his absolute best the past season but his speed was phenominal and he was always a handful. Farmer our keeper also kept us in many a game so it is no real surprise we are struggling a bit.

Saturdays result was truly dismal though, a 6-1 reverse to an in form Ayr team that we'd thrashed not but a couple of months previously. First goal we lost had a hint of offfside but not one you could complain about greatly with no linesman you tend to benefit from marginal decisions at least as much as suffer from them, and it was a reasonably well worked move. Second goal however was a lack of marking at a free kick. We then pulled one back with a very tidy goal ourselves, a good through ball from our left back and composure in box from midfielder who'd got on the end of it. We then got hit by the sucker punch counter as we pushed for the equaliser. In at half time 3-1 down but by no means feeling like we were out the game.

We started the second half fairly well but we lacked a cutting edge up front and itcame back to haunt us as a very definately offside looking goal left us 4-1 down and looking out of it. Still we kept plugging away and looked to have pulled another back from a good header from a inswinging free kick only for it to be ruled offside. For once I can say with certainty it absolutely wasn't as I was right in line with our scorer and had watched both our runs in behind the defence after the ball was struck. This was the moment that probably ended our slim chance of getting something. A fifth on the breakaway which I have to hold my hand up to giving away possession, I had the chance to have a shot from the edge of the box and at 4-1 down I cna't for life of me think why I didn't but as I received the ball I saw a run from a forward in good position and tried to dink it into his path, didn't hit it cleanly and a defender lunging to block an expected shot deflected it away and they romped clear to score. Soon after this I had to limp off, my old boots were more worn out than I thought and the studs on my left boot had started poking through my insole and cut into sole of my foot and had been getting worse as game went on. I still managed to see a comedy moment as useless fat defender kicked the ball to opposition striker for an easy sixth to pile on the humiliation. By this time it was only pride that was taking a beating now.

League is already a write off for this season, in terms of any hopes of winning it after being runner up last two seasons it's all but getting a settled team and building for the next couple. Our new additions if we can get them all playing regularly will soon get us back to level we were, it's just not going to be to easy in the short term it seems.

Fucking about/getting organised

I've been doing a lot of the former and some of the latter this last week or so. I've done just enough ofthe latter that I should be getting considerably more productive in the writing department. I prior to going on holiday typed up the handwritten parts of the screenplay I'd started.

Since I came back though I found it hard to continue, it felt slightly unnatural. I've never written a screenplay, even just typing up what I'd written I had to refer to other screenplays I looked up on the internet just to get a better idea of how they should look. What I had written prior came quite easily and I've decided that I'll be as well continueing just to write it down in the hardback notebook I started it in then typing it up a bit at a time.

Even after that decision was made I've had to sit down and decide where it's going and what it's all about. Like the book I just started writing with a very vague idea to get going, but it doesn't take long before you have to think about it. Essentialy I had a picture in my head and basic idea, I've been needing to sit down and flesh it out, being doing a bit of that and it's helping.

Back from holiday again

Hence the complete lack of postings lately. Good time had, fortunate timing in that football wise I missed Motherwell getting beat and returned in time for Scotlands win over the Ukraine. Weather was about perfect hot but not unbearable during the day and warm/cool at night.

Didn't do a whole lot, chilled out at pool/beach and read some books. I'll maybe list the books later.

Was back in time for headlines about how the tories are now anything up to 9 points ahead in the opinion polls. Not that I care greatly I find both major parties little more than different puppets on the different hands of the same person. But the swing apparently from a couple of weeks earlier is well into double figures. I like to think I'm quite open minded, flexible to new ideas and so on but what sort of idiots are continually changing their minds about which party they'll apparently vote for with such ease given the recent swings to and fro.

I find it almost impossible to believe the tories have changed at all, compassionate conservatism my arse. If David Cameron whilst touting his green credentials had the remotest sincerity about them he wouldn't have been on a private jet or whatever to head north up to the artic or wherever he went for the photo op about to show concerned he was over global warming and he wouldn't have chosen to cycle to work whilst having his suitcase and papers and what not driven behind him in a big car.

And New Labour is hardly any better so sorry if Iwasn't on the edge of my seat over the will there won't there be an election, what difference will it make? Not a fucking lot would be the answer. It's the differnece between getting mugged and left shaken and getting mugged and the mugger being kind enough to at least hand back enough for bus fare home.

and as for the Lib Dems I did vote for them last election, and they've been sliding in the polls. Is it the fault of the now ex leader Menzies Campbell, well maybe but I can't say I've noticed a whole deal of difference between him and any of the previous two in that relatively speaking politically completely anonymous. As the third party with nil chance of power they only get headlines if they are infighting and/or the other two are having a relatively quiet time, or when one of them appears in public with a cheeky girl. But to be honest Charles Kennedy and Paddy Ashdown may well give a better account of themselves in parliament, not that many people watch that but well you really only heard about them for respective drink problems and extra marital affairs, unless the name Paddy pants down came about for some other reason. It seems so far back in mists of time now that I'm assuming that's how that nickname came about.

Is it just me?

I was browsing blogs, clicking next blog just to browse to see if I could find anything interesting but every third click or so is bringing up porn adverts. Now I know I haven't been looking at porn(honestly) and it's not like I've been getting general iffy pop ups it does seem to be Blogger specific. I'm running a spyware scan anyway but if this is advertising it's pretty sad, if I want porn I know it's out there I really don't want it and pardon the expression thrust at me while I'm flicking through blogs.

Just managed half a dozen clicks there without a dodgy porn advert site opening(scan not finished yet either), though not found to much of interest blogwise either, I know mine is crap but fucking hell there is some dross out there.