cannyconjecture

Rare new post

2009-12-08T19:50:00.002Z

But fairly big news. Got my first full time job in eh oh a good good while. :-)

Starting full time gym instructor position in next couples of weeks once disclosure comes through.

Short and to the point. Though given I last posted in June and this is like my second post of year I don't think anyone will be reading. Do comment if you are and I will check in again sometime.

Update

2009-06-15T17:05:00.002Z

nothing interesting, I was watching the end of the bourne ultimatum the other day and I like the Moby track that features on it, so I thought i'd pop over to my blog where I linked the tune via myplaylist.com.

I'm loathe to kill of the blog completely, though I only pop onto it now and again for as one means of listening to music I been to lazy to go and download onto my computer or mp3 player.

What a day!

2008-09-02T14:45:00.002Z

I know this blog is almost dead but thought I'd post about the day I had yesterday.

Started off quietly enough I was going about my business tidying up a bit here and there and I could hear in the background the noise of grass being cut. There is a guy that goes about cutting peoples grass for them as a small business enterprise and who used to cut grass for us. Now to cut a longer story a bit shorter his services proved unreliable and after investment in a new lawnmower no longer required. This still doesn't put him off asking every so often and when the doorbell rang I knew who it was and choose to ignore. I just could not be bothered with him.

So later on I head downstairs and out on errands of my own and he is still there with the latest in a long line of dimwit sidekicks. I am asked if I want my grass cut, I politely refuse. Now the garden is shared between an upstairs and downstairs flat and the back garden is shared and with the downstairs flat designed for wheelchair use the tennat there gets a grass cutting service provided. Now the service is pretty poor but it has established the precedent that he gets a bit at the front cut for him and half the back. Now recently I tend to just cut all of the front and leave the back and well they have taken care of it. But yesterday as I was leaving and having politely refused the offer made I get hit upon for money for them doing the back. I explain that well they weren't asked to do it. Needless to say they were trying to get money off me, all of £5 and things began to get heated. The sidekick who was a ginger midget of a guy starts going mental, calling me all sorts. Saying what a snidey cunt I am leaving the poor wee handicapped boy to pay for the grass cutting. I am not having what is basically an attempt to extort money from me and tell him that I'll sort out with downstairs but he getting nothing. After more tirades he then threatens me, I tell him to fuck off. He then picks up his rake and waves it at us and says he is going to "set about me," just as I've went to walk away. I turn andd take a step back and invite him to come ahead and he does nothing other than call me names. So I head off down the street to get my bus, when I'm halfway along I can here him shouting at me again and brandishing his rake. I shake my head in general dismay for the human species and walk slowly on he was welcome to follow but I think his wee legs would only carry him so far.

I tell my partner about all this just so she warned about it and lo and behold as she gets home from her work he tries to get money out of her and not even by starting with a polite enquiry. It's a case of "haw you, you owe me fucking money," well she tore into him and despite more threats about doing her and visiting me in intensive care as a scene erupts he ends up surrounded by the neighbours. Not least the downstairs one who tear into him for upsetting my partner and for having the cheek to chase us for money when it turns out they were explicitly told that it had been made clear what they were paying for and if they wanted to cut the whole of the back as offered that was up to them but they were not to do it if it wasn't covered by what they were paying them. This scene leads ginger arse to get all upset and apologetic and he told to take a hike despite at one point holding out arms for some sort of apologetic hug.

I'm thinking what a day and blissfully unaware that there is more to come. To get straight to the point I was making my way home after playing football. I get off the bus at hamilton bus station and make my way across the road to catch another bus. As I make my way round putting on a bit of a jog some neddy looking guy asks me for a fag. I say sorry I don't smoke and he mouths something not that clear back, he mutters something about wanting a square go and I ignore him because funnily enough I don't actually want one. He shouts abuse at me calling me a tim and other stuff I don't really mind and I head to other bus stop. He decides to follow me over with a wee pal in tow and he starts hassling me again getting right in my face. Despite a brief distraction of some other guy having a cigarett to give him at the bus stop he won't be deterred and after pushing up close to us and trying to provoke me he takes a swing and lands one right on my jaw. It a fair old whack but I shrugged it off and just kept watching him as I still was not wanting to get into a brawl in the street, especially as you never know if cunts like these are carrying anything and he has one pal albeit a wee tiny dude just by and a couple of others not that far away across the street. Not satisfied though he swings at me again, I duck away and it only a glancing blow on forehead but well I not going to stand there and take a kicking so I swing for him and ladle in. He falls back as I try and pound away, not sure how clean my own punches are but doing enough to make sure he not getting at me. Fact that I left handed took him by surprise as he couldn't seem to get his own punches awya as I held him away with right while letting fly with my left. I thought I saw what might have been a tooth fly out, I do hope so least the cunt deserved but at this point his wee pal pulls at me from behind and lets him step back. At this point I decided to leg it, even just two against one seemed bad enough odds and I had room to grab my bag and run. I heard the first ned tell the wee one to chase after me and he managed to trip me up but I was on my feet in a flash as I could have been in big trouble if they'd got me on deck. Fortunately the bigger one hadn't followed in and the wee one as I got up didn't have the bottle to do anything, so I got a clear run at second time of asking and legged it up the street where I ended up calling a taxi and making my way home to end a overly eventful day!

off on holiday

2008-07-01T14:27:00.001Z

so likely to be no new postings until I'm back.

think a revamp may be in order.

Can't be arsed posting lately

2008-06-17T15:05:00.003Z

Not entirely because I not had any inclination but for some reason the only time I can think of htings worth posting is when I lying in bed trying to sleep. Not that I having a great deal of trouble sleeping but thoughts always seem to be much clearer then and it can be difficult recreating the lucidity of what I wanted to sya when I originally thought, so in the end I don't bother.

All that said, I saw this article and thought I had to post it and link to it. I know it easy bash pish like coldplay but this guy puts it across quite well I think!

Andy Gill: 'Why I hate Coldplay'

Pompous, mawkish, and unbearably smug, Coldplay have conquered the charts with the sonic equivalent of wilted spinach, argues Andy Gill. And in the process, they've poisoned an entire generation of British rock music

Without wanting for a moment to give the impression that it's anything other than a wonderful way to earn a living, there are times in a rock critic's life when the soul sighs, and one faces the blank screen with heavy heart and empty head. Last week was one such time.

A new Coldplay album.

When, all too frequently, people say how great it must be to earn one's corn writing about music, it's hard to disabuse them of that opinion. Of course it's great! But I tend to offer one small caveat: it's not just writing about music that you enjoy – often, duty makes demands beyond one's personal tastes. And while experience, or low cunning, might spare one unnecessary exposure to the reviewer's less vital duties – hip-hop album tracks entitled "Intro", "Interlude" or "Telephone Skit", triple-albums by Prince, or the solo projects of sundry Rolling Stones – sometimes an act is so huge, so current, that it's impossible to ignore their enervating new release.

A new Coldplay album.

"Well, at least I'm not dodging sniper bullets in Helmand," you tell yourself, and set about the task in hand, knowing it's going to be no more rewarding an experience than the last time you deliberately exposed yourself to their mawkish stadium-rock anthems. Though actually, who knows? After all, this one's produced by Brian Eno, and he even managed to make U2 bearable for an album or two.

But Eno's presence begs its own question, of course. I recall an occasion back in the Eighties, when the young Eddie Murphy, his career then in the ascendant, was drafted in to salvage an appalling Dudley Moore comedy called Best Defense, through the insertion of about 10 minutes of extraneous footage of him pootling about in an army tank. The film was still terrible, and when asked why on earth he had accepted the part, Murphy shrugged and said: "There was a knock at my door, and when I opened it four men came in bearing an enormous cheque."

One can only wonder how many musclebound oafs were required to carry the cheque that persuaded Eno to produce Coldplay's new album. I mean, given his rarefied cultural tastes, surely it can't have been the project highest on Eno's wish-list? And what with all the U2 royalties, he couldn't conceivably need the money.

In the event, the album is almost exactly as I expected, if a tad shorter on Big Anthems than the previous three. The rhythms are a bit busier, and a bit more ethnic, and Chris Martin's little falsetto catch – one of modern music's most irritating tropes – has been rationed out more parsimoniously. (Thanks, Eno!) Pop's favourite Brianiac has ensured the sonic prerequisites are all in good order. And in a few cases, the songs do seem to be about things, rather than just anaemic expressions of emotional indulgence and limp consolation, like X & Y. Things like death, and war, and power. It's... not much, really, but not so little as to be completely worthless. It's the new Gold Standard of Average Music. And given the competition currently battling for that dubious honour, this is no mean feat. Almost an achievement, in fact.

But don't just take my word for it. Tomorrow you can buy the album and hear for yourself – as will untold millions around the globe. Viva La Vida has already broken the record for iTune's biggest album presale, and will doubtless repeat the success of X & Y, which reached No 1 in all 15 territories surveyed in Wikipedia's comparative chart, and shifted upwards of 10 million units. Not Thriller, perhaps, but then... oh go on, you finish the joke.

The strange thing is, I can't seem to find anyone who bought X & Y, or who intends to buy Viva La Vida. For that matter, I have never encountered one person who has a kind word to say about Coldplay. None of my personal or professional acquaintances, nobody in the street or the local café, not a single soul will admit to liking Coldplay or purchasing their music. Indeed, most seem to agree that they epitomise everything that's wrong with modern rock music. So who's buying all their albums? Who are those masses politely arrayed in their thousands at stadiums when Coldplay play? Is it some secret society, an Opus Dei of dreary anthemic music? And where do they congregate, other than at stadiums and arenas? Do they have parties? And if so, how many slash their wrists at these parties? What's the attrition rate?

Yes, yes, I know, I shouldn't be so hard on them – after all, being Coldplay fans, they have it hard enough already. But it does seem to be the case that Coldplay have become one of those definitive cultural dividers, the twain of which shall never meet. They're sort of the anti-Sex Pistols, an act that repulses not through outrage, bad manners and poor grooming, but through their inoffensive niceness and emollient personableness. In 1977, EMI couldn't divest themselves of the troublesome Pistols quick enough, you might recall; but in February 2005, that same corporation's whopping share-price fall of 46.25p (to £2.35) was largely attributed to the announcement that Coldplay's X & Y would not be released during that fiscal year, as originally expected.

This corporate impact is especially ironic given Coldplay singer Chris Martin's highly publicised advocacy of anti-corporate, pro-Fair Trade principles, just one of several ways in which the band offers a pale reflection of their most obvious influence, Radiohead.

Their music sounds like Radiohead with all the spiky, difficult, interesting bits boiled out of it, resulting in something with the sonic consistency of wilted spinach; it retains the crowd-pleasing hooks and singalong choruses while dispensing with the more challenging, dissonant aspects and sudden, 90-degree shifts in direction. Chris Martin's decision to sing in a register that, at times, strains his vocal almost to a yodel brazenly apes Thom Yorke's more skilful and restrained use of a similar vocal gambit. But where Yorke's subtler employment brings soul into prog-rock, Martin's gauche overuse has become a cliché, which itself has been aped by the likes of James Blunt, perhaps the band's chief rival in musical mawkishness.

Another obvious comparison would be with Pink Floyd: they evoke much the same oceanic sense of unease and uplift, and employ the same type of widescreen arrangements, though as with their Radiohead influence, there's little hint that Coldplay share the Floyd's questing artistic temperament. Nor could they emulate the distinctive lyrical approaches of Yorke or Roger Waters, both of whose work is simply too acerbic and bitter, and frequently too twisted and ambivalent, for such innate populists to handle. So what Coldplay invariably fall back on is the disingenuous empathy of lines like, "Is there anybody out there who is lost and hurt and lonely, too?" and "Are you lost or incomplete... can't find your missing piece?", lines feeding off the soul-carrion of the insecure and lonely while offering no solutions, merely crumbs of solace expanded to wedding-cake size by the musical monumentalism within which they're set, so their fans can have their cake and eat themselves up at the same time.

Songs like "Trouble", from their debut album Parachutes, and "In My Place", from A Rush of Blood to the Head, are anthems of amorphous yearning designed to be as widely applicable as possible; all-purpose wallows whose self-pitying, apologetic tone sounds utterly bogus. When Martin sings, "If you go and leave me down here on my own, then I'll wait for you", it's clear that we're the ones missing out, that though he may be down, his smug self-sacrifice occupies the emotional high ground.

By 2005's X & Y, the band had shifted slightly from outright self-pity to broader misgivings, a move marked by the shift from first-person to second-person in songs like "Fix You" and "A Message", cunningly enlisting their audience as co-mopers through songs of solace articulating vague, windy concerns – "I'm scared about the future and I want to talk to you", "When you feel so tired and you can't sleep/Stuck in reverse", etc – invariably resolved in mealy-mouthed platitudes like "I will try to fix you" and "You don't have to be alone".

There's no real sense of grappling with the social or political causes of the problems, just a bland emotional poultice applied to the wound. They've become the sonic security-blanket for millions of fans, their tracks sweeping by with the epic solemnity of state funerals, their huge, heartbreaking chord changes sucker-punching you with emotional logic while sapping any anger or political engagement – in the existential sense – that you might otherwise experience. Instead, Chris Martin offers a consoling arm around the shoulder and a nice cup of tea. But rarely can a claim have been less borne out by circumstance than "I will fix you": with Coldplay, it's never more than cold comfort.

In this respect, the band's name is one of the most appropriate in rock. It's redolent of pale complexions and dead emotions: whenever I hear it, it always evokes a glassy-eyed fish on a fishmonger's slab, ice melting from its scales. Ironically, it was coined by Tim Rice-Oxley, who had stopped using it for his own band as he considered it "too depressing". Rice-Oxley was apparently invited to join Coldplay, but instead chose Keane, which suggests a serious frying pan/fire interface. Still, at least it wasn't Snow Patrol or Athlete, the weediest of the Coldplay copyists trailing in the band's wake.

Sometimes, it seems as if an entire generation of UK indie bands has been blighted by their slavish adoption of the Coldplay formula, with would-be anthemic hooks and choruses, gushing affectations of maudlin sincerity, and the sort of deracinated, wholefood 'n' soymilk attitudes that are steadily strangling the life out of rock'n'roll. With luck, the wheel will turn again and drop them in the dumper, as it did with the laddish Oasis copyists that preceded them. But at least Oasis promulgated the kind of spirit and energy that galvanises the soul, rather than the notion that all problems can be assuaged by impotent sympathy set to repetitive piano ostinatos.

The band's political emptiness is most glaring in the ironically titled "Politik", whose list of vague demands ("Give me time and give me space, give me real don't give me fake...") and call to "open up your eyes" betray a dismal lack of political coherence.

They're not entirely to blame, I concede, nor are they alone in their simpering revisionism: for just as Thatcherism brought a wave of arrogant, sod-you selfish celebrocracy to Eighties pop, so, too, did Blairism effectively wipe out the ideological component of modern pop, emptying it of grass-roots political impetus in favour of less troublesome, easily harnessed celebrity-gesture politics. Not even Tony Blair, though, could be as bereft of driving principle as a band who sing – as Coldplay have – "I'm going to buy a gun and start a war/If you can tell me something worth fighting for". So, just how long a list do you want, lads?

On another, possibly longer, list, there's plenty more to dislike about Coldplay – most of it, admittedly, concerning Chris Martin, the world's least impressive rock star by virtually any criteria connected with rock'n'roll as we know it. There's the celebrity-spouse syndrome that casts Chris 'n' Gwynnie as the scented-candle, low-fibre equivalent of Brad 'n' Ange; the scrubby non-beard that Chris Martin shares with Jensen Button (have you ever seen the two of them together in the same place?); calling a child Apple, rather than, say, Veal (far tastier, and less likely to get bullied at school); and much more besides.

But for me, it's the band's anguished professions of supposed political concern, while simultaneously indulging the rampant self-pity of the most cosseted, comfortable constituency of music fans the world has ever known – that's the most irritating aspect of Coldplay. Rock'n'roll used to be a rallying cry, a clarion call; now, in their hands, it's just a palliative.

Our manager stayeth(for now)

2008-05-27T14:27:00.002Z

Very satisfying to get it right up the jambos who were dancing about thinking they had pinched our manager only for him to say "roon ye, I'm staying where I am!" You'd have to be mental to work over in Little Lithuania with the chairman interfering and calling all the shots. Just hope we keep playing the way we have been and we reap the reward of improving his contract before he moves onto bigger things at a less bonkers club!

Creative funk

2008-05-12T15:33:00.002Z

I not been writing lately, there has been stuff going on that has been a distraction but to be honest some of it was almost welcome to avoid writing, I had came to the conclusion that what I was writing at the time wasn't satisfying and my heart wasn't in it. But in last day or two an idea has been forming that is giving me enthusiasm to try and develop it into something, what format I don't know. I had been trying to write something in screenplay form and that in itself wasn't the problem, indeed if anything it was simpler. To my mind a screenplay is like the skeleton of a story and I think in many ways it doesn't require as much skill with words themselves as it requires imagination to tell a story and the ability to visulise it. If you want to set something say in an area of London, you can set it there without having to have the same amount of knowledge of the place to describe it with same level of authenticity.

Backwaters of europe here we come!

2008-05-12T14:53:00.002Z

Been rather quiet here on all fronts, but not had a great deal to say all season about Motherwell FC and here we've only went and qualified for europe for something like the 4th time in our history. If anything there has been to much going on to write about, from the dramatic turnaround in fortunes on the pitch, to tragic loss of a player also on the pitch, the dreadful state of the pitch itself and a bundle of call offs it seems quite appropriate that after our vital 2-1 win over Aberdeen at the weekend our Main stand and the pitch itself was struck by lightning cause both to be flooded. Fortunately only some carpets are needing replaced, our improved drainage making the pitch flooding a not to considerable problem for a change.

There isn't a rollercoaster yet built that could give you the same upss, downs, thrills and spills it has been that dramatic a season. Finishing 3rd is a well deserved reward at the end of it all, would like to think we can build on that but I understand all to well how Scottish football works and our own stature within it.

BT are fecking baws!!!

2008-05-06T14:15:00.002Z

Two whole weeks without internet, and eh not even entirely sure why. Nothing wrong with our equipment, but it took them two weeks to fix whatever unexplained fault they had at their exchange or who knows where else. This also included about ten days without a landline phone, and for something that is fixed it is running slow as a dude with serious constipation who is unable to do a shit. Trying to download a file for AVG latest free anti virus and estimated 30 minutes remains for a 45 meg file. Unlimited broadband my fucking arse!

Interruption

2008-04-09T10:56:00.002Z

Bit chaotic around these parts at the moment, my sister has been living iwth almost for the last wee while due to work difficulties and now a broken arm, unrelated. So everything this blog included is a bit out of kilter. Hopefully get back on track soon.

Intelligent Design....

2008-03-25T15:52:00.003Z

...exposed for the sham that it is. Quite a long video but a good watch. I looked at it and thought oh I'll watch this later but ended up sitting through the whole thing.

A literary journey

2008-03-18T15:26:00.002Z

I was thinking the other day about Watchmen comic that I'd read recently. I registered on the scottish fitba website pie and bovril and wanted a username different from my usual one, so I chose one of the characters from the series.

It got me thinking as to how I ended up reading something that I had enjoyed that much. I traced the journey thusly. Once upon a time back when I was a nipper someone purchased the book of Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. I believe it was my sisters copy, although she has never shown any such good taste in choice of books since. Indeed I believe she had the first 4 books, or all of them at the time of printing, and they lay around our house for many years. The distinctive cover of the first book caught my eye on many occaisons but never did I pay it any greater heed for a long time.

Eventually I took more of a liking to reading books in general and at this point the details get hazy. I may have read some discworld books first, and amused and entertained it triggered knowledge of another series of funny books that should be lying around our very own house. Or having read Hitchhikers I may then have been likewise inspired to go and read other books of great repute. I suspect it is the latter although I shall never be sure. What I do remember is that I could find the second, third and fourth volumes but not the first and I had to ask my mum to purchase another copy of the original which once gotten I read through in a single evening and is still the funniest book I have ever read. Indeed I have read it so much that I now purposely avoid reading it as I almost knew it almostword for word and no book can stand such sustained scrutiny without losing its magic. I look forward to reading them again some years from now still.

I then read Restaurent at the end of the Universe which was every bit as good, Life the Universe and Everything which was still very good but not as good as the first two and So Long and Thanks for all the Fish which I enjoyed but was quite different in style and then Mostly Harmless which was not awful or anything but very disappointing and really rather sad. I don't think I have read that one since first I read it. Anyway I also read the Dirk Gently novels as anything associated with Douglas Adams was of great interest and this lead me to a biography of him written by Neil Gaiman. A man who was something of a link between Adams and Pratchett as he wrote a book about Adams and co wrote one with Pratchett, Good Omens which I also greatly enjoyed. A slightly darker humour but very much in Pratchett style.

All this reading was being done towards the end of my schooldays and heading into first year of university. At which point a BBC commisioned drama called Neverwhere written by Neil Gaiman was coming out accompanied by a novelisation written by the same man. I watched it and loved it despite the BBC budget letting down some aspects of the production and duly bought the book which I think I had finished between buying it after watching the 3rd episode and the final 6th(i think) one a few weeks later. So this then made almost as interested in the works of Neil Gaiman as that of Adams and Pratchett. Very sadly Douglas Adams died whilst I was as university and beyond the half finished Salmon of Doubt no more literary work was to come. Indeed Terry Pratchett has recently been diagnosed with a form Alzheimers which will surely sooner rather than later curtail his own work, I have all but one Discworld novel in my collection.

Anyway I discovered he wrote a comic series known as Sandman, I resisted this as I was dubious about the genre. I mean wasn't it all just Superman, Batman type stuff etc? So I read his following books, Stardust, American Gods, Anansi Boys and a short story collection. I also went to see the film Mirromask. Eventually though having decided it was given enough critical acclaim to be impossible to ignore I decided I'd have a look. At ten volumes of varying sizes each costing between about 12-15 pounds it was always something I wondered was it value for money? Obviously you only need to buy one and if you don't like it you can forget the rest but anyway I eventually plunged in and bought the first one. It was different, it was interesting and I enjoyed it and certainly enough to to get the next. It was if anything better and that more or less continued throught out the series, volume 3 was perhaps a little unsatisfying compared to some others but by and large the series went from strength to strength. I not even going to try and desribe it I don't think I could do it without reading through it all again and writing a minimum of a couple of thousand words and that would but scratch the surface.

Well the end result was I was a huge fan of the Sandman series in paerticular and hungry to read more comics/graphic novels in general. Without thinking of any obvious direct links off the top of my head another name often came up working in the genre, indeed the name Gaiman credited with teaching him how to write a graphic novel, now that I think about it, Alan Moore. A film version of V for Vendetta was recently out which kept his name in the foreground so I ended up buying that and eventually watching the film which was also really quite good. Faithful to the spirit if not to every detail of the work I'd say. Only a short stop away was his arguably his most critically acclaimed work Watchmen which I just recently read.

All because my sister once enjoyed Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy?

Speechless

2008-03-11T18:13:00.002Z

Money pissed up against a wall was that report. Fuck me, what a fucking joke! I am lost for words, why is the world so wrong! Lets make people feel British, lets give them a council tax or student fee rebate to people who volunteer to swear allegiance to queen and fucking country. Fuck britishness, fuck scottishness, fuck stupid petty nationalism. By all means celebrate cultrural heritage and shit, as well as be willing to scrutinise it and say haud on actually not everything to do with blighty or wherever you come from is all that great.

This to me is a great example of petty pointless change and it is the most hideously depressing example of the hole of a country we live in. It's a good thing I know fuck all about explosives or I'd be suicide bombing parliament. Actually I wish I could sustain this strength of feeling, not because I actually want to suicide bomb anything but it would be good to sustain the energy to channel it into something more positive.

gym nonsense

2008-03-06T13:04:00.002Z

Well seeing as I mentioned it the other day I might as well mention it again. Football got frozen off on tuesday so I found myself trying to make up for it by going to the gym on wednesday and I attacked the 3 mile run on the treadmill. 21 minutes and 4 seconds, quite pleased with that. Reckon I can get unde 21 minutes, though I'll maybe wait until next week to try it.

Just about over last weeks shock...

2008-03-04T15:29:00.003Z

....which in the grand scheme of things I do realise to be trivial. Still thank fuck for the trivial to take our minds of the serious from time to time. I find that sometimes the best way to attack problems is to ignore them. Not entirely that only leads to more trouble but to find something that will take your mind off something, allow a bit of mental resetting and easing of pressures of problems are difficulties that don't have readily presentable solutions.

Playing football is probably the best one(for me), it works the body and the mind provided your not so down in the dumps that you can't function it is ideal for making one feel better. The exercise and the distraction. Well provided you don't have a complete mare of a game to make you feel even worse :-)

Computer games are the next best thing, utterly trival enjoyment of the highest order although the downside is it is far to easy to spend to much time playing them.

The gym provides an ideal outlet to work out frustrations with exercise but the general lack of excitement can make it difficult to concentrate if you mind not in it. On not really related note I did enjoy gym session I had this week where I did a 3 mile run in 22 minutes flat. Not quite worrying olympic qualifying standard I'm sure but my best time over the distance(only ran it 3 or 4 times) by a good 40 seconds.

Books, I love reading but it is rubbish as a distraction, if things are a bit hectic and what not it hard to sit and concentrate on a book regardless of the quality or interest to you. Again a bit unrelated in graphic novel format I just read Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons and it was really really good. Graphic novels I'm becoming increasing interested in after reading the Sandman series, V for Vendetta and Watchmen.

Film and TV, again a decent distraction but I find that you better in the cinema if you wanting to take mind of things rather than watching at home due to less distractions. Also reckon cinema is hard to beat for visual and audio provided you go when place isn't full of arseholes. TV is also so full of shite that it easily becomes another source of irritation.

Woken up into a twisted nightmare of a world!

2008-02-27T11:36:00.002Z

Well I knew yesterday really but point holds not my idea of a great signing, the guy seems to be a complete fud and not sure he even that much of a player to even think about putting up with the baggage. If he does well most people will at least bite there tongue but a pretty unpopular signing nonetheless.

Blazing row(well ish)

2008-02-25T15:49:00.001Z

Had a bit of a barney at the football with one of the guys I sit beside and play football with, which is most unlike me as I did lose my temper. I wanted to swing for him, but a pacifistic nature and the some what public nature of this bit of girly squabbling held me back.

I have to admit I was trying to wind him up, but only in traditional matey banter style badinage that we as a group, hell as a gender participate in. I clearly misread the signs to the mood of the moment and while my comments might not have been welcome I never said anything offensive or downright nasty. Well certainly not before I lost my temper, and even then afterwards I think I restricted myself to shouting get fuck out of my face, and aggressively posturing in a slightly mollifying Bill Hicks style pushing someone away while shouting come here. Not quite grasping fundamental physics. He on the other hand started getting personal, to point where I now have a dilemma as quite frankly in truth I still want to kill him, my opinion of him has went right downhill but yet I still have to deal with him on a regular basis. The mature part of me says I should maybe just write it of to unfortunate words wrongly chosen and no real ill will meant, put it all the past and forget about it.

However despite best efforts the chosen words remain said and while I might be able to on the face of it do that deep down I still think there will be an ember burning. I htink the best I'll manage is an aloof civility. We shall see how things unfold.

First person shooters, normal or inverted mouse?

2008-02-22T14:44:00.003Z

Been playing Halo 3 on X-box 360, I don't know if it's the knock out classic some would suggest but I quite like it so far, anyway I started playing it and found the controls a bit awkward it wasn't intuitive on the gamepad. A pc is generally far superior for this kind of game with mouse and keypad but I found that inverting the aim on Halo 3 made it far better and a decent gaming experience. However on pc games I played like Half Life and Counterstrike I found an inverted mouse completely unplayable. It just struck me as odd and wondered if anyone else had same experience?

Eccentricity

2008-02-19T14:16:00.002Z

If the world is a fucked up and twisted place and the role of psychologists is to enable one to function suitably within societies confines, does that not make that a truly sick and perverse profession?

That wasn't what I was really thinking about when I first went to post, was thinking of some of my own personality quirks. my sister is up at the house just now and well I get on with my sister well enough but it makes me ill at ease. Less comfortable in my own skin, not really sure why that is. I don't see her that often these days, but I find our family unit small those it is has always been and remains not distant but disjointed.

football last night

2008-02-12T10:21:00.001Z

The kind of game that makes you question your sanity for bothering with it all, humped out of cup to lower league opposition at home displaying all the resilience of a patch of snow with grit thrown on top of it, melted away with minimal resistance. It was almost a certainty, every other time we have a half decent draw in the next round of the cup waiting for us we have blown it is as well I shouldn't be surprised.

Can buying a badge make a difference?

2008-02-06T13:12:00.000Z

Well possibly not, but you have to admire the optimism.

Fucking about

2008-02-06T01:20:00.000Z

It's a bit untidy and a bit unfinished but thought I'd some tunes. I'll try and tidy it up in future but don't hold your breath. As for the repeat of the Clash song I'm blaming the website I used to create the playlist it was on there twice I deleted one of them and yet lo and behold I go and add in the code to put it on my blog and it's back.

Ah well I'll tweak my playlist later. I'll listen to any requests but no promises.

Greedy arsehole(s)!

2008-02-04T16:26:00.000Z

Despite the fact that this guy has been reported to the police and asked to pay back a whack of expenses he thinks now is a good time to suggest that sixty thousand a year for a back bench MP isn't enough and that something in the region of eighty to one hundred thousand would be more appropriate. The gall of the man is quite impressive, its like he is saying "yes I am a greedy bastard and proud of it, baaa tis what it means to be British," while thumping his chest at same time no doubt.

Clearly wasn't enough for him, though by god his sons must have been some really good researchers £11,773 a year for an 18 hour week seems decent enough, no need for student loans in this family but they were so good they earned four ten grand bonuses for their work. The constituents of Old Bexley and Sidcup must think themselves really lucky. Travelling back from studying at Newcastle University at weekends all the way to London, now there is a work ethic to be proud of. Perhaps the bonuses were for travel expenses?

He complained that he earned more as the Chief Executive of the Cats Protection League, if I was high up the CPL I'd be rechecking the accounts, well as a cat lover I'm pleased to hear they can pay that kind of wage I just hope whoever has the job now is earning their keep and cat welfare up and down the country should be fine. Thing is if all you are concerned about is money then in my opinion you are likely to be a twat of an MP. In my view MP's earnings should be linked to the wage and or living standards of the average citizen and while £60k a year might pale in comparison to the chief exec post of a charity run to protect the nations moggies I wouldn't think it wouldn't leave you short, indeed when you add in the fact you can hire the whole family to run your office I daresay household income is not likely to be a concern.

This clown however much of a crook or poor scapegoat whatever view you happen to take is clearly wired to the moon.

People who...

2008-01-28T23:51:00.001Z

...listen to music from their mobile phones without wearing headphones should be put in stocks and have rotten fruit hurled at them. I was thinking harsher punishment but I'm trying to be more of a humanitarian and am generally against capital punishment despite being tempted often by public irritants such as this. It tends to be neddy looking sorts who should probably be steralized for the good of the gene pool listeningto irritating garbage but occasionally it relatively normal looking sorts and such behaviour is socially unacceptable especially as any phone I've ever bought that could play music comes with headphones provided.

A new book

2008-01-21T16:33:00.000Z

Just bought a book called Do it yourself: A handbook for changing our world.

I'm hoping it will provide inspiration.

Another book I read recently which I found stoked the old grey matter was Guardians of Power: The Myth of the Liberal Media, a very interesting read and certainly stimulating a bit of real debate.

Online shopping

2008-01-14T16:25:00.000Z

Much as I appreciate any attempt to improve the security of online shopping I still for the life of me can't help wonder exactly how it is that by typing in a number that albeit written in smallish print is plainly visible on the back of my credit card will somehow improve the safety of my transactions. Indeed nigh on every website points out where it is to be found so you can complete your order, is it to foil criminals that while capable of stealing my credit card might have neglected to put on their reading glasses for when they sit down at a computer to fraudulently buy products?

Am I missing something really obvious? Was I emant to take a note of that number and remember in the same fashion as a pin number and then scratch it off so no one could see? I could have sworn there was nothing like that mentioned when it was sent out.

Belatedly perhaps but...

2008-01-03T15:20:00.001Z

...happy new year to one and all.

Hopefully this coming year will be a better one, I doubts it but live in hope.

No real new years resolutions made other than to to reapply myself to writings and increase my output which has declined rather unfortunately. Aims are to have a screenplay finished by the summer and something else well under way by end of the year.

Phil O'Donnell

2007-12-31T12:06:00.000Z

Where to start, a true Motherwell legend and more importantly husband to his wife Eileen and a father to four young children has left us. It was the worst I have ever felt at a football game in all my life as he collapsed comepletely out of the blue, the horrible errie quiet as everyone feared the worst but hoped for the best.

It should have been a match to remember for all the right reasons but will now only be remembered for the horrific consequences. I was in the pub after with friends and initial reports suggested he was conscious so still worried we alll had our fingers crossed and briefly enjoyed what had been a fabulous win. But we all were still trying to find out news via texts and so on from people listening to radios and what not at home and others in Centenery suite at Fir Park itself. Finally the news was heard that Phil had died, it wasn't official it came from someone we knew inside Fir Park, just a fan but in the hospitality section. He had said someone came in and told them, it was impossible to believe but almost as impossible that someone would make something like this up, a cloud really descended on the place as eventually other sources backed up the inital source. By the time it was reported on sky sports news we all knew, but there was no more hiding from the truth.

A dozen times I've felt tears well up at memories of Uncle Phil, how strange a nickname that still seems when I think of the fresh faced youngster I watched come through the ranks, but I've always managed to just about hold them back usually because I've been trying to talk to someone about it at the time. What his family must be feeling is incomparable, Phil O'Donnell the footballer holds a special place in my heart but I never knew the man personally and for that I'm glad because by all acocunts he was a thoroughly great guy and his loss is hard enough.

I could go on and on, but I've written about him elsewhere on messageboards, I laid a jersey outside Fir Park and left a few words in the books of condolence. Life goes on, and for us fans who will also never forget him it will be a far easier thing to get over than for his family. We don't have the right to wallow if grief, we pay our respects and remember him for that is all we can do.

Merry Christmas etc

2007-12-24T14:25:00.000Z

Been a bit quiet on here in the run up, but merry christmas or whatever holiday you do or don't celebrate and a happy new year as well incase I just cannot be bothered blogging over the next week or so.

Tomorrow

2007-12-17T14:36:00.000Z

I shall finish my christmas shopping and see Bladerunner again at the GFT, now that more than makes trawling through glasgow on a cold winters day worthwhile. That said it's crisp, cold and dry days ahead on the weather forecast so not complaining. It's almost like proper winter weather, my only concern is that football in the evening could get frozen off. Despite the so called all weather surface.

No real chance of snow though, I have vague memories of proper snow inches deeps but must have been a long time ago. Outside of removing myself to the alps or somewhere more mountainous doubt we'll see proper winter weather like you get on christmas cards ever again. I wonder ever since the ice queen (Margaret Thatcher) was deposed has there been a proper winter or have I been confusing the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrope.

We got read that book at school and I loved the story, and the BBC childrens telly adaptation. The big film version wasn't that great but I was gutted to learn it was half a christian parable, which when you consider I almost decided to go and see the Golden Compass solely on the basis that the US catholic church was attacking it is something I'm always likelly to find off putting. It shall never quite be the same again

Christmas shopping

2007-12-11T14:14:00.000Z

It is a pain in the arse alright, though thankfully the task is nearly done, I've been somewhat inadvertantly fairly orgainised this year I dunno how that happened. Still got the almost as big a pain in the arse task of wrapping shit up.

I can't complain to much I do tend to come out of the festive season pretty much ahead. I think I've only got a couple of more presents to buy and I'll be finished. I'm going to start wrapping today, wrap up at least half what I already got, and break it up into smaller tasks. thinks like books are easy, but I have a bagpuss thing to wrap up and it is well shaped like a bagpuss, that'll be a nightmare!

Football tales

2007-12-04T13:57:00.000Z

Is there a worse thing in the beautiful game than getting whacked in the nadgers with the ball? Three times now in the last 6 weeks I've been hit in the most delicate of areas, one time so hard I was felled to the ground. Given I play football at least twice a week, usually three times and very occasionallly four times you might think it's part and parcel but I can't honestly remember such regualarity of ball bashings ever. I would go back years to the last time I was unfortunate enough to get hit even once and it has been on the same monday night fives each time. Indeed and I might be mistaken but it's close to every second week over the last six weeks or so. If it happens again in a fortnight I'm gonna have to start playing the other week when I'm not due to get hit in the plums.

On the plus side my 11's team has won it's last two games, after a rather nightmarish start to the season losing four out of the first five games. A 9-1 demolition of local rivals Airdrie was nice but no real boost as they are pretty rancid(apparently there manager jacked it right after the game, can't blame him getting gubbed so badly by our team on recent form) but on saturday there we went down to Ayr and won 4-2. We only had 11 players and considering we had slumped to a 6-1 home loss to them a few weeks prior it made for a hugely satisfying victory. Even more so as from 3-0 up at half time less than 10 minutes into the second half we were only 3-2 up but we held firm and grabbed a fourth to seal the win. Only downside for me was an Elphias Shivute(think Forrest Gump) moment running down the wing at pace and sort of forgetting to stop as a heavy touch meant i ran all the way out the park rather than as intended driving into heart of 18 yard box with only one defender to beat.

Religion!

2007-12-03T16:05:00.000Z

When you read a story like the Gillian Gibbons one, you cannot help but think the world has gone mad. It's both hilariously funny and monumentally depressing at the same time. Such insanity and madness I can't think of a better example than perhaps when the people of Hartlepool hanged a monkey because they feared it was a french spy.

I don't know what is worse the sheer fundamentalist fervour of people in Sudan or the undercurrent of racism and cultural superiority found in many comments on this issue. The BBC website comments on it from all sides had me wanting a nuclear holocaust. That wasn't to say I didn't find some insightful and intelligent comments on it but they were far outnumbered by the hordes of madness, piousness, bigotry, and crass stupidity etc.

All religions are a fucking plague on this earth, I accept there are very many decent christians, muslims, hindus, sikhs, jews, and people of all religions really that are basically good people but the whole concept is a cancer of the mind and soul. It's about time people took a look around the world and treated fellow humans with just basic respect that we are all equal under any or no god and that we have the same right to life and right to hold different ideas. And if you want or can't help but believe in some deity fine but for fuck sake keep it to yourself and don't murder, maim or inprison anyone in the name of them please.

Lets face it we are destroying the world we life on and we'll tear each other apart whilst doing so as the planets resources diminish and when we join the dinosaur as an extinct species we'll have well earned it and good luck to any poor bastard of a specis that survives to inherit the earth. Maybe the next sentient species can do a better job.

Horrified!!

2007-11-27T12:19:00.000Z

I just looked at my profile and it said I was in accounting!! Thought someone was taking the piss but it was the first option in the list surely it's not the default setting I maybe just carelessly clicked on that when I first set this up. I'm truly horrified that I might have been mistaken for a accountant. Believe I have fixed it now.

Bladerunner: The Final Cut

2007-11-27T12:04:00.000Z

I do thoroughly reccomend you go see this film should you have the chance, I went to see it at the weekend and was stunned by how good it was. I was expecting to enjoy it rather a lot but I must have seen it half a dozen times before now and have the Directors Cut edition on DVD so wasn't expecting to feel so much of a difference.

The cinema itself isn't a huge multiplex so while at first the screen seemed a little small compared to modern standards once you get into it was still light years ahead of even a nice big LCD or plasma. When combined with the sound(Which unlike my local Vue in hamilton is set nerve shreddingly loud) it adds to an incredibly powerful viewing experience that only cinema can provide. That said I haven't tried turning up the volume on my telly really loud and just sitting right close up.

Twenty five years on and Sean Youngs characters big shoulderpadded jacket aside and you wouldn't think it had dated at all. It still looks stunning, dark and wet and grim but stunning. It's a film both beautiful and disturbing, a haunting music score fits it all perfectly and if you want to know what it's about there is a great deal of room for interpretation. For my money it's essentially about the value of life, which might sound a bit vague but I don't really feel upto a full on review.

I'm very tempted to go see it again lest they not release on it's 30th anniversary in 5 years time.

Freedom of Speech

2007-11-27T00:44:00.000Z

Should we take the example of Voltaire, "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it," or should we sometimes have to draw the line?

I have my doubts, in principle I can't help but think that in order for freedom of speech to mean anything you should be able to say whatever you like and that the power of argument should leave racists and holocaust deniers and their ilk in a small and ridiculed minority. That certainly sounds simple enough in the relative comfort of the democratic(flawed badly though it is) UK. The confines of Oxford Union being very different of the example of harm in Rwanda.

Still whatever side you come down on it's good to see people willing to demonstrate against these people, the Griffins and Irvings. Was this a publicity stunt by the Oxford Union, maybe maybe not given the potential for unwanted publicity.

Oh yeah and whilst this probably deserves a post of it's own, ID cards how much of a bad idea are they given the calamitous way the government has been shown to handle peoples personal details. The grandest folly outside of the Iraq war!

This puzzles me somewhat

2007-11-20T18:29:00.000Z

It seems to suggest that a lot of people are fed up with strike action in France. Fair enough there is a real cost and the inconvience probably gets right annoying and if the route of the problem is a group of people who have it better than you by being able to retire earlier than what you can I imagine that irks people and probably doesn't lend itself to sympathy.

It seems that yon Sarkozy fellow thinks the fact that the average French person works less is a bad thing, hurting their economy. I can't say I'm all that knowledgeable about the French or indeed world economic affairs but it sounds to me like lower average working hours and earlier retirement are good things and aspired to. Now far be it from me to say early retirement should be mandatory either if you enjoy your job and are good at it you should be entitled to work as logn as you like. I think that the base logic behind the increasing workings hours to equal increased economic vitality for the French is fundamentally flawed.

Well maybe not entirely but are there no unemployed people in France just now? It semes to me whether economies boom or bust there is always unemployment, homelessness and all myriad forms of social problems but surely essentially punishing the average working citizen by trying to increase how much they work is a dreadful idea. I can't say I have the solutions but the basic answer to increasing your economic output should surely rather than make people in work work more get more people into work?

I appreciate it probably gets more complex but how many people just now in Britain wouldn't kill to reduce their working hours to somethign like the French average?

Glorious failure, it's been a while...

2007-11-19T16:12:00.000Z

..since last we met. Having towards the end of the Craigie Broon era and almost the entirety of the Berti Voghts era been used to plain old failure the events of last saturday followed in the best traditions of Scottish football. We threw away a cheap goal, fought back level had the Italians on the ropes and then to rub salt in the wound a nonsense refereeing decision gave them the free kick from which they scored and undeserved winning goal.

It was only when I saw the highlights later that on that it dawned on me just how good a chance McFadden had to put us in front, in fairness he was havingto slide in on a stretch in soaking wet conditions but coming onto his stronger foot I'd have put my house on him turning it home. As it was a draw probably wouldn't have been enough but you can't help but think France might have buckled in Ukraine, Ukraine are a good team albeit with not a lot to play for against a team of Frances undoubted class only needing a point. Though if that late goal had been an Italian equaliser rather than a winner it would be infinitely more frustrating and the sense of injustice doesn't bare thinking about.

As for injustice I try to resist the forces of paranoia but some of the decisions that didn't go our way over the last three qualifiers beggar belief. Forgetting the ukraine game as we won anyway and we also got a bit lucky with a decision ourselves the stonewall penalty we were denied in Georgia looks to have proven the most costly. Though we didn't really merit much from that game and you can't argue that the best two teams haven't went through.

Where did it go wrong. I think away games in Ukraine and Georgia are the ones we can't entirely say no regrets, or we did our best. I think in the Ukraine we were far to negative, now maybe they just outplayed us on the day they are as I said a good team but their biggest weakness is a slightly dodgy defence. We needed to show more ambition, from what I remember we started on the back foot and played for the draw. Ukraine are good but no Italy or France and in Italy we had a go and were unlucky to an extent.

As for the Georgia game alhough not helped by injury and suspension problems we got suckered into believing they were going to be a soft touch, they did field two 17 year olds and one 16 year old and trumpeted this fact in the build up. We went 4-4-2 and flung in an unfit Darren Fletcher who toiled noticeably, in hindsight we should stuck with the 4-5-1 formation with couple of the midfielders given licence to get forward and said you come on and break us down and we'll try and nick one. As even now one more gleaned point would still give us that fraction of hope for Ukraine doing us a favour. As it was all three Georgian youngsters played well, the striker and creative mid very well and we despite the stonewall pen denied and a couple other decent chances missed were largely frustrated and outplayed on the night.

Still no point getting to down in the mouth, relatively speaking we are still resurgent, most of the squad has their best years in front of them and we'll be in pot 2 for the forthcoming World Cup qualifying draw. Only downside is I think only group winners go through but it should make a play off a reasonable target rather than a hopeful dream and least an outside chance of winning group.

Writing difficulties

2007-11-13T13:21:00.000Z

I'm finding it easy to find and write down the ideas of what I want to happen, how I want it structured but committing it to actual writing is like pulling teeth at the minute. Had a spell like this whilst writing book, I just started and it came easily, then I stopped to think about it and it was like I was walking a high wire fine without noticing and then having become aware of what I was doing I find myself nervously tip toeing very slowly.

As for the book, well got about 3 weeks before the suggested deadline that one should expect to hear within will be passed. No great surprise, the rejection long anticipated isn't a huge bother it's the irritation that I know I have to at least try and punt it elsewhere, involving a more complicated process initial letter, a synopsis, a sample and so on rather than an in one simple submission procedure.

I need to kick myslef up the arse really, I'm going to tidy up my working space this afternoon and try and get a wriggle on. I've only got about 10 pages of what should be about 100 pages worth, I want it complete early in the new year, had hoped for it to be completed by end of this but nil chance of that now. If I can get a wee spurt before the end of the year that will be encouragement enough.

Scotland

2007-11-12T14:24:00.000Z

Come 5pm on saturday it'll be a cup final atmosphere, after months of triumph and occasional tribulation it is all coming down to one game. If we win we go through if don't then we well probably don't but like England qualification for the Euro 2008 finals would be out of our hands.

Needless to say even getting this far is some achivement and if our slightly over arrogant neighbours down south had down so well in such circumstances they wouldn't be getting half the stick they will get should they fail to qualify themselves. If we don't make it then it is because we've been pipped at the last by two of Europe's and the worlds best footballing teams in France and Italy.

We have just to beat Italy on our own patch to upset the odds and knock out the current World Cup holders. A team expert at digging out results when it needs them we can but hope we play out of our skins and they fall short of their best and with luck histroy will repeat itself as the previous time Italy won the World Cup in 1982 they then failed to qualify for the European Championship finals in 1984.

We haven't been at a major finals since 1998, having prior to that not missed a WC finals between 1974 and 1990 and making the Europeans also in 1992 and 1996. Ok we haven't ever done all that well when we got there but this time more than any just getting there will be as great an achievement for the Scottish National team as anything in it's history. I've everything crossed we can do it, we have a no bad team that are playing with believe and with guts. One more push and they can look forward to lifting Scottish football right out the doldrums and finally putting to rest the fact that we've never gotten past a group stage at a major finals.

Just so long as we get there though everyone will be happy.

Hattrick

2007-11-06T12:41:00.000Z

No not the number of goals I scored playing 5's last night(scored much much more :-) ), but a online foootball management game I've been playing lately. It is a far cry from the detail of Football Manager but has it's own challenge. At a glance it does seem a bit simplisitc and lacking in depth but on the plus side it isn't time consuming at all and there is more to it than initially meets the eye. Although you need a bit of patience as to start with your team is shite to such a degree that even Paddy Kenny's Dunfermline could probably take them just now. Well maybe.

I'm just starting my second full season, still locked in the lowest tier of Scottish football and no realistic chance of promotion this season. Still things are ticking along nicely and depending on who gets relegated down into my division next season I might have a shot then.

The basis of the game involves signing young players and training them and selling them on to make money to build a more rounded team. You can only train in one skill area at a time, so if you choose to train playmaking then whoever you have in goals, up front and in defence won't get the benefit. Winning games is also helpful as it gets the fans interested and as more join you find the money starts to come in and allow you to go from strength to strength.

Well worth a look if you want to kill a few moments here and there at work or wherever.

I wanna play football soccer....

2007-10-31T00:28:00.000Z

...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...

2007-10-23T18:41:00.000Z

...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

2007-10-23T18:22:00.000Z

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

2007-10-17T10:58:00.000Z

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?

2007-10-03T00:18:00.000Z

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.

How bad do you have to be...

2007-09-26T11:19:00.000Z

...for George W to consider sanctions?

On a less flippant note this story is both uplifting and depressing at the same time. I'm no respector of religious belief and the fact that it's monks demonstrating doesn't add an extra poigancy for me beyond the fact I assume they are quite pointedly non violent. How can people live with themselves working for security forces crack down on a non violent protest?

Do the people in these forces believe they are protecting a decent state from internal dissidents? Surely to fuck not. I don't know these peoples lives in any detail but I can barely comphrehend how people can join any military.

I've read many times about things like he following,

The use of child soldiers and forced labour.
Laws that criminalize peaceful expression of political dissent. At the end of 2006 most senior opposition figures were imprisoned or administratively detained, among more than 1,160 political prisoners held in deteriorating prison conditions.
People are frequently arrested without warrant and held incommunicado.
Torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment are common, especially during interrogation and pre-trial detention.
Judicial proceedings against political detainees have failed to meet international standards of fairness.
Defendants are often denied the right to legal counsel and prosecutors have relied on confessions extracted through torture.

That was lifted of Amnesty website and thats just scratching the surface. There is a section in John Pilgers book Hidden Agendas delaing with his experience in Burma which is worth reading.

It's no wonder people filter out this kind of unsavoury news, it's very easy to stick our heads in the sand.

Truly sickening...

2007-09-18T15:35:00.000Z

...just got wind of this petition in an email. Sheffield Wednesday are suing there own fans!

Submission of Novel

2007-09-18T14:18:00.001Z

Little bit late with this news, but I have submitted my novel to a publisher. Taking the path of least resistance I went via MacMillan New Writing, because it didn't require me writing an a letter and selling the idea via a synsopsis just to get a literary agent or publisher to even read it. Barring being extraordinarily lucky in about 10 to 12 weeks time I'll be doing just that if I haven't heard anything but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. I have a list of literary agents and publishers to go through.

In the meantime I can move on and work on screenplay I started last year. It's all been written in a notebook until now. I've transferred what I've done so far onto the computer, I just need to get cracking now and decide where it's going to as what I've written aside I've only got a very sketchy idea of what is going to happen.

Links updated

2007-09-17T16:29:00.000Z

Fixed a few broken links and added one new link, a still rather new music blog that my good friend Ewan is undertaking. Expect a review of this years Mercury nominated artists sometime in the new year.

The Noam Chomsky link should now go to his official website, The Rob Newman one should also now work again, he has a new show called History in Reverse is due to start at the end of October on BBC4. And the ethical shopping link should now work after I deleted an superfluous http:// bit I hadn't noticed was in twice.

Stunned

2007-09-13T15:26:00.001Z

I spent most of last night and this morning making odd sighing noises of surprise and bewilderment at the superb result last night. It's hard to get my head round, I don't think I've ever witnessed Scotland do something as incredible as winning a meaningful qualifier against a team as good as the French in their own backyard.

To be honest we're still miles away from qualifying, but if we do keep it going and make it to the finals you have to say whiles it's been a hell of an achievement just to get there if we can get there from this group you have to believe that the team is capable of winning the whole fucking tournament. I'd caution against silly season optimisim but if and it's still a big if, if we get there I'd hope the players believe in themselves and do themselves justice. Look at what Greece managed at the last one.

I'd still happily settle for us just getting there and doing our usual out after the group stages, certainly if we get a decent WC qualifying group to look forward to after.

Racism rears it's ugly head

2007-09-04T09:20:00.000Z

Although from talking to people and perusing messageboards about the only bugger who heard it was the steward who reported it. It's the second time this calender year as well we've had these sort of allegations and it's a total red neck.

The first time was a bit more clearcut, in a cup game against St. Johnstone a section in the Main stand were quite clearly heard, this section of fans were of the sort that don't wear any colours and prefer Burberry and Stone Island attire. They were so obvious and yet the stewards and police chose to do fuck all about it.

This time it's emanated from the Main stand again, although the source seems to be one of the more regular patrons. I don't know if anyone was singled out, but if the steward heard it he must have a fair idea of where it came from as it certainly wasn't from a large body of people.

We all now get tarred with the same brush whilst any muppet in a crowd of well several would be pushing it but a few thousands can make the rest look like complete fucking dicks.

On a lighter note though, I did hear what sounded like a potential racial slur last night, however it was either proof that the racist mindset truly is thick or a rather off the wall attempt at humour. A Hearts player lying prostrate and timewasting as we are chasing the game is targeted with the following abuse, "Away back to the country you came from," rather shocked look about at this seemingly racist outburst only to see that it's being aimed at Scottish internationalist Robbie Neilson. He does look a bit like Greystokes Lord of the Jungle but even so the shout seemed beyond surreal.

Been quiet lately

2007-08-27T14:30:00.000Z

Life and stuff just kept me away from blogging.

Not a whole lot ot report. Saw a few shows at the edinburgh festival and pretty much enjoyed them all, pish weather somewhat ruined the day out factor earlier in the month though.

Bookwise, things might seem a bit quiet. I have made progress on the sorting out the who and the where to approach re publishing. It really is a long shot but one has to try. Literary agents will be my first port of callm with the exception of MacMillan New Publishing which is only publisher I know off that has a department desgined to take submissions by unpublished writers. It's not sent yet, but even with the worst dilly dallying it will be sent off this week. If you don't hear anything within 12 weeks, you haven't been successful.

Composing a covering letter and a synopsis is far more of a challenge than writing the book was. Had a bit of a mental block, but it's coming together.

If I can get those off to a couple more literary editor types this week as well I can look forward to getting back to writing something more enjoyable next week and hopefully leave this current state inertia.

Quote that wot I liked.

2007-08-13T15:12:00.000Z

I read as much as I can, and quite often I'll be reading something of a philosophical/political persuasion and think ooh I like the sound of that. It sums up something you've been grasping to understand in a few sentances or even better says something profound that hitherto wasn't even on your radar. At this point I often think I need to note this down and share it with other people. Usually however I forget which page it was on and as i'm in the middle of reading I don't stop there and don't exactly forget about it but don't have the patience to go looking for it. Today however I was fortunate enough to be finishing more or less at the page where i saw latest thing that grabbed me.

It's from Power by Bertrand Russell and is as follows....

...,"Men who allow their love of power to give them a distorted view of the world are to be found in every asylum: one man will think he is the King, and yet another will think he is God. Highly similar delusions, if expressed by educated men in obscure language, lead to professorships of philosophy; and if expressed by emotional men in eloquent language, lead to dictatorships. Certified lunatics are shut up because of their proneness to violence when their pretensions are questioned; the uncertified variety are given the control of powerful armies, and can inflict death and disaster on all sane men within their reach. The success of insanity, in literature, in philosophy, and in politics, is one of the pecularities of our age, and the successful form of insanity proceeds almost entirely from impulses towards power."

In answer to my last post...

2007-08-13T14:57:00.000Z

...two goals in the last 5 minutes says it can, superb!!

So it wasn't a demolition job but more positives than negatives so far. We'll do better this season than last that is for sure, just a matter of by how much. Top 6 or better be hard work and require a good dose of good fortune. 7th is my current prediction, could still use a couple of new faces.

So far so good...

2007-08-10T13:48:00.000Z

...can it continue?

With largely the same bunch of haddies as last season we won first game of the season with an organsied display that was night and day compared to the performances at the same ground the previous season. Looked significantly fitter, more organised and willing to play football through the midfield passing the ball about and not treating it like a hot tattie and hoofing it into corners.

Long way to go to proof of having turned the corner but initial signs are good. Tomorrows game at home to ICT will be another good measure of how we are doing. They have traditionaly been awkward opponets for us at Fir Park, something like 1 win in 6 visits for ourselves. They tend to be big, pyhysical, in your face, sit back and try and hit you on the break. If we can dictate the game and come away with 3 points tomorrow and I'll be more than willing to believe we can be top 6 material this season, with a bit of luck and certainly not likely to be in any sort of relegation mire.

I suspect unless some more new recruits can be brought in 7 or 8th will be more likely but we should a least be contesting it until the death. A couple of good cup runs would also more than make for a good season.

Should the Olympics be held in China?

2007-08-08T13:15:00.001Z

Now to balance what might be seen as an implied cultural bias I would add that I would ban Great Britain and the United States from hosting the Olympics on political grounds. Not that the ideals of the Olympics mean very much in this day and age, but as well as the human rights issues it's barely safe for the athletes to compete apparantly?

The following seems to form the core of the base for the defence.

"If anything, the Games can only be a catalyst for constructive dialogue in a complex and sensitive transformation that is taking place in compressed time," he said.

"We believe that in the past six years the Olympic Games have had a positive impact in a number of areas such as education, media regulations and on environmental standards."

Amnesty International seem more sceptical.

Rather depressing news

2007-08-08T11:14:00.000Z

Not yet confirmed, but just goes to show we are still insisting on fucking up this planet we live on and there aint no planet b, we really should take more care.

It maybe the first in 50 years, I'd wager we won't be waiting that long for the next.

Sectarinism in Scottish football.

2007-08-06T21:48:00.000Z

I think we can agree that it tends to revolve around Rangers and Celtic. Yes I have seen a notable section of Hearts fans sign sectarian pish. I hear Killie fans sing a version of Hallo Hallo, although to be honest if they sign the phrase 'up to their knees in fenion blood' I couldn't be 100% certain. I have heard Motherwell fans in the past sing that, though not in at least ten years.

These two clubs are the ones that are most predominately associated with being a protestant and a catholic club respectively. Times they may be a changing and on the whole large sections of their support might be putting a lot of that hatred behind them. I dunno, incidents in hospitals on evenings of old firm games say there is still a considerable problem.

But with regards to latest controversy about singing of certain songs which are deemed offensive. Surely it is not any problem to deal with that? With police, stewards, CCTV and many fans willing to stand up and say that certain individual and groups are singing offensive songs why is it not the simplest procedure to have them banned?

50/60000 fans watch these two clubs week in week out, every match they play in Scotland is an all ticket affair. At games away from home where it's generally conceded the worst elements seem to come out there is generally more demand than there are seats available. Both clubs as far as I know have a balloting system, they hold the details of fans and supporters associations who recieve tickets or certainly could. Should their fans step out of line it should be a simple matter to track who purchased the ticket and ban them, for life if they should be a repeat offender.

If both clubs are serious about the problem of sectarianism within their support, a problem which is more than just a problem for two football clubs to deal with, rather than just paying it lip service they should be doing exactly this.

Oh what might have been!

2007-08-02T11:19:00.000Z

A bit disappointed with my showing in the Pro Evo tournament last night, but it could all have been so different. It started well, actually it started badly, the previous night one of the main organisers broke his ankle toboganing at X-scape and the whole event was for a while in danger. As it was it was a bit of a shambles at the beginning but despite getting off a bit later it got going and I started my first game well.

2-0 up inside the first ten minutes, my opponent pulled one back before half time. An early goal in the second half put me right back in the driving seat but my opponent wasn't for chucking it and fought back and with about 15 minutes of the match(pro evo time not real time) managed to force an equaliser. I looked in danger of blowing a game I had twice led by two goals. In this goalfest though I always felt confident of scoring again and duly did with about 7 minutes left and closed out the game to win 4-3. Sadly it would be the highpoint of my tournament.

After a short break I was back for my second match, buoyed by having got an early win I went into it full of confidence. Wintry conditions were order of the day and a tight and tense affair was soon under way. My opponent in this game was a harder nut to crack but I also was keeping him at bay, I'd went closest to scoring but with 5 minutes of the tie left a 0-0 draw looked inevitable. Still I forced a corner and was looking for the one goal that would surely win it when disaster struck. The screen went blank and resolutely remained so, the judge was called for and the overworked and clearly stressed out official looked unsure what to do and ordered a replay. Needless to say the replay didn't go so well, another tight affair was on the cards and 35 minutes in the pattern was much the same when my opponent managed to get in behind my defensive line but the attack seemed thwarted as my came came out and collected the ball at the edge of the box as my defenders harried and denied a clear shooting opportunity. Then it happened, my keeper stood up, ball in hands and crept to close to the edge of the box, dropped the ball right at my opponents strikers feet and he didn't look the gift horse in the mouth and crsiply stroked it home for 1-0. Open mouthed in shock I couldn't believe it, I had looked away to make a comment to someone, I don't think it mattered but a crucial advantage had been gained. As I chased the game I conceded a second midway though the second half and it was all over. Feeling slightly hard done by I could only shake hands with my opponent who had played well and made the most of the rub of the green.

At this point I'd have liked a short break to compose myself but before I could rise from my seat my next opponent was ready to play and it seemed churlish to refuse. Again no mug at Pro Evo he secured a 3-2 win to almost certainly put me out of the contest. With one game left I really only had pride to play for, I won my last game 2-1 which left me tied with two other players on 6 points but alas my goal difference wasm't good enough to scrape the second place needed to progess. A 0-0 draw in the second game would have been enough.

So I can't deny I'm disappointed at how it went, it was still enjoyable but I felt I was good enoguh to be in the last 16. In my opinion everyone in my group was a capable player, but none truly outstanding. I include myself in that assessment, the biggest disappointment was that in the next stage I would have been scheduled to play one of the two players that went on to contest the final. I didn't expect to beat them but I wanted to test myself against them and a dodgy PS2 or copy of the game denied me the chance. Am I bitter? Nah its far to trivial to get that upset about, but if it ever comes up in conversation you can be assured I'll moan like a champion about it given the opportunity :-)

Pro Evo 6

2007-07-31T12:53:00.000Z

Probably my favourite computer game, until PES7 comes out anyway, and testing my skills in a tournament tomorrow. It's being organised via a Motherwell FC fans website, so I know a few of the other entrants though I haven't played against many of them at the game. I'll be quite happy to get through the group stages and not shame myself but I'd be more than a bit pleased if I managed to win it. However I know that one of the guys entering isn't to shabby at all at this game seeing as he got his picture into the instruction manual for PES5 after winning a national tournament, he is clearly the hot favourite.

I think I'm not to bad at the game myself but my biggest weakness I think is my lack of human opponents, I only played against two different people outside of one player mode lately and people tend to be a completely different kettle of fish. I remember back playing original PES or PES2 and caning the game and a few casual players I'd played against only to come up against an opponent who played considerably more multiplayer action and got caned 3-0. A hard fought 1-0 win in the second game restored some dignity but again spanked 3-0 in the best of three decider. A dose of reality was served up but at the same time it was great to step up and play someone better at the game, it helps lift your own standards.

So I'm hopeful that if I get a decent draw in the group stage I can get through whilst getting some good practise in against human opponents and make a decent stab at getting to the final. I suspect there will be a good few decent players in there though and anything from last 8 onwards I wouldn't be to upset with.

Thinking of getting a new car?

2007-07-27T13:45:00.000Z

Then why not look at the link here? Beat that traffic with this nimble machine. Though apparantly at present insurance requires you have your vehicle tethered to a crane during operation, a minor inconveinence I'm sure.

Just got a postcard from Robert Fisk...

2007-07-25T09:07:00.000Z

...which was a slightly surreal start to the day. Now before anyone thinks it's completely random it was in a response to a letter I'd sent him earlier in the year. The letter was sent in early april so I'd all but forgotten about it. He doesn't take email correspondance and letters are sent care of the Independent offices as he lives and works out in the middle east for the most part. I really wasn't expecting a reply but I got one and as it was he took the time to reply to my letter from his holiday in Ireland. Almost feel guilty about sending it now, I have a mental image of him sitting with a towering pile of letters to reply to while he's meant to be relaxing on holiday.

I'd asked him about Irans president and how he was labeled, by himself included, a holocaust denier. I'd been familiar with a bit of a furore about comments the guy had made re the Holocaust and they were certainly ambiguous but in a general climate of Iran bashing I wasn't sure what he'd said, at least as far as the direct quotes I'd seen in print could be taken that way unless you had an agenda to be outraged and/or make the guy look like a dangerous lunatic. Which of course he quite possibly is.

So I'd basically decided to write to Robert Fisk as he's one journalist I consider to be knowledgeable and have integrity. Now obviously given the answer is on the back of a postcard it's not exactly detailed but he basicaly said why he could be labelled a Holocaust denier. If not so much the words Irans president said but the people he invited over, prominent Holocaust deniers and the head of the Klu Klux Klan. Now whatever he did say publicaly or thinks privately one is almost certainly judged by the company one keeps.

holiday

2007-07-17T23:37:00.001Z

Was most most enjoyable. Stayed in a different apratment this year, was nicer than one from previous years, which had nothing wrong with it. Air conditioning in both bedroom and living area was a huge bonus. Though for first day or two it did seem a bit odd and little bit longer to totally relax and feel comfortable, though not to long as it was really good.

Apartments had a shared pool but for all any other guests used it bar last couple of days was as good as private. Hard to say what the highlight was. Boat trip day out is always good, though got a little burnt. Fortunately noticed it quickly enough and covered up a bit but was nippy for a day or two, though nothing to bad and didn't peel. Got a fairly healthy tan, though for some reason upper arms just don't tan that well.

Also the food is rather magnificent, from fairly simple if large and delicious rolls filled with salami, cheese, onion, mayonnaise for lunch to king prawns, steaks, a whole host of chicken lanb and more traditional turkish dishes. Though with exception of one restaurent there was a strange chocolate pudding shortage. Something of a mystery and becamse something of a mission to get one as in five restaurents I ordered one but they didn't have any. Fortunately the one I did have was outstanding.

I'm not a huge sun worshipper but it hard to beat sitting reading in the sun before cooling down with a dip in the pool. And while it's not really that healthy for you you do tend to look a bit healthier with a wee bit of a tan than peely wally Scottish complexion. Though I should add a natural tan not Jimmy Calderwood/Tommy Sheridan orange permatan from constant sunbed usage. A route I won't be going down.

I read all but two of the books I took, I finished Reasons to be Cheerful, A Hat Full of Sky, Chomsky on Anarchism, A Little History of the World, No War: Americas real business in Iraq and two late additions Peter Marinellos autobiography and Armed Madhouse by Greg Palast. All of which I enjoyed immensely though often for different reasons. I started The Prince but after what I'd already read I wasn't really in the mood for it, could have used a bit of lighter reading by end of holiday. Though I did then get onto Power: A new social analysis and despite not really qualifying as light reading it again has been an interesting read so far.

Also on the way home I bought House of Bush/House of Saud by Craig Unger largely because well I had heard of it and sounds interesting and in top right of the cover it said banned by amazon.co.uk which may or may not be true but I was tired and it was bit of an impulse buy in that regard. Still looking forward to reading it once I finished Power. Though I'll probably read naother Terry Pratchett book I have that I not read yet first.

Anyway to sum up, I had a good time, it was relaxing and fun as well. Look forward to going back.

Football tonight

2007-07-17T16:45:00.000Z

First game in three weeks tonight. Had a really good time on holiday but it's not exactly a good time to run around chasing a ball when a cool day is still 35 degree heat. So rather than get the holiday blues I look towards the positive and biggest one is being able to play football of an evening. 7 aside game tonight outdoors, it's a warm evening by Scottish standards but a bit overcast the now with chance of rain**, nigh on perfect conditions. Had a wee work out at the gym yesterday and felt quite good, so hopefully I'll not be blowing out my arse after ten minutes :-)

Also I renewed my season ticket today, am cautiously optimistic about the new season ahead. It's a strange thing I find loyalty to a football club, theres not a lot of sense in it at times. So I tried to think about why I do it and why it should matter so. Reasons I could think of are as follows.

1. I like football.
2. I am not good enough to play it at a professional level(loooooooow end of the amateur game)
3. I like to watch people that are good at it playing football (there is something of a contradiction there given team I support)
4. I was taken to watch Motherwell as a young lad.
5. I went with and still go with friends(albeit different ones now), so there is a social aspect.
6. Tribal affiliation. Whilst not madly proud of my wee part of the world where I live, I very much define myself by what I'm not(a glory hunting follower of the bigot brothers)
7. A small part mental illness. Shared I might add with majority of football fans.
8. It's more than just something to do. Sure it can fill a saturday but so could a good lunch and a visit to the pictures for about the same price. But it beats sitting about house all day when the weather is pish. Probably the best argument for winter football as lets face it our rare nice days in summer be somewhat wasted watching the SPL or lower leagues.
9. Probably related to the mental illess point but a good result/performance does strangely make you feel better.*

* There is a Bill Hicks comment about how people liked the Gulf War back in the early 90's as it made them feel better about themselves. He suggested a bit of exercise and a better diet. I can't hep think that the mental effect of seeing you football team of choice win is no more admirable than a sense of wellbeing as your armed forces routing a foreign enemy. My diets not bad and I do exercise already, I don't think he had any more suggestions either.
** As I write this eh it has started dumping down with rain. heavens opened style! It has slowed to just torrential now. I don't mind playing in it but I do hope it stops long enough to at least get there dry.

Back from holiday

2007-07-16T14:30:00.000Z

Just a short post to say I had a good time. I had meant to post whilst out in Turkey but I couldn't remember my username and password. It was to hot for me to faff around putting together my usual combinations until I came to the right one.

Holiday

2007-06-28T14:47:00.000Z

Off on holiday tomorrow, so I'm off to pack.

Sun, good food and general relaxation await. Nice.

Baws

2007-06-26T23:14:00.000Z

Last game of football for a while and had a bit of a mare. A bad start when I realised I had left my usual shinpads and boots elsewhere and had to make do with my mouldies. I don't like them on a hard astroturf surface, feel like tottering on high heels until you get used to them again and it is easier to go over on ankle. And with no shinpads for last game before holiday not ideal. Didn't stop me going in hard on guys twice my size so I can't say that had an effect. When you start playing like you are trying not to get hurt is when you'll most likely get hurt so I don't believe in being timid, well with the odd excemption of jumping out the way like a girlie when a well struck shot is heading my way about face height.

What did have an effect was that I felt my dinner churning about for at least half the game, not good. I had it my usual time, no idea why I felt it. A few heavy touches early on hit the confidence before a fine first time oppurtunistic strike flew into the net to at least help salvage some dignity. I did have some other positive contributions, including help set up a couple of goals and the odd decent defensive block but it was very much an off night. Timing and touch were off, generally sluggish.

On the plus side it was 6 v 7 and despite being below par and in the team of 6 we won by about 3 goals in the end. My team mates must have been on their game tonight, thank god mondays game of 5's was considerably better or I'd be off on holiday in a state of anxiety about my poor form. Not being a naturally gifted player confidence is a big thing and when you have it you are ten times the player than when you start doubting yourself. Still I'll be hitting the gym tomorrow and that will make me feel a bit better, though it's hardly enjoyable. Feeling in quite good shape lately so not managing to bring out a bit more tonight was doubly disappointing.

Mark McGhee

2007-06-26T18:16:00.000Z

I had almost forgotten to comment on our new manager.

Well as you know I wasn't to pleased we sacked our old manager, albeit he was close to the last chance saloon even for me. Whats done is done and we move on. So what do I think of the new man?

Basicaly I'm about as happy with this appointment as I have been with any manager, in fact definately more so. I liked big Terry Butcher but he had to win me and the rest of hte support over. Every other manager we've appointed I have had reservations with. Alex McLiesh, Billy Davies and Eric Black were inexperienced, first jobs as manager and the first two hadn't even coached and well it showed. I still don't rate Eck but both of them have went onto bigger things but they either didn't make enough of what they had(Davies) or they ruined the best Motherwell team I've ever seen(McLiesh). Of the rest Kampman was an unknown quantity and Malpas as former assistant manager followed in the tradition of 90% of former assistants and didn't seme to manage to put his own stamp on the job.

Of the names linked with the job most none had the experience of McGhee, Owen Coyle seems to be doing ok with St. Johnstone but his first job and not really done anything. Gary McAllister an ex Well player again little management experience, Luc Nijholt also not got that much experience though as a former hero at Fir Park had the most emotional pull. Outside names were a return after 9 years out of club management for Tommy McLean and Joe Miller. The latter gave me nightmares at the prospect.

Early bullish talk andsigning targets linked with McGhee is all encouraging, the general support seems lifted and there is a small buzz about the place. Which if some decent signings(on paper at least) fall into place soon will soon turn into almost electric atmosphere given the sense of relief most people feel towards the change.

But I know better than to get carried away. So far we have one concrete new face in and while on paper Simon Mensing as a big physical centre mid isn't a bad idea as we have been notroiously lightweight in that area, he's not going to suddenly make us a force to be reckoned. We still need a good 4 or 5 new faces in to give the squad a boost. Although it does seem like with a new man in charge a lot of seemingly jaded players might have some impressing to do.

So on the whole, optimism is in the air I hope it lasts beyond the first couple of games of the new season.

Tim Henman like a faithful old dog?

2007-06-26T14:30:00.000Z

I was watching the end of his first round match against Carlos Moya there. He squeaked through finally after Moya double faulted on match point to win 13-11 after squandering about 6 match points during hte course of the game.

I felt strangely nervous watching him, he has been a really good tennis player in his time and even watching this game you can see he is still a quality tennis player despite being past his very best. He had such a poor run of form and injuriy problems in last couple of years that I couldn't help but feel sorry for him and hoped he won and goes on and has a decent finish to his season and maybe retires on a high of some sort.

He been around for so long he is like some faithful old dog, he so inoffensive and I don't think I have ever seen him profess an opinion. Indeed since he was disqualified for a very un Henman like show of petulance as younger lad in a Wimbledon doubles game for twatting a ball girl or a crowd member with a ball in frustration he hasn't even been close to doing anything controversial.

When you consider the unbelievebly twee and twatty fans and hype that has followed him over his career I am quite surprised at myself. I think it stems from other people who have for years slated the guy terrbily for not winning majors and not being a Sampras or Federer type. Which is fair enough but very few people are that good and he has had about as good a career as you can hope to have without reaching the very pinnacle.

I'll never get passionate about tennis but like most sport I can't help but have at least a passing interest. Hoping Henman gets a wee run to the quarters or so and in the next few years young Andy Murray can go on and go that one step further than Henman managed in his time. Anyway, an hour or so of watching tennis is more than enough for me I'm off to get myself ready to play football later. Last kickabout before my hols, hope it's a good one.

It is done! Complete, finished!

2007-06-26T11:43:00.000Z

Well for submission anyway. I've spent this morning refocused and made the final small changes to the end that I mentioned. I also completed the edit on the epilogue which didn't need any signfiicant changes to it. So next time I take anything to do with this piece of work after I've been on holiday it will be to re-read through the writers and artists guidebook for tips on composing a letter and garnering advice on submitting it to appropriate publishing companies.

I feel pleased at having set my mind to this task and completed it. Although I should probably really only consider the task completed when some letters are in the post. Irrespective of interest in it after that it will have been job done. I will concentrate on other writing projects, a screenplay for definate because I already started it. I have ideas for other novel projects, slightly more ambitious in scale some of them. A short story or two I have ideas swirling around in my head. I'll take my notebook on holiday and possibly sketch them out a bit.

Anyway some basic facts and figures about my first novel:-

91369 words (including chapter titles)
500035 characters (as in letters not people)
22 chapters (not including a prologue and epilogue)
7 principal characters
12 secondary charcters (that I can remember right now some with a single speaking part, some almost main characters they involved quite a lot)
set in the year 2237
set in locations including but not limited to Dundee(Abertay Uni campus included), moon and orbital space stations, a space station orbiting Mars and a couple of spaceships in various locations.

Worrying noises

2007-06-20T10:49:00.000Z

My computer is making stranges noises. Worryingly it sounds like it might be the hard drive. Fortunately I do back up anything of importance, so it merely pain in the arse time if something is about to go wrong rather than total catastrophe.

This PC has been quite a resilient beast, although if think about it I think it's on it's second hard drive already. Had it for ooh 4 years or more now I think, something like that. It's survived a cat pissing in the CD tray when it was sitting open, not to mention being pissed on a few other times on the outer casing again by the smae fucking cat not by myself. Think I replaced it myself if I recall, it's never been taken to a shop. Ah well not to worry. So long as it's that simple it'll be no biggie.

editing, so close to being finished....

2007-06-19T12:01:00.000Z

...to the point I could be finished this afternoon, but it might still be a few days. Basically I have went through the whole thing, fixed the annoying quotation issue all of 20 chapters worth(out of 23). Rewritten bits here and there, hopefully tightened up some dialogue, exposition and general pacing etc. Not to mention typos, spelling etc.

So I got to the end and I am still not done. Why? I think the end is to abrupt, I've chopped it a bit short and I need to write a little more. Not as lot though I don't think. I don't need screeds and screeds or lord of the rings style multiple endings. I just need a few paragraphs more to make the ending seem less like I just stopped in the middle of a scene.

I came ot this conclusion the other day as I read through those final pages and I already made a few notes. Just need to sit and put thinking cap on again and see if I can't find something I'm happy with. A little bit more of what has happened in other parts of the world is needed. After that do I leave it on some sort of a bombshell ending or quietly leave characters to continue on in some unknown future?

I have written an epilogue thing for afterthe final chapter, if I add an extra bombshell it might mean rewriting that considerably. I daresay once I start writing whatever feels write will come and I won't need to make to much of a conscious decision.

Continued anoraky editing.

2007-06-19T11:31:00.000Z

Yep and I edited in a Rest of the World squad, comprised of best players I could think not from the footballing nations of Brazil, Argentina, Scotland, England, France, Germany, Holland and Italy. No shortage of players to choose from in the creative and showy midfield and forward positions. Struggled a bit with the defenders, but still ended up with a squad of about 32 or whatever the max size is, with former AS Milan midfielder Zvonimir Boban and Belgian midfielder Enzo Scifo just missing out.

Anyway the first XI in a 3-4-3 formation looks something like this

Lev Yashin

Patrik Andersson Paolo Montero Paul McGrath

Frankie Van der Elst

Ladislao Kubala Carlos Valderama

Michael Laudrup
George Best
Ferenc Puskas

Eusebio

I can't really list all the rest but amongst them are Hagi, Stoichkov, Brady, Letchkov, Weah, Francescoli, Schmeichel, Jarni, Boniek, Futre, Keane and quite a few more.

Coincidence?

2007-06-18T14:59:00.000Z

I've already started reading A Little History of the World, and the following snippet I found interesting, it's about the Roman Emperor Nero.

"People still shudder when they hear the name of this monster. But what is truly repellent about him is that he didn't start out as a monster - ruthless and wicked through and through. He was simply weak, vain, suspicious and lazy."

It also struck me that the actor who played Nero in the docu-drama Ancient Rome: The Rise and Fall of an Empire has also twice played Tony Blair in his acting career. Ok so you probably can't accuse Bliar of being lazy, I am being a touch harsh in that respect.

All time greats....

2007-06-12T13:47:00.000Z

This next post might just prove to people that I clearly have to much time on my hands. As a huge fan of Pro Evolution Soccer series I tend to do a degree of editing. The games biggest weakness in relation to say the FIFA series of games is its limited licsencing regarding real teams and players. It's improved now but if I want to play as Motherwell I need to put them in myself, this I do as a matter of course every year.

What I do like though and I don't know if FIFA has this as well is that it has Classic teams, Brazil, Argetina, Holland, Italy, Germany, France and England teams comprised of legends, Pele, Maradona, Cruyff, Beckenbauer et al. Again the names are a bit mangled and it takes a fair bit of work to work out who is who. But I like to fix it so they have their real names. I edit in a Classic Motherwell team as well so I can play with Tommy Coyne, Dougie Arnott, Willie Pettigrew, Davie Cooper and others. Though given the other classic teams are international teams I finally got round the other day to do a Classic Scotland. Team is as follows:-

Jim Leighton

Sandy Jardine Colin Hendry Alan Hansen Danny McGrain

Jimmy Johnstone Billy Bremner Graeme Souness Jim Baxter

Denis Law Kenny Dalglish

With another full XI of reserves including Willie Miller, Alex McLiesh, Davie Cooper, Archie Gemmell, Joe Jordan, Asa Hartford, Maurice Malpas, Tom Boyd, Gary McAllister, Eric Caldow, Andy Goram, Ally McCoist.

That to me looks like a no half bad team, though I was a bit unsure about the right backs. I couldn't think of a truly outstanding candidate I was familiar with. Indeed a few choices were obviously based on reputation. Is there a better Scotland team than the one above?

For my next edit I fancy doing a rest of the World XI, fae relatively wee nations not given a classic team of their own, likes of Eusebio, Hagi, Michael Laudrup, Stoichkov, Valderama, Puskas, Best and so on. Anyone can think of world class full backs in particular from relatively diddy nations I'd like to know of them.

Football strips/tradition

2007-06-11T23:31:00.000Z

In a debate about the Motherwell hoop I was alerted to the linked website. For football anoraks it's quite interesting.

In my lifetime Motherwell FC my fitba team have more often than not worn an amber top with a claret band, claret shorts and amber socks. Once upon a time from about 1928 to 1969 it was a amber top with a claret hoop, not a band across the front a full on hoop. That is a fair old run and it's not unreasonable to suggest that makes it a traditional top.

Seemingly in 1970 it was only dropped to save a bit of money as it was expensive to repair the hoops after much use. Sounds a bit tightfisted to me and a poor reason to abandon the now traditional top. However with something like 40 years before and 37 years since without(2 seasons in the 90's aside, so far unclear on some of the 70's kits if they were bands or full hoops) the hoop I find it hard to say that it is the only design we should have any truck with.

Basically accused of having no respect for traditions by not endorsing the hoop as the only way to go, well tradition is just something people do for a long period of time, it isn't necesarily intrinsicaly good or bad. Personally I quite like the hooped design but it's not worth getting all fussed about and after looking at other teams kits throughout the ages there are very very few temas that have maintained a consistent design over the existence of their club. Given the financial and commerical decisions that are prevalent in football now keeping to such uniform style seems highly unlikely. We don't have the luxury of multitudes of sheep like fans willing to buy the same design of kit season in season out. Not that that seems to me like a great reason either but as a small club if changing the design encourages more sales then it's hard to argue with.

I do like our claret and amber colours but I just can't get worked up about the exact design so long as it's not hacket. It's far more annoying so called purists insisting that one basic design is what we're all about and stand for. It's only a kit and we only changed so we didn't have to have to change our kit for games so often as loads of other teams wore blue like did for the better part of the first 30 years of our existence.

Holiday reading

2007-06-05T22:08:00.000Z

Here is a list of books I have purchased to read on holiday. I'll also give a brief synopsis or reason for purchase.

Reasons to be Cheerful by Mark Steel - A book about one comedians life involved in left wing politics over 25 years or so. Basicaly I am buying this book because I happened to watch his programme the Mark Steel lectures which are generally brilliant. Someone also emails me his Independent columns which are usually pretty good. Indeed I've copied and posted a few here in the past. Also saw him live, funny and insightful I'm quite happy to listen to anything he has to say, even if he does like cricket.

A Hat Full of Sky by Terry Pratchett - You can't go to far wrong with a bit of Pratchett. His Discworld novels are consistently good even if this one is strickly speaking aimed at a younger reader. but what the hell it'll still be a decent read and well I am on holiday so not to demanding(hopefully). I think the only Discworld novel I don't yet have is this one and the last one featuring the Rincewind character who is my least favourite in the series.

Chomsky on Anarchism by Noam Chomsky - Chomsky is brilliant, so far anything I've read by him has been rather good. Slightly more challenging than junior Pratchett he tears away at official lies and manipulations like an aggresive ferret enraged that you've tried to stuff it down your trousers. He matter of factly punctures offical lies and 'truths' and shows you the world as it really is. That said as the review on the link to amazon said 'We all know what Noam chomsky is against,' I couldn't tell you exactly what he stands for and believes in other than by inference and presumption having read what he is agianst and has attacked. I've bought this book to get a better understanding of his guiding principles and ideas for how he thinks we maybe should be doing things.

Power: A New Social Analysis by Betrand Russell - Ok so not that new it was written in the 1930's but I've taken this on reccomendation from Robert Newmans website. "This should be a much more influential book. In it Russell argues that redistribution of power ("as far as practically applicable") should be the central project of social justice, whereas we tend to act as if redistribution of wealth was the thing. He argues that understanding the drive for power tells us more about the world than the sex or capital-based ideologies of Freud and Marx. Power should be the central concept of social theory as well as of social justice." Sounds good enough for me.

A Little History of the World by E.H. Gombrich - Also off Robert Newmans reading list, well I'm interested in the history of the world but there is rather a lot of it so by including the word little in it, well that sealed the deal really. Again aimed at a younger audience but hopefully an easy, enjoyable and informative read.

No War: America's Real Business in Iraq by Naomi Klein - Well sounds a bit more contempary and having read No Logo and Fences and Windows by the same author I think she tends to know what she is talking about. I think the title probably tells you enough as to what it's about.

and finally The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli - Well the word Machiavellian has become a byword for unscrupulous cunning particularly in world of politics. the book is considered a classic and quite relavent today. So thought I might as well read it, broaden historical knowledge base at the same time.

That should see me through the holiday, I might need to find a science fiction epic to add to the list, that is something of a gaping hole for me there. Trouble is only ones I have a real interest in just now aren't out at all yet or still in hard back format, which isn't ideal for poolside reading. Nevermind the added weight if you started lumping big tomes into your suitcase.

Conspiracy stuff

2007-06-05T17:41:00.000Z

I watched a bit of a documentary on events on 9/11, it basically was trying to debunk some of the conspiracy theories. Only caught it towards the end so I don't know how well it covered some of the questions raised by more high profile figures on the internet and so on. One video I had watched that seemed to my mind a bit to smug and probably with a few holes in it Loose change featured.

So I was having a bit of a browse around, I wish my understanding of physics and such things were greater and it's still seems to me that official explanation isn't that great, whatever you think of some of the claims made by people who that documentary made seem a little eccentric.

This video of a guy from MIT does seem to add some academic credibility. Anyone I've exhausted my own patience on the subject for the moment. If anyone can poke holes in the video I'd like to know.

2 year anniversary more or less

2007-06-04T22:02:00.000Z

Time has a habit of popping out in front of you and going "woo hoo, forgot about me didn't you," just noticed that it is about two years since I first set up this blog. The original intention was that I'd try and get into the habit of thinking about issues in the news or close to my heart and write about them for the purpose of getting some practice of putting my thoughts into words before thinking about applying to do a post grad in journalism. That didn't really come to fruition and for the past 18 months or I've tried to put creative energies into writing a book.

The book project is almost over. It's given me a certain level of satisfaction and irrespective of any publishing success I aim to continue writing for a good while yet. So I definately post less on things happening in the world and is there really a point to this blog? Not hugely no, but I've no plans to end it. For one thing I've grown attached to it and I like hopping blogs and seeing what other randoms feel worth writing about.

I do still like to put my thoughts down in written word and publish them now and again. If anyone reads htem then great and if they don't well so what.

I should finish editing on my book before I go on holiday at end of the month. I looking forward to reading books in the sun in particular and not feeling like I should be working. As opposed to now where I spent far to much time browsing the internet, playing games and feeling guilty about not working. I'll have achieved a goal however meaningful it is and I have another goal to start when I get back. Two really, putting some effort into trying to get book published and finishing screenplay I started during a novel writing haitus at beginning of last year.

I am going to take a notepad with me, just to note down any ideas that might come to me and possibly flesh out some ideas I've already had but not put to much thought into due to being busy elsewhere.

I ordered seven books today. I'll post shortly waht they are and why I chose them.

Perverse, sick and twisted...

2007-06-01T14:44:00.000Z

...no don't get to excited about controversial postings here, I just wonder if that is somewhat my own nature. Why you ask, well I seem to be in a minortiy of about one, maybe two not revelling in the joy and excitement of the sacking of Motherwell manager Maurice Malpas.

After a pretty dire season I can understand a lot of the frustration, particularly after a late season slump almost saw us relegated. We haven't had problems to seek regarding injuries, early part of the season in particular so it was a bumpy old transition and the end of the season couldn't come quickly enough.

After we went out of the Scottish Cup rather timidly at the hands of St. Johnstone it seemed we had nothing to play for. Shortly after that a 1-0 home win over Dunfermline restored a 16 point gap between ourselves and the Pars who ended up getting relegated. A late season surge from them stopped only by a goalkeeping blunder at the penultimate league game of the season.

Indeed one can't help but feel a bit sorry for the Pars, they had injury problems worse than us and had finally gotten themselves playing with confidence enjoying a run to the Cup final and the brink of escaping relegation only to end the season relegated, papped 3-0 to bitterest rivals Falkirk on the final day of the season and losing the cup final to a slightly jammy goal in the dying minutes of a game they had held their own in.

However we didn't win a game after that 1-0 victory and blew a 2-0 lead at home to other relgation candidates St. Mirren to lose 3-2, condemning the Pars and almost ourselves if it hadn't been for the Pars contriving to blow a lead in Inverness with the aid of earlier mentioned Goalie blunder.

With recent talk of fiarly decent standard new signings things looked like they might take a turn for the positive for the Malpas regime but as of this morning a disagreement apparantly over his assistant Paul Hegarty has led to both of them resigning. Strong rumour has it that replacement is a done deal and Owen Coyle will be in charge after a short period where we pretend to be looking so it doesn't look like it was all tied up before the manager was pushed.

I'll not lose sleep over it but I'm more annoyed at the satisfaction taken by a small minority of anti Malpas characters who have wanted him gone since about two weeks into his reign. I'll be pleased if we go onto to do better next season but it will be tainted by the smug self satisfaction of some sections of the support. I just hope Mr Malpas also goes onto better things to rob them of to much self satisfaction. Certainly better that than have our new manager take us down just so I can say, ha told you Malpas wasn't that bad.

No I'm not dead

2007-05-30T09:14:00.000Z

It's been a while since I posted. Still grinding away on the novel editing, about half done. Trying to pick up the pace and get it completed by end of next month at the latest. I really should have had it finished by now but it's such a picky process due to earlier schoolboy error I mentioned in several earlier posts.

I'll be off on holiday end of June, so it would be good if it was really finished. Then I can look forward to new challenges when I get back, not least pimping the book.

I shortlisted about 30 odd books I'd like to read on holiday. A half dozen or so I'll order via amazon most likely to take and then try not to lose the list with rest of them on it as I'll likely forget that I want to read half the rest.

Anyway It's 20 past 10 in hte morning just now, I've been working since before 9 and had no breakfast yet so I'm off to remedy that.

Football the ugly game....

2007-05-09T10:28:00.000Z

...well it is if you happen to be a Motherwell fan right now.

We've slid right into the relegation dogfight, lost badly on monday and got two of our best players sent off and another injured. So already struggling and possibly three players down for the last two games of the season. We only need a point this saturday to stay up but even that is looking like a big ask.

We also seem to be on the verge of a new era as our owner is apparently about to do a deal to sell the club for about £10m. A rather high price if you ask me, he bought us for about £2.5m ooh must be almost ten years ago now ran us into the ground and about managed to get us back to where we were when he bought us. So taking into account some inflation he is still making a fair return. Or would be if he hadn't lost ooh about £8m or so during his era, this confirms what a lot of people suspected that he was and has been looking for a return on his investment more than any consideration for the club he's mucked about.

As for who he has sold it to, well Tommy Coakley a property developer. On one hand his son plays for the team(though he's still getting released at the end of the season) and his father or uncle also played for the Well back in the day. All sounds quite good, but from a reliable source who works with the guys sister he says she says we should be worried. For all the Motherwell connections there not a Motherwell supporting family, just happen to be from the area.

Worst case scenario the increasingly valuable land Fir Park is on(There is large new residential development going on and more planned in the area) is sold we get moved to some lego land stadium as he pockets most of the cash. that isn't the worst case, he might just split hte land from the club flog it and leave us high and dry. It's happened elsewhere before and I don't know if there is any provision in Scottish law to prevent it.

The thought of something like that happens outrages me, which is almost a surprise as feel like I could care less about what is happening on the park these days. SPL football is a depressing and dispiriting experience these days and shows no signs of getting better. I still care but nothing like as sharply as I once did, there are more important things. I still feel better when the team is doing well and it nags away when it isn't but in heart of hearts I think the passion has gone. I can still enjoy the fitba but it's almost just something to do. The EPL might be just a corporate wet dream but it's far more satisfying watching those over paid players playing for souless husks of once proud football clubs than SPL dross which I could put up with if I thought the players had a professional attitude and gave there all.

I think I'm paranoid

2007-05-09T10:12:00.000Z

Someone sent me a text last night totally out of the blue and I spent about an hour wondering why they were texting me. I did reply and more texts were exchanged. It was just a bit of chat, but seemed to me totally odd. Nothing of great import was mentioned or discussed. One of the guys from my fitba team.

Is my reaction paranoid or normal. Trying to think of an analogy to better explain it. The way I see it you have your friends and family that you see and speak to regularly. You have other friends who aren't maybe as close or for whatever reasons outside your immediate circle at any given time. I play football with this guy and see him at the football at Motherwell games, I get on with him well enough but you know wouldn't say good pals. Not that I don't like him, but he's somewhere in between being a friend of a friend and a close pal. To say he's just someone I know sounds a bit cold but he's not my bessy mate either. We don't arrange to do shit outside of the football. I've never and until now neither has he to my recollection phoned or texted me for no reason.

You can see why I'm wondering if I'm paranoid I'm clearly over thinking this, he was probably bored at a lose end, texted a few people for a bit of chat and no more. I not sure I should post this now, your all gonna think I'm a bit weird :-)

Which maybe true I think in general I have a low opinion of people and I can probably seem quite cool in an emotional rather than say stylish way to people. I wouldn't say I make friends particularly easy so I value the ones I do have. I get quite annoyed at myself for friendships I've kinda let dwindle over the years since I left uni, but who hasn't.

Anyway before I get to maudlin think I'll sign off here as I've another topic I want to have a ramble about.

What a farce...

2007-05-08T13:09:00.000Z

...around 100,000 people couldn't fill in a ballot correctly! Yes I'm sure theres a figure in the thousands of people deliberately spoiling ballot papers in a form of protest, can't say I've never been tempted just to write some rant or single word piece of abuse on a ballot paper. Probably only thing that stopped me is that only bugger to read it would be some balllot counter in Wishaw Sports Centre and they aren't who I'd really be aiming it at.

I can't believe how stupid some people are. It was all very clearly explained, on polling card, at the polling station. If you were in doubt you could find it explained in the media in several places. But given the circumstances of the sudden increase in spoiled votes it's hard not to conclude that we have thousands of complete idiots trying to vote. We either should have some basic intelligence test or just not worry about it as lets face it if someone is so thick that they can't complete a simple ballot paper correctly then you do not want them voting in the first place.

As for the result itself, I was quite pleased. Disappointed the Labour share of the vote didn't really go down much. The blood on the hands and rolling back of civil liberties of this party albeit at a national level is so much I find it hard to comprehend how anyone with the ability to reason would vote for them. Even if I was a hardened unionist I'd have voted SNP at the election as any possibility of Independence could only happen after a referendum and irrespective of my own thoughts on that unlikely as it is I feel whatever position you take a referendum isn't a bad thing. Obviously the SNP has garnered more support that at any time before and it does raise the question of independance but I think you'll find many people voted for SNP for reasons other than their Independence referendum pledge and stated long term aim.

So far it is looking like no coalition is likely to develop, there is still time but the only real coalition option for the SNP the Lib Dems doesn't appear to be happening. How well the SNP will fare trying to govern as a minority party is if not certain likely to be problematic. My worst fear is that they flounder due to lack petty politics or we go back to the polls and the safe option of Labour comes back to comfort the new found SNP converts who possibly don't have a whole heap of faith in them.

Irrespective of independence New Labour needs and deserves a damn good kicking in Scotland, and getting narrowly beaten in terms of seats and popular vote for me isn't enough.

Health and eating etc

2007-05-02T11:05:00.000Z

For the past few months I've tried to eat more fruit and veg, mostly fruit. Whilst I can eat and enjoy some vegtables I cannot abide them even remotely cooked. It's a texture thing as much as anything else. I can enjoy a bit of side salad, or a carrot. Cooked onion I can just about cope with, that is the exception to the rule.

I still don't really know if I am eating healthily, I've all but cut out takeaway foods, pizzas, chips and cheese, chip shop food. A very rare indulgence. I started eating a bit more fish, not the chip shop variety but despite eating a lot of pasta and rice based dishes I probably eat to much fatty foods. Cream and cheese is a bit of a weakness and it gets fired into to much of what I eat probably.

I still feel mostly healthy, although not noticeably more since I made more of an effort to eat more fruit and veg, it's bloody difficult to get your five portions a day every day. I don't consider myself a health freak, I like to keep fit to enjoy playing football and the like. I'll eat a bit of chocolate or other dessert style dish fairly often and not feel guilty about it, I don't want to have a heart attack at 40 becuase I clogged up my arteries either though.

Maybe I should go for a physical check up, although I not feeling that paranoid to fork out money for one.

An average day lately is a bit of fruit for breakfast, today an apple and some grapes. Lunch would be a couple of bagels with cream cheese or leftover dinner my previous day if there is any. Dinner pasta or rice dish with some sort of meat, chicken, steak, mince, smoked sausage. Maybe a bit more fruit later and possibly some sweet treat.

As for calories, no idea.

Forthcoming election

2007-04-24T23:43:00.000Z

I have to admit I have not really used my democratic right to vote over the now 10 years I've been entitled to use it. Indeed I have only used it once, and it wasn't back in 97 at the general election that year. that might come as something of a surprise, youthful enthusiasm and all that not to mention eighteen years or so of Conservative rule you would think I would have been gagging to vote. Certainly I wouldn't have imagined just how much of a disappointment New Labour would be. I consider Blair a war criminal for fuck sake, with blood of thousands on his hands.

No at the end of the day I was living in a safe Labour seat and well I always have done, it really is true you could have a monkey with a red rosette on and it would get in, in fact I think in Frank Roy they have. That has certainly always been a demotivating factor whatever I've felt about issues of the day at any given time.

However I have just become so disgusted by current government that whether or not my vote is of no consequence it is immoral not to vote against them. I would not like to see the Conservatives back in power at the next general election, but New Labour is no decent alternative. So at the last one I voted for the Lib Dems and low and behold despite finishing 3rd in my constituency you could still add up all the votes of every other party and it still wouldn't have been enough to equal what the Labou monkey got.

Scottish parliament however we do have list MP's and the like and the SNP are more in the mix so I think it's definatley worth voting in. I have never been a hardened nationalist and whilst I am planning on voting for the SNP it isn't because I feel won over by their argument I just have a deep deep desire for change. It has always rankled that during the 80's and first half ofthe 90's we were stuck with a Tory government when people of Scotland had voted consistantly Labour. If Scotland were to leave the Union it would surely be a huge blow to Lavour party down south, lets face it thats a good few guaranteed seats right out the window.

But how would it change our political landscape? Well it's hard to say but I would like to think that given majority of Scotland agrees on one thing we'd rather not have the Tories it might just free us from the sheep like mentality of voting Labour. A Labour party that went back to something like its roots might be worth voting for but ideally it would have to earn our votes rather than get them by default, there are a lot of ifs and buts and anyone who says that this and that would happen with any certainty is either a liar of deluded.

I don't go for the scare stories of how bad things would be if Scotland were independant, sure the 70's might have been a better era at the start of oil wealth but you look at Sweden and they seem to have a decent standard of living. Independance could potentialy be a great thing, get rid of the chip on the shoulder and inferiority complex that seems to haunt the Scottish psyche and take control of our own destiny. Don't get me wrong I don't think we're any better or worse than English or Welsh or whoever and despite having a lot in common I think we've got a distinct enough cultural identity that we should be governing our own affairs.

So come this next election I would encourage anyone to vote against Labour and for our own Independance, parliaments already built might as well use it properly rather than the nonsense we have now.

Nintendo Wii is great....

2007-04-20T14:52:00.000Z

....editing is tedious!

That really says it all, but I'll elaborate. After much searching and frustration an available to buy at reasonable price a Nintendo Wii finally landed in a shop near me, a worry over a corner of my credit card having snapped off turned out to be no big problem as the important chip was unharmed and the Wii was secured. It's tremendous fun, Wii Sport, Wario Ware and Tiger Woods 07 providing hours of entertainment already. Had it more than a week now and it is far more fun than editing my book for submission, not that it's a great deal of rewriting or anything, it's just a bit bitty and slow process. How i wish I had double checked earlier and not used so many quotation marks for dialogue, not really sure how important it is but after more closely looking at other books I think it's important to tidy things like this up a bit.

I'd really rather be playing my Wii, or even writing something new I can't wait until i finished this editing process one way or other to move onto a new project. I really can't reccomend the Wii enough and in eternal debt to the person who strickly speaking bought it for me my girlfriend who actually likes it too, despite generally hating computer games.

pro Evo 6 hasn't been touched since I got it, barely went a day without playing pro evo of some sort in 6 years! Says a lot, though still playing Final fantasy 12, once i'm finished that might free up a little time for Pro Evo to reclaim it's place in my affections.

political compass

2007-04-11T12:42:00.000Z

I'm sure you've seen the political compass website before, I think i've taken the questionnaire at least 3 or 4 times now. I've always been economicaly left and socially libertarian, but I wonder how much I change, I found my latest position on graph suggests not a lot.

If anything I've probably moved further left and more libertarian. I made a note of my answers this time, as there are always a few where I'm not that sure and an agree could easily have turned to a disagree, or strongly agree reduced to an agree. I wonder how much further right if it would place me if I merely agreed rather than strongly agreed on a lot of questions. I take the whole thing with a pinch of salt. I do like the fact that it's the Dai Lai Lama and Nelson Mandela in my little quadrant rather than the Mugabes, Bushes and Blairs in the authoritarian top half. There seems to be a distinct lack of examples in the libertarian economic right, I'm sure there must be some, surely not all right wing types have a penchant for jackboots?

If anyone cares to discuss answers to any particular question in the questionnaire, feel free to ask.

Just printed out...

2007-04-05T13:36:00.000Z

...the 250 A4 sheets of my all but fnished novel. Completed the mini editing of the last three chapters. So you could say it's finished, I've written, read over and edited every chapter already. I am using this print out for a first complete read through and will make some changes, hopefully won't feel the need to change to much. I fairly sure though there will be a few bits i not entirely happy with and will do some rewriting but nothing major that will change the structure or cause massive changes. Just make a line sound less clunky here and there.

Wow, think it's finished

2007-03-30T12:47:00.000Z

Ok not 100% finished but first draft kind of thing, last chapter done and dusted. If you wondering how so quick, no not a sudden burst of hard work, I spent nigh on all yesterday playing FF12, Pro Evo 6 and Project Gotham Racing. It just happened that last chapter is really just an epilogue, two and a bit pages. Just wrote out there in last hour or two.

Well what now? Still work to be done. A last mini edit. Last 3 chapters i'll print out, read over and make changes where I see fit. Still unsure about penultimate chapter, think it's ok but it's more or less the end of the story and well didn't realsie until I finalised that following chapter was just an epilogue style thing. It's a message from one character to all the rest a few months after, tieing up a loose end or two and a small overview of how things that happened during story have had effect elsewhere and letting you know roughly where characters are now.

Once I've done that I'll print out the revised first draft, what's on my computer now after first changes. I'll read it, try and spot any typos and blatant small mistakes i may have missed. Same sort of changes to dialogue and writing as i make with mini edits if I'm not happy with what is on the page, of which I know there is some. The thing with quotation marks I mentioned a few posts ago will need sorting, that'll be a pain.

Then reprint the 2nd draft. Put it aside for the moment. Dig up by copy of writers and artists handbook and take the advice in about trying to get a novel printed. Involving writing letter(s) describing novel and seeing if there is any interest in it. If there is I'll be both amazed and over the moon and if there isn't I'll be utterly unsurprised but quietly depressed about it.

After that I shall attend to my screenplay, which will be a considerably shorter project before i begin again.

*word total 90163 subject to revision in editing. Probably go down a touch if anything as it includes a pro logue or indeed two at the beginning which i'm deleting as think they redundent but were handy as guides near the start when I was still quite unsure about what I was writing.
90,000 words of rubbish is still rubbish but I quite pleased still that I wrote irrespective.

Another chapter done

2007-03-28T10:46:00.000Z

Well i think it is, chopped and saved elsewhere a bit at the end i thought was opening up further storyline. I might go back and change the end of it a bit but it felt like an ending to me, almost could have ended the story itself I thought. Still got one more chapter to do, which is more or less an epilogue, the story has largely played out and anything of import that happened now would really be for a sequel, which there won't be unless this gets published.

Therein lies the really onerous task once editing is done with, writing letters and stuff and trying to sell it. Still if nothing happens there I shall not get to despondent, I have other ideas and in particular a screenplay thing which is already started. Get back onto that, pimp it when done and another novel project. What exactly I'm not sure but I have a few ideas, whatever seems easiest to flesh out I should think. My favourite two ideas just now might need quite a bit of research which I'm not renowned at being good at.

Night of the Living Dead

2007-03-27T17:47:00.000Z

Ok not quite but did spent an evening in a room full of mostly middle(the youngsters in the room) to old aged gentleman, I could insert a cheap joke at this point but I'll move on and just let the reader know that I was in fact at Motherwell Football Clubs 101st AGM, rather than say somewhere seedy involving businessmen paying to get flogged. Though some of htem did have a look that suggested that that was where they were off to next.

It so happened that I'm friends with someone who got themselves a few shares but is currently residing in Germany, so I took the opportunity go along as a proxy shareholder for the evening.
It was quite connvivial in it's own fashion, the order of business was ran through, a bit of a Q&A followed by a more informal chatting session afterwards with a very passable buffet, wine was on offer though as I'm not really a wine drinker so I didn't partake and can't comment on the quality of plonk dished up.

I personally found it a worthwhile experience, I was a bit shy of asking a question, though as my point got covered anyway I got saved from having to ask. Was told it was a shirt and tie affair, not attire I feel overly comfortable in so added to asking a question as not even a proper shareholder I have to admit to feeling a little embarrassed to speak up and quite glad I felt I didn't have to.

There was questions about the team, the pitch(mostly related to potential groundshare with gretna next season), finances, fans concerns about this that and the other but there a certain sense of detachment between board and fans that can't be gulfed. You get feeling both look down upon the other for different reasons. A question was mentioned about the treatment of our away support at Parkhead when we're away to Celtic and how despite this treatment getting even worse over the past few seasons nothing had been done and the person who made the complaint was getting essentially blanked. Up spoke man of the people director to say how yes he had noticed this problem sitting with the fans with his son. I could only think well why the fuck did you wait til now to try and do anything about, your on the club board. You can phone Celtic direct and they'll at least talk to you. Promises were made but you get feeling it case of placating someone and then porbably forgetting about it.

We all have opinions, but of the board members there only three reallt spoke and only one of them seemed like a decent guy. Other two were twats and of those relatively quiet in background I already had no doubt of the twattiness of one of them. Pompous self important dicks that have more interest in the perks of the position than the club or the fans that support it.

Iran

2007-03-23T16:00:00.000Z

The latest world bogeyman

I found this link interesting, it's often argued that Iran wants to wipe Israel from the face of the earth and is a dangerous rougue state. It's certainly backwards in many ways regarding treatment of women and the power of religion within the state but is it being misrepresented in other ways for political ends?

Working title

2007-03-23T13:34:00.000Z

Redo

Essentially another word for change, change or a desire for change is a definate theme in the book. So far first and only title I have thought of. If anyone can think of a better title from the vague details I've posted I'm more than happy to hear suggestions.

A title

2007-03-20T14:09:00.000Z

I still don't have a title for my book. I never had one in mind from the start, was hoping one would just pop into my head when book was further along. Well I'm almost finished and still no title, I suppose it should reflect what the story is about.

So what is the story about? Well it's science fiction set couple of hundred years hence but in a world largely recognisable as our own, problems we have today are largely the problems there are in the novel. A world where global powers such as the US try to shape the planet to their own needs. The state of the planets environment, resources, a complient supine media that bends to corporate wishes because part of corporate world. Disenfranchised people rail against it but to what effect?

Well I guess it's about my own desire for change, the need for some exterior agent of change to lift our horizens from the systems of government and control we've made for oursleves. And seeing as I don't believe it god, it's not him incase you wondering. Change or a desire for change is what it's all about, I'll go get my thesaurus and go look about the net to see if I can't find something suitable.

Edit and next chapter done

2007-03-16T18:06:00.000Z

Title says it all really, one chapter more done and two more to go I think. Harder going though trying to tie things up, good bad or indifferent it's been easier to write stuff when you know you got other chapters coming. When you know you want to finish it becomes trickier, can't just deal with any overspill later.

Hoped to be finished by end of this month, first half of april and i'll be quite pleased.

Back editing

2007-02-23T14:48:00.000Z

Another chapter completed, thats twenty now. Three more to go, probably the most difficult as I try to wrap it up in a satisfying manner. Then a final mini edit before complete read through and final edit before any potential submisison.

There is one task hanging ominously on the horizon. I had never tried to write a book before, and at the start things like how does one do it, spacing, paragraphs, new lines etc, how to differentiate characters speaking from characters internal thoughts and descriptive text etc were things I was very unsure of. It's only now that I've noticed I put most of the dialogue in quotation marks, "Why, hello," said Jim*. I noticed reading for leisure the other day that it's only single marks generally used, 'Not bad at,' I replied. I shall have to go through the entirety of the text and change it, a bit of a pain but no matter.

*Not actual dialogue.

Unreliable bastards...

2007-02-23T10:18:00.000Z

...bit of a rant this, really meant to do it earlier. Is there much point as no one it's directed at will read it, it was to long winded for me to really bother anyone else with it but anyway last tuesday I was in a near rage.

it all began more than a week before, Motherwell had a rearranged match against St.Mirren coming up a week on tuesday at the time. The game of 7's I normally play in clashes with it and quite a few of those that play are Well fans, so it was in some doubt. However it was an away game and enough folk expressed an interest in playing. On the monday week before it there was 8 people confirmed it was in some risk of being cancelled. I wasn't to keen on it being cancelled as I didn't want to go and pay £20 for privelage of freezing my arse of in Paisley of an evening, but in the knowledge that my fitba team training which also goes ahead on a tuesday was likely to be cancelled I thought I can probably get at least a couple of people, probably more to get the numbers up.

So I sent round a text to the half dozen or so people in team i have a number for, after confirming with the team manager that training wasn't on, and explain the situation and would anyone like to play a week on tuesday whilst clearly mentioning that it was on the same night as the rearranged Motherwell game. I quickly got 3 replies back of people confirming and the next day a 4th, Mitch, Speedie, Dave and Gav. I was pleased, 12 people was enough to keep it going and even if a couple dropped out we would have enough for a game of 5's. Getting a 5's pitch would be no bother as Celtic were at home to Milan the same night and many a regular game would be cancelled at parks we play at. I replied to everyone I had asked and confirmed that game would be going ahead.

moving on to the saturday I had still being trying to get a couple more people to make it 14, and in the pub pre match I asked and got couple people willing to play. I had to tell them and only them it wasn't an absolute certainty because I wasn't the principle organiser. I needed to hear back from James and his reply to my text was can I confirm monday, sure no problem. I was still quite happy, we should have a minimum 12 and looked like we had another two to make 14. I even had to turn down Fraz who expressed interest in the pub late in day as he could no longer make Motherwell game as he was viewing a flat, had to say sorry just this minute got all I need.

Monday morning, I get a text from Mitch, can't play tomorrow got something on, my mum just reminded me this morning, apologies. Fair enough no problem, I text fraz and tell him and do you want to take his place, he does. Numbers sorted once more. Still not heard from James, I check email he's sent a circular mail out checking with people about the game tomorrow, fair enough I'll prob not hear for certain about the other two players until end of working day. Working day comes to a close nothing, I head off of the evening for my monday night 5's, i send him a text, have we got confirmation of numbers yet? I get a reply as we come out, I think it's just one more we need can i confirm in morning. Well fine but this is a pain, i know that at least one of the two i want to confirm for playing will not get texts at work and will have to wait until late, which even if they still fancying a game it's leaving late and I don't like it.

tuesday morning. early text from Fraz, big gav is suffering from food poisoning and can't play tonight I'll just pull out to even up the numbers. Who hold on there son, don't do that you might be needed. Well eh I quite fancy going to love street with speedie and tweed! Whit! Speedie is playing tonight. I text Speedie, 'oh I didn't think it was defo on, I believe I'm at Love street with fraz and tweed.' you fucking dick, didn't even having the decency to tell us, didn't think even to ask just incase, a load of pish about not thinking it was on, fucking arsehole. I'm not pleased. I get rubber ear from speedie after 2nd text, fraz is not keen on playing and I'm going mental at him about letting me down, we're now down to 9 people and two mibbes as expected I'm getting no reply from other two guys I had hoped to confirm on saturday but couldn't say to them for certain until tuesday morning.

If you think my numbers are out by one, during all this I text dave, a reliable sort who i expect to turn up, but just onthe off chance I text him to remind him of the game, he replies , sorry can't play am choked with cold. cheers thanks for telling me that. So yes tuesday morning and 3 people have pulled out and the 4th is wriggling like a worm on a hook trying to get off. I inform James of this turn of events and we try and rustle up more players not much luck but just enough to get one and and play 5's letting the worm scurry off and go to the Motherwell game. Every fucking one of them I asked let me down, I'll give the benefit of the doubt to those that said they were unwell. Least one of them thought to tell also. Mitch at least gave me a bit of notice can't complain to much. Fraz in fairness 7's was his 2nd choice but i was raging that he was happy to play when it suited him and was threatening to bail when it didn't, i think he was going to do the decent thing and play if needed but it was taking a hell of lot of badgering and even still I'm not 100% sure. The real arsehole, Speedie. Never let me know, and then just gave me pish about not knowing it was on, couldn't be fucking bothered to check.

Still on the brightside, got a game of 5's and it was a pretty good game, oh and the Motherwell game, finished 0-0 and was absolutely fucking dire, that's a shame :-)

Still on the same...

2007-02-12T11:39:00.000Z

...chapter but i noticed I've passed the 80,000 word landmark. I had meant to click on spell check to be honest . I didn't really have a target length other than more than 50,000 words as a vague benchmark. Once I got really started 100,000 seemed more realistic and it does seem likely to finish up around 90/100 thousands words.