stevethedog

For those who enjoy watching wonderful footballers in action - of the current crop of Premiership talent, who would you pick in your squad if you were given the luxury of having any 16 Premier League footballers? Even more difficult, who'd make your first 11?Earlier in the week Andy Gray and Jamie Redknapp debated over who to put in their Premier League Team of the Season. Well, this is a bit similar. Straight to the point: when watching Premiership football what players do you enjoy watching most? I'm talking the most skilful, or maybe you love seeing a Joey Barton do his three compulsory reckless challenges in a game. Up to you. Obviously you're mainly focusing on attacking players, so for goalkeeper just put your favourite or the best in the country. Like Gray and Redknapp you can draw up contenders if you wish to compare.My goalkeeper would be Pepe Reina. Not gonna discuss any other options as liek I say, keeper not really that important in a team like this. He could let in 5 goals and we would still win.Full backs isn't too difficult. It's the French that rule this area in the Prem I reckon. Will have Sagna in at right back. Maybe next season Bosingwa can make it more difficult if he lives up to his rep. Left back a bit harder, between Evra and Clichy, both good to watch. I'll say Clichy.Centre backs would have to be Rio Ferdinand and Ricardo Carvalho for me. Both defensively solid and adept on the ball. Agger would put up more of a fight had he actually played a lot more games this season.Now it gets a bit harder. Not going to have any holding midfielders. Anderson's mixture of skill and enthusiasm makes him a massive contender. Scholes produces several 'wow' moments in most games, but not as strong a contender as he would have been a few years back in his prime. You can't help but notice the driving runs of Michael Essien, and the classy displays from Lampard when he's on form. Lassana Diarra doesn't go unnoticed after his performances since joining Pompey, and Elano would walk into this team if he'd kept up his earlier season form for a few months more. Don't think anyone can argue with the inclusion of the little Spaniard Fabregas though. A wonderful little player, could watch him all day. Alongside him, Steven Gerrard. Call me bias but when this bloke's in the mood (and he has been a lot this season, despite what some people on here say) his all round displays are just so good to see.Now for the two wingers. Spoilt for choice here. Now I might as well get the first one out the way, you all know it's Cristiano Ronaldo. It's a pity he plays for Man United, but even so watching him never bores me. For the other wing, Nani's showboating mode is entertaining, but he's a bit inconsistent atm. Ryan Giggs has had his day, I think that's generally agreed by most. Ashley Young, David Bentley, Joe Cole, Kranjcar all get honourable mentions, as does a fit Mikel Arteta. But I think only few people can disagree with Hleb being my choice. He's not a natural winger, but when he gets that ball you do expect things to happen.The two forwards then. RvP another who can be devastating when fit, but rarely is these days. Santa Cruz probably not a striker I'd describe great to watch, but deserves a mention anyway. Drogba is frighteningly good on his day, but has had very few of those days this year. But anyway, I'm bored now, so I'll cut it down to three players: Wayne Rooney, Fernando Torres and Dimitar Berbatov. I don't really need to give reasons, so I'll just pick two of the three. And that'll be Rooney and Torres, a combination which would be erm, pretty damn good. Berbatov misses out for having too many games where he is lazy.ReinaSagnaFerdinandCarvalhoClichyRonaldoGerrardFabregasHlebTorresRooneyCechAggerEvraElanoJoe ColeDrogbaBerbatovthat's mine, what's yours?be as biased as you bloody well like, noone's stopping you!

Thought it was really poor to be honest, expected a lot more from a Danny Boyle movie but this was just a disappointment. The girlfriend went to the extent of saying she hated it as it was ******* **** which err says it all really.

Any fans?I watched the 12 episodes so quickly, they were just so daft and funny with surprisingly funny music. I'm now listening to their BBC series which is 6 episodes for radio. Bloody hilarious so far, gutted I missed them everytime the were in Edinburgh for the fringe festival.If you're into it still probably my favourite song but I'm starting to get right into the beautiful ballads now like I'm not crying..... :DSuch a legendary show, anybody know if their is news of a 2nd series?Oh Brett and Jermain

Just caught a great 10 minute interview with SAF on the Football Show on Sirius w/ Giorgio Chinaglia and Charlie Stillitano. I have never heard him speak that long before.Stillitano cracked him up by telling him that Chinaglia is the "White Drogba." Giorgio was not pleased!He was in quite the jovial mood and said the team was in great confidence heading to Moscow.He also said that he thought the squad were still developing and that they would actually improve over the next few seasons! (loved that)He had special praise for Ronaldo, Giggs and Scholes, but he also noted that the hardest thing for him next Wed would be to determine who gets into the match b/c the whole side was worthy of starting.Cannot wait for the opening whistle!

With uni finished I am hoping to soon have some more time with my good old original xbox. Yes I know there are newer consoles out there with better looking graphics but I enjoy good gameplay and if i haven't played it its new to me. Off the top of my head I have might be oneor 2 I can't think off top of my head Just recently bought Max payne 2, Reservoir Dogs, Rugby 2005 and jade Empire Basically I am on the lookout for good deals on games so if anyone knows any good places other than the usual liek gamestation etc that woudl be great. Also what games people have played and liked. Obvously everyone has different tastes but it is good to get a consencus and evenif I don't like a game if I have only spent a couple quid its no great loss. I don't have these games but hear good things about: any others that are good that I have not mentioned So what do you think are there any last generation players still about that have not moved on yet. Think I will set a criteria of paying no more than Ł5 for a single game. Got the 4 recent ones all for a 10 tenner together so that kind of deal is good for me. Still got a lot of gameplay to go in the games that already have but any worthy additions to the collection are always welcome

This is something I wrote in my journal a couple of months ago, it's rather fitting here.On February 28, I plan to mark my son's third birthday by getting drunk. This will be the act, no doubt, of a selfish and irresponsible parent. But there will be more than the little man's special day to celebrate. His mother and I shall also be raising glasses to the fact that - until the moment those glasses tilt - we will have been sober for two months.This isn't an alcoholic's cautionary tale of redemption and recidivism. It is much more trivial than that. Like millions of other bloated Christmas casualties, I simply made a new year's resolution to stop drinking for a bit. Perhaps I'm a little unusual, in that I stuck to it. But, according to well-researched lifestyle indicators, an alcohol-free January is now an important fixture in the calendar.Still, I reckon a mere experiment in January is for dilettantes. In my experience it takes a full three weeks to get used to having no alcohol in your body, so this amounts to a contemptibly brief one week of true clarity. Melvyn Bragg, somebody once told me, gives up drink for the first month of every year. I say, what a lightweight. If Melvyn were hard, he would be on the lime and soda till March.I'm not boasting boast. I didn't give it up because I wanted to be pious about my health. I gave it up precisely because I cherish drinking. Denial, of course, contains its opposite. I've been fantasising about cocktails every day since January 1. Like a wine expert sloshing the juice around his palate, I have been turning it lovingly over in my imagination.This, I swear, is not the same as being desperate for a drink. Truly, I haven't wanted one. Abstinence from alcohol needn't be - to use the melancholy, depleted jargon of our era - "detox". The point of restraint (and here I part company from the Brahmans) is to sharpen the capacity for pleasure. I like to think of it as an off-calendar Lent, my own private Ramadan. I want to know the desert, better to appreciate the flower (or is that knowing the dessert, the better to appreciate the flour?).Of course, staying off the booze may indeed be the "healthy option". Despite pretending to despise the vacuous, neurotic urge to get on a health trip, I once capitulated to lifestyle fashion and tried the "Leslie Kenton 10-day clean-up diet".As with all disciplines, abstinence is a craft to be learned and honed. After the Kenton error, it was a few years before I again felt sufficient self-disgust to have another go at cutting back on anything. Then, last year, I gave up alcohol for 10 weeks. This was because I suddenly realised that the only previous time I had gone for more than a fortnight without drinking, I had been at school, 17 years ago. Not drinking was something I could now try, as if for the first time. Like the old-style drug dealer of media mythology used to whisper: go on, just try it once. See how you feel.And yes, it does make you feel kind of funny. For the first few weeks you're maybe a bit shaky. Like any symptoms of withdrawal, this period is the hard part (a minor head cold can be exaggerated by your twitchy nervous system into life-threatening bird flu). But then comes the moment, after 20 days or so, when your body becomes accustomed to its new state. Colours appear brighter, smells sharper, reflexes faster. In the mornings you notice that your tongue is still moist. You begin to understand the deeper symbolism of William Blake, the engrossing atonality of Miles Davis's *BLEEP*es Brew.The euphoria doesn't last, though. Like the effects of any drug, you get used to being sober, and begin to need more and more of it. So you cut out coffee, cigarettes, carbohydrates, dairy products, red meat - anything to keep up the ascetic high. But it doesn't work. After two and a half months, I had lost a stone and a half, and I wasn't even overweight in the first place. I became skinny, utterly bored, and utterly boring. It was over. I went out and drank a bottle of vodka. The next day, my body enfeebled by health, I endured one of the worst hangovers of my life.Yet I had learned an interesting lesson. When I woke up on New Year's morning this year, I resolved to give up drink for the only reason that can guarantee lasting benefits. It's a variation on the plight of the tippler in The Little Prince who drinks in order to forget why he drinks. Instead, what you should do is stop drinking, in order to remember why you drink. Lord Byron was right: intoxication is the best of life. But you have to fine-tune the body to appreciate just how good it can get; service the liver; unpickle the brain.And then you're ready. For splendour of variety, no illegal drug can compete with alcohol, refined through millennia by by several civilisations. Cocaine and marijuana, hallucinogenics, narcotics and so on - these offer merely simplistic jingles of experience: potent, perhaps, but limited in range.

Bit of a spin off from my other thread but could be fun.Arsenal - Eboue has been very poor on the few occasions I have seen Arsenal play.Aston Villa - Wilfred Bouma? Like I say, I haven't seen much of Villa this campaign. Bouma always seems as if he may be playing at too high a level.Birmingham - I must plump for Liam Ridgewell. Just does not strike me as a Premier League defender (let alone captain!) and makes a hell of a lot of costly errors.Blackburn - Morten Gamst Pedersen. Compared to his previous seasons at Blackburn he has been found wanting this season, and his main trademark (goals from midfield) has vanished until up to now.Bolton - Kevin Davies. Does a job but has very little footballing ability.Chelsea - Personally I must admit I am very glad that us (United) did not end up signing this Nigerian international (how he is I have no idea). I do not rate him one ounce.Derby - Robert Earnshaw is simply not a Premier League standard striker. Everyone must agree with me; surely!Everton - I know he has scored a bag full of goals for a defensive player but Joleon Lescott does not strike me as being Premier League quality. Very slow and takes a lot of time on the ball, dwells if you like.Fulham - Danny Murphy. When he was at Liverpool he was certainly a good player and most renowned for scoring three winners at Old Trafford in four seasons, all in one-nil wins if my memory (admittedly fading) doesn't lie. However, since leaving Liverpool he hasn't got back to that level he was at, and this season the few times I have watched Fulham he has been average at best.Liverpool - Fernando Torres..... I'm only pulling your leg! John Arne Riise used to be one of Europe's top left backs, but now he is very much off the pace at times and even his greatest weapon has disappeared - those left foot piledrivers.Man. City - Rolando Bianchi? Before he left for Lazio he was unable to live up to his billing and failed to produce in his short stay at the club.Man. United - The one team I have seen in most of their games of course! Will volunteer (Ha Ha) Ryan Giggs. A legend in Manchester - or the Red side anyway - no doubt but not as good as he once was. Slows down our attacks at times, too often for me anyway.Middlesbrough - Fabio Rochemback. Supposed to be Brazilian but plays more like an Englishman! (I hope you get that snipey shot) That's all I'll say, very un-impressed by the boy.Newcastle - Smudge; a ka Smithy. Legend at United but simply has not taken his United form over to Tyneside. Certainly expected more from the lad.Portsmouth - Personally will say Muntari. Hyped up before his move but more known by me for his dirty streak than his footballing ability.Reading - Kevin Doyle, after the debut season he had here has been extremely disappointing, yet an Irish colleague at work is of the opinion he is still good! I personally haven't seen much from him to be impressed by/with.Sunderland - Craig Gordon was hyped up like Muntari and, although his price tag would inevitably put alot of pressure on his hands and gloves, you cannot deny you expected a better debut season in England. Possibly next year he will prove me wrong, but a bad signing by Keano I think.Tottenham - Didier Zokora. The lad has zero composure, has a few good runs but average at best for this level.West Ham United - Will plump for the big man - Dean Ashton. Very uninspiring since returning from injury, big reputation but has failed to deliver in my opinion.Wigan - Titus Bramble. Who can say they are surprised? Typically poor!Go on then, tell me where to go

really only interested in premiership people replying. and that's not a random prejudice, but because my question has a slight reason. I was wondering about the differences in perception between watching from the outside and watching as a fan. so I was going to state the player of the season for each of the top 20, from what I've seen and some statistics and whatnot, and then you can point out where it's wrong. for the top teams it's easier because I see them far more, so I'm interested to see how far I go wrong with the other teams. I'm fairly sure plenty of non-premiership people won't read this, and then we can laugh at them when they post.arsenal - tough one. adebayor or fabregas are the more obvious choices from statistics, but from what I've seen it might be hleb. I'll go for hlebaston villa - ashley young maybe?birmingham - god knows. mcfadden?blackburn - santa cruz.at this point I realise I'm mostly going for attacking players.bolton - would it be outrageous to still suggest anelka? otherwise, hunt's looked alright whenever I've seen himchelsea - lampard or belletti. belletti's obviously played quite a bit more, but chelsea seem to win almost every time lampard plays. I'll go for belletti anywayderby - erm. absolutely no idea. I'll just go for the obvious kenny millereverton - lescott maybefulham - no idea. hardly had anyone good. paul konchesky's been alrightliverpool - torres obviouslyman city - petrov?man utd - cronaldoboro - all rubbish? I dunno...wheater?newcaste - I want to say joey barton. beye's looked alright sometimes, and n'zogbia not too bad. all quite terrible tbfpompey - david james? or distin?reading - probably steve hunt. motd suggests it anywaysunderland - god knows. andy cole?spurs - jenas? or keane. probably keanewest ham - noblewigan - no idea. I'll pump for titus.go on then, tell me how wrong I am and who your real player of the season is.

Like other readers of the Da Vinci Code, I wanted to read other books written by Dan Brown. What surprised me was that the Angels and Demons book wasn't the book that took him to the top of the NYT best seller's list.I read the Da Vinci Code and probably rate it as a 4 in reading and excitement. I rate A&D a 5. This book clipped along in such a breathless speed of action, suspense, and drama that I was up into the wee hours of the morning, my eyelids drooping, too into the plot to put the book down.The only part of the book that I was somewhat dissapointed in was when two characters jumped out of a helicopter that was supposedly 1 - 3 miles up in the air, neither seemed to have parachutes, but both survived and landed in very convenient spots for the plot. That tiny part of the plot was not at all believable, but I forgive Mr. Brown because the rest of the book was so absolutely delicious.What delighted me even more -- just as I thought the climax had been reached (and for the most part, it was the major climax), there were a few more minor climaxes. (I was wondering why there were another hundred pages or so after the best part of the book!).I think that last scene (Chapter 137) in the book was insisted upon by market driven publishers who felt that all good books had to have a gratuitious sex scene to make the book complete.Come on -- 'publishing industry' -- wake up! An awesome, potentially best-seller book can be considered 'complete' and 'marketable' without a sex scene. This scene wasn't even necessary to make me want to lean back and smoke a cigarette afterwards from the book's overall excitement.There are the first few chapters of Dan Brown's next book, "Deception Point" in the back of the paperback A&D book I had. I can't wait to buy that next book to see what exciting plots and twists have been devilishly written by Mr. Brown.

The whole "I can hav cheezbrger plz" thing was very funny at the time and I've not been bothered to change it yet. Very valid point though. As I said at the bottom, my views had to post something and that came out all rather easy. Don't pent it up, let it out!

Casual SexI don't even know where to begin telling you how terribly unsatisfying it is if you are a terminal '*BLEEP* Rat'. To those in a relationship, your life looks brilliant. They'll wax lyrical about how they wish they were out on the pull week after week, about how they wish their girlfriends would let them play out more often, and about how they live vicariously through you.Fact is, if life was that bad being in a relationship, they'd just sack the missus and be out on the lash with you every week. Nah, they know when they're onto a good thing. The problem with being single is that sex is pretty irregular, and if you don't take advantage of opportunities, it's easy to get into a spell of enforced celibacy. A friend of mine, who is good looking, charming, and has a reputation as a ladies man, once went an entire year without sex when he was at university. It was impossible to explain, but it became a bit of a running joke, and when everyone is watching you, and all your friends are actively trying to get you laid, that's when you become the sexual equivalent of Screech Powers (pre-cack moustache).Another problem I have is that the kind of girl you pick up on a one night stand generally falls into one of two categories:1) Complete slag. Does this every week, and won't bat an eyelid when you walk past her the next week. Insists on saying 'I never do this usually' every 18 seconds.or2) The naive girl just out of a relationship. Insists on saying 'I never do this usually' every 18 seconds.Each has their own problems. The first is fine, but will leave you feeling strangely unsatisfied and empty as you realise you've essentially been where hundreds have been before, and that you are back to square one. You also just no that she's incubating some kind of penis destroying virus and not taken her word that 'she's on the pill'. The latter, you might actually like. As she hastily dresses at 8am on a Sunday morning 'for work' you realise that she probably has a boyfriend, or at least did have, and took one look at your mush in the morning and a small part of her - possibly her virginity - died. Days later you wonder why you didn't get her number, until it dawns on you that she never offered it.You won't meet a 'proper' girlfriend through casual sex. The best relationship you can build from casual sex is with your local GUM clinic nurse, who will visibly recoil from you when approached outside of work, making hissing noises and threatening you with a can of mace.U2U2 used to be brilliant. In the eighties I'd have kissed Bono's tiny eyes, and played soothingly with Edge's lovely ponytail. The other two could play drums and get unexpectedly naked on the inside of sleeve covers respectively.I don't know when it happened... but I think it was Bosnia. That was when U2 became more about some kind of political crusade, more about the personalities than the music. A lot of people blame Zooropa, but that wasn't so bad. Showed they had a sense of humour at least. Anyway, I remember there was a concert in '96 or '97... and half way through (they'd probably just played 'Discotheque') Bono only gets ****ing KOFI ANNAN on the blower! Imagine you've paid good money to watch U2 in concert. Robbie Williams was supporting but that wasn't too bad because he had that entertain you song and he looked a bit off his *BLEEP*. But hang on, nobody said that half way through, Bono would get the U.N secretary general on the phone, plaster his face on the big screen, and give you a MASSIVE guilt trip about how many bombs were being dropped on Sarajevo right now. Look mate, it wasn't my fault, that's all I'm saying.From then on it's just been downhill. He's always bantering with the Pope, coddling the President, or playing Ludo with Geldof. The thing is, I wouldn't mind but the music has gone utterly turd too. 'Elevation' and the like were all dross. They've never sounded as soulless as they do now. When Bono sang that he couldn't live with or without me, I actually walked to Dublin, pulled down my trousers, and presented myself in front of him, ready to be mounted by Royalty. Now he'd be lucky to get a sly handjob.Football ManagerHonestly, some days I can't believe people of a certain age still play Football Manager. It's not because the game has become poorer, or because of all the new features making it too complicated. Football Manager is just as good, if not better than it has ever been.In fact, this is more about video games in general. The thing is, I can understand kids between the ages of 15 and 18 playing it, but grown men? Anyone with a job/life? I suppose you could forgive those that are too old to properly socialise (ie: without the wife and kids) but personally I ran out of spare time for it aged about 20. It was then that I entered the phase I currently inhabit, where anything that requires true concentrtion, such as FM or, as I say, any kind of game with a lot of depth has become almost like work.Every now and then I crank up FM06 (the last incarnation I bought) and stick my old Valencia game on. I usually last about half an hour before I give up being interested, and start just pressing the space bar until the computer says I can't play with only 10 outfield players. Well how about THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT I'LL DO! Honestly, I'm the one with the complex neurons that could never be recreated by the human hand, so I'll make the decisions around here.I've tried plenty of games out in the vague hope that I'd find one that would hold my attention and keep me wanting more. Perhaps it says more about me that I enjoy 'Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas' for the simple reason that I get to spend vast amounts of time listening to music and driving with little thought for the consequences.BlondesEver had a conversation with a blonde? I don't mean one of those strange daywalker blondes that has really pale skin and lakes that look like they're a leper - I mean a good looking blonde. I haven't that I can remember. The blonde woman goes through life with a cheeky smile, a shake of her hips and a permatan. None of this requires much actual thought, so engaging in conversation with them is a huge minefield. The safe bet with blondes is to stay on the three subjects they are comfortable with, in the vague hope that they might get 'on a roll' and manage a thought of their own. These subjects are:1) How good they look2) Their clothes, and how good they look in them3) Smiling and noddingOf course, dark haired people can be thick too, but it's not as common, mainly because a woman who hasn't died her hair blonde is aware that she probably can't get a decent job just by turning up to an interview and intimitating that she'd be prepared to sleep with the interviewer to get the job. They could try, but it just wouldn't work, because you see, Blonde haired women will sleep with you to get promoted, wheras a brunette will sleep with you, get the job, and within 6 months she's taken your job, you've been demoted, your wife has left you and you're eating cold bean juice out of a can because she took the can opener when she left, and you could only stab a hole big enough for the tomato sauce to come out.DemocracyLet the people decide! Give them the freedom to make choices!Let me tell you, people are completely ****ing stupid. At any given moment, 95% of supposedly 'rational' people are roughly 0.8 seconds away from forming a mob and lynching anyone who isn't British. People are so easily led by the media that it is almost impossible to conduct a reasoned conversation with someone these days. People ream off facts and figures that they saw in the daily star as if they are the gospel. You ask a stupid question, you get a stupid answer. Do we want the death penalty? No, but if you ask people just after someone's gone on a mass killing spree, their tiny minds can't deal with the grief they feel, and they end up offering the use of their axe.And trying to spread Democracy? Ridiculous. Imagine if someone walked into our country and decided to enforce a Communist dictatorship on us. We'd go absolutely mental. Yet when we waltz into countries with entire armies, we expect people to be over the moon. What we inevitably forget is that no matter what happens, some people always do well. These people don't like it when armed men come into their happy little lives and say that the good times are over, so they pay a bunch of guys to walk around town for them and cause trouble, just so people know who's boss. Before you know it, they've formed 'The Martyrs brigade of mincing jalopies' and everyone is shitting their pants.Honestly, just give it up. In my opinion, the best way to spread democracy is just don't. What we should do is make sure that all these crazy dictators have hot playboy models for wives. Whenever I'm angry, I lash out, I go moody, and I take it out on those closest to me. The best way to deal with it is to either have (relationship!) sex or a crafty one off the wrist. Heads of state are the same - they just have access to infinitely more missiles than me.Going to the CinemaI hate the pictures. Imagine the ideal conditions for watching a movie. Huge screen maybe? an alcoholic drink or two? Some female company to grope while people talk/do boring stuff? How about 200 complete strangers boring holes into the back of your head?The Cinema is terrible. The screen is huge yeah? So why, in the days of HDTV, do cinema screens still look like they did during silent movies? You half expect a man to wheel out a piano and start playing a little ditty. You can't talk to your friends, you DEFINATELY can't talk to any date you may have taken. Here's why:Me: 'mmmnffn fffrrrHer: 'sorry?'Me: 'Mnnnrfnfffrrrr'Her: 'Speak up I can't hear you'*Cinema goes silent*'DO YOU GO TO THE PICTURES MUCH?''Get away from me, you shouting Freak.' That is what women think whenever you raise your voice. In vocal terms, you just gave them a punch in the eye and told them to get back to the Kitchen sink.And I hate the fact that if I want to eat during a film, I have to wait until it's a really really loud action sequence. When others are rooted to their seat, gripping the armrests, I'm shovelling 16 Nachos in my mouth and trying to tip the cheese in after. Classic example last week, my mate put a Nacho in his mouth at the same time as me, and the cinema certificate came up. Cue dead silence. To crunch would be MADNESS. We both sat there while the Nachos soggily fell apart in our mouths, the hot cheese burning our mouths.My ideal cinema experience would be me, a girl, on a comfy seat, on a nice shiny new TV, with as much food and drink as we wanted - and the film would pause every time we needed the toilet. ie: I'd watch it on DVD.The InternetOh cruel world. I hate the internet, the very thing that gives this writing sustenance! I don't hate the internet, but my god, it's boring. In the very same way it can enlighten you, entertain you, and help bring you closer to your friends, it can misinform, bore you, and leave you alienated from your social groups.Ever spent a whole day on the internet? Fun at times, you can do it every now and again... try spending a week solid. It's ridiculous. You end up refreshing the BBC news website 40 times an hour in the hope that something remotely interesting happens. You get into a routine - turn computer on, check emails, check forum, check BBC, check ESPN, and... that's it. The main reason Internet forums are so popular is just because they relieve the boredom somewhat for those who spend most of their time on the internet. Next time you see someone you know online on myspace or facebook, give them a ring and ask them what they're doing. I guarantee the word 'bored' will come up.The internet, in all honesty, is at it's best when used primarily for porn. I could wax lyrical about how much I enjoy that.The SimpsonsThe Simpsons used to be amazing. Remember when Bill Clinton said he did it with pigs? Remember all the great episodes where Homer was completely insane? 'Yes... Bart's a Tooter now... Toot on son! Toot on!' They are the memories I have of the Simpsons at it's very very best. Unfortunately, The Simpsons is now almost 10 years removed from it's glory days. Any other show would have been taken out the back and shot like the dirty stinking yellow dog that it was. Unfortunately, Fox seems to have no intention of ever stopping the cash cow that the show has become. Remember that 'behind the scenes' episode where they had a song called 'They'll never stop the Simpsons' to allay people's fears that creator Matt Groening would stop making new episodes? Well it's come true. Horribly horribly true.I literally cannot bring myself to go and watch the movie. I'd just be validating the very thing that frustrates me, about it. If people keep forking out money for relentless *****, then it's hard to blame anyone for pumping out more relentless *****. I'd like to see the show return to it's prior greatness, but it will never happen. The creators are now too aware of why the characters were good, and what made them stale. In a way, their biggest error was probably listening to the viewing public. We are the ones who asked for more stupidity from Homer, we are the one who forced the writers to create ridiculously outlandish scenarios, and it was probably us who asked them to book more guest stars, though frankly I don't remember that and I think it might have just been people like Gervais pleading to get on.OasisThis may be unfair to some. Oasis are no longer as highly rated by most of us as they were in their peak.On the other hand, you see so many young guys of 20-25, and they listen to Oasis, they chant along to 'Don't look back in anger', but their musical taste has never actually evolved. I think Oasis were great for a couple of albums, but after 'Be Here Now' I grew out of them, just like a lot of right thinking people. Unfortunately, as previously mentioned, many people are idiots.In the main I can't blame people for liking 'Definately Maybe' and 'Whats the story...', but it's the way Liam and Noel are treated with such hallowed grace by people who have no idea about music at all. A friend once called Keane 'Indie bed wetters', and I knew full well that he'd just heard Liam say the same thing the week before. I'm not saying I find Keane that great, but they aren't too bad and I actually believe that a lot of people set some stall by the Gallaghers' thoughts about music. Do people not realise that they are incapable of churning out a half decent tune themselves these days, and their taste in music is trad and dated.I have a rule about bands - as soon as more than one original member leaves, just give up. It would have saved us many many musical embarassments over the years.Will Ferrell filmsAgain, I will give this a 'post-Anchorman' strap line. That was a true great, but anyway...In all honestly, any good jokes Will Ferrell could have made were already done either on SNL or in Anchorman. He's been playing himself ever since. I laughed at 'Old School' where he played a halfwit, but every film since then has been abysmal. Talladega Nights? That one where he's a football manager? And don't get me started on Semi pro...Ok I just have to say this: Semi Pro was one of the worst films I've ever seen. I came out and asked my friends 'is it really over?' because I could not believe that the movie was even given the green light with such a half-arsed 'plot'. Any 'jokes' that were in the movie were already in the trailer. In fact, there was a bit in the trailer that wasn't in the ****ing film! I might invent a wacky character with the emotional sensibilities of a 5 year old, and then play him myself in every movie he appears in, only give him a different name so that you can put him into various silly situations.See you on the walk of fame.These views belong to the poster only and don't necessarily represent the community as a whole

Im prepared for lot of hate in here but i don't care, i must share with the world my love affair with my MacBook.iPhoto - Love this application, makes it sooooo easy to view, edit, tag and organise my photo's and it has a simply awesome plugin for facebook so you can tag everyone in pictures in iPhoto it will then upload them all to facebook for you including any people tagged and any comments you put on the photosiTunes - i know it available for PC and there are alot of haters for it, but i love it, automatic album art, easy to navigate and view/search my music as well as the obvious iPod integration.AddressBook - this one at first may sound strange but...my MacBook has built in bluetooth, i can wirelessly hookup my mobile phone and sync all my contacts to and from my pc to my mobile phone, makes it much easier to manager and organise my contacts when i can do it on my Mac then sync to my mobile.iCal - Similar reasons to AddressBook above, i can sync my Calender to both my iPod and Mobile phone with virtually no effort, any changes i make either on my mobile, ipod or MacBook all get sync'd back and changed on all devices.Most of all is the integration between applications, i can virtually drop and drag everything i see, so if i like a photo just drop and drag it, even between applications etc.CURRENTLY there is no/very few spyware/virus' out for MacOSX so i don't have to worry about scanning my pc weekly just to keep it clean.No loss of speed, if you run xp for a few months or more its significantly slower than when you first installed it, not the case so far with MacOSX.Finally, it just looks damn sexy, yes im sucker for look and my MacBook delivers both on both hardware and software.Please note this is not one of those 'im so smug im using a mac which are trendy' posts, but merely pointing out the reasons why as a long time Windows and Linux user im glad ive made the switch to Mac and why i can't see myself going back any time soon.

Here's my take on todays game versus relegation bound Derby County at Pride Park.hahaha what a horrible game <_<knew it was gonna be one of those when i realised we had ****ing thompson commentating on our game. every bloody time. loads of negatives to take from it but it really is reassuring that we didnt let it get us down (could have been easy given the pompey game as well) and were just determined to get a goal. ronaldo complete legend, more desperate to score than Dean Gaffney. great to see foster pulling off some top class saves even if its a bit embarrassing that he had to, so convinced he will be a brilliant number one for us.3 more points closer to the title.

Who is still playing this 11 year old classic then? Since the fantastically generous Eleanor Rigby donated me his PS2 & MacG sent me up FF7 I've spent any spare time playing it pretty much and I'm just as hooked as I was as back in 97. I didn't manage to complete the game originally as I got to the (i think) end Sephiroth fight but wasn't nearly strong enough and the walkthrough I had didn't tell me anything about Knights of the realm and the like. So I'm trying to get everything this time but am struggling to find a walkthrough that will tell me the where everything is as I'm there and the implications of my actions without one either being too brief that I'm still missing things or too much detail that I may as well just be reading the walkthrough rather than playing the game. When doing a search for FF7 stuff I found the exciting FF7 PS3 teaser and looked up to see what was happening with that. Last thing I could find was this disappointing article http://www.ign.com/articles/2006/05/23/square-enix-responds-to-ps3-ff7-rumors Has there been any news since as this is a bit dated. There is such a demand for it surely it would be worthwhile. And for the uber FF7 geeks who has played the game so that they get to go on the date with Tifa instead of Aeris or done other obsessive things like that which the game holds. Oh and is it really worthwhile getting Yuffie & Vincent as I think my problem before was that I wasn't a fan of "training" and so struggled to level up many characters. Probably didn't even get Cloud past 50. I'm keeping myself ahead of the game this time around though. Smile

vs. LyonMOM: Fletch - clearly our best player last night, pity he'll probably never get the credit he deserves. Played with the desire that the game deserved.2ND: Rio - Out of the rest of the team who looked as though they were quite content to stay in 2nd gear rather than take Lyon apart since they were clearly so far from being up for it, he was probaly the next most influential.Anderson nowhere all night for me which is a pity. Nani, Carrick, Ronny & Rooney all sloppier than I'd like overall. Wes made one great tackle on Grosso. Evra didn't force the issue in an attacking sense. Vida didn't really have to do a whole lot really & therefore his influence on proceedings was minimal.Just so I'm clear after all that, I'm not utterly dissatisfied with last night, Lyon looked like they were nowhere near giving us any sort of game, so we didn't have to push in the strictest sense (although there were a couple of Benzema moments that showed his quality) but just because we could win and get through without pushing does that mean we shouldn't?There are games where I think making a proper statement of quality and ability in higher profile games against full-strength teams matters a lot as far as providing a future basis for strong top level performances rather than sitting through a performance just because the situation dictates that we can & working on the theory that when pushed we will definitely step up.

International Cricket CaptainDoes anyone still have/play the orginal game released in 98? Just have a couple of questionsDoes an editor come with the game?How much worse is it than modern versions? Are many features missing?I assume I can play is on XP even though it lists 'windows 98/95' I'm sure I've read of a very simple work around.I've downloaded the demo here but didn't bother loading after looking at the readme. Clearly states it isn't the full version with lots of features no yet included. I was ideally looking for a downloadable version with an online payment.I'm tempted to buy it because it's well cheap. Also I've been wanting to be able to edit the ICC3 database for awhile but obviously there is no editor. I guess I will have to make do with an old version. I've found loads of custom databases and patches to give the game more life.Any opinions about International Cricket Captain would be welcome.

great day against Lyon, the players have really bounced back well from the derby debacle. well impressed with Carrick lately, unrecognisable from early season and should probably be part of our first-choice pairing in the middle at the minute (not least because he's shown his ability to play well alongside any of the other four). Nani making several people look really really foolish with his last few performances too. happy days.great chance to push on and heap the pressure on Arsenal over the next few weeks now, especially looking at our fixtures. Fulham and Derby away, Bolton and Villa at home ahead of grand slam sunday (ergh) number two (i think, not sure if Boro away is before or after that) - have to be looking at maximum points from them, Villa the only real obstacle to that (famous last words, yadda yadda). what a difference a fortnight makes.

YASS! 3-0 going on 10. Right up yah Arsenal. Great performance and a joy to watch. I know Arsenal were hardly fully strength but you simply can't take away from how fantastic we were today. Brown, Fletcher, Nani were the special standout players for me. Brown an absolute rock at RB, Nani just destroying them down the flanks and Fletcher just so amazing everywhere. Carrick was fb aswell, his passing was nothing short of immense, Anderson looked great too and Rooney of course had a great game although he had at least 4 good chances to add to his tally. Park had a good game, too. That's all I will say about him Everyone played great. Other moments of mention were Rooney playing keepball, got himself booked but it was amusing. Nani juggling the ball but it was so obvious that someone was going to try and rape him for his efforts. Adebayor with a disgraceful dive and rightly getting booked. Gallas somehow not getting booked for blatantly kicking out at Nani. Ronaldo and Nani are just going to destroy teams down the flanks for years to come and with a midfield future of Carrick, Anderson, Hargreaves and Fletcher (Who I have always wanted to stay and am disappointed he hasn't played more this season, but it's obviously a hard postion to make your own, and played at the very least 9/10 today) Things are looking pretty much spot on. Also Park, though he needs to improve further to be more than a fringe player. and we'll need another squad player in for midfield..

Ready for a frankly magnificent rant? Well, here we go?Yesterday was another nail in the coffin for me. It should have been such a special occasion. It should have made us all proud to be a Red. Whatever the result. Instead it?s just highlighted the cancer eating away at the financial institution and commercial enterprise that advertises itself as Manchester United Football Club (football club part optional). What the **** people were doing booing at the half time whistle? Just made so angry. In the last 30 minutes people should have been getting behind the team. Making a point...not ****ing off early. If we'd scored an equalizer it'd have been such a massive **** OFF to those ****s.Then again the general sh*tness of the day was complete by the fact (as with the last 3 or 4 games) we spent over an hour stuck in the car-park because they?ve started to shut one of the exit roads to let the precious darling players drive out without having to queue.. Says it all doesn't it? Why should people stick around when they're know they're being treated like that?The one saving grace has been the buzz from away games over the last couple of years, even that's being destroyed by the club policy for ticketing. 500 for AIG? Check. More people from Singapore than Stretford at the Emirates? Check. Being out sung by Soccer AM FC at Reading? Check. Clubs falling over themselves to reduce our allocations? Check?If it wasn't for the likes or Ronnie and Ronaldo, Vidic and Evra. If it wasn't for the style of football we still (generally) play and the hope of more total '**** me' moments of wonder I'd pack it in now.Every logical bone in my body is saying give up. What's going to happen now other than being sucked dry by a more and more soulless experience? What could happen that'll ever match the moments I've already been lucky enough to see?This isn't a reaction to the result or the performance on the pitch...more everything surrounding it. We had a very bad day at the office. Fergie got it wrong. Some players bottled it. Still got a great team and if we can get out of this dip the season will still end in a mighty fine way.This week has bought things into a stark contrast. **** being a number on the Glazer's balance sheet. **** sitting around people who frankly don't deserve to be there. **** the club not giving a sh*t about anything other than the bottom line. **** the Old Trafford match day experience. **** AIG. **** the theatre of ****ing dreams. **** the patronising 'thank you for your magnificent support'. **** everyone bar Rooney and Ronnie being a ?useless ****?. **** the day trippers and tourists expecting to be entertained. **** the not so automatic cup scheme. **** the lot of it.Sooner United **** off to Singapore and take the decision away from me the better. And another thing...the wife's just called to say there's a story on the radio that the scarves yesterday are now going for upwards of ?50 on ebay.You can only keep on kidding yourself for so long.

So i have ( for an unknown reason ) been reading and watching quite a bit of American Football related Fiction ( Bleachers and Playing for Pizza by John Grisham and Friday Night Lights, Remember the Titans and Varsity Blues mainly )and a few questions have popped up:1: What does being an All American mean?2: When Teams win a State title, doe they then go on to a competition between the other State title winners to find the best in the country?3: why are the plays so scripted, can they not make it up on the fly?4: In "Varsity Blues" the QB gets the clock to stop by throwing the ball at the opposing teams mascot, who is out of bounds, why does this:a) Get the clock to stop? not become a foul or something?5: I understand why there is a Offense team and a Defense team, but what is the "Special Team" ( or whatever its called ) for?thats all for now i think.

Ok so my wee bro has given me a Playstation for the flat. Used to have one with all the classics like Fifa 98, Final Fantasy 7 & 8. GTA2, MGS, Road Rash and the likeHave no idea what my brother has done with all these games but I have been left with disc 2 of gran turismo which is the 2 player arcade one I think & also the legendary championship manager quiz.I need help but don't want to be forking out over 3 quid for games really. Maybe pay more for the final fantasy's. Sure I'd bought FF7 twice already. Grr.Retro \o/Here's what I've acquiredGT2 disc 2 of 2 . grrharry potter and philosphers stonetheme park worldrugrats ffsshrekJust found pro evo hiding behind it \o/cm quiztony hawk 3tekken 3another tony hawk 3 ffsnba 2000

chalk me up as another feeling that's a point gained rather than two lost. spurs player very well and fully deserved to win fairly comfortably tbh.our performance was worse than clattenburg's - and that's really saying something. the inconsistency in that refereeing performance was just beyond comprehension. four almost identical handballs - jenas, ronaldo, hargreaves, evra - and he somehow managed to give freekicks (in very dangerous positions) against ronnie and hargs, and let the other two go. none of the four were handballs at all - jenas and evra weren't looking at the ball, and ronnie and hargs were far too close to the ball being played to handle it deliberately.the rooney booked for diving absolutely ticked me off when clattenburg later gave huddlestone a talking to for exactly the same thing, and the amount of times ronaldo was tackled from behind with only malbranque (i think) getting booked for it was just laughable in light of some of the other yellow cards he gave out.can't blame the ref though, as i said, we were far worse than he was. very lucky.so happy when tevez scored Big Grinreally could be a huge point in the grand scheme of things, especially confidence wise as it keeps us on a decent run and in the knowledge we took something when we looked dead and buried. would have took a point this morning no doubt about it. tricky as you like tie that and other than the trip to the bridge the hardest away we have left. shame rooney is out of the derby but if city play anything like they did against arsenal today they will be rolled over big time.some masive over reactions. so many big games still to be played by all three teams, anything could happen. really exciting season at least and its nice to have three teams with a realistic chance, even if one of them does play dire football.rio probably motm. not a lot to choose from really.

I am toying with the idea of going travelling, it sounds like a great experience and a few people have recommended it. Although this would have to be something for next year, but i imagine these things take planning, and money - So the sooner i find out whether i definately want to go, the sooner i can begin saving.I have a bunch of questions though. Did a search for travelling, although the threads weren't very specific to what i wanted to know. Maybe some peoples experiences would help me decide.How much money is required to realistically go travelling? I've heard some people go travelling and get temporary bar jobs to help fund the trip - Is it difficult to get one?How many and which places should I consider? Any recommendations? I've only been to spain and portugal before, although I didn't choose them, I'd never know where i wanted to go.Accomodation worries me the most. I'd want to stay somewhere safe-ish, where i know my things would be safe. Also i have absolutely no idea what kind of prices it would cost to stay places..... I guess it depends where I go.Also i'm guessing it's wise to go travelling with someone else, to cut the costs of accomodation in half, and generally to know you have someone out there with you? I don't know anyone who'd want to go travelling. I can see this being an issue.Advice and experiences very much welcomed, I'd love to get a better idea of the idea of travelling. For some people they never want to leave their homes, although I've always felt like i need to get away, whether it be temporary or permanent, it would be a great life experience i think.

I'm a huge fan of Eels and loved when I heard this.Apparently they are looking at advertising there new album Useless Trinkets during the 100k per second superbowl commercials. Problem is they don't have enough money so they are looking into having E say the letter "U" in a 1 second commercial. The rest of it to be made available online.That would look so daft on tv I love it. Great little bit of publicity for a band that deserve it.Cheers,stevethedog.

I've read news about Ivanovic and I'm really dissapointed. I didn't bother watching russian football this year but last year I saw many of his games and he was only 22 then i think.I have to say that he impressed me much more than any other player in Russia for a fair few years(including Vidic). From very first games I was shocked by this Branislav lad and I really wondered wtf he was doing in Russia and not in top league. He really looked just different class to any player here. And also he is a complete defender and that's rare for defenders.Of course we need to see how will he adapt to English football but comparing to Vidic I'm much more convinced with Ivanovic that he will make it than I was with Nemenja(glad I was wrong). I really hoped that we should sign him because we need a RB so it's a real blow.