the stain

Very late bid for record of the year, which I only got yesterday: Oneohtrix Point Never - Rifts On first couple of listens it seems to be a vast sprawling space odyssey of Kosmische ambience crossed with Boards-style haunted memories. It's bloody good anyway.

Oh dear oh dear oh dear

I wonder if he calls his willy Morkel's Snorkel? That's what I would call mine if I was called Morkel. Morkel's Snorkel.

**** bricks! Why did I have to work today? Come on England, score a goal!!

You're wasting your breath, Ron. He'll be in no condition to respond when he gets back.

So, declared with a lead of 232. That should be plenty to run at, but my instinct says SA will bat through for the draw.

Good man. A couple of quick boundaries and then out

I think 250 would be ample, nobody's scored with any great fluency on this pitch. It's more a matter of time. We need to leave ourselves plenty of time to have a decent crack at them. That's why I feel Broad needs to **** or get off the pot. The last thing we need is him running in tired after three hours of turgid blocking.

Seems so. At least we can hope they get violently bummed in the play-offs.

Broad's playing very strangely when you consider the position of the match and how well he can strike the ball. Hopefully someone will take him aside o'er the cucumber sandwiches and tell him to get a shift on. We could still win this if he doesn't fanny around.

I watch it. Well, I skipped the series with that awful woman in (just like I avoided it when Bonnie Langford was in it). It'll be better once Russell T De Mille leaves the writing alone. His episodes are usually riddled with crap jokes and campery. Apart from The Wire, it's the only 'drama' in recent years that I've made any effort to watch regularly.

I can't make it work

I must've seen the family edit.

Ah, those lists have reminded me of the Jim O'Rourke lp. Should've mentioned that one, it's lovely. Also reminded me that I still haven't heard the latest Yo La Tengo album.

No, it's the roman numeral bit you've got to look out for. You've gone up from a VII to a VI division. All English VI divisions are meant to be of the same standard, there's just a lot of them, hence the numbers after.

Who has everyone got in the cup? I've got a lower division bot team, so should be effectively a bye and a good run out for some of my new players.

I can't say I've bought very many albums released this year, and one of my choices is a collection of stuff from the 70s. I must be getting 'mature'. Anyhow four (check it, four. not five.) albums I have loved this year... Broadcast & the Focus Group Investigate Witch Cults of the Radio Age Flaming Lips - Embryonic Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion Arthur Russell - Love Is Overtaking Me n.b. this last one might have come out last year, I'm not sure, but I only heard it this year so it will have to count.

Peter Jackson is to epic films as Meatloaf is to epic songs.

Boy George?

I read with interest that if Swann is N.O. at the end of this innings, he'll have a better test match average than Bell.

Because whenever England drop him he goes away and 'does it for his County'. Somehow, in the minds of the selectors, this always says 'Recall!' rather than 'good County player'.

Shyte. Pietersen out, Bell in. Was there ever a phrase more redolent of misery?

TBF he got a couple that you just couldn't play. Looks like the wicket might be turning interesting.

Another masterful innings by Cook then? Where's Orn..?