saintbletch

Rosa

silver

Judas

Tony

I liked it a lot. Many of the groups are in my music collection so no surprise there.

old

growth

pin

Well if you like your apocalypse with a bit of wry humour, and to help you get over "The Road", try "The Gone Away World" the debut novel by Nick Harkaway (His father is John LeCarre). It's totally weird - but in a good way - in a Douglas Adams sort of good way. It's a stream of conciousness that flits from past, to current, to past with some of the most creative plot and narrative ideas I've seen in a long time. I couldn't put it down.

rogue

temperature

Swiss

guitar

smash

post

On your recommendation I've just finished Dissolution. I've read (and enjoyed btw) too many unedifying detective/crime procedural books recently so your description of such a book set in the past seemed interesting. I really enjoyed it. A very unusual hero but somehow you warm to him. Excellent historical context and the language seems quite authentic to the 16th century. I found myself looking up lots of ancient words and phrases. Just started the second book. A good call Pugwash.

mountain

Poetry on SaintsWeb - whatever next? This poem has always been a bit of a badge that I have worn throughout my academic and working careers. Whenever someone has looked down upon me because I lacked education or perhaps that I hadn't had the start in life that they had, I think of this poem. I lived in Australia for a while in the early 90s and loved learning about some of their bush poets. Australians really celebrate their early settlers and the hard life they had to endure in a pretty unwelcoming country. Many poets and songwriters have documented those tough times. Henry Lawson was one such poet. He'd had a really humble life but worked hard and educated himself and became a journalist (I think) and a published poet. But whilst his work was really well received by the masses, he got a lot of criticism from more educated poets/critics. They cruelly attacked his grammar and lack of education and in this poem he attacks them back, saying that know nothing of the real Australian people and that they care more about grammar than the meaning of the words. It reminds me of Dylan's "Positively Fourth Street". The Uncultured Rhymer to his Cultured Critics - Henry Lawson

polyseme

Already a sponsor of the foundation according to this...

To get around the swear filter the punchline might read Good lord, I'm drunk. The crab had been drowning his sorrows to such a great extent that he was able to walk straight instead of sideways. (I think)

Really enjoyed that. A wonderful voice and there is something about the oboe that really creates emotion in a piece of music. I also used to love the oboe in the Sweeney closing theme tune. But it has to be Miller's Crossing for me - which also happens to be my favourite film too - so I guess I might be biased.

That's a very good observation Jam and I hadn't thought of it that way. So Alpine is actually performing some form of public service by being a scapegoat and a focus for peoples' post-loss anger.

You don't need to confirm it, and as I say the people who read your posts are in a much better position to judge than you are. But to answer your question, well, I'd ask you to consider what would happen if all 11 players that start a game for Saints were to repeat to themselves and say out loud to each other "we're going to lose this, we have a distinguished record of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory and ****ing things up" continuously in the week building up to a game and even during the game. Do you think that would have any impact on their chances of winning? Positive or negative? I do. I think it would reduce their chances of winning. But as this is just an Internet forum then, no it isn't that bad. But personally I can tell you that it does get a little bit annoying. But that's my problem, not yours. So it's not that bad. But I do have a concern about the impact of this self-protection mechanism. It's easier to be a negative 'doubter' than a positive 'supporter'. And this, coupled with the modern desire to find the easiest path through life rather than the right path may lead to a generation of 'fans' that see their role a crtics on the outside rather than an integral part of the success of a team. I am concerned that it becomes easier to sit back and say 'give me a reason to believe, then I'll believe' instead of bucking the trend and having faith in one's fellow man and simply saying 'I believe'. Agreed. It is ridiculous and we both know that is why I was careful to state that I wasn't suggesting that 'negative' posters root for a loss or get more pleasure from it.

It's not mind-boggling though is it. Surely it's just simple psychology. As a species we are programmed to take action that benefits us and prevents us from being hurt. This base programming means that if a 'negative' poster predicts the end of the world they are prepared and protected against the hurt of losing. For them both results come into play. If we lose, their 'I told you the end of the world was nigh' means they aren't hurt as much by the loss - after all they were prepared and they alone were right. They find comfort in this and are largely protected from the hurt of their team losing. If we win then they're able to take solace from the fact that their team won and can also claim that we were lucky, which justifies their worrying. They feel that it was a good job they were worried and prepared because we were 'lucky' or 'only just' won. If they hadn't worried then perhaps we wouldn't have won. It's win-win for them. I'm certainly not suggesting they root for a loss or that they get more pleasure when we lose but they've developed a system that insulates them and helps them cope. I'm sure we've all been there in a minor way - walking to the ground and saying to our mates 'I bet we'll lose today'. Setting up in our mind the potential of a loss and preparing ourselves just in case. And by the way I'm not judging Alpine or his ilk. They can't help it and probably don't consciously realise that this is going on.