dinger

[video=youtube;mRYE_Sb1I-8]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRYE_Sb1I-8

This. It's the sort of thing that wasn't quite coming for him last season. He's improving all the time and it's a joy to watch.

Gay beer wind.

Take a look at this book for a few yuks. All genuine British names from the register... http://www.ebookdlhk.com/book/Potty-Fartwell-and-Knob-Russell-Ash.html My favourite was S h i tty Dickens.

One of the most important, one of the best. RIP. Time to listen to Metal Machine Music.

Sorry Alpine, this doesn't stack up at all. Teams are seeded based on results. Have you seen Belgium recently? They're brilliant. And last time they played the Netherlands they spanked them. Switzerland is a surprise, but again look at their results, they keep winning. They beat Brazil a couple of months ago. It's not a perfect system by any means, because teams from continents with predominently lower-ranked nations have less opportunity of facing/beating high ranked teams and scoring more points. Which you could argue keeps the centres of power in Europe and South America. But it's a lot better than basing seeding on heritage and sentiment, which is what you seem to be suggesting.

I've just learnt a new word! Thanks Window Cleaner.

Islamists.

Wasn't sure whether to put this in the 'listening' or 'watching' thread. My mates in their brilliant band doing a live soundtrack to the Chris Marker film La Jetée (the inspiration behind Twelve Monkeys). Great film, smashing new sounds for it... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVfGuCDQfmk

To disassociate himslf from far-right extremism, apparently. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/edl-leader-tommy-robinson-quits--over-dangers-of-farright-extremism-8866177.html What do we think of this then? Do we take it at face value? Seems quite an abrupt change of political tactic. I mean he's right of course; the EDL has attracted the extreme right, the violent and the hate-fuelled, and has become part of the divisive problem it claimed to want resolved. But isn't that what people have been saying all along? Why the sudden change of heart?

Is this prison lingo?

Got into this on your recommendation. Glad I did, it's interesting stuff. Wish he'd give the self-analysis stuff a rest, but maybe that's just me being British...

And then the crying.

I have, yeah. Very interesting, very honest book. Particularly about when a big move goes wrong (his move to Chelsea) and the insularity of the football bubble and how that affects your behaviour.

I might be the only one, but I thought Guly did OK last night. I was more frustrated that in general Saints' movement (particularly after about 35 minutes) was practically non-existent, so when Guly or JWP received the ball nobody showed for it. I can think of a few occasions when Guly was just stuck there begging for someone to pass to and eventually getting crowded out of possession, which made him look worse than he was. He did make an absolute ricketts of that shot though. JWP was very visibly getting frustrated at a lack of options before the introduction of Reed and Rodriguez. Not sure why, on about 35 minutes, all the energy went out of the team; we stopped pressing, we got forward slowly and allowed them onto us. Maybe it was a lack of match fitness from a largely second XI? But City had plenty of opportunites to make us pay, several balls across the box that just needed a touch. Reed and J-Rod changed the dynamic and used their pace to put the play back in their half. Thought Lee had a very decent first half, nice touches, good hold-up play, tidy work to set up the 1st goal, showed good pace and directness. Obviously knackered not long into the second half though. Davis (S) was the best player on the pitch, doing the simple things well as usual and all night. Cork was class early on but started uncharacteristically giving the ball away later on. Ramirez was occasionally brilliant, more often sloppy. Defence were generally solid (Yoshida gave the ball away horribly quite early on, leading to Jos getting booked). Fox was the only player who consistently showed for a pass to build the play, and was too often left with only the pass back to Davis for his troubles. Davis (K) made some very fine and important saves, and kicked a lot of passes into the stands.

Yup, I agree with all of this. Sometimes I wonder if he's a better player when he's working on instinct than when he's got time to think. His little flicked passes, first time balls, that gorgeous goal last night, all wonderful. But give him the ball and a yard of grass and he seems to be overwhelmed by the options, and his decision making goes to pieces. I think that will come good though, he's very obviously got the talent and the time to develop it. We should stick with him. Was it his excellent ball through for Guly's scuffed shot as well, or am I misremembering that?

Squad announced for the return series. http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2013/sep/23/ashes-gary-ballance-england-australia Great (IMO) to see Monty back in the frame. Hopefully this indicates that he's put his recent troubles behind him. What on earth Onions has to do to get selected is beyond me. I can only assume Tremlett is selected on the basis of his previous showings in Aus, rather than on current form.

Having a nostalgic indie-noise evening. Kitchens of Distinction. They were the business.

Hey SuperMikey et al, have you heard this guy?

Ever read any Peter Carey? Try his first novel, Bliss. Successful businessman led by his neuroses to believe he lives in Hell. Has a bit of the Allen and the Murakami about it, I reckon. Also worth a try would be a book called Gould's Book of Fish, by Richard Flanagan. I'm currently reading The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet, by David Mitchell (not that one). Set in the still-closed-off Japan of the late 18th century, Dutch traders are allowed a limited foothold on an artificial island, where they cheat each other and seek to culturally cross-pollenate over the divide. Kind of a study in degrees of purity and how much they matter. Also a cracking historical thriller. He never lets up with the colour of place in his books.

It isn,t as easy as it looks.

You can pretty much guarantee a matchday thread too. So tedious...

This has made me laugh and laugh.

Wow, what a catch by KP to get rid of Watson!

This. I like this.