It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Don’t get me wrong, I like Christmas. I really do. I have some great memories of the various festive periods of my childhood. I love the music, I love seeing my mates, there’s plenty I look forward to. There are just a couple of aspects I don’t care for.

For example, I hate Christmas shopping. I know pretty much everyone on the planet does. I imagine some people like it though, people who like queuing or maybe people who like bumping into other people but I most certainly don’t. I hate Christmas shopping on many levels. The main reason I don’t like it is because it makes me feel guilty. I know it sounds strange but when I’m standing in a shop absolutely clueless of what to buy a loved one I begin to realise how little I know about them. I feel guilty for not paying attention, for not listening out for clues or hints. I suppose that’s where gift vouchers come into play.

I hate food shopping at Christmas. Supermarket aisles full of people loading their baskets to the brim with food they’ll never eat. Come on everybody let’s not lose focus. Its one bloody day where you’ll have a roast dinner and a few drinks…we’re not preparing for the apocalypse.

Another thing that stinks about Christmas is that it’s the time of year I always seem to bump into the people I don’t like. I, like a lot of people my age, head back to my hometown for Christmas. I’ll go out on Christmas Eve to the old haunts of my youth and it’ll be then more often than not that I’ll walk into one of them. Maybe it’ll be the fat bully from school or perhaps the bloke I didn’t get on with at that place I once worked. They’ll stand there gurning at me like the ghosts of bloody Christmas past. Like some rubbish episode of ‘This is your life’.

But like I said, I really do like Christmas…honest. Merry Christmas!

Extinct Voting Siege of Christmas Podcast

In my recloose state (waiting for payday) last weekend, I happened upon a program which i couldnt take seriously... even though Trevor McDonald was the host! It was a program called "Extinct", a 'text in to save your favourite endangered animal' show - the one with the most votes gets the money! I think Graeme Le Saux was the Mountain Gorilla representative, up against Annika Rice and the Polar Bears...Each put together a sort of 5 minute case why that species should be saved - David Attenborough style, but dreadfully! I think Sandi Toksvig was also in amongst the extinct animal representatives, as well as Portillo... ye, it was that kind of show! They've laid on plenty of text voting programs on for the masses havent they just recently... XFactor, Extinct, BBCs Dancing one, and the Sports Personality etc etc

I didnt vote... but i'd like to add, Darren Clarke should have won Sports Personality Award (not some member of the royal family for riding a horse over some fences). Darren should have won it, for his outstanding season (under tough conditions having lost his wife to cancer in the summer too - not a sympathy vote though!), his Ryder Cup performance - and his celebrations after winning, what a "personality" and what a sportsman too; Having hit a wayward shot into thick rough in the "Irish Open", just before play was stopped for bad light, on returning the next day a fan had lifted his ball out of the rough for him and sat it up nicely - Darren still chipped out sideways as if it was still buried in the rough, he went on to finish 2nd by one shot... Thats sportsmanship, and what a personality to boot - roll the man another fat Cuban cigar!

What else this week... oh ye, the same company which last week revelaed Dianas death was "a car crash accident", which took 3 years and £4.5million to tell us, revealed this week it "won't name any names" from it's investigation into the corrupt British Footbal Transfer System. This took nine months and £800,000 to tell us this. Anybody see a flaw in using this investigation company? If this is the long arm of the law...

In Wales was the Llangeitho siege, which if you saw BBC Wales Today this week, was made out to be another WACO, with reporters "in the armed police cordoned compound", the "head of the siege reported to have weapons, flames and smoke have been seen by eye-witnesses". Turns out it was a farmer disputing a council erected fence on his land, he didnt like it so burnt a councillors car out. End of story.

Anyhow, survived the Wednesday night football Christmas 'do'. Memory of Johnny Milks top-shelf cocktail (fittingly) curdling with Baileys still in my mind (Johnny Milk is... a milkman)! I have no idea what was in my cocktail... it was sort of blue and brown and on fire. One of the Tarmaster boys passingly announced "I was voted off X-Factor 8 weeks ago anyway boys" was enough to convince a couple of Conwy 'dogs' on another table... he had to carry it on, and to get rid of them had to convince them he was gay... which took a lot more convincing than he would have liked!

So, the final installment of the free Ricky Gervais Podcasts (or should that be the Ricky Gervais and Steve Merchant poke fun at Karl Pilkingtons podcast) to look forward to on Christmas Day. How crazy is that? On a Christmas Day, be looking forward to "downloading" an "electronic audio file" from "the internet" to listen to on an "MP3 Player", its fucked, but i love it! Marc get with it, it's 2007 in just over a week... ok, i see your point.

Right then i'm off to a swanky hotel in Chester for Emmas birthday (Saturday), have a good Christmas / New year etc - see you all in amongst it or on the other side, laters!

Imagine there's no Premiership, it's easy if you try.

It’s often said that one of the main problems John Toshack has as national coach is the lack of Welsh players getting first team football in the top flight. We have Giggs, Bellamy and Gabbidon that when fit will start pretty much every week but other than that we’re reduced to a choice of just a few fringe players. Simon Davies and James Collins get the odd game when Everton and West Ham need cover for injuries or suspensions but they soon lose their place when the players return. David Cotterill has been doing well for Wigan and it was great to see him net his first goal last week but it’s still early days for him. That leaves Richard Duffy and Jason Brown, who are technically Premiership players even though they’ve both just had one appearance each this season. It’s quite ironic to talk of such shortages when you have Robbie Savage, John Oster, Gary Speed and Ben Thatcher all getting their fair share of Premiership football week in week out. It’d be nice to get a couple of them involved again but apart from perhaps Oster it seems highly unlikely. I think too much has been said concerning the Savage and Thatcher situations, while Speed made his intentions clear long ago.

Anyway, I did my usual Saturday routine when I got home from work today. Straight on Ceefax to check out the football results (Premiership first, then League 2 for Wrexham, Championship next for Cardiff, then League 1 if I can be bothered) What stood out today in the Championship was the prominence of Welsh goal scorers. Jason Koumas, Robert Earnshaw, Gareth Bale and Gavin Williams all bagged goals while even the yet to decide Welsh eligible players were banging them in too. Chester born David Jones (Both his parents are from Colwyn Bay) scored for Derby and Jamie Cureton (He spent a fortnight holiday in Barry in 1989) got two for Colchester. This got me thinking, if the Premiership vanished and the Championship was the top flight how good would Wales be! We’d have the league top scorer in Earnshaw, the hottest prospect in Bale, the most skilful player in the league in Koumas…fantastic! Who would England have? Dean Windass that’s who. Speaking of Gareth Bale, I can’t see him staying at Southampton for long which is a shame. I think another couple of seasons there would benefit him. There’s no point going to Liverpool or Arsenal just to waste away in the reserves. If you haven’t seen him play yet believe the hype, he is that good. The Ceefax game report actually used the term “Bale hit another of his trademark freekicks”. Trademark freekicks?! The lad’s barely seventeen!

Past First Post?

What do you think to this idea... it's hardly revolutionary or unique in the world of web / blogosphere - i know, a crass term! But i thought maybe we could write down, as it says in the description at the top, our musings, ramblings, and happenings week by week (or whenever we get chance to do it) in updating this blog... i also thought it might be good to have it 'just' as a 12 month project. We both have access and post our general shit as a kind of diary, but not a diary definitely not that. What do you reckon? Good idea? I've invited you as an author now anyway, I know you've got some great theories, stories, and goings on down there, and writing skill to make this interesting and work, what do ya say?

Ye, i got carried away in building this blog, didnt have anything too much better to do tonight (and yes it looks suspiciously like my MySpace page too)... Let me know, and maybe this could be the first post... oh and the blog name is changeable!