Here, there and everywhere....

A right kick in the.....

2009-06-01T21:32:00.005+01:00

you know where. Thoroughly enjoyed my few days in Rome despite a horrendous performance by United on the night. Atmosphere on the Tuesday night and all day Wednesday was terrific with no obvious signs of trouble in the city, though one poor sod was stabbed on Tuesday night by some very "courageous" local.

Rome itself is a incredible city, history seems to seep out of every inch of the place. Myself and a mate managed to get a couple of the sights in before the game on Wed, the Trevi Fountain and Spanish Steps are genuinely incredible. I will definitely head back to Rome again for a weekend to take in the remainder of the city. May take in a game at the Stadio Olympico but will probably bring back bad memories! Three times I've been to Italy to see United and we haven't won once. I hope my perseverance pays off one day.

The journey back was long and draining. Flew from Rome-Milan-Paris-Dublin which included a very close call at Milan Malpensa in making my flight to Paris as we had to dodge a thunderstorm in Rome after take off!

In a few months time the merry-go-round starts again. Bring it on.

Currently reading the David Simon book, The Corner, which is a follow up to his book Homicide on which much of The Wire was based. Early days so far but its gritty and insightful. Finished another Henry Rollins book, "Do I Come Here Often". A great collection of Rollins journal entries across the 1990s (including a hilarious account of his time on the 1991 Lollapolooza Tour) mixed with great interviews he's done for a number of US magazines with the likes of Jerry Lee Lewis, Isaac Hayes and John Lee Hooker. Like or loathe Rollins, you can't ignore his writing. The man tells it like he sees it, which is often 100% negative and seen completely from his own point of view but I find it great material nonetheless.

Music wise, I just picked up the Hatebreed live DVD released late last year. Good viewing so far.

The big countdown.....

2009-05-24T12:54:00.004+01:00

Well, only a couple of days till I set off for Rome. Cannot wait at this stage. Weather looks great as well, in or around 30 degrees from Tuesday to Thursday. Have everything sorted including a match ticket. I'm on a 0620 flight to Paris on Tues morning and should be in Rome around 3pm. Will then head to the hotel to hopefully meet up with my mate Dave (thats if he's sorted his flights out!!).

Plotting a trip to New York with a possible stop off in Toronto in September, hope to take in a game or two at the new Yankee Stadium (thats if I can afford a ticket!). Never tire of New York, possibly my favourite place on the entire planet. I always have a list as long as my arm of things to do each time I go back, its that packed full of sights, museums, bars, etc. If I won the lottery tomorrow, one of the first things I'd do is buy an apartment in Manhattan. I live in eternal hope!

Music wise I am currently listening to some vintage hip hop (Big L) and Ian Brown (Solarized, Music of the Spheres). Manchester music seems to be quite fitting with such a monumental week on the horizon.

Now to get back to reading my Rome Lonely Planet Guide.........FORZA UNITED!

The Italian Job.......Rome here I come

2009-05-11T22:46:00.004+01:00

27th May, 2009.

Flights? Booked. Hotel? Sorted. Match ticket? Time will tell.

Currently.....

2009-05-09T20:46:00.003+01:00

finishing reading "If The Reds Should Play..." and about to start a recent Henry Rollins book I picked up last week (second part of Black Coffee Blues). Ole Henry, always delivers the goods.

Listening to: everything from Candiria to Bane to Organised Konfusion and Sepultura. Variety is good.

On the travel front........booked flights and a hotel for Rome from 26-28th May for the Champions League final. Cannot wait for this, even if I don't manage to get a ticket for the game. Have never been to Rome so that and the anticipation of the game will do very nicely, thanks very much. Also thinking of paying another visit to New York in September.

Oh and I probably should get this whole "buying a house" thing sorted out sooner than later, seeing as property prices are falling quicker than Didier Drogba in the 18 yard box these days....

"If The Reds Should Play......"

2009-05-04T20:28:00.000+01:00

Just started on a book put together in 1997 by some of the lads in the Red News United fanzine entitled, "If the Reds Should play in Rome......or Mandalay: Travelling across Europe with United." Word for word accounts of over 30 plus contributors from all walks of life of their experiences watching United up until 1997.

I am roughly 5 chapters in at this stage and it is a cracking read, warts and all. Some hilarious stuff so far but also some absolutely crazy accounts such as the trip to Valencia in 1982 where it seems it was a miracle that nobody was killed either before, during or after the game.

I never tire of reading these kinds of books. I guess hearing accounts from genuine life-long football supporters make for a more interesting read, I think you can identify with a lot of what they recount, though yours truly has quite a few trips to do to make up the difference with the likes of Phil Holt or the truly remarkable Mike Dobbin (RIP) - I hope to put some further dents in this over the next few years, fingers crossed.

A great read so far, if you're a United fan (or a fan of any persuasion) and enjoy hearing about the often crazy side of following a football team in Europe, get a hold of a copy (currently available from www.rednews.co.uk/shop for a bargain £8.99 + postage).

A busy week

2009-05-02T14:01:00.000+01:00

A busy week this past week. Over for our champions league semi final vs. Arsenal. Played exceptionally well and should have scored 4 or 5 goals but had to settle for just the one. At least we have a clean sheet going into the return leg on Tuesday. Oh what I'd give for a ticket for that one......

Went racing yesterday, day four of the Punchestown Festival. A great day out, travelling to and from the course in a stretch Hummer - oh the chaviness of it all!

Watching United today and doing very little if at all possible.

Its never dull is it?!

2009-04-26T13:19:00.000+01:00

Jesus, if the above title was ever true it was yesterday at Old Trafford.

Yours truly didn't get to go to the game despite having travel and accomodation sorted as I came down with a bout of flu on Friday. However, the lads decided to put me through the ringer on top of my illness with two halves of football so contrasting in the level of performance that I was knackered (but exhilarated) at the final whistle.

No other team (and let me repeat this), NO OTHER TEAM could pull off what United did yesterday. 0-2 down at half time, displaying half fits of attacking verve and yet more shambolic defending to gift Spurs a two goal lead. Move to the second half, 5 goals in 23 minutes and the game and our title fortunes are completely reversed. Unbelieveable. The penalty may have been a tad controversial. When I saw it in real time I screamed for a penalty. Gomes did get a touch to the ball but these calls you sometimes get, other times you won't (our stonewall penalty vs. Everton at Wembley the previous week being a prime example). However, to go on and hit Spurs for 4 more shows the ridiculous will of this team once they get the bit between their teeth. Once the equaliser went in you could smell the winner coming. Fair play to Ronnie for showing some true passion after he scored, he looked like a man possessed when throwing his shirt skywards after scoring in front of K-Stand. I would also like to give credit to our support yesterday. We started a little flat but by god, the support from the kick off to the second half was fantastic, I genuinely feel it spurred (no pun intended!) the lads on to the win.

Now for Arsenal on Wednesday. Looking forward to this immensely, have a feeling the Stretty will be rocking for this one.

WATPOAE

Now where was I........

2009-04-25T19:54:00.000+01:00

ah yes..................

Apologies for my lack of posts of late, the usual excuses of work, too busy, travelling to matches, etc. or the fact that I am a lazy twat will probably suffice.

FOOTBALL

Have been in London on a couple of occasions since the New Year. First was in March for the Carling Cup Final vs. Spurs. A very average game that we managed to win on penalties which could have gone either way.

The quintuple was on....................until I took a trip back last weekend for the FA Cup Semi vs. Everton. Another very average game which was played on a disgraceful pitch which also went to penalties. On this occasion, we came out the wrong side but fair play to Everton, for some reason I wasn't too devastated to concede this one to them. An alright club even if they are scouse (makes a change from their horrible neighbours). Best of luck to them vs. Chelski in the final.

"Back From the Brink" & "Generation Kill"

Other things of late? Finished reading Paul McGrath's autobiography "Back From the Brink". A truely honest account of a life filled with the ultimate highs and the lowest of low's. I have to admit its not an easy read at times but I admire McGrath's absolute honesty, he leaves nothing out. If you like a no holds barred read, I strongly recommend it.

Currently reading "Generation Kill" by Evan Wright, a journalist who was embedded with the First Recon Batallion of the US Marines on their invasion of Iraq. Its now a seven part HBO series produced by David Simon (he of The Wire fame). Good read so far. Gives a very interesting portrayal of the soldiers involved, most of whom are 18-20 years old and who are constantly jacked up on ephedra, sugar and coffee (they don't drink it, its eaten in powder/crystal form out of a pouch!).

"THE WIRE"

I also recently just finished the entire five series' of The Wire. I started watching this a few years ago on late night TV but ended up missing out on episodes and then dipping in and out of different series. So I bought the box set and watched the entire five series back to back. It has to be one of the best drama series ever devised for TV. I know a lot of people will give this title to The Soprano's but for me, The Wire is just something else. It gives an insight into all aspects of life in Baltimore, from drug dealers to city officals to the cops. Nobody is the hero, nobody is the villain (well, maybe Marlo Stanfield!). It can also be quite funny in parts with a very dark sense of humour. I can't give enough credit to David Simon. He is 100% unrepentant in the reality he displays and this is where the strength of the show is derived from. If you haven't seen it, turn off that reality TV crap right now and get a hold of it.

"THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF ADVERTISING......"

Other than that, work goes along as ever. The advertising market is currently one of the toughest I've ever seen and its a real battle every day to keep clients spending money. However, no point in moaning about it. Gotta just grind it out and prove you can do it, end of story.

Champions of the World

2008-12-21T13:52:00.000Z

Just to finish up a truly remarkable year, Rooney bags the winner for United against Quito in the World Club Championship! I'm absolutely buzzing!

Champions of England. Champions of Europe. Champions of the World.

Update

2008-12-07T11:16:00.000Z

Haven't been on here in a while. Work seems to be taking over my life at the moment. At Old Trafford yesterday for game against Sunderland. 90 minutes of sheer frustration turned to absolute pandemonium when Vidic banged in the winner in injury time. A great end to a very cold day in Manchester.

About to start reading Jim White's new book on United, should be a good read as his writing whether in the Telegraph or in UWS is always top notch.

Other happenings of late include planning travels for next summer, probably back to the USA. The 2009 baseball schedules have been released and the Jays are playing in Philly and Washington in the middle of June......me thinks I'll go on the road with them and maybe hit New York on the way back. To hell with this credit crunch shit I say!

Congrats to the Phillies and Pat Gillick

2008-11-03T10:57:00.000Z

A belated congratulations to the Philadelphia Phillies who were crowned 2008 World Series Champions last week. My eternal memory of the Phillies will always be from 1993 when Joe Carter drilled a 3 run home run in the bottom of the 9th inning of game 6 of that year's World Series to win it all for the Toronto Blue Jays. I still sort of feel sorry for the Phillies, there is no worse way to lose a game of baseball than the fate that befell them that night so I was glad to see them finally bag the title after a 25 year wait. Congrats also to former Blue Jay GM Pat Gillick, who guided the Phillies to their title this year. He's off to retirement now, a very astute individual who has a ton of respect throughout MLB and especially in Toronto where he guided us to back to back World Series titles in 1992 and 1993.

Here's to Spring Training in March 2009....

West Ham

2008-10-30T19:12:00.001Z

Was at the game vs. West Ham last night, good result with some astounding skill from that new Bulgarian of ours. Could of and should of won by a bagful but we never seemed to get out of 2nd gear all night.

Atmosphere in our end was fairly muted, not sure why. Probably cause it was f**kin freezin and its only the end of October. And that lad Ronaldo even managed to acknowledge us as he walked off the pitch at full time....how lucky were we. I said during the summer that we should have shown him the door, I'm getting sick of his petulant behaviour while he's playing and also his severe lack of respect for us schmuks who happen to pay his bloody wages. Its no wonder he's not getting the same backing as in previous seasons.

Brand, Ross scandal = nonsense

2008-10-30T18:42:00.001Z

Have to say I'm sick to death of this whole Russell Brand/Jonathan Ross crap. Talk about non-news making all the news.

Two things to note here.

1) Only two people actually complained after the show aired on BBC Radio 2. It took the UK national press to pick up the story before thousands of the middle classes reacted in "outrage" over the skit.

2) Andrew Sachs' granddaughter, after hearing about the skit, immediately employed the services of one Max Clifford as her PR guru and then all of a sudden appreared in the offices of The Sun to voice her outrage at the skit. Fair enough, the skit was in poor taste but it didn't take her long to start using it to earn some tabloid cash for selling her story and to further her (ahem) 'career' at the same time.

Utter f**king nonsense if you ask me.

The Green Marine

2008-10-27T11:11:00.000Z

Picked up a copy of a book entitled, "The Green Marine", written by a lad called Graham Dale who is originally from Raheny in Dublin. It chronicles his time in the US Marines and his tour of duty in Iraq in the last few years. Very interesting book, a no holds barred insight into his motivations for joining up while living in Austin, Texas and going all the way through boot camp training in California and his deployment in Iraq. Have to say its still a bit weird contemplating a lad who is roughly the same age as myself and who originally only lived up the road from where I live, joining up with the Marines and going to Iraq. I highly recommend it though, a completely different perspective on the whole Iraq conflict and an at times, funny insight into the day to day lives of the Marines in Iraq.

Leeds, West Brom, Michael Bolton, a nightmare flight and a new book

2008-10-19T19:55:00.000+01:00

In Manchester this weekend for our home game vs West Brom. After a disjointed first half, we pulled away in the 2nd and ran out 4-0 winners. Have to say that Wayne Rooney was the catalyst for everything yesterday, simply outstanding.

We flew into Leeds and then had to suffer with one of the worst taxi drivers I've ever come across. The bloke couldn't even operate his sat nav, the fact we made it to Manchester was in itself a miracle! The flight back today was just as eventful. For some bizarre reason, Michael Bolton was on the flight?! Very bizarre. I didn't spot him until my mate pointed it out as we boarded. We then had a nightmare descent/landing in Dublin, brutal headwinds and flying from side to side as we approached the runway. Somehow the captain landed it but I was a tad freaked out walking off the plane!

I also managed to pick up the new book by Jim White (sports columnist for the Daily Telegraph) called "Manchester United The Biography". Really looking forward to reading it as his writing is first class (and he's a Red which is no bad thing!).

Currently I am.....

2008-10-08T19:10:00.002+01:00

reading 'This Monster Lives' by Joe Berlinger which details the making of the documentary movie, Metallica: Some Kind of Monster. Interesting enough in parts, though you do have to laugh at some of the therapy sessions that the band went through and the fact they paid their therapist $40,000 a month over two years! Its a pity the subsequent album was such a letdown save for maybe 2/3 songs. At least their new output (Death Magnetic) is a great return to form, highly recommend it if you are a fan of the band.

Here goes....

2008-10-08T18:58:00.000+01:00

Well, after much consideration, I've decided to give this blogging lark a go. Have absolutely no idea if there will be any real theme to the content but its sure to feature plenty of inane ramblings about day to day life, football (which will no doubt feature my observations from going to watch Manchester United every other week), baseball (Toronto Blue Jays), North American sport in general, work, music, comments on my travels and randomly stupid arguments that you get into over a pint on a Friday night and such and such.....

Any comments/abuse are more than welcome.....until I take it the wrong way and take you to task for your response!

Cheers.