david_carnell

Any time after 8 I'd say although it'll get busy from 9 onwards. See you all there (as usual).

Jeremy Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Italian news is the best - or at least the most > bizarre. Scantily clad women, and men dressed in > full military attire. Now we're talking. I want newsreaders in full evening dress, delivering the news in the Queen's English. None of this pandering to provincial accents or johnny-foreigner pronunciations (Beijing my arse - it's Peking!). I'm writing to that Irish chap on Points of View to express my dissatisfaction. IN GREEN INK! http://www.lahacal.org/gentleman/photos/tails.jpg

I don't think telling the players on your first day to put all their medals in the bin because they only won them by cheating was the most sensible start. Nor is setting fire to your predecessors desk in the stadium car park. Tbh it was a stupid appointment by the board. Johnny Giles wanted the job, the other senior players wanted him to have it, Revie wanted him to have it and yet they gave the role to a man who had spent years slagging off Leeds as dirty cheaters to anyone who would listen. Not clever. As for it being Leeds's loss - his replacement, Jimmy Armfield, took an ageing team to the final of the European Cup where they were, to everyone except the referee that night, robbed of a rightful glory. That would have been an appropriate swansong for one of the great teams in English football history but 'twas not to be. The subsequent decline lay more in the once-in-a-generation quality of senior players who were all coming to the ends of their careers. Although Clough went on to build European Cup winning teams at Notts Forest I'm not sure he would have been capable of such a task at Leeds.

No, Piers, they go to Chimp Haven

Stax were much better than Motown - none of that disco guff - just solid soul. Ergo Motown is indeed over-rated as an entire label. Albeit still good.

Bah....you beat me to BRR and Facts of Life, Sean. That was going to be my next post. I luuuurve that track, especially on a hot summers afternoon.

As a Leeds fan, even I loved The Damned United and can't wait for the film version starring Michael Sheen as Clough (he of David Frost impersonation in the new Frost/Nixon film). I even tried to audition for a part in it (they wanted extras for the football scenes) but apparently at 25 I looked too young to be a 70s footballer! Heehee. Despite being a cnut at Leeds I still have a soft spot for Clough. They just don't make 'em like they used to. Here's some classic Cloughie "They all understand f@~k off" Legend.

mockney piers Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > sublime mid 90s guitarry pop, oh Britpop, why did > you overshadow some of those who were actually > rather good?! > > Swervedriver - birds Mmm good choice Piers. Which reminds me, Luke Haines has a new hilariously bitchy auto-biography out at the moment. Here he is with the Auteurs, another band overshadowed by some less talented peers: The Auteurs - Lenny Valentino

Where is Brendan anyway? Surely this is prime material for his "look at the silly English folks and their cricket" routine!

My mistake about the West Bank. Your casual ignoring of the fact that Israel did withdraw from Gaza and Hamas continued to launch suicide attacks - hence the security wall - and fire rockets into Israel. Those rockets are now coming within range of heavily populated areas and even nuclear power plants. I think it was time to act. However, on most of your other points, as usual, I am in complete agreement. Perhaps we differ in means, rather than ends. I do think the attacks are disproportionate but not unwarranted. I think it is the iconography of the missile. The mere idea that it can be fired from another state/country/nation into your own that breeds fear more than IRA car bombs did. I think the V2 rocket and the panic it caused is a closer analogy.

"Laden with foppage" Is that bottles of pommade and velvet frock coats or something else entirely?

mockney piers Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Simplistic and disingenuous. The world acting > brought an end to the Nazis at great cost. The > world doing its more usual torpor allowed the > Zionists (sic) to carve out their own state > (rightly or wrongly I don't care, I'm just > pointing out the flaws in the argument). Now who is being disingenuous? Are you trying to suggest that the allies went to war to save Jews? I rather hope not or we've been reading different history books for the past 60 years. > Hezbollah and Hamas are movements borne of brutal > occupation pure and simple. They are organisations > with political goals. I don't doubt for a minute > that they are anti-semitic, but to claim they kill > out of racial hatred is propoganda, as both have > been canny practitioners of the dual > military/political fronts. > They have never been, are in no position to, and > have no intention of driving the jews into the > sea, they look for a reasonable settlement. > Israeli political leaders may want to look up the > word compromise in their dictionaries, amazingly > it isn't defined as having everything your own > way. I'm afraid I disagree, Piers. Hamas is backed by Saudi Arabia and Iran, two states who have openly admitted to a goal of the removal of the state of Israel. I am quite convinced that given the opportunity to do so, they would. And this would not be merely a forced exodus of Jews from their homeland but include mass-murder. Second, Israel has compromised. It withdrew its armed forces and settlements from the West Bank and Gaza and yet still Hamas continues to launch rocket attacks. Compromise has to work both ways. > And that's even worse D_C, no they don't, though > god knows there's little enough room to fire it > from anywhere else in Gaza, and the IDF doesn't > have to shell civilian areas (that's artillery > with little more accuracy than a qassam) or the > air force drop 1000lb bombs on civilian buildings > (you didn't see the air force dropping bombs on > South Armagh, Derry or even Dublin when the guts > were being ripped out of our cities by IRA bombs > did you?). Ok, first, please don't patronise me with descriptions of Israeli weaponary and its limitations. You know that I know etc. Secondly, no, Israel does not have to shell civilian targets. However it is left with little choice if Hamas continues to base its forces there - which was my point. Hamas daren't indulge in open warfare because it would be destroyed by a superior foe. So, cowardly, it hides amongst the people it is apparently meant to be standing up for. The Irish parallel you draw is a false one. If the IRA had been launching missiles from Belfast streets and hitting British targets with them then I should think the British response may well have been more heavy handed. But they did not. It's not a helpful comparison. > No one has to do anything, but that's the > equivalent of the rapist blaming his victim for > wearing a short skirt. I'm surprised at you > reprinting such tosh. Again your analogy is hyperbolic and unhelpful. You know full well I'm not some IDF-supporting, arab-hating hawk but for the benefit of intelligent debate, if nothing else, these arguments should have counter-weights.

On the "good but over-rated" category I'm beginning to think my teenage infatuation with Bob Dylan was a definite. He's undoubtably good. He's written some genre-defining music and constantly evolved over nearly 50 years. I own over 50% of his output and enjoy most of it. BUT - dear god some of his fans and a lot of the old-man music press seem to think he's the messiah himself. And as someone who has listened to his born-again Christian guff of "Slow Train Coming" and "Saved" I can say he is merely a very naughty boy.

From Comment is Free: Hamas do not have to fire rockets at Israeli schools and homes. And even if they choose to do so, they don't have to base their launch pads inside their own civilian centres, intentionally putting their own wives and children in harm's way on a daily basis. But they do, and the same protesters so virulently opposed to every facet of Israel's cruel campaign refuse to raise a murmur of protest, lest anyone should think that by doing so they are taking the enemy's side.

Well that's going to help matters greatly. No captain AND no coach. Honestly, English cricket.....piss up, brewery, organise, could not, in a, a

*coughs*

A mug. With the bon mot: "normally I'm thin and gorgeous but today is my day off" with pictures of cakes and pies adorning the background. Err...I'm a bloke. So... no.

CHRISTMAS CAROLS FOR THE PSYCHOLOGICALLY CHALLENGED 1. SCHIZOPHRENIA : -- Do You Hear What We Hear? 2. AMNESIA -- I Don't Know If I'll Be Home for Christmas. 3. NARCISSIST - - Hark the Herald Angels Sing-All About Me . 4. MANIC -- Deck the Halls and Walls and House and Lawn and Streets and Stores and Office and Town and Cars and Buses and Trucks and Trees and Fire Hydrants, and..... 5. MULTIPLE PERSONALITY DISORDER -- We Three Queens Disoriented Are. 6. PARANOID --- Santa Claws Is Coming To Get Me. 7. BORDERLINE PERSONALITY DISORDER -- Thoughts of Roasting on an Open Fire. 8. FULL PERSONALITY DISORDER -- You Better Watch Out! I'm Gonna cry; I'm Gonna Pout! -- Maybe I'll Tell You Why . 9. OBSESSIVE COMPULSIVE DISORDER -- Jingle Bells,Jingle Bells Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells..... 10. AGORAPHOBIA -- I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day, but Wouldn't Leave My House. 11. SENILE DEMENTIA -- Walking in a Winter Wonderland--Miles from My House in My Slippers and Robe 12. OPPOSITIONAL DEFIANCE DISORDER -- I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus-so I Burned Down the House. 13. SOCIAL ANXIETY DISORDER -- Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, While I Sit Here and Hyperventilate 14. ATTENTION DEFICIT DISORDER -- We Wish You.. . .Hey Look!!! It's Snowing!!!

I'll swap you a piece of cake for a slice of ham?

SimonM Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I wonder what "resources" are in fact available to > Grayson in January? Which areas of the team need > strengthening as a priority? > > No cheap jokes from me on this occasion you will > notice - partly because of seasonal good will, > partly because my lot's season is now in something > of a wobbly phase (1 point from 12 in the last 4 > home games!) .....and away to Wolves on Boxing Day > does not fill me with good cheer... Well in the spirit of the season, no jokes from me either! As for resources (i.e. cash) I reckon Bates will give him between ?500k and a ?1m to spend on new players with the possibility of one or two leaving. Beckford has attracted interest from Championship clubs and Delph has caught the eye of a couple of Premiership outfits. We'll do well to hold onto both of them but I hoping we do. As for what area of the team needs strengthening? Pick a number between 1 and 11 and we could do better. Even the two listed above have too many off days or are injury prone. But essential is either someone to teach our defence how to defend set-pieces or to buy some defenders who already know. Considering Marques and Michalik are internationals it beggars belief sometimes. Some pace down the flanks wouldn't go amiss and if Messi fancies a brief soujourn in West Yorkshire he's more than welcome.

Did Jill Halfpenny and Aleisha Dixon not win two of the five series? Mingers, the pair of 'em. ;-) p.s. Anna, I don't watch this so my opinion doesn't count.

Alas not even close to ED currently. I'm back home in Surrey with the folks. Sorry. ....now if only someone could show me how to make bread that doesn't have the same properties as concrete I could have a nice sandwich.

Thank you Wee Quinnie. It's meant to be for Xmas Day tea but might not last past tonight once my Dad and I get back from the pub!

A Nigella Lawson recipe ham:

I'm happy. Very happy in fact. For once Bates doesn't seem to have appointed someone with nostalgia (either Chelsea or Leeds based) in mind. I was sad to see Mac go and wonder whether a couple of good signings in Jan would have solved things. BUT, Grayson is in and he's got an impressive record with Blackpool on miniscule resources. If we get promoted he'll keep the job - it's that simple. If we don't, he won't. And Bates will sell up. Championship look out. The mighty, mighty Whites are on the move (up, before some scally gets in a cheap joke). Marching On Together!