Everton 0-3 Portsmouth

Everton 0-3 Portsmouth

Ugh! what a fundamentally depressing afternoon. There was just something in the air at Goodison...there was no singing our cheering, instead just a constant hubbub as Evertonians digested the new signings and the cup draws.

Nothing went right for the blues, essentially we had the better of the first half but went in 2 goals down, we missed a penalty and you just knew it wasn't our day. I thought Phil Neviile, Leighton Baines and Yakubu all played well but other than that we looked pretty low on confidence and organisation. A distinct lack of balance as players wandered all over, desperate to make things happen. Just a grim afternoon all round.

We cheered ourselves up by going to The Victoria for a Lourdes reunion featuring two superb sets by Joyce.

Arrrrrrrrrgh!!!

More rotten luck for Everton

We got Standard Liege in the UEFA Cup 1st round. How gutting is that? How they weren't seeded is truly beyond me. They took liverpool to the cleaners the other night.

I didn't mind tough games but it was so much fun getting to the group stage last season.

Every time we are in one of these draws we seem to get the worst one imaginable. Villareal, Dinamo Bucharest, Metalist Kharkiv and now this! So annoying.

Everton sign Saha

Everton have signed Louis Saha! That means we have a right back, and midfielder and a striker which was basically what we needed out of the summer.

Given his recent fitness record I'd have preferred a loan with an option but I suppose Utd were playing hardball.

Onwards and upwards I suppose.

Welcome back Mathew Street festival

God bless the Mathew Street festival. It's just good...it doesn't matter about the line-up it's just fun and that's all that matters. Last year's cancellation just brought it home how much we all like it.

This year was extra special for us 'cause my cousin Michael was playing one of the outdoor stages with his band The Little Hydes. Anyway, after we'd checked that out we ambled round from venue to venue for the rest of the day checking out the various acts. Led Zep tribute rocked, the Elvis was ACE (well not THE Elvis but you know what I mean), Rolling Stones spent more time trying to look and act like the real thing instead of actually playing the songs and we witnessed possibly the most proficient but least engaging Beatles tribute band ever. Really, it doesn't matter how proficient you are, if you are going to get a square full of revellers and then just play a series of low key numbers from Abbey Road and The White Album you might impress purists but you aren't going to keep the crowd.

None of that matters though 'cause the whole day is just great fun, everyone just seems to walk round having a great time. This year there was a new bands fringe which is a great idea. Unfortunately the best intentions disapeared amidst a late flurry of real ale and then tapas. Sorry....anyway there's always next year.

Mathew Street Festival - The Echo report

Daily Post - Mathew St Festival

Fame at last

Woohoo. The blog FiveLittleThings published my travel tips!

FiveLittleThings about Backpacking by Stuart Brandwood

Plus the BBC quoted me the other day! I know this is a pretty dull little blog but it's nice to know people out there are reading.

Phew!

West Brom 1-2 Everton

Ohhh gerrin, gerrin, gerrin! COYB! COYB! COYB! SO happy with that today. I've been so down about all things Everton for weeks and weeks. Last week knocked me for six despite my attempts to remain detached....today had me bouncing round like a big kid again. So silly but I'm sure every footy fan reading this knows what I'm on about. God bless 'em.

A loss, and by the sounds of it West Brom can feel aggrieved at not getting at least a point, would have put things on the slide. A win solves nothing but it at least buttresses us.

Love our new high vis 3rd kit btw!





Many, MANY thanks to Sarah DeWitt for her surprise transatlantic Everton present buying. Superstar.

Cider time

Sheppy's traditional Somerset farmhouse cider from Taunton.

Thatchers Cider

Have to say I'm generally not a big cider fan but these two are doing really sterling work. Really nice stuff.

Cains - Robert Cain Brewery. Liverpool

Cains - Robert Cain Brewery Liverpool Why would a Scouser drink anything else?

Worrying times. Slowly watching the stock of Cains dwindle at the local ASDA. No Cains Bitter left and, after I'd finished tonight, there was no Cains Lager and only 4 Cains IPAs. A decent amount of Cains FA, 08 and Liverpool Lager left but that ain't going to last for ever.

Will someone come in and buy them soon. PLEASE!

Same old, same old

England 2-2 Czech Republic

***INSERT LAZY NONSENSICAL COMPARISON WITH BRITISH OLYMPICS TEAM HERE***

It's too easy isn't it but...



List of Great British Olympic Medalists

Stuey's song of the day - Echobelly : Close...But

Top marks to YouTuber GraveMaurice for hosting these two :

Echobelly - Close...But

Echobelly - I can't imagine the world with out me

I loved Echobelly back in my studenty musicky days. Ah, so many memories. I hope people like Sonya Aurora Madan realise how much of my grant and dole went on buying their records!

Whilst we are on the subject of girl-lead indie music :

Sleeper - Delicious

Olympic Glory

A few months ago I decided not to blog on the Olympics 'cause of them being in China...I didn't realise how hard our athletes would make this. Their efforts out there have been awesome. Truly fantastic, inspiring stuff.

Hats off to all the "Team GB" Olympians. We are all watching and loving it......just don't let the Chinese government know this! ;)

As this perhaps mischeivous blogger points out it's actually now just less than 4 years until London 2012....it does bode well.

Liverpool awaits La Machine

BBC NEWS | England | Liverpool awaits La Machine

There's a lot of things that have been spot on about the Liverpool 08 Capital of Culture thing...we were just having the last throws of SuperLambBanana mania when rumour started circulating about La Machine doing something that will even top The Sultan's Elephant last year in London...no one is saying much about it apart from the fact that it's going to happen on the 5th, 6th & 7th of September and it's going to be spactacular.

Judging by the website it's going to be something to do with the old Mersey Tunnel...the new report on the BBC said that they'd had to remove the traffic island there. I love this sort of 'event' art so can't wait.

Hope University used in Nigerian scam

Liverpool Hope University used in Nigerian scam

"The name of Liverpool Hope University has been used in an internet scam.

About 15 students in Nigeria have been sent fraudulent degree offer letters purporting to be from Liverpool Hope University.

The bogus educational and scholarship agencies have then asked the applicants for non-refundable acceptance fees.

The university was alerted to the scam when several students got in touch who had paid their fees but not heard anything more about their places."

Now I think that is a terrible story and really shows the terrible situation in the 3rd world. The that these people were desperate enough to go to Hope University in the first place is truly heart-breaking.

No mention of the fact that Hope has been masquerading as a University for years before the Nigerians got onto the scam. ;) :) :P

Everton 2-3 Blackburn. Argh!

Everton 2-3 Blackburn

Absolutely gutted about that but I can't really comment about the game 'cause I was down south at a family do...look at that midfield though. Arteta plus two defenders and a kid. Not strengthening the side during the close-season is little short of dereliction of duty.

With all due respect and even taking injuries into account this is NOT the line-up a top 5 team should be starting the season with :

Howard, Neville, Yobo, Lescott, Nuno Valente (Baxter 78), Arteta, Rodwell, Jagielka, Baines, Osman, Yakubu.
Subs Not Used: Turner, Jutkiewicz, Gosling, Agard, Kissock, Wallace.

I look at the long, long fixture list and dread to think what shape we'll be in by February. We were stretched paper thin last year and we've been reduced even further since then. Really depressing.

Oh it's all gone quiet over there

So we approach the new seasons and I'm feeling pretty rubbish about them. Everton have marked time for 2 months whilst everyone else has strengthened and reports from inside Blundelsands are about as frequent as those from inside Area 51.

It would appear that my two teams are becalmed...not expecting great things from either team this season to be honest. At least in David Moyes and Chris O'Callaghan we have two managers I believe in. Everton especially is a dissappointment...we were ideaally placed to kick on and consolidate after last year. We've lost Johnson, Carsley & Wessels and replaced them with no-one. The youngsters coming throughare a bonus but let's face it, it's a gamble. As for 'loo I just hope we stilled have Pablo's services...we'll just have to see.

Anyway I've done my collated fixture list and the prognosis for a sport filled season is looking good. So far only 3 games clash...there will doubtless be cup games coming into the equation but there'll also be Sky switching games too. There is I notice a fantastic looking double header weekend on my birthday. GET. IN.

As to the prospects for the new season "Bring it on" I say.....just with less enthusiasm than normal. For those of a Royal Blue and Myrtle & Scarlet persuasion there is rough and ready dual fixture list at the bottom of this blog.

Everton and Waterloo fixture list

I am supporting ANYONE who is playing against the Spanish

I am almost speechless about this. My boss, Andy, showerd me it and I assume it was a spoof but it seems kosher....unless I am being dense.

The Spanish Olympic Basketball teamhave posed in full official national kit all making a slitty eyed gesture.



Unbelievable. According to Jose Manuel Calderon "I would like to share a story with you about something that happened with the Spanish National Team that someone interpreted incorrectly. It happened in the photo session where the Spanish National Team was introduced; one of our sponsors asked us to pose with a “wink” to our participation in Beijing, we made an oriental expression with our eyes. We thought it was something appropriate and that it would always be interpreted as somewhat loving. Nevertheless some of the European media did not see it this way.

From here I would like to declare that we have a huge respect for the East and their people, some of my best friends in Toronto are from China and one of our Spanish National Team sponsors is the Chinese brand Li Ning. Anyone who would like to interpret this differently is absolutely confused."

The Spanish just go on amazing me.

Chavasse memorial to be unveiled in Abercromby Square.

Capital of Culture has been good so far...at present we are all going mental trying to see as many SuperLambBananas before they are auctioned off at the end of the month. Gutted I missed the tall ships but duty called.

One of the annoying things about the whole thing however has been that Liverpool One shopping centre being plonked on top of Chavasse Park. God knows how much it's cost and essentially all it's done is moved a load of well established shops 50 yards down the road whilst leaving Church Street feeling distinctly ropey.

On top of this is that a load of concrete commercialism is definitely NOT a fitting replacement for a park named after Noel Chavasse. Double Victoria Cross winners deserve better and at the end of the week the city is going to recitfy this :

"A STATUE commemorating Noel Chavasse, only British winner of the VC and bar, and all of Liverpool’s Victoria Cross recipients, is about to be unveiled.

After three years of fundraising, the statue, by city sculptor Tom Murphy, will be situated in Abercromby Square where the Chavasse family once lived.

The memorial, which depicts Captain Chavasse and a Liverpool Scottish stretcher bearer attending a wounded soldier, will be unveiled in the course of a drumhead service on Sunday, August 17." Read the rest of the report here : City poised to unveil double VC hero statue.

Seriously it's the least this man deserves. Read his Wikipedia page : Noel Godfrey Chavasse VC and Bar MC.

BBC NEWS | England | Merseyside | New Everton stadium faces inquiry

BBC NEWS | England | Merseyside | New Everton stadium faces inquiry: "Everton Football Club's proposed move to a new stadium out of the city has been called in for a public inquiry.

Government officials announced the decision on the £400m Kirkby development, which also includes a Tesco superstore, on Wednesday evening.

The club previously expressed fears an inquiry would put back the project for up to a year."

Chuffed about that. I genuinely believe that would have killed the club...this isn't bemoaning the fact that it was on the other side of some like on the map of Merseyside. I was just such a paltry, ill-thought out option. I know it was a bargain but would it have helped the club? I really don't think it would have.

Anyway...We are staying in our home for the time being.

Raisin a glass of Cains while you are Able

Pun-tastic title there I'm sure you'll agree.

Gutted that our beloved Cains Brewery is in financial trouble. Not only is it Liverpool's brewery it's absolute quality.

Really, really hope they can sort out the problems. Everyone loves the stuff.

It's even in The Times at present :

The Times top 10 British Beers

"Cains Raisin Beer : An incredible beer, brewed with the addition of Californian raisins. It has some similarities to Pedro Ximinez sherry, with its rich caramel, prune and, of course, raisin flavours. Another reason to get your hands on this beer is that the brewery’s future is currently very uncertain, so sup it while you can."

Check out more of Melissa Cole's beer based musings at here blog (by "beer based musings" I, of course, mean musing about beer rather than drunken rambling....just thought I'd make that clear).

mmmm Rahman

Here's a link to Gordon Ramsay's chilli beef Rahman recipe. I WILL make this one day.

We had so awesome rahman whilst we were over in Japan. Two especially, one in Tokyo with Dave when we first arrived and the other in Nagoya.

Dave took us to a place in a Tokyo shopping centre and the soup there was so nice...it had a gorgeous oily broiled sauce in it...the other one was recomended in the Lonely Planet and was basically just mince and chilli. It was gorgeous but massively spicy...reminiscent of my first time eating Tom Yam soup "This is gorgeous. I want to eat more of this but if I do I'll die".

Anyway I'd love to perfect my own rahman recipe. Spicy noodle soup and beer, a winning combination!

Ida Maria Live From Leicester Square - Xfm

Ida Maria Live From Leicester Square - Xfm

Ida Maria has been getting top marks off us recently just for here glorious messy under-produced old skool indie brilliance however the cover version of the Violent Femmes Blister in the Sun is deffo worth a look...or check out the original here : Blister in the sun