Welcome back humanoids. Almost Honest is back in session. This must be a rare entry for most of you ham and eggers because I’m not doing it at the request of anyone that I know of, it’s just me writing about what’s happened over the past month and a half. Naturally, a fair bit has occurred. You wouldn’t expect me to just say “Until next time…” right here would you? Sometimes I’m sure you wish I would. But that, as always, is not the case.I’ll start off by mentioning College. It’s been quite enjoyable so far. Admittedly, I don’t get the point of some things. However, just like being back in school, we often spend our lunch times in the Spoons about 300 metres away (I measured it because Funf wanted to meet up with us once, and he wanted exact directions to it – his university building is right next to my college. Typical German.), and we all seem to get along quite nicely. The timing pisses me off some days, but, it could always be much worse. I have also learned to appreciate the hatred of trains. Jebus, how hard can it be for the feckers to run on time? I can count the number of occasions the train being late has benefited me on one hand. To borrow a line from Drop the Dead Donkey – they say that the trains are late because of leaves on the line, the wrong kind of snow…you know one day they will say “We are sorry for the delayed service – it turns out there was a train on the line!”. Getting the train back and fourth is not something I particularly enjoy, but sometimes, it’s just got to be done.
I’d also like to mention why rumours of my demise have been circulating. Lately, months after I initially discovered it – I have noticed a dramatic slowdown on my internet connection. Two nights ago, after I told them about six months ago, my parents finally realised that the dogs had managed to rip into one of the connection wires from my router down to the main telephone line. Typical Rhys moment – I told them months ago, yet only when things get really bad they tend to give a damn. Hopefully, it will be fixed, so I apologise if all you see from me at the moment is the odd status update on Facebook. On a related note – just how badly is MySpace taking a beating nowadays? Maybe it is that most of the folks have moved to Uni, but, MySpace appears to have jumped the shark. For starters, the replying to comments links was stolen from erm, Facebook. The new Homepage layout, I actually quite like, people have hated. In the social networking war, Facebook is still behind MySpace, but amongst us, MySpace appears to have fallen from grace. Maybe Tom has actually taken all his money and fucked off.
I’ve also discovered that, much quicker than I initially thought, I was getting thrown out of the loop amongst the guys. Life is a 50-50 thing, and you only get out what you put in (I’ll stop with the clichés), but lately I feel more separated from my old friends than ever before. It’s sad, as I flick though the old photos of the good times that we had, to realise that what we had before will never be repeated. I’m sure some guys reading this part, or most likely – flicking over it, will giggle and say “ah, never cared much about the fucker to be honest” – well then so be it. Admittedly, I’m not an angel – I’m a pretentious arsehole at the best of times, but, sometimes, a little cup of shut the fuck up my way won’t go a miss. If I’m out of line, tell me straight damn it. Don’t bitch about it; I’ll respect you more if you just flat out tell me. Of course, if you do so in the comments in this blog, then expect a beating. That was a little joke, for those who have lost the art of comedy over the internets. I am working Christmas Eve, but anticipate an excellent evening of Golf in town the night before. We did have a great night out in town last Saturday (I even ventured out of Spoons and into the clubs for a change), and reminded me of the great times we had in the past. We need them back. By the way, any news on New Year yet anyone?
November was a month I was actually quite looking forward to – mainly because there were a couple of awesome gigs coming, but due to work, I can’t go to any of them. Which sucks, but life goes on. I did, however, go to see The Police play the Millennium Stadium in mid-October as a birthday present from my sister and brother-in-law. I’m not a big Police fan, but, they are a band whose material I am familiar with and thought I would enjoy the concert. Both the opening acts (Fiction Plane and Mr Hudson and the Library) were terrific openers, but, bless them, were nothing to the main attraction. We didn’t have particularly seats (argh, I hate seating at a concert. I stood the whole of the way through the Police’s set), seated far back in the lower bowl of the stadium, but it was a terrific atmosphere and a great gig nonetheless. “Message in a Bottle” was a brilliant opening song as well, just that opening bass line sent the crowd into a frenzy – the way a bass line should be.
I finally managed to do something that about two years ago I’d swear I’d never do too. Mr. Creative Zen Micro finally retired the MicroPhoto and got himself an iPod. Yes, I remember saying I’d probably never get an iPod, but as you may know, I switched from 6 years of using Winamp at Christmas to using iTunes and iTunes basically meant I had to get an iPod. I’m impressed with mine so far. It’s not as much as a “Wow”-factor as I initially expected, but it is doing it’s job. And it makes updating what music I listen to on the go so much easier. I must be one of the few people who give a damn about Podcasts, and it’s so much easier than using my Zen. Bless my old Zen though, it lasted longer than all my three previous MP3 players combined (the 80GB iPod I have is my fifth PMP in two years). But, my iPod is lovely and doing the job quite nicely.
One of the highlights of my year also took place recently. The NFL game in Wembley was a great day out…for the boys. I missed the bus to take me there because my lift had a punctured tyre – so my parents (fair play to them), took me to Wembley, which they didn’t exactly have to. They didn’t stand around in an Industrial Estate for 4 hours whilst I watched the game, fortunately – one of my favourite relatives, my great-Uncle, lives about 5 minutes from Wembley, so they stayed with him. They did get the Eagles new album out of it though, which was on their Christmas lists. By the way, excellent new record from them. Some very catchy songs on there.
The game itself wasn’t a great advert for the game over here – the Giants were a different class, and the Dolphins this season have been abysmal. However, the crowd were just thankful to be there. My review of Wembley is an overwhelming thumbs up as well. The staff were very nice to us (particularly regarding letting me in 10-15 minutes after kick-off), and the facilities were top class. Despite our position on the top tier – our view was fantastic and we still felt involved. Everyone went crazy when the Giants defence finally allowed a Dolphins TD.
If the NFL really wanted to get people interested in the game over here, the only way it would work is to get the Colts and Patriots over here, but, that would be the equivalent to asking Arsenal and United to go and play at Giants Stadium in Jersey. I don’t see that happening, I am afraid. Rumours are circulating however that The Fortress in Cardiff may get the next game, which I will be gobsmacked to see happen. Then again, I suspect this is the same person who said that the WWE Royal Rumble a few years back was going to be held at Celtic Park in Glasgow. On a related note – now I’ve seen the NFL live – Vince, get your arse back over here for a pay-per-view you eejit! It would easily sell out, and don’t make it a joke like Rebellion.
Staying with sport, it would be sad to see Lewis Hamilton awarded the F1 title by default after what happened at Interlagos. I must be the only Hamilton fan left (due to various reasons. Ahem, Hulmes) – and I was amazed that McLaren, who paid all that money for Alonso, were able to let him go at the drop of a hat. But, Raikkonen, fair play to the guy, did a stellar job all season and deserved his title, although he didn’t go about it quietly, the British press didn’t care about him because of Hamilton. The patriotism got in the teary eyes of Fleet Street, and whilst Lewis had an incredible debut season, I said at the beginning of the season that the expectation of him winning a world title in his debut season would be a hard thing to live up to. I said the same when Jacques Villeneuve came into F1 in 1996 and almost beat Damon Hill. Villeneuve infamously won the title in 1997 when Schuey thought it was a good idea to collide with him, so maybe this sets a president for Hamilton to storm the table next season.
Glad to say that all of my three teams are doing very well for themselves at the moment – the Red Wings are atop of the Western Conference in Hockey, and that “old man” Osgood has been a stonker in goal, helping the Wings to a nine-game winning streak that was only broken when the actual “old man” (bad hip and all) Dominik Hasek, returned to the line-up on Wednesday in Chi-Town. United are doing pretty well in the Premier League, but, losing Rooney will hurt them – hopefully Tevez can step up to the plate and deliver once more in the Ogre’s absence. Saha pulling a few strings would also come in handy. And, the surprise package of the NFC – Green Bay, is doing fantastic with Brett Favre playing a blinder. They crushed Adrian Peterson (quite literally) and Brett had that phenomenal pass to Greg Jennings in Denver that was just…awesome! Super Bowl contenders? Neh, probably not, but I reckon an NFC Finals appearance against the Giants is a possibility. Dallas will be there or there abouts too.
A quick passage on other matters: A-Rod – for crying out loud – stop teasing us and make up your damn mind! Just go to LA with either the Angels or Dodgers and be done with it. Please not the Cubs – Wilbon will not shut up about you on PTI!… The Boston Celtics are among the best teams in the East, but they are not the Chicago Bulls of the Michael Jordan-era, and soon they will burst. I do think they could win the East in the NBA this season though (Kiaresh has got me interested in basketball again damn it!)… Ray Gravell was a true legend, the likes of which we don’t get anymore. A man whose passion of being Welsh, and his zest for life was second to none. It came across every time you saw or heard him. Welsh rugby is a worse place without him here. On a related note: hate to say I told you so – Warren Gatland as Wales coach. I called it the split second Gareth Jenkins was sacked. One of the VERY few sporting predictions I think I have ever got right.
I think I’ve filled up my ranting quota for the time being. I will be beginning my annual album of the year review in the next few weeks – this year it’s going to be a monster. Nevermore won it in 05 and Maiden in 06. This year it’s quite an open race, but you might be quite interested to see who I choose as #1. You know how to get in touch with me folks. Despite my shitty internet connection, I am still alive and well. Facebook, Last.fm, MySpace, Bebo, Windows Live…I’m still there. Until the next time…Sounding off…
Listening to: “Gravemakers & Gunslingers” – Coheed and Cambria, from “No World for Tomorrow”