Welcome back humanoids. Almost Honest is back in session. This must be a rare entry for most of you ham and eggers because I\u2019m not doing it at the request of anyone that I know of, it\u2019s just me writing about what\u2019s happened over the past month and a half. Naturally, a fair bit has occurred. You wouldn\u2019t expect me to just say \u201cUntil next time\u2026\u201d right here would you? Sometimes I\u2019m sure you wish I would. But that, as always, is not the case.I\u2019ll start off by mentioning College. It\u2019s been quite enjoyable so far. Admittedly, I don\u2019t 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 \u2013 his university building is right next to my college. Typical German.)<\/i>, 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 \u2013 they say that the trains are late because of leaves on the line, the wrong kind of snow\u2026you know one day they will say \u201cWe are sorry for the delayed service \u2013 it turns out there was a train on the line!\u201d. Getting the train back and fourth is not something I particularly enjoy, but sometimes, it\u2019s just got to be done.<\/p>\n
I\u2019d also like to mention why rumours of my demise have been circulating. Lately, months after I initially discovered it \u2013 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 \u2013 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 \u2013 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<\/a>. 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.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve 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\u2019ll stop with the clich\u00e9s)<\/i>, but lately I feel more separated from my old friends than ever before. It\u2019s 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\u2019m sure some guys reading this part, or most likely \u2013 flicking over it, will giggle and say \u201cah, never cared much about the fucker to be honest\u201d <\/i>\u2013 well then so be it. Admittedly, I\u2019m not an angel \u2013 I\u2019m a pretentious<\/a> arsehole at the best of times, but, sometimes, a little cup of shut the fuck up my way won\u2019t go a miss. If I\u2019m out of line, tell me straight damn it. Don\u2019t bitch about it; I\u2019ll 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<\/a>. 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?<\/p>\n November was a month I was actually quite looking forward to \u2013 mainly because there were a couple of awesome gigs coming, but due to work, I can\u2019t 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\u2019m 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\u2019t have particularly seats (argh, I hate seating at a concert. I stood the whole of the way through the Police\u2019s set), seated far back in the lower bowl of the stadium, but it was a terrific atmosphere and a great gig nonetheless. \u201cMessage in a Bottle\u201d 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.<\/p>\n I finally managed to do something that about two years ago I\u2019d swear I\u2019d never do too. Mr. Creative Zen Micro finally retired the MicroPhoto and got himself an iPod. Yes, I remember saying I\u2019d 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\u2019m impressed with mine so far. It\u2019s not as much as a \u201cWow\u201d-factor as I initially expected, but it is doing it\u2019s 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\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n One of the highlights of my year also took place recently. The NFL game in Wembley was a great day out\u2026for the boys. I missed the bus to take me there because my lift had a punctured tyre \u2013 so my parents (fair play to them), took me to Wembley, which they didn\u2019t exactly have to. They didn\u2019t stand around in an Industrial Estate for 4 hours whilst I watched the game, fortunately \u2013 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.<\/p>\n The game itself wasn\u2019t a great advert for the game over here \u2013 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 \u2013 our view was fantastic and we still felt involved. Everyone went crazy when the Giants defence finally allowed a Dolphins TD.<\/p>\n 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\u2019t 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 \u2013 now I\u2019ve seen the NFL live \u2013 Vince, get your arse back over here for a pay-per-view you eejit! It would easily sell out, and don\u2019t make it a joke like Rebellion.<\/p>\n 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) \u2013 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\u2019t go about it quietly, the British press didn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n Glad to say that all of my three teams are doing very well for themselves at the moment \u2013 the Red Wings are atop of the Western Conference in Hockey, and that \u201cold man\u201d Osgood has been a stonker in goal, helping the Wings to a nine-game winning streak that was only broken when the actual \u201cold man\u201d (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 \u2013 hopefully Tevez can step up to the plate and deliver once more in the Ogre\u2019s absence. Saha pulling a few strings would also come in handy. And, the surprise package of the NFC \u2013 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<\/a> that was just\u2026awesome! 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.<\/p>\n A quick passage on other matters: A-Rod \u2013 for crying out loud \u2013 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 \u2013 Wilbon<\/a> will not shut up about you on PTI<\/a>!… 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!)\u2026 Ray Gravell was a true legend, the likes of which we don\u2019t 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 \u2013 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.<\/p>\n I think I\u2019ve 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 \u2013 this year it\u2019s going to be a monster. Nevermore won it in 05 and Maiden in 06. This year it\u2019s 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\u2026I\u2019m still there. Until the next time\u2026Sounding off\u2026<\/p>\n Listening to: “Gravemakers & Gunslingers”<\/em><\/strong> – Coheed and Cambria, from “No World for Tomorrow”<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Welcome back humanoids. Almost Honest is back in session. This must be a rare entry for most of you ham and eggers because I\u2019m not doing it at the request of anyone that I know of, it\u2019s just me writing about what\u2019s happened over the past month and a half. 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