Bit O' Footie

I know, I can't believe it either. How can the biggest match of the year be so painfully dull. It was like watching Bolton against the Bolton reserves at times. Possibly the dullest European match I've seen since the equally dull first leg of Bayern v Lyon. But somehow he did it. Jose "The Messiah" Mourinho performed that radical measure of parking the bus in front of the goal for 90 minutes. I'm sure they'll be a lot of hyperbole about how great of a coup it was and that but at the end of the day he did what 95% of us would do in Football Manager. Only in Football Manager you'd end up conceding the full quotient of 2 goals Barca needed at the end as opposed to the one they got. But Football Manager famously hates you as much as you love it. The cruel bitch it is. Barca's goal was good however, Pique turning and shooting with more nous than poor old Ibrahimovic showed in his rather stale outing. But, on the whole, Barca were poor and resorted too often to Arsenal-esque shooting from distance or aimless passing midway in Inter's half. That was when they got the chance to play of course. Inter were going down more often than a granny on the ice as they say. So now we're left with an Inter v Bayern final. Something no-one predicted. Or to be fair, probably wanted. Lets just hope Inter resist stroking faces and play without their entire team in their own penalty area and that Bayern are less shit than they probably will be. They won't be though. Inter will score two early goals and Robben will score a cracking consolation late on. Get that one down at Ladbrokes while the odds are still good.

Also, Fulham and Liverpool are both in action tomorrow. Good luck to the Londoners, as everyone else will be saying. We all want Fulham to win. World Cup aside seeing a teary Hodgson lift the Euro Mug would be the touching football moment of the year. Apart from Neville and Scholes' erotic interlude not long ago. Best not to dwell on that though. Liverpool will probably win as well. Either a 4-0 "not as good as the scoreline suggests" romp or a 2-0 "thanks to Stevie's Exorcist penalty dive" borefest. Either way, doubt anyone gives a shit about them.

Work, Work, Work

Awwww. Still, he's not that cute to me right now as I puzzle in my mind how to shit out a conservation plan for the little bastard. Or something like that, I barely understand what I'm meant to be doing really. Oh well, I'll pull something gleaming from my currently blocked creative sphincter most likely. Well hopefully. While I've toiled in front of various facts and figures of this tiny rodent I've managed to procrastinate to a degree even beyond my usual standards. Three loads of washing, three trips to town and even a quick game of Left Dead 2 (read 2 hour slog through Dead Centre with much cursing and frustration thanks to being pole-axed by a tank on at least 4 occasions). Been some bonuses though, apart from finally buying that cursed aux cable to reconnect my speakers. Watched Bunny and The Bull which is a feature film by Paul King who is most famed for directing The Mighty Boosh. While the Boosh became crushed under it's own popularity and Noel Fielding's penchant for things that are shiny or Class A's this film came out under a cloud of nonchalance and disinterest. Well it did for me anyway. Watching it I can see why it didn't set the world alight, mainly thanks to the great credit it clearly owes Gondry for a lot of the DIY aesthetic of the film. It's a grower though; takes a while for the film to seep into you and for the first 45 minutes it's quite tempting to switch off. But it's worth staying with, at least for the two Boosh cameos which are probably one of the highlights of the film. So basically if you loved the style of Science Of Sleep you'll probably like this. Or won't because it rips it off. Whatever, that's all I've got. Anyway, dormice.

Leak Madness & A Bit Of Gaming Stuff

I decided to wean myself off leaks and illegal downloads in general this year after Mandelson decided to go all 1984 on us with the Digital Piracy Bill or whatever it was called. However, certain temptations can crumble even the strongest of men. The National's newie was the first that got me yesterday and it's an absolute blinder. Apart from opener Terrible Love which after getting extremely excited about that version I was left somewhat underwhelmed by a more stripped back studio version. I should have learnt after falling in love with this early live version of Radiohead's Videotape only to be left with a subtle almost acoustic studio version. Still think if both went big it would have been better. Size matters as they say. Anyway, the rest of the album is beyond brilliant. By far the best thing I've heard this year and that includes the LCD, Flylo and Foals (who also got me yesterday!) leaks. Already forked out for a Flylo pre-order and will probably do the same for the others on promise of a decent pre-order package mind.

Neglected to mention Just Cause 2 yesterday which I've pilfered off my brother while he's away and have been well and truely sucked in. There's plenty of flaws to it, but it's so much fun you forgive them very quickly. It almost begs the question why isn't there a grappling hook in every game? Not those crummy Zelda ones though. I might have to go out and buy it at this rate. Up there with Bioshock 2 as the best thing all year. Also played AvP. Not so great. That's all I have to say on that matter.

Various Titbits #7

With money comes great responsibility. By that profound reasoning being broke leaves you free to do whatever you want. Which makes me feel perfectly fine about spending the last couple of weeks venturing to see friends, family and others all over the country living out of a ruck-sack and sleeping on sofas all the while staring at a bank balance of 72 pence. However, now is the time of crushing realisations of impending deadlines, undone tasks and a return to Cornish parishes. Although a full student loan installment lessens these woes. Already splurged it on Scene It Box Office Smash for the 360 (it was only a fiver with the buzzers!) and a plethora of music I've been lusting after for a while (The National's back catalogue, J Dilla, Jaylib, Johnny Cash, Fionn Regan, Aphex Twin, Dark Was The Night & Monsters Of Folk). One thing I made sure I didn't miss while I was adventuring was the leak of the new LCD Soundsystem album. "Dance Yrself Clean" kicks like a mule and "All I Want" is "All My Friends" after listening to David Bowie's "Heroes" for five days. It sags in the second half a little but the opening four tracks are blisteringly brilliant. Now they've been confirmed for Glastonbury too. I'm so excited I could shit rainbows.

Caught a few films while I was away too. Kick-Ass is thoroughly fantastic and is easily my best film of the year so far. Violent, sweary and a genuine cinema experience. Almost as good as Chris Tookey's review then. The Hurt Locker is as tense and brilliant as everyone says it is, walking the Top Gun line of homoeroticism just on the right side of acceptable. Although it's still more manly than the front cover of Men's Fitness. Synecdoche, New York is better in retrospect than it is at the time. I'd forgotten what it was about until I spotted it in a dimly lit branch of Blockbusters. "Comedy of the year!". "Laugh out loud!". The box certainly lies, it's thoroughly long, good and depressing in equal measure but not funny. Finally, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo is a Swedish mega-hit in the world of books and now in the world of European cinema. Haven't read the novel, I can only afford those cheap green Penguin books in the classics section of Waterstones, but the film is a lot more involving than I expected it to be. Certainly got a lot more to it than your usual thriller affair. Worth seeking out. Kick Ass is the best of the lot though.