Nearer Than Devon

I should read my blog back before putting it on the intercyberweb for people to read. I use word to type it all in, but because I wilfully use the wrong spelling of words sometimes it renders the spelling checker obsolete. I scanned back yesterdays blog before deleting it from my blog word document and noticed a couple of spelling mistakes, and several uses of the wrong punctuation.
Yesterday lunchtime, I hid the copy of NME in the Spar shop opposite work. I folded it in half and hid it behind some PS2 magazines. I felt quite bad about this at first, like I was stopping somebody buying a magazine that may make his or her day a little brighter. Then I thought about it and realised that the NME won't make anyone's life happier. With the £1.80 I'll be saving somebody they'll be able to treat somebody they love and brighten up two lives. I may even get somebody some extra "jiggy" with my selfless deed. Hey, maybe a guy will use that money he has saved to buy his girlfriend some flowers (some Netto £1.80 thistles). She'll be so happy that she'll agree to have his babies and in 9 months time will give birth to a baby boy. A baby boy who'll then grow up to be the leader of the resistance against the killer robots which will terrorise us all. The resistance will win, yes it will my doubtful friend. We shall be free of robot tyranny once more.
How many of you can say that your actions during your lunchtime yesterday led to the emancipation of mankind from robot slavery? Maybe one or two of you but not many I bet.
After meeting Embrace on Friday I plan to go to HMV and hide all the Paul Weller albums. Weller you see is only 150 copies ahead of Embrace in the charts at the moment. I need to do my bit for the cause.
It turns out that the guy who wrote the album review for NME, is the same guy who wrote a review in the magazine a couple of months ago which made my blood boil. The offending review is here. My one and only problem with the aforementioned review is that it slags off several Glenn-bands. Idlewild, Embrace, Easyworld, Kenickie, The Bluetones and The Music all get a slagging. It seemed designed to piss me off.
It does prove my point of yesterday though, that they gave Out of Nothing to a guy they knew would hate it. That just seems stupid.

It was good to see Liverpool win last night, especially as their performance showed a flair and creativity that we've been missing in recent years. As I lay in bed however there was one aspect of the game on my mind which made me feel quite sad.
About twenty minutes into the game the cameras showed Gerard Houllier sat in the crowd. He looked well wrapped up in his scarf and big jacket and clutched his programme close to his chest. The whole picture just gave me an impression of dignified sadness.
Gerard loved Liverpool football club. It must be sad to see his team playing on a European night, to see a new manager in control, whilst he sits as an ordinary spectator, holding the match-day programme that used to contain his manager notes. There is a new face there now though, both in the programme and the dugout and the sadness this must cause Gerard is quite obvious.
When he was sacked, he asked to walk around Anfield for one last time. I found the dignified way he did this and the obvious love he had for the place to be heartbreaking.
In a game where footballers make the headlines every day for acts of gross stupidity, insensitivity and behave like they are above the morals and laws of normal people, Gerards desire to produce good people as well as good footballers stood out like a sore thumb. He was sometimes immensely protective of his players, but he cared for them as people. He wanted them to develop and become the "good people" that he spoke about.
He is a man who shows a great deal of passion and determination for the game, even coming back from life-threatening surgery to return to the job he dedicated so much of his life too. Yet through all this he showed a great deal of humanity, realising that it was a game that had responsibility to the local area and the wider world. When The Grauniad asked various sportsmen what they desired for the forthcoming year, amongst all the men/women who spoke about achieving their personal motives, Gerard stood out in declaring his concerns and wishes for the young people in the world.
After losing his job, many would have turned on the club through a mixture of disappointment and bitterness. Gerard maintained his dignity and support for the club.
A brave, proud and good man, I hope Gerard is happy again very, very soon.