brickwallviews

Fulham 2 - 1 Arsenal

First time Fulham have beaten the Gunners since 1960!

I'm ill. If you spot the Arsenal defenders let them know we missed them in west London last night.

Bottom line, we lack toughness and leadership among the lads! Did I mention I don't feel well as a result.

bwb.

Titi snubbed... again!

After being passed over for the Golden Ball (aka Euro player of the Year) Thierry Henry has today been omitted as a finalist for World Player of the Year!!!!! geez! He is (and has been) probably the games greatest ambassador, a tireless fighter to rid the game of racism, and oh yea, pound for pound the greatest all-around footballer on the planet... so why would he be a finalist! Go figure! He is the best player / captain of the team literally everyone in the world agrees plays the most beautiful brand of attacking soccer since the Dutch "total football" era, said team reached the final of the most prestigious club football competition in the world and he helped lead his nation to the World Cup final... oh, now I see why he has been snubbed again! Fools! We have a man here who typifies all things great about sport... fantastic talent, nice fellow, good husband and father, yet the press, etc continues to prop up hype monsters... The three finalists you ask?... Fabio Cannavaro (world's best defender / captained Italy to WC Title / key figure on Juventus squad at heart of the despicable match fixing scandal in Italy), Ronaldinho (most overrated athelete on planet / flop at WC), and good old Zidaine (best player last decade, average of late / uhh... can you say Headbutt!)... I give... FIFA make the US Congress appear competent!

Anyhoo... The Gunners at Fulham today... merely a must win!

Dr. Frank's novel King Dork reviewed in Time magazine this week... cool!

Word has it the first post-reunion Lifetime full length will be unleashed on Feb 27th... if it even comes close to capturing "Lifetime" it will be the runaway album of the year 2007! Weird how their breakup sorta coincided with the death of proper punk rock... are they re-birthing it? hopefully!

late. bwb.

In Hospital

I find it neato how the English, and I guess most of the rest of the World use the phrase, "he or she's in hospital" as opposed to "in THE hospital". They are correct of course, unless you live in a place that only has one hospital, therefore it is THE hospital.

anyway.

Long Time, No...

Well, back from holiday and frankly not much to offer today. My son and I went above and beyond to catch the Arsenal match in Cajun-Country on Saturday only to watch them fall 3 - 1 to Bolton! Ouch! Once again we dominated possession, etc but a couple defensive lapses and 3 strikes off the post left us with no points to show. The Title is increasingly unlikely... getting close to time to just get our act together and focus on a solid third place in the League and hopefully some Euro or FA Cup glory.

They play at Fulham Wednesday and we dearly need a confidence boosting win! The *%$*@  we refer to as Spurs come to The Grove on Saturday in the first derby with our biggest rival in our new palace (uh, stadium).

Not much else really... my NFL team is horrid (though dem' Saints are looking pretty good!), Iraq is still not very safe really, America is at war with itself, fried food is tastier than most, W is as relevant as, well my NFL team, my daughter is cuter than yours and well I guess that about wraps it up!

Oh yea... go buy the new Hard-On's record, Most People Are A Waste Of Time, it's groovy man!

bwb out.
 

This and That

The international football ended without any Gunners coming home wounded, so success there! Henry scored the only goal to down Greece, Kolo played 90 minutes as Ivory Coast won, etc, etc, etc...

Newcastle visits Emirates on the weekend!

Will Ferrell (yea, that Will Ferrell) has purchased the film rights to Frank (Dr Frank) Portman's hit novel King Dork. Cool!

Good for you Dr. Frank!

The success of King Dork has also led to a multi book deal with his publisher, so who says old romantic punk rockers can't make good.

In other things literary, Dave Eggers' new one, What Is The What is out and getting mucho positive vibes... an autobiography (of sorts) of a Sudanese "lost boy" with quite a story to tell.

Well, guess that's the gist of it for today...

Underground P-Rock darlings Dillinger 4 are hinting that a new album may be finally on the way... really? seems that quote surfaced in 2003 also? I guess being cult icons and proprietors of Minneapolis' hippest bar give one a certain amount of leeway as far as deadlines go... more coming I'm sure.

You take care now folks. bwb out.

Chinese Telephones

Great sounding band in the "old" Bay Area vein... think Crimpshrine or even Chicago's Sludgeworth. Completely took me back to the early 90's... and musically, that a very good thing!

Check out their MySpace page! One of the best punk rock bands I have heard in many moons!

Just amazing!

Whatever's Got You Down

Slow day overall... more meaningless international football matches this week... drool.

I mentioned the Samiam record Whatever's Got You Down and the raw / muddy production... well, founding member Sergie Loobkoff, who is also a very successful graphic designer, explains this and more in a recent interview... it can be oogled here.

Skip, if you're out there... I think it's they're best record yet! and that is saying a lot considering I have always had a soft spot for the fellas.

Well, short but sweet today. Oh yea, word on the street says they are hiring at the Baghdad Police Dept... ok.

bwb out.

Life, Death and The Dynamo!

...We buried my father-in-law this weekend and among all the thoughts and feelings it conjured up I think there are 3 things that stand out about the man and what makes for a "good" life. Despite the ever blurring line between right and wrong, etc these days, he lived his life with 3 priorities...
Family, Faith and Hard Work!!!!! These are the things that guided his life and it is joyful to know that when his time came... he excelled in all three and can rest in knowing this is so! Cheers to you Chuc'! Love ya sir!

On matters of lesser import... The Gunners crushed Liverpool 3-nil at Ashburton Grove in what was a huge match for each side... Arsenal needed a "team" win and got a resounding one! Livepool were looking for a spring board win and were denied big time! Their League title hopes may have been dashed Sunday in north London.

On the local front... The Houston Dynamo are MLS Champs baby!!!!!! Brian Ching netted a miracle equalizer in second half overtime mere moments after Twellman seemed to secure a championship for New England! WOW!

Ching then went on to net his penalty to make it 4-3... and then keeper Pat Onstad saved the Revolution's last gasp effort to seal the deal! Bravo!!!!!

Big Match Time

First, Adebayor headed home a Flamini cross 5 minutes from time and we go through to the Carling Cup quarters... good show!

Now... on to the meat and taters. Arsenal plays what one could call 8 Big Matches each Premiership campaign. Home and home games with Man U, Chelsea, Liverpool and archrival Spurs! To many the 2 London Derby's v Tottenham Hotspur are the biggest each year... but one can certainly argue that in terms of success, history, etc the other 3 clubs are just as big, or hated, if you will. We are 1-0 in these games this year with our win over Man U at Old Trafford.

Well, this Sunday, the Reds from Liverpool come calling on Ashburton Grove! It is a massive match, not just because it always is, but also because both clubs are expected to fight for the trophy and both are losing ground on Man U and Chelski... They have not beat us on our pitch in years and heres to hoping that trend continues on the weekend.

For our part, we must put the damned ball in the net and halt this trend of beautiful yet underwhelming football! Henry must play like the best pound for pound player on the planet (which he is!) and the lads absolutely must put away any good chances we get! Liverpool are looking to get on-track, and we cannot be the source of their resurgence! They must be the source of ours!

Arsene... please play a 4-4-2 and put Henry and vanPersie upfront together with Adebayor waiting in the wings! Get Senderos on the pitch and Eboue too if fit! It is time to quit farting around and become the club we all know we can be! C'monnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn!

*Flash* longtime 60 Minutes news correspondent Ed Bradley died today at 65 of Leukemia related illness... not only a damn good newsie, but damned cool as well. RIP Mr. Bradley!

On a lighter note... in Montana... one can now find more trouble for lighting a cigarette than lighting a joint! It is absolutely stunning these guys are having trouble counting votes!

Enough already.

bwb

Changes a' Coming?

Well the Dems have taken The House and are 2 Senate races away from claiming that lovely body. Those 2 (Virginia and Montana) were too close to call thus time to bring in the "really good" bean counters and a load of damned attorneys. Remember when our elections resembled that of a civilized / sophisticated world power conducted with integrity and efficiency... now it's more like any old third world election joke... pity really. Regardless of your affiliation, etc... looks like we all have essentially lost in the end. Politics as usual will be the death of us...

I'm a Catholic, though surely no choir boy and by no means a card carrying Republican (I vote for people, not parties, thank you very nice and have frankly began leaning more leftward of late), however... those in this country that set the tone of their lives based on anything resembling a Judea - Christian moral based code... you may want to make sure your passport is current. Yes, the War is a friggin' debacle and change is likely needed... but someone once told me to be careful what you wish for...

Anyway, as I ponder my career / retirement opportunities across the pond... on to matters of actual import... Euro Football!!!  Arsenal visit Everton in Carling Cup play today... 2pm CST, text updates available via ESPNsoccernet.com and audio on ArsenalTVonline.com.

C'mon you Gunners!

bwb.