Fer Fook's Sake

Gone too soon . . . Gary Ablett RIP

2012-01-03T15:48:00.003+08:00

Even when he was part of the ultra-successful Liverpool team, me often heard punters say "he isn't good enough".

But as former team mates reflected upon the news of his tragic passing, consensus appears that he was a top pro & one who thoroughly deserved his place in that great LFC team.

Solid, dependable & fuss free, Ablett was a vital cog in that Anfield MAchine circa 88-90 which many pundits consider to be one of the finest footballing sides ever.

Ablett won two FA Cups with both red & blue halves of Merseyside.

RIP.

Punk's not dead, its just criminal . . .

2011-12-15T11:27:00.003+08:00

Scary news this. This was in today's papers & me really felt fer those who got hauled up. Blatant abuse of human rights which the "moral police" seem to think its ok.

Similar thing happened here when the Malaysian authorities decided KL needed a clean-up pre-Commonwealth Games. A couple of my musician friends who were at the wrong place at the wrong time (ie Central Market) were herded (along with several hundred others) into FRU trucks & sent to rehab/jail fer a couple of weeks.

Not even a phone call to family/friends, nevermind legal representation or informing employers. If you've got long/dyed/spiky hair, wear denim/leather & have piercings/tats, ye is fooking vermin & has absolutely nay rights at all. That's the prevailing message here & some people wonder why the fook we are viewed as backward.

Beware, in a police state, you could be next . . .

Punk rock fans jailed, ‘morally rehabilitated’ by Indonesian sharia police
Agence France-Presse Dec 14, 2011 – 11:35 AM ET

Police shave the hair of detained Indonesian punks at a police school in Aceh province on December 13, 2011
.by Nurdin Hasan

BANDA ACEH, Indonesia — Indonesian sharia police are “morally rehabilitating” more than 60 young punk rock fans in Aceh province on Sumatra island, saying the youths are tarnishing the province’s image.

Since being arrested at a punk rock concert in the provincial capital Banda Aceh on Saturday night, 59 male and five female punk rock fans have been forced to have their hair cut, bathe in a lake, change clothes and pray.

“We feared that the Islamic sharia law implemented in this province will be tainted by their activities,” Banda Aceh deputy mayor Illiza Sa’aduddin Djamal, who ordered the arrests, told AFP on Wednesday.

“We hope that by sending them to rehabilitation they will eventually repent.”

Hundreds of Indonesian punk fans came from around the country to attend the concert, organised to raise money for orphans.

Police stormed the venue and arrested fans sporting mohawks, tattoos, tight jeans and chains, who were on Tuesday taken to a nearby town to undergo a 10-day “moral rehabilitation” camp run by police.

A girl cried as women in headscarves cut her long unruly hair into a short bob, and some of the men groaned as their heads were shaved, according to an AFP correspondent at the camp.

Chaideer Mahyuddin / AFP / Getty Images
A group of arrested Indonesian punks are jailed in Bandah Aceh police station, December 13, 2011
.“Why did they arrest us? They haven’t given us any reason,” said Fauzal, 20.

“We didn’t steal anything, we weren’t bothering anyone. It’s our right to go to a concert.”

A 22-year-old man from Medan city, who did not want to be named, said he feared he would lose his job for staying at the camp for 10 days.

“I’ve just started with a bank in Medan. I don’t even know what to tell them because I don’t know why I’ve been arrested.”

Police said the objective was to deter the youths from “deviant” behaviour.

“They never showered, they lived on the street, never performed religious prayers,” Aceh police chief Iskandar Hasan told AFP.

“We need to fix them so that they will behave properly and morally. They need harsh treatment to change their mental behaviour.”

A local rights activist Evi Narti Zain said the arrests breached human rights.

“What the police have done is totally bizarre. Being a punk is just a lifestyle. They exist all over the world and they don’t break any rules or harm other people,” she said.

Mr. Hasan denied the accusation, claiming the rehabilitation programme was merely an “orientation into normal Indonesian society.”

Aceh, on the northernmost tip of Sumatra island, adopted partial sharia law in 2001 as part of a special autonomy package aimed at quelling separatist sentiment.

Only Muslims can be charged under sharia law, although the non-Muslim community is expected to follow some laws out of respect.

Nearly 90% of Indonesia’s 240 million people are Muslims, but the vast majority practise a moderate form of Islam.

Coolest facial hair in footie - Socrates RIP

2011-12-04T23:45:00.007+08:00

"That's how you play when under pressure. Brazil have replied."

Even though me was a wee lad during Espana 82, me can still remember the commentator's words when Socrates strode into the Italian penalty box & slid in that goal.

Though Brasil lost that classic tussle with the Italians, many football fans of a certain vintage will always have very fond memories of that team. Classy & reckless in equal measures, they were the closest thing to the great 1970 side that truly played football as a "beautiful game'.

And with his 70s style neo-Afro & headband, Socrates looked like the coolest thing on planet footie. Socrates famously sat fer his medical exams whille being a full time pro & he is also famed fer his pro-democracy campaigning whihc helped overthrow a dictatorship.

Alas, the Smoking Doctor who captained Brasil passed on today at the age of 57.

And to quote a narrator on one those 'great Brasilian world cup' videos who said, "these men have truly bestowed on us a golden almanac of memories."

RIP.

Holy Smokin' Bassist, Batman!

2011-11-30T16:13:00.003+08:00

Bought a copy of Bass Player mag (I know, I know - gotta look the part) with this Jonas Hellborg dude on the cover. A quick search on youtube yielded plenty of smack me fooking forehead & jaw on ground moments.

Inspired stuff.

Just the stuff to make ye wants to pick up an instrument or pawn it in disgust.

Again, apologies to anyone still reading fer the delay in between posts & hopes ye enjoys the vid.

Am off to put in some much needed practice minutes . . .

Thrilla In Manila - RIP Smokin' Joe Frazier

2011-11-09T11:36:00.004+08:00

Boxing legend Smoking Joe Frazier passed away yesterday after losing the battle against liver cancer.

A giant of the sporting arena & someone who got way too much crap from a peer who he had beaten in the Fight of the Century in 1971.

Those who are wondering wot the fuss is all about, please watch the absolutely BRILLIANT documentary below (made by the same team who gave us Oscar-winning When We Were Kings about The Rumble in The Jungle).

Remarkable film about possibly the most brutal fight in the history of pugilism.

Smokin' Joe Frazier - a truly great champion. RIP . . .

Grindcore - The Meaning of . . .

2011-11-01T17:06:00.004+08:00

Watched this very entertaining vid many many many years ago.

Highly entertaining & very educational, if ye wants to knows more about the grindcore scene.

Enjoy!

The Truth . . .

2011-10-19T10:33:00.003+08:00

Incredibly the controversy rages on & it has taken the Hillsborough victim's familes 22 long years to get to this point. Which is to get the UK govt to acknowledge its failings & its part in the cover up of the aftermath of that tragedy that claimed 96 Kopite lives.

FFS says:

Fook the police . . . in this case the Yorkshire constabulary who made grave mistakes on that day & fer all the subsequent lies.

Fook the UK Sun fer printing shite regarding the incident.

Fook Maggie Tatcher & her Conservatove govt which treated football fans like lepers.

Read this: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/oct/17/hillsborough-disaster-legacy-lies

Master of Frets

2011-10-09T23:44:00.005+08:00

Imagine wot would the history of metaldom be if Metallica had actually hired this dude to replace Cliff?

Les Claypool had actually gone fer the auditions but the Metalligang found him just a little way too out there.

Perhaps they wouldn't have gone all shitty soft rock if they had replaced an unconventional bass legend with a totally off the wall character like Les.

Shame . . .

Shanks The Man

2011-10-01T13:49:00.004+08:00

Part of the reason why me writes in a pseudo-Scots accent ala Irvine Welsh is as a tribute to this great man. All dem ye, didnae & cannaes isn't me thinking me is some fooking gwailo. Though Shanks had left by the time became a Kopite, listening to his interviews were nothing usch of awe inspiring (see above).

Gone but never forgotten.

From The Telegraph

Bill Shankly was speaking and Cally was spellbound by his master’s voice all over again.
Here was a newly unearthed old cassette recording of Shankly holding court in one of his last interviews, responding at 67 to a question about whether there were any mistakes he had regretted during his great career. “No,” he had scolded his questioner.

“I don’t call them mistakes, never mistakes! That’s too negative. I call them ‘happenings’. Aye, you have to learn from ‘happenings!’”

Callaghan could only look and smile at Ian St John, Chris Lawler and Ron Yeats. Ha! As if Shanks would ever have admitted to fallibility!

“Eerie. You could feel the same aura, how he compelled you to listen when he spoke,” reckoned Callaghan. “It made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up, like he was there in the room with us.”

But then maybe Shankly is still with us all. The spirit of the extraordinary people’s manager who took Liverpool FC from a nowhere club to global phenomenon largely through the sheer galvanising force of his personality and footballing passion seems to be more all-pervading by the year, reckons Callaghan.

“His values and what he stood for only seem to get more precious, more important to people here.”
Saturday’s Merseyside derby comes in the week of the 30th anniversary of his death and Karen Gill has, as ever, received hundreds of e-mails, texts and letters celebrating the memory of her granddad. From New Zealand to Mauritius and, yes, even back to Everton.

“I get more every year from all over the world,” she says, overwhelmed at how the cult just grows. “I don’t know why? Maybe, he symbolises good times, positive things about Liverpool. It’s a unique phenomenon.”
At her home in Greece, she reads from the tribute the Liverpool Echo offered on his death. “Shanks was not just a soccer genius, a charismatic, inspirational force.

"He won Cups and titles, yes, but he also won the hearts of men, women and children the world over. He walked with the high and the mighty but was never deluded by grandeur.

"His love was rooted deeply among the ordinary folk of Liverpool. He enriched the city immeasurably.”

A city, mind, not just a club. How astonishing, thinks Karen, that 30 years on, he still keeps enriching.

She was only 16 at the time and, to her, he was just the lovely, gruff, storytelling grandad who was so obsessed with the game that when the local kids came round with a football after Sunday dinner to ask if “Mr Shankly can come out to play”, even at 65 he just couldn’t say no. Of course, he had to be on the winning side, too!

On the day of his funeral, when she saw the unbelievable crowds lining the route from his home in Bellefield Avenue to the church, she began to truly comprehend what he meant to Liverpool.
“Including plenty who were wearing Evertonian blue,” she recalls.

Remember the fabled Shanklyism: “If Everton were playing at the bottom of my garden, I’d draw the curtains”?
Well, Karen relates how, actually, he had respect for the old enemy. When he took his dog for a walk, it was usually down to the nearby Everton training ground and he even got physio treatment there.

“Respect, but he still loved to beat them!” she smiles. And, of course, they made a perfect punchline for a bloke with the timing and delivery of a top stand-up comic.

Today, Karen is the chair of the Liverpool FC supporters commission, representing all fan bases and designed to give a direct line to the club’s new owners.

“In this day of corporatisation of football, at least there’s an indication from the club that they do care about supporters and I’d like to think that has stemmed from my granddad. For me, this feels like a chance to do something in his footsteps. It makes me proud.”

Next Friday, extracts from that cassette tape of him being interviewed by former headmaster Frank McFarlane, the recording which has transfixed Callaghan and co at rehearsal, will be interspersed with the four players giving their memories in a special “Bill Shankly Anniversary Show” at Southport Theatre.

The show is written by John Keith, who had the privilege of hearing Shankly’s wit and wisdom at Anfield on a daily basis as the Daily Express’s Merseyside man.

For five years now, it has played to full houses from Norway to Ireland and Keith notes: “We do get a lot of Evertonians coming too. They say ‘we hate Liverpool, but we love Bill Shankly!’ You see, he transcended the game.”

It is as the inscription on the base of the statue of the scarf-wearing Shanks, which guards Anfield with bronze arms outstretched like some angel of the north, puts it with perfect simplicity: “He made the people happy”.
And, to this day, the very thought of him still does too.

Stylo Milo

2011-09-27T13:40:00.004+08:00

Apologies to anyone still reading this blog fer the infrequent updates. Have been rather preoccupied with a new hobby.

As am sure many of ye are familiar with that Malay proverb, "Biar Mati Eksyen, Jangan mati accident". Taking that sound advice to heart, me has been trawling the classifieds in search of a battle axe to feed me inner metal child.

This is one that has caught me eye. Made in Land of the Rising Sun and of a vintage when hair was big & spandex tight. American made BC Rich instruments costs a fooking bomb and even this three decade old instrument commands at least a couple of Gs.

Pricey but it still is tempting.

Apologies fer the bass porn. Just me state of mind right now . . .

ps: Any feedback from the musically inclined is very much appreciated.

Interview with Evile

2011-09-15T14:50:00.003+08:00

If ye digs early/classic Metallica, ye should check out Evile. These lads from Huddersfield have honed that early-80s thrash sound into an artform without sounding ham-fisted or cliched.

please do check out the interview this humble scribe did with the guitarist here: http://www.spadesmagazine.com/2011/09/15/evile-interview-with-ol-drake/

Thrash fooking Rules!

Overkill

2011-09-14T16:36:00.000+08:00

There's four, five & six-string basses but this is just fooking overkill . . .

Free Bassing

2011-09-08T14:41:00.002+08:00

Sexy or wot?

This midlife crisis is sure making life very difficult fer me small wallet . . . (*sigh*)

Fiat Coupe Merdeka Run 2011 - pix

2011-08-31T23:22:00.006+08:00

Decided to make use of the long break by organising a run to Ulu Yam with some other Coupe owners. Had to get up at a God forsaken hour (4am!!!) but it was worthwhile.

Great fun. Plenty of camaraderie & loads of very very nice cars . . .

Pictures of you

2011-08-30T23:00:00.003+08:00

Brought home the office DSLR camera & the pix above was one of me better results.

Quite pleased with this actually. So much so me thinks me might just invest in one.

Ahhh, this mid-age malarkey is getting to be quite expensive . . .

Football & Pregnancy

2011-08-22T00:48:00.003+08:00

Women keep telling us we don't know wot its like to be pregnant.

Well, me begs to differ.

Every year, fer as long as me can remember, many men folk suffer from sleepless nites, nausea, sweaty palms, anxiety, nervous fits, wild mood swings, euphoric highs followed by severe depressions.

Yup folks, its the nine months that make up footie season!

Calling all Kopites!

2011-08-13T10:38:00.003+08:00

And so it begins. The palpitations, the sweaty palms, the nervous anticipation & the huge expectation that comes with the start of every new season.

So all ye Kopites reading this, ye is invited to come sink a few cold ones, make some noise & wear yer Kopite colours on yer sleeve @ The Bank, Plaza Kelana Jaya.

YNWA!!!

Music Collection - hobby of a bygone era?

2011-08-03T17:10:00.004+08:00

The Flea market @ Amcorp Mall.

Despite increasing prices of collectible vinyl & Cds, me still feels its a great place to find affordable music.

Just last Sunday me managed to find a CD copy of Steely Dan's Pretzel Logic. Remastered edition no less fer just RM25. Also found Mahavishnu Ochestra's Birds of Fire LP fer RM35.

Bargain me thinks.

How come me don't see very many youngsters there browsing fer sounds? has shopping fer music become an old codger's hobby?

Dream Gal of Yesteryear . . .

2011-07-27T11:18:00.004+08:00

Couldn't log on to me blog fer a few days. Dunno wot the problem was but to make up fer the sudden disappearance of Fer Fook's Sake, please allow me to brighten up yer day with a few nice shots.

Came across these when me was searching fer Whitesnake vids in anticipation of their upcoming KL gig (30 Oct 2011, Stadim Negara). Am sure many of ye remembers the vixen that was in the bands' vids circa 1987.

The one & only Miss Tawny Kitaen.

Ye can see why she represented the teenage (& most likely adult) fantasy woman.

These were taken when she was a 19-year-old model.

Alas, me will not spoil yer day with more recent pix of Miss Kitaen. No one stops ravages of time . . .

The Times They Are A'Changing

2011-07-19T15:10:00.005+08:00

Have always complained loudly about certain friends who cannae be bothered to register as a voter. Well, met one of them over the weekend & this time there was nay brushing aside the issues.

If anyone doubted the effectiveness of Bersih in waking up the masses, me friend is the perfect example. Self-made, young & successful, he was the archetypal apathetic urbanite.

But this time even he was disgusted by the bias & slant of the local media. He now sees BN & its leadership fer wot it is . . .

C'mon people, we can make a change. Ye don't need to march in the streets, be a radical blogger or join a political party. All ye need to do is visit yer local post office to be part of the your country's future.

In Awe of Madam Liberty

2011-07-11T12:58:00.001+08:00

“Why do we have to feel so scared in our own home land . . . and by own countrymen,” says Madam Ooi dubbed "Lady Liberty of Malaysia".

Well said.

Unlike some people me knows who still buy BN's propaganda, is this the pix of a "terrorist / Indian thug / troublemaker" ?

Why Italian car owners are a breed apart . . .

2011-07-07T10:56:00.000+08:00

Some time ago, a thread appeared on Italia Auto Malaysia website & apparently, an unfortunate Alfa owner had his Bella stolen.

Car was later found abandoned & stripped of vital parts & ICE.

The bangkai of said Alfa was towed to Subang Jaya police station & left out in front.

Some of the members were wondering whether the car could be bought or taken away to be used for spare parts.

They enquired & were told that it was being held as evidence in a theft case. Car has been written off by insurance company.

So whilst waiting fer the case to go to court, one of the IA members took great pity on seeing such a magnificent car's interior fade due to a broken window.

This is wot he did . . .

Respect la this dude . . .

Chuffed to bits!

2011-06-29T14:42:00.004+08:00

Yup, this humble scribe managed to do a extra-short interview with Barney Greenway of Napalm Death after their brilliant gig on Monday nite at 1Cafe, Kuala Lumpur.

Please do visit http://spadesmagazine.com/ to read the gig review as well as watching some hand held camera footage.

Paul . . . The Biopic

2011-06-26T23:05:00.004+08:00

This was in yesterday's Guardian, whicxh in me mind highlights just how maddeningly popular footie is compared to any other sport known to mankind:

The Life & Times of Paul the Octopus

While eight new Paul the Octopuses go head-to-head during the Women's World Cup to choose a successor for the late tipster, his legacy has been preserved on celluloid, reports Der Spiegel.

Filmmaker Alexandre Philippe has captured the mighty one in a documentary entitled The Life and Times of Paul the Psychic Octopus. Philippe spent four days with Paul and spoke to cephalopod experts, statisticians and bookmakers. "I think the world is always craving stories like this; an underdog story - or rather an underoctopus story."

"No one has really been able to do what Paul was able to do. It's charged with positive energy and feeling, and people couldn't help but embrace it," he said.

As the search continues for Paul's replacement, Phillipe is unsure he can ever be replaced. "There have been a lot of animals who people have tried to get to do predictions," he said. "They're pretty bitter about the fact that Paul could do it. He could do something that no other animal or human could do."

Perhaps Paul really was unique, the film-maker himself does not want to rule out any possibilities: "There's the significance of the number eight — eight tentacles, eight matches predicted correctly, eight goals scored during the tournament by Spain. It's all very interesting," he said.

Intriguingly, however, it's not the only film underway, as a Chinese company is also at work on a black comedy entitled: The Murder of Paul the Octopus, although Phillipe's movie has the superior tagline: "One mouth, two eyes, eight arms, nine brains … Two BILLION fans."

Dark Art of Cookery

2011-06-18T23:50:00.002+08:00

This is fooking cool.

Who would've thought that combination of extreme black metal & vegan recipes would be such a hit?

Over a million hits fer each of his vids so dar, vegan black metal chef proves that not all metal fans are po-faced, glum freaks with nay sense of humour.

Brilliant!

Bad Case of Duderock

2011-06-15T11:18:00.004+08:00

Have belatedly caught a bad case of duderock. Canadian prog legends Rush seem to be dominating me stereo at home, in the car & at work.

Is turning 40 led me to develop a love fer complex drum solos?

Am a bit spooked. . .

ps: To anyone reading this, me humbly request that ye visit our music website at http://spadesmagazine.com/ & also 'like' our facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/SpadesMagazine)

The Old Outlaw of Grass Country

2011-06-09T12:33:00.002+08:00

78 years old & still going strong. A true outlaw if there ever was one . . .

Willie Nelson gets fine for marijuana possession

June 09, 2011SAN ANTONIO, June 9 — When Willie Nelson is on the road again, he will be travelling without a Texas drug charge hanging over his head.

A West Texas prosecutor said yesterday that the legendary singer and songwriter has pleaded no contest to a misdemeanour charge of possession of drug paraphernalia and has agreed to pay a US$500 (RM1,500) fine plus court costs of about US$280.

“I have given him the option to do it by mail,” said C.R. Bramblett, the county attorney in remote Hudspeth County, where Nelson (picture) was charged with marijuana possession last November.

A Border Patrol officer smelled pot inside Nelson’s tour bus when it was pulled over at a checkpoint.

Bramblett said he has spoken with Nelson’s attorney, and the singer has agreed to the plea deal. Bramblett expects the case to be settled within two weeks.

“All he has to do is sign the papers, and get me a cashier’s cheque for the money,” Bramblett told Reuters.

Bramblett said the case will be dismissed entirely if Nelson stays out of trouble for 30 days.

He says officials have determined that there was a “little bit less than two ounces” of marijuana inside the bus, which allows the case to be treated as a misdemeanour.

Officials had initially reported that as much as five ounces of pot was discovered, which would have made the case a felony.

“He got the same thing I’d give to anybody,” Bramblett said of the settlement. — Reuters

Gaji buta?

2011-06-06T12:01:00.003+08:00

Can ye fooking believe it? This dude is on 120,000 sterling pounds a week @ Anfield.

Wot a fooking mess. Fer all the optimism that King Kenny has brought back into the club, reports like this concerning over-inflated wages & disastrous signings really puts things into perspective.

Besides Milan Jovanovic & Joe Cole who are picking up the proverbial gaji buta, we've got to contend with a whole host of players who nay longer fit into our plans & are looking to be shipped off fer nothing or at a considerable loss - see Aqualani, Insua, El Zhar et al.

Fer all those Kopites who think we is gonna be splashing cash like there's nay tomorrow this summer, me thinks the new owners are gonna be looking at the names above & be very circumspect on how they spend the dosh.

Lest not talk about champion's league qualification or title challenges just yet, clearing out the deadwood alone is gonna be a huge test of King Kenny's resolve . . .

The Greatest Brasilian Ever?

2011-06-02T12:22:00.002+08:00

Anyone know where me can gets this?

Alternative

2011-05-23T11:55:00.003+08:00

Nay more waxing, nay more fooking stone chips, nay more agonising over faded paintjobs.

This certainly looks like a very viable alternative.

Shop is new & is offering attractive price schemes to draw in patrons.

Anyone game to try this?

Giving canines a bad name . . .

2011-05-12T14:50:00.000+08:00

Have had it.

Am absolutely sick of this shit.

Dog shit to be precise.

Especially Big Dogs that fooking poop in public.

Flea- & tick-ridden mongrels that do nothing but make a mess in public.

In front of yer house. On yer car tyres.

Yeah. Ye knows wot me is talking about.

Maybe its time to put these Big Dogs down with a lethal injection.

No . . . that would just be too humane . . .

Permanent nozzle & a pair of bricks to the bollox would seem more appropriate . . .

Wot's in a Name?

2011-05-01T17:04:00.009+08:00

Sorry. This is a Spades-endorsed rant. But what is it with indie bands & fooking silly names? Local bands in particular seem to subscribe to the three-parter, nonsensical name formula most rigidly.

Ever since Old Automatic Garbage broke through mainstream radio in Malaysia, there have been a slew of outfits with similarly rubbish names. Seven Collar T-Shirt? Nice stupid Playground? Citizens of Ice Cream?

Fer fook's sake. These monikers just scream 'we is just too clever by half' & are particularly irksome fer the simple fact that it showed band had no originality beyond throwing a group of syllables together. It also reeks of hipster bullshit

To read more, please click here: http://spadesmagazine.com/2011/05/03/wots-in-a-name/

The Magnificent Seven

2011-04-28T16:11:00.012+08:00

Me has always lamented the utter lack of sophistication & fun amongst Malaysia's backward car-buying public. As South East Asia's largest car market, Malaysians (save fer small minority) are decidedly mundane when it comes to their choice of wheels.

The obsession fer mini-tanks &/or Japanese saloons with zero character has meant we are deprived of choice. Many marques & models never make their way here (eg Ford Ka).

Only the other day, me was showing the wifey a copy of Octane magazine & the report on the latest incarnation of the Caterham Seven, saying how nice it'd be if we had a choice of buying something like that.

And today, me wipes me blinkers in disbelief as news filters through that Dato' Tony Fernandes has bought 100% stake in the lil' sports car manufacturer.

YES!!!! And double fooking YES!!!

There is now a chance that the magnificent sevens will find their way onto our shores & may even be within reach of an average salaryman. These are truly incredible machinery which have largely remained unchanged since Colin Chapman designed them as the Lotus 7 half a century ago!

"Lightness = Speed" was Chapman's mantra & we may just be able to sample one of the fastest track & road cars ever made fer ourselves.

To read the report on Tony's takeover, click here: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/motorsport/formulaone/8478760/Team-Lotus-buys-Caterham-as-dispute-over-iconic-name-takes-new-twist.html

To start drooling, click here: http://www.caterham.co.uk/

ps: Please excuse the rather obvious header . . . But blimey, me is as excited as 7-year old on a trip to the fooking toy store. To Dato' Tony, me says "Caya La, Macha!"

Keyboard bashing of the highest order

2011-04-28T15:19:00.007+08:00

Found this piece in the Guardian commemorating When Saturday Comes' recent 25th anniversary. Wish me could write like this.

But more importantly, it celebrates a true fanzine which has remained unchanged in the face of football's continuing evolution. Sticking righteously to the principles of this being the people's game & all articles should thus be written by dyed-in-the-wool supporters who live & breathe the sport.

You will find the link to WSC on the sidebar (under footie news) of this blog.

Long live WSC!

When Saturday Comes – eyes and ears of football, and voice of the fans
WSC provided a voice for an outlaw sport back in 1986 but its relevance is as great as ever

When Saturday Comes has been in existence for 25 years and has become a bastion in a sea of greed and inanity. Photograph: WSC
We really are spoilt these days. Football: it's everywhere. And not just in its shoutiest, most broad-brush incarnation. Intelligent comment, learned discourse, frenziedly pedantic obsession: they're all not just available but forcibly thrust into the gaping cavity of our collective footballing gullet. The progress of football into, through and beyond the mainstream is still a striking thing. Perhaps it is this endlessly barfing nature of the sport's media – under- and overground, paper and screen – that makes us take these riches slightly for granted.

Last month, When Saturday Comes celebrated its 25th anniversary as the UK's leading – and now only – independent national football magazine. This milestone passed without a great deal of comment beyond the immediate environs of its readership and the industry itself. The magazine is commemorating the achievement with a series of special issues over the summer. Most commercial anniversaries are largely meaningless – and rightly ignored – but with WSC there is a sense that this really is a moment worth reflecting on, at least in my own partial opinion as a long-standing on-off contributor.

Over its quarter of a century WSC has spanned, chronicled, and even perhaps spurred along the entire period of football's recent fast-forward evolution. Like a slightly mildewed Victorian keystone buried within the sparkling bowels of a craning new-build mega-city, it has remained essentially unchanged as football has mushroomed around it.

To get a sense of WSC's significance it is necessary to tinkle the wind chimes, smear your screen with Vaseline and time-tunnel back to 1986. Strange as it might seem, in WSC-year-zero football was still considered a kind of outlaw pursuit. Not a charismatic outlaw pursuit either, but instead a kind of dunder-headed yobs' circus, to be laughed at and not with – albeit only at those moments when it wasn't bull-necking its way around your town centre throwing darts at pensioners and conscientiously rioting in Wimpy.

There was no real mainstream football presence: in the broader media the game was usually portrayed as a kind of urban affliction, like planning blight or unlicensed mini-cabs. Nobody expected the players to be role models or the face of a new range of edgy urban menswear, perhaps because they all looked like angry junior butchers. Football had been, by turns, assailed and ignored. It lurked touchily in semi-leftfield.

It was against this largely unanimous sense of righteous and hierarchically sanctioned alienation that WSC first emerged. It was a DIY-ish production, an echo along with its many fanzine contemporaries of the moment 10 years earlier when punk musicians had decreed that lack of a recording contract, an instrument – and indeed talent – need no longer be an obstacle to getting yourself heard.

Founded by the journalist Mike Ticher, occasionally of these pages, WSC was initially an offshoot of the music fanzine Snipe, which was published from a small press in a semi-derelict shed in Upper Clapton Road, east London. Issue one of WSC was a giveaway with issue two of Snipe, a piggybacking that soon gave way to outright historical ascendancy as Ticher's spiky, likeable, unashamedly cerebral football magazine struck a chord with an unexpectedly voracious audience.

By 1988, WSC had shed its hand-stapled adolescence and blossomed into a national monthly magazine covering both the domestic leagues and international football, its popularity spurred in part by coverage of the African Cup of Nations through the 1990s. While louder, more expensively backed, more cravenly ambitious football magazines bubbled up and disappeared with predictable regularity in the coming decade of mainstream footballing land-grab (what we might call the Lovejoy Years), WSC has continued along its way.

Its longevity is perhaps grounded in the unwavering refusal of its editorial staff to bend with fashion, agree to go on TV, pop up as a talking head in a year-end countdown clip-show, cash in with a series of annoying and hastily scrawled books, or basically extend far beyond their own pages. The magazine has still only been edited by two people: Ticher, who now lives in Australia, and the current editor Andy Lyons, also an early contributor.

WSC has changed very little. It remains infused with that founding fanzine spirit, its default setting as ever a football supporter's eye view. It is quietly and constitutionally political: the running man emblem on the cover since issue one (tagline: "The People") no empty boast from a magazine that has backed supporter campaigning from the early days of the Thatcher government's reflex demonising of the football supporter to campaigns for justice for victims of the Hillsborough disaster, to providing a dissenting voice in the last decade and half of galloping financial chicanery.

Where WSC has been most prominent is in its ambient influence. Before its rise to prominence the wider media – outside of the thriving club fanzine network – simply didn't write about sport the way it does now. The fanzine culture that WSC popularised was a template for the new vocabulary of puckish humour, critical scrutiny of football's hierarchies and the promiscuous eliding of football with other parts of the popular culture.

Beyond newspapers this voice has evolved further, finding expression in the massed cyber-rhubarb of the eclectic, unstoppable – by turns arch, rabid, ill-informed and chasteningly refined – new frontier of the footballing blogosphere. WSC first brought this into the mainstream, and it did other things first, too: the football-humour bits, occasionally spot-on, occasionally excruciating; and the publication of more literary or tangentially related writers – John Peel, Mark E Smith and the pre-fame Nick Hornby have all contributed.

There have been tricky times along the way, with periodic near-foldings plus issues of tone and outlook too. Football has transformed itself completely over the past 25 years. The founding oppositions of WSC's genesis – football versus the enemy – have melted into gurglingly inclusive triumphalism. It is now the non-football fan who is marginalised. Even the title When Saturday Comes looks terminally outmoded, redolent with unintentional nostalgia. When Tuesday Night Comes might be more appropriate; or When Saturday Comes: Only 24 hours Til Super Sunday. At times during the last decade the magazine has even risked becoming a little crabby and defensive.

No doubt this is the price of remaining eternally vigilant against bogus and transient. It is also one of the reason WSC should be treasured. English football needs all the cussedly unbending sense of conscience and duty it can get these days.

It is, though, still perhaps easier to praise WSC by saying what it isn't. This is the only place where you will find no sponsor-driven interviews with a captive star (in fact one promised one-to-one with a top Premier League player was abandoned when the player concerned answered a succession of probing questions with "I'm just here to talk about Puma boots"); no celebrity-driven features, of the James-Corden's-Top-10-favourite-player-mucus-expectorating-incidents; no forced gaiety or feigned interest in the passing clouds of the day; and best of all, no barriers.

Twenty-five years on, WSC is still an open forum, open to contributions from all and still ploughing its entirely unbeholden furrow. If it is still with us in another 25 years we can be sure at least that there are one or two bits of football yet to be annexed by the forces of greed and inanity.

Never too old !!!

2011-04-21T17:16:00.003+08:00

Though wifey & meself have seen this noisy lot twice, me is still fooking chuffed to bits that that they are coming to our shores again. Have once again tried contacting two of me former gig-going buddies from varsity days to join us.

One is too wrapped up in his business while the other seems to have become the very definition of middle age fuddy-duddiness.

Fer fook's sake, dudes, how bad can things have degenerated to if ye cannae spare an hour or two fer dinner & a ear-splitting gig to relive wasted youth?

Success & a comfortable family life means being able to do some silly things like going to see Napalm Death Live on June 18!!!

Otherwise, wot's the point?

A Moment's Silence

2011-04-18T16:45:00.006+08:00

Another Spring & perhaps memories are not as fresh.

But the pain lingers on.

Will not try to pretend me understand wot it was like to lose someone @ Hillsborough.

All we can do spare a moment's though & a silent prayer fer those who went too soon & fer their families & loved ones.

To watch the Memorial Service, click here: http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/video/Features/Hillsborough-Me-25718.php3

JFT96 . . . YNWA!

Flares, Hairs & Football!

2011-04-08T17:21:00.003+08:00

This has been making the rounds again on Astro & me would definitely recommend it to all footie fans.

The Damned United tells the tale of Brian Clough's ill-fated appointment as manager of Leeds United. Fourty four fooking days is all he lasted.

This has got to be one, if not the best, films on the beautiful game. A damn fine performance from Michael Sheen as Ole Big 'Ead & Timothy Spall as his partner in crime, Peter Taylor.

The scenes of muddy pitches & flamboyant sideburns really did bring back some fond memories of watching footie from a bygone era.

The actual footage of Liverpool's King Kev clash with Leed's Norman Hunter in the 1974 Charity Shield on its own is worth the entry fee.

Built fer F1, broken by . . .

2011-04-01T15:27:00.011+08:00

Tarox is a company founded by Gianni Taroni in 1976 & specialises in making high performance braking systems. Its reputation was greatly enchanced when it powered Williams to F1 victory in the 1982 season.

D'Yella Beast came fitted with a set of these magnificent brakes & the previous owner assures me they are in very good nick.

So how is it possible fer me demure wifey to wear out a set of these THICK, BIG ASS pads in less than a year??!!??

Cure fer the Monday Blues

2011-03-21T15:48:00.001+08:00

From The Band's Last Waltz farewell sessions.

Abso-fooking-lutely brilliant.

Most certainly brightened up me day.

Hope it does the same fer ye.

(*goosebumps*)

Xcuse me while I kiss the sky . . .

2011-03-14T16:47:00.001+08:00

Wot a life . . .

Owsley Stanley killed in car crash
LOS ANGELES, March 14 — Owsley “Bear” Stanley, a 1960s counterculture figure who flooded the flower power scene with LSD and was an early benefactor of the Grateful Dead, died in a car crash in his adopted home country of Australia yesterday, his family said. He was 76.

The renegade grandson of a former governor of Kentucky, Stanley helped lay the foundation for the psychedelic era by producing more than a million doses of LSD at his labs in San Francisco’s Bay Area.

“He made acid so pure and wonderful that people like Jimi Hendrix wrote hit songs about it and others named their band in its honor,” former rock ‘n’ roll tour manager Sam Cutler wrote in his 2008 memoirs “You Can’t Always Get What You Want.”
Hendrix’s song “Purple Haze” was reputedly inspired by a batch of Stanley’s product, though the guitarist denied any drug link. The ear-splitting psychedelic-blues combo Blue Cheer took its named from another batch.

Stanley briefly managed the Grateful Dead, and oversaw every aspect of their live sound at a time when little thought was given to amplification in public venues. His tape recordings of Dead concerts were turned into live albums, providing him with a healthy income in later life.

“When it came to technology, the Bear was one of the most far-out and interesting guys on the planet,” Cutler wrote. “The first FM live simulcast could be, in part, attributed to his vision, as could the first quadraphonic simulcast on radio.”
The Dead, a fabled rock band formed in the San Francisco Bay Area in 1965 known for its improvisational live concerts, wrote about him in their song “Alice D. Millionaire” after a 1967 arrest prompted a newspaper to describe Stanley as an “LSD millionaire.”

Steely Dan’s 1976 single “Kid Charlemagne” was loosely inspired by Stanley’s exploits.

‘COMMUNITY SERVICE’
According to a 2007 profile in the San Francisco Chronicle, Stanley started cooking LSD after discovering the recipe in a chemistry journal at the University of California, Berkeley.
The police raided his first lab in 1966, but Stanley successfully sued for the return of his equipment. After a marijuana bust in 1970, he went to prison for two years.

“I wound up doing time for something I should have been rewarded for,” he told the Chronicle’s Joel Selvin.

“What I did was a community service, the way I look at it. I was punished for political reasons. Absolutely meaningless. Was I a criminal? No. I was a good member of society. Only my society and the one making the laws are different.”
He emigrated to the tropical Australian state of Queensland in the early 1980s, apparently fearful of a new ice age, and sold enamel sculptures on the Internet. He lost one of his vocal cords to cancer.

Stanley was born Augustus Owsley Stanley III in Kentucky, a state governed by his namesake grandfather from 1915 to 1919. He served in the US Air Force for 18 months, studied ballet in Los Angeles and then enrolled at UC Berkeley. In addition to producing and advocating LSD, he adhered to an all-meat diet.

Cutler, speaking on behalf of the family, said in an interview that Stanley and his wife, Sheila, were driving to their home near the city of Cairns along a dangerous stretch of highway when he evidently lost control during a storm. He died instantly; his wife broke her collar bone.

Stanley is also survived by four children, eight grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. — Reuters

The Ace of . . .

2011-03-03T12:00:00.004+08:00

Yer all cordially invited to check out the new music & gig review site set up by Nicko & meself.

Please do drop by & share our passion fer good sounds at http://spadesmagazine.com/.

Maiden gig review has been posted & would appreciate yer feedback.

Cheers!

Can it be true?

2011-02-23T14:51:00.005+08:00

Wifey's favourite Filipino Boy Band is headed this way! Got email confirmation from the band's management.

Scheduled the day after they hit Bangkok, this would be a great chance to see these thrash metal titans in the flesh.

While it may be a trip down memory lane fer some, their newer material does live up to expectations.

Frolic in the fooking park, anybody?

Well said, Ian!

2011-02-18T20:49:00.005+08:00

Spotted in the Guardian today, an interview with a real LFC No9 - Ian Rush. He had this to say:

Where's your favourite destination? Malaysia – I go there every year. The people are friendly, the scenery's lovely. You have to go. I took my family last year and they fell in love with it as well.

Yer welcome around these parts anytime!

To read full interview, click here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2011/feb/18/ian-rush-small-talk-interview .

A Crying Shame

2011-02-10T16:47:00.003+08:00

Well, Nando, the pix above shows ye wot kinda club ye just fooking joined. One which has fans blindly copy our banner without even bothering to remove the Shankly Gates motif from the design . . . wtf??!!??

When ye was playing shite, we said, "give the lad a break, he's been playing non-stop fer two fooking years."

When ye sulked on the pitch, we said, "rafa/roy didnae know how best to use ye & the tactics put too much strain on yer frail shoulders."

When ye fell on yer arse against piss poor defenders, we said, "Leave it out, he's recovering from injury."

One game in & already yer being compared to that doyen of crap & expensive strikers - Adriyv Schvenko . . . Hope ye likes it down there.

Better than Viagra!

2011-01-24T17:19:00.003+08:00

Dropped by AutoConnexion's showroon in Jln 13/2, PJ last weekend & me is still having a fooking raging stiffy. Was told that there are some pre-reg 159s fer sale at a hefty discount & fook me, this is one seriously nice car. From the hand stiched leather interior to the triple headlamps, me very nearly creamed meself from the sheer beauty alone.

Most have fairly low-mileage on them as they were only used fer some promo work last Nov. Buyers will get RM20k knocked off the price tag (ie RM178k), nice number plate as well as six months free road tax.

Yes, it is a LOT of dough. But once ye've seen it . . .

The words 'beg, borrow or fooking steal one' come to mind.

ps: Ye can call Mazmi @ 0183765100 fer a test drive. Go on . . . ye won't regret it!

A Career in Modelling

2011-01-13T11:27:00.008+08:00

Am sure some of ye tune in to Astro's ch734 regularly & would've noticed one of the trailers that goes something like this:

"It's not easy being a top model. Sure, there's the girls, the photoshoots & pampering. But behind the scenes there's the workouts, the extreme makeovers & the greasy fan boys. But at the end of the day, its all worth it."

Well, me is pleased to say D'Yella Beast got to experience just that when it was invited to be part of Italia Auto's calendar shoot.

The shoot took place @ Jemima Films on Jln Tun Razak which houses loads of vintage cars (that's another blog posting on its own when me has sifted thru the tons of pix me took). Five cars (Mito, 155, classic GTV, Bravo GT & yers truly) were invited plus a super rare Dino from the Jemima collection was used fer the shoot.

All in it was great fun & made the hours of muscle ache-inducing waxing D'Yella Beast worthwhile. Cannae fooking wait to see the finished product.

ps: A big TQ to Sherman of Time Studios & Nik Azwaa fer organising this. It was a fooking blast!

Welcome Back

2011-01-10T11:44:00.005+08:00

Dear Mr Dalglish,

Welcome back to the dugout. Ye should never have left in the first place. And me will refrain from using words such as 'messiah' fer fear ye may be crucified fer not meeting unrealistic expectations.

Suffice to say, whilst me is overjoyed ye has returned, deep down there is a fear that we are turning into the Toon with the fervour fer club legends / hometown heroes, or worse, fooking Everton & the multiple returns of Howard Kendall.

But thank ye. The club needs ye. We need ye.

Ye'll Never Walk Alone.

Anfield Devotee

ps: Shame ye had to lose the first game to the manc's star performer - Howard Webb . . .

Respect the Elderly . . .

2010-12-27T11:55:00.007+08:00

Hugh Hefner, the 84-year-old founder of Playboy magazine, has announced that he is to be married for the third time. In a message to his Twitter followers on Christmas Day, Hefner said he had given his 24-year-old girlfriend, model Crystal Harris, a ring.

"Yes, the ring I gave Crystal is an engagement ring," he clarified in a later tweet.
Hefner set up Playboy magazine in 1953, and Harris featured in it as Playmate of the Month in December 2009.

The soft-porn magnate and libertarian has been married twice before - to Mildred Williams in 1949, and Kimberley Conrad in 1989. Over the decades he has admitted affairs with dozens of Playmates. But last April Hefner and Harris reportedly "became exclusive".

"When I gave Crystal the ring, she burst into tears," Hefner told Twitter followers.
"This is the happiest Christmas weekend in memory." For her part, Harris told Twitter followers simply: "The most memorable Christmas ever." (From the BBC)

FFS says, tabik la this old man. Really living the Fantasy Island life. Power to the Senior Citizens me says . . .

Merry X'mas!

2010-12-21T11:13:00.001+08:00

Wot has a scantily clad model has to do with Dec 25?

Absolutely nothing . . . but why the fook not eh?

Happy Holidays everyone!

Pictures Of You

2010-12-11T22:52:00.009+08:00

Petrolheads who treat their rides like first wives, take note.

Here's yer chance to capture yer beloved wheels in all its greased lightning glory courtesy of Time Studios. Owner is a fellow Italia Auto member & has come up with some special packages.

As ye can see, me took the Yella Beast fer the shoot & me has to say, me is pretty fooking chuffed with the result.

Those who use better oils fer their cars than fer their own cooking & better towels to clean the cars than to wipe their own bollox should give this special offer serious consideration.

Anyone interested can call Sherman at 012-6918776.

For more information on the packages available, kindly click here: http://timestudios.blogspot.com/2010/11/to-all-automotive-enthusiasts.html

Go on, ye know its fooking worth it.

When the Four Horsemen rocked . . . (Metallica: Kill Em All)

2010-12-06T11:16:00.002+08:00

Dusted off me copy of the album above & gave me Sunday morning the perfect heavy fooking metal wake up call (though not quite sure whether me neighbours apprreciated it!!!). And fook me silly, it is still as vibrant & a shock to the system as swilling from a bottle of Thunderbird under a sweltering noonday sun!

Before Sandman, Bob Fooking Rock, the ultra-slick videos, Napster fiasco & the ham-fisted attempts to regain former glory, Metallica were not just Bay Area heroes. They were the original masters of 'Thrash Metal' before that became a dirty word.

This debut from 1983 had the same effect on us fledgling long hairs halfway round the world as it did with teens everywhere. This was an album that signalled the creation of a generation gap between us & the older Purple/Sabbath crowd. Though most of us loved those classic bands as well, Metallica was OUR band. The pimply complexions, the stonewashed denim & white high cut sneakers combo, sleeveless jacket with patches, the scraggly hair - fook, they were one of us!

Tunes like Hit the Lights, Jump In The Fire & Seek & Destroy may sound primitive & even noisy to Black album converts, but to older longhairs (or baldies?) this remains a high point in genre.

Of course, many will debate the merits of the next three LPs, but this debut effort remains one of me fave metal LPs of all time. Ye can hear the urgency of a band taking flight and of a new sound breaking out.

Watch this vid & roll back the years . . .

If ye've lost yer copy of this vintage piece of metal or never owned one, please click here fer free download: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=GI4IYTK0 .

Look forward to reading yer fondest memories of this classic that's now over a quarter of a century old . . .

BKT: A Love Supreme

2010-11-30T18:27:00.004+08:00

There's nothing quite like a boiling hot claypot of pork rib tea fer dinner during the rainy season to warm them tired bones & to soothe a growling belly.

And just before me heads over to me neighbourhood stall, here are a few things to note:

1) This dish is TRULY MALAYSIAN. Abso-fooking-lutely nay argument. Nay Indonesian or Singaporean or even Honkie can lay claim to it with its birth place in Klang. Like all great dishes, it has very working class roots & was probably devised as a means to cook all the "discarded" porcine parts.

2) A sign of a GREAT BKT eaterie is how many Indians are seated in it! Ever notice how Indians gravitate towards BKT? And let's face it, Indians are very CONSERVATIVE diners. Me has seen olde aunties in their saris, y'know the ones that won't even eat thosai outside their own kitchens, happily digging in. Maybe coz its such a wonderful post-thani supper . . . ?

3) Many "purists" say the claypot is a KL thing & adds fook all to the flavour. That may be true, but the claypot keeps the broth bubbling hot that little bit longer & that, in me humble book, is well worth the effort.

Ok, me is off fer me weekly dose of Love Soup & cordially invite ye to share yer thoughts on this wonderful dish &, of course, yer fave BKT hang outs.

Metal Humour!

2010-11-23T10:57:00.004+08:00

Found these on youtube. Hope it brightens up yer day by eliciting a loud guffaw or two . . .

RIP - Austin

2010-11-18T23:03:00.003+08:00

Ye was a mangy, scrawny dawg when we rescued ye from PAWS.

Ye ate & ate & ate till ye were round enough to show yer displeasure at the menu.

Ye had a BO that was . . . errrmmmm . . . . . 'strong' to say the least.

Ye was wild & couldnae be let off the leash.

But we loved ye & ye loved us back.

We are sorry if ye felt neglected the last few months.

We will always remember ye fer how ye brightened up our little corner of the world.

Austin - passed on today peacefully due to old age . . .

Wot's the appeal . . .?

2010-11-16T00:09:00.015+08:00

Am often asked wot is the fooking appeal of Italian marques as me has been raving about em like a rabid dawg since getting one recently. Me thinks a pix (or several of them) will convey the answer more eloquently than me ever could. Ye see when a dude stares at this . . .
He is actually dreaming of this . . .

And when someone with rather deeper pockets sets his eyes on one of these . . .

He is actually aiming fer a bit of this . . .

A fella who will mortgage his home & quite possibly his soul fer a taste of this . . .

Is really smacking his lips in anticipation of this . . .

A dude who opts fer this blacker-than-nite affair . . .

will feel he's with her even on a solo ride across state lines . . .

This is all in spite of the repeated warnings that wot's in store is a whole shit load of this . . .

Several post-scripts:

1) Women are always accussing us having only one thing on our mind . . . know wot, they're fooking right . . . Buying an Italian merely confirms wot everyone knows - yer a horny lil' devil.

2) We are just BOYS & their TOYS. We never learn, we never fooking grow up . . . So why not act out yer automotive fantasies with some of the most delectable cars ever to be made.

3) Cars are an extension of our personalities. People who say they are not bothered by wot they drive are basically declaring . . . (insert appropriate put down here) . . .

4) Yes, cars are penile extensions. So fooking wot? So are ties & every fooker's got one on!(*So its kinda scary if ye drives a Nissan Sylphy - its like saying ye've got some sorta STD!!!*).

5) Automotive style is not price sensitive. Fer example, a pre-owned pocket rocket like a Fiat Punto HGT costs less than a fooking Viva.

6) Different strokes fer diff folks, some will say . . . yeah, yeah . . . Its like saying ye don't dig Monica which means yer either BLIND or . . .

Get the picture?

Even Better in High Definition

2010-11-11T17:23:00.006+08:00

Me vividly remembers sticking on the VHS of The Song Remain the Same at Nicko Mun's abode many, many fooking moons ago & him registering his utter disgust at how Jimmy Page, despite being strung out on H, could play like that. A budding guitar hero in the making, me friend was not amused at the consumate ease Page plucked them notes. "Basterd" was his sentiments if memory serves me right.

Once this tune was so overplayed that it was considered the very epitome of bombastic 70s rock opera. Having being reduced to cliche in some quarters, it became the butt of Wayne's World punchlines & became the calling card fer fuddy duddy classic rockers (ie prone to giving "they just don't make them like they used to"-type lectures).

But having stumbled upon this high def version of this epic performance on youtube recently, me was again reminded of a few startling facts:

1) How the band could make an enormodome like Madison Square Garden seem like a small cosy niteclub.

2) The ultra "fit" of Robert Plant's hipster jeans.

3) The sheer austerity of the stage show.

4) And, the simple fact, that this remains one of the greatest fooking songs ever.

A Couple of Italians hanging out in Puchong . . .

2010-11-05T15:52:00.005+08:00

Me folks had invited a few relatives over fer Diwali & one of me cousin's hubby brought along his new plaything . . .

Took the opportunity to get a "family shot" of the Yella Beast with its Modena sibling.

Some glamorous behinds . . .

Also made sure kiddo got a feel of that rarefied Italian cockpit.

Now that's wot ye calls a proper upbringing . . .

Hope ye all are having a blast of a Diwali weekend . . . me knows Seth is.

Happy Diwali!

2010-11-03T17:01:00.001+08:00

Wishing all of ye a very Happy Diwali!

Patriot Games

2010-10-29T15:21:00.003+08:00

The vid above & the pix below says it all really . . .

Lost fer words . . .

2010-10-27T15:50:00.003+08:00

Incredible but true . . . this is how lost some of the VVIPs are when they think such vids are inspiring or heart-warming.

Undilah Barisan nasional & this is wot ye'll get.

Effing astonishing . . .

Atomic Power

2010-10-25T23:16:00.003+08:00

Love Top Gear, abso-fooking-lutely love this clip.

The sheer power of the damn thing is frightening.

Wonder if the day will come when such (yet not ridiclously expensive) exotica will ever reach these shores. Can ye just imagine going round a track in this or going on a hill climb?

Probably the most fun one can have with their clothes on.

Do enjoy the video & share yer comments.

ps: Apologies fer more automotive porn . . .

Focus & Discipline

2010-10-20T14:20:00.003+08:00

Talk about fooking focus & discipline!

The consunmate ease in which he pushed his machine into the redline & the ability to keep them neat lines despite the skimpily-attired distraction.

Cool or wot!!?!

Me thinks this should be mandotory viewing fer all students looking to apply unwavering attention to the task at hand.

ps: East meets West - bmw with honda power plant.

Use yer power!

2010-10-15T12:09:00.004+08:00

One state stripping him of his title ain't enough if we are to rid our society of this right-wing scum (see http://www.nst.com.my/nst/articles/8dat/Article).

To everyone who is sick and tired of listening to this basterd spew racist crap & fer the authorities to continously tip toe around him fer fear of upsetting the party warlords, well, you knows wot to do.

Vote. And get everyone else ye knows who has not visited the post office to do so.

Its the dignified & civilised thing to do. Not to mention moral & ethical duty . . .

Hicks & Gillettte . . . Please fook off!

2010-10-06T10:53:00.003+08:00

Well, latest news confirms two bids - one American & one Asian fer our beloved club.

The two hated basterd yanks who are currently squeezing the life out of our club have tried to block a sale by ousting other directors. Legal proceedings are at hand.

On the pitch, we lie in the arse end of the table.

But to whine, moan & groan at this crucial juncture of our club's history would be the wrong fooking thing to do. To repeat a fellow Kopite's rallying cry, its time fer us to stand tall & proud coz its easy to sing when yer fooking winning.

Its at times like these true fans make themselves known. Take nay shite from "others" & sign up fer various online protests campaigns (http://www.spiritofshankly.com/) to ensure our club survives this hated regime.

YNWA!

Subversive Punk, Where Art Thou?

2010-10-04T15:08:00.004+08:00

There is something very wrong with the youth of today when:

a) Punk is a mere fashion statement. ("Spiky hair with dye").

b) They cannae name a single song which has an anti-war message (even though they live in an age of televised conflicts 24/7).

c) Michael Jackson is deified but the kids don't know either Billie Jean or Beat It.

d) Jazz is defined as 'easy listening'.

Anyone else care to add to the list?

Thank fook fer . . .

2010-09-24T12:30:00.003+08:00

Thank fook fer Sesame Street. Now that me telly has been hogged by Master Seth, at least this programme is packed full of decent tunes.

ps: Kate Pery's performances on the latest series has been axed!

Diver's car fer sale

2010-09-21T11:19:00.004+08:00

At the risk of turning Fer Fook's Sake into a used car forum, me is posting this on behalf of one of our fellow bloggers - Tuan Nanda "Saints" Kumar.

He's letting his beloved ride go fer RM70k (or a warehouse full of Jack's) . . .

Call him if ye feels like going German.

Finlandia's Finest! (Kalmah: 12 Gauge)

2010-09-14T17:16:00.005+08:00

The advent of cheap original CDs (& the office blocking download links) has actually made me wanna step into record emporiums again. Some of the local distributors are pricing metal CDs at RM19.90 & this actually gave me the impetus to try something new.

This Finnish outfit was one such discovery. Melodic death metal is their game (watch hilariously amateurish video below fer a taster) &, fooking hell, they do it well.

Plenty of soaring fretwork & riffs thick enough to shake yer foundations so to speak. Won't wax lyrical other than to say they are cut very much from the same cloth as Children of Bodom.

Go on, inject some new metal into yer system. Ye won't regret it!

To download Kalmah's 12 Gauge (2010), please click here: http://www.mediafire.com/?qftzzamgjky

Unleash the inner racerboy!

2010-09-11T12:11:00.002+08:00

Ever wanted a car that just screamed SPEED DEMON? Ever wished ye had a hobby car just so ye can unleash the weekend racer that lurks deep in the inner recesses of yer juvenile psyche?

Spotted this lil red riding hood in ItaliaAuto forum & ye can revive yer F1/Rally/Vin Diesel alter ego with just 20 big ones . . .

Fer more details: http://www.italiaauto.net/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=21470

Go on, get it . . . ye knows ye fooking wants it!

Poor career choices

2010-09-06T14:30:00.006+08:00

She admits to having a comfy life with an elite private education & all the nice, fluffy stuff a girl of a successful actor could ask fer.

Yet, upon turning 18, she feels the best way to "launch" her career is to do a porn film. At the risk of sounding fooking judgemental, me thinks this young lady has been talking to the wrong career counsellors!

She thanks Miss Kardashian fer this having seen her leaked sex tape do no harm to her career. Wot is the world coming to when teens cannae tell the diff between "leaked tape" & bona fide hardcore porn?

Is she mentally unsound or just a product iof our times when people like Paris Hilton are celebrated fer their sexploits?

For more details, click here.

Sad, but true . . .

ps: When dear old dad was 18, he was shooting classic scenes like these (see vid below)

History Lessons

2010-09-02T14:50:00.006+08:00

Ye would've thought that starting a World War & committing genocide to the tune of six million would have guaranteed ye notoriety and infamy ad infinitum. But in this digital age, Mein Fuhrer doesn't even register as a recognisable blip on yer typical teenager's radar (or should that read modem?).

Me kids ye not. Me recently found out that the new student helper in me office had nay fooking clue who this moustached villain was or that he even had a fooking moustache! Not only did he profess COMPLETE & UTTER IGNORANCE, he was unable to identify the despot from a group pix (with some SS officers). His justification, "Not relevant to me."

The mind fooking boggles.

Shocked & appalled, me quickly set out to belittle him by asking the next student who came in 'do ye know the name Adolf Hitler?'. That's when the real shock came as me was met with another blank fooking look. Ye know the look people gives ye when yer speaking fooking gibberish. Like yer some loony on bad acid.

To cut a long story short, nine out of 10 local students asked, did not know Adolf Hitler (international students did not seem to suffer from this brain freeze - scoring a 10/10).

Me is truly at a fooking loss.

Remember how we used to laugh long & hard at documentaries showing stupid American kids who knew fook all about the world outside of Cheeseburger Central? Malaysia Boleh indeed . . .

ps: "Those who don't know history are destined to repeat it." - Edmund Burke (1729-1997), British Statesman.

Heavy Hindu Metal!

2010-08-26T19:28:00.005+08:00

Most old timers will remember before Shelter there was this bunch of tattooed hoolies who embraced the peaceful meditations of the Hare Krishna sect. Didnae seem to stop them from making an almighty racket though.

Part of the crossover punk/thrash movement of the late 80s alongside bands such as DRI & Agnostic Front, Cro-Mags existed beyond that of mere novelty. Lyrics inspired by the holy books & thick crunching guitars saw them gain quite a following. Though their careers were short-lived, this LP still sounds fresh today & will inspire many lively dandruff removal sessions!

This album is testament that violent-sounding music need not cause ye to lead a violent life. Enjoy!

To download, Cromag's Best Wishes (1989), please click here: http://www.mediafire.com/?9uwlajahblg

Little Boys' Toys

2010-08-23T15:14:00.004+08:00

Saw this in a back-dated issue of Octane mag & is a three-gear, pedal-powered junior sports car fer three-six year olds, produced by Morgan, UK, as part of their centenary celebrations last year.

And although me Master Seth is still a few months shy of his first birthday bash, me will have to start saving now if me wants to get him this. Why? Price fer this lil toy . . . a cool three thousand quid!!!

Donations to the 'Master Seth's Morgan Project' are welcome. Cheques accepted.

ps: Wifey has niggling suspicion that above three wheeler is fer me benefit, not Seth's. Me reassures her that me doubts the cockpit will be able to fit me ample frame . . .

The season is well &truly upon us!

2010-08-16T21:06:00.004+08:00

Caption: A young Kopite is dejected after Pepe's blunder . . .

Ah well, despite a near disastrous outing with the MyRawk dudes (not their fault but fooking Astro's!!!), me was sufficiently pleased with the outcome of our season opener.

Great thing about the start of every football season is that it brings a sliver of opitmism to all concerned, even to hardened cynics like meself. Let season roll on!

Not-so-fast & Furious!

2010-08-01T14:43:00.005+08:00

Despite having been interested in cars fer a long time, me has never been active in any motoring club. But this morning, wifey & meself made the effort to roll out of bed fer our maiden Ulu Yam run. Don't know why, but the Italian bug has bitten hard & has certainly given a fresh twist to weekend activities (goodbye lingering hangovers, hello teetotal morning drives!).

Bout 20 other enthusiasts (or lunatics depending on yer standpoint) gathered at Batu Caves fer the flag off & we were soon to experience yet another glorious chapter in this so-called midlife crisis of mine. The twisty, bendy B-roads leading to Ulu Yam certainly makes fer challenging driving & with most of these guys seasoned veterans of the route & having fooking throttle-heavy feet, it was quite the adventure especially fer novice (& conservative) drivers like meself!

But hey, as the participants were keen to stress, biar mati eksyen, jangan mati accident. Safety first & we was repeatedly reminded to enjoy ourselves & to drive at our own pace. Easier said than done when most of the cars start zipping past ye & disappearing off into the horizon!

Pix above demonstrate the quirky demands of our beloved rides as most took the scheduled breaks to give the engines a little breather. Don't really think ye sees the Porche/Beemer/insert-appropriate-reliable-marque having fag breaks with their fooking hoods up! But therein lies the charm of these wonderfully idiosyncratic machines. Unreliable they may be & even expensive to maintain, there's something bout them Italian breeds that just makes us obsessive (think Cameron Diaz in Something About Mary & ye gets the picture).

Me has longed heard of Italian car owners waxing lyrical about their rides despite spending most of their time in garages & have often wondered wot is it bout these cars that engendered such fervent passion & pride. This trip has made it even clearer. Despite the mystery "sounds" that emanate from various crevices, the dodgy temp gauge ("how hot was yer car?" was an oft-asked question during the run) & being at the arse end of the contingent, me still emerged feeling exhilarated, thrilled & pleased-as-Willie-fooking-Wonka-in-the-choc-factory.

Fun, camaraderie & the simple pleasure of taking yer ride out on some nice winding route. Fooking brilliant!

Counting me blessings

2010-07-27T15:25:00.001+08:00

Life is good . . . & me is a lucky fooker.

Get Shirty

2010-07-23T11:25:00.004+08:00

Ye've got to hand it to them, these ruling coalition muthafookers. They truly are master manipulators & sly-as-fooking-fox shit-stirrers.

In case ye haven't heard, some half-arsed cleric has stoked the fires by calling fer a ban on certain football jerseys. And quite knowingly decided to stir the hornet's nest by singling out the glory hunter factory that is man yew. (http://news.malaysia.msn.com/weird-news/article.aspx?cp-documentid=4232887)

And typically responding by accussing said cleric as a Kopite, these effing khants conveniently forget the REAL issue at hand.

HARGA PETROL NAIK LAGI LA BODOH!!!!

Boys & Their Toys

2010-07-18T23:22:00.007+08:00

Being a new dad pretty much means me is cooped at home most weekends. So last Saturday night me decided it was good time to try out me new toy - a Black & Decker orbital polisher.

Started the wash at 10pm & since this was me debut effort with the machine, it took longer than the usual bicep-powered method. Careful not to scratch the surface, me managed to finally finish the polishing & waxing at the ungodly hour of 3am! (Neighbour thought me was fooking nuts).

But this was the result . . .

Not bad fer a first time if me says so meself . . .

Feeling quite pleased with the effort, there was enough time fer a "small" reward just before the crack of dawn.

ps: Of course, following tradition, if ye wash yer car, it will rain. And since me washed, polished & waxed the car, it fooking pissed down with rain the ENTIRE fooking Sunday . . . Ah well, good excuse to crack open a few more beers next weekend . . .

The Numbers Game

2010-07-15T09:09:00.006+08:00

This an interesting article from the Guardian. Do take the time to read & share yer thoughts on this. After all, most of us think we can do a better job than (*insert appropriate name of manager/coach here*) . . .

The Question: What next for 4-4-2?
British football's favourite formation isn't dead – but the World Cup proved the future of 4-4-2 looks bleak

Is 4-4-2 set to become a thing of the past? Photograph: JA Hampton/Getty Images
This was a bad World Cup for a lot of old favourites – anybody who appeared on the Nike ad, Marcello Lippi, preconceptions about Africa – but none of them had quite such a miserable tournament as 4-4-2. When even its old friend Michael Owen starts doubting it, the future for the formation that has ruled British football for 40 years looks bleak.

Johan Cruyff got stuck in as well last week – not particularly surprisingly given his lifelong ideological insistence on 4-3-3 – pointing out that "the numbers don't match up" and explaining that a system of three straight bands doesn't lend itself to the creation of passing triangles. This has always been an axiom: all else being equal, a triangle will always beat a line, and the Cruyff mode of play has always been predicated on the creation of triangles. A 4-2-3-1, with its W shape in midfield, is essentially comprised of interlocking triangles.

Which raises the question of why, if 4-4-2's disadvantages are so obvious, it has survived for so long? To start with, it should be made clear that Cruyff is speaking about his particular vision of football, which is rooted in ball possession and pressing, something that caused him, even before the game, to align himself with Spain rather than Holland in the World Cup final. That is one way to play – and the recent success of Barcelona and Spain shows it is a successful way to play – but it certainly isn't the only way. That a short-passing, technique-based game isn't for everybody was demonstrated very clearly in a tournament in which many people preferred the more dynamic, if more reactive, football of Germany.

Those passing triangles are only important for a side looking to dominate possession. For a side looking to disrupt that, 4-4-2 can be extremely effective – the famous "two banks of four" that for a long time seemed to be such a feature of any English team playing an away game in European competition. Fulham showed last season how effective the style can still be. Sit the midfield line deep on the back four so there is minimal space between the lines for attacking midfielders or deep-lying forwards to exploit, and it becomes very hard to penetrate. It doesn't matter how many triangles you create if you never get the ball closer than 35 yards from the opposition goal.

Think of Gérard Houllier's Liverpool away to Roma in the Uefa Cup in 2001, with Owen and Robbie Fowler left high upfield, often 50 yards and more from the midfield: keep it tight, make sure of the clean sheet, and if, as in that case, Owen can pilfer two goals, that's a bonus. Think of Fulham in the Europa League semi-final against Hamburg.

Slovenia's method both in qualifying and at this World Cup, although slightly more possession-based, wasn't dissimilar, particularly after Zlatan Ljubijankic had replaced Zlatko Dedic. Ljubijankic is a more technical player and a better finisher than Dedic, but he doesn't drop off and doesn't forage which, at least against England – a game in which Slovenia played with such trepidation you wondered if anybody had told them Stan Mortensen and Tom Finney had retired – left Valter Birsa's occasional forays on the right as the only bridge between midfield and attack.

Sacchi's squeeze and the modern stretch
So 4-4-2 has a future as a reactive formation, yet it was also the preferred formation of Arrigo Sacchi, probably the most proactive coach of all. It was the system's defensive attributes, though, that made it work for him. The great strength of the Milan of the late 80s was its pressing, with Sacchi demanding an ideal of 25 metres from centre-forward to centre-back when his side were out of possession. They squeezed high up the pitch, and so 4-4-2 made sense because a four-man midfield meant each member of the back four was protected by a midfielder and so was less likely to be isolated (which, with acres of space behind him, was a real concern).
Possession was less of a concern for Sacchi. I recently watched Milan's 5-0 victory over Real Madrid in the second leg of the semi-final of the 1989 European Cup, and was struck by how often (comparatively speaking) they gave the ball away. Madrid, for long periods, looked the better side on the ball, but were undone by the dynamism of Sacchi's side (although 5-0 was still a freakish scoreline). It's probably the case that, as Egil Olsen posited in a more pragmatic context, a team have to choose between prioritising possession and position on the field.

Pressing is still part of the game, and Barcelona and Spain both perform the high press excellently, but it has been made harder to execute because of the liberalisation of the offside law. The effective playing area has been stretched, and as a result, three-band systems have increasingly been replaced by four-band systems.

Perhaps it is just about conceivable that, if players could be persuaded to put their egos to one side (and that could be an issue for Roy Hodgson if he attempts to apply the Fulham system at Liverpool this season), a club team could still be drilled into an effective pressing 4-4-2, but achieving that level of discipline is an exhausting, demoralisingly boring process that became too much even for Milan after three seasons; it was very hard to implement then, with the change in the offside law and players enjoying greater freedom to change clubs it is even harder now. At international level, anyway, where the time available to work with players is limited and they are fatigued by club commitments, it is impossible, something even Sacchi was forced to acknowledge.

4-4-2 isn't dead
What the World Cup has done is to expose the problems 4-4-2 without hard pressing faces, and not just in terms of being outnumbered in midfield; with the stretching of the effective playing area, the midfield band can become exposed, with space in front of it and space behind it. That gap between defensive and midfield lines was precisely the space Mesut Ozil exploited so well in the first half of Germany's victory over England (this space, as Matthias Sindelar, Alfred Bickel, Laszlo Kubala, Nandor Hidegkuti, Pelé, Günter Netzer,Diego Maradona, Ruud Gullit, Zinedine Zidane, Rui Costa and Juan Román Riquelme and countless others have demonstrated, has always been a problem for England, and that weakness is one of the reasons Eric Cantona, Dennis Bergkamp and Gianfranco Zola were so successful in the Premier League in the 90s). Quite apart from the furious search for immediate justice that followed the non-award of a goal after Frank Lampard's shot had crossed the line, it may be that a desire to compress that area was partly behind England's suicidally high line in the second half of that game.

And yet when the Premier League begins again next month, probably around half the sides will be playing 4-4-2, and not all as a stifling tactic. That is not because of a lack of tactical sophistication, or at least not just because of a lack of tactical sophistication: 4-4-2, to those brought up in Britain, is the default; it's what every player is brought up to understand. A five-man midfield, however it is arrayed, brings its own problems, perhaps most obviously that it can be difficult, particularly for less technical teams, to get men forward to support the lone striker.
Below the very highest level, it may be that it is better simply to let players do what comes naturally.

Then there is the issue of personnel, particularly at clubs with a relatively limited budget. At Sunderland, for instance, Steve Bruce may like the idea of 4-2-3-1, but when he has Kenwyne Jones and Darren Bent forming a potent partnership, it makes little sense to disrupt it, even if the corollary is that he occasionally loses control of midfield. Sunderland's form last season notably improved when Steed Malbranque moved to the left and began cutting infield, effectively giving Sunderland an auxiliary central midfielder and bringing them greater control in the centre.

So 4-4-2 isn't dead, but the World Cup confirmed that the trend of the past decade at the highest level is against it.

Is 4-4-2 set to become a thing of the past? Photograph: JA Hampton/Getty Images
This was a bad World Cup for a lot of old favourites – anybody who appeared on the Nike ad, Marcello Lippi, preconceptions about Africa – but none of them had quite such a miserable tournament as 4-4-2. When even its old friend Michael Owen starts doubting it, the future for the formation that has ruled British football for 40 years looks bleak.
Johan Cruyff got stuck in as well last week – not particularly surprisingly given his lifelong ideological insistence on 4-3-3 – pointing out that "the numbers don't match up" and explaining that a system of three straight bands doesn't lend itself to the creation of passing triangles. This has always been an axiom: all else being equal, a triangle will always beat a line, and the Cruyff mode of play has always been predicated on the creation of triangles. A 4-2-3-1, with its W shape in midfield, is essentially comprised of interlocking triangles.

Which raises the question of why, if 4-4-2's disadvantages are so obvious, it has survived for so long? To start with, it should be made clear that Cruyff is speaking about his particular vision of football, which is rooted in ball possession and pressing, something that caused him, even before the game, to align himself with Spain rather than Holland in the World Cup final. That is one way to play – and the recent success of Barcelona and Spain shows it is a successful way to play – but it certainly isn't the only way. That a short-passing, technique-based game isn't for everybody was demonstrated very clearly in a tournament in which many people preferred the more dynamic, if more reactive, football of Germany.

Those passing triangles are only important for a side looking to dominate possession. For a side looking to disrupt that, 4-4-2 can be extremely effective – the famous "two banks of four" that for a long time seemed to be such a feature of any English team playing an away game in European competition. Fulham showed last season how effective the style can still be. Sit the midfield line deep on the back four so there is minimal space between the lines for attacking midfielders or deep-lying forwards to exploit, and it becomes very hard to penetrate. It doesn't matter how many triangles you create if you never get the ball closer than 35 yards from the opposition goal.

Think of Gérard Houllier's Liverpool away to Roma in the Uefa Cup in 2001, with Owen and Robbie Fowler left high upfield, often 50 yards and more from the midfield: keep it tight, make sure of the clean sheet, and if, as in that case, Owen can pilfer two goals, that's a bonus. Think of Fulham in the Europa League semi-final against Hamburg.

Slovenia's method both in qualifying and at this World Cup, although slightly more possession-based, wasn't dissimilar, particularly after Zlatan Ljubijankic had replaced Zlatko Dedic. Ljubijankic is a more technical player and a better finisher than Dedic, but he doesn't drop off and doesn't forage which, at least against England – a game in which Slovenia played with such trepidation you wondered if anybody had told them Stan Mortensen and Tom Finney had retired – left Valter Birsa's occasional forays on the right as the only bridge between midfield and attack.

Sacchi's squeeze and the modern stretch
So 4-4-2 has a future as a reactive formation, yet it was also the preferred formation of Arrigo Sacchi, probably the most proactive coach of all. It was the system's defensive attributes, though, that made it work for him. The great strength of the Milan of the late 80s was its pressing, with Sacchi demanding an ideal of 25 metres from centre-forward to centre-back when his side were out of possession. They squeezed high up the pitch, and so 4-4-2 made sense because a four-man midfield meant each member of the back four was protected by a midfielder and so was less likely to be isolated (which, with acres of space behind him, was a real concern).
Possession was less of a concern for Sacchi. I recently watched Milan's 5-0 victory over Real Madrid in the second leg of the semi-final of the 1989 European Cup, and was struck by how often (comparatively speaking) they gave the ball away. Madrid, for long periods, looked the better side on the ball, but were undone by the dynamism of Sacchi's side (although 5-0 was still a freakish scoreline). It's probably the case that, as Egil Olsen posited in a more pragmatic context, a team have to choose between prioritising possession and position on the field.
Pressing is still part of the game, and Barcelona and Spain both perform the high press excellently, but it has been made harder to execute because of the liberalisation of the offside law. The effective playing area has been stretched, and as a result, three-band systems have increasingly been replaced by four-band systems.

Perhaps it is just about conceivable that, if players could be persuaded to put their egos to one side (and that could be an issue for Roy Hodgson if he attempts to apply the Fulham system at Liverpool this season), a club team could still be drilled into an effective pressing 4-4-2, but achieving that level of discipline is an exhausting, demoralisingly boring process that became too much even for Milan after three seasons; it was very hard to implement then, with the change in the offside law and players enjoying greater freedom to change clubs it is even harder now. At international level, anyway, where the time available to work with players is limited and they are fatigued by club commitments, it is impossible, something even Sacchi was forced to acknowledge.

4-4-2 isn't dead
What the World Cup has done is to expose the problems 4-4-2 without hard pressing faces, and not just in terms of being outnumbered in midfield; with the stretching of the effective playing area, the midfield band can become exposed, with space in front of it and space behind it. That gap between defensive and midfield lines was precisely the space Mesut Ozil exploited so well in the first half of Germany's victory over England (this space, as Matthias Sindelar, Alfred Bickel, Laszlo Kubala, Nandor Hidegkuti, Pelé, Günter Netzer,Diego Maradona, Ruud Gullit, Zinedine Zidane, Rui Costa and Juan Román Riquelme and countless others have demonstrated, has always been a problem for England, and that weakness is one of the reasons Eric Cantona, Dennis Bergkamp and Gianfranco Zola were so successful in the Premier League in the 90s). Quite apart from the furious search for immediate justice that followed the non-award of a goal after Frank Lampard's shot had crossed the line, it may be that a desire to compress that area was partly behind England's suicidally high line in the second half of that game.

And yet when the Premier League begins again next month, probably around half the sides will be playing 4-4-2, and not all as a stifling tactic. That is not because of a lack of tactical sophistication, or at least not just because of a lack of tactical sophistication: 4-4-2, to those brought up in Britain, is the default; it's what every player is brought up to understand. A five-man midfield, however it is arrayed, brings its own problems, perhaps most obviously that it can be difficult, particularly for less technical teams, to get men forward to support the lone striker.

Below the very highest level, it may be that it is better simply to let players do what comes naturally. Then there is the issue of personnel, particularly at clubs with a relatively limited budget. At Sunderland, for instance, Steve Bruce may like the idea of 4-2-3-1, but when he has Kenwyne Jones and Darren Bent forming a potent partnership, it makes little sense to disrupt it, even if the corollary is that he occasionally loses control of midfield. Sunderland's form last season notably improved when Steed Malbranque moved to the left and began cutting infield, effectively giving Sunderland an auxiliary central midfielder and bringing them greater control in the centre.

So 4-4-2 isn't dead, but the World Cup confirmed that the trend of the past decade at the highest level is against it.

Smile when yer winning!

2010-07-13T10:14:00.004+08:00

Well done laddie!

But us Kopites would appreciate a few nailed-on certainties besides this pix that yer staying & help us get out of the fooking pit that the Yanks have dugs us into.

Me cordially invites all of ye to speculate on the possible transfers (or lack thereof) to yer own teams.

Let the real footie begin . . .

When's the next flight to Ascuncion?

2010-07-07T09:00:00.004+08:00

(Lifted from the online reports)
Introducing: Paraguay’s ‘biggest’ fan
Larissa Riquelme gives the thousands of heartbroken Paraguayan fans something to cheer about despite their national team’s exit from the World Cup.

It's a troubling time for Paraguayans across the globe. Up to 50% of its population lives in poverty. An ever worsening economic recession continues to devastate the nation's wealth. Job opportunities and household income carry on worsening with every waking moment. And more recently, its national football team suffered an exit from the 2010 World Cup by the hands of the Spanish.

However, amidst the prevalence of this madness, one loyal Paraguayan stands out amongst a crowd of chaos as a voice of reason. One woman, benevolent of her nation's happiness and well-being sets out to accomplish what her national football team could not, to lift her nation's spirits, even if it means 'taking it all off' in the most literal sense of the phrase.

Larissa Riquelme, 25 year-old lingerie model, made a promise to her nation's people, that she would match Diego Maradona's promise to run naked through the streets of Buenos Aires if Argentina had won the World Cup.

Instead, Larissa would do it in Asunción, the capital of Paraguay, at the cost of simply reaching the semi-finals. However, Paraguay failed to make it pass Spain and the hearts of the nation slumped into an abyss of devastation. But the benevolent Larissa would not let this be.

Larissa has said that she's still going to carry out her promise, despite the Paraguayan team's premature exit from the 2010 World Cup. Such is the dedication and compassion of one Larissa Riquelme, citizen of Paraguay, our hero.

FFS says: And yet some people say this edition of the Copa Mondial has been dull . . .

ps: Sour grape aunties in me dept say them globes are fooking fake . . .

Roy it is . . .

2010-07-01T17:22:00.005+08:00

Barring formalities, Roy Hodgson will be unveiled as new man in charge at Anfield later today. The board has decided to go fer someone with huge amounts of experience (but not very many medals to show fer it).

To be honest, am quite sanguine about the whole thing as, in me humble opinion, it don't really make a difference. As long as them two yanks are there ripping the soul (and cash) out of the club, no manager will succeed.

Transfer funds - a paltry 15million quid.

Transfer tagets? ex-Kop hero Danny Murphy who is 35 & Brett Hangeland who is outside our price bracket at . . . (wait fer it) . . . 12million quid.

In such circumstances, me cannae help but see this as the beginning of our slippery slide into mid-table oblivion or worse . . .

World Cup Reportage PtIII

2010-06-28T11:56:00.003+08:00

After a first half that promised to turn this meeting of old foes into the first genuine classic of the tournament, before it turned into a one-sided march reminiscent of Germany v Oz match &, at times, Portugal v N Korea.

Such was the incisiveness of the German counter attacks in the second half that the stars of the bestest, greatest league in the world look ponderous & amateurish in comparison. Case in point - Gareth Barry. En route to setting up the fourth goal, Mesut Ozil sped past Barry like a Fiat Coupe overtaking a Toyota Vios. And if he wasn't fully fit, why was he in the strating XI? And Barry wasn't alone. Matthew Upson, despite scoring a goal, was woefully short of international class & quality. Rooney as good as Messi? In yer fooking dreams. Our own Stevie G looked lost stuck out on the left.

Were the English once again the victims of horrendous officiating? As bad as the decision to disallow Lampard's goal was, there is nay hiding the fact that the Germans were vastly superior in nearly every department. Tactically, individually and mentally, the Germans outclassed England to set up a mouth-watering clash with Argentina this weekend.

Even the famously jingoistic Daily Mail had to agree on this. There was nay hiding from the deficiencies of a squad that played miserably throughout the tournament.

England, now deservedly, joins Italy and France as the other heavyweights to exit the tourney after a series of frankly turgid & lifeless performances.

Comments?

World Cup Reportage PtII

2010-06-25T11:50:00.002+08:00

What possesses a man who has reached the pinnacle of his chosen profession to try do it again?

Like Muhamad Ali & his ill-advised comebacks post-Rumble In The Jungle, Marcello Lippi looked very much like a battered & beaten prize fighter after their devastating defeat to Slovakia this morning.

Lippi had been awarded the highest civil honour in his homeland fer his part in bringing the Copa Mundial back to Italy fer the third time. Winning this trophy as a coach/manager is pretty much a once-in-a-fooking-lifetime thing (unless, of course, yer Mario Zagallo), so wot made him come back & try to recapture a glory with a visibly tired & old team?

He has admitted he did not think they would win it this time round so why tarnish his near impeccable credentials?

Ego or responding to his sense of patriotic duty? Would love to read wot ye guys think of this inglorious failure.

World Cup Reportage Pt I

2010-06-16T11:05:00.001+08:00

Brasilian Samba magic or just a fooking flukeshot?

Ye be the judge . . .

In Defence of The Beautiful Game . . .

2010-06-07T13:28:00.013+08:00

“Its just twenty two men running around the field chasing a bag of wind . . .”

Yes, its that time of the sporting calendar again when some journalist/columnist will see fit to wheel out that most hackneyed of quotes in the name of creative writing. Without fail, every single World Cup sees valuable column inches wasted by these tiresome tirades about how they are sick of having footie shoved down their throats, of the media-saturation that follows this sporting bonanza, and how they are missing their fave soaps due to other family members hogging the remote.

Boo-fooking-hoo!

And at the risk of sounding like a fooking MCP, it’s almost always the women folk who feel the need to recycle this chestnut like they are dispensing some sort of sagely advice. As if having to put up with these pseudo-columnists isn’t fooking bad enough, unfortunately, many feel the need to repeat this ad museum as though it were some fooking mystic mantra. Me remembers when me was running a football-themed bistro during the 2002 World Cup and me overheard a lady patron spew out the above-mentioned quote.

Despite the place being jammed pack with customers and me was laden with orders, me coolly put down me tray and launched into an attack on this unfortunate soul who was telling her companions how silly men were for wasting time on such frivolous matters.

“How dare you belittle this beautiful game as mindless nonsense when you ladies lose all sense of reason & perspective when faced with four simple letters – S.A.L.E!” At which point her dining companions which included her hubby gave me a round of applause. Yes, me knows it sounds self-righteous-as-fook but all too often we have to listen to non-converts dole out such gems that me feels compelled to retort.

Why can’t they appreciate the excitement and unpredictability that is sports when they stay glued to vacuous soaps? Do they not realise that aside from sainthood, this is the closest thing a person can do to achieve immortality of sorts? Don’t believe me? Why are the names Garrincha, Puskas and Moore still talked about in such revered tones long after their owners have left their mortal coil.

Of course, many will try to defend their position by saying they can’t understand the hullabaloo when it is only a game. ONLY . . . A . . . GAME.

Again, their pig-ignorance fails to recognise the social importance football has on society. They will have failed to see how Zvonimir Boban became a national icon when he openly assaulted policemen who were beating on Croatian supporters at a Dinamo Zagreb v Red Star Belgrade game just before the Balkan states imploded into civil war.

Why is Maradona revered in his homeland when he openly cheated on the biggest stage of all? Because he single-handedly (yes, pun fully intended) buried the shame and humiliation a nation felt at their defeat in the Falklands War.

The above examples are perfect illustrations of George Orwell’s description of sports being war minus the weapons. But instead of revelling in the game’s ability to foster notions of nationhood, patriotism and even revolution, these ignoramuses prefer to see it as Neanderthals banging on the big drum of tribalism.

And if they had bothered to watch the fascinating documentary series on Astro’s ch804 called ‘International Football Rivalries’, they will note that Czechs and Slovaks are openly suspicious of each other but will countenance reunification only because the national football team would be in better shape!

Do these people not comprehend what it means to score in a World Cup final? One of the most enduring images me recalls is from the 1982 edition when Marco Tardelli reeled away bug-eyed with euphoria after his goal sent Italy on their way to their third crown. Such was the emotion that the term ‘Tardelli cry’ has entered the popular lexicon of Italy – meaning ‘unbridled joy’ or ‘crazy celebrations’. How’s that for cementing your place in folklore?

Me fully understands that not everyone appreciates the game but instead of spewing gormless sayings as the one above, they might do well to ponder on French Nobel Laureate Albert Camus’s altogether more meaningful quote -

“All that I know most surely about morality and obligations I owe to football."

Here’s to everyone enjoying the Copa Mundial in peace . . .

ps: me knows women (eg wifey) who know their shit who are, of course, NOT the target of this tirade . . .

Italian Fever

2010-05-30T16:37:00.004+08:00

Since me & wifey got the Fiat Coupe, me has been struck by a bad case of Italianotistics. Spending far too much time on the Italia Auto forum & even staying up till 4am talking cock with other Italian car owners at a recent meet.

Many of ye will also know that one of the symptoms of Italianostistics is the feverish urge to racun all & sundry to join the gang. And while quite a few of ye have had to put up with me 'Buy Coupe' campaign, most of ye had the ready-made 'not practical' excuse at the tips of yer fooking tongues.

But ladies & gents, may I present ye with one of the, nay, the MOST beautiful, station wagon of all time - the Alfa Romeo 156 Sports Wagon.

(*drool*) . . .

Some dude with quite the Italian collection is willing to let this beaut go fer RM85k. Previously, me urged ye to not let something as trivial as PRACTICALITY to stand in the way of motoring nirvana. Now, even that's become a fooking non-issue.

Note: Very few of these sports wagons were imported into Malaysia, so this is a fooking rare ride. (And before anyone starts bout spares, its a 156 la, so nay fooking issues . . .)

To read more, go to: http://www.italiaauto.net/viewtopic.php?t=19737

ps: Me has already successfully racuned one of me colleagues who has signed up fer a 1997 20vt Coupe. Next on list is other colleague & to stop me own brother from buying something BORING!

Man On the Silver Mountain - RIP Ronnie James Dio.

2010-05-17T17:04:00.004+08:00

Me clearly remembers when me was a wee lad & Mobil petrol stations were having a promo. Fer every RM10 of fuel pumped ye got a sticker & once ye had ten stickers, ye got to choose a free cassette. One time me dad let me choose & even though me was just 10 years old, me hand randomly pointed towards the gold cover of Rainbow's Long Live Rock n Roll. Suffice to say, me ears were too tender fer the ruckus & the tape was consigned to the drawer of forgotten relics.

But me curiosity was awakened again when later on, me kept hearing Rainbow tunes on the nightly FM radio programmes such as Pilihan Anda. (Yes, in the Dark Ages prior to the world wide web, us folks had to rely on local radio fer entertainment!). Soon that tape was dug out & the slow journey towards metaldom had begun.

Any long hair worth his or her salt will always have a soft spot fer Ronnie James Dio. In fact, many, like meself, would have had their first forays into heavy rock thanks to the many classics he penned - Temple of the King (Rainbow), Heaven & Hell (Black Sabbath) &, of course, Holy Diver (Dio).

Sadly, Dio succumbed to stomach cancer yesterday. He was 67.

To read more, please click here: http://themalaysianinsider.com/showbiz/article/heavy-metal-veteran-ronnie-james-dio-dies/

Many congrats . . .

2010-05-11T14:47:00.005+08:00

Congrats to man yew fans on winning the League . . . Cup!

ps: Note - Mickey Mouse jibe in reference to the utter disdain most scummers have fer the humble trophy . . .

pps: Do forward this work of art - its an ori, me got me designer colleague to do this specially to commemorate the mancs' successful campaign.

Koptalk

2010-05-07T10:11:00.009+08:00

Let's face it, as much we blame the fooking Yanks fer a disastrous season, some of it must lie at the doorstep of Rafa Benitez. Nay need to go into details, list is long and ardous.

And the writing's already on the wall, he is on his way out. Board unwilling to give aasurances & him wanting a budget he knows he's not gonna get.

So wot me wants to know is who ye think should replace him under the circumstances?

John Toshack? This candidate gets me vote as he is vastly experienced (Sociedad, Real Madrid, Wales) & is the last link to Shanks & the Boot Room. And just to dispel the myth, he has NEVER turned his back on us. When he was approached to fill Daglish's shoes, he had just signed fer Sociedad & was not about to break his contract. Me also feels that as former Kop hero, fans will be a bit more patient with him.

King Kenny? Revered demigod now back as club ambassador. Fan's no1 choice but by his own admission he has not kept up with the game fer the last 5 years. Do we really want to hand over the reins to someone who has not kept abreast of latest developments - tactically & personnel wise? Alan Curbishsley? Former Charlton Athletic manager who is INCREDIBLY out of work since since getting the sack at West Ham a few years back. Once an England manager prospect & even touted as Houllier's successor, could he be the man to restore our fortunes?

Odds on fave since taking Fulham to its first European final. Vastly experienced & tactically astute. Also seen as next England gaffer. But me will always remember him as the man who condemned Blackburn to relegation despite blowing a fortune on transfer fees. Most famously, paying a then high £7.5m fer Kevin Davies who couldn't score in the proverbial brothel.

Come back Souey? Ha ha ha!

ps: Foreign legion - Louis Van Gaal? Ottmar Hitzfeld? Paul le Guen?

pps: Alumni - Gary McAlister? Markus Babel? Sammy Lee?

pps: Ex-scummers - Steve McLaren after winning Dutch title with FC Twente? Mark Hughes? (Don't laugh, Yanks could do this just to fooking spite us!)

ppps: Two sides of the coin - http://www.wsc.co.uk/content/view/5266/38/ or http://www.thisisanfield.com/kopblog/?_login=af8b81ea16/

Comedy Metal

2010-05-04T11:58:00.000+08:00

If yer having an absolutely shite day, please watch this . . . Fooking hilarious.

Remember this?

2010-04-26T17:43:00.004+08:00

Another World Cup approaches & me has yet to be infected by the fever of anticipation.

This is despite the possibility of seeing a true genius in the shape of Lionel Messi capture our footballing imaginations.

Somehow, have been experiencing seriously diminishing returns with the Greatest Show on Earth since the 1982 & 86 editions . . . Or is just coz me is getting fooking old?

Comparisons

2010-04-21T10:41:00.007+08:00

Some like a splash of the good stuff . . .

Others like to blow things (people?) up . . .

People of Hulu S'gor, please show BN yer not fooking stupid.

ps: Campaign music? Thin Lizzy's Whiskey In A Jar fer PKR & AC/DC's TNT fer that other lot?

pps: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/index.php/malaysia/60826-hulu-selangor-split-on-zaids-vices

Let It Be Done!

2010-04-17T23:55:00.006+08:00

If ye've got an itch, fooking scratch it!

Was looking to upgrade wifey's wheels to accomodate Master Seth. Instead . . .

Never let 'PRACTICALITY' get in the way of motoring nirvana . . . Have a great weekend, me knows I will.

Death Metal Funny Bone!

2010-04-13T13:48:00.002+08:00

Ah ha ha ha ha!

Talk about mainstream invasion . . .

And if that didn't tickle yer funny bone, check this one out.

By invitation only . . .

2010-04-02T09:26:00.007+08:00

Yo people, Bernard Chong & Doris Liew has kindly offered to host next bloggers meet at their insalubrious den of iniquity. Lemme tell ye, their bar is better stocked than most fooking pubs me know!

So please RVSP in comments box as they need to make necessary arrangements.

Date: Sat, 24 April
Time: 7pm onwards
Address: 3076, Jalan Riang 2, Happy Garden, 58200 Kuala Lumpur.
Dress Code: Singlet & slippers (mandatory)

Fer map, please click here: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Jalan+Riang+2+Kuala+Lumpur&sll=1.52283,103.746869&sspn=0.074303,0.15295&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Jalan+Riang+2,+Taman+Gembira,+58200+Kuala+Lumpur,+Malaysia&z=16

ps: Might me kindly suggest everyone chip in by bringing some poison to the party? But Moz, no Bear Beer please . . .

Cars & their power to move ye . . .

2010-03-19T12:25:00.008+08:00

Are cars mere modes of transportation or are they something which resonate deep within our souls? Of course, there are many who argue that it is the former & whilst me makes nay bones about that being the primary function but to wholeheartedly agree would mean sucking the artistry & unique qualities out of almost everything. Or as Simon Cowell would say, that its missing the "X factor".

Reducing everything to its bare functionality would mean there'd be nay place fer artistic whims or fancy. The Bauhaus school of thought may work fer some but only if there were alternatives to ensure our roads are not reduced to an endless procession of Kancil & Vios-type blandness.

Just to make it a little clearer fer the ladies who are greatly culpable of reducing our car market to a homogeny of the aforementioned brands (in no other transmission but AUTO), imagine a world without designer shoes, handbags, clothes & knick knacks coz all they do is LOOK & FEEL NICE. Start wearing a gunny sack me says . . . No?

Me is nay snob but in me quest fer something with a little character, me has been bombarded with all sorts of "advice" from so-called experts. A great example would be the mother in law who seems to think that the holy triumvirate of MyVi, Vios & Swift are the greatest thing since sliced bread. Why? "Coz my friend's daughter bought one so it must be a good car . . ."

But the worse offenders were some fellow MX5 owners who thought me should plonk fer a "practical mommy mobile". Coming from them made it quite unpalatable since me thought being owners of two-seater convertibles, they would have something more constructive to offer.

Like how music & film is being reduced to generic formulaic crap, same is happening in the automotive industry. Do yer bit to stop everything being homogenised. Ye can start by buying an old banger of a car that screams "I've got FOOKING CHARACTER" even if its broken down by the side of the road . . .

Infectious grooves! (Bolt Thrower: Those Once Loyal)

2010-03-12T13:00:00.004+08:00

Another weekend beckons & time fer some quality sounds. Me has been grooving to this LP recently & fook me silly if it isn't one of the best (& sadly overlooked) albums to have come out of the death/grind scene. And grooving is the right word coz unlike the earlier stuff, the band seemed to have discovered a funky organic groove in their armoury whilst recording this swansong album.

Still as hard hitting as a John Arne Riise freekick to the nether regions, Bolt Thrower seem less like the crushing tank of yore but rather a band jamming after a couple of spliffs whilst Sabbath played in the background.

If the Bolt Thrower had produced this ten years earlier, they'd be fooking huge. But alas, they will always remain a cult even within the underground scene. Which me thinks is precisely how the band likes it anyways. In fact the band has gone an indefinite hiatus as they believe this is the perfect Bolt Thorwer LP & there's little point on recording another one.

So fer this weekend, let's celebrate the works of Bolt Thrower by playing this FOOKING LOUD!

To download Bolt Thrower's Those Once Loyal (2005), please go to: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=JP409SM6

ps: Me has taken the trouble to send this via email to some of ye, so me expects some feedback.

People are strange . . .

2010-03-10T09:48:00.003+08:00

Woman crashes car while shaving pubes (From the Malaysian Insider)

MIAMI, March 9 — Taking multi-tasking to a new level, a Florida woman allegedly caused a crash as she was shaving her privates while behind the wheel, the Florida Highway Patrol reported today.

37-year-old Megan Mariah Barnes was driving her 1995 Ford Thunderbird and reportedly rammed into a pick-up truck with four occupants at an estimated 70kph, injuring two women who were in the other vehicle.

“She said she was meeting her boyfriend in Key West and wanted to be ready for the visit,” Trooper Gary Dunick said. “If I wasn’t there, I wouldn’t have believed it. About 10 years ago I stopped a guy in the exact same spot ... who had three or four syringes sticking out of his arm. It was just surreal and I thought, ‘Nothing will ever beat this.’ Well, this takes it.”

To make matters worse, Barnes had only been yesterday been convicted of driving while intoxicated and with a suspended licence, according to Monroe County Assistant State Attorney Colleen Dunne. The judge in the case had ordered Barnes’ vehicle impounded and her licence revoked for five years.

Police said that Barnes and her passenger, ex-husband Charles Judy, reportedly fled the scene of the accident, travelling nearly a kilometre away before swapping positions. When approached by police, Judy claimed to have been behind the wheel during the accident.

“She jumps in the back seat and he moves over,” Dunick said. “It was like the old comedy bit, ‘Who’s on first?’”

Burn marks from the passenger-side airbag found on Judy’s torso, however, disproved the duo’s claims, as the steering wheel airbag failed to deploy.
Barnes was charged with reckless driving, driving without a valid licence and insurance, and leaving the scene of an accident.

Fook me silly . . . wonders will never cease will they?

Rock of Ages (Rainbow: Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow 1975)

2010-03-07T10:58:00.005+08:00

Ahhhh . . . the instantly recognisable acoustic intro to that song. Me was but a wee lad when me first heard the epic & beautiful Temple of the King on radio's nightly Pilihan Anda programme.
But it was many years later before me actually got me mittens on a vinyl copy of the album above.

Ye could say the seeds of me future metaldom was planted by that song. And wot a fooking great tune. Its one of those which anybody with functioning eardrums will dig & made ye wished ye could play the guitar.

And there's nothing like a dose of classic rock to complete the weekend. Every home should have a copy of this & if ye've lost yers or the ancient tape is all fooked up, rectify it by clicking here: http://rapidshare.com/files/353451097/DET1975Rain.rar (Note password: deterrorizer)

Look forward to reading yer comments on this LP & the first time yer telinga caught wind of that almighty slow-rock anthem. Cheers!