Villa Away Mid-week

SAD SAD SAD day it shall be. I am not one to complain but so much, so I won't. Where was I? I was sitting at my desk, at work, being annoyed by an annoying person who doesn't understand the meaning of the words/phrases: patience, free service and no guarantee. Yes, I do have issues with self-entitled stupidity.

Another mid-week and I was stuck working. I should be used to that by now, you'd think. I also forgot to turn on the score notifier application on my phone. Yes, that's right, I was so annoyed I forgot that an important game of football was being played. Right now all games for the Arsenal are important. As it looks now, I might even be missing the match on Sunday, at least the second half of it, which is probably when all the action will be. DAMN my cluttered schedule!

Let me tell you how out of touch with football I was. A Certain Scouser had sent me a couple texts but my mobile was not vibrating enough for me to notice. In order they read.

-Fucking Red Devil scum
-TEVEZ!
-Holy shit. rooney fuuuuuuuck

I will admit, yes I will admit. I totally forgot Mancscum and ManShitty were playing for the Carling. I was dumbfounded after reading the series of messages. It was only the last one.

Scum in the 91st

That clued me into what I was missing. Then I was still trying to cobble together that proper Scum was not playing or were they, can't keep up with them and that the Scousers were not playing MancScum. I kid you not, it took me a whole 5 minutes to put it all together. My mind is complete mush.

When I finally made it home and got a good look at the Guardian, I realized that calling out sick may have been a good option. I am saving those up for world cup though. I might have to pull a couple extra hours at the office for that.

The Crow caught me on FB with an inquiry over the RIOoooOOoo issue. I'll just put it out there, so there is no misunderstanding. The man was good, probably one of the better Centerbacks for England in a long long time. Trust me, he gave the Arsenal some headaches as well. However, since this last set of injuries he hasn't been the same. Honestly, will he return to the England squad, maybe, but will he be the same man he was 4 years ago or even 2 years ago. Nah, not at all I am afraid. I think the star has faded on this one, supernova and out, in my opinion.

Does the penalty and ban surprise me? Not at all on that account either. Rio is a great player. A great player has a fire in them to keep playing, it's their life's blood. He is probably more than frustrated that he's half the player that he used to be and unfortunately has taken it out on a colleague. It happens.

OH and the Bellamy incident. I actually feel a bit bad for him, cause it must have hurt but part of me giggled seeing the photo of him laid on the ground. I never wish harm on anyone but sometimes it is funny. Seriously though, people need to stop throwing crap and trying to hurt the players. If you want a bit of the violence go join a firm and knock the shit out of like minded individuals. That's your thing, don't invite the uninitiated into it, don't invite the players into it.

PLAIN AND FUCKING SIMPLE, NO?

I mean if you are in a bar/pub, where ever and player x comes up to you and tries and make you change the television/radio station/jukebox, grabs on your girl, knocks over your drink and/or various other obnoxious things that players have been known to do... Then by all means give him one or two, he deserves it but not while they are on the field, playing the game. That's just crass. I don't care where you are from and I'm glad that someone is facing charges for it.

If you haven't checked out CNN lately, they do have a good section on football and the world cup, some interesting stuff but a lot of fluff as well. Good old CNN, proper journalism for the world. (yes that is written sarcasm)

Also, you all who comment on FB can feel free to comment here, as I know there are some who are reading this that I am not friends with on FB and I am sure they would love to enjoy the witty convos that we all have. Try and use your nick, if you do comment unless you don't want to protect your identity. I don't care, just don't blame me when your boss googles your ass.

Well I am off the grid this weekend. Enjoy yourselves.

~LeChat

Stoke Away (FA Cup)

Greetings.

Well we all know of the unceremonious exit of the Arsenal from the FACup this weekend by the hands of a very capable Stoke. I can't be ashamed of the loss because it was a hard fought battle of which the scoreline belies.

The pub, however, was full of some interesting happenings this weekend.

Saturday

I entered the pub around 8 or so to be greeted by the smiling Reading fan. There were quite a few of the Chelsea lads in attendance as well. There was a good footballing vibe going on. I took my seat next to Reading and we started discussing the finer points of the match.

ChelskiGirl was stuck in her bed, being lazy. I called her and informed all the lads of such. There were many volunteers who wished to join her but she left her cocoon and joined the rest of us shortly by the half.

Reading and I decided that we were only cheering on underdogs for the rest of the day. We were transfixed to the Accrington Stanley - Fulham match, just because it was more interesting than the Everton - Birmingham tie that was also being shown.

My original plan was to take my leave prior to the end of the match but Leeds was taking on Scum. They had already eliminated MancScum so let's see if they could do the proper Scum.

The pub was still full, much fuller than it had been in the most recent weekends. I was half done with what seemed to be bottomless pints of New Castle, as was Reading. Sheffield and WestBrom pop by and it just continued.

The four of us caught up and chatted, killing time before the Haiti fundraiser. I am still trying to remember if that was even a good idea. All I can say, is some money left my pocket and ended up in the hands of some Scousers.

The event was not at the pub so we did enter some foreign territory. And as followers of the English game, we did what we knew best... found a dart board. The setup was close to the kitchen so the food runners had to keep cutting through. Which at first wasn't that bad but as the night creeped on.

BC/BC bounced up the stairs in the middle of our darts game and I think we all tried to explain it to her but it wasn't working. They also had a Wii, which someone had the brilliant idea of quickly finishing darts and starting Wii-Bowling.

I sat out of that, as I am not biggest fan of bowling to begin with. I believe WestBrom came from behind and beat everyone. It was an enjoyable time. However, like all good things, it had to come to an end.

A Certain Scouser would not believe I was fine. I kept telling her I was just tired, so on the way home I ended up with about 10 text. It would have probably been smarter not to answer all of them but I did.

Safe and sound I found my bed, after about a 12 hour bender, where I believe I ended up more sober by the time I made it home than I started out the day.

SUNDAY

It was to be a short morning, whether or not the result of the match should be considered. My band had to move it's practice space and time, which Sunday afternoon was the final result.

It mattered much not anyway. The Arsenal crew was cynical from the drop of the ball. I think we all had a sneaking suspicion of what type of day it was going to be after the first goal. I have to admit, we are quite a hilarious group even in the midst of a loss. It's been quite some time since we've even sneezed on a trophy, I suppose.

There was a positive side to this all. LittleWill was on his last day before heading back to school. He's a pretty funny kid. We spent a good half hour teasing LittleSister before I had to take my leave.

I guess in summation it was not a bad weekend but not quite a good one. A win would have been nice but now The Arsenal boys can concentrate on the league, which is much more important in my opinion.

The other thing that made the weekend much more pleasurable was being able to spend it with the good folks I have grown to be as close to as members of a large family. There is something unique and special about this football crowd. It may seem insular and strange to an outsider but some of the most generous and open people that I have ever come to know stand beside me on a weekend morning at 8 am swearing at a referee 2000 miles away.

I would not care to be with anyone else but my extended crew.

~LeChat

Bolton at home (Haiti Relief)

Chim Chim!

Top of the league but the blue scum have a game in hand. As usual, did not see the match because of it being a mid-week but thanks to my trusty handy dandy mobile, I was able to keep up with all the scores. I mean all the scores from all the leagues, seriously I considered turning it off for a moment but I did not.

Yes, I'm addicted.

I did head down to the pub after work. A Certain Scouser sent me a couple texts about watching the Liverpool replay. As I figured it, there would be at least something to do on a Wednesday evening that didn't have anything to do with me computer games and this gigantic bottle of Brugal.

I already knew the outcome but thought I'd have a pint anyways. MiniMourhino was walking his dog by and had a few words with him. He had to do a few things so he headed off into the sunset that had already set.

GingerScouse popped by. We discussed the Haiti United shirts, of which he had already received a couple of his. Then he was telling me about the fundraiser the Point Scousers are putting on at Alexander's Tavern.

Let me make sure I get it straight, from 4pm-10pm on Saturday 23 Jan 2010. For a minor donation that goes to the Red Cross Haitian Relief Fund, you get happy hour prices and for a bigger donation, I believe there is a door prize.
(Rumour has it, Scousers have nicked some sweet merch for the door prize)

I really expect all that read this, to try and be there. Haiti has gotten the bad end of the global stick for a long time and is currently being date raped by mother nature. We are all one people in one world and need to look out for each other.

OH and by they way.... this and this. Two class designed shirts in which all proceeds go to Haiti Relief Funds.

~LeChat

Bolton Away (MLK, Jr. Day)

I swore that today, in celebration of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in the United States I would actually be nice, for once. That means, no sideways comments about how much I despise certain squads and their cretinous ways. No comments on how a certain someone shags their mum up the shitter. No comments on why having a crap load of money does not make one a big club. Yes that's right, no comments as of such, so as you can imagine this will probably be a short blog.

Saturday

It started off as a nice enough day. The weather was a tad above freezing and there was some football on the telly at the pub. I was surrounded by some of my best mates, so who could ask for anything more.

The top two dispatched their adversaries with not much between them. Even though I would hate to admit it, the Chelsea contest was something to behold. The onslaught of goals that were obtained versus Sunderland was, in short keen. I will even concede the point that the young Mr. Ashley Cole, former Arsenal man and supporter, who left for a small sum to the Blues a few seasons ago, had a cracker of a goal. Whilst I do harbor ill feelings for the lad, they are best not expressed under the circumstances.

The public house had the usual crowd of well-doers as well. There was a great banter going betwixt the Liverpool lads and lasses with the Chelsea boys. After which a few of the Manchester supporters appeared. They are short in number in these waning days of the once great Manchester United team who has won a great many trophies in years past. I do hope their form does not slip too bad. I do not know what the Premiership would be like without their constant challenge to keep the Gunners on their toes.

In a more somber yet still celebratory fashion, the kit with Mr. Dauner's name and number went up in the pub this day as well. I was able to capture a simple photograph with a very nice reflection in it. I present such image to you.

There's only one Nick Dauner...

SUNDAY

I made my way to the public house a tad bit early, as I was getting calls from ACMilan and BC/BC. They wanted me to enjoy the privilege of observing, as the Italians call it, Calcio. Now I will say, calcio is very similar to the game of proper association football that we have call come to enjoy, however there are some more or less very specific differences of which I do not have much time to entertain at this precise moment. I will say the Brazilian was a joy to watch as he found his stride in a match against a very defensive minded opponent.

It was time to head down to the pub's main floor for the proper entertainment of the mighty Arsenal taking on the football club of Bolton. Sunday, as was Saturday, had the usual milieu of punters who had arrived for the match. All in good spirits with jovial mocking all about. In short it was a good time.

I will say, lilblondiegooner is no longer blond but now an intriguing shade of brunette. It does suit her well and we all acknowledged it. I do not believe there is a style the young woman could not wear and look more than presentable.

After the match I headed home for some much needed rest. These weekends do become quite long, to say the least. It is as I have a second job, just keeping up with all the goings on and excitement that there is to partake in. I enjoy it, to be honest.

Later on Sunday evening, I received a surprising call on my mobile. It was from Sheffield who had been gone for quite some time. He had arrived back to the colonies in one piece. I met up with him and his betrothed at the public house and had a grand conversation of the month and fortnight they had been away.

It was a good evening. Now, as I said earlier, I must be off. I do wish for all those reading my words to at least consider the disaster that has struck the western side of the Isle of Hispaniola and the Haitian peoples. There is a lovely shirt that can be found here, in which all the proceeds go towards the relief effort.

Also, in celebration of the legacy of the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., I would like to mention, once again, Show Racism the Red Card, as it combines the efforts of creating racial and ethnic harmony amongst people and preserves the quality of the beautiful game.

Your peaceful author,

LeChat

Everton at Home

Londontown is very cold.

I believe those are the lyrics to some song or another. I actually know which song but I can't be bothered in telling you at this moment simply because.

Anyways, as the big freeze is happening across merry old Enger-land and parts of the continent, many games have been postponed. There is this whole thing about fixture congestion that starts to become more and more an issue around this time of the year and the weather is currently not helping.

Meanwhile, across the pond, in a little pub on Thames Street was seated your faithful author. Why? Because he has fuck all to do on a Saturday morning except wait for some damn football to be played.

I hadn't realized the damage the snow and ice had wrought upon the isles, when I had left my house for the pub, nor did I really care. I was hungry. I believe the breakfast is the reason I am getting a little bit more pudge as of late.

I sat down with a few others who had not checked the over-seas weather reports and chatted for a bit. A few of us were checking out various websites to see which games were actually going to be played.

Conclusion. A whole 2. Arsenal v. Everton and Birmingham v. MancScum.

Let's just say, had I known the Everton game was going to be such, I would have just stayed home. The only thing that made it interesting was NightCaller was in a rage and ManCity himself was playing the comedian and talking about perfumes at one point in time.

Grant Wahl did make an appearance. We spoke for a bit on the Togo tragedy and security in South Africa. He had an interesting story about Landon Donovan being put up in an airport Marriott in Manchester and not the good one, mind you. It is always nice to get a little personal insight into how the players are living life without it being all tabloid fodder.

Now the Arsenal Everton tie was at least tolerable for the last 10 minutes but the sleep inducing Birmingham United match, well let's just say if I had a gun I would have put it to my head and wished for the chamber with the bullet.

To be honest, at least it was proper football and I am sure the weather had a bit to do with not only the pace of the games but the stand offish nature of the whole thing. There were a few "injuries" that probably were more superficial, just because of the weather.

Also, I can say, at least I had the enjoyment of the pub crew to keep me entertained. There is nothing more entertaining then a bunch of supporters, slightly tipsy at 10AM and bored. The amount of crap that comes out of one's mouth would make a catholic priest blush. I hope that's the right analogy, I'm reaching here.

Needless to say, Sunday was not happening.

All Games Postponed.

I did head to the pub and ventured up to the 3rd floor where brownchicken/browncow was working. I thought I'd take in a bit of the throwball and have a few rum drinks whilst keeping her company. FancyPants manager came up and put the Milan game on the closest television. ACMilan appeared shortly after with his drink in hand.

He had never been up to the third floor and was shocked at the view. I will admit that it is probably one of the nicer views down the point. The only problem with the third floor is that it becomes the epicenter of pure douchebaggery in the summer and is not much fun for anyone with more than two brain cells.

The three of us, after BC/BC shift was finished, waited with her to get her cellphone that had been "found" by someone else the night before. We then headed over to another spot and had a couple of more drinks while listening to one of the funniest musicians that I have had the pleasure to meet. Well it was an unintentional funny, not like a comedy routine just him being himself.

So all in all, not too bad. Throwball team is in the playoffs I believe. Premiership remains where it was before the weekend began and fucking Patrick Viera signed for ManShitty... wait, what? Oh it's looks like he's injured. Sorry guys.

~LeChat

West Ham away (FA Cup) and the New Year.

A New Year and a new blog post!

Thursday (New Year's Eve)

My plans, well there were none technically. I never make concrete plans but I think we all know that. My New Year's usually ends up with me going to the pub and hanging around to watch the fireworks across the harbor.

However, I was blindsided, waylaid, mugged by the most annoying cold that I have ever been on the receiving end of. I woke up and decided it was going to be a thera-flu morning. Which I do highly recommend for all your cold/flu needs.

Now only if I could figure out a way to get paid for my name dropping.

I was finally able to rouse myself from tomb of blankets, as it has been Frostbite Falls cold lately. I am waiting for Boris and Natasha to come ask me if I have seen moose and squirrel. These are the times I miss the husky.

So I kept my profile low and celebrated the New Year with my band mates at the guitarist's home. Quiet, mellow and breaking it down to some good old Michael before he became a shadow of his former self.

Friday (New Year's Day)

Equally quiet. There was nothing happening on the football front. I decided to go join T-Bone at the bar across the way and watch some good old American College Football.

I wasn't good luck for his home team this time. ScouseGrubs came by as well. I think I waited half an hour for some breadsticks but they were worth it. I need to remember when going into foreign territory to order before I think I need to order. There's nothing like a slow ass kitchen.

I headed to band practice after the game. I find out at practice the band that was scheduled first for Saturday canceled out. Between myself and ScouseDrummer, we were scrambling to find a replacement.

Thank goodness for a couple of comedian friends, who just happen to be 35ers (Crystal Palace USA supporters).

Saturday

FA Cup Third Round. I do not know of a more interesting competition besides the FA Cup. It pits the minnows of the lower leagues against some of the big boys. It separates those who have heart from those who are just going through the motions. It is the great equalizer and my this weekend no exception.

Third Round, of course, is when the Premiership squads start playing. This is when you get to see sides like Torquay taking on Everton and the like. Well this year I believe Torquay played Brighton Hove Albion but it could have been Everton on any other day.

So Saturday brings us the glory of mighty Reading taking on the minnows, now known as Liverpool. It was really a lopsided draw in my opinion, now I didn't discount the Scousers but This. Is. READING! It was good to see Vinny out for a bit, plus he had a beautiful winterized Reading team anorak to fight off the cold and protect his wallet.

Let's just say it was a just score line and leave it at that.

Saturday Night (Station Debut)

WELL first of all I would like to thank all my football friends that braved the sub-zero temps and joined me at the Sidebar. It was really wonderful to see all of you out there. Seriously thank you from the bottom of my heart and I do hope you all enjoyed the show.

For those that missed, let's just say it was a good debut. From what I hear, many enjoyed it. GrumpyGooner was even impressed, which is a huge compliment coming from him.

I was getting stick all night from ScouseDrummer for wearing my Arsenal top, since we both promised not to wear kits on stage. I promised that I wouldn't and I had my Who the Fuck are Man United, shirt on underneath, complements of BayernMunich.

When we hopped on the stage, I pulled off my kit as promised. ScouseDrummer on cue started singing very quietly, Who the Fuck are Man United, which made me start in on full chorus.

The singer thrusts the mic in my face, cause I had half forgotten about the mic on stage for me and I was still in the midst of strapping my bass on. All I can say is that I was ready to go now. From the crowd came a shout from the Sherrif to shut the fuck up or something of that sort.

Like I said, it was a good show.

Sunday more FA Cup

I had left out early Saturday evening/Sunday morning after the show. I am not really a hang out person unless there is some football on the television. Plus I had still been feeling rather under the weather from the New Year's cold that was bogging me down.

I woke up four hours later and found myself at the pub staring at an HD feed of MancScum discussing the previous night with HalfArseDean. Must I say, this was a very nice Sunday treat. Leeds, which I am not a big fan of either, taking it to those gits. It was a thoroughly impressive showing and to watch old Fergie's head explode was an even better treat.

I spent the better half of the match chatting with HalfArseDean and trying to help LittleSister do a crossword. ChelskiGirl came in and joined us a bit later as well, let's just say all had a bit of a laugh at the Manc's expense.

My thing is, I want to see some of the CCTV feeds from the streets of Manchester. I know there had to be some running battles. Come on, Leeds v United, classic.

So the real match's time was upon us. Some of the usual suspects strolled in at their leisure. GrumpyGooner, quite a bit better than the last weekend. LilBlondieGooner still with her arm in a sling. So like I said, nothing unusual.

To my surprise though, Jazz pops in, without a jacket, walks over to the bar and orders a Stella from Irish. What is this, a New Year's miracle? GrumpyGooner and I get a few jibes in about Leeds on him, as we all settled in for a heart stopping match.

All I am going to say is that the Arsenal were very lucky to come out of this. They really need to do themselves a little better in the favor department. I know someone might nail me on my subject verb agreements above but it's my blog and I can be ungrammatical if I want to.

Monday the unexpected.

First day back to work. That's not what was interesting.

What was interesting is that I got a message from one of Pretzel's armed forces mates. He was looking him up and stumbled across the blog. He was unaware of what had happened and contacted me to get some details. It made me feel good to give him what I knew and that somewhere a interweb spider has linked me to one of the nicest and coolest people that I have had the pleasure of meeting and then giving me a way to share that information with others.

It also made me think about how temporal everything is in this world. I don't mean to sound cliche but sometimes you must seize the moment without regrets.

Live your life as you will not have any other.

or in my usual tongue...

TAKE THE FUCKING SHOT! BLOODY FUCKING HELL!

~LeChat