The 1.6 billion dollar handshake
Today was a good day. My beloved football team Aston Villa thrashed local rivals Birmingham City 5-1 at Villa Park and I was there. (Full match report).
I’ve been lucky recently and have been able to go to a couple of games courtesy of a friend of a friend who has hired an executive box at the ground for the season. Today the box we are usually in was booked by someone else, so we were upgraded to the ‘directors experience’ corporate package – something my brother Stat who is a die-hard Villa fan (and goes to every home match) wasn’t too keen on the idea of – he likes to ‘keep it real’ – where as I on the other hand, will lap up any corporate hospitality on offer!
I arrived after the other members of our group had been on a tour of the stadium (I have a bad back and didn’t fancy the walking/standing, plus I’d been on the same tour a couple of years ago), just in time for the food – a full English breakfast…most welcome at 10:45am. We were dining the Director’s Lounge, surrounded by football legends, former Villa Owner/Chairman Doug Ellis was on the table next to us and former player/Birmingham City manager Trevor Francis was nearby. In fact the room was full of legends, many of whom I recognised, but couldn’t name. Midway through the food we were asked to go and collect the champagne from Villa legend (and former England international) Tony Morley, who played in Villa’s 1981 European Cup winning squad – a proper Villa legend, and a really nice guy!
Fifteen minutes before kick-off everyone in the room started looking at the door and whispering – it soon became apparent why – the new England manager Fabio Capello had just walked in. He kept to himself, perched on the end of the bar eating a bowl of soup, but before long people were queueing up to get autographs and photos with him, which he seemed quite happy to do – despite his soup being left to going cold!
Not long after the crowd dispersed it was time for kick off. We went to our seats in the directors’ box, which is outside but sectioned off from the rest of the crowd and I found myself only a few seats away from Capello. The first half was brilliant and by half time we were 2-0 up.
We retired to the director’s lounge for a half-time drink, and as I walked into the room a couple of the other guys in our party were talking to the new Villa Owner/Chairman, American billionaire Randy Lerner. Seeing as he was a few feet away and seemingly happy to chat I wondered over and joined the discussion for a few minutes – we chatted about the difference in English and American football (he also owns the Cleveland Browns NFL team) and sport in general – he seemed to be a really nice guy, and very happy to chat with every day Villa fans. We shook hands with him and returned to our table, feeling rather pleased with ourselves.
Before long the second half was upon us and it just kept getting better! Villa bagged another 3 goals in the second half (Blues managed 1 – but that didn’t really count!) – we completely out-classed them and the crowd went wild each time we scored. I was having to take it easy as jumping up and down with a bad back wasn’t such a good idea – but this was the game of the season, and we were beating Blues 5 bloody 1!
As the game drew to an end the Villa faithful cheered the players from the pitch, happy in the knowledge that Blues were most likely going to be relegated and the 5 goals their deadliest rivals put past them today must have hurt, a lot!
Up the Villa!
Blogs in plain English
This is great video to show your granny, or technophobe friend who has no clue what ‘blogs’ or ‘blogging’ are!
Albums of 2008 (so far)
2008 seemed to get off to a slow start in terms of album releases, but now they’re coming thick and fast. March has produced a pile of great albums.
I’ve always fancied myself as a bit of a music reviewer, but I ramble too much and generally hate music reviewing members of the press, so I’d never lower myself to do actual ‘reviews’. Below you’ll find a list of what’s currently floating my boat and a bit about why. Just don’t call them reviews whatever you do.
MGMT – Oracular Spectacular
Yes, yes, I know! Everyone is raving about this band. I happened to hear MGMT just before the hype got to me and put me off. Musically the album is a real mish-mash, it’s pretty poppy in places with tons of synths, and at times wanders off into prog-rock territory – overall it’s a really interesting sounding album which covers a lot of ground – I can’t get enough of it!
Sounds like: Beck meets Secret Machines meets Prince.
Fave Tracks: ‘Time To Pretend’ (the first single), ‘Kids’.
REM – Accelerate
Only just out, but wow – REM are rocking once again! I don’t own many REM albums, but I do love them – some of their albums seem to have passed me by over the years, this one certainly hasn’t. It’s a real rocker, and it’s great to see a veteran band who can still give it some despite having entered that dangerous ‘mid 40’s’ stage of their careers.
Sounds like: REM kicking ass.
Guillemots – Red
Guillemots are a strange band. People seem to love them or hate them, and they seem determined to mess with you. Just as you start getting into a song they throw in completely crazy middle eight that leaves you wondering what just happened. I really liked their debut album ‘Through The Window Pane’ and ‘Red’ doesn’t disappoint. It took a few listens to get my head around as there’s some interesting instrumentation and production, but essentially the majority of the songs are great -albeit with their weird freak outs.
I think Guillemots are the closest the UK has to an Arcade Fire, and I don’t mean that they sound like Arcade Fire, there’s just something about them which is reminiscent – maybe it’s the madman/genius thing and the vast instrumentation?
Sounds like: An instrument factory, with great choruses, and strange middle eights.
Fave Tracks: ‘Get Over It’ and ‘Cockateels’.
Supergrass – Diamond Hoo Ha
Great album title! In a similar move to REM, Supergrass return to their rockier roots after the relatively mellow last album ‘Road To Rouen’ (I could never get into it). This reminds me of my favourite Supergrass album ‘In It For The Money’ – chocked full of bluesy glam power-pop, with Gaz Coombes’ warbling voice backed by fuzzy guitars, booming bass, crazy-ass drums and even crazier keyboards and organs. There’s even a few Jellyfish-esque moments in there – gotta love it!
Sitting here listening to it has made me realise I was a fool for thinking I wouldn’t bother going to see them live this time around – fingers crossed there’s still tickets left!
Sounds like: Supergrass at their best.
Fave Tracks: ‘When I Needed You’, ‘Ghost Of A Friend’, ‘Diamond Hoo Ha Man’
Elbow – The Seldom Seen Kid
My favourite Elbow album is their second ‘Cast Of Thousands’. I liked ‘Leaders Of The Free World’ (their third) but not as much as ‘Cast Of Thousands’, so I was looking forward to ‘The Seldom Seen Kid’. The first single ‘Grounds For Divorce’ has a great line; ‘I’ve been working on a cocktail, it’s called grounds for divorce’ and Guy Garvery’s gravelly voice certainly sounds like he means it.
I’ve not given this album enough listens yet to really get into it, but I’m sure there’ll be plenty of gems – a return to form…not that they ever lost their form.
Sounds like: Only Elbow can, dark, brooding, moody…
Also…
I’ve also been listening to The Gutter Twins – ‘Saturnalia’ and The Raconteurs – ‘Consolers Of The Lonely’ both of which I’m really enjoying, more about them soon.
Care to share?
Maybe you’ve got your own tips on what’s hot in 2008? Post them in the comments!
