I have discovered something very odd about Metal Gear Solid 4!  Very odd indeed!

 

Despite having it since the day of release, I have played it a total of once to ensure it works and even then it literally was for five minutes!

 

Don't get me wrong, I was excited about buying it, I am excited about playing it, from the five minutes I played it originally I have to say it seems to be an excellent game!  However, it's biggest problem is not itself, no, it's either Grand Theft Auto 4 or FIFA 08!

 

I turn the PS3 on with the intentions of playing MGS4 when, having earlier forgotten one of the other games are already in, the splash screen comes up and I think, "Ooh, I will jus have a quick go at.......".

 

Either 4 hours of goals, tackles and attempted Ronaldo like dives, or, 4 hours of driving like a maniac, aiming for people and police, then getting chased through the streets as my wanted level increases, deciding I want to jump out of a moving car just so I can take a pop at some innocent by-standers knee caps with the sawn-off shotgun that I just ripped out of the dead hands of a drug dealer... later, and it is normally too late to start a game of Metal Gear Solid 4.

 

No, scrub that, MGS4's biggest problem is not FIFA 08 or GTA4, it is me!  I have zilch will power when it comes to GTA4 and FIFA08!

 

Maybe, just maybe, tonight is the night I might actually play MGS4!  That's my intention, the sad little geek that I am!  LOL

Right, yes, the Runcorn Bridge!  This "thing" is only around, what, half a mile long, if that?

 

Well, rush hour is an absolute nightmare!  Especially going from the Widnes side to the Runcorn side.  You see, the bridge only actually has two lanes in each direction.

 

Going from Runcorn to Widnes direction is not so bad, can still get very, very busy though, but at least the queue moves steadily, until you get a bunch of idiots who decide they don't want to wait their fecking turn and try to push in further up.

 

It's the Widnes to Runcorn direction which is a major issue!  It can, easily, take 30 mins to 45 mins to cross during rush hour!  And over the weekend it took an hour because it was down to one lane due to road works!

 

Quite simply I blame the council/road planners (whatever you want to call the feckers), but basically they have 4/5 lanes all trying to converge, more or less at the same point, into 2 lanes!

 

Now, this could be easily changed by merging two of the slip roads together to form a single one lane slip road (admittedly, this would back traffic up at that point a bit, but at least you would have a steady and constant movement on the bridge), and the two lanes coming off the Speak Road merging into one far earlier, then that would mean you have, shock horror, two lanes trying to squeeze into..... ta fecking da.... two lanes!

 

My God peeps, it's not rocket science for crying out loud!  Common bl**dy sense!

 

Or are they keeping it that way just to try to justify certain other things (eg how London re-synced all the traffic lights and commissioned all road works at the same time just before congestion charging came in, articificially increasing congestion, and when congestion charging came in, the traffic lights back to normal and all road works vanished.  Big success that one.  This is all alleged apparently, via leaked docs.  Surprised, under Labour docs are usually lost not leaked), like congestion/tolling that bridge?

 

Well, we went out on Friday night and, well, it was fun.  I survived, Liverpool survived, no one got arrested.  Some people got absolutely wasted, not me I hasten to add, I was home by (press the play button on above vid for dramatic effect.... now) 11PM-ish!!!

 

We started off in my current favourite meeting place, The Slug & Lettuce.  For those of you who haven't been in Liverpool for a while, that used to be called The Havana.  We had a fair few in there, it really was very good, as per usual, it was good to see the lads (and lasses) from my previous place again, even if they did take some time out to take the p**s out of my blog!  LOL  Well, that's what it's here for, a bit of fun.

 

It seems word of my blog has, erm, spread like wild fire, well I did wanna be famous.  More like infamous.  LOL

 

Anyways, after some of us scoffed our faces on the delicious looking Slug & Lettuce food (and it did look really good, but I didn't eat, takes up valuable drinking space), and being told it's too early for a Tequila, we left the Slug & Lettuce and moseyed on down to The Lennon Bar, although I did suggest taking a right turn into Flares, until someone pointed out that at that time we would be the only ones in there!  Oh well, maybe I could have had the dance floor to myself, it was the place I won a bottle of champagne dancing to Thriller!  (Did I just say that out loud?)

 

So, we had a few in that bar, then left, the whole group still managing to be together.

 

Then the fatal thing happened, all of us entered O'Neills, some of us left.  It was horrendous!  I do not recall being in somewhere so absolutely and horrendously packed!  I didn't even bother with a drink in that place.  And, tbh, I didn't bother with another drink.

 

Some of us went to Mojos, and at this point I lost the urge to stay out, I just did not feel up to it.  I felt particularly tired, I had had a really good workout in the morning, maybe it had caught up with me.  So, I said my goodbyes, and then left.

 

I hate it when that happens, and to all my friends who went out would like to apologise for that (I just know you will be reading this..... LOL).

 

Later peeps.  Hopefully, next time, I will be able to stay out later!  Oh, and I had work today!

 

Well, I am on a night out tonight!  Yeehah!  We are off out into Liverpool tonight, so I can expect lots of drunken debauchery to be going on.....

 

Well, alright, lots of drunkeness.

 

It's been a while since I have been on a really good night out, so tonight is something I am very much looking forward.

 

One more good thing, the weather seems to have picked up a bit, hopefully it will stay that way.

 

One problem, because I am going early and a I am looking forward to tonight, today will go sooooo slow an eternity spent listening to Amy Winehouse's grating voice will seem like no time at all!

 

The weather knows what I just typed, it has gone ever so more overcast now!

Earlier on, during lunch time, I was trawling around the News BBC website when something in particular caught my eye. 

 

No, it wasn't another picture of Jessica Lucas or another stat/picture about/of the Bugatti Veyron, it was a news article about a planned building in Dubai.  Now that in itself is not remarkable, after all Dubai already has some quite remarkable buildings, what makes this planned building especially remarkable is that it will be a 80-storey tower that moves!  It's floors will revolve!

 

 

Apparently, it will never look the same twice, it will be the first rotating, moving and shape changing building!

 

A few thoughts, though.

 

One, when you come home from a night on the town, pi**ed as a fart, would it:

 

a - be a bit confusing as to whether the room was spinning or, indeed, actually rotating

 

OR

 

b - balance out the spinning feeling and make you feel better?

 

Two, why, oh why would the rooms only complete one rotation between 1 and 3 hours?  For the estimated cost of between $3.7m and $36m I want to feel some centrifugal force from the voice controlled rotation.  I wanna be able to say "I wanna feel sick" at which point it would start rotating so fast that I am forced onto the window and pressed right up, spread eagled, against it as the centrifugal force tries its damndest to send me through it!  Heck, Alton Towers would have nothing on that one!

 

At that price, it's the least one could expect!

 

Three, it would sort out any noisy neighbours, you would just order the apartment to rotate.  Blast!  That broom now has one less usage, oh well, maybe the saving of the broom could go towards buying one.... hmmmm

 

Four, it would help when the sun is shining on the lovely 50" 1080P HD LCD whilst playing Metal Gear Solid 4 on the PS3 or Halo 3 on the XBox 360, or, indeed, Grand Theft Auto 4 on either.  Instead of stopping playing to get up to close the curtains, you could just order the apartment to rotate, just don't say "I wanna feel sick" otherwise you may find a 360/PS3 implanted in your skull LOL!

 

Five, that would make one cool alarm system!  Someone breaks in, the apartment opens all it's windows and then starts spinning very quickly causing the robber to get his/her just-desserts.

Had to put this under travel even though, strictly speaking it is not travel as I live in Liverpool, but there you go, ran out of categories slots to create a new one.

 

Anyways, went into Liverpool City Centre and ended up going into the Liverpool One Centre.  Now this is a shopping centre, like The Trafford Centre, but bigger (I have been told by someone from Manchester) and open air.  This was planned so as to create a smooth transition from the main shopping centre to the Liverpool One Centre without making it feel like you are entering somewhere else.

 

When I got there I must admit, I was astounded by the shear scale!  The John Lewis and Debenhams shops are ginormous!

 

The Liverpool One Centre is not even finished yet, far from it, but the bit that is open will give you an idea just how massive this will be!  It will even have a park in it.  It really is amazing!

 

Before then, however, I went through the Met Quarter and there facing me was a Rafa Benitez Superlambbanana!

 

For those who do not know, years ago a sculpture appeared in Liverpool called the Superlambbanana, this was a bright yellow thing, and here is the official website:

 

 

And it looks like this:

 

 

As part of the Capital Of Culture 2008, there have been placed 100 different types of Superlambbanana's around Liverpool City Centre.  Maps are available to tell you whereabouts they are, but I counted 10 in a very short amount of time anyway, and one of these is in the Met Quarter and is the Rafa Benitez Superlambbanana (Baa-nitez):

 

 

Loving it!  LOL

 

Soon peeps, until then, have fun!

Well, one of my pet hates is when something makes you look like a complete and utter idiot!  A fool!  Something that makes you look like you have just been born or have been living under a rock for the last 20-odd years!

 

Even worse, people who try to make you (not necessarily on purpose, but because they have to follow a stringent set of questions).

 

Like those times when you phone (for sake of argument) Sky.  You phone up and say something like, "Hi, my Sky box wont change channel!", "Have you tried switching it off at the wall, sir?"

 

Knowing full well that the problem is with the remote and you have already attempted switching off the Sky box.

 

Lets consider this for a moment.  "Have you tried switching it off at the wall, sir?", and after looking at the phone receiver like it had just turned into Medusa's severed head, you manage, "Yes" in a strained and squeaky voice which hints at the tirade just dying to be released from your mouth.

 

"Can you try it again?", and again you look at the phone right before you start hitting yourself across the head with it in a shear fit of absolute frustration.  Give me something new for crying out loud!  "After taking the Sky card out."  Ah, now we are getting somewhere, at least this is something you might not have thought doing.

 

Then it becomes the phones turn to become devil spawn and make a complete tw*t out of you.  You go to turn the power off at the mains for the Sky box only to realise, too late I might add, that this is a multi-block tucked neatly behind the TV which also powers the base unit for the cordless phone that, you guessed it, you are speaking to the operative on the other end with!

 

A hissing sound emanating from the telephone, "Oh, for f*cks sake, sh*t!" escaping loudly from your mouth later you are dialling them back as after turning back on said Sky box and re-inserting the card into the slot it still doesn't fecking work!

 

You then go on to explain what has happened, what you have done, and what you have been told to do, what you now believe is the problem (the remote).  Only, in the sweetest voice you can possibly imagine, "Have you tried turning it off at the wall?"

 

Resisting the urge to go running into the kitchen, screaming like a fecking banshee, looking for the sharpest instrument to stab yourself with (knowing my luck it would turn out to be a spoon) AND resisting the urge to say something like, "Have you tried fecking listening to a single fecking word I just said?", you repeat yourself and this time, they get it!  "Ah, sounds like your remote control has gone faulty."

 

No way!?  Really?  I could have sworn I said that about fifteen times already, Sherlock!

 

"We will send you a new one right away!", "Thank you", "Your welcome, anything else I can help you with, sir?", "Yes, how do you stab yourself with a spoon making sure you do actually never have to ring Sky support again?"

 

Okay, that last part was a bit of artistic license it was more like, "No thank you."

 

Now in this instance, don't get me wrong, the operatives where very helpful and very nice.  I do not have a problem with them whatsoever.  I do know being in the service industry can be a pain at the best of times, but when these poor people are following a set set of questions which are titled "Questions That Will Make The Customer Feel Like A Tw*t And Make The Blood Boil" written by someone whose name rhymes with Loosifer (and if you can't get that one you need shooting).

 

 

I bet you thought this blog entry has finished?  Oh no, not on your nelly it ain't!  You see, I have never came as close to hitting a salesman as I did at everyones favourite computer shop, PC World!

 

At the time, I was looking for a new PC.

 

I know what you are thinking, what on God's green Earth is someone who works in the IT industry doing going into PC World to buy a new PC for?  Well, I know a bargain when I see one, and at that particular point in time, the machine was a damn good bargain and I could not have built one cheaper!  (Well, perhaps I could if I wasn't a lazy barsteward who couldn't be ar*ed shopping around for the components).

 

This one day I walked into PC World just on the off chance, and there it was like the shining light, surrounded by an aura saying to me, "Here I am Ant, I am yours, take me."

 

At that moment I knew it was meant to be, so I grabbed the first salesman and started talking to him about it.  I also noticed that it had Windows XP Home on, but I had a spare Windows XP Pro at home.

 

"Would it effect my PC World warranty if I was to rebuild it with XP Home?"

 

"You won't be able to"

 

"Sorry?"

 

"Rebuild it, you won't be able to get it to work!"

 

Imagine my shock and horror at this!  Not only has the pratt just tried to make a customer look like a complete moron, he had also done so whilst not knowing anything about said customer at all!

 

"Really?"  Was my reply.

 

"Yep"

 

"I think I can!", "I bet you can't" it went on until I lost patience and said, "Look, I have been supporting Microsoft OS's for the past God knows how many years, I will be damned if I cannot rebuild this heap and not get it working."

 

"You won't be able to get it to work, it has bespoke components.", oh right, thats funny the word bo**ocks just went floating through my mind!

 

I just walked out after telling him he could shove the desktop up his ar*e!  I was a tad annoyed!  Cheeky, presumptuous, patronising fecking upstart!

 

A week later, I went back in and spoke to a different rep, who it must be said actually knew what he was talking about and cottoned onto the fact I did almost immediately!  Now this was better.  I told him what went on the week before and oddly enough he knew exactly who I was talking about!

 

I bought the PC, took it home, rebuilt it with XP Pro, the network card didn't work (no driver), a quick google, a download and five minutes later I had a fully working, rebuilt, desktop.  I still wonder to this day, everytime I look at that desktop, what it would look like sticking out of the arse of that pillock, only to realise it would be a waste of a desktop.

 

 

Am I finished yet?  Nope.  Muwahahahaha!

 

The final one for this entry is the weather!  Yep, the weather can make you look like an idiot!

 

This morning I blogged about the gym (as usual), when I mentioned how the weather had made a turn for the worse to match my mood and the fact it was the weekend.  The minute I post it?  The weather goes bleedin nice again!

 

When it's really nice, people wash the car.  After you have washed the car?  Those pretty, fluffy white clouds turn into those swirling ones that even Jupiters weather system would be proud of and pi**es all over your newly washed and polished car!

 

You go out in a t-shirt with no coat and umbrella?  It pi**es on you like you are carrying your very own personalised weather system that has a serious personal issue, and score to settle, with you.

 

It's raining and cold, so you go out in a coat and holding an umbrella.  The minute you are just too far away to make it worthwhile going back to the house to change, it goes bleeding sunny and as warm as hell!

 

You hedge your bets and put on something neutral?  The weather pi**es, snows, blows, sunny, cold all in equal measures just to give that extra good feeling!  In fact, it wouldn't surprise me if it invented a new type of weather just for you!

 

And that is the end of this blog entry...... for now.

Just to add to my embarrassment, I am going to admit to something here, and that is, I am a Genesis fan.  I like their songs, what can I say?

 

Anyways, one of my favourite songs by them was a song called Land Of Confusion, the video for which was famous by using the Spitting Image characters for the likes of Ronald Reagan.  I miss that series, funny as heck!

 

I am not usually a big fan of covers/remixes of songs that I like.  Having said that certain remixes/covers are better than the originals of songs that I don't like!

 

I would also say that the political undertones of the song are probably more apt today than they were originally.

 

Going along though, I must say, I had never even heard of the group Disturbed before seeing this on good old YouTube!  Its quite heavy and might not be to everybodies taste, but enjoy (I have also embedded the original as well, aren't I kind.....) a truely tremendous tune:

 

 

Ladies and gents, it is indeed a sad, sad day for me.  I have decided to lay to rest my poor, and until recently, IPOD Mini.  The 4GB generation 1 version.

 

It will remain as a backup just in case. 

 

Last week, I gave it the equivalent of a electric shock to the heart to get it going again, a full factory reset!  This then needed all the tunes putting back on.

 

The symptons were when it started hanging during songs, skipping to the next tune.  I thought this may have had something to do with it.  After the factory reset, I put the tunes back on it.  That was on Friday.  Today it started again!  In the middle of one of my favourite Pendulum tunes.

 

So now, may I present my new IPOD, the 8GB IPOD Nano Black!  May it give me as much fun and joy as my previous!  I also took the option of 3 year replace if it goes wrong (although not covered for accidental damage, but at only £29 and considering what happened to my previous, it seems a small price to pay for an extra peace of mind).

 

 

 

Long Live The IPOD!

I have gone and done it folks!  I have bought Cloverfield on DVD (the 2 disc version)! 

 

I was going to wait for the Blu-Ray version to come out, I will just buy that version anyway when it (eventually - Ed) does!  I needed to get my Jessica Lucas and JJ Abrams fix (especially now Lost has finished this season, and Sky+ refuses to play The Covenant anymore).

 

I have been very good lately, I haven't mentioned a certain actress in one of my blog entries for a while now!  LOL (7 days to be precise! - Ed)

 

I also got War Of The Worlds on DVD as well for £2.00, it was on special offer at the Blockbusters I went to when bought with Cloverfield.  Would have been more fitting for it to have been Godzilla since that's, essentially, what Cloverfield has more in common with than War Of The Worlds.

 

I was going to give my wishes for the next (if they make) Cloverfield (probably aptly named Cloverfield 2), but do not want to spoil the film for anyone who has not seen it yet!

 

I wonder how long it will be before my PS3 refuses to play Cloverfield?  LOL

 

Later peeps!  I can well recommend this film, it is brilliant!  The acting is tremendous too!  I would imagine it being very difficult to do.

Someone has started a petition on the Governments website to try to get the fuel duty/tax lowered.  I am posting it here so peeps who are my friends and those who are not listed as a friend (You do realise that taking both them into account means everyone?  Would it not be easier to just say everyone? - Ed) can click on the link and sign it.

 

One thing though, you have to be a resident of the UK.

 

Thanks and please, please sign!  The state of this countries taxation level is a disgrace!

 

Well, I feel compelled to do another write up on the Bugatti Veyron 16.4, I have just seen that video of James May taking it to 407km/h=253mph, and it reminded me how much I adore this car.

 

Funny story, though, I went for a walk and was only around the corner from my house looking in the window of this shop when I heard this engine.  My instant thought was, "Blimey, that sounds wonderful!"  When I turned around to have a look, theres this bleeding Veyron idling at the crossing!  And then it goes.  WOW!!  The engine, even when idle, you can tell, despite being relatively quiet, is a beast waiting to be unleashed onto an unsuspecting World!

 

*** Note: Vids at bottom of blog entry.  The last vid is worth watching and listening to by Caradvice.com.au

 

Other cars are coming which, at the moment, are promising to be faster, but, can they be as stylish?  I am not so sure.  Today, whilst waiting patiently at work for certain things to finish, I have watched videos and read stats for comparison with things like an F1 car.

 

You may be thinking, wow another petrol head boy with a childish fantasy about speed.  Well, yes and no.  My interest in the speed of the Veyron is also very much by the fact that it can do what it does, and the engineering feat it took to get it there.

 

I can now here you think, ah, yes, but F1 has been doing it for years.  Well, yes and no, again.  Remember, an F1 car can have it's engine replaced after every race, re-tuned and all sorts of other things done to it, not even just in between races, but small, minor things during as well.  The Veyron is a road going car whose engine is expected to last years and years without needing a full replacement.  Not only that, but, it is expected to be able to drive slowly as well as quickly.

 

Anyone who remembers Richard Hammond having a go at a F1-type racing car knows just how well it does at slow speeds.  Quite simply, it doesn't. 

 

Not only that, but after doing some research, Google and Windows Live Search are brilliant tools, it starts to become even more apparent just how much of an engineering feat the Veyron is even compared to an F1 car.

 

An F1 car, a decent one, produces around 760bhp allowing it's (average) 1,800lbs (although according to Wiki, it's more like 600KG which is 1,320lbs)  body do 0-62mph in approximately 2.3 seconds.  Now a Veyron only has 241BHP more (a mere 1001BHP) which gets it from 0-62mph in 2.5 seconds.  Ah, yes, you may say, the Veyron is slower at acceleration.  Yes, it is.  However, it's remarkable in the fact the Veyron weighs a whopping 4,162lbs (1,888KG)!  Thats over 2,300lbs heavier than the F1 car!  Or 2,842lbs lighter if using Wiki's figures.

 

Now the Veyron can stay with a F1 car between 0-60, but it's 0-100 is not as good, an F1 manages it in 3.6 seconds whereas a Veyron takes a very slow 5.5 seconds.  That is where the weight difference comes into it.

 

Also, a Formula 1 car manages a top speed of around 220mph, a Veyron?  253mph.  That's an incredible speed for a road-going car, however, it is not as efficient as it could have been, apparently.  I have been doing some reading up on the McLaren F1 road car, and it seems the designer of the McLaren F1, when he was doing a review of the Veyron, said that a mere 740BHP is all it would take to propel a McLaren F1 to reach that speed, and if the MCF1 had 1001BHP it could have done 281mph!

 

Having said that, I did read the review through and thought I could taste a little bit of sour grapes in there.  I could be wrong, so I have attached the article in the below link so you can make your own mind up:

 

 

 

What he doesn't say is the rather intriguing stat that Jeremy Clarkson came out with, if you had a race between the McLaren F1 and a Veyron.  If you started in the McLaren F1 and got it to 120mph and THEN started off in the Veyron, the Veyron would still hit 200mph before the McLaren F1.  Oddly enough the gent in the aforementioned review left out that little stat.  However, if you read the Wiki write-up it does say at the bottom he (the McLaren F1 designer) made a u-turn on his views of it.

 

Here is another good comparison of the cars:

 

 

Wiki Does Bugatti 

 

Right, let's list some stats (yes, some from Wiki), I am a geek!  Honestly, lol:

 

Driveline - All Wheel Drive

Tyres F-R - 265-680 ZR 500A R540A (PAX System)

 

Power bhp (kW) at RPM - 1001(736)/6000

Redline at RPM - 6500

Torque lb-ft (Nm) at RPM - 923(1250)/2200-5500

Type - 8.0L Quad-Turbocharged DOHC 64-valve W16

 

Weight lbs (KG) - 4,162 (1,888)

 

 Acceleration 0-100mph - 5.5 seconds

Acceleration 0-124mph - 7.4 seconds

Acceleration 0-150mph - 9.8 seconds

Acceleration 0-186mph - 16.7 seconds

Acceleration 0-200mph - 24.2 seconds

Acceleration 0-250mph - 53 seconds

Standing Quarter-Mile (402 m) - Between 9.8 seconds (150mph) and 10.2 seconds (142.9mph)

Acceleration/Breaking 0-100-0mph - 9.9 seconds

The thing is though, this car not only holds its own against anything with four wheels, it can also, for instance, beat a Suzuki GSX-R1000 superbike in the 0-100-0mph test!  As one person put it, in Autocars annual 0-100-0mph contest, the Bugatti Veyron had wiped the floor with the opposition.

 

The first vid below shows James May taking the Veyron out on a flat out, as fast as it will go, speed fest!  Interestingly enough, it is rumoured that Bugatti is actually limited to 253mph due to tyre issues.  For instance, as stated in the video, the tyre's at that speed will only last around 50 minutes!  Even so, it won't get that far as it will empty it's 100 Litre tank in 12 minutes 46 seconds!  In this, rip off, thanks Labour, Britain, that would be around £120-140!

 

Now, it has been said by several people in the past that supercars are normally quite horrible to be in, and when you start to push them to the limit all sorts of rattles and shakes occur.  However, as will be shown, this is most definately not true of the Bugatti Veyron!  As James May says, not in these vids, they end after he finishes the run, the only very, very slightest shudder occurred during breaking and lasted not long at all!

 

Enjoy kids!  At £850,000 to buy and 10,000euros (£7,987.31) per service, this really is for the super rich!

 

             

 

            

 

         

 

 

 

  

 

        

 

 

Well, it's been a while but I felt it was time to do (nee, compelled to do) another soapwatch on that Australian soap, Home And Away.

 

You see, it seems that one half of the death by marriage duo, Sally, has left Summer Bay.  What are the writers going to do?  They cannot let Leah marry/go out with everyone, that would just be wrong!

 

Oh hang on a minute, Tony has just got engaged to Rachel..... hmmmm..... however, Rachel's character, after getting married, doesn't kill off her husband(s), they just leave, like her previous one, Kim.  (The actor who played him is now in the new Star Trek film and went to the Cloverfield premier!  Haha, he's met Jessica Lucas and you haven't! - Ed)  I hate you, Ed, I really hate you!  LOL  (Glad I could help! - Ed)

 

(Big Brother - Axe Wielding Ant)  NOT YET!  Thats for later, the egotistical bunch of tw......... no, must resist the urge, must resist!  Nice thought's, think nice thought's..... Jessica Lucas..... that's better.

 

Right, lets get back on track shall we..... Rachel and her amazing ability to make people leave Summer Bay.  I don't understand it either, she is an exceptionally clever woman, after all she seems to be the only Doc in Summer Bay who can actually do anything.  We shall call it the "Martin Platt Syndrome", being the only person in your field who knows everything about everythin to do with that job, who happens to be just there (almost omnipotent as well, I am surprised that the only thing I haven't seen Rachel do is deliver three babies in three seperate rooms at the same time.  If the writers are reading this and you choose to use that idea, I accept cheque, bankers draft, postal order or cash.)

 

Let's just digress a little at this point whilst speaking about the Martin Platt Syndrome and Tony above, Jack Holden (Tony's son) has left the police force and gone off with Martha, his ex-wife, having just burried his current wife after she killed herself trying to set Martha up for the act!  Seriously, who writes this!

 

I want to know what is going to happen to the crime rate in Summer Bay now Jack, the only useful policeman/woman there, has quit?  I really am worried!  Honest!

 

And when I say he has gone off, I mean, he has gone!  Left!  You see, Rachel, even before getting engaged to his father, has managed to get Jack to leave.  You know, the writers might be onto something there!  Death/leave by proxy by Rachel even thinking about a relationship to a relative.  Lethal, absolutely lethal!  You know, I think Leah may very well lose this round!  Bring back Sally, thats what I say!

 

That's unless, of course, the writers manage to write into the story line and get the bigomy laws in Summer Bay unexplicably changed (I am sure the only lawyer of any use to exist in the whole of Australia, Morag, will be able to do it) so Leah can marry every single male in Summer Bay at the same time.  Now that would put the cat among the pigeons, every male actor would be under constant threat.  The only problem is, there are only so many ways you can kill someone off, but I would imagine I can think of some very eventful ways to kill some of the more irritating characters off!

 

What else is happening at the moment?  Well, Rick Dalby is going to get his head pounded in (one can hope) in an illegal organised street fight by one of Johnny's henchmen.  You see, Jack hasn't quit for five minutes and already organised crime is on the up in Summer Bay!

 

Oh yes, Rick is fighting in front of his constantly on-off-on again girlfriend, Mattie, along with whom I consider to be the best looking woman in Summer Bay, Jazz.  Ah, Jazz, the scheming man-aniser.  She even tried to diddle her own son out of his in-heritance, actually, scrub that, she did!

Right, I am off to think of inventive ways of torturing the Big Brother contestants.  And how Cloverfield is released on Monday on DVD and hopefully blu-ray!

Firstly, allow me to say a few things about Capital Of Culture.  It is not just about spending money, it is also about history, about what the city has done in the past among other things.

 

I would suggest to those who do not think Liverpool deserved to receive the accolade to go away and do some research (unfortunately, they do not do a Liverpool History For Beginners, at least not yet anyway), the city is not just about football and The Beatles, it has a whole lot more, for instance one of the most famous skylines in the World, some of the most beautiful architecture (St Georges Hall anyone, The Liver Building).  It's also home to one of the best childrens hospitals in, if not Europe, then certainly England (Alder Hey).  How about one of the biggest (at one point, and the first of its type) docks in the World?  What about The Grand National, the most famous horse race in the World?  A superbly, and beautiful, kitted out museum?  What about the Tate Art Gallery?

 

And what about this one, despite its stereotypical facade given by people from outside Liverpool, its comparatively low crime rate?

 

There is so much more I could go into, but I will not, not now.

 

Without trying to upset any of my friends, if a cities council is arrogant enough to believe that Capital Of Culture is all about just spending money, then that city needs to do something about that council.  Unfortunately, Liverpool City Council have not exactly held themselves in good stead, but luckily the City is so steaped in history and greatness that it can fend for itself, so much so that it won the accolade despite the council, not because of.  As for Cherie Blair having any sort of involvement, I would call that also a hinderance more than anything else.

 

I am not saying other cities are not great, far from it, but it's Liverpool's time.

 

Right, off my high-horse a bit (That wasn't a high horse, that was a fecking giraffe of a rant - Ed) now.  There are a fair few Youtube vids hanging around from the Paul McCartney concert that I went to the other night, felt I would share one or two of my faves with you!

 

Enjoy.

 

 

     

 

     

 

   

 

 Kaiser Chiefs (6 mins 35 secs)

 

 

WOW, what a concert!  ****Piccies are added in a new album at bottom of the page****

 

We arrived at Anfield, home of the greatest football club in the World, Liverpool FC based in the best city in the World, Capital of Culture 2008, Liverpool, at around 5:00PM to find a queue the size of which I haven't seen in a long time!

 

My sister and I spent a good 30 mins in the queue most of which was spent discussing about if we get a chance in the ballot for a ticket(s) for the 2008 MTV awards in the Liverpool Echo Arena we must go for it!

 

To which my sister asked, "Why so desperate?"

 

To which I responded, "What if Cloverfield gets nominated for any awards?  That means the cast will be there!  Which means Jessica Lucas will be there!"

 

At which point my sister, far to chirply it might be said, responded, "Yes, she may well be!  BUT, even if we got tickets, AND, even if she was there, you would still be 3 miles away!"

 

At this particular juncture it occurred to me, that may be so, but it will be around 3,500 miles less than I currently am!  That's good enough for me!  All this was discussed inbetween the discussions about food and drink!  (Which was, as expected, prohibitive, £3.00 for a hot dog, £3.50 for Smirnoff Ice/Carlsberg (p*ss) larger or £4.50 for some Aussie wine)

 

Anyways, we eventually got in and what an atmosphere!  It was electric!  Everyone was so happy!

 

Before I continue, allow me to say that I am one of a very few breed of Scouser who (used to) was not a Paul McCartney fan.  With that off my chest and out in the open, I will continue.

 

The night started with myself and my sister downing a Smirnoff Ice each, followed, quickly it might be added by a wine, just before the first of the two supporting bands came on, The Zutons!

 

They were excellent!  What a way to start!  Boy did that get everything going big time!

 

 

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I drafted the above part whilst still drunk last night/early this morning (and I still have to do legs at the gym.... ouch)!

 

Anyways, we were bouncing, the whole stadium was bouncing, and this was just the start!  A jolly good time was had by all!  What a weekend I have had, first Friday night in Manchester and now this!

 

The Zutons played many of there well known songs, and they played very well, an excellent group live, which was good preparation for what was to come later on!

 

Oh yes, I had a lovely portion of chips which tasted a heck of a lot better than they looked I can tell you!

 

Then I had a hot dog, the first of three last night!  And they were very nice too, and for £3.00 a pop I should bleeding think so!

 

At this point, can I also point out that some of the organisation left a lot to be desired!  For instance, the queue for the toilets was horrendous, it was only after people complaining that realisation set in and they had to open up the toilets outside!  Well done!  Things eased off as the night drew on when peoples bladders had settled a bit, either that or peeps were thinking sod it and just peeing down there legs!  LOL

 

And then The Kaiser Chiefs came on!  And WOW, thet were excellent, I Predict A Riot went down a real treat, and they too are way excellent live!  What a good choice of supporting bands to have.

 

As an added bonus we had Peter Kay come, albeit for a far too short amount of time, he was more just introducing, but even then he was hilarious, although that could be because by this point, we had around 1xbottle Smirnoff Ice, 3xsmall bottles of wine and 1xbottle of Carlsberg (p*ss) lager each!

 

Then the highlight, what the night was all about, the return of one of Liverpool's prodigal sons, Paul McCartney came on!  Oh what a cheer he got, even from me!  And boy, he did not disappoint!  Not one bit!  Live And Let Die was superb and it got everyone rocking and really set the mood once it had been played!

 

Another bonus was the appearance of Foo Fighters star Dave Grohl who played guitar in the Wings song Band On The Run, then drums for both Back In The USSR and I Saw Her Standing There.

 

Hey Jude was superb and got all us lot at the back in the standing area holding hands in the air an swaying side to side whilst singing along!  I even did a Steven Gerrard and turned around and tried geeing the Kop up and trying to conduct it (Probably just making yourself look like a complete pratt! - Ed), it was all good fun and I wouldn't have missed it!  Oh, and I had another 2 or 3 bottles of Carlsberg!

 

This is what Liverpool is about, the atmosphere was great, friendly, people got along like they were all friends, this is what the great city that I have lived in and loved my whole life is about.  A togetherness.  Well worth experiencing!

 

Then, we had to try to find a taxi!  Needle in a haystack springs to mind.  We eventually did, and I got home about 1:30AM and I haven't slept at all!  Still buzzing from the night!

 

The stage was fantastic, which you will see from my photos, dominated by the word Liverpool and decorated with landmarks from the city!  Sadly, this will be the last concert to be played at Anfield before Liverpool move to our new stadium.

 

 

One more thing I have to say is this:

 

I was not a fan of Paul McCartney, but, I am now!  You, Sir, are one of the true great entertainers, God bless you!