Wednesday 31st May
Being
a Palace fan ain't ever boring, and there are two ways of looking
at the club's dramatic serving of a writ on ex-manager Iain
Dowie at a press conference to announce his new job. CPFC chief
Simon Jordan claims that Dowie lied about his motives in departing.
Having agreed to waive the £1 million compensation payable
if he joined another club, Dowie then went and did exactly that
- at supposed 'rivals' nine miles down the road. So much for
moving up North to be with his family. No wonder when Sky Sports
News asked Jordan if his next meeting with Dowie would be in
the High Court, Simon replied: "Or through a medium."
Part of me - most of me, actually - was standing up and punching
the air to see someone brave enough to fight for what he believes
is right and fair, but a small voice inside my head also said:
What message does this pantomime send out to prospective new
managers about our chairman? Only time will tell, I guess...
Still on a footie theme, England warmed up for the World Cup
against Hungary without the crocked Wayne Rooney last night.
But for Palace's Gabor Kiraly between the opponents' sticks
the margin of our victory would've been greater, but the scoreline
of 3-1 perhaps massaged some acceptability into a thoroughly
tame performance.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Tuesday 30th May
A sludgecore supergroup featuring ex-Pantera/current Superjoint
Ritual frontman Philip Anselmo, Crowbar guitarist Kirk Windstein
and drummer Jimmy Bower, Corrosion Of Conformity guitarist Pepper
Keenan and former Pantera bassist Rex Brown, Down's debut UK
tour rolled into London town last night. Anselmo and Brown hadn't
visited Britain in a decade, but the pugnacious frontman hasn't
changed much, taking his time at the microphone between songs
and making the Astoria as pumped-up as he was. At times Phil's
intensity levels bordered upon the comedic, notably after demolishing
an umpteenth microphone stand. "Bring me another or I'm
gonna punch somebody in the fuckin' mouth," he growled
threateningly, the mask momentarily cracking into a smile upon
realising a roadie had already done so.
A brief, faithful extract from Led Zeppelin's 'Dazed And Confused'
segued into 'Lies, I Don't Know What They Say But...', the rest
of the set pulling from the band's two albums. 'Lysergik Funeral
Procession', 'Ghosts Along The Mississippi', 'Learn From This
Mistake', 'New Orleans Is A Dying Whore' and 'There's Something
On My Side' were all culled from 2002's 'Down II: A Bustle In
Your Hedgerow', and the rest - 'Lifer' (dedicated to Dimebag
Darrell), 'Losing All', 'Rehab', 'Temptation's Wings', 'Underneath
Everything', 'Eyes Of The South', 'Jail', 'Stone The Crow' and
'Bury Me In Smoke' - from the 'NOLA' debut in 1995. There were
rants about record company foes and the numerous rivals gathered
in the sold-out crowd. "Look around you and admit it, you
fucked up ten years ago, man," Anselmo seethed at anyone
who might've been present from Pantera's label Eastwest. "You
can call yourself a doom band or whatever the fuck you want,"
he then challenged to all the other musos in da house, "but
you're looking at the fucking kings right here. Don't you ever
forget it." After three encores and almost two hours instage,
few would've had the balls to try.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Sunday 28th May
Slayer are up to their old tricks again. The US quartet
guaranteed themselves perpetual imfamy by writing about Nazi
death camp exterminator Josef Mengele in their song 'Angel Of
Death'. Their oft-used validation has been that 'Angel...',
featured on the all-time classic 'Reign In Blood' album, didn't
express an opinion about Mengele's war crimes - it just told
his story. We now learn that their forthcoming, as-yet untitled
CD, contains a song called 'Jihad', which examines 9/11 from
the viewpoint of a terrorist. Guitarist Kerry King insists:
"It doesn't condemn anyone or say that anyone's right or
wrong." Inevitably (and just as the band will have hoped),
the news has been greeted by howls of fury. One irate poster
at Blabbermouth.net accuses Slayer of sitting on the fence to
exploit controversy, making a good point when he fumes: "If
Kerry King wants to glorifiy this (bad) kind of objectivity
perhaps he should write apply to write for a (bad) encyclopedia.
If you've really got nothing to say then shut up." This
one will run and run...
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Friday 26th May
This job has definite perks, and yesterday I unchained myself
from the computer for a trip to Farnham in leafy Surrey and
a rendez-vous with Mountain. The band had agreed to be interviewed
for various upcoming Classic Rock items, and drummer Corky Laing
and I sat in their hotel's garden nursing glasses of white wine
beneath an unusually hot English early summer sky. Poor ol'
Leslie West has been in the wars, with a new artery inserted
into a leg just prior to departing for these dates. The guitarist
was visibly suffering as the trio (completed by bassist Richie
Scarlet) took the stage that evening at the Maltings, yet Mountain
put aside medical afflictions to deliver a tight, powerful and
charismatic performance.
Naturally the band included 'Never In My Life', 'Nantucket Sleighride'
and the evergreen 'Mississippi Queen', also previewing the forthcoming
'Mountain Does Dylan' collection with an acoustic rendition
of 'Blowing In The Wind' and going wa-a-a-ay back to West's
1969 debut album 'Mountain' for 'Long Red'. At just 75 minutes
long (including drum solo and some generous improvisation) you'd
have to say the show was a tad too short, but content-wise the
magic still remains.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Thursday 25th May
I'd had reservations about attending last night's Saga concert
at the Garage. The Canadian pomp maestros have been one of my
fave bands since they opened for Styx at Hammersmith Odeon in
June 1980 on the 'Silent Knight' tour and I even had the thrill
of witnessing people being thrown into swimming pools and various
dodgy toilet cubicle activities at a post-show party after the
band had headlined the same London venue. But Saga stayed away
too long in the 1990s, and various unspportive record labels
exacerbated the problem. They still remain big stars on the
continent, but here in Britain their once glorious flame has
dwindled to something resembling a bunsen burner. The new album,
'Trust', was also a little bland. So it was with an ominious
feeling that I entered the modest confines of the Garage to
find my worst suspicions confirmed - only a couple of hundred
people had turned up.
But there was a ray of optimism: Just as the lights were about
to dim, none other than Steve Harris and Nicko McBrian walked
in, both looking very excited. Steve hadn't seen Saga since
the Lyceum back in 1981, and Nicko was a total Saga virgin -
though the band's records are still often played on Iron Maiden's
tour bus. Must admit, I ended up having a coupla dry white wines
and enjoying things far more than expected. Ian Crichton is
a stunning guitarist with a style all of his own, and it was
thrilling to see the group (now completed by ex-Helix drummer
Brian Doerner) in such intimate confines. There was lots of
banter with the audience and they treated it a little like a
paid rehearsal, with frontman Michael Sadler quipping: "Few
people get to see us playing on huge stadium stages like this."
Newies like 'It's Your Life' and 'I'm Okay' sounded far better
live, and on Phil Ashcroft from Fireworks magazine's recommendation
I'll definitely give the album another listen. Ultimately, though,
the set was cut short (my fave 'The Perfectionist' had actually
been on the list) and it's hard to imagine Saga coming back
to Britain again. Steve Harris was as amazed and disappointed
as anyone at the size of the audience, certainly when juxtaposed
with their enormous talent.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Wednesday 24th May
Various clubs are willing to match Eagles supremo Simon
Jordan's £8.5million valuation of Andrew Johnson - fair
play to AJ, he deserves to play in the Premiership again. However,
my worst fears appear to have foundation. With Iain 'Judas'
Dowie admitting he's been interviewed for the Charlton job,
The Mail contacted Graeme Souness during his holiday regarding
the rumours he is to fill the Selhurst Park manager's hotseat,
and were informed: "I have a lot of time for Simon Jordan
and what he's doing at Crystal Palace. We get on. It's something
I would be interested in. I'm ready for another challenge, and
Palace is something that appeals should it arise."
O-my-God... my waters tell me this appointment would be an unmitigated
disaster.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Tuesday 23rd May
And so the speculation begins. The Mirror reckons Palace's
next manager will be... Graeme Souness... no, No, NO, NO-O-O-O!!!!!!!!!
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Monday 22nd May
Yesterday afternoon, I went up to the Mean Fiddler for a
pre-show interview with Michael Schenker. It'll appear in Classic
Rock soon so I won't go spoiling any surprises, but Michael
was pretty candid about the ups and downs of his solo career
(commemorated by a new 25th anniversary album 'Tales Of Rock
'N' Roll'), also confirming that he will be involved in the
Scorpions' new album. Look out also for a potentially fascinating
Schenker Brothers record with his sibling Rudolf.
My last live encounter with MSG was at the Electric Ballroom
in March 2004. Fortunately since then Michael's replaced his
woeful lead singer Chris Logan with newcomer Jari Tiura. The
young Finn is a big improvement but his voice was too shrill
for the tunes originally sung by Phil Mogg. Former frontman
Gary Barden stepped up for a new song called 'Life Vacation',
but mostly the set comprised MSG and UFO standards including
'Assault Attack', 'Ready To Rock', 'Let It Roll', 'Lights Out',
'Into The Arena' (including drum and bass solos), 'Too Hot To
Handle', 'On And On', 'Only You Can Rock Me', 'Attack Of The
Mad Axeman', 'Armed & Ready' and a red-hot 'Rock Bottom'.
During the encore, Barden re-joined the band along with both
support acts (including Michael's son Tyson) and Taro, another
younger male member of the Schenker clan - all three sporting
Flying V's - quite a sight.
As I type, it's just been confirmed that Iain Dowie is leaving
Selhurst Park - possibly to join neighbours Charlton. I'm not
too upset about Iain's departure, but after so much talk of
being unwilling to uproot his family by moving them Down South,
it'll rankle if he ends up there. However, I wouldn't be surprised
if Dowie relegates 'em next year... ha-ha-ha.
Now this is sad: the future of King's X looks shaky. Doug Pinnick
has posted a lengthy response to rumours of the band's 25 year
career coming to a close. He admits the group are "frustrated,
out of money and ideas that will work", thwarted by the
music business at every turn. Concludes the bassist/vocalist
sadly: "It's not over until the fat lady sings, [but] she's
at the microphone."
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Sunday 21st May
Congratulations to Lordi,
who last night won the Eurovision Song Contest by a gazillion
light years. Enhanced by host Terry Wogan's biting scarcasm,
the show was fabulous (some would say 'amazing!') entertainment
as usual. Lordi might not be anywhere near as good as the mighty
GWAR, but if my kids' reaction was anything to go by, they were
odds-on winners from the first minute they flashed onto the
screen with their song 'Hard Rock Hallelujah'. We voted for
'em four times, but Mrs L won back a few extra quid after betting
they'd come top. The UK's entry was piss-poor as usual, and
for reasons only they'll ever know, the Germans offered a shockingly
bad country-rock ditty. There's a rather surreal discussion
going on over at www.melodicrock.com in which a poor deluded
fool dares to suggest that the Finns' triumph "could change
the face of music", somebody else hoping it'll "spark
a worldwide rock revival". Barman, I'll take a pint of
whatever they've been supping.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Saturday 20th May
Today's
Daily Mail claims that Iain Dowie is departing Palace "by
mutual agreement", with Bolton offering eight million smackeroonies
for Andrew Johnson. If the Dowie announcement will be confirmed
at a press conference on Monday afternoon, I'll have mixed feelings.
By all accounts the same thing happened when he was in charge
of Oldham; a barnstorming first season in charge, then results
fell alway. After he'd got us there, Palace were extraordinarily
unlucky to be relegated from the Premiership two seasons ago,
but Iain's transfer record and tactics were questionable ever
since. AJ is an oustanding striker, but hoofing the ball to
a dwarf - albeit a fleet-footed dwarf - was hardly the champagne
football that we were promised at the start of the season. Dowie's
family still live Ooop North, which has always been a stumbling
block. I'm grateful for the amazing run of results that took
us to Cardiff, and for almost achieving a miracle the following
year, but he ran out of ideas (and, judging by that unacceptable
play-off display, quite possibly also of passion) ages ago.
It's time for a new face. And no jokes about it being a prettier
one, please.
P.S. One name being mooted as Dowie's replacement is Martin
Ling of Leyton Orient. "Ling's Red & Blue Army"...
kinda like the sound of that one!
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Friday
19th May
Cheap Trick's newie, 'Rockford', has landed on the
doormat. Released via SPV on June 23, it's named after the Illinois
town from which they hail, and first spin suggests that it's
a bit of a corker. The opening track's a little odd, but otherwise
it offers loads of hummable choruses on songs like 'Come On
Come On Come On' and some scorching Rick Neilsen geetar licks.
Three more cheers for Glenn Hughes' new album, 'Music For The
Divine' (out on June 9). If you excuse the pun, the Voice Of
Rock has been in a bit of a purple patch with his last few albums,
and this one - which has guest appearances from John Frusciante
and Chad Smith of the Chili Peppers - might just turn out to
be the best. Hughes also features on another album that's stuck
in the Ling Towers death deck; Moonstone Project's 'Time To
Take A Stand'. Available via Majestic Rock, its other featured
alumni include James Christian from House Of Lords, Purple's
Ian Paice, Graham Bonnet, Steve Walsh from Kansas, Blue Öyster
Cult's Eric Bloom and another of my all-time fave singers, Paul
Shortino (Rough Cutt/Quiet Riot). Check 'em out at: www.Moonstone.it
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Thursday 18th May
Yesterday
morning was taken up by a Zakk Wylde interview. I do enjoy my
encounters with Mr Wylde; have spoken to him on a number of
occasions and always admire his unflinching habit of calling
a spade a spade. Even after all these years in the business,
there's still a certain wide-eyed wonder in whatever he does.
Zakk is in town for a Princes Trust charity gig with Ozzy Osbourne
at the Tower Of London on Saturday. Going out live on national
TV, in the company of royalty, and co-starring Annie Lennox,
Pink and what's left of the Bee Gees, it's quite a big deal.
But Wylde has the humility to treat such a media circus as just
another gig, even to chuckle, shrug his shoulders and send the
whole thing up with a fur-ruffling comment like: "Does
the Princes Trust actually need money? Is Buckingham Palace's
beer fund running out? We might as well start a trust fund for
Donald Trump."
Afterwards, I dropped by the Classic Rock/Metal Hammer office
to pick up a copy of the new Monsters
Of Rock special. What can I say except that Geoff Barton
did a great job of pulling it all together; there are backstage
stories from every year, loads of vintage pix, memories from
bands that played the original Donington festival, an explanation
of why Monsters Of Rock ground to a halt in 1996, how it's due
to return at Milton Keynes Bowl on June 3 - also a preview of
this year's acts (I believe, although it's not yet been formally
announced, that Roadstar will be the openers). Perhaps my favourite
part was my old pal Malcolm Dome - a man who needs a cat-nap
once a decade - reminiscing about a sleep-deprived, vodka-charged
trip to Iceland in 1991, with Thunder, the Quireboys, Slaughter
and the BulletBoys. The Classic Rock crew even picked their
dream Monsters Of Rock line-ups, though curiously I was the
only one to crave seeing FM and their pink suits up on
that fabled stage.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Tuesday 16th May
World
Cup hysteria continues with the news that yet another high-profile
artist (cough!) has joined the race for Number One spot in early
June. Those infamous filth-fiends The Macc Lads have put down
their pints to enter the fray with a patriotic little dittie
entitled 'St George' that can be downloaded via their website.
This piece of trivia was brought to my attention by my steamed
(er... that should probably be 'esteemed') Classic Rock colleague
Rich Wilson, whose post is delivered these days by none other
than former Macc Lads guitarist 'The Beater'. Crazy Frog, eat
your heart out!
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Monday 15th May
After the Hensley interview (which went extremely well),
family Ling attended a collector's fair at Croydon Airport yesterday.
It had records and CDs, film and TV memorabilia, autographs
etc. There were also real daleks which impressed the boys no
end, though Arnie nearly pooped his pants when it moved towards
him. Best of all, as we drove into the car park two Star Wars
stormtroopers flagged us down, pointed to Arnie and barked:
"You! What's your name". He told them and they said,
"We're searching for someone called Luke Skywalker. Move
along."
I'd been anticipating seeing my new favourite band, and that
evening I finally checked out The Sword, whose debut album I've
been playing to death. The quartet from Austin, Texas, were
opening for Nebula at Dingwalls in Camden. They performed most
of 'Age Of Winters' and largely lived up to my expectations,
shaking the venue with some powerful Sabbath-esque riffs and
crucial intricate interludes, though I had slight reservations
concerning guitarist JD Cronise's abilities both as a singer
and frontman. The crowd had thinned out by the time Nebula started.
They still sound like an unholy mixture of Hendrix, Hawkwind,
Kyuss and Motörhead, but having to rely upon Sunday night
transport I didn't last anywhere near the end of their set.
P.S. Postie just delivered Blackjack 'The Anthology', a compilation
of both albums from the band that featured Michael Bolton and
Bruce Kulick... splendid!
P.P.S. More fantastic AOR news: Shark Island's reunion CD, 'Gathering
Of The Faithful', is now due on July 7.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Sunday
14th May
Onslaught played the Underworld last night. After an
impressive support slot with Venom in March, I was hoping they'd
hang around for longer this time. They did indeed add a couple
of extra numbers; 'Flame Of The Antichrist' (from 1986's 'The
Force') and the title track of a comeback album called 'Killing
Peace' that's due in October. Alongside 'Destroyer Of Worlds',
the latter gives hope that the Bristol quintet will deliver
a killer album. The headliners were Akercocke, a band I'm also
quite partial to, but with with some research to do ahead of
this morning's 10am interview with Ken Hensley (sleeve notes
for a double-anthology that's due later this year), I decided
to give 'em a miss on this occasion.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Saturday
13th May
The
World Cup is now just 27 days away, and Barabra Schenker has
posted a song called 'Come On England Make Us Proud' at her
MySpace
site. A German woman cheering on England... that's only
slightly less less surreal than the Crazy Frog attempting Queen's
'We Are The Champions', ain't it?
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Friday 12th May
Happy
birthday to my eldest son, Eddie - nine today! Besides the Little
Man's cards, the postie just delivered a bumper crop of CDs
for me... hurrah! Pleased to report that after a couple of albums
that were huge-selling but slightly too bland for my taste,
the Red Hot Chili Peppers have got the riddim again with 'Stadium
Arcadium'. A massive 28 tunes long, it's an endurance test to
plough through both discs back to back, but how wonderful to
hear Flea and company slamming the joint again.
George Thorogood & The Destroyers have never stopped rocking,
and are unlikely to do so till the day their coffins are nailed
down. 'The Hard Stuff' is the band's booze-soaked live essence
distilled into one joyously anthemic, foot-tappin' CD. And seeing
as I'll be checking them out again for the first time in a while
this coming Sunday, I also blagged a copy of Nebula's latest
album, 'Apollo'. It's enjoyable in a dependably spliffed-out
space-rock way, but vocalist/guitarist Eddie Glass and chums
have got themselves stuck in a bit of a musical black hole -
I suspect that red-hot openers The Sword are gonna kick their
asses!
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Thursday 11th May
Just received the news I've awaited for more than a decade
- Winger are back together again and working on a new (and fourth)
studio album to be released in October via Frontiers Records.
There's even a world tour to follow! The band reunited half
a decade ago to record a new song for 'The Very Best Of Winger',
a collection I was honoured to write the sleeve notes for (almost
dropped the phone when Kip called to ask if I wanted the job!),
and then toured North America in 2002. According to the Kip-meister:
"The new album will start where 'Pull' [from 1993] left
off and move forward to new directions, mixing some classic
hard rock like Van Halen and early Winger style, [plus] progressive
and acoustic elements that may resemble Genesis, Mott The Hoople
or King Crimson". Err... excuse me, nurse! Think I've just
soiled myself!
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Wednesday 10th May
I'd been trying to put on a positive mental spin to Palace
shipping three goals at home to Watford. At Vicarage Road for
the second leg last night, I was just hoping for a miracle;
score early and anything might happen. Yeah, right. In what
will surely be Andrew Johnson's last appearance in red and blue
(Aki Riihilahti's off too, apparently), we were guileless and
passionless; Iain Dowie's tactics simply awful. Bringing on
the hapless Jon Macken was my cue to head for the exit, just
as all the players and both benches began beating seven bells
out of each other. Pitiful Palace deserved their fate, but Watford's
constant time-wasting played its part in a pressure cooker scenario.
I lost count of the times Dougie Freedman retrieved the ball
while a supposed 'ball-boy' sat idly, or the crowd refused to
return it. Dowie decked somebody and Watford manager Aidy Boothroyd
deserved the lamping he took from Fitz Hall for preventing yet
another CPFC throw-in. For that reason alone I hope that Leeds
win the Final. I couldn't have gone to Cardiff on the 21st anyway,
as Michael Schenker has a gig at the Mean Fiddler that evening.
[I joke, of course]. But seriously, I'm really looking forward
to Southend and Colchester United away.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Sunday
7th May
Leslie West was right.
_
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Saturday
6th May
With
the kick-off of today's big game fast approaching, sleep has
been off the menu. Attempting to mask my anxiety I dosed myself
up with vodka and diet cokes before and after last night's excellent
Robin Trower gig. For 90 minutes the Mean Fiddler was treated
to a stunning display of guitar virtuosity from the man sometimes
affectionately referred to as Fish Face. Trower gurns a little
less these days but his fiery blues licks still scorch like
napalm, and I swear the earth almost moved during a languid
'Bridge Of Sighs'. Maybe in honour of CPFC's showdown with Watford
he also included mid-set rendition of 'Day Of The Eagle'.
Leslie West, on the other hand, seems destined to jinx our play-off
dreams. I've just been transcribing an interview that the ever-sarcastic
Mountain guitarist gave me a few days ago. All was proceeding
smoothly until the last question, when I asked: You played at
Woodstock and have influenced Eddie Van Halen, Michael Schenker
and Richie Sambora. Rick Rubin sampled your guitar work for
rapper Jay-Z and you guested on Ozzy Osbourne's covers album.
Do you have any goals left? "Yeah," replied Leslie,
"I want to see Crystal Palace actually win something for
once! You have that soccer team in your blood, but it never
wins! Why is that?" And on that very note I'm off to drown
myself in a vat of alcohol adjacent to Selhurst Park.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Friday
5th May
Here's one thing for sure: it'll take something very special
indeed get get me back through the doors of the Koko club in Camden
again. Last night I returned there for the first time after the absymal
sound that ruined Helloween's gig back in February. Much to my eternal
shame, I'd never seen Killing Joke before so hopefully it was the
same old bass-swamped sonics that served to completely ruin the experience...
surely Jaz Coleman can't be that inept a vocalist... can he? Can he?!
I lasted a little more than an hour. From now on Koko is a No-Go.
Simple as.
Cheer at least comes with the news that Messiah Marcolin probably
hasn't left Candlemass after all. In a comedic move worthy of UFO
themselves, the Swedish doomsters are now blaming their singer's resignation
announcement on "severe pre-recording psychosis" - whatever
that means.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Thursday 4th May
Anyone
else see England Vs Germany: The Legends on Channel 5 last night?
Basically, a team of overweight English ex-footballers (Chris Waddle,
Paul Merson, Matt Le Tissier, John Barnes), other sportsmen, celebs
and even a politician (Boris 'No Relation To Andy' Johnson) took on
a similar though far fitter line-up from the Fatherland. Once again
it ended 4-2 and there was even another controversial did-the-ball-really-cross-the-line
moment that went in England's favour, but unlike back in 1966 this
time the Germans ran out deserved winners. You see, I can type that
when it doesn't mean anything.
Afterwards I attempted to watch BBC1's When Lineker Met Maradonna,
another programme I recorded days ago. Various football and entertainment
stars, including ex-Palace and England hero Kenny Sansom, queued up
to debate Maradonna's now legendary disgraceful punching of the ball
into England's net during a World Cup Quarter Final in 1986. When
the odious, cheating, cocksucking, ex-drug addict (so many adjectives
for a common dwarf) tried to fob off Big-Ears Lineker by saying what
he'd done "wasn't cheating, just craftiness", so much bile
built up in my throat that I had to switch the bloody thing off and
go in search of several cats to kick.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Wednesday 3rd May
Phew!
Obtained a ticket for the away leg of Palace's play-off game with
Watford. Thought I'd got the wrong day when arriving at Selhurst's
box office just after 6am to find it deserted save for an elderly
cleaner. People gradually began turning up, but not before she took
pity on me with a nice warming cuppa - you wouldn't get that at ManUre!
I'd brought along some good reading material anyway, namely 'Living
On The Brink', a well researched, no-punches-pulled book on David
Bowie by author George Tremlett. Arriving home, the postie had left
a package of re-issues from America's Sidewinder Records; Jani Lane
('Back Down To One'), Great White ('Once Bitten Twice Live' - allegedly
their last ever show... some poor folk will wish it had been), Jack
Russell ('For You') and The Outfield ('Any Time Now'). A cool way
to start the day!
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Monday 1st May
So Palace are up against Watford in the play-offs. I'm happy
with that, though if only the home leg were taking place on Friday
night instead of this Saturday lunchtime - crucial games tend to be
so much more passionate under the floodlights. We were crap against
Sheff Utd yesterday (a 1-0 defeat), but I certainly agreed with Dowie's
decision to rest Andrew Johnson. The pint-o-meter is gonna go right
off the scale in the next week. Whatever happens, there won't be much
time for sleep - especially as my alarm goes off tomorrow at 5am to
join the queues for tickets for the away leg.
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