From the door to my mind

Aside from the money issue there are some pros and cons for Basingstoke Bison dropping into the EPL:

CONS:

The quality of hockey will be lower: Higher amount of less quality players means lower quality hockey. Less exciting possibly not but definitely lower quality. The Elite League may be chaotic in terms of its refereeing, organisation and how the wage cap is implemented but there were some quality players in it. We even had some at Basingstoke; Mark Desantis anyone?

The loss of touch icing and the line change rule: A big pet peeve of mine which many of you know about, two rules that I feel actually have added to the excitement of the game in the NHL and the EIHL are not used in the EPL for some reason and I've heard people actually speak out in favour of the EPL system. My argument to them is not only the issue that constant icing for line changes gets repetitive and slows the game down, this is adult mens hockey not u10s, adult rules for adults so let them chase the damn puck. People say that touch icing increases the risk of injury but I have seen no evidence of it and to be honest it can be no less dangerous than what they are already doing, ie skating around at speed throwing their 170lbs frame at other grown men to knock them over or into the boards.
The line change rule also discourages the use of icing and keeps the flow of the game moving. I don't see why people would be against that.

No chance to see Brad Cruikshank or Greg Owen visit: A personal one there, two class players who I enjoy no matter what jersey they are in.

PROS:

No Dave Simms and no Brad Voth: A loud mouth narcissist who doesn't care a jot about the EPL so won't talk about us and a violent thug who has no place on the ice will no longer visit our rink. Huzzah!

We "might" be competitive: I say might as it's no guarantee but the squad being put together, bolstered the other day by Kurt Reynolds re-signing could challenge for silverware. It's about time we had something new to put on the wall.

Local derbies: Bracknell's situation is still up in the air and Wightlink are dropping to the ENL but Slough, Girlflood and Swindon are all nearby so should make for some interesting games. Also Steve Moria seems intent on stealing a chunk of his Slough squad from last season so that may make things interesting.

Prices go down: Season ticket and door prices will be cheaper all round and we're playing teams nearer us so petrol costs for away games will be lower as well.

Just a few ideas.

1. Well since I last blogged the Caps fell asleep, went 3-1 down to the Rangers and have now stormed back to win the last 2 games, chased Henrik Lundqvist twice and forced game 7 back at the Verizon Centre. To be fair the Caps should have taken this series easily but not being awake for 2 games didn't help and the man in nets for New York that they call "The King" was immense. However the slightest change came after game 1. Jose Theodore was replaced between the pipes by 20 year old rookie netminder Simeon Varlamov.
Varlamov lost game 2 but then won game 3 and shut out the Rangers at Madison Square Garden, lost game 4 then won games 5 and 6. Varlamov, who managed about 4 games worth of ice time has now got 2 shutouts in 5 playoff games, is 3-2 and has a goals against average of 1.00. That's insane for anyone let alone a rookie netminder.
Game 7 is Tuesday night in Washington and it's for all the marbles. We can only hope the good guys win.

2. Ian Tomlinson, murdered by the police. I wonder what has to happen in this country before people call a spade a spade. The worrying thing of course is that it's one of a few incidents that has resulted in nobody being held fully to account for their actions. 96 Liverpool fans dead due to police failures; no police accountability. Blair Peach hit over the head at an anti National Front rally by a policeman, not even investigated. John Charles de Menezes, killed by the police in cold blood, police are done on a health and safety charge.
I throughly recommend an article written recently in the New Statesman by James Mcintyre called "Public Enemy Number One" where he asks the question of who polices the police?
http://www.newstatesman.com/law-and-reform/2009/04/police-tomlinson-menezes

Also check out this run down of deaths at the hands of the police
http://www.newstatesman.com/law-and-reform/2009/04/police-died-inquest-verdict

Well the Washington Capitals start their playoff run on Thursday with a 7 game series against the New York Rangers. Caps have the edge of the regular season series 3-1 but the teams have not met since the coaching change on Broadway with John Torterella. The difference this makes? None at all, New York do not possess the firepower or the blue line to beat the Caps. Lundqvist is good, not that good.

I will not care too much about every series (Vancouver vs St Louis, snore) but Boston should roll over Montreal to really round of a sucky 100th season. I have Carolina over New Jersey in 7 and Pittsburgh over the Flyers. That said the Penguins and the Flyers in one place at the same time for at least 4 nights? Dear God, just one meteor strike...please?

Good news for the New York Islanders; after a season where they went down faster than a $5 whore in front of a $50 note, the Isles have got themselves the number one pick in the draft. Enjoy Long Island John Tavares...it's going to be a long 3 years.

Earlier this week, Planet Ice made the announcement that Basingstoke Bison would resign from the Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL) with the intention of the team joining the English Premier League (EPL).

Reactions are mixed to this as was to be expected. Make no mistake, it's the same sport but the game and quality of hockey is very different between the EIHL and the EPL. Rules are different, the import levels are a lot lower and the standard compared to other leagues is lower as well.

That said the reality of today means that, in my eyes, joining the EPL is a sensible move for the Bison. Running a team with 11 imports like we were costs a lot of money; money that people seemed to steal or we didn't have. As much as I think 4 imports is too few in the EPL, cutting costs in this way means a large expense has already gone. Bizarrely there is no salary cap in the EPL so we could technically do a Sheffield and spend a bucket but we can't.

The quality of hockey will suffer, that I can appreciate but there is a marked difference between the quality of the football in the Premiership and the Championship yet this doesn't make the game any less exciting. It's a big misconception that people seem to have that Bison hockey next year because we're playing the Scimitars rather than the Steelers next season, the games will be boring. Horse manure! I have watched exciting games of hockey between two German sides icing a squad that ranged from 17 to 57. Hockey is exciting by nature and we will get exciting games in the EPL as well. We are used to seeing hard hitting, fast paced hockey. The speed in the EPL is slower and there's less hitting but that doesn't mean the game can't be good.
Going back to football, there's more of a passing game at Man Utd vs Chelsea then there is at Rochdale vs Leyton Orient but as a fan of a lower league football team, I prefer lower league football. The talent may not be as obvious but the levels of desire are far higher. Also, and here is where I feel the EPL could make things interesting for fans of Bison hockey, nearly anyone with good coaching and will can win. Yes money plays a factor or Wightlink would have won the EPL 30 times over but look at the 2008/09 season. Guildford have by far the largest budget but who won the league? Peterborough; a team with a good collection of players well coached by Colin Patterson.

The door for us on the Elite League has closed but one to the EPL opens and I think we should all grab it with both hands. I'd have loved to be at Nottingham this season as Brent Hughes lifted the playoff trophy over his head and our fairy tale season ended. It wasn't to be and next season we have a different set of players and goals.

English Premier League Champions; if it's good enough for Man Utd, it's good enough for me.

OK, as if there wasn't enough reason to dislike WWE for it's painful programming with wrestlings like Kofi Kingston, Carlito and Primo Carlon holding tag team title belts, Jack Swagger being champion of the piss weak WW-ECW, Raw went too far last night.

Now I admit that I am a big fan of CM Punk and so am slightly biased. I recently bought Ring of Honor's 'Joe vs Punk 2' dvd where the Samoan Submission Machine and the Second City Saint go to a 60 minute time limit draw in a match that garnered the top rating of 5 stars from THE wrestling publication, The Wrestling Observer Newsletter. CM Punk is one of the best wrestlers on earth today in my opinion next to Samoa Joe, Nigel McGuinness, Bryan Danielson and Doug Williams.

WWE has no idea what to do with the most gifted natural talent in wrestling today. They showed it by having him drop the World Heavyweight Title after holding it for 30 seconds despite being arguably the most over wrestler on the roster. They then gave him the tag belts with Kofi Kingston who whilst my beautiful fiancée finds entertaining, I personally can't stand nor am I convinced he can actually wrestle well enough. So after carrying that team for a while they then give Punk the Intercontinental Title. His matches with William Regal (who I cheer for because he's a Brit not because I'm a smark) were great but last night (9th March) they had him drop the belt to John Bradshaw Layfield.

I couldn't believe it. Layfield epitomises everything wrong with the wrestling business. He can't talk, he wrestles stiff and deliberately hurts people in the ring (ask the Blue Meanie). Outside of the ring he's also a right wing nutjob who is xenophobic and racist. In Germany at a WWE show he got arrested for doing a Nazi salute and goose stepping around the ring. Somehow he was WWE champion for a year and keeps getting pushes and big story lines when he deserves to be working dark matches for Velocity tapings.

They had Punk drop the belt to this guy. Unless Punk ends up with the World Title by about May, I hope Punk quits WWE. I hope he goes to TNA or to ROH or the indys or anywhere but I hope he walks from WWE and tells them to stick it. If they can't find a way to use one of the gifted wrestlers on the planet, they don't deserve him.

So I am watching this docu-drama about Margret Thatcher. It's actually well produced bit of television, well acted with some funny jokes in there as well. (Mark Thatcher as a boy wanting to go to Africa had me laughing out loud considering his intervention in Equatorial Guinea). The issue for me is that, if anything it makes Thatcher too likable.

Personally, I can appreciate the difficulties she faced getting the spot of candidate in what was and is a misogynistic party but as this televisual story ended with her entry to the House of Commons, we are not treated to what she became. I do not say this lightly and it's sad to think of but Margret Thatcher and the Conservative Party raped Britain in the 1980s and early 90s. She made it harder to be a working person and easier to be rich and arrogant. She was obsessed with the rise of unbridled capitalism, something which we're seeing in 2009's Britain is ruining the lives of many. People will complain about Labour for this (and they would be right to do so) but the blame cannot be solely laid at the door of Gordon Brown. Thatcher's economic ideas led us to this as well.

"And all the rich folks act surprised when all sense of community dies. You just close your eyes to the other side of all the things that she did, that's right, Thatcher f&£($d the kids."
Frank Turner - Thatcher f(£&$d the kids from 'Campfire Punk Rock'

I have picked up a thing recently for mellower punk rock. I look at the last couple of musical albums that I have bought:

Love, Ire and Song by Frank Turner
Save the world, get the girl by The King Blues
Addicted to bad ideas; Peter Lorre's 20th Century by The World/Inferno Friendship Society

Now I still love my music that causes holes in walls and blood to run from the ears of the scared but I think the influence of Billy Bragg and Greg Graffin's solo work has taken its toll on me. Tom Morello once sang "you don't have to be loud son to be as heavy as shit" which is very true. All three of the above have their moments but the style is a lot more eclectic but maintains the integrity I am looking for in my music. It's actually nice and I feel much more rounded this way.

"Well we've been a good few hours drinking
So I'm going to say what everyone's thinking
If we're stuck on this ship and it's sinking
Then we might as well have a parade
Cos if it's still going to hurt in the morning
And a better plan's set to get forming
Then where's the harm spending an evening
In manning the old barricades, so come on old friends to the streets
Let's be 1905 but not 1917, let's be heroes, let's be martyrs, let's be radical thinkers
Who never have to test drive the least of their dreams
Let's divide up the world into the damned and safe
And then ride to the valleys like the old life brigade
And straighten our backs and we won't be afraid
And they'll celebrate our deaths with a national parade

So come on let's be young, let's be crass enough to care
Let's refuse to live and learn, let's make all our mistakes again yes
And then darling, just for one day, we can fight and we can win
And if only for a little while, we could insist on the impossible"
Frank Turner - Love, Ire and Song from 'Love, Ire and Song'

Dear Mr Hillier,
I was very interesting to hear your opinions on the victory of British National Party member Paul Golding in the recent council in your area.
According to the article published at http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/golding-8216i8217m-not-racist-but-you-have-to-start-looking-after-your-own8217-1628232.html you are quoted as saying the following:

“I swear on my life this is the first time I’ve ever voted,” he said. “I’m not racist by a long shot, but we’ve got to start looking out for our own. People wait for years on the housing list round here, but as soon as a foreigner comes along they get sent straight to the front of the queue.”

Now I am aware that there will always be a bit of journalistic license used on quotes, it happened to me in a German newspaper I was interviewed for in 2005 but for the sake of argument, lets assume that this is at least close to what you intended to say.

Firstly sir, well done for voting, I think it is every adults' duty to vote but I wonder why you have not voted in previous elections. Surely the way to complain before now would be to use the ballot box and investigate your options rather than waiting and randomly voting for the first person to trumpet false British values in Swanley. You'll find that some more mainstream parties actually did it already!

Then there's the bit that instantly sticks in my craw...“I’m not racist by a long shot, but..."
Now this is a phrase that instantly makes me sit up and wonder what people are about to say. In my experience this is used as a thinly veiled attempt to disguise something racist that someone is about to say. So you really had my attention at that point.

Then you said this, "we’ve got to start looking out for our own." Oh yes, we agree. That's nice. We can agree that we need to look after each other and what's best for us but it seems our methods of doing that are very different. Your attempt to "protect your own" has come in the form of voting for a party who are racist (which you have indirectly admitted by saying "I'm not racist by a long shot"), whose leader denies the holocaust in spite of the mountain range amount of evidence that it happened (http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/in_depth/programmes/2001/bnp_special/the_leader/beliefs.stm), whose founder John Tyndall was a member of various British National Socialist movements (http://www.stopthebnp.org.uk/uncovered/images/JohnTyndall02.gif that's Tyndall on the left). Without sounding too cheesy, my grandad fought for this country. He went to war to fight people who shared the ideals of the people you have now voted for. The BNP has members who have committed acts of violence, been convicted of attempting to nailbomb socialist organisations and the Brixton Nail Bomber David Copeland's racist ideology was heavily influenced by his time in the BNP. I'm not sure how you can justify that this lot will look after our own as it were.

The last bit of your quote says "People wait for years on the housing list round here, but as soon as a foreigner comes along they get sent straight to the front of the queue." Now this again is an interesting topic. I don't believe for a second that either of us know the actual ins and outs of how local council housing works in your region. Having been given insight into how it works in my home city of Southampton (a very ethnically diverse city), it's a really complicated thing so to simplify it to "foreigners get the houses" is not accurate.

Aside from that, we need to accept that because of our relative material wealth compared to a lot of other countries, people will want to come here. There is no shame in being an economic migrant, nor should their ever be. People want to come here because they see a better life for themselves, what is so wrong with that? Britain has always been a migrant country; Saxons, Vikings, Normans, Romans, Europeans, Africans, West Indians, people from the colonies, what makes any of them so different? A bit of digging on SurnameDB.com shows that the leader of the BNP, Nick Griffin's surname is arguably German in origin. What does that mean for him?

Lastly, have you wondered what sort of housing the immigrants are in? People who come to Britain who are economic migrants from poor nations are generally the people who will work the longest hours for the lowest pay and live in the worst accommodation. With asylum seekers (remember that Britain is 33rd in terms of how many asylum seekers we take in a year), there is a duty to house them. These people, if they stayed at home, would be killed. Nobody deserves that so they came here to our great country for a chance of safety and a better life. How do we greet them? With racism. So much for British fair play and everyone getting a crack. I naturally sympathise with people who end up on a long list for council housing but don't assume that people from overseas are getting housing over local residents when you have no proof of it.

Do not simply take my word for it sir, there is a vast wealth of resources out there so I beg of you, go and investigate. You owe it to Swanley and yourself that Mr Golding never gets re-elected and that the BNP get no seats in the upcoming European elections.

Yours in hope,

Anthony Russell
Southampton, Hampshire

About 10 days ago I gave a talk at Living Room on the subject "Jesus is unafraid". I was told to keep it personal and not ott and bogged down in Bible jargon. I have cobbled my notes together to form it into a conscious stream of thought. Hope you enjoy.

Sometimes I find it hard to relate to Jesus the man, the human aspect of him. If you read the Bible, it's easy to see Jesus as some kind of hardcore superman.

Jesus spent the last 2-3 years of his life walking around the Holy Land (what we now call Israel/Palestine) with his 12 mates flaunting every rule and social taboo there was. In those days, men didn't talk to women on their own, Jews certainly didn't talk to Samaritans and divorced people were talked to by nobody. Jesus imparted one of his great lessons to a multi divorced Samaritan woman who was living with a man who wasn't her husband.

On the Sabbath (Jewish holy day), you weren't supposed to do any work. Jesus went around curing people of debilitating illnesses. He hung out with tax collectors, the poor, the sick, any sort of social outcast were who he wanted to meet and he basically went about hacking off the religious establishment. Jesus doesn't seem to be afraid of anything. The guy let himself be beaten and executed.

It's why I struggled with Jesus at times; mainly because I struggle so much with fear.

I suffer from Panic Disorder, basically I am really hyper sensitive to panic attacks. Mix in a bit of hypochondria and mild depression over the years and you have most mental health professionals' dream research paper. I've suffered from them since I was 17. They are triggered by health concerns so if I can't rationalise something that's wrong with me like a twinge or a blemish on my skin or I can't catch my breath it will set me off. Worry leads my brain to run amok which leads to hyperventilation, pins and needles on both arms, chest and face, sweating, etc. It resembles a heart attack in some ways. (As an aside, if you ever see me having an attack, please resist the urge to a defibrillator on me, cheers.)

Sometimes I see them coming, sometimes not. December 2007 is where stuff came to a head. In the space of a few days I had a series of attacks and I basically ceased to function. I ended up seeing a doctor and ended up on Paroxetine (same family as Prozac but the bigger, stronger cousin as it were) for 8 months. I read up on my condition and learned some coping strategies so I can now "talk myself off the ledge" as it were. My friends and fiance are amazing with me and they know how to handle me. They only pull out the defibrillator when I get really crazy. Fitting Jesus into all this can be really hard. There's a really cheesy Christian song that says "cast your burdens onto Jesus for he cares for you" but it's easy to be insular when you are scare that you are about to die.

The thing is, Jesus does understand that feeling. The Bible tells us that before he died Jesus first asked God if there was any other way of doing this then great but if not ok, was betrayed by his friend, dragged before 3 sets of local leaders, paraded before a crowd of angry locals calling for him to be killed in place of a convicted murderer, beaten within an inch of his life and then forced to carry his method of execution up a hill before being nailed to it. They guy understands fear.

The trick is not being ruled by it. To Christians, Jesus is God but he also was a man at that point. Many people (and I reckon I can include whoever you are reading this as well as myself) if they were asked to do what Jesus went through, would run so fast that Usain Bolt wouldn't catch them.

Luckily for us, Jesus knew what was right and I believe he saved humanity with it.

Fear is part of being human as the world isn't perfect but letting fear run your life isn't right.

I got laid off in November, a victim of the credit crunch and there were 2 ways to deal with that; either wallow in self pity or get out and find another job. Now I was afraid that I would never find another job but I trusted that God knew better than me and that my fear was unjustified and would not control my situation. I now have a job which is handy now I have a wedding to save for.

Ultimately while in my darker times of panic I struggle with not being afraid but I can be certain of a couple of things;
Jesus knows how we feel when we face times that we feel are too big for us and he is unafraid to trust and believe in us in spite of how many times we don't trust him and stuff things up. He faces it with us.

Realising that has resulted in making me less of a paranoid headcase and I can get back to being a slightly over eager, easy to manage big mouth or at least to a point where I can tell you all this story. That will do for me

Salutations guys and gals, I trust you are all well. There's a pantheon of stuff rumbling through my brain at the moment so here I am again to articulate some ideas that you may or may not like.

1. The job: Yes folks, Anthony is heading back to work. I have completed the paperwork and am now waiting for the final get go to start work on Friday 6th February. My technical title according to everything is "Deputy Practice Manager" for the Southampton City Primary Care Trust's Homeless Healthcare Team. I actually owe my new boss a fair amount for pushing through the quick start date or I could have been stuck waiting around for a couple of weeks. It's looking like it's going to be a good solid job with the NHS so a decent pension scheme as well. All in all I am just pleased that this period of drifting a bit has come to a close. God saw my through the wilderness on this and when I asked earnestly for a resolution, it got resolved. Good isn't it. More news on the job as it progresses.

2. Speaking at Living Room: I am having a crack at speaking at Living Room at Highfield Church on Sunday night. The topic is "Jesus is unafraid" which after Becs Moran asked me to have a go at speaking at some time during the season seemed the one to do for me for reasons which I won't trudge over yet again. Either way if you're in the Southampton area and fancy coming to listen, Living Room is at Highfield Church Centre (next to the actual church) kicking off at 7pm.

3. I'm growing up: It feels like it anyway, this was what I got out of my conversations with my friend Emma during the week. Kendra, her little girl of 7 weeks sort of offered opinions...I say opinions, they were more like gurgles and baby sick but you kind of got the gist.

4. Banning the group "Soldiers are not heroes": Look folks, I have already written my thoughts on this so stop inviting me to join the group to remove the "Soldiers are not heroes" group on Facebook. I do not agree with this the removal of this group, it is an attempt of censorship and the exact opposite of what you all claim our soldiers are trying to do. People don't agree with soldiers and war; get over it and yourselves.

Stay safe
Anthony

Firstly everyone, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all.

My main point today is about this:

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=31247393861&ref=ts#/group.php?gid=23586525699

That link is for a group called "If you disagree with this group "soldiers are not heros" sign up here!!!"

Now I can understand why people would not be in favour of a group saying soldiers are not heroes. My issue is their reaction to it.

Firstly to people in a group called "Soldiers are not heroes", fair play to you. I am not a favour of armies or the like; truth be told I want all military institutions disbanded. I am of the belief that if people see you mean them no harm, they do not hurt you. Also in a current environment which is rather jingoistic and nationalistic, to stand up and say "I don't agree" with what Greg Graffin once called 'an evil friend' (nationalism) then you deserve a round of applause. That is the path of peace in my mind.

To those opposed to this group, I respect your opinion. The army provides work, career opportunities and some people choose to serve in that way. However, it is an opinion, not a fact. Freedom of speech allows people to have those views. The thing that really gets my goat is those who claim that soldiers fighting in Iraq/Afghanistan and the like are fighting for freedom of speech yet members of that group are subsequently seeking to limit the freedom of speech of those who disagree of them. To me personally, what we have seen is not the extension of liberty but of tyranny but it is those who claim to be in support of the soldiers that seek to undo their work.

The other thing that gets me about that group is a thread on the discussion board of the group. It leads to an online petition. The person who wrote it is obviously frustrated with the situation but the following line not only hinders their argument but out and out makes it look silly:

"Facebook have allowed this group to continue with its racial comments towards soldiers as a group and individuals who support the soldier's."

Poor grammar aside, when did soldiers become a race? Soldiers are from many races, some are even racist but they are not a race. Whoever tries to get a group suspended for being racist in such a fashion is practicing the worst kind of intellectual dishonesty.

All in all, such is the way of the world and people won't agree on every detail of everything but all that group are doing is shooting themselves in the foot.

"You can fight for democracy at home and not in some foreign land"

Anthony

P.S. Israel committing more war crimes in Gaza. Not that Hamas aren't as bad but come on, this is getting stupid.

Friday was a cool crisp day. The bus was late (shocker, the U1 was late) but it eventually arrived and whisked Emily and I to Southampton Airport. I'd never been to the Airport before and...it was what I expected; small and dumpy but enough to keep you occupied. Emily was impressed with the self check in machines. They are a very cool piece of kit and certainly speed things up.

So we had a pretty straight forward flight and landed in Dublin to be greeted by a massive que for the taxi rank. I had decided that we'd get a cab to the hotel as it was dark and we didn't know where we were. It was raining really heavily so we were glad to bundle into the taxi and sit back for the ride. A few Euros lighter we arrived at the Ardmore Hotel.

The Ardmore is on the sight of what used to be a dairy. The room was really nice for what I was expecting and after some room service pizza (very good though the lack of cutlery was odd) we hit the sack...until the music from a party kept waking us up and some drunk fool knocked on the door at 2am.

Saturday morning was a bit overcast but looked nice enough. After a continental breakfast, Emily and I hopped on the 140 bus from Finglas into the centre of town. The bus let us off in O'Connell Street and we were greeted with the centre of Eire's capital city.

The first thing you see in Dublin is the General Post Office. This huge Greek looking building rises up out of the middle of the street so it is hard to miss. It was this building that holds an important place in Irish history as it was there that Patrick Pearse read the proclamation of the Irish Republic. Now being someone who wants a British republic, this was a very cool place to see for me. The 1916 uprising led from that spot ultimately ended in failure but was the starting point for Irish Independence and an important moment of the 20th Century.

After that we wandered down Henry Street and had a look at the shops. Nothing major league exciting there as it's all the same shops as here in Britain bar Champions Sports which is very cool and has Gaelic sports stuff. We headed back onto O'Connell Street and then were greeted by the option of the open top bus tour.

I am a big fan of these tours as when you have little time or are indecisive, they give you a look at all the major things and give you a bit of history at the same time so then you can decide what you want to see later. The tour took us round all the major sites and a little bit out of the centre of town so we got to see the Guinness factory as well as some not so interesting things...like Heuston station, which at least looked like it had a few platforms. We did go past the offices of the Taoiseach which was cool...as was using the word Taoiseach in a blog.

Once we got back to the centre of town we had a very un-Irish lunch of McDonalds but it filled us up and made us feel warm and then wondered about a bit. We looked at the statue of Parnell at the top of O'Connell Street as well as walked along The Liffey to an alternative clothing shop that Emily had noticed. We also had a walk through Trinity College (thanks for the tip Ciana, taking tips from Dubliners ftw) which was really nice. Last act of the afternoon before a retreat to the hotel was a visit to the statue of Molly Malone. I wasn't crying much about cockles and muscles as much as nearly kicking small children out of camera shot.

Walking about Dublin, we made the realisation that Dublin is a really clean city. Nobody seems to drop rubbish anywhere but in the bins and all the bins have a little thing for smokes in the top of them. Also there's a lot of public telephone as well but for some reason I did not see one single bench. I just found that odd.

We then made a brief retreat back to the hotel for a rest which was needed as Emily's back was playing up and I was a bit tired (answering a door at 2am to a drunken fool does that to you). We headed back into town for dinner so back on the bus to see Dublin by night.

We wandered about for a bit to try and find somewhere to eat and eventually we walked into a smallish little pub in a side street. For added Irish authenticity, one of the blokes behind the bar who looked like the owner was a deep set Irish bloke called Paddy. I was impressed. There came a point where I think I hit every box on the Irish meter as I was in Dublin, in a pub run by a bloke called Paddy, eating stew and drinking a Guinness. The Irish atmosphere was only broken by the Spurs vs Man Utd game on the televisions and the chocolate fudge cake we had for afters (no offense to any Irish people who make chocolate fudge cake but it's not something I consider traditionally Irish per se).

After dinner was done we had a little walk about Dublin centre at night to see a giant light made Christmas tree by a spire that used to be a statue of Nelson before the IRA blew it up in the 60's. There was also a really nice crib scene. In traditional manner, Baby Jesus was not there but somehow the Wise Men had made it to the crib scene before Jesus...no I wasn't sure either. After that we headed back to the hotel to just kick back and relax.

I came across the Irish version of Match of the Day. Now don't get confused, not the Irish league, the English Premier League with Irish commentators and Irish analyst. Now of course there's nothing wrong with that but the commentators were unreal. I was watching highlights of Sunderland vs West Brom and Cork born Sunderland player Andy Reid scored a goal. Well done Andy Reid...it was greeted thus and this is a quote:
"He can play the guitar, he can sing, he can play the banjo, he can score goals with his head, the boy can do anything apart from get in the Ireland team."
That line alone was unbelievable to me and I nearly fell off the bed laughing. Also shout out on TV that night to BBC 2 for the Blondie documentary that kept us up till 1am but totally worth it as it kicked ass.

Sunday we got up late, had breakfast, packed and relaxed for a bit. Emily thought it would be a better idea to head to town for a bit, have a walk about and lunch then get the express 6€ bus to the airport. Sounded like a plan to me so in to town we headed. After a quick look in some shops we headed, at my request (so thanks Emily) to the Garden of Remembrance dedicated to those who helped Ireland achieve independence. The place was respectful and triumphant at the same time, as you are likely to be when you fight for independence from a foreign power and achieve it.
After that we hit Subway for lunch and headed for the airport. Dublin Airport is single terminal but big so I managed to pick up a book in departures and then before we knew it, we were back outside Southampton Airport waiting for the bus.

So that was that. Overall review, awesome place and try to visit if you can. It's a bit pricey but it's a capital city so that's to be expected. Public transport is cool and there's lots to see. Well worth it.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=160155&l=ebde5&id=286100551
Photos there, rock on.

Anthony

Well it's going ok. There's a bunch of stuff running through my head today, stuff I've seen and been thinking.

1. This documentary about voluntary euthanasia is kicking off a storm it seems. I just watched the pertinent parts about an hour before air time here in the UK. The documentary has already been shown in Switzerland and can be seen on Dignitas' website. Dignitas are the organisation that helps people end their lives under certain conditions. The main moment in question? It's tastefully done and they walk through the process with the guy, mix up a cocktail which the guy drinks through a straw and after a while, that is it. I assume the edit may well be different in this country but I can understand why people may be weirded out by the whole thing. Trust me though, it's a lot of palaver over very little. I don't agree with it but it was his choice and he, like us all faces God come the end.

2. The unemployment thing is boring but the upside has been the chance to exercise loads. Daft as it seems, all the running I've done recently means I do feel fitter which is a good thing. I had an interview request come through today which was nice. Back in the country on Sunday and then Winchester on Monday afternoon. Got to keep busy. The breakthrough will come

3. This time in two days I will be *checks clock* oh...on the way down. Emily and I are off to Dublin for the weekend on Friday. It's a year together on Monday which has flown by and has seen a lot happen for the both of us. We're really comfortable with each other, can say anything and are used to how each other works and thinks. I am not an easy person to deal with, well I don't think I am, but I found a woman that grounds me in reality while reminding me that I'm allowed to dream. I know that sounds airy fairy but I found someone that compliments me. It means a lot to me.

4. I'm sitting here listening to Billy Bragg as I am prone to do. St Swithin's Day which is a song that reminds me of a point of my life that I am not fond of remembering from my final year of uni but I love this song. I remember sitting on a bus in the rain listening to this song and saying goodbye to a chapter of my life, trying to hold back the tears on the bus. Luckily the ravages of time have eroded that feeling and I can listen to that song now and just be reflective. I know what I should and should not do but also what I should and should not change about who I am.

5. Nearly Christmas...it's a nice feeling. As ever I will be boycotting the Queen's speech at 3pm so feel free to join me in that. 2:59pm just turn off the tv, crank on the tunes and read a book, anything that avoids listening to Elizabeth Windsor.

"You poor take courage, you rich take care, this Earth was made a common treasury for everyone to share."
Billy Bragg - The World Turned Upside Down

Today. I have witnessed the British justice system finally give up the ghost, wave the white flag and bid us all farewell. It came when I read the following line in a news article on BBC News:
'Sir Michael Wright said that having heard all the evidence, a verdict of unlawful killing was "not justified".' (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7760684.stm)

Reading that my heart sank and I balled up my fists. I didn't know what to do or think or say anymore. I was talking to my good friend at the time and remember sending him the link to the news story just reeling from reading it.

My distrust of the police stems from watching the news on 1st May 2000 when I saw peaceful protesters getting beaten with batons. It made no sense to me why people in colourful costumes were being beaten by the police for no reason other than being there. Since that day, luckily my encounters with the police have been minimal but my suspicion of them grew thanks to similar incidents at other protests.

My girlfriend is right, not every single policeman or woman is a bad person but I don't think I can be blamed for being antsy when it comes to the police. I was in London shortly after John Charles de Menezes incident, watching armed policemen standing about with semi automatic weapons made me scared.

As time went on, it appeared that the police lied. That's not a word I use lightly but this wasn't them accidentally telling us and then it appeared, many things subsequently came into the public arena to tell us that the Metropolitan Police lied to the public. John Charles de Menezes used his Oyster card to pass through the barriers at Stockwell tube station, walked down the escalator and sat on a train. He looked up to see men running towards him at which point he was wrestled to the floor and was shot in the face. The police had not done their job and a man was killed as a result. He did not run, the video tells us so. He was not shouted at or told "stop police" as the witnesses said so at the inquiry.

The fact he was in the country is an utter aside in this situation because the simple fact is...it could have been you if it hadn't had been him. There is no excuse for what happened. The fact of the matter is a man was killed at point blank range for no reason.

The inquiry was something that needed to be done. In every other situation, someone would have been held to account but as they were "defending us from terrorism" many seemed to believe they could get away with it. I had some hope for this process as I thought "finally someone will be held to account for what appears to me to be a pretty clear cut case of murder".

Apparently not.

Now I know many of you reading this will be familiar with who I am and what my views are and I admit I am a bit wide of centre politically but I hold my views in the belief that ultimately democracy and justice wins out and things will change for the better. I can now honestly say that I am no longer sure it's true.

The Britain I live in has now become something perverse and scary. Murder is justifiable, locking up members of the opposition front bench under badly written laws is taking place. I do not know where to turn any more. I am scared. I can only hope that somewhere, Jesus can shine through in those of us who oppose this.

Anthony

"The power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one's mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them....To tell deliberate lies while genuinely believing in them, to forget any fact that has become inconvenient, and then, when it becomes necessary again, to draw it back from oblivion for just so long as it is needed, to deny the existence of objective reality and all the while to take account of the reality which one denies — all this is indispensably necessary. Even in using the word doublethink it is necessary to exercise doublethink. For by using the word one admits that one is tampering with reality; by a fresh act of doublethink one erases this knowledge; and so on indefinitely, with the lie always one leap ahead of the truth." - Definition of Doublethink, Orwell, George (1949). Nineteen Eighty-Four. Martin Secker & Warburg Ltd, London, pp 220

"It isn't possible
To never tell the truth
But the reality is I'm getting away with murder"
Papa Roach - Getting away with murder

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/7745706.stm

I love that video but I'm not sure I agree with Graham Henry there. I thought the idea of a war dance was that you face it as an act of war. It may well have pissed off the All Blacks but why did Wales lose? Because they weren't good enough on the day.

I miss the good old days when you used to get really close to each other and really stare each other down.

So I am back, firmly ensconced in Anthonyland after a weekend in Kent with my Dad and Lynda. I'd not seen Dad and Lynda since Lynda's welcome weekend at her place of work aka East Peckham Methodist Church.
One weekend tradition with my Dad for many years when they lived in Wallington was to hop down to the War Memorial Ground and watch Carshalton Athletic. Now they were in Kent the traditional local team of reprobates had to change. Step forth Tonbridge Angels F.C. of the Ryman Premier League.

The name is odd but I will briefly explain. Tonbridge F.C. used to play at the Angel Ground, former home of Kent County Cricket Club and named for the local Angel Hotel. When Tonbridge went into into voluntary liquidation in 1976, the club reformed as Tonbridge Angels and finished the season.

However the Angel Ground is long gone and so Dad and I found ourselves heading for the Betterview Longmead Stadium. (Betterview are the club's main sponsor, they do windows.)

For a ground in the 6th tier of English football, it's not too bad a place. There's plenty of parking there and the ground itself is actually quite spacious for a non league ground. I'm told the capacity is 5000 which...was not needed on Saturday in front of about 400 people...the West Stand has 700 seats if that lets you feel some of the interesting spacious feelings Dad and I got in the south stand. At this level of football, you can pretty much wander round the ground whenever which everyone did as sets of opposing fans changed ends at half time just like the team.

The real trick with football at this level is to remember one thing. This is a triumph of effort over talent. They are obviously better footballers than you or me but this is not the football you watch on Sky Sports. This is pure blood and guts football where the guys play for the love of the game, for the hope of getting further in the game and an illusive contract in the big leagues. You pay less, you get less and yet more. The referee and linesmen may be prepubescent morons who have no concept of the rules or the common sense needed to apply them but the heart and atmosphere on the pitch fills the place.

To be fair there was some international football on display. If any of you saw Germany's goal against England last week, pretty much that. After 11 seconds. I'm not kidding. A mix up in the Tonbridge Angels defense from the kick off saw the visiting Harrow Borough striker make their minds up for them as to what would be happening with the ball; they'd be picking it out of their own net.

The game from there was how these things normally are; a mish mash of long balls up field with missed passes and the odd good chance.

Half time arrived with Harrow still leading 1-0 and the biting wind led Dad and I to head to one of the burger bar/tea vans for a cuppa and a Mars bar (again, almost traditional for us) before a walk round the ground and a quick visit to the club shop (a portacabin). There were some high league aspirations in the club shop as a replica shirt was £37.50!

The 2nd half pretty much followed the first but Tonbridge's pressure paid off in the end as Angels captain Anthony Storey rifled a shot from 20 odd yards past a stationary keeper to level the scores. 1-1 was how it stayed and to be fair to both teams a draw reflects the game well. Neither side seemed to have a biting attack when it counted and 2 unusual bits of skill/luck constituted in goals.

It's actually a good day out if you can believe it. Aside from the laugh that I have with my dad as we laugh and joke about some of the insane antics of people there and the bad officiating, there is a lot of fun to be had spending an afternoon watching football at its heart; where men don't do it for million pound contracts and fortune and fame but because they love the game and what they do. They really are a league of their own at times...long may it continue.

So a couple of days ago, someone managed to hack the records and publish the membership list of the British National Party.

Now let me say this off the bat; you cannot cut it any other way but this, the British National Party are racists. They stand for the same sort of policies that my grandfather Kenneth Bridge was drafted into the army for to fight in the 1940s. They can try all this cock and bull story that they represent British interests. Well not this Brit. They are Nazis, no grey areas, no room to move, they are vile, disgusting racists.

The release of this list made me do a couple of things:

1. Laugh...yes ok it's a serious invasion of privacy as well but sunlight is the best disinfectant. One Police officer has been (rightly) suspended after his name was found on the list. Some people argue that it's a hypocrisy of a tolerant society to be intolerant of people's ideas, no matter how racist they are. I disagree. Tolerance as an ideal must have idealogical oppositions and ideas like fascism and racism are the opposites so I feel that argument falls down. In the end, hopefully people can be found out and they can be engaged as to their ideas and can be convinced as to why they're wrong.

2. The BNP have lost all ground when it comes to criticising anyone when it comes to data leaks. As if their insane policies that are tantamount to something Pol Pot would dream up weren't bad enough, they cannot handle basic secure handling of 10,000 records. I used to work for a company that dealt with 40,000 records daily and no massive data leaks ever there. Does that mean my old bosses will run for political office?

3. I worry about how much political capital and interest the British Nazi Party will try to get out of this. The following is a quote from BNP Chairman Nick Griffin

"The whole affair has blown up in the faces of the plotters and the anti-British traitors. The public are more eager for our message than ever, and many of our new website visitors will keep coming back, become committed nationalists, and join our ranks." (http://bnp.org.uk/2008/11/stop-press-stop-press-stop-press/)

Actually I reckon people have been logging on to see your response and keep tabs on the BNP's evil ways but that's just me. The thing to remember folks is that if you investigate the BNP to not get sucked into their ways. They are not the great hope for this nation but people Dr Goebels would sit down to dinner with. That quote above is from a man who has denied the holocaust and, if elected would try to teach revisionist history to our children and try to downplay the importance of the stand the people he calls "anti-British traitors" like my grandfather made against fascism.

1, 2, 3
STOP THE BNP

Happy 60th Birthday (a satirical, sarcastic look at growing old)

Happy Birthday Charles Windsor, you’re 60 today
There’ll be presents and cake galore
The security for you costs us thousands a day
And your position offends me to the core

Now I should note that your charities
Do raise a hundred and ten million a year
But as the royals cost this county a hundred and fifty
Per annum; hmm, not much reason to cheer

He does very little it seems with his time
Then goes back Highgrove and relaxes
900 acres of organic estate
Bought and maintained with our taxes

He’s a General, an Admiral and an Air Chief Marshall
And he has 9 honorary degrees
He wears military medals having never seen combat;
An insult to our troops overseas

I close my birthday missive wishing you a good day
As unemployment figures grow higher
If you are so keen to help our great nation
Do us all a favour Charles and retire

*originally posted to poetssociety*

Number of British unemployed: 1.82 million (AP, http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5i3A3KHGhM3B-HypZaBpT4NFLZ1SAD94DB7200)

Ammount a single jobseeker will get per week at my age of 24 years old: £47.95 per week (Jobcentre Plus http://www.jobcentreplus.gov.uk/JCP/Customers/WorkingAgeBenefits/Dev_015272.xml.html)

Number of children living in poverty after their housing costs were paid in 2006/07: 3.9 million (Child Poverty Action Group http://www.cpag.org.uk/info/briefings_policy/CPAG_poverty_the_stats_1008.pdf)

Cost to protect the royals per day: £90,000 (Republic http://www.republic.org.uk/news/?command=fe_show_press_release&press_release_id=177&date__date__year=&date__date__month=&date__date__day=)

End Monarchy now
Question all earthly authority
Love Anthony

So having been laid off on Friday, I got told to relax and have some time to myself. This I have done mainly through the medium of the this That 70s Show marathon I've been on recently (Series 4 and counting). I was told not to apply for jobs and just kick back.

However I think having worked solidly for 2 years (with the odd holiday of course) I find myself really restless during the 2 days that I've been home. Here's what I've done:

Applied for jobs (Tuesday only, I did have 1 day off, I'm not that bad)
Rang up for Jobseekers' Allowance (appointment booked for Thursday afternoon)
Hoovered my room (our hoover is rubbish)
Swept the kitchen floor
Cleaned the kitchen counter tops
Sorted out my "folder of official documents" which entailed getting rid of 4 years' worth of receipts
Went for a run which I'd not done for a while. I also did sprints on the common for some crazy reason.
Washed a huge load of clothes
Went to Asda to stock up on supplies in the rain on Monday (this was as strenuous as the run...you all saw that weather, well I walked in that, sopping wet carrying at least 15 lbs of stuff)
Deleted unnecessary files from my computer
Disk cleaned my C drive on my computer
Made a double batch of Anthony brand ragu to do dinner for 2 nights (ask for the recipe)

Dad said to me the other night "you find things to do" when you have nothing to do. Seems he was correct.
I'm not sure how many jobs I have applied for but having done 9:30 till 11 today, I am now doing another batch now whilst I watch the World War 2 in colour DVD I swiped from the Living Room's copy of the Daily Torygraph. Again, something to do.
Tonight I'll go to Emily's which is never just something to do. She's been wonderful through all this and listens to me moan on. She reminds me of the important thing...hold tight to God because he has this in his hands. I pray as often as I can. I can't do long silences so I pray little and often. Without Emily reminding me of the simple things and just how much I really am cared about, I swear sometimes I'd go nuts.

It's an odd day to be alive, 90 years to the day after my great grandfather Ernest Bridge of the South Wales Borderers was told that the war was over and he would be returning home. I wonder what he would have thought. In hindsight looking back, the war to end all wars was nothing but merciless slaughter of people by monarchs and the aristocracy but what did Ernest think of it all? I do not doubt that Ernest was afraid every day that he was an enlisted man. I always attributed a lot of my passion and creativity to the Celtic fire from my mother's side of the family and, whilst he fought in this utter travesty, there is a part of me that hoped Ernest knew that it was all wrong.
20 odd years later, Ernest's son Kenneth, my grandfather answered the call that needed to be answered when he became a member of the Royal Logistics Corps. Grandad died before I had the chance to ask him about what his father did. I cannot find the military records for the Private Ernest Bridge that was my grandfather so I may never know sadly. There's no diary that I know of. We believe that we have a medal record but this will only tell us what already know, that he received the British War Medal for his service.

One day, I hope we'll find out what he did. I've always felt my growing up has been somewhat fractured so the more I know about where I came from makes me believe I will better understand who I am. The same goes for the situation that I find myself in; that as I look for a new job, that I will learn the patience and serenity needed to be the best that I can be.

Anyway, I'd better go. I have some questions to answer...