The Death Of Facebook

Every phase will pass and we’ll move on. Once was the day when 14 year old Brits were convinced that they’d never betray MySpace for Bebo. There was also a time when 16 year old Brits claimed they’d never move on from Bebo to MySpace. And whilst in both cases some have been true to their original socia netwroking site it would be fair to say that the majority have moved on with the crowd.

MySpace was once all the rage

As a lot of people who weren’t hugely bothered about music didn’t actually have MySpace pages these people found the adaptation to Bebo easier as many had complained that MySpace was too difficult to work. And I can see the argument that there wasn’t much point in having one unless you were in a band or looking for music.

That being said I had one, both being in a band and looking for music. I never really had a problem moving to Bebo, but then I was a bit obsessed with the Internet, sad really. Some things never change! Gradually others who hadn’t had MySpace joined me on Bebo and the Bebo community grew until everyone was on it.

Bebo came along next in the chain

Then along came Facebook, which people again claimed, like MySpace, was too difficult to work. Again, being a bit obsessive I quickly made an account and then proceeded not to use it for about a year since none of my friends had one.

After this year, everyone started to get one and this action has continued until just now. But now that everyone’s on Facebook it just seems a bit boring, a bit mainstream, a bit generic. So I, and other like-minded people, will begin to look for a new alternative. It won’t be Twitter, it just won’t be. For anyone who thinks this is the case, TWITTER IS NOT NEW! I’ve been on Twitter for years, I like it but it’s never gonna take over from MySpace.

Twitter, not the next link in the chain

I’m sure some people will disagree with me now, like everyone (Including me) did about Bebo dying, but sooner or later Facebook will go into decline. Just think about this; how many of your friends actively use Bebo? How many did two years ago? Exactly.

But I don’t have the answer to what will replace Facebook, but it’s an exciting prospect! (Yes, I realise how sad this is) But, it is because Facebook is better than Bebo and Bebo was, at the time, better than MySpace (For social networking, not music) so we’ll be hoping whatever comes next will be even better.

Facebook, soon to decline?

But until that day we’ll continue to enjoy Facebook. But the day will come, trust me, when we’ll all move on to a new site. Or will the movement just die? Seems unlikely but so did MSN arriving to kill off chatrooms. Maybe we’ll get a virtual reality website where you put on a suit and literally meet with your friends online. If that idea sounds as good to you as it does to me I hope you’ve enjoyed this blog!

P.S.

Thanks for the good times Facey, we’ll miss you when we’re gone

P.P.S.

We probably won’t, we don’t miss Bebo

Cutting Off Anelka To Spite Your Face

The French Football Federation (FFF) made a very questionable decision today, choosing to suspend Nicolas Anelka for 18 international matches. Anelka, is a Chelsea striker and therefore I would normally not find much sympathy for the guy, but in this case I certainly do.

Anelka has been harshly treated by the FFF

I genuinely feel sorry for the guy in this case. It certainly seems to me than he and Patrice Evra (who was suspended for five matches) have been made scapegoats following the pathetic Raymond Domench getting his players to play pathetically as he managed them.

Franck Ribery and Jeremy Toulalan were also punished with three and one match bands respectively. Eric Abidal was also in for a hearing but was not punished.

French captain Evra was made a scapegoat

It has been universally agreed that Domenech was a bit loopy and useless towards the end of his tenure as manager. Therefore it seems strange that after deciding he was no longer the man for the job and replacing him with younger, better manager Laurent Blanc that they should choose now to punish the players who rebelled against the man they too believed was not the man for the job.

Whilst Anelka was not the only player to be punished his punishment was by far the most severe. I personally would not blame him if he were to tell the FFF to go and get stuffed. After this brutal ban there’s no reason Anelka should feel obliged to ever play for his country again. It would seem a fair gesture if he told them enough is enough and that he was retiring from internationals.

Raymond Domenech, he's not very good

This move, alongside dropping the whole squad for the last match can only help to aggravate problems further in the French camp as they look to recover from Ray making them one of the laughing stocks of the World Cup. Quite sad really for a nation that only 10 years ago had just completed the World Cup and European Champsionship double.

Ozil: A Real Bargain

I’ve stated for a month of or so now that I feel United have just about got a strong good enough to be ready for the new season, but we needed one more player. That player was Mesut Ozil, German midfield superstar.

Ozil has come along way from being a youngster at Schalke

It would appear now however that big-spending talent- snatching royal-loving Real have secured his transfer. For a fee believed to be around £12.4 Real have signed one of the bargains of the summer. Ozil’s easily worth £20+, the guy is top quality.

For anyone who hasn’t seen much of Ozil, I’d recommend simply as a football fan who loves seeing great players that you should check this guy out.

I wish Ozil luck at Real Madrid, a club where they’re known to take happy players who play consistently well for their clubs and wreck their morale by keeping them on the bench, and in some cases put their careers back years. To fair though, Ozil should go straight into the first team. Then ahead, so should Wesley Sneijder and Arjen Robben, who were both bench players then packed off to become (again)  two of the best players in the world at new teams!

There really are few better players than Wesley Sneijder

This move does create a problem, in my mind, for United though. As I mentioned in my previous blog, Scholes and Flecther were tremendous last night but there a couple of issues to be deal with.

1. These two will need to be able to play every game this season. There are simply too many games in a season, especially for the ageing legs of 35.

2. This could be Scholesy’s last year. To lose the best passer of the ball of the last 20 years is going to an absolute killer to replace. An absolute killer.

The pass master could be in his final year

As we bid goodbye to our hopes of signing Ozil though, it’s again time to put faith in Sir Alex to pick out a gem to replace Scholes. And Giggs. And Neville. And Van Der Sar. And Possibly Rio. It’s a tough job indeed…

A Ginger Masterclass

For the second week in a row Manchester United defeated last season’s league champions by three goals to nil. You may be wondering ‘Wait, they didn’t play Chelsea twice…’ Well, we beat Chelsea (Premier League champions) 3-0 last Sunday and Newcastle United (Championship champions) 3-0 this Monday. This seemed to make a fine occasion for me to blog again, after an absence of a few days to let your reading minds recover!

Joey Barton, looking like a sex offender

Newcastle have always held a special place in my heart as I’ve often found an attraction to the wonderful city of the Toon and it’s attractions like Big Luke’s. For those who don’t know, Big Luke’s is a terrific buffet restaurant in the Traffic Centre (an excellent shopping centre in Gateshead, near Newcastle/Sunderland).

However, last night Newcaslte visited Old Trafford with notorius scumbag Joey Barton in their team. So it was extra special to beat a team with that wee criminal on the opposite side. United’s own centre mids controlled the game. Darren Fletcher was excellent alongside Paul Scholes who put in a frankly ridiculously good performance.

Scholes and Giggs, it's a privilege to watch them play

Rather than report the match I’ll do a series of player ratings for United, to keep things fresh y’know:

Van Der Sar – 8. Always looked in control

O’Shea – 5. Looked troubled by Jonas

Vidic (C) – 9. Led by example

Evans – 8. Solid at the back

Evra – 8. Linked up well with Nani on his return

Valencia – 5. Failed to get past Enrqiue as much as he would have liked

Fletcher – 9. The Iniesta to Scholes’s Xavi.

Scholes – 10 (MOTM). Sensational performance to be admired by anyone.

Nani – 8. Always looked a threat, gave Perch all sorts of trouble

Rooney – 7. Worked hard but still lacking match fitness and the finishing touch

Berbatov – 9. Played like the player who was one of the best in the world at Spurs

Could this be Berba's year at United?

Subs:

Hernandez – 5. Unable to have much impact on the match

Giggs – 7. Scored a great goal after a wonderful Scholes ball

Rafael – N/A. Not on long enough to be rated

Next up for United is a trip to Fulham which could well be a harder test than this match but in that form I’m hoping for another victory!

Getting Complacent About Complacency

The title of today’s blog may sound as if I’m simply try to sound clever or profound but it is a genuine title for a blog on this subject. Just today I was talking about how prolific I’d been so far since I began this blog and suddenly realised that a sense of complacency had set in and that i hadn’t even considered writing a blog today, never mind selecting a subject.

Oh my goodness, this is funny indeed

I’m wary of guarding against complacency so I thought I’d attempt to create an insightful blog about complacency, but instead I’ve stumbled upon a gold mine of quality complacency pictures. In fact, so many that I’ve become complacent and all but disregarded the notion of creating a quality read. So please, just this once… Sit back and enjoy these terrific moments captured with witty captions (And mine!).

Clever, clever stuff

What a beautiful turn of phrase

The picture alone did it for me

I hope someone appreciates the spirit of irony at work here.

A Pint… The Finest Delivery Method

It’s a fair statement to make that the pint is indeed the finest method of delivery when it comes to beer. Whilst as I make this statement I make it purely as a way of expressing my own opinion I know for a fact that there are many who would agree with me on this count. Coincidentally, people who don’t like beer simply have no say on this whatsoever.

It makes you thirsty just to look at it

I’m not sure whether this situation applies to other drinks or not, as I don’t regularly drink drinks such as, for example, cider so I’m really in no position to comment whether it’s better from a pint glass, a bottle, a can or a wheelbarrow. Alcoholics tend to prefer wheelbarrows though, despite the cleanliness factor. Well, each to their own…

I thought deeply about this subject tonight as I drank my pint whilst watching the truly abysmal performance Scotland put on against Sweden; matched only by my performance on the darts board!

It doesn’t really matter what your favourite beer is to know what method of deliverance you prefer (Make mine’s a Tuborg) as I just tend to feel that the taste of a well chilled beer in that big chilled, tall, inviting is just clearly preferable to that of a beer taken from another source.

Tuborg, it's great!

Often though it does depend on your location or circumstances. For example, at T In The Park this year returning to the campsite at midnight and feeling a bit dehydrated after a day in the arena without a huge amount of liquid and in amongst the heat of the crowds jumping around watching some great bands, it must be said that the Be Chilled cans of Tennent’s that Chris and I had pre-ordered which we picked up on our return were very welcome indeed. Or indeed, once when arriving in Strathclyde Union having not had a drink or any sort for several hours and having to wait in a roasting crowded bar the beers recieved in plastic cups were also uproariously welcomed. One could even argue that the first cool bottle of Budweiser, Stella or another such fine beer cracked open at a house party does have a certain degree of sweetness (In sentiment, not necessarily in taste) about it.

Anyone can make up their own mind on this subject, as I certainly confess that these methods can also be excellent given their time and place. But generally, given a choice (Disregarding price) it’s gonna be a pint.

I Wish I Was A Housewife

Having made my favourite album of last year ‘Ignore The Ignorant, The Cribs are back with a brand new single. It’s a rather unexpected one though as it was only announced on the day it came out, an unusual but refreshing way of rush-releasing. It is unexpected in another way too in that there’s a predominance of keyboards on the track as opposed to the traditional guitars favoured by the band.

The band get into the housewife spirit for the cover

It would be interesting to know what influence Johnny Marr has had on this decision. I, and many others, view Johnny as one of the best if not the best indie guitarist of all time, so it’s a surprise to see the band turning towards keyboards only one album after he joined them.  It should be noted that Marr has worked with a huge variety of artists, and has been involved in widely varying projects, including more recently working on several film scores and composing the theme for new sitcom The Increasingly Poor Decisions Of Todd Margaret (Starring David Cross and Will Arnett – one for Arrested Development fans hopefully!)

Cross was tremendous as Tobias Fünke in Arrested Development

‘Housewife’ is certainly a step in a new direction for The Cribs. Having been a massive fan of the band for years and having loved pretty much everything they’ve ever done this is partially a worry for me. But at the same time it’s exciting, it shows that they don’t want to be stuck making the same music for ever and are happy to try and expand their musical repertoire.

As it happens they’ve succeeded, ‘Housewife’ is a really good song and can nicely along Cribs songs of old. Showcasing some interesting lyrics and a soulful vocal by Ryan Jarman this song shows Editors how a guitar band can change from using guitars as the main instrument to using keyboards and still be a good band!

The accompanying video for the show is quite creepy looking, with the band switching between being normal human and beings and zombies. I must confess that this is not what I’d expected for a video for a song where Ryan claims ‘I wish I was a housewife triyng to gain your trust’!

A zombie-fied Ryan Jarman

Anyway, it’s great to have The Cribs back, with Ryan hinting that they may surprise us with more expected releases of this nature as they continue to work on their fifth album in Edwyn Collins’ studio. Although I’d love that album to come sooner at least they’re giving us some one-off singles to pass the time until they release their latest masterpiece hopefully!

Bouncebackability

Back when then Crystal Palace manager Iain Dowie used the term ‘bouncebackability’ he could never have imaged how popular the word would become. It does though give us a handy footballing term, one that applied to Partick Thistle tonight.

Dowie was pleased to see his word added to the dictionary

After Thistle’s 4-0 drubbing by Raith Rovers at the weekend a strong response was needed tonight against Berwick Rangers. The team did not respond as strongly as hoped though and wimpered to a 2-1 victory. But it was a victory nonetheless and was an important step with regards to bouncing back from the despair of Saturday’s defeat. Thistle lined up as follows:

Halliwell

Paton  Balatoni  Robertson  Boyle

Cairney  Donnelly  Rowson  Flannigan

Grehan  Buchanan

As I’ve touched upon it was not the msot inspiring of team performances as the team passed up a host of chances and conceded a sloppy goal from a corner. However, a powerful drive by Thistle’s MOTM Paul Cairney and a first goal in about 18 months for the hardest working player in the league David Rowson made up for this.

Rowson was well overdue a goal

Thistle are now through to the last eight of the competition. The Challenge Cup, as gaffer Ian McCall mentioned earlier has been a trophy which has always evaded Thistle and is probably our best chance of silverware this season so it will be interesting to see if the team can step up to the task and continue to progress through the tournament. Knowing Thistle when it comes to the Challenge Cup though, this seems pretty unlikely…

Thistle’s next opponents Dundee fared rather differently tonight, losing hilariously 4-1 to lower league Stenhousemuir. Despite this they’ll still probably beat us on Saturday. It’s a hard life being a Thistle fan, even when we win!

It's possible Gary Harkins' hat put his Dundee team mates off

This match will bring once again the return of Gary Harkins, who scored the only goal of Dundee’s opening league fixture of the season. This is sure to lead to a fiery atmosphere and we can only hope that the Jags can manage to stop Harkins using his skill to have too much of an influence on the game. Easier said than done.

‘Blackpool Better Than Costa Del Sol’ Rages Gerrard

Liverpool midfielder and all-round dodgy guy Steven Gerrard today informed the press of his belief than new signing Joe Cole is better than Lionel Messi. As most football fans will know Messi is, if not the best, one of the best players in the world. Meanwhile, Cole was not an automatic pick for his team Chelsea last season and was infact released, joining Liverpool who finished lower than Chelsea. Messi’s Barcelona team won La Liga and reached the Champions League semi-finals, thanks in no small part to some unbelievable performances by Messi including scoring four goals against Arsenal.

Lio finds the Cole comparison rather amusing

Neither Messi or Cole have publicly responded to the comments made by Cole’s totally biased captain Stevie G. It is thought however that Messi is simply above such nonsense and that Cole wants to retain some decency and not allow himself to be dragged into a battle he has no chance of winning.

Gerrard meanwhile felt he was on a roll after making this comparison and felt he should inform the public of some other inferior things he thinks are better than clearly better things.

Gerrard blasted sunny, wonderful holiday destination the Costa Del Sol (Coast of Sun), claiming that it loses on every front to British town Blackpool (Pool of Black). Gerrard went on to claim “There’s far too many foreigners abroad for my liking.” He then thoughtly deeply before adding, “And not enough cars up on bricks.” Powerful stuff.

Stevie finally realises what he's just said

This isn’t the first time a professional footballer has made a totally unjustifiable claim however. In 2005 never-settled Stoke striker James Beattie claimed that he felt tic-tac-toe was better than beach volleyball in every conceivable way. Beattie later was forced to take back his words after it was revealed that not only had he never played beach volleyball, he had neither played volleyball or visited a beach. “A beach is the thing with the big screen in town isn’t it?” asked a clearly bewildered Beattie.

The Guardian were the first British paper to break this story, and interestingly the journalist who wrote the piece chose not to enclose his name in the article. It is widely believed that this was his attempt to avoid association with Gerrard’s insane comments.

Cole meanwhile will aim to return to living a normal life in the hope that his new skipper won’t make any ridiculous claims which pile the pressure on him in the near future.

Cole: "He said what...?"

One must feel a degree of sorrow for the innocent Cole and I must add that only some of the informtation you’ve read is true and that the next blog will be a bit less biased than this one.

Stand Up, This Is Comedy

As comedy fans across the globe are aware, August is the month of the Edinburgh fringe. Performers and fans alike have flocked to Edinburgh in their masses and I’ve been no exception. Unlike some, however, I haven’t gone wild and decided to see 20 acts over 3 days or anything of the sort. This year I decided to go for quality over quantity. This decision led to me booking only three shows; Alex Horne, Mark Watson and Tim Vine.

Alex Horne and Mark Watson, I felt, were both bound to be funny having seen them both live twice before and Watson being my favourite stand up. And I was proved right as both put on excellent, rather different, shows. Alex Horne split his show into three sections; golf, physics and gambling. He also started the show with a raffle! I would highly recommend Horne, one of the best rising stars of British comedy. Only for people who appreciate intelligent comedy though, he doesn’t make any obvious mainstream jokes. Well, he made 3, in an hour…

Alex Horne, a bit different to your usual stand up's

Mark Watson put on his usual level of show, it was messy, it was rambly, a bit all over the place in all honesty. But that’s what he does and I’d recommend him to anyone, he’s terrific.

Tim Vine on the other hand was totally new to me having only ever seen five minutes of him doing stand up on TV. Part of my decision to see him was based on how good that five minutes had been and how good he is in one of my favourite TV programmes Not Going Out (Starring Lee Mack, returning this autumn!). As it happens I was blown away.

Tim Vine is the best stand up comedian I have ever seen.

Tim Vine, the finest

Vine combined endless short puns with silly songs, funny hats, a huge variety of props and just generally sheer wit. I will definitely go and see him again if I get the chance.

I also happened to bump into Jack Whitehall twice and Pete Firman once walking around the Pleasance courtyard, it’s nice to see a big star like Whitehall keeps his feet on the ground.

As this piece comes to an end I must make a confession. I can’t claim originality in the title of this blog, as I did not infact write this line, as certain music fans would be able to tell. This is a actually line from ‘Stand Up Comedy’ from U2’s ‘No Line On The Horizon’, so I should pass the credit for this blog’s title to Bono.

Bono gave a helping hand for this blog's title

That’s the Fringe over for me this year but I’m sure I’ll be back next year.