First To Wear The Green

Do Celtic actually want to be Hibs?
Are they going to change their strip to all green with white sleeves?
Will their ground be renamed to New Easter Road?

The way Celtic are going, Hibs won't exist in 10 years time as all the players and staff will be through in Glasgow.
It's like 1888 all over again.

Ring Of Fire

I'm glad to see that Johnny Cash is still as relevant today as he has ever been. I was in the pub on Friday night and karaoke was on. I'm not a big karaoke singer (only ever done it once before) but myself and 2 others guy decided we would give Ring Of Fire a bash. We weren't sure if it would be that popular a choice but as soon as we started the whole pub joined in! Admittedly most people just wanted to bounce around and sing Da Da Da Da Da Da Da Da. However it made for a great atmosphere (and helped to drown out my singing which isn't a bad thing.)
I'm really glad to see JC is still gaining new fans, just goes to show he really is a legend.

If you would like to see one of the reasons for his legend status then watch this.

Avalanche

When I was young and discovering music for the first time it took a few years to discover what genres I really like. A big influence on my own tastes was Avalanche Records on West Register Street in Edinburgh.
Before discovering this shop I was quite often influenced by the mainstream which was reflected in my first few albums being the kind of manufactured pop acts I hate now. I did enjoy these at the time but it's almost as if I wasn't fully in charge of making these selections.
However Avalanche Records changed this. It allowed me to define my own tastes through stocking the kind of obscure and random cd's the high street shops didn't. There was a great selection of cheap second hand cd's which meant I could take a chance of artists I had only vaguely heard of. There was always something exciting about buying a random album on a whim, going home and listening to it for the first time. Admittedly there were some disasters but quite often the albums turned out to be really good, almost as if I knew I would enjoy them.
I used to love browsing in the shop for ages even though it wasn't very big and listening to the music that was being played. It was a fairly safe bet that it wasn't top 40 music.
In short I owe some of my love of music to Avalanche Records (along with friends to discuss it with) so I was quite upset to find out on Saturday that the shop has now closed.
I hadn't been to visit it for a couple of years mainly due to the fact that I don't find myself in Newington very often these days but I just assumed that it would still be there helping to shape the tastes of the latest generation of teenagers. Guess I was wrong and that is a bit sad.
The advent of mp3 music and itunes probably contributed to it's decline. It is easier to purchase music over the internet but for me you can't replicate the good times that you could have in a proper record shop.

Lemon

Scottish Football Frustrations

The Old Firm buying up the best players from other Scottish teams and then complaining about the lack of competition. Gordon Strachan is the latest culprit. He has spent the past couple of years buying the best players from Hibs & Hearts and he then has the cheek to say there isn't enough competition in the SPL. Doesn't take a genius to figure out why.

Managers from clubs spending time talking about other clubs. Jimmy Calderwood is a good example but the latest culprit is Stevie Frail who has developed an obsession with Hibs. He has spent a lot of time trying to talk them down, the latest claim was that Hearts have a better squad than Hibs, he doesn't rate the young Hibs players and he thinks Hearts had a better season than Hibs. Now I happen to disagree with all these points (Hibs won a cup and Hearts won ......... nothing) but it annoys me that Frail thinks he can comment on Hibs. He has no idea what goes on at Easter Road so he isn't qualified to make any announcements. He should follow the lead of John Collins and stick to talking about his own club.

Celtic's insistence of effectively taking over the Scottish Cup Final and turning it into a farewell party. They did it in 2004 for Larsson, in 2005 for Martin O'Neill and this year for Neil Lennon. It devalues the Scottish and isn't fair on whichever team Celtic happen to be playing in the final (Sadly this is never Hibs). I can appreciate Larsson and O'Neill deserved a send off for their achievements but don't make it the cup final. The less said about Lennon the better, he really isn't a good role model and doesn't deserve to be canonised in this way.

Every Scotland manager who picks on Old Firm youngster after he has played a couple of good games. This despite the fact that there are players at other clubs who have been playing consistently well for a number of season yet are overlooked as they don't play in Glasgow. The latest example of this is Alan Hutton (who it was generally agreed was mince until he had some good games) being picked ahead of Steven Whittaker despite the fact Whittaker has been one of Hibs top players for the last 3 years.

Chump

Liverpool were unlucky to lose the Champions League final last night as they were probably the better team. The media seem to be focusing on Liverpool lacking quality in the final third or not quite having the creative spark required to break down the Milan defence.
This seems to miss the real reason for the defeat which was in fact Bolo Zenden or as I was calling him last night Bolo Fucking Zenden.
The guy is terrible and he should never have been anywhere near the pitch last night. I don't understand how he gets selected as I have never seen him play well in a Liverpool jersey. I thought that Benitez was a master tactician but perhaps Alex Miller has more influence than we think.
Every time the ball went to Zenden last night he lost it either through poor passing or being tackled. Every good Liverpool move broke down when the ball reached him. He was also responsible for one of the worst shots I have seen since Sam Morrow graced a Hibs jersey. His shot from the corner of the 18 yard box effectively went right along the edge of the box going further and further away from goal. He was so bad he made Harry Kewell look good when he replaced him in the second half and that is some feat.

I'm dumbfounded that this guy has played for some of the top clubs in Europe such as PSV, Chelsea and Barcelona along with playing in World Cup's. Fair play to him for making the most of his lack of talent I guess.
If Benitez has any hopes of mounting a Premiership title challenge or winning the Champions League again then he needs to get shot of Bolo pronto.

Line Rider

Do you like lines?
Do you like sledging?
If yes then click here

At first this game doesn't seem like it will be much fun. All you are really required to do is to draw some lines and watch a little guy sledge along them. However once you start to master jumps, backflips and loops then it becomes quite addictive.
Check out the videos of the course some other people have created, they are pretty special.

Decision Made

I've finally made my Uni decision and I will be going to Robert Gordon in Aberdeen. The decision has been hanging over me for a while so I thought it was about time I chose one so that I can start getting organised. It's a bit of a relief to have settled it and to know where I will be spending most of the next 4 years.
I had a good feeling about Robert Gordon when I went there for my interview, it was certainly a lot better and more professional than the one at York. It's also going to be easier for me to retain my life in Edinburgh while I'm at Aberdeen and I can keep my season ticket for Hibs!
All I need to do know is arrange accommodation, sort out the payment of fees, complete grant forms, buy relevant books and uniform etc. Looks like I'm going to be busy.

The "New" Golf Tavern

The Old Golf Tavern next to Bruntsfield Links used to be one of my favourite pubs to visit. There was a sense of history about the place which was good, the name was taken from the pitch and putt course on the links which I believe was one of the oldest in the country. Understandably the pub liked to play this angle up and did it well. They also had a number of leather sofa's which were great for relaxing in while having a couple of beers. It was a proper Edinburgh pub and everyone that I know who went there liked it.
I hadn't been there for a couple of years due to the fact I don't really find myself in Bruntsfield these day. However I was up that way at the weekend and decided it would be good to pop in. Much to my dismay there has been a refurbishment and it's now terrible.
Gone is the nice relaxing vibe and the sense of history. In it's place is a lot of metal furnishings, uncomfy seats, blaring music (bear in mind this was a sunday afternoon) and big tv screens everywhere. What makes it worse is that it still looks the same inviting pub from the outside! The full horror is only revealed once you are in. There is a half hearted attempt to live up the name with some golf memorabilia on the walls but it doesn't fit in with the new decor. Obviously they have decided to target the student market but I really don't understand why they have attempted to modernise it. I can understand that some pubs need to revamp themselves especially if they aren't making money or the place is looking tatty. However I don't believe either of these apply, it appears to be modernisation just for the sake of it.
This was a proper Edinburgh pub but now it has lost its soul. If you were a fan of the Old Golf Tavern then I'd recommend you to stay away to prevent disappointment.

Novel Idea

If you like books and are in Edinburgh this week then I'd recommend going to the church at the east end of George Street. There you will find the Christian Aid second hand book sale and it's book buying heaven! It's certainly the highlight of my book buying year.
I look forward to this every year as there is thousands of books to browse ranging from new releases to classics. They also have a lot of non fiction on a variety of subjects.
I love spending my lunch hour browsing through all the stalls trying to find some bargains, it's a great opportunity to try books you perhaps wouldn't buy at full price. I went on Monday lunchtime and came away with 7 books, some of them for only 50p. I was very pleased to get the new Don Winslow for £3 as it has just been released at £11.99.
My only problem now is that I have far too many books to read so I may have to try and avoid the sale for the next couple of days especially as I'm supposed to be getting rid of some of my books. Not sure I'll be able to resist the lure though.

Stitch Up

The English Premiership season finished yesterday with some exciting games. The biggest game was probably Sheffield United against Wigan as it was likely that one of these teams would be relegated. It ended with a 2-1 win for Wigan which meant that United got relegated by 1 goal.
However, it's a complete travesty that West Ham United got to stay up at the expense of Sheffield United. Earlier in the season West Ham signed two big name players in Carlos Tevez & Javier Mascherano. Both players are very good and had starred in the last World Cup, eyebrows were certainly raised when they signed as no-one was really sure how West Ham had managed it. As it turned out, they did it illegally as neither player met the registration requirements for the Premiership. It was widely expected that this breach of the rules would result in a points deduction as that was the standard punishment. To make it worse West Ham seemed to deliberately mislead the initial inquiry. However they received a fine of £5.5 million which may sound a lot but staying in the Premiership could be worth over £30 million. The head of the inquiry then said that due to the fact West Ham were in relegation trouble it didn't seem right to deduct them points although it may have been different if they were mid table. That is a shocking statment as their position should have nothing to do with it. Bear in mind that Middlesbrough were deducted 3 points a few years ago for cancelling a fixture due to a sickness bug leaving them with only a handful of players. They were then relegated by 2 points. Surely this and other cases had set a precedent.
Ultimately West Ham were fielding illegal players and Tevez especially helped them avoid relegation. If the Premiership had done their duty and deducted 3 points then West Ham would have been relegated.
West Ham keep saying that it is right the relegation issue was decided on the pitch but this misses the point. They broke the rules and should have been punished accordingly. Ultimately the rule break affected what happened on the pitch as they won points with players who shouldn't have been allowed to play. They also scored the worst goal of the season in which there were 3 reasons not to give it. In the build up a West Ham player handled the ball before a shot was taken. The shot that resulted then hit Tevez on the line so it never crossed the line and Tevez was in an offside position. How this was awarded I do not know.
There is talk that Sheffield United and the other teams who avoided relegation are going to challenge the decision. I really hope they do as at the moment the Premiership have effectively said that it is ok to break the rules as long as you can buy your way out of trouble. There is nothing like looking after the big clubs.