Something for the Week

I am looking forward to the next few weeks because there are many new and returning TV shows coming to a channel near you. I love my TV but as you can see, I like shows with experts helping or advising the ordinary joe public.

Monday 10:35pm BBC … 21 Up: New Generation. The children who were born in 1993 are adults and about to celebrate their 21st birthday. I love this social experiment type programmes and this two-parter concludes tomorrow. Also watchable in is Alex Polizzi – The Fixer, on BBC2 at 9pm and this week is helping a microbrewery in financial trouble.

Tuesday 8pm BBC2 … £100k House: Tricks of the Trade. Experts help members of the general public with building projects. Tonight a former nurse needs there help improving her tiny cottage.

Wednesday 9pm C4 … Grand Designs. I love this show and have a fantasy to build my own home when I win the lottery. To me this is like porn to the dirty mac brigade. In this episode a couple plan to build a cliff side monument, which they believe, will topple into the sea in about 60 years.

Thursday … Can’t say there is nothing much to excite me.

Friday 9pm C4 … 8 out of 10 cats does Countdown. I expect corny jokes and innuendo but a ruddy good laugh. Another comedy gem follows ‘The Last Leg’ so that’s my Friday night sorted. There is also ‘A league of their own’ on Sky 1, which I will be recording to watch at my leisure.

Here my films of the week but you need pay-for-view TV as most channels seem to have given up on showing film these days.

• Monday Sky Movies Action … Dredd (2012) 10pm – A law enforcer in a post-apocalyptic city must fight his way out a tower block dominated by a ruthless crime lord.
• Tuesday TCM … We are Marshall (2006) 9pm – An American coach strives to rebuild a team a tragedy.
• Wednesday No film to recommend
• Thursday Lifetime … Call me Crazy A Five Film (2013) 9pm – A moving collection of dramas focusing on mental illness and the effects on families.
• Friday Sky Movies Premiere … Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues (2013) 8pm – Ron Burgundy is back giving the viewer’s plenty of comedy

T-shirt sale

I have added a new T-shirt to my shop. If you are interested, please feel free to have a browse round and part with some cash if you like. I will be adding more over the next few weeks.

 

Has you can see I love blue and the only red you will be seeing here is a range of Wales T-shirts which will soon be available.

 

You find my shop by hitting to tab above or just click this link >> SHOP <<

Saturday 30/8 bets

Since my last betting update, things have not got any better with my betting skills only one win. Lots of near misses and big let downs in the Carling Cup, Aston Villa and QPR just naming and shaming these two for treating the competition has a joke.

 

I have done my Saturday joke £1 bet and if they were all to win it would mean a nice payday for me. I have place two £2 bets

 

• Millwall
• Watford
• Inverness
• Hearts
• Odds 7.68/1 ... A nice win

In addition, I am dipping my toe exclusively into non-league football with the next bet.

• Forest Green
• North Ferriby
• Boreham Wood
• Margate
• Stamford
• Poole Town
• Odds 27.71/1 ... Washout

All I can do now is sit back and wait on the final results later.

Disappointed a understatement

I have been nurturing a plan, an idea, a project for some time and I was hoping to progress with my plans this weekend. However, it has now had to be put on the back burner after some of my old mental health issues come to the forefront of my life again, which I find unbelievable.

I thought I had these demons under control and getting my life back on track but I must have been harbouring these issues deeper than I thought. I have been feeling in this black mood for a week or so now and I had my fingers crossed that this morning I would feel better but it was not to be sadly.

I have been making plans for this idea for well over a year but when I failed to attend a meeting last month I should have seen the writing was on the wall. However, I put that behind me hoping it was just a blip in my plans.

It still an ongoing project, which I will undertake one day. I regard my plan has case sensitive so I cannot share I just hope no one else comes up with the idea be for I execute it myself.

The S**t Factor is Back

If this pile of crap were on the BBC, I would cry. Yes, the X-Factor is back shovelling out hours and hours of the worst kind of TV, you can get.

Simon (give me your money) Cowell badly needs to kick new life into his show after its popularity as waned while Strictly Come Dancing now regularly beats it in the ratings.

In a shakeup Cowell is back on the panel oh goody gumdrops how lucky is the British public.

New judge Cheryl (Cole) Fernandez-Versin, who Cowell sacked from the American X-Factor before she even warmed up her seat is on the panel. After a very public spat with Cowell, everyone is happy and all matey again. Some are already calling it ‘The Cheryl Factor’ with a lot riding on her shoulders, as many believe she could be the saviour of the show not the contestants.

She will be joined by another newbie Mel B one of the wannabes from the Spice Girls who now makes a living sitting on panels. The fourth judge is that old man who I can’t remember without doing an internet search, Louis Walsh. There is also a fifth judge! The general public whose vote is called into action if there is a tie between the four official judges, which is guaranteed to happen to add some drama. Wouldn’t it be easier to hire a fifth judge but that will cut into Cowell’s profits. A phone vote means cash, which tops up Cowell’s bank account nicely.

Back for its eleventh series, ten too many in my book what can the fans expect? Plenty of dramas between the judges most staged for the ratings if the show looks to be waning Cowell will step in and push one of the other judge’s buttons. The contestants will be manipulative and humiliated for the baying fans of the show that goes without saying.

We will get the sob stories, which seem to be one of the essentials for this show and could help when it comes to votes. It also creates a shed load of meaning less column inches in the press who love to soak up a sob story. There is always a love story and some bad behaviour for more of those column inches and all the time the meter is running higher and higher in Cowell’s bank balance.

In between the crying, the judges will find time to create a band or two, remember One Direction and Little Mix both created during the show or they will advise someone to dump their best friend to progress further. The dumpy will be interviewed by Dermot O'Leary he or she will be all happy on camera until you read it in the paper the next day.

Cowell is already calling foal over the BBCs scheduling of Strictly Come Dancing who would probably like all channels to switch off during the X-Factor. Like High Chancellor Adam Sutler, he wants full control.

Watching football from a beach hut ... classy

Like most football fans if I was to hit the right numbers on the lottery one of the first things I would do is check the availability of a luxury corporate box at my football club.

 

At the Cardiff City stadium one of their Executive Boxes start from £26,000 plus vat for up to 15 guests in your own glass-fronted suite with all the extras you would expect. There is also seating outside your suite for your guests.

 

So what would £5,000 for an entire season get you? Well at Non-League Lewes FC, it will get you a luxury corporate beach hut (shed).

 

Each of the huts, there are four that accommodate six fans at £40 per person per game or you can of course take out the season option. For your money, you receive food, a mini bar, free Wi-Fi and a free match-day programme. The five grand also includes watching ladies team play plus the under 18/21 games.

 

The Ryman Premier League side from East Sussex attracts crowds of up to 800. The club hope renting the beach huts during the week for businesses seeking an unusual meeting location will bring extra finances.

 

Lewes FC commercial manager, Kevin Miller, said:

 

'We thought we'd dip our toe into the glamorous world of corporate hospitality.

'At this level we couldn't stretch to Premier League-style luxury.

'That said, our prices are a little more reasonable than the Premier League.

'These beach huts offer something a little different with entertaining, honest football set against a backdrop of the beautiful Sussex Downs.

'How many other football clubs in the world can offer that?'

I hope it brings in the cash for the Non-League club.

Not a fan of remakes

When I saw that Orlando Bloom was out and about, promoting his latest movie, Zulu, my heart sank. Not another Hollywood rehash of a film classic with Bloom playing Lieutenant Bromhead or even more frightening the role-played by the great Welsh actor Stanley Baker.

 

A quick read of the article and my fears were unfounded it was a completely different story line. This film is a cop film about an investigation into a massacre during apartheid in South Africa. My scare got me thinking about other remakes and just how bad they were.

One that springs to mind is the Ladykillers. The 1955 British comedy made by Ealing Studios was a classic with an incredible cast, Alec Guinness, Herbert Lom, Peter Sellers and Katie Johnson beautifully played Mrs Wilberforce. Then you have the remake it was dire only salvaged somewhat by the performance of Tom Hanks in the Guinness role from the original.

 

I ask myself are film producers too lazy to come up with original ideas that they need to raid back film catalogues. What producer thought a remake of The Italian Job is a good idea even if the film is completely different from the original but for the name?

 

I am not a total hater of remakes. I enjoy a few only a few but one I can think of that bucks the trend was Red Dawn. Both were good entertainment if it was slightly unbelievable anyone could launch a sneak attack on the USA is pushing it a bit fine.

 

The rise of the made for TV films is now in the forefront of the remake these days. One such TV-made-film is Lifepod, a reworking of the Alfred Hitchcock classic Lifeboat where a group of passengers try to survive after their ship was torpedoed during World War 2. With Lifepod substitute, a lifeboat in the middle of an ocean for a spacecraft's escape pod drifting through space and you get the idea.

99 pack of beer

We all know the Americans love to supersize their food and drink so they can fit into their supersized clothes but now they have up with the ultimate six-pack, well 99 pack.

Our cousins across the pond have come up with every pissheads dream a 99 pack of beer. The Austin Beerworks, a brewery in Texas, have come up with the eight feet long dream which will cut back on trips to the off-license and will bring a whole new meaning to saying you will bring a slab of beer to the party.

Thought to be a stunt, the brewery confirmed that the “99 packs are absolutely real” and that it was planning to make more, due to popular demand. Well will we be seeing these mega pack on sale this side of the pond anytime soon?

The fry-up pie

I have been reading a lot about this ‘heart attack pie’ and I may be a former regular pie eater but this pie doesn’t come over as my cup of tea.

It comes from Scotland the land of the deep fried Mars Bar so it’s not wholly unexpected. It is available at a Dundee hospital and most bakeries in Dundee. Its caused a stir for being available in a medical establishment with the hospitals nutrition advisors describing it as "a heart attack on a plate".

Why all the controversy about the pie! Because of it’s make-up with sausage, bacon, and black pudding, beans, topped off with a fried egg at a cost of a measly £1.50. Not a filling I would be happy to tuck into I’m more at home with the ingredients on a plate minus the black pudding.

Locally known as the “fry-up” pie or the “breakfast” it’s popular with the local inhabitants. The hospital have hit back claiming that the pie shown in many of the press stories is not the one they supply. The pie shown in the picture (left) is reputed to contain 800 calories, which is bizarre. While the hospitals version is probably 200 calories.

Does anyone count calories before eating a pie? If you count calories you should be eating a pie anyway.

Round 2 League Cup - Kiddies awayday

The so call bigger clubs will be rolling out there kids and youngsters while the teams regarded as smaller club will be taking the games more serious playing season veterans from league football.

 

One of the biggest clubs in the world will be partaking of this early round, none other than Manchester United. It will be the first time they have appeared in the second round of the competition since the 1995-96 season, oh how the mighty have fallen.

 

The Bluebirds have a trip to Port Vale with Cardiff manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer throwing in the youngsters for the game. The coach will be like a kindergarten trip. Solskjaer said ahead of the Capital 1 Cup second-round tie,

"This is a great chance to play some of my young players.
"You want to give them a chance and there will be players there seeing this as a start for the rest of their careers.
"Young players in England need something to look forward to and you need to see if they ready once in a while."

If I were manager, I would go for it putting out my best possible team. With the possibility of a Wembley final and a Europa League place, it would be well worth it. The compertition is not popular with most fans, which is often shown in poor attendances. Bucking the trend tonight should be MK Dons who have a home fixture to the once great Manchester United.

 

I am not one of those who believes a good cup run is detrimental to your league season. It was the reason given by some fans for Cardiff’s fall in form after the Liverpool final, which they believe cost the club a possible promotion.

 

Port Vale will be making changes after Saturdays defeat and the shaky start to the season. 

Some Attenborough films I rate

I was sorry to hear of the death of Sir Richard Attenborough and it got me thinking of films I have enjoyed with him in. Here are five standout films I like and where I believe he gave some of his best performances.

The Angry Silence - The story tells of a man's dilemma when he refused to participate in an unofficial strike, where he works. While vicious, calculated violence brings the other dissenters into line he goes it alone and is sent to Coventry (given the silent treatment) by his fellow workers.

A stirring, thought-provoking film that portrays the human problems and high emotions generated when a man dares to act on the courage of his convictions and dares fight to keep his individual freedom.

Sea of Sand - A small British army team are sent behind enemy lines to destroy a German petrol dump as part of the preparation for a major attack in the North African campaign. Whilst they are there they spot a large number of tanks and realise that army intelligence must be informed of the discovery.

After a brief engagement the radio is destroyed leading to a dash across the desert to reach British lines, The Germans are equally determined that they should not reach their base, and a tense chase across the desert is the result.

10 Rillington Place - John Christie is an unassuming, middle aged man who, along with his wife Ethel, rent rooms at 10 Rillington Place. His unassuming demeanor masks the fact that he is a serial killer.

Act as someone with a medical background, he lures unsuspecting women to his apartment on the pretense of curing them of some ailment, knock them unconscious with carbon monoxide gas, gain his sexual release through contact with the unconscious body, then strangle the victim dead before disposing of the body usually by burying it in his back yard.

Miracle on 34th Street - A remake but just as enjoyable. Six-year-old Susan has doubts about childhood's most enduring miracle - Santa Claus. Her mother told her the "secret" about Santa a long time ago, so Susan doesn't expect to receive the most important gifts on her Christmas list.

However, after meeting a special department store Santa who's convinced he's the real thing. Not everyone agrees and Santa soon finds itself in court but with the help of Susan they can't prove he is not real so he wins the case. Susan is given the most precious gift of all - something to believe in and a shut load of presents and a new dad.

Brighton Rock - Pinkie Brown is a small-town hoodlum whose gang runs a protection racket based at Brighton race course. When Pinkie orders the murder of a rival, Fred, the police believe it to be suicide. This doesn't convince Ida Arnold, who was with Fred just before he died, and she sets out to find the truth. She comes across naive waitress Rose, who can prove that Fred was murdered.

In an attempt to keep Rose quiet Pinkie marries her. But with his gang beginning to doubt his ability, and his rivals taking over his business, Pinkie starts to become more desperate and violent.

Pie less Bank Holiday

Its Bank Holiday Monday and the sun looks unlikely to be paying Cardiff a visit today so no change there for a Bank Holiday. I feel sorry for the organisers of the Butetown Carnival it is not the best weather to bring back the much-loved festival.

 

On a personal note, it will be like any other day with the rain meaning it is unlikely I will be venturing outside the front door. On top of that, the lack of cash means a trip out for a pub meal I was planning will not be happening. The TV schedule don’t look up to much so it may be a day on the internet looking to be entertained.

 

I did have something to look forward to this Bank Holiday Monday my long awaited Clarks Pie treat. Those who know me or follow my blog muses know that I am on a healthy eating regime and have limited accessed to my favourite pie to Christmas, Easter, and August Bank Holiday Monday.

 

Therefore, you would be expecting me to be tucking into a pie sometime today but I won’t be. Why because I didn’t ask my dad to nip around the Clarks Pie shop and pick up my order so I am pie less today. It was not because I forgot. I had plenty of time to phone dad and he could have trotted around but I just chose not to and it wasn’t because I was feeling sick or anything. However, when I woke up this morning I could have kicked myself.

 

Normally today would mean a trip to the seaside for most people but the weather today could see the majority of the seaside resorts struggling. My port of call growing up would be Barry Island the destination of choice and it was at its hay day back then. These days it’s not a patch on the 60s and 70s when even on a rainy day it would be packed.

 

If not at the seaside there was always the football which could be home or away with Cardiff City and if you were doubly lucky a local derby. Wishing everyone a good day rain or shine.

So Bored ... Ice Bucket Challenge

I finally have a reference to a guilty pleasure of mine the TV show ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ onto my blog, “bored now”. It’s a quote made by a dark Willow just before she flays one of the shows villains Warren for killing her girlfriend.

I’m I bored of the ice bucket challenge, yes I am sick to my back teeth of the accompanying videos as well. I am tired of my social media being swamped has just about everyone and their dog does the challenge. Don’t get me wrong the donating to charity is great and always gets my support I can do without the extra.

Every celebrity from the highest to the lowest is donning the challenge as well has the ordinary folk. Can anyone in the world not heard or seen someone doing it. When it’s a news item in the evening news, I really begin to doubt the sanity of the people it charge of newsrooms and pressrooms worldwide. Surely, there must be better stories out there in the world.

The deal is that you take the challenge and you then nominate family, friends, or anyone to have a go, which the nominees have to do within 24 hours. If you refuse, you still have to donate to charity.

Now I’m not averse to watching some A-lister model in a itsy-bitsy bikini be doused in a bucket of freezing cold water it’s better than seeing them lounging on some sunny beach.

The A-crowd are desperate to be seen doing the challenge and get their video out onto the social media platforms. I can’t wait to see the Queen around the back of Buck house getting a dousing and who she will nominate.

Has for me I won’t be partaking in this boring drivel I jumped into the River Taff fully clothed in the dead of winter has a teenager, now that was cold.

40 years of me and Match of the Day

Is Match of the Day a national institution? Well it always has been in my house from my younger day’s right up until today. The show is 50 years old and I reckon I have been watching for 40 of them with the BBC always my favourite destination for my football.

 

It was the only time I was allowed to stay up past my normal bedtime as a youngster without a fight. Saturday TV was more family orientated with the likes of Doctor Who, Dixon of Dock Green. There were entertainment shows like The Harry Secombe show, Lulu and Cliff Richards nothing there to make mum blush. I can remember a Man Called Ironside was a favourite Saturday night show. The most risky show with be the Dick Emery show with some near the knuckle jokes.

 

Especially when I was young, I could be watching the programme without knowing the scores so you would need to dodge the news before so you didn’t accidently hear them. Mum would hit the road to bed soon as Dad was home she was not a fan of football. He was always fun when he was a bit tipsy dad, he would lay out on the settee sometimes talking a load of crap but it was good father and son time. If I was lucky, he would have nipped into the Chippy and we would have a bit of a Saturday night feast.

 

Peter Sayer

Our team Cardiff City was rarely on but we both love football and didn’t care and still don’t care who is playing. One of my abiding memories of Match of the Day was the Peter Sayer scoring the only goal of the game when Cardiff knocked Tottenham Hotspur out of the FA Cup in 1977. The goal was replayed on the BBC Match of the Day credits after that until what seemed forever.

 

There was less punditry back then unlike today. It was normal to have only two cameras in the ground then, one in the roof of the stand on the centre line and one down below pitch side also on the centre line. Making it a lot harder to 100% call an offside and creating many intense arguments unlike today where grounds are covered in cameras giving referees no place to hide. I sometimes think football was better back then were money wasn’t the be-all and end-all of the game but league position and a good cup run.

 

The only time I have miss the show is the time the BBC lost the rights to show the highlights something I can’t believe football in the shape of the Premier League could allow to happen. When the highlights were transferred to ITV, I never watched them not once.

 

Match of the Day is a classic Saturday but these days I watch on a Sunday morning repeat with dad who pops in Sunday morning so we have gone full circle.

Saturday 23/8 bets

No ruddy luck over the last few days with my account balance now looking terminal. Therefore, I am really in need of a win or two over the weekend, so I have even put a bet on my hated footy rivals Swansea City to win. It has become that bad for me that I have to stoop so low.

The odds say the bet below should paid out but I don’t have my fingers crossed.

• Chelsea
• Swansea
• Watford
• Derby
• Odds 4.84/1 to win on a £2 bet with SkyBet

I like a second bet just to up my chances and I have did my research more in-depth this time as my other bet was done last night. The next bet is a bit of a long shot but pays better if they all come in.

• Wigan
• Fleetwood
• Dundee United
• Queen of the South
• Wrexham
• Eintracht Frankfurt
•  Odds 36.84/1 to win on a £2 bet with SkyBet

(I am not a professional tipster follow my bets at you own risk. No come backs please)

The Great British Pie Off

I was sitting watching the ‘Great British Bake Off’ wondering why. I rarely like the end product as I don’t like cakes but this week it was bread so I’m a bit happier. It was biscuits the week before and I am not a big fan of them either but I am religiously sitting there watching.

The funny thing is many of the cookery programmes I watch I am not always a fan of the food prepared. When it comes to my food, I’m not adventurous and the most exotic food on my menu are the likes of curries. I am more your bog standard British food type, chips with everything. If I were to write a list of likes and dislikes, the latter would engulf the likes, sad but true.

I have come up with an idea for a new cookery show, come competition that is somewhat newish but maybe on a grander scale. A competition to bake the best pie, pasty and sausage roll in the land, which would be my kind of heaven in a TV cookery show. Even with me being on a healthy eating plan, I could enjoy such a show. The idea would be you would have to make all three adding to the difficulty in a hour show.

Could anyone not enjoy a show like this?

Has a former pie, pasty, and sausage roll devotee I feel the British public needs a show like this to get back to their roots. We are awash with good amateur cooks and we don’t need to see fancy cooking for enjoyment. Maybe the prize could be the winning product on sell at a sporting venue.

The funny thing is that I myself have never made a homemade pie. The closest I’ve been to making a pie is a shepherd pie so I have set myself a task in the next week or so to break my virginity in pie making.

Love Thy Neighbour Remembered

I love YouTube and can never be bored because of the option to reminisce without laying out cash for its contents. From music, film, TV shows and just fun video’s there is always something to watch.

Today after seeing, Rudolph Walker who plays Patrick Trueman in EastEnders on breakfast this morning it reminded me of a TV show he was in back in the 1970s so I hit YouTube to check out what I could find.

The show I am talking of is ‘Love Thy Neighbour’ a hugely popular comedy sitcom from back in the 1970s but so not politically correct in dealing and handling on the subject of race. The series revolved around a white working class couple who have to come to terms with their new neighbours who are black.

Eddie Booth played by Jack Smethurst is a white socialist and union official whose whole world is turned on its head when Bill and Barbie Reynolds move in next door. His temper is not subdued when he finds out Bill is a new workmate. Joan Booth (Kate Williams) Eddie’s wife does not share her husband’s opinion of their black neighbours, and becomes good friends with Barbie. Bill also gets along with Eddie’s wife and has for Eddie with all is bigoted views secretly fancies the pants of Barbie.

It’s not just at home and work Eddie and Bill lock heads as Bill was also a member of the workingman’s club they both frequent. To top it off he was Conservative just as bad as being black in Eddie’s book. Whenever Eddie tries to outdo him, Bill ends up having the last laugh. Like one I watch early where they are both after a bedroom suite and no matter how sneak Eddie was Bill was in foot ahead and finally got the suite. The writers claimed that each episode included both anti-white and anti-black sentiment.

I had a good afternoon catching up with the series and you can see why it wouldn’t be well received today and that’s why it is not re-shown on channel’s like UK Gold which rehashes old British comedies from the 1970s.

Loving the Championship already

What a difference a season makes when last season Cardiff begun plying their trade in the Premier League with a first home game against mega rich Manchester City.

Championship football this season with Huddersfield the first visitors to the Cardiff City stadium with the big difference the crowd. Last season the battle was intense for tickets with season ticket holders rising off their deathbeds to watch the game with every ticket fought over. The word ‘plastic’ was often bandied about denoting fans who don’t front up for every game or are not regarded has hard core fans.

Therefore, I was surprised a crowd of just over 20.000 plus attendance for the opening game of the season and with the new stadium extension there were plenty of seat spare. I was never expecting a full house but it was lower than I thought.

The game was badly advertised in my book. Don’t the club have a promotion team? Why no advertisements in the local press or maybe localised TV and radio adverts. It feels like they are sitting back on their fan base when they need those much-maligned ‘plastics’ inside the stadium.

There is a lot of negatively surrounding because of the rebrand, which creates a lot of damaging reporting in the press. You can nearly always guarantee talk Cardiff City and the rebrand will come up in the conversation. The stubbornness of the clubs owner hold no bounds he stands there in the directors box in his red top looking around a stadium to a sea of blue.

It was a good win for the Bluebirds over Huddersfield and that is four points out of six after two games. I hope this is a start to a great season and a chance to cermet the good start to the season on Tuesday night with the visit of Wigan.

Saturday 16/8 bets

The Premiership kicks off so a bet on them seems appropriate. I through a cheeky £1 bet on 15 games to win and if it were to come up, I would pick up £15000 plus. That would be a nice payday.

 

There are the obvious like Manchester United and Arsenal if they go to form but the pay out is very small so you need something extra to juice it up a bit. I when for Everton as the meat between the sandwich my only mistake was not putting my bet on last night because the odds were better.

 

Therefore, my bets are ….

• Manchester United
• Everton
• Arsenal
• Odds 3.09/1 with SkyBet

My second bet

• Blackburn
• Morecambe
• Doncaster
• Braintree
• Forest Green
• Odds 22.74/1 with SkyBet

(I am not a professional tipster follow my bets at you own risk. No come backs please)

City home today

Huddersfield are the visitors today to the Cardiff City Stadium for the Bluebirds first League home game of the season. With the new stand, will we see a new record attendance at the stadium?

 

Cardiff boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has been busy in the transfer market doing two deals in the last few days. Joining the club is Anthony Pilkington & Sean Morrison from Norwich City and Reading.

26-year-old Pilkington moved to South Wales after completing three seasons with Norwich, during his time with them he appeared 82 times for the Canaries in all competitions grabbing 15 goals. His signing will give options to the Cardiff boss out wide, an area his team is short on and in need of strengthening. It is unclear if he is in the squad for the game today or will be making a debut.

 

The Ireland international signed a three-year-deal with a reported fee around the £1m price tag.

 

Along with Pilkington, centre half Sean Morrison, as put pen to paper on a four-year-deal for an undisclosed fee with the Bluebirds for what is believe to be a seven-figure. The 6’4” 23-year-old defender could figure in the Huddersfield game.

 

Solskjaer will be looking for an improvement from the opening draw against Blackburn and he made wholesale changes for the mid-week League Cup game against Coventry. Back to normal today and he will have defender Juan Cala available after he returns from suspension he picked up last season against Sunderland. Out is striker Javi Guerra with a hip injury.

Plush - Film Review

I finally caught up with the film Plush which as premiered on Sky movies recently. I have a soft spot for one of its stars Emily Browning from another one of her films Sleeping Beauty so I was looking forward to checking this out.

So what did I think about ‘Plush’

I rather liked the film and Emily Browning as Hayley looked very much the part as the rock chick and lead singer for the band Plush. The story line was easy sussed out as Hayley glance towards her guitarist replacement for her dead brother due to a drug overdose.

With her life on a downward spiral after her band, latest album is a critical and commercial disaster. She soon finds a soul mate in her new young guitarist, Enzo, whom she believes is gay. Even with a husband and two kids at home, she soon crosses the line as she and Enzo becomes intimate. She tells her newfound love interest “Something that happens on tour stays on tour” but it was never going to happen because Enzo was an out and out nut job.

The nut job soon wiggles is way into Hayley’s family life and they take every chance to be intimate, as the gullible husband has no idea. Throughout the film, you find out just how infatuated he is with Hayley even sporting a tattoo on a butt cheek of her and her brother who he also had a relationship.

The trouble for Hayley gathers pace as Enzo fixes it to make her pregnant with a few handy pinpricks in his condom. The twist is hubby had the snip so there was no way he was going to be daddy with her clutching at straws she was hoping a failed vasectomy would save the day. It did not take to long for the secret to be out and the shit hits the fan.

Things you need to know about Enzo

He killed Hayley brother so he could fill the vacancy in the band

He killed the nanny and installed his mother in the post

He killed Hayley’s PR

He killed the next-door neighbours so here could spy on Hayley and her family

The end of the film is predicable leading to a final fight between Hayley and Enzo who she kills with a hosepipe. Cool or what she stuffed the guy by pushing it in his mouth and flooding his body with water. She loses the baby in the fight and from his hospital, bed hubby forgives her but mummy and a syringe is in the hospital as well.

Browning is the glue that holds this film together and give by far the best performance in the film.

Giggs bans rivals story

According to a report in the press (The Daily Star), the Manchester United’s assistant manager Ryan Giggs has been linked with a ban on rivals Manchester City players booking a table at his restaurant in Manchester.

His business partners in the ‘trendy’ restaurant who are “massive” United fans are believed to have instigated the ban because they couldn’t stand the thought of serving any of the City’s players.

Very funny, I suppose it would be better for City players to avoid the place because could they trust their food won’t be messed around with in the kitchen, you know what I mean. Wait a minute, would they employ a Manchester City fan. What if one of the partners had a problem with black people or gays would they be banned. Do they ban the uncool people and what about the disabled? Would they be welcome even if they were not a Manchester United fan or is it an United fan club destination.

The funnies keep coming with former United teammate Gary Neville who both own the Café Football in London, said via twitter

“Of course, they just overpay and leave early!! Perfect for a restaurant! Ha ha,’’

I hate Manchester United and I am not even a fan of the other Manchester club.

First win for woman manager in professional football

The first woman to coach a men’s professional football team in a competitive match Corinne Diacre picked up her first point after her team Clermont Foot 63 secured a draw last Friday night.

 

Now she has her first win under her belt after a French League Cup, 1-0 win against Istres. It is her third game in charge and after Clermont having lost her first game. She took over has manager when Helena Costa the previous female boss quit over male attitudes to her appointment before her first game.

 

Diacre made 121 appearances for France and captained the woman’s national side. She served as the team’s assistant manager for three years before taking charge of Division 1 Féminine team Soyaux, the club where she spent her entire playing career.

 

I will follow her career with some interest wondering if we will ever see a woman in charge of a professional club here. The attitude in football would have to change if you look at the treatment of woman in the professional game.

 

Some jaws dropped when former England manager Hope Powell was linked with the manager’s job at Grimsby but a denial was quickly issued. What about on the pitch? Will we ever see a woman player playing in the Football League or the Premiership? While sexist’s comments like those aimed at assistant referee Sian Massey from Sky Sports commentator Andy Gray and presenter Richard Keys do nothing for the image of football. Both lost their jobs with the broadcaster after a public outcry over their comments.

Carling Cup bet

Three days into the season and £6 lighter in the betting account after a washout weekend. Today its League Cup game so we should see some crazy results as even this early into the season managers have league position in mind and a wish to rest first team players.

 

Cardiff who face a trip to Coventry are likely to play a team from players who didn’t feature in the Blackburn fixture. On the other hand, Coventry could see it as a chance to progress into the competition hoping for a payday against one of the big Premiership clubs.

 

Therefore, my bet or bets today will not be straightforward as I will have to do research into managers intention, do they plan to play so-called weaken teams. You cannot go into this by thinking they are a Championship club so should beat a team from Division 2 that is an easy to get your fingers burnt.

 

Today’s bet a (treble)

• Chesterfield
• Millwall
• Shrewsbury

7.44/1 … Return £16.88 off a £2 bet with SkyBet

 

I see the League Cup as a good route to a Wembley final and possibly entry into Europe. I could be throwing out another little bet later today after doing a bit more research.

 

(I am not a professional tipster follow my bets at you own risk. No come backs please)

Spain is coming to Cardiff

Spanish football is taking up residence in the beautiful city of Cardiff today with Real Madrid and Seville in town for UEFA Super Cup match at Cardiff City Stadium.

 

The game, a sell-out, will again showcase the City of Cardiff as a major sporting venue with a worldwide TV audience. Cardiff born Garth Bale adds some local interest being the world’s most expensive football player after signing for Real Madrid from Tottenham in a £85m plus transfer.

 

Madrid go into the game has favourites and are one of the biggest supported football teams in the world. Their strong support base comes via Central and South America. Because of the Bale factor, the Spanish giants are likely to pick up most of the local support who will outnumber Spanish visitors by two to one. If Bale, James Rodriguez and Cristiano Ronaldo who are expected to play together for the first time that will mean a mind blowing £230m worth of talent on show.

 

Seville go into the game as underdogs having won the UEFA Europa League regarded as the poor man’s Champions League, won by Madrid. Last season in the Spanish Primera Liga it was honours even with Seville winning 2-1 but at Madrid Bernabeu stadium it was a massacre with the home team winning 7-3 a score line like that tonight would be mouth-watering. It doesn’t seem to have caught the imagination of the Spanish fans with reports both clubs have returned tickets and around 10,000 Real Madrid and Seville fans are making the trip.

 

It will be a first visit to Cardiff for Real Madrid since Brian Clark headed the Bluebirds to a 1 - 0 victory over the Spanish giants in 1971. Pity its not the Bluebirds v Madrid.

Medel done and dusted

The mammoth transfer saga involving defender Gary Medel is over. Yesterday he finally signed on the dotted line and is now an Inter Milan player.

 

Like former Cardiff City player and sports columnists Nathan Blake the final fee baffles me. Cardiff paid £11m for the Chilean international who came to the club with a good reputation, which was enhanced during his season with the Bluebirds. On top of his season in Wales, he was also one of the stars of the World Cup in Brazil.

Therefore, a sale of £10m looks very much a bargain for the Italian club. I am not sure how much of the £10m will end up in the Cardiff City bank account. These days transfer deals can be complex with staggered payments.

 

If you factor in wages, Medel must have cost the club around £12m to £13m in total so at least you would expect to recoup your investment. If the defender had failed to impress while with the Bluebirds or at the World Cup, you would reasonably expect to take a loss but he has been a hit with pundits and commentators in a poor season for Cardiff.

Blake said, "If you negotiate and you're adamant that you're at least looking for £2m more than you paid for him or £3m more... whatever's happened between agent and managers and owners - how they've ended up at £10m after the World Cup, its crazy”.

That’s football for you some you win some you lose. It would have been interesting for the club to explain their reasoning behind this deal and why the low transfer fee but it’s unlikely to happen. It was obvious he wanted away once the club were open to offers. Would he have stayed if Cardiff were still in the Premiership, who knows and I don’t really care the future is now.

Chyna from wrestling to porn

WWF days

I have been inundated with TV adverts for the latest WWE Summer Slam pay-for-view event and it set off happy memories of getting my lads up at 1am to watch it.

They were only like 10, 9, and 7 years old and desperate to watch so the deal was they when to bed early and I would get them up to watch. They were good boys and would sit and watch and be no trouble while I would head back to bed. On waking up the three of them would be fast asleep on the sofa. I also liked the wrestling but not enough to miss my beddy byes.

My favourite wrestlers at the time were Brat ‘the hit man’ Hart and the British Bulldog but I developed a major crush on the formidable Chyna (born Joan Marie Laurer) that woman was built. Her opening role in the then WWF was as an enforcer/bodyguard for Triple H who she later betrayed. It was all part of wrestling a bit of betrayal, cheating, and general skulduggery, which made it, fun for mainly youngsters and the odd adult like me.

Porn days

While she is still in wrestling to some degree today, you could have knocked me down with a feather when doing some research I found out she is also now a pornstar! I know she modelled nude for Playboy I blogged her pictures on my other blog but the next step to porn surprised me. There was a sex tape between her and her then partner, which was widely thought to be contrived for the money and then started her down the road of porn.

She made four hard-core films in her own name and recently was part of the Avengers XXX: A Porn Parody where she played She-Hulk. Her last film was again an Avengers parody called She-Hulk. She does other bits and pieces in the media but I miss the WWF days she had an awesome presents around and in the ring.

Music duets male/female

Don’t I just love posting my music likes and this blog is no difference here today its male/female duets. The songs I have posted are all so different in music styles. It has been a while since I have heard a good duet but then again I am not has queued into music, as I was years back.

Sometimes you want to curl up and die when you hear some duets like hearing the likes of Olivia Newton-John & John Travolta, ‘You're The One That I want’ duet. It so bad on hearing it sometimes I wish I were deaf.

My top five are below and thanks again to YouTube links to the videos.

• Youssef N'Dour and Neneh Cherry - 7 seconds
• Professor Green and Lily Allen - Just be good to me
• Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Jordan Baby - It's cold outside
• Nick Cave and Kylie Minogue - Where the wild roses grow
• Eminem and Dido - Stan
• UB40 and Chrissie Hynde - I got you babe

Doing the pools

Many years ago when I was a kid there was a Saturday tradition in the Ugarte household involving a teleprinter, a pen and the back page of a Saturday newspaper for doing the pools.

 

Dad would do Littlewoods pools every week on the off chance of a win but it was always small wins never the jackpot, sounds familiar with today’s pools, the lottery.

A bloke Dad worked with was a collector for Littlewoods pools. Every Friday dad would hand over his entry form with two or three lines of eight from ten. Score draws was dads chosen pleasure later I would become hooked on doing ten home wins. I remember there were all kinds of permutations you could use to have more chances of winning. Mum would do Spot-the-Ball, and she didn’t like football.

 

My job would come on a Saturday if I were home not out having fun to write down the scores as they came in on the teleprinter. I would sit down with BBC Grandstand waiting for the results to write them down

for dad to check later. Once the earlier games were over and enough results in it was time for the classified results. There was always the late kick-offs to hang around for as I am talking about the 70s, pitch invasion and hooliganism the main reason for delaying the final whistle.

 

I may not do the pools anymore but I still to this day insist on watching the football results come in via the BBC. Grandstand may have long gone but the results service is still going strong but I miss the teleprinter.

Bets in .... I Iove football

 

Great to get the football season underway and the beginning of my betting task has begun. I have a kitty of £200 for the season and once it’s gone it’s gone, so let’s see if I can beat the bookie by making a profit on my investment. I will not be making crazy bets I have limited myself to £2 a bet and I only bet on football, soccer for our American cousins.

 

The season kicked off last night but I didn’t put a bet on even though I had a feeling a draw was on the cards. I have a rule, I never bet on my team (Cardiff City). I don’t care who they are playing I never bet on them. Just say I am superstitious.

 

I like to bet on teams to win and have two bets on today but I have a feeling I may have put a bet on the day the fixtures came out. If it was to come in it would be a nice surprise.

 

Bet 1 … £2 to win Derby, Brentford, Orient, Preston, Dunfermline

Bet 2 … £2 to win Nottingham Forest, Everton, Bristol Rovers, Dover, NAC Brada, Zenit St Petersburg

 

You can follow my betting adventure via my betting page

 

Ps I am not a professional tipster follow my bets at you own risk

Bye, bye Premier League hello Championship

Although the Championship officially kicks-off tomorrow the demands of TV and in particular, Sky Sports means the first game of the new League season will kick-off tonight. The Bluebirds will be making the trip to Blackburn and for those Cardiff fans not travelling to the game it’s on Sky Sports live this evening. Last season may have been Premier League football but I am just as excited about this season, its football, and Cardiff City what more would I want.

Relegation last season was not too much of a surprise to me being a bit of a realist it was always going to be tough whoever was manager. However, that is history and now it is a new season, new challenges, and hopefully promotion again.

The fact Cardiff only won seven Premier League games last season was disappointing and we finished bottom of the table because of it, which was a bummer. We were never going to win the Premier League or even qualify for the Champions League let alone the Europa League it was always about beating the drop. Not my kind of football bottom feeding picking up scraps.

Off the field the rebrand issues is still there and won’t go away until Chairman Vincent Tan backs down and he expects promotion so not much pressure on manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

Solskjaer knows nothing less than promotion back to the Premier League is needed this season and believes the squad he has assembled. The latest signing was Birmingham City midfielder Tom Adeyemi only yesterday and there is room for one more according to media reports, a central defender. Has far has any one knows Gary Medel is still a Cardiff player but in Italy tying up is move to Inter Milan.

It you were to check the back of papers the beginning of the new League season would barely register its all Premier League, Premiership even allow their season kick-off is a week away. The bookies are on board with prediction that the Bluebirds are favourites to go straight back into the premiership and must football pundits tend to agree.

So unleash the dogs of war everyone is up for it whoever you support we might be rivals but we are all part of the big football family.

New adult sex toy

Laugh I nearly crapped myself reading about this new gadget still I don’t think I will be putting it on my Christmas list, the Bondara SexFit.

 

It is difficult to describe this new gadget, however we are talking about a fitness tracker for your penis. It is very much like a "c**k ring" but upgraded to a smart band with extras which will be able to measure and track your sexual performance.

 

Fitting your member like a standard c**k ring, it has the straightforward functions like restricting blood flow and vibration. However, the SexFit provides more and then some, its Wi-Fi-enabled. There is a companion app for your smartphone so you can even share your performance on social media with your friends.

 

So what else do you get well you can track calories burned, time spent on the job and thrusts per minute … lol I feel a new entry in the adult Guinness Book of Records. It also has LED lighting which pulse in rhythm, to help you achieve a better rhythm yourself.

 

Its due to be on sale the summer 2015 and no price has been fixed yet.

Shocking treatment of famale football fans (Russia)

Some shocking things happen to football fans but I have heard it all now with Russian police refusing to allow female football fans into a stadium unless they stripped completely naked.

 

The ground in question is in Kazan, a host city for the World Cup, 2018 in Russia. Police in the city refused to apologise for their actions sighting security measures for the reason. Female fans were made to strip naked not the normal pat down fans can expect. It is not clear from the reports if the police forced male fans to undergo the same treatment.

 

Spartak Moscow fan Ekaterina Stepanova denounced the searches after she was told to strip, including her underwear she explained on her blog. The former beauty queen Stepanova named Miss Spartak in 2013 did not strip but felt humiliated for even being asked. After protesting, a more respectable search was undertaken. However, at the next security point, another police officer refused her entry to the terraces for not being searched properly. After about an hour and a half she was allowed into the stadium.

 

The attitude of the local police have implication for FIFA, Kazan is a World Cup 2018 host city. Will visiting female fans have to the same treatment a naked full body search? In fact, no Russian female supporter should undergo this kind of indignity or a male fan. What if they were to draw a top British or European club in the Champions League or the Europa League there would be up roar if their female fans were treated in the same way.

 

The President of the Republic of Tararstan, Rustam Minnikhanov, warning that fans can expect similar treatment in the future.

 

"The police actions in this situation were due by the provocative and inappropriate behaviour of Moscow side fans during their previous visits to Kazan".