Blog Launch: You’re Supposed To Be At Home

As part of my new strategy on blogging I’ve decided rather to have a mish mash of blogs, I’m going to have a blog on each of my interests. So this is my football, sport & travel blog – You’re Supposed To Be At Home.

The blog was an idea of a mate of mine, who talked quite a lot about me starting a football blog, due to my travels. To keep it interesting, I’m also talking about other sports I’ve seen.

Got a few guest post lined up to promote it, but if you’re a football fan, I’ll also accept guest posts on YSTBAH (I really need a new acronym), you can see the guest post for YSTBAH page here.

You can Like YSTBAH on Facebook, subscribe to the feed or visit the blog here.

Dulcimer Chorlton & The Need of a Local

Update: Dulcimer is reported to reopen on the 24th March, 2011.

This photo makes me very sad.

R.I.P. Dulcimer

This is the Dulcimer in Chorlton. It sold real ale & fantastic cheeseboards (and ask the mother, I’m somebody who isn’t that into cheese bar Primula, Babybel & Brie), and was a great place where I shared many a banter with Shane, amongst others. Seriously, behind those shutters we put the world to rights, brokered a Middle East Peace Treaty, cured cancer, and made ourselves richer than the entire past, present & future cast of Dragon’s Den. Combined.

Until last night, where it shut down.

Unless you enjoy a beer as much as me, you’ll know how much this hurts. This was my local. I loved that place, a proper pub, with music, good ales, good food & banter. All at a reasonable price. I’ve never lost a local before (I was a little too young when Taylors became The Pen y Bryn). I don’t know what to do! It does feel like I’ve lost a leg.

Anyway, I need a new local in Chorlton, must:-

  • Serve Real Ale.
  • Have Good Food.
  • Not Too loud.

It’d be great if it has:-

  • A pub quiz.
  • A dartboard.

Any suggestions would be greatfully appreciated!

Stargazing

Orion's Belt

A bit of a confession here – I’m fascinated by astronomy.

I always has been, even though with the exception of Big Dipper & Orion I couldn’t name a constallation, nevertheless, my grandad installed a fascination of looking at the stars from an early age, a passion at least one of my uncles & my mum shares (which has also been passed onto me). It was a damn shame he passed on a couple of weeks before the Total Eclipse of 1999, which we were fortunate to see down in Devon.

One thing I have missed about home since moving to Manchester rather oddly is seeing the stars. It’s been wonderfully clear, which lead to that rather uninmpressive photo at the top of the page. Trust me, it was spectacular. I can’t remember noticing the stars in Manchester.

Anyway there’s going to be a programme on the BBC presented about Prof. Brian Cox called Stargazing on Monday (tonight!), which will be a bit like Springwatch, only amazing. I’m not sure what the programme will be about, but it could be about the partial solar eclipse happening on Tuesday morning – the peak of which is happening at about quarter past 8. Yeah I know it’s the first day back for most of us after Christmas, but surely you can be a few minutes late for work to see a partial solar eclipse?

My New Years Resolutions 2011

New Year 2011 - Greetings
Creative Commons License photo credit: valcanno

Happy new year everybody!

Yes it’s 2011 now, and as well as a new blog, I’ve thought long & hard about resolutions.

I know some people are against them, but often I make them & tell a few people, nobody cares & they usually fall apart. Hopefully with it written down, I’ll stick to them a little longer.

That’s the plan at least & with that all’s said, these are my new years resolutions:-

  • Lose a Bit of Weight – Bit of a big one for me (no pun intended). Really I’ve been above what I want to be for about a year. Really frustrating looking at photos of me when I thought I was a fat bastard & seeing me relatively thin. Would like to be like that again!
  • Get a (sporting) interest – I’d like to try something new, preferably a martial art. One of my friends does Karate & loves it. Again, whilst Chorlton gym is a stone’s throw from me, I’d like to explore a little further. But just take up something that’s a) not outside, b) I can meet people & c) not too shit at so I give up. Maybe basketball actually. Or some sort of martial art.
  • Declutter My Life! I’ve got far too many things on the go, and they’re mainly the same things. I need to either finish projects or ditch them. It was bad, I was staring at my cPanel login & all I could see was dead projects. No more new projects that are destined to remain unfinished. I’ll see you in 2030.

Right there’s a list, not too much (and the second one could help with the first one), but it’s three things I want to do in 2011. Any tips or suggestions will be gratefully appreciated!

As far as my wishes for 2011, I hope that we have Saturn Games to play on Xbox Live, the return of The Crystal Maze & Kelly Brook’s hand in marriage.

What are your resolutions? If you share them then maybe it’ll help you keep them!

Dear Roy

Dear Roy Hodgson,

I’m a nice man, by & large. Furthermore, despite a brief & unfortunate rebelliousness in my youth where I inexplicably supported Manchester United, I’ve been a Liverpool fan (as well as Colwyn Bay, but more on that later).

I understand it has been a turbulent time at Liverpool since January, with the previous owners wanting to suck every penny (or in their case, cent) out of the club for what they could – and 2010 won’t go down as one of Liverpool’s best year. However you can do us all a favour, and quit your position as Liverpool boss.

I hate saying this – I don’t like contributing to the nation’s growing unemployment – but I’ll think you’ll do just fine at another club. Say Manchester United. Or England. Whilst pundits & a few people I know (who are not Liverpool fans, I may add) think you should stay, here’s why I think you should go.

You’re Saying That The Famous Liverpool Support Isn’t There. In saying that you’ve turned against the fans.

Sorry, but support comes from a belief that isn’t there. The last Liverpool game I went to was the UEFA Cup tie against Benfica. Sure we were down by a goal at their gaff. But everybody in that cop believed that we could turn it round. Sure enough, we did. Belief is an amazing thing – compare that to the game a week before when United got eliminated by Bayern Munich at Old Trafford, a game they should’ve seen off comfortably. The 12th man, or lack thereof at the Theatre of Dreams, meant that Munich got back into the game. United lost belief, we didn’t that night, and it was one of the most fun nights of my life (the fact I went to see the game in the back of a Ford Transit, sat on a toolbox & no seatbelt made it a little bit special).

Now we don’t have that belief. The fans don’t, the players don’t, and most importantly – you don’t. You look lost on the sidelines when people are booing at 0-0 at Wolves. With good reason: we should be trouncing Wolves, like we trounced the last team in black & gold that got relegated. 7 players who started that day against Hull started against Wolves. It’s not that far fetched.

Yet whilst last season was a disappointment, this season has been nothing more than a tragedy. I’m scared Roy. I’m scared at what Manchester United are going to do to us in the FA Cup (actually, knowing how things are going, we’ll probably win that game, and everything will seem all better – like the Chelsea victory). Hell, I’m terrified at the prospect of the Bolton game, with Kevin Davies, Zat Knight & Johan Elmander tearing us apart.

I’m a Liverpool fan, Roy, I shouldn’t be scared of Johan fucking Elmander.

Compare that with my other team – Colwyn Bay FC. I get disappointed with a draw these days with them, despite the fact we’re second in the league, after winning a promotion last year. With Colwyn Bay, we’re not scared of anybody.

The problem is that people who are calling for time (such as Iain Dowie) want you to employ your standard of dull, dire football that are more suited to surviving in the league. Alas, it won’t stand for Liverpool fans, least not for me, who grew up in a barren time in the mid 1990’s, but by god at times we were fun to watch. Konchesky is slower than a paraplegic tortoise. Christian Poulson’s contribution to Liverpool is even worse than Gary Neville’s, and Joe Cole has proven that – like city bankers – they cannot work north of the Watford Gap.

But we still have good players! Torres, Kuyt, Gerrard. Why you choose to play so negative with these players I have no idea. It annoys us Roy, and that’s why I believe you’re not the man for Liverpool.

So please leave now. We can rebuild with a decent manager. I don’t want John W. Henry’s money being spent on hasbeens such as Poulson nor crap players like Konchesky. We need somebody who we can feel confident that can lead us into battle. We need a Brian Blessed, not a Joe Pasquale.

So, Dear Roy, Please Leave Liverpool Now.