Euro 2008: The Story So Far

The group stages are over and there has been some really great football along with some really dire stuff (Romania vs France springs to mind). There have been shocks along the way and there has been some pretty routine results as well but thankfully there has been shocks than we’d all hoped.

In Group A Portugal did what was expected of them and qualified as winners of the group but the game of the group was between Turkey and Czech Republic. The Czech’s were 2-0 up with 25 minutes to go but thanks to a couple of great finishes and Petr Cech’s costly mistake won the game 3-2 to go through to the quarter finals.

Croatia did what I knew they could and qualify, I said all along they were the dark horses for the tournament and they won all three games including a great 2-1 victory of Germany. Elsewhere Poland and Austria were disappointing and Germany despite faltering against Croatia qualified in second place.

Group C in the end turned out to be the most interesting of all the groups, before the tournament you would’ve expected Italy and France to both qualify considering they were both in the World Cup Final just 2 years ago. But no France failed to win a game and only scored 1 goal, Italy also struggled and got through with the skin of their teeth (like they always do).

But the story of the group and of the tournament has been the Dutch who have been on fire scoring 9 goals in 3 games and only conceding the one goal against France. Demolishing the World Champions 3-0 and disposing of the World Cup finalists of 2006 4-1 is impressive. However it doesn’t stop there because with their so called second string they finished off a Romania side that needed a victory to go through.

Group D saw Spain qualify for the quarter finals with some stand out performances from forwards David Villa and Fernando Torres. Meanwhile holders Greece crashed out miserably and the final game between Sweden and Russia was the crunch second place qualifying game. Sweden are an aging team with the likes of Ljungberg, Larsson, Mellberg and so on where as the Russians are on the up and play football quite sensationally. The result Russia out playing, out doing and most importantly out scoring the Swedes and won 2-0 to get through to the quarter finals for the first time in their history.

NBA Finals

This year is the first year I’ve actually taken an interest in the NBA properly, in years gone by I’ve always seen basketball as a sport not really exciting. However this year the NBA has gripped me especially when the playoffs started and I’m glad I am now a basketball and NBA fan. The NBA is made up of the Eastern and Western Conference and after a long, long season the winners of the East face the winners of the West over 7 games. This season pitted the Western Champions the LA Lakers against the Eastern Champions the Boston Celtics.

Before the first game the talk was that the Lakers could win the trophy 4-0 so with this being the talk I opted to support the Celtics (the underdogs). Boston won the first two games and the Lakers won the third game in the 7 game series but game 4 was won by the Celtics and is considered the turning point as it was in Los Angeles.

Going into Game 6 the Celtics were 3-2 up and just needed one victory to secure their 17th NBA Championship, the first in over 20 years. The game was at Boston and the home crowd along with the home players were really up for the game and did not want to take it to that game 7.

In my short time of watching basketball this game provided fans with one of the best performances both offensively and defensively. When you remember the Lakers are considered one of the best sides in the history of the NBA the Celtics destroyed them beating them by almost 40 points. Paul Pierce picked up the MVP for the series but it was the whole Celtics roster which won them the NBA Championship.

Rondo a 22 year-old heavily criticised point guard was exceptional in game 6 scoring over 20 points, coming up with 6/7 assists and most impressively stealing on 6 occasions. Then there are players like James Posey, Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett who on the night were on fire. But over the series the bench players like Cassell, House, Brown, Kendrick and Leon Powe were just as impressive. And a special mention to the Celtics coach Doc Rivers who provided the inspiration for every player on the floor to go out and become a Celtics legend.

The Celtics played a perfect series and have turned me into a big fan of basketball and the Boston Celtics.

Gangs of New York

Martin Scorsese is one of if not my favourite director and I can reel off the top films he has put together (Raging Bull, Taxi Driver, Goodfellas, The Aviator, The Departed). When Gangs of New York was released in 2002 I have to admit that I was not bowled over by the film or the cast.

Six years down the line I’m sat in front of the television watching the film I always imagined being “not my cup of tea”. The premise of the film is that Amsterdam Vallon (Leonardo DiCaprio) watches his father killed in a war between the Irish and the Natives in New York. The man who kills him is “The Butcher” Bill Cutting played by Daniel Day-Lewis, young Amsterdam is sent away for 16 years and kept away from the place he saw his father brutally murdered in the war of the streets.

Of course he returns and the only thing on his mind is to get payback for his father’s death but it does not go as smoothly as he would’ve liked and to begin with ends up becoming friends with the man who killed his father. Young Vallon becomes the apprentice of Bill Cutting who is none the wiser about who this new young gun is.

The film is dictated a lot about politics, immigration and gangs on the streets of New York. Thousands and thousands of Irish pile into New York to be sent into war for America which “The Butcher” totally disagrees with. He hates the Irish so much but because of his power the Irish have to tolerate him, but Amsterdam plots to kill Bill. He makes an attempt but fails and Bill teaches him a lesson but Vallon comes back for me with along with thousands of Irish and a war breaks out but in the end there is no real winner. The army come in between the Irish and the Natives by killing them all but Amsterdam does get his revenge and stabs Bill to death.

The film is an outstanding portrayal of how New York was during the Irish invasion and Daniel Day-Lewis gives a phenomenal performance as Bill Cutting. I am a big admirer of Leonardo DiCaprio having enjoyed his performances in films such as The Beach, Catch Me If You Can, The Departed and The Aviator however his performance in this film was a let down. He could not pull off the Irish accent and many times during the film you wasn’t sure if he was Irish or American.

This said the performances of Cameron Diaz and Daniel Day-Lewis along with the direction and great script provide for a compelling story and fantastic film.

* * * * * * * * * *

Album: Born Ruffians - Red, Yellow & Blue

Right from the outset with the song with the same name as the album ‘Red, Yellow & Blue’ Born Ruffians have the perfect indie sound. Hailing from Canada this three piece released their long awaited album ‘Red, Yellow & Blue’ on impressive Warp Records. Born Ruffians are just another great example of the talent coming out of Canada. Compared with Tokyo Police Club by some magazines (most notably NME) due to the fact they are both from Canada and happen to be good friends in and out of music

However for me Born Ruffians are very little like Tokyo Police Club and do not use the same edgy-Strokes-Bloc Party-esque sound. What Born Ruffians do well is create perfect 3 minute indie pop songs, none so more perfect than ‘Hummingbird’ which you may have heard on the recent “Animal” Orange advertisements. What ‘Hummingbird’ manages to do so well is make you hum (excuse the pun) along pretty immediately. With its wonderful melodies and catchy guitar riffs ‘Hummingbird’s pretty much the perfect song to epitomise Born Ruffians.

They are much more than just one song as new single ‘I Need A Life’ proves; where it follows on from the previous songs pop sound it has an even catchier chorus. “The sun is shining but we stay inside, Oh but we go out at night” is pretty much how my life was at University during the first year. “We put up the curtains, block out the light” and “And we stay in bed until we feel all right” is pretty much how I am with my life at the moment. In 3 minutes 27 seconds ‘I Need A Life’ pretty much sums up how my current life status is, although I would change the song title to ‘I Need A Job’, then again I can’t be too fussy as it’s not my song.

The album is brimming with songs which could be singles and ‘Barnacle Goose’ certainly fits in with that category. Much like amusingly named ‘Badonkadonkey’ which could well be the next single with its catchy chorus and infectious lyrics. Much slower ‘Little Garcon’ is not a single but a brilliant song which shows Born Ruffians less slower side but once again has the element of infectiousness. A word which I think pretty much sums up the whole album.

Much longer songs for the album ‘Red Elephant’ and ‘Kurt Vonnegut’ despite being a little slower and longer include some of my favourite moments on the album. Album closer ‘Red Elephant’ is a fine ending for any album and for this album ends the album on a real high point.

‘Hedonistic Me’ is a song that reminds me of Vampire Weekend (which is no bad thing) and it’s a song that Vampire Weekend would be very proud of. This song really makes lead singer Luke Lalonde’s voice stand out, because it’s a distinctive sound that he has and even the backing vocals are unique. ‘In A Mirror’ is one of my favourite songs off the album despite not liking it on first listen. But that’s the thing about this album; do not expect to love it from the first listen. It will take a few listens before you really appreciate it fully and once you do you will realise that it’s a fantastic indie record.

8.9/10

Euro 2008: Top Ten

Fernando Torres
My prediction for top goal scorer in the competition, has had a great first season with Liverpool. Certainly has lived up to the 25 million Liverpool splashed out on him last summer and the Spanish will be hoping he can continue his great form into this tournament to help Spain lift the trophy.

Cristiano Ronaldo
Will surely pick up World player of the year when the awards are handed out, after already collecting every individual trophy in England Cristiano Ronaldo is the best player in the world at the moment. There is a lot of hope and pressure on the winger to perform but if anyone can deal with the pressure it’s the boy from Madeira.

Luka Modric
Recent signing for Spurs the tricky centre-midfielder will be involved in every good the Croatians do. He can dribble, pass, shoot, score, cross – heck he can do just about everything and is only 22 years old. Big things are expected in the future for this boy and I think he’ll show his potential throughout this month.

Frank Ribery
The first of three Bayern Munich players Frank Ribery has a heavy burden on his shoulders after being compared to the great Zidane. He will have to create for the French along with score goals from midfield, but he has the ability to do both and I think he will have a good tournament.

Philipp Lahm
The only defender in the list Lahm plays more like a full-back come winger, expect him to bomb forward at every opportunity and don’t be surprised if he comes up with a goal or two during this tournament.

Luca Toni
Powerful and strong are two words which epitomise the Italian forward who plays his trade at recent German champions Bayern Munich. He can score goals, hold up the ball for players and create problems on set-pieces. Defenders will find him a handful and the Italians adore him for his passion for the Azzuri.
Wesley Sneijder
Real Madrid midfielder Sneijder is the cream of the Dutch crop and I think he will have a good tournament for ‘Oranje’. His vision on the ball and ability to score from anywhere means he is a real threat at all times and opposition players will have to track him carefully.

Petr Cech
Familiar to fans of the Premiership, without a doubt he is the best goalkeeper in the world and the Czech Republic are going to need him to be on his best form if they are going to progress in this tournament.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic
A forward who has power, great technique and a world-class first touch Sweden will be relying on Zlatan to hold the ball up, find other players and of course score them goals. He always turns it on at major competitions and I expect him to come good for the Swedes this summer.

Andrei Arshavin
I almost didn’t put the silky playmaker in this top ten because he is going to be suspended for the first two games. However if Russia make it through the group stages then he is going to be fresher than anyone else and could cause real problems opening up defences with his vision.

Euro 2008 Guide (Part Four)

Group D

Greece

Four years ago today had you walked into a bookies and placed a bet on Greece to win you would’ve been laughed all the way home. But you would get the last laugh when you collected your money when Greece won the European Championships. However lighting will not strike twice and Greece will NOT win it again and I am not even sure they will get out of their group when you look at their opponents. Greece does have in Otto Rehhagel an experienced German manager who knows how to win matches. They also have some experienced footballers with the likes of Stelios (74 caps), Basinas (88 caps), Karagounis (74 caps) all from midfield. Up front Charisteas will be Greece’s goal hope and in goal Nikopolidis has 87 caps to his name. This Greece will be no pushovers but you just cannot see a repeat of 2004.

Russia

Guus Hiddink is one of the best managers at international level around at the moment; he took an unheard of South Korea side to the semi-finals in 2002 as well Holland to the same stage four years earlier. This Russian side is brimming with talent, silky football and great football brains. Zenit St. Petersburg showed the whole of Europe recently what a great side they are and expect them to be playing great football in the Champions League final next year. I would’ve put money on them qualifying from this group before I heard the news that influential playmaker and Captain Andrei Arshavin will be suspended for the first two games. He will only face Sweden in the last game when it could be too late for Russia to qualify.

Spain

There is a lot of pressure on Spain to finally come good in a major tournament and there is a lot of hope of the Spanish people to finally bring home a major trophy. Many critics, pundits, neutral supporters and even Jose Mourinho are suggesting that this year could be the year for Spain. When you have a the side which contains Fabregas, Torres, Ramos, Xavi, Silva, Villa, Puyol, Casillas, Xabi Alonso you have to quietly confident. But every time a big tournament comes around Spain have a side full of quality players but it doesn’t always mean they perform. I hope they do this year because they are easily the best side in terms of talent and flair this summer.

Sweden

Not many pundits are tipping Sweden for much success, but I think you would be a fool to write them off. I saw one critic who suggested they would finish bottom of their group, I’d be very surprised if this happened and I expect them to finish second in this group. In attack the Swedes have countless amount of goal scorers (Ibrahimovic, Elmander, Allback and of course the great Henrik Larsson). At the back Isaksson, Mellberg and Nilsson are capable of stopping world class players and in midfield the flair will come from Ljungberg, Svensson Kallstrom and Wilhelmsson. Sweden have goal scorers, solid defence, experience and creativity – all the attributes you need to be a force in major tournaments.

Euro 2008 Guide (Part Three)

Group C

France

Group C to me is the most intriguing and most interesting group because it involves three “big teams” and Romania who will consider themselves in the group of death. France who reached the 2006 World Cup final is not the winning side of 1998 and 8 years ago in 2000. Zidane, Blanc, Barthez, Deschamp, Lizarazu, Thuram, Petit and Desailly all at their peak the French were unstoppable. However today it’s a different story for the French who will rely on a new generation of stars that are not a shade on the sides of 1998 and 2000. Despite the French downfall I expect them to be strong and get past the group stages, how can you bet against a side with the likes of Henry, Sagnol, Abidal, Ribery, Nasri, and Benzema and so on?

Holland

Holland are the team everybody loves to watch and over the past 20 years have had generated some of the world’s best players. Cruyff, Van Basten, Seedorf, Bergkamp, Overmars, De Boer, Davids and the list goes on. Unfortunately for the men in Orange Holland are the “nearly” men listed alongside Spain. Could this be the year of the ‘Oranje’? Holland DO have the players to mount a serious challenge when you consider the likes of Robben, Van Der Vaart, Van Nistelrooy, Sneijder, Van Persie and experienced goalkeeper Edwin Van Der Sar. However it’s in defence I worry about the Dutch side, no longer are the days of De Boer, Stam or Reiziger, Numan, Bogarde. I hope for the neutrals amongst us that Holland get into gear this summer and show the world what beautiful football they can play.

Italy

The reigning World Champions will really fancy themselves this summer despite losing influential captain Fabio Cannavaro. I think the loss of the Real Madrid star will prove very costly for the Italians especially in the latter stages of the competition however I do expect them to get through this group and get to the semi-finals at least. When you have players such as Toni, Gattuso, Pirlo, Buffon, Zambrotta, Del Piero, De Rossi, Perrota etc you have to be considered one of the favourites to win the tournament. Despite the talent contained by the Azzuri I think this year they will struggle to A) score enough goals and B) keep them out without Cannavaro; their rock at the back.

Romania

Poor old Romania who has been given the group of death and no one in their right mind will fancy them to beat any of the above. If this group goes on paper Romania will sit at the bottom of the group in a couple of weeks with no points. Are critics being too harsh on the Romanians? No way. When you get put in a group with the World Champions and the runners-up of that very competition alongside the very talented Dutch side you have to be realistic and state the facts. I hope the Romanians prove everyone wrong and really show the three big sides in their group that they are no pushovers. If this is going to happen they need very BIG performances from the two centre-backs Chivu and Contra along with world class showing from controversial striker Adrian Mutu.

Euro 2008 Guide (Part Two)

Group A

Czech Republic

Not the team they once was when Pavel Nedved, Patrick Berger and Karel Poborsky were all pulling the strings. Along with a much younger Koller and an in form Baros the Czech team had all the ingredients for a fantastic side. However now Nedved, Berger and Poborsky have all gone and with influential midfielder Rosicky missing too you have to wonder how far they can go in this competition. However they will still fancy themselves to beat Switzerland and Turkey from their group and with Petr Cech in goal they have the best keeper in the world. At the back they are solid too; key players Grygera, Jankulovski and Ujfalusi have 176 caps between them.

Portugal

Phil Scolari has a knack of doing well with teams he takes to big finals like this one. Four years ago he took this Portugal side to the final and should’ve won against Greece in the final, this year he and his side will be looking to go one step further. Everyone will be focusing on Ronaldo but the Portugal squad is brimming with flamboyant players like Simao, Nani, Quaresma, Moutinho and Deco. They aren’t short of experience at the back either with Ricardo (goalkeeper, 75 caps), Miguel (47 caps), Paulo Ferreria (47 caps), Ricardo Carvalho (43 caps), Fernando Meira (49 caps). All over the pitch Portugal have talent, which is why this year could just be their year.

Switzerland

The co-hosts will not expect to finish top of this group or even second however as the old cliché goes “football’s a funny old game”. Not that funny though. Alexander Frei is the man up top for the Swiss with 35 goals to his name with Hakan Yakin in midfield the creative star. At the back the Swiss are experienced and hard to break down at times with the likes of Muller, Magnin, Spycher and new Liverpool signing Philipp Degan adding much protection to their goal. Protection is something they are definitely going to need when the likes of Ronaldo, Koller, Nihat, Deco, Tuncay, Baros etc are going at them.

Turkey

I am torn whether the Turkish team will finish above the Czech’s in this group; I think it will depend on how key players perform. Former Newcastle midfielder Emre being one of the players who needs to show why he is highly rated on the International scene. Nihat up front will score the goals in the Turkish side along with Tuncay who plays his trade for Middlesbrough in the Premiership. Captain of the side is experienced infamous goalkeeper Rustu Recber who is an experienced character. The problem with Turkey is that they don’t have enough goal scorers or flair players to really mount an attack on the European Championship trophy. Having said that they are hard to beat and on their day can cause problems for many sides across Europe.

Euro 2008 Guide (Part One)

Group B

Austria

There is no CHANCE in hell that Austria will win the tournament and if you’re being totally honest Austria did only qualify because they are hosting it along with Switzerland. They are in an interesting group with Germany, Croatia and Poland so I don’t expect them to even get out of their group. You’d expect both Germany and Croatia to beat them and even Poland will fancy their chances against the hosts. To win matches in International tournaments you need a strong defence, influential midfield and forwards who will score. Austria only has one of these qualities, therefore have no chance.

Croatia

Had Eduardo not suffered one of the most horrible injuries you’ve ever seen a few months ago I’d fancy Croatia to have gone very far. Unfortunately for them and the neutrals Eduardo is missing from the tournament however they have many other talented players such as Modric, Petric, Kranjcar, Srna and of course the two Kovac brothers Robert and Niko the captain. Croatia are my dark horses but if they finish second in the group and Portugal wins their group (which you expect they will) the two will meet in the next round. Against Portugal you just can’t see Croatia A) scoring and B) keeping a clean sheet. Never the less it should be interesting to see if Croatia can prove me and the critics’ wrong, if anyone can it’s the Croatians.

Germany

We all know about the Germans in International football competitions, they are brilliant and performing in the big tournaments and I expect them to turn up in June. They have forwards who can score serious goals and don’t be surprised if the top scorer from the competition is a German when you have Klose (39 goals), Podolski (25 goals), Kuranyi (19 goals) up and coming 22 year forward Mario Gomez who has 6 goals in 10 games. Defensively the Germans are strong too with centre backs Mertesacker and Metzelder along with the impressive full back Philipp Lahm. However apart from Ballack the midfield is not looking as strong as it once did, the same goes with the goalkeeper position which will suffer without German legend Oliver Kahn. Either way expect Germany to be around the semi-final places because they are so good in knock out competitions.

Poland

Can’t say I know much about the Polish team but what I do know is that all three of their goalkeepers play their trade on the British Isles. I don’t expect Poland to qualify from this group when you consider how strong Germany and Croatia will be in their group. I suppose stranger things have happened in these tournaments (Greece winning it four years ago comes straight to mind). I am sure Poland will have a strong following from this country and also that the commentators will have great fun in trying to pronounce the names of almost every player.

Euro 2008 Preview

So England are not in the tournament; big fucking deal. I for one am glad England are not in the competition because the likes of Rio Ferdinand, Wayne Rooney, Wes Brown, Owen Hargreaves, Michael Carrick will all get the summer off. I’m not a big follower of England for reasons I will not delve into. Anyway I love International tournaments like Copa America, European Championships and of course the World Cup.

The BBC and many tabloid newspapers have been voicing their “Who Will You Support?” campaign in a plea to get more people interested. I said from day one I was going to support Portugal and I stand by that because I love big Phil Scolari, Ronaldo, Nani, Veluso, Quaresma, Mouintho, Pepe, Ricardo – fuck it the whole team (I may become Portuguese just because I love Nando’s so much as well).

I suspect the usual suspects to be challenging for the crown the likes of Italy, Germany and France. Many are suggesting it could be the year of Spain when you look at the talent they have in Torres, Silva, Villa, Fabregas, Puyol etc. Could it be the year of Croatia? I like their team spirit and have many really good passers of the ball. Undoubtedly they will miss their main scorer Eduardo, just like Italy and France will miss their captains Cannavaro and Vieira respectively.

Through a lengthy working out going through every fixture I have come to the conclusion that Portugal will knock out Germany in the Semi-Finals to face Spain who will knock out France in the Semi-Finals. To get a final of Portugal against Spain, which I think is the final we all want to see, probably the two best attacking sides in the competition against each other. Who would win out of those two? I think it could come down to penalties, and then my money would be on lucky Ronaldo and Portugal.

Album: Tokyo Police Club - Elephant Shell

When ‘A Lesson In Crime’ was released hype and buzz surrounded this Canadian outfit and rightly so considering the brilliance of the EP come album. That was over two years ago and since then the band put out ‘Smith EP’ which featured one of my favourite songs of last year, ‘Box’. They also released the single ‘Your English Is Good’ along the way to which thankfully has made it to the album.

All these releases in the space of a couple of years show that this band is certainly not afraid to get material out there quickly. However some times quantity does not beat quality, The Pigeon Detectives comes to mind straight away.

Many fans of the band were upset with the track listing of the new album because it only had ‘Your English Is Good’ on it and none from the first release ‘A Lesson In Crime’. To me this was refreshing from a band; it could have been so easy to fill the album with songs they’d re-recorded from that first EP, thankfully they did not.

First single from ‘Elephant Shell’ is ‘Tessellate’ which is certainly a strong first single providing us with some great vocals from Dave Monks. Singer and bass player Dave Monks certainly does have an unusual voice and this is strong on ‘Tessellate’ which is brimming with sharp guitar chords and sweet piano sounds.

‘Centennial’ starts the album off and does not disappoint and has all the Tokyo Police Club trademarks we come to expect from listening to ‘A Lesson In Crime’. ‘In A Cave’ follows the first track on and remains my favourite song from the album. For some reason when I first received the album this was the opening track so it was the first song I heard and it still remains the song I always go back to first when I put the record on.

The impressive single from last summer ‘Your English Is Good’ is on the album and is still as powerful as before. “Oh, give us your vote, give us your vote. If you know what’s good for you.” Not sure what we’re voting for but if their manifesto is as good as this song I’ll certainly be voting.

This album includes many, many more highlights including ‘Listen to the Math’ which is a little slower than we come to expect with Tokyo Police Club. ‘Juno’ which shares the same name as recent film about teenage pregnancy, although I don’t think it’s about the same topic. All the same ‘Juno’ provides yet another reason why this is a really good album. ‘Graves’ is a song any good respectful indie band would be proud of, and you can hear some Strokes riffs in there to boot, which is never a band thing.

It was always going to be hard to follow up the impressive first release ‘A Lesson In Crime’ but I am sitting on the fence to whether or not it beats it. My only complaint with this album is that at 27 minutes and 58 seconds it is a little short however if you’ve got a spare 30 minutes and you want some easy listening indie then look no further than this album.

7.4/10

Mario Kart: Nintendo Wii

For everyone who ever had a SNES, NES or N64 when they were younger the best thing about having the console was Mario. In particular for me it was playing Mario Kart with your mates, everyone crowded round a small television playing 4-way split screen Mario Kart. Someone was always Mario, Luigi and Dong Kong and I was ALWAYS Yoshi for some reason. You raced your mates like your life depended on it. Sadly this great fun has been missing from all our lives for far too long, which is why many of us Nintendo geeks were ecstatic when Mario Kart was released for Nintendo Wii.

There were some questions surrounding the game; would it let us down? Would it be far too advanced for us to really compare it to the retro days of Mario Kart on our old Nintendo consoles? Would Nintendo try and complicate things too much by adding too many new characters?

Thankfully Nintendo came up with the goods and have provided Nintendo Wii owners across the world with perhaps the best game to have come out on Wii thus far (although Super Mario Galaxy is flawless). What Nintendo has now that it didn’t have 10/15 years ago is online accessibility which has created a whole new world for Nintendo gamers. Playing against 11 others online on several different tracks is something never experienced before by Nintendo geeks. Racing people from across the globe on Mario Kart is a new experience for everyone and one that all Mario Kart owners are thoroughly enjoying.

But do not worry if you do not have internet access on your Wii there is plenty more things to do so that you don’t get bored quick. The career mode will take you plenty of time to complete perfectly through the different engine sizes. Then if you’ve had enough of that you can always get your friends round and play them on split screen with characters old and characters new.

All this great entertainment without even mentioning its unique selling point: the Nintendo Wii Wheel. Which means you can now play Mario Kart as if you were driving yourself, move your wheel left and you go left, move it right and guess what happens? I’m sure you’ve got the correct answer. Press B and fire shells, release bananas, turn into a rocket and much more brilliant weapons and speed ups. In Mario Kart Wii Nintendo have created a racing game which is perfect for everybody in the family. Well done Nintendo.

100%

Walk The Line

Really I should’ve watched Walk The Line on it’s release some 3 years ago but alas I did not. When it was released it didn’t really catch my eye and I didn’t really think much of Johnny Cash’s music.

Thankfully I finally got round to watching it and despite me still not really liking the style of Johnny Cash I thoroughly enjoyed it. So much so I went out and purchased it (for 5 quid, along with a Johnny Cash CD – also 5 quid). Obviously the film is about the career of Johnny Cash however there is much more to it than that. You find out about his family life, his personal life, his drug and drink problems and everything that goes with being a rock star.

There was times in the film where I disliked Johnny Cash but overall you end up really loving his personality. Joaquin Phoenix (who wanted to be known as Leaf Phoenix as a kid because his siblings were called River, Rain and Summer) delivered a performance like no other. To think that Joaquin Phoenix played Commodus in Gladiator is unbelievable when you watch this performance of Johnny Cash. It really put Joaquin in a different light, and then when I found out he was vegan I liked him even more so. Reese Witherspoon collected the Oscar for Best Actress at the Academy Awards and rightly so because her performance was excellent. However, how Joaquin Phoenix did not win Best Actor is one of life’s bizarre mysteries I suppose.

The film is a sensational story of Johnny Cash but it is made by the performance of Joaquin Phoenix as Johnny Cash. When I see a real picture of Johnny Cash then think of how Joaquin looked in the film it is remarkable how much a like they looked. What is even more outstanding is that Phoenix sung all the songs himself and sounded just like Johnny Cash. Someone who I was talking to actually thought Joaquin was miming and could not believe it when I informed them it was him singing.

What makes this film so brilliant is the way one minute you have a moment of laughter closely followed by a moment of seriousness to then a moment where you are going through the emotions with the characters. Not forgetting the outstanding casting of the actors, the exceptional performances from the lead characters and of course the sublime soundtrack.

This film has everything you’d ever want from a film.

* * * * * * * * * *

Eurovision 2008

Understandably this post should’ve come seven days ago however I’ve been up to my eyes in work (hahahaha). It’s just late and I got a spur to write about it mainly because my girlfriend purchased the newest Sebastien Tellier album today and we listened to it on the car on the way home.

Anyway back on track; the Eurovision contest is always a great laugh usually because a mixture of Terry Wogan’s commentary and the acts involved. It has become an absolute joke recently though and for all the wrong reasons. The Eurovision is not about the music it’s all about politics and who is “in” with whom. What a surprise that countries such as Norway, Sweden, Iceland and Finland all voted for each other. Or that the Eastern block all voted for each other and who was surprised when Spain and Portugal gave each other the top points? Certainly not me.

I do not think the UK deserved to get any points considering the song this year was done by X-Factor reject and ex-bin man Andy. It was a dreadful song and the way Andy pranced around stage made you cringe to think he had kids watching him. The United Kingdom deserved nothing but surprisingly got 14 points (or something pathetic like that).

I actually can’t remember the song that won it anymore (which says a lot about the song) but remember that it was Russia and that Bosnia, Montenegro, Serbia etc all voted for Russia. IF the votes were purely based on how good the song was then Russia would’ve stood no chance. On music there was only one winner and that was France. Sebastien Tellier’s Divine was easily the best song eight days ago. How the hell he did not win is beyond me, the song stood out like a throbbing sore thumb compared to the “talent” it was up against.

Poor Sebastien, I am sure you’re gutted but do not worry Mr. Tellier because the rest of my family and I think you were ace. You are the real winner of Eurovision 2008.

Sebastien Tellier - Divine (Credit to GWFAS)