Liverpool Title Winning Reflection

Not sure what people have been hoping for more the last four years or so, Liverpool to win the Premier League or the return of my blog. This may be a brief return, I'm unsure yet, I just thought it was a good place to reflect on Liverpool's title given it would be an essay on Facebook. 

So on June 25th 2020, what had seemingly been a wait through eternity was over, after many near misses and humiliations, after slips, fact rants and Macheda scoring with his backside, Liverpool have finally done it and they've made it look easy. 

Everyone knows the story though and this post isn't about why it's a story, this post is about the release of Liverpool winning the league from a 27 year old loser 😂! So here we go. 

Supporting Liverpool has been like a life lesson, which I've not succeeded in that well at times, to not get ahead of yourself, I'll always remember the celebrations watching Liverpool beat Manchester City 3-2 in the Roundabout pub, thinking the league was finally coming to Anfield, followed by, a week later, Steven Gerrard's infamous heartbreaking slip. 

But this time it was different, this time they didn't just get across the line, they sprinted to it and surpassed it to another level, they made it happen, they believed. The mental strength to come back from losing by a point last year, to win the league (with a similar story in the UCL running a year earlier) is incredible. 

This Liverpool team is the definition of the phrase "if at first you don't succeed try and try again". There was a time I ever doubted I'd see Liverpool win the league and yeah, there are and will always be more important things, but it's a constant and I speak on behalf of every Liverpool fan when I say we have taken more than a lifetimes worth of shit about our teams failures. 

Anyway, I ain't gonna go too deep.

It's time to revel in our teams success.

Thank you Jurgen, thank you to the squad, the way you've fought through the lows to get to this moment, is a genuine inspiration. 

Why Spurs Need To End The Season On A High

I can’t write what Leicester fans have been feeling last night and today. As a Liverpool fan who was born after 1990 I still await the equivilant moment. Maybe I have an idea, I still remember the euphoria of beating Manchester City two years ago, I remember the first trophies I saw Liverpool win, the drama of that 2-1 win with Arsenal in the FA Cup final in 2001 made all the greater that we looked dead and buried with 10 minutes to go…and of course I remember Istanbul. I imagine the latter two to look a bit like Leicester’s season a year ago, the low of looking down and out and the high of coming back and getting the desired prize. But until Liverpool FC finally win an elusive title. I won’t know and can’t pretend to know. So:

Congratulations on your amazing success Leicester City.

However, I can completely get what Spurs fans will be going through this morning. The hopes gone, the wait continues and what seems elusive feels like it may never come. You know that the next 3 months you’ll be sitting there, broken hearted, nothing to fix it unless you’re a die hard England fan too (The World Cup was absolutely no consolation in 2002 or 2014). You hope you can keep your players and your manager. You don’t want an injury in these international tournaments, because your club NEEDS those players. In fact you’d rather your country left your players at home to an extent, knowing that then they’d more than likely be raring to go, rather than playing with players from those rival clubs that broke your heart. I mean who wants to see Walker and Cahill or Kane and Vardy be the best of friends for a month? Probably just the same few that wanted to see Gerrard and Rooney being best buddies two summers ago.

And then there’s a realisation. All this work and the emotion put into this season is totally irrelevant to next season. You’re starting on zero again, you have 38 matches again, you have to wait 10 months possibly for the same heartbreak, embarrassment or jubilation again. You have to hope and pray your rivals don’t learn from their mistakes again. And your team might just be mentally in the worst position in the league.

Get no mistake, Spurs have a chance next season. But so do Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea, Leicester City, arguably West Ham and possibly even another surprise like this years champions.

And this is where Liverpool the three times they’ve come runners up since the turn of the century have managed to go completely and utterly wrong. Second in 2002 turned into 5^th in 2003, 7^th in 2010 and 6^th in 2015. In all three occasions it was the team who finished third in Liverpool’s runners up campaigns who then went on to win the title as Liverpool fell down the leagues pecking order. Manchester United and Chelsea, twice. The difference between these two teams and Liverpool…these teams knew success, league success. And when something seems so elusive, as it does to not just Liverpool’s current generation but Tottenham’s current and past generations it seems to be so much harder to pick yourself up, dust yourself down and go again.

Spurs have to be aware of Liverpool’s mistakes and they have to look at matches and see if there is anything they can do to improve next season. They’ll have too as the traditional “Big Four” of United, Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea will all be better than this season where they’ve all managed to perform poorly in the league hunting Spurs and the Foxes.

Spurs have done brilliantly this season and it’s compliment for this that we now talk about the fact it’s 55 years since a league title in a way that is growing into how we talk about both Arsenal and Liverpool. When people are talking like that, you know you’re breaking through into the ranks at the top.

Spurs now have two games to play and could do with ending the season on a positive. It may be the difference between challenging or watching the title race next season!

Actual Sunlight Review

Whilst taking a 3 hour trip down to Cornwall a few weeks ago, I decided I needed a game to play to pass the time. One of the game I picked up for £4.49 was a game I had seen mentioned by Greg Miller of Kinda Funny fame. This game was Actual Sunlight, a game that was said to be completely different to anything most people had played before...a game that dealt with the issues of a man suffering from depression and considering suicide. 

The Good.

Actual Sunlight does have an emotional element. The storyline of the game really does throw you back as your character considers death whilst being unhappy with his life. It's a shocking world to be thrown into.

For a short game as well, it really does take you deep into the characters mind. The game also show effectively what the people around him think with some thinking that your character, Evan Winters is just really a Scrooge and kinda lacks the emotion to be able to be depressed. Others may like him but see him as a guy they can never be close too and some may be those that have made him feel how he is today. The game really shows a day in his life at two spots, one where he's merely depressed and having thoughts and one a while later where shit hits the fan. 

The final positive is for anybody who likes their trophies, the list is easy. 

The Bad.

Okay so if you're somebody who enjoys high graphic games with action this is clearly not for you. Also if you want to hear the characters talk or for some reason can't read (if so why are you looking at this review!?) the game isn't for you. Dialogue is all set out like one of your old Gameboy Games, which is really where the gameplay seems to be in this game. To be fair, it was made to discuss issues with depression, not to be beautiful and seemless.

The game also really does leave some open questions about some of the characters you meet on the way. That said, again, it was focusing on one guys depression.

Would I Recommend it

If you are a gamer who likes something different I would advise this game, possibly a game for if you've been depressed or you're trying to understand depression. It doesn't really gloss over the edges of the issue and I'm pretty sure the games maker was taking the stance of if it makes one person understand it's a success. 

If you're only interested in the next big game, with beautiful graphics or want to find an immersive world on your vita, you don't want to read a lot of dialogue or you just are impatient, then this may not be the game for you.

This said, once you're into the game, you'll finish it in that one go. It's only a couple of hours and you never know, it may come in useful. 

Actual Sunlight is available for PS vita and PC via Steam.

My Personal Top 10 TV Shows Of All Time (and a few honourable mentions)

10. Dexter

Dexter getting on this list was a debate with part of me wanting to put it sky hugh up there whilst another part of me thought the series towards the end rapidly declined and therefore didn't deserve to get on this list. A debate that was also asked of another show that deserves an honourable mention that I'll include at the end. Dexter though has an absolutely brilliant first couple of seasons and remains very good for a few seasons after. Unfortunately the end doesn't do it justice. However it does seem a show that has a feesable comeback which could see the issue with the ending sorted. This said, the show in number one gets the ending right for an antihero to a tee, whereas this show got it horribly wronng. This may be more disappointing because of how close the shows endinggs were too eachother. 

9. How Not Live Your Life

A BBC Comedy. There always had to be a BBC comedy in this list and the show How Not To Live Your Life was one of the BBC's best, even if really it was underappreciated on BBC Three. The show was about Dom, a bit of a loser in all honesty who recieved a house in a will. On moving to the house he tried to make things happen, such as getting with his crush. However there always seemed to be obstacles in the way, such as Mrs Treacher and his house servant (who it's been so long I've forgotten his name. The show would show different senarios of what Dom could do for certain things at different points in the episodes. The series itself was perhaps at a fairly good point for the BBC with comedy with Two Pints being one of the flagship comedy and BBC Three giving new comedians and writers a chance. This show and many others around that time really did show the contribution the BBC have had over the years on giving a platform for new and unheard of talent. It's a real shame that the Government are trying to screw that up. 

8. Orange Is The New Black

A Netflix Original, Orange Is The New Black really dragged people into Netflix, especially those who hadn't discovered some of the American content the streaming provider had. The show was initially notable for starring Jason Biggs in the first two series, who famously masturbated with a pie in the comedy American Pie, as Piper's boyfriend. Having to deal with coping with her as she goes to prison, where her ex girlfriend also is located. The show follows the women's prison and explores the characters back stories as well as events that happen in the prison. A show that also has the ability to binge watch when it comes out from first to last episode and this really goes for the show as the first two series especially are incredibly "more-ish". 

7. Hannibal

Hannibal, a show for a niche audience and touted as one of the shows to watch by Digital Spy at a time when everyone was wondering what to watch with the end of Breaking Bad! This said, I myself didn't watch Hannibal until last summer and still have to watch the final couple of episodes. The series is a bit of a thriller. With the overall story of Hannibal mixed up in the first two seasons with some stories of individual crimes. The show can be fairly horrific at times with the incident involving the Pig Farmer sticking out, something that if you've watched the old Hannibal films too you'd know about too even if there are small differences in that storyline itself. Unfortunately the series ended before its time was up and whether we get a real conclusion remains to be seen. But one thing for sure is that the series included some of the most enthralling engrossing television of it's time. 

6. Sherlock

Whatever you say about the BBC. The one thing it has been and the one thing it will be known for for many years too come is the incredible drama it has produced. And this is right up there with the top of these.  Sherlock is a modern take on the classic Sherlock Holmes series. And oh does it do it properly. The series are short, just the three 90 minute episodes in a series and last New Years, the one periodic special. The show really is an example of quality of quantity and is something we need more of from the BBC. That is, if Rupert Murdoch and his cronies (maybe they should get Sherlock to take him down)stop trying to cut the funding and remove the protected sports from the BBC Charter and killing competition by buying Government after Government. Shows like this should be protected and the ability to make new shows with this sort of quality should also be protected. The series should also take responsibility for really enhancing the careers of Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman who have both thrived since, but still come back every now and again to carry on making this masterpiece.  

 5. Prison Break

It took thinking long and hard when it came to where Prison Break should feature. The first two seasons, like many other shows were sublime, however it could be argued from possibly half way through series three the show dropped off a little bit. The Panama Prison however was very interesting and the decline of Bellick through the series, from the top Prison Officer to the bottom prisoner was brilliant in the extreme. The show could decline from this list if the new series coming back is poor. With the end of the Final Break it's hard to really see this show working again unless it's a prequel. From where I stand the show is best left where it is now. It would be a shame for this show to be ruined. Whereas the X Files has always been open to that sort of return, this seems like FOX trying to get their hands on peoples money in any way possible. 

4. The Inbetweeners

The British schoolboy comedy, The Inbetweeners was a piece of art on Channel Four. The show followed Will McKenzie who had moved from his private school to a state school where new friends Neil, Simon and Jay attended. Together in Six Form they would get up to and fail at numerous activities based pretty much on all four trying to get laid with vastly different morales too. The show is like Britains answer to American Pie and gave two fantastically funny films after the series finished. It was one of those shows that built and built in terms of fanbase over it's course and really did end up with nearly everybody of the 14-24 age group watching it and having to talk about it. Quite something for a show that wasn't on a terrestrial channel! 

3. 24

When you think of anti terrorism controls you think of one man inparticular. Jack Bauer. The star character of 24. 24 intitially ran a strong 8 seasons and if you can get through the fact that the first few seasons have aged badly in terms of picture you can immerse yourself in a world where one man is capable of stopping countless terrorist attacks, including infilterations of the Counter Terrorist Unit he has led, worked for and been kicked out of depending which series you watch. Jack Bauer does have elements of the anti hero in him when he goes too far. The show came back for a shortened series in London and once more it didn't disappoint. The show could be arguably left open but at the same time has a good close. Will it return, who knows, but if this is where it ends, the show did well. 

2. The Walking Dead & Fear The Walking Dead

I'm including both shows here as they tell different sides of the same epidemic. Fear The Walking Dead almost has more of the side of shock at what is happening and the intial panic whereas The Walking Dead is more aabout the will and grit of the last few to arrive. Different characters but in the same universe both explore different sort of moments. The Walking Dead has hit a point where characters are generally much more dehumanised than Fear The Walking Dead. If you can take a bit of gore, this show is incredible however and never really stops moving. Both shows are still going and hugely worth the watch, especially as we see comic book character Neagan enter the fray on the flagship show!

1. Breaking Bad

The daddy of antihero shows. Breaking Bad features on Walter White, a chemistry teacher, as he finds out he has what is believed to be terminal lung cancer. From here, to leave his family with some money he starts creating Crystal Meth. The story from here esculates to an epic conclusion at the end with many moments of drama inbetween. It's amazing to think a show with this incredible quality was almost cancelle dat one point before the cult of the show became apparent on video streaming service Netflix. This show is a must watch, as is 

Shows That Almost Made The Cut

Bates Motel - In all honesty, given how I'll watch this show when it's on. However there were so many shows that could have just got on or been left off that Bates Motel just missed out. Mainly because I felt a need to include at least a little bit of British TV. A fantastic show in itself, it could easily make the top three if the ending of the show is correct to the films and the book. The show has another two seasons to go after being renewed by American broadcaster A&E giving it time to build up to what promises to be a momentous conclusion. 

Lost - This show missed out for one reason and one reason alone. When it came to watching it as it was broadcast on a week by week basis, the show went from amazing in series one to awful by series three. However, going back to it and watching it with the help of Netflix helped matters regarding how the later series seemed. And it actually felt there was less to complain about at the end by binging it as it felt perhaps having the show given in a rush made it seem more "right". That said, there were still a lot of unanswered questions. But is that really a bad thing about TV shows? 

The X Files - Mainly not in my ten because the original show was before my time. And because what I've seen is great but there are reservations towards the end of the original series and every other spinoff that came of the show. It's coming back though and this could see it rise in my estimations (although it is on Channel 5....a major turn off)

Why I'm not wearing a poppy.

Tomorrow is Remembrance Sunday. A day for remembering those fallen in war. Now I am aware this article may well make some people angry at me. Commenting your abuse to me is absolutely fine. If I couldn't take it, I wouldn't post this and I'd conform to something I have some issues with that I am about to note below.

1. The poppy remembers those who fell fighting for Britain and in some cases Allies in war. It does not remember significantly those innocent civilians who died in war or those who fought against is. Now maybe some think we shouldn't remember the people who fought against us, but in many cases, they did not have a choice. And how can we only remember our lost troops when some of our recent wars haven't exactly been legal (Iraq) and others we try to forget that the legacy of our war was to be bluntly honest terrible (Iraq and Libya)
2. Kind of on the same point as the first one, however one war we remember if the war in Japan. Now we remember those who died fighting for America, Britain and other allies, but we do not significantly remember the absolute horror of the nuclear bomb the USA dropped on Japan. We fail to remember those that would have had the most horrible deaths. Now yes, the bomb was dropped by America, but we still have a responsibility on it. We should not be happy that any country has ever dropped such a horrific catastrophe of a weapon, regardless of the circumstance.
3. The poppy has become political. The reality is a lot of people wear them to look good. It feels hypocritical for instance that David Cameron wears a poppy. Why you may ask, well the answer is clear. When we "won" the war, we created a welfare system including the NHS. That was a legacy made to care for all those in the country, to try and make sure we wouldn't have suffering families, women were given an education the equivalent to men and had won the vote for all women over 21 after the First World War. In the last few years we have seen the NHS mistreated, the welfare system damaged and inequality rise. So therefore if David Cameron is thinks about the legacy of the wars he is a hypocrite. 
4. The EU is not perfect, but to an extent the idea comes partly from Britain, even if we as a country weren't directly into it. Now we're being the brattish country trying to cut ties with Europe rather than helping on the inside. Churchill has a legacy in Europe and was quoted as saying "We must build a kind of United States of Europe". The EU has faults, but it was a legacy we created and despite all the lives we sacrificed in the wars we forget the legacies we tried to make and should try to improve. 
5. Everyone has a right to remember in their own way, we don't all need a poppy. And if we do, we don't need it any more than at the service of remembrance, which surely if you're so adamant on wearing a poppy, I trust you will be attending.
6. It's become normal so has lost it's effect. When football teams are going for the gimmick of an embroided poppy doing it, it proves a point. The poppy being worn from Mid October takes away any power it has.

One other point worth remembering that isn't a reason not to wear a poppy is, not wearing a poppy does not make you hate the military, just like not wearing the AID's ribbon doesn't make you hate everyone effected by AID's, just like not wearing the pink ribbon doesn't mean you hate everyone with breast cancer and just like not growing a moustache (if you're a male, obviously) does not mean you hate everyone with prostate or testicular cancer.

Now finally, one point that I think to an extent sums up my view and the opinion I will give anybody who asks me is the fact that people fought for my freedom. I am respecting them by remembering them, but I am also respecting them by expressing my freedom in having an opinion on the poppy. I respect them by my beliefs for a fair welfare system, for a top quality NHS, for nationally owned vital public services, by wanting and speaking for equality.

And that is more respect than wearing a flower of any kind on my shirt.

Rant

Fuck it, fuck it all. What's the fucking point?

What I've been thinking with all the job rejections I manage to get together.

Honestly, I'm not going to cotton wool feelings on this now. I've had enough.

The country is fucked. I'm fucked. So are many of the country.

Do a Criminology degree. Look for chances. Entry level. Ways in. Apply for PCSO job, essentially the entry level of the police here. Get to the first stage, that of an interview? No? Fuck off.

Apply for Tesco's. A supermarket. Once? No. 42 times. 1 store? No. 6. 5 in Cardiff, 1 in Newport. Interview? No. Just a casual 42 rejections in 5 bloody minutes.

Other places? Yes. Over 800 applications. Nothing. Treated like a number, sent a rejection email with no reasons, no "this is why". Just a "we had a lot of applicants and we are not taking you forwards".

Would have more respect if these read "You're shit. Fuck off. Don't apply here ever again".

Should the rich tell the poor how to control their money?

Okay, so this started with this news article that the Chancellor George Osbourne (also the man trying his best to get us a terrible deal in Europe because he doesn't like the facts that despite it's faults the EU as it stands makes us a far stronger country) wants to make a law with how future Governments do their budgets.

My Facebook post on the matter

We all know the perceptions of the two main parties, the Conservatives do stuff for the 1%, Labour are meant too (and I stress meant too, because they have failed numerous times since "New Labour"...Iraq, NHS, ID Cards, Royal Mail...but that's not the feeling members give you when you hear how they'd prefer the party to go and their might be a chance to change it in the coming months...a post for a later day) represent essentially the 99%.

• Of course the 99% needs a good level of policing, to keep it as a service rather than as an aggressive force, to keep the communities feeling safer, feeling like they can talk to Police Officers, or PCSO's etc. 
• They also need a quality NHS, that strives to be the best health service, not just possible for the taxpayers, but in the world, with good response times, quality doctors and brilliant nurses, regardless of any of those staffs nationality. 
• They also need a fire service that will be quick to respond to any times. 
• A quality education....(personally I'd close private schools, as it would allow the complete diverse culture to meet, to socialise and so on rather than create a divide with places such as Eton, or the majority of any local private school). To have a quality state education the state needs the best teachers to be in their schools. 
• Proper support for the jobless, homeless, disabled, elderly, victims of crime, victims of abuse, people with massive life changes (such as a divorce, death in the family, a newborn child), families who need that little extra so not to depend on foodbanks and many more. 
• Legal aid should be available to all people, forget means testing, the reality is lawyers would get pretty good incomes if legal aid covered everyone when going to court as an individual. The best lawyers should represent a wide range of people, not just the ones that can dig deep into their pockets.

Of course, this may come at a cost, especially initially and that cost could see any budget not run at a surplus I'm afraid. But it's about what is morally right for Great Britain, not about what costs more, what costs less. If you need the best teachers, maybe you have to pay a few percent more for it. 

Before the election 33% of MP's were privately educated whilst 24% were OxBridge educated. So bought up hugging elitism, rather than the hoodie David Cameron claimed to hug when he came Tory leader. 

We need to break these walls down, by making sure the items the state have an obligation to provide (and as a public we should make sure these things remain an obligation) and making the public services mentioned in the bullet points above the best they can be. It's basically making what was the American Dream into a British Reality. Then we can be proud of Britain. 

And I can also promise you, that maybe these things will run at a deficit for a while, but in the long term, well it would make you be able to run a sustainable balanced economy rather than the rubbish we have today.