Congratz, Gaz!

The best right-back in the whole wide world and factory girl favourite Mr. Gary Neville has become a Daddy for the first time.

His wife Emma gave birth to healthy baby girl Molly on the 11th of January.

Congratz to the happy family from the factory girl!

Still wondering how we could not know she was pregnant ... they are brilliant at the privacy thing... good for them!

Meanwhile Gaz has been on good form for United and Sir has just said, that he'll be offered a contract as a coach of some sort once he retires. Not a surprise, really, but still I wanna say: Yessss!

We not just beat Chelsea last week, no, we top the table this week and I spend my time staring at pictures of Nemanja Vidic... I always thought he was HOT, though most people will disagree... which reminds me of a conversation I was once had on the TransPennine Express from Manchester to Leeds during the 06/07 season. When 2 guys borrowed my match day magazine after a game and one of them held up a poster of Nemanja and said "doesn't my mate look just like him"... well, he did a bit, so I agreed and suddenly the guy was upset, because apparently they thought Nemanja was ugly... No, No, No... I was like "Whoat? I think he is kinda HOT!" ... that cheered him up ... maybe that was a tactical mistake on my side, coz I wasn't interested and he didn't really look as hot as Nemanja, but I was kind-hearted enough to not tell him that. Random!

Kittehs - I luvs dem

Sometimes I randomly google 'cats' to make up my mind about what kitties I'd like to own once I'm an old bitter cat lady.

That's how I found another site that is on my check-every-day-list now ... 

more animals

I love Lolcats!

the site also alerted me to the Slinky Cat

which made me youtube slinky ads and there are many...

... it's addictive.

so is watching this ...

... it's strangely soothing.

____________

More Than A Mousepad

Surprising news from my credit card company ... The FA has transferred almost 4 GBP back to my account. Must be the postage cos I collected my ticket from the Hotel. Never expected them to play so fair... thumbs up!

and now that my caps have been added ... I'm in the upper 15 ... hihi... well 15 000 that is. There are 10619 members who have less caps than me. Where does that put me for South Africa? We'll see... it's looking good, though I still have to attend home games this season to get into the important ballots ... 

... and then get rich to be able to afford to go to the other end of the world. Haha ... or bribe Stupid Sepp to have it back in Germany. Not very likely it seems, as they've just announced the ticket prices ... 15% of the tix will defo go to SA citizens, which is fair play, but I guess no one is so naive to think these tix won't reappear on the black market.

It Still Makes Me Happy To Think About It

It was a brilliant night. Once I was in the stadium it didn't matter they all decided to stay home... just that feeling ... that buzzing excitement shortly before the game starts... I could live off that.

Thought I post a few pics ... I can't remember there ever being flags above the designated entrances... but I like it ... also note that there was hardly anything to keep the fans apart...

but suddenly security freaked out, coz some idiots stirred up a fight outside. That made me feel a bit uneasy first, but then I thought... I can speak their (security guys) language, I'm gonna be okay ... in Rome I'd have a problem.

It was a good game for my B-team ... Schland was looking not so good. But hey, everyone can have an off-day. I was glad JT could make up for that mistake of his... which in a way was comedy gold... just good it didn't happen in an important game. 

Thing is, from where I sat I could hardly make out who was who. My eyes were hurting badly from doing that Computer Course and not sleeping enough (which is my own fault), so the number on JT's shirt appeared to be a 66 for most of the time... blurry vision.

I can't remember there being helicopters around for the World Cup, but then it was 2 years ago. Sometimes there are media-copters... this time it was police, I guess ... and I swear they had the helicopter directly pointed to look at me almost throughout the entire game ...

as the game went on I was starting to get a bit paranoid ... 

seriously... it was freaky! TC-freakish...

Anyway, the game left me very happy and I've been feeding off that feeling ever since ... it will be a while till I'll see them again.

Leaving the stadium, I was in a state of utter amusement ... being German myself and on the other side of the human fence while everyone else was kinda stuck behind it was weird.

I had a LOT of space to walk around, almost all the other englandfans had already left, while my poor 62.000 or more countrymen were not so lucky...  

meanwhile the journos tried to get a few interviews ... "it's for GMTV" ...

and here we have it... more space ... and a wall made of police vans which magically arranged themselves during the game to keep the fans apart afterwards...

I never felt this protected before ... nevermind the fact that I was basically being protected from my next door neighbours... it was a very bizarre experience! but soon I realised it had its advantages ... the police-van-later-transformed-into-policemen-chain/fence/wall led me right to the best platform to get away from the stadium ... the one where the normal service runs ... the extra trains are such a pain ... so while thousands of angry Germans (I heard them ... they weren't too happy) were huddled together, hardly able to move or get on a train, I walked around rather freely... though I gotta say the police presence outside the station (including horseys) was a bit scary too... 

well, that was until I walked into the station building and looked to my left, where this comical moment had me giggling...

they looked like robots who were programmed to not let anyone walk through those doors.

I was home around midnight ... which I suppose must have been a record for a late game ... usually it takes ages.

The trip back home was .. well interesting. I've been to many England games now, but this was the first time I got really squashed and had trouble breathing... which wasn't made easier by the people, who were doing the squashing, jumping, hitting the glass windows and singing that stupid "ten german bombers" song at a Germany fan who had sneaked on the train ... and yeah they were carrying beer in plastic cups and smoked on the train ... while I could barely move. I smiled though... their prison tattoos warned me not to do anything else ... but at least a cute guy from Hull was frequently asking me whether I was alright. Surprisingly they didn't freak when they realised I was German and supporting England... they actually invited me to celebrate with them. But they weren't hot so I declined ... sadly the guy from Hull didn't ask. Once they got off the train at the Zoo, I was insulted by 3 boys from the South who for no particular reason were total asses towards me. My faked northern accent didn't amuse them either... nevertheless they also asked me to join them for a celebration... what made them think I would want to after they were so rude? Some people! 

And by the way you three stupid rich boys, a german girl can support english football without having an english boyfriend... because girls can have own opinions too. (Not that I would mind having an english boyfriend ... or a boyfriend at all. I'm not bitter...) 

Thumbs up to the two guys from Southampton who were pretty sweet and the people I spoke to at the stadium!

Anyway... what a night ... and it left me with this little treasure of JT and Poldi professing their love for eachother in that bloke-ish romantic gesture of the almost-head-butt...

awwwwwwwwww!

So what did the MEDIA say? 

First I wanna thank the Times for teaching me my new favourite word ... I guess someone was using Thesaurus when they described Stuart Downing as LUGUBRIOUS.

How can it be I never heard that word before ... it's brilliant! Maybe it's because there are around 47 other words to say someone has a tendency to be dark-minded... and I have to say I kinda like FUNEREALLY too.

Anyway... lugubrious ... I can't pronounce it... but this woman can.

Okay then (to use a phrase half-tattooed on Wayne Rooney's body...) ... MEDIAWATCH

The Times

Joachim Löw, the Germany coach, prowled the touchline wearing a black coat that made him look like an extra in Pirates of the Caribbean.

What a lovely description of Jogi ... hehe... a pirate! Where was his parrot, though?

The athletics track kept supporters away from the action...

it did!

And try a bit harder next time, Germany, won’t you? There are girlfriends of footballers out there in that rain-sodden jungle clearing, you know, and, because of you, we have gone a whole day without news of their wellbeing.

hehe... the writer was very amused by ITV's predicament of footie vs. I'm a Celeb... well the footie won and news of Nicola's Boobies' first Birthday had to be delayed... wasn't it brilliant, how she burst into the bush telegraph to tell the world about it and how the creepy cop Brian was just saying something about an "older lover" ... though The Sun says he said "elderly mother" ... maybe my brain is making me hear things. Fabulous, nonetheless!

Tabloid Headline of the Day

goes to the Daily Mirror for: WIN-GER-LAND

Quote of the Day (The Guardian)

"It was a case of, 'You kick it, I'll kick it, you'll kick it, I'll kick it, oh the German has kicked it,'"

said Capello with a smile.

well, he summed that up perfectly!

and the Guardian is seeing great things to come, I suppose...

This Germany team, (...), had been in the final of Euro 2008, a tournament for which England did not qualify. BC - Before Capello.

seriously? BC?

Daily Telegraph

The Telegraph was hearing things, that I didn't hear, but then the acoustics in the stadium can be rather fickle... 

Terry made immediate amends with a late header, leaving England’s huge support singing in the rain. “Let’s all have a disco,’’ they chorused.

(...) There was plenty to get them on their feet.

Well, first of all, we NEVER sat down! Which I quite enjoyed! Makes the whole experience so much more exciting and lively! And then to be honest, it was raining (and thx to that big hole in the pretty roof the opposition fans usually get soaked) and we were all just shuffling 20 seats to the right to avoid the worst of it ... which was "cosy" and it must have looked funny.

But the Telegraph puts it right by describing that 1:1 moment like this...

Both keeper and centre-half cringed.

CRINGE! It was cringe-worthy, wasn't it?

The Independent

... might be pushing it a bit with this conclusion...

Add to Fabio Capello's list of achievements this latest triumph: he has built an England team more German than the Germans.

__________________

Yeah, it's still making me happy that night ... not so much because of the result, more because of being there in the stadium with my fellow englandfans watching England play. That stadium moment is just so big... I needed that to get some energy to get me through the next few lugubrious months. Well, they won't be too lugubrious, but I just like saying it ... lugubrious ... lugubrious! It's the new yogalates!

Have to go now and catch up on the jungle show ... I've missed the last 4 days (it's Tuesday ... I started working on this post on Friday), because I spent all my time watching Brotherhood. Damn you, Jason Isaacs, for those mesmerizing eyes and thuggish smile. Can't wait to watch The State Within ... a British Ambassador... he looks so fine in a suit. And yeah he is Lucius Malfoy ... but let's not go there... 

It Was Spectacularly Unspectacular

I don't know why in my mind it seemed so glamorous to pick up the ticket at a luxurious hotel.

Just two girls in a small room handing out tickets. No queue, no conversations with them or any fans.

Why did I wear a skirt? Where was the cute guy I wanted to steal the job from?

Damn it!

And the Hotel wasn't as fabulous as I had hoped. It has seen better days...

Well, I suppose I was just too excited about it all ... as always.

Well, it's good I'm no longer crazily excited about tomorrow night ... that way the disappointment won't be too big. Maybe the youngsters could make it up to me with a brilliant game and lots of goals and ... a win!

oh yeah ... not to jinx them any further ... but Baby Theo has just pulled out too. He dislocated his shoulder during todays training session ... and had to go to hospital. 

Something is wrong here... I suspect aliens!

Anyway, at least I have The Sun's humour to cheer me up...

Can I Have Another Drink Please?

I'm a bit upset, coz all I get will be a trip to the Hilton Hotel to pick up me ticket.

England is coming to play Germany in Berlin and I've been smiling ever since it was announced, coz I was convinced that as I couldn't go to England to see my boys play this year, they decided to come to visit me. Which I thought was incredibly sweet...

The scheduling was always a bit stupid for a BIG friendly like that - the last international match before the long winter break at such a crucial time of the season ... so I expected one or two of the boys not playing due to minor injuries.

BUT EIGHT???

This is a JOKE! A bloody FRAUD!

no David, no Wayne, no Gary, no Rio, no Frank, no Stevie, no Ashley, no Joe

*random posting of hot/cute pictures to make me feel better*

okay David hasn't played for 3 weeks, coz the season is over in LA (I mean why would the USA play during the normal FIFA schedule ... why would that make sense? Idiots!), so Fabio left him out... though he has been training. Now the midfielders are all dropping out and Becks is stuck in LA not able to be here in time ... come on Babes, just get on the plane ... no one cares how you play anyway and if you just land an hour before the game starts, who cares! all you have to do is look nice, come on after half time and cheer up the crowd... it would lift the spirits incredibly!
(yeah, I'm desperate!)

Gary was never to be expected anyway... coz he's not back to who he was 2 years ago after that damn injury... but I still love him and had hoped a friendly like this would be the perfect opportunity to get him back into the squad.

But for the others ... if this was an important game, they would have got a few injections and would have been fine to play.

As it turns out ... the risk is too high... blah, blah ... they just don't love me anymore!!!

The Sun goes as far as suggesting, that they would rather stay at home to watch I'm a Celebrtiy... Get Me Out Of Here instead of getting their asses kicked by Schweini... hehe, that at least made me smile.

So all I'm left with are JT and Crouchy... whom I love very much, but let's be honest it's just not enough... unless they humour me by showing up like this...



And then there are Calamity James, Bridgey and Baby Theo ... okay. And yeah I'm not naming Michael Carrick in that list on purpose ... boring!!!

I'm glad I didn't pay 100 Euros for the ticket ...

Well, I guess I'll just make the best of picking up the ticket from that posh hotel tonight ... I'll let you know how that went.

Fingers crossed JT and Crouchy don't pick up some whimsical and curious injuries till tomorrow!

Better Late Than Never

I never really wrapped up "football month", did I?


There was so much left to tell and now I have forgotten almost everything.


I know just like me, you all were wondering what our favourite right back and captain of the best club in the whole wide world was up to during Euro 2008... (hehe).


Well, you won't believe it - and I can't believe it took me several weeks to find out - he was a pundit for ITV. And as always the public is split on his performance. There are those who rate him and those who slag him off. I'd pay to watch it, but I don't get the signal in Berlin.


Now in pre-season he's played quite a bit and Sir has called him phenomenal ... so me is very happy and very much looking forward to the new season.


Talking about pre-season ... Liverpool decided to stop in Berlin for a friendly with Hertha and as I'm suffering from football withdrawal quite heavily this year due to project finish and being back in Germany, I jumped at the chance to see them. It was so nice of them to visit me, just as it will be so nice of the England team to come and visit me in November.


But of course I paid to see Crouchy and Stevie G ... two words: sold & injured ... and all I got was ... hmpfff! I can honestly say, I've never been so happy to see Jamie Carragher in my whole life! Which says it all really...


Anyway it was 23 Euros spent well as it gave me back that stadium feeling and I realised just how much I miss actually going to see games.


What I definitly don't miss are all the drunken, ugly men who couldn't care less about the football and just go there to get drunk and horribly ripped off by the stadiums beer providers.


Another highlight was Rafa Benitez ... I was basically sitting just behind him and watched him a lot ... there wasn't too much action on the field. Oh yeah, and Sammy who used to do coaching for England is now with them too (maybe he always has been ... I'm not up to date), but it was nice to see him. So was seeing Dirk Kuyt.


Now before I bore everyone to death ... what else happened over the last weeks?


Frank loves wearing pink clothes
Phil Scolari is beating the entire Chelsea squad at tennis
Fabio Cannavaro was photographed shaving a friends chest on a yacht
the show pony went to LA and is trying to go into the gay porn business I think ... the super-crazy tan and tiny shiny shorts are the clue I think


yeah, that's the catch-up done ... football month is officially over and I leave you with this pic of the real Ronaldo which totally made my day:

What Would Fox Mulder do?

I guess everyone saw the Germany game. What a weird game that was. The picture was just gone for about 6 minutes or so, but it made the second half soooo weird and suddenly the game was over.

Now, I'm a sucker for Conspiracy Theories, but this time it was the miaudonna who became all paranoid first. She was totally convinced that something was majorly wrong and the game never unfolded like that suggesting it had been played before and was now very badly cut together. She got a bit crazy then claiming she was now a Medium (astro.com doesn't agree though... and well, she is scared of ghosts so this whole thing can't really work out) and travelled through time and it was all about her future ... yeah she kinda lost me there too, but it got me thinking...

What if actually during that time we lost, all the people where stunned in the stadium and the teams were sucked into space ... and then aliens impersonated them after those six minutes and not just them but also prominent figures like the Chancellor?

Now the official story is that the energy in Vienna was cut by lightning and the UEFA world signal was therefore lost. The pictures we later got (yeah I'm talking about that shitty wonky camera which was broadcasting in 4:3 instead of 16:9) was from swiss tv, coz they had an extra cable to the stadium (now that is common practice we know... remember those spitting incidents from Euro 2004 that were uncovered by extra cameras installed by certain TV stations and not UEFA?). And they claim that the sound and pic was a bit off coz the commentator was on the phone and well it all was a bit crazy...

yeah, well it sounds all quite believable, doesn't it?

But let's be honest, what would Fox Mulder have done? He'd gotten up and sprayed a neon coloured X on the floor to mark the point he lost time!!!

Where are those 6 minutes and what did really happen?

Now people who were in the stadium claim that everything went on normal during the blackout ... yeah, hehe, everyone whose watched MIB is aware how easy it is to "flashy-thing" someone and erase all their memories and replace them with something that never happened!

My take on what happened is that UEFA and Tom Cruise made a deal with the Aliens and at least the german team and their coaching staff were sucked into space and replaced with imposters. Tom Cruise gave a very convincing performance as Jogi in a TV interview after the game...

The cover-up story worked though, so we will never know if the imposters have been replaced by the real people yet or if they indeed will be lost in space forever!

And to all those doubters out there I'm saying: you have no idea ... the visitors from afar have been out there for a couple of weeks... lurking ... watching over the situation from the distance ... waiting for the opportune moment!

Now I'm Jealous

Keeping Track of my boys, I'm green with envy at the moment...

Wayne - with Coleen in VEGAS!

I wanna go to Las Vegas too! It's my fantasy escape from Project Finish, which is sooo eating me up right now ... and will till the end of the year.

Now where are the others?

JT - left Florida with wife and kids to go to Barbados
Frank - somehow ended up in Majorca with Elen on a yacht for his 30th birthday (whoat? 30? how did that happen?)
Cashley - with Miss Tweedy staying in a luxury villa in Spain
David - USA unveiling giant posters of himself in Armani underwear (reducing Freddie Ljungberg to tears, I suppose)

In good news: The showpony was kicked out of Euro 2008 by Germany and was rushed of the pitch quickly so that no-one would see his tears. Spoil sports! Anyway, he was wiping his eyes when he went off... haha! Yes, I'm that mean when it comes to him. Maybe he can order some more hookers from Leeds to cheer him up...
How disgusting is he... asking United to re-pay his loyalty (what loyalty?) and let him go to Madrid? He owes his game to Sir, he was a one-trick pony in the first 2 years.
Anyway, I'll be glad to see the back of him... so please, take the money Sir and let him join Madrid, where he will never have the discipline to perform to the same level... hehe.

Now how weird is Euro 2008? The only football force left is Germany. Will this be another 2004 where some really random country wins or will Germany take it home?

There's Something About Croatia

I've finally crowned this month "Football Month" in memory of the old factory ... so don't worry, I'll be talking about other things again in the near future.

On the day Wayne Rooney get's married to Coleen, Germany loses to Cro"we-kinda-messed-up-Englands-qualification"atia.

Keeping Track

Frank - Ibiza with Elen, being invited to a "Fuck Me I'm Famous"-club-night by an insufficiently dressed promoter

David - still in LA doing Disneyworld with the kids and Posh, who seemed to be wearing his old baggy jeans and flip-flops (flat shoes? no skinny jeans? we are shocked! is someone pregnant?)

Stevie G - in Miami with Alex, "snubbing" Wazza's wedding

Wes Brown - in Italy for Wazza's wedding

Michael Carrick - in Italy for Wazza's wedding

Keeping Track

As I said yesterday, my task for the next few weeks is keeping track of my boys ... which is not the same as watching them play, but hey, as long as they run around beaches half-naked, I'm fine!

Before I present you my current round-up of their whereabouts, I've got a brilliant story about the man who is responsible for my boys not being united in Switzerland/Austria - Stupid Steve.

Of course he made it to those two countries nevertheless ... but this story not just put a smile on my face... it had me rolling around with laughter!

Steve McClaren - now working for Five Live as a pundit - had a rather embarrassing incident when it came to getting his media accreditation badge which every journalist - ooh, that's gotta hurt, Steve - needs to cover the tournament.

The nice UEFA official kept saying: "I'm sure I recognise you... aren't you...? Oh, that's right, didn't you used to manage Ireland?"

hehehehehe... I feel like sending that kid some flowers! I'm sure it wasn't a real UEFA official, but a volunteer ... now Special K, if you read this, you know what to say, when you meet him ... ehm yeah, and you know all those other things too (Wayne as lone striker, DB dropped, Jamie as right-back, Gaz as wingback, no proper psychological assessment, Max Clifford...)!

but enough about him, let's have a look where my boys are at!

6. David - USA playing for LA Galaxy

5. Joe Cole - half-naked in Barbados with Carly

4. Crouchy - half-naked in St. Bart's with Abbey

3. JT - Disneyland, Florida talking to Minnie

2. Wayne - last week Ibiza for his stag-do, now in Italy with Colleen for his wedding

but the winner is...

1. Rio - in Nigeria for charity reasons, being made "Chief Fiwagboye" by King Akiolu

(fiwagboye: "character maketh wealth")

I see the new England Captain! Chief Rio! I heart you, love!

The Real World aka Life Happened

Dearest Internetz,

the factory has been closed for a while now, because of various reasons... mainly because "project finish" is at a pivotal point once again. I can proudly report that I've completed the fifth exam last week and there is just one more to go early next month. I can not-so-proudly report that I might have majorly screwed up that exam I just took, but I'm not sure... time will tell.

So many things have happened since I last posted and there is so much I want to tell, so let's start with the topic on everyones lips at the moment: FOOTIE!


OH MY GOD I CAN'T BELIEVE IT

The best club in the whole wide world won the Champions League!!!

Yessssss!

This marks me being a true fan for 10 amazing and sometimes heart-breaking years!

It was different from 1999 though ... I can't really put my finger on it! But I'm so proud...



and God, I'm glad the bloody show-pony missed that penalty... I know I wouldn't be if that lost us the game, but it didn't... haha! now here is to selling him for 70 million GBP to those idiots in Madrid... yeah, I hate him!


But hey, what a game... against Chelsea no less.




It was kinda weird to see JT cry again ... and poor Frankie... aww, I love them.

__________________

Now let's talk about Euro 2008 and how weird it is for me! Since I've been a fan I can't remember a tournament I soooo wasn't prepared for. I missed the whole run-up and all the inside stories. I walk down the street and suddenly all the cars have little flags on them ... that's when I realize Euro 2008 is about to start and I'm the odd one out. *sad*

Now, the FA is walking on a tightrope at the moment ... I received an email (sender: John Terry) yesterday about some promotion concerning Wembley after they repeatedly tried to "bully" me into buying a ticket for that USA game last month. Now I love my boys, but that marketing team has bad timing ... if I'd be working for them, they wouldn't be sending out any shameless promotional emails this month that's for sure!

And yes, I'm expecting an apology ... I want Brian B. to personally tell me he is sorry for allowing Stupid Steve to ruin the qualification! That's all I want ... and something better than a lousy mousemat for my 75 GBP ... maybe a trip to a game at Wembley for free to make up for everything!

Anyway, here is to being absolutely shameless! There I was studying for "project finish" totally missing out on that last England game of the season in Trinidad and Tobago. Half the senior players didn't fly out there (coz they were involved in the CL final and given a rest), well, good old Rio did! But then look who enters the pitch as England Captain...





Yeah, whoooaaat? He kinda stepped down 2 years ago! His England dream was dead thx to Stupid Steve 1 1/2 years ago and here he is leading out the boys for his 102nd England game! I was sooooo shocked and my, what a surprise! My little fangirl heart almost jumped out of my tiny chest... Mr. B. back to where he will always belong for me (coz I love him and am incredibly sentimental!).

But that's not all, Mr. Capello says that he is still testing captains and that Mr. B is one of the contenders ... hello? how 2005 of him ... not that I'm complaining!

Now here is the other side of the story ... Jack Warner ... big name FIFA guy with a vote in who gets the 2018 World Cup.
Guess who wants to host it! Yep, England!
Guess where Jack Warner is at home! Yep, Trinidad and Tobago!
Now one last question: Who told the FA that they can leave all their senior players at home, in fact all players, as long as they bring David Beckham? Yep, Jack Warner!

there are cynical voices who say that he also requested Mr. B to captain the side, but Mr. Capello denies that his actions were political and that he gave Becks the armband in hope to buy Jackie Boy's vote!

Well, having witnessed the FA shamelessly trying to sell at least a half-decent amount of shirts this year by offering "memorial" Beckham shirts for his 100th cap on an own site inside their shop, kinda makes me think that in this case business also comes first! And I don't blame them. He is still able to play a good competitive 60 minutes and a tournament without the Beckham Roadshow is totally boring, so here is to him playing in South Africa 2010 (or make that Gemany)... hehe!

Dearest Internetz, it's past the factory girl's bed time... so I finish for now. But there will be more tomorrow I think. Because, while everyone in Europe is travelling to Switzerland/Austria I have made it my task to track down where my boys are at... and the results are hilarious.

xoxo factory girl

Born To Make Me Happy

L.O.V.E.

the other boys made Gary lift the trophy to the fans a couple of times though he was a bit shy about it... and they sang his song :o) I must admit there were tears in my eyes...





Drink up me heartie, yo ho...

probably my most favouritest pic of Sir EVER...

What a day!

Now my football season holds just one more day for me!

The Champions League finale in Moscow.

Finally

I've been waiting for this moment for 13 months...

Gary Neville finally returned to first team action last night. Sir brought him on for the last 10 minutes and look who's a very happy boy...

And The Sun wouldn't be my favourite tabloid, if they didn't manage to sum it all up in a way that not just warms my heart but makes me laugh as well:

The England right-back came on as an 81st-minute sub to a standing ovation and a cheer louder than that for Cantona — which said everything about how special a moment it was.

Old grumpy chops Neville just about cracked a smile as he entered the fray, took the armband off Rio Ferdinand and got on with the job.

Mind you it was six minutes before he touched the ball, which caused some amusement.

Sir was playing him in midfield of all places... hihi! And every time he touched the ball, there was a gigantic cheer from the crowd... needless to say, I had tears in my eyes by then.

Good to have you back, Darling!

I've missed you LOTS!

100 - The Return of The King

Becks will play his 100th England game tomorrow against France. Who would have thought this would happen a year ago?

And after the FA completely scrapped his name from the pre-order list last year, look what they've done now. This is unprecedented. No player ever got his own page at the shop. Dramatic times seem to ask for dramatic measures! Guess the new shirts just weren't selling with the fans not travelling to Switzerland/Austria this summer ... what better thing to do than getting football's biggest cash cow back from America for a sentimental game...

Not that I'm complaining ... I love him, but this screams marketing crisis control.

Now it would be perfect if Gaz would finally be back (it's been a year last week... scary!) and I could watch it, but I'm relying on a two minute summary... grrr.

Oh and Rio is captain for this game... I approve! He's earned it.

Yeah, I know I haven't said a word about Cornwall yet, but I just don't know where to start. So not today... just one word: L.O.V.E.!

PS Isn't it kinda freaky how much Romeo is starting to look like his Dad? Cute though!

Remember Remember The 19th of November

Knowing about my financial predicament my boys are so nice to come and visit me here in Berlin for a friendly. They are sooo sweet!

We knew a Germany game was coming up, but it could have been in Munich ... which would have meant buying train tickets. but no, they are so lovely to come to Berlin ... brilliant!

2 years and 4 months after THE/OUR World Cup final ... they finally make it to Berlin! Oh, I'll be very emotional.

Maybe even Gary will be fit by then...

I thought about flying to London later this year for 3 or 4 days for a game and to do some shopping... but to be honest I kinda doubt I'll have the money for it. And then there is always the thing that I would rather want to go to Manchester for a United game and a visit to Lovely Leeds... which could maybe be combined by doing job interviews... one can dream, right?

Anyway, this is brilliant! In my home town!

L.O.V.E.

Gary Scored!

My favourite rightback and the captain of the best club in the whole wide world played for 45 minutes in a reserves game against Everton and after being down 0:2 he even scored. The game ended in a draw. Inspiring!

Fingers crossed he will make a proper Premiership appearance soon!

On a different note his best friend Becks has said that they are so good friends that he'd trust Gaz alone in a room with Posh ... naked.

Meanwhile Mr. B himself is cuddling up to Gordon "Prime Minister" Brown at Downing Street and his football academy ... all in the name of the 2018 World Cup Bid. Maybe I was a bit overhasty in 2006 by saying that having the World Cup in my home country will be a once in a lifetime experience...

Tonight, Matthew, I'm going to be Amy Declinehouse

I don't know how it happened but suddenly my friends' New Years non-event has turned into a costume party ... and I really rather like it as La Bonette came up with the idea to be 2007's biggest celebrity disasters...

I'm not sure how it happened, but I went from "It's Britney, Bitch" to Mrs. "I said NO, NO, NO".

After one half of my uni course already thinks I'm some Amy Declinehouse expert and mega-fan, I guess this has been a long time coming. It is lost on those people that I'm just in L.O.V.E. with Britain, Britain, Britain and that I'm reading The Sun for entertainment purposes on a daily basis... and yes, that's how I "know" all these things about Amy.

So I'm off now to get into character ... I'll be watching the Amy Winehouse Buzzcocks episode again for some more quotes:

"Ah, can I have another drink... please?"

__________

On another note I'd like to say

Happy Birthday!

to Sir who is turning 66 today.

So in his honour the factory is proudly playing this german classic throughout the day...



Now listen carefully Alex ... this song tells you how it is: with 66 your life isn't over, no it is just starting. You don't need to rock, join a band or get a motorbike though... just stay with the best club in the whole wide world for a few more years, cos in my humble opinion you are the best thing that ever happened to this club and even if I've hated you for some things and we had a few very dark years, I do love and respect you very much!

Yeah I know, Internet, I still haven't said anything about Fabio being the new England manager or that Man United sex scandal, nor did I mention that Jose Mourinho's dog won the title "Celebrity Pet of the Year" (Brilliant!)... that's cos I was busy and in a way I wanted to limit the football talk in the new factory ... which is all part of Project "Finish" and growing up (at least for this year) to get my degree done. I can go football crazy again when I can financially afford it, when I have a proper job and earn proper money.

So somehow I managed to get my plans for the New Year into this post ... ehm, well. A more articulate post on that might follow ... or maybe not.

Anyway, lots of love from me to you!

Enough with the MacBook already

Yesterday on the underground a guy in his mid-thirties, who sat next to me, spend the 30 minute journey from uni to Alexanderplatz watching episodes of The Simpsons on his MacBook!

Now I can't say I haven't thought about doing stuff like that, I can totally see myself watching Prison Break on my way home from uni. But I always imagined it to be on a small handheld device, not on my Laptop ... coz I'm MODEST!

And then on a MacBook, seriously? ... in Leeds I was adviced not to carry my Laptop in an obvious bag and not use my mobile phone on the street because that would invite thieves, which was a bit insane, coz everyone plays around with their mobiles and people have laptop bags ... but in a way it wasn't the worst advice! Don't flash around your possessions!

Now I don't think anyone in Berlin would have mugged him ... but it was just sooooo flashy!

I'm NOT BITTER!!!

The most ridiculous thing was that he had this cleaning clothes with which he covered the keyboard and he was taking it off every 5 seconds to type something (I don't know what as he was just watching a video!) and then put it back again. heh?

_________

Concerning our next road trip: We are going to CORNWALL!

And we have already found a few fantastic things to visit, like 10 different animal sanctuaries, with La Bonette's favourite: the monkey sanctuary!

We plan to adopt a monkey there, though the concept of leaving the monkey behind at the end of the day doesn't really appeal to La Bonette. Well we'll cross that bridge when we get to it! I personally see us fleeing British Shores on a speedboat dressed as pirates with La Bonette clutching the monkey ... chased by several countries' coastguards!

and then today I had to read that a zoo in Indonesia killed 2 monkeys because they kept fighting with eachother and our favouritest monkey sanctuary in Cornwall cried out loud and said that they could have taken Venus and Ia without a problem.

Another 2 monkey lives wasted! I'm appalled...

________

and in football:

I want the Home Nations Tournament! Great Britain is the only country who can do it ... so they should! I'd fly over! The idea seems even better than Euro 2008 now!

Meanwhile Becks is sure Sir wouldn't take the job as England manager. After praising him for being the best coach ever, he said Sir simply wouldn't take the job and when asked again, he just smiled a knowing smile and said "Trust me!"
The factory was lighted up by that smile and the reference it was to the golden past! I miss those good times!
We also can't wait for those Armani underpants pics that are supposed to come out soon, Mr. B!

I love Rafa, coz as a team-building exercise he made all the Liverpool lads hold hands earlier this week. And what is cuter than Crouchy and Stevie G running down a pitch hand in hand? hah? I dare you to find something that is more heartwarming...

Oh and a Happy Birthday to Ryan Giggs, who is turning 34 today! Oh my, there is no denying that sexy Uncle Ryan is getting old... and yet still he totally rocks at United! Proud!