The Beautiful (but very amateur) Game

This weekend was a momentous occasion… my first full game of 11-a-side in over 10 years!

Some of the lads I used to play 5-a-side with (but still work with) arranged a game against a sunday-league team they know. We all vaguely know each other, so it was a fairly relaxed atmosphere, but that didn’t mean the tackles would be any nicer. We lined up in our old-skool Lotto kit that resembled the Juventus home kit of the 80’s and for the 30 seconds before kick off we looked like we had potential. This was clearly a malicious rumour because within 5 passes it was evident that we needed some practice. Despite this we put in a good performance and went in at half time tied at one each, having held our own very well. I was frustrated because of the teams lack of organisation, but it was to be expected from a team who have never played 11-a-side together before. As the second half started we had gone flat and quickly conceded two goals, much to the annoyance of the defence who had been playing well, but had little support. After a few substitutions, myself and the forward decided to change things and drop him back in to the centre of midfield, allowing us to get control of the game with me playing a more defensive role to pick-up their best player who was shifting from side to side to get space. The change quickly made a difference, we dominated the middle of the pitch, broke down their play and began to play some good passing football of our own. It wasn’t long before we scored … or more to the point, before I scored – after a fantastic interception (if I say so myself) I was able to run at the central defenders who both followed our strikers run, leaving me to step through the middle and slot the ball home with my left foot. The score was now 3-2 to them and we were controlling the game. As we pushed on to get the equaliser it was clear that both teams had started to tire, big gaps started to open up on the flanks and their central midfield had disappeared. With 15 minutes to go, and having dominated for the last 20 minutes, we conceded a corner from a mistake at the back. The resulting cross was lobbed in to the back post, headed back across goal, saved by goal keeper and then frustratingly headed back in by their player to make the score 4-2 to them. We knew it was too late for us to get a win, but we pushed on to restore some pride and continually pressured their goal, but with the lack of a target man to dominate the aerial balls our attacks where repelled. With a few minutes to go one of our strikers got through on goal and despite the option of a simple through ball, tried the shot, putting it just wide. This summed up our game, we had been good at everything apart from the final ball or strike on goal. Despite losing we all had a really enjoyable game and received praise from our opponents which was as much as could expect given the circumstance.

After the game we all grabbed a quick shower and headed back to the boozer to watch the second half of the football. It was disappointing to watch Liverpool lose, again, but they did put sausage and chip butty’s on, so that saved me from sobbing in my pint.

Playing 11-a-side again and actually getting a chance to put my mark on the game has sparked my interest in playing more… watch this space.

Converting the Stubborn

Just a quick one today.

Last night I had 5 mates round for one of the regular xBox nights we have. Traditionally we have always played Pro Evolution Soccer (PES), but this time around I have decided to move my alliance to FIFA 10, something that was scowled upon by the traditionalists. After a week of persuasion I eventually managed to get a small group of sceptics to come round and give it a try. The format was familiar, arrive with a few beers, order in a chippy tea and play the tournament – cost to enter is one pound and no ‘top’ teams are allowed. Out of the hat I picked Boca Juniors, the worst team in the draw, but as I had played the game before this would help to even things out. After setting up the controllers to the alternative format so that we had a level playing field we got in some practice.

The result of the evening was that we all filled our faces, everyone loved the new puppy and I gained 60% acceptance, just two more people to keep the pressure on, if they all have a copy by xmas then the rest of the group will have to follow suit so they can play online … the mission continues.

Matthews Street Festival: Dancing in the Rain

The last 12 months have seen me doing a lot of things that I previously haven’t had the time or money to do, not to mention the ear ache I would have got from the ex-girlfriend. Now though, me and Lisa are happily exploring everything that is put before us. This weekend we got invited to meet friends at the Matthews Street Festival, which was a first for both of us. The added bonus of the weekend was that my nephew, Ian, was over from Rome and showing his friends Marco, Angus and Enzo around the city.

We set off about dinner-time and got in to town for about 13:30, only to realise that we’d missed Pink Floyd – I was not impressed because I’d got myself all excited about that one. Disappointed, we set off in search of our friends, after some dashing around town and listening to the Beatles tribute band, we eventually met up with Ian and the lads to have a beer. The hangovers on display where outstanding, especially Angus’, who I think was actually asleep, standing up, with his eyes open! After a few drinks we set off to the Lambanana Stage to meet some of Lisa’s friends, but finding them in the massive crowd that was matching the Motown set was difficult, to say the least. We eventually met up once the crowds dispersed and made our introductions. This resulted in some slobbering and flirting, but it was all cut short because the lads wanted to watch the Guns ‘n’ Roses tribute, so we headed off with them and agreed to meet up with her friends later.

The crowd around the Tunnel Stage was big and we had to resort to being quite far back, but we still had good enough views. Some of the singing/screaming was a little suspect, but I didn’t expect anything else, Axl Rose is a difficult act to follow. However, when the classics like “Sweet Child O’ Mine” and “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” came on the crowd lit up at the atmosphere was superb. Shortly in to their performance the rain began to drizzle down on us, but the band missed the chance of a comical moment and didn’t play “November Rain”, much to my disappointment. Me and Lisa left just before the end of the set and headed back to the Lambanana Stage to catch the second half of the Motown set, the lads headed off to watch the football.

On the way I grabbed some paella from a bloke who sounded more polish than Spanish, but I didn’t care because I was starving and it tasted superb! We ate on the move as we wiggled our way through the crowds, but once we got about 50ft from the stage we could go no further, not because the crowds were too packed in, but because everyone was dancing around in groups and I didn’t intend on getting caught in someone’s circle and made to dance like a clown as punishment. As each superb act played the rain slowly began to get heavier, but when the Jackson 5 tribute band came on I think one of the sound engineers must have wired things up wrong, because as each new song started the rain got significantly heavier, to the point that we were drenched form head-to-toe and stood in a deep puddle by the time the third song had finished. Despite this, no one seemed to care, so we all simply carried on dancing away, spilling beer and getting poked in the eye by those clever enough to bring an umbrella! When I looked at my plastic, watery pint of beer I realised it was filling up quicker than I was drinking it, something was not right here!

As The Supreme’s came on to do their final set we had a moment of magic … Lisa got a text from her friends saying they where about 10 feet in front of us and had umbrella’s … we dash like crazy though the crowds and found them stood on a raised area, with great views and a way out of the rain, perfect! We enjoyed the rest of the set and then headed down to Café Sports England. We met up with the lads and settled down to watch the Roma vs Juventus game and have some food. I enjoyed playing devils advocate between Marco, a Roma fan, and Enzo, a Juventus fan and especially when I saw the look of disappointment on Marco’s face as the third Juventus goal hit the back of the net – he was not a happy man! The meal was superb and the price was so cheap I thought I’d robbed them, so I will definitely be going there again.

After the football the lads wanted to head up to another bar on Bowlers Street who had a live band on, but as Lisa and myself were soaking wet and had an hours journey home, so we said we’d join them for one before getting the train home – what a disaster this turned out to be! We got soaked on or way there, so after a REALLY quick drink we sloped off to the train station, only to be told that the trains had been cancelled!!! This left us with two options … an expensive taxi or a guess as to which bus to jump on. We decided to chance the buses, but when we arrived at the bus station it was closed off and the temporary stops outside Lime Street Station where heaving, but I still wasn’t going to get a taxi. I decided to play my joker card … I rang my dad, thankfully he didn’t mind and agreed to meet us a mile or so outside of the town centre,. Luckily the rain had stopped by now and we were able to dive in to the local Subway to use the toilet.

It was a long, wet and fantastic day. I can’t wait for next year!

When In Rome …

I’ve just finished my first day back in work after my amazing long weekend in Rome and I’m depressed.

This was my third visit to Rome and once again it was an amazing experience. All three visits have been brilliant in their own way, the first because it was my first big adventure. Myself, my nephew and a close friend managed to walk all the major sites of the city in 3 long and exhausting days. This was especially rewarding because it was all new and we had put in the time and hard work during the mid-summer sun, what an achievement. It was only after my second visit however that I realised I had only scratched the surface and that during my first visit I had missed out on the real magic of Rome. Since our initial visit my nephew had moved to live Rome, made friends, got a job as a tour guide and learnt the real beauty of Roman life, so my second time in the eternal city was a truly amazing experience. We visited some of the major sites, but this time armed with his massive depth of knowledge, therefore what had previously just been beautiful and impressive became meaningful and interesting, the city was beginning to make sense. In the evenings we ate well, drank plenty and on two occasions played football with his Italian friends. The locals teaming up against the foreigners, which involved people from England, Scotland, Wales, New Zealand and Argentina … the Italians didn’t stand a chance! This second experience in Rome had truly opened my eyes to the experiences that where on offer in the rest of the world, and when my better half secretly booked this trip for us I was blown away. I couldn’t wait to show her the magic of Rome as I’d experienced it.

We arrived in Rome mid-morning on Friday and with relative ease we had the journey to our hotel planned out. This was refreshing for me because I’m not the most confident in my abilities of navigating when in a new place, despite me usually being right if I pay attention. This time however I had some familiarity and the fairly constant grid system makes it easy to head in the general direction and end up in the right area. After getting the shuttle bus to Termini (the main bus/train station), we decided to brave the metro, which was fantastically easy to navigate, It’s cheap too! Once we found the hotel (Ancient Romance B&B) we instantly knew we’d be staying here again, the building was brilliantly located, the rooms where fantastic (as was the air conditioning), the staff where really helpful and the price was great.

We decided we’d take it easy, adjust to the heat (34°C) and have a gentle wonder around St. Peter’s Square, Castle St. Angelo and the surrounding area to familiarise ourselves with some shops, places to eat and most importantly, where to get nice ice-cream from, haha. As we’d been up early we had intended to take a late afternoon siesta before we headed out for the evening, but my nephew had finished his tour through the Vatican at 5, which was just around the corner from where we’d stopped for Ice Cream, so we met up on our way back to the Hotel. We all grabbed a shower and chilled out in the lovely air conditioned room before heading back out to have ‘a few beers’. We met up with a close friend of my nephews in The Abbey before heading to Campo de’ Fiori where we met up with a few more of his friends. We then headed to the river where a festival was taking place! This essentially meant lots of food and drink stalls along the rivers edge and LOTS of people. We had a great time and met up with a bunch of students from various countries, one of whom was a creepy dude who sounded German, needless to say we didn’t really entertain him for long, lol. After some drunken antics we headed back to the hotel because we had an early start!

On the Saturday morning my nephew had arranged for us to accompany him on a private tour with a lovely American family who he had been guiding around the city. We met them at 10am and the plan was to cover the Colosseum, Palatine Hill and The Forum in the morning! This was the first time I’ve seen my nephew at work and I was pleasantly re-assured that he is VERY good at his job. His depth of knowledge is amazing and he was able to guide us all on an experience that brought everything to life, despite the ridiculous 36°C heat. Come dinner time we decided that we should leave the family to enjoy the rest of their tour, so we thanked them for their generosity and wished them well. From their we decided to grab some food, get a quick shower and head to the Vatican Museums to visit the Sistine Chapel. To be honest it wasn’t quite as mind blowing as I’d hoped, but this was most likely due to the fact that the whole hour long walk is full of work which is equally spectacular. Plus, by this time I was grumpy because I’d spent 6 hours walking around in the ridiculous heat and all I was looking forward to was a cold shower and a power nap!

After a good sleep we got ready and headed out for a meal. We walked through the Vatican, past the Castel Sant Angelo and across the Bridge of Angels, before heading towards Piazza Navona. We stopped at a beautiful little restaurant in a narrow street just outside the square. The green ivy was flowing down the front of the rustic yellow building, the light was fairly dim and the shutters, tables and seats outside where typically Italian, even complete with a wobble from the uneven cobbled street, this was perfect. We had the most amazing meal, accompanied by the bustle of Rome, in a fantastic setting. The owners where even a stereotypical old couple who pottered about checking that all the guests had well taken care of and gesturing like crazy about everything! After a wonderful experience we headed off to meet my nephew and his friend. We started off very chilled and got talking with lots of people, but by the time we’d talked half of Rome to sleep and 2 o’clock had rolled around we were totally wasted, so we made our way home … this took two hours, even though we had walked it in 20 minutes on the way. Classy!

On the Sunday morning we were a little on the groggy side to say the least and slept in till about mid-day. We eventually dragged ourselves out of our pits to get a slice of pizza from a little place that we’d noticed all the locals using. We stepped outside the hotel and were hit by a wall of heat! It was 38°C today and not the tiniest hint of a breeze. We immediately got a bottle of water from the shop outside and decided that today was going to be a write-off. After our amazing pizza we pottered around a little, but the heat quickly won over us, so we headed back to the hotel for a siesta. We got up about 4 and jumped the metro to Barberini so we could get a snack and visit the Trevi fountain, but it was absolutely packed! We’d only been out for an hour but already the heat was having an effect, so we headed back to the hotel. That night we’d arranged to met my nephew and his fiend for a top class meal at a restaurant we’d found on my first visit. We met about 9 and headed to the restaurant, which to my delight was rather busy. We had the most fantastic meal and I was really chuffed to have found a great restaurant that even my nephew’s friend didn’t know about, despite it being on his door step. After the meal we jumped a cab to The Abbey to meet up with everyone, including another friend of nephew’s who’s girlfriend made a surprise visit from Japan, how cool is that?! After a couple of drinks it was time for us to go because we had to be at the airport at 8am and our posh taxi was booked for 7. We said our goodbyes and set off our last walk across the beautifully lit streets of Rome.

The whole weekend was absolutely amazing and before we’d even got home that night we were already planning our next adventure!

A Day of Culture

Yesterday was absolutely fantastic! Shortly after blogging about my drunken antics the day before, I picked up the better half, her brother and his son, who has just turned one, so he’s amazingly cute and has women’s hearts melting for miles around. We headed to the Botanic Gardens in Southport and let the little tinker practice his walking skills whilst we all had a nice picnic. As you can see from the pictures, it was an absolutely gorgeous day so we treated him to an ice cream, most of which ended up on us three!

After a few hours walking around the gardens, messing about in the playground and filling our faces we decided to go meet up with some friends of mine at one of their houses. The plan of action for the afternoon was to go to the jazz festival in the town centre and pass the afternoon away why the kids chase every pigeon in sight. If you look at the pictures you can see just how busy (and pigeon free) the square was after a few hours. This is definitely something I intend on doing again over the summer, I didn’t realise these arts events where so popular, but that’s because I’ve been raised with all the culture of a modern day box house and it’s something I want to change through going to more local ’shows’ and travelling off the beaten track when the opportunity presents itself.

As with most events I seem to attend, alcohol was present, in this case it was “The Pimms Stand”, which proved rather popular definitely helped us to enjoy the beautiful sunshine, good music and good company.

This was definitely a day to remember and I hope we get plenty more this summer. The full photo set is on my Flickr Account as usual.

The Love Birds Big Challenge

Today I’m struggling to write, the reason for this was that last night I went for the old “meal and a few drinks”. I’m sure that no matter how limited your life experience is, you know that what actually resulted was a messy night out.

The reason I went for to the meal and a few drinks was to see off a good friend as she abandoned us to spend another summer teaching little brats lovely children how to drown swim as part of the Camp America program. This is something she clearly loves doing because this is her third successive year on the program. However, unlike previous years, this year she has had a reason not to go and this is what made last night so interesting.

She is now in a relationship with another friend of mine from when we were both kids. I lost touch with him when he moved to what at the time seemed like a far away land, but now I’m all grown up and allowed further than the end of the street, I realise its about 5 minutes walk away. Needless to say, when I bumped back in to him a while back, during his bands gig at one of the local boozers, I was really glad to find out that he’s still a great lad. A few nights later, and without my knowledge, they love birds recognised each other and got chatting … the rest is sloppy and as I dont have a disclaimer regarding sick and peoples keyboards/monitors I’ll refrain from telling you it all. Despite this gut wrenching sloppiness I’m really glad they have met and you can tell that this is a really serious relationship, despite it only being a few months old.

So to get back on track, whilst last night was a celebration, it also had an undertone of uncertainty, as the two love birds began to realise that any day now she was jetting off to Boston for the summer. It was nice to see two good friends caring so much about each other and what was even better for me was the fact that I knew just how deep their feelings for each other where before they did, so I know everything will be ok, even if they don’t!

Everyone had a great night and I managed to snap a few photos that where actually in focus, despite being a little bit messy myself. As usual they’re all on my Flickr Account if you want to take a peak.

2009 So Far … 1st Jan to 1st May

Seeing as I’ve lost everything on the site I thought it was a good idea to make an article that covered everything that has happened so far this year, so here goes:

2009 began with Me, Lisa and her friends taking a drunken walk back from a fantastic New Years Eve party at Shaw Hill Hotel, Whittle-le-Woods Near Chorley. This seems to have set the tone for the fantastic year ahead. Because so much has happened I’m going to do a month by month break-down, Enjoy!

January

The year started with Geoff and Mygenet’s wedding, which was all planned at the last minute. Geoff being close family and us having grown up together, I knew I was going to heavily involved, what I didn’t expect was to be asked to usher 4 days before the wedding, and then with 3 days to go I was asked to step in as Best Man due to Geoff’s uncle have an arse of a boss who wouldn’t allow him to take the day off work … on a Saturday! Despite the chaos everything went really well and pictures are available on either of their Facebook accounts.

After the wedding the next two weeks, as it is every year, was filled with birthdays. One of these was a mate of mine and as his wife was out playing we organised a Pro-Evo night for the lads. Lots of Beer, Plenty of Chilli’s and a bit of gambling ensued!

At the end of the month it was Lisa’s birthday, so being the super boyfriend that I am I sent her off to Geneva to see a good friend of hers and spend 4 days getting blind drunk. Upon her return I was in the good books and was forced to endure several weeks of no nagging, drinking with the lads, playing on my xBox and getting spoilt rotten by my lady … terrible times! hehe

February

Everyone know what happens in February, and despite the fact that I hate it, I knew that Lisa was looking forward to it, so Valentines day was in need of planning. Being as how I was in the good books though, Lisa decided that she would take me out! This did feel some what emasculating, but she spared me from wearing the dress, matching shoes and hand bag, so I realised that I could let her be dominant for the day, in exchange for an all expenses paid visit to a fantastic Japanese restaurant in Liverpool and more Tiger Beer than is required to drown a … Tiger?

Next came another batch of close family birthday’s! Towards the end of the month an unusual night out was arranged with a few friends. The venue was the local town hall and the event was a ‘mystery meal’. This didn’t mean we’d get fed something random, it meant that all the staff involved in ’serving’ us where part of a larger play that taking place before us. The plot was of course a murder mystery and the acting was superb. After the police arrived the scene changed as we, as witnesses became involved in the interrogation of the cast, with the ultimate goal of guessing who the murder was. We all had a great night and its an experience I recommend everyone should try, especially if the entrance fee’s go to a good cause.

At the end of the month my car’s MOT, Tax and Service was due, so saving was required, but I did have one night out for a friends 30th. Everyone was there and it was a chance to introduce Lisa to another group of friends who I don’t see very often now we’ve finished playing football. The night was superb and was capped off nicely by the birthday boy being sick down someone’s back after pinching some shots that were meant for other people. Quality :-)

March

Early March was spent sorting my car and attempting to get back in to a routine at the gym, which I failed miserably to do. Other than that, nothing much seemed to happen.

In mid-March it was Mygenet’s birthday, so her and Geoff to decided to throw a small a party that doubled up as a house warming. Everyone had a good time filling their faces and getting to catch up on events since the wedding.

At the end of March myself and Lisa thought it would be nice for the parents to meet, seeing as they only lived a few hundred meters from each other. We had noticed that a life soul singer was on a very nice pub that wasn’t far from where we live, so we booked it. The night was fantastic, the music was great, the food was fantastic (despite a few slip up’s) and the parents got along fine. The night was duly topped off by the taxi having to pull over to let Lisa throw up all over the grass verge right in front of my parents … classy, lol.

April

April is always a crazy month in my life, but this year I decided to do something I’d been putting off for years … I booked to go to Ladies Day at Aintree Races. We both got dolled up and along with out friends had a fantastic day drinking champagne, being merry, losing our money and eating some of the best fish & chips i’ve ever come across. Cant wait till next year :-)

Next up was the usual round of birthdays that take place, including my own, at last. I got lots of nice presents from those close to me and had a good booze up with my mates at the local.

At the end of the month was something I’ve been looking forward too for months … Andy’s Stag-do in Calella, Spain! We were due to be picked up at 04:30 on Friday morning, so being the punch of alky’s that we are, we arranged to meet in the pub at 22:00 on Thursday! The land lady kept the boozer open for us until we got picked up, and so the mayhem began. We had four fantastic days enjoying a free bar, free food and funny nights out. The highlight of the weekend was the stag getting involved in a dance-off with the locals whilst wearing a beautiful red dress with black poker-dots, matching bag and a lovely elephant cock-piece! Coming a close second was Scott’s ability to fall asleep in the most stupid places and wake up covered in permanent marker! Third goes to the bar on the beach where we all chilled out with a pint of Amstel whilst listening to Bob Marley tunes, good times!

So as you can see, it’s been a busy few months. But that’s everything up to date … job done!