Everton 1 Arsenal 0

What? I don't know that I've beent his irritated or angry after watching a football match in a long time. Everton scored in the 13th (or so) minute and Arsenal was unable to secure a response. Hentry was off his game. Reyes, Ljungberg & Pires were anonymous, with the exception of Ljungberg's excellently saved shot in the 12th minute. Fabregas was a joy to watch throughout, but his youthful exuberance let him down in the end and he walked early to the showers after a straight red card. NEVER raise your hand to a fellow player on the pitch, your team or theirs. He knows that, Arsene knows that, EVERYone knows that. There's NO excuse, he deserved his red, he deserves to be fined. Campbell & Senderos were useless and occasionally scary at centre-back leaving the messes for Gilbert & Lauren to clean up. Gilbert, a teen-ager played remarkeably well and in my mind earned his spot on the team with his display today. Certainly a better player with more intelligent decisions than Hleb who replaced him or that idiot Gilberto in the centre. New signing Diaby who came on for Pires with 10 minutes left looks like he will eventually grow into those legs of his and become a solid player in mid-field. Certainly he's not afraid to get stuck-in and chase the ball. But he looked a bit out-of-sorts and out of place. But, what do you expect given only 10 minutes to prove your worth in the mighty Arsenal team. Bah!

Mary King's Close

At some point in our day in Edinburgh, as we were walking the Royal Mile, we were accosted by sales hawkers in the guise of historical characters. They were dressed in typically bad 16-19th century costumes. However, they were hawking something that appealed to me: The Real Mary King's Close. See, anything remotely fortean or supernatural has always appealed to me and Auld Reekie is rife with Ghost Walks & the like. Here was my opportunity to do something that would appeal to my wife's love of history & my love of the supernatural. I shan't wax about the close itself, you can read about it by following the link above, but suffice it to say that it was worth every bit of the £6 per person. Photos are not, by the way, allowed during the tour, so typical of me, I hung back, turned off the flash and snuck surreptitious photos whene'er I could. No ghost, sadly, was to be had during our trip underground, but I intend to do it again, and one of these days the ghosts will find that a believer walks among them and come to visit me. At least that is my hope. Arsenal finally have completed the signing of Theo Walcott. He's sixteen, so obviously this is a future enhancement. I wouldn't be surprised to see the lad loaned back out to some team, such as Southampton. But it's a delight to see two Chelsea targets snub them to join the Gunners. A delight indeed. Been sick for two days, but back at work now..which means I have time to write. Wastrel On! (Listening to: Girl in Green by Blue Rodeo)

Deacon Brodie's Tavern

It intrigues me how the two characters in history most often associated with dual identies are both Scottish. Jekyll & Hyde is the invention of Robert Louis Stevenson while William Brodie was a popular & important member of Edinburgh society in the mid-to-late 18th Century. Brodie was a cabinet maker, a Deacon of the Wrights & Masons (a trade guild) , a juror and a city councillor. He was also a burglar. Using his daytime job of cabinetry to glean information about the security mechanisms of his clients (some of the wealthiest people in Edinburgh), he would make wax impressions of their keys and revisit them in the night. Eventually, Brodie became the victim and was captured in 1788 in the Netherlands. He was shipped back to Edinburgh for trial where he and his henchmen George Smith were both found guilty & hanged at the Tolbooth on October 1, 1788. Ironically, a gallows that Brodie had designed & funded the eyar before was used to render him lifeless. It is this amazing double-life that, rumour has it, inspired Robert Louis Stevenson to create & pen The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, one of the most enduring of all stories. Deacon Brodie's Tavern is a traditional style 2-storyed pub on the Royal Mile and a popular watering hole. Food can be had upstairs while the downstairs seemed to be reserved for the drinkers. A delightful place to visit and escape the rain, or sun, if you're on the Royal Mile. In other news, Thierry Henry has reportedly thrown his weight behind the signing of Theo Walcott, something I'd truly love to see. Walcott is 16 years of age and already playing regular football for Southampton's youth squad. His agent claims he will be the next Wayne Rooney, but that's what they said about Freddy who? Adu. He's too young to make that kind of claim, but apparently he's full of tricky, savvy & speed. I'd love to see Thierry & Theo play together. It would seem that Chelsea is also trying to pry this kid away from Southampton, but hopefully Theo has his head up & is watching Wayne Bridge & Wright-Phillips languish on the bench at Chelsea. Let's hope so. Wastrel On! (Listening to: Papa Was a Rolling Stone by the Temptations)

View of the Castle

Edinburgh Castle.
This is the view that many tourists don't get because they just simply don't get off the Royal Mile. We're standing on Prince's Street; more accurately, I'm standing on Prince's Street while Marita Beth is shopping for shoes. I've acquired the Scottish Strip and done with my shopping, but MB is just starting. So, I while away the time and amuse myself with photo-snapping. The weather was very misty, raining at times, prompting many an umbrella or slicker to come out. We have neither with us, but I'm dressed in a fabulous Cross of St. Andrew hoody that I picked up at the Glamis games early in the trip (one of my better buys) while Marita Beth has her hoody from Cairn O'Mohr.
Manchester United have lost their appeal against Ronaldo's dismissal on the weekend, which rules him out for the Burton Albion FA Cup replay tomorrow at Old Trafford. Personally, having seen the clumsy, retaliatory lunge he performed I think he should be banned for more than just one game, but so the jaffa cakes crumble, eh?That piece of shit Wayne Rooney is also ruled out, but I don't know why exactly. Meanwhile Arsenal claims that once Emirates -- HATE the name -- is finished, Arsenal will have the greatest take in gate receipts in the sporting world. Rubbish, I say, but I can't really comment because I don't know what the full value is when every ticket is sold. I do think, however, it would be hard-pressed to compete with the value of these indiotic NASCAR tracks when they're full. I mean, really, those friggin' tracks hold half a million people or more! Emirates -- HATE the name -- will hold only 60,000. Far cry.
That crazy wanker Swede, Sven Gorn has gone and put his foot in again. This time commenting to a sheikh (whom he just met) about the state of his team and the foibles of his current charges using such lovely, moral-boosting terms as "greedy," and "lazy." Saying also, while he was at it, that he'll quit if England win the World Cup (go on and quit, already!) and purchase Aston Villa ensconcing himself as the manager. Pogo Stick! What's he thinking railing on his players to some person he just met (who turns out to be a reporter undercover) and then telling existing EPL managers that he'll fire them as soon as he can. What a miserable, unbelievable, wanker man. Wastrel On! (Listening To: Sgt. Pepper's Loney Hearts Club Band by the Beatles)

Scottish Architecture

I'm not sure what this building is. Nor am I sure what road runs on the bridge in front of it.
Thanks to IDG (an excellent photographer with a pro Flickr account - check it out) who informed me that this building is the Balmoral hotel ( a luxury hotel)- located just off Princes street Edinburgh - close to the Railway station. There are other photo examples of this building out there, like this one, but it doesn't have a description either. Do you know? I'd love to come back & edit this post some day soon with the proper information.
Added 17 January 2005: According to Nad, the "bridge goes over Waverly Station", while mrry adds that "the bridge in the foreground is North Bridge, which meets Prince's Street to the right of the picture."
Don't you LOVE the internet and social communities within it's confines?

Marita Beth & I, having completed lunch and sent Ginger, Larry & Denise on up to the castle, continued on our quest. Desperately seeking the Scottish National Team Football Strip, we trolled many of the kitschy shops that dot the Royal Mile. After way too many of them, we decided to pop off the Royal Mile & check the side streets looking for a sporting goods shop of some sort. Sometime after leaving the Royal Mile, we walked down the street/hill and around the corner to see this magnificent sight. It's magnificent, isn't it? Shortly after this photo, we stopped into a "Sports Bar" to ask the bartender & grab a pint. The barkeep was clueless, but luckily they had these stainless steel (yes, monitor, keyboard & mouse were all stainless-cased) computers set up all 'round the place with a free hi-speed connection. As long as we were eating or drinking, the surfing was free. So, we located a JJB Sports (the largest sporting goods conglomerate in the U.K. - the owner also happens to own Wigan, an English Premier League team), finished our respective pints (cider for her, pint of the 70 shilling for me (McEwan's I believe) and set out to finalize our adventure in the Edinburgh shopping district. Eventually we worked our way to JJB and purchased my Scottish Stip (I buy a national strip in each country I visit). While there we noticed a HUGE Arsenal poster advertising the fact that Arsenal were soon to release their new commemorative strip...but that's a story for a different (brilliant!) day.

Speaking of Arsenal, they thrashed Middlesborough over the weekend with a full 7 - 0 score. Henry got a hattrick while Hleb, Senderos, Pires & that useless bag of dung Gilberto each bagged one. 'Borough were outclassed, outgunned and it seemed their defence decided not to show at all. All this while ManCity stomped on ManU(re) 3-1 with Robbie Fowler, having not played since April of last year, putting the final nail in at the death. And then of course, Sunderland surprised everyone by scoring first in the Chelsea/Sunderland match at the 12th minute. If only they could have held on, but sadly, Crespo & someone else, probably Robben or Cole, put two in the bag sealing Sunderland's loss & pretty much assuring their relegation at the season's end. What a miserable season they're having. 7 - 0! Up the Arse!

Wastrel On! (Listening to: Eye in the Sky by Alan Parson's Project) & (Listening to: Drowning by Boiled in Lead)