DJ Shadow live on the David Letterman Show

Wow how rare is it to see DJ Shadow on TV, the last time i did was in '98 when he was performing with Ian Brown as UNKLE on Top of the Pops - so thats why i stayed up and watched this awful show for an hour before my man hit it up live with Q-Tip and Lateef the Truth Speaker.

See 'Enuff' played live on tv at youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/
and type in DJ Shadow - Enuff (Live) and you will get a treat, David Letterman doesn't know who they are and the audience looks just as blank but i was loving at home!!

The Ashes - England vs Australia

Wow i can't believe its The Ashes already the biggest competition (of Cricket for my American friends) between two old rivals started yesterday and this time the five, 5 day tests will eventually finish on January 6th - but being held in Australia will England be able to hold on to the worlds smallest trophy for another 18 months???

Its not going that well so far with Australia on 586-9 on day 2 but there is a long way to go, Come on England!

Time will tell, JB and Storey can wax lyrical better than i on International Cricket so i won't but if you want to learn more read:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/cricket/england/default.stm

Hot Fuzz - the website

If you loved Shaun of the Dead and the TV show Spaced then this will make you giggle alot :) The story of two local policemen in rural Somerset, that find out its not that sleepy will come out in February but get on board now, i'm excited very excited.

Check out all the details, video blogs, trailers, photos etc at:

http://www.jointhefuzz.com/hotfuzz/index.html

Spurs through to knock-out stages of Uefa Cup

Tottenham Hotspur beat Bayer Leverkusen 0-1 away tonight in Germany (shame Chelsea couldn't do the same) and top their group. Get in!!

Another great away result for Spurs in their return to european competition, this time we were up against a formidable team in Bayer - it was only in 2002 that they lost 1-2 to Real Madrid in the Champions League Final. A team full of international stars but without Dimitar Berbatov who we bought from them in the summer for 10.9m pounds (keyboard only has $ sign btw) and who ultimately was the difference between the two teams as he scored the only goal.

England's No.1 Paul Robinson (see above) also did have two great match winning saves that kept us in it at the death. So after a perfect run in the Uefa Cup, we currently sit top of Group B on 9 points after 3 away victories.

Next up is Dinamo Bucuresti at home on Dec 14th - we are already through to the knock out stages but i hope we keep up the faultless results and Berbatov keeps up his scoring record.

Music Review: Foo Fighters - Skin and Bones (LIVE)

As i sit in my apartment or FROG (Furnished Room Over Garage) with the wind and rain swirling outside i feel warm and relaxed as the Foo's rock out acoustically in the background. They have that sound that is instantly recognisable which makes you feel safe and at home - these are all the songs you know and love, but they have been tenderly re-worked.

All 15 tracks are played acoustically in a similar vein to the 2nd disc of 'In Your Honour' but for the first time on CD they are LIVE. Joining them on stage in Hollywood are four other musicians who play; violin, mandolin, percussion, piano, mellotron (what is that?), accordian and organ to name a few. They really help lift the sound to theatrical levels and at times it is sweeping.

Stand out tracks are; My Hero, February Stars, Times Like These, a mean rendition of Best of You and of course Everlong. This will make you go back to old cds to listen again with fresh enthusiasm making this cd a must buy for fans and a great introduction for those who have missed out on 5 superb albums of music! (3.5/5)

Film Review: Casino Royale

Bond reborn, Bond rediscovered . . . . . basically Bond is back!

If you like me you have wondered what had happened to 007 in the last couple of decades then you will delight in the rebirth of one of the most famous characters to ever be brought to screen.

Casino Royale goes back to basics, does away with all silly crap that had almost killed off James Bond for good and brings us back to the beginning. You see the films have just been getting more and more ridiculous and the public were being offered so much more realistic and intelligent spy thrillers such as The Bourne Indentity/Supremacy series. I think we have all had enough of the unbelievable gadgets, awful one liners and cringe worthy double entendre's.

Thankfully Bond is back on track with a new 007 Daniel Craig who starred in Munich, Layer Cake - which if haven't seen you must, Road to Perdition and back in 1992 the nasty guard in Power of One. The film is stylish and ticks all the boxes of a Bond movie; beautiful girls, locations and weirdo looking baddies - i love that word. But Craig brings a rougher less polished version of 007 that has been seen, he is fallible and not all goes to plan for once.

This keeps you enthralled and on the edge of your seat throughout, especially in the chase scene with world famous Free-Runner Sebastian Foucan and in some of the genuinely tense poker hands. What was also a big plus was the bond girls were more than just eye candy and the scenes with them weren't gratious love making as in the past. When i got home last night 'Die Another Day' was on TV and it just underlined how good Casino Royale was and how bad it had got - up there with Batman & Robin!

If you had given up on Bond, then i urge you to go and see this fantastic new adaption of the 007 character - you will be more than impressed i can guarantee. (4/5)

Watch the trailer at:

http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/casinoroyale/site/

Holy Terrors win in a tight Semi Final

We are on the way to the Final after beating Spoccer in tonights Semi Final of the Playoffs at Patriots Point!! But it was far from simple, we knew it was gonna be tough as we only just beat them 2-0 in the league and it was by the same margin we won again, this time 3-1 was the result.

It was a windy cold night and we had 3 key players missing let alone our 3 injured players so we were down to two guy subs and only one girl. The first half we worked really hard and got two goals from Chris Wiksell and Chris Welch but the second half was tough. They scored a great goal after pinning us back for 15mins and that made it very tense, with JB picking up his first ever yellow card! lol

Thankfully we pounced on some defensive errors and i scored the clincher even if it was a poor shot and somehow squeezed under the female keeper!

So we are off to the final and we will be playing the only team we haven't beaten all season long Charleston Classic, but with our 3 key players back i think we will turn them over and come away with the trophy, we'll see in a week!

Multi-Ball introduced in the FA Cup? lol

This is one of the funniest things i have ever seen - remember the Budweiser beer advert? Well this is the real thing . . . absolutely hilarious!

"We were completely surprised. I was sitting behind the chairman and we were both rubbing our eyes. That's not what we wanted. Balls coming over the wall at Macclesfield."
Macclesfield Chief executive Patrick Nelson after their televised FA Cup tie with Walsall on November 13th was interrupted by 36 footballs being thrown over the stand and on to the pitch.

Go watch the glorious moment on youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Macclesfield+vs+Walsall+

Best Quote of the week:

"We've given away eight chances and conceded five goals in the last four games. I think if we stop the other team creating chances, we shouldn't concede any."
Curtis Davies of West Brom - obviously a master tactician!

Funniest chants of the week:

"I'm going home in a St John's ambulance!"
Bolton fans at Bramall lane when an attractive St John's nurse walked past.

"Chelsea Reject!"
Newcastle fans sing to Middlesbrough's former Chelsea player Robert Huth. But who is their captain? and their Irish winger - and who did they play for?

"Lets all do the Wenger."
Arsenal fans against Everton in the Carling Cup, while they pushed each other singing the song.

"Have you won the European Cup?"
Aston Villa fans to Chelsea fans in response to any Chelsea song.

Thanks Giving week

Are you carrying more than you can manage?

Then i encourage you to lay your burdens at Jesus' feet and read Psalm 55:22 it says; "Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall."
and in Zephaniah 3:17 "The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing."

How good is that? Its not yours to carry, God is enough - whatever your need, man He is so good!

Tonight is another big game for the Terrors as we play Spoccer in the Semi-Final of the playoffs, we beat them narrowly 2-0 in the division but this for a place in the Championship Final so we will see.

Other than that its a very relaxing week for all in the USA as its Thanksgiving on Thursday so its only a 2 day week for me as Monday is my day off! Sweet huh, very naice thank you please.

Have a great week Y'all.

Spurs need to step it up again!

Another draw this time away at Blackburn, but if we are really gonna do something in the league we need to start scoring more, especially from all the chances we are creating and winning games like this. It doesn't help when a bad ref sends off both a player and the manager but they had one sent off too!

At least Defoe scored again (seeing as he is my fantasy team) and against such a good penalty stopper, as Brad Friedel is. Lets hope we can turn it on again when we visit Germany on Thursday to play Bayer Leverkusen in the Uefa Cup.

One game that we should win is the Carling Cup Quarter Final vs. Southend - i know they beat Man Utd, but we are at home and we will out play them.

Saying that it often shows in the league when you have good cup runs and we are still in three so that might be the reason we are struggling, still i'd love to do well in the league and win a trophy this year. Its about time!

Buckeyes vs Wolverines - America has gone crazy!

Today will end the euphoria that has building up for according to media the biggest College Football game of the year maybe even history as Ohio State University (the Buckeyes) hosts Michigan University (Woverines) in their 103,000 seater stadium. Yes you read that correctly over 100,000 fans at a university game, Michigan holds 113,000, madness!

This as you can see from the pictures above and below is down to the absolute loyality to people's College team that splits families and friendships, its that fierce an obsession. Locally here in Charleston you are either a Clemson Tigers man not fan (who were ranked No.10 recently) or a University of South Carolina Gamecock - i have chosen to follow the orange Tigers, much to the dismay of some, lol.

The reason its bigger than the NFL i.e Pro Football is because most players are locals and the amount of money that colleges make from the sport makes it epic in size and all day Saturday games are played across the nation. Its played for pride, not money by players in usually a more exciting fashion than the Pro teams, its very fast and creative.
Now the big fuss over these two teams is bcause they are ranked No.1 and No.2 in the country which has never happened before as they are in the same division. The season is nearly over and the top teams are ranked and go into different Bowl games and the big finale is the National Championship that this weekends game could be a rehearsal for.

If this doesn't make any sense or you would like to know more then read the article called 'The Real Varsity Game' on the BBC Sport's website:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/other_sports/default.stm

Ohio State won 42 - 39 in the end, if you care! :)

England Rugby finally win at Twickers . . .

Its always good to beat the South Africans but after Englands current run of 7 defeats including Argentina for crying out loud it was time to silence the critics, if only for a while.

Twickenham is not the fortress it once was and the 2003 World Cup winning squad has been desimated and due to poor player choices, injuries, insignificant development and mis-management the results have hit rock bottom. We are no longer in the elite of the rugby world where we have been fearless, now there is doubt about the quality on the pitch and it shows.

So it was I imagine a big sigh of relief at Twickers when the final whistle blew and the scoreboard showed a slim 23-21 win.

England: (6) 23
Tries: Cueto, Vickery
Cons: Goode 2
Pens: Hodgson 2, Goode
South Africa: (13) 21
Tries: De Villiers, Ndungane
Con: James
Pens: James 2
Drop: Steyn

But will it last and are we gonna be ready to defend our crown as World Champions next year? Only time will tell.

Film Review: The Prestige

Are you watching closely?

I came out of the cinema with JB roughly 30 mins ago and i am still thinking and wondering what i have just seen - this was an intriguing film full of many twists and turns that will leave you like me with numerous questions.

Christopher Nolan the genius director who brought to life the amnesic thriller Memento, the atmospheric noir Insomnia and most recently the resurrection of a comic legend in Batman Begins. Now brings us this, The Prestige. It seems everything he and his brother Jonathan (good name by the way) touch turns to cinematic gold as this movie centred around two rival magician's drips with luscious period detail and mystery that you can never fully believe what you're seeing due to clever mis-direction just like the perfomers use in the film.

The two rivals who start out as fellow performers and friends are played by Hugh Jackman (of X-Men fame) and Christian Bale (Batman Begins) are both excellent in their roles as our the supporting actors. Which are made up by the ever masterful Michael Caine, Scarlett Johansson who has a top english accent btw, Andy Serkis (Gollum from LOTR) and even David Bowie.

The story moves around throughout, cutting back to earlier moments in each man's troubled lives seemlessly that you sometimes wonder which scene is a flashback. The mens obsession to out do each others tricks leads to many dangerous consequences that ultimately unravel their morals and ruin their families future, let alone their own lives.

Nolan gloriously brings this story to life in turn of the century London through rich costumes, set design and fine acting from all on screen, The Prestige is full of back and forth "aha" moments as well as sad tragic ones but its so gripping I want to go back and see it again now. (4.5/5)

See the trailer at:
http://theprestige.movies.go.com/

Re:generate High School weekend @ Hilton Head!

Right this is certainly done differently in the UK,!!

Re:generate was a weekend for High Schoolers (15-18) to grow in their faith through good Bible teaching, seminars, worship, prayer and together with their youth group. All in all their were 280 leaders and students from all over the Diocese of South Carolina including nearly 30 of us from Holy Cross.

It was held at the Hilton Ocean Resort at Hilton Head, 2.5 hours south of Charleston very close to Savannah on the Georgia border. And what a venue! The resort is a 4 diamond hotel and conference centre set right on the beach so we were spoilt. Each room had two huge double beds, sofas, a kitchen area, balcony and en suite - i slept on a air mattress while the 3 lads my room enjoyed the comfort of 10 pillows and 5 sheets - how excessive is that! lol see pic . .


It was an awesome weekend, where as a group we really started to build community and get more passion to follow Jesus back home. Each morning and evening their were main meetings with worship, Bible teaching and ministry time. Then in the day their were seminars on mission, theology, Jesus wasn't a carpenter et al and free time which i spent on the beach playing beach football on the beautiful white sand and mid 70 degree heat, is it November?!

The evening was ace we had a 80's/90's Prom which was so much fun, we had a live band and everyone made such an amazing effort - i went as an 80's breakdancer with an awful shellsuit jacket, headband and tracky b's and busted out some mean dance moves, lol!

Sunday after the meeting we headed home after stopping at Moe's for some lunch, all had a top time and the 24/7 prayer room was really good even if my roomies didn't want to go at 5am for their hour slot i put us down for - it was awesome. Praise God for a top time and for blessing our students so powerfully.

JK's brand new whip!

Well as you can see i have another monster truck! lol

JB and I went car shopping on Monday after Re:generate with the insurance money i got as my other Ford Expedition (white) got totalled - see earlier post below for more details.
We spent 5 hours driving around car dealers and used car lots on Mount Pleasant and West Ashley and ended up coming back to the 2nd place we went to, isn't it always the way!

The old truck was worth about $9000 but the insurance gave us $11,350 - Praise God so we wanted to spend about 10k and save the rest for the Youth program, well after a short time bartering with the man from Paradise Motors, :) we got him down to 10k inc plates, title, tax etc which is awesome. Especially as this Expedition is 2 years newer (2001) than the last one and in better condition but has done 117,000 miles rather than 95,000. But the garage ghad recently spent 500 dollars on a tune up, spark plugs and cleaning it up.

This time its in black, with full tinted windows and sunroof but no third row of seats so gotta get that, its the same 5.4 litre V8 engine so a bit of a gas guzzler but its still less to fill up than my C2! :) Only in a America hey - there's no way you could afford it in the UK, i loves it.

Holy Terrors win Quarter Final 4-1 . . .

Check us out, this is the T-shirt we were given for being Champions, get involved!

Monday was our first Playoff game and we played a team called Unfiltered who we beat 7-0 earlier this season. We started with high energy and we were rewarded with 2 goals in quick succession one from Chris Wiksell and another from JB (cool finish), both of which i watched from the sidelines as i was a bit late after car shopping.

At 2-0 i entered the fray and started centre mid i quickly got knackered i mean into the mix and started orchastrating the game. I slid a ball through for Chris to get his second and then later in the half i took a corner that Kristen calmly headed majestically at the far post like Alan shearer of old! So 4-0 at half time and we were coasting so we let our crazy goalie out for a run (we've done that in the last 2 games actually) and JB went in for him. I then had a short run up front, they then pulled one back with a super toe punt and then i played a little in defence to finish at Centre Back! lol

So no goals but 2 assists and more importantly we are through to the Semi Finals of the Play offs! Go Terrors!

Book Review: The Great Divorce - CS Lewis

Yes, i have actually finished a book!! I am so terrible at starting books and not finishing them due to starting another one, but i changed my ways for this book that we had to read for the Mens Hike.

Don't let the title deceive you this isn't about broken marriages but a story of a man who takes a day trip to heaven and hell, its a fascinating and revealing read that made me see characteristics that i have and others too that keep us attached to what won't satisfy or fulfill us.

Its a short book that is written beautifully describing both heaven and hell in a way you won't of imagined but will never forget - give it a go and let me know what you think. (4/5)

Holy Terrors win Div 3 and head to playoffs!

We won again Monday night 4-1 and i scored my 10th of the season and got an assist - this is how the table ended:

1) Holy Terrors 22 points
2) Charleston Classic 19 points
3) Spoccer 16 points
4) Mudslingers 13 points
5) Moe's 12 points
6) Iacafano's 10 points
7) Charleston Wave 7 points
8) Unfiltered 6 points

In our 9 games we scored 39 goals, conceded 16 and lost just 1 game!!

Next Monday we go into the playoffs seeded No.1 and aim to continue are superb form - i'll keep you informed of our developments, GO TERRORS!

Spurs vs Wycombe Wanderers???

Awesome, another victory for the in form Spurs, i know it was only Port Vale (but look what happened to Man Utd vs Southend ha ha lol) but we changed 10 of the players from that awesome win over Chelsea and gave debuts to Steed Malbranque (above), Andy Barcham up front and Dorian Devitte in defence.

So the usual suspects are through to the Quarter Finals; Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and then there's us; Newcastle, Charlton, Southend and WYCOMBE WANDERERS!! Get in the Chairboys!! For those of you who don't know (i.e you are a US citizen) that is my birth town and local club.

Lets hope Wycombe, Spurs and Southend get a good draw in the last eight of the League Cup.

Film Review: Borat!: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan

Oh my goodness, what can i say other than i laughed as much as i was shocked but ultimately i loved this film. Sacha Baron Cohen the creator of Ali G brings his Borat character to the USA where he is unknown and mostly completely misunderstood.

The mock-umentary/satire/comedy see's Borat a tv journalist from Kazakhstan sent to 'US and A' so that he can . . . oh who cares its all a farce. This is just an excuse to let loose a very clever, but crude man on the unsuspecting US citizen. On his tour he gets side tracked by an episode of Baywatch and falls in love with Pamela Anderson, who he must now marry, so off to Malibu he goes with his friend and a huge black bear for protection!

That is the premise that takes Borat across the country east to west amazingly unscathed as he upsets everyone he meets and probably anyone who watches this film at some point. No one is safe! The main brunt going towards women, gypsies and jews which is funny in itself as Sacha Baron Cohen himself is a jew and he graduated from Oxford too!

Prepare yourself for crude language, images and naked men wrestling - but if this is possible also be ready to laugh harder than ever because this is funny very funny. Yes its not always nice but the genius of Borat is that he uncovers peoples prejudices and at times the film is incredibly insightful. Then is goes straight back to ridiculous i admit but don't over look this movie it will change America.

This is not for all and especially not for under 18's, but i am still smiling when i think about it and i nearly burst a blood vessel in my head laughing at it! So for that reason i have to say this is up there with Little Miss Sunshine, HAIGH FAIVE! (4.5/5)

Check out the trailer and pics at:
http://www.boratmovie.com/

Music Review: Cut Chemist - The Audience's Listening

Well it was on the cards that Cut Chemist aka Lucas McFadden (who i met with Tom Nixon - i know we are cool aren't we) would release something after his split from Los Angeles based super hiphop group Jurassic 5 and this is it.

In terms of style this is very much like his first solo effort 'The Litmus Test' but this time instead of using music he had created in the past, mostly with J5 this is all new. Cut is best mates with Dj Shadow and has similar interests musically and technically, however this is more like a Kid Koala or Dj Yoda set. Think lots of samples and simple beats with some scratchin thrown in.
There are some vocal tracks too and they lift the album out of mediocrity and at times into a musical delight. The whole album is neat and tidy in that it doesn't push the envelope that hard but it does occasionally raise its game with some sublime beats and funny inserts. (3/5)

Check out some of the best tracks at:
http://www.cutchemist.com/

Spurs beat Chelsea 2-1, 16 years of hurt are over!!

I am so happy, i was returning from the Mens Hike so heard through a text from JB that we finally ended the run of 16 years of not beating our London rivals who have been Champions of the Premier League for the last two years. Trey sat next to me as i erupted inside the Church Van "no you don't realise this is huge, WOOOOH i am so happy!"

Aaron Lennon you legend!

To all my friends back home who support the Blues let me enjoy this for a while, this is awesome - Tim, Rob, Andy and others i love you but this feels so good! Least Arsenal lost too ha ha!

And a win vs FC Bruges on Thursday night means we are unbeaten in 8 games in all competitions - i was right we are on the rise, COME ON YOU SPURS!!

I am so happy its untrue. :0)

Mens Hike Fall 2006

This is what we had to look at for 4 days; beautiful blue skies, striking autumn colours and weather that was perfect to walk in. There were 36 of us in the end, 18 in each team Alpha and Omega as we headed north to the border of North Carolina last Thursday at 6am after getting up at 4am!!

The idea of the hike was to unplug from the matrix of our lives and give God space to meet us in the mountains and boy did He! I travelled up with Vann who looks after all the buildings at Holy Cross and is just a legend and two guys i din't know that well Andy and Tom who actually looked like a young Dennis Quaid!

We arrived at 11.30 and seperated into our two teams i was in Alpha and Will my mate who i work with was in Omega. We started a trek at 12.20pm on Thursday and would eventually finish on Sunday at 2pm clocking up 32.5 miles of mountainus terrain with 40/50 pounds of food and equipment strapped to our backs!

We would spend the day walking, occasionally resting and eating, then on arrival at each campsite in the woods or beside a river or lake make a fire, set up tents, eat and worship together (each group had two guitars and gifted players). We listened to testimonies of guys there of how God moved in their lives, of how He saved them and healed them. We would pray together and each group had a vicar, Omega had Father Trip and we had Father Chris who would bring the Word each night and morning (i shared a tent with Chris), awesome huh.

We would have times of silence as we trekked to give God space to speak to us and He did, about those we needed to forgive including ourselves, what we needed to hand over to God and not hold on to any longer. What He thought of us, new names He wanted to give us and for Him to encourage us. God brought lots of men to their knees over those 4 days including me, 6 men gave their lives to the Lord, Praise God! Others were set free from performance driven lives they had lived by, others from vowes they had made in their mind and fears that strangled them and stopped them from growing and being trully free. Others were healed and many other amazing moments were had to - God was/is just so good and will forever be!

This was a life changing time that brought me closer to my Father in heaven, to guys i knew a bit and some i didn't at all and built a foundation in me of freedom, encouragement and truth. Thank you Abba Father, i belong to you. Amen.

If you want to know more just email me or leave a comment oh and check out the pictures i took under the links at the top right.