Stunner

Pretentious answer, probably, but one album to me is absolute perfection from start to finish: Histoire De Melody Nelson by Serge Gainsbourg.

Coming in at 27 minutes or so, so not quite full-length, but every second is valuable and perfectly realised. It's also indefinable - it's not heavy enough to be rock, not accessible enough to be pop, not out-there enough to be jazz, and too electric and modern to be classical. But it takes something from all of them. You don't even need to understand what he's going on about to appreciate how beautiful this is.

 

Two footballing favourites of mine: Mustafa Tiryaki who bounces between the lower English and Turkish leagues, and Rameer Outlaw who used to pop up playing for Welsh sides.

I've also never forgotten an old Japanese player from the old CM01/02 days called Yoshiteru Yamashita.

Not saying it for "cred" or anything - I barely watch wrestling and don't post in the wrestling forum here often at all - nor am I saying anything previous to this is a work (it clearly isn't), but the sudden proposal and the Knight's rather immediate public reaction, plus the highlighting of this throat-grabbing thing.

 

I don't know, maybe I'm wrong, but the whole deal with Ricky openly saying hes against it, Roy commenting about her being "silly" - it just screams out to me that this is leading to some ADR-Knights feud.

I tweeted him once a good few years back and he replied by DM; I think it's just his own way of dealing with people - probably thinks it makes them feel special.

 

All I'll add here is what a disappointment his current run has been. Compared to his Commissioner run it's an embarrassment. I want the old Mick back.

Anyone else get the feeling we're being worked?

EDIT: Let's move on

Maybe the comments made me expect worse, but she doesn't look that bad to me. She's definitely lost a fair bit of weight, but her lack of in-ring action and her injury may mean she's just slacking on the gym. I don't know.

 

But when this blows over and she's wrestling again (wherever that is), she should totally go with a "possible addict" gimmick. Be quality.

I've been on JSA for six months now, and the damage it has done to my confidence has been astounding; primarily because - as I mentioned here once before - I was applying for any old shit and not hearing back at all. Not a single interview. In the year since graduating, a mate of mine who dropped out has been in and out of about three jobs, and everyone I knew from uni struggled initially but have all fallen into jobs of varying quality. Just did me in.

 

JobCentre put me on three different CV courses. The first was two-hours, and I was told my CV was okay but nothing special, fix it here and here and it'll be fine. Still nothing. Then they put me on a one-day course and he told me much the same, and still with no effect. Then they put me on a four-day CV and interview course, and it was, again, the same deal. In fact, they were falling over themselves to tell me how strong was CV was. I was worried I lacked in-work experience, they assured me that employers are only really interested in what you've been doing for the past few years, and university was my answer. But again, absolutely nothing. No interviews, no call backs, not even any rejections: just radio silence.

 

Eventually, I mentioned in passing to my job coach that I wonder if my cover letter was at fault. She said maybe and off I went. Then in my last meeting I was with somebody else, but when I mentioned the same thing she immediately pulled my cover letter template up on UJM, told me it was "fine for ten years ago but not what they want anymore," laid out exactly how to do it, and then told me "nowadays, the cover letter is probably more important than the CV" - which was a bit of an annoyance to hear after three employability courses with nary a mention of cover letters.

 

But anyway, sorted that, applied for a couple of jobs, and this morning I've been phoned back twice in an hour. And rather than feel relieved, I feel like a virgin who's just pulled. Terrified.

You can't really win by quoting lyrics, full stop. You're either an idiot or a pretentious fuck, and often both. I remember my teenage years, quoting Leonard Cohen because I was oh so thoughtful. My nadir was when I took to spouting Serge Gainsbourg lyrics, because doing it in French made me even cooler.

 

Regarding Paige, I disagree with people who think she's shit. I used to think she was marvellous, and still think she's got the ability to be so, but absolutely her matches regressed in quality. I've always got the impression with Paige that WWE's inconsistent booking of her got her down a little, causing her to lose focus, thus beginning a vicious circle where she'd become further disillusioned, which would result in her falling further down the pecking order, and on it went. I noticed that in the last year or so anything wrestling-related on her social media declined to the point where you'd almost be forgiven for not knowing she was even a wrestler.

 

So if her boyfriend (and I must admit, I actually thought their relationship was invented for Total Divas) is at loggerheads with the company that has, in her mind, misused her and let her down, who's side is she going to be on?

 

She's young enough that, if she does leave, a couple of years on the indies and as a free person (how often in her life has she been able to genuinely let her hair down, compared to the average 24-year old?) could do her wonders, and she could go back rejuvenated, more mature, and an even better wrestler than ever. In short, she's at a major crossroads in her life, one that could easily be the making of her.

The new album by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Skeleton Tree, is one of the toughest albums I've ever heard. It's beautiful, painful, and you feel like a voyeur and grief thief rolled into one, but... it's stunning.

Even as someone who's not really a Corbyn "fan," it's disingenuous at best the way Owen Smith's supporters keep pointing to the polls as proof that Corbyn isn't fit for the role. If a party refuses to support their own leader, then the electorate isn't going to see them as a Prime Minister. It's simple.

 

Corbyn was always going to be a hard-sell, but the PLP can't expect to tell everyone Corbyn's shit and then see it as his failure when people start believing it.

 

Also, Owen Smith is dreadful. Fancy attacking Corbyn in the one area where everybody knows he's sterling.

The pub directly opposite my house is a Pokestop, though it actually closed about five months ago, so I doubt the former landlord - who still lives above it - is particularly thrilled. The Mormon church at the end of the street is one too, though I'm scared to approach that one because they'll already have some super-sneaky way to convert everyone, like the time they had two really attractive American girls banging on my door trying to get me to convert.

 

Anyway, I got bored of this after about two days, with only a Weedle and Rattata to my name other than my starter Charmander. Might just go out into the woods later this evening though and see what rocks up.

Grow up.

 

Also, am I supposed to walk towards those little dancing blades of grass to find Pokemon? I caught a Weedle in my kitchen but it's too rainy to venture out.

Cheers for the advice.

 

Went to this CV course today, expecting the worst (I've heard some horror stories about these courses). But I actually found it pretty useful. The guy that ran it was fine with my specialised writing CV, but pretty brutal about my "general" one. So with all that in mind, I've got an alright basic CV I think and I'm planning on taking it into some agencies to find some temporary admin work. I think that's a start.

This is probably the most ridiculous question, but it's been a year since I graduated and... erm... how do you get a job?

 

Since I finished university, I've been dipping into the old "content mills" as a way of making some money, but the pay has been so pathetic that even whilst back at mums I ended up worryingly into my overdraft. So I've been trying to get copywriting work... nothing. I've also been looking for casual part-time work to free up some space for my writing portfolio... nothing. In the past year, I've received a grand total of no interviews, two rejection letters and one phonecall.

 

So, eventually I bit the bullet and signed on. They made me meet with some CV expert who insisted that, with some minor tweaks, my CV was utterly fine and that there's nothing wrong with neither my qualifications nor my experience. Two weeks later, and they're forcing to me to take a two-day "create a CV" course! Is it not enough that their own employee helped me a matter of weeks ago, and was certain I was "fine"!?

 

They're also, six weeks down the line since they started paying me, already threatening me with a "work placement" stacking shelves at Asda. I mean, for fuck's sake, I was seriously concerned that I'd struggle to find work by the time I returned home, but even my worst nightmares failed to conjure up this scenario.

What's the craic with carbonated water? I've settled into a half-decent diet as far as liquid goes nowadays. I'll have a milky coffee with two sugars in the morning, a milky tea with two sugars in the late evening, but otherwise I only consume green tea (no milk, no sugar), water and carbonated water.

 

Anyway, my ankle finally seems okay again, but I've been pretty disheartened to learn that in the period that I've been recuperating my ankle, I've gained nearly half the weight I'd lost in the last couple of months. So, certainly, something has to be done. I'm going for my x-ray on Monday. As I said before, I hope it's nothing serious, but I do hope it's something - I'll never lose weight if things stay as they are.

Cheers Arch and Baz... managed to get a five-minute appointment today and I have indeed been sent for an x-ray. I'm hoping it's nothing serious, but at the same time hoping it's something so it can get sorted and I can carry on!

 

Yoga's not a bad idea... I've even been thinking of having a go at DDP Yoga which appears to work wonders, though I'm always sceptical, especially when the "proof" of its success are all DDP's wrestling mates. Still, getting active is never a bad thing so we'll see.

Could really do with some advice actually.

 

I started trying to lose weight in early February. 30 minutes per day - mostly jogging but other stuff too. I then gradually started sorting my diet out . Within a month I was half a stone down. So far so good.

 

Around that point I noticed an ache in my ankles (especially my left) after each session. Then it became quite painful in the evenings after I finished. I tried to work through it, until both ankles and my back were hurting almost as soon as I started. Time for a couple of days' break, I thought.

 

After two days, I was in genuine pain, could barely walk up and down the stairs, and had not inconsiderable swelling. I was in at the doctor for weight loss advice anyway, so I mentioned it. She said it was simple overuse - keep off my feet for a few days, and eventually as my ankles strengthen and my weight goes down it'll sort itself out. My back and right ankle did quickly sort themselves out, but my left was stubborn. Eventually it healed, I decided I'll carry on the following day, but a chest infection delayed my return to exercise for a further two weeks.

 

Finally, I start again, and just as I get back into the swing of things, my ankles (again, primarily the left) start playing up. I quickly take a break rather than keep on them, but I've been laid up for over a week again, this time in even more pain than the last. I actually broke my (right) ankle a couple of years back and the pain of that was nothing on this.

 

I've just got back from a 20 minute walk to Asda and back, and while in the shop my ankle started giving way, as if it was incapable of even walking. I feel like my weight is slowly creeping back up. My right ankle is again stubbornly refusing to heal. It seems the only manner of easing this ankle is by laying on my arse even more than I was before.

 

Getting fed up now. Anyone have any advice on what I can do in the meantime, and how I can ease it and keep it from seizing up again? If this keeps up I'll be in an endless cycle of just losing the weight I gained whilst recuperating my ankle, before being laid up again.

 

(Sorry for the long post)

There's a guy who goes out with an ex colleague of mine called Jeremy Ginsburg. He professes to have become "Famous in Vietnam" basically by being on a few reality shows. Truthfully he's had about as much success outside the bars he performs crap gigs in as a forgettable mid season big brother contestant, but him and his misuses continue to promote their shit, his "book" and other bollocks across the net like they have the answers for life which seems to be live of your parents money and sell a few things online/ freelance until daddy dies and makes you rich! It just annoys me how in your face he is when it's just the same 20 people sucking his dick online, the guy has done seriously nothing worthwhile for humanity yet preaches like a fucking inspirational figure. If you want to get wound up youtube search the cunt

 

I had to search him up - I love angering myself. He looks like a cross between John Travolta and Eric Cantona.

Remember my previous posts about the girl I fell for who had the boyfriend, told me she wanted me, but then changed her mind?

 

In short, eleven months later and she still won't give up. And I'm unable to move on because life hasn't been too friendly to me since. And I have absolutely no idea where this is all heading!

Byron Bubb and Stephen McPhee. Two more lower league legends. Also a non-leaguer called Kevin Ellis at, I think, Marine.

 

I remember obsessively playing it at about 11 years old and signing people because I liked their names; even with that in mind I'd still usually walk the Premier League with Manchester United without any cheating. I couldn't get anywhere in Europe though; Roma would almost inevitably become invincible about two seasons in.

Viv Albertine is still remarkably attractive... and she's 61.

 

A bloke I lived with at uni dropped out in his final semester to open a cat café with his new girlfriend. He got in the paper going on as if he invented the concept, only for some hipster clichés to go mental saying they had "thought of it first". They went to war via one of those crowdfunding sites.

 

Think they made about £800 between them, the local media laughed, I had to try with all my might not to myself. Both housemate and hipster cliché promised they were going to try again, which was laughable really.

 

Shocked they're still a thing.

I have a conspiracy theory of my own that David Icke knows exactly what he's doing, and has dedicated his life to taking advantage of the more stupid elements of society for his own (not inconsiderable) financial gain.

 

He plays the game far too well.

I ended up deleting Facebook myself, around November 2014. After a few weeks of feeling a bit left out it was a great decision that I didn't regret at all, though I did reactivate it around March time as I had missed out on news of a few artists going on tour, and realised it wasn't just the insecurities of acquaintances that I was missing out on. Before long I was falling into the same old shit... as a fellow insecure person I end up getting pissed off and bitter when I see people on holiday or in relationships, etc. and before long you forget you're seeing what people want you to see about their lives, and not the truth. So I deleted it again around June or so and haven't been back since.

 

Except I have! I do a bit of writing for music sites and so on, and all those kind of things are run on Facebook groups, so I do have an FB account under a pseudonym which I purely use for writing groups and certain pages. I really don't miss those stupid FB "trends" and viral shite, though. Not one bit.