#within the world of morrissey he makes sense. unfortunately

[jarvis-cockhead]

Okay one person has given me an excuse to yap so:

An Overview of Moz Politics

Disclaimer this is super informal but essentially I think I've cracked the Morrissey code as to why he seems to hold so many conflicting beliefs at once. My finding is that he doesn't, actually, his beliefs just play out differently within the UK vs the US. This means a man can side with both Bernie Sanders and Nigel Farage and not be contradicting himself, somehow. Anyway. The key Moz policies to be aware of:

- Anti royalist & despises the monarchy

- Hates Thatcher

- Hates the Conservatives (I think it's very funny that in 2010 he backed up Marr on saying David Cameron isn't allowed to like The Smiths)

- Anti war (? evidence inconclusive especially recent events, this is mostly an assumption based on his 2013 criticisms of Bush for the Iraq war)

- Believes Obama should've done more to tackle police brutality

- Sexuality inconclusive but we know he supports gay rights. Criticised Trump for not having any sympathy for the victims of the Pulse shooting

- Speaking of Trump, in 2017 when asked if he would push a button to kill Trump, he said yes, "for the safety of the human race"

- Early in the 2016 election he endorsed Clinton but later praised Bernie Sanders as "sane and intelligent" and said the media should've given him more coverage

However 😸

- His views on animal rights have led him to support PETA and call Chinese people a 'subspecies' because of their treatment of animals

- Said in 2019 he thinks Farage would be a good prime minister

- 'Nearly voted' UKIP (2013)

- Doesn't like the EU, presumably voted leave

- Claimed to have nothing against people from other countries but said in 2007 that British identity is disappearing due to immigration

- Endorsed Anne Marie Waters far-right party For Britain in 2018. "She believes in British heritage, freedom of speech, and she wants everyone in the UK to live under the same law. I find this compelling"

- Supported anti-islam activist Tommy Robinson under the guise of free speech, "It's very obvious that Labour or the Tories do not believe in free speech"

- In response to racism accusations he claimed that "everyone prefers their own race"

All of this is taken from his Wikipedia page, and there haven't been any updates on recent politics, so as of right now this is all we have to go off.

The TLDR:

Morrissey hates conservatives and capitalism, he's pro 'the people' and British heritage, and is so far up himself he'll let his animal rights beliefs turn into abhorrent racism.

His own personal description of his politics:

The way I've come to understand it is that when it comes to British politics, since he hates capitalism, the Conservatives (and he doesn't seem to think much of Labour either), the monarchy, and seems very strong on heritage, his views align closer to working class far-right groups like UKIP and For Britain. In America on the other hand you're a bit more limited to Republican vs Democrat, and of course he isn't going to support the super capitalist Republicans. He also doesn't have any ties to heritage to muddy his choices.

His racism in relation to animal rights is it's own thing but clearly shows he has no issues with racist views.

... And that's essentially it. Probably the only Morrissey hypocrisy is him stating in 2004 that The National Front Disco is him expressing sadness and regret for anyone who joins far-right movements, when later he'll go and do... Just that. Aside from that, he's very unchanging in his principles. It just depends on the playing field.

I don't care to go into the morals and ethics of liking his music/The Smiths, he just fascinates me as a person. Do I still wish he'd get his head out of his own arse? Absolutely.

#phd in morrissey #but yeah this is essentially it. theres probs stuff ive missed but it makes sense i feel #within the world of morrissey he makes sense. unfortunately #morrissey #the smiths #i wish i knew what he thought about current politics but at the same time i really really dont #given a certain song he wrote about a certain 'country' #where on earth do his principles feel about that now i could not guess

[kalluun-patangaroa]

Suede

SKY magazine, December 1993

written by Simon Witter 

"HELLO! WHAT HAVE WE GOT HERE?!" asks Brett Anderson rhetorically, staring at the fluff he has just removed from his ear. "I haven't taken these earrings off for about nine years."

It may seem an incongruous moment to ask the 27-year-old indie pin-up about his personal style, but hey, that's the kind of guy I am. "Tatty," replies Brett with a wry smile. "I haven't been able to get out and go shopping."

Brett Anderson, frontman of Suede – the British pop sensation of 93 – is hotly rumoured to have a great dress sense. Today however, perched uncomfortably behind an executive desk at the central London HQ of his record company, his head inadvertently framed by a halo of Right Said Fred promotional balloons, he is sporting a navy blue jeans'n'top ensemble he accurately describes as "just anything". Brett has been telling me how he spends most of his time with people who work in shops or are unemployed – "real people, not in the business" – so I presume this boutique bonding provides a clue to his supposed, though temporarily non-evident, style savvy.

"Oh no," he gasps. "Not clothes shops! Most of my friends are in food shops. So I know a good bit of brie when I see it."

The thought of Brett Anderson having, at any point in his life, ever eaten food, conjures images of pigs flapping their trotters as they sail past this second floor window. But we press on with the personal style enquiry.

"I want to change it at the moment," he says. "I'm sick of wearing second-hand things. I used to have a grudge against new clothes because I don't like wearing things that another thousand people are wearing. It's nothing to do with being into clothes from years ago, or tatty clothes at all. I'm quite keen to toy around with my style until I eventually find something, to have clothes made for me. There's never anything, when I go out and look for clothes, that I really love. I've got quite a strong vision of what I want, which would be very, very well fitted things. I don't like baggy things. I like lots of ethnic looks. I really like the Spanish look, that sort of matador thing." By way of explanation, Brett strikes a pose, clicking imaginary castanets above his head. "I like that shape. Prince wears a really brilliant little thing sometimes. When I kept getting my bellybutton out, it was really a desire to achieve that shape more than anything, nothing to do with flaunting my navel."

It's well worth flashing your bellybutton while you still can, I assure him, a rueful hand on my own expanding waistline.

"Yep," he smiles. "Well I can't anymore. Not after that chinese last night."

In May of 1992 Suede released their first single, 'The Drowners'. They had already been on the cover of Melody Maker – before they had a record out – and would grace 18 other British magazine covers over the next year, including the cover of Q on just their second single. Their eponymous debut album, released last March, went straight to No. One in the charts and went on to win the Mercury Prize, and last autumn they released a full-length concert video Love & Poison. At this rate, it will be time for their memoirs by easter.

Within the bizarre, incestuous fishbowl of the British music media, Suede have become almost self-damagingly important. After a couple of wilderness years spent faffing about, finding their feet and being universally loathed, their overnight transformation into the most hyped band in the world was nothing short of miraculous. Yet it created impossibly high expectations of their music. A German friend told me how surprised he was, after long distance exposure to their media glare, to discover how average Suede sounded – a judgment that casual discovery of the first album would hardly have elicited. And while touring America, their support act the Cranberries famously outshone them by an enormous factor when it came to album sales. Yet phase one of Suede's career has been – or appeared to be – so extraordinary, that they are going to be hard-pressed to follow it up with anything similarly momentous.

For now, we have 'Stay Together', a new, epically long single. As a measure of Suede's magnitude in the reality-starved world of British indie pop, I am treated to an absurd preview of the track the day before meeting Brett. Before entering the listening room I am subjected to a bag search to check – I kid you not! – that I'm not carrying a concealed tape recorder.

In LA, the world capital of muso control freakism, I was played U2's Desire, the immediate-follow up to their 15-million selling Joshua Tree album, eons before its release without anyone thinking twice. Yet now, without a hint of humour or irony, I am being treated as if I not only know anyone who cares what the next Suede single sounds like, but would be willing to pay for a tape of it recorded through a leather bag.

After regaining consciousness, I join in the fiasco, insist on a full body search (well, at less reputable establishments you'd have to pay good money for this touchy-feely experience) and am seated. The label boss places two speakers on each side of my head, facing my ears from about 20" away, turns it up LOUD, and begins to do that embarrassing, pseudo appreciative in-chair grooving that only people who work in record companies and recording studios have the gall to indulge in. "It's not pompous," he assures me, "even though it's eight minutes long."

Of course any pop song – as opposed to dance record – that lasts eight minutes is by definition pompous. 'Bohemian Rhapsody' was gloriously, defiantly pompous with a side order of pomposity to go. But, despite the circumstances, 'Stay Together' sounds like a fine, many-hued song, liberally doused with Bernard Butler's life-saving guitar, that is destined neither to win many new fans nor shock the devotees.

"It's about a sense of unrest I feel about the world," Brett tells me the following day, in an ill-advised shot at an explanation. "An attempt to make some sense when everything seems to be going slightly insane. I do get a real sense of impending doom, but not in a depressing way, not like we're all gonna die, let's go and rape people. I feel quite content with it. We're living under some shadow, and I'm not quite sure what it is. It's a bit like the fears I felt when I was growing up, when things were unstable and there was the threat of nuclear war, or the fear that your parents could die of aerosol poisoning."

Brett grew up, together with Suede drummer Mat Osman, in the soulless satellite town of Haywards Heath, between London and Brighton. According to Osman, if they'd been the tea party fops people make them out to be, they would've formed a grunge band. They only wanted to be really glamorous because of their stultifyingly dull working class backgrounds. Some might say that that would lead to the three-Es-a-night, dance-and-forget syndrome, rather than the formation of a glam rock band.

"Hopefully we're not a glam rock band," Brett shudders defensively. "You can escape those surroundings by taking a load of Es and ignoring it. Another way is to create your own myth, to try and become romantic in your own eyes, to create something beautiful out of the rubbish and the shit. It all sounds very Oscar Wilde, but that's the way we did it. None of us were brought up in workhouses, but we haven't had easy lives at all."

Suede claim to be obsessed with fame because they were excluded from it. Yet surely fame is the one classless thing people aren't born into?

"Lots of people are constantly privileged," says Brett, who has clearly spent an unhealthy amount of time pondering the abstract qualities of fame. "If you're born in Soho to rich professional parents, and you've got Jonathan Wotsisname coming round to your house every night to see your father, then you've got this world that you slip easily into. When you're excluded from it there's a desperation, you're desperate to have it. It doesn't come as second nature to you, like professionally famous people who hang out in Beverly Hills. It's not something you're comfortable with, but that mutates it into something far more interesting, a bit prickly and far more creative, because you're not just sitting there lapping it up."

Suede's appearance coincided not unfortunately with the post-Madchester 70s revival. But was their styling something more than just the result of being unable to afford new clothes? Personally, I had thought the emergence of Gary Numan had killed off the idea of anyone ever again wanting to be David Bowie (not to mention Bowie's recent records). Then along came Suede, with their rough guitars, their androgyny and their theatrical singer.

"I never thought of ourselves as '70s," Brett insists. "David Bowie is a genius, but the rest of all that rubbish I always found laughable. As for the clothes, I always thought we looked more 60s than 70s. It's all tied up with this whole kitsch thing, this Magpie and Porridge and rediscovering the culture of British music journalists' youths. Kids of 14 didn't know what anyone was talking about, it was just that the people in power had reached a certain age where they were getting sentimental about their youth and started remembering Magpie. That's all it was, all a complete load of rubbish. As soon as we were aware that this scene was going on, we wanted nothing to do with it."

Brett's voice is a highly variable instrument, perfect and beautiful on slow numbers like 'The Next Life', but occasionally, when he affects that archly operatic Bowie yodel, a whiney, sneering sound like Rik Mayall on speed boring into your brain – absolutely maddening. It goes without saying that his delivery owes much to the most overrated British pop star of the last decade, Morrissey.

"I forced my voice in that way because of how we were born, musically, playing shitholes. It was the only way I could make myself heard. I didn't want to sing in the murmuring way that was the style of the time. I wanted to project my voice, because I was writing songs that I wanted people to hear the words of. I wasn't just writing about fluffy little clouds, which is what everyone was doing at the time. People read into my intonations a theatrical seventiesness, but it was a complete accident."

Overworked as the subject is, it's hard to avoid asking why Brett thinks his androgyny caused such a fuss. It's not the first time it has been done; it's not even the tenth time. Genderless, mincing fops are to classic British pop what hairspray is to American rock, a staple ingredient. Brett, by comparison to most, is pretty tame.

"I don't know," he sighs. "We certainly weren't thinking 'oh let's be androgynous', it's just the way we are. I'm naturally quite an effeminate person – not all the time, I do play on things. I think it was because, at the time, people were so incredibly boring. We had been through five years of the cult of non-personality, and we never wanted to go with the flow. When everyone had their heads down, chugging away, we wanted to twist things a little bit. It's like at school, when you find that something annoys someone, you keep on doing it more and more. And that's what happened really."

A female psychologist wrote recently about the overt sexual expression of pre-pubertal girls at pop concerts, the way in which, amidst the non-contact hysteria of the pop experience, they could sometimes experience their first orgasm. She was, admittedly, talking about a Take That show, but I can't help wondering if it looks like that from the stage to Brett Anderson?

"No, nothing like that," he purrs, "nothing sexual. I always feel like people are putting it on."

Having their first fake orgasm?

"It's a bizarre thing in my head. I know they really like me, but I can't really take it seriously. When I'm onstage, and it's working, I feel like I can do absolutely anything. I feel as though there's no limit, even in the sense that I could fall asleep if I felt like it, because I'm that relaxed. I feel much more comfortable on stage than walking down the street. I could go off into a corner and do a crossword or shave my head. I feel ridiculously relaxed. I really enjoy the power of being onstage. It's to do with the circuit of the flow between the audience and you, when it's an audience willing you to be good. Your own power is an expression of how the audience is feeling, but I can't say I ever feel sexual, even if it looks that way. I think that to call the power purely sexual is to belittle it. When I've been to incredible gigs, it hasn't been a sexual thing, it has been something far more magical than that. "

Brett and Osman came to London in the mid 80s to study, respectively, architecture and politics at UCL and LSE. Suede began after they placed an ad in the NME in 1989, but initial concerts had audiences shouting "Fuck off!", critics calling them effete wankers and record companies running for the hills - a three-pronged invitation to eat shit and die that would have spelt the end for most bands.

"That X factor that made people despise us," muses Brett, "was something we managed to turn around in our favour. It's like being in love with someone, and exactly the same things you adore about them, completely horrify you when you've fallen out of love. We went away and learnt how to write songs, and came back transformed. And those qualities that originally pissed people off, we transformed into something provocative. I think the fact that we went through all that rubbish was a fucking good thing for us. People forget that the Beatles spent five years in Hamburg. No one would touch them in England, cos everyone thought they were an utter load of shit. They spent five years getting it together, suffering a bit and fighting for it."

A typical lyric from those hard years was Brett's line about "shitting paracetomol on the escalator". When they were recently described as chemically saturated, I had assumed more interesting chemicals were involved.

"That's about pure mundanity, being off your face every night and your staple diet coming from your bathroom cabinet. It's a metaphor for a humdrum life, going up and down the London underground, which I spent five years of my life doing."

In many ways this – Suede's poignant soundtracking of new depression Britain – is their strength. But if they are Her Majesty's equivalent of slackers, it hasn't made America any more amenable to their cause. Indeed, despite Brett's avowed loathing of the British character – "negativity, small-mindedness, lack of faith" – there may well be a Britishness about Suede which prevents America from getting the point.

Brett makes the mistake of quoting a Smiths song to me – something about innocence, fragility and trust – forcing me to point out that American audiences don't want to be trusted with something precious, they want to rock out with their cocks out. Evan Dando may wear a dress and pigtails, but the wider American market is notoriously unkeen on sexual ambiguity. Queen were big in America until the early 80s, when Freddie Mercury started appearing in full clone gear. They never toured America again, and didn't have a single hit until after his death (and then only thanks to Wayne's World). In fact, America's association of guitars and manliness make Suede fundamentally unsuited.

"No!" storms Brett. "I don't think we're fundamentally unmanly. All you have to do is come and watch us live. We're about sexuality, power and emotion, things that everybody feels."

Whether or not America is destined to fall for his Morrissey-meets-Larry Grayson stage persona, Brett's much-aired desire to move to America (and less well-known plan to live in Paris) has, for now, been replaced by a much smaller act of bedouinism.

"I've moved from Notting Hill to Highgate," he announces proudly, "from a fashionable place to a place where you're living in the last century pretty much. I was living in a very small flat in Notting Hill and it was driving me insane, I couldn't write and was being bombarded with nonsense all day long. I needed the peace and quiet, and now I have a bigger flat with a studio room in it and I'm writing quite prolifically. It's more serene, there's more space to think. It's quite a beautiful place, but you do feel like you're living in the last century, like you're some sort of oddity, or in a play. You keep going into these odd characters. But it's a great place."

In person, and despite the affectation of much of his thought processes, Brett Anderson is quite charming. An endearing smile – which seems to hibernate when cameras are around – plays constantly around his face, suggesting shared confidences which, to some extent, he delivers. Like so many people cocooned by over-protective minions, he is refreshingly open and approachable. I like him. But he is deeply shocked and incredulous when I paint a picture of the special treatment afforded him by those he works with.

"They treat me with the respect I deserve," he jokes defensively. "I don't have tea with Lenny Kravitz. My best friend works in a chip shop, and that's why I like it, it's a complete escape. One of the beautiful things about being successful is that it can rub off onto your friends as well. Not fame and all that bullshit – the really brilliant thing about being successful is the self-confidence, the sense of life having a purpose, that life is a wonderful thing. You open the shutters in the morning and the sunshine pours through. That sense of vitality about life can completely rub off on your friends. Sometimes it doesn't, it can go the other way, with friends ignoring you cos they think you don't have time for them, but that never happens with your proper friends."

And yet, engulfed in the sweltering perversity of his peer group, Brett has come to hold some pretty crap views, views that seem utterly irrelevant beyond the borders of saddo indie land. He worries about being thought a sell-out, thinks Suede are radically honest because they admit to having ambition – as if people didn't get over all that bollocks a decade ago – and, worst of all, that people don't talk enough about music in interviews. Oh dear!

But, despite all this, Brett's public image remains unshatterably cool. He exudes waves of sultry, sulky hipness. I feel an urge to know what naff items lurk in the corners of Chateau Anderson, his ownership of which will shock Suede devotees to the core. Brett tells me he's been to see Aladdin, listens to jazz music, likes The Orb and Verve and has just bought the new Shamen single. To prove it, he even does his Mr C impression - "Comin' on like a vibe, y'know!". This won't do at all.

"I like Terence Trent D'Arby," he admits, trying harder. "I think he's really good."

It's good, but it's not right.

"I bought Billy Joel's River Of Dreams album. I like that one."

Aha – as Inspector Clouseau used to say – now we are getting somewhere! What about films?

"No, I've got impeccable taste when it comes to films."

No feature length On The Buses video stashed chez Brett?

"No. I have got Crocodile Dundee."

Bingo and Bullseye! So much for impeccable taste.

"Well, my perennial favourite is Performance," he flusters wildly. "I can virtually quote the whole film from start to finish. And there's a brilliant film which I've just discovered called The Shout, with John Hurt, Alan Bates and Susanna York. It's about a man who has spent years in the Australian bush learning the secrets of the bush doctors coming to this ridiculously reserved Cornish village and turning two people's lives upside down. It's like an animal alive within this village, and when he shouts, everyone within a mile radius dies. If Alan Bates' part had been played by Vincent Price, it would've been laughable, but it's incredibly powerful, one of those great lost films."

It's a nice try, but nothing can erase the impression created by Billy Joel and Crocodile Dundee.

#suede #brett anderson #press #interview #sky #1993

[calacuspr]

Calacus Weekly Hit & Miss – Kiyan Prince & Liverpool FC

Every Monday we look at the best and worst communicators in the sports world from the previous week.

HIT – KIYAN PRINCE FOUNDATION

Kiyan Prince was young teenager with significant footballing talent who played in the youth academy at Queens Park Rangers.

His life was tragically cut short in 2006 when he was murdered as he tried to break up a fight at school. Sadly, his potential was never realised.

To mark the 15th anniversary of his death, Kiyan is fulfilling the life dream he should have been allowed to achieve.

As a result of an incredible initiative called ‘Long Live the Prince’ led by the Kiyan Prince Foundation, Kiyan has been brought back to life into the virtual world.

By using a combination of AI technology and old photos, a lifelike image of Kiyan has been developed to generate how he would look like today. The campaign has been orchestrated by the likes of QPR, EA Sports and other major brands including Adidas and JD sports who are now supporting it.

He has also been recreated as a playable character for QPR in the world’s most popular sports game, FIFA 21. Match Attax will also issue a special Kiyan Prince playing card.

Elsewhere, a short film has been created to help vulnerable young people engage with the key principles of the Foundation across social and earned media, along with a series of ads fronted by virtual Kiyan in the media, social media and advertising, including at the billboards in Piccadilly Circus.

This campaign is one that brings so much positivity to light. It has gained considerable media coverage through the press and online sources through the brands involved.

But the real impact of this campaign comes from the use of unconventional PR techniques, which target an audience who probably wouldn’t see it via traditional means.

By using something as big as FIFA 21, a game played by millions of children, to bring an issue like knife crime to the forefront of their attention, is so effective.

Kiyan’s father, Dr Mark Prince, who set up the Foundation in 2008, and was awarded an OBE in 2019 for his charity work through the Foundation, believes the campaign’s brilliance lies in the way it is helping to inspire young people.

He said: “I want my son to be remembered not for the tragedy of his death but for the triumph of his achievements. Through this campaign my hope is that the world finally gets to glimpse Kiyan’s incredible potential fulfilled.

“We get to honour his talent. And, hopefully, we can inspire other kids to honour their won talent, too – whatever their own strengths might be.”

All proceeds raised during the campaign will go straight to supporting the work of the Foundation; raising awareness for the dangers of knife crime and helping young people fulfil their potential.

Having renamed Loftus Road in honour of the Kiyan Prince Foundation in 2019, the collaboration was an obvious next step for QPR. 2021 would been Kiyan’s 30th birthday and his former club have listed him as an official squad member, giving him the squad number ‘30’ for the 2021/22 season and have added him to all matchday programme team sheets. A lovely touch from the Championship side.

Paul Morrissey, QPR Head of Media and Communications said: “We are very keen to help support this campaign. It’s such a wonderful innovative idea and it’s really reaching the people that Mark’s work tries to reach.

“This campaign is creating a conversation around who Kiyan is and within the FIFA 21 game we wanted Kiyan to be a player that people would want in their team.”

In such a challenging period for so many people, this campaign is built on hope, optimism and collaboration, shining some positivity on what can happen when major brands work together.

It’s not only honouring the life of Kiyan but sending a powerful message on the issue of knife crime, the role of sport in helping change the lives of young people, as well as the vital the work of the foundation.

A fitting tribute to Kiyan. Long Live the Prince.

MISS – LIVERPOOL FC

There’s a lot to like about Liverpool FC.

Even before their charismatic manager Jurgen Klopp too over and guided them to the Champions League and Premier League titles, they have been renowned for a culture of community and inclusivity.

Just as with some of the other biggest clubs in the Premier League, their values and reputation have taken something of a knock after they initially joined the ESL.

One thing Liverpool have prided themselves on is looking after their own, so it’s a surprise to see their own internal communications fall short with regard to the Women’s team player contracts.

Kirsty Linnett and Becky Jane have criticised the club after learning that contracts they had been offered were being retracted.

Linnet posted on Twitter: “My time at Liverpool has come to an end... I have seen a lot of similar experiences to what I have explained below in women’s football recently.

“Something needs to change, people need to be treated better, it’s not good enough.

“"It would have been nice if someone from the club had the decency to tell me that they were retracting the contract offer they'd previously sent my agent.

"I felt that after three years the least I deserved was a face to face meeting the moment they knew they wanted to let me go.

"Football is football but where does this stop? I've no hard feeling with being let go, it's part of the game.

"What upsets me is the club support campaigns for mental health yet treat their own players with such little regard and respect.

"Let's hope clubs can do better by their players during these difficult times and act with more care for the people involved as manners and morals cost nothing."

Linnett makes a strong and reasonable statement about the communications lapse from the club, which was compounded by her team-mate Becky Jane.

Defender Jane wrote: “Unfortunately, similar to @kirsty_linnett the club have retracted my contract offer in a similar way.

“As female footballers with zero security as it is; the least we deserve is to be treated better and with respect. It takes nothing to be kind.”

Liverpool, who were relegated from the Women's Super League in 2019-20, finished third in the Women's Championship this season.

They re-appointed former boss Matt Beard as their new boss last week and the manager has been making decisions on his squad for next season.

The club did at least make a statement in response to the players’ claims and said: "Like all professional clubs, Liverpool Women are in the process of compiling their retained and released list for the forthcoming season.

"With the players two weeks into their off season holidays, the club has been informing all affected players of decisions as early as possible. With players contracted until the end of June this gives them the best possible chance of securing new clubs and making plans for next season. Players' agents have also been informed as is standard practice.”

Although the response is polished, the fact that not one but two players have spoken out like this underlines the shortcomings in Liverpool’s internal communications activity.

Clear and consistent communication is essential, particularly in relation to staff departures to limit the sense of shock or anger that those affected may feel when being let go.

There’s also a strong argument that this lack of communication would not occur for the Men’s team and no doubt Liverpool will undertake a review to ensure no such repeat of this in future.

#European Super League #Premier League #BT Sport #Tracey Crouch #Sky Sports #BBC #Mental Health #EA Sports #QPR #Kiyan Prince #TheKPF #FIFA21 #Kirsty Linnett #Becky Jane #Kop #Matt beard

[aleatoryalarmalligator]

a new haircut for the battles ahead.

I am back from Portland and back in Idaho now. It was a very fun trip, and I feel like a slightly different person now that I am back. It's hard to explain how the trip changed me for certain. It might be the amount of frustration I within me just due to these last few days concerning the Trump cabinet picks and all these frightening executive orders that I am sure won't end any time soon. What really got me was those jailed reporters who only reported on the political unrest in Washington after the inauguration. Every night, Sarah and I would watch the news and speeches and inauguration stuff, and we just felt dumbfounded and shocked. I have nightmares. I am not one to cliche'-ly reference 1984 or Nazi Germany every time something is corrupt, but little moments here and there spark my memory of learning about this stuff in high school. I also feel at the same time, this great hope for the future of America and this positive vision of how unified many of us in the world actually are and how there is a very strong unity all over the world for people who see this positive vision of the future where we might actually overcome many  poverty and racism and war and become scientifically advanced enough to maybe, just maybe become a type 2 civilization.

It's this mix of hope and strength at seeing so many people come together for the women's march with so many more to come, mixed with this real fear I constantly carry with me in my chest that won't leave me alone. Many of the people who said 'oh, don't worry. Trump will simmer down once he's in office' have turned out to be dead wrong already. Not that I didn't think that their wasn't corruption before (people should read A People's History Of the United States of America, or maybe 'The Untold History of the United States', or anything by Noam Chomsky to see what I mean on this regard. But this new government that's been sworn in is scary and I even sense that Trump supporters are starting to feel defensive in the reality that they might have been wrong about making America Great Again. It doesn't give me any sense of pleasure to watch these people eat crow. When I look at the long term effects that his policies and deregulation measures are going to have, I feel nothing but bad for everyone.

I also cut my hair short. There is this quote by Morrissey that goes 'if your hair is wrong, everything is wrong'. And I have felt very dissatisfied with my hair for some time. So I cut it off one morning looking myself in the mirror. It was either that, or deal with my naturally frizzy inconsistent crazy hair again that morning after so many others, and I had simply had enough. It's really simple now. I don't mess with it much. I think it looks fine. But I also feel very at home in my hair now. I know that sounds petty, I mean, how could hair make such a big difference right? But it does. It goes very well with this new stage in my life.

I ended up staying an extra week in Portland due to the bad weather. The trains shut down and my ticket was canceled. I got to spend quality time with Townes and Sarah and having that close friendship around me again helped me break out of my shell a bit. For the first time I was able to spend time in Portland as someone who has real prospects of moving there rather than someone who is a tourist there. I have walked up and down Hawthorne well enough to adjust. One thing that I don't know if I can adjust to is the fact that EVERYONE IN PORTLAND IS BEAUTIFUL. At least compared to Idaho. Even the elderly people dress elegantly. They are not afraid to wear unique hats. The older women's dress style really reminds me of the way that elderly women dress in Germany and France. The men are much the same, wearing interesting jackets and hats. And the young people all look very slick. In Idaho, all I have to do is have leggings on and I am immediately the most interesting thing on two legs in a ten block radius but in Portland, if I stand out at all, it is due to how average I am. I am going to have to step it up. I look forward to assimilating with the culture there in a way.

Also, over the past few years I have been incrementally been putting on weight. I had such a run in with my own mental health and eating disorder stuff a few years back that I have been weary of putting myself through that again. Also, I am not interested in anyone or attracted to anyone, and it causes me not to really think about my looks all that much. I would like to be thinner but at the same time, because I have PCOS and therefore have a lot of troubles losing weight that other people do not have, to put myself through that regiment once more seems daunting and depressing. And my reasoning has mostly be that besides, I have stayed active and I do eat healthy foods, so it's not like I am am suffering from malnutrition. I over eat at times and I also can eat junk occasionally, but I haven't really been crazy heavy to the extent that it has caused me to have a serious drop in my living standards. I am much too heavy for what I should be health wise, but I have been able to walk and stuff for the most part.

However, I am getting to this point where I have to start doing something differently. Some of this is fair, and some of it isn't. If I gained a lot more weight in my legs and behind, I probably would not care at all, but I am a very top heavy person, and I have a slightly strange pair of knees. They look nice and all, but I am knock kneed. It's not common and it doesn't really look deformed in the classic way you might describe deformity, but my knees stayed very small and didn't grow as large as other people's legs and my knees go in rather than out causing my legs to kind of move outward. I have big muscular legs and this has helped my knees maintain pretty good, but the weight of having been on my feet for a year and a half, as well as carrying around my upper body slowly gaining weight has put some stress on my legs. Knob knees tend to give out due to their shape. And I can't have that. It's one thing to be a little chubby, but it's quite another to have knee problems. And since the republicans voted against keeping the preexisting condition law in place, since I have a preexisting condition, if I end up needing knee surgery I won't be insurable and  it will really suck. So I need to make sure my legs stay alright. I already messed one of them up about seven years ago.

That, and honestly, I find it will be hard for me to find work with conventionally attractive young people around in a town of lovely city people if I do not step it up in the conventional attractiveness department. I know not everything is about looks, but when it comes to asking strangers if they will hire you, and the kinds of job openings that are available to you, it kind of is, unfortunately. I am not a really bubbly person either. I am kind of awkward introverted. I do not hate my own body and I personally don't think that my worth centers around my looks but I know how the world operates. I think I am a pretty in some ways. But I know how the world is. It's really hard to find work if you don't look the way people want you to. It's not fair, but when you are overweight people make all kinds of subconscious decisions about who you are and how you live. They don't know I have a health condition or that I can out work many a skinny young person. They just see a big person and they associate that with being silly, sinister, or stupid. Those are the three archetypes of the overweight person. When in all actuality, I am none of those (well, maybe a bit silly). So I am going to have to go on a diet plan for awhile and stick with it. I don't want to, but if I don't start losing weight I will inevitably gain more, and I feel like in doing so, fairly or unfairly, I will be losing out on all the potential opportunities out there for me, and it will make my struggle that much harder.

I was able to get away from work for awhile from my trip. I took three weeks off. I ran out of paid time off though. And they failed to pay me for the time I did take off. Because the factory is going bankrupt. They don't have the money to pay me. I am feeling sort of concerned. I don't know if I will have enough money to pay my bills let alone save to move, pay off a medical bill, or help Jasmine become independent. I will be signing onto unemployment tomorrow because I have been laid off. The company basically mismanaged money and they are now millions of dollars in debt, but they have no money to pay back that they owe and nobody is buying product. So I am out of a job for now.

All in all though, I don't feel that scared. I know I will be okay. I have always found ways to get things done. It's just a matter of making sacrificing and knowing my limitations. In the mean time, I have decided to become politically active. I live in Lewiston Idaho (for now) I am technically still a Washington resident (Washington is only a mile away across the Snake River and I lived there a year ago). Basically, this town is the center of the Inland Northwest.  The town of Moscow is a college town a little ways away, and it's pretty liberal, but for the most part, save Sun Valley and the Moscow area, the whole of this area, Lewiston included is quite conservative. I looked up my representative today, because I am going to start writing people in my government, voicing my concerns by calling and writing and doing whatever I can to be an active participant in politics from the ground up, and I discovered that our representative is pretty much awful.

His name is Raul Labrador. He campaigned with Donald Trump and was almost brought on to be a member of his cabinet even. Even though most of Lewiston is conservative, I don't feel like many of the younger aged people in this community are for Donald Trump. I imagine there are a lot of people who are like I have been, wanting to make a difference but being uncertain of how to do that. I know there are a lot of people who are not happy with Donald Trump but are uncertain of what they can do to make their voices heard. Many people don't actually know that it really does make a difference when you call your senators and representatives on a daily basis. This guy is a serious asshat, this Labrador fellow is and people need to know what this guy stands for. Which is why I am going to make fliers giving this information as well as the information to contact him and I am going to make my rounds and spread them all across town, particularly in the college area. I am also going to post something on Facebook that lets people know who this guy is. Somebody has to stick up for the inland north west.

I remember when I was at the primary election the democratic party members in my local community who hosted the caucus had the podium for awhile, and explained that republicans were kicking democrats ass on a local level all over the country, and people need to get more involved in politics on a local level to balance the power out. Even though I know a lot of people just don't care, I think a lot of people actually would care if they really understood how they could get involved here and there. It always seems like this elusive thing, exclusionary even, city council and local government stuff. It is always at play everywhere you might go, but nobody ever seems to know what is happening or where you find out what is happening. I think that what we have going on now might kick some people to step up their game, or feel the need and frustration required to change our circumstances. So seeing a flier in Lewiston I feel might make a difference. When I move to Portland, in a way I might be happier since I can easily be vegan, and I can be around like minded progressive people, but the truth of the matter is that there needs to be people who shift the balance of power in rural areas or we will not win the electoral vote. In the future, we may do away with the electoral college as well as the delegate system which I think is unnecessary and somewhat corrupt, but it isn't going to happen in the next four years. So in the mean time, people need to get busy in these rural places that have gone to republicans. People need to be reached out to in these places. I feel like a lot of people are simply frustrated and turned against democrat politicians.

To conclude, I haven't been this poor for awhile. I have fifty dollars to my name. It's going to be a tough but interesting stretch of time before me.

So for now, that's what I have going on. That's all for now.

#text

[thrashermaxey]

20 Fantasy Hockey Thoughts

Every Sunday, we'll share 20 Fantasy Thoughts from our writers at DobberHockey. These thoughts are curated from the past week's ‘Daily Ramblings’.

Writers: Michael Clifford, Ian Gooding, Cam Robinson, and Dobber

  1. It’s been a rough year for almost everyone in St. Louis, eh. Besides Vladimir Tarasenko, injuries have hit some key players like Jaden Schwartz and Alex Pietrangelo, the coach was fired, the forwards brought in haven’t seemed to mesh together, and the goaltending has been inconsistent. Ryan O’Reilly is having a pretty good season, but he’s about the only one.

What jumps out immediately, of course, is Tarasenko’s shooting percentage. He sits at 8.4 percent for the season, having never had a year below 10.7 percent, and a three-year average of 12.7 percent. Were he to be at 12.7 percent for the year instead of 8.8 percent, you could add five goals to his current total and he’d be on pace for nearly 40 goals. If that happens, we’re not having this conversation.

There’s always the possibility he has one of *those* seasons were he just doesn’t break out of his funk, but I’ll bet on talent and opportunity over randomness and Tarasenko has both. (dec27)

  2. Blackhawks’ Collin Delia was having an amazing AHL season, where he had a great second half a year ago. The concern with Delia as a keeper for my fantasy league(s), however, is the upcoming free agent market.

Considering Corey Crawford’s concussion troubles and that his contract is running out in two seasons, I’m wondering if the Blackhawks sign one of Brian Elliott, Mike Smith, Sergei Bobrovsky, Cam Talbot, or Semyon Varlamov in the offseason?

I can’t go all-in on Delia just yet due to that uncertainty but he has leapfrogged Ivan Nalimov in terms of potential keeper league value.  (dec24)

  3. The Leafs have to figure out a way to keep Kasperi Kapanen, who is set to become a restricted free agent this summer and will probably make over $5 million in his next contract (if he keeps up his 30-goal, 55-point pace at only 22 years of age).

Kapanen is not better than William Nylander but to me he is more versatile, and he’s clutch. And those are attributes that the team will need over the next few years as opposed to those that Nylander brings and of which they already have in abundance. If the Leafs trade Kapanen and keep Nylander, they would regret it. Not only would Nylander’s return be better, but I really think they would be better off.  (dec24)

  4. Isles’ Mathew Barzal now has three-point games on back-to-back nights with points in four consecutive games. As a follower noted on Twitter, Barzal has been shooting the puck more. He had taken only 34 shots (less than two per game) over his first 19 contests, but 52 over his last 18 (nearly three shots per game).

Or, to put it another way, Barzal scored just three goals prior to December 15. Since then, he has rattled off seven goals in seven games, while taking 24 shots (over three per game). Yes, the buy-low window has slammed shut. (dec30)

  5. In case you haven’t noticed, Barzal’s goaltending teammate, Robin Lehner is on a roll. He has wins on back-to-back nights and has now won four consecutive games. Over those four wins, he has allowed just two goals (granted, Friday’s win was in relief).

As expected, this New York goalie battle with Thomas Greiss has been a seesaw, with Lehner holding the upper hand at the moment. If Lehner can stay healthy, then he is a goalie worth owning (only 38 percent owned in Yahoo leagues). Especially if the now over-.500 (and by over-.500 I mean real .500, where OT/SO losses are considered losses and not ties) Islanders are serious about winning. (dec30)

  6. Hey, why not pre-order your Midseason Guide here? DobberHockey staff are working on this feverishly so it’ll be available for you on January 11. You’ll find second-half projections, sleepers, advanced stats, historical trends, prospects, and more.

I’m currently working on the goaltending piece. So, which goalie could be in danger of overuse? Marc-Andre Fleury is your league leader with 35 games played. As much as his fantasy owners have been able to count on him for starts and wins, he’s one of the league’s older goalies at 34. He missed two months with a concussion last season and also suffered two concussions in 2015-16, which is something for you to keep in the back of your mind … Follow the link for more >> (dec29)

  7. Erik Karlsson was listed in the most recent Cage Match Tournament on underachievers – players who will never reach a certain point total again. I probably spent more time thinking about whether Karlsson would reach 70-plus points again than I did about any other player possibly not reaching another ‘never again’ level. In the end, I elected not to ‘vote’ for Karlsson, meaning that I think he could reach 70 again in his career.

But in spite of the four-point effort on Saturday and the nine-game points streak, I don’t think Karlsson will reach 70 points this season. Not with the Sharks, anyway. I think it could still happen with a different team next season – the right team where he would be the only defenseman on PP1. But Karlsson has the momentum and ability to prove me wrong with a strong second half, so this prediction is by no means a lead pipe lock. Karlsson currently has 30 points in 38 games, which puts him on pace for 65 points. (dec30)

  8. I’m sure we’ll find out more about Dustin Byfuglien’s injury in the coming days, but I also seem to remember that Josh Morrissey’s icetime took off when Big Buff was out of the lineup earlier this season. At the time, Morrissey’s Yahoo ownership was somewhere in the neighborhood of 25-30 percent (if I remember correctly), yet now it is up to 67 percent. Even though Morrissey has been held without a point over his last four games and his power-play time hasn’t been great recently, he’s someone you’ll want in your starting lineup if Byfuglien misses time.

More unfortunate injury news but at least this is the kind we can plan around: Thomas Chabot is expected to be out for the next three weeks with an upper-body injury from Friday’s game. The Sens had only one power-play opportunity and, as expected, Maxime Lajoie received the first-unit minutes. Recent callup Christian Wolanin also received minutes and might be worth keeping an eye on (18 points in 26 AHL games). (dec30)

  9. Habs’ Tomas Tatar has now recorded multiple points in three consecutive games after being held without a point in his previous six games. Despite the recent slump, Tatar has exceeded expectations in Montreal and is on pace for the 30 goals and 60 points plateaus. (dec29)

  10. I don’t read about these types of comments in hockey as often as in other professional sports – maybe because of the more polite nature of hockey culture. Yet, as we saw on Friday, Stars’ CEO Jim Lites ripped into Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin with a few choice words. Benn’s $9.5 million cap hit is within the league’s top 10 at the moment; while Seguin will move into that group starting next season, which is when his new contract with a $9.85 million cap hit kicks in.

How this affects Benn’s or Seguin’s production remains to be seen, but the contract amounts, terms, and no-movement clauses will not make them easy players to trade if it turns out they are not happy with Lites’ criticism and want to get the H-E-double hockey sticks out of Big D. (dec29)

  11. Over the last 4-5 years, I’ve personally gotten more involved in auction leagues in fantasy baseball. Let me tell you this much: I absolutely love them. It makes a lot of sense when you realize that traditional snake drafts inhibit how a player can construct their team.

If a fantasy owner is playing in three leagues and happens to be drafting outside the top-3 in all three leagues, that person has no chance at drafting Connor McDavid. If that person drafted outside the top-5 in all three leagues, that person had no chance at drafting McDavid or Nikita Kucherov, and on and on it goes.

Also, if someone is at a wheel pick (first or last), they’re not at risk of missing out on runs of goaltenders or defensemen. It also creates fun rivalries within the fantasy league before the season even starts because of bidding wars.

I understand a lot of people don’t want auction leagues because of how involved owners need to be. You need to evaluate each player within the parameters of your league, you need to have discipline to not overspend on ‘your’ guys, and the drafts themselves can take hours. It all depends how much time a league’s members want to put in. All the same, I think fantasy hockey owners, especially Industry Leagues, should start using more auction formats. (dec28)

  12. Ottawa has recalled goaltender Marcus Hogberg from the AHL, an indication that Craig Anderson probably won’t be playing in the next few days at least due to a concussion. Let’s hope it’s nothing serious or lingering for the elder statesman of the Sens. Fantasy owners will have to make other arrangements for the time being. I’m not sure Mike McKenna is the answer, either. (dec28)

  13. Morgan Frost’s skills are on display at the World Juniors: soft hands, quick release, and nice vision. It figures he’ll be on the Flyers roster to start the 2019-2020 season. He’s ready. (dec27)

  14. One Swiss player who really stood out at the WJC, and much of my Twitter timeline seemed to agree, was Nando Eggenberger, a winger for the Oshawa Generals. He went undrafted in 2018 but you couldn’t tell by watching his game. He looked like an old school power forward at times, being able to drive wide using his size and reach to create chances. Keep an eye on him. (dec27)

  15. Either I possess incredible fortune-telling skills, or I jinxed Frederik Andersen (Saturday Ramblings). Whatever it is, the well-used Leafs’ starting goalie is now day-to-day with a groin injury. Because Saturday callup Kasimir Kaskisuo is clearly not NHL ready (.866 SV% in the AHL), the Leafs acquired veteran backup Michael Hutchinson from the Panthers for a 2020 fifth-round pick.

This is a small price to pay for the Leafs, who badly needed a goalie for the AHL Marlies. If Andersen is out for more than a few days, expect Hutchinson to be called up right away. Although Hutchinson isn’t having a spectacular year in the AHL (.906 SV%), he had a stellar campaign for the Manitoba Moose last season (2.08 GAA, .935 SV%).

When you add in the kind of game Garret Sparks had on Saturday (four goals allowed on 24 shots), I could see Hutchinson competing for starts on the big club if Andersen isn’t back soon. Sparks was playing his second game on back-to-back nights, but by no means has he solidified himself as a goalie who can carry a team at the NHL level. (dec30)

  16. We all know that Jeff Carter, as an aging player, is in decline. At the age of 34 (well, he’ll be 34 on New Year’s day) and with over 1000 games under his belt, that’s not in dispute.

Second, we know the team around him is very bad and not likely to get much better. Third, outside deeper leagues, Carter is likely available on the waiver wire, so it’s a matter of who he’d be replacing. Carter would be a guy to stash on benches, not someone to roster and start immediately.

I’m always willing to bet on talent. Carter scored at least 20 goals in every season but one from 2005 through 2017 (he was injured last year). The problem right now is, largely, shooting percentages. He’s shooting just 7.3 percent, the lowest for him since 2006-2007, coming off a three-year average of 12 percent.  

Again, looking to grab Carter off the wire is probably only for deeper leagues, or at least 14 teams. He’s not drawing penalties and he’s not shooting near as much as he used to, and those are to big red flags for me. But that doesn’t mean Carter is a 10-15 goal guy now. Expect a much better second half from him, even on that team. (dec27)

  17. I was asked for my thoughts on Canes’ Dougie Hamilton — do I still feel that the cream will rise to the top?

I still stand firm that Hamilton is far more talented than Justin Faulk and I honestly don’t understand how he hasn’t just powered his way to become the best on that team, but for one reason or another it’s not happening. Maybe he doesn’t work hard enough for Rod Brind’Amour’s liking.

I don’t like the situation and I don’t see a quick or easy resolution. I’m ready to write off the year for Dougie but I’m still very high on him in keepers so rebuilding teams may want to kick tires. (dec26)

  18. Conor Garland, a 5-10, 165-pound small, skilled player, who as I noted above will take extra time to get going, has finally broken out at the AHL level and is now taking advantage of his NHL stint. He has points in four straight games, including the first two of his career. I think he’ll finish off the year as an AHL star and will make the team next year – which he’ll have to because starting in 2019-20 he has to clear waivers to be sent down.  (dec24)

  19. Why put pressure on Carter Hart? While Hart’s first two games were great, they were a little over-hyped. In his debut, the team came together before him like no other – and then he was gifted the game’s First Star in what I suspect was a ploy by the home team Flyers to boost his confidence, because he was not the First Star. In the second game, it was different, though. He played great and stole one from the Predators. I’d have him back in the AHL while his confidence is high.  (dec24)

  20. One prospect I hyped up in the Fantasy Prospects Report three summers ago was Florida’s Jayce Hawryluk. But he ran into injury troubles early on and played somewhat poorly when healthy, even seeing some ECHL time last season. He had since fallen off the radar.

However, whatever training he did this past offseason sure worked. He’s been flying, posting 28 points in 25 games for Springfield and adding some of the leadership that he had in junior hockey. The Panthers gave him his first recall a recently and he scored the first two goals of his NHL career earlier this week.

I’m sticking him back on my radar because even if his upside is limited, this team has a ton of top-six talent and, as a complementary winger on one of those scoring lines in the future, he would really pay dividends.  (dec24)

  Have a good week, folks!!

  from All About Sports https://dobberhockey.com/hockey-home/20-fantasy-hockey-thoughts/20-fantasy-hockey-thoughts-56/