EURO 2012 (GOOD) ,EURO 2012 (BAD)

Not long to go to Euro 2012 . So are you thinking of going. What has Poland and Ukraine got to offer.

The weather, stadiums,how much is food, hotel's,price of a pint ,transport ,are you going to get your head kicked in ,are you going to be beaten up and thrown in jail by nasty police . What is night life music,bands like , street crime pickpockets gangsters prostitution . The locals are they friendly do they speak any English,

Having followed England abroad in the bad days. Not the most enjoyable jaunts . But I am Scouse not English . Things have changed ,but have they in virgin capitalistic countries such as Poland and Ukraine . So in my view I will categorise points into good and bad , you can make your own mind up .

THE GOOD  

In U.S dollars

Meal for 2, Mid-range Restaurant, Three-course	17.00 $
Combo Meal at McDonalds or Similar	3.00 $
Domestic Beer (0.5 liter draught)	0.50 $
Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)	0.70 $
Cappuccino (regular)	0.50 $
Coke/Pepsi (0.33 liter bottle)	0.60 $
Water (0.33 liter bottle)	0.40 $

Milk (regular), 1 liter	1.10 $
Loaf of Fresh White Bread (500g)	0.50 $
Eggs (12)	1.50 $
Fresh Cheese (1kg)	7.00 $
Chicken Breasts (Boneless, Skinless), (1kg)	4.00 $
Apples (1kg)	2.00 $
Oranges (1kg)	1.50 $
Potato (1kg)	0.30 $
Lettuce (1 head)	1.00 $
Water (1.5 liter bottle)	0.60 $
Bottle of Wine (Mid-Range)	4.00 $
Domestic Beer (0.5 liter bottle)	0.50 $
Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)	1.00 $
Pack of Cigarettes (Marlboro)	1.00 $

	Avg.	Range
Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)	1.80 $	1.20 2.20
Taxi 1km (Normal Tariff)	0.40 $	0.30 0.50
Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)	9.50 $	7.00 12.00

click the links for info

From Donetsk to Kiev by train within 5,5 hours http://www.itsukraine.com/from-donetsk-to-kiev-by-train-within-55-hours.html

Euro 2012 Stadiums http://www.poland2012.net/stadiums/

Weather for Ukraine http://www.wunderground.com/global/UR.html

UKRAINIAN PEOPLE http://www.justukraine.org/ukraine/ukraine-people.asp

THE BAD  

Ukraine Warnings Or Dangers http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel/Europe/Ukraine/Warnings_or_Dangers-Ukraine-TG-C-1.html

Ukraine Police http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/report/ukraine-must-act-deal-endemic-police-criminality-2011-10-12

Crime in Ukraine http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Crime_in_Ukraine

Prostitution in Ukraine http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prostitution_in_Ukraine

Hooliganism a worry for Euro 2012, says Platini http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/afp/hooliganism-a-worry-for-euro-2012-says-platini/511049

So there is a brief look at Ukraine if England make it to Poland your on your own . No seriously you will be well bedded in by then . Plus a fair chunk of England will be their with you then . But I did come across this video of the two rival teams in Kiev having ,only what I can call the mother of all punch ups . Off the top of my head it reassures me in one way but not in other . The fact they have gone in the wilds to sort their difference is OK . Not doing it in city centres with police intervention. Ajax and Feyenoord  did that sort of thing all the time in the early 90s But it puts worries in my head about England supporters staying in out of town camp sites on mass . Beware the evidence of this video tells me you might get a visit . I speak from experience Sardinia World cup 90.TAKE CARE

WARNING THIS VIDEO CONTANTS EXTREME VIOLENCE


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbTtqkFTyrA

LETS USE CHELSEA AS A BLUE PRINT

VERY RUSSIAN LOOKING 

Well Wembley blues in more way than one . While we are still treading water as a club , Chelsea are announcing that they have put a bid in to convert the iconic Battersea Power Station into their new stadium . God I will be so jealous if they pull that one off . Battersea Power Station would make an amazing stadium . Imagine approaching that fucker the hairs on the neck would be dancing. Whether you are a player or a supporter . Giving Chelsea such a boost ,making it a more iconic tourist attraction then it is now . Very very cleaver move . So a chavy plastic flag waving bunch of toilet traders are going to have a home we would all die for . Shit Shit Shit .

I love Anfield so much I grew up in the area ,many great memory’s as most will know . But after the form at Anfield over the last 5 seasons , Yes home form has been bad for while now . It may be time to cut loose. But replace Anfield with something befitting its greatness and memory . Build a stadium in the Memory of the 96 and the 39 .

Something off the wall and unique, Something acoustically amazing visually breath taking , So Chelsea's plan if it comes off will be the blue print . But it will always be Battersea Power Station they would still have no history . We could build something that celebrates the modern game . Something for the art/football loving ,great city, that is Liverpool..

Not like the soulless run of stadium. That has been springing up, Reading, Coventry, Derby, Swansea etc . They look more like out of town industrial units SOULLESS HOLES .

Am I on my own on this ? But I think the Olympic Stadium is the biggest boring piece of shit out of all the new Soulless holes . West Ham good old London history club . Think again its a shit hole .

So come on John Henry be a bit daring . Start bouncing that money ball take a chance move the stadium thing forward . Lets have a new home, but bring the old one with us . YNWA

Here is a few off the wall stadiums  

venue for CL Final 

The Allianz Arena is located in the north of Munich, Germany, and it is home to the Bayern Munich and to TSV 1860 München. With a capacity of 69,901 spectators, this is the first stadium in the world that has a full changing color outside. It is lit up in red when Bayern Munich play, in blue when 1860 Munich play and in white when in use by the German National Team

Could you imagine the Liver Building as the back drop !ACE !

The Float at Marina Bay, also known as Marina Bay Floating Platform, it's the world's largest floating stage. It is located on the waters of the Marina Reservoir, in Marina Bay, Singapore. Made entirely of steel, the floating platform on Marina Bay measures 120 metres long and 83 metres wide, which is 5% larger than the soccer field at the National Stadium. The platform can bear up to 1,070 tonnes, equivalent to the total weight of 9,000 people, 200 tonnes of stage props and three 30-tonne military vehicles. The gallery at the stadium has a seating capacity of 30,000 people.

All the people living around Stanley Park would have no electricity bills  .(Skunk growers paradise) We could sell Electricity to EVERTON  

Any other ideas lets bombard the club we need a big say in this YNWA 

DID ROBERT JOHNSON START THE 27 CLUB ?

Robert Johnson

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Johnson

Robert Johnson was an African-American bluesman. He was born and raised in Hazlehurst, MS and Memphis, TN. He tried to mimic a popular musician in his town, but failed at it because he simply was not born with a musical skill on the guitar. He really wanted to be famous and good at playing the guitar like his role model Son House, and he says "someone" answered that request. Maybe some of you have seen "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?" with George Clooney where the African-American character Tommy Johnson sells his soul to the devil for musical prowess because he said, "I wasn't using it". He was representing this Robert Johnson. "

Late in life, Son House remembered Johnson as a boy who had followed him around and tried very unsuccessfully to copy him. He then left the Robbinsonville area, but later reappeared after a few months with a miraculous guitar technique. His boast is entirely credible."

"Robert Johnson sounded primal, sang with lived passion about dark meetings at crossroads, love in vain and hellhounds on his trail, and died from poisoning under strange circumstances. The legend went that Johnson, not blessed with guitar talent when he first began playing professionally, yearned for overnight success that would put him in league with the other guitarists on the circuit. One night, he heard a voice that told him to visit the crossroads by Dockery's plantation at midnight. There, he was met by a large black man who apparently was the devil in disguise. The big man took the guitar from Johnson, tuned it, and returned it to him."

"Johnson was giving mastery of the guitar and the devil gave him back his guitar in return for his soul. In exchange Robert Johnson became able to play, sing, and create the greatest blues anyone had ever heard.

"Johnson's improvement on his instrument was swift and amazing (although historically, it took him about a year to become great). He earned the instant recognition of big name guitarists like Son House, who championed his cause. However, Johnson was tormented in his dreams by visions of the devil, and hellhounds on his trail. In his waking hours, Johnson played the role of bluesman hero, chasing women, drinking, behaving arrogantly. In 1938, during a show, he was poisoned (possibly by a jealous husband of a woman he had been putting moves on). The poison had him foaming at the mouth and talking babble, he died within days.

He wrote songs about his experience with the devil with such titles as "Hell Hound On My Trail" (utilizes another common theme: fear of the devil). Six of Johnson's blues songs mention the devil or some form of the supernatural.

In "Me And The Devil" he began, "Early this morning when you knocked upon my door/Early this morning, umb, when you knocked upon my door/And I said, 'Hello, Satan, I believe it's time to go,'" before leading into "You may bury my body down by the highway side/You may bury my body, uumh, down by the highway side/So my old evil spirit can catch a Greyhound bus and ride."

His last words were 'I pray that my redeemer will come and take me from my grave.' He died at age 27.

"The Blues has always been the Devil's music. Music that glorified drinking, womanizing, gambling, dope, violence, and depravity, blues was an easy target for ministers and pastors of the South, who countered with sermons forbidding the congregation to listen to it. Many god-fearing churchgoers heeded this message, establishing Gospel as the safer alternative. Even some bluesmen were convinced; legendary blues picker Gary Davis usually refused to play blues after he was ordained as a reverend in 1937. Ultimately, he relented just before his death and recorded a historic session of blues (secular and gospel) in 1971. He died soon after."

So is that where the 27 club started . I am sure there were a few court jesters that bite the dust before that for not entertaining , or saying the wrong thing . I am sure Genghis Khan, Alexander the Great, Henry the eighth, Wasted a few for one reason or another , They may have been bad or maybe too good a bit of a threat .

But the modern day 27 club they all have one thing in common they were all good. But could not live with that themselves . Here is a list of some of the more high profile members of the 27 club

Jimi Hendrix http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimi_Hendrix

Janis Joplin http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janis_Joplin

Jim Morrissonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Morrisson

Brian Jones http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Jones

Kurt Cobain http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurt_Cobain

Pete de Freitas 


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pete_de_Freitas

Richey Edwards http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richey_Edwards

Amy Winehouse http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amy_Winehouse

MY DAY AT GLASTONBURY WITH RY COODER

RY COODER

Out of all the artist I have worked with at Glastonbury Festival with out a doubt Rye Cooder has to be the most courteous and dedicated . In 1990 he played the Pyramid Stage with David Lindley a legend in his own right .

1990 at Glastonbury was the year

Now officially The Glastonbury Festival for Contemporary Performing Arts - The Green Fields are extended to 60 acres. Circus, comedy, theatre and cabaret areas. Travellers and security clash causing £50,000 worth of damage -The Cure, Paul Oakenfold, Happy Mondays, Lush, Sinead 0'Connor, James, Ry Cooder, Aswad, De La Soul - 70,000 bought £38 tickets.
£100,000 raised for CND and local charities.

It was an event full year with sun and rain . Happy Mondays forged back stage passes (tell you about that an other time). Trouble with the travellers and security . (I will leave that for an other day as well).

But the joy of having worked with Ry Cooder was in an other league to anything else that went on .

The stage manager came over to me saying . “Norm I have got a special job for you today” 

He went on to tell me that until early evening I would be at Rye Cooders beck and call. Wow I was the envy of  the rest of the crew . “Nice laid back day for you then” was the general comment . 

But working a festival like Glastonbury. You expect nothing and expect every think . But on this occasion they were spot on.

Suddenly he was there it was not 10.30am yet. I was introduced he shook my hand .
His comment to me was . “So Norm your going to have a wander round with me today” in a very laid back American accent . At once I was at ease with him . He had a brief word with the stage manager . Then it was off to his dressing room . In his porta cabin dressing room was a stack of a dozen Guitars . One by one he I opened the cases . He quickly showed me how he wanted to me to handle them, not in a patronising way . As I handed the guitars to him he stripped them of their strings and handed them back , putting them back into their cases and so on .

All the time he was asking me about things . He had loads of good things to say about Liverpool , How he had met the Beatles, many times and their contribution to music was huge . He told me how he wished that there where more festivals like Glastonbury in the USA . After stripping the strings we made six trips back and forth to the stage with the guitars. It was muddy he did not look energetic but he just plodded on . Seemingly enjoying him self . Funny I remember thinking the young bands don't lift a thing . I was still a bit confused on what he was doing . But it all came clear when all the guitars were on stage .

He had some fight cases at the back of the stage that the lads had got up on stage . We made a little workshop at the back of the stage . I started the process all over again . This time it took longer as he was stringing and tuning all the guitars . He handed them back this time I placed them in guitars stands forming an impressive semi circle .

He explained he liked to string and tune his guitars in the environment he was going to play more so if it was outdoors , temperature constantly changing . He was constantly telling me to hand him back the guitars once they had been in their stands as temperatures changed . What a perfectionist . Finally he was happy he told me to get a Security man to guard the guitars .

DAVID LINDLEY

We made are way back to the dressing room . He had now became my work mate it was a surreal feeling but so good . In the dressing room a buffet had been delivered and a long haired guy was picking at it . It was David Lindley they cracked jokes so laid back

There was still 2 hours before they were due on stage . Ry Cooder started to pick at buffet . He said “help your self Norm” .

I did being with him lunch had gone out of the window (a small price to pay) .

Chit chat over .

“Right Norm the big one”

He pointed at a tiny Marshall valve amp .

“I have had this from the beginning it is very special to me”

“Every think on stage will go through this first ”

“Its still muddy out side I will trust you with this Norm”.

“Take a step have a think take another step”

“I don't care how long it takes you just get it there safe” . He smiled .

I picked it up, for its size it was heavy . It was gorgeous looking thing he had it customized over the years by the look of it , Anyway it was in my care , no pressure . He let me go on my own . It took me ages I hugged it getting there safe had a minor slip on the ramp, (pumping heart)

With still over hour to go before set time . Ry was back on stage . He started on the semi circle of guitars again fine tuning . As I passed them to him and then returned them . His two man crew turned up who started to work on the huge effects rack . But it was all going to come from that tiny golden Marshal valve amp . 15 minutes before he was due on, my role was coming to a end . He shook my hand and thanked me.

I had just purchased the Sony recording walk-man . Plucking up courage I asked him if he minded if I recorded the set . Showing him the walk-man ,

He said “set it up put it under my chair” . Wow so cool .

The set was great huge crowd all his guitars around him .David Lindley was good he he played slide guitar and tabla . To top it all half way through the set he signalled to me . At first I shit my self . But he was trying tell me the tape needed turning over under his chair ,so cool . I scurried across the stage flipped it over . “How cool was that” ,one of the crew said ,I was chuffed . Will never forget my day with Ry so good what a man .

But baton down the hatches the HAPPY MONDAY'S WHERE ON THE WAY (coming soon )

More info on Ry Cooder click link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ry_Cooder

More info on David Lindley click link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Lindley_(musician)

A BEVVY STATE SIDE

The Reds will play three games across the Atlantic, starting on July 21 in Canada against MLS side Toronto FC.

Clashes against Roma and Tottenham have then been arranged south of the border, with the former being staged at Fenway Park - home of the Boston Red Sox - to coincide with its 100th anniversary celebrations. Then the final game in Baltimore .Here are a few good bars to visit if you can scrape the cash together to watch the reds pre season state side .

Scallywags

City: Toronto
Name:Scallywags
Address: 11 St.Clair Avenue West, Toronto, ON M4V 1K6
Tel: 416-922-3737
Website:http://www.scallywags.net/
Remarks: Home to the biggest supporters branch in North America, the Toronto Branch (www.lfctoronto.com). Visit the website for more information.

City:Baltimore, Maryland
Name: Slainte
Address: 1700 Thames St.,Fells Point
Tel:410-563-6600
Website:http://www.slaintepub.com/
Remarks: League games Saturday and Sunday. Open at 7am. Great breakfast
Submitted by:

City:Cambridge/Boston
Name:The Phoenix Landing
Address: 512 Massachusetts Avenue
Tel:(617) 576-6260
Website:www.lfcboston.com
Remarks: The home of the Liverpool Supporters Club Boston.
Liverpool supporters always outnumber opposing teams supporters, great atmosphere for the big matches
Submitted by: liverpoolynwa

I am sure all of these Bar's will give you a warm welcome . So start saving or like me all stuff surplus to needs is e-bay bound .YNWA  

HISTORY OF THE BALL

Real Madrid v Bayern Munich was a great game kept you guessing to the very end on which team would go through . Both teams where very capable of grabbing victory with a place in final against Chelsea at stake . An extra incentive for Bayern with the final being held in their own stadium.

But all the quality ended when it came to the penalty shoot out . The fine tuned millionaire footballers kicking a computer designed aerodynamic piece of synthetic material at the goal . Ok the goalie saved a couple but they where bad penalty's . For players of that calibre , the first official penalty was scored by Billy Heath for Wolves on the 14^th September 1891 against Accrington Stanley Wolves won 5.0 , but he would not of used the same ball far from it , but still 12 yards, Here is a quick look at the evolution of the ball in football.

Click for game highlights http://footyroom.com/real-madrid-2-1-bayern-munich-2012-04/

The football

Although tales of football’s early history involve hogs’ heads being used during medieval kick-abouts, the first dedicated footballs were made from animal bladders, blown up by mouth and then knotted. However, the ease with which these bladders burst led to more solid, leather and cork-encased versions being constructed in Britain during the 18th and 19th centuries, and to rubber and wood being used elsewhere. A breakthrough came in the mid-1800s with the invention of an india-rubber bladder, and a pump with which to inflate it, meaning that the roundness of the ball could – for the first time – be guaranteed.

In 1872,England’s Football Association laid down the first guidelines, stating that a football should be spherical, with a circumference of 68 centimetres, cased in leather, and weigh between 396 and 453 grams at the start of play. The mention of its weight at the kick-off was an important distinction as these early footballs had a propensity to absorb water, often more than doubling in weight during the course of a match. Combined with the laces that were required to hold them together, this made the task of heading decidedly hazardous, with concussions a common occurrence.
Regional variations also persisted, with the first-ever FIFA World Cup™ final in 1930 a case in point.Agentina and Uruguay had both brought their own balls and there was an impassioned pre-match argument over which should be used. The compromise? Argentina's ball was used in the first half and Uruguay's in the second, with that change at the interval perhaps crucial in La Celesteturning a 2-1 half-time deficit into a historic 4-2 triumph. The ball also emerged as a factor in the 1934 final, when Italy– 1-0 down to Czechoslovakia with eight minutes remaining – equalised through a Raimundo Oris shot that swerved wildly beyond the goalkeeper’s grasp. Gli Azzurri went on to win the cup, and the following day Orsi attempted 20 times to repeat his ball-bending trick for the assembled photographers – failing every time!
Distortion of the ball’s shape was not uncommon at advanced stages of matches and could have been crucial to the trajectory of Orsi’s fateful strike. Adidas began supplying balls for FIFA tournaments in 1970, beginning with the iconic ‘Telstar’, and though still leather, a crucial advancement was these balls were coated with a special polyurethane to eliminate water absorption. However, it wasn’t until Mexico 1986, and the adidas ‘Azteca’, that the FIFA World Cup saw its first fully synthetic football, although the years since have witnessed further milestones, with the 1998 ‘Tricolore’ breaking with a purely black-and-white colour scheme, and the 2006 'Teamgeist' and 2010 'Jabulani' scaling new heights of technological sophistication.

Highlight's of the first World Cup Final they used a different ball in each half click to watch http://www.fifa.com/classicfootball/history/milestonesoffootball/video/video=1083334/index.html