Firstly, it has to be mentioned. The news of the tragic loss of Gary Speed in the early hours of Sunday morning started to break shortly before kickoff, and it seems anyone who knew him, or even was simply aware of him, is still in shock. An asset to every team he played for in a hugely successful career, he was a model professional and had carried that ethos through into his fledgling managerial career. My thoughts, as well as those of everyone else, I'm sure, are with his family and friends at this disturbing time.
On to a game which was important to both teams, but the importance to the individuals in attendance seemed to have diminished, and rightly so. Shankly once claimed football was "more important than life or death". He was wrong.
Aston Villa arrived after being well beaten by Tottenham on Monday night, and the Swans were at home for the second game in succession after being defeated 0-1 by reigning champions Manchester United the previous weekend. Swansea sprang no selection surprises, and neither did Aston Villa, except for the forced inclusion of Chris Herd for Stilian Petrov, nursing a hamstring injury ahead of a game which came just too soon.
This game reminded me of so many games I've seen at the Liberty over the last few years, with the opposition playing to a game plan which was equal parts negative and effective. In League One, and especially in the Championship, we became accustomed (as Swansea fans) to flowing football from the home team, and defeatist "here-for-the-draw" football from the away team, and I think this is the most blatant example we've had yet from a Premiership team. That the team involved boasts an 18 million pound striker in their ranks should not go unnoticed. Villa lined up with a 4-3-3/4-4-2 diamond of types, with Emile Heskey prowling the zone occupied by Leon Britton, and I think this had a telling effect on the game. Amongst friends, whether he was told to man-mark Britton for the duration was a matter of heated discussion, but it seemed to me that he did a very effective job in stopping Britton turning and playing the ball forward through the middle of the park. Britton deservedly got man of the match, but Heskey gave him a rough time until the latter's withdrawl around the 70 minute mark. A further example of the effectiveness of Heskey in nullifying Britton is how the Swans came into the game once he'd been replaced by the dynamic, but less disciplined, Jermaine Jenas, who isn't best known for his ability to hold a position.
By playing in the same zone as Britton, he effectively stopped him turning, meaning any time Britton picked the ball up he had to play it backwards, at which points it was spread out wide. Don't let that fool you into thinking Britton had a bad game, he did not. High pass completion, and man of the match, show he wasn't deterred from picking the ball up in dangerous situations, and it was more that he was simply unable to find anyone free to pass the ball to first time, as they were all being man-marked high up the field too. Aston Villa pressed us as Man Utd did, except they didn't have the quality where it mattered to penetrate the Swans defence. Before the game there were jokes from many, myself included, about Heskey, but in fairness his performance was crucial for Villa as without him the Swans were soon in the ascendancy.
What particularly disappointed me was the level of aggression shown by Aston Villa. Time and time again we've been told the Swans would struggle with the physicality of this league, and up until now they've refuted that accusation. Yesterday, however, they were unable to as Villa were at times rough-housing, and at worst just plain dirty. Jazz Richards waist high tackle on Agbonlahor means the Swans weren't whiter than white, but Villa, from the outset, clearly had a game plan to "get into" the Swans, and it worked, with the forced withdrawl of two players injured as a result of filthy challenges. On top of that, the "footballer" Alan Hutton, unpunished and unrepentant in reference to fracturing Shane Long's leg recently, somehow didn't cause serious injury to Neil Taylor with a horrific lunge at the Swans left-back. He went in two footed, off the floor, and it was a red card which the ref completely bottled. He picked up a yellow for that, which means that now he'll escape further punishment for that too. Chris Herd also spent a large portion of the game kicking people, and I counted 3 fouls with no card, and one which escaped punishment completely...unbelievable seeing as he went down the back of Nathan Dyer's ankle. Danny Graham was also injured when Richard Dunne went through the back of him and caught his achilles with his studs.
It may sound like I'm "banging on" about the treatment the Swans received, and I wasn't going to do a review of the match, but the lack of attention it received in the media (zero mention on MOTD2) made me feel it was worth drawing attention to. The game itself was, understandably, a bit of a damp squib, with both sides struggling to assert themselves onto the game. The Swans, while they had the lions share of possession as per usual, struggled to find the fluency in midfield they've had for the last few years, and this was in no small part hindered by the departure through injury of influential right back Angel Rangel, after he twisted his ankle making a forward run early in the first half. His replacement, Jazz Richards, started nervously but came into the game as it went on. Testament to Rangel's impact is that normally the majority of the Swans attacks come down the right, but at half time only 18% had done so, which I speculate is a direct result of Rangel leaving the field.
Villa huffed and puffed but never really threatened, and when they did have opportunities they failed to capitalise. Bent pushed a shot straight at Vorm from a tight angle when clean through while Dunne couldn't keep his header down after an audacious flick on from N'Zogbia at the near post from a corner. Swansea fairly comfortably kept another clean sheet, their 6th of the season, and that will further boost the home sides confidence in their defence. Swansea had limited opportunities themselves, with Lita manufacturing perhaps the best chance with a neat turn and left footed shot which went just past the post after he'd beaten James Collins. In truth, both teams struggled to create which is a concern for both teams for differing reasons. For the Swans, it means that teams are starting to figure out the style we play and are going to be arriving with the intention of stifling us and playing little football, much like the Championship, while for Villa it will be a worry that they were made to look so average by a side assembled for less than one or two of their individual players cost.
Swansea need to learn how to break down Premiership defences. Their football and goals alone did it in League One before a resolute home defence aided some nice football in the Championship, but there were times even then when we looked unable to break down teams who would just "sit" and wait for us to play our way into trouble. The problem with this is that once again we've stepped up a level, and players, and teams, are much more clinical at this level as was evidenced last week by Chicharito's winner. Having said that, it's only been the top, top teams (and Norwich) to make us suffer so far this year, and if that stays the same for the rest of the season I'll be a very happy man as I see the Swans staying up. We have the basics and the defence is solid, and I'd rather have a system where we can almost guarantee clean-sheets, and have to find some goals, than be in Wigan's position of having to shore up the defence AND score more goals than the opposition. If the Swans can play a bit more football in the opposition half, acquire a bit more nous in and around the box, and maybe sign a player or two in January, I see them having no problems at all.
Scott Mackay.
Monday, 28 November 2011
Thursday, 10 November 2011
Angel Rangel's Spanish Blogs Translated!
Blog translated version of the blog from http://www.lacoladevaca.com/ @pablog_
Check out the blog for a video from Anfield and more!
Bowling Night
Like every year, the team and the fans got together in a bowling night where every player is assigned a family of Swansea fans to play two games with. At the end of the two games, they give a trophy to the player with the maximum points, the minimum, and the family with the best score. Another year saw lots of people enter the competition and it is a great opportunity to build a stronger relationship between the club and the fans, allowing for the fans to see their favourites, getting photos and autographs. The scores, granted, weren't very impressive but it must be said there was a family with a good score who compete every year and I've had the luck to play with them almost every year! I didn't get more than 130 points but the maximum was 160, with the trophy going to one of our goalkeepers, Jose Moreira, the Portugese formerly of Benfica. The worst, with 82 points, went to the young player from France Darnel Situ, previously of Lens. I guess bowling isn't that popular in France. I think this type of event has helped over the years to reinforce a good relationship between the fans and players, year after year.
After the victory at home to Bolton (3-1) we visited Anfield. It was one of the stadiums I'd always wished to play in, and that day was last saturday. With the stadium full and with thousands of Swansea fans making more noise than the esteemed locals, it started with one clear chance for Liverpool, where Andy Carroll sent the ball onto the bar from around the penalty spot. After this (about the 15th minute) we started to impose the "Swansea Style" clearly dominating the ball, using both wings and creating chance after chance. I only heard whistling, as fans at Anfield are used to seeing their team have the ball and it didn't go like that. 0-0 at the break.
The second half brought more of the same; we'd dominate until Liverpool would create something through Adam and Suarez. The last 15 minutes saw us test Pepe Reina lots of times, Graham, Dyer and the most clear chance fell to Mark Gower with a shot over the bar from the penalty spot after a good team move. Even still our keeper Michel Vorm managed to make 3 great saves to save a point in a place where we weren't expected to get anything. A point that felt like a victory and we saw the famous fans of Liverpool, Liverpool itself, giving us a standing ovation at the end of our encounter. I've never experienced anything like this, where fans of one of the most famous clubs in Europe, playing at the highest level in European football, cheered you because of your display of football.
Notes
I played 90 minutes.,
The first clean sheet away from home, and 5th in total this season - the most for any team in the league. We're 10th in the league with 13 points.
What's more I want to add that I enjoyed the visit of my family (my dad Angel and my brother Xavi) together with two of my best friends (Mingo and Malio), who got to see live what it was like to be cheered at Anfield. It was incredible to see their open mouths after the game! Now we have the international break in two weekends time come back to the "Swansea Post" with two games at home against Manchester United and Aston Villa. I remind you that I enjoy reading your opinions and am open to any suggestions or ideas that benefit the "Swansea Post" and its readers.
Cheers!
Angel Rangel
Check out the blog for a video from Anfield and more!
Bowling Night
Like every year, the team and the fans got together in a bowling night where every player is assigned a family of Swansea fans to play two games with. At the end of the two games, they give a trophy to the player with the maximum points, the minimum, and the family with the best score. Another year saw lots of people enter the competition and it is a great opportunity to build a stronger relationship between the club and the fans, allowing for the fans to see their favourites, getting photos and autographs. The scores, granted, weren't very impressive but it must be said there was a family with a good score who compete every year and I've had the luck to play with them almost every year! I didn't get more than 130 points but the maximum was 160, with the trophy going to one of our goalkeepers, Jose Moreira, the Portugese formerly of Benfica. The worst, with 82 points, went to the young player from France Darnel Situ, previously of Lens. I guess bowling isn't that popular in France. I think this type of event has helped over the years to reinforce a good relationship between the fans and players, year after year.
After the victory at home to Bolton (3-1) we visited Anfield. It was one of the stadiums I'd always wished to play in, and that day was last saturday. With the stadium full and with thousands of Swansea fans making more noise than the esteemed locals, it started with one clear chance for Liverpool, where Andy Carroll sent the ball onto the bar from around the penalty spot. After this (about the 15th minute) we started to impose the "Swansea Style" clearly dominating the ball, using both wings and creating chance after chance. I only heard whistling, as fans at Anfield are used to seeing their team have the ball and it didn't go like that. 0-0 at the break.
The second half brought more of the same; we'd dominate until Liverpool would create something through Adam and Suarez. The last 15 minutes saw us test Pepe Reina lots of times, Graham, Dyer and the most clear chance fell to Mark Gower with a shot over the bar from the penalty spot after a good team move. Even still our keeper Michel Vorm managed to make 3 great saves to save a point in a place where we weren't expected to get anything. A point that felt like a victory and we saw the famous fans of Liverpool, Liverpool itself, giving us a standing ovation at the end of our encounter. I've never experienced anything like this, where fans of one of the most famous clubs in Europe, playing at the highest level in European football, cheered you because of your display of football.
Notes
I played 90 minutes.,
The first clean sheet away from home, and 5th in total this season - the most for any team in the league. We're 10th in the league with 13 points.
What's more I want to add that I enjoyed the visit of my family (my dad Angel and my brother Xavi) together with two of my best friends (Mingo and Malio), who got to see live what it was like to be cheered at Anfield. It was incredible to see their open mouths after the game! Now we have the international break in two weekends time come back to the "Swansea Post" with two games at home against Manchester United and Aston Villa. I remind you that I enjoy reading your opinions and am open to any suggestions or ideas that benefit the "Swansea Post" and its readers.
Cheers!
Angel Rangel
Wednesday, 2 November 2011
Angel Rangel's Spanish Blogs Translated!
All blogs courtesy of http://lacoladevaca.blogspot.com/2011/11/swansea-post-10-by-rangel-swansea.html (@pablog_ on Twitter)
Latest blog from our marauding write-back! (See what I did there? Ha!)
Latest blog from our marauding write-back! (See what I did there? Ha!)
- HAPPY HALLOWEEN 2011
I hope you had a great night on Halloween! The truth is that I do not remember how we celebrate it in Spain but I want to explain that in Wales it is celebrated as Americans do with the legendary Trick or Treats, dress consisting of famous scary character and going house to house with a bag or bucket and asking for candy. And so, I took my two kids, Bailey-as Scream, and Noah Angel - spider-man, along with their cousins and we walked all over the street. It is easy to call each door with 6 kids crazy about sweets, but it was clear that if someone refused to give them candy he'd get an eggy forehead. Luckily, no one refused. The Halloween party for adults is quite different although they retain the dressing up, something very unusual here. People dress up and have parties in homes or at clubs in the tradition of drinking until you drop.
- PREMIER LEAGUE: SWANSEA-BOLTON
After a week of much reflection and analysis on the draw suffered in Wolverhampton, the team received Bolton Wanderers, another team destined to be entrenched in the fight against relegation. In the Liberty Stadium they weren't thinking like that , and with the motivation to win against a direct rival, we began the big game on a very wet afternoon. The same eleven as last week but the first half was short on chances, although we controlled the game. 0-0 at the break but the second half was another story. We started strong and so it was that on the right wing Nathan Dyer 'expelled' the left side of Bolton, Gardner, and from the same free kick Joe Allen opened the scoring in a great performance, and a finish like Andres Iniesta, as he went past three opponents and finished very well with his right foot.
After the goal began the display of football. The whole team felt comfortable with the ball so we opened the field and enjoyed many times, but the second goal came from a corner on the left where Dyer's attempt at goal became a pass to myself! I controlled the ball inside the area and Darren Pratley (ex of Swansea) took me down and the referee did not hesitate to point to the spot. Scott Sinclair was entrusted with the task of making it 2-0.
While we were still creating chances, Bolton, with a man down, managed to get a goal through Danny Graham - an own goal with 10 minutes to go. The entire stadium was thinking about the match against Wolves, but this time was different. With Bolton launching a desperate attack, I took a clearing pass and played a ball to Danny Graham to leave him alone in front of the goalkeeper, beating him to make the final score 3-1.
* Notes:
-We show that we learned the lesson of knowing how to keep an outcome in favor.
Danny Graham has 4 goals in their last 4 games.
-In the first 5 games at the Liberty Stadium no one has managed to score, as the only goal came fitted boots Graham, a real striker.
-I played the 90 minutes back and I also won the penalty and got assist.
-We're tenth with 12 points, 6 above the drop and 3 from Europe.
-I have also been named to the team of the week on different websites, here are the links:
I hope you had a great night on Halloween! The truth is that I do not remember how we celebrate it in Spain but I want to explain that in Wales it is celebrated as Americans do with the legendary Trick or Treats, dress consisting of famous scary character and going house to house with a bag or bucket and asking for candy. And so, I took my two kids, Bailey-as Scream, and Noah Angel - spider-man, along with their cousins and we walked all over the street. It is easy to call each door with 6 kids crazy about sweets, but it was clear that if someone refused to give them candy he'd get an eggy forehead. Luckily, no one refused. The Halloween party for adults is quite different although they retain the dressing up, something very unusual here. People dress up and have parties in homes or at clubs in the tradition of drinking until you drop.
- PREMIER LEAGUE: SWANSEA-BOLTON
After a week of much reflection and analysis on the draw suffered in Wolverhampton, the team received Bolton Wanderers, another team destined to be entrenched in the fight against relegation. In the Liberty Stadium they weren't thinking like that , and with the motivation to win against a direct rival, we began the big game on a very wet afternoon. The same eleven as last week but the first half was short on chances, although we controlled the game. 0-0 at the break but the second half was another story. We started strong and so it was that on the right wing Nathan Dyer 'expelled' the left side of Bolton, Gardner, and from the same free kick Joe Allen opened the scoring in a great performance, and a finish like Andres Iniesta, as he went past three opponents and finished very well with his right foot.
After the goal began the display of football. The whole team felt comfortable with the ball so we opened the field and enjoyed many times, but the second goal came from a corner on the left where Dyer's attempt at goal became a pass to myself! I controlled the ball inside the area and Darren Pratley (ex of Swansea) took me down and the referee did not hesitate to point to the spot. Scott Sinclair was entrusted with the task of making it 2-0.
While we were still creating chances, Bolton, with a man down, managed to get a goal through Danny Graham - an own goal with 10 minutes to go. The entire stadium was thinking about the match against Wolves, but this time was different. With Bolton launching a desperate attack, I took a clearing pass and played a ball to Danny Graham to leave him alone in front of the goalkeeper, beating him to make the final score 3-1.
* Notes:
-We show that we learned the lesson of knowing how to keep an outcome in favor.
Danny Graham has 4 goals in their last 4 games.
-In the first 5 games at the Liberty Stadium no one has managed to score, as the only goal came fitted boots Graham, a real striker.
-I played the 90 minutes back and I also won the penalty and got assist.
-We're tenth with 12 points, 6 above the drop and 3 from Europe.
-I have also been named to the team of the week on different websites, here are the links:
Friday, 28 October 2011
Angel Rangel's Spanish Blogs Translated!
Some of you may wonder why I mention this season. Yes, it was a very important campaign in the history of the club, as, for the first time ever, they played in what was then the top flight of British football, the First Division. Currently in the team we still have one of the legends who achieved this incredible promotion, Alan Curtis (reserve team coach and club man where he played 570 games between Swansea City, Leeds United, Cardiff City, Southampton and Stoke City, scoring 116 goals), who explained to me all the proud memories of that unforgettable season. The first thing he said was the importance of having a great coach and friend, the legendary John Benjamin Toshack we all know, who led the First Division up 4 categories in 4 consecutive seasons. In addition, 1981-1982 will always be remembered for being the first where the UK was introduced to 3 points per win. Curtis recalled the importance of winning, being a large difference in points from the previous season where victory and a draw only differed by a point .
Swansea began their adventure in the 'Top Flight' with two straight wins, not bad! But I also like to emphasize a date much talked about among the fans of Swansea and of course the same Curtis: October 22, 1981. Then Swansea, for the first time in its history, became leader of the highest division with 22 points gained at Stoke City (1-2) and Curtis then explained to me that it was a Stoke team with great physical presence, much like the current team. He himself remembered it as if it were yesterday, saying that was a great moment for the country and after that date the team stayed in the top 6 all season, finishing in the same position (6th) with 69 points, finishing above clubs like Leeds United, Aston Villa, or Southampton, and if it were not for the accumulation of cup matches and European competition they could have been in the Top 3. We can see the difference 31 years later, where we have returned to the top flight at the moment but we are fighting for different goals. We're all hoping for different things than they did, and we know it'll be difficult to do as well, but we'll aim to finish as high as we can.
Wolves;
The second game in a row away from home, and in front of the Sky Sports cameras, as well as being live on GoIT in Spain. Once again travelling with the team was one of my best friends in the world of football, Andrea Orlandi, after being out for a long time with a knee problem: he made his official PL debut when he came on in the second half. We started the game with lots of aggression but Wolves were the first to send a warning shot. We managed to lead 2-0 in the first half thanks to goals from Danny Graham - 3 in his last 3 - and Joe Allen got his first of the season, and what's more we did it playing good football.
In the second half we starting strong but little by little we were losing the possession, and what's more we missed clear chances to finish the match. It all looked won, but it's never like that in football. Wolves made 3 chances with less than 10 minutes to go, and our anxiety to get the three points took it's toll; our lines dropped right back and we gave loads of room to the other team, and they started to bombard the box with balls. It was like this we conceded a corner and finally 2 minutes later the unthinkable happened, we tied because of a lack of defensive organisation and we weren't aggressive enough when we needed to be defending a good result away from home. The final result was 2-2, but this was a big deception. It was another lesson to learn but 1 point has broken our run of 4 losses on the bounce away from home. We've got 9 points, 3 more than Bolton, who are falling and who we're playing next Saturday in the Liberty Stadium, but as well as this we're only 3 points off the European spots!
Interesting links;
Stats Zone from the PL on FourFourTwo showing Rangel completing 46 out of 51 passes.
Angel has the second most passes in the PL after Yaya Toure.
Angel is the best defender in the Premier League Fantasy Football on Yahoo. He's also ranked 22nd out of all players in the competition.
Swansea began their adventure in the 'Top Flight' with two straight wins, not bad! But I also like to emphasize a date much talked about among the fans of Swansea and of course the same Curtis: October 22, 1981. Then Swansea, for the first time in its history, became leader of the highest division with 22 points gained at Stoke City (1-2) and Curtis then explained to me that it was a Stoke team with great physical presence, much like the current team. He himself remembered it as if it were yesterday, saying that was a great moment for the country and after that date the team stayed in the top 6 all season, finishing in the same position (6th) with 69 points, finishing above clubs like Leeds United, Aston Villa, or Southampton, and if it were not for the accumulation of cup matches and European competition they could have been in the Top 3. We can see the difference 31 years later, where we have returned to the top flight at the moment but we are fighting for different goals. We're all hoping for different things than they did, and we know it'll be difficult to do as well, but we'll aim to finish as high as we can.
Wolves;
The second game in a row away from home, and in front of the Sky Sports cameras, as well as being live on GoIT in Spain. Once again travelling with the team was one of my best friends in the world of football, Andrea Orlandi, after being out for a long time with a knee problem: he made his official PL debut when he came on in the second half. We started the game with lots of aggression but Wolves were the first to send a warning shot. We managed to lead 2-0 in the first half thanks to goals from Danny Graham - 3 in his last 3 - and Joe Allen got his first of the season, and what's more we did it playing good football.
In the second half we starting strong but little by little we were losing the possession, and what's more we missed clear chances to finish the match. It all looked won, but it's never like that in football. Wolves made 3 chances with less than 10 minutes to go, and our anxiety to get the three points took it's toll; our lines dropped right back and we gave loads of room to the other team, and they started to bombard the box with balls. It was like this we conceded a corner and finally 2 minutes later the unthinkable happened, we tied because of a lack of defensive organisation and we weren't aggressive enough when we needed to be defending a good result away from home. The final result was 2-2, but this was a big deception. It was another lesson to learn but 1 point has broken our run of 4 losses on the bounce away from home. We've got 9 points, 3 more than Bolton, who are falling and who we're playing next Saturday in the Liberty Stadium, but as well as this we're only 3 points off the European spots!
Interesting links;
Stats Zone from the PL on FourFourTwo showing Rangel completing 46 out of 51 passes.
Angel has the second most passes in the PL after Yaya Toure.
Angel is the best defender in the Premier League Fantasy Football on Yahoo. He's also ranked 22nd out of all players in the competition.
Friday, 25 February 2011
One and a bit down...
I thought seeing as I'd committed to this blogging stuff I might as well post another one, I've been here a while now so why not eh. I've had 11 views so far, so to those 11 people, or that one very interested person I thank you!
The house I'm working on is amazing, tucked away in the country but not too far from anything, and the potential here is huge. It's going to be let as a holiday villa, and it's not far off ready now, just lots of painting and tidying up to be done really. The first two weeks I spent mostly pulling up weeds, levelling all the land and then membraning/gravelling the garden. The difference it made was huge, and now pretty much the entire garden is done apart from finishing touches. Put up a fence here, pull out some weeds there, and we're good... that kind of thing. I do wish I had a decent/any kind of camera though, some of the wildlife you see here is class. Centipedes and millipedes, frogs, wood pigeons and god knows how many other types of birds (ornithology - not a forté of mine!), lizards, and then the odd mouse and vole. I'm also in the process of taming one of the semi-wild cats who wanders around, he's loving the fuss now.
I've been skating to San Antonio and back quite a lot, and I found that the best, and by far the most fun, way is to go straight down the main road! It's all uphill on the way back, but boy is it fun on the way there! It's about 2km all downhill on a brand new road, and there's never any traffic. Class. Motorists still honk as they go past in a "You're 10 metres away travelling in a controlled manner! How dare you! Can't you see you're endangering my life? How will I survive in my sturdy metal vehicle?!" so I've taken to grinning and saluting them. My thinking is I don't emit any pollution from my skateboard, so they can go swivel if they want to get into a debate about it. Other than that, it's just been milling on the internet, playing guitar and reading books. I'm feeling a bit better about playing and singing, so hopefully I can get a few gigs this year to make some extra cash. I've given up on learning songs other people know now, everyone can listen to what I like, sod it.
As for positivity/negativity... yeah. Some things are good, some things are bad. I'm cautiously hopeful I'm going to be very happy at some point in the not too distant future, but I've been saying that for about 3 years now, so I'm not banking on anything... In general though, to quote a famous philosiphiser; "I'm not a negatist, I'm an optometrist". Keep smiling, see what happens innit.
When I have something that is actually interesting to say, then I'll no doubt do another blog. Thanks.
Hasta la proxima x
The house I'm working on is amazing, tucked away in the country but not too far from anything, and the potential here is huge. It's going to be let as a holiday villa, and it's not far off ready now, just lots of painting and tidying up to be done really. The first two weeks I spent mostly pulling up weeds, levelling all the land and then membraning/gravelling the garden. The difference it made was huge, and now pretty much the entire garden is done apart from finishing touches. Put up a fence here, pull out some weeds there, and we're good... that kind of thing. I do wish I had a decent/any kind of camera though, some of the wildlife you see here is class. Centipedes and millipedes, frogs, wood pigeons and god knows how many other types of birds (ornithology - not a forté of mine!), lizards, and then the odd mouse and vole. I'm also in the process of taming one of the semi-wild cats who wanders around, he's loving the fuss now.
I've been skating to San Antonio and back quite a lot, and I found that the best, and by far the most fun, way is to go straight down the main road! It's all uphill on the way back, but boy is it fun on the way there! It's about 2km all downhill on a brand new road, and there's never any traffic. Class. Motorists still honk as they go past in a "You're 10 metres away travelling in a controlled manner! How dare you! Can't you see you're endangering my life? How will I survive in my sturdy metal vehicle?!" so I've taken to grinning and saluting them. My thinking is I don't emit any pollution from my skateboard, so they can go swivel if they want to get into a debate about it. Other than that, it's just been milling on the internet, playing guitar and reading books. I'm feeling a bit better about playing and singing, so hopefully I can get a few gigs this year to make some extra cash. I've given up on learning songs other people know now, everyone can listen to what I like, sod it.
As for positivity/negativity... yeah. Some things are good, some things are bad. I'm cautiously hopeful I'm going to be very happy at some point in the not too distant future, but I've been saying that for about 3 years now, so I'm not banking on anything... In general though, to quote a famous philosiphiser; "I'm not a negatist, I'm an optometrist". Keep smiling, see what happens innit.
When I have something that is actually interesting to say, then I'll no doubt do another blog. Thanks.
Hasta la proxima x
Tuesday, 11 January 2011
So it's happening again...
So it's happening again... I'm going back to Ibiza, except this time it's a little earlier than I'd started to grow accustomed to. The reason being I've got some work tiding me over with a lovely family working on their house doing some renovation. Nothing complicated, just "lifty pully" stuff, with a bit of "hammery mixy" thrown in for good measure. Unless something which I am yet to foresee occurs, I should be in Ibiza until some time around November, so I'm sure I'll find lots of fun things to tell everyone about.
Seeing as how I should have done this for the last two summers, I'm fully aware that I'm more than likely to have had two action packed adrenaline-fuelled summers where I could and should have noted down all kinds of high jinks for the benefit of posterity. Alas, I did not, so undoubtedly you're in for treats such as "Thursday is jacket potato day" and other exciting stuff like this!
I'm also going to be trying to talk about things close to my heart a lot more freely than I have done in the past. I've always struggled opening up, so what better way to do it than shouting on the internet. There's other ways, you say? Nope, not interested. Found one now, so here goes.
Since I've been home, it's been really, really nice to see everyone I know and love again (well, almost everyone I know and love, they're starting to spread themselves more thinly on the ground), but the lack of work and a place of my own has really started to grind. I'm not happy twiddling my thumbs, and no matter what I've been doing, I've been restless. Having no money is no problem. It's annoying, but I can deal with that. Having no money and all the time in the world? That's a different monster.
It's possible that the culmination of two summers spent in Ibiza with a lot of time to think in the evenings, and now two months of doing a great deal of nothing left me reflecting on how I've changed, what I've been doing, what I am doing, and what I need to do. I feel I've slowly started to change as a person from the inside out. I like how I am with people, to about 95%. The other 5% is not even what I'd like people to see, I think it's purely been what I felt I wasn't comfortable revealing to people. I am making a conceited effort in 2011, to be more open and honest with my feelings and desires. So far, I've gone to a few places it had never occurred to me to visit before, and the results have been... well... more than encouraging. If that's cryptic, screw it, I've been open enough considering it's only just day 12 in my year of discovery!
So yeah, new things, new conversations, new places. Going all right so far, innit!
Seeing as how I should have done this for the last two summers, I'm fully aware that I'm more than likely to have had two action packed adrenaline-fuelled summers where I could and should have noted down all kinds of high jinks for the benefit of posterity. Alas, I did not, so undoubtedly you're in for treats such as "Thursday is jacket potato day" and other exciting stuff like this!
I'm also going to be trying to talk about things close to my heart a lot more freely than I have done in the past. I've always struggled opening up, so what better way to do it than shouting on the internet. There's other ways, you say? Nope, not interested. Found one now, so here goes.
Since I've been home, it's been really, really nice to see everyone I know and love again (well, almost everyone I know and love, they're starting to spread themselves more thinly on the ground), but the lack of work and a place of my own has really started to grind. I'm not happy twiddling my thumbs, and no matter what I've been doing, I've been restless. Having no money is no problem. It's annoying, but I can deal with that. Having no money and all the time in the world? That's a different monster.
It's possible that the culmination of two summers spent in Ibiza with a lot of time to think in the evenings, and now two months of doing a great deal of nothing left me reflecting on how I've changed, what I've been doing, what I am doing, and what I need to do. I feel I've slowly started to change as a person from the inside out. I like how I am with people, to about 95%. The other 5% is not even what I'd like people to see, I think it's purely been what I felt I wasn't comfortable revealing to people. I am making a conceited effort in 2011, to be more open and honest with my feelings and desires. So far, I've gone to a few places it had never occurred to me to visit before, and the results have been... well... more than encouraging. If that's cryptic, screw it, I've been open enough considering it's only just day 12 in my year of discovery!
So yeah, new things, new conversations, new places. Going all right so far, innit!
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