#andy farag

[thebowerypresents]

Umphrey’s McGee Deliver with Two-Set Show at Brooklyn Steel on Friday Night

Umphrey’s McGee – Brooklyn Steel – January 19, 2024

In the vanguard of 2000s-era jambands, Umphrey’s McGee have often been thought of as the prog-rock one, and undoubtedly, the way their more complicated tunes can sprawl out into guitar-storm, drum-clattering, puzzle-box creative madness recalls some prog-rock forebears, especially King Crimson. But prog is only a slice of how eclectic Umphrey’s can get and how they make that eclecticism a weapon instead of a neat trick. As a going concern for more than 25 years now (!), Umphrey’s shows travel what often feels like the full gamut, from arena rock to psychedelia to scraping-crunchy industrial metal, brain-bender jazz, acid blues, reggae and tender ballads. Yeah, there’s many a jamband trope — dual guitar stack-ups, lengthy excursions, brilliant improvisation, oblique lyrics and song titles, the kinds of setlist gymnastics most bands would go hands up at — but in each Umphrey’s era, they’ve sounded more like themselves, even as they got more varied, their songwriting got better and their fan base grew and stayed.

At Brooklyn Steel on Friday night, the first of three local shows in what’s become a traditional(-ish) Umphrey’s swing through NYC at this time of year, the six-piece got to business as only they know how, creating two sets of sonic voyages that sometimes felt like visits to little worlds, destination assured, and sometimes felt like madness-bordering searches for those worlds, destination unknown. They do both, equally well.

Set 1 stops included “There’s No Crying in Mexico,” “40’s Theme” and a long excursion from “Half Delayed” into the prog-metal “1348,” plus the big guitar crunch of “Hourglass.” “Sociable Jimmy” was that first stanza’s standout. It began like a gnarly Frank Zappa workout and moved into a soaring guitar noise. Set 2 featured the instrumental “Nothing Too Fancy,” starting with a wash of cooling synth, kicking up the kind of slippery drums-and-percussion you’d associate with Radiohead, and then going full Zeppelin stomp. Other highlights included “Cemetery Walk” — a Police-meets-Traffic kind of thing — which bled into its constant companion, “Cemetery Walk II,” keyboards-forward and somewhat soothing until its jittery drums kicked in again. The beloved “Ringo” — more than 20 years in the Umphrey’s repertoire — closed the show, its not-quite-laid-back-not-quite-jittery reggae lilt briefly shifting into a cover of Tenacious D’s “Kielbasa” before taking things home.

Umphrey’s McGee — as ever, guitarists Brendan Bayliss and Jake Cinninger, keyboardist Joel Cummins, bassist Ryan Stasik, and the monster drums-percussion core of Andy Farag and (back behind the kit after an injury-sidelined 2023) Kris Myers — are so adept at so many styles because they seem to approach each of them like a really dialed-in jazz combo would. The lead instruments duck and weave around one another. The rhythm instruments are tight in the pocket. They all have big ears and use them. Improvisation is constantly inspired, rarely wonky or wanky. In another band this would all be too much, from the varying styles to the arsenal of effects and the fortress-like stage setup. Umphrey’s make it all not just coherent but effective, and after their show, you’re spent. —Chad Berndtson | @Cberndtson

Photo courtesy of Chad Berndtson

[d-criss-news]

Via Andy Rafat Farag's Instagram Story (February 12th, 2023)

[ianchisnall]

Now, I am a democrat. I respect what British people voted for

Now, I am a democrat. I respect what British people voted for

These words came from Elizabeth Truss towards the end of her Prime Minister Question session yesterday and it was in response to a question or a call from Stella Creasy, the Labour MP for Walthamstow in London. I was very grateful for the comment from Gillian Martin which is shown here in the tweet image which I spotted it because my contact Andy Sharman retweeted it. Gillian Martin is a Scottish…

[garudabluffs]

"Trumps Criminal Associates from A to Z”

Donald Trump, Melania Trump, Donald Trump Jr., Ivanka Trump, Eric Trump; >>> Greg Abbott, Ali Alexander, Samuel Alito, Rick Allen, Brian Babin, Jim Banks, Steve Bannon, Kathy Barnette, Bill Barr, Tom Barrack, Maria Bartiromo, Glenn Beck, John Bennett, Andy Biggs, Dan Bishop, Christina Bobb, Lauren Boebert, John Bolton, David Bossie, Kevin Brady, Mike Braun, Mo Brooks, Taylor Budowich, Ted Budd, Aileen Cannon, Madison Cawthorn, Tucker Carlson, Matthew Calamari, Kenneth Chesebro, Andrew Clyde, Jeffery Clark, Robert Cheeley, Chris Christie, Chris Collins, Susan Collins, James Comer, Kellyanne Conway, John Cornyn, Thomas Bryant Cotton, Kevin Cramer, Dan Crenshaw, Steven Crowder, Raphael Edward Cruz, Ken Cuccinelli, Warren Davidson, Louis DeJoy, Carlos DeOliveira, Ron DeSantis, Betsy DeVos, Lou Dobbs, Byron Donalds, John Eastman, Larry Elder, Jenna Ellis, Michael Ellis, Tom Emmer, Boris Epshteyn, Julie Jenkins Fancelli, Nigel Farage, Tom Fitton, Harrison Floyd, Michael Flynn, Matt Gaetz, Bob Gibbs, Newt Gingrich, Rudy Giuliani, Louie Gohmert, Sebastian Gorka, Paul Gosar, Trey Gowdy, Lindsey Graham, Charles Grassley, Mark Green, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Ric Grenell, Kimberly Guilfoyle, Alina Habba, Harriet Hageman, Misty Hampton, Liz Harrington, Nikki Haley, Scott Hall, Sean Hannity, Josh Hawley, Jody Hice, Hope Hicks, Thomas Homan, Richard Hudson, Duncan Hunter, Laura Ingraham, Kay Ivey, Ronny Jackson, Jim Jordan, Mike Johnson, Ron Johnson, Alex Jones, Fred Keller, Keith Kellogg, Mike Kelly, Bernard Kerik, Charlie Kirk, Kim Klacik, Kenneth Klukowski, Jared Kushner, Trevian Kutti, Tomi Lahren, Kari Lake, Cathleen Latham, Bill Lee, Mike Lee, Stephen Lee, Mark Levin, Corey Lewandowski, Christopher Liddell, Mike Lindell, Billy Long, Barry Loudermilk, Cynthia Lummis, Nick Luna, Nancy Mace, Paul Manafort, Roger Marshall, Thomas Massie, Douglas Mastriano, Angela McCallum, Kevin McCarthy, Mitch McConnell, Ronna Romney McDaniel, Kayleigh McEnany, Johnny McEntee, Mark Meadows, Molly Michael, Chris Miller, Jason Miller, Stephen Miller, Barry Moore, Steven Mnuchin, Rupert Murdoch, Greg Murphy, Heather Nauret, Waltine Torre Nauta Jr., Peter Navarro, Carl Nichols, Kristi Noem, Ralph Norman, Oliver North, Devin Nunes, Bill O’Reilly, Candace Owens, Stefan Passantino, Kash Patel, Dan Patrick, Rand Paul, Ken Paxton, David Perdue, Scott Perry, Rick Perry, Mike Pence, Judge-Jeanine Ferris Pirro, Mike Pompeo, Erik Prince, Vladimir Putin, Sidney Powell, Kim Reynolds, Karrin Taylor Robson, Michael Roman, Chip Roy, Marco Rubio, Anthony Sabatini, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, George Santos, Steve Scalise, Dan Scavino, Rick Scott, Tim Scott, Jeff Sessions, David Shafer, Ben Shapiro, Bill Shine, Kyrsten Lea Sinema, Ray Smith lll, Victoria Spartz, Sean Spicer, Todd Starnes, Elise Stefanik, William Stepien, Shawn Still, Roger Stone, Jason Sullivan, Clarence Thomas, Virginia (Ginni) Thomas, Tommy Tuberville, Mike Turner, James David (JD) Vance, Herschel Walker, Kelli Ward, Jesse Watters, Allen Weisselberg, Matthew George Whitaker, Susan Wiles, Ben Williamson, Chad Wolf, Lin Wood, Todd Young…Just to name a few. “Vote Blue in November: In numbers too big to rig, in numbers too real to steal….

381 Comments https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SY8rIL3xUKc

[wankerwatch]

Commons Vote

On: King's Speech (Motion for an Address): Amendment (k)

Ayes: 85 (75.0% LD, 6.0% Ind, 6.0% RUK, 4.8% PC, 4.8% Green, 2.4% SDLP, 1.2% APNI) Noes: 382 (97.9% Lab, 1.0% DUP, 0.3% SDLP, 0.3% Ind, 0.3% UUP, 0.3% TUV) Absent: ~183

Individual Votes:

Ayes

Liberal Democrat (63 votes)

Adam Dance Al Pinkerton Alex Brewer Alison Bennett Andrew George Anna Sabine Ben Maguire Bobby Dean Brian Mathew Calum Miller Cameron Thomas Caroline Voaden Charlie Maynard Charlotte Cane Chris Coghlan Christine Jardine Claire Young Clive Jones Daisy Cooper Danny Chambers Ed Davey Edward Morello Freddie van Mierlo Gideon Amos Helen Maguire Ian Roome Ian Sollom James MacCleary Jess Brown-Fuller John Milne Josh Babarinde Joshua Reynolds Layla Moran Lee Dillon Lisa Smart Liz Jarvis Luke Taylor Manuela Perteghella Marie Goldman Martin Wrigley Max Wilkinson Mike Martin Monica Harding Olly Glover Paul Kohler Pippa Heylings Rachel Gilmour Richard Foord Roz Savage Sarah Dyke Sarah Gibson Sarah Green Sarah Olney Steff Aquarone Steve Darling Susan Murray Tessa Munt Tom Gordon Tom Morrison Victoria Collins Wera Hobhouse Will Forster Zöe Franklin

Independent (5 votes)

Adnan Hussain Ayoub Khan Iqbal Mohamed Jeremy Corbyn Shockat Adam

Reform UK (5 votes)

James McMurdock Lee Anderson Nigel Farage Richard Tice Rupert Lowe

Plaid Cymru (4 votes)

Ann Davies Ben Lake Liz Saville Roberts Llinos Medi

Green Party (4 votes)

Adrian Ramsay Carla Denyer Ellie Chowns Siân Berry

Social Democratic & Labour Party (2 votes)

Claire Hanna Colum Eastwood

Alliance (1 vote)

Sorcha Eastwood

Noes

Labour (373 votes)

Abena Oppong-Asare Abtisam Mohamed Adam Jogee Adam Thompson Afzal Khan Alan Campbell Alan Gemmell Alan Strickland Alex Baker Alex Ballinger Alex Barros-Curtis Alex Davies-Jones Alex Mayer Alex McIntyre Alex Norris Alice Macdonald Alison Hume Alison McGovern Alison Taylor Alistair Strathern Allison Gardner Amanda Hack Amanda Martin Andrew Cooper Andrew Gwynne Andrew Lewin Andrew Pakes Andrew Ranger Andrew Western Andy MacNae Andy Slaughter Angela Eagle Angela Rayner Anna Dixon Anna Gelderd Anna McMorrin Anna Turley Anneliese Midgley Apsana Begum Baggy Shanker Bambos Charalambous Barry Gardiner Bayo Alaba Beccy Cooper Becky Gittins Bell Ribeiro-Addy Ben Coleman Ben Goldsborough Bill Esterson Blair McDougall Brian Leishman Bridget Phillipson Callum Anderson Calvin Bailey Carolyn Harris Cat Eccles Cat Smith Catherine Atkinson Catherine Fookes Catherine McKinnell Catherine West Charlotte Nichols Chi Onwurah Chris Bloore Chris Bryant Chris Curtis Chris Elmore Chris Evans Chris Hinchliff Chris Kane Chris McDonald Chris Murray Chris Vince Chris Webb Claire Hazelgrove Claire Hughes Clive Betts Clive Lewis Connor Naismith Connor Rand Damien Egan Dan Aldridge Dan Jarvis Dan Tomlinson Daniel Francis Daniel Zeichner Danny Beales Darren Jones Darren Paffey Dave Robertson David Baines David Burton-Sampson David Pinto-Duschinsky David Smith David Taylor David Williams Dawn Butler Debbie Abrahams Deirdre Costigan Derek Twigg Diana Johnson Douglas Alexander Douglas McAllister Ed Miliband Elaine Stewart Ellie Reeves Elsie Blundell Emily Darlington Emily Thornberry Emma Foody Emma Hardy Emma Lewell-Buck Emma Reynolds Euan Stainbank Feryal Clark Fleur Anderson Florence Eshalomi Frank McNally Gareth Snell Gen Kitchen Georgia Gould Gerald Jones Gill German Gordon McKee Graeme Downie Graham Stringer Grahame Morris Gregor Poynton Gurinder Josan Hamish Falconer Harpreet Uppal Heidi Alexander Helen Hayes Helena Dollimore Henry Tufnell Hilary Benn Ian Byrne Ian Lavery Ian Murray Imogen Walker Imran Hussain Irene Campbell Jack Abbott Jacob Collier Jade Botterill Jake Richards James Asser James Frith James Murray James Naish Janet Daby Jas Athwal Jayne Kirkham Jeevun Sandher Jeff Smith Jen Craft Jenny Riddell-Carpenter Jess Asato Jess Phillips Jessica Morden Jessica Toale Jim Dickson Jim McMahon Jo Platt Jo Stevens Jo White Joani Reid Jodie Gosling Joe Morris Joe Powell Johanna Baxter John Grady John McDonnell John Slinger John Whitby Jon Pearce Jon Trickett Jonathan Brash Jonathan Davies Jonathan Hinder Jonathan Reynolds Josh Dean Josh Fenton-Glynn Josh MacAlister Josh Newbury Josh Simons Julia Buckley Julie Minns Juliet Campbell Justin Madders Kanishka Narayan Karin Smyth Karl Turner Kate Dearden Kate Osamor Kate Osborne Katie White Keir Mather Kenneth Stevenson Kerry McCarthy Kevin Bonavia Kevin McKenna Kim Johnson Kim Leadbeater Kirith Entwistle Kirsteen Sullivan Kirsty McNeill Laura Kyrke-Smith Lauren Edwards Lauren Sullivan Lee Barron Lee Pitcher Leigh Ingham Lewis Atkinson Liam Byrne Liam Conlon Lilian Greenwood Lillian Jones Linsey Farnsworth Lisa Nandy Liz Kendall Liz Twist Lizzi Collinge Lloyd Hatton Lola McEvoy Lorraine Beavers Louise Haigh Louise Jones Lucy Powell Lucy Rigby Luke Akehurst Luke Charters Luke Murphy Luke Myer Luke Pollard Margaret Mullane Maria Eagle Marie Rimmer Marie Tidball Mark Ferguson Mark Hendrick Mark Sewards Mark Tami Markus Campbell-Savours Marsha De Cordova Martin McCluskey Martin Rhodes Mary Creagh Mary Glindon Matt Bishop Matt Rodda Matt Turmaine Matt Western Matthew Patrick Matthew Pennycook Maureen Burke Maya Ellis Meg Hillier Melanie Onn Melanie Ward Miatta Fahnbulleh Michael Payne Michael Shanks Michael Wheeler Michelle Welsh Mike Amesbury Mike Kane Mike Reader Mike Tapp Mohammad Yasin Nadia Whittome Natalie Fleet Natasha Irons Naushabah Khan Naz Shah Neil Coyle Neil Duncan-Jordan Nicholas Dakin Nick Smith Nick Thomas-Symonds Noah Law Oliver Ryan Olivia Bailey Olivia Blake Pam Cox Pamela Nash Pat McFadden Patricia Ferguson Patrick Hurley Paul Foster Paul Waugh Paula Barker Paulette Hamilton Perran Moon

Peter Dowd Peter Kyle Peter Lamb Peter Prinsley Peter Swallow Phil Brickell Polly Billington Preet Kaur Gill Rachael Maskell Rachel Blake Rachel Hopkins Rachel Taylor Rebecca Long Bailey Richard Baker Richard Burgon Richard Quigley Rupa Huq Rushanara Ali Ruth Cadbury Ruth Jones Sadik Al-Hassan Sally Jameson Sam Carling Sam Rushworth Samantha Dixon Samantha Niblett Sarah Champion Sarah Coombes Sarah Edwards Sarah Hall Sarah Russell Sarah Sackman Sarah Smith Satvir Kaur Scott Arthur Sean Woodcock Seema Malhotra Shabana Mahmood Sharon Hodgson Shaun Davies Simon Lightwood Simon Opher Sojan Joseph Sonia Kumar Stella Creasy Stephanie Peacock Stephen Doughty Stephen Morgan Stephen Timms Steve Race Steve Reed Steve Witherden Steve Yemm Sureena Brackenridge Tahir Ali Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi Terry Jermy Tim Roca Toby Perkins Tom Collins Tom Hayes Tom Rutland Tonia Antoniazzi Tony Vaughan Torcuil Crichton Torsten Bell Tracy Gilbert Tristan Osborne Tulip Siddiq Uma Kumaran Valerie Vaz Vicky Foxcroft Warinder Juss Wes Streeting Will Stone Yuan Yang Yvette Cooper Zarah Sultana Zubir Ahmed

Democratic Unionist Party (4 votes)

Carla Lockhart Gavin Robinson Jim Shannon Sammy Wilson

Social Democratic & Labour Party (1 vote)

Colum Eastwood

Independent (1 vote)

Alex Easton

Ulster Unionist Party (1 vote)

Robin Swann

Traditional Unionist Voice (1 vote)

Jim Allister

[eventseeker789]

Umphrey's McGee

Umphrey's McGee is an American progressive rock band formed in 1997 in South Bend, Indiana. The band's music incorporates a wide range of genres, including rock, jazz, blues, metal, and funk, often within a single performance. Known for their improvisational live shows and intricate compositions, they have built a dedicated fan base through extensive touring and live recordings. The band's lineup consists of Brendan Bayliss (guitar, vocals), Jake Cinninger (guitar, vocals), Joel Cummins (keyboards, vocals), Ryan Stasik (bass), Andy Farag (percussion), and Kris Myers (drums, vocals). Umphrey's McGee has released several studio albums, live recordings, and concert DVDs, gaining a reputation for their musicianship and innovative approach to the jam band scene.

[traveltrainsandcoffee]

THE FFL END OF SEASON REVIEW 2023/24

The summer of 2023. Australia had retained the Ashes, bloody Manchester rain and a very controversial stumping. In football Man City had won the treble in May, but the big talk in the Premiership and FFL was about Harry Kane. Kane had been in most people’s teams for many years, but was probably leaving Spurs, but where? City, United? Spain? Germany or the Saudi Pro league. Several stars followed CR7 to Saudi Arabia, including Manager Steven Gerrard with his dodgy attempted Arabic and Jordon Henderson who caused a stir after always supporting LGBT+ then moving to a country which strictly banned such things.

The FFL had been won by a Colin for the last 3 seasons. The Hawk had the title and back in May he stated that he was only a couple of dodgy weekends off the treble. Could he go even better, what about Our Grimsby Roma. In 2022 he set a world record point’s score in winning the league. Mark Taylor had led the league, but ran out of steam and players finishing second, could he challenge again. Senol Durmush and Andy Flanagan had both won cups and were among the favourites. Could Kieron Mullin get back to winning ways?

The Euros awaiting at the end of the season, but just before the season started sad news. Former work colleague and friend Steven Spence died. Spenny won the 2004 Euro FFL. Rest in peace mate.

New managers joined FFL, both had had a go in the World cup, now the real thing for Holly Shakeshaft and Blessing Charumbira. FFL had now had members from Europe, North America, South America and now Africa. It then looked like Kane was staying,  but just at the deadline Kane went to Germany and my phone exploded with managers frantically changing their strikers, well a couple missed the deadline and had to start with only 20 players. Thanks Harry. Milner was still in FFL, 3 years after I said it was the end for him Barista Sarah put him in the Team Aroma.  So as England were battling and eventually losing in the final of the Women's World cup, The FFL started, with The Hawk as the early leader, with Senol, Paul Taylor and The Knightrider best of the rest. 

September started with the return of Origi to the Premier league with Forest. Some managers in FFL seemed more interested in the size of his err, appendage than his football skills. The Hawk was starting ok, but behind the scenes all was not well, angry worried texts from him showed how many players were missing. His team was falling apart and in real trouble. A very understrength Hawk was beaten by Senol Durmush in the Bennett's Shield and went into freefall. Senol was going very well at the top of the league, but with many players injured, many FFL teams were suffering penalty points already. After a poor start Mark Taylor went for an Ice-cream with Harry Maguire at Mablethorpe. By the end of September Senol was still top, facing an unlikely challenge from Team Aroma, yes Team Aroma were doing well. That will never last.

October and VAR madness was in the headlines. A complete breakdown in communications between the VAR bunker and the ref resulted in a total mess. Liverpool and Liverpool fans felt a total injustice. Disco Lee Ritchie had a good online moan. The PGMOL stated that human error was to blame. In the champion’s league first group stage, Tappy, Sally Sands, Andy Flanagan and Mark Taylor were top of the groups. The Hawk was having a nightmare and was out. The month also saw the passing of Francis Lee and Bill Kenwright, along with World cup winner Sir Bobby Charlton. Bobby was probably England’s greatest ever player. In the league only 1 point between the top three of Jon Thomson, Team Aroma and Senol Durmush. Yes Team Aroma were still challenging. 

November and three things I didn’t expect to be saying. Cameron back in the cabinet, Farage going into the jungle and Team Aroma top of the league. Our Grimsby Roma questioned how on earth have they done this? This would be a start of a great run by Team Aroma. Aroma famous for always doing badly, famous for some very dodgy player picks were top, clear and pulling away. Definitely their greatest FFL run in their history.  Not so great news for Everton as they were deducted a record 10 points for spending far less than Chelsea, and Man City, but more than their Premiership allowance would permit. That’s fair play for you. Everton would get 4 points back on appeal, but have another 2 points taken for the same reason during mostly the same time period???  Forest had points deducted too.  Imagine how many points they would have been deducted if they had spent as much as Chelsea have in the last two seasons? Man City had 115 charges hanging over their head, but this may take till the end of time to deal with.  FFP and VAR would really spoil this season. 

More sad news as former England manager Terry Venables sadly died. I don’t think anyone our age will forget the summer of 96. Early December and a bad injury to Goalkeeper Pope would have a huge impact on many teams. With Ramsdale not playing, Allison injured and so many defenders missing, this season would see more penalty points than ever before. In the champions league second group stages it was very tight. The final games saw last season’s winner Andy Flanagan  along with Sally Sands, Kieron Mullin and Colin Fenwick through to the semi-finals. Mary Earps won SPOTY and had a Nottingham tram named after her. The AROMA TRAIN kept on rolling, they were now 30 points clear at the top and the Christmas number one. Could this be a Leicester city moment, could anyone stop them?

Over Christmas and New Year so much happened. Rishi came to Lincoln and even met Blessing’s mum in Sainsburys.. Orange netting flapping around in the wind caused panic at Blackpool tower, Klopp broke Tsimikas collarbone and the world was being introduced to the oldest looking 16 year old, Luke ‘the nuke’ Littler.  Joey Barton started mouthing off against women in football and generally making a fool of himself. My German trip didn’t go very well. Firstly Harry Kane didn’t join me in the Augustiner Keller, then angry farmers, rail strikes, delays and rail replacement buses brought misery. More sad news as one of the world’s greatest ever players Franz Beckenbauer passed away. Back in Lincoln for my birthday and that life size cut out of Divock Origi was still stalking me from behind the bar in Red5. During all this time Team Aroma were top and clear. Barista Shann wanted to make room for the trophy, Olivia started writing a Team Aroma chant. There was even talk of an open top TVR ride along Guildhall Street with the trophy, if they won. You can almost see Andy driving, with Sarah and Shann in the back holding up the trophy.  January ended with the news that Klopp would be leaving Liverpool at the end of the season. Lots of tears from Disco, Holly and half of Merseyside. Jordan Henderson hadn’t settled in Saudi and wanted out. I donated to Stonewall and ActionAid again, when asked on the website why I was donating I simply put ‘disappointed with Jordan Henderson’. A bit of edge crept into FFL.  A few digs at Team Aroma from some managers including Colin Fenwick comparing it to an infinite number of monkeys writing the complete works of Shakespeare. Team Aroma’s Sarah came firing back. Not with Keegan style madness, but with Shakespeare. Not since the days of Flannery , Padgham and Burnett battling with Flynny and Mullin had we seen such scenes.   

The FA cup. Team Aroma, Our Grimsby Roma and Jon Thomson got first round byes.  The first leg of both champions league semi-finals were both draws.  The FA CUP 1st round saw wins for Duncan Mackenzie who beat Gareth Dyke, Danny Lawson hammered Holly, Pam Taylor beat Andy Flanagan and Kieron beat Blessing. The tie of the round saw FA cup holder Senol beat Disco Lee Ritchie by 2 points. Blessing overlooked this disappointment and started crowing about Arsenal winning the league this season. Colin Fenwick won his champions league semi against holder Andy Flanagan, while Kieron beat Sally in the other semi. These were good days for Our Grimsby Roma, a Champions league final, starting to close the gap on Team Aroma and last 8 in the FA cup. Possible treble?  The second round saw Jon beat Duncan, Kieron beat Danny and Colin beat Pam. Senol beat Team Aroma. More bad news for Aroma as the lead was being chipped away. Sad news as German world cup winner Andres Brehme died. Under pressure Roy Hodgson ended up in hospital and eventually left Palace. Liverpool WON the EFL cup, ‘beating the blue billion dollar bottle jobs’ Chelsea, not my words, but the words of Gary Neville.

In the FFL, the dream was over. After leading for 3 and a half months, key injuries saw Team Aroma slide down the table. Both Kieron Mullin and Colin Fenwick were going for the treble. The champion’s league first leg saw Kieron get a 2 point lead. Penalty points were hurting so many teams. Jon Thomson was 3 points clear of Kieron with Danny Lawson 3rd. The FA Cup semi-final saw Jon beat Kieron and Colin beat Senol. This ended Kieron’s treble dream and Senol’s hold on the FA cup. As Easter approached Jon had 15 point lead at the top.

Easter and it's very tight at the top. The penalty points have kept scores lower this year, but it’s very close between Jon Thomson, Kieron Mullin, Colin Fenwick and Danny Lawson. There was a national outcry as Nike changed the England Flag on the England shirt, not to mention the price £125. In FFL in one week every single manager apart from Holly got penalty points. Kieron Mullin won the first trophy of 2024 in winning the champions league. This was Kieron's 13th FFL trophy, an FFL record and the end of Colin Fenwick treble dream. It was also around this time that we were all introduced to the term 'Pickfordsexual' now I'm pretty clued up on the modern gender and sexual spectrum, but this one was new to me.

Harry Kane left spurs to win titles, unfortunately as the saying goes 'you can take the boy from Spurs, but you can’t take the Spurs from the boy' for the first time in 12 years Bayern München didn't win the league. Poor Harry, you really should have joined me for that beer at the Augustiner Keller.

 

By April Jon was 13 clear at the top of the league and preparing for an FA Cup final. Possible double. A bad couple of games for Arsenal saw them lose ground in the league and out of Europe. Blessing who had been very confident of their success was crushed, so much so that he started quoting Friedrich Nietzsche. This along with Sarah Henderson quoting Shakespeare makes you think ' whatever happened to the days of people shouting I would Love it if we beat them, love it.' More sad news as Joe Kinnear died, I remember seeing him as a manager on the touchline at a couple of games.

 

Late April and something very strange happened. Everton who started to improve beat Forest 2 nil. However 3 possible Forest penalty shouts were not given and VAR didn’t get involved. Forest issued a statement after the game accusing the Premier league of putting a Luton fan in the VAR box and that they were considering their options. This felt like full on tinfoil hat conspiracy time. Who was to blame for this very miss-guided statement? Nuno, The strange Greek owner or Mark Clattenburg in his vague ref advisory role at Forest. Most of the footballing world came out and condemned Forest. The FA talked of charging them with bringing the game into disrepute. Then shortly afterwards Clattenburg left his role at Forest. 'Clattenburg, you will go on my first whistle.' The FA Cup final was an all Italian affair as Juvejon played Our Grimsby Roma. Klopp and Salah had their touch line bust up, I was watching the game in a pub in Norwich with Holly Shakeshaft. We were given the true London stadium feel as the TV screen was about 5 miles from where we were sat. Colin Fenwick won the FA cup final by 4 points to win his 3rd FFL. Liverpool had found Klopps replacement, A Dutchman who looks like a cross between MVG and Matt Lucas called. Arne Slot.

May and the FFL was becoming a 2 maybe 3 horse race. Jon Thomson was top, with Kieron Mullin 2nd and Our Grimsby Roma 3rd, but 15 points back.  Leicester City were heading back to the Premiership, Bayern were knocked out of Europe and Kane would again finish trophyless.  The hammer blow, the KO came in the final few Man City games. Defender Gvardiol, who had missed a chunk of the season started scoring goals and keeping clean sheets. He got Kieron 12 points in only 2 games. Going into the final Premiership weekend Kieron was 15 points clear of Jon at the top.

The final weekend of the season saw Usyk beat Fury, Man City win their 4th Premier title in a row and Liverpool fans said their tearful goodbyes to Klopp.  Kieron Mullin had all but wrapped up the FFL title. A now 17 point lead and with similar players left in the FA Cup meant he couldn’t really be caught. Moyes left West Ham, Pochettino was sacked. Luke Littler won the Premier League of darts and Rishi called a general Election. During his attempt at being a normal bloke he asked a group of Welsh guys if they were looking forward to the football (Euros). Wales haven't qualified.

The FA Cup final saw a mix up in City's defence and Utd go one up, two, no its offside , but soon it was two nil. Final few minutes and it 2v1. Utd hang on and win the FA Cup. No double for City, but is Ten Hag still getting the sack?

 

So Kieron added The FFL title to his Champions League title a record 14th career trophy, amazing when you consider he got -50 in penalty points. Jon Thomson took second place and Colin Fenwick 3rd. Colin also won the FA Cup. Team Aroma had their highest ever finish of 8th and made the champions league for the first time ever. A brilliant season for them, but it all felt disappointing after once being 30 points clear at the top, Andrew, Sarah, Shann, Olivia and the rest  lamenting what might have been. The final champions league spot went to Blessing, by just 2 points over Tappy.

Thank you for a great Season, really great fun, soon be time for Euro FFL and we go again for the main event starting again in August

2 Final thoughts.

1. Will Kane ever win a trophy?

2. Can Team Aroma repeat this again next season?

MT

[krispyweiss]

Umphrey’s McGee’s Kris Myers to Miss the Rest of 2023 for Rotator Cuff Surgery

- Jason Bonham, Duane Trucks, Ben Atkind and Jeremy Salken to rotate in UM’s drum chair

Drummer Kris Myers will miss the rest of Umphrey’s McGee’s 2023 tour dates to undergo and recover from rotator cuff surgery.

Four October concerts have been moved to April 2024. But Umphrey’s’ remaining gigs will go on with a revolving door of drummers - including Jason Bonham, Widespread Panic’s Duane Trucks, Goose’s Ben Atkind and Big Gigantic’s Jeremy Salken - filling in.

Guitarist Jake Cinninger and percussionist Andy Farag will also “spend a little time behind the kit to help round things out,” the band said.

“I love and appreciate you all and please take comfort in knowing that everything will be OK and I’ll be playing again soon with my favorite band,” Myers said in a statement.

8/4/23

[snuffyd]

Stalking Kitten Cavemen of the Future Joel Cummins, Andy Farag

[pinktinselmonstrosity]

go get him andy!!!

[dyscomancer]

This is so fucking funny

[lostinprocrastination]

[generalelectionmusings]

[iconuk01]

So Farage, who basically fronted Berxit, a man who Grima Wormtongue would desribe as "unduly and tastelessly opportunistic", and who has sung the praises of Australia's tough immigration up until now, has suddenly decided that multi-millionaire (though I'm sure that's nothing to do with it) sports-star Novak Djokovic (is being ill treated by said country trying to enforce it's borders.

Even if one had much sympathy of Djokovic (Which I don't), Farage even being on your own side should give you serious pause about your moral compass.

And, as usual, Andy Murray has a delightfully dry sense of humour:

“Please record the awkward moment when you tell them you’ve spent most of your career campaigning to have people from eastern Europe deported.”

[mailboxspiders]

A milkshake singing about the Portland Antifa rally and the police making things up about concrete milkshakes after some antifa people threw a milkshake at a fascist-sympathizer known for harassing and doxing people. https://www.instagram.com/mailboxspiders/ for more

[ayeforscotland]

Did you see Lolitics like 6-8 years ago? It was just tumblr kids with crushes on politicians. Flower Crown edits of Nigel Farage. There’s a dating sim called Labors Love Lost about the Labour Party. They called Andy Burnham ‘Anime Eyes Burnham.’ I’m just remembering it now...

Only person I’ve come across was a ‘Theresa May stan’ - very cringey