JamieZ

At the show. Front row. As far as albums, I would start with 'The Earth Is Not A Cold Dead Place'.

I made the trip down to New York City the other day to see Underworld (I live Upstate—think Canada) and it was well worth it. I had a neat little moment when I looked over during "Born Slippy" (from Trainspotting) and realized I was dancing next to Jonny Lee Miller (from Trainspotting!), who was rocking out just as hard as I was. Really happy to have had the experience. Oh, and earlier in the week, I caught Ghost and Tribulation for another really solid show. Smart band, stupid fanbase.

Like drawn and quartered?

Ein Schwarzwald Schokolade Brownie!? Wunderbar!

Ran a trail race today, despite a sore Achilles and a general lack of fitness. I was relatively happy with a fifth-place finish, but there's always room for improvement. Notice I'm repping the Villa shorts (No. 701, left). One of these days, someone will actually comment on them (hasn't happened yet).

At the risk of sounding extreme, this Villa team are not very good.

I hate to be the guy who bring it up, but I still think we could do a lot worse than Bob Bradley. He exceeded all expectations at Stabæk and he currently has Le Havre on course for promotion to Ligue 1. He's exactly the type of no-nonsense manager to come up with a clear plan for taking us forward, to make his expectations known to both the board and the players, and to give the players the means and the motivation to do it.

His name is Gary and he works in the mail room. Puts in a good shift, doesn't complain. He's there every day, rain or shine.

Not bad.

Fabregas is my captain. Erm, I mean...I'd pick Falcao.

Whoops, nope. Just dropped into second. Balls.

Picking the right captain and starting lineup certainly carries a lot more weight because of that. I made Kane (who else?) my captain last week and it paid off. Somehow, I'm leading the VillaTalk league, and I'm not entirely sure what differentiates me from the others, aside from the fact that I'm sticking with it.

I think we can get a point from this one...but I'll still probably trade for Sigurðsson in fantasy.

Why did he shoot an iPhone? Doesn't he have cans? Cans are much cheaper.

I, for one, would welcome a player of Craig Noone's calibre.

Making Kane my fantasy captain. Or maybe Alderweireld...

This is not a rational argument, but at the moment Rémi Garde is the only thing at Aston Villa about which I can say, "I am fully in support of this aspect of the club." I'm not attached to the players; I'm not attached to the ownership or the "ethic"; I'm an American, so I can't walk by the ground and feel an attachment to its physical presence—hell, the closest I've even been to Birmingham is the M6 on my way from Manchester down to London and I was asleep at the time; so aside from the investment I have made in the club in the form of time and emotion, the fact that the club has a manager whom I can look at and say, "This man is a class act and he is trying his level best to steer the club in the right direction in spite of everything," is all I have to hold on to at the moment.

You got it. Much is made of the North/South divide in the States, but not nearly enough of the urban/rural divide. Someone (I think it was James Carville) once rightly described Pennsylvania as "Philadelphia and Pittsburgh with Alabama in between".

I feel like they're bound to peter out in March or so when legs start to grow tired and their lack of squad depth will show—but I'd love nothing more than to be wrong. I'd be thrilled to see them win it, and I'd go to see the movie. With Arsenal doing everything in their power to blow their best opportunity to win the league in recent years, I'm afraid Man City will finish top in unspectacular fashion, leaving a bad taste in everybody's mouth but Noel Gallagher's.

Is the dog available? Can he play left back?

*You're

!!!!!

I'll take Craig Noone if we can get him, but can we attract a player of that caliber?