Sureshot

I went down down down and the flames went higher.

I hate to say it, but he surely has to go now.

These are the teamsheets from the last two times I felt the lowest of the low as a Villa fan:

Arsenal 5 - 0 Villa (DOL gave his Arsenal-loving speech after this one, pretty much the last straw for most people):

Sorensen, De la Cruz (Cahill 52), Hughes, Ridgewell, Bouma, Hendrie, McCann, Davis, Barry (Agbonlahor 52), Phillips (Angel 45), Moore.

Fulham 2 - 0 Villa (we went out of the FA cup to Fulham when they were still in the 2nd div under Keegan):

Oakes, Ehiogu, Southgate, Barry, Watson, Scimeca, Taylor, Hendrie, Wright, Joachim, Merson. Subs: Grayson, Ferraresi, Bassell [sic], Hughes, Rachel.

To be honest, that first squad hardly inspires me with much more confidence than our current bunch. I'd certainly take the second right now, though.

Thank god that the hockey season is starting again soon...

12 goals in 2 games... fold the team.

No idea how that's still 0-0.

Benteke has JPA-itis... Caught offside so much.

Put me in, Coach. I'll play for a 10th of the cost.

Brad is MotM so far, not sure who else is anywhere near (maybe Lowton).

Haven't looked even remotely threatening thus far.

Merry Christmas all!

Even Torres gets one.

Chelsea just woke up... 3-1.

Nice one Leeds. Incidentally, they look about 10 times better than Reading did against Arse this week.

You mean something like this?

'You are clearly not at a high enough level of artistic enlightenment to understand this advert, nor will you ever be as pretty as the people in it, but buy our sh*t anyway and you might get there one day.'

Perfume/aftershave adverts.

Reading are being completely outclassed.

Fantastic result, well done lads! Benteke is immense.

I picked up an iPad last week with the main intention of using it for board/word games (instead of my iPhone), and I really haven't been disappointed at all - it's fantastic for the purpose. Some of my favourites:

Neuroshima Hex! / Neuroshima Hex! Puzzle

Ingenious

Qin

Ticket To Ride

Khet

Letterpress

Spelltower

Words HD

If you're on the fence about getting one for the same reason and have the cash, go for it.

The year's not quite over, but December is typically a slow month for new music, so let's get this show on the road. Here's last year's thread for reference.

Favourites? Disappointments? Feel free to add those you played a hell of a lot this year that weren't released in 2012 as well. YouTube/other sample links are appreciated by all!

For me...

Best 10 of 2012 (in no order):

The Menzingers – On The Impossible Past [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CsFAguSp7w0][http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWTZj2FqJMU]

Fear Factory – The Industrialist [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E510Ixbv-BA][http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fw2CHePA_JI]

Joey Cape & Tony Sly – Acoustic Vol. 2 [1][http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_iaELzLUez4]

Green Day - ¡UNO! [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DjQoWfstQUU][http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0NrMTyTd6Y]

Seven Kingdoms – The Fire Is Mine [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hpa6f6s23PE][http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gc3vzRmbczk]

The Sword – Apocryphon [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TrLOGEbNNQ][http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVkrh9fihFk]

The Sorrow – Misery Escape [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XeKsPhiATDw][http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCwfcNBDtPw]

Slingshot Dakota – Dark Hearts [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vv77q65JrRg][http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEB0cFQXadY]

Numbers – Numbers [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxYw-RZZUQo][http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wInNG1ROIk]

Various – The Wipeout Generation [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yXR3EMwJO8][http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rowUKPa2F5E]

10 most listened to albums of 2012 that weren't released this year:

Senium – Such Progress [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5e683pzUKc][http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4Mx7EcgaD4]

Violent Soho – Violent Soho [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jC49f_vh04][http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzrAfkyq-xM]

Temple Of The Dog – Temple Of The Dog [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUb450Alpps][http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmxaFf-lpZY]

Soundgarden – Badmotorfinger [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZaglHQOgt8][http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPxowzz8rtQ]

Pearl Jam – Ten [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qM0zINtulhM][2]

Unearth – Darkness In The Light [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWjTaaWyFkA][2]

The Jesus And Mary Chain – Darklands [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPPP3BXurHk][http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_w9sCTtZ9EA]

The Holy Mess – The Holy Mess [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOO3PHXS5Uk][http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssuZIErlYKk]

Seven Kingdoms – Seven Kingdoms [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kuvhlgahIjE][http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwrKh7WIC3M]

Black Sabbath – Heaven And Hell [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhe1SuBGkiA][http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-og87crqsCE]

Overall:

Not exactly a classic year for new releases, but at least I didn’t really feel like I was scrabbling to name 10 this time around.

Probably my biggest disappointment of the year was Soundgarden’s new album – so painfully generic compared to what they used to be capable of. We also lost one of my favourite punk front-men this year – Tony Sly of No Use For A Name – which was obviously a major downer.

Pretty much done with shopping, done with work in a week and a half and not back until after the new year. I'll be heading back to blighty, and my girlfriend is coming over for the Christmas week. It's gonna be a good one this year!

The other option is to work for a company in Europe that has a US branch/HQ and move there on an L1. As an exec you can get a max of 7 years, as a specialized worker 5 years. I'm in the latter category with 2 years left, so I need to work out what to do in the next couple of years...

But that sounds like a natural thing for you. I'm talking about those who have regular smiles naturally, they just look like an idiot in photos.

People who make an inordinate effort to not show their teeth when smiling for any photo that's taken of them, and end up looking like they're either trying really hard not to laugh or that they want to see how far they can make their lips wrap around their face.