1 August 2003
‘…but he stays in the saddle for Rose.’
Apparently — and sorry to keep going on about this album — De-Loused in the Comatorium is based on the suicide of Julio Venegas. (No, I don’t know who he was either.) Not that you can tell from the lyrics.
As Mr DiCrescenzo says, they lack direction. That’s what’s so great about them! De-Loused is a sprawling mass of energy, and that’s just how we like it, thank you very much. Sam Draper makes an excellent point on this: they are, for all their differences (sound, ideals, audience) like Sigur Rós, whose songs are in a made-up language. And Sigur Rós are also bloody good.
Speaking of lyrics, I have to wonder whether the ‘so not punk rock’ thing has any reference to the amazing Iggy Pop interview in Mogwai’s track, Punk Rock. It’s the one that starts ‘I’ll tell you about punk rock. Punk rock is a word used by dilettantes…and, uh, and, uh…heartless manipulators.’
I updated the instructions on the thing to make it clearer what you have to do. Currenty Fantasy Premier League team:
| Sel | Name | Tm | Po | Pw | Cn | Cp | Ce | Ne |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| XI | Niemi | SO | 105 | 0 | 5.5 | 5.5 | 5.5 | LC(a) |
| XI | Amoruso | BR | 0 | 0 | 6.5 | 6.5 | 6.5 | WW(h) |
| XI | Svensson M | SO | 109 | 0 | 5.5 | 5.5 | 5.5 | LC(a) |
| XI | Barry | AV | 132 | 0 | 6.5 | 6.5 | 6.5 | PO(a) |
| XI | Okocha | BW | 136 | 0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | MU(a) |
| XI | Jensen | CA | 136 | 0 | 7.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 | MC(h) |
| XI | Giggs | MU | 172 | 0 | 9.5 | 9.5 | 9.5 | BW(h) |
| XI | Reid | BR | 0 | 0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | WW(h) |
| XI | Henry | AR | 271 | 0 | 12.0 | 12.0 | 12.0 | EV(h) |
| XI | Anelka | MC | 169 | 0 | 10.0 | 10.0 | 10.0 | CA(a) |
| XI | Keane | TH | 132 | 0 | 8.5 | 8.5 | 8.5 | BC(a) |
| Sub | Murray | WW | 0 | 0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | BR(a) |
| Sub | Senderos | AR | 0 | 0 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 | EV(h) |
| Sub | Higginbotham | SO | 7 | 0 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | LC(a) |
| Sub | McEveley | BR | 18 | 0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | WW(h) |
Still not happy. I’ve decided that Henry is the only player I absolutely cannot afford to not have, and that everyone else is expendable. Additionally, I think Villa and Spurs will get their traditional good start to the season. And I think we’ll win at Old Trafford, but I don’t know who’ll score, so I’ve gone for Jay-Jay ‘safe bet’ Okocha. All this adds up to give me a team with Henry, Giggs, and a bunch of mid-table no-hopers.