July

This is always the month in work where the frenetic pace of the year begins to slow down. Another good things about this month is that there is no marking to do either.

Away from work, most of my weekends this month have been spent helping people move house (my girlfriend, as well as a colleague from work). Note to self: put all thoughts of moving house out of mind…it’s far too stressful.

The World Cup finished this month and overall I have to say I was not really that impressed. There was the occasional flash of brilliance, but there were few classic games that will spring to mind in the future. The Final itself was won by Spain, who thankfully overcame Netherland’s more aggressive style of play.

Another aspect of the World Cup that has been a disappointment has been the coverage, especially the level of punditry. They have constantly showed a lack of research, which even a cursory glance at Wikipedia could have overcome. Another thing that annoyed me was the lack of respect for referees from smaller nations…the typical ‘what would they know’ mentality was constant. Invariably they would be the better performers.

The other bugbear of mine was the incessant chatter about Forlan's re-emergence. He had two bad seasons at Man United, since then he has been constantly doing well in Spain, first with Villarreal and then Athletico Madrid. Yet the myopic coverage of the commentators constantly talks as though his career is tainted in some way The coverage of the Tour de France, which started this month, only served to highlight the inadequacies of the football commentators and pundits. As ever ITV’s coverage was superb.

It has been a month of weddings, not mine, but that of two friends. They were nice occasions and I was glad to be a part of them. I have attended three weddings this year, thankfully I have no outstanding invites...otherwise I would be bankrupt.

In music, I went to see the Coral and Cherry Ghost at the Lowry, both bands were on top form. They both are touring in support of new albums, they are pretty good an well worth checking out. Other albums I have bought this month include the National’s album ‘High Violet’, which has been getting good reviews from the music press. I also listened to Nouvelle Vague's ‘Late Night Tales’, and the Mumford & Sons album, which is all over the place at the moment. It is pretty good and can see why they have emerged as a big band in the last few years. No doubt they are going down a storm at the various festivals this year.

I also dug out my XTC albums as it had been a long time since I had given them a spin. Like Prefab Sprout the month before you forget what brilliant work that they produced. In Andy Partridge they have a genius, whose talents are not really appreciated as fully as they should.

By the end of the month the football season returned, well in pre-season form. I foolishly ventured out to watch a pre season friendly at Altrincham, despite the weather looking like a grey day in November. Being at this game inspired me to set up a football blog, which can be found here.