Mr Owl PhD

The best thing about Reina is that he's quite a good footballer for a keeper. His distribution and eye for a pass is often really good and it's quite an important part of how Liverpool play. He's the first line of attack as well the last line of defence.

Was listening to Tom Ravenscroft on 6Music the other evening and, in response to the loss of Torres, he said 'If we sell our keeper Pepe Reina to United in the summer then I'm not coming in to work for two weeks'. I'd echo those sentiments.

Some piano music for you. Rachel Grimes 'Book of Leaves': Book of Leaves - Rachel Grimes - Spotify First solo album from the pianist in Rachel's. Dustin O'Halloran 'Piano Solos Vol.2': Piano Solos Vol. 2 - Dustin O'Halloran - Spotify

Are you saying that people needed more Moores?

If you like the Knife: Silent Shout - An Audio Visual Experience | The Knife

"You should have stayed with a real club" they were singing after Torres was substituted today. Splendid.

United LOL

Damn. I'm away for this too. And that's why I drink.

Does anyone listen to the Grifters these days? Crappin' You Negative - Grifters - Spotify They really ought to. One of those bands who distil a lot of musical history in a very listenable way.

Here are a few old albums that I really like but that I don't think are that well known. Even as we Speak 'Feral Pop Frenzy' Feral Pop Frenzy - Even As We Speak - Spotify Fantastically fun Australian indie pop. Pretty much the best entertainment you can have in 45 minutes without using your hands. Or someone else's. Helium 'Dirt of Luck' The Dirt of Luck - Helium - Spotify Classic 90s American indie rock fronted by Mary Timony. All her stuff is great but this is her most consistently good record. Angular. Vomit Launch 'Dogeared' Dogeared - Vomit Launch - Spotify Pioneering indie rock band hampered by poor name. This is their last album. Their others are good too, especially the (also poorly named) 'Exiled Sandwich': Exiled Sandwich - Vomit Launch - Spotify

The first album is very good and worth getting, although it's probably not as consistently good as 'Epic'. The songs on Epic are a bit more 'fleshed out' on the whole whereas the first album is more low key. There are still some really great tunes on it though.

His first graphic novel 'Like a Velvet Glove Cast in Iron' is pretty great. It's certainly a reasonable distance 'out there' at times. I think there's at least one compilation of Eightball stuff, which is very good too.

My favourite album of last year - not sure why it isn't far more well known than it is.

Then there's the guy in the cowboy hat with the electric organ who does country songs outside M&S. That guy rules.

I thought Foxhunting was very decent. A good vocal and lyrical style, which is a fairly rare thing. It was a good gig throughout - very intimate venue.

That's incredibly sad. A great singer.

Uncle Boonmee who can recall his past lives: Splendidly unorthodox Thai film. I'm a big fan of slow films where not much happens and this fits the bill really well. Kind of like a Thai Tarkovsky - resolutely quirky throughout and about as far removed from most current films as you can get. The sound is really amazing in this film - adds to the dream-like atmosphere a lot.

The best I saw were: Up in the Air Another Year Four Lions The Illusionist Of Gods and Men The last of those was probably the best.

Of Gods and Men - A film about a group of French monks in Algeria, getting caught up in the crossfire between Islamist terrorists and the army. It centres on the dilemmas they face in dealing with the deteriorating situation, whether they should stay or leave, get protection from the army or treat injured terrorists. Beautifully paced, filmed and acted - probably the best I've seen all year. One of those films it takes a while to recover from.

Monsters - interesting and mostly enjoyable low-budget science fiction film. Having said that, the plot was a bit contrived and it also falls between a lot of stools: not enough action for an action film, not enough cleverness for a high-brow film, not enough science fiction for a real SF film. A good film but perhaps a missed opportunity given the interesting premise on which it's built.

A lot of people seem to go sledging at Balnagask Golf Course in Torry. Some good slopes there anyway.

How to take a penalty:

Liz Phair 'Uncle Alvarez'

David Bowie 'Life on Mars'

But then again...