Tootenham or Reading in Fourth round

Paddy Crerand is happy with the draw, i suppose it would have been nice to get a lower league team, and with the amount of premier league teams that got knocked out, there was more of a chance of it happening. I am fed up of people going on about the magic of the FA cup and what it means to players and fans. The fact that hardly any ground was full even for some of the more high profile games tells you all you need to know where it stands in the priorities of most clubs. I still love the FA cup but lets face it, even for us it comes a poor third in the trophies we hope to win at the start of the season. So for those clubs that statistics say over the last ten years have no chance, that's everybody outside the top four, how can you really blame them for not taking the competition seriously, especially with the financial implications of staying in the premier league being so great.
http://www.manutd.com/default.sps?pagegid={B4CEE8FA-9A47-47BC-B069-3F7A2F35DB70}&newsid=521658

Thaksins wife is arrested as she re-enters Thailand
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,2237153,00.html

Australia v India, it is hard to know who is wrong and who is right in all of this. The Aussies have got one hell of a record for upsetting countries from the sub continent though. Here are a variety of comments on sledging, Indian racism and Steve Bucknor being stood down from the next test.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/cricket/article3150974.ece
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?xml=/sport/2008/01/07/ucnich107.xml
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/mike_marqusee/2008/01/india_in_denial.html

The Guardians Iranian correspondent has seen his attempt to renew his visa to stay and report in the country fail, he has been kicked him out in other words. In his final article he gives us his summary of the country and its people and where it's at, and where it may be heading.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,2236340,00.html

A piece about the continuing hunt for Nazis in South America
http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,,2236927,00.html
What caught my eye was the postwar Argentinian governments efforts at persuading escaping Nazis to settle there, as they were desperate to lure skilled people to the country. I knew that Nazis went there, but i had no idea that Peron's government actively encouraged it.


Music
Beth Gibbons and Rustin man - Beth Gibbons and Rustin man : I loved Portishead, Bet Gibbons is a cracking singer, so it's a shame they have put so little music out. It has took me a while to get round to listening to this, but if you liked Portishead you will probably love this.
Black Lips - Good bad, not evil : I remember reading about this groups stage antics after deciding to listen to this, and then wondering whether this was really for me. One of them manges to drink his own piss as part of the act. To me that kind of thing is just a gimmick to divert attention from the mediocrity of the music usually. But not in this case, it's a quality album, with hints of The Velvet Underground, the Cramps and sixties garage.
Felix Da Housecat - Kitten and thee glitz : Quality techno, i had heard his excursions album from around the same time 2002. I liked that, though it is more of a DJ mix album, where as this more of a proper song based album.
Miles Davis - Jack Johnson a tribute :One of the great Jazz rock or fusion albums, what an album. Though i would categorise it as a rock album with a magnificent Jazz trumpeter at it's heart. I am a big fan of bitches brew, but i have to say this effort tops that in my book. Now i will have to listen to On the corner.
Ray Davies - Working mans cafe : The kinks seem woefully under appreciated to me, so it's great to hear Ray Davies putting out a couple of solo albums over the last couple of years. I saw him in town a few years back when he was doing his one man show reading passages from his book, and he was a class act. He doesn't break any new musical ground, but you get what you expect from him, catchy tunes, that make you want to sing along.
Robert Plant & Allison Krauss - Raising sand : A lot of critics had this down as one of their albums of the year, and i can see why. The songs are great,the two singers more than do their job and the musicianship is superb. They are talking about doing another album, it will be hard to beat this effort, but if it's half as good it would still be worth getting.