Van Der Sar - A disappointing season

Van Der Sar on a disappointing season and the regret on missing out on a fifth European cup final.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/article7120685.ece

Ferguson and United aren't expecting Chelsea to slip up, neither are any of us. For what it's worth i think they will win easily. I even think if they score early they could run riot as they did against Villa and Portsmouth. I just want us to win and put on a show. Of course if news comes through that the rent boys have scored early that probably won't happen as it will just go flat and they will stop playing. We have seen our last day performances go like this before, even when we have won the title, over the last few seasons none of which were great spectacles.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/leagues/premierleague/manutd/7696386/Manchester-United-v-Stoke-City-Sir-Alex-Ferguson-weighs-up-his-transfer-options.html

Michael Owen is still hoping for a league title winners medal. It will be interesting to see if he is still hear next season with the amount of forwards at the club now. My feeling and hope is not. He hasn't done badly but there were too many games when he did play where he just didn't contribute as much as you would want for a Manchester United front line striker.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/leagues/premierleague/manutd/7696682/Manchester-United-v-Stoke-City-Michael-Owen-hoping-to-claim-elusive-winners-medal.html

An interview in the Mail with Fergie
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1275304/Odds-stacked-United-Sir-Alex-Ferguson-refuses-title.html

Ferguson is quoted as saying that Berbatov will be staying at United, which could mean that Own will go. You never know Berbatov may hit it off with the new Mexican signing Hernandez, it's happened before.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1275344/Dimitar-Berbatov-staying-Manchester-United-declares-Sir-Alex-Ferguson.html

I didn't see this live but i wished i had of done, even the tories on the Ploiticalbetting site think she is appaling.
http://www.newstatesman.com/blogs/the-staggers/2010/05/sky-news-watch-home-160-video

Senior figues withing both the tories and the Lib Dems are against a deal as talks move ahead according to the Indy
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/clegg-is-urged-to-abandon-deal-as-tories-rule-out-vote-reform-1969467.html

Election analysts reckon the tories didn't secure a majority by just 16,ooo votes. Live by first past the post, die by first past the post. It's been hilarious listening to tories trying to claim they have a moral right to govern when their preferred voting system couldn't deliver the majority they were so desperate for.
What was it Churchill said, a majority of one is still a majority. Well falling short by twenty seats plus Ulster unionist is still twenty seats short. There is no moral right at all. And lets not get into the fact that 36% of the vote and about 20 odd% of the population who could have voted is blatantly no mandate.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article7120733.ece
All that Ashcroft and hedge fund money for this. There must be some unhappy rich folk out there.

The Torygraph report a new poll showing a majority for a change to the voting system to some form of PR. I believe there would be a majority for PR in a referendum if the vote is held in favourable circumstances. But i'm not as confident if it was held during a Lib-Lab coalition that can't form a majority in the house of commons. The irony being of course that is we had the last election using PR it would almost certainly have led to a Lib-Lab coalition. Who's to blame for that, step forward Gordon Brown and allies.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/election-2010/7697099/General-Election-2010-half-of-voters-want-proportional-representation.html

The Labour party is quiet for the moment, but things could start to move if some kind of Tory Liberal deal is done.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/gordon-brown/7696951/General-Election-2010-Labour-pressure-for-Gordon-Brown-to-quit-as-leader-soon.html
Andy McSmith on the future options for the Labour party.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/brown-is-sure-to-go-but-who-will-take-the-reins-1969469.html

Will Hutton argues Nick Clegg and the Liberal democrats have to be ruthless in order to try and bring the once in a generation change they have been handed. That makes it sound easy, when we all know it's not. I agree with the size of the prize but is Clegg and are the Liberals the heirs to Lloyd George, as political tacticians that is, it's hard to see. Our best hope as far as i can see at the moment, is for the neanderthal Tory right right to sabotage Cameron's manouevering so that from a progressive point of view it will be the tories that takes the blame for any breakdown of trust in the ongoing talks. Will they revert to being the stupid party as Lloyd George called them.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/may/08/will-hutton-liberal-democrats-coalition

Michael Brown on the fun and games going on within the Tory party as the distrust of Cameron continues.
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/michael-brown-failure-of-camerons-pet-candidates-will-strengthen-his-opponents-hand-1968194.html

Tory recriminations continue even as i write.
http://www.newstatesman.com/blogs/public-accounts/2010/05/160-win-deal-failure-tory

John Gary is worried about Cameron and the modern evolution of the Tory party.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/may/07/bad-night-cameron-good-bigoted-tendency

John Palmer on Europe and why it's economic philosophy must change post credit crunch.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/may/07/debt-crisis-eu-new-economic-philosophy

Stephe Foley writes that it is time to end the complexity of the markets as the madness on the Dow Jones on Thursday proved regualtors have completely lost control.
http://stephenfoley.independentminds.livejournal.com/23584.html

Political columnist Alan Watkins dies, i used to enjoy reading his stuff and would have been fascinated to have read his views on this election and aftermath.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/news/alan-watkins-doyen-of-political-commentators-dies-at-77-1969473.html

One of my all time favourite groups the Pixies

Vidic happy at United

Where else do you go after United says the Serb defender, if the rumours were right Real Madrid or Barca, and if there are two clubs as big as us it's them. I hope he stays all the same.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/leagues/premierleague/manutd/7695666/Manchester-United-v-Stoke-City-Nemanja-Vidic-says-nowhere-better-than-Old-Trafford.html

Meanwhile his defensive partner isn't happy with his disappointing season having just started just 11 premier league games. He could say and not having been fit or having played that well in those 11 appearances.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/may/08/rio-ferdinand-manchester-united-england-rest
I'd be surprised if he played more than half our premier league games next season, in fact Fergie may save him for the big league games and our European games in a bid to utilise him best.

As the see through PR stories of a rebuffed bid to the Glazer's disappear from the press the red knights carry on preparing their bid unimpressed with the reports
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/may/07/red-knights-manchester-united

Head in the sand Scudamore, is impressed by the "fantastic Glazers" and sees nothing to worry about matters at Anfield. What an utter utter prick.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/article7119988.ece

Meanwhile the losses and problems pile up at Liverpool. I think the story of the summer is whether Torres and Gerrard follow Benitez out of the club or will they be able to hold onto one of them. My feeling is if one leaves the other will straight away ask for a transfer and will be granted their wish. They will come nowhere near the top four if that happens.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/liverpool/article7120084.ece

Two differing Tory takes on Camerons position, first from Matthew Parris who thinks Cameron is playing his hand well. Of course he was on the left of the party when he was an MP
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/matthew_parris/article7120060.ece
Benedict Brogan political editor of the Torygraph is more to the right and sees big problems in Cameron's position.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/election-2010/7693236/What-price-will-David-Cameron-pay-for-the-keys.html
That sounds more realistic to me.

Tom Baldwin thinks the labour party has coped suprisingly well to the events yesterday, and has stayed well disciplined in the circumstances. Of course if they or the liberals had got 20 more seats that would have been a hell of a lot better, but the result has potentially been the kindest to them of all the three parties to my mind. If it takes the opportunity it may be given.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article7120179.ece

Steve Richards reckons that Clegg and the Liberals must repel Tory blandishments and go all out for proportional representation, it could well be the one and only chance they get. As he says every piece of voting reform in our history has come out of political expediency not principle.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/clegg-has-a-real-chance-to-change-the-system-he-must-not-blow-it-1968188.html

My ideal scenario would be for the lib dems to allow the tories to run as a minority government with a mandate to run the economy and no more. No coalition and most definitely no Liberal in the cabinet. This would leave Cameron in a very weak position with his own party and in the country. His activist base and probably his own backbenchers would not take long to start sniping at the traitor to the Thatcherite cause and would cause him as much trouble as Major was caused. What the Tory press would do i don't know, but they would be hard pressed to give him an easy ride if his own backbench wasn't. The man who they had given the benefit of the doubt in the expectation of their turn in power, but didn't deliver would be a dead man walking. He would go down in Tory history alongside Heath as not one of us.
For both Liberals and Labour this would leave them to watch as the tories have to take all the unpopular cuts that the country still don't really appreciate are coming. If Osborne is in charge, not that i can't see that happening, but you live in hope, there is every chance they will make a complete horlicks of it and send us into a double dip recession almost straight away. Of course this will make the Tories massively unpopular come the next election which will surely be in only one or two years time.
This should be good news for the Lib dems who would hopefully make inroads in the south. But it could be even better news for the Labour who could rise from the dead if they make the right decisions. If they go for a reformist new leader such as Milliband, oe even my more left field choice Cruddas as a real break from the past, they could go into the next election promising real change embracing STV proportional representation and real constitutional reform. The problem is will the Balls, Straw and union tribalist clique strong be strong enough to block the real modernistaion that new labour should have been about but never was. It has to be said that after the last 13 years they don't deserve that chance but it could roll into their laps if the play it right.
Obviously that dream scenario depends on, probably too much, the labour party seeing the big picture and the ultimate prize for centre left politics. On past form you could not trust that party to do the right thing. So maybe Steve Richards is right that the Lib dems should do with labour to run on an agreed platform for two years with a referendum on PR within that time. My problem with that is i wouldn't be as sure of PR supporters winning the referendum as the coalition would be seen to have been acting in it's own interest and being potentally immensly unpopular with the electorate due to the depressed economy.
As Will Hutton said on the BBC yesteday this is the most important moment in British politics for the last 30 or 40 years. Probably the most pivotal moment since we joined the EU. Nick Clegg has a massive reponsibility to progressive politics in this country to get this right.

Mussorgsky the heroes gate from Pictures at an exhibition

When is the next one

Off topic for a day.
The Times analysis of last nights election seems to be about right. If only the lib dems had gained just 10 seats, not more or less lost them, political reformers would have been in dream land. Still i did say that if the worst came to the worst, that if the tories got the most seats but didn't have enough to form a majority i could live with that. It's hard to know yet, but this could still turn out to be an election to lose with the financial situation and the hard choices to be made. I was never a fan of Clegg and despite the media narrative of the last month i stll think i was right. I would have prefered someone further to the left.
As for Brown and new labour, they must surely be toast, what will happen in that party i have no idea. One thing that looks likely is the stick in the mud tribalist position that has been led by, oh the irony, Brown, died a death by a thousand cuts. Let's hope the better face of the labour movement gains control from the Blairite abberation that has been in charge since John Smith died.
As for Cameron if he can't do a deal with lib dems, and i still can't see that, it's just a matter of time before he is toast. But will they go for Davis, who, though i didn't think so at the time, would surely have been the better leader to have picked. Or will they move to the right to appease the activist base. If they go right, because whatever else this country is, it's not a radical right country, radical reform will be back on the agenda at some stage. As i speak Andrew Neill has just said the Tory right are deeply unhappy with Cameron and his campaign and have told him there can be no deal on voting reform. Interesting times.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article7119287.ece

Greg Hurst of the Times puts forward my view that Clegg was not the leader he was made out to be.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article7119318.ece

The spectator's Frasier Nelson reports on the trouble ahead for Cameron.
http://www.spectator.co.uk/coffeehouse/5978173/there-may-be-tory-trouble-ahead.thtml

One liberal i'm pretty sure most liberals won't mind losing his seat.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/election-2010/7690092/General-Election-2010-Its-sad-and-disappointing-says-Lembit-Opik.html
But i was gutted that the radically secular Evan Harris lost his seat. He was my idea of a proper liberal.

Are we a first world country or not is the question. I'm not much of an admirer of Dimbleby but he was right to call this a scandal.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/anger-mounts-over-problems-that-left-thousands-disenfranchised-1965663.html

Fergie blames one bad week for costing us the title. It didn't help but it obviously goes deeper than that.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/leagues/premierleague/manutd/7690858/Manchester-United-v-Stoke-City-one-bad-week-cost-us-the-title-says-Sir-Alex-Ferguson.html

The Glazer's bullshit spin operation continues
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/manchester_united/article7118708.ece
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/may/06/glazers-reject-secret-offer-manchester-united

City happy with Mancini, happy days.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/manchester_city/article7118697.ece


Music
Los Campensinos - Romance is boring: A decent album from the Welsh indie outfit. The vocalist doesn't half remind me of someone, but i can't think who. A fair few catchy tacks on it.

Massive Attack - Heligoland: The first three albums by this outfit are all blinders, unfortunately i never got around to hearing the fourth which had mixed reviews. But this is another cracking album which whilst it might not be up to the originality of those first few albums is more than enough to be going on with. I read one review that said whilst it was good it didn't push any boundaries so was there any purpose in it. What a load of pretentious bollocks, that was. So the Beatles should have packed up after Sgt Pepper.

Peter Gabriel - Scratch my back: A covers album that takes its time to grow on you. The arrangements of the tracks are superb and he completely gives a whole new take on each song. But they are all on the slow drawn out side, seeing as though they are all covers it would have been interesting to have a couple of more up tempo covers just to see how that would have worked.

The Magnetic Fields - Realism: This a pretty reasonable effort from Stephen Merrit's left field indie pop US outfit.

Tower of Power - Great American soulbook: Another covers album but this time one that is pretty faithful to the originals. A decent album but i had hoped their more original funky sound would come through, unfortuantely it doesn't really.

TV on the radio - Return of the cookie mountain: Their last album Dear science was my first exposure to them and i absolutely loved it. I had read that it was their most accessible album so far and i can see that after listening to this. This is a good album but feels like an progresion to Dear science.

Various artists - Ghana special: Modern highlife, afro sounds and Ghanain blues 68-91: What a stonking compilation album this. Every track is a winner. There doesn't ssem to be as much of a jazz influence in Ghanaian music as there is in Nigerian afrobeat going off this collection. That brilliant blend of African ryhthym and western rock is still is there alright though. I would plump for this just ahead of Massive attack as my pick of this bunch