Reading Roars!

“Who the fuck are Man U-ni-ted, whoo the fuck are Man U-ni-ted..” Chanted the throng of Reading FC followers, packed inside the Three Guineas pub, adjacent to Reading Station. And why not? It was the second half and the Royals were still leading the Red Devils by a goal to nil in their first league encounter.

With Reading already claiming significant scalps - Middlesbrough and Man City - fans were daring to believe. Indeed, I had to pinch myself. I was walking past a taxi rank when Kevin Doyle slotted in a 48th minute penalty to give Reading the lead, and a cheer erupted from the parked cabs. Naturally, I rushed over to investigate. When I heard the news, I felt like kissing the driver, but held back when I remembered I wasn’t gay.

Sadly, Cristiano Ronaldo, darling of England fans everywhere, brought the score level in the 73rd minute of the game with a powerful strike. But then they did have plenty of chances - 18 goal attempts versus Reading’s four.

So the dream continues. It’s still early in the season, but Reading are winning respect and looking good enough to stick about in the top flight for a while longer. As Roy Collins of the Telegraph wrote in his match report, the team “seem to be getting the hang of [competing in the Premiership] pretty quickly.”

YouTube is a treasure trove of mad videos and “Chicken fun” is exceptionally mad.

A couple of lads find a briefcase in a skip and buy a chicken and spaghetti from the supermarket. They then put spaghetti inside the briefcase before playfully dragging the chicken about on a piece of string around Town Hall Square in Reading. And the briefcase? “We’re gonna drop it and see what people do.” Bonkers!

Watch the video.

Spam.  Dontcha just love it?  I received the following very pleasant email this evening from Alisa M (any relation to Boney, Alisa?):

I just received my watch yesterday. It looks exactly like the picture on your website, no difference at all. This was actually my first time ordering from the internet, and I’ve heard so many bad things about online companies, but ordering from you and receiving my watch was a great first time experience. I really wish all internet companies were like yours.

Who needs Amazon?

Johnny Depp and Reading’s Sweeney & Todd pie restaurant on Castle Street. what’s the connection? Give up? Ok, Johnny Depp is to star in a Tim Burton movie of the Sweeney Todd story, upon which the restaurant theme is based. Mr Depp has also played a pirate, and a pirate is what I saw when I went to Sweeney’s on Tuesday night. Read on. Continue Reading »

A second-string Reading FC side dumped Darlington out of the Carling Cup - but only just. The second division side lost 4-2 on penalties.

The Royals fought back characteristically during the game, levelling the score three times - their third goal coming in the 86th minute, courtesy of Peter Mate’s right arm(!). Reading’s two other goals were scored by Leroy Lita.

It took longer than usual to get to work (Thames Valley Park) this morning. Road traffic was heavy. In fact, the situation, in my opinion, has never been so bad. Even August, an historically quiet month, was far from ideal.

There seem to be too many of us and anyone who wants a car (and is licensed to drive one), can pretty much have one. Reading’s notorious bottlenecks don’t help matters, either.

But why drive to work in the first place? These are exciting times. Technology now allows you to work remotely (you can surf the web or check email from home or Starbucks, if that takes your fancy). Why surround yourself with grey walls and pervasive office talk when you can sit at your kitchen table and work? It makes sense to me. And kids, why not walk to school?