Reading Roars!

Steve Coppell is the calmest man in English football. While every game is ‘hyped into a four-day event’ the Reading manager quietly goes about his business - and, despite his team having not a single Premiership appearance between them at the start of the season, he is producing stunning results.

So begins Amy Lawrence’s “Big interview” with Steve Coppell in today’s Observer newspaper. The interview was conducted at the club’s training ground and you can read it on Guardian Unlimited Football.

With delight, I recount the prediction I made several days earlier, following Reading’s defeat of Man City:

Next up: Aston Villa at the Madejski. Reading will surely raze this Villa to the ground.

Two goals by Steve Sidwell ensured that the Royals did just that (my prediction was also more accurate than Mark Lawrenson’s, of the BBC, but then he also forecast a Reading loss against City - why doesn’t he have confidence in the Royals?). The 2-0 defeat of the Midlands club, once European Cup holders (a long time ago), was the club’s 5th win in a row.

Sidwell headed in his first goal from 6 yards within the first 15 minutes of the game, thanks to a Stephen Hunt corner. He added his second in the 90th minute, with an assist provided by Dave Kitson. Sidwell could have completed a hat-trick 3 minutes later from 25 yards out, but was blocked by the Villa keeper.

It seems to me that club most do everything possible to secure Steve Coppell’s services next season. It just wouldn’t be the same in Europe without him. And of course, it would also help that McClaren remains at the helm of our pathetic national side, as the Reading manager is presently very highly coveted indeed.

Wolfgang Osinski has kindly published (and translated!) an article of mine on Düsseldorf Blog.  In the article, I comment on beer and several leading (in my opinion) pubs in Reading - The Hop Leaf, The Hobgoblin and Sweeney & Todd - and how they stand out against the brash, money-guzzling chains swamping the centre of town.

Thanks Wolfgang!

I remember watching Chinese Opera on the streets of Penang and thinking that it was fantastic, even though I couldn’t quite follow the story. On Monday 19 February, somewhat amazingly, the magic of Chinese Opera will come to Reading.

Invited by Dr Ashely Thorpe of the University of Reading, the International Centre for Beijing Opera will be performing “Adventures of the Monkey King” at the University’s Myra McCullock Theatre. Some of the performances will be done in English.

The Monkey King seemed familiar, so I did a bit of quick research. Those of you into video games (as I am, geekily) will remember the character Monkey in the hugely playable Kung Fu Chaos, and there are references in Halo 2 and Soul Calibur. The Monkey King also had a role in the cartoon series Jackie Chan’s Adventures.

Interested? Tickets are just £10 (£7 concessions).

Today the major talking point was, of course, snow. Snow, snow, snow. Reading saw its biggest snowfall since, well, the last big one, and predictably it caused a problem or two, forcing schools to close (why?) and workers to stay at home (hmm). I found the journey into work rather pleasant this morning, as the roads were free of traffic. I was wondering what Canadian and Russian residents here were making of all this.

Anyway, the snow was beautiful and I had to take photos - as many as I could - to preserve for future years when climate change robs us of this gift from nature. The best pictures were those I took at work, of snow-people sculpted by creative staff members (one snow figure had, appropriately enough, coins for eyes). As if work wasn’t engaging enough. Tsk.

• Broad Street blizzard
• Snowy Oracle Riverside
• Snowman, Microsoft Campus
• Snowman 2.0, Microsoft Campus
• Micro Snowman
  

Sadly, as I type, much of the snow is disappearing already, turning Reading into a giant slush puppy.

Two University of Reading scientists were present at a Paris meeting to help put together the latest report on climate change.  The report, by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), was published on 2 February 2007, and the Reading scientists made particular contributions in the following areas:

• how much greenhouse gases are warming the climate
• how ice sheets contribute to rising sea levels
• how El Niño and monsoons could change

On the subject of climate activity, snow showers are due to hit Reading tomorrow (I guess that, these days, snow can be considered unseasonal, given the mild winters of recent years).  Expect transport difficulties.  Or stay at home!

Leroy Lita. Again. Twice. What a magnificent forward Reading have. What a magnificent season Reading are having. The press are saying the E word (that’s “Europe”). Can it really be happening?

Lita scored twice late in the game (79, 89) to punish Man City 2-0, a great result that elevates Reading to a mind boggling 6th place in the league. The Royals have not lost since their Old Trafford defeat by Man United at the end of December. Undefeated since last year! That reads well, doesn’t it?

Next up: Aston Villa at the Madejski. Reading will surely raze this Villa to the ground.

Those Thursday night encounters with FC Košice are edging closer.

Düsseldorf Blog’s Wolfgang has introduced our blog partnership to his readers: Neu beim Düsseldorf Blog: Kooperation mit dem Top-Blog unserer Partnerstadt Reading ["Co-operation with top blog in our twin city Reading"].

Just for fun, I will invent a new word to describe this type of partnership: twogging (an amalgamation of “twinning” and “blogging”). Think it will catch on? Oh.

Several days ago, I announced a partnership between this blog and Düsseldorf Blog. In his first article, Düsseldorf Blog’s Wolfgang Osinski gives us the lowdown on the exciting Düsseldorf carnival, an extravagant period of drinking, singing - and having your tie cut off. Read on…

“Wir haben in Düsseldorf die längste Theke der Welt…” if you hear this, it’s carnival time. The lyrics of Düsseldorf’s most popular carnival song about the Altstadt, the city’s old town, praise the longest bar in the world. This might well be true. There are some 220 bars, pubs and restaurants (including two Irish ones) gathered within a square mile.

Carnival means drinking, joking, singing and not taking things very seriously. We started celebrating carnival back in 1386 around Düsseldorf castle, of which only the tower called “Schlossturm” is left.

Today, there are about a million (okay, might be less) carnival parties, balls and Sitzungen, which means jolly events where speakers, most of them playing a certain role, deliver funny speeches and carnival bands play Schunkellieder accordingly. You don’t know what a Schunkellied is, of course. Schunkeln describes a way of connecting with your neighbour by linking arms with him/her and swaying rhythmically - like in a beer tent. You might have seen that on TV when they show pictures of the opening of Munich Oktoberfest.

There are more than 70 carnival clubs registered in Düsseldorf. They train their dancers, choirs and marching bands all year round for what we call the “fifth season”. Top of the crop are the Guards of the Princess: the red-white guard and the blue-white guard. I have the pleasure and privilege of being a senator of the Prinzengarde Blau-Weiß, which we feel is far superior to the red-whities.

Drinking, as you might guess, is part of the game. The most popular drink is Altbier, the dark and slightly bitter beer, a local sensation brewed only in Düsselorf. The biggest beer website worldwide, www.ratebeer.com, lists Altbier as a specialty. “Schlüssel” Alt, the leading Altbier, is brewed right in the heart of Düsseldorf Altstadt. If you visit Düsseldorf, send me an email in advance and I see to it that you get a guided tour - no kidding.

Carnival is an economical factor for Düsseldorf and now estimated to consume €2.2 billion in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia (where Düsseldorf is the capital). This is the extra money spent between November 11^th when it all starts and Aschermittwoch, the sad day (February 21^st ) when it’s all over – until next year.

This carnival season began with a shocking story. Our “Venetia”, as we call our carnival princess, the cute blonde lawyer Miriam [pictured], was rushed to hospital one night in a very serious condition. She had taken an overdose of a medication to treat herpes, and has had too little to drink as her kidneys went on strike. What a terrible thing to happen!

Rheinische Post, the leading newspaper in Düsseldorf, published a web page inviting people to send well wishes to Miriam, and she received thousands of emails. One week later and she was back on stage, promising to drink every day until Aschermittwoch.

Our prince made headlines too with something very special. He is supposed to wear white stockings, as according to tradition. Since he is quite a tall guy (6ft-something), it was a serious problem for him to find stockings the right size. This weekend, he appeared at a session with white trousers! This has never ever happened before in Düsseldorf. All the women yelled at him to drop his trousers – and he obeyed, displaying his torn stockings.

We would love to have you with us at carnival when everybody goes wild in the city. The “serious days” are the ones between Altweiber (old wives carnival) where ties are cut with scissors (well, yes, it must be symbolic somehow) and Rosenmontag (February 19^th), the highlight of the carnival with the huge Düsseldorf Rosenmontagszug (as they call the parade).

My friend Jacques Tilly is the genius behind the parade. He builds the most hilarious and satirical floats that always make the front pages of our newspapers. The one featuring a cardinal lighting a match to burn a woman at the stake, who had performed an abortion, is unforgettable.

Ok, my friends in Reading, see you by the river Rhine. The cheapest air fare should be around €50 (with Air Berlin, flying out of London Stansted). As for accommodation, you should count on a price starting at around €35 for a room. What else? Eating in a restaurant is cheaper than in Reading. The local breweries are fantastic: Schlüssel, Uerige, Füchschen and Schumacher, where you can get a great meal from €10 and an Altbier for €1.60.

Last but not least: Helau! This is what you have to yell at the Rosenmontag parade, and if called for by the president of a Carnival Sitzung. Note, never shout helau without the correct accompanying salute. So, helau – and see you in Düsseldorf!

For more information, visit the official website of the Comite Düsseldorfer Carneval (Düsseldorf Carnival Committee).

According to Malcolm Gladwell, author of the brilliant book Blink:

When you meet someone for the first time, or walk into a house you are thinking of buying, or read the first few sentences of a book, your mind takes about two seconds to jump to a series of conclusions.

Two seconds.

In those first two seconds, students visiting the University of Reading for the first time apparently engaged in rapid cognition, deciding that they wanted to spend their next three years there. The university’s Freshers’ Survey, held for the second time, revealed that 90% of first-year undergraduates chose Reading because it “just felt right”.