I'd have to ask the same question. Just because he played alternative rock 'music' and went insane doesn't make him Brian Wilson. It was Gilmour's presence that really made Pink Floyd possibly the greatest band ever. His musical and song-writing skills are vastly superior to anything Barret ever cranked out on his mother's washboard

The X-Files episode was about wild men and was eerie as hell.

I rarely, if ever, have nightmares, though one I do remember as a child was centred around an episode of the X-Files. The episode entitled Jersey Devil was about the alleged existence of wild men in the New Jersey woods. It scared the sh*t out of me and I had a couple of extremely disturbing dreams. I sometimes have horrible dreams about relatives dying or my plunging off a cliff. One thing I've always been able to do in my sleep is simply dismiss something unpleasant and move on to the next one.

Nice bit of wind and rain over this here direction today. Mmmmmm.

Is Malbranque still looking to step up in the world?

Saviola? The guy who plays up front for Argentina...? Hmmm, I don't see us getting him somehow.

As I said above, Northern Lights (the first book of the His Dark Materials trilogy) is tremendous. The sequels are good and not so good respectively.

You can be rest assured that I'll be as happy as some bloke called Lawrence.

My thoughts exactly.

1.Chelsea 2.Arsenal 3.Liverpool 4.United 5.Spurs 6.Newcastle 7.ROVERS 8.Everton 9.Middlesbrough 10.Bolton 11.Charlton 12.Man City 13.West Ham 14.Portsmouth 15.Wigan 16.Watford 17.Fulham 18.Villa 19.Reading 20.Sheffield United

I don't so think but he's dead the next minute. What happened to him?

I don't usually read anything passed to me by my mum (her tastes being slightly high-brow and and arty farty) but I must recommend The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. It is one of the most affecting books I've ever read; beautifully written and a bona fide page-turner. It's set in Kabul, during the 70s just before the Russians invade and tells the story of Amir (the son of a wealthy merchant) who resolves to gain his father's favour by winning the local kite-fighting competition. The other main character is Amir's friend and servant Hassan, an illiterate Hazara who is completely devoted to Amir. I'll tell you no more because it's (a)very sad and (b)the crux of the story. As mentioned above, His Dark Materials is excellent. Northern Lights is one of the most fantastic pieces of mainstream literature I've ever read. Only The Lord of the Rings has impressed me more. The sequels (The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass are good but nowhere near the first-the latter contains a stupid, forced and slightly distasteful love story between minors) I also just finished The Godfather: The Lost Years by Mark Winegardener. As a Godfather devotee I loved it. Obviously it has nothing on Mario Puzo but it ties things together very nicely.

I absolutely hate this weather. As a light-skinned Irishman, I have little to no tolerance for hot weather (and to a lesser degree the sun). I'm much happier in the winter when it's always possible to put on another layer to keep warm. I always cheer myself on cold days by reminding myself that I could be stewing in my own juices. The opposite is certainly not true in these kinds of conditions. My particular office has no natural light, and no air conditioning. And NI isn't as hot as the South of England or Wales. I spent a week with the Grandparents in south Wales last year and I have never been so hot on UK shores. I'm just back from Brittany where the heat was equally relentless. Though it wasn't as bad as three years ago where the air was literally scorching. Roll on Christmas.

I was blown away by Superman. It was a little light on the action side but the whole package was utterly superb. Kate Bosworth-mmmmmmmmmmm. As for the above discussion, I thought Apocalypse Now started well, however the last hour is stupidly over-wrought. Brando's acting is completely off the wall ("hrrmm...I swallowed a bug...") and the ending is rushed. Coppola was not happy with it but was bound by time and (over) budgetary restrictions. Deliverance is a strange one. Great story, great acting but the whole things is annoyingly distant and minimalist. Even the infamous rape scene is sort of a non-event. And having seen it twice now, I still can't figure out why the guy falls out of the boat while going down the rapids. Can anyone tell me.

Just bought the new Jurassic 5 album. It's pretty good, but it'll have to grow on me...

One soft goal. Ronaldo's second was a brilliant finish.

F*** off. If Cannavaro wasn't the best player at that World Cup then Craig Bellamy's a nice guy.

FFS! What on earth was Zidane up to? A terrible way to end his career. Anyway, fair play to the Italians.

Zidane is from Marseille. His father was 17 when he came to France from Algeria. My heart says France. My head screams Italy. I'll go with my heart. Don't ask me for a score though.

The ball was moving all over the place. It was a belter.

Good game. Two absolute belters from Pigmounter. As Zidane retires tomorrow, so the great Luis Figo says goodbye to the international stage this evening. The one player equal to Zidane and Ronaldo over the last ten years, he may have tainted his reputation over the last couple of games. However the man's a legend and will be missed.

Cannavaro is the best defender in the world. He has been peerless in this tournament. Zidane is one the greatest players ever but he has not performed for the whole World Cup.

Lehmann (GER) Zambrotta (ITA) Cannavaro (ITA) Gallas (FRA) Lahm (GER) Mascherano (ARG) Figo (POR) Zidane (FRA) Ballack (GER) Klose (GER) Henry (FRA)

Eh? Owen is one of the finest finishers on the planet when fit. His injury is not a stain on his ability. Also to describe Rooney as anything other than world class is baffling.

Playing better than previous insipid displays does not necessarily qualify you as having outperfomed the opposition. Portugal may have been sh*t up front but they controlled the game, even if England were down to 10 men for an hour.