...wondering about the niceness of suburbia

Has the idyllic but superficial nature of the appeal of the suburban neighbourhood been ruined with the boom in local council's use of the wheelie-bin?
In other words:
Is the wheelie-bin the modern blight on the wafer-thin gloss of suburban aesthetics.

So many Victorian terraces, Barratt-built modern toss and everything before, after and in-between has be compromised by the introduction of the one-size-fits-nothing wheelie-monster.
The idea of Victorian housing, whether terrace, flat or house, was to have the best parts of life showing. The best room; the Sunday-only front room was, well, the front. You sit there in your best clothes, watching everyone else's sitting there in their best, looking back at you. All was well in society and at least  on one day, you knew exactly where you where in the grand scheme of your street. You, in Victorian society, knew where you were in every other aspect of life all the time anyway.
But today, there is no front in the same fake 'all is well' sense. So many houses of the past are now flats, flats are now studios. Fit it in, it's all introverted living anyway.
When you now drive up and down any suburban context in Britain today, it's not the houses that you first see, it's the bins, the masses of bins. Wheelie with many various coloured recycling boxes on top. Don't get me wrong, I recycle like a nut myself. But it's strange how the rubbish now controls the area between the front door and the pavement. What next, we literally do the laundry in the gutter outside, in the street. No, that's just silly, we have machines in the kitchen, integrated and hidden, for washing and drying that lot. No, we, as modern-lifers, seem to be proud of our shit, the waste of our- until quite recently- prosperous lives.

It's really bazaar why it's got like this. But until some bright-light a few years ago thought of the wheelie being the answer to the question no-one asked, the back alley, the back passage, the rear run, was thought to be a thing of un-need. Now, it would be the thing to make the wheelie work without the visual blighting we have at present. The trucks could run up or down them, with the technicians or whatever, working behind. That would work right?

I don't know, I'm asking you!

...still disappointed with the Arsenal

As I re-write this thanks to google.ig wiping it, Arsenal has suffered a 3-0 semi-final kicking from Man C at the City of  Manchester Stadium tonight.

How many times has Wenger got to the semi's of the Carling Cup and played the C Team?
Three years? Four?

It's not good enough when Arsenal hasn't really been close to the league title every Easter over the few years either. FA Cup, nope, not in the final with a proper chance of winning. Bar on Penalties, last won in 2005.


The January shopping list should read:

Don't buy anymore kids Arsene. They leave in the end (on a free transfer!) and at their prime.

Out & out striker:
muscular and quick, like Didier Drogba, with the ability to bully defences.
Craig Bellamy, Michael Owen or a similar pocket rocket would do, to get into the box to make the most of the first class crosses that Arsenal's midfield produce.

A holding midfielder:
think Flamini the season before he left. A player like Mathieu would let Fabregas, Arshavin and Rosicki go forward without the fear of having to track back so instantly. This would help with their stamina near the end of matches, where if behind, Arsenal fade.

A defensive leader:
Gallas is doing his best but has rubbed Wenger and some players the wrong way. A rock, a dependable player, a professional like John Terry. Not a 15 year old JT, a 25 year old one. I'm thinking Tony Adams without the drink problem. A Dixon or a Winterburn would do for a couple of seasons.

Sell:
Bendner, he's not the Van Persie junior he thinks he is. He can't turn matches and misses too much for the amount he does net.

Arsenal at the moment, unlike what Arsene thinks, only has a decent A Team, the B and C just aren't worth putting out at a semi-final or against Hull in the league. However, the reserves to need to come up to scratch because the reliance on the big names to get them out of a negative score line is too much week in, week out.

Every year, Arsenal has at least one crunch week. A week where the season ends. Or a week were the scores and the resulting humiliation scars the team and it takes a long period for results to change.

Remember when the 'Invincibles' lost their record at Old Trafford, of all places. It was like someone had died. Also the last two season, an FA Cup tie, Champions League Semi and a must win Premiership game would fall into a 8 day stretch. Arsenal would lose all three matches and in one foul swoop, the dream of silverware was gone.

So far this year, Arsenal lost in the league to Chelsea at the Emirates 3-0. Now, it's 3-0 to Man City in the Carling Cup. Lets hope this isn't the start of something of a crunch.

...really mad with starbucks!

well, more just like, a bit peeved.
no, just a little annoyed.
maybe just wasting off-white pixels

If you follow me on twitter, then look at a pretty picture or something for about 2 minutes.
all I've done is cut and pasted my last 5 twits. Or tweets, whatever.

"Went into town earlier with the Momo. Did what we had to do then as we had some car-park time left, we nipped into Starbucks for a coffee...
..now here's the rub: I had a macchiato. But what the hell is a macchiato? it's a bloody latte which in turn is a really bland milky...
...lukewarm, overpriced beverage, with can be yours in a stained, chipped mug for only 7pence short of £3. in the US, it's $2.43 or...
...an ok price. but in the UK, it's a joke. yes we get BT opendoor or opengate but that's like saying you get hepB with your bad ugly tattoo...
...so all in all, what's my point? nothing really but go to a greasy-spoon, hang out with some bikers, get a tattoo, just don't go to starbucks"

Anyway. Rant over, let's get on with the real blog.