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What to make of the new Anfield?

The official Liverpool FC site has today posted a video about the new Anfield stadium design. Be aware that the majority of this video is just talking heads stuff: the stadium fly-by simulation only kicks-in around the five-and-a-half-minute mark.

To be honest, I’m still not sure what to make of it. Call me a traditionalist, but I kind of preferred the old design from before the Gillett and Hicks takeover. Sure, the new plans are bold and certainly different, but my worry would be how well the design would age. Are we going to be looking at the stadium in twenty or even ten years and saying “what were they thinking”? Will it be viewed as a bit of an eyesore, an embarrassment even?

(And pity those fans on the new Kop come a sunny day, with that enormous glass window behind them!)

Still, the really important thing is what happens on the pitch. We’ve made a solid if unspectacular start to the season, but the real work starts on Sunday against Chelsea. I hope Gerrard is actually fit enough to play despite his foot problem; if not, we could be asking for trouble in more ways than one. Also, it would be nice if Evie could manage to stay awake during this match after sleeping through the entire Villa game last weekend.

The Sonos experience

I’ve been lusting after a Sonos system for around a year-and-a-half now, ever since reading a review of the kit in PC Pro magazine.

For the uninitiated, Sonos (or the Sonos Digital Music System, to give it its full title) is a set of components that let you stream digital audio around your home. There are basically two bits of hardware: ZonePlayers, that actually play the music through an attached amplifier or pair of speakers; and Controllers, paperback-sized bricks with a scroll wheel and colour LCD screen that are used to choose what the ZonePlayers should be playing. The Controllers are supposedly optional, in that each ZonePlayer comes with software you can install on a PC or Mac that will replicate the functionality of the Controller, thus allowing you to control the ZonePlayers via your computer. In reality, one of the main attractions of the system is in using the hardware Controller to browse through and play your music collection. I doubt many people end-up buying a system without a Controller.

Up to 32 ZonePlayers can be ‘connected’ to each other via wired or wireless ethernet, and then controlled via a single Controller. Each ZonePlayer (referred to as a ‘zone’) can play a different track, or individual zones can be linked such that they play the same track. So you could have two ZonePlayers, one in the lounge and the other in the bedroom for example, both playing the same song, in perfect sync with each other.

Continue reading The Sonos experience…

Thoughts on being a parent

Nothing prepares you for becoming a mother or father for the first time. Sure, we read the books, went to the antenatal classes, and of course we knew friends and family with young babies. You can study and learn and ask questions all you want, but it won’t prepare you for that day when you finally get the little one home and there’s just the three of you.

Babies cry. This everyone knows. However it’s different when it’s your own kid. You can’t hand her back to her parents, or politely make excuses and leave. You have to deal with it. I have never been more stressed out than when I’ve been watching Evie bawling her little eyes out, having already been fed and nappy-changed, wondering what on earth she was crying for. The noise of the crying itself, even though it probably isn’t that loud, is extremely distressing (as was intended by nature I guess) and hurts the eardrums more than it should. Thankfully, she’s settled down a lot since the early weeks when we were both going spare.

Then there’s the poo. Despite the horror stories you hear about babies’ poo, Evie hasn’t been too bad. We’ve had the occasional ‘industrial accident’, where the brown* stuff has escaped the nappy enclosure, but generally things have gone okay. I continue to be amazed by the escape velocity of the stuff, however. One time I had Evie sitting on my knee when she dropped one with such force that some of it shot up her back! That wasn’t pleasant to clean up, I can tell you. Unfortunately we’re having to use disposables at the moment: although we’d bought reusable nappies before the birth, we’ve experienced more leaks using them than we were prepared to put up with, so we’re environmentally unfriendly on the poo front I’m afraid.

One word you need to get used to hearing from people when you have a new baby is ‘colic’. Baby crying a lot? Colic. Generally irritable? Colic. Arms and legs flailing wildly? Colic. Projectile vomiting? Colic. Baby’s head rotating 360°? Er, probably colic as well. Talk about a catch-all diagnosis. Just remember that the magic potion Infacol is your trusty weapon against the evil colic spirit possessing your child. It also smells pleasantly of oranges.

So, nearly three months in and it’s been one hell of a rollercoaster ride, but neither myself nor Paula would change Evie for the world. She can cry her eyes out and drive you up the wall, but one smile and a babble or two is enough to forgive everything and bring tears to your eyes (and if saying that makes me a sad git then so be it).

Becoming a father is the best thing that’s ever happened to me.

 * of course, it isn’t always brown…

It’s a girl!

Our daughter Evie was finally born at the end of May, a week later than expected. Paula had quite a difficult labour, the details of which I won’t go into here. Suffice to say, an emergency Caesarean was required, together with a short stay in hospital to recover. However I’m happy to report that Paula is now back to her old self (minus a few pounds!) and that we are the proud parents of a beautiful almost-three-month-old girl.