ClaRK! Kent

Appiah, that's it. Somebody needs to sign him. Especially now that Juve are totally fucked.

Liam - FF4 was released in the USA as FF2, and FF6 as FF3, because 2 and I believe 3 and 5 also weren't released in America. Or some combination of 1, 3, and 5 not getting released anyway, led to the numbering issues. The job system deserves much love, I did dislike when it was cast aside so needlessly in some of the PSX incarnations for the 'catch-all' systems like materia. GFs, to an extent, I can understand - almost all of the characters are SeeD and so there can be a degree of uniformity and homogenity in the way they fight, but the thing with materia is just plain random. They have Ninjas, and soldiers, and gunners, and even a dragoon (debatable), but you can just mix up the jobs so the only individuality they have is Limit Breaks. This did make 'em concentrate somewhat harder on the stories of each character, mind, which is a good thing. But still, the earlier games rule harder. I wanna play FF4 now. I'm so never going to find a copy.

Erk, bugger. Okay, who was the other guy in the Ghanian midfield? Evidently that was who I was thinking of. He was bloody good. They all look the same to me. [/Alf Garnett]

Triple Triad = around 30 hours of a 150-hour save game, for me. It's quite possibly the best mini-game ever, with FFX's Blitzball coming in a close second. Musically, FF8 is probably the best game out there. The soundtrack to that game works as an album in its own right, which is true of so few of the other FF games. Maybe FF7. FF4 should also get musical kudos, it really set the standard for the later games to try and beat.

Exactly what it does on the tin, I guess. Which is your pick for the best FF game/your favourite FF game, and more importantly why? A slight ulterior motive (dun dun DUN!) in that I'm trying to decide which game to play for my summer FF project (basically, every summer I play a Final Fantasy game, as it's a decent enough project for an empty summer vacation) and I'm stuck choosing. But, you know, for discussion's sake as well. My personal picks would be FF6 and FF8. FF7 is everybody's obvious choice, generally, especially for the PSX generation, but if you go just one game back in the series and can disregard the 2D graphics (even 7's look dated now, so it shouldn't be too much of a thing to get over) FF6 is, IMO, the high-water mark of the entire series. It's fun, challenging, has a great storyline, and is able to combine the 'fantasy' elements of the earlier games in the series with the more modern stuff that came later, without going too far in either direction. The balance is struck exactly right in FF6. Plus, it has Setzer and Celes, and one of the cooler bad guys in Kefka. As for FF8, it might just be because I have a thing about defending stuff that is generally hated, but I really find a lot of good in it. The draw system isn't great, but the idea of junctioning is freakin' awesome and the gameplay is really tip-top. It's fun and light-hearted in places, with nods to the older games in the series, whilst also taking the series in a new direction and getting away from a lot of the old 'staples' - you can get through the entire game without seeing a Chocobo or Moogle, for example. Whilst a lot of people hated that, I think it's a good opportunity for the games to grow up with their fanbase, and FF8 is probably one of the most grown-up and 'adult' games in terms of storyline and plot. It's much more personal in its nature, despite the usual epic battles, and the central love angle is beautifully-executed (much better than the Cloud/Aerith or Tidus/Yuna stuff) and really moving, even with repeated plays. It's awesome. What are your picks? ((Also, in a blatant off-topic note, but something that's been bugging me for ages, does anybody have any idea on the release date for FF12? I know the Japanese have it, but have we even got a provisional date, or a 'should be in winter/spring' or whatever?))

I've been sitting here, attempting a Top 10 in my head... I just can't do it. I can, at a massive pinch and by imposing a few rules on myself, come up with a Top 20. So I'll do one of those, then. I'm limiting myself to a maximum of two albums by any particular artist, because otherwise I'd be sitting here for 3 hours trying to work out what order to rank all my Bob Dylan/Smiths albums in, and that'd be just silly. I haven't ordered them exactly, a lot of them are equal or 'unsure', I just know whereabouts they would be, in which group of ten. 20-11, in no particular order Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream Beach Boys - Pet Sounds Rufus Wainwright - Want (the double album version) Beastie Boys - Licensed to Ill Jay-Z - The Black Album Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin IV Goldfrapp - Black Cherry Cream - Disraeli Gears The Smiths - The Smiths Pixies - Trompe le Monde 10-1, in no particular order Blur - Modern Life is Rubbish The Beatles - Revolver Velvet Underground - Velvet Underground and Nico Joy Division - Substance QOTSA - Songs for the Deaf Beck - Odelay Muse - Absolution The Smiths - The Queen is Dead Bob Dylan - Blonde on Blonde Bob Dylan - Blood on the Tracks There. A few bands that might've made it, but didn't as I haven't heard enough of their stuff/only have Best Ofs, similar to Liam... - No Doubt - REM - Faithless - Michael Jackson - Ryan Adams (never actually heard a whole album, just bits and pieces) - Nick Drake - Rolling Stones

"SHIT! He must have a foot like a traction engine!"

Zokora had an excellent World Cup IMO, he was by far the standout player in that midfield for me, much more than Essien. Mostly because we already knew that Essien was excellent, but Zokora was something of an unknown quantity and really opened a lot of people's eyes. That's one solid midfield line-up we've got now, especially if we can secure Downing/somebody on the left. The prospect of Lennon, Carrick, Zokora, and somebody-with-a-good-left-foot across the middle of the park next season is frankly an awesome one.

How droll.

If you can sit through 3 and a quarter hours, the Redux is absolutely mind-blowing. I tend to take a break after about two hours, and have some snacks, and go back to it. Like an intermission in a play/in 2001 or whatever. Do that, and you're laughing.

That's definitely the most iconic line, for the English at least. It means so much to English football. As for lines that make you want to cry every time you hear them, I'd say an older generation (typified by my younger uncles) would suggest that the commentary when Muller scored in 1974 to put England out would be up there. Just the commentator, I forget who, screaming "Muller!" at the critical moment, it's probably burned onto their memories forever now. For me, the line of commentary that chokes me every time is the line at the beginning of 3 Lions 98. "Gareth Southgate, the whole of England is with you... oh, and it's saved!" I was just 9 years old when that happened. It shattered my entire life. During the Sweden/Germany match today, Gary Lineker said possibly the funniest thing he's ever said, commenting on Ibrahimovic's lacklustre performance in the first half. "Well, Zlatan Ibrahimovic was once arrested for impersonating a policeman. After this game, he may well be arrested for impersonating a footballer." I didn't stop laughing until full-time.

He was indeed awesome. I imagine, if the two worlds are 'bleeding' together as seemed to be suggested in the trailer, and the Cybermen crossing over, we'll see some more of Micky. If that's the case, fingers crossed he'll be the next companion. And, now that the whole "Piper is leaving" thing seems pretty cut-and-dried, I remember reading a rumour WAAAAAAAAAY back when in my flatmate's More magazine that Rachel Stevens had been auditioned for a role in the show, possibly as a new female companion. I cannot tell you how much I want that to be true.

Best.Line.Ever. This week's episode wasn't half bad. It wasn't great, although it was miles less silly than the premise suggested it could've been. Next week's should be the fucking BOMB, however. Cybermen, Daleks, alternate realities, "the last story I'll ever tell" clearly points to Rose leaving, probably to die. That's gonna be one Hell of an episode. Plus, it has that chick from Eastenders in it. No sign of Babs Windsor, though.

Pundit-wise, I've got to go for Alan Hansen, obviously. Shearer is well-informed if a little dull, O'Neill is really improving. Of the ITV crew, Townsend is the one who strikes me as the biggest moron, I don't mind the rest of them. I just remember when they were discussing whether the Spanish team could play together, and somebody mentioned the Basque players not having any real loyalty to Spain. Townsend: "That's rubbish, the manager should get in and sort that out." Ruud Gullit: "It's not that simple, Andy..." Townsend: "Just wait 'til they're 1-0 down at half-time, and see what kind of character they have then." Moron. Commentary-wise, I am a huge mark for Johnathan Pearce. He is single-handedly saving BBC commentary now that Motty is descending into a useless-anecdote machine.

As far as literature is concerned, as that's my forte, you could try reading Heart of Darkness around Apocalypse Now. It's about 60 years too early to be related to Vietnam, but Apocalypse Now draws so heavily on it that it might be worth reading, and perhaps any thematic differences or such you encounter could inform your understanding of the way Vietnam was treated in the media. Also, Catch-22. I think that's about Vietnam. Other than that, I concur with the general consensus - Full Metal Jacket, Deer Hunter, Apocalypse Now, and We Were Soldiers. And, one that nobody has mentioned for some bizarre reason - Taxi Driver. Deals with the after-affects of Vietnam, struggling to re-integrate into society and the like.

They played their new single, I forget what it's called, on some Channel 4 show with Alex Zane earlier. It's not as catchy as Monster, I reckon, but it's still quite a good tune. Probably bears repeated listening to be sure, mind you.

It's certainly a studio effect that doesn't really translate to a live performance. I saw them a while back, supporting some band or other, and they did Monster there. Whilst I really did enjoy the song, it's certainly a bit irritating live because of the mad screaming chap.

It was unashamedly awesome. Go look it up, it's the mother-freaking bomb.

I love that sequence. In that Star Wars RP game that went down in the Cube a while back, that had SDM/stok/CSAMH/somebody else in the top spots, somebody parodied that sequence as being a TV (or whatever equivalent) show dramatising the life of Mace Windu. That was absolutely hilarious. "I ain't never heard of no system called What! Have you, Kitt?!" "No." "Do they speak Basic in What? Basic, motherfucker!" Oh how I laughed.

She wasn't unattractive, I thought, but she's certainly not somebody you'd look at twice in the street or whatever, other than to say "hey, weren't you in that film?" or something. The film itself wasn't awful. Nowhere near the level of Dogs or Pulp, or even Kill Bill for that matter, but it was a decent enough film on its own. If you ignore the rest of Tarantino's filmography it's good, if you look at it in the rest of that context it does somewhat blow.

I fucking love that film. My brother has it on DVD but he gets really possessive about his stuff, so I hadn't seen it in full until last night for about six or seven months, since I went to Uni basically. I fucking love Pulp Fiction, and Reservoir Dogs also, but to stay on topic, Pulp = "Don't be tellin' me about foot massages, I'm the foot fuckin' master!" "We're gonna be three little Fonzies here, Yolanda. And what's Fonzie?" "Cool?" "Correctamundo, and that's what we're gonna be." Best.Movie.Ever.

It's entirely possible though, given the Juve crisis right now. To be honest, though, if Juve do get relegated I'd expect Nedved to just retire and be done with it. He's like a hundred years old anyway.

Defoe is one of those players that Jol likes to have around, though. Especially now that Mido's gone, we've only got 3 top-drawer strikers, and only young guys and that dude we signed from Derby who hasn't done anything, on the fringe. Had we kept Mido, I could've seen Jol getting rid of Defoe, but not anymore. He's not going anywhere.