Hate

Call me a pinko bleeding heart lefty fag-bait panty-waist if you like, but anyone who engages in racial taunting at a sporting event deserves to be napalmed into oblivion, then quick-limed over in case any of their DNA has survived. The abuse given to black players at the England-Spain game last week made me physically sick. I think someone should bring the twenty-first century to Madrid before they try for the Olympics. Can you imagine the Kenyan relay team taking to the field to be met by a cacophony of monkey noises from the stands?

I support Ashley Cole when he says that he'd never leave the field because of crowd abuse, as that means the yobs have won. I think in this case, though, it would have sent a good message if England had refused to carry on the match. It was only a friendly, nothing riding on it so why should they have entertained those bastards a minute longer? Especially as it seemed to be a fair percentage of the crowd that were hurling the abuse.

What makes me even more sick about the whole event, however, is that I've been told ( I wasn't there, obviously) that unfunny comedian Chubby Brown was making jokes about it in Liverpool on the Thursday after the game. I'm not going to tell you what he said about Ashley Cole- suffice to say that I think there's grounds to prosecute him under the same law that Abu Hamza fell foul of. As long as we allow this kind of filth to be spread in this country, we can say nothing against the Spanish football authorities ( who have done absolutely jack shit about Wednesday's debacle). Thought police? Your thoughts need policing, fucker. They're a danger to everyone. Anyone who enjoys the fat racist shit should have their voting rights removed. Or is that not PC?

Disclaimer

The Ugly Vision is served tongue in cheek. It should be taken with a liberal pinch of salt. And some beer.

The views expressed in the comments box are not necessarily those of The Ugly Vision, the BCI or Duncan Ingram.

ODB

Ol' Dirty Bastard, aka Dirt McDirt, aka Osirus, aka Big Baby Jesus died suddenly yesterday... thanks for letting me know, Lara. This is extremely sad, of course, mainly because he was only 35 years old, and a father several times over, but also because he was so damn talented. Although he was often seen as peripheral to the Wu-Tang Clan set up, I actually think it's his contribution that makes those first two albums so special. He was certainly missed on the later Wu releases that he had little or no part in. As well as this, he released arguably the two best solo albums to come from the Wu stable. Both are absolute masterclasses in low-down, dirty, scuzzy psycho-funk, with some of the nastiest, funniest lyrics ever heard in hip-hop. They also represent RZA's finest work as a producer.

ODB also lit up several chart and RnB hits with his guest appearances, often providing that extra something that turns a potentially bland tune into a disco monster. "Ghetto Superstar" in particular springs to mind. Dead rappers tend to be deified, often for the wrong reasons. I hope that ODB will be remembered for his music, rather than for the string of petty offences that led to his imprisonment and could well have ultimately shortened his life. Hip-hop is certainly poorer today. Rest in peace, Dirty.

I really hope this is the last "memorial" post I have to write for a while...

Motorhead/ Sepultura

On Wednesday I attended the best gig I've been to in ages. Well, the only gig I've been to in ages, but even if I'd been to loads, it'd probably still be the best, if you see what I mean. It was most heartwarming to see a motorhead queue snaking all the way down Mount Pleasant, especially when you bear in mind that not so long ago they were canceling gigs due to lack of interest. Just goes to show that if you stick to your guns for long enough, even the most flagging of careers can have a second wind.

Sepultura will probably be encouraged by this. I'm sorry to say that, like most people, I stopped following their music after Max Cavelerra quit the band. After watching them on Wednesday, though, I have to ask myself why. The current singer (I forget his name) is no less impressive a vocalist than Max, possibly even (whisper it) slightly better. OK, the old material sounded a fair bit better than the new, but I can't see any real reason, other than mindless sentimentality, to write off the post-Max Seps. Especially when they wipe the floor with most of today's metal chancers. I was reminded in the most blunt way imaginable just how great songs like "Desperate Cry" and "Arise" really are. Could a revival be on the cards? I hope so. I think they deserve it.

Do I really need to tell you what Motorhead's set was like? Lemmy was there. They finished with "Ace of Spades" and "Overkill". It was amazing. Of course there were glaring omissions (the most obvious being that neither band played "Orgasmatron"), but with over twenty-five years of material to draw from that's inevitable. There were a couple of numbers from more recent albums we could have done without, but it would be churlish to begrudge them that, especially when they brought out "Just cos you got the power", always one of my favourites. The new material sounded good too. My favorite moment, however, was Lemmy's touching tribute to the Ramones- "this is for three friends of mine- they're all dead. Brown fucking bread, they are". They then played "Ramones", a tribute Lemmy wrote years ago that was actually covered by the Ramones themselves! On the whole, this night was exactly what I needed- what everyone needs, in fact. The only sucky thing was the prohibitive price of t-shirts. You'd think Motorhead, of all bands, would want to price their shirts competitively, considering the competition they have these days from Top Shop and New Look.

Rob Da Bank

I had a listen to Rob Da Bank's show the other night- he's the guy who's been charged with filling John Peel's old Radio 1 slot. I was touched by the way that Rob attempted to keep John's legacy alive by playing the wrong records, playing records at the wrong speed and taking records off halfway through because they sound warped. It's not the same, obviously, but a nice try anyway. Much like the show itself.

On the subject of Radio, Bruce Dickinson's show on Radio 6 is about as good as it gets. A real trooper.

Just got purely bigged up by Silver Dollar Circle. Very proud I am. Blog royalty beckons.

1st Annual Barbed comment Championship

Sir Elton John has been making headlines for his barbed comments recently, calling Taiwanese reporters "rude, vile pigs" and Carole Caplin a "mindless fucking turd". Well, he's going to have to be at the very top of his game for the first barbed comment championship, due to be held at Sefton Park, Liverpool on Sat 13th November. I'm currently favourite to win, and I'm planning to call Robbie Williams a "negligible worm of a man". In the event of a tiebreak situation, I may be forced to bring out the big guns and refer to Matthew Wright as a "trifling, vapid curr, devoid of human reason and utterly removed from civilised ideas of decency". Word on the grapevine is that George W. Bush is planning to describe me as an "achingly pretentious limey faggot". If he tries this, I intend to counter it by calling him "George W. Bush".

It's Official

Americans are stupid. Now us Europeans (and other non-Americans) can carry on being snotty towards them for ever and ever. It would be cause to celebrate were it not so tragic.

Yes, this is a sweeping generalisation and as such, a little unfair. Julie, if you're reading this, I'm not talking about you, or any of your American sisters. Had it been left to the women of America, Kerry would have been elected by a clear majority. So what is it with American men? What's the matter, Bubba? Reckon those eye-rackies need to git the hell out of Israel, or whatever damn place it is? Think executing black men for petty crimes is a wholesome family activity? Wipe your goddam ass on the Kyoto protocol? I can't believe that less than a century ago we were deliberating over whether to give women the vote or not. It seems to me more logical to only allow women to vote. In fact, we should only allow women to run for government, own businesses, join the police force and generally run the world. We (the males of the species) have given it our best shot but let's face it, we don't have a fucking clue, and everybody knows it. I for one am up for a complete handover of power. I could do without the responsibility, for one thing.

It won't come as a surprise to learn that both Joe and Si have got this motherfucker sussed.