WrongIslander

First off is the sex scene an important part of the book? If the book is primarily about sex the chances are I am not reading it as that would just bore me to tears. The sex in the story isn't always the most appealing or even exciting part but it has a part to play none the less in my opinion. Take for example the book I am reading now, "American Pyscho". Very graphically described sexual acts in a gutteral way that are extremely unpleasant but they give a valuable insight into the mind of the character, so their place in the book is warranted. I may be well off here but I'm yet to see a film or read a book that details a sexual encounter that has had any real affect on me or my enjoyment of a story. Sometimes I'm glad the characters got together or other times I'm just being a perve but in no sense is it down to the script or the narative of the scene in question, it is always about what was before or after.

whether happy or sad we've all those moments where a song reminds us of a time that meant something be it happy or sad. Sometimes you just adopt the song, it never played when you where with that special someone but the lyrics and the song fit your mood. What songs mean something to you and why? The Calling - Wherever you will go - This song will always stand out as a very sad song for me and one I vehermently hate. I broke up with the only girl who was ever my friend first before she was my girlfriend and we were really close and when I got home this was the song that was on. Ash - Shining Light - I had an amazing night with a girl who I'm lucky enough to still be seeing for the moment and this song just put that night into words for me and I liked the song before. Of course anything by Marvin Gay has been adopted and though it doesn't mean anything to me I love that song "The Blower's Daughter" by Damien Rice. What songs mean something to you and why?

One of the poorest line ups for a while for my money. Totally underwhelmed by the nominations for best film this year.

You're welcome. Do you attend or are you going to attend one of the Cal Colleges? USC, UCLA etc?

Pneumoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconeosises A lung disease caused by small particles of dust and a sad word party piece of mine. Also floccinaucinihilipilification meaning an act of determining something as worthless please.

^ I care so little I almost passed out. Seriously what the hell has the game I loved become? I've never been less bothered about a derby in my life.

Uber: It's just the sound of the word and what it denotes Function: prefix Etymology: German, from

I'd say your name is quite interesting actually. I've never heard it before, where does it originate from?

I'm a big American Sports fan and with the exception of Notre Dame (Indiana) and the Knicks (New York City) my teams are or have been related to Long Island, NY. Jets used to play in Shea Stadium which was the former home of the Mets and the New York Islanders are named after Long Island. The name basically is my tongue in cheek way of saying I am on the wrongisland and is a play on the term Long Islander which as you probably guessed is the name given those to inhabit LI,NY. If you followed that, well done you just passed Long Island/NY sport "101".

Read another chapter of American Psycho but to be honest I just want to get through it now. I have hopefully much better books waiting that turned up yesterday and today in the form of "The Road" and "This Thing of Darkness." On we go...

I wouldn't say American Psycho is bad book overall but I am tempted to leave it because it is such hard going. It reads more like a catalogue or clothes review than a novel but despite this the story is very much at the forefront of my mind now and as I am reading and recalling it I can cut out most of the OCD like rantings about what everyone in the world is wearing in the minutest detail. I'll stick it out and hopefully in the end it will be worth it.

Online mainly but if I'm in town I check out Waterstones and a smaller book shop that is more a seller of educational books. Last book I bought from there was "A History of Western Philosophy".

"On Bullfighting" by A.L Kennedy just arrived on my door step but I won't be reading it until June (when I go to Spain). I'll be glad to write my thoughts on it then and it might be something you might want to check out.

Does a meagre six mean I should tuck my genitalia between my legs and start calling myself Rachael?

American Psycho and I'm reading it now. If you've read it then you know what I mean.

Says who?

The greatest got me thinking. What is it that truly defines greatness and how does it transcend cultural boundaries. What is that je na sais quoi that really make the best at what they do be remembered for all eternity? I didn't want to hijack the other thread and I feel this is a different subject in a way so... I am a fan of American Sports for so many reasons but one is the great stories and history of truly special players from each. More so than even Football, a game revered throughout the world by many more people it seems if you are great in America you seem to reach an unrivalled plateu. Why is this? Well one theory I have is it is MUCH harder to be considered truly great in the U.S. Take for example American Football. The arguements still rage today about who truly is the greatest and unlike Football where the general concensus is Pele or Maradona with Cruyff in the mix it's far more varied over there. Namath, Montana, Marino, Bradshaw, Elway, Unitas. The debate rages on to this day and with Favre about to be thrown into the mix and Manning not long behind it continues to grow. In Ice Hockey it is the same: For the younger generation Gretzky and Lemieux have the market cornered but there are more experienced fans who will tell you all about the days of Gordie Howe, Maurice Richard, Bobby Orr and so on. Basketball? Jordan right? Well yeah more so than any other sportsman in history he is considered the undoubted number one from his sport. Don't count out LBJ from entering the arguement when he is finished though, a truly special talent. What about Baseball? Well we could be here all day such is the varied opinion on that one. You might think because you know the name the answer is Ruth and that's that but it isn't quite that simple. Aaron, Ozzy, Williams, Cobb, Mays, Robinson, they can all lay claims. Some people will vote for Bonds, those people are idiots. So given that Jordan is the closest thing to undoubted greatness in U.S sports in his profession and a name that transcends his sport what is it that makes him great? Ask his teammates and they will tell you his unmatched will to win. He was not a nice guy to be around they will say but he knew how to get the best out of you and he never stopped trying to better his game. Obviously natural ability plays a part but it is interesting to note that while Jordan was the best NBA player hands down, the same can not be said of his College Ball days. So maybe the answer to being the greatest lies not just in natural ability but to never stop improving yourself and being prepared to do what ever it takes to win. Despite his selfish attitude off the court, you could never call him anything but an exempolary team mate on it. He brought players into the game, he was a leader by both word and deed and he was never scared to take the big shot. So what percentage is it talent to effort? I don't know but what I do know is that from reading a lot of sports writing there is no statement that has rang truer than the following: "Hard work only beats talent when talent doesn't work hard." Whether it be mentally or physically Jordan worked harder than anyone in the NBA and ultimately with the talent he had (though not as talented as some when he was younger) he became the best of all time. If LeBron were taking note he might do well to realise that he is every bit as talented if not more so (I believe more so) but will he ever reach the mental conditioning levels of MJ? Time will tell.

I think they are slightly different but rather than get in to the personal life let's look at it from a purely footballing perspective. Far too often "greatness" is claimed on behalf of others for people who did not achieve anything like enough to realistically be compared to those who the world unanimously agree upon. Liverpool fans are guilty of this with Fowler but certainly not Dalglish who is probably the most underrated of all the greats or at least one of them. Even Best himself said of Dalglish that while Di Stefano was his favourite player the greatest compliment he could pay to Kenny was that he was as good. No matter. The fact is that Pele and Maradona were both and will always be considered greater than Best and they are not the only ones. There's a huge list. If you are talking about naturally talented players then Best is no doubt on that list. Outrageously gifted but his greatness arguement falls down simply on what he did with that talent, or more to the point what he didn't. Greatness should not be mistaken with myth, legend and hyperbole. Best was special but he has no claim whatsoever to the greatest player in the world of Football let alone the world. I hope you don't think this is just because I am a Liverpool fan because I can assure you it isn't. I am constantly sticking up for the likes of Beckham, Keane, Scholes and Giggs to name but a few, the reason? Unlike Best they all made the most of their ability and became amoung the best players in the world and that is something that is not opinion, but fact. Those four are the most balanced and talented midfield I have ever seen in my lifetime and I include Real's Galactico's in that.

I certainly do. Still do my forms now despite not going because they are good for balance, co-ordination and fitness.

With the Superbowl around the corner and no thread for it I thought I'd make one for other fans (if there are any about) of Grid Iron to join in with their thoughts and opinions. I'm a New York Jets fan, I have been since the day that the Houston Oilers (my first team) left and became the Tennessee Titans. Being as I am English I couldn't forgive this most epic of betrayals and so became a fan of "Gang Green". If you arn't up to speed then here is a quick run down of what is going on. The playoffs started a few weeks back and the first round is called the "Wild Card" this is for the teams that had the best records outside of those teams that qualified automatically from their respective conferences (AFC and NFC). My Jets faced off against the Cincinati Bengals and emerged victorious after a smart performance from our Quarter Back Mark Sanchez. A strong running game and strong defence. (The number 1 in both categories of all teams). 24-14 Jets "America's Team" (as they call themselves) the Dallas Cowboys faced off against the Philidelphia Eagles. The Dallas QB Tony Romo ran the show and the Eagles imploded making for an easy passage through for the 'Boys. 14-34 'Boys The once formidable New England Patriots were taken care of easily by the Baltimore Ravens as their running game led by Running Back Ray Allen to which the Patriots had no answer. Time to start again in NE I think. 33-14 Ravens Green Bay @ Arizona was a record breaking shootout of a game. In a game where neither team could stop the run or pass a great comeback from the GB Packers was not enough to stop the Cards advancing with the only meaningful defensive play of the game, although it was more than a little suspicious when a facemask was not called on the Cards as the GB QB Aaron Rodgers was stripped of the ball by LB Karlos Dansby. 45 - 51 Cards Having won their AFC wildcard games the Jets and Ravens earned the right to face off against the teams that qualified directly from winning their confences with the best records. The Ravens faced off against he much fancied Indiannapolis Colts led by their legendary QB Peyton Manning. The Colts D held firm and Manning did what he does to see off the Ravens and reaffirm their status as one of the favourites for the competition 20-13 Colts The Jets faced a tough trip to the form team the San Diego Chargers. The Chargers had won their last 11 and their kicker Nate Kaeding was "automatic" as they say having hit his last 20 in a row. American Football has no respect for such statistics and as they say any team can win on any given Sunday. The Jets "offense" stuggled from minute 1 and only managed a solitary first down in the first half. The chargers however while having more of the ball and the more experienced QB in Phillip Rivers only managed the one converted Touch Down and could not add to their lead when Kaeding missed a 57 yard FG. Although it was a tough kick it was one that you'd back Kaeding to make despite it being a tie of his career long. Kaeding went on to miss two more FG's from much more makable positions and the Jets came out in the second half and established their run game through Shonn Greene and veteran Thomas Jones.When the Jets D got a late Xmas present from Rivers which Justin Leonhard duly accepted, QB Mark Sanchez found Keller for the TD pass and then not long after Greene went a post season franchise record 56 yards for the TD to put the Jets up 17-7. The Colts could only manage 1 TD as the Jets sealed the game running a 4th and 1 for a first down which allowed them to run out the clock. The best D in the league had beaten the best O (on paper) 17-14 Jets I'll talk more about the New Orlean Saints (rightfully favourites and the team I picked to win it from day one) on my NFC Championship game later this week. Suffice to say that RB Bush stole the show and QB Drew Brees looked as comfortable as they thrashed last years runners up the Arizona Cardinals. 45-15 Saints Same goes for the Vikings as they waltzed past the 'Boys who showed just how overrated their performance against a lacklustre Eagles team was previously. A great defensive performance added to the HOF sensible play of QB Brett Favre and the best running back in the league Adrian Peterson doing his thing meant this was as comfortable for the Vikings of Minnesota as it was for the 'Boys when they battered the Eagles. 34-3 Vikings. So there it is. All caught up (sorry I cut corners but that was a lot to get through and obviously I was always going to go into more detail with the Jets games' ) If you are interested look forward to my AFC and NFC championship previews which whatever the case will be followed by my Superbowl preview. So far this year I'm 7/8 in my predictions with only the Packers letting me down in OT WITH the ball! It's getting tougher now though. Good thing I quit gambling or I'd be minted now....

That's the one. "He's losing his mind... and I'm reaping all the rewards."

Sounds familiar. It isn't The Big Lebowski is it? I don't think it is but I definetly know it.

I used to partake in Kuk Sool Won but unfortunately due to health reasons and how that has affected my financial situation I am no longer able to attend classes. It was a very enjoyable experience and one I will definetly go back to when I am in a better position to do so. If anyone is thinking of taking up M.A. I highly recommend it... if you can afford it. That's the only problem, the cost of better health and mental strength as well as other skills doesn't come cheap. Still, it's more than worth paying if you can.

They may as well be speaking Samarian. I'm sure it's a great show but just not one I'm on the same level as.

Thank you to everyone, this really is a very friendly forum and I hope to stay around and contribute as best I can. As for reading Macbeth, I just read it last year and will be happy to brush up on it once more.