My Dream 'Arcadium', Bye Jimmy, Yo Poggy and my Italian love affair...

My day was brightened today by a fascinating discovery. Double albums by your favourite artists are an ideal chance for you to cut the crap and from 30 tracks....make your perfect album. My first attempt at this was on Stadium Arcadiums 28-track opus and here's the tracklisting I came up with:

1. Desecration Smile
2. Snow (Hey Oh)
3. Charlie
4. Especially in Michigan
5. Hard to Concentrate
6. Animal Bar
7. Readymade
8. Strip My Mind
9. Slow Cheetah
10. Wet Sand
11. Hey
12. We Believe
13. Death of a Martian

Any connoisseur of Arcadium will probably give a big pat on the back for this list..or call me a nerd. This to me is the best album you can make from the double. It's made of the finest, most inventive tracks on the LP that show some adventure and imagination by the band. The only slight flaw in it is the lack of funky madness. However this list makes a mature album which I think if it was released would have surprised and impressed new and old followers to the band.

Geeky rant over.

Just a quick word as well to say bye to Jimmy but also to show how impressed I am by Pogatetz. Not only has he come back for pre-season a week early, he is gagging to get playing football for the club and be on the teamsheet for the 1st game of the season. I love the attitude and passion of that man.

Also, as you could tell from my list of reasons to watch the World Cup, I love Italy. So imagine my delight when I walk in from work yesterday to watch them score the two winning goals in the semi-final. Cannavaro and Pirlo remain strong contenders for player of the tournament too. I hope we get a France v Italy final, as it has potential to be a classic with Totti, Zidane, Henry, Pirlo, Cannavaro, Ribery etc.

Let's keep the fingers crossed for tonight.