Dean's Blog

I don’t usually get caught up in the hysteria of things such as this but on this occasion I have to blog about this.

This World Cup has not been the most memorable, no one player has stood out as the star of the tournament and most games have been predictable to choose the winner. As we approach the end of a World Cup that England would rather forget there is one England star that is becoming something of a sensation.

Paul the “Psychic” Octopus.

The animal has become the most unusual celebrity at this year's tournament after correctly indicating whether Germany would win or lose each of their six games during the tournament.

His keepers at the zoo in Oberhausen claim he is psychic, and help him make his predictions by offering him mussels from two containers - one adorned with the German flag and one with that of their opponents. Whichever vessel Paul chooses to eat from is held to be his tip to win the match - and his choice of Spain for last nights semi-final added further weight to his burgeoning reputation.

So far he has a 100% record and I cannot wait to see who he is going to pick in the final. On paper Spain should win but will the fate of the Octopus prove to be totally accurate? If not I fear me maybe on the Paella menu for many a Spanish restaurant.

What a star this Octopus is!

Well the time has finally arrived. What began as a simple idea in 2006 is now a dream fulfilled. It’s been a dark and trying time with so many problems I had to overcome, but through will and determination it just had to be done. Even in the darkest days when it seemed that all would fail, just the mere thought of this becoming a possibility kept me moving forward.

It was back in October 2006 that it began. I had just ended a five year relationship, my ex had fleeced me of nearly every penny I had. Left me in a house that I could not afford paying. My last writing job had come to and end and I was taking on any menial job going in order just to survive. That was not for long, in April 2007 I was evicted from my house by my rather gloating (and vastly overweight landlord).

In my early 30’s I had to do something that I could not ever imagine doing even as a teenager and for the first time in a while I moved back to Bristol. I had left Bristol some eight years earlier and though the fields and buildings were all the same, it was a shell of a former place that I once called home. The people I had known had long moved on, the good times that I had lived were nothing more than whispers in the wind. I was home, but the home no longer existed.

During this time that I was away from London I began to miss everything about it. The simple things that I once hated suddenly had a longing for, the tube, the parks, the shop that offered 5 beers for £6, but most importantly I was missing the friends I had made there. Who was to blame seemed to change every day in my mind, at first it was my ex, then it was me, then it was anyone that just made me feel better. Whomever it was that took the pain of turning my life upside down was the victim of my wrath.

It was then that I got a phone call out of the blue from one of my closest friends, Marie Eriksson. A lovely Swedish girl who had become a very good friend of mine towards the last few months of London. She invited me over to stay with her and her family for a few weeks in the summer and I jumped at the chance. Just to get out of Bristol was something I was not going to say no to.

I stayed just outside of Goteborg and spent two of the most enjoyable weeks of my life. Now I’ve been all over the world, to many places and seen many life changing moments. But something happened during these two weeks, something that would change my life forever. I cannot put my finger on it, maybe it was Marie showing me a different side of her during this stay, and perhaps it was the culture that I fell in love with. But I did know that the minute I landed back in the UK I would be one day moving to Sweden.

2007/8 saw little change in my life. I was lucky to get a really good deal and began doing some freelance writing that financially saw me get back on my feet. Then in 2008 a decent opportunity took me back to London where I have been since. Alas London, like Bristol, is a city that never stands still and friends come and go like passengers on a train and those I did leave the previous year had gone.

The last two years saw me putting my dream of moving to Sweden into overdrive. I began working and writing more than ever in order to financially sustain the move. Stepping up learning the language, the history and the culture of the country took up the majority of my spare time. It was like going back to school but unlike learning something that was forced upon you, this was essential, it had to be done.

Now here we are in 2010 and my move to Sweden goes ahead in just eight weeks time. Thinking back to that day in October 2006 when I had drank a full bottle of whiskey fearing for my entire future and even existence here I am. What started out as a dream became an objective that was fuelled by desire, passion, love and want. I could not let life keep me down, I simply refused.

No matter where you are in life, whatever it is you are doing if you have a goal it can be achieved. With the love and support of friends and family nothing is impossible. My adventure has only just begun. If you have one I will support you all the way.

Dreams can come true.

So another four years of hurt, another four more years of dreaming. England crash out of the world cup and the press are gathering around The FA HQ like vultures eyeing a dying carcass.

"They should never wear a shirt again" cries one paper, "Embarassing!" reads another. Yet who is to blame for England's exit? Capello? No. The players? No. The answer is the press themselves.

Yet another world cup and another world cup exit. England were not just beaten they were totally outclassed by a young and passionate German team whose average age was 24 compared to Englands 29. It really was a case of men vs boys and the boys won. The 25,000 England fans who made their way to South Africa stood with heads bowed, looking down as to find the reason why England could not qualify.

Most of the English players were at the end of a very long season, some playing close to 70 games without a break, tiredness was a factor. Rooney was absent for most of the game and the defence were torn apart by a ruthless German attack. But Capello nor the players should take the blame. This lies with the absurd hype from the English press that the players must certainly feel. The way that the English press ridiculed the German team was unfair and rather embarassing. Let's be honest football is not coming home, England do not have the right to win the world cup simply as they invented the game and the level of criticism thrown Capellos way is down to the press themselves overhyping what is in truth an average team.

This was one of the weakest England teams to ever enter a wprld cup. Only Rooney and Ashley Cole stood out as what I would describe as a world class player. Sure Capello's tactics were not spot on. Why Matthew Upson was playing was a mystery.


The English fans will no doubt argue that Lampards goal should have been given, and rightly so. But the truth is England were all over the place. It was the old story. Put England in against a half-decent team and they lose.

But this was more than a defeat - it was an apology of a performance. Since 1966 England have never beaten any team of any quality at the knockout stage of a World Cup. The only successes have been against the might of Paraguay, Belgium, Cameroon, Denmark and Ecuador.

So, no more excuses, please. It's about time the English Press laid off the team and let the manager get on with it. There is nothing wrong with patriotism and the English are one of the most patriotic teams around. But hanging a manager by a noose creted on the press's expetency to win is unfair.

The Truth of Englands tournament is simple. Drew against a decent USA team, then a poor draw against Algeria. A victory against Slovenia and suddenly it was "Were on top of the world!", "England to win!". On these performances I think England got as
Yes,far as they deserved and were thoroughly outplayed by Germany.


Germany played a totally different brand of football. Modern football, moving the ball round the pitch at pace and with technique that shamed England, who looked slow, dull and witless in comparison.


There will be calls for certain players to be packed off into retirement.

And yet where are the replacements? The cupboard is bare.

Capello had a look at Theo Walcott, Micah Richards, Adam Johnson, Gabriel Agbonlahor, Ashley Young & Co and plainly didn't think them up to it. Those few England supporters who will still rally blindly to the cause will, no doubt, claim we are no worse off than Italy and France.

But, at least these two countries have had a recent glorious past. So it's time for the press to be honest and truthful. But that will never happen.

I have just read that Michael Jackson has generated over $1 Billion since his death almost a year ago.

A magazine says Jackson's album sales have generated about $383m (£259m), while revenue from the film This Is It has hit nearly $400m (£271m). Profits from publishing rights, licensing and touring are also included in the total. A new recording contract is estimated to have made $31m (£21m) so far. The Sony Music Entertainment deal will see 10 albums of the late singer's music released over the next seven years, including one of previously unreleased material.

This is all great news for the Jackson estate and probably most importantly it will set his children up financially for the rest of their lives and ensure that they live a life of comfort which of course would be any parents wish.

Now I am not a huge Michael Jackson fan, I am certainly not obsessive. I have his greatest hits, Thriller, Bad on my Iphone. But this report has raised some sense of anger within me. No matter what his personal life entailed Jackson was one of the greatest performers of all time. His music, choreography and voice pleased millions of fans for decades. Seeing Michael Jackson perform live was something I will never forget. I was a toddler when Elvis died; I was born after the Beatles. He was the icon of our generation.

So why in his final years did he end up a penniless artist living of donations and living in a rented apartment? Why did those music moguls who took him for millions of dollars abandon him in time of need. Where were all the business men that promised they would look after Jackson? They simply bled him dry and left him. Many famous people end up losing their self made fortune and Jackson was one of them. Yet Michael Jackson was an intelligent man who knew how to handle business. He was no airhead, he was a smart man. I do feel that at the end of his life his financial state could only be described as desperate. Forcing a performer who was vastly underweight, not in good health and had not performed on the levels that the “This Is It” tour demanded was unfair.

Jacksons legacy that he leaves behind is the memory of his music to the legions of fans and if this report is to be believed a financial blanket to his family. It is just a shame that he could not have ended his days reaping some of the rewards his genius talent gave us.

Forget all those fictional fairytale romance stories you might have heard as a child - because Sweden has hosted the real thing.

Crown Princess Victoria has married her fitness trainer boyfriend, Daniel Westling, in Stockholm after a long romance.

The unlikely match was made in an even more unlikely setting.

Cupid was unleashed when the Swedish heir to the throne started working out at Mr Westling's gym in Stockholm in 2000.

In a TV interview, the Crown Princess said their affection for each other started as a little acorn but it soon became a mighty oak.

"Daniel and I had a very beautiful and grounded friendship. We were very good friends before, and it was a friendship that grew and became love," she revealed.

Mr Westling has already been groomed to take on a more ceremonial role in Swedish life, ditching the dumb-bells for a big title.

He will now be known as Prince Daniel Duke of Vastergotland - a huge leap for a boy who grew up in a modest house in a working class community.

In his hometown of Ockelbo, where the population is just 6,000, they are celebrating their most famous son.

Mayor Magnus Jonsson is swollen with pride, saying Daniel has put the town firmly on the map.

"I think this historical moment means a lot because when you think about it we are about to become part of history," he said.

"Daniel is from here, he was raised here and now he will become Sweden's Prince."

The union has also gone down well across Sweden where the couple are viewed as the epitome of a modern aristocracy.

The blue-blooded Victoria has fallen in love with a "commoner", meaning that social boundaries no longer have a place in society.

But it has also sparked an even bigger debate, with many Swedes questioning why the country - which is known for its egalitarianism - still needs a royal family.

Dignitaries and royalty from around the world attended the ceremony, which cost about £1m.

Well the waiting is over and the Royal wedding is finally upon us. It’s been strange to be caught up in this media frenzy and to witness first hand how another country, the country I will soon call home has viewed it.

Now if this was the UK the media would be in overdrive now and it would no doubt be even more popular than the World Cup. I can barely remember when Prince Charles and Princess Diana got married but I can recall the whole country coming to a complete standstill. But that was then and this is now and of course times have changed.

Like the UK, Sweden seems often divided between the royalists and those who think that a royal family is an outdated system that is a burden on taxpayer’s money. My own opinion is that having a royal family is a good thing providing it benefits the country in some way. Here in the UK the Queen not only sits on the throne but also is head of the Commonwealth, albeit with minimal power.

This year has seen The Crown Princess Victoria and her soon to be husband Daniel Westling overcome a lot of adversity and issues surrounding his background and I have admired the way that they have stuck together. Then we have the younger sister Princess Madeleine whose fiancé had an alleged affair with a Norwegian student and there own wedding was cancelled.

It just goes to show that being part of a monarchy does not change who you are as a person. You will still have the ups and downs to deal with in life, still have the issues about being loyal and true to the person you love. So to Madeleine I say “Plenty more princes in the sea”

To Victoria and Daniel. Congratulations and may you have a long and happy marriage.

Standing on a mountain I view the crimson sun
Thinking of where I’ve been and how this all begun
Escaping the world of darkness, longing to be free
Etched my dreams into my soul for all eternity
Those that tried to stop me, those who said “Just die”
Dare you now have the courage to look me in the eye?
My heart is on fire now it’s free from your remorse
No matter how much you doubted me, I’m a pure unstoppable force
Nothing hits harder than life and all the trouble that it brings
Yet it cannot keep this raven down even with clipped wings
I refuse to be a rat in life, running circles in its race
Failure is not an option; just look me in the face
For what you see is what you get but you cannot keep me down
Because I will be victorious and wear my golden crown.