The View from the Spaghetti Factory

… is the fact that Stephen Fry, the thoroughly splendid fellow, now has a blog. Everyone buy a cake to celebrate!

http://www.stephenfry.com/blog/

Spending a week in Lisbon, so I’m eating regular portions of these poor innocent creatures.

This is an absolutely fantastic city, with just the right mix of dusty, crumbling charm and shiny sophistication. Far too many galleries, museums and music venues to see in a week, and several distinct areas within the city, each with its own personality and vibe.

There’s a generally easy-going pace of life, and the place seems to run mostly on beer, which is nice… none of the “oh, we only drink with meals” attitude you get in a lot of southern Europe. You see matronly ladies nursing huge one-litre steins of lager at lunchtime, and plenty of glazed expressions and unsure steps late at night. Must be why British people like coming to Portugal, eh?

Oh, and speaking of booze, here’s the absolute coolest, loveliest thing about Lisbon…

Ginjinha… the local cherry brandy, served in generous portions for 1 euro, from tiny bars with barely room to stand in. The perfect chaser after a brain-tweaking espresso from one of the grand art deco cafes.

Right… my hour of wifi is about to run out. Time to go and explore some more. There are galleries to see, food to eat, Fado to listen to. Proper photos on Flickr when I get back.

I think the people who rent advertising space for London Underground must have a sense of humour…

Or maybe there’s a link between 17th century Dutch art and Ashlee Simpson, and I’m just not seeing it. Yep, that’ll be it.

Sir Alex Ferguson’s position in the Real World has often seemed tenuous in the past, but no more so than several other characters in the rarefied world of top-flight football. His latest outburst, reported in the Observer last week, is particularly daft, though… they’re going to be talking of alcoholism and mental breakdown again!

Setting the scene, Michel Platini, former French midfield hero, was recently elected president of UEFA. His initial plans for the Champions League system were pretty radical, but he’s now aiming merely to transfer one of each country’s allotted places to their domestic cup winners (who would previously have played in the UEFA Cup). Sir Alex doesn’t like the sound of that…

Or let’s make that the quarter-final, shall we? Or is he suggesting that both Tottenham and Blackburn are “nobody”? Granted, Chelsea had a relatively easy passage to the FA Cup final last season, while Man Utd played Premiership clubs in every round, but that’s how random draw competitions work. Ah, but don’t forget… along with managers of the other G-14 clubs, Sir Alex doesn’t like the risk of a random draw. That’s why the Champions League was created in the first place… to remove the plucky little hopefuls as early as possible, leaving the moneyspinning later rounds to Europe’s biggest and richest clubs.

Overlooking Ferguson’s breathtaking arrogance, his fears are unfounded, for two reasons.

Firstly, what does it matter if the FA Cup winners gain their Champions League place more easily (supposedly) than the Premiership champions? For eighteen of the last twenty years, the FA Cup has been won by one of those “big four” teams (Man Utd, Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool) anyway!

Secondly, do the hopeful little minnows from Europe’s less fashionable leagues *really* pose such a threat to our noble heroes? The days of Liverpool 10 Oulu 1 are long gone, but apart from the occasional Rosenborg 2 Milan 1 the teams who progress to the last eight of the European Cup are generally from England, Italy, Spain and Germany.

For what it’s worth, I’m delighted that Platini has battled through the old boys’ network to become president of UEFA. I’d love to see him do what he really wants to do, which may well be to limit the Champions League to league champions and cup winners, giving equal places to every UEFA country, but he’s going to have a battle on his hands. The big clubs do so hate the idea of competition.