Jandek- The finest twice yearly event on the musical calendar

How to even comment? Danny La Rue- sorry- I mean Jandek is back, and he's doing this album called Diamonds Falling Down- hopefully it will spawn another 'Sweet Caroline' or 'Brown Eyed Girl' and take our hero back to the top of the charts.

Not only that- our favourite publicity junky is actually playing in America- see details here. Personally I'm expecting blanket media coverage between now and the end of autumn.

Goalkeeping: the new philosophy

He is the goalkeeper for Sporting Lisbon, and he is watching Celtic play against him. If you look closely at the photograph, he seems deep in thought. Which of the following is he thinking?

• Is their opening line-up a joke? Petrov out wide again? Sutton in midfield again?;
• Marshall in goals from the start?;
• I thought there was a new manager here? They seem to be playing the same bad way they played at the end of last season?;
• Where's the Polish striker?;
• David Fernandez still plays for Celtic?;
• All of the above and more?

Anyway- this seems like a good starting point- I'm not prepared to start panicking yet, but I repeat- let's not play our best central midfielder on the wing, and let's not play our best centre forward in midfield.

Phil Collins- Master of understated melancholy

Check out the very beautiful video for the Postal Service's version of Phil Collins's 'Against All Odds'.

The Postal Service are a band made up of members of Death Cab for Cutie and Dntel, and they make the kind of music that should really prompt the cheerful suicides of pretenders such as The Kaiser Chiefs, and (shudder) Razorlight and (shudder, shudder) The Bravery. The Postal Service are interesting for many reasons, but one of them is the fact that it is essentially a side project which really works, and doesn't seem like cloying indulgence. Ben Gibbard's Death Cab are a great band, but rarely do they ascend to such brittle great heights as 'Such Great Heights'. Dntel are ok- but Jimmy Tamborello (great name) finds his real moments of mastery working with others such as Gibbard in The Postal Service and Bright Eyes on 'Digital Ash in a Digital Urn'.

Anyway, this is the sound of today- dry your eyes and give thanks for this little nugget of genius.

Mmm, well, yes, at least we haven't conceded a goal yet

Didn't Martin O'Neill's first pre-season leave us cold too? Anyway, this is the point- please leave Petrov alone, don't push him out wide, even as an experiment, even just because it's a friendly. Can't you see his head falling just a little bit every time a manager says 'Can you go out wide for just this one game...?'

Let's not annoy him. I remember, I think, Liam Brady playing John Collins at left back (I'm sure because he 'could play there')- Collins left soon after. Don't annoy your very best players.

Boruc played well. That's something. Weird personal website, but I don't think website design is a major criterion when signing a goalkeeper. I especially like the Celtic u Roda Stewarta mystery. I'd love to know what that bit means.

Virgo- the signs are good etc

Let's be honest- Celtic have signed five players (Camara, Aliadiere, Zurawski, Boruc, and now Adam Virgo) and are chasing a sixth (Nakamura), and I have never heard of any of them. However, that doesn't stop me being more excited about the new season than any of the last five. Or is it four? Since O'Neill's first season, I mean.

The defence is looking stronger, but I would be a lot happier if Agathe could shake off his injuries- he is no longer trustworthy because he's injured so much. The forwards are looking faster, and we seem to have more width, especially if Nakamura comes. The only missing piece is a goalkeeper we can be really confident in- but you never know, Boruc may be that, or Marshall may become that.

Also, the signings are pleasing because of the possibility of rubbish puns they allow (especially Magic's name, Virgo's surname ('cue' the snooker puns, and I 'predict' lots of astrological wordplay too), and Nakamura (opportunities almost infinite there)).

Nakamura coming in before the Champions League signing deadline on Thursday, and maybe getting paraded at the Sporting Lisbon game would make me even happier.

The Raveonettes- or, What is the most underrated pop single of all time?

I went to see the Raveonettes in King Tut's tonight. My God, there's a band. How we love the Raveonettes. Apart from the fact that no photograph can ever do her justice, the girl in the band (above, Sharin is her name, Sharin Foo) is the single most beautiful girl I've ever seen. Also, their last single featured Ronnie Spector taking us all back to 1963 with her 'Woh-oh-ooohhh' backing vocals, which appeared in ghostly splendour on a backing tape at tonight's show. They are a fine band, the Raveonettes.

During the show, while they played it, it struck me that they have recorded the most underrated, most overlooked pop single of all time, and it's called That Great Love Sound. My question to you is- what is the most criminally ignored single, by any band, of any era, to your knowledge? A muffin for every worthwhile suggestion.

Muffins

Check this out! I made these from scratch- almond muffins. Has mankind ever begat anything more awesome? Strange as it sounds, I never thought that if you used a recipe and followed every step carefully, that it would actually work.