Les Miserables

I've been listening to Les Miserables by Victor Hugo (unabridged audio book) for the last few days and it's tremendous stuff. Life in France in the 19th century was tough for the poor and Hugo pulls no punches in describing the harshness of the law and the indifference of society towards the plight of many.

It's good to knit to as well, engaging enough without being too a thrilling ride and not making me miscount my ssks and k2togs.

If J1 gets his wish to study Stage Management at the Central School of Speech and Drama (CSSD) in London, I might even get to see the prouction of Les Mis. That would be fab, but I won't take my knitting with me into the theatre!

Listening to the FA cup 4th round was a miserable experience for Sunderland fans yesterday too: after the 7-2 drubbing by Chelsea last week we needed a good result and we were due to play Portsmouth.

Pompey is in dire straits at the moment: some months they have paid the players and staffs wages late, the former manager and owner have been charged with tax evasion, the club has the threat of administration over it as the taxman is chasing them for unpaid taxes. Even a former player (Sol Campbell) is chasing them for unpaid wages from the previous season.  Thousand of fans held a protest outside the ground yesterday  with banners stating "NOT FIT AND PROPER". So Darren Bent's opening goal suggested that things were going from bad to worse for Portsmouth. Not so. We lost our lead and were beaten 2-1. Pompey fans can take comfort that at least their players are battling for survival even if the club is in a miserable state.

I wish my team had a bit more of the same urgency about it!