Wednesday 30 June 2010
By Jingo!
What a wonderful gift it is to be English. We go crazy for Wimbledon and for the past decade have harboured unusually realistic hopes of a champion from our shores. We love beating the Australians at absolutely anything but especially cricket, whatever the newly contrived format. We reassure ourselves that our football team is star-packed and capable of anything. For culture we attend the Proms, Glyndebourne and local productions of Gilbert and Sullivan comic opera. We have Elgar to provide the soundtrack to our Englishness and Kipling to put it into words. We once ruled the world and are slowly coming to the realisation that is all in the past. We go all pagan for the summer solstice at Stonehenge and still crave a good broadsheet to keep abreast of world events. Embracing technology and keeping up with the world around us we have learnt to browse and tweet. Secretly, we all wish we had been to Eton or Harrow and to Cambridge or Oxford. I miss the England described by Waugh. The England which braved the new world in the aftermath of the Great War and braced itself for the onset of the next. The England which saw the ascent of Socialism and the demise of the stately home and its denizens. The England of true rustic beauty of Larkin, Laurie Lee and Thomas Hardy. Thank God, there'll always be an England and thank God for Vaughan Williams and Pimms and evensong. Blessed are the English for they shall bask in their great country - wherever they may be!
Monday 28 June 2010
What a sham!
Germany 4, England 1. Surprised? Well, yes, actually. I'm very surprised that England had the opportunity to play in the last 16 of this World Cup. In the group stages, England were at best mediocre. That they did not get beaten by Algeria was down more to good luck than good management and the draw against a lively and skillful USA was fortuitous. To reach the last 16 and then expect to progress to the quarter finals, you really need to stamp your authority on your group. England have rolled over like a frightened puppy. I keep hearing about the Premier League being the richest in the world. That may be but wealth does not correlate with skill, passion and raw talent. The fact is that England don't play as a team, are far too short on basic footballing skill, are grossly over-rated by our jingoistic media and frankly, don't really have an incentive to play. Their salaries at club level preclude them from ever winning anything of international importance. I hear about too much football being played and have to laugh really. For God's sake, this is their job! I salute Jamie Carragher of Liverpool for at least having the common decency to admit that playing for his club is more important to him. I don't agree with his admission but I respect him for being honest enough to come clean. Finally, reputations of individuals never win tournaments - tournaments are won by cohesive teams who would walk over broken glass for each other. Ask anyone to name any of the Greek team which won the European Championships and you will have a long wait. Ask anyone to name the current England "team" and most people will reel off half a dozen - I rest my case. If egos ever count towards winning tournaments, England would be nailed on favourites. Too many players just couldn't be bothered. If the "too much football" argument held any water, none of these prima donnas would perform for their clubs come the start of the new domestic season in August. But of course they all will perform for their clubs because their clubs are their masters - not their country. Personally, the idea of a foreign coach is laughable. How can a Swede or an Italian possibly assume the requisite national pride to covet these trophies? In sales there is an old adage which states that you are only as good as your last week. In sport, you are only as good as your last game. A good manager would have dropped Rooney to the bench during the Algeria game. Lampard ought to have made way sooner as well. The defenders he was stuck with unfortunately. Defenders used to adopt a "they shall not pass" mentality. This bunch went more for the "after you sir" approach. The whole goal keeping issue was a farce for about the last six months. Inexcusable. The issue of the captaincy was likewise a farce. You want a captain to be judged by his performance on the pitch not in his private life. I will never understand why Theo Walcott was left behind but David Beckham went. I will never understand why Emile Heskey went and Adam Johnson didn't. Had they been rightly knocked out at the group stage, England would have been delivered a much fairer assessment of their current worth. Lastly, why would anyone seriously want to travel half way around the globe to follow that lot? Beats me...
Friday 18 June 2010
The Day Of The Jackal
The Frederick Forsyth book, "The day of the jackal", is a wonderful thriller and along with "Where eagles dare" is the best I have read.
Yesterday, the local news in North Wales reminded us of a shop-keeper from Llangollen who just disappeared twenty years ago. I pondered the reality of any of us being able to just disappear. Why not? If you can keep your cards close to your chest and accumulate a cash fund to initiate your escape, I still think it is possible to disappear. Of course, Europe would be out of the question as would the United States or Canada. However, lesser countries in Africa, Central America or South America would be good candidates. The only thing you need to survive is money. In the places I have cited, there is still the scope to earn money on a cash in hand basis without the need for formal identification. The perfect arena within which to escape is catering. Here, people can slink away quietly into a busy kitchen, do their job competently and go largely unnoticed. You rent a small flat for cash and no landlord with rent in his hand will ask any questions. In the day of the jackal, the jackal had several identities but who says you even have to have an identity - the less identity the better!
But who would want to escape? Someone with massive debts or someone who has committed a heinous crime perhaps? Most of us would never entertain the notion because we have a baseline of happiness within our lives. However, there are many others whose lives offer little in the way of aspiration, hope, fulfillment or happiness. Of course you would normally need some form of social interaction but somebody seeking to remain anonymous would have to ditch such a luxury.
In the day of the jackal, the backdrop to the story revolves around the French resistance movement who disagreed with Charles De Gaulle's decision to grant independence to Algeria. The Algerians against the odds had proved to be a thorn in the side of the far stronger French army and had showed what can be achieved against a supposedly stronger opponent with sufficient desire and planning. Tonight, an England team dripping in millions of pounds of Premier League talent will face the part-timers of Algeria. In that the match is being played in Africa, Algeria will be more at home than England. I suspect the final result will reflect this.
Yesterday, the local news in North Wales reminded us of a shop-keeper from Llangollen who just disappeared twenty years ago. I pondered the reality of any of us being able to just disappear. Why not? If you can keep your cards close to your chest and accumulate a cash fund to initiate your escape, I still think it is possible to disappear. Of course, Europe would be out of the question as would the United States or Canada. However, lesser countries in Africa, Central America or South America would be good candidates. The only thing you need to survive is money. In the places I have cited, there is still the scope to earn money on a cash in hand basis without the need for formal identification. The perfect arena within which to escape is catering. Here, people can slink away quietly into a busy kitchen, do their job competently and go largely unnoticed. You rent a small flat for cash and no landlord with rent in his hand will ask any questions. In the day of the jackal, the jackal had several identities but who says you even have to have an identity - the less identity the better!
But who would want to escape? Someone with massive debts or someone who has committed a heinous crime perhaps? Most of us would never entertain the notion because we have a baseline of happiness within our lives. However, there are many others whose lives offer little in the way of aspiration, hope, fulfillment or happiness. Of course you would normally need some form of social interaction but somebody seeking to remain anonymous would have to ditch such a luxury.
In the day of the jackal, the backdrop to the story revolves around the French resistance movement who disagreed with Charles De Gaulle's decision to grant independence to Algeria. The Algerians against the odds had proved to be a thorn in the side of the far stronger French army and had showed what can be achieved against a supposedly stronger opponent with sufficient desire and planning. Tonight, an England team dripping in millions of pounds of Premier League talent will face the part-timers of Algeria. In that the match is being played in Africa, Algeria will be more at home than England. I suspect the final result will reflect this.
Monday 14 June 2010
Well deserved MBE
I saw on Saturday that Graham Nash of the Hollies and Crosby, Stills and Nash has finally been recognised for his charitable work and lifetime contribution to music. Well done Graham and richly deserved.
Surely one of the most genuine people in an industry hardly noted for such qualities, Graham has been performing and writing music now for nigh on 50 years. Of all the absolutely beautiful music he has blessed us with, one song in particular stands out over the rest.
It is the song which proved to be the catalyst for his exit from the Hollies to California in 1969; Teach your children. The Hollies didn't want to perform this sort of music so Graham departed to find somebody who did. So a big thank you to the Hollies who inadvertently gave the world Crosby, Stills and Nash with their soaring melodies and lyrics to stir the soul.
Forty years after the song was first released, we have just endured an election in which the "Broken Society" became a popular theme. I'm not sure that our society is broken, but I do think it is badly in need of getting to know itself again. Graham's lyrics in Teach your children would be a great starting point:
You who are on the road
Must have a code that you can live by
And so become yourself
Because the past is just a good bye.
Teach your children well,
Their father's hell did slowly go by,
And feed them on your dreams
The one they picked, the one you'll know by.
Don't you ever ask them why, if they told you, you would cry,
So just look at them and sigh and know they love you.
And you, of tender years,
Can't know the fears that your elders grew by,
And so please help them with your youth,
They seek the truth before they can die.
Counter Melody To Above Verse:
Can you hear and do you care and
Cant you see we must be free to
Teach your children what you believe in.
Make a world that we can live in.
Teach your parents well,
Their children's hell will slowly go by,
And feed them on your dreams
The one they picked, the one you'll know by.
Don't you ever ask them why, if they told you, you would cry,
So just look at them and sigh and know they love you.
How prescient is the lyric "Must have a code that you can live by"? Whether we are atheist, religious or agnostic, we all need a basic code to guide us in our lives. This code is equally as important for the teenager starting out as it is for the 65 year old coming up for retirement.
In a world obsessed with image, marketing and popularity, the lyric"And so become yourself" is the most simple, appropriate advice in the book for everybody.
But the most clever aspect of this wonderful song is that while it is solidly based on the truth of love, it begins by imploring the parents to teach their children well but finishes by reminding us all that actually the parents don't have all the answers and the children can help us just as much as we can help them. So true.
Had more people just heard and thought about these lyrics forty years ago, I'm damn sure we would not have half the problems currently facing us.
When our beautiful daughter Thea died at the tender age of just fifteen months, this song played at her funeral service. I couldn't bring Thea back but I could share this song with as many people as possible who make a difference in my life. If only one person left the funeral with these words in their consciousness, then there is hope for the future.
Surely one of the most genuine people in an industry hardly noted for such qualities, Graham has been performing and writing music now for nigh on 50 years. Of all the absolutely beautiful music he has blessed us with, one song in particular stands out over the rest.
It is the song which proved to be the catalyst for his exit from the Hollies to California in 1969; Teach your children. The Hollies didn't want to perform this sort of music so Graham departed to find somebody who did. So a big thank you to the Hollies who inadvertently gave the world Crosby, Stills and Nash with their soaring melodies and lyrics to stir the soul.
Forty years after the song was first released, we have just endured an election in which the "Broken Society" became a popular theme. I'm not sure that our society is broken, but I do think it is badly in need of getting to know itself again. Graham's lyrics in Teach your children would be a great starting point:
You who are on the road
Must have a code that you can live by
And so become yourself
Because the past is just a good bye.
Teach your children well,
Their father's hell did slowly go by,
And feed them on your dreams
The one they picked, the one you'll know by.
Don't you ever ask them why, if they told you, you would cry,
So just look at them and sigh and know they love you.
And you, of tender years,
Can't know the fears that your elders grew by,
And so please help them with your youth,
They seek the truth before they can die.
Counter Melody To Above Verse:
Can you hear and do you care and
Cant you see we must be free to
Teach your children what you believe in.
Make a world that we can live in.
Teach your parents well,
Their children's hell will slowly go by,
And feed them on your dreams
The one they picked, the one you'll know by.
Don't you ever ask them why, if they told you, you would cry,
So just look at them and sigh and know they love you.
How prescient is the lyric "Must have a code that you can live by"? Whether we are atheist, religious or agnostic, we all need a basic code to guide us in our lives. This code is equally as important for the teenager starting out as it is for the 65 year old coming up for retirement.
In a world obsessed with image, marketing and popularity, the lyric"And so become yourself" is the most simple, appropriate advice in the book for everybody.
But the most clever aspect of this wonderful song is that while it is solidly based on the truth of love, it begins by imploring the parents to teach their children well but finishes by reminding us all that actually the parents don't have all the answers and the children can help us just as much as we can help them. So true.
Had more people just heard and thought about these lyrics forty years ago, I'm damn sure we would not have half the problems currently facing us.
When our beautiful daughter Thea died at the tender age of just fifteen months, this song played at her funeral service. I couldn't bring Thea back but I could share this song with as many people as possible who make a difference in my life. If only one person left the funeral with these words in their consciousness, then there is hope for the future.
Monday 7 June 2010
The Silly Season
Well, here we are again. It is the season for fantasists to speculate on whether England will win the World Cup or whether Andy Murray will win Wimbledon. In a way, I suppose people almost have to ask these questions - even though they already know the answers.
In both cases, the answer is no. Albeit, Andy Murray has a pig's chance on the basis of his talent and desire. Unfortunately, we are now in the professional era and this means that success for British representatives in the most lucrative events is nigh on impossible. If tennis was still predominantly an amateur sport, then we may have a chance of producing a champion. As it is, in the professional era it comes down to sheer committment. A good analagy is a concert pianist. To be at the top, he or she is estimated to have to put in somewhere in excess of 10,000 hours practice on the way after which time they may be rewarded reasonably well. Reasonably well. Not disproportionately well. They actually love playing the piano and would probably do so for the sheer enjoyment and challenge.
It is this loss of the Corinthian spirit heralded by the demands of Jimmy Hill for the abolition of the minimum wage in the 1960s which signalled the death knell for the success of sport in this country.
Let's take football as a case in point. In the 1960s, the notion of a foreign player coming here to play would have been treated with derision. It is now de rigeur with the result that British players are now distinctly in the minority. Those that do play are paid so much, most couldn't give tuppence about playing for their country. Some, such as Jamie Carragher, even have the temerity to openly admit it - and then come back to play for the sheer hell of it. What absolute nonsense! He should never have been called back to the ranks after the comments he made. However, the point is made and others now know that for a pampered Premier league player on a weekly wage in excess of the average national salary, there is always an open door...
Put simply, the manager is foreign, at least one player would rather be playing for his club and the rest are paid so much domestically, South Africa and the World Cup is meaningless to them. Aside from this, there has not been an English player at the top flight with the experience of World triumph for over thirty five years now - unlike Brazil, France, Italy, Germany...
For me, the endless speculative copy churned out by the dear old fourth estate just provides some welcome amusement - I really can't believe anybody is naive or foolish enough to still buy into it.
In both cases, the answer is no. Albeit, Andy Murray has a pig's chance on the basis of his talent and desire. Unfortunately, we are now in the professional era and this means that success for British representatives in the most lucrative events is nigh on impossible. If tennis was still predominantly an amateur sport, then we may have a chance of producing a champion. As it is, in the professional era it comes down to sheer committment. A good analagy is a concert pianist. To be at the top, he or she is estimated to have to put in somewhere in excess of 10,000 hours practice on the way after which time they may be rewarded reasonably well. Reasonably well. Not disproportionately well. They actually love playing the piano and would probably do so for the sheer enjoyment and challenge.
It is this loss of the Corinthian spirit heralded by the demands of Jimmy Hill for the abolition of the minimum wage in the 1960s which signalled the death knell for the success of sport in this country.
Let's take football as a case in point. In the 1960s, the notion of a foreign player coming here to play would have been treated with derision. It is now de rigeur with the result that British players are now distinctly in the minority. Those that do play are paid so much, most couldn't give tuppence about playing for their country. Some, such as Jamie Carragher, even have the temerity to openly admit it - and then come back to play for the sheer hell of it. What absolute nonsense! He should never have been called back to the ranks after the comments he made. However, the point is made and others now know that for a pampered Premier league player on a weekly wage in excess of the average national salary, there is always an open door...
Put simply, the manager is foreign, at least one player would rather be playing for his club and the rest are paid so much domestically, South Africa and the World Cup is meaningless to them. Aside from this, there has not been an English player at the top flight with the experience of World triumph for over thirty five years now - unlike Brazil, France, Italy, Germany...
For me, the endless speculative copy churned out by the dear old fourth estate just provides some welcome amusement - I really can't believe anybody is naive or foolish enough to still buy into it.
Tuesday 1 June 2010
Where to go on holiday?
We are committed to taking three weeks holiday to conclude in the middle of September. As I prepare to embark on the clinical years of my medical school training, I am aware that it will be quite a while until we will all be able to holiday for this sort of duration again. So what are the options?
To avoid the Euro zone and its perceived reduction in value for money, the top contenders are Croatia and northern Cyprus. The former affords the more brief air-time with us having a young three year old. Last summer I drove down the Adriatic coast of Italy which faces Croatia and if what I saw on the Italian side is a good indication, then I am sorely tempted.
Staying in Euro zone my favoured destination would be France because I am a bit of a Francophile.
To avoid the Euro zone and its perceived reduction in value for money, the top contenders are Croatia and northern Cyprus. The former affords the more brief air-time with us having a young three year old. Last summer I drove down the Adriatic coast of Italy which faces Croatia and if what I saw on the Italian side is a good indication, then I am sorely tempted.
Staying in Euro zone my favoured destination would be France because I am a bit of a Francophile.
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