Wednesday 23 September 2009

Looking up...to

I was having a conversation with someone yesterday about the people we look up to and if they affect us with our decisions. I couldn’t really comment at the time because I was having trouble remembering who I actually looking up to. It is not that I have no one, I had just forgotten about them other than Optimus Prime and Hot Rod but then I was about 9.

The most obvious person that sprang to mind was Barack Obama. He truly is someone to look up to by many different types of people. The first black American president, great intelligence circulating around his mind and orator skills that would put Mel Gibson’s Braveheart speech to shame, and he is even left-handed. Millions of us wish to achieve only some of the success he has experienced and will continue to cast an eye over him as he makes his history as president. I just hope the health reform system he wishes to introduce does not enflame an enthusiasm to bring Sarah Palin back to challenge him in the next election. That entry is for another day.

For me in particular I aspire to master the oratory skills he possess, I’m completely in awe when he talks because of his manor of delivery.

And then I start to think of the next person I look up to and want to be and a smirk spreads across my face. I look up to Benicio Del Toro, for the work in the films he has done and for just being effortlessly ‘cool’. If I was to be a Hollywood filmstar, Del Toro would be it, I’d pick his type of films, dress like him, let the charisma seep out like he does and of course try and relive that encounter with Scarlett Johansson. As yet he’s never been a lead in a film (that I know of anyway) but that doesn’t matter because he probably doesn’t want to be and likes nothing more than getting involved in some gritty, unique and interesting project, film his part before disappearing again.

The person I have to say I idolise for their sporting achievements is Michael Jordan. To me he is the greatest athlete to have ever played sports. I do not think Pele, Jessie Owens, Usian Bolt (although he is making inroads), Roger Federer, Carl Lewis, Magic Johnson or Maradonna come close. The reason being that repeatedly and not just once, when he played for the Chicago Bulls and his team were down by a point with 3 seconds left on the clock the coach would call a time out or the ball would go out. Everyone knew who would get the ball, everyone was aware what would be attempted, especially the opponents. Yet somehow, Bulls would get the ball to Jordan who would dribble and fire a shot which would end up in the bucket. It was like witnessing the end of Teenwolf, over and over again but instead it’s an NBA playoff game and it’s real. It is that reason, the fact everyone knew he was going to get the ball, that fact he only had seconds to act and that he did it repeatedly that I rate him as the best sportsman ever.

And then I move onto the next person, and that is JK Rowling (Coldbrain I know you are either cracking up or rolling your eyes up as you read this). I cannot remember the amount of times I have just sat back and thought what she has produced is absolute mastery of imagination. It’s amazing. She has managed to take an idea from her imagination and constructed this story/saga full of intricate details that build upon the old cliché of good versus evil. It is like she had planned everything ten years before she started writing the first book. I could spend a month thinking up names and I would never come close to Sturgeis Podmore or Fenrir Greyback. It is all just amazing and I was a sceptic at the beginning who after reading the first two books still wasn’t feeling ‘it’, but by the third I was hooked. I am not sure if I will ever encounter something that contains so much imagination but then I never thought they’d be a better trilogy than Star Wars… and then Lord of the Rings came along.

Oh, I forgot, there was one other I look up to. He is Winston from Eastenders. How on earth does he manage to get by in life with his quarterly 3 second speaking appearances on Albert Square. I haven’t seen him on anything else, ever.

And in other news, I’m going to South Africa the end of this month for a month for an adventure. Well, I actually want to go whale watching so my entries may be a little thin over October.

Thursday 10 September 2009

World Cup ahoy!

I’m drinking four day old red wine at the moment, is it still ok to drink or am I going to be ill?

Anyway, I feel I should write this entry because I wrote about the failures of the England football team and the ‘wally with the brolly’ back in 2007. There is a piece of me that feels that had England qualified for Euro 2008 we may have escaped a recession (or at least soften its impact). My reasons being, firstly, people spend more on consumables when England qualifies. I am referring to alcohol, party and barbeque food. Money is constantly being pumped into the economy each week as the team progresses. The second reason is there is a good vibe around the place. And this vibe is what I have missed since Germany 2006.

So it is great that England are back at a major final, in fact the biggest sport competition in the world (yep, I even think it’s bigger than the Olympics). I’m looking forward for everyone to become obsessed with the World Cup. The training camps, what is eaten for breakfast and even the omens related to whether the home or away kit will be worn. The sun will be shining (hopefully) and every one will gather around in the streets to watch the matches (I wonder whether they’ll erect television screens up the City Centre like they did last time). What also heightens this anticipation is the fact that right now on the other side of the globe a Paddington’s Shadow doppelganger is currently feeling the same thing, apart from the Argentinean and French Paddington’s Shadows who are very worried as it seems their teams may not qualify.

Mixed up with all this eagerness, there is also some unfortunate realisation that there will be some d*cks out and about who have no qualms about trashing the place they are in because they disagree with a decision. Or go on a rampage against people who support a different team. The worst case I remember was watching on the news when Portugal had defeated England on penalties in Euro 2004 and a bunch of thugs gathered around a Portuguese pub (in Oxford, I think) and smashed the place to bits trying to get in. I am glad that it is a minority as those actions are pathetic.

The World Cup will rule the summer and I’m looking for 2010 and to see just how South Africa host the event and who will draw Brazil in the work’s sweepstake, still one thing is a bit of a downer on a personal level. Peru will definitely not be qualifying for the forthcoming tournament having lost to Venezuela 3-1 yesterday. They now are bottom of their qualifying group.

Right, I fancy listening to Guns ‘n Roses’ Welcome to the Jungle.

Wednesday 2 September 2009

Can I get a remit?

You may have thought the last word was a typo and that I actually meant ‘Rewind’. You’d be wrong. This summer has flown by and most of it highly uneventful. Probably the biggest piece of news was Cristiano Ronaldo moving to Real Madrid for £80,000,000 odd. Even those that despise football would have read about it, even to gawp then gag ever so slightly at attempting to digest the fee paid for him.

Then something serious occurred when the Lockerbie bomber was released on compassionate grounds and this has sparked much debate both in this country and in the United States. I do not understand enough of everything that went on surrounding the release but one thing I am sure of is just how little I know about governmental power. Currently the press are commenting that it was a Scottish Parliament decision yet there is talk that Westminster was behind how it was decided.

This is where I enter uncharted waters. As far as I am aware the Scottish Parliament has the power to pass laws for Scotland other than those that concern Britain as a whole (I could be wrong here – Politics students rinse me if you must) in which case it is a decision made by Westminster. Westminster has said it was a purely Scottish Parliament decision and not theirs, yet it could be argued that the decision affects the whole of Britain and therefore collaboration sounds a more plausible approach. And then I get confused. Scotland can pass laws on some things but not on others. So where does this remit end? And where does the Welsh Parliament fit in and what power does it have?

My mind did not just stop there and it was beginning to annoy me. It seems I have clarity issues with who governs who in the United Kingdom but that was nothing to compare to the concept of Puerto Rico. This truly had me slapping myself for even daring to understand which government has the power over there. Puerto Rico is a little island off the US of A and is heavily influenced by the US but for some reason is not a US state. Now, when I mean heavily influenced, I am referring to it in a legitimate sense. I believe they openly assist in the election of the new, err, actually is it President or Governor? You see, it’s confusing. Why is it that Hawaii which is further away than Puerto Rico is a state and PR not?

Yes I will look them up (and Wikipedia will be my first port of call), however, I wanted to write about it and raise to myself if anything just how little I know about who has the power to control a country, even if it is another country. It is probably disjointed because of time and the battles and agreements that were constantly occurring meant that nothing was ever simple. And at the same time this complexity will assist some people, who will ever question a decision when they are not sure exactly who is responsible for making it because camp A can make choices about some things and Camp B does for others.

Ah pants, I just thought of another one. Is the moon North America’s because they stuck their flag in it first?