Well, that was unexpected. For all of us who thought that Kev was happy running his soccer school in Braehead and enjoying a complete absence of pressure, his return to the cauldron of expectation that is St. James' Park is something of a surprise (Caution: This sentence may contain understatement).
I know you should never go back, and previous performance under pressure is a bit of a worry, but in the short term the gloom has been lifted, and the touchpaper of expectation of the Toon Army has been lit.
Reality might bite soon, with the looming relegation battle piling the pressure on, but for now, let's just worry about Stoke.
Later: Well, 5 goals, red card, great entertainment...Normal service has been resumed
Saturday 19th: Dire 0-0 with Bolton, no class, inventiveness or spark. Current service has been resumed...
Wednesday, 16 January 2008
Tuesday, 15 January 2008
The Beckoning Silence
Now, I've kind of lost track of what Joe Simpson was up to since the film of "Touching The Void" was released - which was a brave attempt to film a virtually unfilmable book. One of those books that you read from cover to cover in one sitting, ending with a knot in your stomach.
Imagine my surprise (as they say) when, browsing Amazon, I came across this DVD - Joe's take on the story of Tony Kurz and his ill-fated attempt with Hinterstoisser, Angerer and Rainer to be the first up the Eiger Nordwand. Loosely adapted from his book of the same name, the film neatly juxtaposed Simpson's views on mountains and why they attract us with a re-enactment of the 1936 climb, showing the desperate retreat of the party after Angerer's injury and Kurz's tragic death within 50ft of the rescue party - 50ft that may as well have been 50 miles.
Simpson gets out on the face and shows us how difficult - even today - what was achieved is, and just how fatal the decision to pull the rope across the traverse was. No matter how many books you read about the route, seeing his desperate scrabble for grip - even with crampons - against a sheer, glassy 80 degree slope was worth 1000 words.
My only mild criticism was the need to hark back to "Touching The Void" at regular intervals; although it made an interesting comparison, it was overdone. That, however, is about all that could be said against a thoughtful film that brought new insight to an oft-repeated story.
The highest praise I can find is that A - my 15-year old and completely disinterested in anything mountainous - daughter sat through the whole thing transfixed. It told a classic story of endeavour, courage and tragedy that inspired and horrified in equal measure.
Wednesday, 9 January 2008
Big Sam?
Gone so soon. Wasn't sure about his appointment in the first place, and results and performances have been significantly less than whelming, but to sack a manager half way through his first season is ridiculous. It's all well and good Ashley sitting with the fans and picking up their vibes, but he gave him the money to spend on some less than inspiring players. Ashley seems to have learnt pretty damn quick the Fat Freddie philosophy that the best way to divert heat from the owners is to sack the manager.
What big name manager, in his right mind, is going to take the job now. Jose?
UPDATE: Thank God 'Arry turned us down. That Ashley thought he was a suitable manager for Newcastle is very worrying.
What big name manager, in his right mind, is going to take the job now. Jose?
UPDATE: Thank God 'Arry turned us down. That Ashley thought he was a suitable manager for Newcastle is very worrying.
Monday, 7 January 2008
Change?
We're often told that the pace of change in our lives is faster now than at any time in history. Is this true? How much has really changed in the last 100 years. How much NEW has been created, as opposed to refinements of things that already existed at the turn of the last century?
Much as I love cars, they are still pretty well the same design as they were 100 years ago. Internal combustion engine, loud pedal on the right and stop pedal to its left. Sure, we've got better at design and build, and Henry Ford never fitted iPod compatibility to the Model-T, but the basic design is unchanged. The personal hover-car remains the sole purview of George Jetson. Mr Logie-Baird of this vicinity invented a clever way of beaming pictures to a box in the corner of your living room, and Sky now do the same thing at 1080i from near space, but it's still a big box in the corner of the room (Sony Bravia, since you're asking, nice piece of kit). Surely if technology was moving so quickly, we'd have corneal implants and something actually worth watching.
As for society, we still seem to follow the established pattern of the family unit (despite what The Daily Mail may suggest) that goes back for hundreds of years. OK, it tends to break down and re-form a bit more often, but the desire TO re-form still remains. Our sense of community may have actually gone backwards, being more insular and less neighbourly, but then again who really wants Mrs. Miggins at #42 round every day to root through the bins and check whether you're dusting properly. We're still, as we were 100 years ago, drifting gradually from rural to urban, but at least we're not doing 18 hour shifts at t'mill any more. Well, not unless we're an illegal immigrant from the newly expanded EU.
Parliamentary democracy still flourishes as it did at the start of the 1900's - banal, corrupt and autocratic.
Genuine step change has only really been made in a few fields - medicine, where huge steps at combatting killer disease have been made; computing, which has pretty well been invented and become all pervading in 50 years. But I'm still sitting here with a QWERTY and a flattened CRT, despite wireless internet and blogging by mobile.
The field of warfare and destruction of life, however, is our greatest area of progress. 100 years ago, the machine gun was a new invention, augmenting gunpowder as the only way man could kill on a one-to-many basis (bio-terrorism was still in its infancy in 1908). Now we can guide missiles to their target by video-game, kill millions from the comfort of an armchair, and maim any population unfortunate enough to live somewhere near a battlefield for years after "peace" by leaving mines scattered around the place. Oh yes, in the last century we've invented more that's new, innovative and (literally) bleeding-edge in this field than in all the rest of human achievement. Fair brings a lump to the throat, doesn't it.
Much as I love cars, they are still pretty well the same design as they were 100 years ago. Internal combustion engine, loud pedal on the right and stop pedal to its left. Sure, we've got better at design and build, and Henry Ford never fitted iPod compatibility to the Model-T, but the basic design is unchanged. The personal hover-car remains the sole purview of George Jetson. Mr Logie-Baird of this vicinity invented a clever way of beaming pictures to a box in the corner of your living room, and Sky now do the same thing at 1080i from near space, but it's still a big box in the corner of the room (Sony Bravia, since you're asking, nice piece of kit). Surely if technology was moving so quickly, we'd have corneal implants and something actually worth watching.
As for society, we still seem to follow the established pattern of the family unit (despite what The Daily Mail may suggest) that goes back for hundreds of years. OK, it tends to break down and re-form a bit more often, but the desire TO re-form still remains. Our sense of community may have actually gone backwards, being more insular and less neighbourly, but then again who really wants Mrs. Miggins at #42 round every day to root through the bins and check whether you're dusting properly. We're still, as we were 100 years ago, drifting gradually from rural to urban, but at least we're not doing 18 hour shifts at t'mill any more. Well, not unless we're an illegal immigrant from the newly expanded EU.
Parliamentary democracy still flourishes as it did at the start of the 1900's - banal, corrupt and autocratic.
Genuine step change has only really been made in a few fields - medicine, where huge steps at combatting killer disease have been made; computing, which has pretty well been invented and become all pervading in 50 years. But I'm still sitting here with a QWERTY and a flattened CRT, despite wireless internet and blogging by mobile.
The field of warfare and destruction of life, however, is our greatest area of progress. 100 years ago, the machine gun was a new invention, augmenting gunpowder as the only way man could kill on a one-to-many basis (bio-terrorism was still in its infancy in 1908). Now we can guide missiles to their target by video-game, kill millions from the comfort of an armchair, and maim any population unfortunate enough to live somewhere near a battlefield for years after "peace" by leaving mines scattered around the place. Oh yes, in the last century we've invented more that's new, innovative and (literally) bleeding-edge in this field than in all the rest of human achievement. Fair brings a lump to the throat, doesn't it.
Thursday, 3 January 2008
From the "You couldn't make it up" section
Helensburgh Advertiser, Thu 3rd January 2008
"A Peace Camper has been charged with attempted armed robbery at a Helensburgh Post Office.
Richard Pollock is alleged to have entered the East Princes Street branch at 11.20am on Saturday December 22 and threatened staff with a weapon before demanding cash."
Peace Camper. Armed Robbery. ???!!!
The real laugh is that he was granted bail with an address at the Peace Camp. So, no risk of him absconding from there, then.
"A Peace Camper has been charged with attempted armed robbery at a Helensburgh Post Office.
Richard Pollock is alleged to have entered the East Princes Street branch at 11.20am on Saturday December 22 and threatened staff with a weapon before demanding cash."
Peace Camper. Armed Robbery. ???!!!
The real laugh is that he was granted bail with an address at the Peace Camp. So, no risk of him absconding from there, then.
Wednesday, 2 January 2008
Of course, what we all must do...
...are the 7 words that are the most likely to have me spluttering into my Assam. Usually heard on breakfast TV eminating from some earnest, concerned individual who's trying to ram their way of thinking down our throats and tell us that we must all change for the good of something or other.
Global warming, eating the Right foods, no more flying, watching what we drink, television advertising, having a healthier lifestyle, breast versus bottle feeding, childhood obesity - the possibilities are endless.
The TV seems to be full of people who pop up and lecture us on what is the "right" way to live. Presented as fact, not opinion and ALWAYS, at some point, including the immortal phrase "Of course, what we all must do...". Note the patronising "Of course" - this is all self-evident when you're intellectually superior, but we must make it clear for the little people. Then "what we all must..." - no argument here, this isn't just an opinion, I'm damn well right and you MUST all do as I say. Or you'll die, or your children will be fat, or you'll become a burden on the state, or you'll be personally responsible for flooding Vanuatu.
The new and worrying trend, though, is that these individuals are starting to represent official bodies and influence government policy - usually demanding new or more stringent legislation, taxes, or both. So, we have the Police telling us what the law should be, the BMA demanding more tax on alcohol and the enviromentalists telling us that we can't buy Fairtrade coffee any more, because it has to be transported to us and as a result the polar bears are dying.
We seem to have arrived at a society where the legislative and tax systems are used, not to go about the legitimate business of government, but to define and enforce an "approved" lifestyle. It strikes me, for example, as morally questionable for the state to dictate what type of lightbulbs we MUST use on the grounds of "saving" the planet.
As the boy Peart once said;
"Quiet in conscience, calm in their right, confident their ways are best...those who know what's best for us, must rise and save us from ourselves".
Global warming, eating the Right foods, no more flying, watching what we drink, television advertising, having a healthier lifestyle, breast versus bottle feeding, childhood obesity - the possibilities are endless.
The TV seems to be full of people who pop up and lecture us on what is the "right" way to live. Presented as fact, not opinion and ALWAYS, at some point, including the immortal phrase "Of course, what we all must do...". Note the patronising "Of course" - this is all self-evident when you're intellectually superior, but we must make it clear for the little people. Then "what we all must..." - no argument here, this isn't just an opinion, I'm damn well right and you MUST all do as I say. Or you'll die, or your children will be fat, or you'll become a burden on the state, or you'll be personally responsible for flooding Vanuatu.
The new and worrying trend, though, is that these individuals are starting to represent official bodies and influence government policy - usually demanding new or more stringent legislation, taxes, or both. So, we have the Police telling us what the law should be, the BMA demanding more tax on alcohol and the enviromentalists telling us that we can't buy Fairtrade coffee any more, because it has to be transported to us and as a result the polar bears are dying.
We seem to have arrived at a society where the legislative and tax systems are used, not to go about the legitimate business of government, but to define and enforce an "approved" lifestyle. It strikes me, for example, as morally questionable for the state to dictate what type of lightbulbs we MUST use on the grounds of "saving" the planet.
As the boy Peart once said;
"Quiet in conscience, calm in their right, confident their ways are best...those who know what's best for us, must rise and save us from ourselves".
Tuesday, 1 January 2008
So, this blogging lark...
I suppose that the start of a new year is as good a time as any to commit your thoughts to the ether for the first time. Looking forward as well as back, hope that this year will be better than last and all that malarkey. Thing is, when you get to a certain age, you don't always believe that this is going to be the case.
I wouldn't call it a midlife crisis, and I don't know if it's unique to middle-aged men, but I've reached the well-documented point where you think "what am I going to do with the rest of my life". Career ambitions are all well and good, but a different job is just a variation on the same theme. This year? Major milestones for the rest of the family - teenage status for M, 16 for A and the big four-0 for MA. Me? Meetings, telecons, PDFs and spreadsheets. More hours, more frustration and more of the same as last year. Which was crap.
I wonder when I'm next going to do something for the first time - everything seems to be things I've been doing day after day for the last 20 years.
Even the holidays don't hold out much hope - when you've seen Kilimanjaro and the Sahara, the Pyramids and Mont Blanc, after you've spent 4 weeks freewheeling through Yellowstone, the Rockies, Monument Valley, the Grand Canyon and Big Sur, you start to wonder what you can do to top it. Perhaps you should just go "Sod it" and book the 3 week trek to Concordia anyway.
So, what's the answer? Do something about it or sit down, shut up and get on with it, I suppose. Make a change, or accept that this is your life. It's not that it's bad, or anything, just that there's the vague sensation that somehow there's more to it than sleep, work, football and golf.
Anyway, none of this answers the big question about what 2008 will bring - can the Toon eventually lift a trophy? The answer, I suspect, will be as disappointing as the rest of the year threatens to be.
I wouldn't call it a midlife crisis, and I don't know if it's unique to middle-aged men, but I've reached the well-documented point where you think "what am I going to do with the rest of my life". Career ambitions are all well and good, but a different job is just a variation on the same theme. This year? Major milestones for the rest of the family - teenage status for M, 16 for A and the big four-0 for MA. Me? Meetings, telecons, PDFs and spreadsheets. More hours, more frustration and more of the same as last year. Which was crap.
I wonder when I'm next going to do something for the first time - everything seems to be things I've been doing day after day for the last 20 years.
Even the holidays don't hold out much hope - when you've seen Kilimanjaro and the Sahara, the Pyramids and Mont Blanc, after you've spent 4 weeks freewheeling through Yellowstone, the Rockies, Monument Valley, the Grand Canyon and Big Sur, you start to wonder what you can do to top it. Perhaps you should just go "Sod it" and book the 3 week trek to Concordia anyway.
So, what's the answer? Do something about it or sit down, shut up and get on with it, I suppose. Make a change, or accept that this is your life. It's not that it's bad, or anything, just that there's the vague sensation that somehow there's more to it than sleep, work, football and golf.
Anyway, none of this answers the big question about what 2008 will bring - can the Toon eventually lift a trophy? The answer, I suspect, will be as disappointing as the rest of the year threatens to be.
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