24-07-17 - Wednesday I - St Swithin’s Day

In order to be a writer you have to write, and so here I am. 

First up, I guess I should mention the Euros; England managed to lose in the final last night. There were some poor performances during the campaign and it was a bit of a surprise, to be honest, that we made it to the final at all, but once we had made it there was always the hope that we could win. However, it wasn’t to be. I think I’ve watched more football in the past four weeks than I have in the past four years - or it certainly feels like that. England had a good go at it, and probably played better in the final than they did all tournament, but it wasn’t good enough and Spain won. They were the better team, and had been the best team all tournament, tbh. 

The other item worthy of a mention is the assassination attempt on Trump on Sunday. I guess we have to call it an assassination attempt, since he was nearly killed. The weird thing is, his would-be assassin was a registered Republican voter. Of course he was immediately shot, so we might never know his motives. Oh well. 

Monday was St Swithin’s Day, which is supposed to signify 40 days of the same weather: if it rains on St Swithin’s Day, we are supposed to be in for 40 days of rain. And similarly, if it is dry, we can expect 40 days of good weather. So the legend goes. Anyway, it rained, and today has actually been a summery day. So that myth / old wives’ tale is clearly rubbish. 

Wednesday 16-05-11

Today has been a little dull and as expected. So no issues there. There were two things that I thought worth mentioning, and the first of those is the Palace leaks. Firstly Cameron was filmed stating that the countries of Nigeria and Afghanistan were "fantastically corrupt". I think his expectation was that we should infer that actually it was quite an achievement to get these parties to the table. I don't know, but it seems that this was an unguarded moment.
And then, following the PM's unguarded moment, there came the Queen's unguarded moment. Anyone might think that this news nugget was released in order to eclipse Cameron's faux pas, but that would indicate high levels of organisation, which I don't think can be assumed in this situation.
Any way, all of that is secondary to the beauty that is coleslaw.
When coleslaw is combined with a spicy flavour such as Branston pickle or southern fried chicken, it possesses a majesty which is altogether "other". It certainly lifted my sandwiches from the mundane to the glorious, and anything that can do that on a Wednesday lunchtime should be celebrated.  All hail the 'slaw!
TTFN

The Week Magazine

So yesterday, I bought a newspaper, and amongst all the junk adverts inside, advertising rubbish, was a small slip of paper advertising The Week. The offer was for one free issue, as well as a USB memory stick, and I think we all know my weakness for memory sticks. Anyway, it's been a while since I read The Week, so I thought I would give it a go. Their advertising schtick is that it only takes an hour to read their magazine cover to cover, and then you are caught up on the week's essential news.
So I gave the chap my details; name, address, email, etc. All well and good. Then he tried to sell me an extra five editions, for the princely sum of £1. I politely declined, and expected that to be the end of the matter. "Oh, come on, Rob, you can't buy anything for a pound these days. Isn't that very reasonable?" Well, thank you for your offer, but no thank you. "Just to let you know Rob, when we've carried out surveys from our previous promotions, the common complaint was that one issue wasn't enough of a taster for our readers. So that's why we're now offering this additional five copies for just £1. It's a bit of a no-brainer, really, Rob. Think about what you can normally buy for one pound, Rob, it seems very reasonable." Well, no. I wasn't interested, thank you. I rang up because there was an offer of a free copy of The Week, not a free copy of The Week and the Hard Sell. I was very close to letting the kind gentleman with the Hard Sell that he could take his free issue and shove it, that I wasn't interested. But finally he took the hint, that wasn't actually a hint at all, but rather a bald statement of fact: "I'm not interested in making any further commitment today. I'll read the FREE issue which you are going to send and see how I feel after that."
So I am now waiting for my free issue to arrive. Obviously the hope is that readers sign up to the "Five for £1" offer and forget to cancel. The issues normally cost £3.10, but the subscription on a quarterly basis is ~£27. There is quite a big jump between 20p an issue and £3.10 an issue.

The funny thing is, when I looked up their website for this blog entry, I noticed that they are offering SIX free issues. So I have signed up. I have handed over my bank details, and I will be careful to ensure that I cancel my subscription before it starts costing me any money. It turns out that the joke is on them; if they had been slightly more relaxed on the phone, they might have got an extra pound out of me. But as it is, I will get an extra five issues out of them for absolutely nothing.

How Important is Facebook?

In the UK at the moment, there is a news item about a missing 17-year old, Jayden Parkinson. I don't want to talk about the case, or what's alleged; it must be dreadful for all involved.
What struck me as odd, though, about the reporting, is this: I was in the canteen, eating my customary bacon and cheese turnover, when the BBC reported what Jayden's mother had posted on Facebook. I thought that was odd, but looking on Google tonight I have found the same information in the Guardian and The Mirror.

When did Facebook posts become newsworthy? I don't understand; I think this is an invasion of privacy and an unnecessary intrusion into someone's personal tragedy. It doesn't 'add colour' to the story, which I suppose might be an argument. But do you really need to see what someone posts on Facebook to imagine what they are going through - if you have to imagine that sort of thing? Surely updates on social media sites are personal and not news? If this was just the BBC, I would shrug this off, but the fact that other news sources are reporting from Facebook as well strikes me as bizarre.

Having said that, maybe I'm just an old fuddy-duddy who isn't moving with the times.

Just a Distraction

I'm beginning to get a bit fed-up.

The main stories on Friday were Andrew Mitchell's resignation as Chief Whip and Gideon Osborne's train incident.

I'm reminded of small boys playing in the playground, gloating loudly at each other.

"Naa naa, na-naa naa!"

These stories are just a distraction from the news / real events going on in the world.

Can we just stop it?

Posted via email from Rob Thorley's Posterous Site

Pietersen, Retirement & ODIs

Having followed the news over the last couple of days, I'm saddened by the fact of Kevin Pietersen's retirement from international limited overs cricket.

Apparently the fella wanted to continue playing T20 for England, but the ECB advised that to be eligible for T20 he had to be available for ODIs (50 over cricket) as well.

ODIs can be a bit tiresome on occasion, but they are still a good way to pass a day. Especially with people of Pietersen's callibre playing, who can sense that the game is dying or becoming dull, and inject a bit of adrenalin into the situation. KP and his ilk can turn a game and make it exciting.

A few days ago, I believe it was Thursday, while we watched the rain at Edgbaston, I listened to Andy Flower talking about the medium- and long-term interests of the team. And I think Flowers and the ECB have got it right.

You can't make an exception for individuals. And I think there is a concern that ODI cricket is the poor relation to Test and T20 cricket. If they (the ECB) allow KP to pick and choose, they will have to let all players pick and choose. And especially with the strains that modern bowling inflicts on the body, I could see the entire first-class England bowling attack retiring with immediate effect from ODI cricket.

T20 is the glamourous form of the game; Test cricket is the strategic mind game. Fifty over cricket is a way to watch a complete game in a day, but it isn't differentiated; it needs to build its own reputation. I don't think that cricketers are crying out to play ODIs, and that needs to change. ODI cricket needs its own image, its own brand and specialists.

Until it does that, ODIs, for England at least, will always be a secondary thought. They might attract large crowds in the sub-continent, but so do T20 matches.

I'll miss KP and the anticipation of his appearance. But his performance was always hit-and-miss. He could be out for a low score or hit a quick 50. The team as a unit needs to be reliable. And with the strength and depth of the English team as it is at the moment, perhaps now is the best time for KP to retire. At the age of 31. Lucky git.

Posted via email from Rob Thorley's Posterous Site