Blogging

Why blog? Blogging is akin to a writer sending his brain for a workout down the gym, keeping the grey matter in trim ready for the day when its owner decides to sit down and continue with his main writing project. Whereas a post for one's blog can take mere minutes to compose and write, the very act of writing allows the mind to tick over and exercise it in the machinations of composing sentences, prose and plot lines (and drivel sometimes!).

  The brain needs activity just as the rest of a person's body needs exercise to remain healthy. In my view, writing a blog keeps the synapses in the brain active and ensures that these electrical connections keep firing at the optimum level.

Read my book...it's a good read!

Family life can get in the way of a writer's desire to sit down and add to their manuscript, as this activity can take up several hours of the aspiring author's time (writer's block notwithstanding). The pressures of home life, everyday living and having a real job cut into the quality time a writer needs to devote to their book/screenplay. So, until your time management provides a viable window of opportunity in which to sit down and add to the magnum opus clogging up your hard drive, a few minutes spent blogging will keep your brain active, alert and focused ready to spring into action when the time is right to crack on with that best-seller.

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Mick Jagger, The Rolling Stones, Harry Redknapp and Other Wrinklies

The Rolling Stones

The first thing to say is, I wish I'd been there. What am I talking about? The Rolling Stones concert at the O2 Arena. The music of Mick Jagger and his beat combo has been a subliminal backdrop to people of my generation since our birth in the sixties. As we've grown up through each decade, the one constant has been the music of The Rolling Stones; always there, frequently changing to meet the tastes of a new generation, but somehow remaining the same. The only contemporary band that may emulate their longevity is U2, but Bono and the boys have a way to go before they reach the dizzy heights of 50 years in show business.

Reality check, though. If your septuagenarian grandfather was to ask you if you'd like to come to a concert put on by him and his elderly friends, you'd think he was nuts. But, when you think of Keith Richards on stage strumming to Undercover of the Night, Charlie Watts beating out a rhythm on the drums and Ronnie Wood looking like his face has been carved out of a gnarled tree trunk, age has no meaning and you appreciate the music for what it is.

Harry Redknapp

Harry Redknapp has the look of someone who is in a constant state of  somnambulism, his hooded eyes giving him the appearance of a person who is ready to drop off to sleep at the slightest invitation. Rather than hold down a managerial position as have the likes of Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger, Harry seems to be a journeyman, taking his coaching skills and knowledge to whichever football club offers the right terms and conditions, and try and get them some form of glory, whether that be keeping the club up or vying for some form of silverware. He will have his work cut out with Queens Park Rangers, though and it will be interesting to see how he can succeed where Mark Hughes failed.

Other Wrinklies

The above two stories serve to illustrate that some things can be better the more they mature. The Rolling Stones may be aged, but their music endures and the quality of their live act is appreciated by their fans 50 years after they took their first step along the road to stardom. Love them or hate them, Alex Ferguson, Arsene Wenger and Harry Redknapp must have what it takes to allow them to ply their trade in the top level of English Football for decades. Perhaps we all need to take a look around us and appreciate the "Wrinklies" in our midst rather than dismiss them as the elderly. If we're lucky, we all hope to live to be active wrinklies ourselves one day.

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And the Weather Forecast for 2012...Wet!

The British have an obsession for discussing the weather it's true. This year, 2012, has given us more than enough ammunition with which to continue a discourse on the vagaries of our temperate climate. The way people go on about it, though, you'd think the country has never suffered a downpour or any other form of precipitation before. This year has been unusual admittedly, but the clue is in the term temperate. A dictionary definition for temperate is:

• moderate in respect to temperature; not subject to prolonged extremes of hot or cold weather

This doesn't preclude the UK from bouts of wet weather and 2012 has seen us have more than our fair share of downpours since late spring/early summer. The end result of all this water falling is the inevitable flooding as the water courses fill up, the ground gets sodden and there is just nowhere for the excess water to go. The thing about this is that we're supposed to be surprised whenever it happens. We don't have the monsoons and the tragic flooding that occurs in countries in tropical climes, such as Bangladesh, but the UK is a damp place in which to live. 

Syr Dar'ya River Floodplain, Kazakhstan (NASA, International Space Station Science, 09/30/10) (Photo credit: NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center)

But, if people were to cast their minds back to their first geography lessons, they will remember, as I do, "The Life Cycle of Rivers" (and I don't mean my kith and kin!). Downstream from their sources, rivers tend to swell and in the middle course have floodplains which get swamped occasionally during wet spells in spring and winter. This is good for the land as silt and nutrients are spread across the nearby land making it productive in respect to growing crops, etc. Unfortunately, these areas are generally where human populations have settled and grown over the centuries. And, as the towns and cities have increased in size, the rivers are engineered such that the floodplains are protected from flooding by banks and walls and the problem is pushed upstream and further downstream. Concreting over the land reduces the area over which the land can absorb excess water and the surrounding areas get sodden. Lo and behold, we have floods. 

With December, January and February around the corner, the next thing we're going to suffer from is a couple of days of snow; the weather has to be bad for Swindon to get any of the white stuff, though. The country will grind to a halt, flights will be cancelled and our Scandinavian cousins will look across the North Sea, cast their eyes to the snow and ice covering everything, which is the norm in that part of the world, get on with life and mutter that the British are a strange breed!

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David Beckham Signs For...?

David Beckham, multi-millionaire and England football icon is leaving LA Galaxy and looking to fill his twilight years (footballing career-wise) back in Europe. He doesn't need the cash, but obviously wants to leave the game having had one last hoorah, hopefully back in Blighty. So where is he looking to to park his Zimmer frame and produce some free kick magic on a cold Saturday afternoon in winter? Sam Allardyce has expressed an interest in taking him to Upton Park and West Ham United is his local Premier League team. Paris Saint Germaine have been wooing him as well. But, as hinted at above, David Beckham is in the enviable position of being completely minted so doesn't need to return to European football in order to boost his pension portfolio. So where off the beaten track would be good for him to take his trademark free kicks?

If Beckham has any ambition to get into the world of coaching or football management, why not team up with an ex-West Ham player and fellow exponent of practice, hard work and 110% dedication to the cause. A Beckham/Paolo Di Canio coaching relationship would be symbiotic for both parties; Beckham would learn the techniques of a burgeoning management talent in Di Canio and the Swindon Town manager would  secure a formidable midfield acquisition, whether used as a "super sub" or for 60 - 70 minutes of a match. So, don't be surprised if in the not too distant future, David Beckham is pulling on the sacred red shirt of Swindon Town and running onto the hallowed turf at the County Ground on a blustery afternoon in January!

Well, we can dream can't we?

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I Don't Want to Go to Chelsea!

Roberto Di Matteo is probably not surprised at his dismissal, as Chelsea seem to have a revolving door installed when it comes to the manager's entrance/exit at the club. From winning the European Champions League and the FA Cup last season, to facing an early exit from this season's Champions League competition is tantamount to failure in the fickle world of football in West London. Although leaving the competition via the Champions League trapdoor will find Chelsea land in the money-making safety net of the Europa League, this is obviously not good enough for Roman Abramovich and so Di Matteo's head must roll. However, Roberto will do okay as severance pay in the surreal world that is modern day football is akin to a lottery win to the poor souls who fork out their hard-earned cash to follow their team each week. Joe Bloggs does his bit by handing over a hefty percentage of their weekly pay, keeping the "top" players in the comfort that they believe they deserve for kicking a bag of air around a park for 90 minutes...nice work if you can get it! The question arises as to who in the football managerial world is likely to want to take on the poisoned chalice that is the Chelsea FC's manager's job?

Swindon Town Footnote

Well, I gave the Swindon Town boys the kiss of death yesterday. A dire game with Swindon going down to a 0 - 1 defeat at home to a more hungry, stronger Brentford side. In the local newspaper, the Swindon Advertiser, Paolo Di Canio apparently predicted that at least 3 of his players would under perform: Paolo is a Prophet

This beggars the question as to why they started the match rather than warm the sub's bench? Paolo Di Canio is undoubtedly the best thing to happen to Swindon Town management-wise for a long time, but he must go with his gut feeling at times and play those who are going to do the job on the field for the club.  

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King of Kidology

Paolo Di Canio is the King of Kidology. Whilst bemoaning the fact that Swindon Town Football Club were the subject of a transfer embargo, preventing him from making any additions to his team, he is masterminding an inexorable assault of the summit of League One. The 4 - 1 win over Yeovil Town on Saturday sees the club third in the division, 5 points off the top spot; if the results go the right way tomorrow when Swindon host Brentford, then Paolo Di Canio could see himself and the club second. Who wouldn't bet that a win over Tranmere Rovers, the current leaders of League One, on 21st December won't see Swindon Town top of the league at Christmas?

Don't get me wrong, this is a tough division from which to escape, but back-to-back promotions are on their way. With his ambition, I can see Paolo Di Canio taking "his" team all the way to the Premier League in 3 straight years nearly twenty years since Glenn Hoddle's triumph in 1993.

Boy London

My daughter's birthday is on the horizon, so the question arose as to what she wanted as a present for the special day. She said that she wanted a Boy London t-shirt - Boy London were big in the eighties she added.
"What's a Boy London t-shirt?" I asked.
"One of these," she replied.

"That's a NAZI symbol!" I said horrified.

"No it isn't," she retorted.

"Yes, it is," I replied and showed her this:

"It's just got the Swastika removed (the NAZI's stole it from Asian cultures where it is a symbol of good luck)."

"They've got other designs," I was told.

"That's the symbol of the SS," I exclaimed with more horror and showed her this:

"My Grandfather fought against those fiends (or something beginning with 'f'')," I said. "You're not wearing it."

Now, I remember when Punk Rock materialised in the seventies and they used NAZI symbolism in their dress as a means to shock the establishment, but Boy London is a mainstream designer label. When my daughter mentioned that they were big in the eighties, I immediately thought the t-shirt would look like something Wham would have worn. When I saw the above, two thoughts came to mind:

1. Boy London are a naive bunch who didn't realise the symbolism of their designs
2. Boy London are a calculating bunch who counted on the controversial nature of their designs to get people talking, obtain free publicity and, thereby, free marketing

The demographic of Boy London's customer base is at least three generations removed from the hell on earth that was WWII. I believe that the swastika should be used by those cultures who hold it in esteem as a symbol for good luck, but for a designer to use any form of NAZI symbolism in order to make money, then the line has been crossed. Not for nothing is the phrase "Lest we forget" used up and down the country on 11th November each year. I believe the second of the two thoughts above is correct and for Boy London to cheapen the memory of  those who gave their lives in both World Wars, and subsequent conflicts, by selling their NAZI designs is objectionable beyond belief.

Police and Crime Commissioners

The UK's downward spiral into becoming the 51st state of the USA (Puerto Rico notwithstanding) has taken  another turn by the vote for the local Police and Crime Commissioners (PCC's). Apathy reigned yesterday and the only reason the winning candidate for Wiltshire was declared first was because just a handful of people turned up to vote...most presumably because they took a wrong turn and found themselves in the wrong part of the village hall! I must confess, I exercised my right to vote, but the role of PCC does seem to be an anomaly for Blighty along with elected mayors. The local authorities have managed perfectly well up to now and surely this was definitely a case of "if it's not broke, don't fix it". This is also a case of the American "blame" culture seeping into the British psyche and will allow Big Brother the opportunity to point the finger at individuals when something is perceived to go wrong in society, rather than the government of the day taking an inward look at itself and evaluating the effects its policies have on the poor and downtrodden. There is also the other side of the coin where these PCC's may be given "special" powers in the future; how long before they're given the equivalent title of Reichskommissar?

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Zlatan Ibrahimovic

Zlatan Ibrahimovic...he doesn't even have a Swedish name! What a goal, though. His fourth against England shows just how far Sweden have progressed in international football and the defeat shows just how far England have slipped. The Murdoch Empire, epitomised by BSkyB, has ruined English football to the extent that there are no longer enough English players in the top league of English football to give Roy Hodgson a sporting chance of winning any tournament. Forget Steven Gerrard and the rest of the old guard - sling them out and start again. Look into the lower reaches of the Football League, trawl through the Championship and unearth some diamonds who will do the job for England, starting with Charlie Austin. Like Gary Lineker, he knows where the goal is and is currently the top scorer in Europe (my post yesterday did not give him all the credit he is due).

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Sporting Life

Horse Racing

Reading the story about Frankie Dettori testing positive for a banned substance makes you think that the world of sport is a strange place. Surely the only
athlete involved in horse racing is the horse? If any mammal in the jockey/racehorse relationship needs to be tested for performing enhancing substances it's the horse! The jockey just sits on his mount, points it in the right direction and Dobbin does the rest; the only exertion Mr. Dettori shows is when he leaps off the horse in the winner's enclosure. Does it really matter if he's off his face with some "recreational" compound?

Cycling

Talking of  athletes taking performance enhancing substances, I'm torn between two extremes with Lance Armstrong. Even with the very real probability that he used EPO, blood transfusions and other nefarious means to boost his performance, he still won seven (7!) Tour de France races. Watching him and the other cyclists toiling their way up Alpe D' Hueze, it's not surprising he thought he needed a little pick-me-up in order to get to the summit. I'm sure if I did the same and was drugs tested afterwards, the performance enhancing substance I would have tested positive for would have been a helicopter!

Football

Whatever each Swindon Town fan thinks of Charlie Austin and the way he left the club, we would all probably accept that he was one of the most inspirational signings for the club (Wembley bobble not withstanding). Now he's plying his trade with Burnley FC, he's still scoring for fun and is currently the highest scoring player in all of the English leagues. Why, therefore, wasn't he chosen to represent his country against Sweden?

I'm still writing and seeking that big break. However, I've been looking on the 'net and reading how other people make money from their blogs. As I'm off work for the next few days, I'm going to put a lot of effort into planning an upgrade to this blog and start writing weekly on all sorts of issues. Sport (especially Swindon Town), entertainment, current affairs, history, let's have a go at some investigative journalism and prompt discussion on issues that matter to everyone in the global village.