I'm Not The Man I Used To Be *

Yeah, wow, this week has been so, like, interesting........NOT!! I have been ultra busy at work, but...

...no gym, no running, no cycling, no playing football, no doing fucking anything. And all because I done those stupid pulled muscle things last week. I'm no longer in any pain whatsoever, but there is still a twinge in the side. Oh well, if you're as stupid as me, then you will just have to put up with such inconveniences.

And what else is there to say about my week? Done nothing on Monday after work. Had a few drinks after work on Tuesday. Watched what must rank as one of the worst internationals for a long time on Wednesday night (England v Holland). Talking of which, I do think Phil Neville has a point when he casts a cynical eye upon the Nike anti-racist campaign. Now, I don't know Neville's political leanings, but surely he does have a point when questioning why this campaign has a corporate logo at its heart. And, when you consider that the launch of this campaign refused entry to radio broadcasters (well, you can't see logos on the radio, now, can you?) you can see where Neville is coming from.

While I welcome, from my middle-class white perspective, anti-racist campaigns from whatever quarter, wouldn't it be equally as good if Thierry Henry and Rio Ferdinand and the others involved in this campaign spoke up about ethical labour issues such as the exploitation of third world workers and low pay? Oh no, there's Reidski getting all naive again!

Tonight (Thursday) has seen me in tears over Ray Liotta's performance in ER. This brilliant actor put in a quite amazing (even for his standards) performance in what can usually be a very implausible plot. Realism, for once in some time for this drama serial, came to the fore with a huge bang tonight.

Then, apart from the "artists in space" bullshit piece, I rather enjoyed the Culture show tonight. Good interview with REM with one of my fave music commentators Paul Morley was followed by Kurt Vonnegut talking about the carpet bombing of Dresden during World Ward II and other, more contemporary, matters. And a very pertinent comment he made on Dresden. And I paraphrase:

"It didn't result in anyone being released from a death camp one microsecond
earlier. And it didn't result in any German soldier retreating from their
defence positions one microsecond earlier."

One day to go and then I'm off for a week - and it's a week that I have been looking forward to since the turn of the year. I really do need to recharge my batteries and I really do need to sort my life out. It's gonna happen, as the Undertones once said!

* Fine Young Cannibals - what a superb pop band they were. Remember that time at (I think) a Brit awards around 1988 when they threw (I think) a pot of yoghurt at (I think) Johnny Hates Jazz? That was pure political pop protest (I think)!