June 2010 Archives

The World Cup comes around every four years; you can't imagine the planning and preparation that go into making it happen, even if you know a little about such things. It is the showpiece event for world football, watched by billions all over the globe.

Given these minor details is it in any way conceivable that the governing bodies would do something ridiculous to ruin the tournament? That they would change something so fundamental that it would render the world's greatest players redundant? These are the questions we have to ask ourselves when considering what they've done to the ball.

In the first few games it was all about the ball, it's too light, too round, it swerves too much, etc. Do we believe that FIFA would sanction a new ball if it proved to be so radically different from 'traditional' balls that it had an effect on games and results? The answer is, unfortunately, of course they would if they were getting enough money to do so.

I occasionally wonder if I'm some form of jinx, a walking curse on performers. There's not much justification for this other than that I once saw Ian Astbury (of The Cult) put his foot through the stage at the Powerhouse.

I also went to a 'horse show' once (and only once, and only because I was working) where one of the horses died during the 'performance'. The memory of seeing a horse being dragged out of the arena by a tractor is one that doesn't fade easily.

My son recently gave me his verdict on the Iron Man 2 film. He said 'It's not as good as the first one'. He justified this by adding 'There are only about three battles in it and they're all really short'.

Sometimes a review need say no more. Critics may complain that super-hero films are a bit dumb, mindless, lack sophistication but in doing so they forget that the target-market doesn't care about those things, they want the explosions and the fighting. In this case you could suggest that Iron Man 2 has failed in its basic duty, it should've been all that the original film was - and a bit more besides.