OFF ON HOLIDAY
Tomorrow morning I am off to the U.K. for my annual walking holiday in the Lake District. After so many years of good weather (plus the same for the last two months), I fear a drenching, and will dress accordingly. I will however still be taking my cycling kit in order to give the lads a fright; bright pink and blue Lampre colours this time.
I will also be visiting my Mum, whom I haven't yet seen this year. I will get a lift back to Derby with my friend, who will then be given tea by my mother, a bit like a sealion getting a fish when they have done something right. My mother is very good at making tea; and my friend is very good at eating it. A win-win deal.
I have just checked the kitchen garden and nothing appears to be happening yet. However, I have great expectations that there is a lot of growing activity going on underground, and that there will be masses to see when I get back. I leave my daughter in charge of weeding and defending against moles.
I don't blog when I am on holiday, so you'll have to hold your breath for 10 days. Back on 8 June.
Walter Blotscher
Saturday, 28 May 2011
Friday, 27 May 2011
THE FRENCH OPEN
Tennis is a great sport to watch on television. One reason is that the court fits almost exactly into a rectangular television screen. I have been to Wimbledon a couple of times; but the matches are not as good live, either because you sit too far away or because the ball travels faster than your head can spin on your neck. There are also no sofas at Wimbledon that you can sprawl in while you watch.
This week and next it's the French Open, the only one of the four major championships that is played on clay courts. Clay is much slower than other surfaces, and the ball sits up more than on grass or hard courts. So it favours southern Europeans who grow up on it and disadvantages serve and volley players, who are otherwise dominant on grass. One reason why Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal are considered two of the best players of all time is that they have won all four majors on three different surfaces. By contrast, although Bjorn Borg won six French Opens and five Wimbledons, he never won the U.S. or Australian Opens; while Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe, Boris Becker and Stefan Edberg could never master clay, even if they were brilliant elsewhere.
The first week has already produced some great tennis. Both the top seeds in the women's draw, Caroline Wozniacki and Kim Clijsters, are out, which paves the way for a new name on the trophy. In the men's draw, Federer has been playing sublimely while Nadal has struggled. This evening I saw the first two sets in the intriguing third round match between Novak Djokovic and Juan Martin del Potro. Djokovic hasn't lost a match yet this year, and will take over the number one spot from Nadal if he reaches the final. While del Potro is coming back from a long injury lay-off, and is a much better player than his current ranking of 25. It was one set all this evening, and they will finish it tomorrow; it would not surprise me if the winner of the match ended up winning the whole thing.
Walter Blotscher
Tennis is a great sport to watch on television. One reason is that the court fits almost exactly into a rectangular television screen. I have been to Wimbledon a couple of times; but the matches are not as good live, either because you sit too far away or because the ball travels faster than your head can spin on your neck. There are also no sofas at Wimbledon that you can sprawl in while you watch.
This week and next it's the French Open, the only one of the four major championships that is played on clay courts. Clay is much slower than other surfaces, and the ball sits up more than on grass or hard courts. So it favours southern Europeans who grow up on it and disadvantages serve and volley players, who are otherwise dominant on grass. One reason why Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal are considered two of the best players of all time is that they have won all four majors on three different surfaces. By contrast, although Bjorn Borg won six French Opens and five Wimbledons, he never won the U.S. or Australian Opens; while Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe, Boris Becker and Stefan Edberg could never master clay, even if they were brilliant elsewhere.
The first week has already produced some great tennis. Both the top seeds in the women's draw, Caroline Wozniacki and Kim Clijsters, are out, which paves the way for a new name on the trophy. In the men's draw, Federer has been playing sublimely while Nadal has struggled. This evening I saw the first two sets in the intriguing third round match between Novak Djokovic and Juan Martin del Potro. Djokovic hasn't lost a match yet this year, and will take over the number one spot from Nadal if he reaches the final. While del Potro is coming back from a long injury lay-off, and is a much better player than his current ranking of 25. It was one set all this evening, and they will finish it tomorrow; it would not surprise me if the winner of the match ended up winning the whole thing.
Walter Blotscher
Thursday, 26 May 2011
KYSSEPIGER
Under my influence, my daughter is getting interested in cycling. It helps that my prediction of Contador to win the Giro (now in its third week) looks likely to be correct, whereas her friend's prediction of Nibali started going wrong the moment he mentioned it. But I also think there is the seed of a genuine enthusiasm.
So I asked her the other today if she would like to become a kyssepige (literally a "kissing girl"). Kyssepiger are the good-looking young women, who pop up on the podium at the end of each stage of a bike race and plant a kiss on the cheeks of the various winners (at a minimum the stage winner, overall leader, points leader, king of the mountains, and leading young rider). They wear the well-cut and stylish clothes of the sponsors of the various competitions - Esta Tea, for instance, is this year's sponsor of the overall leader's pink jersey - and smile for the camera. And that, pretty much, is all that they do.
My daughter told me in no uncertain terms that she has no desire to become a kyssepige. I think she quite likes the idea of the free clothes. But she also remembers the times I have come home from my 30km trips, prompting a curt "you smell". If my efforts only last an hour or so, think what it must be like to kiss a man who has just spent 6 hours in the saddle and has barely had time to put a sponsor's cap on. L'Oreal Paris Men Expert is another of the Giro's sponsors; I can see that there would be demand for their product.
In this modern world, it is somewhat surprising that there still exists the job of kyssepige, which is essentially a sexist relic. When the Giro started in Amsterdam last year, a number of gay men applied for the job; they rather liked the idea of kissing a fit, sweaty man. Needless to say, they didn't get it.
Walter Blotscher
Under my influence, my daughter is getting interested in cycling. It helps that my prediction of Contador to win the Giro (now in its third week) looks likely to be correct, whereas her friend's prediction of Nibali started going wrong the moment he mentioned it. But I also think there is the seed of a genuine enthusiasm.
So I asked her the other today if she would like to become a kyssepige (literally a "kissing girl"). Kyssepiger are the good-looking young women, who pop up on the podium at the end of each stage of a bike race and plant a kiss on the cheeks of the various winners (at a minimum the stage winner, overall leader, points leader, king of the mountains, and leading young rider). They wear the well-cut and stylish clothes of the sponsors of the various competitions - Esta Tea, for instance, is this year's sponsor of the overall leader's pink jersey - and smile for the camera. And that, pretty much, is all that they do.
My daughter told me in no uncertain terms that she has no desire to become a kyssepige. I think she quite likes the idea of the free clothes. But she also remembers the times I have come home from my 30km trips, prompting a curt "you smell". If my efforts only last an hour or so, think what it must be like to kiss a man who has just spent 6 hours in the saddle and has barely had time to put a sponsor's cap on. L'Oreal Paris Men Expert is another of the Giro's sponsors; I can see that there would be demand for their product.
In this modern world, it is somewhat surprising that there still exists the job of kyssepige, which is essentially a sexist relic. When the Giro started in Amsterdam last year, a number of gay men applied for the job; they rather liked the idea of kissing a fit, sweaty man. Needless to say, they didn't get it.
Walter Blotscher
Wednesday, 25 May 2011
HEALTHCARE IN AMERICA (3)
If anyone doubted that healthcare in the U.S. is a big political issue, then the results of this week's congressional by-election in New York state should make things clear.
The 26th district is heavily Republican, and the party's candidate, Jane Corwin, spent US$3.4 million on her campaign. Normally that would be enough. But things began to unravel when she endorsed the 2012 budget plan passed by the House Republicans. This calls - amongst other things - for the abolition of Medicare, the federal spending programme that provides healthcare for pensioners, and replacing it with a voucher system in which they purchase private insurance. When Democrat Kathy Hochul started running television adverts highlighting her opponent's stand, her poll ratings started to go up and Ms. Corwin's nosedived. The Republican poll lead evaporated, and the Democrat won easily.
The shock result ought to give the Republican leadership in Congress pause for thought. However, that seems unlikely. At the moment, all of its potential Presidential candidates are competing to put forward policies with the smallest Governmental input, preferably zero. On current showing, voters are unlikely to support them.
Walter Blotscher
If anyone doubted that healthcare in the U.S. is a big political issue, then the results of this week's congressional by-election in New York state should make things clear.
The 26th district is heavily Republican, and the party's candidate, Jane Corwin, spent US$3.4 million on her campaign. Normally that would be enough. But things began to unravel when she endorsed the 2012 budget plan passed by the House Republicans. This calls - amongst other things - for the abolition of Medicare, the federal spending programme that provides healthcare for pensioners, and replacing it with a voucher system in which they purchase private insurance. When Democrat Kathy Hochul started running television adverts highlighting her opponent's stand, her poll ratings started to go up and Ms. Corwin's nosedived. The Republican poll lead evaporated, and the Democrat won easily.
The shock result ought to give the Republican leadership in Congress pause for thought. However, that seems unlikely. At the moment, all of its potential Presidential candidates are competing to put forward policies with the smallest Governmental input, preferably zero. On current showing, voters are unlikely to support them.
Walter Blotscher
Tuesday, 24 May 2011
BOB DYLAN
Bob Dylan is 70 today. Born Robert Zimmerman in Minnesota, he became one of the most influential songwriters ever, and is still going strong after a career lasting 50 years.
I was too young to really know him in the sixties, so he was never one of my absolute favourites (unlike, say, Jethro Tull, the Jam, or the Eagles). But he wrote so many songs, it is hard not to like some of them. His best work in my view was when he collaborated with the Band, who were very talented in their own right. I also loved the first Travelling Wilburys album, another collaborative effort.
I once got drunk and stayed up all night in Oxford in a queue in order to be sure of buying a ticket to a Bob Dylan concert when the theatre opened in the morning. The episode stuck in my mind, because one of my fellow drunk queuers managed to dislocate his shoulder while we were playing with a tennis ball. We got it back in again, though; and got a ticket.
Walter Blotscher
Bob Dylan is 70 today. Born Robert Zimmerman in Minnesota, he became one of the most influential songwriters ever, and is still going strong after a career lasting 50 years.
I was too young to really know him in the sixties, so he was never one of my absolute favourites (unlike, say, Jethro Tull, the Jam, or the Eagles). But he wrote so many songs, it is hard not to like some of them. His best work in my view was when he collaborated with the Band, who were very talented in their own right. I also loved the first Travelling Wilburys album, another collaborative effort.
I once got drunk and stayed up all night in Oxford in a queue in order to be sure of buying a ticket to a Bob Dylan concert when the theatre opened in the morning. The episode stuck in my mind, because one of my fellow drunk queuers managed to dislocate his shoulder while we were playing with a tennis ball. We got it back in again, though; and got a ticket.
Walter Blotscher
Monday, 23 May 2011
STATESMANSHIP
Statesmanship is, in my view, one of those things that is very difficult to define, but you know it when you see it.
Two very different forms of statesmanship were on view in Ireland this week. First up was the Queen, trying to heal almost a thousand years of difficult history between the English mainland and the island of Ireland. Her style, as always, is not to say very much (so no chance of a gaffe), to make a few shrewd gestures and visits, and to look elegant. 60 years of experience have taught her to keep her trap shut; politicians the world over should take note.
She was followed by President Obama, visiting his ancestral roots on the way to a G8 summit. His style on such occasions is to be a regular guy, drinking Guinness in the local pub, thanking the local people for their contribution to America, saying that the country's terrible economic problems can be overcome if everyone pulls together. Platitudinous words in the hands of most politicians, but he manages to sound sincere, and so make them inspirational.
Both visits were judged to be a great success and rightly so. Interestingly, both wowed their hosts by throwing in a few words of Gælic (a note to all foreigners, trying to appreciate the local culture goes down well with the locals). Even more interestingly, the two masters of their craft will be meeting each other soon, since the President will take in a State visit to the U.K. as part of his European tour. I would love to be a fly on the wall; not at the State banquet with the great and the good, but when they have a cup of tea together, on their own.
Walter Blotscher
Statesmanship is, in my view, one of those things that is very difficult to define, but you know it when you see it.
Two very different forms of statesmanship were on view in Ireland this week. First up was the Queen, trying to heal almost a thousand years of difficult history between the English mainland and the island of Ireland. Her style, as always, is not to say very much (so no chance of a gaffe), to make a few shrewd gestures and visits, and to look elegant. 60 years of experience have taught her to keep her trap shut; politicians the world over should take note.
She was followed by President Obama, visiting his ancestral roots on the way to a G8 summit. His style on such occasions is to be a regular guy, drinking Guinness in the local pub, thanking the local people for their contribution to America, saying that the country's terrible economic problems can be overcome if everyone pulls together. Platitudinous words in the hands of most politicians, but he manages to sound sincere, and so make them inspirational.
Both visits were judged to be a great success and rightly so. Interestingly, both wowed their hosts by throwing in a few words of Gælic (a note to all foreigners, trying to appreciate the local culture goes down well with the locals). Even more interestingly, the two masters of their craft will be meeting each other soon, since the President will take in a State visit to the U.K. as part of his European tour. I would love to be a fly on the wall; not at the State banquet with the great and the good, but when they have a cup of tea together, on their own.
Walter Blotscher
Sunday, 22 May 2011
STRONG BELIEFS
I have nothing against people having strong beliefs. Quite the contrary; I have a fair few myself, and they appear regularly in this blog. However, I do have a problem with beliefs if they are crazy; the idea that England are good enough to win the World Cup, for instance, or most of the Republican candidates' economic policies.
The latest crazy belief was propagated by a Christian radio network in the U.S. called Family Radio. Spurred on by its 89-year old head, evangelist preacher Harold Camping, the station predicted that yesterday would be the end of the world. Following a giant earthquake at 18.00, Jesus Christ would return to earth. True believers would be "raptured" up to heaven, while non-believers would have a problem; by 21 October, they would all be dead.
It's very difficult for me to take this sort of thing seriously. I am not a particuarly religious person, but one question immediately springs to mind; if God exists and is omnipotent, why on earth would he want to do this? Just before the Queen stage of the Giro and the day before the start of the French Open. Would he really want to make life miserable for so many sports fans? I don't think so. He's probably a tennis nut himself; after all, only God could have fashioned Roger Federer's on-court elegance.
But if I don't, plenty of people do, apparently. One retired New Yorker spent US$140,000 of his own money (i.e. a serious amount of dosh) paying for billboards, advertising the fact. Another man drove 3,000 miles across America to Family Radio's headquarters, in order to be in the right place for this event. Not surprisingly, when nothing happened last night, they were puzzled. That's probably putting it rather mildly.
The most bizare aspect of the story, though, is that Mr. Camping has what British policemen call "form" in this area. Back in 1994, he also predicted the end of the world, and - as we all know - that didn't happen. Why would anybody want to believe someone with such a track record?
Walter Blotscher
I have nothing against people having strong beliefs. Quite the contrary; I have a fair few myself, and they appear regularly in this blog. However, I do have a problem with beliefs if they are crazy; the idea that England are good enough to win the World Cup, for instance, or most of the Republican candidates' economic policies.
The latest crazy belief was propagated by a Christian radio network in the U.S. called Family Radio. Spurred on by its 89-year old head, evangelist preacher Harold Camping, the station predicted that yesterday would be the end of the world. Following a giant earthquake at 18.00, Jesus Christ would return to earth. True believers would be "raptured" up to heaven, while non-believers would have a problem; by 21 October, they would all be dead.
It's very difficult for me to take this sort of thing seriously. I am not a particuarly religious person, but one question immediately springs to mind; if God exists and is omnipotent, why on earth would he want to do this? Just before the Queen stage of the Giro and the day before the start of the French Open. Would he really want to make life miserable for so many sports fans? I don't think so. He's probably a tennis nut himself; after all, only God could have fashioned Roger Federer's on-court elegance.
But if I don't, plenty of people do, apparently. One retired New Yorker spent US$140,000 of his own money (i.e. a serious amount of dosh) paying for billboards, advertising the fact. Another man drove 3,000 miles across America to Family Radio's headquarters, in order to be in the right place for this event. Not surprisingly, when nothing happened last night, they were puzzled. That's probably putting it rather mildly.
The most bizare aspect of the story, though, is that Mr. Camping has what British policemen call "form" in this area. Back in 1994, he also predicted the end of the world, and - as we all know - that didn't happen. Why would anybody want to believe someone with such a track record?
Walter Blotscher
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