Argentina just kicked Ireland out of the World Cup, winning their group against all odds. Hernandez is arguably one of the best all round players in the tournament.
My RWC sweep stakes ticket suddenly looks like a hot prospect. And with a date with Scotland in the quarters, it certainly looks like they're not done yet. England showed some back wheels and put up a spirited performance against Tonga. England's looking like the quality side they should be. Almost. Next game the Aussies - a somewhat different proposition, sure, but all bets are off in the knock-out stages.
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Saturday, September 22, 2007
RWC: England 44-22 Samoa
Finally England's looking like they can actually play some proper Rugby again. Argably the best game so far in the RWC, and England showed that they're not quite out yet.
Sarah's arrived in Font, and for the first time during my forced time off from climbing I actually feel a bit sorry for myself. Saying that, I'm actually symptom free, and I'm itching to get back in. But I'm forcing myself to wait, as tearing up the injury due to a premature return would be impossible to bear. Still, I've contracted some infection, so couldn't have gone, anyway.
At least I have a few days where I can store my clothes on the floor without risking repercussions.
Sarah's arrived in Font, and for the first time during my forced time off from climbing I actually feel a bit sorry for myself. Saying that, I'm actually symptom free, and I'm itching to get back in. But I'm forcing myself to wait, as tearing up the injury due to a premature return would be impossible to bear. Still, I've contracted some infection, so couldn't have gone, anyway.
At least I have a few days where I can store my clothes on the floor without risking repercussions.
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Mourinho
Jose' Mourinho has left Chelsea by 'mutual consent'. A real shame. For someone who's relatively uninterested in football, Mourinho was to me a refreshing change from the usual dull fayre of inarticulate former players dressed in tracky bottoms. Superbly arrogant, unsmiling, but with the goods to back it up.
"I can honestly say I'm not one from the bottle. I am European Champion. I think I am special"
Awesome.
"I can honestly say I'm not one from the bottle. I am European Champion. I think I am special"
Awesome.
Tuesday, September 04, 2007
The Failing Continent
My brother gave me a copy of Aidan Hartley's book The Zanzibar Chest a couple of weeks back on a lightning visit back to Sweden. Mathias works at the Africa desk at SIDA, the Swedish government's development agency. I readily confess to knowing preciously little about Africa, its history, its wars. This book was a fascinating eye-opener. Hartley's book is part memoir, part history lesson, depicting his life as a front line journalist for Reuters, but also recounting the footsteps of Hartley's father, a pioneer from the dying days of the British Empire.
Primarily, the book details a couple of Africa's 'dirty little wars'; Somalia, Rwanda, Burundi - the unparalleled cruelty by which they were fought, and the West's ineptitude, or rather disinterest, to do anything about it. On the flip side, it is also a raucous, blokey story of the hypnotic draw of life in the dirt as a journalist, the camaraderie, the excesses, the hedonism - but also the staggering emotional cost of witnessing massacres and cruelty first-hand, as it happens.
Aidan's love for Africa shines through, as does his sadness and anger. It's not always clear if one should laugh or cry at the bungled ways that the West has meddled, and made things a million times worse. Especially telling is the Somalia wars, how they were run - pretty much for sport - by a bunch of qat-fuelled gangsters, and how the West played into their hands by pouring in aid, immediately, and routinely robbed and sold for profit to buy more arms by the war lords. The battle of Mogadishu, detailed in the also excellent Black Hawk Down is largely left out, as it's so well covered elsewhere. One is left with a feeling that Somalia is a failed state in the truest meaning of the word - it's never really had a state during its existence, and war is what they do, conquerors beware.
Hartley's own descent into the Heart of Darkness concludes in Rwanda, with a genocide of industrial proportions, that barely registered in the western media. Hundreds of thousands of Tutsis were slaughtered by crude means, dull machetes primarily it seems - a no mean feat, practically.
Primarily, the book details a couple of Africa's 'dirty little wars'; Somalia, Rwanda, Burundi - the unparalleled cruelty by which they were fought, and the West's ineptitude, or rather disinterest, to do anything about it. On the flip side, it is also a raucous, blokey story of the hypnotic draw of life in the dirt as a journalist, the camaraderie, the excesses, the hedonism - but also the staggering emotional cost of witnessing massacres and cruelty first-hand, as it happens.
Aidan's love for Africa shines through, as does his sadness and anger. It's not always clear if one should laugh or cry at the bungled ways that the West has meddled, and made things a million times worse. Especially telling is the Somalia wars, how they were run - pretty much for sport - by a bunch of qat-fuelled gangsters, and how the West played into their hands by pouring in aid, immediately, and routinely robbed and sold for profit to buy more arms by the war lords. The battle of Mogadishu, detailed in the also excellent Black Hawk Down is largely left out, as it's so well covered elsewhere. One is left with a feeling that Somalia is a failed state in the truest meaning of the word - it's never really had a state during its existence, and war is what they do, conquerors beware.
Hartley's own descent into the Heart of Darkness concludes in Rwanda, with a genocide of industrial proportions, that barely registered in the western media. Hundreds of thousands of Tutsis were slaughtered by crude means, dull machetes primarily it seems - a no mean feat, practically.
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