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Firstly I should point out that I'm not religious in the slightest - I don't find God's compatible with science much despite what some will try and tell you. I was raised going to Sunday school in a protestant church but I was rather disillusioned by the age of 13 or so. So any bias in what I'm about to say probably comes from a combination of the above two factors but I don't think they're the driving force for my views.
The one thing that really impressed me in Rome (even more so than the Colosseum) was St Peter's Basilica and the square outside it. However upon wandering around inside I was struck by the sheer excess and self-indulgence of the place; gold everywhere, priceless artworks, and statues of saints and popes of yesteryear.
Surely if any God was truly loving, all these testaments to him would be unnecessary. The pope is God's representative on earth yeah? Then why do they get to immortalise themself for centuries to come as a statue - does this not contradict one of those commandments Moses hauled down the hill? Morally apt actions would surely give you much more air miles to St Peter's pearly gates than decking out a church to look nice. If God was taken in by all this he really would be quite a superficial character indeed - perhaps the next Messiah will be found decked out in Jack Wills.
I'd never before really understood why Protestantism had begun, but touring the heart of the Catholic world kind of hit the message home. Surely people just got fed up with this extravagance and wanted to return to the core messages of their God? I'd bet if we counted up all the money in that place we could write off a fair bit of world debt. I have no doubt that the church has done a lot (understatement of the year so far) to help impoverished people, but it seems a bit hypocritical to lavish your own patch and yet preach charity. Before people lynch me, I know this is not a trait prevalent throughout Catholicism (as a trivial example Kaka gives a large proportion of his wages to charity I believe?) I just feel the leading by example has gone astray slightly.
Well, I've finally come down from my Cloud IX having been boosted there by a lovely break for two in Rome. I'll try and break anything worth telling into a few separate posts. Don't want you being overwhelmed or anything. I did wonder how to do this, considering a day-by-day account, however I feel a random smorgasbord of events and opinions will more accurately convey the hectic nature of Rome. This post will try and keep the culture at its centre somewhere, but I'm sure to stray.
First impressions count, no matter how much of it you've already read about or seen on tv. My first impression? Jesus these Italian drivers are mental. I've been in Italy before but never anywhere as busy or traffic-dense as Rome! There seems no logic in parking, with cars regularly being blocked in, or parking on pedestrian crossings/any bit of road that isn't considered a direct line of transit. But the real terror lies in crossing the road - the green cross code doesn't just go out of the window, it continues up up and away into the nether stratospheres. You've got to watch for scooters and cars turning across your path ignoring the lights. There are 2 prevalent strategies we found - identify a local and put your life in their hands as you follow them across, but be prepared to run - or alternatively gamble and hope cars swerve around you. It really is exhilarating after you get used to it and get over your initial trepidation.
My impressions did however improve upon a superb meal in a local pizzeria and a midnight stroll around St Peter's square with the Basilica lit up impressively - more about the Basilica in a future post. The food everywhere was fantastic - pizza toppings I'd never even considered (broccoli and mozzarella was a particular highlight!) pizzas without tomato, pizzas without cheese, pasta kept simple (and rather al dente!) So in this Italian cuisine delight where did we celebrate Anna's 21st birthday? with a steak of course! I did however fall into the trap of a continental 'medium' steak - it was nice until I got to the middle of my fillet where a carnivore's delight awaited. It could have come straight off the cow itself and bypassed the grill. However I delighted in slipping it down the gullet, and was rather surprised at how nice it was.
Much of this fine cuisine was washed down with a glass or two of delicious vino. However on the majority of nights this was the end of the drinking - if you're going to Rome in midwinter I can not recommend anywhere that'll be open for a post-dinner drink later than 10.30. Perhaps someone better acquainted than me can inform me where everyone goes in the city centre?On a side note, I trialled a holiday beard - a solid month of finely groomed chin growth (sadly large patches of skin adjacent to this let me down) But it is now the end of Manuary, and the razor blades will be attacking into it tomorrow morning. It was nice while it lasted but time to refresh and improve - to those beard-admirers amongst you it is for the long term prosperity, do not fear, it shall return, just maybe not until next Manuary.
Some of you may be familiar with a specific connection some of us have with Ok Go (a Chicago band with some pretty decent tunes and even better videos) - if you don't hopefully you'll be able to view this:
Xmas Cabaret '08
However today I've been horribly let down by them. I bought their new album "Of The Blue Colour Of The Sky". I've only had time to listen to it once through but it is hugely disappointing, and verging on not getting a second listen! Gone are the old straight up pop rock, feet tapping, sing-a-long (albeit annoyingly stuck in your head) tunes of their first two albums such as Cinnamon Lips and the two classics Here It Goes Again and A Million Ways. I would say only two of the fourteen songs (the 15th is a remix) are even comparable to the first two albums - This Too Shall Pass and White Knuckles, yet they'd never be prominent tracks.
Far too many tracks are dominated by trashy guitar effects or inane electro droning. There's a lot more tuneful backing singing, but it doesn't really complement the lead singer like it used to, more often standing on its own and sounding like they're trying to stretch out the track. He sounds like he's been depressed over the last few years, lacking the life of yesteryear. Perhaps when it takes you 5 years to release a new album it takes it toll.
On a bit more reading (wikipedia is wonderful isn't it) it sounds like this is some kind of concept album based on a passage from a book. Perhaps they should have stuck to reading. In the most apt moment on the disc, the first track is entitled 'WTF?'. This is exactly what I imagine will be going through the minds of many Ok Go fans out there.-------------------------------------------
Thus concludes my first album review on here - shame it had to be such a negative one. I'll try and review a few more of the albums I come across. I don't claim to be a musical genius (my grade one piano score will testify to that) but I can still tell when I like something or not. I hope some of you will agree, and possibly even more so that some of you will disagree and put me in my place.
In other news I'm off to Rome for 5 days come Saturday on a nice little break from work. Hopefully this will provide me with material for a good few posts to come.
P.S. Still haven't got the shed open
P.P.S. If you hear of any Cambridge-based debauchery, I wasn't involved ;)
Following the recent attack on the Togo national football team in Angola there has been debate over whether to cancel the African Cup of Nations, just 5 months before the World Cup is due to start in South Africa. The Togolese government have pulled their team out (reports today say contrary to the team's wishes) and are encouraging others to follow suit. But would cancelling the tournament put off future attacks of this kind, or just encourage them?
Firstly, obviously it is a tragic loss of life, with 3 people killed and several others fighting for their lives. News reports credit the security escort for preventing further loss of life in a half-hour gun battle. While the knee-jerk reaction is to pull the team out, the team itself is reported to now want to honour the dead by playing in the tournament.
This dilemma is not new - sport naturally creates high-profile targets for terrorists. I would not claim my knowledge to be in any way conclusive on these events but there have been a few parallels in history. In 1972 at the Munich Olympics, 11 Israelis were kidnapped and subsequently killed by a Palestine militant group Black September. While the Olympics were initially suspended, and a memorial service held, the overwhelming view of the organising committee was to continue: "The games must go on, and we must... and we must continue our efforts to keep them clean, pure and honest." (Avery Brundage, IOC President) This announcement has however been tarnished by a couple of controversies - several Arab countries refused to fly their flags at the Olympic Stadium at half mast, and a banner remembering the victims was unfurled at a game in the stadium, only to see the perpetrators ejected and the banner torn down. The IOC also refused to create a permanent memorial to the 11 Israelis in order to not offend several members.
In principal I think the Olympic Committee were right to continue, but they tarnished their stance through some of their subsequent actions. However the issue of increasing security to a sufficient level was then tantamount. The Israeli team withdrew after the memorial service, several prominent Jewish athletes (Mark Spitz being the most high-profile) flew home early and the Egyptian team withdrew because they feared reprisal attacks. Clearly the organisers could not guarantee the safety of these people.
This is a major issue today - in March 2009 the Sri Lankan cricket team came under fire from twelve Pakistani militants while playing a Test series in Pakistan. Again the sacrifice of the security team helped to protect the lives of the team. However the final test was immediately cancelled and all future international cricket in Pakistan has been suspended/rearranged for neutral venues (Pakistan will play Australia in England this year). The 2011 World Cup is also unlikely to use Pakistan now, with India picking up extra fixtures. The mindless act of some individuals has doubtlessly cost the country in both monetary and reputation terms.
On the other hand there is the prospect of not competing in tournaments at all - the England badminton team pulled out of their World Championships in Delhi last year after a specific terrorist threat. While the championships passed without incident, this was a worrying precedent for the Commonwealth games to be held in Delhi this year.
But to return to the situation in Angola, it would appear to me that if the security around all the teams can be heightened sufficiently then it is only right for the games to go on. After all is this analogous to the safest time to fly being directly after a terror attack? To allow the act of a small minority to ruin the first part of Africa's 2010 football showcase would be a betrayal to the lives lost. If anything this should be taken as an opportunity to fine-tune security arrangements for the World Cup. Security in South Africa has always been one of the questions raised about them hosting the World Cup. This event will only reinforce those doubts, but my impression that the situation in South Africa is not dissident based more due to the generally high crime rate?
I fully support the defiance against such violence and hope that both the African Cup of Nations and the World Cup can both now flourish and showcase the African continent to the world in a much more positive light than this initial setback.
Togo Team Decide To Play On - bbc sport
My first week back has turned out to be eventful, but probably not in a great way. The week started early - a 7.15 am alarm resonating through my head, never a good start after a solid 2 weeks of lie-ins. Went to get my bike out of the shed just before going to work (I'd brought the bike all the way from Scotland the previous day) to find the shed lock was ever so stiff due to the cold. But being a man I naturally thought forcing the key was the best option - it had started to turn after all. Apparently not, the key has sheered in the lock, leaving half of it behind. Not even 8am yet and I'd ruined my day, but you can only laugh at these things I suppose.
The error was compounded by the fact that my landlady has gone to South Africa for a month and so won't return with a spare key until then. So I have a month to fish the other part of the key out of the lock. This has been delayed by the snowfall, and by my lethargy, but first forays shall be attempted soon. Don't suppose anyone is an expert lock-pick?
However the funniest moment of the week was definitely the snow day. Everywhere in the country was covered in inches of snow, except for Stevenage. Stevenage can never do anything well, so we only managed about 2 inches. The roads were all perfectly drivable and we've even got enough grit that the parks and underpasses are all gritted. However at work everyone was convinced a blizzard was coming at 3pm thanks to the bbc website forecast (which this week has proved to be very unreliable). Some departments went home at 11.30 in anticipation of the awful 12-hour journeys ahead of them (it took them max 40 mins to get home) Right enough the snow started at 12, and the exodus was like those scenes in I Am Legend, Independence Day, etc. Best excuse was "I want to get home before it gets dark" - that's 4 hours for a 15 minute drive. By the end of lunchtime it seemed the only 3 people left in my lab were a Scotsman, a Frenchman and a former marine - sounds like the start to a bad joke doesn't it? The pattern was repeated across the site (minus the marine). I definitely think the English need to be aware of their weak snow constitution and to battle on. I mean we made it to 3.30 before going home, obviously hardcore scientists us. It was highly revealing though that I went to the pub at 5 that night to find every pub in Stevenage unusually brimming with people, no coincidence I guess.
Hey/Bonjourno/Yeah What?
If you don't know me well enough, that last greeting won't mean a lot to you but to some people it'll pretty much sum me up - you'll hopefully read on and it will perhaps become clear to you.
You may think that this is an ill conceived new year's resolution, or a procrastination attempt. However it is far from either of these. I've been a long-term closet reader of one or two blogs, and have been particularly inspired by The Road Less Travelled. Yet I did not start this because of them - my epiphany came last night. Playing scrabble with my family, I was well and truly humiliated - and I'm talking not even reaching the century here. Worried at the serious deterioration of my vocabulary, most likely caused by a few years spent wasting away in the pub/playing football manager/in the chemistry lab (in order of most time spent), I decided to start a blog. If you want an example of how poor my writing is going to be just check how long and rambling that last sentence is.
Hopefully I'll be able to update this regularly with news of life south of the border, some opinions on the world, and unfortunately this will also be a main medium for venting my moans at the world. Hopefully you didn't need the title explained to you, but if you're struggling, try combining the fact I'm Scottish and the easy-going (some may say lazy) nature.
I'm currently on a train returning to Stevenage after an all-too-brief holiday (is there any other type?) back in Glasgow. Work starts again tomorrow bright and early. But at least I don't have exams in the next two weeks. My thoughts are with those who do and with the pub landlords whose revenue decreases so greatly at this time of year.
Happy new year to all, and thanks for reading thus far, come back soon.
