Throughout Wednesday the hints of a sore throat the previous day grew more stronger and I suspect the usual approach of warm and cold drinks and Scotch whisky would not prove a remedy, I went to bed expecting to have a rough night.
The day had been devoted to the Olympics, watching, researching and writing until early evening. We did not win another Gold Medal so there was a sense of anti climax, but in fact there were several good moments as two British young women came second and third in the long two hour swim which they led until the last few metres and in the 100 metre hurdles an older athlete Tasha Danvers aged 30, a mother with a four year old and coming to the games without great expectation ran the fastest performance of her life to win the bronze medal which nearly catching the silver medal runner in the final stages.
For me the moment of the day came in the BMX bicycle competition as the women competitors made to individual runs of the course with the fastest of the two runs determining their position at the start of races in which eight riders competed in one race over the course where the slightest error can result in a crash and injury. In this instance the British world champion, a twenty year old young woman fell on first run and took a lump out of her arm. When I was about the same age I had been thrown up into the air and down on a hard surface but because I had been prepared for the possibility of the experience, I did not experience pain or injury and it was only later that I realised I was badly bruised and felt any effects. This contrasted with the recent experience of the fall in the local shop when I hit my head and damaged my nose. Yesterday the young woman picked herself up and continued to complete the course, then gathered herself to make the second run with the consequence that she was able to chose the second racing position for the semi finals which were to be held on Thursday, although because of rain the event has been postponed.
There was a time until past decade or two when all International Football matches played by England and the other home countries would be shown live on BBC television. Then Sky Satellite entered and other channels bid for friendlies and the BBC lost its monopoly. Last year Satanta Sports, an Irish based company gained a foothold on televising Premiership matches having gained control of the Scottish premiership previously. This year it has widened its involvement with some 80 premierships games live and last night the friendly before two of the World Cup qualifying rounds matches over the next three weeks, Although the game was drawn two goals each it was one of the worst and most discouraging displayed for decades, and there have been some bad ones. In the week where Britain is holding its head high with the results in the Olympics I can image the chorus of disapproval which will greet the performance in the morning newspapers.
I was able to undertake preliminary work with material from my recent visit to London, on the Olympics and other work areas which continued through the recent week and was able to develop over the past two days since returning home. I also watch two films. The first 100 days in the Jungle was loosely based on a true event when workers for an oil company were taken hostage on the Ecuador- Columbia border area and demanded twenty million dollars ransom for the seven Canadians and one US Navajo. They were taken on a forty day march through the Amazon jungle before arriving at the insurgent camp. The Canadian Embassy was sceptical about the situation and slow in promoting negotiations between the old company and the captors. Eventually money was paid and the men released and according to the film were able to return to their homes in time for Christmas in 1989. There is also a book about the event which I understand happened although I have been unable to locate a news report.
Earlier I watched one of the original Sherlock Holmes films with Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce which was produced in 1942 and set in wartime England involving a battle over possession of a bomb sighting device after Holmes had brought the device and its Swiss inventor to London, the inventor is kidnapped by arch enemy Professor Moriarty, long believed dead by Inspector Lestrard of Scotland Yard, played by Dennis Hoey for the first time. The film,
Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon uses the Dancing Men code originated in Conan Doyle story, the adventure of the dancing men although apart from the code there is no other relationship between the two stories.
I also watched a French film about the relationship between two teenage girls, one of whom loses her father while the other commences to experiment with relationships with young men. The film has a profound twist at the end which whether intended or not makes the point that teenage emotions can lead to explosive and devastating consequences. I did not make a note of its name except that it was shown on the World Movie channel.
I had no worked hard although I had worked and the energy level dropped rapidly as the day progressed. I had the fresh sardines, baked, for lunch, and these were not a success. I enjoyed more the salad with salmon in tomato. I had both a port with ice and a Scotch with ice for medicinal purposes and eighteen hours later it still had had some positive effect on the sore throat.
The day had been devoted to the Olympics, watching, researching and writing until early evening. We did not win another Gold Medal so there was a sense of anti climax, but in fact there were several good moments as two British young women came second and third in the long two hour swim which they led until the last few metres and in the 100 metre hurdles an older athlete Tasha Danvers aged 30, a mother with a four year old and coming to the games without great expectation ran the fastest performance of her life to win the bronze medal which nearly catching the silver medal runner in the final stages.
For me the moment of the day came in the BMX bicycle competition as the women competitors made to individual runs of the course with the fastest of the two runs determining their position at the start of races in which eight riders competed in one race over the course where the slightest error can result in a crash and injury. In this instance the British world champion, a twenty year old young woman fell on first run and took a lump out of her arm. When I was about the same age I had been thrown up into the air and down on a hard surface but because I had been prepared for the possibility of the experience, I did not experience pain or injury and it was only later that I realised I was badly bruised and felt any effects. This contrasted with the recent experience of the fall in the local shop when I hit my head and damaged my nose. Yesterday the young woman picked herself up and continued to complete the course, then gathered herself to make the second run with the consequence that she was able to chose the second racing position for the semi finals which were to be held on Thursday, although because of rain the event has been postponed.
There was a time until past decade or two when all International Football matches played by England and the other home countries would be shown live on BBC television. Then Sky Satellite entered and other channels bid for friendlies and the BBC lost its monopoly. Last year Satanta Sports, an Irish based company gained a foothold on televising Premiership matches having gained control of the Scottish premiership previously. This year it has widened its involvement with some 80 premierships games live and last night the friendly before two of the World Cup qualifying rounds matches over the next three weeks, Although the game was drawn two goals each it was one of the worst and most discouraging displayed for decades, and there have been some bad ones. In the week where Britain is holding its head high with the results in the Olympics I can image the chorus of disapproval which will greet the performance in the morning newspapers.
I was able to undertake preliminary work with material from my recent visit to London, on the Olympics and other work areas which continued through the recent week and was able to develop over the past two days since returning home. I also watch two films. The first 100 days in the Jungle was loosely based on a true event when workers for an oil company were taken hostage on the Ecuador- Columbia border area and demanded twenty million dollars ransom for the seven Canadians and one US Navajo. They were taken on a forty day march through the Amazon jungle before arriving at the insurgent camp. The Canadian Embassy was sceptical about the situation and slow in promoting negotiations between the old company and the captors. Eventually money was paid and the men released and according to the film were able to return to their homes in time for Christmas in 1989. There is also a book about the event which I understand happened although I have been unable to locate a news report.
Earlier I watched one of the original Sherlock Holmes films with Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce which was produced in 1942 and set in wartime England involving a battle over possession of a bomb sighting device after Holmes had brought the device and its Swiss inventor to London, the inventor is kidnapped by arch enemy Professor Moriarty, long believed dead by Inspector Lestrard of Scotland Yard, played by Dennis Hoey for the first time. The film,
Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon uses the Dancing Men code originated in Conan Doyle story, the adventure of the dancing men although apart from the code there is no other relationship between the two stories.
I also watched a French film about the relationship between two teenage girls, one of whom loses her father while the other commences to experiment with relationships with young men. The film has a profound twist at the end which whether intended or not makes the point that teenage emotions can lead to explosive and devastating consequences. I did not make a note of its name except that it was shown on the World Movie channel.
I had no worked hard although I had worked and the energy level dropped rapidly as the day progressed. I had the fresh sardines, baked, for lunch, and these were not a success. I enjoyed more the salad with salmon in tomato. I had both a port with ice and a Scotch with ice for medicinal purposes and eighteen hours later it still had had some positive effect on the sore throat.
No comments:
Post a Comment