Alas there is going to no me and family at the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games. For the past ten days I have checked the credit card account on line for an amount of up to £1000 to be deducted. I had made application for the maximum possible number of events in this first trance of applications but applying for the lowest price tickets available. Three days ago the amount appeared under transactions pending which if confirmed revealed that I had only been successful in one pair of £16 tickets or two single tickets for this amount. This could mean a visit to the Olympic stadium complex or to Wembley for the football or to the tennis at Wimbledon or two of the three venues.
I suppose that on the bright side I have managed to get tickets as 250000 applicants have not successful I gaining a single ticket but they will be given first opportunity to apply for tickets for events where there are seats available. After this any remaining seats will be made available to those like me who did not get all their first preferences and only then to the general public. One has to take account that a substantial number of the tickets for the events go for allocation to the countries participating and to the families of the participating athletes. There are also those which form part of hospitality packages as well as kept for dignitaries. As with last night’s European Cup final at Wembley it was possible to officially secure a good seat for £4000 and there was market for seats at several times their face value.
Yesterday and today 1st and 2nd of June the papers were full the story of the application situation with some of the 250000 who were unsuccessful in all aspects of their applications complaining about the disappointment while officials emphasised they would get priority for the second ballot for the remaining tickets.
I have heard of two accounts of those who have been successful with one individual applying for £30000 worth of tickets and getting 11000 while one radio broadcaster applied for £3000 and gained 600 but one suspects that in both these instances tickets for more than the minimum prices were applied for. As I shall recount when writing about the Take That concert in Sunderland, the world of concert and sporting event tickets is not for the feint hearted or impecunious.
The extraordinary Sporting achievement of the past week has been the victory by England over Sri Lanka in the significantly rain affected First Test Match at Cardiff. Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to bat commencing in the afternoon because of the weather, if I remember accurately, and putting on 93 for the first wicket with the openers getting 66 and 50, and with the middle order contributing 58 and 111 they reach a good total of 400 towards the end of the third day such had been the amount of play stoppages because of the conditions. A draw appeared inevitable unless the national side collapsed. With Strauss out for 20 at 46, Andersen who had been injured and unable to bowl for part of the innings came in as the night watchman and was quickly out the following morning with total 46.2. It was then Jonathan Trott and Alistair Cook came together and added 251 runs before Cook was caught for 133 from 274 balls. Kevin Petersen came in and departed quickly for 3 and I am not alone in questioning his right to a place in the team if he fails in the next two Tests.
Ian Bell another like Cook whose place has been in question not only continued where Cook had left off but commenced to score more freely so that at the close of play early in the following afternoon after another lost morning because of the rain, he had scored 103 runs out of 159 and England declared 496 for 5, Trott having departed earlier for a magnificent 203 from 409 balls. With some 50 overs left in the day and a lead of only 96 a draw still seemed the only outcome. It was an excellent decision to allow Bell the opportunity to reach his 100 runs as doing so only reduced the chance of getting the visitors out by a few overs. What followed is unique in the history of Tests played in England
In only the second over Tremlett had one of the openers caught by Captain Strauss at first slip. In his following over with the score at 10 Tremlett dismissed the opposing captain who questioned the judgement of the umpire that he had been caught of his glove, The review confirmed the appeal and decision had been justified. The tourists scored slowly until tea time when the extraordinary collapse occurred with wickets falling at 33 36 43 43 43 52 and then after a brief rally at 82 and 82. Tremlett getting four of the first six batsmen for only 40 runs in ten overs while Graham Swann had even better figures with 4 wickets for 16 runs off 7. Broad also joined in the party with 2 for 21 from 7.4 overs thus the opponents were dismissed for 82 using only three main bowlers and the fourth sidelined. No one anticipated this would happen and everyone was happily shocked that it had.
Manchester United in contrast were well beaten in the game 3.1 by the super team Barcelona who have become precision ball players with exquisite passing and a lethal ability to score goals as well as prevent goals defensively. Last night there was a ray of hope when Rooney equalised after Barcelona had opening their account midway during the first half. In the second half Manchester United were out classed and the score could well have been greater. It merits noting that while many Spanish footballers play in the Premier League no British player presently performs in any of the major Spanish sides. Having said that even in Spain while it is possible to win games against Barcelona they have a rare mixture of brilliant individualists who play according to a crafted and tested system which is superior to everyone else.
Warrington Rugby League team also displayed moments of brilliance which suggests they could walk away with the Championship although in terms of wins and points there are three other team competing for the top honours. Warrington has recently overwhelmed lesser teams in the division accumulating a massive match point’s total, 150 more than their nearest rivals. However Huddersfield has the same number of League points while Wigan with two gamed in hand could join them if they win their game tomorrow. St Helens are fourth just 2 match points behind.
There is a similar situation emerging in division one of the County Cricket Championships with Durham having an excellent win against Warwickshire at Edgbaston on Friday in a rain affected game which prevented all but a handful of overs being bowled on the Thursday. Warwickshire have been deducted 8 championship points, half those awarded for a win, because of the fiery nature of the pitch which resulted in two of the opposition players being injured. The consequence was that the pitch was treated in such a way as to make it flat, that is to say that the fast bowlers were unable to get the ball to bounce high with any speed and more importantly in played true with balls either shooting low or higher than would normally be anticipated.
Fortunately Durham won the toss and chose to bat and there was the spectacle of three Durham batsmen again having major innings. The most satisfying was former captain Will Smith with 179, his first century for two years and the indefatigable former captain Benkenstein making 129 and present Championship captain “Colonel” Mustard one short if his century. Durham ended their innings 602 for 6 and set about Warwickshire in such a manner that by the end of the second they had lost 9 wickets with just 180 runs on the board. Young Stokes with 4 for 48 caused the most damage but Thorp with 3 for 35 and Steve Harmison 2 for 41 shared the honours. Stoke getting Miller out with one of the few balls bowled during the day. Late on Durham were able to bowl another few balls and had Warwickshire reeling with the overnight score 23 for 3.
With a weather uninterrupted day forecast for the Friday victory seemed certain but the lower order batsmen put up a great fight especially with a stand of over 100 runs for the eight wicket but as the end of the match approached and an unexpected draw seemed likely Durham were able to take the last wickets and won the game by an innings and 103 runs. Stokes took 3 more wickets finishing the match 7 wickets for 137 runs and Thorp 5 for 105. Harmison who strained his back after taking 1 for 18 was the only downside.
Durham was then second to Lancashire who they played at the Riverside Emirates Durham International over the previous four days from Sunday May 29th. Lancs have a game in hand so a win could make both Durham and Lancs the potential champions. Warwickshire who had commenced to have hopes are now third having playing the same number of games and 23 points behind Durham, similar Somerset. Notts who have played a game less having lost twice recently so even if they win their game in hand as Somerset and Sussex they will remain a score of points behind Durham. The teams will begin playing the 20 20 competitions games over the next six weeks. Hampshire and Worcestershire look the doomed championship teams with only 33 and 28 points compared to 118 and115 for the top two. Yorks with 57 are struggling.
The club has invited members to apply for tickets for the England Australia One day game next year on July 7th just before the Olympic Games commences and more speculative the England Australian ashes games in July of the following year but without the dates yet determined. I have applied for tickets for the one day game next July but not the Test Match where the day/ match can prove a major disappointment disrupted by rain and a boring draw the best outcome. This appears to be the situation with the first Test against Sri Lanka at Cardiff.
There has been no further reference 20 20 finals days, to the ground completion other than money available for the hotel or to the court case involving the builders of three quarters completed stand. I will leave reports on the Test Match and Durham’s game against Lancashire as well as the first 20 20 on Thursday to late in the week late in the week.
I had intended to completed this piece and leave Durham’s game against Lancs until after completing a piece on the Game of Thrones and the Take That concert but past four days have proved hectic, exhilarating and full that I will make this a writing only about sport, Take that and then on other TV and the Game of Thrones. Or the latter two vice versa!
Durham have beaten Lancs by an innings and 125 runs with yet another grand collapse by the opponents. There was a cold blustery wind on the first day which I attended in full, sitting in the Member’s balcony at one end. There was a good contingent of Lancs supporters on the balcony, including one man wearing a hat made of Red Roses. He explained that the reason home matches are being played in Liverpool for this season is not a dispute with ground developers but the decision that to turn the pitch around, but give they have been winning their games at Merseyside the inclination is to stay which in one sense would be more rational than the present situation given that Old Trafford is now a long way from the County Council boundary and is like Durham County being located in Newcastle rather than Durham.
Durham won the toss and for the second time this season asked the visitors to bat, a decision which did not please members given that the earlier decision did not go well and the game had to be saved as a draw and a similar decision the previous season led to the match being lost.
This occasion the decision appeared to have been a good one when two of the three openers were out with the score 9, one to Thorp and the other to Onions. Horton the other opener did exceptionally well but was eventually out to Ben Stoke who bowled him when six short of his century. With the third wicket going at 186 and the fourth at 148 whether the decision to put Lancs in to bat was in the balance. At 225 for seven it looked to have been a good one. The new batsmen appeared to be struggling against the spin of Borthwick who had taken a wicket bowling 4 overs for only 6 runs and Blackwell who had then taken two wickets. However the decision was made to take the new Ball and Proctor 45 and Chapple 46 held out adding 90 runs before Chapple went with the total 312. The remaining two wickets went cheaply and the innings closed at 313.
Durham needed to bat for the greater part of two days given and given that no play was not immediately possible on the second morning a draw looked the most likely result, This also seemed the position when Smith and Muchall were both out with the total 90 and then 94 after Di Venuto had gone for only 6 runs. It was then that Ben Stokes and former captain Benkenstein came together and added 331 runs, a record partnership. Ben obtain his second century of the season and his third overall making 185 before being bowled and with a total over 650 first class runs this season, an average of 65 plus taking a good number of wickets, he has attracted the eye of the selectors once more. Sadly he has broken a finger and damaged ligaments which will keep him out of the side for up to eight weeks. Benkenstein who has also been in the runs made 137 and Mustard 61 also in the runs helped the innings to close at 586, the third time in succession the team had achieved a large first innings score. Given that Lancs has won their previous five games a capitulation was not expected but Graham Onions and Thorpe achieved early success at 19, 30 and 69 before the fourth day of play ended. The following morning Chilton and Keedy batted defensively to a tight Durham attack which yielded few runs but the two were unable to keep up the rear guard action for the rest of the day and shortly after lunch they both went with the total only 94 after which there was no further resistance with the remaining five wickets falling at 106 109 116 139 and 148.
Ian Blackwell taking 7 wickets for 91 runs in the game with Claydon 4 for 82 and Onions 4 for 111. Young Borthwick had a match figure of 5 overs 3 maidens 1 wicket for 6 runs and continues to show great promise.
With getting maximum points for the last three games Durham are now 17 points ahead of Lancs which means that Lancs have to win their extra game to regain the leading position. The big surprise is that 2010 Champions Notts lost to struggling Worcester who won their first Division one game for many years.
True Bloods proved to be one of the best of the series todate although the subject was familiar territory namely that of a war veteran emotionally disturbed by a failure to save one of his men but nevertheless awarded because of his bravery in rescuing the rest of his unit, now living on the streets, in an alley near the back door of a night club which is used by three drunk young men from building firm organisation who have been attending an event in the club with others and who pick a fighter after seeing the veteran holding the medal. The former soldier is beaten to death, witnessed by another street inhabitant, a young women, recovering prostitute and drug addict, who then goes into hiding.
The case has significance for Danny because during his own tour of duty he was unable to go out on patrol one evening and was replaced by a nineteen year old who was shot dead and who when he is with his wife and children asks why he was so luck when the young man was not. Finding the killers becomes personal especially when the man who delivered the lethal blows turns out to be a rich kid and boss of the firm so that when the two others are caught they deny the involvement of the third, they or their families having been paid off as others appear to have been in the past for incidents involving violence.
Danny is able to arrest and charge after finding the girl and then clothing worn on the night dumped in a bin at the construction site and with the medal in one of the jacket pockets. The man has to be after the initial pick up for lack of evidence after the other two withdraw their identification of their companion and Danny at one point losses it as is saved from disciplinary action by two of his passing colleagues. In fact from Danny’s behaviour to date he should have been booted out long before. Such is the twisted morality and hypocrisy of the series, at times.
The Police commissioner also is faced with a moral dilemma when he finds that the Mayor through the press assistant has been suggesting the Commissioner is a glory hunter seeking to become Mayor himself. When Reagan confronts the Mayor he is given a lump it or go ultimatum, so Reagan bites his tongue to live to fight another day. There has been no further reference to death of the eldest son or the organisation within an organisation thought to have been responsible.
There is no such double standard operating in the world of the Sopranos. You act according to the rules of the tribe or out are out and within the tribe there are gradations of power.
Meadow Tony’s daughter holds a drinks’ party at Livia’s house and someone overdoses after ecstasy is introduced by a gatecrasher. The police pass the info Tony who removes his daughter home and there is argument with his wife over the extent of punishment given the age of the daughter and the legal prevention of physical restraint and the ability of a sixteen year old to leave home. The daughter realises the risk she had subjected herself and accepts the need for some punishment. Later after over hearing her parents defend her after Tony’s sister Janice finds out the condition of the house after the party with sick and urine and demands greater retribution having previously explained to Tony that the girl was seeking to establish her independence from her parents. At the end of the episode Tony goes to the property to meet up with a locksmith to change the locks only to find his daughter undertaking the cleaning which fills Tony with pride as he leaves her to it. Janice is also reconciled with Tony’s wife.
The main development in this episode is the arrival back into town of the brother of Jackie Aprile Ritchie after serving ten year term in prison. His first call is with his former partner who now operates three café bars having invested his share. He objects where Ritchie demands regular payments so Ritchie beats him up. Worse is to follow after Ritchie finds that the man has not presented himself at a welcome home party at which a number of former associates arrive to with payments to mark his return. He responds by driving his car into his former partner and then running over his legs leaving him severely injured and likely not to be able to walk again, the man’s wife demands that Tony has taken action. Tony has already reproached the man for his attitude and now gives him in effect a final warning.
Ritchie also visits Livia in Hospital in order to meet Janice with whom she he had a relationship before his imprisonment. He is seeking to get together with Janice who although stresses that she has changed and there is no going back is flattered by the intention and brings to Tony’s the flowers which were ostensibly for Livia.
The other development in this second season third episode is an encounter between Dr Melfi who is out easting and drinking one evening only to encounter Tony with his captains also in the restaurant. Instead of ignoring him having refused to take him back as a patient she makes small talk and say Toodle-00 on departure. Tony is embarrassed and pretends she is a former lover about which there is some crude joking. Later she discusses her reactions as some teenager with her support analyst and later still she has a dream in which Tony is driving, has a panic attack and attempts to take Prozac only to be hit by a lorry from behind causing him to be killed and thrust out over the bonnet. Dr Melfi sees this, in her dream before waking up and making a note.
I have watched two films, The Echelon Conspiracy and How to Train a Dragon. The Echelon Conspiracy was called the Gift but changed the title after the appearance of another film with the title of the Gift. The film includes some big names with Jonathan Pryce and Martin Sheen.
Shane West, played by Max Petersen is a top notch computer security engineer whose abilities include the ability to restore a computer after a major electrical failure as well as protecting it from digital attack. After the assignment is completed he receives the gift of a mobile phone which advises him to buy certain stock which has a sudden increase in value of 300% and then to bet at particular slot machines and then at the blackjack table winning huge amounts and alerting security. On his way back to his room he encounters what appears to be a girl having a physical row with her boyfriend and after intervening he is knocked out and we see his phone chip is copied. When he recovers the woman, Kamila (Tamara Feldman) is helping him. He suggests a drink and she says later.
Because of his gambling success and being observed with the mobile phone he is prevented from using it while in the gambling area of he hotel, so he contacts the Russian taxi driver who had given him hid card after mentioning that he too was also an electronic specialist as a hobby (of course) and he fixes up an ear piece to take messages from the switched off mobile phone. He increases his winning to 3 million euros from a slot machine but before he can claim his winnings he is pursued by the security and then falls into the hands of a FBI (CIA?) agent who interrogates him with violence threats about the phone.
The agent contacts Martin Sheen who appears to be the head of the National Space Authority in control of a monster satellite computer surveillance system which we later learn has access to every surveillance camera I operation throughout the world. We are led to believe that Max is the latest of several individuals who have received phones and made money from insider information and who are then killed; The suggestion is made is that the system has been comprised and needs to be upgraded something which the USA Congress has recently vetoed.
Max has met the Kamila for drinks and they have become lovers but he then finds that she is an FBI agent after an attempt is made to assassinate both of them. It at this point that he teams up with the Casino Security chief who is an ex FBI agent and they go to Russia to meet up with the Taxi driver well connected tech officer to find out who is sending the messages, and this turns out to be the computer system Echelon where Max was employed to provide its security system. At this point it becomes evident that Sheen as the NSA controller wants Max killed and the FBI agent and the Casino security chief join forces and take a military aircraft to Omaha Nebraska Max as received a request from the computer. It also found that the person on whose property the computer is established has also been killed and was responsible for sending Max the phone. It is only after the film that can work out some of moves and relationships. I note the Wikipedia notes have got the situation wrong which is rare. The first course from action for Max is to try and stop Echelon killing people by altering traffic light systems is one example I remember. He now finds that although Congress vetoed the expenditure for the upgrade the machine is upgrading itself and migrating to Alaska in the process. The purpose of the upgrade is to take have access and therefore take control of all digital technology. Sheen has sent forces to stop Max from interfering in this project. As the countdown to the upgrade and transfer moves to conclusion and as the forces arrives Max uses the same approach as was used in War Games to get the computer to work out what/who is the greatest risk to peace and eventually after a brainstorm the machine works out that it is the problem and shuts itself down. The adventurers who saved the world go off on a trip to Paris where Max is joined by Kamila and the NSA chief is off to appear before a Senate Intelligence Committee, although we know he claimed he had the approval of the President for what he was doing. In the final scene we discover that the taxi driver Yuri is in fact a Captain in the Russian security forces who is being rewarded for his recent services. Yuri comments that he is concerned that the Americans will attempt to start the machine up again but at least they had been helped to make the right decision for today. This suggests another film but the box office said differently
I was tempted to see the 3D version of How to train your Dragon after that it was highly regarded at the time of its release and went to receive several Oscar nominations as well as hatful in the animation industry awards. The film was shown as one of the week’s additions to Sky’s premier releases last week. The film was a financial success grossing half a billion over three times the original budget. The film is not suitable for the very young but having said this it is designed as a counter culture for those films advocating violence and macho toughguyness. The film is set on a mythical Viking Island inhabited by a wide range of colourful dragons that are regarded as the great enemy and children of both sexes are brought learning how to become dragon fighters and dragon killers. The problem is that killing creatures does not appeal to the son of the village chief Stoick the Vast. Hiccup, the name says it all, tries to design a machine which will bring down a dragon to prove his worth to his father who treats him with contempt.
One evening he believes he has hit a dragon flying over and goes out to search. The following day he finds the creature with a damaged tail which prevents flying. Given the opportunity kill the creature he finds that he cannot do so and gradually makes friends bringing the animal some food. He searches a book about dragons and work out how to provide a replacing tail wing to enable it to fly with the consequence he is able to fly with the creature. He keeps this secret from the rest of the village but uses information from the training of the creature to control the various small dragons used to help the young people in their training as dragon killers. The most successful of these will be given the honour of killing one of the capture dragons before the assembled village in the dragon arena.
On one of his flying missions he discovers that all the dragons on the Island are under the control of a super dragon that lives inside a great mountain and their function is to keep the creature supplied with food. They have no interest in attacking human other than in self defence. When he is attacked by another dragon his dragon comes to his aid and is captured by the village and against the pleas of Hiccup his father takes the dragon with the combined Viking force to locate the great mountain and the monster animal. The consequence is that the giant dragon become free and burns the Viking ships and generally threatens to kill the forces on the ground. They are saved by Hiccup and the other youngsters who have been quickly taught to also fly some sympathetic dragons and keep the monster busy until Hiccup is able to free Toothless. By some skilful and dangerous manoeuvres the two manage to get the monster to destroy itself but only with the result of Hiccup falling into the inferno created and Toothless trying to rescue him. The Viking chief finds the dragon badly injured and no sign of his son until the dragon reveals his boy injured but alive cradled within the wing of the creature. The picture ends with dragons and Vikings living in harmony and teenage Astrid and Hiccup becoming more than just good friends. Good fun for a family.
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