The changes moved in swiftly and without much warning. Its safe to say that I have been able to witness three major events (one football related) in about the span of the week. The first was the introduction of the new Prime Minister Gordon Brown. I really didnt hear much about this in the news. Granted I dont watch tv, but I do try to keep up with the newspapers. However the papers that are most common to find (The Sun and The Daily Mirror) read more like tabloids than credible news sources. The Sun and Daily Mirror will have half the paper dedicated to the current events of celebrities and Big Brother (the reality series), another quarter for the sports, and the last quarter is for whatever they forgot to mention. Like maybe a page or two for the newly elected PM. I am not sure if the UK is as apathetic as the US when it comes to politics, but from what I've seen it somewhat appears that way. Interestingly enough, Brown is Scottish. I never thought that the English would let a Scot rule over the UK but thats just me.
Secondly, the smoking ban finally went into effect and it is glorious. Since being over here I have realized that I took the Massachusetts smoking ban for granted. In the month or so that I have lived here, the second-hand smoke may have taken about a year or so off my life. Or at least thats what it feels like. You couldnt go anywhere without walk into smoke billowing out of someone elses mouth. The worst places for this was at a small pub. Everyone smoked and there was poor, if any, ventilation. So the smoke just hovered over us like LA smog. Needless to say, I am much happier now that the ban has been imposed. I am interested to see how this plays out because from what I've heard, many bars/pubs are worried that they are going to lose customers because they can no longer smoke indoors. So I would like to see how strict they actually are when it comes to enforcing this ban.
In the grand scheme of things, this may not seem very big......aw hell who am I kidding. Arguably the best striker in the beloved game of football, Thierry Henry, left his club to join the greatest team in the world. Henry was unsure of his future at Arsenal (in North London) and therefore the move was made to send him to Barcelona for 16 million pounds (32+ mil USD), which already features the likes of Ronaldinho, Messi, Xavi, Eto'o, and Carles Puyol. For those of you keeping score at home, that would be like MJ leaving the Bulls, to join the Dream Team on a permanent basis (if they were a professional team). It could be argued that no player meant more to his club than Henry to Arsenal. He turned that team into an English powerhouse and they were always in the running in European competitions. Arsenal was never out of a game when Henry was in the lineup. He is a prolific scorer and his statlines/highlights reflect that. He garnered great respect throughout this little North Atlantic Island, regardless of whether or not people liked Arsenal. With that being said, as much as I respect Thierry Henry, I couldnt be happier that Arsenal lost the best player in their history for almost pennies on the dollar. Last year it was rumored that he would leave Arsenal for 32 million pounds. Dean from work on the other hand (the Arsenal fan) has been placed on suicide watch level 6.
Barcelona has no excuse to not win every title under the sun next season.
Play On:
+ Took a quick trip up to Chelmsford last Thursday and witnessed my first cricket match. I had seen some on TV at work, as some of the guys intently follow the sport. How they follow 5 day Test matches is beyond me. Proper cricket is a 5 day event and it takes so long during the day that the teams get breaks for lunch. Tell me, what sport allows you to take a lunch break?? Anyways, what I saw wasnt proper cricket, its a variation called Twenty20. Its as close to baseball as cricket will get. It is more offensive as teams have a set limit of overs they can hit. An over is 6 bowls (pitches) so they have only 120 bowls to hit. It was pretty entertaining as it came down to wire. The Essex Eagles (the home team) were able to overcome sloppy defense and beat the Surrey Brown Caps. I found my attention wandering at some points, but for the most part it was engaging. The field is a giant circle, so theres no large stands to sit in, but it didnt ruin the atmosphere. The fans were really into it, and I was in a particularly humorous section. It wouldnt be that far removed from going to a packed minor league baseball game. It had a similar vibe. Also, it was here that I saw a sight I never thought I would ever see…my beloved Carlsberg in PLASTIC bottles. It thought it was downright sacrilegious. They were having problems with the kegs and so they had to resort to the plastic bottles I guess. As appalled as I was, that didnt stop me from drinking it. Perhaps the best thing I witnessed all night was a converted coke dispenser that was modified to dispense umbrellas. The Rainbro dispenser. Only in the UK.
+ I finally got to meet some of the players and they are not as physically imposing as I thought they would have been. I was shocked to see how small FIFA 07 scapegoat Jamal Campbell-Ryce was. But I’m sure he could beat me in a footrace with a plastic hip and crutches.
+ Other football related news, Tottenham Hotspur, a Ref favorite, signed striker Darren Bent from Charlton. Under most circumstances this would have been a great signing. However, THEY PAID 16.5 MILLION POUNDS FOR HIM! Put it this way, Thierry Henry, one of the greatest of all-time went for a half a million pounds less than he did. I dont understand it. Bent isnt and will never be anywhere near the class of Henry. To make things worse, one of the Ref’s favorite Spurs players, Jermain Defoe is most likely going to get shipped off to another team. Bad news all around.
+ Chelsea released its new away kit and I couldnt be more excited for this jersey. I havent purchased one yet, but its high up on the pecking order thats for sure. Im not going to post a picture up because I plan on doing a post on the new jerseys. But if you are curious to see just how extreme these jerseys are, just poke around on Google. You wont be disappointed.
+ I went up to Rayleigh (which is in the northern part of Southend) for the first time to meet up with Dean and company for a few drinks. This was right after the breaking news of Thierry Henry’s move and so I tried to get a rise out of Dean. He was not having any of it. I got the hint. In this country, it goes Faith, Family, Football and then everything else.
+ I also met up with Dean and some of his friends to finally play some ‘competitive’ football. It wasnt proper football, his friends had all pitched in to buy a portable net. So having only one net they played a game called ‘Wimbledon’ which was basically like half-court soccer, two teams and one impartial goalie. It was a lot of fun and it was good to get some exercise. And believe it or not, I held my own. Hopefully there will more of that to come.
Weird Car of the Week:
The Fiat Multipla:
It was only a matter of time before I featured a Fiat.
This car/van/spaceship is just absolutely hideous. The lip that connects the hood to the front windshield is completely unnecessary. In addition to this, there is more window space in this car than anything I’ve ever seen before. You better think twice about what youre doing inside your car because anyone within a mile radius of you can see you inside your car clear as day. I suppose on the plus side there are very few blind spots in this gem of an automobile.
+ Look up and listen to the song ‘The Girls’ by Calvin Harris. If this song isnt already popular in the US, it will be. I cant go anywhere without hearing this song. So when you hear it on the radio for the 19034th time in one day, I want you to think of me.
Alright I promise I will take pictures of the stadium and post them, I have really been meaning to do that I swear.
My new favorite hobby is watching the big ocean liners make their way up the River Thames. For some reason I find them absolutely captivating. I find myself stopping what I’m doing to just watch some go pass on by. I think it has something to do with growing up watch the boats pass through the locks in Seattle. Either way, its a great way to pass the time.
