daveydave

I know I've mentioned unsporting behaviour by a certain Monsieur Henry in an earlier post - and I certainly stand by that - but I have to say I am absolutely delighted to see Portugal dumped out of these finals by France. You could jump to the conclusion that this is simply because they beat England in the quarter finals, but I can assure you this is not the case. I am happy to admit defeat when we are fairly outplayed - see earlier post covering the England v Sri Lanka cricket international . There are actually two reasons I go for France over Portugal. Firstly, when he's on form, I just love watching Zidane: he's a wonderful player, sickeningly skillful and a joy to behold. Secondly, and probably the main reason I am so happy to see Portugal lose, is the manner in which they play. What was heartening however, was hearing the crowds reaction to certain players. I'm not usually a fan of such behaviour, but I think we have the situation where the fans have seen quite en...

Despite the best efforts of Blatter and his FIFA cronies to turn football into a dull, no-contact sport, I am happy to report that the beautiful game is alive and well. Much has been made of play-acting and bad sportsmanship over the course of these finals, Henry's face-cluthing display against Spain being a prime example. However, the game tonight was played, by both sides, with passion and commitment. There was no rolling around on the floor for no good reason, diving head-first into the penalty area if breathed on, and so on. Instead, we had handshakes and a quite fantastic spirit about the game. The result? A truly remarkable game of football. Easily the best 120 minutes I have seen during this year's World Cup finals. Both teams were an absolute credit to the game and their countries. I have to say the brilliant performance of the Mexican referee played a part in this. He let a number of firm but fair challenges go throughout the game that free-kicks would have been awarde...

I am a bit of a fan of Japanese films as you may have noticed. This most certainly includes the animated variety. Ghost in the Shell is 11 years old now, but what a fine Anime. Exploring the question of what make us human, this is an interesting and most enjoyable film. Set only 23 or so years in the future, we see a world inhabited by cyborgs: humans who have had varying amounts of their bodies replaced by machinery. Human spirit/soul, call it what you will, living in a mechanical box - the ghost in the shell - at what stage do we stop being human? This film follows a character who has become mainly machine, and a piece of software that now has human form. The questions of humanity come to the fore. What happens when you die? How do you produce offspring that are not simply carbon copies, but different from the parents - how to be more human. A fascinating watch.