After the euphoria of yesterday I assumed Saturday would be an anti climax. I did this, and I did that, without much conviction, clear focus or intensity of being. There were no low moments, anxieties, or sadness, and then late in the day, after I had slept for a few moments and considered going to bed, I discovered that Ramon Gerardo Antonio Estevez was being shown Inside the Actors Studio, and I only needed a few seconds to recall the spiritual uplift which this man brings to anyone who cares to listen. You may know him as Martin Sheen.
You, if you are of sufficient years, may have encountered him first in 1970's in that film about the nature of life set in war, Catch 22, as 1st Lt Dobbs, and then as Kit Carruthers in Badlands, but his most famous film role was in 1979 in Apocalypse Now. He has appeared in over thirty major films and about 200 films of all kinds including documentaries predominantly for TV. For many of the later 20th century TV series generation, he is known as the President of the United States, Americans would loved him to have been, because of his role the West Wing 1999-2006.
Why is it that I regard the man as much as the actor, as one of the greats? It is because of a glowing spirit, the consequence of a traditional Catholic upbringing, of having entered into the abyss, then having a near death experience and then finding himself again and becoming a non violent activist, being arrested over fifty times, and having an understanding of heaven and hell which appears similar to mine.
His mother was Irish whose family fled to the USA because of their IRA connections, and his father was Spanish. He was part of a large family with eight brothers and one sister: one year younger than me. Despite parental opposition he borrowed money from a priest to go to New York to be the actor he wanted from an early age. His career commenced in the 1960's as I was going to college, whereas he decided against until in 2006 he enrolled in an Irish University to read literature, philosophy and theology. He is still protesting.
Late afternoon/early evening was devoted to football and to everyone's surprise Israel beat Russia and as a consequence England only have to draw against Croatia at Wembley to qualify after all. I suspect the media will have mixed views about this, sensing that had Russia won and then won its last match, the English Manager would have lost his job. There is no justice, it will be said in Scotland, because the heroic effort of their team came to an end in the first seconds of the match when they conceded a silly goal, and then as the second half progressed they equalised and had opportunities to win, only to lose in the dying seconds. Not many watching Scots will have been on the side of Israel and I expect there would have been a great cheer when after Russia equalised it looked as if they had scored a winner, only for the ball to go out after hitting the goal post. Shortly afterwards a piece of team brilliance and world class finishing sealed the victory for Israel, who also nearly had a third.
However the Scottish nation may be heading for a more profound victory. On Thursday evening I heard Andrew Neil, Diane Abbot and Michael Portillo discuss what would have been considered unthinkable, even treasonable, a decade ago, that in fact a democratic majority in Scotland could seek full political and economic independence and the significant aspect of the programme discussion was that this would not be the end of the world for England, and the rest of the UK, if this happened. If it does then my concern is that the North East would not be allowed to become part of Scotland despite the strongest of Celtic links.
In the build up to the game I reflected on the news of the past two days as a barometer of the state of these Islands. Talk of independent Scotland poses problems for the British Monarchy, as the Queen approaches her sixtieth year of reign, and given her Scottish connections and that her preference was of her mother to spend the Summer in the most northern areas of the mainland. One focus was the fact that Prince Harry is losing his hair quicker than his father, now that is news to rock the foundations of the Empire.
The Daily Mail is a good barometer of the political temperature of middle England, and appears enjoying exploiting to the maximum any government disaster although I do not share in the brutality of its assaults. Coming so soon after the debacle of seriously considering calling a general election when the motive could only have been party political or wanting to move away from manifesto commitments made by his predecessor, and with those words of inclusivity and transparency still ringing in our ears, came the news that the Home Secretary had agreed with her press office to delay disclosure that a significant number of illegal immigrants had been employed in the provision of physical security personnel to government. It is understandable that a new Minister does not want to sack officials for gross incompetence but that she could not see or understand that anything other than honest admission would be counterproductive is astonishing. The newspaper has also published a mischievous piece on Tony Blair about the impact of leaving power after ten years as prime Minister, going for his like of the trappings of wealth, and his difficulties with Gordon Brown, and attempting to suggest marital disharmony when on close reading it appears to be difficulties between the personalities managing their respective offices arising from the temporary situation as the office accommodation is being created. One of the next tests for the government is going to be the proposal to grant authority for suspected terrorists to be held in custody for more than 21 days. This smacks of Gordon trying to impose his authority and alas, if does, he will fail without the support of the Conservatives, and to start his premiership in this way would be terminal for him and for the political party.
What worries me is that at present we have more chance of being killed in a road accident, or by someone crazed from drink, drugs or lack of community mental health supervision and support, or if we are old or young, by a hospital based secondary infection, than by a terrorist. Hopefully this is because of the government led measures to prevent further atrocities but I would like to see greater effort to reduce drug taking and drunkenness on the streets, and on punishing those who fail to take all possible measures to reduce hospital based infections. If I drive a car and kill someone because I am not paying sufficient attention it may be judged to be manslaughter, and if I have not maintained the vehicle when its brakes needed fixing, of I was using my mobile phone, have excessive alcohol or have drugs in my system then the rule is that I will go to prison. If I am in charge of a hospital where not one but dozens of patients die because of secondary infection and it can be shown that I did not do all that was possible to change the position, then I should also go to prison, or at least have the matter tested in court. I do not understand why this is not happening.
You, if you are of sufficient years, may have encountered him first in 1970's in that film about the nature of life set in war, Catch 22, as 1st Lt Dobbs, and then as Kit Carruthers in Badlands, but his most famous film role was in 1979 in Apocalypse Now. He has appeared in over thirty major films and about 200 films of all kinds including documentaries predominantly for TV. For many of the later 20th century TV series generation, he is known as the President of the United States, Americans would loved him to have been, because of his role the West Wing 1999-2006.
Why is it that I regard the man as much as the actor, as one of the greats? It is because of a glowing spirit, the consequence of a traditional Catholic upbringing, of having entered into the abyss, then having a near death experience and then finding himself again and becoming a non violent activist, being arrested over fifty times, and having an understanding of heaven and hell which appears similar to mine.
His mother was Irish whose family fled to the USA because of their IRA connections, and his father was Spanish. He was part of a large family with eight brothers and one sister: one year younger than me. Despite parental opposition he borrowed money from a priest to go to New York to be the actor he wanted from an early age. His career commenced in the 1960's as I was going to college, whereas he decided against until in 2006 he enrolled in an Irish University to read literature, philosophy and theology. He is still protesting.
Late afternoon/early evening was devoted to football and to everyone's surprise Israel beat Russia and as a consequence England only have to draw against Croatia at Wembley to qualify after all. I suspect the media will have mixed views about this, sensing that had Russia won and then won its last match, the English Manager would have lost his job. There is no justice, it will be said in Scotland, because the heroic effort of their team came to an end in the first seconds of the match when they conceded a silly goal, and then as the second half progressed they equalised and had opportunities to win, only to lose in the dying seconds. Not many watching Scots will have been on the side of Israel and I expect there would have been a great cheer when after Russia equalised it looked as if they had scored a winner, only for the ball to go out after hitting the goal post. Shortly afterwards a piece of team brilliance and world class finishing sealed the victory for Israel, who also nearly had a third.
However the Scottish nation may be heading for a more profound victory. On Thursday evening I heard Andrew Neil, Diane Abbot and Michael Portillo discuss what would have been considered unthinkable, even treasonable, a decade ago, that in fact a democratic majority in Scotland could seek full political and economic independence and the significant aspect of the programme discussion was that this would not be the end of the world for England, and the rest of the UK, if this happened. If it does then my concern is that the North East would not be allowed to become part of Scotland despite the strongest of Celtic links.
In the build up to the game I reflected on the news of the past two days as a barometer of the state of these Islands. Talk of independent Scotland poses problems for the British Monarchy, as the Queen approaches her sixtieth year of reign, and given her Scottish connections and that her preference was of her mother to spend the Summer in the most northern areas of the mainland. One focus was the fact that Prince Harry is losing his hair quicker than his father, now that is news to rock the foundations of the Empire.
The Daily Mail is a good barometer of the political temperature of middle England, and appears enjoying exploiting to the maximum any government disaster although I do not share in the brutality of its assaults. Coming so soon after the debacle of seriously considering calling a general election when the motive could only have been party political or wanting to move away from manifesto commitments made by his predecessor, and with those words of inclusivity and transparency still ringing in our ears, came the news that the Home Secretary had agreed with her press office to delay disclosure that a significant number of illegal immigrants had been employed in the provision of physical security personnel to government. It is understandable that a new Minister does not want to sack officials for gross incompetence but that she could not see or understand that anything other than honest admission would be counterproductive is astonishing. The newspaper has also published a mischievous piece on Tony Blair about the impact of leaving power after ten years as prime Minister, going for his like of the trappings of wealth, and his difficulties with Gordon Brown, and attempting to suggest marital disharmony when on close reading it appears to be difficulties between the personalities managing their respective offices arising from the temporary situation as the office accommodation is being created. One of the next tests for the government is going to be the proposal to grant authority for suspected terrorists to be held in custody for more than 21 days. This smacks of Gordon trying to impose his authority and alas, if does, he will fail without the support of the Conservatives, and to start his premiership in this way would be terminal for him and for the political party.
What worries me is that at present we have more chance of being killed in a road accident, or by someone crazed from drink, drugs or lack of community mental health supervision and support, or if we are old or young, by a hospital based secondary infection, than by a terrorist. Hopefully this is because of the government led measures to prevent further atrocities but I would like to see greater effort to reduce drug taking and drunkenness on the streets, and on punishing those who fail to take all possible measures to reduce hospital based infections. If I drive a car and kill someone because I am not paying sufficient attention it may be judged to be manslaughter, and if I have not maintained the vehicle when its brakes needed fixing, of I was using my mobile phone, have excessive alcohol or have drugs in my system then the rule is that I will go to prison. If I am in charge of a hospital where not one but dozens of patients die because of secondary infection and it can be shown that I did not do all that was possible to change the position, then I should also go to prison, or at least have the matter tested in court. I do not understand why this is not happening.
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