GAME WELL AND TRULY OVER

England's #1 Goalkeeper?

Pop quiz hotshot. Who should be England's #1 in South Africa next year?

David James? No
Ben Foster? No
Robert Green? No
Chris Kirkland? No
Scott Carson? No

Then who? I'll tell you who.

Brian Jensen. "But he's Danish" I hear you cry...

But he made his debut for West Brom on March 7, 2000. Surely he's been in the UK long enough. He has to be eligible.

Listen, I have nothing against any of those keepers listed above, but can you name a World Cup winning team without a world class goalkeeper? Ok, maybe Brazil '70 (Sorry, Felix), but otherwise? No, I didn't think so. And yes, Barthez was world class back in 1998.

I'm happy to say that I'm not the only one who noticed this. There is a Facebook group with 169 members rallying for the same thing. So come on Fabio! The time is now!

Quote from Sam Selvon's "The Lonely Londoners"

"Things does have a way of fixing themselves, whether you worry or not. If you hustle, it will happen, if you don't hustle, it will still happen. Everybody living to dead, no matter what they doing while they living, in the end everybody dead."

Brilliant.

Annie Leibovitz - A Photographer's Life 1990-2005

I went to the Annie Leibovitz phototgraphy exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery on Saturday. I was really excited about going, and even though I thought the £12 admission fee was a little steep, I'd say it was just about worth the price.

There were many of the photos I expected to see: the shots of the Queen that caused all the controversy. The Demi Moore Vanity Fair photo. Peppered in between these were personal snapshots of her family and her friends. The very last photo in the collection was taken just minutes after her partner, Susan Sontag, passed away. It was uncomfortable, invasive, and captivating viewing.

Also noteworthy, (though probably only to me), there was a photo of Barack Obama in his office (well, his pre-oval office) with the SAME poster of Muhammad Ali on his wall that I had in my bedroom at home in my late teens. Actually, I think it's still up. This isn't the photo, but it is the poster! And I'm aware that everyone and their mother has that poster, but don't burst my bubble.

I'm not sure why the exhibition was limited to her photos from 1990 onwards. The most notable omission was the John Lennon and Yoko Ono photo shot only five hours before he was killed. She also shot many other Rolling Stone covers that I would have liked to see (though some were better than others).

The exhibition runs until February 1, 2009

Monday morning tube story

I thought the whiteboard at the tube station this morning read "Oi December" but it was actually 01 December. That would make more sense...

London Musings

I got on the tube this morning and noticed a glove on the ground. Then, I noticed another (the other) glove about 4 feet away. A man got on at the next stop. He stood next to me (the only space available). He pulled out his iPod nano, changed songs, then stuck it back in his pocket. At the next stop, he started walking out, stopped, picked up one glove, picked up the other, then left the train.

Does anyone else find this really strange?

I've started to see Starbucks red coffee cups around. I've yet to hear a Christmas Carol. Consumerism? Or do I just not listen to the radio enough?

Antigone's World

Friday's Wall Street Journal featured an interview with Derek Walcott about his new opera, "Burial at Thebes." (here).

True Story

LONDON - Capital Radio is undergoing its second rebrand in under a year, changing from Capital 95.8 "London's Hit Music Station" to 95.8 Capital FM "London's Number 1 Hit Music Station".

I wonder how many meetings and manhours went into that decision.

The Economist on the street

I just read that The Economist is going to start employing street vendors to sell their magazine at certain locations in London tomorrow. I noticed that The Times started doing this a few weeks ago in the morning outside my tube station. The vendor in question sits under an Times-branded umbrella.

I can't really gauge the success of the Times' street vendor venture, but I've yet to see anyone buy a copy. I certainly never have. It could be because I'm still half asleep, or because the free "Metro" newspaper is a readily available alternative, but I always head straight for the tube. To further illustrate the situation, I made the diagram below.

We'll see if there's an Economist umbrella in the mix tomorrow.

Tate Britain

I really enjoyed my trip to the Tate Britain. My art knowledge is severely lacking, but even I could appreciate an original Monet, not least of all Monet's Water Lilies which adorns many a wall in poster form.

The most interesting piece was Martin Creed's "Work No. 850." I read about it a few months ago and thought to myself "it can't just be someone sprinting down a corridor every minute or so, can it?" And the answer is, yes. It can. I stood around for a while and watched it. The Telegraph quotes Mr. Creed:

"Running is an example of not standing still. I like running. I like seeing people run and I like running myself. Running is the opposite of being still. If you think about death as being completely still and movement a sign of life, then the fastest movement possible is the biggest sign of life. So running fast is like the exact opposite of death - it's an example of aliveness"

Right.

Photography wasn't allowed in the Tate Britain, so I had to be quiet. And quick. And blurry.

Music in the morning

I'd estimate that one in three people have headphones in their ears on the tube every morning. And every once in while, the train stops in a tunnel for a few minutes, and it's dead silent. Silent enough that you can hear the music coming out of the headphones of the person next you.

And this morning, I heard it. That familiar bass line. That familar refrain. It was. It had to be. It could only be.

The thong song.

Honest to God. It was a woman dressed in a business suit with a stern expression. It was all an act, because in her mind, she couldn't get enough of the musical prodigy that is Sysqo.