Is sport news? Follow the money

IIt's a strange irony that a sport with several national champions, an olympic champion and a world champion doesn't make the UK news, when a sport with no champions at all is all over the place!

of course I'm referring to the women's Tour of Britain bike race and the er...premiership football. im a great fan of cycling and I know that it has risen massively in the ranks of spectator sports over the past few years. There was indeed histeria whaen the Tour de France started here in England, followed by similar hysteria over our Olympic efforts. sadly it seems to go unnoticed by our UK media when these poor underpaid waifs who have trained themselves down to a wafer in order to compete hit the road. Under paid and under recognised, in fact it took a silver surfer in a mobility scooter [LINK] kamikazeing across in front of the race to get it in the news at all. Staggeringly my attention was drawn to our Britain is Great PR campaign [LINK] orecently, said to bring in £500 million to the good old GB. Did I miss something the most recent advert they could think of in sporting terms was tired old Bertie (David) Beckham the has been footballer. Meanwhile our symbol of Olympic greatness Lizzie Armitstead

was grimacing her way through the torrents of rain to try and steal the Tour from the eventually triumphant Dutch world champ, Marianne Vos. What more modern, athletic and technological combination could you possible think of than a cyclist and her bikes. Wake up GB, if you want to be seen as in the forefront of greatness get your champions on the news and promote them across the globe.

Cold War is not over! Did it ever end? A Grudge...

One should never carry a grudge because it will eat away at you and you will never be free of it. Suffice to say I have not succeeded in following this adage. So Simon Murden, yes even after all this time I remember your name, here it is. I believed I was right then and I still believe it now the Cold War never ended! I was in the final year of my first degree, undergraduate International Relations at University of Plymouth. I was quite cocky, I had never scored less than 68 in an essay and was expecting a first. There was unfortunately a staff reshuffle and I locked horns with a new lecturer. During lectures we politely sparred, or so I thought. It was there that I posited my theory that although historians had written of the end of the Cold War I did not believe it. He knew more than me of course and laughed off my rationale but in my essays he marked me down. And humiliatingly not on what I had written but on my presentation.  None of my lecturers ever questioned or used presentation as a reason to criticise my work during my entire degree. I missed a first by 2 per cent this led me to attend UCL and achieve my masters in Russian Studies. So why do I believe the Cold War never ended and what evidence do I put forward?
Well firstly, Russia still has nuclear weapons in a state of readiness.

This is a fact little mentioned in modern reporting.  Secondly, the psychological struggle over Russia's energy grip on Europe, versus the West's economic stranglehold on Russia has never diminished. Thirdly, Russia has never fully integrated into the 'European' family of clubs , Council of Europe, NATO, etc. Last but not least the other more sinister element of the psychological 'Cold War', espionage is alive and well. If anything it is worse than ever before. See: US Spies Russian Spies

Putin is pushing the West incessantly over the Ukrainian situation. So far the 'faux' response from NATO has had little effect on Russia, they continue to push and they continue to test. What exactly is our response, well similar to the Cold War period, brinksmanship and games. Limited sanctions that have little or no effect, political intervention again with little effect and military posturing. Well look out Europe, Putin is not running scared, you're going to have to do better than that! The Cold War is not over - watch this space! Well Simon?

Climate Change - I'm a believer! (Infographic)

I'm a climate change believer but even if you aren't you will still appreciate the beauty in the way that this infographic presents complex information.
Dr Stahl-Timmins from the University of Exeter Medical School has used the latest Climate Change report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change to produce an infographic to coincide with the report. It helps readers navigate the complexity of information presented. Check out the link here:

http://www.ecehh.org/news/ipcc-climate-change-graphic/

Whatever happened to the music that changed your life?

Following the sad death of my childhood hero I’m reflecting on the picture in front of me. It's 12 inches square, bright orange background that looks like clouds on fire. Mapped against it is a head and shoulders. A sharp nosed redheaded figure facing the right edge. Nattily dressed in graphite grey hooded coat. It’s a stunning image and it’s on the cover of a seminal album for me, Low by David Bowie.

"Low profile" that was the pun intended by Bowie on the cover. For me a teenager at the time, the screenshot taken from the epic ‘Man who fell to Earth” (Link) was too striking to avoid. 

Not that I wanted to avoid it. I had avidly collected all the other Bowie LPs and their stunning iconic images adorn my walls to this day. 

Low was somehow different and it resonated with me in so many ways. Partially recorded in Berlin, according to legend the first of Bowie’s 'Berlin Trilogy', it caught the Cold War mood and emotion perfectly. Don’t forget in the West the USSR and the fear of nuclear attack terrified us. The electronic hard edge of Bowie’s music somehow reflected that fear. 

As a teenager I obsessed about nuclear attack and the space race between, in my opinion, the dominant USA and the belligerent USSR (2 years after Low they invaded Afghanistan). Like many others I rushed to collect and find likeminded authors and musicians that reinforced my world view.

 Space and mutually assured destruction filled my daydreams, along with the other more pressing needs that fill the minds of teenagers. Bowie’s lyrical excellence punctuated by the superb musicianship of Ricky Gardiner and others was awesome. Many myths arose around this album especially around the drum sound, which we now know was aided by an Eventide Harmoniser. Not to mention The electronic genius of Brian Eno, sporting an AKS synth that back in 1977 we’d have killed to get our hands on. Low inspired me too. It led me to rush out and form an electronica band, The Bermuda Triangle. Aptly we disappeared almost as quickly as things that enter that zone and for many so did Low.

In 77 Low was not at all popular, but retrospectively my awe at this album and it’s unique production has evolved to be a popular view. The lack of critical acclaim was surprising and did nothing to hold back the Bowie legend. Competing at the time with Roxy Music and influencing many many others such as Talking Heads, he continued apace. In 2003, the album was ranked number 249 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. In my opinion completely justified. Let me know what you think, perhaps you have a seminal album you want to share with me?

Today is the first day of the rest of my.....

Why have I decided to blog? Well because I need a place to post my thoughts on the great issues, developments and problems of the day. Also I sometimes need a place where I can just rant either in a positive way or sometimes a negative one. Forexample the disappearance of flight M370. Is it just me or are the mass mediafuelling a circus that is demanding daily updates? When in fact so far, there is no evidence to present that leads to a conclusion about what happened to the plane. Well more on that later, I’m a bikie, guitar player, tech loving, happy geek. On these pages I’m going to bare my soul on these and many other subjects. I hope you enjoy it, I’m sure you’ll let me know.