1. Raising the Arms;
2. Opening the Chest;
3. Painting a Rainbow;
4. Separating the Clouds;
5. Rolling the Arms in a Horse-riding Stance;
6. Rowing a Boat in the Middle of a Lake;
7. Carry Ball in Front of the Shoulders;
8. Looking at the Moon;
9. Pushing with the Palms;
10. Cloud Hands in a Horse-riding Stance
I finished a book today. It was ‘The White Tiger‘ by Aravind Adiga. It was brilliant. I finished this book in record time – about 2 weeks (and I am a slow reader). It is an amusing and revealing story of an Indian man and how the suffocating caste system dictates his life opportunities. The vehicle for the story is a letter written by the protagonist (an uneducated ‘entrepreneur’) to the Premier of China outlining his life story so that the Chinese can learn how to develop entrepreneurs in their own country.
I won’t spoil the story for anyone hoping to read it. I highly recommend it. And if that’s not enough to twist your arm, it won the ‘Man Booker 2008′ too!
I also recommend the book I finished 2 weeks ago – Dreams from my Father by Barack Obama. In short, it’s an autobiography up until he was 30ish. It is a written in a touching, insightful voice and includes a story that encompasses growing up in numerous coutries, coming to terms with a complex racial background, developing a relationship with an absent father, and starting out as a community organiser in Chicago.
Now that the summer is here, I’ve hung up the badminton racket and picked up the tennis. I’ve rejoined rustlings lawn tennis club which is just behind the Nursery Tavern on Ecclesall Road.
I’ve played a few games now and am hitting the ball better than I ever have before. There are some kindly members of the club who’ve been nice enough to point out some areas that I could change, and given me some tips. I’m now developing a backhand that, rather than being a weakness to be targetted, is becoming a bit a weapon. 
I recently bought a house in Sheffield. It rocks. The following are good things about it:
The following are bad things about it:
“We must use time wisely and forever realise that the time is always ripe to do right.”
Nelson Mendela
The Boss Of It All (Dir. Lars von Trier | Denmark | 2006 | 1hr 39mins | Subtitled) ****
I went to see this film with Cat down at the Showroom today. The director is of ‘Dancer in the Dark’, ‘Dogville’ and ‘Manderlay’ fame. However, I’ve not seen any of these yet.
This was the best film I’ve seen in ages – it seemed to only last 10 minutes.
The story involves a company director who, not wanting to present himself as anything other than a cuddly teddy bear, blames all tough decisions on a fictitious ‘Boss of It All’. However, the plot thickens when it becomes necessary for this character to appear in person. At this point the film’s protagonist, an actor, is hired to play the role of ‘The Boss Of It All’. This is not as easy as it may seem as the character has been imbued with quite a complex fictional past, and the team of workers are an idiosyncratic bunch.
The script and characters are hilarious, acting spot-on and directing intelligent and choppy.
Go see this film
This was my second year at the All England Badminton Championships in Birmingham, UK. This time, with a fellow Broomgrove player, Rajio, I did not limit myself to just one day of action, but two.
The Championships were fantastic this year in part because of the range of nations which were represented. Where in 2007, China seemed to dominate in most categories, in 2008, this was not the case. The men’s final comprised of 2 Korean pairs, and the Ladies’ singles was won by a European (from Denmark)…apparently this is the first European victory for 7 years!
If I may summarise the 3 highlights of the trip for me…
The first has to be seeing Gao Ling (and her partner Zheng Bo – see right) in the mixed doubles. It is difficult to put into words what I enjoy about her game, but two points come to mind. First of all, she seems to play and move very naturally, covering the court with ease. Then, all of a sudden, she can explode into a devastating attack. Awesome to watch; terrifying to play against. The second reason is that she plays in a traditional mixed position, returning (and dominating) the net whenever possible. Because this system is most similar my own, I can learn so much – positioning, timing, shot choice etc. It would also be dishonest of me if I didn’t note that I do not find her altogether displeasing to the eye!
A second highlight was watching the ultimate all round singles player of his generation, the genius that is Lin Dan (see left). You know, sometimes when I play social badminton, I will knock up with beginner/lower intermediate players, and push them to their limits. I’ll run them from corner to corner, and enjoy practising my shots while I’m at it. However, at the back of my mind, I know that at any time, I can choose to up my game at win the point. This is the same feeling that I sense in Lin Dan; the only difference is that I’m playing against novices while he’s playing against the 2nd, 3rd and 4th best players in the WORLD! A true badminton God. Hats off!
The third highlight of the trip was the company. I could not have had a better travel buddy for the 2 days than Rajio. His steady and thoughtful outlook on life was a joy to engage with (…however, how steady he would claim this to be might have altered after we had managed to taste more than half of the hotel’s whiskeys ). On the Friday, we also managed to meet up with Gerry, who, having been at the tournament all week, was able to fill us in on the form of the players (and try to sell us his programme which Lin Dan had ‘allegedly’ autographed 
). Then on the Saturday, I had the good fortune to spend some time with my Combined Team compadres – Peter and Cray.
Bring on the All England 2009!
I have recently updated the Broomgrove Badminton Club website It is now possible to comment on each of the updates. Doesn’t get much more exciting than that!
This past weekend I went to a festival in Cumbria. With Cat, Tom and Harry, I enjoyed some great weather, some very hot saunas and a lot of good music. There were two musical highlights for me. The first was the Levellers, who had a a Bez-like bekilted crazy didgeridoo playing guest band member who leaped and flying kicked his way across the stage whilst engaging the band members in faux sword fights – them using their various instruments as weapons. Awesome!
The second was Eat Static. These guys played some really great trance-techno, which brought me back a few years. On Saturday night I found myself dancing underneath the largest sombrero you have ever seen, supping Jamesons from a hip flask and meeting some lovely folk.
Most of the Festivals I’ve attended in the past have been in the south – down in the Somerset region – and so have been primarily frequented by southern folk. It was interesting to feel in the linguistic minority in terms of accent. Ordinarily I would pick people up when mispronouncing grass, or dance. However, this helpful advice seemed to fall on deaf ears and even provoke some hostile reactions – do these people not want to be improved? 
I will upload a few photos in the next few days.
I often begin the day feeling a little low on energy – and find relatively simple challenges insurmountable. One method of kick-starting my day that I have found useful is the The Velten Mood induction procedure. This consists of reading a series of statements which express a neutral outlook and get progressively more and more positive (there is a list that also gets more and more negative should you find yourself feeling too happy and motivated!). Check out idiolect for Tom’s write up.
After reading through a series of statements in the positive Velten, I leap into projects energetically that moments before seemed daunting.
I find it interesting how easy it is to manage one’s attitude and outlook. My mind, it seems, is most malleable! Does it work for you?
I changed the layout to incorporate the photo header at the top. It’s an image that Cat found on the internet. The photo is taken from the top of Meersbrook Park and looks over Sheffield.
For those Sheffieldites, there are a few landmarks that can be clearly spotted such as the arts tower and the Hallamshire hospital. The new(ish) mosque in Sharrow can be seen easily just right of centre.
What strikes me most about the area in the picture is how green this side of Sheffield is.
“Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways – Chardonnay in one hand – chocolate in the other – body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming, “WOO HOO, What a Ride!”
George Brandt
This is a nice (if a little cheesy) story a friend sent me to remind me to make the most of every moment in life. I hope you enjoy it!
A little girl had been shopping with her Mum in Checkers. She must have been 6 years old, this beautiful red haired, freckled face picture of innocence. It was pouring outside, the kind of rain that gushes over the top of rain gutters, so much in a hurry to hit the ground it has no time to flow down the spout.
We all stood there, some patiently, others irritated because nature messed up their hurried lives. I am always mesmerised by rainfall. I got lost in the sight and sound of the heavens washing away the dust and dirt of the world. Memories of running, splashing so carefree as a child came pouring in as a welcome reprieve from the worries of the day.
The little voice was so sweet as it broke the hypnotic trance we were all caught in. “Mum, let’s run through the rain.” she said.
“What ? ” Mum asked“Let’s run through the rain! ” she repeated
“No, honey we’ll wait till it eases down a bit.” Mum replied
The little girl waited for a minute and then repeated “Please, let’s run through the rain. “
“We’ll get soaked. ” Mum said
“No we won’t Mum, that’s what you said this morning. ” the young girl said as she tugged at her Mum’s arm.
“This morning? When did I say we could run through the rain and not get wet ?”
“Don’t you remember? When you were talking to Daddy about his cancer you said if God can get us through this he can get us through anything.”The entire crowd dropped dead silent, all you could hear was the rain. We all stood silently, no one came or left for a few minutes.
Mum paused and thought what she should say. Now some would laugh it off and scold her for being silly. But this was a moment of affirmation in a young child’s life. A time when innocent trust can be nurtured so it will bloom into faith.
“Honey, you are absolutely right. Let’s run through the rain, if God lets us get wet then maybe we need washing! ” Mum said.
Then off they ran. We all stood watching, smiling and laughing as they darted past the cars and, yes, through the puddles. They held their shopping bags over their heads just in case. They got soaked but were followed by a few who screamed and laughed like children as they ran to their cars.
And yes, I did. I ran, I needed washing.
With only 4 days to go before smoking in enclosed public places becomes illegal, I have decided to join the ranks of the non-smokers. In order to successfully mount a serious campaign against the wily wants my tobacco addiction, I have succumbed to the following -
I’m interested in the expectations that Chinese students arrive at English Universities. I’m particularly interested in how these expectations colour their perceptions of the classroom environment. One theory is that each culture is socialized into a different ‘culture of learning’ – where they become familiar with, and expert in (at least the good students will) the teaching methods and techniques particular to their country/region. What then is the Chinese Learning Culture?
I’m also interested in how Chinese students acculturate when they arrive. In my experience, the Chinese students tend not to integrate so well with students from Britain or from other nationalities. Is this due to cultural differences? Is the gap too wide? Is it simply because we do not have the same interests/sense of humour?
These, broadly, are the areas I hope to be researching in my dissertation. If interested, watch this space.
I am currently reading up on the loss of languages around the world, and it turns out we are losing them at quite a rate. It’s estimated that there are currently 6000 languages in the world today, but at the current rate, there will only be 600 by the end of the century. That’s a huge decrease in such a short period.
Of course, some of those languages are in a stronger position than others. There are 8 languages with over 100 million speakers (accounting for 2.4 million speakers). These are Mandarin, Spanish, English, Bengali, Hindi, Portuguese, Russian and Japanese. If you look at the top 20 languages combined, you’ll find they account for 3.2 million speakers, which is over half of the world’s population.
At the other end of the scale, 96% of the world’s languages are spoken by only 4% of the people. In fact, a quarter of the worlds languages have less than 1000 speakers.
The key to language survival is the continuing inter-generational transmission of the language. Without this, they become moribund.
The question I’m going to be looking at is whether or now we should care about the loss or not. What do you think?
