Nuts

I have decided I would like to become Brazilian. (Not get a Brazilian, as somebody misinterpreted this wish last night.) It's a wonderful country - great scenery, wonderful food and drink, beautiful girls of many races, superb football - and a laid-back and sensible approach to life.
How this contrasts with my own benighted country, with its endless nannying and rule-bound bureaucracy. I just renewed my passport, and based on this experience, would like to renounce my membership and sign up to become um brasileiro.

The Real Thing

Real Madrid 0, Liverpool 1

Oddly enough, that was the score the last time we played them, in the European Cup final back in 1981. (The magnificent Alan Kennedy goal.) We reign in Spain.

A close shave

Wet shave or dry? I've always been a wet shaver, enjoying the early morning ritual. It has recently become more pleasurable, thanks to my introduction to the wonderful shaving oil produced by the David Somerset skin-care company. Despite the rather odd brand promise on their website it is actually a great product. I wonder what other new daily pleasures can be discovered...

Kwai not?

Prompted by a discussion with a friend who is doing some volunteer work in the Kanchanaburi province of Thailand, I just watched the movie which (for Westerners) made it famous - Bridge On The River Kwai.
This film won the Oscars for best film, director, actor, screenplay, music and editing in 1958 (and numerous other awards).
Yet, watching it, the plot is extraordinary. The first half hangs on the right of British officers not to do manual labour, while enlisted men are marched off to work. This position is supposed to elicit deep sympathy, and when the Japanese finally back down, the enlisted men rejoice. Maybe I'm naive, but I find this not only historically unlikely but also even unsympathetic in 1957.

James Stewart, where are you?

I get vertigo incredibly easily. Standing on a step-ladder will do it. Therefore today has been traumatic. First of all going to a fairground (Joypolis) with the daughter and having to endure her strange sense of fun. Then, later, watching the magnificent - but terrifying - film about Philippe Petit, the Frenchman who was the Man On Wire between the twin towers of the World Trade Center, back in 1974. It's terror, but mercifully not as we know it these days.

The music of time

On Monday night, Coldplay were winning the Grammy award for the best song of the year, and on Wednesday I saw them play live with 15,000 other fans at the Saitama Super Arena. How cool is that?

You would have spotted me. I was the one with the Blackberry, trying to get some work done, while my two 10 year old guests went berserk. The march of time.

Beyond the dreams of kings...

I was described today in a letter as being a 'man of significant wealth'. If only it were true! Unfortunately, however, the only person who espouses this opinion is somebody who is being paid to try and take a lot of it away. (And being paid by me, oddly enough.)

God's work

Imagine that you have been offered a new job, but in order to get it you have to reverse a strong opinion which you have previously held. You have two choices, I would think. Either you turn down the job offer, or you lie in order to get the job. The third option - that you genuinely change your mind - is highly unlikely, though remarkably convenient.

I wonder which option 'Bishop' Richard Williamson will take? Either way, I wouldn't want him in my business. But then maybe we have different ethical standards from those of his prospective new boss.

Bak to Skule

I may have written about this experience on my old blog, in which case apologies for the repetition. Today I had a chilling experience - explaining what advertising is and how it works, to an audience of 65, 10 year old children - my own daughter sitting in the front row. Give me the worldwide board, any day. They wrote some good ads though. (The little girls, not the worldwide board, obviously.)