A lesson for us all..

I’m often known to speak before I think. A couple of highlights (that I can remember) have included: “I wonder if tree’s go to school.” And “do dogs that live in France bark in French?” Anyway these were quite light hearted and non-offensive, unlike some of the things I saw flying around on social networks yesterday.

Yesterday was Wednesday May 22^nd, for me it was an average day: I worked and then followed that by having a quiet night in. It was all in all very non-eventful, unlike those who were in Woolwich. Yesterday was also the day a British soldier was horrifically murdered in broad daylight, in front of many members of public on a street in South East London.

I first heard about this heinous act via twitter whilst on my lunch break. It was all quite vague at that time (around 3.30pm) and many details contradicted one another. However what was clear was that someone had been viciously attacked and subsequently killed, in front of people on a popular street, in the middle of the afternoon. I was horrified. My work colleague who I was with however didn’t seem so fazed. In response to my shock she simply said “you’re not in Bournemouth anymore Emma!” She then went on to tell me that two of her friends had been stabbed and killed whilst she was still at school. The only stabbing that I knew of at my old school was performed by myself, on myself, with a pencil just after sharpening it, which was a far cry from the stories I was hearing about.

Having left work a few hours later the details of the act were becoming clearer and it was all anyone seemed to be talking about (apart from some delightfully self-centered Bournemouth promoters who I still – I’m not sure why – have on Facebook blabbering on about the upcoming 7’s this weekend. Zzzz!) The majority of people were talking of their absolute horror at the story, others were discussing what they would have done, I came across one boy who’s mum had actually been one of the incredibly brave women who went up to the attackers and spoke to them, trying to diffuse the situation whilst waiting for the police to arrive, and then there were a small minority who were speaking/typing before thinking (or at least that’s what I hope they were doing – I wouldn’t like to think that anyone with half a brain would actually think it was acceptable to be saying some of the things I was reading.) It’s a shame that a small minority can have such an impact and cause such distress, whether it is through words or actions.

There were people blaming and stereotyping the Islamic religion, saying that Muslims should be deported because they shared the same religion as the attackers. Others were blaming it on the attackers race and where they were from. It was disgusting and heartbreaking to read such ignorance. There is sadly going to be bad in every religion, but there is also a whole lot of good. There is inevitably going to be bad in every race, but there is also undoubtedly a lot of good. A religion, beliefs or race do not define a person, their actions do. The actions shown yesterday by those two men were indescribably evil, however this does not mean that every Muslim is evil. Having been bought up for 22 years in a predominately white area moving to East London was somewhat of a culture change, but I’d like to think that I’ve embraced it. I’m friends with people from all different backgrounds, races, religions and I’m intrigued to hear and learn about them. They also in return enjoy hearing about my stereotypical “2.4” up bringing, in a nice house with a big garden and a dog! If everyone thought the same way, looked the same way and acted the same way life would be boring. Diversity makes it interesting, and this should be a fact celebrated.

Sometimes I look on social media as a blessing. I mean I often wonder how I ever found out anything before and I absolutely love the fact that I can keep up-to-date on Victoria Beckham’s day-to-day life (she went jogging the other day in personalized trainers!) However on days like yesterday social media can be somewhat of a curse. It spreads a vast array of incorrect facts and comments like wildfire. It also gives a massive platform to those who act ignorantly and naïvely whilst coming across as being uninformed to speak their mind: this was last night proven to be quite a scary read. Don’t get me wrong I’m all for the right of freedom of speech and I’m all up for a clash of opinions (of course I am, hello I write a blog!) but sometimes it wouldn’t hurt for us all (myself included) to think before we speak!

And with that I’m going to leave you with a quote I came across last night: “We must learn to live together as brothers, or perish together as fools.” Martin Luther King, Jr. 

And another thought provoking quote from my friend Ema: “Why do we kill people, who kill people, to show people, that killing people is wrong?”

Goodnight. Stay safe and R.I.P Lee Rigby.

The Great Gatsby

I’ve never been a massive movie person. The answer to the often asked question “have you seen this film” is likely to be no. I lose concentration and get distracted easily; I become fidgety and subsequently don’t often visit the cinema. However, when I enjoy a film I have the best time and want to go to the cinema ALL the time.

Last night instead of our usual “Cocktail club” (fear not, we’re meeting again tonight for some of that!) we decided to partake in a “sober Saturday” and head to the cinema instead: step forward Cinema Club! The film of choice was The Great Gatsby. Crystal wanted to see it because she’d enjoyed the book, Chels because “it looked good” and I had agreed to go because of the promise of spending a couple hours with Leonardo DiCaprio: as if I’d ever turn that down! After the popcorn and non-alcoholic drinks had been purchased and we were seated (in what were actually really comfortable seats: the bonus of living near a new cinema!) the trailers started. This is when I get what I call “cinema-happy” and want to see all the films advertised, although I very rarely actually go because of the whole fidget-boredom-lack of concentration thing. Anywhere there was a few films advertised that looked pretty good (one in particular called Now You See Me) but I’m not going to hold my breath about whether I actually go to see it!

The Great Gatsby, which is Baz Lurhmann’s cinematic interpretation of F Scott Fitzgerald’s classic novella of bad timing and lost love in the Jazz Age, opened with Tobey Maguire (it was soon apparent that the film would be narrated as a flashback by him.) I was instantly disappointed. Where was Leo? He was the reason I was there. It took a good 20 minutes before I set eyes on him and when it happened I burst out laughing. The scene was hilarious. He twirled around, holding a glass of champagne at one of his lavish parties, whilst there are fireworks popping off in the background. (The real reason I laughed was actually because I genuinely believe that similar would happen when I first meet Leo in real life and I suddenly had a moment of realisation of how utterly delusional I am– ha!) Anyway Leo was looking mighty fine: he’s aged well, albeit whilst looking a little fuller in the face. His eyes are still a beautiful glistening blue and I was very appreciative of the numerous close-ups of them.

Before watching I didn’t know much about the storyline, nor did I particularly want to. I asked my friends for a brief synopsis and this is what I was told: a guy moves into a house and makes friends with his neighbour: a mysterious, wealthy man, who is madly in love with a woman called Daisy. Now, having watched the film if someone was to ask me how I’d describe the storyline the only detail I’d add to that would be that Daisy is an idiot. I’m 100% Team Gatsby: although this may be definitely is down to the choice of actor!

It was by no means the best film I’ve ever seen (nothing will ever beat Mary Poppins) but I left the cinema feeling strangely satisfied (yet completely unsatisfied at the fact I’ve never attended a Gatsby party at the same time!) I wasn’t expecting to enjoy it, especially after hearing some really dire reviews, but I personally thoroughly enjoyed myself. Yes the storyline lacked excitement at points, but it was actually quite a cute love story, in a stalkery/creepy/slightly concerning kind of way! …And the Lord knows I’m a sucker for one of those! I got a little confused at one point as I had missed some of the “dodgy dealing” references (probably because I was more interested in drooling), but after having clarification from Crystal about what was going on I got back on track.

Luhrmann did a brilliant job in making the film aesthetically pleasing. The costumes, 1920s backdrops, black and white footage of New York and car scenes were simply fantastic. The

one thing I wasn’t so keen on was the soundtrack: there was too much Jay Z. I was half expecting him to pop up dressed in a flapper-girls dress, draped in pearls just to make his presence even more felt. I mean seriously, yeah we get it: you produced the soundtrack Jay chill! I felt some of the songs chosen didn’t match the film and were a bad choice, but they added liveliness to what could be seen as quite a slow storyline so I guess they played their part.

Would I recommend you go see it? Yeah, sure I would. I enjoyed the storyline even though it lacked substance in some parts. I enjoyed the costumes and the glitz. I enjoyed the extreme and obnoxious lavishness of it all. I enjoyed Leo DC. I even enjoyed Tobey Maguire (that’s a new one!) Although I wouldn’t necessarily describe it as the “Great” Gatsby, I found it to be more of an “enjoyable/better than average” Gatsby.

Lastly, if you go and watch it and you leave the cinema not absolutely dying to attend a “Gatsby party” there is something terribly, terribly wrong with you “old sport!”

3.5 out of 5

Sir Alex Ferguson

I recently celebrated my 24^th birthday, which means that I was just a twinkle in my mother’s eye when Sir Alex Ferguson took over from Ron Atkinson to manage Manchester United 26 years ago in November of 1986. This also means that I have been bought up only knowing SAF at the reigning helms of the (best) club (in the world) so you can imagine my absolute horror when on Wednesday the 8^th of May it was confirmed that Sir Alex was stepping down from his managerial role and retiring.

I, along with my brother, have been bought up supporting Man United (although he took a little time out to support Liverpool, much to my Dad’s dismay. Although thankfully, after half a season he saw sense and returned to be a red devil.) Now, yes I have lived in Bournemouth (until two years ago) my entire life and no I have never lived in Manchester but my Grandad was born and raised there, subsequently my Dad was bought up supporting them and so the trend continued on to Liam and I. And even if it this wasn’t the case, I’m pretty certain that I’d be a United fan anyway: it’s the best football club in the world for goodness sake, why would you support anyone else?

Anyway, there had been talk of Fergie retiring on Tuesday 7^th of May and it worried me, immensely. I was quick to BBM my Dad and as we looked into it, it seemed more and more likely to be viable, even though just a few days before (4^th May) he had said “This team of champions is not going away - we are here for the long ride. We will get better and if we apply ourselves in our normal fashion I see our 20th league title as nothing but the start of another decade of success. Whether I will be here to oversee another decade of success remains to be seen, but I certainly don't have any plans at the moment to walk away from what I believe will be something special and worth being around to see." Which is technically true, as he will remain at the club as Director and Club Ambassador. Never the less it wasn’t at all nice to hear his retirement being confirmed on Wednesday morning when United released a statement saying "The most successful manager in English football history will bow out after the West Bromwich Albion game on 19 May and join the football club board." I was crushed.

People were very quick to take to Twitter (no surprise there!) and there were numerous hash tags trending #thankyousiralex #greatestever etc. David Beckham spoke out and called him a “father figure” Cristiano thanked him for his time at Man United, Rio Ferdinand said his work ethic and desire to win helped them all become better players and Michael Owen said what a privilege it had been to have played under arguable the best manager the world has ever seen, along with countless other players, ex-players, managers, friends, and supporters all wishing him well and thanking him for such a brilliant 26 years. I will personally miss the way you very rarely see him not chewing gum, the way he jumps for joy and fist pumps when we score an important goal, his fiery temper and how he yells at the lines men, the way he always gets “Fergie time” and if I’m honest I’m also pretty gutted that he never threw a hairdryer at me. Sigh.

Love him or loathe him there is no denying Sir Alex’s raw talent as a football manager and it is simply astonishing to read through his managerial record of achievements. I mean which other manager can say that they have helped their club win a total of 38 trophies? That’s 13 Premier League’s, 10 Shield’s, 5 FA Cup’s: 4 League Cup’s, 2 Uefa Champions League, a Fifa Club World Cup, a Uefa Super Cup, a Uefa Cup Winners Cup and an Inter-Continental Cup.

His very first match as manager was played on November 8^th in 1986 against Oxford in which Man U lost 2-0 (wtf?!) and his 1500^th game will be played next week against West Brom on the 19^th May 2013. I’ve just watched his 1499^th game against Swansea, which ended 2-1 to Man United thanks to a very late goal from Rio.  It was also his last home match and saw him walk through the Old Trafford tunnel for the final time to a guard of honour and a standing ovation from the crowd, as well as the match in which we were re-awarded the Premier League trophy (it’s back where it belongs, on the red side of town!) and it was absolutely brilliant to see him life that trophy with such pride. What a brilliant home send off, which he undoubtedly deserves.

I’m going to leave you with my favourite of all the statistics that have come out since the news of his retirement and that is that after managing 1499 games he only lost 267: what an achievement. 

And with that, I guess all that’s left to say is quite simply: “Thanks Boss.”

Whilst writing this blog Piers Morgan also took the twitter and said “Sir Alex Ferguson has been the greatest coach/manager in any sport, anywhere in the world. Hurts to admit it, but true.” For once Piers, I’m actually going to have to agree with you! Nicely said.