All my friends supported the teams that were big in Europe: Liverpool, Leeds, Nottingham Forest. When I first got interested in football in the 1970s Manchester United won nothing. They even went down to the old second division. In the 80s they were perennially runners-up. It wasn't until Alex Ferguson became manager and got into his stride that they became the most successful team of recent years.
Now, I didn't want to jinx anything earlier (us football fans are superstitious people) until after the game between United at Barcelona in the first leg of the semi-final of the Champions League (final score 0-0, a good result in the away leg, despiute missing a penalty because we played terribly) but I wanted to make a list to celebrate former England midfielder Paul Scholes' 100 appearance in the competition. He's only the ninth player to dreach that landmark.
Here's the list of the players that have appeared in 100 (or more) games in the Champions League:
:: Paul Scholes
:: Ryan Giggs
:: David Beckham
:: Raul
:: Roberto Carlos
:: Paolo Maldini
:: Oliver Kahn
:: Clarence Seedorf
:: Luis Figo
***UPDATE***
29 April: Manchester United second leg of the Chapions League semi final was tonight. It had been 0-0 in Barcelona and United won 1-0 is a thrilling game tonight and guess who scored the goal? Yes, Paul Scholes! Last time Untied got to the final (and won) he was suspended so I really hope he plays. The final in Moscow in 3 weeks will be an all English affair for the first time. Chelsea play Liverpool in their second leg tomorrow (so far 1-1).
:: As well as England there are a number of other places that have St George as their patron saint: Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Portugal, Serbia, , and the Republic of Macedonia, as well as the Spanish region of Catalonia and the city of Moscow (though they don't all celebrate on the same day due to differences in the Julian and Gregorian calendar).
:: Though nothing is certain, St George was thought to have been born in what is now Turkey, to Christian parentage in the third century. He moved to Palestine with his mother after his father died and became a soldier. The Roman emperor of the time, Diocletian, was strictly anti-Christian, and when George told the emperor that he was too harsh on Christians he was imprisoned for seven years. After not denouncing his faith he was beheaded at Lydda in Palestine.
:: Though never to have even visited England, George became patrol saint of the country after a minor feast day was bestowed for him by the Oxford diocese in 1222. It wasn't until the end of the 14th century that he was elevated to patron saint status and in 1415, Archbishop Chichele ordered St George's Day to be observed like Christmas Day.
:: St George's cross, the flag of England, was adopted as far back as king Richard I and represents his martyrdom.
:: The legend of George slaying a dragon and rescuing a fair maiden is one of the many medieval "romance" stories. No evidence has ever been found that it was based on truth!
:: It is tradition to wear a red rose on your lapel on St George's Day.
:: Many English churches have the tradition of singing the hymn Jerusalem on the Sunday closest to St George's Day.
:: The Scouts is one of the few institutions that actually dose any celebrating for St George's Day.
:: Shakespeare was born and died on St George's Day. This fact has been the main arguments for making April 23 a public holiday in England to bring the number of public holidays closer to the level of holidays in the rest of the union and Europe.
:: Diada de Sant Jordi in Catalan, it is tradition to give gifts of a rose and a book. Because of this (and Shakespeare's birthday) UNESCO declared 23 April International Day of the Book.
Well, the fourth Indiana Jones movie is out next month (Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull) so I thought I'd get into Indy fever with another classic opening scene. Now the obvious one to do would be the Raiders of the Lost Ark opening but I decided on the second film because I think it is pure, brilliant film making. Spielberg at his best.
Now, I might seemed to have rushed through that but I don't consider that to be the end of the opening scene". Unfortunately I can only find that part for the attached YouTube clip but the breakneck action continues...
Indy, Willie and Short Round (characters all named after dogs, George Lucas', Spielberg's and screenwriter Willard Huyck's respectively) escape Lao Che's men and to get on a private jet, not realising it belongs to the Shanghai gangster. After a pause for breath our heroes relax in the back of the plane. Meanwhile Lao Che's henchman pilot dumps the fuel and jumps from the plane with the only parachute. Indy struggles with the controls but soon realises they'll have to abandon the plane themselves. All three jump for the stricken plane using an inflatable life raft as a parachute. They land safely before the plane crashes into the side of the snow covered mountain.
But that's not it! They're now careering down the mountain on the life raft, getting faster with every second. Then it's off a cliff and now they're contending with rapids. THIS is why I think this is a classic opening scene. It's a case of out of the fire, into the frying pan, time after time. A real roller coaster. Just when you think they've escaped peril, another situation arises and it's edge of your seat stuff again, with barely time to catch your breath.
Once the rapids slow to a calm and the three are exhausted (along with the audience) into the calmer waters of the river, the two legs of the village elder standing on the bank are spotted as the raft floats past, the real story can start. The opening sequences serve two purposes: getting our characters together, establishing their relationship along the way, and getting Indy and co. to location of the main story. Clever, and exhilarating stuff, brilliant film making and setting the mood for what happens next.
I once used this opening as an example in a lecture I had to give a University. The theme was "the value of popular film". Whilst the other film students gave lectures on the importance of Truffaut and Tarkovskiy I argued that film makers need look no further than the better made blockbuster to see how film works.
I've just taken up archery and it seems there are a couple of odd laws in this country concerning the ancient art. In the city of Chester you can only shoot a Welsh person with a bow and arrow inside the city walls and after midnight. They're a bit safer in Hereford because you may not shoot a Welsh person on Sunday with a longbow in the Cathedral Close. It's Scotsmen that are at risk in York, as, it is perfectly legal to kill one but only if he has a longbow, except on a Sunday. An ancient law also decreed that Englishmen must undertake at least 2 hours of longbow practice a day.
