Monday, March 31, 2008

While I'm waiting, I skimmed through this week's Economist. There's a story about the aftermath of the Jeremiah Wright issue and Clinton's Bosnia lie - the former has had no long term damage, while the latter really has (Yesterday's Gallup national tracking poll had Obama up 52-42, having been level just over a week ago).

One part of the story was funny enough to warrant repeating here:

"Meanwhile, her campaign rolled up its sleeves and circulated an email revealing that Mr Obama also tells fibs. Leading the list was that he often referred to himself as a former law professor at the University of Chicago, when in fact he was only a senior lecturer. So far, the Obamaphile media has cravenly neglected to give this the space it clearly deserves."
Today is Wrestlemania day - that is to say, the show was last night, and I'll be watching it tonight. I am in the process of getting the show, through entirely legal means. Cough.

The WWE do a great job each year of making their biggest show of the year seem like a big deal, and this year is no exception. Two world title changes, the mainstream crossover appeal match in Show vs Floyd Mayweather, a seven man spotfest ladder match and the possibility that Ric Flair is wrestling his final bout all are potential talking points.

7.9% legally completed. 92.1% legally to go. This is a big file. But a legal one, no doubt.

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

So, my Valentine's present this year was a ticket to a gig of my choice, and so I went to see Rotten Sound (and The Ocean, and Victims, and Trap Them), at the Camden Underworld on Monday. A slight change of scene for me - more hardcore and punk than metal, but Rotten Sound's new album is a triumph of grind and I wanted to experience it live.

First two bands were great - fast, loud, short songs, fun times. Trap Them played with loads of energy, and Victims had their catchy D-beat hardcore. The Ocean however, were simply awe-inspiring. Usually playing much slower and more complex song than their touring mates, they were like a more extreme Isis. They exceeded any expectation I may have had over their heaviness, and in the process blew me away to the extent that I wondered how Rotten Sound could possibly follow.

Indeed, at the start, with The Ocean's deep heaviness still ringing in my ears, I initially thought they couldn't - their opener lacked impact I was expecting. But it was temporary, thankfully. Before long, they had the entire room moving to their blisteringly fast grind blast coupled with an unbelievable amount of groove. The guitars have that fantastic Entombed-like buzzsaw sound, the drummer was clearly some sort of robot, and over it all, never lost amongst all that, Keijo Niinimaa with his urgent, commanding vocals, telling us all exactly where the world has gone wrong. They played mostly songs off the new album, which is great because its the one I know, and I got myself a "Prai$e the £ord" t-shirt from the guys afterward. Freaking brilliant.

Thursday, March 20, 2008

We killed her.

Here's the question: is the fact that she violated her visa enough justification for the fact that Ama Sumani is now dead?

We pay taxes into the NHS to insure the general population against the cost of health care, so that it is free at the point of use (I watched Sicko earlier this week, and struggled to believe such an innocuous premise was so controverisal in America). Ama violated her student visa by working (immigrants are net contributors to this economy but that, apparenlty, no longer is enough). She got ill while she was living in Cardiff - you could, even if you were so inclined to use such a hateful term, accuse her of being a "health tourist".

And to all those who think we need to treat "our own" first, answer me this: where have the resources saved from not treating Ama gone? She wasn't taking up an operating theatre which was needed to save the life of a British car crash victim, or a bed while other cancer patients were being turned away. She needed drugs and she needed dialysis (She actually needed a bone marrow transplant, but we were never going to do that). We're not running short of drugs, and I don't believe people are dying waiting for dialysis. And even if resources were a lot tighter that I've made out here, what the cost of her treatment relative to the waste of money from IT upgrades and new PFI hospitals?

Not that you need a financial argument, when a moral one would suffice - we are a wealthy and prosperous country who were in the position to help an ill woman, and instead decided to shun her, because legally, we should never had even heard of her. She should have got this disease and died in Africa. She shouldn't have been here. She should have been in Africa. We would never have had to worry, if she'd just been in Africa. But she was here. And she shouldn't have been. She should have been in Africa.

It seems so ridiculous that we are often quite generous in giving to charity for general aid to the inhabitants of developing countries, but so cold about helping an individual case where we can actually see the good it would do - and the harm it has done when we failed.

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Here's the full Obama speech on race from yesterday.

Yeah, it's good. Brave, honest, unflinching on a topic that you never hear politicians tackle with real words and real arguments. Maybe it's stuff like this, and not that he has a pleasant speaking voice, that makes him so popular in Europe.

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Fuck yes. Pro Wrestling NOAH is doing a show at the Coventry Sky Dome in June. They say Morishima and Misawa and KENTA and Marafuji and Ricky Marvin and Danielson and (motherfucking) Kobashi are going to be there. I am going to mark the fuck out.
Haven't written about wrestling in a while, so I thought I'd do something about one of my all-time favourites, Shinya Hashimoto - sadly no longer with us. I sat down and watched a series of matches between him and one of his best opponents - Kazuo Yamazaki.

The main part of the feud is in the three weeks from the end of May 1996 leading up to the tag title match on 12th June. What's really great about this feud is that it's about "I kick you in the leg again and again". Ohtani/Hash vs. Yamazaki/Nagata is good - while Yamazaki and Hash are going at it, exchanging nasty strikes, Ohtani complements the intensity by striking just as hard and really backing his partner up when Yamazaki manages to get the upperhand. The lightning quick submission sets up the deadliness of Yamazaki's leg bar, which becomes important later.

The six man tag a week later steps up the hatred (which is still about "I kick your leg") with Yamazaki targetting Hash's weak knee at any and all possible times. Hash's selling is masterful here - my favourite spot is where he drops his big top rope elbow without ever putting any weight on the injured wheel.

Which brings us to the Hirata/Hash vs. Yamazaki/Iizuka IWGP tag title match. For all the talk this match has ever generated, what never gets mentioned is that this might be the best squash match of all time. Seriously, Yamazaki and Iizuka get basically nothing from about four minutes in until the finish. Hash is pissed, and beats the ever-loving hell out of Yamazaki (I kick your leg, but also I Mongolian chop your neck). Hirata and Iizuka play their supporting roles. Then the twist - Yamazaki gets his leg bar while Hash is briefly away from the action, and that's all. The story of the match is typical NJ simplicity - Hash is too good on this night, but he's also too fired up and makes a quick mistake that allows Yamazaki to sneak a win past the weaker partner. Everything else is just dressing.

A follow up singles match for the IWGP title would have capped this off as one of the best short feuds of the 90s. However, that doesn't happen until the following February. Some of the heat has gone from the rivalry, but the time gap also plays into the story of the match. Yamazaki targets the leg early, but it's not as weak as the previous summer. He has more success with the arm, which becomes the focus of the match from around the mid-point. Yamazaki dominates this match, keeping it firmly on the mat. Cool spot - Yamazaki takes Hash down with a Fujiwara armbar, and as Hash goes for the ropes, he floats over and grabs the other arm. Hash comes back with headbutts and chops to the neck, looking for the brainbuster, which, when it comes, is pretty final. This is one of the few times I have liked the 'battled through the pain in injured appendage' to get the win finish, and its all because of Yamazaki's mat dominance earlier in the match, making the the tough-it-out option the only logical option.

What I've always loved about Hash is that his size advantage never defined the dynamic of any match. The equal starting position this creates makes Yamazaki look like a total badass, going strike-for-strike with the more celebrated Hashimoto. It becomes really believable as a two well matched hard-hitters looking for the advantage, and adds to the overall intensity and the extent to which I become emotionally engaged in the match. Great feud. But then again, it's Hash.

Wednesday, March 05, 2008

I've been saying this all day, and I know I should try and be above this, but whenever I see Hillary Clinton on TV, talking with words, I have an overwhelming urge to kick her in the face.

Monday, March 03, 2008

Had a rubbish Imps set tonight, the first time that has happened in a while. We finished with the most cock-awful musical I've ever participated in, of which I played no small part in creating. I really find it hard to be interested in Musical , and I definitely let that get the better of me. By the end, I was completely unable to do anything worthwhile and may as well just fucked off and died somewhere.

Grrr. Mainly.