January 23, 2011 · 1:18 pm

#oneaday 16: NEDS – To be someone is a wonderful thing?

I watched N.E.D.S last night and it was absolutely brilliant and I say that having seen some amazing films so far this year and the back end of last year including The King’s Speech, The Social Network, Black Swan, 127 Hours, Another Year, Get Low,  Made in Dagenham, Barney’s Version, Four Lions, The Wildest Dream and of course Inception. But if you are British, went to school in Britain, were ever in a gang, firm or crew, or wanted to be in one, and above all wanted to ‘be someone’, whilst wanting to be yourself, this film is a must.

Set in Glasgow in the 1970’s , it centres around a young, bright lad, John McGill who is faced with the choices of gang membership, class prejudice and a total wanker of a pissed up, wife beating father (who is played by the film’s director, Peter Mullan). The sets, scenes, costume, make up, haor and props are all spot on. One thing you notice is the complete lack of clothing brands, there is a style and identity, but no badge to make the point.  Only in the eighties, did branding become important to youth gangs, a way of identifying and separating them from mainstream society.  So John is a clever kid, and wants to win by coming top of his class each and every time he is tested. His determination is his drive and if there is no outlet for that drive, not end result, it produces frustration and anger.  His brother is the leader of one of the gangs on his estate and his dad is a twat. The rest of the characters are rich and wild, the story is brilliantly told and the acting,  largely by the non actors, is compelling and above all realistic.

I can relate to John’s story in many ways, mind you my father is the best man on the earth and never drinks any alcohol before one assumes too much.  However, the sense of wanting to ‘be someone’, as Paul Weller wrote and The Jam performed ‘is a wonderful thing’. To  belong to a peer group, to prove you can handle yourself, to show your mates you will never back down, always front the opposition. Indeed not only do you not take a step back, you actively seek out and attack the enemy – preferably on their own patch, on their manor, in their face. Anyway,  I was very lucky and although had my fair share of ‘japery’ including a couple of nasty wounds, I had opportunities and the chance of a very good education, even though I managed to drop out of school (or expelled as the letter from school said), went off the rails a tad, but had enough confidence to make my way in the world.

I won’t spoil NEDS. It is too good a story and too well told to need an amateur like me to pimp it. This is a really essential British film and one I would urge anyone who ever wanted to be someone to watch.

Meanwhile, enjoy a couple of corking, relevant tracks from The Jam. Not of the time of NEDS (that is more T-Rex and the Sensational Alex Harvey Band), but the lyrics and attitude sum up the spirit of the age.

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January 23, 2011 · 10:43 am

#oneaday 15: Toilet etiquette – everyone loves targets

Whether it was a slow news day or just  pre-Christmas japery,  I must admit I did find the story about SEGA’s Toilet Game very amusing. You know, the one exclusively aimed at and for men and one which could revolutionise men’s public toilet time forever. I for one would really appreciate this sort of ‘added value service’  which sounds like great fun. It would be far fun  than the bloke hanging around the toilet hand basins trying to ‘give’ you an array of cheap aftershave, toilet water in fact, in return for a ‘tip’.  These men are nothing but a complete and utter nuisance and a fragrant (sic) infringement of our privacy. That aside I wonder if SEGA’s game will be seen in years to come as one of the key turning points when our beloved ‘computer and video games’ industry became the ‘interactive entertainment’ industry? Is this SEGA’s attempt to trump the Nintendo Wii?

Continuing the theme of men, toilets and their behaviour, we have a phantom ‘dart board misser’ in our office at work, someone who really cannot get to the point and meanders hither and thither. If you visit the ‘Gents’ post prandial at our office, you are likely to find a number of ‘hits’ that have fallen outside the target area so to speak. Collectively we think we know who it is, but we can’t be absolutely sure and it is not the sort of subject you really want to raise in the office, is it?

However, according to the fantastic people at PopBitch there are a number of different approaches to the etiquette of the lavatory, stepping into the pooh on the way. The Guardian maintain typically PC approach, very much keeping everything to the left with a gentle, socially mobile approach to the tricky subject of people making a proper mess in the loos. Mind you the Guardian management decided to dump the poitical correctness and aim the memo to their male staff only, I guess evidence must have pointed this way:-

 “In the event that you are, ahem, inconvenienced when visiting the toilets, please use the brush handily situated at the side of the toilet to clean the bowl after yourself.”

 Meantime, over at TV production company Endemol, they are a little more ‘free market’ and ‘to the point’:-

 “Stop pissing all over the lavatory like a fucking animal. What is wrong with your penis? Is it a corkscrew? Does it flick around like a hosepipe?”

Whichever style floats your boat, or indeed anything else for that matter, it is pleasing to know that we men are all in this together and whilst most of us try to keep to the straight and narrow some clearly prefer to go off piste more times than not. Does this prove that the centre is preferable to the extreme left or right? Who knows, but I wonder if any of those who create the mess will ever take the time to clear it up….

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January 21, 2011 · 11:12 pm

#oneaday 14: Peter is skint, but are banks perfect employers?

Isn’t it time to stop bashing the banks? Reading about the ‘total compensation’ (ie pay to staff by way of bonuses in everyday PAYE speak) of the US based investment banks, JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs both being north of $15bn, you can’t help feeling a sense of awe and shock.  Incidentally, I am not sure if these figures are for all staff world wide or not, but whatever the spread is, it is a big number.

Interestingly though, it does rather suggest that these investment banks are founded on the principles of ‘partnership’. It seems that investment banks are capable of making astronomical profits, but they all seem to pay out a fair chunk of that profit to their staff who have made the deals work. This feels like fairness to me. Workers have worked hard to bring their company profit, and when they do so, their company has rewarded, or compensated, them very fairly and equitably. I bet many fellow workers would like to get a big share of the profits that they feel that they make for the companies they work for, right?

I am not sure I can argue with this policy. I run a business and our ultimate aim and neccessity is to make a profit. The problem seems to be that the sheer size of the profits made in investment banking are indecent to the vast majority of people, outside of sports stars and other investment bankers of course. No one can argue with that can they? But for this to work, and for these vast amounts to be sustainable, someone, somewhere has to lose out. However,  if the number of investment banks in any market is few, as it does seem to be today, then a small piece from trillions adds up to a big number  time and time again. If the number of players were to increase, as a  free market requires, then the argument could go that the pot of cash that they are all chasing stays the same, and therefore the share per combatant reduces. Except that in a capitalist system the winner takes it all and someone has to lose for someone to win. Therefore introducing more competition is only a temporary change, as winners get bigger than losers in the pursuit of market share, losers either die or are bought but winners or fellow losers who want to get bigger to beat the winners.  Still awake?

Ultimately, the obsecene amount of profits that investment banks continue to make suggests that our monetary system is either relatively worthless, because the numbers are so big, or simply many are losing out to a few. After all, investment banks can take away value, as is the case with most Hedge Fund business models, as well as add it, the way that they are supposed to do. Frankly, I cannot get my head around this system and the sheer amounts of money that seem to flow one way. Are these banks fair employers? Who knows. But one comment that was recently attributed to a banker recently when talking about their bonus being paid not in cash but in a mix of  share options and cash:-

“You don’t want to earn shares in your own company – it’s doubling a risk,” he says.

“You want to own shares in someone else’s company. Because if your company goes belly up, you will lose your job and you will lose your stock options.”

So we are not really all in this together, are we, not even the bankers. It really does seem ‘all about me’.

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January 20, 2011 · 2:16 pm

#oneaday 13: 3DS – Not in front of the children?

The much wanted Nintendo 3DS

 

Child’s play. Nintendo have always taken account of children of all ages. Children are a core consituent, always were and always will be. So, does the Nintendo 3DS have an Achilles Heel? It is set to be the ‘must have’ gadget of 2011, but does the news that broke before Christmas, from Nintendo themselves, that the 3DS is not suitable for 6 year olds and under seriously jeopardise the attraction of the device to parents.

According to the Wall Street Journal,  who translated the copy on the Nintendo website Nintendo is warning that, “For children under the age of six, looking at 3-D images for a long time could possibly have a negative impact on the growth of their eyes.”

Losses in translation aside, this could be a pretty major flaw for the 3DS and potentially for the family friendly image of the games industry as a whole.  

Picture the scene:-

‘Little Jimmy (7 years old) – ‘ Mummy, I really want a Nintendo 3DS, my friends have all got them and it is brilliant. Can I have one, can I, can I?’

Jimmy’s mum, ‘Sorry Jimmy, you will have to wait. I heard that the 3D is dangerous and not suitable for your little sister, Gaga, and your little brother Sam’.

Jimmy, ‘What do you mean dangerous?’

Jimmy’s mum ‘There is a warning that this is not suitable for young children’s eyes and may effect them. You wouldn’t want that would you?’

Jimmy, ‘ Noooooo. I really want one, but I guess if Jane and Gaga will get hurt, I will have to go back to my iPod Touch then’.

I for one really hope that this issue does not become a rod by which the games industry is beaten and thanks to Nintendo’s proactive and responsible statement, I don’t think it will be so.  We really don’t want any wags coining headlines about ‘3DS can make your kids blind’ or indeed it being mentioned in the same sentences as ‘mastrurbation’. But I do wonder if this factor will actually inhibit the sales of the hardware and therefore software over the long term, that could be a major blow.

After all, Nintendo has always had children at its heart.

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January 20, 2011 · 1:27 pm

#oneaday 12: 3D to go: Nintendo strikes again

It seemed like the whole of the UK games industry media along with some developers and most publishers descended on Amsterdam yesterday to get ‘hands on’ for the first time with the hotly anticipated Nintendo 3DS. Sadly, for personal reasons I could not travel, but from those that I have spoken to it seems that the hype lived up to the reality. I have been told that when you get hands on, the 3DS really does deliver an awesome experience. According to Nintendo , the 3DS will ship worldwide in March 2011 and is set to be the biggest hardware launch in their history. Bigger than the DS and bigger than the Wii. For all Nintendo fans and all technology fans, this is surely good news.

I have no doubt at all that the 3DS will sell a huge amount of units. In turn, software sales, which is the real profit driver for Nintendo themselves and third party publishers, developers and retailers, will also have massive potential. After all this is 3D tech, that needs no stupid glasses and is available for $249 plus the cost of games, likely to be $35-45. Alternatively, if you are in the UK it will cost anywhere between £220 – 230 for the system and £25-35 for the games. So compared with a 3D TV set up, this is amazingly cheap, sorry good value. Add to that the fact that Nintendo have also secured a deal with BT in the UK which allows owners to use the BT Wi-Fi hotspots to download content and a struck a deal with Sky which will bring ‘short form 3D content’ to owners. Details on what this actually is are not available, but you could easily see 3D Premier League highlights being made available for a small charge. The target demographic will lap that up, provided the price is right.

But we live in a changed and ever changing world.  This world is connected and we have so much vibrant, exciting, innovative and cool content available to us all that you do wonder if the 3DS has the potential to become truly mass market, the way that the DS did for example. Instinct says it will, but, there are a number of ‘buts’.

In the last 2 years, tens if not hundreds of millions of people around the world have experienced content via their mobile phones. most notably but not exclusively their iPhones. iPhones and iPod Touches deliver a 2D experience, but that experience is fantastic value and often free. And it is really accessible, really immediate and it really works!  With a pretty hefty price tag, the 3DS will still sell and if retailers want margin, then they can try and make some as no suggested retail price (SRP) will be set by Nintendo. Crucially however, if the software and Apps are expensive, when compared with iOS or Android content, even though the experience will be three dimensional, it does beg the question as to whether there is a sustainable market for third party content makers. Let’s hope that the route to market and the associated costs of bringing Apps and games to consumers,  whether as packaged goods or via download, is slick, easy and efficient.

I totally ‘get’ Nintendo’s pricing approach. The 3DS is more expensive than the DS or DSi, but it delivers more. If they set that price, then they should stick to it and importantly make the 3DS aspirational for a generation. Indeed if Nintendo take the approach that Apple have taken, namely one which embraces and encourages third party innovation whilst ensuring that the customer experience online is amazing, then it will be simply brilliant for them, third parties and consumers alike. A win, win, win. Competition and innovation go hand in hand.

If however, they do not learn some of the lessons of the recent past centred around content creation and distribution, then I for one will question the long term sustainability of that universe, outside of the confines of The Nintendo Company of Japan of course.

Must rush, although we have  a test machine arriving next week for the office, I am off to place my pre-order with Game or HMV;-)

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January 18, 2011 · 4:50 am

#oneaday11:Facebook vs The King

It’s 3.33am on Tuesday morning, 18th January 2010. It’s been bugging me, I am awake. I am thinking about films, but I am also thinking about the here, the now and the future.

In the early hours of Monday morning (GMT that is)  The Golden Globes were awarded and in 4 hours time, The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) will annoucne their nominations. In a few weeks The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) will issue their Academy Awards nominations (ie The Oscars) and we are very much into the awards season. For most it  is a tale of two films this year. The very British ‘The King’s Speech’ and the very American ‘The Social Network’.

In many ways it is a tale of two cultures. One buried in tradition, history a class structure fascinated by a reverence for past times, the there and then if you like. The other is rooted in the new, the brave ,the here, the now and the future. A tale of social division geared by class and age versus one of social inclusion, built in a class by the young. An age of austerity versus an age of excitement. A fading Empire and a growing, vibrant, democratic empire. In short one difference between  British and American culture.

Both films centre on a key protagonist, a battle for power and the importance of communication.  ‘The King’s Speech’  tells the story of a young, socially inept man thrust into the spotlight by circumstance and betrayl and his battle to overcome his own shortcomings in order to make his own mark in a world on the brink of social meltdown. He has a speech impediment and he needs to get over it. He can speak, but commuication is very, very difficult for him and the people on the receiving end.  The ‘new ‘medium of radio gives him the power to connect to ‘his subjects’ all over the world, he just has to figure out how to do that. ”The Social Network’ tells the story of a young, socially inept man thrust into the spotlight by circumstance and betrayl and his battle to overcome his own shortcomings in order to make his own mark in a world on the brink of social union. He can speak, but he finds communication very, very difficult.  The ‘new’ medium of the internet gives him the power to connect everyone up around the world from the bottom up. He  just has to figure out how to do that. Technology plays a key role in both films. Something the British used to be good at, and something that the Americans are now very, very good at.

And therein lies the rub. For all its magnificence, its splendour, its craft and its sheer class, ‘The King’s Speech’ is simply not as relevant or indeed as important as ‘The Social Network’ today. Right here, right now. History is a brilliant way of looking at the past and seeing what, if any lessons one can draw for the future. But it is only relevant if you are awake. Even if you look at the way these films have been made, you can see key differences in both our cultures but also in our relevance. ‘The King’s Speech’ would not get made in Hollywood, it just would not get past the focus testing. It was in fact supported by The Film Council and the National Lottery, which given the quality of the result is probably a good thing, thank god not every decision is down to money . However,  ‘The Social Network’ may not have got made at Pinewood, or if it did, it would be a pale version of the Sorkin/Fincher masterpiece.

But one thing in the real  world seems absolutely certain and that is that the real social network, Facebook, would never get made in Britain, not in a thousand years and not whilst the culture of conservatism, tradition,  coupled with lack of vision and innovation pervades our creative industries. We ‘do’ history awfully well, we do future a little in the past tense over here. Faded glory of the British technological genius versus the innovative disruption of the technological force that resides in America.

Culturally the clue is in our Academies, the ones that exist to foster and then recognise the creative talents both of our wonderful countries have. The British one has ‘Arts’ in the title, the American one has ‘Arts’ and ‘Sciences’. That tells you a lot and may go some way to explaining why we lag behind the Americans in the technology business.

Don’t get me on the subject of interactive entertainment and video games just yet. That comes in future blogs. I attended a high level meeting at the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) yesterday where we discussed, amongst other things, how the investment community does not ‘get’ the content creation community here in the UK. The appetite for investment into technological driven content is insatiable in California and laregly bereft in London.  So, in my humble opinion if Britain is to continue to make a living in the creative arts, an industry that does produce some of the very best content in the world, then Britain as a society needs to recognise the part that science plays alongside arts in our creative economic future.

The Coalition Government who have stated that they want to effect real change and fast, should start by decoupling ‘sport’ from the DCMS and adding in ‘science’ – Department for Culture, Media and Science. No need to change the signs, just change the key word and then change the culture. Simple really.

PS – a prediction – best film at the BAFTAs?  ‘The King’s Speech’. Best film at the Oscars? ‘The Social Network’. Both films ‘of the year’ in my view – one is history and the other is about making history. I loved both, for very different reasons, that’s the great thing about culture.

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January 16, 2011 · 7:30 pm

#oneaday 10: Crap, that’s what that was, crap…

So said Danny (played by Pete Posthlewaite) in Brassed Off, when his beloved brass band came to the end of what sounded like an amazing rehearsal session. Brassed Off  taps into a grim old time set in a post miners’ strike world which focuses on the town of ‘Grimley’. Danny is the band conductor, passionate and proud, who faces up to the fact that his band members are simply running out of interest, indeed their lust for life has long been replaced by rust for strife. He has to face up to his son being in head over heels in debt causing his marriage to breakdown. Worse than this, the ex miners are all having to work in jobs which are at times just plain demeaning. His son becomes a childrens’ entertainer and has a breakdown. It is pathos enshrined and when he attempts suicide, the film hits its trough.

Ironically as the pit closes, so the brass band wins a national brass band competition, held at the Royal Albert Hall in London. Then one of the finest scenes I have ever seen plays out where Danny  or rather Pete, rejects the trophy and embarks on a speech of epic proportions. What I did not realise until I saw the wonderful BBC tribute to Pete Posthlewaite last night, was that the scene was largely ad libbed and the extras in the audience knew nothing about it until Pete delivered it and they sat agasp, knocked over. I rewatched the programme on BBC iPlayer and I have to admit,  I was in tears. Seeing Danny refuse the trophy stating that it’s only human beings that matter and not music or the trophy but “this bloody government has systematically destroyed an entire industry over the last 10 years.  OUR industry. And not just our industry—our communities, our homes, our lives. All in the name of ‘progress’. And for a few lousy bob”. That line always resonated with me. Cash over community, wealth over well being .

I especially loved the fact that Pete got involved and made ‘The Age of Stupid’ a low budget, climate change documentary a hit in 2009. I also loved the fact that he made a pledge to return his OBE if the Labour Government, represented by Ed Miliband who was Climate Change Minister, did not change their policy which included building a new ‘dirty coal power station in King’s North’.  Ed (now the leader of the Labour Party) invited himself to the film’s premier and Pete duly delivered this pledge antelling  the minister that if the Government went ahead with their plan  ‘then you are unfit to represent the people of Britain at the Copenhagen Climate Summit’. One month later, Miliband had changed the policy.

Ed Miliband gets confronted on Pete's say so

 Posthlewaite was always a favourite of mine and he was one of a small band of actors who played heroes and villains, equally menacing and kind in every role. The best man and the worst man. I knew Pete was an emotional man, a committed actor and a man with a social conscience, in short a man that cared about his work and cared about his fellow man. People like this seem to be getting rarer, or maybe that is just my take on the situation, but when you come across one you tend to treasure them. As Miriam Margolyes said on the programme, ‘You don’t get that kind of rage and that gentleness in one person’.

As the documentary closes to the haunting sounds of a brass band playing ‘Danny Boy’ you realise what a man Pete Posthlewaite was. The actor who Steven Spielberg said was the ‘best there was’.  The world is a lesser place without him.

Peter Posthlewaite 1946-2011 RIP

If you get a moment and can access BBC iPlayer have a look. You won’t regret it. I promise. http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00xxkz3/Pete_Postlethwaite_A_Tribute/

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January 15, 2011 · 1:57 pm

#oneaday 10: Dignity and leadership

So today is the final day of the much derided Avram Grant’s managerial reign at West Ham. For most, including me, this is the end of a very sorry chapter in the history of my football club. I have been on the record from the first, onerous day that he was unveiled as the new manager, that he should never have been appointed. My suspicions about the decision making of the owners of the club, messrs Sullivan and Gold, the two Davids, Gollivan by other words has always been high, ever since they bought the club last year.

Their first move was to brief the press against the incumbent manager, Gianfranco Zola, a true gentleman and a proper human being who only wanted the best for his players, the club and the supporters. The two David’s did not want Zola. I still am not sure why, but they felt he was not their man, did not have the right experience and West Ham were not exactly high in the table when they bought the club. So after much agitating in public and through the media, many pundits and observers suspecting that the owners wanted to make Zola break the terms of his contract and thus save paying him off, Zola duly left the club, along with his number 2, Steve Clarke at the end of the season.

The owners claimed that they wanted a more experienced manager, one with a proven track record and one who could execute the long term plan that the owners had for the club. Appointing Avram Grant never got near fulfilling that brief and you have to wonder what the logic, or indeed the commercial reason was for this decision. Indeed the so called long term plan  has never been shared with the supporters. As I see it, the long term plan is focused on moving the club to the Olympic Stadium in Stratford. According to the PR this is all part of ensuring that the Olympic legacy is not lost and that the stadium is retained and used for athletics , which was a core promise made by Lord Coe on behalf of the London Organising Committee for the 2012 Olympics. That is all very good and very noble, but the owners’ decision  to pursue this bid, is of course money orientated. And that is no bad thing at the end of the day. Rumours are that the Upton Park site has had planning permission for residential development granted, and estimates range on that deal realising £150 – 200 million profit for the club and its owners. In one fail swoop the debt would be wiped out and the club would be financially stable and solvent.

Decisions are always a key part of leadership. Even if the decision is ‘no change’ those who are in charge need to ensure that they are exactly that, in charge and capable of making decisions. Ever since the two David’s made the decision to appoint Avram Grant, they have been less than certain that their call was right. For me it was always wrong, but there is a school of thought that says once you have made a decision, you should stick by it and give it time to work. The speculation about Avram Grant’s future has been rife and in recent weeks, the club’s owners have made all sorts of noises. He was told that he had three games before Christmas to get at least one win. That sort of ultimatum is a daft one. Suppose West Ham lost their first two games and won the third, do you then keep the manager? Equally if they win the first, is he off the hook and therefore there is no real motivation to get results in the next two? All in all it was a stupid thing to say in public or in private and not the sort of thing you expect from any leaders in any walk of life. As it was West Ham won one game and drew two – a very good set of results given their previous form. And the rumours started again.

Thus on Tuesday this week, before an important Carling Cup semi final first leg, when Martin O’Neill was spotted at the club, we all knew that the end was nigh for the manager. Clearly the owners had decided that his time was up, but they wanted, quite naturally to seek a replacement before pulling the trigger. But why would you interview a potential replacement at the club, for staff and by passers to see? Why not somewhere private? Was it the need for the owners to be seen to be making a decision? Are they that paranoid that they want the media and supporters to know that they ‘really do know there is a problem and are doing something about it’? Indeed the rumours got stronger that Grant would be sacked on Wednesday after the board of West Ham would meet. Today, news broke that Grant will no longer be the manager, but that decision will be announced tomorrow, Sunday, after our home game against Arsenal. He will be replaced by Martin O’Neill.

This sort of approach smacks of being somewhat seedy, cheap and actually wrong, even if the decision is absolutely right. If the owners appoint the manager, they have the righ to remove him, but please don’t go about your business in this way. It lacks dignity and leadership in every way.

 At least Avram Grant has acted in a dignified way and is making no comment. More rumours suggest he has already struck a deal with the club. A pay off is always the upside of any manager’s hurt when he inevitably loses his job. I wonder when the game against Arsenal  finishes around 7.30pm today if Avran Grant will wave his goodbyes to the fans and the players and sail off to his next port of call. Indeed I wonder  if he will raise a smile. That would really be a first, the last time I saw him do that was when he arrived at the club.

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January 13, 2011 · 7:16 pm

#oneaday 9:Twitter Cricket

Whoooooooooaaaaaa.Yesterday had the most excellent 5 minutes of the year so far. Amazing. Unique. Fun. I am a huge cricket fan, but not completely bowled over by the 20:20 game if Iam honest. So when I saw, on Twitter that England were playing their first match against Australia, I wasn’t really that bothered. It was about 9.00am (UK time) when I found out we were playing. On the tube journey into the office, I picked up from various Tweeters, including the ex England skipper, Michael Vaughan and injured all-rounder Stuart Broad plus a few Twitter mates who were watching at home on ‘home husband duties’ that Australia had decided to bat. They got off to a flying start accumulating runs via Shane Watson, whilst we were travelling through Earl’s Court. Then my District Line train went into the underground section of the London Underground and my signal was lost, along with my Twitter feed.

As I exited Temple station and came up into the daylight, Australia were making very decent progess at 92-2 (per the @ECB-cricket). By the time I got to the office, around 9.45am, Australia were on 122-3. Then work kicked in and Twitter was put away in the box whilst I got my day planned, dealt with email and talked about West Ham’s lucky victory over Birmingham in the 1st leg of the Carling Cup semi final.  Three phone calls later, I thought I would check back and saw via @junioroufc that Australia were 140/4 with 12 balls left. Then the phone went and I was off Twitter again for 20 minutes.

When I checked back Australia had ended their innings on 157-4  and then settled down with my iPhone and watched events unfold – i was behind the timeline, but through Twitter, I caught up so that the result was actually in real time, complete with the suspense, tension and anxiety.

@junioroufc felt it was 25 runs light. Ex England captain @VaughanCricket felt the score was ‘just below par and Tait would be the key’ whilst @homeofcricket stated ‘ Majority of you think England are on top. Potential record breaking chase coming up in Adelaide then! Hope to see @eoin16 in action at last!’

Here’s the prize parts of my Twitter feed – many Tweets have been left out, but I have included ones that tell the story as well as just appear in my timeline to add some bizarre twists to this wonderful game.

@VaughanCricket then started the innings off with ‘Bell and Davies walk out to you look good on the dance floor…arctic Monkeys.. Sheffield legends..Music Mecca’

(Mr Vaughan being from Sheffield and a legendary Sheffield Wednesday supporter)  and then the game really started….in between other real world things happening:-

@junioroufc ‘Bell Dropped 1st ball!!! #T20 #EngAusT20’

@guardianfilm ‘How best to win and Oscar – try female oral sex! Hadley Freeman’

@timloveljoy ‘ How long do butterflies live? How about we set up a business sending boxes of live butterflies to people’

@gamersvoice ‘The hashtag for Gamers’ Voice Parliamentary Games Day is simply #gamesday’

@cidergirl ‘I wonder if postie can be arsed to deliver my CDs today’

@leongreen ‘A snap election says @tomwatson a move that would blind-side Labour and end the Lib Dems?’

@patlike ‘HAVE IT – source – Sony to announce PSP2 in Tokyo on Jan 27th’

@timlovejoy ‘ I don’t want to send bugs, I want to send butterflies’

@guardiannews ‘UK trade deficit hits record high’

@oneadayaproject ‘Hi everyone! On this grey miserable, rainy moring why not read some entertaining blogs to cheer yourself up? oneadaybloggers.wordpress.com’

@johnnyminkley ‘Twitter! I want to speak to gamers (ideally London based) who regularly buy pre-owned games. Is that you? Tweet me pls!

@ECB_cricket ‘England 85-3 and need 73 to win from 59 balls #T20

@PaulHayward_gnm ‘Avram Grant says he’s lived with rumour since Day 1’ Will the club beat this and push it to Day Minus-1 ? ‘

@junioroufc ‘Classy stuff @Eoin16 great placement #T20’

@GrahamBM RT @jamesclay; ‘Blog post; Learning Without Frontiers, some thoughts http://bit.ly/eG2Ar9 #lwf11′

@cidergirl ‘As a completist should I get the complete Star Wars on Blu-Ray or continue my stance that ignoring the prequels will make them go away?’

@StauartBroad8 ‘Gonna be a real tight finish this’

@ Homeofcricket ‘Rats. @eoin16 gone in the #T20 – big wicket for the Aussies. 28 runs needed from 28 balls. Come on England!’

@pinotblush ‘RT @BenWinterArt: New Bond film to reflect government cuts as Daniel Craig returns to the role of 005’

@Arusbridger ‘Who is paying Glenn Mulcaire’s six-figure legal fees as he fights demands to reveal all? #coulson’

@fletch5live ‘England on a right wobble now!!!’

@MayorofLondon ‘Been doing my bit this morning planting some of the 20,000 new trees for our RE:LEAF campaign.Well done too the volunteers’

@timlovejoy ‘If you can, get this cricket on, its getting v exciting’

@jimrossignol ‘I wrote an article for design/architecture mag Icon, and it’s in the February edition. It’s about videogame cities. Looks snazzy.’

@ECB_cricket ‘ 21 needed from 22 after that 6 from Woakes’ #T20 #Eng/AusT20

@junioroufc ‘Poop’

@PennyRed ‘I actually have too much to write this week, which is a problem, because whenever I’m working on something I’m thinking about the next thing’

@Batsphinx ‘Technologhy historians and/or wise elders. Was there a price difference between VHS and Betamax? Or were they level pegging?

@PaddyOrrell ‘anyone got a electronic/techno spotify playlist? Anyone?

@timlovejoy ‘England 15 to win off 12 balls’

@junioroufc ’12 from 9 needed’

@junioroufc ‘Yes’

@junioroufc ‘6 from 8 keep calm’

@junioroufc ‘8 from 8 even’

@ECB_cricket ‘England need 4 runs from the last 6 balls’

@junioroufc ‘Bowled him! Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo 4 from 5’

@junioroufc ‘Hero time’

@timlovejoy ‘No run. 4 from 4 ‘t20 this is too tight!!!’

@timlovejoy ‘No run! 4 from 3 #t20′

@SarahPalinUSA ‘ America’s Enduring Strength http://fb.me/PfjWdUip

@junioroufc ‘2 from 2 …Come on!!! Woakes!’

@BBCBusiness ‘Mince pies help lift Greggs sales http://bbc.in/h5YYje

@junioroufc ‘Yes!! Can’t lose’ #T20 #EngAusT20

@timlovejoy ‘Scores are tied, last ball #t20 f*ck me

@nesta_uk’ In Scotland, over 50 and have an idea to improve your community? Apply for Age Unlimited Scotland before 7 Feb deadline’

@Peston ‘Exclusive: Eric Daniels of Lloyds is to receive £2M bonus and more than £2M from long term incentive scheme’

@ECB_cricket ‘Scores level! England need 1 from 1 ball  #T20′

@junioroufc ‘Come on stick it up em again boys!!! Run your Bollocks off England!!! 1 from 1 #T20’

@timlovejoy ‘Yeeeeeeeees we got the run. Brilliant #t20’

@ajmurray ‘That was never in doubt. ha ha #T20’

@HomeofCricket ‘What a #T20 match in Adelaide! Scores tied with 1 ball left..Woakes hits winning runs from it. Great  #cricket’

@daraobrian ’20/20 really is a brilliant format’

@ECB_cricket ‘That’s England’s 8th #T20 win in a row’

@daraobrian ‘And I know I’m supposed t o write t20, or something. But if 20twenty teaches us anything, it’s that tradition is bunk’.

And there we have it. A thrilling match followed and ‘watched’ on Twitter in amongst some other great Tweets from a mixed bag of people, some wonderful and some clearly just mad. Phew. Twitter what a novel thing you are. Utterly unique.Sometimes special. Often compelling. Most of all mad.

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January 11, 2011 · 4:57 pm

#oneaday 8a: The bankers, their bonuses and their contracts

As a quick update on my previous blog, Mr Bob Diamond CEO of Barclays appeared in front of a House of Commons Select Committee today and gave a pretty good account of himself, all things considered. Mr George Osborne then stated the Government’s position and outlined the issues with the contracts issues to RBS staff by the previous Government. Whichever way you look at it, deals are being done, there will be no transparency and whilst beer and sandwiches are off the menu, Pol Roger and Monte Cristo’s are probably back on.



http://news.bbc.co.uk/player/emp/external/player.swf

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