Saturday, July 23, 2005
Lance Armstrong

Lots of people in the world have a fascination with athletes and sports men and women, no more so than when their stories off the field of play are equally, if not more so incredible than what they achieve in that sport. Lance Armstrong is one of those rare, rare few who have done the seemingly impossible. I first heard about this man, who is arguably the greatest athlete of all time, after he won his third Tour De France. Hislife story - of becoming avictim to testicular cancer, which got into his lungs and brain (I saw a program recently showing his lung x-rays and there were four or five large instances of cancer in his lungs) yet managing to; get off hishospital bed - something they gave him little chance of doing, having a healhty lifestyle - something they gave himnext to no chance of doing, and winning seven Tour De France titles (guaranteed after his time trial win today), something thatwas so far beyond impossible as to be the greatest sporting achievement of all time. Cycling and cyclistsdon't get massive plaudits, the fact that several cycling races have been removed from the next Olympics attests to this fact, but when one mangoes so far beyond the boundaries we conceive, even in modern day sport, you have to take notice.

To put it in context, no-one other than the Texan has won six titles -amazingcyclists like Miguel Indurain found it took too much out of their body to keep going as Armstrong hasdone (a Tour de France is supposed to take 2 1/2 years of your life each time) Now, in his mid-thirties Lance Armstrong has won seven consecutive titles. If ever there was an inspirational figure in sport, Lance Armstrong stands way up there in the pantheon of all-time legendary sportsmen.

Posted by Owen Jones 2005-07-23 16:13:52

Friday, July 22, 2005
Warped perceptions

How much can you justify to yourself? You know - that extra chocolate bar,one too many trips to that shop which sells all that cheap sports equipment, ordering things off the internet when you know the credit card bill will be a monster anyway. Trivial things seemingly but I wonder whether the less we discipline ourselves about the small things the easierit is to slide into more and more dangerous actions. A beer too many, then two, but you get away with driving home those times andthen aserious car crash. Do we lose ourselves by inches? By just being a little forgiving to ourselves because we know all that 'we've been through'.

Is the Ashes enthralling or what? If England have to chase more than 350 it will be impossible, if it isn't already - although the track seems to be easier to bat on. Odds on a three day test match? Let's hope not.

Posted by Owen Jones 2005-07-22 17:41:03

Thursday, July 21, 2005
Deja vu for the masses

So the reporter is sitting there, in some mode of transportjust outside the scene, and a police officer comes across and asks her to turn off her mobile. She drags her feet, detailing all the information for the studio she can beforethe guy with the badge looses patience. So we return to the studio and the anchor woman turns to the resident 'terrorist expert' and says 'Why stop mobile phones?' He replies solemnly 'Because if the bombs are wired with radio detonators then the phones can set them off.'

The room goes quiet and suddenly the idiocy of the media is realised in that one brief description. In order to get the 'most' from the situation theypotentially put hundreds at risk. She moves on of course, but the point has sunk in. Given the choice between the latest pictures/descriptions which would be hazy and random at best, and the chance for the services to do their jobs without having to look after pushy reporters and give interviews every ten minutes, I think we know what we'd all pick. It may sound highly dramatic to say this, but our very way of life is being tested andI hope the worst is past - because three strikes normally means your out.

Posted by Owen Jones 2005-07-21 17:56:47

Wednesday, July 20, 2005
Paradise

There is a little piece of paradise located in Greece that my family has been going to for years. It is easily the most wonderful place I've been to in my few years of travelling. The beach is beautiful, the views are breath-taking and the people are warm and friendly. There are people who live there I have known since I was 6, it's like a home away from home and in a week's time I will be there for two weeks holiday :) Can't wait, welcome to paradise - http://www.irene-hotel.com/images/area.jpg

Posted by Owen Jones 2005-07-20 17:10:54

Tuesday, July 19, 2005
Tax

I was in the Inland Revenue office today to sort out a refund for excess tax they did me for, surprise, and couldn't help but be savagely amused by the whole setup. I am, I believe although I could be equally deluded, a patient person. So when I turned up at the office with only four peoplein the waiting room and one of the three advisor's desks empty I thought I was doing pretty well. Gave my name, sat down and waited for my turn. One and a half hours later I sat down for my three minute appointment, which took the advisor that long because she couldn't type worth shit, and out I trotted.

Inbetween, that wasted one and a half hours of my life was used watching each new person come in to be told by the secretary that the wait was about 20 mins. People stopped believing him when they saw 20+ people, somefolks evenstanding,in the waiting room. The advisors couldn't type other than in the 'search-and-poke-with-one-finger-manner', they regularly took trips into the back office for god knows what and allowed some ofthe claimants to waffle absolute be-olloks for excessively stupid lengths of time with all the people waiting clearly visible through the glass divider. One couple occupied an advisors time for almost the total duration I was in there and they'd been sittingthere when I first entered.

Now don't get me wrong I'm thankful I got my refund but it shouldn't have been taken in the first place so waiting four weeks for them to process it through the Cardiff office is a bit of a joke. Likewise most of the people there were having trouble with their self-assessment forms, what's the point in a form with 50+ pages of notes if your going to have an understaffed Help desk?

Posted by Owen Jones 2005-07-19 19:07:53