#8 - Featuring EPL XI so far, David Bowie and Pete versus Life

Sportz - Ryan Smith


Half Term Report: 

Team of the Season so far

Goalkeeper: Joe Hart – The England No.1 has been stellar in City’s net this season, there isn’t a better keeper in the Premier League currently.

Defenders:

Kyle Walker – A very tight decision between the Tottenham right back and Danny Simpson, but Walker gets the nod. An attacking full back, who is also very good at his defensive duties has been ever present in Tottenham’s rise to third position. Walker has played brilliantly thus far, and at twenty one, his best years are still to come.

Vincent Kompany – The Belgian beast has been an absolute rock at the heart of City’s defence. Bar the odd error, Kompany has been simply outstanding. A passionate captain who is good on the ball, Kompany could walk into almost any starting eleven in the world.

Fabricio Coloccini – Seen as a bit of a joke when he arrived in England back in 2008, the Argentine international was expected to leave when Newcastle dropped to the Championship in his debut season. However, the Argentine international found his feet in English football, winning the league as Newcastle returned to the top flight. Since then, he’s improved further and has hit peak form this season as Newcastle challenge for Europe.

Laurent Koscielny – Like Coloccini, Koscielny didn’t enjoy the finest debut season in England, including that horror mix up with Wojech Szczesny that cost his team the Carling cup against Birmingham. This season however, he has been Arsenal’s best defender by far, often filling in anywhere along the back four as the Gunner’s struggle to cope with injuries. His positional play is excellent, as is his ability to read the game.

Midfielders:

Yaya Toure – The Ivorian midfield powerhouse is City’s unsung hero. A freight train on the ball and chasing everything off it, Toure has one hell of an engine. His link up play is also first rate, it will be interesting to see how Mancini’s team copes with his departure to the African cup of nations.

David Silva – Although he’s been a little quieter in recent weeks, David Silva has arguably been the best player in the Premier League this season. Ten assists and five goals, along with his outstanding passing ability have played a significant role in City’s ascent to the top.

Gareth Bale – Harry Redknapp recently described the Welsh wizard as ‘flawless’. Based on his performances this seasons, it’s hard to argue with him. Blistering pace, a wicked cross and an eye for goal are just a few of the attributes that make Bale such a good player. The interplay between Bale, Modric & Van der Vaart has been the main reason Tottenham find themselves challenging for the title.

Juan Mata – The Portugese attacker is enjoying a fine debut season in England and has been Chelsea's best player so far. Mata has started every game for the Blue's, showing how much AVB values his fellow countryman. Four goals and seven assists have shown that his faith isn't misplaced.

Strikers:

Robin van Persie – The Dutchman had an astounding 2011, and has singlehandedly kept Arsenal in the top five this season. The free scoring forward has notched up seventeen goals from nineteen starts this season, as well as creating six for his teammates.

Demba Ba – Without doubt, the signing of the season. Alan Pardew will be absolutely delighted with the Senegalese striker’s fifteen league goals. Selling Andy Carroll for 35 million and picking up Mr Ba on a free must go down as one of the best pieces of business in football history.

Subs:

Tim Krul

Danny Simpson

Phil Jones

Luka Modric

Sebastian Larsson

Clint Dempsey

Mario Balotelli

European XI:

Iker Casillas

Phillip Lahm

Thiago Silva

Gerard Pique

Dani Alves

Xavi

David Silva

Andres Iniesta

Robin van Persie

Lionel Messi

Cristiano Ronaldo

Subs:

Gianluigi Buffon

Sergio Ramos

Vincent Kompany

Yaya Toure

Xabi Alonso

Bastian Schweinsteiger

Zlatan Ibrahimovic

Muzique - Tommy Howe

Artist: David Bowie

Album: The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars

Genre: David Bowie

Year: 1972

Rating: 10.0/10

Verdict: A versatile classic that never fails to take my breath away, the best concept album ever and the jewel in Bowie’s crown

Remarkably David Bowie turned 65 last weekend and as such I’ll grasp the opportunity to review one of my favourites. First, let it be known that I don’t dish 10/10’s out willy-nilly, to make the cut you really do have to bring something quite phenomenal to the table and Bowie’s seminal album certainly does just that.

The record is based on Bowie’s most famous adopted persona ‘Ziggy Stardust’, an alien/rockstar with an urgent message for Earth which is fast approaching its end. There’s no electricity to play music and Ziggy’s quest to spread peace and love is impeded by his fans and his affection for sex and drugs. This is Ziggy’s story.

The album begins with ‘Five Years’, the clock is ticking for Earth and the song sets the scene beautifully. Exemplary percussion and exquisitely simple piano tracks steadily rise to a rapturous climax and the lyrics underpinning it are all sublime.

Next up is my personal favourite ‘Soul Love’ which tells the story of our despondent hero attempting to spread his message to the blindness that surrounds him. The song is uncomplicated, yet the subtlety of the bass and saxophone make it all the more wondrous.

The album then launches into the electrifying ‘Moonage Daydream’, with the bizarre opening line “I’m an alligator, I’m a mama-papa comin’ for you” setting the scene for what appears to be a world in ruins. Thankfully ‘Starman’ illuminates the prophecy that an ‘infinite’ will come to save the earth, jumping black-holes along the way and ending up somewhere in Greenwich, the first bit of good news for the despairing citizens of Earth.

Ziggy’s world is looking a little brighter now, ‘It Ain’t Easy’ is a soothing acoustic track that boasts a tremendous gospel chorus and ‘Lady Stardust’ is a similarly elevating piano driven track which allegedly alludes to fellow glam-rock star Marc Bolan. What part the androgynous T-Rex front man has to play in Ziggy’s story is anyone’s guess.

‘Star’ and ‘Hang On To Yourself’ are more typical of Bowie’s other projects, the latter is pacey and raucous enough to give the mid-section of the album enough energy and muscle to set up the most sensational of climaxes.

Title track ‘Ziggy Stardust’ is one of Bowie’s most famous. A rock/pop gem that illustrates Ziggy’s rise to prominence, reaching new spiritual heights as the world’s music saviour and then his subsequent demise as his affinity for sex and drugs get the better of him and a fickle humanity begin to lose faith.

‘Suffragette City’ continues the story, an anthemic rowdy rock track providing the backdrop to Ziggy’s final hours as he embarks on yet more promiscuous endeavours. Finally the album draws to a climactic conclusion with ‘Rock & Roll Suicide’, the charming acoustic number which symbolizes Ziggy’s end. The ‘Infinites’ have arrived on Earth but they need our hero’s energy to survive and Ziggy is sadly sacrificed to the alien intruders.

Now that’s a concept album, the perfect soundtrack to a deranged story courtesy of the weird and wonderful mind of David Bowie. Never has a story been musically conveyed with such vitality and desperation in equal measure. 

Televizion - Stephan Marfleet

Pete versus Life (2010)

               

Channel 4 has been renowned over the last decade or so for broadcasting some of the finest British comedies available on television, such as Peep Show, Black Books and Spaced, and in early August last year they premiered another gem to add to the collection. Pete versus Life follows a rather novel concept in which two sports commentators narrate and summarise the live events of the title character’s life. This concept is also peppered with stats and graphs which adjoin humorously to the main events of the show. 

Although the premise has been seen before, most notably in Woody Allen’s 1971 film Bananas and a short lived American TV series called Inside Schwartz from late 2001, the presence of the modern British awkwardness which has frequented our sitcoms for many a year helps to give it a more cutting edge than the more groping feel of its counterparts. The empathy created for Pete also serves the show well as it permits the audience to endure his misconduct without it becoming a chore. Rafe Spall, who plays Pete, also turns in a wonderful performance as the universally perplexed and exasperated man who time and again manages to make his life difficult for himself. Spall’s lethargic malaise is also warmly appreciated as he offers an all too realistic insight into the workings of the seemingly directionless life that many of us lead.

The commentators of the show’s events provide a comedic performance that is used in a successfully scarce manner that doesn’t break up the actual plotline as it threatened to do, and this is evidenced by the award given to the programme’s editors Mark Davies and Mark Emerson by the Royal Television Society for Best Tape and Film Editing. The pair’s experience on Peep Show is one of the PVL’s greatest assets as a poor job on this front would have left the show as nothing more than an ill-adjoined series of events rather than a flowing narration of a young man’s misadventures. The pair, played aptly by Simon Greenall and Ian Kirkby, has done wonders towards attracting the show’s primary demographic of young males and there rapid exchange will provoke long-lasting memories of Martin Tyler and Andy Gray from Sky Sports.

The show should not be appreciated solely for its chief gimmick though; the quality of the exchange between the characters has a refreshingly realistic feel which is helped by the quality of the cast. One notable member of the ensemble is Daniel Ings, who plays Jake, Pete’s well-rounded friend whose heroism and good nature move to inadvertently antagonise Pete on several occasions. A noticeable flaw with PVL is the essential re-casting of Pete’s Zimbabwean room mate Kurt into that of Manfred, also hailing from Zimbabwe, as it seemed a sloppy way of continuing along a rather limited scope for plotlines, as well as a lazy manner of integrating the all-too-common “crazy friend”. Aside from this change which occurs between series, PVL is a well constructed show that can appeal to all audiences, but will definitely be more warmly received among younger men who can all too easily identify with the show’s quirks. 

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Hope you have a good 2012, fuckers.