SWOOSH! ....they're gone!

As Portugal bow out meekly at the hands of a less-than-inspirational Spain, it is an interesting juncture at which to reflect on the fortunes of the stars of Nike's "Write Your Future" advertising campaign which has been carpet-bombed onto our screens at half-times throughout the tournament:

Wayne "trailer-park" Rooney: more timid puppy than raging pit-bull, Rooney left the tournament without so much a shot on target. Sorry Wayne, better put on your best wife-beater --- the bearded caravan-dweller scenario now seems more likely than whipping Roger Federer at a ping-pong table.

Franck "quasimodo" Ribery: joins the rest of les bleus on the next economy-class flight for Charles de Gaulle. We have a good idea how he might console himself, but a word of advice seems in order: ask to see their carte d'identite up front, Frankie!

Ronaldinho: goofy didn't make the squad. Enough said.

Fabio "El Capitano" Cannavaro: following the Azzurri's tragi-comic exit in the group stages, don't expect to see him front-row at a Cabaret show anytime soon...

Cristiano "liquid engineering" Ronal-D'OH: he may have been to both "hot PLAY-ces" and "cold PLAY-ces", but his performance in this tournament was anything but well-oiled. Probably won't stop him dreaming about that statue though...

So, with that roll-call of failure, one can only imagine the advertising execs at Nike are less than thrilled at this point. They'll be hoping that their one remaining "star" from the campaign, Kaka, will be writing himself a brighter future with Brazil.

All About Circuits website

www.allaboutcircuits.com

Looks like an excellent resource for learning about electronics -- goes from basic electric circuits to digital components. Even has a set of suggested experiments to illustrate various concepts. Might be very handy in my (as yet unstarted) effort to build my own tubescreamer pedal..

"The End of Wall Street", by Roger Lowenstein (2010)

This is (hopefully) the last book about the recent GFC that I'll read for a while! Thankfully, I saved the best for last: Lowenstein has written what will probably come to be considered the definitive book on the subject so far. True, it isn't as action-packed and detailed as the 24-esque "Too Big To Fail" by Andrew Ross Sorkin, or as quirky and character-driven as "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis. But it is written from the viewpoint of someone who siezes the big picture and is able to place the entire debacle in an appropriate historical setting.

Bottom Line: if you're going to read just one book on the GFC, I heartily recommend this one.

P.S. The following vignette (from the final chapter) gives a feel for the kind of excess that is, and probably always will be, endemic to Wall St:

Well into the crisis period, when banks such as Citigroup were operating on federal investment and when Citi's stock was in single digits, Vikram Pandit, the CEO, was observed with a lunch guest at Le Bernardin, the top-rated restaurant in New York. Pandit looked discerningly at the wine list, saw nothing by the glass that appealed and ordered a $350 bottle so that, as he explained, he could savor "a glass of wine worth drinking." Pandit drank just one glass; his friend had none. The rest was presumably poured down a gilded drain.

Gekko's World Cup 2010 Dispatches: Day 1

Gekko is excited to be caught up once again in the romance and hype of the world's greatest sporting competition. So far, however, there is little for all but the most ardent enthusiast (or South Korean) to enthuse about....

The opening match pitted hosts South Africa -- a country with serious rugby and cricket credentials, but essentially a minnow in footballing terms -- against Mexico, a country with a longstanding reputation for solid but unthreatening showings in the World Cup (and, somewhat surprisingly when you think about, two previous experiences as hosts themselves --- why on earth is that?). Despite being outplayed by Mexico in the early stages, S Africa found their feet and were the first to score. Mexico leveled and it ended 1-1.

The second match showcased the other two teams from group 1: Uruguay and France. Gekko was glad he didn't get up to watch this one live, but instead watched a full-length replay. Indeed, it was such a toothless, lacklustre affair that he struggled to stay awake even when watching at 10am. It ended goalless, leaving everything all square in group one. Based on these first two matches, none of these teams will be serious contenders for the tournament. Gekko is leaning towards France and South Africa to make it through to the next round, but probably no further than that.

Tonight's first game, South Korea vs. Greece, had the dubious distinction of being the first match that Gekko considered "not worth watching". Nevertheless, because of its favourable timeslot he did watch it. And, against expectations to the contrary, found it quite enjoyable -- in an innocent, wholesome, amateur-hour kind of way. For Gekko's money, S Korea deserved their 2-0 win over the hapless, uninspiring Greeks. The difference seemed to come down to team cohesion: the Koreans, to a man, worked selflessly and tirelessly for the greater good of the cause. By contrast, the Greek team seemed disjointed and clumsy, with players seemingly more interested in striking a Zeus pose for the cameras at every opportunity. Gekko has loathed the Greek team ever since their freakish victory in Euro 2004 which they achieved by playing the most uninspiring brand of football outside of Italy. Gekko anticipates a speedy exit for the Greeks, and a happy-go-lucky, possibly reasonably lengthy, run for the S Koreans (if they can get a result against Nigeria).

Sherlock Holmes (2009)

With all the television shows I've been catching up on (in particular, most recently, the prison soap-opera Oz), it's been hard to make room for good old-fashioned movies. But last night, while pausing for breath between seasons 4 and 5 of Oz, I decided to make a special effort, and took a look at Guy Ritchie's 2009 Sherlock Holmes. 

It's a fast-paced and entertaining film, with Robert Downey Jr giving a fresh, energetic interpretation of Sherlock Holmes and Jude Law putting in a solid (for him) performance as his sidekick Watson. This guys are a far cry from the staid characters conjured up in Arthur Conan Doyle's original stories: Downey's Holmes is equally comfortable carrying out wacky science experiments in his opium den of an apartment or jumping in the ring for a bare-knuckled boxing match to relieve his boredom (the latter, accompanied by irish folk music, was presumably a nod to Brad Pitt's boxer in Snatch). 

The classic moments of deductive genius are brilliantly rendered through Ritchie's signature slow-motion/disjointed action sequences (the blow-by-blow breakdown which precedes his knockout flurry of punches in the boxing match is great). There are also a couple of nice glimpses of his disguise abilities. Also, Law is a good foil for Downey, and they manage to weave many lines from the original books ("the game is afoot" etc) in a natural way.

I liked Ritchie's gritty portrayal of nineteenth century London: it provided an interesting backdrop (St Paul's, a semi-completed Tower Bridge) but without venturing into that self-indulgent Tim Burton style that made films like "From Hell" so tedious.

I must admit I didn't follow the actual plot all that closely (my wakefulness started to flag midway through, before perking up with a jolt -- perhaps alerted by a loud piece of action -- towards the end). It seemed to draw on some Dan Brown-esque occult material without, thankfully, getting too bogged down in it. You get the feeling this was more a film about characters and setting rather than an epic story.

As a side thought, some of the interaction between Downey and Law was reminiscent of Hugh Laurie and Robert Sean Leonard from House, MD -- ironic, but perhaps not coincidental, given that those characters are themselves based loosely on Holmes and Watson.

One final highlight was the traditional Irish song "Rocky Road To Dublin" (performed by The High Kings), which accompanied the boxing match and end credits. I remember hearing somewhere in the depths of childhood (I think the old man used to sing it when he was on the sauce):

One two three four five,

Hunt the hare and turn her down the rocky road

And all the way to Dublin, whack-fol-la-de-da !

BOTTOM LINE: not a classic, but entertaining and worth a look.