Ruth's Sport's Desk - Thrills and Spills

This weekend was all set to be fantastic one - Arsenal vs Manchester United and Moto Gp from Indianapolis but once again reality intervened to bring me crashing down.

Arsenal lost 2-1 to Man U in a an absolute travesty of a match. Arsenal played much, much better with flowing passing, commanding midfield and many many close shots on goal. But thanks to some absolutely diabolical refereeing and one very very bad header Man U scraped the win. They got a penalty that shouldn't have been and anyone saying I'm biased watch it again Wayne Rooney is already on his knees by the time Manuel Almunia gets to the ball, Darren Fletcher absolutely scythed through Andrei Arshavin in the box and got away with it and Arsenal had a goal incorrectly disallowed for offside. What a joke.

The race at Indianapolis was a bit better. Dani Pedrosa had absolutely dominated all weekend, storming to a magnificant pole position and in the beginning of the race he once again stormed to the front and was looking so strong until he lost the front end and came off on lap 4. He did however manage to get his bike back p and running ok and carriedon like the little hero that he is (more on that later.) Which left Valentino Rossi in the lead ahead of Jorge Lorenzo. Everything pointed to another epic battle but Valentino suffered an almost identical front end issue and fell in about lap 9, he also got his bike back but was not as lucky because shortly after finding Dani and being passed by him (very very sweet of him like Donnigton in reverse) he had to stop because his bike was no longer working. Which left Jorge ten seconds clear in front and cruising. The battle for the other podium positios was super close with Nicky Hayden, Alex de Angelis and lovely Andrea Dovizioso all working tremendously hard. Dani meanwhile was lapping at one second faster than the entire grid and manged to ride everyone down and with the help of Niccolo Canepa and Marco Melandri falling off managed to finish in a fantastically fought tenth place after overtaking one of the suzukis almost on the line. He was so brave and so clever and I was absolutely thrilled for him managing to save his day. Jorge won and celebrated by climbing the fence and throwing himself at his crew, De Angelis finished second- a timely podium for him as like Toni last week he has also lost his contract at Gresini Honda and Nicky Hayden came third with Andrea almost taking it on the last lap. So plenty of excitement as usual and in the immortal words of the bbc guy STONKING.

Oh and today marks the return of Grand Slam tennis with the US Open kicking off at flushing meadows. Vamos Rafa.

Film Review - Rudo Y Cursi

Slightly delayed but last week I saw 'Rudo Y Cursi' its a film about two brothers in poor, rural Mexico who get scouted for football teams and get caught up in the crazy world of fame. Its a fast paced, foul mouthed comedy but with a real heart (think Y Tu Mama Tambien.) The chemistry between the two leads- the divine Gael Garcia Bernal and wonderful Diego Luna is both wickedly funny and sweet and touching, they complement each other perfectly and both of them are just super talented, wonderfully gifted actors. And I for one would like to start a campaign for them to be in movies together more often. Although its about football its not just for sports fans its very accessible and focuses more on the pitfalls of the fame that comes with sporting success than on the actual football matches. In particular Gael Garcia Bernal's song is a stroke of genius, with accordions and cowboy hats! Its warm, witty and a real gem of a film.
Ruth

Ruth's Sports Desk - Athletics Special

Well this week I've been watching the World Athletics Championships in Berlin (on TV obviously.) I have to say I'm really enjoying it. I do love these massive competitions where they have loads and loads of different events going on. Of course everybody knows about Usain Bolt and his world record breaking runs but there have been plenty of other exciting things going on. Elena Isinbaeyeva the women's pole vault champion who has won everything going had a shocker of a final failing early on and coming last, which was a massive surprise for everyone. There was plenty of drama in the womens high jump too with Blanka Vlasic fighting it out with Ariane Friedrichs in a super tense final and eventually coming out on top and coming pretty close to breaking the world record. Great Britain's very own Philips Idowu put in a very impressive performance turning in a jump of 17 metres 73 to take triple jump gold with Jessica Ennis (also British) storming to victory in the heptathlon. Providing possibly the highlights of the whole tournament, two Germans roared on by the home crowd threw their way to magnificent victories in the women's javelin and men's discus with Steffi Nerius at 37 proving that age is no barrier to awesomeness and providing a heart warming glow looking beyond proud on the podium with flag flying. And Robert Harting showing just how hardcore and supercool he is by ripping his own shirt in two with his bare hands then lifting up the bear mascot and carrying him around for a little while. Kenenisa Bakele maintained a 100% lifetime record by masterfully winning the 10,000 metres. And there was too many other exciting and dramatic races in all of the running events to mention So all in all its been really really cool. Good Stuff.

Ruth's Sports Desk - hit for six, sixy football, six appeal,etc.

Unbridled joy! The premier league season has returned and in some style too.

Yesterday Arsenal's premier league campaign got off to a flyin start. On paper an opening game against Everton at Goodison park was a tricky fixture. But Arsenal soon blasted away any suspicions of opening day nerves. The whole team was cohesive, fluid and sharp. The passing was superb, the attacking flow was nothing short of awesome and the defence was solid, yes you heard me solid. William Gallas and new boy Thomas Vermaelen were both commanding presences at the back and Vermaelen was hardcore and willing to fling himself in all day long. Gael 'on fiiiiiire' Clichy and Bacary Sagna were tireless in their running along the flanks once again. Alex 'superfly' Song has made super progress and is really becoming a solid and dependable player in midfield.

The first Arsenal goal was a wonderful curved, mid-distance shot from Denilson which really showed his progress. This was followed by two amazing TEXT BOOK headers from corners by Gallas and new boy Vermaelen sealing a wonderful debut from him, then an amazing combination of passes from Robin Van Persie and Cesc Fabregas, a wonderful run through from midfield to give Cesc a brace which he marked with a lovely gesture of respect for his late friend Daniel Jarque. The final goal was a tap in from Eduardo which made his return super lovely too!

Arsenal are now at this very moment- top of the league! It was a fantastic day and hopefully the start of a fruitful season. Come on you gooners. Oh and some select other results - Sunderland beat Bolton 1-0, Middlesbrough won 3-0, Newcastle also won 3-0, Liverpool lost 2-1 to Spurs.

Ruth's Sports Desk - Czech it out.

Today's Czech GP held at the circuit at Brno, marked the return of moto GP after a three week summer break. Interesting news all round before the race. One: Casey Stoner is taking his own hiatus and will not ride in the next three races due to his continuing 'health issues' ie his mystery tiredness. This means big things for the title race; Jorge and Valentino have a chance to pull away and Dani has a chance to catch up and nick third. Two: Repsol Honda have announced that Dani and Andrea will be staying at HRC for another two years. Which is fantastic news as they make a great team and complement each other very well. Three: Gresini/San Carlo Honda announced that they have signed Marco Melandri from Hayate (Kawasaki) and Marco Simoncelli from the 250 class. Now that is one hell of a team, I'm predicting plenty of hijinks and hilarity from that garage next year. I think the Marcos will make perfect teammates and can probably do a great job on the satellite hondas. However and this is a big however, this means Toni Elias and Alex de Angelis are out of a job which is a real shame because they've been doing a stellar job for the team.

Now to the race. Dani and Valentino made rocketing starts whereas Jorge had a shocker. However he soon found his way back towards the front. So Valentino took an early lead followed closely by Dani, again followed closely by Jorge. Then just behind them came Andrea Dovizioso, Toni 'senor toothpaste' Elias and Loris 'can't kill him with a stick' Capirossi. Dani held up Jorge for a few laps with Toni doing the same job on his lovely teammate Andrea. Jorge found a way past and before long he and Valentino had pulled away. Dani also opened up a gap on the chasing group leaving him to ride a very lonely race. With 5 laps to go Jorge lost the front end and crashed handing the race and title advantage to Valentino who now has a 50 point (two races worth) advantage. Dani hung on in his lonely bubble to claim a solid second. Toothpaste Toni did a stellar job holding off lovely Dovi to claim a well deserved and job prospect boosting third. So a cracking race all in all with the bbc guys doing their irreverent best once again, one of the highlights being them yelling "Valentino is in your head!!!!!" repeatedly at Jorge as he crashed.

ps: Toothpaste Toni is the cool dude on the right. Check out that million dollar smile.

Buskers

I have been neglecting the blog shockingly lately, because the people of Newcastle have needed my jewellery selling skills, so here's a quick update on the Geordie world.
There's some new talent on the busking scene, including a very cool (and often topless) man who sings She's Electric by Oasis and a song by the Kooks that I can't remember the name of. There's also a man in AndyDave's spot (boo!) but he isn't bad, and a woman who apparently was once on Pop Idol, but this might not be true my sources aren't always reliable. They have all really upped their game though, with massive PA systems so the whole of Northumberland Street can hear them. AndyDave seems to have disappeared altogether - perhaps he's a student and gone home for the summer, or maybe he has a day job to save up for hats.
I am also loving the guy dressed up as a milkshake, it really brightens up my day to see him strolling around. I just hope he doesn't fall over because he'd never be able to stand up, I don't even think he has eyeholes!
Nicola

Film Review - Harry Potter 6

Finally getting round to reviewing this movie. First things first: this is a hard book to film due to all the flashbacks. Having said that David Yates and co manage it admirably. Not just admirably; epically. Yup this is totally epic. Its much darker than previous outings in terms of plot (lots of heavy death eater related stuff,) tone (plenty of angst) and look with much lurking in shadows, foggy exteriors, imposing and frankly almost gothic buildings inside and out and stark noirish visuals with Draco especially seemingly constantly shot in monochrome. Its not all doom and gloom though there are successful forays into comedy with teenage hormones (and wackiness) in overdrive. Rupert Grint (Ron) particularly handles this well displaying a marked improvement in his performance from previous movies. Emma Watson is as irritating as ever and Daniel Radcliffe has the weirdest intonation and diction I've ever heard in an actor but the rest of the cast is absolutely fantastic. Jim Broadbent is wonderful as new edition Professor Slughorn, he is pitch perfect and nails both comic jollity and internal conflict. Alan Rickman is once again truly, deliciously wonderful as Snape. And Tom Felton as Draco, well well well. I thought he was an absolute revelation. He is pensive and brooding and handles the tension and angst admirably. I loved his poise and presence and he delivers his lines with such confidence. He absolutley nails the mixture of swagger and bitterness necessary too, top marks.
Ruth.

Ruth's Sports Desk - Unbridled Joy

Its the moment I've been waiting for, my boys have finally gotten their sticky little hands on a trophy. Here is the glorious moment that Arsenal won the Emirates cup. They beat Rangers 3-0 today and these beautiful images are the result. I particularly like Emmanuel Eboue's choice of trophy as hat celebration technique. They should be very proud of themselves as this great little pre season display provides a handy confidence boost ahead of the new league campaign and a chance to evaluate the squad. I must say early signs seem good. Our forward line is firing, midfield are delivering and the defense looked generally ok. Its always excellent too to see the vitality, creativity and huge potential in our youth players.