I love NY

Well the excitement didn't stop there for me. Just a few short days after my Arsenal adventure I set off on my holiday to New York. First we stayed overnight in the Manchester Airport Hilton which was amazing, very swanky. Then it was a seven hour transatlantic flight which was an interesting experience, you get a pillow and blanket and a screen with movies and TV shows to watch. I watched GI Joe which was fun, Friends, the Big Bang Theory, The Assassination of Jesse James which was less fun and the Moto GP race from Brno. Then the city itself. I honestly do not have enolugh superlatives to describe how truly wonderful and breathtaking New York city really is. Walking around the city makes you feel like you are constantly in a film and everywhere you look there's something amazing to see. We visited the statue of Liberty which is as iconic as you imagine it to be, the Rockefeller Centre which has incredible views of the city, Times Square which is mind-blowing, the Empire State which is really pretty inside, I went ice skating in Bryant park, played the Big piano in FAO Schwarz, walked across the Brooklyn Bridge, went to see the Lion King on Broadway, met Santa in Macy's and shopped in Bloomingdales, SoHo and Abercrombie and Fitch which is THE most wonderful shop I've ever been in. So it was a totally fabulous trip and I feel very very blessed that I can say I have seen and done all those things.
Spazibo and love to you all
Ruth

Ruth's Sports Desk - Special Edition

Here's my super special London edition of my sports desk. A couple of weeks ago I won tickets to go and watch Arsenal play Standard Liege in the Champions League at the Emirates! I was super excited and somehow between screaming, dancing and nearly crying I managed to organise a return trip on a bus and I was soon on my way. Well it was an incredible night, a dream come true. When we (me and my dad) arrived we got the tube to Arsenal tube stadium which was exciting enough in itself then walked down the road to see the old Highbury. Then we went to the Emirates itself. The stadium is breathtaking, absolutely huge and looks just beautiful. Its lit up with big 'emirates' lights and has massive murals on the sides with pictures of four players in a row with their backs to you and the names of Arsenal legends like Rice, Brady, Bergkamp,etc on them. There's big, old cannons at the front (from when it was actually an Arsenal) and I got my photo taken next to them. The gift shop is unbelievable anything you can think of to put an Arsenal crest on, they have. Then we went inside the stadium and when we walked out to take our seats I nearly cried, its so incredible that I just filled up with emotion (I know that sounds OTT but seriously it was like nothing I'd ever seen before and I have been wanting to go for so long.) Our seats were fabulous, bang on the halfway line and with a perfect view. We saw the players warming up (with Pat Rice!!) which was beyond exciting and discovered that the Arsenal song is 'the Wonder of you.' The match itself was great, Arsenla totally dominated and with slick passing and very sharp play. Alex Song was absolutely immense, Bacary Sagna was tireless on the wing with Kieran Gibbs also very energetic. Andrey Arshavin was very impressive as was Samir Nasri. And Tomas Rosicky played for about 20 mins which made me absolutley delighted and over excited because I love him, he is one of my absolute favourite players ever. So all in all it was a magical night.

London Calling/ New York, New York.

Well I know its been a while but we've been pretty busy with our uni work of late. We're now on the home straight with only our review portfolios (the majority of which we have already written) and our essays to go. In other news, on Friday I received a phonecall telling me I've won tickets to go and see Arsenal play Standard Liege tomorrow night! So I'm currently bouncing off the walls with excitement preparing for my trip tomorrow.
Then at the end of the week I'm off to New York for a few days. So mega exciting stuff this week and frantic attempts to finish my uni work in time.
Spazibo and look out for my London updates!
Ruth

Ruth's Sports Desk - Moto GP Season Review

Here I am officially bereft for the Winter so as part of the coping process I'm writing my 2009 season review! And what a season its been, there may have been ups and downs but it was never anything less than thrilling, exciting and of course utterly STONKING.

Best victory- Dani's win in Laguna Seca. It came off the back of difficulties and DNFs and on the day he totally stormed it. Plus his unrestrained joy (and Vale's able assistance) on the podium was the cutest thing ever.

Best celebration - A tie between Vale's chicken and Jorge's space helmet and moonwalk.

Most exciting moment- Vale's last minute overtaking on the last corner on the last lap in Catalunya. Adrenalin rushes don't come better than this.

Biggest 'nightmare in a bubblecar' moment - Dani's crash in Mugello. Already injured he slides off at a corner and curls into a tiny, heart-breaking ball and has to be stretchered off. Cue wailing and tears in my house.

Best off track extra-curricular fun- a tie between legendary, stick-man Loris riding an elephant and the Yamaha crew's 'day at the office.' Colin Edwards has missed his vocation in life as a hardcore security guard/all round comedian.

Sweetest Moment - Senor Toothpaste himself Toni Elias giving Dani a lift back to the Parc Ferme after his bike ran out of gas. And every single time Dani and Vale are anywhere near each other.

Special award for all round dorkiness, adorableness in the face of adversity, biggest fanboy, hardest worker, Miss Congeniality and biggest smile - Andrea Dovizioso.

Best Race - Donnington for drama, Malaysia for joy and giggles, Brno for unpredictability, Valencia for a perfect joyous season finale.

So raise a glass and says 'cheers' to an awesome season and 'for suuuuuuure' an even better one next year. Huggy Dani and Vale wish you a happy off season and look forward to (ahem) doing it all again in 2010.

Movie Reviews - Up, Zombieland, Michael Jackson, Mr Fox.

Recently I've seen four really excellent movies. First I saw Up. Its the story of Carl Fredricksen a lonely old man who doesn't want to be evicted from his house and ends up finding adventure and friendship in unexpected places. Its a truly moving and wonderful experience (I cried a few times) with the most beautiful story and wonderful characterisation. Its a treat for the heart and for the eyes too with magical 3D and stunning visuals. Its sad and heartrending but funny and uplifting and you will leave the cinema feeling exhilarated. I thoroughly recommend it to everybody. I then went to see Zombieland which is a totally different type of movie, its a fast-paced and hilarious Zombie movie (clue in the title.) Its gross but brilliant and everything a zombie movie should be. Woody Harrelson is an absolute revelation in his finest role since Cheers and possibly the finest character in cinema history. It seriously kicks ass. Then I went to see Michael Jackson (This is It.) Now, I wasn't expecting to enjoy this that much but I was really pleasantly surprised. It looked like a seriously impressive show with Michael Jackson himself looking and sounding good. His band and dancers were absolutely fantastic and the set -list was mind-blowing. We were singing and dancing along in our seats. The arrangement and staging was so so impressive especially a beautiful version of Human Nature, Just Can't StopLoving You a wonderful duet with a supremely impressive female singer named Judith and an version of Billie Jean in the encore that in a real concert I'm sure would have brought the house down. So whether you're a fan or not go and see it and gain a new appreciation of MJ. Finally I went to see Fantastic Mr Fox, based on the book of the same nameby Roald Dahl. It was an old school delight with stop-motion animation and retro looking puppets. It was charming, quirky, funny and sweet. The characterisation was excellent, the script was sharp and the voice cast was top-notch. Another big hit for me.
Spazibo and amore to you all.
Ruth

Happy Friday!

Dani and his flight helmet wish YOU a happy Friday!!!

Well today something exciting happened to Nicola and I. We were in Northumberland Street and noticed we couldn't get past halfway down the street because there was a big crowd of people, it turns out that the Queen was visiting Newcastle today. But we couldn't see anything because of all the people so we decided to head back to uni and when we got around the corner we saw the police escort and the black car with the little flag on it. And sure enough the Queen was sitting in the back! She looked very little and very nice she was wearing a pink jacket and a lovely pink hat. We were very excited and could hardly believe that we'd just seen her on the off chance.

Spazibo everybody and much luuuurve.

Ruth

TV, and stuff.

Ruth and I are both eagerly awaiting the release of Nine (the musical, not the Tim Burton film 9, which also looks good), so keep your eyes peeled for a review when it comes out!

In the meantime, I'm beginning to forget what the real world looks like - my life has been overtaken by utopias and dystopias, and vampire fiction. True Blood is one of the best things on TV right now, and I can finally watch it now it isn't on an obscure satellite channel. The only bad thing is, there are always spoilers in magazines! I really don't see the point, who likes spoilers?? It takes away the whole point of watching the program. Then of course there's the annoyingness of Anna Paquin and the girl who plays Tara to contend with, but I love how weirdly realistic it is. And I really love Bill, and the guy who owns the bar (Sam? I think.)

If vampires aren't your thing, there's always X Factor and Strictly. I suspect Jedward might be in with a chance of winning on X Factor, which would be the end of reality TV as we know it! They are hilarious, but come on, it is meant to be a talent show! My favourite is definitely Joe to win, he's just awesome! And how great is Cheryl this year, I wish people would stop slating her. The media love to build somebody up then send them crashing back down again. Her live performance was spot-on. I couldn't even guess who might win Strictly... Ricky Whittle? Ali? They're too close to call this year.

And then there's Ugly Betty and Gossip Girl...... you can predict what's going to happen week after week but sometimes that's a good thing! I have stopped watching Gok though. :( Sorry Gok, I do love you, but I feel you're just on TV too often. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, take a break!
Nicola

Ruth's Sports Desk - Nobody Does it Better/ Old Chicken Makes Good Soupy!

Congratulazioni e baci grandi a Valentino! The Doctor sealed his ninth world title (seventh in premier class) today in Malaysia. It was a thoroughly well deserved title with his season being absolutely sublime, exciting start to finish. He came third today in rain soaked conditions and after a very difficult start in which he ended up eleventh after running wide on the first corner. So I salute a true champion who constantly raises the bar and is the most amazing ambassador for his sport. Vale you are a hero.

Also lots and lots of amore to Dani and Andrea today. Dani came second after a very assured ride which was his first podium in wet conditions which was also a super achievement. He seemed really happy and super giggly after the race which was lovely to see. Poor Andrea was running in third and looking really impressive but the slippery conditions got the better of him and his bike slid away from him a few laps from the end. So (mentally) sending a bucketload of consolation kisses his way.

Ruth's Sports Desk- The return of extracurricular Thursday

Well here we are again. Another Thursday another round of random activities to keep the boys occupied. Today the extracurricular fun department decided to send Dani go karting with some of the baby bikers (that's 125 and 250 class riders,) Legendary Loris to an elephant sanctuary with Hiro Aoyama, Nico Terol and Hector Barbera (more baby bikers,) Toothpaste Toni to some mechanical event in Bangkok (No that isn't a euphemism) and Jorge and Valentino to the Petronas Towers. Vale and Jorge seemed to enjoy themselves and as you can see the competition continued with Vale managing to attract two pretty girl fans and Jorge only getting one (bless his little socks.) As you can see poor Jorge is still feeling the effects of crashing at the weekend with his plaster on his hand and swollen and scratched nose (all together 'aaaaahhhh') but at least he can take comfort that chicks do indeed dig his scars. There was also another press con with (this is rapidly becoming a tradition) Vale and Dani sitting together again, unfortunately we're not lucky enough to be gifted with another suggestive, eye-gazing picture this week but as a small bonus here's Legendary Loris and his new friend Hiro Aoyama riding an elephant.

Life and Literature.

Well, today was a (hahaha) well-earned day off. I fully intended to do some work (i use that term very loosely) on my dissertation but got slightly distracted. I did managed to get a copy of Salem's Lot from the library which I will be using in another essay later on. I finally finished re reading Brave New World which I thoroughly enjoyed doing, its a great book and Huxley's phrasing is at times absolutely exquisite. I'm going to start rereading I am Legend next which is good because I love this book and again it will be handy for an essay. I need to get hold of a copy of a clockwork orange and have a scan through. Also I have a feeling that i need to be handing something in soon so I need to check on that. I think after tea I will get on with writing out quotes for my dissertation and crack on with my reading for that too. So quite busy times ahead. I also need to go to the library and find another article to review tomorrow *sigh.* Oh well onwards and upwards. I'm hoping at the weekend to start my review and get it out of the way and hopefully do some writing as I'm feeling creative but frustrated.
greetings and Spazibo
Ruth

Ruth's Sports Desk- Thursday is extracurricular activity day!

Well its almost the weekend which means its almost race time. But first...

Its Thursday,which as the title of the post explains is extracurricular activity day. Thursday is the day the boys get to do all manner of random fun stuff after they arrive at whichever area their race is in. In the past they've sent Jorge to the library and the Spanish riding school, sent Andrea surfing and go karting, sent all the yamaha boys to 'work' in the offices for the day and let Vale loose talking to kids. Well today it was the turn of Dani and Andrea who visited the Honda Training Centre which has something to do with road safety and motorbike skills and such things. They met the students there and got to play with a simulator and generally looked sweet in honda gear. They also sent Chris Vermeulen, Julian Simon and Marco Simoncelli to a wildlife park which was very sweet they got to meet dingos and koalas and stuff. (pictures at motogp.com)

Thursday is also press con day. Which apparently Dani and Vale enjoyed. This is after they did a joint interview together in a spanish newspaper. That's a real interview not an imaginary one that only exists in my head. A real one, the link is at the bottom. They discuss Dani's recent mountain climbing trip (yes really) and what they think of each other (yes really again.) Its a thing of beauty. The photo on the right is so full of possibilities, someone should totally run a caption contest on this thing. (http://www.elpais.com/articulo/deportes/somos/distintos/elpepidep/20091005elpepidep_20/Tes)

Movie Reviews - Inglourious Basterds and Mesrine

I went to see Inglourious Basterds the other week. I really really liked it. I'd heard mixed reviews beforehand but went with an open mind. I thought it was an excellent piece of film-making with Tarantino's direction assured and masterful. The cast was excellent with Michael Fassbender as a particular standout with his British army captain looking and sounding uncannily like a young Laurence Olivier, top notch. Also Brad Pitt was on excellent form with his brilliantly witty and OTT American soldier. It had brilliant moments of dark comedy and was super stylish with deft little touches from QT such as the little chapter headings and the good old fashioned noir voiceover. It was a film about film with QT fashioning a love letter to the power of cinema and making a genre movie with a twist.
I've also seen Mesrine parts 1 and 2 which is a french gangster movie about the life of Jacques Mesrine, a french gangster. It was a fantastic movie, a really slick old fashioned gangster film. Vincent Cassel gives a supreme performance as Mesrine, bringing electrifying charisma and convincing brutality to a complex role. Also excellent was Mathieu Amalric all wired intensity and excellet facial expression acting as an accomplice of Mesrine. Gerard Depardieu was also great as a smooth talking big time crime man. The soundtrack to the film was brilliant and it looked both accurate and vibrant. All in all two great films.
Ruth

Ruth's Sports Desk - The return of sixy football and excitement in Estoril

Well that sure was a fun-filled weekend of sports. First up Moto GP. The boys rolled in to Estoril for the latest round of racing and this week was the return of Casey Stoner (yawn.) He seems to have recovered form the most boring mystery illness in the world and is now back in irritating form. Once again Dani Pedrosa started the race super fast but was soon overtaken by Jorge Lorenzo. Dani had a right old battle with Casey and although he was a couple of seconds behind it really seemed like he was going to catch him. Poor Valentino struggled in fourth with grip issues but despite being miles behind Dani he was also miles in front of enforcer Edwards, so had a lonely but useful race. Lovely Dovi had a cracking battle with toothpaste Toni that went right up to the line with almost nothing in it and toni taking sixth and Dovi seventh. So Jorge emerged victorious and promptly did his routine of sticking a 'Lorenzo Land' flag on the racetrack. That's spiced up the title fight a bit with Valentino's lead down to 18 points with three races left. Casey was second and Dani third which means there's only about three points between them. I was rather disappointed that Casey was back on the podium so soon as I was robbed of seeing Dani and Valentino indulge in their normal overly chummy lets make Jorge jealous speculation inducing podium love in.

Next up (and on the same day, I nearly combusted with excitement) was Arsenal vs Blackburn. It was an interesting game which started badly as we conceded an early goal then went behind again. But we fought hard and were absolutely majestic going forward. We scored 6 goals and each of them were wonderful, particularly the wonderful left foot volley from Thomas Vermaelen (who is now our top scorer and a centre half!) All of the players put it an amazing display with Cesc Fabregas in particular standing out, assiting on four of the goals and scoring one himself. It was a great game to mark Arsene Wenger's 13th year in charge (happy anniversary) and even Thierry Henry was there watching in the stands.

Enjoy a random photo of Andrea Dovi at a petrol station opening looking sweet just for kicks.

the lurgy

I have been struck down with a horrible cold, hence the radio silence on the blogging front. So i spent the last two days convalescing on my sofa, wrapped in a blanket drinking hot lemonade and watching movies. I'm still not 100% but I'm getting better. And when i'm recovered expect some sports and movie blogs coming your way. Also perhaps some complaining about uni...
Spazibo
Ruth.

Film review - District 9

Better late than never, here's my review of District 9 (which I saw about a week and a half ago.) District 9 is a film by Neil Blomkamp adapted from his short film 'Alive in Johannesburg' it deals with what would happen if aliens landed in South Africa but not in a way that you would think. Its a sci-fi film but a sci-fi film with a beating heart of human drama. The documentary structure within the film is very cleverly implemented, giving the film a more intimate and realistic feel. A particular triumph is Wikus van der Merwe, the film's protagonist. He starts out as an ordinary, nerdy guy in an office; the type of guy we've all come across a million times. But he evolves into the extraordinary without being a cliched hero. You really feel for him as events around him get more and more bizarre, he's just a bewildered person who doesn't know what to do or why his life makes no sense anymore. You can really believe in the way he begins to fight back to regain control and the relationship he forms with one of the aliens is supremely touching. Sharlto Copley who plays him, is in his first major role and he's an absolute revelation. He gives a sensitive, nuanced performance that would put any experienced actor to shame. Blomkamp's direction is absolutely sublime, not only does the film look fantastic, it pulls you right in and along with Wikus on his strange odyssey. The real magic is in the small details Blomkamp uses, such as a heart-rending exchange in which the alien Christopher Johnson shows his son their new home in a refugee camp; its only a short scene but its so simple and beautiful and typifieas why everyone should see this movie. It handles the delicate issues of race and immigration in a sensitive and thought provoking way and is both illuminating and exciting. I thouroughly reccommed this movie to everybody, its one of the best I've seen this year.
Ruth.

Student Daze

Well, time has caught up with us at last, the summer is over and we're back at university. Scheduling is playing cruel jokes on us as usual with two nine o clock starts wreaking havoc on our nocturnal student systems. I write this post from the library separated from my partner in blogging crime as I should be in a lecture right now. However life is once again out to get me as my bus broke down on the way to Newcastle meaning that I missed the first lecture of the module. Great start to the term, I know. Alll in all though it hasn't been too bad as our modules are considerably more fun this year with the focus on vampires and sci-fi being a particular highlight. I guess I could be doing dissertation prep right now but my heart just isn't in it today, I already want to go back to sleep and start all over again. But onto more important things.......

Ruth.

Ruth's Sports Desk - Ciao!

Well, well, well another week another round of Moto GP is upon us. This week the boys rolled in to Misano in San Marino for more fun, fights and frolics. Well Mr Valentino started on pole and Dani right behind him (ahem) having both found half a second on Jorge Lorenzo in practice. Dani made an absolute rocketing start while Alex de Angelis (at his home GP) caused absolute mayhem at the first corner trying to pass on the outside then losing his bike and taking down Colin Edwards and Nicky Hayden on the way. He almost hit Jorge who was incredibly lucky to stay on and due to all the commotion Randy 'Playboy' De Puniet was forced to run wide off the corner then make his way back onto the track. Nicky Hayden ran over and got a bit shovey at De Angelis while Colin let out his annoyance in the interview in the pits afterwards saying 'we knew we'd have to deal with dumbass Italians here and I think he had his brain switched off .' Let that be a lesson to you Alex, Don't mess with 'The Enforcer.' Dani managed to lead for a few laps with Toothpaste Toni Elias surprisingly in the mix right behind him but before long Valentino was bearing down on him. Valentino overtook Dani and Jorge got past Toni but was held up for a long time by Dani. Valentino managed to pull away and despite Dani's best efforts so did Jorge, on the plus side he did manage to stay with him for a lot longer than usual which suggests the bike is progressing. It wound up being quite strung out with a few seconds between each rider but excitement was provided by Andrea Dovizioso and Loris 'can't kill him with a stick' Capirossi exchanging places in 4th and 5th. Lovely Dovi managed to take it close to the line but Loris really made him earn it. So Vale, Dani and Jorge wound up on the podium again with Dani having to hitch a lift to the pits from Toothpaste Toni after his bike cut out. Valentino had the donkey from 'shrek' on his helmet as a jokey reference to his falling off last week and on the podium he extended the joke with him and several of his crew wearing HUGE fluffy donkey ears. As you can see in the brilliant picture above. And Dani's brilliant performance today means he has overtaken Casey Stoner in the championship standings and is now third and some more recent fantastic news Honda have confirmed that he and Andrea have signed new contracts for next year, hurrah! So another stonking weekend with the moto gp boys and roll on Estoril in October.

Ruth's Sports Desk - Closure

The transfer window is officially closed (cue the party) so the madness is done at least until january. Arsenal's moves were pretty low-key with the major outgoings being Kolo Toure and Emmanuel Adebayor and our major signing being Thomas Vermaelen. Well here's who I would have signed had I been in Arsene Wenger's position.

1. Anatoliy Tymoschuk. (he actually went to Bayern Munich) He's a formidable defensive midfielder and fast too. Plus check that early nineties Kurt Cobain look he's rocking, right on.

2. Danijel Pranjic (again Bayern Munich got him) He's a super fast, clever winger. Excellent at full back and amazing at bombing forward. And he has model standard cheekbones.

3. Dani Guiza (plays for Fenerbahce didn't move in the window.) Because he's the second coolest person named Dani in Espana. Oh Yes. Plus he's pretty damn good at scoring goals.

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.

Ruth's Sports Desk - Mountain Climbing in flip flops.

This weekend heralded the final moto gp race at Donnington Park for the near future. And boy did it go out with a bang.

It was half raining which meant the track was slippy but not wet enough for wet tyres. However that didn't deter Ducati who went for full wet tyres meaning that a few laps in Nicky and Casey were circulating on shredded tyres. Dani, Valentino, Jorge and Andrea Dovizioso (this cutie on the left) all had excellent starts. Toni Elias aka Mr Toothpaste had a stonking start and led briefly before touching the white line at the edge of the course and flying off. A few laps on Jorge stormed into the lead only to suffer an almost identical crash. Which left Dani, Valentino and Andrea to fight it out. Andrea and Valentino began to pull away and Dani began to struggle mostly I think due to the ridiculously sketchy conditions and the fact that Toni Elias had crashed literally inches from him making him super super cautious. Then a few laps on Valentino lost the front end of his bike and fell but managed to get it upright and running again. He rejoined the race in 11th position by which time Dani began storming backwards on the grid (hmmm what a 'strange' coincidence.) Andrea on the other hand consolidated his lead and flew home 1st ahead of Colin Edwards who cae form nowhere in a quite frankly stonking performance and Randy de Puniet who put it a really courageous and strong race. Valentino somehow managed to make up a huge gap and finish 5th while Dani ended up 9th. So massive massive congratulations to lovely, sweet, ditzy Andrea who thoroughly deserves his moment after all his determination and positivity.

Ruth's Sports Desk- A Welcome Return.

It is with great delight that I can finally say the words I have been waiting over a year to say "Tomas Rosicky is back." Oh yes. He has actually officially played football again. Hurrah!

He's been injured with an uber complicated knee complaint since January 2008. He returned to training at the end of the season and has been training intensively in Prague. He played the first half of Arsenal's first pre-season friendly against Barnet during which he was captain. I'm so pleased he's back, he's one of my favourite footballers ever and both myself and the Arsenal team have missed him badly (not that I know them or anything, its just obvious.) So I am now very very excited and hopeful for the new season. In other Arsenal related news our new signing Thomas Vermaelen played the entirety of the Barnet match and seemed to be looking good.

Now to Moto GP. Last week's race was at the Sachsenring (spelt right oh yes) in Germany. It was very exciting. Valentino and Jorge were once again fighting it out for the lead and exchanged positions several times, Valentino overtook Jorge with two laps left and came over the line 0.9 of a second ahead of him. Casey Stoner was third for a long time but begaan flagging towards the end which allowed Dani to reel him in and overtake him and even make up some ground on the leaders. It was great. Dani is now right back in the fight for a top three finish.

And finally some sports related news that I found out this very morning. Roger Federer's wife Mirka has had twins. Both girls, named Charlene and Myla. Aaah sweet. How very very nice. Congrats.

Update- uni,etc

Well my uni results are also in. I also got a 2:1 for the year which I was very very pleased about. I'm happy to know I'm heading in the right direction and doing something right somewhere. I was also disappointed with my modernism results as it was somewhere around 52 (I think) although frankly I expected it because I spent a large part of the modernism module yelling in frustration and attempting to bang my head off the desk. I really struggled with modernism as it all seemed rather pretentious and ridiculous to me. However I did do very well on my mini dissertation which I was absolutely delighted about because I did actually put a lot of work into it and thoroughly enjoyed writing about Dracula and Interview with the Vampire. Both Nicola and I got onto the modules we picked for next year which is good but I still can't work the stupid uni timetable system which doesn't seem to work ever.
I've been sitting down a lot over my holidays. I've realised how long this holiday really is. I had a job last year so my summer flew by but this year I've been chilling out and watching LOTs of TV. I've just started watching 'Desperate Romantics' on BBC 2 which I really like. Its about the pre-Raphaelite brotherhood and has a fantastic cast. Its about art in the victorian era but don't let that put you off its very vibrant and fast paced with plenty of beautiful and witty boys (and girls) and romance, fame, drama and of course pretty pictures. I've also been reminding myself how much I love Friends. Its so ridiculous now that almost every episode I see makes me cry. I also started watching True Blood on FX which was weird but good. It was dark and broody with lots of sex and weird southern accents.
Ruth.

RIP Michael Jackson

Also, I know this is very delayed... but I was so sad when I heard about Michael Jackson. I never believed he did anything he was accused of - he was just a boy trapped in a man's body because of the way he was brought up and from becoming famous so young, he never had a real childhood. I don't even think he knew what he had done wrong. But it is a real tragedy - even if you don't like his music, or him as a person, you can appreciate the influence his sound, his dancing and his music videos have had on so many other artists. He really was the King of Pop. I hope he's at peace now, since he never seemed to find much happiness here.
Nicola

University Results

Well the marks are back - the result of another year of blood, sweat, tears and general stress. And I am sad to say that for the last exam I got ......56!! 56 for the hell of modernism, they should give you a 2:1 just for turning up to the lectures/seminars, we went a lot more than most people! Other than that though, mostly good news, a mid-range 2:1 overall I think, will have to pull my finger out next year though and do some work.
In other news... I'm loving Gossip Girl at the minute although I think next week is the last episode of the series :(. I want to BE Blair Waldorf, and I cried at Wednesday's episode, how embarassing, but I was having an emotional day in my defence. Also there was the last episode of Katie and Peter - forever! - and I'm just gutted! Can't wait to watch her with Piers Morgan on Saturday, sure she'll be her normal reserved, secretive self. I know everyone's Team Andre at the minute, but everybody deals with breakups in different ways - I've seen plenty of friends act the way Katie has when they've split up with someone. And it's not like she abandoned her kids in a hotel or something, they were with Pete. I love Peter too though - I just want them to work things out! You know so much about them through the media and their shows it's almost as if you know them personally!
Anyway, Ugly Betty is really heating up, just when it seemed as if they'd gone full circle - Daniel back at Mode, Wilhemina back to plotting, they threw in a couple more twists! Glad to see they're more on the ball than the Desperate Housewives writers, I'm hoping that that was the last series of DH to be honest, I think they've totally lost it!
Think that's all for TV at the moment... I'm desperate to watch that Four Weddings program, especially because I love Come Dine with Me and as I'll probably be becoming a Bridezilla myself soon, but I can't get Living TV on my Freeview :(. Never mind!
Nicola

Ruth's Sports Desk - California Dreaming

This week's Moto GP at Laguna Seca in California was nothing less than STONKING. It provided the scenario I've been waiting for all year. In fact waiting is an understatement, desparate is more accurate. Anyway finally, finally I got what I wanted; Dani Pedrosa won!!!!! Not just that though Valentino Rossi came second and Jorge Lorenzo third meaning that my three favourites were on the podium in the right order. Plus Dani and Valentino are amazing together on the podium and provide me with many moments of fangirling and squeeing. Dani's victory was an absolute epic he rocketed off the start and established an impressive 3 second lead pretty early on. He was absolutely bang on form and showed what he can do, hopefully putting behind him the nightmare in a bubblecar run of injuries and crashes he's had lately.

Valentino almost caught Dani on the last corner but he held on like the little hero that he is. Plus special mention for Jorge who came in third (nearly second if it wasn't for some bad luck with steering) despite riding with a partially dislocated shoulder.

Valentino and Dani got all matey on the podium, with Valentino seeming very very pleased for Dani patting him on the head, hugging him and waving his hand in the air like a boxing victory thing. Even Jorge shook Dani's hand without being forced which was super sweet.

So in conclusion an absolutley stonking race and I'm very very proud of all three boys.

Random Musings.

Funny old day today.
Isn't it weird how doing nothing can actually feel like having a full day?
Also eating spaghetti hoops while listening to songs from eurovision is weirdly satisfying.
I've actually been writing today which makes a change given how lazy i've been feeling. I typed up some bits of my gangster novel and added to them which felt good. Also I read back over the ending scenes I'd written for it which was motivating. Feeling pretty positive about the quality of stuff I have its just quantity needs upping now.
Also watching rain fall always puts me in a pensive mood. So a bit of a quiet, introspective day all round.
Watching Stevie Wonder in concert. Its very calming.

Ruth

Nicola's TV Reviews

Until recently, TV has been dominated by Big Brother (boo! how many more series can they possibly make??) but finally, Ugly Betty has filled the void left by Desperate Housewives. The 1st episode was amazing, the same great, sparkling writing, crazy colours and awful-but-cool costumes by Patricia Field. I was dubious at first about Daniel being kicked out of Mode but they've actually managed to make it work really well, and I can't wait to see what happens with DJ and with Wilhemina's evil plotting!
Gossip Girl is getting better every week too - I loved Serena at first but now I think Blair's my favourite, she's a lot more easy to relate to as the series goes on, and I want the entire cast's wardrobe!
I wonder when I should get excited about X Factor, I know its starting in August and the fashion wars between Dannii and Cheryl have already begun, but it's just not quite as good as Britain's Got Talent! On the plus side, there is plenty of ridiculous drama over nothing on X Factor, Cheryl Cole's awesome hair, and the girls' gorgeous dresses to admire

Nicola's Cool List

Since I've been neglecting the blog (full-time work is such a distraction!) I thought I'd add my own cool list:
bows
blue topaz
lollipops
orchids
polka dots
Paris
Wonder Woman
berets
Marilyn Monroe
European accents
pillarbox red
boys who play bass
anything nautical
Starburst (although they were cooler when they were Opal Fruits)

Random thoughts - cool?

I caught the end of Big Brother (unfortunately) the other day and something one of the 'housemates' said made me think. He was blithering on about how cool he thinks he is and it set me off. You can't just declare yourself cool, that isn't how it works. Plus if you are truly cool you neither know nor care how cool you are. Anyway, my point is it got me thinking about things that I think are cool. Now by this I mean not just things i like but things that really make me sit back and say "wow." Things that impress me for entirely random reasons. Things that are extraordinarily awesome. Now there are far too many to list but here is a short selection of things that I think are cool:
cowboy boots
the word 'stonking'
Pat Rice
Jorge's 'Lorenzo Land' flag
lollipops
Valentino. All the time
sonnets
accents
xbox 360
cowbells
tambourines
Perry Farrell
hands
John Frusciante's guitar skills
the teachings of Professeur Arsene Wenger
the word 'elbogen' (german for elbow)
berets
vocal layering
accordions
Dani Guiza
Gunnersaurus (the arsenal mascot)
noodles
turnstiles
Bacary Sagna
tennis volleys that involve jumping
clay courts

and last but not least the word 'Spazibo'
Ruth

WAG Training- One step closer.

I am delighted to announce that my WAG Training has advanced. Oh yes. Now I'm not just a random weirdo in velour pants, I'm on the road. The road to Wagdom. hell yes.

I have officially been in the presence of a genuine footballer on an occasion that wasn't a football match.

I have shared a swimming pool and steam room with a real life footballer. Marvin Emnes of Middlesbrough FC. My mum is a member of the leisure club at the parkmore hotel and as luck would have so apparently is Marvin. So I trotted off on wednesday for a relaxing swim and who should be next to me in the pool but Marvin. My mum said "alright" to him as we passed and apparently he acknowleged her. We also sat in the steam room with him and looked at him in quiet (and subtle obviously) awe and appreciation. We then watched him leave and he is one stylish and swaggering dutch boy I assure you. In case anyone was wondering THIS (left) is Marvin Emnes.

So Spazibo Marv. I truly mean that.

Ruth.

Ruth's Sports Desk- STONKING

Wow. Just wow.

I had a day full of sports on sunday and it was wonderful. It started out in the best way possible with the best Moto GP race I've ever seen. Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi were a point apart in the championship standings and the race promised to be competitive. And boy did it deliver. Valentino took the lead early then was overtaken by Jorge and stuck close to him for a few laps seemingly studying him and planning his move. You could feel the tension building and as the last few laps approached things really got interesting. They swapped the lead several times, with several amazingly close passes. Both riders were flat out and did everything but knock each other off. Then on the final lap Jorge passes Valentino on the straight going into the pit lane in the process it seemed like he had the race won but Valentino being the legend that he is (seriously I think he has magic powers) passed Jorge on the final corner by the tiniest of margins then flew over the line for an emotional victory(his 99th). He dedicated it to Jerry Burgess his crew chief (a lovely man) saying 'a big kiss for jerry without you I wouldn't have survived to 99 victories' which was so wonderful. He also said 'mamma mia' confirming my suspicions that he's moonlighting as the Dolmio man. Little Dani managed to recuperate enough in time to race and came sixth after a decent battle with Loris Capirossi who apparently 'you can't kill with a stick' (thank you BBC man) I was so pleased for him considering how much pain he must have been in. He's an absolute hero.

I then watched Andy Murray become the first British Champion at Queen's since Bunny Austin in 1938. Which was great. Fab news for British tennis. I'm really looking forward to Wimbledon I think its going to be very very close this year.

I then watched the Confederations cup. Spain won 5-0 against New Zealand which was cracking. The two Davids (Villa and Silva) were fantastic, Cesc put in a solid display and Fernando Torres tried to disprove my theory that he can't play when he isn't the best player in the team by scoring a hat-trick. I'm still not convinced about him though. I watched Italy-USA yesterday which was quite good. USA had a man sent off and it ended 3-1 to Italy. With the goals scored by- get this- Rossi and De Rossi. Weird or what.

Oh and more gold from the BBC Moto GP man- "All the gear and no idea." Fabulous.

Spazibo everyone.

Film Review - Let the Right One In.

I went to see 'Let the Right One in' last week as a belated treat for my birthday. Its a Swedish film about two children and the friendship that grows between them, the twist being that one of them is a vampire. It was a wonderful film, lovingly made and utterly charming. The two leads were totally fantastic and the snowy, dark setting of rural Sweden totally fitted the atmospheric, measured pacing. In contrast to normal vampire movies, the story unfurled slowly and much of the vampire related things were suggested rather than shown and when they were it was messy and realistic rather than slick and hollywoodized. It was a thoroughly engaging film and once again I urge everybody to check it out before Hollywood remakes it and ruins it. It was a beautiful piece of film making and a breath of fresh air with its old fashioned feel and attention to storytelling.

Ruth

Films review cluster

Well I've seen a few movies lately. I saw Star Trek which I really didn't expect to like then ended up really enjoying, I particularly enjoyed John Cho as Mr Sulu and Chekhov's accent. Plus they said "set phasers to STUN" which was amazing. It was a very well done film with a solid cast.
I saw a movie called Il Divo which is Italian and about politics which was quite simply one of the most amazing movies I've ever seen. The plot was a little confusing but thoroughly absorbing and it had THE most arresting visuals ever. Every shot was perfectly staged and looked like a work of art, it was absolutely beautiful. Also it had the most fabulous soundtrack with such a wonderful mix of eclectic, fantastic music.
I saw Angels and Demons which I enjoyed. I thought it was more exciting than Da Vinci Code and was very fast paced and involving. I didn't see it coming at all and I absolutely LOVED Ewan McGregor and Pierfrancesco Favino in it.
I saw Coraline in 3D which was wonderful. I love 3D its so impressive and the film had some real set pieces like the tunnel between the two worlds, the garden scenes, a scene with a spider web and the circus mice which were really breathtaking in 3D. The animation was really well done and the story was very very interesting.
Also on a 'classics day' at my local cinema I saw Bicycle Thieves (Ladri de Bicyclettes) and loved it. It was so charming and you could feel the love that had gone in to making it, they had taken such care with everything. It was a great story even with the sad ending and the child actor in it was an absolute genius. I truly love black and white films and urge and implore everyone out there to take time out to watch old films and appreciate the artistry and craft that they represent.
Spazibo and good night. Ruth

Ruth's Sports Desk - A void in my life.

The football season is over. Done. Finished. There is a massive gap in my life where it should be. sigh. Transfer madness has descended and I'm attempting to ignore the crazy rumours linking almost literally every player under the sun to a move elsewhere. I tend to just bury my head and sing 'lalalala' very loudly. I'm getting by watching world cup qualifiers which is ok.

The French Open has gone completely wrong the final is Federer v Soderling. Something which I believe is called a 'no win situation.' roll on wimbledon.

The Mugello GP was a disaster with Casey Stoner winning and ending Valentino Rossi's seven year victory run. Poor Dani Pedrosa injured himself on the saturday practice then crashed in the actual race and was stretchered off the track which was just awful. The only thing that saved it was Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo ending up on the podium. Poor Dani has cracked his thigh bone but is attempting to be fit for Catalunya, I was very very worried for him but I have faith he can do it. Get well soon Speedy.

Spazibo.

Nicola's Rant of the Week: Get Well Soon Susan

The thing that has really been getting to me over the past couple of weeks is the way the media have been treating Susan Boyle! It's no surprise she's in rehab, I think anybody under that amount of pressure and criticism would be, learning difficulties or not. I think it's disgusting that she could be treated that way - to blatantly bully somebody like that, especially someone with learning difficulties who has been bullied her whole life and lived such a sheltered existence.
When SuBo came second on BGT - which is still really great by the way - she could not have been more gracious and humble. It's no surprise that all the antagonising has led her to become miserable and angry. She has done nothing wrong and has nothing to apologise for - it is ridiculous to say she is arrogant, even if she did expect to win, it's only because of all the media attention, and who would enter a show like that if they thought they didn't have a chance of winning??? And you just have to look at her reaction to the judges putting her through to the semi-final and final - there was no arrogance there at all, she could not have been more shocked. She is just a humble, sweet, extremely talented woman. And if she's a little eccentric, so what? The most interesting people always are.
Although Diversity were really great, Susan will still have way more success than them, she's apparently meant to make £8 million, which is way more than the vast majority of reality stars. She's already cracked America, which is really difficult for any Brit to do.
Get well soon Susan, and just ignore them - they're either jealous of your amazing talent, or think it's their right to slag you off now that you're a celebrity.

Wuthering Heights

On Friday night, we went to see Wuthering Heights: the Bollywood Musical. Which, yes I know, sounds crazy, but was actually really amazing. I would definitely recommend going to see it. The way that the Bollywood culture and the music were incorporated into the story was excellent, and the costumes and set were beautiful, even though it was quite minimal. The only flaw was that we thought Heathcliff/Christian's love for Cathy wasn't quite wild enough - the psychotic element was definitely played down, which made the characters seem a bit 2D. We were sat behind a man who had quite obviously been dragged there, and did not seem impressed by all the singing! He also asked why she was dying!
We got free tickets with A Night Less Ordinary - they give them away to under-26s, which we were dead impressed by. If you're interested, go on their website. They release tickets a week before the actual show, but I'd get in there fast - I rang five minutes after lines opened and got the last two tickets.
On a completely different note - Britain's Got Talent! We watched Friday's when we got back in, and were shocked by the special treatment Hollie received. Yeah, she's a kid, and they may or may not have been real tears, but how often have they buzzed people for forgetting the words! She clearly wasnt ready, as they told Jamie Pugh she can't let nerves get the better of her, and she shouldnt have got a second chance - there are no second chances in real life!!!! And she is hardly the bravest kid in the world.
In the final, Susan Boyle was robbed! But I do appreciate that she is already ridiculously famous, and somebody else deserved a chance. I loved Diversity, especially the little kid with the huge hair, and I can't wait to see what they do next! I always wonder what they'll do with a dance act like that if they win, there's not really many opportunities for stuff like that, but i guess if they won people obviously think that there should be.
I'm so devastated that it's all over - they should spend less time on X Factor and more on BGT!
Nicola

School's Out For Summer....

I can't believe it - but we have actually survived another year of university! Two thirds of the way there!!
Now all that we need to do is wait impatiently for the return of Ugly Betty and The Tudors, find a job (which is apparently impossible) and mourn the split of Katie and Peter. I have faith that they will get back together! They are the best celebrity couple ever, they wouldn't deprive us of the joy of their magic lives.
Having said that, I am loving Heidi Klum and Seal at the minute - how awesome was their trailer trash wedding??? Only Heidi would manage to still look gorgeous with those weird braids and lace!
Nicola

Life Update.

Phew. Well Nicola and I have finally finished uni. Just one exam to go. Today we handed in our mini-dissertations, Mine came in at 3700 words over 13 pages and Nicola's was a more substantial 5000 and 19 pages. Thank you Northumbria for thouroughly tiring us out and breaking our arms and eyes.
We have also completed a group presentation. *eye roll* which was beyond frustrating. I won't go into too much detail but it involved a dragon's den stylee pitch which tells you enough.
Now we just have a two hour exam on thursday. At 9.30 in the morning. Once again cheers, really.
Oh and today i visited a family friend's new baby- she was the cutest thing ever. Teeny tiny hands and feet. She fell asleep on me. Welcome to the world Eve.
That completes tonight's blogging marathon.
Spazibo everybody and goodnight.
x

EUROVISION!!!!

On Saturday my favourite night of the year finally came round again. Oh yes people. Eurovision. I once again hosted my traditional Eurovision night complete with crisps, MandMs, fizzy pop and ice cream.

Let me explain, Eurovision is my thing. I love it. Not in a snarky ironic way. I actually properly love it. I love the cheese, I love the Eastern European disco, the costume changes, the wind machines from eighties music videos, all of it. And I like the music. I know many people will disagree with me but i am genuinely of the opinion that eurovision produces some real gems. I am a massive fan of Dmitry Koldun and D'Nash from 2007, I loved Dima Bilan last year and this year didn't disappoint. I can honestly say that there were only two or three songs I actually disliked. This year I voted for Turkey (Hadise- Dum Tek Tek, its the noise drums make in Turkey) and Armenia (weird electro ish dancey song performed by two sisters in immense dresses) and tried to vote for Bosnia (epic revolution song by people in white military outfits with a singer who looked like Guti form Real Madrid) but was too late. I also really loved Norway the eventual winner- an adorable boy with a violin who was 'in love with a fairytale,'(see photo!) Azerbaijan a boy and a girl who sounded like they were singing about hobbits, Greece an attractive Luis Figo lookalike on a conveyor belt and Germany a semi shirtless man in THE shiniest trousers i've ever seen.

And I've already bought an azerbaijan cd from 2007 and a norway badge from this year. and i'm watching about 15 things on ebay. whoops.

Ruth "Spazibo Moscow!!!!"

Ruth's Sports Desk - Nightmare in a bubblecar.

Well Well.
After seeming to go right Arsenal's season has finished a little flat. But let's not detract from our achievements- two semi-finals (lost to chelski in FA cup and lost to Man U in Champs league) is a good achievement and definitely a step in the right directio. Plus considering how dodgy it looked earlier (pre christmas) a solid fourth place is good, i guess. But I won't deny I was gutted, especially considering how well we'd played at certain stages. It was very depressing watching other teams lift trophies and reach stages that rightfully should be ours.
Tennis- Rafa lost in Madrid. To Roger Federer. *sigh* BUT he has won in Rome and Monte Carlo and looks in amazing form.
Moto GP. Finally some joy. Sunday's Le Mans GP heralded the first use of the word 'stonking' this season by the bbc man and the debut of the phrase 'nightmare in a bubblecar.' Genius. Plus Dani Pedrosa came third after a storming last lap. Vamos Speedy.

Random Life Update: Nicola

Nicola: Sorry for the long silence from me - my internet snapped (never get mobile broadband it is pointless and stupid and never works) so I have been stranded in a world without blogs or Facebook. I've actually had to talk to people face-to-face, it's been very unnerving. The saddest thing is absolutely nothing has happened for me to talk about even though I haven't said anything in ages!
So far my Easter break has consisted of eating my weight in chocolate (one of life's great mysteries: why is Easter egg chocolate so much nicer than the normal kind?) and pizza, reading Cosmopolitan, watching TV, writing my novel and defending my ridiculously friendly Labrador against smaller, scarier dogs. Then I looked at the calendar and panicked because I realised I have done no work for the mini-dissertation I have to hand in in a month. So the obvious answer was to come online to blog and mess around on Facebook for an hour.
On the plus side, my novel is on 42,000 words, so I'm finally over the halfway mark, and I bought a new laptop because mine officially broke.
Just to fill in some space, here's a review of the TV I've been saturating my brain with. Britain's Got Talent is back: yey! My favourite bit is, of course, Ant and Dec - they should have an act, they would win by a landslide. I loved the kid who sang Michael Jackson on Saturday though, but I felt bad for him when Simon stopped him singing Valerie - I thought that was really good, Simon Cowell must have been told the kid had a better song prepared. Also Gok Wan is back with Gok's Fashion Fix, and it's much better than his previous show (I can't even remember what it was called, I stopped watching it even though I love Gok more than life itself), and he has managed to redeem himself slightly, although he has enough for five different shows in there.
Gossip Girl is getting exciting again, but I wish Dan and Serena would just get together already, and Blair and Chuck, and Lily and Rufus... there is a lot of the we-love-each-other-desperately-but-it-would-never-work going about on the Upper East Side. I read in a magazine that somebody dies, so every time anything bad happens I can't breathe because I think this is going to be it. I think it'll happen tomorrow with the whole limo thing. I still want to be Blake Lively though, she has the best hair ever.
However, I'm really starting to get sick of the storyline on Desperate Housewives. We already know everything - what is the point??? They're just dragging it out, what happened to all the tension-building and twists and turns of the earlier series? I always used to get it wrong, but I've known for weeks now exactly what's happening. I watch it on E4 on Sundays because I'm sad like that, and I'm starting to get a bit bored of the whole Dave-Mike thing. If Mike dies I will stop watching, he is by far the best Househusband. And I hate Orson!!!! I won't ruin it for you if you watch on Wednesdays, but you will hate him too.
So goodbye for now, I'm off to weep over my mini-dissertation and find something interesting to do so that I can blog about it!

Ruth Sport's Desk- mixed bag

Lots of sports related things today.
1. I have been very slow on my Champions league updates. Arsenal won 4-1 on aggregate against Villareal (wonderful games as well, a real joy) and now play Man U. The other semi is Barcelona- Chelsea with Barcelona especially impressive winning 5-1 on aggregate against Bayern Munich.
2. Premier League. After being waaaay behind Aston Villa in a worrying fifth position. Arsenal are now on a wonderful unbeaten run of (I think at last count) 18 unbeaten games with a 7 point advantage in a solid fourth and catching on third with all the big teams to play.
3. Tennis. Rafael Nadal has JUST (almost literally) won a record breaking fifth title at Monte Carlo meaning a very very good start to clay season. Vamos!
4. FA Cup. whoops nearly forgot. Arsenal unfortunately lost out at the semi final stage to Chelsea yesterday. Both teams played badly. I nearly wept. Everton and man U are playing the second semi final as I speak.
5. Moto GP is back back back. Hurrah my Sundays now have more structure. First race in Quatar was won by Casey Stoner (not my favourite rider.) For those interested (ie no one) my favourite riders are Dani Pedrosa, Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo (in that order.) Dani because he is tiny and sounds like Speedy Gonzalez, Val because I love his accent and surreal life (he once gave a post race interview focussing entirely on his dog little Guido) and Jorge Lorenzo because of his strange penchant for Chupa Chups.
Phew. And goodniiiiight sports fans!

Random life update.

So, Nicola and I are now finally finished uni for easter holidays. We had to work hard in the run up to complete an essay on modernism (THE most boring concept in the history of english literature) but it's three weeks of sleep, sleep and more sleep for us now.
On a random note a few weeks ago we saw our favourite busker return to Newcastle, he looks like he should be in the Verve and sings with an acoustic guitar. We couldn't decide which name suite dhim better so named him AndyDave. The last time we saw him he was singing 'Yellow' by Coldplay and 'Dreaming of You' by the Coral.
Also soon we hope to have completed a very important WAG training related visit as we recently discovered the location of Djibril Cisse's shop in Newcastle. So we actually know the location of a building where a genuine footballer actually visits so when we visit there will be a (proabably incoherent through excitement) post on that.
Happy easter break to one and all!!!!

Movie Review- Milk

Milk is the story of gay rights activist Harvey Milk the first openly gay person to be elected to office in the USA. It was a truly wonderful and inspiring film and I don't think I've ever seen a film that ever made me so emotional. The acting in it was fantastic with every cast member putting in an absolutely perfect performance. I loved how the film cleverly flicked between their film and real film footage from the time and Gus van Sant's direction was of the highest quality. It was an absolutely beautiful piece of work that drew you in from start to finish and made you fully appreciate the importance of both the cause and of the amazing courage of people like Milk. Sean Penn's acting oscar was thoroughly deserved as his performance was an absolute revelation but having said that the rest of the cast were equally deserving of plaudits with Diego Luna, Josh Brolin, James Franco and Emile Hirsch amongst others putting in sterling performances. In conclusion an utterly stunning and breathtaking movie and ten out of ten doesn't quite cover how fantastic it really is.
Ruth

Movie Review- The Young Victoria

The Young Victoria focuses on the very early years of Queen Victoria's reign and specifically on her relationship with Albert. The film was perfectly cast with every single actor turning in fantastic performances especially Emily Blunt, Rupert Friend and Jim Broadbent. Our favourite part of the movie was most definitely the gorgeous costumes with every single dress taking our breath away. The whole film looked fanatstic with all the sets managing to be both accurate and beautiful. There may have been slight historical innaccuracies as is usually the case with films like this but the romantic storyline was utterly absorbing and made us swoon and cry with joy.

we both award this movie a thoroughly deserved 9 out of 10

Marley and Me

After the emotional trauma of Comic Relief last night, it was probably a bad idea to go and see a weepy film today, but I foolishly decided to do it anyway.
Marley and Me is based on John Grogan's book, about a reporter who buys his wife a puppy to put off having a baby. It then follows their marriage, family and career issues. Marley and Me was hilarious - Jennifer Aniston's best role since Friends, definitely (but I don't agree with people who say that this was her ONLY good role since Friends!) Owen Wilson wasn't bad either, his voice tends to grate on me slightly but it wasn't an issue in this film. But every scene was stolen by the gorgeous Labradors who played Marley. As somebody who owns a Labrador, I could really relate to Marley's behaviour (especially the chewing and general craziness).
I won't spoil the ending for you (although it is quite obvious what is going to happen), but if you have a heart you will weep like you have never wept before.
I haven't read the book, so I can't really make any comparison, but I enjoyed the film from start to finish. Generally if I have read the book, I hate the film on principle, especially if the book is English and they move it to America and put American actors in it, but I digress.
The film can be a little overly sentimental and sickly, especially towards the end, but Marley and his antics more than make up for it, so I would probably rate this 8/10. And I challenge anyone to leave the cinema and not want to head for the nearest dog breeder to buy their very own Marley - he's even more adorable than the Andrex puppy.
Nicola.

Watchmen Review

Last night I went to see 'Watchmen.' Now I should mention that I read the graphic novel and absolutely loved it, I am a total Watchmen geek and I've been waiting months and months for this movie.

I wasn't disappointed, it was a fantastic film. Zack Snyder has really outdone himself, his direction is top notch. The visuals are completely perfect, it looks exactly like the novel which is a truly remarkable achievement, it blew me away how good it looked . The casting was perfect, Dr Manhattan had the right level of detached melancholy, The Comedian was intense and unstable and even had the scar and after initial doubts about Nite Owl I was surprised to see him looking almost exactly like Dan in the novel. Jackie Earle Haley as Rorscach was an absolute revelation he looked as if he had stepped straight out of the pages of the novel and he inhabited the character so thoroughly he actually took my breath away. The soundtrack was amazing (apart from Leonard Cohen's 'Hallelujah' placed in a very inappropriate scene.) Snyder was very loyal to the novel with only a few minor details changed until the ending which differed substantially from the novel; I won't spoil it but I completely understand the change as the original ending would require more build up which would mean a longer movie and also more confusion for those unfamiliar with the novel. Which brings me to the only issue with the film, if you are not familiar with the novel, it is more than likely you will get confused as Snyder does cater for the hardcore fans.

SO my verdict is a wholhearted 10/10 !!

Ruth. (Poster courtesy of www.imdb.com)

Ruth Sport's Desk- CL Review part two

Wednesday's matches again presented me with a viewing dilemma, namely that I couldn't watch my beloved Arsenal as their match was broadcast on Sky (boo, hiss) which I don't have. Instead I listened to the commentary on Radio Five Live Sport Extra which was frustrating and hilarious in equal measure- a particular highlight being the commentators' comparison of Julio Baptista to a random fan from the stands and their assertion that 'we're not overegging it he really is THAT bad.'
The game once again started badly with Arsenal conceding an entirely unnecessary goal due to a defensive mix-up between Kolo Toure and William Gallas. The game was exciting and tense- end to end stuff with both sets of midfielders and full backs working overtime. There was a case for a Roma penalty at the end of the first half with the referee controversially ignoring the entire Roma team's appeals and the collective howls of derision from over 60,000 angry Italians inside the Stadio Olympico when Roma full back Marco Motta was brought down by Gael Clichy.
The second half was full of missed chances with both teams coming very close to taking the tie. Into extra time the momentum was with the fresher legs of the young Arsenal team with the Roma team already struggling with residual injury issues beginning to tire. However they were unable to press this advantage leading to the most dramatic of endings- the penalty shootout!
Arsenal won the toss so first up was Eduardo. His penalty was saved by Roma's giant Brazilian keeper Doni putting every Arsenal fan into agony- I was so nervous I had to breathe into a brown paper bag. David Pizzaro scored Roma's first penalty, ramping up the tension further. Robin van Persie steadied Arsenal's nerves, cooly slotting home before Mirko Vucinic fluffed horribly sending the ball bobbling harmlessly into Manuel Almunia. The two teams matched each other with Arsenal's young team stepping up magnificently with Theo Walcott, Samir Nasri, Denilson, Kolo Toure and Bacary Sagna converting wonderfully. Roma held their nerve with Marco Motta, Francesco Totti, Julio Baptista, Vincenzo Montella and Alberto Aquilani on target. Abou Diaby made no mistake on Arsenal's eighth penalty but the pressure was too much for Max Tonetto who blazed his penalty over the bar. Cue wild (and adorable) celebrations from the Arsenal boys which included Robin van Persie in a vest, Nicklas Bendtner in leggings and not much else and a lot of jumping. So many, many congratulations to Arsenal's wonderful boys and to Arsene Wenger and his super cool amigo Pat Rice.
Oh and some team called Manchester United scored two goals.
Also through- Porto on away goals after a stalemate with Atletico Madrid and Barcelona in some style with a 5-2 win over Lyon.
In a random sports related snippet Nicola and I almost walked into/mowed down Dwain Chambers in Waterstones in Newcastle yesterday which was weird. He's the second sports person I've inconvenienced lately after getting my big head in the way of David Moyes reading the Liverpool team on TV at the the Riverside Stadium (Middlesbrough.)