The Plan

I have been traveling with my dad around England and Ireland the past few days and have not had time to post. And, crazy as it sounds, I leave London on Saturday. So here’s the plan:

I am not going back to the States right away. I will be traveling across Europe with one of my friends until May 19^th and will arrive back in Boston sometime around 5 pm on that day. From there I will take a bus to Albany.

My travel itinerary for this two-week expedition is as follows:

Lisbon, Madrid, Paris, Venice, Florence, Vienna, Berlin, London, Boston, Albany. It is going to be hectic I am sure, but I am looking forward to it because it is one of the reasons why I decided to study abroad.

My hope is to be able to post during this trip, but as you may remember from my Spring Break travels, it might not be possible to reach the Internet sufficiently. Only time will tell. Regardless, I am just writing this to tell you that this will not be the final post. I plan on doing an extensive wrap-up that reflects on the entire semester. If you have been following my trip, you won’t want to miss the final post – I promise you. In the meantime, keep checking the blog to see if I have written. If I haven’t, please don’t be mad. It just means the logistics haven’t worked out.

The wrap-up will be posted by June 1 so make sure to check back sometime around then.

Comments Welcome,

Andrew

Byline baby

I did it. I got my byline. Surprisingly they kept a lot of my own language, which I purposefully tried to make subtly funny. I am now officially a Cleveland Cavs fans.

Also, after going to the West Ham vs. Derby match yesterday, I have now seen more Premier League games than NFL games. That's strange. I have also seen three more Premier League stadiums than NFL stadiums and six more PL teams than NFL teams. Strange again.

Comments Welcome,
Andrew

Atop Lebron's Shoulders

More than just the Cleveland Cavalier’s slim title hopes, something else rests atop Lebron James’ shoulders: My byline. That’s right, crazy as it sounds, Lebron is personally responsible for whether or not I get my name in the paper. Allow me to explain.

On Wednesday one of the writers (Jamie Jackson) called Oliver Owen. Oliver seemed really excited and started blathering on over the phone about how they could change the center for this. When he got off the phone Oliver asked me a question: What position does Lebron James play?

“He’s a forward, I think. But he does a lot of ball handling, too.”

Then Oliver explained to me what was happening. Jamie Jackson had somehow landed a phone interview with Lebron. Considering this is sort of a limbo week for European sport, Oliver thought it was appropriate to run a full-length feature about King James given that the NBA playoffs start today.

The story is going to be about how Lebron James is talked about being the best ever. But enough already. Where do I come in and how is Lebron responsible for it exactly?

Oliver gave me a great assignment.

“This is how you are going to get your name in the paper,” he said. “I want you to compile a list of the 10 greatest NBA players of all time and write 100 words about each one. We don’t care about rebounds or things like that. Make it interesting. Make it funny. Didn’t Wilt Chamberlain boast about shagging tons of women? Include that.”

So I did. I wrote 100 words on my top-ten players. I was happy with it. Oliver was happy with it. On Thursday I actually saw it on the page (that means on the computer screen).

But here comes the problem. The interview with Lebron was supposed to be last night. It is not a guarantee, however. If Lebron suddenly decided he couldn't be bothered with some British journalist right before the playoffs, then the story is off. The Observer will run something about the Ryder Cup instead (which would be ridiculous because the Ryder Cup isn’t until September).

So anyway, that is how Lebron James is responsible for my byline. It’s going to be so frustrating if I don’t get it because I have already seen what it would look like!

Tomorrow I become the biggest Cavs fan in the world or become the biggest Cavs hater. It’s about time I had rooting interest in the NBA.

Comments Welcome,

Andrew

What happened?

So you are probably all wondering what happened. Am I ok? Why has it been so long since I posted? I promise I am fine. But this isn’t a perfect world. Cyber space in particular isn’t perfect. We lost Internet connection in my house, and it wasn’t fixed until yesterday. Never fear. Because you have been so long without me, I am going to post what I find to be quite an interesting story. Mom I will preface this by saying, “I’m OK so don’t worry.”

Last weekend I went out with three of my buddies to Brick Lane. Brick Lane is in East London and during the day is known as the Indian Ghetto. It has great food, traditional shops, etc. But at night it turns into quite a trendy area so we decided to head there.

We went to a bar called “The Chill Spot,” which was very pleasant. After a pint there we decided to check out a different place. It was walking there when this all happened.

We all noticed a woman who we at first mistook for a fairly attractive young lady. Boy were we mistaken. She was actually a middle aged woman who looked quite drugged out and had the leathery face to prove it. Well I guess I looked at her a little too long. I was in the back of the foursome. She looked at me a long time, too. She had an angry expression in her eyes. It looked like it wasn’t her own brain doing the controlling. But, like I said, I looked at her a second too long.

As we passed her she said, “You don’t like games, any of you.” Then she looked at me with the most frightening sunken eyes I have ever seen. She wound up her right arm and smacked me quite hard against the left side of my jaw. I looked again at her and she started mumbling jibberish. It was a little frightening, but I was OK. We continued to walk and when she was out of sight we all had a good laugh. I had been bitch slapped quite literally.

But it got better. We settled with our second pints in the second place. It was a very Spanish-type bar and had lively music. The beer was awful, but that’s another story. Just as I got comfortable, I looked up. There she was! She was standing outside the big bay windows! I won’t lie and say she had followed us. She wasn’t peering in looking for me or anything. In all likelihood she didn’t even remember our little altercation. Still, seeing those eyes again made me shiver. When we finished our pints we walked quickly by her. We were safe when we got underground.

Photos are from different things including my office.

Comments Welcome,

Andrew

Americanness

So my coworkers told me they thought I was British. I am not sure how I feel about that. First of all let me clarify what they meant: They meant that based on my demeanor and the amount that I talk and the way that I conduct myself they think I come off decidedly English.

On the one hand, it is true. I am a fairly reserved American, which means I am slightly more British than I am American. I do feel comfortable with the British affect. Like I have said before in this blog, I am happy not to have to be falsely friendly and happy not to have to talk to people I would rather not talk to and happy not to have to make small talk.

On the other hand, does that mean I am a bad American? If I would rather be British and behave like them, am I somehow betraying my country? Perhaps I don’t even care too much about betraying my country. I never really thought about my patriotism before coming here. I hate the Patriots. That much I know. But I really don’t know what I think about Americanness.

In a certain way, it doesn’t exist in the same way that Britishness exists. We are such a mish mosh of everyone that there is no way to look at someone’s demeanor and say, “Aha! American!” The very fact that I could be said to act British proves that.

I guess that’s what I like about America. It really isn’t definable.

So maybe I need to find the place in America that is most like England. Then I could be comfortable in my immediate surroundings but have easy access to the most diverse country in the world. If you find a good sized Island in the States let me know.

Comments Welcome,

Andrew

Writing

So I have not been posting in the blog as much as I should be, but I have been writing a good amount. In this post is a copy of the match report that I wrote for the Arsenal v. Liverpool game I attended today. Keep in mind it was written on deadline, which means it was written during the game and then completed within 30 minutes following the press conferences. Below it is another play review. I will try to do a "real" post sometime tomorrow.

LONDON--Sandwiched between two Champions League fixtures, this Premiership match pitting Arsenal against Liverpool at the Emirates was never supposed to be this meaty.

With Arsenal’s title hopes still faintly beating and Liverpool’s away-goal advantage going into the second leg of the Champions League match between these two sides, there was reason to believe that Arsenal would chase this one harder.

Rafael Benitez perhaps never saw it that way.

“For both teams this was a very important game,” the Liverpool boss said.

And although his side had seemingly less on the line, it was Benitez who pressed more in this 1-1 draw, bringing leading scorers Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres into the game when it was level midway through the second half.

Arsene Wenger did bring in his leading scorer Emmanuel Adebayor in the 58^th minute. The striker looked sharp, despite his tender ankle, possessing the ball long enough to travel from the left side of the pitch to the right side on his first touch.

Wenger, however, waited too long to call on the rest of his stars in a game that mattered so much to his team’s title hopes. Arsenal now sit five points below Manchester United with only five Premiership matches remaining.

After the match, Wenger, who was particularly animated as the final minutes ticked away, staunchly refused to admit this draw ends Arsenal’s championship ambitions.

“It depends on the result of other teams,” Wenger said. “In my brain it is not over because mathematically it is not over.”

Despite both side’s leading scorers sitting on the bench for the entirety of the first half, this match was filled with chances.

Both teams battled equally early, each generating a few good opportunities, but it was Arsenal who seemed more merciless as the game opened up. The Gunners barrage of attacks started in the 34th minute when Liverpool defender Martin Skrtel egregiously misplayed a ball coming to his head. It reached Cesc Fabregas, but his effort missed to the left. The Gunners were not done firing, however, and seemed to have a new chance every minute.

Arsenal’s best opportunity of the first half came immediately after Fabregas’s failed attempt. Working the ball from the left flank, Fabregas passed it to Nicklas Bendtner, who was 12 yards from the goal. The striker shot hard, but it rifled into Pepe Reina’s hands.

In the 37^th minute, Emmanuel Eboue had the ball with no one in front of him. He crossed it low to a diving Fabregas, but the Spaniard was not able to make contact with it.

Arsenal were not able to capitalize on the seemingly incessant efforts in the first half.

It was Liverpool who struck first, shocking the Emirate faithful. In the 42^nd minute Reina took a long goal kick, which came to Peter Crouch. The striker chipped it to Yossi Benayoun on a give-and-go maneuver. Benayoun reacted quickly and dealt it neatly to Crouch, who was making his run. The Norwegian sent it between the posts to put Reds up one-nil.

“I am confident he will sign,” Benitez said about Crouch in relation to the striker’s recent contract offer.

After the break, Manuel Almunia decided to play a quick restart to Mathieu Flamini. The Frenchman worked the ball well up the center of the pitch and gave it to a streaking Theo Walcott. Walcott’s shot earned a corner. On the effort from Fabregas, Kolo Toure got to it first, but his header landed wide left.

But Arsenal would quickly have another chance. Fabregas took a direct free kick that curved right to left. Nicklas Bendtner saw it the whole way and beat his man, Peter Crouch, to the spiraling ball. The striker reached it and calmly headed it behind the left post, leveling the score in the 53^rd minute.

Benitez’s subs were more effective as the game progressed. Andriy Voronin in particular made the most of his minimal minutes.

In the 80^th minute, Crouch worked effectively against Kolo Toure and chipped it to Voronin. Voronin’s shot landed on the top of the net. The striker had another chance a few minutes later when he had space as Almunia mistakenly came out of his box. Fortunately for the Gunners, the keeper had help as defenders William Gallas and Kolo Toure closed in on Voronin’s space.

These two tired teams will meet again Tuesday at Anfield, where a definitive decision is a guarantee.

“If you are always depending on the same 11, it doesn’t work as well,” the Arsenal boss said. Wenger said he will feature his strongest side for Tuesday’s match.

And despite his team’s current advantage, Benitez realizes the quarter-final will be a difficult fight.

“Maybe the only option now [for Arsenal] is the Champions League, which makes them more dangerous for us.”

Comments Welcome,
Andrew

Play review (2)

When most Londoners see a crazy woman on the street mumbling nonsense to herself, they walk by briskly, pretending not to notice. Consequently, the can that the woman usually holds remains empty, not contributed to by passers by. With Debbie Tucker Green’s Random, The Royal Court – for the first 15 minutes at least – presents a woman rambling just as ludicrously as the woman on the street. Yet somehow, The Royal Court has not only convinced people to stay and watch the performance, it has actually convinced them to pay for admission.

The unnamed-female protagonist’s ramblings do eventually turn into a discernable plot. A woman griping about her daily routine, which is complete with her brother’s odor, mother’s nagging, lover’s tardiness and co-workers’ phoniness, becomes trivialized with an urgent message from mum. When she returns home, responding to the message, she discovers police cars surrounding her family residence. Life will never be the same.

Green’s Random wants to remind us all just how, well, random teen violence can be. Gangs strike victims who often don’t deserve it. It wants to momentarily interrupt our daily routine with thoughts about the issue so that we can help to be part of a solution that will prevent teen violence from catastrophically and permanently disrupting all of our lives.

The problem is that no one needs Green to tell them about this. A newspaper, which Green actually criticizes, does a much better job. It has real stories, real words and unfortunately can usually offer several similar stories within the same edition. The woman’s story in this play, though compelling, is but one of many and has nothing unique to offer. Perhaps that is part of the point of Random, that gangs can affect even the most common among us, but Green’s script is not needed to make this point.

Nadine Marshall does a great job telling the story, however, and is the only reason to see this production directed by Sacha Wares. Marshall’s facial expressions and large gestures animate the story as well as the many roles she assumes and forgive her sometimes inaudibly thick accent. She becomes a real-live cartoon when appropriate, breathing life into this play about death. Wares has chosen to keep Marshall in the center of the stage for the entirety of this 50-minute one act drama, but Marshall’s performance is far from static.

Still, the message of the play has enough legs to move without Random ever being written. If you like to get your news from a biased source and be subjected to one individual story, by all means spend the 15 quid at The Royal Court. But, if you would rather get your news from a credible Times or Guardian journalist attempting to tell the same story, no one will blame you. And The Guardian will only cost you 80p.

Comments Welcome,
Andrew