You are not born a footballer

Dennis Bergkamp has released a book, and his publicity interviews are a good watch as he rarely makes an appearance otherwise.

The first one I saw prompted a response on here.
The Sky interviewer asked bluntly: Nature or Nurture?

Bergkamp answers 'Both'.

In our world of football football football I think people forget that it's an artificial activity created by humans only about 200 years ago with no bearing to what humans need to be doing to survive. Its entertainment, and  while it is probably the best form of it that's all it is.
The idea that people could be born footballers is ridiculous, and throws up some interesting points.
Football is a simple game born out of competition between men. It involves intelligence in certain areas, agility, strength, coordination. All of these are skills we use elsewhere in life, and it just so happens football needs the right balance of each to succeed. In fact different balances of these skills make it such a great sport, and mean it can be watched and played all year round by billions.
The footballers we worship on the pitch are the ones who have trained their skills to fit the 90 minutes on a 100 metre long pitch, and have had the determination and single-mindedness to devote their lives to it. I would argue there is very little between the top 1000 professional footballers in terms of their skill and movement on a pitch, such are the requirements for reaching the top of a game played for an hour and a half at the fastest pace possible.
We often forget that these guys are one out of maybe 100,000 kids who wanted to be footballers, and it falls to their coaches and family support at crucial stages to determine whether they reach right the academies aged 12 or not. Beyond this comes their skills with a football and stamina, and even further is their intelligence and role in a team.
Players like George Elokobi have hilariously unbalanced skill sets, in his case he's pure beef and can run a long way before he gets tired. Skill with a football is the only thing holding him back from champions league glory. Meanwhile players like Bergkamp and Edgar Davids spent more time with a football at their feet than running around and as a consequence were head and shoulders above the majority of players when it came to ball control, arguably the most basic attribute for professional footballers. These players made it to the top level through dedication to being the best they could humanly be at controlling a football, something which would have made them pretty boring to be around in any other situation.
Basically I'd argue you couldn't separate Elokobi and Bergkamp by their skills on the ball aged 2, but just 10 years down the line and its a different story.

Noisey's Indie Diagnosis

This guy was a teenager like 4 years ago, his sneering put down of indie club nights sounds like someone who's only ever drank to fit in and now wants to get his own back. I agree with what he's saying about clubs being for ecstatic dancing, not people looking to be seen in the right place, but take exception to his undermining of everyone but those 'perceptive' enough to be youtube Noisey journos.

Celebrity

I'm trying to work out why I like some celebrities and loath others. Surely they are all completely removed from reality and undeserved of the praise we shower upon them? I think there may be some exceptions, at least from what I've seen or heard of them (or in some cases from what their multi-million dollar communication machines pump out)

I respect those that work 24/7 to fulfil what they deem as celebrity. They know they have the base talent, they've probably never seen it any other way. They haven't relied on being given anything, and for that reason they treat it as a privilege, enjoying the constant attention on their lives. Lady Gaga is a great example of this kind of global superstar, milking it for everything its worth, being completely over the top because she loves it.

The other side of American super-stardom is the Mickey Mouse Club, a factory for confident kids in the 80s and 90s who created the super huge Ryan Gosling and Justin Timberlake, and the now faded Britney (who absolutely smashed the pop world at her height, and has now paid the price for such early success) and Christina Aguilera. While this platform has been swallowed up by noughties' TV and internet, it continues at a more frightening pace with industry-wide investment in super teens who can access the lucrative market of largely young girls; Bieber, Hannah Montana, Taylor Swift, 1D.
The Gos and JT will be relieved to have had their opportunities before such high pressure cooking became the yardstick for any wannabe global stars.

I've explained why I enjoy seeing Lady Gaga everywhere but not One Direction, despite their shared profession. But the 'celebrities' below have my respect for a more subtle reason, and I'm not totally sure why myself. First of all I'm giving Yung Lean another 's/o'. He isn't really a celebrity (yet), but emulates the lifestyle, as any self respecting rapper should. His videos and songs are the perfect reflection of what American money and fame means to us young adults. They're pretty stupid, but really good.

Lana Del Rey deftly treads the line between completely staged and manufactured pop perfection and clumsy sensitive soul girl who just wants to lull us into her world of nostalgia. At the moment I love the what can be reached by the latter reality, via her dreamy videos and awkward interviews, so she has my attention. Also, the picture below is just charming; backward cap, tired innocent face, jacket for a sport she's never seen...

Since first hearing Nirvana on an iPod on a school trip I've known that they're songs are some of the best for making me feel rebellious and philosophical at the same time. Kurt Cobain is the complete embodiment of this attitude for me, and everything I've read and seen about him since has confirmed this. While he couldn't have known or wanted his legacy to have been anything beyond living and dying I believe the guy was a hero for millions for being a failure, and the glimpses we have of his life are made all the more hopeful/miserable because of his infamous crash and burn. He was anti-fame as we see it today, but that didn't stop him spending the money that came from being the magazine cover of grunge. His life ended at the point of global celebrity, which continued long after death, accompanied by the uncomfortable truth that while he was here he didn't have the best of times.

Moving on, because that came close to becoming another cliche obituary to Kurt Cobain. The use of one's celebrity, what you achieve with your fame and power, is vital when judging these superstars. George Clooney and Matt Damon's activism is commendable considering the ease with which their peers stay away from any meaningful action. Celebrity political activity isn't new of course but George Clooney's purchase of a spy satellite over Southern Sudan and Matt Damon's water.org efforts demonstrate the adjustments of scale for 21st century celebrities responsibilities.

Marlon Brando was a highly respected actor who also used his position to advance certain causes, way before Clooney and Damon. His refusal to accept his Oscar for The Godfather was a bold statement that he wasn't in agreement with Hollywood just because they loved him. He also shot this unbelievable screen test when he was 23 for Rebel Without a Cause (obviously he didn't get it, the equally talented James Dean went on to smash it). His roles as the Godfather and Kurtz were other worldly, something you see and realise what acting could be. His charm and good looks gave him good cause to be considered a Hollywood great.

Joaquin Phoenix deserves a paragraph for his I'm Still Here stunt alone (a top watch for those looking into the issues of modern celebrity), but his real life is just as fascinating. One of 6, he changed his name to Leaf when he was 5, after his family had changed their surname to Phoenix to symbolise their new beginnings in the US after returning from time spent in Venezuela as missionaries . His brother, River, was brilliant in everything as a child star and tragically never got to reach his potential as a mature actor, dying at age 23 from an overdose which rocked Hollywood. Joaquin followed his older brother in landing his first film role in 1989, the brilliant Parenthood, where his performance sets the tone for subsequent roles in Gladiator, Walk the Line and The Master; a kind of brooding awkwardness with underlying anger. His interviews are hideous to watch, all the more reason to like him.

Ok so this descended into a list of celebrities I like, but I promise it started out as an attempt to describe the features of celebrity which I think make them so interesting to us mere mortals. Hopefully you can draw from some of the explanations the reasons some celebrities deserve our attention, and why some of them are a waste of everyone's time.

P.s. One last complication to placing these people either side of the like/dislike seperator:
Some might consider Kanye West the ultimate arrogant, ungrateful, privileged multi-millionaire in all of celebdom (how dare he insult poor fragile Taylor Swift) but who cares when he performs this well:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cuZEjI0AWRY (unfortunately I can't embed it)

Friday Film #3

The Imposter aired on channel 4 last night, and I know I was part of a large audience which will have seen it. I rarely watch whole films on live TV but I'd had this on my watchlist for a while so sat down with some friends. The opening is a quick relay of events which show how the imposter convinced the family he was their missing son, retold through fuzzy phone calls starting with one from a phone booth in Spain. The imposter describes how he executed the fake call in order to get put in a children's home, where he felt he would be cared for, something he had not experienced in the real world. The ad break brought welcome space for an omg and then the story carried on, unfurling more and more bizarre events as the imposter is flown over to the US and accepted as the missing child by the family, until we're almost questioning whose side were on (but not quite) with the final revelation that the family may have known all along that the 23 year old Frenchman, Frederic, was an imposter. Both sides of the events are tragic, but I doubt many would have continued to sympathise with the grown man once it is revealed that he is now married with 3 children of his own. This film is an incredible story, and the usually inexcusable flaws in a mystery like this only add to its overall impression as a perplexing account to watch. It doesn't matter how so many people can mistake a 23 year old for a 16 year old because it actually happened. The vulnerability of the family is sometimes hard to accept when they're behaving so unbelievably from our point of view, as they constantly seem to convince themselves that their son is really back. The conclusion leaves us with an undecided case of what happens to the real kid while the incredibly blaze imposter/narrator appears dancing to Michael Jackson in a cell. An enjoyable watch despite the heavy content and a great film for C4 as the difficulties many will have found in the chilling account will be retold around the country today as they were on twitter.

Space Jam

This film will be associated forever with what I now know was a perfectly executed marketing project for Looney Tunes, Nike and their main man Mike Jordan. Happy meals carried the characters and TV and toy shops were swamped with adverts and toys created to make every kid obsessed. It is quite clearly merchandising vehicle for Warner Bros. and Michael Jordan, both of which were in need of some top down exposure amongst children, and in turn new sponsorship opportunities.

These are not even the most cynical opinions Space Jam. But while the forces that came about to produce this film cannot be ignored, part of the reason it works so well, watching this film again a few days ago brought back memories of a child's view of cinema; a trip that was more about the sweets and bucket of pepsi than the 90 minutes of colour flashed 'big' in front of you. I enjoyed seeing it again, appreciating the now outdated methods of causing a craze amongst kids whereby a lot of money can be made in the short term and its all good fun. Now the chosen tools for cashing the children's cinema cash-cow are the much less enjoyable exploits of slickly animated 'relatable' characters who overcome insecurities to succeed with chums and family. Where have absurd story-lines involving Bill Murray, global sports stars and an unbelievably sexual love interest for Bugs Bunny gone?

Of the few DVDs that'll be available for my kids to watch, Space Jam will occupy the mindless entertainment category for Sunday afternoons, devoid of any wholesome family advice it will hold more value for its history lesson into pre-internet phenomena.

This weeks most listened to #2

Radiohead - Fake plastic trees
A favourite since being bought The Bends in what were definitely my formative years in terms of music. Thom Yorke's voice can be so sad and angry and a major reason behind my love for Radiohead. "She looks like the real thing, she tastes like the real thing" - these lines are huge. I hadn't seen the video before either and its pretty good, just for Thom's face.

Toyboy and Robin - Jaded
These guys have placed themselves perfectly in the current space for house/garage interest from 90s kids, and this track is exactly what we want. The video is perfect as well, laying down the challenge for anyone to attempt the moves at a party for ultimate respect.

Pictureplane

I heard this guys self-proclaimed punk-rave music from one of the many links Grimes' twitter account has led me to. Pictureplane's 'Thee Physical' album is full of great tracks, good for running too, and to see him in interviews on youtube helps explain how he reached this mash up of genres. Also he wears mad shit which I couldn't.

Friday Film #2

Rebel Without a Cause

I'm really good

I watched this film with my parents, who I had a feeling were anxious to see whether I related to Jim, the main character brilliantly portrayed by James Dean. His struggle with behaving as a man should, with confusing influences from his dad, guys at school and the policeman, are shown by his extreme emotions throughout the film. The girlfriend serves to steady Jim as he becomes more confident in his new surroundings.  These factors of teenage life are spot on, I'm sure they relate to many more people who saw this film as they did to me (plus I own a red jacket, as I know many more do as a result of its iconic status when donned by Dean).
Yet while we see Jim as an unstable young man with a number of conflicts arising from his detachment from the family and lack of any other constant in his life, it is the quiet and calm Plato who emerges as the real threat. His reaction to the turbulence of teenage life is to defend himself by placing the power back in his own hands via a gun, the opposite of Jim who is able to embrace the possibilities open to a lovable rogue and get himself a babe.
This film could be seen as one of the first in a series of countless high school films in which good looks and confidence prevail over the 'geeks'. But this would minimise it to a film about high school. I found it to be one of the more convincing accounts of the transition from boy to man, something I don't recall from the many films made since which attempt to tackle the same subject.

Heart of Darkness

Joseph Conrad's account of his character's experience of the jungle and the mysterious Kurtz is the purest example of colonial endeavours into the unknown, and the morbid fascination we have with such bleak adventure. With the end of the novel comes a sense of freedom from the claustrophobic descriptions of darkness, which follows the realisation that the experiences within the book are unlikely to ever be encountered in today's world.
It is a very well written book; the pace of the novel reflects the speed of the old steamer, crawling upriver further into the unknown, until Kurtz is met and 'dealt with', and the sailor Marlow's telling of his story to other crew members sat on a deck of a ship at anchor on the Thames means the reader is allowed brief moments of respite from the oppressive jungle atmosphere, perhaps like flashes of the sun through a heavy canopy of foliage.
But it has proved to be more than just a good read, inspiring many great films who deal with human's journeys into the unknown. Herzog's Aguirre, Wrath of God comes closest to Conrad's stifling tragedy, a brilliant film whose madness is a product of Herzog's fanatic directing methods coupled with Klaus Kinski's demonic presence, whose maniacal stare serves to capture the strength and destruction which teeter on the edge of Conrad's Kurtz. Apocalypse Now is Hollywood's attempt, and the force of the film comes from its stunning transplant of Conrad's novel to the Vietnam war; the infamous "the horror, the horror" line is visualised in my eyes by the napalming of the jungle in the opening scene. Marlon Brando opts to play Kurtz as a formidable physical presence battling with a hellish kingdom of his creation, a haunting screen presence compared with the ghostlike Kurtz of Conrad's African jungle.
A slightly more tenuous product of the 'heart of darkness' concept is the monolith in 2001: a Space Odyssey. While the psychedelic journey through the darkness of space is arguably a more obvious metaphor for mankind's progress into the unknown, the monolith itself, pure blackness with no explanation behind its appearance or existence, could be taken as a concentrated physical embodiment of our unanswered questions. Arriving at the beginning to spark the dawn of man, and later discovered by man's progress beyond earth, its appearance at the end of the film reminds us of the potential crushing force of the unknown, with us all our lives this darkness can never be illuminated, something we have to accept in order to live our lives (particularly relevant for discussion of 2001, which has no firm explanation from Kubrick or widely agreed theories behind its meaning).

2001 shows us the shift from earthly threats to that which beyond our planet. While space has become the subject of our interest and exploration since the 20th century, the jungle still holds a magic over us, as it did over Conrad. Its exoticism and danger combine to have me fascinated and most other people respectful of one of the last remaining unknowns on earth.

This week's most listened to #1

Music feature showing the songs/albums/artists I've heard or revisited each week

Yung Lean - I cannot get enough of this kid. An unlikely product of decades of rap, his take on the music made by his idols sounds so cool. His soundcloud is growing, but this track is still my favourite. Plus he loves arizona ice tea, really loves it.

The Horrors - their last two albums are go to listening for me. I saw them in Birmingham last year and really like their recharge of melancholic British guitar band music, in this way they're not particularly original but have some addictive songs nonetheless. I love Monica Gems

Modest Mouse - possibly my favourite band (so could turn up every week), their first two albums definitely make my top 10. I love drums, and this track builds to awesome drumming, aswell as catchy lyrics.

Friday Film #1

The first in a feature discussing the last film watched by the Friday of each week.














'White Diamond' - Werner Herzog.
Documentary following the return of an aerospace professor to the rainforest canopy.

Its a beautiful film, which doesn't surprise me having experienced some of Herzog's other work. This one felt particularly ad hoc, with spontaneous tangents away from the airships flights providing just as much to care about as the success of the airship.
The loneliness of one of the locals, Mark Anthony, whose family left him behind to live in Spain was one of the unexpected things to stick around after the film ended, especially as Herzog appeals to Mark Anthony's family to contact him in the closing comments.
I am fascinated by the jungle, just as humans in general fear and respect the unknown, and this film uses the Amazon as a the living embodiment of this unknown. Herzog's earlier 'Fitzcarraldo' is one of my favourite films for its slog of a story unfolding in the heart of the Brazilian Amazon. This time out the cameras don't immerse themselves in the suffocating foliage as seen in other jungle epics, instead reflecting the perspective of the airship itself; slowly observing the teeming forest from a close distance.
The climax of the film comes around halfway through with the professor Graham Dorrington's recounting of his previous experience with a similar airship. Never shy of providing Herzog with  tasty anecdotes to narrate the filming of his project, Dorrington describes the death of the wildlife cinematographer Dieter Plage after his last airship failed, clearly finding it difficult to come to terms with as he stares into the dark river bank opposite. This point, brought about by Herzog's relationship with the professor, is one of the moments Herzog is renowned for documenting; in this case a perfect image of human struggle towards achievement.