The EPL has faced off!

Well, the EPL has dropped the puck and started! Cue much excitement! We have had 4 games (2 weekends) and we are beginning to see the league flesh out a little. Here are a few of my own personal thoughts on how the teams look.

First of all, my own team, the Phoenix.

Whilst I have not seen them play, I have been in touch with people who have, and read up on them and how they have done.

Well, at the moment, the Phoenix are 3 wins from 4. Starting with a win against Basingstoke, with Ed Courteney on fire, then a close-fought game with Swindon with the Phoenix winning by the odd goal, followed with another close win against Sheffield. Unfortunately, Milton Keynes rolled in, spoiled the party, and ended the Phoenix' perfect start. Apparently, though, the Phoenix' import contingent did not step up to the plate, and MK managed to play an excellent, tough game against Manchester and rattled the squad. Still, it was another odd goal affair.

Milton Keynes, tough team, sensible coach known to Manchester fans in Nick Poole, and a settled squad that is uesd to playing together. One of the EPL's perennial thereabouts team, only squad with a 100% record. Will be near the top of the pile come the end. Will the finish above the Phoenix? Maybe. Nick has a lot of experience at this level. Whilst Manchester has a good team, their experience at this level is limited.

Basingstoke. Same record as the Phoenix, 3-1. Good solid team, and expected to be fighting for silverware. Lost to Phoenix on opening night, then rolled into Guildford and stamped on the Flames. Follwed with another weekend of happy hunting. A close game at home against last years surprise champions, and then a comfy 6-1 win against Romford.

Guildford. The "chequebook" team. A title that might well end up being passed to the Phoenix or Basingstoke! However, Guildford is similar to MK, there or thereabouts all year. Solid team, some excellent players, and a good winning mentality. However, this year. they currently have a 50% record. Losing their opening weekend games, against MK and Basingstoke, but last weekend enjoying victories against Swindon and Slough.

Swindon. Solid team that is hard to play against. Competent team members, but lack the budget of some of their rivals. Opened the season with a 6-1 win against Romford, but then just lost to the Phoenix, followed by a 4-2 reverse to Guildford, and a 10-2 kicking from Bracknell.

Bracknell. Lost a lot of players from last years thank to the ownership crisis which nearly sank the team over the summer. However, some quick and sensible recruiting. Starting with Claude Dumas. Who has been in the UK game since we used rocks for pucks! The squad itself has some sensible imports, and a list of good young Brits, and has the potential to upset a lot of people. So far, a big loss to Slough (9-0) followed with a better result later (5-7) coupled with a 5-2 turnover from MK. However, Bracknell did thump Swindon...

Sheffield. A squad that is doing its best under the shadow of the more moneyed Steelers. Has a squad that once boasted Ron Shudra, one of the UK's biggest names in the game. But now led by the more than capable Jon Rowbotham, the Scimitars are proving to be a difficult squad to beat. Opening weekend saw wins against Peterborough and Romford, the following weekend saw them lose to The Phoenix, then bounce back with a 2nd win against Peterborough. However, they have since lost their first goalie, Paul Jones to a hip injury. Surgery will keep him out until the new year at the moment!

Slough. This team suffered a whole-sale clearout of players. Once the ever-green Moria was released and ended up just up the road in Basingstoke, he enticed several of the Jets critical players, such as Nicky Chinn. However, the new coach Peter Russell has built a tough squad that lies second in the table. An opening night 9-0 win over Bracknell has been followed by wins over Peterborough and a second over Bracknell. Broken by an OT loss to Guildford.

Peterborough. Last year saw this team claim pretty much all the silverware, including the cutlery off the table! However, that overstretched the club financially, and this year has seen the pain kick in. Several of the squad had to be cut and cheaper alternatives brought in, and the results have suffered accordingly. Not getting beat by much, but currently on an 0-4 record.

Finally. Romford. Like Bracknell, had ownership issues which rumbled on so long that the whole squad effectively is brand new. Also, assembled on a budget, and it looks like a tough year. On paper, a great team. Lots of promise, but like Peterborough, 0-4. With a worse goal record. It is still early, and maybe they can turn things around, but at the moment, look like odds-on for the bottom slot.

So, the table at the moment.

place Team Played Win Loss Points

1 Milton Keynes 4 4 0 8

2 Slough 4 3 1 7

3 Manchester 4 3 1 6

4 Sheffield 4 3 1 6

5 Basingstoke 4 3 1 6

6 Guildford 4 2 2 4

7 Bracknell 4 1 3 2

8 Swindon 4 1 3 2

9 Peterborough 4 0 4 0

10 Romford 4 0 4 0

How do I see the league shaping up? Well, Fully expect it to be Manchester Basingstoke and Milton Keynes making it the top 3, followed next by Slough, Guildford and Sheffield, with Swindon and Bracknell staying close, then the basement made up by the teams there now. I am, of course, ready to be proved wrong!

Inherited politics

This is not such a big article this time, but just been listening Radio 5, and the Breakfast Phone in show, where the public where asked if Gordon Brown was the right man to lead Britain forwards. Quite frankly, in my own humble opinion, no.

Every time I hear from someone in the Labour party, I want to smack them. There is a constant spin on news, they dont like confronting bad news, and Gordon brown has shown an amazing ability to miss what is right in front of him. "Taxes will be changed to make them fairer!" Then pulls the 10p tax, whilst insisting it wont hurt anyone.

Then back-pedals rapidly.

Another one that really got me was the mega-casino thing. Manchester's Eastlands community would have seen millions poured in which would have delivered economic benefits all over the shop. Other regions missed out on the mega casino, but many areas benefited from smallre regional casino plans.

Gordon Brown got in, and nixed the mega casino plan for its anti-social aspects (gambling addiction, etc). This, I have no major issue with. I am quite neutral on the gambling issue. I have no objections to one being built, and the only objection I have to blocking one is that people should be treated as adults and allowed to choose. Yes, gambling does have its inherent issues of addiction and debt, but a mega casino could fund help programmes to assist people who fall into that trap, and the vast majority of us are reasonably sensible enough to make our own decisions.

However, Brown nixed it, and after Manchester ploughed a tone of cash in to the bidding process and organising for the benefits, had all this pulled out from under it, and nothing put on the table as compensation.

I have no issue with nixing it per se. However, as a marker of his style, Brown does what he wants for his reasons, the later has to scramble when he realises there are wider issues at play.

However, that little rant over.

What I really wanted to talk about was political dynasties.

Britain's political structure allows people to carry on in politics for a very long time, so the offspring tend to move into business rather than follow in the family line and go into politics themselves. Also, they see the hassle their parents go through, and dont want that for themselves.

However, there are dynasties in Britain. Most famous being the Benns.

William Wedgewood Benn (Tony Benn) was in parliament in the 20's followed by Anthony Wedgewood Benn who served with Harold Wilson, and now we have Hilary Benn, the International Development Secretary. Following in the family line, Hilary's niece, Emily Benn is bidding to be the youngest ever MP (20) at the next election.

Harold McMillian was followed into parliament by his son Maurice, Gwilym Lloyd George followed his father in, and the most successful family is possibly the Balfours, (Marquess' of Salisbury) with about 5 of them to go into parliament.

America, famously, has had some amazing dynasties. Let us not forget the recent history of presidents, with Bush, Clinton, back to Bush again, with Hillary Clinton forging her own political legacy. And of course, with the Bush's, The other brother is sitting as governor in Florida. And of course, the most famous example is the Kennedy's. A political dynasty that looks like it is coming to an unfortunate end with the sad passing of Ted Kennedy.

However, this pales into insignificance, when you look at the political scene in Japan. The recent ruling party, the LDP, saw at least 50% of its members inheriting their seats directly from their parents. Usually father to son. The most obvious example is possibly the most famous PM in Japanese recent history, Junichiro Koizumi (Him with the hair!) retiring from his seat, and his young son stepping in and taking over.

Shinjiro, in the past, could have expected a near shoo-in for the seat, except that now, political inheritance is slowly becoming a dirty word in Japanese politics, and the DPJ has tried hard to begin to move away from this history, with only about 10% of its new members being from a political family.

However, since Koizumi, every leader of the Jpaanese government, Koizumi, Abe, Fukuda, Aso, and now Hatoyama are all directly descended from grandfathers who have either been prime ministers themselves, or involved with high levels of government!

Another aspect of Japanese politics has been "amakudari" or the art of those working for the government (politician and bureaucrat) who retire, and take up a lucrative position with a private company. Usually a company that works in the government officials department. The most common area is construction. Which is one of the reasons why you see so much concrete in this country.

People look after the company, giving them contracts that most would term as wasteful, and then, surprise, that same company offers them a comfortable position upon retirement!

Corruption is common in Japan. It is a faceless crime that many people judge to be relatively harmless, and not a direct attack on someone, which would be improper!

I am not saying that British politics is anything like Japanese politics, but noting a word of caution. Unless controls are put in place, the political dynasties can grow and become detached from the world around them, and look where Japanese politics has ended up. The DPJ has made noises about changing it all, reducing bureaucrat powers, ending this policy of amakudari, and encouraging the ending of dynasties.

As for Emily Benn, whilst I disagree with your politics (I cant bring myself to vote Labour. I just cant!), I wish you luck in your ambition. However, I would suggest getting out and working first. Sample life as the rest of us see it. It would help before you start to legislate on it!

The Taiji Dolphin Hunt.

It is well known that Japan hunts whales for "scientific purposes" (meat). The problem I have is that I live in Japan, I disagree with whaling on principle, but there is nothing I can do. I am trapped by Japanese culture on this one.

There will be people who say that there is plenty I can do. Problem is, in order to protect myself in this land, I have to keep quiet on this topic. The Japanese have never had a culture of immigration into Japan, and still have a "them and us" mentality. It is hidden, buried deep, glossed over by the fact that the Japanese love western stuff, but the mentality is there, ready to surface with the slightest provocation.

The Japanese are happy to buy into western culture, but are deeply unwilling to allow "them" to interfere with Japanese culture. Really, it is my belief that if the world actually went about agreeing with Japan on the whaling thing and where somewhat more pragmatic, you would find the Japanese probably happy to accept far lower quotas than they operate to now! And could possibly negotiate it all the way down to 0 at some point in the future!

As long as you front up to the Japanese, and demand they make changes to their culture, you are doomed to failure. You are more likely to be able to move the moon than demand the Japanese back down. If you go at them with all reasonableness and allow a certain degree of face-saving, then the Japanese are willing to negotiate over anything.

Whaling itself ends up delivering meat to Japanese supermarkets and on to the menu at many restaurants. I feel it is worth me declaring that I have tried whale meat. It was put in front of me, so to save my own face, I tried it. I thought, what the hey. I told them I personally objected to whaling, but did not push it, and tried the meat.

When they asked me how it was, well to tell the truth, I was not that impressed. It was soft. But slightly greasy, and lacked flavour. Distinctly underwhelming.

Ah well. Tried it. Never again. Will have to politely decline from now on in.

Still, I move on.

In the south of Japan, there is a small town called Taiji, which every year has a Dolphin hunt, where they drive dolphins into a bay for slaughter, and some for sale to aquariums. This does bring good money, with some animals going for $154,000!

The rest are sold for meat. They go to local shops, to schools, and to zoos to feed the lions.

Why do they do it? Well, it is a tradition dating back through the mists of time. However, the motivation is simple. Pest control. The fishermen of Taiji see dolphins as pests who eat "their" fish! So, off they go to kill as many dolphins as they can.

They do so by dropping pipes into the water and bang them to create a wall of sound. Apparently it is so bad, it completely terrifies the dolphins and drives them into a small cove, where most of them are butchered.

There is an organisation, "SaveJapanDolphins.org" who are campaigning to stop this wholesale slaughter. The ambition is very honourable, and I am sure that most Japanese will agree. Dophins are fantastic animals, and not really what the Japanese crave for dinner!

Also, there are health risks. Japan is a beautiful nation. However, it is far from perfect. It is not unknown for a manufacturer to quietly "misplace" icky stuff into a nearby river. The penalties can be severe, but the problem is, the LDP government was DEFINITELY pro-business! And not so keen on punishing companies when they cried out for help because of competition. A lot of this icky stuff contains mercury, and leads to dolphin meat being hazardous to health.

This has, in another area in Japan, led to the naming of the Minamata disease, where people in the north of Japan suffered from mercury poisoning. It took forever to get the government to acknowledge it, and sort it out!

Anyhoo. Back to the Dolphins.

The local populace do have dolphin meat in the supermarket, but do they drive the demand? Not really. Like I said, whale meat really is not that impressive. They keep it on the menu, well, because it has always been there. And the Japanese love their "tradition!"

Its kept alive by the fishermen who make money from selling the meat, and HUGE profits from selling choice dolphins to the zoo industry! All this with the approval of the government. Problem here is that fish is VERY important to the Japanese. Makes up a large part of the diet, a huge part of the culture, and the fishermen enjoy one heck of a powerful lobby!

A regular comment made to various campaign groups from the fishermen is that the public dont need to know. This sounds arrogant, and it is. However, it has to be tempered with a realisation that this is how the Japanese work. It is a VERY private nation. If someone is doing their job, then dont go sticking your nose in. All the more worse when its a foreigner asking! It is automatically classified as "interference!"

The big problem area has been information. The media has not been interested in talking about this, and the government has been active in supporting it. However, now we have the DPJ in power here in Japan, it is possible that campaign groups find them more conducive to the approaches of afore-mentioned groups.

The big thing for the campaign groups is to be careful. It is something I have learnt. The Japanese have been most welcoming to me. Once they discover I am not going to breathe fire, and eat their babies. Whilst I am trying to learn the language, I realise that to a great extent, I will forever be an outsider looking in (Them and Us!).

The Japanese see themselves as belonging to a nation with a long and stable history (we'll ignore the shogunates, the bloody civil wars, the modernization that saw the downfall of the Samurai, and of course, a minor issue in the 1930's to 40's!). The Japanese are open to comments from outside that they ask for, because it means they want to learn. However, the Japanese never offer ideas as that makes you stand out from the group. Likewise, outside groups offering ideas and criticism is mostly unwelcomed/ignored because, well, we are outsiders poking our noses in to Japanese life!

What a lot of outside groups need to do is not just come over to protest. That is deeply unlikely to work. It takes something of monumental proportions to move the Japanese to march in the streets. Dolphins wont do that. Therefore, a bunch of foreigners coming in to protest will, at best, be treated as an "and finally" moment on local news. Or more likely, just ignored.

It is not worthwhile shouting at the Japanese and trying to demonise them by encouraging boycotts. Problem is, the Japanese dont see Dolphin meat in the supermarkets all the time (I never have!). It really is a periphery thing for a lot of them. It is not an issue. It is something that has always happened. It does not trigger any bells. However, if you ask, they will agree that dolphin hunting is something that is best consigned to history.

To do this, you need to stop shouting, and start talking. Education is the key in Japan. Demanding an immediate stop is like trying to put the brakes on an oil tanker. However, with enough nudging, the SS Japan can be moved slowly to change!

It can be done.

I will, in my own quiet way, try to do my part!

Oh Bollards! (Funny!)

Now, for those of you who live in/near to Manchester, then I am sure you are all too aware of "The Bollards." For those of you who are not, the bollards are a set of automatic metal posts that block off quick access to Cross St from Deansgate. They sink into the road to allow public service vehicles through as well as buses. These vehicles carry a special doohicky to activate them. Joe Public does not have one.

Manchester City Council took the decision to put the bollards in since this rat run is a handy, but narrow road connecting to main Cross street and Deansgate, running through Manchester. On one side, you have the M&S/Selfridges/Harvey Nicks anchored shopping area that links to other shops, restaurants, Exchange Sq, and Urbis, and on the other side, you have St Anns Sq, with even more shops in. The council took the decision to block access to allow pedestrians to move easily from one area to the other. The bollards where brought in as this area is a fantastic place for buses to drop off people wanting to travel to the city centre! Close to the Arndale, Exchange Sq, M&S, and Victoria Stn...

However, these bollards are not without their hazards.

These bollards have caught out many drivers. Up to 11am, when the area is not so busy with shoppers, the bollards are down. This helps with traffic. Once it comes to 11am, lights change colour, and up pop the bollards, limiting access, and protecting the shopper who should be now heading into the city centre for a daily splurge.

These bollards have resulted in many accidents, with cars getting their radiators and engines smashed in. The reason is usually because they see a bus go through, this run gives quick access to Cross St, and they tailgate. Problem is, the bollards are designed to pop up as soon as the (allowed) vehicle has passed over, resulting in vehicles ramming the bollards!

For some reason, seeing a Merc smashed up does not fill me with pity...

The one thing here, the first car pulls up, and cant get through. She they leave. But no! They wait for a bus, and try to follow it through! Followed by some guy with kids in his car! However, I have no sympathy for the family (Though I hope the kids where ok!)

And again, more people trying to write off their cars!...

Finally, a wonderful bit of news. If you smash into the barriers, you have to pay for their repairs! Brilliant! May seem a bit harsh, but if you where watching, there are 4 things warning people! 2 big signs, a traffic light affair, and an audio warning. If you miss all of these, then you have to be driving with cloth ears, and a blindfold on. If you wilfully ignore them, then you deserve all you get!

However, the bollards are not perfect...

Still. They do at least afford plenty of videos for Youtube, and me lots of sniggers at others expense!

We are going to the dance!

Its taken a while, but I finally felt I should talk about it.

After running over Croatia 5-1, England qualified to go to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa! Joining (from first to qualify) Japan, Australia, South Korea, The Netherlands, North Korea, Brazil, Ghana, Spain, Paraguay, and of course, the hosts, South Africa.

Bilic opened the fun and games when he declared that England has lost some of its "Englishness." He later went on to say he meant it as a compliment, but lets face it, he likes to needle to opposition and try some mind games. Capello just responded by declaring that his job for the team talk had just been made easier.

The game itself opened with England marking the fact that there really is a gulf in class between these two nations. Even when you take into account the fact that Croatia did not have its talisman in Luka Modric.

Bursting into the box, Lennon got hauled down, and Lampard slotted home the resulting penalty within the first 7 minutes. Lennon was instrumental when he delivered the perfect cross in the 11th minute for Gerrard to smack the header home.

Vedran Runje in Croatias goal was by far their most importan player, keeping England at bay for the rest of the first half. England however, forced him into acrobatic display after acrobatic display in order to maintain the integrity of his goal.

On the hour mark, Glen Johnson managed to float in a fantastic cross to be met by Lampard to add his second, and 7 minutes later, Gerrard joined him on 2 goals by smashing home Rooneys cross.

The Brazilian-born Eduardo grabbed a goal back for Croatia with a close range effort with 18 minutes to go. But given Englands dominance in the game, calling it a consolation would be amazingly generous! I almost feel sorry for Eduardo. Poor guy got booed whenever he went even close to the ball! I know that UEFA has since recinded the 2 match ban for conning the ref with his dive. But lets face it, he did dive. Cheating B@%$@+d.

Rooney played a blinder of a game, reigning in his famous temper, and his industry was duly rewarded when he pounced on a wild slice from Croatias keeper to gleefully slot the ball home.

The whole squad played really well. Extra points to Heskey. He is not such a productive striker. However, he is enormously useful, and Capello likes playing him. And I can see why. He is a big strong player who is very unselfish. Brilliant at holding the ball, and creating opportunities for the players round him. Most of Englands other strikers are, unfortunately, titchy.

So, a huge difference between McClarens England, in the rain, getting thumped and dumped out of the qualification rounds for Euro 2008 by Croatia. A lot has to be handed to Capello for this turnaround. He took largely the same bunch of players and went from struggling and failing to qualifying, to making them into a much better, tougher unit, which blasted through qualifying witout losing a game.

It is great to see England now. Capello famously has not tried to be-friend the players like McClaren did. He called them by their first names, and was generally pally. Capello on the other hand insists on suits, punctuality, calls the players by their surnames (not their nicknames) and whilst he cares deeply about the players and will obviously fight for them in every arena, there is no sentimentality. He is not above dropping players the moment they dont match his exacting standards. A threat dangling over Beckham whilst he is on his American adventure.

The most famous example of Capello keeping a distance between himself and the team was after the game with Croatia. When Terry went over to give Capello a congratulatory hug. Now, most managers would accept that, but not Capello. He just stuck out his hand!

It must be said, however, that a group consisting of England, Croatia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Andorra, and the Ukraine, you would expect England to qualify. Or AT LEAST snag 2nd place. You would expect England to beat all of these teams, but I believe that is short-changing the opposition. Apart from Andorra, none of these nations are real pushovers. Croatia is still an excellent and difficult nation to play against. Belarus and the Ukraine both have several star players that grace top leagues throughout Europe. Kazakhstan is a fantastic team full of running.

None of these games, away from England was ever going to be easy. Look at Kazakhstan. I worked it out. Basically, it is over half way to Japan from England! Thats further than from Manchester to New York by plane! It would have been easy for England to get complacent. However, should they have done, most of the other nations would pounce and punish you for it. England had to play at 100% all the time.

Now. Do England stand a chance of winning the thing?

Yes. Of course we do.

But will we?

To that, I dont know. Capello has taken a bunch of excellent players (top of the world excellent, I am not so sure) and blended a team that is clearly greater than the sum of its parts. Same thing that Ferguson has done at United. And look at the success they have had!

England go to the tournament part of a group of nations who have a brilliant chance. Brazil and Spain have to be the best picks at the moment, but just after them, you have the likes of Germany, The Netherlands, Italy, possibly Paraguay, who all have a great chance of getting to the finals. I would put England in that group.

With a world cup, there is a large element of luck, too. It is all about 1 game at a time. After the group stage, 1 lucky bounce is all it takes to turn a game on its head. Under Capello we are beginning to look like a team that might just be able to create its own luck.

So, I look forward to the world cup with more hope and a genuine feeling of optimism that I have not had about an England team for a long time!

The game of Kings!

Golf is a great game, yet it is so easy to turn it around and declare that Golf is one of the worst and most frustrating games ever!

I have discovered both of these feelings recently!

It is a lot like Archery, a sport I once enjoyed in a previous life, and got to the point where, whilst I was not great, I was reasonably confident enough that the pointy end of the arrow ended up stuck in the proper receptacle! Archery is a sport not so big on high levels of explosive energy, but it is huge on calmness, and control.

It is all about the search for that one, perfect, blissful shot.

The one shot that as soon as you loose the arrow, know its fantastic! And likely to miss the target as everything is set to cope with your foibles and quirks which add a kick to the arrow and screw up its flight!

Golf is the same as archery. All about everything flowing just right, and resulting in that one perfect shot that flies exactly where you want. Except that perfect shot does not simply exist! The professionals have got to the point where they get pretty darned close on a regular basis and can make a living out of it, and the rest of us are left to hack away shoving the ball closer to the hole yard by agonising yard.

That is what happened to me recently.

My girlfriend used to play golf, and I got interested. All of Japan likes golf. Either they play, or they want to play. Golf is huge business here. Tiger Woods is hugely popular, but he is easily dwarfed by Ryo Ishigawa. A 17 year old prodigy who is now ranked as Japans number 1. His face is on everything. Guys want to re-start their lives as him. Ladies want to be his mum. Girls want to marry him. He is good at golf.

I, unfortunately, am not.

My student recently took me out for my first ever time to play. My girlfriend got me a fantastic "The Open" branded golf bag (she won it!) and several other bits and pieces. The golf clubs, we managed to barter a shop down to making them really cheap, and the rest I picked up on the way.

So. With all my shiny new stuff and a fresh pair of pants, I eagerly strode down to the 7-11 near my girlfriends place where I was due to meet my student, and off we set for Kashiwazaki Seaside GolfClub. This is a local amenity that was constructed in the mid-70's by Riken, one of the local major companies.

The nice thing with Seaside is that it is cheap! 2,000 yen to play the 9 holes once, then if you want to go round again, you have to re-book another time, but this time it is only a further 1,000 yen. So, 3,000 yen for 18 holes is really quite cheap.

The site itself has a slightly dated, but clean clubhouse where you can go for the obligatory lunch (You have to have a lunch break at most Japanese golf courses after the first 9 holes). The complex features a driving range, an putting green, and of course, 9 holes.

The course itself really is not taxing. So, ideal for beginners like Yuko, and great for idiots like me who think theat we can just have a go!

So, get a bucket, a few tokens, and off we set. The machine for the driving range has a big hole where you stick the bucket, drop a coin in, and the machine belches out several fistfuls of balls. A second coin sees the basket about half full, and off we trot to take a few practise swings.

I have no real experience with golf. I have played adventure golf many times in Florida, so putting held no fear. The difficult bit would be getting to the green in the first place!

So, a few practise swings and I realise that I am hitting the ball about 100 to 150 yards. Not bad for my first go.

Then off to the putting green and as I suspected, I actually was not that bad. If I had a few rocks to bank the ball off, or a small waterfall, I'd be set...

At last, our time came. At 10.10 precisely, my student teed off, and sent the ball soaring away into the sky where we promptly lost the white ball against the grey-white clouds!

Up I step.

Its OK Paul. Just like at the driving range.

Relax. Breathe.

Slow wind up.

Now, swing through, twist the hips, watch the ball and pummel the thing miles!

And it crashes about 80 yards up.

Disappointing. Still, we are off and away!

After about a million goes, I finally settle into the pattern of pushing the ball, rather than elegantly chipping the thing.

My student realises we are in for a long morning. But he is Japanese. Lots of encouragement, and calls of "Jouzou!" (great!) greets my every shot. It starts out as a very flattering way of stopping my ego from collapsing and me giving up, but after a while, even I have to admit that I am really not that good, and please stop!

However, I dont say that. It would be un-Japanese of me!

On to the the second hole (I told you, putting was no problem!), and my first water hazard. This time I manage a pretty good shot off the tee, about 100 yards! Only problem is, the far bank of the water hazard was about 110 yards away!

Yep, my ball was lost in the drink!

Still. After pushing the ball on to the green, a good long putt saw me sink it.

On we went. Because of the 4some ahead of us, we kept having to wait, and the couple behind us caught us up and waited as well. My student decided to ask them to play with us. Did nothing for me. The wife was pretty handy with a golf club, whilst the husband, I swear he was born in one of the bunkers! He was brilliant!

Still. A most amuzing morning where everyone played golf and I pushed the ball around. They all walked round, enjoying the weather as I was working up a sweat! Swinging a golf club is actually hard work!

Finally, made it back to the clubhouse, and a chance to have a break before having another go! I was officially nackered.

Still. A bowl of curry and rice, a sit-down, and some cold drinks saw some semblence of control returning to my system, and off we went for round 2.

This time, I really sucked! Not only was I scuffing the ball and effectively shoving it into the ground and not allowing the ball to go any great distance, but I was tired. My hips ached from the twisting, my lower back was not happy, my left hand hurt, and my shoulders where distinctly unhappy.

Still. This time, it was only me and my student, and with a lot of encouragement, I pressed on. I had given up trying to be good, and just decided to swipe away.

As a technique it did not help. However, it did make me more and more angry and frustrated. Remember, before, I said Golf is all about calm and control? I was rapidly losing mine. I sank another ball, literally, into the water hazard on the 2nd hole.

However, in the final stretch, with 3 holes to go, I got terribly wound up and annoyed. A little introspective thinking, and I just thought "sod it, relax, dont think, just hit the thing!"

And you know, this not-thinking philosphy may actually have something in it! Suddenly I started t do much better! Not Tiger Woods better, but much more Golf-like. I was hitting the ball, and rather than just skipping along the turf it was actually lifting up and getting some decent distance!Now I was playing, and even managed to beat my student on one of the holes! It was down to the putting...

So, I managed it. 15 holes of hell, with 3 holes of near exctasy! It was amazing! And I only lost 2 balls!

The one thing I am proud of though, throughout all this, I managed 2 things. Most of my shots where reasonably accurate, and 2, I managed to smash a trowel that they use for filling divots with sand!

So, there you go. Golf in Japan. Frustrating, yet full of compliments and nicely dressed people. It is usually expensive, but sometimes, can throw up some on-a-budget gems. If you like golf, you have to try it in Japan. It is really serious here, and at some point, there will be a Japanese who does something.

But remember, you have to keep going.

There is a schedule to keep.

Dont want you slowing down now...

Toot Toot! 2!

Well, going to blather on about this once more! But not in such detail this time. Now, there has been a call by many of the major cities outside London calling for a new high speed line to link the country to the capital to try to allow the rest of the country to compete! The cities that have signed their names to this demand/appeal/request are Manchester, Leeds, Birmingham, Bristol, Liverpool, Newcastle, Nottingham, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Sheffield and Cardiff.

This is good. Calls for this are growing as people realise that global warming is here as a major issue and is not going to go away. One of the big causes of global warming is air travel (even though a planes engine is way more efficient in terms of moving people than an auto engine). Now, I am not here to attack air travel. I like air travel. I may be one of the few that do, but all the polava that goes with moving through an airport is kinda fun.

Then, get on a plane, and 12 hours later, be on a whole new continent is amazing! And for me, it allows me to push on with my life as an Englishman in Japan, in a totally alien environment, safe with the little thought that should it all go horribly wrong and I REALLY had to make a break for it, I could be at my folks home in under 24 hours!

Anyway. I digress. The call has come out asking/demanding for a high speed link. A call which is far too late in my judgement. High speed lines criss-cross Europe, a few small threads are beginning to snake around the US, lines are under development in Taiwan and Korea, and in Japan, the network is the most heavily used, and with new sections of line being linked in every year.

In Britain, all we have is a little bit running from London, to a big hole in the ground.

This is a very sorry state of affairs.

Still. The government has form a commitee to look at the development of "High Speed 2" and Network Rail has thrown its weight behind the development. So. Nothing to happen until the middle of the century then.

The big thing for a new high speed line linking these cities to London would be that it could move 15,000 people an hour, and bring travel times from the cities to London to near air travel times. If the ticketing is sensible, then I foresee most people switching from planes to trains. After all, there is far less hassle involved (security).

The really cool thing is that the network would be built to higher standards, allowing trains of a heavier weight to be used. This means that as the network gets crowded (Which, at some point, it will) things can be done. Upgrades on signalling can help trains run closer, upgrades on the trains can allow for faster accelaration and breaking can allow trains to cut times AND run closer, but these will only boost capacity so much. Trains could be made longer, but then, stations will ave to be made longer to fit.

So, the easiest thing will be to go up. Add a second floor. It can be done. France's Duplex TGV holds the world record for fastest train at over 300kph.

Here in Japan, the Joetsu line, linking Niigata to Tokyo cannot physically be expanded too easily, since that would involve widening a LOT of tressles that hold the track level and up in the sky (keeps it level from the run through the mountains, and protects the population from noise), and a lot of tunnels would have to be bored to add extra tracks.

Trains are already run pretty close, so, the only thing would be to boost the trains, and here we have it! The E-1 Class Max Toki Shinkansen. Probably the worlds biggest high speed train with a capacity of 1325 people! Just to show how impressive this is, ignoring the Eurostar since that pretty much runs to no other city but London in the UK, lets look at Virgins Pendolino.

This is an amazing train. Comfortable. Fast, and really cool! It seats 440 people, and has a top speed 125mph (and a designed top speed of 140mph). The E-1 series seats 1325 (3 times the Pendolino) and runs at 150mph! It is an amazing train. Whenever I use this service, I am full of amazement that something that is slab-sided, looks not unlike a huge slug, is monumentally large, thunders through the Japanese landscape hauling 1325 people at 150mph with total ease!

Not only that, but its "little" sister, the E-4 series ("only" seating 817 people!) is capable of running in combination with a second E-4. The E-1 is not run in tandem with another, as the resulting train would not fit in stations! The E-4 is run in tandem with another E-4 for the rush hour services, and is the worlds biggest high speed trainset, running at 150 mph to Tokyo with great ease, with a capacity of 1634 people! Granted it cannot compete on speed, but the capacity of an E-4 trainset is comparable to...

Yes! 3 Airbus A380's! And these aint small birds!

So, for all those who are shouting against Hitachi being the lead player in the consortium that developed the Javelin service (140mph), then really, get over yourselves. In Britain, if we tried to develop a high speed network totally from scratch, it would cost us a fortune, and take forever to fine-tune it! The French and the Germans have amazing networks, but neither have the experience the Japanese have.

We are talking about high capacity trains designed to run faster, longer, quieter and more efficiently than pretty much anything else going!

We could do far worse than asking for a little help...

World Cup 2010. Friendly games

For all England fans, the game on Wednesday has a huge level of importance. It is a chance for the England team to finally lay to rest the disaster of "That Night" at Wembley when England under McClaren crumbled and Croatia ended Englands slim hopes of qualifying for Euro 2008. Thankfully, since then, the FA has brought in Capello who has brought in a new feeling of toughness, a sense that the players are no longer "safe." This means players have to PLAY for their place in the World Cup, rather than being there on reputation.

England, on Saturday, played Slovenia in a friendly. Slovenia was picked, as they play a similar style to Croatia, which is the big game on Wednesday (Sept 9th)

The game saw Capello pick a squad comprising Lampard, Defoe, Rooney, Heskey, Green (gk), Terry, Lescott, Gerrard, Wright-Phillips, Lennon, Milner, Carrick, and more.

The game saw England run out 2-1 winners, and whilst it was a comfortable win, the socreline did not reflect that.

Slovenia started brighter, and England where content to let them run out of steam.

England got on the scoreboard with a massively dubious penalty when Rooney went down under a very innocuous challenge, and Lampard slotted the penalty home. The second half saw Defoe give Capello plenty to think about by putting on a strong display and slotted home for Englands second goal.

The games big blemish came towards the end when Englands defence went on a mental walkabout, and Slovenia gleefully slotted home, giving England a nervous final few moments.

What does this game teach us? Well, Defoe has given Capello plenty to think about. He seems to like Heskey. A big player with lots of power, and a very unselfish style of play who can be a great target man up front, but not as productive as Defoe. Defoe put on a great display, and his form so far in the league has led to increasing calls for him to be given an England start. Still. Not a bad problem for Capello to have!

the other more serious problem is Englands defence. On the whole, it has been pretty solid. However, there have only been 4 games under Capello where they have kept a clean sheet. A sign of the problems is that the goals England has gifted have come from defensive errors. We have good defensive players. But for some reason, they just have these mental aberrations where they go to sleep, and let in a goal.

A cause for concern for Capello, and he has now voiced such concerns to the media. It means that in the locker room, he is probably livid!

Moving on. To my new home nation. The Japanese, having qualified for the World Cup, are embarking on a series of friendlies to get ready for the World Cup. With their most recent being a friendly against the Dutch. The game itself was not a game to set the world on fire. The Dutch using it as a tune-up for the game against the Scots on Wednesday, and the Japanese use it as a way to experiment with players, and a chance to see some of their European players, including Takayuki Morimoto, who plies his trade for Catania in Italy. A young player with a a flare style of play, that he says probably wont fit in with Japans more rigid mentality. However, his success in Italy has forced him into the team!

The Japanese started out on top, and had the better of the first half. However, the Dutch looked more dangerous, and far more incisive.

In the second half, the Dutch finally managed to step up a bit, and begin to follow through on their chances, and the 3 goals went in. Unfortunately, the Japanese defence was, at best, makeshift. And, up against the Dutch, it was quickly shown as being not up to the standard required.

Also, for Japan, Takayuki Morimoto tried hard, but was rather muzzled by a far better organised Dutch defence.

Well, the Dutch had a nice tune up ready for their last qualifier against Scotland. It will be tough. The Dutch have nothing to play for, whilst this is make or break for the Scots. Lose, and they will most likely drop a place. A draw may not be enough. A win will see the Scots maintain their hopes to qualify for the second placed playoffs.

The Japanese now have to somehow pick themselves up, ready for a friendly game in the Netherlands against a very good Ghana side. Should be interesting.

Now, moving on...

The big one for the England fans. Wednesday 9th of September. A chance for some serious ghosts being laid to rest. Let us not forget, that in the dying stages of the qualification rounds for Euro 2008, England needed a win against Croatia to make it to the finals, but in the end, miserably gave in on a horrible night at Wembley, now commonly known as Umbrellagate, as McClaren stood there, protecting himself from the rain (and the jeers) with a big brolly

Who can forget THAT night?! What a Wally with a Brolly...

Ah well. He did not do the decent thing and drop on his own sword, he waited to be fired so he could take the huge wodges of cash the FA had to pony up to end the contract.

Still. England have a new manager. A new confidence. And a new chance to right a lot of wrongs, ironically, by defeating their tormentors from last time, Croatia! A win against Croatia will see qualification assured. With 8 wins out of 8. A draw may still be enough, and a loss is not fatal. However, I think I can speak for all England fans who want England to go for the jugular and really drop the anvil on Croatia!

The build up of the game has seen both sides making all sorts of noises in the media. Lampard has been talking about the fact that the players remember how Croatia did for England 2 years ago, and will want to avenge that wrong, whilst Bilic has declared that undr Capello, the England team has lost some of its Englishness. Whatever that is.

To be honest, if the team loses some of its Englishness but goes on to do something pretty amazing, then I can live with that.

There are no injury worries for England, Walcott is out with a back injury, but Lennon, Wright-Phillips and Beckham are all vying for the right flank. Also, Who does Capello pick? Heskey or Defoe? A tough one that most managers would enjoy!

Croatia has a couple of players out in Modric out with an injury, and Corluka suspended. Also, Eduardo is under a spotlight at the moment now he has been found guilty of conning the referee when he took a tumble in the Arsenal game against Celtic.

The Croats have targeted Rooney as Englands danger man. Which is a fair point. He has been bagging goals on a pretty regular basis for the national team. They will try to nullfy him. Either by marking him out of the game (which opens up space for other players to go nuts!) or by taking him out of the game by getting him so riled he does something stupid.

A recent article in the Express quotes the Croats as basically saying his temprement is pretty suspect. Which it is. This is in important game. He needs to keep a lid on it for just 90 minutes. Let his skills do the talking.

The Croats are looking for a win, but if they leave with a draw, then they will leave Wembley. However, I hope and expect an England win. I am going to go for a nail-biting 2-1.

El-Magrahi

OK. Felt it was time to chip in with my thoughts over the repatriation of Abdel Baset Al-Megrahi to his homeland in Libya. Of course, I referring to the only man who was convicted of involvement with the bombing of Pan Am flight 103 as it passed over the Scottish city of Lockerbie, killing 270 people. 259 on the aircraft, and 11 on the ground. A sickening terrorist attack that, after much investigation, resulting in Libya ending up gaining pariah status, and nation-non-grata in global politics, and the freezing out of Ghadaffi from all the major international forums.

After Libya wallowed and stagnated for many years, they finally handed over two men wanted by the authorities in Scotland to stand trial for this horrific crime. Al-Megrahi was made to stand trial in a Scottish court, with a Scottish judge, in the Netherlands. Kind of odd arrangement, but it is the one that got Libya to hand him over.

After the trial, and the guilty verdict, Al-Megrahi was sentenced to life in a Scottish prison. His accomplice, Lamin Khalifah Fimah, was found innocent.

Of course, Al-Megrahi protested his innocence, and has since then lodged appeal after appeal to try to prove his innocence.

Up until recently, that is. At the beginning of August, he dropped his latest appeal upon hearing that it was possible he would be released on compassionate grounds, seeing as how he had terminal cancer.

After "consulting widely" Kenny McAskill, Scotlands justice minister (SNP), decided to release Al-Megrahi on compassionate grounds. An option available to the justice minister under Scottish law. He did not take the option that I think most would be comfortable with, and see hime included as part of a prisoner transfer arrangement, where he would be allowed to return to Libya, BUT he would have to serve out his sentence.

Since his release, many people have praised him for showing compassion in releasing Al-Megrahi since he has months to live, as doctors have said. However, many more have decided to slam the decision, branding it cowardly, or self-serving in various measures.

I for one think it was the wrong decision. After all, Jack Straw, as British justice minister, originally, was not to release Ronnie Biggs. He is a man who was involved in a "The Great Train Robbery" an attack that resulted in 1 person suffering major injuries, and ultimately died. However, was his death directly linked to the injuries? Likely, but not 100% proven. If Ronnie Biggs did not qualify for early release, then why Al-Megrahi? There is the historical issue, that ever since the creation of the United Kingdom, that Scotland had a seperate justice system, but surely, the British government could have talked with the Scottish government, and voiced its displeasure. However, the British government does not have the ability to block the move, since the Scottish judicial system is soley under the purview of Scotland.

Having said that, given that the Scottish government is run by the SNP, it is likely that they took a perverse view in the whole case. Given the SNP's desire for independance for Scotland, I can see them talking with the British government, and then taking the opposite line, just to show that they can be independant.

To make the whole situation even more unsavoury, was the pictures beamed around the world. After releasing him, various authorities said that this was a touchy subject, and asked Libya to act with sensitivity. Here is Libyan sensitivity.

Yes, many people greeting him as a hero as he walks off a flight to Libya. People waving Libyan flags and Scottish flags (which are not visible in this pic). Whilst there was no official word from the Libyan government over this, it is clear that there is tacit offical approval. After all, an airport is supposed to be a secure environment. Only cleared personnel allowed near an aircraft. Yet here we have hundreds of people mobbing the plane on the field, waving flags! The only way this could have happened is if security essentially waved them through! And why would security wave them through? If the order came down from a high enough level that would effectively circumvent international regulations on aircraft safety.

All very distasteful.

However, many people now believe that the release of Al-Megrahi was a trade-off, in return for lucrative business deals, though Gordon Brown has repeatedly denied this. For someone to keep denying this, he has to be on reasonably solid ground. Though I dont like Gordon Brown.

After the release, there was HUGE backlash from the public in the UK, and in the US. Most people where against this decision, and voiced their distaste for the decision made by McAskill. For example, the launching of the "boycottscotland.com" website, which is encouraging the boycotting of Scotland as a vacation destination, and of Scottish goods. Also, it is encouraging people from boycotting goods from the rest of the UK, as well as vacationing in the other home nations.

This is also quite wrong-headed.

Let us not forget, that whilst the British government could tell the Scottish government of their disapproval, the Scottish government is not under any obligation to listen. Given that the Scottish judicial system is totally independant from the system used in England and Wales, and in Northern Ireland. Also, the fact that the SNP currently makes up the government, probably makes it more likely that they would carefully listen to London, then do the exact opposite, just to make a point.

Given that, boycotting the rest of the UK is somewhat like me cancelling a vacation to Maine, just because I disagreed with a Florida's court to sentence someone to the death penalty. Maine has its own justice system, as does Florida. I cannot blame Maine for something Florida does, given Maine has no influence in the Florida system.

I personally believe that Al-Megrahi was convicted, and as such, should have served his punishment. Even though he has terminal cancer. It would have been humane to move him closer to his family under a prisoner swap deal with Libya, so his family could visit him, he should have remained in jail until his death. Of course, if he was found innocent upon appeal, then he could easily be released from a jail in Libya, straight into his family's arms. Until then, he is a convicted felon, and should have served his punishment.

A major plank in McAskills decision is that he has terminal cancer, and has a few short months left. Of course, what if he ends up living for years? Medicine still does not understand everything, and cannot predict with 100% accuracy the course a cancer will take. There is nothing stopping it from slowing down, and allowing him a few years before death.

So, for me, it was the wrong decision. By all means, show compassion and move him back to Libya to be near his family, but remember he is a convicted felon and should remain in jail until he serves his time. That option was on the table.

So, to people who are seriously considering boycotting Scotland, and the rest of the UK, I urge you to think again. The Scottish government is getting a hammering, almost daily. And just recently, lost a vote in the Scottish parliament condemming their handling of this issue. And let us not forget that Gordon Browns government and is on its last legs. Its popularity is crashing through the floor.

We will punish those responsible for this insane decision. It will take us some time (we dont rush to these things, here in the UK!), just wait for the next round of elections, and with great relish, we shall inflict the biggest punishment we can on a politician, and dump them out on the street!