22 posts tagged “vox hunt”
Show us the athlete you'd most like to be for one game.
I'd have to be Kevin Pietersen, I'm a huge fan of Alistair Cook as a solid and dependable batsmen, but at the end of the day Pietersen, when on form, is the best in the world and a proven match winner. He has such a good range of shots and seems to thrive on the pressure.
I think his 158 runs in the second innings of the fifth test at the oval in '05 is probably my favourite sports watching memory ever. I remember that fifth morning it looked like it had swung back in Australia's favour. KP came out with Glenn "we'll win this series 5-0" McGrath on a hat trick and they had an early appeal and the pessimist in me said it was a bad sign. Then he just started hitting everything they could bowl at him - by the time he hit Shane Warne back over his head for six it was cloud nine time.
(I apologise in advance to the non-cricket types, which is possibly everyone!)
Share the song you would choose to come out to in a boxing match.
"I don't know about the Marquis of Queensbury rules, but the Oscar Wilde rules are shoot on sight."
With this in mind the pugilistic contest betwixt my fellow man and I is likely to be short, lasting roughly the time it takes for one to lay one's hand upon one's service revolver and shoot the poor old chap. Not quite Marquis of Queensbury rules, I agree, but as long as one can quote Oscar Wilde in one's defence, I figure one is going to be okay.
With this in mind one has refrained from the dubious delights of Eye of the Tiger or the adrenaline pumping nature or Push the Tempo and decided to plump for the rather more restrained The Sporting Life, a rather chipper little tune by the Decemberists (Whom one has now absolved of all guilt for their part in undermining the Romanov dynasty after one was assured that they were a separate entity to the original Decemberists) that should have them tapping their feet in their aisles as they await the fight.
Share your favorite Oscar moment.
I don't really watch a whole lot of the Oscars, however, as I should pick a favourite moment for this post, I'll do it properly.
The Nominees for academy award for favourite Oscar moment of me are...
- Halle Berry's Speech. Ha. Joking. What a palaver. Calm down love, the statue ain't even worth that much.
- Michael Moore ranting and refusing to get off stage. Stick it to the man, Michael.
- Gwyny's Speech. See point one.
- Marion Cotillard's Speech. "I'm speechless..."
- Um. Something else random to fill in space because we all know who the winner is.
*shuffles feet*
*opens envelope*
Ladies and Gentleman, the academy award for favourite Oscar moment of a slightly-dense-but-well-intentioned-all-the-same young blogger is...
*dramatic pause*
The acceptance speech of Marion Cotillard....
*cue rapturous applause, the losers pretending they're not bummed*
...None of that crying like a three year old, no sorrowful dedications to dead aunts who paid for their first acting lesson by selling a kidney, no sobbing about breaking new ground for French actresses - Just excitment, lots and lots of what seems very much like genuine surprise and excitement. Marion Cotillard, I salute you. (And if you want to record an acceptance speech for this prestigious voxHunt accolade on your web cam and send it to this blog, I'll be more than happy to put it up.)
Show us what you want, but can't have.
I can't just choose one, so I've narrowed it down to three! (and resisted putting any beautiful yet unattainable women in the post!) So here are three things I can't have right now because, well, they're rather pricey...
A Gretsch White Falcon. Now that is a guitar. If Bernini made guitars, he'd have wrought this out of stone and places it in the lap of St Theresa, and then we'd all have understood her ecstasy. It's a total masterpiece, sadly the picture doesn't near do it justice.
A 1957 Maserati 450 S. Only Ten were ever made. I like Ferrari 250 GTO's too, but I really love Maserati. I'd lose the decals though, apart from the black number in white, and have it just for cruising.
A Trip to St. Petersburg. Yeah, they'll tell you it's affordable. Not when you make an itinerary like the one I priced out it ain't. And I have to go during the White Nights, because that must be pretty amazing, and I could go to the Mariinsky during the festival.
Show us a musical genius.
There are so many pieces I could upload, but I've decided to go with two of those I listen to most often, conducted here by London Symphony Orchestra.
Show us what you're looking forward to in 2008.
Show us what you hope Santa brings you.
I want Santa to come early this year and deliver the Christmas presents that were apparently dispatched from Amazon US several weeks ago and still haven't arrived! I don't really mind what he brings me, but I'd very much like to have all of my presents for giving out and I hate feeling like there is nothing you can do while you wait on the Royal Mail. I really, really want these presents sorted, especially as they're for best friends.
That is, presently, my only Christmas Wish, and I'm getting more crestfallen by the day as I wait for the mail and nothing comes.
Show us a winter photograph.
This photo was taken in January 2004, from the front door of the holiday home I was staying in. The snow actually got heavier and thicker after that, and stopped us being able to drive out that day, although the snow ball fights and snowy walk into town were fun. That was the same trip where some of the homes next to ours had sled dog teams in them, so every morning we'd see people walking past with the huskies, and then after they left one of the husky owners left us there toboggan as it was starting to give a bit and they didn't think it was worth travelling back with, so we got to have great fun tobogganing too!
Show us something you think isn't written about enough.
I remained silent;
I was not a communist.
Then they locked up the social democrats,
I remained silent;
I was not a social democrat.
Then they came for the trade unionists,
I did not speak out;
I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews,
I remained silent;
I wasn't a Jew.
When they came for me,
there was no one left to speak out.
-Pastor Martin Niemöller
.
There are so many things in this world that no one speaks out about. There are so many things in this world that our governments and corporations turn a blind eye to because it will make them even richer if they keep silent. So many voices that should be united in demanding change yet instead are apathetic.
I want to highlight the issue of Christian Persecution, because there is almost a total media blackout on this problem. It's not prejudice, I'm talking about, it's organised state persecution. Take for example one of the west's new found financial markets friends, China. While the Chinese constitution guarantees freedom of religion, this is not the case in practice. The only churches that are legal and un-persecuted are those that are controlled by the state, so the state can restrict their teachings. To be an unregistered Christian is highly dangerous, they meet mainly in houses as if they do get their own buildings these are destroyed. When these churches are found they are split up, people are banned from meeting and sometimes sent for re-education in labour camps. But there is worse, the leaders are often beaten, tortured and imprisoned and there is particular danger for Sunday School teachers as it's illegal to teach Children about religion as the state curriculum states that there is no God and to believe in one is unpatriotic.
I doubt Christians are the only group treated like this, in fact, I know that they aren't, and I'm against state persecution like this against any group, but as this is my space, I wanted to highlight something that is of personal relevance to me. I just feel sad for the people who have no voice, the people who are attacked and persecuted and yet nobody knows, because it's not really news, it just happens.
Show us something you recently wrote.
My NaNoWriMo novel, which I'm now editing after a few days off. I'm up to page 72 on the edit, the word count has increased by a couple of hundred and I have noticed some truly hideous errors. (Not least the amount of times I have typed 'new' instead of 'knew'). Note the tatty old OPED and Thesaurus which I've had far too long, and the St Petersburg Wallpaper* guide, just in case I need to check where anything is.
