Rugby Plagiarism?

Last night I watched my recording of the Britis & Irish Lions first tour match of 2013 on Australian soil. They played the Western Force, not the strongest opposition, and won comfortably.

What made me smile was the post match disucssion that highlighted the strategy of using big strong ball carriers out wide and moving the ball to them pretty quickly. Moving from one side of the pitch to the other they stretched their opponents defence and managed to score nine tries,many of them right on the touchline.

Along with George North, the giant Welsh wing, players like Maku Vunipola, Jamie Heaslip and Tom Croft all appeared in the five metre channel. It was simple, but very effective.

This brought back fond memories of the Henley RFC under-16 tour to Le Havre back in 1975 I think. As a team we were above average size for our age group and had been pretty successful. This your culminated as the curtain raiser for an important French club match, between Toulouse and Biarritz I think.

We had all stayed with the families of the french players and I recall attending a big family lunch before the match. Remember this was long before the professional era and we were under sixteens! So looking back the ploy to ply us inexpereinced English boys with copious quantities of wine was probably intentional and not just generous hospitality.

In the changing room before the match we discovered that a number of players had developed involuntarily and hitherto unrecognised sidesteps. This necesssitated some rejigging of our game plan and team line up. This was before squads so we only had 15 players to make up a 15 man team. No one could be left out.

Two players had developed particularly strong side steps so they were consigned to the wings. these were two large and mobile forwards. One was Chris Challis an All-England schoolboy sprinter who was also 6'2" and weighed around 13 stone. The boy called Jeremy (I forget his surname) was a big prop forward who could also run well.

Our game plan became

• Win the ball
• Shift the ball to the wing as quickly possible.
• At the breakdown win the ball back
• Shift  the ball to the other wing
• Repeat as we progress up the field until we score
• Start again

I think Warren Gatland must have been in the stands that day! I don't remember the score, but I do recall it was a successful day for Henley.

Good plans are worth repeating and I am very happy we were able to show the Lions how to do it.

Good days!!!

Week 4 - the wind up to my Comedy Showcase

Last night was week 4 of 7, so now we are over half way through. Who knew that I loved Gangsta Rap?

The group shrank again this week, three missing and one returnee. That said there is a hardcore of six that have been there every week.

Last week's homework was to work on a list of loves and hates along with reasons why. The contention being that it is from these strong emotions that the best comedy comes from. I found it quite hard as I am a pretty tolerant even tempered man, but I had decided to push myself and go with the flow of the course.

One by one we stood in front of the group to "present", in standup fashion, our homework. It was interesting how hard a number of people found it to do. There is something of cultural reservation, to expressing love and hate. Certainly Mr Cee did not believe many of us, he did not feel the emotion.

I know I could have done better, but I think I did OK. I certainly had a couple of things in there that I would not have at the start if the course.

We then looked at the tools of standup comedy, set-ups and punch lines, observations, comparisons, similes, mimicking etc. I did feel old when I was the only one to appreciate the Jasper Carrott simile - "I had a curry last night. It was so hot that this morning my bottom felt like the opening credits to Bonanza."




Building on this was a little emotional improv. The idea being a class member stood up and was given a subject. They then had to take a love or hate stance and talk for a minute about their position on the subject, conveying that emotion to Mr Cee.

Subjects included Shakespeare, cruising and croquet. I got Gangsta Rap!

I started with a hate stance and was pulled up as unbelievable. I then decided to go with it and took an "I looooove Gangsta Rap" stance; me in my shirt, tue and suit trousers, extolling the freedom of being allowed to leave my gun on the table at any meeting and how the lyrics captured the real philosophy of the street. Frankly I spoke a load of b*ll*cks ( no change there I hear some say), but I did with some energy and passion and the ludicrous juxtaposition of my physical appearance and my verbal exposition had them all laughing, including Mr Cee.

So now I am tasked with building on Gangsta Rap for next week. I have no idea where to take it, but it was for this type of challenge and personal development I too, the course. I can't say I knew what to expect ( certainly not becoming a lover of Gangsta Rap) , but I am certainly not disappointed.

Tickets go on sale for our showcase next week, somewhere near Regents Park on the 22nd, so now it is getting serious. June looks like it will be a very interesting month.

Artful Deception

In my role I try to keep abreast of various regulatory developments that would be of little interest to many readers. Occasionally I come across an idea that leaves me speechless or nearly so. This happened today reading about proposed taxation changes in Switzerland.

The article I read reported objections from the Swiss Private Bankers Association to the proposed changes. I won't cover it all as you can read it here , but one part raised my eyebrows. That was the following paragraph

The SPBA opposes plans to extend the concept of tax fraud. Currently, this infraction arises from the use of false or falsified documentation. The Federal Council intends to unnecessarily extend the definition to include cases of "artful deception," the SPBA notes. Given that this concept is "very vague," applying the measure will pose unsolvable practical problems for the banks, the association argues, making clear that banks simply do not have the means with which to detect such indications, in particular in the case of foreign clients.

It seems to suggest that while crude deception is wrong, artful deception is OK. Well the fact that it is hard to detect means it should not be looked for. This seems rather bizarre to me as surely the bigger deceptions are most likely "artful" and warrant greater effort to prevent, not less.

I also wonder where the line would be drawn that could distinguish between artful and crude deceptions? Anyone fancy defining this. Would crude deception be only that which the average person (IQ=100?) would only think was a good idea after drinking two bottles of wine? Or maybe  one where the fees paid to advisors to effect the deception are less than £100,000?

Of course I may have the wrong end of this stick or something may have been lost in translation, but defending deception in the financial world would seem to be a brave stance these days.

Comedy School - Week 3

Yesterday was something of a nightmare with my time split four hours playing golf, surrounded by six hours of travelling, mostly on the circular car park known as the M25.

Long story short, I missed the first half of last night's session. The numbers were one down on last week, one having returned, but with two others missing in action. We had a new "tutor", Mr Cee, a working comedian who is obviously going to push things in interesting directions.

His contention is that the best standup comedy comes from the darkest parts of our minds. We have agreed that in the class/workshop, political correctness is left at the door. That is not to say the room is filled with malaice or anarchy, but rather this is the time to learn about ourselves and and to test it in a safe environment.

He also made a few interesting points. The first was that a stand up comedian should push the audience, but needs to be smart in drawing out the links, contrasts and/or hypocrisy between seemingly unrelated and often shocking elements if the comdey is to navigate the line between being controversial and being offensive.

The second was that a standup does not go on stage to be liked. If that is what one seeks then standup comedy is not the answer. Instead one does it for oneself. And of course for those others that "get it" and may pay money to hear it, but not everyone will. Given the embarassment of my wife and daughter about all this and their refusal to attend the end of course showcase, it is just as well that I am doing this for myself! :) If anyone else finds it funny then for me that is a bonus.

The last point I wanted to mention was the power of comedy to change people's perceptions of the comedian. First impressions are based on height, weight, colour, age, dress, etc and will influence what others think of you, at least at first. With comedy one can start showing the comedian's inner aspects, their history, their values, their ambitions, etc all of which may be rather different to that initial impression. I hadn't thought of it that way before, but I suspect it will make me listen to comedy with new ears.

The "dark places" comment is one I am struggling with a little. I am not sure how many and how dark the places are in my mind. Also given my "day job" how comfortable am I in exposing them. On the other hand this is an opportunity to push myself and explore these aspects. If I don't embrace the ideas then I will not get all that I could from this experience.

One thing I have learned in other aspects of life and was part of the message from this course is that one needs to be true to oneself and not be a clone/copy of someone else. This is something I will hold onto during the next few weeks and whoever it is that goes on stage at the end, it will be "me" and no one else.

I am generally a tolerant and fairminded person, happy to help almost anyone if they ask and I can, but there are some things that rile me and maybe it is those I need to work with.

I have been a car driver for 30 years and consider myself a considerate road user, even in these heavily congested days. Currently I drive a black Ford Mondeo. Not very exciting, but it works for me. Did I say it was black? Well it is with very little in the way of reflective surfaces. Tonight I am going to go out after dark and will leave my lights off. It seems only fair and a way to level the playing field with that annoying group of cyclists who continually weave up and down our roads with dull clothes and no lights. I want to see how they feel when they can't see me coming either!

Well this week's homework is to do with love and hate; the two things that the tutor believes motivate us as people. We are to look through all aspects of our life and bring to class next week a set of examples where we have strong love or hate feelings. They need not be funny (yet!) but may be the incubator from which we will develop our own material.

Onwards to Week 4.




The second was

Change perceptions

Family isn't always blood.

A friend posted this on Facebook today. Now I will often smile when I see this type of image. However often it is a little to sugar sweet for me. This one however seems to be worth picking up and sharing.

I consider myself lucky in that I have an extended family, with a number of non-blood members. Some hark from college days other from various encounters during my working life. Life would certainly be poorer without them. And when there are long gaps between contact, the distance evaporates immediately you start talking again.

They are what hold you up during the down times everyone has and are also there to amplify the good times.

No matter where they come from and whether they read this or not I am going to record here my appreciation that we are "family". They will know who they are.



Schmaltzy enough?

Never seen one of these before!

 

At the weekend I was preparing an area for a new patio and came across this red spider. I don't think I have ever seen one before and immediately decided to tread with caution. I took a few photos (sorry this is the best but still a little unclear) before letting it go in its way. This one was about 2cm in length.

Subsequent checks on the internet identify it as one of the few British spiders that can give you a  a bad bite - it says they can break the skin!!! This is maybe not such a surprise when you find out that it is a Woodlouse Spider (Dysdera crocata) and break open those critters.

For anyone interested here is the Wikipedia link .

I shall be keeping a wary out when I get on with the job next weekend!!

Week 2 at the Comedy School and the numbers drop.

So we entered into the second week of Comedy School and we were down two members. I am not sure if this is interesting but it was two of our three ladies who did not turn up last night - all the men returned for another dose.

Last week we had been asked to think of a personally embarassing situation that we could share with the group - the point being to see how far people will go and what reaction they get when they put it "out there".

Additionally we had been asked to think about how we would introduce ourselves and to look out for and be able to share a couple of things that we found funny during the last week.

Each person had a go in turn (though not everyone will be up every week) and received feedback from the course director and more importantly one's fellow students on what they saw in terms of personna and presence. The idea being to help each of us be better informed about how others see us.

We had agreed the previous week that political correctness was left at the door when we arrived and that we should be direct and unconstrained in our feedback as long as it was without malice.

It would be wrong to report in anything other than general terms so I won't. What I did see clearly was that when the person on stage was relaying a real experience then it came across so much better than a contrived story. Some mixed fact with fiction and in these circumstances the split was observable as the details and interest in the fictional elements were less engaging.

Some members seemed naturally funny even without preparation, but one wonders if that can be sustained through the course. Others were much more contrived and theatrical and may find difficulty leaving that behind.

Others seem to me to have considerable potential, but don't yet realise it.

In the group dynamics one can see that one or two want to dominate (and in doing so disrupt) proceedings. This is getting a bit tedious, at least to me and I think the Director is displaying outrstanding patience. There is the promise of guest tutors appearing from now on, so maybe the more cutting feedback will be left to them?

It is also clear that one or two are less open to new ideas, but rather seeking affirmation that what they are already doing is right. There was evidence last night that the course director could not give that assurance, but is rather trying to open them to alternate approaches - not an easy task in some instances, but, hey, that is why he is the director and we are the pupils.

For my part I was quite pleased with my few minutes up front. I tried one or two small ideas that I think I can develop and told the story when I ended up naked in the swimming pool of the Hilton Hotel in Malta, having realised mid-air that I was the only one of the group to have left ALL their clothes poolside! A real story and easy to tell, but it may never be aired again so don't tell anyone else! I am hoping that Malta has now got over the trauma and should I wish to go back there they will place no barriers in front of me.

Most of the feedback given to me was stuff I had heard before and pretty positive/good. Words like fatherly, authoritative, good voice and projection, engaging, likeable and eager are all encouraging. I was told that while my pace became good, I started very fast (the story of my life!) so controlling my nerves and early pace is something I need to work on. I was also described as "fluffy" and frankly I am not sure what to do with that. I think it was meant in cuddly way, which is not bad, but for now I think I will note the comment, but not dwell on it. If it comes up again (and again) then I will see if I need or want to change anything, but for now it is just an interesting note.

This week's homework is to find something topical on which we have a strong opinion that we can express. It doesn't have to be funny, but rather helping find what the group feels passionate about. This won't be too hard for me as my epitaph is most likely to be "Never knowingly without an opinion", but it may be that I don't get to next week's lesson. I am committed in South London all day and not sure if I will get to the class, but I will certainly try.

Anyway onwards and upwards to week 3 and if you are likely to be bored and near Camden on the evening of Saturday 22 June then that is the date and general location of our end-of-course showcase. I am sure the others will be funnier than me and you never know you may just get in on the ground floor of the next big standup!