We did the double against Real Madrid!

I knew we could beat them, but I also knew this tie could still turn against us. The advantage we had in this tie was the desire of our opponents to play football against us. As under Arsene when we beat them before, few teams can play football against us and if they play a tactical game, it is harder for us to win.

I watched the highlights not knowing the score and took a while to calm down afterwards. While we have beaten PSG before, they will be hard opponents, but I consider us to be the favourites for that game. 

An open day

Today was busy. I went to work to try to catch up on paperwork before taking my son to his open day at The University of Essex. He doubts that he will go here, but it gave him the opportunity to find out about courses.

We met one of his friends for part of it and got to tour the campus. He has been using the library for revision, much like his sister did, but has started to come here at an earlier stage in his A-levels.  I have brought the dog here on several occasions for her walk and my wife studied here for her Masters.

Still it was a nice day. I am not sure how useful it was for him, but it was better to go rather than not. What was noticeable was how well it was organised. The only open day I attended with my daughter was in Bristol and that included a terrible presentation. This was much better, all those presenting to the audience being enthused and being great adverts for the university. It is easy to see why it is a popular place to come when it is sold so well. 

Anyway, I need to keep my fingers crossed for the game tonight.

A day in the woods

 This walk was recommended to me by a colleague at work. When I say a colleague of mine, technically, as my daughter and I work in the same place, it is a colleague of ours.  

I did ask my son and wife if they wanted to come, but both declined.  Which is a shame as it was a lovely walk. With a bit of up and down, it was actually more exhausting than my normal walks which are a lot flatter. My daughter came and we talked about matters, including how she coped with having to do much harder walks on her travels. Leia, our Cockapoo, loved it. This is almost certainly a place we will return to and I will need to thank our colleague for the recommendation.

On to Arsenal and their draw. It was disappointing after our midweek victory, but fans like me would prefer a midweek win, and if we go through to the next round, this draw will be tolerable.

China, Taiwan, the peace dividend and tariffs

Growing up in the UK, I have had to live with the threat of terrorism thanks to the IRA.  In Northern Ireland, once The Troubles ended, the peace dividend has helped communities.  When I was in Sri Lanka, I saw how thanks to peace, how the infrastructure of the North of Sri Lanka was developed and how peace has made things better.  Nations who gain through peace have less reason to resort to war.

China, which has developed its military might, has benefitted from peace.  But it has its eyes on Taiwan.  It has seen the response of Europe and the USA towards Russia when it invaded Ukraine (again) and the cost to the nation.  But if the trade war between Trump and China escalates, we could see China being in a position where it has little to lose through western economic sanctions, if it decides to invade Taiwan.  

There are other ways that China can retaliate towards the USA, but it may decide that it is nothing to lose if things continue to get worse.

What a game

I was meant to go for a dog walk with my son today, but issues with our dishwasher meant that plan was scrapped. When I did go for a walk, Leia met of of her friends on the way back, so we went for a long walk together. That was Louie and his human, Nick. It was longer than I have done in a while and tired the dog out. 

During the walk, we talked about many things. Nick has stopped listening to politics podcasts as they are too depressing, thanks to The Orangutan. We also talked a little bit about football. While he is not a fan of the game, he appreciated the victory of Arsenal.  I discussed my view that few teams can play football against us and that this was the mistake Real Madrid made in the past, and how I feared playing against Athletico Madrid more as they would play a more tactical game.

The tie is not over. We have to travel to Madrid and they can turn us over there. But we have given ourselves a great chance of going through to the next round. 

Israel assassinated ambulance workers

For those who are unaware, Israel killed some emergency workers. They claimed that the ambulances were travelling without emergency lights and that some of them were Hamas members. However, one of the dead had recorded the drive, showing that they had their emergency lights on. As they pulled over when they saw the ambulance they had come to get, the Israeli troops waiting until they were out of the vehicles before opening fire in what appears to be a lethal ambush.

While the Israeli Defence Forces will claim to investigate this, we know their willingness to kill Palestinian civilians. Some may remember the hostages who were killed by the IDF trying to surrender, deaths which would not have been noted by the mainstream media in the west if they had been Palestinian.

As you may recall, I understood the desire of Israel to act after the horrors of October the 7th, a day where Hamas recorded the murders in a way reminiscent of the way the Nazi’s recorded The Holocaust. But there was a negotiated ceasefire which Israel decided to break when Hamas did not agree to new terms which were demanded by Israel. Sadly, this is going to continue without consequence for the next few years. Things may improve a bit if a Democrat takes Presidential office in four years, but Israel appears to have a free hand in the murder of Palestinians until then. 

Walking on Sunshine

Family first. My son is feeling unwell. He had been out on Friday and my wife is convinced that he picks up something every time he is out late. Apparently the band he went to see were not even worth it!  My daughter took part in vaccinations yesterday and was in a local care home and started to feel depressed afterwards. After watching the film with my wife, I took the dog out for a walk and bumped into her and a friend walking back from their night out on the town.  She sat down and cried about the residents there saying that she would never put us in a home. But she did not get to see the good things about this, something I will discuss with her later today.

Now, the film. It was definitely not the movie event of the year, but yes, it was similar to Mamma Mia. The odds are that if you like this film, which was made in 2014, that you will like Mamma Mia, which was made in 2008. However, the acting is not as good, and the singing it not up to the standards of Mamma Mia (if you erase Pierce Brosnan from the score). It has a very good selection of songs, the scenery is amazing and Leona Lewis’s voice is fantastic. But despite that, I do not think this film is worth watching. My wife enjoyed it and I got to spend time with her watching it. But I will never watch this again.