Sloppy, sloppy, sloppy!

I know that there's a fall in standards in society generally but I really get saddened at the sloppy appearances (and attitudes) of workers in shops and on public transport. This has nothing to do with any snobbery on my part - I personally am a jeans and t-shirt person at home. It's just something that I've noticed. For example:

Monday - went into Tesco and waited patiently in line while the girl in front of me in the queue was insisting some items were discounted and not available at full price. Whilst this protracted yawnsome saga was dragging on, and the person behind me was noisily shuffling about and pointedly looking at their watch, I noticed that the salesperson behind the til was so - you guessed it - sloppy!!!!!!!!!!! He was a young man at a stage of facial hair between stubble and full growth, he had an ear-ring and his long hair was greasily swamping his face. You could definitely fry an egg on his head! Terribly presented, I thought. Then I asked myself why employers don't tell employees to have a sharper appearance? Then I reasoned it's probably to do with a fear of litigation and the Human Rights Act - well what would that fall under, I puzzled - The right to look unkempt at work? A new human right!

Tuesday - The postman turned up to deliver mail wearing post-office issue shorts and untucked shirt - ok, you don't want the post person to suffer from the heat but it's hardly been the warmest of summers in the UK and again, I felt dress standards had dropped.

Thursday - Went to get some new shoes. A youth served me whilst chewing gum and his demeanour was such that he really didn't want to be serving people. He'd no doubt rather be cruising the Mediterranean on a yacht and bedding a load of beautiful women and getting rat-arsed on alcohol. Well tough luck, sonny, we've all gotta start in the working world some place! Unless we're lucky (!) enough to win a reality tv show and been smothered with mega cash and fame overnight!

When is the football season going to begin???

I am a bit of a football fan and I am now reaching a point of boredom at not being able to watch my beloved Tottenham Hotspur in action, other than meaningless friendlies against irrelevant teams! Bring on August and the start of the Premier League season!!!!!! In the meantime one has to endure endless press speculation about which team members will be leaving/joining with all the promise of a great season or the hopeless despair of a disastrous season that that will bring! :0(

Some cynicism from the old goat!

This month has seen 2 mega concerts featuring international stars beamed all over the globe on tv and the internet - namely the Diana Memorial Concert and the Live Earth Concert.

I have to ask myself - do these concerts really do any good? Are those acts appearing really such great philanthropists or just out to grab a bit of glory by being in the headlines? I often find that these type of events say more about those that don't appear than those that do. For example, I may be wrong but I don't think Sting appeared in any Live Earth concert around the world. Yet isn't he supposed to be a huge environmentalist? So why wasn't he involved?

The Diana concert was supposed to feature artists that the Princess liked, together with choices from her sons, thus I was left wondering if the Princess would really have enjoyed listening to Kanye West or Fergie from the Black Eyed Peas?

I am a cynic, I admit that and I know that this blog makes me sound like some jaded old fart but I just feel that the more often such events are staged, the less special they become. And I say this as someone who once stood as a star-struck teenager outside Wembley Stadium on the day of the original Live Aid concert listening to U2 and clutching a programme.

The Release of Alan Johnston

Like most reasonably-minded people I am delighted that the BBC journalist Alan Johnston has been freed by the Army of Islam/Hamas (delete if applicable) after a long and painful time in captivity. However, I am slightly cynical. Mr Jonhston is a journalist. What's the betting that he will shortly be publishing a book of his experiences, possibly with the title "Tied Up In Gaza". I can't help but see dollar signs. I wonder if in the depth of his despair, alone and in the darkness, he was maintaining some sanity by mentally preparing chapters of the inevitably forthcoming book.

I also doubt that he will use his freedom to campaign for the release of fellow captives such as the Israeli soldiers who were captured last year. Gilad Shalit was seized on the Israeli side of the border a year ago - by the Army of Islam/Hamas and was brought to Gaza.


Shalit

Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev are 2 Israeli soldiers who were captured from the Israeli side of the border by Hizbollah last summer.

Regev and Goldwasser

Thus I won't buy Mr Johnston's book or read any newspaper "exclusives" on his doubtlessly horrific time in captivity.

MAY ALL THOSE WHOSE FREEDOM HAS BEEN TAKEN FROM THEM FIND THE STRENGTH TO ENDURE WHATEVER PAIN THEY ARE SUFFERING, TAKE COMFORT FROM THE KNOWLEDGE THAT WE WILL NOT FORGET THEIR PLIGHT, AND MAY THEY SOON BE REUNITED WITH THEIR FAMILIES.

Movie Top 10

This time the top 10 is in order of favourites:

1. Ghost - a cracking performance from Whoopi Goldberg, and special effects that look so dated now we have CGI but were state-of-the-art in 1990 and the theme of never-ending love - Patrick Swayze as the not-classically-handsome lead and Demi Moore being demure and understated as his bereaved fiancee. However, the cheesily unnecessary pottery scene almost spoils the whole message of good triumphing over evil!

2. High Society - a timeless, mushy, old classic with all the stars of their day - Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Grace Kelly, Louis Armstrong - and a musical score that is well ... lovely! Nostalgia for an innocent time that I never knew.

3. The Sixth Sense - truly amazing film. Each time you re-watch it you spot something new. Amazing twist at the end which I never saw coming. Toni Collette, one of my favourite actresses, gives yet another great performance and well, Bruce Willis is just Bruce (sigh!).

4. Manhattan Murder Mystery - the only Woody Allen film that I like. The script is hilarious and Allen's nerdy character interacts beautifully with Diane Keaton's paranoid, bored housewife - the film twists and turns along and the tension and the humour blend well.

5. How To Lose a Guy in 10 Days - hilarious chick flick, no nastiness, no smut, just simple fun and Kate Hudson is comically wonderful.

6. Dolores Claiborne - just loved this. A bleakly, depressing film. Kathy Bates was superb as ever and the message of the film seemed to be that sometimes you look at things from a different angle to get the true perspective - and I liked that message.

7. Crash - not the pervy film about car crashes but the Oscar-winner of a couple of years ago that dealt with everyday racism in modern-day Los Angeles. All the actors put in brilliant performances and it was interesting to see how their lives interacted and of course there was tragedy.

8. Grease - who couldn't love this cheesy nostalgic musical romp through the 50's? You've got everything: gangs, romance, teenage pregnancy, brylcreem, high school, great music, dancing and the oldest teenager in the world - Stockard Channing - singing one of the best tracks of the movie: "There are worse things I could do."

9. Star Wars - I remember queuing for over an hour to see this with my dad, in the days before credit card booking for cinemas. We sat upstairs near the front and the film just had everyone in awe - the special effects were of a kind never seen before - ok you look at them now and you can virtually see the Death Star swinging along on string but to a young child in 1977 it was an awesome adventure.

10. Goldfinger - classic James Bond - the car, the fashions, the evil baddie and the best Bond of all, Mr Sean Connery, shaken not stirred!!!