THE TOP TEN 2018 MEN’S WORLD CUP TEAMS RANKED BY HOW EASILY THE FIRST LINES OF EACH COUNTRY’S NATIONAL ANTHEM COULD BE SLIPPED UNNOTICED INTO EXPOSITORY VOICEOVER IN A LORD OF THE RINGS MOVIE

10. Tunisia
“O defenders of the Homeland! Rally around to the glory of our time! The blood surges in our veins… We die for the sake of our land…”

9. France
“Arise, children of the Fatherland, the day of glory has arrived! Against us, tyranny’s bloody standard is raised…”

8. Colombia
“Oh, unwithering glory! Oh, immortal jubilance! In furrows of pain, goodness now germinates…”

7. Peru
“We are free! May we always be so, may we always be so, and may the Sun renounce its light, its light, its light, before we break the solemn vow, which the homeland lifted up to the Eternal…”

6. Iran
“Upwards on the horizon rises the Eastern Sun… The light in the eyes of the believers in justice…”

5. South Korea
“Until that day when the East Sea’s waters run dry and Mt. Baekdu is worn away, may God preserve our country for ten thousand years…”

4. Sweden
“Thou ancient, Thou free, Thou mountainous north… Thou quiet, Thou joyful beautiful! I greet thee, loveliest land upon earth…Thy sun, Thy sky, Thy climes green…”

3. Argentina
“Hear, mortals, the sacred cry ‘Freedom! Freedom! Freedom!’… Hear the sound of broken chains… see noble equality enthroned…”

2. Japan
“May your reign continue for a thousand, eight thousand generations, until the pebbles grow into boulders lush with moss…”

1. Brazil
“The placid shores of the Ipiranga heard the resounding shout of a heroic folk… and the sun of Liberty in shining beams shone in the homeland’s sky at that instant…”

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On days you wake with a gentleman's head, thank God for McSweeny's.

No filter

The Stones played Cardiff last night.

I first way them in Ashton Gate in Bristol in the early 80s upported by the J Geils Band. (Vince got us tickets for my birthday.)

I thought that they were a bit long in the tooth then!

more saucy than ever

As a general rule all birds with crooked talons are short-necked, flat-tongued, and disposed to mimicry. The Indian bird, the parrot, which is said to have a man's tongue, answers to this description; and, by the way, after drinking wine, the parrot becomes more saucy than ever.

Aristotle

It is always worth going back to the foundations of  Western thought.

How To Manage Depression With TV And Alcohol

Tooting our own trumpet

This new detective drama series about an investigation that launches following the discovery of a body in Snowdonia National Park, prominently features Sion Alun Davies as DS Owen Vaughan. Yet another Antelope Tooting Pub Quiz regular struts and frets his hour upon the stage (see Icons passim).

Also, Amber Bryce - the lifestyle journalist John and I where chatting to on Sunday - has got an article about Sex in the City in the Times today - https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/carrie-bradshaw-4-ever-why-i-still-love-sex-and-the-city-c7mf2xmwh.

Blueberry Banana Bread

I made blueberry banana bread last night, as the fruit in my weekly organic veg box looked about to turn, and very nice it was too.

Considering I can't remember cooking anything at all until I was over thirty, that really is quite remarkable.

Note to Self

I did an emergency top up on the M4 yesterday. This needs more considered attention today.

Anthony Bourdain RIP

Jane bought me a copy Kitchen Confidential (a hardback!) when it first came out and before I had heard of him. I loved it.

Mum got me his Les Halles Cookbook (a hardback!) for my birthday in 2005. I love it.

I have read and/or watched everything of his ever since.

It is hard to believe he is gone. I am not going to link to any speculation about the circumstances of his passing.

As I step down from the train

I will have such revenges on you both

That all the world shall—I will do such things 

What they are yet I know not, but they shall be

The terrors of the earth.

My father is King Lear. Discuss.

Coincidence?

I am going to Cardiff today. The Volvo Ocean Race fleet are there already. After battling it out, Team Brunel managed to fend off Team AkzoNobel and win the transatlantic leg!

We both leave on Sunday.

Bruce Lee: A life

Dear Friends,

After seven years of research, I am proud (and very relieved) to announce the release of my new biography, Bruce Lee: A Life. It is available everywhere today, June 5! First week sales numbers largely determine how much marketing push a publisher puts behind a particular book, so if you can purchase it early, a big thanks to you!

The response to the book has been amazing. It was selected for The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, and Publisher's Weekly's "Best Summer Books" lists. And the reviews have been glowing:

"The first noteworthy treatment of its subject—and a definitive one at that...Fascinating narrative threads proliferate."

—The New York Times

"The biggest book I'm suggesting you bring to the beach is 'Bruce Lee: A Life.' It's the first authoritative biography of the martial arts teacher and movie star."

—The Los Angeles Times

"This thorough, well-sourced biography from Polly is an engrossing examination of the life of the martial arts movie star and his shocking early death...The definitive biography."

—Publisher's Weekly

You also might enjoy the new animated trailer for the book. It focuses on one of its many new revelations—Bruce Lee was descended from a Jewish butcher in Rotterdam, Holland.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjNuzbQIF48

Thank you to everyone for all your support over the years. It is greatly appreciated. I couldn't do it without you!

Be water, my friends,

Matthew Polly

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Disclaimer: Mr Polly is a friend and correpondent of these pages; See Icons passim.

Watch this space

Donna gave me a free kit and my saliva was posted off yesterday. In six weeks or so when the AncestryDNA test results come in and I discover more about my ethnicity and living relatives, you'll be the first to know. I imagine I am probably the rightful king of somewhere or other.

All or Nothing: New Zealand All Blacks

For the first time ever, The New Zealand All Blacks rugby team, known as the winningest team in global sports history, allows cameras into their super secretive world to witness one of their most difficult seasons yet. Over four months, they face the demands of the most physically gruelling team sport on the planet to uphold a legacy of excellence and dominance that goes back well over a century.

I am not entirely convinced that winningest is actually a word, but I will certainly be firing this up on my Fire TV stick.

Alexa, play Radio 4 Everywhere

Since August last year, it has been possible to play music across multiple Echo devices using "multi-room" groups. I found out this morning that there is a default multi-room group called Everywhere.

This morning when I woke, not expecting to work as I thought the feature was confined to music, I tried out, "Alexa, play Radio 4 Everywhere" and sure enough the Today programme started simultaneously on the Echo in the kitchen downstairs and the Dot in the bedroom.

Unfortunately I loathe Radio 4's Today programme with every fibre of my being, maybe some other use will occur to me.