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The BBC are planning on creating another fascinating TV series. This time the subject is not nature, the space or even religion. No, this time the subject is one that would have fascinated me just a few years ago. (Not that it doesn’t fascinate me now, but my situation is different and I view the subject with different eyes)
The subject is Language.
Whilst I was at Uni, Linguistics was one the subjects that I had a love-hate relationship with. I hated the lessons and tests, but I used to love reading the books. I never, however, got too deep into the subject, so I could only talk about generic stuff, never without enough knowledge as to hold a proper conversation with a real linguist. It’s a bit sarcarstic, that in the subject of Linguistics I am more of a listener than a speaker 
Out of the two main parts that comprise linguisitics, my favourite always was Grammar (oh, my beloved morphology and syntax!) Even from an early stage of my basic education, grammar was one of my favourite subjects. As a learner of English as a foreign language, this in-depth knowledge of grammar structures came in very handy. And nowadays I can boast that my grammar in English is considerably better than that of many native speakers (this is not because I am that clever, but because for many many years grammar was not taught at schools in the UK…) I don’t, for a moment, believe that I hold the absolute truth about English grammar, but having to teach the MD of your company the difference between a “Saxon genitive” and a simple -s (plural) is quite something.
I suppose the BBC series will be focused on psycolinguistics, language acquisition and sociolinguistics. Subjects that interest me a lot because I never had the time to explore them in depth when I had the time. Fry said at an interview:
“I haven’t seen a good documentary about language, where it comes from, how we speak it, the variations of it, whether languages are dying, whether we are better at speaking than we were. There are so many questions.
“I’m going to Beijing to interview the man who invented Pinyin, a phonetic version of the Chinese language. He’s 105 years old… if he dies on me I’m going to be so annoyed.”
So looking forward to it!
Having a boss who is a complete and utter freak of air planes was bound to have an impact on me at some point or another. GB (my boss) is quite passionate about planes, airports and pretty much anything to do with the industry. Hold on, what am I saying…? Passionate? No, not just passionate, but obsessed! You can ask him something ridiculous like: “I want to fly from Bradford and Leeds airport to San Diego, stopping in Hong Kong” and he’ll tell you which airlines and which types of planes you’ll be using with an accuracy of 95%. That’s crazy.
Well, the thing is that this weekend the Farnborough International Air Show took place and GB got us some tickets. It is THE event for all airplane “aficionados” and people from all over the world travel to Farnborough I wanted to go anyway, just because of the air displays, but the tickets we got were awesome. We sat in a very comfortable area, far away from the unwashed crowds, with free booze, free food and a great view.
We had a very good time and I managed to take some good piccies (although I regret not having taken my zoom lens with me – I saw hundreds of them and instantly realised that I should have taken mine too). The place was huge. Proper huge, and it was full of people. I am quite bad at estimations, but I guess there must have been around 20 thousand people. That is a lot of bodies trying to squeeze past you!
Yes, yes, I know… Every year, after watching the latest season of Britain’s Next Top Model, I always swear to myself that I am not going to watch it ever again. And still, one year on, another season has started and your humble writer is watching it again.
I started watching because they promised so many changes. First of all, Lisa Snowdon is no longer the host and judge. Something that I am very happy about after seeing how biased and subjective she was in the previous seasons. Elle Macpherson is the new host and I think so far she is doing ok. She is far too smiley all the time (in a creepy way), though, and she put me off the other day when contestant Hannah was quitting the show and Elle was soooo okay with it. I believe Tyra Banks would have been well pissed off (you know, the old “there are so many girls out there waiting for an opportunity and you’re throwing yours away”).
All the judges are new too. I am not sad to see Huggy and the other ones go; however, I am not sure I like two of the new ones: Charlie and Grace Woodward. He is too conceited and she looks like she’s got a stick up her arse.
I really like Julien McDonald though. I had already seen him judging on Project Catwalk and I thought he was quite funny, always saying what he thought. Plus I love his Welsh accent 
So! Who do I like so far? Let’s see:
Joy
I think Joy is gorgeous and will get far – as long as she keeps her mouth shut. Literally. She’s got dodgy teeth and in the American version of the show, she would be down in the dentist by episode 3.
Charlotte
Charlotte is gorgeous too, and very smiley. She gives me good vibes and I hope she gets far in the competition. I’d like to see more of her, although the judges have already said that “they are not sure” about her…
Harleen
Harleen is the typical Asian beauty. She comes from a Sikh family and this has already brought her a couple of problems. In the latest photoshoot she had to pose wearing underwear alongside a cute half naked male model. She kept bringing “her culture” up. However, if this was going to be such a problem, why did she ever apply for the programme in the first place? Had she never seen the programme before? Come on… all seasons had half naked shoots!
Susan
I believe Susan must be Rebecca Mader’s little sister (Charlotte from Lost), or one of those “separated at birth” things… Still, I like Susan (I think gingers have been doing quite well lately in Next top model, and she could do well too)
Tiffany
Tiffany is cute, no doubt about it. However, if something has to be mentioned about her is her voice. She (or should I say “he”?) has got the most manly voice I’ve ever heard on a teenager – boy or girl-. I heard that she had been raised in Malta and that English is only her second language. This, however, shouldn’t make you speak like a cave troll.
As in previous seasons, this list of girls that I just posted here will probably do crap and get eliminated quite soon
The final of the 2010 Football World Cup happened on the evening of our first day on holiday. That is why I hadn’t made a mention about it until now…
WE ARE THE FUCKING CHAMPIONS OF THE WORLD!!!
It has been a week since the final and I have, by now, almost forgotten about all the things I wanted to say. I will only then write a few bullet points:
1) We were the deserving winners of the Championship, no doubt about it. However, I still suffered watching the final and my screams could be heard all around St Clears that evening.
2) I can’t understand why Del Bosque put so much faith in Torres when he was, obviously, still recovering from an injury and not at his best. Having Villa and Pedro as strikers from the beginning would have made much more sense. However, we still won, so I won’t complain.
3) I wonder if the following day to the final (Monday 12th) was a “Fiesta Nacional” day in Spain. I mean, how many people actually went to work without a hangover (if they actually made it to work)? I can’t even start to imagine how it was celebrated in the big cities, when even in an average town like Motril people went mental like this.
4) For me, almost without a doubt, the player that stood out the most was Ramos. He defended, he passed the ball, he tried to score… he was everywhere! and 95% of the time he was doing a fantastic job. I wish he had scored as well… (we can see him in the picture below celebrating with Rafa Nadal, who also made us proud winning Wimbledon the previous week)
5) It came to my attention during the Championship that a certain number of Facebook groups were created with names like: “I am Spanish all the time, not only when the Spanish football team plays” or “I will leave my flag out in the balcony when the Championship has finished”, etc. I find this quite interesting, from the point of view that 95% of the Spanish people I know are already proud of their country and they don’t need a football victory to remind them of this. Perhaps I’ve been in the UK too long and I’m a bit detached of the general national feeling about this, but I certainly know how I feel and don’t need a Facebook group to tell me.
Can’t wait for the European Cup in a couple of years time already!!
I’ve been the official and proud owner of a cat for the last 26 hours and I’ve come to understand, know and realise quite a few things that I didn’t know yet:
1) Cats don’t like travelling. Hold on, maybe they don’t mind travelling, but they definitely don’t like being in a basket. A cat + a basket + 3 hours in a car = not a good recipe.
2) Cats and leads don’t go very well together. Leads are for dogs. Full stop. First of all, trying to put a lead on the cat is almost suicidal. Secondly, they don’t enjoy having them around their neck and will try to get rid of them. And lastly, it is simply wrong!
3) Tom, my cat, makes me feel guilty and completely stressed everytime I have to lock him up in the garage. It’s for his own good, I know, but still I feel like a jailer.
4) The last point has made me realise that one day, if I have children, I’m going to be a very stressed and hyper protective mother. I don’t like the idea of this at all.
5) Cats, unlike dogs, hold grudges and you have to regain their trust all the time.
I know we’ve done the right thing taking in Tom, I just wish that the settling in process was easier!
