Wednesday 23 June 2010

England fan

This morning I wore my England shirt on the ride to work. Somewhere in Acton a tramp in the sun cheered at me and gave a thumbs up as I rode past.

Tuesday 22 June 2010

Brazilian rhymes

15th June, Brazil versus North Korea in what had begun as a flat, low-scoring World Cup 2010.

Maicon the Brazilian right back scores a wonder goal. Down to the by-line, he shoots and squeezes it through on what the commentators would call an impossible angle past the keeper. Except it can't be an impossible angle. He scored.

Question is cast on his shot. The studio pundits are divided. Was it a staggeringly audacious shot, or a horribly skewed cross for another player to score? Was it a display of incredible talent, or a gross error from an ordinarily exceptional player? In the aftermath, of course, Maicon claims it was entirely intentional. But then, given the other option of admitting his mistake, he hardly had a choice.

In the TV studio, one pundit is more inclined to believe that because he is Brazilian it was indeed intentional. He is willing to believe in an astonishing store of ability.

Zoom out several hundred kilometres, spin the globe on a vertical axis about half way and zoom in again that few hundred kilometres onto --------- school in central London.

A Year 1 class are being introduced, possibly for the first time, to the concept of rhyme. They are asked what rhyme is. They are invited to have a go at rhyming some words together. Some short childrens' poems are read to them. Next, on the interactive whiteboard, 3 rhyme lists are begun with simple, monosyllabic words. The third word begins, 'tan'. Hands leap up and rhyme words sound out.

'Fan.'

'Ban.'

'Man.'

'Catarmaran.'

Can we believe in the astonishing ability of the minds of children as well as the feet of Brazilian footballers?

Monday 7 June 2010