SciFiFootball

Star Trekkin’ Across the Universe

May 17, 2013May 21, 2013 David Stringer

The new Star Trek film, JJ Abrams’ second and the twelfth overall, is now in cinemas both in America as well as the UK (and presumably in one or two other countries).

Writing for the Ann Arbor Review, I’ve looked back across all 7 previous films starring the original characters, and reviewed them collectively, giving my thoughts on how the films measure up against each other, and purely as entertainment in their own rights.

While I don’t want to spoil what I have to say, Star Trek V is a total mess.

"I want to make a deep, serious film about the quest for God and the nature of free will, but with slapstick comedy!" — “I want to make a deep, serious film about the quest for God and the nature of free will, but with slapstick comedy!”

I hadn’t realised quite how much they vary in subject matter and style, but I enjoyed going back and rewatching some films I’ve not seen for quite some time.

Click here to read Marathon Man: Star Trek (Films I – IV)

Click here to read Marathon Man: Star Trek (V, VI, XI)

FootballOpinion

Squawka: Vincent Kompany’s Season

May 17, 2013 David Stringer

New on Squawka today, I’ve taken a look at Manchester City’s captain, Vincent Kompany. Absolutely dominant last year as City inched ahead of Manchester United for the Premier League title, he’s looked a little disappointing to me this season.

Not bad in any way, just disappointing, compared to last year.

I’ve broken down the various aspects of his game, this year and last, looking for differences and similarities.

Vincent Kompany 2012 champion — Vincent Kompany, 2012 champion

Click here to read Is Vincent Kompany A Player in Decline?

FootballOpinion

Footballers Abroad: Like Living in a Foreign Country

May 14, 2013 David Stringer

New today on Squawka, I’ve taken a statisitical look at three English players based abroad in major European leagues. That’s David Beckham, Joey Barton, and Michael Mancienne.

David Beckham, pictured moments after a teammate told him his shirt was edible.

Click here to read Englishmen Abroad.

FootballOpinion

More Late Drama Than Sky Atlantic’s Through the Night Programming

May 12, 2013 David Stringer

On Friday BornOffside published my latest Lower League Week.

It begins with a summary of the events in the League One and Two playoff semi-finals, which were pretty dramatic.

I also covered the smaller, end of season stories.
Bury fan favourite Efe Sodje is in conflict with manager Kevin Blackwell, refusing to sign a new contract unless he leaves. Steve Fletcher has finally retired at the age of 40, not because decades of centre-forwarding have taken their toll on his body, but simply because he’s pretty far down the pecking order now.

Coventry were locked out of their stadium again after continuing to refuse to pay the rent (what are they like!) and Martin Ling, who’d been on sick leave, has been replaced as Torquay manager by Alan Knill.

Having narrowly survived relegation, Dagenham caretaker manager Wayne Burnett has been appointed as permanent manager, while Brian Flynn has decided against continuing as Doncaster boss despite their last minute title win.

And Luke McCormick has returned to Plymouth, the club that terminated his contract after he was convicted of causing the death of two young boys. Yeah, it’s not all sweetness and light.

Click here to read The Lower League Week – The Stoppage Time Equaliser Edition

Review

They Don’t Exactly Avenge Anyone, Do They?

May 4, 2013May 3, 2013 David Stringer

In recent years, Marvel’s cinematic arm has gone through an ambitious process – a series of seperate superhero films, coming together in a united film last summer.

Robert Downey Jr, pictured between smirks.

They intend to build on this – all that’s gone so far is classed as ‘Phase One’; ‘Phase Two’ is now underway, starting with Iron Man 3.

Writing for Ann Arbor Review, I’ve looked back at the films in Phase One.

Click here to read Marathon Man: The Avengers, Phase One

FootballOpinion

Last Week’s Last Day Drama

May 3, 2013 David Stringer

Although football in the Premiership and the Championship are ongoing, the normal season in Leagues One and Two are now complete.

Speaking as a Hartlepool fan, I'm glad to see the season go. — Speaking as a Hartlepool fan, I’m glad to see the season go.

There’s been some pretty dramatic action on the final day, including an end to the Doncaster – Brentford game you may be aware of, and amazingly, 7 teams battling to avoid relegation from League Two on the final day.

And Jeremy Kyle, daytime TV talk show host, was invited to give a pre-match team talk, during which he presumably revealed the results of a DNA test to one of the players, and yelled at others.

Click here to read The Lower League Week: The Jimmy Glass Day Edition

Egotism

The Mess Inside A Writer’s Mind

May 1, 2013 David Stringer

I’m sat here writing on Tuesday evening, a mess of more or less unrelated ideas flying around my head.

I’ve been thinking about statistics – how numbers are absolute, but the meaning is flexible. I’ve been wondering how exactly a character gets a cult following. I’ve received a blank envelope recently, which I know is the result of an administrative error, but I’m unsure what type of error – and I’ve been wondering if there’s the potential for a story growing out of it.

I’ve had two different pieces of writing published by two different sites today, and I’ve currently got two more longish things half-written. On top of all that, I’ve only just realised in the last ten minutes that, with today being Tuesday and the last day of the month (two things I realised separately) that makes tomorrow the first Wednesday of the month, and therefore Insecure Writers’ Support Group Day.

Continue reading “The Mess Inside A Writer’s Mind” →

FootballOpinion

Squawka – From the Football League to the Premiership

April 30, 2013 David Stringer

In another thing I wrote which was published today, writing for Squawka I took a look at the best players to step up from the Football League to the Premiership this season.

I took a look at the five best, breaking down their performances – Aston Villa and Southampton players feature heavily.

Click here to read Top Five Best Newcomers to the Premier League

FootballOpinion

Bias In Wales

April 30, 2013 David Stringer

In English football, there are a number of Welsh teams competing within the English football leagues. This came about essentially because there aren’t enough professional teams for a fully professional Welsh league to be sustainable. So, for a century, Welsh and English teams have intermingled.

There is a strange detail to this – though they compete in the English leagues, when their players are disciplined, the Welsh teams are punished by the Football Association of Wales, rather than the English FA.

Recently, this has led to a conflict of interests, with a Wrexham player having a ban rescinded, allowing him to compete in the Conference playoff semi-finals.

This is what Wales looks like from space... if you squint really hard. — This is what Wales looks like from space… if you squint really hard.

I’ve written about this for BornOffside.

Click here to read Time to End Welsh Independence

FootballOpinion

A Dramatic Day to Come in Leagues One and Two

April 26, 2013April 26, 2013 David Stringer

It’s a bit late in the week, but I’ve covered the events in Leagues One and Two.

Barnet have played their last game at Underhill, home of the famous sloping pitch; Portsmouth have been deducted points this season rather than next, despite already being relegated; Scunthorpe are all but relegated, for the second time in three years; Coventry City FC are – I’m sorry if I don’t seem to be taking it seriously, just laughably villainous.

I’ve also written about the teams still with something to play for on the last round of league matches this weekend.

Click here to read The Lower League Week – Preparing for the Showdown