Craig Bellamy in June 2006, on signing for Liverpool: “The fact that it was Liverpool made it impossible for me to turn them down. As I’m a fan, it doesn’t matter what club I was at. I could never turn Liverpool down.”
Craig Bellamy in August 2010, on signing for Cardiff: “I’m thrilled to be coming back home to Cardiff and am excited at the prospect of wearing the shirt and playing for the club I’ve supported since I was a boy.”
And they say that footballers are mercenaries who will play for anybody that’s prepared to pay them stupid amounts of money…
Things I am doing this morning:
- Learning how to draft an NFL fantasy team. I’ve never done one before, although I’ve played proper fantasy football (i.e. soccer) for many years. It’s hard…
Things that are currently happening in my office:
Someone has just done a coffee run, and now everyone is topping up said coffees with wee drams of whiskey, from the handy bottle that lives on our desk.
But not me because I don’t like a) coffee and b) whiskey. I’m drinking water.
But I did manage to squeeze in 3 pints at lunchtime.
Things I have done this evening without leaving my sofa:
Book a hotel in Fish Hoek, South Africa
Book car hire from Cape Town airport
Book car hire from Harare airport
Learned more about the initial history of the Normans and their invasion of England (via a great documentary series on BBC2)
A pretty solid evening all round, methinks.
WARNING: THERE BE SPOILERS AHEAD FOR INCEPTION
Even though I’m trying not to spoil anything at all, inevitably there will be a couple of things revealed that could spoil the film if you haven’t seen it already. Please stop reading and go see the film instead.
What I want to look at here is the names of the characters within the film, because in the kind of film which is so rich in symbolism and detail, characters will be named for a particular reason. I’ve no idea if I’m correct for each one, but it makes sense in my interpretation of the film.
Seriously, PROBABLE SPOILERS AHEAD. SEE THE FILM FIRST!!!.
Here’s who I think each character is named after, and why:
Cobb: Probably named after Stanley Cobb, a neurologist and one of the proponents of “biological psychiatry”, recognising a link between the physical make-up of the brain and the consciousness it creates. According to Wikipedia, Cobb rejected the distinction between mind and body, with higher levels of complexity dealt with by psychiatry, rather than physiologists. In the film,
Arthur: This is the one I’m not sure about. My knowledge of Arthurian legend isn’t too strong, and I don’t really see any other Arthurs that could fit. There’s one interesting line on the King Arthur Wikipedia page, which says that in Welsh legends he “launches assaults on Otherworldly fortresses in search of treasure and frees their prisoners”, which could fit nicely. There’s also the element of chivalry, and representing a moral good, which Arthur does more than any other character in Inception.
Ariadne: Ariadne is a character in Greek mythology who gives Theseus a ball of string so that he can find his way out of the minotaur’s labyrinth after slaying the beast. It’s clear in the film that she’s trying to help him, and meshes with her designing the various labyrinths in Fischer’s mind. It also fits with one of the more outlandish theories behind Inception, in that it’s all in Cobb’s mind and that Ariadne is a psychiatrist trying to pull him out of his madness back into the real world one level above that we see in the film.
Eames: My best guess is here is Rebecca Eames, a defendant in the Salem Witch Trials. She was convicted of being a witch, and sentenced to death, but lived until she was 80 years old. Witches were commonly was accused of some kind of shape-shifting, which would be a clear link with the film Eames, but whether she in particular was so accused is something I’ve not been able to establish.
Yusuf: In Islam, Yusuf is one of the main prophets before Muhammad, and exists in the Old Testament as Joseph. Yes, Joseph of the Technicolour Dreamcoat, and he who interprets the dreams of the Pharoah to predict seven years of feast before seven years of famine.
Saito: There’s a warrior monk in Japanese history by the name of Saito Musashibo Benkei, who more commonly goes by the name of Benkei. He entered into lore because he was a formidable warrior who defeated 999 consecutive opponents before losing to the 1000th, whereupon he became one of that man’s best soldiers. His master was subsequently cast into exile, and eventually surrounded. His master went into his castle to commit suicide, and Benkei once more defended the bridge until his own death. He’s famous for his loyalty and honour, which is a massive link to the film character, as well as the “exile” of being in limbo for so long.
Mal: The prefix “mal-” comes from the latin word for bad or evil. Whilst it’s not clear that Mal was intrinsically evil in real life, her memory within Cobb’s mind has become something which is eating away at him, and is destructive in the sense of intruding on other people’s subconscious. Also, in the theory above where Ariadne is trying to save an insane Cobb, Mal could be a representation of a split personality, the dangerous part that Cobb needs to destroy before he can become a normal member of society once more.
Browning: My first thoughts on this was the Browning machine gun, but that seems a little awkward to make fit. A better fit could be Robert Browning, a Victorian poet whose works were often voiced by an unreliable narrator, seeking to defend him- or herself. Again, this could tie in with the theory of the film taking place within Cobb’s mind.
Of course, this is a very incomplete list, and only from about half an hour’s research. I don’t claim to have interpreted the film correctly, but it was interesting for me to explore the meaning behind the names, and see how many references there are to dreams throughout. It’s amazing just how frequently dreams and the subconscious crop up in so many histories and cultures across the world.
In 6 months time, I’ll be landing back in the UK after 3 weeks south of the equator in South Africa and Zimbabwe. We finally have our schedule planned out, and all of the flights booked, and it looks like a lot of fun (as well as a lot of travelling!):
9th December: Flying overnight from London to Johannesburg, via a stop-over in Paris.
10th December: Johannesburg and staying the night at the girlfriend’s aunt and uncle’s place near Johannesburg.
11th - 17th December: Staying in two different lodges in Kruger Park, a huge national park near the Mozambique border. We’ll be doing loads of game drives, and hopefully some walks too.
17th December: Driving back to Johannesburg, and then flying to Harare.
18th December: The friends’ wedding (which is the reason for the entire trip!)
19th December: Harare, maybe going for a drive to see where the girlfriend used to live.
20th - 23rd December: Partying on a houseboat on Lake Kariba, with the wedding party and other friends. Lots of booze, and not a whole lot of sleep.
24th December: Flying to Cape Town, via a stop-over in Johannesburg.
24th - 27th December: Christmas in Cape Town, staying in a hotel on the beach in Fish Hoek, and seeing more of the girlfriend’s family. I fully intend to be on the beach on Christmas Day for the first time.
27th December: Flying from Cape Town to London, via stop-overs in Johannesburg and Paris.
28th December: Land back in London and attempt to recover.
Damn, that’s a lot of travelling. It should be an amazing trip, and I’m starting to count the days already.
Pint of cider in my hand: CHECK
Pizzas in the oven: CHECK
Listened to the following songs: Vindaloo, World In Motion, Shout, and Three Lions: CHECK
Overly excited because I didn’t get to watch the first match: CHECK
A little nervous because of all the upsets so far in this World Cup: CHECK
COME ON ENGLAND!!!
A selected list of shires in England:
Berk-
Buckingham-
Cambridge-
Gloucester-
Hamp-
Hereford-
Hertford-
Huntingdon-
Oxford-
Shrop-
Wilt-
Worcester-
York-
The
The sum total of what I ate yesterday:
Healthy living Rob, healthy living…
