atlas2

I found this funny............ https://youtu.be/ZqiDRS8WqXQ

It was the Daily Mail......you specified not the general press. Most news papers eventually caught up with he fact she was Swedish. Most carried the same details as the Daily Fail including the 'Holy' Guardian. She was in the wrong visa-wise........... The Daily Fail if you can believe them says she's, 'free to come home...charges dropped and Dubai Authorities will pay for her flight............' http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6049925/British-mother-jailed-Dubai-daughter-drinking-wine-Emirates-flight-FREE-home.html I'll wait until CNN verifies it.

The Daily Fail? Just like that daily right wing rag the Guardian then......or The Times........ https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/aug/10/woman-held-in-dubai-with-daughter-for-drinking-glass-of-wine-on-flight https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/mother-and-daughter-held-in-dubai-after-glass-of-wine-on-flight-twltqccgv Yes, as always two sides.........He said she said. It's clear you've picked one and this lady and her child got what they deserved. No criticism can be attached to Dubai officials.

Just reading this shocking story today.......Dubai it seems can be a dangerous, brutal and unforgiving airport...........For the un-Birka'd that is. While we are supposed to accept any ME custom or 'letter-box' garb with grovelling good grace........ ...........this type of cultural acceptance is a one way street. Have a read........ http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6044095/Mother-locked-three-days-daughter-sweltering-Dubai-jail.html

If you haven't decided you want to see Prayer Before Dawn yet............. Here's a Rolling Stone review....... Joe Cole in the prison memoir 'A Prayer Before Dawn.' "There are boxing movies, there are jailbird dramas and there are hell-and-back memoir adaptations — A Prayer Before Dawn throws all three of these genres into a dingy cell together, forcing them to either make nice or beat each other senseless in a survival-of-the-fittest showdown. Thankfully, filmmaker Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire’s Bosch-like take on Billy Moore’s autobiography of life in a Thai prison allows each of these distinct narrative types to eventually bleed all over each other, sometimes literally. Moore (Joe Cole) was a Liverpudlian ex-pat living in Bangkok, fighting amateur Muay Thai bouts. Locked up in 2007, Moore quickly found himself dropped into a world where he barely spoke the language, didn’t know the rules and couldn’t tell which direction the next fist is coming from. So he learned to rely on the kindness of strangers — notably a transgender convict named Fame (Pornchanok Mabklang) — the mercy of a gang led by a face-tattooed kingpin (Panya Yimmumphai) and the power of his fists. And for the first hour, Prayer settles into a semi-familiar, if deeply unsettling groove as this stranger in a strange land negotiates a world behind bars. An absolutely horrifying gang rape is followed by a tragedy, one presented with an eerie matter-of-factness. Constant threats of physical harm occupy the time between sucker punches and shiv brandishings. The fresh-fish convict can give as good as he gets, but Moore sticks out like a pale, hallow-eyed ghost, with the movie’s compositions turning his sheer difference from the general population into a beacon for beatdowns. Whenever it can, the film ixnays the subtitles and simply lets lines play out in their native tongue, sans translations. It’s one of several ways that Sauvaire keeps viewers feeling just as disoriented as his antihero. Then, desperate for drugs, Moore takes on a job to rough up some Muslim convicts and nearly turns the assignment into a homicide. His spirit nearly breaks. He begs to start sparring in the prison gym — at which point we’re thrust into a pugilist-makes-good narrative, as the fighter trains hard, hits harder and earns the right to kickbox for the institution’s official team. You can point to a handful of other movies in which cons find release in the ring (see: Penitentiary, Undisputed), but those leaned towards being sports flicks that used jail life as a way to keep the stakes high. The difference here is that Sauvaire isn’t interested in this regional version of the sweet science per se; the French filmmaker simply needs it to immerse viewers deeper into a world of violence and pain, one knee to the ribs at a time. Even as the story builds to a final mano a mano, the movie is less invested in a win-or-lose outcome than in taking you along for the ride. You don’t truly know a man until you’ve walked a mile in his shoes, then used those same shoes to kick people in the head repeatedly. Which doesn’t mean the fight scenes aren’t complete knockouts (all apologies, we’ll see ourselves out now). They’re filmed with a claustrophobic, in-your-face intimacy and in long takes that make you feel you’re sweating it out next to Cole; there are shots that make you want to duck, so as to avoid being splattered with his blood. The actor, who’s costarred in the cult TV show/chic-period-haircut trendsetter Peaky Blinders and Black Mirror‘s most optimistic episode “Hang the D.J.,” trained in Muay Thai for six months, and it shows. You can see the exhaustion in the endless bouts he fights onscreen, the shock and rage as the 29-year-old dishes out and absorbs real blows. It helps that Cole is a naturally soulful actor, which keeps the commitment to the physicality in extremis from coming off as Method stunt-performing or laddish hard-man posturing. More importantly, he’s a ballast when things teeter close to the line between Eastern exotica and exploitation, pulling the focus back to Moore’s experience when the tendency to objectify a foreign, “othered” culture threatens to overwhelm the humanity. If you were lucky enough to see Sauvaire’s previous feature Johnny Mad Dog (2008), in which filmgoers were virtually embedded with rebel fighters in Liberia and the director stocked his cast with reformed child soldiers, you could tell he valued you-are-there authenticity over social-issue handwringing. (The same notion applies here: Prayer is peppered with real-life ex-cons and was filmed in a former prison that had only recently been shut down.) Even more than verisimilitude, it’s the violent instinct among insular groups of men that fascinates him; you can practically feel the director leaning in whenever a group of thugs starts moving as one multi-limbed strike force or when Moore screams, “I need to fight!” I've deleted the last paragraph.......Because it sort of gives away the key ending moment of the movie......and why it lingers in the memory. Watch and decide for yourself.

Here's how one man dealt with his parking transgressions in England.

Great fun.........

Chinese lines have spittoons.

I did meet a lovely police lady at the police station. Hair-up and smart in her uniform......about 45? We conversed in Thai because she managed to ask all the questions I can answer in Thai......."How long here? Why I like Thailand?' etc. I gave a long list: weather, food, friendliness, beaches, sports.........and then my new word at that time, 'dochapoc' which means 'especially' '....lor gor... dochapoc suay t'damruate pooying Thai' She laughed, and was happy to be flattered.... even in my rubbish 'thai'........Perhaps it's a good thing I didn't know what the hand-cuffs she wore on her belt were called...........A joke about them might have been going too far.

I got nicked in Jomtien. I was at the lights on Tapraya road in the correct lane for turning right towards the beach. I was number one in this lane. As you might know as soon as the green light comes on for 'straight ahead'..... all the vehicles and motor bikes in the lane next to you that should be going straight ahead instead sneak in front of you and you find yourself relegated from number 1...... to number 4 or 5 in the queue. So as soon as the green light appeared I crept forward to maintain pole position. I waited for the right turn arrow and made the turn. Police pulled me over along with about 4 motor-cyclists.....I assumed for not having helmets...... I was asked for my licence I showed it and in my ignorance thought that would be the end of it. 'Collect licence from police station tomorrow.....400 baht' 'What for?.......What did I do wrong? 'You go forward at lights........Cannot' First time I've been stopped and fined in my car.........I blamed my black mate from London sitting next to me........I was only half-joking. The police were set-up at the same spot for about two weeks and soon everybody was aware of this rule and obeying it.

If this is what goes on in the Indian discos......I'm going!! I'm loved up with the girl in red with red hair....

I was in a Jomtien bank yesterday. GBP to baht used to be 2nd or 3rd from the top on the exchange charts.....Dollar 1st, then Euro and pound. Yesterday noticed pound had dropped to mid-table.......Middle Eastern flags, Russia, India, Singapore, Honk Kong, China were higher.......Meaningless or not? don't know.... but I guess it reflects the changing tourist demographic. I don't think it matters much......... Not like the change in the UK.....In Bradford in the North of England if you phone the police they send the Bengal Lancers..... I'll know it's finished here when Indians start taking over all the 7/11s.......... But thot's not likely .......Thais have a very high opinion of themselves and a real patriotic love of their country and customs....... Whether it's Falang, Cossack, 'Kack kow' (arab) or 'Kack dam', (indian)...... you're welcome here as a paying guest only. That's seems a sensible rule to me.

The closest to Banshee's choreographed extreme violence and great fight scenes........Is 'Punisher'

Enjoyed Mission Impossible was fun yesterday......... Tom Cruise is the real deal ........His broken ankle shooting this was publicised .............I didn't know he was a sky-diver.... Here's James Corden finding God.

I see Pan Pan has gone already. My son did a quick mental memory count while we were having a coffee on the 3rd floor.........he reckoned around 50% of restaurants in Central were now Sushi or Korean.

Guy with a cleft palate and another with water-on-the-brain.

France Vs Croatia is confusing me.....I'm conflicted. It's like telling a Daily Mail reader that pedophiles are the natural food of illegal immigrants.

Talking of the money in the game..There's a new Nations league starting this season. England are in the A division and will be playing home and away against Spain and Croatia. Perhaps those games might be of interest to fair weather England supporters? I like international football...not many Englishmen in the Premier League for me to cheer on. So I'll continue to follow England Schoolboys, England Under 17s (world Champions) England Under 20s (World Champions) under 21's (Toulon Champions 3 years running and European semi-finalists). I'm England 'till I die.......Not long left so why stop now?

After the game I couldn't sleep.........It wasn't the emotional state I was in, it was that even in Jomtien I could hear the noise of all the cheers and tweets echoing o'er the glens and from Welsh villages with long names. But well done England for reaching the first semi-final since 1990. There have been tangible improvements under Southgate and some new players have emerged. Croatia must be proud of their team. Looking forward to a pressure-free meaningless 3rd/4th place play-off and the final.

I stayed up for the first half.....Belgium seemed set for victory and dominated possession .300+ touches to 160.......Shortly after the goal went in I toddled off to bed. France will now be favourites for the cup whoever they meet in the final. I spoke to a Belgian yesterday and he said he really didn't want to lose to the French. He explained: 'There is much money to be made if you can buy a Frenchman for what he's worth and then sell him for what he thinks he's worth' ........... Tonight I hope, win or lose England play without fear........Get their crosses in early and shoot on sight. Sterling's due one. Come on England.

What ARE you smoking? Does the wac stand for wacky baccy?

Rather than post a link I've cut and pasted this article..........Part of my happiness in this run from England has been in seeing the uniting aspect.....English fans of all colours supporting so passionately an England team of all colours. You can't get more passionately English than Ian Wright. This article struck a lot of chords or nerves if you like. Somehow football has become so much more than than a game. However it ends.......It feels so good.......Only those English voices in the cave meant more to me. Anyhow have a read......... "Should you want one, you could order an “Anyone but England” T-shirt right now on eBay or Amazon. If that doesn’t appeal, you could go for a shirt bearing the snazzy acronym “ABE”. Or you could just settle down with a laptop and browse one of the Anyone but England Facebook pages. There is (inevitably) an Anyone but England Twitter hashtag, and in the buildup to every England game pictures are posted of people wrapped in the flags of the opposing nations. These anti-England selfies appear alongside internet memes lampooning the England team and their supporters. Perhaps predictably the biggest market for Anyone but England “merch” lies north of the border. It was Scottish football fans who first adopted the phrase en masse in the run-up to the 2010 World Cup. The tradition is now so well established that it was the subject of a 2012 academic paper entitled “Anyone but England? Exploring anti-English sentiment as part of Scottish national identity in sport”. Anyone but England has found equally fertile soil in Wales. As demonstrated by the Bangor man who has dutifully flown the flag of every nation England has faced in this World Cup, from Tunisia to Sweden. He plans to keep doing so until Gareth Southgate’s squad are knocked out of the tournament. But the Anyone but England sentiment has never been limited to the other home nations – to use a phrase that feels increasingly past its sell-by date. There are those in England who are willing to lend their support to any team, so long as they aren’t wearing three lions on their chests. It is perhaps unsurprising that many of those who take this view are on the left. With its internationalist leanings, the left has always been suspicious of overt displays of nationalism, preferring class-consciousness to blind patriotism. The waving of flags, the chanting of chants and the surrender of individuality to the emotion of the crowd, none of this traditionally warms the liberal heart. Some Anyone but Englanders explain their stance by claiming that although the English are famously gracious losers, we can be terrible winners. While defeats, especially ones that come after brave displays of never-say-die tenacity, might bring out the finer aspects in our national character, victories, so the argument goes, bring our worst traits to the surface; a latent sense of entitlement and swaggering feeling of national superiority. They point to the “two world wars and one World Cup” mentality, and the determination of sections of the English press and of parts of the fan base to use the England team as a rallying point for a xenophobic and sometimes racist strain of English nationalism. It is the thought of the worst of England’s supporters chanting “two world wars and two World Cups” into the faces of German fans at Euro 2020 that sends a shiver down the spine and helps fuel the Anyone But England tendency. But there is also a snootier side to it, which pervades across the political spectrum. There’s always been a snobby dismissal of football and the emotions it elicits in millions of people. And then there are people like myself who, in order to be swept up in England’s success, have had to learn to suppress certain memories and seek to reclaim our national symbols. For black and Asian people of my generation, the England team and the cross of St George were once ingredients in a toxic broth. For decades, a minority of England fans brought the nation and the national team into disrepute, bringing violence both to foreign streets and immigrant communities at home. The banner that fluttered above many of these ugly scenes was the flag of St George. Such violence and abuse have not completely gone away, but in recent years those memories and associations have increasingly seemed out of step with contemporary reality. Gareth Southgate’s squad, with an average age of 26, have no memories of those earlier decades. They are England’s most diverse World Cup team, 11 of the 23-man squad are black or mixed-race, and that diversity runs deeper, beyond so-called visible minorities. Harry Kane, for example, is of Irish descent. For black and Asian people of my generation, the England team and the cross of St George were ingredients in a toxic broth Underestimated and until now overshadowed by the “golden generation” that preceded them, they are a team who exhibit none of the swaggering entitlement that previous England teams were – wrongly or rightly – accused of. In this, the manager leads by example. Arrogance is the last charge one could raise against Southgate. Composure, humility, integrity and intellect are the words that have been most commonly attached to him during this tournament. Southgate’s first words about Sweden, after his dramatic victory against Colombia, were respectful and cautious. Praising the Swedish national side, he reminded the nation of England’s long and inglorious habit of underestimating the Swedes, and often paying a heavy price for doing so. In this glorious summer we find ourselves with a young, diverse, dynamic team who evidently like one another and are led by an inspirational manager. He in turn is supported by a backroom staff made up of intelligent and inspirational professionals such as the psychologist Dr Pippa Grange, the woman being credited with helping England win their first penalty shootout in a World Cup. A new professionalism and a new culture has been forged under the St George’s flags that flutter over England’s training camp, St George’s Park near Derby. It is not just that our nation has changed, making it possible for those once suspicious to feel differently about our national symbols and national team. More profoundly than that, this team and the manager have become agents in that process of change. Speaking to ITV last week, Southgate explained his broader mission: “We are a team that represents modern England and in England we’ve spent a bit of time being a bit lost as to what our modern identity is … Of course, first and foremost I will be judged on football results. But we have a chance to affect other things that are even bigger.” It’s difficult to think of a more likable squad, with a more inspiring back story, and impossible to imagine a better moment to throw old reservations aside and embrace this England team."

https://www.eurosport.co.uk/football/world-cup/2018/zlatan-less-sweden-pose-major-threat-to-englands-hopes_sto6834332/story.shtml You've got to see this.........Only for the Catona clip.....So funny. I can't get it directly from youtube yet.........When I do I'll edit the link in.

I understand.....I think I should employ a Thai nurse to sit with me on Saturday.......Where can I buy the costume Jacko? Take my mind off the game at least. As for my inability to keep count during the penalties...... I've put that senior moment down to proof of God's providence in protecting further damage to my bloody frozen shoulder..........