Hello again
Unless you've been living under a rock, you've probably found it hard to escape the US Presidential Election this week.
I've followed the proceedings over the last few months and was very happy to see Obama get another four years - a sentiment shared by a lot of people I know. But not everyone.
Over the last week or so I've seen some comments suggesting that the amount of UK media coverage we gave to the US election was "ridiculous" and we "should focus on our country". That got me thinking as to why so many people had caught Election Fever.
To be honest I'm not sure I know. I'm not an overtly political person myself (and this really isn't going to be a politics lecture of any kind so don't worry) so I'm not going to try and justify the fervour with a discussion of policy. The few reasons I came up with are:
- Glamour. There's no doubt that the US election process is more glamourous than its UK equivalent (the introduction of the "debates" to the last UK election is a nod to that I think) and the rallies, celebrity endorsements and victory speeches are TV moments that capture your attention. I set off late for work yesterday morning as I was watched Romney's concession and then Obama's entrance to Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I'm Yours.
- Charisma. Without delving into specifics, it's probably not unfair to say that Barack Obama has a tad more charisma then Messrs Cameron, Milliband and Clegg.
- Escapism. Being able to forget about what's going on closer to home (cf. economy, EU, unemployment, evil banks, tax dodgers etc) and watch a soap-opera of sorts.
- It matters. What happens in America affects us all to some degree and things matter more when you have a stake in the outcome
- The West Wing. OK, this might just be me, but having watched the complete series of The West Wing a number of times (something I'd urge you all to do) has developed my interest in how these things work as well as given me a (glamourised) appreciation of what goes into the process
- Technology. There are a number of stories from both 2008 and 2012 about how the Obama team in particular have used technology and past election data to target voters and increase turnout. The application of those methods is interesting (for some people at least)
- Gambling. I had a few quid on Obama getting a second term. As one UK bookie used to say, "It matters more when you've got money on it"
- Good vs Evil. There's nothing like a good old-fashioned Hollywood battle of good vs evil and to some degree this is what the US election is to a lot of people (again, I'll skirt the policy and politics here). Watching the momentum build to the result is, amongst other things, compelling viewing. It could probably only be improved by chucking a couple of light sabres into the mix.
All of the above isn't to say that I think you should have an interest in such things. I do understand, and appreciate, the arguments against getting too involved in another country's electoral process - something probably exacerbated if you're disillusioned with the state of your country. I also think that spending over £1bn on campaigning is a bit abhorrent but it seems to be the price of success in the modern world.
Whatever your thoughts on the whole thing, it's done now for another 4 years. Whether good did triumph over evil is for you to decide (if you want to).
In non-vote counting news, I'll be putting together the first of two posts about my favourite music of 2012 in the next few weeks. If you want to see last year's, here's the link to the Top 20 of 2011 - The Shortlist (which itself contains the link to the 2011 Longlist). This is a personal highlight of the year for me - going back over 50 or so EPs and albums from the year and making a playlist is very satisfying.
Also keep an eye out for my next DiabetesUK blog which should be done in a week or so.
Thanks for reading - hopefully it wasn't too much of a politics seminar for you. See you next time
Andy
Apologies I've been AWOL for a while. I'm hopefully returning with some sense of regularity but you never know do you?
My last post was about the anger and stupidity you experience at football, and on reflection, you tend to experience that in all other aspects of life as well. Hopefully this post will try and be a bit more positive instead.
You may remember from a while back how I'd embarked on an attempt to shift the weight I'd managed to insulate myself over summer. I'm pleased to report that it's going remarkably well and I've lost nearly 21lbs so far. I'm down to 194.4lbs (against a target of 187lbs by December 14th) so I'm confident I'll get there with time to spare. As I'd sworn off takeaway of any description until Christmas (much to my wife's dismay), I've relented slightly and agreed to shell out for a pizza if I can get to 185lbs. Fingers crossed!
A few other things have been happening in the world which I'll mention whilst resisting the urge to pass comment or judgement.
Racism has reared its ugly head in the world of football, almost to the point where the media would have you believe people are using racial slurs as flippantly as Mark, Jeremy and Super Hans trying to section each other. Now I'm fairly sure this isn't the case but I suppose enough "high profile"incidents could convince you otherwise. Whilst all of civilised society is rightly disgusted by such behaviour, a few professional footballers decided that throwing their teddy (or t-shirts) out of the pram was the best way to tackle such behaviour. And not by getting off their arses and doing something. Messrs Anton and Rio Ferdinand are now being referred to, somewhat ominously, as the Ferdinand Family, suggesting they're actually part of an underground football mafia. Regardless, the quicker people become educated and stop being racist the better, I'm sure we all agree.
The United States will elect their next President next Tuesday with Hurricane Sandy affecting some key states in the East. Without wishing to reveal too much about my political leanings, I continue to be surprised that this race is pretty much a dead heat between a man who wants to expand healthcare coverage for millions of people, and someone who thinks windows on aeroplanes should open.
Whilst Hallowe'en is upon us this week, I've firmly got my sights set on Christmas now. I appreciate and understand it's far too early to talk about it, but I've not had a holiday since May and the prospect of a fortnight off is enough to make me giddier than most kids. I shall endeavour not to harp on about it too much until December as I'm personally of the belief that Christmas talk starting before late November is a form of insanity.
From a blog perspective, we're getting to the time of year where I run down my Top 20 tracks of 2012 so expect to see a blog or two about music before the end of the year. I'll also be writing my Review of 2012 and my 2013 preview which I'm sure you're all dying to read. And on a personal note, I'm now writing a monthly blog for DiabetesUK so if you're interested you can follow that on here or by visiting their website (blogs.diabetes.org.uk).
I think this has been a bit of a random stream of consciousness but hopefully I'll be back into the swing of it now.
Thanks, as always, for reading.
Take care
Andy
