“Are they going to run further than me?”

This article by Gary Neville epitomises a lot of what I believe about sport, and life in general. On the verge of becoming only the seventh player to represent Manchester United 500 times, he looks back over his career. In particular, he reflects that he got where he is by sheer hard work. There were many more talented players, and he made a lot of mistakes, but he got where he is by working as hard as he could and never giving up.

I couldn't sum up my own swimming career better than that. There were many, many more talented swimmers, but I never gave up. Which is why someone so untalented as myself got where I did: the more talented swimmers all gave up and next thing I knew, I was left standing alone. I have no illusions about my own talent and ability, but I do know that I always worked hard and never gave up. When I finally came up against people who worked as hard as I did and were more talented than I was, I was beaten. But I gave it my all and there's nothing more you can ask.

So a salute to Gary Neville, a man who got where he is by sheer hard work and stubborn determination. Men like him are often overlooked, but he is a true role model.

Anachronistic Anachronistic Gentleman

This service was recently brought to my attention. The Anachronistic Gentleman Rental Service is a free "escort" service where all the men dress and act as if it's a different era. From the pictures, it seems like there's a range stretching from Victorian Britain to 1950s USA. As the founder, Miss Genevieve, a Columbia undergrad, explained:

"People need a license to be romantic and silly and extravagant, and walk on the backs of benches instead of sitting on them," adding that her mission is to "promote the elegant styles of the past."

It seems like a good idea, but it's clear to me that these men don't have a clear understanding of one important difference: Dressing differently or anachronistically is not the same thing as dressing well. If you look at the photos, many of the men don't have a clear sense of style. The proportions are wrong, the pieces of clothing and colours don't harmonize, some don't even fit properly. The just end up looking like they're wearing costumes, not daily attire. Some just look messy. Others have mixed metaphors: their clothing comes from different eras. So it's very admirable and a great effort, but they really need to study and understand their periods if they want to dress appropriately.

Commonwealth Day

Longtime readers of Confucius of Oxford know that my assessment of the British Empire has always been largely positive, mainly because the Empire was good for Singapore, even if it was exploitative elsewhere. It's hard, as a loyal Singaporean, to condemn the Empire when one is very conscious of the indisputably positive effect Empire has had on Singapore. I've seen with my own eyes the negative effects of Empire elsewhere, and I appreciate that, but it was good to my country.

So an occasion such as Commonwealth Day, to me, is an occasion to celebrate, and I'd like to wish all my readers a Happy Commonwealth Day!

Here's a photo from the Commonwealth Day observance at Westminster Abbey:

Eagle-eyed viewers may spot me... I'm sitting next to the Singapore flag and just a bit and to the right behind Prince Charles.

Walk The Line

There are a lot of terrific things to love about Walk The Line. I've been a fan of Reese Witherspoon for years, and this performance was wonderful. As June Carter Cash, she was amazing. I haven't seen Transamerica but this performance was Oscar-worthy. I also loved how both leads did their own vocals. I was not familiar with Johnny Cash's music apart from Folsom Prison Blues and Walk The Line, but Phoenix's performances were completely convincing. Ebert remarked that he was a big fan of Cash and was convinced it was dubbed. He was "completely gobsmacked" to learn that Joaquin Phoenix did his own singing.

The scene which made this movie for me, though, was the scene onstage the Tropicana nightclub in Las Vegas. He's learnt that June Carter is going to leave the show and he drowns his anger and frustration in a cocktail of booze and drugs. He then shows up on stage completely trashed, but goes out there and starts singing the hell out of the song. As his body and mind fail him, the sheer force of his will, his utter determination to keep playing and keep singing even as his world is falling apart and his life is slipping away, shines out of his eyes. He spins and glares at June with a frightening intensity, a fanatical light shining out of his eyes more brightly than the spotlights which silhouette him, compounded by his ferociously knotted brows, his clenched jaw, and the beads of sweat running down his face. This is a man possessed.

The best movies speak to you and communicate essential things about life and human nature. In that one moment, Walk the Line showed me myself, refracted through the prism of Johnny Cash's life and Joaquin Phoenix's portrayal. I didn't necessarily like what I saw, but it was as if I stared into the abyss and it stared back at me.

EDIT: Since writing this entry, I've been downloading Johnny Cash's music and listening to it avidly. My musical tastes aren't genre-specific but rather about the quality of a singer's voice and their ability to interpret music (I might do a whole entry on this topic sometime). So I've really enjoyed Cash's music. Quite fantastic. I highly recommend it.