Orwell - Newspeak:
. Set in 2050 - Big Brother party ruler enforces new language on 'Oceania' in London
. Main character is Winston Smith
. New language (newspeak) is set to control people, in that it bans any rebellious talk, to prevent political rebellion
. Makes 'thoughtcrime' the worst possible offence
. Bans things such as sex, free thought and individuality
. Smith is against the regime and logs thoughts in a diary
. Believes in a rebellious group called the Brotherhood, who feel the same as he does
. Lured into a trap, where the ever watching government make him believe he is being accepted in to the brotherhood
. Captured and tortured with rats until he is forced to accept Big Brother
. They break his spirit through fear and terror (totalitarian practice)
Totalitarianism:
. Hannah Arendt - success of totalitarianism is the fault of the individual
. Totalitarian - 'everything is possible'
. Total power = destruction of human kind
. Terror & ideology - Nazism
. Terror - not mass murder, destroy individuality
. Genocide is key to totalitarianism
. Ideology - eliminate individual thought from reality and common sense
. Eichmann trial - Arendt - own mind and thoughts, crime was that he did not think
. Tries to claim Kant categorical imperative - Hitler had made it a universal law with no exceptions and Eichmann believed he was a law abiding citizen
. Arendt believes Not to obey
. Be your own jusge
*Stanley Milgram experiment*
Tuesday, 13 December 2011
Sunday, 11 December 2011
HCJ - Year 2 - Semester 1 - Revision notes Part 3 - Freud
Part 3 of my revision notes brings me to the latest lecture, and since there has been no previous blog from myself on the subject of existentialism, I will take a little longer to try my best to explain the subject.
Phenomenology is a branch of philosophy which deals with the subjective perception of things. So in easy language, phenomenology is things we can see, a table, a chair, a television. Husserl is a philosopher who believed that you have to 'want' to see things, and things are only there because we 'want' to see them:
The Duck-Rabbit - an image which can be seen as a duck or a rabbit, but you have to CHOOSE what you want to see, they are both not there at the same time, you choose one or the other. It is all about choice with Husserl.
Perception is something that is discussed highly amongst existentialist philosophers, and Kafka & Borges 'The Trial' optimises this. In the novel the main character wakes up as a cockroach, with all human feelings and senses, he feels normal, but to everyone else he is perceived as a cockroach. Pretty disgusting, but it is something I have kind of thought about for years. Are we all perceived differently by others, and are we different to what we think?
Heidegger is a philosopher that believed 'being is time', and that angst and fear is always looking forward in the future. We can link this back to Freud and his theory of ego/superego. The fear of 'next' is controlled by the superego, and the ego is the 'character armour' that protects us from this fear.
Time in Heidegger's mind - Past = Guilt/Shame Present = Dread Past = unknown
Husserl:
Husserl was a philosopher who observed and had theories about phenomena; what it was and how it was here. In the online lectures from the course site, it is explained about the link between Husserl and previous philosophers such as Hegel. Hegel believed in the phenomenology of spirit, and how God and his 'Geist' existed and how we perceived them. In a slightly different way, Husserl examined everything: emotions, objects etc. He believed that anything that was there, that you could think, feel, see, smell, hear was all phenomena, so for example, love and hate, fear, houses, trees, colours, these were all types of phenomena.
Husserl believed that there were two essential types of, there was type 'A', and type 'B'. A would be that of intention to use something, so if you had an intention to kick a ball, and then type B, which would be it actually being there. The example that is given in the online lecture is that of a clip from an episode of 'Only Fools and Horses', where Del Boy is in a pub, and he goes to lean up against the bar, not knowing that someone has lifted the hatch, meaning he falls straight through:
What we are seeing here is that Del Boy is expecting the bar to be there, and he is intending to use it to lean on, but the second it is not the we suddenly get the feeling that something is wrong in the universe, an that it isn't as it should be. We get the same feelings when we miss a step on the stairs, or something I usually do is not turn the light on at night when going down the stairs and thinking I still have a couple of stairs left, but really I am on the floor, expecting another step, all of a sudden you feel like something is wrong.
You can link this back to previous lectures with Freud, in that intention is key. Freud believed that we have thoughts in our mind at all time and that we may not even be aware of them at times, but a 'Freud Slip' would often expose these repressed thoughts. This then means that we have these thoughts in our head for a reason, they are definitely there, and it is these thoughts that give us the ability to perceive phenomena.
The problem that people like Husserl will come across is that of solipsism, the thought that is only you the single person exists in the world, and everyone else is a figment of our imagination. That we are living in a big dream, and nothing is real. This would reject the thought that anything actually exists as phenomena.
Phenomenology is a branch of philosophy which deals with the subjective perception of things. So in easy language, phenomenology is things we can see, a table, a chair, a television. Husserl is a philosopher who believed that you have to 'want' to see things, and things are only there because we 'want' to see them:
The Duck-Rabbit - an image which can be seen as a duck or a rabbit, but you have to CHOOSE what you want to see, they are both not there at the same time, you choose one or the other. It is all about choice with Husserl. Perception is something that is discussed highly amongst existentialist philosophers, and Kafka & Borges 'The Trial' optimises this. In the novel the main character wakes up as a cockroach, with all human feelings and senses, he feels normal, but to everyone else he is perceived as a cockroach. Pretty disgusting, but it is something I have kind of thought about for years. Are we all perceived differently by others, and are we different to what we think?
Heidegger is a philosopher that believed 'being is time', and that angst and fear is always looking forward in the future. We can link this back to Freud and his theory of ego/superego. The fear of 'next' is controlled by the superego, and the ego is the 'character armour' that protects us from this fear.
Time in Heidegger's mind - Past = Guilt/Shame Present = Dread Past = unknown
Husserl:
Husserl was a philosopher who observed and had theories about phenomena; what it was and how it was here. In the online lectures from the course site, it is explained about the link between Husserl and previous philosophers such as Hegel. Hegel believed in the phenomenology of spirit, and how God and his 'Geist' existed and how we perceived them. In a slightly different way, Husserl examined everything: emotions, objects etc. He believed that anything that was there, that you could think, feel, see, smell, hear was all phenomena, so for example, love and hate, fear, houses, trees, colours, these were all types of phenomena.
Husserl believed that there were two essential types of, there was type 'A', and type 'B'. A would be that of intention to use something, so if you had an intention to kick a ball, and then type B, which would be it actually being there. The example that is given in the online lecture is that of a clip from an episode of 'Only Fools and Horses', where Del Boy is in a pub, and he goes to lean up against the bar, not knowing that someone has lifted the hatch, meaning he falls straight through:
What we are seeing here is that Del Boy is expecting the bar to be there, and he is intending to use it to lean on, but the second it is not the we suddenly get the feeling that something is wrong in the universe, an that it isn't as it should be. We get the same feelings when we miss a step on the stairs, or something I usually do is not turn the light on at night when going down the stairs and thinking I still have a couple of stairs left, but really I am on the floor, expecting another step, all of a sudden you feel like something is wrong.
You can link this back to previous lectures with Freud, in that intention is key. Freud believed that we have thoughts in our mind at all time and that we may not even be aware of them at times, but a 'Freud Slip' would often expose these repressed thoughts. This then means that we have these thoughts in our head for a reason, they are definitely there, and it is these thoughts that give us the ability to perceive phenomena.
The problem that people like Husserl will come across is that of solipsism, the thought that is only you the single person exists in the world, and everyone else is a figment of our imagination. That we are living in a big dream, and nothing is real. This would reject the thought that anything actually exists as phenomena.
HCJ - Year 2 - Semester 1 - Revision notes Part 2 - Keynes
The next part of this semester's revision notes brings us to the World of economics and JM Keynes. I found this topic relatively enjoyable and, not easy, but easier to understand. For my full blog on the subject visit http://daelgornall.blogspot.com/2011/11/hcj-lecture-4-economics-money-is-all.html, or for a condensed version read on.
. Money = a bartering tool
. Humans have wants and desires in life which compete with their needs
. Link to Frege and his theories on sense and reference: the word 'need' has no reference point and can therefore not be seen as a correct term. 'I need a car' - does not make sense.
. Ricardo theory of value - biro vs piano, who decides worth? £5000 for piano as it takes 5000 times more effort to make a £1 biro.
. Malthus' iron law of population - we would drain the land as the population was growing at an uncontrollable rate. Wanted 2 children to take place of the 2 parents, but on average there were 4 children households. Theory did not materialise as unforeseeable circumstances such as contraception/technology (abortion) started to reduce the number of children in the household. Also, at the time the poor law stated the price of bread against the number of children in the household was the factor considered when relief was administered.
. Ricardo + Malthus = Marx law od wages - demand for a job = high means low wages, and low demand for a job = high wages.
. Price of an apple = £3, producers need £1 profit and £2 for productions costs. Worker can only afford £2 for apple, apple price lowered, means wages of the worker are reduced, now the worker can only afford £1.
. Bonds/IOU's - Public sector jobs paid via bonds not taxes. Government gets bond from the bank, pays the lecturer who then bus a sandwich from a cafe, the cafe worker is then paid, meaning they can produce more, open new branches, and hire new staff.
. Taxation pays for the interest on the bonds.
. Keynes formula - C + I + G = Y, C household spending, I private investment, G government spending, Y money needed to give everyone a wage. If one goes, the other factor will need to pick up slack!
. Money = a bartering tool
. Humans have wants and desires in life which compete with their needs
. Link to Frege and his theories on sense and reference: the word 'need' has no reference point and can therefore not be seen as a correct term. 'I need a car' - does not make sense.
. Ricardo theory of value - biro vs piano, who decides worth? £5000 for piano as it takes 5000 times more effort to make a £1 biro.
. Malthus' iron law of population - we would drain the land as the population was growing at an uncontrollable rate. Wanted 2 children to take place of the 2 parents, but on average there were 4 children households. Theory did not materialise as unforeseeable circumstances such as contraception/technology (abortion) started to reduce the number of children in the household. Also, at the time the poor law stated the price of bread against the number of children in the household was the factor considered when relief was administered.
. Ricardo + Malthus = Marx law od wages - demand for a job = high means low wages, and low demand for a job = high wages.
. Price of an apple = £3, producers need £1 profit and £2 for productions costs. Worker can only afford £2 for apple, apple price lowered, means wages of the worker are reduced, now the worker can only afford £1.
. Bonds/IOU's - Public sector jobs paid via bonds not taxes. Government gets bond from the bank, pays the lecturer who then bus a sandwich from a cafe, the cafe worker is then paid, meaning they can produce more, open new branches, and hire new staff.
. Taxation pays for the interest on the bonds.
. Keynes formula - C + I + G = Y, C household spending, I private investment, G government spending, Y money needed to give everyone a wage. If one goes, the other factor will need to pick up slack!
HCJ - Year 2 - Semester 1 - Revision notes Part 1 - Freud
Welcome to the first part of my very own revision notes for this semester's HCJ examination. I am posting them to show my personal understanding of this semester's lectures and seminars, and also as a help tool to fellow students. I would also welcome comments from anyone else who feels I have missed anything important or who have any questions. I am sure there will be bits I am still struggling with, that some aren't and vice versa.We begin with Freud and the theory of psychoanalysis:
The brain or the mind is separated into 3 parts according to Freud: the ID, EGO & SUPEREGO.
ID - Dominant part of our personalities, basic instinct and desires are found here. The ID is against the social world we live in and does not want to obey by the social and moral rules we have been placed with. It is more of an instinctual part of the brain, and is key to our basic drives. A new born baby is said to be 'ID-ridden' in that it has a mass of instinctive drives.
EGO - Conscious part of our mind, it is the least powerful in Freud's eye's and it provides us with common sense. It often weighs up the balance between good and bad, and takes into account the results of our actions.
SUPEREGO - We gain a moral standing via the superego, and this is from society as a whole. There is a perfection that we are striving for via the superego and when we can not reach this state of perfection, the superego causes guilt in our minds. So if in the past we have not done something socially correct (maybe when the ID has taken over), the superego will feel guilt for it's actions.
In a basic scenario, you may want to buy a car, the car costs £1000, but you only have £500. So do you go into debt? Or do you not buy the car? Or do you save until you have enough money to buy the car comfortably without going into debt? The ID would buy the car as it is a natural desire or a want. The Ego would act as the middle ground and save, as it would take in to consideration the results of putting yourself into debt, and also not having a car, so it will come up with a solution. Whereas, the superego would feel instant guilt and anxiety meaning it would try and force you not to buy at all.
Dreaming - when you asleep it is said that the Ego and Superego are also asleep. So it is now the ID's true desires are brought to the surface in the form of a dream. It puts across the basic instincts of the human mind.
These are just brief notes, but they could help! I also found this website which gives some quite amusing examples:
http://psychology.about.com/od/theoriesofpersonality/a/consciousuncon.htm
Thursday, 1 December 2011
HCJ - Seminar Paper
HCJ – Hannah Arendt – The Origins of Totalitarianism
Totalitarianism – An imposing government exercises absolute control over all aspects of life in a State, with an aim to eventually dominate the World. There will be zero opposition to a totalitarian ruler. (Hitler, Stalin etc.)
Arendt begins by explaining how she feels totalitarianism differs from other forms of political expression such as tyranny or dictatorship. However the totalitarian state rises to power it will immediately destroy all social, legal and political traditions. It will have its own ideology and it will use the means of terror to pursue this ideology. The way I can understand this is with the example of Hitler in Nazi Germany, with his ideology to get rid of all Jews and make the Germans a superior race, and by doing this he would kill the Jews and take away their citizenship, or even that Hitler’s ‘ideal’ German, would be a blonde haired, blue eyed strong male (much unlike himself).
Arendt goes on to question what totalitarianism is in comparison to these other form of political oppression. ‘We are tempted at once to interpret totalitarianism as some modern form of tyranny, that is a lawless government where power is wielded by one man’. She explains that ‘fear’ of the ruler by the people, is a sort of hallmark of tyranny throughout the years. Is then totalitarianism a legal form of political ruling, or is it an arbitrary power? A totalitarian rule doesn’t claim to be arbitrary, but it rather claims to be living in the laws of ‘nature’ – They will go back to how the World was originally supposed to be run, this is the only law they have to abide by, and by abiding by these laws it makes it impossible for the totalitarian state in question to become arbitrary, as they are going against what they describe as ‘petty legality’. So 2000 years ago, it would not have been illegal to kill another human, whereas in the present day it obviously is. In order to achieve it’s ideology, the totalitarian state will go back to the natural law, which therefore makes what they do legal. It is their state, and they can enforce which rules they choose.
Consensus iuris – A totalitarian state does not establish its own consensus iuris. So it promises to remove the ‘law’ itself from the will of any man, but rather make mankind the ‘embodiment of the law’ – What I believe this means is that Arendt thinks a totalitarian state wants away with any sort of international or common law, and instead bring the law into the beholder. This will force the ideology of a strong, competitive state, and eventually lead to national satisfaction, and ultimately World domination for the totalitarian state.
A totalitarian government will strive for excellence and will have their set ideology to destroy or eliminate everything that is weak or harmful. Arendt believes that if you take part in this ‘elimination’, then it is in fact destroying nature itself. During a class struggle the lower classes would ‘wither away’, meaning that the higher classes would then become subject to the legality of killing, ‘even if they succeeded in making all of humanity subject to their rule.’ I think this ties in with what certain philosophers believe about the weaker people in life. If someone is in a wheel-chair, or is disabled in some way, it is in the eyes of certain people, that in fact this person in question has in fact ‘tricked’ everyone in to caring for them, and that they are in fact ruling us for this reason. What these people then believe is that we should in fact leave the person to die without any help. If this is done however, nature will begin to die out, the weakest will die, the strongest of the weak will die, then the weakest of the strongest, and so on until there is nobody left for the totalitarian state to kill.
‘Terror becomes total when it becomes independent of all opposition; it rules supreme when nobody any longer stands in its way. If lawfulness is the essence of non-tyrannical government and lawlessness is the essence of tyranny, then terror is the essence of totalitarian domination.’ Here Ardent clearly expresses her feelings of what a totalitarian government is, and how they go about their ideologies. There are no questions asked, it is a straightforward statement, presenting how terror is nothing less than imperative.
Isolation is described as the breeding ground for terror, and that isolation of a man makes him powerless. Power always seems to come from men acting together as a force (‘acting in concert’ – Burke). Within a tyrannical government, their first aim is to bring this isolation about, so it then begs the question, is a tyrannical government the same as a totalitarian one, when it comes to terror, and how they achieve their goals? A totalitarian state thrives on terror, as a major weapon to achieve its ideologies, as does a tyrannical one, therefore you would have to say yes, they are very similar. This being said it is apparent that in a tyrannical government, the private life of men does not get isolated, and that although all public forms of uprising and human capacities are severed, the private sphere is left. In a totalitarian state, this is not the case. All walks of life and ALL forms of human capacity for action are destroyed. It can be said that this is then the true exertion of full terror, and is in this case more than what can be experienced under a tyrannical rule.
Throughout the book ‘the origins of totalitarianism’ Arendt expresses how she believes that the success of the movements are predominantly the cause of the individuals involvement. So she did not see it as Hitler, hypnotising people, but more that mass submission to the rulers, was the reason behind the rulers’ ‘success’. She believes that people should think before they obey, and that everyone has a mind of their own. This can be linked back to the original lecture and the Stanley Milgram experiment.
Totalitarianism – An imposing government exercises absolute control over all aspects of life in a State, with an aim to eventually dominate the World. There will be zero opposition to a totalitarian ruler. (Hitler, Stalin etc.)
Arendt begins by explaining how she feels totalitarianism differs from other forms of political expression such as tyranny or dictatorship. However the totalitarian state rises to power it will immediately destroy all social, legal and political traditions. It will have its own ideology and it will use the means of terror to pursue this ideology. The way I can understand this is with the example of Hitler in Nazi Germany, with his ideology to get rid of all Jews and make the Germans a superior race, and by doing this he would kill the Jews and take away their citizenship, or even that Hitler’s ‘ideal’ German, would be a blonde haired, blue eyed strong male (much unlike himself).
Arendt goes on to question what totalitarianism is in comparison to these other form of political oppression. ‘We are tempted at once to interpret totalitarianism as some modern form of tyranny, that is a lawless government where power is wielded by one man’. She explains that ‘fear’ of the ruler by the people, is a sort of hallmark of tyranny throughout the years. Is then totalitarianism a legal form of political ruling, or is it an arbitrary power? A totalitarian rule doesn’t claim to be arbitrary, but it rather claims to be living in the laws of ‘nature’ – They will go back to how the World was originally supposed to be run, this is the only law they have to abide by, and by abiding by these laws it makes it impossible for the totalitarian state in question to become arbitrary, as they are going against what they describe as ‘petty legality’. So 2000 years ago, it would not have been illegal to kill another human, whereas in the present day it obviously is. In order to achieve it’s ideology, the totalitarian state will go back to the natural law, which therefore makes what they do legal. It is their state, and they can enforce which rules they choose.
Consensus iuris – A totalitarian state does not establish its own consensus iuris. So it promises to remove the ‘law’ itself from the will of any man, but rather make mankind the ‘embodiment of the law’ – What I believe this means is that Arendt thinks a totalitarian state wants away with any sort of international or common law, and instead bring the law into the beholder. This will force the ideology of a strong, competitive state, and eventually lead to national satisfaction, and ultimately World domination for the totalitarian state.
A totalitarian government will strive for excellence and will have their set ideology to destroy or eliminate everything that is weak or harmful. Arendt believes that if you take part in this ‘elimination’, then it is in fact destroying nature itself. During a class struggle the lower classes would ‘wither away’, meaning that the higher classes would then become subject to the legality of killing, ‘even if they succeeded in making all of humanity subject to their rule.’ I think this ties in with what certain philosophers believe about the weaker people in life. If someone is in a wheel-chair, or is disabled in some way, it is in the eyes of certain people, that in fact this person in question has in fact ‘tricked’ everyone in to caring for them, and that they are in fact ruling us for this reason. What these people then believe is that we should in fact leave the person to die without any help. If this is done however, nature will begin to die out, the weakest will die, the strongest of the weak will die, then the weakest of the strongest, and so on until there is nobody left for the totalitarian state to kill.
‘Terror becomes total when it becomes independent of all opposition; it rules supreme when nobody any longer stands in its way. If lawfulness is the essence of non-tyrannical government and lawlessness is the essence of tyranny, then terror is the essence of totalitarian domination.’ Here Ardent clearly expresses her feelings of what a totalitarian government is, and how they go about their ideologies. There are no questions asked, it is a straightforward statement, presenting how terror is nothing less than imperative.
Isolation is described as the breeding ground for terror, and that isolation of a man makes him powerless. Power always seems to come from men acting together as a force (‘acting in concert’ – Burke). Within a tyrannical government, their first aim is to bring this isolation about, so it then begs the question, is a tyrannical government the same as a totalitarian one, when it comes to terror, and how they achieve their goals? A totalitarian state thrives on terror, as a major weapon to achieve its ideologies, as does a tyrannical one, therefore you would have to say yes, they are very similar. This being said it is apparent that in a tyrannical government, the private life of men does not get isolated, and that although all public forms of uprising and human capacities are severed, the private sphere is left. In a totalitarian state, this is not the case. All walks of life and ALL forms of human capacity for action are destroyed. It can be said that this is then the true exertion of full terror, and is in this case more than what can be experienced under a tyrannical rule.
Throughout the book ‘the origins of totalitarianism’ Arendt expresses how she believes that the success of the movements are predominantly the cause of the individuals involvement. So she did not see it as Hitler, hypnotising people, but more that mass submission to the rulers, was the reason behind the rulers’ ‘success’. She believes that people should think before they obey, and that everyone has a mind of their own. This can be linked back to the original lecture and the Stanley Milgram experiment.
Thursday, 10 November 2011
HCJ - Lecture 4 - Economics - Money is ALL powerful
This weeks HCJ lecture was based on economics and some important figures who held theories about the economy and money. Money is probably the most powerful thing in the world, and it is for this reason that we as humans still exist. I see money as a bartering tool, something to give in exchange for services, products or luxuries. It has been said that we as humans have 'wants' or 'desires'. These desires, in the opinion of many including economist Thomas Malthus outstrip the ability to produce which is a major problem. This is where we can link economics back to previous lectures and my previous posts. In logical terms the word 'need' has no reference point. Humans do not necessarily NEED homes, or clothes, or any kind of luxury, even though we are led to believe that we do in this day in age. Philosophers such as previously discussed Frege will reject 'need' as you can have an emotional feeling towards this word. This being said, the word 'want' on the other hand, has a reference point, I may not need the a pair of shoes, as realistically I could walk around bare-foot, but I do want shoes, as sooner or later my feet will begin to hurt!
Ricardo and the theory of value:
The example given in the lecture was that of a biro against a piano. Now a piano may be worth £5000, whereas a biro is only worth £1. Who decides why the piano is worth 5000x more than the biro? Why should it? In Ricardo's theory he believed that if two things were valued differently it was because the more expensive item, would have taken X amount more labour than the cheaper item. So in the case of the piano and the biro, the piano would have had 5000x more labour gone in to making it than the biro. Once the biro factory is opened, all it takes is a push of a button, whereas the piano has lots of different materials, and takes a lot longer to make.
Thomas Malthus and the 'iron law of population':
At the time of Malthus' theory, it was the age of the Poor Law Reformation in England, and the need for relief was high, with major parts of the UK suffering from famine and poverty. Malthus predicted that the ever-growing population would soon drain the land of all it's resources. He said that if the population grew steady it would need a family to consist of two children. One to take the place of the mother and one the father. At the time however people were having on average four children. This was in my opinion die to the non-existence of contraception and things such as abortion, but also that relief was given in the form of number of children times the price of bread; meaning the more children, the more the relief. Although the draining of resources did not occur, Malthus did have good evidence behind his theories, and could not for-see the invention of contraception and/or abortion.
Ricardo + Malthus = Marx and the 'iron law of wages:
There is a what I believe to be a vicious circle when it comes to wages and employment in certain industries. Being on a journalism course, and wanting to become a sports journalist, I see it fitting to use this example. So a sports journalist pays very well, so suddenly everyone wants to become one. Now the employer has their pick of who they want to employ and who will do it for the right price. This will then give the employer the ability to negotiate and lower the wages. Lots of people then lose interest, meaning a drop in interest. The employer then has no option but to increase the wages once more to meet their need for a worker.
An example of simple economy according to Marx - If you take one apple and give it a value of £3, that is a real value that people are prepared to pay. The company manufacturing the apple need to make a profit for expansion; so new factories, more production and so on. The company spends £2 on the production of the apple, and everything involved, including wages. Someone who works in the factory making the apples, can't afford the £3 for the apple, they can only afford £2. So this get's back to the big bosses at the factory who then decide to reduce the cost of the apple to £2, but in order to make a profit, they now need to cut costs of production to £1. To do this, the have to enforce pay-cuts, so the worker can only afford £1, meaning he still can not afford the apple, even though it is at the price he could previously afford.
Printing money - a confidence trick:
When the government pay a public sector worker, such as a University lecturer or a fireman, they get the wages, not from tax money, but from printing money. They produce these I.O.U type lettes which are given to the bank in exchange for money, which they then distribute around. This is again another kind of economic circle:
Adding to government debt, they take out I.O.U > Lecturer is paid their salary > Lecturer spends their salary on a train ticket, sandwich, coffee > Cafe that produce food/drink have income, as well as train drivers kept in work. So by adding to government spending, it is actually benefiting the economy, in that people are spending money, and employment levels are maintained. The government debt therefore will rise along with the economy. So this does beg the question, why the need for taxation? The taxation goes somewhat towards paying off the interest towards these bonds, or I.O.U's the government is taking out to improve the economy.
Keynes formula
Household spending (C) + Private Investment (I) + Government Spending (G) = Total demand in economy (Y) - or the money needed to give everyone a salary
If one of the factors goes down, then the other two will need to pick up the slack. So if household spending is reduced, government spending will have to increase, so in the area affected (lets say Croydon) will have a shopping centre built or expanded. So there will be more shops, so more jobs to run the shops, more production at the factories, meaning household spending should rise due to these once unemployed people can now afford to spend.
Tuesday, 8 November 2011
HCJ - Seminar 3 - Frege and language
After the lecture and the reading it was becoming very apparent that the weeks topic was one of the more confusion ones. This being said, after the seminar I felt a bit better and that I understood it a little bit more than what I did going in. Frege made many discoveries when it came to language, a lot of which undermined the ideas of philosophers before him such as Aristotle. Discovery number 1:
Frege discovered that the meaning of the word is not contained in the word itself, so the word is not a characteristic or property of the object it is named after. So for instance to say a tree has leaves, or a tree is tall is to describe the properties of the tree, but what Frege believed was that the word 'tree' in no way related to a tree. This was totally against the Aristotelean way of thinking, as he would have believed that the meaning of a tree is contained in the word itself. Aristotle's logic was that of syllogistic, whereas Frege's was sentential.
Discovery number 2:
Frege's next theory or discovery about language was that in a proposition or a sentence the words that make them up mean nothing, but the sentence as a whole holds all the meaning. Chris gave an example of a brick wall in the seminar, that each brick represents a word, with the wall representing a sentence. The brick's are meaningless or pointless by themselves and are unable to hold anything up alone, but put together they have a point or a meaning. Along with this theory on sentences Frege also believed that a proposition is made up of two characteristics, a sense and a reference. The reference is an agreed meaning of what the word represents. So to say that 'scorpions are evil', would not have sat well with Frege in that nobody can prove that scorpions are evil, there is no way of proving this with any form of confidence, but likewise you can not dis-prove it. So this brings us back to the old argument of 'the present King of France is bald'. True, False or meaningless?
Discovery number 3:
This was a sentence that was discussed in one my previous blogs: 'there was nobody on the road'. This was a discovery that Frege made, by addressing this problem correctly, and making it make sense, something that Aristotle couldn't do. What Frege said was that 'for all possible roads (argument), no object is on the orad (function). This is true'. This was expressing a negative as a positive.
Monday, 7 November 2011
Winol - Week 6 - Basingstoke Vs Staines - critical feedback and match report
This week I went to the FA Cup clash between Basingstoke and Staines, we only took one camera due to last minute change of plans, sending our second camera to AFC Totton. There were some good and bad points to take from this week, where I also went to Eastleigh's home ground to film Mikey's feature 'WINOL Woodwork'.
Negatives:
The main problem I had with this weeks package was the scripting and voice-over. I feel that from previous weeks, I have taken a massive step back, and that the quality was quite poor. I thought the levels went up and down, and the tone ranges from high to low, and general feedback received tells me that i sounded a little bit bored/not excited or happy by the prospect of describing the action.
I would have liked to have got some better shots of the crowd reaction at the end of the game, but the shots I got were quite poor, so the end of the game celebrations were restricted to that of the players, which were not bad, but as Chris and Brian have explained the so called 'money shots' are that of the crowd and getting their reaction.
Lastly it would have been better to get a longer interview with Frank Gray, as the excitement of Basingstoke getting into the 1st Round of the FA Cup was not shown in the interview, and it may have been an idea to even get into the dressing room and film some celebrations in there (we could hear them from where we were).
WINOL Woodwork:
My role here was to film the players coming up to the camera, recording what they say and then their attempt at hitting the cross-bar. Although it was salvaged to a degree, I made a technical error by having both microphone inputs plugged in resulting in the sound levels being low, and making it sound as if the players were mumbling slightly. In future it is imperative this doesn't happen, and especially with interviews.
Positives:
My pride and joy from the Basingstoke match was the shot I got of the second goal celebrations. This was greatly received by peers and lecturers alike. I think more shots of the crowd and cutaways to them celebrating is key to producing a well put-together package.
WINOL Woodwork was greatly received at Eastleigh and when I went there this weekend, they were all very complimentary of our work, I see this as a great thing, as it is showing we are reaching our target audience successfully.
Match report:
Basingstoke booked their place in the first round proper of the FA Cup this weekend with a 2-1 win over fellow Blue Square South strugglers Staines Town.
The home side enjoyed the early stages of the game, with half chances from Shaun McAuley and Wes Daly threatening to break the deadlock.
The pressure paid off eight minutes before half time, with Basingstoke defender Jay Gasson latching on to a long free-kick to put the home side 1-0 up.
Staines defender Danny Gordon suffered a serious injury in the build up to the opening goal, seemingly falling awkwardly, resulting in over eight minutes of on-the-field treatment, which saw the player being stretchered off.
Basingstoke went 2-0 up shortly after the re-start, this time McAuley finding the ball at his feet two yards from an empty net to knock in the goal.
After the break the momentum seemed to switch as Marc Charles-Smith stole clear to round the keeper and score, halving the home sides advantage to make it 2-1.
With the game on a knife-edge, Basingstoke were made to dig deep to hold on to their lead with Staines having a number of chances, but they managed to hold on to confirm their place in the next round.
After the game, manager Frank Gray expressed his joy at the triumph, "It's good for the club and good for the people who work around the club."
Basingstoke face an away trip to Brentford in the first round proper.
Friday, 4 November 2011
Winol - Week 5 - Eastleigh Vs Welling United - critical feedback and match report
Week five saw me back at Eastleigh, to film Eastleigh Vs Welling United. Eastleigh put an end to their poor run of form with a 3-0 win, and we had two cameras their to capture the action. I also got an interview with Ian Baird (manager) at the end of the game to add to my package.
Match Report
Eastleigh picked up a valuable win on Saturday against a high flying Welling United, in a bid to revive their so far poor season.
It took a while for the game to get going, but after thirty minutes the home side were given a free-kick on the edge of the box after Sam Wilson was brought down. Jamie Slabber struck the ball into the wall, but on-loan Port Vale defender Michael Green fired home the follow up to score on his return to the Silverlake.
The away side were probing for an equaliser, but the Eastleigh defence remained resilient. And after fifty-seven minutes Joe Healy went down in the box slightly too easily for the referee's liking, picking up his second yellow card in the process, and reducing Welling to ten men.
Jordace Holder-Spooner was brought on by Ian Baird for Eastleigh after the hour, and made an instant impact with a great run into the box, laying off a deft back-heeled pass for Richard Gillespie to fire home to make it 2-0.
It didn't take long for the home side to make it three, with confidence flowing, Graeme Montgomery weaved his way into the box before lashing home a left footed strike to put the game beyond no doubt.
Eastleigh had a chance to extend the lead further but Danny Smith saw his shot hit the bar. After the game Ian Baird praised his team's attitude and performance, "I knew I would get a reaction."
This result took Eastleigh up to seventeenth in the league, with Welling remaining second
Negatives:
My package was not used in the bulletin this week, but this was mainly due to sports news stories taking the advantage, and also the Ice Hockey. This being said it did make the bulletin as a 25 second OOV. Overall, problems from previous weeks were addressed with the as-live commentary, but I still feel it could have been a bit tighter, with the commentary seeming a little too rehearsed. We did have the commentary under my voice-over and then turning the volume up for when the voice-over had finished. It would have made it look a little better if the timing of the script for the voice-over fitted in a bit better with the as-live commentary, resulting in parts of my voice-over to be cut out.
This week I missed my first part of action due to technical problems, with me missing a sending-off due to the camera battery popping out moments before the red card, and it being at the opposite end of the ground to where the second camera was, so it was not caught on either. I think it was bound to happen at one point, and fortunately enough it wasn't a goal, and I managed to let the audience know of the sending off in the script for the voice-over. For future reference it will be a priority to make sure that everything is connected properly.
Finally, the last technical issue I had was that the camera was set to the wrong settings, which meant that the tape time was cut from 60 mins to 40 mins, with the halves of football lasting 45+ mins, I was in a little bit of trouble. I managed to switch over the tapes without missing anymore real action, but it was still risky. I had not come across this issue before, and luckily enough I told Mikey about it at half-time who had experienced the issue before, and he managed to rectify the problem before the start of the second half. Just for future reference it would be a good idea (like i've said in previous posts) to check ALL equipment before I leave for the game.
Positives:
Sprtsweek is getting on average 1000 views a week on youtube, and the plugging is going very well, with support from the club forums we use and the clubs promoting on twitter and facebook.
The quality of the packages are getting better by the week, with me experimenting with different techniques, such as different camera angles, replays and slow-motion action replays. My scripting has been praised, and the addition of more chances is the only thing needed to make it that extra bit better.
The World's Greatest: Sir Alex Ferguson
Sir Alex Ferguson is regarded today as one of the, if not the best football managers to ever grace the beautiful game, and on the 6th of November this year, he celebrated being at the helm of Manchester United for 25 years! This blog will give a year-to-year analysis of his time at Old Trafford, the highs, the lows since joining in the autumn of 1986.
1986-87 - Sir Alex Ferguson arrives at Old Trafford with his assistant Archie Knox after Ron Atkinson was sacked after a poor run of form. Atkinson saw his United side slump to a 4-1 loss against Southampton, which was ultimately Atkinson's final game in charge, and was the 'last nail in his coffin'. Ferguson came in the following day, with his first win coming against QPR, where United were 1-0 victors. It was an up and down season, with the new manager re-jigging his squad numerous times, bringing in the likes of Viv Anderson and Brian McClair. United finished 11th in the league, with no silverware.
1987-88 - This was Ferguson's first full season in charges of Manchester United, and it proved to be a relatively successful one, again there was no silverware to take home at the end of the season, but he did guide them to a 2nd place finish (9 places higher than the previous year), but both cup dreams ended in the 5th round, with losses to Oxford United in the Littlewoods Cup, and in the FA Cup, to Arsenal. Early signs of Ferguson's eye for talent was shown in this season with new signing McClair running out top goal-scorer for the club, tallying up 24 in the league and 31 in all competitions.
1988-89 - There was renewed hope at the beginning of this season, after a second place finish in Ferguson's previous year in charge, big things were expected. Mark Hughes returned to the United team, and some homegrown talent, in the form of Lee Sharpe was beginning to get first team action. However, United saw poor runs of form throughout different stages of the season, at one stage going nine games without picking up a win. They crashed out of both the league cup (Littlewoods Cup) and the F.A Cup, to Wimbledon (League) and Nottingham Forest (F.A). Ferguson's status as United manager had gone back to square one, as united finished 11th in the League, the same position they finished when he took control two years previous.
1989-90 - Arguably, Ferguson's most significant season in charge. Ferguson's current number two, Mike Phelan was brought in from Norwich to bulster the squad, and Ferguson was determined to bring home some silverware to Old Trafford. The league run turned out to be a disastrous one, with United having their worst final position since their relegation from the division 15 years previous. Ending the season in 13th place, and with the Old Trafford faithful baying for his blood, Ferguson was on the edge of seeing the door, but he had a saving grace; A replay of the F.A Cup final against Crystal Palace. Having drawn the original game 3-3 with Ian Wright making a name for himself with a couple of goals, both sides went back to Wembley where United's Lee Martin managed to get the winner in tightly contested 1-0 victory, effectively saving Ferguson's job.
1990-91 - Ferguson was starting to get a real grip on his United squad and after a five year trophy drought, he was aiming for more silverware, and with the emphasis on the league, he was to try and begin the job to knock local rivals Liverpool off their perch. Mark Hughes was having a prolific season, although United faltered early in their defence of the F.A Cup, being knocked out by Norwich in the 5th round. The aim of capturing the league title fell short again though, with inconsistency becoming a key factor in their 5th place finish, although it was a step in the right direction following the previous two years. United and Ferguson weren't done, and the second trophy in two years was captured with the Cup Winners' Cup being won after a 2-1 victory over Barcelona, with former Catalan striker Hughes grabbing both goals.
1991-92 - After picking up a trophy in each one of the two previous seasons, Ferguson had still not managed to take the ever elusive league title he desired. This was the season the great Ryan Giggs began making a name for himself, after breaking through into the first team and winning the PFA Young Player of the Year award, this again highlighting Ferguson's eye for young talent. This was also the year in which Danish legend Peter Schmeichel was brought in. United dominated the league for the majority of the season, and were in first place up until what Ferguson now calls 'squeaky-bum' time, in which three out of the last four games were lost, resulting in bitter rivals, Leeds United pipping United to the post. Despite this, United and Ferguson managed to bring home the UEFA Super Cup and the League Cup.
1992-93 - The English Division One became the newly formed Premier League, and it was in this year, Manchester United's 26 year league title drought was broken. The new Ferguson era was taking shape, as was the squad, with Fergie bringing in the likes of Eric Cantona and Dion Dublin as well as the current crop of youth proving their worth, with Giggs picking up the PFA Young Player of the Year award for the second year running. Although United and Ferguson were successful in the league, all over competitions proved a miss, with them bowing out early in both the League and F.A Cup's and not even managing to get past the first round of the UEFA Cup, after crashing out on penalties to Torpedo Moscow.
1993-94 - The most successful season so far as Manchester United manager for Alex Ferguson, after winning the league title for the first time the previous year, Ferguson added another Premier League winners medal to the rapidly growing collection. Ferguson's eye for talent was once again shown, bringing in Roy Keane from Nottingham Forest, who proved to priceless in United's glorious season. United also became one of the few teams to win the domestic double, winning the F.A Cup for the second time in Ferguson's reign, and were only denied in the Final of the League Cup, of a domestic treble. United also won the Charity Shield, after defeating Arsenal on penalties.
1994-95 - Ferguson went in to this season full of confidence and on the back of consecutive Premier League crowns amongst other honours. This season was the season of so close but yet so far. Ferguson's real managerial skills were called into question when his star man Cantona was given an eight month ban after a fly-kick to a fan at Selhurst Park against Crystal Palace, and this was added to after other big name players were given the cold shoulder. The likes of Paul Ince, Mark Hughes and Andrei Kanchelskis were all offloaded to other teams. Ferguson ended up one point behind Blackburn Rovers at the end of the season, and were unable to capitalise on Rovers losing their final game of a dramatic last day, after they could only muster up a draw against West Ham. United fans were also disappointed after they then went on to lose the F.A Cup final 1-0 to Everton.
1995-96 - This was the year when Ferguson's eye for youth talent was proven beyond any doubt with the selling of a lot of big stars in the previous year, it was time for the likes of David Beckham, Nicky Butt, Gary and Phil Neville and Paul Scholes to step up. United were once again linked with England forward Alan Shearer, but Ferguson failed to bring him in. Despite the loss of the top stars that had helped Ferguson to his first trophy, the new up and comers didn't do too bad, after Ferguson secured his second domestic double, bagging the F.A Cup and Premier League Crown in the same season, for the second time in three years.
1996-97 - This was the year Ferguson got his best ever Champions League finish with Manchester Untied, reaching the semi-finals, only to be knocked out by Borussia Dortmund. Norwegian star Ole Gunnar Solskjaer joined United to add to the current crop of young talent emerging, with the likes of David Beckham clinching the PFA Young Player of the year award. Ferguson also brought in Ronny Johnsen in defence to fill the void left by Steve Bruce, and despite falling at the second to last hurdle in Europe Ferguson managed to capture another Premier League winners medal, finishing 7 points clear of nearest rivals Newcastle. Ferguson and United were again disappointing in the domestic cups, being knocked out in the 4th round of both the FA and League Cup.
1997-98 - Perhaps Ferguson's most disastrous season so far. Everything was looking up after victories in the Champions League sent United into the Quarter Final, and coming into March they were 11 points clear at the top of the league. However they were pipped to the League by Arsenal, who went on a two month winning streak, ending one point clear of the Red Devils. Ferguson ended the season trophy-less for the first time since 1995.
1998-99 - After the last season ended so poorly, Ferguson and United were determined to not let it happen again. And this, the 1998-99 season was arguably Ferguson's best and most memorable ever. It started off quite poor though, with Ferguson and United failing to pick up a win until the 3rd game of the season, and only winning two of their first five games. Ferguson did however get the league form back on track and it wasn't long before United were at the top of the pile, the title race went down to the wire, with United taking top spot from Arsenal by the same margin Arsenal did United the previous year, one point. United then went into the FA Cup final after narrowly by-passing their North London rivals in the semi final replay, thanks to a wonder goal from Ryan Giggs. With a league and cup double very much on the cards, with an even more unthinkable treble still to play for. Goals from Sherringham and Scholes sealed the trophy for United, so with two trophies in the bag, the attentions turned to the Champions League Final against German champions Bayern Munich. This was the furthest Alex Ferguson had got in the Champions League with United, and after a spirited performance from Roy Keane and the rest of the Untied squad in the semi-finals against Juventus, United were in the promise land. As a Manchester United fan this lives in the memory banks, and will until the day I die, and Ferguson has recently come out and said this was his most unforgettable moment as manager. His side were 1-0 down until the 90th minute, when goals from Sherringham and Solskjaer turned the game on its head in under three minutes. United had done it. Ferguson had done it. The treble was theirs.
1999-00 - After the fairytale ending to the last season, United were in full flight to re-create the magic. Ferguson took the decision to not defend the FA Cup crown in order for his team to take part in the FIFA Club World Championship, as reward for winning the Champions League. However United were worse than poor in this competition, losing to Vasco De Gama, drawing with Necaxa and getting a consolation victory against South Melbourne. The league was a different story however, with United not dropping out of the top two from the third game of the season, and ending up 18 points clear after an 11 game winning streak between March and May. This was Sir Alex's 6th title in 8 seasons.
2000-01 - United had another successful season when it came to the Premier League, finishing ten points clear at the top of the league, once again despite their dominance in the league, they were disappointing in other competitions, crashing out again at the 4th round stage of both the FA and League Cup, and with Bayern Munich coming up against United again, revenge was served after a 3-1 aggregate win in the Quarter Final. Ferguson was very inactive in the transfer market when it came to bringing in new talent during this year, but a lot of people left Old Trafford, with the likes of Bosnich, Cruyff and Sherringham moving on.
2001-02 - In comparison to the last three years, United and Ferguson had an abysmal season in the second year of the new millenium. For the first time since the reformation of the Premier League they finished outside the top two, with poor runs of form throughout the year, including losing 3 in a row to Chelsea, Arsenal and West Ham, along with a total of six home defeats. The Champions League was slightly more successful, and with the Final being held in Ferguson's home town of Glasgow the incentive was really there more than ever. However, United crashed out in the semi-finals to Bayern Leverkusen on the away goals rule, and with disappointing results in the FA and League Cup, United ended the year trophy-less. Ferguson had indicated that this year would be his last in charge of United, but he re-thought and went back on the decision at the end of the year.
2002-03 - This was a season of highs and lows for United and Ferguson. Starting with the lows, United were again disappointing in the domestic trophies, crashing out of the FA Cup at the 5th round stage to bitter rivals Arsenal, with the aftermath of the match dominating the headlines, after David Beckham emerged from Old Trafford with a cut and stitches over his eye. It was speculated that Ferguson was so angry he threw a football boot at Beckham, but it was cleared up that he kicked it and it accidentally hit Beckham. Beckham was on his way out of Old Trafford at the end of the season, with a move to Spanish giants Real Madrid the result. On a positive note, United finished top of the league again, finishing five points clear of Arsenal, to regain their crown. Although reaching the League Cup Final, United were beaten by local rivals Liverpool 2-0.
2003-04 - Arguably Ferguson's best ever signing was captured this year, with Cristiano Ronaldo signing for £12 million, to replace the void left by David Beckham after his £17 million move to Madrid. United were back to bad form in the league, not showing good enough consistency and finishing 3rd behind Chelsea and Arsenal. There was some joy in the FA Cup though, with United beating Millwall in the final in Cardiff. Aside from the Charity Shield this was the only honours United and Ferguson managed this year and it was debatable that this was appearing to be one of Ferguson's weakest sides.
2004-05 - Ferguson began rebuilding this year, bringing in the likes of new English superstar Wayne Rooney. With Chelsea dominating the rest of the transfer market, with their new owner Roman Abromavich injecting endless money, it was them who ran away with league, losing only one game all year. United did have some highs in the season, putting an end to Arsenal's 49 game unbeaten run, beating them 2-0. However, Ferguson and United ended the season trophy-less for only the fourth time in 17 seasons.
2005-06 - Another poor season beckoned for United and Ferguson with them finishing 2nd in the league again behind big spenders Chelsea, but the major disappointment came in the Champions League where they failed to get into the knockout stages for the first time in since 1994. They finished 4th in the group stage not even managing to qualify for the UEFA Cup. Roy Keane moved on to boyhood club Celtic after a serious injury ended his United career, resulting in Gary Neville taking over the armband. United did have one success, coming in the League Cup, after a 4-0 win over Wigan Athletic.
2006-07 - This was the season in which Cristiano Ronaldo started to show his brilliance, and prove Ferguson's eye for talent once more. He won the PFA Young Player of the year award, scoring 27 goals in all competitions. United enjoyed good form in the Premier League, and after two years of the Premier League trophy ending up at Stamford Bridge, Ferguson was determined to get it back. Untied duly delivered, winning the league by six points. Chelsea did get the better of United in the FA Cup though, who then went on to win the trophy, and after the previous years abysmal campaign in the Champions League, they managed to get further, only falling to AC Milan, who with an inform Kaka, took United apart at the San Siro. Ferguson also captured the Premier League Manager of the Season Award.
2007-08 - With Ferguson's main aim when taking over at Old Trafford being to claim the title of top English team from Liverpool, this season gave him the chance to get one closer to the the Red Devils' rivals record of 18. United did go on to claim back-to-back Premier League crowns, finishing 2 points clear of rivals Chelsea. United also got the better of the West London side in the season curtain raiser, beating them on penalties. United weren't finished there, and ten years since their last Champions League success, and 40 since their 1st, it was also 50 years since the Munich air disaster, united reached the Champions League final against Chelsea once again. After beating them on penalties in the first game of the season, they done the same again, dramatically capturing Ferguson's second Champions League with United.
2008-09 - After the successes of the previous year, United were on course for a third Premier League crown in a row, to equal Liverpool's record of winning 18 overall. Again it was a tightly run thing, with United eventually finishing six points clear of Liverpool, with Chelsea finishing 3rd after the majority of the season being on United'e tail. United did win the FIFA World Club championship, and were only denied back-to-back Champions League crowns by a terrific Barcelona side who won 2-0 after a dominant display. Young talent was again scouted by Ferguson, after he brought in Brazilian twins, Rafael and Fabio Da Silva, along with Dimitar Berbatov.
2009-10 - After Ferguson had brought in Cristiano Ronaldo for only £12 million, he had become the hot property in Europe after the last few years, and this became apparent fate Real Madrid tabled a bid for a staggering £80 million, which was something United and Ferguson couldn't refuse. Wigan winger Antonio Valencia was brought in to bulster the clubs resources in replacement of Ronaldo, and he has since turned out to be a very good player, and a very good buy from Sir Alex. United were in search for a 19th league crown, to overtake Liverpool, searching an unprecedented 4th consecutive crown. Thi wasn't to be though as Chelsea pipped United by a single point. United did manage to defend their League Cup though, beating Tottenham in the final, to at least secure some silverware for the year. They were knocked out of the Champions League, seeing a 3-0 lead at Old Trafford slip to 3-2 against old foes Bayern Munich, meaning they won on away goals (4-4).
2010-11 - The main signing this year was that of Javier Hernandez, who has since proved to be one of the best young players in the world. United started by defeating double winning side Chelsea in the Champions Shield. United were in search of the 19th league crown to take them above Liverpool, something Ferguson was determined to do since taking over. After a tightly fought season, again between United and Chelsea, United pulled away towards the end, leaving them nine points clear, capturing their 19th League Crown, to make them the most successful club in England. Ferguson's job was complete. For the third time in four seasons united reached the Champions League final, again being out-classed by the ever improving immense Barcelona side, this time 3-1. Despite this, it was still a successful year, with still no idea on when Ferguson will decide to spit out his gum!
Ferguson major honours list at Manchester United:
Premier League - 11 times
FA Cup - 5 times
League Cup - 3 times
Champions League - 2 times
Ferguson celebrated his silver anniversary at United, and in honour of him, the North Stand was re-named the 'Sir Alex Ferguson' stand, with a statue set to be build outside for the coming year.
1986-87 - Sir Alex Ferguson arrives at Old Trafford with his assistant Archie Knox after Ron Atkinson was sacked after a poor run of form. Atkinson saw his United side slump to a 4-1 loss against Southampton, which was ultimately Atkinson's final game in charge, and was the 'last nail in his coffin'. Ferguson came in the following day, with his first win coming against QPR, where United were 1-0 victors. It was an up and down season, with the new manager re-jigging his squad numerous times, bringing in the likes of Viv Anderson and Brian McClair. United finished 11th in the league, with no silverware.
1987-88 - This was Ferguson's first full season in charges of Manchester United, and it proved to be a relatively successful one, again there was no silverware to take home at the end of the season, but he did guide them to a 2nd place finish (9 places higher than the previous year), but both cup dreams ended in the 5th round, with losses to Oxford United in the Littlewoods Cup, and in the FA Cup, to Arsenal. Early signs of Ferguson's eye for talent was shown in this season with new signing McClair running out top goal-scorer for the club, tallying up 24 in the league and 31 in all competitions.
1988-89 - There was renewed hope at the beginning of this season, after a second place finish in Ferguson's previous year in charge, big things were expected. Mark Hughes returned to the United team, and some homegrown talent, in the form of Lee Sharpe was beginning to get first team action. However, United saw poor runs of form throughout different stages of the season, at one stage going nine games without picking up a win. They crashed out of both the league cup (Littlewoods Cup) and the F.A Cup, to Wimbledon (League) and Nottingham Forest (F.A). Ferguson's status as United manager had gone back to square one, as united finished 11th in the League, the same position they finished when he took control two years previous.
1989-90 - Arguably, Ferguson's most significant season in charge. Ferguson's current number two, Mike Phelan was brought in from Norwich to bulster the squad, and Ferguson was determined to bring home some silverware to Old Trafford. The league run turned out to be a disastrous one, with United having their worst final position since their relegation from the division 15 years previous. Ending the season in 13th place, and with the Old Trafford faithful baying for his blood, Ferguson was on the edge of seeing the door, but he had a saving grace; A replay of the F.A Cup final against Crystal Palace. Having drawn the original game 3-3 with Ian Wright making a name for himself with a couple of goals, both sides went back to Wembley where United's Lee Martin managed to get the winner in tightly contested 1-0 victory, effectively saving Ferguson's job.
1990-91 - Ferguson was starting to get a real grip on his United squad and after a five year trophy drought, he was aiming for more silverware, and with the emphasis on the league, he was to try and begin the job to knock local rivals Liverpool off their perch. Mark Hughes was having a prolific season, although United faltered early in their defence of the F.A Cup, being knocked out by Norwich in the 5th round. The aim of capturing the league title fell short again though, with inconsistency becoming a key factor in their 5th place finish, although it was a step in the right direction following the previous two years. United and Ferguson weren't done, and the second trophy in two years was captured with the Cup Winners' Cup being won after a 2-1 victory over Barcelona, with former Catalan striker Hughes grabbing both goals.
1991-92 - After picking up a trophy in each one of the two previous seasons, Ferguson had still not managed to take the ever elusive league title he desired. This was the season the great Ryan Giggs began making a name for himself, after breaking through into the first team and winning the PFA Young Player of the Year award, this again highlighting Ferguson's eye for young talent. This was also the year in which Danish legend Peter Schmeichel was brought in. United dominated the league for the majority of the season, and were in first place up until what Ferguson now calls 'squeaky-bum' time, in which three out of the last four games were lost, resulting in bitter rivals, Leeds United pipping United to the post. Despite this, United and Ferguson managed to bring home the UEFA Super Cup and the League Cup.
1992-93 - The English Division One became the newly formed Premier League, and it was in this year, Manchester United's 26 year league title drought was broken. The new Ferguson era was taking shape, as was the squad, with Fergie bringing in the likes of Eric Cantona and Dion Dublin as well as the current crop of youth proving their worth, with Giggs picking up the PFA Young Player of the Year award for the second year running. Although United and Ferguson were successful in the league, all over competitions proved a miss, with them bowing out early in both the League and F.A Cup's and not even managing to get past the first round of the UEFA Cup, after crashing out on penalties to Torpedo Moscow.
1993-94 - The most successful season so far as Manchester United manager for Alex Ferguson, after winning the league title for the first time the previous year, Ferguson added another Premier League winners medal to the rapidly growing collection. Ferguson's eye for talent was once again shown, bringing in Roy Keane from Nottingham Forest, who proved to priceless in United's glorious season. United also became one of the few teams to win the domestic double, winning the F.A Cup for the second time in Ferguson's reign, and were only denied in the Final of the League Cup, of a domestic treble. United also won the Charity Shield, after defeating Arsenal on penalties.
1994-95 - Ferguson went in to this season full of confidence and on the back of consecutive Premier League crowns amongst other honours. This season was the season of so close but yet so far. Ferguson's real managerial skills were called into question when his star man Cantona was given an eight month ban after a fly-kick to a fan at Selhurst Park against Crystal Palace, and this was added to after other big name players were given the cold shoulder. The likes of Paul Ince, Mark Hughes and Andrei Kanchelskis were all offloaded to other teams. Ferguson ended up one point behind Blackburn Rovers at the end of the season, and were unable to capitalise on Rovers losing their final game of a dramatic last day, after they could only muster up a draw against West Ham. United fans were also disappointed after they then went on to lose the F.A Cup final 1-0 to Everton.
1995-96 - This was the year when Ferguson's eye for youth talent was proven beyond any doubt with the selling of a lot of big stars in the previous year, it was time for the likes of David Beckham, Nicky Butt, Gary and Phil Neville and Paul Scholes to step up. United were once again linked with England forward Alan Shearer, but Ferguson failed to bring him in. Despite the loss of the top stars that had helped Ferguson to his first trophy, the new up and comers didn't do too bad, after Ferguson secured his second domestic double, bagging the F.A Cup and Premier League Crown in the same season, for the second time in three years.
1996-97 - This was the year Ferguson got his best ever Champions League finish with Manchester Untied, reaching the semi-finals, only to be knocked out by Borussia Dortmund. Norwegian star Ole Gunnar Solskjaer joined United to add to the current crop of young talent emerging, with the likes of David Beckham clinching the PFA Young Player of the year award. Ferguson also brought in Ronny Johnsen in defence to fill the void left by Steve Bruce, and despite falling at the second to last hurdle in Europe Ferguson managed to capture another Premier League winners medal, finishing 7 points clear of nearest rivals Newcastle. Ferguson and United were again disappointing in the domestic cups, being knocked out in the 4th round of both the FA and League Cup.
1997-98 - Perhaps Ferguson's most disastrous season so far. Everything was looking up after victories in the Champions League sent United into the Quarter Final, and coming into March they were 11 points clear at the top of the league. However they were pipped to the League by Arsenal, who went on a two month winning streak, ending one point clear of the Red Devils. Ferguson ended the season trophy-less for the first time since 1995.
1998-99 - After the last season ended so poorly, Ferguson and United were determined to not let it happen again. And this, the 1998-99 season was arguably Ferguson's best and most memorable ever. It started off quite poor though, with Ferguson and United failing to pick up a win until the 3rd game of the season, and only winning two of their first five games. Ferguson did however get the league form back on track and it wasn't long before United were at the top of the pile, the title race went down to the wire, with United taking top spot from Arsenal by the same margin Arsenal did United the previous year, one point. United then went into the FA Cup final after narrowly by-passing their North London rivals in the semi final replay, thanks to a wonder goal from Ryan Giggs. With a league and cup double very much on the cards, with an even more unthinkable treble still to play for. Goals from Sherringham and Scholes sealed the trophy for United, so with two trophies in the bag, the attentions turned to the Champions League Final against German champions Bayern Munich. This was the furthest Alex Ferguson had got in the Champions League with United, and after a spirited performance from Roy Keane and the rest of the Untied squad in the semi-finals against Juventus, United were in the promise land. As a Manchester United fan this lives in the memory banks, and will until the day I die, and Ferguson has recently come out and said this was his most unforgettable moment as manager. His side were 1-0 down until the 90th minute, when goals from Sherringham and Solskjaer turned the game on its head in under three minutes. United had done it. Ferguson had done it. The treble was theirs.
1999-00 - After the fairytale ending to the last season, United were in full flight to re-create the magic. Ferguson took the decision to not defend the FA Cup crown in order for his team to take part in the FIFA Club World Championship, as reward for winning the Champions League. However United were worse than poor in this competition, losing to Vasco De Gama, drawing with Necaxa and getting a consolation victory against South Melbourne. The league was a different story however, with United not dropping out of the top two from the third game of the season, and ending up 18 points clear after an 11 game winning streak between March and May. This was Sir Alex's 6th title in 8 seasons.
2000-01 - United had another successful season when it came to the Premier League, finishing ten points clear at the top of the league, once again despite their dominance in the league, they were disappointing in other competitions, crashing out again at the 4th round stage of both the FA and League Cup, and with Bayern Munich coming up against United again, revenge was served after a 3-1 aggregate win in the Quarter Final. Ferguson was very inactive in the transfer market when it came to bringing in new talent during this year, but a lot of people left Old Trafford, with the likes of Bosnich, Cruyff and Sherringham moving on.
2001-02 - In comparison to the last three years, United and Ferguson had an abysmal season in the second year of the new millenium. For the first time since the reformation of the Premier League they finished outside the top two, with poor runs of form throughout the year, including losing 3 in a row to Chelsea, Arsenal and West Ham, along with a total of six home defeats. The Champions League was slightly more successful, and with the Final being held in Ferguson's home town of Glasgow the incentive was really there more than ever. However, United crashed out in the semi-finals to Bayern Leverkusen on the away goals rule, and with disappointing results in the FA and League Cup, United ended the year trophy-less. Ferguson had indicated that this year would be his last in charge of United, but he re-thought and went back on the decision at the end of the year.
2002-03 - This was a season of highs and lows for United and Ferguson. Starting with the lows, United were again disappointing in the domestic trophies, crashing out of the FA Cup at the 5th round stage to bitter rivals Arsenal, with the aftermath of the match dominating the headlines, after David Beckham emerged from Old Trafford with a cut and stitches over his eye. It was speculated that Ferguson was so angry he threw a football boot at Beckham, but it was cleared up that he kicked it and it accidentally hit Beckham. Beckham was on his way out of Old Trafford at the end of the season, with a move to Spanish giants Real Madrid the result. On a positive note, United finished top of the league again, finishing five points clear of Arsenal, to regain their crown. Although reaching the League Cup Final, United were beaten by local rivals Liverpool 2-0.2003-04 - Arguably Ferguson's best ever signing was captured this year, with Cristiano Ronaldo signing for £12 million, to replace the void left by David Beckham after his £17 million move to Madrid. United were back to bad form in the league, not showing good enough consistency and finishing 3rd behind Chelsea and Arsenal. There was some joy in the FA Cup though, with United beating Millwall in the final in Cardiff. Aside from the Charity Shield this was the only honours United and Ferguson managed this year and it was debatable that this was appearing to be one of Ferguson's weakest sides.
2004-05 - Ferguson began rebuilding this year, bringing in the likes of new English superstar Wayne Rooney. With Chelsea dominating the rest of the transfer market, with their new owner Roman Abromavich injecting endless money, it was them who ran away with league, losing only one game all year. United did have some highs in the season, putting an end to Arsenal's 49 game unbeaten run, beating them 2-0. However, Ferguson and United ended the season trophy-less for only the fourth time in 17 seasons.
2005-06 - Another poor season beckoned for United and Ferguson with them finishing 2nd in the league again behind big spenders Chelsea, but the major disappointment came in the Champions League where they failed to get into the knockout stages for the first time in since 1994. They finished 4th in the group stage not even managing to qualify for the UEFA Cup. Roy Keane moved on to boyhood club Celtic after a serious injury ended his United career, resulting in Gary Neville taking over the armband. United did have one success, coming in the League Cup, after a 4-0 win over Wigan Athletic.
2006-07 - This was the season in which Cristiano Ronaldo started to show his brilliance, and prove Ferguson's eye for talent once more. He won the PFA Young Player of the year award, scoring 27 goals in all competitions. United enjoyed good form in the Premier League, and after two years of the Premier League trophy ending up at Stamford Bridge, Ferguson was determined to get it back. Untied duly delivered, winning the league by six points. Chelsea did get the better of United in the FA Cup though, who then went on to win the trophy, and after the previous years abysmal campaign in the Champions League, they managed to get further, only falling to AC Milan, who with an inform Kaka, took United apart at the San Siro. Ferguson also captured the Premier League Manager of the Season Award.
2007-08 - With Ferguson's main aim when taking over at Old Trafford being to claim the title of top English team from Liverpool, this season gave him the chance to get one closer to the the Red Devils' rivals record of 18. United did go on to claim back-to-back Premier League crowns, finishing 2 points clear of rivals Chelsea. United also got the better of the West London side in the season curtain raiser, beating them on penalties. United weren't finished there, and ten years since their last Champions League success, and 40 since their 1st, it was also 50 years since the Munich air disaster, united reached the Champions League final against Chelsea once again. After beating them on penalties in the first game of the season, they done the same again, dramatically capturing Ferguson's second Champions League with United. 2008-09 - After the successes of the previous year, United were on course for a third Premier League crown in a row, to equal Liverpool's record of winning 18 overall. Again it was a tightly run thing, with United eventually finishing six points clear of Liverpool, with Chelsea finishing 3rd after the majority of the season being on United'e tail. United did win the FIFA World Club championship, and were only denied back-to-back Champions League crowns by a terrific Barcelona side who won 2-0 after a dominant display. Young talent was again scouted by Ferguson, after he brought in Brazilian twins, Rafael and Fabio Da Silva, along with Dimitar Berbatov.
2009-10 - After Ferguson had brought in Cristiano Ronaldo for only £12 million, he had become the hot property in Europe after the last few years, and this became apparent fate Real Madrid tabled a bid for a staggering £80 million, which was something United and Ferguson couldn't refuse. Wigan winger Antonio Valencia was brought in to bulster the clubs resources in replacement of Ronaldo, and he has since turned out to be a very good player, and a very good buy from Sir Alex. United were in search for a 19th league crown, to overtake Liverpool, searching an unprecedented 4th consecutive crown. Thi wasn't to be though as Chelsea pipped United by a single point. United did manage to defend their League Cup though, beating Tottenham in the final, to at least secure some silverware for the year. They were knocked out of the Champions League, seeing a 3-0 lead at Old Trafford slip to 3-2 against old foes Bayern Munich, meaning they won on away goals (4-4).
2010-11 - The main signing this year was that of Javier Hernandez, who has since proved to be one of the best young players in the world. United started by defeating double winning side Chelsea in the Champions Shield. United were in search of the 19th league crown to take them above Liverpool, something Ferguson was determined to do since taking over. After a tightly fought season, again between United and Chelsea, United pulled away towards the end, leaving them nine points clear, capturing their 19th League Crown, to make them the most successful club in England. Ferguson's job was complete. For the third time in four seasons united reached the Champions League final, again being out-classed by the ever improving immense Barcelona side, this time 3-1. Despite this, it was still a successful year, with still no idea on when Ferguson will decide to spit out his gum!
Ferguson major honours list at Manchester United:
Premier League - 11 times
FA Cup - 5 times
League Cup - 3 times
Champions League - 2 times
Ferguson celebrated his silver anniversary at United, and in honour of him, the North Stand was re-named the 'Sir Alex Ferguson' stand, with a statue set to be build outside for the coming year.
Wednesday, 2 November 2011
'And Solskjaer has won it!'
The one time baby-faced assassin of Manchester United has proven that he also has a dab-hand when it comes to football management. In just his first season away from United, he has managed to win the Norwegian Tippeligaen with Molde FK, for the first time in the club's history. Molde's season has gone from strength to strength, and they have capped off a marvellous campaign with two games to spare, after fellow league chasers Rosenborg failed to win, and Molde picked up a point giving them an eight point cushion.
Solskjaer was hailed for his time at United, and was originally a player at Molde, when spotted as a potential talent for the future. He went on to win 13 trophies and scoring 126 goals in 366 games for United, most notably the winner against Bayern Munich in the 1998/99 Champions League Final, to not only seal the trophy, but also confirming the treble.
Solskjaer has been linked with a move back to England, with teams such as Portsmouth in the running. There is a slim chance he may return to Old Trafford, once Sir Alex has called it a day, but for now it is time to enjoy the glory with Molde.
Sir Alex Ferguson has brought in more talent from Molde, in the shape of Mame Biram Diouf, hoping that he can prove to be as successful as Solskjaer.
Solskjaer was hailed for his time at United, and was originally a player at Molde, when spotted as a potential talent for the future. He went on to win 13 trophies and scoring 126 goals in 366 games for United, most notably the winner against Bayern Munich in the 1998/99 Champions League Final, to not only seal the trophy, but also confirming the treble.
Solskjaer has been linked with a move back to England, with teams such as Portsmouth in the running. There is a slim chance he may return to Old Trafford, once Sir Alex has called it a day, but for now it is time to enjoy the glory with Molde.
Sir Alex Ferguson has brought in more talent from Molde, in the shape of Mame Biram Diouf, hoping that he can prove to be as successful as Solskjaer.
Thursday, 27 October 2011
HCJ - Lecture 3 - "We hold these truths to be self evident"
During this weeks HCJ lecture we discussed Frege, Nietzsche, Marx and Freud. We began with Frege and discussed his notion of logic. Frege believed that individual propositions have no meaning, so the example given in the lecture was that 'Socrates is a man', does not work in Frege's logic, but it would only make sense in respect to other propositions. From what I can make of this confusing subject it is apparent that Frege can only understand a sentence in logic if it contains a sense (a proposition) and a reference (a truth value), or that the proposition only has a meaning in respect to other propositions. So perhaps something that would make sense to Frege would be that 'Socrates is a man, if he is not a woman'.
During the enlightenment period it was a struggle for knowledge and to find out what individual things meant, and there was a constant battle to find out the truths of the World they lived in. So people like Hume and Kant went about there way to find out what things like words meant to us, and they came up with the theory that words only had one meaning and that a sentence could only mean one thing. Moving in the Romantic period, Frege totally dismisses this idea and we can see why by looking at this sentence:
'I thought she was his wife' - As explained in the lecture, we can put different emphasis on different parts of the sentence or on different words to make the sentence seem different. For example: 'I thought SHE was his wife', thinking that his wife was someone else, or. 'I THOUGHT she was his wife' maybe it is not his wife, but perhaps it is his bit-on-the-side?
Subjectivist epistemology - there is no universal truth, only subjective impressions of relative value. This is something that Marx, Nietzsche and Freud would agree with and again rejects the enlightenment beliefs that there is a universal truth. So an objectivist (opposite to subjectivist) would believe that once he is dead, the World would still exist and carry on without them, whereas a subjectivist would believe that the World would no longer be there if they were to die. A subjectivist would need reasoning and logic in order to believe in something and see it as wholly true and that the truth of something depends on you as a person and your perspective. This once again rejects the enlightenment that there is only one truth. So for example if I can see from my perspective that Manchester United are the greatest football team in the World, and from my perspective I believe it to be true, because they have won numerous honours and have the greatest manager of all time, does not mean that someone else may believe Manchester City are the greatest football team of all time because they recently defeated United. In a subjectivist opinion, both would be right, as both have valid perspective, but both opinions mean that there is no universal truth.
'Ruling ideas is every epoch and the ideas of the ruling class' is something that lives on from Marx. This is the notion that everything that we believe in, and the 'norms' of everyday stem from the ruling ideas of the majorities opinion and perspective. So this again ties in with the subjectivist view. For example in some parts of the world it is religion or normal to take part in cannibalism, whereas in most it is seen as 'taboo'. This comes under the term of 'anthropology' which is a theory of Frederick Engles. He believed that all values are different as are the ruling bodies systems of morality. A criticism of Freud is that he lacked anthropological perspective which made him less of a subjectivist. We are shown this in his case study 'Dora' where he does not show that there can be a no connection between sex and reproduction.
During the lecture we were given three sentences and asked to try and explain them and try and understand the sentential logic:
1) The evening star is the same as the morning star
I couldn't think of anything for this one, but after some research it seems as if it has a lot to do with astronomy and that Venus is seen as a morning and evening star as it is the closest 'star' to the Sun. Saying this, in relation to Frege, it seems as though he has some sort of formula to determine what this actually means. So he believes a=a and a=b but you can see with inspection that 'a' in fact equals 'a', whereas a=b has to be examined in respect to what it is we are discussing and what 'a' and 'b' represent. In this case I will say Wayne Rooney (a) = Michael Owen (b). We can not see from simple inspection whether this is true but if we say a=a (Wayne Rooney = Wayne Rooney), we can see from simple inspection that this is true, but it will take a lot more than simple inspection to determine whether or not Wayne Rooney and Michael Owen are the same. In the context of the evening star and the morning star, with the evening star representing 'a', and morning star 'b', it would take some astronomical review to determine if they are in fact the same thing, whereas we can see with simple inspection that the morning star is the same as the morning star.
2) The present King of France is not bald
The first thing that came to mind when this sentence was shown was that there may not be any King of France at the time. So to say that the King of France is bald is neither true nor false as the whole statement is incorrect. So it would be similar to saying The country of 'Manc-land' is the richest in the World, when in fact no such country exists so it can not be true, but in the same respect it may so be that it is the richest, but how would we know if it does not exist? So is the statement true, false or meaningless? It is not true because there is no current King of France so how can he be bald, secondly it can not be false because saying it is false means that he has indeed got hair, which again means there is a King of France, which there is not. So this means that the sentence must therefore be meaningless; but how can the statement be meaningless if it is something we can understand and interpret?
3) There was nobody on the road
From what Chris said in the lecture I can get that what is meant from this sentence is that if nobody was on the road, there had to be someone on the road, for 'nobody' IS 'somebody'. So what would need to be said to understand the sentence or to make the sentence have meaning would be something like: For this given moment, in this given World on any given road there is not anyone on them. Or something along those lines!
Wednesday, 26 October 2011
Eastleigh Vs Oxford City and Sam Wilson story- de-brief week 4 (with match report and written story)
This week we took three cameras to Eastleigh to film their F.A Cup clash with Oxford City. After much criticism at recent de-briefs coming in the form of not having enough angles and shots, our task was to get replays and close ups.
Negatives:
> As-live commentary is still not working. We needed this week to try and make it seem like we actually commentated on the game live, and not just the goals afterwards. Chris' advice was to have the live commentary under my voiceover during the build up to the goal, but obviously quieter so they wouldn't drown each other out. So the plan is to quieten the commentary down and once the voiceover finishes, turn have the commentary louder so it comes into effect and actually sounds like we are commentating live.
> One problem I noticed with the package that makes it sound a little wrong is the replays. The replay clips are zoomed in and slowed down, and when slowing down, instead of carrying the 'live' sound under the clip of the replay, I have instead slowed down the audio from the replay shot. I just think it makes it look sloppy, so this week I will aim to carry the sound under from the live action.
> Sam Wilson interview - the framing of the shot is out, it was too central and not tight enough on his head and shoulders. Also the sound is slightly low and needed turning up, so in future hold the mic closer. Although the package was an OOV, it would have been nicer to get some better cut aways of Wilson, as oppose to him training before the match and coming on to the pitch. For example it would have looked better if I got him in actual action, maybe having a shot, or going in for a tackle.
Positives:
> Three cameras! This gave me a better looking package all over, close ups and different views of the players/managers and slow motion action replays. One of my favourite parts of the package is the Oxford penalty from in front of the goal. It was a similar view to the view Sky Sports use.
> The scripting of the piece I have had some good feedback on, more entertaining and statistic based made it more interesting for the viewer.
Match Report:
Eastleigh’s miserable start to the new season has continued, after Oxford City knocked them out of the F.A Cup this weekend.
Eastleigh manager, Iain Baird, has criticised his side for conceding early goals, and it only took twenty minutes until they were a goal down, with City’s Steve Basham lobbing the ball over Eastleigh goalkeeper Gareth Barfoot.
The home side had chances to pull level but were wasteful in front of goal, and were almost made to pay when Andrew White brought down Darren Pond in the box. But for the second home game in a row, Barfoot pulled off a double save to deny the visitors.
The away side’s lead was doubled shortly after half-time, this time Darren Pond unleashing an unstoppable shot, which nestled in to the top corner of Barfoot's net.
Eastleigh were given a chance to get back in to the game shortly afterwards when striker Jamie Slabber scored from a penalty, but it was cancelled out moments later when City midfielder Pond got his second, and Oxford's third of the game, with a strong header.
The game ended 3-1 to Oxford City and they were rewarded with an away tie at Weston-Super-Mare in the next round, meanwhile Eastleigh turn their attention to the league, where up next is second place Welling United.
Sam Wilson:
Sam Wilson has agreed a new two-year contract at Blue Square South strugglers Eastleigh, despite interest from several clubs including Premier League outfit Fulham.
The 17-year-old striker had been on a trial with Fulham in previous weeks, and has impressed the Cottagers after scoring two goals in a 4-1 win over Portsmouth.
Wilson has expressed his joy at signing his new contract, ‘I’m very happy I can finalise being at Eastleigh’.
Wilson scored ten goals in nineteen appearances for Eastleigh reserves last year, and made his debut for the senior team in the Hampshire Senior Cup aged just 16.
Eastleigh fans were presented with Wilson’s contract signing moment just before their F.A Cup clash with Oxford at the weekend, and made an appearance from the bench.
For the highlights visit:
http://winol.co.uk/
OR
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFZ464LBokc
Friday, 21 October 2011
Manchester United Vs Manchester City preview
If you are a Manchester City fan I would not read on if I were you, you will no doubt experience anger, jealousy and a few tears if you continue to read. But I am more than happy to direct you to SkySports for a more unbiased preview of the Manchester derby!
So this Sunday we will see one of the biggest Manchester derbys of all time, with the noisy neighbours becoming noisier by the day, they currently sit top of the Premier League, two points clear of United, but obviously still lightyears away when it comes to everything else (trophies, history, prestige). With the game being at Old Trafford it will go without saying that United fans, players and staff will expect the three points, whereas City will be content with a draw as it would keep them at the top with United still having to travel to the Etihad Stadium (although United will probably pick up all three there as well). Both sides remain unbeaten in the league this year, and something will most certainly give this weekend.
In recent years United have struggled in the early stages of the new seasons, but The Red Devils have enjoyed a surprisingly good start to their new campaign, picking up notable wins against Arsenal and Chelsea, and equalling the tally for most goals scored in the first six premier league games (21). Although they have had a good start to the season, recent performances have not been up-to-scratch, squeezing out a 1-1 draw at Anfield, and needing two penalties to see off Otelul Galati in the Champions League, but most critics will agree, this is a sign of Champions, not playing well, but grinding out them hard results.
City have had one of their best starts to a Premier League campaign, proving that if you throw money at something it will eventually come good, but they are yet to become too much of a thorn in United's side, and although they have been scoring freely with the likes of Aguero and Dzeko scoring for fun, they haven't posted any notable wins, such as the reigning champions, and have also struggled in the Champions League. United have also not been playing well in Europe but it does beg the question, can City handle the 60+ games a season, that being a 'big club' brings. So far they are managing it just about, but come February/March it remains to be seen if they can hold the pace they are currently setting.
Other than having a stronger squad, Man United have one not so secret weapon that will prove to be the difference this weekend, and that is Sir Alex Ferguson. He has been preparing for this game since last Saturday, resting players against Liverpool and keeping the likes of (Wayne) Rooney, Nani, and (Javier) Hernandez fit. Fergie also knows just what it takes to overcome City rivals in such a high profile game, now i'm not saying Mancini doesn't know what it takes, just that Fergie will be a million times more prepared and he probably already knows how the game will go (to an extent).
Ones to watch:
Man Utd:
Rooney - he will be absolutely itching to get going here, didn't play in the FA Cup loss to City last year due to suspension, and recent events in the England camp and negativity in the press will leave him with a point to prove. For United's sake lets hope he doesn't direct his energy in a negative way. Scored the winner with a tremendous overhead volley last year.
De Gea - he will be tested, been a little hit and miss this year and the occasion may get to him. Hopefully Rio and Vidic will be there to give him the confidence he needed with Rio missing the mid-week game so he could play here and Vidic coming back from injury this week.
Young - Wing play will be the key to creating chances, and the more chalk Ashley Young gets on his boots the better. He has proved to be extremely influential with his contributions this year, and Sunday will be no different. Critical to feeding Rooney and other front players. Can even pop up with a goal of his own at any given time.
Man City:
Joe Hart - he is undoubtedly an amazing goal-keeper. Something tells me he will be the busier of the two keepers on Sunday, and if he has a good game, he may be able to scape his side a point.
Aguero - top goalscorer for City this season and is in prolific form. He will be out to prove a point to City's rivals, but Ferguson would already know this so he will probably be defended out of the game.
My prediction - United 3 - 0 City
Probable line ups:
United:
GK De Gea
RB Smalling CB Rio CB Vidic LB Evra
CM Carrick CM Anderson
RW Nani LW Young
CF Rooney
ST Hernandez (4-2-2-1-1 attacking) (4-5-1 defending)
City:
GK Hart
RB Richards CB Kompany CB Lescott LB Kolarov
RM Milner CM Barry CM Toure LM Silva
ST Dzeko ST Aguero (4-4-2)
Wednesday, 19 October 2011
Week 3 - Eastbourne Borough Vs Eastleigh - Critical notes
In week 3 of WINOL I went to film Eastleigh away form home at Eastbourne in the Blue Square South. After the previous weeks match against Cinderford Town, Eastleigh were looking to get some points on the board.
Positives:
The first main positive to take out of my package from last week was that I went above the call of duty, to an away match to keep our dedicated Eastleigh fans/audience in touch with Sportsweek, and to show that we can be their number one source for highlights each week. Secondly, Gareth pointed out that my scripting was better from the previous weeks, so that my voiceover was a bit more interesting to listen to which meant that my package as whole was better to watch.
Negatives:
In regards to my package the main critical points that were made, were in regards again to the lack of camera angles and the fact that we only had the one camera so close-ups and a second view for slow motion replays were not possible. There was a couple of technical issues with this weeks package, the first being that the match was filmed in widescreen, and I was unable to change as I only got to the match minutes before kick-off so didn't want to miss anything due to messing around with the camera settings, or even making it worse. To improve in future weeks it will be beneficial to check all equipment before hand and to try and plan better so I arrive earlier, so if there is anything wrong, I have a decent amount of time to rectify it. There was also something I noticed, probably because of editing and the fact that I was the one filming, but the second goal scored for Eastbourne could have been filmed better, as I had to catch up with play, meaning I missed the build up to the goal, and all the viewer would have seen was the player through on goal and the camera just about catching the shot.
Match Report:
Positives:
The first main positive to take out of my package from last week was that I went above the call of duty, to an away match to keep our dedicated Eastleigh fans/audience in touch with Sportsweek, and to show that we can be their number one source for highlights each week. Secondly, Gareth pointed out that my scripting was better from the previous weeks, so that my voiceover was a bit more interesting to listen to which meant that my package as whole was better to watch.
Negatives:
In regards to my package the main critical points that were made, were in regards again to the lack of camera angles and the fact that we only had the one camera so close-ups and a second view for slow motion replays were not possible. There was a couple of technical issues with this weeks package, the first being that the match was filmed in widescreen, and I was unable to change as I only got to the match minutes before kick-off so didn't want to miss anything due to messing around with the camera settings, or even making it worse. To improve in future weeks it will be beneficial to check all equipment before hand and to try and plan better so I arrive earlier, so if there is anything wrong, I have a decent amount of time to rectify it. There was also something I noticed, probably because of editing and the fact that I was the one filming, but the second goal scored for Eastbourne could have been filmed better, as I had to catch up with play, meaning I missed the build up to the goal, and all the viewer would have seen was the player through on goal and the camera just about catching the shot.
Match Report:
Tuesday, 11 October 2011
WINOL/Sportsweek - week 2 - debrief - Critical notes
In the first serious week on WINOL and Sportsweek I went to Eastleigh to film their F.A Cup match against Cinderford Town. I was also asked to present this week, which was slightly nerve-racking, considering I hadn't done anything like this before!
The main issues that I came across this week from a personal point of view was that of sound. Obviously when at a football match the crowd are the main source of noise, and depending on whats happening in the match the atmosphere will be different. As I am moving clip-to-clip, different things are happening, and the crowd noise is different. For example, in one of the clips someone may score, with the last noise of the clip being the crowd celebrating, causing high volume levels which causes two problems: one, the voiceover is drowned out, and two, the next clip where we are building up to the next match event the crowd are much more subdued, so it goes from really loud, to really quiet. Obviously I tried to edit the sound as much as possible, so that we could make it seem realistic (so not make it seem as if no one was there), but also so you could hear the voiceover, and make the clips flow better in terms of volume.
Critical feedback I received from Gareth was that my scripting was a little repetitive and that it seemed a bit boring (Smith scored, and then 10 minutes later he scored again). So in the next package my scripting (hopefully) will be a little better and a bit more lively in order to keep the watchers interested. In Mondays de-brief Brian pointed out the issue with the 'as-live' commentary. Now although it wasn't my voice on the commentary, it was still my package and my responsibility. We were told that this also sounds a little bit dull and that there was no genuine build-up to the possible goal that the 'as-live' commentator is describing.
Although the shots I got were good for the resources possible, we have been told that we could do more in terms of filming. Instead of having just the one camera, we could have 2 or 3. So more Sky Sports style, so maybe if there is a contentious decision, we could have a close up from behind the goal and do action replays. It would make the quality of the package a lot better.
SPORTSWEEK PRESENTING
As mentioned above this was my first week presenting for Sportsweek, and the first presenting role I have ever done. Luckily enough it wasn't filmed live, although it was still very nerving. I was told that it was good enough all though it took me a while to get it right. Looking back on it, it appears to me that I can maybe put emphasis on the wrong words, and that maybe I need to work more on where the emphasis should go. For example: 'Eastleigh hosted Cinderford Town on Saturday, I went down to the Silverlake'. The emphasis would sound best on 3 or 4 of the words, perhaps the team names and maybe the 'I', but I felt I was lacking this in the presentation.
If anyone else has any critical advice they would like to give then feel free, every little helps!
To watch the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtpTbJqhGIk
Yellow Journalism
William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer were the two main men in New York when it came to journalism in the late 1800's and early 1900's. The yellow press or yellow journalism is falsehood, lies or an alteration of the truth done in order to sell more papers and keep the readers that little bit more entertained. Pulitzer and Hearst were extremely reliant on this 'technique' and used it well to their benefits.
Pulitzer and Hearst had rival papers, which competed, in the journalism market; Pulitzer’s paper was called The World, and Hearst’s, The Journal. The papers did make a lot of people angry, but at the same time they were a huge source of entertainment for the mass.
The most important factor I believe that contributed to yellow journalism is firstly the industrial revolution, which meant the invention of the printing press, and then the ever-increasing drive for circulation because of the entertaining stories.
The term ‘yellow’, from what I understand derives from a comic strip of the ‘yellow kid’ that was published in The World, and was published using a new ink form that was non-smearing ink. The comic strip was seen as extremely important at the time and it is for this reason the term ‘yellow’ was formed.
The Spanish-American War
Hearst and Pulitzer were extremely influential in antagonising people before and during the Spanish-American war during the late 1800’s. Some people would even say they were solely to blame. This was because of their stories and photos that they published in their papers.
The war was declared shortly after the sinking of Battleship Maine. The ship was a US war ship, which was docked in Cuba. It came under attack, and was sunk with 44 sailors being killed and many more injured. Once Hearst and Pulitzer got wind of the event, they pretty much had a field day blaming the ‘cowardly Spanish’.
At the time the Cubans were under rule from the Spanish, and Hearst sent reporters to Cuba to report on the state of living there. The reporters found little in the way of proof of any wrongdoing or news worthy stories, but this didn’t matter to Hearst. All he wanted was photos and in his words he would ‘furnish the war’. So in other words, he used his position of power as a top journalist to make it look as if the Spanish were these horrible people, who deserved to be attacked, and that they needed to be stopped, when in actual fact the reporters found no proof of this. Headlines came out such as ‘Spanish Cannibalism’ and ‘Inhumane Torture’.
Monday, 3 October 2011
WINOL bulletin - week one (dummy)
My first week on WINOL, was an emotional one, and I can say with a great deal of certainty that I will never forget it! So here is my story/soap opera/drama of what happened when I went out and took up my new role as Eastleigh Correspndent for Winchester News Online.
I went out to cover a fantastic spectacle of a game, I thought I was going to bump in to Andy Townsend or even, if I was really, really lucky Chris Kamara! I was covering the Wessex Premier league clash of the titans Alresford Town Vs Hamworthy United! Unfortunately, I didnt manage to bump in to Kammy, but I did get to see a cracker of a game.
My first hurdle I had to overcome, was a very strange, but ridiculous problem. Chris has actually pointed out in our recent HCJ lecture that you would be foolish to assume every will run smoothly, and when I ran out of petrol two miles from the Winchester services with 40 minutes until kick-off, this was realised! Luckily enough, I was going with another person (namely Chizzle) who had the equipment. With a cab quoting £60 to take me two miles I was lost! I did have a very good friend who lived in Winchester that drove, who managed to come and bring me petrol in my hour of need, but despite his best efforts I was still late, having to send Chizzle in the cab by himself to start without me!
I only arrived 20 miinutes late which was kind of a result considering the circumstances, and luckily enough I had missed no goals or moments of controversy. We were filming from groudn level, so it was very hard to get a great shot, and also, with only one camera, not wanting to miss any action, found myself zoomed out on a lot of the shots.
During the de-brief, Angus picked up on the shots and advised us for future to try and get closer shots as it will look a lot better, and also that we still couldnt get the full shot because of where we set up.
I had the footage, now it was time for the dreaded FINAL CUT PRO! I learned a new phrase whilst editing: 'disco-wheeling'. When the mac/Final Cut decides to destroy your life by freezing, and if you haven't saved your work then it is literally pull your hair out time! This happened to me once. And never again will it happen. I have however taken some new techniques away, courteousy of Mr Editor aka The Sparrow, Mr Gareth Messenger. I have learned to do cut aways, so when the goal is scored, we cut away to the celebration, but keep the sound going on underneath, which makes it look proffesional (and apparently Angus likes this). I have also learned how to manage audio levels so the voiceover is not drowned out. This brings me to my next hurdle.
VOICEOVERS!!!! 6 TIMES! 4 DIFFERENT ROOMS! My first one was so echoey it sounded like i was in a church hall, after trying again, no change. We then discovered that to and from this 'church hall' the reason for the echoes was in fact because I had the gun mic plugged in to the wrong input on the camera! Silly me! Then, we were kicked out of this room by a rather disgruntled and Anne Robinson like character who insisted 'this room is not for journalists!' So onto room number two. Right input, all done, came back, captured the sound, but no sound came out. Something had gone wrong clearly. I think, that I didn't press record, but I don't want to believe that i'm that stupid. Nevertheless, I tried again and again it came back echoey. This time it was becuase of the room. So I tried the next door room, there was a projector on, but didn't think it would come up on the recording. I was wrong. Finally, I managed to get the studio which was perfect, and just as I was about to start recording, the battery on the camera dies. Great stuff. Finally, got it plugged into the mains, and recorded and all up on Final Cut, with the package about 45 minutes later than it should have been, but it made it!
Things to do next time:
1) Get closer shots
2) Make sure the camera can face the whole pitch for a wider shot
3) Once on Final Cut Pro SAVE AT EVERY GIVEN MOMENT
4) Make sure the mic is plugged into the right input and make sure I am in a decent enough room for recording (also make sure i press record)
5)...erm, make sure I fill up with petrol before hand! And expect the unexpected!!
I went out to cover a fantastic spectacle of a game, I thought I was going to bump in to Andy Townsend or even, if I was really, really lucky Chris Kamara! I was covering the Wessex Premier league clash of the titans Alresford Town Vs Hamworthy United! Unfortunately, I didnt manage to bump in to Kammy, but I did get to see a cracker of a game.
My first hurdle I had to overcome, was a very strange, but ridiculous problem. Chris has actually pointed out in our recent HCJ lecture that you would be foolish to assume every will run smoothly, and when I ran out of petrol two miles from the Winchester services with 40 minutes until kick-off, this was realised! Luckily enough, I was going with another person (namely Chizzle) who had the equipment. With a cab quoting £60 to take me two miles I was lost! I did have a very good friend who lived in Winchester that drove, who managed to come and bring me petrol in my hour of need, but despite his best efforts I was still late, having to send Chizzle in the cab by himself to start without me!
I only arrived 20 miinutes late which was kind of a result considering the circumstances, and luckily enough I had missed no goals or moments of controversy. We were filming from groudn level, so it was very hard to get a great shot, and also, with only one camera, not wanting to miss any action, found myself zoomed out on a lot of the shots.
During the de-brief, Angus picked up on the shots and advised us for future to try and get closer shots as it will look a lot better, and also that we still couldnt get the full shot because of where we set up.
I had the footage, now it was time for the dreaded FINAL CUT PRO! I learned a new phrase whilst editing: 'disco-wheeling'. When the mac/Final Cut decides to destroy your life by freezing, and if you haven't saved your work then it is literally pull your hair out time! This happened to me once. And never again will it happen. I have however taken some new techniques away, courteousy of Mr Editor aka The Sparrow, Mr Gareth Messenger. I have learned to do cut aways, so when the goal is scored, we cut away to the celebration, but keep the sound going on underneath, which makes it look proffesional (and apparently Angus likes this). I have also learned how to manage audio levels so the voiceover is not drowned out. This brings me to my next hurdle.
VOICEOVERS!!!! 6 TIMES! 4 DIFFERENT ROOMS! My first one was so echoey it sounded like i was in a church hall, after trying again, no change. We then discovered that to and from this 'church hall' the reason for the echoes was in fact because I had the gun mic plugged in to the wrong input on the camera! Silly me! Then, we were kicked out of this room by a rather disgruntled and Anne Robinson like character who insisted 'this room is not for journalists!' So onto room number two. Right input, all done, came back, captured the sound, but no sound came out. Something had gone wrong clearly. I think, that I didn't press record, but I don't want to believe that i'm that stupid. Nevertheless, I tried again and again it came back echoey. This time it was becuase of the room. So I tried the next door room, there was a projector on, but didn't think it would come up on the recording. I was wrong. Finally, I managed to get the studio which was perfect, and just as I was about to start recording, the battery on the camera dies. Great stuff. Finally, got it plugged into the mains, and recorded and all up on Final Cut, with the package about 45 minutes later than it should have been, but it made it!
Things to do next time:
1) Get closer shots
2) Make sure the camera can face the whole pitch for a wider shot
3) Once on Final Cut Pro SAVE AT EVERY GIVEN MOMENT
4) Make sure the mic is plugged into the right input and make sure I am in a decent enough room for recording (also make sure i press record)
5)...erm, make sure I fill up with petrol before hand! And expect the unexpected!!
Friday, 30 September 2011
Citizen Kane
When I first found out that we were to be watching Citizen Kane in our HCJ lecture, I was a little bit worried that it would bore me to tears, having heard so much negative feedback from anyone that has ever watched it (even including the American sitcom 'Firends'). However, it was not as boring as expected, and I was actually pleasantly surprised (it wasn't no Fast and Furious, but it was still interesting).
The way I saw the film was that it was a news reporter trying to figure out what 'Citizen Kane's' dying words 'rosebud' had meant - and the film dealt with many flashbacks in order to go over Kane's life as this journalist questioned different people who new Kane, and what they thought it may have to do with.
Charles Foster Kane surged to power in the journalistic world, by taking over at a struggling newspaper, 'The Enquirer', to which his former parental guardian had run. He then went about his way to highlight anything and everything that could be seen interesting or scandalous to the public, and maybe even at times over-dramatised things to make them more interesting in order to get a higher circulation and earn more money. He even went to a larger newspaper, with a higher reputation then his own, and 'headhunted' or stole their employees, in order to have a formidable news writing team.
The more the film goes on we find out that Kane is his own worst enemy, in that he is extremely arrogant, reckless, attention seeking and has little to no morals. The way in which we are shown examples of his arrogance is in the way in which he talks to Thatcher, the once owner of The Enquirer and his parental guardian. He is always out to wind him up or annoy him in one way or another, the bit that stuck out to me like a sore thumb was the conversation on how to run a newspaper; Thatcher tells Kane that he has lost a million dollars this year, and Kane goes on to tell him, he expects to lose another million this year, and next, and then with a smug grin pronounces that at this rate he will have to close the paper in...60 years.
He seeks attention from everyone and anyone throughout the film, and he wants everyone to like and love him. A prime example of this, is when he brings in all the entertainers when the writers of the newspaper are having a meal, and he wants the everyone to see how great he is, and how much he does for them, but really all he wants is not to give to them but to make them like who he is. He even runs for Governor, to make himself be heard, and for an even wider audience to love him. I think that Kane's relentless search for love, is mainly due to him being placed in a boarding school at a young age, maybe feeling his mothers rejection had this adverse affect on him.
The film ends with his demise when he finally loses his beloved second wife, who feels that she has been let down by her husband, and he recognises that he is incapable of loving anyone else but himself. She shouts at him, exclaiming she has never given her anything. Now he had given her jewellery, clothes, a magnificent home and even an Opera House, but what she s referring to is emotional. Kane has never given her anything emotional, like his love for example.
I think Citizen Kane links in well to what we are going to learn further on in our HCJ lectures as it is from the times of modernism, when we are aware of the fear and 'angst' of the world.
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