Been wondering about ol’ Blighty and their role in this whole palaver that’s been the last six years. Is Blair the bastard it could be suggested or is he the one looking at a bigger picture? America the Isolationist is a worthy harbinger of the apocalypse. America Isolated could be it eventuated. Imagine the school-yard bully with not a single friend. So naturally not even a friend-of-a-friend. Not bound by anything to anyone, answerable to no-one and towering over everyone, he can claim that ice-cream you were dying for in the sun, that tape you mixed for your girl, that lunch packed by your mum , that magazine which seeing with the boys would be fun and whetever else he might fancy most times with the swipe of his arm, sometimes the clenching of his fist, and other times the friction between it and a brave boy’s skin. Isn’t the bully, the man, the entity without a friend infinitely more dangerous than the one that roams alone?

An ex-flatmate from Shrewsbury once said to me, a few weeks before Bush v Kerry,  ’Half the (world’s) problem’s Bush and Blair. We’ve got to get rid of them’. I remember agreeing with him then, but now I’m not so sure. Blair, I’ve just talked about. Bush, he’s just an easy target. More hate’s wasted on him everday than electricity in our tenement. The man’s no more than just the figurehead for an idea. An idea he probably can’t quite grasp himself. If there was evidence to suggest it was even partly shaped by him, I would feel the hatred I myself once felt towards him had succeeded in giving him at-least one nightmare from which he’d woken up in a cold sweat. Preferably right when the missus had nipped off to get a late snack. And the wind was howling. And there was a sh… I should stop.

Bush is not ‘evil’ as he has been described. Evil requires some intellect. This man clearly has none. Evil moulds National Socialism. It cannot be a mere pawn of Neo-Conservatism. I sound like I’m hating on Bush. Okay, there was a shadow falling on the window.

I’d hoped ‘Sego’ would take ‘Sarko’. But she was always chasing the game, and never looked likely. Sarkozy’s just one of those guys you know are born to be President. He’s got that perfect blend of tough rhetoric and easy charm. The Socialists needed a better candidate, but at-least she kept Le Pen out of the finale.

Can’t quite get my head around what’s heppening back home. But at-least its uniting, not dividing. I wonder if Sheikh Hasina has taken a box of chocolates back for Khaleda Zia. As ever in Bangladeshi politics, nothing can be taken for granted. So much for Dr. Yunus’ stance. He never struck me as much of a potential leader. But I didn’t expect him to be so cowed, so early.

The Spider Man duo were on Jonathan Ross couple of weeks ago. Tobey Maguire was totally out of his league. Didn’t get a single joke and really just made a fool of himself. Some of these Americans just get lost when the Brits lay on their distinctive humour. Not Kirsten Dunst though. She was a darling. Maybe dating Razorlight frontman Jonny Borrell helped her, although he’s always struck me as a bit of a ponce despite two quite solid albums. I do predict here and now though, that the next Razorlight record will be crap. Full of ballads and forays into new directions that ultimately get nowhere. Borrell’s got what he’s in it for. And that spells the end for art.

I’m hoping the new Arctic Monkeys record will be fab though. Its just come out, some of you may have heard the single off it, ‘Brainstorm’. The riff’s got an arch-spy vibe to it, but I’m sure Turner’s rambling more about scummy men up in Sheffield than men in suits in in Monaco. If that is where Sean Connery seduces that woman in red playing baccarat in Dr. No. Anyway, the Monkeys released an EP in between that phenomenal first album and this latest one, in which they themselves ask, ‘In five years’ time, will it be/Who the f___’s Arctic Monkeys?’ My answer to that is a resounding ‘No’. Definitely a band to check out, if you haven’t already. Mardy Bum, A Certain Romance, Despair in the Departure Lounge, When the Sun Goes Down and Who the F___ are Arctic Monkeys? are especially recommended.

Sir Alex Ferguson is my man of the week. What a class act. I suspect this 9th premiership crown will be his sweetest. To build one of the great teams in history and reach the pinnacle is one thing. To see that team break down, overtaken by the new kids on the block, then build another team and take the title back from the touts in  the grandest fashion by staying true to your principles is quite another. Never has this man gotten hold of a talented youngster and let him go to waste. His charges show a refinement, a maturity and a loyalty that belies the typical modern footballer’s instincts. What separates him from Jose Mourinho is that while Mourinho is  only coaching footballers, Sir Alex Ferguson is also grooming men. Respect.

There is a reason why Australia are so dominant in cricket these days. There is enough talk on how they’ve taken the game to the next level. Well, what is this next level? Is it just better batting, better bowling and better fielding? In a sense, yes. But rather than the next, I would describe it as a different level. A different level where power reigns supreme. There are two ways through which the rest can now catch up. Either match them on power(noticeable isn’t it how the only time Australia have lost something significant is when a team playing at its best matched them on power as well-I am of-course talking of the Ashes in 2005 with England led by the likes of Flintoff and Pietersen) or take the game towards another, different level. As a purist, I hope and pray this different level is based less on power. However, the right and the ability to steer a spor in a certain direction accrues only to the leader. So whoever does it has to take the throne from Australia first, and this they have to do on Australia’s terms. But I don’t see that happening too soon. The lack of any serious sort of competition at all in this great sport is nothing short of a shame. And its just-concluded showpiece, such a shambles.

Not unlike me at 4 am.