Tuesday 31 May 2011

My Favourite Films (2/14) - Drama


Favourite Drama - The Pursuit of Happyness (Muccino, 2006)

Deciding what was my favourite drama ended up being tough for two reasons. For one because a large majority of films if not all could be considered dramas in one form or another and so it became as much about the other genre categories I decided on to work out what films fell within the purely drama genre, but there’s no hard and fast rule when it comes to genre classifications. Secondly even once I’d tried to rule out the comedy-dramas, historical dramas, crime-dramas and whatever else-dramas, I was still left with a pretty daunting amount of options among the films I love.

However in the end I settled on this 2006 effort from director Gabrielle Muccino, who would later direct ‘Seven Pounds’, another Will Smith starrer and a film which seemed to be pursuing the tear jerker label with an almost obsessive passion, but that’s another blog post for another time.

‘The Pursuit of Happyness’, as well as including one of the most annoying but intentional spelling mistakes of any film title, is a perfect lesson in how heart warming and heartfelt drama should be done. The tale of Chris Gardner (Will Smith), a man of fierce intelligence but limited opportunities whose inability to sell an almost obsolete and over priced piece of medical equipment ends up driving his wife (Thandie Newton) away and leaving him and his son (played by Will Smith’s own son Jaden with a level of cuteness that is bordering on cheating) homeless. The second half of the film shows Gardner’s attempts to get a lucrative place at an investment bank while looking after his son.

As you might guess from the title it’s a film all about the “American Dream”, about aspirations above your perceived station and the power of hard work. On the most basic level it’s a fairly simple tale of someone getting success through hard work, determination and dreaming big and portrays the poverty Gardner endures as the product of bad decisions and bad luck.

It’s a truly American story of aspiration and isn’t particularly ground breaking or challenging of certain assumptions about poverty. However what makes this film work is the performances of the two Smiths. I’m a big fan of Will Smith and this film more than any other showcases that he can cut it as a serious actor rather than simply being the man who punched an alien in ‘Independence Day’.

He plays Gardner with such honest, open intensity and likeability that you’d have to have a pretty cold heart to not be rooting for him before the film’s even halfway through. The relationship with his son is so heartfelt and, unsurprisingly given the real life father and son relationship, natural that it lends all the scenes between them not just emotional gravitas but realism.

It’s a film which could so easily be corny yet is made powerful by those two central performances and I challenge anyone to watch a scene about two thirds of the way through in a subway bathroom without feeling the most intense urge to help them in some way.

‘The Pursuit of Happyness’ is one of those very rare films which is incredibly feel good without ever seeming to stray too close to feel sick and it deserves huge respect for that.

Honourable Mentions: Probably the closest competitor in this category was ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ and it really was an almost impossible choice; I love ‘Slumdog’ and in the end it was only because of that bathroom scene in ‘Happyness’ that it wasn’t the one I wrote this blog about. ‘A Single Man’ and ‘Up in the Air’ were both not too far away either.

Next up in the film posts, sometime this week, will be my favourite offering from the 'Action' genre.

Today's song i've posted before but some things are just so good that they deserve an awful lot of repeat listenings. It came on my iPod just as i was finishing this post and i couldn't resist sharing it with whoever reads this.

Monday 30 May 2011

Hype That Was Deserved?

Something very, very rare has happened this weekend. A schedule of football matches actually came remarkably close to living up to the hype. Out of the 4 finals i wrote about on Saturday, 3 produced excellent games and the other one would have been considered good any other weekend.

Stevenage 1-0 Torquay
Stevenage managed to get their second promotion in 2 years and secure their first season in League One with a win by a single goal. John Mousinho's first half strike from outside the area was enough to settle it and it was a goal to grace any occasion, hit beautifully into the far bottom corner in front of the Stretford End at Old Trafford. It's always a remarkable effort to get back to back promotions at any level, but to end your inaugural season in League Two with another promotion is a truly worthy of any football fan's respect.

Barcelona 3-1 Manchester United
Pretty much everyone seemed to be in agreement that United were the underdogs going into the Champions League final on Saturday evening, but i doubt many expected Barcelona to win so comfortably. The most remarkable thing about the final was the way in which the Spanish champions seemed on such a different level from their English opponents. For long periods of the game it resembled an F.A cup game between a Premiership side and a League One side in terms of the dominance of possession they enjoyed and the comparative assurance when passing the ball between them.

United battled admirably and the gulf in class is definitely a comment on the sheer quality of Barcelona rather than anything the Manchester side were inherently doing wrong. Barcelona passed the ball around them in a way that at times seemed laughably easy; i can't remember seeing United outplayed to that degree, ever, not even in the 2009 final involving the same two teams, which Barca won 2-0.

Man U started quite well, looking threatening for the first few minutes and pressing the Barcelona players when they had the ball, but after that the trio of Messi, Xavi and Iniesta got into their stride and started passing and dribbling their way around the core of the United team. Messi especially looked a different class, several times making talented defensive players like Vidic, Ferdinand and Carrick look almost amateurish.

The score could quite easily have been more heavily weighted in Barcelona's favour, more than once they had a player only a toes length away from burying the ball past Van Der Sar. United didn't help themselves though; for both Messi and Villa's goals the Red Devil's defenders backed off and allowed them enough time to pick their spot, something you simply can't allow to happen when you play Barcelona.

I try to avoid getting quite as hyperbolic in my descriptions of Barcelona as a lot of people become; they are far too prone to diving and play acting, they surround the referee at every opportunity and as highlighted by some of the El Classico games this year they are quite happy to lower themselves into scrappy, gamesmanship heavy tactics when presented with a team who just seek to frustrate them.

However Saturday's game was an example of the kind of football they're capable of and the reason that pursuit of balanced coverage can be a little hard; when they play to their potential there is simply no better side to watch. They move the ball around with such ease and accuracy, yet unlike Arsenal, have a devastating end product and are solid defensively. In games like the Champions League final they tick every box you could come up with as desirable in a football team.

They completely deserved their victory on Saturday and it is slightly tough to see how anyone is going to make up the gap in quality over the next 12 months in order to deny Barcelona a 3rd success in 4 years.

Huddersfield 0-3 Peterborough
The scoreline from the League One play off final is, as scorelines often are, quite misleading. For 77 minutes the game was an entertaining and tight affair with the impetus switching from one side to the other ever 20 or so minutes. There were long periods where Peterborough seemed unable to get a foot hold in the game or bring their creative players (Boyd, Mackail-Smith and McCann) into play.

However in the 78th minute midfielder Rove flicked in a McCann free kick and sent the Peterborough fans into delirious celebrations. That joy hadn't even begun to subside before Mackail-Smith's deflected strike curled into the bottom corner; the Posh haven't been a team famed for their tight defence or negative attitude at any point this season but this played in their favour as they attacked again immediately from the kick off following their opening goal and went on to get the second.

Huddersfield looked beaten from the moment the second goal went in and they never really seemed likely to get back into it and what little hope the large crowd of fans they'd brought with them might still have harboured was erased by a freekick by midfielder Grant McCann that Beckham would have been proud of.

It seems possible that Peterborough may be establishing themselves as a yo-yo club between the Championship and League One and if they can keep the core of the team together there's no reason to believe that will change any time soon; the majority of their side is too good for the third division but not good enough for the Championship. I'd be surprised if Mackail-Smith is still wearing the blue of Peterborough next season but if he does leave then the Posh's fans should wave him farewell with gratitude as it is his goals that have seen them promoted.

Reading 2-4 Swansea
A Wembley showdown between the two best attacking sides in the Championship was on paper always likely to be a great game, which meant i sat down expecting to see a disappointing and scrappy 1-0. However, as with the weekend as a whole, this game was every bit as entertaining as i'd hoped it would be.

Swansea went 1-0 up against the run of play with a Scott Sinclair penalty and followed that with a Peterborough rivalling quick second from the same player. Reading had started well and looked the more comfortable in the opening 20 minutes but that good opening was rendered pointless when defender Khizanishvili floored Dyer in the penalty area and Sinclair stepped up to confidently slot home. Almost directly from the centre Dobbie outstripped former Leeds left back Harte down the right and crossed for Sinclair to slot home.

A little before half time Swansea got their third through Dobbie when he stroked a half volley home from around the penalty spot and made sure the Swans fan's spent the half time break dreaming of the Premiership.

However Reading started the second half incredibly well, spurred on by what i can only assume was an intense half time team talk from manager Brian McDermott. Through an own goal by Joe Allen and a towering header from Royal's centre back Matt Mills it seemed like the miracle comeback might actually be on.

They continued to press the Swansea defence but yet again were let down by a foolish tackle from Griffin on Borini that gave away a second penalty, which Sinclair buried in the corner of the goal.

Apart from a couple of headed opportunities Reading never really threatened to drag themselves back into the game yet again and Swansea got to celebrate promotion to the Premiership. Their place is deserved both for how they played in the 3 games of the Play Offs and the quality of their performances throughout the season, but it was tough on Reading who managed such an exciting second half to the season.

Today's song is chosen for 3 reasons; firstly it's simply a great tune, secondly it's by a band i'm hoping to see this summer and thirdly hearing it reminds me of one of my favourite gig based memories.



Sunday 29 May 2011

My Favourite Films (1/14) - Comedy

Favourite Comedy Film - Monty Python and the Holy Grail (Gilliam/Jones, 1975)

“It’s just a flesh wound.”

“We are the knights who say ‘NI’”

“Your mother was a hamster and your father smelled of elderberries.”

Those lines, and a whole host more, are why ‘Monty Pyth

on and the Holy Grail’ is my all time favourite comedy film. From those lines I can picture entire scenes and at a bit of a push quote large sections of the film. No film makes me laugh as much or as often as ‘The Holy Grail’ still does, despite more viewings than I can remember.

The work of Cleese, Palin, Chapman, Gilliam, Idle and Jones has provided us with some of the greatest British comedy in history and most people will have a favourite scene or sketch from either one of their films or their TV shows, from the genius of the Inquisition sketch to the slapstick comedy of the Ministry of Silly Walks, via the final scene of ‘Life of Brian’ with its distinctive whistled tune.

They’re comic gold throughout but for me the 91 minutes of the ‘Holy Grail’ was the pinnacle of their work; it’s rare for more than a minute or two to pass before the next perfect joke hits home, and some of the arguments between characters are so ludicrously bizarre that you wonder what kind of state you have to be in to come up with them (the two rabbit related scenes are prime examples of that).

For a comedy that’s now 26 years old it has an incredibly timeless quality, perhaps because it focuses on one of the nation’s favourite myths; that of King Arthur and the knights of the round table. In the film they’re sent on a mission by a rather fed up god to find the Holy Grail but in the process end up arguing repeatedly with a set of preposterous French knights, devoting more time than any other comedy film I can think of too discussing the flight capabilities of swallows and engaging in several incredibly ill-judged battles.

One battle which does go a little more to plan offers arguably the funniest individual scene in the film, the fight with the Black Knight. An invincible soldier he is utterly fearless and incredibly stubborn; so stubborn in fact that he refuses to back down even after receiving a total limb-ectomy from the King.

A killer bunny rabbit, farcical witch hunts, plague humour, an insane Scotsman and several indignant peasants all come together to make sure that the pursuit of the holy grail itself remains merely a framing device, one you almost hope won’t be found so that the story can continue.

However like with all the best comedies, the Python boys knew when to stop and so leave you wanting more by drawing the film to a close after only an hour and a half.

It’s hard to imagine a film topping ‘The Holy Grail’ for me, a fact made clear to me by the films I turned down when considering my favourite; Shaun of the Dead, The Hangover, Life of Brian, Four Lions, Anchorman, Airplane and the list could go on.

Until then Monty Python’s effort will remain my favourite comedy film due to, in my opinion the most crucial grounds, that no film has ever made me laugh so hard.

Today's song is my favourite example of where music and comedy combine, which seems appropriate considering the rest of the blog. I'd advise you watch their TV show, it's one of the funnier sitcoms in recent years.

Saturday 28 May 2011

4 Finals in 3 Days

It's a massive weekend of football, both domestic and European and there'll be a lot of very happy and a similar number of utterly depressed fans by the time the next 4 days have passed.

Obviously the centre piece of the weekend is the Champions League final at Wembley tonight, between Manchester United and Barcelona, and i'll get to that in a bit but there are 3 other very important games this weekend which will fail to get the recognition and attention they deserve because of UEFA's flagship competition.

Playing as i type is the League Two Play off between Torquay and Stevenage. Due to the CL final being played at Wembley, the Play Off finals for Leagues One and Two have been moved to Old Trafford. Apparently a crash on the M6 has caused a large number of Stevenage fans to be delayed in getting to the ground but even so there is a decent atmosphere in the ground despite a nervy start from both sides. Obviously promotion would be an incredible result for either of these teams but as a neutral and fan of the underdog i'm rooting for Stevenage as it would be the first time they'd played in League One, after only gaining promotion to the Football League last summer. Both sides finished the season in good form and got through the semi-finals moderately easily but finals are exciting one off games and form in the league season or even the semi-finals can often bare no relation to performances in the big game.

Tomorrow it is Peterborough and Huddersfield's turn at Old Trafford in the League One Final and that one has a lot of potential. I've seen both sides play a couple of times this year and they're both entertaining, attacking sides. Peterborough especially have been one of the best sides to watch this season from a neutral's perspective scoring for fun but also leaking goals far too frequently for the fans or their manager Darren Ferguson's liking. The two semi-finals these teams were involved in provided a total of 15 goals in the 4 games and there's no reason to believe the final will be any different. A lot of the attention of the media and several Championship managers will be on Craig Mackail-Smith, top scorer in League One with 27 goals and the prolific striker is in my opinion likely to be playing Championship football next season regardless of whether Peterborough are promoted or not.

On Monday it's the Championship's turn when Swansea take on Reading at Wembley in another game with the potential to be a great footballing spectacle. Swansea are a great side, playing high quality passing football and in Sinclair, Dyer and Borini have 3 potential match winners. For Reading a lot will depend on how well top scorer Long and key creative outlet Jobi McAnuff play and whether Jimmy Kebe plays at all. Those 3 players have been crucial all season, particularly in their charge up the table after Christmas. I'm going to be supporting Swansea on Monday both because they were easily the 3rd best side over the course of the season and because they beat Forest in the semis and i try to support the team that knocks us out of a competition, unless they're Leeds, Derby or either Sheffield team. I think Swansea may prove to be a little bit too good for Reading but as always in this kind of game a lot will simply depend on which side manages to emulate their league form in this final match.

However, sat in between all these Football League games is the Champions League Final this evening and the media attention is going into hyper drive as the hours tick down towards the 19.45 kick off. Barcelona are favourites with bookies and pundits but Manchester United should never be dismissed before big games. One of my earliest football memories is the 1999 final between United and Bayern Munich where after 89 minutes it seemed almost certain to be the German sides day as they were leading 1-0, but those two desperately late goals by Sheringham and Solskjaer sent every Manchester United fan and a fair few neutrals including myself into hysterical celebrations.

However the Barcelona side they face tonight is in my opinion a much better side than the Munich one while United's side is arguably weaker than in 99 when they had Schmeichel, Giggs, Cole, Yorke, Beckham, Scholes etc all in their prime. This United team has never quite reached the levels of previous Ferguson teams but they're still a great side and in Hernandez and Rooney they have an incredibly dangerous and hard working strike force. They're going to have to use that hard working attitude throughout because Barcelona will keep the ball from them for long periods and any lapses in attention or effort can be abruptly punished by the creative triumvirate of Messi, Xavi and Iniesta. Obviously a lot of attention will be on Messi and as a neutral i'm hoping he has a great game because on his day there is no better player to watch, but i suspect the match winner/man of the match will be someone else, perhaps Villa or Hernandez.

At half time the Stevenage-Torquay game is 1-0 to Stevenage after a superb strike from distance by their centre midfielder Mousinho; here's to a whole heap more goals and incidents before the weekend is over.

To finish this blog i'm going to post a song that i forgot to mention yesterday in my post about the music i was loving; i've known about these guys for a while and am still not that convinced by them over the course of a whole album, but this is a great song.

Friday 27 May 2011

A Friday's Worth Of Music

I spent today enjoying being free of exams and coursework by doing relatively little; watching some TV (Battlestar Galactica, which so far seems decent but i'm only 4 episodes in so i'm reserving judgement for now and the opening episode of Family Guy series 9), going for a brief walk in the sunshine, doing sudokus (i find them incredibly relaxing and addictive), watched a film (Monsters, which was part of an ill-advised but inevitable DVD spree in HMV on Wednesday, and absolutely as good as i remembered it being, 5/5 definitely) and read both online and physical news.

The TV and movie bits aside the whole day has been soundtracked by a playlist i compiled shortly after waking up of a bunch of new music i'm really liking at the moment and that music is going to form the body of this blog post. Some of it i found by my usual method of stumbling around the internet following related artist links, some was on recommendations from blogs and websites and a couple were based on advice from friends. I'll have spoken about a few of them before but those that i have are worth a second mention i believe.
Wild Beasts
I've been seeing Wild Beasts mentioned in relation to a lot of other artists i am a fan of but for no particular reason had never got round to giving them a listen, that is until yesterday afternoon. I've now listened to their two most recent studio albums a couple of times over each and my main emotion is disappointment that i haven't checked them out before. 'Two Dancers' and the 2011 release 'Smother' are both great albums, dabbling at the electronic end of indie and entertainingly varied over the course of either LP.


Some tunes like 'Deeper' combine relaxed guitar, synth lines and drums with an almost Guy Garvey-esque vocal smoothness, while others are more fast paced and dancy, such as 'Hooting and Howling'. It's the range and changeability of tempos within their songs which makes them so entertaining.

Chapel Club
Another band whose name i'd seen plenty of but couldn't think of a song they'd done was these guys from London. Their debut album "Palace" is excellent with a refreshingly straight forward guitar based indie sound that reminds me of a number of the indie bands from the early 2000's, the period when i fell in love with music. There are hints of Editors, Futureheads and Cribs, but the band they most remind me of are Boy Kill Boy, a band who i think are under-rated and whose album 'Civilian' was a favourite for a period of my teens. Chapel Club's songs are characterised by aggresive guitar and drum lines as seen in 'Surfacing' and the song i posted last night 'All The Eastern Girls' or by more harmony focussed chorus' like in 'Oh Maybe I'. There slightly retro sound may put some people off, but for all that i love the current crop of electronica based indie bands, sometimes i like a good old fashioned guitar band and Chapel Club fit that bill.

The Crookes
I've written a few times about this Sheffield based band so i'll keep this short but it is worth remarking that their album is standing up to repeat listens and their song 'Backstreet Lovers' is a definite favourite.

The Naked and Famous
These guys are another band which i've already given quite a bit of coverage, but like 'The Crookes', their album still sounds absolutely brilliant despite some pretty intense listening. 'Punching In A Dream', 'Girls Like You' and 'No Way' are all incredible tunes which either make me want to lie in the sun with friends or go out, get drunk and dance like a loon depending on my mood at the time, but either way it's a good feeling.

Fenech-Soler
This was a band mentioned in passing by a friend as worth giving a listen to as i like Friendly Fires and that's a good way of summing up their appeal. So far i'm not convinced over the course of an album they offer a whole lot that is much better than Friendly Fires first album but the track 'Stone-bridge' is a great tune.

The Vaccines
Another of the group of bands bringing guitar based indie back after a period in the wilderness, at least so far as good quality stuff was concerned, is The Vaccines. Their songs at times have a brilliant simplicity reminiscent of The Ramones as in 'Wreckin Bar (ra ra ra)', but they also showcase on their debut album the ability to do some more complex tunes when the mood takes them. 'Post Break-up sex' is a real indie anthem in the making with the right combination of danceable tune and sing along chorus to make sure it gets played up and down the country in Indie clubs.

Dirty Projectors
Now i've only listened to a couple of the songs by these guys but i'm already intrigued, at least partly just because the songs were so different from each other. It means that i can't get enough of a handle on them yet to write a good review but i definitely like it enough to recommend it.

So that's the round up of the bands that appeared on today's playlist so if you're wanting to listen to some music this Friday evening, but aren't so so so excited enough to listen to Rebecca Black then you could do worse than to check out the bands listed above.

Over the next few weeks i'm going to be posting a series of film reviews in amongst the other news and random events inspired posts. They're going to be a series of 500 word reviews of my favourite films, categorised by genre and the first one will be my favourite comedy film, which will probably be posted on Sunday evening. I suspect that quite a few of the people who read this will be able to guess what it will be but until Sunday i won't confirm or deny those guesses.

Seeing as part of the reason i like several of the bands mentioned above is that they exemplify a return to the kind of indie which made me fall in love with music as a 13/14 year old, i thought i'd finish this blog with a song from the first album i ever bought with my own money, the first album i listened to all the way through only to press play again the moment it finished and the first album which made me realise just how important music could be to my life.



Thursday 26 May 2011

Running With The Wolf Pack Again

The Hangover Part II (Phillips, 2011)

I want to state this at the beginning so there is no misunderstanding, 'The Hangover Part II' is a good film, it's funny, entertaining and well worth a watch. Sadly though where the first film was the equivalent of the perfect night out with close friends, this is, arguably fittingly for a sequel, like a reunion with old friends; there are a lot of great moments as you rediscover old friendships, but there's also the friends who've become weird or come out with racist comments and by the end of the night you're left with a frustrated certainty that they all used to be a lot more fun.

'Part II' takes place in Thailand as dentist Stu (Ed Helms) prepares to get married and the first 20 minutes set up Stu being desperate to avoid a repeat of Vegas and a pretty standard family dynamic; loving wife to be, disapproving father-in-law and golden boy brother-in-law (admittedly a more likeable one than most). Inevitably Stu agrees to one drink and then the first part's formula kicks in with the boy's awakening in a strange hotel room with no memory of the night before but a few of the consequences.

The film's problems stem from the fact that it sticks bizarrely closely to the first one's formula throughout and the same set up is very rarely as funny twice over. There's an animal (a smoking monkey instead of a tiger), an incident of facial disfigurement, a missing friend (Doug this time is not the one, but he isn't with the boys either, merely popping up occasionally as a go between) and even pint sized gangster Chou is back.

A film with the same characters but a different premise could have been great, however by instead just transferring the plot to Thailand and playing up all the stereotypes of Bangkok (chaos, poverty, heat, ladyboys and prostitutes) Phillips shows a surprising lack of appreciation for the law of diminishing returns within comedy.

There are a couple of cameo's but one is almost criminally under used on a storyline that never becomes funny and the other just seems uninspired which compared to the cameos of Tyson and Graham in 'Part I' is a real disappointment.

There are still a lot of scenes that capture the first instalment's anarchic sense of humour and make great use of the concept but they're let down by others where the film seems so desperate to act out and live up to Bangkok's crazy reputation that they forget to check whether they're being funny or just extreme.

Like i said at the start i recommend you see the film for yourselves and make your own minds up (i guess that goes for any of my reviews) but precisely because i went into the film with high hopes this second instalment was a bit of a disappointment. Like a few nights out i can remember.

3/5

Today's song is one i only discovered today whilst on a new music kick but i'm definitely liking it, and the album it is off.

Wednesday 25 May 2011

Same Again, Barack?

Apologies for the extremely short post last night, i'd spent the evening round at a friend's house as a way of relaxing after a day of travelling and revising and wasn't in the mood to write anything lengthy.

I think the exam went alright and for today's blog i'm going to write a post that is along the line of the first essay question i answered this morning. The question was to the effect of "Despite the result of the mid-term elections, the Democrats and Barack Obama are actually in a strong position going into the 2012 elections" Do you agree?

The mid-term elections were definitely a major blow for Obama and the Democrats; losing the majority in the House of Representatives has made the task of passing new laws and meeting the targets they set themselves that much harder as the Republicans are determinedly slowing any progress. This was highlighted by the events of just two months ago when they took the government to the point of shut down by refusing to agree to a budget deal.

It was a disappointment for him but it is unlikely it came as a big surprise to Obama that there was a backlash from voters at the height of the economic recession, troops in two international war zones and having just passed an unpopular welfare bill.

However i believe there are a number of reasons why he and the Democrats as a whole should be quietly confident when looking towards the 2012 Presidential election.

The death of Osama Bin Laden will undoubtedly have a big effect on the 2012 campaign. Internationally and historically his decision may be questioned for the legality, long term outcome and whether it was possible for him to have been captured rather than killed; domestically though it was a definite success, drawing praise from both sides of the political spectrum and offering a rare moment of unity for the nation. Considering the symbolic value of Osama Bin Laden and the events that have unfolded since 9/11 his death will undoubtedly be a boost to Obama's campaign as it is a success that the Republican's won't want to challenge him on.

Secondly just days before the death of the World's most wanted man was announced Obama also managed to strike a pretty fatal blow to the "birther" conspiracy. That was the idea, spread by right wing politicians and media outlets that Barack Obama wasn't born in the United States and therefore not eligible to be President. The whole conspiracy was farcical, ideologically driven and reeked of certain elements of American society's bigoted unwillingness to accept that they have a black man as a President. Incidentally Republican Presidential candidate John McCain was born in a U.S naval station in Panama while it was under U.S control, but there was no speculation about whether he was a legitimate candidate.

Obama clearly attempted to ignore the idiotic conspiracy for as long as he could but somehow it made the jump from fringe theory to commonly held belief and he was forced to publish his full length birth certificate. Now that won't shut the real loonies up but it should put pay to the birth certificate debate as a serious political issue and in doing so he made several key Republican's look very foolish for having either supported or played up to the idea. Donald Trump, who had been talking himself up as a candidate and polling surprisingly well, has since ruled himself out and the decision to jump on the birther bandwagon just before Obama derailed it has to be seen as the main cause of that.

Not only did Obama deal with a conspiracy theory in a manner that combined an emphatic conclusion with a frustrated sigh, but he did it all with a charisma and charm that was in contrast to the aloof character he is often accused of being. The speech at the Correspondent's Dinner was superb, showing a comic timing and self-effacing humour that few politicians could have pulled off. The joke below was utterly brilliant and delivered in a fantastically deadpan manner.


As well as through direct pieces of action and policy on Obama's part now and for the next year or so, he will also be helped simply by the difference of two years between the mid-terms and the Presidential election.

Firstly, the economy in the U.S should continue to grow and recover (7 consecutive quarters of growth so far) and if it does the ensuing improvement in living standards and fall in unemployment will mean that voters go to the polls in a very different mindset to the situation a year ago when the average American was really feeling the bite from the recession. That's not to say that by the time of the election all will be well with the U.S economy or that there won't be anger about that directed at Obama, however if the majority of news stories to do with the economy are about growth and rising employment then the psychology of the voters will be very different to before the mid-terms.

Secondly, there are now no US troops in Iraq and a schedule for pulling troops out of Afghanistan. This means that barring any sudden change in foreign policy, Obama will no longer be faced with taking criticism for trying to deal responsibly with two lengthy, costly and unpopular wars, a legacy left to him by George Bush but which seemed to become his fault in the eyes of many voters within weeks of him taking office. Being able to distance himself from the wars and consider the military involvement over will be a boost to his popularity.

The third time related change is that the mid-terms took place at the height of the Healthcare debate and the virulent campaign from the Republicans combined with the American populace's inherent distrust of state involvement and big government schemes meant that the results of the mid-terms were at least partly a reflection of the bill's unpopularity at the time and the prominence of the Tea Party which had put themselves in opposition to it. However two years will have passed since then and though it will undoubtedly become an issue again it will not be the all consuming media focus or the source of such aggressive opposition during the Presidential election as people will have lost some interest in it, others may actually be finding that little has changed or even that they are benefiting from it and any Republican trying too hard to make it into their flagship issue could fall foul of the fickle attention and patience spans of the voting public.

The combination of these issues and a whole host of others come together in my final reason why Obama can be reasonably confident of his chances in 2012; there is no strong, obvious challenger in the Republican's ranks who seems interested. So far the only names with any potential attached to them are Ron Paul, Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich and Tim Pawlenty, with the terrible twosome of Michelle Bachmann and Sarah Palin yet to declare their intentions, and none of them seem to combine the requisite combination of charisma, intelligence and shrew political ability to have much chance of unseating Obama.

Bachmann (above) could be a real liability for the Republican's as a more extreme, less contemplative Sarah Palin (think about that concept for a moment) and Palin seems to prefer the idea of waiting for 2016 and a possible weaker Democrat candidate. That attitude I believe is shared by quite a few potential leaders amongst the Republican Party with Mike Huckabee springing to mind in that context.

Pawlenty is barely known of outside of the mid-west, Gingrich isn't popular enough any more to mount a serious challenge while Paul and Romney could end up being torn apart by the infighting between the Tea Party and the rest of the Republican Party. Also at 75 Ron Paul could fall foul of the same consideration McCain (who was only 70 when he decided to run, and is a war veteran) did to an extent, that of whether he is too old to have arguably the most stressful job in the world?

So that's a blogged up, less formal and more broken up response to the same question i answered in the exam. As i was writing it this morning i thought it would make for a good blog post.

Today's song is from a highly politicised American band, which seemed an appropriate way to end this post.