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Goodnight My Sweet Princess
Feb. 20th, 2014 08:38 pmWent to London to lay flowers for Sarah. Can't believe it's 15 years ;(
After laying my bouquet I went on to Camden Town, to the Jewish Museum to see the exhibition Four Four Jew - which Sarah would certainly have approved of, as she was both a devoted Manchester United fan and very interested in Jewish culture.
Coming out of the tube station, I saw a man standing on his hands with his head in a hat on the ground (he remained immobile in position throughout the few minutes I saw him), with a McDonald's paper bag next to the hat for people to put money in. A handwritten sign adjacent to the hat said he was a professional handstand artist and warned people not to try the stunt at home, and invited people to take photos with him if they put a donation in. A group of Japanese tourists were indeed taking a snapshot with him. I couldn't help thinking : Sarah would have liked this.
The exhibition was very interesting, opening with a display on how Jewish immigrants' young sons in the early 20th century integrated into their communities by playing for local junior football clubs. There were exhibits and film shows about British Jewish players, directors and supporters. It was interesting to see that Arsenal openly acknowledged and engaged with their Jewish fans a decade before Tottenham, stereotyped as the club the Jews support, did. As a Luton Town fan I was very pleased to see a cabinet devoted to former player and manager David Pleat.
The only thing that jarred with me was a video clip in David Dein's section. I've no doubt that Mr Dein loved Arsenal FC with a passion and was always committed to making them successful, but the bit I found hard to take detailed his role in leading the top division's breakaway from the Football League. His claim that the creation of the Premiership "wasn't because we wanted more money" and was just because "the small clubs had too much power" left a sour taste. Mr Dein, it was 100% because the top division clubs wanted more money! The only change he openly named as an example of the small League clubs "blocking progress" was their vetoing players' names and squad numbers on shirts. Everyone knows that that was a marketing ploy! I'm a big fan of the old League of 92 the way it was, and football the way it used to be, so I'm biased, but I truly believe football was better and more enjoyable before the Premier breakaway of 1992.
Despite that, it was a fascinating exhibition and I'm glad to have seen it. Popped to the museum cafe after. Unfortunately I'd taken so long going round the exhibition that the cafe was close to closing time and was out of "Israeli Specials" (vine leaves, hokum out, pitta bread and falafel) which I'd really fancied when seeing it on the menu. Settled for an ice cream sundae and a piece of vanilla flavour Halva, an Israeli sesame-based candy - quite tasty.
Then it was time to wend my way back to Leighton to get the shopping in.
After laying my bouquet I went on to Camden Town, to the Jewish Museum to see the exhibition Four Four Jew - which Sarah would certainly have approved of, as she was both a devoted Manchester United fan and very interested in Jewish culture.
Coming out of the tube station, I saw a man standing on his hands with his head in a hat on the ground (he remained immobile in position throughout the few minutes I saw him), with a McDonald's paper bag next to the hat for people to put money in. A handwritten sign adjacent to the hat said he was a professional handstand artist and warned people not to try the stunt at home, and invited people to take photos with him if they put a donation in. A group of Japanese tourists were indeed taking a snapshot with him. I couldn't help thinking : Sarah would have liked this.
The exhibition was very interesting, opening with a display on how Jewish immigrants' young sons in the early 20th century integrated into their communities by playing for local junior football clubs. There were exhibits and film shows about British Jewish players, directors and supporters. It was interesting to see that Arsenal openly acknowledged and engaged with their Jewish fans a decade before Tottenham, stereotyped as the club the Jews support, did. As a Luton Town fan I was very pleased to see a cabinet devoted to former player and manager David Pleat.
The only thing that jarred with me was a video clip in David Dein's section. I've no doubt that Mr Dein loved Arsenal FC with a passion and was always committed to making them successful, but the bit I found hard to take detailed his role in leading the top division's breakaway from the Football League. His claim that the creation of the Premiership "wasn't because we wanted more money" and was just because "the small clubs had too much power" left a sour taste. Mr Dein, it was 100% because the top division clubs wanted more money! The only change he openly named as an example of the small League clubs "blocking progress" was their vetoing players' names and squad numbers on shirts. Everyone knows that that was a marketing ploy! I'm a big fan of the old League of 92 the way it was, and football the way it used to be, so I'm biased, but I truly believe football was better and more enjoyable before the Premier breakaway of 1992.
Despite that, it was a fascinating exhibition and I'm glad to have seen it. Popped to the museum cafe after. Unfortunately I'd taken so long going round the exhibition that the cafe was close to closing time and was out of "Israeli Specials" (vine leaves, hokum out, pitta bread and falafel) which I'd really fancied when seeing it on the menu. Settled for an ice cream sundae and a piece of vanilla flavour Halva, an Israeli sesame-based candy - quite tasty.
Then it was time to wend my way back to Leighton to get the shopping in.
