Snow, glorious snow

It was quite joyous weather today as the snow fell heavily and settled for the first time this year. And coming so late, it created beautiful juxtapositions such as cherry blossom trees being apparelled by the white flakes - Spring mixed with Winter. It was also pleasing to hear the "crump" of snow underfoot as I walked through the large field near our house that crests the hill. It may be cold but it is wonderful too.

So 'Moses' is dead. Charlton Heston was a versatile actor with many memorable films to his name. His "get your hands off me, you stinking ape," is oft-quoted, but for me the film line of his that sticks most in the mind is his cameo in Michael Moore's anti-gun documentary Bowling for Columbine, where Moore shows clips of Heston, the chairman of the National Rifle Association, that most malign of organisations, at a rally held in a town that recently had a mass-shooting. On the stage, a lectern in front of him, he lifts a rifle aloft and roars "from my cold, dead hands," and the assembled delegates whoop like hyenas. That in many ways is more striking than Moore's goading of him at the end of the movie. It draws one response, as offered by an alien in the film Men in Black to a redneck farmer who has uttered the same words regarding relinquishing his rifle "This request is acceptable," before making it a reality. Now Heston is gone, the gun really can be wrenched from his "cold, dead hands." His movie career can be admired, but you have to stop there if you really want to appreciate the man.

I think it's great that the FA Cup is so unpredictable. The semi-finals were potentially more interesting than the Champions League quarter-finals because the line-up was so unusual - three second-tier teams and a mid-table Premiership one. This just confirms what slimeballs the executives at Sky are then, by scheduling Premiership matches in direct competition with the FA Cup. On Sunday it is bit troublesome to avoid the late afternoon kick-off for the second semi-final, but the first on Saturday kicked off at 12.15pm. Half an hour later, Arsenal played Liverpool which might have produced a result that affected the Premiership title race. Of course, the teams have little say over when their matches are played since TV money dominates, but I noticed no teams were playing at 5.15pm, another usual kick-off time on a Saturday. Arsenal could easily have played Liverpool then, but Sky wanted to try and hurt the FA Cup. It is nothing new from an American corporation trying to do down a British institution though. As it goes, out of 180 minutes of both semi-finals the only pleasurable part was the last twenty minutes of West Bromwich Albion versus Portsmouth, when West Brom frantically looked for an equaliser. According to the radio commentary, the Barnsley-Cardiff City match was dire. But I still stand by my claim that these semi-finals hold more charm than the Champions League quarters, despite the huge gulf in quality and that is because those four teams represent a once-in-a-lifetime event, that they (or others of their ilk) should all be there.