Monday 10 July
I don't often watch television except for the news, but recently I have been overdosing on it. The effect is like bingeing on chocolate. It seems good at the time, but you know it's not really good for you in excess, and you regret it later.
The reason for the telethon is that there is a lot of interesting sport being shown at present. Yesterday afternoon I was watching the men's final at Wimbledon, lusting after Rafael Nadal. He has been the sensation at this year's Wimbledon, and although he lost the final to the deeply unsexy Roger Federer, that didn't really matter. It was just a pleasure to watch him in action.
In the evening, there was the final of the World Cup, between France and Italy. I don't have any preference between these teams. Usually, it only takes a few of minutes of watching a game for me to start backing one team or the other, but this didn't happen with yesterday's game. I wasn't particularly enthusiastic about either team, and I thought the game was uninspiring. Admittedly, I missed the first 20 minutes, when both the goals were scored. I also missed the penalty shootout at the end, because we had tickets for a late evening concert at Harewood House, a recital of mediaeval music for strings, as part of the York Early Music Festival. I didn't mind that at all, because I don't much like penalty shootouts, and the music, in the sumptuous setting of the Harewood House picture gallery, was far more enjoyable. Anyway, by then I had watched far too much television for one day.
Of the part of the football match that I did see, the highlight was the head-butting incident for which Zinédine Zidane was rightly given a red card, a sad way for a great footballer to end his career.
The other sporting event that I like to watch at this time of year is the Tour de France, but I haven't seen any of that yet this year. Maybe I'll have time later this week to see some of that. Not tomorrow, though, because I'm intending to go for a hike in the Yorkshire Dales. I need to loosen up the leg muscles in preparation for my annual walking holiday in Scotland later this month. More details, and maybe some pictures, next time.
