Provided you don’t kiss me – Duncan Hamilton

 “He took pride in being an agitator, and gratuitously provocative.” (Hamilton, 2007, p.15).

“’You know,’ he said one day, handing me the team sheet, ‘I’d love all of us to play football the way Frank Sinatra sings… all the richness in the sound, and every word perfect. How gorgeous would that be?’ His face glowed like a fire, and he began to sing along with Sinatra, always a word ahead of him, as if he needed to prove that he knew the lyrics. ‘I’ve got you … under my skin …’ He rose from his chair, still singing, and began to pretend he was dancing with his wife. When the song finished, he laughed until tears ran down his cheeks. He fell back into his chair, arms and legs splayed.

The smile looked as if it might stay on his face for ever. ‘Oh, that was good,’ he said. Blow me, if only football could be that much fun…’” (Hamilton, 2007, p.20).

“He abhorred Revie and regarded Leeds, then League champions, as insular and rotten. But there was a perverse attraction in managing the club he had remorselessly criticized for half a dozen years or more.” (Hamilton, 2007, p.30).

 “He knew that he and Taylor ought to have stayed, hammered out a compromise, however unsatisfactory to them in the short term, and then worked to rid themselves of Longston.” (Hamilton, 2007, p.60).

“After Forest were knocked out of the European Cup in the first round in 1980, it was Clough who arrived for the press conference with champagne and the trophy the following morning. ‘We’d better say goodbye to it in style,’ he announced to the journalists gathered around him.” (Hamilton, 2007, p.71).

“Sometimes you win matches in unusual places – often before you put a foot on the field.” (Hamilton, 2007, p.83). “The conversation with Barton was Clough’s way of explaining that preparation away from the training pitch, and a proper psychological understanding of players was paramount for success.” (Hamilton, 2007, p.84).

“It was hard not to respect a team who adhered to such a rigorous code of behaviour. … no arguing with the referee or with the managers. He didn’t like his players to kick the ball away, waste time.” (Hamilton, 2007, p.89).

“his unselfish work rate and critical function he fulfilled around more flamboyant figures. (…) when he signed McGovern and said so provocatively that he had bought him to ‘teach the others how to play.” (Hamilton, 2007, p.89).

“’If we ever got too high and mighty, I just had to call a team meeting and go around the room. I could point to Robbo and say, “You were a tramp when I came here, now you’re he best winger in the game.” I could tell Burnsy and Lloydy that they’d both have been on the scrap heap without me.” (Hamilton, 2007, p.101).

“He was seldom comfortable with directors or administrators because he generally held them in as much esteem as a dog does its fleas. While there were individuals he liked and respected, he held the view that directors as a breed were parasitical freeloaders with an appalling ignorance of, and scant appreciation for, both his worth and the game itself.” (Hamilton, 2007, p.128).

“’Never quit, never quit,’ I heard him say.” (Hamilton, 2007, p.131). “’Resigning is for prime ministers and people caught with their pants down,’” (Hamilton, 2007, p.143).

About the job as England manager: “’I’d have a difference as well, you know. I’d have won the World Cup. Mind you, I’d probably started a world war in the process…’” (Hamilton, 2007, p.144).

“I can tell, from the moment I see someone in the dressing room, whether he’s off colour, had a row with his missus, kicked a cat or just doesn’t fancy it that particular day. I know who needs lifting. I know who needs to have his arse kicked. I know who needs leaving alone to get on with it. ‘It only takes a minute to score a goal, and it takes less than a minute to change someone’s outlook with a word or two.” (Hamilton, 2007, p.149).

Eric Morecombe: “Eric’s dreadful playing of Grieg’s Piano Concerto in A Minor. Andre Previn was conducting, or at least trying to. He walks over to Eric and says, ‘You’re playing all the wrong notes.’ Eric says to Previn, ‘I’m playing all the right notes but not necessarily in the right order.’ Clough, thought that footballers could be similarly ‘out of tune’, as he put it, like a bad pub pianist. ‘They have all the right notes – but don’t play them in the right order. The difference between a good manager and a bad one is that the good one (a) can recognise they can play and (b) knows how to teach them to put everything in the right order.’” (Hamilton, 2007, p.150).

“Clough wanted more to understand the attitude of his new arrival, and what made him respond positively, than to fill his head with arid tactical theories.” (Hamilton, 2007, p.152).

“Clough also always strived to invent fresh ways to generate a reaction from his players.” (Hamilton, 2007, p.153). “Clough was like an actor, polishing and repolishing his lines.” (Hamilton, 2007, p.153). “Clough believed any shared experience – providing it was a positive one – fostered team spirit.” (Hamilton, 2007, p.154). “Punching players in the stomach, usually at half-time, to signal his displeasure.” (Hamilton, 2007, p.154).

When he was a player: “The manager, Bob Denison, told Clough that now he had finally been chosen for the side, the rest was ‘up to him’, as if Denison himself was offering no support and making little effort to put the debutant at ease. The burden, clough felt, ought to have been taken off him, or at least eased.” (Hamilton, 2007, p.154). “His core dictum as a manager – ‘make sure you’ve got the players who are relaxed’ – sprang out of that moment of thoughtlessness from Dennison. Clough wanted to reassure players: ‘You’re in the team ‘cos you’re good enough, son.’” (Hamilton, 2007, p.154).

“’I don’t know anything about art. But I do know that one artist influences another artist, persuades him to paint in the same style or use the same colours. I reckon if I can influence just one manager to look at what I did, and then try to do exactly the same thing himself, then I’ll take it as a compliment. I’ll know that I was half-decent at my job.” (Hamilton, 2007, p.226).

Cry, the beloved country – Alan Paton 1948

The story of a murderer in South Africa 1948. And how the father oft he murder and the father oft he victim, actually come to the same conclusion, unconditional compassion.

 “The grass is rich a matted, you cannot see the soil. It holds the rain and the mist, and they seep into the ground, feeding the streams of every kloof. It is well-tended, and not too many cattle feed upon it; not too many fires burn it, for the ground is holdy, being even as it came from the Creator. Keep it, guard it, care for it, for it keeps men, guards men, cares for ment. Destroy it and man is destroyed.

Where you stand the grass is rich and matted, you cannot see the soil. But the rich green hills break down. They fall to the valley below, and falling, change their nature. Or they grow red and bare; they cannot hold the rain and the mist, and the strea,s are dry in the kloofs. Too many cattle feed upon the grass, and too many fires have burned it. Stand shod upon it, for it is coarse and sharp, and the stones cut under the feet. It is not kept, or guarded, or cared for, it no longer keeps men, guards men, cares for men. The titihoya does not cry here any more.” (Paton, 1948, p.7).

“And he told them all about these places, of the great hills and valleys of that far country. And the love of them must have been in his voice, for they were all silent and listened to him. He told them too of the sickness of the land, and how the grass had disappeared, and of the dongas that ran from hill to valley, and valley to hill; how it was a land of old men and women, and mothers and children; how the maize grew barely to the height of a man; how the tribe was broken, and the house broken, and the man broken; how when they went away many never came back, many never wrote any more. How this was true not only in Ndotsheni, but also in the Lufafa, and the Inhlavini and the Umkomaas, and the Umzimkulu. But of Gertrude and Absalom he said nothing.” (Paton, 1948, p.22).

“The tragedy is not that things are broken. The tragedy is that they are not mended again. The white man has broken the tribe.” (Paton, 1948, p.25).

“He seeks power and money to put right what is wrong, and when he gets them, why, he enjoys the power and the money. Now he can gratify his lusts. (…) But there is only one thing that has power completely, and that is love. Because when a man loves, he seeks no power and therefore he has power.” (Paton, 1948, p.37).

“Cry, the beloved country, for the unborn child that is the inheritor of our fear. Let him not love the earth too deeply. Let him not laugh too gladly when the water runs through his fingers, nor stand too silent when the setting sun makes re the veld with fire. Let him not be too moved when the birds of his land are singing, nor give too much of his heart to a mountain or a valley. For fear will rob him of all if he gives too much.” (Paton, 1948, p.72).

“For some hours he sat there in the sun, and whether it was the warmth of it, or the sight of the wide plain beneath stretching away to blue and distant mountains, or the mere passage of time, or the divine providence for the soul that is distressed, he could not say; but there was some rising of the spirit, some lifting of the fear.” (Paton, 1948, p.77).

 “And while there is life, there is hope for amendment of life.” (Paton, 1948, p.94).

“When Kumalo had sat down, Father Vincent said to him, Yes, I said pray and rest. Even if it is only words that you pray, and even if your resting is only a lying on a bed. And do not pray for yourself, and do not pray to understand the ways of God. For they are secret. Who knows what life is? – for life is a secret. And why you have compassion for a girl, when you yourself find no compassion? – that is a secret. Any why you go on, when it would seem better to die? – that is a secret. Do not pray and think about these things now, there will be other times. Pray for Gertrude, and for her child, and for the girld, that is to be your son’s wife, and for the child that will be your grandchild. Pray for your wife and all at Ndotsheni. Pray for the woman and the children that are bereaved. Pray for the soul of him who was killed. Pray for us at the Mission House, and for those at Ezenzeleni, who try to rebuild in a place of destruction. Pray for your own rebuilding. Pray for all white people, those who do justice, and those who would do justice if they were not afraid. And do not fear to pray for your son, and for his amendment.

- I hear you.” (Paton, 1948, p.98).

“- And give thanks where you can give thanks. For nothing is better.” (Paton, 1948, p.98).

“ -I am no saintly man, said Jarvis fiercely.

- Of that I cannot speak, but God put His hands on you.

- And Jarvis said, That may be, that may be. He turned suddenly to Kumalo. Go well, umfundisi. Throughout this night, stay well.” (Paton, 1948, p.232).

“It was Msimangu who had said, Msimangu who had no hate for any man, I have one great fear in my heart, that one day when they turn to loving they will find we are turned to hating.” (Paton, 1948, p.235).

I have never been to South Africa, but with this book, I feel I had a glimpse into the culture and tension of this country in 1948.

How brands become icons – Douglas B. Holt 2004

The most interesting point of this book, is that strategy cannever be something abstract and platonic. It needs to work with and make use of the culture and the society it lives in. The usual collection of abstract words isn’t a strategic decision. The most important strategic decision is, which role can such a brand play in society. Thus he takes strategy out of the realm of being useless and simply on paper into an area where it is useful. “From Abstract Associations to Cultural Expressions.” (Holt, 2004, p.36).

“the brand’s value resides in the specifics of the brand’s expression.” (Holt, 2004, p.36). “Managers cleanse their strategies to rid the brand of the messiness of society and history in search of its purified essence.” (Holt, 2004, p.37). They “deny the brand a role as a historical actor in society.” (Holt, 2004, p.37). ... and thus relevance. 

“cultural icons dominate our world.” (Holt, 2004, p.1). “Icons serve as society’s foundational compass points – anchors of meaning.

” (Holt, 2004, p.1). “Consumers flock to brands that embody the ideals they admire, brands that help them express who they want to be.” (Holt, 2004, p.4).

“Identity myths are usually set in populist worlds: places are separated not only from everyday life but also from the realms of commerce and elite control. The people living in populist worlds share  a distinctive ethos that provides intrinsic motivation for their action. (…) they do so because they want to, not because they are being paid.” (Holt, 2004, p.9).

“Iconic brands address acute contradictions in society.” (Holt, 2004, p.7). “identity myth: a simple story that resolves cultural contradictions.” (Holt, 2004, p.11).

“The brand is a historical entity whose desirablility comes from myths that address the most important social tensions of the nation.” (Holt, 2004, p.38).

“An iconic brand can’t behave like a cultural parasite (…). These brands must engage new popular culture as it unfolds. The key to success is for the brand team to carefully select new culture that can be credibly brought into the brand’s milieu, and then give these artifacts a new spin, inflecting them with the brand’s point of view.” (Holt, 2004, p.200). “Iconic brands are built by cultural activists, Yet, while many companies would love to create a Nike, a Budweiser, or a Mountain Dew, most are organized to act as cultural reactionaries.” (Holt, 2004, p.209).

Auden – Poems 1976

Night Mail:

“And none will hear the postman’s knock

Without a quickening of the heart.

For who can bear to feel himself forgotten?” (Auden, 1976, p.38).

Death’s Echo

“The desires of the heart are as crooked as corkscrews,

Not to be born is the best for man;

The second –best is a formal order,

The dance’s pattern; dance while you can.

Dance, dance, for the figure is easy,

The tune is catching and will not stop;

Dance till the stars come down from the rafters;

Dance, dance, dance, till you drop.” (Auden, 1976, p.64).

As he is

“Fresh lovers betray him, every day

Over his green horizon

A fresh deserter rides away,

And miles away birds mutter

Of ambush and of treason;

To fresh defeats he still must move,

To further griefs and greater,

And the defeat of grief.”  (Auden, 1976, p.69).

In memory of Y.B. Yeats

“But for him it was his last afternoon as himself,

An afternoon of nurses and rumours;

The provinces of his body revolted,

The squares of his mind were empty,

Silence invaded the suburbs,

The current of his feeling failed; he became his admirers.” (Auden, 1976, p.76).

Many Happy Returns

“So I wish you first a

Sense of theatre; only

Those who love illusion

And know it will go far:

Otherwise we spend our

Lives in a confusion

Of what we say and do with

Who we really are.” (Auden, 1976, p.117).

“What limping devil sets our

Head and heart at variance,

That each time the Younger

Generation sails,

The old and wheather-beaten

Deny their own experience

And pray the gods to send them

Calm seas, auspicious gales?” (Auden, 1976, p.119).

“Love without desiring

All that you are not.” (Auden, 1976, p.120).

Prime

“Without a name or history I wake

Between my body and the day.” (Auden, 1976, p.196).

“I draw breah; that is of course to wish

No matter what, to be wise,

To be different, to die and the cost,

No matter how, is Paradise

Lost of course and myself owing a death.” (Auden, 1976, p.197).

The cave of making

“… Here silence

is turned into objects.” (Auden, 1976, p.209).

“… I wish you hadn’t

caught that cold, but the dead we miss are easier

to talk to: with those no longer

tensed by problems one cannot feel shy and, anyway,

when playing cards or drinking

or pulling faces are out of the question, what else is there

to do but talk to the voices

of conscience they have become? From now on, as a visitor

who needn’t be met at the station,

your influence is welcome at any hour in my ubiquity.” (Auden, 1976, p.211).

The common life

“… What draws

singular lifes together in the first place,

loneliness, lust, ambition

or mere convenience, is obvious, why they drop

or murder one another

clear enough: how they create, though, a common world

between them, like Bombelli’s

impossible yet useful numbers, no one

has yet explained. …” (Auden, 1976, p.225).

A change of air

“To go Elsewhere is to withdraw from movement;

A side-step, a short one, will convey you thither.” (Auden, 1976, p.227).

On the circuit

“Spirit is willing to repeat

Without a qualm the same old talk,

But Flesh is homesick for our snug

Apartment in New York.

A sulky fifty-six, he finds

A change of meal time utter hell,

Grown far too crotchety to like

A luxury hotel.” (Auden, 1976, p.230).

Lullaby

“Let your last thinks all be thanks.” (Auden, 1976, p.245).

Archaeology

“Knowledge may have its purposes,

but guessing is always

more fun than knowing.” (Auden, 1976, p.249).