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Rawle Austin's Blog - Positive life commentary...

It's been a funny old year what with Lewis Hamilton just failing to win the Formula One Driver's Championship, Tottenham Hotspurs poor start to the 2007/2008 season and the England football team not qualifying for the Euro 2008 tournament.

But these results so often sew the seeds of later success. A drive begins to make amends and it forces you to dig deep into your character to find the strength to pick yourself up and start again.

I have no doubt Lewis Hamilton will go on to greater things, Spurs (under new manager Juande Ramos) will end the season in the top seven.

I know that the England football team, with it's new manager, Fabio Capello, will start to climb the long mountain of improvement with the necessary hard work to win trophies.

The bottom line is never, never, never give up. No matter what.

You will succeed in the end.

My first random thought since returning from China. What a fantastic time! Met up with old friends and forged new ones.

See the pictures here!

My Chinese has improved but I've got a way to go before I become fluent. While I'll keep contact with most of the people I met out there it's great to be home.

Reinvigorated and eager for more adventure!

Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan are back on form and I loved this latest outing. A good comedy with a fantastic cast it blended American, Chinese and French sensibilities.

The jokes came thick and fast but was more than equalled by the action set pieces.

I like the way it seemed to grow from the first two films in the series by showing the main two characters as firm friends.

A very enjoyable experience and I give it 7 out of 10.

Learn more about the film, here!

The boys finally got the season started with a stunning 4 - 0 victory over Derby County.

Tottenham Hotspur were on target courtesy of Steed Malbranque, Jermaine Jenas and Darren Bent.

Manager Martin Jol has done a good job with the quality at his disposal.

Now is the time to dig deep and claw our way back up the Premier League football table.

Here we come!

Finally, after numerous trials and tribulations, the China trip approaches.

Really looking forward to it as it will be a chance to learn more and catch up with friends.

Staying in the city of Shenzhen, I'll probably be doing a bit of informal English teaching too.

Will stay for three months.

Bring it on!

Learn more about Shenzhen here!

Spurs got hammered by Everton 3 - 1 to leave us bottom of the Premier League and Everton top!

Not looking good so far but we have got the talent and the strength and depth to make a comeback.

Come on you Spurs!!

Get behing the scenes of Tottenham Hotspur, here!

Is all this talk about subprime markets and credit crunches leaving you baffled? Do you want to know more? It's the perfect time to increase your financial education!

There's loads of books and reference material available online and one that helped me was the Rich Dad series of books by Robert Kiyosaki.

Reading these increased my curiosity to the extent that I now know far more than I did say four years ago and I'm learning more everyday.

It's a great skill to have, coupled with business and economics, as it affects all of us everyday.

Good to know!

So. The new Premier League football season has started.

Spurs lost 1 - 0 to a last minute goal from Sunderland.

The boys showed a lot of heart but now have to dig deep to get a string of wins together.

With the squad they now possess and a positive attitude, Tottenham Hotspur can only rise to the top.

I predict a top four place.

What can I say about the Transformers movie. One word.

Wow.

With involvement behind the camera from Michael Bay and Steven Spielberg the production was flawless.

Taking time to get to know the human characters and slowly building up to meet the 'Robots in Disguise' was a wise move and well executed.

The computer generated imagery (CGI) that was used to bring the autobots and decepticons to life was absolutely flawless.

The voice actors breathed life into the characters and a touch of humour too. I loved this film and watching it on the big screen was a great experience.

I give it seven and a half out of ten.

Lewis Hamilton, after all the trials and tribulations of the previous week, put it all behind him to win the Hungarian Grand Prix.

He started on pole position and led throughout the race.

The mental strength that is needed to focus and keep positive is immense and the fact that he did it and keeps doing it is great to see.

He is now seven points clear at the top of the drivers championship and is flying high.

Roll on the next race!

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the final book in the series is out. I haven't read the books but have seen all the films. The films really do get better each time.

The entire world created by J K Rowling is a fantastic testament to her creativity.

Not since C S Lewis created Narnia, or J R R Tolkein created Middle Earth has a detailed fantasy world been so well embraced by so many people across the globe.

It goes to show that if you build it and believe in it, people will come.

Rowling is a true inspration and I am looking forward to the final two films.

Check out J K Rowling's official site to learn more.

So what is Web 2.0 anyway?

Well, it includes all websites that you can join, add and change content and interact with other members.

Interactive websites.

My own particular favourite is Facebook. It's a clever model which is great for keeping in touch with friends.

In a clever move Facebook has also recently opened up itself to third party applications.

So people can design useful and fun software to include on Facebook and its members can choose to use them.

It's a great model and an ingenuis way to 'show off your wares'.

With the continued explosive growth of Web 2.0 technology the internet will be the new frontier.

And Growlersworld.com will be in the thick of it.

Lewis Hamilton quickly recovered from his first major crash in Formula One Grand Prix in the qualifier at the German circuit.

He even survived skidding off the track during heavy rain in the actual race which left him having to start from last place.

Hamilton eventually finished in 9th place after some inspired driving.

Current and two time world champion, Fernando Alonso won the race after a thrilling duel with Felipe Massa.

Hamilton still leads the drivers championship but will have to work hard to maintain and grow his lead.

With a proven positive attitude, this is very achieveable and will be exciting to watch.

The Hungary Grand Prix is next!

At this time the UK is suffering its worst floods in living memory.

Climate change has brought frequent heavy rains and has resulted in many thousands of people having their homes and livelihoods ruined.

Thankfully, there has been no loss of life and my thoughts are with those who are going through this traumatic time.

The National Flood Forum has been set up to inform and help people directly affected by this disaster.

Take a look to learn more.

The British Red Cross is helping the flood victims, see how you can help, here.

The world's top five economies at present are, biggest first, USA, Japan, Germany, China and UK.

China is on course to become the world's third largest economy by the end of 2007.

It's economic growth is developing at breakneck speed and it is currently the world's fastest growing economy.

So how is economic growth determined?

Well, basically it all boils down to spending. The total spending of a country counts towards its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) which is a measure of economic growth.

The four main spending factors are consumer spending (the stuff that you and I buy), business spending (also known as business investment), government spending and net exports.

The more of each that a country does, the greater will be its economic growth. This is a good thing as more jobs will be created and people's living standards will increase.

Any measures that help to improve a country's long term economic growth are good in my opinion.

Learn more about the UK economy, here.

Or, how do you stop an exploding man...?

With a flash and much substance, Heroes, quite possibly the greatest ever TV series has come to an end.

This has been a thoroughly engrossing affair and is a triumph of the entire cast and crew.

Unmissable, it's roots in superhero fiction are laid bare for all to see. Having comic book writer Jeph Loeb and artist Tim Sale on board rally added to the whole piece.

Sale, best known for his work on Batman for DC Comics provided the artwork for the character Isaac Mendes.

The complex, interweaving plotlines and character arcs were surprisingly easy to follow and only served to enhance the viewing experience.

Volume Two is fast approaching and I, for one, will be eagerly waiting.

Get up to speed here, Heroes, Heroes the series , Scifiuk.com-Heroes and Heroes on BBC 2

Attended a seminar which launched the Summer of British Film season. It's jointly run by the UK Film Council and BBC Two and what it's doing is bringing classic British films back to the cinema screens.

These films have all been digitally remastered and are released through the UK Film Council's Digital Screen Network (DSN).

So, from 31 July to 11 September 2007, look out for James Bond: Goldfinger, Henry V, The Wicker Man, The Dam Busters, Withnail and I, Brief Encounter and Billy Liar.

These movies will be showing at 136 cinemas up and down the country and for many people it will be the first time they will have seen them on the big screen as the director intended.

Of the trailers I saw I quite liked Goldfinger and Henry V. The films cover a diverse range of genres so there will be something for everyone.

Learn more about this event, here.

And check out the UK Film Council, here.

This was a pretty decent action thriller. Bruce Willis is back as John McClane, the tough cop who don't take no mess.

Great casting and acting, a plausible plot and sense of fear, and a great villian.

The action scenes were breathtakingly fantastic and mixed in with the personal moments I completely enjoyed the movie.

It grabbed me from the first five minutes then flung me through the fast paced story till the end.

Great stuff!

7 out of 10 from me.

Get the full experience, here!

All this recent talk about UK schools teaching children more about money and finance I think is a good idea.

It will increase the knowledge of this subject and thus add to the armoury of skills possessed.

It's a crucial topic that affects us all and the better informed we are of the facts, the better decisions we can make.

I definitely welcome this development and debate.

Brilliant! The latest installment, I found the fifth Potter extravaganza very satisfying.

It gave greater layers of depth to many characters and yes, I found myself caring for many of them which is always a good sign.

There was a clever use of real world current affairs which was delicately handled and centred around the latest Dark Arts teacher.

The fight scenes were inspired and very Jedi-esque. We got to see more of the inner workings of the Ministry of Magic and their base in the City of London.

Voldemort is back with a vengeance!

This is a definite 8 out of 10.

See more about Harry, here.

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