It’s a relaxed 10:30am start for today’s Turkey Trot Half
Marathon. L thinks I’m probably a little too relaxed.
The only problem with the 10:30am start is that it means I’ve
had to choose between the run and Derby v Forest which kicks off at noon. Obviously
it didn’t kick off at noon when I booked the race but that’s Sky TV for you. The
run wins though, as I’ve been waiting for years to get an entry in to this sold
out race.
The start is at the South Wolds School in Keyworth where
they have t-shirts for sale with everyone’s name on the back. Which is a
cunning ploy and obviously I have to have one. I assume that means there isn’t one at the
finish but apparently they have different mementos each year.
The course is a big loop through what I believe is known as
the South Nottinghamshire Wolds taking in the villages of Wysall,
Willoughby-on-the-Wolds and Widmerpool with a few undulations on the way.
The biggest undulation is the one at three miles just before
Wysall, the rest is pleasantly teasing and I enjoy the terrain. Obviously it’s
not going to be a fast course but I’m still a little disappointed with my time
of 1:46 but then I haven’t done any training other than a few parkruns. I'm probably more annoyed with it because the race seems to have pulled a very fast field.
This year’s memento turns out to be a medal, trust me to
pick this year. Then it’s mince pies and a cuppa before being reunited with my loyal supporters, L and
the boys.
My brother enjoys my match ticket as Derby defeat Forest 3-0.
In the evening we were due to visit Son in Leamington but
he’s in bed ill so we decide to do a film and a pint instead. I’m picking the
film though. Even L seems fed up with her own choices although they have all been
talking points. So after some food a Broadway and two pints of Centurion it’s
Snowden.
Snowden tells the story of the events that led Edward
Snowden to becoming one of the most wanted men in the world.
Snowden (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) was a computer expert who got
his dream job with the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency). As a strong believer
in his country it was the perfect job for him, helping to track the spies and terrorists
that wish to cause damage to this country.
The film tracks his rise through the ranks of the
intelligence community from his military service, his stationing in Geneva and
Japan, then finally his employment with the NSA (National Security Agency) in
Hawaii. Where they have a facility that is right out of any James Bond film.
At first he loves he job but then his conscience started
bothering him when he discovers that besides spying on other countries and
terrorist organizations around the world, the government also has a massive
espionage network in place in the USA itself. In fact twice as much data is
being taken from the USA as it is from Russia.
What's mind-blowing is the sheer scope of everything the
surveillance program comprised. How the NSA can link up computer to computer
and therefore person to person using all their available technological devices.
If you believe it, and this film is telling you believe it, then it is
chilling. So do what Snowden does and always put a sticking plaster over your
laptop’s webcam when you’re having sex with your girlfriend.
His girlfriend is Lindsay Mills (Shailene Woodley) and she
is alongside him all the way, being shunted all around the world, yet she has
little idea what he is up to most of the time and naturally he can’t tell her.
She stays impressively by his side throughout even he downloads
evidence of the surveillance program and flies to Hong Kong with it. It is from
a hotel there that much of the story is told in flashbacks as he reveals all to
documentary filmmaker Laura Poitros (Melissa Leo) and journalists Glenn
Greenwald (Zachary Quinto) and Ewan MacAskill (Tom Wilkinson) of The Guardian.
When they publish his revelations he has to go on the run
and winds up at Moscow International Airport, where he becomes a fugitive
charged under the Espionage Act for revealing classified information. The
government and the media initially portrayed him as a spy but as everyone took
in the information he had revealed public opinion generally swung behind him but
the government’s stance remains the same and he remains in Russia, although not
at the airport, to this day.
It’s a very well made film, informative and riveting which keeps
you engaged and more importantly gets you thinking. It’s also well acted and
well directed by Oliver Stone, a man well known for his critiques of the
American government. Consequently the film perhaps does try a little too hard
to paint Snowden as a hero but then, perhaps he was.
(Sunday 11th December)
We dissect the film afterwards in the Lord Roberts.
(Sunday 11th December)
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