Members’ Day – Home of the Dandelions

After my day at Arsenal Football Ground I decided to take a circumferent walk  that took me around the surrounding area of the stadium. Coming down Gillespie Road (in the opposite direction) I came across a nature reserve park that is situated to the left of the station.  On match days, I’ve never noticed this park as I come down the opposite side.

On entering the nature park, I can best describe it as an overgrown place of nettles and weeds.  However, the park is quite large and has a lake and a duck house – I think. I was a few minutes into the park where it broke out into a small lawn area which fielded some benches.  At this point I was inundated with flying Dandelions in their masses. It was almost like an airport terminal with Dandelions flying off and some coming to land on the lawn. It was the most spectacular sight as I was enthralled looking at these flying plants! I took a seat on the bench and spent some time just taking in the atmosphere. I don’t have a powerful camera that can capture these flying plants so you’ll just have to believe me that I found the source. I’ve attached some pics of the entrance to the park.

In the background I could hear a thud of ball being kicked about. It reminded me of the chopping knife scene on page 1 of ‘Girl with a Pearl Earring’ and I had that moment where we would seamlessly perform a Close ON to the ensuing football game between kids on a school holiday biding their time away.

Members’ Day – Ask Theo a Question

I was one of a lucky selected pool of members to attend a Q&A with members of the Arsenal team. I had to queue for an additional 45′ but I’m so glad I did. What this has to do with Observational Research is unknown but I love every minute of it.

To be seated approx 13 rows from Theo Walcott, Kieran Giibs Johan Djourou and Nic Bendtner was exciting and to have my question directed at Theo was terrific. But, stupidly in my fear, I asked Bob Wilson to ask the question on my behalf- doh! That was really dumb – and to my horror I was the only one who did that.

It got me thinking about binary based decisions and the way we as human’s make split second decision making. My rationale for asking the question was that Bob Wilson was near the players whereas I was many rows back, which meant in my split-second thinking he would have to come towards me. I was also left with the dilemma that my name was incorrectly read out – my surname being pronounced as my firstname, something I had not heard since being at school. So with all these things flying against me I retired the question to Bob – which I felt he made a poor job as he missed the essence of the question.

And as usual I digress. Binary decision making. We’ve all been there and most probably all of us realise the consequences of a faulty decision. Only when we analyse the decision making and hindsight comes into play do we come to terms with mess that we’re in. Now, I’m not going to reduce binary decision making down to what see in popcorn movies or an episiode of 24, but it’s something that I also want to explore how when forced to make a decision that is time pressured why some people select the wrong side of 50/50 and the consequences of that decision.

I’ve included a clip of Theo answering my question which was: “You’re one of the most important players to the Arsenal and England squad and despite your injuries last season, what can you tell the fans about your hunger and desire to be a constant fixture in the starting 11 for Arsenal this season?”

Members’ Day – Dandelions

Just after midday, I had taken my seat in a prominent position about 10 rows from the pitch. I can never understand why people generally prefer to sit in the rafters. To be this close to your team is akin to a nirvana experience for me!

Anyway, whilst I was watching the team I noticed several Dandelions floating towards me.  I blew them onto an interect course to the person in front of me and thought nothing much else of them. But, a little later, I noticed a string of them hovering above our heads – being magnetically drawn from one end of the stadium to another. I was quite fascinated by this dandelion parade that I began to wonder whether this parade could be somwhow symbolic. Dandelions, I presume, contain pollen which will eventually fertilise once embedded into soil.

I was so enthralled by this plant gently gliding over our heads that I began to think of why this image was so powerful to me that I was more interested in the Dandelions dance than watching Arsenal kick a few balls around in training? Maybe, the Dandelion is signifier of fertility and that the reproductive cycle plants was also coinciding with the start of the football season. What I mean, is that whatever happened previously is irrelevant. It’s what happens now and moving forward that matters.

There was something very compelling about this image and I want to research Dandelions to understand their significance because to me they hold a very magical and potent symbol – what that is I’ve yet to find out.

Members’ Day – The Queues

Wednesday, August 5th. It was my first attendance at Members’ Day at Arsenal and I must admit I felt very excited by being here.  Each year, Arsenal opens its Stadium to its members to come and watch the team train. The day was supposed to start at 11.15, but we were not let in until 12pm – I had been queuing for over an hour!

About 6,000 people attended and it was to be my opportunity to get into the rhythm for my obersevation reasearch. Whenever I come to Emirates I am always visually assaulted by the sheer beauty of the Stadium. Whilst I love the look of Wembley, with its pendulum arch, there is something quite refined about the Arsenal stadium.

It’s glass bowl structure supports an upper undulating-like surface – almost watery like as if a shallow wave is coming to shore. But more impressively, there is something quite gladiatorial about this stadia that reminds me of the great Colliseum in Rome. This building may be a glorious piece of architecture but at as Aunty Entity (Tina Turner) in Mad Max III stated – ‘Two men enter, one man leaves” – this is where battles are lost and won.

Each week, Arsenal must do battle on it’s home ground defending its honour against the maruading teams in the Premier League. It knows that to lose a game here is the equivalent feeling of being scalped, and sometimes defeat feels worse when it’s by a lesser team that possess more hunger and spirit than Arsenal. Arsenal’s motto – which is imprinted on its shirts and displayed on the stadium’s facade – is ‘Victoria Concordia Crescit’ which translates to Victory through harmony.

Whilst I was in a the hour long queue, I got chatting to a man who had taken the day off to take his two young children. He had travelled not that far from Barnet and had just spent over £100 on the latest Arsenal away kit for his two young sons in which the oldest was most probably 6/7 years old. In describing the man I would honestly say he was obese, however what struck me was not his huge size, but the calmness his exhibited in front of his two boys who were becoming bored with each passing minute, and kept asking the same question about when they were going to be allowed in. At this time, the crowd outside were swelling to huge numbers in their multiples of thousands, and the queues were snaking and curling. Some of the queues intersected with others, whilst other queues  curled bent around one another with perfect symmetry and not dare intersect with the other queue – us Brits have really perfected the art of queuing, literally.