The Legendary Aviator.

There was a man similar to Usain Bolt, Bill Gates, Brad Pitt, Vybz Kartel and even Michael Jackson.

This man was once a speed record holder, he was one of the richest men in the World and he had famous love affairs with several Hollywood starlets. He had a slew of critics too, they said the art he created was too Sexy and too Violent and he later became a crazy recluse.

He was Howard Hughes.

Ok, so it’s true that Hughes  didn’t run on a track, like Bolt does and Howard Hughes used airplanes to set all his speed records and yes it’s true that Hughes didn’t sing Dancehall songs, like Vybz Kartel, instead his art form was Big Budget Movies, but I think it’s still clear that Howard Hughes lived a legendary life.

Bolt often says in interviews that he wants to become a Legend, I hope he will avoid all the pitfalls that Hughes fell into. In fact I think we could all learn a lot from the Howard Hughes life story.

Nowadays though few people want to read long books so perhaps you can just watch some movies inspired by Howard Hughes instead.

It is, understandably, nearly impossible to capture such a multi-dimensional character fully in one film but the Martin Scorcese film, “The Aviator”, starring Leonardo Di Caprio, was quite excellent. Every detail was just perfect from the Acting straight down to the musical score and costuming.

I also recently discovered that Howard Hughes is one of the inspirations behind the famous Marvel comic character “Iron Man”, (or more precisely his alter ego Tony Starks) who, despite being brilliant, has severe personal flaws. The comic-based movie “Rocketeer” also has a Hughes-inspired character.

Two other movies “Melvin and Howard” and “The Hoax” also detail aspects of the bizarre incidents that often surrounded Hughes.

The first is about the so-called “Mormon Will”, that surfaced after Hughes death, and the second is about a false biography, that someone wrote about Howard Hughes while he was alive, that forced the hermit magnate to defend himself with legal action.

As good as all those movies were though I enjoyed most of all the documentary about Hughes in the Modern Marvels series shown on History Channel. It showed the brilliant side of this incredible man. His company is still at the forefront of aviation technology and also critical in the development of the satellite television broadcasting that has made our world smaller.  It showed how even when Hughes was in hospital for severe burns from a plane crash he designed a better hospital bed that is still in use today.

Howard Hughes, the inventor, the legend, we Salute you.

Soboltious !

Soboltious

The awesome performance of Usain Bolt in the 100m finals recently requires a new word to be coined.

Soboltious.

His display was simply “Soboltious”. The new word means Sublime, perfection, it contains elements of what the Japanese call Shibumi or what the Italians call Sprezzatura. It’s poetry in Motion. Unbelievable Brilliance that appears almost effortless.

Soboltious !

Second place finisher, Tyson Gay ran the race of his life, his astounding time of 9.71 seconds was a new American record and suggests to me that his complaints of a groin injury were really just a devious psychological ploy.

At this level at least 90% of the battle is psychological and Asafa Powell, who usually falters in that department, by coming third also performed at his best.

Asafa Powell.

The Master Psychologist Bolt however was Soboltious.  Bolt eased through the 100 m heats, clocking the fastest ever pre-final performance of 9.89 seconds with such ease that he almost appeared to be jogging.He made it look easy through all the heats and then false started in the semis (I personally believe this was intentional). This false start ploy took away the
only weapon that might be used against him by his slower
opponents and completely threw off  Tyrone Edgar of  the UK who false started after and thus missed the final.

Jamaica has a rich sprinting tradition.

The final was the first time Bolt and Gay had met in the season, and the American ran 9.71 seconds, 0.02 off Bolt’s world record run in Beijing. However, Bolt finished some distance ahead of Gay, improving the world record to 9.58 seconds to win his first World Championship gold medal. Taking over a tenth of a second off the previous best mark, this was the largest ever margin of mprovement in the 100 m world record since the beginning of electronic timing.

Such stellar performances cause ignorant skeptics to suggest that he is on drugs but this really only shows their ignorance of Bolt’s early success. He was a sprinting prodigy, at sixteen years old, Bolt had reached times that the great Michael Johnson did not register until he was twenty.

His rivalry with Tyson Gay is just what the sport needs. In fact Tyson Gay did us all a  favor by showing that Bolt is not super human and if the  “Lightning Bolt ” ever gets complacent, he not only can, but will, be beaten.

Bolt finished behind Gay at Osaka.

Their rivalry is not new. Previously finishing second to Gay in the 200m of the 2007 Osaka World Championships boosted Bolt’s desire to run, and he took a more serious, more mature stance towards his career ever since.

Under the guidance of Glen Mills, Bolt achieved the feat of being the first sprinter, since Donald Quarrie, to hold both 100 m and 200 m world records simultaneously and the first since the introduction of electronic timing to do so.

Bolt’s new personal best of 9.58 seconds in the 100 metres is the fastest ever legal time. Bolt also holds the second fastest time of 9.69 seconds. Tyson Gay recorded a time of 9.68 s at the 2008 US Olympic Trials, but was aided with a tail wind of 4.1 m/s, exceeding the legal limit of 2.0 m/s set by the IAAF and nullifying its inclusion as a world record. Obadele Thompson’s run of 9.69 s in 1996 is also not recognised as it was aided by a 5.0 m/s tail wind.

“Sobolious” is a word with no known meaning, probably first used by the Jamaican Dancehall performer L.A. Lewis in a radio interview with Barbara Blake-Hannah.

Bolt’s performance though is Soboltious !