Some guy here named Beckham, says he's famous

Unfortunately for Becks, in some parts of the world, time has been called on his fame. Hundreds of disaster survivors were there to greet him in hard-hit Tacloban, but most of them had no idea who this guy was. Of course, Filipinos tend to revel in basketball rather than football, so that explains part of it. Some of his greeters guessed he must play for the Philippine Azkals, the national soccer team. 

The kids had only his UN credentials to go on. “He just kept smiling while we were giving him a back massage,” 13-year-old Jade Maceda told the Philippine Daily Inquirer, not realising that he’d just laid hands on God. But the paper reported that Beckham conducted himself well, exchanging high-fives and posing for pictures with the children inside the large tent they still use as a classroom. He spent quite a while in there, out of sight of the press, who certainly knew they had a big star on their hands but weren’t allowed in. 

The formerly-English-but-now-pretty-much-American footballer also talked with a support group for grieving mothers, some of whom asked for his autograph and a snuggle for a photo. “He’s so handsome!” Darilyn Bascug gushed. “I heard he plays for the Azkals.” 

Well, he’s never played for the Azkals, but he has played against them. Beckham was on the Los Angeles Galaxy squad that came for an exhibition match in December 2011. Bascug couldn’t remember that, and nor did she know his wife, Victoria, or anyone named Posh Spice, or a singing group called the Spice Girls. 

The Philippines does have some football enthusiasts among the population, though, and Keith Sacrameton, a 27-year-old player, told the Inquirer that he was delighted to see his idol. “I’d only see him before on television, but here I was able to see him up close!”

Everyone around him yawned.

 

Sky to fall any moment

Dubbed in the news media “Thailand’s female Nostradamus”, Dr Kanjira Kanjanaket is predicting up a storm on TV. She’s not an astrologer, she insists – she’s “just” a psychologist. But she somehow has a lot of insight into the future, as you can see tomorrow night on Vuthithorn “Woody” Milintajinda’s  “Woody Talk” show on Modernine. A teaser trailer for the show has already been heavily discussed on the social networks, where 310,000 people have seen it since it was uploaded on February 6. 

For one thing, Kanjira believes that Mother Nature is out for revenge and will rain disaster down on Bangkok sometime before Tuesday. She foresees a large sinkhole and a fire caused by lightning, and maybe some collapsed buildings. “Can you be more specific?” Woody dared her. The disasters would strike Bangkok and the surrounding provinces, she said, much less specifically. 

Kanjira’s record in the soothsaying trade is erratic. She evidently predicted both 9/11 and the Indian Ocean tsunami, so that’s two massive events correct. For lesser occurrences, not so good: She confidently said there would be no election in Thailand on February 2. That particular disaster did take place, of course – just not for everyone who wanted to vote!