Being British

You never truly appreciate being British until you are away from these shores in lands (and galaxies) far far away. While in India in 1997, a special year for the young republic, I was able to observe at close quarters a relatively old country celebrating a major milestone of freedom, self rule and self determination. What did my extended family do celebrate such a momentous event? Nothing at all. This was a great disappointment to me as both a British tourist but an Indian by heritage but it did underline that while I was always envious of countries with their own Independence Day, I love the country that I call home. India is a greatly patriotic country, (just look at the appetite for cricket against arch rivals Pakistan) just a shame such sentiments did not transcend with my family. Where is Mr Bharat when you need him? In a twist of fate, Princess Diana tragically passed while I was still in the sub-continent and that single news event made a greater impact than the 50th anniversary.

I should be more patriotic than I am, I mean the feeling should run deeper than just the national football team. I always feel British rather than purely English although at times the lines are blurred making the distinction quite difficult. I do feel part of a kingdom, although doubt it will be in existence as a United Kingdom for much longer. Time will tell. I recall one of my first ever blog entries on this blog (which is months away from being a decade old) I mention briefly the Golden Jubilee, I had been watching on television.

Trying to reflect on my achievements over the last ten years is rather simple. I could list them much like a shopping list but the reality is I would much prefer to note how I have grown as an individual. I have changed so much that I am perhaps completely unrecognisable from the person that was typing up this blog in raw HTML all those years ago. Friends have come and go, as have many family members but as wife to be, would say to me many years later, “the only constant in life is change…” Sometimes it is indeed these powerful constants that should be celebrated!

I take some pride in being a monarchist. The republican movement does not really have a worthwhile argument or following in any significant number to, in their current form be considered a credible threat. What they fail to understand is that you miss anything once it is gone and do you just replace years of history and regalia with an elected official, replaced once their term (of four years) is completed? Surely the most important part of the Monarchy is their longevity.

The One & Only

Being a creature of routine, I have very much settled into my new morning ritual. From January, I decided to get into work as early as humanly possible (being able to leave work early does sweeten the deal somewhat). This meant a change from catching the 07:04 train from Slough to the earlier service at 06:35. While this may seem rather drastic, I actually only get into work a mere twenty to twenty five minutes earlier than last year. Although I now leave my flat a good thirty minutes earlier than before. Nevertheless, I am generally the first person not just in my team to arrive but on my floor. I now religiously listen to BBC Radio 2 in the mornings (less so in the afternoon I am not a fan of Simon Mayo for various reasons) but I now get to listen to the tail end of Vanessa Feltz’s early morning show and catch Chris Evans from the get go for almost an hour. My favourite feature by some margin is On This Day which arrives promptly at 07:15am. It does exactly what it says on the tin, various trivia which occurred throughout history on this very day ending on a musical note. Today the song featured was one of my favourite songs from the early 1990s. Could they have found a better Friday song? I think not! Oh and just a four day week coming up, so next Friday the majority of people will be on holiday as well! Please note this is not the first time I have mentioned this song on my blog. Just a shame the former pop star could not find the real Chris Evans twitter account to contact when thanking the former Radio 1 DJ for playing his signature song!

Junior Artists

People are often surprised when I tell them I am an avid watcher of Eastenders. They expect me to have a broader, more high brow approach to television. The events in the fictional Walford, are perhaps rather too much in the realm of common denominator TV. So what appeals to me so much about this soap? I am sure I have mentioned it before (Eastenders is a regular occurring theme on this blog and I am surprised I have not created a separate sub category!). It is not the gritty hard hitting story lines. It is actually the losers in loserville (Garry Hobbs was a stand out favourite, until his rather romantic exit, in August 2009). I suppose I just take some strange enjoyment from seeing life’s losers depicted on screen on a regular basis. Back in September 2005, I posted about the amazing Salsa Magic from Latin love machine – José! Well in recent weeks, they bought in another minor character (but in this case for a much shorter run than our dear dance teacher from Dagenham). My mind was jolted by this blog entry on the Guardian website. Now it was something else to risk introducing a character for just two episodes but to give her name Poppy Meadow, I am sure an eight year old could have thought up a more appropriate name. However, while she was on screen, there was some strange fascination (almost like watching a car crash in slow motion) to see how low the script writers could sink. Having said that, the sub plot was rather funny, as the dialogue just did not go anywhere, the chemistry between Meadow and her best friend, regular Jodie Gold, proved to be rather electric. There was a spark, perhaps not that strong, but there was enough of that on screen magic, that you wanted to know more. Well, I personally wanted to know more, particularly why she had trekked across from Shepherd’s Bush to visit her friend in Walford on the day of a funeral. If this was an event having in my home town (and I was so closely connected to the family) I would have spent the time elsewhere.

Unfortunately all the clips have been taken off YouTube and it was too long ago for me to try and get some screen grabs from iPlayer. My digital TV card died years ago and was donated to a friend soon afterwards. Thanks to some other websites, we even have a profile over on Talk Walford. Although as a rule, I tend to avoid sites such as these for the fear of reading spoilers. I am a strong believer in the mantra – if you know what is going to happen, what is the point of watching? My only hope is that Poppy is brought back soon, there is the huge potential there, even if not as a potential love interest for Tamwar. (Personally I feel she could do better than Walford’s answer to Jamie Oliver!)

Timing Is Everything

Just back from a fantastic weekend in Birmingham. I know, for some readers that phrase alone, sounds like something completely crazy. Sure Birmingham does have a few negative aspects (a few which I will touch on in this post) but the City is much improved and this was my first visit since late August 2007. A great deal changes in three years. Before I get to the Birmingham segment of my Rock & Roll Weekend, let me start with my Friday working day and then my antics after the close of “play”. Friday is a critical day for me at work and I made a major effort to get into the office for 7:15am, to ensure I could kick off all the processes required for an extremely important report. I wanted to leave at 4pm (although the reality was, I could only leave once the report was ready and released!). Around 4:11pm, I finally was shutting down my laptop and could look forward to the weekend. The pressure had been intense but I had not let it phase me. Instead, I had just focused on the task (or rather multiple tasks) at hand, one at a time. I have to be honest though, it was the thought of the weekend that was keeping me sane! It was going to be great. A complete contrast to my feelings at 07:26am when I quickly updated my Facebook status before cracking on with work.

On the drive home, I blasted the stereo. I could relax, unwind and focus on all the things I had planned for the next few days. You know me though, this was not going to be just your average weekend. I had places to go, people to see and things to do. I got home around 5:30pm and quickly got changed, showered and my Mum gave me a lift to the train station. (There was no freak traffic event in Wycombe, like on Friday 11th June when I ended up jumping out of my Mum’s 308 and rushing into town on foot.) I bought my ticket and headed to the platform, I was perfectly on schedule, I had planned to catch the 18:25 (only two stops before the final destination of London Marylebone). I plugged myself into my Zen and zoned out, I was on my way! I text Niko to let him know I was still coming. It was supposed to be very different, I would normally have been working from home and headed into town on the bus around 5pm or 5:30pm at the very latest. Never mind, those were minor details. I was on my train, I had my music and I was on my way into London. I text Niko to let him know I was on the way and should make it to the pub in time for around 7:30pm. He response was just two words: “Good lad”. At Marylebone, I had to queue at the cashpoint before finally heading onto the tube. I had considered walking around to Baker Street, but then realised I had planned my Oyster Top-Up for the Marylebone Underground station, so that was not going to work. I made my way down the stairs (the escalator is being repaired or refurbished). I took the Bakerloo Line to Baker Street (one stop, I know extremely lazy) and then the caught the first Circle Line train to Liverpool Street. It was here I had originally planned to catch a District Line to Mile End and then the new(ish) London Overground to Haggerston and then walk over to Engelfied Road. This plan was broken, when then train driver explained the District Line was part suspended all the way to Barking. I had to take another option. Coming out of Liverpool Street, into a busy, but pleasantly sunny Friday evening in London. The pubs around the station were spilling out into the streets and after I got some bearings I decided what mode of transport to take now. I called Niko to get the bus number that would take me to the pub. He had sent it across as a message on Facebook to all those attending the affect but I had forgotten the number. It was 145 and I rushed around the bus station (which is adjacent to the train station itself but could not find any sign with that number or heading in the direction I wanted to go. I asked a few people but they were as helpful as a tin of sardines, so I made the executive decision to get a taxi. Although I made a circuit of one of the office blocks, searching for a taxi but they were all already taken. Eventually I find a guy with a free cab and showed him my Google Map print out and he told me it would be between £12 – £15 depending on traffic. The fare came to £8.80, as we had a clear run, unheard of on a Friday night but he still needed to consult my map to ensure he got to the right place. I thought all black cabs had to have an extensive knowledge of not just the main streets but these little hidden gems as well. I arrived and headed up stairs. It must have been coming up to 8pm as I said hello to Niko, gave him my card and started to be introduced to his friends. Then it was time for a well earned drink or two!

Whenever I go out with Niko, he tends to show me parts of London that are off the beaten track. Although when I started speaking to his friends, they thought I deserved a medal, going from being in my office in Swindon around 4pm, and then being in North London (technically N1) before 8pm. Most of them were locals and the most tedious journey had been two stops on the East London Line.

I had been completely out the picture in terms of the World Cup Quarter Finals, not listening to the radio on my drive from work, or putting on the FM frequency on my Zen. I had asked my taxi driver, but he could only tell me that Holland had beaten Brazil which was a surprise. At The Talbot, the projector had been showing the Uruguay – Ghana match as I had walked it, the first half had been goalless up to that point. After some delicious food (it was a help yourself buffet, rather than the sit down and order individual meals as I had expected and it worked a treat). The projector was switched back on and they showed the penalties, although as I was outside on the terrace, I could not see the screen and let Niko’s friends relay the successful or failure of the penalty taker to me. It was a little while later I decided to call my old work colleague and football nut (he is now player manager of Henley YMCA) to get a full update on the football. He did not pick up his iPhone, but at 23:53 he text me to apologise and ask, “What’s up?”. I immediately called him. At this point in the evening, we had already been told to go downstairs, lack of space, meant we went outside but we then told due to residents, we would have to go inside and use the rear garden area.

It was here that I started to actually take some more photos and noted that Katherine (Niko’s gorgeous girlfriend) had changed into more comfortable flip flops from her rather impressive high heeled stilettos. Girls, will be girls, so they had to get me take a few photographs to explain that this was very much a case of practicality over fashion.

As we were about to be thrown out of the pub, Niko invited me back around to his flat a minute’s walk around the corner for the after party! It was at this moment I decided to call Chris back and get a full update on the football. Some analysis, not just the name of the goalscorers but details of talking points in the games. This conversation was perhaps the only thing that was going to keep me going until sometime on Saturday afternoon. (The next opportunity I would have to sit down and catch highlights either on TV or PC.). It was great to hear from him again and I was glad he was better after a spout of bad health (although his friends do say his is stuck together with sticky tape).
At the after party, Niko’s brother Toby and his girlfriend Rupa, gave them their present. A photo of Pete Doherty kissing some other band member. I am sorry, I have to confess my lack of musical knowledge in this area, but am sure someone will point out who the guitar player is. (Just leave a comment!)

Niko’s parents, whom live in Chorleywood, up the road from High Wycombe, so offered me a ride home. Otherwise, my Friday night would have ended quite prematurely at 11pm (my last train home was at midnight ten, but I needed to get to Marylebone from deep North London, perhaps another taxi ride). I had a really great time and it was great to meet Niko’s family and friends. He has always been good fun, particularly when we worked together. There are plenty of stories I could upload to this blog but I will leave them for another time.

We left around 1:30am and drove through London (which as you can expect at that time on a Friday night at the height of summer, was extremely busy. I fell asleep, it had been a long tiring day and I knew that tomorrow was another adventure (I was already almost two hours into the day). Niko’s Mum woke me up, asking for directions as we got to Handy Cross and I directed them to the bus stop closest to my house, thanked them gratefully for the lift and then headed home. It was around 2:15am and my weekend had just began.

I woke up around 8:30am on Saturday morning, I was buzzing. It was a mixture of a great Friday night and the promise of a weekend in Birmingham, meeting old friends and perhaps even catching a few moments of the World Cup action. My friend had originally planned to pick me up around 10:30am, and I was all set for this,b ut they were delayed, so were going to pick me up around 11am instead. While I watched, I put the Chris Brown MJ Tribute from the BET Awards (which had been screened Stateside the previous weekend). It was an amazing tribute and surprisingly different. I have had the privilege to see Chris perform Thriller at the World Music Awards back in November 2006. You can see how much he has improved as a performer and entertainer. Sure, I agree that he has done some bad things, but seeing him be so emotional when attempting to sing Man In The Mirror, I can only hope he is trying to make that change.

I had two albums for our drive up to the Midlands, I had got out from the garage (while getting my Cystal XBox) Teg’s a-ha H&D (Headline & Deadlines) Collection. This was one of the first albums that Pav had burnt for me, a personalised greatest hits of the Norwegian trio and included all the case artwork. My other album was a mixture of new songs I had recently heard on the radio and had been playing pretty much non-stop in my car. The drive up the M40 was uneventful, we stopped at Warwick services to get some water and I bought the T3 magazine. It was at this time, we decided that I should take over the driving, although maybe I made the decision more myself. The weather was amazing and apart from the humming from the roof rack (which was costing us an increase of two percent in fuel) I was enjoying the journey.  We put on Drake – Find Your Love and Nicki Minaj – Your Love (which takes a sample of Annie Lennox’s No More I Love You’s). We got to Birmingham just before 1pm, and after dropping of my friend I headed to find Sippy’s yard! I had my sister’s TomTom with me and knew from earlier Google Map searches that I would only have to travel a few miles.

As I entered the area, I came to the realisation that this was very much an Asian heartland, with the takeaways, corner shops and ethnic stores. It reminded a little of Green Street. No, not that Green Street in East London (which I have never been to) but Green Street in High Wycombe, which is the defacto Asian area in my home town. There were cars parked either side of the road and it was very difficult to get down the roads, so being the courteous driver I am, I let other drivers pass by first before attempting to head down. In only one instance did I get a wave of a hand or the nod of the head (the international driver’s code for thank you). As I headed down St. Paul’s Road, I called Sippy. He walked out of his house and met me outside the park. There was a massive community event taking place and the whole area was heaving. I had parked the car up at the end of the the road and followed Sippy to his gate and then he stayed there to ensure I could get in when bringing the car back down the road. Once I parked outside Sippy’s house, I took a long sigh of relief. Then I realised, that perhaps in a few hours I would have to go through the whole thing again!

When was the last time I saw Sippy? Well we tried to remember but it was sometime in late May 2004. In those interviewing six years, Sippy had got married and had a baby girl. It was great to see him again and we shared a Pepsi, (for the record Sippy had a Diet Pepsi) and I handed over the Crystal XBox, to a very happy new owner. Then it was down to the business at hand, transferring some avi files. I got Sippy to transfer over the MTV Movie Awards so he too could see Les Grossman save the awards ceremony. After it was time for some serious work, so we had both the MacBook Pro and iMac burning some DVDs. It was a geek paradise, as you will be able to tell from the photos over on FlickR. It will only be a small percentage of readers and I’m afraid to say the majority of them will be male that will be interested in the contents of Sippy’s network cupboard.

It was great to catch up with my old Uni friend. It had been too long, but then we do tend to get very busy in our own lives and forget some of our friends that in reality are not actually that far away (eighty odd miles). It was just a shame his wife and daughter Zahra were not around, as I was really looking forward to meeting them. However, you can imagne how stupid people must consider this blog post. The hottest day of the year, but instead of being outside enjoying the sunshine, I am inside getting copies of movies. Our time was soon up, I had only been granted a window of a few hours as Sippy had important places to be. I was thankfully for any time, particularly after a gap of over six years. Before I went, I had to work out how to take a self timer photo. The first two attempts I didn’t press hard enough on the shutter release (yes I know I’m sure you have heard it all before!) but third time lucky, I got the shot!

It was coming to quarter to 3pm, as I left Sippy and headed onto the busy streets of Birmingham. I was taken a slightly different route by TomTom, so ended up driving through ford. (Yes the irony, a battered old Ford Focus, driving through a ford). There was a young girl, perhaps about four on the bridge with her Dad and she waved as I drove through the river, so I slowed the car down and waved at her as I then made my way up the bank back onto the main road. I got my bearings instantly and parked up before knocking on the door of my friend’s house.

To my surprise, they were watching the football and as I walked into the lounge, Germany scored! However, it was when I sat down on the sofa, I realised that even though there was a Sky+HD set-top box on, the channel was BBC1 SD, so I got them to change the channel to BBC HD and began to watch my first World Cup match in high definition. (Okay, there was one HD screen at Yates for England Germany the previous weekend, but I had been watching the big projector, so that does not count!)

After some delicious food, prepared by our hostess, I was able to settle down to the football. The man of the house had arrived and the ladies made themselves scarce (into the garden). Match 59 of this World Cup was turning out to be a classic. Germany turning over Argentina as if they were not there. Could it be an all European affair for the final?

We left pretty much at the final whistle and drove into the City Centre, first to New Street to drop off some friends at the stage (whom just made their train by the skin of their teeth, obviously they had not read my recent train related blog post.) We then drove around to our hotel, the Holiday Inn Express which was on a one way system, but eventually we navigated to the car park. After checking in, we decided to go into town for a bit before grabbing some food.

As we entered by Tesco Metro to grab some desert and drinks, Spain scored against Paraguay. Luckily there were big screens showing the game live (only SD mind). I saw the replay and realised it was David Villa, top scorer now and odds on for the Golden Boot you would say.

Today was rather a relaxing day actually, a relatively late ish start after breakfast, heading into the Bull Ring, getting some clothes shopping done. I was surprised at how busy the shopping centre was at 11am, just as it had opened. Primary too, had been very busy during the “browsing” time, from 10:30am, even though the tills would not be active for another half an hour. While in H&M trying on cheapish sunglasses, I heard a beautiful song. I took note of just one word from the song, which I believed was the title. Listening to the song when I got home, I realised that this song was special. You get these songs from time to time (or maybe I just look too deep into the songs I listen to and it is all in my head). It was a song I felt was written for me, for my particular circumstances. This is not the first time, I have noted this and written about it on my blog. (With the band Sister Hazel from an entry from early April 2003.) The song is by Charice featuring I.Y.A.Z. and the title is Pyramid. (Check it out on YouTube. Oh and yes, she will be appearing as a guest star in the next season of Glee. I better get a wiggle on and watch the season finale.

A light lunch at Bella Italia before cruising back down to Wycombe. I got home around 4pm. Rather than collapse on the sofa as I should have done (I could not have in any case, as both my sisters Julie and Natalie were lying on the sofas). I headed straight out to hoover my car and then give it a quick jet wash before, re-fuel and then get back home to relax. It had been a wonderful weekend and I was actually looking forward to the reality of work tomorrow morning.

Four walls and love, packin’ more than enough
Holding on to one another, be the cover when it’s rough
Mother nature or disaster
Won’t stop our happy ever after

Training With Trev

I had a day off today, while my car was in for some repairs. Rather than waste away the day at home, I decided to make the most of my day off. I arranged with my friends Ryan and Trev to go down the gym around 11am, and then head into down to grab some lunch. In the morning, soon after my car was collected, I had a few phone calls to make, but two phone calls quickly turned into five.

With twenty minutes to go before 11am, I headed for the short walk to the Wycombe Sports Centre at Handy Cross. The walk reminded me of my first year college days, when I would take the same route to the bus stop, which would then take me on the forty odd minute journey to Henley via Marlow. (The Wycombe Bus Company service was 328 or Reading Bus Service was 329 at the time). I got to the gym before Trevor. He arrived a few minutes after me and wanted to grab some breakfast before the workout so we headed to the cafe. Ryan was already downstairs in the Expressions Health & Fitness centre and had been for a good twenty minutes by the time we got down there. I do not think I have ever seen him so focused, we left him do it. I was originally just going to do my full resistance programme, but I decided to take some direction from Trev and follow him around. I would be his apprentice for the new few hours.

Trevor is a well travelled and very intelligent individual, do not let looks deceive you. He got into fitness while out in Tazmania on his first travels down under. In the following years he got to the stage where he would seriously give Hugh Jackman a run for his money! We spend most of the morning on the freedom trainer, warming up and getting some of the upper body muscles working. Then we went around to some of the resistance machines before returning to the freedom trainer for a final workout. In between, we tried to keep up with Ryan, who was working his way around his workout. He had already warmed up on the freedom trainer earlier. It was a really good workout and I have forgotten all the benefits of having a gym buddy. Trevor was both advising and motivating, pushing me to complete that last few reps of the last set. He also made sure the technique was good and I did not slip up, particularly when the weight was pushed up a level or two. A funny incident occurred towards the end of the workout, Trev went onto the Tricep Extention machine (something I had not used before, so watched him first). While getting into position to lift, he starred for a while into the mirror, brushing is now receeding hairline. Catching him do this (I think he must have thought I had been distracted by something (or someone) else.) “Your beautiful as you Trev!” to bring him crashing back down to earth and back into the gym to continue the work out. If only I had had a camera (plus the written permission of the duty manager) to take a photograph, I would have at that moment!

I switched on my mobile phone, as I made my way up the stairs into the reception area. It was 1pm precisely, the gym session had lasted almost two hours. Now, we just had to wait for Ryan and then plan the afternoon. Ryan decided to get his Dad to pick him up and give him a lift into town, whereas Trev and I headed to my house, so I could change and then catch the Park & Ride into the town centre. We caught the 2pm bus and got into town, around fifteen or twenty minutes later to find Ryan waiting outside the entrance to AMF Bowling and Cineworld.

After lunch at Frankie & Benny’s. (I am rather disappointed to discover that the history of the restaurant is entirely fictional!). Trev’s friend Wayne from Marlow had also joined us, we headed into some shops in Eden. Firstly HMV, I realised I still had some money on my gift card from Christmas, which I had not spent. Nothing took my fancy and we headed further into town, stopping off at the new Iceland store. (Yes, Wycombe has been without a the flagship frozen food store since the Desborough Road branch was demolished in 2005!). It seemed rather small, considering it had taken up home in the old Woolworths store. Although Ryan was quick to remind me that it was less than half of the old store, as Poundworld, next door had taken the bigger lease which included the old cafe space. The final destination was Argos for me to pick up some table lamps before heading back home. It was a great feeling to get back home and finally full relax and enjoy the weekend.

I had been tempted by a trip into Reading to go and catch a movie, although not much appealed. Instead, I stayed in and watched Sports Relief on the BBC. It was great but is it just me, or does it not feel as sporty, when it does not take part in the summer. I am sure the first two sports themed telethons took place in July. The switch to March (ironically due to the sporting calendar) does make it seem rather dull weather wise. Although we are forecast sun for Sunday, apparently. The Smithy sketch had me in stitches. The other highlight was Ashes to Ashes spoof, which was very clever and quite topical (right at the death). I am not a fan of either Life On Mars or the 1980s spin off but they pulled off a very funny and entertaining ten minute skit.

Sunday 3rd August 2008

Yesterday was a rather lazy day, I did not do much really. Even though it started with so much promise. I got up very early and went to the Esso garage to check the pressure on my tires and then went over to ASDA to buy some toasties. I bumped into my old school friend Ryan on the George stand, putting out new stock of jeans. I had bumped into him a year ago and we had arranged to meet up but never got around to it. So I promised to text him when I got home and arrange something for the end of the week. When I got home, I watched TV for a while (Sonia Deol on BBC News) before jumping on my computer at around 10am. By midday I was tired and decided to have a little afternoon nap. I did not get up until 2.30pm and then in a mad panic, decided I had to get ready and actually make up for doing nothing for most of the day. I watched episode four of John Adams and then afterwards remembered that it was the weekend of the second ever Emirates Cup. I switched on the television to see Van Nistelrooy score the opening goal for Real Madrid but decided to come back later for he Arsenal match. The last match I had seen on the television of my beloved team was against Everton (the final home game) on the penultimate weekend of the season. It had been a long wait. You can read the match reports over on ArseBlog or Arsenal.con.

Before the game finished, I had to get ready and head out the door. I wanted to leave by 6pm and I was a few minutes past this deadline. I drove across to Reading and parked in The Oracle. I then walked across to the Hope Tap (when I eventually worked out where it was but was surprised to find no one in there). So I text Pav and decided to wait for him to arrive before headed up the road to Xen. He text me that their ETA was three minutes and twelve seconds, how more precise can you get than that? Everyone else was already there and had even ordered their meals and had been served their starter. We had the long table to the side of the restaurant and the only seat left for me was at the end. Next to Nicola’s twin brother, Dan and opposite Toni. My first time in this triple header restaurant (they do Indian, Thai and Japanese food) and it was a very good experience. Prompt, attentive but discreet service, that is how a restaurant should be run. I hate to be over pestered. After the wonderful meal we headed downstairs to the bar. We had a few drinks here before headed over to Bar Mango. As we walked past Bar Risa, they tried to get us in with the temptation of free entry. Andy (quite drunk already at this point) said, “Sorry, on the guest list at Mango” and we all burst out laughing! There was a bit of confusion in the queue when we did get over there, we left Eddie to deal with the bouncer. We were on the guest list and pay only a fiver to get in. They could hardly turn us away, the place was dead. Eventually after a phone call, mobile phone with text message confirmation and explaining that we our birthday boy with us. Once this became clear, that we were a birthday party, we were allowed in. At the bar, Eddie was very generous, he bought two bottles of champagne and we headed to the side of the dancefloor. We were here for awhile before venturing outside onto the terrace bar area. I had never been here during the summer months and the area is quite restricted in window as the smoking area. However, now there was a bar and small dance area, with tables and chairs. Plus an area on the side for a barbeque. It was like I had come into a new club with a new room. It was here we spent the rest of the night. If I am honest, I was not hoping to make it too much of a late night, but the tunes just kept getting played. Sweet Dreams by Eurythmics was a particular highlight. Every moment I thought I would leave, another cracking tune was dropped by the DJ and I had to stick around for a little dance. I eventually left at around 1.30am and got home at 2.15am. Great night out, just a shame I had to rush off but I knew I had so much to do on Sunday.

Somehow I dragged myself out of bed and got to the gym around 7.40am, I was the third person through the doors and spoke to Matt briefly before starting my program. The issue with the dedicated news channel has changed once again back to Sky News. Not sure why they have done that but never mind, perhaps they just fancied a change for a week. My weight programme is hard but I am slowly getting used to it, particularly the new machines and the new routine in terms of the order, to make sure I do not work all my upper body muscles too quickly. My next review will be in about a month but I think I will just increase my cardio programme but leave my weights as they are and perhaps add in a free weight programme.

Have you seen the Sky Sports trail for the new football season featuring Britain’s Got Talent semi-finalists eScalla? My friend Terry has a big crush on one of the blondes. Must say it is one of the better adverts in recent years, just consider the recent cast. Rachel Stevens, with “More More More”, Elton John with “Are You Ready For Love” are the only two that come to mind instantly. Can you remember any others recently?

I watched Vantage Point tonight (I was not in the mood for Wall-E but perhaps made the wrong decision). It was a good movie but I expected more. It was similar to the movie Go, which I saw during my first year at Uni. Interesting and a good way to burn away my Sunday evening. The plot was clever to begin with but then eventually you realise what is going to happen and then you do not really care for the ending. In fact you do not really care about the characters that much either. Plus, it was annoying to have scenes in Spanish with no subtitles. Come on people, sort it out! I remember seeing the trailer at the cinema, earlier this year and although the action scenes looked impress the story was pretty pathetic. (They should not have revealed the main twist in the trailer, big no no Mr. Director and Mr. Producer!)

I got a lift back home with one of my colleagues in his black 55 plate, Mazda RX8. It was my first time in this type of vehicle with the unique rotary engine. I was extremely disappointed, yes it was quick but when my colleague put his foot down, it sound tinny electronic and fake (even worse than the V-Tec you find on Honda Civic Type-R. In fact, I was more impressed with the digital dashboard display, the LEDs shown the speed. I have something similar, but far less elegant with my Micro RoadPilot.

Development continues to bring streaming option to the iPlayer script on XBMC. RMTP support is available on XBMC on Linux and Windows but not yet the device the media centre was designed for. I keep a regular, almost daily check on this thread to find out the latest news. While I wait for that to be released, I found a Windows based application that enables you to download iPlayer video DRM free to watch at your leisure (beyond the thirty day limit). It can be found over on the fantastic blog Po-Ru. I have tested the software and it is quite reliable, you get the Programme ID from the iPlayer website, enter it into the dialog box and hit download, set the file location and job done. The files are saved as mov (QuickTime) and the quality is acceptable, after all the files are designed to be viewed on an iPod or iPhone. I think this will do nicely while the geeks and nerds sort out the script or plugin for the XBox.

Wednesday 9th April 2008

I have been using the BBC iPlayer since launch on Christmas Day but had a request. A killer script for the XBMC (the product formerly known as Xbox Media Centre – great new web site) to enable the programmes to be downloaded (or streamed) to my television screen. I had a hunt around on the various forums and although there was a lively request thread (started on 28th June, during the beta testing) nothing had materialised. I thought I would check again today, during my lunch hour and low and behold, a genius has created the script and put it live for anyone to download. So, of course I downloaded the zip file and loaded it straight onto my machine when I got back from the gym tonight. It works a treat! Sure, you have to wait for the video files to download (4 odd minutes for a 15 minute episode of Torchwood Declassified) but it is worth the wait and the quality is not too bad (although nowhere as good as Apple Quicktime trailers.) The video quality from Albert Square is never something that will bother me, even when I watch catchup episodes streamed on my PC. The king is making sure you follow the plot, not the sparkle on Pat Butcher’s earrings. Check out some screen shots a lovely chap has uploaded to FlickR. On a similar topic, the Nintendo Wii now can stream content from the iPlayer. I am sure it will only be a matter of time, the XBMC community work out a way to take a look under the hood of this avenue and port it over to the Xbox. Apart from the delay in waiting for programmes to download, this has to be one of the best scripts to have been released for XBMC. Now, when I miss a show, I can get my XBox to download it and watch it later.

What else have I been up to? Well it is week two in my new get fit routine. It is going well, not too bad. I feel a bit better but I believe the dramatic improvements will come over time. Particularly as my programme will be reviewed every two weeks. It was quite scary this evening to see a big bulky guy spend over thirty minutes on the rowing machine at level 10, while I was set to level five and struggled to complete my ten minutes (still a few meters short of breaking the 2000 barrier). Then, while on my final piece of equipment, the treadmill, I looked across at a guy wearing the Arsenal away shirt (very brave considering last night) and his time was ticking past fifty-five minutes. I just about manage fifteen minutes, I do not think I could stomach a whole hour of running (at quite a high speed). I am a long long way from reaching the physical peakness of these fellow gym users but I am on the right track. Just remember, making it to every session is a victory in itself. I have another session tomorrow night and then a fitness test Sunday lunchtime. Based on my performance, my programme will be adapted. Then I think I will have to spend a least a month building it up. Beyond that, I just do not know.

My weekend plans did involve Tazza coming over from East London and spending the day in Wycombe with him but he has to attend a TA weekend. It is a shame, as I have not seen him in over a year as we both have been really busy. No trouble, I think it will be a quiet weekend, I will get a few books from the library and also enjoy watching Doctor Who. Oh, and then I get back from the gym, there is the small matter of a football match in the North West.

Thursday 20th March 2008

The Beeb have been doing a fantastic series charting the build up to the Iraq war in ten minute episodes on BBC2 over the past week. They take the view point of variety of different ‘characters’ with time running out before the actual invasion begins. After being screened, they are debated over on Newsnight with Paxo on excellent form! If you have missed any, you can catch them on the godsend that is the iPlayer. Right, where is this all going? Well the fact that it was five years ago this week that Tony Blair appeared on our television screens to inform us Allied troops had cross in from Kuwait, made me wonder. What was I doing five years ago? Well thanks to the magic power of this blog, I can easily find out. I can go back to this week, in 2003. So let us take a trip down memory lane and see what I was up do (did I even mention the war?).

I was in Milton Keynes on Tuesday, linking in to what I was doing five years ago (in a strange way) as I would commute to Bedford during my placement year. My journey back was cross country and tonight I redid that journey and relived all those memories. I was coming up to junction thirteen on the M1 but heard on the radio (thank you Traffic Announcement) that both the M25 and M1 were busy, so I opted to take my old drive home. It is quite a scenic route and I think I should pop over to Google Maps and actual detail the extent of my journey. As you can imagine, this will not something I can do very quickly. I have started, I just need to finish it off, please bear with me.

On Wednesday I tried to get tickets for Arsenal versus Reading (a match I went to last season). However, even though I logged into the box office a good hour before tickets went on sale at 9.30am, I was unable to secure any tickets. Even late last night, speaking to Terry via MSN, I was unable to purchase tickets via the TicketExchange service for Everton, Liverpool or Reading. Even though there were seats up for grabs. I give up. I suppose going back to being an arm chair fan is not such a bad thing. I suppose I will have to wait for next season, but even then I think Red membership has become far too oversubscribed and only a handful of members are getting access to tickets. It really is a sorry state of affairs when I cannot get a ticket against Reading (effectively my local Premiership team).

One of my colleagues had arranged to take a look around a local gym, sorry health club and asked if I wanted to come along. We had talked for the past few years about joining the gym and getting fit. (More so for him, as the alcohol and cigarettes are likely to send him to an early grave.) I need to get fit, particularly if I want to live to see seventy three when I can finally become a season ticket holder at Ashburton Grove. So after work we drove down the ten minutes to Castle Royle on the Bath Road. It is a place I drive past regularly when heading to Reading and have always been curious to take a look inside. We arrived a little early but were greeted by Becky and taken around to the cafe area. We were given some forms to fill in before our tour. We declined being shown inside the men’s changing rooms and headed down the corridor, looking through the window at the pool. Then up some stairs to the entrance to the gym. Before we entered we were shown charts detailing the peak periods for each work day. A busy period was about thirty members using the gym, when my colleague and I had estimated it almost twice that at peak periods. As Becky continued to explain various benefits of memberships, an old man walked past me and Becky opened the door for him. I did not see his face, just he back of his head. When the door was closed, my colleague smirked that it was ITV Sport’s one and only Jim Rosenthal. Although, as he was dropped from Champions League coverage earlier in the year, he will be spending plenty more time in the gym! Becky then went to explain the other celebrity members, Debbie McGee and Becca (local Windsor girl, Ali Bastian) from Hollyoaks. This truly was the hard sell from The Club Company rep, having to let us know the other members we were likely to bump into. After our tour we were taken back to the cafe seated and the negotiations began. I think my colleague worked Becky down to a good bargain, plus there are some relative good get out clauses in terms of any contract. As we left, my colleague could only do one thing. Light up some roll up tobacco! Classic! Talk about start as you mean to go on. We discussed the deal and I said I would get back to him tomorrow, after I had looked over the literature we had been given.

Pav was busy last weekend, very busy. Want to know what he got up to? With plenty of graphic detail and photograph evidence? Go ahead, knock yourself out! Yes, there is just over a week to go until I drop my car over for my detail. Preparations have been made and a full list has been made. The beauty this time is Pav has a year’s experience under his belt but also better tools, particularly a new rotary polisher (I do not know the full details, but I am sure he will remind me). So expect another write up on Monday 31st March, including a full paint reading chart or print out!

What is your favourite super hero movie? I am sure I have asked the question before and given my own definitive answer. For me, there is no question, it is Superman II. However, until very recently I was unaware of all the controversy that surrounded the production of this first sequel. It was only a few years ago, perhaps one Christmas when I watched the DVD that I noticed a goof towards the end. In the Fortress of Solitude, it was clear it was not the actor Gene Hackman on the screen but a body double plus terrible voiceover. It when I was reading up online about the release of The Ultimate Superman Collection which would included, Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut. I did not get the collection for Christmas or my birthday and have never got around to buying it myself. Last year sometime, Pav mentioned he had downloaded a DivX rip and that it was a completely different movie to the theatrical release. He promised to past it on to me, but for some reason we never got around to it. It was on his FTP at one point but I think I was too busy leeching down Heroes or Bionic Woman to get around to it. So this week, I bit the bullet and decided to download a torrent myself. It took me most of this week, with the final 12% taking over eight hours with an average download rate of 0.4kbit/s (I kid you not!) However, I did eventually get the file and decided to watch the movie tonight, straight after Eastenders. (Although originally I had been hoping to save myself until tomorrow evening but the excitement was too much).

The Donner movie is far superior to the Lester version, even though it is a patch work piece using screen tests and archive footage. Sure, to complete the movie there is still twenty percent Lester footage in this cut but it is more true to the original director’s vision. I do not want to give away too much, you will just have to get the DVD, watch for yourself and make up your own mind. If you are a true movie buff (like me) you might even go and read an essay of comparison. However, I cannot finish without mentioning my favourite moment. (A Donner scene which survived the cutting room floor to make it into the final theatrical cut).

Clark, now with his powers restored as Superman, goes to the diner and confronts Rocky, who is more than willing to pick a fight with him. Much to everyone’s surprise, this strange, young man handles the bullying customer like a little child, eventually felling him across the counter and sending him crashing into the pinball machine, knocking him unconscious. Clark then offers to pay the owners of the diner for the damage. With those around wondering how the stranger was able to beat the bully, Clark simply replies: “Oh, I’ve been… working out.”