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Surpassing 2005 was going to be a difficult task but somehow I did! First came the FlickR account bought in late January, which resulted in a whole host of new images being linked directly from the blog and hosted externally. Then over the course of the summer, came the YouTube invasion and the multimedia experience began to include videos (some which I uploaded myself). Blogging at the next level and add in some of the amazing things I did, it will astound you!

Sunday 31st December 2006

I was going to write a entry about what I have been up to over the past few days but am just too lazy to now. It is 5.41pm on the last Sunday of 2006 and I need to go and get ready.

How will I top 2006? I do not know the answer to the question. However you perhaps, the reader of this blog will be the best judge. Same place, this time next year?

All the best for the New Year. May the year to come bring you both success and happiness.

Saturday 30th December 2006

It is a minute past midnight as I start this blog posting and for the first time in months I feel I can blog "live". Live for the moment, without the need for major notes (paper or electronic). It may lack some coherence, so just please bear with me. I want to cover so many topics and try and put into perspective the year that was 2006. Less than forty eight hours of it left and fittingly it ends with a weekend.

Christmas is a time for movies. Television movies in fact, even with Sky Movies, there must be hundreds if not thousands of movies that are shown annually at this time of year. In addition to the big blockbuster that usually the Beeb buys at some expense to us, taxpayers. Nice for us to actually tune in our millions to watch Bloom, Depp and Knightly this year. So ITV instead concentrated on their fresh dramas and some reality television kickbacks. They did however, come up with a real treat. In the summer, the broadcaster screened the trilogy on consecutive Saturday evenings, (29th July, 5th August and 12th August). Here it was again but screened on consecutive days but along side the Jurassic Park trilogy. Could this have been better planning for a Spielberg fan? Having seen both trilogies more than double figures. Including parts both two and three respectively which I saw for the first time at the cinema (if my memory serves me correctly). In any case, forget Jurassic Park (which nevertheless is a fantastic movie experience in it's own right). Back To The Future perhaps is one of the movies I could watch over and over again. I have the DVD box set and Mighty Mouse and myself watched the first chapter back in early June but aptly at a DeLorean weekend in Norfolk. However, as they were screening the episodes on television I decided to watch them again for the hell of it. I only really watched the first one completely, the second part (which is my personal favourite, most sequels of a three are usually the best, regardless of what others will tell you) I only caught briefly. My sleeping and eating pattern has gone haywire ever since I came off on holiday. I decided to "tape" the hover board sequence, even though perhaps I could have ripped them from the DVD several years ago. What would have been the fun in that? Plus I do not really know how to and have not got the patience at this current time frame to learn. However the television version was heavily edited and missed out key moments of the action. I have kept the mpeg file in any case but unfortunately it will not be uploaded to You Tube. Plus, I am sure there are plenty on there already. Talking of You Tube, someone else has already uploaded the interview with Richard Hammond and I am tempted to remove my clip(s). There is no need for duplication clogging up servers and leaving myself open for legal proceedings.

Talking of movie trilogies I got the Fast & Furious box set for Christmas. In this case I had only seen the original movie back in the PB days (no, not Personal Best but pre-blogging days, e.g. before 2002) at the cinema. I think it was the Odeon in Leicester, a stones throw away from my University campus. However, it had been that long since I saw the movie that I thought I had to do this professionally. So I would watch each movie on consecutive nights, (to coincide with the BTTF trilogy) however on, forgotten the day. Let me think for second. Wednesday, that is it. The day after Boxing Day I watched both the first movie and then after a ten minute interval, the second movie. I have still yet to watch the final movie based in the mean streets of Tokyo. However, I thought I would just say a few things about the movies series so far, if I may. The Fast & The Furious was just as good as I remember it, all those five years ago. The sequel is better than the first, and I know I am being highly controversial by making such a statement but I have my reasons. Plus it does keep my statement above that middle of any trilogy is always the best. Of course this is slightly unqualified as I have yet to see the final installment. Nevertheless, let me continue with my short review. Paul Walker returns which is great, continuity is an important aspect. Plus the prelude sequence does help put things in place (for those watching the movie standalone). The main draw for this movie is Tyrese. He steals the show playing the bitter black ex-con Roman against the backdrop of O' Conner, the white cop gone bad whom fancies the pants Monica Fuentes (and who can blame him?). I really enjoyed the movie and was a bit disappointed when it headed. I wanted the action, the pickering between the two characters to carry on. If you have not seen this movie, you should. I am sure I have mentioned this before but perhaps for as much as the past year, I have seen the introduction segment (of ten minutes or so) on Sky Movies but never had the chance to actually sit down and watch the movie. If anything that was missing, it was the full home cinema surround sound and the comfy sofa. My PC is no true substitute but it does an adequate job. I will try and catch the final episode sometime before the end of 2006 or more likely on 1st January.

I could not sleep last night. Yeah I do tend to have my bouts of insomnia from time to time, usually when some stupid pointless worry is weighing down on my mind. In any case, apart from putting on old CDs on my stereo, I decided to go and clear up some of the old text messages on my 6230. I think it can only store around 150 SMS messages in the Inbox and I had been getting the warning that my "Message memory nearly full" for the past few weeks but never got around to housekeeping. It was breathtaking to go back and read text messages from Pav during the HiFi South music festival and other messages from our fantastic weekend at the Ring. I sat in bed, fully awake thinking of all the wonderful things I had done over the past 12 months. Just the thought of just a handful that came to mind, made me smile. Then I thought of the World Cup, yeah it was a World Cup as well. Although of course from a nationalist point of few, the less said about that the better. Other people will have photographs for sure and perhaps presents or mementos from the nights out, souvenirs if you will. I, however can take it to another level but just spending a few minutes (or hours) scrolling the archives. Even my magical FlickR account has albums every month from April until the end of the year. This perhaps would be the moment I quote some outrageous statistic like number of photographs uploaded, or number of individual posts onto this blog over the course of the year but there is no need. I can summarize the year, 2006 in a music video.

Highlights, well there are plenty but I still think seeing Michael at the World Music Awards has to be my moment of the year. Being in the same room as a musical legend is an experience I perhaps never will truly be able to describe. Being at Dennis's final swan song game at Ashburton Grove perhaps is second on the list. Hold on, actually being at the last ever game at Highbury? See, you think when Channel 4 (and other broadcasters) do their list shows it would be really easy but it is not. Even for someone like me trying to find a top five list of events of the year is difficult. Perhaps what will kill you the most will be the shocking fact that I did it all with a measley 1.5 days off work (the exact same number as last year, taking my full take up to 3 days over two years service). You must be thinking, are you MAD? No, my name is Teg but I am seriously considering rebranding to T In a similar vain to Pav's friend Thomas, who was formerly known as Foxy and now wants to be refered to as T-Dogg. (I thought that was far too street for me, so opted for the singular letter.) You might notice it as my favourite icon (if you have saved this as one of your regular blogs).

Monday 25th December 2006

Last year I broke with tradition. Strange concept for me, tradition. However, this blog has been running for over four years, so there is a small footprint in the form of a legacy. From 2002 until 2004, I have posted an entry on Christmas Day. This has varied from a few lines with seasons greetings to all, to in more recent years a full blown account of the build up to the big day and a few lines about what I got up to. I thought about foregoing an entry this year, to make a change. However looking back on the day, I thought it only fair to cover some of the magical moments.

I got up late, or rather my whole family got up late for Christmas morning. Usually we would be up and opening presents around 9am but it was well after 11am for us to get around to it this year. The most heart warming scene was my second cousin, celebrating his 3rd Christmas (but first one with us) opening his presents and being a complete bundle of joy (well most of the time).

I got him the Disney Pixar DVD Box set featuring all the animated movies. I had seen some but not all and decided to watch Cars. I had not seen the movie in the summer, even though I had wanted to go to a screening. In the end I am glad I decided against the big screen and opted for the small screen and my cosy sofa. It was not very funny to me, but having spent a bit of time reading up about the movie (as I always do) it would have meant more to an American audience aware of NASCAR. Nevertheless it was extremely entertaining and did have a few moments. Well worth watching. While I prefer Luke Wilson, rather than his brother Owen, he does pull off the voice to Lightning McQueen with the large ego and style you would come to expect. There are nice touches too, a minor love story (of parts) and some cameos from famous people from within the motor sport world. Good clean family fun is my verdict. Now, what else is left off the Disney/Pixar list?

In th evening I retired to my room and made an impulse buy. I suppose I better start from the beginning. My sister asked for an mp3 player for Christmas. Originally I was going to be a scrooge and not get it for her, but being the lovely big brother I am, I decided to get her one. Now, as you know I purchased a pink iPod Mini for my other sisters, back in September last year. This time around I wanted to go for something better, but more suitable for a 13 year old girl. I chose the Creative Zen Plus ahead of the iPod Shuffle for various reasons, the main being the screen which enabled both photographs and video to be watched. Plus there was double the flash memory and the incredibly small size.

It was not just the size that impressed me, but installing all the software on the family computer (I am the only user with full admin rights) I was impressed by the software. Right click and send to the player. Amazing, just as simple as sending photos to FlickR (well exactly the same method). I just had to get myself one. Hussein was online and we were had discussed the present earlier. He too, gave the full thumbs up to firstly my purchase of the gift and then when I started I was going to buy one, it was toss between iPod Video or the Creative Zen Vision M. Having just spend most of the afternoon playing around with one of the entry level devices in the family I chose the latter. I needed little convincing. However, just in case, Hussein threw at me over MSN, not one, not two, but three reviews plus a blog entry from someone on installing Linux on the player! It was just a case of tracking down the device and making the purchase. For many years people have asked me, "Teg do you have an iPod?" A few years ago my Dad was going to buy me a Nano but could not get to the Regent Street store in time. It has taken me several years to finally get around to buying one. I feel if I had continued to work in London, in 2004, I would have eventually bought something but my day to day existence does not require mobile music on the go. So, why the hell have I spent all this money? Well I want to have something that can keep me company on match days. Not just the trips across to Noth London, but potential days on the road now I have joined the travel club (no official confirmation yet). Plus, as a diehard fan of music television I will be able to travel across my entire mp3 singles collection, video collection and album collection and still have some space left on the side for more. Quite crazy when you think of the numbers. Particularly when I have spent over 7 years amassing this world famous audio collection. The purchase alone would have been criminal, I had to get some accessories. So I have ordered alternative ear phones, a docking station and of course the leather case.

Having been so selfish I decided to turn my attention to someone else and become a giver of gifts. There are many millions blogs out there and perhaps just a few hundred that focus on my football team. Of course I have only been reading the Arse Blog on a daily basis but have discovered another blog. The Cannon. What stroke me about this blog was the fantastic photographs from matches throughout the last season to date. The author, who also had a FlickR account, under the fantastic name of lasagnechef. I thought as a kind gesture I would purchase him a pro account. A token gift none the less but an opportunity to push the user into uploading more great photos of the Red Army. Not sure if he will get around to writing anything about this on his blog, but you never know.

Sunday 24th December 2006

So the Christmas season is in full swing. I am off from work and trying to wonder how to fill my time. Well Christmas came early, in the form of a present from the BBC on Friday night. Of course I was unable to watch the interview then (see previous post) so had to wait until the small hours of this morning to see Richard Hammond's first interview since his horrific crash. Everyone knows I'm a big fan of cars and motor sport in general and a regular viewer of Top Gear, so was devastated when I heard the news. You can imagine what it was like to see him back on television again, all "fixed". I searched You Tube on Saturday morning, thinking someone would have uploaded the interview, but no one had. There is no-one as super efficient as Teg, which is why I have superhero status (but we will get that point a bit later). So I have done the public service of uploading the interview in two parts to the video sharing web site. Is this proof that a man can become indestructible?

Seen a couple of movies I have been waiting to see for a long time. (Let me qualify long time into a couple of years, for one I saw on terrestrial television on Friday night and the other on Sky Movies this afternoon). Let me start with the movie I saw on Friday night. The movie stars one of the leading actresses from the hit television series 24. This however is completely wasted on me, as I am still to see a single second of the award winning action packed show starting one of my 1980s heroes, Kiefer Sutherland (wow, Wikipedia is amazing, I never knew the Canadian actor was born in London, England). The movie has been screened on Sky several times and although I have been able to catch the opening few moments, never have I been able to sit down and watch the film completely to the end credits. Friday night was my chase, even though the man upstairs did intervene and try to stop me from getting home in the first place. In any case, I had heard so many things about this movie that I thought I should finally sit down, forget about the problems of the day and relax. Perhaps the most annoying think about the movie for me, was the male lead, Matt (played admirably cool by Emile Davenport Hirsch, well with a name like that, he was made for Hollywood) closely resembles (not just in looks but mannerisms too) one of my old friends I used to work with over two years ago in the City. It was difficult to get over this throughout but perhaps it helped. Typical teen comedy with bucket loads of titillation but good fun nevertheless. Although I am scared I am getting too old to be watching these tired genre. It was great fun, even if completely unbelievable on all levels. Some of the characters were absolutely ace and the ending was much better than I expected. You know the movie has made it to the mainstream when Paris Hilton (of all people) parodies the whole plot in her music video for her song Nothing In This World. Completely outrageous, rude and in places complete distasteful, it was everything I expected and much much more. In particular the amazing "what if" scenarios that played out on the screen (like flashbacks) which had our main player wondering what may or may not happen. Well you know me by now, I love happy endings, I love the hero getting the girl and turning the disastrous situation around. Even for a teen comedy, it did pull on the heartstrings (just a little) towards the end.

I am a big big fan of super heroes. I even consider myself a superhero to a certain extent, with a league of my own (Breezy and Mighty Mouse) but mere mortals have to cope with movies from Hollywood and reading up about my adventures on here this blog. I saw the trailer for Sky High when I was at the cinema sometime last year. I cannot recall exactly when, but it may been when I went to see Fantastic Four back in July. It was one of those movies that I would rather rent out on DVD, watch once and then never really come back to. Well that is what I thought from the initial trailer. The idea was great and the idea to send up the whole comic book genre was clever. Perhaps we have had to one to many of these movies for our appetites in the recent years? I would say you can never have enough super heroes! The whole premise of Sky High is the idea that there is a school that kids of super heroes go to for "guidance" and training in order to fore fill their adult roles. However there is a catch. Depending on your power you get categories as Hero or Sidekick. Quite an ingenious notion, don't you think? Rather than spoil the whole movie for you, I will just say there are some major twist and turns and for a Disney children's movie was very entertaining. Plus there are some cameos and other interesting more subtle send ups which only the most die hard fans of super heroes will appreciate. It was good heart warming fun and just what the Doctor ordered to set me up for the next few days.

There is nothing more left to say about from to wish all the readers of this blog, new and old, a very Merry Christmas and all the success in 2007.

Friday 22nd December 2006

The Nightmare Before Christmas

There was a different ending, in my mind at least for today. Even though I am watching The Girl Next Door on BBC One at this precise moment, I had more, much more planned for my evening. I suppose, I should start, as all my stories do, at the beginning. I got up, early for change and headed over to the office. The deserted car park spoke volumes, I was early but also one of the handful of people actually making that final trek into the workplace for 2006. There was a fun atmosphere, perhaps because were only in until 12pm and perhaps because we did not have any real work to do. To my surprise, I actually took five calls, a couple expected, others not so welcome. In any case I dealt with all the issues, to the best of my ability, finishing building two laptops and then decided to get into the party mood. We were in the Christmas mood the moment I had walked in, humming along to Jingle Bell Rock. I recall the song mainly from the High School Talent Show segment in Mean Girls (which I saw in 2005, when it screened on Sky) and we headed over to YouTube to watch the video in full. It had me in stitches again, just like when I had seen the movie at home, in my living room. This started a domino affect with both members of IT, logging onto the web site and watching clips. I would like to say I did the same, but I preferred to use my time more wisely and make final preparations for this afternoon shopping trip to North Buckinghamshire. You can perhaps imagine how I felt. I was excited and happy but at the same time a little apprehensive. I had to keep my emotions in check, for the next hour at least. My sisters sent me their lists on e-mail and I printed them off. I was set. Or so I thought.

There were only two key holders left, and thankfully one of them decided to stay a little longer, which enabled me to walk out the door promptly just before 12pm. The roads were foggy and this makes perhaps the most considerate of motorists, transform into apprehensive wrecks. I had no time for them. I hit the bypass and overtook most of these cars, driving at 40 while I prefer to be driving at 70. I mean, sure it is foggy but you can still see ahead of you. You just need to drive with care. Just as I was coming up to the Handycross Roundabout, there were drivers cruising in the fast lane, so I had to take some illegal undertaking maneuvered, just to get onto the M40. As I pulled up to the development site, I was behind three lorries, and decided to over take them and cut in and join the slip road heading northbound. I was on the motorway and heading to Thame. Fantastic. I had my Santa on, and was singing along to Hillary Duff (featuring the delicious Christina Milian) with "I Heard Santa On The Radio" (from her 2002 album, Santa Claus Lane) Any other time of year, this combination would have been executed by a combination of the fashion and style police. Thankfully, it was Christmas and I could get away with listening to what would be deemed by others as "tacky" Christmas tunes. More on that news story later. On the motorway, the fog was thick, so I transferred onto the fast lane, behind a black X5 and for the next 8 miles, it cleared a route for me, quite literally through the icy mist up ahead. I pulled off at junction six for the more hair raising part of the journey. Thick fog, country lanes and slow Renault Clio's do not mix. However, I was not really that bothered, I had made excellent time, considering I had arranged to meet my friend at 1pm. It was looking more and more likely that I was going to be half an hour early.

It was when I pulled up onto my friend's drive way I discovered I had left the lists I had printed on my desk back in the office. No bother, I could borrow my friends internet and print them off. Fantastic. Thanks to a unsecure wireless network I was up and running without any problems. Just after 1pm, we headed from Oxfordshire over to Milton Keynes, in cross country fashion. The fog was even thicker than on the motorway earlier in the afternoon and the roads were slightly busier. However we made good time, getting into MK just after 2pm. We were wondering where to go for lunch and I recommended the restaurant in XScape. I could not recall the name, but had been there with an old work colleague, two years ago. Tootsies may sound like the name of a seedy lap dancing joint, but it is in fact a cozy restaurant in the leisure complex. We had a nice lunch, while the hoards of shoppers past us by. If I was ever to write a book on how to shop at Christmas, one of the first would be directions would be to never shop on an empty stomach. A nice light lunch and then we headed back out to the car and drove the .3 miles to the Centre MK and eventually found parking there. It was not easy in the dense fog. We then headed over to the shopping centre, coming in from the street to find the The Entertainer toy shop to our right. We then decided to head up to the right, walk our way back down and end by going to John Lewis for some more bulky final purchases. I saw Clarks and headed into there but we did not make our first purchases until nearly 4pm. This may sound insignificant to you but buy our standard for our annual Christmas shop, this was pathetic. In some days we would have normally have been through both of our lists. I got a call from my sister and explained that it was quite busy and I had only made one purchases. My friend made the snide comment, "Are you going to ring them after you buy your next gift?". We were doing badly but we picked up the pace for the rest of the afternoon and actually started making plans for our escape back home. Around 6pm we though, to fit in all the other retail outlets we needed to visit. Next stop was House of Fraser, then M&S followed by The Disney Store and then HMV. It was here that we end up almost every year and we know we are coming to the end of our trip. It was packed out but the customer service has improved dramatically over the past four years (my first trip with my friend was in December 2002). Sales assistants would drop everything and actually help you find the DVD, games or CD you were looking for. The only downside was waiting in queue for a good ten minutes waiting to be served. Then adding insult to injury, overhearing someone say that upstairs the tills were dead. After the music store, we headed over to Woollies, then finally John Lewis. We were ahead of schedule and got into my friend's car. The time was 17:42. Dark and foggy, time to go home. Ignoring the satellite navigation we headed back across the country lanes to Oxfordshire. After a brief rest bite, when I wrapped up a present and got all my things together, I looked ahead at the journey ahead. Yes, that is right, I was not heading straight home, I had one last trip before Christmas could truly begin.

I had to collect my cousin from Heathrow. Well technically Sipson before I could turn around and hit the great drive which is has to be accompanied by Chris Rea's "Driving Home for Christmas". However, by the end of the night, it would not be a song I would want to listen to. The drive back to the Handycross Roundabout was uneventful, the dark foggy conditions had meant most people had made their journey during the daylight hours or left it until Saturday. I cruised off at junction four and swung across to the by-pass. I was following a Volvo estate, which like the X5 earlier in the afternoon was on some crazy mission and cleared the road ahead for me. I had been worried that by the time I hit the M4 the traffic would be crazy and I would not be heading back home until past 10pm. I was write but for the wrong reasons. The M4 was relatively quiet. Quieter than your average Friday evening. I made excellent time and was at the hotel, waiting, a few minutes after 8pm. Fantastic. I could get home and still make something of my evening. Things never work out the way you plan, as I was about to find out. As the nightmare begins to surface.

We were on the M4, heading back and I noticed that the temperature gauge and it was on red. However as I drove, the temperature gauge returned to the middle and I thought nothing more of it. I would check the car over, on Sunday (as usual). However, as we came off the motorway and onto the by-pass the red led came on again. I had to stop. I had to let the car cool down. Perhaps here I made the stupid mistake. I called the RAC and explained I would wait for the car to cool down for a few minutes before heading for home. I was perhaps six miles away from home and it was desperately annoying. Thankfully the car had failed on me here, rather than on a foggy busy motorway. After twenty minutes, the car cooled down, I pulled off again but the engine was giving out a tremendous roar, even for a diesel but once I was above 2nd gear, it returned to normal. This was the main issue weighing on my mind, the temperature gauge started creeping up again and it was no way I was going to make it home. The warning light came on again and I lost power, crawling up hill at 40 miles an hour. Switching on the hazards, I tried to warn other vehicles that I was about to stop. Eventually a mile up the road the parking pay appeared. My car came to a stop. It is here it would stay for the next couple of hours as we waited for RAC breakdown patrol to come and get us running. The car refused to start about forty minutes in and things did not look good. This was not the start to the holiday season I had hoped for.

Sunday 17th December 2006

Sunday evening, and I have only an hour before Torchwood starts over on BBC Three. Rare for me to have a relatively quiet weekend planned, only to find myself having not spent any time on the computer until late into Sunday evening. Surprisingly a few stories to fill you in on with the antics from my weekend. Let me begin with Saturday evening in Brixton. For the record, I was not feeling great, having even decided to rest for about an hour in the afternoon to build up some energy for the night. In any case, I headed out around 6.40pm and caught the 7.17pm train, having just missed out on the earlier train by a few minutes. This was actually a blessing in disguise as it was semi-fast, only stopping at Beaconsfield and Gerrards Cross. It meant I would get into Marylebone around 8pm and gave myself around 30 minutes to get over to Brixton. I was far too conservative with my estimated time of arrival, it took me less than half that time. As I came back above ground, I called home, it was 8:13pm. Then I had to find Brixton Hill and the venue. I headed in the wrong direction at first but eventually found my bearings only to discover it was quite a trek. Perhaps half a mile or so? The worse thing was I was heading in direction I thought was correct but with no real idea if the bar would be around the next corner. I tried calling Pav several times but it kept going over to answer phone. Eventually I came up and saw the sign and knew I was in the right place. There was a small side road, with parking spaces but still no sign of Pav and he was not answering his phone. I waited outside for a good fifteen minutes, waiting for him to arrive but in the end opted to go inside and get a drink. The bouncer, who had been standing outside for a while was a character. He was obviously foreign, perhaps even from Eastern Europe (he had been on the telephone when I had arrived) gave me a stern look as I walked up to the door. How are you, was the question. I looked at all the bruises on his face and responded quickly, "Fine, how are you?" He gave no response (perhaps doormen are not allowed to show true emotion) and just opened the door to let me in. Waiting for Pav, I took in the venue. He had told me on MSN earlier in the week that it had been fully refurbished. This was not an accurate description, far from it. The place was in a major transition. Going from the Queen Vic to a trendy dance bar, but it was stuck, somewhere in between. Do not get me wrong, it was a dance venue, with a big dance floor in the back complete with projected screen. However, there are certain signs (in this case quite literally) that indicate that this place is still coming together. Signs (of various descriptions) printed off on landscape A4. Including one behind the bar, "CASH ONLY, SORRY". A bit of a joke if you ask me.

Pav did eventually arrive with entourage around 10.30pm, and after a drink got himself ready for his set, which was from 11pm until around 12.30pm. Some good tunes, but unfortunately it was dead. Not surprising really, when you consider we are a week away from Christmas Eve. Nevertheless, it was great to spend a Saturday night out and about, rather than being at home on the computer. Pav did the place jumping, but it was his first time there and difficult to really get a feel for the place and the crowd. Although I was told, he had become the first resident DJ to play at Southside Bar (set list. Around 1am, we left to go to the Ice Bar. However, I now know that the bar in exclusive Mayfair closes at 1am, the same time we were leaving. Never mind, it was great driving around central London at nearly 2am, holding Pav's N73 which was our navigation device. However the Bluetooth kept cutting out, losing connection with the Nokia GPS unit. Pav had to keep rebooting the device and re-enabling the Bluetooth and we eventually found our way around. Although, I was just shocked how busy the roads were at this time in the morning. I expected the streets to be packed with late night revelers but not this number of cars (including a silver Ferrari). In the end, we drove around Piccadilly Circus and out towards the A4 and home. I got home around 2.50am and went to sleep, I was shattered. It had been a long day and I had another busy day ahead, I just did not know it yet.

My sister is studying her Masters at the University of Sheffield and we went to pick her up. My Dad drove on the way up, and I thought he or my Mum would drive back but in the end it was me, but we will get to that later. The drive up was quite good actually, the sun was shining and I had grabbed the camera to take some pictures. Plus, we had the TomTom onboard, giving us accurate ETA for the 160 mile trip. Midday was the time on the screen and as usually it was perfect. We hit a bit of traffic on the M1, just before Leicester. There had been an accident with two lanes closed. A Nissan Primera had hit the central reservation and then spun through the gravel and landed on the hard shoulder, facing the direction of on coming traffic. So strange that on a weekday, this would have been blasted across the radio stations, but on a quiet Sunday morning, it just did not register, even though the traffic was at a standstill for a good twenty minutes. Thankful no one was hurt and the traffic was moving quite quickly afterwards. We were listening to Radio 2 to begin with, Steve Wright and Love Songs, but we quickly turned it over to Radio One, as things started to get a bit too mushy for my likely. Chappers & Dave were presenting the Sunday Lie in, covering for Vernon Kay. Listeners were allowed to choose the music and then after some stupid decisions, such as Flashdance, someone with a brain cell text in with a request. The moment I heard the opening bars, I put the volume up. It was Beat It, by Michael Jackson.

We pulled up outside my sister's apartment just after 12pm. It was good to see her again and this was the first time I had come up to see her flat. Impressive, even if it was a strange maze of rooms, with various shapes. We then almost straight away headed over into the city centre. It felt like a long distance but the downhill cobble streets made the journey quick. I stopped every few minutes to take some photos. (Some of the best which I have uploaded to a FlickR set). This was my first time in this part of the world, but it was perhaps the worse weekend to be there. Seven days until Christmas Eve and busy was not the word, even for a rather lazy Sunday afternoon. Food was on the agenda and we looked around for somewhere to go. Somewhere different from the usual visit to Pizza Hut. We walked around for perhaps an hour, to eventually settle upon Las Iguanas. It was the other side of the city, built underneath a new luxury flat complex. It was absolutely dead and the restaurant just had two other customers, a middle aged couple. The food was very good and filled me up before we headed back into the city centre for some shopping. I was not really in the mood to be honest, but it was nice just to walk around and relax for a bit, before taking on the two hour drive home. There was of course the opportunity to take some more pictures, including the big ferris wheel, erected in the main square. We headed further into the city centre and to some old market stalls. My Dad walked into one selling football memorabilia and asked if they had any Arsenal paraphilnalia . "Yes, Emirates, I have my last one here, £15!". Of course my Dad could not resist bargaining him to bring the price down but in the end he didn't budge but I am very happy with the gift.

No where on display on the Arsenal web site or Armoury shop have I seen theses two images of the stadia together. There tends to be the image of seeing Ashburton Grove in the distance from Highbury but never a picture from 1949, together with the image of the new home, still under construction. My plan is to get an autograph on the photograph before I finally frame it for display. The frame colour? There could only be one - redcurrant.

Friday 15th December 2006

My manager is currently monitoring network traffic at our office. Although I think he did not really want to let slip he was acting as Big Brother on our internet usage, it would be clear to see from the stats that the holidays are soon upon us. Guilty as charged officer. I will freely admit that I have been spending more time online on 'personal' business than work related items, but not without good reason. Chasing orders for items is not great. Particularly as the call centre is constantly engaged from 9am until 5pm. I sent an e-mail but they have not responded. I am not really that bothered to be honest. Although 99% of my online shopping experiences over the past seven years have been exemplary, I feel let down by the system on this particular web site. Never mind, this time next Friday I will have completely all my Christmas shopping in the good old fashioned way. The venue this year is Milton Keynes. One of my favourite destinations in the country (strange considering I have only been there a handful of occasions, 3 excluding two Christmas shopping trips in 2002 and 2004 respectively). Enough talk about Christmas shopping, there are more pressing things closer on the radar that I should be focusing on.

The weekend is here again and most people will be taking it easy and getting the last bits of their shopping done. Then there is me, with a packed Saturday and busy Sunday with housekeeping. Pav is playing in a club over in Brixton and as I did not support his local gig in Maidenhead last weekend, I thought it only fair for me to make the trek into Central London and see him. I am looking forward to it. Not been out in London for a long long time, plus it makes a change from traveling in the opposite direction to Islington. My Oyster Card is topped up (well that is technically not true, I have loaded credit which will be collected at Marylebone tube station, as I touch in) and I am all set.

When I was at the Hamburg game, just under a month ago, I was asked if I went to any away games. Of course I replied, no, but made clear my intentions to start making an effort, 'next year'. I was of course actually referring to next season, not the next calendar year. This week, I decided that it was time I took my support for my beloved onto the road. Perhaps what triggered this decision was the Wigan game on Wednesday evening. As the first half was such a non-event, I noticed the great number of empty seats in the stadium. Could this really be a Premier League fixture against the team that (disputably) play the best free flowing football in the league? I was shocked at the lack of support for the home team, even if this was a mid week fixture that had been rescheduled from late August. I printed off the membership form, which this evening I have filled in. I thought I did not have a recent passport photograph and was heading out the door to ASDA to get some more taken, when I discovered I had two spare. These were from the time I had to apply for a photo card with Chiltern Railways for my Monthly Season Ticket, over two years in late June.

To be honest, I doubt my application will be processed for this season but no matter, it gives me a foot through the door. Slowly but surely I can build up my away credits, particularly with clubs in the local vicinity. The experience of a day on the road with the Red army, in itself would be different from my staple diet of trips (once a month) on the Piccadilly Line heading north. There is so much I want to do and see as an Arsenal supporter and I know that I am lucky already, so early to have been there to witness so many memories. The thought that there are, many years and many more moments of success and failure to come, gives me hope that football is indeed, the beautiful game.

Saturday 9th December 2006

Podcasting is something I feel I will need to (at some point) get myself involved in. The most minor of sips from the cup of audio blogging took place back in mid April and I have not rushed back to try again. However, I have started downloading regular pod casts from my favourite blogs. First up is the ArseCast from ArseBlog whom uploaded his seventh episode to download yesterday morning. Fantastic to hear the voice of the man behind a blog I have read religiously everyday for nearly two and a half years. The pod cast adds a new dimension to an already amazing blog and I love the wonderful balance between serious discussion on our football team, to the comical aspects including Arsene Wenger Hawkins (which needs no explanation). Then we move over to Geoff across the pond on Geoff Tech and his iBlog, which I have only been reading for just around a year (I discovered just a few days before my 24th birthday last year). Since his move over to Charleston, I have been following his adventures, semi-regularly on his blog but am sure to listen to each podcast (which is called iBlog USA, and sounds fantastic when spoken by the sexy voice of Leah, Geoff's girlfriend) On his most recent audio diary entry which is in fact a bumper edition, condensing a full three months into a single thirty minute mp3 audio file. Perhaps the most important aspect was the closing song. Geoff tends to fill in the links between his various segments with music. The closing song was Mon Amour Tokyo by Japanese pop group Pizzicato Five. A song which is very catchy and has an amazing 1950s come 1960s feel. Amazing, even if I have no idea what the lyrics mean. What is more amazing, is considering that this is all a long chain of coincidence. Someone chose a number at random. Seventy seven to be precise and somehow this linked to this obscure (but never the less compelling) song from P5.

My dream is for one day, my blog, this blog to achieve the dizzy heights of fame (but never fortune) of the above blogs I have mentioned. Something inside wants people to read my blog on a regular basis and enjoy my contribution to the blogspohere. I know the reality is far from this but with every word, every entry I continue to strive for that amber nectar. I think I should just focus on the present, rather than the future and let my blog be organic. Let it grow and become whatever it becomes, rather than force it to become similar to another blog that already exists. We shall see, although I think in blog years, having been around since 2002, this site is a granddad of the blogging movement. Strange to thing what else will happen in another four years.

When I came home yesterday evening, I had to get ready as I was going out for a meal with a friend. However, my Dad came into my room and showed me ticket. I looked closely and only saw the Alan Shearer OBE. Then I noticed the scribble above the former Blackburn, Newcastle and Southampton legend's name. My Dad then explained he had got the autograph of former England manager Terry Venables.

An annual flagship event organised by the Institute of Directors and sponsored by a mobile phone operator, it was held at the prestigious Royal Lancaster Hotel in Central London. Tickets were not cheap but my Dad was with colleagues so was able to get this autograph for me. I therefore should have the set now. Both Shearer and Venables, but I offered this to my colleague Chris back in February (photograph evidence also available) only for him to give it away to another friend. For the record, I will be keeping this autograph for my collection, even though he was manager of Spurs for four years.

Bought my Christmas cards this morning from Clinton Cards as I do every year. Also have my Disney & Pixar Advent Calender, which my Dad bought me a few weeks ago. As usually I have been really slow to have the chocolates, unlike my sisters whom will have got to about 20 already. I have seen three out of the five animated movies featured and still hope to see Cars at some point over the festive period. Got another dinner party to go to over Christmas and New Years Eve will be spent at Havana, Windsor. Pav will once again but on the decks, so I am looking forward to a good night.

Christmas has officially arrived, although we are yet to put up the decorations in our house. How do I know it has arrived? What is the sign? Seeing the Christmas television commercial from the Coca Cola drinks company. This year, they have gone for a more traditional approach, but with a time traveling twist. It will make more sense when you head over to YouTube. Call me a purist, but what was wrong with the classic version we have loved for years. The song is by the artist Melanie Thornton. She tragically passed away five years ago but was born in Charleston, South Carolina. (In a strange coincidence where Geoff finds himself this Christmas.) She may have gone but she has given the world a magic Christmas gift, which will live long in our hearts. Okay, I know it will forever be associated with a soft drink but if you listen to the song in full and not in isolation, you will perhaps begin to understand the power of the "Wonderful Dream".

Sunday 3rd December 2006

December already? The year is almost out but my weekends keep coming thick and fast. A great weekend, a wonderful weekend from all angles. I will begin with Saturday morning. I was being far to optimistic when I thought I could get up and be ready to catch the 8.20am train from the station. I just enjoyed my sleep far too much, even though I am used to getting up relatively early on weekend mornings. After quickly having some breakfast while watching music television, I got ready. Thankfully late on Friday night I had got everything ready on my desk, so after a shower I was ready to go. I decided to wear my redcurrant shirt instead of my red home jersey, just to make a change. I was out of the door quarter to 9am, which was not too bad. Drove to the station, with very little traffic on the roads on this wet dull winter morning. I parked up and was able to catch the 9.02 service from platform one which would arrive at Marylebone within fifty minutes. I took a seat and plugged myself into my portable radio. I was tempted to tune into Radio Five Live but opted for the Weekend Wakeup breakfast show with Fearne & Reggie. Particularly as Mr. Yates is a diehard Arsenal fan and mentioned he would be off to the game straight after the show. It was great to have the company of some music to settle the nerves. I felt different feeling going to the match today. Not only because it was my first North London Derby but because of the strange position Arsenal find themselves in the Premiership table and so many points off the pace. Call it a cloud of doubt but I was not sure if Arsenal would get a result. Defeat was unthinkable, third in a row as Martin Jol said during a quick news bite on Newsbeat. So much hung in the balance, but I decided not to think about if for now. I let the music take over and drifted into a slight daydream.

Having arranged with Terry to meet up at Finsbury Park tube staiton at 11am, I was nearly an hour early, so I got off at one stop early at Arsenal tube station and headed to the Armoury. I wanted to buy some Arsenal gloves. The store was packed with early comers wishing to pick up some merchandise. There were only dark blue gloves with a gold cannon emblem on them, but I wanted either red or black with a red Arsenal crest of some description. I went to ask one of the sales assistances. There seemed to be plenty of them just standing around doing nothing. He did not seem that bothered and just gave the standard explanation that if there were none out there, there were none in stock. Great. I was tempted to look around and buy a top. A top that I could wear casually when going out, that was not 'in your face' Arsenal FC. Something with the club slogan, Victory Through Harmony, but to my disappointment, there was nothing there that I liked and nothing with those arrousing words. I headed out and walked the full way around the stadium, knowing I would have to meet up with Terry soon. I took some photographs before headed back across the south bridge, down St. Thomas Road to the tube station. This was not an easy jounery as I was travelling against the flow of all the fans. As I waited outside the Arsenal World of Sport shop, I text Terry to let him know I was there and waiting. I waited. Then I waited some more. I tried to call him but it went straight to voicemail. I was going to give him until 11.30am, then make a move. I decided to give him a few more minutes and then he appeared. Finally, we then had to wait a few more minutes for his friend who was on his way. Now this is going to sound as if I am making it all up but it is true. Terry's friend is called Henry. So here I was going to an Arsenal match with Terry (and) Henry. Their combined namesake was injured so would not be making an appearance this lunchtime.

We headed down to the ground, to get a drink and some food before the game. As we were at different ends of the stadium, we met up by block 110, which is about half way around for both us and an ideal meeting point. Terry got the drinks in and I bought a vegetable pie, I was hungry. We enjoyed some good banter before saying out goodbyes and headed out to our seats. I usually get to my seat as quickly as I can but I was cutting it quite fine before the kickoff. As I headed back around to block 124, I went out to see most of the south bank full. I headed up to the row 22 and found my seat 910, which was directly in the middle, perfectly behind the goal. The atmosphere was being cranked up, then the over the PA they announced the teams were in the tunnel ready to come out.

Great game, great atmosphere and perhaps the most priceless moment was texting a Tottenham fan from work who was watching the game live on television. I will not bother with a match report, as there are others you can read. The penalties may have been debateable but they will not overshadow a great team performance of character and grit. Spurs just did not turn up in the first half and were only slightly better in the second. As I left Ashburton Grove for the long journey home, I took a final few photos for the scrapbook. The sun was shining in the distance and shone brightly on the glass walls of the stadium. I captured the moment on camera. The first North London derby at our new home, a majorly significant landmark in the history of this beloved football club. Right down to the personal note of this being the first time I had the priveledge to see us lock horns with our bitter arch rivals.

My rock and roll weekend continued as I dashed home. I had to drive home, get changed and head out of the door almost straight away. Thankfully I had my sisters TomTom to guide guide me to Eastleigh. I was going to a dinner party with some friends and thankfully the satelite navigation got me there within a few minutes of 7.30pm. The time I had programmed in as my desired arrival time. Fantastic product, even though it wanted to originally guide me through the M40, M25 and M3 route but soon recalculated the moment I hit the A404 by-pass. I listened to Trevor Nelson on BBC Radio One and they played some cracking tunes, as requested by the public. Including Boogie 2Nite by Booty Luv, which has become a personal favourite of mine.

Cover songs, as you know are a little bugbear of mine. I have no issue if the artist covering the original goes for an unique interpretation of the song. However, I read this article over on Guardian Unlimited online and agreed with it wholeheartedly. A generation will grow up thinking songs such as Tragedy were by Steps and not the Bee Gees and the same with many songs from Westlife (who have now done countless covers). Thankfully there will be those of us willing to underline the fact that the song is indeed actually a cover and the original artist are so and so. Websites such as The Covers Project will keep the flame of truth burning bright.

Thursday 30th November 2006

There are many people whom I wish actually had a blog. Then there are other people whom I wish had never stopped blogging. Hussein, or rather Mighty Mouse is in the later category, I wish he still kept an online journal today. He headed over to Edinburgh last weekend with some friends and was uploading the photographs to FlickR when I spoke to him late on Tuesday night It was the first time he had mentioned it, so it had been a bit of a last minute dash than a planned long weekend away. While it is great to have a collection of photos and strange captions to describe the wonderful antics it is not substitution for a full story in words. Never mind, I am glad Hussein and his friends had such a great time. Having only touched down in the city briefly back in early June, I planned to return one year for the Hogmany celebrations.

While I am often harassed, or rather ridiculed (particularly at work) for watching the BBC soap from Albert Square, this evening came some redemption. One of the first questions people ask is, simply why? Well it is not the hard hitting gritty storylines, or the scandalous gossip of who did what, with who and when. It is in fact the comic moments from some of the losers in E20. Here was yet another prime example.

The song the guys are singing along to on the radio is Old Time Rock & Roll by the legendary Bob Seger. Classic. You could not make it up. This is the pure ingredient that makes Eastenders so great to watch. It is just a perfect mirror on real life. In how many garages across the country would you find middle aged men dancing along to rock songs? Quite a few I would imagine, and many more that would not admit to the offence.

To my surprise this afternoon I received an e-mail from Arsenal football club PLC. Nothing strange in that sure. However the message had a banner for Platinum Club Membership, which I am many years (and many more salary increases) from achieving. It explained that the game against Manchester United had been moved to a Sunday (due to live television coverage) and my reservation to dine would need to be reconfirmed. My colleague Chris was adamant that I should contact the office and confirm my booking. Being more of a realistic, I knew the moment I called up the mistake would become clear and cause a large amount of embarrassment. I decided to just file the e-mail away and forget about it. Sure enough by the time I got home, a recall e-mail had gone out fully explaining the mistake.

While I consider myself an organised individual, I am untidy. At times extremely so. I decided to do something about it last weekend. I bid for a CD case on eBay. While this may seem like a small step. It was actually a major step in changing a habit of a lifetime. Although I have had minor clear outs of redundant CD-roms over the past few years I have never completely moved away from stacking CDs on shelves and in cupboards. Stupid really looking back. When it comes to CD/DVD storage there is only one name. Accept no cheap imitations, there is only brand you can bank one. I bought one of their 64 capacity cases for the car, over three years ago.

On eBay I found a great case with a capacity more than double of the case that sits on my dash. 128 in the main slips, but an additional 'currently playing' slot in the inside cover for a further sixteen. Which meant I spent most of this evening sorting out all my CDs and making a big pile of categories: Drivers, Operating Systems, Applications and finally the most important, my Data. It is interesting how much you can uncover when you go to task to sort things out. I threw away over 25 CD cases, many of which I may donate to work as we always find a use for a case. However this does beg the question, why did I not do this years ago? Why wait until now, when I am on my fourth PC with CD drive to clear up all the clutter. I am not too sure, all I can say is I am glad I have finally got there.

Really looking forward to the weekend for a couple of reasons. Usually the first weekend of December would be generally quiet but not this year. (I decided to just look back at what I was doing this time last year and two things hit me. Firstly I opened my final entry for November 2005 with a paragraph about Eastenders. The second, the fact that I went to my first concert with my sister for a-ha's opening night of their UK Analogue tour. Back to the present, with an early start on Saturday morning as I head over to N5 to watch Arsenal take on arch rivals Tottenham Hotspur in the first North London derby at our new home. Then I return home, clean the car (it is in a bad state, believe me) before heading over towards the south coast (guided by the TomTom) for a dinner party with some friends. Sunday, well I have not really thought that far year, but I am sure when I do I will let you all know.

Sunday 26th November 2006

It is Sunday afternoon and for the first time all week I have the time to dedicate to my web site. Believe me, it has been a roller coaster week, not just with work but in my own strange world. Here I am, with so many things to write about and with little idea of where to begin. To make life easier I will go back as far I can and work my way back to the present. I think it will make sense, just bare with me.

I am not the biggest James Bond fan in the world. My Dad is, but even he has not seen any of the films after A View To Kill (which was the last outing for his favourite 007). I am sure I have mentioned before, but until very recently the last Bond I had seen was A Licence To Kill. Nowadays I have to catch the movie at the big screen, fully appreciating why my Dad went to see Live & Let Die in the cinema (in India all those years ago). This would only be my second trip to see James at the cinema, but I can confirmed that I have seen every single official Bond film to date. I drove from my mate's house to the Vue cinema in Oxford. Regular readers will know that I tend as a rule go to the cinema on a Friday night, the weekend a movie opens. As my friend was busy we opted to go to the Saturday afternoon screening at 2pm. We would have gone in the evening but he was busy and I was going out in Reading, so the time slot was a happy compromise. However, rather than being a master stroke of decisions, it turned out to be a mistake. We arrived a good half an hour before the screen would open, to find firstly a massive queue at the food counter. I counted four, yes, four tills out of use and only three members of staff serving. What a joke! There were two big queues forming, the busiest day of the weekend and yet half the staff are off on lunch. In any case, after getting our popcorn, we were shocked to discover the queue for the screen one, trailing all the way down the corridor. The majority of those in the queue were families and young children mainly boys the age of eight to ten. The film was a 12A certificate. We had learnt our lesson before even the Pearl and Dean trail played. I blamed my friend, it was his decision really and he had booked the tickets. In any case, we got in side and luckily got some good seats in the middle tier. After a little wait, the commercials and trailers, the 21st Bond adventure began.

Daniel Craig was never in my eyes a good choice for Bond. I am not doubting his acting ability, particular Munich which I saw earlier in February. He is not in the mould James Bond. Personally I wish they had taken a risk and played by Colin Salmon. It would have been refreshing to see a black but nevertheless accomplished actor take the role. Perhaps the fact he was in the background in three Bond movies previously they did not want to use him in a title role. However, in the movie Craig proves he has the ability to take on such a difficult role, showing both the grit and in places the dry comic humour that are synonymous with double 0 seven. Does he look the part though? No, on screen he never truly comes across as James Bond and that is a shame. The film firstly is too long, which is a big negative in my opinion from the producers. Never do you want your audience looking at their watches, wondering when the movie will come to a conclusion. Although there is a struggle between James and his nemesis, Le Chiffre, the Secret Service Agent does not get the chance to turn the tables on him and instead the result, is rather pathetic to say the least. There is also a love story of sorts, which just does not have a place in a Bond film. Well not to the extent here, but there is method in the madness. You have to consider this not as Bond 21, but Bond 0.5 prior to Dr. No but this will only make sense just before the title roll. Another bug to bare is the soundtrack and opening titles. The theme, is not like any other Bond theme before and I just do not like it. You can view the music video on You Tube and just for yourself. You Know My Name does link in with the final line of the movie but still does not create the same feelings as Bond songs previously. The open titles to, go away from the silhouette of dancing girls, to a more colour, animated story relating to gambling which links into the title.

Bond fans go and watch this movie and let me know what you think. For the average cinema goer, I am not sure if it will really hit the nail on the head. The action and set pieces are amazing and once again, James Bond dares to do the unthinkable for Queen and Country. However, the plot is over complex, particularly for our audience of young children. I can fully appreciate the need for the filmmakers to establish this new Bond and give a back story but I think at times, too much time is spent on this than other aspects of the story. The gadgets are stripped down to a bare minimum, which is a good thing and the DB5 looks awesome and very much a Bond car. I think we will be better able to tell how good Craig was as a choice for Bond after the next movie. We should consider this just an introduction and the second chapter will be decisive. Roll on Bond 22.

I had an ultimate objective. To have Windows reinstalled on my machine, fully working, with internet access (MSN etc) and be in a position to watch Torchwood. I started much later than I had anticipated on Sunday afternoon last weekend, using nLite to create a deployed Windows XP SP2 installation CD. I had searched around online and found a web site that had all the Windows updates since SP2 was released in a single download ready for integrating into my deployed CD. Magic. I missed a few steps in the configuration for nLite which meant my install was only partially unattended. However, I must say that whole process worked like a dream. The longest process was formatting my C drive with a full format. I used this time wisely by going for a quick power nap. Having the ability to tune and fully customise my installation of Windows XP, I was able to remove 100mb worth of needles drivers and programs. Fantastic. By 7.30pm I had Windows back up and running and then by 9pm, everything was running and the majority of my software had been installed. The main thing was my digital television card was up and running so I could tune into BBC3 for my weekly dose of Captain Jack and the rest of the gang. I was even able to fit in burning a auto play CD for work, so was glad to accomplish everything I needed to on my machine within the space of a few hours. It was also refreshing to know that in less than a week I had got my machine back to normal, having spent four to five days working on a test account. I have learnt my lesson do not worry. Do not let anyone tell you that no good comes out of bad.

A quick round up on other issues (a bit like the section on the news bulletin when they say, "in other news..."). Although it has not been great being an Arsenal fan over the past few weekends and particularly last night, I received my official membership pack for the season on Monday evening. Good timing, I went to the Hamburg game on Tuesday night. In yet another one of my firsts for 2006, this was my first official Champions League game and I had a great time. I could go into the major details but just do not have the time. You will by now, now the score and how le Boss praised the boys for a great comeback. When the visitors scored I thought, here we go again. The feeling was further cemented when Hleb hit the bar and Van Persie hit the post. Was it going to be yet another one of those European nights of missed opportunity? It was for part of the first half but in the second half Arsenal turned around the game. Walcott's introduction was the catalyst for both the winning goals to put the tie beyond the Germans. The best atmosphere at the new stadium surpassing my four previous visits, particularly in the second half when the crowd got behind the Gooners.

In the post last week, I finally received the invoice for my archive supplies which had been delivered to work on Tuesday 7th, earlier this month. To my surprise the name on the invoice was incorrect, well technically no. It was just the Spanish version of my first name. Proof as if it was ever needed that my surname does give the impression of Hispanic ancestry. My cousin, Susan, many years ago researched the surname and discovered it originated from Portugal. Maybe on day, I will try and dig that bit deeper.

Friday 17th November 2006

I was a man on a mission. That was the description from one of my colleagues on the helpdesk, quite early on Wednesday morning. It was true and I knew there was so much to be done before 12 o'clock bell would ring. I could not sleep, I was just far too excited. On the day, my feelings were mixed. Yet I had little time to focus on the events of the evening. I had to concentrate on work and all the tasks that needed to be done before I was allowed to leave. It was not exactly a race against time, but I was under a little pressure to get laptops loaded for testing and SD cards loaded with software. I got there in the end, squeezing in a database backup for a contract developer two minutes before midday. One of my colleagues had given me a CD he had burnt, to listen in the car. However I cannot explain this story without giving the full back story. Sorry but it will be worth going off on this tangent.

Back in April I was at a client site, spending three nights and four days rolling out the latest version of our bespoke software. I mentioned briefly then my colleague coming to pick me up in his 51 plate, blue BMW 3 series. Well, he was listening to an oldies album he had burnt full of classics. There were some great smooth chilled out songs from the 1980s and early 1990s and I sat back while he hummed along to the songs. It took me nearly half the year to finally be given a CD to listen to. The 'oldies' as he referred to it was a separate album to his contemporarily entitled, 'Nice Jamz'. As I rushed to my car, parked outside the main gate, the buzz was starting to catch up with me. I was tempted to listen to one of my own albums. There was only one artistic I was going to listen to. However, I put on my colleagues CD-R instead, going for pot luck. I was not to know what the first track would be. I half expected the CD to be another Mp3 album, but it had only be burnt as compact disc audio. As I pulled off at quite a speed from the main drive. The first track came on. I could not believe it. Was this just a matter of sheer coincidence? Only a handful of people in the company knew I had the afternoon off and fewer knew where I was going and I assume even less knew which living legend would be making an appearance. I was amazed, surprised by this moment. Here I was driving home and although I could have listened to any of my own albums (with countless MJ tracks dotted around), I had opted to listen to my colleagues own compilation and the first track was, 'Don't Stop Until You Get Enough'. I smiled as I sped off onto the bypass home.

It was 12:20pm as I pulled onto my drive, with Beat It blaring at high volume. The adrenalin rush had begun and I did not expect to come down from this high for at least another twelve hours. Rushing inside I started to get ready. Being a perfectionist on this day, I already had all my clothes ready, Oyster card, Extra Mints and other essentials. I also had a pre-written note. A few lines I had written on Tuesday night, explaining to my family where I had gone. No one in my family knew I was going to the awards ceremony, even though a few of them are regularly readers of this blog. After getting changed, grabbing my things, I headed out of the door, rushing to make sure I caught my train on time. Originally I thought I would catch the 1.20pm train, giving me enough time to get back home, get ready and then drive into town. Being ahead of schedule, gave me time to take some deep breathes. The traffic going into Wycombe was slow. The inside lane on Marlow Hill was closed as they undertook some repairs, but all I saw was one pick up truck and no actual workmen, but then that is hardly a surprise. I pulled up at High Wycombe station and was able to quickly find a spot, even though there was a sign that the car park was full and cone stopping cars from entering. It was just a few minutes before 1pm as I bought my tickets and boarded the train waiting on platform one. The ticket master said I had less than a minute before the train would leave, so I ran and jumped on board, taking a seat on the left hand side. I was bored and decided to text a few people to pass the time. I text Pinky from the forum and was surprised that she had been queuing since 6.30am at Earls Court and was about to be let in. Almost five hours before the show begins. Crazy. I was concerned that I would have a rubbish view of the stage now but that was the least of my worries. I had to wait for Michaela to get my ticket. Thankfully thirty one minutes after my train departed from my home town, I got the call. I got the confirmation that my ticket had been collected from the box office. I could rest easy. It was actually a case of lully myself into a false sense of security.

Arriving at Marylebone, I headed for the tube and took the journey as follows. Took one stop down the road to Baker Street. Here I picked up the Circle line southbound (or is that westbound?) I know I could have jumped off earlier but I waited until Gloucester Road to disembark from my tube train. I then went across to the opposite platform and waited for the next train going west. It was a Piccadilly train and I got off at the next stop. Earls Court. I was here. Well yes and no. I came out of the wrong exit (not the first time) so was lost. No question I was lost and did not know where the arena was. Not a major issue. I would just call my friend and find out where they were so I could meet them. To my shock, they informed me they were in Harrods, a corner shop the other side of town. Not a million miles away but I knew that we had to queue to get a decent view of the stage and this was suicidal. The complete professional I am, I did not let my true feelings come across on the phone. I let my friend do the groveling. They would meet me by the side entrance within the hour. I checked my watch. It was 14:17. To rub salt into the wound she said I should go to McDonalds. (I did not get the chance to to explain that I have not been to that fast food chain in over two years. Well not to buy food for myself anyway.) You can try and imagine how I was feeling. Here I was, in the heart of West London, hours away from seeing the return of the greatest entertainer the world as ever seen and I had no ticket. I was not really that concerned because I knew that my friend would pull through and arrive on time. Anyhow I had a more pressing issue to deal with. I had to find the venue. There were a big group of security guards wearing bright yellow ShowSec jackets milling around. I was tempted to ask them where Earls Court was but did not want to look like a complete fool. Instead I followed the road signs and walked around to the rear entrance. However, there appeared to be some show about Dubai property on in the conference centre, so I carried on walking to the main vehicle entrance at the rear and asked the security guard at the gate directions to the World Music Awards. He pointed me back in the direction I had come but said I should walk around the side entrance. Walking back, I was directed to the main box office. There was already quite a big queue, but rather than this being a queue for the standing audience, it was just for ticket collection. I walked back to the area, which was labelled for all those with standing tickets. There were a few diehard fans queuing but only a handful. It was coming up to 3pm. I then walked back to the Box Office and waited, calling my friend but their phone was off. Waiting around, looking for any fans I recognised. Then I saw Terry in the distance. Or rather I saw his blue Arsenal top. I walked over and was glad to be with friends again and not look like some loner. Terry had just arrived and I did not reserve my excitment. With him were Diane and Tibsy. We started talking and preparing ourselves for what was just around the corner, literrally. This was the relative calm before the storm. Further friends arrived, adding to the surreal atmosphere. This was my first MJ event with other fans, with Michael actually making an appearance. I had by now made good friends with several members of the UK fan community, all stemming from a documentary I watched on Channel 4 back in early January 2005. I was looking forward to the entire awards show and of course the magic moment of Michael being presented with the Diamond Award. However there was one minor issue. It was getting closer to the time to be let in and I still had not ticket. My friend was not answering her phone. I had to make a decision, I had to make it soon. We were queuing now and luckily quite near the front. Doors would open at 5.30pm as it clearly stated on those that had their tickets out. The time must have been around 3.30pm. Tibsy had a friend, Holly who had a ticket going spare. I had to take it. I could not wait for my friend to come back and find me. Even if they did, they would be way behind in the queue. With a ticket in my possession, I calmed down. Or rather was less angitited and now just full of pure excitement. It was getting colder and the few hours that had already passed by started to catch up with me. I bounced up and down on the spot to warm myself up but with little of the desired affect. It was then I recognised a face in the crowd, on the wrong side of the railings.

Sudhir was there, talking to his friend across the barrier. I squeezed by some other people and said hello. He was waiting for the others. Anika was already inside, along with Pinky. The long queue was compacted down and split up. With these instructions we thought it would not be long before we would go in but it was not the case. Sudhir jumped the barrier when the security guards were not watching and I helped his friend with her Heat Crossword, getting three of the handful of words remaining. A few minutes later, we were let in, one at a time, our tickets checked and given a flourest venue wristband. I thought it would only be a matter of time before we were inside, after all the show was scheduled to start at 7pm. Little did I know there was another two hour and fifteen odd minute wait ahead of us. It was getting cold and the wind was picking up. However the entertainment came in the form of some guys standing directly behind us. Firstly they kept asking for Lempsip, as it was so cold! (This became the running joke for the rest of the time we were in the queue). Then they started using the name of Jackson's solo albums to describe how they felt outstand on a frosty autumn evening. For example, "Let us in, it is Dangerous out here..." "Will you please get us Off The Wall" "We are not Invincible, let us in!" and the opening lines, "It's close to midnight..." (of course it was not but that is how it felt) Okay maybe you had to be there. In any case, there were moments that I was laughing so much that I forgot about the elements. I was content with the thought that in short time, I would be in the same room as a musical legend.

While these guys were our entertainment in the queue, they also provided me with a fascinating insight into the perfect professionally of the King of Pop. I overheard one of them tell the other the following story. When Michael had turned up to see rehearsals, he had asked for them to continue but not looked at any of them on the stage. In fact he was facing away from the stage and focused on the music. He could 'hear' when any of the performers missed a step. Wow! Just imagine having that kind of ear for music and dance. It was a thought that stuck with me for the rest of the night. Genius.

At quarter to the hour, 8pm that is, we were let in and I rushed through the second barrier and queued by the main enterance. We were warned by the security to relax. How can you relax when you are about to come face to face with one of your children heroes? I was held up at the front of the queue, as Terry and the rest of the gang went through. After a wait for a minute I was let in and I rushed up the stairs, only for a security guard to open the door and warn me to take it easy. Step aside, can't you see I'm on pure aderalin. After being padded down by yet another security guard I went through to a female security woman. She asked for my ticket, and tried to scan it through a bar code. It failed the first time, even though I had passed her by. She called me back a few steps and I waited for her to scan it through and she then threw it into a big transparent plastic bag. Gone was my small momentum of the day. (Thankfully Tibsy had taken a photo with his camera, while we had waited in line.) I rushed up some more stairs right behind Terry. I was once again warned by a security guard not to run, he said if fell flat on my face it would be fun for him but not for me, he muttered, with no emotion in his voice. We walked to towards the stage and our wrist tags were checked. We headed to the left of the stage and I snapped some pictures on my Nokia 6230 cameraphone.

We had been prewarned that only camera phones would be allowed inside, but to my shock people had bulky digital cameras, even camcorders. Why were they allowed in? I was disappointed for a while, wishing I had brought my digital camera. Then I considered it again, another thing to carry and potentially lose. And why fight with dozens of others to get a good view, when I can just look up instead of waving a hand around in the direction of those on stage. Plus I would always be able to get pictures from someone else. Tibsy had followed us in, but gone to the far left of the stage. I called him and stuck my hand up in the air and he found me. He was disappointed with our spot on the floor. I could understand, we did have a guy of nearly seven foot standing towards the right. He wanted to head over to the main VIP area and look out for celebrities. He asked me twice but pondering I turned him down and stayed in my place with Terry and the rest of the gang. I did not want to walk over there and get a rubbish view of the stage. Even if there were some "celebraties" near by. There was only one person I was here to see.

We were in, and there was that eerie semi silence before the show would kick off. The buzz of the audience talking, the director making final adjustments, the camera crew taking some final test shots, with simple background music filling in any holes. It is difficult to put into words how I felt. Sure we were an hour late, but I was in the arena, I was here. I had made it. The show was about to begin, the lights dimmed and you could see the shadowly silloquette of Miss Beyoncé Knowles walk across behind the screen to the top of the main stairway. Then we waited. And we waited some more. There was a techincal fault of some kind. It would prove to be the trend for the rest of the evening. I could go into the details but I would rather not focus on what went wrong and concentrate on the most important aspects. The performances.

A quick run down of which artists performed and the songs they sang. Beyoncé opened with Deja Vu, Andrea Bocelli gave a wonderful rendition of Can't Help Falling In Love With You featured on his new album, Amore. Beyoncé returned to perform Irreplaceble, the best track on her album B-Day. There was a performance by Kate Meula, Enya came on to perform It's In The Rain.

We were all hoping that MJ would be performing Thriller with Chris Brown but after a fifteen minute delay (it felt much longer, trust me) only Chris Brown appeared in the famous red outfit. His performance was amazing a great re-creation of the music video. This just warmed the crowd for the main event. Beyoncé came to present Michael with the Diamond Award. It was a strange moment for me, for a split few seconds as I saw Michael appear up the stairs I was lost in the moment. Was I really here? Was I really in the same room as this legend? The same artist, whose music I have listened to more than any other persons (Last FM statistics do not lie). It is difficult to describe in the words when you finally meet (okay I am stretching the use of the adjective, but you understand what I mean) someone in the relm of Michael Jackson. There are superstars, there are A list movie stars and then a whole light year beyond that is this living legend. I am running out of superlatives to use. The moment he appeared on the balcony will stay with me for the rest of my life. A magic moment and then you hear the rest of the crowd go absolutely crazy. I joined in with the chorus of "Michael, Michael!" at the top of my voice.

There have been many things I have discussed on this blog over the past four years. However a few topics tend to remain constant. Arsenal, football in general, blockbuster movies, computing and other geeky stuff and finally Michael Jackson. To say he has been an inspiration would be an understatement. He has influenced, via his music alone, many of the best entries. Just take a look through the archives and you will see clear evidence of the journey. The journey, which began many years ago but was only documented from February 2003 with the screening of the Living With Michael Jackson documentary. To that wonderful day in mid June last year when the jury finally gave their verdict. During the many months between these two significant points in my life, one thought, one image kept me going. I would listen in the late evening to FiveLive as they reported daily outside the courtroom in Santa Barbara. The return, the comeback. I am not talking about just another album, another media appearance, another interview on a talkshow. I am talking about the greatest comeback in the history of entertainment. Things have moved on so much over those three years, since Martin Bashir made that controversial documentary. I now had a whole network of MJ fans and access to forums, but more than this thanks to another documentary on Channel 4, I know people who were there, inside and outside the court, showing their solidatry. I also have the privilege to now call them my friends.

So here I was, the other side of that dark tunnnel, at the moment I and many millions more had dreamed of. Some feared that it would never happen and I must admit at times, I too questioned my faith. How could a human being brought down in this way with such lies and deception ever face the public again? Why would he ever want to? Michael Jackson is unlike any other person. To quote the beautiful lines from Speechless, "helpless and hopeless that is how I feel in side, nothings real but all is possible, if God is on my side". Michael makes the impossible nothing.

People will say that he only sang two lines from We Are The World, when he appeared on stage for the finale. Just as the media reported when I listened to FiveLive when I eventually got home around 1am. They have missed the point. They do not see the bigger picture. This was Michael telling the world, I'm still here and prepare yourselves. He is back in the studio and working on his new album. As much as I would like him to tour again, I know that may not be possible. New material is criticial. Proof, (as if it ever was still needed) that he still has the talent, the genius, the magic that has made him the King Of Pop.

Michael threw his jacket into the crowd and this fan was lucky enough to grab a strip of the inside. Now this picture might look strange but trust me, the fabric smelt of an orange perfume. Hate to use a tired cliche, but I will do anyway. Is this the sweet smell of success? [Image courtesy of MJJ-Europe]

Wednesday 15th November 2006

Tuesday 14th November 2006

It was the equivalent of taking a pistol, placing it against your temple and pulling the trigger. I keep asking myself why, but the fact that I still have the ability to update my blog, does mean that not all is lost. Let me pick up the story from last night. As you all know my computer was fully functioning but not running at 100 percent. I had scheduled (as previously mentioned) to rebuild my machine completely from scratch over Christmas. Looks like I have forced that decision over a month early. I stupidly decided that a Monday evening was the perfect moment to upgrade to Internet Explorer 7. What was the worse that could happen? I had to bypass certain security features in the software, which meant a trawl through a few pages of Google results. A forum page had a long winded method which involved using a Hexadecimal editor. No thanks. There must be an easier option. On most blogs this educational post had been deleted with authors fearing legal action from Microsoft. However, as you can expect some web sites, fall through the cracks, even from the might and muscle of the MS legal department. I found a thread but a quick scan proved it was still quite involved and I continued the search for a relative simple solution. There was. Well so I thought. I found a simple thirteen step guide on getting around the obstacles enforced upon me. Or so I was brought to believe. There was a point further down about not restarting if prompting to do so, has it could potentially corrupt my Windows. I was far too arrogant to read and fully understand the instructions. Instead I decided to boast to my work colleague via MSN, "How difficult could it be?" Only for that to be the last words I would speak to anyone online for the rest of the evening. The installation failed, okay, no sweat. No need to panic, Captain Mainwaring. Surely Windows would just work. Nope. My machine killed all open applications and processes and began to reboot. Oh no. Even still, I was only slightly concerned. I was confident that Windows would reboot and work fine. I was so wrong. You would not think I work in IT and spend a countless number of hours staring at computer screen. When Windows did not load first time, I began getting desperate. What could I do? I know, a repair installation of Windows. On the second reboot attempt, Windows actually booted up to my relief, but to errors galore. All my programs were corrupt. MSN Messenger logged me in and my status was online but the main screen was blue and blank. Not good. Then a bubble appeared to state that Winamp.exe was corrupt. Uh oh!. Could I run a repair? I had done it on other machines but never my own. The main OS files are restored but my all important profile remains intact. Nope. That was not an option. Quite literally, when I put my SP2 CD in the drive and booted up, I had only the options of a fresh install or the wonderful but completely useless recovery console. I tried one last final reboot but it was even worse now. No log in screen, not even the XP splash screen. Just a message that a critical system dll file was missing. With hindsight a repair would have restored the DLL and more importantly got my system back up and running. But then I did not readily have access to the internet and there was no chance of me booting up the family PC at that time of night. It was just after 10pm. There was no alternative. I had to take the plunge into the deep end and reinstall Windows. I hoped to carry out a reinstall rather than a fresh install and hope (and pray) that my all important files remain intact. Normally I would be going crazy and smashing up my room at the thought of losing all those years of documents, websites and accounts. However, I was relatively calm. This renstall was a minor inconvience. I had last week backed everything important up onto my 320gb hard drive. Sometimes my timing is impecciable.

My next obsticle was the product key. For some reason the key I had in my possesion was invalid. Perhaps it was only valid for SP1. Although I had installed Windows on this, then newly build machine with no problems. Who was I gonna call? I called Chris, half expecting him to hang up on me, or more like be sound asleep. He was wide awake, to my surprise and more than happy to help. In the end he messaged the collegue I had been speaking to perhaps fifteen minutes earlier. After the laughter died down, I was given a product key and finally got Windows loaded. (On the second attempt as it failed first time around, so had to restart but it was only the GUI section, so thankfully it picks up from where it left off.) So around 11pm, I was back up and running. Well with a standard Windows XP Professional SP2 build with no drivers and it took me thirty minutes to load the basic drivers and my television card, so I could at least watch some television before I fell asleep. I had created a new account, called Test, so as not to overwrite my existing Andrew profile. However, no internet access. That would have to wait until this evening, when I had the time get MSN and a few other minor applications running. My plan is to keeply wipe the C: drive and reinstall properly over the weekend. I am just far too busy this week to be able to spare the time to actually get the machine up and running to my complete satisfaction.

The morale of the tale is simple. Do not think you can install a major upgrade at the drop of a hat. Think about it. Then think about it again and before you replace a single dynamic link library file or run the alternative update executable, consider the worse case scenario of everything going wrong. Then, come back the next day with at least one alternative option and the most important, a back up plan. Something I rarely tend to bank on. A shame when you consider I work on a helpdesk supporting around nine hundred end users. If I do not have a clue, what hope is there for them?

Saturday 11th November 2006

Was in Slough this morning, strangely too early even for me. I pulled up at 8am at the Thames Fiat dealership on the Bath Road. Then I decided to walk into town, while my car had a winter service check. Little did I know that the journey was three miles and not the two I originally estimated. Very strange to be walking for the first a time a route you would normally cruise in your car within a few minutes. It took me a good twenty odd minutes to get to into town. Although I am not trying to say that was a bad thing. Quite the contrary, I enjoyed the time to think, the fresh air and be the chance to put into perspective the events of the past few weeks and the wonderful things to come in the coming few days and weeks. This might shock you but before I passed my driving test in October 1999, I used to do a lot of walking. I used to grab my personal stereo cassette player and ear phones and walk into my hometown and back, ignoring the frequent bus service, at that time run by the now defunct Wycombe Bus Company. It enabled me to fully appreciate the luxury of being able to jump in the car and drive almost anywhere. So, back to the present. Why had I walked all this way? When I could have waited in the waiting area, drinking fun size cans of cola, watching Soccer AM on Sky Sports? I just did not want to. I wanted to get something done. Even though it was dead early on a Saturday morning, by the time I got to the town centre, shops were slowly coming to life. I had a few things to get in preparation for Wednesday evening. Sorry, but following will sound like a girl. I apologise. Although I perhaps had the write combination of clothes to wear, I wanted something new. Something different. It was a special, once in a lifetime occasion, after all. So I headed firstly to River Island. None of their jeans really appealed to me, but I bought a smart black pin tuck shirt. I only have a silky short sleeve shirt in my wardrobe, so this would work nicely. Heading over to Topman, well technically Topshop, in the Observatory Shopping Centre, I waited for the signs pointing the menswear section upstairs, but to my shock, it was a rather small corner at the front of the store. Disappointing. Now this is why I never come shopping in Slough and always go to Reading, Milton Keynes and Uxbridge. In any case, I found a nice pair of straight cut, kryptic basic jeans by Moto. Mission accomplished. Just the long walk back to collect my car and head home. Plus, I would be home just in time for Football Focus. Result!

My sister started a new job last month. Rather than go into the details, her job involves an extensive amount of traveling so my Dad decided this would be the ideal time to buy a satellite navigation device. There was only one name to go for, really. Having seen Tom Tom in action on a PDA on our trip to the Nurburgring back in April, there was no doubt this would be the brand to buy into. It was more a case of find the right product from their now quite extensive range. In the end, I opted for the 510. It had the right balance between features required, such as handsfree Bluetooth and the added benefit of iPod control. Thanks to some price comparison web sites, we placed an order late on Tuesday evening and the device arrived on Thursday. Only had a chance to connect it up to the home PC this evening, switch over to a 1 gb SD card and actually activate with the product key. What can I say? A fantastic solution, all fully working straight out of the box. Bringing truth to the magic of plug and play. I have yet to use it on a car journey, but as it is portable it can go between all our cars. Although looking forward, there are no long journeys to unknown destinations coming up in the foreseeable future, but things may change. It will be there, if I ever need it. Much better than a paper print out from MultiMap dot com.

Although I am already listed on four blog directories plus Technorati but I have submitted this blog to yet another directory last week. It was posted onto a FlickR group I subscribe to, called, yes you've guessed it. Bloggers The amateur blogger, is starting a directory from scratch using a similar keyword system to Technorati. My link can be found over here. It is very early days but I hoped to that as the directory grows more people will come and at least take a quick peak at my blog. Hopefully there will be a blog badge of some description I can upload in the next few weeks.

I could have taken the whole day off. If I really wanted to, I could take off the whole week, but I didn't. Instead, to the hysterics of my work colleagues, I chose to just take a half day on Wednesday. Why? Well if I took the whole day off I feel I would get overexcited. Does that make sense? (No, I bet it sounds completely irrational) I can imagine I would do very little different and I would still take my little sister to school, so as I'm within a few miles of the office I might as well head in. A full day off would be a waste. I would perhaps get involved in the online euphoria with other London based fans, gagging with excitement. Listen to HIStory back to back and then watch back to back music videos on my XBox at high volume (to the disapproval of my neighbours). I prefer the idea of earning my few hours off. I will leave the office around 1pm, knowing I have done a solid morning's work and can then go absolutely crazy on the drive back home. By that time I will be running on pure adrenalin, and nothing will be able to stop me.

Friday 10th November 2006

Been a roller coaster few days, only now do I feel it is the ideal moment to share both the highs and lows. The week began perhaps badly in the sense I had so much work to catch up on and I knew it would a struggle. On top of this, I was awaiting news on tickets for the World Music Awards online. Being distracted is one thing, being a man down (questionable, some colleagues would beg to differ on that description, and prefer to use the word 'boy') on the helpdesk is hardly the greatest start to the week. To further add to the burden, I felt a terrible headache coming on, quite early in the morning. Fantastic. Anything else? Thankfully the phones were quiet, so I was able to concentrate on the important tasks. My colleague Peter was outstanding, picking up many of the calls and helping to reduce the call stack.

The main thing on my mind were tickets. Not Arsenal today but tickets to an award show. Had it been any other awards show, anywhere else in the world, I would just not be interested. Although I do enjoy watching the ceremonies on television, never before have I wanted to be there. A legend would be in town and making his first public appearance in the country for nine years. As a fan, how could I not make the effort and go and support my idol. It was perhaps today, the first time I truly appreciated the beauty of full unadulterated unrestricted internet access. If I had been working in the IT department of a big blue chip company there would be no way I would have been able to access a web page, let alone MSN. I was searching the forums for any news but also speaking to two big MJ fans on the IM client. You would think that I had the ideal setup to ensure I got tickets. I had called the box office twice but on both occasions given perhaps the worst customer service imaginable. They may be sick and tired of us fans calling them but, a single bone in your body to show you actually care would have helped ease our frustrations, a little.

Daniel, over in Singapore received a package from a mysterious Clark Kent on Tuesday. He messaged me on MSN as soon as the packaged arrived and confirmed he had uploaded an image onto his blog and would give a full review later. Of course, my ban on personal blogs during office hours, meant I could not view the posting until I got home in the evening. Even though I was tempted to get Chris to go and take a peak for me. When I got home, to my surprise Daniel had also uploaded my cryptic note which I will now have to go to some length to explain. When I am on MSN at the office I use the username 'Andrew'. When I am back home, I use 'Teg'. Daniel jumped on this and instantly made the connection with a stumbling journalist at the Daily Planet and his alter ego, the Man of Steel. The notion stuck and now when we talk while I am in the office he often refers to me as Clark. He also refers to my work log as the Clark Kent blog, because I never mention football, which is his main motivation for reading my postings.

Also on Tuesday, I received a Fed Ex parcel from the United States and America. It was my archive kit from Archival dot com. Over the course of last season I collected numerous newspaper and magazine articles on the final season at Highbury. Along with the move to the new stadium at Ashburton Grove and a French nobody celebrating ten years at the helm of one of Europe's biggest football clubs. Rather than let these sentimental documents be filed away in my drawer, I wanted to display them. To have them presented in a way they could be passed on to generations to come. My search actually began back on 29th May when I contacted the Book & Paper Conservation Studio at the University of Dundee and they advised I purchase a Archival Grade Album. So I searched around, but with limited success until a few weeks ago on 24th October when I contacted the lovely people at Archival and they recommended me the full kit to get me going. Including Archival Mist to neutralize the acids found in newspapers. Perfect. I placed my order, which was confirmed two days later. The item arrived on my desk and when I explained to Chris it was not a work laptop but my attempt to start my very own Arsenal collection, he called me sad. I suppose, this is something supporters of true football clubs can understand. I hope to start the archiving process sometime in January. As I do not have the adequate space at home, I will be carrying out this job at a friend's house but with no real care for time. We can get only one article set in place, at each go, as long as at the end of the process I have a wonderful album to reflect the joys of the North Bank and the promise of Emirates. How does the saying go? Sure, when was the last time you did something for the first time? At this rate, I can simple say 2006, your honour! Guilty as charged.

Talking of first times. I will going to my first North London derby next month, with the added after thought that it will be the first such clash with Spurs at our new home. I was lucky, I logged onto the site promptly at 9.30am (last Thursday) and was able to get tickets straight away. There was only one place to sit really. Upper tier, right above the Tottenham fans. Fantastic! Roll on December 2nd. However my record was incomplete, there was final piece of the jigsaw that needed to fall into place. That was on Wednesday 8th, this week. Just after 9.30am, I booked tickets for my first ever Champions League match, against Hamburg (a qualifer doesn't count, so I don't want Chris leaving some annoying comment to the contrary). Although I wanted to sit in the lower tiers, my membership was not valid for these seats (apparently, not sure why). So I am poised to be one of the lucky few to have visited the new home of football, every month since it opened in July. Long may the tradition continue into 2007 and beyond.

I have mentioned this before, but I have a passing interest in soccer Stateside. Listening to the World Football phone-in on Five Live's Up All Night in the early hours of Saturday morning with Dotun Adebayo (although not everyone is a fan!). So you can imagine the interest in seeing David Beckham going over to play in the MLS. Although it would not be the best move in terms of football, it would make a whole continent sit up and listen to a sport which at the moment hardly registers on the richter scale of the average American. Personally I think Dave would love it, and all his entourage would love the marketing opportunities it would open up. Plus, he would find an fresh faced adoring public. Something he has not experienced for several years in England and Spain. The BBC had a great article on a one of the few players to make a name for himself outside his homeland. The rock star, come footballer, I mean soccer player. The one and only Alexi Lalas. Sometimes stories of living legends are quite unbelievable. Particularly when you can replay in your head the clip of their header against England in 1993.

Perhaps I should pick up the story on the World Music Awards. Which means going back to Monday afternoon, quite late in the day. I had survived, just about. Even though I had seriously considered dropping it all and heading home earlier in the morning. My friend on MSN messaged me a link which I hit and entered in the special (but far too obvious) code. Then entering in my details I received an e-mail a few minutes later. I had won a pair tickets to the show! Great! I was absolutely estatic. I drove home, feeling I had completed my mission of the day. Or so I thought. By the time I got home, it was fine. Until I came back to my computer after watching Eastenders in the lounge. Another friend had messaged me (and then gone offline) to say the tickets were all void as someone had hacked into the site and given away the code. Damn! I was gutted. (Take that as a major understatement!) I headed over to the forums and as I expected there was utter confusion across some of the newest threads posted. However this made me more determined than ever to buy tickets on Tuesday morning. They would be available from around 9am, apparently. The annoying thing was while I had been entering a competition that did not exist, a few fans had called the box office and booked standing tickets. Including my friend Terry. He was over the moon but was helpful in passing on further information. The competition was re-organised for Wednesday 8pm. On Tuesday I called the box office twice but was told by some rude person that no tickets were on the system and I should call back in 15 minutes. When I did, I was told the same thing by someone even more abruptly. The news on the forum was that this was a completely farce and the ticket agents were just holding back tickets and trying to make a greater demand. Michael had already organised 200 tickets for his fans, which were part of the competition (although some had this figure down to 100). The remaining standing tickets which would be sold had not been pushed out to general sale. This was crazy. The event was just over a week away. I tried my luck with the competition, but this time around, when it truly mattered my luck ran out. The site eventually accepted my details at 8.40pm, by which time all the tickets had been allocated. I got an e-mail confirming this only a few minutes later. I had been on the phone to my friend and heard them win tickets! Great! Would I be offered one of the pair?

By Thursday morning, it was time to make an executive decision. I either had to buy them, or hope and pray that my friend gave me their ticket. It was a difficult situation. One diehard fan had queued from 10pm on Wednesday, camping outside the box office at Earls Court to get tickets. They had only opened the booth at 11am, by which time there was already a queue of sixty plus people waiting in line. Through the wonders of MSN, I was being fed live information on the situation. I asked on MSN, if anyone could get me a ticket, as my friend had two friends down in the queue and also to an MJ fan on a chat room. Thankfully there was no need for all this heartache.

My friend came through. Offering me the spare ticket they had won in the competition, it is difficult to describe how I felt and still feel now (a full day after). I wanted to jump up from my chair and punch the air, but instead preferred to smile at the thought I would be there. Plus my colleagues would have wondered what the hell was going on. What more could I say? If he is to perform Thriller it will not bother me. (All these news agencies cannot be wrong, can they?) I am just thankful to the someone, somewhere, that one of my biggest regrets, to never see Michael Jackson live will be overturned with the quick shuffle of the black shoes with white socks, dropping of the shoulders and click of the fingers.

Sunday 5th November 2006

It is funny how one external factor can make or break a weekend. Up to Sunday lunchtime, I was enjoying my weekend, having achieved very much everything I had set out to achieve. My PC was fixed, digital television was working great. Although I prefer using Power Cinema rather than the Hauppauge software that came with the card. (Even I cannot have everything!) Saturday was relatively productive. Got my haircut in the morning, dropped the 307 at the dealership for it's first service around 1pm. Then the afternoon was spent vacuuming and polishing the interior of my car. In the evening I headed over to my mate's house and transferred all his personal documents and photographs from his old Mesh computer to his shiny new Dell Inspiron laptop. It was not as straightforward as I had hoped but we got there in the end. I should have realised that Windows 98 would never pick up a USB 2.0 320gb hard drive. It was nice to catch up and we made that all important booking. We booked tickets for Casino Royale for Saturday 18th November at 2pm at Vue, Oxford. This inspired us somewhat and we spent rest of the evening watching various old Bond clips on YouTube.

Then we come to, today. Sunday. The rest day (well to some, okay most). Had to get up early and drop off my Mum at work. Instead of dashing home and back into bed, I went and got the car cleaned, it was badly in need of a clean. Then when I got home, I went online and spent some time doing some necessary admin. Filing away papers and making a small pile of security sensitive documents that needed to be shredded. The time flew by and it was gone midday. I had to get ready, have a shower, do all those everyday things. Around 20 past 12 I finally pulled myself away from the computer and switched it off. Getting ready, I was on the sofa watching the final few minutes of Goals on Sunday on Sky Sports within twenty minutes. However there was an uneasy feeling in the air. I just could not put a finger on it.

Defeat I can take. Last minute goals are a killer and thankfully I have suffered them more at international level, with England than with my club team Arsenal. There is little to really say, our performance was poor but West Ham did not over the course of ninety minutes deserve to win the match. You should learn from defeats, look at your mistakes, pick yourself, be stronger for the next challenge, next tackle. However, what overshadowed the game was the bust up between the two managers. Now, no matter what frustrated Monsieur Wenger, he should still have shaken hands with Alan Pardew. (I am not his biggest fan but he is a decent English football manager and at times due some credit, for talking sense). I feel ashamed by my manager for his stance. Sure, the celebration and Brucie impression under the nose of the Frenchman was completely out of order but football is a passionate sport. I would not have it any other way. Voice your annoyance, but never the less, keep the upper hand by remaining dignified in your conduct, always. I crawled the inter web for a quote and found one, "The true gentleman is subtly poised between an inner tact and an outer defense." By little known and Ungoogleable Puzant Kevork Thomajan (well nothing substantial and no page on Wikipedia!)

Friday 3rd November 2006

Hate to use a worn out line from a fantastic television series in the 1980s, but I will do anyway. I love it when a plan comes together. I had discovered the problem and now needed a solution, a workable solution that I could implement before the weekend. This was pushing the boundaries but I knew a man that could help. A colleague on the helpdesk. Have looked at a couple of forums, where this chipset had been replaced by a heat sink, I opted to go for the same approach. After all, it was tried and tested. What could possibly go wrong? I called up Peter on Wednesday evening requested (okay, pegging) for his help. He duly replied and so I went off over to Komplett and ordered the part. The Zalman ZM-NB47J. Bargain at £3.50. I placed my order on the site quite late on Wednesday evening and planned my hopes on the part arriving at the office on Friday ready for me to install in the afternoon. It was worth paying the little extra for the DHL Next Working Day option. I was slightly concerned on Thursday afternoon around 5pm, when I got an e-mail confirming despatch of the order but from Amsterdam. It would be a push but hopefully the part would arrive for tomorrow lunchtime.

In a series of moments, the plan came together. I arrived earlier than normal to the office. Around 8.20am, (when I am usually there around 8.40am) with my machine but still doubtful as to whether or not the heat sink would arrive. Success, overnight the package had been flown in London Heathrow and just over an hour ago (07:08, 'Departed from DHL facility in London-Heathrow - UK') Fantastic, I would expect delivery later that day. When I checked the tracking page again later this morning, at 10:27 the package was with the delivery courier, on the van and on it's way. Great. I was pleased. This was going to make or break my weekend. I was on the phone to one of the managers when I noticed an email arrive from reception, a package had arrived. Within a few seconds the clock on Windows tripped over to 1pm. It was lunchtime, I got off the phone and headed for the main building grabbed the box, noting the words 'Komplett' on the label to fully confirm it was what I was expecting and headed back. Right, that was the easy part, the waiting. Now was down to the difficult job of the transplant.

Chris, while was helpful in letting me work on my machine over lunch, did not help with comments on the death of my machine if I made a wrong move. Which although perfectly true did not give me the confidence to get the job done in the allotted hour. Peter was supervising. Sitting in his chair and smiling as I quickly ripped apart my machine. I had taken a photograph of the jumper switches but opted to leave them connecting, remember how difficult they were to set in the first place. The original chipset fan was difficult to remove and Pete helped unclip the pins so that it would release from the motherboard. Part A complete. Now installing the new heat sink.

Strange to think, such a small fan was causing all the noise and irritation to me for the past few months. The heat sink would make the world of difference. On the Zalman web site there was quicktime movie showing how to build the pin holders that attach underneath the block which support the structure as it sits onto the motherboard. This was straight forward enough and once we had them in place it was a case of getting the block to sit nicely on the Northbridge Chip. Not an easy job I can tell you. Particularly if you have not yet applied the thermal grease. Even considering this minor oversight, the heat sink sat at an awkward angel to fit in place. Then it was a countdown of a few minutes remaining from Chris as I put the computer back together. Easy. All in all, it took me an hour and fourteen minutes from start to finish to complete. Although I must admit Peter did most of the fiddly work. Chris also helped changed the mounting sliders on my DVD drive from middle to bottom. I also decided it was the perfect time to switch on the grooving psychedelic lighting on the Antec Sonata.

Away from all the computer talk, I went to see Borat tonight at Vue, Reading. What can I say? Completely outrageous and in places completely tasteless. A fantastic movie that you just have to go and see. You look forward to most the reaction of the people he sqeaks to rather than just what he says and does, which is a unique experience. The movie goes under the full title, even for British Board of Film Certification of Borat: Cultural Learning's of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan. While the television version was really just a bunch of interviews, the movie does loosely have a storyline, which I will not reveal to not spoil the ending. There is a review on the biggest UK fan site, from an early preview screening. Sacha is an excellent talent and has here surpassed his original creation of Ali G. A movie I also saw at the cinema but the exaggerated story ruined the character in my opinion. He is a comedian willing to sacrifice himself for his art and in places pushes his luck to the extreme, even with Americans. Many take it on the chin but some are offended, which is understandable, you cannot please everyone but this movie does go places that other comedies just would not risk. Two years ago, when I was working in the City, I worked with a great guy called Simon and he used to do a killer impersonation of Borat and looking back, you knew that it was only a matter of time for the man with so many crazy catchphrases would make it onto the big screen. Not long before his final character Bruno, gets the same Hollywood treatment.

Tuesday 31st October 2006

It was a case of third time lucky on Sunday night and in the end it was very much exactly what the Doctor ordered, literally. As a big fan of time travel and all it's ramifications, the plot appealed greatly but also the quality of the acting to add emotional depth to all of the main characters. All in all everything I had come to expect from the show, a action packed opening, a major moral dilemma and ultimately alien hardware which was far too dangerous in the hands of humans. Bring on next week. I pop into the chat room over at Torchwood TV blog straight after each episode, so if you are around please stop by.

On the bounce of watching all this digital television I made a impulse buy. Rare for me I know but on Sunday I thought, I might as well go for it. It was on offer and considering that I have got £20 credit on my credit card. (Purely for switching to payment via DD). I headed over to the same site from which I bought all the components for my PC, back in June last year. The fantastic Over Clockers and found the item. It was on offer of the week, so with an extra £12 off. Fantastic. Bargain. I went for the twin tuner device, just what I need to tape MOTD2 on BBC2 and watch Torchwood on Sunday evenings. The perfect plan was to order late on Sunday evening, have the order process and dispatched on Monday and delivered to my office this morning. Perfect. Nothing could go wrong and as I took the device home, I took a quick picture before ripping open the box and tackling the installation.

My Dad was helping me out and I disabled the chipset fan on my board. For months it had been making a crazy rattling noise. Disappointing when you consider my plan was to have a noiseless build, but I had put up with it until now and thought I had resolved all my problems. I was wrong. When I put the machine back in situ, the onboard sound card failed. The reason? The chipset fan keeps vital components on the motherboard cool, when the temperature reaches a particular threshold, the motherboard sends a warning to the BIOS and will force a reboot. On the reboot the sound card is no longer installed. Damn. I spent most of this evening trying to figure this simple problem out. I had to Google various forums and message boards but have found a solution. A workable solution. That will have to wait for the next posting. For now, the message is quite clear. If it ain't broke don't even attempt to fix it. I am glad I discovered the real reason for this problem. Having already used system restore, a feature I have never touched in XP (or any other version of Windows when it was available, just ME I think!) I was extremely close to rebuilding my machine. Something realistically that I can only hold off until the end of year. Thankfully over Christmas I will have more time on my hands to get the job done, rather than just over a weekend. I am in awe of a colleague on the helpdesk, who will rebuild a work machine at a whim, or rather drop of a Windows XP CD.

BBC News had the streaming headline that Michael Jackson was attending the forthcoming World Music Awards in London. I thought little of it, even though I was speaking to a big MJ fan on the telephone at the time. It was 6.25pm on Sunday 29th October. I should have been over at Is It Scary?. An MJ event with a Halloween theme, held at the C&C club in Central London. I had been there for an event earlier in the year and was keen to go again even if I did not have a costume to wear. Various other things got in the way and I could not make the trek over to the West End. From what I hear it was a great turn out. Never mind. There is always next year.

On Monday evening, like any other Terry came on and asked if I had bought a ticket for the Awards ceremony. Of course not, I had not intention of attending. Well that was the moment that thought quickly turned from disappointment to joy. Tickets had been released already but they were seated and towards the pack. Terry was holding out for standing tickets, offering to sell me his seated ticket should he be successful in purchasing a ticket once they go on sale. Now, long term readers of this blog (I can count you all on the fingers of one hand) will know that I am a big fan of Jackson. One of my biggest regrets has been, not having the opportunity to see him live. Now I find myself close friends with some of the most prominent fans in the country, I feel perfectly place to at least be in the presence of a living legend. I thought 2006 could not get much better. All the fantastic things I have done and seen. What would be the ideal birthday present for me? To see a man, an American musician and entertainer whose successful music career and controversial personal life have been at the forefront of pop culture for the last quarter-century. Ironically the same quarter of a century that I have spent in the world. What a way to celebrate the most momentous personal moment in my life, with the comeback of the King.

Sunday 29th October 2006

Thought I had seen all the teen movies that I needed to. Particularly those ranging from the boom period from around 1999 to 2003. I was wrong. Extremely. While watching Match Of The Day, I went over to Radio Times web site to see what was on later. To my surprise there was a late movie on BBC2 starting at 11pm. Boys and Girls starts Freddie Prince Junior and one of those actress you only recognise and never by name (Claire Forlani). Before this blog turns into a FPJ appreciation page, let me explain a few things. The appeal of teen movies, aside of the outrageous comedy is to see first hand some aspects of American college/high school life, something I envy. From the opening scene, you could tell that this movie was more intelligent than say, American Pie and the entertainment was centred around minor cast characters. A fantastic job by Jason Briggs whom just walked across from his last job on a semi-successful movie franchise. Amanda Detmer, whom I recall from her previous film, Final Destination. They provide the laughs while we see Jennifer and Ryan play a painful (to watch) game of catch and mouse. They say this is a teen remake of When Harry Met Sally but as I have not seen that particular movie I am not really in a position to comment. You will get the idea of the movie and though it was different from all the other teen movies I have seen before, it was different enough to keep me watching. (Does that makes sense?) Plus there was a kicking soundtrack, which I will touch on later. Freddie Prince Jnr. appears to be the nerdy outsider while Claire Forlani is the popular college 'it girl'. Personally there are 100 other leading ladies I would have cast in this role, but it is not all about looks. Forlani gives the character the depth it requires but is hardly the best on screen presence. The whole will they or won't they premise keeps you guessing for the whole course of the movie, until the last scene, which takes the movie full circle and returns us to the opening. Okay it is a generally predictable and the comedy is limited due to the circumstances, but is still a watchable and entertaining movie. It would never make on my list of must watch Saturday night movies, but for something simple and not to taxing on those brain cells on a Sunday evening, this is perfect.

With almost all teen movies there is always a soundtrack, a great soundtrack which contains original songs from a range of artist. Just look back to July last year, when I found over 30 odd tracks from one movie. On this point, Boys and Girls does not disappoint. Of the many songs on the album, the ones of particular note for me where, Get You Off My Mind by Chloe and the romantic ballad If I Don't Tell You by Brett Lawrence although only the Ronan Keating version is available. A nice mixture of pop and indie as you would expect but an emphasis on some of the more light hearted romantic songs.

Continuing the music theme, as you will already know I am a singles person. I rarely buy albums if they are not Greatest Hits or Best Of packages. However in recent weeks I have obtained five albums and not listened to them in their entirety at all. If I am truly honest I have not listened to any of the tracks on the majority. They are, in order of purchase, In My Own Words by Ne-Yo; Director by Avant; The Way It Is by Keysha Cole; Everytime We Touch by Cascada and finally Todd Smith by LL Cool J. Originally I would get these albums based on the strength of one (occasionally two) single. However I never get the chance to listen to them and appreciate the artist and the music. Instead preferring to mix and match my favourite songs. Cascada as a dance trio fill the album with covers and their now signature base line but still put together a ballad for Truly, Madly, Deeply and candlelight remix of their most successfully track and title of the album. I think I need to make time to listen to these albums. Perhaps I will get the chance on some long distance drives in the coming months.

Saturday 28th October 2006

There are always records at stake and I suppose when you think about it there always will be. Today there were both those of common knowledge and one of personal insignificance. Let me go back and start right from the beginning. I woke up just before 9am and after breakfast got ready to head to North London. I had told my Mum I was going to the game, while we had been watching the Reading game on Sunday afternoon but she had forgotten. Just as I was about to head out my Dad said he needed the car and would give me a lift instead. No issue. Around 10.30am, my Dad dropped me off on the corner of Castle Street and Priory Road (sorry does not have the same flavour as American street naming). I knew without my car I had to get over to the station as quickly as possible. I headed into the Octagon to pick up a few things but saw no Poppy Appeal sellers, even walking through the High Street. Never mind, that could wait. As I headed towards the station, I had an air of expectation, it had been over two months since I had last seen my team play. Once again my timing was perfect. Buying a ticket from the Fast Ticket machine, which I had expected to be out of order as there was a big queue at the ticket office, I went to check the display boards. Results. The next service was non stop to Marylebone and leaving in the next 12 minutes at 10:59am. Great. For a change I brought along my Portable DAB radio to listen to on the train journey. I had been hoping to tune into KISS but could only get a strong single on BBC Radio One and opted to listen to Vernon Kay rather than fiddle around trying to find other stations. The train was packed but I found a seat, next to a youngish couple planning their weekend spending spree on the town. Before we got into Marylebone, we were held in the tunnel for around 5 minutes while we waited for a platform to become free. This was my first visit to the terminal since the work had been completed. Two platforms have been concreted over and a new improved ticket barrier installed. The big lights with green arrows and red crosses allow even the most stupid commuter to know which queue to get into. I was impressed, particularly by Chiltern Railways standards. They run a punctual service, but that is the only positive. The trains are dirty, the staff (overall) are rude and the value for money is non-existent. Enough about that, I am only now a casual user of the network. I called Chris back to let him know I was on my way. He had called me on the train but I had rejected the call, not wanting to be rude to my fellow passengers. A quick glance at the service status board before rushing down the escalator to catch the tube. You know my journey by now, so I will not give waste time repeating myself. I had seen a group of Arsenal fans at Platform 3 back in Wycombe but did not engage in a conversation, even though I thought they would. As they boarded the same Piccadilly Line tube train was me, I started the conversation with a simple line, "What do you think the score will be today?". They were agreed on a 3-0 score line, where as I believed Everton would score, but for the Gooners to edge it. We spoke for a while about Arsenal and the real tests ahead, games away at Bolton, Middlesborough and Newcastle. Then as we walked out of Arsenal station the 'Mum' of the group came and spoke to me and asked where I was sitting. She was a season ticket holder. Lucky person. I said goodbye as they went headed to the pub and I headed to Highbury.

Arsenal no longer play at Highbury, Teg! I hear you cry and your computer screen. Well Terry sent me some pictures of Highbury and the current situation with the residential development. I wanted to go and check out the demolition for myself. So heading around to the East Stand, I took various pictures. The road has been closed off and a crane is putting the scaffolding across the old East Stand, a listed building. It was strange to be here on match day to find it so empty apart from the burger and kebab vans. They had to stay, they were not going to blight the landscape and photo opportunities of the new stadium. I was surprised that not more fans had come to pay a homage to the old stadium. I suppose as the saying goes, out with the old, in with the new. It was a few minutes after midday and I was extremely early. I had planned to meet Terry at 1:15pm outside Finsbury Park, so had over 45 odd minutes to kill. I decided to walk over to the station and take a look around the old Arsenal World Of Sport shop but there was nothing that really took my fancy. Well I say that but I was staring at the The Final Salute Limited edition (only 750 produced) photo frame with the last match at Highbury. Tempting but I cannot afford it at the moment. Maybe if I'm good, something for next year. I then waited outside the station, which is another construction site, much like the rest of the N5. Sent a few texts to Terry and he was on his way. However due to the British Transport Police sending commuters out of the rear entrance Terry rang me to ask where I was before finding me outside the Arsenal Print Room. We headed to the ground. I had purchased a programme and official year book from a stand outside the station, when usually I wait until I am outside the Grove. We split up as we were taking different turnstiles up to the upper tier and met outside block 107, which was half way between out two seats. We got a few drinks and I got some food while we watched the Arsenal Television channel in the wonder of HD. Chelsea were beating Sheffield United 2-0 at Bramall Lane which was also being screened on selective screens. At about 2.40pm, we said our goodbyes and headed for our seats. I was looking forward to a good view of the game.

Much better than row 32 for the Champions League Qualifier back in August, but then there is not really a bad view at the Emirates. The rest of my photos have been uploaded to FlickR as always. I had a seat at the end of the aisle, so could make a quick getaway at full time. The atmosphere was rather flat and the Evertonians were making the most sound, ironic as they were about a fifth in size to the rest of the home crowd. It is to be expected, we are still getting used to our new home. Although the atmosphere did improve dramatically over the course of the match.

It was bound to happen, we were going to go a goal down yet again. Just like our games against Villa and Boro. However, this was after sustained Arsenal pressure. They got a corner and Cahill, managed to scramble the ball into the back of the net. I held my head in my hands. Could we come back and win? There was one fact overriding factor. Whenever I have seen Arsenal play, they have never lost. They have also gone a goal down before and come back. In the first half we made opportunities but we did not look convincingly like taking our chances. This changed in the second half. Le Boss must had had some strong words because Everton were camped out in their own half for the majority of the game. (78% according to highlights on BBC MOTD). Such a relief when Van Persie fired in the free kick, but we should never have been a goal down in the first place. Falling asleep at the back just is not acceptable, particularly at home. We showed heart and conviction in the second half but it was a case of too little too late. Even the additions of Walcott and Aliadière proved unsuccessful in the hunt for a winner. Although both players made a great contribution to our attacking play. Overall a disappointing result but it could have been worse. Going to sit back and watch the highlights now but thankfully in a year of firsts, I have completed yet another. Today was my first ever Saturday afternoon football match. Quite extraordinary, when you think about it. Every other Saturday I am sitting at home watching Soccer Saturday or listening to the scores on FiveLive or LBC as they come in from the grounds. Refreshing to make a change from the normal.

Sunday 22nd October 2006

Just watched the opening two episodes of Torchwood. I must say after all the hype and build up, I feel somewhat disappointed. It was billed as Doctor Who for grown ups, but I expected so much more from Davies. As an opening to a science fiction series, it pushed all the right buttons, there was more than enough intrigue and mystery. Yet the ending was just far too easy. Come on, we know that Doctor Who could save the planet from annihilation with a twist of his sonic screwdriver and waving around psychic paper but from this mature drama we expect more depth to our characters and more importantly the storyline. The trailers would have you believe that we are in for an action packed adventure on the scale to some Stateside series. Instead we have our central character who is Gwen (and not Captain Jack Harkness as you would believe) making a discovery of this so called secret agency only to be drugged into forgetting everything. As if coming under the guise of delivering 'Jubilee' pizza was not enough. For a few minutes, I saw myself on the screen, tapping away late at night after a busy day trying to make some blog notes that would enable writing my blog entry in full the next day easier. However, Cooper was actually trying to note down as much as she could before the effects of the drug kicked in. Only for our special operatives to log into her machine and delete the passage of text, which you would think would clear the word processor page but no, they powered down the whole PC. Talk about taking farfetched to the extreme. If you can forgive this minor technology blooper, you cannot forgive the atrocious storyline. Well, actually the plot was not that bad up to the closing moments, they had built it up extremely well, all these unexplained deaths with a strange weapon, with three blades. Yet for them to undo all this good work by turning it back into a 'bad apple' within in the institute itself is a hanging offence. I considered to not watch the second episode, like Sippy but opted against, giving the series a chance to redeem itself. It did, a little. However at times it plays out like a tourist video for Cardiff, Wales rather than a gritty futuristic saga. No disrespect to the city, but there are far more glamourous locations in the world, but even so do we really need a overhead shot of the limited landmarks every few minutes? My only hope is that it gets better, particularly when they eventually find or rather bump into Doctor Who.

Looks like the trusted old bow and arrow is beating all the alien technology of the two latest serials from the Beeb. I suppose a good old fashioned battle of good verus evil was never a match for the science goobledeegook. Maybe with Torchwood we are setting the benchmark too high, afterall, it is a spin of from the longest running science fiction (non continuous) series of all time. (I am not the only one to suffer from an internet addiction.)

Friday 20th October 2006

Strange week. Productive week. Demanding week. Glad Friday is finally here, although once again not much planned for the weekend. Perhaps I should start with the video I uploaded to You Tube last Friday evening. On Wednesday evening when I was reading the comments and looking at the statistics. It was around 4000 with around 30 odd comments. Nothing major, in comparison to the more popularly discussed videos on the site. To my surprise when I was in the office on Thursday I had around eleven e-mails from of people leaving comments plus at least three people whom were now subscribed to my video feed. Impressive when you consider I have only three comical videos on my account at the moment and they are not user generated content. When I headed over to the site I was shocked to see the views having surged to 45,000 and the comments headed for triple figures. I had picked up a few honours over the weekend with the video being in the top twenty discussed videos of the week but that was as I had only uploaded late on Friday evening. Now I was in the top 15 for the following week too. Impressive. The clip just encourages discussion, not just the fact that the singers are so controversial but as is the artist that is being covered (a great disservice nevertheless). MJ was back in the news earlier this week, thanks to Access Hollywood. Michael was over in Ireland, in the recording studio with none other than Will.i.am from a group you might know. Rather than go into the details, the full interview will be released on Thursday 2nd November and has caused quite a stir within the fan community, following the airing of a teaser trailer. I too am excited and looking forward to a sneak peak of new material for the forthcoming album. Whenever it drops.

Keeping on the MJ theme, I went to the Thriller Live concert back at the tail end of August. I wrote (I know I could have sent an e-mail but they deserved much more) to the producers to thank them personally for a wonder show but only discovered that my review had been published on their web site. (Scroll down the page, third one) In between all the You Tube e-mails I have been reviewing was a note from the team to let me know that the Thriller Live musical was about to begin a UK tour in the new year and I was invited to their launch party in February. Of course I'll be there.

I was aiming to update my blog on Tuesday evening but had little to write about my day. It was part of the big British blog day as prescribed by History Matters. There was no way I was going to surrender the copyright of my blog (even for one posting) to a third party, so I was happy to blog on here, but found myself forcing the words onto the page so therefore just gave up. Now, three days later I find myself able more readily to draw the lines between the dots. I was going to consider my working day and then reflect it against my evening. Both are spent on the computer. Achieved little in the office. If anything I created work for myself, smashing the call queue to 100, closing perhaps two or three calls over the course of the day. The call queue would remain that way until today when I got it to around 80. I left work late, which has become a regular occurrence this week, apart from today when I rushed out at 6pm sharp. Arsenal were losing and I listened to the commentary on Five Live on the drive home on crackly AM. At home, I was able to catch the last thirty minutes or so on ITV4, including that Henry goal that should have stood. Perhaps the ref saw something different. That set the mood for my evening, I spend the evening online, talking to friends but not actually doing anything really productive. No different from any other night.

As a big fan of Doctor Who, I am looking forward to Torchwood, that starts on BBC Three on Sunday with a double bill. Looks like the BBC has been booked for two shows every weekend for the next month or so. Although time will tell whether Captain Jack will become our next big TV hero. It has the polished website you would expect from the BBC and the trailers have been screened regularly on primetime BBC1 slots, trying to go for the edgy fast paced American style teasers to get you on board. Maybe others need to be persuaded, I will be tuning in regularly on a Sunday evening. Although it took me a while to work out that T shape logo in orange that kept flashing up between trails. Thankfully I have the option to watch Freeview in my room but might have to book out the lounge. Right, I think I will go and upload another video to You Tube. Best to make the most of my new found celebrity status.

Sunday 15th October 2006

The only down side of going out on a Saturday evening is missing Match Of The Day. Perhaps several years ago this would have been a major problem because there was nowhere else apart from the Beeb to see the goals. In the modern age of satellite television and rolling news coverage, you can capture the highlights almost anywhere at anytime. I usually watch Goals On Sunday but if I happen to be up early on Sunday morning (very rare) I watch the early morning repeat of the flagship BBC show. As luck would have it, last night at the Phatz Bar there was a big screen showing the programme so I went over to watch the highlights of Arsenal versus Watford. Afterwards the screen was kept on to show The Omen. I suddenly recalled that it was a eerie time with Friday 13th having just past and Halloween a few weeks away.

Saturday at the Phatz Bar was good, although it was strange to leave home much later than normal. Usually I tend to leave early and be one of the first out. Instead I left home around 9.30pm and got into Maidenhead around 10pm. The cost of parking at the station car park has gone up. It was £2 back in December, now has increased to £3 but as you can guess I only had £2 in lose change so had to get some more change from one of the taxi drivers parked nearby. I then text Pav to let him know I was here and waited by the Odeon cinema (previously Film Works) for them to pull up in Kev's Seat Leon. We walked down to Phatz Bar, it was quite busy downstairs but upstairs was generally quite. I said hello to the rest of the gang and then got the first round in. It was ten minutes before Pav took to the decks. Good night overall, in a small rather cozy venue. Although downstairs they were playing the more commercial pop material, I was happy to spend the evening with my friends listening to Pav DJ. With his N73, he uploaded the photographs taken during the evening, onto his FlickR account, just a matter of time before he upgrades to Pro.

When Sunday comes around, I always plan to do more than I actually get done. While this is perhaps not a major problem, I always end the day feeling I could have done more. This weekend was yet another prime example. Clean my room, clean the car, tidy my desk. I got around to just hoover the car around 4pm on Sunday, after a long nap. The video I uploaded to You Tube became one of the most popular and most discussed clips over the weekend, hitting 17 on the honours list. By the end of Sunday evening I had over 1000 hits and over 20 comments. I expect more tomorrow when many people return to the workplace and free internet access.

Friday 13th October 2006

I spent some time last weekend and this week, reorganizing my mp3 collection. For too long I have placed all the wide variety of golden oldies into the selective decade of the 1980s. While perhaps for the past few years I could and did get away with this offence to the decades before the hair spray and extra large shoulder pads, I do my music knowledge no favours. Finally, I have realised that there were some thirty years prior to January 1st 1980, some 693 days before I was born. However placing songs into the 50s, 60s and 70s is not easy, even with the help of Wikipedia. I struggle through, taking an educated guess on which songs should remain in the Eighties folder, my decade, the best decade. You would think people online would help you with this labeling, but I suppose I will just have to wait until I next give an update to the Audio page. So do not expect that to change until way after Christmas.

Talking about my music collection, which I often refer to as world famous. Most people smirk when I give it such a boastful introduction but it is one hundred percent certified fact. The majority of people find this web site by searching for the titles of mp3s into Google. Although they usually include the prefix or suffix of free and/or download and are disappointment not to find a URL, FTP or torrent link anywhere in sight. However, some e-mail me requesting songs. While I try my best to service all requests it is not always possible. However, on the rare occasion, there is more to a request than just mere words. It is desire to hear the song once more and perhaps the end of a great hunt, much like searching for the Holy Grail. Well let me introduce you to the Indiana Jones of our story, Craig. I will let him take up the rest of the story.

"I cannot testify to the quality of Teg's taste in music. I can only recognise that he was the only person on the internet i was able to find who had a copy of "Mademoiselle's - Do You Love Me": a rare, but undeniably catchy, white label club track which made a very limited release to the major record stores in late 2000. No shops, internet stores or even the record label had stock of this CD single any longer. Teg stepped in and kindly saved the day. So 6 years after I lost my copy of that track, after much obsessive hunting, after all hope was lost, Teg's massive CD collection saved the day. Many thanks Teg! A big thanks to Jane for allowing me to use her picture i have attached."

I considered careful, whether I should or should not include the photograph of Jane, that Craig sent me. In the end I decided against it. The joke was not worth the invasion of privacy. Plus, the image would have scared some of my regular readers. Instead let me focus on yet another job well done. Making another human being happy with the sound of music. Sure it does sound extremely cheesy, but this is the power of the web, and my ever so small contribution.

I took my first moderating job earlier in the week, becoming the second mod over at AZN Students. Initially I will be looking after the University forum, but I hope to move onto other areas once the forum starts growing. So, if you are interested, specifically an Asian student from the UK, go ahead and join. Teg will make you most welcome.

My plans for the weekend are already falling apart but let me fill you in on what is still on the schedule. Will be out in Maidenhead tomorrow night. Pav has a set at a Phatz Bar. I am looking forward to it, as I have not been out on the town for a while. Sunday was originally penciled in as computer backup day for a friend but he has cancelled on me. Only fair, I cancelled on him a few weekends earlier. So I will find something else to do on Sunday. I really need to update the XBox with the latest version of XBMC 2.0 and also sort out my room and have a general tidy up. Thankfully there is a return of club football after a week of so called international football, which is apparently supposed to be a higher standard than your bread and butter Premiership. Really?

I watched most of the Charlotte Church Show when I have been in on a Friday evening. Not much really to write home about, she thinks she is funnier than she is, I am not a fan but Friday night viewing is limited as it is. However the final show in the series had Amy Winehouse, duet with the Welsh starlet perform Michael Jackson's Beat It. It was much better than I expected. Different but staying true to the original and two female vocalist does give the song a gentle touch, even with Amy's signature husky voice. (Although a member of the audience has a completely different take on events, three actually!) The guitar solo was even a match for the great Van Halen. Do not believe me? I was so impressed, I have converted the song from mpeg to divx and uploaded to the YouTube. I could not think of a better way to kick off my weekend, than with a live rendition of my all time favourite Michael Jackson track. Who said MJ had lost his crown?

Sunday 8th October 2006

Suddenly in the space of a few hours, I have loads to report. Let me start with the geek stuff. Last August, I started using Technorati, thinking it would be the best way to start pushing my blog out there to the big wide world, rather than just a group of friends and people that find the site by searching Google for mp3s. After my lads weekend, in late July Technorati stopped picking updates to my site. In fact it stopped updating all together. I was not the only one. Searching various blog and reading comments and postings on forums I tried a range of things to get it working, including deleting my blog claim and reclaiming it. This did not work. In the end, I read somewhere that I should e-mail the CEO, David Sifry. Last Sunday, quite late I e-mailed David on his 'work' (AKA Technorati) address but heard no response. Yesterday morning I was searching around the web and discovered his personal blog and e-mailed him directly on his personal e-mail. This was 3.32pm yesterday afternoon. At 11.20pm, some eight hours later I had a replyand my site had been re-indexed. The words the founder actually used were, 'I've adjusted our spiders so your blog should be picked up correctly now...'. Job done. Strange how I had to take it up with the big man before any action was taken. Even though I submitted three e-mails to Technical Support with no reply whatsoever. The only annoying thing about this is that all my previous postings from the past two months will be lost and not picked up, which is a shame but at least I am moving in the right direction once again.

It is common knowledge, the lack of television I watch. Apart from Eastenders, there is no regular series I watch. I have never seen a single episode of Friends, 24, Lost and many other popular television shows (which are so popular I cannot remember their names to list them). I dip in and out of Hollyoaks, having gone through a hardcore phase last summer watching every episode twice, on E4 then the day after on Channel 4. Then there are series that appear for a few weeks a year. Doctor Who takes that slot and while I grew up with Sylvester McCoy as my Doctor I have enjoyed the revival with Chris and to a certain extent David. You could not have missed the heavy bombardment of the new drama series that started last night, in between the new BBC1 indents. I had high expectations for Robin Hood and it was everything I expected and perhaps a little more. The action was there, a little light hearted comedy but still overall a great emphasis on drama. The casting is magnificent and acting superb, particularly from Keith Allen as the Sheriff of Nottingham. As an introduction to the legend there was enough to keep you wanting more and there was the right mixture to keep all members of the family entertained. I suppose for me, it was refreshing to watch something so down to earth. No superpowers, no amazing gadgets or death defying stunts. Just a simple bow and arrow. Sometimes it is great to bring the action down to a more realistic level, particularly if you consider the light sabre and the Star Wars sixology which I watched in part of the past few weeks. After such an intergalatic war between an vast army in the convides of space and time, it is refreshing to bring the battle back down to a conflict of wills between two men.

Have you heard of Weird Al? I am sure you have. Weird Al Yankovic is the king of parody. I can recall watching the ITV Chart Show with my Dad on Saturday morning back in the early 90s and watching the video to Fat, which had us both in stitches. If anything, the pop star has gone from strength to strength since those early days and now has quite a big fan base, fuelled by the power of the web. For some strange reason I thought I would listen to the song, eBay from the album Poodle Hat. He had released a new album a few weeks ago, so I headed over to You Tube to watch some of the videos. White & Nerdy was good but I prefer Don't Download This Song was great with a fantastic animated video. The latest album, Straight Outta Lynwood is actually very good with some fantastic songs with a great polka of modern songs.

Must I talk about England. I suppose I must but there will be other sites that go into the details of the goal less draw at the Theatre Of Dreams. Extremely disappointed with the game, the performance left much to be desired and I was also frustrated that Steve didn't change things at half time or sooner in the second half. You could clearly see that England were not making clear cut chances and needed someone with fresh ideas on the pitch. We should be beating teams like Macedonia comfortably, particularly at home. Yet for parts of the game yesterday evening we looked like the away side and there was no determination to be positive going forward. England can play much better, the quality out there is visible for all to see, it just seems that it is nearly impossible to make a great team out of the assembled cast of superstars. It is one thing to rue a poor performance, it is another thing to bounce back in three days time against Croatia. Perhaps the yellow card to Stevie G is a blessing in disguise. Time will tell.

Friday 6th October 2006

Friday is here but there is not much to look forward to away from the television. The whole weekend in fact, with international European Championship qualifying matches and the return of a forgotten hero. Rather an empty weekend, but I do not mind. It makes the hectic weekends worth waiting for, three weekends and counting! A extremely busy week has just flown by but I still feel a sense of underachievement. While in Dublin, (on business) on Monday evening, I found myself stuck in the hotel with no computer. As you can imagine, no internet in the evening was difficult for me. Awkward, I was close to being irritable. (My colleagues on the helpdesk would say I am always irritable) I should have at least taken my work PDA along and accessed limited web sites and MSN. There was wireless coverage across the hotel complex plus each room had ethernet points, to plug in your cap5 cable (as refereed to in the guest information booklet) Instead I was stuck with a television with a fancy non operational menu system which did not work. So to watch television I had to actually go up and change the channel on the box. How primitive is that? Back in the office for three days but not making much progress on anything. Hopefully next week will be better.

Nazma, an honoury member of my blog roll, has updated her blog roll and I was intrigued by the title of one of the links, Asian Blogger so headed over to the site. Rather new, so not many posts but nevertheless an excellent design, simple layout and straight forward tag line, 'Dedicated to Young Asians'. Of my many regrets (a countless number, which perhaps I can recall in another post) one that perhaps comes to mind is the fact I should have started blogging before University and recorded the transition from college nobody to geeky fresher. Instead, all I have our entries from September 2003 which chart my final year, which is better than nothing. Looking at this blog, it brought home what could have been all those years ago, but at least I can read the story from the perspective of someone else, which itself will be interesting and rewarding. Over recent weeks I have thought I should do more with my time online, something more worthwhile. I spend a minimum of three hours online every evening after work, sometimes more. There must be a way of channeling this time into something productive. Rather than just reading blogs, watching videos on You Tube and downloading various forms of digital media. Well, someone has answered the call. This is just the type of thing I need to get myself involved in. Nothing confirmed yet, I will e-mail AB tomorrow and hopefully he will get back to me soon.

Perhaps things are going to get better sooner than I think.

Sunday 1st October 2006

I had a package that was attempted to be delivered by Royal Mail on Friday morning. I was not expecting anything but as the package was too big to fit through the letterbox, the postman (or woman) left a card and I had to go down to the sorting office in town to collect it. In fact my Dad went to collect it for me on yesterday morning. I had a hunch it was my Arsenal membership pack, although it was not due to be dispatched until sometime in October. So you can imagine my surprise when I get back home around 1am on Sunday morning to discover the following case in my room.

I joined the englandfans supporters club back in August. I have never been to an England international and want to change this sad statistic as soon as possible. My aim is to try to catch some games in the qualifying campaign for Euro 2008 and then when I renew my membership, to transfer over to englandfans+ which will give me access to tickets at away and for tournaments, just in time for South Africa 2010. However that is in the far distant future. Right now there are more other important things to consider.

Robin Hood starts next weekend, with the BBC marketing machine gearing up to full speed. Rather than the minor ten second slots in between the programmes, they have had started deploying a trailer a few weekends back, with a semi introduction by our folklore hero. I am looking forward to the series, although I am not sure whether it will be a big hit the BBC hope for. I have intentionally avoided the web sites and forums. I have no desire to find out what happens before seeing the actual show. What is the point of watching if you already know what is going to happen? Not one of my favourite characters, if you consider the Hollywood equivalent from across the water in blockbuster movies, but nevertheless watchable. Although it is difficult to take him seriously when I grew up watching, Maid Marian. I received the 1938 Adventures of Robin Hood on DVD for Christmas last year. Still not had time to watch it, although perhaps after next weekend, there will be a sudden need to re-capture my missed youth. The less said about the 1991 attempt the better.

Wednesday 27th September 2006

I had come across the title before, while actually searching for material by the Pussycat Dolls. Yet, I decided against downloading the song then. It was strange how the artist did not click with me then, as it does now. When it comes to music, generally speaking it is rare for me to like the debut single by any artist, particularly if their debut is a cover version. (Ne yo and Carmen Reece are exceptions to the rule). I was never a big fan of Don't Cha, it just was not my cup of tea but nevertheless radio friendly. Plus, being a UK number one, is included in my world famous mp3 collection. Of course, late 2005, they had released their second single, StickWitU which was amazing, so different to their debut release. A soft gentle ballad which does pull at the heart strings. However, let me get back on track, a remix of the single was released featuring the soulful lyrics of Avant. There was just sign of things to come, but there would be a long wait.

I was watching music television, as I tend to do on Monday evening and noticed the video playing. Instantly, within a few seconds I knew I would like this song. Call it intuition, if you will. A few hours later I had not only obtained the mp3 but also the album, Director by Avant. There is something about well polished production on a smooth RnB track that really needs to be heard to be fully appreciated. The vocal remains the most important element against a moving and emotive melody. While I like a range of music from different genres and decades, this song perhaps comes closest to being the song that could be described as my perfect companion. Lie About Us could even refer to a difficult period in my life, little over five years ago.

USB has become the de facto standard for all computer peripherals and accessories. Consider in more recently times the inventive usb powered air conditioning unit and usb slippers among others over at Me, My Coke & I or Off Beat USB Gadgets. So you can imagine that it was only a matter of time before someone came up with the idea of rechargeable batteries that charge on USB. Quite a simple idea when you think about it, but only recently bought to us by Moixa. The Guardian Technology blog offers a better insight including images of the only size available currently, AA. Although there are plans for all types of standard cell, plus digital camera and mobile phone batteries. Great idea, but how long will they last and will they be any good and how long will the recharge live expectancy be? The UK company behind the batteries are also looking at other ways we should power the 21st century in a sustainable and cost effective fashion.

Amazon are efficient, even when it comes to their super saver free delivery service. I placed an order on Wednesday, hoping over optimistically for delivery by the weekend but instead was informed that the item would be dispatched on Saturday for delivery between Tuesday and Thursday of the next week. I knew the item would arrive on Tuesday. Perfectly in time for me to tune over to ITV4 for Champions League football. However, would I get it working?

After ripping opening the stupid plastic packaging they tend to put these devices into, I sacrificed Hollyoaks to take the aerial cable out of my current Hauppauge PCI card and insert the USB extension lead in the back of my unit, push everything back in place, reboot and wonder how long it would take me to get it all sorted? Particularly as kick off was under an hour away. Inserting the CD, I installed the software, plugged in the usb stick and magic. It all worked. Well sort of. First of the the Arc Soft Total Media software, which is basically a poor man's Microsoft Media Centre clone, detected and attempted to scan using my PCI card. I switched it over to my DVB-T device and sure enough it started scanning and picked up 53 channels in no time. The time was 19:04, as I noted it down on my blog. However of those 53 channels, three were BBC interactive channels and useless (no red button feature I am afraid) another three were locked pay to view channels, courtesy of Top Up Television and the remainder the DAB radio stations. However there was one problem. One major problem that kept me hunting around for an answer all night and as I write this I still have not found an adequate workable solution. You would think that after picking up these channels I would be free to edit and rearrange them as I please. No sir. Instead all I could do was rename the channel which was pointless as most were labeled correctly. So I had ITV1 on channel 1, ITV2 on channel 2 and so on with BBC One on channel 8. So I began my search across the web to download, install and configure an alternative program, or PVR.

All hunts begin at the door of Google the mecca of all search engines. It took me in the direction of Digital Spy forums, a fantastic resource but their focus generally has been programming gossip rather than technical knowledge. (As I can recall reading up about The X Factor during the live shows last year going on to create an account in late December. The forum was an 18 page mega piece thread on the trials and tribulations of just installing the device, requesting BDA drivers and problems with alternative PVR software. In the end I had to drop a post on the end. Reading almost every page and taking every word as gospel, I used this as my basis for my extended search. This was not the ideal time to be trying to find and install software while Arsenal were playing FC Porta in the Champions League but I had little option. First stop was Media Portal, an impressive site, good support and constant updates made this a possible contender but it fell down after the installation. It would not detect the device. I knew by now that I had the correct BDA drivers installed, after downloading them from the Freecom web site and discovering that Total Media would not work without them, so I was making some sort of progress. Next came GB-PVR but it was far too difficult to set up, even with my mediocre knowledge. I spent several minutes trying to get it working but once again it would not detect the card, even though it was clearly listed in various INI files. Uninstall. I perhaps was not giving any of these home brew software installations the time and space to actually work but I was eager to get something up and running last night. Next up to try their chances was ProgDVB but once again unable to detect my device. I was at this point giving up home and it was starting to get late. I had already taken the advice in the thread and completely uninstalled and reinstalled the drivers for usb stick but to no avail when it came to other pieces of software. It was at this point I discovered a blog entry from over seven months ago. Reading this post and some of the comments, I regained some enthusiasm to get something done and in a last ditch effort, (for the evening) I tried to find a copy of DVB Viewer. After several minutes of searching, I found a link to download the software but as part of a driver installation CD, so had to wait for the 20mb file to download but as the server was located somewhere on the outer side of Mongolia, it took an age for the file to come down. Frustrating when all I needed was a three megabyte executable. Once again no luck, although it did actually get as far as detecting a single. However to update the program ini files you have to download another piece of software but that would not let me save the updated files in the program directory so I gave up a defeated man.

This afternoon in my lunch hour I did some further research and downloaded a few other PVR solutions. There was Yahoo! Go TV (but unfortunately it is US only), K!TV and finally Got All Media. I had the most success with the later. It picked up the USB device and actually scanned channels but the front end is slow, which is a pain even on my rather fast machine. However there are others out there that I have not tried or read much about. ChrisTV, SageTV and SnapStream Beyond TV. Hussein was on MSN last night. I was tempted to ask him for some advice but I knew what he would have said. MythTV. Well he would do wouldn't he.

Sunday 24th September 2006

Have you noticed how there is nothing on television on Sundays. Even with Sky, there is a limited pool of watchable shows screened. When you consider that realistically I only have the choice of the terrestrial operators when in my room, it is appalling. At least before there was TOTP and Top Gear but not it appears to be a mixture of drama, period drama, sport and your novelty countdown show (on five and not Channel 4, for a change). I suppose most people would say I should go back to my DVD collection and actually watch some of the movies that have been given to me as gifts. Yet my response is they cannot be watched on the computer and deserve the full home cinematic experience in the living room. This is never a viable option as my Mum is usually watching something on Star Plus, Venus or the newly formed Punjabi Channel, which only went live on Monday. So I am stuck really with what I have or listen to the radio, or listen to my mp3 collection. Maybe that will change sometime later this week.

I did not do anything today and actually did very little this weekend, which is a complete contrast to last weekend. While I suppose everyone is entitled to a lazy weekend, I should be making the most of my weekends as it is the only free time I give myself. Although the blessing is I have saved some money for a change. At least there is Champions League football to look forward to, getting us through yet another working week. Although I could have gone to the Porto game, I opted to pass on the option and instead concentrate on going to a 3pm Saturday kick off. Something, I have never been able to experience with Arsenal. Yes, I know, Teg is full of amazing surprises. Consider this blog at times to be here to right those wrongs.

Saturday 23rd September 2006

Felt like I was stuck in the working week for an age, as the days seemed to drift into each other. Glad the weekend has finally arrived, although now that I am here my plans seem to have fallen apart. Hold on a second, that does sound rather over dramatic. Due to circumstances beyond my control my Saturday evening out was taken away. I suppose I should start from the beginning. Pav was making a minor comeback on the DJ trail by having a four hour set over at the Roof in Maidenhead. I promised to come over and support him. After getting my haircut this morning, I came back home to settle in front of the computer and then watch Football Focus. During the show Pav text and asked if I was coming down, I confirmed that I was but a little over an hour later he replied saying the management had decided they wanted some commercial cheese and his slot had been cancelled. Great(!) Now I had to go back to my friend, whom I had turned down earlier in the week, checking if he was available. Yet it was short notice and I expected him to have planned something else. I was right. So, my Saturday out turned into a Saturday in but while many people would have been annoyed, I was quite content to spend time at home for a change. One person in particular whom would have been pleased is my bank manager.

Been seriously looking at creating an RSS feed for this weblog this afternoon. (In between the live football matches on Sky) It seems to be the de facto standard when you want your blog published or listed in any of the new blog directories, that you must have an RSS feed for them to capture all the important information. So off I went looking for a piece of software that would convert my entire blog and over four years of archives into an easily readable xml document. This is not an easy task, even though Pony Fish appeared to have the answer, when you view the final feed in a RSS reader, in my example, Sage which incorporates into FireFox, it was a mess. Instead of capturing the date and opening of postings, there was just a long list of web links, including the hidden technorati tags which I only started using almost exactly two years ago. Well rather than go on and continue to complain about it, you can judge for yourself. Hunting around the web, I found two pieces of software by the same company, Extralabs, both for RSS feeds. First we had RSS Wizard which actually is suited to the job of converting HTML but it was not very straightforward, even with wizard in the title. The basic idea is that you either use existing tags as starting and ending points for the RSS feed or create your own. I tried both methods but to no avail. I removed the software, whereby I was taken to a web site page requesting feedback on why I took the decision to uninstall the software. Forgive me for skipping this process. The next piece of software I found was called RSS Editor with a exact same installation routine but it was only later I discovered the developers were the same. On this occasion, you actually create the RSS feed manually by creating descriptions or rather I would put them as introductions to blog posting and link to the directly in each 'topic'. This would not work on my blog as I do not use a single html page for a host and use no titles for entries unlike my sister site which uses Blogger. Close to giving up I asked my friend Hussein what he thought was the best option and his instant recommendation was Word Press, but this would not be an easy migration. Particularly when you consider the archives and the way my blog has developed over the years. For now, I think I will open this debate to my readers, the ones whom will actually use it. Firstly do I need an RSS feed? If so, any suggestions on which service to go for? If I do not need an RSS feed how else can I improve my web site?

Did not watch Attack Of The Clones this evening on Sky Movies and most likely will miss Revenge Of The Sith next weekend, but watching four out of the six Star Wars movies on Saturday night on television was great experience. Particularly the original trilogy, which I had not seen for several years, seven in fact. Will update the blog more tomorrow. Right now, I think I may go and get some sleep.

Sunday 17th September 2006

Do you make lists? I am referring more specifically to 'To Do' Lists. I am not a big fan of them and generally just note down things I need to do on a small Post It, which I keep by my computer. However from time to time there comes a need when I need to make a list but also actually go about taking some action everything on it. On Friday I made a list of all the things I wanted to achieve by the end of the weekend. They ranged from the fun tasks, like catch DOA to the more mundane such as polish my shoes. Looking back at the list now, in the early hours of Monday morning I feel satisfied. Almost every item has a tick beside it. Result. Now I suppose after giving an introduction I should give the details of the items on that list.

Football, perhaps the biggest weekend of the Premiership this season, or so the market men would want you to believe. Usually I love the Sky trails but Grand Slam Sunday was a poor idea and I expect more from the UK's home of live football. Perhaps my favourite was Judgment Day from December a few years ago. The opener was Chelsea versus Liverpool who have a poor record against the Champions. You expect fireworks, but it was slow start with both teams rather nervous I felt. The game was slowly drifting away until Didier came up with a moment of magic which gave his team the lead and deserved victory. This was just a warm up game and I was only really interested as I had a few Blue in my dream team, but the less said about that the better. Then at 4pm, we had the headline act. I was nervous, apprehensive. I knew how much defeat would knock the team but we could snatch a goalless draw. The performance was what we were looking for, first and foremost and we were out of the traps quick. Perhaps too quick and had a good share of the possession. When we were awarded the penalty and I saw Gilberto step up, I just had a gut feeling he would not score. It was one those moments when your instincts rule your head. Some teams would have been disappointed by the game not going their way and began to wallow in self pity. Arsenal have been one to do that from time to time, just consider our previous away fixture in the same city. Yet, this time around, we grew in confidence, knowing that a break through was possible, it was just a matter of time. Scholes cleared off the line and once again, it was a case of luck rather than lack of attempts on goal. Manchester United were quiet and as Andy Gray commented, their creative players, Ronaldo, Rooney and Saha were never given the time on the ball to create an effective opening. The game was goalless at halftime but not before Crazy Jens got one right in the face (from the ball and not John O'Shea) but he took it for the team and kept us in the game. Rather interesting to see a quiet and reserved Mr. Keane in the studio with Richard Keys and Jamie Redknapp. For sure, he will do nothing but go to bat for his former team, but he knew, even at half time that the writing was on the wall and they were being pegged back excessively by the Gunners. So to the second half, more of the same please. The game continued much in the same vain as previously with Arsenal having a good share of the attacking possession. Even with the Beast coming on for Hleb late on, the goal just seemed beyond us. Until Fabregas dispossessed Ronaldo just outside his own box and controlled the ball to lay a perfect pass for Adebayor to slot home. Shouts from the away crowd as I jump off the sofa to celebrate. We had done it, even though I would have settled for the draw, a goal meant everything. It meant we were back in business, it meant we were back in contention. It proved many critics wrong for writing us off so soon. Sure we might end up trophy less at the end of the season but we have put together a performance that shows potential, belief. Particularly important if you consider the backdrop of a recently departed squad member who discusses respect and love as if he was some poet in league with Shakespeare.

I received a message on my You Tube account on late on Saturday morning, a request with the subject line, "Please, You're A Legend". How could I not reply with the positive news that bumramp expected. I had deleted the divx encoded version of the video, so I converted the mpeg again down to 4mb and sent it via YouSendIt and was sent a grateful reply. I looked forward to the remix, which was uploaded yesterday evening. I could go into dept trying to describe the video, but you know the advert, I know you do, so there is nothing left to say apart from. Enjoy!

The final component of my winning weekend was going to the cinema with Pav. We had originally planned to go on Friday but due to various complications we put the whole thing off. Or so I thought, having resigned myself to the fact that I would see the movie on DVD, sometime next year (if I ever got around to it). Yet in a twist of fate we decided to go on Sunday evening. There were two screenings at the Vue in Reading. 7pm or 9pm. The earlier showing would have been tight and I would have had to leave as soon as the full time whistle was blown by Graham Poll. Instead we opted for the 9pm showing which gave me time to sort myself at get over to Caversham. I arrived just after 8pm at Pav's and we headed to the Oracle in the bling M3. As there was plenty of time to go, we collected the tickets and headed for the Slug and Lettuce the other side of the complex. As we entered, it was extremely quiet with perhaps a few people scattered around the tables. Heading to the bar, I was about to place an order when I was told by the bar tender that I had to remove my jacket. I had decided much earlier on Sunday morning that regardless of the result I would wear my blue Arsenal jacket out. Obviously this individual was either a extremely disgruntled Red Devils fan or it was some stupid company policy to give the bar a thug less appearance to the outside world. Whatever the reason, I felt rather silly having to take off my jacket but never the less complied with the instructions. Even though perhaps looking back I should have made some stupid comment about it. Anyway over the drink, Pav and I discussed the plans for our next big lads petrol head weekend. A few options but more on that later. Then it was time for the movie, I had been waiting for this moment for a while, even though perhaps I should not been so eager to watch what many would consider a C class film, lucky to get a general theatrical release.

Daniel over in Singapore has been eager for me to give a review, so I will end the suspense now and discuss Dead Or Alive, the latest in a long line of video game to movie conversions. Let us begin with the general overview, it was great fun. Excellent fun in fact. A movie that does not take itself too serious. Sure I can understand that for many people it is just the eye candy on show and the thought of some killer combos in the contents but to me there was a little more substance but of course style prevailed the show. Leave your brain at the door, sit down and relax and enjoy a implausible but entertaining adventure. There are many wholes throughout the picture but I am not here to mention them, there ten credible but brief reviews over there. They will dissect them for you frame by frame, instead let me concentrate on the positives. The movie begins perfectly with a quick introduction to the girls, sorry I mean fighters and their invitation to DOA. Right slap bang opening with action, that it is what you want. No long drifting back story, shown in flashback. The action was high octane and the visual bright and seducing but what more could we expect. Personally I think the volumptous Jamie Pressly put in a fantastic performance as Tina, the tough American gal from the South with an attitude to match that. Although I wished Natassia Malthe had a bigger role which she deserved and I did recognise her from somewhere, it was the teen comedy 40 Days & 40 Nights, from four years ago. She does have some bigger movies coming up in the future but I felt she was under used and under appreciated in this picture, one of the few negative points with the casting. Holly Valance in her first major release does a good job in her role of Christie with that coy smile and sultry good looks. An example clear from her introduction and escape. Sarah Carter is lovable in her role as Helena. Then we move to Princess Kasumi played by cold stone Devon Aoki whom you may recall from Sin City. There of course has to be a villain, Eric Robert performs the role of Hugh Hefner better than a murderous man hell bent on world domination, if at all. Plus our movie would not be complete without the token geeky guy with a crash. Bring forth Steve Howey, perhaps the most unbelievable nerd, even if you stretch the imagination and discard his previous movies and television work. Never mind, all that aside this is still a great movie to watch and does do justice to the big screen. Although we were in screen 9, which was the smaller of the 10 screens at the multiplex but on a Sunday evening there were barely into the double figures for attendance. The volleyball scene in the middle said more about this movie than anything else, particularly the embarrassed looks from Haybusa (played in pedistration fashioned by Kane Kosugi) when he lands eyes on Princess Kasumi is in a skimpy red bikini. There is always a light hearted moment to contrast with the bone crunching body blows that are littered throughout. A film that does not take itself too serious is always going to be a laugh. The fight scenes are well choreographed and the plot wafer thin. Although I am told it does stay true to the story of the video game, which must be an added bonus for those diehard fans. I have never played the game. In fact my last two fighting games were perhaps the best of their time, or perhaps of my 16-bit / 32-bit generation. MK and SF. Pav's younger brother, Rav has Dead or Alive: Ultimate so perhaps he would be a better judge on whether the characters matched their console counterparts and the fight scenes were too realistic or not far fetched enough. Some of the backdrops were amazing and you could see the money had been spent on a lavish set rather than some of the slow mo special affects which were nevertheless breathtaking. The ending was rather pathetic in my opinion and the final fight scenes could have been so much more explosive, but I suppose they had to end it somehow. Wrapping up lose ends is one thing but giving us, the moviegoer a thrill of an experience perhaps had lost momentum. Let us not forget previous video game to movie adoptions, particularly the poor Street Fighter and the more successful Mortal Kombat which did at least spawn a one sequels (with another in production). Dead Or Alive is superior to both in terms of visual style but perhaps lacks the substance of the latter. To summarize, great good fun, absolutely pure entertainment which has a mixture of babes, fights, comedy and pure stupidity. Such a shame, that the movie goes much the same was as the contents list I have given. So this blog posting goes full circle and ends very much in the way it began. Saying nothing.

Saturday 16th September 2006

This weekend has been very much stop start, before it really even began. I wanted to go and see D.O.A. with Pav last night and had actually given up on the idea completely and resigned myself to spending Friday night in (which was not a bad thing really). There had been an alternative option. Head over to the Empire over in Slough with my sister for the 8.45pm screening. After all, she had missed out on Superman Returns which I had seen with my other sisters a few months back. However, I knew it was not really her type of movie and she had already been to see another remake, The Wicker Man during the week. There is an unwritten rule when it comes to my cinema experiences. Although regular readers of my blog will know this already. They are quite simple really but I suppose most people would consider me extremely fussy. Firstly I have to watch all the big movies on their opening weekend and secondly this has to be at a Vue cinema because they have the fantastic Pearl and Dean cinema advertising before the main feature. Stupid really when you consider there is a cinema less than two minutes walk away but I opt to drive twenty five miles to the Reading. So, I had resigned myself to catching the movie when it made an appearance on DVD in early 2007.

At work yesterday, Pav flashed up on MSN to say that we could go and see the movie in the end. The late show was 11.30pm which gave him a good few hours to sort out Hussein's Fabia. Yep, he too had come over from Harrow for the full Pav Auto Detailing experience. By the time I got over to Caversham it was just after 10pm and they had been hard at work for nearly 5 hours. Pav was finishing off the final few panels with the polisher before applying the magic wax. Meanwhile Hussein was busy polishing the windows. I made a small contribution of taking of the masking tape. Then we had to put on the Empeg. Amazing you can control everything with the remote control, pointing all the way back from behind the boot. Finally just before 11pm, the car was reversed out of the garage onto the drive for the final few touches. Hussein went over all the trim to clean off excess polish, while Pav got to work cleaning the wheel caps. We could have done with more time, perhaps an hour to go over everything make sure it was perfect. It was late, very late and Hussein was close to collapsing if he did not start driving back home to Harrow soon, plus he had an early start this morning to drive to Cambridge. One satisfied, if somewhat tired customer.

It was too late for the movie but we headed down the road to the Island Bar & Restaurant. It was the first time I had been there and it was a nice quiet setting on the river. It opened just over a few months ago and some of Pav's friends had been there for the opening night on Friday 28th July Although the reviews appear to be to the contrary, I thought the location and decor were well styled and considered. Nothing quite like a quiet time to sit outside by the river, talking to friends and unwinding after a difficult week.

It is a big weekend of football, with the Grand Slam Sunday taking place from 2pm. I am looking forward to it, even if Terry believes we will lose 4-1 to United. Rather pessimistic in my opinion but can hope for a draw. Rather than look forward to tomorrow, I prefer to look back on the midweek game. I love the Champions League. Everything about it is amazing, although I disagree with monsieur Wenger and believe the best football is always play on the World Cup stage. Yet European's premier club competition has everything you expect from great contensts in football. The sterring operatic theme tune, the atmosphere, tales of the unexpected and the fact that there usual tends to be a group of big surprises every year. We were lucky but we deserved a bit of luck and I am glad we finally took a shot outside of the box and scored. We need to build on this performance, gain some confidence and head to the Theatre of Dreams with determination to not drop any points. A point gained is always better than three points dropped, when you consider the form of the Red Devils.

Spare a thought for our dearest friend Daniel over in Singapore. He nolonger has access to free to air football as everything has moved to pay to view. Read the full story over on his blog but I could never find myself in his shoes. I need to have access to live football or my live is just not worth living. Sure, I can remember the days prior to 1997, when I did not have satellite. It was the occassional game on the BBC and some Champions League on ITV. Now Sky rule the roost and I have not missed a game that is shown live on Sky featuring Arsenal for many years. I hunted around my archive but was unable to find an exact date, I believe it was in early 2003, and it was a Prem Plus game on a Sunday afternoon (if my memory serves me correctly).

Watched Episode One this evening on Sky, looking forward to the next two films in the first trilogy. Hopefully I will get a chance to update some more tomorrow.

Sunday 10th September 2006

Another weekend, another early start. I had planned to catch the non stop train to London Marylebone just before 9am. I got to the station with a good ten minutes before the train arrived. The train was packed, but we had been warned over the tannoy a few minutes before the train pulled up to platform three. Luckily I found a seat and spent the journey reading the Daily Express. I rarely buy, let alone read newspapers these days, but it was more of an impulse buy. I wanted to read about Ashley Cole, Galas and preview of the weekend Premiership fixtures. The train pulled into Marylebone, on time. Chiltern Railways do run a highly punctual service. I topped up my Oyster card before heading under ground. My destination was Westminster station, crossing Westminster Bridge towards the London Eye. I collected tickets and it was a few minutes before 10am. Walking out to the boarding gate, the queue was about fifteen people long, so we would be on within a few minutes of joining. I called Dave and he was a few minutes away. I then waited for him to appear.

I thought he was wearing a retro styled England top, when I first noticed him walking down towards the Eye, past County Hall. Great to see him again after three years. We were scheduled to board half an hour before our scheduled flight, but I had been informed by a member of staff that we could just join the queue. For a beautiful sunny Saturday morning, it was not that busy but there were a big crowd of tourists gathered around, most without tickets, many just to make use of the photo opportunity. The ride around on the world's largest observation wheel takes about thirty minutes and the best way to get the a full panoramic view of the capital. Some amazing views and the best pictures have already been uploaded to a fresh new FlickR set.

After the main attraction of the weekend, we headed down towards St. Paul's Cathedral, waking down by the river. We planned what we were going to do for the rest of the day. I thought we might go and catch a movie in Leicester Square. We headed to the Millennium Bridge which crosses the River Thames over to St. Paul's and my old work place in Blackfriars. Ideal time to catch up, during a quiet stroll. For a change, I did not have to rush around to make it somewhere at a certain over the other side of the city. I could actually relax and enjoy the company of my best friend. We then headed further down towards Embankment tube station and caught a tube to Leicester Square. It was here we looked at what movies were available in the afternoon. There were a few movies on but looking back now it was a good decision to instead just go for a meal and have walk around the West End. We went to Chiquitos, it was quite busy and I think our waitress was new. She did not understand what I meant when I said 'Garlic Bread with Cheese' and had to consult the menu! After a big lunch we headed down towards Piccadilly Circus and then Oxford Street. While walking down Regent Street, Dave asked me about any famous people I had seen on my recent trips to London. My only examples were Reggies Yates and Hardeep Singh Kohli. Within a minute later, Russell Brand walked past us and Dave looked back saying, "Was that?" Well it would be difficult for it to be anyone else with that distinctive hair and strong voice. How random was that? We started talking about famous people and then one just appeared. Strange.

We went over to Hyde Park, which was under going the final preparations for the last night of the BBC Proms. From Speaker's Corner we walked a few hundred yards and took a seat by the fountain. Time to chill out and talk about all those things you talk about when you have not seen your best friend for over three years. Dave has a Nokia 6680 with the Sky Sports package, so you can download and watch goals from the Barclays Premiership. I was not really bothered about watching the goals, it was more important to know the scores. When I heard Arsenal were losing to Middlesborough, I was annoyed. Dave felt the same when he found out Crystal Palace were losing to Luton. We decided what to do for the rest of the afternoon. As Dave was based over near Victoria we decided to head up in that direction for few drinks before heading our separate ways. A great day, even if the football results did not go our way.

Friday 8th September 2006

You must be bored with the line I always spin on a Friday. Sure, there are millions of people around the world that must be relieved when the weekend finally lands and what makes me so special and different? Nothing. I just like to use, my favourite day of the week to look back on the working week and look forward to the weekend. When I try and think of what to cover in this post, there does not seem much to report. However, with a little thought there are a few things worth mentioning.

Work was busy, especially yesterday and today but we made it through, as we always do. We have hit the period after the summer where most people have returned from their holidays and there is real work to be done once again. There are a few interesting projects coming up next month but generally speaking life on the helpdesk is quite settled. Strange to think the events or rather one event that took place almost exactly a year ago. Nevertheless, we are where we are. No point pondering on what might, could have been. Let us move forward, onwards and upwards.

Been looking forward to Saturday since May 2003. Yes, three years, four months and six days exactly since I last Mr. Jones. I am really looking forward to seeing my best friend of some twenty odd years tomorrow morning. I made a promise, that I would not come up to Wrexham again until he came down to see me. He has got within a thirty mile radius of High Wycombe. He has been in London all week, staying with relatives. Although we have planned this weekend for months (with the daft idea of going to see Crystal Palace play in the Championship, just a shame they are away from home this Saturday) he kept his phone off most of this week, which meant I was unable to contact him, with no option for voicemail. How annoying! It must be the worse thing to hear when you are desperately trying to get hold of someone. As I pulled into the drive this evening, my sister rushed out with the telephone. "It's for you she said!" I expected someone trying to sell me life insurance, but it was in fact DJ. Finally! I had tried to call him from work at 4pm but even then his phone had been switched off. His excuse? He kept getting calls from work! For some people there is no escape. I was glad he finally got in touch, as I was slightly worried that I would be heading into Central in the morning and hoping he would contact me. Plans for tomorrow? For a change, no big agendas. We are booked on for the London Eye for 11am, even though originally I wanted to go at 10am, it was far to early for lazy Dave. Hopefully the weather will be good, checking out Weather Channel web site, reports 'mostly sunny'.

Uploaded my second video You Tube last night. I should really make the distinction that the video is not mine and not my property. It is actually a television commercial which has had a recent revival with all the students heading back to (or starting a fresh at) University. Yet another comic classic, particular the moonwalk which cannot be performed due to the 'static'. There is another way apparently.

Sunday 3rd September 2006

It rarely happens, so I am going to make a big point of mentioning it right at the beginning of this new post. Everything came together as planned this weekend. (Even if for moments at the start it was felt far from possible) Perhaps for the first time in ages not even a miniscule detail came in the way of my plans. Even something as difficult to control as the weather. Let me start, as I normally do at the beginning. My Mum dragged me out of bed around 9am, another early start but for good reason. I did not have much time this morning as it was. I got ready and headed out around 10.30am, having to drive through town to get onto the M40 at junction 3, as the junction 4 is still closed at weekends, although it does not stop being driving around it. I got into Uxbridge, or the Chimes car park just before 11am. Just as I had predicated the place was dead and I drove up to the fourth level to find a perfect sport within view from the stairwell. Great, I could make a perfect getaway when I got back from the shops, I did not plan to be long. Heading into the shopping centre, I took the stairs, I needed the exercise. The Chimes was relatively quiet with a few workers and early shoppers milling around. I headed down into the town centre, as I needed to go to WHSmith. I was shocked to see so many people out and about on a Sunday morning. Perhaps the only logical reason for this is the end of the school holidays on the horizon. There was a queue of ten people waiting to get into the stationery shop and there was a big collective sigh as we were let in at exactly 11am. (There I was thinking everywhere opened at 10am on a Sunday, perhaps it is better to make more from the evening rush than the quiet morning). I got the envelope I needed, rush to the till, got my stamps and then headed back to the Chimes. Next stop? Next actually, even though as it was so busy I was tempted to just walk out but eventually someone helped me so I was able to try on clothing, check I was happy with it, pay and head home. Mission accomplished. With this in mind, I drove back to Wycombe thinking the weekend was going much better than I ever could have expected.

Some people do not like international friendlies. Some people even go as far as to despise international football altogether. I disagree. I love international football, always have always will. There can be no greater honor and privilege to represent your country in your professional sport. As soon as I heard that Emirates was hosting this prestigious international, I knew I had to be there. Chris and I were planning to go originally, the moment we read the news on the BBC web site in early August but for one reason or another he decided he could not go. (Play football on the other side of the country was a good reason for me, but was it good enough?) It is not everyday you get to see Brazil play in England. Even though I saw their last international friendly in the UK back in October 2003 although at the time I neglected for some unknown reason to actually mention it. You have to consider these events as once in a lifetime. Other people might disagree, but a true football fan, football supporter if you will, could never pass up this great opportunity to see two of the biggest sides on the international scene coming together, so soon after the World Cup. I booked my ticket as soon as tickets became available for Red members and chose a seat over looking the middle of the pitch, as Chris was unavailable to select my area for me. I thought this would give me the best view of the game, as we expected the action to be end to end. I was looking forward to the game but as usual with these things, it slowly crept up on with little thought. My Dad dropped me at the station and I was a minute late for the 1pm train, which meant a thirty two minute wait for the next service. This, if I was looking for wholes was the only down point of the entire weekend. The sun was shining over the station and I wish I had decided to bring my sunglasses, instead of leaving them at home. Never mind, again a minor insignificant issue. I would be on my way to the game very shortly. While waiting on platform three, I was joined by a few supporters in Arsenal tops, one young man in an Argentinean top and a few others wearing the bright yellow of Brazil. We had been advised to head to the ground early and it appeared that everyone was heeding the advise. We got into Marylebone a few minutes late as we were waiting for platform one to clear before we could pull in. I had drifted off to sleep. Yet as I stepped off the Chiltern Clubman, I was ready for action and rushed to the barrier and headed down onto the underground, briefly glancing on the notice board to ensure that there were no delays on my lines. As usual with the weekend, there were many, how do I put this? Casual tube riders, not standing on the ride of the escalator. I had little time to wait, so I just started making my way down and waited for these people to move over to the right. Eventually everyone got the message so I was able to rush down the escalator in a few minutes. Before running to the platform. I could not relax until I got outside the stadium, but the atmosphere around the tube was much more fun than for an Arsenal fixture. It was busy, extremely busy with a sea of blue and green shirts across the platform concourse. I opted to let a few trains run before I jumped on, purely because it was such a tight squeeze. For lack of a more flattering phrase. When I did get on, there was room, just about, with a father taking his young son, aged about 7 to the game, dressed in his number 10, Ronaldinho shirt, to the match. Soon the car got floated with Brazilian supporters and we were advised to get off at Finsbury Park instead of Arsenal due to crowd congestion. No bother, this is my standard route to the stadium in any case. As I came up over ground, I could see the reason it was so busy. There was just fans all around waiting for friends and I slowly made my way over to Ashburton Grove. A ten minute walk, but no problem in the sunshine, compared to the rain a few weeks ago. With the weather looking good, we were in for a good contest for the match, which was to kick off within the hour. Making my way up the walkway, I started to appreciate the fantastic mood among the colour fans. Before stopping to take the first of several photos, all of which have been uploaded over to FlickR. Picking up some programmes, I walked around to my entrance and made my way to up to my seat. Perfect timing, just as I took my seat, the teams were being announced.

My seat was next to a father and his young son Luke, both big Arsenal fans. (Some people may note that the Star Wars theme continues, but do not read too much into this, it is purely coincidental) I believe it was Luke's first game at the stadium, and what an introduction. With the biggest players in the world on show, what more could you ask for. The cast list was breathtaking, particularly if you consider just a few months ago they were both competing in the final stages of the World Cup. It was a great, magical atmosphere in the stadium and with the sun beaming down, you could have thought you were somewhere in South America, not the London Borough of Islington. No wonder the match proved more popular than the host nation! As the teams came out, following the flags of the two countries, the crowd picked up to give them a rapturous welcome. We were in for a contest and this would be friendly in name only. Against the final result it was actually the men in blue and white that started stronger and made the first probes into the box. Yet, it was just as if Brazil wanted them to do this so they could hit them on the counter. Robinho looked like the best player on the bitch by a country mile, which is saying something considering the array of talent on the field. I expected Messi to light up the match every second he had the ball, but he put in a cameo appearance with only minor glimpses of the magic he gave us in Germany. With no Ronaldinho, it was down to Elano, a relative unknown to make a nuisance of himself in the opposition box. After a spell of pressure from the Argentineans, the Brazils woke up and started to play their attacking, flowing football, hitting on the counter. They were getting closer with each attack and it was a just a matter of time before they broke down the defense completely. It happened within a few minutes and came even as a shock to the majority of the supporters. The goal did lift the crowd and gave us a taste to what to expect for the rest of the afternoon. Brazil just looked like they were up for playing football, whereas their opponents did not get out of first gear. Tevez perhaps looked the most convincing in attack but every time he got possession he was roundly booed by all the Arsenal fans in the ground. To their credit Argentina did pick up after the going a goal down but they never looked like they were in the game. Brazil just improved their passing, tightened up in midfield and started passing the ball through to allow the strikers to run onto the defence. In the second half they just went to sleep completely and let Brazil play across them and probe the right flank at every possible opportunity. It was a matter of time before further goals were added by the Brazilians. I was personally very impressed with Kaka, when he came on for the last few minutes. His surging run across the pitch to score a fantastic goal to make it 3-0. Overall it was great entertainment, and well worth the ticket price. The BBC screen the match live on television so if you were not as lucky as me to get chance to see the action in person, perhaps highlights are the second best option.

While I long for England to one day lift the World Cup (hopefully within my lifetime) you cannot but respect the Brazilian football team. They play in such an effortless style whereby every pass, every kick looks arrogant, looks as if no thought has gone into the move whatsoever. I know this is not the case but as a true football fan, watching a team with their class, quality and individual skill is amazing and a joy, particularly when you are there a few metres away. There were a few pitch invaders towards the end of the game. A few excited fans, most likely foreign, jumping in to join their team celebrate, only to be caught by stewards a few minutes after their fun and rightly banned. You can understand though, for a few minutes being on the same playing field as your idols. My favourite football display would have to be the 1970 Brazil World Cup winning side, in the final against Italy. However that was way before my time, so if I was considering favourite display in my lifetime there are two contenders. This may surprise a few people but Arsenal's 5-1 quarter final demolition of Portsmouth at Fratton Park on Saturday 6th March 2004. The second would have to be this afternoon's international match between two of the greatest international sides in living memory. The deciding factor? Perhaps just being there and living the experience. As the marketing blitz goes from our new sponsors, "When was the last time you did something for the first time?" My simple answer is this weekend just gone.

Saturday 2nd September 2006

My favourite month of the year lands and with it some exciting weekends. This weekend is just a warm up for next weekend, when I am reunited with my best friends Dave after a period of over three years apart. The last time I saw him in fact was at his wedding day. More discussion on that topic later in the week, let us remain mindful of the present. (Sorry for the Jedi phrases, I have just watch The Empire Strikes Back on Sky). Been quite busy this weekend, even if it feels somewhat empty with all the international football taking place. Had a busy Saturday planned prior to the weekend, but as usual it did not pan out exactly as I wanted. I got up and headed into town to get my haircut and pick up a few things. Wycombe, my home town is already changing. The old bus station has started to be demolished and a new station has opened opposite the building site of the new shopping centre. All this happened in the middle of August, but for obvious reasons I have been keeping a low profile. The new centre cannot open soon enough, it never really has been a place to provide a variety of choice in anything.

When I got back home I jumped on the computer to watch Football Focus, as I try to do every Saturday lunchtime. However, during the course of the show I could feel a headache coming along and decided to rest on my bed while I watched the rest of the show. I fell asleep at exactly 1pm, when the show ended and did not get up for another couple of hours. What a waste of a Saturday afternoon, considering I had so much to get done. This is what usually happens to me on the weekend, when I have not got something to rush around for, I turn into a lazy bum. Then the early evening scheduled was filled with the England game, a quick trip to ASDA to pick up Ben & Jerry's Chocolate Fudge Ice Cream and then Star Wars. By no means close to a perfect Saturday night in but I am sure it pushes all the right buttons for some geeks out there.

Last night on BBC1, I watched the end of Air Force One. A film I saw at the local cinema, Wycombe 6 owned by UCI back then in 1997, with my school friends Daniel & Terry. I remember that Saturday afternoon very well and was impressed with the aging Mr. Ford in the leading role, he made a highly believable President. I have seen the movie, two if not three times now since the cinema release and I enjoy the ending every time. Maybe because when it comes to such patriotic action adventure movies, I become an idealist. Deep down, I like the idea of the good guy winning in the end, regardless of the circumstances. I suppose there is a hero in all of us, hoping for this happy heading. There is nothing wrong with a good old fashioned action movie with a good (but not brilliantly plausible) plot and big explosions, guns and acts of bravery. Want to go and see The Sentinel this weekend if I can but I am not sure when Pav is free, possibly late on Sunday night. Will text Pav a bit later. Saw a trailer for D.O.A. (Dead or Alive) this afternoon and will definitely be going to see that with Pav in a few weeks time.

The plan for tomorrow is as follows, get up early, sort out the car and if dry give it a clean and polish inside. Then head over to Uxbridge for some shopping. Do not worry this will be a pit shop trip, no messing around as if I was shopping like (or with) a girl. Then head back to Wycombe around 12pm, for some quick food before changing and heading to North London for the Brazil versus Argentina game. That reminds me, I need to charge the batteries for my camera.

Wednesday 30th August 2006

Pav truly proved his superhero credentials on Monday afternoon. We spent over six hours polishing, waxing and cleaning my car. We had planned this for ages but never got around to the job. Last time around, after his now infamous barbeque, it rained quite heavily and we just did not have enough time to clean the car. We had arranged to meet up at his place at 12pm. As usual I was late. I got up late. I got ready, drove to ASDA to check the tyre pressures, then into and west of town to Halfords before heading to Caversham via Marlow and Henley to avoid all the roadworks on Handy Cross. I got to Pav's house nearly 1pm. I had not got my car washed, even though I considered when I got up to get it jet washed locally, having run out time I decided to see my friend take his recommendation. The weather had turned and there was light rain. We made a executive decision. We were going to head over to Swallowfield and use a friend's garage to do the polish. That way, we would be undisturbed by the elements. However, there was another factor we did not consider. It was the Reading festival weekend and it had just ended so the roads in and around the town were grid locked. We made it over onto the A33, the other side of Reading heading towards Basingstoke and the A33. Pav pulled over in his M-reg dark blue Rover on the dual carriageway and tried to ring me. It was 13:24. I dashed into the inside lane and luckily he spotted me and followed me, past his work place. The impressive glass building just after the Majeski complex. We were at junction 11 of the M4. Not long to go, but Pav, as usual took the shortcut, when I usually would have gone down the bypass and back around on myself (thanks to the wonderful directions from Multi Map.). I threw my car around the roundabout and followed Pav to the farm. Parking up, we discovered the garage was locked up, so we rang Nige to find out where he was. He wasn't far away, so with thirty minutes to spare the sun still out, we started washing the car down and giving the filthy alloys a good clean. About twenty minutes later, Nige arrived and pulled out the old M3 they had been working on (it was there on my last visit on Friday 3rd March) but it was completely undrivable then, from all counts. We now had the space to work, so it was a case of getting the car cleaned and try before moving it into the workshop. I did little to help if I am honest. Pav did the hard work. I just helped here and there. Masking up the trim and pointing out yet another chip that needed a light coating of touch up paint.

I am hoping Pav gets some business matches made. Business matches? Teg, are you insane? Of course, you can only have matches with Pav's Auto Detailing, just like our old nemesis Biff from the Back To The Future Trilogy. Biff had his own business waxing cars at the end of the first movie. The thing is, Tom F. Wilson, whom played the character so well, went over a transformation over the trilogy. The true question is, which is, "McFly, who is your favourite member of the Tannen clan?" But don't worry I made sure Pav gave my car two coats of wax. I was there to make sure they were done :)

All the bottles of various gels, creams and lotions were marked with : For Professional Use Only. Did Pav know what he was doing? Of course he did. But this was the second donar car he was working on and also the first major scratch repair job he was attempting. Even so, I had great friend clearing his bank holiday weekend to work on my ride. I owe him more than just the nominal fee for the waxing (plus parts) he could have been out partying with his friends. Rather than go into detail trying to describe the process I will make this entry rather brief (for a change) I will thank Mr. K for all his time and effort. Six hours straight working with no tea break (as you would expect from most Asian workers) was by no means easy but I could see the determined glint in his eye to get the job to concourse standard. I can say quite confidently that he has rolled the years back on the car and it looks showroom ready. Do not agree? Judge for yourself.

Monday 28th August 2006

While I was struggling to find anything to write about on Friday, even to some extend on Saturday evening. I now find myself with two full days of events to report on. Let me first go back to Saturday evening. I decided to watch Star Wars - Episode IV: A New Hope on Sky. At the end of the movie, I had a sudden urge to play X Wing versus Tie Fighter and brought back memories of stumbling through Mysteries Of The Sith on my PC a few years ago. A fantastic movie that never ages, even though I have seen it countless times. I am glad that Sky are showing all of the movies back to back, I went for the full cinematic experience, with the lights off and the surround sound turned up. I will try and catch the second installment, The Empire Strikes Back which is my favourite. (Generally speaking I always like the second film in any trilogy series) Although the films are being repeated at midday on the Sunday so I will have a second chance to watch them if I so choose. After watching the movie, I was on my computer and started digging around both IMBD and Wikipedia for information on the film, particularly the fact that they were the 1997 special editions and I know that many fans disapprove with George's tinkering. I did not really know much about this, until I read into the various aspects of the film franchise and discovered Lucas bashing. I tried to look out for the changes in the special editions and will keep an extra eye on the rest of the movies I watch on a Saturday night. The rest of this Saturday night just gone was spent on MSN. I was tired but watched MOTD, even though perhaps I was not in the mood for football. Then I was up chatting to a friend on MSN until the small hours before eventually going to bed somewhere around 2am.

Sunday, I got up around 9.30am and then had a further dose of football in the form of Jimmy Hill's Football Supplement. A different take on the weekend fixtures and the upcoming international break. I eventually tore myself away from the television, even though it was tempting to just sit and watch music videos for the rest of the morning, there was more important work to be done. Heading to my room, I went through and sorted out all my paperwork. Then I went off and vacuumed the car in preparation more for Monday. It was not really that dirty inside and just needed a quick tidy. I got ready and then waited for my parents to come home. My sisters had arrived from Sheffield at 11am, but my sister had to then head off to work. My parents arrived around 3pm and after some food I grabbed all my stuff and headed out. I wanted to catch the 16:30 train from Wycombe and it was going to be tight. I booked my tickets from the automated machine at 16:25, exactly five minutes before the train was due to arrive. Perfecting time, but only just. Once in Marylebone, I took the tube to Oxford Circus and from here walked down to Tottenham Court Road. The last time I had been at the Dominion Theatre, was twelve years ago. I had gone to see Grease with my primary school as we were performing a production at school and I was in the choir. At the time Craig McLachlan was in the lead role with Sonia as Sandy but for various reasons I believe it was Shane Richie playing Danny and another unknown actress playing Sandy. Although unfortunately my memory is sketchy, I can remember being in the circle but quite some distance from the stage. Or could have been the fact that I was so short at the time. No problem with the view this time around. I was perfectly in the middle with a clear view of the entire stage and about the right distance back in row Q. There was the big contingent of MJ fans, which I expected but the majority of the audience were general, 'joe' public. All coming to see the songs of the King of Pop. I must be honest and my expectations of the show were quite low to begin with. There were rumours on various forums that Thriller Live would have a storyline with many characters taking the names of songs (e.g. Billie Jean) to give a narrative around the hit songs. I think this helped because my expectations were quite low. When I picked up a programme at the door and read about some of the talented singers and dancers involved it finally dawned on me that I could be in for an entertaining evening. The show was scheduled to start at 6.45pm but did not start until way into 7pm. I did not really mind as this gave everyone a chance to find their seats while I browsed the programme.

There was quite a variety of assembled talent, including some people I knew of. Marvin Humes from band VS (managed by Simon Webbe but disbanded after three singles and a one non-charting album). Then, perhaps the most famous of the entire cast, was Kym Mazelle. She sang the song, Young Hearts Run Free in the motion picture, Romeo & Juliet but that was over a decade ago. You might recognise her from ITV's Celebrity Fit Club, where she lost 'a couple of pounds' (he own words on stage) in series three last year. And the least well known perhaps was a dancer whom used to tour with Alice Deejay from 1999 until the dance groups rather early departure from the music scene. The safety curtain went up and the lights dimmed. The show was about to begin. I was excited to see what the group would do with the Michael's songs and his videos.

Hold on a second? I could have stayed at home and put on Moonwalker (VHS). The show opened with the opening scene from the 1988, straight to video movie. A live rendition of Man In The Mirror. It takes me to almost exactly thirteen months ago when Nav recited the opening lyrics to me over MSN. Perhaps it was more than the song, the opening, when those famous feet walk onto the an empty black stage, with the single spot light and you see the moves and the magic comes to life. After the song the show began with some young kids singing early Jackson Five material. These group of children where highly talented with exceptional voices, particularly Dominic. Part one was mainly material from the early 1970s and predominately Jackson Five / The Jackson's songs, which in my opinion are not my favourite. I prefer the mid 1980s solo stuff, but nevertheless, this did get the crowd going and there is nothing wrong with Blame It On The Boogie or Can You Feel It? They are both fantastic songs and suited the big stage with the crowd responding over time. The performances were very good, including I Want You Back, the official opener to the show and Music & Me. At 8.30pm, there was a twenty minute interval. I knew the second half would feature the songs I like. Sure enough, they opened with Beat It, my all time favourite MJ track. Although there was a problem. The singer was female. Now before I get jumped for being sexist, I have no issue with a woman singing the song itself, but it needs a male vocal to give it the edge, the rough stuff if you will. While I was very impressed with her long jacket, come overcoat, come skirt, her voice was just not up to the job and even a professional strong female lead would have had trouble with such a powerful number. This was perhaps my only disappointment of the show. Female singers also sang Earth Song, but it was done in more gentle, peaceful way in comparison to the 1995 UK Number One, which perhaps had more of a shock factor (if you factor in the video). Then the interchange was very clever, with a gospel choir at the top of the stage. The young singers from the first segment came onto the stage, all dressed in white. There was a short pause. Then the young girl sang the opening line, "Your love is magical, that's how I feel, But I have not the words here to explain...' The crowd responded with a big rapturous applause all around. I was hoping they would have sung Human Nature, perhaps my second all time favourite song by the King Of Pop, but Speechless was perfect. Watching it being sung live, I realised why it would have made a great single and of course, a fantastic video. Having the sweet voices of angelic children worked well with the whole atmosphere of the song, track 8 on Invincible. All I can say is wish for what could have been!

The finale could only feature two songs, Billie Jean by Navi and then Thriller, once again with Navi dancing and a full group of backing singers. There is no doubt that Navi is a fantastic dancer but sometimes he should concentrate purely on the dance movers and not miming the songs. I enjoyed the end of the show, as we were encouraged to actually get up off our seats and have a little dance to the final few songs.

An after party was held at Jury's Hotel around the corner, although this was a change of venue. Originally the party had been planned for the Teatro Nightclub over in Soho. We were in the queue for a few minutes around 10.30pm, even though the party was scheduled to start at 10pm. I was desperately looking at my watch every few minutes. The show had over run somewhat with the late start and I knew my last train from Marylebone was at 11.40pm. I would have to leave at 11pm sharp to make it across London in time. I was gutted that I had to leave early. Particularly as I had so many friends to chat up with and so many new friend so meet. More so when the cast arrived. It would have been great to get my programme signed. Never mind, there will be more events in the future. Instead I headed off home, the music of MJ ringing in my ears. I was itching to put on a CD or listen to an mp3, but I could not do that until today.

Friday 25th August 2006

Do you like routine? I am a big fan of setting a routine and sticking with it. Therefore you can understand any changes to my routine affect me a great deal. Let me give the example of Wednesday this week. I was looking forward to the game that evening, but rather than taking the soft option of taking the day off, or even semi-soft option of a half day, I worked until 3pm and then planned to come home to get ready for the trip into London. As usual, with so much going on in the office and loads to do I did not leave until nearly 4pm, even then I had a difficult escape from the office. I enjoy my job, but gave a very poor account of myself that morning. Felt a bit guilty leaving so early and leaving quite a mess for my colleagues to deal with. Nevertheless, I was off to the football and I tried to forget about work for a while.

Rushed home and the lack of traffic on the roads helped, although I knew it would be busier driving into the town centre. I booked my ticket on the automated machine, pleased to see another Gooner waiting for someone by the station entrance. It was 16:36. The next train to Marylebone was not for another eleven minutes as I had just missed one pull away from platform one, as I was getting my parking ticket. An hour after my train left Wycombe, I was at Piccadilly Circus tube station, waiting to take the Piccadilly Line north to Finsbury Park. I called home at 18:09 to let them know I had arrived safely. I was walking down St. Thomas's Road and my sister warned me that it was about to start raining. It was a slight drizzle as I came off the phone, but then suddenly the heaven opens. Several of the other supporters that had arrived early rushed for cover under the trees or balconies or doorways. I continued walking. Past Arsenal station (which was packed) I came to the corner of Drayton Park and took some cover under the trees. Waiting for a good fifteen minutes while the rain died down. There were numbers of fans, even some Dynamo Zagreb that braved the showers to head to the ground. As the rain settled down I walked on to the main bridge and waited at the bottom of the stairs, texting Terry. He did not respond, so I walked up to the stadium and took some photographs. As I had not received a confirmation e-mail for this fixture I did not know which turnstile to use to enter the stadium. So I approached a steward who asked for my membership card. He tapped in my number into his PDA, which was wirelessly connected to the main booking computer but for some reason his PDA was playing up. He got took me to another steward who accessed my details and printed off a ticket stub on a small till receipt like printer. This is a very good system, and even with the teething problems, the stewards we all very helpful and kind. I walked around to D and walked through. The concourse was practically empty and I got some food before heading upstairs. There was a plenty of time before kick off, so I decided to make a full circuit around the ground and take a few photographs. It was getting busier, but I was able to snap some pictures from the great glass windows looking out across North London. I was even able to go and take some pictures of the pitch prior to talking my seat. Sony have installed large Sony HD TV screens across the concourse. The picture quality was amazing, as they showed the team arriving. Each of the players coming off the coach in the underground car park, right underneath me. After my lap around, it was minutes before kick off so I headed to my seat. Row 32, is right up at the back of the new North Stand, just one back from the last row. My seat was two in from the aisle, so a central view of the pitch and on the right the big television screen. The teams had been announced. Looking down at the pitch, with a few of the players training, I noticed someone coming up the stairs. Someone famous. Well semi-famous. Just like my visit exactly a month ago, I was to be in the presence of yet another television celebrity. Hardeep starred in the Channel 4 comedy based in Glasgow, last year, Meet the Magoons. He may have been spotted more recently on Newsnight Review and here he was, with his son, sitting a few feet away from me.

The game itself came to live quite early but for all the wrong reasons. The team from Croatia took an early lead due to our defence falling asleep. It was poor performance and perhaps the young team were resting on the cushion of a three nil lead from the first leg. We started to string some passes together and push into the final third but the finishing just was not there. In the second half, Arsene brought on Henry, Gilberto and Walcott to fine tune the attacking options and shield the defence. Some fans believe it was the worst European performance ever, even though we did eventually win. It will will soon be forgotten, as the group stages commence in a few weeks. Yet it will go down in history as the first win at the Emirates Stadium.

On my way home there are a few stories to tell. Firstly, at Leicester square a couple got on, friends I believe. The female was Canadian, I would say American but I think I would be wrong. As I got up to give up my seat before Piccadilly Circus, she made eye contact with me and said, "Did Arsenal win?" Yes they did, was my reply with a nod and she just smiled and beamed back, "My brother will be pleased". I did not say anything more, just smiled back before getting ready to jump off the tube train. On my Chiltern Railways that left Marylebone at 23:33 I was in a window seat and as the train was quite busy a young lady came and sat next to me. I thought nothing more of it, even when she got out her iPod and plugged herself in. As we neared Gerrards Cross, I realised that she had fallen asleep and would have to wake her up so I could get off the train. This was something I did not really want to do. It was a perfect moment that could be captured on YouTube and played over and over again. I looked across the aisle and a guy laughed as I attempted to tab the shoulder of this stranger. She woke up after a second shake and I apologised before being able to escape. That was not too hard but not something I would like to do again soon.

Wednesday will also go down, in my personal history as the first day I did not use my personal computer. I cannot remember the last time a day went past without me switching on my machine. I am sure it is noted down somewhere on this blog, but right now I cannot recall the date. Anyway it was strange to not pick up my e-mails or speak to friends on MSN but I suppose ultimately a good thing. Time away from the screen, can never be a bad thing.

Sunday 20th August 2006

Before we get to the football, let me tell you about the two movies I watched this weekend. First comes Bad Company, the underplayed premier on BBC1 on Friday evening after the news. I only found out it was on by searching on Radio Times online and as there was nothing else on worth watching, I thought I might as well give it a go. Chris Rock perhaps has not made the best transition from standup to celluloid but nevertheless I give me 10 out of 10 for effort. The other lead is Antony Hopkins which already has you thinking about the suitability of this pairing in an action movie. Well actually when you look back it is actually a comedy that thinks it should be an action movie and that is where everything goes wrong. There are some memorably funny scenes, such as Chris Rock playing All Out Of Love (by Jagged Edge) in the club and clearing the dance floor. Plus an old overweight Welshman running through Grand Central Station shouting at commuters to get out of the way. Why oh why did it come to this for you Mr. Hopkins? Please tell me you did this purely for the money. The storyline is far fetched to say the least, but even if you let that go some of other aspects of the film are just comical, when you would want to see something more substantial. All in all, watch able television movie, you would not catch me paying to see this at the cinema.

X Factor is back on our television screens and with less of hype than in previous years. Has the show got worse or have the contestants just got more deranged in thinking they have that special talent? Plus, what was the point of Paula Abdul being a guest judge? She hardly made any contribution to the auditions in London. Is it just me of have they only shown a handful of successful entrants going through to the second round and focused more on the wannabe singers? I watched it on and off last year and it looks like I will have a good idea of what is going on this time around with both of my sisters watching every show, including the Xtra Factor on ITV2.

Listened to LBC during the afternoon just as the 3pm games were kicking off. John Cushing and former Arsenal legend Kenny Samson present the show on the London station, which is a mixture of chat, reports from the grounds, phone in and competitions. Being LBC, the focus is on London clubs across the divisions, with the name of the club blaring out from a pre-recorded jingle prior to an update on the scores. They have their own blog which is updated towards the end of the show. While generally in the past I have always listened to Five Live, this show makes a change from the standard commentary and analysis. Instead you just get the goal alerts and a constant stream of the scores. It was while listening I heard Arsenal were one nil down, then the appearance of Walcott from the bench and ultimately his assist that lead to the equaliser. Sure this was not in the script but even this early in the season we should consider it two points dropped rather than a point gained. Particularly with Chelsea and Manchester United picking up three points in convincing wins. At least Spurs lost, one consolation for the weekend.

The first time Sky Movies Saturday premiere, was Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. My sister had seen the movie last year and was not impressed, so it was just myself and my youngest sister who stayed in the living room to watch the remake. I am a big fan of the 1971 original film, particularly as Gene Wilder, in my humble opinion plays the role of Willy Wonka perfectly. I was annoyed with the fact they changed some of the story and also introduced a background to the main character to give some credibility to his wackiness. In my opinion unnecessary, it better if these things are left to our imagination. The Oompa Loompa were good but the computer generated affects meant they were really tiny unlike in the 1971 movie when they were played by dwarfs, which was more in line with the book. Tim Burton is an excellent director and he always lets his creative juices flow onto the screen like no other director. Every frame holds his signature. If you were to take the movie on it's own (very difficult for me as I've seen the first movie so many times) you would conclude that this is well done and if not more of an adventure (than mere a case in story telling). Although perhaps the most annoying aspect is that lack of concrete location. The Buckets are English and the factory appears to be in England but the fact that Charlie pays for his winning Wonka Bar with $10 dollars makes the setting unclear. Overall, great family fun but nothing to be taken too seriously. I am sure after watching this, you will want to go back and watch the original. Talking of originals, Sky are screening all six movies in the Star Wars series from next weekend. Before I started University in the summer of 2000, I watched Episodes IV, V, VI and Episode I, back to back over consecutive nights in a week. This was on VCDs, that Pav had lent me, of the Special Edition cuts. As much as I would like to watch the whole series over the next few weeks I am pretty sure I will be busy most Saturday nights to be around at 8pm to catch them.

Friday 18th August 2006

Another new England era started on Wednesday night with a convincing performance against Greece at Old Trafford. I have been here many times before. In the past decade I have see the debut game for the following England managers. Hoddle, Keegan, Eriksson and now McClaren. I have always seen England give an improved run out, under the watchful eye of the new gaffer. Although perhaps in the past the manager taking over has very much been a continuation of the previous regime. While you could say that Steve is literally a continuation, you can see by his squad selection and tactics that he wants a more attacking and less limp national side with a greater emphasis on pushing the ball into the danger area, rather than a possession game. I love watching England, so much so I have become a member of the official FA fan club, englandfans (you would have seen it advertised heavily on electronic banners at the Theatre of Dreams). Although I have never been to any England game I look forward to one day watching my national side in a competitive international. Back to the friendly, overall positive, although you have to consider the mediocre opposition. Yet again, in the second half, considering the changes, England were on the back foot. While the cushion of a four goal lead may have meant nothing but a consolation for the European Champions, I feel that against world class opposition, the frailties will be brought for all to see. One thing I completely detested about Sven was his strategy to score the goal and then defend for seventy minutes. I prefer to watch flowing attacking football, with England punishing teams but overall defending well. Rather than defending for our lives as we have done in the tournaments past, we need to play with confidence. So what if we go a goal down, we must have the mentality that we will score two more. Early leads have never helped England. Just check the history books. Ultimately I am looking forward to the next round of qualifying, even if it is only the European Championships that lie at the end of the road. For some reason, they can never stir the passion in me as much as the World Cup. Suppose they will have to do, we need something to fill the gap in the lonely summer for the next four years. It was also great to see Theo Walcott in action for the Under 21s and scoring a goal within three minutes, the youngest ever player at this level to do so. While he might need to work on the celebration for next week, you can clearly see the potential in the young lad. Enough of the hype, let the kid play some football, develop, grow and ultimately become a great player for club and country.

Seriously considering a move over to Sky Broadband but concerned of any days with no service. An internet junkie as myself would feel suffocated without the broadband pipe for anything more than a few hours. I have registered interest on James Murdoch's beautiful site and received a confirmation e-mail that broadband is available in my area (tell me something I do not know). It is very difficult for Wanadoo , I mean Orange to compete with free. Saving £17.99 a month which could go towards my car fuel bill. I was bored one evening and reading up the last news on Digg and discovered a link to this article so carried out a speed test on my current broadband connection. Currently set at 1mb, but the move to Sky would see me upgraded to 2mb (something that I could have done on Wanadoo sometime I go, but never bothered with). Seriously need to review my recent expenditure and look and where other potential savings could be made.

So glad the weekend is finally here, been a busy week. Even though I am not doing anything exciting, it is nice to have unscheduled time to do whatever I want. Looking back, generally the opening weekend d of the Premiership season I spent at home. I recall years ago, working on Saturday mornings to return home around 2.30pm, lying on the sofa and switching on Gillette Sports Saturday to watch full coverage of the afternoon's games. Now, eight years on, my weekends are mine but being older (and wiser?) I also have the option (occasionally, subject to availability) to go and watch the game live. Plus there is of course the beauty of going into town to watch it at a public house on a big screen. I remember the opening weekend last year, I watched four back to back matches on Sky, had pizza on Saturday night, plus watched a DVD. I expect much the same over the next forty-eight hours. For once, nothing to preview, nothing to build up to. Just a quiet weekend staying in following my team. Sometimes it is great to just switch off from the rest of the world and do what you want, even if only for a weekend. Whatever you get up to, have a good one!

Monday 14th August 2006

Pav's house parties are the stuff of urban legend. I was told about the last one from 2004 via MSN and a thread on his forum. Pictures of the fire engine, rising smoke and empty petrol can were all shocking. He had planned a party in early September last year but the only person who could attend was your's truly. So as you can expect, I was eagerly anticipating this years party which came together slightly earlier than I expected. I was only told about it a few weeks ago with Pav and Nigel making all the arrangements. There was going to be a bouncy castle, plus a beach theme, hoping the weather would hold for the duration of the day and evening. I wanted to get there early, so left home around 4pm and headed to Marlow and then to Henley. I stopped at the Tesco just outside of the town to get some supplies. It must have been at least six years since I had last been there. My friends and I occasionally would drive there for lunch while at college. I then headed off through Shiplake to Caversham. The reason I had taken this route and not used the bypass was because the Handy Cross junction is closed this weekend (and the subsequent five) for roadworks as they improve the whole roundabout. Rather than even bother to get stuck in queues (as my sisters would do shortly afterwards) I just decided to take the scenic route. Much more of a pleasant drive, don't you think?

I was the first to arrive, even though I got there around 5.30pm. As I parked my car in front of his house, I could see the picture of palm trees on a banner attached to the side of the house. Someone had well and truly pushed the boat out but there was more to come. I knocked on the door and as there was no answer, rang the land line, "Can you keep the noise down?!" was my greeting to Pav's mum who had answered. She invited me around the back. Taking my supplies into the bar (which was just a converted shed, with window cut out and freshly painted exterior) then met up with Pav and Nigel who were working on the barbeque. The party could begin.

There were just the right number of people there, many of them from last Friday night out in Bournemouth. Plus of course Div and her Uni friends, so quite a good crowd really. Just what you need for a Saturday night. Barbeque, bouncy castle a selection of beverages. Pav's parents were going out for the night but actually returned at 1am, which was not a big issue because the party was still going strong at the time. Pav was of course the resident, DJ Breezy but had help from guest DJ, Eddie Johnson who took over after midnight and was spinning the decks for a good couple of hours. I had a great time. A fantastic time, considering I went to sleep around 5.30am, so it was nearly a solid 12 hours of party. Who said Teg doesn't know how to have a good time? Photos I hear you cry? Well I got around to sorting out the best and uploading them to FlickR.

A quick note about Korean drinking games, they are quite simple to understand, unless your name is Kev and you are completely wrecked. Although by the time he did finally get the concept, it was nearly 6am and most of us had decided it was time for some sleep. I think in total around four or five people tried in vain to explain how the game worked, while we were still playing but it never clicked. It was extremely late, I am talking about the wee hours of Sunday morning but it was hardly rocket science. The most ironic thing is Kev is actually one of the most intelligent people I know.

Some great news, I have secured a ticket for the first evening, floodlight game at Ashburton Grove. What makes this a greater occasion, is it is my first taste of Champions League football, live. I have seen Arsenal in every other competition but never European's premier club competition. It is difficult to explain how I felt this afternoon when I finally got my confirmation e-mail from Arsenal. I booked my tickets on Friday morning and was lucky as I rushed to the site exactly at 9.30am, after finishing a call with a client. Had that call over run for any reason I may have been too late. As now has become customary, Chris chose my seat, upper tier this time, as I make my way anti-clockwise around the ground. So my next seat at my next match will be in the yellow quadrant. So I have been in blue, and next week will be orange. I know it is only a qualifier and with the score already 3-0, it might not be much of a match, but I do not care. For me it is a great moment in the history of me supporting my beloved club in red and white. For a diehard fan that does not know when his next match may be, this is close to ecstasy. Am I living the dream? Maybe.

Friday 11th August 2006

There is an old marketing cliche, perhaps from the Max Clifford school of making a quick buck. There is no such thing as bad publicity. Seeing High Wycombe plastered all over the news yesterday was a shock. Perhaps my decision to shut out all news media in the mornings prior to arriving at my desk, needs to a rethink. I was a minute away from my house, as I came up to the second roundabout that my traffic alert kicked in, but instead of news about travel on the news, I was hearing about precautions for those lucky people heading off to sunny destinations across the globe. I was confused but paid little attention, just waiting for my CD to kick in again. I rarely have the TA on but as I had some long journeys last weekend, I switched it on. I was completely oblivious to what was going on. Even when I eventually loaded up FireFox around 9am, I was shocked to read about the grounded of flights across the UK. Chris, just nodded in agreement. Even now I knew little of how much this terrorist plot would actually hit home. A couple of hours later, Dave came onto MSN and messaged me that it was all blowing up in "Wycombe"! Perhaps not the best choice of words, but I had to question him further to finally discover that some of the suspects arrested came from Wycombe. Suddenly I went back to being that news junkie (a phase I thought I had grown out of). This was big news. Particularly when both my parents are talking about it when I get home. Never thought I would see High Wycombe headline on prime time news programme, particularly not for these negative reasons. A quick search using the name of my home town on Google News brings up over twenty pages of results. Expect more to be come out in the coming few weeks, I suppose perhaps this can give me an opportunity to give my view on events, as they happen, being a brown face.

While I was out in Leicester, I was waiting for my friends to arrive and sat down at a table downstairs, in The Quay. On the big projector, they had been showing football, but the bar manager whipped out her Sky Remote and changed it to MTV2. An indie countdown was being played but after a few minutes, she changed the channel again to MTV Base. On came a video for a song that had been growing on my recently. He reminds me of a young Michael Jackson. Perhaps it is wrong to compare someone, so early in their own solo recording career with the King of Pop, but I feel it is justified, just look at the video for Sexy Love. Lyrics are the most important aspect of a song and I absolutely love this track. I downloaded the video and watched it with the stereo on full blast in the living room this evening, magic. Maybe it is just be, but this is one of those songs that just tugs at my heart strings. Under different circumstances, it would have been the soundtrack to last weekend.

House party over at Pav's place tomorrow night, with a summer / beach party theme, so expect some snazzy photographs over the weekend. Hopefully will get around to giving my car a nice polish on Sunday morning, before heading back home for a quiet afternoon in front of the television watching the Community Shield. Nothing else planned this weekend, so relatively quiet compared to the previous month but I'm planning to be a complete lazy slob next weekend as the Premiership season finally starts. Weekend in doors, takeaway, football on television, perhaps a DVD and nothing else.

Sunday 6th August 2006

August already? The year is rushing by and I have quite a backlog of events to write about. I wish I could slow things down or just have more time to make sure everything is covered. I suppose, I should mention my failure to get tickets for Arsenal's opening fixture at Emirates. A limited selection of tickets went to sale to Red members originally on Wednesday morning. This was delayed until 2.30pm due to technical problems and was then postponed until Thursday morning at 9.30am. While I was able to eventually log on on Thursday morning, each block that had limited tickets would not allow me to book a single ticket. This was annoying, including my session timing out and then having to log back in. After another attempt, the event was disabled. What few tickets had remained had been sold. I was disappointed but not that gutted as there will be other opportunities and other matches.

Pav invited me down to The Opera House in Bournemouth for Slinky with a guest appearance from his favourite DJ, Tiesto. This was first time in Bournemouth for clubbing, although I have been down to the beach several years ago. Nigel was in his 1.8 T reg Vectra and I struggled to keep up with him in my Punto on the M3. We got there around 10.30pm. This was pretty good going, as I left Wycombe just before 8pm and got to Eastleigh just after 9pm, not bad considering I was running out fuel.

I am not a big fan of dance music but I really enjoyed the night. It was great fun. The converted opera house makes for a unique venue, with an upper balcony over looking the main dance floor and stage. We spent most of the night here as it was less crowded. We did pop downstairs for a while and tried to get near the front of the stage but it was just unbearable. The heat and lack of air conditioning didn't really help. The event was a sell out with over two thousand people crammed into this relatively small venue. There was a chill out room at the back upstairs and it was screening several movies over the course of the night, including The Goonies and Clockwork Orange. There were some dedicated clubbers in all their clubbing gear, including the traditional glow sticks. Tiesto's set was at midnight until 3am and Rich, one of Pav's friends from Liverpool recorded the whole set onto his mp3 player and I hope to listen to it again when he sends it to me later this week. A great night out and my first ever Slinky experience. It is a shame I did not go there on an average Friday night rather than a big event so I could truly appreciate the atmosphere with a smaller crowd. Don't worry I haven't become a converted clubber, but I will listen to some more material from the Dutch DJ.

Was in Leicester last night for Sachin and Rish's engagement party. Left Wycombe around 3pm and got into Leicester at 4.30pm, staying at the Ibis hotel, right in the city centre. I walked into town as soon as I checked in, just to check out the town. When I got back to my room, I was about to get ready and switched on the television. ITV1 had a snowy picture but you could just about see what was on. The screen was black and a date appeared on the screen in white text. Saturday, 26 October 1985. I knew instantly that this was one of my favourite movies of all time. I watched the opening credits and the main hoverboard chase scene before going to get ready. It was strange going back to my University city after two years, the city and campus has changed so much. Difficult to describe how I felt walking down Gateway to The Quay. My department building, James Went has now been torn down and they are building a replacement, with the steel frame slowly being constructed. Met up with Darren, Sunil and Pritesh when they arrived and we went upstairs for the party. First time I had seen them in nearly three years and about two years since I had last seen Sachin. Had a great night out, it was brilliant to be back in Leicester and see some of my old friends. I took my CyberShotU with me but have yet to go through and download the pictures onto the computer. Will try and get that done during the week and upload them.

Sunday 30th July 2006

Another big weekend, slowly comes to a close. Although this is the second part of a triple bill that finally comes to a close next weekend. So much to write about and with fifty minutes until the last TOTP ever, I feel I may have to either cut myself short or come back later if I have time. See how I get on. Last weekend, Pav had text me about going out in Reading as our friend Dee was out in Reading. Of course I agreed as he had been such a great laugh over on our weekend to Germany. When I got into work on Friday morning, I did not feel up for a night out but over the course of a good day I changed my mind. Looking back I am so glad I did.

The weekend begins with the drive home, which was uneventful but I was still in two minds about trekking down to Reading. Particularly as Chris had asked me to come out in Henley for a quiet few drinks. I decided to decline, when he rang a around 7pm that night. While I hate to say no, I felt I owed it to Pav to come out and see Dee. Particularly as it had been over three months since I had last seen him. Tough choices but I think looking back I made the right choice. Rarely do I sacrifice Friday night Eastenders, but I had to. Getting changed while the final visit to Albert Squared played out in the lounge. Having left work late meant I was running half an hour late and would need to catch up on the time on my journey into Reading. Pav tried to ring me but I had been having some food. Dee would be in the town centre around 8.30pm and I could meet them there. Slight change of plan, when I had opted to pick up Pav from his house at 8.30, but as I would not get into the town centre until around 9pm, this arrangement suited us both. I left the house while Eastenders was still being watched by my parents and younger sister.

The drive was quiet with very few cars on the road. Reading town centre was only slowly started to fill with the weekend revelers. Parking in the Oracle car park, I called Pav just before 9pm, as I waited by the riverside and shops. He was on his way, with his sister giving him a lift in. Dee was going to meet us in Bar Med. I waited for a few minutes and saw Pav in the distance. Walking towards him I looked to the window and saw Dee in a bright blue t-shirt. On the back was the name, "Super Dee" and number 83. It was only when we went inside we discovered the front had the S of the one son of Krypton. I was laughing already and he had not even said a word. We met his cousins and got some drinks in, the after an hour or so the plans changed. We were off to Oxford Street to meet some more of Dee's friends. So off we went to the car park, Dee forgetting which floor he had parked his bright Honda Civic Type-R. We drove down to the third floor only to see him rushing back to the lifts. Then as we came down to the 2nd level we saw them pack in and rapidly pull away down the corkscrew. I followed and tried my best to keep up. Then, as he did not know where he was going, neither did I. Pav directed us to the right place. A McDonald's drive through car park, before Dee took the lead and drove us to the right place, eventually. My reverse parking skills are poor, extremely so. I think that, is a topic for discussion for another entry.

So after another hour or so meeting Dee's friends, we headed back into town, parking back in the Oracle. We then headed down to Revolutions, the place to be (apparently) on a Friday night. Of all the years I have been going out in Reading, this was my first time at this venue. There was a small queue outside but at least entry was free. We got in after a fifteen minute wait and it was extremely busy, but not too overcrowded, just yet. We meet up with some more of Pav's friends and waited the arrival of Super Dee. He came, eventually, but it must have been nearly an hour afterwards. The DJ was rather cheesy, with rather lame attempts to get the crowd going. Eventually I saw a friend of Dee's we had met earlier and I let Pav know. Sure enough a little while later we found Dee at the bar with the rest of his crew. I was not really in the mood for a dance and instead got in a round of drinks and then a little while later decided to head home. With such a busy weekend ahead I did not want to be back in Wycombe too late. Dropping Pav back home, I stumbled through the door at 2.30am and went straight to bed, even though I was half tempted to come online, check my e-mails and see who was on MSN.

The weekend had hardly begun but I had loads to do. I did not set my alarm, in my sleepy state and instead was woken at 7.30am by my Mum, telling me I had my friend's wedding to go today. I got up, rushed around. First option was to check the car over, check the tyre pressure before getting back in and polishing my shoes. Now I could pack my overnight bag, grab my suit and get going. It just after 10am I left. As I had forgotten to print off the e-mail from Pete in the office and directions from Multimap, I jumped on the home computer to do that quickly, trying my best to picture the roads from my placement year in deepest Bedfordshire. Strange feeling when I left. I opted to drive through Wycombe, up to Amersham and the M25 junction at Rickmansworth as it had been the same route I had used when traveling to the office in Kempston. Funny to think it was over three years ago since I last made this journey, almost exactly three years as my placement ended in mid July 2003. I was looking forward to going back, particularly as it had been a similar length in time since I had last seen Pete and Victoria, (although I prefer to call her Vicky). I was looking forward to the weekend and taking a good selection of photographs.

The journey was relatively clear, with the only traffic at junction 6A onwards to Luton with the narrow carriageway due to the car pool lane they are installing. I was surprised at the time as I pulled off at junction 13. Now came the hard part, finding the hotel. I roughly new the direction in which to head, as I had driven on the bypass on the outskirts of Bedford every day. Following my gut instinct I headed in the direction of the Priory Business Park and past it to the eastern direction into the town centre. Sure enough on the right was the Old Barns Hotel, I parked up and smiled looking at the beautiful surroundings. Checking into my room, I got changed and headed back out onto the road. It was a few minutes past midday which gave me less than an hour to find the church and setup before the ceremony. Pete had told me it was only a five minute drive from the hotel and I remember the main roundabout as I used to take the main road to Sandy and then on towards the A1(M) to the Stevenage office. Heading in the right direction, I saw a church on the left, slowing down to read the name of on the dark blue sign. Sure enough Saint Mary's. Now where to park? There was no where around the church and just driveways by the country houses. I drove down the road and turned around and drove around the church perimeter. I then drove down the road to a pub, looking for somewhere to park but it was already surprisingly busy. Heading down the road and making a U turn in a cul-de-sac I headed back and parked opposite the church. Some guests had arrived, and as I went to cross the road, Peter arrived with his parents. The wedding was about to begin.

Beautiful ceremony, in a beautiful little church on a beautiful sunny day. Then back to the hotel, in a tranquil setting by the river. Perfect. A lovely day for a lovely couple, I cannot describe it in any less of a cliché, but fittingly so. Rather than go into the details, I prefer to keep it simple. I had a great time. Particularly as it was in part a catch up on my old placement firm (which has moved on in recent times). When Pete and Vicky return from honeymoon I hope to get the official photographs and also send them some of my own.

The rest bite for the coming week is actually just work. On Friday I am out in Bournemouth with Pav and then Saturday in Leicester for an engagement party. Don't hold your breathe for any updates for another seven days.

Sunday 23rd July 2006

Part two of the lads weekend, started badly. I woke up much later than I planned and entered up rushing around in the my room, ignoring a missed call from Chris, jumping in the shower and rushing to the train station. Not a good start, not a good start at all. After purchasing my tickets and heading down the subway to platform three, Chris called me and laughed as I explained I was running slightly late. So was he. Phew. For a while I had images of meeting him and his brother and other half in fed up mood at Paddington. It was not to be, I would just about beat them into London and meet them at Paddington platform. This was the first time I was meeting Gary, although of course I had heard so much about him and spoken to him on the phone a few weeks ago regarding this trip. Chris kept a secret that I was to discover later. We meet on platform fourteen of Paddington station and Gary then headed to Millie's Cookies for some much needed breakfast and a cup of coffee. We then headed for the tube station and I explained the route, but Gary just heard, "blah blah blah to blah blah to blah". I laughed. He was just a older more immature version of Chris. More to follow very shortly. We came to Baker Street our stop on the Bakerloo Line but deep in discussions I completely forgot and thought we were still had another stop to go. Sandy, Gary's wife was quick to point it out and we jumped out. However my powers were fading, there must have been some kryptonite lying around near by. We headed the wrong way up the platform and I turned around with Chris commenting, "He's lost it!" As we walked back down the platform, the tube train we had just jumped off was waiting to leave, but a guy with a big rucksack decided to jump on just as the doors were closing, jamming the bag in. Instead a group of people tried helplessly to get the bag free but with no joy. In a moment that could have been taken from any Hollywood blockbuster, Gary casually walked up to the door, no rush, grabbed the door open with one arm and released the bag. Then without a flinch he continued walking past, not reacting to the waves of thanks from the passengers in the train. If only I had taken a picture at the moment, it was crazy. Just a shame you need to give two weeks notice and pay £300 for the privilege.

The rest of the journey was uneventful, with no further rescue attempts required, although of course Gary was always more than willing to help anyone in distress. By the time we joined the DLR at Canning Town, it was very busy but as we already had tickets we stopped at Customs House rather than Prince Regent. After an initial queue, we were in just before 11am. I was disappointed that they took the main part of the ticket and left us with the little stub. Gary and Sandy went off on their own while Chris and I started off in the main manufacturer stand, starting over at Peugeot. We then got a drink, Tropical Smoothie for a small break before moving over to the show area. We met up with Gary and Sandy for a quick bite to eat before heading around the final few stands that we had not seen, including a fabulous Honda Civic Type-R in a pearlescent white with overtones of blue when the lights hit the body work in the right place, which was magnificent, just to look at. We then headed outside into the sunshine to see the BMW stands. It was here that Gary decided to poke fun and the rest of the people checking out all the little compartments in the boots. There is a selection of photographs of Gary's head (or in at least one picture, most of his body, in a boot). These are perhaps the funniest of my latest FlickR set. It was on the German manufacturer's stand that we had a small taste of the high life. Sandy saw Kenny, an old neighbour and we were accordingly invited upstairs to the drivers lounge for a complementary drink on the blacony, overlooking the stands and dock. Now you can see that Chris and I would have missed out on this grand opportunity if we had not come along with SuperG and his Lois Lane.

We then headed around to the other side of the building to look at some of the activities available. There was a small radio control track by Vauxhall for their VXR sports range. Get the kiddies playing with the small cars, while the grown ups buy some clothes. Behind this was the Zoom Zoom circuit by Mazda. A selection of cars, RX8, MX5 and new MPS where on show by no-one was really pushing the cars hard on the first straight, and posting quite modest times on the board for such a low demanding track. We then headed down to the Range Rover Freelander experience, under their new advertising slogan of Go Beyond. (I am sure you have seen the recent commercial in your local multiplex, voiced by Ewan McGregor.) Quite an interesting course with various obstacles, including the whole car behind tilted forty-five degrees. We then headed back into the show after looking at some cars crawl down a slide. After a quick browse of the shopping areas, we headed back to on the DLR for home.

I took 250 pictures today at the motor show, on my seventh month anniversary of going pro on FlickR. I now have broken the one thousand barrier for total number of pictures hosted, most of them in a set. I cut down my collection of photographs to only 218, when I thought it would easier to get it to a figure of around 100. Checking the referrals on my site recently, someone on eBay was selling tickets but had linked to the photographs on my site. I am going to delete them and move them over to FlickR. Funnily enough looking back to May two years ago there was the Mazda concept for the MPS in Birmingham. Today in London that car was on display and on sale. A selection of my favourite pictures from the day are below.

Saturday 22nd July 2006

It had been a difficult night, unpleasantly hot and I had been unable to sleep. I wanted to get up earlier than I did, much earlier. It was way past 8.30am by the time I did get out of bed, but I had wanted to be getting ready and heading into town by then. Instead I left about an hour later to get my haircut. The sun was shining and I was looking forward to a memorable day. Trying not to think about this afternoon's game, I instead concentrated on getting myself ready to be there as early as I could. Just after 10am I returned home and started to get ready. After a quick shower, checking my e-mails online, a quick lunch and I was on my way. The last minute was how I would get to the mecca in North London. Originally I had wanted to make it a public transport affair but waiting for and taking the bus would add at least thirty minutes to my journey time. Plus I did not fancy walking up Castle Street in the midday sun. As I pulled into John Hall Way, I saw the 326 bus coming in the opposite direction, it would have been the one I caught into town. Thankfully I was in my car and on my way into town. In my head I went through a list of everything I needed and realised I had forgotten my confirmation e-mail, so turned around at the top of Marlow Hill heading back and calling my sister. Thankfully I had realised my forgetfulness before I boarded my train into Marylebone. Pulling up outside the house, my sister Natalie rushed out to give me the all important bit of paper and I jumped back in the car and headed off. I was on my way to Ashburton Grove and nobody was going to stop me. I had my sunglasses on and felt great, the sun was shining. The weekend was living up to it's star billing. Yet there was much more yet to come. Driving into High Wycombe station, I struggled to find a spot but eventually found one quite near the entrance, rather than my usual spot which would be in a different time zone. Paying the £2.50 for the half day I went over to the Fast Ticket booth to purchase my tickets for the Chiltern Railways service. You may not know but the station is currently being repaired with temporary porta cabins outside, following a fire back in November last year. So there are no barriers, you literally purchase your ticket and jump on a train. There are ticket inspectors that occasionally check your pass. I rushed across to Platform Three, which is at the other side of the station, via subway and there were already some people waiting. I decided this was the perfect moment to wake up Chris. It was 12:37pm, my train was about to pull up. The morning had disappeared and yet my friend was half asleep as I spoke to him. I murmured something about going out in Reading on Friday night before cutting the call short as I saw the dark blue training pulling in around the corner. I felt really bad for walking him up and would get around to apologising on the phone later and in person tomorrow. Talking a seat on the train I noticed a father wearing the new kit with his young toddler daughter. Both with 14 Henry on the back. What is that saying about great minds think alike? I got comfortable in my seat, even slowly drifting off to sleep before we reached Wembley Stadium. I did not want to miss seeing the current state of our future national stadium. Chiltern Railways are making the most of the redevelopment working on a new platform that we take passengers from the train to the stadium. Until now, the area by the side of the track has been a mess, but today I could see they had removed some barriers and you could see more of the semi-completed stadium. The proposals look impressive and it will be great to come off at an amazing station platform just before you walk up to the ground. Rather than the tired and tatty looking stations that currently make up the majority of the network on the line down to the capital. After seeing Wembley, I drifted off, but only slightly. I would not call this sleep, instead just a few minutes of having my eyes closed and resting my head against the window. While the hot sun beating down outside, inside we were perfectly cool thanks to air conditioning. (Trying my best not to mention the annoying adds for cucumber man on LBC 97.3.) When I next opened my eyes we were coming into Marylebone. I got up out of my seat and was one of the first off the train. The experience from a few years ago does make you a more alert commuter. I headed to the barrier walked straight through and headed for the tube station. Thanks to my Oyster card, touch in and I was on my way. I rushed down the escalator onto the platform. It was just before 1.30pm, less than an hour and I was in central London. Give me twenty minutes and I will be in Islington. I took a few stops down to Piccadilly Circus and then caught the Piccadilly Line north to Finsbury Park. I perhaps should have got off with all the other supporters at Arsenal but as I had been there so many times before I preferred to walk from Finsbury Park and take the road to the old North Bank. The tube was crammed with Arsenal fans and the occasional small group of Dutch fans in their bright orange jerseys. An American tourist asked me what time the kick off was, 5pm I replied. "Why so many fans so early?" It's our new stadium I replied with a smile. I was shocked by his response, "Yeah, we were up their yesterday, gotta say it's damn impressive!". Quite a compliment from a man whose countrymen play football with excessive padding and the wrong shape ball. He soon got off the train and I moved further up, taking a seat with a few other fans. Mainly families, fathers and daughters, mothers and sons. The train emptied at Arsenal but I waited until the next stop. Finsbury Park was just as busy. Just outside the station I was handed a leaflet for an artist. I thought it was a interesting piece of art, until I visited the web site and discovered Mighty Crowded was just a pop look at the last game at Highbury. The signed material was not related to the football club at all, just the autograph of the artist. No thanks.

I was nearly there. There were brand new signs all over the place, silver text on black, pointing out the direction to the new stadium. I could taste the air of anticipation in the air. There were hundreds of supporters making their way to the new stadium, but I opted to head back to Highbury, perhaps for one last time. I wanted to truly appreciate what we had left behind. As I came down Saint Thomas Road, I could see through the trees the date the North Bank was completed in 1993. It was a strange sight to see the stadium but know the match would be kicking off elsewhere. I expected a few more people at the old ground, but there were a healthy number walking around, some talking photos. I took a few pictures of East Stand before being approached by a Japanese tourist, perhaps a few years younger than me asking if I would take a picture of him in front of the stand. I took the picture and he was extremely grateful. Not the first time I've been asked to take a photograph of someone in London and for sure not the last. I headed up to the main entrance and was surprised to see it open, marshalled by some security guards. People were being allowed in, in pairs to have their pictures taken with Herman Chapman who still graces the marble halls. I considering going up there and queuing to have my photograph taken but there was no one around to take my photograph and I realised as much as I should respect the past it was time to turn around and head to the future. I joined the crowds down past Avenell Road. I wanted to pick up a couple of programmes and then head over to Ashburton Grove. In what has become routine I would also buy a programme from the same elderly gentleman opposite the entrance to the North Bank. To my surprise he had been replaced by a much younger model, all dressed in red. In fact all the programme sellers were young, aged around 16-18. What had happened to the old guys? The programme was a special souvenir edition which included a Bergkamp photo book. There was no time to look at it though, the crowd increased, as did the police presence. I was walking past Arsenal underground station and although I thought it a great idea to take a photograph, it was not the ideal moment, with just the sheer number of people walking by. I opted to leave it for now. There was a queue at the bridge but not for the stairs. The queue was for the small Arsenal shop, imaginatively called, "All Arsenal" built into the structure of the bridge. I took some photographs and headed up the stairs and held my breath before looking to the left. Through the steel mesh I set eyes on the stadium for the first time. Amazing, I took a photograph and smiled. I had arrived. I was here.

Finally, for the first time in the afternoon I began to relax. I had arrived in plenty of time for kick off. It was around twenty past 2 and I had a good few hours to kill. Better get snapping. The stadium was busy with thousands of people milling around. I stood to the side of the bridge, out of the way of the passing supporters and began finding some good angles to take some photos. As I put the camera down to review a photograph I had just taken I saw Terry walk past. He and his friends and stopped just in front of me so I tapped him on the shoulder. I was glad to see him. I spent the rest of the afternoon, prior to kick off with the three of them, Sean, Lisa and Terry. Terry took a photograph of me in front of the stadium and I was surprised at how well it came out. While it was rather wet and the sun had disappeared I was full of life.

One of my proudest moments as a football supporter, standing outside the new home of football. I was glad I had met up with Terry, as a season ticket holder, he would spending every other weekend here and it was good to be with him for the first match (even though he seat is on the other side of the ground). We joined the queue for the Armoury and Sean purchased the new home shirt, when he found the right size. I must say for such a big shop they need to have a few more full length mirrors. It was busy, particularly at the shirt printing section at the far end of the store. I queued up with my purchases at till 7. Each till is number relates to a famous player that once wore the red and white. Mine was of course, Rocky Rocastle with my server Wendy. The queue was long and I must have been waiting a good twenty minutes. While in the queue, Terry told me that they would go into the ground and meet up with me for a drink in the lower tier. Great. After I got my bits and headed out of the shop, I saw security rush in to grab someone who had walked in through the exit to jump the massive queue. They found him and hauled him out. Time for a few more pictures before I head into the ground. My entrance was turnstile H, right at the other side of the ground. Putting away my camera I got my membership card out and e-mail confirmation and headed to the queue. To the left I saw a familiar face go in. When I was let him I recognised who it was. I must say this new fancy system is amazing. Place your membership card in the reader, some fancy red (now were they ever going to be any other colour!) light shines across it and picks up that you have a valid ticket and you are allowed in. I thanked the steward as I walked in but there was no need, he had done nothing to help. The famous D list celebrity I had seen, was Reggie Yates. A young fan had his photograph taken with him before he headed off to the far left, in direction of my block (15). I text Terry to let him know I was in and he replied that he was by block 3. I walked over (which was the other side other building and waited by lift A but they did not find me. I never saw them, so after waiting a while headed out to see if the stadium was as impressive inside as out. I asked a steward where my seat was and he told me it was to the right of the gangway, when it was actually to the left. The seat had a great view of the entire pitch. (Thanks for picking my spot Christopher) My row was quiet, and as I sat down I discovered a t-shirt and flag in bag. Just like at the last game at Highbury I opted not to wear the shirt on the day and just put it in my bag. There was no point in it getting spoilt. (I later learned that Dennis and personally paid for each of the shirts and his vision was to have ICEMAN and DB10 spelt out in orange across a sea of red and white on the tiers. As it worked out, perfectly this shirt was red, my shirt at Highbury had been white. The opening ceremony was scheduled to start at 4.15pm with kick off at 5pm. I made most of the time by taking some photos of the fans and my new surroundings.

The were presentation by various dignitaries and the name Emirates mention more often than not. A quick note on this. The current financial climate in football means stadiums will be built in partnership or with sponsorship with big corporate conglomerates. While I hate the idea of our stadium being named after a sponsor, if it means it is built on time and to budget I am more than willing to give it a go. Plus we should consider ourselves less fortunate than FC Dallas, whose soccer specific stadium is called, Pizza Hut Park. Although of course, ten years of history is nothing for a club that has over 93 years of history in their old home and five times the attendance of the team from Texas. In England, more specifically the Premiership over recent years you have seen more and more stadiums bearing the name of the sponsor. While for some grounds it has stuck, Bolton - Reebok, but for others, such as Middlesborough is still known as the Riverside rather than the BT Cellnet, but of course that company no longer exists. What I would like to know is what happens after the fifteen years or so after the contract with the Arab airline concludes? That is a question for another day.

After our chairman was present with a mock up plane by the CEO of Emirates and joined on the centre circle by the gaffer, it was time for something football related. A gigantic ball was placed in the middle of the north of the pitch and Arséne asked to kick it into the goal in what was described as the new "North Bank" by bloke on the tanoy. The ball flew up into the air and then hit the bar. Was that a good open for the opening game? The young first teams then came out for a warm up while we waited for the star of the day. DB10.

A group of Junior Gunners came onto the pitch holding flags of each of the clubs Dennis had scored against. Then, after a moment of flag waving, which is a tradition in Holland, out came our hero. The man of the moment. Dennis Bergkamp with his wife and children. The big man was truly back in time for one last roll of the dice.

Dennis without a shadow of a doubt is my favourite all time footballer of all time. He is someone I can relate to has being a genius in my living memory, my era. Sure there is Pele, Best, Maradona but Bergkamp is the name that will live long in my mind. Touches of brilliance, from a football mind way ahead of all the defending players on the turf. It was his amazing talent and the fact that he was the first of the new wave of European talent to arrive on this shores and take the English game by storm that makes him the greatest signing to our club in modern times. In years to come it will be noted as a significant turning point in the club's history. Without Dennis, much of what Arsene Wenger has achieved in North London just would not have happened. Can this really be true? Can one single signing, one player change the fortunates of a club? I have longed believed that noone is bigger than the club. Yet from time to time you get a special person come along that not only wears his heart on his sleeve but on the pitch embodies everything that is great about the game and our football club. Sure, only during the French revelotion did we see the sexy interplay, the one touch football but it was infact Bergkamp was at the centre of every pass, every move.

Rather than go into details of what happened during the course of the game, which truly reflected that old chestnut cliché, "game of two halves" I would prefer to let FlickR be the photostory. Plus there is a full menu serving up the delights of the day over on the official site expect constant promiment mention of an airline.

As I walked away from the stadium, following Dennis' final lap of honour, I looked forward to returning to the ground as soon as possible. This had given me a taste of what was to come over the course of the season, particularly Henry's goal! Leaving my seat the season ticket holder (gold member if you will) sitting next to me, finally spoke and asked if that was my seat for the forthcoming season. As much as it hurt, I explained that I was only a red member and it would be several years before I would be eligible for a season ticket. How could I ever end this entry on such a 'downer' as that. Talk amongst the fan community is that the wait for seasons tickets has been reduced to a more realistic four to seven years, rather than the original guesstimate I made of between twelve and fifteen. Who knows, I might be coming up to Holloway Road one afternoon to pick my seat, sooner than you think!

Friday 21st July 2006

We finally made it, even though there were doubts late into the working day. Okay it was much quieter than I expected but dealing with an issue right up to the wire, is the never the best way to end the working week. Thankfully my colleague (the only other person in the office with me at the time, stayed to help me make sure the job was done. As usual it was the simplest of oversights but we got there in the end. It is not every day that the client calls you a 'hero', while I appreciated the sentiment greatly, I felt more like Robin than Batman. Today of all days I tried to not think about my weekend and just focus on work. Chris will tell you that made me mean and grumpy but I would respond with a need to earn my weekend, rather than it just falling in my lap. Maybe I do not deserve the next two days, but somewhere in my heart I feel it is part of my destiny. While that does sound a bit wishy-washy, I am trying best to describe how I feel at this moment in time. As I hit the M4 to collect my cousin from Hayes, the sun beating down, I cranked up the stereo. The mother of all weekends was just about to begin.

A complete contrast to how I felt on this weekend, almost exactly a year ago. Do not me wrong, it was a great weekend, when I perhaps learnt more about myself than I would like to admit. Yet, a full twelve months on, I left the house this morning thinking that silly, what if scenario. What if I had gone down that road and bought that car. Would my life had been any different? One thing is for sure. I would not be having a double header this weekend and perhaps would be lucky to be going to Motor Show. Enough of nostalgia and looking back at what could have been. Instead let us focus on what the next four-eight hours will bring. One thing is for sure, there will never be another forty eight hours like it ever again.

While some of my friends must feel I am secretly working with the PR for a famous singer and upcoming actress. I would just beg to differ. I have been waiting for a week for the video to 'A Public Affair' to be released. Meanwhile at work I was reading BBC News web site during my lunch hour, when I noticed an interesting story regarding digital music downloads. The first to be released free of DRM (Digital Rights Management) is to be the new single by Miss Simpson. There is even a Yahoo! Music blog which covers the story. You can download a personalised version of the song which will include Jessica singing your name in the track. Seems like our blonde friend is history in the making. When I returned home, buoyed by this news I searched You Tube for the video and bingo, I found to my delight that several had been uploaded. As if there were not enough reasons to bop around to this track, the video includes some of my favourite ladies, in particular Miss Christina Milian. It must be great to be friends with pop stars. Call them up on the phone and ask them to appear in your music video. Okay, let me just snap out of my daze. In any case, watch the video and let me know what you think. There is nothing wrong with a bit of feel good music, once in a while. Some people just need to learn to loosen up a little.

Tuesday 18th July 2006

To be honest, I expected it to arrive later in the week, perhaps as late as Saturday morning. So you can imagine my surprise when I came home and found the silver special delivery placed on my leather chair. I knew instantly what it was and rushed to open it up and show my Mum. This was a special moment, my first Arsenal shirt with a player's name and number on the back. Opening the packaging I pulled out the shirt and smiled. I was set for Saturday afternoon and my first visit to our new home over at Ashburton Grove. I am started to get a little excited already and there are still four more sleeps before the big day. I am planning to get there early, much like the last game at Highbury and make most of the pre match atmosphere, which in many ways will be the same crowd, slightly different location.

I know it is really early to be saying things like this, but bring on the weekend!

Saturday 15th July 2006

Superman is easily my favourite superhero. Perhaps because I saw the original movies at the right age to truly be engrossed by the Man of Steel. Even after seeing Superman Returns this evening at the Vue in Reading, I still would put Superman II as my all time favourite from the franchise, but only just. My hopes for this movie were high, extremely so, after seeing the teaser trailer streamed on my XBox with my Dad on Boxing Day last year. While there were several fantastic movies released this year so far, this had to be one of the major potential blockbusters. The use of the original John Williams score and the ghostly voice of Marlon Brando as Superman's father, just as we remember all those years ago, set the tone for a amazing return. This was a true fan bringing back one of the icons of Hollywood. Knowing that Warner Brothers have spent a small fortune just to get this movie off the ground, the are countless pitfalls which could ruin not only the movie, but the whole franchise. This job had to be done carefully. Brian Singer was perhaps the ideal choice to direct and bring everything back to life perfectly. Building up to the opening weekend of a movie, there are a variety of 'spots' across the media, particularly television and radio. I try my best to avoid all this mindless marketing. Not because I do not like the film, but I hate the idea of knowing too much prior to my screening. Sure, seeing the stars on the red carpet in Leicester Square is great, but away from the flashing camera bulbs, I do not want the film spoilt by too much being revealed in an interview or in the extended trails shown on the television. In my humble opinion, the teaser trailer was enough, but the final extended trailer, which I saw last weekend was perhaps giving away too much. Enough of the background discussions, what did I think of the movie? It was very good, excellent in fact. I have never been to the cinema and heard a full round of applause from the audience as the credits roll. Having said that it was an early evening showing, less than half full. A fantastic job start to finish. The opening titles were exactly the same as the original movies, so you had the blue outline text, which flew towards you. Plus, that music, it was just great to hear the music again in the cinema setting. It gave me goose pimples. The adventure was about to begin, and I was ready. Brandon Routh is cast perfectly as Superman / Kent, fitting into the boots of Christopher Reeve with relative ease. Particularly as he plays off the charm as the hero as well as the sheepish and clumsy reporter Clark. Their voices are very similar, particularly as the sheepish Daily Planet journalist. Lex Luther, was again an inspired casting with Kevin Spacey, although I would have liked to have seen him be slightly more wacky like Gene Hackman. He was also missing an incompetent sidekick, such as Ned Beatty. Instead there is a minor role for a female support called Kitty. There is however a surprise role for Kal Penn as one of Luther's henchmen. Taking into account the fact the movie takes place five years after Superman II, there is a substantial amount of history you may want to read up on. Particularly if you are new to the world of the man in blue tights but if you are already a big fan and aged 25 plus, then you can skip that. Back to the movie itself, it is brilliant. Although the plotted needed to be a bit meatier in places. Do not get me wrong, for years and years I have clearly started throughout this blog that there is nothing greater than the birth of a superhero, than his return. At the end, as amazing as the experience was and how well the movie is made, the story could have been that little bit better. Perhaps they can develop the plot next time around. I am quite sure that WB will make their $200 million in the US and a sequel be green lit for a 2009 release. The scenes are breathtaking to watch and the ongoing subplot intriguing. Yet the ending leaves you feeling a little empty. I expected a full blown show down between Superman and his nemesis. Instead of facing each other, Luther just escapes but perhaps the rest of the tale to be told in the next movie.

This is an ideal moment to reflect on Superman as a phenomenon. After watching the movies several times into the early 1990s, I became a big fan of the television series, Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman which were screened here on the UK on Saturday evenings around 6pm before Noel's House Party. Although it was great to see my superhero given a modern touch up, Dean Cain did not match up to the Hollywood superstar of Reeve but did a decent job on the show. The story was altered from the original comics books and movies which I felt was unnecessary and some of the stories did get rather far fetched, including HG Wells arriving with his time machine. When the show ended in 1997, I was not too sad to see it go. Particularly as by then I was a big football fan and had the home grown shows such as Bugs and Crime Traveler to watch on Saturday nights instead. Superman returned to the small screen in the guise of Smallville four years ago. I have never watched a single episode and I cannot really explain to you why. If I am honest I am not happy with what they have done with the character and a young Clark Kent could only be appealing for a few episodes, in my eyes. Perhaps I should speak to Sippy who supercharged through the whole back catalogue to catch up with the current series screened on E4. Maybe I will go back and watch a few episodes and get hooked but I doubt it. If I am going to watch the series, it will be years from now and it will of course be on the one week per an episode (as I will do with all shows I have yet to see: 24, Mysterious Cities of Gold, Lost, MacGuyver and many others too minor to mention).

After the World Cup I am slowly getting back in touch with my secondary soap, Hollyoaks. Back to the similar dedicated viewing of last summer (two episodes each week day evening). Whereas life in Albert Square is slowly starting to simmer, as the new characters begin to leave their mark. Not much else to report I am afraid. Looking forward to next weekend, as it will have a high L.A.D rating. The next few weekends are pretty much booked up and then the football seasons begins in earnest. Work, itself is not going too bad, been very busy recently but hoping things begin to slow down now that the school holidays are just under a week away. Beautiful weather this weekend, I should really get out away from the computer and enjoy the sunshine. I may get around to entry midweek, but if not I should be back late on Saturday evening with a full account of the first game at Emirates Stadium.

Friday 14th July 2006

Doctor Jones, I need some help! I am addicted, well and truly. Is there no cure? I am surprised it did not happen to me a few years ago, but on Tuesday evening I started searching for various movies on YouTube and spent the rest of the evening adding personal favourites to my play list. Eventually I pulled myself away and went to sleep but it is just compelling to enter in a word or phrase and find videos in seconds. I searched over a variety of topics, starting with Michael Jackson and his inspired back catalogue. Of course there is a substantial amount of fan concert footage but there are also unique gems, such as this acoustic version of Human Nature. Perfect. I then moved onto searching for Bollywood movies from yesteryear. As I have already mention in entries in the past, I am not a big fan of modern cinema from the sub continent but back in the 1980s, I loved most of the three hour epics. With my heroes, Ambitabh and Mitun on screen, there was no villain whom would enjoy his dues for long. I was pleasantly surprised by the number of classic video clips on there, including trailers, which at the time I would never have seen. I created a new play list and started to overload it with all my favourite Bollywood songs, both new and not so new. Even for those of you that do not understand the language will get the idea that I really like my mushy, soppy romantic numbers.

I would have gone out to see Superman this evening, but my friend Pav is out camping, somewhere in Wales. My other friend was busy in the north of England so my options were limited. I asked Chris if he wanted to come at the weekend, but he gave me a big flat no. He was not bothered by the return of biggest superhero the silver screen has ever seen, after a 19 year break. My final option, although of course I mean that entirely in the order in which the opportunity arose, is to take my sisters. We are off to Reading to watch the early evening performance just before 6pm. I will of course report back with a full review but the second highlight of the evening will last less then eighteen seconds. In vast contrast to the years we have had to wait for the cape crusader to return, we have lived with the famous 'Asteroid' by Pete More for nearly forty years. What am I talking about? If you have been to any cinema in recent years, you cannot claim not to hear the jingle which accompanies the Pearl & Dean intro. One of the reasons I always try to get to the cinema early is to hear and see this moment before the advertisements begin. However as I was growing up, our local cinema was a UCI (now Empire) they showed Carlton Screen Cinema advertising, so I missed out until I was 17 and could drive to Reading, Maidenhead and beyond. Perhaps one of the reasons why I prefer Vue cinemas. They have this year, revamped or rather re-recorded the theme to give it a new lease of life. Generally I do not have personalised ring tones on my mobile phone, but once, just once I am willing to break with tradition. Still not with me? I found a copy of the older introduction which was played in auditoriums up and down the land until 1996.

Yesterday, got to work and logged onto the Arsenal web site. I just had to get hold of a ticket for Dennis Bergkamp's testimonial match, the first official match at our new home at Emirates Stadium. A few weeks ago, talk on the forums had been that red members did not have a chance in hell to get a seat as all silver members would take their allocation. However, talking to Terry on MSN convinced me that I still in with a chance. The web site was only updated after the weekend that any remaining tickets would be issued from Thursday at 9.30am. So, I logged in just before 9am and kept an eye on the clock while started on some work with a college, every few minutes returning to IE and clicking on some pages to keep my session active. Exactly at 9.30am, the page went completely blank and I had to login a fresh but no login page appeared, just white empty explorer window. Eventually I got to a screen which showed me some information, that the web site was extremely busy at the moment with a redcurrant banner across the screen, counting down to the time it would take before I could get to the login screen for the online box office. Arsenal have done away with Ticketmaster and opted to use their own electronic ticket booking service, as all membership cards will double up as entry passes to Ashburton Grove. After a twenty minute wait I was eventually allowed in to book my tickets, Mr. Williams assisting me with the best choice of available seating. The worse thing was the progress bar kept getting near to the end and readjusting itself back adding crucial minutes to the chances of me getting hold of the already limited stock of tickets. Never mind I got there in the end and confirmed my booking with two arms up in the air, only to turn around and say to my colleagues that perhaps my celebrations were premature and I should wait for the e-mail confirmation. Which of course I printed the moment in arrived into my Yahoo! inbox. So I was going to see my all time football hero in his final match following eleven years service to the Gunners. It will truly be an emotional afternoon, all things considering. When was the first time I saw Dennis play? It was the Holland versus Switzerland group match in Euro '96, at Villa Park, Birmingham. Wow! Ten years ago since my first football match. Funnily enough, this evening I received an e-mail from someone calling themselves "xxx xxx". No, not the usual spam, but a message from Michael (who cannot spell testimonial) wondering how much I was willing to pay for tickets. Well no thanks, I have my legitmate ticket thank you. Stop trying to tout tickets and take some English lessons.

Back in January, yes six months ago I mentioned Hollyoaks and a hilarious sketch, which I loaded up as screen captures. Well not to let you down with my first YouTube loaded post, I thought I would upload my first video to the sharing web site and share it with the rest of the world. Now you can finally see for yourself the funny moment which almost killed me.

It is with disappointment I have to report what song I have been listening to on Win Amp over recently nights. There is no point trying to cover up the facts, they are clear for all to see. Perhaps it is the 1980s feel, which is so inspired by Madonna's Holiday, or the sweet vocals of the artist, but something about the single has me in a fix. (I have far too many of her songs in my collection as it is!) Being such a sucker for catchy tunes on the radio, it is a good thing I only listen to KISS 100 at the weekend. What is the name of the song? No need to give the title, prefer instead to go back to my old ways and just quote lyrics, or rather the hook!

All The Girls' Stepping Out For A Public Affair
All Night, Let's Rock, Cause The Party Don't Stop
All The Cameras, Come Out, For A Public Affair
Who Cares, Let's Rock, Cause The Party Don't Stop

Sunday 9th July 2006

Went to see Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest last night at the Vue in Oxford. As you could have predicted, the early evening screenings were sold out. Luckily my friend and I had already planned to go and watch the 9.30pm screening, so I arrived to book tickets at 7.30pm, there were plenty available We then headed over to Sandford upon Thames for a bite to eat at the King's Arms public house. Heading back to the cinema at 9pm, we got there in perfect timing to have a good choice of seats and of course not miss the evergreen Pearl & Dean music.

I had big hopes for this movie, I tend to make this a habit with sequels. Overall I was very impressed, it was a great movie and well worth seeing at the cinema. To be honest, due to many of the set pieces, it is perhaps only worth seeing on the big screen. It matched the first movie, for style, substance and delivery, yet was more gripping, particularly with many scenes that made you jump. (Yeah I can be bit of a whimp, I'm afraid!) Slightly darker, in a more serious mood than the predecessor, there was a need to setup the story rather than having constant punch lines. There was less of an emphasis on comedy, which was perhaps a good thing for this movie, being the second in a trilogy. Johnny Depp was outstanding and stole the show from start to finish but I was also glad to see everyone returning from the original movie, which is a rarity in modern Hollywood. My friend Renu, believes Depp can be summarised as 'quirky', and 'an actor bringing life to the character once again'. On the negative side, it is perhaps a tad too long and at times the plot meanders around far too long at the beginning, rather than letting the story flow succinctly. Highly entertaining and very funny in places, the ending brings everything together for the sequel to be released as a summer blockbuster for next year.

I suppose I should mention the World Cup. I predicted France to triumph, 2-1 over Italy following an early goal from Totti. Only for Henry and then Zidane to win it for Les Bleus. Even over extra time, when I would have fancied the Italians over the tired legs of the French, it was the 1998 winners whom looked more likely to score a winner. Yet, in a moment of madness from the French captain, whom I have admire for many years. He lost his head and the images of him walked down towards the French dressing room passing the cup, the trophy had been lost forever. What a way to end a glittering career playing in the top leagues in Europe, coming out of international retirement to drag his country kicking and screaming to two championships. The French team, then lost the plot, more thanks to the manager, than having their main tallisman red carded. Perhaps one reason I wanted France to win, was to give Zizou, that final moment of glory, leaving his profession with the biggest prize of all. Amazing, how 'Zidane' has suddenly become the top search query on Technorati.

Checking the RT website, to find out what was on television this evening, I noticed the 2002 movie, Equilibrium was being shown on Channel 4 at 11pm. I messaged Paul on MSN, as he had just come on to let him know. He was the guy, who in my final year at University introduced me to the movie. However, I saw the movie on a adhoc big screen back on 12th May 2004.

Friday 7th July 2006

A year ago, I was on my computer at work, taking phones calls to the helpdesk as normal. I opened up Firefox for the first time that morning to the BBC News web site (which is the default home page on all my personal computers) to find a breaking story of power surges on the London Underground. I thought nothing of it, but continued to monitor the news feeds on various web sites. It was on Guardian News Blog that finally began to print details of what really had happened. As it became clear, I started to go to FlickR to view almost live pictures of the events as they people involved started to upload them from their mobiles and cameras. As I think about it now, this was the first time I had come across the photo sharing web site. As more and more information became coming through, it became clear this was the biggest terrorist attack our country had ever faced. It is difficult to truly appreciate the chaos and bloodshed that has happened in the morning rush hour, but for me personally there was a different angle. Firstly that I had worked in London for five months, catching tube trains on a daily basis on my two hour commute in and two hour commute out. More eerily, the fact I had been in London to watch War Of The Worlds at the Odeon, Leicester Square on the Saturday 2nd July, the day of Live8. Five days before but looking back now, a completely different world, which has gone forever. Yet, we must strive to take courage, We Are Not Afraid.

I came home to find some workmen from Southern Electric had dug up a neighbours front garden (or small cabbage patch, if you will) blocking half the cu-de-sac. As I walked into the living room my worst fears were realised, all power had been cut to the twenty houses on our road. Trying to put a positive gloss on things, I hoped that within a few minutes, the electricity would returned. How do they cope in the third world? I was not willing to wait without an explanation and headed out to speak to the two work men, who appeared to be fiddling with various pipes. I asked when we could expect the power to return. The 'assistant', you know the stocky bald type said nothing, while the leader too busy to actually make eye contact just said "give us a couple of hours mate". Returning indoors, I got changed and decided to rest on the sofa, waiting for someone outside to flip the switch. I drifted off to a gentle sleep, awoke at around 7.30pm when some of the devices in the living room came back to life. After going off for a few second then coming back, the house returned to some sense of normality. I could watch television, I could get back to life.

Received my new Arsenal membership card in the post last weekend. Unfortunately, no ticket for Members Day like last year, but I still hold out hope of grabbing a ticket to Dennis Bergkamp's testimonial. On Monday at work, I ordered the new home kit for next season. This is my first shirt which will have a players name and number on. After careful consideration, I choice Henry and his number fourteen. Only my first Arsenal shirt, from the 1998-99 season, which was a gift from a friend as Teg and the number one on the back (some private joke if you will). I have always decided against having a name or number printed on the back, even for my array of England shirts. Maybe because by having a name and number, you date the shirt ever so much more. I am not a dedicated fan of the North London club, not like Terry. He buys home, away and third choice kit (socks and shorts) every season. Bring on the 19th August.

You already know that I have a stack load of DVD's, most unwatched, many still sealed in their cellophane packaging. What you don't know is that my friends from time to time send me DVD movies to watch. Daz, my friend from Uni sent me all the big blockbusters from 2004. Although I had received them in early 2005, it was only last Saturday night I picked up the spindle from the living room and being bored and depressed, decided to watch one of the movies. I opted for Sky Captain & The World Of Tomorrow, which perhaps was the weakest movie of the collection but most suited to fill in a couple of hours before I would drift off to sleep. While it is generally considered a disaster at the box office, you must understand the context. It is a homage to the golden era of cinema of the 40s and 50s, trying to capture the mood of cinema goers of the period. While the story is rather weak and acting not brilliant, it is a great little story, ideal Saturday night fodder. Talking about Saturday nights, I am off to see Pirates Of The Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest at Vue Oxford tomorrow evening. I did not see the first movie until 25th December 2004, when it was given to me as a present. My cousin, Anita commented that Johnny Depp put on an amazing performance, acting almost half drunk throughout his scenes. We watched it together as a family and I loved it. Particularly as my pre-conception had been that it was a kids movie. How wrong had I been. Instead it as fantastic wholesome family entertainment which I thought had die in the magical 1960s. Thankfully, as there is still one more movie to come after this one, another trilogy for me to add to my list of favourites. Then next weekend, we have the return of my favourite superhero, the one and only Superman.

Tuesday 4th July 2006

My advice to you, on this Independence Day, is not to wear a red tie while at Heathrow Airport, standing anywhere near the Virgin Atlantic ticket sales desk. About three different people came up to me, thinking I worked there. Perhaps one of the strangest questions I have ever been asked, "Are you with Virgin?". I was dropping off my relatives for their flight back to India and happened to be waiting as they checked in. I thought nothing of it when I put on the red tie yesterday morning but was coming to regret the decision some 12 hours later, while waiting in terminal two. This is not the first time I have been mistaken for a member of staff. Whenever I go to John Lewis, my local department store, after work or in the morning before work I always get pestered by people. Just like to put on the record that I have never worked on the shop floor of any department store, anywhere in the UK. Knowing how things are going and both my poor selling skills and absolutely atrocious customer facing skills.

So England are out of the World Cup, plenty has been written already, plenty has been discussed on the phone-in shows, on television and in message boards and forums across the land. Instead, if you are still feeling low, just go and firstly read this blog posting then watch the BBC montage one last time with a tear in your eye. I suppose like all things, we expect so much in the beginning and then when it is taken away from us, we are completely inconsolable. I took it more in my stride this time around, perhaps penalties become easier to swallow, if not actually watch. Unlike many people I quite enjoy the drama of penalty shootouts, but perhaps they way the bring to an end over 120 minutes of football, is at times unjust. Then again, I expect my team, my England team to win the game over ninety minutes in open play.

Great to see one of my favourite movies of all time, being listed on the current affairs blog from the Guardian. Hope Nike get those trainers in production before 2015! In a related issue, the Empire Cinema in Leicester Square, London (formerly the UCI) is screening the original Back To The Future movie on screen one from this Friday to Thursday next week. I may pop down on Saturday morning, as I have inside knowledge that a replica DeLorean time machine will be there. Great scott!

So many things coming up this month, plus with the great weather it should make for some interesting times. Plus the football season is just over forty days away. Bring it on. In terms of the blog, I really want to go back to writing classic entries as I did in my final year at University. It will take some work, but I want to improve the quality of postings, rather than long unreadable entries. Yes readers, I do pay attention to the comments you leave.

Friday 30th June 2006

Almost forty eight hours without the internet but I am surprisingly calm as I walked through the front door at exactly 11pm last night. There was no question that I was going to jump on the computer as soon as I could but I did not feel the same level of withdrawal symptoms as I have done in the past. Perhaps because I had so much to do in between all the travel, there was little time to even think of checking my e-mail. I return from my first trip to Spain with mixed thoughts. A wonderful trip but just too brief in the sense of the itinerary. Airport, taxi, hotel, conference and back again the following evening, after a long and tiring day. Nevertheless I had an absolutely wonderful time, particular as the colleagues I was with were such a great laugh. I suppose I must start, as all great stories start, at the beginning.

I knew I needed an early night, but didn't get into bed until around 11.30pm and it was just after midnight when I finally drifted off. I woke up, before my alarm, which for a sleepy head like me, just never happens. As usual, when my alarm did go off, I hit snooze on the mobile phone and drifted back to sleep. What felt like a moment later, my Mum to knock on the door and wake me up, it was gone 4am, I was already running late. I rushed to grab some breakfast and a small mug of tea. By the time I was ready, it was quarter to 5. My taxi would be here in less than half an hour and I still had the last few bits to stuff into my overnight bag. I opted to wear jeans, a decision which even as I left the house, I had second thoughts about. My taxi arrived on time, even though originally it was scheduled for 5.30am, but our PA was paranoid about me being late, so moved it forward by another fifteen minutes. The drive was pleasant making excellent time to Terminal Two at Heathrow. Even though I was tired, the early start a great shock to my system, I was excited. At 5.41am, one of my colleagues called me, just as I was walking through the double doors into the check in area. Talk about perfect timing. We waited for the rest of our team to arrive, and queued at check in, which was surprisingly packed for pre 6am on a Thursday morning. The auto check in computer did not work, or was just far too unfriendly to operate, so we had to queue up, I decided to put my bag in the hold, rather than carry it around. Even though it would have passed for hand luggage, it was uncomfortable to carry and another thing to think about. We then headed up to the departure lounge for some breakfast before boarding the flight, which was not due to fly out until 7.25am with Iberia Airlines. Breakfast for me was just a mug of tea, as was the case for most of my colleagues, plus a couple of slices of toast. Apart from one of course, whom insisted on a full English breakfast and extra strong coffee. A few minutes later, we headed down to the gates and waited in a long queue to be seated in the departure lounge. Once again it was shockingly business for two flights heading out to Spain and Greece respectively. While there were of course a large contingent of business travelers, there was also many early holiday makers and families with young children. I took the few minutes that we had spare to text Chris, he must have been on the way to work by now. The air crew called seat numbers from the back of the plane and half our party headed up to the desk, while myself and two of my colleagues waited back at the end of the queue, as our seats were the next to be called. We boarded the Airbus A321 which was packed. My seat was by the emergency exit, so with two seats in the row, with the air hostess seat facing the opposite direction to the right, blocking out any view of the outside world. Never mind. Could be worse. My aisle seat was comfortable and I just longed for the aeroplane to be airborne, so we could be on our way. The waiting, even for me, generally quite a patient person, can get irritating. I was sitting next to a guy aged around 19, who spoke fluent Spanish but had a British passport. I did not speak to him. As we lifted off, leaving the sunny skies of England, I closed my eyes to try and get some rest. I never really sleep on airplanes, I find it physically impossible. Instead I just get comfortable in my seat, close my eyes and just let my mind wonder to a blank. The journey was uneventful and we landed at 11.30am, European time. As we taxied on the runway, I was impressed by the airport terminal building, clearly visible as brand new against the desert like back drop. It was clearly hot outside, almost 40 degrees. Walking off the plane and into the terminal via a glass tunnel, I looked outside and was amazed by the sheer size of the terminal. I set my watch an hour forward, as we went into the terminal building, there was a lack of clear signs. Getting in the queue with everyone else, it took us a good fifteen to twenty minutes to realise this was the queue for a connecting flight. Speaking to one of the airport staff, we were informed passport control was around the corner and we rushed over. That was close, we could have ended up on a flight to South America. After having our passports checked, we headed downstairs. It was there that things got slightly completed. To collect our baggage, we had to take the subway train down to the main terminal building, as we were at the satellite. The metro train arrived within a minute, and we boarded the fully air conditioned compartment. Similar to some of the stations on the Jubilee line with sliding doors on the platform as well as the train itself. We got off at the next stop, went upstairs to collect our luggage. Thankfully our three cases were the first to arrive at on the revolving carousel, we grabbed our bags and headed for the exit. There was the option of the hng forward to something. I had been waiting for this weekend to come around for a while, the final swan song before we get down to the business of the World Cup. As I mentioned in my last entry, I had avoided Hussein on MSN for a reason and I think to a degree it worked. I focused on work and the important tasks at hand and did not get carried away. Driving home, I made a detour to ASDA to pick up some last minute toiletries. Then as I walked into the house I rushed around to shower, get changed, pack the final few things in my bag, get some food and then wait for the phone call. He rang me at 7.25pm, to say he had left his house in Harrow and was on his way, would be about another 20 minutes. Perhaps for the first time in the week, I felt slightly excited by the prospect of the next two days. The sun was shining as I walked out of the house, down the drive to the Fabia, as he turned the filthy car around. I threw my holdall in the boot and small rucksack on the backseat. My thoughts were to hit the road but my friend and driver had other ideas. Where is the nearest car wash he asked. I need to clean this car, get some mints and a drink. I took over the roll of the satellite navigation and directed us to the Total garage down in Sands. While there was a jet wash about half a mile away, time constraints met it was far too time consuming. We picked up the items and then headed into the car wash, after a silver Mercedes pulled out the other side. Coming to a stationary position, Hussein put on the most appropriate song. I laughed, then grabbed my camera to capture the moment (as would be the case for the next 48 odd hours). Just a shame his music knowledge is not as good as his car knowledge.

Pulling out of the car wash, with a semi clean car. It was by no means perfect but it would 'do' for the 200 odd mile journey north west into the Norfolk countryside. All the toys in the Fabia. I have already mentioned the Empeg Mark II A but we also have a Treo 650 with Tom Tom Navigator 5 with a Bluetooth connection to a Holux 236 GPS receiver. With the voice of Jane, our vocal guide for the weekend. We entered the main road and as the sun set in the distance headed for the M40 motorway. Hussein showed what the VW quality build Skoda could do. Quite nippy for a 1.9 diesel. Just a shame about the badge. The journey was care free, we made great progress. At the petrol station, we had noted the time before we left. 8.04pm. The Tom Tom estimated we would reach the hotel by the North Sea, by 11.11pm, three hours and seven minutes to go. Hussein thought he could beat the computer, but I knew it was a realistic ETA purely because of the country roads, once you come off the motorway. The scene was magnificent, with the red sky in the distance, us facing a uphill struggle chasing the sun. I took several pictures before night fall, of the fantastic landscape.

The audio that kept us going was rather strange to begin with. Hussein boasts an impressive if somewhat mixed music collection. First he chose the Roots (who have famous song Guns Till Dawn) that you would instantly recognise if you heard it). Then, I grabbed the remote but only played one track on my play list. Great. Then my friend recommended we just switched to his 'singles' group and play everything there. Most of the songs would be to both our diverse tastes. That was an understatement. He pulled white rabbit, after white rabbit out of the bag. Classics from the early 1990s, such as Luniz - I Got Five On It, Dee-lite - Groove Is In The Heart, Skeelo - I Wish. Then with minutes to (just after 11pm) with us within a mile of the hotel, on came the 1976 AOR classic, "Hotel California". Perfect, you could not write a book to script this journey. Before hand I had joked with my friend that I did not want to hear the same song all weekend, pure random (as the mode is called by the car mp3 player). In total there were 318 songs in the singles group but we had only listened to 31 by the time we pulled up in the hotel. We had probably listened to much less as we had skipped the odd track were not in the mood for. It was late on a Friday night and after a long week in the office and shop respectively we were not in the mood for a rave.

We pulled up at the hotel around 11.15pm, the last group to arrive. We were quickly shown to room 7 by Arran. Standard affair, nothing fancy to write home about. The country style hotel meant each of the rooms were outside the main building in their own quadrant. A bonus was a near Phillips DVD player, tea, a big empty fridge and standard en suite facilities. Mr. J kept his job with him, finding all the faults from all the parts in the room. He shows his professional side by naming components by their part code. There was a group of DOC owners out on the porch drinking, rhaps my second favourite genre after superhero action. Fearless gives the impression, by the title of mindless violence, but there is much more substance to the story, a long emotional tale with passion, defeat, regret, remorse and change. Not the normal collection of adjectives you would use to describe such a movie, but if you go and see it you will be impressed. I was glad on the directions discussion to use a flash back right at the beginning as a way of leading the narrative. The violence was graphic but it had a purpose. Jet Li does an amazing job in the lead role, giving the perfect balance between great athletic fight scenes and not getting too bogged down with the various elements of the story. All martial arts fans should go and see this movie, just a shame it had such a limited theatrical release here in the UK. Plus I am sure I will get the DVD come Christmas to watch the full unedited version. It was condensed down to make it more suited for a Western cinema audience. That reminds me, I got my Dad Kung Fu Hustle for Father's Day a few weeks back, need to make some time this weekend to watch it. Meanwhile Mr. K needs to watch all the major martial arts movies from the past six years (which of course I have on DVD). Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Hero and The House of Flying Daggers. The later two I have seen at the cinema with Nav, with reviews in September and December 2004, respectively.

Pav is not a football fan, never has been. Although the text above contradicts this statement, he has never had any interest in football over the seven years or so I have known him. However, suddenly with this World Cup, he he has got the bug and has been enjoying numerous international matches, although mainly focused on England. He has been really enjoying it and as we drove back to his house, he asked about the next round. Portugal await.

Off to Madrid with work on Wednesday, so I will not have a chance to update until Friday evening, in my usual weekly blogging spot. Hopefully I will have tales to tell from my trip and more importantly photographs.

Saturday 24th June 2006

It is difficult to describe how I felt when I heard the news late into Monday evening on Five Live. While it was an end of an era in British television broadcasting, it was also the end of a part of my childhood. Some of the youngsters out there may be shocked to discover that multi channel television did not arrive in my household until March 1997. Up to then, most of my early teenage years Top Of The Pops was my only weekly music show. Back then it was on Thursday evenings and it was before the time I became an obsessive fan of Walford. My sisters and I would look forward to the performances, even though it was many years later that I would discover that most of the acts actually just mimed. Although perhaps then there was less appreciation for live music and more about listening to the latest song from your favourite artists. Of course there was then, the official number one single at the end of the show. Knowing this song was the bare minimum requirement while at school but you also had to love it. It went hand in hand with Sunday afternoons tuning into Radio 1 to listen to the Top 40 with Bruno Brooks. Oh, the memories, such sweet memories. Even after 1997, with MTV and a few other channels (analogue satellite remember) TOTP was still the show I turned to on a regular basis. The change to Friday evening was genius because it was the ideal way to start your weekend. Particularly in those early days of college. Over the course of the brief history of my blog (four years can never compare to forty two) I have made reference to the show on numerous occasions. Yet, it was in November 2003 with the hugely anticipated relaunch of the flagship show that I actually dedicated a large proportion of a post to the subject. Overall I was impressed with the attempt to breed new live into the beast, but as we know now it was not to last. The knife into the heart of the show was moving from Friday to Sunday, this was just nonsense. BBC2 7pm on a Sunday afternoon was not really on my television radar. I stopped watching the show, having watched it almost religiously for the past fifteen years. If I was at home and it was on I would take a look but thanks to their web site you could see which acts would perform (and more importantly which of their songs) so I could decide when it was worth tuning in. Shame to see it go. Hopefully the great TOTP2 will continue for some time to come and the BBC will launch a collection of music programmes for the diverse selection of music out there.

I was watching the second phase two game of the World Cup. Everyone expected Argentina to win and go through. Although I doubt they expected Mexico to come out of the traps so fast. In any case, with extra time looming, I went over to Radio Times web site to find out what was on television on later on in the evening. Channel 4 were showing a movie, as they do around 10pm on both Saturday and Sunday over the weekend and this one was perhaps worth watching. Generally speaking I rarely agree with the review on the RT web site but on this occasion a negative comment spurned me onto watching the movie. Down To You is your standard American teen movie affair. Perhaps I watch so many of them to try and relive my college years, hoping I wake up the other side of the water but that is a story for another entry. Freddie Prinze Junior not only has the perfect name for a lead in a movie in this genre, but he also has the striking good looks and charismatic appeal to it pull off. Julia Styles meanwhile, while an accomplished actress would not even get into my top ten list for actresses I would have auditioned for the lead female role. She is just plain, simple and too sweet in my opinion. Yet I was not going to let that get in the way of the film. To my surprise within the first segment, around fifteen minutes, before Channel 4 cut to an advert break, most of the comments from the Radio Times reviewer were ringing true. There were many weaknesses with the story and the execution but I would not then say this was the worse movie I had ever seen. One of many saving graces was Henry Winkle, but he was underused. Zak Orth (only Americans could have a made for Hollywood) is brilliant as support to Prince Junior, at times perhaps too intelligent. Overall, worth watching if not anything amazing to remember afterwards. There are some comic moments and Ashton Kutcher also co-stars, although you will pushed to realised who he is playing in the opening scene. There is also a very familiar looking actress with a minor freshman role, only later for me to discover it was Rosario Dawson whom I saw last year in Sin City. Boy, has she 'developed' in the space of five years! Before I get blamed for being extremely slushy, it does have a sincere and 'real' romantic storyline but I think the acting and style let the film down. One redeeming aspect is the cracking soundtrack.

Wednesday 21st June 2006

This may surprise you but I tend to prefer to watch football in two places. In the comfort of my own sofa, at home. Or at the ground (Highbury and soon Ashburton Grove). I have only ever watched one game in pub group environment. (While you recover from the shock, let me explain). It was the England Euro 2004 qualifier against Turkey in October 2003. Looking back I started reading my archives as I often do and amaze myself how quickly the memories start flooding back, often putting a smile on my face. Back then, it was my final year at University and after a group of us wondered around the city centre to find a bar, we headed back to the SU bar and ended up watching there on the big screen. I decided not to go to Canary Wharf on Saturday for the first group game, even though I had until early on Saturday morning been quite open to persuasion. Dave persuaded me to come down to Litten Tree in the centre of High Wycombe. He messaged me while at work and explained he would be down there from around 7pm and to get there early for a good seat. I told him that as I finished work at 6pm by the time I got ready and had some dinner it would be nearer 7.30pm. It would be free to get in, I was assured.

My Dad got in just as I was having my dinner and said he would go down with me. We headed off just before 7.30pm and parked in the Sainsbury car park in Dovecot Street, directly opposite the pub. Walking up, we could see already it was quite busy and a small queue outside. It was student night, Bar 150, all mainline drinks £1.50, and you could tell the crowd was generally quite young. We paid £2 each to get in, which was bit of a joke, but I know of other pubs charging over £5 for tickets which had to be booked in advance. Heading to the bar, I felt the patriotic atmosphere straight away, with classic England songs being sung by drunken men at the back with the loud and deep voices. I text Dave, it was drawing closer to kick-off with a few minutes to go. Then, I looked around to the left of the bar and there he was, queuing for his beverages. He placed his order, got me to hand over the cash, while he went to hand the drinks over to his friends. I then went over to meet and greet them, some whom I knew from before. So we took our places, viewing positions for the match. We were watching one of the plasma screens at the back, but standing right by the staff bar door so constantly had to get out of the way for the bar staff as they came to collect glasses. Never mind, minor interruption. Come on England!

As you know I have regrets by the bucket load, but sometimes you just have to turn opportunities down and go with what you feel is right. My company was holding an exclusive football night at the Hilton in London for clients to enjoy a champagne reception, the game and guest speaker at half time, in the form of Harry Redknapp. At the last minute, due to cancellations, my manager offered two tickets to us in our team meeting. I thought about it for a few minutes but turned it down, as did Chris. We had to be there for 6pm and it would have been a made rush to make plans. Plus and perhaps more importantly I would not be able to wear my England shirt or actually get into mood, with the company and surroundings taken into account. At least down my local pub I could (to a certain extent) be myself. Do I regret turning down this great opportunity. No, not at all. Football is about passion in a relaxed joyful atmosphere. Something you cannot just bottle up and hope works at an exclusive hotel, with all the benefits of a lavish expense account.

So much has been said about the England game already. The injury to Owen. Sol Campbell making a hash of things at the back. Beckham going missing (again?) and Sven still not bringing on the boy wonder, Walcott. What is there really for me to add to the debate that has not been mention over the past twenty four hours. I love England and I love the World Cup but I'm realistic. I am a fan of the beautiful game and the best team deserves to win the competition (although that is not always the case, as I am sure those anoraks out there will be quick to point out). England need to play better and I am sure on Sunday afternoon they will put on an improved performance over the course of 90 minutes. England expects. Much much better.

My Dad has been gathering a great collection for me, of World Cup pullouts, souvenirs, guides, both Panini and Merlin sticker books (official tournament and FA England respectively) and other merchandise, over the past few weeks. My favourite by far are these stamps thanks to Royal Mail.

Sunday 18th June 2006

I enjoy the occasional quiet weekend. In recent weeks I have had far too much going on, while enjoyable it is not the same as staying in at home and doing nothing. I say nothing but I have just been watching the wall to wall football from the World Cup. Regardless of the countries playing I will try and catch the match, even if it means watching it in a window on my computer (as I am doing currently with the France versus South Korea game). It is the World Cup, you have to enjoy every second over the next few weeks for it will be another four years before we get the chance again. In 2010, however, I intend to make a big effort to get down to South Africa for some games (without or without England's qualification. The atmosphere at this tournament, with the fan fest, has encouraged me to go, with or without tickets to enjoy the atmosphere. The main discussion and build up can wait until after 9th July.

Firstly we have to discuss Ghana's game against the Czech Republic. Now Essien is a great footballer, but perhaps only now is he justifying the record transfer fee that Chelsea paid for him. He bossed the midfield along side the captain Appiah. An industrious performance, scoring an early goal and then a second to kill off the European nation, which is currently listed 2nd in the FIFA rankings. I was very happy for Ghana, to become the first African team to win in this tournament. They deserved it. I was looking forward to seeing them play and they put on a brave performance against the Italians. Here, they seemed to have built up some confidence and actually string some passes together to push the ball forward. The Black Stars to qualify through to the next round? Well if you listen to the jubilant, colourful supporters, you would not bet against it. It would perhaps take another shock in the evening game for that to become a greater reality.

Ever since USA '94, I have followed the ups and mostly downs of the US national team. Why? I am not really sure, I suppose deep down I want them to do well. While their domestic league is ten years young but still perhaps a light year away from reaching the standard of the English Premiership, I enjoy watching some of their creative players, particularly those's based in Europe. It must be an English mentality, to want to see the underdog do well. Soccer, may currently be a minority sport in the US, but over time, with a population so vast, it is only a matter of time before they finally arrive with a bombshell on the international stage. It is slowly growing in popularity, mainly pushed by the big immigrant community. Last time around hardly any matches were screened in English, four years on both ESPN and ABC are showing every match. The evening game was a mouthwatering prospect. Italy keen to confirm their position has group winners. The US to claw back some pride after a dismal showing in the first match (often refereed to by the American media as Match Day 1). Before kick off, there are the national anthems. My favourite national anthem by a country mile is the Star Spangled Banner. I wish I could say that my own country's anthem was as patriotic, to rouse that feeling of unlimited pride in your stomach. The lyrics along with the almost swashbuckling melody makes it bring out the best (and worst) in it's countrymen (and women). Searching on YouTube for some examples, I came across Beyoncé Knowles performance at the Super Bowl, which is perhaps the only time a celebrity singer really belts out the song, accompanied by full orchestra. The best recording I have on mp3, is by Kelly Clarkson song without any musical backing.

I could comment on the match but I am sure if you saw the match and heard the poor commentary from ITV, you too have made up your own mind on the referee. The BBC give as always, a balanced view on proceedings. Nine versus ten was never going to be a contest but the American spirit saw them through to the end. What makes me chuckle is how before hand, our hacks over at the Guardian World Cup Blog (second only to the BBC) believed it would be a case of getting the biggest score line to truly smash their credentials on the table.

Booked my tickets for the British Motor Show yesterday. I was originally going to attend on Saturday 22nd July but as that clashes with Dennis Bergkamp's testimonial at Ashburton Grove, I rescheduled for the Sunday. The tickets go on sale to silver members, but I have been well informed that as this is the first weekend of the kiddies school holidays, there is a high probability of many fans being on holiday. Last time around, over two years ago I went by myself to the NEC. Chris is coming along this time around, although he did take some persuading. What won him over was the fact that you can actually test drive a selection of cars on the day. Plus, this will be my first visit to London Excel. Expect a full blog report and FlickR set in due course.

Friday 16th June 2006

Well I made it to Friday, there was a slight wobble midweek but we made it. It has been a few days since my last entry and I have been thinking of what to write about. The World Cup has been dominating everything and perhaps the reason I find myself struggling to come out of bed in the mornings is the late highlights show on BBC1. It is all worth it and I do have the long straw in comparison to my friend in the Far East. Daniel has to watch the late evening game in the early hours of the following morning, around 3am! Then wake up a few hours later to go into University. It must be a tough life, but perhaps as he was in the 'right' time zone last time around. I have been speaking to him briefly on MSN while at work and commenting on the games (his personal message changes to comment on the most recent match). I love the World Cup, but so do another couple of billion people around this planet.

I should really mention England but there has not been written or said already. Ultimately there are more questions than answers. The team have one last chance to get everything together against Sweden on Tuesday evening. I sincerely hope that Sven has the bottle to bring Walcott on. After all, putting him in the squad last minute took some guts, surely he deserves a twenty minute run out.

YouTube is very addictive. Life threateningly so. You can search for one thing and end up watching a completely different amateur video made by some guys from Hong Kong and filmed on their college campus. I was curious to find what results would appear for the search of "take on me" my favourite (and arguably the people's) music video of all time. Among all the versions of the video available to view, there was a rare original version before the remix and animated version with which we are all know and love. You can understand why it did not sell many copies. I continued scrolling down the pages and found a gem. The one and only Kanye West dancing to Take On Me at his live performances (he performed it at several on a recent world tour). But this is not the smooth movies we all love him for, but the Carlton dance. Enjoy, but trust me, you will find it hard to close your web browser.

This is the first World Cup with blogging at the forefront of all the action. While the BBC blog (will someone please explain to Gary what it means and what they are) is fantastic, I prefer reading some of the amauteur blogs out there. In particular, My Sofa World Cup discussion every aspect of the tournament including some of the poor television commentary and analysis. There are other blogs out there, but some of the best are linked from the BBC World Cup blog.

Sunday 11th June 2006

This is just the life. Three World Cup matches on a day. Fantastic. I had a proper 'bloke' weekend with the only other bloke with me this weekend, being my cousin two months short of being one years old. I watched the England game (at home). I was thinking of going to Canary Wharf but opted against it and feel I made the right decision. Then at full time I went to clean the car in the afternoon sunshine. It was very hot but it was great to get outside and off the couch. It had been over two weeks since I cleaned the car and although it wasn't really dirty, it needed a tidy. It was great to get the whole family outside in the shade on the front garden and just sit down and relax. I had an hour because I wanted to watch the second game of the day on ITV1. My timing was perfect, the car was hoovered, the interior and exterior windows cleaned and mats brushed down within fifty minutes. I came inside, got myself an ice cold drink and sat down for the next match. Sweden versus Trinidad & Tobago. Classic stuff. Then we had Doctor Who, another thrilling episode, even though I missed last weekend's first part. Some of the special effects were worthy of a Hollywood blockbuster. Then straight afterwards we had perhaps the best game of the tournament so far, Argentina versus Ivor Coast. People who don't like football must be dredging the next five weeks. Can there ever been such a thing as too much football? No, never.

Friday 9th June 2006

It has just turned 1am as I begin to write this entry. I should really have gone straight to bed after working on client's web site but opted to stay up, chat to some friends on MSN and blog. My main motivation is that the World Cup has started and unlike four years ago, when this blog was just beginning, I can now truly discuss how I feel about the biggest tournament on the planet. Particularly after what has been quite a rubbish week by my standards at work. Rather than dig up old news and bore you with the tedious tales from the office I prefer to look at the positive. Dave called me up last night. I was quite low at that time, but his call really cheered me up and made realise that there is so much to look forward to. I hope to meet up with him in September to go to a Palace game, although they will not be in the Premiership (as he had hoped prior to the playoffs). Dave is my best friend and one of the silent readers of this blog. He will read most of the entries but never comment or take part, but he will mention entries from time to time when he rings me. The second person to cheer me up as on MSN and as I had not spoken to them online for what felt like months, it was great to catch up. Hopefully we can speak on Skype over the weekend. Following on from my complaint to Vue, I have four (yes four) free tickets for Vue cinemas. I will be going to see Fast & Furious: Tokyo Drift with Pav next week and then hopefully Pirates Of The Caribbean 2 with Clive a few weeks after.

Were you ready for the World Cup? Felt like I have been waiting an age for this day to come around. My digital clock at work, was counting down to this day as soon as the domestic season began in mid August. Chris, also had (although less accurate) countdown as his personal message on MSN. Yet, he was there for the final countdown today, as he was in Spain with his girlfriend. I couldn't sleep last night, I was too excited. The World Cup, this is what dreams are made of. The tournament for me is the greatest sporting event on the calendar. International football just has an edge of passion, magic and panache, that is lacking in the domestic game. Sure, there are great goals and entertaining players throughout the leagues, but to play for your country in the World Cup Finals is the dream of many (if not every) schoolboy. While the European Championship is a good 'filler' tournament, it does not arouse the same degree of interest as this tournament. What I feel the media have forgotten is how that it could have been held here in England. We did bid for it, remember? Then again, seeing the state of Wembley maybe it was a blessing in disguise we did not, and the Germans did. Four years ago, seems such a long time ago, sure it is but then I was able to enjoy the games from the comfort of my student house or here at home. Now I would have to make do with a mixture of BBC Online, DAB Pocket Radio and Five Live AM in the car. Thankfully there are plenty of highlight programmes dotted around the schedules for me to pick up and of course rolling news channels with their own roundup ever fifteen minutes or so.

I am a big fan of Toni Braxton, she has a wonderful powerful, yet satiable voice. My favourite song is perhaps, Breathe Again, which I only rediscovered earlier this year. I found out only a few months ago that she was teaming up with Il Divo to record the official song for the World Cup, Germany 2006. Now, let me set the record straight, official songs for any tournament or event are usually nothing but cash cows to have fans part with yet more money. This song is different, it perhaps does reflect how, we the fans feel when the World Cup comes around every four years. Before this I would place Pavarotti's version of Nessun Dorma as my favourite theme (anthem is just inappropriate) to a World Cup in my living memory. 1990 was the first tournament I recall watching on television from start to finish. Four years later, in the US of A, they had Daryl Hall with the Sounds of Blackness with the fantastic 'Glory land'. Although it was more optimistic in nature than full of joy. Yet I think this year's song beats both. Let me explain why. It is the perfect World Cup song because I had goose pimples all over me, as I heard the arousing chorus for the first time. I think Toni's beautiful voice makes the song what it is, it needs that woman's touch. With every football match, there is a sense of expectation, the sense of not knowing what is going to happen over 90 minutes, but knowing this is the biggest stage for footballers and for many a one off experience. I saw the video briefly on the music channels in the hotel in Norfolk last weekend. Having just watched it in full (thanks to YouTube dot com I have can pin down exactly why it works so well. It is pure emotion. Showing some of the magic moments from classic games from yesterday. That is it, the reason why this pointless game is so successful, so special is the emotions we feel, as we win, as we lose. We win together, we lose together. Either way, I hope we all have the time of our lives. To those that do not follow the beautiful game and do not care, they will perhaps never understand. Football is a religion, the players are our gods and this song is, for this year at least our hymn, our sermon.

I tried to watch the opening ceremony on the BBC web site while at work (it was dead on the phones today, by the way) but I missed it, the page just kept crashing due to excess traffic. Thankfully I had asked Mighty Mouse to Myth TV for me from home, so I should be able to download that over the weekend. It will only be the opening ceremony, but then again this is the first one I have ever missed. Call it routine, but I just tend to watch most open ceremonies for most events. Time for bed, in less than twelve hours England play in their opening group game.

Sunday 4th June 2006

Friday dragged big time, it tends to when you are looki but we had opted for an easier (and less expensive option). I had packed the Back To The Future Trilogy DVD in my bag as I left. It was an afterthought really but I was inspired by Pav on MSN on Thursday night. Having uploaded the picture of my t-shirt, he said the memorable line, "shiny bomb-casing full of used pinball machine parts". I laughed hysterically. He knew all about the Libyans. We started watching the first movie, but it was getting late. We opted to watch until the DeLorean debut in Twin Pine Mall. Hussein made a pot of tea, with the kettle placed directly under the television to steam up the screen. Great location guys! After the DeLorean fails in 1955 (how unreliable is the car over the course of the trilogy?) we switched to watching some of the extras. We watched deleted scenes and out takes. Then it was time for bed. Tomorrow was going to be a very busy day and I knew I needed to recharge those batteries.

We had decided to make an early start. That way we could get some pictures of the cars before we headed to the coast. Rather that getting caught up in the rush at breakfast I set my alarm for just before 7am. I awoke at 5.47am, looking at the green led clock on the television and scaring myself into thinking it was 9.47am. As my eyes finally focused correctly I realised it was too early and fell back to sleep. I got up at 7.10am and got up to get ready. Out came my new t-shirt for it's first official outing. A little while later, Hussein got up and got ready. He properly felt a little tired from the drive, so was only fair he had the lay in. At breakfast I finally met up with Chris, the club secretary. The last time I had seen him was back in November 2003, at the NEC Classic Car Show, which thanks to the wonderful magic of the internet, is mentioned on my blog back in the archives. I also met up with Andy, whom I had met at the same event, who is friends with Rob and Simon, the two other guys I met over in Belfast, almost exactly five years ago. I didn't rush breakfast but I was keen to fill up, it was going to be a busy morning. Then we headed out into the secure car park armed with our digital cameras. I was in trigger happy mood. The sight was beautiful. The sun was shining and the reflection almost blinding us from the silver cars. Perhaps the sign on the gate, summed the sight up.

We had seen the cars parked up, but in the dark, just the silhouette of the cult classic was visible. Now, on a beautiful Saturday morning, with a perfect bright blue sky, we could spend some time taking photographs, talking to the owners and generally catching up. Hussein loved it, but it was only the beginning of the weekend, there was so much more to come. There was a film crew from the BBC there, talking both still shots (as well as video) and interview owners. I took a stupid amount of pictures, before being paired up with my driver for the weekend, Richard Hutchinson. Hussein got a ride in Phil's D. We were all set. But there was still an hour before we would head out to Wells-on-Sea. So I decided to speak to Andy and find out how he was doing. Just before hand, Chris rang me for a PC related query and I helped as much as I could before going to catch a drink with Andy. This was great, catching up with an old friend, with a cold drink and just watching all the timeless cars. The drive down to the coast was about 20 minutes, but along the windy country roads of Norfolk it would take us a bit longer, particularly driving in convoy. It was such a sight, around 20 odd cars in stainless steel driving past. You could tell from the reaction of the drivers heading in the opposite direction and even the retired old dears outside their homes, waving with broad smiles. This was a sight to behold and a once in a lifetime experience. It is not every day you see this many cars drive past your door. On the trip down I was given the story of Richard's car and it was absolutely fascinating. Then, we parked up in a private car park, secured just for the DeLoreans. It was the car park of Well's local football club, over looking the modest football pitch. As we drove in I opened the gull wing door and smiled at Hussein as it look my picture. The taste of the sea breeze air cool against my face made me feel great, after a ride in the car with no working air conditioning. The cars formed a neat line and then once again we were off taking photographs, my favourite being this one that Hussein took. He noticed the DeLoreans in the reflection of my sunglasses and had to take a picture.

Must have spent a good half hour or so taking photographs from all different angles before heading to the sea front for some lunch. We firstly went with Chris and Andy to Nelson's ship. A small boat converted into a restaurant. We grabbed a quick drink to calm down before then headed out to get some lunch. There was a limited choice, with a pub and a few takeaway bars. It was quite busy, the DMCs had caused quite a stir but there was a good crowd of tourists that had come out due to the wonderful weather. We headed to the View Restaurant, which I would call more of a cafe. Ordering some food, we took a seat right by the window, over looking the harbour. The air conditioning and fans were on, so it was cool. After lunch, noting the time, we headed down for a walk around the shops. There was not many shops apart from your average cash generator in the form of the arcades, but your usual ice cream parlours and sweet shops. I had to get my family something, it would be rude not to. So opted for the safe bet with some traditional rock. We then headed back to the cars, so I could dump the sticks of rock in the DeLorean. (How cool does that sound?) The cars were causing quite a stir and children in particular were coming away from the playground (with swings and roundabout) to take a look at these unusual cars. Chris was, as ever giving an on-looker the full story behind the car, in twenty minutes and trying to sign the odd person up for membership. To my surprise, Richard passed me the keys to his D, as he was busy helping with a repair job. I went over and opened the gull wing door to put the rock in my bag. It was tempting to just stay but I had a craving for ice cream. Returning the keys to their rightful owner, Hussein and I headed over to the harbour again to get some ice cream. I wanted chocolate but there was none, so I got vanilla instead. It was just what the Doctor (Brown?) ordered. A cool ice cream, to top off a nice light lunch. Hussein went to buy some fudge, before we headed back to the cars in preparation for the drive back to the hotel. There was a model railway right by the car park and the passengers looked on with eager smiles at the cars. A rare local right hand drive car arrived. It was the first time it had been out in eight years, having been completely rebuilt from a despairing state.

We got back to the hotel around 3.30pm and went to our rooms to chill out. I caught the wrap up of the England game. Chris had already text me the score and I was missing a great game, but the real football doesn't start until next weekend. The product fair was on from 4pm, but started a bit later. We came out around 4.30pm from our room to have a drink and take a look but there was not much on. We headed back to the room and then I mentioned to Hussein that we should go down to the river as it was such a fine evening. He agreed, I grabbed my small camera and we headed down the road. We had to consult the photographic map in our room, because it was a secluded route to the beach but worth the five minute walk. We took a quite stroll down the beach. It was relatively quite, which was great for photos, but a shame not more people were making the most of the weather. It was a sandy but flat beach, with plenty of sand. I thought my shoes would be filled with the silicon as we walked around. Hussein was keen to get back to the hotel but I was trying to take in the moment and take some fantastic photographs of the scenery. A few people had their power kites up and they made a great back drop for my pictures. In the distance a horse was galloping across the wet surface and could be heard for miles around. We headed back, walking through some grassy defenses, to discover several rows of what appeared to be abandoned beach houses. I had to take some more pictures, to my friend's disappointment, he headed back and I was left to rush and catch up. This was an ideal way to unwind before dinner and get some exercise.

The evening gala meal is usual quite a formal affair. Or so it was five years ago in Belfast. I remember because I put on a new suit at the time for the lavish sit down meal. The country hotel was a more relax environment in comparison to the Europa in Belfast. Chris had said about an hour earlier that the dress code was quite casual. This did not stop him from being suited and booted, though he had to set an example as club secretary. We left our room just before 7.30pm, thinking we would be one of the last to take our seats. In fact, we were early and got good seats to the left of the main table. Behind which was a big lit copy of a DeLorean poster, quite impressive alone. There was more though, to the right was a mannequin of the great man himself. Smart, as always, John Z. DeLorean. The food was great and filled me up. There was still space for the best cheesecake in the world ever too. After we had eaten, began the talks from our two guest speakers. Chris introduced first Barrie Wills. He had been the Finance Director and one of the first people recruited (personally by John) and then subsequently the last to go. He gave us an entertaining inside into life at the top at the DeLorean Motor Company, while the dream was still alive. Then came Stuart Craven, who was more closely involved with production in Belfast. Early into the project he was called up the Director's office and given a special task and flown out to Germany. There he would find a factory to gold plate the panels for three cars. Then under a tight schedule of one week, get them ready, shipped back to Belfast for assembly before being delivered to their customers in New York and Dallas, Texas. This was an impossible mission but somehow Stuart got the job done. There was a photograph of him given away at the end of the evening, in the raffle. Holding the remaining gold plated DMC badge (which goes on the front of the car on the grill). The talks ended at around 11.40pm and we headed back to our room. I was not that tired and was up for staying a bit longer and drinking. Instead, yet again we opted to watch the remainder of Back To The Future which we had started the previous evening. It is such a class act, and you could never tire from watching it. Almost everything in the script is perfect and you could not find a single whole, even if you tried extremely hard. It is just sheer family entertainment. By the time I took the DVD out of the player, it was gone midnight. They were screening the England match, 'as live' on Sky Sports and although I had seen most of the goals on the rolling news channels over the course of the afternoon I wanted to see if I really had missed a big open game. Hussein is not a football fan and fell sleep, asking if I could put on the subtitles? (Subtitles please, I just hit the mute button.) It was around 0.47am, when I finally drifted off to sleep, sacrificing the final home international before the World Cup. Tomorrow would be a great day and hopefully the ideal way to end the weekend.

Sunday was the main, 'Lotus' part of the weekend, which meant for an early start. Yet another glorious day with more blue sky and wall to wall sunshine. I was up early and after breakfast, we packed the car and I paid for the hotel room. It was around 9am now and I had asked Richard if I could ride with him to the factory. "Sure, no problem dude!" was the warm reply. Hussein was on his own in the Fabia and the dark blue sore on the convoy. Richard had a PDA with Tom Tom software loaded and entered in the postcode for the Hethel factory. Satellite navigation to date has been a great gadget. Getting me to Germany and the north coast of Norfolk. Yet, after driving for over an hour, we taken a different route from a group of DeLorean's that had picked up speed on the dual carriage way and overtaken us. Down a short country lane, we were told to turn left, as we did so, we found two cyclists out for a stroll, and the road closed with an iron gate and padlock. Laughing I jumped out of the car and took a picture. What a site. A DeLorean that had literally run out of road. Within seconds, as if we were playing the part in some holiday movie, two other stainless steel wonders pulled around from the opposite direction and ushered us to follow them. We did, Hussein right behind in his Fabia. However, the other DeLorean's were gone into the distance, but we drove around to the entrance of the Lotus factory. We were here, but Hussein was ruining the photo opportunity with his modern turbo diesel. We parked up on the left hand side and I took some quick photographs before we drove in, in an DeLorean only convoy. The cars of the remainder of the party, came in slowly behind. Pulling up in the car park, right by the test track, we kept the gull wing doors open and pulled into a diagonal formation, for a fantastic photograph. From the club house a small group of Lotus employees looked on in marvel at the sight. It is not everyday that 25 DeLorean's come to visit your place of work.

Time for the factory tour. We split into four groups, and I was in the last group, group four. We were called in a group at a time to sign a non-disclosure form of some kind and the drivers for the track to show their paperwork. After a drink and taking some photographs from the balcony, we were introduced to our guides. We had Trevor Bailey, who was very knowledgeable but at first a tad nervous, occasionally stuttering. However, he picked up confidence as he took us around the factory. Cameras were banned, but we did get more photographic opportunity than is normal applicable on a standard tour. On those, you are not even allowed to take a camera phone on to the site. I am not the biggest fan of Lotus. They are nice cars, but nothing overly exotic like some foreign imports. My favourite of course is the Espirit, but that is mainly due to the James Bond movie. I also like the Elan but do not like the look of some their more contemporary models. The Europa S does look good although still not floating my boat in comparison to the models from the 1980s and early 1990s. What surprised me the most was the lack of action 'production' at the site. The vehicles are just glorified kit cars, with all the parts pre-build else where in the world. So just a paint shop and a few guys to glue it all together. Sure, I exaggerate the difficult of the tasks, but it does if you a feel for what actually goes on here. We were shown everything from the final tests cars undertake (water and rolling road) to the original parts being shipping in from France. The production line itself is quite unique with two lanes and each car moving up the change every fifteen minutes. We returned to the club house for a quick light lunch followed by a briefing. We were purely going on parade on the track and it was not time for any heroics we were told. This was after all an anniversary and the DeLorean prototypes were tested on this very track, twenty five years ago. Richard was in the first group of drivers and we were given a generous six laps and a top speed down the straight of seventy miles an hour. (Just eighteen shown of the magic number!)

We returned from the track, just has it started to rain. The weather couldn't hold off forever, but at least we had had more than our fair share of sunshine over the weekend. We then headed back into the club house, while the remaining cars had their turn. So with three runs in total. I took some more photographs from the balcony, but it was still raining quite steadily so I opted to come inside and talk to Andy for a while. Then Chris came upstairs and asked me how I had found the weekend. It had been brilliant and much better than an average weekend back at home. Colin Spooner, an ex-Lotus employee gave out the certificates at the final presentation. Mine was given out first, and I have a photograph with him, which I should get soon. In my pack was a photograph of the early prototype which I got Colin to sign. He gave a final talk about the car and turned it around on all the failure and controversy to the positives that came from the DeLorean project. Many new companies were formed which are still going strong today. With that it was time to go home, after thanking Chris and Richard. The drive home was busy, with many people coming back home after the half term holiday. We hit some heavy traffic on the M25, but the Tom Tom stayed true. I got home at 7.30pm and received a text from Hussein a little later, "home in time for Top Gear," talk about perfect timing. Some weekends cost thousands of pounds, others are just completely priceless.

A quick photograph summary. Hussein took less than 42 pictures of the weekend, whereas I took nearly 300. I had taken 32 before we got to the hotel. This is the beauty of digital photography, you can take as many pictures as you like and not have to take such care with them. Then when you get home, there is the fantastic task of organising and picking the best photographs to upload to your FlickR set. Hussein of course, had purchased a pro account and uploaded his set by 10pm on Sunday evening. Where as I had not even uploaded the images from my camera. Look around and there are other people jumping on the DeLorean bandwagon. Sky One screen the classic movie tomorrow night at 8pm and then again on Sky Two on Wednesday night.

Wednesday 31st May 2006

My Dad rang me at work. I didn't give him the number proactively, I just think he took it off a business card. Anyway, he asked if I would come along if he booked tickets to the circus. I reluctantly said yes. This would be yet another first for me (but also my Mum). So straight after work, I got changed and headed down to The Rye, Wycombe's famous park, right in the centre of town. The idea of Uncle Sam's American Circus, perhaps gave the impression of an over friendly and big is beautiful act. Although I was keen to at least try and enjoy the experience. We parked up with a few minutes to spare until 7pm. Heading down to the big tent, there was already a small crowd gathered inside and the inner circle seats had been taken by the younger children and their parents. There was a live band, but the tent from the outside gave the impression of being quite big, but when you were seated inside, you realised that the stage was quite small. Perhaps this was the idea, to make the audience feel part of the show. I hasten to add that I of course what in the age group that the show was intended for. So, this review perhaps is rather harsh in tone, but I am only being honest from an adult point of view. Firstly there was the pre-show ploy. Have your acts selling hats, plates with sticks, to then spin and stupid furry tails at extortionate prices. Of course, if you are with child, or several, they will be keen to pressure you into spelling your hard earn cash on these novelty items. Then there was the food, once again over priced popcorn and candy floss (cotton candy to some readers across the pond). Perhaps this is where the owners of this moving bandwagon make their money. As I am sure once all the fees have been paid from the ticket sales there is not much else to go around. No time to review the balance sheet, the show was about to begin. The band kicked in and a strong American voice boomed across the PA system. I could not see the man, I considered to be the Uncle Sam. The voice was too American, so it was difficult to confirm whether it was real or purely put on. In the end I could never conclude either way. He welcomed everyone but then gave his standard disclaimer, that must be standard fare for most public related events, so the organisers can immune themselves from any potential prosecution. The show began with some can can dancers? Now please explain how American that is? Never mind, it was only the show opener, to get everyone in the mood and clapping. Then Sam introduced the next act, Woody's Roundup. Yet instead of Stinky Pete, there was Buzz Lightyear (my all time favourite character from the whole franchise). But does Uncle Sam have rights from Disney and/or Pixar to use these characters? The likeness was close but not quite perfect, giving the impression they were not sanctioned by the studio. It was mindless fun for the children and the crowd really came to live for these characters. There was even a hint of the smile of a boy, twenty four years young in the audience, when the Space Ranger turned and smiled to our stand. Then the 'real' talent acts came out. We had a mixture of performers, ranging from the bankable bow and arrow (sorry, crossbow, I stand corrected) and trapeze artist. A Mexican, who fell off first time around. But he did have his feet strapped to buckets and was double blindfolded. He made it across the second time around. The best act were Equilibrium, who were artists (two boys and girls) who performed amazing feats with a ladder suspended in the middle in the tent. Walking out, I didn't feel short changed but I thought the overall experience apart from some spectacular acts was cheap, tacky and rather distasteful. Yet, it was half term and I supposed you have to keep the little ones occupied.

I was inspired by a t-shirt that Pav had. He wore it when we were in Germany. I searched online and found another t-shirt, while similar was slightly different. I ordered it from Truffle Shuffle, a web site for us children from the 1980s. I placed my order on Tuesday from work at lunchtime and sure enough by Wednesday, I had my shirt in my hand. Fantastic. I have nothing but good things to say about the service from the Goonie dance inspired web site. Excellent original products, sleek easy to use web site and no annoying e-mails, trying to entice to buy more merchandise. I have been avoiding my friend Mighty Mouse (AKA Hussein) for the past few days, well since the weekend in fact. I know if I speak to him on MSN, I will get uncontrollably excited about this weekend in Norfolk. Instead, I have opted to keep communication down to a minimum. He picks me up around 8.30pm tomorrow and my second weekend adventure begins. Can you guess what it is yet? Maybe the t-shirt above will give you a big clue. Plus giving some Libyans a bomb filled of 'used pinball parts', Hill Valley and power lace Nike sneakers. Time to go pack, charge my digital camera batteries and get set for an adventure, shall I say of a lifetime.

Monday 29th May 2006

Back from my first festival experience this afternoon. (2006 is turning out to be a year of firsts). You may wonder why there is so little build up to the weekend, unlike previous events that have been hyped and over hyped on this blog. The reality is Pav asked if I wanted to come along and I said yes. Purely because I wanted to see what it was like. My biggest fear perhaps is that none of the music being played would be to my taste. It is no secret that I am not a big fan of dance music. I probably sound 84 rather than 24, but anything too heavy just puts me off. Pav knew this but wanted me to come along anyway and enjoy the day regardless. I love the fact that he has his very own forum, where all his friends (while at work) can post entries about almost anything. Eventually I got around to buying a ticket, after constantly the weather for the event several times. Pav eventually went to HMV in Reading and bought his over the counter, whereas I had to wait for a special delivery at home. It arrived on Thursday, after my Dad went to collect it from the local sorting office. Great, I had my ticket. Even though there had been heated discussion on the official forums about late delivery (if any at all) of tickets. Pav even mentioned having to take a printed copy of my e-mail confirmation and my credit card to a ticket collection point on arrival. Just the thought of another further wait before I could enjoy the festival made me feel glad that my ticket had arrived.

On Saturday, I bought a sleeping bag from Argos and packed a small overnight bag for my stay. I would only be sleeping for a couple of hours, before heading back so there was no need for luxury, just bare essentials. I headed off to Langley, to pick up a friend before driving down to wards the south coast. I wanted to take the M4 --> A33 --> M3 route but my passenger's opinion was the M25 would be clear enough. They were wrong, but it was not a major delay, just stop start traffic for about ten minutes before we got on our way again. The M3 is quite a comfortable motorway (even if it does cut through some beautiful Hampshire countryside.) We made great time and were in the outskits of Winchester by 2.30pm and quickly joined by a few others. Dumping the car, changing to some suitable footwear, we were driven down in our friend's VW Polo to the Bowl. Rather a tight squeeze with four of us in the back but it was only for fifteen minutes or so, but due to the one way system outside the entrance, we had to drive all the way down the dual carriageway to a roundabout and then turn back on ourselves, overtaking the festival shuttle bus in between. We pulled up and made our way into the ground. It was two minutes to 4pm, I had called my Dad to let him know I had arrived safely. My first festival experience, was about to begin.

Surprisingly it was not muddy, in fact it was dry but we still had a good fifteen minute walk to the main entrance. On the way down we bought our programme and Pav commented on the number he had built up on the years. We quickly tried to find out which acts were still to come that we wanted to see. Ian Brown caught my eye and a few of the DJs, who had some commercial success. Either way I was more than happy to follow the lead of these festival veterans. The walk around the perimeter, gave us an opportunity to see the main complex for the first time close at hand. The drive down the valley, had given us a great view, but as I was squashed against the window, there was no way or time for me to get my camera out. The first entrance was for VIP ticket holders, so we had to walk a few metres further down to the main entrance. There were only a few other late comers around, so as we walked down the rails, our tickets were taken off us. Gone was one souvenir from the weekend. (Why not just let me have half? Apparently so many counterfeit tickets were knocking about that they had to take the whole ticket to confirm authenticity.) We were searched for illegal substances, weapons and any banned goods, such as alcohol or glass. Then we made our way through a small break in the hedges to be greeted by the site of the fair. I had finally arrived and it was now time to start taking in the experience. I was surprised by the high number of stalls, selling an assortment of items, from clothing, hats, to herbal medicines. There was even a stall (or should that be booth) for the Samaritans. We made our way around, carefully consulting the site map to check which tend to head into. Mel grabbed my hand and took me into the Gods Kitchen tent. Now this was my type of music, chilled out, nothing too heavy. The ground was quite small, but I wondered why the tent was so big. Pav quickly told me that this was a small festival, particularly by his standards. Wow! Perhaps this was the ideal event, to take a sip of the music festival movement. Generally it was a great laugh, after a short few minutes in this tent, we moved around to the other tents and decided what to do. We were hungry, so got some food and drink. The veggie burger tasted really good, ideal way to get some energy before partying hard into the long hours. As we came out of the main dance tent, called the Electric Arena, I noticed a middle aged guy, in white Adidas tracksuit top. He shook hands with Mel, and she went ecstatic. There is a picture of her fantastic expression here. Then, as he walked off into the distance I tried to take some photos. Now, this will shock some people, but I was a big fan of indie music in the early 1990s. Sure, it was rather commercial Oasis and Blur but it was a Indie, never the less. I grew out of that phase, but still appreciate the odd guitar rift. Ian Brown is an artist I like. Sure I have not heard much of his material and only have two of his mp3s (one from the Stone Rose heydays) the other FEAR (which was the closing number on his set.) Can someone seen as squeaky clean and innocent, really be shouting and worshipping a Northern lad from the wrong side of the tracks? Before Ian Brown however, in the early evening, we went to watch Kosheen in the Live Arena with Kev, as he was a big fan of the band. In between, Pav and I went to the Shapeshifters in the Electric Arena and they were fantastic! It was starting to get dark and the capacity of the festival had been reached in terms of new people appearing from across the hill. There was a good crowd now, but I think only the hardcore festival goers. Most of the "day trippers", (if you can pardon the pun) had gone home or would soon be heading home.

Brown's performance was very good, and I text my friend Dave, to let him know I had just seen his idol on stage. No reply though unfortunately. Fast forward several hours and perhaps the next big act was Paul Oakenfold, who I knew from his occasional flirtations with mainstream music. His set was exceptional, even to my untrained hear and he really got the place buzzing. I could go into further details about what actually happened but it would just be boring, so I have opted to take the easy way out. I took my Cyber ShotU, as it was ideal for this type of event, discreet and easy to handle. Perfect companion while out in the field. Plus I was not the only one, with some people with hand camcorders, some with digital SLRs. A bit extreme, if you ask me but perhaps if you are going to capture the moment, capture it in style. We left at 3am and I eventually fell asleep after 4am, only to get up less then seven hours later. Rock and roll. I had survived my first festival experience.

Took 121 photos, but only 86 were suitable for my latest set on FlickR. There are of course, other images that have been uploaded from other festival goers. I have also added a picture of my ticket and programme, so you can see the 'official' logo from the day. I am well impressed with my FlickR account. In the last six months since I upgraded to pro membership, I have 540 uploaded and counting. My pictures are slowly growing in popularity as I get more comments and views every week. Hopefully they will continue, just as my picture taking improves in quality.

Saturday 27th May 2006

It is 1.34am and I have just got in from Reading. The weekend is already in full swing and I felt like I was waiting an age for 6pm to come around yesterday. Pav and I were counting down via MSN, as we usually do to our big weekends. Looking back at this bank holiday last year, I realised now how little I did. Watched a few movies on television, carried out some housekeeping on the family computer but generally did nothing exciting. How different life is twelve months on. Biggest weekend of the year so far? I would not got that far but it is different, to say the least. It is getting late now, so I better quickly review the third in the X Men Trilogy, The Last Stand. As the title dictates, this is (apparently) the final movie to be made about the mutant collective. X Men 3 is the only movie that I have seen on the silver screen, but I still consider the second the best. (As you will also note I find with most movie trilogies, only excluding Mission Impossible). The story is very good, but there is perhaps too much emotion on the screen for us, as the audience to take in along with the all the action scenes. Perhaps the plot alone is quite convincing, the way events unravel is not at quite the same pace as you would expect. Overall it was good, but not great, but then I am I being far too critical. The characters are well developed but there is little opportunity to see them shine, as the story takes centre stage. There is a fantastic climatic battle at the end but it could have been much better and the pairing of the good and bad mutants is far too predictable. Although Halle Berry does well against Dania Ramirez, the rest is a bit of a mismatch of stupid proportions, particularly as it feels more of a school outing than a battle of a super heroes for the fate of the modern world. I am not sure if I expected to much but the film failed to deliver in so many areas. Whereas with Fantastic Four, which I saw last year (they will return next year!), the limp ending was forgiven, as it was the first movie. We have come accustomed to much better from the X Men series, and Jean Grey is not underused but undervalued in this movie. She deserved better, much better. I wish I had stayed and watched the final scene after the credits but have found out what happens, thanks to the wonder of Wikipedia. My advice is, unless you are a big fan of the previous two films or have a great love of superheroes, wait for this to come out on DVD.

Nearly 2.30am, how much time do I waste reading IMDB? I suppose it summaries your activities on the web generally into one site. You read up about a movie, then you want to know which other movies a female lead has starred in (and is working on). Then you read about those movies and stories and wonder if you can catch them at the cinema or on DVD. Not sure about you but I love reading the trivia for movies and the mistakes. This is what makes the Internet Movie Database one of the greatest web sites out there and perhaps makes the whole movie going experience for a film junkie like me, that much more enjoyable.

There are been several charity football matches played this year and this evening on ITV1, there was Soccer Aid. A mixture of reality television and live match between England and The Rest Of The World. Featuring a class act of ex professionals, or as I would prefer to label, veterans. I watched the remainder of the game after Doctor Who and it was entertaining, but of course not as mind blowing as a Premier League match or World Cup international. Yet, there were some talented players on the Old Trafford pitch, even if rather past their peak. Zola was perhaps the most eye catching player on display but there was also Maradona (whom I was surprised to see, as they had not mentioned him in the earlier trails). He had some fantastic touches, but of course his killer pass had gone and while in his mind wanted to dribble past the English defence all over again, his legs just could not keep up. Perhaps the most classic line, which had me in stitches on the sofa was from the ref. Gordon Ramsay was fouled clearly by David Gray outside the box. Even with a free kick awarded, the scottish restaurateur insisted on a penalty. What was the Italian's response? Collina said, "I am not one of your waiter, Gordon!". Ramsay must have given his now customary explicative in the heated argument. While you cannot doubt the great course of Unicef, sometimes football is not the only way to raise awareness and money for a good cause.

My weekend has been pants, particularly due to the weather as I have done nothing productive whatsoever. If fact I've been a lazy slob, even falling asleep at half time during the Welsh friendly. I am hoping there is a vast improvement in the weather for the festival tomorrow. I leave around 12pm and should be back early afternoon on Monday.

Wednesday 24th May 2006

With the World Cup less than fifteen days away, a fantastic way to keep tabs on all the World Cup matches you dare not miss. While I could link directly to the site, hold on I have! I actually read the story over on the GU Technology blog.

Some of you may have noticed the site was down from around 11pm last night until around 7pm this evening. The reason for this is my monthly bandwidth ran out for the second time since I moved over to 123-Reg as my hosting solution. So, after some thought while in the office I have upgraded to the next level of web hosting, which gives me 250mb of space and much more bandwidth every month. Hopefully, unless this site becomes far too popular, I should never exceed the limit again. One of the causes in the recent increase in visitors, has been the inclusion of my brief review of Da Vinci Code on the Canadian news digest web site The Info Zone. The article tries to get a feel for the general response on the movie from the blogosphere. My site is steadily growing in popularity and I am sure by the end of the year more and more blogs will link to me. It would be good for the site to be on the weekly radar of avid web servers and blog readers, just like myself.

Thought I would give a quick roundup on plans for the weekend and beyond. Firstly, booked tickets yesterday for Pav and I to go see X Men 3: The Last Stand at the Vue in Reading. While they are perhaps not top of my list of favourite super heroes, the movies generally have been very good. My dear friend, Sippy is a much bigger fan of the whole franchise, but as he is spending less and less time online I doubt he will review it on his now, almost abandoned blog. He saw the first two movies at the cinema, whereas I saw the first one on DVD at University and the second on Sky Movies Saturday Premiere, during my placement year. Both movies are very good, but even so, I prefer Spiderman, Superman, Batman and even Indy before the X-Men. I suppose deep down, I will always compare with the television series, the animated cartoon, which was very good, but sadly finished in 1997, just after I had grown out of children's television and switched over to the grown up variety. Nevertheless I am really looking forward to the movie, mainly because I just love super heroes, any super heroes and of course the first spin around in the M3 since our Germany trip at Easter, over a month ago.

Moving on, Saturday will be spent shopping, mowing the lawn and cleaning the car (if the weather holds). Sunday will be a good day (or so I hope). I am heading towards the south coast for my first ever music festival. The HiFi Music Festival has been plugged heavily by KISS 100 for the past few months and Pav is heading down with some friends and invited me along. Tickets are not cheap, but I thought for the experience I might as well go and have some fun. Although having said that my ticket hasn't arrived yet, although a special delivery package did attempt to be delivered this morning and will hopefully be redelivered tomorrow. I will leaving Wycombe around 1pm and spending the night down there. All part of the full festival experience I am told. I will of course try and take as many photographs and come back refreshed on Monday with a full account of the day and night. Hope you have a great Bank Holiday Weekend, whatever you get up to and that the weather is kind, in your part of the world. Initial reports predicted rain in Winchester, but Pav has just sent me a link and the weather report now is quite clear and warm. The wellington boots can go off the shopping list.

Sunday 21st May 2006

After a rather lazy Saturday, where my only achievement was to go into town and get my haircut. I sat down to watch Eurovision on the computer, watching only the acts up to and including Daz Sampson and his Teenage Life rap. Then, I decided to shut down the computer and head for the living room to watch the Saturday night premiere on Sky Movies. National Treasure was a movie I recall my ex manager had seen at the cinema back in January 2005 and I had heard some good reviews, particularly of Cage's performance. It was 9.14pm and thanks to Sky Movies Multi-Start I started my showing at 9.15pm. Fantastic, don't you just love digital television. The movie was great, action packed and entertaining, even if the ending was mixed. In my opinion they took the easy way out, rather than going out with a bang. Perhaps they just lost motivation (or the $100 milion dollar budget!) I can say quite categorically that it was the better of the two movies I would see this weekend. Sean Bean portrays the likeable bad guy and Jon Voight while a bit part does play the convincing father figure. While there are some similarities with the big blockbuster released this week, I prefer this story. America has such a rich history and stealing the one document that means more to the people than anything else, is a stroke of genius. They are making a sequel, scheduled for released within the next two years, but I am not sure how exactly they can continue the story or for that matter find a new one. The Wikipedia entry states that is has many similar elements to the film I would see tomorrow, but they are minor in detail. Seems like everyone is searching for some kind of lost treasure.

Went to see The Da Vinci Code this afternoon at the Vue cinema, Reading. I have not read the book, so this review is based purely on the film and nothing else. Overall it was entertaining and in places gripping. However, the ending was rather a major let down. All the publicity with the big marketing drive from Sony, has meant most people are going to watch the movie just to see if it really is as bad as 'they' say it is. While I love conspiracy theories matched with a great hunger for history, I think the movie fails to truly explore the idea that could shake the foundations of Christianity. While I can understand many people feel it is blasphemous, I prefer to believe the story to is there to entertain and provoke discussion, rather than question anyone's faith. Tom Hanks is an actor I enjoy watching and most of his movies I have seen. Here, he lacks the emotion and conviction for such a major role. Perhaps Ron asked him to play the role in this way and keep his distance from the plot, but being so involved and knowledgeable you would feel he would have a greater connection to the events unfolding before him. Given the movie is so long, you expect there to be quite a roller coaster ride, but actually once you realise the main twist, the movie begins to slow down and end on a bit of whimper. By all means go and watch this movie at the cinema, but do not expect to be blown away. It just is not that type of cinema experience. The saving grace is that the summer movie going season ahs only just began and there are plenty of other movies I am looking forward to seeing over the coming few months. Starting next week with X Men 3.

I have had a del.icio.us account for several months but hardly had the time to update it. This weekend I decided to change this over the weekend and have also integrated the links onto my Links page. I love the idea of tagging and grouping my links into bundles, but I need a bit more time to organise my collection. If you join the social 'book marking'site feel free to add me to your list of contacts. My username is Teg.

Friday 19th May 2006

Where to start? I am slightly disorientated, having for the first time in several months (could it be as much as a year?) not blogged over the weekend, as I normally would have done to build up to Wednesday. Perhaps for a change, the press, television and other blogs were right, the match, the final did mean everything that was written about it. For a change, the hype was necessary, this was the biggest game in the club's history. Yet now, forty eight hours after the event, it slowly begins to be forgotten by the neutral, rather passive football fan. For the rest of us, we realise how close we were and yet perhaps justly, so far. I would prefer not to lament on the game and the circumstances any further. There will be column inches for many months, perhaps long into next season with analysis and post mortem of the ninety minutes in Paris. In a change, I would prefer to look to the future. To the World Cup in Germany, to the potential of next season, the first at Ashburton Grove. Particularly the news this afternoon that Titi has signed an new contract until 2010. Having just watched the news conference in full on Sky Sports News, I was touched by some of his remarks, particularly when he considered this to be his final contract, the final chapter in his glittering football career. Coming back into my room, I picked up my framed souvenir (for lack of a better word) of the last game at Highbury and looked once again at the photograph of Henry kissing the hallow Highbury turf. Never has a player held so much love for a club and have the fans paid that affection back in full from the terraces.

Been talking to Chris online and expressing how happy and glad I am that the French international has decided to stay and commit his football future to the North London club. To non-football fans, I suppose this can be difficult to understand. What is the appeal of the so called beautiful game? While I got into the sport quite late, I still believe my passion for the sport can be summarised in a single phrase. Knowing what a person is capable of on the pitch, but knowing know what will unfold over the course of a match. Does that make sense? I can understand that it sounds an oxymoron but what I am trying to explain is the appeal of the greatest sport on the planet.

The week went by quite quickly and it has been fairly busy at work. While that can be a good thing, in the sense the five working days fly by, there is the added pressure to get things done and out of the door by the end play. Though, I cannot complain, there is little that can get me down in the office. Entertainment wise, we have a living legend who says he looks after the books, or rather cooks them. Never a dull moment. Enough about work, it is Friday night and I need to be thinking about my weekend. Nothing really planned for Saturday, although I may pop into town in the morning, seen how they are progressing with the town redevelopment. Of course I will be catching the second part of the Timelords latest battle with the Cybermen, followed by the Eurovision Song Contest. I last mentioned the amateur singing competition back during the tail end of my University days. Two years and five days exactly have passed since then. I suppose I was either too busy or did not want to mention the reality. I am perhaps a closet fan of the contest, watching every year. I suppose I enjoy the exuberant lyrics and the now legendary commentary from Terry Wogan. Times have changed, with the majority of entrants now singing in English, years ago, you would put on subtitles and have tears in your eyes at the sheer absurdly of some of the lyrics.

On Sunday afternoon, I shall be venturing to Reading to watch Da Vinci Code. I know I said I would read Dan Brown's book, but just did not get around to it. Even though I bought the illustrated hardback copy for my sister, this Christmas just past. She has read the book and recommended it to me over the summer, before she returned to University. Of course, I did not have any time (I rarely do) to read the conspiracy theory. I am looking forward to watching the two and a half hour movie to find out what all the fuss is about. I heard a review on FiveLive last night and while I can understand it will have strong critics, from across the religious spectrum, nothing can beat judging for yourself. At the end of the day, it is just a book and sheer entertainment, the work of pure fiction? We shall see.

Thursday 11th May 2006

Today could be seen as the first official day of the summer? Why? Well as I walked to my car in the office car park, I realised that it was the first opportunity to switch on the air conditioning. However, I opted to sweat in the car, wearing my suit and not adjusting my tie, for the drive home. You might have gathered by now that I am a strange individual. Never mind, perhaps this feeling is just a temporary phase and there will be a point in the not too distance future when I will return to normal. I like the summer and am glad the weather has improved. Last year I was looking forward to the summer for a mixture of reasons, but predominately it all centred around one person. This year, things are very different. Hold on, haven't I said that before?

Flags. Well in particular the flag of Saint George which flies high on cars up and down the land. I have noticed that over the past week, they have reappeared, on the our roads. I had a flag, two years ago next month, yes June 2004, Sunday 13th actually. Can you believe it has been already? The mistake I made, purchasing the patriotic article the weekend of the England v France game was I got a cheap product, which tore a few weeks later and did not live to the end of the tournament, let alone the length of England's involvement. So this time I want to open up the phone lines, I mean the bloglines and give anyone that cares to have an opinion, to tell me which flag I should get and from which store. Actually let me phase that more directly, which flag of Saint George I should get for the car. Perhaps I should stop doing things by half and go the full hog and knock myself out with a car pack?

Monday 8th May 2006

I got home around 9pm last night and after dinner my priority was to upload my pictures from a historic and emotional day onto FlickR for the world to see. Photographs for once came before the blog, so here I am some 24 hours after the event, trying to keep my emotions on hold as I write about yesterday. Turning to my notes, I ponder where to begin. Without a shadow of doubt this was the biggest day in my life as a football fan. Yet as an Arsenal fan it meant so much more. Perhaps words cannot truly express how I felt. With the ticket in my hand and the thought of being there as forty thousand people wave goodbye to the stadium. Saturday night I could not sleep, even though it was way past 1am before I actually got into bed. Spending hours slaved in front of the computer preparing for the big day, charging batteries and topping up my Oyster card. Weird dreams of being at Highbury but being ejected by a tough steward just as the celebrations were about to begin. Thankfully I awoke to discover it was all a dream and the magical day had arrived with so much still to play for over ninety minutes. I was apprehensive, rather than excited. The emotions could wait until I was closer to the home of football. I drove my Dad to Gerrard's Cross and then headed up to Chalfont & Latimer. On route, I found myself stuck behind a white Toyota pickup crawling at 40 miles an hour (in a 60 zone?!) eventually he pulled out of the way and myself and a brand new black Mercedes hit 75 plus trying to make up the lost time. I had been listening to a CD but switched over to the radio. For no reason in particular I switched over to LBC 97.3. A familiar voice from my childhood filled the car and the discussion turned to Arsenal and their departure from their 93 year old home. An elderly gentleman was talking about living near the ground but not being a football fan. Actually further to this he was not really a sports person. His neighbour at the time was the grounds man and on numerous occasions offered him free entry to the stadium but he turned them down. The conversation switched to his confrontations with the police and their demand for him to remove his lorry on match day, he refused being arrested until the thin blue line, banged up the owners of four Rolls Royces across the road. This was 1950 something and the cars were owned by the players.

Parking up and walking into the station, I grabbed my phone from my jean pocket and noticed a missed call and text message. It was Chris, I called him back without reading the message. He was early for football, over in Worcester and had a favour to ask. He wanted a match day programme. No problem. Then a voice in the background added, "Signed by Henry!". I will see what I can do! Chris asked me how I felt but I don't think I gave him a straight answer. Wishing me a great day, he said goodbye to begin warming up, as I returned to waiting. The tube train was scheduled to arrive at 9.50am, and it arrived perfectly on time. I was on my way to North London but it would be at least ninety minutes before I got there. I text Terry to let him know, sat back and tried to keep my nerves in check and enjoy the ride. Due to engineering works the Metropolitan line was only running to Wembley Park. Here I had to change onto the Jubilee Line to Green Park, then catch the Piccadilly Line up to Arsenal. Rather long winded approach but the most direct route to my team's spiritual home. My ninety minute estimate was ten minutes out, as I arrived outside the North Bank entrance at 11.10am and called Terry. To my shock there were a big contingent of fans already walking around, taking photos, buying not just one match programme but six. I bought two, from the same person I had bought programmes from in my previous visits this season. Making my way around to the East Stand, I stopped to take photographs of a special "pimped" Rolls Royce. Then, making my way up to the main entrance, I took some further photographs and waited for Terry. On the fourth attempt at calling him, I looked down Avenell Road to see him walking and reaching for his phone, which I quickly disconnected. It was great to see him, on this very special day. We spent the next few hours, walking around the stadium and taking photographs. Then, as I had not see Ashburton Grove, Terry walked me around the corner, where I took some pictures of the Emirates Stadium. It looks amazing but has very big shoes to fill. Took a handful of pictures then walked back towards Highbury. The police presence had grown now and as we walked down Highbury Hill, a policeman and a steward checked our tickets. The copper then asked why we were here so early, I explained it was to soak up the memories. The sun was out now and it was going to be a beautiful memory afternoon for all the right reasons. I was constantly taking photographs, particularly the West Upper Stand entrance, which I would be using to gain access to the ground for the last time. We walked back around, to the East Stand, getting our tickets checked twice. Apparently on those with match tickets should be outside the ground, everyone else was being refused entry, which is a shame for fans who had made the pilgrimage.

We were told the coach was arriving at 1.30pm, but an hour or so before hand got news via text about the situation with Spurs and food poisoning. Terry rang his friend, who was at home watching Sky Sports News. A statement from the Premier League was due at 1pm. I rang Chris to let him know, he knew nothing about it. He must have been listening to James Blunt instead of tuning into Radio Five Live. Further news was coming in, and the fans around us could not believe if. The match just could not be postponed, it would be a disaster and give our rivals an unfair advantage. We headed back from the Arsenal shop to the main entrance. The shop had been packed and although I had a quick look, there was nothing in there that took my fancy. As we made our way through the crowds, I noticed Faye White (captain of the Ladies team, walk past me) just as the Wigan coach pulled up and the players jump out. The Arsenal coach was on it's way. I look to my left to see a elderly black lady whom I recognised. He voice was very familiar but her face not as much. It was none other than Eastenders star, Corinne Skinner Carter, standing next to me taking photographs while she waited for the coach to leave. Another famous Gunner! Terry gave it another five minutes, then another five minutes and headed for his seat. He, perhaps, made the right decision. It was quite busy by now and I was quite far from the entrance, with an extremely restricted view, even with my camera waving high above my head. There was a big cheer as you saw the coach, with full police motorcade escort pull around the corner at the top of the road and head down. Really I should not have waited, I did not see any of the players, just shouted out the names with the rest of the crowd. As the coached pulled away, I walked around to the West Stand entrance and braced myself for a roller coaster ride over the next ninety minutes, followed by an ninety minutes of reflection and celebration. Walking up the steps, I took my time to soak up every last drop of the experience, before heading up the final stairs to my block, Z. A steward kindly directed me to my seat. I sat down and grabbed the souvenir of the day, a "I Was There" t-shirt. There was a note that I should put it on and wear for the duration of the match. I decided to put it straight into my bag and instead, while it was relatively quiet to take some photographs. I got talking to a season ticket holder, whom had missed three matches of Arsené Wenger's reign. Amazing return over ten years, if you think about it. He offered to take some photographs of me and we continued talking about the new stadium. Then, as more people arrived I took my seat. The stadium was nearly full and the sound being made was truly amazing. The best atmosphere, in the Highbury Library! I could go on with the tale, a full match report and a step by step account of what happened during the closing ceremony. There is no need. Photographs tell a much better story. So I have uploaded them all, 139 in total over to their own set - Highbury - The Final Salute. If you really have time on your hands to browse you can check out the several thousand pictures that other members have uploaded, by searching on the Highbury tag. If you want to know more you can just leave a comment on this blog entry or leave comments on the individual photographs, I will do my best to respond to any questions. To quickly reply to Sriskandh's (I've blog rolled his blog, even though he should update it more regularly!) comments. I did not stay after the closing ceremony, I had to get back as I live outside London and with the tube lines closed, it was a good two hour commute. In terms of Henry, Pires and Cole on the centre circle at the end? I am not too sure. Should Henry stay, should he go? I do not know. All I can say is that moments on Sunday afternoon I was not watching a human being, I was watching a god, a living legend. A hero if you will. A hero to thousands, no millions of people.

Looking back over the weekend, it has been all about heroes. Amazing how we can idolise one person, one man on screen and on a pitch. Sure, they are just the same as you and me, of flesh and blood. Yet, they have been blessed with a gift from heaven, which enables them to entertain an audience and make them call their name!

A quick round up on other events away from football, Islington and record breaking French international strikers. As we knew already, Mighty Mouse has officially retired from blogging. He just does not have the time these days but will continue to update his project page and gallery with photographs. For this reason I will for the time being (even if purely for old times sake) keep his blog roll live. I eventually got his Myth TV DVD to work by downloading the Media Player Classic, which has been hot fixed to play almost any video format in the world. This was after I downloaded a codec expansion pack and attempt to convert the .nuv files to .avi. The problem was it just recreated a file that was 40gb but still with no sound. MPC did the trick and I must say the sound and picture quality is amazing. So on Saturday afternoon I caught the first episode of the second series of Doctor Who and it was worth the wait.

This evening broke the news that Sven has included Theo Walcott in his England squad for the World Cup. Now that is a shock but if you need an ace up your sleeve, surely TW32 is your man! Article over on Guardian Football puts it much better than me. (Hopefully he will get a decent squad number for the WC and Arsenal next season!). Just picture it, England are drawing 1-1 with Sweden, with a 20 minutes to go. Sven takes off Owen and brings on the Arsenal striker. With his deadly pace and fresh fearless attitude will have defenders all over the place. A risk yes, but an educated risk. Sven knows what he is doing and I am sure if he gets the tactics and more crucially substitutes right on the night, England can go the distance in Germany. Some great football to look forward to over the next few weeks and months.

Friday 5th May 2006

Chris had already seen it. Last night in fact. He had picked up his girlfriend from The Oracle, got home to Henley-upon-Thames, only to turn around and head back for the 10pm screening. (He was even willing to wait for the 11.15pm final show). To his surprise the theatre was empty with perhaps 20 people in total there. He wanted to tell me everything but I just wanted one answer to the question, "Is it worth going to see?" He just replied with a nod of the head and a plain yes. Before he could continue and reveal anything about the movie I told him to stop. I could wait for a few more hours, my screening was at 9pm, at my favourite cinema, formally known as Warner Village Reading.

I left work early (by fifteen minutes but who out there is really counting?) overjoyed with the mouthwatering prospect of the weekend. It had slowly crept up on me, having been for such a long time, just a future date in the diary. How did I feel as I drove home, through the country lanes across Berkshire? I felt strangely content after a roller coaster week. Glad knots of trouble had untied themselves. A voice in my head said that everything works out in the end and for a split second I wholeheartedly agreed. The main roundabout before I get to my house is called the Turnpike and is always busy. While I was waiting to turn left, I watched a black 3-series cabriolet (with top open) fly around ahead of me. I noticed the plate was MI3 S00. Amazing, strange what you noticed when on on the road. Getting home, I was upset. Upset that no one had answered the phone when I had called home, then my Mum's mobile or even my Dad's mobile. My Dad called me back at work and got things sorted. Even so, he kept me waiting and eventually came downstairs to say that he could not collect my special delivery item as it clearly states on the card that you have to wait 24 hours before visiting the Post Office collection point. Smiling, he then went behind the sofa to get two packages instead of just the envelope I was expecting. Result. For a change I was not interested in the big parcel, just the envelope and opened it. Yes! I had my ticket! Sure it was not where I had expected to be seated and perhaps I won't have the best view of the game but I have my invitation to the party. Sunday cannot come soon enough!

For all their faults, the ticket office had delivered! A few hours earlier, Terry (who has a new blog over on Bebo) had come on MSN and sent me a link to the full running order of the closing ceremony for a grand old stadium. Even now, as I write this at 1.38am, it has been updated with a half time penalty shoot out featuring David Seaman. So much to look forward to and so little time. Sunday will be an emotional day for Terry and I plan to spend the morning with him has he takes his final memories of the ground away with him. Fifty photographs will never be enough in my humble opinion, but the man knows what he is looking for.

Back to tonight, a little after 7pm, we headed to Reading. The sun was just setting in the distance as we made our way down the A404 and A4, the traffic was steady and slowly drifted off as we edged closer to the town. Pulling up to the car park and slotting into a nice slow on level three, right by the main lifts right by the cinema we headed down to Riverside and shops (as the female voice pronounce in a slight electronic drone). I went in to get my tickets and as usual one of the machines was being examined by a member of staff, as my five tickets were printed I asked when we would be allowed into screen four. 20:40 was the time I was given, so we had almost an hour to kill before our date with Ethan Hunt. We went for a walk around the Oracle shopping centre and into the town centre, only to find it deserted and all the shops closed. We headed back around to the Oracle and walked through as the shutters were coming down on the final few stores that had been, until a few minutes ago, open. Heading back towards the Riverside, we took some seats outside Cafe Nero, only to discover it was closed when I walked in to place our order. Walking across the bridge, we went to Starbucks. Or rather my family took a table outside and I went in and ordered some drinks. An attendant came across to off me some free summer Frappuccino, which I quickly declined. She would have been better suited behind the counter serving, rather than handing out freebies. In any case, here I was again at the corporate coffee shop, which just goes against my very existence. I am not a coffee drink and consume a limited amount of tea, so should perhaps join the Hate site. The cool air outside indicated the sun was slowly setting behind the car park and the night would be soon upon us. The evening crowd were slowing descending around us, as we headed into the cinema and went upstairs. As we came up the second escalator, we discovered we were not the only ones eager to get good seats for the third installment of the spy series. I went to get some popcorn and drinks, while the rest of the clan waited in line. Just as I picked up my order the queue was opened and the crowd began to head into the screen. I took the lead and as we headed saw a perfect spot but minus one seat. So I went up and asked a couple to move to the left, luckily an empty seat which was not taken meant a five seat space had been created. I thanked the couple and ushered the rest of the family up. A guy behind me was shocked as I explained I had just taken all these seats, "What, all of them?" Erm, yes I'm afraid. Sorry. We took our seats and got comfortable. Perfect. For the first time in three trips to the cinema (two to this particular venue) I would be able to enjoy the Pearl & Dean music. After the trailers, the film began and I think from the very first scene you are instantly hooked. I know I was. Now I suppose most people will read this review as overly bias. Yes I think Cruise is a great actor and I love the Mi movie installments. However I want to clarify this with being a true fan of the original series from the 60s and 70s. I was bought up on a strong diet of episodes by my father, from the re-runs shown on Channel 4 in the early 1990s. While as a television series it mixed the drama, suspense with the thrilling chase of a spy action series, it hadn't aged well when I was watching Jim and the team. I am so thankful Tom took it upon himself to bring the series to the silver screen. While perhaps he would have gone a satisfactory job starting in someone else's vehicle, being in control of almost every element in the movie series means it is true to his vision as a fan. Briefly, a quick synopsis. I enjoyed the original (which I saw at the cinema) it had some great action scenes, perhaps a slightly doggy plot and I did not like the betrayal at the end but the action scenes were breathtaking, including the climax. The second saw a change in direction but once again included a rogue element. Thandie Newton walked her part, which was a shame because she is quite an accomplished actress. Yet, once again the action scenes and some light comic relief rescued the affair. So with this third installment I had quite high expectations, particularly as we had already been waiting a year for the movie to be made. Overall, a fantastic movie which if you are a movie fan you will want to see. There is action, less use of gadgetry, and while it perhaps tries to be an American James Bond, there is a greater emphasis on team work, which makes the I, in IMF rather redundant. The support cast are excellent, particularly the team of Rhames, Maggie Q and Bend It Like Beckham star, Meyers. The drama is tweaked and for the first time a true love story develops, which makes the ride much more emotional than before. Cruise, as always carries out the job with a toothy grin, sparkle in his eye and a big thumbs up. Looking back ten years (yes it really is ten years since the first film was released) Cruise has done something unimaginable. Taken a well loved television series, made three very different movies, with different directors, actors and styles. The music as well takes a different genre, to match the fabric of the movie in each case. This time around Kanye West, "kills" the original theme to pimp it up with some heavy bass, meaning that the Moby mix from 1996, remains most faithful to the original score and my personal favourite. Although I cannot say I am that much of a fan of the track "Impossible" featuring Twista, Keisha and BJ Thomas. Back to the movie, the villain, played perfectly by Hoffman (but you can understand why Kenneth Brannagh was original slated to appear) is perhaps the strongest we have seen to date and a real match for Hunt. Perhaps because there is some conviction in his threats and he always appears to have the upper hand on our hero. Michelle Monaghan beautiful in her role as the "girl" although I have not seen her in any other movies or television series I will keep a look out for that wholesome face in the future. The on screen chemistry (although limited) is clearly electric, right to the end. There is also great comic relief, particularly towards the end, with our very own Simon Pegg. Strange to think he was starring in Doctor Who this time last year. I suppose Americans need to have an eccentric Brit to lighten the tone, but funny how he plays the role of technical support. A great action movie, but with a few unexpected twists and turns which will keep you hooked on the edge of your seat. The question is will Hunt return for another adventure?

Tuesday 2nd May 2006

It is a long time since I jumped on the computer straight after a quiet night out to blog. I rarely blog 'live' after the event these days. It usually takes me a few days to gather my thoughts and put a decent entry together. I must be showing my age, after all I have been at this game for coming up to four years. Perhaps I have become far too much of a perfectionist or my readers expect far to much, first time around! Tonight I went into Marlow after Eastenders to meet up with my work colleagues for a few drinks. It was a good laugh and great to get away from the computer for a few hours after a shockingly bad day in the office. We ended up playing pool and leaving around 10.45pm to head back home.

Got a package that I had been waiting for, well quite a few weeks. Hussein had posted it some time ago (or so he tells me) but I got it this morning and it wasn't my hands until 6.30pm, when I got home. So were the seventeen days wait worth it? I can't really answer that question because I have only been able to see, but no hear the recorded footage. Myth TV is perhaps the marriage of two of the biggest pastimes of the geek. The coming together of television and recorded digital media. Having seen it live at the secret layer of Mighty Mouse deep in the heart of North West London, I can report first hand that it is an amazing experience. The quality of the video is better than Sky Digital and the sound reproduction is awesome, perfect in fact. Knowing the trials and tribulations my friend went through to put together this sweet home entertainment setup (including completely dismantling his sister's beloved wardrobe!). He should really get his act together and update his project page with the full details.

ITV1 have been screening the Matrix Trilogy, with the second installment, "Reloaded" is coming to a climax at the moment as I write this. It is perhaps my favourite of the trilogy, which is typical. Generally speaking I usually always go for the second movie in any trilogy as my favourite. While most people believe the original is best and the other two movies filled with more effects than actual plot, I prefer to enjoy the return of a hero greater than his birth. Does that make sense?

Many will frown at me but I had to be at the last game at Highbury. This afternoon, just after 1pm, as my lunch hour kicked in I called the "agent" and experienced the strangest customer service in the world ever. The 0870 number rang and after a few rings someone answered, a bloke. There was no salutation or pleasant greeting. It was more of a surprised, "Hello?" with the thought of why is someone actually calling us. I gave my reference number and explained who I was and the details of the ticket I was chasing. I was then asked how many I had purchased, just the one. Instead of inputting my reference number into a computer system, and tracking my order, the guy took the phone away slightly to shout across the office at a colleague. "Dave, got a Mr. Tegala on the phone about ticket to Wigan..." I heard the reply in the distance, "I'm just sending them out now!" The clerk (or whatever he was) came back to the phone to say, "You'll get the tickets tomorrow!". Now if that was a lesson in poor customer service, I don't know what is! Plus at these prices, I expect to be speaking to Holly Valance or at least Toni Phillips.

Sunday 30th April 2006

Finally got around to cleaning up and updating my XBox this morning. Well when I say XBox I mean the software, XBox Media Centre. The last release of the software was dated Christmas 2005 and I uploaded it on 4th January this year. So for the past four months, I have left the software from T3CH running and it has been one of the more stable releases. To be honest I have gone off the console in recent months and give it little attention. This was perhaps only the second time in my modding history that I loaded on the new release with no problems whatsoever. In the past, it would take me at least a handful attempts to get the software working, with my mistaking usually centering around the incorrect spelling of a directory. It felt good giving the console a spring clean and that bug would come back to haunt me later in the evening.

After watching Jimmy Hill's Sunday Supplement, I tuned in for the first twenty minutes of Goals on Sunday. I wanted to see the goals from the Chelsea game plus José and the boys celebrating at the end. Watching another team win the League stirs strange emotions in me as a football fan. It spurs me on to wish my team onto greater things in the coming season. I had been out last night at a friend's house, so missed out on watching MOTD. Looking over the cause of the season, Chelsea deserve their title and I admit Arsenal were never really in the title race from the off. You could clearly see the big gulf between the two London sides at the Community Shield in August last year. (Feels like a lifetime ago now, looking back). All I can hope that Wenger can completing the rebuilding over the summer and after this season of transition, we have a season of great domestic success. They saw football is far to predictable these days, but it is never just about the winner whom crosses the line first. It is about the drama on the track on the way. The champions may have been crowed but there are plenty of things to be fighting for further down the table. I was hoping Tottenham would falter against Bolton this afternoon, opting to listen to live commentary on Five Live only to fall asleep a little after the first half. Earlier this afternoon, I was looking at Radio Times online to see if any good movies were on. Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure was beening screened on ITV1 at 13:50 and I watched some of the ending. Such a cheesy 1980s teen movie but still entertaining as it was when I first saw it back in 1989. Whatever happened to Alex Winter?

At 9pm, after dinner I came back to my room and wondered what to do. There was nothing worth watching on terrestrial television and my Mum had already booked her time with Sky so I had the evening very much free to do as I pleased. I decided do some housekeeping. I put Romeo Must Die DVD on my computer and with perhaps only 40% concentration on the movie, pulled out my document drawer and took out all the paperwork. It was time to clear this chunk up. Generally speaking I am quite a tidy and organised person but I tend to fall into lapses of laziness. For examples, most of my statements were together in date ordered but then my car documents, ISA statements and other store card statements were all thrown into the same file, completely a mess. I had opted not to label up all the files before, when I got them back in January last year, because I thought I could work without them. How stupid was that? What has been happening to date is all my important mail would be kept in a drawer until the weekend. Then, usually on a Sunday morning I would organise what I would be keeping filed and what would be shredded and file these away. While this system does work, having a "catch all" file that slowly gets stuffed with all the unsorted junk just makes the job really difficult over time. This had to be done and I had just been putting it off for months. It took me just over two hours, a little longer than the movie in fact, but it feels great to have everything filed away in it's rightful place and two big bags of paper that can be shredded and recycled. It is amazing how much chunk you can actually throw out and there were a few surprises I found. Including my university computer login password sheet which is coming up to nearly six years old. Generally speaking I am a hoarder, I like to hold onto things and rarely throw things away. Those things I do trash, I have to think long and hard (for a few minutes at least) whether I will actually need the letter, document or manuscript. My Dad always believes it is better to throw it away, if it is important you can always get a duplicate copy. I prefer to be in control of all my paperwork. The paperless office is purely a dream.

Friday 28th April 2006

When I turn to my blog on a Friday there is a usually a feeling of some achievement, no matter how minor, hanging around. Tonight I begin writing this Friday evening, with an empty feeling inside. At the beginning of the week there was a burden of expectation to get a bucket load of work done. Instead work drifted away and I never truly applied myself to the best of my abilities. Yes I was slacking, I freely admit. The motivation has gone somewhat as I find myself struggling to focus on the numerous tasks at hand plus concentrate on the constant influx of calls. Perhaps this sounds silly in 21st Century but I wanted to earn my Bank Holiday and the extra day in bed. Weeks go by quickly and I will soon find myself in May. I was actually looking back through my archives to what I did last year. Amazing how reading a few lines from a posting brings it all flooding back, taking you back in time better than any DeLorean running at 88mph could do.

Heard the Mission Impossible 3 (or M:I 3) theme this week, via a preview on a web site. It sounds good, different. I look forward to hearing the actual song to go with the movie (if Mr. K. West has gone as far to include such a track). Listening to the song on Tuesday evening, made me think of Arsenal in the Champions League. You could almost put together a clip montage of moments when we were almost out of the competition, only to turn it around in the last minute. Consider our opening game, at Highbury against FC Thun. We were drawing 1-1 but Bergkamp came up with a magic goal seconds from the final whistle. Breathtaking football, little did we know how crucial that goal and more importantly win would be. Arsene constantly talked about how important it was to get off to a good start and win the group. Which we did. However I think after getting past one of the less challenging groups, nobody gave us a change against Real Madrid and from then on we have been running on pure self-belief. There are two players that have played a pivotal role in the Gunners success, both of whom have had their critics in the past. Gilberto, a rock ahead of the defense, cutting out major defense unlocking passes and keeping the player makers, Nedved and Riquelme at bay. Then we go for the hero of the hour, Jens Lehmann. Perhaps after this season the rest of the country will consider him a great keeper, although his temperament still is questionable. The German must be doing something right for the Guardian to include an entry on their News Blog. Our Champions League run, which has taken us all the way to Paris is nothing but extraordinary. The record 900 minutes of clean sheets is mind blogging, considering some of the soft goals we have leaked on the road in the League this season. May 17th, the days when heroes are truly born. As commentators always say, making it to the final is just part of the job, you have to win the trophy, as history remembers the losing finalists second. My own hope is that Dennis Bergkamp gets a final swan song at the peak of the European club game. It is what his long career deserves. He is perhaps my favourite all time Arsenal player, actually footballer in general, particularly having seen him score against Switzerland at Euro 96.

All the talk of M:I 3, means I have just booked tickets for myself and the rest of the family to go and watch the movie next Friday at Vue, Reading. I am really looking forward to the film, particularly as Cruise is one of my all time favourite actors. All the trailers have looked fantastic and it will be the highlight of my summer cinema viewing. In reality there is nothing else I am really looking forward to seeing this year, even though there are some great movies coming out. They are so great in fact I cannot think of a single title to include in this entry. Summer starts here then, with so much to look forward to over the next few months, sun, sea and football. Would more could you ask for? A Panini sticker album? My Dad left one on my desk this afternoon as I came home from work.

Saturday 22nd April 2006

Saturday already? Where has the week gone? I have been far too busy trying to recall my weekend in Germany over Easter. I still have a bit to write up and the last two blog entries do need some refining. However, I thought I would quickly bring everyone bang up to date. What have I been up to this weekend and my plans coming up. Today was a lazy Saturday. I got up and cleaned the car, it was a real mess. Someone had driven it through a farm last weekend and there was mud inside and out. I will jet wash it tomorrow or perhaps go to a conventional car wash but it depends on how I feel in the morning. I then settled down at midday to watch the final North London derby at Highbury. A memorial experience, even if it goes up there with the game at Anfield as our worse performance ever. Wenger once again chose to leave Henry on the bench but had to bring him on to change the game and rescue us a point. Although the inclusion of Cesc and Eboue did also increase our fight to win the game. The rest of the afternoon was spent online, trying to update my blog then the FA Cup semi-final. Sure enough once again a manager had gambled on his team selection and gone for a defense middle. In terms of the array of talent that the Blues do have available to them it was a shame to have the creative heart ripped out from the middle of the park, but I am sure he had his reasons. Then in the evening I watched my first episode from the second series and second coming of Doctor Who. One word - fantastic.

Tomorrow I'm off to London, now I have an Oyster Card, I will be making regular use of tubes and buses. I know I have been going into London perhaps once or twice a month but I aim to make it a more regular and more importantly purposeful occurrence, particularly as I have so many friends there. I was aiming to buy the card directly from Transport for London but it worked out I could get it cheaper and quicker from eBay. Plus there is always something going on that might take my fancy. In all honesty I am looking forward to James performing Human Nature as his amateur street performance from October last year was amazing.

Friday 21st April 2006

Let me take you back to almost exactly a week ago, as we drove deep into German countryside, looking for the Nurburgring and our hotel. Pav was extremely tired at this point and just wanted to rest after such a long journey. I believe Jav was the same, but perhaps he just wanted to throw Dee out of the car after having to put up with him for over ten hours. We were nearly there, I could see the signs, I felt we were nearly there. As we headed into the main road, the signs clearly started that we were in the right place. Then it was a case of finding out hotel, which was not going to be too difficult. We saw the sign for our hotel, the Dorint Novotel, but it was on the right hand side of the right, opposite the entrance, which we drove straight past. Then we headed towards the village of Nurburg, only to discover our mistake and then head back and parked outside the hotel entrance. There were three Porsches parked outside and our BMWs looked very average. Walking in, we checked in, given rooms 353 and 354.

Then we went back to the cars, grabbed our luggage and headed upstairs through the glass elevators. I had asked the receptionist, Nadine if food was still being served but it was too late, but we were told of a bar down the road which served until late. So the plan was to dump our stuff and then head back out and get some food. When we reached the third floor, we were all impressed by the quality of the hotel but there were further surprises to come. Right at the end of the corridor, we found our rooms, using the cards to get into 353, I tried to switch on the lights, but then realised that hotel card was also the only way to power the room, so I placed it into the slot by the door, and sure enough the television, lights and air conditioning came on. Straight away I was taken by the view. Dumping my bag, opening the door and taking a look outside. There was not much to see, apart from the bright orange lit petrol station in the middle of the grand prix circuit. We had arrived. I just smiled. What an amazing view, what great rooms. I called home to let them know I had got to Germany safely. I am sure they could hear the happiness in my voice. This was going to be a weekend to remember. Turning back into the room, I finally noticed the television screen and then grabbed my camera to take a photograph.

So much to enjoy and the weekend had only just begun. There was more to come, as we drove Pav's car into the car park. This was a petrol heads dream with a bright orange Lamborghini Gallardo, several Porsches and a Corvette Z06 (with 505bhp). It was a dream for anyone with a love for the combustion engine and motor cars in general. I wanted to just spend time taking photographs all night, but my stomach had other ideas, so we headed out to meet Jav and the boys at the car and head over to the restaurant. It was coming up to around 11pm now. We parked up at the Motorsport Paddock and went it. It was extremely busy with a few fellow Brits downing the final few beers for the evening. We took a table right at the back and within a few minutes a waitress appeared and we enquired about food. She apologised that they were no longer serving but next door would be able to accommodate us for a few more hours. So we went next door, took a table, ordered some drinks and then ordered some food. I wanted to pinch myself. I had been looking forward to perhaps this exact moment for several months and I was here. I was in Nurburg with one of the world's most dangerous racing tracks a stone's throw away. All the planning, Google searching and pestering of friends / family had come to fruition. Sure the real excitement, the purpose of our trip was tomorrow, the highlight, driving around the track but I wanted to make the most of the weekend. My first weekend break.

After dinner we headed back to the bar next door, but it was closing up, so we turned around and came back and went up to the barman and asked when they closed. Looking confused at his watch he said 4am! Dee shock his hand as we ordered some drinks and took a seat at the back of the bar. Dee, began to show his credentials as our entertainment for the weekend, by telling us various Punjabi jokes that had us in fits of laughter. Straight way I knew this boy was going to be the life and soul of the party. After a few drinks we headed back to the hotel. Strangely it was only then I felt tired. I suppose the adrenaline of finally being at the hotel had kept me going through late into the night. Our drivers of course were the real tired ones, having done all the hard work and in strange circumstances. I believe it was the first time both of them had driven on the right hand side. Back at the hotel, I feel asleep quite quickly, with the thought, great prospect of what tomorrow, Saturday would bring.

The day arrived and looking back, we should have made more out of it. It is difficult to describe the feeling of being woken up by cars going around the race track outside. It is not annoying as such, because the double glazing is so good you hear so little of the raw power. We got up and lounged around the room for a while. It was around 10am before went headed down for buffet breakfast with the restaurant packed. They stopped serving at 10.30a, so we had to make sure we got helped ourselves to as much food to get us through to lunchtime. Jav sort of took charge which was good because we needed someone to set an agenda or nothing would get done. It was here, over breakfast that Dee delivered his first killer line. We had got tea but Jav had had coffee. Grabbing the coffee mug, he declared that the local tea had screwed him up and he needed some coffee to wake him up. There was a short pause before Pav replied, "It's Earl Grey mate..." We cracked up laughing.

We all jumped in the 325 and drove round to look for the track, which we eventually found after taking a detour to an new construction industrial site. Pav and I headed over to the ticket dispenser and purchased four laps at €56. The ring was busy with traffic in both directions to the main roundabout, which sits just outside the entrance to the paddock. I was surprised at how small the whole complex was. There was a small office, a tiny restaurant and bar in the middle and of course the famous BMW M5 Ring Taxi. Back to that (and Sabine) later. Jav was nervous, you could tell, as Dee (in the front passenger seat) set up his mobile in the stand, reading to hit record and film this momentous occasion. We headed up to the barrier and after inserting the card, the barrier lifted and we accelerated onto the track, the four lanes (two for bikes) are filtered into a single lane with cones to direct us onto the track and then we we away. Jav wanted to put his foot down and he was pushing his foot to the floor. The was all the passengers, shouting easy to get Jav to calm down. I think he really wanted to push the car, but found the handling rather erratic, particularly with the extra weight and not knowing what was around the next bend. It was relatively busy with several faster cars with experienced drivers taking us easy. The first car that actually did was an German plated E30 with the passenger pointing to his eyes in a gesture that the driver should be looking behind him constantly while on the track. Pav and myself then constantly kept an eye through the rear window and shouted when we saw a car approaching at high speed. Overall it was a great experience, even it it took over thirteen minutes. It was not too bad for the first time. At one bend we saw a motorcyclist running to our vehicle, with both arms up in the air, signaling us to slow down, which we did. Putting on our hazards, we turn to to the left to see two bikes on the road and the crash barrier smashed, with one rider lying on the floor. He had been going too fast around the corner and lost control of his bike. We slowly drove past the incident, as an ambulance was called. There was perhaps only a few more miles to go but we kept it easy, there was no rush to the finish line. They do not call it the most dangerous track in the world for nothing. So far it had lived up to the billing. As we pulled off the track there was a big queue of vehicles also leaving the Ring. We then headed back to the hotel, dropped off Jav's car off and changed into Pav's M3. On this occasion, I was sitting up front. We headed back to the track for our second trip around and Pav really gave it the full throttle. Once again, the car was waited down and it had got busier on the track. We saw the BMW M5 Ring Taxi being smashed around the track at insane speeds. It tailed other cars, until they moved out of the way and then took them out in a flash. It was exhilarating to watch. There were some other crazy drivers much less experienced and in far less capable vehicles bombing around the track with a do or die attitude, we quickly let these individuals pass by. Parking up the car after our time on the track, we headed back towards the ring restaurant. As we did, the M5 Taxi drove by with Sabine Schmitz at the wheel. Jav almost shouted, "It's her!" To which she seemed to ignore and just smiled at us, before driving back around to pick up another set of customers. We got a drink at the bar, opting not get any food. After taking in a drink as more cars raced onto the track we went to find out about the Ring Taxi for ourselves. Heading over and pushing Pav forward to speak German, only for us to discover the reception staff spoke perfect English. The bad news however, was that the taxi was pre booked until the middle of May. Next time, I'll book that as soon as I've booked the hotel. We headed back towards the hotel but stopped by to the Motorsport Paddock to get some late lunch, it was nearly 3pm afterall. We ordered a big helping of food and were all quite full by the time we finished at 5pm. Jav felt sleepy and although I didn't admit it publicly at the time, so did I. We headed back to the hotel and retired for a few hours. In the end it turned out to be less than an hour and half. I feel asleep watching television, while Dee and Pav watched the racing from their balcony. Then I was awoken by the buzz of heading back to the Ring. Dee was going to travel with Pav and go for one last lap. Prior to this, we had agreed to take our final two laps (which we had remaining on our ticket) the following morning, weather permitting, when there would be less traffic. On hearing the excited noise of the boys heading back to the track, Jav got up and said he would go aswell. We rushed down to the car park, grabbed the cars, only for me to leave our ticket in the safe and have to rush back to our hotel room to get it. We then headed back to the track, but after seeing a few friends from the E36 Coupe forum we went off road to park up and chat to them and head onto the track in some kind of convey. Just to the side of the main roundabout was a big track of farmland, open as an extended car park for cars as they waited to head onto the Ring. It was packed and as we drove around to park our cars, Jav's 325 got stuck in the mud and had to reverse out, wheel spinning backwards. There was no way Pav was letting his precious M3 get stuck in the mud so it was time for some stunt driving. He put the shift into reverse and just put his foot to the floor. The cars behind just had to move out the way. We then headed back out of the car park. One problem, there was just one road and about five cars coming in our direction head on. No cars were moving and it took a German to get out of his car and actually direct the traffic around. It was here we met up with Yat a nd a few other boys off the forum. The track had just been closed for an accident for nearly an hour but had just reopened. However, we were warned that has it had been closed for such a long time, it would be advisable to take it easy. Many people suddenly go crazy after having to wait for so long to get their turn. Dee set up the camera on their car to film us on this circuit and record all the action. As we only had one ticket, we had to watch out for any marshalls and insert our ticket but leave it lose so that Dee could reinsert to register the final lap credit. We were off but the warning were credit, it was extremely busy but with only one passenger the ride was much better and the car handled well. Pav had already tightened the front suspension to enable it to glide through the corners with little trouble. Although this was perhaps the busiest the track had been all day, Pav found it the most rewarding lap, perhaps because he knew the capabilities of his car and some parts of the track. The walkie talkie was constantly buzzing with Dee letting us know of cars coming up close behind. The 325 kept up well and even had an opportunity to over take but did not, for the sake of the film. We headed back to the hotel and went to our rooms to plan our evening.

It was around 7.30pm when Jav said we would drive to the nearest city, get a nice meal at a restaurant and then hit a club or bar. Pav and myself headed downstairs to use the computer in the lobby. There was someone using it, so we waited patiently, only for a Pierlugi Collina look alike to start using the net and spend time watching videos from the Ring. There was little chance of us getting on there, so we opted to ask the receptionist, Nadine. We asked what the nearest cities were. She enquired as the reason for our excursion, "What for, to make party?" I wanted to start laughing but instead just nodded and we were told of two cities nearby. Köln was about an hour drive away north, while Koblenz was about thirty minutes away. Personally I would have preferred Cologne, as it is the oldest city in the country but understood we needed to get the logistics of this Saturday night out, just right. Heading back to the hotel room, we told the guys of our findings and we started to get ready and within twenty minutes or so were in Jav's 325 heading putting in our destination into the Tom Tom software. Jav put on an MP3 CD on his stereo and from the opening few cords I knew this was a song I would like. However, there was a major problem with his ICE, resulting in a piercing buzzing feedback from the amp, which made songs heard at low volumes (particularly in the rear) unbearable. To compensate and improve the quality, the volume was blasted up. The song he played was a smooth RnB track by Lloyd featuring the angelic vocals of Ashanti. I knew straight away that this was a song I would download the moment I got back home. I asked about the song title, but there was no need, the chorus came up soon enough. Only for the scratched CD to begin skipping and for Jav to ultimately turn off the stereo. The track was called Southside and the debut single from the album of the same name released in 2004. I am surprised it missed my radar, as I am such a big fan of smooth RnB. You know the type, songs you would listen to while driving to pick up your gal. (This was confirmed later, when I discovered Jav had also copied Savage Garden - I Knew I Loved You on the same disc).

We eventually found the city centre after driving around for a few minutes and parked up on what appeared to be a main shopping street. As Jav reversed, Dee who had been sitting next to me at the back woke up from his beauty sleep and said, "Bruv, your not going to find any clubs here, trust me..." Thanks for those words of wisdom after we had driven some fifty miles. There were some 17 year old girls waiting at a bus stop, so Pav and I (urged on by Jav) went to ask them about any club that was near by. Just up the road and on the left, we were politely informed. We thanked them for their time and ushered the guys out of the car. They crossed over the road and we walked up to the club. There was quite a crowd of people outside but no real queue. We walked up to the door, to find three doormen, one who was bald. He said 'Nein' in stern voice, closing the door in our faces. Pav and I looked at each other and shrugging our shoulders headed up the street. We looked for other more friendly bars, but everything was quite busy and it was getting late. It must have been coming up to 10.30pm by now. We walked around for a while, through the main square to find a nice cosy Italian restaurant, where we were warmly welcomed and ordered some food. After quite a lavish meal, where the starter was bigger than the main course, I felt surprising full and sleepy and in no mood for dancing. It was several minutes after midnight by the time we headed back to the car. Jav was tempted to bottle the door of the club that had rejected us. It may be 2006, but attitudes in some parts of the world have not changed. You would be worried that this country is about to host the biggest sporting event on the planet in a few months.

Due to a malfunction with the Tom Tom, we did not get back to the hotel until 2am. I felt sorry for Jav, he was driving at night, without any idea if he was heading the right direction, with all his three passengers sound asleep. Apart from the odd curse to the GPS system, I did not hear anything but woke up towards the end of the journey. By this time Jav's concentration was lapsing and he blasted on his stereo to aid his conentration. Singing along to a garage track, Monster Boy - I'm Sorry. I thanked him when we eventually got to our hotel, but I think he just wanted to fall onto his bed and rest.

Sunday, perhaps looking back was a wasted day. We got up quite late and noting that the track was quite wet tried to have a bit of a carefree day and see where it took us. After breakfast we chilled in the hotel for a while before heading off to the castle. Castle Nürburg is perhaps the second most famous part of the village (after the racing track) 'burg' actually means castle, which explains many of the city / town names across Germany. We headed over to the castle and took a walk up to the top of the tower. The castle is clearly visible from our hotel balcony and is the imposing local landmark through day and night (when it is lit up). We walked up to the main gate, to discover it cost €2,10 per person. Then looking through the ticket office, there was nobody in, so having handed all our change over to Pav we decided to leave him carrying it. Walking up the stony road, there were just a few local tourists on this quiet Sunday afternoon. Most people had opted to stay in bed. Stopping to take some photos, we brave the narrow entrance and climbed the stairs to the top. The view was amazing and you could make out our hotel and the main paddock where you join the Ring.

All across you could see the beautiful green moutains of the Rhineland. Breathtaking, majestic, peaceful, with a tiny trace of fog descenting over them. A glorious view and well worth the walk up. Sure this was a lad's weekend away, all about the cars and the track but it was great to spend some time away from burning rubber and actually take in our surroundings. I feel too many people go to places, all across the world and never actually seen anything. They go with this predetermined agenda to complete a set critera of objectives but come back unsatisfied.

Two final incidents to mention, the first while still on the continent. We were about fifteen to twenty minutes from Calais and having switched drivers, I was riding with Jav in the 325. A dark Renault Megane estate was tailing Pav's M3 but as we keeping up a steady speed in our two car convey, there was no option for him to undertake. Jav noticed him in the rear view mirror and requested they pull over to let him come up behind us. Then Jav would let the cat out of the bag! Accelerating he came up behind us, hoping we would move out of the way and then took both hands off the wheel to shrug in disapproval. This Frenchman was angry now. A few minutes of driving at a steady 110km/h, Jav put his foot down and accelerated away into the distance. The black Megane tried to keep up but with little affect. Then Jav slowed down again and really start to taunt the driver. He asked Pav to pull off to the slow lane ahead, so we drove up pulled up next to him and matched his speed, then opening our window preceding to have a long winded conversation about nothing. I was in stitches in the passenger seat, watching in the wing mirror as this temperatures started to boil. Jav was loving every second and seemed to be a veteran at the game. Eventually the driver did pass, but we only had the satisfaction of seeing the passenger, on the phone (to the police perhaps?). On the other side of the water, as we drove back to Wycombe, we listed to Invicta FM. It was the only station worth listening to in range, BBC Radio 1 was playing some heavy dance, even though it felt like a Sunday evening, it was a Monday and I had to keep reminding myself it was so. The Fridge presented by Stephen Sullivan winding down after a Bank Holiday Weekend. Callers were requesting their own songs and the first to be requested as we listened was A Thousand Miles by Vanessa Carlton. (Wikipedia is amazing, I've only just discovered from reading the hyper linked entry that Vanessa's boyfriend is Stephen Jenkins, the lead singer of 3EB!). This song was perfect for the drive home, as we had covered nearly 1000 miles on our weekend drive to Germany. The second song requested was the Candlelight Mix cover of Heaven by DJ Sammy. A moment to sit back relax, we were almost home and look back at the weekend, with a smile.

The low point of the weekend came when I got home, it was at 22:42 I called the RAC. My battery had run flat and needed kick starting. Of all the talk about having problems with Pav and Jav's cars, it was my car back in London that let the side down. I had work in the morning and there was no point in me waiting to call them in the morning, so I called them straight away. Within fifteen to twenty minutes On Time arrived in the big pickup trailer. The roar of the diesel engine must have woken most of my street, but I did not care, I need to bring my car back to life. Surprisingly when it did eventually start, I was told I would have to drive it around for about an hour to make sure the alternator started to charge the battery enough for a cold start in the morning. So I planned to speed down the M40, turn around at Uxbridge before it becomes the A40 and then head back home. When I signed the paperwork, the rescue guy, told me that he had been down to Nurburgring himself several years ago for a long weekend, racing trucks! Wow, everyone into cars has been to that place and now, so have I.

Tuesday 18th April 2006

Perhaps the most difficult aspect of anything in life, is getting started. Getting the motivation to begin. Just as I feel right now, staring blankly at my pencil notes from the weekend and wondering how to convert the scribbled words on the page into a readable blog entry. Having thought about it, I feel I should go back to the true beginning of this tale. The entry is recorded back on Saturday 14th January and ironically it was exactly three months later that I find myself waking up heading off to the what could be consider a dream destination for petrol heads. Everything had been packed the night before and I had everything laid down neatly on my desk, a file with all the important paperwork. I was ready, I was slightly tired but I was prepared. Pav text me in the morning and he was on his way. After an exchange of message, mainly about if there were final things he needed to check, his final phrase was 'Wir Gehen Zum Nurburgring!' I smiled as I read the message, even with my poor understanding of the language I could work out what he meant. The tension was building in my living room as I waited for him arrive, constantly looking out of the window at the drive, paying little attention to MTV Base. His M3 pulled up quick on my drive and I headed out with my travel case to his car. I was heading to Germany, this was really happening.

First stop was for some fuel at my old work place, Shell Cressex. The petrol station had recently had a refit with a full purpose built coffee area to replace aging fridge in the corner. I paid for what would be my first of two fuel rations, knowing that we just needed enough to get to Dover as the fuel would be much cheaper on the continent. I took the opportunity to take some quick photographs of the clean car. After all my friend had slaved some of last night with a bucket and sponge to get the sports car looking ready for the drive. To the annoyance of the all the travel makers in the people carriers, I took a couple of pictures, while they waited in line for their fuel. We were on our way and heading in Dee's postcode into the HP Jornada 568 running Tom Tom software and connected to a serial cable GPS kit, we hit the M40. The car sounded awesome and a mouthwatering prospect for the track. The potential of the weekend was slowly coming apparent, as Pav put his foot down on the motorway. There were more surprises to come though. We went over to Gerrards Cross and pulled up outside Dee's beautiful house in suburban Buckinghamshire. We marked up in front of the bright red Civic Type-R, as Dee came out to welcome us in. Going to his room, Pav installed the Tom Tom software onto the Nokia 3660. This took slightly longer than expected, so I watched MTV Base (which was on) passing the time, waiting for Jav to arrive, late as usual I was informed. I feel to pieces in laughter while watching the trail for MTV Pimp My Ride UK. It is a classic with a pimply teenager watches the show and is inspired to do his own modifications. He goes into his sister's bedroom and rips out the stereo from the wall, then he gets his plump friend to sit in the back seat of the Nova to lower the back! He takes the drainage pipe from the outside of the house and uses this as a heavy rear bumper. Pav and I laughed about it later on the drive to Dover but little did we know how much more we would laughing over the course of the weekend. We were still waiting for Jav and he called and I picked up Dee's phone and spoke to him. He was leaving in a few minutes. Pav, meanwhile was having trouble installing the European maps onto the memory card on the phone. I should really be illustrating most of these points in photographs but I have still to sort them out. This afternoon at work I finally transferred the 469mb RAR file to Pav via FTP. Only after spanning into ten chunks of 50mb. After completing the upload which took about 25 minutes, I then began the download of Pav's pictures. A 230mb RAR file, which I left downloading over night.

Let me get back on track and back to Friday morning. So around 10.30am, we packed the cars and headed out onto the M25. Initially Pav was going to lead but Jav wanted to over rule the sat nav for a few miles before we got onto the motorway, where we finally pushed out onto the fast lane and took over. We were on our way there and I was getting even more excited, but trying my best to keep the feelings inside. I opened the glove box to find the walkie talkies. We should have handed one receiver to Dee but were well on our way now, but hopefully at our first stop we would use them. As he happened, we stop for tea and a break at the local service station on the M25, just before the M20 turn off. It was hear the holiday truly began as we handed Dee the walkie talkie. He was like a young child in a sweet shop, loving every second. We headed back onto the wet, dull and grey motorway but knew that within less than an hour we would be boarding the ferry for France and our adventure could truly begin.

I have never really had walkie talkies in a long car journey before. Pav mentioned in February that he used them with his friend Tom, when traveling up the M1 to Leicester and they used it to clear each other to overtake vehicles and hammer it on the fast lane. Of course, there was almost exactly a month ago when I went to see Hussein in Harrow. Although that was a two mile drive down the road to the wash centre. This time around it was vital. The great things was we didn't need to constantly call each other, we could make contact at quite long range and explain where we were on the motorway. Dee was loving, constantly buzzing me on the two way. We were using channel 2, and the quality was crystal clear. Although at times it was hard to comprehend what was said because the first part of the conversation was missed with the radio on so high. I had, perhaps rudely taken over the in car entertainment and tuned into BBC Radio One for the journey down to the coast.

Being able to quickly send each other messages about the traffic and weather conditions ahead and also confirm that both Tom Tom devices were pointing in the same direction made every difference. There was crazy fog as we got off the motorway onto the A20. You could just about see a few metres ahead of you but Pav continued out in the fast lane in the dual carriage with Jav's 325 not that far behind. Sure enough a few minutes later, we could see those famous white cliffs (just about) through the fog and pulled around to the departure area. I grabbed my bag with our passports and paperwork and headed to check in. It was 12:44pm, according to Pav's in car clock. Exactly an hour before our ferry was to depart these shores. After a few minutes we were issued with our boarding pass and headed for lane 157. Jav and Dee, right behind us got issued to lane 158, even though for a while I thought they were pulling my leg. We parked up and then finally, Pav started to get excited. We were boarding Gate 7 and there was a good few minutes before embarkation would start, plus with a stream of coaches to our left, it would be sometime before our lane was ushered on board. We boarded the Pride of Canterbury, one of the older ships in the P&O fleet. Making our way onto the deck to get some food, we realised it was extremely busy and the queue at the International Food Court was crazy. However after walking around the deck to find no where else available that served food, it was down to me to make a executive decision and return to the food court and get in lined. After lunch, we were informed by the captain that there were about ten minutes until the ferry would dock. We headed to the back of the ship and out on the upper decks. It was a blustery cold afternoon, with the sky still grey but the rain just holding off. A Nigerian tourist came up to me and asked me take his picture. Not once, but several times. First with his jacket on, then another without his jacket, then another two just to be sure. He was very courteous and genuinely happy that I had taken these pictures of him. I then took Pav's camera, and went to the rear of the vessel and took some photos of the sea and my fellow travelers on this road trip.

Heading back to our cars, I checked Pav's in car clock and it was 3:04pm, I took a photograph. It was 4pm, local time and we had a good six hour journey ahead of us. Driving on the right. The 325 got let out first, so was several cars ahead by the time we left the portv, I have some news, fresh off the presses. Most people use their personal message block on MSN to say something silly or describe that they are aware from the computer and busy. I rarely use it, apart from the odd occasion to let people know I am watching football on television. On Tuesday in the week, Pav's message changed to a alphanumeric combination and I messaged him straight away to find out if the change had taken place. He had only just received the documents but the plates would be made up later this week and fitted as soon as possible. On Wednesday I got sent an image via MSN of the rear plate but they were unfitted and had only just been printed. I had been pestering him most of the past few weeks to send me a picture the moment the plates were on the vehicle. Then, quite unexpectedly at thirteen minutes past minute this morning, Pav sent me the following attachment on e-mail, direct to my Hotmail account. Not sure about you, but that looks ultra cool and suits the car down to the ground. Bring on the Nuremburg Ring! On that note, enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Friday 24th February 2006

There was a big doubt that I would make it to Friday and be able to finally enjoy the weekend. The moment came, just after 7.30pm when I put the volume up on the television and starting channel surfing the music television channels. I came across The Hits, who were showing the Top Fifty 'Shoulda Been Number One' tracks and on came my favourite 90s track by the Australian pop star, Kylie Minogue. Sure, 'Better The Devil You Know' does have the full SWA signature all over it, but it is still a great feel good pop song, and there are the first signs of what was to come. I should really add Kylie to my Top 10 listing. Then over on the Vault, they screened another classic Number 2 from 2003, by Mis-Teeq, 'Scandalous'. Three years old and still sounding as fresh as it did on the day of release. To those people who do not understand and have never truly experienced the Friday Feeling, it is difficult to explain. It is just the buzz of yet another working week over and some forty eight hours to yourself. This week has been a bigger struggle than most, but we battled through, even if at times it was touch and go. Perhaps it is a western cultural thing. Unfortunately you will not twork does include this orbital which was to be the last of our main three lane superhighways before we went urban, rural and then almost off road. Stay with me on this.

It was getting dark by the next time we stopped at a Shell petrol station. Here they sold V Power, their premium unleaded fuel. In the UK it is known as Optimax. We had hoped for an octane count of 100 but it was only 98, Pav wanted to fuel his car full to keep it going until we hit the track tomorrow. I told him that I would pay and before he could argue I headed over to the kiosk (in the middle of the forecourt) and paid the €75. They had all the apparatus of chip and pin, yet I was still asked to sign the form. As we pulled off back onto the motorway, I realised we were about hit the meat of our journey and the weather had not improved. If anything it had got worse. The rain was coming down, it was dark and visibility was poor. I could Pav with his eyes wide open trying to concentrate on the road ahead. My memory, almost a week later is patchy but thankfully the walkie talkies kept us in constant contact with each other and Dee entertained us all the way. We came off the motorway and drove down a busy main road, with many big supermarkets, retail stores and the big M (which we will return to on the way home). Slowly we were taken through a small town, through winding roads. We missed a turning but the GPS re-calculated the route and took us around the town to a small roundabout on the outskirts of town. To our right, there was a dark forest and the GPS was taking us in this direction. Pav was leading at this point and we headed onto what appeared to be a deserted country road. Little did we know what we would face for the next four miles. The signs were there of a roadworks, with a steamroller on the side of the road, and signs in French (or Flemish) warning us of the danger that lay ahead but being completely ignorant we just drove on. Then we saw it and you tell Pav was nervous for his baby car. He slowed down to a crawl, grabbed the walkie talkie and warned Jav that his car was about to take hell of a beating. I looked at the satellite navigation to make a mental note of the road name. B258. I can only describe it as a gravel road but with stones as big cricket balls, it was not a nice surface to be taking your car. Trust me, I would not even have driven my Punto on this road. While a short drive on this track would not have been a major issue, just a minor annoyance, However the GPS was keeping us on this road for over six miles, although it felt much longer. We drove at snails pace with Jav following our line, to avoid all the deadly pot holes. However as it was single file traffic with signals either side, the lights changed the other end, with two cars headed towards us. One vehicle stopped but a drive in a Volvo, put his foot down, over took and headed straight towards us. Only have to reverse a few minutes later as he realised that we were coming through and not stopping for him. We got some strange looks for driving so slow, but it did not bother us, we wanted to get Nurburgring in one piece. (Without calling out the RAC and making use of the European Cover I had taken out). After this road, we crossed the bordered into Germany. It was a bit of a surreal experience. The fog was thick and heavy, and no other car to be seen, as we drove up (or was that down) a road with nothing but forest to either side. Rather spooky and Dee (had to) mention the wild wolves, he wanted to stop to take photos but we convinced him not to. I took some pictures with Pav's camera but they would never do justice to this track of road, that can only be described as the road to hell. It was getting late, but the destination kept me going, as I am sure it kept the rest of the boys going. The rest of the journey is perhaps rather boring, but the most dramatic of the entire day. Of course it was pitch black, but we could make out some of the mountains we were driving through and around. An hour and a half away from our destination we saw a stunning scene of what appeared to be some castle ruins, but had little time to admire the view. The roads had some crazy twists and turns and I commented to Pav that they were just warming him up for the Ring itself. You had to concentrate, but it was hard in the dark, never having driven these road before. Thankfully the rain had eased off but the fog persisted. Eventually we saw signs for Nurburgring but we were still at least forty minutes away. It was errie how little traffic was on the road. Apart from a few foreign plates, most of the locals must be either tucked up in bed or down the pub. Something that I have never know in England. The roads are always consistent with traffic. It was time to change the record, or rather CD. We had listened to Kanye West at least three times and it was starting to get annoying. Before this I had chosen, KT Tunstall as something mellow, easy on the ears. Pav decided to put on Embrace and their fourth album released two years ago, Out Of Nothing. I have heard a selection of their material, mostly when I worked in Jackson Stores in Leicester, two years ago. Of course the only song familiar to me on this album was Ashes as it is played on Match Of The Day. Overall a great band with some fantastic soothing, emotive lyrics. Perhaps the ideal soundtrack to the final part of our journey and ease us into what would be a fantastic weekend.

Monday 17th April 2006

The time is 23:07 as I begin to write this entry late on Monday evening. I arrived twenty minutes ago, dropped off by Pav from my lad's weekend in Germany. (That does give the impression of a stag weekend, but that could not be further from the truth) Over the past four years many entries promise to be the greatest entry I have ever written. Well perhaps in the past I have left my loyal readership down, without truly realising they were being short changed. Sure I have written some fantastic entries, but over the next few days, I am going to put into works the events of the past 96 hours, with the help of videos, 579 digital photographs (448 Olympus 5060, 131 CyberShotU respectively) and the three sides of A4 blog notes I made during the early hours of the morning, trying to record as much of the weekend as possible. I came onto the computer to catch up after four solid days without internet access (although there was a desktop with free internet access in the hotel lobby, I kept away from the temptation), Outlook bought up the following reminder:

Time for bed but over the next few days I will get my act together and fill you in on all the details from the weekend. One omission, if I may. I did not record any pod casts. The reason? We did not take a Nokia charger with us and none of us bought a travel plug adapter for Europe? The alternative to borrow Dee's in car charger, but with everyone else's batteries running low, I opted for the better option. Switching off my mobile phone.

Thursday 13th April 2006

I set off early to avoid any jams which would delay me no end. The inter web directions had taken me on the M25 and M11, but I had decided over the weekend, that the best option was the M40, A40 and A406. No nonsense, just the most direct route. There was an air of optimism in the air as I drove to into London, in the semi-darkness. For some strange reason I was really looking forward to my week away from Wycombe. Sure East London is not most glamorous destination in the world, but having the world's most expensive capital city on my doorstep was an great opportunity. This one was not going to pass me by. I had already checked on my AZ and there was a DLR station (at the end of the line, of all things) right next to my hotel, so commuting was not a problem. I actually found myself over at Gallions Reach retail park, tucked away behind the main road (with no visible sign posts!). It was here, in a deserted car park, that I recorded my first pod cast. This is a milestone for me and this web site. I was planning to record some more audio on my 6230, but never really got around to it. Instead I focused on taking photographs. The sun was shining bright in a clear blue sky, so I had to take some photographs.

A few minutes later, I was driving again towards the client site, to arrive much earlier than expected (8am) eager to start the job, but perhaps that was the only way to ensure the job got done. Around 5.30pm in the evening I headed, with my colleague following to my hotel, which was about a five minute drive away. I checked in and was in room 64, in the second adjacent building. We got to my room , after signing the necessary papers and confirming arrangements for breakfast just before 6pm and I got to watch the BBC News for the first time in what seemed like years. I text Tazza, who lives down the road in Manor Park if he wanted to meet up this week. His reply was Saturday. I wanted to laugh. We opted to try the Brewers Fayre, a pub, part of the hotel complex, both owed by parent company, Whitbread PLC which also has fingers in other pies across the high street, as a hospitality super group. It was coming up to 6.30pm and it was busy but we found a seat, overlooking the main road and ASDA superstore. We decided on our order, only to go to the bar and be told that the following were off the menu, whereby I was handed a till roll with over ten items that could not be ordered. What a joke! Thankfully my meal was available but for my colleague, he had to choose something else, which he did. The food arrived a bit later and wasn't too bad. The sun was setting in the distance and you could make out Canary Wharf, just above the trees, beyond the supermarket.

My colleague left at 7.30pm and would be back to pick me up thirteen hours later. As I walked back to my room, I rang Tazza, hoping he was free later this week to meet up. He was busy for a few days but we arranged to meet up straight after work on Wednesday. Great. Now, what to do tonight? Rather than head off to London, I opted to spend the night in the hotel, I was tired and not really in the mood for traveling, plus it was getting late, I wanted an early night. Getting out my work laptop I tried to hook up to the wireless network (which looking at the leaflet in my room, was simple). I picked up a network, 'Linksys' and connected but received no bytes and could do little else. I then decided to speak to Chris and see if he could find an 0800 dial up number, so I could connect up via good old fashioned analogue. I remember years ago, having the BT Open World number on the family PC and although it did take ages to connect up, when you were online, you had completely free internet access for two hours before they cut you off. For once the power of Google left us disappointment, regardless of the key word combination we used. Never mind. I always had my X30 and 6230. Switching on infra-red, I connected up the PDA to the mobile and a GPRS connection was made, as slow as dial up, but I was online and able to quickly check my e-mail, a few web pages and then disconnect, weary of how much bandwidth I had used. The television choice was limited, with substandard quality to even Free View. Apart from the standard terrestrial channels, there was a multi Sky digital tuner plugged into the system but only screening selective channels. S4C for some strange reason, BBC Three (but no BBC Four) CBeebies, Chart Show Television and a select premium rate channel advertising among others tarot card readers. There were also a handful of radio stations being broadcast as well, but appeared to be the same screen from the days of analogue satellite (if any of you remember those?) After flipping around for a few minutes and finding nothing on worth watching, I got out my German phrase book and CD. For over an hour I listened to the CD and tried to familiarise myself with the key words. I gave up after a while, I had limited concentration and opted to watch Family Guy on divx, only to discover I had not downloaded the divx codec onto my work laptop. Great, can hear Peter Griffin but not see him! With that final defeat of the day, I went to bed, hoping that tomorrow would be better.

My biggest worry was getting up late and having to rush to the office (even though it was only a mile or so down the road). Therefore I got up early, very early by my current standards, at 6am. (Even though two years ago, I would be leaving my house to go to London at that time) Eventually I dragged myself out of bed to get ready. I was suited and booted, and ready to head down for breakfast, when the fire alarm sounded. It was 7.04 exactly (the television has an inbuilt clock) and I rushed out of my room, then calmly walked down the fire escape out of the door at the back of the building. There was no one else about, a few other residents had made the trip over to reception. The lack of urgency from everyone (including members of staff) put me at ease as I headed over to the restaurant for breakfast. As I walked back through reception, I asked what the problem had been with the alarm going off so early. The helpful attendant explained a female had left her hairdryer running, right under the smoke alarm which had caused the alarm to sound. She was very courtesy and apologised several times about the inconvenience. It was never such a thing, but had I still been in the shower, then it would have been a completely different story. I discovered that it was a bunch of American kids staying in my block that had been responsible. I say 'kids' but they seemed of high school age, if not college. Thankfully, their coach had arrived to take them off to their next destination, so I would have some peace for the remainder of my stay. I headed over to ASDA, to get some money from the cash point, it was a quiet morning with everyone getting on with their daily tasks, while I was on a mini adventure.

After work, I got dropped off at 5.20pm. Laying on the bed and watching children's television for the first time in several years, pondering what to do with my evening. I would not be spending the night within these four walls, that was for sure. I text a few friends but most were busy, I even called a friend but they too were either ill or too busy. In the end I opted to just head out and see what I could find. I was hungry but could wait a while for some food. I was going to just jump on a train and see where it took me. After watching both Hollyoaks and then Eastenders, I headed out at 8pm sharp. I bought my ticket for the monorail and the conductor, sorry I mean Passenger Service Agent held the train at the platform, while I collected my ticket from the machine. On boarding I asked when the last train back to Beckton was, 12 midnight I was firmly informed. Great. Less than four hours to do as I pleased. I had my CyberShotU in my pocket and was ready and willing to use it. I retraced my route back to Canning Town and then took the Jubilee Line back to Bond Street. Here as I came out of the tube station onto Oxford Street, across the road I saw the Subway sign, but also the unmistakable bright orange, easyInternetCafé sign. I was tempted to go straight across, but opted to casually walk up Oxford Street, then cross over walk back down. I ordered a 6 inch sub and then purchased one hour credit for £ 2, which does seem reasonable, but the quality of the service and equipment does still leave much to be desired. Yet, I am not one to complain, I needed my Internet fix and was hoping an hour would be enough until I returned home, late on Thursday evening. After having my sandwich I found a free computer, towards the back of the store. Overall it was quiet with a handful of machines in use. An elderly gentleman of scruffy appearance was asleep on two wooden chairs to my right and looked startled as I appeared and sat down. I logged in and entered my credit number. I was online! Yah! First things first, e-mail, read and check. Then I read a few of my daily blogs, one of which I captured. As usually I did not know which sites to visit, so ended up some browsing around. It was refreshing to be online, but when I looked up, away from the screen it stated that the store closed at 10pm, so rushed my final few minutes and then headed out. I wanted to go for a walk down by the river but was cautious of the time I had left in the capital. Taking the tube from Bond Street back down to Westminster, I went above ground to take a few pictures. There were a hoard of Japanese tourists also taking photographs of the London Eye and Houses of Westminster. I did the same, but after a few minutes headed back underground to catch the Jubilee line to Canning Town. Here, I waited a few minutes to catch the DLR to Beckton. I felt much better after doing something productive, having some good healthy food and get online. As I came to my stop, I took a few more pictures of the surrounding area. In the far distance, you can see the HSBC Tower and Canary Wharf. With a graving for desert, I headed over to ASDA, which was thankfully open until midnight to get a bottle of chilled apple juice and some chocolate choux. Heading back to the hotel, I watched some television while eating my food, I was not as tired as I had initially thought and actually listened to Radio 5 Live on my portable DAB radio until 1am, soon after which I fell asleep.

Wednesday was a productive day, particularly with one of the directors helping us with the rollout. Although many would consider this be more of a supervision visit, our colleague was there genuinely to help. We seemed to hit a high gear and get box after box of laptops out of the door. The day itself went very fast, as days do when you are busy. I was back at the hotel by 5pm. I text Tazza, we had arranged to meet up at 6pm at Liverpool Street station. However, he let me down which left me in a dilemma. What to do? There was little chance of me staying in the hotel for another night, my last night out on business. I text a few friends around London, but none replied. I then opted to call my friend, who I had not seen in almost two years. To my surprise they answered their phone and agreed to meet in Leicester Square within an hour or so. I got ready and headed out to the DLR station and jumped on the monorail. It was 6.30pm. I got into the West End about fifty minutes later and it was busy, as usual. After waiting what seemed like a long ten minutes, my friend appeared at the opposite other side of the road. We met up, went for some food just off the main square and over dinner decided what to do? We had a few hours to spare so ended over to Embankment, walked across the Millennium Bridge to see the River Thames by moonlight.

A beautiful scene, but it could not last forever. We walked past the London Eye, to see the Palaces of Westminster across the river. It was our final destination, taking a few photographs along the way, mingling with the tourists out late in the capital. Then it was time to go and I felt my week drawing to a close. I headed east, while my friend headed north on the Northern Line. A pleasant quiet evening, chilled, mellow. The perfect way to relax after the intensity of the working day. I took an alternative journey home, to Bank station then taking the DLR from where it begins out to the west and my final destination, Beckton. I had a craving for a cup of tea, perhaps because this week I have had more cups of tea than I have in an average month. After watching whatever was on the television, I feel asleep, knowing that Thursday bought me ever close to Friday, the sea and the open road to Deutschland.

Rather not give the exact time of day, but having arrived at the client office at 8.30am sharp, I feel I was entitled to leave a little earlier. After all the job had been done and to a high standard, as you would expect. I took off my jacket before taking a comfortable driving position. The sun was shining in the clear blue sky, and I had left my sunglasses at home. I blasted the stereo before starting the engine. Driving through the barrier and out of the complex, I put my foot down. I was on cloud 9, the mother of all weekends had finally, after months of waiting arrived. I sped onto the A406, driving past my hotel. It was busy, but the traffic did not bother me or my mood. Desperately seeking the perfect Friday night tune for a Thursday afternoon was interesting. I listened to Ultra and a mixture of other compilation albums on my drive home. Perhaps the most appropriate record to play (which of course I did) was Semi-Charmed Life by Third Eye Blind. The weekend was here baby and I was trying to prepare myself. I pulled into ASDA supermarket when I came off the motorway to get some Easter Eggs. On my way down to the store from my car, I called Pav. He must have been asleep but I left a strange message which ended with a reminder for him to not forget his passport. I was so excited, I do not think I have ever so jubilant about a weekend ever.

Sunday 9th April 2006

"Big players, score big goals in big games..." came the rhetoric from Andy Gray this afternoon, as Park scored the second decisive goal against Arsenal at the Theatre of Dreams. BBC commentary was always heading down the road to meaningless drivel, but you would expect Sky with their excellent coverage to provide the cream of football commentary, particularly for big title deciders, such as this when the big guns lock horns. Sure, I was disappointed with the defeat, but it was not a limp performance from the Gunners by any means. Wayne Rooney was a class act and if it was not for Jens the score line could have been far harsher to the visitors. Our Scottish commentator was appalling, using his now infamous, "top drawer" phrase minutes before using yet another well warn football cliché. You want to admire great goals, great passage of play, but the job of the commentator is to express with a vast vocabulary what you have just seen unfold on the pitch. I could have done a better job this afternoon. Commentary from five is starting to look quite appealing.

Chris lent me his Playstation on Wednesday but I only had time to hook it up to the television upstairs yesterday evening. Now, I don't play computer games anymore, even Mouse Breaker is beyond my basic skills, but the key to GT4 is the realism. It truly replicates the exact track, almost to inch point detail. (I of course will be better able to confirm this next weekend). I picked the track from the World Circuit menu, after selecting Arcade Mode, to get myself behind the wheel as soon as possible. The 2004 M3 was chosen in the typical burgundy colour, which I was informed by the 'game' to be Imolarot. Sure enough a few minutes later I was being told to my foot (or thumb) full on the throttle as the race started. Straight away, you could understand why so many people look like ghosts, when you mention the name of this famous piece of tarmac. The corners are sharp and the lack of visibilty staggering, you lose yourself on the track, having to constantly look at the on screen map to find out when the next dredded hairpin is. An hour or so went by, as I drove around and around the track, never really looking to clock a record time, but just learn the track and perfect (if there ever is such a word) the racing lines. Plus the setting itself is so traquil, quietly set in the Germany countryside. My mouth was watering at the prospect of next weekend. After another hour or so on the PS2, I switched it off (it was hard work, but I eventually forced myself to) and headed down for dinner. Straight afterwards, I was on the computer and searching for more and more information on the Ring. Pav was online too, working nights and bought some shocking news, there was a problem with his car and it would be a race against time to have it ready before Friday. All the excitement from the evening disappeared in an instant, but there was hope. Hope that perhaps it could get repaired in the coming week and then we were good to go again. Meanwhile I have uploaded some screenshots onto a new FlickR set.

The return of Dr. Who on Saturday and I will be out of the country. Thankfully my dear friend Hussein is going to digitally tape it for me. Hopefully I can grab the DVD from him before the next showing the following weekend. I am really looking forward to it. The trails shown on BBC One (even those that watch minimum television, can't have missed it) look very impressive. The Doctor looks fresh, youthful, ready for a new challenge, but smart and intelligent (as the Doctor should always be).

Friday 7th April 2006

With a week to go, you could forgive me for going absolutely crazy, unable to hold in my excitement for what the Easter weekend will hold. Pav too, has tried his best to keep his feelings deep down inside, them only briefly appearing above the surface. For example, his MSN personal message now reads, "7 days until the Ring :)". Everything is set, I just need to sort out some Euros and perhaps buy the odd piece of clothing to take with me. All this will be completed in the early part of next week. While I could go further into the building up to Good Friday, I will instead focus on this week and bridge the gap of the weekend.

As you know, I have suddenly fallen in love with the Treo Smart phone. Hussein has taken this on board and on Monday this week by starting MSN conversations with a URL for eBay auctions selling the device. It was tempting, very tempting in fact but I had other more important things to focus on. A new phone would be great, for a few months but the novelty would soon wear out. However, I am considering purchasing a smart phone of some description (most likely Nokia) in August next year when I can next option an upgrade on my Vodafone contract. I warned my friend from Harrow that he would be banned for constantly sending me eBay URLs over MSN. It was only later in the week, while stumbling upon Dave's Daily Blog that I noticed a link to Bryan's Rules on Instant Messaging. Most of which I agree with and wish people would adhere to. The problem with IM is that so many people use it for several different purposes. Some keep it logged in but rarely chat. Other people chat too much, others too little. Perhaps we should all learn to follow only a few simple rules to make life in cyberspace so much better.

Next week is strange prospect, with me spending four days over in the Docklands, then returning home, packing once again to head over to Germany with Pav on Friday morning. Perhaps the most worrying element will be no internet access outside of business. Even net access within the office will be limited and highly restricted. I decided to turn the offer a 3G card from my colleague, Peter on the helpdesk. I would have to go cold turkey. I would have to face my demons and find something else to fill my evenings, rather than staring blankly at a computer screen for several hours. With London at my doorstep and most of the city at my beck and call, I think it will be a great opportunity to go and explore.

I am now regretting uploading the images of my Lynx (Axe) clicker over on my FlickR account. I have had at least three people ask me to send it to them. One individual evening leaving his full address in the comment box. Why do these people not understand that they are available free (relatively, the only cost is sending an SMS to a special number). Some people have tapped into this strange market with clickers selling on eBay for as much as £20. Now who would play this much for a novelty item, with no real purpose? Obviously some strange (and lonely) people out there who become hypnotized by a deodorant commercial.

Time for a quiet weekend, before my adventure on the continent. My plan is to get my haircut in the morning, head into town to get some last bits and pieces, pick up a copy of the The Independent newspaper, as it includes a teach yourself German compact disc, which I hope pick up some useful phrases. I want to make the most of my time in Germany and actually make an attempt to socialize with the locals. Think I will give my car a good clean, then on Sunday settle down on the sofa for three back to back Premiership games from 11.30am. Pushing towards a near perfect weekend if you ask me.

Monday 3rd April 2006

You would think after such a busy week at work, I would use the weekend to unwind, to relax and chill. Well that was what I had planned but after a slow start, things suddenly came together in the end. On Friday, I went into work late, well late my by my standards. I got in around 10am, which was not too bad. I was hoping to leave at 6pm on the dot, but unfortunately got landed with a rollout project. I did not mind really but being two men down it was a bit of a busy day. Packing up just before 6pm, having completed what I could, only to realise that as the training was on Monday, the more I got done now the less of a strain for Monday. I stayed until 6.45pm (approximately) before rushing out to my car, ringing my cousin and bursting onto the M4. Having missed Hollyoaks, throughout the week, I was keen not to miss Eastenders. I had only watched briefly the episode from Tuesday (28th) and of course was out of the country on 30th. It was the climax of the week, so I planned to get to Hayes and turn the car around and be home before 8pm if possible. It was tight, particularly with a build up of traffic at the Heathrow junction, but I might it in time. Just. While I always hate missing my favourite soap, it is quite easy to slip back in, particularly with so many people at work can fill you in on the details. Twists and turns, but ultimately the truth prevails (it always does) and the villain of the piece, eventually makes the right move.

Saturday I had planned to mow the lawn, it was sunny (to begin with) and I was hoping to fit it in after Football Focus. With my cousins and Aunty & Uncle over from India, our house was packed. The arrival of some guests, mid afternoon also added to the strain. I spent most of the afternoon on my computer, writing my last blog entry and listening to LBC 97.3. Finally a sports show that covers all the results from the local London teams. I enjoyed hearing all the Premiership goals being smashed in, only to find the BBC several minutes behind with their supposed live coverage on their web site. Kenny Samson was entertaining, particularly with his high time prediction that Arsenal would slaughter Aston Villa, at least five or six nil. Henry, once again had been the star of the show and I looked forward to watching the highlights on MOTD later that evening. Everything apart Arsenal just oozes confidence at the moment. Terry, sent me a link over MSN with fantastic pictures of the new stadium at Ashburton Grove. Following on from his visit when he went to choose his seat. Wow! How I envy that boy, but then he has been to more Arsenal games than most. Well earned in my humble opinion. My cousin wanted to watch the Spanish derby on Sky, so after a quick trip down to ASDA we settled down to watch the game. Expectations were high, with Real Madrid finally finding some form. There was big hype and personally as much as I hoped Madrid would put up a fight to add some spice to the end of the season, the reality was Barcelona looked to strong in the key areas. As you would expect, with home advantage the red and blue made the early running. Perhaps the dismissal of Carlos for a rash inexcusable challenge killed the game off as a contest? I only watched the first half, which by all accounts was the most entertaining. I came into my room around 10.25pm to watch MOTD, but as always was kept waiting for highlights of the Gunners. I have been recorded most highlights of Arsenal games this seasons, when I have been at home on a Saturday night. Poetry in motion, at times you cannot really use words to express what you see flowing on the football pitch.

Sunday, when it came around, as it always does was quite busy. I took my Uncle to Southampton to see an old friend. The weather was mixed, with sunny blue skies, then suddenly hailstones and heavy showers. Little did I know that my Uncle's friend was a prominent member of the community. He had helped a community radio station get itself off the ground. Unity 101 is the first Asian radio station to cover the city of Southampton. We were only at the station for a few minutes, meeting the studio manager, going into studio one and my Uncle requesting a song, which was then played and dedicated to him. Funnily enough, as we got into the car to head to the station, the DJ (Reema) had played Dr. Zeus - Kangna. We left Southampton at 6pm, with the sun shining and got back to Wycombe at 7.30pm. Earlier that evening, we had driven past St. Mary's Stadium and the marina. Pav had text me, that he was free to go to the cinema if we wanted to. I explained I was still in Southampton, but would ring him when I got home. I did and we thought we would go and watch V for Vendetta. The showing was at 9pm, so after a quick dinner I left the house and headed over to Reading. Normally these things are slightly better organised. Even if only a few days in advance, I usually book my tickets in advance. I usually get to the cinema early. I try to always get in time to hear the Pearl & Dean music. I got to Pav's house just before 9pm, parked up and waited for him to get back. We looked at the option of going to Winnersh, which had the movie screening at 10.10pm but by now Pav had arrived and we headed out in my car. I let Pav drive, as I had covered over 100 mile since Thursday. Crazy. We parked up and checked the clock on my dash, 21:18, were extremely late and the movie should have started by now. Rushing downstairs to the Riverside we casually walked to the cinema and went to the booth to book our tickets. We were informed by the attendant that there were still 2 minutes of trailers to run and the auditorium (screen 6) was only a quarter full. Result. Pav was the smooth operator, as always. We went upstairs got our pop corn and drinks and headed for the screen. We got in just in time to see the opening screen (the opening titles had already rolled) with Natalie Portland and the antihero V. Overall, it did not quite blow me away as I expected but it was not really an action movie. It was an intelligent, thought provoking story with an interesting set of characters, struggling to find themselves. I would highly recommend you go and see the film if you can, although it will not be a cinemas for much longer. Natalie Portland gives a great performance and the detective, Finch, played by Stephen Rea is compelling. The use of London as a backdrop is also quite original, we have go so used to big American landmarks being used in the movies we watch that this was refreshing. Plus the use of the explicit B word, which must be associated with us, English. Perhaps not the best film to see on a Sunday night when you want to unwind, but worth seeing all the same. Stephen Fry also was right at home with the humorous English gent role. Perhaps the most fascinating change was John Hurt. Going from rebel Winston Smith in Ninety Eighty Four to Chancellor in this film, some twenty two years later. How the tables have turned.

When I got home at half past midnight, I realised I had a bid going on eBay which was ending soon, two minutes to 1am, in fact. I switched on my computer, logged on, only to discover I had been outbid and had to do some serious biding to reclaim the item, just in time for the auction to end. Result. What did I buy? Another spare battery for my Olympus camera, but a genuine original battery not a replacement. I also upgraded the firmware for my camera on Friday night. I did some Google searches and eventually found a link to some software to download. Once downloaded, I plugged in my camera, rather the software, magic. Firmware updated and all past issues with the camera resolved. Oh how I love the power and beauty of the Internet.

Friday 31st March 2006

Rather than taking the sensible option and sleeping on the flight back to Luton, I decided to jot down some notes for this entry on the back of a couple of business cards. The elderly gentleman, sitting next to me, working on Sudoku puzzle #247 from a daily newspaper, looked up rather bemused as I scribbled down words, times and other pieces of information to jog my memory. So here I am, quite late on a Friday evening trying to piece together the last 48 hours of my life. Where to begin? I suppose it would be best to begin at the moment I discovered I would be taking a day trip out of the country.

He did it again. He caught me completely by surprise. There were murmurings of one of the key account managers taking a trip over to Dublin to resolve some ongoing issues with new users following on a restructure. My manager came over to my desk around 3.30pm, sniggering with a broad smile on his face, asked if I fancied a trip to Dublin. How could I say no? Right before I get bogged down with the technicalities of the why and how, I will (at some point) get around to righting a complementary entry on my work log. I will try to keep this entry light hearted and as non technical as possible, but please tell me if I fail to keep to this promise. So the company PA began looking for flights, which came to over £500 which just could not be justified. Eventually we were booked on a Ryan Air flight flying out from London Luton, rather than London Heathrow. However, while the departure airport was never really a major issue, the time of the flight was. 6.35 in the am, with a return flight at 10pm. Rock and roll. I was in mixed minds really, I was looking forward to a day out of the office, but did not know whether I would get all the reported issues resolved. Chris was amazed and gutted. "Why did Andrew get to become the globe trotting member of the helpdesk?" My manager was quick to jump in and respond by explaining the workload was shared equally, and Mr. Williams had had the luxurious trip and two night stay in Basildon, Essex. For a while it felt quite unreal, even when I was handed the printed e-mailed with booking confirmation and my name listed as the second passenger. I had to rush and grab some CDs from a developer, go over what I needed to check and then grab a work laptop to load on the software. Then, perhaps only when everyone had left and I was one of two people left in the office that the full prospect of Thursday hit me. A phone call from reception to explain that the bypass was closed, a nightmare at Handy Cross apparently (What is new?) It did not really bother me, my route home always takes the winding country roads underneath the dual carriageway and I usually get home in great time. Not tonight. Just before the turning into Marlow, I found myself stuck in heavy traffic at a standstill. Cars to my left where in a similar, if not worse state on the bypass. I noted down the time and mileage from my dash and scribbled them down on the back of a business card. 18:31 399.9. I had covered four hundred miles since my last tankful of diesel (which was on 15th March) and I was now, stuck in a traffic jam, just over 6 miles from home, running out fuel, the orange warning light on. Yet I tried not worry about it, I put on one of my favourite compliation CDs and put the volume up. I will get home at some point, this evening. I'm off to Dublin tomorrow!

I spend a good proportion of the evening over at Dave's house, trying to fix about five computer problems and only managing to actually resolve one. I must have got there around 7.30pm, thirty minutes or so after getting home from work. Dave had been trying to get hold of me for weeks, but something always came up. He even commented on MSN the other day that I was becoming harder to book than HRH The Queen. Not quite, but I have got a packed social calendar which makes time almost as precious as gold (and Arsenal away wins in the Premiership 2005/6). I wish I saw more of Dave but since he moved over from being next door it has become difficult. I got home around 10pm and spent the next hour or so online, knowing all to well that I would not have any personal internet access for the next twenty four hours. I started speaking to Mighty Mouse (of all people) even though it was late for him to be online but we spoke at length about his Treo. I commented on how it could only be a superhero to notice my stupid comment that I put BP Ultimate Unleaded in my turbo diesel and noticed the difference. His instant reply was, "not quite, but i am downloading all the Commodore 64 games that I used to have when I was 6 years old." He was talking my language and I was ready for a trip down memory lane before logging off for bed. He was downloading them to play on his smart phone. Wow! Just look at that leap in technology from a tape cassette player and a massive keyboard, to more than enough processing power in the palm (literally) of your hand. Technology continues (and will forever) amaze me! Instantly I thought of my favourite C64 game, which I used to play in the early 1990s at a friend's house. It featured BMX bikes but was not Paperboy as Hussein suggested. Some Google searches and five minutes later I had the answer, Motor Cross. Great, I would be able to sleep easy and not be racking my brain for the name of the computer game I used to play as a kid. My friend in Harrow started downloading the game, along with many others. However, he did not have his 1GB memory card, which he had ordered from dabs. A back order of an additional item, the Palm One car charger, meant the whole delivery was still pending shipment. Not to be undone, our friend decided to transfer almost a gigabyte worth of games via bluetooth at an alarmingly low transfer rate. I had to then interject with perhaps the corniest line I have ever delivered on MSN, "Good Things Come To Those Who Wait" but I was forgiven, merely for the fact I was going to home of Guinness within a few hours. As I was about to sign out, Hussein ask me to hold for a few seconds and I did, and he sent me two links to images he had just uploaded to his server. I opened them and was amazed at the sight of the C64 screen on a mobile phone screen. He added, "a bit blurred, but trust me, the graphics, speed and everything blows your mind!" Moments like this make me feel glad and proud to be such a geek. Don't believe me? Take just take a look.

So I was up sometime after 3.30am, having only signed off my computer and got into bed four hours earlier. My Mum actually came and woke me up first, then a few minutes my alarm clock (AKA mobile phone) went off and I dragged myself out of bed. Some quick breakfast, an even quicker shower and I was in my car at 4.22am. I opted to drove across Wycombe and towards Amersham and get onto the M25 at the top of the A404 junction, rather than go on the M40. The distance is about the same and the journey at this time of the morning would take roughly the same time. The music was chilled to lightly wake my sleepy head. By the time I got onto the London Orbital, I put my foot down, in fear of not making it to Luton in time. The traffic was light but there were half a dozen lorries cruising in the middle lane, which called for some heavy overtaking maneuvering. I pulled onto the M1, which has roadworks almost from the moment you get on, but nobody was observing the 40 limit. I settled for a cruising speed of just 20 miles above the permitted level and drifted into the outer lane all the way to junction 10. The airport is quite familiar to me, having picked up my cousin a few times and also dropped off and collected my sisters when they had their long weekend in Spain a few years ago. I parked up in a space but was surprised at how busy the place was and the number of vehicles already in the car park. I grabbed my laptop case and headed over to to the terminal building. I took out my phone and make a mental note of the time, it was 5.13am and I felt like I could find a uncomfortable steel chair (or two) and fall asleep for a few minutes, using the laptop case as a pillow. I headed around to the check in area to find out where our desk was. As you can expect, the one furthest away. I text my colleague and he called me up, seven minutes later, in fact. He was less than ten minutes away would dump his car and meet me. Cool, he was on time. While at times his punctuality does leave much to be desired, I was looking forward to this adventure in Dublin. After checking in, we headed up to the new departure lounge. At the Travel Ex bureau to our right, we waited to exchange some Euros. I headed off over to Dixon's and bought a USB key, mainly because I had misplaced (only temporarily) both my personal and work sticks. There was an Aston DB9 in the middle of the retail area, aptly named the Galleria, which was being given away in some strange competition, with only one day to go. A group of Japanese tourists were filming all over the car, while it was being cleaned. It was only then we decided to closely scrutinize our boarding passes, to discover that gate 2 was the other side of the building, a 15 minute walk we were warned. Time to wake up with some brisk walking as we dashed to the other side. It was not enough, my colleague needed some coffee to wake him up. We came down to the Costa outlet, to find an Eastern European chap, aged perhaps 18/19 unpacking the delivery. Politely we asked if we could have a coffee and tea. The response was a blunt 'We're Closed' before a frustrated shrug of the shoulders at our second time of asking and he finally went behind the counter to start brewing the drinks. Meanwhile I looked across to check our departure gate, thinking the big mass of people queuing were also for the flight to Ireland. How fatally wrong was that assumption to be? Looking back, I noticed a hand written sign on the counter, with the word 'CLOSED' in big green marker pen. We surely had given this airport employee the worst imaginable start to his shift. To add insult to injury, my colleague asked for a sandwich. I was surprised he bothered, but sure enough, he opened a brand new box of BLT sandwiches and took one out. By this time I was more concerned with the safety of my colleague than actually catching our fight. He had rubbed this young man up the wrong way and he was more than annoyed, particularly with two more customers waiting, impatiently. We headed towards the gate and there was no one around, with the screen showing in bright red lights, "FINAL CALL". We ran towards the flight attendants who checked our boarding passes but immediately stopped us from boarding. No hot drinks allowed on the flight. I didn't protest but it was a bit of a joke. The head hostess then referred us to our terms and conditions. I was not really in the mood to argue, still half asleep and longing to just get on the flight, sit down and get some sleep. However my colleague had other ideas and put together a line that only a big business executive could, "Our PA booked our flights" to which we received the blunt response that it is our own responsibility to check the T & C of the flight we are going to catch. We sat down and tried to down as much of our drinks as possible before boarding the flight. My tea was still extremely hot, but I drank over half before throwing it away. What a waste. We headed out into the dark morning to board the aeroplane, the Boeing 737-800. The flight was packed but there appeared to be seats right at the back, which a air hostess was standing by. We walked all the way to the back and were about to sit down when the stewardess said that the seats were closed? Excuse me? Closed? How can an airline afford to close thirty six seats on a peak flight to Ireland? What irritated me the most, was the fact the hostess had seen us walk the full length of the aircraft looking for seats and didn't warn us earlier. Turning around, I found a seat between an middle aged lady and guy in his late thirties, having stowed my laptop case in the above cabin lockers several seats down the aisle. I quite enjoy flying, perhaps because I was thrown onto a plane at the tender age of one and a half, in 1983. My favourite part is take off, when those jet engines roar to life and the plane hits over 500 miles an hour. I will refrain from breaking into 'Come Fly With Me' but it was a special moment, as we climbed to the cruising altitude, just above the clouds and the sun shone through the cabin from an easterly direction. Wow! I was off to Dublin, it was finally sinking in. It was tempting to just drift off to sleep, but I knew I would not get any rest. Instead I just sat back into my chair and looked out of the window.

As we came into land my ears starting popping. At first it was bearable but after a few minutes and more as we began our descent my left ear was in some discomfort. But apparently there is a way of stopping the distress, wish I'd read about valsalva manoeuvre before hand. We landed on time, to a grey sky but with the sun, trying to break through. We took a steady walk through passport control. They did not even look at my passport photo, a woman in the booth just waved us on, having seen our EU passports in hand. I switched on my mobile and watched as the 6230 connected up to the Vodafone IE network. I called home to let my Mum know that I had arrived safely. After the brief telephone call, I received a text from Vodafone. With words to the affect of, "Stay on Vodafone for the best call rate. Enjoy your stay." I thought that was very clever that they instantly knew I was abroad and sent out a courtesy SMS. We headed through security and out to the arrivals hall. This is where we were greeted by Dean.

Dean shook my hand as we walked outside to his silver Mercedes. The stories started straight away, with the hilarious tale from the previous day featuring our airline. I was in stitches before I got in the car, I would have laughed more but I was just too tired. As we got on our way to the city, the radio went into the details of the story of the flight landing at a military airport instead of Derry, which was five minutes away. We got onto the M50 but it was jam packed. I don't think I've seen a busy motorway like it ever before. We would have been stuck there for over two hours, had it not been for Dean pulling of at the nearest exit and taking the scenic route around to our destination. We cut through, Phoenix Park which, we were well informed the biggest park in Europe. I had bought my Sony CyberShotU to capture our day out and took a few pictures as we drove through the picturesque greens. The best of which I have uploaded onto FlickR but linked below. A satellite photograph from Google shows you exactly how big 1752 acres is.

I pick up the story at 5pm, as we left the offices of our client on a quiet industrial park miles away from the busy city. My colleague had made the comment that we had just three hours or so to spare before we had to get back to the airport. Check in time was around 9.15pm. So we had a decision to make. Drive into the city centre for food and drink or take the soft option of driving to a hotel near the airport. At first my colleague (who having been here before and being the account manager) made the decision to head towards the airport. Then a few minutes later decided to head to Temple Bar and our driver, Dean took us there. Driving past the Guinness brewery, we were treated to more tales from our taxi driver. It is people like him that make trips like this so interesting. The real characters you meet from time to time. The individuals that light up our lives. We were dropped off outside the Morgan Hotel to be collected a few hours later. We headed firstly to The Temple Bar Pub, my first traditional Irish pub with folk music played live by two musicians. Instantly you realise you are in Ireland, with the laid back approach. Waiting an age to be served and then waiting an age for your drinks to be served. What the heck, the work was done, it was time to chill out, relax and unwind. We took a stool at the back of the pub and had a quiet chat and planned our next step. Our MD was in the country visiting a client and had planned to meet up with us in the evening for a drink. The plan unfolded, we would find a restaurant, get some food and then wait for the MD to meet us. He was in an exclusive hotel about fifteen minutes walk away. I was not really too bothered with what we ate, lunch had been light, but that was more due to time pressures to get everything done rather than lack of choice at the office canteen. The fear was that after eating, we would fall into a state of sleeplessness and not get up from the table. Not fussed we walked around looking at the menu of various restaurants, before we came back to the Morgan restaurant (right next to hotel) and went in to order some food. Rather than having a set dish each, we decided to get a mixture of several tapas plates to mix and match. Very good and not that expensive. Much better than going for a set meal from the menu. We tried to check how the hotel, Conrad was and asked one of the waiters. He did not really understand what we asked and explained that Conrad had gone on holiday! We then asked to speak to someone else (preferably a native) and found out that it was a good fifteen minutes walk away. The MD text and met up with us just around 7.30pm. Now talking of characters, the MD himself is a jolly fellow, considering he supports Spurs. In any case, it was good to see him and catch up. Rarely do we have the opportunity to chat one to one, without the bustle of the office getting in the way. Yet, as usual time was not on our side and we had to rush outside to get our taxi around 8.20pm. Goodbye Dublin, but I hope to be back again soon.

The time is currently 01.04 and I have just got in from my business trip to Dublin. Expect me to review the above account over the next few days. For the time being, after a solid 22 hour day, I think I will get some sleep.

Sunday 26th March 2006

Yet another busy weekend. So much going on it is nearly 11pm on Sunday evening as I begin to write this post. I have several things to mention and as usual no real idea of where to start. Perhaps the evenings of Friday. I got in from work around 6.30pm and instead of rushing around to get ready (as you would normally) I casually went on the computer to catch up on my e-mail, MSN contacts and daily blogs. It was only when the clock approached 7pm (with the credits of Hollyoaks rolling) that it finally dawned on me that I had to get ready and get over to Windsor by 8pm. Plus I did not know Windsor that well and was relying upon Multi Map directions. Eventually I got my act together and was out the door by 7.30pm and after a quick pit stop at Dave's I was on the M4, making my way to the Royal town. My directions were next to useless, so I had to use my own instinct, which overall did not let me down. I parked in the multistorey only to at this point discover I had lost my mobile. Boy, did I feel naked without my mobile. Even though I do not use it that much I like to always have it with me, like Linus from the Peanuts comic strip. I was annoyed because I wanted to ring Pav and confirm where the restaurant was and that I was running slightly late. Never mind, I would have to find the Mexican restaurant myself. Eventually I headed in the right direction, and eventually some signs confirmed I was heading the right way. The door was opened by the bouncer and I was greeted by Mel. Sure enough, as per usual, Pav and the rest of the crew had not arrived. Why was I acting surprised? I went over to our table and took a seat. They were on their way apparently but I know Pav's poor punctuality from our days at college. They did arrive eventually and after a few drinks we placed our order. I must say, although the food did take some time to arrive, it was well worth the wait. Fajitas anybody? The atmosphere was lively, with a small dance floor and amateur DJ. They played the classics, The Way You Make Me Feel and Billie Jean by MJ and just like in Reading two weeks ago, the golden oldies from the Dirty Dancing soundtrack could be heard (just about) under the voice of a chorus of ladies (of various girls) singing at full voice. The bar area was packed with most punters placing orders for their famous cocktails. I had a great time and it was great to catch up with so many of Pav's friends. Many of whom I only know through his forum. After the meal we headed next door to Yello for a few more drinks before going back up the road to Havana. By this time in the evening everyone was rather tired so we made our way home. I make it sound like we went home at 11pm, but it was way past midnight by the time I got into the car. My route home took me to deep into Ali G country, Langley. The route from Windsor took me over the M4 to a road that runs parallel to the motorway. It is a road that for many years I have wondered if I would ever get the opportunity to drive. Why is this stretch of tarmac so important? It goes past the European Headquarters of Computer Associates. I got home at 1.30am, only to discover my key would not open the door, so I had to wake my relatives to open the door. My bad.

The trip into London, had to be placed onto the back burner, as I was awoken on Saturday morning. Take us to Birmingham, was what my Mum said as I finally got myself out of bed. Even before the trip to the Midlands was forced upon me I already had quite a big Saturday morning planned, which had now be squeezed into less than an hour. So I rushed out of bed and soon came to the realisation that a very busy day lay ahead. First stop was to the dry cleaners at Asda to drop of my suit, in the chit chat while I waited for my two items to be booked in I was reminded that the clocks go forward in the evening. Summertime was literally around the corner. Then it was into town to get a haircut. The hair saloon I use was busy so there was a good twenty minute wait but I arrived just before it got packed out and people were turned away at the door. Then after a quick trim I headed back towards home, but to John Lewis. Here to pick up some Mini DV tapes for the camcorder. My Uncle is a Bollywood film buff and wanted to start capturing the tour of 'UK 2006'. Thankfully I had charged up both batteries last Saturday before they arrived. I set out on the M40 with only one condition. We had to leave Birmingham around 3pm, to get back to Wycombe in time for Arsenal's match on Prem Plus. Little did I know how that would just not happen. The game was postponed, but I was only to discover that just before 5pm. For once Multi Map proved like gold dust and got us to our destination (just outside Kings Norton) perfectly and in good time. Just a shame every other time I need to get directions I get lost. When I finally came to the realisation that I was not going to get home for the match, I was in a mood, a really bad mood. It was not the first time. Back in September, Saturday 10th to be exact. I was once again in the Black Country and on this occasion missed the Middlesborough game, which again was the evening kick off screened on Prem Plus. Next time, drive yourselves.

In reality it was not a big deal, particularly with the big Champions League game against Juventus, just around the corner. Watching Final Score with the volume extremely low, meant I had to text Chris for final confirmation that that the Portsmouth game was definitively called off. By the time he replied to my SMS, I had already read the information on the BBC screen at least twice. I settled down in my chair and calmed down, considerably. Although having your weekend plans changed at the drop off the hat is never easy but I was willing to make the compromise. We finally got into the car to leave around 6pm and I was extremely tired behind the wheel, even on the relatively quiet M40. The only way to concentrate was to keep my eyes as close to the windscreen and sing along, tapping on the steering wheel to songs on Radio 1. We got home around 7.30pm and instead of jumping on the computer, I should have gone straight to sleep.

Sunday came around, as it always does and after a lazy start the rest of the family went out to the Wycombe Gurdwara. Meanwhile I was left to my own devices. I spent an hour or so on the computer, multitasking between the closing ceremony of the Commonwealth Games and working on some graphics work. The hand over ceremony to the next host city, Delhi in 2010, inspired me. I am not a big fan of athletics, but the Commonwealth Games is more my standard of sport. No supermen, with golden boots running in their own unique style. No Americans. No Chinese and no Russians. The only real competition for England are the Australians. I wonder what our forefathers, those of the imperialist colonies from the beginning of the last century would feel to see such a competition take place, second fiddle to the Olympics. Great idea in concept, take over all these countries across the globe, eventually give them back but keep them in a special club. I messaged my friend in Manchester (the host city prior to Melbourne) and asked if I could book a date for 2010 in their diary. They response was that they might be married by then, at the tender age of 26. A scary thought but I replied that most likely so would I. It would be a nice time to go back to India. Plus I am sure my workplace would be glad to see a holiday form from me, even it is post dated seven months and four years in the future. Never say never.

Another night out dining at another Indian restaurant. This time around the location was the Lemon Grass just outside Maidenhead, the artist, Destiny's Child. Last year for my birthday meal, we went out in Eton and heard Wham! However eventually, just like at the restaurant in November the waiting staff switched the CD to Hindi music. An enjoyable meal for Mother's Day, in pleasant, quite civilized surroundings. Just what you need to unwind on a Sunday evening. My Dad then wanted to have a spot of desert and tea in Marlow, so we headed over to the Crowne Plaza (where my sister, Samantha once used to work). After some lovely deserts and tea, we went over to the bar area, where my Dad and Uncle were having a drink. The final few minutes of the Madrid game was on the big screen and I watched the goals. Fantastic free kick by Baptista, that clipped the underside of the bar and went in, was pick of the four.

Final thought goes to yet another one of those online tests. I know I only did the geek tests a few months ago, but this one caught my eye from the Guardian Technology blog. I was has honest as I could be and surprised I rated so highly when I knew on many of the questions I fell over.

Thursday 23rd March 2006

It was a dangerous moment to drift to sleep, the train had just gone through Gerrards Cross station. What woke me up, from my afternoon nap was the sound of my thankfully empty chocolate milkshake, landing at the feet of the passenger in front of me. Trying to keep cool, as always, I quickly picked up the cup and regained my exposure. I don't think anyone really noticed. As I got up to get off the train at the first stop, I tried to reflect on my day. The training with the client had been arranged a few months back and I had no intention to attend. My technical input was not required in any case a developer would be on hand to deal with any questions. However, as the poem goes, the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry, so my Manager explained mid afternoon that my attendance at the pilot event would be greatly appreciated. I cleared my scheduled for the day and grabbed a laptop and installed the new version of the software. Looks like another trip on the DLR tomorrow. When I got home I realised that this was in fact a blessing in disguise. I had been meaning to go into Maidenhead to pick up a present for a friend. I knew they were getting an iPod Nano from Pav, so had opted, after much deliberation, to buy the car kit. I was originally hoping to pick something up from PC World or Maplins but now could go over to the Apple Store in Regent Street. I wanted to be organised, so headed over to the Apple site and called their customer service line. Eventually I was put through to an operator but he was American and explained that any order placed would be delivered direct to my home and could not be collected in store. Never mind, I would just have to get what I needed after the client visit tomorrow. Thankfully we finished ahead of schedule, so I was waiting for the DLR, on a clear sunny, but windy and chilly afternoon at 2.45pm. I made the way back to Canning Town, where I took the Jubilee line across to Bond Street. Back above ground I was using my gut instinct to find the iPod store. I was eighty percent sure I was heading in the right direction as I went past Oxford Circus tube station. Sure enough, I turned the corner onto Regent Street and there it was, the black flag with instantly recognisable white fruit logo. My Dad has been bugging me to come here for years, having himself been on numerous occassions. Sure enough as I entered through the glass doors, I knew I was in a different store for a different type of consumer. It was relatively busy with each of the till operators (now that is harsh, I make it sound they are checkout girls at Tesco) serving customers. I asked about the car kits and was polietly directly to the far left handside of the store which had all the accessories. Now a quick phone call to Pav to confirm he had purchased the black Nano, so I could colour co-ordinate with the accessories. Great. Time to pay. Strangely within the few minutes I had been browsing and speaking to Pav, the queue disappeared and every cashier was free. I went to the nearest person and was intrigued, rather than shocked that he had an Apple Powerbook as a register to total up my items and then request payment. In an ideal world I would have liked to have stayed a bit longer, you never know, I could have shelled out on one of their popular mp3 players myself but I was tired and wanted to get home. I headed off into the West End, clutching my silver bag. No, this is not just a bag, it is a fashion statement. It is being part of a collective group of followers, a cult if you will. I iPod.

Following on from my comments on BBC blogging the other day, I had a comment from Jem Stone, who has a blog over at Common Users. Fantastic to hear such encouraging movements from the Beeb to embrace and develop the new citizen journalism. It cannot be ignored and if you ask me it has been a long time coming around. My hopes? That within the not too distant future, we will watch television programmes, such as Top Gear but then be able to read further information on individual episodes on Clarkson's own blog and challenge some of his views on our beloved motorcars. Okay, that is an example taken to the extreme but you get the point. The aim would be for there to be as many blogs as there are personalities across the diversity of BBC broadcasting spectrum. I have contacted Jem via FlickR (as there was no other clearly visible way of contacting him) and hope to hear more from him and the background to the Beeb blogging.

Sunday 19th March 2006

My Sunday turned out to be far more busier than my Saturday, when in most cases it is usually the other way around. Around 7.30am, I heard my Mum in the kitchen, it was time to get up. Yet I had a thumbing headache and the beginnings of a cold. I was not in the mood to leave my warm duvet, but somehow summoned the courage to get up. For some strange reason, after some breakfast and a mug of tea, I was feeling a lot better. I was excited. I always am when I am about to head over to Harrow. I grabbed all my things, including the FlickR Hacks book (which Hussein waited to have a quick peek at) and jumped in the car. As I drove over to North East London on the M40, I put my foot down and hit a new record. 102 miles an hour, as registered on my Road Pilot. I quickly slowed down as there was no need for such excessive speed on a sunny Sunday morning. I pulled up outside my friend's house just after 9am and waited for him to answer the door. Admired his dirty ride. Sure enough a few minutes later, Hussein came to answer the door. It was great to see him, particularly as it had been several months. I had been hoping to come over last Sunday morning, but found other things pop up which got in the way. Thankfully on this occasion my sister was at home with relatives so I could leave home quite carefree in the morning. Sure enough I was handed my Harmony Remote Control, which I had won on eBay a few weeks ago. It was much lighter than I expected, but in excellent condition (as you might expect) and just wanted to rush home to try it out. Then, for the piece de resistance I was shown Myth TV on the Apple laptop. Awesome, is the only word that comes to mind. Not only is the quality of the digital feed better then our Sky digital, it comes with feature packed software. The twin tuners enabled two shows to be recorded simultaneously while watching another show. The view on the standard television was also impressive, particularly when compared to the Free View digital box set. One day I will get my home hooked up to something like this. The best feature is the fact that you can pause live television and buffer the remainder of the show. So say you miss the 9pm showing of 24 by 13 minutes, you can come in and start watching it from the beginning, with the piece of mind that the rest of the episode is being recorded on the fly. I would find very beneficial, in terms of not having to work to the scheduling of the broadcaster. The web based interface is fantastic and even better than DigiGuide. It shows everything that is currently screening, quick links to IMDB and TV Tome, and all more information you could get from a standard television guide. Right click, record now and there you go, screen shot is taken and the show is being recorded. Sure enough, go the schedule page and you will seen how much space the show has taken already. There was a little issue of how to stop recording and deleting the programme, but I am sure Mighty Mouse will work it out in good time. Then we decided it was time to head outside and listen to my amp. Hussein fiddled with the audio settings while listening to Billie Jean, only to discover my sub was not working. Not a major issue, I could get that corrected with a quick phone call later this week. Then we stepped into the Fabia to hear the same track on the Empeg and you could tell the difference. Looks like Hussein is driving us to Norfolk for the Lotus weekend.

Time to get the car washed. I waited for Hussein to come out of his house and began reserving the car out, when he appeared he through a walk talkie through my passenger window onto the seat. I laughed and gave a wide grin. Cool. We made our way towards South Harrow. This was the same jet wash I had visited back on Sunday 18th December last year, but it looks like the lazy member of staff has been fired. Under strict instruction to put my foot down from MightyMouse. I followed the order, but my car would take some time to respond. Meanwhile I was still fiddling around with the walkie talkie, wanting to ask what my code name was. Iceman was the reply when I eventually worked out what button to press, but it was too late, we were about four hundred yards from the wash centre. We pulled in, to find both jet wash bays in use. We parked up and went to get tickets while the two gentlemen ahead of us began their programmes. We stood by my car and talked about, cars funnily enough in the cool Spring sunshine. We looked forward, with great anticipation to our Lotus Weekend, taking place on the first weekend in June. Then it was our time to drive onto the bay. I thought ten minutes would be more than enough time. It was not. Or perhaps it was and I was just being too lazy for my own good. In the end, when it came to rinsing my car, the passenger side did not cleared down of all the foam. There was no time left to apply the wax, so I drove off wishing my friend goodbye.

When I got home, around 11am, I jumped onto my computer and headed for the Logitech web site to configure my Harmony. The process was painless and after selecting the correct software to download and open, I was up and running. I only had to note down the model number of the television from the back of the screen. Done. The device even learned the functions of our Sony surround sound system and then found the closes matching hardware which would enable it to interface with the Harmony. No problems, no issues. The web based applet did the rest and I was up and running. I rushed to the living room and manually switched off all the devices and began playing around. Watch TV was the first activity I selected and sure enough, on came the television, Sky receiving and AV kit. Then I could select the channel number for Sky and was in full control of all my devices (including the XBox) from one universal remote control. Fantastic. I will get around to adding photographs of my remote (it glows in the dark) but for the time being, check out the cluster over on FlickR.

Late into Sunday evening I drove my cousin back over to Hayes on the M4 and switched the radio over to Star 106.6 FM. On weekend evenings they have Yaar on Star (formerly known as The Asian Star) and play a mixture of Hindi and Punjabi music. I tend not to listen generally because I am usually busy. In any case I hate the presenter, Ali Meer. He talks in major riddles in a mixture of broken English and Hindi. To a point he almost begins to philosophize on air to his listens in between the songs. Anyhow, I put up with his drivel for the journey. It was only about a twenty minute drive if that. Then, after reading a heart warming poem from one his long term listeners, he played one of my favourite Hindi songs of all time. Now, I have already started my view that Hindi is the most romantic language in the world when sung and comes only second to French in spoken form. My sister automatically told me it was Pelha Nasha and I put the volume up. Ironically it was a song that I constantly listened to when I was in India back in 1997. Strange to think that that was nearly nine years ago. Where has the time gone? Sure the song does sound very cheesy with the rapping, but the beat is improved in the remix. You can never beat the original, but with Hindi filmi music remixes are rarely better than the real thing. If your still keen, you can go and have a listen over at Raaga. The album, Greatest Dance Mix Collection did spawn two rushed sequels, which did not live up to the quality of the original, the third having eight tracks and perhaps only two decent songs worth listening to. A shame really because they could have done a fantastic job.

In a quick roundup, I uploaded images of the damanged IBM Thinkpad to my FlickR. As I predicted the second (with hopefully many more to come) BBC blog has been launched. Following on from the fresh relaunch Newsnight homepage Paul Mason has launched his own blog under the imagnitive if not quite unique title, "Idle Scrawl". This will become part of the BBC Blog Network, which currently totals three. There is a new Commonwealth Games blog. Although at the moment, the subdomain blogs.bbc.co.uk auto directs to Nick Robinsons's Political blog. Hope the Beeb change this soon.

Saturday 18th March 2006

For the first time in many months I was seriously considering not updating my blog on a Friday night. This was not because I had other plans, going out for a night on the tiles. Nothing like that at all. I seriously had nothing to report, nothing interesting to write about, which is so unlike me. Usually on a Friday there is something I can scrape together and upload. Actually I am curious now to find the last time I did not the last time I did not blog on a Friday with no valid reason. I looked through some of the latter entries from 2005, but could not find a clear example. Never mind. Friday are busy and in their very nature you have to be at the top of your game to deal with all the calls on the helpdesk. Though it is not all about work, we do try and enjoy the fact that the weekend is near. I opted out of the order for Subway for lunch, preferring to keep it as the odd treat, perhaps once or twice a month. I had been waiting for a laptop to arrive on Thursday afternoon, but it had not arrived. The client was concerned that it had gone missing in transit, so I chased our receptionist to see if there was any news. There was none. At 4pm, the phone rang. DHL had just dropped off a package, so I headed over to the other side of the complex. To my surprise the package was a laptop case, with document sticky stuck to the side. This is how it had arrived, no bother. I took it over to my desk, and opened the case, in front the prying eyes of my manager. My jaw hit the floor, the laptop itself was twisted in two, with fragments of the keys clearly visible at the bottom. How could anyone send a laptop like this in transit? My colleague took a photo, at my request but my manager took a step further and asked for us to film a small comedy sketch. I open a brand new laptop case, took out a working IBM Thinkpad, then the camera stops, we swap to the damaged device. The shot cuts to me throwing my head forward, to head butt the computer and you see the destruction caused. (Yes, I do have a metal plate behind my forehead!) I have a copy of the image, but it is quite poor in quality, so I will take some further pictures on Monday when back in the office. I may, if you are good, upload the avi for limited time download. For the time being, feast your eyes on the following damaged goods. Smashed, broken and finally the destroyed.

In other news, I have this week concluding the last pieces of administration in preparation for my trip over to Germany next month. Less than a month, in fact. Upgraded my RAC cover (which I only started in September) to cover the cars on the drive to and from the continent. Also contacted Vodafone to arrange for my phone to be enabled for international roaming. I was worried that they may want me to pay some kind of deposit. My old college friend Dave (whom we bumped into in Reading last Saturday night) had to pay £200 as he had only just started his contract, when I last went to Germany in October 1999. Thankfully they tried to offer me this Vodafone Passport offer, which meant after a connection fee, I could use my inclusive minutes while abroad. However the catch was that my current plan was not sufficient as it was no longer offered to new customers. I had to upgrade to the next plan, from 25 to 75 minutes, which would be an extra £5 a month. No thank you. I use my phone so little, I could hardly justify it. I mean it is off for the majority of the working day. While over in Germany, I will only be using it to ring home and let my family know how I am. I was concerned that by selecting the pay as you go option for international usage I would be hit with bearing the cost of incoming text messages. Thankfully there is no charge for incoming messages, just incoming calls. Simple, keep my phone off as much as possible. In my hunt around the web, I have found a fantastic site by enthusiasts from the UK for greatest racing track known to man. North Loop which has become a labour of love for the web site owners. Some fantastic picture, information, links and perhaps most importantly directions from the UK to the track. We are nearly there, I can smell the rubber burning on the tarmac. Pav is working hard on getting his car ready for the big weekend. I believe all the engine modifications will be finished by next weekend, so he can get the vehicle fully serviced. Then there is just the minor issue of some ICE. This afternoon on Score Interactive (the joys of digital television!) they showed a preview of all of the cities, hosting World Cup matches, with the classic Autobahn by Kraftwerk. The German electronic syth pop group's debut single, the title track to their 1974 album (which hit number 4 in the UK charts) which reached number 11 in May 1975 in the UK singles chart. Consider that track, downloaded and burnt and ready to be played the moment we hit the soil of Deutschland. Can you tell I'm really excited?

My old house mate, Nav wondered why I added my Amazon Wish List to my web site. He did not think that a complete stranger would appreciate my blog enough to make a gift donation. Yet there are prime examples across the web of web readers making these purchases for the site author. At times you would feel I have nothing on my wish list, because when every birthday or Christmas comes around I do not know what to ask for. I suppose I enjoy the satisfaction of earning something. Which bring me to my next point. This afternoon I received a package from Amazon. It was, to my surprise two gifts. This was in recognition of my work on bringing back to life a colleague's home computer. Personally I enjoyed the job which took little of my weekend. The best thing about such tasks is the satisfied customer at the end of the day, particular when you hand them a DVD with all their personal 'stuff' fully recovered. This was the first time my Wish List used for the purpose it was created.

Had a quick flick through the book (sorry that was a rubbish pun, no intended) and it covers every aspect of the online sharing web tool. I really want to get my teeth into the more techie programming API side of things, but I think it will take some time. Strange, how on 31st January, the author, JBum recommended I purchase the book and here I am, with the book at hand. There are just two things I need, time and photographs. There will be little trouble in snapping away on my digital camera. Better get out there and start capturing the moment.

Thursday 16th March 2006

Apparently in my review of the best geek watches of all time, a week ago, Hussein informs me that I missed out one of the big contenders. The Fossil Wrist Watch. Hope this inclusion, makes him happy.

The Sky TV guide has changed with the music channels moving over to a new start of 340 instead of 440. It feels rather strange punching in that number onto the Sky Remote. Thankfully I have used this opportunity to reprogramme the Favourites, although even now still tend not to use them.

Came in this evening to see a suspiciously looking small black plastic bag on my desk. Then I realised what it was and quickly opened it up. I am sure by now you have seen the adverts featuring Ben Affleck on television. If not, where have you been? A copy can be seen here on Visit4Info. The Lynx (or more commonly know internationally as Axe) commercials have improved over the last few years, but my favourite still remains, the guy and the bar dancing along with the two girls. Put it down to a bit of a personal fantasy. Moving swiftly on, perhaps I should use the Clicker on a night out. I am out in Windsor next Friday (24th) but something tells me that I won't end up in a club and more importantly with not register a single 'look' or should that be 'take' on my portable hand counter.

Monday 13th March 2006

I parked up on my drive just before 8pm and my Monday was finally coming to an end. Throughout my journey home on the motorway, I was thinking of how I would fit everything into an entry. I have so much to write about, so much to report that I might as well stop wasting time and get on with it. I actually have quite a substantial backlog, so have picked up from Saturday night. Now with entry finalised, checked over and complete, time to devote to what remained of the weekend. The weekend was already up there as one of my greatest (sorry that makes it sound like some great achievement like a collection of my best goals, but it is far less important than that, I suppose) as I drove back from Henley-on-Thames to Wycombe. I got in around 2.30am and my first decision after getting changed was to switch on the computer. It was at 02:45am on Sunday (consulting the event log) that I logged in and was online. As he had promised, Chris was online via MSN, having eaten his burger and chips and waited eagerly for the photos from the evening. Perhaps by being online I was prolonging the memory of the night (which will stay with me forever). To my disappointment, I had only taken four, which by my standards is extremely poor. Never mind, the final picture of the evening, (which perhaps puts the words that I could not find late last night while blogging) encapsulated the story of the night. Cheesy grins all around! Chris had already e-mailed me photos from his camera phone, the stylish Nokia 6270. While it boasts 2-mega pixel capability, and Snake 3D, use in practice is limited, particularly trying to capture questionable dance moves on the dance floor. I should not complain, it is my only lasting memory of the night and I will cherish it (until I get a better photograph next time). I transferred across the file to Chris, which took a while as I had to transfer the files from the camera first. My colleague was very impressed with the quality of the pictures. Only then did I go and read his e-mail. I was rather taken aback by the comments in his e-mail but the prize were two photographs. Sure the quality was poor but you could not dispute the beauty of the subject. I'm not talking about myself here (I'm only in one of the photos).

My next decision, instead of getting into my warm bed, was to start watching The IT Crowd. Only because I knew that I would not have much time for what remained of the weekend. The strange thing was I had seen the last fifteen minutes or so, last weekend but without having seen the beginning the jokes were diluted in their punch. It was well past 3am now and I should get into bed. I watched the first half and then decided that my tiredness was getting the better of me and retired to bed. Saturday was over, but Sunday promised more.

I woke up around 8.30am, great considering it was less than five hours sleep. After a great cup of tea and some toast, I watched some music television, only to decide that the best place for me was back in bed. Eventually around 11.30am, I got myself out of bed and then it struck me that I had plenty to do before I headed off to the East Midlands in the evening. CDs to burn, work to prepare for Monday, bags to pack. As always it was a bit of a last minute rush but I expected it to be that way. Yet, this perfect weekend was about to hit the ultimate level.

A colleague at work is a diehard Liverpool fan and on Friday we made a bet for a mere £5 on the results of Sunday's game. Personally, after reading Lawro's weekend predictions, I was convinced that it would be a goalless draw, yet my heart told me to make the wager and never deny Arsenal at Highbury. I shook hands, to the utter amazement of my colleague. Now, let the record show I am not a gambler. In all honesty I do not believe in gambling, it is after all a Mug's Game. I do not agree with throwing my money down the tubes, but that is my opinion. Was my fiver safe? For part of the afternoon it was questionable, but in the end the Frenchman made it so. I love watching Arsenal, even more so since Arséne came to North London. We still play the most attractive football in the league and perhaps only shifted up a few gears. Henry was magnificent along with Cesc in the middle of the park. We should have killed the game off early in the second half and although Liverpool came back out stronger, they were made to pain for a silly mistake by their captain. The team is growing and showing promise. Bring on Charlton, bring on Juventus and Paddy. We will prove all your doubters wrong.

After the game, I had hoped I would been able to quickly check my e-mail, but there was no time, I had to leave as quickly as possible. I changed, threw some clothes into a travel bag, grabbed my toothbrush, razor and headed out to the car. Loading up the food, I reset my trip counter and looked at my watch. It was 18:11, I was hoping to be in Nottingham before 8pm to catch Mayo. Although if I missed it, I doubt I would really care that much. As I hit the motorway, I put on the CD which I just baked freshly a few hours earlier and felt great. There is something about the reaction to winning. I would lie and say I was not singing, while I was winning but it was the only way to let the jubilation of beating Liverpool, particularly after the cruel defeat at Anfield a month earlier. I was running on pure adrenaline, put my foot down, switch out to the outside lane, hit a cruising speed just over eighty miles an hour and looked forward to the next couple of hours on the road. Just me, my music and the motorway. I made fantastic progress up to junction 10, where I came off to catch the A43 past Silverstone to the M1 at junction 15A. I joined the first motorway of our beloved island at 7pm exactly and wondered how I would make time for the next nine junctions to Nottinghamshire. I pulled up outside my sister's student house, almost exactly two hours after leaving Wycombe. Perhaps taking the M40 -> A43 -> M1 route was a mistake. Never mind, I was here and that was the most important thing. I had already preplanned to get pizza takeaway, but my sister's (with their expensive tastes) wanted only Pizza Hut. This meant a small trek into town. They tried to persuade me to take my car, but I was not having any of it, there would be nowhere to park and we opted to go in the tram. Quite a regular service for a Sunday, might I add. Natalie came with me, after a mess with her order on Friday, we hoped to get our order at a discounted rate. Heading over to the Cornerhouse, which is just three stops down the line, we were greeted by the manager, who quite quickly decided to give us the full order for free, to make up for the mistakes made on Friday evening. Fantastic, I put my credit card away. As we headed back, we opted to walk down to the next stop, as the next tram would take another ten minutes or so to get to us. As it happened, it was the same tram, with the same conductor, whom on this occasion was slightly more vigilant and asked us to pay for our tickets. Holding the pizza box, I felt I had stepped back to my days as a student (not that long ago) and found the whole experience much better than in my University city, Leicester. We headed back to the house and had our pizza while watching Planet Earth on BBC1, there was nothing else on worth watching, and reception was limited. It was my first time back in Nottingham since January, so we spent most of dinner catching up on things. The topic of conversation quickly switched to soaps, being a diehard fan of Eastenders and religious viewing of Hollyoaks. This was when Gemma, my sister's house mate finally started talking to me. Although she had not seen the late night episodes from the middle of last month. It was then I had to mention my name being shown on the show, and knew I could provide the evidence by showing this blog. Talking my sister's laptop upstairs I linked up to the wireless network nearby. The owner had made only one change since I last reported hijacking the 8mb broadband connection. He had renamed the wireless ID from the default belkin54g to 'ThrasherNet' but still no security in place. I logged onto my blog and showed the image from the September 2005 archives. Of course, as usual, to the uninitiated, the questions came about what is this, why do you keep it, what is the point? Having had to explain my site, on a regular basis I rattled off the standard definition and full explanation. My sister Samantha, informed me that Gemma was doing her disertation on the paperless office, so perhaps I may discuss her paper over on my work log at some point. Gemma was so inspired, she called for the girls to start their very own student house blog, although there was less enthuisasm from my younger siblings.

It was getting late and I had to settle down for bed. My sister bought her television up and put on MOTD2, showing the highlights of the Arsenal game. I went onto MSN and chatted to a few people, but with the clock fast approaching 11pm, there were very few people online, and those that were did not really want to chat. The driving was finally catching up with me with a busy day on Monday, I had to get some sleep, so packed away the laptop, switched off the television and drifted off to sleep. Wondering in my final thoughts what tomorrow might bring.

I woke up a bit later than I planned, got ready, had some breakfast, had a shower and then headed towards Mansfield to meet up with my colleague. In the end we opted to go in their X5 the remainder of the journey to Bradford. A productive day, even if somewhat unplanned for my work of the week. As I got back into my car to drive home, I switched on my mobile. I had a text from Hussein, he had finally blogged after a break of 8 months. I was shocked but glad, it had been a long wait. I looked forward to reading the entry as soon I stepped inside the house. It was quarter to 6pm and I hoped to get back into Wycombe before 8pm, so adjusted my journey to take into account the roadworks on the M1. I have not seen any new reg, 06 plates or the new Punto Grande on the road. I was hoping to kill two birds with one stone and see a 06 reg Grande Punto, but it did not work out. I did however see a brand shiny new Mercedes that overtook me on the M40. Yet, I had suspected I would see many more. The prestige of buying a new car has been diluted in recent years, with the advent of the bi-annual new registration plate, instead of just once a year in August. Overall I enjoyed my car journey, it gave me the time to enjoy and listen to the a selection of new and varied tracks. In particular, The Upper Room - All Over This Town and Lonestar - I'm Already There (which was recommended to me by Pooja on her blog). Plus a select of tracks from Artic Monkeys and Hard Fi. There was even the Sunblock dance mix of I'll Be There, which originally I hated, but having heard Chris play it at work, I really liked the sound of those big drums at the beginning, middle and end. Even if it is no match for the original, only repeats the chorus and has a video starring busy blondes, pretending to rush to a drowning victim out at sea in the video. Perhaps the most appropriate song for the whole weekend, was Living For The Weekend.

Sunday 12th March 2006

Saturday was busy, but not so more than usual. I wanted to clean the car, so it was immaculate for the evening, but I was running out of time. In the afternoon I had to head over to collect my Mum and then take her to Slough for some food shopping. On our journey home, it was getting dark, but I still needed to give the car a hoover before I went in and it went pitch black outside. I really wanted to jet wash the car, but had to go for the lazy car wash option. I went over to Sands, to the Total petrol station. As I pulled in a dark green VW van beat me to the car wash, the driver rushed out and went to get a ticket, seconds before me. Never mind, this would give me a chance to apply my Super Alloy Cleaning. After paying for my ticket, I waited for the man to wash his van. He drove into the car wash, but somehow forgot to enter his code in before hand. When he came out of his fan and came towards me to enter his code, I realised why. He was from Eastern Europe, with a poor grasp of English. As he entered the code, the shutters came down and he was locked out temporarily from his van. I offered a word of advice that the inside of the wash bay would be extremely slippery and hazardous, which I think he understand and took on board. As I continued to clean my alloys, he came over and told me to be careful with the cleaner, to make sure I did not get it in my eyes? Now please, how would I do that? Wearing glasses as well! Maybe it is a cultural thing, if you offer someone advice, instead of acknowledging the advice, you have to give advice back. I eventually got in and cleaned my car and it was ready for the night out in Reading. There was one problem, I was not. Then again, looking back I don't think I ever would be.

While I was out getting my car cleaned, I had left my PC on, downloading a zip file direct from Sippy After a long spell away from MSN, Sippy had returned and we were catching up on things. If you read some of my comments from last month, my old Uni friend detested the Channel 4 comedy programme to begin with, but it has grown on him on recent weeks. He has been telling his wife how much Moss reminds him of me? Even though I had already told him (and clearly stated on this blog) that a few of my immediate colleagues on the helpdesk thought I resembled him the most! Taking into account that I was unable to watch the episode from 3rd March, as I was over in Swallowfield, getting my amp installed, I asked if he could send me the episode and he kindly obliged. By the time I got home it had downloaded, as scheduled within an hour. I had to get ready to go out, so could not watch the episode and saved it for later, perhaps as soon as I got back in the early hours of Sunday morning.

Now, I suppose I should state that my level of expectation was normal. I had been out in Reading, many a Saturday night and this was not a new experience, I was just meeting some new people and going somewhere different. As I pulled into Deanfield Road, my phone started vibrating. I had inadvertently left it in my trouser pocket and struggled to get to it, while one hand on the road, one eye on the road and a red traffic light up ahead. It was only Chris, it didn't matter. I was on time, so had no idea why he was calling me. I arrived to find the first setback of the evening, I would not be meeting Chris' other half. Although gutted, I tried best to hide my disappointment. On the plus side, it meant my original vow off silence on the topic could be broken. So we made our way into the cold night, listening to Kanye West unaware of what the night may bring.

Just outside of Caversham, Chris gave them a call. You can tell a lot about someone by their voice and all I could hear was sweetness. We were on time for a change (well for my poor time management skills on social outings) and parked up in the Oracle. My first spot next to the Ford KA was too tight (no matter what Mr. Williams tells you) so I opted to drive in the adjacent bay. We made our way over to Bar 4 from the riverside shopping area. While I did my best to look smooth, sophisticated and suave, Chris had other ideas. While walking up the escalator stairs (it was off) my friend tripped up but quickly recovered and said, "Keep walking, I don't think anyone noticed..." Sorry I think they did, and the group of teenage girls at the top of stairs, giggled to themselves in true Vicky Pollard fashion. My next question as we headed towards the High Street was if Chris had ever been out period, let alone just Reading. Obviously not. Then I had a sudden panic attack, what was the best approach for meeting all his friends? Guys are easy, a handshake. But for the other gender it can be a awkward situation. I opted for the safe handshake, but decided against practicing with Chris, due to the homophobic connotations. I took a deep breathe, nodded at the bouncer (sorry door staff) before taking the step into the pub.

People say expect nothing on a night out. Go out with a clear head, therefore anything that does happen is a bonus. This way you feel free to enjoyself and not hoping, praying for something to happen. Tonight it was difficult to manage my own expectations for several reasons. The initial e-mail inviting me as a guest was perhaps the catalyst for everything. Yet I had learned so much more from many months previously. In particular a night in December before we broke up for the holidays. That meeting, while a bit blurry in my mind had me in awe, although if you hear Chris' version, I would be banned from meeting any of his friends ever again and his biggest regret was shouting my name as I was heading out of the Hog's Head. Tonight was an opportuntiy to redeem myself. We headed towards the bar, Chris looking for his friends and noticed them in the cubicle at the back, we headed over and for a while I did the whole, I don't know anyone, hands in pockets mode. Then eventually (although it felt like a lifetime, it must have been only a few minutes) the introductions were made. I waved in a pathetic way to the girls in the far corner and then when CT appeared (with more alcohol) she gave me hug as I wished her happy birthday. The night was young and the fun was only just about to begin.

Pav arrived and I spent sometime with him, catching up from last weekend and of course looking forward to the Easter holiday weekend. Then after a quick couple of rounds we headed down the road to Bar Risa which is also the Jongleurs Comedy Club. The rest of the gang would make their way a bit later, so we headed out just after 10pm, the few blocks down the road to the club. We were on the guestlist but it still cost £5 per a person. Never mind, I was still hanging out on hope that tonight would turn itself around, although little had been a disappointment so far. Having never been here before, it was busy and looked relatively small and not worth the entrance fee. However, looking back I have paid more to go out to clubs like The Matrix in Reading before so perhaps are being to quick to judge. Pav went to the bar to get the drinks in and I considered where or not to give my coat into the cloakroom. Looking outside it was getting busy and the non-existant queue when we arrived now stretched down the road way past the red carpet. I was sure that Chris would ring me when he got in or alternatively I would spot him in the crowd. It was busy, it was Saturday night and the weekend was in full swing. While Bar Risa does have a great decor, the dancefloor to the far left, is small and clostropbic. Chris arrived and wanted to buy me yet another drink but I refused on this occassion. The rest of the gang hand made a home close to the dancefloor, but Pav and myself were on the comfy sofa. Seats he had fought hard to keep while I had drifted off to find my work colleague. The downstairs area was hitting capacity, but I did not know at the time that there was another area upstairs. Pav was about to make a break for home, I was glad he had come out, it is always great to see him. He spotted an old college friend Dave, through the crowds and we had to go and say hello. We were all on the same Business Studies A Level course at Henley. Big Dave (as we called him back then) was doing very well for himself, driving an Audi TT, bought a house last year and working as a Tennis coach. Perhaps IT is the wrong career decision?

The party was really about to come alive as our party of six or seven headed for the dancefloor. This may surprise some of you, but I really do enjoy listening to some heavy urban beats (as the DJ described them) and a selection of commericial dance, but I really needed something more to get my groove on. To their credit, they did play a very good remix of 'Be Without You' by Mary J. Blige. It was difficult to find the space to move, let alone anything else. I tried to keep my distance but it was difficult. Trying to make sure a drunken member of the group stayed on his feet was a job in itself. The decision was made to go upstairs and before I knew what was happening LB grabbed my hand and we headed to the queue, which had a fifteen minute wait. Chris came to the rescue of what appeared to a slight ultercation with some boys in the queue ahead of us, who accused us of pushing in. After a few heated words, Mr. W stepped in to be peacemaker. For someone that looks so innocent, it is clear to me that there is a fiery character the lives underneath that smooth silky skin. In anycase, we were in the queue and on our way. The queue, takes you back through the main entrance, then around up the stairs to the upstairs. However on the way, we lost a few members of our party and were ushered to wait upstairs by the doorstaff. On the walls is the rogue gallery of all the comedians that have played at this club. The only person whom I recognised instantly was Ross Noble. Waiting at the top of queue, CT phoned down to get LB to come up whenever they were ready and we would get the first round in. I had noticed the aged over everyone else upstairs jump by at least ten years, but did not make a comment. Chris did. All I see is old people, were his exact words. We walked in to the sounds of McFly and of course Chris had to join in. S thought they were great, but I just don't really like them, the odd song such as It's All About You is fine but their rather small back cataloge does little to make my ground move. This was followed by a quick chorus of 'You Said No' by Busted. Was it just me or was it getting worse? LB appeared, on queue, as if I was watching some Hollywood movie. The DJ choice this moment to play the Artic Monkeys. I could not resit, I had to make a comment, particularly as she was concerned that not everyone was having a good night. Eventually I got a chance to get a word in edgeways, "It doesn't matter, because you..." We had gathered by the cigerette machine (of all places) by the toliets, when it happened. I had a laspe in character and took over the evening (after playing quite a passive role to date) "I want to dance!" which came out rather forceful, when I had intended to be more of a suggestion. As if on my instruction, everyone followed me to the dancefloor. The DJ had spun a guaranteed dancefloor filer, the MJ Megamix and this was the whole reason I had bought my dancing shoes this evening. The music of Michael Jackson is just so infectious there is nothing else you can do but dance. The party and truly begun, although, I did save my party pieces of the robot and feeble moonwalk for another time. For a few hours, I escaped. I forgot about work, my real life in the real world. The realities and pressures of living in 2006. I would not return until I steped outside, into the cool night air and by my reckoning there were a least a good few hours left on the clock. If I had a choice between downstairs and upstairs I would choice the later, due to the music policy. Cheesy Pop will always get me moving on the dancefloor. And with some of these views, there was no where else I would rather be. After a few moment songs and remix, the DJ hit the old nostaga bell (for most of the girls really) and played songs from the Dirty Dancing soundtrack, beginning with the awful (when sober) 'The Time Of My Life' by Bill Medley & Jennifer Warnes. Closely followed by some of the other memorable tracks such as Stay, Big Girls Don't Cry and Be My Baby. Not the type of songs that you can easily dance to, but by this time in the evening, I mean morning you are just jumping up and down, singing along and of course making 'T' signs with your hands (and or arms) at every available opportunity to signal your appreciate of yet another fantastic tune. The next song that played was Sweet Child Of Mine by Guns & Roses, but I was not in the frame of mind for air guitar so headed off the dancefloor. I returned, waved on by Chris & LB, to bop along to Rock DJ, closely followed by I'll Be There by Jim Jamison (little did I know that when I last mentioned the song in May 2004, I would be dancing and singing along in a Reading night club, almost exactly twenty-two months later.) Then one of the final songs we listed to before we left was 'Maybe Tomorrow' the theme tune to the 1980s classic, The Littlest Hobo. It was getting late, and I thought it best we make a move but didn't want to be the party pooper, although the frown on the face of LB, spoke volumes. We said goodbye in anycase and walked downstairs. I still had my head in the clouds.

While in the queue to collect my coat, I had a strange sense of deja vu. Had this all been a dream? I pinched myself. No, I was sound awake and live. I knew I would find it difficult to put to words the experience of the evening, even now it is strange to think I lived through it. Am I over exaggerating? Perhaps. Just another human being, at the end of the day. No one more special than you and I, I hear you cry! Well actually I think from time to time, you meet amazing people that quite literally blow you away. What they say, what they do, even what they wear makes you stay in awe. Are they for real? Yes they are. I have long been a believe that nobody is perfect. We all have our faults, some of them more obvious than others. Yet, I will go as far as to say that this person, has no flaws, no blemishes, no skeletons in the cupboard. If you are going to be picky, then there is one major flaw (although the label of flaw is debatable) they are unavailable. Perhaps that is a good thing. It does give me some hope though, if all the good'uns are taken, please make mine just 5% as good as LB last night.

Friday 10th March 2006

Wednesday afternoon I was out of the office, at training event supporting the release of a new mobile solution of our bespoke system. In fact, I was not a million miles away from Swallowfield, where I had had my amp installed last Friday. Originally the schedule dictated that we aimed to finish around 4.30pm, perhaps 5pm at the very latest. As I got into my car, I noted the time on the dash, 6pm exactly. Great. Now I had the drive in the heavy rain back to Wycombe, knowing that any hold on the M4 could delay my date with Champions League football. As it happened, I followed my colleagues to the A33, even though the detailed map of directions for Tylney Hall proved extremely useful. Thankfully I opted to take my own car, rather than a lift, which would have meant having to go back to the office before heading back home and increased my ETA. By the time I hit the M4, I was making reasonable ground but it was busy and with road works approaching I had to drop back down from illegal to fifty miles. Then strangely after the road works, there was a build up of traffic, which eventually brought me down to a standstill. I tried not to worry, instead putting the volume up a few notices on the CD I was listening to. The TA alert was on my stereo, yet every time it cut in, the information given was patchy but never included the M4. As I approached junction 8/9, I put my foot down once again, as the traffic had cleared. Then on the A404(M) by pass I hit the turbo and overtook several cars, though I opted against coming up to Handy Cross, even though it would have been easier and quicker. I drove through Marlow to avoid any traffic that could have built up on the by pass to the Marlow turn off. I had to make a pit stop at ASDA, I had a craving for chocolate ice cream and picked this up along with a big bag of Doritoes. Right all set, homeward bound. I got in and switch the television to 401, to see Andy Gray interviewing David Beckham. Great, this was the game of all games! Fair enough Sky and the press tend to hype up all the games, but perhaps for a change here was a contest that could truly live up to the title of the clash of the titans. Personally I was hoping me could score early, then sit back and soak up the pressure. I was convinced we would score at least a goal at home and Real Madrid perhaps get lucky with an away goal but it being too little too late. Yet the tension was so high, I was itching for the kick off. Keys was doing his best to wet the appetite, with the studio guests, Gullit, Souness and Redknapp. The discussion of Henry, as the complete striker was followed by a clip of an operation theatre as some surgeons (in obvious Dr. Frankenstein mode) put together the pieces that make a great scorer of goals, in between which we saw some of the great individual goals scored by the Frenchman. Now, I love this part of the buildup and Sky Sports perhaps do the best job. Nonbelievers, sorry I mean those that do not follow the beautiful game cannot understand what makes it so special. It is knowing that a man is capable of scoring the most breathtaking, exhilarating goals and not knowing what will unfold over the next ninety minutes. Will we be one up, will be two nil down and out? In essence it is what makes the whole experience so exciting and such a roller coaster to be a part of (be it on the sofa or on the North Bank). When Arsenal start playing the silky one touch football, it just blows you aware and it so beautiful to watch, particularly some of the movement off the ball and the players ability to be so aware of positions, running into the empty spaces. Yet, I knew tonight would be a tough test. I quickly changed and grabbed my spot on the sofa, having some food as the minutes ticked by. This was the make or break match for our season, I heard as the teams came out of the tunnel to the cool air in North London. This was it. The time to stand up and be counted. The time to prove your worth to the watching global audience. Unlike the previous leg, the pressure was on the visitors and it showed. It was visible in their faces as they lined up. Kick off was moments away and I was both excited but in the back of my head a voice said that we could possibly throw it all away.

From the whistle, you could tell the team from Madrid were going to push forward, create chances and potentially take them. You looked at the team sheet and were surprised that we had beaten them at home and had the slight edge in the second edge. The Galaticos were in town and anything could happen. Commentators going into this game, said that Real Madrid could never play as bad as they did two weeks ago and the improvement was there for all to see. Though the Gunners were prepared and matched most areas of the park with great vigour. Rather than go into a match report, I think I will give two accounts of the game. One from each angle, if you will. Arse Blogger gives his usual hardcore opinion, while Daniel over at Die Hard X's Territory gives a balanced reflectioned on the game. It was a case of too little too late from Real Madrid. The coach should have made more radical changes to the line up at half time. Meanwhile, the fans have longed been chanting, "Arsene Knows!". Our faith in the manager was once again repaid, even if I hate the 4-5-1 formation, packing the midfield is never an option, even in the heady days of Championship Manager. (I opted for 4-4-2 direct or with the diamond in midfield, playing weaker teams pushing out 4-3-3) Against Real Madrid it was a master stroke and proved to get the goalless draw we required to go through. In my opinion it was a great game for the team as a group. Hleb finally awoke and justified his £10 million transfer fee. Fabregas had yet another great game in the middle of the park against international players twice his age. Gilberto, who has got a great deal of stick this season, played a magnificent game shielding the youthful back four. He rushed back to tackle, clear the ball over to Alexander, who just ran and ran with the ball. His twinkle toes had most of the Real Madrid defence running around in circles. We should have taken the lead through Reyes, and Henry had some great chances which were inches away. In the end it did not matter, we survived the onslaughter to make it through to the quarter finals, the only English team to do so.

Daniel actually spoke to me via MSN on Thursday while at work, and said that there was one team we did not want to meet in the next round. Juventus. To see Patrick at Highbury in the colours of another team would be criminal. I agreed with him and aimed to keep away from Barcelona, Chelsea's conquerers as they would just humilate us. As it turned out, this morning, we were drawn against the Italian Serie A champions and current leaders, to setup the home coming for our former captain. If Liverpool can beat Juventus in the quarters last year, why can't we? I am looking forward to the games at the end of this month, as they surely will be yet another spectacule. With our team back to full strength we will have a chance to leave our mark on Europe once and for all.

I have been meaning to get around to discussing my daily commute to work but other things seemed to have always taken a higher priority on the list of things to mention on the blog. My drive to work is perhaps one of the joys of my day. I live seven miles from the office, so my journey into work takes something silly like fifteen minutes or so. However yesterday I came around to the slip road for the by pass to discover it completely jammed. The cars were not moving down to join the A404 south bound. I waited for a while, but slowly lost my patience. The traffic was not moving and I had to get to work. I tried to reverse, but no one would let me out, cars just wizzing by. In the end, I waited for the cars ahead to move along, then darted forward, squeezing past some cars to my right and sneaking in ahead to make my way back into Marlow. There was no choice I had to country route into the office, the same route I currently use to go home. However, this morning the road to work is clear. What is it with people in the Berkshire / Buckinghamshire district? Do they just not work on Fridays? The by pass is clear with free flowing traffic and I get to the office within a few minutes. It is the same on the way home, there is just a noticeable drop in the number of cars on the road. I refuse to believe that enough people do not drive to work on a Friday for this to become a reality. There was must be some geniune reason. If there are any further developments I will let you know. I would have liked to included a traffice free drive home from work this evening, but I didn't leave until nearly 8.30pm.

The weekend picture plans out like so, tomorrow clean the car and then sort out my room in the afternoon, before heading out to Reading for the evening. Sunday, over to Harrow in the morning to meet up with Mighty Mouse and get the full MM certified treatment on my amp. In the afternoon, the big game and then perhaps pondering the possibility of a trip up North.

Tuesday 7th March 2006

Saturday afternoon needs to be revisited in this posting, mainly because late Sunday night I was running out of time and really needed to get some sleep. A shame really because there was so much more to tell you about. Never mind, perhaps I can use this entry to catch up on the points missed in the debate so far. We start with MSN. Now I can't belief that I only started using MSN Messenger on a daily basis as late as three years ago. Now I cannot imagine life without it, even switching to the slow and buggy web based version if required. Yet, unlike most other uses I have not gone the whole nine yards and personalised the IM client to death. I keep it simple, I keep it sharp, I keep it presentable. One of my MSN buddies, which now totals one hundred, is called Obi and his screen name is nine times out of ten, song lyrics. Yesterday the lyrics intrigued me, they were from a song I just could not put my finger on. I had to give in and cut and paste the lyrics into Google to quickly discover a song that reminds me of 1997, the summer spent in India. That however, is the subject of another blog entry. 'C U When You Get There' by Coolio from the soundtrack to Nothing To Lose (which I would go on to see many years later) Throwing open my 90s mp3 folder into Win Amp, I found the song and listened to the track in full, great memories flooded back, and as I usually do, the shuffle selected the next track. It actually stepped back ten years and played a track by the ageless Cher. 'One By One' is a song I only discovered when I was lent the Greatest Hits by a friend at Uni in 2000, while in Halls of Residence. She was one of the biggest fans of the pop diva, and insisted that I at least give the album a listen. I was going to say that I enjoyed it so much that I ripped a copy to my computer, but if my memory serves me correct I just cut several copies to go around. One By One is a great song, upbeat, optimistic, heart warming, determined. I could continue, but I will not. Looking back over my weekend, it was the perfect song to capture the mood of the moment. Far too often I am accused of looking too deep into things, always fearful of the worse that could come. Last night I felt a content although not quite up to the notch of happy. Life is going well and very little can get in the way of that. Forgive me, while I bask in the glory of this moment.

Of all the geek accessories (and there are plenty) I think a watch is high on the list. Us geeks need to have something unique on our wrists, something different. Something that will start a conversation, just like cars, we can start rolling off the specification and special limited edition features. Well here is the definitive list of the top ten list of geek watches. Some are quite impressive, some are rather more bling than substantial. Many completely pointless, such as an extendable ruler, what could you never need with that? Perhaps the most useful is the watch which includes a 1GB USB flash drive.

Early evening on Saturday, having cleaned both the cars, I sat down in my Punto and decided I needed to fully appreciated the power available to me with my newly installed amp. There is only one artist, whose voice is so unique and vocal range so high, that it would do the sound system in my car any justice. He also happens to have a back catalogue which includes some of my favourite sons of all time. He is the, the King Of Pop. I used my Greatest MP3 CD and went on a tour of all the hits, putting the volume up when Beat It, Billie Jean, Bad, Smooth Criminal, The Way You Make Me Feel came on. Awesome! The amp does truly push some punch. This was the big test and it passed with flying colours. One thing was for sure, I badly needed to burn a new disc of MJ classics, since one of my all time favourites, Human Nature was missing.

Technorati have now upgraded their service by including Favourites for all users that sign up and create accounts. The purpose of the site is to keep a track of the ever growing number of blogs and their subject matter. They now have a feature of featured Favourites, the other day it was DJ Amber. Curious, I headed over to hear listing. To my knowledge, the process works by searching your favourite blogs and loading up recent articles of interest. Although I have added a few favourites, I personally do not see the point, what you will see, is very similar if not exactly the same to my links over on del.icio.us (Although I should make more of an effort to update it!) To my surprise, the first entry to appear was called BMW The Hire. The very same videos that Daniel had sent to be over a month ago and which I have still not found the time to watch. Maybe this weekend.

Sunday 5th March 2006

As you must now expect with my rock and roll lifestyle, my weekend was packed (even before the amp installation, quickly squeezed in on Friday evening). Now I am struggling to find a beginning, middle and end to this entry. Starting from Saturday would be the logical option, but here on Sunday evening, approaching 10pm, it feels an age ago. I had to go into town, there was nothing I could do to avoid it. Construction is in full swing and the structure for our new shopping mall is now clearly visible on what used to be my weekend car parking spot. However, my new tactic is to park to the East of the town centre away from all the congestion, diversions and Saturday shoppers (with family in tow). First part of my mission was to get a haircut, but my usual barbers was extremely busy, so I opted to walk around the corner and go to another salon. It was my first time at this Italian family own establishment and after a wait of around fifteen to twenty minutes, I was served. Originally the hairdresser thought my hair was short enough of ready and didn't really need it cut any further. I explained what I needed and he agreed to give me a trim. Boy that was hard work. In any case, I had to get it cut this weekend, next weekend I would not have the time, and with a client visit taking place on Wednesday, I thought it best to be as smart and as presentable as possible. Next job, head into town and amid the building sight pick up some bits and pieces. Then back home.

I left home around 10.30am, giving myself just under an hour and a half to get these jobs done and get back in to watch Football Focus. Some may regard it as peasant television, which might be understandable considering I have the plethora of choice via Sky Digital. I try to catch the programme every week if I can. Just what you need before the afternoon Premiership games. The next job was to take some rubbish down to the tip, or should I say now newly converted recycling centre. The most noteworthy object that was going to a better home, or perhaps heaven in the sky was my old MESH PC. Although, it was more now just a case with a few cables and odd defunct PCI card inside. Looking back that machine gave me some great service over six years and I did try my best to upgrade it as much as I could. It was a sad moment to see it go, but nevertheless, these things must pass, nothing lasts forever. Then I went home to prepare for the big job. Clean the cars. After a quick bite to eat, I headed out to the sunny but bitterly cold afternoon.

My car gets cleaned at least every other weekend, but the family 307 unfortunately does not get the same loving attention. It was in a mess and I dedicated most of the afternoon to get it clean and shiny. While tackling the grime inside, I listened to the radio, firstly Five Live but as they were not covering the Fulham game live, I switched over to crisp clear BBC London on FM. Arsenal were just swinging into the upper gears, when I had to get the hoover out and start doing some heavy duty labour. As I made some progress, I would stop and switch the radio back on to check the score. We were one up, then two. Then I realised it was getting late and I needed to at least hoover my own car, so had to get a move on. I finished up, moved the cars around, went down the road to get the Peugeot washed, check the tyre pressures before heading back home. Then, as the clock ticked past 5pm, I had just about cleaned the interior of my own car, but it was badly in need of a wash and I knew that it was unlikely to happen this weekend. Sorry Punto.

By this time in the evening it was time for the second PremPlus game of the day. I had caught the opening moments and second half of the West Brom versus Chelsea game. I must say the moments silence in memory of