Shouting from the Hop

Spring in England

2010-11-19T22:02:00.005Z

Most of the Spring of 2010, either side of our holiday in Mauritius, was taken up by one of two things, either finishing my book, or attending a cricket umpiring course.

I was lucky in that notice of the umpire’s course was sent to me by the team I umpire for during the regular summer season in England (Chislehurst and West Kent C.C.- left), and after a little bit of badgering, I encouraged them to pay for the course rather than having to fork out for it myself. This was most beneficial, as I was still without a regular job at that time. It wasn’t expensive (£40 covered the ten-week course and included all of the training material too, plus an annual membership to the local Association of Cricket Umpire’s branch), but every little bit helped at that time.

I went to the course on most weeks, and was given homework to do for the two weeks that I missed due to our Mauritius trip. Actually, I was due to miss the exam which was being held on the last week of the course, but due to the fact that on one earlier occasion we could not gain access to the building where the course was being held (due to some mishap over keys and who was responsible for unlocking the doors to the building!) the exam week was put back seven days, which allowed me to attend.

It was fun sitting with about ten other guys, plus one woman, who were interested in being qualified umpires, though I must admit that the knowledge base of some of them was pretty poor at the start, with many basic questions receiving the wrong answer when opened to the floor.

Most weeks we had one of three guys giving us a talk (or taking it in turns) over a couple of hours on specific Laws, or parts of Laws, and it was quite interesting and I did learn a lot. It was news to me that some competitions (Test matches for instance!) have many of their own regulations that supercede the Laws of cricket (for instance, a bouncer that passes a long way over a batters head is usually called a wide in Test cricket, whereas the Laws state that it should be called as a No Ball, as it is an unfair delivery!).

The exam on the last week of the course was quite nerve wracking for me, as I hadn’t been at the dummy run the week beforehand; it was also one of the first examinations I had sat since leaving school many, many, years previously! Anyway, the answers were pretty much all multiple choice, and we all watched the computer projection which asked the question (it was also read out), and then gave us two, three, four or sometimes five possible answers. There were 64 questions like this, and then three where you had to work out how many runs should be awarded (where fielders handled the ball or threw the ball deliberately over the boundary with or without no-balls and wides thrown in for instance). Most questions were grouped around one Law, so we had about about six slides where you had to decide if the bowler (from looking at where his feet were) had bowled a no-ball or not, who was run out when a batter had a runner in certain scenarios, that sort of thing.

I thought I did quite well, and with an 80% pass rate I was quietly confident I had done enough to pass (I couldn’t imagine getting 13 questions wrong!). A few weeks later, I got a letter with news that I had passed with a score of 94%, which meant I got four questions wrong (I had been worried about five during the exam, but I don’t know if they were the same ones I got wrong as we didn’t see any answers).

I later heard that only one of the people who sat the exam failed, which was a good thing, though I do not know who that person was…

My cricket club were obviously happy that I had qualified as an umpire, and that they could see that the money they put up had been put to good use. I gave four LBW's in the second game of the season, which prompted the Captain to declare that I must have learnt that Law on the course, as previously I had been reluctant to put my finger up too often. That wasn't the case - it was just that I thought all four were definitely out, whereas previously (and subsequently in fact) I gave far fewer positive decisions.

The other mainstay of the early months of the year was my attempt at finishing my book about my cricket travel’s watching England during the 1990’s entitled Barmy Days and Balmy Nights. I chugged away at it, and with each chapter covering just one tour I went on, it was easy to see the progress I was making. I had got sort of stuck in the 1994 West Indies tour, but once I finished that, I quite quickly bashed my way through the possibly more familiar more recent tours with aplomb.

I was quite happy taking my time with the book, researching it properly, and it did give some focus to certain days when nothing much was happening at home on the job front, and I suppose I’m quite grateful for that.

Then, one thing made me hasten my writing and attempt to finish the book quickly – I had a sniff of a job. An old friend sent me a change of email address notification, and I responded by asking if he had a new job somewhere. He said no, but that he had outsourced his department, hence the change of email. I then wished him well and reminded him that if he needed any help, he only had to ask. And to my surprise, he did ask! I had to meet with his under-manager, rather than him (which was fine by me), and after chasing him up for an interview, we finally met in the middle of May. It took until mid-June for me to start work, and so that gave me about a month to try to finish my book, which I really wanted to do so it did not compromise my new job.

I spent upwards of six hours typing away at my PC at home trying to get the thing finished, and eventually I came to the end – the end of my last tour, and so the end of the book. I re-read it several times, trying to get rid of any spelling mistakes (amazing how many you find, even with a spell-checker, and after reading it over and over a few times!) and finally I could declare myself happy with it and call it finished.

I researched getting it published, and how much that would cost, and I did get some interest, especially from one publisher who liked my concept and was very keen on the marketing areas that I had suggested. My biggest problem was that I wanted to try to get it published prior to this Xmas (2010), but there was little chance of that happening unless I undertook a huge cost myself.

I asked a couple of keen cricket mad friends to read it - neither of whom had been on a cricket tour, but who I could trust to be honest – and they gave me valuable feedback. One lasting piece of advice was to put it down for six months and leave it alone, then come back to it and see what should be done. With no chance of meeting my self-imposed Xmas deadline, I heeded this pretty much. So the book is finished, but I have to decide whether to publish it as it is (a very personal account of touring watching England) or expand it to cover touring history with my own experience as the backbone of the book. I have yet to make my decision, but it may well end up somewhere in both forms!

Then I started work again, and playing had to stop…for now.

Mauritius

2010-11-13T20:34:00.008Z

It’s been a long time since I’ve blogged on this page, so let me bring the blog up to speed with events so far in 2010…

Back in the Spring, I went on holiday to Mauritius with my wife. As I was still out of work, we used up all of our combined air miles with BA and got a free (except for taxes) flights. I booked a nice

looking 3-star hotel online, and off we went.

We had fabulous views of the island as we came in to land, and after a 90-minute drive from coast to coast, we made it to our bedroom for the next two weeks. We stayed in a small village called Pereybere, just north of Grand Bay, on the north-west of the island. Grand Bay is about an hours bus ride from the Mauritian capital Port Louis.

The hotel was comfortable, without being at all grand, and sat on the main road with the beach area across the thoroughfare. Pereybere had a few small restaurants, to service its small but clean beach, but not much else, and soon we were heading for Grand Bay in the evenings, and even to Port Louis (by bus) during the day to break up the inevitable time on the beach doing nothing.

Our bus journeys into and back from Port Louis were great; with many buses ploughing the route, the drivers took great heart in the knowledge that they were the fastest, so we had a few exhilarating drives, swinging around corners and using the brakes and accelerator to the full. It was also a pretty cheap way to travel, with the hour journey costing less than a pound. Port Louis didn’t have a lot going for it if truth be told, but is had some nice statues, and a few shops, though it didn’t take us long to head for the harbour area and grab a beer or two.

We took a trip to the north of the island and a boat ride – courtesy of a fisherman – out to Coin De Mere, a small rock protruding out of the ocean a mile or so offshore (top pic). This was fun, and it was made better when the boat swung around to a small bay and we were able to snorkel on the reef looking at multi-coloured fish of many different types.

After a few days, we decided to try another beach, other than the one at Pereybere, and caught the bus down to Mont Choisy; we had seen other people going there when on the bus to PL, so we knew how to get there and where to get off. A cheap sun lounger for the day, a beautiful beach and sea (left), plus a few stalls selling lunchtime food, and we were set.

One day though, our lunchtime lounging at Mont Choisy was cut short by a large storm which blew over from inland; we huddled under the sun umbrella, but that had leaks, so we all dived in the sea thinking that if we were going to get wet, we might as well sit in the warm sea. When the rain nearly stopped, we came out, but we couldn’t get dry, and then the rain came back heavier again. It wasn’t pouring down now, but it was just incessant, so we packed up and walked back to catch a bus home. Sadly, we had to wait longer than at any other time while on the island (about 20 minutes) as most buses were full of school kids just finished for the day. We eventually boarded a bus dripping wet and soaked through. I went to sit down next to someone and they inched away from me so I didn’t drip on them. It was very embarrassing! Twenty minutes later, we were in our room stripping off the soaked clothes and diving in the shower to warm up!

Later on the holiday, we caught a couple of buses down to the south interior of the island, and did a six-mile hike along the Black River gorge. It was a lovely hot day, and luckily we only had to go downhill most of the way. When we reached the far end visitor centre, we luckily met some Italians who once they understood what we wanted, gave us a lift to the nearest bus stop (another five miles along the road), from where we started our journey home along the coast.

One wet day, we ventured to the botanical gardens at Pamplemousse (left). These were the best gardens I think I’ve been to in quite some time, and we had fun tramping around them in the light rain. There was one huge lily pond, and rumour has it the lily pads are strong enough to hold a man’s weight. While we took photos, a small boy slipped his mothers gaze and tried this out, promptly falling into the pond and getting soaked. His mother was not happy to have to drag him out I can tell you!

We were also taken out on a free excursion – courtesy of our hotel – to Isles aux Cerfs, on the east coast. Here we wandered along coral beaches (below) and tried not to get sunburnt or cut from the sharp coral, before being given a locally caught and cooked fish for lunch. I didn’t take to this food, and soon after getting back to the hotel that evening, I had to make several dashes to the toilet. Sadly, that problem followed me for our last couple of days, and by the time we were taken to the airport I was lucky if I could last much more than an hour holding anything in. I was actually quite worried that I may be refused boarding of the airplane if I had to dash off while in any of the check-in or security queues, but I did make it. At the gate, we were upgraded by BA to Economy Plus which was nice, and great really as it placed us right next to a loo, of which I made use six times in the first six hours of the flight home!

Mauritius will never be remembered as one of our best holidays, but we did relax, and enjoy it as much as we could.

Moving to a New Decade...

2010-02-08T17:32:00.009Z

It's been a while since I blogged on this site, so a quick run through of what I've been up to since the summer...

Not much, if I'm honest!

I still have no job, and I will keep looking. The last interview I had was back in August, but I really wouldn't have taken the role at Helen Exley books even if I had been offered it; it was a truly awful interview, by two people who really didn't know what they were doing. In the past I may have stepped in and tried to lead, but that has got me into trouble previously, so I went along with them and suffered as a consequence.

I've watched plenty of cricket on TV; the England in South Africa series was good, just a shame that our boys couldn't hang on to the series lead. Much as with the Ashes series previously, England were generally out-played, but someone always came to the party and hung in there.

Rachel and I have had a few days out here and there:

We had a day out in Hastings in October on a lovely sunny day (left), just before the winter weather started in earnest. Rachel used up one of her flexi-days which was good. We caught the train down and wandered around the town as we both know it quite well. We didn't get up to much down there, and didn't go up the cliffs at all, but we just wandered around along the sea-front, taking in the midweek atmosphere. It was great to just sit on the pebbled beach, watching the waves and the odd dog splashing around in the gentle surf - one particular dog had great fun chasing stones that his owner was throwing into the sea!

It snowed here in October, which is the earliest it has for many a year. When it snows that early in the year, and during any of the winter, it doesn't normally settle, but it did this year, and it was a fore-runner of times to come...which I'll get to.

We also drove down to Dover and had a very windy walk (left) along the white cliffs to St Margarets which was fun in November. It was so blowy that the wind actually took me off my feet at one point; luckily, the wind was blowing straight along the coast (west to east), so I didn't end up anywhere near the cliff edge! We had lunch in a nice pub in St Margarets, and then walked back to Dover again, this time into the wind which was much harder with the 60-70mph gusts! The only bad thing about the day was that I dropped part of the lens cap for Rachel's camera - silly me - and even though I knew where it had fallen, we couldn't find it on the way back.

We also had one of our usual days out at Oare Marsh back in September, and had a nice walk around the pathway checking out birds and the River Thames. One old Thames sailing barge took ages to get up the river while we were there, struggling aginst the wind and tide, but it did make it in the end. This Blue Heron (left) flew over as we got back near the car.

Our local cat - his name is Zack, but we call him Spot, due to the white spot of fur on his face - still continues to dominate our lives. He knocks on our door every morning (when I say knock, I do mean knock, he stands on his hind legs and paws at the letter box!) so we let him in, then he will go to sleep on the settee or bed (if we let him upstairs) until he is ready for lunch, then we have to let him out, then he will come back for an afternoon kip, then ask to go again so he can get some supper around 6pm, then he's back once more for another mollycoddling evening on our laps until we kick him out at bedtime. The bad thing this autumn was that he got fleas, and we had to first get him clean, then get rid of the fleas in the house. he had infected our bedroom and living room, but we had to douse the whole house to be sure of killing them. I got plenty of bites on my ankles and wrists, but that eventually stopped, and touching lots of wood, we won't let that happen again. He has been banned from going upstairs mostly since.

In December, the snow really hit England, and we had very icy roads and paths for weeks. Our Xmas plan of having Rachel's parents to stay for a few days was cancelled when she fell over and broke her elbow, the silly thing! I was at football when it happened of course, so couldn't be too sympathetic I'm afraid. I was able to get a lift to the hospital just in time to hear the doctor confirm the break. She was operated on the next day to have it pinned, and then let out on the Monday. We switched Xmas from home to her parents in Somerset so they could take care of both of us, and it worked out well. On Boxing Day, we drove across the Somerset levels to a place where starlings come in to roost for the evening; I've never seen them swirl and spin like that before and it was great fun to watch for half an hour as the sun went down.

The snow and ice took ages to melt, and we have had more bad weather in January too, and now in the middle of February we are due more snow this week. Consequently, with Rachel only just going back to work after six weeks off sick, we haven't driven the car once since the day she fell over.

Recently, we both spent some time with each of our parents, and then met up for a day out in Salisbury. We went to the cathedral, and the new font (left) is amazing, and a great piece of sculpture. The copy of the Magna Carta is also worth seeing, and though a copy, it is over 800 years old!

I'm chugging along with my book, and have now written the difficult chapter about South Africa. Hopefully the last three chapters will come a little easier to me and I'll get the whole thing finished soon. Once that is complete, I'll have to decide what to do with it all, although one or two people have expressed an interest in reading it, so we'll see.

It has been nice to catch up with a couple of blasts from the past - Julie Snow via Facebook and Geoff Parker via email. I'll try to keep in touch with them a little better than I have done over recent years.

That's about all I can think of, and I need to make Rachel's tea now, so until someting else happens in my life, have fun and don't slip on the ice, wherever you are!

Our US Holiday

2009-07-27T11:51:00.020+01:00

It was a long one - 3054 miles - but we had a pretty good time on our latest US fly-drive holiday. We flew in to Las Vegas on a Virgin Atlantic flight, which was pretty good if long, and immediately picked up our (Dollar) hire car. I'd seen Chrysler Sebring's before, and thought they looked OK, so when we were given a choice of cars (all lined up) I went for the silver one over any other make. Rachel seemed OK with that choice, and although we had our obligatory argument pretty much as soon as we left the hire car outlet (after missing a turn), the car seemed comfortable and we were on our way.

We made it to St George that evening, with the outside temperature reaching 113 degrees fahrenheit at one point. Sadly, we couldn't get the cruise control to work, and also we hit some tumbleweed while driving through the Virgin River canyon (at 70mph) which damaged (cracked) the front fender a bit - I was watching a "dirty devil" at the time, so didn't see it at all, but I certainly felt the impact! Next morning, we arrived at Zion (left), and we had a whole day to jump on and off the shuttle buses and explore the canyon and hike various trails. Rachel bullied me into being active, and we hiked a long stretch of one trail that took us along rivers, and up to the small waterfalls and pools. It wasn't very busy at all on the trails, so we saw deer, squirrels, and chipmunks all over the place. Sadly, two women had been hit by a rock fall at the end of one trail (the riverside walk), and they were awaiting medics to treat their shock and flesh wounds.

We drove out of Zion through the tunnel that was blasted through the rock about 80 years ago, and did another good hike to the canyon overlook. Then we drove on through some cool countryside - spotting buffalo on the range - to Bryce.

I'd not been to Bryce Canyon before, so on arrival, we took a back road to the Fairyland arena, and Rachel had first look at the hoodoos - rock pinnacles - that stood before us. It was an amazing sight! We then drove down to the lodge, but it seems I got my bearings wrong and we were not staying there. Suitably chastened, we wandered along the canyon edge, and then walked down one of the trails - the Navajo Trail - through the "Silent City" and "Wall Street" that takes you down amongst the towering hoodoos. We then wandered along the bottom of the path through the Queens Garden and back up to the sunrise overlook about a mile from where we started. The hoodoos make all sorts of shapes, and using your imagination, you can see all sorts of faces and objects; Thors Hammer, one of the stand-out hoodoos, seemed to look more like ET to us, but there you go! We in fact stayed over the road from Ruby's Inn (in the Bryce View Lodge, which has NO view at all!), and had a nice meal at Ruby's that evening. The next morning we drove along the scenic route that takes you the length of the Bryce Canyon, and did a couple more short hikes along the edge. It was really quiet mostly, and we could do and go where we wanted, and take any picture we fancied too without worrying about other tourists! We did view a massive storm heading down the valley before us, with lots of thunder and lightning; as the town it was raining on in the valley was called Tropic, we named the storm Tropic Thunder! Bryce was wonderful, but after a time, you do get a bit bored with staring at more and more hoodoos. We did go to the local rodeo that evening at Ruby's, which was fun - after the adults had their turn being thrown off stallions and bulls, the kids took their turn on small calves and even sheep!

Leaving Bryce, we did one last hike the next morning along the man-made Tropic Ditch, which gave me a chance to climb up to some windows on a ridge high above the other side of the stream. It did mean getting our feet wet, but at least that cleaned our smelly trainers a little!

We turned on to the Scenic Byway that is Highway 12, and took a short detour off to Kodachrome Basin NP; here are more arches and windows, but we arrived just prior to a lightning storm, so I was keen to return to the car while Rachel wanted to take photos of the desert being rained on. She won!

Highway 12 is just fantastic - it weaves along the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument over hills and mountains, and down gullys and canyons. It was pretty quiet too, so a pleasant drive. We arrived in Escalante - our overnight stop - quite early, and as it was Independence Day, we hoped we might find some country life that night. Sadly, everyone was pretty laid back, and we joined others in the only establishment selling beer (called Esca-Latte no less); after a shared pitcher, we had some food (in our motel restaurant which didn't sell beer!) then shared another pitcher at Esca-Latte, before being told they were shutting at 9.30pm.

One of my pre-holiday highlights was to drive a road out of Escalante called Hell's Backbone - the dirt road is pretty much as its name suggests, with big drop offs on either side. Sadly, a big storm in the area the previous day left the 30-mile road too wet, and the ranger station advised us not to attempt it. Instead, we drove 10 miles down a flat back road to the Devil's Garden, spotting Golden Eagles on the way. This area was almost deserted, and we had great fun clambouring over the rock formations, surprising the local wildlife (a big buck rabbit surprised me too!), and taking silly photos. After the disappointment, this cheered me up a bit, and we got more pictures of the golden eagles on the return to Highway 12. Then we arrived at the Calf Creek Falls trailhead, which required another hike. This was the number one "Wow" sight in the whole of south west USA according to our guidebook! Sadly, my luck that day was completely out, as both of my boots practically disintegrated before reaching halfway along the 2-mile trail, and we had to turn back. Why they chose that moment to fall apart I do not know, but the hot sand and wear and tear just caught up I guess...it would have been dangerous to carry on. We completed our run along Highway 12, crossing the Hogsback, driving up and over Boulder Mountain, and arriving in Torrey quite early (due to the aborted hike to Calf Creek Falls). Our B&B was lovely, though not too close to town so we had an early dinner, and then drove to one of the Capitol Reef NP overlooks as it was a lovely evening and a terrific sunset. We viewed a small goosenecks type river deep beneath the plateau and then watched the sun set with bright red sunlight playing on the canyon walls. Back at the B&B, we had a few beers and watched the full moon rise over the spooky desert.

With my boots superglued together (thanks to the B&B owner), we tried to do some serious hiking next day, but in the end, the heat got to us and we had to cut short some of our plans. We did see the pioneer's register (left), where early travellers down the only road that crossed southern Utah had scratched their names into the rock face from their wagon trains as they passed through the canyon. As we walked, some of the canyon walls towered over 1000 feet above you but were less than twenty feet wide at the base - you could get neck ache looking up!

We really liked the Capitol Reef NP, and could have spent a lot more time there, but for fatigue, boot disintigration (they barely lasted the day despite the repair work...), heat, and the thought of climbing up 1000 foot cliff faces - maybe next time?

Leaving our B&B the next morning, we had a visitor to the car park as we loaded our bags - a 4 foot Gopher snake (below). It obviously wasn't a rattle snake, as it didn't have a rattle, but we didn't know if it was harmless or not until later on. Interestingly, the owners were not sure, but they were excited enough to get their two kids out of bed to come see it as it was the longest they had seen locally. They thought it was a rat snake of some kind, as it did seem to have recently fed on something - happy it was harmless, we posed and took pictures, and then it slithered off into the desert undergrowth from whence it no doubt came.

It's always a highlight for me to see a live snake - it took me years to see my first, and now I see them all the time it seems!

From Torrey. we drove through the Capitol Reef NP and across the Waterpocket Fold, a large fold in the earth's crust, which made for stunning scenery. We then followed the San Rafael Swell for fifty-odd miles before turning off the main road for another side trip, this time to Goblin Valley. This crazy place was found by a guy looking for stray cattle about fifty years ago, and used to be called Mushroom Valley - the small "valley" contains hundreds of shaped rocks most of which look like mushhrooms or, with a bit of imagination, goblins.

We had a terrific time wandering through the formations, climbing on top of them, and doing whatever we wanted with few other poeple around. You really can see lots of images and faces in the rocks if you want... It might seem a bad thing to be able to climb on these rocks, as you know that you are doing some sort of damage to them long term, but the authorities are carrying out a study into the effects that we humans are having by comparing areas where you can clambour to areas where you are not allowed; I suppose that one day others will not be so lucky as we were and will have to view from a distance?

We drove onwards, and eventually found ourselves on the freeway (I-70) before turning off south toward Moab, a road we drove five years ago. We stopped off at the Arches NP visitor centre to book our hike for the following day, but to my dismay there was a sign up saying the next available hike was on Thursday afternoon, two days later. Rachel was undaunted though, and she pursued the matter with the ranger who was happy to tell us that she had just had a cancellation, and we were booked for the following afternoon! We checked into our motel in Moab - The Apache, where John Wayne, Richard Widmark, and latterly, Sharon and Tracy from Birds of a Feather have stayed - but for some reason, Moab did not meet our expectation and it seemed a lot less busy and buzzy than on our previous trip.

With our hike in Arches booked for the afternoon, we just about had time to revisit Canyonlands, and to reprise our photos and walks from five years beforehand. I made sure I had my picture taken on top of Mesa Arch once more (as per my profile pic) - it really does have the most fantastic view from up there! - and even Rachel ventured up onto it this time around. With a ten foot drop on one side and a 1500 foot drop the other, you know which way to fall if you trip! It was windy this time too, but busier as well. A ranger was seated there and giving out info so I did ask if it was OK to climb on the arch, which she confirmed. Of course, once I'd got up there, a whole host of others followed me and Rachel, but at least I was the first that day according to the ranger! The ranger showed us the difference in temperature depending on what clothes you were wearing - shade was 92, white 94, black was 105! Luckily I was in light green, so maybe about 96? We drove along down to Grand View, and hiked quickly to the end (worried about time etc), and we saw many wonderful canyon views like the one just above.

Then we returned to Arches, and after a sandwich lunch beneath the Balanced Rock, we drove along to the Fiery Furnace for our guided hike. This hike was another of those events eagerly anticipated, and unlike some of the others on this trip, it did not disappoint! The Fiery Furnace is a relatively small area (third of a mile by half a mile square) of rock fins; the hike takes you down in amongst them, and to our general surprise, there was much more to it than we thought.

It was great to be down on the desert floor, with a knowledgeable ranger telling us all about the crypto-biotic sand, fauna, and flora, but once amongst the fins, the whole area came alive. We had to climb up ladders, along small ledges, and best of all, scramble and pull ourselves along small gaps between canyon walls where you had no footholds - just your feet on one wall and your hands and back on the other, edging along to the end. The wins at the end were some lovely arches - Spectacles Arch, Kissing Turtles Arch and Surprise Arch - that made it all worthwhile. There were about 30 of us on the hike, including some young kids who just took it all in their stride, and we all followed each other in single file most of the way. We got to scramble through an arch or two, and look up at high fin walls with just blue sky beyond. After the best part of three hours, it was over, we had walked around in a big loop and made it back to the car park; a terrific experience!

We then had time before sunset to drive over to some of the other accessible arches and take a few photos, including a view of Delicate Arch from the lower viewpoint that we hadn't been to before (even though it was along way away...).

We drove south from Moab and turned off the main road toward the Natural Bridges NP, an area with three major natural bridges, including two of the world's largest. All three can be hiked, and the first had the hardest descent (and, therefore, climb) so we only went about half way down to Sipapu Bridge, but from where you can get a very good view. We did hike all the way down to Kachina Bridge (the longest hike), and we didn't pass anyone on the way there or back; in the mud at thebottom, paw prints were visible but I don't know what animal they came from (nothing too big...). At Okonchomo Bridge, we merely viewed it from afar, before driving on.

Our route back to our next overnight stop had two options; a long return along the road we had originally driven to the main road and then south, or a much shorter trip that would take us to Muley Point and, if we deemed it driveable, the Moki Dugway. As I really wanted to go to Muley Point, Rachel begrudgingly agreed to drive that way, though she let me know how unhappy she was. The Muley Point turn off is just prior to the Dugway, and requires driving about five miles along unpaved roads in each direction.

The view from Muley Point was simply unbelievable (left), and the photos we took simply do not do it justice. Stood at the end of a cliff, you look down onto the plateau below which has the goosenecks of the San Juan Roiver carving through it; then, beyond that, is the spires and buttes Monument Valley, standing serenely on the horizon about 50 miles away. Then, to the left, along the cliff edge is the Valley of the Gods - more spires and buttes. It was just beautiful, but as we were both now in a pretty foul mood - Rachel for having to drive the dirt road and me for having to listen to her moan about it - we didn't stay very long. But with our luck, Rachel did manage to scrape the bottom of the car at the back while turning around, and that popped one of the pins that held the back fender in place by the wheel arch.

Rachel had refused to drive the Moki Dugway on our previous trip but being here at the top she had little option other than a 120 mile detour; this unpaved section of road slithers down the side of the cliff face for a 1000 feet or so. Our guidebook had painted it in a very dangerous picture, especially if you met a lorry coming in the opposite direction. Now it seemed that oversize lorries were banned, not surprisingly! We tentatively started down and in actual fact, it wasn't that bad; you are never very close to the edge going down (as opposed to coming up when you are at times), and we didn't have any trouble at all driving down slowly. Hardly any traffic was coming up (I think we passed one other car?), so we could take our time as we wanted. All that fuss about nothing really! We stopped for an hour at Goosenecks SP, one of our favourite stops previously, and Rachel calmed right down as she read and I explored the canyon edge for an hour.

We had a good night at Bluff, eating in the local steakhouse where we had previously, and where Robert E Parker (Butch to his mates) is still reverred. Then we drove on to Page, for a two night break by Lake Powell.

The main reason to visit Page these days is to take a boat trip to Rainbow Bridge, a beautiful natural arch (left) that has only just been left visible by the rising waters of the dammed Lake Powell. Still an important ceremonial place for the local Navajo indians, you are asked not to walk under the bridge, or appraoch it, so we had to behave here. Quickly hustled back on our boat, we then undertook a series of short side trips up very narrow canyons, some of which you would not believe the boat could travel up. It was great fun, inching along these narrow waterways, bumping the side of the boat, edging back and forward to get past corners. Back in Page, we had a nice drink in a wild west type saloon bar, listening to a band play and watching locals dance (excellently!) but the service when it came to the food was appalling!

Back on the road, we drove past Horseshoe Canyon (which is possibly better than Goosenecks) and then Marble Canyon where there are two bridges over the Colorado, one built in 1929, and the other in 1995 (which now takes all the traffic). We then drove up onto the Kaibab (or Kebab as we called it) Plateau, and eventually arrived at the North Rim of Grand Canyon.

Rachel hadn't really enjoyed our previous visit to the Grand Canyon, as it is an awesome sight and difficult to take in sometimes. As we relaxed with beer in hand, sat on the lodge balcony though, it all made sense, to me anyhow. We watched the sun set from Bright Angel Point, had a lovely dinner in the lodge restaurant, and then got a early night as we had a busy day planned. Sadly, I didn't sleep that well (maybe it was the altitude - 9000ft plus?), and I was a bit down all the next day. We did drive round to Point Imperial, and Cape Royal, and hike some trails there, but I was tired, and after driving back to the lodge for lunch, I crashed out while Rachel hiked down into the Canyon itself. She got down about 1500 feet it seems, in about 1.5 miles, before she decided to turn back. This was a great effort, especially the return, further than we thought she might go, and I'm proud and pleased that she did it!

We both agreed that evening that we could quite happily fly home after the busy and wonderful two weeks we had had on this trip, but we did still have another week to go and a thousand mile detour to take in Michael and Sandy's wedding. We set off early from the North Rim, and pretty much made schedule with a return to St George for lunch (and a chance to watch Mark Cavendish win a stage of the Tour de France live on TV). We then cut across the north part of Las Vegas and headed out into the Nevada desert flanked by Area 51 and the Nevada atomic test site at Frenchman's Flats.

The plan, if all went well, was to get to the town of Beatty, and so we did, but instead of staying where we planned, we stopped at the first motel in town (there were three in total) which seemed brand new. It was so new it had no WiFi, and nobody else staying! We even had to walk around to motel number three (part of a casino) to get dinner (in Rita's Cafe), but at least they seemed happy to serve us beers when we asked.

Leaving early, as there was nothing to hang around for, we drove up along the desert, and then cut across the mountains toward the Sierra Nevada, spotting lots of snow still on the mountain tops. We arrived at Tioga Pass, near the east entrance to Yosemite NP that afternoon, and had time to venture into the park for sunset and some nice photos at Tuolumne Meadows.

Yosemite that evening was lovely (left), even though it was a lot busier than anywhere else we had been (bar Grand Canyon). Sure enough, our drive next morning from the east side to Yosemite Valley was longer than expected, in part due to the extra traffic. Rachel got upset when some big 4x4 got too close and beeped her even though we were doing more than the speed limit and couldn't be faulted for not pulling over. This put her in a bad mood again, so our time in the valley, and with the other hundreds of tourists wasn't then best. Sure, the waterfalls are spectacular and beautiful, and we did have a good hike up to Vernal Falls amongst the crowds. But after dropping off the car, the local shuttle bus system around the park seemed over complicated, and we didn't enjoy ourselves that much. We left earlier than expected, and missed out the Bridal Veil Falls and the giant Sequoia trees area, preferring to poodle back to Tioga Pass in our own time without a rush.

From Tioga, we drove up to Lake Tahoe, hitting awful traffic around South Lake Tahoe and the lake itself, and we struggled to find anywhere for lunch. We made it to the Donner Pass SP that afternoon and watched a half hour film about the party that got stuck in snow here in 1846; amazing how they really do quickly skip over the cannibalism that the survivors undertook, but I guess it is a dark area for them to cover.

We arrived in Nevada City very tired, and although we met Annabel, Andrea, and Michael and Sandy at their rehearsal (two doors up the street from our B&B) we declined the offer to attend dinner in Colfax with them that night. Instead we went out and got drunk, with beers in a bar, and then two bottles of champagne over dinner that finally relaxed Rachel!

Wedding day dawned bright and sunny, and it was hot too! We dressed late, and sat at the back of the church during a lovely service. It was interesting that some guests dressed down a very long way (that would be unacceptable at a British wedding) but, hey, this is California! The reception was OK, with lots of buffet food, and bar drinks, but for some reason, many guests didn't stay very long at all. Sandy mentioned us in her speech as guests of honour which was lovely, and we stayed on to the end, after everyone else went. It was terrific to meet Andrea again - it's been about 12 years I think - and also Sheridan and her husband Mitch. Annabel, of course was on top form on her birthday, and I even forgive her for getting me to open her bottle of water that was fizzy when I didn't know and which fizzed up, out, and over my suit! Still, it dried pretty quick...

We all went back to the B&B (Michael and Sandy were staying there that night too) and got changed, then headed back into town for more drinks and food. It all finished about 10.30 when Annabel had to drive back to Colfax, and Rick and Ginger had to go too, leaving just the newly weds and Rachel and I standing. We didn't want too late a night as we had a long drive the next day, and I guess Michael and Sandy had other things on their mind too!

In fact we made it all the way to Las Vegas (540 miles!) the next day, arriving about 7pm, and headed for the one hotel you could see from anywhere (all 109 floors of The Stratosphere). The biggest problem on the drive was the back fender flapping around all the time - we tried fixing it with duck tape but it didn't always hold... We got a decent room and had a lovely (expensive) dinner 108 floors up. After sorting out the suitcases next morning, we packed up, checked out, had a brunch in the diner, and drove down to the airport (after going the wrong way briefly). Dropped off the car (without any comeback, despite the damage...), and hopped on our plane home.

Tired after a bumpy flight, we got home safe. A terrific trip, but possibly too long - must do better next time I plan one!

Not Out...

2009-06-08T10:39:00.003+01:00

One of the things I have been doing this last couple of years, on Saturdays when there is no football, is umpire at my local cricket club - Chislehurst and West Kent Cricket Cricket Club.

I always did a fair stint as umpire during my playing days, but when my knees finally gave way about five years ago, any cricket activity was reduced to the spectator variety. A couple of years ago, I felt relatively fit, and decided to try out for the Chislehurst club in pre-season. I turned up on a Tuesday evening in April and did some bowling and fielding practice, but didn't get a chance to bat. Sadly, even this small amount of (slowly) running around caused my knee to swell and I could hardly walk for the next three weeks, so I made a decision to offer my services as either umpire or scorer, and next thing I know I'm the designated first team umpire!

My first game was hard, as I got called all sorts of unrepeatable names having given an opposition batsmen out LBW, and the next week it got worse as an onfield spat almost got out of hand and the game ended prematurely in an agreed draw to save any further physical conflict. Things settled down, and the season ended with relegation sadly. Last season, I returned to duties and we had a very up-and-down year with streaks of losing followed by winning runs; in the end we survived another drop in division by just one point thanks to some weird last day results.

This year, I am back in the white coat once more, confident in my abilities and happy to have a reputation as a fair umpire in a league where one or two definitely favour their own sides.

And this brings me to the point of this particular blog piece:

On Saturday, in an away game, a couple of decision went against us when we batted, courtesy of the home umpire. I have no idea if these calls were correct or not, as standing at square leg it is impossible to see if a ball is straight enough to warrant an LBW decision. We received two such decisions, one against our overseas professional at an important time of the innings. Toward the end of the innings (in the last over in fact), I had to make my first close call of the game; the ball went through to the 'keeper, and the batters tried to run a bye. It became a foot race, as the 'keeper ran toward the stumps with the ball in hand, and the batter scampered down the pitch stretching out his bat. It was a very close call when the bails came off and my opinion was that it was too close to give the batter out as I couldn't be absolutely sure he hadn't made his ground. A comment, from a fielder forty yards away I might add, suggested that he was at least a yard out but, when spoken to later, the batter thought he was in. It made little difference as just one further run was scored in the innings.

In the home teams innings, I again was asked to give a couple of close decisions; I actually had a similar run out call (which I again gave not out, favouring the home team), although one direct hit was out and I signalled this accordingly. But it was the other umpire who was possibly at fault elsewhere...

Our team had two major LBW calls at his end, the first against the home teams overseas player who was a very good batter. Our side were convinced that this player should have been out LBW when hit on the pads, but knowing the rules, I later mentioned to them that it can be tough to get LBW decisions against left handers, as the ball has to pitch in line, and usually straighten in order to convince the umpire it will hit the wicket. Another shout, against a player who got fifty runs, was also turned down when the fielding side were convinced it should have been given out. But the biggest call was a run out decision, from another throw that directly hit the stumps; even at square leg I was sure that the batter running to the bowlers end was out of his ground by at least a yard, yet the benefit of any doubt was given to the home team player by the home team umpire. Hmmm....

And all this led to a last over where my team required just one wicket, and the home team seven runs to win. With the last man at the crease, a youngster facing our fastest bowler (our overseas pro), the ball hit the pad and a massive shout for LBW went up for me to judge. I have to say it was close, the ball pitching on off stump and going on up the hill - it may have hit the outside of leg stump but I couldn't be sure. I pride myself on being fair and I gave a not out decision which was immediately accepted by my disappointed team and the grateful opposition. After a scampered single off the next ball, the penultimate ball of the match was smashed for six and the game lost by us and won by the home team.

My question is how many other umpires in this league, and other leagues, would have made that infavourable decision against their own team with the match to be won (or lost)? Certainly from what I saw that day, the other umpire (who was a nice chap) would have seen his team win and given the leg before call as out if faced with the same scenario and circumstances.

I felt quite bad about it even though we had seen a terrific game of cricket that day. One of our players asked later if integrity was a good thing sometimes, and I know what he meant. I admitted in the bar afterwards that I had cost the side 12 precious points, even though I stated that the decision I made was abjectly correct.

The problem is that when we see umpires who do favour their own, and we have an umpire (me) who tries to be fair, the contest is not even, and that is not right. A couple of years back I was asked to umpire the second teams final fixture of the season, in which they had a chance to get promoted if other results were favourable. I did so, and they won (but didn't get promotion), but afterwards I was accused of not giving them any favours; I wondered if I should? They know I have built my reputation on being straight down the line - if it's out, I give it, if not, I don't!

I have the issue of whether to continue to be correct and fair or whether to err on the side of my team in future, and it is a decision I have yet to decide upon.

Time Flies...

2009-05-28T10:00:00.008+01:00

It seems strange that it's nearly nine months since I blogged on this site; my Charlton blog has been fully up-to-date recently, but I just haven't gotten around to adding anything on this page.

It's been a busy few months I suppose - I jacked my job in last December, as I finally found that I'd had enough. This was a key decision I suppose, as my wife wasn't working at the time (she finally got a job and started work again yesterday!), and I didn't take it lightly. Financially, we are OK, and that covered any monetary shortfall over the last six months, but eventually, one or both of us needed to find paid employment, and my wife was luckier than I and got a job first...

Having finished work, we went on holiday to Borneo once more, our third trip to that part of the world. We stayed in the same hotel as always (Shangri-La's Rasa Ria Resort near Kota Kinabalu) but I had the heavy cold that pervaded the UK at that time and I realy didn't feel like doing too much once ensconced near the beach. I eventually had to see the doctor as I just couldn't shift the virus, and sure enough, as the holiday finished, I got better.

My health did mean that we had a very, very, relaxing time, as we simply could not do very much. Normally, on our other trips to Borneo, we have explored the island on either day or overnight trips, but this time we just couldn't do that. So we just lounged on the beach, or went into KK (one day to see the dragon and lion dances that heralded the Chinese New year), or checked out the local Orang-Utans. We had a pretty good time considering, and the hotel staff were simply lovely toward us, and made us cry on leaving as they sang us a farewell song!

My father has also been travelling a lot, and has been on trips to Prague, South Africa, and China, plus a cruise to Greenland, Iceland and Norway and another to the Med. Sadly, my uncle died in March, and we had to attend his funeral near Norwich.

One of our best friends got married last Sunday, so we had a lovely day down in Bournemouth for that, and this weekend, my wife's family on her father's side are all getting together from around the world in Norfolk - should be fun!

Then in a few weeks time we are off on our next holiday, which I have had plenty of time to plan, and takes in another wedding, in California!

That's about it I suppose - I won't comment on the bad things going on in the world - North Korea's nuclear missile programme and threats; MP's claims against allowances; the recession; and the worsening situation in Pakistan - as you all have your own views on those and they are probably the same as mine! Finally. I should add a belated congratulations to Barack Obama, the man who might have to save the world...

Till next time...

Fun and Flopping in Florida

2008-08-27T20:00:00.023+01:00

Where I work, July is the busiest time of the year; it’s not just busier, like some places of work, it’s that we do between three and four times as much work as any other single month of the year. I won’t go into why here, but it just is. Once we get to the end of July, the work dies off completely, and goes back to normal, and that’s the time when me and most of my staff take their summer holidays.

My wife and I left our booking quite late this year, and we couldn’t decide where to go or what to do; as we had had a long driving holiday in April, we didn’t want another one of those, and if we wanted a beach holiday, then we either stayed in Europe (where we have exhausted most of the financially viable places to go - we don’t much like repeating) or go long haul to somewhere hot.

The West Indies is prohibitively expensive in August, and also very humid, and we also thought about going to south-east Asia (where my wife had just spent a month) but that seemed a bit stupid and the weather in August can be very wet. We did think long and hard about going back to Borneo (the one place we do repeat to...) but we couldn’t get reasonably priced flights. Coupled then with the dodgy weather, we decided not to go back just yet...

That left us with few options, but one that my wife did entertain was going to Florida. She really does not like the idea of "doing Disney" as she calls it (though she loves theme parks and fast rides as much a the next person!), but she has always wanted to go to the Florida Keys. We therefore checked out the prices of places and flights and made up our minds.

Sadly, the flights were quite expensive, as we had left it quite late to book. We therefore made a decision that she would get the cheapest flight she could, and I would use my Air Miles, even if this meant travelling on separate flights. And this is what eventually happened - I flew with United, via Washington DC, and she flew with American, outward via New York, and back via Chicago! We arranged it so that both of our departing flights left at pretty much the same time - on both occasions incidentally, my plane took off first. Outward though, she was due to arrive much earlier in Miami than me, due to the long changeover I had at Dulles.

The good news was that my Best Woman, who lives in DC, also agreed to fly down to Miami to spend the weekend with us. Annabel met up with Rachel on the Saturday night, and they had finished dinner and several glasses of wine before I arrived, having been subject to an extra two hour delay in Virginia!

We stayed at The Raleigh Hotel on Miami's South Beach, and it was very nice too, in the main! The plan for Sunday was to relax and hang around the excellent pool area and we were not overly worried by the inaugural pool party that had been advertised for that day. How wrong we were!

After a nice breakfast where we met up with Annabel, we went back to the Raleigh and found our spot by the pool. Many "staff" were buzzing around setting things up - a sound stage, a bubble machine, a fountain that kept "raining" on people in the pool (and annoyingly on the edge). It just got busier and busier. It was great to people watch I guess, and some of the high-heeled shoes that you saw balancing while being walked poolside were amazing! But then the music started to blare out and the thump-thump-thump became too much. It just wasn’t fun anymore, as we got more crowded and people just started to invade our space.

We therefore wandered down to the beach, where the Raleigh has an area full of sun-beds and umbrellas (needed!) and also offered a waiter service for drinks. Sadly, this area on this day was simply lacking any staff who knew what was going on or could make a decision. We got a space, and spent plenty of time messing about in the Ocean but the drinks we asked for never arrived, and no explanation as to why they hadn’t come was offered or given.

We went back eventually through the back entrance and gardens of the hotel, past lots of people smoking what they shouldn’t have been, and made a complaint to the duty manager, who gave one of the best "not my job" excuses I have ever heard.

This soured our expectation of The Raleigh, and we failed to spend any more money there (drinks, food, or on extras) during our stay, such were we annoyed.

The rest of our time in Miami was spent on the beach further south, or eating or drinking, or getting lost. For some reason, I didn’t have my "radar" working and one lunch meeting with Annabel (who was staying at a friends apartment at the southern end of Ocean Boulevard) went horribly wrong as I led my wife to completely the wrong address.

We did find a couple of "interesting" bars - Mac’s Deuce Bar was fun, and the "I’m not Chinese" barman was nice to chat to. He even arranged for a friend of his to step in when a rather drunk patron started to move in on Annabel. Not that Annabel couldn’t look after herself - she changed her name that evening to "Jill", and I’m sure that in-joke will come back to haunt her in future!

We ate at a lovely Italian restaurant called Osteria del Teatro, initially freezing under the air-con before being moved to the window side of the room (left). The staff really looked after us and we had a very nice meal. We also ate at Gloria Estefan’s restaurant - Larios - where they had a wonderful Cuban band playing. The pork belly was also fantastic!

We left Annabel (and "Jill") in Miami after picking up our hire car, and after a farewell sandwich, drove out of the city and across the Everglades toward our next stop - Sanibel Island. Our friends in Mac’s Deuce Bar had advised us not to take Alligator Alley freeway, so we drove on S41, which was more pleasant, if a bit slower. We did hit some major rain as we drove across the state, and by Naples, this had slowed all the traffic down badly. We also got a little lost (not really my fault, just the lack of a good map!) in Fort Myers, but we eventually got on the right road.

Then we had one of those nightmare moments that you come across in the movies...

Rachel decided to change lane, moving from the inside to the outside, as we approached traffic signals. I was a bit surprised when she accelerated having done this and told her to slow down as the lights were red. She then swore and said she had to go faster as a big car had invaded her mirrors and she didn’t know where it had come from! It quickly became obvious that the car we were driving had a large blind spot on the drivers side, and that Rachel had pulled out right in front of this black pick-up...oh well, no harm done. We pulled away as the lights changed, and the pick-up changed lane and passed us on the inside. As it got clear, it veered across in front of us and immediately slammed on its brakes. I had visions of a massive local getting out once it had stopped, brandishing a shot-gun, and blasting us to death before calmly getting back into the cab and driving off - just as you see in the cinema - but luckily, after causing us to brake hard and skid, he backed off and pulled away; point made! This really upset Rachel, but at least it made us aware that we had that blind-spot in the mirrors, and we didn’t make the same mistake again in that car. The pick-up turned off a couple of miles down the road and we didn’t follow...

Sanibel Island is part of a small chain of islands connected to the mainland by three or four toll bridges. We got onto the island without hitch, but again, our lack of a decent map came back to haunt us as we just couldn’t find our "hotel". We drive around for miles, back and forth, until we eventually found our road, with the guest-house at the end. This was a lovely place, right on the beach, and we settled in and wandered along the sands that evening while a storm flashed lightning out to sea.

We had a nice meal in the local steakhouse that night, though Rachel was miffed as I made her drive due to the weather that was still very thundery.

The next day, we mooched around the beach, and rode the complimentary bikes we had been given around the island. The lighthouse area was nice and we watched an osprey eating something up on the lighthouse itself. The beaches are full of shells, and though many are broken or crushed, there are thousands that are lovely examples. As always though, we only took footprints and left pictures! We visited the JN "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge, but it was just too hot to do all of the walk suggested - we did see an Ibis (left), an Egret, a Tri-Colored Heron, and a Red-Shouldered Hawk though! We then rode down to the Bailey Tract, where we were told we might see alligators, but we hardly saw anything, as it was the hottest part of the day.

The next day we drove to Captiva, the next island along the "chain". Here we had a late lunch, and then a few drinks near the beach. We had a lovely meal back on Sanibel on our last evening, another Italian - at Dolce Vita on Periwinkle Way - where a bride danced on her wedding night (when she wasn't outside having a crafty smoke that is!).

Leaving Sanibel, we stopped once more at The Lighthouse Café, which claims to serve the best breakfast in the world - it was good, but not quite that good! - before heading back over to Fort Myers and the road back toward Miami.

We went a slightly different way back toward Miami, cutting out the slow part of the road between Naples and Fort Myers, driving onto part of Alligator Alley before heading south and joining S41 again. Back on the highway, we stopped at one of the air-boat tour places (which was recommended, but I won’t say which one) for a ride. About 16 of us jumped aboard the air-boat, and after setting off, we stopped amid the Everglades sawgrass while our pilot gave us the low-down on what we could see, might see, and should expect. Sadly, the only real question was when will we see the 'gators, which must be quite sickening for the guides, who are a fount of knowledge on the area.

Sure enough, we soon stopped in an area resembling a canal, and there in the near distance came swimming up a 'gator! We all took pictures and then moved on another fifty yards or so where the process was repeated with yet another female alligator. This seemed to go on and on for about half an hour...All of them had names - Carolyn, Betty-Sue and the like, but we didn’t see any male 'gators. The pilot/guide fed them a marshmallow to thank them for coming over to see us, which is highly illegal I hear (and hence why I won’t name the tour we took); when asked what he was feeding them, in his best redneck accent, he said "I ain't feedin' them nothin'. That would be eee-llegal; I have no idea what it is that is fallin' from the sky and what they is eatin'?" In some ways, I know he shouldn't be giving them marshmallows, but all the tourists on that boat would have felt cheated if they hadn’t seen a 'gator...so I'll forgive him just this once. At least this tour group didn't lay on any wrestling of the creatures, which many of the other tour groups do...I would have drawn the line at that!

We were on our way to Key West, but we did not have a hotel booked for that night, as we really didn’t know where we would go or what we would want to do on that drive southwards. The guide book we used was very complimentary about some of the small hotels in Islamorada, one of the middle Keys, and after a couple of throat quenchers in Alabama Jack’s on the back road (905-A) into Key Largo, we started to call the hotels to try to book a room. Sadly, this Saturday night was a doozy, as (we later found out) it was the start of lobster season off the Keys, and all the hotels (and the Keys themselves) were very full. It then became obvious that the further we went on the more we would struggle to find somewhere to stay, so we turned about and drove back from Islamorada all the way to Florida City where we found a room at the local Best Western.

Next morning, we drove off past Alabama Jack’s again, and stopped at Theater of the Seas, for a show. A very old (comparatively) kind of Sea-World aquarium place, we saw dolphins leaping (left), turtles waving, parrots performing, and plenty of young kids screaming before calling it a day and getting back in the car.

We continued driving south-west along Highway 1, through Islamorada, and the middle Keys, and onto Seven-Mile Bridge. Here we had a great view of a pretty heavy rain-storm that would slow us down over the next few miles (pic below). Then on into Key West itself where we took a wrong turn and ended up turning around through some very deep puddles that the storm had left behind. We found our hotel, after driving round in circles a couple of times, and they upgraded our room which was very nice of them.

Key West is a bit of a weird town; like most of south Florida, it has a very high gay population (nearly every barman we met was apparently gay...), but it also has a very high misogynistic streak. Duval Street is like a mini-version of Bourbon Street in New Orleans (if you have ever been to the French Quarter, you’ll know what I mean...); it has bars playing loud music, many with live bands; it has strip joints; it has transvestites holloring to the sidewalk as they are driven up and down on a convertible; it has street performers, one with a white python; it has drunken frat boys who can’t hold their beer; it has Harley Davidson’s roaring up and down, and electric cars and tricycles slowly poodling along; it has all sorts! Now, if you can live with this eclectic mix, then Key West is for you. Me, well I just went with the flow!

Our first meal in town gave us a feel of what to expect - it was Sunday night, and busy, as the sun had set. We went into a hotel that had a recommended restaurant. The obviously gay waiter was doing a good job, when my wife ordered a "Gin and Slimline tonic; if you don’t have Slimline" she added "just any tonic is fine." So what does she get, Tonic Water! No gin in sight! Funnily enough, we went back to this restaurant (as the food was very nice) on our last night, and I asked for a Cuba Libre, but with dark rum. The waiter asked "Coca Cola and lime?" I thought about this, and surmised that he was checking to see if I wanted Diet Coke or full fat and with or without lime, so I said yes. Back came a Coke with Lime. I asked where the rum was? He said that he thought I'd said I wanted a Cuba Libre without rum. I said that if I wanted a Cuba Libre without rum I would have asked for a Coke with lime. He failed to apologise completely!

As we had booked six nights in town, I wasn’t in much of a mood to race through all the things that you could do in Key West in one day; we went for a wander on our first day, to the most southern point in the continental USA, which is close to the southernmost hotel, bar, street, pier, beach, and no doubt dog and cat in continental USA...we were walking round the back streets of Key West when a short sharp shower hit us from nowhere -– we ran to a small café for cover, but still got wet.

We went to Ernest Hemingway’s former home that afternoon, and what a nice place it was. The guide was excellent in telling us how Ernest had lived there for ten years or so (most of the thirties) with his (2nd) wife, and his cats. The cats are amazing, and descendants are still there! About 50 of them! And they all have genes that give them extra toes! Some have one or two extra toes on the front paws, and some on the back, and some on both! Weird, but fun. They are cared for really well, and there are lots of cat-houses all over the gardens in the shadey areas. There is even a graveyard, and the guide told us it was the only place in the world where you will find Marilyn Monroe buried next to Frank Sinatra! The swimming pool was built while Ernie was away on one of his jaunts (sunning himself in Spain or somewhere probably...), and it cost a fortune back then; after getting rather upset about the cost of it on his return, he apparently threw a penny from his pocket onto the ground and told his wife that she may as well have his last cent as she had spent all his other money! That cent piece is now preserved in concrete next to the pool!

Some of the other things we enjoyed in Key West were the Pirate Museum, where you can sit in a darkened room and listen to the last moments of Blackbeard before he was beheaded, plus the Butterfly House, where we spent about 90 minutes watching amazing butterfly’s and moths swarm around a pretty room hoping that one would land on you (and therefore bring you luck) - eventually one did! The wreckers museum was also OK, and I enjoyed climbing the rickety lookout tower, and ringing the bell at the top!

On a couple of days, massive cruise ships were in dock, and that made the town much busier than on days when they weren’t in port. We therefore had one day when we just hung around the hotel and didn’t do much except mess around the swimming pool and spa.

We also took a day trip out to the Dry Tortugas, the end-most Key of the chain, and about 70 miles west of Key West harbour (left, at sunrise). The catamaran was a fun trip, but not too much fun that you couldn’t enjoy it. Dry Tortugas contains the largest masonry fort in the western hemisphere - Fort Jefferson (below). On arrival, we took the tour provided and listened to tales of how the Fort was built; how long it lasted (1846 till about 1870...); and how strategically important it was at that time. They never did finish it so I guess it’s a big folly really. In the afternoon, after lunch had been provided, we went to one of the beaches, and Rachel went snorkeling near the coral that is local. She was surprised when a large Tarpon fish swam right up to her, and others there also saw Nurse Sharks and lots of other native fish. We wandered back to the boat and had a drink or two on the way back - it had to be rum!

Sadly Key West was not the best place in the world to see a sunset; we had been advised to go to a roof bar at one of the hotels on Duval but the two days we went up there as the sun got low, it disappeared behind large clouds on the horizon and left a weak wet sunset effect. Only on our last night did we see anything like a reasonable sunset - maybe at other times of year it is better?

We had to leave early on our last day in order to get back to Miami and drop off the hire car at the airport, before catching our flights. We had a pretty good run, and stopped off for breakfast, and still got to the airport with plenty of time to spare...or so we thought. At the Alamo drop off, we arrived to see police cars with lights flashing, and one of the courtesy buses spread across the road half way into a field and through a fence. I guess the driver forgot to turn the wheel, or maybe the bus was heavier than he thought? Who knows? It didn’t look like anyone was hurt, but it did back up all the passengers waiting to get over to the terminals. I said goodbye to Rachel as she was dropped off at the American terminal first, and then I went into the United area. Both of us, it transpires, had long queues to encounter, and both of us were a bit worried about catching our planes, so slow were the lines.

In the end, we were both fine, though we didn’t have time for any shopping. Our fights were scheduled to take off at exactly the same time, but my flight was first down the runway. I had a short stopover in DC, and a chance for some food, and then made it onto my transatlantic flight. It was pretty uneventful, and arrived in London early, so I could pick up my bag, and get over to Rachel’s terminal to meet her. Then we met our cabbie and were driven home, tired but happy.

It was a nice holiday, and great to see Annabel again, but without too many massive highlights...but I suppose after Namibia that was always going to be the case.

Magnificent Namibia

2008-08-26T20:43:00.014+01:00

After all the trauma earlier in 2008, it was nice to get away...

We flew in to Windhoek, and after a night in town, drove south-west towards Soussessvlei. The original car we hired wasn’t very good so we soon returned that to the airport, and they gave us a Toyota Yaris. The roads in Namibia are the worst I have experienced anywhere in the world. The whole country, which is several times the size of the UK, only has a couple of hundred miles of tarmac road, and the rest is gravel. Where these gravel roads are used regularly, the Government attempts to keep them flat -we saw plenty of "road-works" during our trip, with levelling trucks smoothing out one side of the road at a time - but in some of the lesser-used districts, the road becomes (very) bumpy and (very) rocky.

On our first day out of Windhoek, we had to drive along a long gravel road that was unbelievably bumpy. In our hire car, we struggled to manage 20mph (35kph) on this road, and a 60-mile section took hours to complete; what looks a short distance on the map can turn into a nightmare when planning journeys in Namibia! Even going slowly made the CD jump in the player!

We did arrive finally at the Kalula Lodge, where we stayed for a couple of days, and there we took trips out to into the dune area at sunrise, and on to Soussessvlei (left). This was a magical place, and one that is very difficult to explain. Extremely dry, the dunes have left low areas that used to be lakes completely marooned from water, yet the trees that used to live there are mummified somewhat. The area (as with all of Namibia) is also teeming with wildlife, and we saw springbok, ostrich, and many types of birds.

From there, we drove back to the east, to a small lodge on the Zebra River. This was a lovely house run by a very nice family, and all the guests joined the family for dinner each night. This house was also the centre for many walks that guests could take, ranging from the hour or so sunset walk we did after arriving (where we got lost and had to back-track), to the six hour marathon we did to find a freshwater spring high up the valley. We did encounter a Black Spitting Cobra on this trek, which came very close to us until it realised we were human and then ran for cover in the opposite direction to us! Who was more scared? We will never know!

We also climbed up to a quiver tree, sat atop one of the hills (left). From here, you could not see any (ANY!) sign of life in whatever direction you looked - no roads, planes, houses/buildings, farming, or paths - even though you could see for miles and miles and 360 degrees.

From Zebra River Lodge, we had a long drive to Swakopmund. Sadly our Yaris was no match for the riverbed we soon encountered that morning, and we got stuck! After 90 minutes of trying everything you would expect to have to do to try to dig the car out of the soft sand, we gave up, and decided to walk to the nearest habitation. We didn’t know which direction this was, not having passed anywhere much before we got stuck. I back-tracked down the road for five minutes - a kind of reccy - but there was nothing visible that we could aim for, so we walked back to the car to pick up water etc. Then, out of nowhere came a car! We were so pleased to see these German tourists, and they were so very helpful in attaching the tow chain and pulling us out. When you are stuck in the middle of nowhere, where a car has not come past for almost two hours, the relief is immense, let me tell you! Luckily, we hadn’t set off walking, for as we found out when we continued in the car, there was no habitation for another 12 miles or so, and we did not pass another car before hitting the main road some 20 miles from where we got stuck! Those lost in the desert movies nearly became a reality!

We continued our drive, but a long way behind schedule. The consensus is that you should not exceed 50mph (80kph) on gravel roads, in case you hit a dip that can easily roll the car if you are not careful. As the sun set over the desert - a beautiful mesmerising sight in itself - we were still many miles from Swakopmund, and my wife was driving ever faster in an effort to get us to the hotel that evening. Luckily, we didn’t have any more problems, though in hindsight we did drive way too fast...

Swakopmund is a strange little town, usually shrouded in fog, but the weather was good while we were there. I did a day trip down the coast to Sandwich Harbour, where the dunes are fun and accessible, and the pelicans and seabirds flock. In Swakopmund, we decided to switch our 2-wheel drive for a 4-wheel version, just in case we hit any more soft sand...

After this break, we drove north, along the Skeleton Coast at first, then back across the desert but in much happier mood, safe in our monster 4-wheel drive car. We then arrived in the Damaraland Mountains and at our favourite hotel on the trip - Mowani Mountain Lodge.

At Mowani, we did a long day trip searching for desert elephants, but sadly they had deserted us, moving up into the hills due to pregnancy it was thought; no worries, the hotel was wonderfully set up and had a fantastic sunset lookout/viewing area, and lovely bird-watching and relaxing areas that really did seem unworldly. On a local walk, my wife lost a ring; we reported it but after frantic searching around the main lodge, it just couldn’t be found. We figured someone must have pocketed it, even though we didn't tell anyone what it was worth (about US$1000!). While at Mowani, we visited the Twyfelfontain rock drawing sight, which is just down the road, and saw very old rock carvings and the like.

On our last evening at Mowani, we arrived for dinner at 7pm, as everyone did, but were directed away from the dining area toward a table set up just for us. Here we had personal service that was so romantic, and it was terrific eating a good dinner under the stars with a bottle of local champagne.

The next morning, at breakfast, once more we were "prevented" from joining the other guests and were taken up to the lookout, where a special breakfast (left) had been set up for us. The fantastic views afforded will live long in the memory.

Sadly we had to leave Mowani, but the most exciting parts of the trip from a wildlife perspective were yet to come. We drove to Ongava Lodge near Etosha National Park; Etosha is a salt-pan than has abundant wildlife. On game drives from here, we saw lion, black rhino, zebra, giraffes, warthog, vultures, and many forms of "deer" - springbok, gemsbok, oryx, impala, etc. We got so close to 13 lions at sunset one evening (left) that it just couldn’t be real - sat in a truck surrounded by these beautiful creatures as it got darker and darker. Magical! The male lion was in bushes eating a kill, and while he did that, the rest of the pride sat and waited on the track, watching us watching them!

At least Ongava is in an area which has tarmac roads, so our worries in that area were mainly over.

From Etosha, we drove south to the Waterberg Wilderness Lodge, and we did an amazing game drive with them that bought us very close to black rhino. At first we walked through a thicket to where two rhino were grazing and, calmly I might add, when they started to walk toward us we were advised to get back on our truck. The two rhino came through the thicket and right up to the truck, where they "sharpened" their horns on a big rock (left) for twenty minutes or so while we took loads of photographs! You would never expect to get that close I can assure you, whatever safari you go on!

We also did a nice walk/hike at Waterberg up onto the top of the plateau that was fun, and from here you could see the Kalahari Desert in the distance.

The last stop on our trip was possibly to be the best I guess - Okonjima. Here they have areas where they look after lion, cheetah and leopard that have been found too close to local populations, and if they hadn’t been moved to Okonjima, they would have had to have been shot. On some very cold game drives early in the morning, we were taken to see lions up close (left), plus the cheetah (which we tracked on foot) and leopard too.

It was amazing that there you were sitting very close to these wild animals, knowing that if they really wanted to they could tear you to bits! Luckily, they had plenty to eat locally, and they did not need any fancy foreign food when we were there!

During our stay at Okonjima, we had a phone call from Mowani telling us that they had found my wife’s ring; this was fantastic news, and Mowani eventually had it flown down to Windhoek where we retrieved it from the local airport on our way back to drop off the hire car.

That was the perfect end to a lovely trip, and we have vowed to go back again soon to Namibia; maybe not next year, but soon...I promise!

PS All the pictures on here are my own shots (and therefore copyright), which I hope give some idea of how close we got to the animals. I took about 2000 pictures in total, and could have taken hndreds more. We spotted over 70 different types of bird species, and didn't even try to count the animals we saw. I fully recommend a trip to Namibia, and the company we used (Expert Africa) if you fancy it!

2008 - Not a Great Vintage

2008-08-26T20:36:00.004+01:00

It’s been a long time since I’ve written a blog for this site, mainly because this year has been hectic, and also full of plenty of ups and downs.

In January, my mother was taken ill after a fall at her home; she broke her leg, and spent the next seven weeks in hospital. During this time, I also had a knee operation, which took some time to recover from.

My wife left her job in February, mainly to have a bit of a rest and to try something new – she had worked for the same company since leaving college. Her plan was to have some fun travelling this year, and then look for work around Xmas, and this is still the plan! This has resulted in solo trips to Egypt, Laos and Vietnam, and a soon-to-be trip to Pakistan, the lucky devil!

Sadly my mother died from complications in March, and that month was spent dealing with the resultant fall-out; luckily our family has stood together and the funeral was actually quite a good day, if that can ever be said. We did get away to Luxembourg at Easter, and had a lovely weekend, and that certainly took my mind off the bad things that had happened earlier in the month.

In April, my wife and I went on holiday to Namibia, and we had a wonderful time. After this, it was back to work, and my busy summer period that makes June and July so stressful. And then earlier this month we went on another vacation, this time to Florida. I’ll blog about those two major trips separately.

So 2008 has been pretty busy, with plenty of ups and downs, but hopefully now the Summer is coming to an end, it will be even more enjoyable and not have too many new surprises.

My Mum

2008-03-10T20:04:00.002Z

Dorothy Sophia Christopher

4th August 1928 - 10th March 2008.

Rest peacefully mum.

Love always.

Libri Cricket Club

2007-12-26T18:07:00.000Z

When I was younger, I played cricket for Libri Cricket Club in south east London; this is a pictorial history of the club from inception to disintegration, and then to commemoration. Enjoy!

Patti Smith and the Legend of the Fall

2007-10-24T21:30:00.001+01:00

Saturday night was fantastic; I was at "the best party in town" and England losing the rugby World Cup final didn't matter.

New Jersey poet and musician Patti Smith even took a tumble during the set, rekindling memories of her late '70's fall when she broke bones in her back, narrowly missing the edge of the stage at Shepherd's Bush Empire.

Patti, who is now 60, was in town performing one of her Rock N Rimbaud gigs, dedicated to the poet Arthur Rimbaud, when, during a fiery encore of 'Rock N Roll Nigger', she tripped on a speaker and fell flat on her face, cutting her elbow. Despite not getting up for a few agonising seconds, the singer finally rose to loud cheers, humorously following the fall with a speech about "not losing your balance" in life. She then gave the speaker a kick in retaliation. "I'm not even f'ing embarrassed because I've done far worse," Smith laughed. "May (guitars) be the only weapons we use, may tripping up be the only humiliations we suffer, and may these (pointing to her scuffed elbow) be the only battle scars."

Earlier, Smith's set had included favourites like 'Horses', 'Gloria', 'We Three' - which she dedicated to Television leader Tom Verlaine (who she admitted to lusting after at CBGBs in 1974) - 'Dancing Barefoot', and 'Because The Night'. She also sang blistering covers of Nirvana's 'Smells Like Teen Spirit', Jimi Hendrix's classic 'Are You Experienced' and The Rolling Stones' anthem 'Gimme Shelter'.

Patti was joined on stage by guitarist Lenny Kaye, who she performed with at her first ever Rock N Rimbaud gig in New York in 1971. Lenny was in fine form and the pair have an excellent musical working relationship that was very apparent all gig long. Patti thanked the crowd for "missing the rugby game", and also said that "the older you get, the better things become". Too true in her case!

The gig was certainly fantastic, and one of the best we have been to in years and years. The sound was fabulous (and not too loud..), the crowd OK, the atmosphere terrific, and the playing excellent.

Patti is one of my all time heroes, having first seen her in the mid-seventies. Then she bobbed all over the stage a bundle of electricity, but now, she is much more mature, but with a still fantastic voice.

Missing the Rugby World Cup Final

2007-10-20T11:17:00.000+01:00

I guess it was impossible to predict when I bought the tickets; England had very little chance in the Rugby World Cup and were ranked seventh at the start. So I bought a couple of tickets to go out this evening totally unaware that my allegiances would be divided at around 9pm tonight.

The fact that England have made it to the final (even though I will miss it) is fantastic. I am very, very proud of their displays following the sound thrashing that South Africa gave them 36 days ago. To beat the Australians and the French is amazing! If they have improved by a point a day (which by all accounts and looking at the recent results they have), then England will go into the game with the sides even. It could be that close!

The Bokkies will no doubt want to get points on the board early, and then grind out the game staying well ahead; England will just want to be close come the last ten minutes...

So why am I missing it? Well, I am going to se Patti Smith tonight.

Many many moons ago, in 1976, Patti changed my life. From a boring hum-drum existence listening to Pink Floyd, Yes, and Genesis, I was taken to see her band at The Roundhouse in London, and my musical outlook changed forever. Gone was the posturing instrumental nonsense and in came meaningful exciting and electric songs for real people.

So tonight is a bit of closure after thirty years of pretending to be young; trying to stay on track with decent meaningful sounds; being a man of the poeple! Patti is over 60 years old now, and I doubt she will be bouncing round the stage like she did in May 1976 (though it wouldn't surprise me if she was!).

I'm really looking forward to it, but sad that I will miss the rugby.

I won't bother taking a radio (not that I may be able to hear it inside anyway), but I'll know when I leave whether England have won or not; the sounds and faces of all those in the Shepherds Bush area will tell me that. I'll have had a good night whatever the score...

Roasted Turkey

2007-09-07T17:19:00.000+01:00

At the end of July, my wife and I went on holiday to Turkey, and boy was it HOT!

We went with Exclusive Escapes, a tour company we had used two years previously, and they had looked after us quite well then.

This time, instead of returning to the Dalyan and Marmaris areas, we chose a hotel near Kas, and one near Fethiye at Ulu Deniz. We flew in to Dalaman, the same airport as two years ago, but now it had a brand new terminal building, and had been brought well and truly into the 21st century,

We were driven across to Kas through the night, which was shame, as we knew the countryside was spectacular.

Our hotel was built onto the side of a peninsula, just outside the town of Kas (pronounced Cash); steps led down to the rocks by the sea, and our room had a very good view across the sound to the mainland.

The weather at that time in Southern Europe was scorching, and had been up to 46 degrees Celsius the week before we arrived (about 115F). Luckily (!), our week in Kas saw temperatures drop to a mere 42 degrees on a average day!

Quite frankly, the first week we had in Turkey was very quiet; we did go into town a few times (mainly for evening drinks and dinner), but during the day it was way too hot to do anything much, other than sit and bask on the loungers by the sea.

We did have a day’s gullet cruise along with other guests, where we went along the coast and into quieter areas where the sea was crystal clear and very warm. Options for water-ski-ing and such were taken, and it was fun watching some guests trying their luck at this sport for the first (and maybe last) time.

On another day, we caught the ferry over to the Greek island of Castelerizo, which the Turks call Meis. There, we walked up the steep cliff face to a small semi-abandoned church, and back, in blistering heat. We did get a terrific view of the small harbour below (left), and the pretty houses surrounding it. It was strange being back in the land of the Euro, and we had to use a cash-point order to get some currency to pay for a lovely whole fish (Grouper) lunch we had.

The evenings in Kas we spent drinking in some nice bars, taking photo’s of sunsets and cats (every bar/restaurant seems to have a family…), before heading back to our hotel.

Sadly, some guests at a nearby villa, who were also with Exclusive Escapes, behaved quite badly and one (mother) had to be sent home for allegedly abusing her teenage son while drink. At least it gave us plenty to gossip about!

We then transferred to the hotel for our second week, at the end of the beach at Ulu Deniz. This small town has a lovely beach, and it is protected, so no new hotels can be built on it. The town is therefore served by smaller “tourist” towns up in the hills above the beach, and by the large town of Fethiye about ten miles away.

Our hotel was a converted restaurant, and the best in the area. It had its own steps down to the beach, and also a very attentive host in Mustafa, who looked after your every need. Mustafa made sure I got my full food intake (I’m a fussy eater) and was most aggrieved when we said we were to eat in town one night!

The weirdest thing about Ulu Deniz, which we didn’t realize until we arrived, was that it is one of the best places in the world to paraglide. From our hotel at the end of the beach (and from practically any other vantage pint you stopped at), you could watch literally hundreds of paragliders coming down over the ridge each day, coasting through the air until making their landing approach and coming to rest (mainly) on the paved promenade (see top picture).

We had to have a go, and chose to do this first thing Monday morning, before it got too hot or busy. It’s not cheap, but the company who took us were experienced and safe we were told. As you are bussed up the 6550 foot mountain, you can chat to fellow jumpers, and calm the nerves a little, while being videoed as you go!

Strapped in to a safety harness, helmet on, with your pilot behind you, you wait till the chute is filled, then run until the chute pulls you up into the air. Then it is just serene. I went first and must admit that I forgot mainly about the wife, who was following on behind. I did look for her a couple of times as we floated in this direction or that, but then got on with enjoying myself and taking in the magnificent views.

Amazingly, the pilot helped take off my crash helmet after a few minutes, and you then get the full rush of air on your face and head. You can see for miles and miles and it was truly a wonderful experience to be up there floating around on the wind, totally in control.

We flew out over the sea, along the beach, where I could take photos of our hotel (left) and the whole scene (above).

Our biggest worries all along was the landing, and sure enough, this was pretty scary. We floated down and down, getting closer to the buildings, then turned and approached the promenade landing area over the line of restaurants and bars. I was quite happy with all this, having watched many land safely themselves from such an approach, but then as we got lower, I sensed all was not right.

First, we seemed to be coming in to land right on a tree! I braced myself but the pilot turned us away and my doubts seemed unjustified. However, in these final seconds, it wasn't the tree or bush beyond that I should worry about, but a waste-paper bin (trash-can) that we turned and headed for. Too late to adjust (I'm not sure the pilot even saw it!), I raised my feet and tried to protect myself by placing my soles against the bin itself as we hit it. Crazily, and it all happeend in split seconds, my feet hit the bin, the bin turned upside down as my feet went through it (emptying its contents on me!), and the pilot landed on his feet and stopped our forward momentum. I ended up with my legs under the bin, with the pilot trying to lift me back and out while the parachute came down on our heads.

I thought it hilarious (possibly a self-preservation reaction as I was not hurt in any way) and it caused a commotion as staff came running over to help us out. My wife then wandered across; I had no idea if she had seen what happened or if she had landed before or after me.

The photos and video are quite funny, knowing that no damage was done. I even had my picture taken next to the broken bin which was dented and lifted from it's concrete base!

We had plenty to drink after that and spent the rest of the day relaxing - re-telling our various flying stories!

The next day, we travelled over the mountain to the strange ghost town of Kaya (left). This is an amazing site, as it has been uninhabited since 1923. That was when Greece and Turkey traded lands (and citizens) as they carved new boundaries after many years of warring. Sadly, many who lived on the Turkish mainland had to be shipped over to Rhodes or similar, while Macedonian Greeks were asked (forced) to move and live in Kaya. They didn't stay long, as the land wasn't as fertile as they were used to, and the town has been empty ever since. It was extremely strange to wander through these "new" ruins, with only a few goats for company.

The remainder of our holiday time was spent watching the paragliders, and soaking up the sun (it was a little cooler during our second week).

We had a really relaxing time in Turkey, and would recommend anyone who hasn't been who likes local custom to give the country a try.

Granada, Spain

2007-09-05T21:08:00.001+01:00

My wife took me to Granada in Spain for my birthday a couple of weeks back.

We have been to Spian quite a few times now; mainly Madrid, which we love, but also to many of the towns within a train ride of Madrid, and to Seville, like Granada, also in the South of the country.

Sadly, getting there was quite painful. We left home at 9am, getting a cab to Heathrow, and arriving at 10.20 for our 1pm flight. We checked in, shopped, had brunch, and made our way to our gate. We boarded our plane, and then the pilot said that there would be a slight delay (maybe 40 minutes, most of which we could make up due to a tail wind) due to traffic congestion. Eventually, we taxied out toward the runway. Then we hit problems; a technical fault meant the pilot would not take off, so we returned to a service area. Eventually, an engineer looked at the problem but could not fix it. We had been on board for two hours by now... The pilot told the plane that there was a replacement available, and he would arrange buses to take us across to it. Then, later, he said that we would actually have to go via the terminal, but we should all make our way directly to gate 41. We were on board the plane for over three hours and didn't go anywhere! We had to go through security again too, so all the liquids (coke, water etc) that we had bought airside for the flight had to be dumped. As we neared the gate, we saw some of the other passengers walking away; they told us the flight had been cancelled, as the crew had "run out of hours".

We then had to recover our bag from the baggage hall, and go to ticketing which is land-side. Luckily, as we only had one bag, my wife waited for it and I went to ticketing. There were five people in the queue ahead of me when I joined it, and half an hour later, when I got to see a clerk, the line was over fifty metres long with our plane's passengers!

Of course, there were no more flights to Madrid available that evening, so, after another 75 mnutes negotiation, we were billetted in the Hilton (an upgrade on the Renaissence where most others were sent due to my birthday...), and spent the evening there. A lovely birthday (not) at Heathrow!

The flight they (BA) got us on was an additional one, due to the cancellation, and it left at 8am the next morning, so we had to be up at 5am to check in by six. Again, we were lucky to get an upgrade to Business Class (probably as we were nice to the ticketing staff...) which softened the blow (and allowed us some free breakfast in the lounge).

Through Madrid but having to change terminals (not easy...), we eventually caught our Granada flight and arrived 22 hours late.

Our hotel and room were very nice, and we had switched our birthday meal reservation back a night. However, we did not envisage the trouble we would have finding the restaurant (set well into the Albaicin backstreets), and when we did arrive, it was too windy to sit outside on the patio as expected. We did have a nice meal with Cava though, but I think we were too exhausted to enjoy it that much.

The next day, we set about walking the streets and enjoying the city. The cathedral was close by (left, as seen from our hotel one evening), and we walked through Sacromonte and Albaicin (in daylight this time, which was much more comfortable) before having lunch in a small square. After the meal, and just before leaving, we noticed it got quite windy again; what we hadn't realised in our enclosed square, was that we were in the middle of a sand-storm! The views we had had prior to lunch were now pretty much obscurd by dust/sand, and it made it quite uncomfortable to see where you were going.

That evening, our planned meal plan was dropped as the weather took a turn for the worse, and it rained (quite unusual for Spain in August!). We therefore satisfied ourselves with beer and tapas!

The next morning, we had tickets booked for the Alhambra (top), and spent all morning and early afternoon there. The carvings and decorations are pretty awesome (the inscription on the left reads "There is no Conquerer but God"), and we took lots of photos.

The gardens and courtyards are very pretty, and they would be awesomely tranquil (see top picture) were it not for the hundreds of tourists who visit each day.

Sadly, some noisy Australians did spoil our visit a small amount, but we just sat a while until they had moved on, and what peace there was returned.

Our favourite part of the Alhambra was not the Nazires Palaces which are pictured in all the tourist brochures, but the Generalife (left) which housed the summer palace. Less tourists made there way to this part of the complex, and it was much nicer for that.

After lunch, we walked back into the main town, and had a lovely siesta back at the hotel. That evening, we finally made our dinner rondezvous we planned for the previous night, and had a lovely meal outside on a square.

We had just about enough time to go inside the cathedral on our last morning, and then caught a cab to the airport for a pain-free journey home.

It was a nice weekend, but one where any expectation we may have had was ruined by the nightmare trip out to Granada. BA will be getting a letter of complaint very soon.

Tour De France

2007-07-08T17:35:00.000+01:00

We popped over to Charlton today to see the 2007 Tour de France cycle riders zoom past in about twenty seconds flat - all 197 of them! It was amazing how many entourage cars and bikes there are, and they drive past for about five minutes before you see any bikes, then for another five minutes after the last bike has gone.
The riders themselves flashed past, about a mile after the start in Greenwich, and I was surprised how fast they were actually going - well over 30mph. There wasn't really time to take many pictures. I kind of thought that they would have a slow-ish start and slowly build up to race speed, but no, they were really going for it along the Woolwich Road past The Antigallican pub.

Rachel was in London yesterday and went to see a bit of the prologue, but she said she couldn't get a decent view; cars and out-riders first, then the cyclist, then more cars and out-riders. Blink and you missed it, and as she wasn't at the barrier front, she couldn't see too well, so today was much better.

A friend who gave me a lift along to cricket yesterday said he was on the M20 on Friday, and he saw about 100 motorbikes coming toward him; About half were British policeman, all on shiny brand new BMW's, and they were joined by about 50 French police, who's bikes paled in comparison. No doubt they were going to be doing the race control. I guess our bobbies had to make an impression!

Searching for Sunie?

2007-04-06T22:35:00.000+01:00

Just noticed someone has been searching websites for Sunie Fletcher who used to work at NME, and had a babe (Alex) fathered by Bill Drummond. I've blogged about the good folk I used to work with a few times so got a few hits. If that person wants to email me maybe we can chat about old times?

Cricket World Cup Highs, Lows, Woes, and Oh's...

2007-03-18T20:54:00.000Z

The Caribbean is seeing the cricket World Cup played over the next few weeks; the opening ceremony was last weekend, and one-day games have been played since Tuesday.

It has certainly been a week to remember -

West Indies, the home team, won the opening match against Pakistan, and Gibbs hit six sixes in an over in South Africa's win against Netherlands, the first time this feat has been done in international cricket.

On Friday, England suffered at the hands of New Zealand, and yesterday not only did Bangladesh beat the fancied Indian team, but Pakistan suffered their second defeat to minnows Ireland - on St Patricks Day of all days!

Sadly, today we learnt of the death of the Pakistan coach, Bob Woolmer. Details have yet to emerge as to why he was found unconcious in his hotel room, but it is sad as a friend and I were talking about him possibly taking over as England coach later this year just at lunchtime today...

I actually have a link to Woolmer from my past; many moons ago when I was a teenager, I went to watch Kent play in a testimonial game at Blackheath. A very young Woolmer and his player colleague Graham Johnson were there with there girlfriends, sitting on the grass just in front of us. As the game progressed, Woolmer asked me and my friend to look after their stuff as they went off with the girls. Since then, I have bumped into him a few times during cricket tours (he was South Africa coach when I toured their just over ten years back)...

Today, England are hoping to beat Canada, but making hard weather of it. Six of the England players have been fined for breaking a self-imposed curfew after the New Zealand loss. Bell, Lewis, Plunkett, Anderson, Nixon, and, sadly, Freddie Flintoff have all been found wanting. Flintoff has been stripped of the vice-captaincy too...

Hopefully, a win today will set England on the right track and they can look to improve on their showing - I doubt it somehow though...

It is a very sad day for cricket that this has happened, and I hope that nothing dodgy has happened because Pakistan cannot progress in the competiion any longer after two defeats.

Something for the weekend?

2007-02-14T22:47:00.000Z

Well, yes, actually. I'm getting married!

I (and we) have been so busy recently that I haven't had much time to blog on this site, but now we are almost there, it is about time to spill the beans.

We are getting married at a lovely house in central London, and have 70 guests coming along to wish us well.

It should be a good night, as we have plenty of champagne ordered, all our close friends will be there, and a very nice "breakfast" planned. No speeches, or to much formality, just a simple ceremony followed by a party with lots of friends and relative - should be fun!

The next blog will be by a married Pedro45!

Well Urn-t

2006-12-18T18:47:00.000Z

It's probably not as bad as some are making out, but England lost the Ashes today, when they lost the Third test in Perth to go three down with two games to play.

The resistance from day four lasted until not long before lunch - then, once Flintoff was out (bowled Warne - his 700th test wicket), the innings collapsed; only 14 runs were added for the last five wickets, as England fell 206 runs short.

Pieterson held up one end brilliantly - he is a very good player - and finished 60 not out. He is one of the bright spots on the tour, and potentially a great player. He is certainly respected by the Aussies.

For Flintoff, the series goes on but he looks pretty deflated most days. The corporate media speak that he has to come out with doesn't suit him; he'd be better telling it like it is!

The players can now relax for a few days prior to Xmas in Melbourne, where family are expected to join the team (they usually do). The thousands of cricket fans flying out later this week will be gutted, but as I've said before, if you follow England abroad, you should expect a tough time.

Cook Exit Spoils Last Supper

2006-12-17T13:30:00.000Z

This is a funny game cricket. Just when you think that England are down and out, they bounce back and fight their way to a reasonable position, only to waste it at the end once more.

Chasing a world record 556 to win, with only nine wickets remaining, they batted very well to reach tea losing just one more wicket (Bell for 87). Cook went on to get his hundred (left), and he and Pieterson started to get settled for a real effort on the last day. But with under three overs to go before stumps, Cook edged to Gilchrist and Hoggard was bowled two balls later. Flintoff and Pieterson survived that late flurry, but any chance of an unlikely win, at 265-5, has now all but disappeared.

It may be possible for England to get 293 on the last day of a test, but it's not likely with just five wickets remaining.

With this game go the Ashes, so it will be doubly disappointing if a great team effort is not rewarded in any way.

The only hope is with hundreds from two of Pieterson, Flintoff, and Jones; all are capable batsmen on their day, but only KP is in any sort of form. Freddie and Jones haven't scored many on this tour, and a ton from either would be a surprise.

I'll turn on the radio tomorrow morning with trepidation, but realistically, with the pitch starting to turn sharply for Warne and Symonds, sadly I cannot see any way that England can get a win or a draw.

Mind you, when I got up this morning I expected the game to be finished, and it was far from that! Hopefully KP will be smashing the ball around and he will have someone to stay with him. If that is the situation at tea tomorrow, I may well be late for work!

Ashes all Gone

2006-12-16T17:45:00.000Z

Blown away. Adam Gilchrist smashed England's bowlers (all of them) to all parts once he had passed his fifty, and recorded the second fastest test century ever at the WACA earlier today, and took any grip England may have had on the Ashes back down under. It was an awesome performance - 57 balls for his ton was just one ball short of the record held by Sir Vivian Richards, who set the record in 1986. Gilly did have a chance to break it, but Hoggard bowled wide when he needed 5 runs from three balls and the chance slipped away from the wicket-keeper batsmen. His innings overshadowed those of Hussey and Clarke who also scored hundreds to put Australia well in charge on the third day of this third test match.

The Anglo euphoria of day one was well in the past by then - England's own first innings a mere memory after being bowled out for 215, 29 runs short of the Aussie first innings total.

Monty Panesar continued to show why he should have been playing all series, taking another three second innings wickets. His bowling has been a breath of fresh air, and he has troubled all the batsmen, even though he has been hit for some big sixes (and three by Gilchrist today). Eight wickets in the match is a huge improvement on anything Ashley Giles has produced, and the news that Giles has had to fly home for personal reasons really isn't too much of a loss for England, however sad it may be for Gilo and his family.

Apart from that, some decent bowling went unrewarded, and the Aussie pressure machine just goes on and on.

Chances came, and went - Jones making a great effort to catch Hussey (left), although he would have been better off leaving the chance to Pieterson who could possibly have pouched it more comfortably.

The Aussie first innings lead of 29 went up and up, and way past anything any team has ever got in the last innings of a test match.

Once Gilchrist reached three figures, the inevitable declaration came, and that left England with 26 minutes to bat. It was to prove to much for Strauss, who padded up to Lee's fourth ball, and was given out unluckily for the second time in the match by unpire Koertzen. Bell and Cook survived till the close, but not without the odd close call.

There really doesn't seem any way back for England in this match, or now the series. I guess it depends on whether England can survive the fourth day - South Africa batted 135 overs in the fourth innings at Perth last year to gain a draw - but the likelihood is they cannot. It would take a superhuman effort from Cook Bell, Pieterson, Collingwood, and Flintoff, to get anywhere near to winning this game, which would re-write the record books if they did.

I suspect that the game may well be finished by the time I wake up in the morning! And with the loss, will be Aussie celebration that the Ashes are back down under after a brief sojourn in English hands.

Four years ago the series was over after the Perth test, and I suspect it is now just a matter of time before this series is also concluded; The Ashes may be lost, but two matches are still to be played - can England find the winning formula? Do they have the heart? I'm not sure.

I go the result wrong in Adelaide on the penultimate day, when I thought that a draw was almost sure; I now think this game is as good as over, but only one team can prove me wrong.

Monty Plays Shock!

2006-12-14T11:37:00.000Z

Well that’s a bit better from an England perspective! Bowling the Aussies out on day one, and then setting about the task of knocking the runs off and taking a substantial first innings lead.

The damage was done by a resurgent Steve Harmison - who trapped colossus Ricky Ponting LBW for 2, then caught and bowled Michael Clarke, and finally wrapped up the tail – and, of course, Monty Panesar, who took five wickets on his Ashes debut. He is also the first England spinner to take five wickets at the WACA. Monty ripped the heart out of the batting line up, snaffling Langer, Symonds, Gilchrist, Warne, and Lee. Why oh why did the selectors not have enough faith to play him at Brisbane or Adelaide???

Finally, the message dropped for the management and they picked players who can win games, rather than those who are their best mates. In came Panesar for Giles, and Mahmoud for Anderson. It was a bold move, and one that should be applauded even if it may prove to be too little too late.

As predicted, the side that won the toss batted – Ponting being successful yet again. After a solid and unspectacular start, Hoggard had Hayden caught behind, then Harmison soon beat Ponting for pace and trapped him in front. Panesar came on and with his seventh ball, he bowled Langer. Monty celebrates like no other and it was a while before he could do so again. By then, Harmison had cut short a mini-revival with a good catch off his own bowling to get rid of Clarke.

The English spinner then spun his web and, after getting hit for a couple of big sixes, had Symonds caught behind by Jones, Gilchrist excellently caught at a running short leg by Bell, and then disposed of Warne (who had slogged a few) and Lee.

Harmy bowled short at the tail, got them worried, and then got them out. He finished with 4-48; Panesar with 5-92.

England needed a solid reply, but Cook fell to McGrath for 15, and Bell (nought) in the next over to Lee. At 37 for two, things looked bit rocky, but Collingwood survived a Warne drop at slip, and Strauss held firm at the other end.

Tomorrow will be the defining day of this match, and possibly the series.

If England bat all day, and well, they could take the game out of the reach of the Aussies. This would set up Monty to bowl late in the game and hopefully force a win. If England fail to force home the advantage, they may not get too or past the Aussie score, and then would have to beat the third innings score in order to win the match – probably too much for this team to do when the pressure is on.

Hopefully, by the time the cricket comes on the early morning radio tomorrow, England (say, Pieterson and Flintoff?) will still be batting, and a large total will be looming.

The Wizard goes Forth

2006-12-14T10:51:00.000Z

One of my favourite actors died today - Peter Boyle. He wasn't a star, but he was great to watch in many movies in the 70's. I suppose most people will know him from his role in Taxi Driver, as he acted opposite Robert de Niro, in a fantastic film. He also starred in US sitcoms in recent years. Bald, but with a great sense of humour, he took many supporting actor roles, and did them as well as he or anyone else could. Shame he is no longer with us.

Third Time of Asking

2006-12-13T19:59:00.000Z

It's now or never for Steve Harmison (left) and England if they are to hang on to the Ashes they so brilliantly won eighteen months ago in England. Going into the third test in Perth, they are two down, with three to play. Lose this one, and the Ashes are gone. Win, and the dream will flicker on to Christmas and Melbourne.

Harmy will be one of skipper Flintoff's prime weapons, if he survives the chop from the selectors. He really hasn't fired in this series, as he didn't four years ago, and he has struggled since "that" first ball in Brisbane.

But Perth should be his most beneficial pitch. Apparently the strip has slowed down a bit, and gives less bounce, but is this Australian gamesmanship? All I remember is England getting beaten in three days (and a bit on some occasions) every time I've been to watch.

Four years ago, it was also the losing Ashes match for the tourists - stuffed by an innings. It was the last test for Alex Tudor too; his second tour down under ending in a bloody mess, as Brett Lee tore a bouncer through his visor and onto his eyebrow. It was the scream that I always remember - never have I heard such like on a cricket pitch before or since. He looked more like a boxer after a fight over the next couple of days back at the Sheraton; eye glued together with sticking plaster plus concussion and all.

Lee's next ball, to last man Harmison (Silverwood was also injured and didn't bother batting), was also a bouncer, and that didn't endear him to anyone. Nasser Hussein backed him after he got a huge amount of stick, but it just wasn't "cricket". It took Lee five balls to get one straight on the stumps, and Harmy duly missed it, was bowled, and waved goodbye to the Urn again.

So will this years test be any different? England just have to play Monty Panesar. Whether he plays instead of Anderson (my choice) or Giles, he is a dangerous bowler. Of course, Australia will probably win the toss on a benign flat track and Monty will take 1-156 or something, but, and it is a big but, if they can bat as well as they did in the first innings at Adelaide, post a big score, then Monty could really be an attacking option with men round the bat on the last couple of days.

I cannot see Engalnd making too many other changes - unless Panesar plays for Giles, then Mahmoud may come in for Anderson. The batting has been OK on occasion, with the openers un-droppable (due to lack of options), and Bell, Pieterson, and Collingwood have all done well. Freddie is due, as is Jones the Glove, where the bounce may be to his liking. Some say Read may take the gloves, but I cannot see that as it would be an admission of failure by the selectors who brought back Jones for the first test.

For Australia, Glenn McGrath (left) and Clarke (S) will trundle all day long, and Lee will bowl as fast as he can. Warney will come on at one end and hope it turns and bounces. With Martyn now retired (rather than be dropped if truth be known), a chink in the Aussie armour may be Voges. I expect him to bat six with Hussey and Clarke (M) moving up the order.

I alway predict defeat for England at the WACA, having seen no other result; whether Flintoff wins the toss and bats, or Ponting bats, I doubt if England can score enough to make much of a game of it. I think the urn has returned sadly.

It's last chance saloon for Freddie's team; the support will be huge once more, and the trumpeter may even be allowed to play. All we can hope is that it isn't the Last Post for England he is sounding when this game comes to a conclusion.

Hung, Drawn, and Quartered!

2006-12-05T18:16:00.000Z

That really looked like tears in Andrew Flintoff's eyes, as England crashed to defeat in the second test in Adelaide earlier today.

What looked like as definite draw, became an amazing win for Australia.

Knowing they couldn't lose, they slowly applied pressure to England's batsmen, and one by one they fell, leaving the Aussies 36 overs to get 168 to go two up in the series.

Only first innings hero Paul Collingwood survived any length of time, batting over three hours for his 22 not out.

England battled once they had to bowl again, and took four wickets, but it wasn't enough, as they got caught between stopping the runs, and trying to take wickets. Frankly, the bowling wasn't good enough to do either!

This is a huge blow to England's chances in the series (not that I thought they had any); to go two down after two tests, especially after scoring 551 in the first innings (the highest ever first innings of a match that was declared which has turned out to be a losing total!) is a crushing strike.

Individually, Collingwood, Pietersen, and Hoggard can all say they perfomred magnificently. But the rest were little above average, and why oh why did Monty Panesar not play. At least with him England may have had some last day threat. He is at least as good a fielder as Anderson and at least as good a batter too. Bearing in mind England didn't require all their batsmen first time round, the decision not to play him was without doubt very poor.

So to Perth. Not as fast as it used to be they say, but it will bounce. Panesar must play; Mahmoud must be in with a chance too. Anderson and Harmison need to buck their ideas up if they are to stay in the team.

A 5-0 trouncing is now on the cards - hopefully England can prevent this, but possibly not until they are three down and the Ashes are back down under where they have been for many of recent years.

Long and Drawn Out

2006-12-04T12:51:00.000Z

It was never going to be easy for England to bowl out Australia on this Adelaide flat-track, especially without Panesar, and so it proved.

Michael Clark made a hundred, and received solid support from Gilchrist and Warne, as Australia fell just 38 runs short of England's first innings total.

Matthew Hoggard was the star with the ball for the tourists, taking 7 wickets for 109 runs (check that against Brett Lee's first innings figures...!). It just goes to show that line and length can play a part when pace does not (Stuart Clark's figures confirm).

England were left with nineteen overs to face before the close, and now had little chance of winning the match (barring a miracle), but they could still lose it! They therefore had to, and did, bat well at the start of their second innings finishing at 59-1; Cook out in a repeat of his first innings dismissal.

The last day scenario is of a tense morning session, as Australia have little to lose by applying great pressure. England should survive, but we have said that before and seen the collapse out of nothing before our eyes. It will be interesting to see how far in front Flintoff wants to be before declaring - he will fancy getting a few more overs out of Harmison before heading to the WACA, but needs to ensure that they are far enough in front to ensure that even if his bowlers got hit for ten an over they just cannot lose.

This test has been called the true start to the Ashes series, implying that Brisbane did not count. Sadly, it did, and Australia will head to Perth one up with three to play.

Perth is one of my favourite Aussie cities, but where I have seen England falter most - losing on every occasion I have witnessed them take on Australia in a test. Hopefully, this side have packed their bags and their guts, and will be willing to fight it out on a faster pitch than Adelaide.

Hoggard Graft Sets Up Result

2006-12-03T12:12:00.000Z

England toiled all day, but only had Matthew Hoggard's four wickets to celebrate as Australia finished day three of the Adelaide test at 312-5.

Hoggard started the day by having Hayden caught behind (left), and closed by bowling Hussey (for 91); in between, he had Martyn and Ponting caught. Sadly for England, Ponting (below) had already got way past his second hundred of the series, before being dismissed for 142. It could have been oh so different if Giles had hung on to a high catch at deep square leg when Punter had only scored 35.

The game is therefore finely balanced, with any result possible.

Should England dismiss the remaining five batters quickly, they will set up a last day effort in which to level the series at one test each.

If Australia bat well, they could yet pass England's first innings total and get themslves in a position to pressurise England on the final day, and force a win.

The likelihood is probably somewhere in-between, with Australia being all out after lunchtime tomorrow, and England doing what they can to score quickly. If they can get far enough in front (at least 350) with, say, 75 overs left on the final day, they will attempt to get the ten wickets they need, but this pitch hasn't helped the bowlers much so far, so I still predict a draw as the likeliest result.

Double Delight in Adelaide on Day Two

2006-12-02T10:51:00.000Z

It was a real pleasure to get up this Saturday morning and find England still batting near the close of day two of the second Ashes test. England then declared on 551-6 and tore into the Aussie openers, removing Langer for just 4. The Aussies finished on 28-1 in the nine overs that they faced.

Day one had seen Engalnd win the toss, and post 266-3, courtesy of a battling 60 from Ian Bell, plus not out scores of 98 and 60 from Paul Collingwood and Kevin Pieterson. Today saw Colly move past 100 in an Ashes test for the first time, and for him to bat another two sesions before wafting tiredly when he had got to 206 (his highest first class score). He is only the third Englishman to hit a double ton in Australia after RE Foster and Wally Hammond (who did it twice).

KP also batted brilliantly - really taking the fight to Warne and McGrath - he eventually ran himself out for 158, which equalled his highest first class score (for the third time...).

It was then left to Flintoff and Giles to whack a few boundaries before the declaration came. Flintoff, by then suitably warmed up, took the new ball and had Langer (80 and hundred in the last test, and two hundred here four years ago...) caught by an ebuliant Pieterson at third slip (left) in the fourth over. Hayden and Ponting survived till the close.

In a day of numbers -

Shane Warne had his worst ever test bowling figures - 1-167!
Glenn McGrath took 0-107!
Brett Lee had 1-137!
Only Stuart Clark had respectable figures (3-75).
The partnership of 310 between Collingwood and Pieterson was the highest in an Ashes series for the fourth wicket, beating Thorpe and Hussein (Edgbaston 1997).

The third day will be a long one in the field for England. They need to bowl and field positively (as they did late today) and attack at every opportunity. Interestingly Harmison did not open the bowling in this match, but he will be required to fulfil plenty of bowling duties tomorrow, as will Anderson, and especially Giles. The King of Spain (sic) will not get as much turn as Warne did, but that may be just enough on this pitch, provided he bowls in the right areas. With plenty of runs on the board, England can attack, and I bet they now wish they had Panesar and Giles playing.

One of the ddiffferences between this test and the one at Brisbane is that the crowd can congregate on the hill here - there is no seating plan in this part of the ground. This means that the Barmy Army can get together, and as at the test here in 1994/5 (the so-called start of the "official" Barmy Army), this can effect matters on the pitch. Certainly KP was urging the crowd on, and it does give a huge boost to the players to be supported like this.

I can see plenty of runs being scored by Australia on this pitch, but the question is will they get in and do well enough to get up to or past England's total, and possibly look for a win, or will the momentum turn England's way, urged on by the pressure and the crowd, resulting in some sort of batting collapse? I can see at least one of the batters getting a ton, but if the bowlers do well, a score of 400 may be all Australia can ask for. This would leave England the chance to put thegame beyond the Aussies on Monday, and then bowl for a win, and an equaliser in the series on the final day. If the pitch deterioates, then that could be a dream come true for Andrew Flintoff.

The Oval Ball

2006-11-30T13:45:00.000Z

The second Ashes test starts tonight at The Adelaide Oval, and England captain Freddie Flintoff will be hoping for a change of fortune.

The omens are better for England, but they stilll have to compete with the Aussies for much more of the match than they did in Brisbane.

The signs are that Monty Panesar will play, but this will be pointless if England's batsmen fail to put enough runs on the board during their first innings. It needs to be noted that during the last series, England's fortunes changed on the morning of the second test, when McGrath stepped on a ball, and twisted his ankle. Now we hear McGrath is doubtful with an ankle injury (blistered heel - ahhhh!). As the Aussies tend to play just four bowlers, he cannot be risked if not 100% fit, a good sign for Flintoff's team.

If England can win the toss, a McGrath-less Australia could struggle to dispose of England if they bat as they did in the second innings at the Gabba. Cook, Pieterson, Bell, and Collingwood all got runs in that match, and Flintoff and Strauss got in before getting out to poor shots - they cannot afford to do that again.

I have very fond memories of Adelaide and it's Oval. It is a beautiful ground, with the spires of the local Cathedral visible across the road. My first visit saw a truly great game, as England were set over 400 to win, and clawed there way slowly toward a victory, only to be denied in the last session, with the match finishing in a draw. Gooch and Atherton put on almost 200 in that match - happy days! It was also Mark Waugh's debut and he got 100 typically.

Four years later, England went one better and did win. This tme, us Poms had to bowl the Aussies out and a fantastic catch by Phil Tuffnell set the team up and it was umpire Darryl Hair who gave the final wicket out LBW to Devon Malcolm. Oh we partied that night! This was also the game in which the Barmy Army first came to prominence, sporting Mitsubishi sponsorship! T-shirt sales in South Australia have never been so high!

In 1998, Alex Tudor bowled well, but England lost, and four years ago, after Michael Vaughan hit 180 England succumbed to Warne's spin.

This year I forecast a draw, with England batting well first up, but being overtaken by the Aussie score, then still getting enough to ensure a draw. The short square boundaries should suit Pieterson, and hopefully Harmison will bowl straighter than he did when Bundy fuelled in Brisbane!

Any failure to get enough runs would really show England up, and this is the only hope of not getting a thorough beating in the series.

One Down, Four to Play

2006-11-27T13:47:00.000Z

It ddn't take too long for England to lose today, about 90 minutes apparently. Kevin Pieterson (left) went to the fourth ball of the morning, and with it any forlorn hope that England could salvage a draw.

Jones and Giles hung around a while, but eventually they were all out for 370, and lost by 277 runs.

The result could have been worse; the first three days were pretty appalling from England's perspective, and a massive loss was avoided. In fact, the defeat is by less than the team lost by four years ago (384 runs).

Brisbane does seem to have massive wins to one team or the other - three of the biggest eleven winning margins by runs have been at the Gabba, with England holding the record win when defeating Australia by 675 runs back in the days of Larwood and Bowes. And last year, the West Indies got whipped by a lot more than Engand did this year at Brisbane! And one of the biggest innings victories on record was also in Brisbane.

So on to the next match - the second test starts on Friday at The Adelaide Oval. I forecast a draw here, as the pitch tends to be a little slower for both pacemen and spinners. Hopefully, the confidence that the batters gained in the second innings will allow England to compete, and with Monty Panesar back in the team (a must!), at least the threat of taking wickets will improve. England need to have confidence, as without that, they will just be anihilated by the Aussie pressure machine.

Five out of Ten

2006-11-26T18:22:00.000Z

A much better day for England, but probably not good enough to save the first test of this Ashes series. When Australia declared at 202-1, after Langer reached his century, England were set over 650 to win the match, with around 170 overs left to bowl. They reached 293-5 at the close.

The plus points from this innings were Paul Collingwood's 96, and Kevin Pieterson's 92 not out. Collingwood was stumped trying to reach his century sadly, and may live to rue his hot-headedness.

Pieterson (above) batted aggressively and had a run in with Shane Warne (who took four of the five wickets to fall), after Warne hurled the ball back toward the stumps and KP swatted it away. There followed one of those wonderful lip-reading moments that we all love, and which the TV has to blur out, as it is so obvious what name KP called Warney! And they are friends apparently!

The final day will be tough on England, and I doubt they can get a draw (or the even more unliklely win) from the last 90 overs due. Warne is getting plenty of turn, but the first hour or so will be the toughest as the new ball is due immediately and I suspect that Ponting will take it straight away. If KP and Jones can survive till lunch, Warne will have plenty around the bat and may be way too much to handle, so it would take a monumental effort from these two to restore English pride.

Personally, I doubt that the game will continue past lunch...but we all live in hope. Maybe, just maybe, the forecast late afternoon rain will come to England's rescue, but I doubt it, as they don't really deserve anything but to go 1-0 down in the series.

Ashes to Dust

2006-11-25T09:25:00.000Z

England's Ashes dreams seem to have crumbled overnight - chasing over 400 to save the follow-on target, they were all out for a measly 157, with only Ian Bell offering any sort of resistance. Kevin Pieterson was the first to go (left), and skipper Andrew Flintoff fell just three bals later (below) for a duck. Ricky Ponting then surprised the media, but not me, but not enforcing the follow-on, and once again England's wayward attack failed to trouble the Aussie batsmen.They reached 181-1 with the only loss the run out of Matthew Haydn.

The supporters were understandably sour at such a predicament, with one on the radio claiming that after he had saved up for 12 months, the spineless (or is that spinlesss?) team should be ashamed. Well, we've all been there mate. I was at Gatwick the night before flying out to the West Indies when England were reduced to 40-8 by the bowling of Walsh and Ambrose, eventually reaching just 46 all out when needing less than 200 to win. I've flown to Australia when 2-0 down, and three to play, twice! Eventually I switched tactics and went for the second test so all was not lost by the time of my arrival.

As I blogged yesterday, this team is nowhere near good enough in terms of taking on and beating Australia, yet the media have built them up and raised expectations. They will have good days, but more often bad ones. Unless KP, Strauss, Bell, Panesar (please stick him back in Duncan!), Harmy and Freddie all fire together, we are not going to get anything from the series.

When we lost the Lords test, the first of the series last summer, at least we showed we could compete - Ricky Ponting still bears a scar on his face as evidence of that, courtesy of Harmison. Now it's a little more powder puff and very painful for us Brits to take.

Writing on the Gabba Wall

2006-11-24T21:14:00.000Z

As expected, the Aussies got past 600 in the first innings of this first Ashes test (Hussey bowled by Flintoff left), and have England in trouble at 53-3 in reply. It will take very good knocks from Pieterson, Bell, Flintoff, and Jones if England are to secure enough runs to prevent the follow-on. Of course, if they fail miserably, Ricky Ponting may not ask them to follow on, but bat until the game is well out of reach, and set England an impossible target on a wearing pitch (obviously suited to Shane Warne!).

It's all a bit deprssing for the English media, who had built up an England side into something that they are not - world beaters! The pessimists are recalling that England won the Ashes last summer after falling behind in the first test, so that's alright then! I am not so confident, and think England will lose this match sometime late on Sunday, and with it any hope of making a decent series of this tour.

But what do I know?!? Come on KP - stick it back up them! Let's get a thousand, and make them lose by an innings!!!

First Ball Slip Sets the Tone

2006-11-23T13:08:00.000Z

Four years ago, after Nasser Hussein won the toss and put the Australians in, the first ball of the Ashes series was crashed to the boundary by Justin Langer for four runs. This time round, Steve Harmison made sure that Langer couldn't score any runs off the first ball - he bowled it so wide it went straight to Freddie Flinotff at second (yes, second) slip! Message sent; tone set. Australia finished day one of the first test at 346-3, with skipper Ricky Ponting scoring an unbeaten ton.

England picked Giles instead of Panesar - a very negative move in my opinion - and though he bowled reasonably well, picking up one wicket (Martyn), he just does not look very dangerous on a turning pitch.

In fact, the pitch started to turn quite sharply later in the day, but it wasn't the left-armer who found this, but Kevin Pieterson, with his occasional off-spin. He beat the bat (Ponting and Husssey, unbeaten and past 50) several times late in the day, and could easily have claimed his second test wicket with more luck. By then though, Ricky Ponting (left) was well past a hundred and the game was slipping away from England.

Both openers had earlier been prised out by Flintoff - Haydn for 21 and Langer for a breezy 82.

Stranger things have happened, but I don't think England can find anyway back from this first day beating. The Aussies will bat well into tomorrow, and should post a score well above 600. It will then be Englands turn to try to use the pitch while it stays reasonably good, and get as far past the follow on target as possible (if they can). Whoever has to bat last on this pitch will find it hard - at the moment it wil probably be England, as they will either lose by an innings, or have to try to bat to save a draw and this may be beyond them if Warne is in any sort of form.

Four years ago, batting last, they mustered only 79 runs; I don't think they will be that bad this time round, but another Brisbane defeat does look on the cards.

Ashes Fever starts

2006-11-22T13:12:00.000Z

The hours are counting down, and two nations on different sides of the world are preparing for sporting battle. The Ashes, the little urn that represents the cricket power swing between England and Australia, is once more up for grabs. England, captained by Andrew Flintoff (left), are about to play a five-test series in Australia. Not since the late 1970's have England travelled down under as holders of the urn.

A lot will rest on how well various England players perform; plans have already been disrupted due to illnes (to Marcus Trescothink, who has returned home) and injury (niggles to Bell, Harmison, etc). The media are building up certain names, and hopefully they will perform well, but the pressure will be intense.

It must be noted that Australia are, and have been for many years, ranked as the best test playing nation at cricket. England have risen to second or third in recent times, mainly on the back of successful home series and victories aginst poor West Indian and South African sides on winter tours. Last year, England lost winter tours in Pakistan, and drew in India.

Where will the game be won? On the pitch obviously, but also in the minds. I have been on every Ashes tour to Australia since 1990/1 - I'm not going this time due to other commitments. I have seen England well and truly stuffed on many occasions (every time I watched them in Perth for instance...), but also victorious in Adelaide and Melbourne. On the last tour, I had returned home by the time the team won in Sydney. The pressure to perform is intense, and so much can rest on how England start the series. Last time, England captain Nasser Hussein won the toss on the morning of the first test and decided, stupidly, to field, thereby handing the advantage immediately to Australia. England never got a look in and lost badly. That situation cannot be allowed to happen again.

A lot will rest on how the batters perform. Without Trescothick, Andrew Strauss will be crucial to a good solid start, and youngster Alistair Cook will be immune to poor previous experiences down under. Ian Bell is in form, and should go well on Aussie pitches. Crucially, Kevin Pieterson (left) will bat at four, and he just has to come good. The big man has enormous, erm, potential, but tends to play too loosely at times. He needs to turn quickfire scores into big hundreds, and bat for time as well as the runs. I am not convinced that Paul Collingwood will contribute too many runs, and ultimately Ed Joyce may be a better bet later in the series.

On the bowling front, much talk is of the spinner choice between Ashley Giles, a veteran Ashes tourist who has been injured for 18 months or so, or Monty Panesar (left), the young prodigy. Do England go with the potential of a few more runs coming from Giles bat but the less wicket taking option, or plump for Monty to actually control the game and maybe even get the team in sight of a win? I hope the latter, but wouldn't be surprised to see Giles play in Brisbane. Note to management - saftey first didn't work four years ago either! The quicks will be hoping to fire, but doubts remain about the form of Steve Harmison, the full fitness of skipper Flintoff, and Matthew Hoggard's penetration on Aussie pitches and using the Kookaburra ball.

I hate to say this, but the tour fills me with dread - the Aussies are back to their confident best, and although they too have some questions in the bowling department (are Warne and McGrath past it yet?), they have too much wicket taking and run scoring potential for England to cope with in my opinion. I predict a 3-0 defeat.

My only hope is that England do actually make a game/series of it, and although they may lose, regularly taking games into the fifth day would be a good achievement in my eyes.

I also hope that media expectation is not too disappointed when matches are lost; we get enough of that in football, and I'd rather that the team is welcomed home as gallant losers than a useless side, as the papers tend to over-react.

My friend called me on Friday to say he was about to fly off to Brisbane for ten weeks, and I have to say I am extremely jealous of him. I just hope he can plan what to do on the few days when games finish early...

But what do I know - come on England! Stick it up 'em and bring that urn back home with you!

Long Hot Summer

2006-10-10T13:30:00.000+01:00

The summer has ended in Britain, and autumn has well and trully arrived. The winds are blowing, and the leaves are starting to fall. And it's raining quite a lot too!

Life goes on however, and so does blogging. I've not been able to do much recently, so this will be short too, but a basic update is...

Work is fairly dull and busy; I wish I could get excited about it, but I can't. I did see another job vacancy today and will have a look into applying for that. If successful, it could mean European travel, which I will enjoy.

Football is covered on my other site - www.charltonathleticonline.co.uk - so I'll keep quiet about Charlton being bottom of the league at present...

Cricket is starting up again after a quieter summer than the year earlier (when we trounced the Aussies); a drawn test series against Sri Lanka and a 3-0 win against Pakistan wasn't bad, although one-day results were generally poor. The Champions trophy ODI series is about to start in India, with England not expected to do very well, and this is immediately followed by the Ashes test series down under. This will be the first Ashes series abroad I've missed attending since 1990-91, so I'm not too happy about things. I could have gone, but it was very expensive and compromised a few of my other plans. After that, the World Cup is held in the West Indies, which will be fun.

Home is OK - we had our tree cut right back which has pleased Rachel, as she thought it much too big. We may well get the stump removed befor etoo long now, as it isn't a pretty site...

My parents have just gone off on a three-week cruise to the West Indies - Azores, St Maarten, Antigua, Dominica, Grenada, Barbados, Madiera...it's alright for some!

That's about it for a quickie.

The world goes on, and will do for some time if the North Koreans don't mess it up for everyone.

Nearly, but not quite...

2006-09-13T13:04:00.000+01:00

I was quite close with my Ashes touring party summation, but got three wrong.

This is the squad -

Ashes Test Series squad:
Andrew Flintoff (Lancashire, captain, left)
James Anderson (Lancashire)
Ian Bell (Warwickshire)
Paul Collingwood (Durham)
Alastair Cook (Essex)
Ashley Giles (Warwickshire)
Stephen Harmison (Durham)
Matthew Hoggard (Yorkshire)
Geraint Jones (Kent)
Sajid Mahmood (Lancashire)
Monty Panesar (Northamptonshire)
Liam Plunkett (Durham)
Kevin Pietersen (Hampshire)
Chris Read (Nottinghamshire)
Andrew Strauss (Middlesex)
Marcus Trescothick (Somerset)

The obvious differences were that I picked an extra batter, and the ECB have greater knowledge on the injured players than I.

Lima Plunkett (left) has been picked, even though he hasn't played for a couple of months. I'm surprised that he got the nod over Stuart Broad, who looks the better prospect to me (quicker and a better action). Plunkett did OK in Pakistan and India last winter, but isn't likely to dislodge the better batsmen in my opinion. He will compete with Saj Mahmoud for a place on the test team.

Also picked, was James Anderson. Jimmy also hasn't played much recently, and may not have all season! He burst onto the England one-day scene during the last World Cup in South Africa, but his action has led to a number of injuries, and ultimately a loss of form. He can bowl briskly, at around 90mph, but lacks control in my opinion.

The other difference is that Ashley Giles has been included as the second spinner (I had Dalrymple instead); The "King of Spain" also hasn't played at all this season due to injury, and he is still a major doubt I beleive. He has been asked to prove himself at the forthcoming Champions Trophy tournament, and the situation will be clearer in a months time.

The tour party is captained by Freddie Flintoff, which is no surprise to me, and as long as players can prove their fitness, and stay fit (Hoggard picked up a side strain yesterday...!) then we could have half a chance of retention of the Ashes urn.

Sixteen Tons - what do you get?

2006-09-11T13:23:00.000+01:00

Tomorrow, the England cricket team squad for this years Ashes series will be announced. I'm not an expert, simply a fan, but I thought it would be entertaining to see if I can name the squad before it is announced. So here's my guess on the sixteen names that will tour Australia starting this autumn...

The Captain

This is fairly easy - Michael Vaughan is not going to be fit, so it will be either Andrew Flintoff, or Andrew Strauss. Flintoff took over from Vaughan on tour last winter, but then got injured. Strauss took over from Flintoff. If Flintoff is fit, he will be skipper; if not, it will be Strauss.

The Batters

Having a settled side over recent times has its benefits, but also causes problems if the need to change is required. The openers used to be solid and settled; Marcus Trescothick and Andy Strauss should be OK, that is if Tresco gets over his "virus" worry. Alistair Cook will definitely go, and probably bat at three. While Kevin Peitersen is also a certainty at four. Ian Bell will also count himself unlucky if he misses out, especially after his form this summer. One extra batsmen is needed, and I'd go for Ed Joyce, who can open or bat in the middle if need be.

The Bowlers - fast

Matthew Hoggard and Steve Harmison are both shoed-in, but injuries have opened the door for others. Simon Jones is almost certainly out, and Darren Gough is too old now. Liam Plunkett was doing OK, but he is now injured and may miss out. The other bowlers who have been tested this summer, and have just finished in the one-day squad are all in with a chance - Sajid Mahmoud is in pole position currently, but will Jonathan Lewis or Stuart Broad travel? I like the look of 20-eyar old Broad, and think he could be a handful on pitches down under; He's tall, and will get good carry. I'd pick him instead of Lewis - who may struggle to swing the Kookaburra ball after the first ten overs - and also in front of Plunkett if he is fit.

The Bowlers - slow

Monty Panesar is a cert; I doubt Ashley Giles can be considered as he has been injured all year, so that leaves Jamie Dalrymple almost unopposed. The Middlesex man can bat too, and will prove to be a useful tourist.

The Keepers

This is the easy bit; Geraint Jones and Chris Read will tour, but don't ask me who will play in the first test at Brisbane...that's too close to call!

The All-Rounders

Flintoff falls into this category, so England probably only need one other; Paul Collingwood may be more a batter than an allrounder these days, but I'll stick him in this category. If Freddie doesn't make it, we have a problem! Do we go for Rickie Clarke, who could be rubbish down under, or pick another batter who can bowl a bit? If only Chris Lewis was still playing...

So that's my sixteen to tour, and hopefully retain the Ashes (we haven't said that for a while!!!); tomorrow, we'll see how close I got to naming the entire squad. If you disagree with my selections, let me know via the comments section.

Bad memory lingers...

2006-09-11T13:10:00.000+01:00

It's now five years since 9/11, but the memories still linger, and are hurtful. I had to turn the radio off this morning as I could not bear to listen to the various stories of people who were effected by that days events.

The TV has been full of a whole bunch of programmes showing what happened, asking why, and who was responsible (if it wasn't those that claimed it...). I can watch some of this - The Miracle of Stairway B was interesting - but have to admit that the repetitive nature of endless replays of limited footage gets me down in the end.

So what has the world learnt? Not much it seems - further attrocities have happened in London, Madrid, Bali, Istanbul, and elsewhere. Daily we seem to have Iraqis blowing themselves (and others) up, and Afghanistan has kicked off again recently, with insurgents actively fighting the occupying "peace-keeping" forces.

Would it be better if US, UK, and UN troops pulled out of all these areas - places where some of the locals do not want them? I doubt it... the whole reason they are there is because of the wanless killing sprees and outright lack of human rights shown to these countries subjects but the previous goverments.

There is no rightful end to the problems of the world at present; sure, we can all go back to the Cold War days of worrying about being nuked at any minute of the day, because that's probably the next instalment some terrorist group will attempt. I don't have the answers, and obviously Blair and/or Bush don't either. But Bin Laden is also imagining things if he (or his followers) think that they can win - they cannot. Stop the futile acts now, and settle down to an easy life where everyboidy lives in harmony please!

Oh, and if anyone wants to comment negatively about this piece, at least have the guts to sign your name, or remain cowardly all your life. Allah will thank you for it!

Blog day

2006-08-31T13:09:00.000+01:00

Today is International Blogging Day apparently, and it is everyone's duty to link to other blog sites in order that they may be seen by a greater public. So here goes -

http://www.charltonathleticonline.co.uk
Sorry, had to link this one, as it's my Charlton blog site!

http://www.frankievalley.com/
And this is the funniest Charlton blog site, and one the funniest in football too!

http://mistressmatisse.blogspot.com/
This site keeps my spirits up (ahem!) and is a breath of fresh air fom one corner of the USA!

http://escribbler.blogspot.com/
This one is about Belize, and football, and brightens up many a day with great pictures and a fresh outlook from afar.

There you go - four that I enjoy reading most days (or when updated). I wonder if any one will link to my site???

Cheers.

Pedro45

Sicily 2006

2006-08-18T21:03:00.000+01:00

Here are a few of the pictures from our recent holiday in Sicily. We had a lovely time, and the weather was pretty good all the way through. The bad news was the driving; mad Italian men who think they owned every stretch of the road made it fairly hairy. The cars/drivers in towns were worst: pulling out in front of you; stopping for no apparent reason; opening doors right in front of you, and then standing in your path in the middle of the road were all common occurences! We only hit two things (we had extra insurance just in case!), which was a bit of a result bearing in mind the above!

However, the highlights outweighed the bad bits. We loved the Vulcanelli, Toarmina, and the Spanish ballet version of Carmen we saw amongst other things. We hated Agrigento, Sortino, and getting lost!

This was the fountain in Piazzo Archimede, the central area of Ortygia, on the island that is the old town part of Syracuse. It was a nice little square, with a couple of bar/cafes round the outside, and also some designer shops too!

This was the Greek amphitheatre at Neapolis in Syracuse - a huge bowl with good views all the way down to the sea. It once seated 15,000 spectators, and we are told it is now used for shows during summer. We thought that the Carmen ballet would be here, but in fact it was held in the nearby lapatie, a quarry dug out by ancient prisoners of war.

This is a view upwards from the main street in Taormina - the cross and castle are visible at the top of the mountain. Most views from here look downwards, to the coast and onwards to the views of Etna. We walked up to try to get to the castle, but it was locked off near the top. We did get way past the cross though. It was very hot and tiring but we enjoyed the walk. We then trundled back down, had some lunch and visited the Greek theatre that you see views of in most Sicilian travel brochures. It was a spectacular view from there - Etna, the ancient ruins, and the coast all in one shot - but we just couldn't quite get the vantage points to make the most of our photos...

We had another long trek down to Cava Grande - the Sicilian equivalent of the Grand Canyon. It's nowhere near as spectacular, but fun all the same. As the walk is quite dangerous, everyone is checked in and out again, being handed a pass for ID. The attendant couldn't understand where we were from as the drivers licence Rachel produced had UK on it - he thought we were from the Ukraine! It's a steep walk down, then you get lots of small river pools to swim, dive or paddle in at the bottom. Lots of other people just soaked up the sun down there, tanning parts they don't normally show on the beach, as it's a bit of a hidden treasure down there. It was a tough walk back up too.

We caught the bus into Noto one day - a day off from the driving pressure - and it's a nice baroque town. One problem we found in most of Sicily is that although you have centuries old buildings, a huge amount of them are covered in 21st Century scaffolding! This is Noto Duomo, whose domed roof collapsed a few years back. It's almost renovated, thanks to the help of the EU who fund most of the rebuilding in Sicily (that isn't mafia backed) it seems.

This is Enna, a town in the middle of the island. We drove here one day on a big loop toward Agrigento. It was lovely, with lots of showery cloud around, and we got some good shots from up here at the castle, which had 360 degree views.

Here's one of the temples in Agrigento...a horrible town, but with an amazing Valley of Temples along a lower ridge.

This was another of the Agrigento temples - this one has the lovely motorway in the background, the noise of which resonated along the ancient valley; it also has the ubiqiutous scaffolding so prevalent in Sicily!.

This was Rachel getting nervous by the vulcanelli de Macalube. They are small volcanoes made of (cold) mud, that are created by and spout methane gas. Wonderful!

This was a view of an Ortygia church from the top of our hotel.

It's a small world...

2006-07-08T12:27:00.000+01:00

I had to attend a work function on Thursday night - black tie, dinner suit, the works - and I found out an amazing coincidence...

It was a printing industry awards night, and as my company had been nominated to pick up one of the twenty one awards, we booked a table and invited a few clients too. I'd been to similar functions before - all the men in dinner jackets, looking very James Bond-ish, and all the ladies in their ball gowns or summer dress glamour. The food was reasonable, and service very good. The comedian/compere was OK - an Irish fella whose name I didn't catch - Domnall someone? - and at least he admitted he knew absolutely nothing about print! He pushed the ceremonies along, and handing out twenty-odd awards went very smoothly (sadly, we did not win!). At the end of the evening, the options were to trundle home, or chat, or go up to the mock casino with paper money laid on to play with.

I then heard a colleague, whom I've only met on a couple of occasions (as we don't work in close proximity) mention that he was sharing a cab back to the offices (to drop off two colleagues who had left their cars there) and then to his home in Orpington. He asked how I was getting home and where I lived, and offered to drop me off too as Bromley wasn't far out of the way, and he didn't think it wise for James Bond lookalikes to be wandering around London late at night (I didn't see the problem...).

We therefore all left together, and after dropping off the other two guys, I asked where he lived in Orpington.

He told me Sevenoaks Way, which I know very well as I went to senior school there.

I then asked for him to be more specific, and he told me near the Broomwood pub. I raised an eyebrow, so he asked if I knew it. I said yes, as I used to see a girl who lived almost next door in Broomwood Road. Amazingly, he now lives opposite that house, and knows her parents who still live there! In fact, he'd had a chat to her mum just a couple of days earlier...

It's a small world!

Madrid 2006

2006-06-04T19:05:00.000+01:00

   Myself and my girlfriend went to Madrid for a few days last week, and had the usual wonderful time.

The airport at Barajas has undergone major rebuilding, and we arrived at a gate in the new Terminal 4 - a huge long building painted in rainbow colours. We tried to get into town as usual, but the bus to Colon no longer runs, and now teminated at Avenue des Americas. From here, we decided to catch the Metro but had to change a couple of times. We got to Sol and walked to our hotel, and finally made it to bed around 1am.

   The next morning, we walked around town after getting our train tickets for our trip to Cordoba for the Friday. We stopped for a beer overlooking the cathedral (left) and palace, and visited a few other places we like and have been to many times before. That night, we walked through Plaza Mayor during the sunset (above), and had dinner at El Botin, one of my favourite restaurants anywhere. Garlic soup and then suckling pig - yummie!

   On the Friday, we caught the hi-speed train (AVE) to Cordoba.

   We wandered around the town - a new one for us. There was a lovely fountain and statue in the main park (left)

   We walked alongside the city walls, and into the old town, and then into the Alcazar. The nice security man let us in for free, although we don't know why!?! Rachel is shown (left) looking back at me through the battlements.

   The gardens of the Alcazar had some very pretty fountains (left and below). The main problem was getting a decent picture while trying not to show any of the other tourists trying to get the same sort of shot! A whole group of English schoolgirls took a bunch of time taking group shots, using about eight different cameras, but we've grown used to being patient...

   It was a lovely day in town - warm and sunny, but with a kind of mountain breeze to take the edge off the heat.

   At the entrance to the Alcazar, there was a statue (left) of a king presumably. I took this shot on the way out, as he also attracted lots of other tourists and their cameras... The Alcazar was nice, but quite busy, so I didn't mind moving on to the next part of our walk around town. The whitewashed house walls of the streets are very clean and tidy, and there are plenty of flowers blooming too.

We strolled towards the Mezique, and as we got close we found this imposing tower/column (below) between the Mezique and the river.

It looked a bit Roman to me (but what do I know?), quite old, and intricately carved out of stone. A little strange in a Moorish area.

Cordoba column

The Mezique is an imposing large Moorish temple, with high walls, carved in Islamic taste - no human form of any kind.

Cordoba Mezique

Mezique wall We walked almost all the way around the building, and then deiceded to have some lunch. However, our chosen resaurant was not yet open (it was 12.45, and the Spanish tend to take all their meals much later than Brits or Yanks...) so we wandered into the Mezique grounds to kill time.

Mezique bell tower Once inside, we thought we would buy our entry tickets for the main building to avoid any after lunch rush. Then at the ticket counter, we noticed that the building was to close at 2pm today due to festivities. We therefore had to go in and rush around quickly so we could see the amazing building before it closed about 50 minutes later...

Mezique arches Inside, almost the whole temple had amazing arches, with red and white brick colouring. It was tough taking good pictures inside as we did not want to use flash photography, but there was just about enough natural light to get an idea.

Through the arches The crazy thing about this building is that it was built as a Moorish temple, but about 500 years ago, after the Catholic Kings had re-taken control of the city, the local big-wig decided to build a Catholic cathedral inside the temple. So from the red and white arches you encounter this large cathedral that looks much as any other. It was pretty in that light, but as the King of the time rightly said, building a cathedral like many others, has denegrated the fine architecture of the original Moorish temple. He wasn't happy apparently. It does make for a strange spectacle nowadays though!

Cathedral inside Mezique

Cathedral The light was just about good enough to get some pictures of the stained glass, though the exposure had to be taken right down.

Stained glass window We then had a lovely traditional Spanish lunch in an excellent restaurant and then wandered the streets some more - up through the Juderia (Jewish quarter), and on to one of Cordoba's more famous images.

   The lantern crucifixion was down a quiet alleyway, and the only trouble we had was keeping our own shadows out of the pictures. We failed miserably to keep the TV aerials out of shot too!

We made out way back to the station, via some marvellous fountains, and caught the train back to Madrid.

   The next day we slept in late, and caught the tube to the Parc Des Attractiones, which is Madrid's local theme park. We had been once before, but the guidebook promised new and exciting rides. The picture below is of Abismo, which was one of the fastest (if not the) rides I've ever been on. On the crank, you turn 90 degrees upwards, and then another 90 degrees, so you are hanging upside-down! Then the crank let's you roll on and the gravity takes over spinning you twice with lots of G-force. You basically do two loops before hitting the right angle up turn again, and coming to a halt, before cranking back to the starting position. The hole ride only lasts 45 seconds or so, but was quite extreme. We also did a few other new ones, including Tarantula, where the car twists and turns so you cannot predict the g-force coming as you get to a bend or dip. We actually came away with quite a few bruises between us!

   On the Sunday, we wandered up to the Retiro, as many Madrilenos do, for some park time, and then through the book fair, and onto a lovely tapas lunch. From here we walked back down to Colon, but saw a cordoned off area. This contained the World's largest finger painting, and the local kids were being encouraged to try their hand. One small lad was so engrossed he slipped on the wet paint, but did not realise that he had two very blue patches on his shorts to proof his downfall!

We travelled home the next day, having had yet another lovely trip to Madrid.

Climate Change and your MP...

2006-04-02T21:53:00.000+01:00

In my current job, we have helped to publish the UK Government's proposals on Climate Change over forthcoming years. I haven't read it, but I don't think it makes for pretty reading, if press response is anything to go by.

See this link, and take action if you feeel strongly enough...

We can all do more, but I'm not going to rant on here - I'm not the best when it comes to recycling. Autogeddon is a future waiting for Earth in a few hundred years, maybe less, but I'll be long gone by then.

Dominica

2006-03-15T11:03:00.000Z

We had a lovely time on holiday in the Commonwealth of Dominica, just as several people had predicted, and as can be judged from the attached photographs.

We arrived on a Caribbean Star flight from Antigua; anyone who knows anything about flying around these islands will know that it is not a smooth process. VC Bird airport in Antigua can accommodate large planes but the infrastructure isn't that good. When we were finally allowed to walk across the tarmac to our turbo-prop plane, we saw our bags driving off in the opposite direction! I told the stewardess, who just shrugged and said she would see someone about it. She didn't...she was more occupied in trying to fit 46 people onto a 44 seat plane - eventually, two passengers had to get off!

The flight into Melville Hall airport on the island of Dominica is amazing - you fly down the mountainside, with a river just below you and eventually come to the runway. How the larger jet planes will land (once the planned runway lengthening out into the sea is finished) is not something I'd want to think about too much...nor is the thought of "coming next year" night flights!

On landing, as suspected, our luggage wasn't forthcoming, and neither was anyone else's! It turned out that the luggage on board was all from the morning flight, and none of our luggage would fit onto the plane too, so they left it off in Antigua and drove it away! Lots of queuing ensued and then form filling; our bags eventually arrived 22 hours into our hotel after we did...

We had some rain on the first morning; typical Caribbean showers - five minutes on, five minutes off! - but generally had pretty good weather for the rest of the trip. It did rain some nights, and maybe when we were out of town, but we didn't get too wet anytime except on one occasion I'll mention later.

I'd arrived with a bad cold, so didn't fancy doing too much anyway on the first few days, but...

  ...the carnival Jump Up preparations were in full swing, with makeshift bar counters being constructed out of wood and Kubuli (the local beer) hoardings. We found out about timings for the parades, and made our way into town quite early. We just followed the sound, past some people getting into costumes (left), as it was a little chaotic at first; trucks with huge sets of speakers on the back crawled along the street with masses of people dancing along behind. It was a strange dance really - more a zombie-like jig than anything definitive.

  Plenty of rum and Kubuli beer was being bandied around, and everyone looked pretty happy - especially the kids in their costumes. Later in the morning, and after lunch, the more formal parade took place with all the Carnival Queens (left) in their amazing costumes, and lots of groups - ethnic, business, or club driven - following on.

  All the various groups seemed to have their own speaker truck to lead them and all pumped out the salsa/calypso music at very high volume. It soon became clear that one song was being played a lot more than any other - this as the Mas Domnik Carnival theme called Pirates by Bople (some called it Pirates of the Caribbean). Lots of "Yeh Mon's" and quite political when you listened closely to the words...very catchy too! The kids loved it too!

  We took lots of pictures and it was quite easy to follow the parade through the streets or just find a shady place and watch it all slowly go past. One reason the parade was so slow in travelling around the streets was that the massive tall speaker trucks kept getting tangled up in the dangling telephone wires! The kids all looked great in their gear and all were taken care of very well in respect of having plenty of cold drinks available - it was a very hot afternoon!

  The best "speaker" float was the only decorated one - the Black Booty, in honour of the filming of Pirates of the Caribbean 2 and 3 the year previous. It was put together by the American (I think) owner of Cornershop Cafe and Green Flash Grill, who obviously had experience of these things... The "Pirates" film crew stayed at the Fort Young Hotel too, and they had the whole block where we were roomed, so it is possible that Johnny Depp and us shared the same room...

  We saw the Black Booty float being built on the Sunday, take part in the parade on Monday (above), and then saw the remnants after it was dismantled (left, Tuesday)! Presumably, this was to allow the truck (far right in pic) to return to former duties...

The Tuesday Jump Up was less organised; it was a really hot day so we didn't venture too far into town in daylight, but we did visit the Rainforest Aerial Tram (left) which was fun. It's very expensive to do (US$55 each) but not a bad three hour jaunt. It was our first venture inland, and we started to understand why things don't run to time very often - mainly due to the volume of traffic on narrow roads with hairpin bends!

We wandered down into town that evening and it was mad! Everyone was very into the music that was pumping out even louder, and we felt a little out of place - not uncomfortable, but that we were at the wrong party. We therefore walked into another hotel bar, and settled down for a few beers. As we drank the first, a woman entered and told the barman that one of the band members around the corner had just been stabbed to death (once in the stomach, and five times in the back it transpired!). We must have been pretty close to this which is a bit scary. He was just 17 years old. The police eventually arrived and with an explosive situation developing they cut short all the rest of the street celebrations and shut the carnival early.

  Talk of the gang related murder was everywhere the next morning and most locals were ashamed that it had happened on their island (it certainly isn't a usual occurence). Vaval is the day after carnival has finished, and is the rest day after many hours of celebrating. We went whale watching, and the boat turned up an hour late, but it was worth it. We saw two sperm whales (or the same one twice maybe...but my first ever whale sightings), the second of which circled the boat and even came up for a look at us! The trip was marred a little when the male of an English couple we had been talking to slipped getting off the boat - he badly bruised his toe but it could have been oh so much worse...

  We then took a day trip up to the north of the island; first to Portsmouth and Indian River (left) - a slow row boat trip up though the jungle - then onto Milton Falls (our first proper waterfall of the trip), and then through the rainforest to watch for the two indegenous and endangered parrots - the Sisserou and Jaco, both of which we saw. It was a nice and relaxing day really.

  The next day we decided to head south for Soufriere (left) on the local bus (an event in itself - with a drive via the supermarket to pick up a passengers groceries and then the driver carrying it over and dropping it off on the old ladies porch - real personal service here!), and hire bikes for some exercise. The Dive shop had plenty of literature advertising this bike service but we seemed to catch them short on arrival, and it took a while to get sorted - only a hand-drawn map was provided, and no trails were maintained or available.

  We therefore just headed for Scotts Head which was a nice easy ride about a mile or so along the sea front. At Scotts Head, we climbed the hill to the lighthouse for great views of the meeting of the Caribbean and Atlantic (left).

We had a couple of beers in a roadside bar and then rode back to Soufriere and up the (steep) hill to the Sulphur Springs, where we had a dip in the muddy-looking warm pool. The ride down the hill and back to the dive shop was great, and only a leading car slowed us down and (probably wisely) forced the use of brakes. Rachel had another dip, this time in the hot pool by the sea, where the hot volcanic gasses bubble up and heat the sea water. Several other locals were lying in the pool too, one apparently face down!

  On Sunday, we joined a bunch of Boston-based divers on a trip to Ti-Tou Gorge and Trafalgar Falls. The cold swim through the gorge mouth was good fun for Rachel, and we both clambered across the slippery rocks to get up near to the twin falls (left). Luckily, this wasn't a cruise ship day (they dock on about 4 or 5 days per week), or both places would have been much busier.

  The next day we did the hike to Middleham Falls (left), the tallest waterfall on the island at over 200 feet. It was nice gentle hike really for about an hour, then a steep climb down to the waterfall pool. Rachel was brave enough to climb up the cliff wall and dive (or jump really) into the pool from a good height! The water was too cold for me!

  The Middleham Falls walk was a warm up really for our major hike to Boiling Lake, which we did the next day. It's about 12 miles all told, and took us 8 hours door to door. You start with around three miles of steady climb up through the jungle, then drop down steeply to the Breakfast River, cross it, then climb out and upwards onto the ridge above. This was where we got really wet; you are really sweaty by the time you get to the river anyway, then I slipped in and got two boot-fulls of river water, then it started to rain very heavily. We were both drenched, but happy...The climb along the ridge is tough and long, about a mile and a half of steps, up mainly - probably a climb of around 1500 feet. We had a rest at the top, and had great views, and then we started the very steep decent into the Valley of Desolation(above left). This was quite tricky, and we had to be very careful not to fall. Once down in the valley, the gasses fizzle out of the rocks and sulphur steam is everywhere. It was quite noisy and spectacular.

  Through the valley, you follow the stream down another half mile or so, crossing it a couple of times. I was wet anyway so I didn't care too much if I stepped in the water. After that, you rise up another couple of hundred feet to reach Boiling Lake. Its viewpoint is quite hidden until you are there, and it was another fabulous sight. The lake boils away below you sending out steam and sulphurous gasses (no, you can't swim in it as an American asked - it's BOILING!!!). We had some lunch and then, tired already, started on the return journey back the same way we came. We did stop for a dip in the hot pool of the stream just below the valley which was nice. It was really hard work, especially climbing out of the valley and up to the ridge. The trudge back after Breakfast River was easy in comparison.

  Knackered, we didn't go too far that night, or for the next couple of days! We did see some really good sunsets though... Dominica was also the first place I had ever seen the fabled green flash at sunset. In all, we saw the green flash four times during our stay, which is quite something when you've never seen it before!

  On our penultimate day, we were surprised to see two cruise ships try to dock but fail, and after a while they both set off in a westerly direction never to return. The sea had a bit of a swell, but didn't look too bad from the haven of our bedroom balcony, so it was a mystery why this had happened, until...we went into town early that afternoon with the idea of catching the bus down to Scotts Head for an afternoon on the pebble beach and a few beers. The driver told us that he couldn't get that far as the road was blocked. We travelled anyway, as far as he would go (just past Soufriere), and were amazed to see large rocks on the road ahead and later huge chunks of tarmac broken away, all caused by the choppy Caribbean Sea that morning (left). This was why the ships couldn't dock! It was pretty bad, as school kids had to walk home through the damage and some tourist hire cars even braved the road (stupidly!). Hopefully it will be repaired quite quickly but that will be a major undertaking.

The journey home was another long one - having been dropped at the airport, we had a long wait to check in. We were told to go through security immediately but, crazily, only one person at a time was being let in to the room where the x-ray machine and metal detector were situated. Luckily, our Boston dive friends were ahead in the queue and they let us go first as our flight was scheduled before theirs. In the end, the flight was late (qu'elle surprise!) so we needn't have worried. Being late arriving at Antigua meant we only had three hours wait, and as the Virgin, BMI, and BA flights had all just arrived, we had no chance to get out through immigration and into town anyway. Our Virgin flight took off over an hour late but had a tail wind so we arrived at Gatwick pretty much on schedule.

  We really enjoyed Dominica, and can recommend our hotel - Fort Young - plus the only other decent dinner restaurant in Roseau - Le Robe Creole - and also the following; Guyave (for breakfasts and lunch); Cornerstop (for lunch); Green Flash Grill (at Loubiere, for sunset drinks, great service and good food); and Tony's (at Soufriere, for chicken!).

The Dominican people were lovely, the island beautiful, and if they could keep some of the cruise ships away and/or sort out the roads it would be an even better place to have a relaxing break.

Dominica here we come

2006-02-22T08:54:00.000Z

This weekend we fly off on holiday to Dominica - we booked the trip only three months ago, but it seems like it's been a lifetime arriving. We both need a break, having worked hard over recent weeks/months, and Dominica should be wonderful. There seems to be so much to do once we are there, hiking in the mountains, trekking to waterfalls (left), black sand beaches, and it's carnival time too!

Luckily, our flight tickets have been revised and we do not now have to spend a night in Antigua on the way out there. That is, as long as the flight is on time, as we don't have long between connections!

Our hotel sounds great - apparently it's the best on the island - and it's where Johnny Depp and co. stayed while filming the next couple of Pirates in the Caribbean films last summer. I might even get the same room (and bed!) that Johnny had...

We plan to climb the highest mountain on the island - a four hour walk/crawl up to the 4000 foot summit - and also visit Boiling Lake - the World's second largest thermally active lake (left) - which is a world eco-sight. There are plenty of good waterfalls within easy access too it seems, and we like to see them. I may even be tempted to get in the water and get waterfalled on!

I'm sure to post lots of pictures on here when we get back...

Pedro45 - Cover star!

2006-02-21T18:47:00.000Z

So Annabel says do I want to go on an Italian car rally? Of course, I say. What better excuse to make a visit to the States and get to do a road trip too!

This was last May; I'd finished work on the Friday, and flew off to DC on the Monday morning. Annabel met me, as she always does, at Dulles, and we drove to her home. She lives up past Georgetown, near the Russian Embassy.

I stayed at her place for a couple of nights - eating, drinking, meeting friends, walking around during the day while she was at work, trying to sort out another job, that sort of thing - then we flew off (very) early on the Wednesday morning for LA.

History lesson - I first met Annabel in 1986, when she and Holly were presented to me by my neighbour as young girls in need of a place to stay. They were both over in the UK for six months on a work exchange programme, but needed a temporary home, and I had space at my house. A temporary two weeks turned into six months! So over the few months we slowly became frends through many a turbulent time.

We carried on our friendship over the years, with my visiting California, DC, LA, etc, and Annabel and friends coming over to the UK whenever they could. Originally both from small towns in the hills outside Sacremento, Annabel now lived in DC, while Holly had settled in LA.

This was the first time since 1992 that all three of us would be reunited though!

Annabel drove the hire car up from Long Beach to Studio City, and we took a detour along Mulholland Drive. Holly and her children met us, and we had a lovely day out at Malibu Beach (left). Next day Annabel and I went off to Disneyland, and Holly, her husband Jon, and the kids met us there later that afternoon. On the Friday, we drove over to a friends house near the Baldwin Hills in South LA, and then all drove back north again, with Annabel, me and Stephen stopping off at the Getty Museum. There followed a very drunken night - let's just mention the vodka bottle, hot-tub, and Trivial Pursuit!

Next day, Annabel and I drove around the Hollywood hills, and through Beverley Hills, people watching more than anything. That afternoon, we said our goodbyes and drove back down to Long Beach for the overnight flight back to Dulles.

So what has this got to do with being a cover star???

Well, after landing at Dulles very early in the morning, we hung around for a couple of hours, and then partook in an Italian car rally, starting from the Ferrari of Washington dealership near the airport. It was fantastic arriving (in a Saab!), and after parking away from the Italian showroom, seeing all these wonderful classic car exhibits arrive - Ferraris, Maserati's, Alfa's, Bugatti's, Lancia's, Lamborghini's, etc. I took a bunch of pictures, one of which is here (left).

We borrowed an Alfa, from Annabel's friends Brewster and Sherry, and took off in formation (don't go too fast!) following five Ferrari's. We kept up as long as we could around the back roads of Virginia, but eventually lost them after a couple of the cars in front nearly made a wrong turn. They had to stop, reverse, and then disappeared into the distance as we struggled not to get lost and preserve the gearbox! We ended up at Summit Point raceway, and after watching some fun racing, we got to drive round the track a few times posing!

The bad news was that as it was hot and sunny, and we went too fast for me to wear a hat, I got quite a sunburnt face during our drive!

Anyway, it was a lovely day, and we all really enjoyed ourselves, as we did for the remaining week of my visit.

A few months later, and Annabel has sent me this magazine with us on the cover (bottom - in the red Alfa), and with another pic of us and a namecheck inside! Thanks Brewster!

So we made it on the cover of a magazine - OK , it's not Vogue, or Hello!, but it's a start!

Annabel has invited me back to do it all over again this year, but we'll have to see how that clashes with work, football, and stuff before I agree...it would be good though!

Posting backlog...

2006-02-13T19:31:00.000Z

It's been about a month since I last blogged on here, so just to show it isn't a redundant site, I'll mention all the things I'm planning to blog about over the coming months...

First up, the Music Series; based on my younger days when I was lucky enough to go see lots of bands (for free!), I thought I'd mention my memories of a few of them. By doing this, hopefully a few like minded individuals will also recall the gigs of yesteryear...so look out for blogs about The Bunnymen, Teardrop Explodes, U2, Elvis Costello, The Damned, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, The Tubes, John Martyn, Roy Harper, Hatfield and the North, National Health, Madness, Siouxsie and The Banshees, The Redskins, Billy Bragg, Boomtown Rats, Department S, The Jam, The Gentry, The Makers, The Members, Gary Glitter, Human League, Stray Cats, The The, Orange Juice, Lou Reed, and lots lots more!

Secondly, I've been meaning to do a little blog about being a cover star. Yes, I made it onto the front of a glossy mag along with a very good friend of mine. I'll scan the cover and tell you all about it soon as I can!

Next, the cricket - yes, it'll soon be test match time, as England tour India. Hopefully I'll get to see some of it on TV, but it clashes with...

My holiday to Dominica, which I'll be blasting about on here hopefully (when I get back) with lots of pictures to show too. It's carnival time in Dom so we are expecting a real hoot!

Of course, don't forget all my footie stuff can still be seen on
www.charltonathleticonline.co.uk

That little lot should keep me busy over the coming weeks and months, so let me get started and come back soon!

New Year News

2006-01-12T20:27:00.000Z

Happy 2006!

This year has started quite differently from 2005; last year I was out of work, looking forward to a long holiday and a rest, and an operation on my knee. In 2006, I am working (albeit on a 3-month contract), looking forward to a long holiday and a rest, and my knees are good but my back is dodgy!

At work, I am halfway through my contract - I really enjoy some of the "work", but not too much of the culture of the place where I'm at. The offices are in the middle of a down-market industrial estate, and I commented to my girlfriend during my first week that I would do well to get through the three months without getting mugged! I still feel that way. Although I listen to music on my 23 minute walk to work each morning, I cannot put the headphones on coming home until I'm well into my walk, for fear that someone will come up behind me and try to forcibly coax me into giving up my Christmas present and whatever else of value I am carrying. Some of the people I work with are really nice, and they have given me very nice compliments on my work. This had led to an offer to stay on there on a permanent basis. This has put me in a quandary, and I'm still unsure what to do. On the positive side, I will have regular decent income, a pension plan, and a good manager, but on the negative side, there are the internal politics that are ugly, a few unhelpful colleagues, and the locale of the office. I think I'll be pushed into making a decision tomorrow.

I'm due to leave on 24th February and we have our Dominica holiday to look forward immediately afterwards. Don't want to get too excited about that yet as it's still six weeks away, but it should be fun.

My back has been playing up a bit; muscle spasms is what I think I got just before Christmas, and I've had two separate twinge days since, both after leaning forwards. So now I get my socks put on for me at every opportunity!

An interesting start to the year - I'll try to blog more regularly now I'm into the groove a little bit at work.

Season's Greetings

2005-12-25T10:41:00.000Z

HAPPY CHRISTMAS to eveyone out there in blogworld.

In the immortal words of Dave Allen, who sadly passed away this year, "Good luck, and may your God go with you!"

Pedro45
x

Tour over; home for Xmas

2005-12-21T16:49:00.000Z

The England Cricket Teams tour of Pakistan finished today, with the last one-day international being played in Rawalpindi - England winning the match but losing the ODI series 3-2.

Overall, as the Test series was lost 2-0, and we lost the ODIs too, it hasn't been a very succesful trip. A number of key players suffered injuries during the tour and had to return home - Vaughan, Pieterson, Giles - and a number had niggly stuff that meant they couldn't always play to full potential - Harmison, Flintoff. With Strauss diving home for a paternity break, it was a very disjointed tour.

The euphoria that surrounded the summer Ashes series win has rubbed off a lot by now, and the forthcoming India tour after Xmas is not one that England can undertake with confidence. Indeed, the pitches will turn more in India than they did in Pakistan, and this area is where England are at their most weak.

Following Ian Blackwell's ODI games recently, he could be one option to replace Giles in the test team if the Warwickshire man does not recover from his hip operation in time to play. Blackwell does spin the ball, much more than Udal or Batty, and he can bat, which counts against youngsters Keeley and Penasar. A tough call.

The lads all come home for Xmas now, and a well earned rest. I doubt they will want to get any new DVDs as presents, having spent three months in Pakistan watching them over and over...

A funny old week...

2005-12-16T19:19:00.000Z

It has been, hasn't it? England started it with a bang last Saturday by winning the first ODI quite easily, after getting a lot of runs batting first. Charlton won too, so it made for good weekend.

Sunday was the day when the bang in Hemel Hempstead was heard by everyone for miles around; friends who live closer - but still twenty miles from Hemel - were woken and everyone had their own theory about what it was before the real news broke. It was a plane crash at Luton, a plane crash at Heathrow, a very big bomb somewhere... The fire in the petrol storage tanks (see pic left and below) raged for over three days, until foam was used to douse the final tank. Some of the tanks promptly caught fire again but not to the same extent, and they have been left to burn themselves out. It certainly caused the skies to darken for a few days, and luckily it didn't rain at all, or everyone would have had black soot to clean off their homes and cars! Thankfully, the friend who lives closest (about four miles away) was away at her boyfriends parents for the weekend, and their house wasn't damaged at all, unlike many others in the area.

My boss at work has been ill all week (migraines and no voice - male heaven!) so I've just been getting on with things. Lots of meetings and paperwork, but at least we are now starting to get somewhere in the different elements of the project.

England promptly threw away the second ODI by not scoring enough runs on Tuesday, and on Thursday they took a right old hammering as Pakistan scored their second highest ever one day score, and the highest ever against England. This led to Englands equal worst ever defeat. Three down, two to go, we need to win them both to take the series, but that is very unlikely given the bowling in the matches so far. I think their minds may have been on this little ditty!

On Wednesday evening my old cricket club had a christmas booze up - seven of the team made it along to the pub, and we had a very good time reminiscing! Next year is the thirtieth anniversary of our first ever match, and rumours persist that we may be asked to don the whites once more in a friendly game. The trouble though, will be getting twenty two players out - the reason we folded was because we couldn't muster eleven each week (in fact, only seven turned up for the last ever match!). We also plan to hire a venue and show a powerpoint type slide show of images from our illustrious past, which will be mightily embarassing I can confirm!

Last night we took a train to Chelmsford to see my girlfriends best mate who is getting married next year; we had a lovely chat with them, though the restaurant was exteremely average and the service appalling!

This weekend is busy - we are off to Manchester tomorrow morning to see a friend, though I am taking in the football at Wigan too. The cricket ODIs continue, and I also maintain my lack of doing any Christmnas shopping - I must try to fit it in sometime!

Hopefully, next week will be a little less frantic, and I can start to enjoy the festivities - I am still turkey-less so far this year - though I'm not holding too many high hopes.

Big Bang fails to wake Bromley resident!

2005-12-11T13:42:00.000Z

It looks pretty spectacular, and the skies have certainly darkened with smoke over the last hour or so, but the huge explosion at a petrol storage facility north of London, apparently heard up to 40 miles away, failed to wake me this morning.

Thankfully, nobody has been killed, though a few people have been seriously injured, and many homes badly damaged.

It was a strange sky that welcomed us as we came out of the supermarket this morning; previous clear winter skies, had been replaced with a black hue, as the smoke drifted across London. It will disperse over time I guess, but it does look strange...

What England Eight after lunch?

2005-12-03T09:40:00.000Z

England crashed to defeat against Pakistan in the third test match in Lahore today, losing their last eight second innings wickets in just 70 minutes for 46 runs after lunch. Pakistan have therefore taken the series two-nil.

What happened at lunch time? 202 for 2, With Bell and Collingwood settled, having batted together all morning, it took just four balls in the afternoon session to claim the first wicket (Colly), and Kaneria also picked up Pieterson (1) and Flintoff (golden duck) in his next four balls! Bell (92), Jones (5) and Plunkett (0) all then fell to Akhtar slower balls, before Sami and Kaneria whittled out the tail (Udal - 25 and Hoggard - 0) in consecutive deliveries. Wham bam thank you mam! England lose by an innings and 100 runs!

I was pretty shell-shocked after Charlton's capitulation in the last fifteen minutes on Wednesday night, and this collapse hasn't helped my disposition much either!

The team, boosted by a couple of new arrivals, now have to pick themselves up for the one day series that starts next weekend.

Overall, the test side did not play very good cricket after the first couple of days of the series. The game in Multan could easily have been won with more application, and today's final test comfortably drawn if the batsmen had all really got stuck in properly.

Trescothick batted quite well over the series, though he was susceptable in the second innings to the new ball, falling very cheaply on two occasions. Strauss never got going in the first two tests and will be classed as a failure, as will captain Michael Vaughan (left), who missed the first test before making just one resonable score (58 in the first innings here in Lahore). Bell is the undoubted English player of the series, making good scores in each test, with a hundred in Faisalabad. Collingwood played in both defeats, but at least he made good runs here in both innings (96 and 80) after two failures at Multan. I still don't think he should bat at four. Pieterson made a hundred at Faisalabad but hardly anything else. He is still new to test cricket, and needs time to settle, though he still plays big shots too early in an innings for my liking. Flintoff bowled his heart out but was a failure here with the bat overall. Jones kept quite well in testing conditions, but didn't seem to have much luck with the bat, getting dubious LBW's on a couple of occasions (including today). Giles and Udal bowled fairly straight but didn't turn the ball much, and avaraged around 75 per wicket - not really good enough I'm afraid. Both batted solidly though. Hoggard, Harmison, and Plunkett all bowled with heart, and picked up more wickets than expected, but the pitches didn't suit for long periods and they struggled to shift certain Pakistani batsmen (Haq, Yousef, Butt, Akmal, etc).

A tour to forget then from a statistics perspective, but lessons must be learnt on the playing side otherwise we will get well beaten in India during the series that starts there in February.

Summer is over...

2005-11-27T12:34:00.000Z

The long drawn out summer in the Pedro45 household has come to an end, and I have to return to work tomorrow. I don't really want to, but bills have to be paid, Xmas is coming, and I want to go on holiday. All that means that I need some dosh to fulfill the above without dipping into my savings too much more.

The job could be fun - it's a consultancy-type role for three months finishing near the end of February. I turned down a "proper" job at the place I will be working, but they could see my value and worth and offered me a three-month stint in an effort to sort them out and provide support while going through a tough time internally. The management who interviewed me were very nice people and it will be nice to (hopefully) make some new friends and acquantances in a new workplace.

I don't have to be there till 9.30 tomorrow, so that my manager has time to get in herself and get ready for me. It will be interesting to see how the other staff treat me, and what they have already been told about my role. I have an induction day and tour of the distribution warehouse on Thursday which will be fun too!

Hopefully, there will be a few who go down the pub after work occasionally, and that may also mean the odd Christmas do that I can swan along to and join in with. I've missed that sort of comaraderie over the last year. It'll mean fewer trips to the gym unfortunately, as the two are not very local to each other, though I'll try to pop over at least once a week after work when I can.

When the three months are up, I leave work on the Friday and fly off on holiday with my girlfriend on the Saturday, to the island of Dominica in the Caribbean. We talked long and hard about going to St Maarten/St Martin, but couldn't find a hotel that we both liked, so switched our attention to other islands and found an old fort that is now a hotel in the Dominica capital Roseau. It's not that big a hotel, but sounds quite nice. Dominica is an unusual Caribbean island, according to the guidebooks, in that the beaches don't sound very nice (lots of volcanic black sand, and none near to our hotel), but it has lots of hiking trails up to the mountains leading to wondrous waterfalls and lakes. It has one of the wonders of the Caribbean in a Boiling Lake, and also a beach area called Champagne Beach where the water bubbles like champagne! Both due to volcanic activity. Can't wait!

All the above means that my postings on here (and on Charlton Athletic Online) will probably be less frequent unfortunately. I'll try to keep things going as best I can, and will definitely say something should the need to arise, but you know how it is trying to fit things in with the rest of your ongoing life...

I've had a great summer blogging - The Ashes, holidays, recounting stories of former lives and bringing back many happy memories and a few bad ones too! I will definitely continue, as it is great fun. Take care! x

England scrape draw in Faisalabad

2005-11-24T12:13:00.000Z

England almost fell to defeat in the second test against Pakistan which finished today. Set 285 to win (after man of the match Inzamam's second hundred of the match) in about 45-50 overs (before bad light would finish play), they collapsed to 20-4, before rallying to finish the game on 164-6. Trescothick, Strauss, and Bell all got ducks, while captain Vaughan scored just 9 runs in this innings (making it 11 for the match).

England were saved by Pieterson (42) and Flintoff (56), who rallied the score to over a hundred, and then Jones (30 n.o.), who batted very sensibly toward the end.

With one test to go and Pakistan 1-0 up, the series cannot now be won, ending a run of six consecutive series wins by England.

Andy Strauss will miss the third test, as he is flying home tomorrow for the birth of his first child. Shahid Afridi will be banned for the next test too, following his own scrape on the pitch on Monday.

It's tough to see how England can drag the win they need to draw the series from the next game in Lahore; with (probably) Collingwood brought into the team to replace Strauss, the batting is weakened further, and the side looks even more fragile. Unless we see some heroics from both batsmen and bowlers, I predict either a draw or another defeat sadly.

The NME Years - The Advertising Boys; Part one

2005-11-23T15:18:00.000Z

Brian Brownell
"My father knew Brian B". That was the saying on one of the badges that we had made, and various staff members used to wear them around the office (it wasn't cool enough to wear it outside of work...).

Brian Brownell, or Brian B as he was known to one and all, used to sell advertising on the NME Live! ads pages for about five or six years, in the late seventies and early eighties. A tall bearded man, with a crook nose, and long wavy brown hair, he wasn't that dashing or suave, but he always wore a suit to work. I don't know why? Maybe more casual clothes wouldn't have suited him any better...

Brian became an semi-icon at the NME. He had his own advertising pages - the live ads pages - and whenever there was a space to fill that we hadn't been able to put a paid-for advert in, we would put a filler ad bearing Brian B's name and contact details in there. In the late seventies, we carried quite a lot of filler adverts! Brian therefore became a victim of his own un-success, and me and my colleagues Frank and Mike took full advantage, building his persona up to megastar status. The pic here shows another badge we had made, alluding to the fact that Brian may have had a fan club! Frank was a bit of an aspiring artist, and he drew a comic strip that featured Brian, which we printed at the top of the Live! Ads pages, bringing the anti-hero to life even more. The trouble was, Brian believed all the hype that we fed him, and became paranoid if we were (or were not) talking about him! I never really knew the real Brian, if there was one - I don't think anyone did in truth...

Brian was an East End boy, who lived with his mum and dad in Canning Town. He used to go to the Bridgehouse, a local pub that had bands on most nights, to see his mates and the local groups that would play; occasionally, they had someone who was slightly more well known outside of the East End and he would be in his element, what with working for NME and powerful enough to give away free advertising!

Brian had his favourites - The Warm Jets were one band, Spider another, and Iron Maiden another of the groups he'd go to see at every opportunity, well before they became famous and heavy metal au fait.

Brian also liked speedway, and would go along to Walthamstow, Wimbledon, and other London tracks to see live action whenever he could - it was his incognito time I think.

Brian liked a beer or two, or ten actually! He would drink most days; at lunchtime he would be down the pub for a couple, and after work he would also drink either locally to work or back at one of his local drinking dens if he wasn't out seeing a band somewhere.

He told a story once about how he was in a hotel somewhere - on holiday in Cornwall I think - having drunk quite a lot (which meant over ten pints to Brian...), when he woke up needing to go to the loo. He described in intimate detail how he walked to the bathroom, did what he needed to and went back to bed. In the morning, he got up, washed, went to put on the ubiquitous suit from the wardrobe, and found it to be soaking wet. He had proceeded to urinate over it during the night. He argued that it must have been ghosts or something similar, but deep down he knew that we knew what had happened!

And that was Brian's problem really - he always knew that we knew the real deal with him, whatever way he tried to package things up, we always saw through his wrapping.

He used to hate people standing behind him, claiming that they were breathing on his wavy hair. Of course, being the mickey taking guys we were, we did that on purpose, because we knew it wound him up. We wore the badges; we mimicked his sayings - he had a special way of saying the names of bands he liked; Iyon Maaayden for instance - and actions - he waved his hands about quite a lot in strange circular motions.

Brian was well hung but impotent, though he claimed that he knew how to satisfy women in other ways...the only woman that I knew he got close to was someone equally hairy called Mary. I don't know what he tried with her but from the fact that the relationship lasted precisely one night and she treated him disdainfully forevermore afterwards meant that she probably wasn't fully satisfied that evening!

Brian eventually left NME in the early eighties, and went seeking his fortune elsewhere. The last time we met was when Mike Procter returned to London from Bristol for a football match (Arsenal versus Villa - 2-0) at Highbury, and we (Mike, Me, Frank, and Brian) all met up in a North London pub for a few beers beforehand. Brian had changed; he was even more paranoid, and for some completely unknown reason (believe me, if I knew I would say now...) he took offence at my presence and threw his pint of beer in my face without warning. I really didn't know why he did it. We had not been taking the mickey at all; he just lost the plot a bit I think.

I never saw Brian again after that event.

He died a couple of years later from complete organ failure, the result of drinking whole bottles of vodka and the like each night once he'd got home from the pub, alone.

Brian was an icon that some of us helped to create, and probably helped destroy. As newspapers do these days, you can build and build people up, and once they believe they are at the top, it is easy to bring them crashing down once more, way below where they ever were before.

Pitching it up!

2005-11-23T12:34:00.000Z

The second test will go into its last day tomorrow with all three results possible; Pakistan are nearly 200 in front, but with just four wickets remaining. If England can roll the last few over quickly, then they have a real possibility of chasing the required winning total.

This test has had lots of controversy: Afridi has been duly punished with a ban from the next test and two ODI's for his pirhouette on the pitch after the gas tank exploded on Monday. Kaneria was warned twice for running on the pitch while bowling, and Pakistan have been warned twice for running on the pitch while batting! One more offence, and England will have five penalty runs added to their first innings score!

Flintoff has bowled magnificently, taking three of the six wickets to fall so far in the second innings, including two in consecutive balls (see Flintoff bowling Afridi pic), and giving him twelve in the series. Pieterson and Bell both made good centuries in the English innings.

Hopefully, the lads can pull off the win, though it will be tough to get the last four wickets (one of which is Inzamam) and then knock off the runs without losing wickets. My money is still on the draw...

Second test for England

2005-11-21T12:05:00.000Z

England will do well to save themselves from defeat in the second test match versus Pakistan in Faisalabad over the next few days.

The game so far has been full of controversy, and excitement, so far. Pakistan decided to leave out suspect pace bowler Shabbir, and England had Michael Vaughan back from injury and Marcus Trescothick available

Day one saw three early wickets for the England pace bowlers, then a solid hundred run partnership between Haq and Yousef. A debatable caught and bowled brought Afridi to the wicket, and he and Haq put on another hundred plus runs at very fast pace. Pakistan finished day one at 300-4.

On the second day, Haq completed his hundred, and the partnership continued until Afridi was caught (very) low down at slip by Trescothick. Haq then fell run out to a poor (third) umpiring decision when bowler Harmison threw down the stumps following through, with Haq taking evasive action (see pic). It was questionable whether his back foot was down, but what was not in doubt was that he was not trying to run and was avoiding injury. He should not have been given out, but the local third umpire thought different.

Pakistan finally holed out for 462, with fourteen sixes being hit in the innings (six by Afridi). England then lost Strauss, played on, for 12, and Vaughan (yorked) for 2 to slum to 33-2.

An almighty bang on the boundary edge caused lots of concern and a break in play, but it proved to be a soft drinks machines gas cylinder exploding that was the cause. This event though will make the front pages tomorrow; not because it seemed it might have been a bomb, but because while the players, umpires and police were assessing the situation, a Pakistan player (thought to be Afridi) proceeded to scuff up the pitch by spinning his boot onto a spinners length at both ends. This was plainly obvious to see on TV. Luckily, umpire Darryl Hair also noticed the damage, and spoke to the Pakistan captain about it. I sincerely hope that the player responsible is banned from several test matches for this blatant attempt at cheating.

Trescothick then fell caught behind to another low catch that the umpires had to check carried.

Bell and Pieterson survived to end the day at 113-3.

It will be tough for England to save the game, and even hard to save the follow on. The series win would appear to be already out of their grasp, and if they lose here, it will be lost too.

Sad losses to England cricket

2005-11-21T11:47:00.000Z

I noticed the England team took the field wearing black armbands today, but it wasn't until I read the ECB website that I found out why.

I knew Robert Padmore from way back in the early nineties; he was probably on my first tour to Australia in 1991.

I have to be upfront and say I never liked him. He was arrogant, and obnoxious on occasions. He certainly toured the West Indies in 1994, where we had a bit of an argument borne out of jealousy. Drunk, he basically wanted to know why I had made friends with certain tourists when he couldn't, so he became abusive.

We always passed pleasantries after that, but no more. We would meet at reunion dinners, and then on the next tour; he was in Perth during 2002, the last time I went away with England.

A man driven to excess, it doesn't surprise me that he died in a bar. When you think about it, there isn't much else to do in Pakistan in the evening...

My heart actually goes out to those in the same tour group who are touring with him - in 1998 I was part of a tour of Guyana where one person died and that takes a lot of enjoyment out of the trip.

This news follows on from the death two weeks ago of Dave Thomas, another long time England tourist, also from a suspected heart attack. Dave had booked his Pakistan trip, but never made it to the airport unfortunately. Dave roomed with a good friend of mine many timess during tours abroad.

Sad news.

The NME Years - The Editorial Girls

2005-11-17T16:34:00.000Z

There were quite a few girls that worked in the editorial reception and admin areas while I was at NME. Some of their names I no longer recall, but most of them were there for a few years so I do remember them - in no particular order: Fiona Foulger, Margaret, Cathy Bartlett/Kate Wills, Kathy Kelly, Julia "Spud" Murphy.

Fiona Foulger was a lovely, single, woman, with red curly hair and a real northern twang to her voice. I think she was from the top end of Lancashire, but I stand corrected. She was fun to talk to but we didn't have too much in common, and she was always the elder stateswoman at NME that people looked to for advice if they needed help. She could dismiss people with just a glance, and a mumble if she didn't like what they were doing or said. She worked in the editorial offices throughout my time at NME, and on Friday lunchtimes used to drink in a pub in Kingly Street, just around the corner from the Carnaby Street offices, with other old stagers from the office. The last time I spoke with her was around 1993 when I needed to dispose of stacks of old NME papers from the late 70's and early 80's that I’d stored at my parents house. Fiona arranged for a van to pick them up so they could be used to replace the dismembered NME archives. I believe that she died about ten years ago from breast cancer, which is a real shame.

Margaret was a strange one; she was very shy but had, by all accounts, a bit of a screw loose. One day, when up in Kettering to pass the paper for press, Monty Smith told me that he'd seen Margaret staring out of the third floor Carnaby Street offices windows a couple of days beforehand. She was crying. Being a nice guy, Monty asked her if she was OK and what the matter was? Margaret replied that she was crying because "it was raining"! Thank god we aren't all like that, as the whole population of London would be in floods of tears most days! One other time, Margaret needed a few days off work sick because she had slipped/fallen underneath the slam-door train at London Bridge mainline station on her way home. She said that she was petrified that the train would pull away with her being dragged along underneath, but of course that never happened; a platform guard helped lift her up off the tracks, as no other passengers came to her aid. How she got under it we'll never know. She left NME in about 1984 and I've never heard anything about her since.

Cathy Bartlett I knew from her time in Kings Reach Tower when she was a sweet, but not so innocent, seventeen year old. A very attractive blonde Essex girl with a very sexy laugh, she worked on Titbits magazine (who's office was on the 25th floor next door to NME ad sales) as the office junior, before eventually getting a minor telephone sales role. This didn't work out so she went back to secretarial duties after getting transferred over to NME Editorial, thanks in part to yours truly! By now, I think she was married to her childhood sweetheart; I don't recall his first name but his surname was Wills. Our Cathy therefore became Catherine Wills! Well, she was a cracker! The lure of fame however meant that her marriage didn't last, and she split from her husband after just a year or two. I took her out a few times, including to see Siouxsie and the Banshees on my birthday, when I had ten tickets and a whole gang of us (including Gary Crowley, Tony O, and Wendy Baker) went along to a great night at Hammersmith Palais. Cathy, or Kate as she became known at NME - so as not to get confused with Kathy Kelly - loved it at NME; she turned into a bit of a rock-chick, and all the writers drooled over her. While I was in the car one day talking with Tony Stewart, he started to salivate over her, saying how gorgeous she was, and refused to believe me when I told him I'd taken her out a few times - getting the Kate he was talking about and the Cathy I kept referring to (one and the same person) confused. She ended up really good mates with Wendy, and the Baker household superstardom-lifestyle suited her down to the ground. Eventually, she met a man in the music business who fulfilled her dreams, and she was soon pregnant. She spent less and less time in the office while "in the club", and left to look after baby once it arrived and became a kept woman. I met her once after she had left, when she visited Kings Reach with Wendy and babe, but she was a bit flighty then, and not the teenager that I'd help mentor. She probably has two or three kids now, and lives in a mansion in Berkshire with her ex-rock star hubby!

Kathy Kelly had a bit of history about her! An Aussie, she worked for QANTAS as a stewardess in her younger days. On arrival in the UK, she got the job of Editor's secretary at NME, working for Nick Logan and Neil Spencer during my time. She was quite forward and had a one night stand with my colleague Frank that was all her own making. She married a Swiss guy eventually, but it wasn't a conventional marriage arrangement. As far as I'm aware, her visa started to run out, and she needed to get married in order to be allowed to stay in England, so she chose this Swiss guy who was a friend of a friend (mad Texan Barbara Fry, who worked in PR and was always hanging around the NME offices). Kathy moved over to Kings Reach Tower in 1988 with the rest of the NME editorial staff, but was soon off sick. She claimed, and as her union rep I argued on her behalf, that the air conditioning was making her ill - sick building syndrome - and she had a doctor's certificate to back it up. IPC would not accept this diagnosis though, fearing that, if successful, many more staff would use it to escape the 32 storey concrete monstrosity. Eventually, I negotiated a settlement with the HR people on Kathy's behalf, but not before IPC stopped her salary, threatened to sack her, and the occupational health people had had their say.

Julia Murphy was a lovely, nice, Irish girl, who worked on the reception desk for about four years after Danny Baker and Gary Crowley had moved on to bigger and better things. Whether the editor (Neil Spencer) thought that Spud would turn into another writer/DJ I do not know, but it seemed far from her mind or intention. Julia had a couple of long relationships while at NME; the first with NME writer Angus McKinnon, whom she doted on. They were a very nice couple and I don't really know why they didn't stay together, unless it was Angus being commitment-phobic. Even after they had split, Julia had trouble being in a room with him, as it made her so upset to think what might have been. Her second long relationship was with a guy called Kevin (Mitchell?). Once more, they made a good couple but had relationship troubles that they struggled to work through. Julia was good fun, and would come down the pub whenever she could. She was always messing around with Tony O, and they were forever taking the mickey out of each other. One evening, Tony and I persuaded Julia to come along to Wembley Arena with us to see some professional wrestling! This is the one and only time I've been to something like that, as wrestling in those days used to stay in the north of the country mainly, and almost never came to London. I had read that Big Daddy was taking on Giant Haystacks (see pic) and talked Tony O into going. We then dragged Julia into the pub for a couple and reached an agreement whereby she would come along if Tony drove (we had intended to go on the tube). Without another option, we walked down to Covent Garden to get Tony's Fiesta and drove through the rush hour traffic to Wembley. The evening was mainly about supporting bouts and quaffing beer; a couple of (long, boring) World title fights took place, including one with the manic Rollerball Rocco, before the main event. After much fanfare, it was all over in ninety seconds, making the £10 entry fee expensive! Haystacks and Daddy did a bit of posing, arm grappling, then parted. Daddy tried his stomach-bounce/splash thing which pushed Haystacks back into his own corner. Daddy then took a run in order to crush Haystacks in the corner of the ring, but bounced off, falling to the floor. However, before Haystacks could react, the momentum of the impact forced his feet to slip on water residue on the canvas floor, and he slipped, falling over the top rope and down on to the arena floor. Of course, the crowd went wild, cheering and laughing, until they realized that this 30 stone man was unable to get to his feet un-aided, let alone make it back into the ring within ten seconds! The count arrived at ten, and it was all over. Big Daddy the victor, but only by a kind of unfair default. Julia eventually left NME in 1984, when the offices moved to Commonwealth House and a receptionist was no longer necessary, and went to work for the Evening Standard selling classified advertising and managing the sales reps. I would walk down to Fleet Street to meet her for a pub lunch in the Old Lud at Ludgate Circus on quite a few occasions. On one occasion, she turned up without her front teeth! She had been running for a bus a few days earlier, but had tripped in the road, and knocked them both clean out, cutting her top lip badly in the process! Her dentist was not amused, and neither was she, as she had an almost perfect set of pearly whites… Julia then got a job working at The Mirror but, although she did a great job by all accounts, was personally sacked by Robert Maxwell. She said he was quite nice about it, but wouldn't be talked out of his decision, though she did try. I've lost contact with Julia since then, but hope very much that she is happy and content, and that her false teeth aren't giving her too much trouble now she's a little bit older!