Category Archives: Events

Concert for Diana

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Yesterday we were three of over 60,000 people who came to Wembley Stadium to witness two young men celebrating the lifetime achievements of their mother, Diana, Princess of Wales on the 10-year anniversary of her tragic death and on what would otherwise have been her 46th birthday. We were joined at Wembley by a reported 15 million people from across the UK and over 500 million homes in 140 countries who watched from their couches.

With such coverage and attention there was no doubt that the Princes were going to represent big targets for the media and true to form there was much cynicism and scornfulness in today’s papers and news coverage. Its such a shame that it seemed necessary for people to put down the Concert for Diana and I can’t really understand why it just couldn’t be taken for what Prince William said it was all about, that is, it was about “.. all that [Princess Diana] loved in life – her music, her dancing, her charities and her family and friends.” Sure I was a little disappointed that the Princes couldn’t speak without their palm cards, and that Elton John, who opened and closed the show, didn’t sing his The Princessignature Candle In the Wind song but on the whole its hard to find criticism in an event that had such heart, paid such nice tribute to a lovely lady, and on the whole had such a well-rounded line-up of entertainment (including some singing, dancing and comedy from Ricky Gervais) that surely everyone’s tastes were catered for.

Most of the performers below:

Elton John James Morrison Lily Allen Fergie
The Feeling Pharrel Williams Nelly Furtado English National Ballet
Status Quo Joss Stone Roger Hodgson Orson
Tom Jones Will Young Natasha Bedingfield Bryan Ferry
Anastacia Connie Fisher Josh Groban and Sarah Brightman Donny Osmon, Jason Donovan and Lee Mead
Rod Stewart Kanye West P. Diddy Take That

Top performers for me were Lily Allen (who I really didn’t like before coming into this concert and now have come away with a grudging respect for her performance), Nelly Furtado, Kanye West (energy was awesome) and the Andrew Lloyd Webber medley performers including Anastacia, Connie Fisher, Josh Groban and Sarah Brightman, and the three Jasons. P. Diddy wasn’t too bad either.

Aside from the line-up there were a whole host of international stars who helped with the introductions including Dennis Hopper, Kiefer Sutherland, Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson, Ryan Seacrest, Gillian Anderson, Boris Becker, John McEnroe, Jamie Oliver, and David Beckham (who seemed bashfully sweet.)

More photos here.

England v Brazil Friendly

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If At First You Don’t Succeed …

Obtaining tickets to tonight’s England V Brazil was no easy feat. Unless you were already a paying englandfan you were not guaranteed a ticket. Therefore the first stage of the process was registering with the FA and obtaining a FAN (FA number) for everyone interested in seeing the match. Armed with everyone’s FAN (one person could but on behalf of four FANs) you then entered a public lottery for tickets. Chances of getting tickets through this method were fairly low and we didn’t win.

Luckily for us there were resale tickets which involved either calling up or logging on to the website. Kind of like getting Glastonbury tickets in a way. I had all four of us (Jules, Fatkins, Sandra and I) trying to get through on the morning of the sale. Getting through on the phone lines was a joke and when I logged on to try and get tickets I found that I was about 1,200 in a queue of about 4,800 with a 14 hour wait! I thought we had no chance. Luckily Jules somehow managed to get through and we ended up with some very good seats.

Getting to Wembley

With over 90,000 expected to make there way to Wembley we knew it wasn’t going to be easy getting to Wembley so with this in mind we made sure to leave plenty of time to get there. It didn’t really take all that long to get there but the journey itself was very uncomfortable with a severely overcrowded and hot tube ride to Wembley Park. Crowd energies were very high though and in our carriage we had our fair share of entertainment by some tipsy supports. The funniest moments were when the in the minority Brazillian supporters joined us. Although there was a lot of heckling it was all done in good nature though I’m sure the fact that the Brazillians were mainly young hot Brazillian girls didn’t hurt any! Here is some video footage:

Wembley Park is probably the best tube to come out of in terms of impact because you are immediately greeted with the sight of the Wembley arch and the throngs of supports lining the walk up the stadium, Wembley Way.

With plenty of ticket touts, souvenir sellers, and police (included mounted ones – yay though the horses were clearly leaving their mark all over the place), supporters in very high spirits and even dogs dressed up in English gear the walk up to the stadium is a lot of fun.

The Game

Seeing the players come out on to the field for this first international match at the new Wembley Stadium was pretty exciting. Even as a friendly I guess this is the biggest football match I’ve seen to date, though that is of course not to discount the quality of the Fulham v Boro matches I’ve been to. 🙂

I’m glad that Beckham was back in the England team. For all the negative press he has received you have to admit that the news of him coming back to the team probably sparked a bit of inspiration in his fellow players. His impact during the game was noticeable and even though he didn’t win the man of the match (taken by Liverpool’s Stevie Gerrard) his free kick taking seemed pretty good and contributed to the one England goal.

The atmosphere during the game was pretty high but there was only one successful mexican wave for the whole night (noticeably dying out when it reached the “posh” part of the stadium.) Wembley is a huge stadium but the acoustics seemed built right with the echoes of everyone cheering reverberating around the stadium. For all the chanting and cheering by the English, given that the Brazilians were maybe a 1/80th of the stadium, I’m afraid that the English were a little out-cheered! But I guess that’s what its generally like with away supporters.

The John Terry HeaderThere was a bit of drama in our section of the stadium about 15 minutes from the end of the first half which seemed to quiet everyone down a bit from their cheering. A man had collapsed and at first I thought he had simply passed out from some sort of anxiety attack but then for some reason we were all made to stand (I still don’t know why.) The gossip that filtered through was that the man had died. I’m not sure how true it was but eventually he was stretchered out of the stadium. Some people were even walking out crying. The match continued on though.

I was really hoping that England would maintain its 1-0 lead to the finish but it was not to be and disappointingly Brazil scored in the extra injury time. The final result: England 1 – Brazil 1. A shame that the match ended with this draw.

Getting home from Wembley

Getting home from Wembley was an adventure all on its own. There are a few options with about three tube stops and overland trains heading north (away from London) and south (towards London.)

One of us, who shall remain nameless, had the bright idea that by going north it would be quicker to make it home south. Not the best decision it turns out! Surprisingly more people took the option of taking the train north than south including us. The lines were pretty well organised and handled and it wasn’t too much of a mad rush to get on to the trains although the ones heading north were sufficiently crowded. We were lucky to be at the front of the line and therefore able to grab seats.

The funniest story of our travel was Jules journey home. He was the first to get on the train and it should have been a quick 10-15 minute train journey (as opposed to what was in the end over an hour at least for me). Unfortunately he got on the wrong train and he ended up in the country somewhere with trains running back in the right direction only every half hour! And he was so smug getting on to his train too …. 🙂

More photos here.

Little Venice Canalway Calvacade

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Its been ages since I caught up with Elvira and Andrew so today they had me over for a Sunday lunch. Elvira’s sister, Caroline, is also now in town so it was good to catch up with her too. It was great to see them. After lunch we took a stroll to the Canalway Calvacade at nearby Little Venice. I’d actually planned on checking out this even later in the evening anyway with Sandra but I guess it was a little different in the day to at night.

According to the IWA website (organisers of the calvacade) the Canalway Calvacade combines a boat rally with a trade show and a wide range of activities and entertainments. The walkway along the canal was certainly heaving when we walked through this afternoon – a few times I thought I’d end up in the river! Its amazing how pushy some people are. It didn’t take us too long to make it from one end to another. The stalls that caught my interest was the fudge stall (yummy) and the pork stall (such a sucker for a roasting pig!) Too bad I was still full from the lunch that Andrew cooked to partake in anything.

Coming back later that night with Sandra the atmosphere had totally changed as all the stalls which were all hustle and bustle this afternoon were shut and all the boat owners were simply relaxing on their boats. We’d come to see the “Parade of illuminated boats”. When I saw this on the programme it sounded like it might be something interesting but it literally was a parade of illuminated boats. I mean it was okay but it was hardly going to set my night on fire. Still it was quite nice to be out on the canal enjoying the fresh air on a relatively nice spring evening.

London Marathon 2007

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I’m thinking if I surround myself with enough runners it will be motivation for me to get back out training again. At this year’s London Marathon it was Fatkins’ turn to have a go.

The conditions in comparison to last year’s race couldn’t have been any more different – where it was cold and wet last year and great for the runners it was warm and dry this year and great for the spectators! I really felt for the runners because it was clear that the warmer weather was not making it easy (not that running 26 miles on any day can ever be underestimated.) I’m thinking Jules was happy to be standing on the spectator side of the railings for once! Having said that being a spectator is harder work than it seems.

We were standing quite near the end of the race and the crowds were absolutely heaving. It seems that when watching the race some people have no boundaries and despite the fact we got to our position very early we found we were still being pushed around – I thought the fence would collapse at one stage! Looking out for Fatkins wasn’t easy either because there were heaps of runners around him – we managed though and I think our cheering for “Fatkins” provided some amusement to those around us.

My favourite part of watching a race is the appreciation that runners have for the cheering crowds. I know the race is not at all about us spectactors but it really is nice when the runners acknowledge the support and its especially nice to see that the support actually does help the runners to the end of the race.

Kylie – The Exhibition at the V&A

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Sandra organised for us girls to go and check out Kylie – The Exhibition at the V&A. The exhibition features many of the costumes used in Kylie’s career and also some of the memorabilia including various awards won and photos taken.

There were five areas with the main area taken up by her costumes from all her music videos. I always knew that Kylie was a little bit but those dresses were tiny tiny tiny! I doubt that I could have fit anything over even one of my legs.

The next section was a backstage video. The viewing room was fairly tiny but the video was quite interesting. You never realise just how much work goes into a concert.

Then you saw some lavish costumes from her concerts and then another room showing reel after reel from and her bigger tours and then finally there was a little replica of her dressing room.

A pretty good exhibition for those who are into Kylie and you even get to see those infamous gold lamé hotpants!

6 month anniversary of “Football at Craven Cottage”

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A night game this time for the muchly anticipated re-match between Fulham and Middlesbrough. A little bit of a different atmosphere to the last game as the game was a live game (and not end of season) so both teams actually had something to play for other than pride and so had their first string team on. Combined with the night lighting this made for a much more exciting match. Boro seemed to hold the advantage for the majority of the game as they were the ones taking all the shots at goal and also having most of the possession. Unfortunately they could never seem convert the attempts into actual goals and to Sandra’s disgust Boro lost the match 2-1.

Sandra disgusted with the game Sandra really disgusted Sandra so disgusted she doesn’t want to show her face

To be fair the way Boro were playing they should have really come away with the win and Fulham were extremely lucky to escape this one.

Boro Keeper (Schwarzer) at our end Fulham Keeper at our end The man – Viduka
The Fans Half-Dressed Boys The Mascot
Schwarzer in warm-up action Mmmmm mmmmm …. The final result

Photos from Run London

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Finally got the film from my disposable camera developed. (I’m actually surprised the film was still okay considering it was from my Dubai trip last year. Found some absolutely horrid pictures on there by the way.) Here are a few from the 10K we did just over a week ago. Gee everyone is tall.

Sir Jules in the early morning light Runners from Wave 3
Steve looking impressed The happy runners

The nightmare is finally all over!

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My medalNearly three months ago I registered for Nike’s Run London 10K which pits the runners of the South against the North. Ever since then I’ve been having nightmares about today’s run but finally the 10K is behind me … and it wasn’t even as bad as I thought it would be!

Run London started in 2001 and has grown in numbers since then starting with 10,000 runners in the inaugural race peaking at 45,000 runners when it was run over three parks last year and although it has dropped back to 35,000 runners this year we only have one venue so its still a pretty impressive turn out. The race was run in four waves staggered at 50 minutes start but even still the start was very crowded and I’m sure it was at least 5 minutes before I cross the official start line..

Each year there will be a team captain for each team and this year I was proud that we (the North) were being represented by Paula Radcliffe. It was pretty cool to see her at the start of our race hi-fiving as many as she could reach (she in fact went on to lead the second wave of races today.)

As for my run, I have always intended to start running but I think picking a 10K race as my motivation was quite a big challenge. I wasn’t actually doing too bad with my training, considering it has been a while since I’ve actually done any sort of aerobic exercise, until I first got food poisoning, then got a cold and then injured my neck/back. At least I can be thankful that I wasn’t running with injuries such as a bum knee, which was what Sandra ran the race with, or a dead leg like Sir Jules, so I was actually pretty healthy for the run if not exactly fit.

In the end I ran (and I use the word ran very loosely!) the 10K in under an hour and a half which to me was actually a great surprise as I was more than ready to be clocking over two hours. Although I ran the first 1.5Ks without stopping after that there was plenty of walking. It was amazing to actually see and then be taken over the faster runners of the second wave. They were practically sprinting past me – something to aspire to in the future I guess! I’m definitely pleased to have been part of the race, despite the nightmares I’d had leading up to today, and I can only hope I can move forward and maybe actually be able to run a full 5k without stopping to rest in the near future.

A day spent in around town

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So a plan of checking out ski clothes ended up being a day spent around town eating, enjoying the sun, some checking out of ski clothes and then watching other people run their guts out.

The eats. Good dim sum is hard to come by in London it seems. Laureate is an old standby that I like to go to for their consistently good quality food, generally good service and pretty much fair price. And not to make an undiverse comment or anything but its always a good sign to walk into a Chinese restaurant to find it is filled with Chinese diners. I think Sandra was a bit surprised to find that when we walked in at just before 12 today she was the only white person in there. Again not to be undiverse but its fact!

Laureate offers a good diverse selection of dim sum so there is something for everyone. In an unusual move, unusual because normally I am so stuffed with eating our mains I have no room, we went for two dessert dishes. A yam and tapioca dish (which you can see Sandra enjoying to the right) and a mango puds dish. Both of these are pictured to the left. Both were actually pretty tasty dishes and though Sandra did seem to enjoy them both she somehow convinced herself in the middle of eating it that she didn’t like the yam and tapioca dish after all. We still aren’t sure how she did that. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that “[her] mum makes the best tapioca dessert in the whole world.”

The shopping. After stuffing ourselves slightly at dim sum we headed off to a couple of ski shops in Covent Garden. Now, unless you’re a serious skiier that will definitely be hitting the slopes all season long it doesn’t seem reasonable to spend a kazillion dollars on buying ski gear that you will wear for 5 days only. Yes you may try to convince yourselve that you will wear it “the next time” you go skiing .. but seriously when that time comes around again I’m sure you’ll be wanting the latest season gear anyway! We started off at the Mountain Warehouse which was a discount store that Sandra found online. Its not top of the line gear but it’ll get you through a ski holiday and the prices are fairly reasonable. I was most impressed with one of the shop assistants who, rather than bully us into buying expensive items we didn’t need, gave very good advice on what to look for in ski gear and actually told us to come back in a few weeks time when more ski gear would be coming in. We did try on some ski pants and jackets for sizing and you can see Sandra to the right in a dead sexy pair of ski trousers. Yowzer!

It turned out that going to the Mountain Warehouse first was a bit of a mistake as when we went up the road to the North Face and Ellis Brigham the prices in there seemed utterly ridiculous instead of just being a touch on the expensive side. Didn’t stop us trying on some really cute ski jackets and caps but we were definitely not going to be sourcing any of our ski gear from either of those shops unless they have a giant fire sale dropping prices by at least 60%! Well, that’s how I felt anyway.

Looking cute in our ski jackets was hot and hard work 🙂 so next on the agenda was a drinks break. Why is it when you want a shop to get a nice icy fruit shake or milkshake you can never think of a good one to go to? So, sadly (ha ha) we ended up at Ben & Jerry’s in Leicester Square. A milkshake was just the ticket. It seemed a bit strange to mix two potentially obscure flavours but somehow it worked. We took our shakes down to Trafalgar Square to enjoy what was turning out to be a fabulous day. The sky was so blue and I even had time for a bit of cloud gazing spotting a horse in the clouds. Or something horse-like. Or not. You may have to use some imagination.

You must surely be wondering by now where we get to the watching people run their guts out stage? Okay maybe not but here it is anyway. We walked from Trafalgar Square through crazy Piccadilly Circus up Regent Street to Nike Town and found that they were having a Nike Festival of Air. It sounds much more dramatic than it actually is and its all about promoting a new range of Nike Air shoes. Part of the Festival is to “Run on Air”. Basically, they have these three treadmills set up and the challenge is to run for as long as you can at the average pace that Paula Radcliffe runs a marathon. This average pace ladies and gentlemen is a “slow” 11.6 miles an hour. I joke you not. Holey dooley! I can’t even run at 11.6 kilometres an hour let alone do it over 26 miles! The longest time every day wins a pair of the new shoes and the longest time at the end of the festival (Thur, 28th Sep) gets a one-on-one training session with Paula Radcliffe. Not a prize to be scoffed at.

So, anyway, we watched a few people try it most of them averaging about 1-2 minutes at that pace and some finding it so fast they literally flew off the back of the treadmill. Okay – that was just one guy but still. You can see in the pic to the above right the guy in the middle is already struggling and they are only 3 seconds into the run! He lasted maybe another 20 seconds and the other two didn’t last much longer – I think the girl went over just a minute and the guy on the left maybe two minutes. When you see how fast their legs were going you realise just how fast Paula runs in a marathon. Hurts just thinking about it.

And then along came Mr Marathon. Otherwise known as Ryan McKinlay. Now this is one guy intent on winning the grand prize. According to the Nike Air Festival website before today’s performance he had already clocked 25 mins 30 seconds and 32 mins and 31 seconds in at least two previous attempts. (He may have had more attempts but they are the ones currently in the top 5.) So, before Mr Marathon started his run today some other guy, Chris Kantos, held the record at 35 mins and 31 seconds.

Mr Marathon proved he was up to the challenge and more. The pic to the left is him at 28 minutes. Still looking really easy, still relaxed, giant strides, and close to the front of the treadmill. I was getting tired just watching him. Another 22 minutes (!) later we thought it was all over at 50 mins. Seemed he had something to prove though as he pushed himself that little bit further. Record: 51 mins and 3 seconds. That is going to take some beating. If you’re keen to try – you have until Thursday to do so!

NEWS FLASH: Young Man Turns Old … er

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In a stunning series of sightings today a young mystery man, accompanied by two young ladies (well, one very young lady and one not so young lady), was spotted celebrating turning old … er in numerous spots in and out of the city. Lunch diners at the Soho branch of Wagamama’s were delighted to be sharing their table space on this special day with such a daring young man. Many diners were heard expressing their admiration for this now older man’s courage in openly admitting, by a very strange badge pinned to his lapel, his turning 30.

Sweeping down New Bond Street on the way to Trafalgar Square, zooming past all the luxury shops, the mystery man found time on this most amazing of days to stop in to admire Damien Hirst’s 35ft-tall, 13-and-a-half-ton The Virgin Mother statue at the Royal Academy of Arts. “It’s a darn big thing but I’m not sure its all that attractive” he said of The Virgin Mother. “It’s a little disturbing actually” he later added. Its probably fair to say that he wasn’t the only one thinking this – its not every day, after all, that you are confronted with a giant metal version of the insides of a pregnant woman.

The visit to Trafalgar Square to check out the Trafalgar Square Festival was a little disappointing but in a show of real spirit the mystery man took this in his stride, scattering pigeons every which way, as he determinedly made his way to King’s Cross Station to bravely board a train heading to the, *gasp*, ‘burbs of Gordon Hill. At King’s Cross Station, with some time on his hands, a quick visit to Harry Potter’s Platform 9 ¾ was on the cards. Unfortunately time appeared shorter that it was and his luggage cart made it halfway through before his train was called so the cart had to be abandoned for the train.

Arriving at best mate Neil’s house deep in the ‘burbs of Gordon Hill the mystery man was pleasantly surprised by a little sponge cake which bore a picture with an amazing likeness to his looks from waaaaay back in the day. “Look at my hair!” he exclaimed when he first saw it.

All evening friends of the mystery man were heard to comment on how young he looked. “You look pretty good for your age, you look more like a 29-year old than a 30 year-old” was definitely heard in passing more than once. Unfortunately all attempts by the two ladies for the dirt on the mystery man failed with his friends. Most likely as he held all their secrets and had more dirt on them, than them him!

In the end a very pleasant day and evening was had by all, even if the BBQ didn’t quite come off, and even if the mystery man will be feeling it (the effects of drinking) for days …. Guess that’s what happens when you turn 30!! Happy Birthday Sir Jules!