Adventures of a Dutch Nomad

Made of Sport - Asics

2012-01-31T15:27:00.001Z

Sweet Child of Mine

2011-11-15T12:47:00.000Z

Vika Yermolyeva from Iceland

Singapore - Day 6

2011-11-03T18:00:00.000Z

Wednesday 21 September

I've been meaning to buy a digital SLR camera for a while now and was promised one for my 30th birthday so I wasn't going to miss the opportunity to purchase one tax free in Singapore!

I had identified a camera shop on Orchard road where I knew I could get a decent deal and so all I needed to do was head back there and try and get the best deal possible. In the end we settled on a Canon EOS 550 body, 2 lenses (18-55mm and 55-250mm), a IXUS 220, extra 8GB memory card, tripod, carrier bag, cleaning kit and a guidebook. All in all not bad.

Straight back home to play with our new toys and to charge them up for the rest of the trip. Shame they weren't charged for our evening adventure at Singapore's Night Safari.
Only 12km north of the city centre, located in Bukit Timah Nature Reserve (Singapore's oldest primary rainforest). The rainforest is home to 500 different species of animal.

The night safari tour takes you around 8 different geographical regions of the world where the climate dictates the type of nocturnal animal. We had something to eat before embarking on a terrifying night trail, walking past the bat cave and across a suspension bridge. We saw the endangered Malayan Tiger and the striped Hyena, the only Hyena species found in Asia.

The best bit of the walk however was at the Flying squirrel enclosure where one of them flew inches from our faces and actually grazed Chloe's shoulder! Needless to say this freaked the girls out and we quickly departed the flying squirrel enclosure, only to enter the vampire bat enclosure. One of them eyed up Charlie and we instantly soldier marched single file out of that enclosure! Then we hopped on the tram that snakes through the park (red trail on map below) and ended back where we started. Brilliant fun.

To top of the evening we finished with the "Creatures of the Night" show at the park's amphitheatre. This was a typical animal show with a number of cunning little creatures and a host that put on the most awful English accent. Nonetheless, the recycling Otters definitely stole the show!

Also wanted to share with you this fantastic little chair I saw at one of the cafeteria's within the park...

Singapore - Day 5

2011-11-03T14:39:00.003Z

Tuesday 20 September

We woke up to heavy rain so decided to take it easy. Charlie did some work (...most boring blog entry, everrrr) and I watched some egg chasing on TV.

In the afternoon we set out to conquer the famous shopping malls of Orchard Road with all the bravado and confidence of an anti-shopaholic and someone who's visited recently built mega shopping mall, Westfield in west London. London (Stratford City) are building a second Westfield shopping mall next to the Olympic village which is supposed to be the largest mall in Europe.

So how bad can this really be?!

Ridiculous. I've never seen anything like it anywhere I've ever been. You can pretty much walk the length of Orchard road underground via interconnected shopping malls. In other words Orchard road below ground is one big shopping mall. Some would call it Hell on earth.

We got lost a number of times. Each individual mall is its very own MS Escher painting.Once escalator travels across 2 floors and the next only takes you to the next floor up.

Needless to say I didn't last particularly long in this maze of terror. I did however locate a decent camera shop where I would later buy my new Canon EOS 550!

We picked up some ingredients for dinner as we decided to cook our hosts a local dish. Singapore noodles.

Amazeballs!

Singapore - Day 7

2011-11-03T13:37:00.004Z

Thursday 22 September

Tourist Thursday.
Today we set out on a little city tour of Singapore. Our first stop, at the advice of our hosts, was the National Museum of Singapore at Fort Canning Park.

A beautifully colonial (1887) building that has seamlessly integrated modern architecture throughout its structure. Located at Fort Canning the museum was initially opened as the Raflles Library and Museum.

The museums permanent exhibition, The Singapore History Gallery, is a fascinating and detailed trip down Singapore's young history. From the 14th century to today's bubbling present. The most fascinating bit for me was the Japanese occupation during the second world war mainly because I have read a number of books on that part of South East Asian history. The gallery is displayed in a fascinating story telling, meandering way that allows you to chose between the main thread of Singapore's history on one side and the more personal tales of individuals telling their version of Singapore's history through another.

After the museum we walked back towards boat quay, past the houses of parliament and the old house of parliament. We had a quick drink there and then headed along the waterfront toward The Fullerton Hotel.

The Fullerton Bay Hotel's Rooftop Lantern Bar.

“Lantern derives its name from Clifford Pier’s historical Chinese name - “

Red Lantern Pier”. It was a landing point for Singapore’s first

immigrants and red lanterns used to hang from

the pier as a guide to seafarers.”

With brilliant views of Marina Bay and directly opposite Marina Bay Sands Hotel we had a bit of food and a few drinks at this amazing rooftop bar.

View from the Lantern Bar

In this particular picture Charlie is rather amused at my clumsy, backward stumble off the lounger into the glass railing...

After a few cocktails and some bar food we headed back, along the race track and stopped off at a cool little bar just by the bridge (Fullerton rd) called the Boathouse.

PS - Cool video on the building of Marina Bay Sands infinity pool

Singapore - Day 3

2011-10-14T10:01:00.000+01:00

Sunday 18 September

Today was the day of the big closing party of the World Wide Festival at Tanjong Beach Club on Sentosa. Tanjong Beach Club is situated in a beautiful cove at just about the most southerly tip of Singapore, facing the Singapore strait.

Sentosa stands for peace and tranquillity in Malay but was once known as "The Island of Death at the Back" or "Dead Back Island" (Pulau Mati Blakang). This name, many claim, stems from its murderous and piracy heritage (I watched Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides on the flight over making this the only possible explanation).

Graham and Chloe had booked us a table and so we arrived just after lunch with Champagne waiting.
The beach club has an amazing infinity pool overlooking the bay with its beautiful white sand and blue sea. Needless to say we enjoyed ourselves.

How you doin'.....?

To top off a brilliant day at the southern most tip of Singapore, Gilles Peterson played until sunset with an amazing set.

And so that was the end of the World Wide Festival...here some anecdotes...

The end...

Singapore - Day 2

2011-10-13T15:54:00.000+01:00

Saturday 17 September

Even though I didn't feel too rough Saturday morning was spent recovering from our night at the Zouk. Maybe the jet-lag negated the hangover, like in maths where two minuses equals a plus. No? OK maybe not.

We spent most of it by the swimming pool, rehydrating and cooling down. Where the heat isn't that bad (32 degrees Celsius), the humidity can make you sweat as fast as thinking of it.

In the afternoon we headed into town in a perfectly air-conditioned, dirt cheap taxi. We went for a drink at Boat quay, probably the most famous harbour entry of the old port and a typical expat hotspot.

One thing I noticed was that there are a lot of Aussies living and working in Singapore. With the new and rapidly developing financial sector which was nicely visible from our next visit, Singapore is getting more and more appealing to the Aussies.

Our next stop was The Altitude Bar. At 282 meters this triangular shaped rooftop bar boasts 360-degree views of Singapore.

After a couple of drinks there we headed back down to earth and wandered into nearby china town.
A district of just about every major city around the world, Singapore's CT is understandably more authentic and genuine than most others. On the way there we passed by Singapore's oldest Hindu temple, the Sri Mariamman Temple with this magnificent gopuram at its entrance...

After some typical local food including an extremely spicy vegetable dish that had Chloe crying and writhing in pain we headed home for a film (Senna) and bed.

Singapore - Day 1

2011-10-10T14:28:00.001+01:00

Friday 16 September

We arrived around 8.30 at Changi Airport. An hour later than we had hoped but after a 16 hour journey we were just glad to have arrived. Collected our bags, grabed a bottle of champagne and jumped in a wonderfully air-conditioned taxi for a 20 minute ride to 22 Nassim Hill.

We were welcomed with a beer poolside which is the kind of reception I feel I should get everywhere I go. We exchanged the usual "how was your flight" stories and looked forward to the excitement ahead. e promptly got a tour of the apartment, dropped our bags and headed out for a drink in town to celebrate our arrival.

After a few drinks and Charlie's new addiction a Jager Bomb we decided to sign off the first night in Singers by going to the opening party of the World Wide Festival at the Zouk club.

With Gilles Peterson opening the World Wide Festival at the Zouk we couldn't really go wrong. Jetlag forgotten and a few more J Bombs we were quickly rocking to some amazing tunes at a truly awesome venue. Who would have thought that an enormous glass chandelier in the middle of a new age dance club would look so funky?!

Singapore - Day 4

2011-09-19T09:43:00.000+01:00

Monday 19 September

This morning we went to the Singapore Botanical Garden.
Literally a stones throw away from Chloe and Graham's apartment the botanical gardens is also home to one of the most amazing collection of Orchids in the world. The cultivated orchid hybrid Vanda Miss Joaquim is the national flower of Singapore and hence they take great pride in this rare species.

We wondered through the grounds through the morning and had an ice cream for lunch.
The red line shows our route through the park. It was an amazing walk and seeing as we didn't visit the famous Orchid garden we were always coming back.

The vast array of vibrantly coloured orchids dotted around the park is breathtaking and I can now thoroughly appreciate the reason some genetic biologists dedicated their entire life's work to unravelling the genetic machination of this beautiful plant species.

With an amazing array of decorative fountains and lakes the gardens are a wonderfully peaceful place of contemplation. I would love to have a garden like that around the corner from me.

Established in 1859 the Singapore botanical gardens is unique in that it is open from 5am until midnight every day.

The Gazebo below had musicians playing in it as far back as the 1930s!

For the rest of the day we enjoyed time with Chloe and Graham around the swimming pool and watching some of the Rugby World Cup.

Juan Manuel Fangio

2011-08-25T13:18:00.008+01:00

By many considered as the greatest of all time Juan Manuel Fangio dominated early formula racing winning 5 out of the 7 championships he entered and finishing second in the other 2 years. Fangio never married but was loved by the ladies.

Nicknamed "El Chueco" (bow-legged) he was kidnapped in Cuba in 1958 by Fidel Castro's revolutionaries but was so charming he befriended his captives who subsequently released him unharmed and they stayed friends long after the event.

Many of his peers including Stirling Moss who regarded him as a father as well as many modern Formula 1 greats consider his 1957 victory at the German Grand Prix at the Nurburgring to be the greatest drive in formula 1 history.
Having lost the race lead in his Maserati due to a botched up pit stop Fangio fell behind by nearly a minute. Regaining the track, at the age of nearly 50, he ensued to demolish every track record catching the 2 leading Ferraris and winning his last race.

Here is some beautiful on board footage of Fangio driving his 250F Maserati around the Modena track in Italy (1950's)

World Championships: 5
Grand Prix Entries: 51
Grand Prix Wins: 23
Pole Positions: 27
Nationality: Argentinian

Grand Prix - The Killer Years

2011-08-24T09:30:00.009+01:00

Seeing as I will be attending the Singapore Grand Prix during my birthday weekend I set myself to delving a little deeper into the sport to really get me in the mood.

Let's start back in the hippie 60's when racing was raw and unbelievably dangerous.
One of my favourite documentaries, although a bit harrowing at times, is
'Grand Prix - The Killer Years'.

This documentary portrays the rock star lifestyles of racing drivers such as John Surtees and Jim Clark and the non-existing safety measures that haunted the sport in those years.

Get comfy on your sofa and take some time to watch this fantastic piece.

Summer like we used to feel them....

2011-07-01T12:25:00.004+01:00

Beach Boys - Kokomo

England trash Sri Lanka @ the Oval

2011-06-29T10:10:00.001+01:00

YouTube Video

Location:The Oval

Am I on the right career path.....?

2011-06-16T10:06:00.007+01:00

Marnix Ron

Lance Armstrong: A real American Hero

2011-05-31T16:10:00.018+01:00

The unfolding Lance Armstrong story is a weekly drama on par with the TV series 24. There are actually a number of striking similarities between Lance and Jack. Let me run you through them.

1) Both are seen as good wholesome American hero's.
2) In season 3 Jack Bauer, like Lance, struggles with a drug addiction he's finding hard to shake.
3) They both have to tell lies to reach their objectives.
4) Both stand accused by their peers and hunted by the law leaving them without many friends.

I could keep going but I think you will agree Lance is the Jack Bauer of the Peleton.

The whole fiasco is starting to resemble "I did not have sexual relations with that woman" and we all know how that finished.

Tyler Hamilton, one of Armstrong's work horses during his tour victories has made loads of money for coming on national television claiming Lance was doping regularly. Behind closed doors George Hincapie has allegedly ratted on Lance to the federal investigators as well. These allegations must hurt. This is comparable to Marcus Junius Brutus's betrayal of Julius Caesar, his nephew. Brutus conspired against Caesar because he didn't like his "king like" behaviour and thus arranged his assassination. Too dramatic of an analogy? Possibly. But that's how it must feel to Lance.

This must also be hard to take for the US fans of the tenacious Texan. A beautiful story and an amazing role model for their double cheeseburger and fries (make it large) devouring children to look up to, destroyed.

Whether Lance Armstrong is exposed in front of a global audience or not, there is however a much larger picture to keep in mind here. Livestrong has raised near £200 million for cancer research. Not that one excuses the other but let's not get carried away by some possibly dubious sporting achievements when the man's financial contribution to medicine could find the future cure to one of the most devastating killers in the history of human kind.
That's Dramatic!

The Start of the English Summer

2011-05-26T11:17:00.012+01:00

THE English summer starts with the first home test match.

Pimms, endless optimism and beautiful weather...

...yeah, not so much.

Anticipation, trepidation and a touch of nervous bravado usually sums up the overall demeanour of the English Cricket team at the start of the Summer. Like the first day of school, you just don't know what to expect. It could all end in tears and disillusionment or in exultant victory and splendid glory. The only thing you can rely on is that there will be rain!

Where's my Pimms?

Wing Mirrors on bicycles...

2011-05-25T09:59:00.018+01:00

WHILE cycling, if you are incapable of looking over your shoulder to check for traffic, other cyclists or pedestrians you should not be allowed to own a bicycle and people who install wing mirrors on the end of their handle bars should be shot.

Like the invention of windshield wipers on headlights they are surplus to requirement and people who have them should not be allowed out of the house. Not only are they more dangerous than safe, having one of these installed instantly infects the user with bell-ringitis. This is a behavioural disorder similar to Turrets that forces the person to ring their bell at pretty much everything that moves. I once witnessed an infected cyclist ring his bell at an aeroplane on its approach into Heathrow.

Needless to say, if you run into anyone with wing mirrors on their bicycle, and you get the chance, punch them in the face.

Your Friendly Neighbourhood Cyclist.

Volcanic eruption linked to Super Injunctions

2011-05-23T10:37:00.015+01:00

It should have been the end of the world as we know it. The 21st of May. Not an earthquake in New Zealand, of which there are approximately 30 every day but a second volcanic eruption in Iceland covering the atmosphere in dust, blanketing the sun and starting a new ice age.

Wrong.

The volcanic eruption was God's inability to keep to himself his knowledge of the identity of the super injunction villains. Seeing as God knows everything he just couldn't keep it to himself any longer. He was bursting to tell everyone. All these super injunctions and so much media attention.

Don't forget, God is a firm believer in the fundamental laws of freedom of speech and therefore heartily disagrees with these gagging orders. When creating the world as we know it the Lord very much created an open forum type society, everyone should have the right to voice his or her opinion. Why otherwise would he have allowed that f*cking snake to speak?! On the other hand, Virgin Mary giving birth??...eerrrr, I'm thinking he might have taken out a super injunction there.

Anyway, Mr Almighty erupted like a child unable to contain his excitement. It might also have something to do with the fact that He's a huge Chelsea fan and regularly visits the Ministry of Sound with Roman...or was it Heaven...

Footie in the Park

2011-04-07T10:12:00.007+01:00

Hyde Park

07/04/11

Playing football in the park in the summer is a popular pastime in London .
Hyde Park, Battersea, wherever there is a bit of greenery, incredibly uncoordinated, fat, pasty office workers dust off their David Beckham shirts for that first sunny day in spring.
Clumsy tackles lead to pulled hamstrings and late challenges are laughed off in light of the sunny weather. The whole scene sort of resembles a collection of handicapped monkeys on speed.

Anyway, I'm off for a kick-about...

London 2012 Tickets

2011-04-06T12:39:00.011+01:00

If you're asking me, which you are because you're reading this, the way the London 2012 Olympic tickets are being sold is comparable to blind dating or dating in the dark. Not only can you not chose exactly what you're buying a ticket for, once you've applied you're not even certain you're going to leave with the girl...ticket you want.

The chances of getting your hands on a pair of tickets for the Olympics are pretty high. You have a 6 week window during which you can apply for 20 different sessions (different for every sport) each of which vary in price. However, the chance of getting the tickets you want is a lot slimmer.

Fair enough, if all you apply for is the weightlifting and the synchronised swimming I think you can be fairly confident. If on the other hand you are hoping to see the US basketball stars in any one of their games in the run up to their inevitable gold medal things get a lot trickier. First of all you do not know when they will be playing in any of the preliminary rounds because the game schedule is not yet finalised. Secondly, if you are Nostradamus and somehow know they will be playing in the evening session on Sunday the 29th of July, what price bracket are you going to go for when applying for the ticket? Certain events will be very popular and thus you need to be lucky to get a ticket for those sessions. How much will your chances increase if you apply for a higher price bracket?

These are all variables you can't really predict but nevertheless need to be factored in when applying for tickets. I'm finding it tough to decide which sessions to pick and at what price but I'm sure I'll figure something out. I can always wait for the Brazilian women's beach volleyball team to leave the stadium...

The Shard

2010-12-13T13:39:00.006Z

The Shard of Glass will be completed in 2012 and it will officially be the largest building in the European Union at 310 meters, including 72 floors of residential and commercial properties. The top floor will be an observation gallery and open air viewing deck.

Designed in 2000 by Renzo Piano, the Shard will be almost entirely made of glass. Renzo's artistic use of triangular panes of glass will reflect sunlight and shade in such a way that the building will change it's appearance with the passing of each season.

Once completed the Shard should be an impressive sight to behold.

London Lakers

2010-12-08T09:30:00.012Z

It's not often you get to meet a legend in sports. I had this opportunity in October when the Los Angeles Lakers came to London for a pre season exhibition game. I was lucky enough to be invited to the InBev box at the O2 arena for the occasion.

What better way to spend an evening than with your girlfriend, an ice cold Artois, a good game of ball (including the Laker Girls) and a private chat with an NBA legend?!

I was hoping to have a word with my old class mate Kobe Bryant but alas that was not to be.

I did however have a chance to meet Lakers Legend James Worthy. One of the all time greats when it comes to Show time basketball, Big Game James was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2003. Somehow the missus managed to get in the shot with him but not me. How did that happen?

All in all an amazing night. They really don't hold back when it comes to putting on a show. The Hoo Haa around the actual game is all a bit over the top for my liking but I guess it all comes with the package and it does build the atmosphere within the stadium.

Love those Lakers!

When a tennis God get's the giggles

2010-09-21T13:04:00.005+01:00

The British Cyclist

2010-09-15T09:10:00.025+01:00

There are two kinds of cyclists in England.

One - Idiots
Two - Racing Idiots

Both are equally handicapped but the Racing Idiots are more annoying. These are the idiots wearing Lycra cycling shorts, super tight cycling vests and helmets pretending to be in the tour de France everyday, when in reality they wouldn't last half a day on one of the flat stages of the Tour.

They hunt in packs and crawl up each others asses (because they heard about 'slipstreaming' on Eurosport), shouting at normal cyclists to get out of their way so they can proudly arrive at the office 2 minutes earlier, sweating like a fat girl writing her first love letter because it's the only exercise they have done since that day they chased after that pigeon at the age of 3.

I have many good English friends who know much more about bicycles than I ever will but they still weren't born with the cycling gene, and thus, they are cycling idiots.

There seems to be a complete misunderstanding in the UK as to what the bicycle actually represents. It really is rather simple if you ask me. The bicycle is a form of transport. It gets you from A to B, just like a car allows you to do. This fact hasn't quite sunk in yet for the cycling public over here.

The fact that the British Cyclist still sees cycling as a form of exercise and/or a macho status symbol has it's roots in the English culture. The English love to throw themselves at every new fad and make sure that everyone knows about it too. I used to have a house mate who epitomised this very English character trait as he jumped on every new left wing bandwagon, spreading it's clichés like he was a born believer, only to abandon it 3 weeks later and become a dedicated Fruitarianist and so on.

London has fully embraced the bicycle over the past few years thanks to Livingston and now Boris. The new Boris Bikes scheme is nothing new as it was adopted by many European cities in the past. It is however a very good idea and a very good way of re-emphasising that the bicycle is a mode of transport before anything else. The Boris bikes are real beasts and don't work in the hands of racing idiots. That's a good thing.

The only thing that London needs now are more designated cycle paths, and I don't mean white lines painted on the roads but proper cycle paths, separate from the road. I realise this is unlikely to happen in such a densely built up metropolis as London but I think a decent attempt needs to be made. Hopefully as this develops and a cycling culture starts to grow, the racing idiot breed dies out and the British cyclist grows up.

Newquay Newbies

2010-08-03T12:42:00.019+01:00

29/08/10 - 02/09/10

The English Mediterranean.

This was my first time in Cornwall. What a beautiful place to visit. Martijn, Anne and Abbi joined us from Holland and we met them at the apartment where they arrived a day earlier. We were combining this holiday with a long wedding celebration weekend from Thursday 2nd until Sunday the 5th of September. We were really lucky with the weather those days we were there.

On the second morning my brother and I decided to try out the 18 hole golf course visible from our balcony a stones throw away from the apartment. Newquay Golf Club straddles the dunes of Fistral beach, the surfing beach in Newquay. So as we strolled around a deserted golf course at 8.00 am in the morning, with the sun rising and the most stunning views you can imagine it felt like one of those special moments that stay with you for a long time...

The next day we visited Padstow, a lovely little seaside village with loads of lovely shops and overrun with Rick Stein restaurants and bistros. We couldn't possibly pass up the opportunity to try one of his establishments and so we decided on St Petroc's Bistro.

On the way back from Padstow we stopped at a the Carnewas and Bedruthan Steps, a National Trust heritage site along the coast. A dramatically steep set of steps cut into the rocks takes you down to Bedruthan beach, a beautiful and isolated beach. The beach is named after a mythological giant called Bedruthan, surprisingly, who is said to have used the loose rocks (stacks) on the beach as stepping stones. Sounds like Bedruthan was either afraid of water or a playful fella because let's be honest, Bedru could easily have just walked along the shore and the water wouldn't have even reached his ankle warmers.

On the last evening we watched the sun set over the north Cornwall coastline. A 5 minute walk from our apartment down to the tip of Pentire Headland lies The Lewinnick Lodge.
With a good selection of ales and stunning views it was a nice way to round off the holiday.

Shopzilla

2010-07-28T11:47:00.005+01:00

Abbi - the cutest little creature in the world

2010-07-21T16:25:00.009+01:00

Abigail JJ Achterbergh

My colourful little niece...

But all this celebrity style attention makes her feel a little faint...

She also had a little message for daddy when he complained about her constant farting...

Squirrel steals livelihood

2010-07-21T09:45:00.000+01:00

Knabbel, the naughtier half of Knabbel en Babbel stole the juiciest courgette of our vegetable growing summer.

The little thief clearly didn't think the nuts I feed him every day are up to Michelin standard.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

The Angel of Oranje

2010-06-04T13:01:00.012+01:00

If you only ever met a Dutch person in a football stadium you would be forgiven for thinking that we have issues. Sure, you heard rumours about us growing obscene amounts of tulips, excessively smoking herbs for fun, riding our funny looking bicycles everywhere and drowning our chips in mayonnaise but this....?

However, the most recognisable Dutch football fan of the last 4 years has been our very own Engel van Oranje.

Her name is Daina Zagata and she was born in Lithuania...

With supporters like that how can we not bring home the world cup?!

3D for you and me

2010-06-03T09:42:00.008+01:00

Way back in March of last year I wrote about the up and coming revolution of
3D Televisions. A year later and we have a bubbly market of new 3D ready and 3D technology.

More and more companies are bringing out new versions of the 3D technology. Walk into a high-street store these days and you will undoubtedly be inundated with the latest 3D technology on offer.

However, the technology behind the product is still not really up to scratch. More powerful processing capability is needed to be able to provide a quality 3D picture to people's homes.

As well as TV's, 3D laptops, projectors and notebooks are a market that large technology companies are now devoting time to. LG for example are bringing out a new range of 3D hardware. I find the idea of a full HD 3D projector rather arousing.

Hopefully in the next few years the technology will be developed to allow a quality 3D experience at home but if you're determined to get a 3D TV now, consider this.

Andre Agassi - Open

2010-05-27T11:49:00.009+01:00

Andre Agassi has always been one of my favourite sports personalities. A naturally gifted sportsman driven from a young age by his father to the top of the game. A tortured soul struggling with life's pressures.

This autobiography is a thrilling roller-coaster ride through his career as a tennis player, from prodigy to master. When I heard Andre was bringing out an autobiography I was immediately interested in reading it. These days there are so many autobiographies out there that represent a genuine anomaly it's a crime to literature. Take for example Wayne Rooney's My Life So Far, or Steven Gerrard's autobiography. I mean, what in the world could Wayne Rooney, aged 20 at the time have to tell the world apart from, wake up, kick a ball, eat, kick a ball, score a goal, win a match, celebrate, play some more football.... Let's be honest, when you're 20 years old no matter how big a deal you are in your chosen profession, you simply do not have enough interesting things to say to warrant an autobiography.

Agassi was probably the last great personality on the tennis circuit and this book takes you back to those glory days. Read it.

Kobe Bryant - Game of his life

2010-05-27T11:39:00.011+01:00

I read this book out of interest for Kobe Bryant. Having played basketball with him at high school in Basel, Switzerland I have kept an eye on his career ever since. From when he left to go back to Philadelphia until his Championship years with the Lakers.

This book however highlights a low point in my old classmates career when he was accused of sexually assaulting a hotel employee in Colorado where he was undergoing knee surgery.

It's a very intriguing, neutral account of the facts and figures surrounding the events of that day and the ensuing court case. It doesn't make up your mind as to what really happened that night and let's you draw your own conclusions.

But just in case you read the book and still haven't made up your mind, here's some help...

Winter X Games 2025 Champion

2010-05-24T13:37:00.006+01:00

Now I'm not a big fan of snowboarders but if you have this kind of balance at the tender age of 12 months, I'm pretty confident that by the time you're 10 you won't be sitting on your derrière in the middle of the piste with Bolle goggles perched on top of your ridiculous looking hat, struggling to keep your trousers halfway up above your knees, crashing after every 2 inch backside 360 goofy to fakey whilst trying to wave the latest hand signals to your friends.

No.

When you've only spent 365 days on this planet, filled around 1,000 diapers with brown matter, not yet worked out what your actual name is and don't yet grasp the concept of weight distribution, this is pretty impressive...

I'm going to make sure my little niece, arriving any moment now (hurry up Anne!) is able to display similar skills by that age. Just not on a snowboard. Way too easy...

Hyde Park at Dusk

2010-04-28T08:16:00.002+01:00

Chelsea - Bolton @ the Bridge

2010-04-28T08:13:00.006+01:00

You call that a wall??!

THIS is a wall...

Supper Club - London

2010-04-26T11:47:00.014+01:00

Extreme Lounging with Quality food, Great music and Transvestite Fire Swallowers. What more could you want?! The London Supper club is the perfect place to chill out for dinner and then enjoy the great sets played by local and international DJ's.

Work hard - play hard...

Nendaz

2010-03-29T19:07:00.018+01:00

20 February 2010

Haute-Nendaz is a small Swiss alpine village located next to Verbier in the Rhone valley. Situated at 1,500 meters Haute-Nendaz lies in the middle of the four valley skiing area one of the largest in Europe.

We rented a lovely chalet in the north west corner of the village, 1 minute from the telecabine and within walking distance from the centre.

With access to miles and miles of piste and brilliant weather we were in for a lovely week of skiing.

On the penultimate day of the holiday it started snowing and kept on snowing all through the night covering the entire resort in a thick white blanket of powder. We woke up to truly magical scenes.

Needless to say we took advantage of the beautiful conditions...

All in all it was an amazing week of winter fun! Can't wait until next year.

Panini Sticker Album

2010-03-18T10:08:00.015Z

World Cup Fever is slowly building up for this Summer's tournament. The excitement is growing with the fans and the players. With the bookies England's odds are shortening every day until the weekend before the tournament, when, I'm sure they will be clear favourites to be crowned World Champions...Priceless.

On the media and merchandising front things are heating up as well. And my favourite big football tournament piece of merchandising has got to be the Panini sticker book.

Earlier this year Fifa and Panini came to a new agreement, allowing the collectors publisher to cover the 2010 and 2014 world cups.

Going all the way back to the world cup of 1990 in Italy when I was just 10 years old, way before the playstation had been invented and before I found my fathers collection of Men's Only, collecting the stickers for my Panini album was a roller-coaster ride of fantastic highs and deeply disappointing lows, right up to the start of the tournament.

Saving up my pocket money so I could buy as many sachets as possible. The actual physical anguish you endured finding out you had Lothar Matthäus double. Nobody will trade with me for Lothar Matthäus!! Everybody has him!!

How times have changed though. "Kids nowadays" rather spend time playing video games and showing off their new smart phones. The romance of collecting and trading for your Panini sticker album has died with the times....

BUT NOT FOR ME!!!
I've already been asking around my local newsagents when they are expecting the albums to arrive. Come on the Neds (Panini lingo for the Dutch players)!!

Heineken - Advertising Kings

2010-03-16T11:45:00.009Z

When it comes to beer commercials there are very few brands that can come close to Heineken in terms of originality, innovation and humour. They have come up with a number of brilliant summer ad campaigns that have never failed to make you laugh.

Last year's campaign, "The Walk-in Fridge" was a huge success...

It was so popular that the competition created a spoof with a funny twist, which was ultimately banned if I remember correctly, to share some of the limelight...

In terms of innovation Heineken is also leagues ahead of the competition. Have a look at the video below of a Marketing Stunt(Guerrilla Style) they executed in Italy on the evening of one of the biggest Champions League matches (Real Madrid - AC Milan) for years. Heineken staged a fake, classical theatre production to be aired at exactly the same time as the football match. The idea behind it being that the people involved in the stunt (approx 200), including girlfriends, professors, superiors, friends and family would persuade approximately 1000 men to sacrifice the biggest football game of the year for this classical 'concert'.

The thought behind the statement they were trying to make was that the most sacred moment men have left to themselves, watching football with friends, was at increasingly at risk...

In this highly competitive market there is another big beer brand that is well known for its TV ads. Budweiser is known for their highly anticipated Superbowl ads. There is however a big difference between the Bud ads and those of Heineken. Where Budweiser's ads are simple, easy and harmless humour, there is no hidden meaning or subtext. Nonetheless, they're still good for a giggle...

Especially if Jackie Moon is promoting the beer...

The CAVE, Motion Controllers and the World of Virtual Reality

2010-03-10T12:54:00.028Z

Last Friday I entered a CAVE and tested some of the most innovative virtual reality projects currently leading the way in the field. At the University College London a good friend is currently working at the forefront of research and development into ways we can benefit from VR, such as dentistry.

The idea behind the projects he is currently working on is that developing these very specific Virtual Environments and tweaking them will hopefully enable aspiring dentists to get hands on virtual training on technical procedures. A field in which I think you'll agree, hands on training is something very valuable.

We had a chance to test out the latest software for the CAVE and measure our sense of direction in an exercise that tested your navigational skills in differently laid out interiors. The object was to navigate from point A to point B in a variety of hallways laid out in simple patterns. For example you're standing at the southern most tip of a cross shaped hallway and you need to walk to the western most point on the cross. When you get there you need to point as accurately as possible back to the point at which you started (point A). Sounds easy, feels easy. Results prove otherwise.

We were also allowed to test their touch sensitive finger glove (not the scientific name I should add). This device enabled us to grasp and even pick up 3D objects within the virtual reality environment of the CAVE and feel their weight. That was pretty spectacular. The potential of such technology is endless and mind boggling.

In the gaming industry the Nintendo Wii was the first to really exploit motion controlled devices. A huge success, outselling Sony and Microsoft on all fronts. However the competition are now stepping up to level the playing field. Both Sony and Microsoft are introducing their own type of motion controlled device.
Where the PS3 will be complemented by the Playstation Move...

The Xbox will be accompanied by the Xbox Natal...

It will take a few more years for this technology to be as smooth and flawless as the consumer instantly demands these days but how good will it be once it is! Even more reason for kids to stay inside, refuse to make new friends, get fat and stare at a screen all day. Awesome!

Picture Perfect Wedding

2010-01-21T13:06:00.014Z

Friday 8th of January

Our wonderful wedding year started early. The first week of the year saw us travelling up north to the birthplace of one of my hero's, Charles Darwin. Born in February 1809 at The Mount House in Shrewsbury, it is not difficult to see why the Darwin family settled there. Located in Shropshire on the banks of the river Severn the surrounding landscape is stunning.

We stayed the night at the Albrighton Hall Hotel and Spa where the electricity ran on a generator due to a gas explosion in the centre of Shrewsbury. So when they switched the electricity back to the main power supply we were plunged into total darkness for about 15 minutes! Having lived in London for so long you forget what 'the pitch black of night' really means.

The wedding was being held at Rowton Castle, just a few miles outside of Shrewsbury. When we arrived just around dusk a blanket of snow covered the grounds surrounding the castle and the whole scene was magical.

The food was very special and the entertainment was also fairly unique...

All in all it was a great wedding and an amazing venue.

London Christmas Decorations

2009-12-15T20:38:00.000Z

- Posted from my iPhone

Location:London

The Political X-Factor

2009-12-10T14:47:00.005Z

Jon + Edward = Jedward

Darling + Brown = Drown

How to look as gay as possible at your company Christmas dinner

2009-12-07T17:40:00.010Z

Make sure you wear trousers that are "toit as a toiger"...

Shout the lyrics as loud as you possibly can with a face that should never be seen in public...

Pout....all the time....

...while continuously putting your arms around your friends... your male friends of course...

Sing along to Boyzone and NKOTB (New Kids On The Block) .... with other men

...and softly whisper in their ear.

Shopzilla Publisher Program

2009-12-02T13:22:00.010Z

I recently starred in my own infomercial for our marketing department, pushing the online affiliate (publisher) program. The short promotional video was shot on location, in full HD and completely covered in all around awesomeness.

My first international blockbuster.......

Legen..............wait for it....................

.........................DARY!!!

Vancouver 2010

2009-12-01T12:40:00.008Z

73 days to go...

The Vancouver Olympic Games will be the first Olympics to award every winner with a completely unique medal. Inspired by the Canadian landscape as well as the individual dreams and stories of the individual athletes each medal is carved out of 2 large artworks. One artwork represents the Orca (Olympics) where the other symbolises the Raven (Paralympics). Local Canadian artist and designer, Corrine Hunt, envisions the Orca as a strong, social creature, that closely resembles the embodiment of the Olympic movement. The Raven is a spiritual creature to the Tlingit (Indigenous People of Northwestern America) culture. A creature that resembles all things.

The Vancouver 2010 Medals are some of the heaviest Olympic medals ever, weighing in at 500 - 576 grams. They are each 10 centimeters in diameter and have all been fabricated in a 30 step process. I wouldn't mind having one of those on my mantelpiece...

Vancouver 2010

2009-11-25T12:05:00.014Z

79 days to go...

Inuksuk - Symbol of Hope and Friendship

The logo of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver is an Inuit symbol of guidance. Inukshuk, meaning "in the image of man".

In the Canadian Arctic, a rugged, vast expanse of wilderness the Inuit people would stack rocks into this human form to create a steadfast guidepost providing direction and hope in an unforgiving environment. The man made structures were also used to guide caribou into designated areas for harvesting and on shorelines to navigate ships into open channels.

The thin, horizontal rock representing the Inukshuk's arms functions as the directional indicator, where the longer arm points in the direction one should travel to. Some Inukshuk also have a hole in the middle, "body" rock where if looked through one should see the next Inukshuk to travel to. For the Inuit this would help guide them through the treacherous mountain terrain.

The Vancouver 2010 emblem, called the Ilanaaq is actually a modern interpretation of the original symbol. It is the Inuktitut word for friend and represents Canada's friend, welcoming the world in 2010.

The emblem was designed by Elena Rivera MacGregor and has caused a fair bit of controversy amongst the Inuit community. I personally like the emblem. It's simple and has cultural significance linked to the country's past. It symbolises cooperation and the human spirit, in my view 2 strong messages that the Olympic games have always promoted.

Vancouver 2010

2009-11-23T14:41:00.005Z

80 days left...

Vancouver 2010

2009-11-23T12:59:00.010Z

81 days to go...

With the Winter Olympics just around the corner the alpine skiers need to keep all their eggs in one basket. The last thing you want to do is balls it up at the last moment...

Ashley Jackson Does Dutch in Den Haag

2009-11-13T11:39:00.012Z

AJ leads the way for HGC

Newly crowned player of the European Championships, Ashley Jackson has teamed up with compatriot Barry Middleton at HGC in Den Haag. Currently leading the Dutch competition with his club, Jackson is top scorer in the league.

Dutch Hockey League; HGC - Tilburg

Dutch Hockey League; HGC - Amsterdam (15 Nov)

Now heading into the winterstop I'm sure the little fella will head back home for some much needed rest. Playing in the top league in the world will have been a new experience for him, incomparable to the English top flight or National Div 1 when we (Lewes Hockey Club) used to humiliate them every week.

Let's see if he can take the title with HGC next year.

Hockey Stores in London

2009-11-11T16:16:00.014Z

Where can you buy Field Hockey equipment in London?

When it comes to buying hockey gear in the capital, downtown is not the best place to start. I have always bought my sticks, shoes or other equipment at home in Holland and have never realised just how poor the options are in London. You're not doing well as a hockey retailer when London customers best choice seems to be Lillywhites.

A far better range of accessories can be found at The Proshop in Brentford or Ceele ct (The Hockey Centre) near Clapham Junction. Although even these outlets aren't great.

The best option for hockey players in London to buy their hockey equipment seems to be the
internet. Not ideal when buying shoes or a stick.

This lack of outlets seems strange when you think about it.
There are currently near enough 114,000 active (registered) hockey players in England. With a massive influx of youth players over the past 6 years we now have more than double the amount of active players than we had back in 2003.

Of the 1,050 hockey clubs in England a large number is located in and around the capital. With the England mens side winning the European Championships and the London Olympics on the horizon you would expect hockey equipment to be a whole lot more accessible!

Hopefully this will improve in the run up to 2012.

Haye vs Valuev

2009-11-06T12:59:00.017Z

The Chav versus the Champion

In the world of boxing trash talking is an art. The entertainment that accompanies the pre fight buildup. The sparring outside the ring that helps add that extra "punch" to the subsequent physical battle that follows.

Psychologists believe that within every "trash-talker" hides a fragile, insecure athlete trying to talk some confidence into his own brittle resolve. However I firmly believe that the best talkers use it as a method of promoting themselves.

Throughout the last 50 years this learned skill has been adopted by many world class fighters. Mohammad Ali perfected the art and hand-in-hand he raised the financial stakes of the sport. His lip service greatly increased the interest in super fights, thus developing the need for promotion, media attention, entertainment and viewing numbers.

Ali's pregame wit was all in good nature and presented with a wink and a good dose of charm. Sledging is an art-form that requires not only class and wit but also a certain level of intellect.
And this is where David Haye falls way, way short.

David Haye has no class. He is engaging for all the wrong reasons. Granted, Valuev almost toppled off the other end of the spectrum, being undeniably boring apart from his awesome size.
However Haye's unappetising way of pestering his opponent (without any reaction from Valuev it has to be said) before the fight is utterly embarrassing.

BBC sports reporter Ben Dirs claims this oppinion (shared by many) is hypocritical stating many of Ali's public outbursts were just as slanderous and offensive. He goes on to say that those who find Haye's antics pathetic "...can't have it both ways, bemoaning the low profile of boxing while simultaneously chastising a fighter like Haye who creates a buzz."

I wholeheartedly disagree with that comment purely based on the difference in intellectual substance of each of the 2 fighters. Yes the heavyweight division needs a face-lift but not a face-lift from this common clown whom, listening to, I could easily mistake for one of the chavs hanging around my local buss stop. He has no class, doesn't possess any intellectual wit and has nothing interesting to say. If you want to spice up the division do it with a touch of grace and swagger, not with a t-shirt of severed heads and a pathetic dressed up impersonator of your opponent at press conferences. Even "Money Man" Mayweather has a bunch more class than this guy.

Hence I hope Goliath squashes David and shuts him up for good because if he is supposed to represent the new age heavyweight, I'd rather wait a few more years!

Victoria Station Roof Refurbishment

2009-11-02T15:49:00.023Z

NEW PHOTOS!

The office building I work in is built on top of Victoria Station. My desk faces south and looks out over the roof of much of the station, including platforms 15-19. Strapped in scaffolding for the best part of a year they have now finally started ripping the old roof off.

The current structure is very old. The Brighton Side concourse was originally finished around 1860 and subsequently rebuilt in 1908 and so the underlying structure has been there for over 100 years!

Now they are manually ripping the roof off. A slow process...

Day 1...

Day 2...

Day 3...

Day 4...

Day 9

Day 13

Day 18

20 April 2010

10 May 2010

02 June 2010

21 June 2011

Shopzillowe'en

2009-11-02T09:37:00.010Z

At my American company Halloween is taken seriously. Celebrating the end of summer, this Celtic festival is popular with our transatlantic neighbours and hence a big dress up party is in order. I'm not much for dressing up and when I do I usually offend people but I figured I should make an effort this year. These days there is no dress code when it comes to Halloween so I figured I'd just try and look, well "scary". I think I pulled it off...

There were some impressive costumes on display. Rorschach standing next to me in the photo above for example was one of my favourite. Although not many people recognised the character from the Watchmen comics and the film adaptation of which I went to the premiere back in February 2009.

There were some other really good costumes including a group of 5 girls dressed all in neon. 'Say No to Neon'.

It's not often you can go to work dressed up like a complete tit, get bungalowed, eat pizza and play table tennis. Nice.

Checkmate or Knockout

2009-10-12T10:51:00.010+01:00

Let's get ready to rumbllleeeeeeeeeeeee!!

Before my hockey game last Saturday a friend of mine tried to explain to me what he got up to on Friday night. After about 3 attempts I gave up. He was rambling on about boxing and playing chess. He was clearly hungover from the night before. However after the game, having sweated out the alcohol he gave it one more try and explained more clearly what he had been up to on Friday night.

It's the new hype. Fight club meets Chess club. Brains and Brawns collide in the boxing ring.

Chessboxing alternates rounds of full on slugging (3 minutes) with rounds of chess (4 minutes). The idea being that the competitors are tested mentally and physically by 2 of the most classic thinking and fighting sports.

Ding ding ding.

The World Chessboxing Organisation is hosting more and more events around the world. Based in Germany, where the first world championships were held in 2008 the sport is growing substantially and the UK has since opened it's first chessboxing club in London.

The event my friend went to see was held at The Boston Dome at Tufnell Park in North London.
If it was anything as exciting as he made it out to be I want to be there for the next fight!

Restaurant Review - Bumpkin

2009-10-06T16:33:00.011+01:00

Seasonal Grub

For my Birthday we went for dinner at Bumpkin in Notting Hill.
A lovely country style restaurant that serves seasonal British food.

The atmosphere is perfect. Not too busy and not too empty. The lighting is cozy.
The food is also very good. I had the beef burger with bacon and it was superb.

The staff is friendly and attentive. The only mistake our waiter made when on my 30th birthday I claimed not to be able to finish my dinner was to tut and claim to be 40 years old while looking like Johnny Depp in his 20's.

If you do go I would suggest eating upstairs unless you're with more than the 2 of you.

Downstairs is more vibrant and lively whereas upstairs is more intimate and subdued.

Highly recommended!

The Masked Bandit

2009-10-02T14:49:00.021+01:00

Raccoon Rascals

They are amazing little carnivores. Good climbers, accomplished swimmers and renowned as exceptional washers they have an amazing sense of touch.

I got up close and personal to one of these sweet little (not that little actually) rascals named Punjab at my friends house in Kettleby, Ontario. Mother G was taking care of the little fellow as part of a rehabilitation program coordinated by the local wildlife rescue centre. Punjab was the naughtiest little thing I'd ever seen. He would change the channel on the television when we were in the middle of a game of Goldeneye on the Nintendo 64. He would pull your hair, drink your milk and climb all over the furniture around the house.

A few facts about the Raccoon:

Raccoon (Procyon Lotor)
The name Raccoon stems from the Indian name Aroughcun (the one who rubs, scrubs and scratches with his hands) and has come to stand for Curiosity, Dexterity and Disguise. Their scientific name, Procyon Lotor is derived from pro- "before", cyon- "dog"and lotor - "washer".

Classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Procyonidae
Genus: Procyon
Species: P. Lotor

The Raccoon is native to North America but originated in Europe about 25 million years ago, migrating across the Bering straight into North America 6 million years after that.

Raccoons are one of the few mammals that can climb down trees headfirst and they accomplish this by turning their hind legs almost 180 degrees.

Raccoons can lose body heat by both panting (through the tongue) and sweating.

Over 60% of a Raccoons cerebral cortex (the part of the brain that is involved in memory, attention, thought and perception) specialises in deciphering tactile impulses. This is more than in any other animal.

A study conducted in the early 1900's showed that raccoons were able to unlock 11 out of 13 complex locks in less than 10 tries each and henceforth be able to repeat the Houdini-esque feat however the lock was presented to them. Further studies showed that the Raccoon is able to memorize these types of solutions for up to 3 years!

The Perfect Drag Flick

2009-09-24T11:31:00.017+01:00

In the last decade the drag flick has developed into the premiere option when it comes to short corners. Specialists like Sohail Abbas and Bram Lomans transformed the short corner into a formidable scoring opportunity. Also, the increased focus on short corners has pushed the evolution of hockey stick designs in a particular direction. Curvature has become vital for the specialists. This development has in turn forced the introduction of a new regulation that maximises the bend on any hockey stick.

Taeke Takema.

Sohail Abbas & Taeke Takema.

In the past the ideal place to flick the ball from a short corner was to the top, left or right of the keeper. This was due to the fact that the goalkeepers were taught to take 2 steps off their line and log (lie down, stretched horizontally on the ground) with line stoppers left and right of him, to prevent the straight, low strike.

Hence over the past few years Darwin's theory of natural selection, where only the fittest survive, has forced the keepers to stay more mobile at short corners. Nowadays keepers will avoid compromising their agility and try and stay on their feet as long as possible. This in turn has forced the corner specialists to adapt their action. You will see a much more varied placement of the drag flick these days to keep the netminders off balance. However the more successful trend seems to be edging towards a low drag flick to the right of the keeper (left from the strikers point of view) where the line stop will be slightly more focused on a flick aimed at his head.

At the end of the day the perfect drag flick is a drag flick that keeps the goalkeeper guessing as to where it's going, top, bottom, left, right.
Variation is the spice of life.

Life at 30...

2009-09-23T09:28:00.012+01:00

I will be 30 years old tomorrow.

I've lived through 4 decades. Boom.

The 70's were short but sweet. I got to shit myself whenever I felt like it and somebody else would clean it up. I got fed whenever I was hungry and I never had to walk anywhere. Transport was all arranged for me, no questions asked.
The 80's were exceptionally cool. I developed my social skills and got to watch cartoons all day long. I moved to Switzerland by the end of the decade and discovered that snow is amazing. I learned to play hockey and made friends from all over the world.
The 90's were pretty hot too. I grew pubes and discovered porn. I kissed a girl and I liked it. The launch of the Internet passed me by. I played sports 25 hours a day and learned to speak German. I had my first fist fight in the 90's and got totally bungalowed on 3 bottles of beer. Moved back to my place of birth and didn't have a haircut for 5 years. Finished school and relocated to an island.

The 00's were/are messy. Studied the territorial behaviour of sweet water cichlids and drank copious amounts of alcohol. I gained 10 kilos and met the girl of my dreams. Moved to London, bought a house, two cats and loving life.

Now turning 30, feeling 21 and at the turn of another decade I look forward to what the next 10 years have to offer. Bring it on.

Marnix.

How big is YOUR Garden?

2009-09-16T09:57:00.017+01:00

As far as gardens in London go, I can confidently state that our back garden is fairly substantial. I can turn around 360 degrees, park my bicycle and we even have enough room to cultivate a variety of herbs. We also have a squirrel (Mr. Squirrel) that roams around our garden and terrorises our cats. Hence, in regards to the minimal outdoor space remaining in central London we can't complain.

However if you now compare this to Elizabeth's garden, that little old lady that occasionally inhabits Buckingham Palace you can appreciate that she's a big deal. She knows people. Her "apartment" really does smell of rich mahogany and she actually has a large collection of leather-bound books. I can vouch for this because on a recent company outing we visited the BP (Buckingham Palace).

We took a tour of the official State Rooms in one of the entertainment "wings" of the palace. The tour took us through the numerous dinning and ball rooms where the Queen entertains her guests. However the most impressive part of the tour has to be the Royal garden. Although the tour only takes you through a small section of the garden, it's grandeur doesn't fail to impress. There is easily enough space for her to park her bike and I'm sure she has a few resident squirrels. In fact, her garden is probably home to an entire sub-species of the squirrel. The lawn at the back of the palace is so big it could host the cricket champions trophy with the eight full time gardeners acting as ground staff. Other features include a man made lake, a helipad and tennis court.

I would love to have a garden like that but truth be told, the essence of any garden lies in the spiritual release that it provides to those wandering in it. Whether it's the size of a small city or just large enough to plant a few herbs and have a barbecue, being able to escape the hectic London life and engage with the greenery is what soothes and energises the spirit.

Tomorrow I will be engaging in a little spiritual soothing with my colleagues as we will be gardening in the name of charity in Battersea park. The charity Thrive aims to help people with a disability, through gardening. I think it is a great project and look forward to seeing it in action!

More soon...

Ashes Glory!

2009-08-25T14:26:00.019+01:00

The Day England Regained the Ashes...

What an amazing end to an unforgettable series. This being the first ashes series where I have seen just about every wicket, every twist and turn, every Bopara duck and every Ponting whine. All culminating to that one Sunday at the Oval. The 23rd of August 2009, scorching sunshine, 10 Australian wickets and the most amazing finish to an Ashes test series..... and I was there.

In terms of sporting drama and entertainment it just doesn't get any better than this.

At one point, late morning, while Ponting and Hussey were dominating at the crease it looked like the day was doomed. All signs were pointing towards Monday and possibly one of the most miraculous victories ever. Cue Freddie Flintoff. His run out of Ricky Ponting turned the game on it's head and sparked one of the most dramatic days of cricket I have ever witnessed, sealing the fate of the 2009 Ashes series.

I have to be honest and say that after the fourth test match I didn't feel very confident about England's chances in the final test. But again it shows that winning or losing is determined by milliseconds and millimeters in sports, even a five-day game like cricket. Flintoff's run out of Ricky Ponting was the pivotal moment in the game and had Ponting not hesitated for that split second when Hussey called the run through, I would probably not have been so monumentally hungover on Monday the 24th of August. But alas I was and boy am I happy that I was because August the 23rd was very, very special. A day to remember!

Thanks to Luke, Stew, Veej, Beaker, Jopie, my brother, the Aussie girls in the row infront of us and Jack for the amazing experience but especially to Jack's missus, Jo, for asking "are we supporting the team in white?" and "how are we ever going to get them out if they keep hitting the ball?!"...

With the Fred Express, That's how!

Suuuuuper, Super Fred, Suuuuuuper, Super Fred,
SUPER FREDDIE FLINTOFF!!

The Death of Ron Burgundy?

2009-08-20T14:44:00.027+01:00

New Age Journalism

In a previous post I mentioned the dying media bread of newspapers brought on by the internet and free media that is so readily available these days. With the spread of broadband internet to a majority of the Western households, the onslaught of social websites, blogs, YouTube and now Twitter news feeds are moving faster than the old media platforms. Now I'm not an advocate of Twitter. To me twitter is voyeuristic and an excuse for legal stalking. Twitter is to social networking as Big Brother is to reality TV an Dirty Sanchez is to 'shock and cringe' TV shows. It's one step too far. Misused. Twitter should work as a mini-blogosphere where people can, for example, document their travels say. The one other great use of Twitter and other forms of online media is as a news information medium.

However close to the action an in-the-field journalist can get, a blog post or Tweet from somebody actually caught in the middle of a conflict provides a much more intriguing and first hand account of the situation. For example when in June this year BBC journalists were scrambling through the Tehran streets to document the deteriorating consequences of the Iran election results, hundreds of blog posts and tweets were already flying round the world. Locals in the midst of the turmoil were covering the events instantly as each incident unfolded.

Twitter has also allowed the public access to sports stars in a way that they would never get from traditional journalism. A monotone, clichéd post-match interview is not the same as a players tweet from the changing rooms at half time. Sure enough a number of sports stars have been proper Twits (sorry) about using the text based social network site and have duly been embarrassed and fined.

Farhad Mohit, entrepreneur and founder of the company I work for has jumped at this idea and launched Dotspots, The Wisdom of Crowds, an online service that allows people to update the news in real time with dots or Distributed Objects of Thought. This includes blog posts containing text, video, images, documents and perspectives on world news events by eye-witness accounts.

I personally think this is the way forward when it comes to covering certain world news stories. It allows for a much faster and more thorough coverage of particular news stories. A platform organised in the same way as Wikipedia there will be a filter that removes any rubbish. There are some issues to be ironed out with Farhad's new project. One being the fact that any exclusive news story, be it a photo or video from an eyewitness has a monetary value and Dotspots will have to deal with this potential hurdle.

I'll give you an example. In 2005 when England regained the Ashes after years of suffering at the hands of Australia, the man of the moment, Freddie Flintoff naturally didn't shy away from celebrating the victory the night of the final day's play. The following morning after the daddy of all parties, Freddie steps out of the hotel they were staying in, absolutely bungalowed, with a huge penis drawn on his forehead. An acquaintance of ours got an exclusive picture of the incident on her mobile phone. Now, my girlfriend's brother being a photographer (Pap) advised her to keep the picture to herself until he could negotiate a price with the UK tabloids (We're talking a few thousand pounds). Unfortunately she was unable to contain her excitement and sent it to some friends, and within minutes it was circulating on the interweb. She lost out but the online community gained from her circulating the picture instantly. So to a certain extent new age (social) media and the instant documenting of news stories will rely on a public that is not money oriented.

So what will happen to the Anchorman Ron Burgundy, Anchorlady Miss Corningstone and their news corporations? Will they become an extinct breed? I very much doubt it as there will always be a demand for a filtered, well summarised, well presented news story.

You stay classy, Planet Earth!

The Ashes 2009 (4th Test)

2009-08-10T09:46:00.023+01:00

World Order Restored

England were flying, the Aussies were reeling. Ponting was fighting to stay alive in another extraordinarily dramatic Ashes series...

...One sleepless night, a broken knee and a back spasm later and everything has changed. The green caps have put the lions back in their place, dominating the 4th test reminiscent of the 2006-07 series down under. Men against boys. It was about as one sided as a wrestling match between me and my girlfriend. England's middle order was so utterly useless you might as well have stuck Gordon Brown at 3, Katie Price at 4 and Harry Potter at 5 and I'm fairly confident that would have produced more runs than England got out of Bopara, Bell and Collingwood. 16 runs to be exact. In the 2 innings that England tried to bat, the top 6 "batsmen" scored a total of 170 runs and the bottom 5, bowlers, scored 152. Or you can look at it this way, Stuart Broad and Graeme Swann individually scored more runs in 1 innings than any of the top 6 in both innings.

The fact that Freddie "England's only Hope" Flintoff was left out due to a knee, that has been punished so severely it will either just fall off or have to be amputated after the Ashes series, didn't help England's cause. Freddie is the heart and soul of the English team. He needs to be selected for the final test at the Oval whether he can stand on his knee or not. If Bopara needs to give him a piggy back for his bowling run up, so be it. That way Ravi can at least contribute something in this Ashes series. Now I'm not someone who likes to see a team depend so heavily on one player but in this case you'd have to accept that an England with Flintoff has some fight, agression and arrogance about it, whereas an England without Flintoff resembles a wet rag, weak and soulless.

Probably the most demoralising fact about the outcome of this last test from an English persepctive is that Justin Langer's Dossier leaked to the Telegraph, highlighting England's weaknesses and individual player's flaws, was brutaly accurate.

England need to regroup and they need to take Langer's dossier as a motivational tool. Each individual within the English team needs to shove his hand down his cricket whites, find his balls, shine them and toughen up for the biggest test match in their careers. This could be epic. A one match test series. We couldn't have asked for a more fitting end to the Ashes series 2009. All we need now is the weather to play along and one of the England players to stand up and be crowned a hero!

"You all live in a convict colony, a convict colony, a convict colony..."

New Hockey Season

2009-08-06T12:59:00.029+01:00

Stick or Twist?

It's that time of year again. The new hockey season is approaching fast, unfit and unprepared you look forward to yet another year of sporting adventures. I usually start keeping an eye out for a new stick around August. If and when I make a trip home to the Netherlands I will usually pick up a newly developed stick or two from one of the sports shops.

I prefer Grays, Dita and some TK sticks but on the whole the evolution of the composite hockey sticks has brought all the brands a lot closer together in terms of performance. I always enjoyed playing with Grays composite sticks because they had a slightly larger sweet spot and a bigger hook. On the other hand I played one season with a Dita and that had more feel and balance so it's all relative really. You need to find a stick you like, play around with it so you know it suits you and then work it in at training.

Grays

A number of the English International players play with the Grays GX series. Ashley Jackosn, the newly crowned European Champion's best player uses the GX 5000 Jumbow. This stick will be more tailored to short corner specialists with a larger bend. I have played with Grays for many years and have always found them to be very good hockey sticks. My dad used to bring home a stick bag full of Karachi Kings from his business trips to Pakistan so I grew up on them.

Adidas

This massive sports brand have pumped a lot of money into the development of their hockey department lately through sponsoring some world class players to market their products including Jamie Dwyer and Christopher Zeller. They have however created a great range of sticks. The New Adidas TT10 used by Taeke Taekema for example is ideal for drag flicking but less so for a good touch while dribbling. With every little kid wanting to be the new short corner king I assume this has been selling rather well.

Dita

Dita have brought out some new sticks as well. The EXA 900 Powerhook from their new EXA range for example is a quality stick as far as I can tell. It has all the attributes. Decent stiffness for hitting along the deck, a substantial bend (but not exaggerated) for flicking and the powerhook shape of the head that allows for better control than your average composite stick. I personally like the Dita sticks because they are compact, good for control and speed.

TK

The new Pulse and Flowflex range of TK sticks look pretty slick too. I only ever played with a TK for one or two seasons and it was well balanced as far as I can remember. I'm sure the TK 1.4 Flowflex is a very good hockey stick. It must be pretty powerful and stiff seeing it is made up of over 90% carbon. On the flip side you lose a good deal of flexibility when on the ball. The TK 1 for example has a much more balanced construction to provide touch as well as strength. It all depends on your personal preference as to which composition you chose.

Aside from the brands above, there are a host of other well known hockey stick manufacturers such as Mercian and Princess T-14, endorsed by Teun de Nooijer. All in all there is an unbelievable array of hockey sticks to chose from so good luck!

When Legends Return to the Game

2009-08-04T13:52:00.041+01:00

The Competitive addiction of Sporting Genius

Michael Schumacher announces his return to F1 racing after Massa's accident at the Hungarian GP only to abandon his comeback a week later due to a dodgy neck. For many this will represent 2009's biggest sporting anti-climax but let's be realistic, was Schumacher's potential return to the track ever going to live up to the hype? Probably. Performance wise? Unlikely.

His announcement to come out of retirement, whether it's out of necessity or for personal reasons, isn't the first and will not be the last we've seen of sporting legends trying to turn back the hands of time. When it comes to sporting legends I have been lucky enough to have seen some of the greatest sports stars of all time. Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, Roger Federer, Valentino Rossi, Michael Schumacher. A number of these legendary icons of their sport have not been able to stay retired and felt compulsed to venture back into the unknown. Put their reputation, in some cases their lives, EVERYTHING on the line for one, just one more moment to be able to say, I'm the greatest.

Michael Jordan fell to the temptation twice in his career. Once after a brief unsuccessful attempt at playing minor league baseball. Returning to the windy city her recaptured his magic and stormed to 3 more NBA titles. However the second time he retired (really the first retirement) everybody thought we had seen the last of the best player ever to play basketball. Alas, struggling with retirement, unhappy with the simple fact of getting older, in denial, he decided to return once more. Get it out of his system. Although not embarrassing himself, leading the Washington Wizards in most offensive stats and filling just about every stadium he played in he never regained any of his former glory.

This summer we also saw Lance Armstrong make a comeback at the highest level of cycling. In his prime Lance was a machine, able to accelerate away from the best cyclists in the world up a vertical wall. In retirement he spent most of his time focusing on his Lance Armstrong Foundation and had a short affair with singer song-writer Sheryl Crow as well as a number of other girls including Kate Hudson. His fight for cancer awareness with Livestrong was one of the reasons for his comeback, but let's be honest, the main reason for his comeback was that he missed the sport and the annoying itch in his legs asking the question "Are you still the best Lance?", "Can you still get up the Mont Ventoux and compete with the best?".

It takes something very special to transcend your sport. To be unrivaled, untouchable. To achieve things that will possibly never be equaled again. It is these people that have a primal and indescribable desire, a competitive drive that they feed on. A love addiction that ignites their soul and something they simply can not live without. When Michael Jordan announced "I'm Back" in March 1995 he had suffered enough. Watching the young guys running the NBA and seeing his Chicago Bulls not reaching the finals renewed his motivation and his desire to prove to the world, but mostly to himself that he still had "it". This was what he wanted to do more than anything else in life. His soul was still out on the court, his joy in life was playing basketball, nothing else.

And that right there is what I love about sport. I mean, how many people can honestly say they just have to go back to work after retiring, for the love of what they did?! A competitive instinct that they're born with can not be simply turned off like a tap.

These people just don't function when they're not playing their sport. Even though they know that it is time to call it a day and retire they just can't step away from the game, they don't seem to know what do do with themselves, they get depressed. Studies carries out by a group of Spanish psychiatrists have shown that the rate of divorce, alcohol and drug abuse increases substantial a year after an high level athlete retires from their sport.

" When a person stops high-level competition and loses the media attention" and that of their sporting entourage, they undergo a difficult transition period, a "retirement syndrome"

Whether Schumacher ever returns to the track or not is yet to be seen but the excitement reverberating around the world when he made the announcement was palpable. What is more exciting than seeing the biggest, retired star in any sport pitting himself against the new "young gun" generation. It might have been epic, but then again he might have had to retire after 1 lap.

Let's just hope George Foreman doesn't announce he's coming out of retirement again, for his own sake.

The Ashes 2009 (2nd Test)

2009-07-20T14:52:00.012+01:00

God save your gracious queen...

Those were the words bouncing around Lords on the day the queen came to watch the Ashes. The Barmy Army in full voice. The Aussies Love the English.

England record a historic Ashes test victory at the home of cricket. Not since 1934 had England beaten Australia at Lords. Flintoff rewrites the record books by notching his first 5 wicket haul at Lords. Like an injured warrior he kept bundling in and bowling at 95 miles an hour. What a hero that man.

And what a test match. What a spectacle. Cricket at its best. This is what sport is all about. 5 days of drama. There were more twists and turns than a season of 24. I tell you, Jack Bauer could learn a thing or two from Freddie when it comes to saving a nation with time ticking down...while being mortally wounded. Those last 2 days at Lords were special. It had just about everything. First of all the tension. At the start of that 5th day every outcome was still a possibility . With Clarke and Haddin batting like their lives hung in the balance it looked like they could possibly, miraculously bring the Aussies to within reach of the massive total.

Alas it wasn't to be. Flintoff and Swann the Aussie middle and lower order and England wrapped up the test before Lunch.

So England are 1-0 up in the series with 3 to play. The next test is at Edgbaston on Thursday. Pietersen out of the series and Ian Bell to replace him. England generally do well at the Edgbaston ground so I'm hopeful it will be another rip snorter!

Bring it on.

Cloverfield - 2008

2009-07-17T10:45:00.015+01:00

21st Century King Kong

I watched a great movie last night - Cloverfield.

Something different. A great film experience and a return to the big picture cinema storyline. The marketing of the film as well as the cinematography are reminiscent of The Blair Witch Project, a film that broke new ground with it's low budget viral marketing strategy to promote the film.

Before watching the film I was still very much unaware of the plot. I remembered seeing trailers of Manhattan being destroyed. I also hadn't picked up on any of the carefully released information online about the possible plot and cause of the destruction. I think, if executed properly, this type of film release can really ad to the anticipation and experience of watching a film. The film itself obviously also needs to deliver.

Cloverfield delivers. It delivers on suspense, visual effects, sound and uncomplicated monster fun. The style of the filming (cinéma vérité) allows the viewer to really get into the action and makes you feel like you are actually there in the midst of these hellish scenes.

I also thought the casting of "Hud" (T. J. Miller) was ingenius. An unknown actor with natural wit added an extra dimension to the chaos. He has comic timing without sounding too scripted and straying from the style of the film. The other actors in the film are not great but not bad either.

The monster (Clover) is great. He's a real looker. He's a baby version of...well that species of deep sea monster, alegedly. The visual effects supervisor and the film's producer wanted to create the feeling that the creature was acting more out of fear than out of unsolicited agression....whatever. It's big, it's scary and it's flattened all of New York City, who cares if it's supposed to be a baby clover or big daddy?! Whether it is or not is neither here nor there and adds nothing to the story either way. I mean, look at him....

Anyway, I enjoyed the film and if you haven't seen it, well I've pretty much ruined it for you now I guess. Although without the knowledge of what's actually behind Cloverfield it's still a great film.

Noordwijk aan Zee

2009-07-15T13:30:00.022+01:00

The Dashing Dutch Coastline

Every time I'm back in the Netherlands with the family I try and visit Noordwijk at least once. Noordwijk is a small coastal village slightly north of Den Haag. Apart from the fact that this is where I played most of my hockey (NHC) from 1995 through to 1998, it is also one of the most beautiful beaches on the west coast.

When I was at school in Oegstgeest back in the 90's a good friend of mine lived in a lovely beach house just off the Koningin Astrid boulevard in Noordwijk. I often stayed there on Friday nights so as to get to the hockey pitch early on the Saturday morning. This meant we spent a lot of time on the beach in the evenings and early in the mornings. Early on Saturdays we would regularly potter down to the beach drop our towels and sprint for the waterline and dive into the sea. There is nothing quite like an early morning swim in the ocean.

On the Koningin Wilhelmina Boulevard a number of large hotels with terraces spilling out onto the boulevard offer some good restaurants to have lunch or dinner and a fantastic ice cream parlor, Vivaldi's. If you want to bust a grove with the young, fit and trendy De Grent has 3 to 4 big, banging dance clubs and bars, each with their own stigma attached. I spent plenty of Friday and Saturday nights on De Grent. In the summer it's nice to just sit outside on one of the bar terrace's with friends and watch the people drift by.

Hotel Huis Ter Duin is one of the most luxurious hotels along the Dutch coast and also the regular hideaway used by the Dutch National Football team. The Hotel's terrace (La Terrasse) faces the seafront and has spectacular views along with an amazing lunchand dinner menu. The last time I was on that terrace it was 2.30 in the morning and I decided to turn off the lights in their monstrous Christmas tree...(not sure what inspired me to do that but it was funny at the time).

If you head south on the Astrid Boulevard and dive into the dunes, there are miles and miles of natural heath land dunes that take you all the way to Katwijk. If you continue on past Katwijk, due south you will eventually end up in Scheveningen, Den Haag. Ideal for cycling although the wind can ocasionally be punishing.

So if you ever visit the Dutch Coast, make sure you stop in Noordwijk for a stroll along the sandy beach and an ice cream at Vivaldi's. Then if you're still not satisfied head over to De Grent for some drinks and a dance!

The Ashes 2009 (1st Test)

2009-07-13T11:51:00.026+01:00

There is nothing quite like getting one over on the Aussies. To frustrate them, annoy them and watch them lose when they are so arrogantly convinced that they'll win. Now I'm not English but I've lived here long enough to take every bit of pleasure out of such magic moments.

The look on Ricky's face when Chubby Mc Chubberson (English Physio) hobbled onto the pitch for the 4th time in 2 overs was priceless...look at him!

Brilliant.

Although we didn't end up with a winner from the first Test, the final 2 hours of play were as butt clenching as ever. Having dominated the entire test, Ponting's boys, probably thinking they would wipe England like a dirty arse, just couldn't get rid of the tail, wagging away, fighting off the Australian attack. Ponting threw everything at them. He even opened the cage and let loose Peter Sizzle, a woodchopping, E-popping animal that reminds me of that famous Australian marsupial, the Tasmanian Devil or "Taz"as he was lovingly known...

Siddle .............................................Taz

Similar to the Old Trafford test in the 2005 series, when Brett Lee blocked the last over to get a draw, this result sets the rest of the series up nicely. Battle resumes at Lords on Thursday.
England have a super record against Ausatralia at Lords evident from the fact that they haven't beaten the Kangaroos there since 1934...

Lord's normally being the ground that kicks off the English cricket summer, Punter has his views about the ECB changing the lineup for the 2009 Ashes:

"There was a fair bit of talk about it last time, starting the Ashes at Lord's, given our record. This time around, it will be the second Test match, and I've got no doubt they changed it on purpose."

Grumpy #&$*#

Steve Harmison has today been named in the 14 man squad for the second test in case Freddy's re-injured knee breaks in half. Although this might add another 50 runs to the Aussie innings in the extras column, Steve also has the ability to take Ponting's head off with one of his bouncers. Hence, worth it.

Well, the bully boys have had their toys stollen and they want them back.
What's the weather forecast for the next 5 days....?

The Ashes 2009 (0 Days)

2009-07-07T13:13:00.015+01:00

0 Days before the start of the 2009 Ashes Test Series...

The wait is over. The most enthralling cricket test series is upon us! Forget the Twenty20 world cup or insignificant series between India and the West Indies. This is it. This is the business. A series that has been played since 1882 producing 31 series wins for the Aussies and 28 for England.

The series schedule looks as follows:

First Test
8-12 July
Cardiff

Second Test
16-20 July
Lord's

Third Test
30-3 August
Edgbaston

Fourth Test
7-11 August
Headingley

Fifth Test
20-24 August
The Oval

Freddy fully fit, Lee out with an injury. In all seriousness, that could be the deciding factor in the first test. With Brett Lee ripping through the English Lions last week he is the experienced spearhead of the Aussie attack and in my opinion the individual tests are going to be won by the side that has the bowling edge. There's enough batting talent in both lineups to expect a decent innings from both England and Australia in that department, however I believe it will be the most crippling bowling display that will win either side the games.

There are going to be some amazing catches, epic shots and series changing performances over the next month and a half. All I can hope for is that the series is still in the balance come the last test at The Oval because I will be there!!

Well enough talk, let's get it on.
If you are a Sky TV customer, they offer free online video coverage of the Ashes.

My prediction, 2-2 series drawn.

Enjoy!

The Last Campaign

2009-07-04T13:58:00.009+01:00

I am currently reading a book by Thurston Clarke called "The Last Campaign". An amazing account of Robert Kennedy's campaign for President in 1968.

The story of Bobby Kennedy is extraordinary. The emotional rollercoaster that represented his 82 days of running for the presidency was truly inspirational and exceptionally tragic.
He created an amazing belief and hope with the American public at a time when the country was in real turmoil. The Vietnam war, poverty and racial inequality were tearing the country apart. Yet Bobby was able to cut through all this desperation and light a fire within the American people. Take responsibility and make a change happen.

Before I read the book I knew little about the intricacies of his campaign and how he was perceived by the public before his assassination. I knew he was an inspirational speaker and a brash and brave politician, but not for example how hated he was by his fellow democrats. The tension within the party is highlighted very well in the book and provides an insight into how courageous Bobby really was when announcing his candidacy.

I haven't read much political literature but this one has really grabbed hold of me. I would recommend everybody to read this book. Not only is it an immensely interesting read, it also provides an eye opening comparison to the campaigns run by today's presidential candidates.
It is hard to imagine that there will be another candidate as inspirational and courageous as Robert Kennedy was in 1968.

Read it.

The Swiss Master

2009-07-01T17:12:00.014+01:00

Bottmingen, Home of the Greatest Tennis Player of all Time

I grew up a stones throw away from the greatest tennis player in the history of the game. If Roger Federer can win his sixth Wimbledon crown this Sunday and reach 15 Slam titles he must be acknowledges as the greatest player to have picked up a tennis racket.

I probably bumped into Roger in the local supermarket any number of times without realising what an awe inspiring sporting genius he would turn out to become. I even had tennis lessons at the same club where he laid the ground work for his future success. It's funny how two young boy's lives can take such unrecognisably different journeys. It's really rather depressing if I'm honest.

I really hope he achieves what so clearly means the world to him. Very much aware of the records he has broken and the potential milestones he can still achieve, Roger Federer is the ultimate champion, on and off the court. And regardless of whether he is going to father a little boy or a girl, Federer Jr can be proud of their daddy superstar.

C'mon the Fed Express!!

Old Boys for Life

2009-06-19T14:47:00.012+01:00

When 2 generations meet for a competitive clash of heart and desire spectacular things can happen...

Last month the annual Sussex University Old Boys Hockey Game was held at the beautiful Lewes Country Club at Cockshut Road. Traveling down there on the train brought back memories of my time playing for the Green Giants (Lewes HC that is). It was a beautiful day, a proper summers day, and so it was destined to be a winner no matter the result on the pitch, although that was never in doubt let's be realistic about that.

The Tennis finals were also being that same day and so by the time I arrived the BBQ was warming up and the "Bravo's" were flying around. A few coffee's later and a catch up with some old friends the students arrived. Long hair, spotty faces and sunglasses to hide their hangovers.

As to the ensuing match, I will let Ross Bone tell the story in his own words...

Students show no signs of graduating from the School of Hard Knocks.

16 June 2009 at 23:21

The venue and the date may have been different, some of the protagonists may have changed but the outcome was all too familiar for the University of Sussex men's hockey club. As in previous years the Old Boys showed themselves to be a classier, more skillful and more ruthless outfit than their naive and listless opponents.

Going into the game the students had bragged that they were a stronger side than last year and would give the Old Boys a far tougher test than they had managed previously. Added to the Old Boys losing a number of big players in the build up it was understandable why some, on paper might fancy this to be a stern test of the Old Boys' unbeaten record.

The Old Boys are made of stronger stuff, and one suspects that once the students shed the brash arrogance of youth they will be forced to admit that on current form they will always struggle to compete with the Old Boys and their vast array of Galacticos.

The game started at a sluggish pace, not surprising given the scorching conditions. The Old Boys were happy to keep hold of the ball around the back. The Oldest Old Boy Dan Hacking showed a mature head, spraying the ball around and mopping up any threats on the Old Boys goal that the students could muster.
On the occasions that Hacking was overrun, Goalkeeper and Captain Ross Bone was fully focused on the job in hand, pulling off a couple of good saves in the early exchanges including one fine plunging block to deny the students' talisman Ben Butcher.

With Jon Hooker in central midfield conducting the orchestra like Edward Elgar the Old Boys began to control the game.

The Old Boys went close on several occasions whilst the score was still 0-0. Marnix Achterbergh and Andrew Pike were frustrated by some solid goalkeeping by Ed Somebody in the student goal.

As with last year's game it was Hooker who broke the deadlock. Similar to his day job Hooker showed his ability to hit a small target under pressure, sending a blistering shot into a small gap inside the far post. 1-0, a lead the Old Boys richly deserved.

Some in the capacity crowd sensed that the students may fold faster than Superman on laundry day, but to their eternal credit they came back strongly. Minutes later the unthinkable happened: The students drew level.

A fine counter attack saw a one on one situation develop. The striker drew the goalkeeper and slipped it past him. The ball was clearly going wide of the goal. Enter Sam Drake. Drake (playing for the Old Boys remember) saw fit to dive for the ball, in spite of being pressured by no-one, and to the utter disbelief of his team mates diverted the ball into the corner for the equaliser. If ever a man stamped his authority on the Dick of the Day award, this was him.

Undeterred, the Old Boys continued to play all the hockey. Ryan Ibbotson carried the ball out of defence with a gentle elegance, linking well with Hooker and James Carroll-a recent acquisition by the Old Boys.

Again the Old Boys created chances, and again Ed Somebody denied them, but the weren't to be denied for too long. A triumph of total hockey saw Andy Pike apply a stylish finish in the D to make it 2-1.
It was now time for Achterbergh to get in on the act. Having had more chances than Joey Barton, the Flying Dutchman finally beat the keeper with a rasping low shot that thundered into the back board.

The students still tried to muster chances to find the net. Butcher along with Colin Foad probed and pressed but came up against some robust defending from Ibbotson and Hacking, along with substitute Leo Chancellor and Tom “no improvement” Hulbert.

The half time break couldn't come soon enough for the students, some major restructuring was needed. The message from the Old Boys was simple: Punish them. Show them no mercy and show them that the real world is a tough and nasty place.

This is what the Old Boys did. The second half started almost the same as the first. The Old Boys content to keep the ball for as long as they saw fit, before picking their time to strike. Had it not been for some tremendous defensive work from Richard Morson and his incredible reach the students' goal would have come under much more threat.

The Old Boys scored again however, Pike showing his poacher's instinct in front of goal to snap up a rebound for his second of the match.

Having squandered numerous penalty corner chances, Marnix Achterbergh plucked up the Dutch courage to go for goal himself. Godverdomme! What an effort it was! A scintillating drag flick went winging into the top corner leaving the goalkeeper grasping at thin air.

Achterbergh now in the mood was wreaking havoc all over the pitch. Each dribble left a trail of student bodies and missed tackles in his wake. It was from another mazy Achterbergh run that the Old Boys scored their 6th. Having beaten several players, the man they call Guy lifted the ball calmly over the goalkeeper. New Old Boy Craig Brown, showing the hunting instincts he honed on the African safari plains pounced to spear himself a goal.

With the Old Boys tiring, and frankly becoming tired of hammering their opponents, there was still time for the students to create further chances. Goalkeeper Bone made another fine plunging save, whilst Sam Drake, looking to atone for his earlier calamity cleared one off the line.

In the dying seconds, the students notched a second consolation. Colin Foad showed a calm head after a long run to slot the ball underneath Bone, but it was too little too late.

Once again, the Old Boys had given their student counterparts a harsh lesson on the field.
Perhaps the youngsters will not be so quick to run their mouths in the future.
What price a similar drubbing next year?

It has to be said that on this day, experience was priceless, youthful exuberance, useless.

Old Boys: Ross Bone (Captain), Tom Hulbert, Sam Drake, Ryan Ibbotson, Dan Hacking, James Carroll, Christian Koziol, Jon Hooker, Matt Bevan, Andy Pike, Marnix Achterbergh, Leo Chancellor, Sam Corry, Craig Brown, Jonathan Zammit-Tabona, John Murphy.
Manager: Jonston Graves.

MOM: Ross Bone.
DOD: Sam Drake. Obviously.

*As an interesting aside, the University did not show up for a boat race. Too scared to be defeated yet again? I know one thing, scared or not, this would never have happened in my day. The current administration needs to take a long look at itself.

Old Boys 2009. Victorious yet again.

I came down for a boat race and a bit of hockey...I left disappointed and empty handed but mostly a little sad. Sad to see that the Uni team, once a group of great teammates, friends and banter lovers, where everlasting memories were created and events unfolded that will stay with each for a lifetime has unraveled into a few mates that f*ck about on an AstroTurf and after have a few laughs, a beer and then head home. The spirit and love that once was the very heart of this team is gone. To fight for eachother till the end. Never finished a pint in under 4 seconds? Well this time I will do it in 3.5 because the boys need me!! For the team! One for all and All for One, that used to be the motto. Alas, it seems no longer and that made me a little sad. No team, No love, No Heart....and no boat race. I would like to quote one of the absent Old Boys in reaction to this: Oli Hire

- "I blame the union. Some unhygienic hippy, with a chip on her shoulder about being brought up by two lesbians in sarongs is probably sitting in sports fed breeding a disgusting culture of mediocrity. Whoever is club captain of this insolent lot needs to go to the bar, get three, and have a quiet word with a bin."

How times have changed.
Banterbury for ever! Old Boys for life!

David vs Goliath

2009-06-15T13:12:00.028+01:00

Lord's is painted Orange

Now I'm not a religious man but when describing the victory of the Netherlands over England in the ICC Twenty/20 Cricket World Cup, the story of David defeating Goliath in the valley of Elah seems somehow fitting.

The opening match of the 2009 Twenty20 world cup. The Minnows vs Giants of the game. The Orange Amateurs vs the Hosts. The clueless vs the wise. David vs Goliath.

I'm sure that when Goliath stepped into the valley of Elah and looked upon David he chuckled to himself and thought this could get ugly but at the same time hugely entertaining for my fellow Philistines. Little did he know David was not thinking, 'My aren't you big, ugly and scary', but more something along the lines of, 'The taller you are, the harder you fall'.

I would imagine the Dutch cricket team thought something similar although with the added incentive of playing at the home of cricket, Lords. England put up a competitive total of 163 runs which at first sight would have seemed like a mountain to climb for the boys in Orange. How the world of cricket would be proven wrong. A blistering start and a careful approach through the middle overs brought the game down to the final over, and what an over it was. With nothing separating the two sides at the start of the 20th over the winner was harder to pick than a broken nose. One wicket for England and the dream would have been over. One huge six and the dream would instantly become reality. Alas neither of those happened.

At this stage I had destroyed our finest bottle of Beaujolais through pure tension and excitement. It was a sad sight. Friday night, me, in the kitchen, a bottle of wine, watching cricket. However it must be said that the final over was played, as BBC's Oliver Brett put it "...amid scenes of scarcely believable drama".

Stuart Broad bowled the last over and pinned down the Dutch boys Schifferli and Ten Doeschate deep in their crease. Needing 2 runs from the last ball Broad bowled another length deliveri. Schiferli had a wild swing at it, sending back towards the bowler. Broad collected...incredibly, at this stage, after the last ball had been bowled, all 3 match results were still possible. If Broad takes aim at the stumps and connects England win. If he stands up and prevents a second run they head into a sudden death final over. Yet incredibly Broad choses the 3rd option. He aims at the stumps, misses and allows the batsmen to come back for a second run from the overthrow. After that Lords was painted Orange.

What an end to a brilliant game.
News of the win quickly filtered accross the channel and the remarkable story was on the back of all the national papers the next day.

Beautiful.

NBA Finals: Lakers - Magic

2009-06-02T11:11:00.014+01:00

My boy is back to exorcise some demons...

Jelly Bean Jr back in the NBA Finals. This time he will face Howard and the Orlando Magic.
Knowing him he'll be disappointed they're not playing Boston again. He'd have liked to rectify their horrible collapse from last year.

It's going to be a difficult series with some match-up issues for LA. The Magic won the season series 2-0 with one of which a serious blow-out. If their shooters get going they're hard to slow down. They always find open spots on the floor due to the defensive collapse around Howard. Hedo, Rashard, Pietrius, they have all been on fire in the playoffs and especially against Cleveland. Hedo is deceptively quick and a great ballhandler. Rashard can blow hot and cold, but when he's hot he's scorching.

Alot is going to depend on whether LA can contain Howard in the middle without disregarding the outside shot. If Pau and Bynum can do a job in the middle and Bryant and Ariza can stay tight on the outside defensively the Lakers should win it. Defense, like so many times will win this. Offensively both teams are solid but key plays on the defensive end will ultimately make the difference in this series. Can Orlando stop KB? Can the LA big men contain Superman?

Where will Amazing happen...Let's find out!!

Bloemendaal wins 4th consecutive Dutch Title

2009-05-26T12:39:00.005+01:00

Game 1

Game 2

Amsterdam wins 3-2, tying up the best of 3 series at one a piece.

Game 3

The decider...

"The Shot"

2009-05-23T10:12:00.006+01:00

I wanna be like Mike...

Michael Jordan hits the game winning shot against the Cleveleand Cavaliers in the fifth game of the 1989 first round playoffs, downing the Cavaliers in the best of five series. One of Jordan's defining moments this play is thought to be one of the most spectacular moments in his illustrious career and to many it is known simply as "The Shot".

Game 2 Eastern Conference Finals 2009 LeBron James does the impossible. With 1 second left on the game clock his catch and shoot buzzer beater from beyond the 3 point line wins Cleveland the game. The fans will feel they were due one.

Two of the greatest shots of all time but which one is better?

To me that will depend on it's significance in the larger picture. Do the Cavaliers go on and win the Championship it will be hard to argue against that shot being "The Shot".

The Ashes 2009 (49 days)

2009-05-20T09:57:00.010+01:00

49 Days before the start of the 2009 Ashes Series...

The full Australian Ashes Tour squad was announced last night.

R Ponting (c), M Clarke (vc), S Clark, B Haddin, N Hauritz, B Hilfenhaus, P Hughes, M Hussey, M Johnson, S Katich, B Lee, G Manou, A McDonald, M North, P Siddle, S Watson.

With the likely line-up as of today being:

P Hughes
S Katich
R Ponting (c)
M Hussey
M Clarke (vc)
M North
B Haddin
A McDonald
M Johnson
P Siddle
B Hilfenhaus

My thoughts would be that they will insert Brett Lee into the line-up if he is anywhere near 100% purely because of his previous Ashes experience. In a squad with 11 players making their Ashes tour debuts that will be a precious commodity, plus he will install that fear in the England players remembering what he did to them in 2006/07.

The surprising omission from the Australian team is Andrew Symonds, a key player for them over the past few years. Symonds behaviour draws similarities with some of the other big names of Ashes past. Warne and Flintoff are known to have strayed off the beaten track and now Symonds, after a bust up with vice captain Clarke and missing a team meeting for a fishing trip, is feeling the repercusions. I think it's a shame because not only is he an exciting player to watch on the field, there is never a dull moment with him around. Who can forget the dropped shoulder on that streaker...

Brilliant.

I think not having Andrew Symonds in the Ashes is a big loss for the Aussies and the viewers. Now if Flintoff can get fit and back to some form with both the bat and the ball, it would be England 1 up in the All-rounder department.

The Ashes 2009 (50 days)

2009-05-19T12:56:00.010+01:00

50 Days before the start of the 2009 Ashes Test Series...

So England regained the Wisden Trophy by beating the West Indies 2-0 at home. Well done. Well done for beating a side that looked about as comfortable as current MP's filing their expense reports. From the day the West Indies landed at Heathrow they looked like they wanted to take the next flight back home. The lifestyle, the people but mostly the weather just doesn't agree with them on this island.

Nontheless from an English point of view there are some positives to take from the series. Jimmy Anderson has proven that he can stay consistently on line and fire for 2 consecutive test matches. Bopara seems to have delivered in Take 2 of his test match career and brought his training form into the test arena and Strauss is starting to feel comfortable as an opening batsmen stroke Captain. The question is, are these positive trends going to continue or are they "peaking" too early?

Ponting anounced this morning that the Australians will target Strauss in particular. Although this is a familiar ploy by the Ausies in their pre-Ashes banter, it's never a comforting threat to hear:

"We try to target the opposition captain a little bit. If you do that you can generally take another couple of guys down with him."

"We had the better of him out here in Australia last time, we had him under a lot of pressure and it's important that we start the series off the same way against them over there."

Back in 2006, when England toured Australia, Strauss was pulverised by Brett Lee and Stuart Clark. Lee got him 3 times and Clark got him 4 times leaving him with a batting average of 24.70.
Since the start of 2009 Strauss looks more mature and in better form than he was back in 2006-07 and Brett Lee has struggled with injuries so have the tables turned? We will find out in 50 days time...

World Champions!

2009-05-18T13:20:00.012+01:00

Missed Flicks, a Captains Swan song and a bout of Food Poisoning...

What a night!

The Ashes 2009 (51 days)

2009-05-18T10:33:00.021+01:00

51 days before the start of the 2009 Ashes Test Series...

Having secured tickets to the 5th test at the Brit Oval for this summers Ashes, I am counting down the build-up to the start of this highly anticipated series. Having regained the minuscule trophy back in 2005 England then subsequently handed it straight back to Australia the following year having been destroyed 5-0 down under. How will things unfold this summer?

Things have changed since then. Australia having lost the core of one of the most dominant test teams in history, including Warne, McGrath, Langer, Hayden and Gilchrist are not the side they were back then eventhough they still top the ICC rankings. England's test cricket status however has dropped quicker than Ricky Hatton to a left hook from Manny Pacqiuao. The English bowling lineup has changed more often than David Beckhams hairstyle and are subsequently incapable of bowling out a Sunday league vets side, let alone one of the best batting lineups in world cricket.

Although they are on the verge of winning the 2 match home series against the Windies and in doing so regain the Wisden Trophy, you have to be realistic and recognise that the Caribeans look about as happy as a flock of Flamingos lost on the North Pole. The fact that the West Indian captain Chris Gayle openly admited that he would rather be playing beach cricket with a bottle of Banks beer in one hand didnt really help their cause. But calling this short series a good measuring stick for the England team going into the Ashes is just not accurate...

...As I am writting this the new England pace attack have just ripped through the West Indian middle order.

I think i'll leave it at that for now.

Float like a Butterfly, Sting like a Bee

2009-04-29T10:56:00.021+01:00

What ever happened to the heavyweight boxing division over the last 10 years?

This Saturday evening the biggest fight of the year will take place in Las Vegas between Manny Pacquiao and Ricky Hatton, the two best light-welterweights in boxing. Light Welterweights! Since when has the boxing world been so revved-up about any fight other than a heavyweight bout? Sure we have had some amazing fights over the past few years. How can we forget De la Hoya vs. Mayweather or Hatton vs. Mayweather? But it's just not the same as Ali vs. Foreman, Frazier vs. Ali, Tyson vs. Lewis or even Lewis vs. Klitschko which was a more recent fight.

The money has increased but the pre-fight spectacle, the glamour, the poetry and the stories behind the fighters as well as the venues is gone. No longer do we see the world stop to watch the heavyweight clash of two men mountains in their prime take eachother on in the open air of continental Africa or in the jungles of Manilla. Every big fight is now either in the MGM grand in Las Vegas or in Madison Square Garden, New York. On top of that, almost all big fights are pay per view making them unnaccesible to the general public. Most significant however is the fact that nowadays the fighters just aren't nearly as interesting as they used to be. The money involved has caused the PR machine to choke any genuine characters to reveal themselves.

Although I wasn't born yet when Ali's ruled the world the charm of the heavyweight division was clearly evident. They were loud but not foul mouthed, they had a team behind them but their actions weren't ruled by that team and they had more personable, exciting styles of boxing. Also, in my oppinion, any of the past greats, be it Frazier, Foreman, Liston or Holmes would easily hold their own if not dominate the current heavyweight division.

Nonetheless I look forward to seeing the Pacquiao Hatton fight. It should be an interesting contest seeing both are attacking, forward boxing fighters and so there is potential for fireworks. If I had to make a prediction I would have to go with Pacquiao's speed. I would love to see Ricky win it but unless he can draw Manny into a close quarters street brawl I can't see him connecting with Pacquiao's body or head for that matter. It could turn into a repeat of his fight with Mayweather Jr. Speed and accuracy are lethal.

Let's get ready to Rumbllllllllllllllllleeeee!!!!!

Top 5 - Television Action Series

2009-04-28T14:02:00.040+01:00

When the weekend weather forecast looks bleak, and it so often does in London, and you have nothing better to do (well, you do but you're too lazy to admit it), what better than a marathon sofa session watching your favorite action/drama series?!

When it comes to pure action and gripping drama there are few candidates that would make my list. Bare in mind there are a number of prime time action series I haven't seen, hence this is a rather biased list.

24
Jack Bauer is one of the most recognised television characters of the last 7 years. Jack has grown into a household name for this generation. A website of comedy "fictional facts" regarding Jack has even been created.

"Jack Bauer kills so many terrorists that at one point, the #5 on the worlds most wanted list was a kid from Malaysia that downloaded the movie Dodgeball."

Groundbreaking in its real-time style espionage action, the series has been incredibly popular with viewers. I love it because of it's fast paced twists and turns in the plot line. Even though the storyline is getting slightly repetitive and predictable after 7 seasons, the action is unrelenting and always spectacular.

The West Wing
Although more a drama than an action series this politics themed show revolved around the White House senior staff. The reason I like this show is because of it's quick and quirky dialogue. Touching on real issues I would imagine it gives a decent account of how the white house staff deal with day to day crises. Although I have not seen all of the 7 seasons of the show I would have to rate it high on the list.

With little in way of action the success of the series lies solely with the performances of the individual characters that mould the stories. In The West Wing the characters are interesting, funny, intelligent and well developed and hence the show flourished.

Lost
I have never been tempted into watching Los t although I might yet in the future.
I have heard mixed opinions on this action drama adventure series. Most people either love the show or find it excruciatingly annoying for not tying up any loose ends. Every episode leaves you even more "lost", excuse the pun, causing the whole experience to be rather frustrating. However all in all this thrilling series is one of the most exciting shows to hit the screen in the last 10 years.

Heroes
This fantasy drama series has really taken off. Season 4 has already been planned. Cleverly linked subplots are thread into the overall storyline, similar to Lost. What makes Heroes more enjoyable than Lost in my opinion is the fact that in Heroes the majority of the cliffhangers are dealt with and not left unanswered and so each episode seems to bring some mystery to a satisfying conclusion.

The characters are young, sexy and interesting.
The character development mind you is not nearly as compelling as in The West Wing but the show makes up for its lack of intelligence by great action shots.

Fringe
New blood. The modern day X-files with a slightly more continuous central story line. With the same producer as the successful Lost series, the individual episodes are inevitably prone to dead end cliff hangers but on the whole Fringe is a thrilling science fiction rollercoaster ride. Being a man of science I particularly enjoy the theme of the show however far fetched it may be. It will be interesting to see how they approach season 2.

On top of the above shows there have been a host of other great action series through the years that should be mentioned.

X files
A-Team
Prison Break
Sopranos
NYPD
CSI

For me however "24" tops the all time list. Although the later seasons have fallen into a dangerous repetitive nature where viewing becomes more a game of who will guess the mole in CTU first, when will Jack go rogue and how useless will the FBI swat teams be this season, the outright excitement of those tense minutes booming away makes 24 a clear winner for me.

Let me know what you think.

Food Poisoning is not as much fun as I thought

2009-04-27T12:18:00.020+01:00

I was always under the impression that a good bout of food poisoning would be an ideal way to cleanse your system. Really flush it all out and start again. Green Tea? Detox? Overrated. Just spend a day on the poop hut with a bucket in hand and you're a new man.

Yeah, uuhhh not so much.

Turns out it kinda sucks. It started with abdominal cramps late Monday evening followed by a night of sweating and voming hell. Losing litres of fluids in one of the most unpleasant ways imaginable is one thing but the continuous stomach cramps every 30 seconds have given me a new appreciation for women complaining of period pains.

Whether it was a Campylobacter infection or Salmonella, it was clear that I caught it at our end of year Hockey Dinner being held at the Thistle Hotel, Marble Arch . Turns out more than half the team suffered the exact same symptoms following the dinner on Saturday. I have to admit, there is some form of comfort in the knowledge that the majority of your team mates went through the same spectacular night of toilet banter.

After making a full recovery by Wednesday I was disapointed to find out I had not lost any weight nor did I feel any healthier. In other words, I don't recommend it.

Charles Darwin

2009-04-14T12:43:00.022+01:00

National History Museum, London

We visited the Darwin exhibition at the Natural History Museum over the Easter weekend and thoroughly enjoyed it. Although not the largest, most expansive exhibition I've been to they have done an excellent job highlighting the most relevant parts of Charles Darwin's work.

The exhibition starts with a step by step account of his amazing 5 year journey on the HMS Beagle at the age of 21. It highlights a number of the more renowned finds and theories that the naturalist formulated on his travels. Using stunning examples and original excerpts from the vast amount of letters he sent home they manage to portray the evidence Darwin collected that would eventually lead to his revolutionary discovery.

To me that famous journey of discovery is the stuff of dreams. Can you imagine stepping on board a ship that is going to sail around the world, you're 21 and for the next few years you're going to sail the seas, see the most exotic locations documenting all and every species you can lay your eyes on? Back in the 19th Century there was still such an incredible amount of undiscovered flora and fauna, it must have been a truly awe inspiring adventure.

The exhibition then takes you through Darwin's thought process at the time, his day to day life at his home in the English countryside and the early stages of him piecing together his crowning glory, 'On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection'.

Unfortunately the exhibition is now no longer showing at the museum however in celebrating Darwin's 200th birthday, a number of related exhibitions will be on display throughout 2009 including the opening of the Darwin Centre, a new museum building, in September.

Michael Jordan Inducted into Hall of Fame

2009-04-07T19:04:00.027+01:00

The Greatest of All Time

Living in Switzerland I grew up on the game of Basketball. I fell in love with it from a young age and for a large part of my youth, basketball was everything. Playing the courts outside my school every day for 3-4 hours. Whole summer weekends were spent outside on the court with my friends from the International School.

These were the 90's and the streetball concept was really taking off. Michael Jordan was at the peak of his career and Magic Johnson was on his way out. The NBA was in the middle of possibly it's most star studded generation with growing interest from around the world. The one and only "Dream Team" of the 1992 Barcelona Olympics was without a doubt the most unique collection of individual talent ever assembled in any sport. But one player transcended that golden period in Basketball history, and that is Michael Jeffrey Jordan. I must have watched his autobiographical documentaries "Come fly with me" and "Michael Jordan's Playground" a hundred times. He epitomised everything that I loved about the game. He was explosive yet immensely graceful at the same time. On the court, he didn't have a weakness.

Since his final retirement there have been a number of young stars that have had the burden of "the next Michael Jordan" bestowed on them knowing full well that no player will ever equal Jordan's exploits. I was privileged enough to play alongside one of those prodigies, Kobe Bryant, back at school in Switzerland. At the age of 14 it was obvious that Kobe was going to be a big deal back in the US but to live up to Jordan's standards was always going to be pushing it. Jordan set the standard so high he made it impossible to draw any sort of comparison. He changed basketball fashion, he made the NBA star a marketable commodity and he, almost singlehandedly, transformed the NBA into an international product.

On the 6th of April Michael Jordan was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. A great honour no doubt but how do you immortalise someone who transcends the sport itself. Comparable to Muhammad Ali. Basketball was to Jordan what boxing was to Ali. During their reign at the top, their sport revolved around them, rather than the other way around. Everybody knew who Muhammad Ali was even if they could not name one other heavyweight champion, just like my mother knows who Michael Jordan is even if she couldn't name one other well known basketball player.

If one of your former teammates (John Paxon) describes you in the following way, you know you've done well...

"Simply the greatest to ever play the game of basketball. He is the one player that each young player in this league should emulate and aspire to become. His work ethic, drive, skill level and competitive spirit were unmatched. Michael was the greatest winner I've ever witnessed in sport and it was an honour to be his team mate and to be able to go along for the wonderful ride."

Sums it up quite nicely I think.

Cup Semi Final: Hampstead vs Old Loughts (5-3)

2009-04-06T14:30:00.014+01:00

Glory is fleeting, but obscurity is forever

I personally don't believe in destiny or that some things are "written in the stars" but I am starting to become a believer. I now read my horoscope on a daily basis and smile when I step in dog shit. Maybe some things are just meant to happen, like the 1C's are meant to do the double in 2009.

Churchill once said; "Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts". This summed up our semi final against Old Loughts. Down 1-0 and 2-1 with 10 minutes to go we never gave in. We kept fighting, continued looking for a way through and finally we were rewarded. A short corner flicked off the inside of the left hand post kept us alive. This left penalty flicks to settle the finalist.

Neil whistled one into the keepers midriff but luckily their stroke taking would have put the Dutch football team to shame. We put away the next 3 and Loughts missed 3 out of four. Vijay was assaulted and I didn't have to take the final flick. I would have roofed it...

Now all there is left to do is win the Grand Finale where we will play Spencer. We beat them 2-0 at home and drew 3-3 away. With a full side we should have a good chance to give this season a glorious ending. With the Club Dinner in the evening (Timed to perfection) it is setting up to be a glorious day. One that will be talked about by our children and our children's children.

I leave you with some wise words from another great leader, Gandalf;
"All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us".

Setting the Record straight...

2009-04-06T10:16:00.012+01:00

My music post from last week seems to have angered a large section of my millions of readers but none so much as the older male (balding), medical demographic.
The reason for their anger however is well justified.

The Saturday's version of "I just can't get enough", although titillating is of course not the original version of the song and by no means does it do justice to the hit song by Depeche Mode, released in 1981...

Depeche Mode - Just Can't Get Enough
by lebordeluche

I do just want to point out that my intention was never to suggest the Saturday's dance cover could in any way come close to the brilliance of Vince Clarke's original. I was merely throwing the music video out there for its visual spectacle as opposed to it's musical heritage.

CHAMPIONS!!

2009-03-31T14:12:00.018+01:00

We did it!

First of all I must congratulate and thank the Surbiton captain for being utterly useless.
Not only did he drag his team through London traffic for hours to absolutely no avail, he subsequently blew his teams chances of playing in the cup by believing he could get away with being a complete toss pot.

Unluxemburg.

Since the start of the season in September 2008, all through the 22 matches and with a +49 goal difference we can confidently say we were comfortably the best side in the league and thoroughly deserve the title. We scored more goals than any other team and we conceded less than any other team in the league. With 7 (technically 6) shutouts, Vijay "the Pawar" has got to be on the shortlist for man of the season.

The season started brightly with 3 wins on the trot immediately nestling ourselves at the top of the table. We then fell into a pattern of 'draw one week, win the next' for the next 7 weeks bringing us up to Christmas. After the break we seemed to continue that pattern except the draws turned into losses and we looked to be losing our grip on the league. However a nailbiting 1-0 win at home against Southgate seemed to be the turning point that saw us storm to 5 consecutive wins and the title.

Now all that remains is for us to 'do the double' and win the cup with the semi-final against Old Loughts this Saturday at home. Come on the 1c's!

I just can't get enough...

2009-03-27T18:41:00.007Z

...

Hampstead vs Oxford Students (2-0)

2009-03-25T14:16:00.015Z

Schools out for Summer...

After Saturday's downer we had to re-motivate ourselves and do a job. We had to beat the students to setup the ultimate season finale against Surbiton.

Once we had removed the local ASBO youth from the pitch we got underway. It was clear that we weren't going to rest on our laurels. The work rate was high and we put them under early pressure. Pressure like they would only have felt prior to losing their virginity in year 3 of their Condensed Matter Physics degree. Soon we capitalised on a defensive mistake and we were 1 up.

Now we should seriously consider our second goal as potential goal of the season. The ball having come back off the goalkeeper, clean bowling LSR conjuring up memories of Mike Gatting and "that ball"...

...I was there to clean up his mess and with a gentle drop of the shoulder beat the defender, rolled the ball onto my backhand and subsequently unleashed a thing of beauty. Reminiscent of Barry Middletons strike in the inaugural season of the Euro Hockey League. Please witness the 3rd goal in the short compilation below...

That was the end of the student resistance. We brought it home with a professional win and a third clean sheet on the trot. It earned Pawar man of the match honours and all of us a date with destiny.

I can already smell the Champagne...or is it Campari...?

Hampstead vs Surbiton

2009-03-25T13:34:00.010Z

What a bunch of ****$

What was potentially our League clinching moment turned into the biggest anti-climax of the season. On a beautiful spring day it fell apart right from the start.

Receiving a call on our way to the Jewish sector of town we were informed that Suburbiton were already at the pitch and had been told that the start of our match was to be delayed by about 50 minutes and they were not prepared to wait.
Once we arrived we immediately realised we were dealing with a bunch of fluffers. They were clearly a man short, saw an opportunity to kick up a fuss about something and tried to screw us over. They even demanded a walkover...

...What they will get is a spanking of epic proportions.

Bar Review: Vertigo 42

2009-03-20T13:17:00.020Z

Tower 42, Old Broad Street

Spectacular views. Amazing cocktails.
When it comes to locations for a bar Vertigo has got to be one of the best in London. Situated on the 42nd floor of Tower 42 (The fifth tallest building in London) at just under 180 meters Vertigo has a 360 degree view around the capital. The best time to book some drinks at Vertigo is just before sunset so you can experience London by day and by night plus you might be lucky enough to witness a spectacular sunset, although this is unlikely with the British weather.

Vertigo also serves an expansive collection of Champagnes
and some great cocktails such as a the Lychee Bellini or
the Vertigo made of pomegranate juice and triple sec.

Vertigo reminds me of a similar bar in my old home town Basel, Switzerland called Bar Rouge located on the 31st floor of the Messeturm although the view is not nearly as spectacular.

If you can ignore the crowd that is mostly made up of young bankers and pretentious city slickers trying to impress and you don't suffer from Vertigo it is definitely worth going, if not only for the views.

Restaurant Review - The Ledbury

2009-03-17T09:54:00.025Z

Notting Hill Luxury

Probably my favourite kitchen in the neighbourhood.
With its classic décor and peaceful atmosphere it is a perfect setting to enjoy a simple but delicious meal for two. I have been here 3 times now and every time has been enjoyable. The first time I walked in there over a year ago I didn't think the Ledbury was going to be my type of restaurant, overpriced and decadent.
I was evidently way off.

The tasting menu is really special. The first time we went to the Ledbury we went for the tasting menu and we loved it. The sommelier is brilliant and chooses some amazing combinations. This seven course feast is seasonally adjusted.
If you are going to have the tasting menu make sure you have worked up a real appetite because eventhough the portions are the perfect size the meal does really fill you up, especially accompanied by all the amazing wine.

The atmosphere can get lively if the restaurant is full, but otherwise there is a comforting calm and peacefulness that stimulates intimate, personal conversation. Perfect if you just want to enjoy exquisitely prepared food and eachothers company. The interior design of the restaurant is straight line elegant with well placed mirrors and lighting. The staff is invisible except for when you don't want them to be which is so refreshing.

It's not hard to see why the Ledbury is so highly rated by the Michelin Restaurant Guide. I can really recommend the place for Dinner or Lunch on their terrace in the summer. We'll definitely be back soon.

The Ledbury
127 Ledbury Road
Notting Hill, W11 2AQ
Tel. 0207 792 9090

East Grinstead vs Hampstead (0-3)

2009-03-16T11:13:00.022Z

It's all in our Hands now...

We started the day 1 point behind Southgate. We needed to win and ideally Southgate needed to drop some points for a change of guard to materialize at the top of the league.

We lost our home game 2-1 against these muppets so it wasn't going to be easy. Plus we were again missing a number of key players. The journey down took about half a day and by the time we got there we had to adjust our watches, recover from jet-lag and slowly acclimatise. Seeing we arrived 30 minutes from pushback that wasn't going to be an issue although Luke's waking comment of "I have a semi erection" halfway through the journey disturbingly stuck with me well into the first half.

Having destroyed East Grinstead on numerous occasions in my glory years down on the south coast I was well aware that we might well need to don our red away shirts due to a clash of white. However seeing I was the only one to bring a red shirt we were all honored to slip into my Queens Royal colour. This could only be a good thing. Henceforth the result was no longer in doubt for me and so we started brightly. But EG also started brightly and hence the first half was an ebb and flow affair. We had a number of close quarter chances but just couldn't find the target. Half time 0-0.

We started the second half with much more intensity and were immediately creating chances. Building from a solid back line we were starting to flow, penetrating through the middle and around the back through Garth and Brothers Troy. This led to a number of short corners that Claw eventually capitalised on and put us 1-0 up. This seemed to break the shackles that held us back and unleashed wave after wave of attacking fury. EG crumbled like the English cricket team's batting lineup and soon we were again stationed at the top of the D. Garth, back from waterboy duty with the 2's, unleashed the perfect drag flick against the inside of the left post. I'm glad he took my advice on board.

The remaining 15 minutes was Champagne hockey from Hampstead leading to the sexiest goal of the game, a perfectly executed counter attack that was chested in by Lindsay.

Back in the clubhouse we watched Manchester United, the league leaders, get trounced by Liverpool and hoped that the same scenario applied to our league. 20 minutes later and our prayers were answered, Southgate lost to Old Loughts 3-1 and we regain top spot.

Next week our double header Finale to the season.

Saturday Surbiton, Sunday sponging students...

3-Dimensional Entertainment

2009-03-11T19:27:00.017Z

The Future or a Flop?

My first 3D experience was a Star Wars style space adventure at Disney World some 18 years ago. I had only grown a handfull of pubes at the time but I still remember it being pretty amazing. The picture jumping out at you unexpectedly from behind those silly red and blue paper glasses literally adds a whole new dimension to the viewing experience.

Now the hype is back and with the sales of HD Television drying up the big manufacturers are pushing the medium like never before. Companies such as Samsung and Philips have already brought out early 3D TV prototypes without the need of 3D glasses.

As my compatriot so eloquently explains, we can expect the 3D technology to initially be used in the advertising market to really grab consumers attention. Another booming market that will really benefit from 3D technology is the Gaming industry. That's something that I'm excited about. The possibilities of engaging the consumer in a game become endless.

The question remains however, will 3D televisions take off like HD did? Although the technology is there to portray 3D in the living room without the need of 3D glasses (autostereoscopic), the image is not as clear as with the glasses and will cause headaches if viewed for any length of time. Also, will people want to fork out more cash to upgrade from HD to 3D?

Truth be told, I think we are a good few years away from bringing quality 3-Dimensional Entertainment into our living rooms.

Euro Hockey League (EHL)

2009-03-10T13:16:00.035Z

A New Revolution!

With the introduction of the Euro Hockey League as the premiere European hockey competition the sport has entered an exciting stage in its international development.

The Euro Hockey League has tried to open the sport up for the public, making it more viewer friendly through additional cameras around the pitch and introducing a number of new regulations to make the game more attractive to the younger generation. As the promotional video states, the matches are televised in 17 European countries and each stage of the competition is held at one of the participating clubs grounds.

One of the rule changes that many domestic leagues could potentially adopt is where a player can take a free hit can pass the ball to himself provided the ball travels 1 meter. This speeds the game up considerably and keeps the game flowing. However, this rule change has also caused a lot of criticism. The danger inherent with incorporating this rule at a lower level is obvious.

Last year I went to the first round games at HGC and I have to say it was spectacular to watch. There's alot of interest for the games and therefore a great atmosphere around the pitch. The 17.5 minute quarters alow for breaks in play but keep the game moving. The 2 minute penalty rule for a green card creates short numerical advantages that produces an exciting eb and flow to the action. Along with the music, food and drink that accompanies a weekend of games, all the ingredients are available to keep the new generation interested and attract young talent.

This years finals round will be played in Hamburg, Germany the winners of last years competition on the second week of April. Favourites include Bloemendaal and Amsterdam.

Hampstead vs Wimbledon (4-0)

2009-03-09T13:23:00.026Z

Closing the Gap!

Money time. 4 games left and each being a must win game if we are to take the league title.
In the away fixture we got a last gasp 3-3 draw. I played exactly 1 minute, scored the opening goal and hobbled off the pitch having pulled my hamstring in the process. Awesome.
The Dons have a decent side and for the return fixture they had allegedly brought in some ringer who Claw claimed to be absolute world class. He wasn't.

We started brightly and immediately took control. With Neil and Penners controlling the distribution and Lo and Haydn running the midfield we were always going to threaten going forward. Australia got us off the mark midway through the first half with an easy, reliable finish. Double Dutch were again serving up a treat, tearing up the Wimbledon back lines and conjuring up sweet memories of 1996, the year Richard Kraijcek conquered the green grass of Wimbledon. This soon led to some space for Mark at the top of the circle. Deciding a shot on his forehand was for amateurs he turned onto his backhand and gracefully stroked the ball into the top left hand corner. 2-0.

On his 9th attempt Claw also got in on the act from a short corner by lobbing the keeper and the linestop to hit the backboard and send us into halftime with a 3-0 lead. An inspired speech by Moore of which I can't recite much because I chose not to listen and we were ready to finish our opponents off. Something we are exceptionally inept at. However, the spirit was high and after soaking up some early pressure we subsequently overwhelmed our enemy. Trying to impress his wife Moore inexplicably found the circle and stumbled into a shot that fizzed past the post, although the Wimbledon defenders claimed it was flirting with the sideline. Wave after wave of attacking intent with utter rubbish as an end product finally led to a stroke. Mark wanted to excercise his inner demons and bravely stepped up and stroked it into the side netting.
That was the game as the Wombles imploded and folded like Tim Henman in a Wimbledon semi-final. Hampstead should have walked away with a double digit score but their keeper made some extraordinary saves, in particular a diving stop off a Dutch drag fizzer!

Much later in the day we would find out that Southgate dropped 2 points against the Wayfarers, an exceptional achievement, and we have closed the gap to 1 point with a superior goal difference in hand. It's really heating up...

Next week EG away.

Dentists are like Referees

2009-03-04T19:02:00.017Z

London, February 2009

Last week Friday I was reacquainted with the dentist and it re-established my hate for people who fiddle with my teeth. Why would you become a dentist? It's much like football referees. Why? All you try to do is help people but everybody only ever hates you. That can't be much fun. And you know what the funny thing is, dentists and referees are almost always really kind and gentle people, annoyingly so in fact.

Anyway, I had to have root canal treatment on 3 of my teeth. Something I don't wish on anyone. Eventhough the hour long treatment doesn't cause any pain, having your mouth gaping open for over 60 minutes with someone poking around inside is about as much fun as a fart in an elevator.

The treatment required the dentist to drill down into 3 of my teeth so he could access the dead tissue of the root. Subsequently he needed to poke around with dental bleach to kill off the bacteria and finally reseal the tooth.

Next week I have another appointment to discover if his treatment was successful.
I look forward to it...

Bromley and Beckenham vs Hampstead (2-7)

2009-03-02T19:29:00.021Z

Depleted but not Defeated!

The build up to this match accurately resembled the current economic state of affairs. Loads of uncertainty, the failure of some keystone players to stand up and be counted and generally complete and utter chaos.

Eventually we scrambled a side together with the help of a student, a Scotsman and a British chap with a French name. Although this fixture has been our bogey fixture for the best part of 3 years we did annihilate them at home this season with a 13-0 destruction. Let's be honest, a loss like that would leave even the strongest with suicidal tendencies. However we weren't going to underestimate their desire for some form of revenge.

Having found our way to one of the most depressing and desolate places in suburbial London, LSR took us through an exceptionally strenuous warmup... and so with adrenaline pumping we started the game.

We immediately exerted pressure on the oppositions defense but could not find a way through. This usually leads to the odd counter attack... 1-0 B&B.
Nevertheless it was clear from the first quarter of the match that Hampstead were the stronger side with an all international midfield. The pressure soon told and we pulled level. Not long after that we took the lead through some beautiful interchanges and everything was pointing to another demolition. However, a lack of communication on a dead ball situation just outside the D brought Bromley back on terms before half time.

GD's presence at the half time huddle was inspirational. We all had a good look at his pinkie and immediately knew that we had to win this game for the little fella. Bromley were doomed. With a common goal Hampstead took their opposition appart in the second half. Within 5 minutes of the restart it was 3-2 to the visitors. This demanded B&B press forward for an equaliser and in turn opened up spaces for the midfield wonder trio to exploit the Bromley back lines. Running downhill on a flatter pitch than the one in Barbados Hampstead scored 5 unanswered second half goals and the Troyans, big and small ended with 3 and 2 respectively.

It could and probably should have been a lot more but we figured an agregate score of 20-2 was enough for one season. A special thanks should go to our stand-in defensive unit of Ferghal and Steve who easily put in the 2 best performances of the day.

With Southgate also winning this weekend we are still trailing but in the hunt and need to keep winning.

Next week at home to Wimbledon...