Category Archives: Bits and Pieces

Athletics London 2012 – Farrah, Ennis, Rutherford

Have to pop up a quick thread to congratulate Jessica Ennis, Mo Farrah and Greg Rutherford on their Olympic Gold Medal triumphs in Heptathlon, 10,000M and Long Jump respectively.  What a night, proud to be British!

We have been fortunate to see British athletes giving their all during the games, some winning medals, some not.  However, each and every one of them have been held very dearly by this great nation and rightly so!  Few can say that everyone hasn’t given their very best.

I sat watching yesterday as we smashed the life out of the opposition in the cycling velodrome, splashed everyone up in rowing before witnessing the personal triumphs of Ennis, Farah and Rutherford in the Athletics.  It was a sweet sight to see all concerned achieve their personal goals considering the huge pressure and expectations that had been levied upon them in their representation of the Team GB.

The rowers and cyclists seem to have several chances of medals given the team and individual events that they can enter, this is not to diminish their fantastic achievement in any way, I just mused that Greg Rutherford took his one chance of a medal, alright, he’s going to have a go in the Triple Jump but you know what I mean?

How much pressure must you be under knowing that you have one chance of glory?

Speaking of which, it was sad to see so many people take to the internet and slate Daniel Sturridge for his penalty kick miss in the football against South Korea.  It was a shame, but he had the balls to step up and take one, I don’t think many would have the bottle to do that as millions of people watched on expecting you to score?  Again, we had a good go!

Go on Team GB!

Olympic Boxing – London Excel Arena

Not content with getting Team GB Football tickets, my mate David went online and managed to secure 4 tickets to see Olympic Boxing at London’s Excel Arena.

I have been to Excel many times over the last decade for the uber-geeky ‘London Expo’ bi-annual conventions and was really excited to see how the riverside venue would look with an Olympic influence.

I accompanied David, his wife Jane and daughter Isabelle on the train to London Bridge before switching to the Jubilee Line which took us to Canary Wharf; both the train station and tube network was almost devoid of people other than those going to the event.  It was very cool to see the transport system so well managed and relatively empty; in all honesty it was a little bit eerie!

Passing through Canary Wharf from the tube station to Docklands Light Railway (DLR) takes you above ground and allows you to take in the giant Hong Kong-style skyscrapers which define the area; I have always loved going on the DLR as it is run by an automatic train control system (no driver!) and the route takes you through some truly unique modern and industrial sights.

Arriving at Custom House (The DLR station for Excel), we were greeted by the fantastic Olympic Volunteers which offered great advise and enthusiasm at every turn to help people get to where they were going.  I was really impressed by the general organisation of both events that I have been to.

I genuinely believe that the volunteers have really made the games as their positive spirits have clearly set a great example to everyone following the games.

Excel is situated right by theRiver Thames, huge dock cranes adorn the banks both sides and remind people of the industrial history of the area, specifically the Royal Victoria Dock.  A statue now sits in the landscaped forecourt and depicts the dockers who sweat blood for Great Britain; it was fitting given that Team GB has been doing just that over the course of the Olympic Games.

We walked up the corridor to get to the Boxing area, passing Judo, Fencing and Table Tennis as went.  How I would like to have seen the Table Tennis!

Once inside the boxing reception area, we grabbed a few souvenirs before taking our seats around the ring.  We had fantastic seats, the atmosphere was exceptional as almost 10,000 people got behind each and every boxer regardless of their country of origin.  I had felt the true spirit of the games at Old Trafford when the crowd championed the UAE against Uruguay, but the buzz at Excel took things up a notch.  It was mental.

Most people in the crowd chose a fighter, always dressed in blue or red and got behind them as if they were a member of Team GB.  Football-style chants brought great humour to the proceedings and you could tell that the boxers were both shocked and humbled by the unexpected support that they received from the crowd.

It’s moments like this which make you proud to be part of the human race.

We saw 5 flyweight bouts and 5 light heavyweight bouts.  Flyweight reminded me of watching Brian box when he was a teenager and seeing him punch some Ginger kid up in the air for fun, light heavyweight is probably my favourite because the fighters are at the top of their game and are able to demonstrate exceptional technique using their superior physique.

The boxing on show was all of a great quality, the defining moment for me was seeing Damien Hooper of Australia pack Marcus Browne of the USA in good and proper.

David and I were using the empty seats in front of us to make enough noise to scare off an army of Zulu’s, even Isabelle got in on the act whilst Jane sat in awe as the Aussie out-boxed the American who was clearly the favourite; much to the chagrin of several American fans who were draped in the Stars and Stripes.  “USA, USA, USA……oh!”.

I left the Arena absolutely buzzing for London 2012, I felt a pang of genuine regret when I realised that I did not have any others tickets to enjoy other events, however I quickly reasoned with the fact that so many tried tickets but weren’t able to and I felt fantastic that I had been part of the games having been lucky enough to go to both the Boxing and Football.

A great day.

Team GB vs Senegal – Olympic Football 2011 – Old Trafford

I thoroughly enjoyed my trip to Old Trafford yesterday, everyone has their Mecca and OT is mine.

OT was a fantastic venue for the game, I drove up in a hired Vauxhall Zafira which was a very comfortable alternative to my Ford Fiesta Zetec; my nephew Kai, my Uncle David and good friend Dave (yes it got confusing) made it to the ‘Park and Ride’ facility at Trafford Centre in good time.

The park and ride transfer from car park to OT consisted of a 1950’s double decker bus which made me feel like I was in an episode of ‘On The Buses’, especially when the driver got lost and went around the one way system several times.  By ‘eck it were ‘ot!

Once we made it into the stadium, the heat fatigue ebbed away and I felt spiritually cleansed as I walked up the steps and saw the epic Theatre of Dreams. I felt my Dad smiling down on me for having returned with my Nephew; miss ya Pa.

When Kai and I last visited it was 2007 and we stuffed Villa in the FA Cup, back then Kai was only tiny and he is now getting a gruff voice of his own and stands up to my shoulders!

Old Trafford eventually greeted lofty Uruguay and plucky United Arab Emirates with a genuine warmth that felt awesome compared to various club and international games that I have attended over the years.

The British love an underdog and the crowd got behind UAE as Uruguay pretentiously strutted around until they were shocked by an early UAE goal following an impressive show of skill that saw them dominate the 1st half.

I loved how the crowd booed Suarez in reaction to the racist remarks that he made to Patrice Evra AND the deliberate handball in the last world cup.  He did not do anything to endear himself to the public; he whinged, cried, potested and play acted to rouse Uruguay who eventually got their act together to win 2-1.

The Team GB game was a little less exciting due to the physical presence of dirty Senegal tackling along with the lack of creativity offered by the home side at times.  That said, it was great to see the Welsh players get the credit they deserved by putting in a shift; Bellamy, Ramsey and my idol, Ryan Giggs.

Giggsy never disappoints me, he rolled back the years to make a world class touch late in the game; 38 years old and forever will be my favourite player of all time.  All you modern fanboys can stick Messi up your arse!

Senegal creeped an equaliser in just as we were off home (we left 5 mins early to beat 73,000 people home!) which is a shame as I thought we deserved a win; our boys were kicked black and blue!

It was a wonderful atmosphere at Old Trafford and a night I shall never forget;  one that epitomised the a genuine air of fair play and respect for all concerned FAR better than FIFA could ever manage with it’s media campaigns and political spin.

Oh, I got the car home without a scratch at 3am.  Am I fucking hardcore or what!?!

The Amazing Spider-man

The Amazing Spider-man may not be the best superhero film ever, but it is the best Spider-man film ever!

Gone is the autistic and boring Peter Parker of Tobey Maguire and in comes the exceptional Peter Parker of Andrew Garfield.

I was thoroughly impressed by Andrew Garfields take on Peter, his acting is top notch and I loved how his characters personality evolved throughout the course of the film. Something that I felt never happened in Raimi’s trilogy.

The best compliment I can pay Mr Garfield is that comic book writers will probably use his portrayal of the character when writing new storylines, spot on!

The use of 3D suited the film although I enjoyed the emphasis that was placed upon the non-Spiderman scenes which told a very enjoyable tale about Peter’s school and family life.

Dennis Leary was a cool choice for Captain Stacey (I love him in the film Judgement Night) and thought the supporting cast was well put together!

It was great to have a really traditional villain in the Lizard and I hope they will address the forgivable plot holes that were littered around this movie by doing a sequel which takes the story forward!

It can only be the Goblin next for me, although I’d be very impressed if they work Parkers father into a Venom saga somehow!! Introduce a new Fantastic Four and relaunch that franchise? Who knows?

All in all, ‘The Amazing Spiderman’ is definitely one for all the anorak comic nerds like me; the film was so good that even Stan Lees cameo made me laugh!

The Hobbit (trailer)

Was really chuffed to see the trailer for ‘The Hobbit’ tonight; I thought the footage looked excellent and represented the ‘character’ of the novel well in comparison to the darker tones of the Fellowship.

My first impressions were that the film has a very familiar feel to it as the original trilogy, but definitely has a unique style of it’s own.

The cinema audience didn’t seem to know how to react to the singing which I found very funny! The importance of song is a pure reflection of the text and I thought it was great to see the dwarves singing!!

The media types who slated the look of the new footage are on their own!! The dwarves look a bit more ‘comical’ than Gimli does in the trilogy but I thought that also reflected the text well? It looks fun and I can’t wait!

It was wonderful to see Sir Ian McKellan back as Gandalf and Martin Freeman looks spot on as Bilbo Baggins! Hearing Gollum speak at the end made my spine tingle!

What’s a Baggins?!?!!

Easy like Sunday morning

I got up today just before 8am, as you can see from the photograph, Cheeks has hatched one of his ‘I’m going to keep Daddy warm so he doesn’t go out’ plans.

Dastardly if you ask me?

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Diablo 3 – Whimsyshire – The Land Of The Killer Unicorns

I just logged back in to Diablo 3 for the first time in about a week; the Germany VS Italy game was so pants that I thought I’d log in and see how many times I could be killed by a ‘molten’ boss before I gave up!

It took me a bit to get into a game for some reason, perhaps everyone else is watching the football?  Anyway, I eventually found a full game with three other level 52 players, clicked a team mates banner and was immediately transported to……..WHIMSYSHIRE – LAND OF THE KILLER UNICORNS!

Whimsyshire is Diablo 3’s secret cow level, the developers must have been on LSD AND magic mushrooms when they put it together.

The secret level is absolutely hilarious and the level design reminds me of Toe Jam and Earl because it is so incredibly bright, vibrant  and cartoony.  There are smiley faced clouds, rainbows and lush looking presents scattered around the place (another reason it reminds me of TJ&E), all of which lull you into a false sense of security!

Whimsyshire is fucking evil!

Chubby unicorns speed towards you at the same sort of pace that the Cow King used to on D2 Hell setting with ‘Super Fast’ abilities.  One hit, dead. My Little Pony sucks ass!

The unicorns are absolutely hardcore but they are not the only inhabitants of the level.  They are also joined by big cuddle teddy bears (Care Bears anyone?) and twinkleroot flowers, both of which chase you around the map whilst you do your best to ‘hit and run’ them.

My character did bugger all damage to anything on the level and it made me want to go onto the marketplace and buy up a legendary wand to nuke the little bastards with!

Kudos to the developers though, what a fantastic level to hide in the game!

Whimsyshire, I shall return!