Britain's Got Confidence Issues...?

Please take note. This is NOT a rant against people, this is a rant at media manipulation and the predictability of talent style shows. NB: My work computer is pony, so it wouldn't let me upload the actual videos- please click on links for Christopher Stone and Paul Burling to see this years talent!


Liz and I love to watch Britain’s Got Talent, X Factor and occasionally American Idol (last years Allen v Lambert final was quite the spectacle). But more so with Britain’s Got Talent (BGT) than any other, I’m starting to get a little frustrated. Every year there seems to be an older lady or fellow, who still live with their parents, and has a severe lack of confidence. Someone no one believes in, who is fighting against the odds and is stepping out of their comfort zone to make themselves vulnerable before millions of viewers. Someone who a Jock would call a loser, who just happens to be an amazing singer.


Season one was Paul Pott (who went on to win the thing), season two had another similar act (albeit this time a young boy), season three we had the sensational Sue-Bo, and this year we have another one, another Paul or Sue-Bo. His name? Christopher Stone.

I kind of get fed up with the predictability of this. People probably vote for him because he has an amazing voice… I’m not looking to knock that or his confidence in the slightest… I’m just craving a touch of variety, such as Paul Burling who last night made it into the final.Christopher, despite his obvious talent, will not win… the winner will be Spelbound, an amazing group of dancing gymnasts who leave me open mouthed every time I see them.

This may seem like a peculiar rant from a man who cannot get enough of cheesy American Dream flicks, such as Remember the Titans, Coach Carter and Invincible. (With Glory Road on my “to watch” list- possibly due to the presence of Emily Deschanel of Bones.) It’s really getting frustrating. Some class acts did not get through last night because the usual sob story prevailed.

This seems harsh… I actually applaud these people for their guts and am regularly impressed by their quality voices; I just wish they’d rename the show Britain Can Sing and Dance, because no other act has got a chance.

Bike Adventures...

The bike saga continue…

This morning on my cycle work, I chose to go up a fairly steep hill, for the future glory of a long down stretch. Mistake. Today’s mistake wasn’t made by me though… it was by some tiny lady, in a car that was too big for her, a Chrysler Voyager.

As I was picking up speed (probably at about 20-25 mph) I was going past traffic in a cycle lane. The picture below details a 100m stretch of road on which this lady thought she could bypass said traffic, the red line being the travel of car, the blue being me… the issue being that she swerved into this road, without indicating, without checking her mirrors. I was about two car lengths back, had to slam on both sets of breaks, veer into a curb to help with the slow down, travel into the trees and produce a big gash in my tire wall and inner tube.

Dang.

As I stood there in disbelief, having gotten out of the trees and examined the damage, I could only think of one thing to do… inform this lady of her dangerous manoeuvre. I picked up my bike, and sprinted down the road, by which time she was back onto the main road. I knocked on her window and proceeded to carefully, and calmly, explain the process by which I fell into the trees and damaged my bike. The only thing I forgot was to get her contact details so she could replace my broken parts.

Idiot.

The latter part of the conversation went like this:
Silly Woman (hereafter SW): I had no idea you were there
Me: That’s why you should check your mirrors before you turn
SW: But I didn’t even see you
Me: I know, I crashed to avoid you. That’s why you should check your mirrors and indicate before you turn,
SW: I didn’t see you… [by this time she seemed in shock and shaken up…]
Me: It’s ok, just check in future.

No less, I’m at work, unharmed, have a story to tell, but am out of pocket.

What's Hot, What's Not...

Dear Cars all over the world,

Cyclists have rights too. Just because you have the horsepower, doesn’t mean I am not allowed to overtake you. Just because you’re bigger, it doesn’t mean you don’t have to look in your mirrors when you turn. A cycle lane is for cycling, not for parking, and certainly not for swerving into when you’ve made a mistake or aren’t concentrating.

I don’t have a hooter… if I need to, I will shout to make my presence known – if you don’t like it, please suggest a suitable alternative.

A helmet doesn’t make me indestructible.

That is all… for now. The vendetta may continue.

What’s Hot, What’s Not…

Wind… I don’t like you. You only seem to make things worse.

Spooner… I like you. Liz is always in a good mood after spending two and a half hours talking to you.

Guitar… I like you, but please stop hurting my fingers. I caress your strings as often as I can.

In other News…

Two years ago yesterday, Liz agreed to marry me. My life has never been the same since. A whirlwind of adventure has ensued in a non-stop fashion; if a montage was created of the last two years it would definitely be set to a high tempo song with lots going on, as opposed to Aqualung’s Strange and Beautiful. We managed to get married, have operations, have fun holidays, and are on the brink of our first child popping out. We’ve had weddings, funerals, baby dedications, special birthday parties, have 2 god-children, have seen both sets of parents become grandparents… a huge amount has happened in just two years. Was there really ever a time that I wasn’t married?? It seems peculiar that there may have been.

Liz is my favourite person on this world… that I get to spend every day with her for the rest of my life is kind of overwhelming, I am a blessed man. Her commitment to me is beyond question, just as I’d do anything for her. At the risk of sounding cheesy, it is 100% the grace of God on our lives that blesses us in this inexplicable way. How the heck did a girl grow up an ocean apart from me, mature into the most amazing woman, then somehow end up with a wet Englishman… crazy. I am wholly bemused by this!

Thanks for an amazing two years, Liz!

It's a Bad Day When...

It’s never a good day when one of the following happens…

…You get out of the shower and into your clothes, then decide it’s time to discard the chicken stock that’s been in your fridge for two weeks…only for it to slip and cover you in foul smelling ming.

…you cycle to work, get to work and find that you didn’t bring spare boxers or socks. Am now sat at my desk with my tighty-whitey’s (which only ever make appearance for sporting occasions) and white trainer socks. I look like Michael Jackson when I walk – not the style of walk, more the white socks/ pale skin with dark trousers. I’m currently trying to convince my wife to bring me some spares…

Surely this day can only get better with a night of Bones, Glee and Jonathon Ross!

It's Been a While...

How do I do this again?

It’s been a while coming- I apologize for my lack of posting… now where to start the catch up? My baby boy is due in less than a month now (which means the World Cup is also less than a month away now!)…that’s kinda weird! He already appears to be a child who knows what he wants; if my arm is rested against Liz’s tummy he will kick and push until I finally move it. Its fun discovering the positions my baby is getting himself into within the womb and feeling for body parts!

Something that has recently made me even more eager to meet our man and see what kind of personality he has is that my friends, Justin and Louise, have just had twin girls. They are so sweet and so small and are so different in personality already! Poppy is a bit of a crier, but a quiet crier, where as Bella cries little, but is a high achiever on the decibel meter! Here are some pictures of us all:

I have now kicked my last football until the baby is here. My friend, Ben Leaman (http://benleaman.blogspot.com/), managed to break his leg at football three weeks ago, bringing a sharp perspective into how long we’ve got left before the little guy gets here. It’s odd to think that there was a time I valued football over family and to an extent I’m genuinely shocked that football has taken a back seat since I met Liz – she must be a heck of a girl! I’m already having physio on my back; I’d like to be able to move when the boy gets here!

Today was the day I finally cycled to work wear shorts…the summer has been ushered in! Unfortunately (I hope Liz has stopped reading my this point) it was a while before I noticed that my front break wasn’t actually re-attached after I’d put my wheel back on this morning… was quite the shock when I pulled on it after a car tried to knock me off my bike. I’m ok though!

There’s plenty more going on, such a Tottenham Hotspurs reaching the Champions League next year… I’d be stupid to put everything into one post though… right?


P.S. Check out this hair!!!

NFL at Wembley, London...

It’s been almost a week. I need to break the silence.


Last Sunday Liz and I went to Wembley Stadium to watch the New England Patriots beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 35 – 7. The whole event, from start to finish, was just brilliant… and that’s apart from the fact that two tickets that should have cost £280 cost us £50.


We had some of the best seats in the house- the halfway line divided Liz and I in two. Our seats were the row in front of the box seats (which are surely the best seats in the house?) and had padded seats with arm rests and cup holders. The box behind us was the BBC Sport studio, where Jake Humphreys and Lee Dixon were sat (JH is a Formula 1 correspondent and LD is an ex-England international soccer player and commentator) so we got to “meet” them. We had a group of Americans who had flown from NE to support the Pats and hi-fived us whenever they scored. We had a gig with one of the UK’s biggest groups beforehand and had Toni Braxton singing the USA national anthem. We had footlong hotdogs and beer. It. Was. AMAZING!


All that without even touching on the game, the atmosphere, the buzz of being at a live game.


Only one disappointment. There was a festival going on outside the Stadium that we had access to, but we got there too late to go into “Tailgate” –which we had VIP tickets for. There were concerts, food, and a chance to meet the hoes… sorry, cheerleaders (they really do move and look like I’d imagine strippers to move and look).


Apart from that it felt like the complete game- even got to see Tom Bradys MASSIVE head a few times (seriously- check out his forehead).

Photo’s are DEFINITELY to follow! Or you can check out my facebook page!

Crackdowns and Smackdowns...

ALERT: There’s been a crack down at work- where for “security” reasons all conceivable “fun” websites have been blocked other than blog and shopping sites. Working in the male dominated construction industry, this has led to outrage that sport can no longer be read.

This is a mockery of 2 basic principals of productivity:
a) That you’re most productive with a 15 minute break every hour… there is now no reason to break because we can’t do anything with it;
b) That if you block websites, people will take half an hour trying to find a way into it, rather that a few minutes check every hour- leading to people trying, fruitlessly, for longer periods to access information, leading to an even more intense level of frustration and even less productivity.

This equates to any readers, probably, hearing a lot more from me.

Recent blogging thoughts: that this could easily turn out to be a log of recent injuries rather than anything interesting.

Let us take the last month as a good starting point. I have started my first season of competitive football (soccer) since a couple of years back. My first game; I got the blisters (last post, see below) that crippled my walking ability for a week. Second game; in the first half I put in a crunching slide tackle, causing a bigger man than I to land on my back. This caused a huge amount of pain, and for about a week and a half my lovely wife had to do just about everything around the house for me. 5 weeks out as a result. Last Saturday; my comeback game. I headed the ball in an odd way, leading to a neck injury!

As none of these stories are fun/ caused by anything that will cause laughter, there seems little point expanding. Needless to say, my body will be grateful for the 2 weeks rest it’s getting while Liz and I go away for our anniversary!

Right now, soccerly speaking of course, it’s 3 wins out of 3- not a bad start to a falteringly stuttering football career.

Peace out… And if any medics want to become friends or move to my local area, please let me know on phil@injuryproneman.com*

Oh, to establish the injury-proneness here’s an interesting fact:

I’ve dislocated my left should 9 times and had 2 operations on it. There are 6 bolts in my arm now and thanks to my original surgeon (Mr Rowntree- oh yes, I’m naming and shaming) they can’t be sure if my first 3 bolts are metal or plastic- which means I can never go into an MRI Scanning machine because there’s potential that 3 bolts could shoot out of my shoulder.

I think it all started when I started walking- I was fine when I was about 1 and a half years old.

Up next- Footballly speaking and Unclely speaking…


*This email address is FAKE- please to not try and follow me to Spain** to try and fix my problems.
** This is a fake address- I’m not giving away my location that easily.