Ahoy peoples

Once again scroll down and start the loading of the accompanying videos. I also wanted to ask what people thought of The Thick of It which I posted last time. Did many of you get to watch it?



Well it has been another busy few weeks but at least I have something to show for it.

Last week was what is termed a ‘low key’ week. It has been a very busy week at work with Helen’s magazine going to print and me having to help out with recruitment for the Ground Floor at Niketown. Luckily the GM made the decision to close the store for 2 week. Unfortunately he had a brain fade when he still decided that HR, VM and logistics still had to come to work. Damn Shame.



So to just last weekend we had to make a jaunt to an area that is known as the Cotswolds. It is a series of small little towns just under Birmingham (which is a hole) but tucked away in the English countryside. It has a serpent’s like river running through it with small bridges that cross it at regular intervals. You may remember the town which hit the headlines last year when Britain had huge flooding and when you see the pictures and how shallow the water is – there is no wonder why they had it worse than others.

We caught the train up after work on Friday. The hotel (http://www.dialhousehotel.com/flash/index.html) looks like it is quite remote but when you arrive we found it to be right in the centre of the small town. If you have a look at the way the website is designed and then my photos – they have got it spot on. The manager of the hotel had organised a cab for the journey from the train station. When we arrived we were escorted straight up to our room and told what time to be down for dinner. The room was a nice size with a view of the town from the window. At our allotted time we headed into the bar where we were given a bottle of Champagne to have while we perused the menu. While doing both we had appetizers come compliments of the chef. I cannot for the life of me remember they were – just that they were delicious. We also ordered a bottle of Sicilian to have with dinner which was delicious too. We were escorted to the dining room and started with honey glazed bread. For starters I had the Shellfish Soup, braised fennel, rouille croute – which was exactly like the dish I ordered while in Wales for the previous review – but this was far superior. This was the to set the theme for the night. For the main I had the Pan-Fried Fillet of Scottish Beef, seared foie gras, carrot puree, Madeira jus
which was marginally better than what Hoppy used to cook up at O’Brien’s back in the day. Dessert was great too. Not many times you can say that a place pulled it off flawlessly.

The next day we spent around the town which is very quaint. We even found a place that did deep fried Mars Bars for £0.70. didn’t have the guts to have one though.

During that week we had London Restaurant week where all the top places – including Michelin Starred - in London had 3 course lunches for £15 and 3 course dinners for £25. as you can imagine places book up fast but I was able to get a table at the top chef Richard Corrigan’s restaurant – Bentleys Oyster Bar in Mayfair. http://www.bentleys.org/restaurant/overview/. It was a good meal with a weird main of crumbed sole with bones intact. Made it a bit difficult to eat. Lovely place there but would be usually full of high end businessmen – not plebs like us.

On Monday Helen orgnaised tickets for us to atenda screening of a movie from the East London Film Fest. We saw a movie called Mouth to Mouth which starred the main girl from Juno. It was about her trip through Europe. A really good movie worth seeing if it gets limited release.

On Wednesday we went to see Cut Copy play at Scala. They were very good but when we compared them with The Presets who we saw 2 wweks earlier, Cut Copy just didn’t have the crowd in the palm of their hand like The Presets did. The day before CC did a free DJ set 5 mins from home on Brick Lane at Rough Trade East.


Cut Copy DJ Set
Category: Music
Date: 22/04/08
Location: Rough Trade East Store, 91 Brick Lane, London
Postcode: E1 6QL
Join Cut Copy for a DJ Set at the Rough Trade East store
Cut Copy are set to return in 2008 with the shimmering timelessness of In Ghost Colours and will be marking their return with a free DJ set at the Rough Trade East store. Haunted with machines of the past and sounds of the future, In Ghost Colours inhabits the kind of space in time where trends are irrelevant and music is about feeling rather than following and 1969 is just as relevant as 2020. At once both jacking and jangly, electronic and organic, Cut Copy have crafted a record filled with glorious sounds and moods and that unashamedly pops with hooks and melodies for eons...You can watch Cut Copy on the wheels of steel on Tuesday April 22nd from 7pm to 9pm. No wristbands or guest list needed for this event, just pop down



Hopefully these videos work….





Big news is that Eduardo Murillo is coming to London. It may have taken him 5 years to get his arse into gear but he has done it. He will be here for the long weekend and will be able to sleep once he gets back to Barcalona. Hopefully I will be able to get tickets for us to see Morgan Spurlock do an interview. He is the guy who did Super Size Me – 1 month eating nothing but McDonalds – and Where in the World is Ossama Bin Laden coming out very soon.

I just saw that they are advertising for a Mighty Boosh Festival. All those in the know will be wondering what it entails.

On the weekend Helen and I headed to the Real Food Festival held at Earls Court. it was only supposed to be a visit as it was going to cost AU$50 to get in but because Helen's magazine had a stand we had free entry. so what was originally going to be an hour turned into 5 with the attempt to sample all 50o stalls in the venue. and when we finally got around to them all and start a new round we found the best part of it.

There were about 30 wine stalls with 6-8 different bottles to try in each stand. What the deal was, is that you had to go and buy a wine glass for £1 and then you take your glass to each tsand and try their selection ofwines. So about 200 wines we had to get through for a lazy squid which was the best deal going in London. It was really nice going around the show and seeing the passion that these people had for their product - most of them just husband and wife teams tyring to get their food off the ground. And it was even better that the wine stands were manned by temps who just wanted a chat and fill your glass - rather than the producer who would have seen us coming and know we weren't interested in buying - just drinking.

On Thursday of last week they had the World Premier of Iron Man. I got some pics below.



Heidi just got back from her 27 day jaunt around Europe. Loved: Austria, Switzerland & Amsterdam. Loathed: Athens & Italy. She is now off around the UK. Good luck at looking at all her photos.

Last night I won tickets to a pre screening of Joy Division that I went to with Helen. It gives a good back ground to a group that would have become something big.

Hot tip:


Also here is a must see!!

Until next time…. Back up the tree I go.

I'm over Easter...

Over Easter I headed down to West Sussex – just above Brighton in the country side to spend Easter with Helen and her parents. We spent the first day walking the hills and the second we decided to visit a town call Ferring which was on the ‘English Seaside’. So we ended up on the beach and I was dressed in cargo pants, T, jumper and rain jacket – and just to top it all off once we were down on the water’s edge it started snowing.

I had the last week off. I just took some time off to do a major assignment for the Employment Law course that I am doing. I spent ½ the week doing that – being strapped to a laptop and tapping the keys. In between I got the chance to see The Panics who played The Barfly in Camden. They were good but they will need to get much better to be able to break into the scene over here. But it was all worth it as on the weekend Helen and I headed to Wales to do what we do best – take advantage of any freebies that may come our way. Helen’s work had scheduled a 2 night visit to Wales. We stayed in a lovely hotel called Peterstone Court which was right on the bank of a river. We arrived, had a beautiful lunch and then went for a walk along the river. While we were on the walk I saw tadpoles where the mud met the water so I went down to scoop one up when…. I slipped straight into the river. Now that’s not the best look to have when you are supposed to be reviewing a 4 Star Hotel and you come into the foyer – where there is a wedding taking place – sopping wet from the waist down.

On both days full breakfast and 3 course dinner with bottle of wine was provided. The kitchen has a Michelin Starred chef who cooked our dinner. It was divine – see photos attached. Peterstone was once a huge manor and it seemed like each room had its own fireplace or view out onto the property.

On the second day we hit the road to descover the hills of the Brecon Becons. We climbed until it started raining. On the way up 2 fighter jets roared through the valley and on the way down I encountered the Welsh Cow. They were the most lovely docile creatures to get up close with. We then headed to the Caves but once there couldn’t part with £22 to go in and have a look around. For lunch we headed to Breckon but lets just say it was a hole with a lot of pregnant teenagers walking around it. That evening we headed back and had another great dinner in the main dining room – which had been used the previous night by the wedding party.

Up early the next morning we checked out and headed to a town called Hay-on-Wye which is what they call a book town. It is a tiny little town which has 30 secondhand bookshops – found in anything from a tiny shop to an entire old cinema and castle. Really needed a few days to be able to chew through that town. They had a specialty shop which made ice-cream from sheep’s milk – which made it a lot more smooth that cow milk.

On the way back home Helen had organised another 3 course lunch with drinks to be reviewed by her magazine. It was a lovely place with a real homely feel. – Pics also attached.

Since then it has been back to the grinding board at work. We have had lovely weather last week. It got up to 18 degrees on Friday and today (Sunday) it decided to snow. Sitting at my desk overlooking Oxford/Regent Street we had the Olympic Torch come down the road.

I also went and saw the movie The Assassination of Jesse James by the coward Robert somethingorother. It was a bit of a long one - 3 hours I think. Interesting watch since you are waiting the whole movie for the name of he movie to happen. It's definitely worth a watch but might not translate tothe small screen.

Now for some hot tips...

If you are inthe market for a good book I suggest tracking this book down. Its a great grim read...

Also you can check out what Ed's been up to:

http://edmurillo.blogspot.com/

Until next time…. Back up the tree I go.