As I sat in the O2 arena on Friday night, it crossed my mind for the first time that it may be time to seek help. We all do crazy and random things occasionally, some more than others, but it is often when we reflect on them, that we delve deeper into the reasons why we did them or why we do them.
Last week was a hectic week. Great fun, plenty of travel, a thousand laughs, the occasional uncomfortable moment or two, a bit of sun, a lot of rain, some new faces, some old faces. All combined make some great moments. Even the bad moments, they all contribute to memories. The secret is trying to have some great memories and trying to ensure the great ones outweigh the tough ones, and not letting the tough ones weigh more heavily on one’s mind than the ten amazing ones. So, when I was bent over a Toronto toilet last weekend, producing the goods from my stomach, it was not exactly a moment I hoped would stick in my memory for too long. Note to self: several beers and car rides are not a good combo for sensitive Bobby. They never have been and they never will. Walk Bobby, walk. Hardly a proud moment but we move on.
Fast forward to Friday night and I find myself sat in the fantastic O2 Arena in London watching an old favourite of mine. Barry and I go a long way back. Back to the old days when Auntie Joan and Uncle George used to take my sister and I on these great long road trips to Primrose Valley and Filey. Thankfully I had not been introduced to alcohol at that point, or my love for Barry may not have developed so positively.
Friday night was fantastic. There is absolutely nothing like singing at the top of your voice, no matter how bad a singer you are, and just not having a care in the world apart from that very moment. Whether it be in the O2, in the shower, or in the car, there is something very cleansing about it, even if it is Barry. So, to give you a taste of Barry, I strongly recommend you click here and enjoy this song – bare with me. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5IifdSv9Gk
Rewinding back to midweek and I found myself in Barcelona. I have been to one Clasico before – Figo’s return in white. While this was not quite the best game I have ever seen, it was a fantastic occasion and what better way to get absolutely drenched in a downpour than to be sat in the Camp Nou enjoying one of the greatest teams in the history of football. That may seem like a slight exaggeration, but I cannot think there has ever been anything better than this Barca team, and this Lionel Messi and I doubt anybody could genuinely oppose that. My man of the match was Lassana Diarra – amazing display for Real, and I was amazed once again by the midfield duo of Iniesta and Xavi. Everybody talks about their play on the ball which is special, but their work rate as that of the team itself, is often underrated as they work so hard to win the ball back. A different world to the O2, but an absolute pleasure to watch. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIw-J60gsZM&feature=channel_video_title
Rewinding further back to Toronto and UFC 129 – the first ever Mixed Martial Art event in Ontario and 55,000 fans came out to visit – some further than others. An amazing event, even when one is struggling with a hangover. We visited the Expo on the Friday and enjoyed a fantastic Q&A with Dana White – the UFC president. Fans could ask a question to the Dana, followed by any request they would like, and Dana would do his best to make that come true. Requests ranged from tickets, to sitting with the ring girls, to putting the belt on the champion, and Dana did his utmost to make them reality. What sporting organisation or federation in the world does that? I am unaware of any and that is what puts the UFC at the top of the chain as far as interaction with their fans goes and many could learn from this. A slight contrast to Barca and Barry, but an absolutely fantastic event but for different reasons. The highlight of the event for me was the gutsiest display I have seen in a long time from Mark Hominick, who will now have more fans after this fight than he did prior to it. This one is neither for the feint hearted, nor those with a queasy stomach from a hangover but here goes. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YROSBBBlDE4
I sincerely hope you watched all three videos. It will give you a clearer idea of why I was sat watching Barry on Friday night, wondering what exactly was wrong with me. Maybe there is a reasonable crossover of fans between football and UFC, but throwing Barry into the mix, in the space of a week, has psychologist written all over it. I guess we cannot help how we are, and how we are made up, and there is not always a reasonable explanation for any of it. Probably best just to enjoy it all, even the less glamorous moments in the bathroom, keep smiling and store the moments in the memory bank.
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Drama Queen
If you live in Switzerland and are not Swiss, chances are you watch a lot of television series on DVD. I think HJ and I have watched more in the three and a half years we have been here than ever before. So, as I am sat on another plane to good old Barcelona, I have decided to rank my favourites and also those that have bombed in my view. Why are mindless random exercises far more appealing than the things (ie work) I have to do?
1. Top of the list for me undoubtedly is Dexter. I love the books and the show is just as good. Killing is not good kids, but killing those who do genuinely bad things and get away with them? Hmmm, now there is the dilemma. The other issue is, Dexter is a charmer. A fantastic show which has to rank at the top of my list.
2. A very close second for me is The Sopranos. Absolutely quality show and one that had me completely hooked. A little brutal at times, though still possibly comes second to good old Dexter in that ranking also. Tony is another character that is kind of hard to dislike too much, despite doing some pretty shocking things.
3. Next on my list is a show which I have only seen two series of but I have been hooked – Burn Notice. This one seems to fly under the radar a little, but is fantastic nevertheless. This one is a bit of an underdog, and if you have not heard of it, this one gets my recommendation. Not as brutal as the first two, but action packed and a ridiculously cool and hot lead couple.
4. This one may not exactly increase my street cred but HJ and I are huge fans of The Good Wife. An intelligent show with some great characters .We are halfway through the second series right now and we are in the painful situation of having to wait a whole week for the next episode – the one advantage to DVD sets! We hope you have switched the DVD player on recently Mum!
5. This one is pretty much English I think and does not seem to have transferred to other countries particularly well, but Spooks is one of our all time favourites. This may be controversial, but it just nudges 24 out of my top five, which gives you a fair reflection of how good I think it is.
Honourable mentions go to The Wire, Hustle, 24, Friends, Brothers & Sisters, Grey’s Anatomy and Prison Break.
Selecting my worst and most overrated five does not seem quite so easy but I will give it a shot.
1. This may upset a fair few folks but I have to say Lost ranks as my overrated and disappointing series. The first season caught my attention, but I drifted pretty quickly as the storylines wandered. The initial idea seemed good, but trying to squeeze more than one season seemed unrealistic. Failure to keep my attention past the first season is a clear sign of a failed show and for that reason Lost tops me list.
2. Next up is certainly going to upset one or two people fairly close to me as Gossip Girl gets my vote here. I don’t particularly find the ladies particularly attractive (that definitely will upset one or two folks) and the story lines are a bit of a joke really. It is overrated and reality is, folks watch it for the hot girls and boys, or the fashion, and it doesn’t do it for me I’m afraid.
3. As an all-time lover of Friends which should really be in my top five as I can watch that show day or night, I have to say that I was hugely disappointed with the spin off Joey. I watched it, but can’t say it particularly thrilled me and it could have been so much. Bit of a shame.
4. Maybe this should be a little closer to the top of this list but The Hills is pretty much a fine example of everything that is wrong about television these days. At the risk of sounding like an old man, it is absolute garbage.
5. Glee. No need to say much more I don’t think.
So there you have it. That is the official Bobby Rankings for tv shows. Apologies if I upset anybody, I'm just not quite at the Gleek level just yet.
1. Top of the list for me undoubtedly is Dexter. I love the books and the show is just as good. Killing is not good kids, but killing those who do genuinely bad things and get away with them? Hmmm, now there is the dilemma. The other issue is, Dexter is a charmer. A fantastic show which has to rank at the top of my list.
2. A very close second for me is The Sopranos. Absolutely quality show and one that had me completely hooked. A little brutal at times, though still possibly comes second to good old Dexter in that ranking also. Tony is another character that is kind of hard to dislike too much, despite doing some pretty shocking things.
3. Next on my list is a show which I have only seen two series of but I have been hooked – Burn Notice. This one seems to fly under the radar a little, but is fantastic nevertheless. This one is a bit of an underdog, and if you have not heard of it, this one gets my recommendation. Not as brutal as the first two, but action packed and a ridiculously cool and hot lead couple.
4. This one may not exactly increase my street cred but HJ and I are huge fans of The Good Wife. An intelligent show with some great characters .We are halfway through the second series right now and we are in the painful situation of having to wait a whole week for the next episode – the one advantage to DVD sets! We hope you have switched the DVD player on recently Mum!
5. This one is pretty much English I think and does not seem to have transferred to other countries particularly well, but Spooks is one of our all time favourites. This may be controversial, but it just nudges 24 out of my top five, which gives you a fair reflection of how good I think it is.
Honourable mentions go to The Wire, Hustle, 24, Friends, Brothers & Sisters, Grey’s Anatomy and Prison Break.
Selecting my worst and most overrated five does not seem quite so easy but I will give it a shot.
1. This may upset a fair few folks but I have to say Lost ranks as my overrated and disappointing series. The first season caught my attention, but I drifted pretty quickly as the storylines wandered. The initial idea seemed good, but trying to squeeze more than one season seemed unrealistic. Failure to keep my attention past the first season is a clear sign of a failed show and for that reason Lost tops me list.
2. Next up is certainly going to upset one or two people fairly close to me as Gossip Girl gets my vote here. I don’t particularly find the ladies particularly attractive (that definitely will upset one or two folks) and the story lines are a bit of a joke really. It is overrated and reality is, folks watch it for the hot girls and boys, or the fashion, and it doesn’t do it for me I’m afraid.
3. As an all-time lover of Friends which should really be in my top five as I can watch that show day or night, I have to say that I was hugely disappointed with the spin off Joey. I watched it, but can’t say it particularly thrilled me and it could have been so much. Bit of a shame.
4. Maybe this should be a little closer to the top of this list but The Hills is pretty much a fine example of everything that is wrong about television these days. At the risk of sounding like an old man, it is absolute garbage.
5. Glee. No need to say much more I don’t think.
So there you have it. That is the official Bobby Rankings for tv shows. Apologies if I upset anybody, I'm just not quite at the Gleek level just yet.
Monday, May 2, 2011
The Rain In Spain
It has been a while since I posted some random ramblings and after a week in Spain, it seems like the perfect time to do so. Here is what I learned…or remembered….last week.
The word drizzle does not exist in Spain. When it rains, it pours, and boy did it pour this last week. It is rare that we get time just to chill and relax – we travel plenty but usually it is fast and frenetic. Every so often, when the batteries are a little depleted, we try and get away for a good old fashioned break. When you want to relax, you want sun. Hence why we went to Sevilla. They were vicious rumours about the city being one of the hottest cities in Europe. It rained all week. Still, it was heartening to know that there was a heat wave in the UK and Switzerland was glorious.
The good old Spanish media. Real Madrid scrape a draw against Barca with ten men and the media hammer Jose Mourinho saying that it was no way for a Real team to play against any team, especially after spending hundreds of millions. Fast forward to Wednesday night and their Copa victory playing virtually the same style and Mourinho is suddenly a tactical genius. No team can live with this Barca by taking the game to them but Mourinho has got them well drilled and organised enough to compete. Kudos to Javier Clemente who was 100% correct in supporting Mourinho and the style in his Marca column – if only the rest of the paper wasn’t so blinded and fickle.
I have wanted to go to Sevilla for a number of years now so it was great to finally get there and see what the buzz is about. I can confirm that Semana Santa is not the best week to go there however. That said, wandering around with Oranges hanging from the trees every few yards was fantastic. Buying a huge box of strawberries for less than two Euros was just as pleasant. I could get used to stuff like that.
As cool as some elements were in Sevilla, there was one slightly bizarre trend. Every chap has to make the occasional crotchal rearrangement, but the number of rearrangements among the Sevillanos was extreme and slightly disconcerting….so much so that Burns and I were rolling around laughing if cringing every time we spotted it. It was common. We are not weird. Just for the record.
So we moved from Semana Santa and the rain in Sevilla to Madridand their rain midway through the week. Madrid is a pretty cool city, but I think undoubtedly our favourite place is the Mercado de San Miguel. Always full of people, but they are worth fighting through for a sandwich or two. Anybody wanting a reason to go to Madrid or planning to go soon, check it out – I am prepared to put my reputation on the line for this place. Heck, I’ll even put Burns’ on there too.
My last random thought from the week, that I can remember anyway, was from the Copa del Rey final. Having spent a fair amount of time in Barcelona, I know the sentiments that run there so I was not surprised to hear the Catalan fans boo the Spanish national anthem before the game. I was surprised though that TVE muted the sound from the stadium and isolated the anthem, while other television channels played it normally. English fans were hammered when they booed the US anthem in Vegas for the Hatton/Mayweather fight and rightly so. This is no different. Gerard Pique spiced things up after the first game by telling the Madrid players that Barca were going to win ‘their king’s cup’. I would love to be a fly on the wall in the next training camp of the Spanish national team after some of the things that have gone down between Barca and Real in the last few weeks.
The word drizzle does not exist in Spain. When it rains, it pours, and boy did it pour this last week. It is rare that we get time just to chill and relax – we travel plenty but usually it is fast and frenetic. Every so often, when the batteries are a little depleted, we try and get away for a good old fashioned break. When you want to relax, you want sun. Hence why we went to Sevilla. They were vicious rumours about the city being one of the hottest cities in Europe. It rained all week. Still, it was heartening to know that there was a heat wave in the UK and Switzerland was glorious.
The good old Spanish media. Real Madrid scrape a draw against Barca with ten men and the media hammer Jose Mourinho saying that it was no way for a Real team to play against any team, especially after spending hundreds of millions. Fast forward to Wednesday night and their Copa victory playing virtually the same style and Mourinho is suddenly a tactical genius. No team can live with this Barca by taking the game to them but Mourinho has got them well drilled and organised enough to compete. Kudos to Javier Clemente who was 100% correct in supporting Mourinho and the style in his Marca column – if only the rest of the paper wasn’t so blinded and fickle.
I have wanted to go to Sevilla for a number of years now so it was great to finally get there and see what the buzz is about. I can confirm that Semana Santa is not the best week to go there however. That said, wandering around with Oranges hanging from the trees every few yards was fantastic. Buying a huge box of strawberries for less than two Euros was just as pleasant. I could get used to stuff like that.
As cool as some elements were in Sevilla, there was one slightly bizarre trend. Every chap has to make the occasional crotchal rearrangement, but the number of rearrangements among the Sevillanos was extreme and slightly disconcerting….so much so that Burns and I were rolling around laughing if cringing every time we spotted it. It was common. We are not weird. Just for the record.
So we moved from Semana Santa and the rain in Sevilla to Madridand their rain midway through the week. Madrid is a pretty cool city, but I think undoubtedly our favourite place is the Mercado de San Miguel. Always full of people, but they are worth fighting through for a sandwich or two. Anybody wanting a reason to go to Madrid or planning to go soon, check it out – I am prepared to put my reputation on the line for this place. Heck, I’ll even put Burns’ on there too.
My last random thought from the week, that I can remember anyway, was from the Copa del Rey final. Having spent a fair amount of time in Barcelona, I know the sentiments that run there so I was not surprised to hear the Catalan fans boo the Spanish national anthem before the game. I was surprised though that TVE muted the sound from the stadium and isolated the anthem, while other television channels played it normally. English fans were hammered when they booed the US anthem in Vegas for the Hatton/Mayweather fight and rightly so. This is no different. Gerard Pique spiced things up after the first game by telling the Madrid players that Barca were going to win ‘their king’s cup’. I would love to be a fly on the wall in the next training camp of the Spanish national team after some of the things that have gone down between Barca and Real in the last few weeks.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
