We went to see the film 'Gran Torino', directed by and starring Clint Eastwood tonight.


I absolutely adored this film and would describe it as like watching my Dad with a gun! I found the end of the film so moving that I'm willing to admit that I cried all the way home. Seriously. I did. I recommend this film to everyone.

25.02.09

I drove down to Bournemouth tonight to see 'Snow Patrol' play at the International Centre.


They were brilliant as always, particularly when Gary Lightbody wandered through the audience as he sang "Run". It's always a pleasure being in an audience to watch this band as they inspire such adoration, especially when everyone sings along to all their hits especially "Run" and "Chasing Cars". An excellent gig.

22.02.09

We went for a family shopping trip today so got the Ferry to Portsmouth nice and early which gave a great view across the harbour.


After plenty of retail therapy we headed back to Gosport and took Issy back to the beach where she finally posed for a photograph!

 

21.02.09

Gareth's sister Laura arrived home today from University so we took Issy to the Gosport Ferry to meet her.



 

20.02.09

We took Issy to the beach today for a long walk.


She isn't yet ready to be let off her lead but still enjoyed a sniff near the waves


and meeting a few other Westies along the way. All the excitement wore her out though, because as soon as we got home she went straight to sleep alongside me on the settee.


In the evening I drove over to Portsmouth to see an NME gig that included my fave new band of the moment 'White Lies'. They were superb as always.

19.02.09

Gareth and I went to the Brit Awards 2009 tonight and what an experience it was. The ticket company said that we had to pick the tickets up at the venue from 5pm so we got there just after and joined the first queue of the evening. Eventually we picked up our tickets from a stand in the depths of Earls Court and were then directed to join a much longer second queue in a long corridor underneath the venue. That queue was almost an hour before we were actually let inside.. well sort of inside. We weren't allowed to go to our seats because all the "celebrity" guests were still eating at their tables and we would overlook them so we were all kept in the area below the seats, with long queues for overpriced food and drinks. Eventually, ten minutes before the show was being broadcast live to the nation we were allowed to our seats where we had to endure a warm up guy trying to get everyone in the mood so it would look good in the television. Not the easiest task considering we'd waited almost three hours to sit down.
The ceremony began in style with a performance by 'U2',


 soon followed by 'Girls Aloud'


 and 'Coldplay'.

 
It was really interesting to see how an event can look quite wild on the tv but in fact be much calmer when you are actually there. This was really noticeable when the award for "Best British Male" was awarded to 'Paul Weller', over the likes of 'Will Young' and 'James Morrison'. There was almost a stunned silence where we were sat, especially as he didn't even turn up for his award. The same happened when "Best British Live Act" went to 'Iron Maiden' instead of 'Coldplay'. People actually laughed thinking it was a joke before realising it was serious when a film was shown of their acceptance. Farcical.
At least performances by 'Take That'


 and 'Kings Of Leon'


helped make up for it. The "Outstanding Contribution To Music" Award went to the 'Pet Shop Boys' who played a medley of hits with contributions from 'Lady Gaga' and 'Brandon Flowers' from 'The Killers'.


It was really emotional to see them up there playing songs that have become part of the soundtrack of my life. Superb.
Meanwhile over at the Shepherds Bush Empire my friend Kirsten had flown in from Hamburg to see the subsequent gig by The Killers and Coldplay and got to meet Chris Martin afterwards!

 

18.02.09

And so starts what we've been referring to for a long time as "Puppy Week". We drove to Gareth's parents house this morning to spend a week looking after Issy as Gareth's Dad is on a residential course and his Mum will be in and out of the office.
We popped over to Southampton to see if we could get to the new Ikea that's recently opened there but the queues were so long we gave up and went to John Lewis instead. A brief stop in GAP and then back home to play with the puppy. It's going to be a fun week!

16.02.09

After a bit of retail therapy with Scott and Jon, Gareth and I set off for a Sunday afternoon in London to see "Twelfth Night" at the Wyndham's Theatre.


This production stars Derek Jacobi as Malvolio, and he was superb in the role, really playing to the audience. As with every Shakespeare play I have seen it takes a few minutes to work out what is going on and tune the ear to the dialogue, but from then on its a delight to hear the word play as the story unfolds.
After a now traditional visit to a Pizza Express we made our way to the Hammersmith Odeon to see 'Sharleen Spiteri', formerly of the band 'Texas' perform a show as part of her solo tour.


 I was supposed to see her in Bournemouth but that show was cancelled and I was offered a 2 for 1 deal on tickets to the London show. We got tickets in the balcony which wasn't even half full but Sharleen still put on a great show.

15.03.09

Our great friends Scott & Jon came to visit us today, giving me an excuse to cook one of my thai curries. We also had a chance to play a little "Guitar Hero",


though I can't say that Jon And Gareth gave it as much "enthusiasm"!

 

14.02.09

We enjoyed a night out with some of our neighbours tonight. It was great to meet so many nice people and it gave us the opportunity to ask each other how well our flats are insulated for noise. Very well apparently, as neither our neighbours above or below us have never heard anything from our flat and us from theirs. Result! A great evening in great company!

13.02.09

We travelled up to London tonight to see the play "Plague Over England" at the Duchess Theatre.


The play is based around the event of actor Sir John Gielgud being arrested in 1953 on charges of importuning for immoral purposes. It was fascinating, highlighting how different the world was over 50 years ago and just how far society has come. With a great cast including Michael Feast and Celia Imrie it was both thought provoking and informative. A great evening.

12.02.09

Is there a credit crunch at the moment?
I asked myself this question today when I used a presale link to check out tickets to see Madonna at the O2 Arena in London in July. I was offered seats in the back section of the lower tiers of the arena, the furthest point from the stage at £175 each plus £15 booking fee per ticket, a whopping £380 for two!!
Now I go to a LOT of gigs and last time I saw Madonna I felt I'd been ripped off when I paid £75 a ticket so not surprisingly I decided to save my money.

11.02.09

With the overnight rain at least the snow has started to clear, but with rain and melting snow combined it meant that the River Kennet had burst its banks over fields and a road that I drive along on my way to work.


At this rate I'll probably get held up by a plague of locusts tomorrow!

10.02.09

We travelled to London tonight to see the play "Entertaining Mr Sloane", written by Joe Orton. When Joe's diaries were published in 1986 I became fascinated by his life and tragic death, even going to see the house in Noel Road in London where he lived until his death in 1967. When I heard that one of his plays "Entertaining Mr Sloane" was being revived I had to see it.


So tonight we made our way to the Trafalgar Theatre. The staging perfectly reflected a run down house in 1964, when the play originally premiered. The story centres around a young good looking psychopath, Mr Sloane (played by Mathew Horne) whose "favours" are sought by his landlady Kath (Imelda Staunton) and her brother Ed (Simon Paisley Day). The script is full of sexual innuendo which caused quite a stir when it first premiered and I wondered how well this would come across in more enlightened times. Both Staunton and Day gave new life to the words and acted with passion and conviction. An absolute delight to watch. Unfortunately Mathew Horne was wooden, delivering lines in an almost automated manner. Luckily the other actors made up for it and I thoroughly enjoyed the play.
We managed to get an early train home but due to a signal failure our arrival time went from 11:30pm to almost 1am so we were knackered when we got in!

05.02.09

Despite the weather I set off for Bournemouth tonight to see 'Keane'. The motorways were clear but as soon as I got onto the A31 through the New Forest the weather conditions changed for the worse, to the point where it was snowing so heavily that I couldn't even make out whether I was still driving on the road. Thankfully there was a car in front of me so I just followed his lights as we drove at 15mph through the blizzard. Eventually as I go near Bournemouth the snow turned to sleet and conditions got a little better and I just made it to the International Arena as 'Keane' took to the stage.




They were brilliant as always and Tom Chaplin is so much more confident these days compared to when I first saw them play in the backroom of a pub back in 2003!

03.02.09

So much for hoping it would clear overnight. The weather when we woke up was so bad that I had to work from home




 and Gareth walked to a local office instead of attempting to get a train. I took a picture as he crossed the bridge near our flat!

 

02.02.09

We went to visit Gareth's parents today and took Issy for her first walk to the beach.



 
As we drove home from Gosport we listened to the chart rundown on the radio. Back in April 2008 I was saying on this very blog that Lily Allen had written some amazing new songs. The demo of one was called "I Don't Know". The final recorded version has been re-titled "The Fear" and tonight it went straight in at No.1. Don't say I didn't tell you!!
The weather got worse the closer we got to Basingstoke, and it was snowing when we got home so hopefully it will clear overnight.

01.02.09

We woke up to see the a very beautiful dawn sky.

 

31.01.09

We went to Camberley tonight to see the film 'Milk'


as it wasn't showing here. The cinema is brand new and it shows, with great seating, sound and screen quality.
The film is a biopic of Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man to be voted into major public office in the U.S. Sean Penn is excellent in the lead role and it was a really interesting film.

29.01.09

I drove up to Oxford tonight to see 'Lily Allen' play at the O2 Academy.


It was one of two warm up shows that she's playing before her London show tomorrow so it was pretty low key. She showcased most of her new album which sounded brilliant and she finished the show with her cover of "Womanizer" by Britney Spears which was cool as!

27.01.09

As we drove back from shopping in Bristol tonight it was announced that the 'White Lies' album had gone straight into No.1!
Told you so!!

27.01.09

We went to see the comedian Jason Manford play a show at the Haymarket Theatre in Basingstoke tonight.


He was really good and even did a question an answer session at the end. And his explanation for why he wanted to lose weight is way too graphic to reproduce here, so lets just say he wanted a better view when he looks down sometimes...ahem!

24.01.09

We went to see 'The Wrestler' today.


I'm not sure what I was expecting, but I definitely wasn't expecting a wrestling equivalent of 'Rocky'. It felt more like a documentary than a film and I can't say I either enjoyed it or understood why it's getting such rave reviews. It'll probably win loads of Oscars now and everyone else will love it!

18.01.09

Mark and I went shopping today. Now I thought I could shop but Mark took me in shops I didn't even know were there! Can that boy shop! I came home with a few new items of clothing and a spare "guitar" for Guitar Hero. An expensive but great trip!

17.01.09

Our good friend Mark came to visit today. First stop was Nando's before going to the cinema where we saw Will Smith in 'Seven Pounds'.


I really enjoyed the film and had no idea of what was going to happen at the end, so I was quite shocked! A great movie.
Then all back to the flat for a game of Guitar Hero. Luckily Mark brought his "guitar" too so we were both able to play!


A great evening!

16.01.09

We went to see the film 'Slumdog Millionaire' tonight.


An absolutely brilliant film that was stunning to watch. There is a moment at the end that literally took my breath away. Go see it now!!

12.01.09

It was a snowy start to the day in Basingstoke.


We travelled up to London to see the musical 'Oliver' at the Theatre Royal in Drury Lane. Gareth got me tickets as a Christmas present and I've been really looking forward to it.


I wasn't disappointed as it was a really great show, especially Rowan Atkinson as 'Fagin'.
Afterwards we met up with our great friends Rob & Julie and went for a lovely thai meal before heading to the pub.


A great evening in great company!

10.01.09

We went to see 'Bride Wars' tonight.


This type of movie is known between us as a "Gareth film" as he loved it and I hated every second of the predictable shite!

09.01.09

We went to see 'Role Models' tonight.


 I didn't expect to enjoy this film so was really surprised when I did! A great laugh!!

07.01.09

Happy 40th Birthday to my best man Scott! We'll celebrate it properly in Amsterdam in March when we all go to see 'Pam Ann'. Can't wait!!
We went back to Gosport today to see how Issy is getting on.


Bigger and braver are appropriate words!

03.01.09