I had a great lunch with Elie today. As always, I was impressed with his energy and his enthusiasm!
He has a new business idea that we discussed, and I am going to think more about how I might help.
Also, some of his thoughts about database structure and indexing stimulated some thoughts about how I will handle some of the technical challenges with my latest project - I think that he could have an important role to play!
I must say, Gordon Brown has been very, very impressive in his first few weeks as Prime Minister.
However, it is slightly concerning that the Conservatives seem to be in meltdown - we clearly need an effective opposition in this country to ensure that democracy is protected, but it looks like we will be heading for a fourth Labour term with a whopping majority.
I think that Gordie is going to be a great Prime Minister, but it is essential for the country that the Conservatives get their house in order and start to present a coherent set of policies together with a strategy for tackling some of the problems faced by British society.
I feel sorry for David Cameron - his trip to Rwanda coinciding with the terrible floods (which affected his constituency) was unlucky, but the fallout does show how delicate his relationship with the electorate is right now.
I love cats and I’m always happy to see them get the upper-hand, but even I was surprised to see a moggy win in this stand-off:
I can imagine nothing worse than waking up to find flood water in your house.
When I was a child, I used to have a recurring dream about living in top-floor apartment, surrounded by water from a heavily-flooded River Thames… It was pretty disturbing, but not as disturbing as the real thing, I’m sure.
Those people who live in beautiful houses near rivers must be really devastated, because after years of valuing their unique and historic houses, they now find that their homes are uninsurable and may no longer be worth much - on top of having their domestic lives ruined.
To add insult to injury, these people don’t seem to be getting as much sympathy as one would expect:
“It’s just global warming - deal with it!” summarises some of the comments that I have heard. Shocking really.
If it really is Global Warming, then how come some of the same areas that we are flooded this year had their hottest ever summer last year? And even if it is Global Warming, then it’s kind of all our responsibility, not just those people that live in flood-plains.
Whatever the causes, it seems that we must be braced for increasingly unpredictable weather in the future, so what are we going to do about it?
Us Townies shrugging our shoulders and getting on with life while our Rural cousins suffer is probably not acceptable - we need to fundamentally change the way that we live if we’re going to be able to cope with what the future has in store for us.
I’ve just seen the latest Harry Potter and it’s pretty scary. I’m sure that I would have been scared out of my wits watching something like that when I was 12, but then I was a late developer! Not bad, though… The final film will be awesome, methinks.
Today I finally complete on my purchase of an newly-completed apartment in a converted warehouse in Kings Langley, just on the outskirts of London… It’s a quirky three-bed, duplex penthouse at the front of the building that I happened across this Spring.
Naturally, I’m delighted, but I am also ambivalent about the prospect of finally leaving London. I’ve often talked about it, but now the thought of actually doing it fills me with trepidation.
London is like that girl you fancied at school, but who treated you like dirt! No matter how bad she makes you feel, you just cannot help being attracted to her and lusting after her, but sometimes you wish that you had never met her.
So, I’ll hedge my bets and keep my place in Crouch End too… If Boris Johnson wins the race to be Mayor of London, I’ll move out for sure!
Last night over my brother’s birthday dinner, conversation turned to whether or not Ricky was still funny, following the excellent article with a similar title in last weekend’s Telegraph.
Hmm… I think that I will have to go and see him live to see if he delivers the goods, but watching him at the Diana Concert was more painful than having my wisdom teeth removed!
I thought that The Office was excellent (especially the Christmas special), but I never got a chance to watch ‘Extras’ and so I don’t know how it compares.
What I do know is that he seems to struggle on the spot. He’s not as funny as the sort of stand-up comics you get a dodgy pubs in Islington, but perhaps his TV shows are genius and where he should focus his efforts.
However, what’s really interesting is the Press’ desire (need?!) to destroy people that are doing well and being successful… He’s taking more heat than David Cameron at the moment, and I do wonder if all of the Ricky-sniping is part-driven by jealously - didn’t a lot of showbiz journalists actually want to be in showbiz?
Damian did remind me about the woeful episode of “The Simpsons” where Ricky made a guest appearance. I thought it was the worst episode of The Simpons ever. It’s the only one where I didn’t laugh once. Damian watched it with me and speechless in disgust.
Maybe the little fella just needs to stick to what he is good at? I’ll certainly be looking out for his TV show, but I won’t be inviting him to perform at my wedding!
Even after all these years, Prince is still able to wow me with his breathtaking live performances, and it was an absolute pleasure to see him yesterday evening with Damian.
Sometimes when you go to watch a legendary performer like Prince, you’re kind of worried that they might decide to play lots of new or experimental stuff that you might not be familiar with, but we knew that we were in for a treat when he kicked-off with ‘1999′!
I first became a Prince fan when Philip Huffer and I were shopping in Tottenham Court Road and won some tickets to see ‘Under the Cherry Moon’. It was 1986, I’d never heard of Prince and the film wasn’t being talked about as a summer block-buster, but when you’re a spotty 14-yr old free tickets are free tickets!
I was mesmerised by the film. Not only was Prince fascinating to watch, but the beautifully shot monochrome and absurdly fun plot kept me captivated. However, it was the music that seduced me.
When Prince and his gang performed ‘Girls & Boys’ I was hooked. I saved-up my pennies to buy ‘Parade’ and my love-affair with Prince’s music began.
21 years later, I still haven’t explored all of ‘Parade’. I didn’t get much past ‘Kiss’ back then, which I must have played a thousand times whilst bopping around pretending to be Prince. Hearing him perform it a few hours was just as good as hearing it for the first time - and he seems to have no less energy than he did back then.
What amazes about Prince is his versatility.
‘Parade’ includes piano solos like ‘Venus De Milo’ mixed with the pop/rock classic ‘Kiss’, spellbinding ballads like ‘Do You Lie’ & ‘Sometimes It Snows (In April)’ and sinister one-offs like ‘Anotherloverholeinyohead’. Like many of his earlier albums, the styles on it are more diverse than your average chart compilation album.
All these years later, Prince is still able to switch effortlessly from a powerful guitar solo to a ballad without breaking a sweat and without losing his audience.
We were treated to many more the classics, including some of my personal favourites ‘Forever in My Life’ (which I introduced to Dana in Turkey a couple of weeks ago!), ‘Alphabet Street’, ‘If I Was Your Girlfriend’ and ‘Take Me With You’, ‘Purple Rain’ and ‘Let’s Go Crazy!’.
He had a subtle dig at some of today’s modern ’stars’. The message wasn’t lost on his audience - he is in a league of his own. ‘LoveSexy’ is the only musical performance that I have ever seen that surpasses this. And we were both ten years younger then!
The venue was wonderful too - I have always been a fan of the O2 / Millennium Dome despite the controversy surrounding it, and it is certainly one of the best concert venues that I’ve been to - if only getting home was as smooth and funky as Prince!
You know, at the start of the season, us poor Arsenal fans got a lot of stick, particularly from those Tottenham lads on the wrong side of town.
Of course, the thought of losing the inimitable Thierry Henry filled me with dread, but, as we have seen before, the Arsenal whole is greater than the sum of the parts and great players just don’t seem so great any more when they’re not in an Arsenal shirt. (Viera? That’s a brand of Sony TV isn’t it?!)
Our faith in Wenger is paying-off - Fabregas stepped-up when Viera left, and Adebayor is the new King of Highbury.
According to Spurs ‘fans’, he is a donkey. Well, we’re at the top of the table with a game in hand and a GD of plus-16 versus Spurs in the bottom three not even able to beat Bolton with a GD of minus-2 - and some of their points were earned against relegation favourites, Derby! Perhaps Martin Jol needs to get himself up to Blackpool and gets some donkeys for the not-so-Hotspur?
Jol is still smiling. I’m not sure why. No one wants him - not the fans and not the Chairman and this has got to be Spurs’ worst start for a decade. (Of course, it’s a false position according to Jol and it will come right soon.)
South of the River, things are even more amusing. Poor Mourinho. Damian tells me that Daniel Levy put in several calls to Jose and that he might be moving up North to join the Hotspur. Can you really see Mrs. Mourihno shopping on Tottenham High Road?! Or his kids kicking it at Edmonton Green with their mates on Saturday afternoon? Spurs’ fans capacity for self-delusion never ceases to amaze me.
What we have at Arsenal is team spirit and a passion for winning. When one big name moves on, another picks up the challenge. That’s what a real football team is about. We’ve proved it time and time again.
Roll on the rest of the season. I predict that we will be three points ahead at the top at Christmas, and in the race for the title with Manchester United, Manchester City and Liverpool. I also predict that Reading will finish above Spurs, although it will be close.
If only I could have convinced Chris to part with some cash and participate in our annual ‘Who will finish higher - Spurs or Arsenal?’ bet. Alas, he’s running scared after the last couple of years, so I’ll have to find another source of income!
Come on you Gooners!
The Emirates project has been a huge success for Arsenal - it just goes to prove what good management can achieve when they have the right strategy and good execution - what a shame that we cannot seem to run public infrastructure projects as well - the Public Sector could learn a lot from projects like this.
Arsenal is currently generating about £3m per game at the new stadium, with near-capacity attendances, which must make Roman Abramovich choke on his pelmeni because Chelsea can barely scrape together 30,000 visitors these days.
All of this has lead to Arsenal become the richest football club in Britain and has secured our position as one of the world’s premier sports team - the turnover for this financial year will be over £200m.
Oh, it’s good to be a Gunner!
