The 3 F's... Famous Facebook Friend

I am back from a couple of days in Edinburgh with work. It was a two day team meeting - The first day was quite productive, but the second dragged. I can't seem to sleep in hotels these days despite it being a very nice place, so I was exhausted by the time I got home. Not much to report, apart from this picture from the Easyjet flight on the way up: it's looking down on the Lake District - you can just about see the cloud in the valleys, below the hilltops covered in snow.

Back to the reason for this post... I've been trying to find a famous friend for Facebook for a while. Those that advertise to become your friend don't count (Mark Kermode from Radio 5 for example) - I want a famous friend because they want to be linked to me!

I emailed a couple of actors (including minor actors who nobody but me seems to know) and singers - in the hope that the entries were actually real, but I had no success. Maybe my approach is all wrong; I have been honest and said "I want a famous friend". Does that sound more like a stalker than someone worth knowing?!

Has anyone got a famous friend on Facebook (that you are sure is 100% genuine)?

Anyway... here's hoping for a new friend soon and here is my Facebook profile for reference... just in case you are famous!

A short one!

I am busy with work for a couple of days, so I figured I would do a short blog post (for a change) with some information.

How do you read blogs?.....
If you follow a few, I would recommend using something like Google Reader to keep up to date with them. There are other similar sites around of course. You can always subscribe to this here blog using the option on the right of the screen

But I couldn't have a totally serious post could I?!! The last blog entry was all about the Yoann Gourcuff and I was sent a link by a blogger, to another picture of him when he was at AC Milan. I really am not sure what he is doing! :-)

What a way to celebrate a win!

This blog isn't usually that gay (you may disagree of course), but I saw a football report online about this stunning French footballer called Yoann Gourcuff and I just had to share it with the world.

Back in December, Bordeaux (his club) won a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Valenciennes. That appeared to be reason enough for gorgeous 22 year old Yoann to celebrate by stripping down to his underwear - he then gave his shirt and shorts to the crowd! There are plenty of images on the net of his actions.

It appears that Yoann is becoming quite a hit in France (with the ladies and some guys!) and doesn't appear to lack any self-confidence in his footballing ability, TV interviewing skills and simply looking great. A French magazine that Pete likes to "read" called Tetu featured him as their "December Bombshell" - spot on I would say!

And rather than just dwell on his various assets, here is a brilliant goal on YouTube that he scored recently. Shame he kept his clothes on for that one though.

Just in case you were wondering, Torres is still my number one footballer!

Bye bye Bush!

I have no intention of insulting any American readers, but… I am exceedingly pleased that George Bush is no longer President. It has always amazed me how he managed to rule the world’s most powerful nation - without doubt, he made some disastrous decisions. I found him to be slow and ignorant. I have lost count how many times I have been embarrassed to watch him speak. I had to change the channel when I saw his response to his lack of action over hurricane Katrina - it was humiliating. I could not imagine Obama or any other world leader struggling to form an answer when put in the same position.

I have wondered who voted for him. When I see British politicians from various parties, I may not like their views but 9 times out of 10, I can appreciate why someone would vote for them. With Bush, I do not understand how anyone could be impressed by this dimwit. President Obama is an intelligent and amiable.... so very different from the fool on his way back to Texas! So to say farewell, here are a few famous and infamous Bushisms:

"They misunderestimated me."

“I know what I believe. I will continue to articulate what I believe and what I believe - I believe what I believe is right."

"There's an old saying in Tennessee - I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee - that says, fool me once, shame on... shame on you. Fool me - you can't get fooled again."

"There's no question that the minute I got elected, the storm clouds on the horizon were getting nearly directly overhead."

"Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we."

"I think war is a dangerous place."

"The ambassador and the general were briefing me on the - the vast majority of Iraqis want to live in a peaceful, free world. And we will find these people and we will bring them to justice."

"Free societies are hopeful societies. And free societies will be allies against these hateful few who have no conscience, who kill at the whim of a hat."

"Rarely is the questioned asked: Is our children learning?"

"You teach a child to read, and he or her will be able to pass a literacy test.''

"It's clearly a budget. It's got a lot of numbers in it."

"Will the highways on the internet become more few?"

"I know the human being and fish can coexist peacefully."

"Families is where our nation finds hope, where wings take dream."

"Those who enter the country illegally violate the law."

"That's George Washington, the first president, of course. The interesting thing about him is that I read three - three or four books about him last year. Isn't that interesting?"

"I'll be long gone before some smart person ever figures out what happened inside this Oval Office."

Lost

I have confession to make... I am a fan of Lost.

To those of you who didn’t persevere through the first series have lost out on a thoroughly entertaining and equally exasperating programme. Please note, readers in North American should substitute the words ‘season’ for ‘series’ and ‘program’ for ‘programme’.

Series 5 starts on Sunday and I can’t wait! It would have been here earlier but for a writers' strike in the USA. I know that when it returns, I will find every programme incredibly frustrating – but thankfully its entertaining distraction is wonderful. I have many “dramas” that I have enjoyed and I don’t recall many being American. I have nothing against US dramas, but I often found them a bit lightweight – there are exceptions of course. Lost is very different; it’s not high art, but I can get that on BBC4 when I want it!

After watching series one and becoming more and more confused as time went by, I thought my interest may wane, but the series finale was the hook I needed and I waited for the return of the programme with anticipation. The opening scene of the first episode in series 2 is one of the best starts to a programme ever. It totally threw me and added a twist that was brilliantly planned. I was confused, as they wanted viewers to be, but also greatly impressed.

With Lost, you have to appreciate that the story is ridiculous, the characters flawed, the acting sometimes suspect, but I love it all the same! There are clues all over the place, links to other episodes and many many unanswered questions. Great Sunday viewing.

If you gave up after the first series, have a look in the second hand shops and on Ebay for the DVDs of subsequent series and get yourself back into it! But before you rush out and buy me a boxset of Lost, don’t bother as it’s one of those programmes that you can probably only watch once as the surprise element will not be there. I did watch the last two parts of series 4 to remind myself of the situation.

There is a truly sad (in a good way!) site for Lost enthusiasts like myself HERE.

Paris weekend including Le President and his wife

It has been an exhausting, but also an entertaining and surprising weekend…

On Thursday I wrote and pre-posted the next instalment of “100 facts about me” and then Pete and I got the train to London. We stayed in a hotel on Thursday night (sitting in the bar watching the amazing images of the Airbus floating down the Hudson). Early on Friday morning we boarded the Eurostar to Paris. We have been to Paris a dozen or more times, so we decided to try and do some new things - we mostly achieved this aim.

The Eurostar was a freebie, due to the points we had collected on a loyalty card. The hotel was also a freebie! We had booked the Holiday Inn in Opera and had used Priority points that Pete and I had accumulated by staying in many hotels in our past jobs. It’s always nice to get a freebie, though this was tainted by the £35 parking ticket I received on Thursday!

The hotel kindly upgraded us for no apparent reason and the room was huge! The major downside was that the soundproofing was non-existent and we could hear the conversation of the people in the next room quite clearly at 2am. And they weren’t even shouting.

On Friday we mainly walked and took in the city atmosphere, getting lost here and there. We wanted to see the Picasso exhibition, but the queues were huge - despite it being open 24 hours a day! We had a great meal in the evening in the Montmartre area going to our favourite bar Le Progres.

On Saturday we went to the Pompidou centre. This is a truly great museum of modern art (and a stunning building). Surprisingly, I had never been round it properly in all my visits to Paris! We spent a couple of hours in there seeing some weird and wonderful things including some examples of an artform I know nothing about: Futurism. I know when Pete has had enough of a museum when he speeds up and looks at fewer and fewer exhibits. The end of his attention span was the sign to go and get food… So we crossed the river and went to a restaurant on Rue Mouffetard for a late lunch. This road is a narrow long winding road that has some lovely shops and restaurants – and it’s rarely mentioned in guide books… which is a crime! If you ever in Paris, check this road out.

In the evening we attended a concert by Julien Clerc at a theatre. He usually plays the arenas, so this was an intimate venue in comparison. Julien is a singer-songwriter who has been around for decades and his albums still debut at the top of the charts. I first came across his work in the late 1980’s and have been a fan since. I can’t really think of an British or American equivalent singer-songwriter who has lasted so long. He is often classed as a "singer for the ladies", but I think that’s rather unfair. Yes, he does release the odd mushy ballad and occasional cheesy pop tune, but on every album I own, there are a few tracks that any songwriter would be proud of. The show itself was excellent.

BUT… the surprising part of the evening was just before Julien came on to the stage. Pete and I were chatting and then realised that there was a collective intake of breath in the auditorium and everyone in the audience was looking to the back of the theatre. We turned round to see President Sarkosy and his wife Carla Bruni about 8 rows behind us!

The audience was stunned and the camera flashes were blinding! The French President kindly smiled and waved to the selfish people taking photos without asking - he is more like royalty in France. I chose not to spoil their night out by taking a photo, other than from afar that were so blurry, it could be anyone (it was dark OK!).

A few songs into Julien's set and Carla appears on stage to sing a duet! There’s a clip on You Tube here. As a gay guy, even I think she’s a stunner! Pete went to the toilet during one of the four encores and he reported Police and secret service men were everywhere.

On Sunday morning, we did another first and went to the massive Père Lachaise Cemetery. Now, you are thinking that visiting a cemetery is strange, but the place is remarkable - the graves are mostly small Gothic buildings. We tried to find the place where Edith Piaf was buried, but failed. However, we did worship at the grave of Jim Morrison that is a tiny grave stuck behind a much larger monument to some forgotten non-rock god.

A heavy lunch meant an uncomfortable walk to the station. I was also exhausted by this point. I didn’t take my best camera as I have tons of pictures of Paris, but I did take my new compact and took a few snaps. The picture of the graffiti is a favourite… I don’t know why!

On the Eurostar home there was this posh girl, aged about 19/20 who was obviously from a good background. But, as with many young people, she had no intellect! Talking to her friend she said “did you know that the name Gabrel is the French equivalent to the English name George”.

This is not a lone example of the “youth of today”. Are we raising a nation of dimwits, who know nothing more than what the school textbooks tell them and know little about the world around them?!!?

It’s a bit like that loud person of celebrity Big Brother (Tina Scouse-woman) who honestly thought that Churchill, Rousevelt and Stalin had negotiated with Hitler at various meetings at the end of World War 2!!!

God help us.

100 facts about me - 21 to 30

Here is the next part of the "100 facts about me" list - previous entries can be found here:

21. Barcelona is the coolest place I have visited.
22. Scarborough is the scummiest place I have visited.
23. My middle name of Francis was chosen by my brothers and is in honour of Francis Lee, the chunky 1970’s footballer.
24. Pay rises in my last job averaged 9.5% per annum for the 4½ years I worked there.
25. My first car was a little Fiat 126.
26. I could happily watch 5 episodes of The Simpsons in a row as it is the best TV programme ever made.
27. I own two guitars, a Ukelele and a Mandolin.
28. My favourite word is ‘Ziggurat’.
29. I was wrong in thinking that I couldn’t be bothered to write a blog.
30. I gave up reading the ‘classic’ book Catch 22.

The Payne I feel

Dear Mythical Agony Aunt,

I have known this for a while, but the man who I thought loves me has his eyes on someone else. It's actually been going on for a couple of years and he doesn't even try and hide it!

The one who has stolen his heart is a TV news presenter on Sky Sports News. His name is Alex Payne.

Oh what can I do!? Your advice would be welcome.

Stephen

-----------------------------

OK, I jest - but this TV guy (yes, he does look 17, but is in his 20’s) is a near obsession in our house for my significant other. It's not as if sport was a major interest for him until Alex came along! When Alex is on the screen, no-one else matters. I may as well not exist!

Alex is very well spoken (a good education perhaps?) and appears to be a very confident person. I'm a bit surprised he's still reading the sports news and not fronting some programme.

And to top it all, he even has his own facebook fan group!

I woke up this mornin'

This was the very from the bedroom window at 7.30am. The picture hasn't been altered in any way, other than to shrink it down a bit. Nature can be stunning in it's beauty.

We didn't do a great deal this weekend other than walk. We went for a 6+ mile walk yesterday in the cold just for the fun of it. Today we walked less of a distance, but with an aim in mind... to find a nice pub! A couple of miles down the road and it's a Guinness (for me) and a Cider (for Pete). Then another mile to another pub and a repeat round. Not a bad way to spend a sunny, crisp winters afternoon.

The low fat, healthy eating continues this week and then there is a nice surprise for the weekend. More info to follow!

The press is up in arms over something Prince Harry said a couple of years ago when with his army colleagues. It's a total over reaction (especially considering the various serious news stories today) and I'm sure it happens all the time in the army - guys take the **** all the time and sometimes use wrong and thoughtless language. I am no fan of the royal family, but this all seems rather silly and it's not the place for the press to deal with it. He is taking after his grandfather and saying poorly thought out things! Despite not being a fan of the royals, I might as well include a link to a picture of a fit looking Harry.

Diary Week [Day Five] - POETS day!

Friday: Today is POETS day - the final day of this diary style of blogging. For those not in the know, POETS stands for Piss Off Early, Tomorrow's Saturday! There is even a website about it here. I could almost be tempted to blog every day, but wont for 2 reasons: first, regular readers may get bored and secondly... I may get bored!

Last night I booked the ferry from Harwich to Hook of Holland for May. I am going to see my friend Jan who will be having a 40th birthday party. He now lives in Assen in the north of The Netherlands earning lots of money and speaking very little Dutch. It's amazing that I've known him since I was 16 and he was 17.

I appear to be a bit camera mad today. I'm bidding on 2 lenses for my Pentax (the one on the left obviously) on eBay and bought this little compact today in the sale. I've wanted a good compact for a while for the times when I just want to carry a camera about in my pocket. It's got a wide angle lens and lots of features, so should do me fine.

Having sold a guitar on eBay yesterday, this morning I noticed the replacement I have wanted - also on eBay and ending today. The listing stated "pick up only" and so I thought, "it's bound to be in Scotland", but it's actually in the same town as I live! What a strange coincidence... and I won the bidding war for a really good price.

When I was driving home, I saw a beautiful piece of nature and couldn't stop and take a picture as I was on the motorway. There had been a hard frost and a dusting of snow and that combination on the row of trees, and also the dark sky, made it look like the scene was a negative.

We were meant to be going to the comedy club tonight, but both me and Pete are knackered. So it's food and a film in the warm I think...