Park Life

It has now been over twelve months since the United Kingdom had its first National Lockdown. We are now in Lockdown three and like The Police Academy films ideally we would have all liked them to have ended after the initial one. They both basically followed the same story and sadly did become a little less entertaining. However we are hopefully moving in the right direction and starting to get on top of the situation regarding this very nasty virus at last.

The real test of course will come when everything slowly starts to open back up again. Then we will get the chance to try to remember how to order drinks in a pub, sing at football matches and purchase a ticket for the theatre. We are not quite there yet and it will not just be enough to get things under control here. For things to truly begin to get back to somewhere near to normal the whole world needs to be able to contain this thing together. Sadly it does seem that some Countries are faring better than others at that.

Obviously nobody is totally enjoying the current situation. Life I think is about how you look at it. Try to concentrate on the things that we can do over the next few months rather than the things we cannot. Then make the most of everything you can still do within the rules. People will also begin to allow themselves to do things at their own speed when they feel comfortable enough. Some will jump back to it straight away some may wait a bit and see what happens. Each to their own! We all have to make the right decisions for ourselves.

Neil Quigley
Neil Quigley

I have now been Gluten Free for over a month after being diagnosed with Coeliac Disease. Happily I am still finding it easy to adapt my regular diet accordingly and do not really feel that I am missing out on too much. I still get way too excited when I check a bar code on my phone application and the smiley face appears telling me that it is safe for me to have it. My girlfriend is doing a sterling job giving me Gluten Free desserts as my general motto when it comes to food is that you should always end a meal with something sweet. I feared that I might have to stop with that philosophy but it is still possible even with the new restrictions I have.

I can no longer have standard Lager, Beer or Stout so I am on a little bit of a mission to find the best Gluten Free version of these options. I have already found an early leader in the Lager category. It is called Daura and made in Spain by the people that make Estrella. It is so far the closest to the real lager taste that I have found. It is completely fine for me to drink, in moderation of course. It is actually approved by Coeliac UK and has their emblem. That sign is basically a big tick for me on anything I see it on. I have studied food labelling in the last month more than at any time during my entire life.

Gluten Free Lager

For the first time since I was eighteen there was no Guinness for me on St Patrick’s Day this year, as I am no longer allowed to drink it. For many years I went to Waxy O’Connor’s in London, had a few pints of the black stuff, enjoyed the live Irish music and basically had a great time. I did not get to go last year which was a real shame. That place is my favourite pub in the Capital and I am looking forward to going there when we are allowed to once again. I will have to find a new drink to enjoy there of course.

St Patrick's Day
St Patrick’s Day

I have always felt I qualified to celebrate because not only do I have a name with Irish origin “Quigley” but my Granddad was actually born there. The family had a small holding in County Mayo. I have not had the chance to go there yet, my Uncle has and sadly the actual farm is no longer there. I would like to visit one day. I imagine it would be a bit like Ant & Dec’s DNA Journey and it would turn out that I was in some way related to everybody in the local pub. This year I raised a cup of tea to St Patrick, while wearing my green rugby shirt that I won in a competition at Waxy’s about seven years ago.

Neil Quigley

I hope you somehow managed to give your Mum a nice little treat on Mother’s Day this year. I appreciate this may not have been easy and there is a chance you have not seen her for a year or possibly longer. I ordered mine a card from a well-known greetings card website. Their name rhymes with “Spoon Wig”. It has been a tough year for everyone so I thought I would splash out a bit as she deserves it. As I was placing the order I saw an option that said giant card. I thought I would get her that. I did not bother looking at the dimensions as I honestly presumed giant meant A4 size. Why would you need one bigger than that?

Anyway I also sorted out some chocolates and arranged to get them delivered to her on the day. That afternoon she sent me a picture of her holding the card and it was massive! It was almost as big as her. It looked like one of those oversized cheques that they mock up to give big prize winners. My Mum liked it but my sister was annoyed as she got a normal sized card, so it looked like I had tried to outdo her in the appreciation stakes. That was not my intention. In fact it was simply due to me not really paying attention. I just hope she does not think all of her future cards will be this size or she is going to be very disappointed.

Giant Card!

I am generally very clumsy. In fact it is a bit worrying how often I seem to catch my arm on door frames or hit my head on cabinet doors. I often compare myself to a cross between Frank Spencer from “Some Mothers Do ‘Ave’ M and Mr Bean. I sometimes think that I could have been a slapstick comedy superstar like Norman Wisdom or Charlie Chaplin. I reckon I could easily have fell through that bar like Del Boy in Only Fools and Horses. I am not sure how I seem to manage these things.

The other week I was just walking down the stairs to get a glass of water albeit with nothing on my feet. When I tripped and somehow fell forward on to just one of my toes, which buckled under me and for a brief moment had all my weight on it. At this point it made a bit of a strange noise as I regained my footing. I thought I had broken my toe initially but now I think I might just have sprained it. Either way it has gone a very impressive colour and I have had to rest it. There is nothing more annoying than injury yourself doing something simply unexpected and ridiculous.

Neil Quigley
Neil Quigley

It was the Cheltenham Festival recently. I am a big horse racing fan so this is always one of the highlights of my year. I normally try to go on the Wednesday, obviously I could not do that this year and sadly I did not manage to get there last year. Although as that was when the Pandemic was starting to take hold of the country I was totally fine with that situation with hindsight. I watched all of the races from the comfort of my home this time. The television coverage is very good to be fair. They do it really well and make it as inclusive as possible.

Cheltenham Festival
Cheltenham Festival

The racing is always top quality at this event. It takes place at the home of National Hunt Racing. The course is set in the countryside of the Cotswolds and looks stunning. As part of the meeting there is a competition between the Irish Trainers and the rest of the United Kingdom. Ireland ran away with it this year. They had the winners of pretty much all the big races. Ireland’s Rachel Blackmore became the first female leading Jockey at the event, riding the most winners over the four days.

When it comes to any gambling the golden rule is never bet more than you can afford to lose. For example when I actually go to the races I budget in any stake money as part of the cost of the whole day and expect to spend it. If I have any winners and return with some money that is just a bonus. I had quite a good Cheltenham. I saw and had a bet on every race and ended up fifty pounds up for the week, which I was obviously very happy with. Next up in a couple of weeks it is the Grand National Festival at Aintree. I would normally be there but of course cannot do that this year. However one of my horses might be running there, which is very exciting.

Neil Quigley and Stage Star
Neil Quigley and Stage Star

I watched the film Wild Rose last weekend. Unusually this one was kind of my suggestion for a change, much to the surprise of my other half. It is about a young Scottish woman who is desperate to make it as a Country singer. That is what peaked my interest as I am a fan of that genre of music. Plus I had heard some good things about it. The cast list is impressive it features Julie Walters, Sophie Okonedo and Jessie Buckley who plays the title role. It was quite a good watch. I was hoping there would be more music in it than there was. It has a pretty gritty and real storyline.

The king of the UK Country scene Bob Harris makes a brief cameo appearance in it as does his real Radio 2 producer. The best bit for me was when Rose-Lynn goes to Nashville. I have been there and I loved it there, so it was great to see it on screen. It brought back lots of memories of my trip there. I would happily go there again. Such a cool place with live music pretty much everywhere all of the time. I do not want to spoil the ending but they kept the movie true and pretty realistic, I would say.

Nashville Broadway
Nashville Broadway

I started my weekly Pop Quiz during the first Lockdown thinking that I would do it for a few months and that would be it. It has had a few breaks but we are now on series three. Within the next month it will celebrate its first anniversary. I am planning on doing a one hour long special birthday programme. It began as a bit of a distraction and some music related fun on a Tuesday night. I never intended to still be doing it now but here we are. I am still doing it and enjoying it.

You can join in with the latest episode this Tuesday on my Facebook page at 8.30pm. As ever there will be thirty questions spread over six fun and different rounds. There is always an audio round to test your skills for recognising songs from short clips of them. I always wear the same “showbiz” jacket when I present it. I might give that away on the very last show. I really enjoy doing it but when I have to stop that means everything is back open and we are out socialising again. Here is last week’s Quigger’s Plays Pop to enjoy in case you missed it. https://www.facebook.com/796795590/videos/10164825151995591/

Neil Quigley
Neil Quigley

It has not been the best few weeks for Tottenham Hotspur. We were beaten by Arsenal in the North London Derby, which means both of us won our home games against each other this season. We then got knocked out of the Europa League by Dinamo Zagreb despite being two goals up from the first leg. We lost three nil after extra time. It was such a disappointing lacklustre performance it almost made me angry.

We did thankfully manage to beat Aston Villa away before this latest international break. That leaves us still sniffing around the top four places in the Premier League. We need one big final push between now and the end of the season.

Neil Quigley
Neil Quigley

You can still listen to me on Saturday afternoon’s between 2pm – 4pm on Radio Ninesprings https://www.radioninesprings.co.uk/

Neil Quigley
Neil Quigley

Have fun and we will catch up again soon. Stay safe! Cheers Neil.

Inject Some Humour

It is now over a year since the last time I went to the theatre, which as it happens was to see some Shakespeare at the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse at The Globe. That was kind of the final time I went out and did anything “normal” before the very first National Lockdown began. It has been an interesting twelve months during which I think we have learned a lot about ourselves and others. The situation has been a bit tough at times of course but it is improving rapidly. A little more patience and extra care now will mean that we should have a bit more scope to have a fun Summer and an easier Winter, I hope.

Sam Wannamaker Playhouse
Sam Wannamaker Playhouse

I am almost three weeks in to my new Gluten Free lifestyle after I was diagnosed with Coeliac Disease. It has taken a little bit of an adjustment to my diet. Mainly just simple small tweaks here and there. The toughest thing if I am honest is not being able to have the biscuits I would normally have after meals. I did have a few dreams about them during week one. Although I have now found a Gluten Free biscuit which I like, so all is good again on that front. I did try to eat reasonably healthily in general previously but now as there are certain things I cannot have, that has actually become even easier.

My family have been very supportive even though when we next eat together I am going to be more awkward to feed. Plus I will insist on seeing all the barcodes on any food or ingredients so that I can check they are safe for me to eat using the Coeliac UK App that I have on my phone. My girlfriend has been brilliant. She has already bought a Gluten Free Cook Book. And so far she has made me Sausage Rolls and a Pie that I was able to eat, not to mention some lovely Brownies to. I am very lucky as she loves baking and trying to make new things, so she now has a whole host of new dishes to master.

Gluten Free Pie

Due to the fact I have suffered from Asthma since the age of six and because I now have Coeliac Disease, which can affect the body’s immune system. I was fortunate enough to be offered the chance to have my first dose of the Covid Vaccination. Of Course I jumped at the opportunity and booked it in as soon as possible. My Doctors notified me that I could have the jab via a text message. It was all very easy and simple to set up. I just had a link to follow to confirm a date and time. I had it done last Friday.

My local Vaccination Centre was very handily just a five minute walk from my house. I arrived there a few minutes before my designated time. I was then asked to join a socially distanced queue. Everybody was of course wearing a mask. The line moved quickly. Before you enter the actual building you have to answer a few simple questions on your current health. Once inside you are given your own form and then you join another queue. When you get to the front of that one you are called to see one of the Vaccination team.

The one I went to was very well organised there were lots of booths set up in the room. Before you arrive the chair you sit on is sanitised. You then get asked a few more questions and they tell you which of the vaccines you are getting and explain the possible side effects. I had the AstraZeneca. I never look when I have any injections I never have. I did not even feel the needle go in and the person had to tell me when it was done as I did not even realise.

You get a card as proof that you have had the first injection to take away with you. I did not have any real problems afterwards. I just had a sore arm where the needle went in for a few days and felt a little bit more tired than normal. Personally I think that is a small price to pay for some protection against one of the nastiest viruses the world has experienced globally for around one hundred years. I am so pleased and relieved that I have had it. I still of course need to have the second one sometime in the next ten to twelve weeks and I cannot wait for it. Take care, stay safe, keep following the rules and we will beat this thing!

Neil Quigley
Neil Quigley

It was my girlfriend’s birthday a couple of weeks ago. I did spend the whole day with her which I did think should be considered a gift all by itself. But just in case she did not see it that way I also got her a few other presents. One of these was one of those wooden bath trays. They sit across it and have several compartments for a book, tablet and your phone. Plus this one had a wine glass holder. It might have been an error as I worry I may never see her again as she will be spending most of her time having a long hot soak. To mark the fact that she is developing my film education I got her a cool print from a famous scene in Pulp Fiction. That was one of the first films we saw together.

Pulp Fiction

She is a big fan of crime drama television programmes so much so that she will happily watch the foreign language ones, which are subtitled. As a result of this I think she fancies herself as a bit of a private detective. I thought she might enjoy this online event that I saw so I got us tickets for it the Saturday before her big day. It was an immersive interactive murder mystery experience via Zoom. It cost ten pounds each to join in the fun. It was set back stage at a reality dancing competition. All the characters names did seem to have a passing resemblance to existing celebrities, which to be fair did add to the fun a little.

About an hour before it starts they send you some information through about the murder along with some evidence and details on all of the potential suspects. That email also included the link to the Zoom meeting it would be hosted on. We clicked on it and joined the proceedings. At first you are in one giant meeting with all the people who have got tickets, you can chat and say hello to each other. Right from the start it is very social. Then the actor playing the Detective appears and explains how it will all work.

Everybody will be split into teams and put into different meeting rooms. Each team will have ten minutes to interview each suspect and the chance to see some more video evidence. Actors play each of the characters. They were all great and played their parts well. It was brilliant fun and a good laugh. We may have got sucked into it a bit too much and started taking it very seriously. We possibly began over thinking it a little bit to. You all get the chance to ask questions it is fair and friendly. You are on the same team with about twenty other people mostly strangers but you have to work together on cracking it.

It lasts about ninety minutes. We really enjoyed it. Annoyingly we did not get the murderer correct but we had a laugh doing it. I was really impressed with how they put it all together and presented it. I would happily recommend it if you are looking for something a bit different to entertain you, while we are still restricted to being at home during the weekend. It is being run through Design My Night and you can get your tickets from them. Be warned though it does draw you in and you will start thinking that you are the Police. I was channelling my inner D. I. Burnside from The Bill at one point.

Neil Quigley
Neil Quigley

My girlfriend had been keen to see the modern reworking of the classic Charles Dicken’s story Oliver Twist made by Sky and starring Michael Caine for ages. As it was her birthday I ran out of excuses and agreed to watch it. It is called Twist. The lead character is played by Raff Law, Jude’s son. He is basically a street artist living alone on the streets. Like the original he is an orphan. Some of the roles are gender swapped that is a nice touch but does not massively alter the story. David Walliams and Rita Ora are both in it as is Keith Lemon!

Michael Caine plays Fagan with more of an organised crime feel to his empire than the original, more Al Pacino than Ron Moody. It does have a bit of an Ocean’s Eleven feel to it. I quite enjoyed it and it kept my interest and attention. As I know the traditional film version so well I was trying to spot the links with that as the story developed. I think I may have enjoyed it more if I was not so familiar with the book. As a stand alone film it was pretty good but I was constantly doing a bit of a comparison and trying to work out how true they were being to the original in my head.

Neil Quigley
Neil Quigley

I only got around to seeing the first Coming to America film a few weeks ago mainly in preparation to be able to see the new follow up. It was funny if not a bit dated in places but then it was released back in 1988. I watched Coming to America 2 last Saturday. It was quite fun to see Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall reprise all of their roles from the original. Also no film is made worse for having the great James Earl Jones in it. It does also feature plenty of great cameos.
I was fine with the story line and the set up. All the flashbacks were cleverly done, although of course it was still pretty fresh in my mind.

There are no real surprises and you can see what is going to happen a mile off. There are some nice set pieces in it. Plus you get Wesley Snipes playing an interesting General with the strangest walk that I think I have ever seen. Like the original for me some of the best bits are when Eddie and Arsenio are playing the weird and wonderful peripheral characters like the guys in the Barber’s Shop for instance. It is not going to win any awards but it kept me entertained and it did make me laugh. Silly stupid fun with a slight hidden message behind it is what I think it is. And it does not pretend to be anything else.

Neil Quigley
Neil Quigley

Due to obvious reasons I had not done this for a while but I got a call from a production company I have worked with a few times before recently. They were looking for someone to help them out with the development of a particular gameshow that I have been involved with before. It is one that they have created and are looking to sell to a television company. To get it made and on to our screens. They needed to record a version of it to use as part of their pitch for a rather large channel.

Therefore I helped them out by playing one the contestants on it. We did it over Zoom so it was all compliant with all of the current rules and regulations. I cannot give any exact details as it is still in development. I think it is a fun and exciting game, which is not like any game shows currently. It will really get the audience engaged and playing along at home. It was such a fun afternoon doing the recording I had a great time. I have really missed doing things like this and look forward to returning to them on a more regular basis soon.

Neil Quigley
Neil Quigley

This year as part of Channel 4’s Stand Up To Cancer Fund Raising. They did a two part stand up comedy television special. It featured some random celebrities trying their hands at being a comedian at a one off gig where they had to perform a five minute set. They each had a professional comedian as their mentor to help them through the process. The celebrities were Shaun Ryder, Curtis Pritchard, Katie McGlynn, Baroness Sayeeda Warsi and the Reverend Richard Coles.

The comedians helping them were Judi Love, Nick Helm. Zoe Lyons, Jason Manford and David Baddiel. I thought they were pretty harsh as they only gave them a two week period to prepare and in that time they only got to meet up a few times. Standing in front of people and trying to make them laugh is tough. It is even harder when it is your first time doing it. It reminded me of my comedy debut and brought back a lot of memories from that time. Just because you are a good public speaker does not necessarily mean you are going to be funny. It is a whole different ball game.

Neil Quigley
Neil Quigley

I did an eight week Stand Up course with the comedy guru Logan Murray before my first gig. Each session was three hours and we had homework to do as well. That was not an issue as the whole process was so much fun. We just got together and had a right laugh. It was building up to the wonderful Tringe Festival Roving Comedy Night. Where we all made our debuts performing our five minute sets four times in four different pubs in small groups with each one led by a professional comic. I was with the fantastic Tony Law.

Logan Murray
Logan Murray

It was a wonderful experience I enjoyed it so much the adrenalin rush from the night was sensational. I have gone on to do a few gigs since but you never forget your first one! The latest show proved how tough it is and some of them faired a lot better than others. It was all in aid of a very important charity and that is the main thing. I cannot see any of them switching careers mind. When everything starts to reopen again I am very much looking forward to watching some live comedy. Hopefully I will get the chance to do some more stand up myself.

Neil Quigley
Neil Quigley

It has been a decent few weeks for my team Spurs. We managed to put some nice wins together. A few of our players now seem to be hitting a good bit of form as we begin to approach the business end of the season. We on paper seem to have a reasonable chance of now making the Europa League Quarter finals at least. Plus we are also starting to play much better and more consistently. All that goes out of the window tomorrow though as we face Arsenal in the North London derby. Form and league position counts for nothing, we just have to hope it goes our way. Come on you Spurs!

Neil Quigley
Neil Quigley

Quigger’s Plays Pop my weekly quiz on Facebook continues. I am having a lot of fun producing and writing the show. Plus it is great to have a reason to dress up and talk to people on a Tuesday evening at eight thirty. Here is a link to last week’s show if you want to see how much fun it is! https://www.facebook.com/796795590/videos/10164765615675591/

Neil Quigley
Neil Quigley

You can listen to me every Saturday afternoon between 2pm – 4pm on Radio Ninesprings https://www.radioninesprings.co.uk/

Neil Quigley
Neil Quigley

Have fun and we will catch up again soon. Stay safe! Cheers Neil.