Tag Archives: christmas
Happy New Year 2022
I hope you had a nice Christmas whatever you managed to do. I had a lovely quiet and relaxing one with my parents. I cooked us a nice fry up to start the day off in the correct way in the morning. We then all had a cup of tea while we were exchanging cards and presents in the Living Room. I was very lucky getting the new books by both Paddy McGuinness and Rob Beckett. I also got some other fun items like socks, a new Spurs clock and a notepad. I am a lists man and like to write lots of “to do” lists and then I take great pleasure in crossing out the items when I have completed those tasks.
On Christmas Day we had a nice afternoon listening to music and having a few beers. We ate dinner fairly late at around half past four. We all helped with the preparation and the cooking of the meal so it really was a team effort. There were of course a couple of glasses of pre-dinner Prosecco before we opened a very nice bottle of red to accompany our food. Due to it being my first gluten free festive dinner I did have to miss out on a few items this year like a Yorkshire pudding but I more than made up for that by having my own special cheesecake for dessert.
We then watched some television together including the Christmas Strictly Come Dancing Special which was good fun, it was a cool and interesting mix of people taking part in it, just what we needed some colour and accidental comedy. This was followed by the new version of Blankety Bank with Bradley Walsh. The format is of course still silly and amusing in equal measure. As you would expect he did a great job hosting the programme bearing in mind he is following in the footsteps of Terry Wogan, Les Dawson and Paul O’Grady who had all put their own unique stamp on it. We clearly had the taste for game shows at that point as we also saw The Wheel with Michael McIntyre.
I always tend to have quite an early night on Christmas Day I do not know if that is due to all the excitement or possibly the alcohol and food consumed but one thing is for sure I always sleep well on that night. Boxing Day was very low key I just relaxed at home and then watched some sport on the television in the end. Until the evening when I decided to open some wine that I had been given and to listen to some music. Somehow I got a little bit carried away with it all as I did not actually get to bed until 2am in the end but I had a great time and listened to a lot of classic tunes.
Lynda and I did not see each over Christmas but that was because a while ago we had booked ourselves a two night stay at a hotel in Oxford for the extra Bank Holiday nights. We wanted to go away together post main festive season but did not really want to travel too far so that is why we picked the location we did. It was then just a case of deciding where to stay. It was while we were looking for hotels in the city that we stumbled across the Malmaison. It is a luxury hotel but built in an old prison building where they have kept a lot of the original features of the place and made it into a kind of themed venue. It looks equally stunning and yet imposing from the outside.
We booked a double cell room. The rooms have been created by knocking three of the original cells together. They are jail themed from the carpets to the items of furniture but they are classy and nice. They do have a cell style door on the front for a bit of fun. We were staying in A wing on the fourth floor. They have very cleverly kept the old original walkways so it does feel like you are in a prison albeit a very nice one. It reminded me a bit of the set for the old TV comedy Porridge as happily my experience with the insides of any prisons is limited.
We arrived and checked in then went up to see our room. It is a fun place to stay which I guess is a bit odd when you consider what it used to be. We were both quite surprised to learn that it was still an operational prison right up until 1996. In the room we had a cup of tea and gave each other our Christmas presents. I got some brilliant cuff links with headphones and a DJ Deck on them and the new book by Barrack Obama and Bruce Springsteen. Next we decided to head downstairs and explore the place. We managed to find the bar. They just happened to have a very extensive Cocktail menu so we thought it would have been rude not to try a few so we did.
We managed to book a table at the restaurant there. The food was very good, we had a lovely meal. I would certainly recommend eating there if you get the chance. As we were on “holiday” we returned to the bar area for a few more drinks after we had eaten then retired to our cell for the night just before lights out of course. We had the foresight to include breakfast in our stay and the common sense to book our slot for 10.30am so we did get to have a bit of a lie in and some time to ease into the day a little. Breakfast was again in the restaurant where we ate the previous night and it was very nice.
In the hotel they have still kept one of the cells in its original state so we went and found that. It was certainly a lot smaller and a lot less luxurious than the new rooms that they have created. Next we took a stroll around Oxford. It is a city that does have a lot of stunning buildings to enjoy. The walk lasted about ninety minutes although we did stop for a cup of tea in a Coffee Shop while we were out. It was then back to the hotel to relax for a bit. I had a bath which was very relaxing while watching Tottenham play which was as ever a lot less relaxing. We had booked a table for dinner at the local Cote but still went for some early evening Cocktails in the hotel bar again.
We had a nice meal at Cote. I like it there as they have a good gluten free menu plus they are accredited with Coeliac UK, which means I can relax and be confident that it is safe for me to eat there. The food is always decent. I had a fantastic fillet steak and a very nice prawn starter, then I finished the meal off with a winter berries Pavlova. We returned to the hotel and had a few final drinks before we went to bed. The next morning we got up and had our breakfast before leaving jail and returning to our homes. It was a lovely couple of nights away and a nice extension to our Christmas period. It was a quirky and different place to stay, I am glad we got to experience it.
As we embark on a brand new year I am looking forward to any new adventures and opportunities that will hopefully come my way in the next twelve months. There are no personal changes that I feel I need to make this January plus if I did I would normally address them as they arose rather than waiting. Like everyone I would just like to be healthy and happy while enjoying fun times with lots of laughter. I do not have any particular big plans but I do have a rather nice holiday booked for a week’s time which will make a very nice start to 2022.
Last night we had a little gathering at Lynda’s to see in the New Year in style. We had a few drinks, some amazing food and played a few games to say goodbye to 2021 and welcome in 2022. I had a brilliant time it was good fun. Happy New Year! I hope you achieve all that you want to in the next year and I wish you all the best. There is still a little bit of uncertainty about how things in some areas will pan out but I am sure everything will look a lot better by the middle of the year and we will finally be pushing through the unusual times of the last two years.
My team Tottenham Hotspur are as ever flattering to deceive, we have had some good home wins and performances but even the great Antonio Conte has not quite managed to get us firing on all cylinders away as yet. I have no doubt given time he will. It has been an old saying for years when it comes to supporting teams but it really is the hope that kills you. They win a few games and have a few matches in hand so as a fan you start to get a little bit carried away and then you are brought crashing back down to earth with a draw away to ten men Southampton.
We have been removed from the Europa Conference now for not being able to play our final group game. But I am totally fine with that and always thought the competition was more of a hindrance then a benefit. Spurs are in the Semi-Final of the league cup against Chelsea and we can also still go for FA Cup glory. We are not going to win the league obviously but if we could pick up a long overdue trophy of any kind that would be a really good season. Come on you Spurs!
I was delighted this week when one of my horses Stage Star won a huge race at Newbury. It was a Grade 1 event which is the highest category in racing terms. It is a massive achievement for Owner’s Group and the horse looks like he might be something a bit special with a lot of luck of course. Thanks to the champion trainer Paul Nicholls for getting him ready for it and to the jockey Harry Cobden who rode him perfectly on the day. I was screaming and shouting the house down during the latter part of the race a brilliant moment to enjoy and savour.
A quick reminder that you can listen to me every Saturday afternoon between 2pm – 4pm on Radio Ninesprings https://www.radioninesprings.co.uk/
Happy New Year! Have fun and we will catch up again soon. Stay safe! Cheers Neil.
Happy New Year 2021
I hope that you had a nice and enjoyable Christmas however you spent it, all things considered. I suspect your celebrations were more than likely a little bit different this year. I had a very quiet one at home without a few of the things that had become a staple part of my day. For example this was the first year since I was eighteen that I have not been to the pub to meet some members of my family for a quick pre-dinner drink. That was always a highlight and set me up for the afternoon nicely, but for obvious reasons that did not happen.
This did mean that I did not have any deadlines to meet or places to be, which in turn did lead to a much more laid back morning. I had a big fry up with sausages, bacon and eggs for breakfast as has always been the tradition. I have not been to Church on Christmas Day for many years since the morning I went with my dad while I was still a bit drunk from the night before, which was not ideal. This decision was unaltered by the current conditions. Therefore with no places available to get alcohol either the pub or the church I made myself a cup of tea and opened my presents.
I am always extremely grateful for any gift I receive I got a few things that I needed and had requested like a new dressing gown and tie in the team colours of the horses that I own shares in. I had also asked for the latest Dolly Parton Book. It is basically her life story told with the help of the lyrics of one hundred and seventy-five of her songs. I expected it to be a normal sized book that you could read on a train or in bed. I was wrong it is the size of a suitcase and weighs a ton. I am going to need to buy a crane or a music stand to read it. That said I am very much looking forward to completing it.
I did make a lot of phone and video calls. It was great to see and catch up with people albeit of course not in person. We still had a good chat and a bit of a laugh. I will admit that I made sure I had a decent supply of red wine to help move the day along a bit. I did also try to message online or text as many people as I could in case they were on their own, so at least they could have a bit of interaction with somebody on Christmas Day.
Morecambe and Wise are always a massive part of my annual festive celebrations. I could just watch them all day long. They are fantastic. It has been quite tough for some this year, but for some perspective when the two comedy greats were starting out in the early days and working in the theatres. Long before the big television shows. They on occasions spent Christmas Day alone together in their lodgings and were struggling so much at that time dinner would be a can of tuna between them. Christmas was not what we wanted it to be this year but I suspect yours was hopefully still better than that! It does highlight the old adage that it is not where you start but where you finish that is important.
I did watch the Queen’s Speech which I thought was perfect. She has a nice calming voice and she says simple things which seem logical and also make lots of sense. I have said this before but I do wonder if any of our politicians have thought about trying this approach. I did spend the rest of the evening watching television as to be fair there was not much else to do. I took my first look at Michael McIntyre’s new game show The Wheel which is quite good fun if not a little bit random. I then watched the new one off version of Blankety Blank hosted by Bradley Walsh. That was quite enjoyable and nostalgic. He did a great job and the panel were all good on it to.
I ended the day with the Britain’s Got Talent Special. That was easy to absorb and entertaining, which is what is required when you are full of chocolates and grapes by that time of the evening. It was nice to see the judges joining in with the acts and some familiar faces on it. It was filmed with a Zoom audience which meant we did get a bit of laughing and clapping. I then went to bed only to have a pretty similar Boxing Day the day after. It was more low key than normal that is for sure but I still feel that I enjoyed this year and made the best of it.
During the last twenty-five years I have spent a lot of New Year’s Eve’s doing gigs or working on radio shows. This included a run of ten in a row. They were always great fun and as a DJ it is very hard to have a bad night as everybody is well up for the party. When I was at the BBC I did manage to watch the fireworks on the South Bank of London from the roof of Old Broadcasting House. That was a pretty surreal experience. As I worked a lot on this night normally when I did not have a job I was more than happy to just stay in and have the night to myself. Therefore staying in and doing that this year did not really bother me at all.
I had a nice relaxed evening listening to music while enjoying a few drinks. I stayed up until after midnight to welcome in the New Year then went to bed and just slept until I naturally woke up. I suspect my neighbours were relieved that I did not do what I did seven years ago and have a four hour karaoke marathon with a mate of mine. To be fair to them they never complained but sadly I am tone deaf and cannot sing a note so it would not have been a good listen, although I did actually really enjoy it.
Happy New Year, have a brilliant 2021. Things will improve for us this year, patience and empathy to each other will I think be the key. We will get there!
I gave up making New Year’s Resolutions a long time ago. I never really stuck to them and my view was that if I thought that I had to make those changes to my lifestyle I should do them when required and not wait for a certain date. That said I do often try to eat more healthily for January. Sometimes I will try to take a month or so off the booze, depending on what events I already have in the diary.
As I have got older I have tried to exercise and eat more sensibly. I think setting goals for the year is a good thing whether that is personally or professionally. But nobody will be able to change their life in any way unless they really want to. And if you have been putting it off until now may be you do not want it enough.
We all have lots of challenges ahead of us during the next twelve months some of them we know about and some of them will appear out of nowhere and take us by surprise. All we can do I think is deal with them the best we can. We are obviously still trying to get the virus under control, which we will have to work together to achieve. It will also be our first year outside the European Union for more than forty-five years, so that may take a while to adjust to. I am a very positive person, so let us all have a successful and productive year that we can all be proud of.
I watched the Christmas Special of Upstart Crow during the festive period. I am fan of both Ben Elton the writer and David Mitchell who stars in it, I think they are great. It was as ever very clever. What Ben has always done with this show is although it is about the life of one William Shakespeare he has always woven in lots of topical jokes. He just makes them fit in with the time that the play write was alive. It was a double header episode with David and the brilliant Gemma Whelan set during The Plague. Therefore a lot of the jokes were of course actually about the current situation that we find ourselves in.
I have been to see a recording of one of the previous episodes. Ben Elton came out and did a bit of stand up as part of the warm up. The whole cast are fantastic. David Mitchell is so good at remembering and delivering those ace monologues that are written for him. I do like that each show is also linked to a particular one of his plays. It is almost too genius for its own good. I was looking forward to seeing the stage version of it in the West End but sadly due to you know what its run was cut short before I had the chance.
Just over two years ago now I got a very excited phone call from a mate of mine telling me that he had managed to get invited to a low key secret gig at The Cavern Club in Liverpool. It was all very cloak and dagger. He found out about it at the last minute. And then got to witness a private concert by Sir Paul McCartney at the place where things really started to take off for him and his band “The Beatles”. (Yes I know the current Cavern is not the original as it was knocked down years before the replica was built but it was the best he could do to keep it traditional).
It was shown on the BBC over Christmas and is still on the I-player now. I have been to the Cavern quite a few times and it is a tight, small and cosy venue. My friend had managed to get himself right at the front just to the left of the stage. At the end of the first song the camera cuts to him and it looks like Paul thanks him personally. He is understandably made up about that. It was a great gig he does some Beatles songs, a few from his Wings days and a selection of his solo tracks. He is playing with his actual band. That plays with him on all of his Arena Concerts.
He is such a talented musician and performer and as ever he moves effortlessly from playing the bass, to the guitar to the Keyboards and back again. It was a pretty similar set to the one I saw him play at the O2 Arena about four months later. My mate pops up on screen a few more times at random moments. At one point claiming it was his big Birthday when it wasn’t. That happens for him this year. He is a huge McCartney fan so to see him play this gig in his hometown is one of the highlights of his life. If you did not catch it and you are a fan of his it is definitely worth watching.
Things have not quite been going so well for my team recently as we managed to jump from first to eighth place in the Premier League in a week. However as a Tottenham Hotspur fan I am well used to this sort of thing and it never surprises me. We appear to be having a bit of a dip I just hope it does not last for too long.
On the plus side we are still doing alright in all the cup competitions. It would be nice to win a trophy this year. After all it has been a while now. We have a lot of big games coming up, I will as ever watch the matches support them and see what happens.
You can listen to me still on Saturday afternoon’s between 2pm – 4pm on Radio Ninesprings https://www.radioninesprings.co.uk/
Happy New Year! Have fun and we will catch up again soon. Stay safe! Cheers Neil.
Forty-Four Is The New Twenty-Five
It was my birthday on Thursday 10th December. I am just putting the full date here in case you missed it so that you do not make the same mistake next year. It is often difficult to know how to mark an occasion like this when it is not a landmark age. This year I decided to stay in and spend the day at home. Annoyingly this was exactly what I did last year to. Hindsight is a wonderful thing and if possible never waste an opportunity to go out on your special day. That said I did have a lovely time.
The morning was exactly the same as any other day, apart for me opening my cards over breakfast. That is a once a year occurrence. I must say I was very lucky and extremely fortunate to receive all the cards I did. I appreciate the world is not normal and a simple thing like buying and sending a card could be more complicated depending on your circumstances. There were some very funny ones, which I am a big fan of. Yes being all sweet and nice is lovely but what can I say I just love a laugh!
I got some great presents. One of which was Philip Schofield’s new autobiography “Life is What You Make It” wise words Phil. I think I have mentioned this previously I only read autobiographies and I am really looking forward to reading this one. Probably in January as I tend to make the first few months of the year my main reading time. I remember watching him as a kid and I have seen him present shows while in television studios myself and he is a master at it. I wonder if there will be any unexpected twists in it. Yes I know there will be. I do follow the news.
I got a new pen and a special book to put all my passwords in. At the minute I have them all written in an old diary in a random order and sometimes it can take hours to find the one I need. Why is it you now have to have an account for everything you use online? I swear even Johnny Five could not remember all my logins in his head. Anyway I am looking forward to becoming more organised on this front. I also got a special black book in which to log my horse racing bets to help in my quest to find a better system than the one Derren Brown used on his television show around ten years ago.
In the afternoon my girlfriend came over to basically chat and have tea. As I am proper rock and roll on my big day. She got me a Yoga mat that I had asked for by the way. It was not just a subtle hint from her. Not something I thought I would need before 2020 but I have started doing regular sessions online since April. I am quite literally out of control. She also got me an Elvis Presley Face Mask and Elvis themed card and cake. I guess constantly showing her pictures of my trip to Graceland and owning a white Las Vegas style jumpsuit may have led her in this direction for gift giving.
Then in the evening I had a Dominos take away, which I of course got delivered. That is the law if you order from them surely. I try to eat healthily in the week normally, so Pizza on a Thursday was a big treat for me. I washed it all down with a very nice bottle of red wine. For reference it was a Rioja Grand Reserva which I prefer to be six to eight years old, just in case you are ever in a position when you might need to buy me some wine. You are welcome!
Like we all do I over ordered on the Dominos front, so I was still eating the Pizza for lunch and dinner on the Friday. This may be an unpopular opinion but I think it tastes even better cold the next day. To top off my birthday Tottenham Hotspur won their final game in the Europa League and progressed as group winners. A wonderful end to arguably the second most important birthday in December! I had a great day and might have to stay in next year. Although I hope that will be more of a personal and free choice by then.
The Saturday Night before my special day I got given a pre-birthday surprise from my girlfriend. She had booked us an online Cheese and Wine Evening. It was organised by a Cheese company based in York. They send you the food and drink in advance. The cheese and wines are all numbered so you know which order to consume them in and which pairs go together. We set up all the cheeses and wines in the correct order. Then at 8pm the couple who own the company do a Facebook live. That you log on to.
They then take you through each of the Cheese and Wine pairings telling you what you should smell and taste from each, as well as a bit of background information about them. It is pretty low key and laid back. They just hold it from on the sofa in their living room. It does feel a little bit like you have gate crashed their evening but it makes it feel very inclusive. On the particular one that we were doing all the Cheese and Wines were from England. It was a varied wine selection. We had White, Rose, Red and a Port with Sloe Gin combination. The Cheese’s covered quite a spectrum to including soft and blue.
It was fun to eat and drink online with them. The portions are quite generous but we still managed to finish all of the wine and most of the cheese. The whole thing lasts about an hour and an half. It did feel a bit like having a night out yet while still being at home, which in the current climate is great. We enjoyed ourselves so much that we have signed up for another one at the end of January. The company that runs it are called Love Cheese. They are it seems quite a small business who started doing this for customers in York at the start of Lockdown. It has now built up and gathered pace from all around the country. Best of luck to them!
I watched The Royal Variety Performance on the TV the other week. I normally watch it every year obviously things were a little different for this one. It came from a theatre in Blackpool which was in Tier 3, so they could not have an audience there. To get round this they had a Zoom audience and put them on big screens in the stalls, so that all the performers could see them and at least feel they were playing to an audience. Although due to the delay I suspect they all had to try to adjust their natural timing slightly. It looked a bit like a Science Fiction film where the machines had taken over and they were all performing to save their lives.
It was hosted by Jason Manford. I thought he did a brilliant job. It was always going to be a bit strange and tough but the pitch and the tone of it was perfect. I interviewed him once and he was fantastic so friendly and easy to chat to. I also saw his last stand up tour and that was very funny to. The line-up as you would expect for such a show was top class. I enjoyed all of the acts. All things considered it all worked out really well. Even with people having to quite rightly make sure they socially distanced on stage, unless they were in a bubble. It was ultimately fun and uplifting which is something we can all use at the moment. Thanks and well done to everyone involved.
Last Saturday I enjoyed some online live streamed theatre. The Old Vic in London is staging a production of “A Christmas Carol” over the festive period. The classic story which surely is a staple part of most people’s annual celebrations stars Andrew Lincoln as Scrooge. It is very clever how they are doing it. There is obviously no audience in the theatre. All the cast are performing in a socially distanced way. They have lots of different cameras which are all mixed together to give the illusion of the actors being next to each other.
Obviously you know what happens it is a narrative that everyone is familiar with. They do it very well and even though it is on screen I must say they keep you captivated and it does have that live feel to it. To be able to watch it you have to purchase a ticket online. Then on the day of the performance they send you a link via email. You then watch it from your home on Zoom.
It is proving quite popular there were four thousand people seeing it from all over the world on the night we saw it. It was great and sadly the closest that I will get to the theatre this Christmas. My favourite version of this age old story is The Muppets take on it. That is the only version to my knowledge that has comedy rats it in.
At the time of writing my team Tottenham Hotspur are still second in the Premier League. The one slight disappointment of this is that due to circumstances that I am sure you are aware of I cannot take my usual season ticket seat and cheer them on inside the stadium. Typical of Spurs to be doing better than usual with no fans in the ground! I do miss my days out at the football. It has not been all plain sailing. And I suspect there are still plenty more twists and turns to come yet.
This season so far has left me with that age old conundrum. We are possibly not playing as consistently exciting football as we were a couple of years ago but we are winning more games. Do not get me wrong we are playing some great stuff in patches and have so many amazing players. I have no complaints at all. But there is always that thought about if you would rather your team played brilliant football or were winning football matches. You think you want entertaining games but if you are honest you really just want them to win the match!
We of course have the busy Christmas period to come and there is still a long way to go this season but even to be in contention still is a huge positive. Personally I just hope that if we are at least still in the running for the title in April and May. That I will be able to safely go to see the last home games. I have admitted before that I had never really been a Mourinho fan prior to his appointment at Spurs. But clearly he does have something either top tactical knowledge or a philosophy that works, as he has definitely had a big effect on the squad and their attitude. I cannot believe I am saying it but he might actually be special you know!
This will be the last time we speak before Christmas. Unsurprisingly I am planning a quiet and low key one this year. It is what I feel is the most sensible and safest thing to do. Whatever you do and however you celebrate this year have a fantastic time. Do stay safe and look after yourself and each other. This year do make sure you call or text people who either you would normally see or who you think might be alone. They will really appreciate it and it will make you feel good and give you a nice warm glow.
It has not been the year any of us wanted or intended. We have all had things cancelled and been massively restricted in what we can do. However I have had as ever a good laugh, still done some cool and new things. For starters I had never even heard of Zoom and now I have an account and a green screen for my backgrounds. An example of taking something forced on you and making it fun and personalising it.
Things will improve and get better we are moving in the right direction. Look at it this way this Christmas will possibly be more memorable than most. However you choose to spend it. Have fun! Festive best wishes to you and yours!
My good friend Mike Sterling has a charity single out in aid of the DKMS, Anthony Nolan and The Aplastic Anaemia Trust charities. It is available at all major online music stores. In honour of a little girl he knows called Evie, who happily thanks to This Morning found the Stem Cell donor she needed. It is a cover version of Mariah Carey’s Hero.
You can listen to me still on Saturday afternoon’s between 2pm – 4pm on Radio Ninesprings https://www.radioninesprings.co.uk/
A very Happy Christmas to you! Thanks for reading the blog this year. Have fun and we will catch up again soon. Stay safe! Cheers Neil.
Happy New Year 2020
The Monday before Christmas my mum and I went to The Royal Albert Hall to see a performance of their Annual Carol Concert. It was actually one of her presents from last Christmas. She had not been to the famous venue and wanted to go, I said I would take her and gave her the choice to see whatever she wanted there. She then opted for the carols, which meant in the end she had to wait almost twelve months for this gift.
We arrived at the iconic building forty minutes before the afternoon show was due to start, having walked up there from the High Street Kensington tube station. It does look very imposing from outside. I made sure we had some decent seats, so for the first time ever when I have been there I walked down the stairs on entry to the floor level. Then we enjoyed a glass of wine each, well we had to loosen up the vocal cords before all the singing.
We took our seats ready for the concert to begin. On them waiting for us was the words to all the carols and songs, that we would be invited to join in with. The music for the afternoon was provided by The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Richard Cooke. It goes without saying that they were amazing.
It was all hosted by the wonderful Greg Beardsell, who did a totally brilliant job of it. There was a mixture of performances from the Orchestra on their own along with the two choirs involved. But then for certain songs we all would stand up and join in, sometimes conducted by the Maestro.
The show was in two halves with an interval in the middle. During which, yes I did have another glass of wine, well it was Christmas. During part two Joe Stilgoe came on and did a few swing numbers with the orchestra, which were great. We also had the Royal College of Music perform on the hand bells and Bugle players from the Royal Grenadier Guards Band. The Orchestra were really getting in to it. A special mention to the two members who dressed up as Rudolph and a snowman, you were both hilarious!
It was a fabulous afternoon spent at one of the best places for music in the world. It was lovely to see my mum really enjoying herself. She was joining in with all the carols and songs, having a brilliant time. It is a beautifully presented show and feels very Christmassy. They set it perfectly for it, the lighting and the trees are wonderful. Full of the spirits for the festive season we had a very nice meal at The Potting Shed opposite Marylebone Station, before we got the train home. It was just a totally joyful day spending quality time with my mum.
It was a pretty text book Neil Quigley Christmas this year. It started with the traditional Christmas Day fried breakfast, which I find does set the day up nicely. We then got together and gave each over our presents, while enjoying a nice cup of tea. I did very well this year, I got a Spurs coaching team top, a luxury wine tasting evening, copies of Elton John’s and Billy Connolly’s new books and a voucher for the Tottenham Hotspur Club Shop.
We then toasted the day with a nice glass of Champagne, before I went to the pub to meet my Uncle and Cousin. That is something I have been doing since I have been old enough to drink. I have a few pints, which I find puts me in the perfect mood for the rest of the fun ahead of me. I always like to walk to and from the pub as it is the only exercise I do on the day. Plus I think it creates more space ready to fully enjoy the Turkey with all the trimmings dinner that we always have. My dad was head Chef this year and the meal was splendid. It was washed down with a very nice red wine. All finished off by some Chocolate Cheesecake and lastly Cheese and Biscuits.
Once the food had been digested it was then time to get the games out. My dad had looked out the old Wii for us to play, although he could only find one working controller and two games for it. They were Ten Pin Bowling. That we could all play against each other on. I think we each won a least one game. And a table tennis game which we had to take turns battling the computer on. I do not think any of us managed to win against it. We were all clearly a little bit out of practice. I reckon we probably played these games for a couple of hours. One thing it proved was that we are a very competitive family, although to be honest I think we already knew that.
After my dad and sister had taken her dog for a walk we played a new game that I had purchased specially for the occasion. It was the “Who Am I Game”. You take a card and put it on your forehead then you have to guess who you are by asking the rest of the family lots of questions. It was a good laugh and if I do say so myself I reckon I was the best at it.
We had a nice early supper while we were watching the Christmas Special of Strictly Come Dancing. I thought the lovely Debbie McGhee and Kevin Clifton were the deserved winners by the way. This pretty much brought to a close another fun and dare I say successful Quigley family Christmas.
I have been a massive Star Wars fan for as long as I can remember. As a child I used to have a huge collection of Star Wars figures that included a Millennium Falcon. I am still a bit gutted that I decided to sell them about five years ago, to be honest. I have always loved the original three films.
I dutifully watched all the prequels even though for some reason they did not have the same feel as the other films. Then in the last few years they gave us two new films continuing the original story and for me crucially featuring some of the original cast members and characters. The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi made me feel just like a little kid again, when I watched them. The nostalgia there was real!
Therefore when the final ever Star Wars film The Rise of Skywalker was released I had to see it on the very first morning. I had booked a ticket in advance to see it at eleven thirty at the Odeon Cinema in Aylesbury. I was feeling very excited when I bought the ticket, so I pushed the boat out and paid the extra two pound fifty to have a deluxe seat, right in the middle of screen. I did not know completely what to expect as I had avoided all the gossip about it, so I could see it with no preconceived ideas.
I am not going to give any spoilers away. I really enjoyed it as it was in the same style as the previous two and original three films as far as I am concerned. The thing they all have in common is that despite all the adversity that is going on there is a nice humour that just runs through it.
There are some nods to all of the original films in it. It is a little bit like a love letter to the brand in lots of ways. There are a few twists and turns that I must admit I did not see coming. The ending for me was perfectly acceptable. It was never going to be an easy thing to try to tie up after nine films spanning over forty odd years.
It is a shame it has all come to an end in a way though. But all good things must come to an end at some point!
I enjoyed going to watch Tottenham play Brighton on Boxing Day despite the early kick off. That meant there was no lie in for me. The game itself was not brilliant but we won and I had a few drinks with some friends, which is always a winner, at this time of the year. We then managed to draw away to Norwich and lose at Southampton, which leaves us in sixth place in the Premier League at the moment.
With a bit of luck we could have been a bit higher up but we could of quite easily been a bit further down it to. A week today I will be at the Stadium to see us play the Premier League Champions elect Liverpool. That is going to be a very tough game to say the least.
In between Christmas and New Year I was at home one evening when I suddenly started hearing some loud bangs. I was curious as to what it was, so I opened my front door to have a look. For probably about twenty years now Jay Kay from Jamiroquai has lived in the same area as me.
He is known for occasionally throwing some quite lavish parties. I suspect he was that night, as I stood outside for ten minutes watching the most spectacular fireworks display. It was amazing and as good as you would see anywhere on New Year’s Eve itself.
A mate of mine is a big Wycombe Wanderers fan so I went with him to see The Chairboys play Coventry over the festive period. We did make a day of it and had a few drinks in High Wycombe before and after the match. That as it turned out was the highlight because the home team did not play very well at all. They went one down early in the game, got back to one all then gifted the visitors a goal about a minute later. The Sky Blues went on to win the contest comfortably.
It finished one – four. It was the second time I had seen them play this season. The previous time they beat Southend United and deserved to. Since then they have gone on to top the table and even after a testing Christmas period are still four points clear in League One. I do feel that to maintain that position they need to play better than in the last game I saw. But I understand they are missing several key players through injury. It would be an amazing achievement if they did reach the Championship. I wish them luck for the remainder of the season.
I did not really do much for New Year’s Eve this time. I met up with a friend and we just had a few drinks in a couple of local pubs. It was a decent night joking around and listening to music. At midnight we all did the traditional Auld Lang Syne bit. Then we wished everyone a Happy New year, before heading home. I will be honest when I did get in I actually ended up having a couple of glasses of wine, while listening to music, so I still did not get to bed until gone two. It was for me the perfect way to see in the new decade. I totally enjoyed it!
New Year’s Day I cooked dinner for my parents and sister. We ate in the evening. I rustled up a roast beef dinner. That was pretty good. I would not say I am a brilliant cook but I can put together a decent meal. I was particularly impressed with my roast potatoes light and fluffy on the inside with a slight crispness to the outside. Before the food I opened a bottle of Champagne, so we could properly toast the New Year. Start as you mean to go on, drinking bubbly. Cheers!
Personally I have not made any big plans or set any real goals for the next twelve months. I aim to eat a little bit more healthily in January, to normalise slightly after Christmas eating. I guess I do plan to be a better person than I was the year before. I do like to try to progress and improve as time goes forward. I want to see and do as much as I possibly can. I want to do lots of things that I enjoy and that make me happy. Resolutions normally get broken, while I think loose goals can always be met, just to different levels of success, depending on how you do. Whatever you want to achieve this year, I wish you all the best with it and I know you can do it!
Tonight I am going to an old mate’s fortieth birthday party. We first met when he was just eighteen years old. The strange thing is that he always looked older than he was, so all these years later he does not actually look any different. It is sure to be a fun night, hopefully with a few familiar faces that I have not seen for a while there. Plus who does not like an excuse to actually go out on the first weekend of the New Year.
Have fun, Happy New Year all the best for 2020. We will catch up again in a couple of weeks. Cheers Neil.