Back to 1980 for my B100 top songs list, with the shimmering splendour of “Upside Down” by Diana Ross, a UK number 2 hit taken from the “Diana” album, a collaboration with Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards aka Chic.
Category Archives: Football
USA 2011 Chapter 1 – Dallas and Russell Osman Square
As originally posted on my Tumblr site while travelling around the USA in 2011…
So, first stop after leaving London saw me heading to Dallas for a couple of days. Starting things off well, I had a beauty of a journey over, with a free upgrade on the plane waiting for me at the gate as I boarded; surely a good start to any trip. First night in Dallas then involved some brief exploring and a light drink before reality set in as I realised it was actually about 2am UK time and I’d probably had about five hours kip in about two days.
USA 2011 Chapter 6 – St Petersburg
As originally posted on my Tumblr site while travelling around the USA in 2011…
St Petersburg (Florida version not Russian city) is part of the Tampa Bay area alongside the slightly larger city of Tampa, a zone probably most famous in the UK due to the NFL’s Glazer owned Tampa Bay Buccaneers, although the Tampa Bay Rays baseball team actually play in St Petersburg itself. I chose to stay in St Petersburg (or St Pete’s as everyone calls it) as it was meant to be a bit more relaxed than Tampa with a livelier nightlife so that sounded the best place in this part of Florida to visit en route to Miami. I ended up staying here 3 nights in all as I realised that leaving on Sunday morning as per my original plan probably wasn’t such a good idea; a decision made on the Saturday morning when feeling a little delicate really.
After arriving Friday afternoon and scouting out the city, I went on a huge bar crawl, starting at this great sports bar called Ferg’s, right by Tropicana Field where the MLB Tampa Bay Rays play. An old converted petrol station originally, this place is huge and I can imagine is very lively on match days. Met some new “buddies” there and had a great night moving all around St Pete’s, resulting in probably my biggest hangover of the trip yet. Also, saw some massive tropical storms on the same day that Glastonbury coincidentally (or not) started.
A cheery welcome from the local paper in St Petersburg, which I read in between some torrential downpours in the “sunshine state”
Euro 2016 haiku previews: Groups E and F
The last of my haiku previews before Euro 2016 kicks off, featuring Belgium, Ireland, Italy and more. Previous haiku previews: Groups A and B, Groups C and D. Continue reading
Euro 2016 haiku previews: Groups C and D
Following on from haiku previews for Euro 2016 groups A and B, it makes sense to now take a look at groups C and D. These groups include favourites such as Germany and Spain plus the home nation outsiders Northern Ireland. Final haiku preview also coming soon…
Euro 2016 haiku previews: Groups A and B
In a flight of fancy that perhaps would have been more appropriate for the 2002 World Cup, I have decided to preview all 24 teams ahead of Euro 2016 using the brief Japanese form of poetry that is the haiku.
For anyone not aware, a haiku consists of only 17 syllables in total, split into 3 lines of 5-7-5. Japanese haikus tend to be fairly wise, they are also obviously short. My haiku previews can at least be said to be short, we will see how wise they are as Euro 2016 progresses.
This blog looks at the teams in groups A and B, the remainder will be posted over the next couple of days. OK: one, two, haiku… Continue reading
Euro 2016 countdown: Ad campaigns
It’s now just 3 weeks to go till Euro 2016 kicks off in France on Friday 10th June, and while the tournament itself will have some way to go in order to match the still incredible story of Leicester City’s domestic Premier League triumph, the extra home nation interest this year will undoubtedly see passion levels run high once Euro 2016 actually starts.
Summer football events such as the Euros are now also an established part of the marketing and promotion calendar for many brands – for both official sponsors and other companies – so I’ve taken a look on my Clear Digital blog at how some of them have so far embraced this opportunity. Read on at: “Euro 2016 campaigns kick off: Carlsberg, Currys, Chris Kamara, cakes…“
Do the collapse (again): Adelaide Ashes Test, 3rd to 10th December 2013
As originally posted on my Tumblr site just after the events of each Ashes Test in 2013/14 – and it looks like I was already starting to be resigned to a disappointing England performance from the very first line… Cricinfo match scorecard here
Second main city then, second crushing defeat in the cricket. I’m writing this blog en route to Perth, where for the benefit of non-cricket obsessives, England pretty much never win (and was the only place we lost when beating the Aussies 3-1 three years ago, which is seeming a long time ago now). But enough of that doom and gloom, what about Addo itself? Well, although it actually doesn’t seem the liveliest of places – not that surprising for a place nicknamed the “city of churches” – looking back on my week here, there was quite a lot to get up to, while also mainly managing to keep away from the Barmy Army when not at the cricket. Also, I caught up a fair bit with my old work colleague Simon during the week, who was out here with his brother-in-law Colin to catch the cricket, so it’s been good to have some comrades to also dissect each day’s painful play with and more besides.
Lovely ground, shame about the result – at the Adelaide Oval…
No Longer Teenage Fan Club 