Arsenal 2 - 1 Aston Villa...

A win at last! Spencer and I went to the Emirates Stadium to watch the mighty Arsenal take on Aston Villa last Saturday. It was a bit if as scrappy win but we'll take it. Two great goals from Santi Cazorla.

After wards we went to the Rocket for one. Spencer met a mate with a mohawk called Steve and they chatted hair products. The way you do.

Good Boy...

Dogs are tough. I've been interrogating this one for hours and he still won't tell me who a good boy is.

Light Show...

Yesterday Stu and I went to see Light Show at the Hayward Gallery on London's glitzy South Bank.

Optical illusions, shining LEDs and subtle light changes all combined and juxtaposed over 22 pieces made for a short but dazzling show.

Some of the flashing stropes left us somewhat disorientated but all in all a good watch.

Leaks...

Two (count then TWO) floods when I got home last night. Builders, huh? Spent the evening finding the source of the leaks... trying to stop the leaks... mopping up after the leaks .. Bah! And then awoke at 3:30am is morning and couldn't get off again. Bah!

Wenger...

Arsenal last won a trophy back in 2005 and the 'crazy frog ' was No 1. 

8 years on and he's still there.

Arsenal 1 - 3 Bayern Munich...

Last night Simon and I went to watch the Champions League first round match at the Emirates Stadium as the might Arsenal took on the even mightier Bayern Munich.

We played pretty badly in the first half conceding two goals but picked up in the second, scoring one (courtesy of the ever smiling Lukas Podolski) but conceding another.

Just before kick-off the away fans let off a flare. Not a measly inshore one one but one of those 'you can see them for 50 miles in a storm at sea' bright orange ones. It filled the stadium with smoke and we could barely see the ball for 5 minutes. The smoke got caught in our throats too. My question is: how did they get in with that? And what if it had been a bomb?

Daleks’ - Invasion of Earth: 2013AD...

Daleks’ - Invasion of Earth: 2013AD.

Last Sunday the Daleks were out in force - recreating those iconic black and white images from the 1960s to promote the Mark Gatiss penned An Adventure in Space and Time - a one-off drama exploring the genesis of Doctor Who - which debuts later this year.

Arsenal for Everyone...

Watching Arsenal play at the Emirates Stadium last Saturday afternoon there were rainbows on the screens and the words "Arsenal for Everyone supports LGBT History Month." In the week that Robbie Rogers came out as gay I guess it was good to see. It prompted some wags in the crowd to then chant, "we're not homophobic, we're not homophobic, we're not homophobic anymoooore, we're not homophobic anymoooore." Ha ha.

Privates On Parade...

Last night Stu and I went to see Privates on Parade – the Peter Nichols play with songs – at the Noel Coward Theatre in London’s glitzy West End.

The show had been getting 4 and 5 stars reviews and deservedly so. We loved it. It was funny, camp, thought-provoking and suitably evocative as it conjured up post-war Malaysian tensions and the real-life Combines Services Entertainment perfectly.

It also poked the right amount of fun at jingoistic colonialism to make its point without being overtly preachy.

Oh and there was lots of male nudity - which seems to be everywhere on the West End stage at the moment!

Donkey Dick...

Here's my Valentine's Day joke:- (so brace yourselves)

Two slappers play 20 questions. One writes down a word and the other has 20 guesses to get it right.
The word the first one writes down is "donkey dick".
First question: "Can you eat it?"
Answer: "I suppose you could".
"It isn't donkey dick is it?"

She Lost Her Job...

She lost her job, got behind on rent and was finally evicted. Alcohol dependency stopped her engaging with social support. That's why the lady is a tramp.

A Chorus Line...

Last night Stu and I went to see A Chorus Line at the London Palladium in London's glitzy West End.

At least it wasn't cancelled like last week.

Dance: Ten; Looks: Three... One... All great songs.

It's a high-kicking, cliché-ridden, toe-tapping, wonder of a musical. It's Fame meets Seaside Special.

It couldn't be more 1970s if it shat leg-warmers. Loved it.

Art on the Tube...

As part of London Underground's 150 year celebrations 270 unique works of art have been created by Turner Prize winning artist Mark Wallinger. On the theme of Labyrinth each one is a sort of maze. However if you follow the line from the start to the finish you always end up n the centre - where you want to go. Neat.

Below is the one at Green Park tube station.

Merrily We Roll Along...

Late to the particular party last night Stu and I went to see Merrily We Roll Along at The Menier Chocolate Factory in London's glitzy London Bridge Quarter.

Running backwards in time from 1976 to 1957 the show tells the story of three friends and their successes (and failures) to make it in show biz.

I'm no big Sondheim fan and the backward timeline took a bit of getting used to but it was overall great fun. Packed with very polished performances and clever songs the show was well crafted, perfectly judged and very funny.

The show is now extended until early March now too - which says it all really.

In The Beginning Was The End...

Last Friday night Stu and I went to watch In The Beginning Was The End in London's glitzy West End. It's a walk-through show underneath, within and above Somerset House and King's College.

Allegedly inspired by Leonardo Da Vinci's The Book of Revelation the theme of the show is largely based around Fusion Industries - a fictitious European technology company.

You walk between dozens of connecting rooms where people are presenting products in French, Italian and German. You see Fusion's hi-tech products being demonstrated - odd electronics, dancing robots, etc. There are company staff - call-centre drones going mad and getting naked and sales men committing suicide in slow motion. A recurring theme is board-room antics along with fights and hysterics.

I've probably made it sound better than it is though. It takes 70 mins to walk through. Stu left early though as he was bored.

Gay Marriage...

I love gay people, but I'm broad minded about people who don't, because they're usually gay.

Besides, why should straight men be the only people to suffer? Put your GPS on full volume for your daily drive if you want to know what marriage is like.

A Chorus Line Cancelled...

What the hell is going on? We went into London last night to go the London Palladium to see A Chorus Line but the theatre was all shut up. The performance had been cancelled.

Luckily the Palladium Box Office was open and they said the show had been cancelled. They also said that See Tickets had told them that they had contacted everyone who had bought tickets and told of the cancellation. THIS WAS NOT TRUE. I was not called or got any email about the cancellation - and no, there isn't anything in my junk mail folder about it either.

I am very angry and frankly disgusted at See Tickets. They have my email address. They have my telephone number. They should have contacted me. The Palladium have asked me to keep them informed about what See Tickets now do. Rest assured I will. What dreadful customer service!

UPDATE: I got a very sniffy reply from See Tickets Customer 'Care'. The show was actually cancelled back on 22nd Nov! and See Tickets issued a refund. They did not however inform me. No email, no telephone call. A completely wasted trip into town. Not happy.

Quartermaine's Terms...

Last week Stu and I went to see Quartermaine's Terms at the Wyndham's Theatre in London's glitzy West End.

Starring Rowan Atkinson it is set in an English language school in the 1960s. It follows the tragicomic lives of the half a dozen teachers over the period of a few years. The omnipresent Quartmaine just sits in his chair and watches it all happen around him - never really being allowed to fully join in the fun.

The play is good but a little too well paced - if that's not code for boring. The comedy isn't particularly well realised and the tragedy all too fleeting. Perhaps the limitation of setting the whole play in the staff room stifles the action just a little bit too much.

That said, Rowan Atkinson was great as Quartermaine. Be nice to see him in something a little bit menacing though.

Nacho Monreal...

So Arsenal has signed Nacho Monreal from Malaga as a new left-back. Bye, bye Santos.

I can hear the chants echoing around the Emirates Stadium already...

"So Nacho, he's gotta be so Nacho. Big and strong, enough to turn us on..."

"Nacho, Nacho man, He's gotta be a Nacho man..."