Full Coverag Here
21 May 2007
R.I.P. CuttySark
The Cutty Sark, the world's last remaining tea clipper at 138 years old, burned down on Monday.
Full Coverag Here
Full Coverag Here
12 May 2007
Army v Navy Rugby
And I thought Stampede was crazy!
Barry took me to the big annual Army vs. Navy rubgy game at Twickenham Stadium the Saturday before last. As you can imagine, it's quite the grudge match! What a fantastic day and a cultural experience!
We went to the army base where he works (Defense School of Languages) for breakfast. I met the RSM, who is in charge of the base. His name is Adam and he was organizing the trip. Super nice guy! So we had breakfast in the Sergeant's mess. Barry is civilian, but is a member of the mess. Then we all piled into a minibus and headed out to Twickenham. We passed tons of other coaches and minibuses on the way, all heading to the same place.
The minibus dropped us outside a fairly famous local pub called the Cabbage Patch. It was absolutely packed - you seriously could barely move. There was a big beer garden part as well, which was only marginally less crowded! We managed to get some pints, though. There was a decided dearth of toilets, and a few of us had to go, so we jumped over the stone wall enclosing the beer garden to go to the portable toilet on the street (yes, there are that many people wandering around that there are public portable toilets). When we got there, we discovered that it was only a men's loo - meaning it was just a couple of troughs. There was myself and one other girl, so after the guys with us were finished, we made them stand guard while we went in and improvised! That's a first for me!!
We had access to the Adjuta
nt General's bar, which is the most prestigious bar you can get into for the ArmyvNavy game, so we left the Cabbage patch and went there for a bit before the game started. The walk from the Cabbage Patch to the stadium was quite an experience. The sidewalks were full of people, and they spilled out onto the street in places. Everyone was in a party mood - yelling and waving flags for their side, mocking the other side. You know the drill!! There were portable toilets everywhere and lineups at them. Cars and buses full of people trying to find parking or just a spot to drop off their occupants. It was amazing! There were houses along the way, and where they could they were selling parking at obscene prices, just like in Calgary. However, some of the occupants of the houses had set up tables in their front yards and were selling food to the hungry rugby fans walking by! Sandwiches and baked goods and stuff. There were also a lot of food trucks and kiosks set up selling hamburgers, pasties, curries, etc.
The game was great - our seats weren't fantastic, but I could see everything (and it was small!) I was amazed to see that the stadium wasn't even 3/4 full - I can't imagine what the streets would be like with a full house! Army won; apparently they've won every year since 2001 or something. Afterwards we went back to the Adjutant General's bar for another drink and then headed out to meet the minibus that would take us back to the base. Once on base, we went to the Sergeant's mess again, and decided to order Chinese food as we were all hungry. So Barry went to pick it up and we all had a good feed, which made everyone tired and broke the party up.
It was a great day - lots of fun and very interesting.
Barry took me to the big annual Army vs. Navy rubgy game at Twickenham Stadium the Saturday before last. As you can imagine, it's quite the grudge match! What a fantastic day and a cultural experience!
We went to the army base where he works (Defense School of Languages) for breakfast. I met the RSM, who is in charge of the base. His name is Adam and he was organizing the trip. Super nice guy! So we had breakfast in the Sergeant's mess. Barry is civilian, but is a member of the mess. Then we all piled into a minibus and headed out to Twickenham. We passed tons of other coaches and minibuses on the way, all heading to the same place.
The minibus dropped us outside a fairly famous local pub called the Cabbage Patch. It was absolutely packed - you seriously could barely move. There was a big beer garden part as well, which was only marginally less crowded! We managed to get some pints, though. There was a decided dearth of toilets, and a few of us had to go, so we jumped over the stone wall enclosing the beer garden to go to the portable toilet on the street (yes, there are that many people wandering around that there are public portable toilets). When we got there, we discovered that it was only a men's loo - meaning it was just a couple of troughs. There was myself and one other girl, so after the guys with us were finished, we made them stand guard while we went in and improvised! That's a first for me!!
We had access to the Adjuta
nt General's bar, which is the most prestigious bar you can get into for the ArmyvNavy game, so we left the Cabbage patch and went there for a bit before the game started. The walk from the Cabbage Patch to the stadium was quite an experience. The sidewalks were full of people, and they spilled out onto the street in places. Everyone was in a party mood - yelling and waving flags for their side, mocking the other side. You know the drill!! There were portable toilets everywhere and lineups at them. Cars and buses full of people trying to find parking or just a spot to drop off their occupants. It was amazing! There were houses along the way, and where they could they were selling parking at obscene prices, just like in Calgary. However, some of the occupants of the houses had set up tables in their front yards and were selling food to the hungry rugby fans walking by! Sandwiches and baked goods and stuff. There were also a lot of food trucks and kiosks set up selling hamburgers, pasties, curries, etc.The game was great - our seats weren't fantastic, but I could see everything (and it was small!) I was amazed to see that the stadium wasn't even 3/4 full - I can't imagine what the streets would be like with a full house! Army won; apparently they've won every year since 2001 or something. Afterwards we went back to the Adjutant General's bar for another drink and then headed out to meet the minibus that would take us back to the base. Once on base, we went to the Sergeant's mess again, and decided to order Chinese food as we were all hungry. So Barry went to pick it up and we all had a good feed, which made everyone tired and broke the party up.
It was a great day - lots of fun and very interesting.
02 May 2007
My Birthday
It's my birthday today! I'm 39, which isn't particularly old, but feels old to me. Never really thought I would be single and childless and living in London, England at 39!! Things rarely turn out how you think they will.
Well, I got back from Canada ok, still a bit jet-lagged, but coping. Jumped right into the logistics of our merger - office space, furniture, staffing and duties allocations, etc. Plus we are working on getting our AIM listing by the end of May, so there's lots to do with that. AIM is the Alternative Investment Market of the London Stock Exchange - kinda like the TSX-Venture to the TSX.
Anyway, I think the time has come to mention the new man that I'm dating. We've been seeing each other about a month, and we hit it off right away. He is sweet and caring and spoils me! His name is Barry and he lives about half an hour away from me, but he has a car, so we can spend a lot of time together. He trains guard dogs for the military. Anyway you'll be reading about him on here fairly frequently, I think!
On Saturday, Barry took me up to Birmingham, which is where he grew up. It used to be a centre for metallurgy, and still has a thriving Jewelry Quarter. He took me there so I could pick out my birthday present! After that we walked down by the canals and had some lunch, and then visited some friends of his. It was a lovely day. Birmingham isn't as nice as London, but a very interesting city, nonetheless.
On Sunday we went for a picnic with some other friends of his, Pete and Susanne, their son, James, and their dog, Mutley. We went to the Cliveden estate and had a proper blanket picnic by the Thames. We threw sticks into the river for the dog (who is completely mad!) and Barry brought his camp stove so we made tea. There were some posh ladies there with a picnic that looked like it had been packed by Harrod's. It was all in proper picnic baskets with wine glasses and holders that you anchored into the ground! It looked like a movie or television commercial. A posh little boat came to pick them up, too. It was all very amusing, especially since Mutley kept running by them, river water streaming off his back and spashing everyone around him!
It was such a perfect day - one of the most perfect days I've ever had.
Tonight I organized drinks and dinner at a well-known jazz club just down Dover Street called, appropriately enough, Dover Street Restaurant and Bar. They have a house jazz trio that plays during dinner and then a swing blues band will come on later. Should be a good time! Believe it or not, there will actually be 7 people there including me! I'm so blessed for the friends I've managed to make here.
Anyway, I should get going. Happy Birthday To Me!!!
Well, I got back from Canada ok, still a bit jet-lagged, but coping. Jumped right into the logistics of our merger - office space, furniture, staffing and duties allocations, etc. Plus we are working on getting our AIM listing by the end of May, so there's lots to do with that. AIM is the Alternative Investment Market of the London Stock Exchange - kinda like the TSX-Venture to the TSX.
Anyway, I think the time has come to mention the new man that I'm dating. We've been seeing each other about a month, and we hit it off right away. He is sweet and caring and spoils me! His name is Barry and he lives about half an hour away from me, but he has a car, so we can spend a lot of time together. He trains guard dogs for the military. Anyway you'll be reading about him on here fairly frequently, I think!
On Saturday, Barry took me up to Birmingham, which is where he grew up. It used to be a centre for metallurgy, and still has a thriving Jewelry Quarter. He took me there so I could pick out my birthday present! After that we walked down by the canals and had some lunch, and then visited some friends of his. It was a lovely day. Birmingham isn't as nice as London, but a very interesting city, nonetheless.
On Sunday we went for a picnic with some other friends of his, Pete and Susanne, their son, James, and their dog, Mutley. We went to the Cliveden estate and had a proper blanket picnic by the Thames. We threw sticks into the river for the dog (who is completely mad!) and Barry brought his camp stove so we made tea. There were some posh ladies there with a picnic that looked like it had been packed by Harrod's. It was all in proper picnic baskets with wine glasses and holders that you anchored into the ground! It looked like a movie or television commercial. A posh little boat came to pick them up, too. It was all very amusing, especially since Mutley kept running by them, river water streaming off his back and spashing everyone around him!
It was such a perfect day - one of the most perfect days I've ever had.
Tonight I organized drinks and dinner at a well-known jazz club just down Dover Street called, appropriately enough, Dover Street Restaurant and Bar. They have a house jazz trio that plays during dinner and then a swing blues band will come on later. Should be a good time! Believe it or not, there will actually be 7 people there including me! I'm so blessed for the friends I've managed to make here.
Anyway, I should get going. Happy Birthday To Me!!!
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