Hi there, how are you doing? I trust the last couple of weeks have treated you well and you enjoyed the last bit of nice weather before the Indian Summer turned into the English Autumn literally overnight. Which has led me to finally accept that winter is on its way and it means I have looked out my big coat to wear. Which I have not actually needed since about April I think. I am already getting fed up of people telling me how many weeks and shopping days there are until Christmas. I already know. It is the same amount every year. Just tell me when there is only one day left and I will do all my present buying then. Like I always do.

The other Sunday I was lucky enough to be working behind the scenes and backstage at Wembley Stadium. When the NFL came to London for the first of two International Series American Football games they have taking place there this year. It was the Minnesota Vikings against the Pittsburgh Steelers in an AFC North League Match. It was a sell out with the tickets all going as soon as they were released. There were quite a few celebrities watching the game. I spotted Vernon Kay, Greg Rutherford and the comedian Milton Jones. I later found out that Cheryl Cole was there but unfortunately I did not see her.
I also managed to watch the pre-game entertainment while stood in the tunnel area . It featured  Tinie Tempah who certainly lived up to his name when he had finished his set and walked past me. He is very short. In fact any eagle eyed viewers of Sky Sports coverage of the event may have seen me standing behind the singer when he was being interviewed after he came off stage. Then singing the American National Anthem before the game was Kiss frontman Gene Simmons. Who was very friendly, nice and down to earth backstage happily posing with anyone who wanted a photo and actually going to get his own food from the canteen after his work was done. The noise and the fireworks as the two teams came out was insane. I am not sure if I have ever seen at atmosphere like it at a sporting event. And I had a great vantage point from where I was standing. Finally on the way out I did get to see and have a quick word with a lot of the Steelers players though I have to confess as I am not their biggest fan I could not tell you who any of them were, so I may have been speaking to some of the biggest sports stars in America without having a clue. To be fair to them they were probably more interested in their huge boxes of takeaways they were carrying back to there coach than me anyway. It was a great fun event and if you get the chance to go to an NFL game in England my advice would be to definitely go.

Some relatives of mine were over from Australia recently. So we had a big family party so we could meet up with them and have a good catch up. Obviously with them living on the other side of the world we do not meet up very often, in fact one of them I had probably not seen for about twenty-five years. It was interesting hearing their views and opinions on places they had visited while in the UK. Which we may be sometimes take for granted and do not always appreciate how good they really are. It was great hearing about Australia to. How things work there over there with regards to education, communities and the odd  fact that during parts of the year the country has three different time zones. Then the conversation turned to how many animals and creatures over there can kill you. Which would appear to be most of them if you are not careful. Though they did tell us the best way to catch Black Widow spiders in a jar. Which is something I never plan on trying. Despite the obvious dangers it has made me decide that I would very much like to visit them and the country at some point in the future.

I am looking forward to my duties as an Usher at my mate’s wedding next month. Last weekend we went to be measured and fitted for our suits for the big day. I always find it a little unnerving when the gentlemen who work in those sort of places can just look at you and tell you what size you are from just doing that. I actually do go shopping for my own clothes and still could not actually tell you what size I am. It was good fun getting dressed up and finding out that we all needed bigger waist sized trousers than we thought we did. My mates wife to be was there overseeing matters. I guess just to make sure we did not all turn up in clowns suits or something. But I think when she actually saw him dressed up in some wedding attire the whole thing suddenly became very real and it kind of hit her that she would be getting married in five weeks time. We however at this point were focusing more on the Stag Do in a fortnights time, so that is mostly what we were talking about and getting excited about.

It is another cracking series of Newsjack on BBC Radio 4 Extra at the moment, with some really good and funny topical sketches and observations. I have had some of my jokes recorded for the show this time round but they have not quite made the final edit as yet this run. But with two weeks still left to go I am still optimistic that I will achieve this accolade by the end of this run. It is very a good laugh writing a whole host of one liner jokes every week for it. For a sample of these at any time of the year you can always follow me on Twitter I am simply @NeilQuigley

I am really enjoying this year’s Strictly Come Dancing. Every year you do get to know the professional dancers better and as they get more confident their personalities come out more which seems to draw you into the show even further. So they become an even bigger part of the show. Plus I think that the combination of the different characters within the celebrities this year is really good. All have their own traits and quirks which makes them all pretty likeable and interesting while giving you enough information so you can easily decide who are your favourites. Great to see the couple I am supporting this year of Sophie Ellis-Bextor and Brendan Cole doing so well their Charleston last week was amazing for what was only week two of the competition. I am a little disappointed though that my favourite professional dancer Aliona Vilani has already been voted out of the competition but I am assured she will still appear in a lot of the upcoming professional dances so I will still get to see her on my television on a Saturday and Sunday night.

You know when you get days where things do not quite go your way and you just have to put your hands up and accept it as just one of those days. Last week I was just working on my computer in the middle of doing something important when suddenly the hard disk drive failed and the whole thing stopped working. After some research on the good old trusty internet via my phone I discovered that this was a fatal issue and required me to actually buy a new one before I could get the computer going again. Then later that same evening I had arranged to meet a friend of mine at a lovely little proper country pub that I knew of. And that if I am honest I had not been to for a while. I then turned up at said pub and found myself in the car park in total darkness looking at a drinking establishment that had clearly been shut for a while. This led to an embarrassing phone conversation where I had to tell my friend that I had actually invited them to a place that no longer existed and could we change the location at very much the last minute. Which we did and it was fine and I had a good time. But it did top off what had not been one of my better days.

In other news I was walking down the High Street in the town where I live the other day when I just happened to walk past JK from Jamiroquai. He was buying some fresh fish from the market. Having lived in the area for such a long time now he really does just blend in brilliantly. As the place where I live is quite small, so pretty much everybody looks familiar to each other. So nobody really pays any attention to him. Which I think might be why he has stayed here for so long. That and the fact that his house is in a great location and is really nice. We do have quite a few famous faces in the area who you can randomly see around from time to time including one of my acting heroes David Jason. Who I have seen around and been in the same room as on a few occasions but sadly I have never spoken to him yet. I am delighted to hear that he is bringing back his character Granville for An Open All Hours Christmas Special this year. Seeing him act in a comedy used to be the highlight of my festive period for many years when he was still doing Only Fools and Horses. You just know it is going to be brilliant.

Have fun and we will catch up again in a couple of weeks. Cheers Neil.