Tag Archives: horse racing

Food for Thought

June 9, 2017 Neil

Hi there, how are you doing? I hope you have had a really good couple of weeks. Mine have been pretty busy with some fun stuff happening. A couple of Friday’s ago, a good friend of mine invited me around to his house for some food and a few drinks.

Everybody has such busy lives nowadays, it is really hard to organise the time to meet up and see people. Which I think makes this time spent with mates and family even more special and precious. Even more so in light of the recent events in Manchester and London. So it was brilliant to catch up with one of my oldest friends and his family.

It was a lovely hot and sunny day. He has a very nice garden. So we had a few beers outside before he fired up the barbecue. Both him and his wife are excellent cooks, so the standard of food when I go round to there place is always high. He cooked up a selection of steak, chicken, salmon and sausages. Which was supplemented by a potato salad and finished off by a wonderful home made fruit salad.

This was all washed down with a few glasses of a twelve year old Rioja, which I supplied. I know my Red Wine. It was a fun night spent in great company with lovely food and drink. It is so important to enjoy and appreciate the simple things in life.

I also went out in Oxford recently for some food and drink. One of the things I really enjoyed from my recent trip to Barcelona was the Catalan style Tapas. Somebody told me about a great restaurant in the Jericho area of Oxford, which did this type of cuisine. So it would have been rude not to try it out. Firstly I sampled the wine. The Rioja there was very nice. Then I ordered a selection of four different dishes to try. Which is kind of how a Tapas style meal works. You have a little selection of what is on offer from the vast menu.

The first dish that arrived was baked goats cheese and honey. Which although I admit sounds a bit of an odd combination was fantastic. So that was a very strong start. Then the waiter brought out the spicy potatoes, the chicken and chorizo in tomato sauce and the roasted peppers dish.

The first two were nice and I enjoyed them but the peppers were a little disappointing. The first meal I had in Barcelona was a pepper dish and that was sensational. I was hoping for more of the same here, but sadly this offering was no where near as good. Mind you, I was too full for pudding, which I must confess is very rare for me.

After the food I continued the evening at a really nice wine bar down the same road as the restaurant with a few more glasses of what else but Rioja. It was a civilised evening. Some decent food and and few glasses of a nice Red Wine. Which is the kind of night I am starting to enjoy more as I get a little bit older.

Oxford is such a beautiful City. And now a really easy journey from my local train station. So I think I might end up doing some more exploring there before the end of the summer. I did work there for a bit at a radio station called Passion 107.9. But I did not really go out there that much at the time, so there is plenty for me still to discover.

I have to be totally honest for the first time ever in my entire life I had no interest in the FA Cup Final and for the first time ever I did not watch it. Normally I will want one of the teams to win, so support them for the day. Or I will really not mind who wins and just watch it hoping for a good and entertaining match. Sadly this year it was kind of like the perfect storm for me.

Being a Tottenham Hotspur fan, my two least favourite teams in the world are Arsenal and Chelsea. I wanted both of them to lose and did not want either of them to win the cup. Which I knew was impossible, so I avoided the game. That said well done to Arsenal on winning. Hopefully next year I will be able to return to the joy and excitement of FA Cup Final day once again.

My dad celebrated his sixty-fifth birthday last weekend. He also retired from work to. So he held a retirement party for all the people he has worked with for the last twelve years at his final place of employment. Fair play to him. He organised it all by himself at a local pub near by where he lives. There was food, music and some nice speeches, so I was very impressed. It was also nice to see how popular he was at work, judging by the number of people who turned up to be there with him. And the nice messages that he got in his many leaving cards.

During his speech I found myself in the rather unusual position of cameraman, so he could have a nice memory of the occasion. Although me, my mum and sister slightly spoiled the effect by laughing a little bit too loud at his former boss making fun of some of his quirks. Which he only discovered when he watched the video the next day.

I to played my part. He had a buffet there. When it was announced it was open. Nobody at all was going up to get any of the food. As they were all politely waiting for someone to go first. Luckily I stepped in here, went up and filled my plate up. Then suddenly everyone started following me and started eating. In life there are shepherds and sheep and that night I was the shepherd.

I am not saying he was really milking the occasion but we also went out for a nice Sunday lunch to celebrate. There is nothing better than heading out to a pub for a nice roast dinner, it saves cooking and washing up for starters. We returned to the same place where my dad had held his party the night before.

While there I continued my support of locally produced beer by having a pint of the award winning Chiltern Brewery “Beechwood” beer. The other bonus about having food out is that generally most places have a much better selection of puddings than you do at home. Which for someone who always likes to finish off any meal with something sweet is a big plus point.

Then the final part of his Birthday celebrations was a trip to Windsor Races. He booked us a table in one of the restaurants in the Club Enclosure. Which overlooked the the home straight. It was the first time that we had, had this experience at a course that we have visited many times. I have to say it was brilliant.

There was a glass of Champagne on arrival. A fish platter to share. Which was amazing and unbelievably the first time I had ever tried Crab and Mussel. It will not be the last. Then we had a top quality three course meal. I had the Pork dish for my main. Not only did it taste fantastic but the presentation was sensational. It was made to look like a rural country field with even the crackling made in to a gate. It almost looked to good to eat.

After the food was over we enjoyed a great evening of racing. I was wearing what has now become my lucky racing suit. I bought it for Aintree and had a winner there. I then wore it at Newbury and had a winner there. And once again at Windsor it gave me a decent winner. Which pretty much paid for my night. So next time I go racing, I make no apology for the fact that I will be wearing it again. It was a lovely way of rounding of my dad’s celebrations and a great way to enjoy an evening’s horse racing.

It was also the Britain’s Got Talent final last weekend. This year was a bit different as the judges did not actually have any say in the acts going through to the final. They were allowed to have their say on the performances but for the first time ever it was solely decided by the public vote. Credit where it is due. Doing it this way did mean there was generally a nice variety of acts. Although three magicians with two of them doing similar things was probably a little bit over the top.

As ever with this show there were quite a few people in the final who you could not see progressing any further. The whole act was what you saw and you could not really see it developing or evolving. But then if the competition is to just to win a quarter of a million pounds and perform at The Royal Variety Performance, I guess that does not really matter.

The show was brilliantly held together by Ant & Dec who for me are still the best presenting duo on television. Even when they make mistakes they help each other out, make a joke out of it and sort of just gloss over it. Which is a skill in itself. Love or hate the judges they do complement each other nicely. They all bring something different to the party across the entertainment genre. They do all have different areas of expertise.

I have said this before Simon Cowell has definitely mellowed a bit since becoming a dad. I mean he still can be honest and brutal when he needs to but he is better at talking to the kids. And certainly seems a lot more emotional about some of the performances that he witnesses. And much as it pains me to admit it, he is still the judge I agree with most often.

It was won this year by the very talented multi-instrumentalist Tokio Myers. Clearly a very clever and accomplished performer. Although it is difficult to see what he can do with it to develop and grow it. He may find it tricky finding a big audience to see an individual concert because he is not really a standard classical artist. And you wonder if the people he appeals to would go to that sort of gig. I think collaborations could be the future for him. That said congratulations to him. He deserved to win it.

In third place it was the comedian Daliso Chaponda. He was very good but I do think it is very hard to shine as a comedian on this show. They are clearly very restricted with what they can do and it also feels a bit forced. And it is not a typical comedy style audience. If you are a singer with a great voice you can sing someone else’s song and impress. Comics have to do all their own stuff. I just think it is tough, so personally I can never see a comedian winning it. May be there should be a spin off show just for comedian’s only. If that now happens I want royalties, as it was clearly my idea.

It is now less than a month until my next big stand up comedy gig at the Tringe Festival Roving Comedy Night. It takes place across four pubs in Tring on Sunday 2nd July. I am really looking forward to it. I will be on with some other former Roving Comedy performers from over the last eight years.

I made my first appearance there five years ago now. If you fancy coming along for what is always a fun evening. There are still some tickets available. You will get to see about sixteen comedians in one evening, in one venue. Including at least four professional comics. Follow this link for more details. http://www.get-stuffed.biz/tringe/2017/07/roving-comedy-night/

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

Up For A Laugh

May 26, 2017 Neil

Hi there, how are you doing? I hope you have had a really nice couple of weeks. Mine have been fairly busy with lots of fun things going on. A couple of Saturday’s ago I went to my mate’s brother’s thirtieth birthday drinks at a cool bar just near to London Bridge Station. I had not been there before and he had hired out a private bar area just for all his guests. It had a decent selection of different craft beers for me to try to work my way through.

I have known my friend and his sibling for years. In fact his brother very kindly designed and built the first version of my website. Which he did as part of his University studies and for the very reasonable fee of a crate of beer. Which is how I like to pay for most services I use. He has now gone on to work for an agency, which promotes much bigger brands than me and which means he is often jetting all over Europe for work. So it is fair to say he has done very well for himself. It was great to catch up with him.

There were also lots of other very friendly and interesting people there to talk to. I met their cousin for the first time, who is an actor. I have actually seen him perform once before although I did not realise that at the time. He was in a touring version of Spamalot, which I went and watched at the Aylesbury Waterside Theatre.

He was also in the television show Peaky Blinders for a bit to. He has just signed with a new agent who already has some very big and well respected actor’s on their books. So hopefully we will be seeing a lot more of him on screen and on the stage over the next few years. For the record he is a great bloke. We had a really nice chat.

I also met an amazing lady who has set up from scratch her own Indian Restaurant in a pretty trendy area of London. It has been running for a couple of years and is doing so well that she is about to open another one in Brixton. So this could be the start of a big chain of this particular brand. She seemed so enthusiastic, happy and energetic, which I guess you need to be if you want to become a successful entrepreneur.

I have since seen pictures of some of the dishes served there and they look fantastic. I do plan to go there and check it out for myself at some point. As the original place is not that far away from where I work. It was cool to meet her. It was a very chilled, fun and interesting evening.

So since we spoke last my team Tottenham Hotspur have played their last game at White Hart Lane. We beat Manchester United by two goals to one, meaning that we went the whole of our final season at the old place undefeated. There was a fitting send off after the game with lots of former players there.

They are not messing around with the new stadium project though. They literally started pulling it down within a couple of hours of the closing ceremony. So next year we play our games at Wembley Stadium. I must admit that is easier for me to get to and with hopefully more tickets available for each match. I do hope to get to a lot more games next season.

We finished the season strongly winning our last two game’s away at Leicester City and Hull City by six one and seven one, respectively. If we can somehow take that form in to the start of next season that will be amazing. We finished second, so we will again play Champions League Football next season. Our Striker Harry Kane was the Premier League’s leading goal scorer for the second year in the row.

It has been a brilliant season. As a lifelong fan of the club I can honestly say that there has never been a more exciting time to be a Spurs fan. I already can’t wait for next season. I hope the players enjoy their break and then return even hungrier for success. And that we will keep all our best ones and add a few new ones.

Last Saturday as a Fortieth Birthday present a good friend of mine Adam Fisher took me to Newbury Races. It was the first time that I had been to that particular course. We went via train. It actually has its own dedicated station, which is about two minutes walk from the entrance. So as a way of getting there and back it is excellent.

On arrival we decided to sensibly get some food, so found a burger bar which fulfilled our needs and set us up for an afternoon’s racing. Now for me personally part of the fun is having a bet on the races. I like going to the bookies by the course and once I have decided on my horse I quite enjoy going round them to find the one which will give me the best odds on the animal I believe or rather hope will win the race.

You do get a great view of the track and the racing from the Grandstand. You can see the whole course. Although I do enjoy the social side of things. I do also like to watch all of the races. I only had one winner all afternoon. Which I picked purely because the horse shared its name with a former Spurs forward. So Defoe was the only horse to win me any money.

Although annoyingly I did have a few of my selections finish second but when you have only backed them to win, that is sadly not good enough. It was a nice afternoon, having a laugh and enjoying some exciting racing. After the races had finished we hopped back on the train and headed to Reading for a few drinks.

We went to a couple of pubs. In the first one they had an ale called tea. Now as possibly the world’s biggest tea drinker I had to give it a try to see if it compared to the normal standard of my hot drink of choice. Happily it was still served by the pint and not the cup. It was very drinkable but I think I will stick to the other version during the day and at work. For productivity reasons if nothing else.

We then went in to this other bar. There were just the two of us, me and Adam still. We sat down on this fairly big table as there were not many options, so we had lots of spare seats around us. Then a bloke comes over and asks if they can have a couple of the seats, to which we said yes. Then six more of his friends appear to ask to borrow seats to sit at a table for two that had just become available. So me being the nice man I am suggested we switch tables. Although part of me did want to try to see all eight of them with chairs get round this tiny table. But my good manners got the better of me. It was another top day out with a very good mate.

I once again visited the Old Rope Comedy Club at The Phoenix Pub in London. It is the new material night run by Tiff Stevenson. Every Monday night in the Capital. If you are free on a Monday and like new and quality comedy, you need to go and check it out.

If you buy tickets in advance it is not expensive either about six pounds in fact. The place has a good vibe to it. The acts just mill around in the bar area themselves in between performing. Everybody is very friendly and approachable. Plus it always attracts some top quality comedians.

The brilliant Tiff Stevenson was hosting as always. And on the bill trying out new jokes on the night were Sarah Kendall, Phil Wang, Adam Hills, Rhys James, Felicity Ward, Ed Byrne and Tony Law. They were all ace.

I have always liked Ed Byrne, so it was good to see him again. The only time that I had seen him do his stand up before was at the Glastonbury Festival. Another top night of comedy, enjoyed in a great London venue.

While we are talking about stand up comedy. I am delighted and very excited to announce that I will be performing at this year’s Roving Comedy Night as part of the brilliant Tringe Festival. Now I first did this five years ago. After completing an eight week comedy course led by the guru that is Logan Murray.

My fellow trainees and I headed out to perform our five minute sets in four different pubs in Tring on the same night. We were split in to groups and each one was led by a professional comedian. Who we went round with. I was with Tony Law who was exceptional, as well as being very supportive and encouraging. It was a truly memorable night and an amazing experience.

So this year there is no training course but they are inviting back former trainees from the last eight year’s that this has been running. So I am very proud to be representing the class of 2012 at this year’s event. When I was offered the opportunity to do it again I jumped at the chance. It is such good fun.

We will again be supported by some top professional comedians including Arthur Smith and the legend that is Silky. Who I gave a lift back to his hotel after my original appearance at this event. It you fancy coming along to support this great and very entertaining night. Tickets are available now. Here is the link with all the information you need. See you there. http://www.get-stuffed.biz/tringe/2017/07/roving-comedy-night/

I went to see the comedy play “The Miser” at the Garrick Theatre in London the other night. It is a reworking of a classic French farce with a brilliant cast which includes Griff Rhys Jones, Lee Mack, Matt Horne and Andi Osho. It was brilliant fun.

It is fair to say it does offer both Griff and Lee the chance to drift off script a bit and have a little bit of additional fun with the audience. The fourth wall is knocked down pretty early in the proceedings. There are some brilliant set pieces, as you would expect in a farce. A word of warning you do get to see a little bit more of Lee Mack than you may be expecting. But all done for laughs and in the best possible taste.

The set and costumes are great. I have to admit it was the first time I had been to The Garrick and it is a lovely traditional West End theatre, which I love. The play keeps you amused and chuckling from start to finish. The whole cast were great but I thought Andi Osho was brilliant. I have seen her do stand up before but this was the first time that I had seen her act and on that performance I can definitely see her doing more theatre work in the future. Overall just good old fashioned theatre fun.

It has been a good fortnight for celebrity spotting. The other week Serge from Kasabian walked past me on the way to a radio interview. I bumped in to Nick Grimshaw as he was arriving to do his Radio 1 Breakfast Show.

Then one day Huw Edwards was in the canteen queue in front of me and then the next day Sophie Raworth was behind me. I also saw the former Rugby player Matt Dawson wondering around to.

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

Racing Away

October 15, 2016 Neil

Hi there, how are you doing? I hope you have had a really nice couple of week’s. Mine have been quite busy with some fun things going on. A couple of Saturday’s ago. I went to Ascot for an afternoon of racing with one of my best mate’s.

He turned forty earlier in the year and me going to the races with him was part of my present. Always treat people to something you enjoy doing yourself, as a gift. That is my tip. Now we randomly selected a date that we would both be able to make. And would you believe it just so happened to be their Beer Festival meeting. I mean what are the chances of that?

We got to the course around midday and collected our race cards, our beer tokens and our festival pint glasses. They had over two hundred and eighty different beers to try there. So if we were to get round them all. We certainly had our work cut out.

I do have a couple of favourite local brewery’s. And as luck would have it. They all turned out to be there. These are the Rebellion Brewery in Marlow, XT Brewery in Long Crendon and The Windsor & Eaton Brewery. Which I am sure you can work out for yourself, where they are based.

So to be honest we stuck to these brands during the afternoon. Just sampling a few of their different ales. I hasten to add. It was a fun afternoon. Ascot is a great course with a fantastic grand stand from which to enjoy the races. But as it is a venue that is often visited by Royalty. I guess that you would not expect anything less. It was nice just enjoying a few drinks and trying to win some of the beer money back on the races.

Although it is fair to say we were not very successful on that front. We both had horses pipped at the post. That would have got us a win each. And the only success we had was my friend got a second place for a horse that he had backed each way. I do enjoy an afternoon at the races but I have still never met a poor bookmaker.

We grabbed some food while we were there. To keep our energy levels up of course. I did like the combinations of some of the food and drink outlets they have there. For example we enjoyed a lovely real Cumberland sausage hot dog from the Champagne and Grill Bar. Where you could buy a bottle of Bollinger with an accompanying hot dog or burger. And to my surprise many people were.

Another great afternoon out. Most people get dressed up to go to the races. So it has the feel of being at a giant wedding. With the added bonus of some horses to shout for. Always a great day out win or lose. Although let us be honest, it is better if you do have a few winners.

I am really enjoying this series of Strictly Come Dancing. Once again there are some really good and entertaining couples. And I always like seeing the close relationships that develop between the professional dancers and their celebrity partners.

I would still not like to pick a winner yet at this stage of the proceedings. I think there has to be a few of them in contention. Personally I have not got a favourite yet. So I am actually a little bit sad when I see any of them leave. But that is the deal. And the way the show has to work.

I did feel really sorry for the first one’s to go Melvin Odoom and his partner Janette Manrara. I think he is just the sort of character you want around the place. Upbeat smiley, fun and to be fair to him not the worse dancer there by a long way. Also it is a shame to see a fantastic dancer like Janette go so early. But again that is the nature of the beast.

It was unfortunate to, in the way it happened with Anastacia being unable to take part in the dance off due to injury. I really like her and with what she has been through she is truly an amazing person. But it just seems almost wrong that by not dancing she went through. I appreciate they are the rules and they have to be in place for matters like this.

And ultimately it was the public who decided who went. So basically anyone who was not happy with the outcome. Unless they voted for Melvin cannot complain. If they thought he should still be in the competition. They should have voted for him.

Although he has done a bit of television presenting. He is best known for being on the Kiss FM Breakfast Show. Which is a big national station and has some very impressive listening figures. But I think the audience that listens to him on the radio would not necessarily be the kind of people, who may watch the show. And even if they did. I imagine they would probably not vote.

Which possibly led to him going so early on. Even though there are less accomplished dancers than him still in the competition. Or to look at it another way. It is just a fun Saturday night entertainment show. They know what they sign up to and being voted out is all part of it.

The next celebrity to go was Tameka Empson. Who was was sent home by the judges after a dance off with Laura Whitmore. Again to be fair I thought both of them were very unlucky to be in the bottom two. There were worse performances and neither of them really deserved to leave the competition at this point.

But the best dancers are not always the most entertaining. It goes out on a Saturday Night. So why shouldn’t we enjoy some silliness and appreciate the people who are trying their best but just ultimately making us laugh.

Yes it is a dancing competition but part of the reason it has lasted so long. Is that the celebrities involved are not dancers. It was a shame to see Will Young leave the show for personal reasons. I thought he was progressing along very nicely with his partner Karen Clifton.

I wonder who will go this week. Or if indeed anyone does after this shock departure. I have no idea what they will decide to do. But I suspect they will carry on as normal and as ever one couple will be out on Sunday.

On the way to BBC New Broadcasting House

Last Tuesday evening I managed to get myself a place in the audience for The One Show on BBC One. It is their mid evening magazine style show that is on Monday to Friday at just before seven. It just so happens to be filmed at the same place where I work. But it was the first time that I had been in their studio.

The guests on the show I saw were Jasper Carrott and Alistair McGowan. I have been a massive fan of Jasper Carrott for pretty much as long as I can remember. My dad was a fan and used to watch his shows. So I think he may well have been the first comedian I ever saw.

We met up in the Media Cafe in New Broadcasting House to check in. Then about fifteen minutes before the show was due to go on air. We were taken in to the studio. Already sitting on the famous green sofas were Matt Baker and Alex Jones. There were just ten of us.

And they were nice and friendly making a point of say hello and welcoming us when we arrived. The floor manager Paul was brilliant as well. Telling us all what we needed to do and having a laugh with us. He also works on Strictly Come Dancing. So is a busy man at the moment.

They then bought the two guests Jasper and Alistair in. The actual show itself goes very quickly and there are screens up so you can watch all the films that they feature. As the studio is small you are actually very close to the action, so get a great view of what is going on.

I for example could see the two presenters auto cue. And I was pretty much looking straight at Jasper Carrott for the whole programme. It was a great experience. And one I may well try to repeat in the future. Then after the show had ended Matt and Alex came over for a quick chat and so the whole audience could have a big group photo with them.

I am still delighted with the way the Premier League season is going currently. Tottenham Hotspur sitting in second place. Still unbeaten in the league having defeated the leaders Manchester City in the process. Ruining their one hundred percent winning start. As I said previously I cannot remember a better time to be a Spurs fan than now.

And at the moment we are still missing Harry Kane. Imagine what could happen when he is back. I am aware that there is a long way to go. But whatever happens I intend to fully enjoy this season. And hopefully get along to a few games. Specially as this is our last season at White Hart Lane.

Last weekend I was out and about in London. As I often am nowadays. I was enjoying a nice walk around the South Bank. Stopping off for a relaxing cup of tea on my travels. It was getting to around two o’clock. When I realised I had not had any lunch. So after weighting up the pros and cons of a pub lunch or food on the go. I opted for the latter. And went to the nearby Borough Market.

If you have never been. Imagine a market jam packed with every type of food you can think of and lots of people. It is always so busy down there. All the stalls are amazing. After walking around the whole place first.

I settled for a home made Chicken Burger. Which was exquisite. The quality of the meat was exceptional. And way better than you would find in any fast food restaurant. I really must remember to eat there more often. When I am in that area.

In the last couple of week’s I have been working on some new and interesting BBC radio shows. The other week I had the pleasure of working with the extremely talented news reader Tom Sandars. On a World Service News Bulletin.

He is a regular on many of the BBC’s stations including Radio Two. In fact you may have heard people trying to make his toes tap. When Sara Cox is covering the Breakfast Show for Chris Evans. Not only is he brilliant at his job. But he is a really nice person to.

I also walked straight past the radio legend that is Simon Mayo in the office the other day. I was desperate to chat to him about Tottenham’s season so far. But as I do not actually know him. I just settled for a knowing nod and a smile, as he went by.

My final recent BBC celebrity spot was the brilliant Huw Edwards in the staff canteen. Enjoying some food before the big evening news show’s.

I am looking forward to seeing Sunny Afternoon at the theatre in London. It is another one of those shows. Where you already know the songs are ace before you go. It is based around all the music of The Kinks.

I believe it is kind of the story of how the band were formed as well. A bit like the English version of The Jersey Boys. I will let you know what I thought about it next time we speak.

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

Sporting Theatre

April 16, 2016 Neil

Hi there, how are you doing? I hope you have had a really good couple of weeks. Mine have been very busy with lots of fun things going on. So the last time we spoke. If you remember I was going off to see The Gadget Show Live at the Birmingham NEC. It had been quite a while since I had been there. I think the previous time I was there. It was to see a Best Disco In Town concert featuring The Real Thing, George McCrae, KC and The Sunshine Band and a few other random acts from the seventies and eighties perform. For the record it was a good gig.

This visit was however a little bit different. For starters I got the train there this time. I was pretty impressed how quick and easy it was to get from the station to the entrance of the exhibition. I am sure my last visit by car meant a long walk from the car park to get in. Although I am not really hugely in to the latest tools and gadgets. I have to confess it was a pretty impressive site with the amount of pop up stalls and demonstration areas in front of us. When we strolled in to the place.

One of the first things we did was queue up to experience the latest in home entertainment sound and vision innovations. A few of the best technology companies in the world had teamed up to create a special mini theatre. In which to show case a brand new home surround sound system called Dolby Atmos. This new set up works with more speakers than any other previous Dolby system, including two that you fit to the ceiling.

So the over all sound can be both subtle and clear. While seemingly coming from all corners of the room. And of course above us to. They showed us some clips on the giant screen to highlight this point. The best one in my opinion was the opening title sequence from the last Mission Impossible film. Featuring Tom Cruise clinging to a plane as it takes off. Fair play that did look and sound absolutely brilliant.

From looking around the rest of The Gadget Show. I can tell you that any mobile phone technology is still huge business. There were lots of suppliers offering that type of thing. Mostly extra battery packs. Which as an I-Phone user I was slightly tempted by. The other two main most popular items on display were Segway’s of varying kinds and about fifty different types, sizes and styles of drones. And 3D virtual gaming seems like the future in that genre.

The bit I enjoyed the most was their own version of Robot Wars. They had a ring just like the old television show. Work benches in view, so you could see the teams building and repairing them. Plus they did have battles taking place between them with full commentary. Seeing that up close you get to see how brutal those battles are. I mean they compete in a completely covered in perspex box. With the Robots controlled by the teams from the safety of the outside. The fights were surprisingly exciting to watch.

I had a fantastic day in London the other week. Which involved seeing a recording of the new series of Tonight at The London Palladium. The first one was shown on television last Wednesday. And the one I was at will be shown this coming Wednesday 20th April. I was again brilliantly looked after by the team there. They gave me some great seats to watch the action from. So feel free to play the game of “can you spot me in the audience?”. While you are watching it.

The whole series is hosted by Bradley Walsh. Who is brilliant at it and did a fantastic job. The warm up man, as he is at so many of the shows that I am at was the excellent Andy Collins. He always does a top job getting the crowd involved and entertaining us all between breaks in the action. When they are setting up things on the stage. Also making an appearance on the night was the lovely Joe Pasquale.

The last time I saw him was when I made a cameo appearance in my friend Ben Langley’s Ha Ha Holmes at The Waterside Theatre in Aylesbury. I was dressed in a Beaver costume. And basically my antics caused him to crack up laughing on stage. Which was a very nice moment for me. He did tell me later that when I did a particular thing while on stage. That he was chuckling so much. He thought he might wet himself. It was really good to see him again. He was very funny as always in his little bit of the show.

The episode I was at also featured performances from Diversity. Who just seem to get better and better every time I see them. Their bit was absolutely stunning. The cast of the Kinky Boots musical. Who gave us a glimpse as to why the show had just won at the recent Olivier Awards. The force behind the music and songs for that show Cyndi Lauper not only introduced them on stage but also sang for us later on to. There was a thrilling children’s toy inspired variety act from China on the bill. Plus there were a couple of other special guests and surprises. That I will not spoil for you. I will just let you discover them for yourself.

It was another great evening spent at a brilliant venue in the heart of central London. I did also manage to squeeze in a lovely two course meal before the show. I have a very sweet tooth. So I always like to finish my dinner with a dessert. I couldn’t decide what I fancied. So I noticed that on the menu. They offered a five mini shot glass option. Where you could have five different types of puddings.

The person I was with was happy to give this option a try with me. So that is what we ordered. It was brilliant. There was much more of each dish than I expected. It was also great value for money and less than two of the normal desserts. If you get the opportunity I would say go on and give this option a try, at least once. If you see it on the menu of where you are eating. I was in an Italian themed chain restaurant. If that helps at all.

Last weekend saw one of the annual highlights of my year. As I made the trip up to Liverpool to enjoy the Grand National racing festival. I travelled up on the train on the Thursday afternoon. Before meeting my friend Jeff Nolan. Who lives near to the famous Aintree course. In a local pub for a couple of welcome drinks.

It was full of well dressed race goers. Who had been enjoying the first day’s racing. I do spend a lot of my time in London nowadays and I must admit the second I arrived in to Liverpool city centre. People generally did seem friendlier and much more talkative. Which I did like.

That evening bizarrely we ended up watching a documentary about Evil Knievel. He is someone I was obviously aware of. And I did have a toy version of him on a motorbike when I was a child. Which I do remember making ramps for. So it could jump over my matchbox car collection. However I have to confess I did not really recall his full back story and many of the world record and stunt attempts that he made.

It was interesting to see how he seemed to change as a person as he became more well known. Also it reminded me how many times he failed and hurt himself. It was nice in the end though to see him when he retired. Still putting on the famous jump suit and acting as more of an ambassador for good and safety. Sort of the American version of the English Green Cross Code man.

Friday was Ladies Day. The actual day we were going to the famous sporting venue. We started the day properly, as you should with some sausage and bacon sandwiches. Then it was time to get the suits on and head back to the local to meet everyone else. The place was already a hive of activity. Full of smart people. Also out to enjoy all the day had to offer.

After a few drinks. We then walked down towards Aintree itself to enjoy a drink in a pub that is at the entrance of the course. Which has recently changed its name to the Coral Arms. It then suddenly empties out very quickly. As everyone makes their way inside. Ready for the first race of the day.

The place is packed out with people. All just having a good time everywhere you look. They have several massive temporary tents installed specially for the meeting. In them there are bars, giant television screens to keep an eye on all the action and also live music.

After the racing has ended bands such as The Feeling perform on stage there. We of course made sure we headed outside to watch the races. It is an amazing sight seeing that many top class horses thunder by you. On the way to the winning post.

I had a couple of small winners on the day. I do like going down to the course side bookies to try and get the best odds on the horses. I want to back. It is all good fun and never feel guilty when you win. As I am yet to meet a poor book keeper. They always win in the end. After the races had finished we headed back in to the centre of Liverpool to continue the party.

The first place we went to was a lovely little pub hidden away down a side street called the Crack. Which is where John Lennon regularly used to drink when he still lived there. It has an area called the War Room. Which just has one big table in it and is surrounded completely by glass panels. So that was quite a cool place to have a pint. Specially as Lennon would have sat there at some point.

We visited a few other places including The Jacaranda. Which is another famous pub in the city. Where George Harrison used to drink. And it is also somewhere The Beatles played a lot when they were starting out. It is a pretty cool and chilled place with a jukebox in the corner.

It has been decked out like it was back in the 1960’s. I thought I had been to most of the bars on offer. But the two I have highlighted were places I was enjoying for the first time. And I have been going there for years. That is the great thing about the place. There are always new places to discover.

On Grand National Day itself. I watched the iconic race from a sports pub on the outskirts of Liverpool. It is always a great occasion and an intriguing race to enjoy. It was great to see two talented exceptional female jockeys Katie Walsh and Nina Carberry riding in it. It is always nice to when all of the horses and jockeys are safe at the end of it. I did not manage to pick the winner this year though.

But I did have the fourth place horse “Gilgamboa” as an each way bet at 66-1. So I did at least get some money back from the race. Jeff had the winner and was celebrating his victory like he was the trainer or the owner of it. I like the way the jockey David Mullins younger brother seemed to be crying for joy for about the next hour or so after the race.

The day after the National before I came home. We took a walk up to Aintree. To have a look at the areas of the course that we could see from outside. Famously the race crosses the Melling Road. On race day it is lined with sand. So the horses can go over it without damaging themselves and so it is a similar feel to the grass on the rest of the course.

The day after the sand had been cleared away and the road re-opened. So Jeff and I were standing on the Melling Road and looking down to the first fence. Which from our vantage point looked massive and terrifying. With that final look at one of the most iconic sporting venues in the world. It was time to head home. Another successful weekend. I am already looking forward to going back there for next year’s event.

In other news the mighty Tottenham Hotspur are still battling hard to the end and trying to win as many points as possible. To stay in touch with the outright Premier League leaders Leicester. Who I really still can’t see slipping up. Mind you. if you had asked me at the start of the season. If I would have settled for second place and Champions League qualification. It would have been a resounding yes from me. Still enjoying it and proud of them.

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

The 100th Edition

August 8, 2015 Neil

Hi there, how are you doing? I hope you have had a good couple of weeks. Mine have been great with lots of fun things going on. Firstly a very warm welcome to the 100th edition of this fortnightly update. Thanks for reading and in some cases being involved with them. I hope that you enjoy reading them as much as I enjoy writing them. The very first one was published back on the 24th September 2011. So as you can imagine a lot has happened during this time.

I feel that we have shared some exciting and fun moments together. Including my stand up comedy debut, some brilliant nights out at the theatre plus I think I have been lucky enough to meet some interesting people along the way. And I have been able to do some pretty cool things to. It was back in September 2011 when I got to meet and interview the lovely Victoria Pendleton.

So here’s to the next one hundred updates with hopefully plenty more fun times on the way. As ever I am working on a few different and interesting projects at the moment. So I am hoping that the rest of this year will be just as entertaining.

I had a wonderful time at the Irish Race Night with my parents at Windsor Races the other Monday. They have a meeting there every Monday during the summer. And they tend to have lots of different themed nights. Which normally end with a live performance of some kind. Firstly let us start with the nights racing. Which went very well for me.

I had two decent winners including the aptly named Shakerattleandroll, who I had a couple of pounds on at odds of 14-1. So it is fair to say that put a big smile on my face and led to me treating myself to a nice pint of Guinness to celebrate my victory and of course get into the spirit of the evening.

Once the racing was fully over and after all the horses had been safely put away the entertainment then started. It was the Irish Race Night, so live on the stage, on the green area near the parade ring were the Dublin Legends. They feature two of the original members of The Dubliners. The band kind of formed, when the iconic group decided to stop touring after two of its members sadly passed away. So they got a couple of new members and called themselves The Dublin Legends. They were just fantastic, effortlessly playing classic Irish song after classic Irish song. Every one sounded perfect. The band were totally brilliant. And created a great party atmosphere.

Each one of them a master musician with an exceptional voice and clearly a love of the music they were performing. It was impossible not to join in and sing along and have a good time. They were taking audience requests and pretty much just deciding what to play next, only after they had finished the previous number. While still making it a very slick and professional all round performance. If you are a fan of your Irish music I would definitely recommend that you catch The Dublin Legends live. So basically, it was a great night. With horse racing and music the big winners.

I enjoyed an overnight stay in London recently due to a couple of long days, that I was doing in the capital. In the evening I went out for a nice meal at a well known restaurant chain. That has an Italian/American theme. And that is named after two men. There are two things that I like most about that place. Firstly the menu is quite varied, so you do have a nice selection of dishes on offer. And secondly it is the music they play. Anywhere that you can hear Buddy Holly and Elvis Presley, while you eat, definitely gets it my vote as a great place to dine.

Neil Quigley and Elvis Presley hanging out in the 70's #crazydays — Neil Quigley and Elvis Presley hanging out in the 70’s #crazydays

The food was lovely but most importantly the waitress and the service was top quality. She was happy, funny, helpful and efficient. So we had a laugh, and were fed and watered in a timely manor. Leaving the place full and content. And of course then in turn leaving the member of staff in question a sign of our appreciation. It is great to see good customer service, I think it makes a huge difference to your night out.

I am pretty sure most employers and some customers do not always reward this. But without your front of house staff, you have no business. To be fair though my opinion may have been slightly skewed, as I was drinking bottles of Coors Light. That was my drink when I was in Las Vegas and whenever I have it, it brings back great memories of my week there.

The following morning I needed to grab a quick breakfast on the way to my meeting. And as I try to have a reasonably healthy breakfast I declined the hotel’s full English offering and popped in to a shop that’s French to English translation is “ready to eat”. Which as I was in a hurry seemed the perfect place to grab something from. I thought I would try their porridge in a pot with some added honey. I have to say there was deceptively more than I thought in the container, it had very much a Dr Who’s Tardis feel to it. It was actually very tasty, which surprised me a little. It was also quite nice to have creamy and soft porridge. Normally when I make it myself at home in the microwave. It comes out basically just like a big bowl of flapjack.

Neil Quigley TV Radio & Live — Neil Quigley TV, Radio & Live

Last Saturday I was at Wembley Stadium for the Women’s FA Cup Final. It was the very first time that the final of that competition had been played at the home of English Football. I took a group of guests around the venue first. Before settling down to watch the match myself. It was great fun as ever to be pitch side before the game. Just as the players were having a walk around prior to the match. Being that close you can really feel the excitement and atmosphere building from that area.

I was cheering on Notts County for two reasons. Because as a Spurs fan I hate to see Chelsea win anything and also because I have met and sort of know the England striker Ellen White. Who plays for the Nottingham based club. We were actually both born in the same town. Although one of us was born quite a few years before the other.

It was an entertaining game with some nice football played by both sides. But despite a very good and positive start from the Midland’s team you did always feel like Chelsea had slightly the upper hand. They got their winner towards the end of the first half through their lively number ten Ji So-Yun.

Player of the match was the Chelsea and England star Eni Aluko, who did look dangerous and a real threat every time she received the ball. It was not the result I was hoping for but it was a fun afternoon. Which saw a new record attendance of over thirty thousand for the big show piece cup final of the Women’s game. Well done to all involved.

Wembley Stadium are actually giving people the chance presently to take a Zip Wire ride above and across the pitch. So you can have a tour around the venue. Which then ends with you whizzing across it for a once in a life time view of the home of English football. It is only on offer for a few weeks. I have been offered the chance to do it, but I have declined the opportunity.

I am not really a fan of thrill seeking experiences or any roller coasters. So there is no way you would get me up there to do it. Although all the people I have seen do it looked like they were enjoying themselves and having fun. Good for them but I am still not doing it. Even though part of me thinks it would be a fairly cool thing to say you have done. But not a big enough part to make me want to do it.

Last week I had an audition to be a contestant on the second series of a game show hosted by Vernon Kay called 1000 Heartbeats. Now I rate myself as quite a relaxed and laid back person, so I thought I would be good at it. So I applied to be on it and then got invited in to meet the producers. This involved a fun afternoon at an arts studio in central London. I had to pose for some photos, take part in a general knowledge quiz and then I actually got the chance to pretend to play the game itself with one of the producers.

I was pretty impressed with how well I did. I also thought that I remained fairly cool, calm and collective. So therefore kept the heart rate down to give myself more time to answer the teasers. And hopefully ultimately if I do get on the show, win the jackpot. Lastly I just had to answer a few questions about myself on their camera. They are filming the new series next month. I will know by the end of August if I am going to be on it and going face to face with Vernon Kay or not. Either way, it was a fun afternoon just doing the audition itself.

This weekend see’s the start of the new football season. I am hoping as ever that my team Tottenham Hotspur can have a decent year. We have quite a young team. So it is going to be exciting to see them develop and hopefully improve together. A few weeks ago now the club announced the plans for its new stadium. Which look amazing. I am really looking forward to getting the chance to see a game in there, when it opens. As hopefully it will give me more chance of actually getting a ticket, as it will hold more fans than White Hart Lane does.

I am not convinced we can win the league but I would like to think that we might have a chance of winning a cup competition or two. As ever I am sure there will be plenty of twists and turns and ups and downs as ever. Which is one of the beautiful things about being a Spurs fan. Good luck to Mauricio Pochettino and the rest of the squad. Just give your all in every game. And we will support you all the way. That is all you can do. It would be great to get the chance to watch Spurs at Wembley again this season. And this time may be see them win.

I am a huge fan of the social networking site Twitter. There are a couple of things that I have enjoyed getting some behind the scenes information from via this medium recently. I follow Ant & Dec and also a lot of the Geordie’s Duo’s friends. So therefore I got to see some great photos and comments about Declan Donnelly’s Wedding. Which by the way looked amazing. Plus I thought it was a really nice touch that his brother, who is a fully qualified priest was the vicar that conducted the ceremony.

I also follow a few of the professional dancers from Strictly Come Dancing. And last week they met up to start rehearsing their show dances for the up coming series of the BBC One Show. They were posting some behind the scenes pictures of their training room. Which were already getting me excited about this year’s offering. It will start filming at the end of September. When we will find out the full list of the celebrities that will be on it this term. I went and saw the opening show recorded a couple of years ago now. It was a fantastic evening out. It was great seeing the dancers all doing their thing and also seeing both Jessie J and Rod Steward perform live at such close quarters.

At the moment there are a few interesting and exciting possible radio based opportunities that I am currently looking in to. It would be brilliant if may be one or more of them came off. Fingers crossed, something will happen in this area. So watch this space is all I can say. One of these is with the BBC. I have a meeting with them next week, which I am really looking forward to. It would be nice if I can share some news on this with you in the not too distant future.

One thing I can confirm though is that I have not made the short list for this years BBC New Comedy Award. The standard as ever was very high again this year. Best of luck to all those who have made it through to the live heats. Go out there and make them laugh. At some point soon, when I do get the chance to I do plan on putting myself back out there and doing some more stand up gigs, as I do really enjoy doing them. Best of luck to all comics up in Edinburgh for the festival at the minute.

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

Neil Quigley Presenter