Carling Cup Final

Wow the Carling Cup Final really was exciting - 2-2 at the final whistle, 2-2 at the end of extra time and then finally a penalty shoot out. To add to it all in the penalties Steven Gerrard was the first to shoot and he failed to score – shock horror and quite possibly tears for the thousands of Liverpool supporters. It was incredibly tense.

The match really was quite an eye opener. Firstly there was the tube ride into Wembley Park. I know commuting can be stressful and horribly busy but this was another level and somehow to the delight of my Welsh relatives we were on a train full of Cardiff supporters. I was thrilled to see that my rather “on trend” electric blue jeans meant I blended right on in and was presumed to be a Cardiff fan too. Although unsurprisingly I didn’t know any of their chants and even if I had, the Welsh accent was proving quite overwhelming. As far as I was concerned it was a lot of tone deaf males shouting what they hoped was something similar to their friends/fellow supporters.

I have never wholeheartedly supported a sport with that same devotion football fans do. It's one of those sports you don’t support because you play it, you support because it's in your family…its expected of you…it's in your DNA......I looked around during the game and it was certainly nerve-racking but my goodness it looked like it was a matter of life or death to the supporters. When one set of supporters was celebrating the others were holding their head in their hands!

I had the luxury of sitting in Club Wembley with a combination of supporters from both sides. As a result it has a strict no football shirts policy and is theoretically “neutral” ground. Well I can certainly say that everyone’s allegiance was well known from kick off! This was unmistakably highlighted when goal numero 1 was scored. Now Sunday was a bit of a family outing as my cousins from Wales came especially for the match and WOW if only I could have filmed their reaction when Cardiff scored the first goal. For starters I think they were quick to realise the majority of Club Wembley surrounding them were Liverpool supporters. I imagine I’d show a similar reaction if I won the lottery but this was simply the first goal. As they jumped for joy, spun around, pumped fists up in the air, high fived one another and hugged it was clear they were Cardiff fans and there was no disguising it.

So that’s fine they are guys but when Liverpool finally won and I turned around to determine where this ear piercing shrieking was coming from, I was shocked to see a rather well dressed 20 something girl behind me who was in fact crying. I mean is this really necessary? And why was her reaction like so many this dramatic?

I get sport and I love it but this whole football craze does shock me and I find it a bit scary. The money people spend to support their teams is huge. Maybe the players should be using some of their HUGE salaries to help fund their supporters supporting costs? It's not just the costs but the time and distance people travel to go watch to. Liverpool fans were even having to get on replacement buses due to the trains being cancelled!

Anyways despite the rant I loved the game and it goes without saying the atmosphere at Wembley is just fantastic. It’s an extremely well managed venue and a wonderful experience being there for such a big event.

Australian Open 2012

In case you didn’t watch or haven’t already been told by a friend/family Sunday’s Australian Open final was truly spectacular. Not only was it an absolutely epic five-setter that went five hours 53 minutes but it has also gone down in history as one of the longest matches ever. On this one occasion it really was the taking part that counts. After gaining the title Djokovic noted, "It was the longest Grand Slam final of all time. Just hearing that fact makes me cry," highlighting the emotion of it all.

I could happily continue writing about the match itself because it was exceptional, but….I actually wanted to draw your attention to another moment in the match. RAIN DELAY. Unlike the infamous moments at Wimbledon when the rather well built British boys come running out with covers, the moments witnessed during Sunday’s final were somewhat surprising.

Who would have thought that the job description for the Australian ball kids in the unlikely incident of rain (it is their summer) required them to get down on hands and knees with towels and wipe the court dry! It really did crack me up - so much so I had to pause and take photos. 

Ball boys drying the courts!

Nokia Lumia 800 lights up London.

It doesn’t seem that long ago when we were all comparing our latest Nokia phones. It was quite simply the phone to have. I remember the adjustable covers which formed a constant discussion point at school. I do believe my first nokia was the almighty 3210 – oh what a phone!

Sadly for Nokia their domination is no more. It’s hard to miss the fact everyone seems to be walking around with the latest blackberry/iphone. Putting that aside they are trying hard to get themselves back out there.

I have previously blogged about their “The Amazing Everyday” commercial but today I want to introduce their incredible light display. I don’t quite know why I haven’t blogged this yet – its not because I’ve only just watched it. I have shown it to many of my friends wishing I’d be there to witness it.

The 4D projection show really is spectacular and with the addition of Deadmaus dj-ing it certainly grabs an audience – not only those present but the nearing 3 million people who have watched it online. I think full marks are to be given to Nokia.

The Boyfriend

Apologies but that thing called Christmas has meant my blogging has kind of died down the last few weeks. In my last post I introduced the wonderful gift given to me by a close friend and now is the time to introduce my wonderful hand made boyfriend.

Along with the help of my cousin I made him one evening in front of the TV. Now I must admit that just as finding a boyfriend has its challenges, making one is equally tricky!  The problem with his plasticine form is that too much handling means he begins to melt so the whole moulding and creative process proved rather challenging.

Despite this I must admit I think we did a pretty good job. People have questioned the choice of a centre parting and it might seem a rather old fashioned option but I preferred it to the quiff or spike styles suggested. I guess a centre parting will just have to suffice.

As you can see below the set even came with a rather stunning scene. I am suspicious about this particular photo as it seems to include a poster of another lady. Aside from that I’d like to think my boyfriend is the perfect gentleman – he even brought flowers!

Sculpt your own boyfriend.

This weekend one of my best friends gave me a delightful Christmas present. See below.

Available at Urban Outfitters!!

Yes not only did she highlight my single status but finally I have been given the opportunity to create my perfect man. Sadly he is only in clay form! At some stage this week I will take to creating him so standby as I will post the final creation.

Senna - The Movie

This is a truly remarkable film. I have always been a fan of F1 but due to the time of Senna’s fame I was unaware of his story. The film is in fact a documentary but with an added cinematic Hollywood approach. I was under the impression the film would also feature a fair amount of reconstructive filming to enhance the story line. What was staggering is they used none. Despite this the footage used from start to finish told the story – there weren’t any awkward moments between shots, it genuinely flowed throughout.

What staggered me most about the film was the politics within F1 - Senna was unfairly treated on a number of occasions and as a result his passion came through even more. You felt how much he wanted it and what it meant not only to him but also his huge fan following in Brazil.

As well as the politics there was the extreme rivalry between Senna and Prost. It added another dimension to the story and heightened the passion.

Following his death the scenes in Brazil are nothing but emotional. Senna was genuinely seen as a Saint – not only did he inspire many, but his success also brought joy and hope. That success was also donated to many worthy causes.

I can honestly say this is a film worth watching.

In search of some carbs.

We most certainly can’t deny the fact we all have those days when all we crave is one carb loaded meal. Last Saturday this was the case for myself and a bunch of my closest girlfriends. The previous night we’d all been out celebrating one of our birthdays. Unfortunately we’d left our lunch destination to the birthday girl and well this is what we were welcomed with. Read it and your probably think its some menu from back in time.

All in rather fragile hungover states this was all too much. The reactions went from all round laughter to wanting to cry to just simply wanting to do was leave. This wasn’t an option (or at least the bday girl conscience wouldn’t let us) so we attempted to pull through.

Suddenly there was hope…..Chicken Kiev and mash potatoes was on the specials board. Done lets have that….oh wait there is only one left so that doesn’t exactly work. Two of us desperately tried to decide who should have it and decided that to make it fair neither of us would – big regret!

The order made consisted of 2 antipasto dishes and 4 pea and ham soups….and well lets just say unsurprisingly this proved a let down. For those of you who don’t like chunky and I mean chunky soups that’s exactly what arrived, in my opinion it should really have been named pea and ham broth. Then there was the rather over priced antipasto and for some reason every item was extremely salty.

One thing was for sure though it certainly made us laugh and Charlie Chaplin once said “a day without laughter is a day wasted” and well our day was certainly not wasted. The laughter didn’t seem to stop. Aside from this one time (any St Georges lacrosse girls reading this you must remember) in New York at the Hard Rock Café I genuinely don’t think I have ever laughed so much. At one stage I honestly brought on a sweat and breath loss trying to hold in the laughter…it then resulted in me bursting into unstoppable laughter and tears. All I can say it everyone needs a weekend with their best girlfriends, despite tears, headaches, voice loss it leaves you feeling in high spirits and so thankful to have such wonderful friends.