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2月27日 Rich & Ed's blog on the Mongol Rally website has been updated!To read these latest witterings about the boys' preparations - titled 'A heroic but failed attempt to get sponsorship from a famous mullet-head...' - simply click here. 2月20日 Rich & Ed's blog on the Mongol Rally website has been updated!
To read these latest witterings about the Rich and Ed's preparations - titled 'Still no car... but you can now sponsor Rich and Ed online with a credit or debit card!' - simply click here. 2月16日 My latest spot of mischief-making, and other stories..!So, my week off for half-term is about to draw to a close.
However, I'm not complaining... as the last seven days have been really enjoyable.
So what have I been up to?
Well I've already written in a previous update about some of the things I got up to during the first part of the week - such as my day out with my Gran!
Subsequently, the week has seen me go and see an excellent exhibition in Manchester all about legendary nightclub the Hacienda. This was absolutely fascinating, so much so that I actually spent nigh on a couple of hours checking out all the paraphernalia on display. If you're reading these ramblings on my blog at www.softbulletin.co.uk, then go to the photo gallery and you can see some photos that I took. If, on the other hand, you're reading this on Facebook - well, simply click here to redirect yourself.
One thing that was particularly impressive about the exhibition was the fact that it actually included some original features salvaged from the Hacienda before it was demolished, including the original front doors! Indeed, had I stuck some 808 State on my iPod and necked some pills bought in the toilets from someone called Dodgy Dave, it would probably have been just like being there for real 'back in the day'..!
And it was quite cool to see the legacy of the Hacienda being passed down to younger generations, Whilst wandering around, I found it strangely touching when I saw a thirty-something mum with two young children in tow, explaining to them that "this is where me and your dad used to go."
Hacienda aside though, the last few days have generally been dominated by babies. Indeed, my visit to Manchester for the exhibition was actually on my way home from a trip up to Liverpool to see my friends Paul and Betty and their new daughter Martha.
Meanwhile, yesterday also saw me pay a visit a bit closer to home to see some other pals who have just become parents for the first time - namely Neil and Niki, who recently had a boy.
Like me, Neil is a big Nottingham Forest fan... and so naturally, he's already starting to fret about the possibility that his new son George might grow up wanting to support a different team, what with Forest being a bit rubbish these days!
Amusingly, Neil's already making plans to brainwash George as soon as he's old enough to have an awareness of football - by showing him videos of Forest matches from 'back in the day' when the Reds were actually good... and then telling him that what he's just seen was actually last week's match!
Devious, but it may just work!
Talking of Forest, their home match against Swindon today was the scene for my latest spot of mischief-making!
For the last seven or eight years, my brother Al and me have sat at the match next to a bloke called Graham, who over time has become a really good friend. And last year was a big year for our 'neighbour' - in that he celebrated his 40th birthday!
Now this landmark birthday actually fell on a day when Forest were playing at home - however, Graham deliberately kept everything quiet until right near the end of the game!
"I know what you bastards are like," he muttered darkly. when he did finally break the news. "You'd have probably arranged to have a message put on the scoreboard or something!"
And indeed, Graham probably knows us far too well! For having stored the details of his birthday in the 'file for later' compartment of our brains, Al and me decided we'd wait a year and do exactly what Graham feared... only for his 41st birthday!
Consequently, Graham had to endure the embarrassment our message being flashed across the scoreboard throughout this afternoon's match!
However, rather than just go for the obvious 'Happy birthday Graham, from Al and Rich', we decided to have a bit of fun!
Now Graham, Al and me have developed numerous Forest-related 'in-jokes' between the three of us over the years that we've sat together watching varying degrees of dross on the pitch!
And two of the most enduring in-jokes concern firstly a bloke called Terry, who works for the Forest and has the important job of sorting out the players' kits; and secondly the team's manager Colin Calderwood, who we have nicknamed 'Smoulderwood', in tribute to his magnificent all-year-round suntan!
And so it was that I found myself desperately trying to keep a straight face earlier this week, when I rang up Forest and instructed them to have the following message displayed on the scoreboard - 'Happy birthday Graham, love from Terry and Smoulds'!
Naturally, Al and me spent most of the game absolutely pissing ourselves laughing about this, while Graham did the whole 'pretending-to-be-outraged-but-obviously-quite-amused-really' thing!
I suppose I've left myself wide open really for some kind of revenge - though my birthday isn't 'til October, so hopefully he'll have forgotten by then..!
And finally, last but not least, this week also saw me engineer a sort of international summit between some of my mates who hadn't actually met before!
Last month you see, James and Tara - a married couple who are really good friends of mine - left the UK to start a new life in Australia.
However, rather than fly straight to Oz, the two of them decided to spend a few weeks bumming around Asia first - and I got a message off them a couple of days ago in which they revealed that they were in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur.
Now some of you will be aware that the redoubtable Mikey B, one of my best mates, happens to live in 'KL'. And so naturally, it seemed only right and proper to put James and Tara in touch with him, so they could hook up with a fellow Brit who'd be able to show them a few sights!
A phonecall to Mike was duly made, in which I inadvertently woke him up - having got the time difference between the UK and Malaysia a bit muddled!
Incredibly, the boy Blundell wasn't actually at all pissed off (or if he was, he hid it very well!) - and immediately agreed to let me pass on his contact details to James and Tara.
Now it can sometimes be a bit of a risk when you introduce friends from different circles who haven't met before. I mean, what if they simply don't get on?
I'm very happy to report though that putting James and Tara in touch with Mike proved to be a big success. The three of them ended up going on a night out together around downtown KL - and I found myself receiving a regular stream of text messages from both parties throughout the evening, detailing the drunken debauchery that ensued.
"In karaoke booth with Mike," came the first missive from James. "Me and Tara just massacred 'The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song' by the Flaming Lips, while Mike's done a mean Morrissey. His Tom Jones however is less impressive..."
Later on meanwhile, a message from Mike simply read "James and Tara are legends!"
I love it when my friends all get on famously with one another..! 2月14日 Valentine's Day - it's official, romance ISN'T dead..!So, Valentine's Day comes and goes for another year - and something happened today that made me truly believe that romance isn't dead.
Enter my esteemed brother Al..!
Now Al... like a lot of men I suppose... is the sort of bloke who will often go to great lengths to try and give the impression to the world that he doesn't go in for all that romance nonsense.
Naturally, I can't help but suspect that the gentleman doth protest too much - and that behind closed doors, he's actually only too eager to light the candles and stick a bit of Barry White on the stereo...
Today though, Al was very much living up to his carefully self-cultivated image!
As those of you who know him well know, Al has a long-term girlfriend - the lovely Cat. And ever since the two of them have been an item, February 14th has always been a bit of a double-whammy for Al - because as well as obviously being Valentine's Day, it also happens to be Cat's birthday!
So what did Al do today to treat his lady?
Champagne breakfast in bed?
A surprise mini-break to Paris?
No... Al took Cat on a trip to... wait for it... the Galleries of Justice in Nottingham city centre!
Brilliant!
For those of you who don't know it, the Galleries of Justice is a museum devoted to the history of crime and punishment. It's actually a really fascinating place, where you come out having learned lots of things that you didn't know before. And today, there was one particular thing that Al learned during his visit that amused me no end when he relayed the details to me.
I won't go into the details, as Al has written all about it on his own blog - which you can view by clicking here.
As someone who has a mild obsession with cheese though, Al's revelation has amused me no end..! 2月12日 A day out with my favourite glamorous lady..!As well as the job itself, one thing that I've been finding really enjoyable about teaching since I started last year is the amount of time off that you get.
This week, for instance, I have a whole week off for half-term!
Granted, I do have quite a bit of work to do. However, I've also made a point of putting aside some 'me' time - and indeed, I'm up to some pretty cool stuff this week.
Tonight for instance, I'm off out into Nottingham city centre for a curry, and then onto see Travis play a gig at the Rescue Rooms. This is a gig I've been really looking forward to - as Travis are a band I've long had a great deal of affection for... and the Rescue Rooms is (for them) a tiny venue!
Tomorrow meanwhile, I'm off up to the north-west - firstly to Liverpool, to go and visit my friends Paul and Betty and their new baby... and then onto Manchester, where I shall be checking out a huge exhibition that's running there at the moment all about legendary nightclub The Hacienda.
So this all should all be good - though when I look back at the end of this week on everything I've done, I'd say there's a strong likelihood that my overall highlight will actually prove to be what I got up to this morning... an outing to Nottingham city centre with my Gran!
As those of you who've met her will be well aware, my Gran rocks! And the reason for our trip was because we both wanted to go on the huge big wheel currently operating in Nottingham's Market Square.
We certainly couldn't have picked a better day for our outing - as despite it being mid-February, we arrived in the city on the tram to find the place bathed in glorious sunshine.
After a bit of a queue, we paid our £5 each to go on the wheel - and I'm happy to report that the 15-minute ride was money well spent.
The views were utterly spectacular, and it was amazing to have the opportunity to see Nottingham from a completely different perspective. Being someone who leads a pretty busy life, my forays into the city centre usually involve dashing in and out in order to fulfil a particular purpose - so it was refreshing to have a bit of time to actually enjoy having a leisurely look at the place.
Of course, Nottingham is never realistically going to be in the same league as Prague or Vienna as one of the world's most beautiful cities. However, today was a happy reminder that my home town is actually blessed with some pretty stunning buildings.
None more so of course than the City Ground, home of my beloved Nottingham Forest, which you could actually see through the mist from the top of the wheel!
All in all then, an excellent experience which my Gran and I both enjoyed hugely.
There was also a real bonus for us - because unlike my mum and dad, who had to share their gondola with a gang of chavs when they had a go on the wheel a few days previously, Gran and me ended up with a nice retired couple from Mansfield!
If you're reading these ramblings on my blog at www.softbulletin.co.uk, you can see my 'bird's-eye-view-of-Nottingham' photos in my photo gallery.
If, on the other hand, you're reading these words on Facebook - well simply click here to be redirected to www.softbulletin.co.uk.
As you'll see in the photos, the fun didn't stop when we got off the big wheel - as being the classy gentleman that I am, I took my Gran for a spot of lunch afterwards at one of Nottingham's finest eating establishments... the Cosy Teapot Cafe!
A refreshing antidode to all the soul-less generic chain coffee houses that are starting to depressingly dominate the high streets of every town in this country, the Cosy Teapot is a proper 'old school' cafe just down the road from Nottingham station.
It offers all the things that make a cafe great - friendly staff, newspapers, tasty and reasonably priced food, one type of coffee (no innumerable and befuddling permutations of Twatuchinos here)... and most importantly, those squeezy ketchup bottles that always end up going a bit crusty round the top!
The Cosy Teapot actually won a national award a few years ago for being the best greasy spoon in Britain, and I'm not surprised. It's a brilliant little place, with loads of little quirks - not least the huge collection of decorative teapots that adorn the walls, and the fact that, if you need to use the loo, it's an old outside crapper that you can only access by actually walking through the kitchens!
The cafe also does 'doorstep toast' as one of its house specialities. As the name suggests, these are slices of toast that are literally about an inch thick!
All in all, the Cosy Teapot is a hidden gem, and I'd strongly urge those of you who live in or around Nottingham who've never been in to check it out sometime!
Though I won't ramble on any more, or else I'll probably start to sound like some sort of low-rent Michael Winner..! 2月11日 Rich & Ed's blog on the Mongol Rally website has been updated!To read these latest witterings about the Rich and Ed's preparations - titled 'A tremendously productive week, in which the boys get their ferry to Europe booked, and also kick off the media frenzy in earnest...' - simply click here. 2月10日 www.richandedsexcellentadventure.com is now live!As most of you are probably aware, my good friend Ed Baker and I have got some pretty big plans for the summer of 2008.
For those of you who don’t know, we’re entering the 2008 Mongol Rally – something which will involve us attempting to drive all the way from the UK to Mongolia in a really rubbish car!
Unsurprisingly, our perhaps foolhardy mission has generated considerable interest and mirth among our families and friends. And naturally, we’re keen to make it as easy as possible for everyone to have easy access to information about our plans.
Now there are lots of places you can go to on the web to find out about what we’re doing – such as the discussion group we've got set up on Facebook*, our page on the official Mongol Rally website (which includes a blog that we will be updating regularly with latest news and information)… and also another webpage that we’ll hopefully have up and running soon, which will enable people to sponsor us via the web with a debit or credit card. If you ARE however reading these words on Facebook – well, pretty much the first thing you’ll see when you get to the Soft Bulletin is a box with the heading ‘Rich and Ed’s Excellent Adventure’… and this has all the links in it. So get www.richandedsexcellentadventure.com added to your ‘Favourites’ lists, and you’ll only be a few clicks away from the latest information on our mission... In terms of disseminating information, we’re also going to start sending out a regular newsletter via email. If you’d like to be added to the mailing list for this, simply send an email to me – at richardpfisher@hotmail.com – stating “Yes, please add me to the mailing list!” That’s all for now folks..! * If you're a member of Facebook and want to join the 170+ existing members of this group, simply log into your account and do a search under groups on 'Ed Baker and Rich Fisher'. 2月3日 Appearing on Sky Sports' 'Soccer AM', and other stories..!I can't believe we're already in February - 2008 seems to be hurtling past at a dizzying speed!
It's certainly been an eventful start of the year too in the world of Rich. Since I resumed by year's teacher training following the Christmas break, the ante has been upped considerably - with me now doing far more actual teaching.
It's been hard work, but I'm still loving it...
What's more, I'm pleased to report that it's been far from a case of 'all work and no play makes Rich a pretty dull boy' - with recent weeks having seen me embroiled in all sorts of things that don't actually involve trying to control 32 children...
As I've mentioned in a previous update, there has been significant progress on the bid to get a statue erected in Nottingham of the legendary former Nottingham Forest manager Brian Clough - a project I've been heavily involved in for the last three years.
In addition, my good friend Ed Baker and I received some good news early in the new year, when we discovered that we'd successfully bagged a place in the 2008 Mongol Rally - an event that will see us drive all the way from London to Mongolia in a really crap car!
And the last few weekends have also seen me do a fair bit of gadding about.
Last weekend, with Forest not having a game, I elected to join my mate Gaz on a trip to see his team Bristol Rovers play away at Barnet in the FA Cup. And a very amusing day out it was too.
Meanwhile, the weekend before saw me go on a coach trip up to Liverpool, to see Nottingam's premier beat combo The Fakers play a gig at the famous Cavern Club. This too was a very enjoyable trip - not least because the Fakers are big Forest fans, and so naturally our coach arrived in Scouseland with a huge Forest flag hanging proudly from the back.
Amazingly, none of our windows actually got put through!
Entertaining though as my trips to Barnet and Liverpool were, my most memorable shenanigans of recent weeks ocurred during this weekend just gone - when I was part of a group of Forest fans who appeared on the TV show 'Soccer AM'.
For those of you who aren't familar with Soccer AM, it's a humourous programme previewing the weekend's football that goes out on Sky Sports on Saturday mornings. As part nof the programme, they always have a group of fans in the studio from a different team to be 'fans of the week' - and this week, it was me, my brother Al and six others!
Our chance to represent Forest in front of a TV audience came about through Tom - a friend of Al, who's spent much of the last two years pestering Soccer AM by email to get them to have Forest fans on the show! Eventually they caved in... and when Tom asked Al if he fancied going on the show, Al persuaded him to let me join the group too.
This was quite amusing, as I've actually been on Soccer AM as a 'fan of the week' twice before, and so this appearance would give me my 'hat-trick'!
Needless to say, our trip to appear on the show made for a memorable weekend. Along with Al, Tom and myself, our gang of eight included the legendary Jonny Heald - a fellow Forest fan has numerous daft claims to fame, including:
1) Going on Deal or No Deal and winning £26,000!
2) Holding the world record for being the person who's managed to fit the most Jaff Cakes in his mouth!
3) Being officially called Jonny Spiderman Heald, having changed his name by deed poll.
Legend...
With Soccer AM being filmed in London, adventure started on the Friday evening when we all met at Nottingham station to get the train down to London - our travel expenses having all been paid for by Sky Sports!
Indeed, the channel were brilliant in the way they looked after us. When we arrived in London, we were picked up by a couple of cars and whisked straight to aplush five-star hotel... where we arrived in reception to discover a formal black-tie ball in full swing!
With most of us having been wearing jeans and T-shirts, we looked a bit out of place to say the least!
It was quite amusing though, and after dumping our bags in our rooms, we were straight down to the hotel bar - though we all decided to take it easy on the boozing front, as Sky had made it clear to us in no uncertain terms that we wouldn't be allowed on the show if we turned up in the morning with raging hangovers!
There were a few things we had to discuss though. For one, every week on Soccer AM, presenters Helen Chamberlain and Andy Goldstein introduce the fans of the week pretty early on in the show - and as soon as they've done this, you're required to burst straight into a song.
Wanting to do something a bit quirky, Al and me had been keen on the idea of us singing 'The Brian Rice Song' - a ditty you occasionally hear belted out by Forest fans in reference to the eponymous Scottish left-winger who plied his trade for the club in the late 80s.
Rice is widely regarded as one of the worst players ever to pull on the red shirt. And to the tune of 'Yellow Submarine' by The Beatles, 'The Brian Rice Song' simply goes "Number one is Brian Rice, number two is Brian Rice...", continuing all the way through to number 11 before breaking into a chorus of "We all live in a world of Brian Rice, a world of Brian Rice, a world of Brian Rice..."
Usually, 'The Brian Rice Song' is sung whenever the whole team are having an absolute stinker - the idea being that they're playing so badly that we might as well have 11 Brian Rices on the field!
Cruel, perhaps, but funny - and pleasingly, the rest of the gang were in agreement!
We also decided it'd be funny to write some obscure words on some pieces of paper, fold them up, metaphorically put them in a hat, and then draw out two each - with each of us tasked with having to try and use our allocated word at some point during the show!
With words like 'nebulous' and 'banqueting' having been among those chosen, some of the group were certainly going to have their work cut out..!
It was then off to bed, and up bright and early the following morning ready to be picked up at 7.30am to be taken to the studio. On arrival we were ushered into the green room and given a briefing on 'dos and don'ts'. With the show going out completely live, the 'don'ts' were mainly 'don't swear'!
It was then time to into costume - full Forest kit!
Alas, delving into our bags for our clobber, Al and me realised to our horror that we'd both forgotten to bring shorts and footy socks! Fortunately, like all good schools, Soccer AM have a 'Lost and found'-style supply of spare footy gear, and were able to rustle up a pair of white shorts and red socks for each of us - though Al ended up having to wear a pair of Portsmouth shorts, which he was none too happy about!
And so into the studio!
As you'll know if you've seen Soccer AM, the job of the fans of the week is to basically be raucous and bring a bit of terrace atmosphere to the show. And I'd like to think we performed admirably!
Sadly, none of us managed to slip in any of our obtuse words - mainly, I think, because we all simply forgot amid all the excitement!
The Brian Rice Song however went down a storm, and Al and me also successfully achieved two of our other aims - with Al managing to mention Terry Farndale, Forest's legendary kit man, and me managing to mention Forest manager Colin Caderwood's impressive all-year-round suntan!
One area where we didn't exactly perform admirably though was the section of the show where the fans of the week have to go outside and, in a minute, attempt to kick as many footballs as possible through a hole.
In previous weeks, fans of the week had managed to get the ball through the hole as many as seven times.
Our score though?
Yes, a big fat zero!
But hey, what do you expect froma bunch of guys who support a team who have spent much of the last ten years looking like they couldn't score in a brothel?!
Overall then a very entertaining morning - and after having a brief schmooze and some photos with Helen, Anndy and their guests, we were quickly on the move... for Sky Sports had very kindly offered to drive us down to the south coast for Forest's game at Bournemouth that afternoon!
Sadly, this was where the day's entertainment ended. Yes, our rendition of the Brian Rice Song had turned out to be somewhat prophetic - as Forest lost 2-0 after giving an utterly woeful performance.
With a four-hour train journey home ahead of us, we were not happy bunnies! And neither were the other 1,500 or so Forest fans who had made the trip down south.
Indeed, as we made our exit following the full-time whistle, we happened to walk past the Forest team bus, which was parked outside the main entrance of the ground. The bus looked like it could do with a good clean - and this being so, a fair few people had seized the opportunity to make their feelings clear by writing messages such as 'SHITE!' and 'CALDERWOOD OUT!' in the dirt on the side.
A disappointing end to the day, then... but all in all being a fan of the week on Soccer AM was an excellent experience.
If you're reading these ramblings on my blog, www.softbulletin.co.uk, I've just uploaded some snaps from the day into my photo album. If, on the other hand, you're reading this on Facebook - well, just go to www.softbulletin.co.uk to see the pics.
And no, for those of you who have been asking - sadly, I didn't get the Soccerette's phone number..! |
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