In praise of…………. watching live sport

Yesterday I went to Reading to see some friends for dinner, in order to maximise my time there, i went to watch the local football team play at extravagantly named Select-A-Car stadium.  Reading FC played Barnsley in a third tier match. The game ended in a 2-2 draw and it was good way to spend an afternoon.  Obviously the skill levels were below the levels of the EPL, however it was the excitement, frustration, joys and the sense of shared community spirit which caught my mind. Here you can let out your emotions alongside your fellow fans and spectators.  This cannot replicated in a pub or watching it via television at home. Despite advances in technology, nothing matches the thrill of watching something live.

Jerusalem string quartet

Last night I attended a concert performed by the Jerusalem String Quartet at the Wigmore Hall in London. This combo from Israel has been attracting the pro-Palestine/antisemite crowd over the years so I decided to see and listen to them for myself.

The pieces performed included one from Mozart, Shulamit Ran and Ravel in that order. I have been to a few classical concerts in the past few years including a number of BBC Proms concerts.  The pieces were delivered with passion to a polite crowd that included several chinese concert goers. It was what I expected. Wigmore Hall being a rather small venue was perfect for this, as it gave me a cosy in ones’ living room experience.

The Rise of Skywalker

 On my flight from Hong Kong to London, I watched the last box office installment of the Star Wars franchise, “The Rise of Skywalker”.  All I can say is that this is the worst film of the franchise and Disney has truly ruined what George Lucas created.

My criticisms include CGI use of Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia and most controversially the re-spawning of Emperor Palpatine.  They could have written Leia out of the story and the re-spawn of Palpatine meant that the entire ending of episode six, “The return of the Jedi”, meant nothing.

The only redeeming feature was the cameo given by Dennis Lawson as Wedge Antilles.  I agreed with the prequels and also with “Rogue One” but the films after Return of the Jedi should never have been made. 

bodø/glimt vs manchester city

I had the pleasure of listening to this game on BBC Radio 5 Live and all I can say is well done bodø glint.  The BBC has many faults, especially in news reporting but it does live sport really well.

London postal musem

Yesterday, I paid a visit to the London postal museum.  I had heard about it in a Youtube video from one of my long time favourite railway channels. It was nestled on edge of the east end, and it was split into two sites across a road. One site is the main exhibition hall and the other, an underground mail terminus that used to deliver mail under the streets of the capital.

The ticket (£18) includes a ride on the restored mail train, and if you want to ride it you must book advance by buying the ticket online. You can, of course, buy your ticket at the door but there is no guarantee of spaces on the train.  I was just interested interested in the exhibition so I skipped the train ride.

The display was about the history of the mail service in Britain, which has its roots in medieval times. Then it moves on to how mail was transported, from horse to train and then by road.  Finally it explains the development of how it was paid for, which lead us to the humble postage stamp.  It did mention the public telephone system which was run by the post office before splitting off to become British Telecom.

Later I went across the road to have a look at the mail rail, as a train nerd, it was interesting to learn about the development of this service which solved the issue of avoiding the congestion on London’s streets.  To me the mail rail looked like a giant miniature underground railway.  I noticed younger visitors were very excited to be on it.

All in all it was an enjoyable day out, I do think it’s better suited to children

In praise of ….. going to church

I have been going to church on and off every Sunday, although I am not a baptised Christian, I draw many personal benefits from it. My journey into Christianity and religion in general started in the 1990s after meeting a born again Christian friend, who was the first Christian I can genuinely relate to.  After that I dabbled in new age spirituality and Buddhism as well.  I have also read the koran since then.

Religion makes us think about spiritual things and not just on the material things.  This has made me less anxious and more relaxed over things which I have no control. If it happens, it happens. Even when I’m only I still make an effort to go on a Sunday.  There is also the social aspect of meeting people and doing something tangible.

Ebay

 Anyone reading still using Ebay?