Off to see Brentford play West Ham last night with JQ.
Another sporting event for Joe. We were truly in the gods and so the players looked like ants running around on a large patch of green.
A good win in the end for the Bees but not a great football match. At the of the first half it was 2-0 and reasonably say against the run of play. However, WHU had lots of possession without much threat after the first fifteen minutes. In the 2nd half Brentford played better, more control, and little threat from the oppo.
The crowd of red were very happy- Hammers fans less so. There was a large exodus with 20 minutes to go and by the finish not many more WHU fans thans Brentford supporters.
Then it was a long journey home because of signal problems on the Tube. Home after 2 hours at nearly midnight.
As I have not been contemporaneous here are a few excerpts from our holiday actvities.
At the Community Stadium-‘New Griffin Park’.
Joe arrived from New Zealand and part of the fun was a trip to watch London Irish play Saracens on 23rd.
In the end a good game to watch with a crowd of 10, 500. Initally looked like it would be a disaster with Irish having a man sent off after 20 minutes. However this event forced them to play a more open game, which was successful , and more entertaining. Saracens lost a man for foul play too- so evened up mostly- except when Irish has 2 more in the sin- bin. A thrilling finish and unexpected win for LI.
Plus an addition to the beanie collection for Joe.
There was also the first trip to the panto- at the Questors.
Good fun, silly and corny jokes, action and singing.
The 2nd trip to panto was at the Lyric Theatre in Hammersmith. The matinee performance on Christmas Eve.A more professional and resourced set up and energised rendition.
Again we managed to fit in a trip to Westminster Cathedral for its celebration: music and readings.
The piece ‘Wachet Auf’ was new to me and good value.
The five were together for the first time in three years: with EQ being confined and JQ in NZ last year.
And finally, the Super Bees played on Boxing Day at home. In the end they held on against Spurs 2-2.
Mick Lynch the union leader was at the game too- same type of hat is his moniker.
Last weekend was in effect a long time in the planning.
Friday evening was spent in Lille to see Grand Corp Malade, the tickets having been bought one year before and the idea gestating long before that.
We took the Eurostar to Lille which for most of the passengers was the Disney Land express- as only two other people or so got off at Lille. The others on the train were families of different ages and compositions commonly dressed as Mickey or Minnie.
I was surprised by the number of police and soldiers before we went in and by the number of older people in the audience. I was expecting mostly young people- I was wrong.
The crowd loved him and it was a great evening.
On Saturday we moved onto Paris. We saw the ballet at the Opera House-Palais Garnier- Mayerling. This is a relatively modern ballet. It tells the story of the prince who is next in line in the Austro Hungarian empire prior to WW1. He is a nasty piece of work, unfaithful, drug addict and general abuser of people. He dies in a suicide pact. The dancing is more sexual than is typical.
Sunday was electo-jazz- never heard of it before at a cool venue- old railway station.
There were three musician of whom Théo Ceccaldi was the star and lead. A s,all venue, free entry paid for by beer etc and a whip around at the end. Great quality and skill. Great experience.
A bit of more trad jazz on Monday evening- not bad.
But an unexpected experience at the church if St. Eustache on Tuesday morning when we found, by chance, the organist practicing on the second largest organ i France. Wonderful noise!
I read an article of the stories of why people have become British citizens in 2021. I found this paragraph in the introduction pertinent:
The most rewarding part of the citizenship process is not only gaining British nationality. It’s all about the courage to leave your country of origin, the initial struggle, the hard work and resilience. It’s about the cultural exchange and appreciation of a new way of living. It’s all about the journey.
A suite of activities with chats EQ and JQ who is of course in Wellington.
The activities included watching London Scottish play in Richmond with IQ and Anthony. It is good to see ‘real rugby’ or maybe old-fashioned. The players are not all uniformly the size of houses and subtlety seems to play a bit more of a role.
Next it was a trip to Kew Gardens to see the light show. A team of three this time with Shaz and IQ.
Next after that fun ti was off to the pub to watch Brentford play BHA. Not a good performance and not a good result.
A few pictures to show the day, which, as well as the fine feast, included Mass at St. Peter and St. Paul, Northfields, video chats with EQ who was and remains marooned in Glasgow because of Covid.
Along with the food and alcohol there was the annual viewing of ‘Love Actually’ plus the 1971 Morecambe and Wise classic Christmas special.
Finally back on display after being in a box for so long. It has not worked for about 10 years. We tried to have it repaired in New Zealand without success and I think with it nearly not returning from a trip to Christchurch. A slow process to have it fixed here too.
