A record of wanderings
My first attendance since watching the League Cup semi with TC against Tottenham- as a neutral guest.
Definitely ‘skin in the game’ for this one.
Another historic win with a very happy travelling support. Not a great spectacle. Brentford well-organised and Chelsea very limited.
Enjoy the ride!
Shaz and I had a couples day out.
Tate Modern to critique the art.
Hilma af Klint & Piet Mondrian. I found her style rather adolescent girl who was still playing with her crayons. I found the whole mystical connections difficult to appreciate. Mondrian was more of interest and his abstract forms more engaging and more recognisable to me and maybe other ordinary souls.
That was followed by a walk and lunch then a trip up the Shard to use the tickets from earlier in the year- booked when Joe was around.
-5 celsius this morning.
It certainly looked good but I am still feeling the chill indoors.
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.
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.
We went to the Questors theatre in Ealing to take in the fun- our second time.
Joe was in place having arrived from NZ on Tuesday.
A good fun evening with classic corny jokes and activities.
This year’s visit was to the Royal Festival Hall. A new venue for us I think, but I think impressive.
Of course we, that is me, Shaz and IQ, wow critical. Shaz did not like the conductor as he seemed to tell the audience when to applaud. There was too much clapping during the performance-it became disruptive.
The choir was substantial- about 300-and so gave good volume. One of the males seemed under-powered. Overall it seemed a little flat.
A cycle trip in the end included stopping off at the museum in Gunnersbury Park. In my mind was that there was section on Brentford FC. It was in the end a video of fans being interviewed about their involvement and attachment to the club- outside Griffin Park. Good value, as were the videos showing ceremonial swords being made in Acton by Wilkinson and about a champion woman cyclist in the 50s.
There are sporting section- includes Fred Perry-news to me, and programme of the Freight Rover final of 1985 which I went to with RR. Bees lost of course.
In the arts section-Dr Who’s Cybermen queuing for a 65 bus!
Plus a reminder of industry on the Great West Road- and architectural vandalism- the fine Firestones building knocked down the weekend before the preservation order came into place.
This weekend is round 2 of the premier league season. An early start because of the world cup being held in winter because of the oppressive heat.
So this weekend is the first home game against the well- known Manchester United, who were poor in their first match and the Bees pulled back to get a good draw.
Erikson is gone- to Man Utd, and maybe a fine replacement has been found?
Fabrizio Romano and Joel MiansWed 10 Aug 2022 12.55 BST
Brentford have agreed a deal to sign the highly rated Denmark midfielder Mikkel Damsgaard from Sampdoria on a five-year deal for a fee of €15m (£12.7m).
The 22-year-old has completed his medical and will become the club’s sixth summer signing.
This is very late in the day but…..never too late?
EQ bough tickets for James Blake at the Alexander Palace for Shaz’s birthday. However in the end- EQ decided to go to Croatia with the baby. So I filled her shoes.
It was on a Tuesday night, 10 days ago now, but a school night…so a little dangerous.
The journey there was in truth quite straightforward with an easy walk from Wood Green tube.
And the event-not bad. I like a lot of his music but I am not sure how well it transfers to the live settling. There were 10,000 people there who seemed very relaxed, white, coupled and not raucous.
A good event but not the best.
And a few extracts of music: