We have been feeling rather whimsical recently – it’s possibly because the drudgery of snow and offensively-cold cold-snap was momentarily snapped this past weekend with relatively summery temperatures. We were possibly a couple of degrees away from breaking out the flip-flops and our shorts, but thankfully sanity set in and we retreated further into our orange jumpsuits (obligatory RoF uniform). Those glorious few moments were really glorious though. Regardless, no matter how brief the moment was, the mere hint of summer in the air (what with the distant sound of possible lawnmowers and that faint smell of sun in the air) was enough to send us into waves of whimsy giving us hitherto (well not since last spring at least) untapped vats of courage… so we went and got our hair cut short. This, you might think, was not terribly brave, but for us it was – we have about enough money to pay for our lunch of stale bread and gruel so this extravagance was certainly brave. We blame summer.
Well, not just summer. We also blame the Soccermen. What with all the current controversies (aren’t there always?) there’s a lot of blame being thrown at ‘soccer men’ but this is specifically with reference to two young chaps (Paul Hudson and Matt Conrad) who left England on a wonderful and whimsical adventure to Pohnpei. This isn’t a story of gap year backpackers in search of the meaning of life (or drugs and stories with which to woo women when they reach uni). Instead, this is the tale of their unlikely journey to a very micro Micronesian state in order to breathe life into their football. It is a story to warm the cockles in these footballing-cold-war times and to inspire others to greatness (or haircuts – whichever suits really) as the Soccermen work to put Pohnpei on the footballing map and, hopefully, lead them to their first ever victory. FIFA should be awarding these men a special award for probably doing more for football than any goal of the season has ever done… plus one of them looks like an out-of-shape Manu Petit so that’s always worth a look.
Thankfully, you won’t need to travel to Pohnpei to follow their exploits as they have, handily released a book which is touching, thrilling and entertaining. You should buy it now.
http://www.thesoccermen.com/home
Also, they’re hopefully putting together a film so if you’ve ever had a desire to do some good and get a producer credit too, check out their Kickstarter page – we have donated and so should you!
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2028948731/the-soccermen
Ukulele required. T-shirt optional (that's how we rock)
As if a haircut and backing a duo of intrepid sporting pioneers and egalitarians wasn’t enough, we’ve also been searching out something different. We get that urge from time to time – actually, we get it every year just after the Christmas and birthday bonanza that is December and January when life returns to mundane dullness filled with mortgage payments, monotony and the slow death of hopes and dreams by the simple and maddening effluxion of time. It’s depressing but inevitable – but it does drive us to do random and brilliant things like learning the ukulele. That’s pretty random seeing as we have no rhythm, musical background or knowledge. Thankfully, we found some easy-going group lessons in Hampstead held at the Oak Studio – led by the brilliant Rachel who eased us through this ‘simple’ instrument. It was probably the most fun we’ve had in 2012 – not least because we pretended we were a giant holding a normal sized guitar. Hours of fun.
The classes are friendly, welcoming and great fun – we recommend them (and the uke) whole-heartedly.
http://youcanuke.co.uk/index.htm
Frankly, we expected him to have a massive package too. It's obviously been photoshopped to make us feel better
Finally, we recently had the pleasure of tasting some brilliant food from Jamie Oliver’s Fifteen – you may remember them from the series a few years ago following the initiative from Jamie Oliver (hasn’t he been knighted yet? He irritates many people but he’s a good bloke doing wonderful things) to help youngsters from underprivileged backgrounds make their way into the culinary industry. This is, we think, an excellent programme and, equally importantly, a brilliant restaurant. The food is (as you would expect) healthy but incredibly tasty – tasty like it’s unhealthy and yet it’s still healthy. He should be knighted for that alone – we bet he could make tofu taste like fried chicken or something. Anyway – the food, atmosphere, ethos and intentions here are all brilliant and well worthy of your time and money.
Not just that, but we also tasted some wonderful pastries from the talented Dean McClumpha (head pastry chef at Fifteen) and found out he likes to make cakes for special occasions on the side (he does it for fun and so the value is brilliant) – make sure you tweet him and get yourself something special for your next birthday… sadly we have to wait until January.