Hoppo's Blog

Two weeks since my last posting......at this rate I'll be labelled a 'bad egg' by those who take the time to read my blog. I played snooker with Tony the day after my last posting. Our game was part of a snooker league that we have started within our department. At the start of the season we were asked to give ourselves nicknames that would be used within the snooker league. So it came to pass that Mark 'Kendall Mint Break' Hopton beat Tony 'The Kaiser' Cooper 2-0.

It was Dave's 30th birthday on 16th June and we marked the occasion by going on a guided tour of Lords. Stewart was in attendance as well. The tour was really good, we were able to go into the pavillion and the media centre and also saw the fabled Ashes. There was an amusing incident at the start of the tour when the MCC tour guide was asking people which country they came from. On seeing that there were no black faces in the tour group he declared that there were no West Indians in our party. Page 34 of the MCC manual states that all West Indians are black. Fact. Thank goodness Tony Cozier wasn't around. After the tour we went to Charing Cross where we had lunch at Zizzis followed by a few beers at London's premier drinking establishment....The Coalhole.

This weekend we are attending a wedding in Harrogate. Gillian's brother's wife's sister is getting married. Paul and Eunice are back from Afghanistan and Andrew and Susie are back from Ethiopia for the wedding so it will be a good chance to spend some time with them all.

Following the end of series 3 of 'The Apprentice' I have started watching 'Tycoon' on ITV. Basically, it is a poor man's version of 'The Apprentice' with Peter Jones (previously seen on 'Dragons Den') playing the Sir Alan Sugar role. After the final of 'The Apprentice' I am convinced that any program that features Rory 'I am your boss' Laing is bound to be a ratings winner.

Met Stewart in London last night for a bite to eat and a few drinks. Stewart is under the impression that David Mitchell ('Peep Show') is appearing everywhere at the moment....literally. This impression was re-inforced when I received a text message from Monty telling me that he was in a pub in Kliburn. Guess who was amongst the Kilburn punters? David Mitchell......naturally.

And finally......whilst standing in the queue at the Harlow branch of WH Smith on Tuesday I overheard the checkout assistant say the following......"My mother-in-law is arriving today. She's bringing an inflatable banana and a goblet.". What chain of events led to this conversation? Answers on a postcard to the usual address......

Despite it being over a week since my last entry I can confirm that I am still alive. Guess I'd better fill in the gaps since last Tuesday....

On the Fantasy Cricket front I have opened up a healthy gap at the top of our super league and am bothering the top 250 nationwide. The fellow members of our super league have been most supportive with messages such as 'Stop it', 'Get out' and 'Bad egg' flooding in daily.

When I started writing this blog my intention was to write an entry each day. As you may have noticed I've been struggling to meet that target. Being realistic I am now looking to add a couple of entries each week......hopefully more if I have the time.

The third series of 'The Apprentice' continues tomorrow night with the interview task. At this stage I think any 2 of the final 5 could make the final. I'm still backing Simon to win....he had a nightmare last week but still made me laugh. Good man.

I was faced with a dilemma last night, watch the opening show of this year's Big Brother or watching 'The Apprentice'. After some thought I decided that I didn't want to spend my summer watching people making toast and breaking wind so I bowed to the inevitable and opted to watch 'The Apprentice'. I'm glad I did as it was a vintage episode. The applicants must have known they were in for a rough ride when Sir Alan described their combined efforts as 'toot'. This week's task involved selecting products and then selling them live on a TV shopping channel. One viewer called Edward Devonshire complained about the quality of the presenting. I suspect that 'Edward Devonshire' is the pen name of Nick Hewer. Somehow, Naomi ended up being fired. If Simon were a cat he'd only have 8 lives now. My original prediction of the last 4 being Naomi, Jadine, Lohit and Simon looks more flawed by the week. Next week's episode (in which the remaining applicants are interviewed by Sir Alan's henchmen) looks brilliant. One exchange in the preview caught my eye....

A new cartoon strip has been added to the Perry Bible Fellowship website. I really like these cartoons....some of the humour can be a bit 'edgy' but they generally elicit 'big laughs'. Weel worth a look if you have the time......http://www.pbfcomics.com/

My blog has suffered a famine over the weekend. Think of this day-by-day account of the weekend as Bob Geldof......

Saturday - I reverted to bachelor mode this weekend as Gillian was away visiting her mother in North Wales. "While the cat's away the mice will play"......not in my case, I spent the majority of the weekend tackling domestic chores. MFI finished re-fitting our bedroom on Friday so I spent Friday evening and a good part of Saturday morning getting the room into a habitable state. Thankfully I had Aggers and the Test Match Special team for company. I mowed the lawn in the afternoon before relaxing in front of the TV in the evening. I watched an adaptation of Jerome K. Jerome's 'Three Men in a Boat' that I had recorded earlier in the week. Very amusing....I'm now tempted to read the book. The title of this book was part of the inspiration for the name of my Fantasy Cricket team....3 Men in a Pedalo.

Sunday - Gillian's journey home from Bangor on Sunday was disrupted by engineering works so I travelled over to Leamington Spa in the afternoon to meet her and save her a journey in and out of London. Sunday evening saw the finale of season 3 of 'Lost'. There are only a handful of programs that I make a point of watching each week. 'Lost' is one of them, as is 'The Apprentice'. Repeats of 'Lovejoy' on UK Gold do not feature on the list. The good news is that the season finale was a cracker. The bad news is that I now have to wait until early 2008 for season 4 to start. Grrr. I'm tempted to buy seasons 1 and 2 on DVD to keep me in the loop until then. On the fantasy cricket front, Tony bagged his 4th duck of the week......at this rate the RSPB will be after him.

Monday - Textbook bank holiday......plenty of rain and a visit to Homebase. We have recently had a broadband line installed at home which makes it much easier for us to work at home. We are both planning to work from home one day a week from now on. Because of this we decided to buy a proper office chair for the study. I may also invest in a grey suit, white cat and a map of the world to complete the Blofeld look. Podcasts are my latest hobby......I make a habit of downloading the BBC's weekly podcast for 'The Apprentice' and Sky's weekly podcast for 'Lost'. The Test Match Special podcasts are also at home on my iPod. Today I downloaded and listened to the latest 'Lost' podcast presented by Iain Lee. Big laughs.

I've been told that Leon's 30th birthday was honoured with a hat party on Saturday. No summary of the past weekend would be complete without a nod to the brilliant hat that Stewart crafted for the occasion. Take a bow, Mr. Craig......

Met Dave and Stewart (not Dave Stewart) in London last night for some shandy action. Both were on good form and Dave announed that he is to become a father in September......good work, fella!! Topics of discussion included Fantasy Cricket (naturally......I was in a good mood after David Hussey had smashed 275 for my team earlier in the day) and the use of disabled toilets. I was grumbling at the number of 'able bodied' women who use the disabled toilets at work. By coincidence, Scott emailed Stewart and I today to tell us that, having made use of one of the disabled toilets at Pfizer, he was greeted on his way out by a women in a wheelchair. Apparently if looks could kill then the next time Stewart and I play snooker we'd be playing for the Scott Lattimer memorial trophy.

Worked from home today as the MFI fitter has been putting the final touches to our new bedroom. I'd previously thought that I wouldn't have the discipline to work at home but at 7am I found myself logging on. I'm enjoying programming whilst listening to Test Match Special......may have to make working from home a habit.

Starting to stiffen up a bit today after the net session on Monday. My bowling was a bit wayward at first before I settled into a good rhythm and sent down a number of medium pace missiles. My batting was okay though I struggled a bit against the faster bowlers. Should really start to do a bit more exercise, I'm guessing my appearances in the GSK snooker league don't count.
 
Just settling down to watch this week's episode of 'The Apprentice'. My fave moment of the series is still Rory's clash with Tre......"I am your boss, I am YOUR boss". Brilliant, worth the license fee on its own. I would have liked Rory to stay in for a bit longer as he made great viewing. Tony and I both feel that Nick and Margaret should be awarded their own series in which they solve village crimes. There is a gap in the market since the demise of Shaw Taylor's iconic series 'Police 5'.

Tonight's episode involves the Cutty Sark and Tre as project manager......I hope the task doesn't involve a pack of swan vestas.

Had the day off work today as MFI were starting work on re-fitting our bedroom. The fitter has made good progress but wasn't impressed by our Earl Grey tea....."Sorry mate, I couldn't drink it". A productive morning saw me visit Tesco, get my hair cut (much needed....when I awoke this morning there was enough hair on my head to cover 12 small children) and stock up on nuts and seeds for the bird table. I may live to regret the latter as by late afternoon there were no less than three squirrels circling the garden. A photo of one of them bothering our new ground feeder is attached below. 

I'm travelling into Cambridge soon for my first net session of the new season. As I write I am dreaming of playing cover drives like Michael Vaughan. In reality I'll probably struggle to get to sleep tonight having played like Frankie Vaughan. 

Over the last few months I have learnt the art of cooking a roast meal. Today I rustled up a meal of roast chicken for Gillian and I (see below for before/after photos). Signed up for our church cricket team this morning and am hoping to attend a pre-season net session tomorrow evening. Fingers crossed that the communal box has been freshly scrubbed for the new season.

My Fantasy Cricket team were on fire today....hoping to be leading the pack when the scores are updated on Tuesday. Hmmm, Bisto....