Around the world in 367 days

It had always been one of my aims to educate the masses of the correct name for Big Ben. As usual I never got round to it but I was riled by another London myth this morning so thought I would start by educating you, my reader(s).

Now I'm sure almost all of you are aware of this but I'll clarify it anyway. Big Ben is the name of the main bell housed in the clock tower. Some refer to the clock tower as St. Stephens Tower but this is also incorrect. This is actually an entry point into the Houses of Parliament and is found in the middle of the building. The correct name by which it should actually be referred to is: Palace of Westminster Clock Tower. It doesn't have the romance of 'Big Ben' but it is at least factually correct.

The other one that riles me is 'The Statue of Eros' in Piccadilly. This morning I read that the Evening Standard (that uses an image of this statue on its masthead) was announcing an Eros Card and that's what motivated me to post this article this morning. The status, also known as the Angel of Christian Charity, is not of Eros (the Greek God of Love), it is actually his brother Anteros (the Greek God of Unrequited Love) given to Eros by his parents because he was lonely. So from now on (other than shunning the 'Eros Card' until it is renamed), please arrange to meet people outside Anteros not Eros and if you get stood up just blame the God of Unrequited Love!

Spread the word!!

Posted by Alexander at 10:35 | Permalink | Comments

The answer is 367!

I have oft-suggested, but rarely clarified, in these pages that Deborah and I are about to spend the next year travelling around the world.

We have both quit our jobs and now have just 5 weeks remaining before we fly out. It's something that we both really wanted to do and after much umming and arring we decided to take the plunge before moving onto the next stage of our lives together.

So in a nutshell, we are going to:

1. South East Asia
1. Thailand
2. Laos
3. Vietnam
4. Cambodia
5. Malaysia
6. Indonesia
7. Singapore
2. Australasia
1. New Zealand
3. Central America
1. Costa Rica
2. Nicaragua
3. El Salvador
4. Guatemala
5. Belize
6. Mexico
4. South America
1. Chile
2. Ecudaor
3. Peru
4. Bolivia
5. Argentina
6. Brazil

... catch breath!!!

So yes, next year is going to last 367 days for us as it's a leap year and Ground Hog day for us will be April 4th as we cross the date time barrier.

Now we have a busy 5 weeks ahead of us as we finalise our route and plans as well as making sure we've had all the appropriate jabs and that we've got all the essentials we need to live out of a back pack for the next 12 months!

Posted by Alexander at 17:00 | Permalink | Comments

It's not often that I come across food that I can't stomach but I gave rollmops a try today and wasn't impressed. We were in a Dutch restaurant after going to see the Terracotta Army exhibition at the British Museum so I thought I'd give it a go. Those things are nasty!! If you don't know, they are rolled up fillets of pickled Herring, stuffed with pickled onion. It's bringing tears to my eyes just thinking about it!!

Unfortunately, the taste stayed with me for quite some time and went a good way to ruining the Crepe main course. Personally, not a fan - but I did still polish the whole thing off!! I hate to see food go to waste, good or bad!!

It's all part of the trying to do all the things we still want to do in London in out last four weeks here. We'd seen the restaurant, Old Dutch, some time ago and promised we'd try it one day. At the weekend we had a bottle of wine and listened to the classical music in Covent Garden and then on Monday Deborah took me to The Ritz for tea (excellent experience, highly recommended) on the anniversary of my birth. It's a big list, and we won't get anywhere near ticking everything off but we are going to give it a good go!!

Posted by Alexander at 00:07 | Permalink | Comments

Sunday...

Posted by Alexander at 07:00 | Permalink | Comments

I am convinced that I am on the threshold of an evolutionary jump. For years now I have been happily wearing shirts that would die of natural causes at the end of a long and happy life. However, over the last 12 months I have noticed that an increasing number of shirts are coming to an early end due to the sharpness of my elbows!! I must have ripped through at least a dozen shirts in this time and today I had my first double splitter - both elbows.

I can only assume that my elbows are evolving and are soon to become a new tool at man's disposal. Perhaps, they will sprout feathers and a life in the sky will await for my descendants escaping the over populated earth. Or will they be digging implements for a life underground, safe from radioactive warfare? Perhaps they are to be used as weapons, as we await an iminent alien invasion.

I shall keep you all appraised of the medical marvel that surely I am!!!

Posted by Alexander at 12:07 | Permalink | Comments

Birthday's won't often make it onto this particular blog but you're an exception!!

Happy Birthday!!

Alexander x

PS - PT!

Posted by Alexander at 21:00 | Permalink | Comments

What a great potential weekend of sport we have ahead of us! England football team aiming to qualify for Euro 2008, the Rugby team starting the World Cup compaign, a winner takes all game of cricket against India, our boy Lewis driving his big kart around, no-one representing us in the US Open but still some good games... and I have to miss it all!!!!

However, I confidently predict:

1. England to edge past Israel - unconvincingly


2. A convincing win against the US - but it's Rugby, the US probably haven't got a clue how to play it...


3. India to win the cricket - but another close game - good effort chaps


4. Lewis to finish in the points but off the podium again - Ferrari win


5. Henin / Federer wins in the US Open

So now I'm off down the bookies (not literally, I'll just log on here and use BetFair) to put my money where my mouth is... wait a sec - I keep my money in my wallet, in my back pocket - that would mean I was talking out of my...

*** Update ***

Just got back from the bookies and I have to say the odds on offer with BetFair are so much better than somewhere like Ladbrokes. The clues in the name but in essense it's a much fairer way to bet, believe it or not...

For instance, the odds on Henin (vs Williams) are roughly equal but on Williams you get an extra 450 pound profit on a 1000 pound bet. And if you were to bet on Davydenko you would win an extra 2 grand!! Much fairer!! By the way, I juiced up the size of the bet to dramatise the situation but the percentages still ring true if you are betting 10 pounds or a million pounds...

*** Update 2 ***

So how did I get on?

1. Football - they won but relatively convincingly (75%)


2. Rugby - they also won but relatively unconvincingly (75%)


3. Cricket - England won convincingly - didn't call that at all (0%)


4. Lewis - in the points, on the podium and no Ferrari win (33%)


5. US Open - good call!!! (100%)

So a median result of 75% - I'll take that!

And putting my money where my mouth is resulted on a return on investment of 54%. Extrapolating my two day returns over the course of a year and based on an investment of £10,000 I would be able to draw an income just shy of a million pounds a year - tax free!!

Posted by Alexander at 16:22 | Permalink | Comments

Rules for this 8 interesting things post:

* Each player must post these rules to begin the meme.
* Each player starts with eight random facts or habits about themselves.
* People who get tagged must blog about their eight things and post these rules.
* At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.
* Don't forget to leave them a comment telling them they're tagged, and to read your blog.

I was tagged by Ben.

1. I am related to the Spanish Royal Family. A lot of Spaniards would need to snuff it before I was made King but I'd better get brushed up on the lingo just in case!


2. I played football for a semi-professional team when I was 18. It's taken me another 13 years to finally realise I'm not really that good!


3. I was in the RAF at school - but I only joined so I could fly planes and shoot guns.


4. On that theme, my Dad helped design part of Concorde. When I was younger I thought he'd designed and built the whole thing and used that to win a competition to have a go in a proper RAF flight simulator.


5. Still on that theme, I once shot a teacher with a pop gun. Her finger got caught by the clip that makes the cap pop. I hid under my desk and cried - I was young!


6. I used to suck my finger - way past the age when I should have relinquished the need for a pacifier. I wasn't 15 when I stopped but neither was I 5... apparently you could tell which one it was it was always clean - gross!!!


7. Once while watching Halloween I had to turn it off as I got too scared. It was the bit where Michael is walking across the street, I was watching it in the dark and it freaked me out! I was almost 30 at the time!


8. I've just quit my job and am about to go travelling for a year in South East Asia and Central & South America.

Time to tag a few people - either on your blogs, on facebook or as comments here if you wish... Alistair, Cathy, Asa, The Creators, Heather, Dara, Jane, The Outlaws.

Posted by Alexander at 13:18 | Permalink | Comments