Hangin with my CUZ

Spent a wonderful day last week with my Cuz and her two gorgeous kids Mads & Tobes....we went shopping, all got a haircut and then Mad's tried out every single ride in the place. She was too scared for us to put the money in, talk about a cheap date...
Tobes had fun too....just chilling out and watching his big sis in action...

TINA DOES LONDON

As most of you know, my brother Dunk is a primary school teacher back in Oz. A couple of years ago, as past of a class activity, his class posted their class Teddy Bear (Tina) half way across the world as a unique way of learning about other cultures etc etc The idea was that I had to "entertain" Tina and show her what London is all about and then send postcards back to the class. She was even kitted out in full school uniform !! I had a great time doing it and here for you now, is an exclusive look at Tina's Trip to London...

She was a little scared of the tube at first but soon got the hang of it....

Unfortunately the Queen wasn't home when we stopped by Buck Palace....
A big red phone box !! Yay !! Tina popped in to call home...
Tina learnt here that Big Ben is the name of the Bell inside the clock, not the name of the Tower as many people think.....
Tina really liked the London Eye, even though she saw it from a distance (I didn't see the point in paying for her to actually go on it - c'mon it's just a teddy bear!!!)

A trip to London isn't completely without checking out Piccaddilly Circus....

Then we took in a little Theatre in the West End....

And what a better way to end a full day of sightseeing than to hang out in London pub with a nice cold pint*....

* Don't worry Mum - I didn't send this picture to the class, just to Dunk !!!

BRIXTON TOWN

Here is Sue's Guide To Brixton....by Sue...

This is the very busy intersection on the corner of our main road. It has all you need - the town hall on one corner, the cinema across the road, a KFC on one side and a Macca's on the other !! Not that I ever have fast food, of course.... see the nice red double decker buses dad?
This is my favourite road crossing in all of London - for the one simple reason that the green man is always green !! it's amazing....and here is an example of the green man, being green...(that's town hall in the background)

This is where we go and see lots and lots of cool movies - it's called the Ritzy and it's part of a small independant chain of cinemas. They show some of the big blockbusters but also a few arty ones....

This is where we go to catch the tube places !! They've just spent ages renovating it and it looks way better now...

This is where we DO buy things....good old M&S.... next to a decorative train line !

This is where we DON'T buy things...but maybe we should - if you can't read it - it says "SHOP HERE AND SAVE MONEY"
And that concludes my tour of Brixton....

FLATMATE NAOMI GETS A BIKE

This post is just for my wonderful flatmate Naomi who is worried that I didn't specify enough for the viewers that she is not only my mate, but also my flatmate, and that is very special ! She bought a new bike the other day and here it is !!!!
Naomi and her boyfriend Richard are now keen bicycle enthusiasts who are going to ride their bikes everywhere and get fit ! Isn't that right Naomi? Glad to see your reflectors are working anyway.....

LIBBY & THE LOVELY LAKE DISTRICT

Had a lovely couple of days up in the Lake District to relax before I start my new job in the morning. It was so lovely to see Libby & Ian and to see her bump for the first time ! I have nicknamed the unborn child "button" because that's what all of libs shirts were losing...ha ha ha, I crack myself up... here is lib posing happily outside her place of work - it's a beautiful old building and all the people she works with are really lovely. they were all really nice to me and gave me free internet so that was cool !Here is Libby Lizard tongue doing a spot of browsing in the local arcade, if you look closely you will see her trademark "concentrating" pose !!!
Besides my family and friends, the one thing I really miss about Australia is driving so I took the opportunity to hire a car and just roam the countryside whilst Lib was at work. It was nice to drive through the country lanes and sit and stare at lakes and just feed the ducks and stuff.

Check out this rather odd duck formation though -

Here is a castle just near Lib's that I found by mistake...can't remember it's name though !!Love this photo - might have to get it framed or something....

Anyway - I start my new job in the morning so I best be off to sleep. I'm making a new factual entertainment series which is a lot different to documentary so that should make for an interesting change....it will take me up till May when I am hoping to come home for a visit so the timing works out well....

Night night

xx

ROCK ON with Scotty & Zaneta

I had the lovely Scott & Zaneta over the other day for lunch last Saturday and I even went to the shop and bought ingredients and everything ! I think they were suitably impressed with my array of nibbles to start, choice of Carling, Coke & Wine for drinks, a lovely pesto pasta for mains and a wonderful (if not a bit random) salad to accompany it all…It was really good to see them and to catch up….although I’m not too sure about Scott’s new hair do…. Oh my god ! It’s catching !!

Ok ok – here they are looking normal – it was just a mullet wig Zaneta got for the pub crawl they were going to after mine !!

Some old photos....

MINUTES

I was just re-reading the below article I wrote as I was thinking of submitting it into a few places but thought I may as well put it on here anyway….some of you (if you knew me back in 2001) would have received the first part of it as an email. The extra paragraphs were written for an article I wrote for a magazine over here at the time.

At 9pm on Thursday August 2nd 2001 I was in a pub called the Townhouse at Ealing Broadway. I was filming a Karaoke night for a documentary I was making.

At 11:54pm I was standing outside the pub talking to some mini cab drivers, trying to get a good deal on the cabs home. I asked the bouncer if the pub could stay open for one last song, reluctantly – he agreed.

At 11:57pm I went back inside the pub.

At 11:58pm The last Karaoke song started - a girl called Danielle was
singing "The Power of Love", surprisingly for Karaoke, she had a really good voice.

At 12:01am Danielle stopped singing - she stopped singing because a car bomb exploded in the street outside. The noise was deafening, all of the windows shattered, people started running towards the front door - all I remember is the DJ repeating the words "stay away from the windows" over and over again.

At 12:07am I was evacuated from the pub, lead through a fire door and had to walk over broken glass to get to safety. Outside was complete chaos - there were people everywhere not knowing what to do or where to go, smoke from the burning car filled the air, debris from the blast spread over 200 metres.

At 12:15am I was on a tube and it was then that I watched back the footage - chills ran through my body when I saw and heard what was on that tape.

At 12:35am I was sitting in reception at the BBC at White City.

By 12:50am The footage was live on air. TV stations & newspapers started ringing - they all wanted interviews - how they got my number, I don't know.

At 2am I was talking to a reporter called Wendy - she asked if I would be interviewed on BBC Breakfast News. I heard myself saying yes.

At 3am I got home and rang my Mum straight away - for the first time, at the sound of my mother’s concerned voice, I cried.

I sat up for the next few hours - questions running through my head - I wanted to know exactly what had happened. Who had planted this bomb? How had they gone unnoticed on the busy street? Why there? Why then? And most importantly- what were they hoping to accomplish?

At 6am after a sleepless night - I turned on the news and finally found some answers. A Saab had been packed with 40kg of explosives. 11 people were seriously injured. The real IRA was being blamed. The head of Scotland Yard was quoted as saying that the bomb was intended to "maim and kill". Thankfully it didn't do its intended job.

It was the lead story on the television and radio news - the front page of every newspaper. I realised the enormity and seriousness of what had actually happened and I cursed myself for agreeing to be interviewed, for agreeing to become part of all of this - I wondered what I could contribute to this situation?

At 7am a car came for me and I was taken back to the scene of the crime.

At 8:17am I was being interviewed via a direct link from the studio of the BBC Breakfast News - I answered the questions in my dazed and sleep deprived state and had absolutely no idea what I had said until I watched it back later. After that someone else approached me to do another interview – and then another and another. The whole experience was so surreal but I just did what I was told because it felt like the right thing to do at the time.

By 9am I was being driven home - I called my mum again and I cried for the second time.

I spent the rest of the day at home alone - thinking. If the bomb had gone off 4 minutes earlier when I was standing outside the pub - I would have been seriously injured or killed. If it had gone off 5 minutes later - the 150 people that were in the pub with me would have been on the street and they would have been seriously injured or killed. We are all lucky to be alive.

I know it sounds clichéd but that sort of shock really makes you think about everything. Put the "what ifs" and "if onlys" to one side and you realise what is really important.

In the four years since the bombing I have told my story a hundred times yet I still jump whenever I hear a car alarm or a loud bang. It was certainly something that I will never forget, something that has completely changed my life, for the better. The one thing that I'll never know is what strange twist of fate put me there in the first place and what stroke of luck got me out alive.

The name of the Japanese phone is...

SHITONG !!!

Although now I feel that may have lost it's humour....

xx