Runners-Up Again!

Today Hethersett came second for the second year running in the large villages/market towns section of the Norfolk Village Games. A good day at the UEA Sportspark. Once again Downham Market got the better of us. We were proud of coming second as all the other towns in our category have much larger populations and we are still a village.

For me the day ended a stunning run of village events that of course included the visit of the Olympic flame, the open weekend and many many more events.

Now we have to start our planning for next year in an attempt to become number one. Well done to everyone who took part and at least we won the badminton, the tennis and the junior five-a-side football. In the meantime perhaps time for a short rest!!!!

On TV news last night politicians and journalists were vying for cliched words. Politicians talked about rigour and scrutiny. Journalists weighed in with visibility and transparency .... yuck. Perhaps it's time for all of them to learn some new and more meaningful words.

A Joker and a Farce

Tonight I witnessed one of the most contrived sporting events I have ever had the misfortune to see. Growing up I was an immense speedway fan and regularly went to see Norwich Stars.

Tonight I decided to watch the world team championships. It was a farce and not pure sporting theatre and gripping stuff as the commentators suggested. I don't profess to understand all the silly rules of the evening, suffice it to say that due to a joker system we had riders trying not to win races and virtually stopping on the line to let other riders beat them.

The issue surrounded the joker system. It went something like the team in second place couldn't double up their points by using a joker unless they were at least six points behind the leaders. So Denmark fixed it so that Australia stayed less than six points behind and then Australia fixed it by deliberately not trying in a heat so they would fall six points behind and so could use the joker. It was basically their way of getting free points which the leaders could not have access to.

As it turned out Denmark won the title without being able to play their joker. We could have had the farce of Australia being able to double up their points and winning the competition whilst Denmark came second simply because they weren't able to play their joker. Whoever thinks up these contrived rules and whatever happened to pure sport of the team gaining the most points without gimmicks winning? Very often speedway isn't accepted as a real sport - this shows why it has lost credibility. It's more like It's a Knockout!!!! The trophy was named after former Swedish world champion and Norwich rider Ove Fundin. He was in the crowd. I just wonder what he thought of the shenanigans.

Moved from that to watch an equally contrived quiz. Secret Fortune on BBC 1 is so contrived that I doubt whether even the contestants understand what's going on.

On the news Didier Drogba said that he hasn't gone to play in China because of money - yeah right. Why else would he move from the best league in the world (British Premier) to the backwaters of China where the whole game is under a corruption cloud? I reckon the £200,000 a week may have had something to do with it.

Tomorrow Hethersett are competing in the finals of the Norfolk Village Games at UEA Sportspark. We are hoping for a dry day and looking to finish one better than last year when we were runners-up.

Bad Television .... Bad Service

Two questions today - How bad has Coronation Street become and will it ever stop raining?

Today it rained virtually all day and everything is now saturated. I suppose it wasn't too surprising as it was Friday 13th.

Oh and finally I finished the fourth book in the Harry Potter series. I am currently reading all seven in order on My Kindle and have to say the stories are wonderful. Okay they are slightly contrived with the get out clause to any difficult situation being  a new spell, but there are so many themes there. One day I might just list the areas of interest including faith, friendship and many others.

So to Coronation Street. Everyone knows I love the programme but now they are just recycling the same sad and sorry storylines i.e Peter gets drunk, Peter apologises and goes to Alcoholics Anonymous, Peter gets drunk, Peter apologises and goes to Alcoholics Anonymous, Peter gets drunk (you probably get the idea) and then there's the other storyline Peter falls in love with Leanne, then falls in love with Carla, then ditches Leanne, then ditches Carla, then tries (oh what the hell you get the idea).

I call it the Eastenders syndrome, continually running the same stories e.g Phil Mitchell shouts, Phil Mitchell gets violent, Phil Mitchell breaks down, Phil Mitchell shouts etc ad nauseam.

From time to time I underline in my blog examples of good and bad service. Today it's bad. It amazes me that some companies survive despite treating their customers with contempt. The problem is they don't survive for long. My latest gripe is with a company called Jonny Canvas. They do canvas prints from photos. I won't go into all the boring details but I have been very unhappy with their service. I asked them to do a simple task as their customer and after getting nowhere was told they no longer wanted my custom and "didn't like my tone." Unfortunately they already have my payment which I'm now trying to get back. My suggestion is give them a wide berth.

Olympic Themed Film

Nice evening at Norwich Forum. Hethersett's great year goes on and hopefully it's fully reflected on my village web site.

Tonight we went to view a 15 minute film put together in the Hethersett cluster group of schools. It featured just some of the Olympic themed events that the schools have been involved with this year. It may have been a short film but it did sum up the Olympic journey that the village has been on this year.

If you want to read all about this go to http://www.hethersett.org.uk/olympicodyssey.htm

One Enormous Day

The enormity of today (and I mean that in the nicest way possible) won't sink in for some time.

It was the day the Olympic Flame came to Hethersett and almost 2,000 people turned up at 6.20 a.m to see it paraded round. It was such an excellent event. In itself and on the surface it may not have looked much. After all the flame was in a lantern under one foot high. It was with us for just seven minutes, but the fact that so many people turned up said it all. It brought the whole community together.

As Harry Chapin said in one of his songs:

Sometimes words can serve me well and
Sometimes words can go to hell
For all that they say.

Today I think that words will serve this blog rather well. Just think about the following:

Hethersett is the only place in Olympic History that has had an off route visit by the Olympic flame. That's right the only place in the entire history of the Olympic games. That makes our village world famous, So this was one of those brief moments in time that will last a lifetime. Now to send photos and copy to the newspapers and web sites to reflect such a glorious event,

John Lewis, David Beckham and Rafael Nadal

Do you ever get the feeling that people don't properly read e-mails you send and don't answer points made? Yesterday I mentined the use of inappropriate music at a fashion show by John Lewis at the Royal Norfolk Show. I sent them an e-mail saying that London Calling by The Clash was not appropriate music for a clebration of British life. Here was their reply:

Dear Peter

Thank you for your email, regarding the Fashion Show you at the Royal Norfolk shoe.

I am sorry if the final choice of dance music offended you, as I am sure  this was not the intention.

The person who set up the fashion show, would have been selecting music suitable for the show and maybe did not know the meaning of the song.  I will pass your comments on, as this will assist us with future events.

If I can be of any further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact me.


No music offends me - I listen to Eminem! I actually found the use of the Clash to be amusing but was just pointing out that they really needed to have the music chosen by somebody who knew what they were doing. Paragraph three is amusing as they state the person would have been selecting music suitable for the show and that's exactly what they didn't do!! And incidentally what exactly is the Royal Norfolk shoe?

Onto the Olympic games and the massive own goal that is leaving David Beckham out of the Team GB football squad. This is quite ludicrous. The man, irrespective of whether you like him or not, is a national treasure who has done so much to promote the London 2012 Olympics. To include him in the squad would have been a fitting end to his career. To have left him out is completely churlish and suggests that coach Stuart Pearce and the selectors (whoever they may be) are out of tune with the public (as if we didn't already know that). They need to realise that football may be our national and most popular sport and also arguably the most popular sport in the world, but when it comes to the Olympic games it is almost a minority sport of only limited interest (as ticket sales have already shown). Including Beckham would have been a thank you for all his hard work. And I bet he wouldn't have let anyone down on the pitch either, which is more than can be said for some of the second rate England players on display at the recent Euro Championships

Still on the sports theme. I am glad that one of the big three - Rafael Nadal - has been knocked out of Wimbledon. It keeps the interest in the men's singles going. It was getting rather boring watching the big three win everything. Now we might have the chance of a lesser known light making the final (perhaps even Andy Murray).

A Clash of Styles

Couldn't help but smile at what had to be a big mistake on the John Lewis stand at the Royal Norfolk Show yesterday. We watched the fashion show which was hugely cheesy with models wearing a number of different outfits and smiling inanely as they danced their way along the catwalk in some carefully choreographed moves.

When it came to the finale we were told that the last outfits would be a celebration of the coming Olympics, the Queen's Diamond Jubilee and Britain itself. The music they used was London Calling by The Clash. Last time I looked this song was about nuclear errors, police brutality, depravity in society and London being flooded. I think somebody had tried to be trendy and not worked out what the words meant. Perhaps Waterloo Sunset would have been a tad more appropriate.

I have written to John Lewis to point this out and will let you know if they reply.