It is a lazy Saturday afternoon approaching 3pm and I feel somewhat empty with no football to speak off. (Although Arsenal play their traditional first pre-season friendly against Barnet). I was actually hoping to post an entry last night but did not have the motivation or material. I feel only slightly better prepared now. I am looking forward to Egg tonight in London. Kev is giving me a lift, so no problems with logistics. More on that later, for now let me quickly recap what I have been up to for the past few days. A busy week in the office but I met my deadline (just) and also got a great deal off my chest. Time will tell if it will fall upon deaf ears. In the gym, I had my review with Matt on Thursday evening. My weights programme has been improved, with two new machines added and also weights on all previous machines increased. In two month’s time, he will add a free weights programme so every time I get to the gym I will have the choice of three programmes (cardio, fixed weight or free weight). Although I have a confession to make, I have not been using the machines properly. I have been rushing through twenty four reps straight, when I should do twelve and then have a rest of up to a minute (bare minimum of thirty seconds) before doing the second set of twelve. I was wondering why all the machines ‘beeped’ at me constantly from reps thirteen to twenty-four and beyond. I will be giving my new programme a first run through tomorrow morning. I will of course let you know how I get on. Tomorrow morning I also have a piano lesson but I am seriously considering dropping out. I have e-mailed my tutor but so far have had no reply, perhaps he is too shocked to even contemplate a response and will speak to me firmly at the lesson. I have to confess that I find it very difficult to find the time to sit down to practice. I am suppose to manage thirty minutes every day but that is nearly impossible. I think I squeezed in two sessions last week but one of those was doing my theory homework so should not count. When one has focus and discipline he can achieve, without these characteristics you found yourself lost, lacking motivation and actually deeply frustrated. I happened to stumble upon Tasmin Lucia-Khan presenting E24 on BBC News on Thursday evening just after 9.30pm and was surprised to hear about the Emmy nominations. One show had received twenty-three nominations but at first I thought it was a movie but after seeing a clip we were informed it was eight hours long and then the penny dropped. It was a HBO miniseries, and the Emmy awards are for television! (D’oh!). Anyhow, I went and had a look on Wikipedia to read up about the drama and take a look myself. As you may know, American history fascinates me, particularly the American Revolution. (I always here the voice of Radio Five Live Up All Night presenter, Dotun Adebayo say, “The British Are Coming”). Therefore I got hold of the first few episodes and watched one last night and the second this morning. Absolutely fantastic, great acting and story telling. It is worthy of all those nominations and I would not be surprised if it did sweep the board at the ceremony. It is something reading about the great (but short) history of the American people on Wikipedia, it is something else seeing it played out in such dramatic fashion on the television screen. The casting also has been perfect – I am particularly impressed with George Washington. (Not easy for an actor to step into the shoes of the “Greatest Man On Earth”). I am looking for the next five installments which I will try and catch during the week. If you enjoy your period dramas or just like to learn about the birth of a new country, I highly recommend you catch the show (unsure when it will be aired in the UK). Last night I also watched Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay. It was good fun but somewhat predictable from the moment it started. It was good that they literally continued a week later from the previous film (which is four years old – the longest week of your life?). I felt the situations they found themselves in were quite hilarious but it was the deputy head of Homeland Security that stole the show. I do not think I have seen such a stupid character in a movie in my life. It was a nice way to waste away a couple of hours and leave my brain somewhere out in the garden. Would I have gone to the cinema to see it? No, this is not in the same category as American Pie (Kumar even rips it out of Euro Trip) but entertaining fun nevertheless. However it is not for everyone and if you did not enjoy the first movie, then you will not enjoy this second outing. I just home the story ends here (we all like happy endings after all). Looking forward to my first clubbing trip to the capital since the end of May. As you know by now, I do not go to your average, run-of-the-mill club. I go to venues with character and soul. The Egg, with it’s roof terrace and three big rooms will be impressive. You can tell just from the photos, I just hope the weather stays dry so we can enjoy the roof garden area. Pav’s set is at 11.30pm – 12.15am while Paul Stevens kicks off the show at 10pm to 11.30pm. I need to charge the batteries on my camera to make sure I get some good photographs this time around, the ones from Club Aquarium were not even FlickR material.