...But not any old circus. Oh no. This was Cabot Circus - Bristol's brand new shopping complex development, which promises to 'place Bristol firmly on centre stage'. Aside from the annoying logo (I had a massive urge to go round with a bottle of Tipp-Ex and put dots on all of the 'i's) it's certainly architecturally impressive, with vast Eden Project-esque glass dome structures acting as a roof, although the place is still somewhat open to the elements. The range of shops is as you'd expect, with a few 'classier' ones thrown in for good measure. The funky furniture shop Dwell is a nice addition. There's also one of those down the road from me in Balham (oh, and if any of the lovely people from Dwell happen to be reading this, feel free to chuck some free furniture my way, especially a sofa!).
Everyone's been banging on about Harvey Nichols, which has also opened as part of the new development. I went in there for the sake of it and personally felt it was a complete waste of space. Literally. Not that it actually takes up much space - the place is tiny. And £620 for a bloomin cardigan?! Come on! This is Broadmead, not Knightsbridge!
I must say it was nice to see Broadmead (the shopping area of Bristol) buzzing again. Just a shame it comes down to retail and commercial interests to pump some money into the city.
Oh, and funny thing happened at the coach station in Bristol - some girl got off the coach, ran up behind her friend and gave her a massive 'surprise' hug, only for her 'friend' to turn around and reveal themselves to be a complete stranger. My brother and I chuckled heartily at this - only because it's exactly the kind of embarrassing situation that I would all too easily get myself into.
Crikey, I haven't written this blog for ages. Tooooo busy! But simply have to sing the praises of the latest London Bloggers Meetup, which took place last night at Diageo plc, home of Smirnoff. It was free cocktails (and food, because it's ALL about 'responsible drinking' these days....), plus a personalised 'blogtail' - as I like to call them - for each blogger according to what they write about. Being a fan of puns (check out www.punlimited.co.uk) I was served a lemon and lime twist, because I like playing with (or 'twisting') my words. Clever. Plus we then got a free bottle of vodka at the end of the night. Not bad, eh?
Great to meet some more cool bloggers too, here's a brief roundup (sorry if I've forgotten anyone or don't have your urls):
Niamh (blogs about food)
Tom Phillips (blogs for Metro, likes robots)
Jaz
MissGeeky (loads of ace tips)
Cristiano (more tips)
Andy (organiser extraordinaire)
Rax (co-organiser extraordinaire)
Peter Marshall (photography exhibition coming up soon)
Lolly (great to catch up again)
Melanie (I think she got the best personalised cocktail)
Zoe
Gary (my friend from 'real life'!)
Chris (who still thinks my band should be called 'Hunter Wing')
Lewis
Today I got a rather watered-down taste of what it may feel like to be famous by exploiting a 'who I know' link in order to get something in return. I was speaking to a very friendly chap at the Daily Telegraph for work, who has helped me out with a few little things in the past. However, this time I think I was asking a little bit too much and he was understandably a tad reluctant. Luckily for me, I had earlier googled him to try and find out his telephone number, only to discover that he was the 1993 Mastermind champion, specialist subject - Doctor Who!!I seized my opportunity, casually slipping into the conversation that I am the great-niece of the late, great Patrick Troughton (the second Doctor). Needless to say he happily granted my request!
Ok, so it wasn't actually free to get in, but I happily parted with a tenner today to watch AFC Wimbledon play Maidenhead United in Kingston. Having not been to a football match in ages it was great to be back on the terraces.
Little bit of back history...AFC Wimbledon was formed in 2002 by a bunch of Wimbledon FC supporters who were rightly disgusted by the fact that the FA gave permission for their beloved team to relocate to Milton Keynes. The vast majority of fans severed all links with the club, and consequently, soon after moving, Wimbledon went bust and became MK Dons.
Interestingly, the 'AFC' bit doesn't officially stand for 'association football club', or anything in particular, although some argue it should stand for 'a fan's club'. This would make sense - for a non-league club to attract over 3,000 supporters to each match is no mean feat and they are currently top of the Conference South division after a 3-1 victory today. And I very much liked their cool Womble mascot...
An absolutely hilarious photo in the Sun’s Kelvin MacKenzie column today:
I have a sneaking suspicion that we will be hearing a lot more about this anonymous bride over the coming days…
(Thanks to Holly for the pun!)
Most depressing film ever = 'The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas', but I would still urge everyone to watch it at some point, even if it's not in the immediate future.
I went along to a free preview screening tonight, courtesy of The Grauniad, before it's officially released on Friday. Let's just say that I'm not sure I have ever heard anyone actually sob in the cinema before - and not just the one person. In fact, I think I was in the minority with my dry eyes.
I don't know what's wrong with me sometimes. Perhaps I'm just emotionally retarded. But then how come I cried like a baby during 'Titanic'?! Anyway, a thought-provoking film that certainly puts all silly, everyday trivial matters into perspective.
Ash know how to put on a show. Last night they did just that at the Roundhouse in Camden, playing their classic album '1977' in its entirety, plus loads more besides. This was pretty much my dream gig. 1977 is like my favourite album of all time, it having converted me from pop to punk rock in the summer of 1996.
Oh I remember that summer well. Spraining my ankle, going mental whilst watching Euro 96 (if only Gazza's leg had been one inch longer!) and rocking out to Ash and Dodgy CDs with my bro. I seem to recall lime green and orange were the vogue that year. I wore them together. Anyway, it really was a great gig, all the more so because I was at the front - woooo! Oh, and I love the way drummer Rick McMurray appears to be totally motionless when he plays, apart from his wrists. Legend!
I have some ace photos of the gig on my mobile but I can't seem to get them onto my laptop, grrr.
