Local girl wins Oscar

Well done to Essex girl Helen Mirren, for winning the best actress Oscar for The Queen. It always great when the Brits win the big awards.

Born in Ilford, she received education even more locally at St Bernards Convent High School in Westcliff On Sea. However, you'd never ever guess this when you consider that her real name is Ilyena Vasilievna Mironov! Apparently, her great-great-great-great-grandfather was field marshall Mikhail Kamensky, one of the Russian heroes of the Napoleonic Wars.

A quote from the Daily Telegraph today:
Helen Mirren, holding a Union Jack which she had taken from the Sky TV interviewer, when asked if she had a “naughty side”: “Me, naughty? No, I am good through and through, I’m an Essex girl.” See, you can't tar all Essex girls with the same brush!

I haven't seen the film yet. I'm not entirely sure it will be my cuppa tea as I'm not really into royalty. However, I may give it a go on dvd.

I feel I should also mention Jennifer Hudson who won best supporting actress for her part in Dreamgirls. At the time the nominations were announced, I knew the name rang a bell, but now I know - she was one of the contestants in American Idol 2006. What an amazing achievement in such a short space of time. I bet she could hardly believe her luck!

Spurs 4 (Yes 4)! Bolton 1

Wooooooooooohoooooooo! Can you tell I'm happy? Wow what a game - worth every penny of the ticket price. This is what the game is all about - exciting football from start to finish with a fantastic atmosphere to boot.

After three consecutive defeats: the Carling Cup semi-final against the scum down the road, an embarrassing 4-0 thrashing at home against the Northern scum and then going down 2-1 at home to Sheffield Utd, it was back to business with a 4-0 away win vs Fulham in the FA Cup last Sunday, and beating Everton 2-1 away in mid-week. So hopes were high of a repeat performance today, and we were certainly given a treat!

Three Spurs legends made special appearances at the Lane today: Glenn Hoddle (my childhood hero), Martin Peters and Pat Jennings. We also stood next to Trevor Francis and Martin Tyler as they purchased a baguette from one of the food stalls inside the East Stand!!



Bolton definitely didn't look the good side that they are, and within 25 minutes, we were 3-0 up with goals from Keane (2) and Jenas. You could say, beyond your wildest dreams and expectations! However, with extreme highs, you always seem to get a low with Spurs, when on 36 minutes, Robbie Keane was adjudged to have handled the ball on the goal line and was immediately red carded by Graham Poll, awarding Bolton a penalty. As per usual, Gary Speed comfortably scored from the spot. We couldn't see the incident due to the crowded penalty area and I will reserve judgement until I see the highlights later tonight. So it was down to 10 men for the last 55 minutes of the game. After feeling elation, I suddenly felt like it was all going to slip away. However, I'm glad to say, I was wrong - Spurs today were a different side: although they played a little deep for the first 15 minutes of the second half, no-one fell to pieces and they remained composed and professional. You'd never know they were playing with one man short. It wasn't until injury time that a quick break lead to a 4th goal from Lennon.

Berbatov was superb up front on his own. Every ball played to him from distance was controlled beautifully, his touches were brilliant and no-one could get near him. I'll be the first to admit that when he was first signed at the beginning of the season, I had reservations of his ability, but he has truly won the hearts of the fans with his skills and goal scoring. Still, I can't ignore the rest of the team; they all played their part today - Aaron Lennon was as exciting as ever, and Robbie proved his weight in gold with two goals. His partnership with Berbatov is going to be one of the best in the Premiership I believe. Mind you, he'll now be suspended for 3 games, so I hope that doesn't upset the structure too much.





I'd had to laugh at John. Poor thing. He always has a bet when we go to games and today he bet on scores of 2-0, 2-1, 3-0, 3-1, 3-2 and 4-0. Any win would have covered the bet placed so you'd think he couldn't lose. But once again, about 30 seconds before the final whistle, Spurs score another goal - and it always seems to be Lennon that spoils the day for John!

And just to make the day even better - the Arse scum lost in the Carling Cup final. Hehe!

Just what I needed...a good laugh!

It doesn't doesn't happen very often that myself and my old school pals manage to get together all at the same time, but we managed it last night (but only just). Suk and Leigh were the hosts at their huge house in Rayleigh. John and I gave Ellie and Simon a lift, Elena

and her sister Lianne made their own way there, as did Sunita, Praful and their two girls. However, Sunita's family only stayed an hour as she said the girls had been ill - they

seemed ok to everyone else as they went off to play; it was Sunita herself that was looking a bit tired. So unfortunately, they didn't stay for dinner.




Suk put on a lovely spread as usual. For starters: proper Chinese mini veggie pancake rolls with sweet chilli dip and slices of green pepper, cucumber and carrot. You couldn't stop eating them - they were so yummy, but I had to leave some room for the next two courses. Being the non-meat eater, I had ratatouille whilst the rest had spicy chicken, noodles, veg and potato mix and salad. For dessert, it was one of Suk's infamous crumbles. Apple and pear this time. I just about managed a few mouthfuls with custard. Excellent tucker my dear Suk!

Afterwards, the fun began. It was cocktail time! There was a wide range of spirits, liqueurs and juices to choose from and everyone took it in turn to make each other their own concoction. Funny how they seemed to get stronger and stronger as the night wore on. Unfortunately, I was driving so I limited myself and as soon as I started feeling the effects, I stopped. Elena could almost drink for England. Having sipped a couple of her drinks, I nearly passed out but she put them away without too much trouble. Boy! Some of those mixtures were lethal! I now know I don't like tequila and I'm not too keen on Baileys but everything else was nice.

Leigh decided we should play Celebrity Heads - the game where you write the name of a celeb on a post-it note and stick to each other's foreheads. You then have to guess who you are by asking questions that only require a yes or a no. I don't know how but I got mine first, with the only clues being American actor over 40. I was Tom Cruise. You could tell the alcohol had taken effect as some people were asking the same questions over and over when it came round to their turn again! I don't suppose you'll get Tom in a room very often with Ozzy Osbourne, Kylie Minogue, Hugh Grant, John Motson, Peter Kaye, Pete Docherty and Atila the Hun. Funnily enough, as the night wore on, both Leigh and I agreed that Simon was looking a tad like Hugh Grant - although the pic (middle) doesn't really pick this up.

We'll certainly have to do another cocktail night again, only I'm not gonna be driving! And, we'll have to think of some good drinking games. Anyway, it was a really fun night, a real good laugh.

Valentine's Day. What's the point?

Last year I received a very romantic dragontree plant from John, which incidentally, is still alive...so what was in store for me this year? Well, he hasn't taken the hint (much)...for when I arrived home, there was a cactus sitting on the kitchen table! However, he did also present a couple of bunches of red roses, albeit, other people's roses left over at the depot where he works, and they looked like they'd seen better days!! Not even a card. There's just no romance any more - I feel like he doesn't really care; there's no thought or feeling put into it. :-( Am I being too picky or is this the typical man of today?