Not both together, but that is what I spent yesterday doing.

First of all was the men’s final at Wimbledon (or rather the gentlemen’s singles final as it is correctly called). Enjoyed the game, especially after the first set and there was more of a battle. The US TV station look like htey love the sport – they can show ads every 2 games as the end changes.

then a quick dash into the city for the first organising meeting for Barcamp New York II. Chris has some photos. We gathered, chatted about venues and sponsorship and all that stuff, delegated out responsibilities and then scattered again to carry on organising remotely. The date is not yet finalised – venues need to be checked out first – but it will be either co-inciding with Earth barcamp at end of August or later in September.

After this it was off to find a bar playing the Wolrd Cup final..or rather, off to find a bar I could get into as many places were packed around times Square. The first half was watched in the ESPN store; there were a lot of families in there trying to give their kids a go on the various sports toys they have on the top floor (the other floors were all packed) They were getting very frustrated at having to work their way round the footie fans who just took all the space and made it difficult to get to anything. Such as the fishing game! Yep, there was a arcade fishing game with a rod and a reel and a father and son having a great time playing whilst completly ignoring the biggest sporting event in the world goign on right in front of them. For the second half I found another bar full of French and Italians, with English being the common language. Great atmosphere, with complete bewliderment all round as we tried to work out what was said to Zidane that caused him tp lose his head. So next up is Euro2008 in Austria. What are the bets for which round England fail at?

A year ago today, I sat in the office, the blinds all drawn following protocol to prevent glass damage if there were further bombs, trying to make sense of what was happening via the tv and the web.

But even though the experience is clear in my mind, it was second hand, through the media. So instead read the words below, via Rachel North , from 6 month remembrance ceremony. And at noon BST stop and think, about the victims of this attack and of sectarian and religious wars everywhere and what you can do to make a difference in your life to prevent cultural and religious differences being a destructive force instead of a constructive one.

We are here today in fellowship, to remember our fellow passengers from the morning of July 7th 2005. We think of them often, especially those who did not finish their journey. We think of all those who loved them and knew them. We think of the injured, the desolate and those who mourn. We think of the victims of the other London bomb attacks. We think of all those whose lives were changed by the events of 7th July. We think of the victims of all acts of terrorism’.

ALL: We hold them in our thoughts.

‘We think of those who helped us on that morning and afterwards, the staff of London Underground, especially the drivers of our train and the staff of Russell Square and Kings Cross. We think of the police officers, the fire officers, the ambulance drivers, the emergency services, the doctors and nurses and surgeons. We think of the kindness of passers-by and we think of all those who love London and who thought of the people of the city on that day and who held us in their thoughts.’

ALL: We hold them in our thoughts

‘We remember our fellow passengers from our train:James Adams, Samantha Badham, Phillip Beer, Anna Brandt, Ciaran Cassidy, Rachelle Chung For Yuen, Elizabeth Daplyn, Arthur Frederick, Karolina Gluck, Gamze Gunoral,Lee Harris, Ojara Ikeagwu, Emily Jenkins, Adrian Johnson, Helen Jones, Susan Levy, Shelley Mather, Michael Matsushita, James Mayes, Behnaz Mozakka, Mihaela Otto,Atique Sharifi, Ihab Slimane, Christian Small, Monika Suchocka, Mala Trivedi’

ALL: We hold them in our thoughts

ALL: When we all got on the train we did not know that for some of us it would be a last journey, and that some of us would not come home.
We did not all finish our journey together, but we carry you in our hearts. To all that loved you, knew you, worked with you, miss you, our thoughts are with you.
Wherever we travel, we know that we are all fellow passengers,and we are with each other on our journey.’

Silence for one minute

A short prayer from the gentle service of Compline, at the end of the day

Keep watch, dear Lord, with those who work, or watch, or weep, and give your angels charge over those who sleep. Tend the sick, give rest to the weary, bless the dying, soothe the suffering, pity the afflicted, shield the joyous; and all for your love’s sake.

ALL: Amen.

Lest we forget

belly dancing

Originally uploaded by RachelC.

A morocco restaurant means entertainment. A badly taken photo from the phone in the darkness of a Moroccan restaurant as the ‘traditional;’ belly dancer entertains the crowd. She managed to get half of the table up and dancing (there is a video if I can get it off the phone) whilst receiving plenty of admiring glances. This was the first time I’d been to a Moroccan place and was more than pleased with all the food – my favourite was the chicken and apricot tagine. If you are in west London, I’d recommend it for a great meal.

Wow. Great game Good football between the 2 sides, a ref that ikept the game going and ignoring any play acting, just a demostration of footballing skills.

The airport lounge on Sunday had Saturday’s papers, all full of stories about how great the England team were and how they had a brilliant chance of going through. And we know how that ended up 🙁 But the BBC have a good article on what to do with all the unwanted England flags, to get the creative juices flowing.

3. If you’re a Sun reader you could consider using the flags as stuffing for an effigy of the newly-crowned “least popular man in the Premiership” Cristiano Ronaldo. Don’t burn it though as some polyester can give off pollutants.

Working my way through recorded telly prgrammes I skipped over loads of ads with a football theme; even if they had to reach then the companies were determined to get some mention in there. And now I’m watching the football with English commentary, which is far more preferable to my ears. But I’m finding it weird to be watching the match in the evening though, having grown accustomed to the day time matches that EST brings upon me.