Dowse Design

There's an excellent new shop in Hove called Dowse Design and I would like to buy approximately 90% of the stuff they sell. Here's a piece I wrote for The Holborn about it.

The Holborn - Dowse Design

Confederations Cup

I recently discovered a great new blog called The 90 Second Football Blog and liked it so much I thought I'd offer to write something for it. They foolishly agreed so here's a piece I wrote about the Confederations Cup (warning - this article does contain Robbie Savage)

The 90 Second Football Blog

Beach Huts

Something I wrote about the simple beauty of Brighton's beach huts for the always elegant fellows at The Holborn - Beach Huts

Cascadia

Here's a link to something i wrote for the excellent In Bed With Maradona site about football fans in the Cascadia region of the United States and their work towards realising their dream of a representative side - Cascadia

Mylo

I have an amazing nephew. It changes all the time but at the minute he seems to be into battling, swords, Disney films and stylish bow ties. He's big on his DIY and tools and knows what a claw hammer is. Top of his wish list last Christmas was "a real sword". My brother and wife struggled with that one. He's funny, energetic and a great companion if you're into monster hunting. But the real reason that he's amazing is that he is here at all. Mylo was born with Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia, or CDH.

Mylo soon after he was born

 The diaphragm normally develops in the unborn baby by around the 7-10 week gestation period of the baby’s development and CDH occurs when the diaphragm fails to form correctly or fails to develop in the unborn baby, allowing the abdominal contents to herniate into the chest cavity. Mylo's operation - performed as soon as he was born - and treatment was successful and he has just celebrated his fourth birthday. However, Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia is an often fatal birth defect affecting 1 in 2,500-3,000 babies. There is no known cause or prevention and treatment remains medically challenging. Around 50% of babies born with CDH do not survive. Of the 50% that do survive, many of these babies will face varying degrees of medical problems throughout their lives. CDH UK is a registered charity that supports babies, children and their families affected by CDH, campaigns for study and research into the cause, prevention and better treatments of CDH and raises awareness of this devastating condition.

In less than two weeks my brother and a group of fellow adventurers are embarking on a bike ride from London to Paris to raise money for CDH UK. The fact that my brother didn't even have a bike when he agreed to the challenge probably tells you all you need to know about how ready he was for the journey. The support of friends who are joining him for the ride has been amazing and I look forward to waving them off from Newhaven on Saturday May 11th. I also look forward to seeing whether my brother will be able to walk on his return to these shores and if he ever wants to as much as look at a bike ever again.

This fearless group of cyclists have already raised nearly £4,000 for this great cause but if you have any spare change I'm sure they would really appreciate it if you could help them towards their goal. Here's the link to the donation page: Mylo's Bike Ride

I've always known I have an amazing nephew. Now it looks like I have an amazing kid brother as well. Thank you for taking time to read this today.

Mylo today

A Few Thoughts on Broadchurch

So it was the detective’s husband. Although most media reviews have gone big on the fact that only 29 people in the world knew the outcome, most people seemed to have a pretty good idea who the killer was before last night’s final episode of Broadchurch.

Critics have fallen over themselves to praise the ITV drama, heralding it as the British television event of the year so far. And one of the themes that nearly all reviews and previews went with was that it was Britain’s answer to The Killing and the rest of the Scandinavian crime drama wave that has proved so popular over the last few years. Now Broadchurch, and David Tennant in particular, was very good but I think the critics have got a little carried away with their praise.

There were elements of Scandi-noir in Broadchurch – especially using the setting as a character in its own right. This is something that writer Chris Chibnall has said was uppermost in his mind after moving to Dorset himself. But if anything it is unfair to compare Broadchurch to The Killing or The Bridge. The shadowy, rain sodden settings for Swedish or Danish dramas give those shows their own distinct style. Broadchurch used its small town setting as a major plot device to show that evil is not confined to the inner cities.

 

 Spot the difference?

As much as I enjoyed Broadchurch there were a few things that made me question the uniformly gushing reviews. The red herrings weren’t really a problem – and nothing compared to the first series of The Killing – and most story lines were tied up. There was though, especially in the first few episodes, a certain amount of overacting. Pauline Quirke’s character was immediately discounted as the murderer in my household due to her ‘creepy, I’m a murderer me’ staring. And it did feel a little ‘Midsomer Murders’ as the camera lingered on the characters staring mysteriously into the distance after an encounter with any of the detectives. Apart from the lead characters the rest of the cast were nothing special and the series really didn’t need to be eight episodes long. Five or six at most would have been sufficient.

Broadchurch was good though and I did look forward to the next episode every week. It will probably do well when it comes to awards but it should be enjoyed on its own merits and not compared to superior dramas. At the end of last night’s finale we were told that Broadchurch will return. It is difficult to see how this would work. The standout performances were the two lead detectives but with David Tennant’s character medically unfit to work and Olivia Colman’s dealing with her husband’s crime it is hard to see what the premise of a second series will be.

Maybe a second series was always part of the plan but it felt like someone at ITV had seen the ratings for this series and decided that the show must go on. It would be better for ITV to continue to find gems like Broadchurch rather than ruin the show by using the name to sell inferior television. 

A Few Thoughts on Cardiff's Promotion

When I was at university I used to get along to the old Ninian Park to watch Cardiff City in the old fourth division. Although some of their fans were a little 'boistorous', we always had a great time watching the likes of Nathan Blake and, after I left south Wales, I would still look out for their results. The Bluebirds did a bit better after I left and have now been promoted to the Premier League. But at what cost?

Everyone knows the story of how the fans heard rumours of a kit change/rebranding at the end of last season and then were told they were just that - rumours. And how the new Malaysian owners went ahead with the changes anyway, virtually holding the club to ransom by holding back sorely needed investment if their wishes weren't met. The bluebird on the badge was relegated to very much second fiddle to the Welsh dragon - which co-incidentally is considered good luck in the far east. Red was also seen to be much more in keeping with promoting the Cardiff brand overseas so decades of tradition were discarded in the race for cash and glory.

When I first heard of these changes at the start of the season I thought that Cardiff fans would never accept this. That a group of supporters calling themselves BLUEbirds would never allow their club to be rebranded in such a way. There has been some protest and a number of fans have turned their backs on the club declaring that it was not theirs anymore. A few more saw the handing out of free red scarves at a recent home match against Brighton as the last straw (an important fact to note here is that there was no mention of the word 'City' on these freebies). But, by and large, the Cardiff fans have accepted the new look.

I congratulate the team and Malky Mackay for achieving promotion, especially after season after season of coming up just short. But what I feel more than anything else is disappointment. Disappointment in the fans of Cardiff City. Years of tradition have been thrown away for a chance to scrap around for 18th place in the greatest league in the world TM. Who knows what further rebranding will take place over the summer. Cardiff Dragons? FC Cardiff Malaysia?

Maybe if Cardiff get relegated next season more fans will feel the need to question the owners over their decisions and try to take back the club they used to support. One thing is for sure though, the clock cannot be turned back. Cardiff are not the Bluebirds anymore. It is questionable whether they are even the same club.