My First Bike Polo

This post was a bit overdue as I was editing some videos, but back in May was Mathieu's leaving party and I got to try some Bike Polo! Not so easy, but at least I managed to hit the ball and it was great fun.  Check out my video on Daily Motion and then see how Mathieu and the other professional bike polo players do it:

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x125411_my-first-bike-polo_sport?search_algo=2

Vertigo 42

To celebrate my wife getting a new job, we decided to go somewhere special for a drink.  I took her to a pretty unknown cocktail bar, dubbed 'Vertigo 42', on the 42nd floor of what appeared to be a very uninspiring, but tall, office building.  After going though a more thorough baggage and metal dedector check than I have had at most international airports we were fired up an elevator shalf  at about mark-6.  The bar was laid out around the edge of the building so you always sit facing the view.  I have been to many towers in many countries to test the view of their landscape, and I have never seen such an amazing view of a city.  The view was actually breathtaking.  I also timed it perfectly to see the view go from day to night and seeing the cityscape change before our eyes was amazing.  Everything from Alexandra Palace to BT tower, St Pauls to the London Eye, the Thames to the Shard, it was like London was spread out before us.  The staff were polite and helpful and the cocktails were pleasing to the palet, and although they'll set you back a hefty £14 plus, when you consider a trip up teh shard is £25 with no cocktails, you actually saving money.  Check out the time lapse video I make of the sun setting and the lights coming on:

The Modern Gentleman

While I'm not perfect, I do try at least to be a 'gentleman'.  I do gentlemanly things like holding doors open for people, giving my coat/jumper to my cold wife, helping ladies with prams looking perplexed at stairs and the general consideration of my fellow humans.  I even stop thieves stealing someones phone on Oxford Street (Don't give your iPhone 5's to strangers, it's not a wise move).  But one gentlemanly activity throws me into a world of paranoia and confusion; giving up your seat.  I regularly frequent the 'Tube' to get from A to B, and for the most part my working commute goes against the commuting norm, heading towards outer London, so I usually have a carriage to my lonesome.  However, when in full commuter crowds the rules seem some what 'every-man/women-for-themselves'!  The standard traditional rules for a gentleman is to give up ones seat for a lady.  However, travelling in a rush hour, if this rule were to apply you'd never have a seat.  And I hear some of you saying "Well, just give up your seat for pregnant ladies or older people."  This would also be fine is the person is very old or very obviously pregnant, but we have all been in that situation where we are trying to visually calculate someones body mass index over the possibility they are pregnant.  As Jimmy Carr once said "I'd rather see a pregnant lady standing, than a fat give sat down crying."  And where does the line stop with someones age!?  The other day I was on the underground during rush hour, sat down, and a lady came onto the train with some other travellers at Russell Square.  I am bad at guessing age at the best of times, but I would have said she could have been anywhere been 45 to 65.  Does this warrant giving up my seat?  Again, the lady might take offence to such an offering as there were other ladies around her and it would have been obviously about her age if I selected her out.  

I never normally feel a great need to sit, but last night returning home from a friends house I was in most need of a seat.  I was suffering from back pain and needed to rest my tired limbs.  As we neared the centre of the city and more people entered the carriages and I began feeling scowls from certain female passengers for my seated position, from women of a young age and some younger than me.  I felt I needed a sign to state my reason for requiring a seat, as I regularly also give my seat up for no good reason.  I wanted to say "Normally I would give up my seat and stand happily, but I'm sorry, I have injured my back a really need this seat."  The women continue to send me daggers with their eyes.  I stood up.  Sometimes, it's not easy being a gentleman.  

I'm British?

Returning from the Far-East, from the Land of the Rising Sun, it's caused me to look at myself more.  I've always considered myself a 'man of the World' or a 'European' over being 'English' or 'British'.  I'd never really felt much cause to be patriotic about this island rock as most of the reasons my fellow countrymen and women feel cause to celebrate their Britishness didn't really suit my own.  Things like football, the Royal Family or moaning, and It's hard to get behind a country that celebrates its shortcomings so prolifically.  Granted, our ability to make fun of ourselves does give us a great sense of humour, but as shows like Little Britain illustrate, sometimes the truth behind characters like Vicky Pollard are all too true.  

In some cases it does give me mixed views, like with the NHS.  A healthcare system that is free to all (For the mean time at least) is something I should be proud of, something that sets this land apart from the others.  However, my pride falls short with the standard of healthcare we sometimes receive, especially having experienced Japans healthcare!  This kind of conflicting emotions leaves my pride slightly tainted.

I feel the more I travel, the more I want to take all the best bits of the countries I have visited and lived and mix them all together in a wonderful Johnland, to make my own super country.  A place with the cleanness, efficiency and food of Japan, the relaxed attitude and social life of Italy, the snowy winters and reindeer steaks of Finland and the humour and friendliness of Britain, are all blended, seamlessly into one.   


However, coming back to London has made me realise that I am actually quite 'British'.  Whether it's the milk tea I crave, the sarcastic wit, the feeling of a sunny London day (Rare as they may be) or the strange sense of 'home'; I feel more normal here.  I feel I can fit in and I've realised that while I may not agree with everything my homeland has to offer (Hooligans, crime, poor health, etc), it doesn't mean I'm not or should not be proud to be British.  I should be proud of all the great things Britain has to offer and all the wonderful things Britain has achieved.  There is no perfect country, but I can at least start to be proud of my Grande Britannia.  

Check out this joyful little Chap-hop ditty about being British:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkF_XpA5P48

Archers VS Meg

To start you off on my new blog, here is a little slice of entertainment, thanks to my parents dog, Meg, with a dash of my own unique blend of remix:

Hooray!

I'm back with my new blog 'Adventures for a Modern Man'.  It may not have the exotic Asian quality brought to you by Our Man In Japan, but I will bring the same banter and blather, imagery and analysis, and humour and frustration, this time from the land they called 'London'.  Observations on modern life from a man about town.  

I hope you enjoy, come on in...