Arcticterntalk.org
The blog of a travelling psychiatrist and football lover. Who happens to be a halfway decent photographer. Takes a cynical view of the world
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Reflections on Sydney Australia
A few hours is never enough to form cogent opinions on anything. Australia seems a vibrant enough place, hot, it was 37 c in the Olympic Park area and very crowded. An evening walking around Sydney Harbour was not unlike a football crowd leaving a major stadium. But what memories remain?
Australians clearly like their lager, Crown lager was a good example, but I saw no evidence of the kind of drunkeness that one might see on the streets of London or Newcastle. In fact warning posters cited large fines for drunken behaviours. But folks were clearly enjoying themselves around Sydney Harbour drinking wine in couples or in groups. Many huge hotels line the harbour area and the streets around. An eclectic mix of different mainly small restaurants and food wagons. Sad to report but my dinner that night consisted solely of ice cream bought in the Guylian Chocolate cafe. Thoroughly recommended. A single red telephone box adorned the corner of a street. Remaining on the ice cream topic there were many more examples of nice ice creams that one might see in the UK. A greater variety for example of Magnums.
The harbour in addition to being lined by people, wine, noise, ice creams and magnums, also was lined by plentiful small boats and a huge cruise liner , Carnival Spirit, docked at the terminal right in the harbour. Interesting food such as little what I termed ” Domino cakes” also was available. Despite all this lively atmosphere there was also another side to the city with evidence of homeless folks and begging. It was very difficult to say if they were genuine as the beds and the begging seemed somewhat co-ordinated. But left a sad feeling nonetheless.
Away from the central city is the Olympic Park home to the 2000 Olympic games. A large area with hotels and not much else. ANZ stadium is home to many concerts including that weekend Taylor Swift.
Sydney was selected as the host city for the 2000 games in 1993. Teams from 199 countries participated. The United States won the most medals with 93, while Australia came in 4th with 58. The games cost was estimated to be A$6.6 billion. The Games received near-universal acclaim, with the organisation, volunteers, sportsmanship and Australian public being lauded in the international media.
Last and not least the mysterious Australian Barbie.
Around Sydney Harbour
Australian Barbie
Domino Cake
Domino Cake
Sydney Olympic Park ANZ Stadium
Sydney Olympic Park
Sydney Olympic Park
A visit to Craven Cottage. Reflections on Fulham Football Club and Brentford
The West London Derby between Fulham and Brentford is always a feisty affair . Two local tesm, one very much on the way up and the other on the way down and currently without a manager. There is no need to go over the events of the game. An entertaining 2-2 draw where both the score and the result were a fair reflection of events on the field.
A visit to Craven Cottage though is always a pleasant affair. A few verbals but no fighting among fans and Fulham fans generally, though deluded about their place in the football hierarchy are not such a bad lot.
There is no reason other than insanity to drive to Fulham as parking places are delusional and do not exist in reality, so arrival by train and then walking along the river gives an interesting perspective to the ground. The ground is set essentially at the end of a park and within curiously 300 yards of Fulham Palace. Which raises the first question. Why not the name Fulham Palace? Crystal Palace versus Fulham Palace has a nice ring to it. The Palace is actually quite a beautiful building.
Because of the local derby and a failure often in reality by the police and the club to establish a need for stewarding and policing it is a fair comment to say that things were overdone. This game did not not need police horses, who provided free manure for all fans walking back through the park after the game, and conveniently if one has no time to pick it up one can merely collect it on ones shoes. A fair question was raised as to why if fines are given to dog owners for failing to pick up their mess, why does not the same criterion apply to horses and in this case the police and their horses? The stewards were pleasant enough but this is the first time to my recollection that I have ever been asked to open my coat on entry to a football ground. Overkill might be the simplest way to describe things,and seemingly an ineffective overkill too as pyrotechnics were let off in the Brentford end on at least two occasions. For me this is stupidity and potentially dangerous but mostly unnecessary.
In the ground the views are good and the food a major improvement on years gone. I did vow many years ago never to eat Fulham burgers again however despite their extortionate price they were relatively harmless. The sausages however could have benefitted from cooking and there was no way raw sausage was going anywhere near my digestion.
The whole football experience though was a good one and one that any neutral might have enjoyed. Fulham football club is really though not a cheap place but harmless enough and can be enjoyed. And as an additional benefit the Fulham Burger never killed me nor injured me in any way.
Photoshop Images by Eve Van B
Whereas Vincent Van B is rightly recognised as one of the foremost upcoming British artists, Eve Van B can be recognised for creative elusive and ephemeral images. Please enjoy and share these.
Hey Violet – USA Band
Playing tomorrow at O2 Islington. Sold out so no tickets available now.
Hey Violet are the first band that 5SOS have signed to their own record label. They originate from LA and have been described as punk rockers. Until December 2014 they were known as Cherri Bomb. The group was formed in 2008 as Cherri Bomb while its members were still in middle school and originally consisted of Julia Pierce (lead vocals, guitar), Miranda Miller (guitar, vocals) Rena Lovelis (bass guitar, vocals) and Nia Lovelis (drums, vocals). Pierce departed the band in 2013, and was replaced by Casey Moreta (guitar, vocals), before changing their name to Hey Violet in 2015, and signed to Hi Or Hey Records. As Cherri Bomb, they were signed to Hollywood Records, and released their first and so far, only, studio album This Is the End of Control in 2012.
The cute thing is that they did a short acoustic sets outside Wembley SSE arena and other European venues…
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Reflections on Auckland
The general impression of arriving in New Zealand is positive from the moment that the immigration forms ask is one wants to stay and the immigration process is complete in maybe 5 minutes or less.
The general drive into auckland is unspectacular with normal housing and industrial developments lining regular dual carriageways. There is however an absence of the hideous traffic jams that line most of the UK motorways.
The centre of Auckland has the regular shops and hotels that one expects to see but the focus point is maybe the harbour filled with various yachts of immense expense, boats offering whale and dolphin trips and the edges lined with appealing bars and restaurants. An Italian restaurant Portofino can be recommended for basic but nice Italian fare and not too pricey.
As one walks around the people look happy. When I was there there was an international Karate tournament with most of the young teenage contestantants staying in the hotel. There was no arguing with these guys when they rushed up en-masse to get their breakfast items. The Austrian girls were particularly scary.
https://www.facebook.com/World-Goju-Ryu-Karate-Championships-New-Zealand-2015-638246422862804/
The city is also lined by a series of dormant, hopefully, volcanoes. Mount Wellington being one example giving great views of the city and worth a decent climb. At the moment cars are allowed to the top to a small car park but soon this will end and car passengers will have to take the same walking route as their coach passenger fellow tourists.
The food generally is interesting. Gorgeous slices of Mango at breakfast with fresh pears and apricots. Lebanese restaurants with very different menus to what might be expected in UK.
There is the usual selection of excellent graffiti and one piece of a guy trying to break into a locked garage caught my eye and was spectacular. A few curious signs too.
Beirut Restaurant Auckland
A new Lebanese restuarant in the heart of Auckland. Weather permitting one can sit inside on some elegant chairs or outside on the pavement, where the views are not idyllic but some warmth does pervade in the summer months.
The menu is small and generally it is best to select maybe 5-6 dishes between two people. The food is not however typically Lebanese at all. So those expecting skewers of meat and chicken will be dissapointed. A good mixture would be some breads like the Persian flatbread or Afghan bread, made with black courgette hummus and poppy seed. Combined with a salad such as Fattoush or maybe Bubba (burnt aubergine, sujak, toasted sesame and black cabbage).
Pehrpas the most visual dish is the Fattoush with amazing colours and textures . Looks almost like food art. The portions are also not huge so those with an american accent might be dissapointed.
after midday — Click here to see what the menu looks like.
Lebanese Salad in Auckland Fattoush Photographs
Does anyone recognise what type of salad this is? It was eaten in an excellent Lebanese restaurant in Auckland called Beirut. It was called Fattoush. The food was excellent and was best eaten as a number of small dishes to be shared.
Fattoush traditionally is different to this version and is described as containing watermelon, beetroot, cucumber, parsley and orange blossom.
Fattoush
The menu contains a mixture of excellent other items. However not all versions of Fattoush are the same it seems. If we go to other websites we it described very differently
Fattoush is a Lebanese salad made with vegetables and crispy toasted flatbread, which soaks up the dressing beautifully. It’s a simple recipe, packed with freshness and flavour – serve this salad as a side to grilled meats.after midday —after midday —
Gothenburg. Am I missing something? Crime and Chocolate Cheesecake
Arriving on a thoroughly grey day never makes any city look appealing but after an afternoon here I am struggling to see what might make Gothenburg a city to attract visitors. The airport is a fair way out from the city and the thick grey cloud that was covering the ground was relentless when viewed as the plane came into land.
The city itself one might say pretends to have potential. There are canals over which small bridges allow the pedestrians to connect to the squares and other streets. The main square is lined by hotels with the main Central Station on one side. All sounds promising until hoardes of East European, mostly women, attack each passer by through the square to demand money for some magazine, that I presume is the Romanian or Bulgarian equivalent of The Big Issue. Its wrong to say they are threatening but correct to say that they are persistent and in your face.
The buildings all look rather grey and similar and the shops are those one might find in any European city centre. Trams and buses are plentiful and have a good go to knock over any pedestrian who dares to cross the tram lines.
There are a few parks dotted around including one advertising itself as a kind of botanical gardens, except there were few plants to see at this time of year. The water in the canals is dirty with rubbish thrown in of the usual kind, bottles, cans and plastic bags, however uniquely there was a white plastic chair adorning the water too curiously a lifebelt too floating in the water, presumably unused. It cannot be the fault of the paths nor the trees but every single leaf in Sweden seemed to be squashed on the pebble paths making many areas slippery and at a minimum visually unattractive.
On the positive side there were some unusual signs. For example within the train station a sign proclaimed “HAGS” ” made in Sweden”. This seems a little unfair as there is cause to presume they are made also in very many other countries.
Hags of Sweden
The train station was also packed full of a variety of different little cafes and eateries serving delicious looking food, however the venue of eating within a train station just does not seem right to me and the visual accompaniment of the Romanian sellers/beggars, also takes the appetite away a little. Some nice Chocolate muffins though were talking to me. The graffiti painted on the outside of the trains was good enough to rival that on the trains in Essen Germany and The Watermans car park in Brentford. The highlight of my little walking expedition was no doubt the burger restaurant Max. Not only were the burgers delicious and huge, but I managed to order my meal via a machine that gave me all my options in Swedish. The chocolate cheesecake however pictured below is one of the nicest food items I have ever eaten, bought in a little cafe in the station.
The people also seemed downcast. I cannot recall a single smile when outside the hotel. The staff in Max looked like a group session of ECT or bulk purchase of Prozac might be an option to be considered. Why was no-one smiling? Apparently the theory put forward is that they regain their inner happiness when the weather improves, which by my reckoning is 5-6 months away.
Crime however rears its ugly head everywhere and Gothenburg was no exception with a car with its window smashed in on a fairly main street behind the Radisson Hotel. The migrant issue in Sweden is also topical currently with the murder of Alexandra Mezher who was working on a night shift at a refugee centre for unaccompanied migrant children in Molndal near Gothenburg. According to the Swedish Migration Agency violent incidents have doubled in asylum facilities since 2014. Sweden also receives five times more asylum applications relative to its size than its neighbour Denmark, receiving 163,000 applications last year 2015.
The usual excellent European graffiti was evident with the colour of trains being markedly improved by the graffiti. This seem a european thing rather more than a UK thing, and oddly this is type of crime that it a funny way adds to the pleasure.
Would I be tempted to return here for leisure? Not really. I may be missing something but I do not get Gothenburg at all.
Ricky Sappleton
Ricky Sappleton is a Jamaican born forward playing in 2015-16 for Kingstonian. having joined last summer from Billericay. Having started of with QPR he made one first team appearance for Leicester City before moving to non league . A giant of a forward with strength as a clear attribute he is not slow either and a few action shots from the Met Police 2 Kingstonian game show this nicely.
Ricky Sappleton
Ricky Sappleton
Ricky Sappleton
Ricky Sappleton
A Great Place
The rants and warblings of an active and some would say disturbed mind. A Brentford Fc supporter and a psychiatrist and photographer. Welcome to my musings and rants.
chris1957
Arcticterntalk.org 