They call him the naked guy, watch the video and you'll see why...

I found this video from 2 Many DJ's at Glastonbury this year and thought that I'd share it with the world. You'll be even more impressed when you learn that he squeezed under a metal fence, crawled through 4ft tall stinging nettles, swam across a stream, climbed up another bank of stinging nettles and into the backstage area before running on stage. This guy sets a goal and won't let anything stand in his way, even if it stings his nob.

P.s. If you don't like willies you've come to the wrong blog.

For those of you that haven't read it before the Observer wrote about him too:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/aug/10/music.popandrock

And you can show your support for his natural form here:

http://www.new.facebook.com/group.php?gid=22229047350&ref=ts

Black Books

Anyone remember the comedy series called Black Books with comedians Bill Bailey and Dylan Moran???

Well I was in Bloomsbury on Judd Street yesterday helping my dad out with decorating a flat and when we went to the hardware store I noticed the shop where they filmed Black Books. It looks absolutely identical to how they had it in the sitcom on both the inside and out.

Seeing this quaint little bookshop made me think about how nice it is to have such dainty little independent shops everywhere in this part of central London. Around here you get gorgeous little butches, green grocers, bakers, fish mongers, hardware stores, bookshops, coffee shops, chemists, travel agents, etc. When you go in them you invariably talk to the owner with years of expertise and authenticity rather than a part-time sales assistant who doesn't give a shit. It's such a shame that these boutique places have to struggle with brash competitors like Tesco, Starbucks, Boots and so on.

The Great River Race

'Aches and pains but glory too'

Rowed the great river on the Thames today, it was great fun but real tiring. Check the photo's...

Looks like I'm doing nothing but I had in face been rowing for 2.5 solid hours before this.

Ladies and gentlemen that's what a winner looks like... well someone that came 230th out of 300 boats anyway!

A well deserved can of beer

22 miles up river we cross the finish line tired and exhausted

Great River Race - Part 1

'Training'

So I returned from holiday less than 48 hours ago and I've already managed to get myself roped into rowing in The Great River Race this Saturday! For those of you that don't know about it, I will be one of three rowers starting at London Docklands and racing up river to Richmond where I live. Apparently it's 22 miles and will take about 3 or 4 hours!

Last night I went for rowing practice... in the POURING RAIN!

Got completely soaked through and quite cold but still managed to convince myself that I enjoyed it! Perhaps the cold made me delusional. Today I've decided that I cannot prevent getting wet so I'll embrace it instead and wear my nice warm and cosy wetsuit instead of layers that get drenched through anyway.

I'll get my blog on when I've finished the race on Saturday and I'll include lots of photographs etc.

Italy Day 12

'Goodbye Sun!!'

Spent this morning packing our bags and squeezing in a bit of sun and swimming at the pool before getting a cab to the station. At the station we picked up a bus, taking an hour and a half to Napoli Aeroport. We got the bus because previously on our way from the airport we had taken the Circumvesiviana Train and hated it.

The train was long, hot and sweaty. Mind you it was cheap. It had cost us €3 to get from the Airport to the Train Station and then another €3 to get from Napoli Central Station to Sorrento. This time we were all a lot happier to get the bus which took a bit longer than the train and cost a little more (€10) but was SO much more pleasurable! IT was cooler than the train, with air-conditioning and it had the most spectacular views from the cliff tops. We could see across the bay of Naples towards Sorrento and Mt. Vesuvius looked mighty from the bottom.

I'd recommend taking the bus to anyone traveling from Naples Airport to Sorrento. Try to get a seat on the right hand side of the bus for the best views and have your camera handy!

Our flight took us right over the volcano crater of Mt. Vesuvius and stopped in Milan for 3 hours before continuing on to London.

Italy Day 11

'Sun and Sea and back again'

Today we woke up early and walked down the steep cliff paths to get to Marina Piccola at the other end of Sorrento from where we're staying. Here we picked up a boat tour to Amalfi, via Capri Island and Positano. This stretch of coastline has the most gorgeous cliff face scenery and from the water we could see the underside of the overhanging roads, clinging to the rock high above. Perhaps if we'd seen the roads from this angle we would have had second thought about driving along them a few days earlier in a heavy bus!

Sorrento high street early in the morning.

Yaz in her new All Saints dress.

Swimming in the electric blue waters of Capri Island.

With the sun shining and wind blowing in our hair we set out across the bay to our first stop, Capri Island. The captain dropped anchor and we dived off the port side into the luscious electric blue water for a refreshing swim. We could swim near some stunning rock pinnacles and next to a nice yacht that I fell in love with.

A gorgeous yacht that I spent a lot of time drooling over!

Capri Island pinnacles.

Positano from the sea.

We stopped briefly to drop off some passengers at Positano, where Niamh (my cousin) and Aaron got married a few days earlier. Look closely and you can see the yellow church with the dome where they married.

A wedding in Amalfi.

Amalfi church.

Mum, Yaz and Katie.

My favourite place, sitting on the bow of a boat.

Capri Island in the distance.

Yaz and I in the sun for the last time!

Another boat that Yaz and I were drooling over!

Quick swim in the sea before heading home.

Italy Day 10

'Milky'

As Yaz is starting her PR internship at Jury White on Wednesday we've been trying to get up early, conditioning our bodies into the commuting routine. As we still had some time left on the WiFi we utilised it by browsing the net further and I continued to update my blog.

We did want to hire a boat and drive to Capri today but decided it would be a little too expensive... something I REALLY regret because for €130 we could have had a full day out on the Mediterranean with the sun on our faces and wind in our hair! :(

Instead we explored parts of the town we hadn't seen before, ate the nicest Spaghetti Carbonara and made friends with a cat. The cat's called Milky - it likes milk.