Dom Pannell's Blog

Stockholm bound

On Saturday, I'll be scuttling over to Heathrow and jumping on a plane to Stockholm, then travelling out to Tyresö. For most of next week, I'll be mainly lying in fields or sitting on boats in the Baltic Sea.

Excellent!

Ha! *smacks lips*

I just noticed that John Torode rated the sirloin steaks and marinaded pork ribs from the Ginger Pig top in his barbecue rankings in yesterday's Observer Food Monthly.

Ginger Pig? That's the bunch who taught me how to cut up a lamb.

I turned the page and Sean Key from Moro is recommending Txacoli as a summer wine. As you well know my four avid readers, I'm rather partial to Txacoli. Actually, that article is a reminder of several of my favourite restaurants... Moro, Arbutus, Club Gascon...

Virtual memorial

I just noticed that someone I knew, but who died about 18 months ago, still has a profile on LinkedIn.

Given how frustrated I am that some sites blatantly manipulate their membership numbers - one site in particular arguably ought to be sued for selling under false pretences... allegedly(!) - I thought about reporting it, but decided that leaving the profile in place is sort of a tribute to a man who many considered to be great (he was taken by a brain haemorrhage at the unnaturally young age of 48).

Britain's Got Talent: addendum 3 (the last one)

Sam from BarWizards also reckoned I'd like Victoria the Axle Grinder:

Well, the clip doesn't show too much of the act, because of the editing, but Victoria's personality shines through and Piers Morgan's reaction says it all... I bet the northern working men's clubs used to go wild!

I wonder what my neighbours would say if I started axle grinding my groin in my back garden... maybe when I've lost a few pounds, eh?

Oh I do love Amazon One-Click

I've got "The New Rules of Marketing and PR" and "Connected Marketing: The Viral, Buzz and Word of Mouth Revolution" winging their way towards me.

And a week away from the office coming up so that I can devour them.

I can hardly wait!

Britain's Got Talent: addendum 2

I've just been speaking to my mate Sam over at BarWizards - apparently they've been having a crazy time since last week's final of BGT. I've also been told off for not mentioning Neil & Neil.

It's true, I've enjoyed myself very much at an evening of flair bartending and cocktails served to me by BarWizards (or CocktailStars from whence BarWizards grew) and I've praised the Neils' show offline so it's only fair that I put the record straight on here for my four dear, avid readers...

In case you haven't seen the Neils in action, you can catch up with their fortunes prior to the final here:

and see the extraordinary routine they put together for the last show here:

Apparently the phones haven't stopped ringing with enquiries since the final - Sam said they've received over 500 compared to 20 on what would normally be deemed a good week!

Anyway, I've seen the BarWizards perform live and they're even better in face-to-face than they seem on the telly. Their cocktails are bloody good, too.

As a nice aside, it seems that BarWizards may be doing some work with my fave act from BGT. I wonder if a monkey could mix cocktails...?

Britain's Got Talent: addendum

The final was won by opera-singing Paul Potts. Now, it seems, there's an outcry because the lad had some singing lessons. So what?

At least there's general agreement that he's got a cracking voice. Well, apart from Lyds that is.

As I commented on Lydia's blog entry, Vanessa Thorpe, arts and media correspondent at The Observer reckons his performances were "pitch-perfect" and I haven't read anyone else criticising his singing. But hey!

I must say that the herrings Lydia bought for me last week (bless her, she found an alternative to IKEA) were rather delicious... the OP went down well, too.

Summer barbecues

The Guardian published a 'Summer BBQ recipes' supplement yesterday. It's written by Fergus Henderson, chef and co-owner of the St John and St John Bread and Wine restaurants and it's very good - full of tips and tricks.

But it's raining here in London!

Dom Gets Fit 2

I know, I said it before and it went nowhere*.

I've decided, however, that it's time for Fatboy Dom to slim down a little. Sitting in an office eating sandwiches or similar for lunch in front of a computer has had a heavy toll. Worse, over the past year I've often got home late and ended up eating supper in front of a film before going to bed.

Inspired by David who's been losing weight hand over fist for the past few months, I'm going to take his advice and "eat a little bit less and exercise a little bit more" for a while.

Not today, of course - it's Sunday and there's a lunch to be had ;-)

*truth be told, the opposite happened as I shot up in weight and fitness levels are way off.

Wireless woes – help please

I've whinged about my home wireless connection before, but it's not getting any better.

Sometimes I can get online without a problem. Usually, however, I have to unplug the wireless router (a Belkin that's around four years old) before I can access any websites and increasingly it kicks me out after a few minutes.

At one point this morning, the only thing I could access was my work email through Windows Exchange Server. I find this most odd.

Could it be that the router needs replacing? Does anyone have any ideas about what's wrong or what I can do to fix the issue?

I've been told by a couple of people to ditch the Belkin and replace it with Netgear or LinkSys, but I don't even know if the problem lies with the router!

All serious suggestions gratefully received.

The washing machine man cometh

well, he's beeneth and goneth now.

£201.65 it's going to cost me to replace the part in my washing machine that shorted last week.

Two hundred quid!!

It's not even a decent model, but I can't replace it, 'cos it fits the space... the genius that fitted my kitchen before I bought it didn't leave sufficient space for a standard 600mm wide machine, so I was limited to buying the only model I could find that measures 590mm.

Two hundred quid and I'll have to go to the laundrette for at least another week. I wonder how many of my clothes I manage to ruin in that time?

Grumble, grumble, mutter, mutter...

How frustrating

My friend Lydia is coming to stay.

That's not the frustrating bit, though.

She popped into IKEA on the way down to buy me some pickled herrings.

They don't sell it anymore, apparently!

Lyds did grab me a bottle of aquavit, however.

EDIT: I've changed the photo to reflect the brand that Lydia bought. OP Anderson - good choice! /EDIT

I've checked online and I've just missed Scandelicious on Borough Market and Totally Swedish is closed through June, July and August...

Now, I'm going to be stuck with a bottle of snaps, but no sill!

Grrr....

EDIT: Perhaps this has something to do with it /EDIT

OK, I admit it

I've been spending what is probably far too much of my time watching videos of Britain's Got Talent on YouTube over the past week, but it's my leisure time*, so leave me alone!

Six-year old Conny is remarkable.

but Paul's voice is utterly amazing.

Apparently he's performed like this in every round.

It's gutting that Dominic from Birmingham (surely a winning combination!!) didn't get through but I think he's heading for a fabulous career with a voice like this:

I have a feeling that Conny will win it thanks to the 'cute vote' - just listen to the oohs and aahs from the audience when she's not singing, but my favourite still has to be that man and his monkey.

*Actually, that's not strictly true - half of the team at work were standing round my PC at work on Thursday laughing their socks off at Damon Scott and Bubbles...

Not having a telly

I missed this first time round, but spotted it today on YouTube.

Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant.

I laugh so much I cry every time I watch it.

Who says Britain doesn't have talent?

(In my mind's eye, I have this hilarious image of Damon practising with Bubbles in front of his bathroom mirror)

New Zealand inflict record 61-10 defeat on France

Ouch!

I thought the French were being clever when it was announced that they would play the All Blacks four times in eight months, but it's not looking good for any of the northern hemisphere sides in the run up to the World Cup.

I can't work out which nation's fans would be the most unbearable in victory - New Zealand, Australia or South Africa. It's a tough call, because none of them have discovered magnanimity.

Still, perhaps they'll kick the stuffing out of one another in the Tri-Nations, which start next week.

Did I mention, England are deservedly the current World Champions?

The London Book Project (LBP)

There's a cool experiment running on the London Underground at the moment.

The London Book Project is a cool idea: turn the Tube into a vast, free library. It's being seeded with several thousands of second-hand books distributed by LBP's team, which is made up of student journalists from City University.

The only downside to the project is that in order to participate, you'll need to take the tube (No thanks). That and the potential for litter. Maybe it'll herald a new attitude to leaving one's waste on public transport...

Hat tip to Adrian Monck for flagging this.

The Lahore Kebab House

Delicious food and cheap, too - I wonder why the Lahore Kebab House was packed when we turned up at 8.45pm last night.

Tucked down a little side street off Commercial Street, the Lahore Kebab House is a hive of activity: a team of cooks preparing a couple of dozen Pakistani dishes, another team of waiters shuttling diners and food to the tables.

It's an efficient operation - we had a 20 minute wait while thirty or so people in the queue before us were seated and our starters seemed to arrive just after we ordered. It was fresh, too - no reheating in microwaves here.

Lamb chops, mixed salad, spiced chicken, cubed lamb, kofta kebabs, roti... I forget everything we ordered. Then the main courses: karahi gosht, tarkha dal, sag aloo, bindi, peshwari naan. There was more, too, but I didn't keep a record. I just chomped happily away.

Fourteen quid a head including tip, plus drinks (which the wonderful Jules and Ana supplied). I spent more on taxis than I did on eating. Not bad considering I live in zone 1.

I think the pictures tell the story better than I can.

Bloody delicious.

Rambling restaurant reviews - around Charlotte Street

I posted this elsewhere, but don't see why I shouldn't repeat it here.

Charlotte Street is just north of where I work. It's full of bars and restaurants, for which it's pretty famous. These are some of the ones I frequent.

My favourite spot is Salt Yard, which is a Spanish/Italian hybrid with the occasional British theme. It has an excellent range of charcuterie and tapas to choose from and its wine list is very good (another place that sells txakoli, which I mentioned here). If Cathryn's reading this, I notice they also have a pudding menu with no less than six decent pudding wines on it. Book in advance because it's normally full.

La Cantina is worth a mention for its homestyle Italian cooking at reasonable prices served with lots of good will (and they will throw in a glass or two of grappa if you chat to the owner).

If money is no object (I went on a company tab and would probably continue to leave it to corporate occasions) then Roka serves excellent Japanese food - you can buy your own bottles of something expensive and they will keep it for you between visits... we had one of the tasting menus (£50+ a head and then one of our crew kept ordering more dishes, despite the waitresses protestatios. Result: far too much food and an enormous bill).

For Korean barbecues, Koba is good - it's packed with Koreans at lunchtime and I've been turned away in the evening once because it was full up (but happily that meant I discovered La Cantina (above). Great value.

I haven't been to Pescatori for some time and I should fix that because I remember that the Italian food there is really very good. My sister took me there for my birthday a while back and I recall that we were both impressed with the fish we had. I seem to recall that it was fairly pricey though.

Fancy a burger? The Eagle Bar Diner serves easily the best I've eaten in London (mine's a 8oz rare-cooked classic with Monterey Jack and bacon together with skinny fries and helpings of chilli salsa and parsley mayo on the side, please). It's cocktails are good, too. The only downers are that it can be very busy, so you might have to wait a while for a table and when you get one, you might be next to a speaker which means you might be deafened by the in-house DJ.

I'm hungry now.

A day at the races

Yesterday was Derby Day, which is the climax of The Vodafone* Derby Festival. This is one of the most famous sporting events in the British sporting calendar. According to the official blurb, it is "a truly unmissable two day festival of horse racing which dates back to 1780." The first day of the festival is called Ladies Day.

The races at Epsom are flat, which means there is no jumping - horses run round the course... well, strictly speaking, they don't run completely round anything, because the course is actually an elongated horseshoe shape (Type the postcode KT18 5LQ into Google Earth and it'll fly you to the the race track) Sited in the Epsom Downs (which I visited last year), the course is set in a magnificent natural amphitheatre formed by rolling hills.

If one wishes to attend the Derby, there are two ways of approaching it:

One is the posh way, with its strict dress code:

Queen's Stand on Vodafone Ladies Day

This is a special day in the racing calendar and gentlemen are asked to wear a jacket, collar and tie. Hats are not compulsory but many wear them. Jeans, sports shoes and denim are not allowed in the Queen's Stand

Queen's Stand on Vodafone Derby Day

Gentlemen must wear either black or grey Morning Dress with a top hat, or Service Dress. Ladies are asked to wear formal day dress or a trouser suit with a hat.

Grandstand on both days

The dress code is officially smart casual, and jeans and trainers are discouraged. Many people like to dress up for both Vodafone Ladies Day and Derby Day.

Grandstand Hospitality Boxes on both days

Gentlemen are asked to wear a jacket, collar and tie. Ladies do not have to wear a hat, but many do.

The other way is to join the many thousands of hoi polloi who don't dress up, but who go along for a bit of a party in the countryside. This is the approach that I adopted yesterday.

I joined fifty or so other people on a very well-organised unofficial work outing (at least I assume it was unofficial) who left Soho Square in a 57-seater coach at a little past 9am. My buddy Simon came along. Here he is demonstrating our dress code:

Colin organised the trip and had a busy day ensuring that everybody was happy and fully fed and watered. Here he is on the coach distributing quantities of bachannalian delight:

Here's the first view I had of the stadium. Note the red carpet that was most definitely not put down for our party:

People arrived in various modes of transport. They came by road:

They came by air:

and they came in their thousands!

The police were around to look after us:

Simon and I got as close to the finishing post as we could - reaching the final furlong marker for one race. Look the posh people are the other side of the race track:

After losing some money (I bet on two races and lost on both) Simon and I wandered back towards the coach, past bookkeepers stands, hog roasts, bouncy castles, helicopters... well, actually we didn't wander past the helicopters - neither Simon nor I had flown in a helicopter, so we took the opportunity of having a spin in this one:

We got a pretty good view of the race course from above:

and the Downs:

which stretch for several miles

We could see London in the distance:

But it was soon time to land and to rejoin our party.

The weather was outstanding and despite covering my arms and face with sun block, I am now red as a berry. Hopefully the colour will go down a little before I return to work, although I think it'll stay for another few days.

Eventually we climbed back onto the coach for the return journey to London, although some people were still partying heartily even as our coach left. This lot had brought their own disco and were dancing away as we pulled off:

It was a fantastic day with lots of fun people. Thanks for organising it, Colin.

*Next year it'll be called something else.

Getting back in touch

Online communities/networks are great.

Recently, thanks to FriendsReunited I got back in touch recently with a lad I hadn't seen since I was ten. I've also taken part in a university reunion that was organised via FriendsReunited (much more effective than the uni's own alumni database).

I while ago I stumbled virtually into my Finnish friend Petra who I knew when we both lived in Sweden ten years ago and now I regularly follow what she's up to on Petra's blog (and she has been known to comment here, too).

Several months ago, a college buddy got in touch with me via LinkedIn - still haven't met up yet, but it's a possibility now! Many of my MBA class now use LinkedIn to ensure we keep in touch (above comment about alumni databases is relevant here, too).

Yesterday on Facebook I made contact with a chap with whom I used to live in university halls of residence - he's now living and working in Pakistan, but we're going to meet for a coffee in the summer when he's over in Blighty.

How cool is that?