World Cup Finale
So after a month of drinking, tipping competitions, English flags adorning every council estate and car in the land, snakebites at Australian pubs and diving Italians and Portuguese - the world cup has finally come to an end. The tournament was fantastic, dull, enthralling and heart-breaking. We celebrated the final by watching the game and having a BBQ on our condemned roof terrace (it's currently on death row with no final date for execution). Nicole and I were joined by Jess, Mike, Emmet and more than a few bottles of wine (photos above and below). We were all hoping for a French victory however Nicole's genes kicked in before the penalties and she switched back to supporting the Italians. After the game when we were all a bit merry so we decided to head to The Two Brewers to continue the 'celebrations'.
The anniversary of the July 7 bombings on Friday was an odd day. I got the tube to King's Cross and as I missed breakfast I quickly ran to grab a McMuffin. Once I walked out of the station I was met by a gazillion cameras and the whole media circus. There had just been a memorial service and people were still laying flowers - I think however there were more media personnel than there were members of the public. As it happened I had to go through the station numerous times that day because of our clinic down there. The police presence was a little over the top - I know people need to be reassured but I counted 16 police (in groups of 2 or 3) walk past us in a 5 min journey - with sniffer dogs etc. We had a 2 minute silence at midday and other than that the day went along quite normally. It think the organisation of small services was a quiet dignified recognition of what happened.
That other sporting competition (Wimbledon) ended on Sunday. I was most pleased to see Amelie Mauresmo shake off the reputation of a choker and claim the title - unfortunately it seems she received little recognition of her grand feat in France - too preoccupied by the world cup it seems. Something I must admit I've been a little guilty of as well. So it's back to normality!
Crazy Week
The last week has been a pretty manic and depressing one. On the down side I got in trouble for offending the financial director at work (i was so in the right but directors are god apparently), the socceroos lost because of some dodgy diving by the Italians, I found out my good friends Jess and Charlene are going back to Australia, our landlord didn't get planning permission for our roof terrace/balcony so they are getting rid of it, one of our patients that I know really well was murdered and then on saturday England lost out as well.
Though it wasn't all doom and gloom - I went to Wimbledon on Friday and it was fantastic. I went by myself this year as Nicole somehow scored ground passes from a friend already. The queue was only 2.5 hours this years (the shortest one yet) - once in I got to see a number of top players on the outside court. I saw Federer practicing, Venus Williams, Amelie Mauresmo and Andy Murray play in doubles - I also caught Jonas Bjorkman's singles win and an excellent performance by Chinese player Na Li beating Svetlana Kuznetsova (pic attached). I've been banging on about the Chinese for years - so it was nice to see one of them get a great win in a grand slam. Caught Arthurs and Pratt play in doubles as well. I also got burnt to a crisp as it was really bloody hot - there's a heat wave going on at the moment it's even getting into the 30s! 
Euro Pride was on saturday. I didn't catch the parade or the rally or the entertainment - I basically met up with Mike and Phil (over from oz) and the canadians (out for canada day) had a few drinks in the sun at soho square then went and watched the football. Poor england - penalties just don't agree with them. Then met up briefly with Jess (see pic below) for a quick hello, headed home and then went back out again later with Mike to Heaven which was surprisingly quiet for such a big night. On the way home I fell asleep on public transport again! This time i visited leafy Twickenham - I'm beginning to see loads more of south london!
Have I told you about Lily Allen? I've been a fan of hers for a good few months. She's finally releasing a proper single this week - 'Smile' and it should get near enough to number one. Check out her myspace page: www.myspace.com/lilymusic or www.lilyallenmusic.com Her best track is definitely LDN (london) and her album's out July 17. I'm counting down the days...
John Howard is making news over here for saying Big Brother should be axed. Err... why is the Prime Minister even commenting on this? RIDICULOUS and EMBARASSING. You may also note that the Australian Democrats have told him to but out - if that's not a a reason to get them back the balance of power in the senate then I don't know what is!
