Easter time is almost here. NO IT'S NOT, STOP WITH ALL THE EASTER EGGS!

Well hellloooo and howdy doody, hows it all going with my lovely family, friends and customers? Time now seems to be dragging, maybe its because Christmas is over, I'm no longer on drugs and the weather is so rubbish. Even the ducks at the local lake don't want to go out the weather its that bad here.
Not only the rain is non-stop but temperature has also dropped and I'm finding it very difficult with the cold but I have some handy tips on how to keep warm in extreme circumstances:-

When I was growing up in Cardiff the family home didn't have central heating so the mornings in the bedrooms were very cold and i used to hate getting out of bed to get dressed as it would take ages for my body to get warm again.
Handy Tip 1/ If you have a bedside table or a bedside chair lay your clothes on them the night before ready for the morning. On awakening reach over to the chair or table and drag the clothes under the quilt with you. Hit the snooze button on the alarm and stay in bed for another 10 Min's. When alarm goes off the second time get dressed under the quilt as the clothes will then be warm. As you throw back the quilt you will find your warm and dressed ready for work or school.

In my more youthful days I used to drink quite often and allot. After a night of DJ'ing in a club or just a night out I may find myself anywhere within a 10 mile radius of Cardiff City centre without knowing how I got there with no money to get home. If it was winter time it would be freezing and I may just have a shirt on (also trousers and shoes but you know what I mean) having to walk home.
Handy Tip 2/ If you find yourself miles from home, cold and no money to get home you need to keep yourself warm while walking home. Befriend any cat that you can find and pick it up. As you start to walk keep stroking the cat making it comfortable and holding it close to you, this will keep you warm. If the cat doesn't struggle and feels relaxed you can keep it with you until you arrive home then let it go. If it does struggle let it go and find another one.
(Note:- Do not try this with a hedgehog, trust me, it doesn't work)

At this point I must apologies to anyone who's cat I may have used as a hot water bottle. I'm not saying I'm responsible for every missing cat in Cardiff but maybe a few.
A few of my customers I have already told this tip while we chatted in the bar.

I've had a few people ask me about who i do the medical studies with and how do you get on them. Well, the research centre is called Simbec who are excellent. To be on the panel for a study you have to do a medical. You have to be above and below a certain BMI, your blood pressure and heart rate has to be within a certain range, they take smokers and non-smokers, you can't be on medication or be a drug user and your alcohol intake has to be moderate to nothing. That's why I'm ideal for research as my BMI is perfect, my BP & HR are low but not to low, my alcohol intake is minimal and I've never used drugs which they test for apart from the ones at Simbec of course. If you got time on your hands contact Simbec and say that i put you on to them.

I see that the supermarkets are already selling Easter eggs. What will be on the shelves next, Halloween outfits? Do they really have to start promoting events that many months before its time. Now I love Easter, its all about lovely thin chocolate eggs, yum yum, and of course not forgetting that guy called Jebus rolling a stone away from a cave. The Easter egg can represent the shape of the stone that was rolled away from the cave or the emptiness of the egg can be the empty tomb that Jebus left or it can represent birth or re-birth/resurrection in this case of Jebus or it can just be a treat for us all to get fat and sick on. I wonder how many children actually know what Christmas and Easter is really all about, I dread to think.

Talking of Easter it seems many are going to Zakynthos to spend Easter there. Now if I wasn't there already but going over for Easter as a holiday or short break I would stay in Zakynthos town itself. All the celebrations are in town, all the bars, restaurants and shops are open and you wouldn't need transport to get to celebrations and events. There are many hotels in town that are very nice or if your OK with just a room there are a few basic hotels and apartments you can stay in. I don't think I would like to stay in a resort, there will be hardly any restaurants or bars open maybe just one or two, the place will look like a ghost town and there will be rubbish and building work going on everywhere with people getting ready for the season.  The resort will be in near enough complete blackout after 6pm, I know, I've been there. So for me I'd definitely stay in town at maybe the Strada Marina, Diana Hotel, Pheonix Hotel or Plaza Hotel.  Being as I'm out there early this season if it looks like there are a few around the resort I may open from 6-10pm, of course that's if the refurbishment is all finished by then but I'm not going to rush it just to get open for Easter.

I now have a final image of what the bar is going to look like. I just want it to be more comfortable and homely so when your in the bar you really feel like your away from the rat race and technology and can totally relax without a care in the world being able to converse with the company your with or other holiday makers. Still keeping it blue and white as that's its main feature being the first and only business in the resort to use the traditional picture postcard Greek blue and white look.

For those of you who know my part-time Assistant Manager Mr. Philip and his lovely wife Janice we met up with them when we collected Helen's car. They are as fine and dandy as ever and they can't wait to get back to Kalamaki and see all the people they know and have met in Oceanic. Philip, this season i have an Oceanic pinny ready for you for when i have a night off LOL.

I was looking through some old football photos the other day and came across a picture that shows how much the game has changed, and not for the better.
In the 60's and 70's and part of the 80's football used to be a much tougher game with heavy boots, harder balls and played on terrible pitches, the players were harder, there was more pride in playing for your team and when the word "genius" was used it was used very rarely.
Now their boots are like slippers, balls are as light as a balloon and pitches like snooker tables, the players fall over a blade of grass and look like they've been shot, pride is in their pay packet and now if they do a back heal to another player once in a game your world class.
God help the players of today if they played a real mans sport like Rugby or Ice Hockey.
Bring back the no frills, hard knocks football and this picture says why we need them back.

Jackie Charlton smoking a cig during a training session when he played for Leeds, pure class!

Now not many of you know this but I'm a bit of a culture vulture. oh yes, I've been to a few opera's like La Boheme, Madam Butterfly, Carmen and Carmina Burana. I've seen the odd musical like Rock of Ages, Lord of the Rings and David Essex's panto Robinson Crusoe. I'm not all about the rock/punk/indie music you know, oh no, I'm always open minded to listen to all types of music, apart from R n B and modern garage both of which are shall we say "Shite" LOL.
So in my quest for music for the bar I've searched high and low for something different and i have found you some to listen to and watch.

First of all this group of singers are called "Gregorian" who base their music around chanting Gregorain monks. I first heard these when i was in Argentina filming Total Wipeout (by the way if you missed my episode i think its on BBC3 this wed or thurs at 7pm LOL) and they were singing R.E.M.'s Losing My Religion. They do mainly covers of rock songs. Here for your listening delight they're singing Depeche Mode's "Enjoy the Silence". I know some of my blog readers really love this song, so this is just for you.

The next group are called Apocolyptica who are 4 cello players. I first heard these in 2004/05 and thought it was really good. The first song of theirs i heard was Metallicas "Unforgiven". I seem to like the rock music crossed with a classical instrument. When Metallica played with a full Orchestra it sounded even better than when just the band play alone. Here is that song i first heard them play.

Here we have a bit of weird one. I hate the sound of a fiddle or violin as it just sounds like a cat being dragged back and forth over a saw but again this version of AC/DC's "Back In Black" isn't to bad but i think just one song on a fiddle is enough to listen to. This is The Duelling Fiddlers.

And finally to amaze your eyes and ears we have rock music played on harps (the musical instruments not the beer). When i first heard Florence and The Machine using harps it sounded so good and loved it on "You got the love". Now I've found twins Camille & Kennerly covering rock songs by just playing the harp. The sound is quite soothing but the video is very cheese-tastic, I'd prefer to watch them just sat at a harp than trying be all fairly/elf Lord of the Rings like on a Star Trek location shoot with that silly swaying, its a bit annoying when watching it LOL. I give you their version of Metallica's "Nothing else matters".

I hope i have broadened your mind when it comes to music. We may all have one preference in music but we can still try to listen to other styles. Take my good friend Mr. Chris Scales, punk hero tattoos, tall as a cyclops, built like a one man riot machine but one of his favourite songs is Shirley Bassey's "Diamonds are forever" you wouldn't have thought it LOL.

Well its almost time for myself and my world watched actor nephew Leighton Kyle to grace Birmingham with our presence as we go to see Depeche Mode live at the NEC. If anyone can point us in the direction of any good rock bars (don't forget we need to be in staggering distance of the airports hotel) then that would be a great help. If not we'll just get some cans of special brew and sit on the streets, I'm sure we can blend in somewhere ha ha.

So that's it for this fortnights update, again weather has limited what I've got up to this past 2 weeks but i will always try to keep you entertained if i can with a little read.

Serve All, Love All, Peace All, Kevlar Out!