Nails anyone?

The Rugby Union team that I support won the Guinness Premiership semi-final on Sunday. Saracens beat Northampton Away by 21 points to 19.

If I were someone who chewed my fingernails, then I would have none left. The game was a scintillating game of rugby that saw two evenly matched teams show off all that is good about the game. I got home with a bit of a sore throat.

Subsequent to the match, and following an incident eight days before at Leicester, Director of Rugby Brendan Venter has been handed a 14 week touchline ban by the RFU. This is to be appealed. The full Saracens statement may be read here. The club is appealing.

There was a second hearing in which Schalk Brits was reprimanded and warned as to his future conduct by a Rugby Football Union disciplinary panel. This is good news - It is probably fair to say that Saracens go into the Final as second-favourites, so the fact that Brits is available to play is a relief. He has made a fantastic contribution to the Saracens since he arrived at the club and now has a week and a half to work with the team to finish preparations for the Final.

I shall now jump in the car to drive to Twickenham - I may have to consider staying over a week on Saturday, just in case a sherbert or two are required. Either that, or go the long way round by train. Weekday rush hour on the M25 followed by South West Trains or the Piccadilly Line (to be decided).... Yumm!

Come on you Sarries! Or should that be "way-a/Lay-o, Lay-o, Lay-o"?

So what about the flight from Lusaka?

Flight BA254 has just taken off from Barcelona and is due to land at London Heathrow at 00.50 tomorrow (Wednesday) morning.

It would appear that night time flying restrictions have been lifted tonight for the world's busiest international airport.

I have a colleague and his family stuck in Cyprus with another stuck in Madrid - I wonder how long before I see them.

It has been really quite pleasant having aeroplane free skies for the last few days. I have family who live in Twickenham, very close to the Heathrow flight path - it's back to the usual noise levels for them.

Happy flying!

Music in the Rain

During the early part of each Summer, the Royal Military School of Music in Twickenham hosts a series of open air concerts titled "Concerts in the Park".

Tonight was the series finale, attended (along with maybe a couple of thousand others) by three generations of my family.

The theme tonight was 'Last Night of the Proms'. Whatever the theme, the concerts are always excellent and tonight was no exception.

Having checked the weather forecast yesterday, we decided not to eat al-fresco. Instead my sister fed us all beforehand, dessert provided by our mother. food move.

Waterproofs came in handy, though fortunately the rain was not persistent enough for the concert to be curtailed. The bands soldiered on and a good evening was had.

I suspect that a bit of elbow grease would have been used afterwards drying all the instruments - pity the bandsman responsible for the three xylophones!

Hopefully back to the same venue in a couple of months for the Rhythm Force Rock & Pop Concert, including an appearance by Jools Holland.

Classic View

It is usually a complete waste of time to even attempt to take a photograph from a moving train, particularly through a window. The image is usually spoilt by dirt on the window, by unwanted reflections, by outside obstructions and a general inability to control most of the factors that contribute to framing a half decent image.

Friday evening saw me traveling on SouthWest Trains from London Waterloo to the Twickenham area using South West Trains.

As I'd had a bit of time to spare I was on a slow train, the one that leaves Waterloo and travels round the Hounslow Loop eventually arriving back at Waterloo. The automated train announcer started off by saying it was the train to Whitton. By the time I got off it was announced as going to Barnes Bridge - I suspect by the time the train had left the next station, it would have been announced as going back to Waterloo. I like the Hounslow Loop, it has a strange quirkiness to it!

Anyway, I digress. Because there weren't many people on the train by the time we were approaching the River Thames, I didn't feel too self conscious in whipping my camera out and snapping this picture. Given all of the aforementioned constraints to taking pictures from trains, I don't think it's come out too bad.

I also ought to mention that South West Trains' timekeeping, at both ends of the day, was impeccable. The trains were clean and the seats comfortable although I imagine that commuters closer in to town than Twickenham must get a bit fed up with never getting a seat.

A Common Theme - Public Transport Seems To Be Working

You may have missed it, but according to a poll conducted by the TripAdvisor company, London had been voted the best city in the world for public transport (and is also considered to be the most expensive).

Here's a log of my recent journeys:

• Saturday: Two buses to Feltham then one stop on the train to Twickenham to watch the rugby. Same trip back. All absolutely fine- the thousands of people piling on to trains at Twickenham after the matches did make us all give passable sardine impersonations.
• Sunday: Some minor travelling locally on the Central Line.
• Monday: Central Line to Tottenham Court Road. Then return trip to Canary Wharf using Central Line and Docklands Light Railway, then home via Shanks' Pony, No 27 Bus, Chiltern Railways and the Central Line. Not a blip.

Hurrah!