Pre head wetting session with Boyzee

Met up with Nick, Nic, Boyzee and Gareth last night in the Maple Leaf. Great to see the fellas (seems like a while) and as a result, a group excursion has been planned for New Year, which the Earls will be organising (nice one Danni). A firm promise was made to get Nic, Em's and Tsar over to Maidenhead, which must be followed up (memo to self). They had gas problems at the pub and so were unable to serve Guinness, which just shows the Canadian lack of respect for good service.

Good luck with the delivery Mr and Mrs Boyes!

Team meeting in Chicago

It was that time of year again where men and women from around the world congregate in one place to supposedly do some work and bond with each other.

A delightful trip in economy on the way over (The Departed, The Gridiron Gang) wasn't too grim and Lou and I arrived on Saturday afternoon. We were dead on our feet but luckiliy Greg arrived and kept us up until 6am our time.

Sunday was spent avoiding Greg and ended up with a nice meal with all the team. It was nice to meet Anu for the first time as well as get everyone together again. Chih-Ming still looks like he's 23 years old, he's a poster boy for clean living.

The week went pretty quickly, apart from every night from 3am until 7am, which kinda dragged, listening to the lifts go ding-ding. I had a squirly tum-tum for the most of the week, so the combination of those two things meant I wasn't feeling on top form for most of the week (apart from Wednesday with was the traditional Fogo/Fado double whammy).

The last two days were a bit hairy but I think everyone's back to being happy again (hopefully)which is a relief.

Upgrading to premium economy for $80 on the flight back was definitely a good move, although its still pretty hard to sleep, even with chemical assistance. All in all an eventful week, although I'm glad I'm going on holiday next week, I need to get some chillout time.

Rocky Balboa, what a film

I've recently watched Rocky Balboa and wow, what a great film. After the shitfest that was Rocky V, I was thinking that the films were dead to me. But after watching what felt like a heartfelt apology for the last film, this film is a great bookend to the series.

These films ain't about boxing, they're about life.

"It ain't about how hard you can hit. It's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward"

Anyone who loved the first two Rocky films should see this film. It doesn't take itself too seriously and is aware of Rocky's situation i.e. that he's thought of as past his prime and that the thought of getting back in the ring is a bit of a joke. The film spends lots of time on character and his journey to getting back to the ring. You really feel for the guy who is at a loss and doesn't think his life should have panned out as it has. The way the actual fight is portrayed, with intercuts of Adrian and Mickey, really reminds you of the history of the character (surely one of the great movie icons of the last 30 years) . Forget every shit film you've seen with Stallone in (Stop or my Mom will shoot!, The Specialist) and go and see this film.