StewBlog

1. Do you schedule sex?

Nope. I'm more spontaneous

2. When do you shower, morning or night?

Morning

3. What do you read on the john?

I don't read on the john

4. Do you spend a lot of time styling your hair in the morning?

Less than a minute

5. When do you go to bed?

Varies between 11pm and 1am

6. What is your favorite nighttime ritual?

Listening to the radio before dropping off to sleep ZZZzzzzz....

7. Do you hook up with friends during the week?

Yep. I usually go to a pub quiz on Monday nights, I have footie on Wednesdays and I'm quite partial to a beer or two on Thursdays - not tonight though...

8. When do you start your day?

I get up at either 6:45 or 7:55 depending on which bus I get to work.

9. Do you eat breakfast on the fly?

Nope, I get breakfast and a nice coffee when I get to work and have it whilst browsing through my e-mails.

10. Is brushing your teeth essential to starting your day?

Absolutely.

I found this picture the other day that must've been taken over 20 years ago... I adored Street Hawk and I love the face Rebecca is making in this photo! Check out that perfect bowl-cut hair...!

This week each team had to select four products to sell on a live shopping television channel. Each team divided into a pair leaving the appointed project managers on their own. They then took turns in presenting and producing during their hour slot on TV.

I can't remember a time recently when I openly laughed and pointed at the television until I saw them go live! Christina made a complete mess of demonstrating a rather useless steam mop - she ended up smearing filth around a linoleum floor; and not content with 'street' dancing a few weeks ago, Simon was also keen to show us his gymnastic ability demonstrating a mini exercise trampoline... by star jumping on it... in his suit... whilst laughing... and telling everyone how much fun it was. He also decided to hold this trampoline against his crotch while showing the viewing public how easy it was to screw and unscrew the perfectly phallic trampoline legs...

What made all of this more amusing was that an incredulous Sir Alan was tuned into this horror-show from his office hurling abuse, in his own inimitable style, at his plasma.

According to Sir Alan, people actually e-mailed the channel to request that they get shot of the awful presenters... Needless to say, neither team sold much.

It was hard to pick a loser tonight and I think Simon can think himself very lucky indeed that it was Naomi and not he who got his marching orders. My prediction of a Tre, Simon, Christina and Katie last four is still on as I'm still backing Lohit to get booted out next week.

Damn it, I was hoping to do lots more work on the garden on Sunday and Monday, but the weather was utterly miserable - I don't think I can remember a time recently when it rained so hard for so long. Anyway, it's pretty nice today so I'm leaving work early to get a load of stuff done out there and take another picture. I bought a load of these flaming torches the other day, which I'm going to power with citronella-infused lamp oil; I'm looking forward to igniting those!

I made a few last-minute additions to the melon helmet and arrived at the Dolphin just after 1 and ordered some lunch. Most people, I hadn't met before, including a couple of Yukari's friends, Iva and Iko (not sure of the spelling though), both from Germany, and also some of Leon's work-mates.

We ended up staying all day having not only lunch but also dinner in there! Several games of Who's Who (like Guess Who) were played and also Jenga, which has got me thinking about buying giant Jenga for the garden. I thought if I get bored of it I can turn the blocks into some sort of garden furniture.

I really like Yukari's summer hat, so I decided to get one myself yesterday! Hope you don't mind, Yukari?! Also, I think Yukari actually makes that melon helmet look cool, whereas it looks ridiculous on everyone else!

Later on, we gathered in the garden underneath the patio heater, which just about made things warm enough - typical Brits, I thought. I tried to muster a bit of support for the Works - Craig mentioned to Farmer that he didn't seem all that enthusiatic about it to which he replied 'Of course I don't, I'm a miserable c**t, aren't I', which had me in fits of laughter, probably because I'd had nearly 10 pints of Guinness.

We eventually left sometime after midnight...

I was meant to get to Gus's place at 7 for a champagne reception, but Given that I was running 1 1/2 hours late (eek) I had to meet up with them all in Haha. I propped up the bar for a lot of the evening and later on we moved to the infamous Chicago Rock Cafe (formally Churchills). All very boozy and a bit messy towards the end... There are some photos which I will post in a day or two...

Got one! Now I just need to carve it into a helmet...

My mate Leon was 30 a few days ago and tomorrow he's having a hat party in the Dolphin beer garden in Canterbury. My idea for a hat is to buy a large watermelon and carve out the inside and make a kind of helmet a bit like the one on this cat...

I'm having trouble finding a watermelon that's big enough though. I tried Sainsbury's, Morrison's and Asda last night all to no avail, so the search goes on... Hope I find one!

I built this bad boy tonight ready for when I get the garden in order...

Those aren't my words, but those of Tre Azam, who narrowly escaped being fired on last nights Apprentice. Is there a humble bone in that man's body? If there is, he keeps it very well hidden and I don't really care to know where... I digress slightly, the Tre (The Great) show marches on, which I, for one, am very much pleased about - he still makes great viewing but I'm not sure I'd buy an air purifier off him.

I think Tre's friendship with Simon may have obscured his judgement in deciding to take Lohit back into the boardroom, but I always felt it was Jadine's time to go anyway, so it didn't make a difference in the end, although Lohit is slightly miffed now and probably won't be doing Tre too many favors in the weeks to come.

Katie was sickeningly smug in victory this evening - she is the most loathsome character to have appeared on the Apprentice and I would be 'made-up' if she got her P45 next week - Can't see it happening just yet though.

The task this evening, by the way, was to sell three imported products from a particular country to traders in the UK. Unfortunately, I have imprinted on my mind the scene from the show where Simon tries out a thing that's meant to mimic riding a horse - His face is an absolute picture!

At the end of the programme there was a preview of next weeks show. Sir Alan could be heard saying 'That is the biggest load of old toot I have ever seen', so I can't wait to see what he was talking about there and who's in the firing line!

Until next week...

I agreed a few weeks ago that I would go to a university open day with my little brother, MJ. He's going to look around Keble College on 28th June. Anyway, we needed somewhere to stay and my mate, Gav, tipped me off about the Hotel Malmaison in Oxford which is a converted prison! It looks brilliant so I've booked us in so we can have a look around Oxford the night before the open day and get a feel for the place. Quite looking forward to it already.

http://www.malmaison-oxford.com/main.asp

I'm desperately trying not to find out what happened in the Apprentice last night as I want to download yesterday's episode this evening and watch it through. I almost came a croper earlier when I took a look at Hoppo's blog, but managed to quickly get the page off before I had time to read any of his posting about it... Hopefully, I can 'stay clean' until this evening...

Managed to get to the Jolly Sailor just in time for kick-off last night and watched an enthralling match. I genuinely believe Liverpool played the better football over 90 minutes and were undone by an unfortunate deflection off the free kick, although what Alonso thought he was doing giving away a free kick, just before half time and in that position, I will never know! There are few players that can have a go at goal from a centrally placed free kick like that - unfortunately for Liverpool, Pirlo is one of them and one of the best to boot. Final result then 2 - 1 to AC Milan. Inzaghi scored just before half time with that deflection off the free kick taken by Pirlo, then got his second after beating the off-side trap deep into the second half and running onto a through ball from Kaka. Kuyt got one back with his head at about 88 minutes but it was too late really.

We moved onto Alberrys afterwards and got straight on the half-price jugs of cocktail, beginning with an Australian something or other, followed by a long island iced-tea and various other concoctions! Eventually got home at 5ish this morning and missed both buses to work, so I jumped in a taxi and arrived just after 10:30, so not too bad...

My mobile phone was out of power last night, so I couldn't take any photos, unfortunately.

Also, I left my bike locked up outside Simple Simon's so I have to wander over there after work today and hope it's still there... 'Please, let it still be there!'

...that I'm cooped up in this office on a glorious day like today. I'd much rather be out there in the sun building something. At least I can look forward to playing a game of footie before watching the match later, so I will get some fresh air!

Not only do two giants of world football meet in Athens tonight, I reckon there'll also be a battle royale in Sir Alan's boardroom. I still maintain that Jadine and Lohit are cannon fodder and will be picked off sooner or later by one of the big guns (Tre, Simon, Katie and Christina). Naomi is a bit of a dark horse for me at this stage.

Back to the footie, and this is a difficult one to call. I can't see it going 3-3 again - that was just a dream final unlikely to be matched for years to come. I'd love to see Liverpool do it, but if Kaka and Seedorf turn on the class and Gattuso has a good night in midfield, I can't see Liverpool getting very far. Having said that, Rafa is a tactical genius and will undoubtedly have a thing or two up his sleeve, starting with the team sheet tonight.

I'm playing football as well tonight so I'm going to have to race home and get showered in order to get to the Jolly Sailor in time for kick-off...

I usually go to the pub quiz in the Dolphin on Monday nights, but I don't think anyone is going tonight - We're all giving our noggin's a rest, so I've put dinner on and I'm going to relax and watch some TV/DVD and have a beer.

I'm desperate to have a go at Singstar (a karaoke/singing game) on the Playstation 2 - recently donated to me by my younger brothers - but it's no fun at all on your own, so I'll probably wait until I can get a few friends round to put it through its paces. Saying that, I might have a sneaky look later...

I had another meeting in London this morning that went pretty well; the outcome of this, which I will know in a few weeks, could see me relocating to the capital during the working week.

It's been really nice and sunny down in Canterbury today. My father came round to the house to help me out with my garden... so, the inaugural 16 Lansdown Road barbeque is only a matter of weeks away now!

Just been out for dinner with my two younger brothers, Matty and MJ and also my Mother - Unfortunately my Father couldn't join us this evening as he was working.

We had the most fantastic meal in Little Italy in Canterbury. Matty had gamberoni to start with, which I guessed he would have as soon as I saw it on the menu; MJ had bruschetta, which, again, I guessed he would have; Mother and I had garlic and mozzarella bread - lovely.

My eye was drawn to a dish to share in the mains section - Zuppa di Pesce. A fish soup with lobster, clams, octopus, calamari, langoustines, gamberoni and spada. MJ said he'd share it with me, so we went for it... It is without doubt the nicest fish soup I have ever tasted and there was so much we didn't even get near finishing it, so I asked if we could take the leftovers home with us! Unfortunately, they only had a spare margerine tub for us to take it away in, so it looks less appetizing in the photograph. Anyway, it is going to make the nicest seafood linguine for my dad and I tomorrow after a mornings work in the garden...

For dessert, Matty had some profiteroles swimming in dark chocolate sauce and MJ and I shared a tiramisu - Both were excellent.

I'm already half-planning my next visit to Little Italy...

...is how Sir Alan described Ghazal after firing her from The Apprentice this evening. I have to say I'm inclined to agree; she just motor-mouthed her way through the whole thing and wasn't prepared to take on-board anyone else's ideas, except Katie's. Once again, Tre and Simon provided excellent entertainment, although I'm not at all sure about Simon's 'Street' dancing! Very difficult to predict who might go next week, but have my suspicions about Jadine...

I had a meeting today in South London. I finished around 5ish so I headed into Oxford Street to meet Annie on her hours break. We went for a few beers and food at Yo Sushi! It was my first visit to one of their places, but I'd definitely go back again - it was brilliant!

Just got my ticket for Electric Gardens on 4th and 5th August! I went to the first one last year and it was great; I'm hoping this year will be even better. they have a reformed Happy Mondays and Supergrass headlining... I got a camping ticket as well, so I need to dig out my tent from the loft, if i've still got it. Alternatively, I may take a large bottle of something strong to see me off for the night.

Ooohhh, despite a restful day yesterday it was still a struggle getting up this morning. Radio 2 woke me up, but it wasn't until just before the 8 o'clock news that I managed to haul myself out of bed and into the shower - I felt a lot better for it though, as always. I don't really like baths. Leaving work early today to carry on back-posting on the blog and to make something nice for dinner. I'm thinking along the lines of moussaka...

After two nights heavy boozing, I stayed in the house virtually all day - It was pouring down with rain for most of the day anyway, so I didn't feel like I was missing out on much. Mostly, I scanned stuff that I found in my loft and am gradually back-posting to my blog as I've decided to use it an historical record of what I've been up to over the years...

Hoppo came over for a drink in the afternoon before heading back to the bustling metropolis of Great Chesterford...

At about 8, I went to meet Nuala and her friend, Aideen, who was down from London for the weekend - We stayed in the Dolphin for a bit and played Who's Who - kinda the Asda version of Guess Who with some very strange, borderline-transexual characters:

'Have they got a beard?'

"Yes"

'Is it Ruth?'

"Yes"

Andy joined us a bit later after dragging himself away from the Eurovision Song Contest and we all moved on to Casey's to meet up with a few boys from work (Paul, Gary, Big Stew, Scott). Again, we went to the Works...