Vroom Vroom!!!

When I asked Darren what he wanted last Christmas, he consisitantly said, "a Ferrari." So I got him one. Actually I got him two. Only for 3 laps each though!

On Saturday we cashed in his Drivers Dream Days voucher and went to Bruntingthorpe in Leicestershire. Firstly he was driven by an instructor in a Subaru to show him the track and the best way to drive it. Next up was 3 laps in a Ferrari 360 Spider (with the top down, natch!) On his last lap the instructor told him to miss out the chicane on the back straight and floor it - he reckons he hit 170mph!

We took his son Jordan to watch, and we got a pretty good view (thank goodness it was a nice sunny day). You could also get quite close to the cars - Jordan was particularly taken with an orange Lambourgini that made a massive roar every time it was started up! Next on Darren's agenda was go-karting. I got some good video of him, but unfortunately one was when he got overtaken!

We then tried to get a drink and a burger from the van on site before Darren's next drive. Fast cars, not so fast food. After waiting in an unmoving queue for 15 minutes, it was time for Darren to get in a Ferrari 355 for his next 3 laps. All was going well until the last lap where he spun it! He claims that the instructor hit the dual brake - all sounded like a bit of a misunderstanding to me...

We eventually got a drink and some nosh. Darren then decided to treat Jordan to a lap in "that" Lambourgini. 1 lap for £45 ain't cheap, but I'm sure he enjoyed telling his mates at school on Monday. Darren offered to pay for a lap for me, but I can think of better things to spend that kind of money on. Definitely a bloke thing!

Finally he had a "high-speed passenger ride" in a Subaru Impreza - this is where the instructors show you how it's done! I think Darren was suitably impressed. We were also entitled to a 4x4 passenger ride, but I think one of the 4x4s had broken down so we were looking at a 40+ minute wait and decided not to bother. Darren bought some professional photos and we headed home.

It's not cheap, but it's definitely a once-in-a-lifetime experience. The staff were fantastic (apart from the twitchy instructor!) - all really friendly, especially with the young 'un. Only problem is he now wants a drive in something else...

Come On England!

OK, it was only the Under-18s, but when England come to town you really ought to go and support them. They were playing France in a friendly. In the end we lost 2-0 - probably a fair result but we played some good football. France were much better defensively and in the end that's what made the difference. Most promising (especially for me) was Febian Brandy, the only Man Utd player in the squad. He's very quick, but he hasn't quite got the finesse to get past defenders yet. Sometimes you think, "he's only young, he'll get there," but then you think of players like Wayne Rooney who were already playing senior football at that age. Football, it's a funny ol' game innit?

Cannot Compute

Our computer is currently kaput. I couldn't cope with listening to the same few albums I had on my ROKR anymore, so we borrowed the other half's work laptop and I put on a few of my favourite albums instead. And I thought I'd write a bit of blurb about them:

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - B.R.M.C.
I discovered this band when I was working in store for HMV and could pretty much play whatever I liked. It's a dark rock 'n' roll album - not dark as in Marilyn Manson though, much more tuneful than that. It's very soulful.

David Bowie - Black Tie White Noise
I don't use this word lightly, but the man's a genius. I know a lot of people think he's not as good as he was in the 70's, but I love his later work. I admire anyone who can diversify. I've always loved the two singles from this (the title track and Jump They Say) and recently got the album off eBay. I could listen to Jump They Say for hours...

Michael Jackson - Thriller
This was Darren's choice (I ran out of inspiration and asked him to pick a couple of surprises for me). I would have chosen Off The Wall myself, but Wanna Be Starting Something is probably my favourite MJ track and as for Billie Jean - I'll name that tune in 1!!!

Madonna - Confessions On A Dancefloor
She's not the greatest lyricist in the world, but it's great to hear dance music that's about more than love or dancing. The red string of Kabbalah threads through almost every song to make for a very philosophical and personal album. Musically it just makes you want to dance!

Marillion - marillion.com
Marillion at their most experimental. Funk, dub and blues fuse with their usual blend of progressive rock on this album. It's certainly not their most cohesive, but it's probably their most quirky, and contains two of their most beautiful songs, Go! and House.

Massive Attack - Mezzanine
Another one I wouldn't have chosen (I prefer Blue Lines). I don't know if I've actually listened to it all the way through yet - maybe that should be my album of choice for tomorrow!

The Mooney Suzuki - Alive & Amplified
The title track was played daily about 18 months back when I used to regularly listen to XFM and I love it. The rest of the album's pretty similar. Good, old-fashioned, rock 'n' roll that you want to sing, dance and make merry to.

Pink Floyd - Meddle
It's my favourite Floyd album, and not just for Echoes and One Of These Days. I love the bluesiness of it. Saint tropez is sooo cool you need to wear shades just to listen to it!

Suzanne Vega - Nine Objects Of Desire
Suzanne Vega is the reason I learnt to play guitar. I love the contrast of the simplicity of the music with the complexity of the lyrics. For years I only listened to the first two albums, but I eventually picked this one up and absolutely adore it, especially Caramel and Honeymoon Suite.