Cameo...

So I've just got back from Pinewood studios after completing a sound check on a rather good new film and although I'm not at all mystical or religious in any way the odd thing that just happens by coincidence does fill me with a little bit of joy.

I was thinking whilst driving through Slough and a miserable, wet and cold January day how nice it would be to be magically transported to one of my favourite places on earth, that being Bora Bora beach bar in Playa Den Bossa, Ibiza.

So about an hour or so into the film there is a nightclub scene and who's there making a cameo appearance in the role of "Club DJ"?....................Oliver Lang, resident DJ and all round legend of Bora Bora beach bar in Playa Den Bossa, Ibiza.

Spooky Huh? Incidentally one of the tunes he is playing in the club scene is one of his own remixes of Blue Monday by New Order but I cannot find it anywhere on the t'interweb....very good though and I definitely want a copy.

The film by the way is called "Unknown" which stars Liam Neeson and it's due for release in February (official release dates here)

Following on from my good buddy James' blog post about Tescos I thought I might add my tuppence worth but this time concerning Waitrose....

Firstly I like them, they are my number one choice of supermarket without question but I do have a couple of gripes with them. The first is that they try far too hard to be nice and secondly is that they put people under the age of 18 on the express counters.

Now you might think that I'm being a little grumpy and perhaps I am because when I do my shopping I want to get my stuff off the shelves, pay for it and leave, I don't want somebody asking me how my day has been or enquiring as to my weekend plans whilst I'm at it and that's just on the normal counters..!!!

I most definitely do not want some spotty 16 year old asking me these exact same questions on the express counters. Especially since I've invariably been held up in the queue for ages whilst they all get permission to serve the booze people want and the cigarettes that are only sold from the very counters that they work on because they are not bloomin old enough to serve them without approval of somebody older........(and breath)

You can't even put the kids onto the main counters either because imagine what it'd be like with the oldies on the express counters?!?! They'd be wanting to tell you about their grandchildren and how their cat got stuck up a tree in 1964 etc etc....you'd never get away.

So the simple answer to fix all this is to just stop trying to be so bloody nice.

Just serve people and let them go on their way. I hardly think that your average Waitrose shopper is going to bugger off to one of the other supermarkets just because he or she didn't form a lasting bond with a high school student or retired post worker when buying their basketful/trolleyful of vastly expensive but superior quality produce.

I'm not going to stop using them because of it but I do find myself hoping that I don't get served by certain people in the express queue because I know I'm going to get asked the same generic questions. Half these people I wouldn't chat to if I was drunk in a pub let alone in a supermarket stone cold sober and gasping for a ciggie.

That's it..........rant over :-)

Still there.....

Damn this bally coughiness I have. Damn and blast and damn again.

It's not going to beat me, too many things on my mind to be bullied into submission by some nasty chest gremlins.

So this morning I realised that I'll not be able to make another trip to Ibiza this year due to other expenditure requirements. Still I've already been once this summer and I had such a wonderful time that I really don't feel too perturbed by not going again.

Terrible that the people in the news have to once again focus on the stories of drug misuse and supply on the island and not the fact that 1000's upon 1000's of people go there throughout the year and manage to have a wonderfully magical time completely away from this one road in one resort that these stories emanate from.

One report says that 97% of the visitors to the island are taking drugs !!! What a complete load of rubbish. Whoever grabbed this number out of the sky quite obviously has never been there and if they have it was to the "West End" of San Antonio which for anybody non familiar is just one street and a few bars off it. 300 Yards long at most!!!

The name "West End" conjures up an image of a sprawling metropolis of flashing lights, Theatre and Cabaret however this "West End" is merely a haven for juvenile delinquent binge drinkers and to be honest I am quite pleased it is there because it keeps the horrid oiks that populate this area well out of the way of the other quite fantastic parts of not only that resort but the whole island.

Take these propaganda reporters to Sands or Ushaia over in Playa Den Bossa or perhaps take them up for a stroll around D'Alt Villa followed by a shopping trip in Ibiza Town then let them decide if it's a drug fuelled haven of sex and shame. Maybe take them around the wonderful beaches at Benirras, Calle Comte, Salinas or take a boat trip over to Formentera.

Take them up to the round family resorts of Santa Eularia and Portinax and let them watch smiling children swim in the crystal clear waters and build sandcastles on the beautiful award winning beaches.

Have these people ever sat down to a lovely meal at Villa Mercedes by the port only a minutea walk away from the "West End"? Have they sat amongst friends with a nice ice cold jug of Sangria and watched the sunset by Café del Mar? Have they had traditional Paella over at Calle D'Hort while looking out over the sea to the magical rock of Es Vedra?................Maybe they have but it's just not news is it?

Yes people there do take drugs, not 97% of people though !!! It shouldn't be encouraged in anyway, shape or form but irresponsible reporting isn't going to do anything other than antagonise the problem.

It really winds me up how these stories are manufactured by people just desperate to get their names in print and forgetting what a detrimental effect it has on the lives of the people living and working there.

Apart from the exporting of Salt Ibiza relies solely on Tourism and with the season approaching it's end some dimwit journalists decide that there is not enough easy news to comment on so they jump on the first bandwagon they see, grabbing numbers out of the air.

Makes me laugh that these people spend years and years at university to gain journalism degrees thinking that they are going to be the next big reporter but ultimately what they end up doing is searching the gutter hoping to pick up on one scrap of news that might earn them enough to fund there next purchase of baked beans.

These are probably the same people that 5 years ago, on their summer year out, we're the exact same people the are reporting on. Harbouring a grudge because just like so many people who go out there each year in search of a dream they too came back with nothing but a big student loan and very angry parents.


Oh my I've gone off on one again................

Where was I................?

Right............ERM...........OK.........Pub stuff.

I think too that this whole pub malarky is going to cost quite a bit to get going even before we've got to a stage where we can approach potential investors. Lots of legal things to set up and lots of paperwork to pay these guys to mull over prior to making a full commitment so it still could be good money going nowhere.

Still there is absolutely no point going in feet first and making a mistake that could ultimately cost a hell of a lot more.

There is also the added value it gives to our business plan showing that we've deliberated fully and have taken very diligent steps towards ensuring that it is concise and achievable. All these things should stand us in good stead when looking for backers.

I'm going to make a start on designing a full menu during my spare time this week including complete costings, price breakdowns and profit margins etc etc. I need to make it pretty simple but also take into consideration the stock that'll be being used and how I can get maximum usage out for absolutely everything I buy.

Need to also make considerations for shelf like and storage conditions as stock rotation and ensuring that there is absolutely no chance of the food becoming contaminated by any nasties. I'm pretty good with things like that anyway but I think I'll enrol myself in food safety course all the same. These certificates are necessary for anybody wanting to serve food to the public so just as the NCPLH award it'd just be sensible to get it done right away.

Will be speaking to a lawyer later who has been recommended to me as a specialist in the licensing trade. I'm hoping that he'll be able to assist us right through this opening stage and then for all things necessary going forward.

Never spoken to a lawyer before, quite daunting really. Mind you most people I know who have been in contact are for negative things and not for such a positive things as this.