I went with friends to the marvellous Hard Rock Calling 2011 at Hyde Park, London over the weekend. We went on Saturday to see Bon Jovi, and on Sunday to see Rod Stewart.
We booked a hotel three months ago in Shepherd's Bush (within striking distance) to stay at on the Saturday night. But when we arrived to check in at 1.30 Saturday afternoon, the guy tried to fob us off and move us to an alternative hotel in Baker Street - without so much as an apology, or even an attempt at politeness.
"What country?" [are you from] he asked us! "ENGLAND," I told him, with huge indignation. I might have asked him the same question as he prattled into the phone in non-English. I guess it would have been easy to switch poor foreign visitors to another hotel (what choice would they have?), but we quickly told him, no thanks, we'll have a refund (via bookers Lastminute.com) and wouldn't be staying in Baker Street or any other hotel in the crappy Comfotel chain. The hotel was dingy and not very clean, with 16 chairs for breakfast crammed into the same room as the office (about 12 feet square).
People like this should not be allowed to run hotels. We'll be complaining to Lastminute.com and encouraging them to scratch these hotels from their list as they will quickly sully their reputation.
Comfotel nearly ruined our weekend, but we rose above that.
Monday 27 June 2011
Friday 24 June 2011
Second round London 2012 tickets go on sale
There have been a lot of complaints about the way Olympics tickets have been sold for next year's London games. Today the "second round" of ticket sales began at 6am (UK time).
There were 2.3 million tickets available, with 1.7 million of them for football. This time tickets are for sale on a first-come-first-served basis, unlike the first round when tickets were allocated on a mystery basis (will it ever be revealed?).
The site was said to be experiencing "high demand" this morning. Curiosity as to what's available, I would guess, rather than anxiety to get expensive handball tickets. Tickets for popular events such as athletics, beach volleyball, hockey, handball and basketball quickly disappeared.
The reason there are so many football tickets available is, I would say, because the stadiums are large, there are lots of games, we already get the most entertaining club football in our Premier League anyway, and also: what have Manchester, Newcastle, Coventry, Cardiff and Glasgow got to do with the London Olympics? I'm not denigrating the venues, but there will hardly be any romance of the Olympics at those stadiums, will there?
The site for tickets is currently open to those who failed to get tickets the first time round. Those who did will have to wait for another two weeks. Seems fair, but is it? I know people who got their least favoured option of their choices in the first round. It's something, but now they are denied the chance to get something more akin to what they'd prefer. Is that fair?
Is there any fair way of selling tickets?
There were 2.3 million tickets available, with 1.7 million of them for football. This time tickets are for sale on a first-come-first-served basis, unlike the first round when tickets were allocated on a mystery basis (will it ever be revealed?).
The site was said to be experiencing "high demand" this morning. Curiosity as to what's available, I would guess, rather than anxiety to get expensive handball tickets. Tickets for popular events such as athletics, beach volleyball, hockey, handball and basketball quickly disappeared.
The reason there are so many football tickets available is, I would say, because the stadiums are large, there are lots of games, we already get the most entertaining club football in our Premier League anyway, and also: what have Manchester, Newcastle, Coventry, Cardiff and Glasgow got to do with the London Olympics? I'm not denigrating the venues, but there will hardly be any romance of the Olympics at those stadiums, will there?
The site for tickets is currently open to those who failed to get tickets the first time round. Those who did will have to wait for another two weeks. Seems fair, but is it? I know people who got their least favoured option of their choices in the first round. It's something, but now they are denied the chance to get something more akin to what they'd prefer. Is that fair?
Is there any fair way of selling tickets?
Thursday 16 June 2011
Facebook juror jailed for eight months
Well, if ever there was a warning about how not to use Facebook, then the jailing of Joanne Fraill, the juror who contacted a defendant via the social media network, is surely it.
Let alone the footballer who took out a superinjunction who was named on Twitter, the use of Facebook in this way by this juror is obviously a more serious breach of the law.
Solicitor General Edward Garnier QC said that the case had to go to court to protect jury integrity.
Although the defendant, Jamie Sewart, had been cleared of drugs offences, other defendants were still on trial at the time of the unwise Facebook contact. The case against the defendants collapsed as a result of this as the jury wa discharged.
When sentence was passed against Fraill, she gasped "eight months" and sobbed uncontrollably, as did her family.
Lord Judge, hearing the case, said: Lord Judge said in a written ruling: "Her conduct in visiting the internet repeatedly was directly contrary to her oath as a juror, and her contact with the acquitted defendant, as well as her repeated searches on the internet, constituted flagrant breaches of the orders made by the judge for the proper conduct of the trial."
Let alone the footballer who took out a superinjunction who was named on Twitter, the use of Facebook in this way by this juror is obviously a more serious breach of the law.
Solicitor General Edward Garnier QC said that the case had to go to court to protect jury integrity.
Although the defendant, Jamie Sewart, had been cleared of drugs offences, other defendants were still on trial at the time of the unwise Facebook contact. The case against the defendants collapsed as a result of this as the jury wa discharged.
When sentence was passed against Fraill, she gasped "eight months" and sobbed uncontrollably, as did her family.
Lord Judge, hearing the case, said: Lord Judge said in a written ruling: "Her conduct in visiting the internet repeatedly was directly contrary to her oath as a juror, and her contact with the acquitted defendant, as well as her repeated searches on the internet, constituted flagrant breaches of the orders made by the judge for the proper conduct of the trial."
Friday 3 June 2011
Do you get your news from Twitter?
Like, I guess, many people, I use the BBC website to find out the latest news. Today's top five stories are:
It just makes me wonder: Could Twitter become a key source of news in the future (is it already?) because it can "trend" stories more quickly than sites like the BBC can write them up?
- Inquiry into four refinery deaths
- Mladic faces war crimes tribunal
- Betfred buys the Tote for £265m
- Spain seeks E. coli compensation
- Hackers claim another Sony attack
- Tinky Winky
- Willow Sage Hart
- Marlon King
- Snodgrass
- MRSA
It just makes me wonder: Could Twitter become a key source of news in the future (is it already?) because it can "trend" stories more quickly than sites like the BBC can write them up?
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