Adam White

I was blessed with an opportunity to go to Leeds with friends on Friday and see Simon Mayo and Mark Kermode perform their weekly film review show on BBC Radio 5 live at a beautiful old cinema called the Hyde Park Picture House.    

There was a catch though, the cinema only held 270 people and, to ensure a full house, the BBC issued 600 tickets. In order to make sure we got a place we travelled the four hour journey north on Thursday night and had the pleasure of staying overnight in a hotel in the centre or Leeds. This was so we could wake up fresh and head over to the cinema for 10.00 (4.5 hours before the advertised start time). We weren’t sure when the queue would start so when we arrived at 10.00 we were surprised to find no queue at all (although there were some BBC crew setting up). After spending an hour wandering around the streets of Leeds we came back to the cinema to find three people in the queue. It was time to start our wait.

I couldn’t believe it when by 1.00 there still was only around 50 people waiting. However, between 1.30 and 2.30 everyone else turned up. Some people even turned up dead-on 2.30! How they expected to get in while leaving it that late is beyond me!

Now while queuing 3 hours might sound like madness, it was a lovely sunny day, we got to chat to Mark Kermode early on in the afternoon as he arrived, we got interviewed for the Culture Show and, best of all, we got seats in the second row (the front row was saved for “special guests”).

The show itself was excellent. I find them so funny when I listen to their podcast and they didn’t disappoint live. It was so good that I would be very keen to go and watch again next year (if we can get tickets again of course).

The live show was followed by a special showing of one of Mark’s favourite films: Silent Running. I will post my review of the film shortly.

It was a great day and lots of fun. Definitely a day I will remember fondly.

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I went on another bike ride with my brother today. What started out as a pleasant cycle turned into something far more eventful and entertaining:

0.1 mile: Restaurant for this evening booked. We are going to end the week where we started. A very popular pizza restaurant called Diabolitos.

1.0 mile: My brother is already starting to pull away from me. Boy he’s fit! I’m going to try really hard to keep up but everytime I get up some speed someone gets in my way and I have to start again!

3.2 miles: Along this route there is one hill. I can see it coming. I drop some gears and start peddling. But then… clunk… My chain comes off half way up the hill! Aaaaargh! I have to pull over, get all greasy putting it back on again and then go back down the hill to try again. Thankfully this time I make it!

4.5 miles: I’ve caught up with my brother again. He stopped where we cycled to earlier in the week. We decide to go on further this time and see what is further down the beach. It’s starting to look like Skegness around here!

4.6 miles: And suddenly the bike path disappears. Looks like it roads from here on in.

5.0 miles: Suddenly we’re in Germany! There are Germans everywhere and all the shops have German names! It still looks like Skegness though (I’m starting to get knackered, how far is my brother planning on going???)

5.6 miles: Trams. Two of them. Parked side by side. Just as we are pulling up onto the curb in front of one of them it decides to move forward. It nearly runs us over! We are now behind the other tram as it has also decided to make a move and it is travelling a little bit faster than we are.

5.7 miles: The tram stops up ahead so we go around it. Just as I make it past though it starts to move. Aaaargh! I now have a speeding tram up my backside and I know from a second ago that it travels a little bit faster than us. We have no choice but to pick up the pace and try and keep ahead of it. Eeeek!

6.5 miles: The tram kept stopping to let people off so we are safe. It looks like my brother is slowing right down though. Could we be stopping? Yes!! Phew! We pull up and buy a bottle of water. Ow! I’m hurting all over and I’ve still got to travel all the way back again. I’m never going to make it at my brother’s pace so I tell him to go on ahead.

9.3 miles: Now that I have cut the pace a little I am finding it much easier going. My brother is long gone and I can’t even see him anymore.

9.4 miles: Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh!!!! Ow!!!!!!!! I was approaching a blind right turn so I slow right down and keep far to the right-hand side but I meet a lady on a bike travelling on the wrong side of the cycle path and I have to brake and swerve to miss her. I send the bike skidding and my knee gets a good scratch but thankfully there was no collision! The poor lady was so startled! Hopefully she will learn from this to ride on the right side of the paths from now on!

9.5 miles: Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh!!!! What was he doing? Less than a minute after my collision I come up against a man on a bike riding left and right, alternating lanes coming towards me and he showed no sign of stopping! I skid to a halt and he rides on by me with a big grin on his face. Grrrrr!

9.6 miles: Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh!!!! What now?!? I come up against a small group of cyclists and just as I am coming up to them the lead cyclist decides to swap lanes and chat to the person behind him. I coming to another skidding stop and he changes lanes just in time. At least this one put his hand up to apologise! What am I going to come across next?!?

11.5 miles: Through the park again and everything seems back to normal. No incidents yet. Maybe things are getting back to normal…

12.0 miles: Nope: Cramp! Ow! Ow! Ow! Looks like I’m walking from here. I wonder where my brother is?

12.4 miles: There he is! He’s heading back in my direction to find out what has happened to me. Boy have I got some fun stories to tell him. Thankfully my cramp has gone now so I’m back on the bike for the journey home.

13 miles: The world threw everything it had at me on this journey but I made it! Home sweet home. Time for a shower, an antiseptic wipe and a sit down. I have definitely earned my pizza this evening :)

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All I have heard about today is the torrential rain storms that are currently hitting England. So I thought I’d counter this with a picture of the weather here today.

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After a lovely Sunday morning fry up cooked by yours truely we went back on the bus and up to the castle on the hill today. The views were magnificent!

Following this my brother and I decided to go for a little bike ride. Before coming to Palma I hadn’t ridden a bike since I was 14. We rode along the beach front for 5 miles in both directions. I got back sat down and nearly didn’t get back up again! It was great fun but I reckon I’ll feel that in the morning :)

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So, what am I up to at the moment then? Well, I’m in Palma on holiday with my mum, step-dad, brother and his family. I’m staying at my dad’s new apartment overlooking the beach. It’s sunny, 32°C and beautiful. Here is a shot of the view from the apartment balcony…

We got here yesterday and today we went on a bus tour of the city and there are some amazing buildings to see. The cathedral needs a closer inspection so expect a further post about that soon!

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