Carrie's War

Students stand outside Top Shop shouting 'pay your taxes'. And without a hint of irony. Love it
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All this fuss about Andy Gray and Richard Keys being sacked for something they said in private reminds me of a joke Jimmy Greaves used to tell about a fellow player who went up to a referee and said 'If I call you a wanker, what will you do?' 'Send you off, of course,' said the ref. 'And if I just think it, then what?' said the player. 'I can't punish you for what you think,' said the ref. 'Ok' said the player, 'I think you're a wanker.'
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And so to the sad bit I wasn't looking forward to writing about but regular readers of this little egotistical outpouring will recall that a week or so ago I went our for a drink with my friend Kevin who was dying of cancer. It was, rather blackly, a chance for some of us to say goodbye. And so it proved. He died last night, in a hospice, being loved and cared for by those who were there and a great many of us who weren't. He leaves a young child who didn't have long enough to know his dad but will grow up with one of the best support networks I think I have ever seen.
I can't do this whole business any kind of justice at all. I watched my mum die of cancer so I have an inkling of what it was like as, unfortunatley, do millions of others.
But someone who has somehow managed to translate this whole thing into the most admirable, beautiful and grippingly honest account I could imagine is Kevin's widow, Caroline, on this blog called Carrie's War.
Read it but don't weep, she wouldn't want that.
http://carrieswar-cbolam.blogspot.com/2011/01/is-it-crunch-time.html?spref=fb
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A number of people have complained that The Shard, which will be Europe's tallest building when it is completed - is a blot on the landscape because it ruins the view of St Paul's and other buildings from such vantage points at Hampstead Heath, Primrose Hill and Parliament Hill. Bollocks. It doesn't.
And I don't want to appear all pro-South London but when it is finished, the view from this side of the river including Bermondsey, will be vastly improved, standing by the side of the grim Guy's Hospital tower, with the Gherkin visible behind it.
I have come to the conclusion that The Shard is wonderful and am embracing it completely.
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Apart from City Airport, you can't see The Shard from any of London's other airports. There's a good reason for that. The clues are in the names - London Heathrow, London Gatwick, London Stansted and, perhaps, the most ridiculous of all, London Luton. And soon, London Southend. Yes, Southend, on the Essex coast, miles away from civilisation let alone the capital, is now London's latest airport. I hope the car park there has big spaces for caravans.
Next week I'm going on holiday to London Madrid, leaving from London Manchester.
Must fly....Solly