Welcome To London

Out of control?

Viva La Revolucion?

Workers in both Paris and London have taken to the streets, protesting job losses and cut pensions:

In Paris, more than one million workers marched against President Nicolas Sarkozy’s plan to raise the retirement age from 60 to 62, the centrepiece of his reform agenda.

Labour unions called for the showdown over the pensions bill, which Mr. Sarkozy insists he will push through as an “absolute priority” and which was presented to a stormy session in parliament even as the marches continued.

London has similar problems:

On the other side of the English Channel, millions of commuters struggled to get to work as a 24-hour strike by workers on London’s underground rail system crippled much of the network.

People took to bikes, buses, walked, or made use of extra boat services on the River Thames in a bid to beat the stoppage, called in protest to 800 job cuts.

I can't imagine how bad it is to get around London without the Tube.

The Dreamliner Arrives!

West Ham Move?

The new ownership at Upton Park of David Gold and David Sullivan have stated their desire to move to the new Olympic Stadium:

"If we could get this huge ground, we could take football back to the people," Sullivan said. "We could reduce the admission prices to the cheapest in the Premier League because we would have the capacity to do it."

The big issue would be seating capacity as the Olympic Stadium's capacty is due to be reduced to 25,000 with the track left. West Ham hope for there to be no track and to have a seating capacity of 55,000. I don't know if the club can come to an agreement, but there's plenty of time. These owners seem to have a very strong long term plan.

Who Knew?

That darts could be so exciting.

Over the last couple days, I've been watching the PDC World Darts Championship. If you have never watched Darts, it's not quite what you'd expect it to be. The competitors walk-on to the stage like prize fighters, the MC could give Bruce Buffer a run for his money, and the crowd. Don't get me started on the crowd. They make college football fans look like kindergardeners. The crowd is unbelievable and the people appear to be having to so much fun. When you think about it, you have to wonder because it's darts. It's something you might see at your local sports pub or whatever. It's not a party inducing sport. However, I've never seen such joy in an audience.

I've been learning a little bit about the competitors and "Barney," the Dutchmen Raymond van Barneveld, has caught my eye in particular. He's had two 9-dart finishes in the tournament already and look posed to make another deep run in the tournament:

"To hit a nine-darter was wonderful and the crowd really showed their appreciation," said Van Barneveld, who finished with double 12.

These guys are rockstars.