The Thistle Hotel Barbican - Woeful

10 Things that should stop you staying at this awful hotel;

1. They took 30 minutes to check me in.
2. They gave me a key that didn't work 3 times (having sent me to the furthest room from resception - In what can only be described as a youth hostel.
3. Their orange juice is diluted and tasteless
4. The TV didn't work as it kept defaulting to a message telling me I could book a taxi from the concierge. - This was for 2 days.
5. My colleague had a hairdryer pack up on her like an asthmatic having a bad day
6. My other colleague turned his alarm clock off a fused his room as a result.
7. We had an evening dinner/presentation for 20 people and they pit us in a room to fit 400 plus. - So lacking in atmosphere it killed the evening dead.
8. They gave us awful cheap wine by way of compensation - so bad we left it in the hotel.
9. The staff are surly- especially in reception and the swimming pool
10. It's nowehere near the Barbican

Don't give it a go try somewhere else. - It's theraputic to get bad service 'off your chest' - just take the crap and let it out!!!!!!!

10 things I love about life

My kids
The West Wing
When the lights go out at the start of a rock concert - the anticipation can be awesome
Private eye
Getting two seats on the train to London
Skinny vailla latte' in Starbucks
Sitting in the sun at a cricket match
Discovering a new piece of music i love - latest is 'Breathe me' by Sia
looking thin in the mirror
Discovering roads, paths, buildings I never seen before in Central London

Love is strange

‘Love is Strange’ by Phil Turner – A synopsis.


‘Love is strange’ was the first record that Phil Turner ever bought. It’s title is a poignant starting point for a tale of a man who charts life’s ups and downs not with the aid of the family album, but with his album collection.
From pre-indie days at Manchester University gigs and onto the power and the glory that is U2 in concert (even at Blackpool Catering College) Phil reminisces about his lost loves, his misplaced innocence and wonders how a struggling singer-songwriter manages to keep up payments on his pension plan.
Love is Strange: Everyman’s journey to the present.

Contents:

Introduction
The Manchester University gigs
The Lisa Nicklin months
Dollar/U2 and Roy Harper
Did you know I was at Reading University?
21
The Rachel Papers
From Scotch Corner Hell to London
Dave, Anne-Marie and Nottingham nights
Jane, Kids, Robert. M. Hedin and that bastard Danny Baker
Colin, Boo and Rob
Final thoughts – New Order to Hearsay
Gig Guide.


Words – 58,000
Graphics – 40 inserts

Look out for a sample chapter and further extracts