A busy week of normality.

Life is pretty hectic at the moment, nothing special but it's all go. I taught a class at 'the boxing clinic' last week. It was good fun and a bit of a culture shock for some of the punters. At the end of the class a few of the clients came up to me and asked me where I was from and before I could tell them I was from North London they had already decided I had come from Hell!!! I aim to please. They also commented on me on the companies blog saying, in no uncertain terms, that I am a horrible little man. Job well done, but being described as unsympathetic hurt, I have feelings you know.

At the fun factory, Islington Fire Station, we have 2 new guys now. 1 is a brummie who I struggle to understand, worst accent in the world. Good lad, though not the sharpest tool in the box. He has been with us 3 months and is settling in well. Just this week we got another new guy, he too is a few sandwiches short of a picnic. On his first day he forgot to shave, then when he was pulled up on this matter he tried to pretend he had. Unfortunately the facial hair gave it away!! The 2nd day on a drill he messed up unceremoniously but this has been put down to nerves, not by me, I attribute it to uselessness!!! On his first night he went to bed at 2230, stand down doesn't begin til' midnight. So, all in all, not the brightest of starts but at least it can only improve for him. Now we have dumb and dumber on the watch it could be quite a fun place to be. I have decided to embrace work and enjoy it as much as I can, no point in moping around, life's too short. With the arrival of dumb and dumber the dynamic of the watch has changed too, now the young blokes, myself included, match the fossils. Thank god for that.

A weekend of hard work, garage raving and budgie saving!!!

This weekend was a veritable mixture of socialising. On saturday night I went down to South London, God forbid, to meet up with the BMF instructors after the training day and have a couple of jars. We were in a lovely pub near Chelsea and it was remarkably civilised. Once we had had a few drinks down South my longing for the North grew ever stronger so we headed back to Hoxton Sq to continue the party. I always seem to have issues being allowed into bars in said Sq, after some serious negotiations and gratuitous Fire Brigade warrant card flashing we blagged our way in and met up with a group of mates. 

The bar was extremely crowded and a little pretencious so Dave, a mate from work, decided it would be good to go to a Garage night in Vauxhall. Back to the South and for shitty Garage music??? Oh well, if that's where the party is i'll give it a bash. We got to the venue and under went a vigorous body search and through metal detectors, not a good sign, or is it. At least they were taking security seriously. Inside this cramped and sweaty hole the music was blasting and the drugged up crowd, drinking beer out of cans, were throwing shapes all over the place. I had 2 choices, stand around and moan about the dated music and rough crowd, get me, or get stuck in. I chose the latter and started dancing like no one was watching. I was having a blast, good friends around me and a great atmosphere. Then I clambered up onto the stage and started dancing in a most un rude boy like fashion, it was hilarious. A few of the tough guys looked at me funny but I was in the zone and loving it, I was busting the old one potato two potato dance and all the cheesy moves I could dig up. We stumbled out of the club at 4ish as me and Dave had to be on duty at 0830. By the time we got home it was 5, Dave crashed on my sofa and I managed 2 hrs sleep before my pesky alarm went off for work.

I was in shit state at work, not from the alcohol just from lack of sleep. We had a rememberence parade for the fallen heroes which I wouldn't have missed for the world. Then we got a fire call, it was a small fire in a kitchen but inside were a budgie and a dog, with total disregard for our own safety, me and one of the boys pulled those poor creatures from the smokey house and saved their lives. It's a tough job but someones got to do it. That dealt with it was back to the station for more hard graft, scrubbing the motors for monday's inspection. A few more shouts and finally 6pm rolled around and I crawled off duty a broken man. I got round to my folks for a much needed home cooked meal, man i'm going to miss them when they are in Spain for good. All in all a superb weekend full of friendships, laughter and what makes my job exciting......... FIRE!!!

Training for sweet FA

I have been told this week, just 3 weeks away from the fight and after almost 2 months of preparation and hellish work in the gym, my fight is off! All that blood , sweat and tears and no chance to take it out on someone at the end is very frustrating. It is not unusual in the fight game for this to happen and I have been around for a while so shouldn't be too suprised. However, I am the best I have ever been, super fit, strong and techniqually excellent. On the plus side, I am in the best shape I have ever been so it wasn't all for nought. I am going to describe below what an average work out is like to give those who don't fight an insight into the horrible world of pre fight training camps.

Extra Cardio- This takes place before training with everyone else!! 3x5 min rounds with 1min rest in between.

Round 1

1st min bunny hopping over kick shields with a sprawl at each end (sprawl is where you drop to the ground forcing your hips down but keeping your back arched and your upper body upright) 

2nd min-jump once over kick shield then sprawl, then twice over and sprawl, then three time etc......

3rd min-rope climb constantly up and down

4th min-wall walk, sit with back flat against the wall legs outstretched. grip 8kg kettle bell against chest and stand up without using your hands, pushing in to the wall. repeat from start position

5th min- pick up heavy punch bag over shoulder and slam it into ground, repeat for whole min.

1 minute rest

Round 2- Everything in this round done with harness and someone pulling back against you.

1st min-sprint to rope, climb it, sprint to end of gym and back to rope, climb it etc... for whole min

2nd min-bear crawl (scramble run) on harness for whole min

3rd min- on harness sprawl then stand up and shoot ( place front knee on floor then drive through with the rear knee and stand up) constantly down the mat for the whole time working against the trainers resistance

4th min- more sprinting up and down the mat against the resistance of the coach.

5th min- non stop burpees with jump

1min rest thank god. Just enought time to put on 10kg weight vest and re attach harness.

Round 3 Circuit to be done as many times as poss in 5 mins.

circuit starts with a sprawl then 6 bunny hops over kick shield, bear crawl down to coach, harness sprint to rope, climb rope, pick up heavy bag and throw it, grab 2 x 16kg kettle bells and sprint to the end of the mat and back, sprint back to start, sprawl and repeat whole thing. My record is 8 laps in 5 mins.

Then fall down and die untill main class starts, 1 hour of boxing including 10 minute hard cardio workout and 20 mins, at least, sparring. Then change t-shirt and do 1 hour grappling including at least 15 mins of sparring. Then try to get home on the tube without looking like a dead person. i was doing this 3 x per week on top off running in my own time, teaching british military fitness and training 2 x per week, mainly sparring with some good fighters. It's tough as hell but I absolutely love it and am going to keep it up eventhough the fight is off, why let the fitness slide.

THAT WHICH DOESN'T KILL US, ONLY MAKES US STRONGER!!

The superficial womens' world of Las Vegas

I was absolutely amazed by the social dynamics in Vegas, I don't know why as it is, afterall, money town. I consider myself an amiable chap and like to get about and meet new people. Both male and female I hasten to add, although the males are for friendship only. ( Just wanted to clarify!!)

I was excited about going out into big, bad Sin City all by myself and having some fun, meeting some interesting folk and partying hard. I met a cool Latino guy at the bar in MGM and had a few drinks, he was an interesting bloke with many a good tale to tell, a bit full of bullshit but entertainingly so. We decided to go to 'Wasted Space' at the Hardrock to have a late drink and see what the ladies were like. It looked good from the off and outside the club we were approached by 2 gorgeous chicks. Game on, I thought. Small talk began and then one of the girls said " Let's go party in the club" I was down with that. As we walked towards the door the same chick mentioned that there was a $10 cover charge and that we should pay for them. Hold on a god damn, cotton picking minute here. Rewind, what did she say??? I should pay for her??? Really, why....? That was my next question. Because I want to party with her so it's the done thing. Not in my world darling!!

This may sound a bit of an over reaction but it's the principle. $10 is nothing and if she had of kept her mouth shut I may have offered, probably not but hey. I have no dramas in buying things for people and being generous but I usually prefer to do it off my own back. My parents told me " I want never gets" and I believe in that. After a while the girls sauntered off to find some mug willing to pay for them to get in. Not before they had tried everything " we really wanna have a drink with you guys" I said " well if thats the case there is a bar over there that is free, let's go there?" I didn't think so.

I payed my way into the club and was startled by the amount of cosmetically enhanced females in the place. All very pleasing on the eye I must add. I began to mingle and was encountering a similar problem in every conversation I had with a woman. "Blah, blah, blah, small talk, small talk, small talk oh and are you going to buy me a drink?" NO, NO, NO, NO, NO!!!

In the end I had to ask a young lady why everyone wanted something all the time here. It's just the way it is in Vegas, guy's buy stuff for girls and we expect it. At least she was honest. Vegas was obviously not the place for me and after I bought myself a few more drinks I retired to the sanctity of my hotel and away from the money grabbers.

In a way I take an awesome positive from this experience, London is great and it's women are classy, sassy and intelligent. In stark contrast to the Vegas vampires. Maybe I just had a bad experience but Vegas is a fickel town and most of the female population are plastic. I appreciate London's women much more now. 

Vegas, bad beats, unplanned swimming and fake boobies!!!! Part II

I awoke the next day, well evening but in Vegas time means nothing, to a host of missed calls from a worried mate. If he was so worried then why didn't he stay up past 8pm? He told me we had a table booked for dinner at the Wynn, mega posh, and if I was going to join them I had an hour to get ready. I stumbled from my pit with a mouth like Ghandi's flip flop, found my way to the bathroom and was shocked at what I saw. My mouth was stained bright pink, from all the cranberry juice, and my eyes were like piss holes in the snow. After a shower and the tooth brushing from hell I looked, if not felt, normal again. 

We got to the Wynn and took our seats in our plush restaurant, table overlooking the lake where they had shows every 15mins. I was cutting up pretty rough and only managed to order a coke and some iced water. The rest of the crew were tucking in to their delicious looking starters and cocktails whilst I suffered in, almost, silence. I ordered a steak and awaited it with fear as to whether I would be able to keep it down. It was beautifully cooked and tasted sublime which made the fact that I couldn't finish it all the more distressing. The final nail in the coffin came when I got my share of the bill, $100 for a steak I didn't eat, a coke and a glass of tap water. Everyone else had cocktails and starters as well. I think they may have taken advantage of my good nature. That night Ed was up for a night out, shock horror, I tried to stay out but by 2am I was finished and had to turn in.

The next day I was back to 100% and did some chilling by the pool before deciding to head off to the gym. This gym is world famous in MMA circles and is home to 2 world champs and a plethora of other top fighters. I turned up for the 6pm class to find out, much to my delight, that it was to be taken by none other than the world, light heavyweight champion- Forrest Griffin. it was fantastic to be taught by this guy who has always been a favourite of mine and I was inspired by his humility and sense of humour. Not to mention his skill. That alone would have been enough to have made my trip to Vegas worth while, everything else became a bonus.

That was the last real adventure of my Vegas experience, did a lot more poker playing, it was a roller coaster of good results and bad. A lot more lounging by the MGM's wonderful pool. Admiring the bevy of beauties floating around without the need of floatation devices, if you know what I mean. All in all a great trip to one of the best places I have been, I love Vegas. Next time I go I want to go with people up for a party though, any takers??

Vegas, bad beats, unplanned swimming and fake boobies!!!!

I left sunny Vegas on monday and arrived back in sunny (unbelievably so) London early this morning. It is good to be back but I had a wicked time in Sin City and caused havoc in true Vickers style, back to the old sko0ol.

I arrived the first day and it was blazing, 80 at least, not a cloud in the sky, awesome. I checked into my hotel, The Monte Carlo. It's ideally situated and comfortable so I was happy. I had a few hours to kill waiting for my pals to arrive and went to have a mooch about and get my bearings again. The first thing I noticed was that it was way quieter than when Ricky Hatton's barmy army were in town. My friends called me to announce their arrival and I took over a bottle of VC to the MGM grand to start as we meant to go on. We popped the champers and wished Andy a happy birthday then went for dinner. We decided on the mexican we ate in before the fight last year as it was lovely back then. Big mistake, the food was awful this time around. I was all dolled up and ready to party but the team weren't having it and let me down and went to bed at 9pm. 9pm in Vegas is a very poor effort, gutted. With no one to party with I decided to hit the sack, could I sleep, could I fuck. I rolled out of my huge and extremely comfortable bed at about 7 and went to play a bit of poker. Did well in my first session, ended up $100. It's way harder to get the dough than when the drunken mancs were in town for the Hatton fight.

Had a lovely breakfast in the Venettion Hotel, poached eggs, hash brown, toast, bacon, sausages and gammon- boooooooooom. That's what I'm talking about, no wonder yanks are fat!! Had another winning poker session there too, but it was hard work. I have never played against such miserable fuckers in my life. I was in high spirits and couldn't get anyone to get into a conversation, I told all  my best jokes, no reaction, that's some quality comedy material. I knew I was in trouble then. Wasn't all bad though, had a couple of arguments with locals, mainly because they didn't like the baby faced poker assassin taking there cash, check me the fuck out. As expected I rose to the bait and enjoyed the mud slinging with gusto. That night I was sure we were going to have a big night out but once again my lightweight buddy let me down. I hit the town with his brother in law, a lovely fella, only 22 and a broad scouser who doesn't like talking to people he doesn't know!! I got talking to a lovely latina chick, the accent just blows me away!! We had a good evening knocking back Tequilla's and all kinds of horrible shit. Then me and Ed decided to go looking for some further action on the strip. Outside the Bellagio I decided it was a perfect photo oppourtunity, in my pissed as a ferret state I tried to climb onto the wall and pose for a shot. My balance betrayed me and I was there like a cartoon character, arms windmilling trying to save myself from the inevitable. Then it was all over, I toppled backwards and crashed into a huge, prickly bush. Fortunately the bush saved me from total immersion in the pond. I dragged myself out and brushed myself off ready to crack on. That's Vegas baby!!

The next night was even crazier, I was having a drink with Ed in the MGM grand bar when he decided that he was tired. Now I wouldn't mind but he's 22 and had done fuck all except shopping all day and it was only midnight. I was cool though cos' I had buddied up with this crazy mexican dude and we were gonna party, it's Sin city not fucking sleep city!!! So me and my knew pal ended up in The Hardrock, where I encountered some of the most beautiful but pretentious women I have ever had the msfortune of meeting. I will go into this more on another post as it really grips my shit and deserves it's own page!! That place shut and I went to the Wynn, I was alone by this stage but made a couple of new friends there!! I then decided it would be a good idea to play blackjack at my hotel. It was a right laugh, the table was fun and I was on top form, they should have been paying me for my standup comedy, eventhough I couldn't stand up by this stage. I somehow left the table up on money. I had to ask someone the time as I had lost my watch during my dive into the Bellagio pond. When they told me it was midday I nearly fell off my stool. I had been drinking for 16 hrs, time for bed me thinks. By this stage I wouldn't class it as drinking, more like pouring it everywhere other than in my mouth. My white shirt had plenty of vodka and cranberry down it on inspection the next day. I will continue this tomorrow, i am feeling ill just thinking about that night, binge drinking at it's best/worst.

Handbags at nando's, how dare they?!!

I went for a nando's yesterday after work. Nando's is a little piece of heaven to me. Not to mention the fact that I get 20% discount for being a fireman, there is one perk to my job. Anyway, I had ordered up and was patiently but eagerly awaiting my glorious chicken. All of a sudden a big hulabaloo erupted. There were some city boys having a ruck with one another, well more like handbags at 5 paces. Pushing, shoving and a lot of big talking with not much action. The checkout guy, all 10 stone of him, managed to seperate the warring factions. The action, or lack of it was all taking place around the service area. This pissed me off as my food was due any moment. I endeared myself to them by shouting "come on fella's leave it out, I want my food and you lot are in the way!!" That's typical Ben, sling myself into the firing line instead of keeping my head down, it's not going to change.

The one lot left and my food was delivered, a little tepid but still gorgeous, I went outside and was dissapointed to see the group of lads on their phones calling down the back up. Get over it lads, life is too short. I wasn't about to hang around to see these idiots go at it.