I was in a bookshop on Charing Cross Road this lunchtime in a vain attempt to get a birthday present for a friend. Seems London has run out of books of short stories by Magnus Mills. But they did have a 2 for 1 offer on Penguin Classics. "Wahey!" I thought, time to get myself some books I'd always meant to read.

Will I never learn?

I got myself The Consolation of Philosophy by Boethius (it's a long story but I've been wanting to read this for ages). And I got The Koran by, erm, God (thought I ought to see what all the fuss was about).

A noble intention, but I know what will happen. I'll read the introduction, maybe make a start and then find that actually I'd much rather read the 1 minute interview in Metro. Then I will add both books to the ever growing worthy-books-I-meant-to-read-but-actually-I-couldn't-be-bothered-but-hey-look-what-i-bought pile. Already there are Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes (Nasty, brutish and short? I wish!), Democracy in America by Alexis de Tocqueville (I couldn't get beyond the table of contents), The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon (I actualy read quite a bit of this, but still less than half, and that's half a massively abridged whole), to name but a few,

So then, dear reader - what books are sitting on your shelves lovingly unread?

It's the decennial season of my cricket team and the 10 year averages have just been published by our ace statistician Graeme Roberts. It's not happy reading for yours truly...

Batting:

PLAYER	Matches	Innings	Not Out	Runs	Highest score	Average
John Johnston	41	41	2	691	84	17.72

Bowling:

PLAYER	Overs	Maidens	Runs	Wickets	Best Bowling	Average
John Johnston	356	50	1095	59	4-14	18.56

So that means my batting average is less than my bowling average. In case you weren't sure - that's not good. Just paying the price for not converting my starts into a big double century....

The TW London office is in Holborn. I LOVE being back in the centre of town and our 9th story location has a great view I think.

Looking north (click the pic for a larger view):
Looking South:

"To excel in talk, [Robert Louis] Stevenson says, is simply the best ambition we can have. It is both a private and a public accomplishment. Talk does not merely make us good company to our friends and family, he says, it also enables us to "bear our part in that great international congress, always sitting, where public wrongs are first declared, public errors first corrected, and the course of public opinion shaped, day by day, a little nearer to the right".

From a great article in the Guardian by Martin Kettle.

I'm not a great talker. But I am inspired:

"In short," argues Stevenson, "the first duty of a man is to speak; that is his chief business in the world; and talk, which is the harmonious speech of two or more, is by far the most accessible of our pleasures. It costs nothing in money. It is all profit. It completes our education, founds and fosters our friendships, and can be enjoyed at any age and in almost any state of health."

My last post was written at the end of an extraordinary day's cricket. This is written at the end of an extraordinary game. Each day seemed more dramatic and exciting than the day before and today it reached a climax. And England won!!! But only just. From an impregnable position when play began this morning I was convinced we had lost moments before the end. Then somehow we won. It was quite extraordinary. I was listening to the commentary on Radio 4 as Cath, I and my team-mate Tom drove out to play some cricket of our own. Driving somewhere while listening to Test Match Special is one of life's greatest joys I think. But not today. My stomach had been twisted into the tightest of knots and as Australia got to within 10 runs of what would have been the most incredible victory I was barely holding back the tears! Then as the fateful ball was bowled we passed under a bridge! All we heard in the car was "He's edged it..." before the reception was lost. We seemed to be in a blur of radio static for an eternity. Then the signal returned and there was just noise. What had happened? Then the words I couldn't believe "England have won!". We roared, the car swerved, but we basically kept it together. England won by 2 runs - the narrowest margin in Ashes history (a mere 128 years!). Australia were amazing - true champions who never gave up and got closer than anyone could have imagined. But somehow we held our nerve and Jones held the crucial catch. Bring on the Third Test!

Another amazing day of cricket. England made 407 in one day against Australia. That's over 5 an over! It's funny but my first reaction is to think of how much my mum would have absolutely loved it; like she would have loved every minute of that twenty20 victory earlier in the year. I remember her purring with delight last summer as she watched Freddie Flintoff smash the West Indies around the park. Well today would have matched that I think, and then some. Still on this pitch she would probably have had to watch Australia make 600 tomorrow but at least for tonight it's all good.

COME ON ENGLAND!

Work update: I'm lovin' it!

I can't get enough Sid Waddell stories. This is great: Sid and the Venusian with a nine-dart finish

Day 1 at my new job and I've come home with a laptop and a company t-shirt. That's pretty much par for the course at an IT firm :) But it was a good start, people were nice and nobody stole my lunch money. In fact I got a free lunch at Wagamama's and who should walk in there but David Walliams, Anthony Head and Matt Lucas: the entire cast of Little Britain. Oh London, giddy London!

It was an induction and orientation day today; meeting people; learning about the company; finding where the kettle is. All my early observations were positive. I was particularly delighted to find a complete absence of post-modern haircuts amongst my co-workers. And how cool is it when the HR director mentions that 20 years ago he lived in a squat in Battersea? It was a good day but I'm really looking forward to getting into some proper work.