Adrian Phelan

Post 16

Welcome| Brew Monday| January pay| The film bit| Friendships| Snooker Loopy| Running bit| Thanks| Links to previous posts

Welcome to this week’s blog  

It’s mid-January and you’ve probably said at least once this week, ‘Can you believe it’s two weeks since New Years’? But the year is up and running and I hope everyone is doing ok so far. As it’s what they call Blue Monday in a few days, I’m going to jump straight into the charity bit. Hold on to your credit card bills and grab a cuppa! 

Do Good Well – Brew Monday 

I came across  Brew Monday earlier this week. It’s on 19 January and is described as a day when the mental health charity Samaritans encourages people to connect with someone they care about over a cuppa and a catch up. The aim is to transform “Blue Monday” into an opportunity for conversation, and support. You don’t have to restrict it to one day of course. There’s never a bad time for a chat.  

I’m not a hot drink drinker so I’m rebranding it to ‘Diet Cola Monday. I’ll meet you by the vending machine. Remember the card option sometimes doesn’t work. 

91 January 

Following on from Blue Monday, it’s not with fondness that I remember being paid monthly when January came around. Particularly when December’s pay came early. It really did feel like a long month. I’ve never stared at a calendar more than I have done in January. It was also always a month when because of poverty I had to endure my own cooking as well. When payday finally came, I would reward my austerity by blowing all my wages in the first week and be skint again. Rinse and repeat.  

The film bit 

I can’t let the blog pass before mentioning Hamnet. We saw it last Friday. It lived up to the reviews I’d read in advance. Most gave it four out of five stars. It doesn’t lose a star for acting though, just a slight chink in the story. Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal were both excellent, and the children who acted in it were also rightly praised for their performances. It was shot in Herefordshire which doubled up as Stratford, with the National Trust providing some great properties for housing locations. The grand finale is set unsurprisingly at Shakespear’s globe which they recreated at Elstree Studios so highlighting a local achievement there. Moral is, go and see it, however it is one that you could also enjoy on d’telly. 

I saw the second 28 Years Later this week as well. I’m torn because I want to recommend fans of the film series close the loop and go and see it, but it is very violent and gory so not an easy watch. When I see what makes a 15s movie or TV show these days, I often wonder what the threshold is to an 18s and this is definitely an example of what that would be. I’m known for raving on about Ralph Fiennes. I think he’s a great actor. However, Jack O’Connell is fast-becoming one of my favourite actors as well. Good in the Amy Winehouse movie, great in Sinners and now great in this too. I can’t wait to see what comes next from him.  

I’ll be there for you 

We had friends over from Australia this week who we haven’t seen for a number of years. Their once-small kids are now teenagers and we’re all knocking on the door of 50. But what a lovely time we had. The gap in get-togethers meant nothing to the friendship. We may as well have seen them last week. The same applies to a couple of other friends I saw in 2025 after a long time. A good, positive friendship will always endure time. So, 2026 could be the year for it. If you’ve been putting off getting back in touch with someone just do it. Facebook updates are no substitute for the real thing.   

Nuts are we… 

I went to the Masters Snooker in Ally Pally this week. The blog is normally a sport-free zone but allow me to indulge my hidden Hilda Ogden (Respect if you get that reference) for a sentence or two.  

There are very few arenas where being on your mobile phone is disrespectful, and if the cinema is one, then being at a live snooker match is certainly another. You are forced to be in the moment. Snooker is also a largely unpredictable sport. A frame could last ten minutes, or an hour. You’ll never know. And even though it’s not something you might watch week in week out like football, at the Masters, you are guaranteed to see a match between two of the world’s best players. The view across London from Ally Pally is also stunning – particularly at night – and I’m looking forward to that too.     

Running 

I did the Parkrun on Saturday. First of the year. It was congested but I managed to trundle around in just over 27 minutes.  

I ran 10k on Tuesday as well. I probably burned the equivalent of about two Bourbon creams in calories but I’m glad I did it. I still don’t need the belt on the trousers.  

This is a short section, but I wanted to take the opportunity to signpost to the Parkrun website If you want to get into running, find one near you and get involved. If you’re doing Couch to 5k, it’s the perfect place to celebrate your achievement.  

I hope to see you at one soon.  

Goodbye and thanks 

I haven’t forgotten the original reason I started the blog. It was to be a companion as I secured my next substantial role so as you’ve stuck with it, I will say that there will hopefully be a couple of positive updates next week.  

As ever, thanks for your support. Do have a quick look at and share on my CV and keep me in mind if you think I could add capacity to any of your projects.  

Adrian  

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