And from the moment I saw the sweeping turns at the top of the track merge into relentless rocky sections, narrow technical passages and a fast flying finish, I decided it was somewhere I had to try out for myself.

So when the opportunity arose to go to Fort William, I was more than happy to have a bash at nearing Rachel Atherton and Sabrina Jonnier’s times. After all, five minutes and 12 seconds seemed pretty easy going for a downhill track, didn’t it?

But this wasn’t any downhill track. This was Fort William. And I was going to find out that the hard way.

Taking a walk up the final section of track on the first morning proved to me that watching the highlights on a computer screen really hadn’t done justice to the size of the jumps I was about to deal with – the dreaded butterflies made their presence felt as I tried to think of a similar track I had dealt with in the past. Atherton and Jonnier had clearly made things look too easy for me.

We then approached what seemed to be a big muddy wall, which my mates began to scramble up eagerly to get a better view from the top. Looking up at this unreasonably steep amount of dirt, I suddenly envisioned myself approaching the top of this drop and never being able to get down – supposing I had survived the rest of the track. What would I do? My nerves were starting to get the better of me and I hadn’t even got on the bike.

One gondola trip later and I was stood next to my old Kona Stinky, feeling more and more out of place at the top of a World Cup track. The timer I had attached to my handlebars seemed like a bit of a novelty now, and the thought of replacing it with a calendar at this point seemed much more realistic way to track my progress to the bottom of the mountain.

As we set off, the competitive side of the lads I was with came out and off they flew, soon becoming little dots racing along a narrow path in the distance. I on the other hand was more concerned with merely surviving the experience, and took my time.

Impressed that I had successfully completed the first section and noticing my mates had stopped for a break not so far in front of me, I cruised towards them as fast as my nerves would let me and tried to roll over some ‘rocks’ that littered the track. In my mind they seemed more like huge great boulders, and as I desperately tried to keep the bike moving whilst dodging every single rock in my way, it soon became apparent to me that speed was going to be a requirement if I actually wanted to get over these technical parts of track.

Feeling slightly disheartened, I finished our first day having slowly completed everything I could, and getting off my bike each time there was a particularly mean looking rock in my way, saying to my mates: “If that rock wasn’t there, I could do this bit, honest..”

I had managed to ride the horrible steep section at the end of the track, and after much persuasion, I let go of my brakes and rolled to the bottom before concluding “It’s not as bad as it looks!”

I woke up on the second day having rearranged my goals for the weekend slightly; deciding the chances of matching Rachel Atherton’s time were now looking a bit grim. Instead, getting down the track without having to get off my bike seemed a suitable achievement.

As I approached the stupid rocks that had defeated me the previous day, I thought the best thing to do would be to pretend they weren’t there and hope for the best. I let the bike roll onwards, focusing on the point where the rocks lessened. The bike started jumping around and making odd clattering noises, but I hung on to the handlebars, and I was soon at the other side.

Encouraged by this seemingly easy feat, I progressed on to a section with a great big rock which dropped down on to (yet again) more lovely rocks.

After numerous attempts at approaching the drop and then slamming my brakes on at last minute, this jump clearly wasn’t for me. I got off and looked towards the side of the track for somewhere to get down.

Getting frustrated at the amount of time I was wasting helplessly trying to haul my heavy bike around and off the drop, I shoved it a couple of feet back up the track and jumped on it. Counting to three in my head I rolled towards the drop, getting my weight low. A couple of thuds later my wheels were at the bottom of the rock. Beaming to myself, I resumed my steady pace, meeting each section I needed to complete, and taking my time over it.

A couple of runs later, I figured I couldn’t leave Fort William without finding out exactly how slow I was. Pausing the timer once halfway down to let my arms regain some feeling, I finished the track in 10 minutes 39.

I left Fort William with aching arms, legs, and one battered Kona Stinky. But I left with even more confidence, enthusiasm and enjoyment of downhill mountain biking – something you can’t get from watching videos sat at home on your computer.

So if there is somewhere in the world you want to ride, go out there and do it!

BLYTHE’S substitute professional Jemaal Maqsood tore through Whitmore to help the Cresswell-Lane side to a fourth-successive win.
The victory propelled Blythe into sixth spot and another against Stafford at the weekend, in what skipper Peter Finch described last week as a “guaranteed win”, will increase their outside chances of promotion.
Maqsood took impressive figures of 6-17 on debut as Whitmore collapsed to 61 all out, a total in which Blythe’s batsmen knocked off with ease as they cruised to a nine-wicket win.
Finch lost the toss and set his professional to work straight away with Whitmore duly electing to bat.
And it wasn’t long before Maqsood had uprooted both openers stumps, firstly Mudassar Butt (ten) and shortly after, Joe Bridgewater (18).
Maqsood then proceeded to rip through the heart of the Whitmore batting line-up with excellent support from Finch (4-26) as they lost their last seven wickets for only 20 runs.
The last seven batsmen for Whitmore could only muster five runs between them as Blythe’s bowlers stemmed the flow of runs through regular wickets.
It was left to Finch to wrap up the tail and he received help in the form of catches from Simon Owen to dismiss Andrew Wagg (two) and Tom Simcock to snaffle Lee Johnson (none), leaving Whitmore reeling on 61 all out.
In reply, Blythe’s opening pair of Gary Wilson and Haydon Simcock were set back briefly when the former was caught sharply by Justin Mould, having scored three, the score 11-1.
But Blythe avoided any further scares to cruise over the winning line courtesy of Simcock (31 not out) and Martin Bailey (20 not out).
The club now sit 62 points off the top two spots ahead of their clash at home to Stafford on Saturday.

The result means U-Ventus claim the Wednesday Championship by a single point over Wang, having been given a walk-over win earlier in the day.

But in many ways the day will belong to The Journos, battling their way to three points despite the withdrawal of Andrew Twist just before the match.

Twist has put his university degree on the line by missing crucial lectures during the run-in, and Captain Tom Leese clarified he has no intention of letting the player leave during the transfer window.

The match started at a frantic pace as Wang, needing a victory to take the Championship, pushed forward at every opportunity.

The identity of Wang’s danger players was clear from the start, with Blue Socks and Ginger Lad bringing the ball out of defence with confidence.

Red Tops originally held firm with their unique mixture of zonal and man marking, but Wang forced the opening goal with a shot that hit the post and dribbled in off the back of Alex Clayton’s leg.

But confusion reigned over whether the striker had entered the area and it was not until Red Tops had equalised that everyone agreed that the goal stood.

The leveler came from Chris Mckay, latching onto a Lee Bothamley through ball to smash home from a tight angle.

Mckay has given up hope of the Red Tops golden boot, but ends a personal drought by being a part of a Red Tops win for the first time since December 9th.

His goal had also been completely missed by The Journos’ cheerleaders, who failed to acknowledge the strike. This was a minor blip from the record attendance of 5, who gave fantastic support throughout the match.

The next flashpoint came just before half-time as Tom Bowles claimed a foul for a shoulder barge from Blue Socks.

Sticking up for his team-mate, Sav Lockwood-Chin then entered the ring with a b*tch slap to Blue Socks’ face.

Tempers flared and although handbags had been put away for now, there would be plenty more feisty encounters to come after the break.

Red Tops smelt blood in the second half and took the initiative early on forcing Wang into mistakes in defence.

It was Bowles who finally made them pay, hustling Wang to give the ball away and finishing with style for his twelfth goal of an increasingly prolific season.

The Journo fans’ joy was unconfined but the best was yet to come. Bowles took a quick throw to strike partner Sam Moir who showed great composure on the edge of the box to slot past the keeper for a 3-1 lead.

Wang now needed three goals for the title but were clearly tiring as the humid sticky conditions started to get to them.

Red Tops kept the ball for the majority of the next ten minutes with simple passing and Wang’s short fuse was exposed again as they taunted their opponents with comments of ‘cheats’ and ‘boring’.

When defence was needed Red Tops put in the miles, none more so than Chris Conway who ran 52 miles in ten seconds before running into a Wang striker and collapsing at his feet in exhaustion.

Wang’s shots were few and far between, but one bullet of a strike looked destined for the net before Clayton pulled off a remarkable, one-handed diving save to keep his side two goals ahead.

The attacks kept coming and soon Wang got the second goal with a sweet shot into the bottom corner from distance.

But Red Tops have suffered heart-break many times this season and were determined to see out the victory with more ‘boring’ play.

That they did.

The most match niceties almost saw another scuffle and Blue socks commented Lockwood-Chin was ‘lucky’ to get a handshake. Lockwood-Chin threatened another b*tch slap and sneered as Blue Socks walked away.

Red Tops were proud of their victory, which was rewarded with congratulations from U-Ventus, for whom this result meant they could celebrate the league title.

After finishing a respectable fifth, The Journos must now turn their concentration to the Europa League, containing the middle four teams from all the leagues.

And after their last two victories, few sides will be going into the Cup Stage with as much confidence as Red Tops, who have no-one to fear at the business end of the season

The result means U-Ventus claim the Wednesday Championship by a single point over Wang, having been given a walk-over win earlier in the day.

But in many ways the day will belong to The Journos, battling their way to three points despite the withdrawal of Andrew Twist just before the match.

Twist has put his university degree on the line by missing crucial lectures during the run-in, and Captain Tom Leese clarified he has no intention of letting the player leave during the transfer window.

The match started at a frantic pace as Wang, needing a victory to take the Championship, pushed forward at every opportunity.

The identity of Wang’s danger players was clear from the start, with Blue Socks and Ginger Lad bringing the ball out of defence with confidence.

Red Tops originally held firm with their unique mixture of zonal and man marking, but Wang forced the opening goal with a shot that hit the post and dribbled in off the back of Alex Clayton’s leg.

But confusion reigned over whether the striker had entered the area and it was not until Red Tops had equalised that everyone agreed that the goal stood.

The leveller came from Chris Mckay, latching onto a Lee Bothamley through ball to smash home from a tight angle.

Mckay has given up hope of the Red Tops golden boot, but ends a personal drought by being a part of a Red Tops win for the first time since December 9th.

His goal had also been completely missed by The Journos’ cheerleaders, who failed to acknowledge the strike. This was a minor blip from the record attendance of 5, who gave fantastic support throughout the match.

The next flashpoint came just before half-time as Tom Bowles claimed a foul for a shoulder barge from Blue Socks.

Sticking up for his team-mate, Sav Lockwood-Chin then entered the ring with a b*tch slap to Blue Socks’ face.

Tempers flared and although handbags had been put away for now, there would be plenty more feisty encounters to come after the break.

Red Tops smelt blood in the second half and took the initiative early on forcing Wang into mistakes in defence.

It was Bowles who finally made them pay, hustling Wang to give the ball away and finishing with style for his twelfth goal of an increasingly prolific season.

The Journo fans’ joy was unconfined but the best was yet to come. Bowles took a quick throw to strike partner Sam Moir who showed great composure on the edge of the box to slot past the keeper for a 3-1 lead.

Wang now needed three goals for the title but were clearly tiring as the humid sticky conditions started to get to them.

Red Tops kept the ball for the majority of the next ten minutes with simple passing and Wang’s short fuse was exposed again as they taunted their opponents with comments of ‘cheats’ and ‘boring’.

When defence was needed Red Tops put in the miles, none more so than Chris Conway who ran 52 miles in ten seconds before running into a Wang striker and collapsing at his feet in exhaustion.

Wang’s shots were few and far between, but one bullet of a strike looked destined for the net before Clayton pulled off a remarkable, one-handed diving save to keep his side two goals ahead.

The attacks kept coming and soon Wang got the second goal with a sweet shot into the bottom corner from distance.

But Red Tops have suffered heart-break many times this season and were determined to see out the victory with more ‘boring’ play.

That they did.

The most match niceties almost saw another scuffle and Blue socks commented Lockwood-Chin was ‘lucky’ to get a handshake. Lockwood-Chin threatened another b*tch slap and sneered as Blue Socks walked away.

Red Tops were proud of their victory, which was rewarded with congratulations from U-Ventus, for whom this result meant they could celebrate the league title.

After finishing a respectable fifth, The Journos must now turn their concentration to the Europa League, containing the middle four teams from all the leagues.

And after their last two victories, few sides will be going into the Cup Stage with as much confidence as Red Tops, who have no-one to fear at the business end of the season.

Following Saturdays chaotic qualifying the grid seemed almost randomized suggesting the race would be something exceptional. Lotus on 15th, Schumacher down in 21st, two Force Indias toward the front, Alonso in 10th, Hamilton and Webber lined up at the front eager for the short charge into La Source. The Spa paradox is that because it’s always so unpredictable it is by it’s very nature predictable, you can predict it will be an unpredictable race. Once the lights had gone green the field made it cleanly round the tight hairpin and charged flat out up through Eau Rouge, Hamilton leading Kubica with Button pushing hard in third, Webber engulfed by a hungry pack several places behind. Screaming through the trees at Blanch Mont for the first time in anger the Mercedes powered McLaren of Lewis Hamilton was the first to reach the Bus Stop Chicane to discover rain had already begun to fall that side of the circuit. Unable to stop he went straight on, followed by Button who was charging up the inside of Kubica to take second, and the front six cars all cut the chicane. Button running over the high curbing was the only one of the front six to turn back and rejoin the circuit to still make the second apex of the chicane, quick thinking and a smart move especially as both Kubica and Vettel passed Button off track. Button regained momentum down the pit straight and took Vettel at La Source then as Kubica ran wide exiting Eau Rouge he passed the Renault before Les Combes. Behind them the rest of the field were also having trouble at the bus stop. Seventeen of 24 cars missed the chicane and in the chaos Barrichello celebrated his 300th grand prix by colliding with Alonso. Rubens was out, Incredibly the Spaniard was able to continue with no damage, but expecting more rain he stopped for intermediates. The safety car was called out while marshals removed Rubens’ Williams from the bus stop and by the time racing got underway once more, the rain had stopped, Alonso was on the wrong tyres. The main field got back up to racing speed on slicks, Alonso had to pit a second time, it was still only lap 5. At the front the two McLarens were dominant, Hamilton pulling away from Button, who having damaged his front wing endplate on the bus stop’s high curb was now slower than Hamilton, but in damp tricky conditions and more rain to come Button was surely set for a good strong points finish. Then came lap 16.

Vettel tucked in behind Button and got a good tow through Blanch Mont, as they came out from the trees into Bus Stop he looked to the inside, Button was defending the corner and there was no room. He tried to go outside but in the rain he locked up the rear, the back of the RB6 stepped out and Vettel once again lost control T-boning Button. Jenson was out, his car too badly damaged to continue and a highly probable second place taken from him by the impetuous German. Having gone straight on at the Bus Stop in identical track conditions on lap one, a more intelligent driver would have anticipated he was not going to make the move stick, yet Vettel clearly doesn’t drive with his head once again displaying why he is not a world champion. Things got progressively worse for Sebastian, a drive through for his infringement ( clearly insufficient punishment) followed by a puncture conceded when making contact with Luizzi then later a wrong tyre choice when the rain began all meant the German would not finish in the points.

The track progressively dried and as lap times picked up Hamilton controlled the race from the front, keeping Kubica at a distance. Alonso now on the right tyres fought his way up to 9th. Ahead the two Mercedes were still running on hard prime tyre, unlike those else who’d started on the options, they had not pitted keeping them high up the order. On lap 34 with ten laps to go the rain began once more. Light at first, Hamilton, Kubica, Webber and Massa all passed the pits but then it rained harder. Behind them the rest of the field dived in the pits for inters. In the mayhem Ferrari released Alonso too early and into the path of Vettel, the two cars touching wheels in the crowded pitlane. Meanwhile the front four tiptoed round on cold slicks in torrential rain, Hamilton making an excursion across the gravel and clipping the barrier. Now it was the turn of the front four to pit for inters and they came in together. Hamilton and Webber got away well but Kubica, over running his pitbox had a slow stop emerging in third behind the Aussie. Now everyone was on either inters or wets with Mercedes who’d run to lap 35 on the prime tyre and making just the one stop for inters, benefited the most, Schumacher up to 6th Rosberg 9th. Six laps to go and on exiting Malmadene Alonso ran wide, onto the grass, then lost control of the Ferrari, pirouetting into the barrier ending his race straddled across the circuit. The safety car was deployed momentarily then with four laps remaining the drivers had a short sprint to the finish. Three title protagonists were out of contention, Renault, Force India and Sauber all had cars in the points, Webber had rescued his afternoon with a solid second and Hamilton brought the McLaren home for a well deserved win. They say the cream always rises to the top and in Spa amongst the chaos, Hamilton

But both the style of play and the scene of the action in Farnham, with a castle shrouded in vibrant green trees as a backdrop, have a distinctly village-like feel about them.

On the day in question, the May 31, 2008, the sun was shining and thus a small, but noticeable, gathering of spectators had assembled to watch the match between the Farnham second XI and the Old Whitgiftians second XI.

So this wasn’t Lords, and it wasn’t first-class, but the match was still engaging.

Old Whitgiftians, winning the toss, opted to field first, despite at this level of cricket, a win batting first being worth more in league points than a win batting second.

The thing that perhaps struck the casual spectator was the apparent age gap between the two teams—the Farnham team comprising mainly under-20s, with the Old Whitgiftians, perhaps, more likely to be in their late 30s, or early 40s.

This age-difference was perhaps what motivated the ‘older’ team to go first, knowing that their legs may not be able to last an innings batting, followed by a tiring, hot afternoon session fielding.

Ben Ungaretti, opening the Farnham innings, seemed unmovable at the crease as he exploited the older fielding legs of the Old Whitgiftians and made 65 before being caught out by Simon Hill, off a bowl from Raj Chatwal, who was on his way to a 5-66.

The other highlight of the Farnham innings was a solid 34 by James Crutcher—who would eventually be out LBW, again bowled by Chatwal. The hosts’ innings ended on a useful 180 from 42.4 overs.

The Old Whitgiftians’ top order failed to bite the same way that Farnham’s did. Sham Malik, first in the batting order, got out for a duck and his partner Ian Walters managed a measly nine—both were caught by Crutcher.

The slow start, with the run rate at first averaging around two an over, was mainly due to some blisteringly fast bowling from James Cameron, who eventually made 5-38 and Matt Peacock, on his way to 2-30.

Highlights in the Old Whitgiftians’ innings came from Alistair Shackman (22), Gareth Clarke (44), and Trevor Clarke (22), who all made the most of the short boundary towards the leg-side of the Farnham Park End.

Ultimately though, with five batsmen out for a duck, this was never to be the Old Whitgiftians’ day. Their innings ended on 138 from 50.2 overs.

The result leaves Farnham’s second XI on level points with second place team, Malden Wanderers in the Surrey second XI Division 1. For the Old Whitgiftians, things are not so great.

They remain rooted to the bottom of the table with no points from their four games and demotion to division two looks more and more likely.

So, in the coming months for the Old Whitgiftians, “is it cowardly to pray for rain?”

Randy De Puniet was back for this race, just four weeks after breaking his tibia and fibula at Sachsenring- that’s two weeks less than it took Valentino Rossi to seemingly miraculously recover from the same injury.

Qualifying saw lots of fallers, including Rossi, Jorge Lorenzo and Nicky Hayden. The latter chipped his radius in his crash, but still managed to make it to the starting grid the next day.

Dani Pedrosa started in first place, followed by Ben Spies and Lorenzo, who got the lead in the first lap.

There were some early fallers, first Loris Capirossi on lap 2. Andrea Dovizioso crashed in the middle of the track next lap and luckily avoided being hit by another rider. Mika Kallio fell a few laps later.

A third of the way into the race Casey Stoner overtook Spies, but the two riders ahead of him were too far in front for him to gain any more places. The race finished with Lorenzo winning by a very comfortable margin, with Pedrosa and Stoner easily in the other two podium positions. Spies stayed in 4th and Rossi, who had started badly, finished 5th.

Alvaro Bautista, racing despite falling in practice and missing qualifying, crashed on the last corner.

The underwhelming race was followed by an underwhelming celebration from Lorenzo; he went for the world’s easiest hole-in-one on the golf course, but required two shots.

The announcements following the race were unsurprising –Rossi will be on a Ducati next year. MotoGP fans did however get very excited when Rossi’s handwritten leaving note was released, featuring tales of kissing his M1 on the racetrack.

England were a spent force and their one day cricket looked bland and lacking in ideas. The batting was one dimensional and seemed to get bogged down to easily. All too often, England would crawl to a pitiful 70 or so after the first 20 overs, leaving too much work to be done by the rest of the team. The bowling, though impressive in patches, was ordinary and showed an inability to cope with aggressive batsmen.

England, so often the latecomers to the one day party, were at rock bottom and the situation didn’t look too hopeful. But less than a year later, we enter into another one day series with the old enemy and we’re brimming with confidence. Hell, we’ve even got a one day World Cup title to our name. So what has changed? What inspired this remarkable turnaround?

Many credit the success of batsman Eoin Morgan as core aspect of England’s progression as a one day side. Dublin-born Morgan, who made his debut last year, revolutionised the side with his unorthodox and highly attacking style of play. His 67 off just 34 balls against South Africa really caught the eye of the cricketing world and the explosive performances that followed made him one of the few English players to earn a lucrative Indian Premier League contract.

Since Morgan’s inclusion in the side, England have played a new brand of exciting, attacking cricket. Players like skipper Andrew Strauss and Paul Collingwood, who were previously thought to be incapable of producing big-hitting innings, have transformed their one day games with aggressive shot selection. Naturally hard-hitting players such as Kevin Pietersen and Luke Wright have been allowed to let their strokeplay reign supreme.

And new players have been brought in to help accelerate this process. Craig Kieswetter, a wicket keeper known around the domestic game for his ability to blaze away at the top of the order, has been fast-tracked into the England side and has made an excellent start to his international career, hitting a century in only his third game.

Despite being the nation that gave Twenty20 cricket to the world, England have traditionally struggled in the shortest format of the game. But the new all-guns-blazing England have rapidly altered their T20 fortunes also. Choosing a bold selection policy for the World Twenty20 tournament in the Caribbean back in May, England produced a string of hugely impressive performances, mixing aggressive batting with intelligent bowling.

With players like Kieswetter, Pietersen and Morgan all regularly scoring at an extremely healthy rate, the bowlers were able to come into their own. Tim Bresnan and Ryan Sidebottom, two players discarded by recent England selection policies, kept a lid on the opposition along with Stuart Broad and Graeme Swann. Though England’s game plan was evident, it was also highly effective and impossible to defend against.

England blazed their way into the final and held their nerve to turn out another highly efficient performance, taking the honours against Australia. It was a symbolic tournament win and England’s first major one day trophy. It showed that England had changed the way they approached limited overs cricket and that their bold new tactics were here to stay.

So whilst England are involved in the current one day series with the Aussies, thoughts will surely be on the 50 over World Cup, scheduled for next February on the subcontinent. With the advent of Twenty20 cricket and the dwindling interest in the 50 over format, it could turn out to be England’s last chance of claiming a World Cup triumph. It is clear that planning has gone into England’s selection – the inclusion of a second spinner in Michael Yardy shows that England are prepping their team for the slow, spinning pitches that they will encounter next year.

And with players such as Pietersen and Collingwood hitting their peak, there remains a good chance that England could replicate their success of last month’s exploits in the Caribbean. However, the success they’ve had so far is one thing. Producing it consistently is the next challenge and England will need to show some self-belief should their new system occasionally fail to produce the goods.

Still, there’s much to be excited about and with young players like Kieswetter, Wright and Broad all certain to improve, English fans can look forward to a positive future. Gone are the days of slow scoring defeats and abject humiliations. England have a young and vibrant team that can achieve big things. Who knows? We could be celebrating another trophy in a years time.

Despite only being his first feature film, director Saul Dibb carves out an accurate and poignant masterpiece from the normally misunderstood and stereotyped perceptions about gun violence in the country’s inner-cities.

Although already established as an award-winning documentary-maker, Dibb manages to effectively transfer his skills from documentary films, as displayed in his C4 programmes such as the Tottenham Ayatollah, to feature films.

Dibb exclusively told Live 247, “The main thing that the film does really well is put the audience in the shoes of its main characters for ninety minutes and look at the world from their perspective and the choices that they have and I suppose try and understand where they’re coming from a little bit better and to understand that this situation effects ordinary people who have got aspirations, loving family relationships and all of these things. It’s not just something you can just preserve as gangsters and Yardies and all that nonsense.”

Bullet Boy is probably the first film of its kind to portray the life of Britain’s inner-city youths and guns on the Big Screen and has inevitably been compared to hard-hitting blockbusters such as Boyz N the Hood, Menace II Society and La Haine. However, the director thinks otherwise about his new film:

“In its most basic terms, it’s probably got a very different approach, it’s got a very British feel to it and in some way a much more low-key film and it’s very un-sensational, I think and it’s not a glossy film either so in many ways it’s a compliment,” Dibb says.

However, having lived in Hackney himself, which serves as the film’s backdrop, Dibb explains the idea for writing Bullet Boy was sitting on his doorstep. “I suppose the area of the story I was thinking about for awhile and it was crystallized about three years ago.”

He added, “just reading stories that were coming way down in the pages of the local papers and feeling like that these were everyday tragedies that had a lot of myths around a lot of the stuff that was happening and it was the chance to make a film that got tried to get underneath or behind the headlines.”

Starring Ashley Walters otherwise known as Asher D from garage group, So Solid Crew, Bullet Boy tells the story of 18-year old Ricky, who on leaving a Youth Offenders Institute battles to steer his life away from the seductive yet fatalistic path of his former life on his East London council estate.

However, almost immediately after leaving youth custody, Ricky gets dragged into a street argument over a broken wing-mirror, due to his wayward friend, Wisdom (Leon Black), who still believes fighting fire with fire is the way to survive in their neighbourhood.

Struggling to balance his reformed outlook on life, his good intentions and the expectations of family, friends and rivals, Ricky also has to consider his influence on younger brother, 12-year old Curtis (Luke Fraser).

What seemingly appears to be a minor issue scarily careers out of control as the incident spirals into a dangerous tit-for-tat game, offering no escape for Ricky as he desperately tries to make amends with his street rivals to avoid tragic results.

Walters’ exceptionally strong performance in the film possesses a natural depth and earned him the British Independent Film Award for best newcomer in December.

Nevertheless, having served seven months in a youth detention centre for possession of a firearm himself, many would argue he was the perfect choice for the lead role, one in which he powerfully conveys the dilemma, emotion and desperation of his character and displays the ease with which youths are sucked into the vacuum of violence engulfing Hackney.

Dibb explains he chose Walters for the lead role after seeing him in the 1990 film Storm Damage, He said, “he’s got a maturity beyond his years, he’s only 21 and he’s obviously had a lot of life experience, some of which he was able to feed into the film; he’s able to understand the character although the character in the film is very different to who he is and it just felt like an obvious choice.”

The obvious way in which the film is moulded to emphasise the vital importance and relevance of the topic is accentuated by Dibb skilfully retaining certain documentary-like elements to preserve a natural edginess and authenticity.

The film’s storyline, location, atmosphere, music and characters allow an audience across generations to identify with the film allowing very strong, unpretentious emotional bonding with the purpose of the film.

“You needed to be left with a very strong feeling of loss but also a feeling of hope and actually the feeling of hope was much more important than the feeling of loss,” Dibb explains.

Bullet Boy is a film which pulls at the heart-strings in a profound way mainly because of its strength – that is, all people being able to relate to the film in some way as it certainly has the ingredients to draw a diverse audience to the box office.

The way in which the story is told about such a worthy and relevant social issue succeeds in conveying the causes and devastating effects of gun crime in a form that will hopefully transcend across Britain’s social classes, races and religions.

As Dibb explained to Live 247, part of the purpose of the film was to make people realise gun crime is a problem that could have an impact on any of us at anytime. The more the myths are allowed to circulate about the truth of Britain’s thriving gun culture, the more this violence is given the chance to fester in our cities, infect young people and destroy lives.

The White Rose county conclude their third successive County Championship game at Canterbury today against Kent, and will turn their attentions to one-day cricket tomorrow afternoon at Chelmsford (1.45pm).

Captain Andrew Gale will be without Tim Bresnan and Ajmal Shahzad, who are away on Twenty20 World Cup duty, for the opener but will be able to call upon the services of Tino Best, the West Indian who arrived as Yorkshire’s overseas player earlier in the week.

“Tino Best will go straight into the team to replace either Tim or Ajmal,” Regan told the Yorkshire Post.

“We are looking to select players for this competition who have a proven track record in one-day cricket – it won’t be all about blooding some younger players.

“Gerard Brophy, for example, has produced some excellent one-day performances for Yorkshire, and I am sure he will be challenging Jonathan Bairstow for the wicketkeeper’s spot. And players like Richard Pyrah, who are good one-day cricketers, will come into contention for one-day games.

“We will play the best team available to us at any given time, depending on which format of the game we are playing in. I believe one-day cricket represents our strongest chance of bringing some silverware to Headingley this season.”

Regan also revealed that Yorkshire, who have already signed South African batsman Herschelle Gibbs as an overseas player specifically for the Twenty20 Cup, may soon announce the capture of another one-day specialist.

“That’s the way cricket is going now: there are a lot of players specialising in one format of the game,” Regan said.

“We are looking to sign another specialist one-day player, which will hopefully be announced in the coming weeks.

“Any player we bring in will come from overseas, and will compliment the players we already have here. It is a strong signal that Yorkshire are taking one-day cricket seriously this season, and I think we have a good chance.”

The Clydesdale Bank 40 is English cricket’s newest competition, replacing both the Friends Provident Trophy and the NatWest Pro40 League. The 18 first-class counties are joined by the Netherlands, the Scottish Saltires and ‘the Unicorns’, a recreational team made up of players without first-class contracts.

The 21 teams are divided into three groups of seven, with the group winners and best second-placed team progressing to the semi-finals.

“It’ll be interesting to see how it pans out,” Regan said. “The structure has thrown up a couple of anomalies, such as us playing away in the Netherlands on Yorkshire Day (August 1).

“When the ECB consulted the counties about the new format, we were still one of the clubs who preferred the old 50-over format, because international one-day cricket is still played over 50 overs.

“I’m not a fan of the recreational XI: I think that has devalued the competition slightly, and I’d have preferred to have seen another country in there because these aren’t high-profile players.

“We believe that county cricket should mirror the international game as much as possible, but the decision was taken to go with 40 overs. However, we’re fully behind it and we’re looking to be as successful as possible in it.”

Regan remains convinced that Gale, who became Yorkshire’s youngest captain in over 75 years when he took over the job from Anthony McGrath in the summer, possesses all the required attributes to lead the county. Aged just 26, Gale led his young Tykes side to two victories in their opening two County Championship games – and will be relishing the prospect of applying his aggressive captaincy style on the one-day game.

“Andrew has done very well so far – he’s a captain who uses aggression and risk, and encourages good, attacking cricket,” said Regan.

“The lads have seen a difference. For example, on the final day at Warwickshire (Yorkshire’s first County Championship game). Gale and Jacques Rudolph told them that the match could go two ways: they could try and play for a draw and get bowled out, or play attacking cricket and try to force a result.

“As it happened, Bairstow and Rudolph saw us home (scoring 153 in just 27 overs), proving that taking risks is not always a bad thing.”

They may be forced to take another, when Bresnan and Shahzad travel to the West Indies for the Twenty20 World Cup.

“In an ideal world, you wouldn’t lose your two strike bowlers at the same time, but that’s cricket,” Regan added.

“We’ve been very pleased with the likes of Oliver Hannon-Dalby, and this gives an opportunity for another youngster to come in. Tino’s arrival fills one place, but there’s still one up for grabs – so maybe someone like James Lee or Ben Sanderson can take their chance.

“Time will tell.”

For those who aren’t so acquainted with such a tournament, the owners of each Indian cricket team take part in a much, much more expensive version of bargain hunt – and instead of an antique vase found in your grandmother’s attic, they bid for some of the best in the world to play for their team. With players such as Kallis, Gilchrist, Tendulkar, Ganguly and many more all playing in the same league it’s no surprise that the IPL is the second highest-paid league.

However, whether it’s a lack of publicity, or watching the England twenty20 league – not everyone is as big of a supporter. If in your case it’s the latter, yes both tournaments play the same game but the similarities end there. Every match is played in a stadium crammed with thousands of people, each containing an atmosphere better than an FA cup final. Although the DJs and cheerleaders are a change from the normal scenes found in sleepy cricket grounds throughout the UK – it’s definitely a change for the better. Especially with the current 460 tournament sixes, it’s probably best to stay alert.

The end result is the most inspiring and yet in the same innings, the most abysmal cricket being played in twenty overs. After watching my fair share of matches, I can safely say that you can never be disappointed when the Delhi Daredevils are fielding. The fielding combination of David Warner and Paul Collingwood makes you want to grab a ball and attempt some form of dramatic dive just to prove that you’re as good as the duo, but alas they make it look as easy as schoolboy cricket.

Not only that, the IPL gives a rare chance for viewers at home to see a range of players’ team up and go against each other. It gives new cricket fans a chance to see those who have retired from test cricket back in form, such as former Australian skippers Shane Warne and Adam Gilchrist. In addition, the tournament gives the up and coming players a chance to thrive in such a unique situation. For Hampshire player Michael Lumb, his current 269 runs for the Rajasthan Royals have helped earn him a place in England’s side for this year’s Twenty20 World Cup in the West Indies.

For those who don’t care to watch cricket and are polite enough to be still reading I would say give it a chance and turn your television onto ITV4, and for those who are happily still with me, I am pleased to inform you that it is less than 365 days until it’s back on our screens to captivate us for another month.

Fay-Ann started off as lead singer in the band “Invasion” and went on to become a solo artiste in 2005. She has since produced hit after hit and gained Road March title with her 2008 infectious hit ‘Get On’ and In 2009 she retained her title with ‘Meet Super Blue’’.

Fay-Ann also went on to cement her name in history as being the first lady to claim all major titles in Trinidad and Tobago Carnival 2009, and she acheived all of that whilst being eight months pregnant!

Prior to the Notting Hill Carnival weekend, Fay-Ann accompanied by husband Bunji Garlin flew into London from Trinidad and Tobago, along with a host of other Soca artists from many other Caribbean islands – Peter Ram and Lil Rick from Barbados; Berbice from Grenada; Ricky T from St Lucia; Benjai, Hunter and special guest Iwer George all from Trinidad and Tobago. All of these artists flew in especially for the “NextLevel Poison UK Energy Carnival Concert” that took place on Friday 28th August 2009.

I caught up with Fay-Ann for a chat…

Tempo: How does Carnival in Trinidad compare to other carnivals you have experienced around the world?

Fay-Ann Lyons: Well for one, Carnival is differently organised and structured in Trinidad. Carnival is not centralised, it envelopes the entire country. You know, any part of Trinidad you go to for the carnival season you can find something happening; especially the parade, they have downtown parade, uptown, and Tobago has something. Even the South of Trinidad has something, even as far as Mayaro, they have their own thing going on.

So you find the entire country gets involved, because that’s our culture. As opposed to other countries where they probably have it centralised to a park, a ground or a particular part of the street.

To read the interview in full go to http://www.temporadio.co.uk/

Written By: Nadia Auckburally

So the thing is, Two Door Cinema Club have been getting a bit of flak lately off the back of their début album since musically it’s the equivalent of the clip show episode in a TV series that sums up the past five years of musical buzz bands without actually adding anything new. It’s a criticism I can’t argue with too strongly, but regardless, the songs are still engaging enough that I still really like them. As they began, my first thought was that I could have sworn when I saw them at Truck that they didn’t have a drummer. Apparently between then and last night they seem to have acquired one.

The response is good for their up-tempo danceable indielectro with stadium sized reverb dripping lead guitar. As a support band they play a perfect set, though I don’t mean this wholeheartedly as a compliment. Their music is instant enough to catch the hooks on first listen, the disco drumbeat is prevalent enough to get the women bouncing slightly and the men bobbing a little, Alex Trimble’s voice sits beautifully and tenderly above the layers of MSG below him. These are all good things. The problem lies in the fact that despite this being only a thirty minute set, it somehow managed to feel a lot longer than that. Their sound is so distinctly ambiguous and there is very little variation to the pace or mood of the songs. Sure they can write some infectious bouncy numbers, but over the course of a full set, a fatigue sets in and slowly the punch drains away from each element until your mind starts to wander. Perhaps harsh, but when directly correlated against Phoenix, it’s hard not to make the comparison.

After a break which continues to build the anticipation, the strobing silhouettes of Phoenix burst into a blistering rendition of Lisztomania from behind a giant white sheet that obscures a direct view of the stage. As the sheet drops to reveal the passionately animated band backlit by a series of dazzling vertical LED strips, the adrenaline kicks in and you’re so caught up in the moment you have no choice but to be as into it as they are.

I don’t know if it’s just me, but I often find with Phoenix that I keep forgetting how much I like them until I actually start listening to them. Here in the live environment, almost every song transcends to another level as the “I love this one!” area of my brain frenzies into overload. We’re treated to a great spread of tunes from all four of their studio albums, mostly drawing from the latest exquisite LP Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix. Beforehand it had always been It’s Never Been Like That has always been my least favourite of their output to date, but there’s no arguing with the fantastic impact of songs like Long Distance Call, Consolation Prizes or Sometimes In The Fall each so much bigger and almost overwhelming live.

The only criticism I can possibly throw at the set was the half hearted guitar interplay between Love Like A Sunset Parts I & II. As a way to change the pace, it was definitely useful, but as the prolonged, minimal jamming continued it was only made worse by the ill timed crowd attempting to clap along to the barely trackable rhythm of it all. It was only saved by the mischievous looks on the guitarists faces who were evidently enjoying each note reminding you that after all that’s preceded it, they could kick into Metal Machine Music at that point and still have me onside.

As the set drew to its close, the beats progressively got harder, the guitars slowly got louder and the crowd acted as though it wasn’t a Monday. As the band leave the stage before the inevitable encore, there’s no way anyone was going home yet. The band returned with a tender country tinged cover of a song whose lyrics are in French and whose title I’m oblivious to. Though I and most of the crowd had no idea what this song was, it was the perfect respite lull to prepare the audience for the phenomenal two closing songs. First up was the summery breeze of If I Ever Feel Better that began as with its recorded form before being reworked into a stomp of gigantic riffs reminiscent of Daft Punk’s Robot Rock in its sheer uniformity and scale. It’s enough to send the crowd into a frenzy further exacerbated as the opening notes of 1901 play for the final song of the night. The band were positively frantic on stage by this point, belting out the notes with such ferocity yet such precision that you’re left thinking “surely they can’t do this every night!?” whilst savouring it all while you can. As the song drew to what you thought was the end met with rapturous applause, Thomas Mars appears on a plinth amongst the audience giving his thanks to those there before ploughing into the final chorus of 1901 yet again and returning to the stage through a natural combination of walking and crowd surfing.

You know what you should do? You should go see Phoenix live. The only regret you could possibly have is the knowledge that you’ll never be as cool as them.

I was in a grotty, damp student room in Nottingham when I first heard drips of 2007 album Fancy Footwork spreading across the blogosphere like a disease. Instantly falling in love with tracks like Tenderoni, Momma’s Boy and Bonafied Lovin’, I found to my joy there was another undiscovered record – She’s in Control – released three years earlier.

Needless to say, little work was done studying Medieval Japanese history for the next couple of weeks.

Their music is devoid of music snobbery but oozing charisma, zeal and over-confidence. It is fun, uplifting, joyful and all-encompassing which infects the listener with an uncontrolled desire to start two-stepping.

Oddly, for a band which seems to go against convention, their third album – Business Casual – is due out next month, three years after their last, and despite continuing to develop singer Dave 1 confirmed they are very much sticking with their winning formula: “We have a ‘sound’ and we were one of the first to come out with that sound so we can’t lose it – it wouldn’t be us anymore.

“But at the same time if we always did the same thing it would be boring, so it is a very fine line we have to walk.

“The funk-jams are still there, the cheeky lyrics and catchy little song titles and melodies are still there, but then we also try to have a bit more of a mature musical direction and do stuff that we never did musically before: be it a string section, a seven minute song, doing a ballad in French with acoustic guitars – but then bringing it into the funk-Chromeo world.”

I finally had my opportunity to see them live this summer at Glastonbury. They were who I was looking forward to seeing most, but the act I was also most concerned about seeing – worried that live they may fail and with it smash all the pedestals I have set out for them when I have introduced friends to their records.

Thankfully they didn’t let me down. Performing on keyboards with human legs, being the only artist bar-headliners to go off deliberately early just to be demanded back for an encore with chants of ‘Chromeo-ooooo’ reverberating around the packed tent, and stopping mid-track to TwitPic the crowd – exuberance, style and cockiness to the nth degree.

They are on the road at the moment in North America, testing out their new material live before we can have it for ourselves to play as and when we choose. And Dave is delighted with how it is all going: “It’s great, he said. “It’s even cooler than we thought.

“We are playing bigger rooms and we are really humbled by everything.

“It’s funny because the subtle differences that we tried to make to the music when we made the new album become amplified when we play the songs live. So if I do a little break down in the middle of a song, live, the whole crowd cheers.

“I just look at the little things we do in the studio and say, ‘hey how come we have never done that before’ and then live it takes on a whole new dimension and goes to a whole different level.”

Though fortunately it won’t be long before the Canadian-duo are back on our shores continuing their Business Casual Tour, playing Birmingham, Bristol, Sheffield and London before finishing in Manchester on November 13.

Dave promised the show is bigger and better with more people joining him and P-Thugg on stage, and he can’t wait to fly it over the Atlantic. He said: “The UK is one of the first places where we had a really good reaction, mainly because you guys have such a good funk and soul and disco culture which never went out of style, and you got the references of our music right away.

“I have the fondest memories of playing London in the basement of Plastic People with 80-kids going nuts and nobody knew who we were – so the UK is really special to us.”

Both Don’t Turn the Lights On and Night by Night are floating around the Internet – including a heavy remix by Skream of the lattear – and I for one cannot wait to hear the rest of the album when it drops on September 14, and see them in November.

Twelve of the world’s top riders took their Red Bull X-Fighters competition Friday to the Sphinx and 12,000 fans watching in awe.

In the second stop of the season held near the Giza Pyramids and the Sphinx, American rider Adam Jones caught the eyes and cameras’ flashes as he claimed his first title in the competition. He beat overall ranking leader Andre Villa from Norway after a strong final in which both riders wildly whipped and flipped with their bikes.
“This really is a dream come true for me; the conditions in Cairo weren’t easy, but my final run was perfect, and that meant the judges were then on my side,” Jones said as he celebrated his win.
“It was awesome just looking at these monuments; winning in front of them is hard to describe and the crowd was huge. I couldn’t believe how many people were here,” he added.
After a first round comprising the seven best riders who couldn’t qualify directly to the final event, the Czech Libor Podmol and the American Jim McNeil earned top points from the five judges, enabling them to play in the quarter-final.
In four intense showdowns, the quarter-finalists excelled in showing their skills on the bike, jumping up to 15 meters in the air, throughout the 30-meter long course. American Nate Adams and Australian Robbie Maddison joined both Jones and Villa in the semifinals.
In a brand new semi-final format for the Red Bull X-Fighter contest, each rider had only 10 seconds to perform his trick following the other contestant.
In an American-American affair, Jones took four judges’ votes while Adams got only one, the same result that Villa earned over Maddison. In the final, Jones snatched four votes from Villa to win the title.
Riders are judged based on variety, challenge and execution, style, overall impression and show and spectators reaction.
Villa, who topped the qualifications a night before, is still leading the overall rankings as he finished first last month in Mexico. The event was cancelled due to heavy rain and the organizers had to decide the winner through points earned a day earlier in the initial round of qualifications.
“I am still leading the series. Today, I made one mistake but in such level of competition, there is no room for mistakes,” Villa told Daily News Egypt.
“I had a good time tonight, now I am looking forward to Moscow and I will be preparing by driving and working hard; it is worth much,” he added.
Red Bull X-Fighters is now moving to its third destination of the series, the Red Square in Moscow scheduled for next month.
The crowd who arrived more than two hours ahead of the event were entertained with local music and DJ before it was their turn to make the noise by cheering for the riders who responded by interacting with their engine roars.
Although injuries are usual in this sport, South African Nick De Wit was the only rider to fall from his bike; however, it didn’t affect judges’ opinion as he stood up uninjured and earned a high score of 380 points. But it weren’t enough to take him to the quarterfinals.
The real winner of the night, however, were the fans, who together with the Sphinx, were treated to an unrivaled show of acrobatic bikers.

What was the motivation for starting U Dun Know?
It’s never been about trying to make loads of money but about trying to put on something genuinely different that we would be excited about going to ourselves.

Was there something wrong or lacking in your experience of clubbing in London?
It wasn’t that there was something wrong as such it was just that we wanted to put on something genuinely diverse. I think what makes London’s music so exciting is the breadth of influences which have gone towards forming it’s sound – the rough and rugged nature of sound system culture, the syncopated shuffle of garage, the sexiness and depth of house, the intensity and hard edge of jungle. Over the past year or two certain promoters (Dirty Canvas, Night Slugs, Crazylegs in Bristol) have started to reflect this diversity (more than just by having a dubstep room alongside a Drum & Bass room). But we wanted to go further than that: when we DJ we try and play as broad a range of music as possible in order to try and find something exciting in the interplay between seemingly distant genres and this is kind of what we wanted to achieve through U Dun Know – booking Dancehall and Bashment DJ’s alongside UK Funky DJs, someone who plays Baltimore Club alongside someone who plays South African house. I find it boring going to a club and hearing six hours of dubstep or minimal or jungle or whatever it might be, I think its much more exciting and keeps you much more interested when there’s genuine diversity. I suppose at the simplest level we wanted to have people playing all the different genres we love during the same night because we think it makes for a good party.

Why do you think people come to your night? How does it differ from the norm?
Hopefully people come to our nights because they’re excited by the prospect of diversity as well. We also aim to book new and exciting artists, people that we would like to see play but haven’t seen playing out a lot, it’s about people getting the opportunity to see something they cant necessarily see elsewhere. So far we’ve had people like Guido who, whilst he’s a biggish name, hasn’t played in London that much. We’ve also been quite lucky in that we’ve booked a few people and between the time we’ve booked them and they’ve played they have gotten a lot bigger. For example three people that have played at our nights have done Maryanne Hobbs sessions in-between accepting the booking and the night itself. We’d like to think the night is about good vibes as well, it’s not about posturing or chin stroking but about dancing to all types of great music.

In what ways do you see your brand expanding?
We have discussed putting on dances with a couple of other better known promoters who seem to share a similar ethos to us so hopefully that will be good for the profile of U Dun Know. I suppose that the U Dun Know brand also kind of encompasses myself and Deejay Mosca so hopefully our names will also grow in conjunction with any recognition which the dance gets as we are always trying to improve our profile and get bookings.

What advice would you give someone who had the concept for a night but was unsure of what to do next? I think if it’s something you really want to do and you think it addresses a gap in the market then go for it. We spent a long time talking about U Dun Know before finally getting it off the ground (moving to London was a catalyst for this) and I kind of wish we had just got started sooner instead.

How has the economic climate affected club culture? Do you think it benefits you as you are a cheaper alternative to nights at Fabric etc?
We have only been running U Dun Know for 7 months (i.e. since we were deep into THE CRUNCH) so its difficult to quantify really. I guess that might have something to do with it. Big clubs are limited in the sense that they have to be so targeted with their nights in order to ensure they attract a particular crowd that their line ups can tend to be quite boring so i would hope that people come to U Dun Know instead of somewhere like Fabric because they will get something more eclectic, more rising stars than established names ya get me? The fact that it is in Dalston which seems to be taking over from Shoreditch as the truly trendy place to be at the moment might mean that people are more inclined to check it out (although we may not be in Dalston for our next one…)

Describe your perfect day in London?
Perfect day out in London would be to spend a few hours in record shops having a dig and a chat to anyone whose about (it would have to be a weekday so it was nice and quiet) followed by a chill in the park (either the heath or regents park) and then some Vietnamese food on the Kingsland road followed by a decent night out (something like Night Slugs, Dirty Canvas, FWD or Beyond).

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