Weeknotes #182: graduations, glasses and glory

Celebrations, socials, sport and cabaret.

Week commencing Monday, 13 July 2026

A wide-angle view inside London Stadium during the Novuna London Athletics Meet, showing the packed stands, the running track and infield with athletes preparing for a field event, all beneath the stadium's distinctive open roof structure against a blue sky.
Packed stands greet athletes at London Stadium’s summer meet.

Quantified Self

  • This week: Stand 5/7; Exercise 5/7 and Move 6/7. (76%). Morning walks: 0/4. Office days: 1/5. Total steps: 53,796; 22.9 hours in meetings.

Life

  • Monday, a drink and a bite to eat at The Leather Bottle, which I was delighted to do given I’d not left the house all day. PY had some good news, so we had another glass.
  • Proud godparents on Tuesday, as K graduated from Cardiff with an amazing degree. Seems like I know some smart people.
  • My pension adviser reckons I might live to 83. Now we’re trying to figure out when the money might run out. So, still working.
  • Drinks on Wednesday were meant to try and avoid the World Cup. We failed and got quite into it.
  • Lovely work social on Thursday. I may have gatecrashed the social committee’s post-event drinks, mainly because I didn’t clock that they were doing it.
  • Relatedly, I paid for an Uber that I didn’t take. It took so long to turn up that I hopped in a taxi. I don’t have the energy to argue with them about it.
  • I was there: a spectacular performance by Great Britain’s Josh Kerr, who shattered Hicham El Guerrouj’s 27-year-old world record in the men’s mile at the Novuna London athletics event.
  • Cabaret in the Crypt – The Best of West End Musicals, in St Martin-in-the-Fields’ Crypt café. Great performances, but the backing track made it feel less real.

World Cup Matches

  • Remember, I said this last time about the AI commentator.
  • Wednesday, COMMENTATOR: It was a game of two halves — a cagey, scrappy first period in Atlanta where neither side truly convinced, before Gordon’s thumping 55th-minute finish, set up by Rogers, had England dreaming of a first World Cup final in 60 years, only for Argentina to do what Argentina always seem to do — summon Messi from somewhere deep, watch Fernandez curl in a brilliant long-range effort on 85 minutes, and then, in the cruellest of all stoppage-time twists, see Lautaro Martinez nod home another Messi assist to shatter English hearts once more and send the defending champions through to face Spain in the final.
  • Saturday, COMMENTATOR: It was a game of two halves — extraordinary, barely believable halves at that — as a second-string England side, Kane and Bellingham both left on the bench, tore France to shreds in Miami with Rice scoring inside three minutes, Konsa heading in a second, and Saka running riot to make it 4-0 by the break, before France emerged for the second half a completely different proposition, Mbappé bagging a brace to become the all-time leading World Cup scorer and Barcola and Dembélé adding two more to have England clinging on desperately, until substitute Bellingham settled nerves with a composed finish in stoppage time to seal a quite remarkable 6-4 victory and give England third place — their best World Cup finish since 1966.

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