Once Upon a Time at the Adelphi, at the Playhouse, is simply the finest thing I've seen this year.

It has everything. Great songs, high-energy dancing, a wonderful set, humour, pathos, history, glamour, you name it.

It made me laugh our loud and it made me wipe away a tear. It made me proud to live in Liverpool. It is cheesey without being corny, it is sentimental without descending into schmolz.

The performances of the male and female leads are awesome.

Best of all is how it represents The Adelphi. Today's Adelphi has a reputation for poor standards and as a hub of petty crime. The Adelphi of days gone by was a place of splendour, of grandeur, of international repute for all the right reasons.

And that's how this remarkable musical, in the large part, depicts it. What a place. What a show. What a night.

Do yourself a favour. Go.

http://www.everymanplayhouse.com/whats-on/show-detail.asp?id=208

First I went to the Anglican Cathedral where choirs from Liverpool and Cologne were accompanied by The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic in a performance of Benjamin Britten's War Requiem.

Strirring stuff.

Afterward, accompanied by my brother and his wife, up specially from London for the concert, I wandered into nearby Hardman St.

There, the World Vomiting Championships were in full swing.

In the Projectile section a bloke in a doorway managed an impressive eight feet.

In the ethnic diversity category, Wok-fried noodles were clear winners with two impressive displays.

Sought refuge in the beautiful Philharmonic pub. Could be even better. Shabby, tacky blackboards with the menu on them hardly add to the ambience. And the legendary toilets?
Looked great. Smelled vile.

Have signed up for the New Forest Half Marathon in latest desperate effort back down to my optimum weight. Did first run of training schedule yesterday. Pleasant running two miles to West Kirby and back along Hoylake's deserted 5am streets.

So difficult to fit training around work and family. Hoping to get home for an hour and a two-miler at tea time before going to dinner at the Bishop's Lodge tonight.

First milestone will be the Run for Rhys in Croxteth Park on July 6. This 5k will raise money for Liverpool Unites which is fundraising to build a community centre in Rhys's memory.

Do run/walk/jog/stagger the 5k if you can. register at http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/runfor rhys

Harry is running it with me. Did not however, respond well to me knocking on his door at 5am. So off I went on my own. His training may be less rigorous.

Enjoying Euro 2008. Can't believe England would have done anything other than crash out of the group stages had we qualified. The top teams are so much slicker (and dare I say) more passionate than we are. Anyone disagree?

Morgan didn't win a place in the school poetry festival but she practised like mad and I was proud of her.
Check out the video.

Had two days at Turnberry at the weekend - what a golf course! Victory for the Liverpool team of Bob Bennett, John Loney, Peter Higgins and myself over the Glasgow team rounded off a memorable couple of days.

With Lynne for hospital appointment yesterday. Real hope the chemo (which she's now finished) has slowed the progression of her MS. Mustn't get carried away with it though. Now need to get us all thinking positively about the present and the future rather than dreading it.
Not easy, but we'll get there.

Watched the footy with Harry last night. Made Thai basil mince which is his favourite. 'Thai Basil mince and football, dad,' he pronounced. 'It doesn't get much better than this'.

For me, it doesn't get much better than watching football with my son.

If you haven't been yet then go. It is truly spectacular and less than a third complete.

Rod and his team have given Liverpool something nice. A retail centre the equal of anything in any provincial city.

The least we can do is respect it. We want the Selfridges and Harvey Nicks moving in to augment what we've got. We don't want the current shops losing faith and custom and moving out.

Support Liverpool One - shop there and don't mess it up.

I have a window..

...looking out over Old Hall St.

Fascinated to watch bewildered visitors searching for the passport office.

And even more entranced by watching pedestrians struggle up and down a thoroughfare that's a wind tunnel even when it's not windy!

Today is almost the perfect storm. Old Hall St must be suffering 80mph gales at least. Have seen people almost blown off their feet. Saw a traffic cone blown clean across the road.

Only one casualty though: A woman had the top of her baguette blown clean off.

Too late for page one - 'Gales claim first victim - French Stick perishes'.

Yesterday I mentioned how good the Atlantic Tower was looking. Today a word for the West Tower and the Radisson which also overlook the waterfront. The grassed area between the buildings and the road looks fantastic...

Which is more than can be said for the 'Recycle Liverpool' floral display near the University building at the bottom of Scotland Road. What is all that about? Maybe spring will see it bloom in glorious fashion.

Maybe.