By Glen Leat
August 9 2003

Phew what a scorcher! Harley Quin had a week away at the seaside building sandcastles and eating candy floss but is now back and scouring the local and national news to see what catches his eye. Let's see what he has spotted this time....

The Rec
What great news for Bath Rugby, its supporters and, dare I say, the people of Bath that permission has been granted to extend the seating on the open side of the Rec. This is really just the first stage of the process for building Bath Rugby a home which befits their status and success over the past 20 years. What stunned me about this story was the report that one of the main opponents to Bath Rugby staying at the Rec stormed out of the meeting because he claimed he was not given sufficient time to explain his position. My God how much time does this man need? He has been vigourously campaigning against Bath Rugby for neigh on a decade and made his views well known in the public domain. If those involved in the decision making have not grasped the views of the Friends of the Rec by now they never will!

I think the Friends of the Rec ought to see their activities as being successful as it is possible that without their intervention a new ground would have been built; they have ensured that any building activity is sensitively constructed and the rugby club is not allowed to dominate. Perhaps this is not enough for them and their real ambition is to see the end of professional rugby on the Rec, despite commenting only a few weeks ago that had the horseshoe proposal been the original intention then everyone could have worked together for a positive resolution. Confused? I am!

I noticed on the Messageboard that Gareth criticised the Supporters' Club for not taking on the Friends of the Rec or something similar. I'm sure many people feel this way but my experience of such things is that most of us will not be aware of the tactics being employed by the Club or the Supporters' Club. It may be that both parties are working together and the last thing Bath Rugby (or the Council) need is for another party to start winding things up. I'm sure the Friends of the Rec would like to see a divide between supporters and the club! Again my experience of similar circumstances is that it is better to have one organisation leading the business with the others working together and in the background.

Three Tenors
I strolled up to the big screen showing of the Three Tenors on Thursday and I don't care how much of a Philistine you may be for the rest of the year, this event was stunning. The setting, the weather and of course the music were perfect but the voices of these three men are beyond words. I feel sorry for the likes of Fred Truman (can't be his real name) who wrote in to the Chronicle asking why we were all getting so excited by three old men warbling in the park: had you been there Fred you would have known.

But this concert was little different to watching the rugby, most of the crowd were well behaved and a pleasure to be with whilst others were a total pain in the butt. Why is is that those people who get to a concert/match early always get disrupted by the latecomers who think they have a right to squeeze through to the premier spots? Similarly it seems we are a nations of mini-bladdered people who can't go for more than 10 minutes without feeling the need to go to the toilet. I couldn't count how many crucial moments I have missed at the Rec as some prat feels the need for a leak - and aren't they always sat in the middle of a row of seats and so have to disrupt everyone. At the concert there were breaks between arias as the tenors prepared themselves but the "bladdermongers" waited until they started singing before setting sail for the portaloos.

One woman stopped on her way to chat to a friend in a wheelchair; it was as though they had met in Sainsbury's and this while a world famous tenor was singing for us in our own backyard - don't these people realise they are witnessing a once in a lifetime experience? This reminds me of the blokes who follow Bath to Twickenham and then miss most of the match whilst they queue up for beer. As Terry Wogan would say, "Is it me?"

The warm evening in the park made it a very pleasant experience to people watch whilst waiting for the concert to begin, but isn't it about time the authorities banned men from wearing white socks? White socks are a scourge on our nation, a complete embarrassment - particularly those which are worn at calf length by men in their 50's. The country has almost banned smoking in public places and it's been a while since you were allowed to spit so how about a ban on white socks?