FA Cup final and how to avoid it on the telly, plus other useless info

Tomorrow - FA Cup final. It would be the last one held at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. Next year the final will return to its spiritual home at Wembley Stadium. I will be posting up some pictures of the new Wembley Stadium once I have the time.

I captured them today when I was out walking (I decided that jogging is too much so for me exercise is a 12km power walk around West/North West London) and parts of the exterior has been completed. It was an amazing sight. I was toying with the idea of climbing in but a group of four securities approaching me. I of course legged it. 15 minutes later I was at the car park on the South of the stadium. It was closed. There was another entrance and the fence was pretty low. Jackpot until I saw that other CCTV. Bummer. So you will have to make do with street level exterior shots. For now.

To those unfortunate enough to attend gigs at the Wembley Arena you will be pleased that there are some works going on there. You however won't be too pleased to hear that the Arena is only being refurbished and won't undergo a total rebuild like the stadium or Wembley Park tube station. Which is pathetic.

Wembley Arena must be one of the worst major gig venue in London. I hope at the very most they souped up the acoustic system because the last time I was there the sound system was so awful it was like listening through a washed up twenty year old walkman...in mono.

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Back to FA Cup final. I know some of you lot out there dislike football. Some even hate it. While this is understandable, seeing that footballers are paid a week more than we earn in two years just for chasing a ball, I still maintain it is an exciting game. Well compared to watching badminton or baseball. There are ways to avoid it if you wish so.

Applies only to Londoners (I don't know the television schedule for other regions).

BBC One will be televising the final live on Grandstand from about 3pm. Avoid that channel then at all cost. Better still if you really hate football and for safety, switch off BBC One from 1pm.

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (BBC Two, 2.55pm). The 1967 classic features Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy as parents who has to deal with racial prejudice when their daughter (Katharine Houghton - Hepburn's real life niece) brings home her fiance - Sidney Poitier. Hepburn won an Oscar here.

By the time the movie ends at about 4.30pm, just boil your kettle and be ready for Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace at 5.20pm on ITV1. I watched Episode I (on VHS) yesterday for the first time in two years just to freshen my memory. Man did I laugh. Well with freeview I will be able to enjoy laughing again. At DVD quality.

But wait! Junior Mastermind (the climax) is on air at 5.30pm (BBC One)! Six younglings will be questioned by John Humphrys. I just watched an older episode of Junior Mastermind today and these kids were terribly clever. Granted one didn't know who Eve was, but on the whole these kids are just amazing.. And after that - Doctor Who! Star Wars I or Junior Mastermind/Doctor Who? In the end both are for nerds.

If you wish to escape such childish acts, here is a recommendation. 7.10pm Channel 4 will be showing a documentary on Michelangelo's ceiling painting at The Sistine Chapel (you know, the one at The Vatican, and the scene of Angels & Demons finale). Apparently art critic Waldema Januszczak reckons that there could be hidden mysteries hidden under the layers of paint.

Probably the highlight of the evening would be the Eurovision Song contest at 8pm. No matter how pathetic it is I wouldn't miss it for the World. Terry Wogan is a genius. This year Britain would be represented by Javine who shot to fame when she defeated Jordan. That and her 'Janet Jackson' moment as well. Yahoogle it.

If you still need to avoid the FA Cup by the end of the day, make sure you mark out the one hour BBC One's Match of the Day beginning 11.40pm.

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If you don't fancy being glued to the telly (I don't) then please do visit the London Eye. As some of you have probably heard, the London Eye would be evicted in July. Yes - evicted! Imagine Eifel Tower being served with eviction notice to move out to another land or Petronas Tower being dismantled and moved to somewhere else with cheaper rent.

This will probably be your last chance to visit the Eye because the owner of the land seems serious. Despite being in operation for only a few years the Eye has become a modern cultural icon of London as easily identifiable as any other London landmarks such the Big Ben and Trafalgar Square and other new buildings like the erotic Gherkin. Do it now.

I myself might actually be going to the British Museum. It is free and there are a couple of exhibitions I don't want to miss, such as the Mountains and Water: Chinese Landscape Painting, Making of the Master: The Art of Arabic Painting and Mummy: The Inside Story.

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Before I forget, two awesome films will be shown on Tuesday.

A Simple Plan (BBC One, 11.15pm) by Sam Raimi (Spiderman, Evil Dead), a wintry tale of three men who stumbles across $4 million in a crashed airplane. The whole things leads from one crime to other crimes just to cover up the previous crime.

Chasing Amy (Channel 4, 12.55am) harks back to the old days when Ben Affleck could still act and Jason Lee was still funny (he still is, just a little tired). This was directed by Star Wars film nerd fan Kevin Smith (also as Silent Bob) and probably is one of his better films (along with Clerks and Dogma). In this comedy, Affleck falls in love with a female artist (Joey Lauren Adams) despite her being gay. Funny in a serious way, I would recommend anyone to stay up late just to watch this.