Personal performance from Suede ticks another item off bucket list

Ben Hughes, who has been told he has six months to live, ticks another two items off of his bucket list this week - meeting his favourite band Suede and eating at Jamie Oliver's restaurant.

Well Christmas is almost upon us and doesn't it come around quickly? Before we know it we are going to be into 2012.

I've found that each year seems to go quicker than the previous - I'm not sure why that is, but since leaving school in 1999, my life has just flown by.

From myself to you though I do hope you all have a fantastic, happy and memorable Christmas 2011.

This weeks Bucket List report is quite a special one for me as I met up with my favourite band, Suede, a week ago last Monday.

It all started with an e-mail to the Shropshire Star, which was then forwarded onto myself, from the editor-at-large of Nuts magazine.

A few calls later, he had managed to organise - thanks to the editor of the NME - a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for my friend Richard and I to head down to the big smoke and watch Suede rehearse for some upcoming shows in Russia.

We arrived at the rehearsal studio and were let in, swivelled around a corner and wow, there they were - Brett, Mat, Richard, Simon and Neil, Suede!

I shook hands with them all and was chatting to Mat, before Brett came over and sat with me for five minutes just chatting away about our day and just ordinary things.

They very kindly signed my CD cover of their album Coming Up before Brett dropped the bombshell, asking what song do you want us to play?

My mouth dropped, they were asking me what song to play - amazing.

I requested Europe Is Our Playground (a B-side) and they picked it up straight away and it was fantastic.

Richard's guitar playing was mesmerizing to watch and all of them were so highly skilled. I heard two new songs that they will hope to perfect and include on the next album before I was asked to request another song. For my second selection I chose The 2 Of Us from their Dog man star album. It was such a fantastic experience and something that I will never forget.

On Wednesday, my wife and I travelled to Birmingham to visit Jamie Oliver's Italian, which Jo, a family friend, had set up for us. We arrived about an hour before opening and were given a talk about the restaurants and how they prepare everything by head chef Gareth.

We saw the staff meeting beforehand before tucking into some of the finest food I have tasted. It really was amazing and I had Antipasti for the first time and I am converted. Delicious.

We even got a lovely goodie bag containing recipe books, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and breadsticks to take home. Fantastico…

On Sunday, after a few days of rest, we had an open house for family to arrive and exchange Christmas cards with us. Organised as a surprise by Ayla we had a lovely afternoon seeing everyone and exchanging festive greetings along with a mince pie or two.

So now we are gearing up for the fundraiser, just over a week away.

We have some fantastic raffle/ auction prizes and I really hope some of you can make it along on New Year's Eve at The Brooklands.

Happy Christmas one and all.

Ben x

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