Aside from my not winning the Ink Book Prize, Simon and I have had a great September, this week alone enjoying Handel's Alcina at the Royal Opera House – though the production was a little wild – checking out the stunning Whistler exhibition at the Tate, and cheering on the British Davis Cup team against Ecuador!!!!
We wound up cheering, almost equally, the gallant Ecuadorians, whose supporters had a snowball’s chance in hell of being heard, as the stadium was packed to the rafters with our fellow Brits – powerfully boosted by a couple of seriously sozzled youths sporting drums, trumpets and - always a bad sign - trombones.
Against this mayhem, there were perhaps forty or so Ecuadorian stalwarts, hoisting – between them – maybe five or six Ecuadorian flags. Whenever the British trombonists paused to replenish their beer mugs, I could just about discern a few forlorn chants of ‘Eq-ua- dor! Eq- ua-dor!’…
Despite this mismatch, the tennis was fantastic – the UK’s Toby Samuel and youthful Arthur Fery eventually swiped every set, and that despite both being debutantes to the Davis Cup bear-pit… | 
