Barry Frost

🎃 Week 271 - Halloween

Sun, 01 Nov 2026 00:00:00 GMT

We continued our holiday at Center Parcs in De Haan, Belgium.

We kept our boys busy. As well as daily swims/slides in the Aqua Mondo swimming pool, soft play, mini golf, foot-golf, badminton, and table tennis, they had workshops for making binoculars, lanterns and pizzas.

There was a Halloween pool party (also for reluctant parents) where staff dressed up as zombies, ghosts and blood-soaked clowns, and half-chased swimmers around the pool with fake knives and chainsaws. Our children loved it. I was pleased when it was over.

We hired bikes and took advantage of Belgium’s excellent cycle infrastructure to ride north past the forest and back. Good exercise for everyone. Our boys haven’t really spent much time on bikes, preferring scooters, but H is now pushing for a grown-up bike this Christmas, ready for his cycling proficiency test at school in the new year.

And we enjoyed another trip into Bruges for a canal boat ride, shopping for chocolate and lunch with Andy and his family. It was a nice, relaxed week, our third and probably last visit to De Haan.

Back home, we went trick-or-treating around the village on Halloween night. There were noticeably more children on the streets, most likely from the new homes that are now being filled. I kept an eye on our security camera feeds and our big mixing bowl of sweets was emptied much quicker this year.

H’s football team romped to a 11-0 win on Sunday afternoon. It was an annihilation. They most likely need to go up another division to find their level, but in the meantime, they’re enjoying themselves. It’s also far more enjoyable for spectators than his last team’s winless run last season.

The Celebrity Traitors finished: it was addictive, captured the nation, and showed how the quieter, more introverted players (Romesh and Sebastian) are best suited to win as Faithfuls.

💨 Week 270 - Windy

Sun, 25 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT

The boys had Friday off school before the half-term break, so we beat the holiday traffic to travel to Belgium. We were staying at Center Parcs De Haan again (again).

The journey to mainland Europe was a little hairy: Storm Austen was battering the UK, and we had chosen the ferry option for a change. The waves were fairly choppy, but thankfully no guts were spilled. We could hear car alarms blaring, but when we reached France, my car was thankfully where I had left it. We had opted for the premium lounge, and so had food, drink and comfy seating included, away from the chaos of coach-loads of kids running amok on the decks below. Much better than the tunnel IMO.

Our Center Parcs lodge was one of the larger lakeside ones, allowing for a bedroom each for the boys. I had my own sauna room, naturally. We spent plenty of time over the week with near-neighbours, Andy and family, at the Aqua Mondo pool and activities.

But first, it was H’s birthday. Unsurprisingly, the theme of his presents was football: football shirts, football books and FC 27. Together with Andy et al, we table-tennised, bowled and then had pizza in the Italian restaurant. I enjoyed it almost as much as H did.

And then on Sunday, I drove H, Andy and his son to nearby Bruges to see Club Brugge v Sint-Truiden at the Jan Breydelstadion. The storm was still blowing and we were seated high in the corner of a stand. Unnervingly, one of the flags above us blew away at some point. The home side won 3-2, including a hat-trick from much-fancied striker, Tresoldi.

More on the second-half of the holiday next time.

🤸‍♂️ Week 269 - Bounce

Mon, 19 Oct 2026 10:56:00 GMT

Another gig this week: I saw Arab Strap at Heaven with Andy. They played much of their new album, which is really very good, and as dark and witty as ever. Glamour Magick is a new favourite. It was exactly 30 years since their first gig and they ended with their much-loved first single, The First Big Weekend. It felt fitting that Aidan needed the printed lyrics and his glasses.

I dragged myself out to London a couple of times this week, and twice did my swimming-sauna-steam health routine at the gym.

My parents have bought themselves an electric car, my sister bought one a year ago, so that means my family are all EV drivers. Do I need solar panels? With the price of diesel climbing ever higher, we need to upgrade our second car, a fuel-guzzling estate.

We took H and nine of his not-so-little friends trampolining as his early birthday party. These days they need little supervision compared to years past. We sat in the café with a coffee for their hour, and then corralled the sweaty messes onto sofas for birthday cake and milkshakes.

H was given a couple of board games - Catan and Exploding Kittens - as presents. My attention span has been destroyed by doom-scrolling, but he’s keen for us all to play so I need to put some effort in to learn the rules.

Sunday’s under-11s football was a 9am kick-off, meaning we had to leave before 8am for the car journey and warm-up. I cursed my son as I rolled out of bed earlier than on a weekday! The early start didn’t phase his team and they thumped the opposition 8-2, following last week’s 9-1. Next week, they’re going up a division.

🥅 Week 268 - Goals

Mon, 12 Oct 2026 13:38:00 GMT

I waved off my wife this weekend as she tackled the Commando Series 6K race in Kent. Before leaving, she cursed her previous willingness to sign up, but she completed the course and her team all seemed to enjoy trekking through rivers and mud. No, I will not be joining them next year.

This week I went to the gym twice for my lovely swimming-sauna-steam routine, and while L was commandoing, I took C for his weekly Saturday morning swimming lesson. Normally his mother takes him, and so I had to navigate the shoes off-on-off-on-off-on changing room rules to get him poolside. This week he competently completed backstroke with one arm and a float.

Just two weeks after I saw Gene in Valencia, I saw them again. I do see other bands, it’s just that it’s been 20+ years since they’ve toured regularly and you never know when your last Olympian will be, so I’ll keep buying tickets. There were five of us this time at the historic Roundhouse, with strong support from Rialto and The Slow Readers Club. It was the second night of two and the setlist included a new song among 22 rarities and favourites. Fully worth getting home at 00:30.

H’s Sunday football mercifully kicked off in the afternoon, and after last week’s 0-0, they managed to find the net a stunning nine times, winning 9-1. H was very happy with his brace, including a left-foot hook, and all of the squad worked hard throughout. His coach was beaming.

Proper honest football, unlike the continuing farce of Man City in the Premier League.

❓ Week 267 - Quiz

Mon, 05 Oct 2026 15:32:00 GMT

First, a small personal note on the news this week that Man City have been found guilty of 114/115 breaches of Premier League financial rules. Supporting Arsenal during the period (and beyond), and watching City pip us to titles and cups while cheating, has made me so angry. I missed out on those highs, as did my sons. Nothing short of removing the owners, scrubbing the records and relegation will be enough.

In happier news, we had our final secondary school open evening for H before his choice is due. He seemed comfortable visiting the school buildings again, the headteacher spoke well and any doubts were erased.

I drove H to his latest football match, away at Whetstone. His team annihilated the opposition 0-0. I’ve never seen such a one-sided draw. The keeper was superb and the posts and bar somehow kept them out. H was man-of-the-match. My parents had come to see him, so he was a little disappointed not to win for them. However, a strawberry milkshake after at Honey and Cream made up for it.

In what is becoming a regular thing every other Sunday, I joined local dads for the pub quiz. We’re still referred to as newcomers among tables of grizzled veterans, yet secured a stunning second place. Our impressive knowledge of TV comedians, film, history, food and Japanese cover songs won us a coveted Toblerone.

🎶 Week 266 - Festival

Mon, 28 Sep 2026 09:35:00 GMT

I’ve been a fan of Gene since the mid-nineties and have seen them live many times, always in the UK. This week I travelled to València, in the east of Spain, to Visorfest, a festival for 80s/90s bands, to see them abroad for the first time.

I flew out on Thursday evening with Andy, enjoyed some local beers and tapas, followed by lunch the next day in Colón Market. The festival site was next to the beach in very warm temperatures, and sensibly timed to start at 6:30pm as the sun was setting, finishing at 2:30am. A bit late for us ageing indie fans, but much less sweaty than during the day.

Hoodoo Gurus, New Model Army and The Damned played on day one, followed by Ocean Colour Scene. 18 year old me hated OCS, and although I put that to one side, it was only when they played The Riverboat Song and that one about a train, that I begrudgingly enjoyed them.

The second night was more my cup of tea: The Wannadies, Gene, Ride, and The Manics. We were very near the front for Gene’s set which included a couple of songs they’ve not played in years. They were very tight, more so than when they reformed last year, and Martin was enjoying himself, coming out at the end in a València football shirt.

I’ve uploaded a few more photos of Gene on stage. I’m now pretty knackered after three late nights in a row, but it was well worth the effort.

🏀 Week 265 - Basketball

Mon, 21 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMT

L found a basketball stand/hoop offered for free from a local family and set it up for the boys on the patio. I grumbled because it’s further creeping Americanisation of our children, but I have to concede it does get them active and playing together outside.

I visited the school for H’s latest assembly where each child read out their own themed poetry. Not many of these left for him before he’s off to secondary school. This year he’s been voted house captain, for which he proudly wears a yellow badge on his uniform.

It was 2/2 wins for H’s football team, this time playing at home. The 2-1 win made up for the painfully early 8:30am meet. Their smaller pitch was side-on to the stand so parents could comfortably watch from a seat. Luxury. My parents also drove over to watch, and we took him to a local cafe for a chocolate muffin and orange juice to celebrate.

This week’s TV: we blitzed through the superb final series of Colin From Accounts, finished the reasonable run of Reachers, and began the new Slow Horses.

👾 Week 264 - AI

Mon, 14 Sep 2026 16:27:00 GMT

This week, I was invited to a roundtable event in the Haymarket Hotel in London. The topic was (unsurprisingly) AI and how it had affected our operating models. I enjoyed it. There was an even split of optimism vs pessimism on a future with AI. We had a good cross-section of ten friendly leaders, and I was pleased that I held my own in the discussions, coming away with some potentially valuable new connections. Even though it’s an expensive slog travelling into town, it was worth the effort building up my network.

For the first year in a while, I didn’t watch Apple’s annual iPhone event live, but I caught up after. The Duo is fascinating, as much for the new UI and conventions that the form factor brings as for the new hardware. It’s not for me, though. I’d prefer Apple continued iterating: I’d love to see the screen folding technology used in a smaller flip-style device. Meanwhile, my 16 Pro is fine for another year.

It was H’s first football match of the new season on Sunday. We drove him down to Barnet and met the other parents for the first time in the car park. It’s a new team and the boys are also still very new to each other. The first half was scrappy as a result, but in the second half it all started to click and they won 6-1. Early weekend kick-offs are more enjoyable when our team wins!

👦 Week 263 - Sons

Mon, 07 Sep 2026 15:25:00 GMT

The new school year began, with my boys now in years six and four. L is also back teaching on selected days, so I’ve returned to drop-off duties when she’s working. It won’t be long before neither son holds my hand on the walk to school, so I need to remember to savour it 🥹

After a week of holiday-recharging and mild excess, I had two intensive park kickarounds with H and two swims at the gym to get me back on track. My breaststroke rhythm is getting better: despite the pool traffic, I’m averaging 1,000m in 30 minutes. However, my footballing strength/speed advantage has evaporated and H is now regularly beating his old man in our 1-on-1 matches.

I joined my first CTO lunch club Zoom on Friday. Room topics were on (inevitably) AI, and finding a new job as a CTO. The attendees were friendly and had varied experience levels. After years of imposter syndrome at tech events, I’ve finally reached a stage where I’m comfortable speaking up and feel that I belong.

Two hard-fought wins for the Arsenal: away at Villa and at home against Chelsea. H was especially pleased by the latter result so that he could maintain bragging rights with the misguided group of Chelsea fans in his school class.

We took H to his youth media day at Potters Bar Town FC, his football club for the new season. After team photos, the coaches gave the parents a mild lecture on our expected behaviour(!) while the boys had mini-matches on the pitches. I skipped the parents v coaches match, sensibly leaving it to the twenty-something dads.

I ended the week with the pub quiz at The Goat. Our team was down to just four, compared to an average of eight grizzled veterans in the other teams. We finished second-from-last, winning a bag of popcorn, which I take as a moral victory.

🏖️ Week 261 - Beach

Sun, 30 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT

I’ve been away on holiday, so sorry if these weeknotes are a little late. I was a little busy holidaying.

We were in Porthtowan, a little town on the north coast of Cornwall, staying in a cottage right by the beach with my parents.

I squeezed myself into a wetsuit and surprised myself enjoying bodyboarding. The boys built sandcastles and explored the caves. We played cricket and football on the sand. And we ate hot pasties from the local shop. Perfect. More on our holiday next time.

The Premier League is back. Arsenal opened the season and continued their good form at home to Coventry. And FPL is also back. H is already obsessed.

One nice bit of site news: my work page is featured on Sifa’s integrations page.