sam's blog

This blog is closed

2008-01-11T21:50:00.000Z

This blog is closed and is no longer updated.

To contact me, please do so via Facebook using the box on the right hand side.

New camera

2007-06-08T15:38:00.000+01:00

My trusty old camera died a death in Finland in March, so I have a new one (twas an early birthday present).

Here are some trunks of trees in our garden. I took them with my new camera. Marvellous.

I arrived home from a short break in Scotland last night. More anon.

Next week...

2007-06-01T18:10:00.000+01:00

.. I shall be mostly in Scotland. I'm spending two days in Edinburgh and two days in Inverness.

I plan to make the most of my new camera and take lots of photos. Watch this space!

Changes

2007-05-22T15:18:00.000+01:00

I typed "blog" into a popular search engine, only to find the above. I think it is some sort of pie chart evaluating blog themes. I may be wrong. I think I may have covered most of the above topics at some point.

The point of this post is to introduce you to a new navigation list I have placed on the right hand side of the page. Do have a click.

My links list comprises mostly of churches at the moment, but please don't think I'm some sort of church geek. I shall add more links in due course.

I am now going to go to the post office to post something. Gone are the days when one could just put an envelope in a letter box without worrying about its size.

Links

2007-05-22T15:00:00.000+01:00

Blogs:
Tessa Bosworth
Chloe Harris
Lucy Harvey Gay
Ian Macdonald
Rachael Obin
Royston Price
James Pritchard
KT van Santen
Dave Walker
Mark Zealey

Creations:
St Mary's Billingshurst
Billingshurst Infant School
Altitude North Theatre Company

About this Blog

2007-05-22T11:28:00.000+01:00

Name: Sam Pritchard
Location: England
Currently: A student studying Geography at university.

I started this blog back in May 2005, whilst I was still at school.

If you want to get in touch, you can find me on Facebook (see the Facebook "badge" on the right).

CRE

2007-05-19T13:50:00.000+01:00

I went to the CRE (National Christian Resources Exhibition) at Sandown Park yesterday. It was GREAT - hundreds upon hundreds of companies were exhibiting, and there were a number of interesting seminars too.

Although church numbers are dwindling in the UK, the decline is "pulling out of the nosedive" and there are signs of hope all over the place. The resources on display included many brilliant and varied ways of making church more relevant in the 21st century. Now I'm full of ideas...

Ryanair Sale

2007-05-17T10:16:00.000+01:00

Those who know me will know I quite enjoy taking advantage of uber cheap fares and flying all over the place. In all my time flying though, I have never seen a sale quite like the one Ryanair are currently offering.

In a nutshell, you can get a return flight for two pence, inclusive of all taxes, fees and charges.

This is how to do it:
1. Go to the Ryanair website.
2. Click on the line that says "1 million free seats. Click here for availability".
3. Read through the PDF file and find a route and a month that has "good availability" in a green box. The only routes included in this deal are the ones in the PDF file.
4. Follow the instructions to book through the Ryanair booking system on the homepage.
5. When it gets to naming the passengers, make sure you click "0 bags", then read the sentence that appears and click "Remove". Also, select "No Travel Insurance required".
6. When you pay, the card administration fee will be removed.

The total cost will be displayed on the confirmation page. It won't be more than a penny per person per flight.

Book as many flights as possible - if you don't use them, you only lose a penny per flight! You could find a penny on the pavement...

Madeleine McCann

2007-05-16T15:55:00.000+01:00

13 days have now passed since British toddler Madeleine McCann was abducted from an apartment in Portugal.

One can not imagine the pain and grief her family are going through. The longer this ordeal goes on, the less likely it seems she will be found alive.

We don't know exactly what happened, but whoever is responsible for this is extremely sick and twisted.

It is difficult to know what to do in this sort of situation. One thing that has struck me, however, is how the British people have done everything they can to help to find her and support her family. Holidaymakers in Portugal have helped with the search and, today, MPs from the major parties stood in support in Parliament.

I think there are two things that everyone can do. If you pray, pray for her family and all involved in the investigation. Pray for her safety if she is still alive. Secondly, the general public can give financially from tomorrow. Details are at The Madeleine Fund website.

We should also not forget the journalist Alan Johnston, who was abducted in Gaza some 65 days ago. Again, we don't know where he is, or even whether he is still alive.

It is truly shocking to think that anyone would want to abduct others.

While in Leeds...

2007-05-15T16:59:00.000+01:00

... I occasionally write for the BBC Leeds website.

See my articles here, here, here and here.

They are not the most interesting articles ever written, but the BBC Leeds website readers seem to like them.

In other news, I completed my second exam of the season today and only have one left, on the 3oth. I shall be moving out of my house in Leeds on Thursday.

Eurovision

2007-05-12T12:00:00.000+01:00

This, ladies and gentlemen, is the Hartwall Arena in Helsinki, Finland. I took the photo when I went to see an Ice Hockey match there last month.

Tonight, the very same venue will be used for the annual Eurovision Song Contest. Marvellous.

I may well be tuning in to hear some of Mr Wogan's humorous commentary.

Naturally, we won't win, but never mind. Maybe the Irish might vote for us...

Summer 2007

2007-05-11T19:54:00.000+01:00

The cartoon in the previous post sums up my week rather well....

I have made a (little) start to the revision though. My first two exams are this Monday and Tuesday, then I have one more on the 30th.

Do watch this blog once the first two exams are out of the way - I am hoping to be more regular with the blog updates this summer. I have a new camera (since my old one died a death in Helsinki last month), so I hope to provide some snaps too.

This summer I am doing a number of rather exciting things: the children's holiday club at my home church in the May half term, a trip to Scotland with James, a few days in Spain, and a fortnight in Wales are the highlights at the beginning, then.. (wait for it)... for the first time ever, I am going to have a job from July onwards.

I shall leave you guessing the location of the job....

Revision

2007-05-08T12:58:00.000+01:00

Cartoon by Dave Walker. Find more cartoons you can freely re-use on your blog at We Blog Cartoons.

Back on the blog

2007-05-07T12:15:00.000+01:00

I've promised myself I'm going to write more on this blog this summer. Just bear with me while I get my coursework and exams out of the way!

I just wanted to write a few thoughts on the outgoing PM....

This week, Tony Blair will resign as Prime Minister. John Prescott, his deputy, has already announced he will be stepping down with Mr Blair. At the weekend, the Home Secretary, John Reid, also announced he would go with them.

It seems to me they're falling like dominoes! I expect more of the Cabinet will go too.

I just wonder whether they're all getting out before the truth comes out... which begs the question, "what are they hiding?"

Spelling

2007-02-28T21:02:00.000Z

Olny srmat poelpe can raed tihs.

I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm.

Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Amzanig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt!

In the news: Climate change

2007-01-29T18:37:00.000Z

Climate change has been a hot topic (excuse the pun) for a while now. On Thursday of this week, Gordon Brown will double Air Passenger Duty on all flights departing the UK in an attempt to curb the steep increase in air travel demand.

You might not be surprised to hear that I am wholly against this extra tax, as (I believe) it is a lazy decision to get the environmentalist vote.

I'm flying from Leeds to Southampton next week and, a couple of days ago, I got an email from Flybe telling me I had to pay £5 extra. Naturally, I paid straight away, but it is pretty shocking. I mean, what is Gordon going to do with my £5? Improve the environment? I'd be surprised. If the government hadn't made such a mess of the railways in the first place, I would probably be taking the train rather than the plane anyway (more on that later).

Let's look at the facts. Air travel contributes just 1.6 per cent of global emissions, compared with road travel at 10 per cent, industry at 14 per cent, deforestation at 18 per cent and electricity generation at a whopping 24 per cent.

Surely decreasing the amount of deforestation in countries such as Brazil and Indonesia would be a far better way of decreasing emissions?

As it happens, air travel has become far cleaner as technology has improved, and will continue to become cleaner. Larger planes such as the Airbus A380 will mean less flights will need to be made between key world cities, so efficient hub and spoke networks can be created. Planes give off far less pollution and are much quieter than they once were. The effort to reduce the environmental impacts of aviation continues and, still, the environmentalists aren't bothered.

Air travel is vital for the global economy - and not just the economies of developed countries. Just imagine if, for example, due to new taxes, people could no longer afford to fly to places such as Uganda. Nowadays, Uganda depends on tourism for its wellbeing. If tourism died, then the country would struggle even more.

From my point of view, air travel is faster, cheaper and far more comfortable than any other form of transport. If we return to my Leeds to Southampton example, I shall tell you why I prefer to fly. Firstly, the door to door journey time is quicker; secondly, I am guaranteed a seat; and thirdly, I have had too many bad experiences with trains recently (I missed most of my dad's Induction service last January and I nearly missed a wedding in Birmingham in November thanks to the trains).

As an aside, I strongly believe the railways in this country are a shambles because the government is regulating far too much, so a franchise agreement has become a contract with the government to do exactly what they want for a few years. If rail operators had more freedom, there would be more competition which, in turn, would create efficiency and reliability. But perhaps we should leave that discussion to another post.

Back to climate change. I am going to continue to fly and I will not let the increased APD put me off. In the UK, I will take the trains more regularly when they become cheaper, more reliable and more comfortable. I don't see that happening under this interfering government.

Interestingly, in increasing APD, the government have only made air travel less affordable for the less affluent, whilst hardly influencing the decisions of more affluent frequent flyers. Socialists my a***.

An article I read in The Times recently really summed up some greens: "Many so called greens are really only puritan ideologues who care more about curbing what they see as selfish capitalist lifestyles than they do about controlling climate change".

In conclusion, let us all follow Mr Blair's lead and continue to jet off to Florida for our holidays.

2006: a year in review

2006-12-31T22:13:00.001Z

Although my blog has been somewhat neglected of late, I feel the need to quickly reflect on this year, before 2007 arrives, in less than two hours.

I suppose a good starting point would be January. Cast your minds back to Wednesday 11th January 2006. I had an afternoon exam in Leeds (having only been back for two days), and was due in Billingshurst for my dad's induction in the evening. The day was all planned out; I knew my train times off by heart and my cousin was going to meet me at the train station to drive me at speed to the church, just in time. Unfortunately, my first train was cancelled so, to cut a long story short, I arrived at the church within minutes of the service ending. I was gutted to have missed one of the family's most important events, but at least I didn't miss it all, and at least that day was the beginning of an exciting time in Sussex.

Since we moved into the Vicarage in December last year, I now consider this part of the world to be home. 2006 has been an interesting year in the life of the church; a worship band has formed and, with which, we started a new service in September. Now, at last, many new families have joined the congregation. I have got to know lots of members of the church, and it is really super to be surrounded by such kind and generous people. We held a successful holiday club in May and, in September, a Youth Worker was appointed onto the staff.

Life in Leeds has also been exciting. Now in my second year, I know my friends much better and my friendship group is a lot closer. My course is going well and I can't believe I am now halfway through my degree; in just 18 months I will join the big wide world. My church in Leeds, St George's, has seen enormous growth during the year, and I have got involved on the AV team, providing visuals for services.

We had two graduations in the family this year. In April, my dad graduated with a degree in Theology from the Open University. We went to the ceremony in the Brighton Dome, which was rather fun. James graduated with a BA Hons in Physics from Oxford in October.

My love of travelling has blossomed this year. I've enjoyed Cyprus, Italy, Germany, Spain, Ireland and France, and I have trips to China, Finland and Switzerland already in the diary for 2007. Closer to home, I've attended various "get togethers" in Oxford, Surrey, London, Gloucester, Northamptonshire, Cambridge, Newbury and Birmingham during 2006. The latter two were for weddings.

For my 19th birthday in June, we spent the day at the South of England Show in Ardingly, not far from here. It was an absolute scorcher of a day (as was much of the summer actually; 36.3 degrees was recorded just up the road at Gatwick at one point) and we enjoyed watching dressage and the famous cattle parade.

The main family holiday this year was during the first two weeks of July, in Cyprus. We had a rather eventful journey over there, getting diverted to the other side of the island due to a crash.

In August, I was on the night stewarding team at Soul Survivor down in Somerset. It was great to see the other side of the festival, whilst enjoying the best of the day as a delegate too.

As a family, we continue to retreat to our quiet cottage in Pembrokeshire on a regular basis. We've been there countless times during the year, and even managed to fit in some coastal walking whilst in the area. Also with the family, we've sampled the delights of the Sussex countryside and have made a couple of flying visits to the Isle of Wight.

Last week, we celebrated Christmas with nearly a thousand people passing through the church doors over seven services on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. After the services were over, we spent Christmas Day and Boxing Day with relatives in various parts of Surrey. My cousin was keen to play the tape of The Queen's Speech when we arrived. We then found out it was because he was on it conducting the choir!

Tonight the year comes to an end. 2006 has been a good one.

What about 2007? At the moment, my prime concern is my exams that begin next week. I have done absolutely no preparation so far, but there we are. This summer, I'm looking to take a step into paid employment for the first time in my life. Top of the list at the moment is helping out at the Royal residences whilst they are open to visitors. But we shall see!

Happy New Year.

Ireland

2006-11-23T17:54:00.000Z

I went to Dublin with eight uni friends yesterday.

It was my third attempt to get to Ireland, yesterday's trip being the most successful. The first time we flew to Waterford but, due to bad weather, had to fly back again soon after landing. The second time, in August this year, I was planning to spend time in Dublin and Shannon, but my flights were cancelled due to the terrorist alert.

All nine of us flew out from Leeds yesterday. We mooched around Dublin city for most of the day, taking in sights such as Dublin Castle, St Patrick's Cathedral, St Stephen's Green, O'Connell Street, Temple Bar, and a traditional Irish pub, where we sampled the local Guinness and Baileys (both of which are much smoother in Dublin!). All in all, a super day.

I won a "free" return flight with Ryanair in a raffle on the flight back to the UK last night. I'm not going to use the voucher because I would have to pay taxes myself. Frequent flyers on Ryanair will know all flights are around one pence, and the "taxes" are the actual cost of the ticket. So if anyone wants two pence off a Ryanair flight, then let me know! I wouldn't recommend Ryanair though.

A nice day in Nice

2006-11-12T13:19:00.000Z

Just had a great weekend... went to see Borat (not as good as I'd hoped) in Crawley on Friday night, then flew down to Nice on Saturday (see Facebook for the photos), and played my trumpet at the Remembrance Sunday service at church this morning.

The above photo is Casino Square in Monte Carlo; where we spent a couple of hours yesterday.

Songs of Praise

2006-11-05T11:46:00.000Z

There's a lot going on in the world today.

Saddam Hussein has been sentenced to the death penalty. I'm not entirely sure what I think of the death penalty. I believe murder is wrong, but I also think his actions (which included murder) were wrong.

Also in the news is the Bishop of Rochester, who attacked Muslim hypocrisy in the Sunday Times today. Interestingly, he went one further than his boss by saying he could "see nothing in Islam that prescribes the wearing of the full face veil". Excuse my name dropping, but I had dinner with the Bishop of Rochester at high table at St Edmund Hall, Oxford not so long ago. Although he had minor trouble operating the coffee machine, he certainly knows his stuff. His father is a recent convert from Islam too.

I've got a lot of time for the Bishop of Rochester. Back in June, he said in response to issues raised by liberal Christians "the right choice is in line with the Bible and the Church's teaching down the ages, not some new-fangled religion we have invented to respond to the 21st Century". Hear hear!

Meanwhile, some good uni friends of mine are the backing band for Jane Kitson on Songs of Praise today. Make sure you tune in to BBC One at 6:10 pm later. Also on the program tonight are Phatfish from CCK.

I listened to Sunday Worship from Leeds Parish Church on Radio 4 this morning. I was pleasantly surprised; I must go to Evensong at the Parish Church at some point.

Today's picture is of a Greek Orthodox Church near Polis, Cyprus.

Hope HIV

2006-10-29T16:42:00.000Z

It isn't even 5:00 pm and it is nearly completely dark. How depressing!

Anywho, I went to an absolutely super gig in Bradford last night (see previous post). Tim Hughes and Delirious were really good. The songs, the lights, the visuals, the atmosphere, the crowd... all were just amazing.

The thing I love about going to Christian gigs is the overall focus. I don't understand people lifting their hands high in secular gigs; are they worshipping the people on stage? Last night, all 2,500 people in the hall were lifting their hands high in worship of their Creator. You can't beat that.

In between the two sets, the Founder of Hope HIV came on stage. Even though you probably won't have seen his presentation, may I suggest you do the following right now.

Donate £3 to Hope HIV by texting HHIV to 84858.

Delirious?

2006-10-25T13:57:00.000+01:00

I booked tickets last night to see Delirious on Saturday night. Should be good! It will be the second time I've seen Delirious live, the last time being a small acoustic gig in HMV Southampton.

Worship leader Tim Hughes will be opening the evening, and both acts will be playing tracks from their new albums.

If you'd like to see Delirious and Tim Hughes this weekend, you can catch them in Manchester on Friday and Maidstone on Monday. They'll be supported by Hillsong worship leader Reuben Morgan in London on Tuesday and Reading on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, I've been working on essays today. I've nearly finished one... two to go.

James's Graduation

2006-10-21T20:05:00.000+01:00

Twas a super day today. It was James's Graduation. He is now officially:

James Pritchard BA Hons (Oxon)

Marvellous.

The last couple of days have been rather hectic. We went to Newbury yesterday to inspect our old house (the tennants have recently moved out), before going on to Swindon train station to pick up James off a train from Bath. From there, we drove to this hotel in Shipton under Wychwood, Oxfordshire, where we dined and spent the night.

After breakfast this morning, we went in to Oxford for the graduation itself in the Sheldonian. In true Oxford style, the ceremony was conducted in Latin. There was no faffing about; it was all good and proper.

Brasenose College treated us to a delicious lunch with equally delicious wine, before we went over to University College for the official photos. The photo above we took before lunch in the quad at Brasenose (and so is not an "official" photo, as you can see).

This afternoon consisted of being mistaken for a shop assistant whilst trying on jackets in Ede and Ravenscroft on the High in Oxford and (gently) bumping a lady's estate in the car park of Waitrose Newbury.

And now we're back in Billingshurst, and I must dash because I'm meeting a group of friends at a pub in ten minutes.

The Weekend

2006-10-16T12:48:00.000+01:00

The trouble with a blog is that one can't always say what they want to say. You never know what Tom, Dick or Harry might see, find out or get offended by. That is one of the reasons why my blogging was sparse during the summer; I always had a lot to say but, for various reasons, I couldn't publish my thoughts and feelings (or lack thereof) here.

And so, once more, I'm at that junction again. There's a lot I could say, but I shall refrain.

Anyway, back to the post in question. I've just had a somewhat busy weekend. I toodled up to see a friend in York for 24 hours, which was rather fun. We mooched around the city, took in some of the sights and, on Saturday evening, went to the York Uni CU (which seems a lot more organised than the Leeds equivalent, but there we are).

Yesterday afternoon, after a wander in the Minster gardens adjacent to York Minster (I took the photo above in January) I got the train back to Leeds, and worked the visuals at the evening service at this church, which is the church I attend when I'm in Leeds. It was rather fun because a new sound system has just been installed, meaning the worship band were sounding really really good. The visual set up is already quite advanced, with a large screen projection and two plasmas.

Today I got up for a 9 o clock lecture (never ideal), and I will shortly be going back into uni for another lecture, then it is choir practise this evening.

Sunrise

2006-10-14T10:44:00.000+01:00

When I restarted blogging this term, I'd planned to share some of my holiday snaps from this summer. I've now realised I never did that really. So here's a sunrise shot.

Taken at 5:57 am (3:57 UK time) from our villa in Cyprus.

Do you like the way I angled it so the sunlight shines through the lamp that is actually off? Genius I say.

Meanwhile, I'm about to leave for York, which is where I'm spending the next 24 hours. My friend Hannah is at York Uni, so I shall be visiting her.

Then I've got Monday and Tuesday in Uni here, before I go home for a few days on Wednesday.

Veils

2006-10-11T17:39:00.000+01:00

I found Jack Straw's comments about Muslim women wearing veils very interesting.

I have to say I agree with him. A significant percentage of communication is non verbal, so when communicating with Muslim women in person, it would be helpful if they removed their veil.

The uproar his comments created was completely unnecessary. It wasn't an offensive comment, just a sensible suggestion. And yet, I have seen numerous bits of publicity from various left wing sources calling Jack Straw a racist. How on earth do his comments make him a racist?

If I wanted to go into a Mosque, I would take off my shoes as a mark of respect for their traditions.

If a Muslim woman wants to communicate in person with anyone, she should take off her veil as a mark of respect - otherwise she will be hindering communication. As Jack Straw said himself: "I felt uncomfortable about talking to someone face-to-face who I could not see".

Yorkshire Dales

2006-10-08T14:09:00.000+01:00

My godfather and his wife came up from Gloucestershire to visit me this weekend. Yesterday, we took in some of the sights of the more upmarket areas nearby.

We walked from the Chevin Forest (near Otley) along Ilkley Moor, before stopping for a rather substantial lunch here. The above photo is the Cow and Calf Rocks, which are on the Moor itself.

In the afternoon, we walked the river valley to a village called Addingham (where the Old Rectory has just changed hands for £2.5 mil).

Ilkley and Addingham are both picturesque settlements; both in terms of location and buildings, and car ownership (Aston Martins, TVRs and Merc's filled up most of the streets).

Last night we dined in Leeds city centre, and this morning we went to church before lunching out.

Islam

2006-10-05T13:19:00.000+01:00

This man is Jay Smith; a Christian who has studied Islam for 25 years. He came to speak to the Christian Union at Leeds Uni last night.

I found his talk very interesting, and he provided much food for thought. To be honest, I knew very little about Islam before yesterday, so it was extremely helpful finding out more. He read out sections of the Qu'ran, whilst sharing stories about how his Muslim friends live.

Islam is becoming an increasingly relevant topic of debate in this country, as it closely relates to recent acts of terrorism, and the number of Muslims living here is growing all the time.

So, as Christians, what should we do?

Smith said we have to stand up for what we believe, because if we don't, then the threat of Islam will just become greater. We find it difficult to stand up for what we believe because we're scared we will be attacked for it.

The Muslim reaction to the Pope's recent comments showed how Muslims are trying to scare Christians. We just accept it and apologise whenever we "offend". They can offend us but don't have to apologise. Surely that is not fair?

Meanwhile, I've got flu, so I've spent most of the day in bed. Not nice!

Bargain!

2006-10-04T12:40:00.000+01:00

I was due to fly between Shannon (Ireland) and London on 10th August this year, but my flight was cancelled due to the terrorist threat.

Naturally, I applied to Easyjet for a refund. Not only am I going to get a full refund, but they also gave me a £25 flight voucher, as an apology for taking two months to refund the cash.

So... for a total of £17.69 (including taxes, fees, charges etc) I have just purchased a return flight with a friend for when I'm home for reading week in November. I am going (for the day) to the place pictured above. Anyone guess where it is?

That price is cheaper than a single train ticket between uni and home!

Meanwhile, Ryanair have a sale on at the moment. You can fly anywhere in their network for £10 each way (including taxes and all). Am currently thinking of spending a day in Dublin with some uni friends.

Bargain.

Some Links

2006-09-30T12:01:00.000+01:00

Time for some links I think. Have a look at some of these:

Chloe Harris' Travel Blog. A friend of mine from Uni who is spending her second year abroad, in Beijing, is writing a blog while she is there.

WebCameron. A new, absolutely hilarious site from the Conservative Party. The videos are second to none.

Worship Central (pictured). A scheme run by Soul Survivor and Holy Trinity Brompton, where worship leaders and musicians from churches around the UK can be trained and equipped. The acoustic songs are rather good, as is the podcast.

Richard Hammond

2006-09-28T11:02:00.000+01:00

Top Gear presenter Richard Hammond has just left Leeds General Infirmary for the journey by helicopter to Leeds Bradford Airport before being flown down south, where he will be taken to a Bupa hospital in Bristol. He is expected to make a full recovery following his crash near York last week.

Does that beat my long ambulance journey from Wrexham to Reading in 1998? Probably.

Anyway, I visited the Leeds General Infirmary during my lunch break on Monday. It was ever so funny. My aim was to see if there was anything to see; TV crews or similar.

I strolled down to the main entrance, only to find everyone was staring at me as I walked in. I thought I might look suspicious if I just turned around and left, so I carried on strolling through the main entrance as if I owned the place. My mission from then on was to find another exit, somewhere else in the hospital, just so the staring clan didn't see me again.

I wandered round for ages trying to get out... through wards, the X-Ray department and right past the waiting room for the Gynaecology unit (full of nervous women).

Once I had almost collided with a fast moving bed, I eventually found a map on the wall. I had to go down one floor and follow the corridor round to get out.

I got out and continued my stroll to M&S to purchase my lunch. I never did see any of the Top Gear presenters or any TV crews.

Ah well.

Back to Leeds

2006-09-24T11:45:00.000+01:00

This photo is of the swimming pool at the hotel we stayed in in Cyprus back in July. It has absolutely no relevance whatsoever to this post, but there we are.

Anywho, I am now back in Leeds ready for the Michaelmas Term 2006, which begins in force tomorrow. I'm now residing in a student house, rather than halls like last year, so that is rather good.

Leeds is most bizarre; I haven't been here for four months. Everyone and everything has changed - to add to that, a significant few of my friends are studying or working abroad this year. Most odd. I'm sure I will get back to the swing of things in a few days.

On a lighter note, I've booked a few flights in the past few days. During the Easter holidays next year, I'm going to Zurich with a few friends from school, and I'm going to Helsinki on a Geography Field Trip. Both are destinations I haven't been to before, so that will be super.

I also booked my train ticket down south for James's graduation in Oxford in a few weeks time. Exciting stuff.

Bognor Regis

2006-09-22T12:19:00.000+01:00

For the first time since moving to Sussex nine months ago, we took a trip down to the tourist hotspot that is Bognor Regis on Wednesday. Well, what a location for a summer holiday. It was a little on the windy side and a little "past season", but it was fun nevertheless.

Above is James, his friend Jo and my mother strolling down the pebbles towards sand.

I did think (for a brief moment) I might join BRAAS, when I saw this sign on the beach.

It's the Bognor Regis Amateur Angling Society, for those who have never heard of it.

Lovely.

Le Touquet

2006-09-19T17:25:00.000+01:00

For the last time this summer, the family went on a daytrip yesterday. We went to France; to the small coastal town of Le Touquet, near Boulogne. Naturally, we flew.

The flight time from Popham (an airfield near Basingstoke, where the plane is based) took about an hour and 20 minutes. The route took us over Hampshire, West Sussex, and we left the English coastline behind at Eastbourne, East Sussex.

After arrival in Le Touquet, we took a stroll through the leafy residential streets (past some enormous second homes of Parisian businessmen) before sitting in a beachside cafe with a coffee. On the way back through the shopping district, James had a crepe and the rest of us had blackcurrant ice cream. Mmmm.

Welcome to the new blog

2006-09-17T19:40:00.000+01:00

After much to-ing and fro-ing this summer, I have once again returned to the blogosphere.

Readers may/will be pleased to know I have decided against deleting this blog, which had crossed my mind a couple of times. This season, I think I'm going to experiment more with what I write about. I get the feeling my constant political stabbing was getting boring, so I'm going to write more about life in general; mine in particular.

The old green, blue and orange template was getting tired, so I have made the most of Blogger Beta and have had a little go at designing this page myself. I'm rather pleased with the digital clock (top right), and the retro style fonts. However, I can't seem to create links without them underlining themselves.

Oh, and I thought I would make the blog more "pleasing" to the eye by adding a photo to every post. Above is a shot of my church I just took from my bedroom window.

Soul Survivor

2006-09-15T16:38:00.000+01:00

I've been to Soul Survivor a number of times before as a delegate, but this year, a friend from university and I decided to sign up on a team for Week B. We were two of some 120 stewards making sure the site was secure and making sure all 12,000 delegates were doing what they were supposed to be doing. As night stewards, our shifts were from 9:00 pm until 9:00 am, so we were absolutely exhausted by the end.

We very much enjoyed ourselves. With trendy yellow jackets and earpieces, our duties included guarding the big top and its contents, patrolling the site, crowd control, guarding the entry points to the site, and helping out with incidents (of which there were many).

Summer 2006

2006-08-12T14:48:00.000+01:00

At last.. I have found the time to blog.

Well, here I am. I've been off Uni since 25th May and I'm not going back for the new term until 20th September, so this summer has been the longest I've had in a while.

So what have I been doing?

I've helped at the church holiday club, I've had my passport stolen in Milan, I've managed to get a new one in time for a two week holiday in Cyprus, I've redesigned the church website and various other publicity, I've worked in the local Infant School, I've spent a few days in Wales, I've travelled round the country seeing friends (including Newbury for the first time since moving away) and I've tried to go to Ireland but went no further than Gatwick thanks to the terror alert.

Tomorrow, I'm off to be a steward at Soul Survivor Week B in Somerset, then I'm going to straight to Northamptonshire for a party, then it's back home to Sussex for 48 hours before heading west to Wales again.

The plan is to resume normal blogging in September...

New Church Website

2006-07-24T19:39:00.000+01:00

I've redesigned our church website. Do let me know what you think:

www.stmarysbillingshurst.org

Service Resumes

2006-07-24T19:31:00.000+01:00

After a somewhat extended break from this site, I've decided to restart once more.

Whilst my blog has been neglected, James's blog still carries on, with all sorts of interesting travel articles from Cyprus, Shetland and, next week, Italy. Do take a look.

Milan Madness

2006-06-14T12:50:00.000+01:00

I'm writing this from home. You might not think that is such a big deal. But I do.

Basically.... my passport was lost/stolen in Italy yesterday and it took a few conversations with the airline, Italian immigration and British immigration to persuade them to let fly back to the UK last night.

To add to the drama, I'm going to Cyprus in a fortnight and I now have no passport to do so. We're trying our best to get me a passport as soon as possible.

It turns out the cost of a new passport is higher than the entire cost of the trip to Italy.

Good stuff.

Other than that, Humphrey and I had a marvellous time in Italy and we're off to London in a bit to meet a couple of other chaps to celebrate my birthday at the club.

19

2006-06-09T09:22:00.000+01:00

Time flies! Doesn't seem like a year ago I turned 18...

Super Week

2006-06-08T22:40:00.000+01:00

Bet you can't guess what this is!

Being a human geographer, I'm not really clued up with my physical geography features, but I'm pretty sure it is some kind of boggy river mouth beach type thing. Whatever it is, it does look rather arty!

I took the photo out of the plane when we flew back from the Isle of Wight on Monday. It is on the western end of the Sussex coastline, near Bognor Regis. We flew to the Isle of Wight for a spot of lunch and a stroll on the beach, before taking in the sights of Hampshire, the Solent and West Sussex from the air.

Yesterday, Dan (a cousin of mine) popped over to help with some gardening. We had all sorts of fun with a few strimmers and a chain saw. One of the wooded areas in the south side of the garden is looking a lot tider now.

Today I met Chloe (one of my uni friends) in London for lunch at the club. It was super fun; she landed this morning from a short break in New York. After lunch, we had a good stroll around London, having a little nose at Buckingham Palace, Piccadilly, Covent Garden, Westminster and we spent at least an hour drinking Pimms on the South Bank... good stuff. We even saw Moira Stewart walking into a shoe shop; quite extraordinary.

Holiday Club

2006-06-01T16:14:00.000+01:00

I've been helping at the church holiday club this week, which has been marvellous fun. Brill kids, brill helpers and brill activities. We've done all sorts of things including songs, games, cooking, crafts, dance and stories.

We had over thirty children between the ages of 5 and 7 on all three days, and they all seemed to love it.

Plans are already underway for the next one!

In The News

2006-05-31T22:09:00.000+01:00

James has commented rather a lot on various things in the news recently, so I thought the time had come to air my views on a number of topics.

Prescott has given up one of his free houses. Mr Prescott said his use of the house was "getting in the way of doing my job in government" and that it was his "personal decision" to stop using it.

Like anyone is going to believe that! He still needs to give up his title, his large pay and his cars because he hasn't got a department to look after. But I suppose it doesn't matter if everything isn't fair and equal in the Labour party - I mean they're only socialists.

Chavs in Kent mean North Yorkshire is more beautiful. Respondents felt Kent had lost some of its charm due to the number of London commuters in the county, the impact of Eurostar trains travelling through the countryside and the negative effect of chavs. Chavs tend to be recognised by their cheap gold jewellery and distinctive dress code, often consisting of a Burberry baseball cap, branded sportswear and trainers.

Deary me, these chavs are spreading all over the place. It is so sad that so many people have made themselves fit into the chav stereotype - I imagine most of them would be nice normal kids if it wasn't for their shocking upbringing.

Lecturers reject latest pay offer. "This dispute could seriously worsen if employers do not take account of the mood of lecturers who have seen promise after promise to improve their pay broken - even despite the billions of pounds of new money entering higher education this year" says Bill Rammell, Higher Education Minister.

I think there are two problems here. Firstly, the government intervened with the whole university finance system, which mean universities now have to follow strict rules as to where their money can go. This was a huge mistake as universities can no longer determine what their staff get paid. Again, the government intervene and mess things up - as happens in all sorts of things. Secondly, the lecturers are being extremely selfish and think striking is the only way to get a pay increase; which I think is outrageous. Thousands of students may not graduate thanks to a few selfish individuals. So if the government stop messing about with the system then the lecturers won't feel they have to strike.

Unmarried couples get more rights. Unmarried couples who live together could win rights to share each other's wealth if they split up under proposals being unveiled.

Another step on the road to destroying family values. It is very sad if no-one can commit to each other anymore; and this only provides another incentive for not getting married.

DVLA Warning

2006-05-29T15:23:00.000+01:00

"The DVLA have today issued a new safety measure.

For the safety of others, poor drivers are now required to attach a flag to their car. The flag must be white with a red cross.

Two flags must be attached if the driver is exceedingly bad".

Exam 3

2006-05-29T15:04:00.001+01:00

I had my last exam on Thursday. It was absolutely shocking. We had to answer 50 multiple choice questions (not having ever done a multiple choice exam in my life, I thought it would be easy), but it was incredibly difficult. Then there was an essay question, which didn't go much better.

However... most people found the exam hard so it wasn't just me! As none of my modules have anything to do with what we were examined on on Thursday, it doesn't really matter anyway.

I'm now back at home, at the beginning of my nice and long summer. Good stuff.

On Saturday I spent the day at a Youth Festival at Plumpton Racecourse (near Haywards Heath), which was rather fun. I got to see what the youth of Billingshurst had grown up with, so that was useful. Shortfall led the worship who weren't bad at all. I also got to meet the new Chichester Diocesan Youth Adviser. All in all, a good day out.

Sunday saw the Obin family (friends from Newbury) make a visit to Billingshurst, which was marvellous. They stayed all day; for the main church service in the morning (which was uber dreary this week, but hopefully that will be sorted soon), then for lunch, then for the Informal Worship and Prayer service for the holiday club. Super.

The house is currently swamped with holiday club stuff as for three days this week (starting tomorrow) the church are running a half term holiday club for 5 to 7 year olds. So we're all busy busy. It's going to be great fun though, and, so far, we have a decent number of children registered.

Exam 2

2006-05-23T22:23:00.000+01:00

I had my Transport exam this afternoon. Much as I'm sure you would all like to have a nose at the questions, I can't write them on here because they took in the exam papers. Overall, the questions were fine and I'm quietly confident.

Now I've just got to worry about Thursday's exam... which will not be easy.

I read this in the news the other day. It's all about changing the way applicants apply to university. Personally, I think the system needs to change. I say scrap AS Levels so students can spend more time in their first year of sixth form to concentrate on university applications. Thus, making a more informed decision (rather than just choosing a university by the content on the website). The idea of moving A Levels earlier and delaying the start of unversity (giving an absurdly long summer) seems most bizarre.

Meanwhile, cast your mind back to here. On 4th March, Humphrey travelled out to Sri Lanka. He as since worked incredibly hard and landed back on English soil last Saturday. He was planning to return in June, but due to the political situation he had to return a few weeks early. But I'm sure it was for the best.

I shall be seeing him in a few weeks - in Milan, London and Cambridge.

Marvellous.

Exam 1

2006-05-22T20:05:00.000+01:00

I had my first exam today. Have a little look at these questions...

1. Leeds has always managed to adapt to changing economic circumstances. Does the evidence support this assertion?

2. Examine the significance of territory for social groups living in the city, with reference to specific examples.

We had 45 minutes to do each question and, overall, I think I did OK. I only need to pass because these results don't go towards my final degree, and I think I've probably passed.

One down, two to go.

Eurovision

2006-05-21T09:19:00.000+01:00

I caught the end of the Eurovision Song Contest when I got back last night. You've gotta love it. Cheesy music, Europeans trying to speak each other's languages, Terry Wogan's hilarious sarcasm and results that have absolutely nothing to do with the songs.

I found the costumes of the winning band somewhat disturbing; quite extraordinary how they managed to win it.

I just love it when the countries give each other points. "I'm giving twelve points to --- because they're our neighbours/they helped us in the war/they speak the same language as us... ".

The German chap on the horse got the prize for the most original costume I'd say.

Meanwhile, today is my last Sunday in halls.... ever! I can't believe how fast this academic year has gone. My exams start tomorrow and finish on Thursday, by which time I will have completed one third of my University course.

Better crack on with the revision...

A380 lands in London

2006-05-18T16:42:00.000+01:00

The world's largest passenger jet made it's first visit to the UK today, ahead of its entry into service with Singapore Airlines in December.

The environmentalists have been up in arms for most of the day. I found the following comment on the BBC News Have Your Say section that sums them up quite well:

"To all the lentil-eating, tree-hugging, sandal wearing, bicycle-riding lefties complaining about this plane. Think for a moment how your itchy bolivian hemp underpants and organic hand-reared nicaraguan pumpkin seeds get here.

They're flown in! The use of larger planes to carry people and freight is better than lots more smaller planes and runways. Air travel will increase regardless of how many bulldozers you lie in front of or trees you climb".

Do these "green" people not realise that the A380 will actually be a significant improvement in terms of environmental impact? It is one of the most fuel efficient aircraft in the world, and it's size will enable more people and cargo to travel on the same service.

I travelled between Hong Kong and London last July. There were at least five aircraft going to London that left Hong Kong within an hour. With the introduction of the A380, the same number of passengers and cargo can be carried, but on a fewer number of planes. Thus being more environmentally friendly.

I bet Ming and his cronies would complain if they couldn't drink coffee, eat bananas, go to a meeting in Brussels, go on holiday and, infact, do virtually anything nowadays. Air travel needs to exist to make it all possible.

I'm looking forward to travelling on the Airbus A380 sometime in the next few years.

The Weekend

2006-05-15T15:03:00.000+01:00

Just had a marvellous weekend.

Saturday was Sian's (a friend from Newbury who is also at uni in Leeds) 20th birthday so a group of us went out for a slap up meal at Est Est Est, a brilliant Italian. The service was very slow, but that didn't matter because we could all have a good chin wag; and when the food did come it was absolutely delicious.

On Sunday I visited Hannah (another friend from Newbury) in York. We spent most of the afternoon in Caffe Nero, before purchasing a few goodies from Betty's. Last night we went to Hannah's church, St Michael le Belfrey, which was brilliant (the website doesn't really do it justice if you've clicked). Good teaching, good worship and a really welcoming atmosphere. There must have been about 400 or so there, which, for an evening service, isn't bad at all. The talk was on Spiritual Gifts (1 Corinthians 12) and was interesting and helpful.

Today I've spent a good four hours in the library and I have now come back to my halls for a little break before I do a bit more revision later. A week and a bit, and it will all be over!

The Apprentice

2006-05-11T08:58:00.000+01:00

After twelve weeks, The Apprentice came to an end last night.

Michelle Dewberry, a former checkout girl in a Kwik Save in Hull, got the job. She's done extremely well to go from there to a very high position in Amstrad in less than a decade. Apart from when she was running the VIP suite in New Look Oxford Street (when she was absolutely hopeless) she performed well throughout.

The runner up was Ruth Badger, who I initially thought would win because of her brilliant selling skills during the tasks. But in the end, Alan Sugar decided he needed more than just selling skills, and concluded that Michelle was more suited to the job he had in mind.

All in all, a great series! You can watch the all the episodes online here. Can't wait till the next series in February 2007...

Revision Revision Revision

2006-05-10T16:17:00.000+01:00

For the third time in a row today I was in the library revising from 9:00 am. Very keen, if you ask me.

I've got three exams this year (compared to about ten last year), which are one or two hours each (compared to three hours each last year). So technically, I have it easy. Also, my first year results are forgotten as soon as I've got them because they don't go towards my final degree mark; I just need to get 40% to be allowed back in September. So why am I even bothering to revise?! Good question.

My exams are on the 22nd, 23rd and 25th of this month.

The first is Changing Worlds Changing Places, which is all about cities, class, race and other such things. My second exam is Instruments of Transport Policy, which is all about how and why various transport policies are implemented. My last exam is Geography, Environment and Society, which is how the three connect.

Good luck to all those doing exams that are more important than mine; all you folk doing GCSEs, A Levels and Finals. Hope they go as well as they can.

Local Election Results

2006-05-06T16:06:00.000+01:00

So here's the results of the three main parties. Unsurprisingly, Labour lost a load of seats and the Conservatives gained a load. However, the Conservatives still need to work hard if they want any control in Manchester, Liverpool and Newcastle. Interestingly, The Lib Dems only gained one council overall. You'd think they'd get more votes from lefties who usually vote Labour but aren't happy with them.

Labour continues to slowly commit suicide, this time using a cabinet reshuffle, which, in my view, is completely useless as John Prescott is still there. He should join Charles Clarke in the backbenches.

Now I know a lot can happen in three years, but the BBC's prediction is very interesting.

"On the basis of results from 700 key wards the BBC projects the national share of the vote at a general election would be: 40% Conservative, 27% Liberal Democrat, 26% Labour, 7% Other".

Bear in mind that it's the number of MPs and not the share of the vote that matters, but even so, Labour have had a tremendous loss in support.

I wonder how accurate my political predictions will be.

Council Elections

2006-05-04T14:31:00.000+01:00

When there isn't a general election at the same time, turn out for council elections isn't very impressive. Let's change that today - if you have the chance to vote, go ahead and vote. You won't have a leg to stand on if you don't vote and then complain about your council's choices. Today is the chance to have your say.

Let's get to the point; British politics is in an absolute mess. Just look at John Prescott's affair, Charles Clarke's "mistake", Patricia Hewitt's absurd NHS claims, the cash for peerages row, the high taxes, the random hurling of money here and there, the high violent crime, the complete lack of respect (there are more chavs!)... the list is endless.

The Liberal Democrats are hoping to win a few more council seats today. I've lived in a Lib Dem controlled council area and it was an absolute shambles. Their decisions were short sighted and impractical. As for the party as a whole, then it is just pitiful.

The Conservatives may not be perfect either; they have had so much opportunity to stand up for what they believe and counter Labour's attacks with decent policies, but they're more worried about namby-pamby nicely nicely green issues. Even so, I believe there are still ways to improve quality of life without ripping off the tax payer. I'm not a socialist (the basis for postive discrimination) and I'm not liberal (because if "anything goes" any chance of being moral is lost).

Vote Conservative.

Midweek Ramblings

2006-05-03T13:17:00.000+01:00

How time flies.. it's Wednesday again. That can only mean one thing: Midweek Ramblings. It seems this has become a weekly event.

Tomorrow is election day for some local councils in various parts of the country. It will be interesting to see how the parties do. If you're voting, make sure you think about your council's record in your local area as well as whether you believe in the parties overall values and beliefs. So many times I've heard people say "I'm voting for him because he's quite a nice chap" or words to that effect; and then they say something at another time that completely contradicts the way they voted.

Meanwhile, we had an end of year meeting today in regard to our module choices for next year. I now have to sit down and choose my modules.... a task that will take a while!

The Apprentice continues tonight. I have yet to find out who was fired last week, but I've been watching the episode online and I'll finish it before this evening.

Hope everyone's having a good week.

Happy Birthday James

2006-05-01T09:47:00.000+01:00

James is 22 today. So Happy Birthday James. For the next few weeks he will be four years older than me; you'd never know would you?!

Meanwhile, Happy May Day everyone.

Outrageous

2006-04-28T22:06:00.000+01:00

This is absolutely pathetic. They are withdrawing trains because the lettering on their interior display boards is 3mm too short. When they withdraw the trains, there will be less services at peak times. Surely trains with slightly short interior display boards are better for disabled people than overcrowded trains?

What has this country come to?!

John Prescott

2006-04-28T16:02:00.000+01:00

Does anyone think John Prescott's affair was leaked to the media on purpose to hide the myriad of other messes Labour have got themsleves into?

Multiculturalism

2006-04-28T14:58:00.000+01:00

We were shown a really interesting video about multicultural Britain in one of our lectures this morning. It was presented by a black chap who argued that multiculturalism was supposed to get rid of racism but, instead, has made it into an industry.

In an effort to make blacks equal, he said they are often treated as victims.

Apparently, some whites are arrested for making "racist remarks" when, infact, they would have said them even if the person was white. As racism is treated in such a way, many blacks claim any abuse they receive is racist just so they seem to be on the right side of the law. This may or may not be true, but it is out of order if it does happen.

Another interesting point he made was how he believes that positive discrimination happens far too much. He recently declined to take a job he was offered because he didn't want to be a statistic. The employer admitted to offering him a significantly higher rate of pay than would have been offered if he had been white - in other words, the employer wanted to employ the chap so his company could be known as an "equal opportunities employer".

During the program he interviewed the Chief Constable of North Wales Police (who recently complained to the BBC when Anne Robinson said she wanted to put the Welsh in Room 101). The presenter told the Chief Constable a joke about the Welsh - he didn't laugh. The presenter said he was taking racism out of all proportion; his argument was that there is a difference between light hearted remarks (when offence is not intended) to remarks where offence is intented (like the recent Muhammed cartoons). Sometimes there isn't a clear divide between what's offensive and what's not, but this chap said there's something not quite right if a country isn't allowed to have fun anymore.

It was good to see an ethnic minority (as we're told to call them nowadays) talking so strongly against things I do not believe in - positive discrimination and political correctness.

Midweek Ramblings

2006-04-26T13:38:00.000+01:00

If you hadn't realised, the photo on the last post was taken in West Wales last week.

Just had a busy few days. A group of eleven from home went to Soul By The Sea in Brighton on Saturday. It was brill - Phatfish did a set, J John did an absolutely brilliant talk (he spoke for over an hour and I didn't get bored; quite extraordinary) and Matt Redman led worship (which included this rather good song).

I'm in Leeds now, which is where I'll be until 25th May, when my whopping four month summer begins. I've got lectures until the end of next week, then a bit of revision time, then three exams.

Lots of interesting stuff in the news this week: Charles Clarke has managed to lose 1,023 convicts (but Tony Blair doesn't want him to resign because 1,023 mistakes clearly isn't enough) and it turns out John Prescott has had an affair (just a couple of years after his wife was reunited with her son who she gave birth to when she was seventeen - shocking). OK, so no political party is perfect. But really.

Back to the essay...

A Nice Sunset

2006-04-22T17:12:00.000+01:00

Just got back from a rather fun week or so in Pembrokeshire and am about to leave for this in Brighton.

Our broadband router died while we were away so this is on dial-up, better make it quick! Blogging will resume normally next week.

Frankfurt

2006-04-17T12:04:00.000+01:00

At 04:40 last Tuesday morning, I woke up in a little place called Bushey in Greater London. I was staying at Oliver's (a friend from school) granny's house before Oliver and I set off for the 05:20 bus to Watford Junction. At Watford Junction we got the 05:53 bus to Heathrow Airport.

Upon arrival at Heathrow we checked in and boarded a flight to.... Frankfurt! I do like air travel; it means you can go practically anywhere in northern Europe for a day trip. And that's what we did.

I took the photo a few minutes before landing in Frankfurt. Plenty of German fields, German houses and other such German delights can be seen. Sehr gut.

As some of you may know, I'd quite like to be a commercial airline pilot when/if I grow up. So it will be come as no surprise to you that part of the day included a tour of the Lufthansa Technik Maintenence base. We got to have a good nose around all sorts of enormous aircraft - we even got to try out the massage feature of Lufthansa's business class seats! Ja.

Other highlights of the day included requesting a pork sandwich in German, along with a Ritter Sport, a bottle of Schutzmarke Mezzo Mix (Cola kusst Orange) and a copy of Gute Fahrt for James. Sehr sehr gut.

After a quite a long flight back to England (we circled north east London a few times because Heathrow was so congested) we got back to Bushey at about 23:30. The bus driver on the journey between Watford Junction and Bushey was the same one that drove us to Watford earlier in the day; bizarre!

All in all, it was an absolutely brilliant day. Plans for the next day trip are already being thought up... Amsterdam, anyone?

Meanwhile, we're taking James back to Oxford this afternoon (for some absurd reason his term starts somewhat early) before the three remaining Pritchards drive south to Newbury to drop one of the cars off. We'll then head west for a post Easter break at our house in Pembrokeshire.

As the German pilot said as we got off the plane at Heathrow - "Auf Wiedersehn und bye bye".

Happy Easter

2006-04-16T09:07:00.000+01:00

See what a morning, gloriously bright
With the dawning of hope in Jerusalem
Folded the grave-clothes, tomb filled with light
As the angels announce Christ is risen.

Graduation

2006-04-08T18:05:00.000+01:00

Just got back from Brighton and will shortly be going out to a concert in Billingshurst...

The above is my dad (on the right!) receiving a BA in Theology in Ministry from the Open University at the Brighton Dome this morning. He completed the degree as a little extra after he was ordained. Apologies for the blurryness of the photo; the light wasn't very good and we were sitting miles away from the stage. But you get the idea!

We've had a great day in Brighton (even saw Matt Lucas just down the road from here, where he is performing tonight) soaking up the sun and doing a spot of shopping.

Beachy Head

2006-04-04T13:10:00.000+01:00

We explored the other end of the county yesterday and went on a six mile stroll along the coast. This photo is Beachy Head (spot the seagull perched on the cliff!), which is between Brighton and Eastbourne. The weather was brill, although it was a tad on the windy side.

Meanwhile, there's a somewhat heated debate going on at the moment on this post. I'd love to know what others think on the subject. Do you think people who were educated at private schools (even for just two years) are "out of touch"? If you think that is the case, I'd love to know why you think that and what makes you say it. Do add your thoughts if you haven't already.

Free, but so Busy

2006-04-02T16:55:00.000+01:00

I'm writing this in between various church commitments... I'm just about to leave for Choral Evensong (James and I will be putting on our glad rags and singing in the choir once again), and we've got worship band practise straight afterwards. The worship band is great; we played a couple of the songs in the main service this morning.

Yesterday morning I looked after some children while their parents went on a charity cycle ride - it's good to get into the babysitting routine again! I was planning to go to a shindig in Newbury (Thatcham, to be precise) last night, but I couldn't get there (and back for this morning) in time, so that was a shame.

The week ahead is my first "free" week in an absolute age (the last holidays were somewhat overshadowed by the move), but I seem to have so much to do. Ah well!

By the way, don't you think the light evenings are marvellous? I do!

The Apprentice: The Story So Far

2006-03-31T15:48:00.000+01:00

At last... Jo has been fired!

This year's series of The Apprentice continues to pull in the punters. If you haven't seen it yet, you can watch the series so far in full right here. It is a marvellous program.

Much as I like this series, there certainly isn't a clear winner. The candidates last year were vastly better. It wouldn't surprise me if a lot of the contestants this time were chosen because they would make good TV - Jo would have been fired in the first week if she didn't make such good television.

Meanwhile, I have a new power pack for my laptop. Hooray!

Just Got Back...

2006-03-25T18:57:00.000Z

...from an excellent 24 hours in London.

Last night was the Young Members' Dinner at the club. It was brilliant; marvellous food, marvellous company and marvellous location. The scrumptious meal was served with unlimited club wine and port at no extra cost.

The after dinner speaker was Simon Clegg, the Chief Executive of the British Olympic Association. His speech was most interesting. He talked about the process of winning the 2012 Olympic Games, how the BOA is run and what his role is.

We retired to the bar after the speeches, before a group of us went on to Embassy in Mayfair (the club attached to this restaurant). One of the group was an active member so we were swiftly escorted into the VIP suite. The same chap kindly bought the drinks. In places where champagne is upwards of £330 a bottle, I'm quite happy for someone else to buy!

Now I'm home, I've got a rather large mountain of boxes and the like to unpack and sort. Oh the joys of commuting between different ends of the country...

At the Club

2006-03-24T16:41:00.000Z

I got home from Leeds last night after a whopping five and a half hours on the road. Pretty uneventful journey apart from seeing someone from my halls in Cherwell Valley services (small world!) and seeing Prince Andrew in an uber shiny Volvo S80 on the M25... and he was driving. Fancy that.

Anywho, I'm currently in London for 24 hours or so; tonight is the Young Members' Dinner at the club, so that should be rather fun. Tim (fellow clubber and friend from Monmouth) and I have just been on an afternoon stroll around the capital (I can't believe how warm it suddenly is!) and we're making the most of the business suite at the moment.

As it's the holidays, I'm hoping to get back to daily blogging soon. That said, my laptop is still when and truly dead as it has a flat battery and we don't have a 90 watt power pack at home. Watch this space.

End of Term

2006-03-22T21:50:00.000Z

Tomorrow I've got a two hour lecture, a tutorial and a recording session for the student radio before I head south for Easter. If anyone happens to be in West Yorkshire between 2 and 3 tomorrow afternoon, tune in to 106.6FM and you will be lucky enough to hear yours truly! I'll probably be on the M1 by then; my part of the show will have been recorded earlier in the day.

Meanwhile, the cell group (part of the CU) at my halls have been organising a few events this week so people can ask questions and find out more about Christianity. A Question Time type event has just finished in the bar, and it was very interesting to hear what people wanted to know. Homosexuality, creation and hell were all popular topics. Watch the blog for posts on them soon./

I trust everyone enjoyed the first day of Spring...

Budget 2006

2006-03-22T16:17:00.000Z

Gordon's just released his tenth budget.

The big feature this year seems to be his promise to improve state schools to the standard of private schools. Yet again, Labour believe throwing more money here and there will solve the problem. I don't think the private sector is better than the state sector because they have more money; I think it is because they are managed in a completely different way.

State schools already have plenty of funding; it is just being spent on the wrong things. I know of two comprehensives that have had millions of pounds poured into them. One of the things they have is so called specialist status, which gets them all sorts of new buildings and equipment. What good is specialist status if it has no effect on the students who study there? I saw kids coming out of one of the comprehensive's the other day; they had no respect for anyone, anything and were generally being incredibly antisocial. I doubt they were going to leave that school with more than an NVQ. A fat lot of good that money did.

Frustatingly, tt is these teengers who are being bribed £35 a week just for going to school beyond GCSEs (which in itself is a complete farce because you have to live in a Labour consticuency to be eligible) via the EMA scheme. Why do they deserve the money? They should not be brought up in a frame of mind that expects money in return for effort. Life isn't like that.

The rest of the budget follows the same theme; tax and spend, tax and spend.

Taking a Break

2006-03-21T17:03:00.000Z

I'm taking a little break from my work at this precise moment. I've always been told to balance work and rest, and I feel it is time for a bit of the latter.

I have finished my fieldwork write-up (at last!) but I still have to do an "active learning group diary" (don't ask), an essay plan and an article for the student radio; all before this evening. Working in the computer room is quite social actually; I've met all sorts of people!

I've received emails from Tessa and Humphrey today. Tessa is currently in New Zealand having just been skydiving and Humphrey is in Sri Lanka having just gone on an early morning safari. The things people do on their gap years!

In other news, Facebook has suddenly caught on in force in Leeds. I see you can now sign up from schools as well as universities. If you're a member of anything like Bebo, MySpace, Friends Reunited, Ringo or WAYN - forget them all and delete your accounts. Facebook is so much better! It has come to my attention those Cambridge Musos have just released a video to go with the much acclaimed Facebook song. Check it out here.

Back to the work.

Emails

2006-03-19T16:52:00.000Z

If you've emailed me in the last few days and haven't received a reply yet you may have to wait until Thursday.

Two reasons: My laptop power pack blew up so I can only access my emails via a webmail service (so I have no way of telling which I've replied to and which I haven't) and I'm somewhat busy until Thursday as it is the end of term so I have a few deadlines to meet.

See you in a few thousand words!

Pathetic Protest

2006-03-16T19:26:00.000Z

I was walking between lectures earlier today only to find myself in the middle of a somewhat heaty protest. It was a protest in an attempt to persuade university officials to sack one of its lecturers following comments he made in a newspaper.

The lecturer claimed in an interview that his black pupils were not as bright as his white pupils; information he said he got from recent examination marks.

According to a few hundred students, this was a racist comment and he should be removed from the staff right away.

For a start, it wasn't that much of a racist comment; he was merely stating a fact. I don't know the background, so I don't know what point he was trying to get across. As it is out of context, it is difficult to tell whether his aim was to actually offend.

Either way, the protesters were completely out of order. Even if the lecturer had made a racist comment (which, for the record, would have been quite wrong of him), there was still no need for the protest to take place as it did.

Interestingly, there were very few blacks to be seen in the large protest crowd. I wonder whether they were actually bothered by the comments made by the lecturer. It seemed to be a bunch of bohemian lefties desperate for attention. There they were proudly clutching their copies of Socialist Worker whilst shouting rude, vile and extremely offensive comments. They were causing absolute chaos; and disrupting many lectures in the process.

Prospective students and their parents were on an open day today. I would've been completely put off the university if a group of protestors started cornering me and shouting in my face.

I'm not really one for protests, and the way this one was organised was absolutely outrageous. I was shocked by some of the threats they were shouting. So much for being socialist.

"You can have any view you like. So long as it's ours".

Summer Work

2006-03-15T15:53:00.000Z

I'm need of some assistance. I'm going to be somewhat idle between the middle of July and the middle of September.

My exams finish in the last week of May, then I'm having a month off before going to Cyprus in the last week of June and first week of July. From then on, I have absolutely nothing planned.

So, I thought the genius thing to do would be to get a job. Now, I've never been in paid employment, so it is something of a novelty!

I rather fancied serving strawberries and cream and Wimbledon, but the championships are exactly when we're in Cyprus. The ticket sales and information assistant job on this page also looked rather fun, but it starts too early and finishes a week into the first term of my second year at Leeds.

Has anybody got any other ideas?

Explosion

2006-03-14T21:44:00.000Z

Imagine the scene.

I was typing on my laptop in my room in halls and suddenly there was a little explosion from the floor. Smoke rose from underneath the desk and the room filled with a vulgar stench of burnt plastic.

The power pack on my laptop decided it wanted to explode. Marvellous.

So now I have 57 minutes of battery life to last me until next week; just when I have lots of deadlines for work. The timing could not have been better.

However, I have since copied the important documents to my USB stick, so I can work elsewhere. I'm writing this from the cluster of computers in hall. What a treat!

Snow

2006-03-14T10:57:00.000Z

This is the southern most edge of the Yorkshire Dales, taken yesterday afternoon. Most of the snow has gone, although there has been a little more this morning.

On Sunday it was relatively warm in Billingshurst. We took off from Heathrow just after 9:00 pm, and when we popped out of the clouds over Yorkshire about half an hour later everything was completely covered in snow. It looked rather good!

Good job I don't go to university in Glasgow; all the flights between London and Glasgow were cancelled on Sunday because the snow there was a good deal worse than it was in Leeds.

Crazy Days

2006-03-12T13:10:00.000Z

I'm travelling back to the chilly north this evening; I'm getting the last flight of the day from Heathrow to Leeds. Hopefully Leeds airport won't be closed because of snowfall. Apparently lots of flights to the north and Scotland have been cancelled.

I've had a brilliant "reading week" and it's been marvellous to see everyone.

On Wednesday we went to get some things valued at our jewellers in East Grinstead, before going on to see my aunt (mum's sister) in Lingfield. We were going to carry on to IKEA in Croydon as we need to get a few things, but we decided it was too late and the traffic would have been dreadful at that time of day.

On Thursday I went to lunch at the club with David (my cousin, who is the organist here) before we had an afternoon stroll round Green Park and St James's Park. We got absolutely drenched though; a thunderstorm started in force when we were in Green Park! I then went back to the club to meet Tim (a friend from school, who came up from Canterbury where he is at university) for afternoon tea.

Friday morning saw a big funeral in the church; it was the father of this rather famous chap and this very famous chap. I don't usually talk about funerals and the like but his obiturary was in Friday's Guardian so it isn't private information.

On Friday afternoon we drove up to Oxford to pick up James because his term has finished (two weeks before mine). We briefly stopped at Waitrose Newbury on the way to pick up a few things. It's ever so funny because although we've moved away, we always manage to see someone we know in there!

After filling two car loads of stuff, James and I headed over to formal hall at Brasenose before driving back home. Oxford to Billingshurst in 1 hour 27 minutes wasn't bad I thought! We went the M40/M25/A24 way; all very quick!

Yesterday I had a quiet day in, catching up on some uni work. That brings me back to today. I sang in the choir at church this morning; good fun like last week!

And now I've been called down for lunch....

Westminster Abbey

2006-03-11T21:40:00.000Z

I took this photo last Friday (the 3rd) following our private tour. I used the camera on my new phone; as expected it could never be as good as a normal camera. I do like the colours and slight blur though; something you can only get from a phone camera. Genius.

Those who are uber observant will notice flowers and, yes, last Friday was in Lent. Ronnie Barker's memorial service was in the Abbey earlier in the day, you see.

Political Headlines

2006-03-11T11:34:00.000Z

What a brilliant government we have.

The Big Weekend

2006-03-07T12:16:00.000Z

I'm home at the moment (it's "reading week" you see). Here's a little rundown of the weekend just passed.

I had morning of lectures on Friday before scooting down to London where I had lunch with James's German pal Dominik, who had just landed from Stuttgart. We then went to London Bridge, where we met Dave (a cousin of mine who went with James to Germany a while ago, so knows Dominik) for a coffee at Southwark Cathedral, where he is organ scholar.

James met us at Southwark before we took the tube to Westminster where we joined some of James's friends from Oxford who were attending Evensong in Westminster Abbey. After the marvellous service we had our own private tour of the Abbey, which finished with a glass of sherry in a house just off Dean's Yard. I made a quick exit to catch a train home.

On Saturday I had a quick trumpet lesson in church before I drove up to Reigate for Dan's birthday lunch at Ask, along with Lottie, Juliette and Dave. I then drove round the M25 to Heathrow, where we waved off Humphrey (see the post below).

Church was on Sunday morning; the first time I've been to our church since my dad's first Sunday in January. It all seems to be plodding along well; it was good to see more families in church. After church, we went round to some parishioners for lunch and we managed to eat and drink into the late afternoon. I put on some glad rags to sing at Choral Evensong before a bunch of teenagers came round to the vicarage with their instruments for worship band practise.

Yesterday was my dad's day off so we went flying. We flew over Newbury above the broken clouds at 7,000ft before descending to take some aerial photos. We then flew south east so we could take some photos of Billingshurst and some of the surrounding villages. After we landed, we went down to Southampton to pick up something from John Lewis before driving home.

All in all, it was a very busy weekend!

Bye Bye Humphrey

2006-03-06T22:23:00.000Z

Here's Humphrey and me (I don't like putting photos of me on the Internet, but the photo would look even stranger if there was half a photo there!) in Heathrow Terminal 3 on Saturday.

Humphrey arrived safely in Sri Lanka yesterday, where he will be working at the school that our school partnered with following the 2004 Tsunami. The three month trip trip forms part of his gap year. I'll be publishing some of his news while he's there so watch this space!

I will blog about the rest of my weekend tomorrow...

A French Sign

2006-03-06T21:57:00.000Z

I'm aware I have a lot to write after being absent from the blog for a few days. Here's a little humour to be getting on with...

I do love the French. Thanks to Oliver for the above.

Menzies Wins

2006-03-02T16:17:00.000Z

I've just heard the news of the Liberal Democrat leadership contest. Many congratulations to Sir Menzies Campbell on winning. I was quite surprised actually; I didn't think he had a chance at the beginning of the contest.

Poor old Menzies is getting a little old (he'll be well past retirement age by the next election) and he isn't brilliant at PMQs. I think the party would do better with Huhne at the helm. Nevertheless, it'll be interesting to see how he does.

Meanwhile, if you were expecting an Apprentice update last night, you didn't get one because I was finishing an essay and the TV room was being used to watch some football match. I'll see if I can download the episode to watch on the train tomorrow.

Happy Birthday Dan

2006-03-02T16:12:00.000Z

Dan is 18 today. If you don't know Dan, he is my cousin (dad's sister's son) and he's in his final year at Epsom. So Happy Birthday Dan.

I took the above photo in May 2003, so it isn't really an accurate representation of what he looks like now. Ah well.

I seem to be doing a lot of birthday/anniversary messages at the moment. No, this blog isn't turning into a happy special day website.

Social Class

2006-03-01T16:43:00.000Z

I was told in a Social Geography lecture on Monday that although the British sometimes admit the class system may have blurred, we are still incredibly interested in the topic. A recent class questionnaire on the Radio 4 website attracted thousands of hits.

It amuses me how "socialists" still refer to themselves using the class system.

Politicians like to tell us the class system no longer exists in Britian. Tony Blair has stated many times that "we're all middle class". Even John Major thinks we now live in a "classless society".

I agree to some extent; the working class barely exists anymore and the upper class has a different form. Does that mean we really do live in a classless society?

According to my lecturer, class still very much exists. It is defined by income, assets, accent, education, occupation and friendship circles. These statistics are used everyday by companies who want to find out more information about their customers. For example, a retailer uses class information to find the best location for a new shop.

I, like most people I know, probably fit into the middle class category.

I'd be interested to know what category you think you fit into. Is there anyone out there who would call themselves upper class or even working class?

Happy Anniversary

2006-02-28T15:15:00.000Z

Today is my parents' Silver Wedding Anniversary. So Happy Anniversary (don't think, dear readers, this post is instead of a card, because it isn't).

Meanwhile, my new phone is up and running. Tis a marvellous machine. If you haven't had a text yet with my new number you will get one before the end of the day. If that fails, send me an email with your number and I'll text it to you.

I have a little question for you phone boffins out there. When I search for Bluetooth devices nearby do other people know I'm searching? And can I send anyone anything via Bluetooth?

Back from Oxford

2006-02-27T19:12:00.000Z

What a weekend. I had an absolutely marvellous time during the last 48 hours.

I won't bore you with all the details; I'll just mention a few highlights.

On Saturday evening James cooked me and Caroline (a friend of ours who lives in Oxford) a meal before we cruised over to The Turf. James and I went to Matins at Merton College on Sunday morning before having breakfast with the Merton chaplain and other members of the congregation. For one moment I did think we were going to be treated to a champagne breakfast, but it turns out the champagne was for a dinner later in the day. What a shame! We then toodled to the morning service at St Aldate's, where Gordon Hickson preached.

Last night my dad preached at St Edmund Hall (Teddy Hall) Chapel, which was jolly fun. The chapel is minute; far smaller than the chapel at Merton.

After the service the we had a glass of sherry (or two) in a room somewhere else in college before those who were dining at high table (including yours truly) went on to the SCR. On high table last night was the chaplain, the chaplain's wife, a physics fellow, the physics fellow's wife, all four Pritchards and, perhaps surpisngly, the Bishop of Rochester!

Supper was served in the dining room before we adjourned to another dining room for a selection of rather exotic fruit, chocolate, more wine, port and madeira.

Then was coffee time. The chaplain managed make a coffee using coffee machine before it showed the message "empty drawer". It's not every Sunday evening that I stand by a coffee machine with a bishop and two vicars trying to work out whether a coffee machine is stating a fact or telling us to take action.

My parents have since toodled off to the Cotswolds for a short break as it is their Silver Wedding Anniverary tomorrow.

I came back to Leeds this morning. I cleverly managed to miss my train at 07:34 this morning meaning I had to pay the vast sum of £34.65 for the privilege of waiting for the next train and spending 45 minutes at Birmingham New Street station as the next train from Oxford went to Manchester rather than to Leeds.

Mind you, it wasn't all bad news. I was sitting opposite two hotties on the train north of Birmingham. They were on their way from Cheltenham (they used to go to CLC ;-)) to Sheffield, where they are at university.

Marvellous.

Freezing Cold

2006-02-24T16:28:00.000Z

I just went to Waitrose with Chloe and we froze on the way back from the bus stop. It is so cold. I'm sure I've never been so cold!

Mind you, this is the chilly north, so I suppose it's normal!

I'm off down south this weekend so I'll be able to warm up. Tomorrow afternoon I'm going to Oxford to spend the evening with James (and our friend Caroline) before staying over and going to James' church on Sunday morning.

On Sunday evening, we'll be going to this (the real reason for my trip to Oxford). That preacher has a familiar name. Can't think why.

It will be marvellous to see the family; haven't seen them for weeks!

The Apprentice: Episode One

2006-02-22T22:54:00.000Z

The new series of The Apprentice began this evening (twas the first time I've watched television in an age!) and it lived up to expectations; bit disappointed they've dropped the immense theme tune and introduction from last year though!

I think they fired the right one tonight; he wasn't really up to the job. I'll be interested to see who goes next week. I don't want the woman from MG Rover to last long (Jo, I think her name was); she was incredibly annoying. I certainly couldn't work with her....

If you missed the episode, watch it in full here.

Welford Park

2006-02-21T10:22:00.000Z

Here's a little advert for those of you who live in Berkshire, Hampshire, Wiltshire or Oxfordshire (or anywhere else nearby).

Welford Park is on the B4000 between Junction 14 of the M4 (Hungerford) and the Donnington/Speen junction of the A34.

When we lived in the area, Welford Park was a marvellous Sunday afternoon outing to see the blanket of snowdrops. They're absolutely remarkable.

So if you live nearby go and see them! Where else is there to go in February anyway?!

More details here, and more photos here.

Spring has Sprung

2006-02-16T17:29:00.000Z

The plan was... to put this photo online the day I took it. However, the day as long passed, so the wow factor may have diminished somewhat. I took the photo on the Sunday before last in Cambridge.

Even so, it's a daffodil. A daffodil at the beginning of February. Quite extraordinary.

University Applications

2006-02-15T16:21:00.000Z

I see from this article that university applications have gone down by almost 13,000 this year. The National Union of Students blamed the fall on top up fees, which are going to be introduced this autumn.

However, I wouldn't be surprised if many people are starting to realise not everyone actually needs to go to university.

Nowadays, schools assume everyone will go to university after their A Levels. But does it benefit everyone? If everyone has a degree then there is no way of differentiating between people.

What about those who don't suit the university style of working? I know many people who are far more practically minded and would prefer going straight into work. They can't because they are pressured to go to university.

I believe that everyone has different gifts; that is, everyone is good at something and we complement each other.

Our "socialist" government are trying to make us all equal - the fact is we're not. I'm not saying people who don't go to university aren't as good as those who don't; I'm saying we should do what we're good at and what we enjoy.

Quote of the Week

2006-02-14T15:51:00.000Z

"You, Mr Churchill, are drunk".

"You, madam, are ugly, but I shall be sober in the morning".

The Apprentice

2006-02-13T15:17:00.000Z

Even if you don't watch much television, I highly recommend The Apprentice.

It may be a reality show, but it's miles ahead of most reality shows.

The first series last year was absolutely marvellous, and it is back this year with the same format. If you don't want to be glued to your television set every Wednesday evening for weeks on end, I advise you not to watch it. It is addictive.

Tune in next Wednesday (22nd February) at 9:00 pm on BBC Two.

The Steels

2006-02-10T20:33:00.000Z

I'm not usually one for free promotion, but I'd thought I'd promote The Steels.

The Steels describe themselves as a "high energy Christian rock band" and, indeed, that's what they are. I have their debut album and would certainly recommend it.

The band come from a place called Morpeth in Northumberland (near Newcastle), but every member is at university in Leeds. Hence, I know them!

I'm told they tour internationally, so you'd better watch out for them.

Meanwhile, apologies for the techinical hitch the other day. For some reason the homepage of this blog was just displaying a white page from about 4:00 pm on Wednesday unti 4:00 pm on Thursday. No idea why, but when I republished the entire blog it all worked fine!

Happy Birthday Humphrey

2006-02-09T16:35:00.000Z

Today is Humphrey's birthday. So Happy Birthday, Humphrey. I'm not quite sure why I linked to his blog, as it has nothing on it yet. Perhaps the dramatic increase in hits today will persuade him to blog.

The above is Humphrey on the plane in Hong Kong; looking quite good after a 12 hour overnight flight!

If you don't know Humphrey (for it is he), let me introduce him. He is the former Head Boy at Monmouth, and is currently taking a gap year doing various things including working for the Welsh Assembly and going to Sri Lanka to help at a school; he leaves for the latter in just three weeks. He is going to the University of Reading in September. Oh and, of course, he is friends with ME!

Technical Fault

2006-02-09T15:52:00.000Z

If you can read this, it means the technical fault is sorted.

Cambridge: Part 2

2006-02-06T20:36:00.000Z

Possibly the most famous view in Cambridge; Clare College and King's College Chapel with the River Cam in the foreground.

Anywho, I returned to Leeds today after an absolutely marvellous weekend in Cambridge.

I stayed for three nights and managed to get as much sleep in three nights as I usually get in one night. Excellent stuff.

Now, let me just look back at the previous post and I'll continue where I left off. Ah yes, I remember.

On Saturday afternoon Ronald and I strolled around Cambridge like tourists and did a spot of retail therapy. James was over in Cambridge as well so we met him for a coffee at Starbucks in the late afternoon before heading back to Clare.

In the evening, I had the delight of getting to know the residents of Ronald's staircase as we went out for a delicious meal at Ask (see the photos on Facebook). Then was on to a party as it was someone's birthday, apparently. We were portered shortly before 3, so we partyed some more somewhere else and knew it was time for bed when we started to hear the birds singing their morning songs.

I woke early on Sunday to go to Mark's (a friend from Newbury) baptism at the Eden Baptist Church, which was great. His family were there too, so I could have a little catch up with Paul (Mark's brother, who I went to Uganda with last year).

Then was on to Tom and Laura's house (James' friends from Brasenose, Oxford who are now Postgrads at Sidney Sussex, Cambridge) before sending James off on the coach back to Oxford.

Then back to Clare for a quick lunch (a very nice quick lunch at that; Ronald is a master chef) before Ronald had to rush off to choir practise. I went to see Richard (a friend from Newbury who also happens to be at Clare) for a quick cuppa before going to see Lorna (another friend from Newbury) for another, even quicker, cuppa. Lorna and I then toodled to Corporate Communion at Selwyn College Chapel; where the choir were absolutely outstanding (Ronald is a tenor in the Selwyn Choir you see).

After the service we had choir dinner in Selwyn, before heading back to the chapel for an organ recital given by the Director of Music at Jesus College, Daniel Hyde.

We chilled at Clare later in the evening before cracking open some beers and watching Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, as you do. Again, we heard the morning wake up call from the birds and decided to call it quits.

Another early morning today as I had to catch my train so I could sleep my way back to Leeds. Indeed I did just that. The girl sitting next to me on the train from Peterborough was asleep too; infact I nearly flopped onto her shoulder at one point. How embarrassing.

Here endeth the Cambridge diary. I took thousands of photos over the weekend, some of which are on Facebook already. I will probably put most of them on my Flickr account later in the week.

Meanwhile, it has come to my attention that Facebook now has a theme tune. Listen to it here. Fantastic has to be the only word to describe it.