The Ponderings of Vickrum

Ode to my dissertation

2007-03-14T10:25:00.000Z

oh dissertation
such an inducement to procrastination
why art thou so long?
If only I could write a song
instead of 20,000 words of prose
then I would have time for repose
but alas to work I must go
for as of tomorrow
I am meeting the tutor of doom
who will be spreading more gloom
by telling me to do more work
from which I must find fewer reasons to shirk
why oh why oh why

Bizzare clothing names

2007-03-12T16:28:00.000Z

I'm sure many people will remember Rachel's sister in Friends who bought a 'give me a job' sweater, 'apartment' pants and a 'making it on my own' top. Well today i got a clothes catalogue in the post with actual clothes called equally strange names. You can now buy:

A charismatic dress
Boyfriend jeans
A famously flattering skirt
An easy wearing anywhere Tee
Superstar jeans
Soft independent hoodie
Forever pants (trousers)
Boyfriend shirt (to go with jeans presumably)
Chillin' out pants

And don't think it's just girls clothes that have succumbed to weird names from the boys section:

Eternal pants
College pants
Players shirts
24 hour shirt
Original grandad shirt
New full on shirt (evidently previous catalogues stocked ones that you couldn't quite put on)

I wonder what happens if you wear the clothes in the wrong context? Perhaps they fail to do their job and you look like you are not wearing any eek! At least the wearer of the eternal pants would never have an issue!

A Traumatic Day!

2007-02-25T14:56:00.000Z

Saturday 24th February:

Liz came - ok so this wasn't really a traumatic event but it could have been

Caught train to Llantwit Major - had to run to catch it, could have led to being trapped in doors - potentially traumatic

Used public toilets at Llantwit Major - not personnally traumatic but Liz was walked in on by another lady (Becci was on door guarding duty at the time)

Began our walk - Liz assures us she knows the root like the back of her hand - not traumatic but reassuring

Walked through field which was fairly muddy (or so we thought at the time) - slightly traumatic - more for beckrum as she was getting her new boots dirty

Arrived at a field with evil cows in, all of which were watching us very closely, with one blocking the gate - Potetially traumatic death by cow incident

Liz doesn't know the way - we walk up and down past the cows a number of times - increasingly traumatic as scare cows more

By this time Becci and Liz have adopted the very stylish trousers in socks look - trauma of being associated with them

Our path is blocked by a river so we have to re-trace our steps and climb over a very tall gate that is very slippery - extremely traumatic near death experience

Get caught in a heavy shower - Am pleased have brought umbrella with me

Arrive at very rocky beach and am abandoned by Liz and Becci who go to investigate a cave - am left to imagine what I would do if they both had accidents and broke their legs or something - trauma of debating whether I would need to call the coastguard or an ambulance

Walk along cliff top path - get you take the high road and I'll take the low road stuck in my head - trauma of being forced to 'listen to' bad song over and over again

Path becomes too muddy so we abandon it in favour of a path through a load of bramble bushes - trauma of getting stuck every other step and being covered in scratches

New path turns out to be just as muddy as the proper path and thererfore extremely slippery - trauma of potential accidents with every step

Walking near barbed wire fence - trauma of being stabbed by a barb when grabbing fence to prevent slipping

Path becomes even more dangerous and end up having the traumatic experience of landing on my posterior - although I apparently did this very gracefully and avoided putting my hands in the mud but unfortunately not my trousers

Trauma of post falling walking in even more slippery mud

Watched a surfer walk the longest route possible to the one part of the beach where there were no waves - trauma of thinking that there is a mad person in the sea who could drown or be attacked by his surf board as obviously doesn't really seem to know what he is doing

Made it back to Llantwit and had to face trauma of walking past the Chocolate Box shop as there was no time to stop before the train came

Had to travel on train without companions as they fell asleep - trauma of being responsible for making sure they are awake in time to get off - although was entertained by a man who got on the train sat down and produced a 6 rated belch

Got back to suffer the trauma of wathcing England lose the rugby

So all in all the 24th February is not my favourite day ever!

Why use Normal Words when you can Make Up Your Own and Sound More Intellectual?

2007-02-23T16:29:00.000Z

So I have noticed a number of words made up by academics over the course of my degree which really do seem to be completely unnecessary as there are plenty of existing words that when used in combination mean exactly the same thing. So why do they bother to confuse everyone by making up new words? Some examples:

Distanciated - separated in time and spaced i.e. distanced from
Technicist - not really sure what this means I'm guessing technical
McDonaldisation - basically society is becoming more uniform and predictable like every McDonalds in every country
Dramaturgy - Living life like a drama
Actionalism - some sort of theory about actors
Panopticon - a type of prison with potentially constant surveillance
Iatrogenesis - doctor-generated illness

Academics are also guilty of using words to mean different things e.g.

Demoralisation - the decreasing influence of morals in society not the usual lack of morale

They also like to use big unusual words when simple ones would suffice e.g

Cornucopia - a horn of plenty used in the context of having a lot of consumer choice why not just say there is a lot?

I bet you have come accross similar things too (unless it is just the social sciences that are this weird). Feel free to comment with some examples.

Poem about Liverpool's epic Victory against AC Milan

2007-02-09T16:28:00.000Z

An army amassed just like centuries before, in a city made famous by sieges of yore.

Where Constantinople and Byzantium once stood,
A new army now did descend like a flood.

An army of thousands in livery of red, Liverbirds on their chests and a dream in their heads.

With smiles on their faces and songs in their hearts,
of hope a new era was waiting to start.

Stood on the North Tribune I looked all around, a sea of red swamping three sides of the ground.

Flags, scarves and banners that covered the crowd, a show of red strength to make Chairman Mao proud.

I surveyed the scene in awe and in bliss, How could we fail on a stage such as this?

I reckoned without an AC Milan team, with the class to make nightmares out of our dreams.

And so it transpired in a half straight from hell, a Maldini sucker punch straight from the bell.

With two blows from Crespo five minutes apart, Milan drove a dagger through Liverpool's heart.

We staggered and reached the refuge of half time, our worst fears were realised, 3-0 behind.

Ashen-faced Reds with their heads in their hands, slumped in despair on the steps of the stand.

An anger rose in me, but not with the team, where was the 12th man? Was Chelsea a dream?

We had to show pride, try to lift them somehow, we'd come much too far to give up on them now.

Somebody somewhere had shared the same thought, my faith was restored in our famous support.

YNWA grew in strength, as did I, and I sang, as if it was for the last time.

Looking back now I can't honestly say, that as I sang, I thought we would find a way to come back, but I wanted the whole world to see,
We still had pride, we were still Liverpool FC.

That chorus will live on in legend and lore, Cruyff said he had heard nothing like it before.

Maradona said it made him convert to a Red, Luis said it spurred them to rise from the dead.

Then came the reverse of our first half ordeal, six minutes of mayhem that didn't seem real.Six glorious minutes that none will forget, when Stevie and Xabi and Vlad found the net.

Milan came again but at each turn were foiled, once more a siege played out on Istanbul soil.

As the seconds ticked down, the Redmen stood tall, though their muscles screamed 'stop' they ploughed on through it all.

Then came the moment God's will became known, The ball fell to Shevchenko with Dudek left prone. With the goal at his mercy, our Pole somehow saved, someone from above must have smiled on the brave.

It was then that it suddenly all became clear, Milan realised that this wasn't their year. Alongside the Reds stood an ally too great,
There was no resisting the power of fate.

So when the game entered its final test then, they bore the demeanour of half-beaten men.

Defeat after so much no player deserved, but while Milan's men wilted the Reds kept their nerve.

And when Andrei's nemesis foiled him once more, the night air was pierced by a deafening roar.

Destiny fulfilled all that was prophesised, and I hugged all around me with tears in my eyes.

The Redmen all met us, celebrations they led, Carra The Lionheart, Gerrard The Red. Sami The Mighty, the sturdy Hamann, Dudek and all, heroes to a man.

And Rafa, our Moses, by his guiding hand, he led us all back here to this Promised Land. When the road became hard no excuse did he use,
and when all seemed lost here his genius shone through.

Emotion flowed down from the stands like a shower, as we watched Stevie lift that old trophy of ours. You'll Never Walk Alone once again we did sing, as we all heralded the return of the Kings.

Now on the bus back to Taksim I went, my voice was in tatters, all energy spent. Utterly drained but smiling ear to ear, I thought back to the road that had led me to here.

As a boy I had watched all the legends parade, as they conquered all Europe and history was made. As the years passed, now no longer watching a screen, I thought I'd never see what my elders had seen.

I wondered if my eyes would yet see the glory, and whether in years to come I could tell stories. Of great Anfield nights and of crusades abroad, when the Mighty Reds put Europe's best to the sword.

2004 then turned into 05, and finally all of my hopes came to life,
It seemed fate was there with us right from the start, it happened as if it was written in the stars.

I watched from the Kop on that December night, the pivotal moment when dark turned to light. Four minutes from failure, then hope was restored, we all dared to dream, when Stevie G scored.

Echoes of the past rang as clear as a bell, the late Kop end goal, the same scoreline as well. My generation loved tales about way back when, but we now had our very own St Etienne.

I was there against Juve when ghosts of the past, 20 years in the waiting confronted at last. The Kop spelled out friendship in red and in white, and in silence we remembered the fallen that night.

The whistle it blew and the silence gave way, to a whirlwind of noise that blew Juve away. I saw a red tide almost swallow them whole,
And I saw Luis Garcia's 30 yard goal.

I saw Chelsea get their come-uppence at last, on a night at Anfield that might not be surpassed. The primeval force of The Kop in full cry, for 96 minutes the noise wouldn't die.

96 minutes for 96 souls, they surely were watching the drama unfold. For something divine intervened on our side, 'Cos I can't explain how Gudjohnsen shot wide.

The Kop danced long after the players had gone, the glory of years passed remembered in song. And when we were thrown out we danced on outside, around Shankly's statue long into the night.

And now I had witnessed a moment so rare, it's drama and splendour were beyond compare. A moment in sport we may not see again, a moment I'd waited so long to attain.

Istanbul was for one night, Heaven on Earth, so special you can't put a price on its worth. I give thanks I was one of the privileged few,
I was there and I saw all of our dreams come true.

A banner I'd seen and there saw it again, 'My Eyes Have Seen The Glory,' it proudly proclaimed. Four symbolic stars were emblazoned thereon, I could now say 'me too' when the 5th one was won.

I've seen the Kop's legacy upheld and enhanced, and seen us win when no one gave us a chance. I've seen us rise up and be crowned Europe's best, if it's the last match I see I'd still think myself blessed.

Don't know who wrote it, it certainly wasn't me!

2007-01-30T11:23:00.000Z

As some of you may remeber from a previous blog post Beckrum was once swallowed by our sofa:

She must taste nice as she has since been swallowed by a ball as well:

Surprising as she is just skin and bones!

Is it a sign?

2007-01-26T11:23:00.000Z

Wow it's been a long time, and to be honest this post is probably not worth the wait. I blame facebook - it has taken over as my procrastination tool of choice. Anyway on to the main point...I received a catalogue in the mail (sorry post must not use American words) today - not that big a deal you may think. But it was a catalogue for baby clothes and accessories...why did I receive this? I don't have a baby nor am I likely to have one in the foreseeable future. Shima was here with me and reckons it must be a sign eek! I would get a free Alphabet butterfly if I order something which does look like quite a cool baby toy. So if anyone has a baby they need some clothes for let me know and I'll see what I can do.

Feeling Old

2006-11-24T16:38:00.000Z

In the past few days I have had to fill in a number of forms that ask for your age and divide age into groups so you tick a box. I am used to always ticking the youngest group but recently I have found that I am having to tick the next box up - eek I am getting old! No longer am I 16-21 or 18-20 but now I am 22-30 or 21-25! At least I can still say that I am a student or in full time education unlike my housemates that are also in the realms of the second box age group! Haha!

Happy Birthday Beckrum!

2006-11-16T17:18:00.000Z

So Beckrum is has now reached the ripe old age of 22! He she is at some of her finest moments:

A New Mystery

2006-11-14T10:34:00.000Z

My more long term readers may remember the mystery of the multiplying yellow cup which I am sad to say still remains unsolved! See

http://theponderingsofvickrum.blogspot.com/2006_05_01_theponderingsofvickrum_archive.html

if you wish to refresh your memory of this event.
Anyway on to the new mystery...The Mystery of the Disappearing Loo Roll Holder! Dramatic drum roll ...It happened the night of the bad taste party:

The party ended around 1am and those staying at 3 Cosmeston St. got ready for bed which of course involves going into the bathroom. So imagine our surprise when we discover that our loo roll holder (just to clarify not the piece that's attached to the wall but the bit that goes inside the loo roll) had disappeared. However, we didn't think much of it as we presumed it would be somewhere in the bathroom and we could find it at a time that wasn't 2am! However, upon searching for it over the next few days (we take a while to get round to this sort of thing) it became clear that our loo roll holder is no longer in the bathroom. So there are a number of possible explanations for this:

Dayo has stolen it - why accuse Dayo you may ask, but he has already been known to take things from our house (as Nimo the fish would testify if it wasn't a stuffed toy)
It has been flushed down the toilet - this would of course involve the metal becoming bendy to fit round the U-bend but it could happen
It disapperated
Someone else has stolen it - using the party as a cover a toilet roll holder thief took the opportunity to add to their collection, with the added advantage of already being in disguise this is a real possibility
We have been imagining the presence of our toilet roll holder for over a year
It morphed into the toothbrush that has now taken its place (please note this toothbrush is now redundant from its original purpose)

If you know anything about this incident please report it to the incident room (the lounge at 3 Cosmeston St.) as soon as possible.

London and Goats!

2006-11-03T11:53:00.000Z

An update on Malawi team exploits:

I can now confirm that the craziness in Pembrokeshire was definitly not down to the soup as a similar phenomenon occured whilst in London where there was no soup in sight.

There was some more craziness:

A lot of hanging about:

More random nap taking:

Even the imposter was not immune:

So to conclude the Malawi team seem to suffer from an unknown syndrome that means that when they are put together they go a bit strange, and even infect others, but its all good!

And now on to the saga of the goat!

I can sense your excitement.

It started a few weeks ago when we planned the Malawi night and decided to cook a Malawian meal which of course wouldn't be complete without some goat meat. So now we faced the problem: where in Cardiff can you buy goat? Sam, Pete and I tried numerous butchers on City Road to no avail. But then Sam was given the information that Global Foods on Penarth Road sell goat - hurah!

You may think the saga will end here but you are deceived! We now have the problem: where on Penarth Road is Global Foods? Pete and I drove (well I drove he sat in the car) up and down Penarth Road, which is quite long, 3 times to no avail but then found another random butchers that sold goat! - hurah!
Or not as they didn't understand us as we askd for enough goat to feed 50 people their reply - "you want chicken?" hmmm no! We eventually managed to communicate our order but then found that it would cost £45 so decided not to buy it but to try one last time to find Global Foods. We headed back onto Panarth Road and were about to give up hope of ever finding the right shop when we looked up and found that we were behind a van from...you've guessed it Global Foods - hurah!
So we followed it all the way to the shop. Which was actually a bit off Penarth Road and only had a sign saying 'al foods' as the Glob had fallen off. We then had a similar difficulty in communication but eventually managed to buy 7kg of diced goat complete with bones, kidneys and meat for just £22! - Hurah!

The next chapter of the goat saga involves cooking the goat. New problem: how do you cook 7kg of goat in a way that will definitely not lead to any food poisoning. Answer phone my mum! Her suggestion slow cook it in a juice of some sort for hours. So the solution was: get 7 pots, 11 tins of chopped tomatoes, 10 onions, 7kg of goat, and 6 pints of gravy put them all together and cook for 6 hours. However, that was not the last problem as a cooker sitter was needed to prevent any boiling over and gas going out disasters befalling 3 Cosmeston Street so Hannah came to the rescue! - hurah!

One further problem was encountered: how to transport 7 hot pots of goat stew to Gabalfa Baptist Church. The solution cover back seat of the car with a duvet, bin bags and towels, place pots on top and drive at 15mph! And there the saga ended as at the Malawi night it was devoured by CU members and others using their fingers to eat...and even if I do say so myself it was rather good! - Hurah!

The End!

Problems in Concentration

2006-10-25T12:14:00.000+01:00

Over the past few days I thought that I had been getting enough sleep but now I am beginning to wonder as I seem to have great difficulty in staying awake during lectures! This may not be too big a problem for most of you but when you consider that there are only 10-15 people in my lectures then falling asleep is kind of noticable. I have tried drinking lucozade but this doesn't help and I have tried drinking caffine filled drinks but again to no effect. What can I do? I don't even think its a problem with the lectures as they are generally quite interesting. Perhaps there is a lack of ventilation in the Glamorgan building. Or perhaps Smellon's ability to fall asleep anywhere and everywhere is rubbing off on me. Eeeek!

Pembrokeshire

2006-10-17T12:32:00.000+01:00

Some of the Malawi team went to Sam's house this weekend to report back to his church about our trip to Malawi. It was a great weekend but I think there must be something strange in the soup:

as there was a lot of craziness:

Random nap taking:

And even some dancing:

We shall test the soup theory as the team head to Frome this Sunday and London next weekend!

An Evening of Randomness Cosmeston Street Style

2006-10-12T21:40:00.000+01:00

You will need:

1 camera
At least 2 crazy housemates
2-3 meters squared of floor space
2-3 Hours of previous boredom

Technique:

Experiment with as many different ways of holding each other up as possible

The Results:

The Consquences:

An inability to move so that you have to sleep where you end up:

Anti-Sexist Language

2006-10-04T15:53:00.000+01:00

I had to go to a study skills session today as part of the induction week for my new masters course. It was a complete waste of time, although it has provided me with some inspiration for this post. As part of the pack we were given, we got a British Sociological Society guide to using non-sexist language. I don't know if its just me but I think some of the "sexist" words are a bit ridiculous. Anyway here's their list and the alternatives they suggest:

Sexist / Non-sexist

layman ....non-expert
man-made ....synthetic, manufactured
Chairman ....Chair
Foreman .....Supervisor
Manpower ....workforce, labour force
Craftsman ....Craftsperson
Manning ...staffing
Manhours .....workhours
forefathers .....ancestors
masterful .....domineering; very skillful
master copy ....top copy/original
disseminate.... broadcast, inform, publicise
seminal .....classical, formative

It seems that whenever the letters MAN appear in a word it is now considered sexist so why can you still use management and manager? Personally I wouldn't mind being called a chairman or anything like that, its better than being referred to as a piece of furniture. My old headmistress would always make us say Madame Chairman which is perfectly correct. Perhaps using grammatically correct English isn't necessary anymore. Anyway rant over, just in case you offend anyone you shouldn't use the term 'short' anymore - the person is vertically challenged! So watch your language!

Frustration!

2006-09-27T16:05:00.000+01:00

I have had a day with many frustrating moments today grr!

Being chucked out of Talybont whilst flyering for CU - although we were able to stand just outside and finish the job
My computer having the wrong version of publisher to open an e-mailed file
Having to queue for ages to get petrol - there are 2 till points in the shop but one was being used to count money while there is the longest queue ever how stupid can tescos be
The photo machine in Tescos hates me - went yesterday with a USB flash disk but they don't use them despite having a socket for them on the machine. Went today with a CD and the whole machine is broken argh!
Had to drive round Gabalfa roundabout twice because I couldn't get to the exit without going through another car
Saw a million yellow cars/minis when there was no one to punch - which would have let out my frustration from the previous 5 events

Smellon Quotes

2006-09-20T13:30:00.000+01:00

Ah its great to be back in Cardiff, there is so much more laughter here than at home. Much of this recently has been generated by the strange things Smellon often says for example:

"I haven't touched many people's eyebrows" - good to know but watch out she is now on a mission to reverse this trend!

"It would be annoying to know everyone in the world" - not sure what all these people have done to Smellon but they have obviously offended her in some way.

"I don't know whether I am a man or a woman" - she gets confused easily obviously

And to Beckrum: "I don't like your face" - poor Beckrum what's so wrong with her face (well except the obvious ;) )

Family Day Out

2006-09-15T21:05:00.000+01:00

My parents and I had a great day out today, we went to Thorpe Park. Yes my parents actually came with me to a theme park. My mum went on 4 rides but had 9 turns, dad went on 6 rides but had 11 turns and I went on 9 rides and had 16 turns so I think I got the best value for money. My favourite ride was Nemesis Inferno although the first time I went on I didn't have my head far enough back for the corkscrew bits so it wasn't so fun, especially as this was the first ride I went on so hadn't really worked myself up to going upside down. I am quite a chicken when it comes to rides but I was braver than normal today and tried some new ones. One Dad and I went on called tidal wave made me the wettest I've been in ages bearing in mind I went swimming yesterday. Perhaps the clue was in the name! We watched some of the scarier rides one called Stealth is new this year and looks horrific you accelerate from 0 to 80 in 2.3 seconds go up 205 feet then come down practically vertically. If you want to see I think there's pictures on the web www.thorpepark.co.uk Anyway we had fun and there was the added bonus of ribs for lunch yum!

Strange Post

2006-09-14T20:03:00.000+01:00

Wo 2 posts in one day but felt I had to mention the letter I got today. It was about dustcarts! Can you believe that I actually got a whole letter about dustcarts! Like I care where they are going to be parked. Anyway just thought I'd share that strange event with you all.

Malawi Photos

2006-09-14T13:19:00.000+01:00

For those that are interested most people have now posted their photos of Malawi on bubbleshare so if you would like to see them go to www.bubbleshare.com and search for CU Malawi Trip 06 and you should find them. Enjoy!

PS make sure you have a good amount of time as there are a lot to look at.

Bizarre Events

2006-09-13T13:11:00.000+01:00

Well I think the best way to sum up the last few days would be bizarre but in a very good way! It all started when I arrived back in Cardiff to keep Beckrum company on Thursday. She has been sleeping in my room over the summer as its the best room in the house (yay) and she still insisted on sleeping in my bed even though I was there too, luckily she doesn't snore or kick or talk or anything! So that was bizare event 1. The next day was spent shopping for fancy dress costumes, which isn't so bizarre but it did mean that we bought an eyeball from one shop which is getting to the bizarre scale of things again (event 2). Anyway Saturday started off normal then Simon arrived to have a lift and things went weird - there was a lot of hair gel involved (event 3). We travelled down to Plymouth for Jamie's 21st birthday and walked through Yealmpton dressed as pirates - getting some very strange looks from the locals (event 4). The party was great! Though the bizare thing was seeing people for the first time after the summer dressed in costumes - it was a little tricky recognising some! Bev and Lizzie as nuns were fab and Liz, Becky and Elisa all looked very glam in their costumes (event 5). After the party we went to stay at Lizzie's house in her huge lounge as we had to get up early in the morning to go to Bath so couldn't stay at Jamie's. It's always weird going to Cardiff people's houses as they only belong in Cardiff so that was bizarre event 6. We were going to Bath for Matt Bater's baptism (see the fan club site) which was really good although the bizarre didn't stop as at his church was Sally Phillips who is an actress in Bridget Jones and Smack the Pony - Helen was quite star struck (event 7). On the way back to Cardiff I managed to overcome my fear of automatic toll gates which was a good thing. Event 8 occured when we spent the evening with Dan Jones at our house which just wouldn't have happened a few months ago but thanks to Malawi is now completely normal. Monday I think escaped bizarre moments, Beckrum and I managed to find the lost Malawi video tapes in Helen's room within about 3 minutes (one was on a shelf the other in her bag). Watching them made us miss Malawi all over again though. Tuesday was going back to London day. I left for the first time at 10:15am and got to Magor before I realised that I had left my Malaria pills at home so had to go all the way back for them. I then left for the 2nd time at 11:15 and made it home in a new record of 3 hours (I wasn't speeding honest!) I did have one scary moment when the petrol light came on in the car and I thought I was going to have the embarassment of running out on the motorway but the services came within 3 miles so it was all OK. Bizarre event 9 occured at the cricket yesterday we were sitting next to a group of business men who started chatting with my Dad and then managed to rope him into a speard bet thing of what Surrey's final score would be. Dad predicted 279 and we got 278 so he won £5! Unfortunately we went on to lose but the first half was exciting. Anyway that's what's happened in my life since Thursday. What a fun life I lead!

MALAWI

2006-09-04T11:08:00.000+01:00

Well one word to sum up the trip would be WOW! I'm not really sure which bits to blog about as to do everything would take ages. So I'll just try and give you some highlights.

The team - I love all you guys (guys being the generic term for boys and girls just to clarify). For those that don't know there were 16 of us mostly from Cardiff Christian Union, 8 boys and 8 girls. And yes we did sink to the depths of trying to pair each other off on the coach back to the airport - Laura's reaction to being paired with Sam being the funniest: "NOOOOO anyone but him!". We all got to know each other so well with no notable arguments at all! Unless you count physical fights?!
Malawians - Such lovely people, so friendly and generous. Some even walked 100km to come to the things we were doing. They really are an inspriation.
Vik and Sue - absolute LEGENDS! They are the people that own Fisherman's Rest where we stayed and they were helping us the whole time, having helped Sam organise the trip. Without them we'd have been stuffed (hmm I never use that phrase oh well).
Nsema - not a highlight by any means but interesting. The nsema wasn't too bad but nsema porridge was awful. We only had to eat this once at Bangula (an orphanage) but the kids there get it everyday for breakfast. It did mean that the best meal we had was doughnuts and tea when we were expecting porridge again.
Bangula - we spent 2 nights here. It's an orphanage run by Pam and Will who come from America and Canada. They have 105 children over 20 of whom are under 1. They are absolutly amazing people! This was the roughest part of the trip in terms of accomadation, food and washing etc. But it was a humbling experience as the kids there don't get to go back to Fisherman's rest after 3 days and jump into a pool! We taught them some songs which they were still singing as we left, told them bible stories, cuddled babies and played games. This is where I spent my birthday - one I will never forget!
Our holiday - we got some time off of mission things and went to a game park and Lake Malawi, both beautiful places. We saw some amazing animals and thanks to Janet learnt a lot of plant names especially ones that had pretty pink flowers! We saw hippos, crocodiles, monkeys, a variety of antelope, warthogs, elephants, eagles, vulchers, storks and lots of other birds. We even ran over a crocodile which wasn't so good as we got quite wet, the driver of the boat said he'd never done that before but that the odd adventure is always fun! Hmm I don't think Berni would agree with him as she jumped halfway across the boat. We (well half of us) got up to see the sunrise at Lake Malawi which was amazing.
Swimming - in pools and the Lake (hopefully don't have Bilharsia now). Had my first proper dunking fight: me, Janet and Helen against Josh and Pete - we lost terribly but it was fun.
Bruises - am pretty much covered in them now, my worst one occuring during the dunking fight and the others mostly caused by Pete as well. I will cause him pain at some point!
Kids - we did a lot of children's mission things in various places. Playing games (not the easiest thing in scoring sun), singing, doing dramas, and teaching. The kids are fantastic, they will run after the trucks as you arrive and wave whenever they see white people. It was great to enable them to have some fun and show them that God loves them.
Chicheri prison - we walked in, were cornered by around 500 prisoners and managed to sing our way out!
God is good - all the time! We have all learnt a lot about God over the past 2 weeks and all been challenged and inspired in different ways.

So there you have a very brief summary of 11 highlights of Malawi, no doubt others will be blogging about the trip soon. There will also be photos posted on the internet - between us there's probably over 1000 so have fun looking at them. But now I guess I should probably go and get dressed.

Oops

2006-08-19T12:18:00.000+01:00

What I was trying to make: pineapple upside down cake
What I ended up with: pineapple and mush - nice tasting mush but definitely no sign of cake anywhere

What I was trying to do: sew on hooks and eyes to hold up skirt
What I ended up with: a skirt that falls down

Where I was trying to drive to: the bank
Where I ended up driving to: church

What I was trying to do: put in ear plugs
What I had to do in the end: read the instructions - how complicated can earplugs be - well you'd be surprised

Traffic Jams and Unexpected Packages

2006-08-16T14:22:00.000+01:00

TRAFFIC JAMS

Well my latest journey from Cardiff to Herne Hill took ... drum roll... 7 hours! yep we have a new longest time record! Fortunately I wasn't alone on this mamouth trek as Laura Foster - now to be called Smerf was with me. She is a good person to have in a traffic jam - highly entertaining. Firstly we took a random route north of the M4 to aviod a major hold up near Bristol which we already knew about which was fun we only had a couple of panic moments at junctions not knowing which way to turn. However, despite our success at avoiding one accident we got held up in another one near Reading, it took nearly 2 hours to get from one services to the next so we ended up stopping at both, though we were considering the bushes at one point - they're never quite thick enough on motorways! Anyways we had great entertainment trying to stop next to a certian van to ask the driver what a soffit was as these were advertised on the side each time our lane or his lane moved was a very tense and exciting moment. Eventually we were close enough to ask - unfortunately we didn't really understand his answer it's something that goes under a roof. We then started naming the drivers of cars we kept passing we had:
Chewing nails woman
Naked woman - we actually think she may have been as there was no top in sight
Famous guy
Getting out to ask for a cigarette guy
Knee man and of course Soffit man
We then had to park in London for a while to wait until after 6:30 to go into the congestion zone near Victoria station.

UNEXPECTED PACKAGES

1. Coincidenses are weird! I was talking to Sarah at our Malawi weekend about her jury service and said how much I wanted to do it so imagine my surprise to get home and find a jury summons waiting for me! Unfortunately I'm going to have to defer it as it will clash with enrolement and staring uni but still am quite excited! Though also scared by the prosepect of having to stay awake through what could be a very boring trial!

2. Finally recieved my football supporters kit from Kingmill - was meant to be a world cup promotion hmm... but at least now I have my chanting remote control!

3. Got £20 book token from uni for getting a first - very nice of them hmmm do they expect me to spend it on books for next year or just a random novel.?

Tinkerbell

2006-08-10T20:56:00.000+01:00

That's the name of the cat we are looking after. She is really friendly and so cute but also very mischievous. She wants to know everything and see everything which means she wants to go in every cupboard, behind everything and up the curtains. So you always have to have someone ready to leap up and get her down or rescue her. She is very sweet when she's sleepy and often sleeps completely upside down. She's learnt two words hello, and please which she always accompanies with a pleading look. I think she thinks her name is no as thats the word we most often have to say to her. It seems our friends are going to keep her unless her owner comes forward, if not I may be forced to phone our landlord to convince him to let her live in Cardiff! Anyways here's a couple of photos:

Landlubbers and a cat!

2006-08-05T16:34:00.000+01:00

Well just spent a week at holiday club as Captain yo-ho. It was for 5-11 year olds and there were generally around 40 kids everyday. It was great fun but very tiring being enthusiastic for 2 1/2 hours is exhausting. There were some great comedy moments including:

Quote of the week from Poppy "Somebody sit on me quick!"

The funniest moment has to be in the leaders meeting during one of the quieter moments when one of the leaders' 2 year old son belched the loudest belch I have ever heard (and bear in mind I live(ed) with Helen, Becci and Jamie who are all good belchers), everyone just cracked up except his mum who went bright red.

The funniest game was knights, horsemen and cavaliers, seeing kids trying to pick each other up was hilarious - fortunately there were no injuries.

The best pirate voice had to go to Eleanor (who is only 3 but joined in anyway) who just said "hello" very sweetly when demonstrating hers.

Am very excited this week as we are looking after a kitten! It is sooooo cute! Unfortunately it's lost and some friends of ours have taken it in and are looking for its owners but they are away this week so we are cat sitting for them. So if you know of anyone in the Dulwich area that has lost a grey tabby kitten about 5 months old then let me know. Hopefully I'll be able to put some photos up of her soon.

Also pleased to see Palace getting off to a good start to the new season its 2-1 at the moment yay!

Ireland

2006-07-31T18:36:00.000+01:00

I have just spent 10 days in Ireland on holiday with my parents. Unfortunately the weather wasn't great but we still had a good time.

Strangest positioning of a monument: One for the first Atlantic plane crossing, the monument was placed 1 mile away from a kern placed 500 meters away from where Alcott and Brown landed.

Most making me feel old moment: Being asked by a kid at the hotel whether I was Molly's mum.

Most painful day: The day after I went horse riding - sitting was especially bad

Wettest moment: On Clare Island waiting for the ferry back - my trousers were see through

Stangest place names: A village called Kill, and a cemetry called Killamora Cemetry, Crump Island

Times the boatman complained about having not divided the bikes among the 4 boats going to the same place making them too heavy for the shallow bits: 17 (my Dad couted not me)

New things eaten / drunk: lobster (not a whole one, but bits with pasta), guiness (only one sip) I say its better than beer but still gross. Also saw the guiness factory: quiz for you how many pints of guiness are made everyday?

Most annoying thing: the bumpiness of the roads - it was actually painful on some journeys

Times gone through barbed wire fence: 4 - once to get mum's golf ball back from a field (it hit a tree) and once to see a castle

Anyway I think that's the highlights covered am now spending the week as Captain yo-ho at holiday club Argh me Hearties

Swimming

2006-07-21T12:45:00.000+01:00

Actually made it to the pool this week. Here's a summary of my trip:

Time taken to get there: 20mins - there are roadworks in the way grr!
Price: £2 - cheaper than expected hurrah
Lockers 20p - have to go back to reception to get 20 pence piece
Make sure take out goggles and towel from bag before putting everything in locker
Lock the non-refundable locker
Turn round to pick up goggles and realise have put them back into the locker grr!
Decide don't want to go back to reception for another 20p so go in without goggles
Find pool is fairly empty and has 4 lanes available
Water is colder than expected
Realise water is 6ft deep all the way along but find ledges at the ends to stand on
Swim 12 lengths (600 meters) less than normal but can't swim properly because of lack of goggles
Get out of pool and head back to changing room down scary slippery stair case
Have shower without shampoo which is still in the locker, shower is also very strong so a bit painful
Find that there are individual chaging cubicles so decide to go in one - much better than the group ones we had to go in when we came with school
Find cubicle door doesn't actually shut but it does stay kinda closed so get changed in there anyway
Drive back home via roadworks

So I give my trip a 5/10 next time I will take 20p with me and make sure to not lock my googles in and also take out my shampoo.

Perfect Blend

2006-07-17T18:09:00.000+01:00

Met up with some of my fellow ex-greenies yesterday (that's old school friends for those of you that didn't have to endure the trauma of our uniform). It's always great to catch up with everybody, though I was left feeling quite old as our conversation at one point did revolve around hoovers! Although neither of these are actually Hoovers oh well!
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Congratulations to Safina for her iminent wedding (next Sunday) hope all goes well, am gutted I can't make it - I'm expecting lots of photos from those that can! ;)

P.S Perfect Blend is the coffe shop/bar we met up in - a great place to go if you are ever in Streatham

Lambeth Country Show

2006-07-15T17:34:00.000+01:00

This is an annual event held in Brockwell Park(don't go there on your own normally) with a fayre ground, food stalls, crafts, charity stalls etc. and arenas where there are displays and things. It used to be a proper country show where farmers etc would come with their livestock but now it's more of a general thing.
So today I went there with my Dad we saw a motorbike display team where the youngest was just 7 and the oldest 19, they were quite good they even jumped over 3 cars parked long ways! We also saw a birds of prey thing and an army parachute team. Their display was cut short by London Air traffic control though so there was no warning that they were coming but they all landed safely.
We also managed to get about 15 free cartons of a new drink thing (it was meant to be one per person but as I said I went with my Dad so...). Also won a book on a tombola in aid of the Scouts and a can of drink because Dad scored a goal against an ice hockey goalie. So all in all quite a good afternoon out really.

"Someday, Somehow, Somewhere"

2006-07-13T22:17:00.000+01:00

So I joined the gym well more correctly the National Sports Center! Though it really isn't the greatest sports center ever so how it got that title I don't know. So now I have a fitness programme to stick to when I go hmmm I wonder how long that will last? I am planning on going swimming tomorrow and I did do a 20 minute workout after my induction today so its all good so far. Unfortuately it takes 20 mins in the car to get there as its 3 miles away, so not quite as convenient as park place or as cheap as its still going to cost £3.60 every time I go. Why can't doing exercise be cheaper, I know you can jog for free but that gets boring! I reckon the goverment should subsidise gym membership somehow, afterall they are keen for the country to be healthy. Eeek have started blogging about politics how did that happen? - I blame being back home with my Dad who watches programmes like This Week and Question time which I end up watching too as there's usually nothing better to do.

Also went to see West Side Story performed by year 6 at my Dad's school, it was quite good but I think they were a bit self conscious about the romance in it. The songs were good but I have now had America in my head for the whole evening grr!

Graduation

2006-07-11T14:46:00.000+01:00

Yesterday was my graduation ceremony at 4:30pm, I have to say I thought I'd be a lot more excited about it but really it was just a formality to go through. Although getting a badge was a highlight! ;) But you can just buy them in the shop for £1.95 which is a lot cheaper than hiring a gown to get one for free at the ceremony. Hmmm maybe I'll consider that if I get my Masters next year, though the hoods for those are a lot nicer...
Also have to add that I HATE MY SHOES, they were so painful! My heals have holes in now grrr! Dad had to go and collect the car as I couldn't walk all th way back home in them plus I had tights on so couldn't really walk bare foot without ruining them. Anyway here's a picture of me graduating

I have just watched some of the biosci ceremony too and saw Helen, Becci, Becky and Liz - well done guys. You were all a bit blury though! Was it just me or was Dan called Geofrey?

Results

2006-07-06T10:59:00.000+01:00

My results came today!
Drum Roll.... I got a 1st yay! But I think only just as my average this year was below 70 eek. Also got tickets for graduation on Monday - I hope I don't fall over or anything similarly embarassing (bound to happen though).

Highs and lows

2006-07-05T16:47:00.000+01:00

I'm not reall sure what this post is about, there's been quite a few things happening recently (hmm had strange mind block on how to spell that then - hate when that happens) so I'll just tell you some of the highlights amd lowlights (yes there have been some of those too).

Highlights:

Going to see my cousin's pottery in an exhibition for new designers - though felt very out of place surrounded by arty people

Going to the Oval to see twenty 20 cricket again in the sunshine - though Surrey lost both games we went to, Helen came to one which was cool - her first ever live sport experience

Concert in aid of the charity I worked for in my gap year - though Mr Penton ex music teacher was playing in it eek had to hide behind the programme

Discovering that Laura has known my mum for 7 years as Sago as they both worked for camps for girls

Some of the Malawi team coming to my church to tell people about our trip - though we didn't go to bed till 1:30am so was a little tired
Related to above point - discovered that Ian sometimes sings in his sleep - made us laugh anyway

Fixed computer so that it is a lot quicker and the internet works properly

Re-reading Harry Potter 5 and 6

Lowlights:

In course of fixing computer lost lots of files - eek hope I don't need them

Sob England lost sob! - plus had to watch match with Helen - she actually screamed at one point

Murray out of Wimbledon - though am not liking any sport at the moment cos of the distress of the football so not really caring too much

Having nothing to do - the weekend was ultra busy and fun then Monday and Tues were really boring - how will I cope with the whole summer

Driving round Hide park Corner - usually when I'm a passenger I shut my eyes as its so scary but this time I had to keep them open eek

Well that's been my life since my last post - hmm

Wimbledon

2006-06-28T22:35:00.000+01:00

I went to Wimbledon today yay! mum managed to get center court tickets in the public ballot. A review of the day follows:

Matches seen: 4
People I've heard of who played: Venus Williams, David Nalbandian, Tim Henman, Roger Federer
Other people who played: 6
Most embarassing moment: sitting down on a cushion that was still in its plastic case and it whistleing loudly as I sat down
Most alarming moment: Someone collapsing in the Royal Box - he did eventually manage to walk out so hopefully it wasn't too bad
Ate lunch at: 11:30 am which may be a new earlyness record
Funniest Moment: someone shouting during the Henman match "so which one's Cliesters?' - her match was meant to be the one playing but her opponent pulled out with a virus
Most painful looking moment: the line judge being hit on the head by the ball
Mexican Waves joined in: 5
2nd funniest moment: the lady along the row from me opening a bottle of fizzy water and it spraying the lady in front of her

I think that just about covers it (hope you like the Wimbledon colours I used there)

Results update: They are currently up on the Glamorgan notice board but as i'm in London and that's in Wales I'll have to wait for them to come by post grr! (Before you ask Becci I don't want you to look for me thanks)

Exercise update: went jogging yesterday - once round the park (apporx 1 mile) Have also found a cheaper gym in Crystal palace (the place not the football team) - just £25 for a year then you get discounted prices everytime you go so would be £3.60 for the gym or £2.70 for the pool - still more than cardiff but cheaper than other places so I may have to go there.

Wildlife

2006-06-26T15:29:00.000+01:00

Since I've been back in London I've seen quite a lot of wildlife:

Ducks
Canada Geese (with thier babies) - they now have a goose proof fence in our local park so they can't chase you anymore hurah!
Moorhens
Coots
Squirrels (though thankfully they haven't been in our loft for ages)
Pigeons (Beckrum I can't remeber their latin name!)
Dogs
Moths
A baby fox - although this did appear a bit dead, but it was gone the next day so either it was alive and moved, was dead and our neighbours buried it or it was half dead and got eaten.
There was also a fox standing on our car roof last night apparently!
A Rat! eek! It was on the other side of the road so lets hope it doesn't get any closer to our house. Though they do say you're never more than 10ft from a rat in London but maybe as we live in a maiseonette that's not always the case for us.

Results update: Still waiting to know when and how I get them

Jogging/Exercise update: Looked up gyms on internet found cheapest to be £65 per month plus £20 joining fee so have decided not to use the gym over the summer. Seriously debated whether to go jogging this morning but it was raining so decided not to.

M4 Fun!

2006-06-23T20:51:00.000+01:00

So I drove back to London yesterday sob! And had lots of fun along the M4 as usual hmmm.

Whilst driving:

I broke the speed limit (ooops) I think I did actually break 90 at one point eek!
Ate a bounty bar
Ate a tube of winegums
Drank some water
Stalled the engine (why am i admitting to this?)
Sang loudly
Talked to myself
Stopped once at services (see Beckrum I'm still doing well) and bought popcorn chicken yum!
Mis read an advert as hypochondriacs and grow fluid it actually said hydronponics (whatever that is) and grow fluids which depending on what it means probably makes more sense.

So as you can probably guess from the above list I got stuck in a traffic jam for 4 junctions grrr! Why do thay have a bus lane at the end of the M4 it just causes a big hold up. Anyway I got home within 4 hours still (probably due to the speeding along the rest of the journey shhh).

Miles!

2006-06-19T20:22:00.000+01:00

Between 10am Friday and 10pm Sunday I:

Drove aprox 400 miles
Walked aprox 28 miles
Slept for 10 hours
Played word association for 1.5 hours
Missed the exit for Cardiff by 4 junctions (11 miles)
Got 5 blisters
Got to know 9 people a lot better
Camped for the first time
Was bitten aprox 100 times by midges! Urgh! Sooooo itchy!

This was all because of trips to Porthcawl, Swansea and the Brecon walk for Malawi. Here are some photos of all 3, you can guess which is which!

Bargain!

2006-06-13T11:11:00.000+01:00

Having decided that I am a bit bored with my wardrobe I went shopping yestrday to get some different tops and things. So I braved TK Maxx (which I find quite annoying as you have to search so hard to find things) and actually found a nice skirt that fits for £9 reduced from its RRP of wait for it .... £149!!!! What a bargain!

Also went to see Poseidon yesterday which I thought was good - very tense. I actually had to hide behind my jumper at one point. Although Smellon didn't like it and complained all the way home! It was a good job Beckrum wasn't with us as she can't really cope with tenceness plus she'd have had difficulty buying her ticket as she can't say Poseidon. Her attempts to say it have included 'persuasion' and 'Pos-e-don'.

Can Smellon Count?

2006-06-02T11:40:00.000+01:00

The evidence that she can't:

Smellon: "There were millions of them, like hundreds!"

Smellon: "10, so how many is that?"

I worry about her sometimes!

Finished Degree!

2006-05-30T16:43:00.000+01:00

Eeek I have just finished my degree! How weird does that sound, I can't quite believe it's all over. Well until I start my Masters next year which will still be a little strange living with 2 non-students and different people on the course etc.

So now I guess I get to start on the list of things to do after exams. This includes:

Clean whole house
Write CV
Do gardening
Wash sheets
File old notes
Tidy room

Sounds like fun doesn't it!

Ok so there are some exciting things on there too:

Go to beach
Go to Alton Towers
Watch Films
Watch first season of Lost
Go shopping
Bake cakes - hmm could be interesting in our oven

So feel free to join us in any of the list - but Smellon doesn't finish until 5th so keep anything exciting away from her until then!

It's a Mystery!

2006-05-25T14:11:00.000+01:00

We have a mystery on our hands folks! It's the mystery of the multiplying cup!

So in our house we have always had 1 yellow plastic cup - that was until Tuesday when another one materialised in the dishwasher.
Incidentally our dishwasher is broken at the moment (why does this have to happen during exam time grr).
I was washing up (humph stupid dishwasher) and planned on emptying the stuff that was still in the dishwasher to wash that too and saw a yellow cup in there. However, I left the stuff for a while and washed the things on the side which included a yellow cup. I therefore surmised that I must have imagined the yellow cup in the dishwasher as we have only got one. But then I got onto the dishwasher things and opened it again to see that there was definitly another yellow cup in there! Weird! None of us can explain this strange phenomenon but some possible theories that have been mooted (ooo unususal word) are:

1. The cups are replicating so we will soon have a house full of yellow cups
2. The dishwasher broke when it produced a yellow cup through its pipes
3. Yellow cups sporadically (ooo another unusual word) appear from nowhere
4. The cup is actually a figment of our imaginations that's not really there
5. A different cup has changed colour and shrunk
6. The original yellow cup was split into two and it regenerated into 2 whole cups
7. An anonymous donor left a yellow cup in the dishwasher

I guess you are probably all thinking that we are all a bit dumb and have had 2 yellow cups all year but I can assure you that this is not true! Can you solve the mystery?

P.S The sofa obviously didn't like the taste of Beckrum so she has emerged unscathed!

Who needs toys when you have a sofa?

2006-05-20T15:15:00.000+01:00

So we were a bit bored of revision hence us seeing how many different modes you can adopt to 'sit' on a sofa:

1. The meditation enhancing mode:

2. The layered mode - handy when everybody wants to lie down:

3. But if something goes a bit wrong with the previous mode it can lead to the 'I can't stand the sight of you' mode:

4. The floating upside down mode a.k.a the beetroot head mode:

5. The self preservation mode - handy when smellon is about to attack:

6. The squash your housemate mode (should have stayed in mode 5 Beckrum):

There is however a danger with playing with your sofa - it may suddenly turn on you and swallow you whole!:

How we miss poor little Beckrum! She learnt the hard way that it is sometimes better to stick to revision and leave your sofa alone! You have all been warned!

CAKE

2006-05-16T14:07:00.000+01:00

Mmmm cake its a wonderful thing, as I was reminded on Sunday by Liz's baking skills. But that got me to wondering who first made a cake and why? Why would you suddenly think:

'I know I'll mix flour, eggs, butter and suger in a bowl,

put it in an oven and see what happens?'

You just wouldn't would you, so maybe cakes were an accident. Who knows? On a similar vein who first thought:

'hmmm that white stuff coming out of a cow looks appetising I'll drink it!'

or:

'Hmm those oval shape things that come out of hens, I'll crack it, mix it with the white stuff from cows and cook it in a pan and then eat it.'

Hmmm...Should I be Working?

2006-05-12T20:28:00.000+01:00

Well you can all guess that the answer to that question is yes. But I have finsihed 2 essays now though one needs to shrink considerably. However, I have the worst one to go! I have to prepare a preliminary analysis of a contemporary policy debate or controversy where both scientific and social issues are at stake.

So..... WHAT! HOW! WHY! ARGH! EEEK! HELP! are words that spring to mind when I remeber that I should be doing this.

I have chosen stem cell research as the subject for my project, someone tell me why I did this? Maybe if I had actually read something vaguely to do with this over the past semester I would know what on earth I should be doing but oh well hindsight is a wonderful thing. Actually no its not it makes you feel guilty or regretful or stupid!

I had a hindsight incident today...can't believe I am sharing this with you. I walked in on Shima on the loo ooops! In my defence I was in a zoombie like state having been staring at my computer for hours writing my other essay! So despite her cries I still opened the door. I think we are planning to get a lock now which in hindsight we should have done before.

Hmmm a pale colour may prevent readage!

It's definitly going on the list of things to do in June, which is growing by the minute and includes such wonderful things as clean the whole house, do gardening and go to the beach.

Yay!

2006-05-09T13:55:00.000+01:00

I have had lots of yay! worthy things happen this weekend.

1. Went for a nice walk in the country with Beckle, Simon, Robbie and Ben. Beckle (I am still perservering with the change of nickname) unfortunately had to do the whole walk in flip-flops!

2. Went to Hannah's church in Frome and her house for lunch with Gillian, Sam and Ian. We went to raise awareness for our mission trip to Malawi.

3. Went to see Mission Impossible 3 with Simon, Sam and Rich. Hmm why was I the only girl? It had a bit of everything, action, romance, comedy, twists and confusion.

4. Got an acceptance letter for my Masters course with well I guess I find out next year but Smellon saw me open the letter. I just have to get a 2:1 now!

5. Have actually started an essay woohoo I have 470 words (out of 3,500 - not so yay)

The Chav Test

2006-05-06T14:34:00.000+01:00

So how much of a chav are you? I don't suppose that is a question many of us ask ourselves but having come accross a chav test in the metro Liz, Becci, Helen and I decided to see who was the most chav among us. The results were a little surpirsing: in joint 2nd place were Becci, Helen and me with 40% but the clear winner and the most chav person award went to Liz who is 50% chav.

This means according to the metro:
" You affectionately call your hero Wayne Rooney Roo and you consider bingo not only a good night out but a sport. Your idea of a sound investment is having another baby."

I don't quite know what has come over me but I have agreed to go on a 2 mile walk in Dynas powys this afternoon instead of getting on with my work hmmm. But its all good training for my future marathon exploits!

The Mankiness of Shima!

2006-05-04T09:34:00.000+01:00

I feel a theme developing! So there's not much mankiness contained in Shima but yesterday we had a great demonstaration.

I apparently sad something funny which made Shima burst into laughter. Unfortunately she had just taken a big mouthful of rice pudding. Said rice pudding with the now added jet propultion of laughter now sprayed out of her mouth all over the floor, Beckle's sandals, the table and some work! Reaching about 2 feet away! This then led to the whole room decending into fits of giggles for a while - I'm glad laughing is good exercise as we certainly do a lot of it.

Also if you haven't seen Beckel's left leg you can now also ask to see her right which is now stripey! lol!

PS Beckle is a new nickname for Beckrum based on the fact that she is one big freckle!

The Mankyness of Beckrum

2006-05-02T14:08:00.000+01:00

Can you believe she suggested the title herself! Stupid Girl!

Anyway I'm not going to go into too much detail just ask to see her left leg if you see her (don't worry it's not hairy!)
She also did a very loud belch in the biosci cafe today lol - why do I eat with her? because you love me - Beckrum

So I had my last lecture today sob! no wait yay! Unfortunately unlike most of my third year buddies it wasn't my last ever - well that's assuming I get onto the Master's course. Speaking of which why haven't they replied yet grr!

Argh I am having great difficulty with my typing today nvjdwgpw! At least Becci is here to laugh at me! :(
I really wanted to buy a guardian today for some reason but they had sold out so I had to get a telegraph which is a whole 40p more yikes! ooo don't think I've ever typed that word before.

hmm Becci has just highlighted random words on my entry she is very STRANGE!

Anyway - oo still green oops this is turning into a random post so will stop now - bet you're relieved!

A Day of Firsts!

2006-05-01T12:06:00.000+01:00

I had a day with quite a few firsts in it yesterday, here they are:

1. Went to the beach twice in one day - firtsly to Llantwit Major with Beckrum and her sister, then to Ogmore with a group of CU type people.

2. Flew a big proper kite that you can steer and stuff - was great fun although my neck is kind of acheing today from the exertion of keeping it up!

3. Went in Jamie's car on the motorway - unfortunaltely his taste in car music hasn't changed, though we did have one decent song. And I have to say his driving was pretty good for once, he mostly stuck to the speed limit too so well done Spongebob!

4. Had a bonfire on the beach - well done Bov for creating fire despite the wind and rain. Mmmmm toasted marshmallows yum!

5. Was late to highfields - shocking that this hasn't happened before! We were a bit late getting back from the beach for the first time.

6. Wore one of Jamie's t-shirts - I wasn't particulary prepared for the second beach trip so had to borrow more clothes - thanks Jamie

7. Ate all the onions and peppers that were part of Beckrum's left over Chinese for lunch - I still don't really like them so no putting them in my food!

hmmm now I am determined to think of 3 more so I have 10....

8. Ate tea standing outside Highfields - again being unprepared to go straight to the beach and getting back late from the beach meant that I had to eat food then. Thanks Beckrum for bringing it from home.

9. Watched the Disney version of the Hunchback of Notre Dame - Although I wasn't really paying much attention and I didn't see all of it.

ooo 1 to go hmmm....

10. Toasted gummie bears on a bonfire - hmm gooey!

Yay 10 go me!

The Queen

2006-04-25T10:47:00.000+01:00

Happy 80th Birthday to her majesty! I have come to realise that I have heard quite a few funny stories about our monarch over the years so will now share a few with you.

1. Millennium Stadium
The scene was set for a great opening game at the newly finished Millennium Stadium. The building work was finished and they had even had time to clean all the seats with a power water spray thingy. The queen has a very special seat in the Millennium Stadium at it is big and padded with lots of foam. So the queen arrives for the game and goes into the Royal box, she stands in front of her nice clean seat and after the national anthem or whatever she sits....
squelch a load of water comes out of her seat as the foam has soaked up the power water spray! Now what do the others in the box with similar seats do as you are meant to follow what the queen does but now you know it will lead to squelchidge!

2. Horse Carriage
It was yet another important visit of an important person to see the queen. At one point they are both in an open carriage being pulled by horses. The horses being horses and not realising who they are pulling do not make any attempt at politeness and are often heard 'bottom burping' the queen feeling embarassed for her guest leans forward and says "I'm sorry for the horrible noise" her guest then replies "that's quite alright Marm I actually thought it was the horses!". Unfortunately I do not know what happened next.

3. Finger Bowl
The queen is apparently very good at putting her guests at ease. This has been illustrated at one of the many banquets she holds. One course required a finger bowl. However, one of the important guests had obviously not seen one of these before and so promptly drank it! Now you can imagine the potential embarrassment that this course of action may evoke. However, the queen excellent hostess as she is eased her guest's embarrassment by picking up her bowl and drinking it too. How lovely.

A Strange New World

2006-04-21T09:00:00.000+01:00

I have come to the conclusion that I have woken up in some sort of alternate Herne Hill this morning. The reasons behind this are as follows:

1. I woke up a 7:55am - now its a holiday day so this is just wrong

2. I checked my phone to see that I had received 3 new messages - a new overnight record! Luckily I had remembered to put my phone onto silent last night unlike the night before so was not rudely awakened by them arriving, unlike the night before!

3. One of the said messages appeared to call me Dave - now I realise Vickrum is actually a boy's name but I think calling me Dave is going a bit far. This strange phenomenon is however, cleared up on checking next message to find that the previous was actually meant for Dave - phew!

4. I have to take my Dad to school! - Now this to me seems a bit backwards!

It is now 9am so I will have to hope that the world corrects itself soon!

And now on to...

THE SAGA OF NEXT DOOR'S SOFA

Yesterday next door had a sofa delivered, unfortunatly no one was in hence...

Delivery man sitting down on the job (sorry forgot to rotate picture). This led to the sofas being left along their garden path. Next a strange man appears, but he doesn't have the key either so he is forced to wait outside with the sofas. On our way out for the evening we see strange man and the sofa trying to go through the door (I assume there was someone else the other side), as we walk past there is a very loud crash and the sound of broken glass - the door is smashed. On our return we see a boarded up door and two sofas (minus cushions) outside! I awoke this morning to see just the boarded up door. So either the sofas were stolen over night (which is quite likely) or they eventually managed to get them inside. We may never know the true ending of the saga of next door's sofa!

Word Alive

2006-04-10T16:53:00.000+01:00

Woohoo! I think that's the best word to sum up the week! My only question is why did I not go for the previous 2 years? The teaching was really good. I went to the chronological bible overview which was really good, I have seen a whole new side to the story of David and Goliath. The evening meetings were fabtastic. My favourite illustration being the man who woke up on the morning after his wedding and not knowing who his wife was! Anyway here's some of my favourite pics I have 113 in total so it was a tough choice, if you want to see more/have some let me know. I have also heard talk of a website photo album thingy being set up so watch this space.
Argh the photo uploading isn't working so you will have to wait.

So summary of the week:

Favourite Evening meeting talk: Vaughan Robberts - Authentic Christ
Most Overplayed Song: Indescribeable
Most heroic moment: Bov rescuing a girl in the swimming pool
Best Lunch spot: on the beach
Most concerning moments: Simon and Matt having their hair straightened
Best driving moment: Moving the minibus foreward! (sshh don't tell the union)
Worst Driving moment: Aqua-plaining during an emergency stop in Brixton
Best toy played with: Marble run at Beckrum's house - though strangely complicated!
Most "uni hall is the best" prooving moment: Winning the Lazer Quest
Most shocking discovery about a person: Sarah Holland turns violent in a swimming pool!
Person who belched the most: Simon
Person most obsessed with luggage trolleys: Beckrum
Fears conquered: 2 (the dodgems, and the miami wave ride)
Worst seminar: sociology subject matters
Best Seminar: Delighting in God's Word
Guitar cords learnt: 3 - A, G and C or was it D?
Most disconcerting moment: Max the hamster watching me on the loo
Funniest old people: the couple that were 'joyriding' on an electric scooter, chair thingy (nearly running us over)

My Brain!

2006-03-31T20:26:00.000+01:00

My brain keeps leading me astray! This has been an ongoing phenomenon though thankfully only it happens on rare occasions. Today being one of those.

So on my way out of the Arts and Social Studies Library I bumped into Emma Simmonds, and during the course of our conversation she said "on your way home" so then when I left to go to the Bute Library I suddenly found myself going home instead! I had to make an embarassing U turn to go back.

I often find this phenomenon occurs while I am driving! I seem to just start driving without thinking where I'm going so my brain leads me on common routes eg to Tesco or when in London to my Grandma's house. Don't worry though it doesn't affect the safety of my driving it just takes longer to get anywhere, as invariably the way my brain takes me is the opposite way to where I should be going.

I think my stomach may have an influence - for example when I found myself looking for my flute in the fridge!

Forms

2006-03-28T15:54:00.000+01:00

I had a day of filling in forms yesterday, the major one being my masters application. It's now in the post so hopefully I'll hear whether or not I have got a place in the not too distant future. But all this question answering got me thinking about some of the pointless ones you so often get asked. For example on a form aboput the proposed CPZ around our house there was the question: "do you consider yourself to be Welsh?"

The first thing of note here is that they are not asking whether or not you are Welsh but whether you think you are which could cause problems for some people with split personalities or something. But more to the point does this actually affect your parking ability? - now I could be really rude and say that it obviously does as Welsh people can't park or something of that ilk (ooo unusual word) but I won't. So why bother asking?

It also seems to be getting more and more ridiculous the number of different ethnic IDs you can choose from, I'm always tempted to check (ooo American term oops, tick) the 'other' option and put human. So far I haven't done this rebellious option.

Anyway I guess some of you have had similar stupid/pointless questions to answer too. I should probably go home now - can you believe I've been woking in the library/ computer room for 3 hours! Argh just had flash back of the exam paper I got given this morning ready for after Easter - I have been trying to block it from my mind as it is too awful to contemplate. Oh well all's fun in exams and coursework - no wait that can't be right?!?

Who Said......

2006-03-25T17:21:00.000Z

So I have a mini competition for you all - guess who said this?

"When it comes to fluffy things and babies I'm quite girly"

Answers on a postcard (well on a coment), those who know the answer please don't spoil the fun for the others!

RAC Excitement

2006-03-23T20:00:00.000Z

I had a dramatic evening (well not compared to a hollywood film but to my normal evenings) yesterday. Following a fun night at windband (eek very few flutes there so they could actually here us), I drove with the Liz to the Bute library to take my books back. OK so you're probably thinking this isn't very dramatic so far but here's the fun part. I got back into my car and turned the key and...nothing happened! Not a sound from the engin at all! So mild panic from me and slightly less so from Liz. What do we do? Stupidly I left my RAC card at home but fortunately the Liz is full of sense and so had hers with her. So we phoned them and they said they would be 75 minutes!
So now we both go a bit girly and think if only we had some guys with us to push the car or something, also became a bit paranoid that i ran out of petrol and would look silly. 10 minutes later after contemplating phoning CU to get any males there to come and rescue us the RAC man arrived in his orange van. He knew what the problem was immediately: apparently the key which has a code in it that the car recognises before it lets the engin turn on had become misaligned so the car thought it was a different key. The solution: go home and get the spare key, so we get very excited about going in the RAC van, a sereal journey ensued where we saw lots of people walking to my house for open house, the RAC man was glad he doesn't live next door! I was also panicing that the spare key was in London, however, it was successfully found in the first place i looked hurrah!
So it was back into the RAC van - making sure the two keys are kept separately so it doesn't happen to the spare key too. Then the moment of truth arrived would the spare key work? ...Yes! hurrah we are saved! I can drive home and enjoy open house! Thats the end of my dramatic evening!
The cause of all this was the library scanning system at the doors so all you drivers be warned!

The Destruction of Shima!

2006-03-22T11:40:00.000Z

Now I bet you all thought Shima is a great person to have as a house mate - she's very studious, she enjoys cleaning, she loves cooking pasta, she is just an all round nice person, plus she provides wonderful entertainment with her Shimaisms! However, despite all this being true she is a dangerous person to have in your house. This was demonstrated yet again this morning, more of that later, but first some background to this conclusion:

Last year in good old 58 Dogfield Street Shima managed to break an A3 photo frame into millions of tiny pieces all over the lounge, block the drains with food (fortunately Beckrum's Dad was on hand to save the day) and on Smellon's birthday she blocked the toilet! Smellon being the one who had to get her hands dirty unblocking it - I managed to miss this less than joyous event as I was on the M4 travelling back from London.

So far this year in the house of lovliness (aka 3 Cosmeston Street) Shima has managed to break my cooking timer, break the washing machine by opening the door mid cycle and flood the kitchen in so doing and today she has blocked the toilet again! Unfortunately this occured first thing this morning before any of us had a chance to use it! So Beckrum and I had to make an emergency visit to Alison Joy Young's house to use the facilities. Hopefully we will be able to unblock it before open house tonight which is at our house eek! Otherwise make sure you go before coming round!

I would also advise bringing any protective clothing you own as Shima will be there........

CU Conversation!

2006-03-16T21:33:00.000Z

I have participated in some random conversations at various CU related events recently.

Prayer meeting Wed 15th March:

Chavs
General themes: where are all the chavs, we should do a special outreach to chavs, who is the most chavish person in CU, shock reactions

Naked voting
General themes: Becky stating that she is going to do this, shock reactions

Open House Wed 15th March:

Ben Thornton
General themes: Why Ben thinks all the girls in CU are no good, general hole digging by Ben, shock reactions

Dave Corkish
General themes: Ian stating that he wouldn't want to be his girlfriend, general relief from Dave, shock reactions

Matt Bater
General themes: too numerous to mention here but see his appreciation society website soon! Shock reactions

Sex
General themes: following uncle Ben's instructions, sex education (the rubbishness of), shock reactions - including running away!

People looking like animals
General themes: Sam Orr looking like a goat (according to Ian), shock reactions

Masters!

2006-03-14T10:55:00.000Z

Most of you know already but I have decided to stay in Cardiff to do a masters course in criminology and criminal justice next year! yay! I was talking to my personal tutor about it and it turns out he is the person who decides on the applications and he basically told me i would definitely get a place! woohoo! So now i just have to get round to filling in the form - why are forms so scary? They always seem so forbodeing (wow never typed that word before).

I got a free metro today which brings back lots of fnd memories of 6th Form when we would do the puzzle page everyday during break/lunch or just in our free periods - oops no wonder i was behind on work most of the time! Unfortunatly it is now quite wet!

Sorry for such a boring post I will endeavour to do better next time!

Liver

2006-03-10T10:30:00.000Z

"Livers are important you can't live without them, hence the name" - This is a quote from Dr Gregory House in House last night. It was a good episode, a bit different to normal.

Beckrum!

2006-03-09T12:19:00.000Z

I often wonder what is going on in the head of my ickle housemate. I am beginning to get very worried about her. For example yesterday we were chatting in the lounge along with Smellon and she randomly burst into song:

My name is Smellon,
I am eleven,
That is my mental age,
And i really do like sage,
I come from Exeter,
But Walsall is betterer,
That is where the best person in the world comes from,
Beckrum!

Unfortunately it is impossible for me to describe the sound of this song but the last note was really ear piercing! So you can see why I worry about her. Perhaps it is something to do with being a twin - and no, Ben Thornton, her brother is not identical to her! Although they do look remarkably similar hmmm....

No doubt Beckrum will complain about this post but I felt I should let you all know just how stange she can be.

Sexual conflict and the evolution of breeding systems in shore birds!

2006-03-07T14:08:00.000Z

So i went to a biology seminar today! I know I'm having a bit of a weird day. So here's what happened:

1:05pm: Beckrum and I take our seats awaiting a fun hour learning about shorebirds.
1:10pm: Tim walks in and looks confused to see me there
1:12pm: Liz and Becky arrive and sit with us - they accuse me of being a geek for coming to the talk but I explain its either this or working in the library
1:15pm: the guy that people say looks like Beckrum introduces the talk - the guy comes from Hungry
1:17pm: guy says "I promise you to shut up at 2:45pm"
1:118pm: guy is talking about the Kentish Polva - which is not found in Kent so why does it have this name - I am confused perhaps it has similar characteristics to things from Kent.
1:20pm: he shows two short videos of birds eating - yay something vaguely interesting
1:21pm: I am confused as the guy says that females are at a huge advantage for finding a mate - how can this be I ask myself?
1:22pm: The guy finds a solution to Britain's increasing divorce rate: If you have a large family then divorce is less likely
1:28pm: the guy mentions Arctic sandpipers - I am confused as there is no sand in the Arctic
1:30pm: Liz discovers that the apple she is eating is rotten inside - Becci wraps it in clingfilm to take it home to dissect it later.
1:40pm Liz and Becky get the giggles - they explain later it was because one of the pictures looked like the bird is walking with an umbrella
1:45pm: people are walking out - how can they do this when the talk is so interesting?
1:46pm: I realise that the guy has broken his promise to shut up! How rude is that!
1:48pm: everyone is looking bored now!
1:50pm: lectuer guy asks a question - i don't understand what he is asking - shouldn't he be on strike anyway?
1:51pm: Liz and Becky giggle again - Becky has drawn a picture of the bird from the earlier giggling! - Shouldn't they be listening?
1:52pm: Tim asks a question which shows that one of the guys figures was wrong - great have been listening to a non expert!
1:53pm: guy asks another long question - apparently its to do with Liz's project - I'm so glad I'm not Liz
1:55pm: I realise I have manged to fill an A4 page with notes from the talk - how intelligent am I?!
1:57pm This is the 3rd time this slide has been up it must be the guy's favourite
1:58pm: question guy thanks the speaker for such an exciting talk - obviously he is hearing voices in his head!

My favourite bit of the research:

Stuck-in-the-mud
'88 '89 '90 '91
Bike - - - 1
Skoda 1 3 1 4
Jeep - - 2 3
All 1 3 3 8
So as you can see Skodas are rubbish at driving on mud, people are getting stupider as more people are getting stuck in the mud and Jeeps aren't as good as the adverts say!

So there you go that was my experience of a biology talk!

The Weekend

2006-03-06T13:13:00.000Z

For those of you that didn't notice i was gone i went home this weekend! It was one of my school friends' 22nd birthday party and as it was at my favourite restaurant in London i thought i had to go! The birthday girl is Sarah in the middle with Sevil on the left and Maria on the right.

Other highlights of the weekend were:

going to watch Palace play - although they were a bit pants so lost 2 -1 but we are still in the play off places so have a chance of winning promotion.
The dancing on ice grand final - i'm glad Bonnie didn't win - can she actually skate for more that 2 seconds before she has to be picked up again?
A quote from my mum regarding Andrea Borchelli and Christina Aguillera who were going to appear on Parkinson: "oh are they that married duet act?" - made me laugh for quite a while
Sideways snow
Mum's cooking!
a house with the heating turned on during the day

Millenium Stadium

2006-03-02T12:34:00.000Z

OK so this post is a little late as i went on Sunday. It was the Carling Cup Final between Wigan Athletic and Manchester Utd. My parents and 3 of my cousins came to Cardiff for the match (my cousins are from Wigan). They all met Becky Lamb who was in our house on her own randomly - hope we didn't freak you out too much. Anyway here's some photos:

Unfortunately Wigan lost but they did really well to get to the final beating teams like Arsenal on the way! I really love football matches - the atmosphere is just amazing especially with the roof shut like it was. However, there were quite a few Man Utd fans in the Wigan section which shouldn't have been allowed but when they scored they all stood up so the stewards saw them and chucked them out! I always knew Man Utd fans lacked intelligence! We were all asked on the way in if we had any cans or bottles as they are not allowed in case they are used as missiles, i felt like saying no i don't have any of them in my bag just a couple of hand grenades or some other weapon - which they didn't ask you about.

Beckrum embarrased herself in the library today by belching REALLY loudly - it was hilarious! Anyway that's all folks!

Sentence challenge!

2006-02-27T15:37:00.000Z

Beckrum's reading is again my inspiration for a blog entry. Today she read a sentence that had 11 words beginning with P in it (see her blog) so i thought: "I wonder if you can make a sentence that makes sense where every word begins with the same letter?" Here is one i made up:

Every Early Evening Excited Ewes Eat Edible Elderberries, Each Eating Eagerly, Eventually Enhancing Elongation.

I now set you the challenge of coming up with even better sentences using different letters - if anyone manages Z I may give them a prize! Have fun!

Things that taste better! Mmm food!

2006-02-26T21:37:00.000Z

So...I was thinking about food as I often do (well when I'm hungry) and thought that some things just taste better when served a specific way:

Sandwiches cut into triangles (4)
Pasta served in a bowl
Grated cheese rather than sliced
Apples cut into pieces
Tea from a teapot
Cakes eaten with a fork (especially a cake fork)
Coke drunk through a straw
Lettuce shredded into pieces
Stone baked pizza
Mashed swede (that hasn't been left on a door step)
Carrots cut into strips not circles

If you can think of anything else feel free to mention it in a coment. Comments are good from the last set i found out someone who reads my blog that i didn't know about before - all very exciting!

Optimal Diet Theory

2006-02-24T12:19:00.000Z

Or ODT to those of us in the know! So here's the basics taken from a journal article being read by Beckrum in the library today:

Eat prey that yields more energy per unit handling time - this means don't eat food that comes in wrappers!
Eat more of that type of prey and drop other lower value prey - therefore anything that comes in two wrappers should be avoided at all costs - this includes: cereal, rockys, Mr Kipling cakes (just remebered a quote from my grandma in Sainsbury's "I need to get some Mr Kipling bathroom cleaner"), and anything else with 2 layers
Obey the quantitative threshold rule including and excluding certain prey types - not sure what this means but maybe always have take away that can be delivered to your house
These rules don't apply when eating mobile prey - therefore you can eat anything whilst on a train, or avoid food that moves e.g. rolling apples and especially live food like yogurts!
You should show partial preferences - e.g. to chocolate
Prey that is immobile lacks anti-predator behviours - therefore fast food is bad as it will definitly have anti-predator behaviours
Attack all prey encountered - eat all the food that you see
Large prey should be preferred - always opt for a 3 course meal

So there you go now we can all enjoy an optimal diet!

I had another one of those weird conversations where there is an unexpected twist - this time with Beckrum. We were working (I know rare occurance) in the library when Beckrum suddenly said: " I wonder what human flesh tastes like?" - eeek! I may be living with a potential cannibal. Other sentences spoken by Beckrum in the course of the ensuing conversation included: "What if it tastes better than chicken?" and "If you cut off someone's muscles (in order to eat them) do they grow back?"

And also found another great name in the article I was reading this time its a first name: Northrup - which could potentially be shortened to Ruppy! Hehe!

Shocking news to reveal about Liz as well today! LIZ IS A CRIMINAL! She was spotted stealing paper from the photocopiers at uni! Disgusting behaviour i think you will all agree - it's always the person you least suspect!

Wednesday! (OK so i couldn't think of a title!)

2006-02-22T11:34:00.000Z

I feel i should write a new post though am struggling with inspiration! Don't worry though I'm sure it will come so you can have no fear in reading on!

I was going to post about this on Saturday but i forgot so will do it now:

"He's big, he's red, his feet hang out the bed, Peter Crouch, Peter Crouch!" - I had cause to sing this little ditty on Saturday as he scored the winning goal in Liverpool's FA cup match against Man Utd. The other incident of note during the game was Alan Smith breaking his leg and dislocating his ankel OUCH! It looked really bad - apparently the worst Alex Fergusson has ever seen! But this did not detract from my joy of beating the moan!

My singing led Beckrum to make up a song about me but it really didn't fit too well with the rhyme as my name is just too long however, Beckrum's fits well:

"She's thin, she's Brummie, she owes us lots of money, Becci Noake, Becci Noake"

I feel its time for another Stargate quote:
Jack: "Daniel"
Daniel: "yes"
Jack:"I'm going to pass out now"

See it really is a great show - everyone should watch it! We are going through a bit of a Sci Fi craze in our house at the moment as we work our way throught the boxsets of Roswell, Smallville and of course Stargate. Other boxsets not yet embarked on are Spooks and Hustle as well as CSI (though i have been watching these on my own). Do we own too many DVDs?

There was a power cut during the night last night - I know this because my alarm didn't go off this morning. The clock had unset itself which it does when you unplug the radio therefore it must have not had power for a bit. Luckily i have a day off today so i didn't need to get up for anything!
Eeek its nearly 12 and i haven't done any work yet plus i need to get the notice sheets done so i can copy them on my way to prayer meeting.

Unexpected Discoveries

2006-02-15T10:35:00.000Z

Don't you just love it when you make one?! I just have: I discovered that the seminar that i thought was today is actually in 2 weeks time! Joyousness abounds. Not only do i not have to go to uni today now, but I can save my energy for CU tonight which will be the first time I've ventured out of the house since Friday! I am feeling much better today and was actually kind of looking forward to doing something other than watching TV and coughing (though would still be doing the later). Nevermind i guess i can do some work ready for tomorrow's mamouth of 2 lectures and 2 seminars eek (that's the same number of hours in a day the Helen and Beccci have in a week!)

We also had an unexpected discovery yesterday of a Valentine's Day swede on our doorstep (see Helen's blog for details), I'm just wondering if it was there when the postman came and if so what he thought. At least a swede is not an illegal present unlike the one we got last year!

Well i'm off to read a chapter on blood for a seminar tomorrow - i hope its not too gory.

It's OK, she's engaged

2006-02-10T15:48:00.000Z

Isn't it funny how conversations quite often take unexpected turns, this happened yesterday during a conversation between Bev (Bov) and Carol. Here's how it went:
Carol: "Hi Bev how are you?"
Bev: "I'm OK thanks"
Carol: "Do you think Sam Orr gives good hugs?" - WHAT where did that come from?!?

This led to a discussion as to whether Sam Orr gives good hugs
Bev thought it doubtful as he is "all skin and bones", Carol thought he probably would, Liz and Becci refused to comment. We suggested Carol should experiment because she is engaged so she can do this kind of thing but she wouldn't! So now I leave it up to you to decide!

It is also funny to think how often what you say just comes out all wrong this has happened yet again to my housemates this week:

Becci: "I was thinking in my brain" - I'm not sure where else she thinks you can think but at least she got it right this time!

Smellon: "If you're sitting in the back, then you're sitting in the front" - I know i'm confused too!

By the way in case you are worried Sam is aware of the hugging conversation!

Life

2006-02-06T15:12:00.000Z

Well as a number of blogs say it's Life mission week this week! Can I hear a cheer please! I don't think I have had so many texts/missed calls (sorry i was in lectures) in one day ever before! Very exciting! Though I did get a lot after being interviewed live on BBC1 at Wimbledon last year. Speaking of which my Mum got tickets for center court this year in the public ballot also very exciting - unfortunately my Dad will be at work so it looks like I'll have to tag along! ;).

I'm slightly worried by the stalkerish behaviour Beckrum is demonstrating at the moment she is taking hidden camera pictures of people in the computer room - very strange!

Well just off to print some more flyers now - can you believe we have nearly run out of the main ones already! Awesome!

The 3 Cosmeston Street Challenge

2006-02-03T16:46:00.000Z

We have decided to set ourselves monthly challenges in our house. The first one is to drink 2 litres of water per day! This is the recommended daily amount which we discovered upon reflection that none of us usually manage, especially Beckrum and Shumi who drink tea and juice too often! We therefore have measured the volume held in each of our various types of cups and have designed a score sheet (available for viewing on our lounge door). So far Smellon and I are winning with one day completed. Beckrum was the loser yesterday - she only managed 1 litre! It did provide an amusing evening of trying to complete the 2 litres in the space of 2 hours with lots of drinking and hence loo trips! I'm guessing spreading out your consumption is the way forward but as we decided to set the challenge late last night this was not possible.

So if we ever come to visit you and you provide us with a beverage (water or squash are the ones that count) please could you measure the volume beofore giving it to us so we can note it down after perambulating back to our house.

More great surnames/quotes

2006-02-02T16:52:00.000Z

Have just thought of another great name for people to have especially men: President.
Then people would say things like 'Hello Mr. Prestident' and may well confuse you with someone of great importance.

Also remembered another quote from Beckrum "She got the wrong end of the twig"

Smellon has also discovered that out of a packet of liquorice allsorts she doesn't like a 1/3 of them. Yes she did actually weigh the packet once she eaten the ones she likes! I don't know but i'm thinking she shouldn't buy packets of these sweets if she is going to waste 1/3 of them! Though on the bright side they are not very noisy to eat...(See Beckrum's blog!).

Can anyone give me any advice on how to prevent Smellon and Beckrum fighting? They're at it again now! Luckily no one is getting injured ...yet!

Wow! It's been a Week!

2006-01-30T14:34:00.000Z

What is this weird box of letters? Anyway have just realised that i haven't blogged for a whole week - must be a record, though considering that i haven't had anything to procrastinate over it's hardly surprising.

Am now excited by my first poll! Just to fill you in Smellon dropped Beckrum on her head a week ago and since then Beckrum has had a sore neck - maybe we should revert back to her previous nickname of "Necky".

Just heard a funny story from Shumi - according to her logic, people that work in sweat shops earn more than surgeons. She was quoted as saying the people earn 5p per second which equates to £180 per hour! I think she got her time frame a bit warped!

Also funny quote from Teal'c
"We have the stargate and we need the dial home device"

Actual Notes on Hospital Patient's charts!

2006-01-23T20:04:00.000Z

Just found this on my H drive - don't know where it came from but they made me laugh:

ACTUAL WRITINGS ON CHARTS IN HOSPITALS

1. The patient refused autopsy.
2. The patient has no previous history of suicides.
3. Patient has left white blood cells at another hospital.
4. Patient's medical history has been remarkably insignificant with only a 40 pound weight gain in the past three days.
5. She has no rigors or shaking chills, but her husband states she was very hot in bed last night.
6. Patient has chest pain if she lies on her left side for over a year.
7. On the second day the knee was better and on the third day it disappeared.
8. The patient is tearful and crying constantly. She also appears to be depressed.
9. The patient has been depressed since she began seeing me in 1993.
10. Discharge status: Alive, but without my permission.
11. Healthy appearing decrepit 69-year old male, mentally alert, but forgetful.
12. Patient had waffles for breakfast and anorexia for lunch.
13. She is numb from her toes down.
14. While in ER, she was examined, x-rated and sent home.
15. The skin was moist and dry.
16. Occasional, constant infrequent headaches.
17. Patient was alert and unresponsive.
18. Rectal examination revealed a normal size thyroid.
19. She stated that she had been constipated for most of her life until she got a divorce.
20. I saw your patient today, who is still under our car for physical therapy.
21. Both breasts are equal and reactive to light and accommodation.
23. The lab test indicated abnormal lover function.
24. Skin: somewhat pale, but present.
25. The pelvic exam will be done later on the floor.
26. Large brown stool ambulating in the hall.
27. Patient has two teenage children, but no other abnormalities.

Why students fail exams

2006-01-22T18:31:00.000Z

I got sent this in an e-mail this week - i always knew it wasn't my fault!

It's not the fault of the student if they fail, because the year ONLY has 365' days. Typical academic year for a student:
1. 52 Sundays in a year, you know Sundays are for rest. Days left 313.
2. Summer holidays-50 where weather is very hot and difficult to study. Days left 263.
3. 8 hours daily sleep- 130 days GONE.. Days left 141.
4. 1 hour for daily playing- (good for health) means 15 days. Days left 126.
5. 2 hours daily for food & other delicacies (chewing properly & swallowing)-means 30 days. Days left 96.
6. 1 hour daily for talking (man is a social animal)-means 15 days, days left 81.
7. Exam days- per year at least 35 days. Days left 46.
8. Quarterly, Half yearly and festival (holidays)-40 days. Balance 6 days.
9. For sickness- at least 3 days. Remaining days=3.
10. Movies and functions- at least 2 days. 1 day left.
11. That 1 day is your birthday. How can you study on that day???
Balance = 0

The Whale

2006-01-22T18:26:00.000Z

Sad news the whale that caused me to spend ages getting along the Embankment has died! They tried to rescue it by putting it on a floating pontoon thingy to take it back out to sea (it really was miles up the Thames) but it didn't make it and died at 19:00 yesterday. They are now going to work out why it died.

On a brighter note we had the Churches of Herne Hill annual joint service at our church today which was great. I had to do the reading though - scary with so many people but it was fine. They got lots of the kids/young people to play the music and they were all really good.

Did have one horrific moment though as i realised my ex-music teacher from school was there. He was a strange man who used to get very annoyed with the windband - he was once heard to say during a day full of rehearsals for a concert in the evening: "if i haven't thrown myself off the roof by the end of the day it will be a miracle" I think he got a little stressed.

Great Surname

2006-01-21T17:13:00.000Z

I forgot to say yesterday that i heard a great surname at the football - the referee was a Mr. Kettle not that amusing you may think but just consider that his initial was T. At least he didn't let the game boil over!

Traffic

2006-01-20T23:43:00.000Z

Well i had the joys of the M4 again today as i drove home to London. I was very good today and hardly sped at all - especially when i was behind the police car that came on for a bit!

Anyway had a new experience today during my journey i got held up by a .......................................
WHALE! Yes that's right a whale of the swimming variety!

There is one in the Thames at the moment so there were loads of people trying to see it along the embankment so there were lots of cars parked and slow traffic.

Annoyingly i couldn't see over the wall so didn't spot it myself. Did see 3 helicopters floating (in the sky not the Thames) and 2 TV news vans (with satalite dishes on) getting parking tickets - i thought this was quite amusing!

Have been to football tonight - no numb feet generated this time yay! Palace led for 1min40 seconds which was good but ended in a 1 all draw. Reading are the top team at the moment so not too bad really (they've only lost once this season).

Patch patch patch patch patch (see Alison Joy Young's Blog http://www.xanga.com/alisonjoyyoung)

Housemate Quotes!

2006-01-19T11:01:00.000Z

There have been some classics recently that i'll feel should be shared:

Beckrum:
"I have a shoulder in my stomach" - her anatomy has never been her strong point (she should talk to Jamie i think so he can explain what goes where)

"Where's my knicker gone?" - it was under Robbie...

Smellon:
"Croissants really do it for me!" - each to there own i suppose...

"ooo a lampost!" - obviously don't get them in Exeter

Never let a computer know you're in a hurry

2006-01-16T20:29:00.000Z

This is my new resolution! Have you ever noticed the correlation between computer speed and length of time you have to do something. It has an inverse (i think haven't actually drawn a graph) relationship.

Other things you must not reveal that you are in a hurry to:

Door/car keys - they will run away and hide
Car windows - they will steam up so you can't see where it is you are going in a hurry - a dangerous combination!
Pans of water that you wish to cook food in - it will take twice as long as the packet says
Books that you are using to write an essay - the perfect quote/explanation that you know you just read will vanish from its pages
Traffic Lights - they will always turn red as you approach - especially if you speed up just before them
People in front of you in queues - they will take an uncommonly long time to do what ever it is you are queuing to do

Essays Finished !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2006-01-16T10:43:00.000Z

At last my essays are all done and submitted! I finshed the last one at exactly 2am. I think that's a personal record for last minuteness. Despite assuring my self at the beginning of this year that i wouldn't do this - seems i've got worse than ever. Need to start revising now - eek exam in 5hours 45 minutes and as yet don't know anything. It's only an hour of multiple choice questions though so hopefully it will all be OK.

1 to go!

2006-01-14T17:14:00.000Z

That's right folks i have finished another essay! Though i'm not sure i understand any of it! Oh well may be a good thing :} hmm not sure about that smilie but closest can get to confused look.

Had a bit of a random thought yesterday: Do you know something if you have forgotten it?

We were watching a bit of Helen's first year video last night - it is hilarious -especially the old hairstyles sported by many of you. It's weird to think that was only 2 years ago! At least some of us have grown up! Also watched 2nd year today - Becci actually cried she was laughing so much - that girl cries too easily! Though was very funny to see Smellon's you've been framed type moment again!

Had joyous news this morning when Becci bought TV mag - we have a replacement for strictly come dancing - Dancing on ice - it starts this week and has 10 "celebrities" learning to skate with Torville and Dean yay! only problem is need to work this evening so will have to video it this week. So now you know what 3 Cosmeston street will be doing every saturday night!

Comments

2006-01-13T16:34:00.000Z

Sorry had weird thing where settings were changed - don't know how it wasn't me - i'll blame Beckrum again i think!

Anyway anyone can comment again now so please do! Yay like getting comments!

6 Days 2 Essays 2 exams 1 meeting

2006-01-13T10:03:00.000Z

Well have finished another essay woohoo! Although it was the shortest one so still have 6,000 words to do by Monday 12:00 midday. Eeek am really stuck on one i have to critically evaluate Identity in terms of interaction, representation and consumption - help don't know anything about any of it! Have just read all my lecture notes and am now more confused than before. Hmmm i think i won't be sleeping much this weekend.

Have run out of jelly babies now too! May have to pop to Lidl on way back from library - if i ever make it there.

Must now try and read something i can write about.

Strange Dream

2006-01-12T10:09:00.000Z

I had a most bizare dream last night:

It featured Steph and Boyd from neighbours. Steph was teaching Boyd to drive using my car (although actually wasn't my car as it was white), it also appeared to have 2 steering wheels and sets of pedals. Boyd's head stuck out the top. They were driving around Herne Hill (where i live) and he was doing OK apart from rememvering to switch which side of the road he was driving on everytime they entered or left Wales! This seemed to happen around every corner. My Dad was getting annoyed with him as he was worried he would crash my car.

See told you it was weird!

Anyway back to reality - open house was at ours last night and i have to say it was a good night! Except Bov had to leave early. The evening in summary:

Rush home to tidy up/get food
Ppl arrive
Get drinks etc.
Conversations ensued - some examples:
How to turn anything into a surmon
A would you rather from Dayo - would you rather have a vegetarian wife or marry Laura Foster?
alergy testing
Greece
Christmas holidays

Playing Taboo - girls vs boys
I think the girls probably won but as the boys (well just Ian and Robbie) cheated we shall never know! According to the boys all girls carry maces in their handbags for protection - i never knew this until yesterday - must get my hands on one as obviously am behind the times!

There you go

Must get back to work now

mmmm Jelly Babies

2006-01-11T15:39:00.000Z

I'm allowed them as am having a bad afternoon!

Am not feeling very with it as have a bad head ache :( for example have just been to uni to do some work without taking either paper or pens to do it with. I was able to get a couple of books out though so all is not lost!

Just got back home to eat jelly babies to find that they wouldn't let me in humph! They gave up their resistance once attacked with scissors though hahah!

Must now try and read said books hmmm could be interesting as feel more like sleeping!

7 days 3 essays 2 exams 1 meeting

2006-01-11T11:01:00.000Z

Yay! have finished one essay! Although am slightly over word count - well i say slightly its more like 370 words but i'm sure it will be fine!

The mystery of the annoymous comment!

2006-01-10T16:47:00.000Z

Well we have a mystery on our hands - if fact 3 actually 4

First: who objects to the casting of Joseph?
Second: who is the really bad motorcyclist?
Third: Who doesn't like the surname Noake?
Fourth: why do i no longer get e-mails when people leave comments?

Please leave your theories as to the identies/reasons by commenting! Obviously in a way that makes it obvious who you are! Other wise this could go on for a while!

Smellon has at last joined the lofty ranks of blogdom her's is whats-the-worst-that-could-happen.blogspot.com i'm sure she'd appreciate your visiting it!

Back to the essay i suppose only 1, 630 words to go!

10 Days, 4 essays, 2 exams

2006-01-09T21:50:00.000Z

This is the week and a bit that's ahead of me! How jealous you all must be! Today was good in terms of essays as managed to do quite a bit of reading for one entitled "what are the advantages and disadvantages of trial by jury, are there any cases for debarring of trial by jury" or something like that - what fun! Anyway spent the day in the library switching between Bute and Law - though find the law library intimidating as there are lots of big scary books.

Was thinking the other day with Helen (so you can see why this is going to be weird) what would be the worst possible surname to have? We came up with [drumroll] Uidiot as you would insult anyone that asked what your name was by saying "Helen Uidiot" (pronounced Helen you idiot incase you wern't getting it). Anyway if you can think of better ones leave a comment. Preferably not anonymously as i'm rubbish at guessing who it is (Hint to person who commented on last post).

Joyful news Becci is back! Plus she has done all of the washing up that had built up since me and Helen arrived on Thursday yay! oops should say Helen and I but oh well...

Also wanted to say well done to Burton Albion who drew 0- 0 with Man Utd yesterday though obviously this was to be expected as Utd are so rubbish!

Production

2006-01-08T15:41:00.000Z

Last night was a strange one thanks to the "ingeniusness" of Helen...why do i live with such strange people (i know i love it really). Anyway she decided on the spur of the moment that she wants to put on a production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat. I got roped into the casting so here's the cast list:

Joseph: Ian Thomson (well he DID have the hair)
Pharoah: Dayo (we reckon he could be an Elvis Impersonator)
Potiphar: Swithun (he has a loud enough voice)
Potiphar's wife: Becky Lamb (well after her performance at houseparty was there any other choice?!?)
The Butler: Matt Bater (the president of his fanclub had to have him in there)
The Baker: Liz Hansford (often to be found baking)
Reuben: Hannah Trev (no particular reason but thought she should feature)
Simeon: Caleb Woodbridge (well he has the Israelite look)
Levi: Alison Joy Young (she does always wear jeans after all)
Naphtali: Becci Noake (we need someone to blame if its a flop)
Issachar: Katie Elias (we need her car to transport the props)
Asher: Ben Carswell (to make sure we don't get too heretical)
Dan: Stephen Tilson (we need his car for the costumes)
Zebulun: Ben Thornton (he has the obligatory beard)
Gad: Simon Ewing (well we couldn't let his fiance in and not him)
Judah: Shima Jafargholi (we couldn't leave out our housemate)
Benjamin: Bov (cos she's so cute)
Narrator: Joy Shannon (she'll keep everyone on track with her scaryness)
Jacob: Jamie Duncan (he has a remarkable family in anyone's book)

Well there you go, rehearsals start next week!

Also had a scary moment when we thought someone was in our chimney but then realised it was probably just Ian in his santa hat playing sardines so there was no need to panic (that hat must be getting to his head)

FA Cup

2006-01-07T20:59:00.000Z

Luton Town 3 Liverpool 5 hurrah! What a great game - unbelievable goal by Steven Gerrard, mild panic at 3 v 1 to Luton then great joy when it gets to 4 v 3 to Liverpool and then to top it off a comical goal from Alonso from own half! Plus the weird psychicness of helen who managed to count down from 10 to 1 and get to 1 just as Luton score, unfortunately it didn't work a second time for Liverpool. Then strange falling of Steven during interview don't quite know what happened there.

Also Crystal Palace won 4 - 1. Lets hope Burton Albion can beat Man Utd tomorrow and then the results will be complete.

A major drawback is the breakdown of intracellular metabolites....

Now the question for the evening is how long to wait for people to come to watch Pirates of the Caribbean with us before we just start watching it anyway?

Work! Work! Work!

2006-01-06T20:03:00.000Z

Grr am so bored have been working very hard today except for the 2 hours that our break for tea turned into oops. I blame smellon this time! Becci has to be innocent as she isn't here at the moment. Actually no-one is here :,( sob so am especcially bored now.

Feel i need to reply to comment re last post - i won't be applying for post for following reasons:
a) don't know who you are as comment was annoymous
b) your motorbike driving skills are obviously so bad to cause either your wife's falling off or so bad that she felt it was better to jump off than go any further!

Am feeling very swamped at the moment which isn't nice - obviously why would it ever be nice! Everything seems to be building up instead of going down despite actually doing some work etc. At least i don't have to go back to London until my exams are over now. Sorry Londonites i won't be seeing you for a while :(

Am looking forward to watching Judge John Deed at 8:30pm though - you see i can justify watching it as it is related to criminology! Hurrah! that's my excuse anyway plus find it hard to concentrate in the evenings. Also on a happy note the roadworks have finished so won't be disturbed by noise anymore or woken up not that i was this morning anyway.

Cardiff - back to reality

2006-01-05T18:49:00.000Z

Well today i came back to Cardiff (i must stop starting posts with well...) Actually was possibly the quickest ever journey from London to Cardiff i've ever done: 3h15mins usually takes about 4 hours. London was really easy 40mins today instead of the normal hour. Perhaps that's due to the congestion charge going up to £8 not that i have to go through it.

Can't believe am back at uni already holidays seemed really short this year - perhaps because i have so much work eek block from mind again ......done! Or beacause was having so much fun the time went really quickly.

Am annoyed as there are road works outside our house - great for the concentration and the lie in don't you find?!?

Really can't think of anything interesting to write about today - perhaps its because have only had smellon to talk to for the evening - though she did admit she hasn't been to the toilet for 2 weeks (she may have been referring to the one in our house but am still a bit concerned)! I also managed to get in a pickle with my duvet cover - i seem to be getting worse at putting it on each time i do it strange oh well i'm sure everyone really wanted to know that.

ooo i know will tell you all a joke:

Have you seen the signs people have in cars that say 'baby on board' etc. Well saw one the other day on the back of a motor cyclist that said "if you can read this my wife's fallen off"

No Title!

2006-01-04T18:30:00.000Z

well today has been a good day i've managed to do some work towards 4/6 modules! Although could have done more if my planned 20min break hadn't turned into 2 hours oops! Must be more disciplined. To aid in that am going back to Cardiff tomorrow. Eeek need to pack am sooo going to forget something.

Well done Becky for your great powers of deduction! ;)
and i think i did spill on another stain which now looks even worse cos cleaned new stain and not old one. Oh well what can you do? But at least we get to blame Beckrum again! lol ;) (you know its only cos we love you!)

I actually did some exercise as well today - had to take car to garage for service and MOT so had to walk home for 1/2 hour though did get lift to pick it up again.

Wow there'spavement that absorbs polution in camden! how strange but good! It eats it apparently well actually it gets washed away by rain eventually but that's what the news guy said.

Am looking forward to dinner at the moment - we are having spag boul yum! though am feeling very hungry at the moment. wow there's pollution 'eating' paint too - am having visions of walls covered in tiny little mouths hehe looks very funny though also scary hmmm may have nightmares tonight now. Hmm am having vague recollections of having had strange dream last night but can't really remember.

School Reunion

2006-01-03T11:32:00.000Z

Another exciting day! Met up with a few old school friends some i haven't seen since we left 3 and a half years ago - gosh is it that long! Was great to catch up and find out how everyone is Congratulations to Safina and Leanne on their engagements! yikes so many people getting married - i know 6 couples now who are engaged! Plus one accidental engagement at the Christmas meal (i won't mention any names but Becci you know who i mean;))

Here's everyone: Me, Leanne, Sevil, Zoe (though you can only see her hair), Soumaya, Safina, Sarah, Bex, Maria and Anna. Clockwise round the table!

Well i should probably do some work though have managed to do quite a bit whilst waiting for photos to upload!

Mimming it for New Years!

2006-01-03T10:40:00.000Z

Well the wekend was a most exciting one! As you may have guessed from the title i was one of those who went to Mim's house for New Years and what fun it was. Thanks Mim!

I think i'm gonna win the prise for the longest time taken to get to Mim's i left at 10:40am, picked up Louise at 10:45, Dayo at 10:52, Ian at 12:05 and Liz at 12:35 ish. We then had a picnic in Membury service station
Yay have managed to get photo in! Anyway we then continued on the journey up the M5 and then on various A roads seeing a lovely sun set on the way:

Photos never do them justice do they?!?

Anyway we arrived at Mim's at 5:10pm ish so was on the road for 6 hours 30 minutes about anyway yikes thats a long trip no wonder my back was aching when we got there.

We had a lovely lasanga for dinner yum and really nice puddings too. Well done to the chefs! Here are some random pics of the evening:

Well as you can see there was much crazyness!

Review of the evening:

Favourite game: Sardines - best hiding place: Chimney (well done Ian)

Most stressful moment: having the deciding vote in Mafia but we won yay!

Favourite quote: Liz "i really want to feel other people's pain" (i always thought she was a little weird)

Most painful moment: hitting head on door frame - if only Liz could have felt it instead!

Amount of sleep had: 3 hours

New games learnt: 4

I would go on but probably would get a bit boring!

Sunday was a strange day probably due to intense sleepyness! We left Mim's soon after lunch to drive to Cardiff (London was too far to go when so tired) really nice drive through country - managed to overtake Bev! though did have to go well over 80 oops! arrived in Cardiff at reasonable hour and had to find some food - but then Bev came to the rescue with a veg box she found on her doorstep - probably been there for 2 weeks but was mostly still edible so we mad sausage and veg hotpot mmm! Thanks mainly to Liz actually being awake! Managed to spill quite a bit of hotpot on white carpet oops but luckily vanish carpet foam works! Also found that are fridge has gone mouldy eek! Anyway watched Alison and Katie play crash team racing - very funny especially if you just listen here are some common quotes:

"no don't eat me, why are you eating me?", "i keep falling in waterfalls", "stop blowing me up"

Had nice evening chat with Liz - isn't it weird how evening chats are different to day time chats!

Anyway that's basically it. sorry have got a bit random and boring oops oh well.

Hurah!

2005-12-30T12:08:00.000Z

I have just managed to work solidly for over an hour! woohoo first time in ages - I know I'm rubbish at working during the holidays! Have finished chapter called 'policing the working class city' at long last yay! Just having a break now hence post. Though has taken about 10 mins to get internet on and working oh well 10 more minutes then back to work for a bit before lunch.

LONDON BABY!

2005-12-29T22:39:00.000Z

Well today was the day of the trip to London! Yay! Here's a review of it:

People present: Becky Lamb, Steve Tilson, Ian Thomson, Joy Shannon, Laura Foster and I'm sure there was someone else...hmm..er oh yes Becci Noake!

Activities Undertaken:

catching bus
Waiting at Waterloo Station
greeting everybody
catching tube
going to Science Museum - looking at exhibits, waiting for Ian on numerous occasions, eating lunch, using crowded toilet, going in lift, taking photos
Catching tube
Window shopping in Covent Garden
Listening to buskers - very good string quartet plus freaky man in white coat
Catching bus
Watching Eastenders omnibus (not technically part of the trip but major part of my day as was 3 hours and nearly made me cry cos it was Nana's funeral)

Most exciting discovery: there is a place on Mars called Baker's bench - now one of my lifes ambitions to sit on it and look at the Lamb rock!

Most shocking discovery: my tuna mayo sandwich had 1549 calories in it - I KNOW! its more than a BLT or a chicken salad sandwich - crazy!

New interesting fact learnt: the average 18 year old knows 60,000 words

Most time spent waiting for Ian: about 15 mins he was on 3rd floor we were in the basement! hmm!

Most potentially embarassing moment: Becci making me lie down in museum for a photo - luckily there was no one about!

Coldest moment: listen to buskers in Covent Garden market

Warmest moment: squashed in lift at Science museum

Most thought provoking exhibit: first prototype of the clock of the long now: just how long is now? I don't know!

Most aptly named exhibit: in the history of the toilet - there was actually one made by a company called "crapper's"

Well that's about it for the day there would be some lovely photos but computer is being too slow to upload them - maybe another time

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