Archive for the ‘Events’ Category
March 22nd, 2006
I had such an awesome day yesterday as Josie very kindly let me shadow her teach. Yeah, I was a bit nervous but also dead excited to be out of the office and having fun with a bunch of kids all day. Some of you will know that it’s crossed my mind to go do teacher training in September, so wanted to see what it was all about before I signed up to anything.
It’s weird seeing one of your friends tech a bunch of 8 and 9 year old, to me it doesn’t seem all that long ago that I was their age. I was really impressed with the way she controlled the class, and the obvious affection the kids had for her.
I’ve got to say, teachers work damn hard. They work their collective asses off. Which is a big sticking point for me. It’s not that I’m adverse to a bit of hard work (ahem) but quite a lot of the paperwork seems so unneseccary. I can’t imagine anyone becoming a teacher unless they had a passion for working with kids, and the government seems to be squashing this by putting undue pressure on hard working school staff.
I’m not really ruling out teaching as a possibility, but I’ve spoken to entirely too many people in the profession that are bitter about the workload. I dunno, we’ll see. It’d be good to check out a few more schools (and years) first I think.
The best bit of the day for me was thirty-five manic kids singing me the bumble-bee song. Awesome!
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March 13th, 2006
I went and did it, huh, I think I did it. Yes, this weekend saw the biggest move away from Brownhills since University. I am now an official WS1 resident, slap bang in the middle of picturesque Walsall.
I guess this has been coming ever since I realised that Walsall (at least for the moment) is where I need to be. The Kidz Klub thing continues in Coalpool and I can see scope for getting a lot more involved there.
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March 10th, 2006
The Mighty Boosh? Wolverhampton Civic Hall? 9th March 2006? 7 O’clock? Yes, we’ll have a bit of that.
Although I’ve only even seen one episode of the tv series I had already realised the genius of the Boosh. One time is enough you see, one time only to drink in the sweet sweet nipple-nectar from the Boosh’s comedy teat.
In review I can only say brilliant brilliant brilliant! It made me laugh, it made me cry, it made me spit my beer over the guy infront. (Sorry if you’re reading this). I’d recommend that you all go, but I’m pretty sure it’s all sold out. (I guess some simple checking would have confirmed this, but I really can’t be bothered).
Anyway, you can always look at some fine photos of the event.
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March 6th, 2006
Like a little kid I was, queuing for Madame Tussuad’s this Saturday morning. I was almost wetting myself with excitement we approached the “Queuing time approximately 30 minutes” sign. Being a bit of a London virgin, I’d never been to Madame T’s and was needless to say quite looking forward to it.
Walking round the universal cry of “Don’t they look life like” was heard from young and old. And they did. They looked scarily real. So much so that when we came to the infamous chamber of horrors I was at first a little disappointed. There was one rather rubber looking thing in a cage, and that was it.
But they do this to trick you. Trick you into thinking the chamber is crap. Then you go through the Chamber Live! As we stood in the que (queuing seems to be a recurring theme in London) waiting to go in, one woman ran out white as a sheet exclaiming “I can’t do that”… Wow, I thought, this must be good. At the door to the “Prison” (evidently of escaped mental patients driven mad… maybe by the fact that they were escaped but still in prison) a guide told us that the Chamber Live featured live actors (hence the name I guess) and they would get very close but not touch you, please don’t touch them.
What a job these guys have. Hiding in a dark room all day scaring the s**t out of everyone who walks through. Coming right in your face snorting and panting. It was horrible, it was scary… It was awesome!
So ends my post about a random Saturday in Madame Tussauds. If you get a chance to visit London… Go see this! It’s worth it.
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February 16th, 2006
A strange mark appeared on my forehead on Tuesday. I went to the loo before lunch and checked myself out in the mirror (as you do) and it wasn’t there, but when I returned from Lichfield the mark had materialized slap bang in the middle of my head.
So what strange phenomenon caused this strange mark? I think I’m fairly safe as there’s not even a single six anywhere in sight, but it’s still a bit weird. Maybe it’s cos my brain has been on full-tilt crazy go-nuts power for the last six weeks, and it’s finally leaked. Who knows.
Additional… A top ten five of what this mark could be:
- A Laser (Kris)
- A leaky pen mark (Starberri)
- Lipstick (!) (Rachel)
- Walked into a Door (Han)
- Self Obsession (Dr. Paul)
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February 3rd, 2006
Friday night is Euro Millions night, the huge lottery which is open to players all over Europe. This weeks jackpot is now up to a staggering 183 Million Euros. Take some time just to say that out loud, slowly… One hundred and eighty three million euros! Now that’s a LOT of money.
My question is this: Would it make you happy? For my part, I think the answer is a very resounding no. It’s not that I wouldn’t enjoy all the cool stuff that I could buy with the money, or even all the people I could help, it’s more that I wouldn’t trust myself not to let it go to my head. We’ve just been talking about this in the office, and the general consensus was that after a certain point the extra money is just meaningless. What difference does it make if you win a million or 183 million, it’s still going to change your life just as much.
What would you do with all that money? Is money an intrinsically evil thing, or is it just what people do with it? (ie, does money change you, or does money allow your natural tendencies to out?)
Over to you for this one… What do you think?
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February 2nd, 2006
Yesterday our church started a 28 day period of prayer and fasting. Not that all of us will be fasting food the whole 28 days, but it’s a time of giving things up that we would normally enjoy as a sign that we’re serious about hearing God in this time. For example, one guy in the church is giving up sport for February, because he knows he has to put God first, before his passionate love of watching and playing sports. Yes, even though England are playing Wales.
So why is this so important to us? Well, maybe I should ask another question as I can only give you this from my point of view: Why is this so important to me? The answer is simple, I just want to get closer to God, have him guide me as to where I’m going in this merry-go-round we call life this year. I have questions to ask, and people are always telling me to invest serious prayer time, so that’s what I’m intending to do.
As a church were hoping to see some real movement on things like long term sickness and our work in Coalpool to shift up a gear. We should be people on the move, living the adventure that God has set out for us.
Please don’t expect me to be somber, or change my writing for the next month. I’ll still post the same amount of faith, personal and random crap as ever. I just wanted to share this with you, as I don’t always talk about my life as a Christian, and somehow find it easier to write. I don’t even know if this stuff gets read. OK, maybe that’s not entirely true I know it gets read by my friends, but comments from strangers who have taken the time to read my stuff are always very much appreciated, even if they are to argue with me.
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September 7th, 2005
Yes, it’s that time again folks! Looks like we’re going have another fun-filled fuel blockade. I remember the last time this happened in 2000, fortunately I didn’t have a car then, but a neighbor drove all the way to Dover then over into Calais to stock up on fuel!
The government appears to be blaming some of the more recent increases on Hurricane Katrin which struck the US last week with devastating loss of life. While this could be true, we do pay an inordinate amount of duty on fuel in the UK compared to countries like America.
Personally, I think that this is an inevitable part of the impending fuel crisis. What are we going to do as fuel gets more and more scarce? If you were the government, wouldn’t you be trying to squeeze every last penny out of the last drops of fuel? Supply and demand. We’re never again going to see a time where we can waste fuel like we have in the past, it’s time for a change! I’m seriously considering trading in for a duel-fuel car. I love my high-powered, petrol guzzling machine, but I really do think enough is enough.
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July 7th, 2005
I’m lost for words as events unfold in London. Listening to the BBC news is surreal, it’s only just sinking in just what’s happened in our capital. Earlier Tony Blair confirmed that this looks like terrorist attacks timed to coincide with the G8 which starts in Scotland today.
One thing that stood out for me was the solidarity shown by other governments around the world. The French Prime Minister said that the Olympic defeat pales into the insignificance. Today, he said, we all stand as Londoners.
The Muslim council of Great Britain have condemned that attacks and called for calm. I think this is a very good point to remember, it would be a real tragedy for more innocent people to get hurt by unthinking individuals out for revenge.
I just pray that no more people will be hurt, and all our thoughts are with the families who have lost loved ones this terrible morning.
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June 28th, 2005
This may be one of my last posts, I haven’t decided yet the best way to take rdc forward. As i’m using Flickr more and more i’m finding that a picture tells a story much better than a blog, plus you get to be part of a massive community rather than floating around the edges. Plus finding time (or rather making time) to write is becoming more of a drag.
Anyway, we went to Newquay for Paul’s Stag Do
And we went to Coed-y-Brenin to ride the Red Bull Course.
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