Welcome Home

I have returned home to Indonesia. The concept of home in this case is convoluted. I'm not going to go into depth; I'm only going to state that in this case I'm calling Indonesia home because it's where my parents live. So far, I have been home for around two weeks and I'm beginning to get used to the heat again. It's beautiful here. Nothing quite equals waking up in the morning and being able to walk outside and watch as the clouds brush over the mountains that surround Malang.

It's warm enough to stand around outside in nothing but pyjama shorts. Much to my parents chagrin, I have often taken advantage of this fact. Don't get me wrong, tropical heat can be overbearing and oppressive at it's worst. However, it is nice to not have to carry a coat everywhere. I have also enjoyed living in my flip-flops, or thongs as the Australians have christened them (but why?!). I haven't actually left the house yet without my flip-flops on. I see very little point getting sweaty feet wearing other types of footwear. Sure everywhere else is sweaty, but not my feet.

I have managed to eat at a variety of cuisine. I believe that in these two weeks I have eaten Chinese, Indonesian, Vietnamese, Italian (yeah pizza hut isn't really Italian but what can you do), English, and American cuisine. I'm not entirely sure if describing some of the food I've eaten as cuisine is entirely accurate but as it's the most simple course of action I'm going to stick with it. Tonight I had duck and it was, simply put, really good. The restaurant we went to also serves what is, in my opinion, the best nasi goreng in malang. For the uninitiated among my readers, nasi goreng is the Indonesian phrase for fried rice.

While eating and enjoying the weather have been a large part of my vacation, it hasn't been the most important part of my return home. Spending time with people who I grew up with, and spending time with my family has been the highlight of being home. I've had the chance to catch up with Bethany and Jamen Gallagher who are really dear to me (they're Australian so I'm not sure if they'll find that last statement a touch mawkish). It's been amazing finding out what they've been up to while I've been separate from them. It has also been really rather entertaining spending time with the Buckners. I spent a lot of time with both Jon Mark and Dorothy while growing up and they matter to me a great deal; so finding out how they're lives are shaping up these days is a real privilege. Spending time with my family has also been really interesting. They are all insane. No member of my family is normal, whether it's my huskies or my parents. That's probably the reason I've missed them all so much. I've missed being with people that I know are as loopy as I am.

That concludes my holiday post. I'd like to leave you with a song you may recognise from the Nikon advert:

A social media revolution

My father recently brought to my attention how much rubbish is posted on social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and even Google+. With this in mind I viewed my Facebook news feed and was ashamed to find that the social media generation was actually posting rubbish, unhelpful, boring, and quite often degrading things all over the social part of the internet.

It is such a waste. Social media is such a powerful tool, as everything we post can have an effect on a relatively large group of people. We have the power to influence not just the people we are directly connected to but also the wider network of people connected to us through friends.

If this is true, then why do we repost stupid cat videos and degrading images? Moreover, why do we continue to be mindless meme slaves subscribing to brain killing trash and subjecting others to posts that don't reflect the thoughts and passions of our generation. This repost culture its comparable to endless nyan cat ! This analogy goes further than you might expect. Bad posting is both annoying and endless.

Imagine how much better the internet would be if we posted things that were edifying, that were helpful, that actually mattered. Moreover, imagine how much better people we would be offline. We have to stop pretending that what happens online doesn't affect who we are in the real world. We have to stop filling the internet with rubbish and we have to stop being meme slaves. We have to stop this nyan cat culture.

Worlds Apart (the end of me numbering these posts as miraculous)

Administration: I have decided to stop numbering these posts and calling them miraculous for these three reasons: it's pretentious to continue doing so, my prose isn't all that miraculous, and laziness.

Post: Last lent I gave up coffee and made it my plea that God take my world apart. I made a reference to the Jars of Clay song 'Worlds Apart'. Since then my life has undergone changes, as lives do when left so long. This summer my God made it very clear that this year he was going to do some amazing things this year in both my life and the lives of people I go to school with. I fully expected to be taken out of my comfort zone, to see people's lives changed, and to have my world taken apart. However, these past few weeks I have truly seen what having your world taken apart means. I am unbelievably far out of my comfort zone.  I am in a state of brokenness, but with the joyful anticipation of being rebuilt by God. I truly anticipate that through this process amazing things can and will happen. I have no idea what those things will be, but surprises are fun and life without adventure is boring. 

Also, go listen to 'Worlds Apart'. It's a great song.

YWAM, Jon Mark, Dorothy, Kieran, Tents and Radical Servants (The miraculous thirtieth post)

I went to visit Jon Mark and Dorothy at the weekend. They are both working on the YWAM base in Harpenden. I took Kieran with me. Kieran incidentally isn't a name you get in America. Many the American on the base was struggling with it. 

Anyway, more on to the weekend. We arrived in Harpenden in the afternoon by train and were greeted by Jon Mark (he needs a haircut). We were then taken to the base and we put our stuff down and went and ate some fantastic bangers and mash. After food we helped Jon Mark tidy up some of the base that he is responsible for (he's staff now). After that, was the session (bare in mind that I may have mixed up the order of these events but, meh to that). The session contained some amazing worship and some fantastic speaking (seriously, this guy was as funny as Brian Raegan). The speaker spoke on Humility and radical servant-hood; it was rather fantastic. At the end of the meeting I saw Dorothy and an epic "OH MY GOSH I'VE NOT SEEN YOU IN AN AGE" moment ensued. Eventually after hanging out in one of the buildings Kieran and I headed to the Jon Mark's tent and fell asleep. The weekend involved a lot of catchup time and fellowship. Also, some time was spent drinking the Oval special mocha on base, which has both Irish cream and white chocolate in. I kind of wish Costa did the Oval special mocha. Kieran and I left on Sunday about midday. It was so good to spend time with Jon Mark and Dorothy for even just a weekend. I thoroughly enjoyed my time spent with them.

I'm now in Beeston, doing work experience in Nottingham University's department of Physics and Astronomy. I'm staying with my grandmother's friend's niece and nephew. They are a lovely family and it's actually really nice staying with them. The bike ride too and from the university is slightly less pleasant, but at least I'm getting exercise. I'm far too busy these days. At least I have a week off next week to just hang out with people. 

Nottingham University (The miraculous twenty ninth post)

I spend a lot of time at Nottingham University for some reason. I'm going there for work experience, for a week, soon. Today I went to one of their open days. Might I note that they have a beautiful campus. I have noted that Nottingham is the benchmark for campus based Universities; what a campus it is. They have a lake, massive swathes of green area, beautiful trees everywhere. I cannot express how pretty the campus is very easily without cliché and hyperbole. Instead I will not attempt to describe the campus further than I already have.
I attended several lectures today. The first was a nano science lecture delivered by Professor Moriarty (yes there were Arthur Conan Doyle references made), who is a very charismatic speaker. This is the second time I have heard him lecture, and I may be considering Nottingham purely based on the fact that he might be delivering my physics lectures. Another good lecture I attended was on gravitational lensing, and the mapping of dark matter. The speaker, Dr Grey, was also very good. While not quite as good as Professor Moriarty, she was still engaging, as was her subject (though I think Grandma fell asleep durning the lecture). The physics practical demonstrations mostly involved fourth year students messing around with liquid nitrogen. It was a good opportunity to interact with Nottingham students first hand, and to gain insight into university life right from the source.

A good day was had by all.

Tropical Storms (The miraculous twenty eighth post)

Well, I've been in England for over a year. While I wouldn't say that I've completely settled in, as one does not ever "completely settle in" after growing up over seas. However, I believe I'm used to many aspects of life over here, that I wasn't accustomed to when I first arrived. For example, I now am used to the weird changes of weather. Or at least I thought I was, until today. Today was unnatural warm and humid for the UK. Then, about midday the tropical storm started. It wasn't exactly a full blown tropical storm, but it was near enough that the locals panicked and several schools sent their student's home. My school bit the bullet and carried on with lessons. I am fairly sure our school will carry on with lessons during the Nuclear Holocaust. The weather has carried on being tropical all day. Allegedly there was a small twister that we were on the edge of as well. This weather has caught me out a little. In the same way, while I am used to living here, some days I am still caught out by bits of culture I don't understand.

Unruly Youths Outdoors (The miraculous twenty seventh post)

Hello readers, I appreciate that this space has been rather quiet of late. That is because I have been sitting exams. Now that I have finished bleeding from my academic pores, I feel that it is high time I began to blog again.
Yesterday, I spent all day in Ashby with some rather entertaining folk. We met up outside of Costa, after I was half an hour late. After many complaints about my inability to show up anywhere on time we headed to the Bathgrounds with promise of cake and merriment. After laying the picnic blankets out, the cake was sliced and, as Tom Wilkinson and I had brought guitars, there was much jamming. As it began to rain a decision was made to move to a more sheltered area. So, we relocated to a more sheltered area and the merriment once again commenced. It must be mentioned that Tom Wilkinson and Harry Turner commenced several matches of Yugioh. Beth Adams ended up having too much Dr. Pepper and Coke which was entertaining for the rest of us. Nothing is more entertaining than a hyperactive ginger. However, while this little shin dig was rather enjoyable, there was an element of sadness as this was really Richard's last official day with us (sadface). We will very much miss you Richard. As a side-note I shall probably do my next Friends series post about Richard. At about 3pm the vast majority of people had to catch a bus. Charlie and I went to Harry's house to play some Dragonball. I lost very badly to both Charlie and Harry. We met Harry's brother. I shall say nothing on the subject of Harry's brother other than that he is completely different to Harry. I had a fantastic day with some very good friends, and I believe there shall be more days spent with friends to come as I have another week of study leave left to fill.

Parties, Champaign and Bouncy Castles (The miraculous twenty sixth post)

Fun times and stuffs has been a touch quiet as of late. For this I apologize. I am heading into a rather hectic exam period, so I would appreciate patience as I will not be blogging much.

However, as a little light relief I shall tell you about my weekend, which, incidentally, was filled with a little light relief. Friday evening involved the usual trip to my friends house to lose at various board and card games. This was a lot of fun and a rather amusing way to end a long week at school. I inevitably lost all my mobsters in a good game of Family Business (goodness I can't say that without putting on a bad Brooklyn accent). Friday was a success, but Saturday was even more of a success.

Saturday began with a rather late wakeup. After a rather leisurely morning spent making coffee then drinking said coffee, my friend Charlie arrived at my house. After a bowl of noodles from Indonesia (funtimes) it was time to go to my friend Beth's birthday party. Might I add at this point that Charlie is now hooked on the afore mentioned noodles and is probably buying several packets as we speak. Beth's party was rather fun. Nothing beats a good barbecue. The bouncy castle was a constant source of entertainment. I lost count of the times that I was tackled into it and then pinned under a pile of sweaty adolescent bodies. The party ended as it should, with the blowing out of candle, the cutting of the cake, and a glass of champaign (or bubbly as it was referred to by Beth's mother). 

Charlie and I returned to my house to get some revision done. It came as a shock when we actually did some revision. However, after a point (that point being at about 10pm) we opted for eating pizza and watching funny internet videos. Sunday was typical, so I will not bore you with the details. However, in one respect it did differ from my usual Sunday in that I spoke to my friend Alex via Facebook chat for a good seven hours.

Monday was fantastic as it was a bank holiday. Monday was lovely as Alex came round  to do some revision. After a lovely lunch and some Kool-Aid we got stuck into a physics past paper. Upon breathing the sweet sigh of relief that is associated with the completion of physics papers we decided it was time to watch something entertaining, to eat cookies, and to drink yet more Kool-Aid. After experience the joys of a relaxing afternoon drinking Kool-Aid, eating cookies, and spending time with a friend it was time to say goodbye to Alex; in a metaphorical sense it was also time to say goodbye to a rather delicious weekend.

Friends 3: Josh Carr (The miraculous twenty fifth post)

Well he did ask, so it really is his turn. Josh is, without a doubt, my number one go to source of information on video games and the internet. I can ask him most things and he will either know, or find out rather quickly for me. Providing snippets of important information, Josh saves me the time I would have to spend trawling the internet to find the same information. Josh likes some funny music though. The kind of music I wouldn't really call music. So, we have some disagreements when it comes to music. We also disagree on the pronunciation of Deadmau5 (let's be honest it's obviously pronounced dead mau five). Josh is quieter than many of my friends, but quiet people are pretty cool and, as I have frequently been informed it's the quiet ones you have to watch out for. Despite not really enjoying the type of music Josh listens to, I must admit that I admire his knowledge of it. He also, I believe, is a musician himself, and a good one if I am correct. I am determined not to end this blog post having said the main reason I like Josh is because he's my friend, as I realize that could get repetitive. So, the reason I like Josh is that if you fiddle with the little hair he has, or even look at it funny, his immediate reaction is to go to fix it as if life on earth depended on the neutral state of his hair.

Extreme Durham (The miraculous twenty fourth post)

Well, I have returned and the holiday is nearly over. I went to Durham this holiday. I used to live near Durham and this week made me wonder why I never visited it. It is a gem in the relatively deprived North East. It was full of beautiful old buildings and a fantastic Cathedral. I am definitely going to have to apply to Durham University. I was in Durham because I was working on a physics residential for GCSE students, and being payed apparently. My food and board was also payed for, as were my travel expenses. It was fantastic to see the students engage with physics.
I am not exaggerating when I say that it was an exhausting experience, however it was very rewarding. There was some good cool down time in the evening. Also, George and I must have done alright as we were asked to return.
All in all it was good to make new friend, and to see Durham. I am already planning another trip to relax in Durham, rather than to work.

Friends 2: Charlie Makemson (The miraculous twenty third post)

I'm sorry that this post took so long to arrive; I have been busy. Here is the second instalment in the Friends series.

Charlie Makemson is a relatively new addition to the list of people I call really good friends. He's also one of those people that made me think to myself "Why did I not get to know you sooner!" He listens to some really cool bands, reads some really cool books, and also can come up with some rather quick fire comments that leave those around him in stitches. There is a lot I could say about Charlie, but one thing about him that I feel really stands out is his willingness to get to know someone he doesn't know very well. This caught my attention as I am not very good at this; I'm very glad he is good at this, or we would not be the solid friends we are today with our signature high five! I'd also like to point out that Charlie cares about his friends and is willing to put up with a lot to spend time to really listen to them. I know that he has had to put up with me and my late night intense conversation on several occasions. Charlie is also very honest! He's not afraid to tell you things bluntly for your own good. While he is sensitive when needs must, when you need to know something he doesn't beat around the bush. I genuinely appreciate this about Charlie as I have had some sound, honest advice from him on many an occasion. I'm still wondering why I haven't managed to hang out at Charlie's house as we live so close together. It was a very cool moment when we realized how close together we live; there was epic high fiveing! The one think that I like most about Charlie is that he makes me laugh... every day. Every single day he does something, or says something that makes me laugh. Thank You Charlie!

Birmingham: Team Los Campesinos! (The miraculous twenty second post)

On Saturday I went to a Los Campesinos! gig in Birmingham with my friend Dominic and cousin (ish) Sarah (funtimes). It was fantastic. I ended up with a vinyl of one of their albums, and a band T-shirt. I shall now recount the epic (or not so epic) tale of musical adventuring.
On Saturday morning I woke up at seven. "Seven O'clock on a Saturday! Really?" I hear you cry, but I did wake up at seven on Saturday. Sarah arrived at 8:30am and we proceeded to get very excited for the day to come. Dominic arrived on time at 9:45 with his mother to pick us up and take us to the train station. There was a rather awkward moment when Sarah thought a man in the street packing his car was Dominic's father, and she attempted to put her bags in the back of his car. However, we soon pulled her away from the scene of the disaster, got into the correct car, and drove to Tamworth train station. After arriving in Birmingham and walking the short distance to the bullring shopping centre we were astounded by the enormity of Birmingham. The shopping centre was massive, and had every shop imaginable. Us small town country kids felt a little out of our depth in the big city. So we walked to the frozen yoghurt stand, bought some froghurt and found our bearings. After shopping for a while, talking to a hobo, and looking for somewhere to eat we decided it was a rather warm day; the glass that the shopping centre's roof mainly consisted of was also having a greenhouse effect on the rest of the building. So, we decided to explore Birmingham a little, and we ended up looking in some more interesting shops. We headed back to the Bullring for some tea at Pizza hut (free refill drinks and free salad bar? yes please!) . Sarah, Dom, and I then set off for the concert. We found the Rainbow Warehouse where the concert was being held thanks to Sarah's map (thanks Sarah)! The concert was opened by a band called Tall Ships, who were rather good. Then Los Campesinos! came on and we were right at the front, touching the stage, a meter from the band! If you've never heard anything by Los Campesinos! then the video at the bottom is one of their better songs. We had to leave a touch early to catch the train, however we only missed two of their songs! Eventually, after a train ride filled with drunken Brummys (not a pleasant sight or sound) who were only one pub in, we made it back to Tamworth and then back to Dominic's house where we crashed until morning. A good time was had by all!

Friends 1: Callum Webster (The miraculous twenty first post)

My friend Callum Webster has suggested I start writing posts about my new friends. So, I have decided to begin with him! Webster is undoubtedly a very cool guy. Here are some quick facts about him: he's very tall, he's very thin, he's very loud, he's very entertaining, he's really not afraid to offend, his five minute long rants leave us in tears as we attempt to recover from the fits of laughter we are in, and he's also not afraid to befriend the strange new guy from a distant land who has a beard, which is how I met him. I was sitting in one of my first free's of a new school year in a brand new school, when he and his group of friends sat down with me. He decided that it would be quite cool to keep hanging around with me (for reasons I don't understand still to this day). So, he proceeded to find me every free from that point on and make a point of chilling out with me. This was incredible, as I never was very good at making new friends. The fact that this dude had gone out of his way to befriend me actually quite touched me. Steadily I became part of his brotherhood of friends. I steadily grew to love this guy; his antics never failed to make me chuckle, and he always had something positive to say about me. Callum Webster is many things (things I do not have time to write in a single blog post). However, to me, the most important thing is that he is the guy who came and sat with me on my first day in a new place where I felt strange, and showed me that I wasn't the only strange person around school.

Geekathon (The miraculous twentieth post)

This post is truly miraculous. I went to the Geekathon on friday night and lived to tell the story! Geekathon was a sponsored charity fundraiser for a childrens charity known as "Child's Play". We were sponsored to play 12 hours of video-games overnight. So at 7 pm an hour before the games began TVs, laptops, PS3s, Xbox 360s, PS2s, Nintendo Gamecubes, and Nintendo Wiis were unloaded and ready to go for eight O'clock. My own set up was rather easy as it merely involved getting my laptop out, plugging in a mouse and headphones, and turning the thing on! So after pulling a 2L bottle of Dr. Pepper, 2 six packs of coke, a bag of Doritos, and two bars of chocolate I was all ready to go. My game of choice was Mass Effect 3, which had come out on the day of the Geekathon! A fantastic game I would have been satisfied merely with the introduction of the game alone. It was well worth the wait, as I had pre-ordered it in November 2011. I cannot think of anything better to have spent 12 hours playing. However, twelve hours of playing didn't even dent the content of the game! I give honourable mention to who I believe to be some of the best gamers of the night. The people who played guitar hero for a good 7 hours. Their skill frightened me. I was unable to believe their ability to play, not only as individual gamers, but as part of a full gaming band. Also, Josh Carr walked up to me while playing a song on guitar hero on a console on the opposite side of the room. No one should be able to play blind on hard! Another honourable mention has to be to the guy who set up his consoles next to my laptop and played Pacman championship edition. His inhuman reflexes were truly mind blowing. Also, he kept me topped up with galaxy minstrels. All in all, Geekathon was a huge success. Kudos to Josh Carr, who's idea it was.

Musics 2: Faint Not by Jenny & Tyler (The miraculous nineteenth post)

I was scrolling through my emails on Wednesday when I came across an email from a download site I am subscribed to known as NoiseTrade (http://noisetrade.com/). NoiseTrade offer "Thousands of albums. Completely free. Completely Legal." The vast majority of the albums are from more obscure artists, and many of the albums are rather good. The email I received on Wednesday was advertising a free album download for Faint Not by Jenny & Tyler. My friend Dorothy had introduced me to Jenny & Tyler a while back, and I liked them a lot, so instinctively I downloaded the album. This was a very good decision on my part. So I would like to do the same thing my friend Dorothy did many months ago, and introduce you all to this fantastic musical duo.
Jenny & Tyler are a folk/folk rock duo who operate out of Nashville Tennessee. The fact that they are married contributes greatly to the quality of their music and this comes across clearly in Faint Not giving the album chemistry and a fresh sense of direction. The album is filled with sweet folk ditties such as "This Is Just So Beautiful", and big folk-rock anthems like the title track "Faint Not"."Holding on to Hope", "Carry Me" and "Through Your Eyes" are poignant and lyrical, whereas "Song For You" is reminiscent of the band The Swell Season. These different styles come together to form a well balanced, and beautifully formed album, which is both exciting and moving. If that isn't enough to convince you that this is an album well worth having in your music library, the fact that this album is free and includes 3 bonus songs, recorded live at Peptalk Studios, should definitely be motivation enough for you to download the album for yourself. Click this link for the download page for Faint Not by Jenny & Tyler: http://noisetrade.com/jennyandtyler. Here is the video for one of my favourite songs from the album: 

Pancake Day and Lent (The miraculous eighteenth post)

Today is pancake day, one of the most exciting days of the year. As usual, I ate lots of pancakes (fun times)! However, tomorrow is the beginning of lent. Lent is a great opportunity to give up something that could threaten to become a distraction from God, and replace it with more time with Him. I have decided, therefore, to give up coffee for lent. A large portion of my morning routine revolves around brewing proper coffee in a French press. This can take me up to fifteen minutes. So I shall be replacing those fifteen minutes of brewing with fifteen minutes of prayer and reflection. Hopefully, though the grace of God, I won't be too grumpy. However, if I am a little off colour you have all be warned.
I have been listening to a very good song from one of Jars of Clay's earliest albums (also called Jars of Clay). The song, World's Apart, contains a deep and heartfelt plea: "Take my world apart". I am praying that this plea will become my own leading into this time of Lent, and eventually to Easter. If you get the chance check out the song World's Apart, and the whole album Jars of Clay; it comes with my most sincere recommendations.
I will leave you with a challenge. As lent begins, what distraction are you removing from your life? More importantly, what are you replacing it with?

Norfolk: There be Vikings! (The miraculous seventeenth post)

Norfolk get's a lot of bad press sometimes. People think it is a little behind the times. I suppose in a way it is a bit behind the rest of Britain, but that is what makes it special. It is still unsullied by what much of the modern world thinks to be commodities; in reality we would be better without such "commodities". The landscape is beautiful, but not in a soft, gentle, and inviting fashion. No, instead it is beautiful in a rugged, visceral, and quite primal way. The openness and vastness of the landscape blows you away by day, and in the evening the expanses can be unsettling and quite ominous. It is no surprise that there is no shortage of local ghost stories. It is also no wonder that so many writers, artists, and poets travel to Norfolk to gain inspiration. As Norfolk is quite exposed to Scandinavia many of the Viking landings were made on the beaches of North Norfolk. It doesn't take a stretch of the imagination to picture Vikings landing on those vast stretches of unclaimed shore under the ominous shadow of Norfolk dusk.
I spent from last week Friday to this week Tuesday in North Norfolk with my good friend and old Literature, Psychology, and Drama teacher Stephen Graham. I had the opportunity to meet the people he worked with in the village inn and to sample the local ale. Much of the visit consisted of very good in depth conversation about life, the universe, and everything. One of my favourite things about visiting Stephen is the conversation. On the Sunday we went to the morning service at the West Runton Anglican church. It was a beautiful service. It was a very high Anglican service. I was reminded of the way that God is in the ritual and the liturgy in the same way that he is there when we worship with a guitar and microphones. We often forget that just because a service is ordered doesn't mean that God's spirit is not present and worship is not happening. It is almost naive, and really rather arrogant to think that God prefers one type of church service. I also attended the evening service at the Anglican church in Cromer. While also an Anglican church, the service was completely different. This is what would be described as low Anglican. There was very little formal liturgy, and the worship was led by a band that included guitar and drums. There were microphones for the singers, and a PA system at the back. Rather than hymn books the words were projected onto a screen. It was exciting to see the juxtaposition of contemporary worship and an old (and huge) stone church.  Also, it was so clear that God was also present in the second service as well. So often we as the church allow our differences to create division and weaken the church. However, our differences, even huge differences within a single denomination, can lead to a dynamic church within which the Spirit is free to work in people's hearts in ways which are right for them as individuals and as a community.
Church was a highlight of the trip. Monday night there was a much more eerie occurrence.  We were in Cromer having dropped Stephen's friends off at their hotel, having discussed some of the local ghost stories, and we saw a dark figure wearing a black cape, mask and top hat. It was one of those moments where we both had to ask whether we had both really seen what we had seen. I will leave you with the worrying suggestion that due to the fact that it was Norfolk, the masked figure was not in fancy dress.

Snow! 2 (The miraculous sixteenth post)

Snow lay thick on the ground when I woke up this morning. It was beautiful. Nothing beats a good snow. To actually get to church this morning we had to take a broom and desnow (new word) the car. After a rather treacherous drive and quite a bit of sliding we made it to church. The service itself was rather good. Our worship leader could sense that the spirit was going to move before the service even began. After the service a snowball fight ensued in the church car park (another one of those funtimes there). Grandma managed to assert her dominance on the field of snowball battle and so we packed up and went home. Half an hour later my second cousins family arrived with their six year old. So, the logical conclusion was to make a snowman (It is a true and irrefutable  fact that having a six year old with you significantly improves snowman construction quality). The snow was perfect for making snowmen. So, not only did we make a snowman, we also made a snow boulder. At some point today I will get photos with the boulder and post them up here as well.

Snow! (The miraculous fifteenth post)

 It is snowing! Right now! It has settled as well! I got so excited that I wrapped up and went outside in my boots. In a fit of spontaneity I decided that I had to make a snow angel! After shaking all the snow off of various items of clothing I returned inside, made some hot chocolate, and sat down at my computer to write this post. There are mixed opinions when it comes to snow. Many people love it because it is thoroughly beautiful. On the other hand many people hate snow because it's cold and causes inconveniences. My friend Dominic falls into the latter category. This afternoon he had to ride his bike into work in the snow. This involved a large amount of complaining on his part while I just stared in wonder at the sky and snow. I like the snow quite a bit. Also, as this was the first proper snow I'd seen in four and a half years I was even more excited. So, whatever your view is on the snow, take the chance to just stop and appreciate it. Yeah it may be cold, and it may cause inconveniences but it's damn beautiful.

Daniel J. Chang (The miraculous fourteenth post)

Why hello everybody. I thought you might all be interested in seeing a video my friend made. He is most excellent at a sport known as Ultimate Frisbee, and I would like to share with you a video he made with a collection of very clever trick shots. He pushes the boundaries of what can be done with a frisbee on a regular basis; this is merely a fraction of his abilities on display in this video. Enjoy!

This Saturday: Family Bonding (The miraculous thirteenth post)

This Saturday I had a lot of fun. I went to Center Parcs with my Grandma and her brother's family (this is one of the funtimes mentioned in my blog's title). I was woken up at 7:40am and told I had twenty minutes to be ready before we left the house to go. So naturally I focused, and showered and packed in bullet time [yes that is an old matrix reference (only the first matrix film was good)]. After a decent drive we arrived at Center Parcs, and then had to park the car. Parking at Center Parcs is not easy! Getting back to your car once you have parked and been in the park all day is even harder. We spent at least half an hour trying to find our car in the dark. It didn't help that there seems to be no logic to the organization of the car park. Why does it go AE, AG, AH, and then AF?
The first thing we did when we arrived at my great uncle's chalet (and they are chalets not villas despite what Center Parcs say) was to head straight out to the pool. Shortly after chilling at the pool for a while my "sort of cousin" (it's too hard to explain how we are actually related, I'm not going to try in one blog post) and her family arrived. After hanging out with them for a while at the pool, and having general fun I headed back to the chalet. After a little bit more relaxing with family I walked to the country club with my "sort of cousin"  and her family and I was treated to a fine hot chocolate and some rather entertaining conversation. One hot chocolate and a snapped umbrella later we were in fits of giggles and again headed out towards the sports centre to meet more friends. At the sports hall I was given a choice of looking round shops with the girls, or watching football with the guys. People who know me will know I'm not a huge football fan. So, I opted to go shopping with the girls. After some more hilarious conversation I returned to the chalet; there I had dinner with my Grandma and her brother and sister in-law. It was a lovely meal of beef bourguignon pie, accompanied by a nice glass of rosé. All in all it was a lovely day filled with swimming, family bonding, laughter, fun, and any other clichés you can think of in connection with spending time at a holiday park with family.

Musics 1: Birdy (The miraculous twelfth post)

This is a music review as promised. I would like to draw everyone's attention to a musician called Birdy, who has her first album out at the moment, which is also called Birdy. She has come out of no where on to the "music scene" as they say. Considering how young she is (less than 16 when she brought her album out) she is incredibly talented. Her album consists of covers of other's songs. I'm not usually a huge fan of covers, however she has managed to make the songs her own and to put an original spin on them; this is always a good rule for a successful cover. I know putting an original spin on something is often an over used cliché, often used about artists like Mariah Carey who wouldn't know original if it.... (couldn't think of anything to finish this with that wasn't a cliché in itself). However, the fact remains her music is original. She covers the songs well and sincerely. Her musicianship is impressive, also. She manages to build atmosphere and depth merely with piano and vocals. Sometimes other instruments feature on the album versions of her songs. However, they are not particularly prominent. Something that very much impressed me was she is sincere, not only within her music, but also in the way she presents herself. She doesn't drown herself in make-up, and she dresses modestly. She presents herself as a much more mature person, and a much higher quality musician than the vast majority of pop musicians twice her age. Here is a link to my favourite one of her songs:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNzCDt2eidg&ob=av2e . If you get the chance, also listen to the original version by Bon Iver, which is brilliant.

Parties, Cocktails, and Bendy Bob (The miraculous eleventh post)

This Christmas season has drawn to a close and it has been a lovely one. There have been plenty of parties, good food, and ample opportunity to spend time with friends and family. For example two days after Christmas both my Uncle Steven and my Uncle David and their families shared Christmas dinner with us. As you can imagine it did feel a little crowded. However, everyone was in good humour and it was good to spend time with family. It was also good to spend time with my Uncle Steven's Play Station 3.
Another party of note was my friend Beth's Christmas party. After managing to secure a lift to Appleby, thanks to some great friends at church I arrived at her house and was immediately mugged by her dog. This was lovely, as I had missed being mugged by my own dogs after moving over to England. The party itself was quite a bit of fun, and mainly consisted of me being told to dance, and then people regretting telling me to dance. It was great spending time with friends, and building closer ties to friends I had not had the opportunity to spend as much time with.
On to party number two: the Green's Christmas party. While a different style of party all together from Beth's party this was also rather enjoyable. After walking in the door I was handed a cocktail and told to eat lot's of food. I did eat lots of food, and then played some dice games (I didn't do very well) and talked video-games. About half way through the party a game of trivial pursuit was began. Only half way through the game did I realize that I was playing with quite a few students from either Oxford or Cambridge University.

Bendy Bob

Finally, party three the church New Year party. I very much enjoyed this party also. One highlight was winning "The Best of British Quiz". Very rarely do I win quizzes, so being on the winning team for this quiz was rather enjoyable. Another highlight was Bendy Bob ) a very important aspect of "The Big Taboo". I clung on to Bendy Bob for most of the game, and was very loathed to hand him over to other people. My fears were well founded when someone took Bendy Bob, beat him and threw him to the ground. You know who you are! However, no permanent harm was done, and a good night was had by all.