Observation Station

I am a Giraffe

2009-10-27T23:16:00.003Z

I can see the tops of every tree for miles. It's great fun to just watch the birds landing on the highest branches and then wobbling a bit. I sometimes like to frighten the little birds and shake the thin branches a bit with my tongue. Of course, I wouldn't let them fall, I'd catch them somehow.

Anyway, I heard lots of people talking today about technology. They all come here with their clicky cameras and Internet phone devices, but today someone went all the way and put the two together. Some guy (I think his name was Jeff) took a picture of me licking a metal bar and then said: "I've just put that on Facebook". First things first, no, I don't know why I was licking a metal bar. I was hungry but couldn't be bothered to eat, so I thought the taste of metal would help. It didn't. Secondly, yes I do know what Facebook is given that I am great at ear-wigging visitors daily.

Then I thought...what if I could use Facebook or Twitter or Flickr? And then I realised that hooves aren't great for operating a computer mouse. Standing on real mice isn't a problem though, so if anyone needs something to squash a mouse and can't be bothered to buy a cat, then I'm your man!

I like it when people take pictures of me. I imagine I'm David Beckham and pose a bit. I'm not so good at the football bit though, I run like a girl giraffe.

Hmmm...I get very distracted by being able to see so much from here. Wouldn't you if you were this tall? For instance, I can see cars from up here and let's face it, a car can't pass without catching your eye. You do it too when one passes your living room window, don't you?

I think I'll bend my legs now and lean down to prevent further distractions. Ouch, this ain't as easy as it looks! Oh, there goes a camera again...that was a proper pose.

Curse the pig with the Flu!

2009-10-27T22:29:00.003Z

This is kind of an "in-between" blog post to explain why I haven't been around, and also to explain my next blog post.

Firstly, I moved back to Chester. I love our house very much and it's almost finished in terms of unpacking and making the big bedroom into a study room.

Secondly, I had Swine Flu, which was fun to say the least. TamiFlu messed with my stomach, so once I came off that I started to get better.

Right, my next blog post is going to be something a big different, it's going to be more of a short creative writing piece. I'll be honest, I'm mainly doing this because I'm bored, but it's inspired by a photo I took of my favourite type of animal at the weekend :) I'm going to put myself into the head of the giraffe and write away. If it works, I might do it more often, taking the "Observation" part of "Observation Station" a step further.

Keep your eyes peeled, should be up soon :)

The end of Spotify in Ireland insert sad face

2009-09-08T13:31:00.003+01:00

So today the dreaded email came:

"We're writing to you in regards to your Spotify account which up until now you've been using free of charge.  While we are really happy that you are enthusiastically using Spotify, we are unfortunately going to have to restrict access to your free account."

It seems as though everyone outside Sweden, Norway, Finland, Spain, France and the UK has received an email to confirm that their accounts will be effectively suspended.

There are two reasons this annoys me: 1) I am in the south of Ireland, but only about 20 minutes away from the UK border, and 2) I do live in the UK, I'm just staying for a while.

There shouldn't have been an option to change location if this wasn't allowed in the first place, so while I understand why they have to do it, this situation should never have been allowed to occur.

Anyway, I'm going back to England in a few weeks, and my account better come back!

Making the most of having music in my life for as long as it lasts, so current track is Lily Allen - 22.

The best things in life are free...sometimes!

2009-08-14T12:28:00.006+01:00

Recently, I have tried to make the most of my break but relaxing a bit. This mostly consists of sitting indoors and looking out of the window at the rain. This is free, but it's no fun!

A few weeks ago, me, my boyfriend, his brother and mother went to play Pitch and Putt and managed to get the whole way round without paying a penny. There was basically a turnstyle with a notice on it saying to leave your money in a box. Well, I am an outstandingly honest citizen, so I would have been stupid enough to leave my money there, only for no one to collect it. The others decided that none of us should pay, and this turned out to be the correct decision, as we played all 18 holes without paying a penny (and there were no drinks machines, so we couldn't even be tempted to put a euro in there!).

On the other hand, holidays are not free unless you win them (and the only thing I ever won was an X-Box code that wouldn't work in the UK!). Holidays are the best thing in life at the moment, I mean they must be, because as me and my boyfriend have noticed, everyone is going on one (except us it seems!).

The alternative to going abroad on holiday is erm...staying indoors and watching the rain, so it looks like I'm going to have to learn to enjoy that!

The one thing that is [mostly] free is my laptop. I have already paid the money for it, and this one actually has a decent battery meaning it costs about half the electricity that my last one did. So I'm finding a lot to keep myself occupied in that way...playing games, Tweeting, blogging, looking for jobs/phone companies, reading the news etc. So at the moment my laptop is one of the best things I own!

Anyone else suggest anything that is free and fun? NB: If anyone says "go for a walk", I will kindly remind you that I am living at the top of a hill and it pours with rain like there's no tomorrow here!

Technology: Taking the fun out of a lot of stuff!

2009-08-09T01:10:00.004+01:00

Is it me, or is everything that can be enjoyed on the Internet being spoiled? This includes gaming on consoles such as the X-Box 360.

I will place a long pause here, to allow you to ponder that question..........................................

Just watching my boyfriend play Call Of Duty *insert number and title here*, and there's all this talk of "modded controllers", which are basically X-Box controllers that have been modified to fire more shots at opponents. While some of you may be thinking how amazing that is, I am of the opinion that it is cheating, and what part of cheating is fun? Why would you spend so much money on a game, console and controller, and then cheat?

The other modern concept that is being spoilt, is social networking (within which I include Facebook, Twitter, forums, blogging etc). Twitter has been completely turned on it's head after "Spam-bots" took over. Thankfully, there has been an operation to rid the micro-blogging site of some of these pests, but many still remain. Numbers of followers used to be exciting to keep up with, now it's annoying to know that half of those followers might be only doing so to send Spam, or viruses, or dodgy pictures.

Having said that, some exciting moments have been brought to me by Twitter, including the following:

YES! That is the real David Lloyd, replying to lil' ol' me!

Also, what's this with Facebook allowing people to create themselves a middle name, or two...or three? I think Christianity may have something to say about self naming, (and yes I do know that "Christianity" is not the bloke off Eastenders!).

So for all that modern concepts and technology can bring, don't forget, they're not perfect, and I can't see them ever being so. It's not even possible to get a mobile phone to work for over about a year, so how is there any chance of defeating X-Box cheaters and Twitter spammers, to name but a few annoyances.

Views, please? :)

Minor Irritations (possibly part 2!)

2009-07-02T17:20:00.003+01:00

I am a very irritable person. In fact sometimes, I am sure my boyfriend finds me almost impossible to live wth, so thanks to him for putting up with it! I get wound up with so many things, and here's just a taster:

Orange taking 83p out of my account. Why 83p?!
Brita water filters not being full up when in the fridge
Curtains remaining closed after waking up
People who don't stand in one spot at gigs (want to go to toilet/get a drink)
Oil splashing out of a pan
Huffing
People on Facebook who complain all the time (!)
Towels on the bathroom floow
When the pot runs out of sugar
BT
Post taking too long
Karaoke versions of songs on Spotify
New blip.fm video function
Ungrateful people
Badly parked cars
Martin of UTV fame (if that's even his name)

Many more...could go on...but running out of thoughts for now. For those of you who wonder why Orange took 83p...join the club!

Any wonder knife crime is so high?

2009-07-01T11:17:00.004+01:00

I am absolutely outraged by a news story I have just read. A 15 year old boy has purchased a machete over the Internet, and what's more is that it only cost £1.50. Isn't it awful to think that someones life can be taken away by a cheap piece of metal?

This lad was testing underage sales for trading standards, so there is no concern in this case over the purchased machete (just to clear that up!). The story is here.

Knives should not be available to buy over the Internet...full stop. If you need a knife for the kitchen, you go to the shops. And of course, people are going to complain if that measure is put in to place: "Oh but I live in the middle of nowhere", "I don't have time to go to shops" etc. So what, you are willing to let people keep dying because 12 year-olds can but a knife on the Internet, for those reasons?

I shudder when I walk past knives in a supermarket. They are horrible looking things, and so commonly used as weapons. At what point are the Government going to take serious measures on knife crime? All the things they are trying to do are not working, clearly. It is hard to find a day where the news headlines do not include the words "stabbed to death".

Having said this, I have to be fair. There are measure taken in shops to prevent knives being bought by youths. I was asked for ID in TJ Hughes once...I was buying household cutlery. Just for the record, I was 21! Embarrassing...yes!

Glastonbury 09

2009-06-29T00:09:00.003+01:00

For those of you who are cool, and have Spotify, I have made a playlist of the best artists from Glastonbury 09 and some of their best songs.

Some of you may find it too "mainstream" and obvious, that's fine, but I know these artists, and know and like the songs :)

HERE IT IS. PLEASE CLICK!

This year's Glastonbury festival has been hailed as the best ever by some media outlets, and I think I know what made it...Bruce Springsteen. Watching that last night was like nothing else I've seen. So fantastically energetic, meaningful and from a top man too.

Blog worth following

2009-06-23T18:28:00.003+01:00

A tutor at Chester University (where I have just finished) is doing a charity bike ride in America...a long one!

He is blogging about it, and it's a fascinating read, usually on a daily basis.

Please read and support...great work for a great cause :)

Click here to see The Charity Ride blog.

Tonight, I'm a Rock 'n' Roll Star!

2009-06-22T12:26:00.002+01:00

This weekend I ventured to the big field they call "Slane". Yes, I went to the festival, and got there in enough time to see some of Kasabian, all of the Prodigy, and most importantly the headliners, Oasis.

Now, I'm one of those people who always said that's just one thing you have to do before you get too old, you have to see Oasis. As yet, I had not, and the excitement of both seeing them AND it being at Slane was too much to miss.

Firstly, I would like to thank a random act of kindness for allowing me and my boyfriend to go and see this show. If you've ever seen the episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm in which a donation is given anonymously, then you will realise that it is far more cool than releasing your name, so I will do the same here!

The experience was very different to a usual concert. The whole of Slane is closed for the day and all the houses are boarded in up preparation for the drunken eejits coming out of the gig...and as it turned out, going in too. This means there is about a 3 mile walk from the furthest point that you can be dropped off at.

Then the fun begins - walking through a massive crowd of drunken youngsters. Urgh. They are truly awful people. Being so utterly drunk that you can't stand at 4pm isn't cool, and I don't understand why people would pay that amount of money to see bands, when they won't even remember it in the morning. Stupid.

Oh and by the way, if you're one of those girls who gets really drunk, then dances to Oasis like it's a Sean Paul remix, then you don't look cool, you look stupid, just so you know.

Anyway, as for the music itself, it was top notch. The sound may have been a bit dodgy given the massive space and the vast amount of people, but all three bands were excellent. The Prodigy were really good, as I'm sure you would expect. Of course, if it weren't for the pill poppers dancing and punching around like there's no tomorrow, then it would have been better, but still...

Oasis are one of those bands that you have to see live to appreciate that they are as good as they sound on the records. The music is electrifying, and Noel Gallagher has a voice that just makes me melt. Don't get me wrong, Liam's vocals make the songs what they are, but when Noel takes the lead, there's something extra.

I'll probably post some photos, and maybe put my videos on YouTube, so keep an eye out :)

Should have gone to Specsavers...

2009-06-12T00:37:00.003+01:00

...well I did!

My eyes have been getting progressively worse recently, probably due to computer use and general laziness. I've needed a new pair of glasses since mine broke (the lens just fell out, and I'm far to vain to use Sellotape!), so today was the day.

I was a bit nervous as I haven't been for years, and this wasn't helped by the grouchy optician woman who wouldn't crack a smile if her life depended on it. She asked: "When did you last wear glasses", to which I replied: "well I got some a few years ago...". She then butted in with: "NO...when did you last WEAR glasses". She almost rolled her eyes, but I think her professionalism slightly got the better of her!

Then I had that embarrasing task of trying to identify letters that I couldn't have seen if spent a year looking. Every time I was asked which line of letter I could see, I really wanted to say none, but did the decent thing and at least pretended I could see the middle line. They all looked like dots, so I just picked random letter, to which the optician patronisingly said "good" each time!

After all the testing was done, I wanted to dramtise the whole experience a bit more, so turned to her in an Eastenders style moment, and said: "Honestly, how bad is my left eye...it feels so bad these days".

*DRAMATIC PAUSE*

Optician: "Not really that bad"

Hmmm...

Moving house is pretty awful!

2009-06-10T21:53:00.003+01:00

Moving house is supposed to be one of the most stressful things you can do, and I think I can vouch for that! Ok, so I'm only a student moving out, but the way things work out, I have to put my stuff in storage, before staying in Ireland over the summer, and it's hard work.

There's so much to think about. I have a list as long as two arms, and I'm not even half way there! Silly things that are easy to forget like informing gas/telephone companies, redirecting mail and blogging about it!

I move all my stuff on Saturday, and sleep in an empty house before leaving on the ferry on Sunday. Can't wait for it all to just be done!

Anyway, I had to pack my poor teddy bears away today...they weren't too pleased, and Donkey looked particularly hard done by.

Had a quick break this weekend in London. Stayed with my Mum in Kent, and went to London with my boyfriend to see the sights. It doesn't matter how many times I see them, I love them. Also saw a very strange street act, which involved a person with their head in a flower pot...see for yourself...

Apologies to those of you who will have nightmares after seeing that!

An Interview with: Jeremy Nicholas

2009-05-31T19:20:00.005+01:00

Last week, Jeremy Nicholas took some time to talk to me about his West Ham views, Media Masters and more. Enjoy :)

After watching you interview top players on the last day of the season for many years, I always wondered, how does anyone go about getting the job of West Ham announcer?

Well, I always worked in TV and radio, and I used to present a breakfast show on GLR, which is now BBC London, and I always used to talk about West Ham a lot and one day they rang up and said “Do you want to be the announcer?” So I said yes! To start with I said no because I was a season ticket holder and I always used to shout at the players, and I realised that as the announcer I probably wasn’t allowed to do that.

So originally I said no, and then changed my mind because I had this dream that in the summer of ‘98 Rio Ferdinand was in the England squad at the World Cup, and I had this dream that he was going to score the winning goal at the World Cup final and I was the announcer on the pitch at the start of the season, so I said I would do it, and then as it happened Rio didn’t even get off the bench in the World Cup.

Do you still get a buzz being on the pitch at Upton Park, especially on the last day of the season?

Yes, well I interviewed Franco [Zola] on Sunday, and yes that was good because we’d had a cracking season. And Scotty Parker getting the Hammer of the Year was really good, because I thought he’d been awesome all season. The great thing about this year was I reckon there were probably about five people could have won Hammer of the Year, which in my 11 seasons, I’ve seen some desperate seasons where I thought that I don’t really think anyone deserves it. I remember one year when there was a move to the fans to be Hammer of the Year because nobody deserved it. This time round I actually voted for Herita Ilunga, and my wife voted for him as well. But Scotty Parker got it, Rob Green could have had it, I think Matthew Upson, he had a brilliant season, and Valon Behrami, I think he probably would have been on course if he wasn’t injured.

What about next season? Who could potentially win it next season?

Potentially, well Tomkins and Collison both looked awesome I thought coming through from the academy, so they would be in with a shout I would think. Robert Green, who knows, this time next year he could be established as the regular England goalie and then he’s suddenly gone from being England’s number 6 to being England’s number 1 with Davis James injured, so that might be quite good. I don’t see Scott Parker ever have a bad game so he would be in with a shout again I would think.

What about your predictions for West Ham as a whole next season?

I don’t really make predictions, but as a West Ham fan, we know we won’t win the title, but I don’t think there’s any disloyalty in that. I remember chatting to Trevor Brooking once and he said being a West Ham fan is all about being entertained, knowing you won’t win the league and just hoping you might get a cup. In my lifetime we’ve won the FA Cup three times, we’ve been relegated about four times, but it’s always more fun than being an Arsenal fan when know they won’t get relegated.

So I don’t really make predictions, but I suppose our best bet is that we might do something in a cup. It would be nice to qualify for Europe next season, I mean, we were so close this time round but just fell away at the end, I think after a few crucial injuries, but watching on Sunday with Carlton Cole back in the team we looked a more balanced side with him as a target man, so if he can stay fit with Dean Ashton and Danny Gabbidon, and Kieron Dyer looked pretty lively, if we had all our player fit again, we’d certainly be able to get into the Europa League.

So for a man that doesn’t make predictions, that’s my prediction!

To add to your many talents, you’re now an author. Tell me a bit about the book.

The book is insider secrets on how to do good TV and radio interviews. I co-wrote it with a guy called Alan Stevens who’s a professional speaker, and he’s actually the vice president of the International Federation of Professional Speakers, so he’s big in global speaking. We interviewed loads of people on what tips they would give ordinary people who suddenly had to be interviewed on TV and radio because you’d gone to a charity, or some organisation or something, or be a business person, and suddenly a TV crew turns up, how you are going to talk to them.

So it’s tips from people like Terry Wogan, Michael Parkinson and Michael Aspel, all TV people, and there’s odd one’s like Uri Gellar, the spoon bender. There are a couple of West Ham fans in there, Phil Jupitus the comedian, Iain Dale the blogger of West Ham Till I Die, and they all give tips. So Phil Jupitus, he obviously says jokey things quite a lot, and he says make sure that if you give an interview, particularly one that’s written down for a website or newspaper, that when you read it back in black and white it hasn’t been taken out of context.

Terry Wogan also says it’s not life or death so just enjoy it. Michael Parkinson says the camera is your friend so when you talk to it pretend you’re chatting to your wife or a family member so that you don’t get nervous. So it’s all little useful tips like that.

One really good one was Becky Adlington the swimmer, and I did her homecoming parade in Mansfield, so I was on the stage getting the crowd whipped up and introduced her on this open top bus in front of 50,000 people in this big square in Mansfield, and her tips were just to be yourself and don’t try and put on airs and graces, just be normal, and when you see her she is just the girl next door, so that’s a brilliant tip.

But there are loads of people who are suddenly on Breakfast News and they start changing their voice or losing their regional accent, or using words that they wouldn’t usually use, so just talk in your normal voice, don’t put on any airs and graces.

So it’s really aimed at anyone who suddenly has to be on a local radio station talking about a charity or organisation or something, and to find out what tips they can get.

And that’s available now?

Yes, in all good book shops and some bad ones as well.

How did you pick the contributors?

Well because I’d never written a book before, I started by calling quite a lot of favours from mates, so Iain Dale and Phil Jupitus being West Ham fans for example. I called Russell Brand, who I’ve met quite a few times at West Ham and I’ve been on his radio show before, and he should have been in it, but then he suddenly got quite busy after the Andrew Sachs business. So I never did get Russell even though twice we arranged to meet as West Ham fans when I wasn’t an announcer this season, but I was in the Dr Martens Upper, and he was in the Dr Martens Lower and we couldn’t get to each other, and later when I was back being the announcer I just missed him in the players lounge.

Other times I’d be interviewing someone for TV, because I do TV reporting as well, and I just asked “can I interview you for my book?” Other people like Uri Gellar, I just had his mobile number from years ago when he was on my radio show on BBC London, and he did some mind reading where I drew someone, and he was on the other side of the room and drew something similar. He was so excited that he drew the same thing as me that he signed something for me and put his mobile number on the bottom of the page. So I just rang this number and he was in Holland doing a TV show and he said “ring me back in 7 minutes and I’ll do an interview”. I thought that was a bit odd, 7 minutes, but when I rang him back he gave me a great interview for about half an hour. At the end he said “sorry if I sound a bit out of breath all the time, but I’m on my exercise bike!”

So things like that really. We were just trying to get people from all walks of life, George Galloway, MP, some sports people, some business people, just so you get all the different opinions.

Now I mainly do after dinner speaking so when I’m speaking often I’m the compère and I’ll chat to whoever the speaker is, and depending on how good they are, I’ll ask if I can have an interview for my book. I just always go round with a little Dictaphone and if I see anyone interesting just say “oh can I talk to you?” I always carry a camera as well so each person in a book has a picture, and because I’m such a show off, I always stand next to them in the picture! So there’s me with Terry Wogan, me with Michael Parkinson, and Alan the co-author really likes photography, so he takes all the pictures of them, but I always like to be in it!

Would you consider writing another similar book but with different contributors?

Yes, in fact the publishers have already said they would like Media Masters 2, and so I’m already working on that. In fact this week I was working with Sebastian Coe and Steve Cram and it was a bit too rushed to interview them for the book, but I might get back to them and do some things. I did get a photograph with Steve Cram and an Olympic torch from the London 1948 games, so I’ve already got that!

What else have you been up to recently?

Well I’m the voice of the announcer on all of the EA Sports games from Fifa 06 onwards and I’ve just recorded Fifa 10. The guys come over from Vancouver once a year, and I go into a little sound booth in Soho for a day and record the names of all the new players in the world, because they do all the leagues from Spain, Italy, Germany, America. Croatia Division Two I did this year too. When there’s a goal you hear me in the background announcing it.

That must be quite surreal?

It is a weird job because I have to do all of the names of all the players very clearly so whatever happens in the game it will say “Goal scored for [team] by [name]”. It’s like a tube announcer with the intonation. People can play anything like England V Barcelona in Brazil so you’ll hear my saying “Welcome to [stadium name] for today’s/this evening’s game”. And the weird thing is, in the background every year I get to do about 10 announcements of my own that I can just make up, so this year I’ve congratulated my wife on finishing the London marathon, so at any point during the game you might suddenly hear that. I’ve done all my friends weddings over the years, I’ve done every car I’ve ever owned that’s left its lights on, my nephews are always lost children. So yes it is a really weird job.

In October I go in again to do all of the teams that are in the World Cup to record the special World Cup version

I’ve heard that there’s something interesting about where you got married. Tell me about it…

I did get married at West Ham, in the Carlsberg suite on November 11th 2006, which is Remembrance Day so I always remember it! I can never miss my anniversary! All the guests stayed in the hotel at the grounds and the reception was in the Bobby Moore suite.

So you had the whole day there?

Yes the whole day, the wedding, the reception, the photos by the pitch and then we all did a lap of honour round the pitch, but it’s quite cold in November. Me and my wife walked round, and all the guests followed us around the track.

Finally, you were once a journalism student. What advice would you give to anyone, like me, who’s finishing their degree now and having trouble finding a job?

Well my first degree was in engineering and I hated it, so I started doing student radio. I hated engineering so much because there was no creativity in it, and then as I got into my final year I started panicking thinking “I don’t want to be an engineer for the rest of my life”, so I applied to do a post-grad radio journalism course. But all the time I was doing it I was helping out on local radio stations, so I think that’s an important thing to be making links, and you’ve got to do the rubbish bits like answering the phones and making the cups of tea just to get in there. But I worked with Chris Evans for years at GLR and he started by being a tea-boy at Piccadilly Radio in Manchester for Timmy Mallet, and eventually you start finding a way of getting on just perhaps to do the What’s On guide or something.

Whenever you do anything, you’ve always got to keep a copy of it and put it up on your blog or Twitter it or something, and just build up a show reel.

The problem is there’s so many media courses now and they’re churning out so many people, and it’s also such a desirable thing to do, that it is quite tough really but if you really want to do it then you will do it.

Thanks very much to Jeremy for taking the time to speak to me. The book sounds great, and is available to buy now from Amazon.co.uk

Find out more about Jeremy at jeremynicholas.co.uk

Pressure piling on Boyle's shoulders

2009-05-30T03:32:00.004+01:00

Saturday sees the final of Britain's Got Talent, and it seems as though the pressure has got to poor Susan Boyle a little bit. She has already been on the receiving end of press tactics; build them up then knock them down.

I'm so pleased that she received so much positive press in the UK and US, but why does our press have to then completely dent her confidence with reports of four-letter outbursts and backstage tears?

I know that all this may be true, but by putting this as front page news is really making her life difficult at the moment. We mustn't forget that she put a smile on our faces at a time when news was dominated by job losses and recession stories, so for that I think we (and the press) owe her the decency to keep her private life private. She entered a talent contest because she has a talent, not to receive worldwide attention, that should just be a side note in her current chapter.

For anyone who is interested, here is a news story from tonight about Susan Boyle's struggle to stay calm via Sky News.

Having said all this, I don't think this should allow her an automatic win. I would love to see Stavros Flatley win. I think they are two of the nicest people I've seen in that contest over the last three years, and it would make the whole world smile again if they triumph :)

Virtua Tennis - Masters Monday

2009-05-26T01:41:00.002+01:00

As promised, here are some pictures of my day at Sega headquarters in London. Hope you enjoyed the write up of the day.

All of these can be found on the Sega Flickr page.

Coming up soon will be an interview with author/broadcaster/stadium announcer Jeremy Nicholas.

Long time no see. What have I been doing?

2009-05-20T18:07:00.002+01:00

Well, it's been a while, mainly for 2 reasons: a) I have been very busy and b) I haven't had that much to say.

I had a great trip to Chester Zoo a few weeks ago for my Dads 50th. Me and my sister bought him an adoption for the lions, so we went mainly to see them. I took loads of pictures, but so far these are the only ones I have edited...

On Monday of this week, I attended Sega's Virtua Tennis 2009 Masters Monday, which I covered for WiiDS. You can find a full write up of my day here, as well as a sneak preview of "Let's Tap" on the Wii here.

I will post pictures of that event later :)

As for now, I have to revise for an exam on Friday, then I will no longer be a student. Very mixed emotions about that. Can't wait for the studying to be over, but I have made many great friends who I will miss very much.

That is all for now!

I did what 5-year-olds do today...

2009-03-30T18:44:00.003+01:00

...and made butterfly cakes!

This isn't a major blog post, and I'm sure I've had plenty more in the last few weeks that I should have entered, but TwitPic isn't working so I need a blog post :P

So far I've only eaten crumbs, but they smell yummy!

Mum made the lemon curd, so it's all home made :)

Follow me @lucy_whufc to find out more...if you care!!

Technically, they have to offer the price it is advertised at...

2009-03-17T03:25:00.003Z

...which in this case would not be good for Shell.

Have a look at this picture and see what's wrong with it.

Haha, yes I too very much doubt that the price is 1.49p, more like £1.49. Unfortunately I am not enough of an investigative journalist to go in to the shop and try and ask for a 1.49p car wash!

This was spotted on the way to the M.E.N. Arena in Manchester from Sale, so if you know that route, maybe you know the garage. Pop in and try it!

Get your Red Nose NOW!

2009-03-12T01:02:00.003Z

There's absolutely no excuse this year not to get one. No more: "Oh I didn't get down to Sainsbury's" or "I didn't have any change".

Now you can get an online Red Nose for Comic Relief!

Visit digitalrednose.com and you can download one of three red nose styles to place on a photo of your choice. It also gives you the option to place the image on to Facebook, Bebo or MySpace. You can add it to Twitter too after you've downloaded it to your desktop :D

It costs £1, which is nothing really. I'm a student, and even I could afford it!

I think this is a great idea. With the increasing popularity of social networking it is a great way to show your support and donate money at the same time.

I order you all to do it NOW!

There's a few things in football...

2009-03-09T00:15:00.003Z

...that can't be helped!

For any readers of the other other side of the pond, I mean soccer, real football.

Watching FA Cup highlights on ITV tonight and I realised that I certainly can't look at Fellaini of Everton fame, without saying in my head "whoa that's mad hair!" It also seems as though it doesn't escape the minds of the commentators too, no matter what channel!

So this got me thinking about how many other things I just do automatically, even if I bore myself by doing it! Here are just a few things:

Bite my nails at the sight of a bad injury
"Boooooo" at the sight of Jermaine Defoe
Utter silent expletives every time I lay eyes on Frank Lampard
Stare at Tevez's scar, even though I know it's rude (I know he can't see me!)
Say "Robbie Savage has such girly hair", every time
See Freddie Ljumgberg in tight underpants every time I see him (also a suggestion of my boyfriend, worryingly!)
Smile and say "awwww" when Beckham is being interviewed
Being at a game and shouting "hand ball" or "penalty" even if you would need X-Ray vision to possibly know

That is to name but a few. I could probably sit here all night reminiscing about my season ticket days and think of many more.

The same also goes for every life though...staring at people's unfortunate features is one thing that we all do, and can't help. I chose to write about football just because I wanted an excuse to put in a picture of Fellaini and his hair...Whoa that's mad hair! (DAMN!)

May I also take this opportunity to admit my mistake, and apologise on behalf of Valon Behrami. He led me to believe that he would miss the season, and silly me did a big emotional blog about it, and now it seems he may actually be back before the end of this season. Hurrah!

Good job I didn't do the same for Collison, because it seems now as he may be back in two weeks.

Valon Behrami

2009-03-04T11:44:00.003Z

I really do love that man. Today he has confirmed that he will miss the rest of West Ham's season, but it is not yet known if he will need surgery for cruciate ligament damage. I hope not :(

The injury looked awful, and it certainly left me and many others feeling a bit down. He is a fantastic footballer and really has played a major role in getting our season really going. He also seems like a really lovely man.

I suppose I am mainly writing this blog a) because I'm bored and b) because there is no obvious way of telling Behrami how much he means to West Ham fans. That has become very clear in the last few months.

So, we wish all the best to Behrami and hope next season he is able to return to his best again.

What really grinds my gears

2009-03-03T18:06:00.003Z

I love that episode of Family Guy!

I'll tell you one thing that I hate, and that's people that laugh at stuff that isn't even remotely funny. For example, I was on a train yesterday from Holyhead to Chester and two girls got on at some point. They were of school age. Now, I don't know if it's just me, but I was getting so irritated that they just wouldn't stop laughing at what appeared to be nothing. Every time they looked at one another it seemed they were bursting into a false laughter that only "the popular ones" can do and get away with.

Maybe I am a cynical old witch (at this tender age of 21!) but for goodness sake, if you're going to laugh, make it for a reason. I thank you!

This is one of many things that irritates me about school kids. I know I was one only a few years ago, and I knew people like that, but I for one was never like that. I didn't laugh just because it was cool, I didn't play music off my phone, I didn't smirk at adults...maybe then I was a geek!

When I have kids, they will watch 80's cartoons, dress in the least scenester way possible, have normal hair, and if they act with the above manners, they will be sent to bed for two weeks with only milk and a biscuit!

A few Paris pics :)

2009-02-27T00:31:00.003Z

I did promise, so here you go! These pictures by the way are from my suprise trip to Paris for ny 21st birthday. I miss it already, and would love to go back soon.

So, we arrived in Paris Beaumont Airport after flying from Liverpool John Lennon. As it was my birthday, I wanted to do something memorable for it. We were very tired, so had a sleep first, then at about half 5 we took the metro to near the Eiffel Tower. It was amazing, and we just got there in time to see the lights flashing on the hour.

On the second day we did the Louvre, the Champs Elysees and the Arc de Triomphe. It was all fantastic! Such a long day though and we were both so tired and our legs were sore! It was lovely though, because it was Valentines Day, so everyone was looking so happy and holding hands. This is the Paris I think everyone imagines :)

On the final day we intended to go the Lafayette shopping centre, but it was Sunday, so it was closed! We looked on a map and decided to go to Notre Dame instead.

Then we got the Eurostar back to Ashford International on Sunday afternoon and it was a great way to travel! It was quiet, extremely quick and comfortable too. Will definitely be doing that again.

So that concludes my brief Paris story! Now, I am not well and very tired...probably still recovering from walking down the Champs Elysees!

Bonsoir.

Pop over to this site in the next few hours...

2009-02-20T19:23:00.002Z

...and 10cents is donated to charity for every comment on the blog. The target is $100 by midnight. Give it a read :)

CLICK HERE TO COMMENT AND DONATE TO CHARITY :)

It's been a week!

2009-02-19T23:36:00.002Z

I haven't blogged for a week now, and the reason for that is I am only just settling back into daily life after being whooshed off to Paris to celebrate my 21st birthday.

On Thursday 12th February (the day before my birthday!) I was told to pack my stuff, we were going to Paris for the weekend. My boyfriend had arranged everything!

So anyway, stay tuned to see a few pictures and an account of how I found the romantic city. I'm still coming down from the excitement, so every day life has not been resumed...I'm putting it off! That's why I'm being so lazy this week :)

Also, my boyfriend bought me a book that he had designed himself. It is a fantastic keepsake present. Take a look here: Lucy Woolford: The Story So Far