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

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!

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!)

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?

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!

Should have gone to Specsavers...

...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!

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

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

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 :)

Long time no see. What have I been doing?

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!

Get your Red Nose NOW!

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!

Valon Behrami

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

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 :)

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.

It's been a week!

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

Mini blog.

While I have been doing my dissertation draft (which I hope I have done now!), I was pointlessly browsing the Internet.

Mostly I have been addicted to Twitter and via that service I came across Spotify which is basically iTunes but it uses the Internet to get almost any song you can think of. It's great!

Also I am currently listening to Richard Bacon, and I think he's great. I have always been a fan of the show, but tonight he is talking about Twitter and just being a bit random! If you want to follow him on Twitter he is here.

No snow in Chester, but I still managed to get stuck!

On Sunday night I was in the car with my Dad, taking my sister to Beverley in Yorkshire. We were travelling from Sale in Cheshire, and there had been some snow there earlier in the day, but nothing that settled.

Getting to Yorkshire was a completely different kettle of fish!

In my 21 years (nearly!) I don't think I've ever seen snow so bad. Beverley is sort of in the middle of nowhere, well to the like of me who only knows towns! So we turned off the motorway and hit country roads.

Already along the way we had experienced very heavy fog, and very heavy snowfall coming at the windscreen, so this was the icing on the cake.

We got STUCK!

Quite a few cars also did, but we had the sense to at least attempt a 3 point turn and head for main roads. I saw "we", I can take no credit!

It was so thick on the ground that the wheels on the car were spinning, and braking proved to be difficult. One car had already given up on going further and had pulled over, probably for the night.

So that was that excitement. We had to go through Hull and use main roads.

Such a shame that it was too dark to take pictures with my phone :(

Give me BBC football any day

For anyone who didn’t see the Everton V Liverpool FA Cup tie last night, you missed a cracker. No not the game (it was a bit rubbish to be honest!), but the monumental error that ITV made in showing an ad during play.

It wouldn’t really have mattered if this part of the game was as boring as the first 100 odd minutes, but unfortunately for the person in charge of the ads, it was when the only goal of the game came!

I did think it was strange at the time, and thought they must be contracted to show ads then or something, but when it came back and there had been an Everton goal, I could not believe my eyes...so much so that I went out to get chips and gravy while I pondered the matter!

I don’t think anyone really knew how serious this matter was until this morning. It seems now that there will be an FA investigation to see how seriously ITV take the football.

Too right...how can any channel that employs David Pleat to commentate, take anything seriously?

I think so far there have been over 1000 complaints from people who missed the goal, and as the problems seemed to last longer in the north west, most of those are probably from angry Evertonians.

It will be interesting to see what comes of this...

UK snowfall worst in 18 years...

...and I remember the last time too, as it was around the time my sister was born! We had to clamber through snow to see her!

Anyway, I don’t want to harp on about the snow- I know it’s been exhausted by the BBC! I only really want to write about it so that I remember that it happened!

I didn’t go out in it. I really did want to take my camera, but I was far too cold, and wasn’t in the mood to get soggy.

In Chester we’ve had far less than in the south of England. It snowed a bit on Monday, then it got quite heavy in the evening. Tuesday was horrible and icy so it was “big furry boots” weather.

(Image from Flickr)

Was hoping for proper snow in this part today, but it didn’t happen. Ah well...maybe in another 18 years!

I know it affected a lot of people going to work and school, especially in the south of England and the eastern parts, and I really do think Carol McGiffin (Loose Women, ITV1) should stop harping on about how people were being stupid and didn’t even try to get to work.

I think that the break from work has done people some good. Ok some may have used the snow as a lame excuse, but then I wouldn’t drive in conditions like that for anyone! Trains and buses were cancelled, so what more could they do? A story came to light today about a man who walked 18 miles to get to work, because he was a radiographer. Fair play to him, and I really commend that, but obviously not everyone has the incentives to get to work that he does. He must love his job!

I don’t agree that the Government should have a plan in place for such freak weather conditions as this because for goodness sake, we are in a recession. The last thing we want is for more money down the drain, when this might not happen again for another 20 years. Just chill out and enjoy the fun!

One of the coolest pics ever!

Found via Plime, this is taken in Port Lympne Zoo in Kent.

The photographer just happened to click at the right time...amazingly cool!

See the full article here.

SPAM!

If anyone has ever watched Fonejacker on Channel 4 in the UK, you will understand why I find receiving junk mail so utterly hilarious!

Normally I try not to read junk mail, I filter it to just go to a different folder, where all the poor little unread emails disappear into a big black hole. Sometimes though, one claims in the title to be a reply to something I have sent, and it usually involves a lottery draw, which I have been lucky enough to win, without even entering! These ones prove to be great entertainment, and I'd love to know who writes them.

Today I read one with the subject "Your Ref. NG/ST/GBS", leading me to believe that maybe I ordered something with that reference number. But no...this was telling me that due to illegal activity that I had carried out, I was putting my inheritance money at risk. Hmmm!

Funny that I should be getting inheritance money from someone in Nigera that I never met.

I continued to read on...and then the REALLY funny bit came.

"This card centre will send you an atm
card which you will use to withdraw
your money in any atm machine in any part
of the world,but the maximum is
ten thousand,five hundred United States
dollars per day. So if you like to
receive your funds in this way please let
us know by contacting the Dhl
Courier Company"

DHL?! Aaaaaaaaaahahahahahahaha!!!

It then goes on to describe how DHL will deliver my card to me for a fee of $200. Seems like a bargain to me.

So that was the most entertaining moment of my day so far, and now it's 18:50, so I doubt anything more excellent will happen than that.

Also by the way, this story may resonate with you if you have read Danny Wallace's "Yes Man", in which he says yes to everything, including such a spam email as the above. Very funny indeed!

Spontaneous Moment of the Year so far!

I saw someone on Facebook say they were going to see Bloc Party tonight, and I was gutted that I didn't know about it.

Looked for tickets and there still seemed to be some available. So I bought them, with only 4 hours till the doors open! =D

Can't wait to see them! So look forward to a Bloc Party gig review soon!

When picking a dissertation question...

...pick something you will enjoy!

To be honest, I don't think anyone can "enjoy" writing 10,000 words on one single subject! Well ok, I know some people can, but not 3rd year students like me who eat too much junk and sleep very little!

My dissertation currently look like this:

Ah only kidding! So far it's going ok. The above is the title, which is actually more engaging than it sounds. I just hope the poor soul who marks it agrees!

But it is a very stressful process. I think the worst part is thinking that you can't do it. I certainly got to a point last week where I was looking at a blank page, and had a blank brain too, because all I could think was "I can't do it!"

So, anyone else done a dissertation or currently doing one? What was your topic?

I will keep you updated on progress, and any interesting findings!

Reflection

Tonight I have been browsing other blogs just to get a feel of what people use their blog space for.

Personally, I wanted mine to be kind of like a diary (without the private stuff!) that I could look back on and remember things.

I found a blog tonight that truly reflects how I would love to write. I would enjoy writing about little things that happened, and explaining my feelings about them. Perhaps I just don't have the patience or the drive to write so poeticly any more.

Anyway, here is a link for anyone who is interested. You may even have already seen it...

http://ricksgarden.blogspot.com/

While I am feeling reflective, may I also take this opportunity to express my gratitude to my friends, family and my fantastic boyfriend for all of their love and support over the years, to get me to where I am today.

New Leader of the World

In a few hours, Barack Obama will become the 44th President of the United States of America/World.

This is more of a diary entry really than a blog, and a chance for people to share opinions via comment.

I have the live action on BBC News 24, and at the moment, everyone is getting a little bit excited.

Personally, I am not as excited as I hoped I would be. I just really hope there will be a change for the better in the world, and that the words are not empty promises. We shall see.

Oooohhh we are hearing on the BBC that George Bush has just been boo'ed. Interesting.

The day's fun continues...

West Ham United

I LOVE THEM!

Football is a strange thing. You find yourself addicted. It takes over your life sometimes, and then you realise that it's 22 overpaid men kicking a ball and falling over. But it's great!!!

Today I watched West Ham V Fulham and we played brilliantly. Zola is really starting to prove that he can infuse confidence, belief and tactics into a decent side. We've always been capable of being a good side, but we don't always execute it. Winning in such style as today is a joy. It lifts my spirits no matter what!

Oh, and as for Bellamy he is no longer wanted by West Ham fans. After chanting "Are you watching Bellamy" whilst being 3-1 up, I think that made it pretty clear!

Thank you West Ham for providing some of the happiest moments of my life over the past 20 years! I was lucky enough to be a season ticket holder for about 5 years, and witnessed the likes of Paulo Di Canio, Carlos Tevez, Teddy Sherringham, Joe Cole and Vladamir Labant!!!

(Photo courtesy of BBC News)

While we are on the subject of football, the current transfer rumour is that Kaka is going to fully loaded Man City for £100million. This is an absurd amount of money to put on a mans head. He would apparently be paid £500,000 per week. I couldn't take that money and be proud of myself. There are children starving in the world. By all means I would love to see someone of his stature in the English Premier League, but not for those prices.

Graduate Jobs

I'll be honest from the start. I am absolutely terrified about having to find a job in September in the current financial climate.

We are now reading stories saying that graduates are finding this the worst time to leave uni and find a job, because there aren't any. So, we leave school and are told to get into £20,000 worth of debt, because it will definitely help us get a job. Well thanks Mr Blair, Mr Brown and Mr Bank. Students are now screwed. Even if I'm lucky, I might find a job in a shop for which I'm over qualified.

My plan over the next year is as follows:

• Leave uni in June, hopefully with a good pass
• Return to Ireland for the summer and work (job hunting as we speak!)
• Move back to Chester having found a cheap flat and managed to pay a deposit
• Begin a job and work like a dog just to pay the bills

It's really REALLY scary. I am hopeful that I will get a good degree, and I am in contact with people to find a job in September, but so far, not good. How am I supposed to pay rent, bills, food and live with no job? I will be living with my boyfriend who will still be a student, so there will be little second oncome.

This is the first time in my life I have been genuinely anxious about getting into the big wide world, and I'm sure I'm not the only one.

And just so I can show off one of my photos, I'm going to end with the phrase, "time is running out"!

Life Update

Well, the busy Christmas and New Year period is over. But I'm still busy!

Obviously, deadlines are a problem this time of year. I say problem, because it always seems as though they cannot possibly be kept to, even if a miracle were to occur.

Every time a deadline comes around, we all panic and think we can't do it, and it's gonna be rubbish even when we do get it in. This time is no exception!

But it will be ok. This time I am creating an 8 page magazine complete with design and photographs. I am making a teenage health magazine, hoping that it would stop teenage girls from turning to adult methods of staying healthy.

So, that is why there has been no writing for a while. Hopefully soon I will do something of significance to write about.

Happy New Year by the way!

Oh and Woolworths is now officially no longer.

Who has got the X Factor?

Ok, so it's not really an intelligent blog today!

It is the X Factor final tonight. Eoghan Quigg (or Eggnog!), Alexandra Burke and JLS are in the final. It is believed that Boyzone, Westlife (after Beyonce pulled out) and Rhianna are to perform with the hopefuls.

Personally, I hope Eoghan doesn't win. He's a lovely lad who has more talent for singing (and anything really!) than most kids his age. I am pleased that young'uns can be shown in a good light like this. But he hasn't got the most talent there. The only reason I believe he's still in is because the whole of Ireland is voting for him. Well, only the north can vote by telephone still...a lot of people!

Alexandra is by far the best singer. She deserves it more than the others after being knocked back by Louis Walsh a few years ago. If there is any justification in public voting then she will win, but as we know after the likes of Laura White and Ruth Lorenzo were voted off, there is not.

JLS are brilliant. They are a breath of fresh air for "pop" music. It's been a while since a new boy band came around that were actually very talented and made me smile. And they do really make me smile! I wouldn't mind if they win.

The biggest travesty of all is that the winner will release "Hallelujah". I don't mind a cover version being the first release, but why do they have to pick a truly brilliant song that has made it's mark in history, why not pick something rubbish that they could make good?

This piece is mainly to be put into the 'Time capsule' category...I would like to look back on this and remember my thoughts on the night of the final, rather than wondering "what happened to that anonymous who won X Factor?".

It's started, do I'm going to enjoy good Saturday night TV!

A Few Things

Change of format today. I have a few things on my mind, so I'm going to bullet point them!

• I sent a reasonable email to a tutor the other day, asking why we had to submit in a certain way. I wanted an explanation. What did I get back? Basically it said "do as you're told". I'm nearly 21 years old, not 12.

• I emailed X-Box services the other day, and complained about the mute button thingy on the headset. It says "Mute on/off", when really it should say "Microphone on/off". Work it out! So keep your eye out...any changes may be made by moi!

• Been watching Mark Beaumont in his mission to cycle the world in less than 195 days. He made a documentary about it for the BBC called "The Man Who Cycled the World". What a truly inspirational man. He deserves more recognition than he has received.

• I filled in a health and safety form yesterday so that I could borrow recording equipment from the Uni. I never saw such nonsence in my life! I explained that there wasn't really a box I could tick seeing as I was only taking it home, and I have no wind manchine, falling tree or axe murderer in my house. He told me to tick something anyway. I put "electrical hazards". Maybe I'll try and put it in the microwave...

Now excuse me, my Tesco delivery has arrived!

Who on Earth Would Stay up for Boxing?!

Me! Till about 6am tonight.

It is now 23:04 and I'm feeling the pressure! It's hard work, but someone has to do it!

I have stayed up for many fights, and to be honest I don't know why. I could think of much more productive things to do at 5am than watch two men battering each other in a ring...like sleep!

Ah well, here goes...

Always Take the Weather With You...

...whether you want to or not!

Why is it that people always want to talk about the weather? I know it's quite important, but it's not as if no one knows about it. If you bump into someone in the street and say: "Isn't the weather bad?", what are they going to say? They're hardly going to reply: "I don't know I haven't noticed", as their umbrella blows inside out!

I worked in a shop in Ireland over the summer, and my goodness do they enjoy revelling in miserable weather! To be fair, it was awful weather pretty much every day, but I didn't expect EVERY customer to talk about how rainy it was.

When I wake up now in the mornings, it's on the radio. Turn on the TV and it's on there too. Go into the shop and whatever cheerful soul serves you will ask you if it's cold out! The answer is always yes. Even Facebook is littered with status updates saying how cold people are!

So why are we so obsessed with weather? I suppose because it affects what we do, how we feel, how we dress. But I think one solution to make ourselves feel a bit less miserable about it is to not talk about it! Wrap up warm, bring a brolly and wear a smile on your face. Whatever the weather, make your topic of conversation how great the economy is in this country...

...oh wait!

Citizen Journalism...I'm Excited!

I have not been so excited about journalism since...well, I never have I don't think. So I'll rephrase that sentence to make sense- I have never been so excited about journalism as I am now!

I know that 9/11 allowed citizens of America to share their stories about the Twin Tower attacks, and videos of the London bombings were taken on a video phone, but the recent events in Mumbai seem to have opened up a massive door in terms of citizen journalism.

I was reading the live update feed about the Mumbai attacks on the BBC website. As the major events began to draw to a close (thank goodness), there were Twitter updates being used by the BBC to illustrate what was going on in real time. People in the city were updating their Twitter statuses to let the world know what was really happening, and the BBC used it as news. Which, I feel, is perfectly right.

The journalism may not be relying on sending reporters out to India, but it is still doing it's job; reporting NEW events.

Not only was Twitter used in the reporting, Flickr, Global Voices and personal blogs made contributions to news stories. Surely I cannot be the only one who is finding this quite amazing, and quite exciting, without meaning to be so insensitive to a terrorist attack.

I was up until about 5am yesterday, just updating BBC updates, Twitter and Flickr to get a real life view of what is happening in Mumbai. This is the only way to do it, I can't fly out there to see it for myself, so citizens are my best option.

Here is a link to a story about citizen journalism in the New York Times...that I found on Twitter!! http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/30/world/asia/30twitter.html?_r=1&partner=rss

What do you think? Excited or cheated of real journalism?

Thugz 'n' Yobz- What Would You Do?

I live in usually quiet Chester. Nothing much really goes wrong. It's a bit noisy at 3am sometimes when the alcohol has been flowing, but apart from that, everything flows quite well.

So when I heard loud noises just before 1am the other day, I was concerned. I was too afraid to look out of the window, so I was not sure what was going on. It sounded as though someone was being kicked or punched several times, and there was a lot of shouting.

I really didn't know what to do. As my boyfriend reached for the phone, the noises got less, and the shouting was quieter. Probably, the right thing to do would have been to call the police. Everything ran through my head: "What if someone's been stabbed?", "What if someone's lying on the floor and needs help?".

Unfortunately, these thoughts were mixed with the worry that if we did call for assistance, would the police come to our house, and make it obvious that we called them? It shouldn't have crossed my mind, but it did. I am one of those people who would love to help others, and feel a duty to if they are in trouble, but I am also over ruled by the though of someone seeking revenge.

This is wrong, I know, but I'm sure I'm not the only one. I'm also sure I'm not the only one who heard the commotion on that night, and nobody else called for help.

Last night, I found out that someone was going around the streets banging on people's doors. My housemate said that he heard people banging on doors the previous night, so the two incidents could have been related. After hearing this, I spent the night with the door locked, and the light on. I was genuinely afraid that someone would bang the door down, and come into my room.

This is wrong. As much as I am wrong to not call the police, it cannot be as wrong as terrorising people in their own home. What would you do in the above situations?

Spending in the Credit Crunch.

Are you doing it? Yes, so am I!

I find myself these days spending more in fact. Because I want to get an education, I am unfortunate enough to be almost £20,000 in debt. Does that stop me spending money? Clearly not.

We are waking up every morning to the radio alarm (or afternoon, whatever floats your boat!), to hear the XYZ & Co have cut 150million jobs, and are relocating to outer space. We hear that profitable businesses are no longer making profit, or at least as much as they used to. It is obvious that everyone and everything is feeling the pinch.

So am I doing the right thing in saying "ah well, I might as well still live a bit"? No, probably not. I like to think I have my head screwed on, and I am quite sensible. Scarily, I will be living off my own money in 6 months time, but I know if I keep throwing away money as I am, I will not be able to afford a cardboard box, let alone a flat. But how on earth am I going to find a job in this climate? Even the great Martin Bell admitted that as a journalism student, it will be very difficult to waltz into a job, even with a good degree.

But it's tempting isn't it, when special offers are filling the shops. After going into Chester on Sunday, I realised that although everyone is a bit scared deep down of losing their jobs, they are determined to keep shopping, and will not be cutting down this Christmas.

As I write this, I heard Mr Channel 4 announcer say that up next is a "Location Location Location Credit Cruch special". See, you can't get away from it! Just as a side note here, I love Phil Spencer.

This is partly the reason we are all so worried in the first place. If the media hadn't created a moral panic, would there be a credit crunch. My personal opinion, is no. Why would we be worried about losing jobs and saving money if the newspapers weren't plastered with headlines such as "We're going to have no money this time tomorrow" (Disclaimer: I don't know if that headline is real!).

I think the outlook is bleak. We are all going to find the next year difficult. My very boring but sensible advice is think before you buy. Do you need it? No, probably not!



Apologies that most of this does not make sense, but it's just a piece about feelings!

I died in World of Warcraft...oh how I cried!

Before you get the wrong idea, it was my first time. To cut a long(ish) story short, I am making a radio programme for uni, and my topic is World of Warcraft (WoW). I want to get inside the mind of those who play, and more seriously, those who get addicted. It will be my first real piece of investigative journalism, so getting involved is important.

So I took the step. I logged in to the WoW website for the first time. I clicked download FREE trial (I refuse to pay!). I then had to create some mad name that meant that no one would ever guess my real identity. All I was say, is that Chico had some influence on my final decision!

My player was created. He was short (like me), had facial hair (unlike me!) and carried a sword. Cool! He has a cute little run too.



Next I had to learn how to kill people. I'll be honest, I didn't really bother learning. I clicked and typed away, saying hello to dwarfs and gnomes alike. It was snowing in WoW world, so my poor guy must have been chilly. Despite this, he battled away. I got a thrill from when I sworded the other lads, and the little red bar went up (or down, I wasn't really looking!).

My boyfriend took over and got talking to a very friendly man/big dwarf/santa, who helped us to find some kinda land far away, and to download something to help us get a quest.

Unfortunately, I didn't make it to the quests. I was brutally murdered by a wolf/goblin/Joe Pasquale lookalike. So then I waited the 6 minutes to revive, or so I believed. REVIVE MY EYE! I was dead alright, and wandered around for an hour, wondering why no one was around, and all I could do was hide in tents, oh and type "x" to sit down!

Did I continue to create a new gnome? In a word...no.