needles hurt

Tomorrow, (Tuesday...wait, it's already Tuesday if you're British) Pastor Cleetus Adrian from Texas will be featured on Miami Ink getting a brand new tattoo! If you haven't heard this amazing punk preacha...well, you need to get the recordings from TACF's Freshwind Conference.
Watch channel 34 at 10pm.
I just saw the commercial for the episode...eeeeeeee!!!!!
I wonder what the design will be...what the artist will think...what the conversation will be like....

Mark, want to visit Miami for your next one? And will I EVER be able to face the pain?

carebears

hahahaha...check this out. you know i love this comic.

meow

I found a kitten. It wasn't hard. I returned to an empty house this evening, looking forward to some peace and some silence. Yes, actual silence (Mark, you are so blessed to be spending time in the country!).

Instead, I found a kitten who will remain nameless as to protect his identity.
What an adorable creature! Black, white, and fluffy. He looked quite cold, huddled against the brick of the house on our front porch. Judging by the size of our previous cats (whom my sister had found as strays), I think he is around one year old. Tiny little fellow...

I want it I want it I want it.

Normally a dog person, I think I'd do my best to save baby animals of any kind. They're just littlies... come on, you would too. That reminds me of this past summer. A baby hedgehog was found drowning in the Hardy pond. He was almost successfully nursed back to life over a couple of days, but he eventually died. Poor thing would have probably had nasty flashbacks the rest of his life at the sight of water anyway... R.I.P.

Soooo, I tried to approach as gently as possible with my one hundred thousand pound backpack on me, but at the one metre point I had crossed his boundary line and he vanished under the wooden fence. Awww, rubbish. So I left out some proper cat food and milk. I can't wait to see if he's eaten it in the morning...like Santa's cookies that you leave out Christmas eve. Except that Santa is a huge obese outright lie...thank God somebody had the guts to finally tell me last year...

Small towns and big parties...

I just got back from Retford. I was at the house of my friend James, who is a bit of a legend. We were using spray paint to turn white t-shirts into badger costumes for a party next weekend.
Now, I'm not complaining by any means, but it seems that since I've left Leeds, all I've done is go to parties. As you can see from the picture, we threw one awesome leaving party for me. Big crowd there, the band played an awesome set... A real good send off. Then last weekend we made the annual pilgrimage to Alton Towers for my best man's birthday. Next Friday, it's back to Leeds, where I will be djing at Sarah and Becky's British Wildlife party. Hence the badger costumes.

So, it's been a pretty hectic fortnight really. I've had just enough time to settle back here, and I'm rather enjoying country life. The scenery is certainly better than Leeds. I'm enjoying a quieter week life too. My parents love to do a crossword, so that works out pretty good (although it's no match for CCC with Mr Wolfson), and there's a lot more space in the house.
One disadvantage that I'm just discovering, however, is that we only have one computer in the house. That means that we all have to share it. So when I planned to blog the other night, I came in and found that my mom was using it for work. I came in a couple of days later when I had another chance, and my sister was emailing. Sucks. So, that explains the gap in my presence here. Never mind, now that Bethany has joined the Salivation Nation blogging ranks, she's been able to keep you all entertained while I've been desperately trying to access the internet.

Good news in my house - my little sister's getting married next year. That makes the both of us. It's rather pleasing for me, because she's been with her boyfriend for five years now, and we've become rather good friends. He's a really good guy, and I'm very pleased that he's going to be my brother in law. It also gives us a very good reason to be back in the UK next summer, which will be quite enjoyable after a lengthy absence. It all works out in the end.

And so I come to my point. I was worried that when I moved here I would be bored. Back in a small town after 5 years of city life; none of my bandmates here; neighbours that I don't know, and even if I did are proabably not really my sort of people; having to keep the noise down etc. As it happens, however, it would seem that I rather enjoy the peace and quiet of life here. During the week I spend very little money, which will come as a relief and a blessing to both myself and my wonderful future wife. I have time to do things (even if I am unable to do them). And if I thought that I might be at a loose end, someone is always having a party. I can't wait to dress up as a badger with James next weekend; I can't wait to dj at the party; I really can't wait to see everyone in Leeds again. Most of all I can't wait till next Sunday, when I fly out to Canada for a week. But, when all of that is over, I'm very much looking forward to the last few months of (relatively) peaceful, relaxing time here in Worksop with my family. And if the country life starts to become tiresome, I'm fairly sure that someone will be throwing a party to keep me entertained...

North

Today a bunch of us are driving a couple hours up to Wasaga in the Puddle mobile to have a Thanksgiving BBQ at the Crithley res. Yes, the food will be scrumptious and plenty, but for me it comes in secondary to the BONFIRE. Oh how I've longed for a hot, crackling fire to roast marshmallows in and sit round. Fire is good.
I can smell it now...


Aaaaaand, Thanksgiving weekend is also when Mark and I officially got to together TWO YEARS AGO. Woweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!



Love you, Hardy....
beth

i know i know...

going from NEVER blogging to blogging twice in a day?
you just haaaaaaaave to read this verse that I've been chewing on steady:

Matthew 11:12 in the Amplified
And from the days of John the Baptist until the present time, the kingdom of heaven has endured violent assault, and violent men seize it by force [as a precious prize--a [share in the heavenly kingdom is sought with most ardent zeal and intense exertion].
It feels so good to be zealous about something...are you?

a nest for the love birds...

Yipeeeeeee! So, we scored the sweetest place to live. I'm amazed :)
It really makes the whole getting married thing a whole lot more...real.

It's a basement apartment owned by my family- hook-ups! It was a deal we couldn't refuse, and holy smokes it's BIIIIIG. The best way to describe it, is very 'open-concept'. We'll get to clean/paint do stuff November 1st (you'll see our recruitment posters soon...haha)which leaves loads of time and I am sooooooooooooo FLIPPING EXCITED. I keep daydreaming about our little nest...it helps when you're trying desperately to procrastinate from doing assignments (pretty much like I'm doing now.Shhh!).
Yeah, lately spare time is spent looking at whacky home stores and paint samples...sigh. I can't pry myself away!



Now, the only thing missing? A neighbour named Kramer. That's our DREAM. Seriously.





One day...oh,one day...

NUIT BLANCHE

www.nuitblanche.livewithculture.ca

Saturday September 30, 2006

7pm-7am

downtown Toronto transformed by artists

don't miss it!

twenty three

That's the title of a beautiful Jimmy Eat World song, and also Ramlin's new response when people ask her how old she is :)

I've finally been to New York City. Man, it was the best. Ramlin and I drove down early Friday morning and arrived in Brooklyn at Casa Newall at supper time. The drive was 8 1/2 hours which seemed a breeze after New Orleans. The Newall (is that how you spell their last name?) brothers took us out straight away to see the sights. For an extremely short trip, we managed to see and taste loads of the city. These good times include:

Ground Zero, The Statue of Liberty, Battery Park, The Empire State building, china town, Soho, New York pizza....yummmmm, Radio City, Time Square, Central Park and a buttload more ( I saved the Seinfield cafe, Poet's Alley, and New York cheesecake to see with you, Markers :) . We travelled by subway and taxi, and even successfully parellel parked our car in the middle of all the chaos of the lively city. We didn't do the galleries or shows because hopefully I'll get to go with school, and they deserve a trip all their own...at least pour moi they do!

Jeez, God is so gooooooood! We had the best weather, and when it began to spit and cloud over we prayed and spoke to the clouds and the sun came out again! Woohoo! I'm always amazed when that happens. And what a blessing to have our own personal tour guides! We've got some great pics. It's so hard not to take picures of EVERYTHING there. I'll post some soon....

I fell in love with NYC. The lights, the cameras, the action... and the many many homeless broke my heart, but when we approached the Canadian border to return home, during the golden hour of an autumn day... it was breathtaking. It's like Canada hugs me somehow once I've crossed the border... as corny as that sounds....

Ok, I have to go to my last class for the day...until next time, let's all peer pressure Mark to blog.

love yourself. you're a masterpiece.
bethany

Very moving...

It's been an interesting month, that's for sure. First things first: my good friend J came to visit Bethany and I in Toronto; the first time I'd seen him since he left England in May 2004. J rocked it out with me on the turntables at Freshwind 2004, and also formed the band The Salivators with me. The guy had keys to my house for a year, you know? We hung out and saw the sights. We went to Smokeless Joe, and to the Ontario Film Board. We took him to the Panorama lounge, and we watched movies. We drank beer and went to church. We hung out with people and ate good food. We drank cocktails and we drank coffee. We spent time catching up.

Then came the tough part. I had to say goodbye to Bethany. We'd been together for two months by this point, and I was not looking forward to going to the airport. It would be four months before we'd see each other again, when she comes over to visit at Christmas.
There was something else making my forthcoming journey home a little daunting. Over the summer, I took into account my options; my thoughts on the teaching course I started in January. I thought about the things that I would almost certainly have to go through in my final term, and I decided that it was not going to be a good thing to continue. As a result, I left my job in the school, and with it, made the decision to leave my beloved Leeds, and move back to Worksop. Leaving Canada this summer meant leaving Leeds, and finding a new job.

So, this month has been an interesting one. When I got back, I found myself a new job - I'll be working with teenagers with behavioural problems. I found a replacement for my room in Leeds. I broke the news to my band, and organised a couple of farewell gigs. I've packed things and sold things. I've given things away. I've spent time sorting things out to leave. I've visited Worksop a couple of times, and been to the unit I'll be working in. I've met my sister's tortoise. I've caught up with some friends, and had band practices. My cell group got together with my old cell group to give me a send off; which was excellent.

If there's one thing I'll miss about Leeds more than anything, it's the level of silliness that ensues when my friends and I come up with an idea. Last night, we opened an art gallery in our BASEMENT. No, really. We had flyers for it and everything. We displayed work by Bethany and myself, my roommate Butch, and his girlfriend Katherine. We had free wine, and people came to look around. Some pieces have been sold, and we expect more to go during the week. It's the sort of thing that can only happen in a big city. I'm going to miss that in Worksop.

Having said that, there's some benefits to living back with my parents, and I'm not talking about low-cost rent (although that is a major bonus). They pretty much live out in the country, and some clean air won't do me any harm. There's not that much to do at night, so I might find some more time to exercise. My dad likes to build fires in the garden. I like to build fires in the garden. We can build fires in the garden. And it's not too far from Leeds, so I can pop back for a visit.

Oh, there was one other great thing that happened to me this month. My wonderful friends Ben and Kelsey decided that they wanted to bless me. Having told me how much they remembered hating being apart before they got married, they checked some dates out with me, and bought me a ticket to Canada for October. So, my three months in Worksop is nicely divided with an excursion to see my wonderful girl. That's what I'm talking about.

It's good to be back. Love.

sometimes it sucks

to have to socialise without your best bud and other half.

entre nous

Friday:Someone hacked into my gmail account. Poo. Other than that today was lovely. The delicous pears on the tree in our backyard are ripe. When they start to fall off the tree, I know it's going to get cold very soon. Today they started falling, so I bought my first sweater for the chilly autumn winds that will suddenly be upon us. The sweater (or 'jumper' as Mark would say) I've been eyeing in Lululemon of course. I don't know why I like that store so much. Technically, if I had an identifiable style it wouldn't be that (too expensive!!!), but the cardigans are so thick and juicy. Like, I won't even let you try this on because you'll keep it. I could live in it. Maybe I will....as some preformance art statement (see Thursday's blog below).
Tonight I went to youth, and Ben Kennedy was preaching. He said something that gripped me. It went like this, "The world is constantly telling you you don't have enough time for God by distracting you with anything/everything. That's a lie, because Jesus had the exact same time as you had while he was on earth. He was confronted with distraction. He was confined to 24hours, and He still knew His Father and gave him his time." Time is your most precious thing to give away...who or what are you giving it to?

Thursday:
We've been researching and discussing preformance art in one of my classes for the last two weeks. I feel like I've seen EVERYTHING. From plastic surgery experiments to stomping around a stuido for one hour, to painting with people's faces and/or cow blood to getting someone to SHOOT you in the arm. Yes, this is all preformance art, most in video format, and it has deep meaning to the artist. Hmmmm.

Amidst all of these 'unique' approaches to getting one's point across, I've found some that I quite like. For example: Good ol' Yoko Ono. I've always liked her. She had everyone in her audience come up one by one and cut off a piece of the garment she was wearing. At the end, she told them to send that material to someone and tell them they loved them. Later, she explained that by letting complete strangers approach her and get close to her with scissors, she was sending the message that it's alright to trust one another.

Another man, gosh I can't remember his name, spent a year outside without ever going indoors in New York City. Apparently, a lot of it had to do with the fact that he was an illegal immigrant, and therefore felt isolated. I'm not sure how he went to the bathroom.
He also punched a clock at every hour once for a year (a different one). That was to express how our society relates to time...but to invest in something that most people won't appreciate or see for a year? Wow.

The artist I researched was named Billy Talen. He's known as Reverend Billy, and he has a church of Stop Shopping. They travel around and have 'revival-style meetings in shopping centres (uninvited), in Times Square, in universities...it's quite the ordeal. I liked the clips I saw for the most part. I agree with some of his views on big coorporations/ advertising/ sweatshops/ the environment, and some others I don't agree with at all. Anyway, he and his chior are talented, and certainly know how to draw a crowd...or get arrested. He gets a lot of publicity in the States. Check him out- www.revbilly.com

Love on your enemies,
Bethany.

OCAD

Day 1: I'm writing from my new school's library. Shhh! It's so quiet. My first official day here at OCAD has been superb. I've been handed lots of free stuff, including rootbeer flavoured cotton candy (aren't you jealous Mark? muhahahah), and I've met many friendly students. Score. I can't believe I'll be here the next four years of my life...or more. The view from the massive checkered building on stilts called, The Sharp Cenre For Design, is gorgeous...you should come see it. There are a zillion cool shows and exhibitions popping up round the city soon, too. I'm seeing the Warhol one tomorrow. You've probably heard of 'Nuit Blanche' starting from 7pm till morning on Sept.30. There's also a gallery called Xspace in Kensington Market that displays our work. I'll post as many shows as I can on here when I get other dates confirmed so that those of you in Toronto can come out and support the arts.

Mark is back in Leeds...again. It was incredibly hard to say bye to eachother after 72 days straight of epic summer fun. I think 'Transatlanticism' by DeathCab for Cutie sums up my feelings on the matter. I love that song. Anyway, we thought it would be December until we saw eachother next, but someone had other plans. THANK GOD. A good friend of ours who isn't coming for the wedding, but instead a week before the wedding has given us an early gift...he's sending Mark over in October! Wooohoo! That's right...during Mark's half-term week he'll be here (22nd-28th). We were speechless. How do you even say thank you for a gift like that?


Day 2: More classes. More chaos. I went to look at all the hi-tech cameras and video-cameras that we can rent for assignments and exploring in general. They're so beefy. My first film assigment is a 3 minute one called, "How I See It". It's due in two weeks. We're supposed to interpret that sentence on our own and express it through a film.
Any ideas?

Lots of love to everyone...especially all you UKers. I'll see you in December. Until then, send me chocolate and emails. Please?

Wonderland and World Wonders...

It's been a fun week. Bethany and I have been making the most of the time that she has off work by spending every waking hour doing something of interest. Last week, we headed to Wonderland, where we had a great day out. We were supposed to go with Becca, but it was her friend's birthday, so we went on our own. I love rollercoasters, it's no secret. I particularly enjoyed the minebuster, where we both nearly died from being shaken to death. It's pretty good fun. I also risked losing our camera by snapping us on the Vortex. Well, snapping me with a bit of Bethany's face. It's hard to take a self portrait on a rollercoaster...

My parents arrived on Saturday, having waited in line for two and a half hours just to go through security at Heathrow airport in London. That must have been pretty intense. On Sunday they attended church with me. It's quite a strange experience having my parents visit my church, particularly in another country, where it's not even really my church yet. It was a good time though, and Randy Clarke spoke a great word. I met Jacob's girl too.
We headed up to Jo and Russ' place for a sweet bbq lunch, followed by a dip in the pool. And when I say dip, I mean dip. I was in for about 5 minutes before we had to leave to go back to T.O to pick Bethany up from work.
From there we went to Central, where the worship was great and the word was superb. Alyn Jones started with some prophecies, one of which was for mum and dad. That was good. Then he spoke on humility, and did it with such a relaxed attitude that it blew me away. There was no religiosity there at all, and it was superb. We went to Panorama after that, getting a fine view of the city and hanging out with good people.

Yesterday, Bethany had the day off again, so we took my parents to the church downtown that we're getting married at. The minister wasn't around, but we got the chance to look inside, and they love it almost as much as we do... We showed them Bethany's school too, before getting back on the subway, and picking up the car to drive to Niagara.

I love Niagara. I can't really tell you specifically what it is that I love about it so much, but it just leaves me speechless. It's such a demonstration of God's power in nature. I could stand there and look at the falls forever. But there was no chance of that; Mum and Dad took us on the Maid of the Mist, so we got an incredible view of them, whilst being drenched in the spray that comes from this wonder of the natural world.
It's an incredible way to experience the falls, and a romantic one too (even with the ridiculous blue ponchos that they hand out to keep you dry). The view is spectacular. If you ever get the chance to go to Niagara in the summer, take a trip on the Maid of the Mist - it will blow you away.

So, on to today. It's Dad's birthday, and Bethany's bridal shower. I know it's a little early for the shower, considering the wedding isn't until February, but my mum's in town, so Bethany's mom and grandma wanted to put one on for her. We're taking my dad to a restaurant first, then showing up at the shower for the end. I have no idea what to expect, as this is not an English tradition. I guess I'll just have to wait and see what happens when I get there. A report will follow...

Barrytown...

When Bethany and I travelled to Canada last week, we flew from Glasgow airport. That's quite a trek from Leeds, so we figured into our journey a few days in Scotland. This all worked out well, because we'd intended to visit Bethany's Aunt Mary in Camberslang (a district of Glasgow) before we left. We figured we could plan it all into one visit.
Unfortunately, Aunt Mary passed away a short time before Bethany came to England, so we were left with tickets to fly from Glasgow, and no real reason to go there. We do like Scotland though, so it wasn't too much of a hardship to head up there. The plan started to come together again when our good friends Simon and Esther suggested that they come up with us too. We'd take their car, go camping, and they'd drop us at the airport. An absolutely cracking scheme.
Simon said that he could get a tent big enough to house all four of us (see picture above), so we didn't need to bring two small ones (a decision that almost led to the downfall of our trip on the second night), so we packed up the car, I jumped into the driver's seat, and we set off for the highlands.

It was our intention to travel all the way up to Glen Coe on our first night, spend a couple of days there, and then head back to Glasgow, where we'd camp on the last night before going to the airport on Sunday morning. By the time that we approached the largest city in Scotland, however, it was getting on a bit, and we didn't fancy the two hour drive north to the highlands. We pulled off the motorway, and onto the absolutely brilliant camp site at Strathclyde Country Park. This site is great. Nice and clean with good facilities. Close to the city - you can easily get a train from one of 3 nearby stations to Glasgow Central station, with a rather nice park and lake on site. It's right next to the motorway, before you hit the city, so you can avoid the busy roads. What's more, it's cheap too. For the four of us, it was £8.45 a night. That's about the cheapest you'll find...

After a good night spent there, we packed down the enormous tent, and drove up north. The journey up to Glen Coe is absolutely beautiful; the road follows the bonnie, bonnie banks of the song-worthy Loch Lomond for a good deal of the way, with plenty of spots to stop and admire the views of the Loch itself, and the increasingly large mountains that give the highlands its name.
Mid-afternoon we rocked up at a little spot that Bethany and I found last year in a place called Bridge of Orchy. It's one of the few places left that they allow you to camp for free, and it's beautiful. Right by the river in a valley just off the main road through the Glen, it's picturesque and pretty much unspoilt. You just pitch your tent and stay there. There's a nice pub, too. My only recommendation is that you get yourself a lot of insect repellent, and some of those mosquito nets for your face. We tried to sit out that evening, and beat a hasty retreat to the tent when we started to be eaten alive. The next morning I counted 25 bites on the back of my right hand alone.

Before all that, though, we took a little walk on the hillsides, admiring the view. And what a view. The train line cuts a course just above the base of the valley, and the mountain tops on both sides were shrouded in mist. In the height of summer, the sides of the mountains are covered equally with a verdant grass and curtains of deep green fir trees. The Heather tints areas with a rich purple. Crystal clear streams run down the mountains and under the path every few metres. And it's so quiet!
The path that we walked on is part of the West Highland Way, a 95 mile (152 kilometre) path that runs from Milngavie, just outside Glasgow, to Fort William at the foot of Ben Nevis.

It was on this path that we met Barry. Barry, who you can see pictured here with Bethany, is a dj from Glasgow, specialising in cheesy tunes of the highest calibre. I've never met a man before who would claim that his favourite song ever (and he wasn't even joking) is Everything I Do, I Do it For You by Bryan Adams. This guy was something special. He spoke to us for a while on the mountain about doing the West Highland Way, and then said that he was off to the pub in Bridge of Orchy, and that he might see us later.
Sure enough, when we came back down a while later, he was stood outside the pub. It turned out that the guest house he was staying in was 3 miles down the road, and off the trail. A taxi was going to cost him £25 in these parts, so we offered him a ride, and in return, he offered us a drink.
Despite the fact that Barry had a particularly special taste in music, and claimed to be the kind of dj that I despise the most, he was one of the most fantastic people I have ever met. He was funny, friendly, liked a drink; he was kind and fun to be around. He didn't hit on Esther or Bethany, nor did he hit on me and Simon... He bought us drinks, and tried to buy us more. He played terrible music at weddings and parties, and took pride in his work. He didn't do much walking, but fancied spending a week of his summer hiking for nearly 100 miles on his own. He was crazy. In short, he was Scottish.

Despite the fact that I'm told most Scottish people hate the English, I experienced nothing but the opposite of this. Everyone we met along the way was just the same as this - helpful, kind and fun. I love Scotland, and I especially love the Scottish. In fact, I think that when I move here, I might even miss Scotland more than I miss England...

Differences...

I'm back in Canada. It's always felt like home here, but every time I come over, I notice more differences. It's not just the use of different words for things, strange spellings and a different way of life.

Earlier on today, I noticed that Thomas the Tank Engine was about to come on the TV. I was rather looking forward to hearing Ringo Starr's voice narrating it. But it was new. And narrated by an American. I'm sure that even new episodes in England don't have an American narrator. Wierd. And what about Rupert the Bear? American voices on that too. How very odd. I've noticed a lot over here that there's a certain urgency to become more European - a lot of English shops are opening over here, and everyone's rushing to them trying to catch up with European fashions and so on. But nobody seems quite comfortable being entirely British; they want a comforting American edge to it.
Here's an example of what I mean. I'm sat watching the Antiques Roadshow right now; but not as I know it. It's an American version.

I know that the main attraction of this program is the discovery of the value of the items that people bring in, but in the UK this is all wrapped up in the discussion of the interesting features and history of each piece. For 23 years, The Antiques Roadshow has run on the BBC, giving viewers a chance to laugh at hopeful people being told that the masterpeice they paid a fortune for is a reproduction worth next to nothing, or to smile with delight when a little old lady finds that the teapot she's been using to keep coins in is worth a little over £100,000.
The BBC knows that what people want is to find out how much each item is worth. But, because they're British, they make sure that most of the show is based around the history of the pieces. The experts tell the owners of the antiques how much they should insure them for, and the owners brush over the value, as though it's far more important to them to know a little more about it than to find out how much money they can put in the bank after flogging it. All very British indeed.

The American version, whilst covering the history of the antiques to some extent, doesn't beat about the bush when it comes to the value of the pieces. The experts (who are all from famous auction houses) quickly run over a bit of information about the antique they are looking at, and then say something about how much they think it will sell for. The owner of the peice will then get excited about taking it to auction.

I don't think that Americans are more greedy than the British, I just think that the British do a better job of disguising their greed. Right now, the jury's out on whether or not that's a good thing.

Get a real tattoo...

I guess it's been a while since I updated this blog. There's been a lot of stuff going on; some of it I will fill you in on, and some will stay with me for the time being. On the negative side, things haven't been so good at work, and I have a lot of thinking to do about that. I won't go into details particularly, it's enough to say that things are a bit rough, and I haven't had the best half term ever.

There's been plenty of good things though. Bethany's been around, for one. Last week, however, she absconded to Wales for a couple of days to see Lee and Sarah. She arrived back on Thursday night (eventually), and we had the chance to hang out with our good friend Joel, and his brother Chris. We only had one night with them, but it was pretty awesome. We went to Morrisons, and picked up some food. Then we got back, lit the barbeque, and had one almighty cook-out. What I wouldn't give for food to put on that grill tonight. We're now at the bottom of our food source, and tonight's supper is pasta. That's it. Ah, payday comes soon...
Yeah, we had a good time, but it couldn't last long, and, after a night on my couches, Joel and Chris made their way to Lindisfarne to meet someone else, while I went to college.


Last weekend was pretty awesome too, actually. I was in a bit of a daze when I came home from college on Friday, so we headed out of Leeds to clear my mind of it. We headed to my favourite camp site in Menston, where accomodation for a night is a mere £3. Lovely stuff. We spent the evening down by the river in Ilkley, and then returned to that beautiful town the next morning. We drank coffee with a friend of mine from college, and then hit the moor, where we did some climbing, and some paddling, and a lot of sunbathing. I'll be honest, I got a bit burnt.
It's so flipping hot at the moment. We ended up drinking water from the stream on the moor, because we'd drunk all the water we had, and we were sweating buckets.

I think I needed the getaway from work and Leeds and everything, so that worked out pretty nicely. I've basically been on a bit of a battle the last five weeks. I've had a lot of things thrown at me while I've been at work, and it was all getting a bit much.
One thing's for sure though; The bond of love between Me and Jesus is stronger than anything that's been thrown at me. For those of us that have made the choice to follow Him, we're fighting a spiritual war every day. Satan's main aim in that war is to make us turn from Jesus. I have no intention of ever turning from him. If there's one scripture that's kept me going the last few weeks, it's Jude 1 v 24-25:

To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy — to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen

Him who is able to keep us from falling! His love is stronger than hatred; firmer than confusion and difficulty; more secure than personal spiritual attack; deeper than war. Oh, man. The enemy doesn't stand a chance...

Ear we go...

Apologies for the attrocious pun, but it really does seem that the whole World Cup is governed by the cat ear headband in this picture. Well, so Tim and Butch seem to think. I obtained the headband as a resource for a lesson that I was going to teach in the partnership room at school, but it has taken on a more legendary status after last night.
The World Cup is a marvellous sporting event, it really is. It brings out the best in everyone. In several cities in the UK (including London, Liverpool, Manchester and Leeds), the authorities put up large screens in central areas so that the general public could join together in support for their country's team. And so that they could charge an undescribable fortune for drinks from the portable bars at the venues. However, Millenium Square in Leeds is the only one still up and running, because the rest have been plagued with violence. We really know how to celebrate a victory, don't we? With a healthy dose of rioting.
Despite the fact that Leeds is the only one of those cities to have escaped mob rule in the last week, I have decided not to risk it, and have watched the games at my friends' houses. For example, I saw last night's clash with Sweden in the lounge of my next door neighbour, Tim. (Although I joined Steve Darke and friends for a bit of cake at half time).
Butch, Ches Den and I all decided to wear headgear to Tim's for the game, and, seeing our efforts, Tim popped upstairs to fetch himself a nice flat cap. When we scored our first goal, I was wearing the headband. When Sweden equalised a little later, I had taken it off, and so it came as no surprise to my friends that the cat ears were having an influence on the goal scoring. I had taken them off again later on, when Ches Den shouted loudly at me: "Put the ears on! Put the ears on!". I did as she asked, and we scored approximately three seconds later. Hmmmmm. All the evidence points to the truth of their claim. (Well, except the fact that Sweden scored again while I was wearing them...)

Whatever the reason for it, England managed a 2-2 result against Sweden, which, although it means that we have STILL never beaten Sweden, for the first time in 4 major tournaments, we have emerged as the clear front runners in our group. We have also successfully avoided a second round clash with Germany. Good for us. I shall be wearing my ears again, then, on Sunday, when we will face Equador. Sash!, I hear, will not be playing.

Rome and home...

I went to Rome with my dad. It was pretty stinking awesome, actually. We only went for three days, but we squeezed so much into those three days it was ridiculous. It all started about five years ago, when I first went to Canada. My sister was a bit fed up that I was jetting off around the world (even though I paid for it myself), so my mom took her to New York for the weekend to keep her happy. My dad promised to take me away for a few days ever since then, to make up for it. I wasn't bothered about not getting the same thing as my sister, but neither was I going to pass up the chance of a boys weekend away.
We've been talking about going to Rome for some time, because we went when I was ten, but only for a day, which is never long enough. Plus, my dad couldn't get into St. Peter's basilica on the day we were there because he was wearing shorts, and at the time you had to cover up your legs to go in.

So, in half term week, we boarded a plane in Nottingham, and flew to the Campino airport on the outskirts of Rome. We arrived late, took a bus to the centre of Rome, and then a taxi to our hotel. From there, it was three days of walking in one of the most beautiful cities in the world. The eternal city, as they say.

We started off on the first day with the Vatican. We wandered past the Pantheon on our way (built 1700 years ago, still in use today as a church). It took us about two hours to walk across the city; mainly because we kept stopping to look at things. It certainly wasn't built in a day. Everywhere you look, there's something else to see.
When we finally crossed the Tiber, and headed towards St. Peter's Square, the crowds thickened. We walked up the road towards Vatican City, taking in familiar sights as we went. When we finally reached the square, we realised why the crowds were so large. Il Papa himself was out on the steps in front of the church, doing his thing! Yep, we went to Rome, and we saw the Pope. He was a good way off, but, as you can see from the picture, we were provided with video screens around the square that allowed us to see what was going on up there. That was pretty funny. We watched him for a while, then went to the Vatican museum.

I could bore you for weeks talking about all the amazing things that we saw. It's such an incredible place. The Colleseum, the vast collection of fori, the columns and statues and fountains and churches. We think that we're so clever in the 21st century; that we have everything. When we were in Rome, we saw Traijan's markets. This is an 1800 year old five-storey shopping mall. Entirely true. We saw a temple that had been turned into a burial place for a loved friend of an emperor. The 1700 year old bronze doors were still fully intact. And the archeologists had found the key. And it still worked. Ridiculous.

Since I've been back, things have been a little bit mixed. Things have not been going so well at work, and I have a lot of work to do in order to get up to speed really. There were a number of contributing factors; nobody is without blame. My Nana is very seriously ill in hospital, and things don't look good there. That's quite emotional, really.


There's been ups too, though. Extra days at college to learn about how to teach PE are pretty good. My class at college is pretty competitive, which has led to some fairly amusing situations. And, of course, we played a show on Friday night. It went pretty well, and, although there was a smaller crowd than we're used to, we still rocked it out. We showcased a couple of new songs, and bust out our good friend Sarah Tee on the saxamophone. We have a recording of the show, and a couple of tracks might find their way onto our myspace soon enough. You should really check it out.

So, Bethany arrives in less than two weeks. I have a bunch of work to do; we have more gigs to play, and more to organise; I have a book to write (which Bethany has illustrated fantastically), and some assignments too; we still have a wedding to plan; I have someone to visit in hospital; I have a car to fix... the list goes on. And so, my motto for the summer of 2006:

When in Rome, do as the Romans do; when at home, realise that your vacation's over.

Love...

Gig day...

I love gig day. Really, I love it. Preparing for the show, moving all the sound system in, setting everything up. All the work that goes into it, and then the hour or so on stage, rocking out. It's so stinking hot here today, it's going to be even hotter in that room tonight. I can't wait...