By'th'eck its cold...

Its cold. So very, very cold. About -1C according to the ever reliable BBC. Here is a picture of me looking very cold.


I like We Are Scientists... They are cool. Here is a picture of me enjoying We Are Scientists.


Here is a picture of out of my window.


I need to find something exciting to do.

Weekend..

Hello there!

So its time for an update again. This weekend has been pretty cool. When I posted that last post of mine, the day had been really, really quiet, and I was expecting it to remain so. Infact the weekend had a lot of potential for being very quiet, with Liverpool's main American contingent being in some place called...called...erm...Spain. Yep Spain thats it. Someone told me that its one of those funny European places. Anyway they are all over there for a week.

Add to that the event of the year thus far, the marriage of Mr Edward Kitchen to Ms Jen (Jin) Taylor, which drew two members of my house and a large part of Christ Church down to Hampshire, and it was feeling quiet.

Before I continue here is a picture of Mr Edward Kitchen...

Just think folks he's a married man now. How cool is that? Anyway I digress...

So I was expecting a very quiet weekend. However, on Friday night my mate Chris invited me over to see him in his new house which was cool. I've known Chris for about 12 years now, having remained close friends through high school, sixth-form college and even uni, but after graduation we don't really have the chance to hang out all that often, so it was great to be able to take advantage of having my car in Liverpool and go and see him. This is Chris...


It was odd though. He lives in a picture-postcard Cheshire village which had few houses, and the ones that where there I can only describe as quaint and old. Chris, who is a few days younger than me and graduated from Liverpool at the same time as I did in 2004, now has a pretty well-payed political job and lives in a tiny, and posh English cottage. His village is a village filled with well-off city folk that have moved to the country with their young families (while I was there i came across a hippie woman with 4 kids and a big car - i think that somes up the place really). This all seems a little bizarre given that I turned up still looking like the scruffy student that I am.

Anyway I had a good time catching up with Chris in his local pub, realising that while I envied his succesful move into the work place, and his new house etc, he is not happy. It was readily obvious that he lacks the fellowship that comes from being a Christian, let alone the relationship with God. Thought provoking, at least for me anyway.

After the pub I crashed in his spare room (alcohol and cars don't mix) which was great as I woke up in the countryside which was marvellous. If I'd taken my camera then I could now give you a taste of how amazing the scenery was in Cheshire that cold Saturday morning, but I didn't so i can't. However I can show you what the English countryside looks like.

So. The English countryside:

Marvellous aint it folks?

Yesterday was cool too. I chilled out during the day, and in the evening went with Mike Philips to the Richmond Tavern and just ]chilled out over some food and a pint, before heading over to the Coffee House pub with Mike and Andy Moll, for another pint. And it was cool. Mike is a sound guy, as is Mr Moll, and it was just a cool evening.

Today I went to Christ Church which was great. I really enjoyed the talk, had a good time of fellowship meeting some new peeps, and having good conversations with people I haven't really spoken to before but have known for ages. We did a church leaflet drop in Kenny which was actually really good craic, and then went to Kimos where I ate chili con carne and banoffi pie... Mmmm...banoffie pie. So, so good.

And now its pretty late and I'm tired. I've really enjoyed this weekend and it has been a real blessing in so many ways. But i'm feeling quite run down too. The last few days have also been ones of mental anguish which has resulted in a general lack of sleep. Today i've felt a real sense of peace though which has been amazing so thats cool. Just got to keep trusting in our amazing Creator.

And on that and this entirely random photo of Mr Ryan Hawkins,

Good night folks..

So today..or is it tomorrow? Hmm...

So today has been pretty flat and not much has happened yet. I got hardly any sleep the night before and not a great deal last night so decided to take the sensible option and have another few hours in bed this morning. Good plan and worth it too, but it also meant I was up and moving around at 2 pm. Hmm... Not the best recipe for a productive day. But my mind seems relatively content with the strange hours since its been telling me relentlessly that it is infact Saturday today. Odd. Oh and I went to Tesco's with Yaqi (Chinese guy that lived with us in the summer) which was cool and provided for some interesting West-East discussion on the world as we know it.

So actually its been a fairly interesting day.

Early morning...

So... This is an early morning post. I've had a pretty sleepless night of deep thinking and heart-felt soul searching. Sounds pretty intense and I won't lie to you in that it was. But I feel so, so much better now than I need before. A toast to late night thinking.

Right now i'm uploading some more of my cds on to iTunes ready to upload to my iPod, before getting ready to head into town to drink some coffee, go cd shopping (I feel the call from HMV, or possibly Music Zone as its cheaper), and then head to the library to look at some work, before meeting with my supervisor. After that i'll probably walk home, and then head to the Richmond Tavern with my housemate Evans for some food and good conversation.

But onto the business at hand. Pictures of the Lake District National Park...

Postgrad...

Just as i'm sat at my desk I thought i'd give you a small taster of the wonders of the Research Postgraduate lifestyle.

Theres a lot to be said for being a full time academic researcher. As the picture shows I get to sit at a desk in my own room, drink coffee (in this case the coffee is some rather fine 'posh' ground coffee prepared by my housemate Damien, a man who is also sporting a rather splendid ginger beard right now), mess around with my laptop when i get bored and listen to music whenever i want. Even my work is pretty interesting right now - i'm looking at the London Times online which means I can in theory read about anything right back to 1781, which is cool.

Of course, as with anything, there are downsides to this lifestyle, the big one being a general lack of people. I have no lectures and no seminars and thus if could easily be possible for me to see no-one during the day. I am remarkably blessed in that my days rarely turn out like that, but it is still something to ponder on.

In the meantime watch out for some more Lakes pics if you are called Tim and live in Italy. Otherwise thanks for stopping by and I hope the craic is good.

A time to draw...

I'm really not motivated to post right now but, I will try and come up with something anyway. First up i found myself doing a quick sketch the other day and this is the result:


And this is the original:



Secondly I really like listening to loud music. Today when I was feeling a little down I stuck on some Muse and really cranked up the volume on my stereo and it was great. See also The Arcade Fire and Bloc Party for rather splendid bands to listen to.

Thirdly I ended up having a really, really, long walk today and it was marvellous. Walking stinkin' rocks guys it really does.

Fourthly this is a cool pic and i'm posting it for the sake of posting.



Its in the Lakes by the way and I could really do with a day up there right now.

Lastly the Lord is good and I really need to remember that more often. Still my quiet times are returning to normal and the light and the end of the tunnel phase appears to be being replaced with the actual end of the tunnel which is fantastic and a real blessing.

Past...

Every generation is faced with its own particular dilema, its own puzzling questions. These where the questions that challenged the likes of Issac Newton and Albert Einstein, each question leading to the discovery of the theories of relativity of their day.

Which brings me, worryingly on to one of todays major questions. That of what, oh what to blog about? I am just kidding of course. Blogging isn't in any way an important question of our age. But all of this means that i now have two paragraphs of a post. Awesome.

And on to the post. Well folks i am struggling. Perhaps not for ideas but for motivation. So... I though i'd give you a taste of my life from the last few years with some old photos. Enjoy.

To begin a young Mr Moll, Mr Weaver, and Mr Forrester at the CU Ball 2003.


Some real British old school hip hop... (Can you tell we were both doing our finals at the time. Ha.)


My mate Chris on top of a very bleak mountain in the Lakes. 2000ft sheer drop on two sides, thick fog all around. Lots of fun...


On top of the Guinness Brewery in Dublin...


Coldplay's last gig of 2003 at V2003. 1,000 in front; 50,000 behind. Very cramped. Very cool...


CU Houseparty 2003. Lots of people looking younger...


A cannon's eye view of Belfast Lough. Carrickfergus castle, a place once the centre of both English and Scottish power in Ireland. Also if you had been here c 1912 the newly built Titanic would've sailed right passed you - it was built about 3 miles to the right at Harland and Wolff shipyard Belfast.


And finally me blowing my own trumpet... Well actually I play a cornet and this is a girl called Abbey's but still, it was fun...

Hey Sports Fans...

Yo, yo, yo. So how goes it out there? Wherever you are I hope and trust the craic is good.

I thought i'd make a return to simple 'whats going on with me' posts for the moment, though i have loved being able to put together a photo review of the year and all compliments are much appreciated.

Anyway, today I took advantage of the new found blessing that is having my car in Liverpool. It is a rather nifty Fiat Punto and it carried me and Mr Moll at speed today to the Wirral. Here we caught up with our old friend Mr Richard Gott, who, as you will find in my archives on here somewhere got married back in the summer and subsequently moved out of Liverpool to the Wirral - for all those not in the know the Wirral is just the other side of the River Mersey.

It was great catching up with Rich and over two cups of coffee and some homemade brownies, the three of us put the world to rights in a way that only three British blokes can on a wintery afternoon. Marvellous.

After that I came home and watched some NBA with Evans - the Miami Heat against the LA Lakers to be exact - which was cool and took me back to my younger days of watching the LA Lakers trash the opposition when I was 15-16. Indeed the last few days have been witness to more and more American sport being watched in our house. Just the other day we watched the Pittsburg Steelers beat Indianapolis in a game which was vvv exciting even though we had no idea what was going on really. Splendid.

Oh and I ate a delicious brownie courtsey of the knife-throwing Ms Stephanie Gillette (www.sgillette.blogspot.com). Ha.

The Thistle of MacBride

Britain is a nation that has a long and established history. Be it the Britannia of the Romans, or the initial union of England and Wales that has its roots in the thirteenth century, Britain has existed for a long, long time.

In that time some peculiar traditions have developed, forged from the often brutal and hard fought history of those countries that make up this great land -England, Scotland, andWales. For example if you were to go to Chester or York you would soon discover that it is still technically lawful to shoot any Welshman or Scotsman that might be found with the city walls, be it with a crossbow or a longbow. How odd. And yet, these two peculiar throw-backs to Britain's ancient past are but a handful of the many, many odd traditions that still dot the land.

And yet one tradtion in particular deserves further examination, namely that of the ancient custom known simply as the Thistle of MacBride. This tradtion, which has passed down the ages, harks back to a time when England and Scotland where still hated enemies, fighting tooth and nail across the broad open tracts of northern England and the lowlands of Scotland. Here, at a time when the great figure of Scottish history, Robert the Bruce was but a distant memory, a lowly Scottish thistle became symbolic with freedom and liberty for a battered nation...

The Thistle of MacBride

With Scottish soil constantly under the tread of English boot, English armies swarming across the land, it fell to a simple Scottish farmer, one William Denzel MacBride, to restore any sembalance of national pride. Faced as he was with the loss of his farm, his livelyhood and his family, MacBride rallied together the local men leading them to battle against the English baron, Lord Ashby De La Zouche (from here on simply Lord Ashby).

Thus it was that as dawn broke on one winter day, the silence of the crisp dawn Scottish air was shattered by the rally cry of the Scots, led by the valliant MacBride against Lord Ashby's camp. Taken intially by surprise, Ashby raced to rally his troops, accompanied by his most trusted Lieutentants fending off Scottish farmers as he went. Finally reaching his horse he managed to make some sort of a stand but only when his once proud army was decimated, many lying injured or dead on the ground, others fleeing in all directions. Faced with the collapse of his army Ashby elected to make his escape, but only after ensuring that the day would not belong soley to the Scots, making one last charge across the battlefield cutting down MacBride.

It was to be the last action of the battle, Ashby and the few remaining English making quick their escape to English lands. But it was a crippling blow. The battle of Bede's field had cost the English dear and had ensured that the Scot's regained a fragment of their pride. However their leader MacBride was mortally wounded, cripled by the cold steel of Ashby, and within days of the battle he was dead.

His memory however was to live on. MacBride symbolised the defiance of Scots. He was tough, strong and resiliant. This was not lost on his followers, nor was the fact that the scene of his greatest triumph and his untimely demise was a place dotted with another symbol of Scotland - the tough, strong and reliant thistle. With this in mind, the battlefield was stripped of this humble weed, the buds being taken back to Edinburgh with MacBride's body. There in the the shadow of Arthur's Seat MacBride was layed to rest, a hero of Scottish freedom and liberty, and the thistle buds, pounded in the royal mills were dusted through the halls of the Scottish Parliament in honour of MacBride and of Scottish resiliance against English tyranny. This was the beginning of a long held tradition that came to be celebrated for many a year in the Scottish capital.

A few hundred years later Scotland and England were united under one throne, and one parliament at Westminster in London. It did not mean however that MacBride and Scottish liberty would be forgotten. For one day a year the ceremony of the Thistle of MacBride would be marked by the dusting of the House of Commons with crushed thistle buds by Scottish M.P.'s.

Indeed, the tradition was maintained until comparatively recently and was even opened up to the public who would buy specially prepared bags of purple powder to throw into a carefully prepared room of Parliament.

However more modern difficulties have threatended to put an end to the tradition of the Thistle of MacBride. The thistle was itself abandoned in favour of a synthetic version in the 1960s in the face of environmental pressure concerning the over harvesting of thistles, and as we enter the 21st century new pressures and increased security have served to ensure that parliament is no longer a scene of this ancient tradition.

But be rest assured dearest reader the memory of MacBride and the liberties and freedoms of Scotland live on in the humble Scottish thistle, which still dots the landscape of Britain.



NB: All character are purley fictitional (well apart from Robert the Bruce) and any resemblance to persons of real life, past or current, are not intended. This story is infact entirely ficticious and anyone who believes it is highly gullable. Ha... :-) )

Bewildered...

I'm tired. Not physically, but mentally. I find myself in a postion that I find bewildering. I am bewildered. If you had suggested that I would be in the situation in which I find myself now to me in September I would have laughed, though maybe with an admittance that anything is possible. I know I can trust in God. That He is with me. But I feel that I am in that odd no-where place that leads ultimately to somewhere. A place full of promise and hope, but still clouded by the reality that is... well who knows. All I can see right now is the tatters of the last few months, with some great people - amazing blessings each and every single one of them - interspersed amongst the wreckage, reminders of God's provision and love, guiding me and supporting me through each day. Thanks guys. You are all marvellous people.

Rich's Photo Review of 2005 Part Deux

And so I bring to a close my brief photo-review of the year. Picking up from the summer of change the new academic year kicked off with yet another wedding, this time up at Mossley Hill for Phil and Anna's big day. Oh yeah complete with dodgy beard on my part...


After a brief sojourn back in the USA the Agape STINTers also returned to the UK complete with some fresh faces who immediately set about exploring phone boxes in Conway...


I had yet more fun with the STINTers and Danny T in the Lakes. Here you can see some of them in a nice English country pub...


...and here on top of a small wet Lakeland hill...


And before I knew it there was yet another wedding. This time it was Christoff and Sarah's up at Bridge Chapel followed by a reception in the rather splendid Palm House...


Inbetween exploring the UK with Americans and going to weddings I also found time for some amazing walks in Sefton Park. It is such an amazing place folks...


With the aforemention departure of Samo to Kenya we also gained Mr Neil Robinson, now officially the oldest man in the house... Thanks to Neil for his very own self portrait pic...


As the nights closed in and winter arrived it was time again for the CU Houseparty, which allowed for some fun time spent up a cold Welsh hill with Mr Moll and Steph...


Back in Liverpool it was time to chill out at the Agape open mic evening...


And as Christmas approached Mr Evans Felix Sarpong prepared a feast of vast proportions for us to eat as a house... Here you will find me and my old housemate John enjoying some 'soup,soup,soup'...


Christmas Day was a busy one but the first hour of the morning provided me with some peace and quiet...


The immediate post-Christmas period was also a time of great busyness heading down to Hampshire for a few days, but it also brought moments of great serenity...


...fellowship...


...and fun on the tube...



So there you are. My photo review of the year of 2005. Obviously my camera didn't go everywhere, most notably a rather splendid U2 concert but this is a pretty good representation. I hope you enjoy it guys...

The Greatest Showdown

Ok. So the second part of my review of the year will have to wait for now. But in the meantime I will share two things with you. First of all the picture. Who will win in this classic American college football rivalry now being played out in the Agape girls kitchen? I'd go with the handsome chap with the hair... ;-). Big time kidding going on there folks.

Secondly tonight i came to the conclusion that i have some pretty clear cut differences with popeye - i don't like Spinich. I mean i've had it in small doses on an Iceland pizza and it was good then. But i bought a Tesco pizza with it on today, but this time it had lashings of the stuff and... well most of it ended up in the bin. Yuck!

Rich's Photo Review of 2005

So... Yet another huge photo blog. I've been thinking for a while about putting together a bit of a review of the year (2005) and posting it here, and while a written work is yet to come, here is the first of two photo blogs.

I saw in the year in a very wet and windy Northern Ireland, checking out amongst other things the Giants Causeway...


I had the amazing chance to spend some time with large numbers of Americans...


It was also a year to uo my smart levels, the first opportunity coming with the CU Ball...


Then it was wedding time, the first being that of Foz and Claire up in Durham...


As summer arrived things became a lot more chilled and more time was spent in the park, increasingly with some rather splendid American types...


And then it was off to the Lake District for a week in one of the most inspiring places on earth...


Smartness returned for Dave's graduation meal... Angie reckons i look like a goat in this picture by the way...


The summer also brought with it a time of great change at least in my house. We lost the Machine...


...and Dave.


But also gained Damien...


...and for a brief time Samson, before he headed home to Kenya.


We were also graced by the presence of Yaqi for a few months, and a host of others..



So there you are. Not a comprehensive review by any means. But a neat little summary to begin.