JP's Corner of The Blogosphere

Evening dudes. I hope that you've enjoyed the Bank Holiday weekend; I've had an awesome time. As you will know from my previous posts I spent it down in West Wales, and it turned out to be quite a packed few days. I enjoyed some good walking and some time chilling out and reading (still Harry Potter, but I have to concede that JK Rowling has written this one well). On top of that we had some good social times; a friend of Sam's was staying with us and we saw various other friends throughout the weekend. Saturday night was a highlight - we had what turned out to be quite an eclectic group round for a BBQ (always a good move). The group included an old work colleague of my dad's, his wife and their 12 year old daughter, plus his wife's cousin and her husband (who have a house in the area) and their 27 year old daughter. It was all beautifully random, especially as we didn't even know everyone's surname but the whole evening went really well. Following the BBQ ...

I'm currently 3000ft above the countryside in West Wales, somewhere near the end of the M4. With my MiniDisc player supplying me with a tune by Van Halen, I have to say I'm enjoying myself. Over and Out.

I'm just about to set off for West Wales, which will be a pleasant place to enjoy the Bank Holiday weekend. I'm just waiting for the decision to be made as to how I will get there. Plan A is to fly, and I will enjoy the views of the M4 jams from the comfort of a Cessna 172. Plan B - if the weather does not permit flying - is to be the passenger in a TVR. Oh what hardship.

Having made the mistake of deciding to empty the draw under the bed in which everything usually gets put when I'm tidying up, I've found I'm actually quite enjoying sifting through the pile now on my bedroom floor. It's amazing what I've found actually; a £5 book token has made it all seem a bit more worthwhile, whilst for sheer randomness the award so far must go to the key from the Youth Hostel in Trier (Germany) or the 'Good Luck' card to someone called Erik, from someone called Tonia, wishing him luck with "'Hair". If you are either Erik or Tonia, please feel free to offer me an explanation.

I see in our local paper that the cinema fiasco of the last 10 years is continuing as the Councillors now decide how to raise the subsidy for it. The clowns in the Lib Dem party seem to think that charging for the town-centre carparks is the fairest way of doing it. The thing is, the reason the whole saga has dragged on for so long is because the same Lib Dems don't want people to drive to the cinema and won't provide the car-parking demanded by the cinema companies. By this logic, the users of the cinema will all walk, cycle, get the bus, or drive to Reading/Basingstoke where it's cheaper (or free) to park and contribute nothing to the subsidy. It will be those people needing to drive in to town for other reasons who end up paying the bulk of the subsidy, and the extra car parking charges could encourage yet more people from the nearby villages to start shopping elsewhere. Has anyone else noticed that the appeal of Newbury is so low that the 'prime retail outlet' i...

It's been quite a pleasant week thus far. Yesterday Sam and I had a day out on the Dorset coast, in Swanage which is where we used to holiday as kids. The weather was glorious and we had a fantastic day. We parked outside Swanage itself at the 'Park and Ride' and caught the steam train in to town, which was fun. Highlights of the day included watching a bit of Punch and Judy on the beach, eating an ice-cream, visiting the picturesque village of Corfe (home of the Castle) and paying a visit to the world's greatest fudge shop. Quality. The weather on Monday was less good, and our planned jaunt to the Isle of Wight was postponed so we went to visit some friends instead which was fun. They have a seven year old who was frighteningly intelligent; she sat around reading and drinking tea, which makes her very cool in my book. I'm not quite sure why - for students it's the norm but for someone of her age it's just not quite what you expect...

Recently it's been as though I've been hosting a polite dinner party in my corner of the blogosphere and I've managed to avoid the topics of religion and politics for a while. How boring. I was watching an episode of Danny Wallace's 'How to Start Your Own Country' which I'd taped whilst away in Norfolk, and I was struck by the guy who wanted to join Danny's country because he was fed up with this one. "The government's bent" he said, and the more I've thought about it the more I've realised he's right. Obviously it's occurred to me before that our government isn't honest (which government is?) but I feel that the current situation is worse than it's ever been. Let's look at some of the recent goings on. Firstly there is the issue of immigration. You may recall that Tony and his cronies were quick during the election campaign to slam the Tories for their statistics. They told us it was all exaggerated lies and sca...

So, here I am. Back in civilisation. I'm absolutely knackered but it's been an amazing week. My role on the camp was to look after one of the tents and its occupants and generally be 'one of the team' heading up the activities. Part of the briefing was to give the kids the best holiday we could, and I hope we succeeded. I really enjoyed being able to be a kid again and partook in all sorts of activities from crab-fishing to a high ropes course - an assault course at 40ft up in the trees has to be one of the most terrifying things I've done, but it was so rewarding. Needless to say, the kids were fearless... I lived on six hours sleep a night and my diet somehow included an excess of bananas (blame Q for ordering too many) and Wonka Bars (mmmm). It was also very cold for August, and very windy at times, but that didn't stop us having a good time. The location - a cliff top on the North Sea Coast - was incredible. Highlights included going on a putting trip with j...

Is it more impressive that I can blog from Norfolk or that I can blog from the middle of a camping field? Either way, I'm doing both simultaneously just to prove a point. Dudes, it's been an awesome week, and details will follow on my return when I'll have a bit more time...

Hello folks. Sorry that my blogging skills have been a bit pants this week; no real excuses I'm afraid. Tomorrow I am going to help for a week on a kids' camp in Norfolk, which will be fun. I'm really looking forward to it but reading through the leader's booklet has made it dawn on me that I am going to have to be responsible - for some 9-14 year olds. Argh. It's quite likely that I will be completely out of contact so I'm afraid that this posting could just be an oasis in the lack of postings desert. Do keep checking though in case I do find an opportunity to share my thoughts next week, and I promise that regular postings will recommence on my return. Before I go however, I have a few things to post about. Did anyone see Danny Wallace's "How to Start Your Own Country" on BBC 2 on Wednesday? I thought it was great personally; highlights included a trip to 'Sealand' - an independant state on an old military fort in the North Sea - and an i...

Well, not really. But a question nonetheless. I've been wondering from a blokey point of view who gives the best advice when it comes to dating the fairer sex; women or blokes with a lot of experience in that area? I'd be interested to hear your thoughts, though (surprising as it may seem) I'm not in desperate need of any actual advice at the moment.