G-rad-thoughts

Graduation is fast approaching for Brainshare & as such, randomly I have some thoughts [there's a surprise!]. It means that I finally get a piece of paper & probably about 1000 photos telling me that I have passed through the Centre for Youth Ministry degree course [relatively!] unscathed & qualified as a professional youthworker.

The only problem with this scenario is that currently I have no job!!

Now although tempting to blame the establishment for this small/minor problem, I feel that I cannot. It's not for lack of trying mind you, I have so far been to 7 interviews so far & have just 1 more lined up so far [St Paul's at St Alban's]. However, it does beg the question - if God has put Youth Ministry on my heart - is it right to give up trying to find a ministry at the present season & try again next year?

I know that with my degree I had to wait a year & this was right as it meant I was more prepared for ministry training. So is the same thing true for the beginning of my full-time ministry?! Even when I've been my best [St Lukes at Brighton, WinVin] I've still not managed to get a ministry at the end. The feedback was that I'd done nothing wrong but one of the other candidates were stronger.

SO how do I progress - keep my hand in at my home church, with the possibility of ministry there when the current youthworker finishes in the summer, & work temping or in an office for the next 6-8 months. Or do I keep trying for places in ministry until I get somewhere. It is a big dilemma for me & one which I cannot answer at present.

Those who understand my calling & ministry would tell me to keep going, those who do not [i.e. family] would suggest coming back to Youthwork later on. It does make one want to scream more than just a little bit!

Comments/suggestions are most heartily welcome on this post!!

Musical Wizz-kidding

Hey bloggites, time for some more random musical stuffs this time it's the Silversun Pickup's aka SSPU.
Now if I've talked rock music to you this year, you'll probably know that this is my band of 2008! I first heard one of their tracks whilst sat, doing some reading for my dissertation, in a Starbucks in Woking - but not, strangely listening to rock - actually listening to the man Freeland - specifically GU32 [see here for my thoughts on that album]. The track was Lazy Eye & I'm not sure why but it definitely struck a chord with my musical tastes.

As I do, I went hunting for that track & to see if there was an EP or an album about on the interweb, strangely there was nothing, so I actually purchased their debut album Carnavas iTunes. From the first play I could tell I was going to love the band, it was great track after great track; here's their track listing:

1. "Melatonin"
2. "Well Thought Out Twinkles"
3. "Checkered Floor"
4. "Little Lover's So Polite"
5. "Future Foe Scenarios"
6. "Waste It On"
7. "Lazy Eye"
8. "Rusted Wheel"
9. "Dream at Tempo 119"
10. "Three Seed"
11. "Common Reactor"

Lazy eye was great, I knew that, but also Well Thought Out Twinkles, Little Lover's So Polite, Future Foe Scenarios, Dream at Tempo 119 were stand-out tracks. I found that the more I listened to their album, the better I liked it! In fact I even got a copy of the album for Maddie for her birthday back in July [see I remembered darling!].

Their sound is often compared to Smashing Pumpkins - which is no bad thing, but for me it just sounded like if I could make/be in a band - that would be how I'd love to play. They have great control over their instruments [especially their pedal work] & such a great energy - this band is one that I really would pay to see live. I mean come on they even supported to Foo Fighters during their last tour - that's a big recommendation to me! They're like a new-wave of grunge & seeing as how much I'm digging that at the moment - is no bad thing!!

All-in-all this is a band that I cannot recommend highly enough - if, like me you're into a bit of rawk - this is the way forward.

Here's a quick vid of them on Jules Holland - check it out:

New Family Guy Feature-Length Episode!!!

First there was Stewie: The Untold Story, next it was Blue Harvest - now it will soon be the time for Something Something Something Dark Side - the second exciting episode in the Family-Guy-does-Star-Wars Saga - am I excited - YESS!! Here's their preview poster:

Sunday Update

Hey blogger-fans, it's time for another update, I've had a very lazy day today as it had been a busy few days! It's been good to chillax & play a little guitar, eat a little food & kick back. The guitar is going pretty good, got my 4 basic chords sorted & now got a full chord book do am starting to get to grips with the ways of the force...oh wait no ways of making chords!!



We continue............slowly!

Hmmmmm

OK now this is aimed at nobody in particular, but check out the trailer for this forthcoming film called The Proud American. I saw the trailer to this upcoming through the great Dave's Trailer Page website & was frankly appalled at what we being presented. Needless to say that I found the self-congratulatory elements almost arrogant. Check it out & see for yourselves.

Freeland Bio

If you want more of Adam Freeland's actual biography [rather than some random musings] check this out

The Man...Freeland...Part 2

Next in this most bizarre of history lessons is the good old GU32.

OK so by this stage I was now hooked on Freeland's style of mixing & choice of top choons! Saw this in HMV in Woking town & it's through this that I got plugged into my band of the year - the Silversun Pickups - Lazy Eye!! It's a stonking mix & has some classics like Nowhere Girl, Half an Edit, Floating, Phantom & Paris 400.

My last part of the tale is the last mix I heard from him - his [now legendary] essential mix on BBC Radio 1. It's 2 hours of pure joy - there's stuff from his new album & unreleased stuff & some band called Autolux - which is awesome as it's sprung in a grunge revival for me - excellent!!

So if you've not heard this mix, then you really do need to. Here's the track-listing from Radio 1:

Billy Nayer - Ship Alarm (BSG Records)
Siriusmo - Girls Rock (Bungalow)
Unkle – Restless [loop] (Surrender All)
Evil Nine – They Live (Marine Parade)
Rogerseventytwo – Imagination (Tiger Trax)
Grinderman - No Pussy Blues [Adam Freeland Edit] (CDR)
Adam Freeland – Glowstix (Marine Parade)
Boys Noize - Let's Buy Happiness (Boys Noize Records)
Autolux – Blanket [Adam Freeland Mix] (Full Time Hobby)
Junkie XL - Cities in Dust [Glimmers Mix] (Artwerk)
Hot Chip - Ready For The Floor [Soulwax Mix (EMI)
Shadow Dancer - End Hit (Boys Noize Records)
Alan Braxe – Addicted (Vulture)
U.N.K.L.E. – Restless (Surrender All)
Blake Baxter/Mark Romboy - House Ya [Bootleg] (CDR)
Alex Metric – Pins (Marine Parade)
Crookers - Love To Edit (Crack Crack Records)
Bloody Beetroots – Butter (Crack Crack Records)
DJ Shadow - Right thing/Ztrip - Set off the party (Island)
Freeland – Do Ya (Marine Parade)
Map Of Africa - Black Skin Blue Eyed Boys (Whatever We Want)
Black Strobe - Shining Brightstar [Phones Mix] (Playlouder / Beggars France)
Sebasien Tellier - Sexual Sportswear [SebastiAn Mix] (Record Makers)
Breakbot – Happy Rabbit (Moshi Moshi)
Tepr - Midniut Jacuzzi [Data Mix] (Wall of Sound)
Soulwax – Krack [Nite Version] (Play It Again Sam)
Midnight Juggernaughts - Road to Discovery (Siberia Records)
Adam Freeland – Hate (Marine Parade)
Freeland - How To Fake Your Life (Marine Parade)
Splitter - All Alone [Alex Metric Mix] (Eye Industries)
Can – Mothersky (United Artists Records)
Swayzak - Smile & Receive [Apparat Mix] (K7!)
Simple Minds - Theme for Great Cities (Sanctuary)
Caribou – Niobe [Adam Freeland Edit] (CDR)

All in all - he's a legend & I'm awaiting his next album with baited breath!!!

The Man...Freeland

OK this is a random musical shout-outs, for my favourite DJ's of the past few months/year: Mr Adam Freeland!

He's a DJ & producer who I'd link strongly & usually with the breaks scene. When I started to get into Breaks back in 2006/7 [thanks to Oli Long & First Contact, aka Ed Steele & Kostas from Fresh out the Box for that] one of my immediate favourite's was Freeland's "We Want Your Soul". For me this epitomizes the breaks scene & began to really get me into the whole genre. I then heard his Now & Them album. Check out one of the wicked tracks from it: Mind Killer [choon!]:



Next comes the most bizarre crossovers - I got given a CD, called "Back to Mine" mixed by Adam Freeland. Now this is my most listened to of all the music I own - no word of a lie - over 400 plays on some of the tracks. Now the reason for this really floating my boat is due to the chilled nature of the mix. Also it turned me onto a number of bands, such as Interpol, Autolux, And You Will Know us by the Trail of the Dead, TV on the Radio, Jape, Elliott Smith & Boards of Canada. Some of which I heard of but don't own & some which I was totally unfamiliar with.



To be continued!!

Failing, you have to love it sometimes - it's really funny!!

& one of my all time favourites [stick with it to the end]:

Guitar plea's!!

Oh & I now even have a list of stuff I need for my guitar so if you're getting rid of an amp, pedals, stand, case or even your old electric guitar - let me know!!! ;o)

Guitar Hero?

Don't worry not really succumbed to that fad of playing along with hero's on the 360 [phew!], no in actual fact I have begun to....learn to play the guitar!!

I came across a little electric guitar with no strings & in desperate need of some love, & I asked my good buddy Nate to fix it for me....well he didn't so last Monday me & Hobbit went to go get it, restring it & have a play & check it's all still in working order!

We went on a little jaunt to PMT [no seriously!] on the Cowley Road, just near where I've been having lectures for 3 years! Here I was advised to get some Ernie Ball strings & Hobbit suggested some Jim Dunlop plecks & then we say la piece de resistance a really, really, REALLY small, amplifier:

This is made by VOX [duh!] & is intended for personal practice, without disturbing your room-mates, neighbours, parents, siblings, pets, badgers, etc. & I have to say [even though I truthfully am a total n00b at this] that I was astounded as to how good it was - even through reasonably cheap & nasty headphones. The cool thing is I can practice without people wanting to garrote me with my shiny new strings & it actually sounds like an amp! IT runs with 2 batteries & lasts for like 15 hours [apparently].

Anyways, I've also got a tuner [as I can't tune properly yet - so will have to cheat for now!] & found [literally] a phono cable & dug out my old Absolute Beginner's Guitar book & have learned 4 chords now [so far]. Also Hobbit has been kind enough to chuck me his old guitar strap & has loaned me his beloved Marshall practice amp & a magical effects pedal - so it's a good start - I'll update this bit when I get reasonably reasonable & when I have a little money, but for now this, as it were, rocks!!

P.S. I have to mention my prime coercer into this - dearest Maddie - it's your fault methinks!!

D'oh well!!

Hey blog-peeps, it's been some time so it seems another update is required. You know I don;t think this would be so sparse if I spent any considerable time in Oxford or near my house!! Anyway I digress [meh!]...on with the blog:

OK didn't get the WinVin job, the feedback I got was that I did everything right, checking out the church before the interview, meeting the appropriate people, being communicative with the young people, having a sharing my vision for youthwork & working in Winchester, but in the end there were 3 really strong candidates [including me] but they went with one of the other 2.

I was a little disappointed, as you can imagine, but not terribly so, because like they said there's nothing I did wrong. I take this as meaning that it was down to a simple choice of personalities. When I am being interviewed & throughout this whole process, I've tried to remain as honest, as open & as 'myself', as possible & I don't believe this should change.

However, the issue is not just that I didn't get this one, it;s that it's now coming to the end of rather a long list of places that I have applied for. I now have just one egg left in my youthworker basket - St Alban's.

Or to be more specific St Paul's in St Alban's. This was a big challenge both the application form & the interview are simply huge - the app form was just under 3500 words & the interview is a 3 day affair. All-in-all a big deal. I will keep you posted as to what happens, but I'll also send round more prayer requests.

Chin up...as they say!!

Spore(k)

Ahhh Spore - the new game from the producers of the vastly successful Sim City & the Sims series of games. It's new & it's awesome - got a copy at the slightly reasonable £33 from Morrison's & it works of PC & Mac - shiny.

Basically you create a race of infinitely customizable creatures, from single celled organisms, all the way through to exploring space - it's a vast game, with large elements of individuality - I've not been able to recreate the same creature twice!! It's highly, highly addictive & my buddies over at X-Play have described it as the game of the year - probably the decade. I'm not 100% sure about that but it's definitely one of the best I've played recently. So go check it out!

Job Update

Hey all you bloggerites - here's an update on my job situation.

Went for an interview at Winchester Vineyard Church [WinVin] on Wednesday & it went really well, will hear about it after the weekend, but if you read this pray for me - as I'm really stoked about this one - it appears the best yet!!! It's a spirit-filled place & the crew seem great, as do the facilities & most importantly; the youth seem friendly & fun!!

We continue

Ministry Vision

Check it people!!

I would like to work with various young people from any cultural background & by the process of listening, get to know & understand their individual cultures. Then from a place of relevance & understanding, bring these young people to the knowledge & love of God, actively seeking Him & wanting to be saved.

If they already know & love God – fantastic! I want God’s grace to shine through my ministry & have a real impact on the lives of other young people, encouraging them to pray for their friends & begin their own ministries to the wider world.

Over a period of months & years, I want to grow in my own spiritual life, fulfilling my calling to Youth Ministry. I believe, wholeheartedly, that I can do some really good Kingdom work in this place.

EVEN moar update

KO moar updating - this time it's teh job hunting scenario!

Riiiight this is what's happening in the world of [or waldorf] me trying to find my first post-grad job in the field of youthwork.

So far...how shall I put this - I've looked at a great many with no success so far. I have a long old list of interview places, applied to & yet to be applied to places - predominantly from that old classic - Youthwork Magazine.

It all gets a little depressing if I look to see how many times I have 'failed'. However, as some very wise people [Maddie, Val, Phil, Jane, Julia & Matthew - you know who you are ;o)] have pointed out - each of these places are unique in that they are looking for an very specific type of person to be their youthworker - just because I'm not necessarily it should not dishearten me.

To be continued....

JNC Winning

I can haz JNC now k thnx bi?!

Moar Updates

OK bloggerites, here's some more updates as to what's going on with me right at this second!!

Diss/Uni/CYM update:

After the panic of my Diss, I managed [with a little help from Lego (nods appreciatively)] to resubmit my dissertation, & then last week rang Linda at CYM to confirm if I'd passed it - the most exciting news is I PASSED w00t w00t.....W00T!!!

This means that I ge tot graduatify on 8th October - now all I've got to do is to send off me forms, & books some robes & a silly hat - will post pix when I can.

Another excitement with this is that I'm going to finally have all my fambily behind me for getting my papers - both parentals, my baby bruv, my grandfather & the Maddie all supporting me in this last great hurrah of my degree! But for now.....


....mischief managed!!

FailTube??

This is a quick shout to say that I'm finally coming round to the idea of YouTube [oh snap!] it's still annoying & it's still a waste of my energy & low res. for the fail, but I've signed up & have added fav's etc. so check me out if you want to. Also more on other silly things coming up in teh not too distant future!!

Monday Update

OK here's what's going on; it's Monday & 10:10am & I'm in Woking & sorting out some applications for some more youthwork jobs - I'm still unemployed & searching for my first post-graduate youthwork job. So far I've sent in many applications & got nowhere - had interviews but still nowhere. What I've done is to go back to the drawing board with what I'm trying to achieve - let's wipe the slate clean & start again.

After much discussion & advice gleaning from wise & learned people I believe I've struck up on the answer to why I've not any further than the interview stage. The problem is a lack of vision - not of knowing where to go - but of what I'm going to do when I get there. This was present in my first interview [Morden Parish, London] but perhaps missing ever since [with the definite exception of St Luke's, Brighton].

I now believe that I'm going to need to do some serious thought & contemplation before getting more interviews!!

Now to waaaar!!

Lord of the Catapults

OK this had me actually crying with laughter - it's highly inappropriate & may well contain swearing so if you're easily offended - don't click it, but for everyone else [especially if you've seen Lord of teh Rings] it's a classic!!

Much happier stuffs!!

It was my girlfriend's birthday on Friday 18th July [yaaaaaay!!] & we had some great times, including seeing a little film which I've been banging on about for months - Wall-E. Here's what I thought about this film.

OK firstly this is an animated movie from the always-reliable Pixar & according to Empire it's a 5 star movie [check out full review here] which is normally a good recommendation but I digress!

The first thing that struck me was before the film even began - Pixar have a great habit of making a short [only a few minutes] animation before the feature presentation & this one was called Presto. This was definitely the funniest animated short I've seen as well as cleverly put together & perfectly animated. I won't spoil the plot but it had me & our party in stitches even before Wall-E had been seen!!

OK the main event - overall it had great comedy, moving moments, brilliant characters, as well as a distinct [& rather dark] message about technology. What I liked heartily was that the key characters only had a very limited vocabulary - Wall-E could not talk to begin with, then learned new words including his own name! This meant that with limited dialogue all the story-telling needed to be done with actions & gestures but this was done superbly & it was a memorable story - definitely one for the DVD collection when it arrives!!

One final thing to say was about one character called M-O [his entire vocabulary = MO] he was a robot with a cleaning obsession [well it was his job/life!] he was really funny & reminded me of many people who like to clean like they were obsessed [no names mentioned at all!!] Here is a pic because of the cuteness!!

Diss Update!

AKA Frustration 1 over.......Frustration 2 just beginning!!

Had a meeting with Si Davis [Oxford CYM Centre] & went through my dissertation resubmission 'issue' on Monday & I basically have to do a total redraft for the diss, in the next 2 weeks w00t fricking woot!! The key issue is that I went from an empirical to library-based & back again & as such my overall style seems really sketchy.

The bad news is that I have little drive or desire to do all this work for effectively getting 2 marks to bring my where I was originally marked at [twice grrrr!]. Also it looks like a massive battle, as I need to add in a methodology & some deeper & more specific definitions, as well as shift the entire diss to be more empirical. Seems a lot of work & I need to get it done before MWCC [2nd August].

The good news is that I've come up to see Maddie for a while, so I can make a constructive start [I'm currently sat on her lounge floor lolz!] & she's had a flick through & has given me a good start & now I can sit in my preferred working place [Starbucks lol] to try to get this darn thing done. Also I've managed to get some funding to keep me caffeinated for a couple of weeks [thanks mon grand-pere]

Expect a couple more blogs as things develop oh & if anyone wants to proof this bad boy - let me know ;o)

Disser...what-the-heck-is-going-on...tation

OK got some fatal blow news late on Tuesday - my dissertation needs to be resubmitted as it got a 38RC. Basically this epic failure [hence the pic!] caused me to panic/stress/smash things with hammers/grrrr/etc. Big shouts to Lego for giving me some comedy & a hug lolz! Then tried to get it sorted on the Wednesday, but there was nobody in the CYM Oxford office to try to sort out aaaanything. Frustration therefore continued for the whole day & evening - fail!

So went to see YouthBlog to try to get some advice & then went in to CYM Oxford on Thursday to retrieve my diss. To be honest it's not something which looks very major & I think that a very minor change will improve it. Basically my question for the dissertation was:

"How do young people view the Christian faith, as a faith or as a culture or subculture"

However, the chief criticism is that this looks like I should be looking at 3 separate
ideas, whereas in the introduction, my question changed to:

"How do young people view the Christian faith, as a faith or as a culture/subculture"

Obviously this looks massive/minor depending on how you look at it, but I think a small change or even losing the whole subculture idea might just tip the balance. We shall see on Monday when I meet with the head of Ox CYM.

Finally a big shout out to RevMiri & YouthBlog for their assistance & giving me sage advice on how to sort it.

CYM Completion

As we speak [ok blog!] I've finished all the work for my degree from CYM!!! This is great because it means no more writing journals or essays or [dare I say it] dissertations!

However, they were a great bunch of peeps the class of '08, so I though I'd give a celebratory shout out to them all for great & memorable times over the past 3 years.

So does this mean I'm done with education of the mind....you know what I don't think so - doing this degree has really given me a thirst for knowledge. But I don't think I need another degree or [dare I breathe it] masters, rather I think I should look closer to home...my bookshelf for one. I have collected a mass of books for both youth ministry & theology & I think I should start by really getting stuck into them, not for quotes, but for practical & realistic ideas!!

Watch this space for some actual random musings - come on it's about time!!

We continue

where have you been?!

OK bloggers it's been faaaaaaaar to long since my last blog - so I think it's about time for some updates - check back soon for what an earth has been going on!

Zidane Revengwe

ok & 1 more Zidane - he's so cool - he's my Heroes:

Young people...they like comedy to - cool!!

OK here is some comedy from teh youth of North Leigh - courtesy of m@r+ & t0m & YouTube. If you feel you might get offended by comedy...DO NOT PRESS PLAY!!

Just a quick blog to share a random link whilst on my dissertation interweeb usage have a look at this scary website. It's a anti-Christianity website with 50 "proofs" that god is "imaginary". In their own words:

"Billions of people attend millions of churches around the world to worship God. Yet the God they worship is completely imaginary. Their belief represents a delusion. It is easy to prove that God is imaginary. Start at the beginning with Proof #1 [prayer]"

This is quite anti-apologetic in its approach & reminds me of another militant atheist approach from Mr Richard Dawkins]

Six out

Dissertation

Dissertation blog

OK blog-fans, just a quick update about my dissertation. It’s going pretty good, am over 7000 [out of 8000-10500 limit] but am being severely challenged to keep motivated, so here is the run-down of what on earth I’m talking about;

1] Home situation; This is a tricky one, my home environment, after much reflection & processing has become just about the worst place for me right now.

After a recent lecture about eating disorders [specifically anorexia & bulimia] I was reminded about how I was in my teenaged days how underweight I was [6 feet tall & well under 10 stone – you do the math] – yes I was before you start on my belly size :oP So anyways, I got to thinking about my eating habits…or lack of them!

I basically don’t eat breakfast, sometimes skip luncheon & normally eat dinner. This could be described as slightly unhealthy [ya think!]. Yet the reasons are not simple. What I have to contend with is my phenomenal grandfather, who has the unnatural ability to not comprehend how humanoids work. Basically I can’t use the kitchen on the basis that it a] never has any food b] if I cook ANYTHING it is too smelly [even though his main food seems to be fish – go figure] c] his entire diet consists of bread, cheese, fish, vegetables & fruit – all very commendable, but there are other people in the world, who have different tastes.

Just to top it all off, I’m either ignored or complained at, at all times – too lazy, not working hard enough, always on the computer, socially recluse, always playing games, cooking putrid food [oh really I thought it was called spag bol!]. For f@%k’s sake I’m a student, youthworker, outgoing, very sociable, amicable & a people person!!


2] Sickness; OK since I’ve started my dissertation; here’s what I’ve had to contend with; sore throat, instant-runny nose, stomach bug, diarrhoea, flu, headache, head cold, pain in my kidneys, bladder, prostate, back, knees, ankle & just to top it off a distinct lack of sleep!! What doesn’t help is stopping my pain suppressants [on the basis of wanting to work harder, faster, more!] but I don’t think I can keep that up – am going have to go back to it – d’oh! I reckon most of this is stress related, but to be fair if you don’t get stressed about a dissertation there’s something fundamentally wrong with you!


Right I can think of only one person trying to get in my way of finishing this dissertation, so if you read this – PRAY!! I think I need all the prayer I can get, many of you are already, but the more the better.

OK enough rambling [I’m doing enough of that in my dissertation lolz!], back to my dissertation…rambling!!

Note: Please treat this as reflective, non-offensive & with a degree of confidentiality & sensitivity.

& some more!

Right seriously - I need to go play Lego....I mean do some work!!





Six over & ouT

Yeah well!!

Winter Lolcatz:

Mooooore!!

More combedy!

Fail.

OK one more - I couldn't resist!!!

Reflection on Dissertation [Part 1 of.....many methinks!]

OK this is [probably] the last post of today but I thought I’d share a little of what is holding most of my attention – my dissertation! It’s about the following quandary:

Do young people engage with Christian faith as a faith, or a culture [or subculture]?

What I had mostly done was to do a shed-load of reading around my subject [which fried my brain rather well!] and make loads of notes! The plan was to research not just books but interview people as well. Then the intention is to write up my findings into between 8’000-1’1500 words.

But here’s the catch- it ain’t exactly easy!! I’ve got a supervisor who I’m meeting next Wednesday and hopefully he can kick my butt back into gear and get me focussed on getting this thing finished by the close deadline 23rd April – aaargh!!

Right enough blogging, I need to chillax, the go see my Maddie!!

Six ouT

Combedy!

Ahhhh lolcatz:

Reflection on Easter

Also I went back to my home church this morning & there as a good preach, but it affected me a bit more than I thought it would – a section from the Gospel of John [the Resurrection section]. But it wasn’t the Resurrection itself, but more a part about Nicodemus. It really interested me, as it almost described my feelings at the moment, going through the motions & doing religious things, going to events, etc. but not really ‘feeling’ it. I guess I‘m just not feeling spiritually fulfilled. Reflecting on this a bit more, I checked out more about Nicodemus, more specifically John 14-21:

Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God."

Full context John 3.

I think that in this time of having to work really hard, I need to work on staying right with God; after all I have got to finish this degree, get a job, & work out the rest of my life [in so far as I can] – time for a little bit of reliance!!

[more-reflecting-than normal] Pikachu Out

Lego?

Also I have started my dissertation properly [more on that later!!] and to take a break from it I got my Xbox 360 back from Hobbit and TC, & got a new game to while away the hours of necessary downtime. It’s called Lego Star Wars.

Again it’s childish and silly, but so addictive lolz!! It’s not too difficult, very funny and a good productive use of my time! It’s easy enough for anyone to play, but I reckon I might be even able to actually complete the darn thing – well at least it will take my mind off my dissertation when I need to!

Six ouT!

Nerf Herder!

OK this is showing my regression back into childhood, but hey, what can you do!! I’ve recently bought a Nerf gun called the Maverick
& loved it so much I thought yeah let’s get a second!



Then I checked out the Nerf Website [insert link: http://www.hasbro.com/nerf/] & found some much more interesting stuffs, like the Recon



And then something else caught my eye a fricking sniper rifle called the Longshot.

Check it out - how rad it that!!



It’s sad, it’s childish, but it’s a heck of a lot of fun!!!

Six ouT

Silversun Pickups Live

& if you need further convincing, here's them on Jules Holland!!

Must see/hear!!

OK this is my top choon of the past few weeks it's from a little-known band called the Silversun Pickups & it's called "Lazy Eye". I first heard it on Adam Freeland's "Global Underground 32: Mexico City" album & it's been rocking my socks ever since - here is the video from YouTube, or go check them out here. Stick with it [especially from 02:45 it makes my hair stand on end still!!]

Enjoy!:



Six out!

Banksy Winner!!

Some more genius from Banksy!!!

Boosh are Winners!!

Well done to those crazy Mighty Boosh guys - getting a couple of awards at the recent NME awards lolz!

Oh & please excuse any offense by the nature of the winning gongs & cans of beer, but come on it's NME people!!

Today's Stuff

OK so what have I actually been doing all do I hear you ask....OK maybe not, but I'm gonna tell you anyways!! OK here's a very brief [or not] summary, I got up really, irritatingly early - 7:45 & got up & chatted to my mum, trying to put the world to rights, over a cup of tea [win!] & then put some monies away for a rainy day & then hit the shops [uh-ohhhh!!] got some excellent stuffs tho - a couple of hoodies, which I suspect will be nabbed by a certain young woman, especially the Bench one!! Got Maddie some perfume & new one for me...that I'd never heard of before - always a good sign - that means noone else is gonna get it lolz! Also some Gap stuffs a pair of smart black trousers, well I didn't have any, some rad dark-blue chords, a cardigan [like a proper oap lolz!] & a very cool combat-style smart black coat & then went & got a couple of highly mature & not-at-all-silly-things from Toys 'r Us - some new nerf guns - win win win win 8o) just like the one's at my youth centre - pump action 10 shots & some six shooters just for good measure & some Star Wars Lego - yaaaaay Lego!! I've also pre-ordered the Muse Live DVD [H.A.A.R.P.] from Amazon [& more Lego lolz] & a game for my Mac [Command & Conquer: Generals]. Since that hard day's shoppering, I then came home, got distracted by watching the first Terminator movie & 24 Season 2, then actually managed to knuckle down & do some real work. Have just finished the first section for my essay [due in on 12th eeeeek!!], then I've got another essay due in a week later, then the Dissertation will be not that far behind the both of them!!

Right to war people!!!

PS Jsut go get "Soulwax...Most of the Remixes" it's really rather good!!

& another thing

I missed one off my list of geeky & useful...ok maybe 2!!

4] Firefox 3: For all of us who use an actual web browser rather than Internet Explorer [check out this classic blog about killing off IE!!] - Firefox, great news, Firefox 3 is out! for those still using good old Firefox 2 - get the beta version [aka Firefox 3.3 Beta] from this link. The only thing which confused the heck out of me was there was no home button - but it's right there in the toolbar - doofus!! It look a little sharper & definitely runs quicker, plus there are a load of new features - simple things like bookmark tags, feed tags, smart bookmarks, etc. Also it's much cleaner for filing bookmarks - much better!! Check it out, but do remember it is only a beta [i.e. not the final release version] so if you have any nagging issues or reservations - don't get it. The final release should be making its way online after this third beta has been fully tested with the users....us!! So get geeking!!

5] iSquint: OK this is only for you Mac users, but check out the free divx converter from iSquint. In essence all it does is compress the video from a source, say of an episode of Family Guy & shrinks down the size of the screen to exactly the same size as your iPod. Sounds completely pointless yes....well no actually it's a great & unbeleivibly fast way to switch divx [aka *.avi files] movies/tv/whatever so you can watch it on an iPod: classic/g2 nano/touch, all without the expense & hassle of upgrading to Quicktime Pro. I've never had a failed compress & I've managed to get a ridiculous amount of cra...stuff onto my iPod - for example a whole season of Firefly, all 6 seasons of Family Guy, all the Mighty Boosh & all my music video's on, all under 10GB [normally 40GB] so it's quite a saving of space & the quality is pretty good!! If only iPods actually had a reasonable battery life for watching videos on - d'oh!! One day I suppose!

Six out

PS Disclaimer: this was a very geeky blog & I almost apologize - if that was all greek to you I'm sorry, but I'm sure you'll get over it!!!

d'oh!

P.S. for anyone who has the Justice: Cross album......Phantom Pt2 is totally blowing my mind, if you can find it - grab the Soulwax Remix it is just spectacular!! ;o)

iLike

OK here's some very cool [nee geeky] things which have been rocking my socks for the past week[s]:

1] iGoogle: This is very cool little gadget which might save a little time. You can have as many apps as you want on your home page, or just have multiple tabs [a la Firefox] & have as many apps as you want on each tab. Currently I've got mine set up to check my 4 most read blogs, check my gmail & a couple of other apps like google maps search & some time & date app & another cool thing which I'll explain a bit more about in a tick - Google Notebook. I'll give a shout back to Olly Shaw for this info - I blame him & now I've got Maddie using it...let's see who else thinks it's any good?!

2] Google Notebook: OK so this leads me nicely onto something I just discovered this very evening, whilst doing a standard google search [like you do] & saw a little tag under each link called 'Note This'. Just click it & you can add it, ad hoc to a little app, add notations to each link or whatever & then this clever little app can be linked into your gmail account [come on people it's 2008 after all] or iGoogle & be accessed whenever you want. You can put certain links into catgories or folders for simple filing & then deleted when you're finished. Having only used it tonight I'm not sure it's totally without its faults. However, rather than having a ton of bookmarks [that's right not favorites - seriously does anyone still use Internet Explorer?!] when you're doing research, just have a load of notes. I like it!!

3] The other thing I've started using a bit [ok, only if you check my Facebook page with any regularity!!] is the the good old Beeb News Website has added something rather rad to the bottom of each & every one of their articles - tags! Seriously go have a look!! You can now bookmark [see they don't like IE either!!] with:

* Delicious
* Digg
* reddit
* Facebook
* StumbleUpon

The only one of those which really interested me was the Facebook one. All you do [so long as you are signed in on] is click on the the Facebook link at the end of the article & it adds it to your Posted Items, & you can add your own comments etc. I think it's a great way to share some interesting news articles with the world of people who don't check out the Beeb [I'm sure there must be some people out there!!].


Six out

GIR

OK I haven't blogged again for a while [again] - mostly due to the joys of food poisoning [mental note NEVER trust Tesco Value spag-bol - EVER!!] - it knocked my system for six & laid me out for the count from Saturday night till today - not cool, seeing as I have rather a lot of work to do & now much less time to do it in! I've now got just under 2 weeks for Pastoral Care, just under 3 weeks for Human Personhood Through Popular Art & then till 23rd April for the Dissertation [of Doom]. So I was totally laid low with abdominal pains & zero energy - just getting up & out of bed was a struggle & it's taken me all this time to get my energy levels up from nothing & to shift the poisoning! I'm running at about 90% I reckon, but I think a few more days & I'll be back to normal [whatever that is!!].

Also have now been with Maddie for 4 whole months - scary stuff, but rather spectacular all at the same time!! I've not seen her since last Thursday which sucks, but with me ill, it kinda limits my driving capabilities, but she's been really sweet & been checking up on me [awwww!] & my mum's been making sure I drink enough fluid & at least try to eat something - you know I'm ill when I struggle to eat half a bowl of soup - so very unlike me you might say!!

Right enough rambling, I've got to get on with some workington!!

Six out...


......we continue!!

Sins of the Blogger

OK it's been far too long since I blogged [November!] & I'm definitely going to get on it again, I now have the technical resources [i.e. a new & very rad laptop] but not yet the time to blog properly. I'm currently in the reading stage of my dissertation, & it's generally going rather well, & I'm enjoying it but it's a heck of a lot of work still left to go. Also I've now only got a term & a half left of my placement, so that's scary & exciting all at the same time - now it's the job-hunting season!! With that in mind, I need to go & read some more [I've officially now read more in this half term than I have in my entire degree!!]. My final update is with teh Madders - things are going really quite awesomely & we both feel that we know where this relationship might be going - but don't get ahead of yourself just yet readers - the timing is all wrong - I gotta find a job & she's got to work out which Uni to go to as well.

Right to Waaaaaaar...well hitting the book anyways, laters potaters!!

Pure reflections [Part 1]

OK, I've started reading again, again about relationships, this time it's 'Pure: sex & relationships God's way' by Linda Marshall [for details on the book click here] both because of a thirst of understanding & also [specifically this book] because Maddie is doing a study, using this as the key text - I feel that it makes sense, so that we can discuss both of our opinions & thoughts on it.

My first reflection has come from an early chapter [Pure: Perfection] where the author has listed commonly held character traits of men & women, by a group of Christian students. It was quite an amusing list, however, there was one which really struck me:

Made to be in realtionship with God.

I'm not completely certain why this is the case, but I think that my thoughts track back to Genesis 1-3 & the creation story [specifically the creation of Man & Woman] - which I am studying in my quiet times at the moment.

Thinking about the reason for God to create man, it should be really quite obvious that we were created for relationship with Him, but I think that this fact can often be missed or forgotten by Christians - could you imagine that revelation hitting the world - that our entire purpose is to be in relationship with God - it's mind-boggling even to contemplate it!

Although I'm yet to really get to the meat of this book, however, I think that hopefully this will not only add to my growing insight into relationships, but also aid my delevopment in my spiritual life & understanding of God.

Right back to it!

Ski Sundae?!

The internet is such a silly place - let's go to Camelot instead!!

Had something highly unusal happen during the middle of the night - a power-out! & it really did suck!! This was mostly because of the '1 or 2' bits of electronic equipment in my room, when the power went down I could tell [all LED's on my wireless router, 1TB HDD, iMac, dock, lamps, speakers went off!] then over the next hour & a half - between 3 - 4:30am the power went on & off about 5 times!!


Each time the power went back on; my iMac [because of power-fail option > system preferences n00bs!], the street lamp outside my window & the security floodlights all burst back into life & work me up - grrrrr!!

all in all, a busy saturday, follow by a bit of a shocker of a night's sleep did not mean a very happy Pikachu first thing this morning! But hey-ho a lie in tommorow morning I feel - I think I need one!!

Fun & Games

Well Saturday was the reunion for the Mid Wessex Junior Week 2 - I was running the games section [uh-oh!], so had to do more prep in the morning & came up with a combination of group/team games & stuff for 'the entertainment of the campers' [embassasing Nate basically!].

This involved some creative thinking so we had:

Getting up - dressing up as something to represent the theme of the tents they had at camp.

iwantoneofthose.com - trying to find everything on a very strange list off items!

Ninja Sleeping Lions - like sleeping lions, but one person then wakes up all of the lions individually & then more, to form a crew & go & scare the last lion!

Finally, but by no means least something which I called.....

Experiment No. 6 - this involved young trying to drink a jug of water....whilst making an angry face & shaking your fist!!

Just to add a bit of competition to the whole affair I got someone else to smile & wave & try drinking the jug of water! I managed to get Ros & Nate in a battle of wits & general stupidity & Nate definitely came off worse lolz. Just for an added [& I must say inspired] comedy effect, I brought along a change off clothes for Nate [I had a feeling he'd spill it everywhere lolz] - full ski-gear :oD

There were of course some rejected ideas; Pope Idol [oh dear!], Backwards [going backwards over an obstacle course] & one which I wanted to play, but didn't Bag Escape [stand, put your hands in your pockets, have a sleeping bag put over your head & then try to escape!].

After the games we had PJ's [a buch of skits] but without the comedy element of PC who was 'too busy with work to come along' [Captain Beakie say's you're on trial next year mate - sorry!!] so Nate stepped in. It went ok, but some of the jokes were a bit sketchy...or was that the idea?!

We also had a good chat from Shani, reminding everyone about what we learned during the sessions at camp this year.

After the campers had gone home [around 6] the whole leadership team got a curry ordered & settled down to silly conversations & much jackass-style antics [blaming no-one G & Nate!!] then food arrived, I picked up Maddie & it was all good clean fun!! We left around 8:30 & I had Ros, Maddie, Hobbit & AJ to drop off home, before rolling in at about 11:30 - ouch!!

How many?!?

Morning bloggers - had a very busy couple of days: friday night we had more than one or two young people turn up for the regular Friday group - 49 to be precise, with 5 junior [i.e under 18] leaders so technically 54 - it was raaaather busy!!

this then created the rather nice 'problem' of having too many young people in the building, but not quite reaching bursting point. It did, however, create rather an organisational headache - what can you do with that many young people?

This does bring up the quantity vs. quality debate & make me ponder how much 'good' work you can do with that many people. So it was all a little head-scratchy, but I'm taking it to both my Boss & Management Committee in a big meeting on Monday night, so watch this space... But in the mean-time some more contemplation & prayer is necessary methinks!

Oh & one more just for luck!!

OK, there's one book, which I've been recommending ever since I read it [yes, that's right I have read at least one book whilst on my degree course!]: The Five Love Languages [Gary Chapman]

Although it is actually written in the context of a married relationship, there are in fact many principles which can be applied to other contexts [i.e. single, those in a relationship or a courtship or even engaged]. However, what has been an intersting reflection [i.e. Wednesday] is how this could affect my perception of God's love. Another reflection is from my reflecting his theory that there are 5 separated 'languages' that people communicate love [Acts of Service, Gifts, Quality Time, Words of Affirmation, & Physical Touch], then thinking about if one [or more] of those is removed - one can feel so negative towards someone who is not 'showing love'.

Intersting reflections & it's definitely worth a read - it's made a difference to my own approach towards love - how I perceive it, as well as how I show it.

Fried-eggs 2

Also visited St Andy's [Witney] to pick up a book, which Maddie is studying & 'accidentally' picked up a couple more as well:



Pure [Linda Marshall, 2005]




Your First 2 Years in Youth Ministry [Doug Fields, 2002]




A New Kind of Youth Ministry [Chris Folmsbee, 2007]

I'll let you know what I think......when I've had a chance to read them!

Fried eggs & ham?

Ok y'all it's Friday [hence the marginally silly title!] & after a bit of a shocker of a night sleep [I still have no idea, but I reckon I'll blame listening hard house - I mean who can sleep with choons blasting!?] I managed to get me ass out of bed & go network with one of teh n00bs [first year CYM students for those not in teh know!] in Costa Coffee [Witney] as I regularly do on a Friday morning. It was good to check where she was in terms of Fieldwork & essays & I helped her think through her most pressing essay & get her to tease out some of the issues about 1 Corinthians 5:5-9

What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor. For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, God's building.

So hopefully Si has actually been of some use today ;oD

We continue....

Random musings

It's rather late at night by all accounts [1.45am & counting], but am still awake, so to occupy this new bout of insomnia, I has been playing with my blogger template, to try make it a little more interesting - so what do you think?! Also have generally been blogging a lot more than usual, which is both strange, but good!!

Am really getting into the concept of not just talking about going to the shops & buying coffee, but reflection & contemplation through writing - & it's a good exercise & discipline to do it regularly. I mean where would we be if the Beeb didn't blog the news?! OK, we'd be without a website, but you take the point I feel!

Anyways, enough musings, finally we havce a random piece of 'why do you still own a PC' advertising from those Apple geekoids - enjoy:

Facebook musings Pt1

This comes from an article Beeb weebsite. Microsoft has invested $240m in Facebook in exchange for a 1.6% share of the company. That puts a monetary value of $15bn (£7.3bn) on my favourite [& most used] social networking website! So why does Microsoft think Facebook is worth $15bn? According to the Beeb's techy guys & financial analysists there are 15 potential reasons, which are as follows:

1. The network has gone viral in the last 12 months, with more than 50 million users worldwide and a user base that is growing faster than great rival MySpace. According to Facebook, it adds 200,000 new users each day.

2. The average user spends 3.5 hours a month on Facebook - more than the average user on rival MySpace - which is increasingly attractive to advertisers.

3. Facebook is the current Web 2.0 darling - popular with ordinary users and "tech heads" alike.

4. US research reveals that Facebook users come from wealthier homes and are more likely to attend college than MySpace users - increasing that attraction for advertisers.

5. Microsoft's investment makes them a serious player in the growing market of "social advertising". Social network profiles are full of personal data that users voluntarily hand over, which is very useful for targeting adverts.

6. Sixty percent of Facebook users are outside of the US - so Microsoft's investment buys access to a global audience quickly and simply.

7. Facebook is the new web: The decision to open up the network to outside developers turned Facebook into a destination for many uses, like messaging, photos and video. Of course, as Facebook is on the web it could never really be the new web.

8. Every major content firm with an online presence is either working on a Facebook application or has already launched one - from Google to the BBC.

9. According to a report, 233 million hours of work are lost each month in the UK due to staff looking at social networks. Advertisers can now target people when at their desks.

10. The openness of Facebook is attracting a wealth of talented developers who can launch their applications to millions of users quickly.

11. Facebook messaging is the new e-mail. Everyone feels stressed from a deluge of e-mail from unwanted people and companies. But Facebook messages are always from friends.

12. Facebook's "status updates" have become the easiest way to let friends know what you are doing and how you are feeling at any given moment.

13. Facebook thrives on playful applications such as Pirates, Zombies, Super Wall and Top Friends, which have made the network a place to play as well as communicate.

14. Facebook is the acceptable face of blogging - you can reflect your life and personality online without being seen as a "blogger", which often carries a geeky stigma.

15. Facebook is worth $15bn only because Microsoft says so. The value of Facebook is based on a 1.6% share of the firm being worth the $240m Microsoft paid for it. Microsoft and Google were in a bidding war for a slice of the firm and both companies have large pockets. This was not just business, this was personal, according to some analysts.

This is a very interesting musing from the Beeb, so I thought I'd share it with those who don't as often frequent the Tech pages of the Beeb as often as myself, but who do spend time on teh Book! I especially like number 14, seeing as I occasionally blog lolz! But it's definitely worth a wee bit of contemplation.

Six out

Funny ha blah!!

oh & one more - just for us emo-lovers!!

Funny ha ha!

I saw this on one of my interweeb surfing & it really made me chuckle!!

Sketchy-Win-Thinkering!!

Well it's Thursday, & am feeling quite the tiredness - I blame the 9am lectures lolz!!

Today we're looking at vision & leadership with Caz. It's coming at a very critical time for me, because I have to write 2 essays this term & the one which I haven't started yet is about my vision for youthwork (essay question).

Am also in a very rad mood, after a sketchy end of yesterday's lectures.

I'd walked back into town to catch a bus & there was a giant queue for the bus back home, so hung out in Borders & got a McBurger Chicken meal. Picked up a new set of Sennheiser cans (cheap ear-muffs lolz!) & another book on culture (An Anthropologic View of Culture) which looks very insightful - especially the chapter on culture as a religion, because of my upcoming dissertation. So I didn't get home till about 7.30 - a very long day methinks!!

Then spent quite a long time on the phone to my girlfriend, after quite a cryptic text message! We chatted about our growing relationship & love & about the bible study series that she'd just begun. It's looking at a book Called 'Pure' by Linda Marshall (which I'm going to buy & read as soon as I can). I compared that (female) approach to relationships, with the book that I had recently finished reading ('Boy Meets Girl' by Joshua Harris). I also brought up the idea of both studying the Word together & discussing it, as an aid to spiritual development & growth in the knowledge of God. I think that this was a very encouraging & developmental discussion & insightful into how our relationship has been going & where it could be going. This was great & left us both positively joyous!

Today I also had luncheon with Sid - it was good to catch up on each others love lives(!) & we did some interesting reflections on the 'Five Love Languages' (Chapman) & the impact of that learning on my relationship with God. Therefore, how does God show each of those five languages:

1) Acts of Service
2) Gifts
3) Quality Time
4) Words of Affirmation
5) Physical Touch

It's good to bring the idea of love back to God & my relationship with Him.

Right enough pondering - back to lectures ;o)

Six

Wednesday blogging.....on a Wednesday ;o)

Had a great start to the day - up early, had an actual quiet time (shock horror!) whilst sat on the bus (my car's (Bubble) exhaust is not in a good way so is at the car-doctor's lolz!) & prayed for PC & other peeps!! Also feeling totally full (& even overflowing) of love for the Mad Eye - I know it seems all lovey-dovey, but tough! It's not just how I think, it's how I feel as well!!

Am now sat in a very bizarre lecture about questionnaires - am in a group with Sid & Ali & asking some very random questions to passers by (1 Do you have a pen? 2 Can I borrow a pen? 3 Do you want your pen back?!)

Good times guys, god times!

Six

Tuesday Blogging.....on a Wednesday!

Had counselling today & it was really insightful - JP got me to use a very interesting technique to explore some very difficult memories. That was rather than just using straight memories, use my (creative) imagination so that the original memories can be added to. Therefore the memories become a maliable media - not just raw.

So one could visit the memory (which was bad) & then say - right if you today was to walk in or disturb the situation in that memory what would you do, as a confident adult youthworker?

This technique was something that (again) I had not even considered using, but you effectively become the 'director' & can change the previously remebered outcome of the memory - to create a happy ending.

However, even though I felt quite positive after the session, I think that it hit me a little later on in the day - as I felt a little sketchy most of the afternoon & evening. Then talked to the Mad Eye & got cheered up - winner!

Smiley-Six out!!

Monday blogging...Pt 2: Musics

Also a new playlist idea - the inevitable 'Choons of the Day' - let's put then in a playlist! So today's was 'Over & Over' by Hot Chip, I'd seen the music video on some music channel & though it was really quite unusual sounding & with a uniquely twisted video - go check it out on Youtube (link)!

I also added some previous highly played tracks & will be updating it as & when new tracks get my attention! OK one more before I sign off - 'But Honestly' by the Foo Fighters - that really blew my mind & it's the sort of rock track that should be played live - there's so much that could be tweaked - would be just awesome (iTunes link).

Six

Monday blogging on a Wednesday:

Had a good day off, met up with Jen for coffee at Costa - it went ok. Then hung out with Captain Bear & played PGR4 & Halo 3 (on CO-OP & on legendary mode) - which made the whole thing much more challenging & fun - we might have accidentally kept on going till 2.45am - oooops!!

Six out

Busy busy busy!!

Had a great week - started my relationship with my (now girlfriend) Mad Eye. In definitely not a romanticalistic (is that a word?!) I wrote her a song, put it in a card & it was quite sweet, at the end I told her I was going to ask her a question.....which is where I asked her if she wanted to go out with me......

.......& she did - win!!!

Also had good conversations with the Hobbit on the Wednesday - a very reciprical dialogue about life, love & putting the world to rights lolz & generally building up each other & praying for each other - win win!!

Managed to see Mad Eye on the Monday & the Thursday which was rad, then she was in Abingdon at the weekend so saw her on ummm Friday, Saturday & Sunday lolz! Spending some quality time was great & just really made me feel all loved up - awwwww!!

Oh & on Saturday I got some very rad Vans replacement - black Puma's with 4 pairs of laces (yes I said 4!) green, blue, purple & orange - insane but proper rad! & Hung out with Doodley in the evening - sillyness & conversation - winner!

Six signing off!!