Hacking Politicians, Fighting Office Workers and Shooting Stars

If you've looked up into the sky over the last few days, you might have noticed something different. No, not more helicopters rescuing victims from the rising water levels across northern europe, but the Perseids, a group of meteors passing through the night sky at the moment. So get out there now and start making wishes.

Now you remember that film from three years ago about an office worker who starts up an underground movement of fight clubs? No, well get a refresher at the official site. Now, in a life-imitating-art scenario, this movement has actually been set up in the UK for office workers bored of their jobs and seeking something more from life. They call it The Real Fight Club. To get your equipment, have a look here.

In an interesting twist on governments' increased intrusion into internet surveillance, it has been claimed that a government minister had hacked into the bbc's website to change content that was deemed not to be in the government's best interest.

One more point of interest for all you superstitious folks. Today is Tuesday the 13th, an unlucky day for the spanish. Best of luck to you all for the next 24 hours.

Quickie

Mostly sorting out things still, but others are enjoying themselves. Mavi is off in Rome with Daniella, Giulia and Chiara, Jordi is back in Spain with his family and friends, and Andy (whose birthday is this friday) and Helen are off in Sweden or somewhere.

It's not all fun fun fun, though. England is now under heavy rain, so much so that the underground was flooded this afternoon.

Anyway, enough of me, until the next.

More News

Firstly, the weather here in the UK has been getting hotter steadily, and is expected to get up to 30 degrees later in the week. Which is why this morning we packed up our car with all manner of bits and pieces and went down to a field for a Car Boot Sale. This is where people sell all sorts of second hand goods in order to clear out their houses.

However, if you are not one for the english weather, you could do a lot worse than going to Romania this weekend, as there is the annual Virgin Fair going on. If you hurry, there might still be some good offers :)

Yesterday was System Administrator Appreciation Day so you should have sent loads of presents to anyone fixing your computers.

And lastly, it has been found that chicken feathers provide a quicker throughput of signal than silicon, and could therefore be used inside computers. Weather they'll also produce eggs is not stated.

Have a great day.

News Updates

The Commonwealth Games started yesterday in Manchester, with some of the world's best sportspeople competing against each other in a number of events. Also it was a great day for british cricket yesterday when Nasser Hussain scored his first century on home ground for four years.

Another major news story is the fact that large americans are getting together to sue the fast-food companies for not giving enough warning that their food was going to make them fat. This is getting ridiculous, but read the story anyway.

That's it

Graduation

Yesterday was weird. Getting together in the Great Hall at University, wearing our robes, hoods and mortar-boards (hats) we received our degree certificates. It just doesn't feel like we've finished here. There is no sense of loss, just of normality.

Anyway, had a great time after the ceremony with all my friends here, managing to meet up for a drink with most, and dined with Nuria (Pablo was working hard in his department til after 1am !!).

Anyway, little time left before I have to start making my way back home, so I'll be off to meet up with some others that are still around for a bit.

Later

Apologies

Ok, I know I haven't written in here for ages, but I'm not even going to proffer an excuse. I have been away on holiday for a couple of weeks. That's right, I hopped on a plane and made my way to Spain for the sun, sand and...did I mention the sun?

Spent the beginning of my time staying at chez Jordi's, and from there visited the University of Alicante (palm trees, sun, oh, and maybe some studying) along with the Valencia in order to sort out things for my coming year studying/working there.

Managed to meet up with Jordi (obviously), Alberto, Longino and Paco (physicists), Elena P, Blanca, Mavi, Gloria and of course, Ana. It was great to see them all again, it's only a pity that I had to leave so soon.

Apart from finding out info for my stay, I also managed to find time to do a bit of shopping, visit the cities of Alicante, Valencia, Tarragona, Barcelona, Altafulla and Reus, and go to the beach for about 4 days :) Got browned on the arms and legs, but slightly red on neck and ankles, never mind, it was 36 degrees out there !!

Got home at half past midnight to find that Leanna (yes that sweet little american girl we once knew in Mainz) had come to London for a few days and was leaving that very day when I arrived. Unfortunately, due to a tube strike (trains not running at all in london) we were unable to meet up. Next time, I hope.

Well, that's what's been going on recently, more news soon.

Oh, and just in case anyone will be in the vicinity of Birmingham tomorrow, if they make their way to the University there will be a spectacle not to be missed. My Graduation Ceremony, no less.

Bye for now.

Web Update

OK, a quick note to say a load more photos have been added to this site. Under Birthdays Pablo's and Helen Booth's have been added; in Meals Physics Graduates, Vanessa's Barbecue and Our Barbecue; in Others Birmingham Haircut and Random Birmingham; and finally under Friend's Sites a link to Fabien's page has been put. Enjoy.

Off to the Sun

As you might have guessed from the title, I'm off to Spain for 15 days. I'll be arriving in Barcelona on the 2nd July and will leave there on the 17th. I hope to spend the beginning in Valencia and the end in Barcelona. During this time I will be applying for my Masters courses, and also looking for work for the coming year. I will also be looking forward to meeting anyone else who is around when I'm there, as it would be great to catch up with what's been happening. So send me an email or a text message, and we'll meet up.

An invitation for all to come for my graduation ceremony stands. You are all cordially invited to watch my collect my degree wearing full gown, hood and hat on 23rd July in Birmingham. So get your planes/trains/submarines booked now.

See y'all soon

Giving Up

OK, that's it, I give up. No sooner had I changed my allegance to Spain, are they knocked out by South Korea in a game that was even more affected by bad referee decisions. In fact, as well as FIFA conducting an investigation into bad refereeing, the BBC has put together a list of some of the worst misconducts.

Made what could be my last tortilla in Birmingham last night, Cristina and Thibu joining me for the meal. Slowly all my food supplies are being used up and all I will have left is Cup-a-Soups and noodles.

Into my last week up here, and it is noticeable that most people have already disappeared. However, my plans for visiting everybody are in progress, so we'll soon see each other.

Back to applications...

Catch-Up

A long time has past since I last wrote, but my excuses are good.

Firstly, as if you hadn't noticed, the World Cup is currently in progress. This has led to many a morning/afternoon being spent in front of the TV shouting at the referee. Unfortunately, today England were knocked out of the quarter-finals by Brazil in a match that was marred by the amount of Brazilian fouls, falls, and the referee's bad decisions. However, now I will be changing my allegiance for Spain for the rest of this Championship.

Ana has finally left for Barcelona, not a day too soon, as there was a general strike in Spain the day after. In fact, most of the Erasmus students have now departed, as have most of the British ones. So it's only me left working away at the International Office once again.

What else has been happening...oh yeah, I just remembered, I finished my degree with a 2:2. So no more physics for me, yipee !!

Just a quick note on the news, an australian mayor has announced that he thinks illegal immigrants should be used as live targets for the army. Some people are objecting (as if you couldn't guess).

Another thing that has happened recently. The University of Birmingham has deleted all email and logon accounts of all graduates without warning and barely a few days after finishing term. This has caused outrage amongst the students who have had job applications, shopping orders and logon confirmations set up with their uni addresses. The fact that there was no warning given is probably the reason why nobody is taking responsibility for this action, the blame being passed between the computing helpdesk and Administration Services. As one of those seriously affected by this move, I will endeavour to find out who the culprit is and make you all aware how you can complain.

OK, I think it's time to get more things organised, good luck to Spain tomorrow morning, and bye for now.

Holiday

This will be my last update until next weekend, as tomorrow morning Ana and I leave for Edinburgh, Belfast and Durham, coming back on Friday evening. During this time we'll be meeting up with Douglas, who will hopefully be showing us around the sights of his University city.

On Saturday a BBQ was held at our house with over 20 students coming for over 7 hours. Fun was had by all, and photos will follow shortly.

OK, that'll be it for now, have a great holiday.

Me

Finished Degree

As you can probably guess from the title, after a month of exams I have finally come to rest with the knowledge that I will never have to look at a physics textbook again. I said have to, I might just need them for something else, but that will be my decision.

So, you can probably guess that my time since has been spent celebrating, meeting with friends, and generally catching up on things I haven't been able to do for the last year.

To top everything off, the sun has decided to descend on us today which will definitely help our BBQ which is set from 5pm tonight. Wow, it feels like summer already - hold on a minute, it is summer !!!

Of course others still have exams to do before they finish this year, namely all those in Mainz and Valencia. Well, I wish them luck, but as I don't have a beach nearby to go to, I'm still envious of them.

Ok, that's it for today, let's see if I can get online later on this bank holiday weekend (for those of you that aren't in the know, because of the Queen's jubilee, we have a holiday until wednesday !!!

Happy celebrating

TV Tonight and Scandals

Well, with another exam under my belt, I have the weekend to relax a bit with just one exam on monday afternoon and my final one on tuesday morning. Others amongst us will undoubtedly already be in the pub as many finish today.

Either there hasn't been much going on in the news recently, or my exams really have taken their toll on how up-to-date I have kept. So only one news story today.

Although I don't agree with publicising public figures' private lives too much, I will avert my course slightly and mention the fact that the recent claims in the tabloid papers about TV star Angus Deayton having sexual relations with a prostitute will come to a culmination tonight at 9pm as this week's episode of Have I Got News For You (hosted by the aforementioned) will be shown. Expect lots of harrassment from both sides of the studio all being directed in one way - at the presenter. Promised to be a worthwhile viewing.

That's it. It appears Jordi is still away in Milan enjoying himself, and I haven't heard anything from him, so presume/hope everything's going well.

Until the sun setteth...

Off to lunch

Just a quick note before I go off to eat with Becca and Soph (haven't seen them in ages, probably a lot to talk about). I am now halfway through my exams, having just completed the Catalan certificate this morning (yes, a 9am exam on a saturday!). I can't say that they are all going as well as I expected, but one can but hope.

Anyway, a couple of pieces of news before I leave you. Germany is on the verge of introducing legislation for animal rights to be incorporated into the constitution. It will be the first european country to pass such a law. On a more amusing note, read this report of a journalist's search for love by text message which is quite amusing.

Well, good luck to those that need it, and have fun to those that actually like the exams.

Hamsters, Children, and 8086 chips

Following the enhancement of mobile phone technologies, how would you like a hamster to read out your SMSs? Or Kylie Minogue?
Well, the mobile companies are now banking on the fact that you'd love it as it is the latest feature being incorporated in the new handsets.

In a first of its kind court case, a mother of five children has been put in jail for 60 days because she didn't ensure that they went to school regularly. At first glance you would think this reaction is stupid, but if you delve deeper into the effects of it, it actually seems to work. Apparently her children now are attending school and are sorry for what has happened as they did not know how missing school would effect their mother.
Just had another thought. What if a law was passed for university students missing lectures? Would personal tutors be put in jail for not ensuring our attendance. Of course they could improve turnout rates by actually making the courses interesting...

And finally, NASA is looking on internet auction sites for old 8086 computers so that they can take out the chips to use for their old equipment on board their space shuttles. They say that they stick with the old technology because it is tried and tested, although i'm sure there's enough bugs in the old processors as well to warrant concern (Y2k anyone?). I wonder if any other government agencies are using the same method to buy up bargains. Let's just hope the CIA don't fall for one of the many hoaxes around, and try buying small countries or governments - wait a minute, they do that already, just not officially...
Of course the health service might be able to find many people's hearts available on ebay, including those of Osama bin Laden, Saddam Hussein, Bill Gates...

Finally, for those of you that want something to put in your diaries, here followeth my exam timetable:

(May) - Wed 15th, Fri 17th, Sat 18th (Catalan), Wed 22nd, Fri 24th, Mon 27th, Tue 28th.

You are kindly requested to refrain from calling me during the times of the exams (phone is switched off anyway), and if you want to be able to talk to me after me last one, it's better to make the call within the first couple of hours (ie before lunchtime) as I may no longer be coherent after that :)

To infinity and beyond...

News Updates

OK, lots of information for you to saok up, so keep your eyes peeled.

In a great reversal of roles, it has recently been discovered (although the event happened years ago) that the company most associated with trying to combat piracy of its software (yep, Microsoft again) was in fact found guilty and fined by a french court for doing just that - selling software from another company as its own. Read the Register's great article for more info.

A novel but disturbing way to clone mobile phone SIM cards has been discovered by IBM. So be aware. It only takes minutes to make a copy of your phone so that someone can make phonecalls that appear on your bill.

The forever popular australian soap opera Neighbours has reached its 4000th episode. This is the program that has launched the careers of many a famous singer or film star (including Kylie Minogue).

With only a few more days left before the release of Spiderman and Star Wars episode II it has been announced that copies of the films are already circulating on the internet. This comes as no surprise, as most things spread quickly over the net and there is definitely enough people who would like to get hold of them in advance. What does surprise me, however, is the fact that people are still able to make recordings of the films in previews at cinemas. Wouldn't you think that the companies would try to ensure that nobody carries in with them any recording equipment? Although, on the other hand, it probably does the films good to have a version released in advance, as people see it on their computer screens and decide whether its worth seeing or not. If it is, they tell their friends and everbody goes. If it isn't, there won't be much abuse from people who have paid to see it and didn't like it at all.

And now some very sad news about another train crash that's happened close to london. Yet again the english railway system is proving that privatisation of essential services does not work. Six people have died this time (the Hatfield one had 4) and nine are seriously injured. It has also caused substantial damage to the station it was passing through at the time its three coaches derailed.

So, after all that news you are probably wanting a break. Well, go forth in the knowledge that you didn't have a Maths exam set by a sadistic lecturer, where the results came out too complicated to be able to manipulate afterwards. Yes, I'm not in the best of moods about today's exam.

Back to the grindstone.

One down, eight more to go

No doubt the reason for my recent silence is obvious, so I'll leave it like that :)

Had my first exam yesterday, Philosophy of Science. Didn't even get stressed beforehand (stress forgot to stop off to visit me this year). Went quite well, I think, ok 2 out of the 3 questions did. But as it was an essay exam, the marking is totally subjective, so let's wait and see how the professors mark it.
Next up is Applied Maths, which I am currently underway getting to the appropriate standard (ie so that I know what those functions mean).

Haven't had much time to catch up on any interesting stories, but that's understandable, I hope. However, a couple of things need to be mentioned at this point. The final game of the spanish football league was played the other day. And who are the winners you may ask? None other than the glorious VALENCIA. 31 years they've been waiting for this as far as I gather. Seems very similar to the England for the World Cup scale of things. I wonder if that means we're going to win this year....

On the subject of the football, the licensing laws in England have now been changed in order to allow pubs to open in time for the games live from the other side if the globe. This means that you will find me down at the pub cheering our side at about 6.30am. Wow, it should be a weird feeling supporting your side whilst others are just thinking about getting up :)

OK, that's it for now,
til later

Quick Update

Revision seems to be taking up a lot of time at the moment (understandably since my first exam is in 5 days), but I just have time to give a couple of news clippets.

The second leg of Madrid-Barcelona semi-final was played yesterday, but the result was not the main news. ETA terrorists planted a car bomb about 50 metres from the stadium and another one within the city of Madrid. Luckily nobody was killed, but enough damage and injuries were caused.

Local elections took place today in the UK, but lets wait and see how apathetic the population was this time before we take note of who won.

That's about it at the moment, lots more has been happening, but alas you will have to find it out for yourselve at the moment whilst I get stuck into some more revision notes.

Bye

Shocking News

Germany is in bemusement today, as they come to terms with the high school massacre that occured in Erfurt (East Germany) yesterday. An expelled pupil came back to school whilst the class was taking a maths exam and shot 13 teachers, 2 pupils and a policeman that was summoned. The most moving part of this saga was the fact that whilst the shooting was going on downstairs, the pupils upstairs could do nothing except put up a paper sign on the window saying "Hilfe" as they didn't know what was going on. At the end of his rampage, the ex-pupil took the coward's way out and shot himself as well. Apparently he had on him enough ammunition to do a lot more damage.

hopefully better news tomorrow...

Quickie

Lots of revision going on, but I still manage to find out what's happening around the globe.

Despite the lack of celebrations, today is Saint George's Day, the patron saint of England. So take to the streets proudly sporting your red cross ! (unless you're foreign, that is).

Tonight also sees one of the most gruelling and interesting football matches being played. Madrid are playing their arch-enemies Barcelona in the semi-final of the european cup. Just one thing to add. Up Barce !! (only because I don't like Real).

Classes have started again back in blighty, and revision lectures are the order of the day. However, as a change from the other years, this year they aren't a complete waste of time. I am actually understanding the points that are brought up, and this makes a big difference to how positive (or is it realist? - philisophy of science lecture) you feel.

For anyone in the Birmingham area over the next week, the spanish film festival is currently taking place at the Electric Cinema. However, what with revising in the library all day, and getting home at various times of the morning (no naming of the culprit, but you know who you are :) I haven't found time to see any of the films. Maybe sometime next week.

Taking a quick break from study schedule to go to an IT Security conference in London tomorrow, but come wednesday night I'll be back in good ol' brum.

feel the force.

More bits and bobs

A few bits of news in a second, but first I need to mention that Jordi has now arrived in Mainz again, Alberto is in Naples, and I'm still stuck here in Birmingham.

Now a bit of internationalisation. Amidst fears of further economic collapse, Argentina has closed all banks, not allowing anyone to withdraw their money. Although this is for the good of the country, it really doesn't inspire confidence if people need to buy food or something. In fact, surely it means that businesses will go bankrupt because no-one can buy anything from them any more.

Next up is the 'friendly fire' incident. In case you haven't heard, an american bomber dropped a 227kg bomb on a bunch of canadian soldiers in the middle east. Certain scenes from South Park come back to me at this point. For those of you that still remember the Gulf War, you will recollect that there were more allies killed by 'friendly fire' than by the enemy. America says that accidents do happen, and people have been killed by 'friendly fire' before. But if you look at the details the 'friendly fire' has always come from the american military. I don't want to draw any conclusions (don't want the FBI knocking at my door), but...

Last, and most interestingly, if you look up into the sky just after sunset over the next week, you should see Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn all lined up. As the week goes on they will move closer together, so to be able to distinguish them better, look as soon as possible. The next time this will happen will be in over 100 years, so it's worth looking now.

Off to the symphony hall tonight, 'til then.

A Bit of News

1. No, that was just a joke (only those that understand binary and computers will get it, so don't worry).

Listening to the great SWR3 whilst studying 'philosophy of science' it was brought to my attention that there was an attack on Java (the island, not the programming language) earlier on in the week. Despite the fears from all the germans out there that this was a direct attack on them, it has since emerged it was against israel/america. Oh, that's okay then.

A new book has just been released in Germany. Nothing spectacular in that, except that it is a dictionary with seperate definitions for males and females (eg for 'fidelity').
I will keep you updated when I find out more.

Another quick bit of info, the american supreme court has just deemed virtual child pornography legal. They did this because it was decided that if the law was kept as it was, all pieces of artwork must be removed from museums if they depicted something of that form. Interesting development.

That's it.

Helping the World

Now that some people are actually exploring this site more, I have put up some new links under useful sites. The most important of which are the hunger site, save the rainforests, and breast cancer sites. Just by visiting these sites and clicking on a link you help these worthy causes. So come back and click on them every day and make this a better world.

Also there is a link for downloading a piece of software that runs in the background, using your processor when you are not using it, to find a cure for cancer. I have started up a team as well, so any of you that start using it can join my little group.

And for those jetsetters among you, there are also links to the major budget european flights, so you can get that cheap ticket and come and visit me :)

Cheerio

News Clippets

Firstly, I would like to confirm that Marilo is alive and well (unless someone else is using her mobile - video phones would be able to help here). Yep, I received a response from the long-time-no-see malagan after wishing her the best for her birthday (yesterday). Apparently she gets so scared of computers that she is developing an allergy to keyboards :)

A few IT bits and pieces now. Anyone who has actually done the dirty and installed MS Windows XP will find along with the numerous critical updates that have been coming out, when searching for files on your hard drive it tries to connect to the internet to transfer information. Now do you trust them?
And for people that believe their work systems are secure, read this report of people giving out their passwords to complete strangers at Victoria train station. Combine these two articles, and the next time you are on the tube you may be hearing the person next to you telling his mate about your unusual search requests. Makes me feel safe already.

For the first time last night I saw a film in which I could not understand a single word. Yep, I visited the Electric Cinema (the oldest running cinema in the country) to see a canadian film called Atanarjuat, which was all in Eskimo!!. It beats icelandic any day :) Great film, by the way (but prepare for 3 hours), definitely worth seeing.

That's all folks.

Website Update

Due to getting completely bored with revising, and in order not to fall asleep in the library too often, I managed to get a load more photos put up. Here goes:
My trip to Munich, return to Rome, Birmingham Christmas Market, Touring Birmingham with visiting friends of Nuria, the physics trip to the Lake District, going around London with the cousins of Nuria, the birthdays of Jessica, Rebecca and Valentina, meals with Nuria's Friends, my Retun to Mainz, and from New Years Party 2002. Of course you can find little additions to some of the other pages as well, but you'll have to find them out for yourselves.

Wow, now I've got that over and done with, I'll get back to "How to Cook a Christmas Pudding" - from my Diffusion and Flow notes. If only it was a practical exam...

Spam and the french girl

Just a little bit of news this lunchtime, as the only thing that is on TV the last few days has been the Queen Mum's funeral.

Firstly, to all those of you who hate receiving thousands of spam email in your inbox every day, there is hope. A law firm in america has taken up the case to sue a company that sent unsolicited junk email to their accounts regularly. Let's see if they win, and if this will have an effect on the amount of wasted time spent deleting emails every morning.

Despite how it may sound, there are no revelations on the next topic. I went and saw the french film "Amelie" on sunday, and thoroughly enjoyed it. Another foreign film I can recommend at the moment.

Off for lunch

Races, Money, and a bit of Culture

On saturday the most famous horse race in Britain took place. The grand national went ahead this year without any problems, although being stuck in the library I didn't get to see it.

Another race about to take place is running across the Sahara Desert. This has to be the most difficult race known to man, and I certainly wouldn't want to do it (I would get sunburn). There is a good reason for doing it though - they are raising money for an african charity. Good luck to them all.

On to money. The Sunday Times has published its annual Rich Lists again, showing who has the most money. Apart from the usual suspects, a woman has entered the top 10 (daughter of heinken beer founder). However, the more interesting information can be found, by who gives the most (percentage) to charity. Our hats go off to Brian Souter who donated a whopping 41.1% of his foundation's assets to charity. Other interesting features are that in the top ten richest companies or bands, the Beatles come in third, with the Rolling Stones and Pink Floyd further down. Number one company belongs to Richard Branson. Now people are as proud as ever to be with a Virgin :) Others of note include Amancio Ortega of Spain at number 8 in Europe, and Silvio Berlusconi of Italy at number 11.

Well, none of my friends made it into the list this year, so no christmas bonuses for me :(

Laurent is having fun in Spain at the moment, let's see how the country copes with the swiss sexbomb :)

Went and saw "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" and "Brotherhood of the Wolf" last week, and thoroughly enjoyed them both. Great cultural experience.

Bysey-bye

A few tit-bITs

A few stories that have hit the press over the last few days.

Sony is being sued by an american mother because her son committed suicide soon after playing the game Everquest. She actually wants warnings to be put on the box stating that it can damage your health - like cigarettes. I haven't played this game yet, but from her comments I really want to try it out once I've finished my exams !! (probably not her desired effect).

Now a bit of a warning to anyone who has a yahoo email account. They have changed their privacy rules, and now they will be able to allow any company to email/post/phone you with offers, ie spam. This follows after the company has been having financial trouble, firing over 400 staff. The Register has more info, including how to delete your account.

Now something to really cheer up those of you who hate the letters MS, no not the disease (well, not in that sense anyway), a certain big software company. Apparently they started a big campaign to get companies to use their operating systems (yep, the one you look out of) instead of the UNIX alternative. Their promotional website, however, was soon found to be running UNIX itself. When pointed out to them, it was quickly switched to the appropriate alternative (Fenestre) and soon afterwards it stopped working. Not quite the promotional success they were hoping for. Again this clippet was donated by The Register where you can follow the whole story.

Another thing you might have noticed (at least with the english TV ads). A few months ago we had the Windows XP (ok, now I've said it) adverts showing that you can fly with Microsoft, obviously trying to allure teenagers to get high on their products. Then came the adverts for the X-box which, in keeping with the drug theme, showed what happens to you when you allow Microsoft into your life (still flying but aging quickly until after 2 minutes you crash, dead, into your coffin). Also maybe not a link they would like you to make between their products...

On a completely different note, I hear on the grapevine that Laurent is making his way to Spain this Friday. This is the prelude to his summer trip he will be making followed by the winter semeter in Madrid he is planning on undertaking. Good luck to him :)

Back to dinner,

Tenerife floods and Gunnar's dictionary

The quaint little spanish island off the african coast where the lovely Ethel resides saw an incredible amount of rain fall in little time over the weekend. It resulted in mass flooding where six people died and many more injured. The city of Santa Cruz has been left with many buildings destroyed and others unstable. However, I am assured that Ethel herself was not injured, albeit scared. Let's just hope that everything gets repaired and running as per usual so that I might be able to visit sometime.

Whilst searching for some catalan-spanish dictionary on the web I came across this very unusual variant. Yes, it's icelandic-catalan !! You might wander who would this dictionary be aimed at, there can't be that many icelandic people learning catalan or catalonians learning icelandic. Well, I didn't have to wait long for the answer. I happened to meet Elena Carrasco in messenger, and she was speaking to Gunnar (icelandic). They apparently speak a mix of english and german. Now hopefully they'll be able to change that to a mix of both their languages :)

Well, suppose I should be getting back to my revision again. As the University is still closed until thursday, I'm having to study on my bed at the moment, which isn't the easiest of things to do, especially not with all that chocolate close at hand.

Bye

Queen Mother Dies

The most important news just in. The Queen Mother, at the age of 101 years, died today in her sleep. Full coverage of her life can be found on the BBC website.

Despite not being a significant part of news stories recently, her death will leave a feeling of loss in all our lives.

About-Time-Too Update

OK, lots has been happening of late, which is the reason I haven't found time to write anything for a while. I will now try and give you a short overview of what I've done since the last posting.

My project was finished, edited and handed in last friday, which led (of course) to the usual celebration down the pub straight afterwards. In the viva (oral exam) that we had on the tuesday we were told our marks so far in the presentation (80%) and written questions (78.5%). We still have to wait to get the final report mark, but I was definitely pleased with them so far.

Tuesday saw the celebration of Matt Robinson's birthday in the pub (after the project viva). After countless Guinesses with various added flavourings, we let him escape back home (with the aid of Gemma).

Wednesday saw my first visit to the new-ish birmingham superclub The Works. I went with the spanish contingent and we danced the night away and enjoyed ourselves a lot.

Thursday was another spanish night, but this time it was my spanish class that went out to La Tasca restaurant for a huge meal. Tapas just kept on piling up on the table, and by the time the paellas arrived everybody was so full that they had to be taken home to eat the following day.

Friday was spent relatively relaxed in the pub whilst everybody else went out to The Academy to celebrate Tom's pre-birthday.

Saturday saw me get up early (well the same time as every day, about 7am) and do a full clean of the house in preparation for the 9 visitors that were coming for lunch. The idea behind this was that my catalan conversation exchange (or "tandem"), Ana, was leaving the following day, and so it was a sort of farewell meal. The spanish lot (Nuria, her friends, Pablo, Christina, Tibu, and Ana) brought with them various ingredients so that Ana could make the "pa amb tomaquet" and I made a couple of tortillas. We had an amazing meal, and listened to a variety of music (including some spanish that the spaniards didn't know of). The night saw the proper birthday party at Tom's house, where various balloon shapes were made whilst the beer flowed.

Sunday was spent showing Nuria's friends around the city centre. But, seeing as the big cities keep their shops open on sundays as well, it was inevitably spent going in and out of shops, occasionally buying things. On returning from the centre, about a kilo of spaghetti was cooked whilst we sat around chatting at Nuria and Pablo's house. Whilst they took one of their friends to the station so he could get back to bristol (where he is studying), I went home and ate dinner before going out and meeting them all at the pub for a couple of drinks.

Monday (and yes, I know it has only just begun) was meant to be the start of my intricate revising schedule. Unfortunately, I forgot that I had an appointment at the hospital, and just my luck they were running two and a half hours late. Seeing as this took up all the morning, and my afternoon I had planned to be at work at the International Office, the revision will have to start tomorrow.

Well, I think most of the recent news has now been told, I will be awaiting further information from anyone when they get back from their weeks of partying. And in case anyone forgot, you are all invited to come and visit me here on my lonely island.

see you

Work and Play

As most of you are now well into the festive spirit of the Fallas, I would just like to remind you that some of us are still working 12 hours a day. The end of my project is drawing near, and after the vivas tomorrow afternoon, there will be some serious relaxation going on.

I went down to london for the weekend. Yep, partly to meet my mates from school, partly to visit a city I love, and partly to get stood up four times over a period of two days, I travelled the 130kms down from Birmingham. Along with the other million or so people that travelled down for the saint patrick's day celebrations, I did enjoy myself a lot, and the atmosphere was very euphoric, but alas not all was to run smoothly. No more detail will be gone into, however, as I am sure it is not of much interest. Suffice it to say that I am no longer a great admirer of spanish people's promises...

On a different topic, whilst the UK and spanish governments were discussing what to do with Gibraltar, the residents (about 90% of them) went to the streets protesting how they want to stay independent of Spain. I think the figures speak for themselves in showing what is best for the rock.

OK, so nothing amasingly new at present, but until I get this load off my back I will forever be dreaming about particles going around at very high speeds.

Good festing,

Happier News - as promised

Something to brighten up your days (well, mine at least).

Getting in to the library at 8.30 this morning I got to work revising for my final exam before may, which was at midday. This time paid off, as I came out of the exam very happy with myself. This makes a stark contrast with the previous two, so hopefully the overall grade will be reasonable.

I got a response from Geir - yes, our icelandic erasmuser is alive and well (although seemingly quite busy).

My cousin, Izzy, gave birth yesterday to a baby girl. This makes me something like a second-cousin to her, but then again, everyone's called uncle, so I'm happy with that too.

So, I've managed to brighten up my day a lot already, I hope it's done the same for you.

Off to work now...

Shocking News from Mainz

I know I should be revising for my exam tomorrow, but I had to take a break to inform you of some really disturbing news.

On friday night at 19.40 in GeneralOberst-Beck-Strasse cries were heard from a woman being put in the boot of a car. One of the residents went to see what was happening, and the man who was in the front of the car ran away through the Wohnheim. The corpse of the woman was cut up and there was blood leaking everywhere. The main-rheiner has more detailed information.

This is the place where the majority of Erasmus students come to stay whilst attending the University of Mainz, the scene of many good parties, and that's why this story really has an effect on me. I can't believe anything like that would happen around the tranquility that exists in the wohnheim. As the body still hasn't been identified yet, I am only hoping it was not one of the students living there, and especially not one that I knew.

Next time I'll try to find something more uplifting to talk about.

Back to the books

Birthday Wishes and News

Firstly our best wishes go out to the italian part of La Familia. Yep, that's right, yesterday was the birthday of Luca. We hope he had a great day (I know that he had a good night on friday as an early celebration).
Next up are a couple of future birthdays. Rebecca has hers on this wednesday, and Geir the friday coming. Lets hope they have great celebrations (I will be attending Rebecca's, but alas I will not be able to visit Geir for his).

Just a quick news clippet that I read whilst viewing some random web diaries. Amongst all the ideas of how to build a memorial to all those that died in the twin towers on September 11th is one that seems very practical and if it went to the votes, I would almost certainly put mine to him.

Anyway, lots more project work to do, and my last exam next monday (12th).

til next time

Getting down to business

As it would appear, I have not written anything for a while. This is because of a couple of factors. Firstly, I have had a huge amount of project work to do and hand in, as well as revising for an exam I have on monday 25th, when I think Ethel also has her last exam and Jordi has his birthday (although, he informs me that this year he will not be dressing up as a woman).

For anyone that is interested, my arm is getting a lot better as well, I think I might even take off the sling during some of the day as well. I will have to see how this weekend goes first, as I am going up to the lake district with a load of other students where we will climb, walk and be merry (or just sit at the pub watching the others walk by). When I come back I should be meeting up with Jen (birmingham student studying physics in Mainz this year) who will be in Birmingham before her trip to Finland. Hopefully we'll have enough time to chat properly and to take my mind off the exam I have the following day.

Since my last posting quite a few things have happened. Most notably, Nuria (on ERASMUS in Birmingham from Salamanca) had 4 of her cousins come and visit her here (all female). We met up down the pub, and I also went with them to london on sunday, and pointed out some things they wouldn't normally see. I had a great time, and I hope they did too, despite the fact that they couldn't stay in the pubs later than 11pm :)

On a finishing note, a couple of news titbits. The Brit Awards were held last night, and saw acts like Dido, Destiny's Child and Kylie Minogue taking home prizes. On the awards theme, Great Britain took back their first medal (bronze) from the winter olympics yesterday, and are guaranteed either silver or gold in the curling tonight - well done to them.

I will duly keep you up to date on what happens over the weekend when I get back.

Fin.

Kung Hei Fat Choi

Or, in english, "Happy New Year".

Yep, you've guessed it, today begins the chinese year of the horse. Hence anyone being born in 1978 (after feb 12) should wear something red for good luck (chinese custom).

On a different note, Princess Margaret (sister of the Queen) died a few days ago. Condolences are offered.

As some of you may have noticed, the guestbook area has been closed due to renovation. Also, if the website was not working properly last night for you, don't worry, I was updating things and accidently 'went live' before I had tested it properly. Plans are in motion for improvements, but due to high project workloads, it might take a while yet. I will keep you posted.

On a final note, if anyone knows anybody from last year's ERASMUS year that I don't have an email address, please tell them to send me an email, as there will be login procedures for the website sent out to you once everything is upodated.

retiring for tonight...

The Reason

As some of you have been slowly finding out by reading my spanish page, I have been out of action for a bit. Now for those of you who require an english translation, I will spill the beans.

On saturday afternoon, after sleeping off all the caffeine of the borret that I drank before going to Mike's birthday, Andy and I made our way down to the gym on one of our weekly trips (it would be tri-weekly except we have commitments that clash). Helen came along too for a swim. Time seemed to fly by as we had spent nearly 2 hours exercising on the various equipment. There was a TV hanging down in the corner of the room, which was showing the England vs Scotland rugby match. If you positioned yourself well on a machine you could exercise whilst viewing the game. This is what I was doing as I reached up to grab the bars to pull down on. Just before my hands clasped around the metal, I heard a familiar (it happened 3 years ago as well) click as my shoulder dislodged itself from the socket. Waiting for the ambulance, supporting my arm as the muscles contracted and in so doing, spasmed, I could see people deciding that they rather wouldn't do any exercise any more.

To ease the pain whilst in the ambulance I was given a gas inhaler. I haven't yet found what the gas was, but it sure did work. Every time I could feel some pain I would just breathe in some more gas. In the end I couldn't actually feel my arm let alone the pain. Getting to the hospital I was enticed into different positions by being allowed a few more breaths of the gas before moving myself. If they could sell this stuff over the counter, there wouldn't be a single pharmacy that could keep pace with demand - it really worked !!

As happened last time with me, the shoulder couldn't be put back first time, and so I was given the extra dosage of 40ml of morphine. This therefore made any further recounts of what happened completely useless as I was on a different planet entirely. As I had so much morphine in me, I had to be kept under supervision overnight at the hospital. The advantage of this was that Accident and Emergency Nurses are really good looking. The disadvantage being that I couldn't get to sleep because of the other people in the ward crying out all night.

So, after 20 hours in the hospital (and a sunday lunch) I was set free to roam the streets again (ok, to go home and lie in bed).

Now you know why I haven't been able to write as much/quickly as before. I am slowly learning to clothe myself with one hand (shoelaces still being a problem), wash myself (had a full shower this morning), and cook some of the basics. But I think it will be some time yet before I can make myself a tortilla, and longer still before I return to the gym.

I will endeavour to keep up my postings, but if I do not get to write as much, you'll know why.

Let it be.

Breaking the Silence

OK, I just had to stop my concentrated studying mode that's gone on for the last week in to impart some essential news. Firstly though, I would like to wish all those in Valencia and Mainz the best of luck for their exams. I know that they have had a few already, but still they have more, and therefore need the wishes to keep them going.

OK, lots of things have happened in the news recently, so I'll just give a brief rundown.

Zimbabwe has yet again managed to pass a law to curb the freedom of the press and of any opposition against the present government. Yet another sign of decreasing human rights being perfectly displayed there then. Gold star for president Mugabe then (yes, that was meant to be in an ironic tone of voice).

On to Germany now, where two satanists have been sentenced to 15 years in jail for killing a man because 'the devil told them to'. In fact the girl claims to be a vampire who honed her skills in london 'bite clubs'. Haven't been to one of them yet, but when I do, I'll let you know.

Something a bit closer to home now, and the Queen was delayed in her trip to visit an RAF base when her car got stuck behind a tractor for 2 miles, and then a learner driver. The timed fly-past had to be redone as she missed the original one. Imagine looking in your rear-view-mirror during a driving lesson and seeing a parade of cars, with the Queen in one, trying to get past you. Wouldn't you just want to put your hazard warning lights on and try the three-point-turn right there and then?

Another blight in Belgium's system is the new sex-case scandal in Neufchateau where a man allegedly raped his three daughters (one when she was a baby) and prostituted another one at the age of 12 to the local townsfolk. Apparently the town was very close-knit and liked to help each other out. That would be why an electrician, a lumberjack, a car-repair man, a train driver and an antique salesman have all been accused of raping the girl. It just makes you think, if all the townspeople were involved (and I'm not saying that they were - legal statement) who could you turn to? It appears that her schoolteacher was the first person to be alerted. Of course it is not known whether the teacher accepted this excuse for not doing her homework (more fiction - legal stuff again).

Another clippet from good ol' Blighty is that a 26 year old biology teacher has been taken to court after allegedly having sex with a 14 year-old and 15 year-old pupil. It just brings a whole different meaning to practical lessons...

And lastly, but by no means leastly, two students in Manchester have started a website to petition against tuition fees, and to make Tony aware how many people are affected by leaving Uni with over 13,000 pounds debt (about 20,000 euros !!! ). The site is amusingly called "PayUpTony.com".

Now you've had your weekly read of what's been happening in the world, I will depart in the knowledge that Friday night is the birthday party of my friend Mike Kendel. So I will be partying long and hard tomorrow night in case you wonder where I am.

Ciao

Busy Day at the Newsroom

OK, 3 news clippets for you today. Smog from car fumes has become such a problem in the northern cities of Italy that they have actually banned cars completely on some days, and have an alternate-day policy depending on the car's registration number for the weekdays. All I can say is that it's going to be interesting to see who turns up at the office there. The best current method of solution seems like we're going back to witchcraft again: "Church leaders, led by the Bishop of Turin, have been praying for rain".

In the Basque region of northern Spain there are protests under way by the inhabitants against the bombing campaign that ETA terrorists are currently undertaking against journalists. More info from the this BBC page.

And finally, on a lighter note, an american woman on a plane to New York flushed the toilet before getting up and as the vacuum cleaned out the contents, it also stuck her in that position. Cabin crew could not get her out, and she had to wait 2 hours before landing when the ground crew gave a hand.

A quick change of topic; I signed up for the gym yesterday, and will now be getting back into shape after 6 months of doing nothing more than sporty writing notes during lectures. Oh, and if anyone is interested, I have put up my new timetable here so that you can SMS me during my lectures. Just don't do it during my exam !!!

New week, new labour (work, that is).

Some Other News

I thought I should also add a little news that wasn't about me, so checked up on a few websites I hadn't seen for a while.

The BBC reports that an AS-Level maths exam (taken by 18 year-olds) had an unanswerable question. It didn't just stop there, however. When the teachers phoned up the exam board to ask what they should do, they were told to make an announcement in the middle of the exam to correct the mistake. This would have been fine, it it wasn't for the fact that the correction was wrong as well !!!
Older generations might be complaining that the exams are getting easier each year, but did they have to contend with Maths examiners that couldn't add up? Or IT ones who distributed the results to the wrong people !!!

On another note Geir's website is introducing some worrying trends. In amongst the icelandic he writes in, the words Latex, Plastic, and Freud appear. Furthermore "Björgvin" seems like a locally based wine, based on the melodic charms of Iceland's most famous musician. I expect an explanation Geir !

As they say in the southern states, "Keep your piece". Handy, that is.

Free Weekend

Far away from the celebrations that would be going on in Valencia for the birthdays of Gloria and Agueda, I also had some fun this weekend. Nik, a german friend of mine, came and stayed for the weekend. We met up with Sophia and Rebecca and their lovely housemates for a balti (indian meal typical of Birmingham) at a local restaurant. Apart from us all drinking quite a lot, and Sophia telling a joke that nearly got us thrown out, we had some great food. We then went to a local pub for last orders where I met up with lots of people from my uni course as well. Afterwards we went back to theirs where we sat around chatting for a bit before leaving with Rebecca for a private house party, which a friend of a friend knew about :)

Saturday was spent mostly in front of music television and reading. The evening, however, was far from lazy. We started off at the local pub again with friends from my course. We stayed there chatting and drinking for about 2 hours. When everyone felt they had enough energy inside them, we descended on a club (discoteca for the spanish where club means something completely different) where they were playing rock and indy music. Despite the title most of the music was more popular than hard-core. Having never been to this club we were pleasantly surprised to see that there was lots of floorspace and there were places you could talk to each other (albeit shouting). Leaving at 2.15 in the morning we got a taxi back to where we live. Not to sleep, mind you, we went to 'Subway', a local filled roll shop. Here a special offer was on until 3am. Buy a drink for one pound and get a six-inch (15cm) roll with whatever fillings you want. So at 2.45am we promptly bought 2 drinks and a foot (30cm) of roll with various meats and salads. This was then taken back to Andy's, Griff's and Ben's where we consumed it whilst watching TV and chatting. At 4.15 we left the house and finally got to bed at 5am. 10.30 saw me wake up and watch even more music television whilst finishing my magazine. After dropping Nik off at the coach station I returned to do some more reading, washing and chatting on the internet.

The reason behind this escapade was that we had just handed in our project on the friday, and before the new one starts (this week) we wanted to be able to enjoy ourselves.

Well, I'll await more emails detailing what you have done this past weekend as well.

'til the 'morrow

Important Virus Warning

This posting is mainly to warn you of a hoax virus warning spreading by email. The email claims that a file sulfnbk.exe in the windows directory is a virus and that you should delete it straight away if you find it. This is not true. It is not a virus, but in fact a file windows needs to recover after the computer crashes or it has been infected by a real virus. DO NOT DELETE IT. You can find more information about it at the Symantec Antivirus Website.
Furthermore, you should contact the person that sent you the email and tell them this information so that they can warn the other people they sent it to before they all corrupt their computers.

I hope you all sleep better at night now :)

Films and Timetables

Just come back from the cinema now (well, midnight anyway). Saw two great films. The first one was a french one called "Doberman" which was very brutal but amazingly produced, and starring Monica Bellucci. The other was a mexican film called "Amores Perros" which was really well scripted. Needless to say I came back in a very good frame of mind, just cooked myself two mini microwaveable pizzas and eating some chocolate.

As always, but definitely more so this year, my timetable has been messed around and there are some very important clashes. Namely that they coincide with my Catalan lessons. This is a problem. I'm hoping they will change again so that I can still go to the class, but more likely than not I will only be able to attend the final thirty minutes after my lecture finishes. Fingers crossed that this will not affect my learning too much.

Have been busy chatting to lots of people this week with MSN Messenger. Namely Jordi, Alberto, Elena Carasco, Javi (the guy that moved into my room) and another Alberto (friend of Jordi), oh and last but not least, Ethelvina. It really brightens up my day to do this, I only hope it continues further on into the year.

OK, I should really get some rest now so that I can do some revision in the morning.
Sleep tight.

New Photos and Weather Report

Still sorting through the huge pile of photos I have in front of me, but did find the ones from the final party in Hechtsheim where Ethel's mum came along. You can see them at Photos->Parties->Final Party.
There are also some other photos taken in the final weeks that might be of interest, go to Photos->Others->Final Shots to see them.

Although you might be outside sunbathing on the beach or wearing shorts, I am pleased to announce that the temperatures here have increased to a massive +10 degrees ! This is, admittedly, only because it is raining, but at least it's not so cold any more.

The new term starts tomorrow so back to revising now. Ciao.

Happy New 2002 !

Yes, it's finally here, another year goes by and we ask ourselves what we have actually managed to achieve in the last 12 months. This is usually answered with a resounding "nothing". However, this year I want to stand up and say that I finished an amazing 12 Erasmus months and got to know some really nice people. In fact this new year will signify a new beginning to me - I don't know how yet, but it will.

I am finally up in Birmingham for good now, managing to chat with Jordi, Javi, Alberto (Jordi's friend) and Elena Carasco over the internet at night. In fact I seem to be chatting all the time...

Apart from working at the international office of my university again, I am basically trying to catch up with work for this following semester, which promises to be very hard considering it's my final one.

Went and saw "The Lord of the Rings" tonight with Rebecca. We both enjoyed it very much. Despite not having read the book yet I have to say it really was a good film. Worth seeing.

Another question is up in my poll section if anybody is interested in voting, and Jordi is updating his website on a regular basis as well.

OK, got to go and get some shut-eye.

Wishing you all the best for this year.

Extra Bits and Bobs

A few more things that I have now remembered.
Whilst in Rome we visited a school to pick up a friend of Daniella who was visiting her sister. However, it proved difficult as the gates were locked. After ringing the bell, and telling the operator who we were visiting we were allowed in. On entering the school I was in for a bit of a shock. Children were running around the corridors, standing around, doing as they wished. And there were no teachers in sight. Later on I was informed that it was a student occupation, that occurs about once a year in Italy. I can't remember what they were protesting about, but they basically took over the whole school and wouldn't allow teachers in. Even though this action is illegal, nobody seems to mind as it always lasts only 5 days, generally right before christmas so that they have an extended holiday. This got me thinking that we never have any decent student revolts in England any more (remembering those TV pictures of the 60s).

As everyone knows, I like my food. So I decided to bring back some typical products from Italy for my parents for Christmas. This included a Panettone (light bread with raisins and orange in it) which we are currently eating, some Turrone which is yet to be started, some coffee which I will be drinking on returning to Birmingham, and a bottle of lemon liquor. I also managed to cook Spaghetti a la Carbonara for my family last night, which turned out really well.

Any of you wanting to know what I'm doing for new year (yes, Jordi, I got your 3 SMSs sent from my website) I am still awaiting a cheap price offer on tickets, so cannot guarantee anything yet. However, as some of you have mentioned in the voting page of this website that you want to spend new year with me, if you see any special offers, please let me know. I am open to going anywhere (well, not Afghanistan) as long as someone else will be there (it's a bit boring on my own).

OK, that's about it for now. Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year (if I don't see you beforehand).

Rome and Lots of Other News

After a few time problems, I am now able to update you on what has been happening over the last week or so.

Rome

So I spent 7 days in the capital of Italy. So what? These were no ordinary touristy sightseeing days. These were friend-keeping days !
I arrived at Rome airport to be met by Giulia and Daniella in her car and started what was to be an insight into their typical lifestyles.

Most mornings were spent at the the Second University of Rome "Tor Vergata" studying alongside Giulia. When I say studying I don't mean in a library in silence with no breaks, oh no, I mean in a classroom being able to talk, play cards, smoke and go to the bar for some lunch whenever you want. Of course, a lot of studying did get done by us (yes, I too have to study on holiday), but in a much more relaxed atmosphere than in England.

Daniella was working most days (not the weekends), but still managed to go out to pubs with us in the evenings. Chiarra works some days too (3 a week, I think) but came out with us, as did many of their friends.

It is hard for me to remember everything that happened on this trip, by I'll mention the most memorable moments here.
I slept at Daniella's for the first 4 nights (the bed kindly being donated by her grandmother), where I picked up a lot of italian, and practised a bit of english with her mother and brother. In fact, I got to talk quite a lot here as her mother managed to ask about 20 questions a minute, which got divided between Daniella and myself.
The following 2 nights I stayed at Chiarra's as Daniella had to get up early to work. Here I got to talk about football and politics with her father and take her dog 'Oliver' for a walk in the local park.
My final night I returned to Daniella's whilst my bags were left at Chiarra's (ie had to wear the same clothes again).

We visited a few of the pubs in the city centre, including a discopub called Geronimo's where Chiarra and I managed to put on a very fine dance.
We also got taken by Cynthia (I know I've spelt her name wrong, and apologise in advance) to a pub she said was always full and really cool. We were the only people there. Afterwards, she suggested a nearby bar where we would be able to find some people. We arrived there to find it closed for the night. We decided that her suggestions were not on the recommended list.
However, she did redeem herself when on my final night she took us to a pub underground called 'Transylvania'. This was themed on vampires, offered metre-long tubes of beer, and had semi-naked women getting the clients (male and female) to drink beer off of their bodies. Unfortunately, I was stuck with my back facing them whilst Cynthia and Daniella looked at them all night. They didn't get to our table though. Pity. After this we were then taken to a Bingo hall. We stayed for a few games, got very close, but didn't win anything in the end.

I got taken to many houses of friends, for the belated birthday of Daniella (Happy Birthday, by the way), and for some cream cakes just been brought back from Napoli (where they don't speak italian proper - only kidding). Got to know lots of new people, who I would all like to thank for such a great time whilst I was there, even if I can't remember any of there names.

Traffic. Now this is something that always causes great debate to foreigners - how bad is the traffic in Rome. Well, I would like to go down on record as saying that although it always seems chaotic, busy, disorganised, it is in fact a great factor that makes Rome what it is. Without the traffic the city wouldn't have as much of it's charm. I really enjoyed myself being driven around the city by the 3 italians, especially when Chiarra took me on her 'motorino' through all the traffic to the city centre and back to the university. If I thought that going on Jordi's 'Moto' at high speed through Valencia was an adrenaline rush, it was nothing compared with weaving in and out of some of the busiest traffic in europe on a small yellow scooter. What fun !

Trying desperately to think what else to talk about, the problem is that I enjoyed myself so much, even though it was not as action-packed as my last visit to Rome of 3 days. I ate some great italian food, both at the houses of Daniella and Chiarra, and in some of the local restaurants. We played some great arcade games in the games hall (including spot-the-difference from Mainz).
And of course the women. If it wasn't for the fact that I am a sensible young studious man, I would have run off with any one of the thousands of beautiful women that I met in Rome (known and unknown). It certainly proved that it wasn't just the hot summer weather that made them look good.

I also managed to take a few hours out in Bologna. Well, it actually took the whole day because of the train delays, but I did manage to see most of the city, the university buildings and the ambience that the city encases.

Well, as you can see, I really had an excellent time, and would like to thank all people involved for providing accomodation, food, chauffeuring services and great company. As I've said before, the offer is always open for you to visit my home country too.

A bit of other news

Laurent has got in touch to say that things are going well for him, he is studying, and still managing to keep on partying, but he is not intending to visit afghanistan in the next few weeks.

El Gordo, the biggest lottery in the world, was drawn yesterday. Unfortunately I didn't have a ticket. If however, any of you did, and it happens to be the winning one, please don't hesitate in contacting me so I can buy you a beer :)

Also, due to time and money pressures, I will only manage to send out email christmas greetings this year, but nevertheles wish you all the best for the coming year, and hope we will all meet up again soon.

Off to the grotto.

When in Rome, do like the Romans

As you can guess, I am now on my way to Italy. Well, I'll be leaving to get the train to get the bus to get the plane soon.

This semester officially ends on friday the 14th of december, so only a few more days to go anyway. The weather is definitely looking like it will be snowing soon ( -2 degrees predicted for friday in Birmingham ).

That's it for now, hope everyone manages to get back to their homes ok.

Later

Swiss Birthday

Yep, that's right, no sooner had you packed away the candles and finished eating up the cake, when along comes another birthday. This time in the form of our man Laurent's. Whatever he's doing, and wherever he's doing it, we will celebrate with him (okay, maybe we won't hitchhike from the middle of the road, but we'll give it a good go :).

So what have you been up to recently? Anything interesting you want to tell the rest of us ?
Just send me an email/SMS/phonecall and I'll let the world know.

Anyway, got to go, lots to prepare tomorrow.

Loves and kisses.

Birthday Wishes and Christmas Market

OK, I admit it, I have been a bit inundated with lots of things to sort out before this term ends and the snow starts falling.
But now I'm back with avengence.
Today is the birthday of Pili, Fernando, and Elisabetta, so all together now:

"Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday dear Pili, Fernando and Elisabetta,
Happy Birthday to you"


I know we would all like to be there to celebrate with them, but unfortunately flights aren't that cheap (although I am working on that - look out for 'marcus lloyd tours' soon ! ).

What else then...oh yes, quite astounding, this. If any of you who were in Mainz last year visited all the christmas markets, you will know that the frankfurt one wasn't very good. Well, I now know why !

In Birmingham we have the Frankfurter Weihnachtsmarkt at the moment, which is really good (excellent Gluehwein and Thuringer sausages), which means that in Frankfurt is probably the Birmingham Christmas Market. That must explain it :)

Anyway, went to this market tonight straight after uni, met up with Sophia and Rebecca beforehand, and had a great night there. Spoke to all the stall owners in german (even the ones that didn't speak it !), bought lots of german sweet foody things, and had a few mugfulls of Gluehwein. Mmmmm. The market is here until December 20th, so hopfully I'll get chance to visit it again.

Well, that will be about it then, except to say that it looks like I have found my perfect course at the Universitat de Alacant. I am now just trying to sort out application procedures and a bit more course detail, but it looks like my most viable/preferred option.

So, off I trot, bye

Timetable

Due to the recent circumstances (you know who you are), I have decided to put up my timetable of when I am in lectures and when I am at work. This is not to discourage you from SMSing me at these times, just to warn you that I will not be able to reply until I have finished the lecture.

I am still getting up at 7am every morning, so if you really feel the urge to SMS me before you get out of bed, feel free. And anytime up until 1am as well. Just remember these times are GMT. You will have to add on another hour if you are in mainland europe.

okay, that's it for now, good to here Luca passed his english exam,

bye,

Only Me
Yep, that time of the week again when I say what's up, what's down, and what's just not making sense.

The project was finally handed in, so the stress has gone down.
My flights are now booked, I'm off from 13th to 20th to Rome, so less worrying on that account as well.
Have not got any emails recently, which is slightly worrying. Is anyone still out there? Anyone want to talk to me?

As I have yet to receive information from anyone abroad, I have no more news to publicise.

Till next time.

Catch-up

OK, where do I start? Am in the final week of my C++ project, which those of you who have programmed, will know, is a very stressful time, especially trying to get anything to work !!! However, despite missing a brazilian party on friday, and a spanish trip to cambridge, I finally did manage to take time out and see a video with Sophia and Rebecca on sunday night. Got back home to find I had been locked out of the house. Oh, what fun.

Looks like Jordi has been a bit busy lately. It's just a pity that Jen can't understand spanish, otherwise she might be able to elaborate on what Jordi mentions on his website :)

As for holidays. Some of you may remember me talking about going abroad for new year. Well that isn't going to happen, seeing as the prices are a bit high, and I'm trying to get myself out of the debt I've built up over the last months (mainly interrail).

However, I will be going to Italy around mid-december (13th-20th). This is mainly because of two reasons:
1) I am probably going to study a masters in Bologna next year, so want to visit the city before I decide.
2) To see the italians (Giulia, Daniella, Chiarra) in Rome, as it's been a long while without their company.
The specifics are yet to be worked out, but this is likely to be my last holiday until I finish my degree in July !!!

The only other opportunity to see any of you is if you come and visit me here in good ol' blighty.

Whilst chatting to Giulia about my trip, she got a phonecall to say that she is now an aunt !! Yep, we can now all offically call her "aunty Giulia" or, if you prefer "zia Giulia". So why not send her your wishes with an internet postcard.

Have luckily managed to find someone from Barcelona on the internet who is teaching, or rather letting me practise, my catalan. Hopefully I should be able to see the results before my first written exam next week !!

OK, that's about it for the moment. I'm sure more will happen to be told soon. In the meantime, sleep safe.

More Photos

Even though no-one sees fit to write to me any more, I have managed to put up some more photos from last semester. Go to Parties->Astafest to see the Mainz Student Union's summer party, Parties->English Girls Leaving to see how we celebrated Sophia and Rebecca going away, Birthdays->Diana for photos of her birthday party, Others->Wakeup Call to see the reactions of people when you wake them up the morning after a party, Others->Random Hechtsheim for various photos taken during the year, Meals->Mexican for Laurent's culinary delights, Meals->Big Breakfast to see how many people can fit round a breakfast table, and Meals->Roast to see Jordi's Roast Dinner he made us.

So enjoy.

Hold your horses

Just thought I'd write a quick note to explain that I have a lot of work on at the moment, in particular finishing my computing project for 10 days time. However, I am also making changes to the website. Some of them you will notice straight away (for instance the new layout of the photos pages - still being improved), and some of them won't become apparent until another feature is added that utilises the previous one.

So take heart, not all is lost. However, to scan in and publish about 500 photos from my interrail trip is going to take a bit of time, especially as it requires more server space than I can currently afford.

I do notice, however, that I haven't received any emails for at least a week, which means you don't have much time either (or you just don't want to talk to me).

Anyway, this wasn't a moaning entry, only an informative one.

So good writing.

Moi

Phoneline and Icelandic

Well, finally we got our house phoneline sorted today. That means we can now phone people without taking out a second mortgage (not that I've got a house of my own). This also means that I now have access to the internet from home, so no more late nights at uni trying to research something for my course, now I can do it from the comfort of my bed with a cup of coffee/hot chocolate.

Whilst taking full use of this internet access, I came across a webpage of icelandic slang. Take a look, and then send Geir an email :)

Brrrr

It's freezing here. Forecasters aren't expecting it to get into double figures (ie it will stay about 7 degrees maximum). Our back porch is now acting as a second fridge as we are able to keep milk and eggs out there. Will try making ice-cubes later on in the month...

Well, I'm off to warm myself up,

keep snug

Snow

So how's the weather by you? As anyone who has been in England over the last few days will know we are now in the grip of winter, temperatures barely going above 5 degrees. Snow has hit most parts of the country today, and Birmingham is definitely feeling it bad.

Might have to start wearing clothes (winter ones, that is).

As can be seen, Jordi has got his website running, but alas Jen (from Birmingham) is not yet ready to write one in English. Let's hope she changes her mind.

Lots of my time seems to be spent programming my C++ project and doing things for the web, but I should try to concentrate more on learning some of the physics this year, before it's time for the exams.

Got a great portable sundial (compass included) from Mavi. Unfortunately due to the snow there doesn't seem to be any use in the winter. Or maybe that's just another excuse for me to go over to Spain and use the sun there to tell the time. Or I could use it to help me get to lectures, although I think it may not be accurate enough to 5 minutes.

Posts on how I get on with telling the time this new way shall be forthcoming, so watch this space.

Well, that's about it for now, have fun,

Back in the UK and Jordi's Webpage

Well, after packing my bags (only took 5 minutes due to the lack of bringing anything with me because of the security at the airport) managed to get off to Uni on the local transport system that has been the curse of people arriving late for lectures all of last year. Subsequently checked times of the trains from Mainz to Frankfurt Flughafen, and then the buses from there to Frankfurt Hahn. It actually takes as long getting from Mainz to Frankfurt Hahn as it does from London-Hahn-London !!!! And nearly as expensive.

Met up with Jen (english girl from Birmingham - my replacement), Javi (guy from Madrid - replacement for my room), Jordi, and most of the other Erasmus people from last year (Fernando, Natian, Alberto, Jordi...) and this one (Eva, Nuria, Anna...) in what was to be my last meal in the institution that is THE MENSA.

As only the old Erasmus students will know, the dearly loved upstairs cafeteria was closed. Well, not any more. It actually opened on the monday I left !! Had a very nice capuccino (even if you do have to pay in Euros).

Then the fun started.

Caught the bus back to to Mainz Hauptbahnhof (no problems there). Got the next train to Frankfurt Flughafen (the station has changed - it's got an upstairs now and looks really new, but still not finished). Then waited for the bus to take us to Hahn. It arrived full, nobody got off, and so there were 20 of us standing in the isle, with our bags (no room underneath) as the bus drove for nearly 2 hours along the motorway (yes, one without speed restrictions). So by the time we had arrived, I could no longer feel my hand, and my legs were attached to the floor. I then got back to London in time to see the train to Birmingham leave without me, so had another 3 hours to wait at the airport (some of the time spent talking to my parents who had brought me my post and a cake). I then had a 3.5 hour train journey and finally arrived there at 00:40. Getting a taxi, I managed to make it home by 1.30, and took about another hour unpacking all my stuff. Still got in for my 9am lecture though !

In order not to let Jordi get bored by another year in Mainz, I devised a cunning way to get him to actually do some work for once, and to stop him telling me to keep on updating my website. Yes, that's right, Jordi now has his very own, brand-spanking-new, donkey-punchingly fantastic webpage !!
You can check it out at http://www.uni-mainz.de/~garciajo.

OK, that's it for now, as I have just come out of spanish class and need to get home and eat something finally. Oh, in case you didn't know, it's national curry day today, so do your bit for the nation and eat a vindaloo tonight.

I think condolences should be handed out to Mavi though, as when we phoned her as the clock struck midnight for her birthday, she could hardly talk properly as a result of having her wisdom tooth taken out the day before. Another one comes out just before christmas, so you can feel even more sorry for her then.

Anyway, got to grub, see ya

Birthday Wishes

Thanks to all of you who sent me wishes for my birthday. Unfortunately my phone refuses to let me read my messages abroad, so I have to use someone else's phone to find out if I have received any.

Well, Having a fun time in Mainz at the moment. Good to meet up with a lot of last years ERASMUS students. Of course the moment I arrived here I got stuck in the backlog of paperwork and bureaucracy that is Germany. Never mind, I've officially signed out of the country now. So I don't care.

Have fun.

Marcus

Bon Dia and SMS Function

Em dic Marcus, soc de Anglaterra i visc a Birmingham. Tinc vint-i-dos anys. Aquest es el meu diari:

Yep, that's right, the catalan classes have started, and oh what fun they are. I really am considering doing further study in this field as it interests me so much.

As you may have gathered from the title, the SMS function is now working again, so you can send me messages to my mobile phone to keep me awake during lectures.

Well, got lots of other work to do now,

ciao

Busy Times

Managed to phone a few of you last night with my new international telephone card. Didn't last long though. I talked to Elena P, Gloria, Giulia, but everyone else was engaged all night !! That is, all except Mavi, who sounded like she was in a bar or a disco (new job or just partying?) because I couldn't hear a thing she was saying (although maybe the phone was at fault).

Well, you may not have noticed anything new on the website yet, but I promise you will soon. In the meantime I can tell you I have signed up for Catalan lessons (not just the language, culture studies as well), am still working at the international office every spare moment, and have lots of physics classes to go to and work to do for them.

All going well, I might even manage to sign up for the gym this week!

Apparently, Jordi's computer is now working again properly (until he installs those games again :)
Classes have started in Valencia, and Gloria, Pili and Ethel are now going in to lectures. Mainz apparently doesn't start for a bit yet (2 weeks?), but I will be keeping you up to date when I hear anything.

OK, that's it for now. Have a great time wherever you are, and drop me a line (or email) to say what's happening where you are.

Signing off.

Lacking in time

So, I even managed to beat my last record for not writing for over a week. This could be because of one of three reasons:

1) I have too much work to do and never seem to find the time to enjoy myself.

2) I am going out too often and am not sober enough to see the computer, yet alone use it.

3) I forgot.

Well, in fact it's a mixture of the three. Time seems to be flying by and I have lots of lectures to attend, but also seem to be managing to go out a couple of times in the week, but whilst trying to keep up to date with emails as well, I really haven't had a restful moment.

This will change.

From now on (as much as I can) I will be doing as much of my work as I can in as soon as I can, and not be spending too much time on the internet searching for things that I aren't that important. Also, I will be devoting more time to updating my website (which seems to be on the back-burner at the moment).

So, if you have any ideas how I can improve the website please email me and I'll try to incorporate them.
Also, if anyone knows of a free Email to SMS service out there that works could I be informed, as my old one stopped working.

Well, that's it, there (hopefully) will be more going on in the near future, and I will not have to listen about how lovely the weather in Spain is whilst I'm stuck here in Birmingham.

Bye for now,

Stress

OK, a short rundown on what's been happening recently. I have moved into my house in Birmingham where I am living with four lovely ladies (they forced me to say that). Am presently working all day at the international office of said uni. The phone company hasn't given us a line yet, so we can't access the internet at home (nor phone anyone), and my mobile phone company has cut off my phone so you can't contact me either.

So, I'm not having too much fun at the moment. In fact, I barely have time to cook when I get home before going off to bed.

To completely top off the week so far, the company who I gave my photos of the 'Tomatina' and all the parties in Valencia to have now closed down, so I might not ever get my photos back either !!!

So, I'm just going to go back home and sulk, I think. Nothing else to do really.

Hopefully the next update should be more positive.

OK, my excuses are running out now, I think I might just apologise that I haven't written here for a long time and let it be.

I did arrive back from my holiday on Lundy (an island in the Bristol Channel) a few days ago, and have since been sorting out all my things to go up to birmingham once again. But seeing as I still haven't unpacked from returning from germany, let alone spain, it needs a lot of time.

There are some great things in store for this website, all I'm hoping is that I can get most of them done before term starts and I have to study again. My photos of Spain are finally back, yes, all 1000 of them ! There will be a careful selection procedure before putting them up on the web, but as you can see by the shear number of them, it might take a couple of weeks to get them sorted.

So I'm going up to london tomorrow evening to see a few friends from uni and school, and then friday I leave for birmingham. Suppose the weather will be just the same there as her, namely raining all day, and no sun in sight.

OK, that's about it for now, let's hope everything goes smoothly.

Over and out.

Back in the saddle

Well, finally got on a bike for the first time in over a year, and am addicted once again. Will have to get mine fixed though before I get to uni.

Now a big thank you to all the (ERASMUS) people in Spain that made my trip out there so memorable. It really made a great occasion at the various parties, meals, cinemas (?). I hope we will be able to arrange a repeat in the near future. As there were so many of you I will not mention names now, but leave that for my diary of my holiday, which I will put up once I get back from my other holiday in 8 days.

Well, goodbye for now, and don't forget to check back soon for the full lowdown on this holiday (or send me an email if you would like to ask any questions that I won't cover on the site).

Back in Blighty

OK, time seemed to go by a bit too quickly so that in the end I couldn't put my diary online. So I'll just have to have it linked to soon once I've typed it all up.

I am now back at home (South Heath) until I go on a little relaxing holiday with my parents from friday. I had an excellent time in Spain, and really am going to miss all the people that I met up with (and those that couldn't make it). I only hope that some of you are also going to be coming over to see what England has to offer (Gibraltar not included).

Well, with the sadness still running through my mind, I will return to tell of great tales in the country that is Espanya.