An Aussie's Nightmare

[Travel] Quick London things

2010-06-10T14:07:00.002+01:00

This blog is dedicated to Kyle and Stacey

You have London in front of you, it's evening and you have 30 minutes to do something.

WHAT DO YOU DO?

Here are some ideas.

1. The Eye at Sunset

2. A pint of Best in any decent Pub.

3. Make a call from London's first red phone box
Off Piccadilly in the courtyard arch of the Royal Academy. There is telephonic history. There is a sheltered red kiosk which was the first.

4. Ride the Tube, you could even visit Mornington Crescent.

5. Row on the Serpentine
Rent one of the boats (available from March to October) and have fun messing about on the oldest boating lake in the capital or read poetry to each other.

6. Museum Dip. Choose a Museum, set your alarm for 30 minutes, enter and be out before the alarm goes off. Much harder than it sounds.

7. Check out the city from the crest of Parliament Hill
Best visited at sunrise or sunset.

8. Tuck into pie and mash
Two pies, a mountain of mash and a lake of liquor for under a fiver.

9. Do the Monopoly pub crawl
That’s 26 pubs, in order. It would have to done over several nights.

10. Walk along the Embankment for 30 minutes.

[Tech] A movie Company is born.

2010-06-03T10:55:00.000+01:00

I have been playing with, and teaching myself, video editing.
Anyone suggest a good FREE editing package.

Windows Movie Maker is simple, and frustratingly restricted.
But it’s been fun learning and my Youtube account is growing.
You can find it here

So to celebrate, I’ve created OMMS Productions©,
Spielberg watch out :-) , NOT.

[Politics\Humour] What does Nick Clegg stand for?

2010-05-27T18:35:00.000+01:00

David Cameroon, whenever he enters the room.

A work collegue got me with this one today. Ouch.

[Poetry] A HayFever Sufferer

2010-05-24T23:03:00.000+01:00

Billowing Pollen
Coughing, Blocked nose, Streaming eyes
A holiday ruined

[Politcs] My reaction to that coalition

2010-05-24T19:09:00.000+01:00

After much soul searching I have compartmentalised my reaction into 3 sections.
1. The Public Good.
2. The Party Good.
3. My personal reaction.

1. The Public Good.
a. Unquestionably a good thing. The public gave no one party a majority so the logical conclusion is a coalition government.
b. The coalition should be a stable government provided the Tories don’t stab the Liberal Democrats in the back, or front, or side, etc.
c. The public want some Tory policies but not all of them (or at least didn’t want Labour ones) and with a coalition the worst excesses of Tory policies are mitigated by a good dose of Liberalism.
d. The public will see coalition government in action.

2. The Party Good.
a. The Liberal Democrats bang on about PR, which will possibly lead to a balanced parliament, which will possibly lead to a coalition government, so they now practice what they preach.
b. This is a killer for me. No party elected in third place, that supports the Governing party, survives for long in a non-proportional system. Witness the Australian Democrats and others around the world.
c. The party is throwing itself of the Tory grenade and, I fear, we won’t benefit. For example, I bet it’s left to Laws to give the bad news on where cuts will fall. [This was written before but published after today’s news]

3. My personal reaction.
a. This is nightmare for me; I have always seen the Labour Party as the competition and the Tories as the opposition.
b. I don’t trust the Tories to stab the Liberal Democrats in the back; I hope to God there are some honourable members of that Party so we will see.

[Politcs] My shortest post.

2010-05-12T18:13:00.001+01:00

PR?

[Politics\Humour] Which MPs will make a pact now?

2010-05-08T14:36:00.000+01:00

While walking down the street one day a "M.P" is tragically hit by a truck and dies.
His soul arrives in heaven and is met by St. Peter at the entrance.
'Welcome to heaven,' says St. Peter.. 'Before you settle in, it seems there is a problem. We seldom see a high official around these parts, you see, so we're not sure what to do with you.'

'No problem, just let me in,' says the man.
'Well, I'd like to, but I have orders from higher up. What we'll do is have you spend one day in hell and one in heaven. Then you can choose where to spend eternity.'
'Really, I've made up my mind. I want to be in heaven,' says the MP.
'I'm sorry, but we have our rules.'
And with that, St. Peter escorts him to the elevator and he goes down, down, down to hell.

The doors open and he finds himself in the middle of a london gentleman club. In the distance is a restaurent and standing in front of it are all his friends and other politicians in his party.
Everyone is very happy and in evening dress. They run to greet him, shake his hand, and reminisce about the good times they had while getting rich at the expense of the people.
They play a friendly game of bridge and then dine on lobster, caviar and champagne.
Also present is the devil, who really is a very friendly & nice guy who has a good time playing and telling jokes. They are having such a good time that before he realizes it, it is time to go.
Everyone gives him a hearty farewell and waves while the elevator rises....
The elevator goes up, up, up and the door reopens on heaven where St. Peter is waiting for him.

'Now it's time to visit heaven.'
So, 24 hours pass with the MP joining a group of contented souls moving from cloud to cloud, playing the harp and singing. They have a good time and, before he realizes it, the 24 hours have gone by and St. Peter returns.
'Well, then, you've spent a day in hell and another in heaven. Now choose your eternity.'

The MP reflects for a minute, then he answers: 'Well, I would never have said it before, I mean heaven has been delightful, but I think all our party would be better off in hell.'
So St. Peter escorts him to the elevator and he goes down, down, down to hell.

Now the doors of the elevator open and he's in the middle of a barren land covered with waste and garbage.
He sees all his friends, dressed in rags, picking up rubbish and putting it in black bags as more rubbish falls from above.
The devil comes over to him and puts his arm around his shoulder. 'I don't understand,'stammers the MP. 'Yesterday I was here and there was a golf course and clubhouse, and we ate lobster and caviar, drank champagne, and danced and had a great time.. Now there's just a wasteland full of rubbish and my friends look miserable.
What happened?'

The devil looks at him, smiles and says, 'Yesterday we were campaigning...
Today you voted.'

[Family/Christianity] A VERY Proud Dad

2010-03-29T00:19:00.000+01:00

I spent today at Keele University.
My daughter had her first concert as a member of Keele Rev (or Revelation Rock-Gospel Choir) [http://www.keele.ac.uk/socs/ks21/]
It was not what I expected there were show tunes, praise and classic gospel.
The evening was spent at Late Service [http://nn-no.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2370618631] where Kat led the singing.
What more could a proud dad want.

[Politics\Costuming] Vote for a Change Campaign

2010-03-17T11:12:00.000Z

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSzbOOVnbV8

I missed this, which was such a shame. Maybe next time.

Pneumonia - Well, don't I hate it.

2010-03-17T10:33:00.000Z

Sorry, folks, for the second time in 18 years, I missed a conference.
Pneumonia is a b@$t@rd. We got back from a loverly holiday in Cyprus, thanks Mum and Dad, but I had picked up an infection which moved rapidly to my chest and knocked me sideways.
I have decided to start this up again. So it will be a mixture of politics, christianity and costuming, Lord help us all. :-)

I confused

2009-10-19T18:45:00.000+01:00

over the voting system used in the Bedford Mayoral Election.
By the way, WELL DONE DAVE :-)
Was it AV with two rounds?
Or SV?

An Tidy Up

2009-10-08T18:40:00.000+01:00

Whilst clearing my piles of stuff, I found the shortlist for the "Best New Liberal Democrat blog 2009" at the BOTYs
They were
1. Charlotte Gore
2. Freedom Central
3. Himmelgarten Cafe
4. Lamp of Liberty
5. Mark Reckons
and the winner was "Mark Reckons" by Mark Thompson

Well Done Mate

Man, I feel old.

2009-09-28T09:38:00.000+01:00

At tonights exec meeting I will be the oldest present, 10 years ago I used to be the youngest.
On Saturday, my daughter went to Uni, I'm an empty nester.
At the BOTYs, I represented the old guard, the first LDO.
Man, I feel old.

Its time to get this blog out of bed

2009-09-25T12:48:00.002+01:00

As some-one who will remain nameless pointed out, this blog only appears when Australians are having nightmares, i.e. when we dont hold the Ashes. I suppose I will have to start it up again.

Suffering big time after conference, knackered and suffering from a Conference Cough.
Some random thoughts.
1. NOT being responsible for training/stalls/events is very liberating and conversly very tiring because I can over fill my time.
2. LDO must envolve or die.
3. Friends are fun.
4. Conferences are addictive.
5. After the BOTYs, I feel very old.
6. I must start including links.
7. I've written enough for today.

I can put this blog to bed now

2007-01-12T09:00:00.000Z

Well I might, I dont know.

WE WON

5 - 0 a whitewash.
Last time it happened it took a World War to stop the English Cricket Team, this time it only took Warny & Co. :-)

Sunday and its all over

2006-03-05T23:26:00.000Z

What happened to the week-end, its Sunday night, 100 Top Pop Videos is on the Telly (Christopher Walken is awesome) and I'm clearing the outstanding jobs from conference. I've still got to write up my speech, I might put it up here.

Well sat in on Mings speech, mmmm, I wait a bit longer, I think.

Start of a very busy weekend

2006-03-04T16:48:00.000Z

Here I am at conference, I just spoken in a debate, I wwill have to ask if it was OK?
Speak later

I'll be glad when this course is over.

2006-02-18T15:33:00.000Z

Another week-end spent writing essays :(

This one on Student centred vs. Teacher centred Learning. Joy and rapture.
Work is coming along, I'll be being trained Monday through Thursday, have college on Wednesday and I training a client on Friday. I think I'm suffering teaching overload.

I starting to feel I'm on top of my brief and really starting to produce the goods for the company. Politics is ticking over at the moment due to the new job and problems with setting up the Wireless Network at home.

Life is Good.
Especially compared to the alternative.

What a difference 67 days make!

2006-02-04T20:55:00.000Z

67 days since my last post.

Didn't get either of the two jobs I went for so the dream of working for the LibDems is over. BUT boy was it interesting, my penultimate day, CK resigned and I got on national telly for all the wrong reasons. We now have a leadership election. Oh Joy!

I have fulfilled one of my life dreams and, at least, I have worked for the party, even if only temporarily.

I now have a job in Northants, training and supporting software, so I gallivant around the country enjoying myself.

I will start doing my blog again. :)

Christmas Tree Festival

2005-11-29T19:05:00.000Z

Well the Christmas Tree Festival weekend is over and once again it was the largest and longest running tree festival in the country. I'm proud to be on the organising committee.

Here's my tree.

The Statue of LiberTree

London is tiring !!!!!

2005-11-29T17:08:00.000Z

Been here around 3 weeks and its really tiring, very exciting, walking past Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, Trafalgar Square but it is really tiring me out.

We're going to Germany :-)

2005-11-16T14:22:00.000Z

After a 30 year drought Australia are in the World Cup Finals :-))))))))))))))))))
Yippee !!!!

I've finally got a BMW

2005-11-14T08:21:00.000Z

Benjamin Michael Window was born to Hannah, my Sister in Law, on Friday. We all trooped in on Saturday to see him and his knackered parents :-)

Here's me and BMW.

The whole tribe including extremely proud dad and mum.

A time for reflection.

2005-11-11T13:16:00.000Z

I spent the two minutes silence in the shadow of Big Ben this morning considering how lucky I was to be alive, healthy and with a job. Makes you think, when soldiers younger than me are being killed in Iraq.

I now have a job :-)))))
I work in the Cowley Street Conference Office but only temporarily so we'll see what happens.

A Classic in 3 seconds.

2005-11-04T10:43:00.000Z

Another desk clearing.
On a long drive Kat (my DD) and I précised Dicken's A Christmas Carol.
The idea came from A Book in a Minute.

Very old mean man
3 Ghosts make him happy.

Past, Present, Future ghosts.

Christmas. Humbug ?
3 spirits.
Oh, no, it isn't.

Christmas. Humbug ?
It isn't.

We then did some haiku

A Christmas Carol
Ghosts and Ghoulies haunting Scrooge
Turned Bad into Good

A Christmas Carol
Ghosts and Ghoulies haunting Scrooge
He turns the corner

A Christmas Carol
Ghosts and Ghoulies haunting Scrooge
Turns to a new page

I'm dead proud of her.
PS/ I've got a job :-)

Not much.

2005-11-04T09:10:00.000Z

Busy leaving.
Speak later.
Good news.
:-)

Haikus/Haiku - Which is the plural ?

2005-10-27T16:51:00.000+01:00

Whilst clearing my desk, prior to leaving, I found these haiku in a drawer.

The Church Steeple
The Church Steeple stands
Pointing towards Gods heaven
Bells call on Sunday

The Minister Leaves
Red topped and portly
Moving onto other things
It is "Good-Bye" time.

The Christmas Tree Festival
Aldwinckle twinkles bright
Joyful way to celebrate
St Giles follows on

An Alpha Course
Questions, questioning
Teaching the Christian Belief
It's the Alpha way

The Church Council
It's the Church Council
Talking. Why do we do it?
Who else will pay the bills ? :-)

I found out that the plural of Haiku is Haiku. Don't you love those Japanese :-)

A condom, mung beans and ART.

2005-10-24T12:43:00.000+01:00

For the last week, I've been training for 8 hours a day and its knackering. The company is allowing those of us being made redundant to train (in my case) or be trained (the rest) on Microsoft Office Suite. Its been a real challenge but I'm chunking through it.

Friday night and it's another leaving do. Went to an american resturant and then onto the "SoundHaus" in Northampton. We ended up in the Goth room. For an alternative lifestyle they don't half wear the same gear , I was in a black jacket, silk shirt and trousers with a purple tie and I felt very alternative to the others. It was a great night out with friends, new experiences and resolution of long running situations.

Saturday, Kat was off to London ( Camdem Lock Market, etc) with her friends, so Ann wasn't happy with our "little girl" out on her own. No worries as far as I was concerned. I knew she would love it. In the afternoon we went to see two art exhibitions by an old friend Paul Tecklenberg. I definately prefered "Bodies and Anti-bodies", a series of "photos" of everyday objects "photographed" in the style of scienctific images, with a wicked sense of humour and with many deep levels of meaning. It's just how I like my art. Being able to chat to Paul about his work really brought it to life. I had two favourites. One was the diptych "Gram Stain Positive: Rods" I love the colours and the other was "Egg", using a condom captured as if it were a ovum with the sprouted mung beans as spermatoza. Think of all those levels of meaning, I loved it.

Sunday saw us do one of Ann's Gunpowder Plot trips, this time to Coughton Court. Living in Northants, and attending Tresham Institute, I know most of the stuff about the plot so it was a pleasant enough trip to an English country home.

Still no job :-(

Survived

2005-10-17T14:51:00.000+01:00

Well I got through Conference.
But I was so angry at the organiser controlling everything and not giving me the information to do my job that I'm standing against him for the organiser position. Now its up to the electorate.
Its an old adage but Its one I live by.

Don't get Angry - Get Active.

Very quiet on the job front, just more rejections. I wont be working at the local Disney store over Christmas. Whilst it upset me, it would have upset the bank manager more had I got the position so I suppose that ones a draw.

Very quiet week-end, spent the time clearing jobs around the house and watching videos. Finally got that dripping tap fixed and finally watched The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen not a bad yarn and very enjoyable.

Down then Up

2005-10-10T11:29:00.000+01:00

Friday saw me failing to be shortlisted for the Dream Job I was after. Education Manager at Bletchley Park, what a pearler of job. So the emotions crash. However Conference is coming and I try to sort out the Training Schedule but I'm having severe problems with the lack of information from the organiser.

Saturday was a great conference despite the problems. Managed to sort out the Training Schedule on the fly as I has given more snippets of information from other people. It always feels good when you complete something as all the odds :-) So the emotions soar.

Sunday was AWESOME. Had my birthday present from my wife and parents, an Experience day from English Heritage. It was Sword Fighting with my mate Jez. It was worth the money just to attack each other with large lumps of steel and quote movies with swords in them at each other. Went to Bolsover Castle and I can't recommend this enough. If you can complete this quote "Hello, my name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father: prepare to ....." then you will love this day out. So the emotions sail into the exosphere.

Antidisestablishmentarianism and other big words

2005-10-05T08:35:00.000+01:00

Still job hunting, but another pearler has turned up :-) I'm beginning to be hopeful again.

This week-end its regional conference and I'm still trying to sort out the training schedule, I'll be glad when I've nailed it as its beginning to get edgy :(

An American friend, who goes by the sobriquet “ºOº TDC Dame E(ticket)lizabeth”, kindly sent me a wicked web-site about the FSM, check out (http://www.venganza.org/) for a wonderful argument against Antidisestablishmentarianism.
(I wonder, is that the longest word used in a blog today/this week/this year/ever??)

A new day, A new dawn

2005-09-26T14:10:00.000+01:00

Finally cleared all the stuff from conference, lots of goodies to Kat, I lost the raffle prize for DW so got it in the neck :(

Sorted out all the jobs I have to do then left them at home so please be patient if said I will contact you.

Saturday was spent sleeping and fixing Kat's and my bike. We went on the Historic Churches Bike Ride 2 weeks ago and the bikes suffered a bit. I suffered as well, 14 churches in 6 hours and I hadn't riden for years.

Sunday was spent sleeping (spot the pattern) and ironing in front of the telly - very chilling.

TWTWTW

2005-09-23T16:42:00.000+01:00

Showing my age I know regarding the heading.
Conference is over, and I have yet to empty all my bags of goodies and papers and stuff and scraps of paper with jobs to do scribbled on them at 3:30 in the morning in the bar.

Highlights,
Dancing at the East Midlands reception.
Two possiblilities of a sniff of a chance of an interview for a job.
The possiblilities for the future of LDO.
The Blogging Fringe that started this blog, some-one asked how easy it is and as an example this was set up, I just have to keep writing it and learning how to use it.

Lowlights,
People who have been upset.

Thanks to one and all, present and absent, of my LD friends.

Back to work, and its a very quiet and subdued workplace :(

I know... we lost the Ashes

2005-09-20T21:03:00.000+01:00

It's been a bad week, lost the Ashes and my job so decided to cheer myself up by going to Conference. I'll write more when this fringe meeting on blogging is over.