Alastair Gregg's Blog

Cheese rolling 2009

2009-05-26T05:44:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I was being driven along a road, out past Gloucester Business Park. The road itself I’ve been down many times, but that day when I looked to the right I realised for the first time where we were heading.

There’s a strip down the side of a hill, that is surrounded by trees but is itself grassy and free from trees. It was only yesterday, when I saw the crowds of spectators that I realised that it was coopers hill, the location for the world famous Gloucester cheese rolling.

We parked up just by the roundabout and started walking the rest of the way, to avoid the traffic. The walk itself was tiring and crossed fields and entered woods. It was a steep route and it had zapped most of my energy by the time a reached the lane with a farmhouse by it.

I was told to stand back, because an ambulance was manoeuvring. A TV crew were filming another ambulance, assumedly in preparation to report on immanent serious injuries. But this was 10:30 an hour and a half before the races started.

Before me towered a near vertical wall of grass, around which spectators were hanging onto the hills side in huge numbers. It’s impossible to describe the size and steepness of the hill, in any way that realistically depicts this to someone who has not seen it. Needless to say it is very steep, and is uneven in places, with some bits being steeper than others. But to fully understand you need to see it in person.

We walked across the bottom of the hill, and into the crowd at the other side. "out of the path" one security guard was shouting at the crowd, who had engulfed what I assumed would've been a path had I been able to see it. Jumping over the stile, we were out of the crowd and into the surrounding wood.

Getting up the hill was the first thing we wanted to do, and if possible look down upon the course from above. There was a path, off to the distance that may have headed up the hill, but we weren’t sure so we headed straight up the hill, by climbing through the wood.

Climbing through the woods proved difficult, as it was as steep as the cheese rolling course itself. We pulled ourselves up on the branches and roots on the surrounding trees. Getting down close to the ground and using our hands to stop ourselves from falling back down. I momentarily let go of my water, and it was gone for good, bouncing down the wooded hillside beneath us (I wasn't going back to get it).

Near the top we spied a move leisurely path, and moved onto that following it the rest of the way.

At the top it was frantically busy, with people everywhere. There was not hope of looking down the course, as there was already a huge queue of 'hopefuls', all waiting to risk life and limb (literally) for 7lbs of Double Gloucester Cheese.

From here you could see that the overhanging trees were filled with people, all after a clear view of the event (which was still over an hour always). Some of them were precariously perched on high up branches and swigging from Flagons of Scrumpy.

At one corner of the top we managed to gain a clear vantage point of the track lying below us. We both pretty much immediately decided the challenge was beyond us.

Beth phoned some friends to inform them of the severity of the drop, and that we probably wouldn't be going through with it. They offered some words of encouragement (which considering they had never seen the hill, was accepted with a pinch of sceptism by myself).
By this point the queue had grown further, and Beth suggested we join it whilst we thought about whether to race or not. I thought this was a bad idea, but went along with it anyway.

The queue itself was a fair distance in length, and we stood at the back of it with all the other 'lemmings'. In front of us participants drank neat brandy straight from the bottle.

The one downside the queuing for the cheese rolling, is that you are separated from the event itself. The queue occurs over the brow of the hill. You cannot see the course, you can't watch the races and you have no idea what is going on. You cannot hear the tannoy messages, as the sound doesn't travel over the hill. Everyone assures you that no registration is necessary, and that you just need to stay in the queue till you get to the front.

The queue continued to grown behind us, and suddenly we were in the middle of the queue, not by moving forward but because in the space of 15 mins it doubled in length, till it appeared to be off into the woods. A tractor appeared at the top, with two 'strong boxes' it its' front bucket. We correctly surmised that this was the 'prizes', a whole wheel of double Gloucester goes to the first person down the hill.

It was 11:55, five minutes before the first race. And the queue moves ever so slightly forward. The timetable for the day is that there will be a downhill race every 20 mins, with an uphill race in-between.

We hear cheering, which we assume is the first race, but we have no other idea what is going on. We stand for ages and slowly move forwards in the queue.

Some chavs off to one side, who appear to have camped on the hill, start shouting at the queue. A member of the gang of chavs rugby tackles someone further in front in the queue. The person is ok, but I think everyone is weary of what they might do next. Other than a couple of medics, there are no security personnel or police near the queue.

The guys in front of us have ran out of brandy, and send someone off into the woods, to get some drinks they appear to have hid earlier.

Were told the someone has fallen out of a tree, and there will be a delay while the rescue team deal with them. But we only hear this via chinese whispers from the crowd below.

There is a carnival atmosphere in the queue. Everyone is talking to everyone else and being very friendly. There are people from all around the world, Australia, America and Germany. And people from all around the UK. They are all pepping each other up for the time when they get to 'go over the top'. I still think it’s a bad idea and tell Beth so (although she says I should do it).

The Chav rugby tackles another bloke, this time seriously hurting him. First we realise is someone shouting for a medic, while a chav runs off and 'high fives' his mates. There are always some people who spoil things for everyone. Guy needs to be stretchered down the hill by the rescue team. The chavs disappear, I can only assume to avoid any police who may appear (although I don't see any).

Several hours have passed, and by the original programme all the races should have been run. We hear that only one downhill has been run, with all the uphill races having been done instead. I later find out this is because of a shortage of ambulances. The queue starts to drop off in size, as people give up any hope of running.

Guys in front of me still drinking, and now also smoking a spliff.

Everyone seems up for it, and over confident. I find out some of the guy's parked at the top and haven't even seen down the hill yet. They say ‘they've come so far, that there is no way they are not running down that hill’.

I speak to a guy from Bromsgrove who came with his wife and child who are watching below. He tries to ring them, but with no success. We are now reaching 3pm.

The queue has continued to shrink in size over the afternoon.

The guy Bromsgrove goes to check his wife is ok. We agreed to save him his place in the queue, but he didn't come back.

We hear some people are just jumping over the fences.

Suddenly it's all go. They start doing downhill races in quick succession. They've run out of cheese, but are still running additional races, due to the size of the queue.

I'm starting to get uncomfortably close to the front of the queue. "Any women for a race" shouts a steward, and Beth disappears forwards. I'm now alone in the queue, although amongst friendly people. I realise I need to watch Beths race, so I can know if she's ok. I get someone to save my place for me.

By this time the crowds by the sides of the race are thinning out, and get a great view of the course. I immediately remind myself that even after hours of testosterone filled queue chat, I DO NOT want to do this.

I hear there's a delay, because some one hurt themselves, as I am now in a position to hear the tannoy. I ring Beth to tell her of the delay (and that I don't want to do this).

I police helicopter flies above, I mentally note that it’s the first time I’ve seen police all day.

I also hear a steward informing someone that a friend of theirs are got a 'serious spinal injury' and they head off toward the ambulance. I ring Beth to inform her of this, in case it would change her mind (it didn't). There waiting for more women before they run a women’s race, so men’s races resume.

I was spilt between going back in the queue, and waiting to watch the next women’s race. I decide to watch some races (as they're the first I’ve seen all day). I'm right next to the starting line, and can see the master of ceremonies, wearing his traditional dress. He beats his drum, and seems to be watching for signals from the people at the bottom. He counts down, and they're off. It all happens very quickly. Some people run the whole way, others go down on their backsides and some just bounce round and round at an ever increasing speed. One guy gets streachred off at the end.

Another race gets set up, and the MC is told something from the bottom of the hill. He announces the next race is the ‘last race’ and I can see it is going to be a men’s race. I feel gutted for Beth, but also relieved that I won't have to do it myself. The guys on the starting line were four people in front of me. It was close, but even if I was still in the queue I won't have made it, even after 4 hours of queuing.

The MC say 'this is the last race', 'this is going to be a bit of a free for all’, ‘so please go easy’. I see that lots of people are preparing to jump the fence and join in. The countdown begins, it ends and the races are off. 5 guys next to me jump over the fence, tearing it in the process. I'm standing at the top, looking down with guys on each side of me running onto the track.

a steward says in my direction, 'if you're going to do it take it easy'. I look down, I walk to the edge, I consider it, almost go and then hesitate. All this happens in a spilt second and by the time I finish hesitating, I realise it's too late to go.

I queued for hours and in the end I had my chance to run, but I didn't take it.

Maybe I’ll do it next year, but with the possibility of serious spinal injury in the back of my mind, I just don't know. I think I ever was going to do it, it was in that split second which I let slip me by.

I walked to the bottom and met Beth, who had also walked down. We both agreed it was a great day, but both shared a mixed feeling of relief and disappointment for not having run.

For me what I remember most is the friendly atmosphere of the queue, and also the crowd in general. Everyone was in it together (except the chavs). If you’re in Gloucestershire you should go and see it.

Even if you just want to spectate, I’d recommend queuing at the top for a while. It’s an amazing group dynamic. Everyone is supporting each other and trying not to be afraid. You might say, 'how can you jump down that hill' but I think it's a collective group madness that makes it so easy. That coupled with the fact you are separated from the reality of the event.

At the end of the day, it's not about winning the cheese (or the £10 + £5 runner up prizes). Its about adrenaline, it’s about tradition and it's about being part of a unique event and experiencing that with everyone else that's there.

A Trip to Sunny Brentford

2008-07-08T13:03:00.000-07:00

It's a fact well known, to those that know it well that i read Robert Rankin books. I have been reading his books for some years after my brother Andrew introduced me to them.

I have recently joined his official fan club Sproutlore, and have set myself the enjoyable task of trying to read all his books to date. Currently he has 29 published books, with a 30th due out in January.

Last Month I attended an event at gunnerbury park museum in brentford, brentford is rankins home town and the location for many of his books. The museum has had a year long exhibition of his work.

The day was organised by members of the fan club, It was a great opportunity to see some of his sculptures along with first editions of his books and other artifacts.

The best part was meeting the man himself, and talking to other fans over a few pints at the pub.

Dr Who Went to Gloucester

2008-04-20T22:59:00.000-07:00

So its another Monday at work, but at least i had an interesting weekend.

Have recently moved into my new house, and me and dan had a huge breakfast followed by some shopping for the house.

On Our Way into town, we heard rifles firing, which isn't a regular occurrence in Gloucester (in contrast to when i used to live in selly oak). We soon realised it was the Gloucester Through the ages Historical reenactment weekend. There was a great display of Military technology from the Romans to the 1940's. My one complaint would be the advertised 'firing' of an Antiaircraft Gun, which wasn't really fired, but had just had a firework stuck in the end. After a day of seeing real guns fired it was somewhat of an anti climax.

Sunday was a lazy day, which i slept through for the most part. In the evening i attended my church's cafe. On my way in i saw the Tardis and a large crowd nearby, which didn't surprise me as i had heard they were filming the doctor who Christmas special in Gloucester.

Getting into the cafe proved tricky, as a security Guard Thought i was trying to get into the parliament rooms to get a better view of the Closed set. After some assertive arguing i made my way into the cafe.

The Whole square out the back looked very Victorian, and had been covered in fake snow, which was falling all around, including on some neighbouring streets which was pretty surreal on otherwise warmish evening.

The Kitchen Window looked right out onto the set, and to our luck it appeared that the Doctor was filming a scene that required him to stand right in front of that very window. Unfortunately camera phones are rubbish for taking action shots, and we couldn't get a clear picture of David tenant. Anyway, here are some of the pictures I took, you should be able to make the doctor out in them (but it is blurry).

March Post

2008-03-22T13:58:00.001-07:00

March is pretty much over and it has been a busy month.

This month i have visited birmingham (again), got and MOT for my car and also found a new place to live.

On the 11th of next month i shall be moving to linden, which will be strange after living over a year in the city centre. I am looking forward to it, as it's always good to have a change and upgrading to a bigger room will be nice. However i have lots of packing and other stuff to arrange before then.

Earlier this week i used my two days off work to visit my uni mate andy, this was good and I think I managed to give him some good pointers to demonstrating his project, which was very impresive. After all the hard work, the cider came out followed by a nasty hangover 12 hours later. It was nice to get back in the university state of mind for a day, althougth it was weird to be back there after nearly two years.

Finally my car had its MOT on Friday, which cost me £180 in total. The rear brake shoes required replacing, amongst another few few smaller things, still its nice to have it sorted out for another year.

Have also been playing with solaris on my Ultra10, which is proving to be a learning curve but an enjoyable one.

First Post of 2008

2008-03-02T08:05:00.000-08:00

It's march and i haven't posted yet this year, so this is me breaking my blog-fast for 2008.

The last week and a bit have been busy, but very enjoyable, and has not involved too much work. I often find that when taking time off work that I end up more tired than if I had been at work, and this last week has definately been tiring. I have spent this weekend attempting to relax, carryout housework and other loose ends that needed doing.

Last weekend was the FEIG retreat, a weekend away at Glenfall house in Cheltenham. The weekend was fun, relaxing and enjoyed by all.

Sunday night I went to london and spent the night there at my brothers'. On Monday I visited parliament in the morning and went on a clock tower tour. The tour included standing next to big ben as it rang, which was an expeirence i can recommend. (unfourtunately photography isn't allowed, so i don't have any pictures)

I then worked Tuesday, before having Wednesday and Thursday off to see electric six in Birmingham. I stayed the Wednesday night with my brother Andrew.

The only down point was that the band came on stage two and a half hours after the doors opened, which was frustrating but once they were on stage they were excellent. The concert was high energy and very loud, they played a good range of their songs and were on excellent form. On both ocassaisons i have seen electric six it has been in small venues and they are a band who connects really well with the audience. Dick Valentine came up with some very entertaining monologues on stage, These guys are a must see if you get a chance.

Again i worked Friday, before helping my friend Philp with packing for his housemove the next morning. For my work he gave me a sun workstation which is very cool and very geeky ;)

This evening (sunday) i am attending the first pilot run of FEIG Cafe, which my church is planning to run as a 'chilled out' open event for people to attend in Gloucester on a sunday evening.

I am going to end this post, as i have said all i have to and intend to do some relaxation before stating work at six tommorrow morning.

Visiting Birmingham again

2007-11-25T14:02:00.000-08:00

So, I have not been updating this blog as much as I intend to.

Visted Andrew in Birminghm this weekend. Whilst there i took some photos of the current refurbishment the University of Birmingham is doing to the Muirhead Tower. Surprisingly the building has less scaffolding on it now than it has had for the last decade. This work has been needed for a years.

I also mentioned the Muirhead tower in my previous post here , which includes a photo before the refurbishment.

More Pictures can be seen at my flickr account.

Food for questions

2007-11-11T15:16:00.000-08:00

There is a website, that donates food to those in the third world, FreeRice.com is a word quiz website. For each correct answer ten grains of rice are given to charity.

the website in question can be found at:

http://www.freerice.com/

Whilst i would usually be skeptical of any such website, it has been reported by BBC News. For this reason i assume that they have checked out that it is legitimate (althougth this may be wishful thinking).

The free food given away is paid for by the companies whos' adverts appear at the bottom of every page.

For a long time websites have been provided for free at the cost of the user being exposed to advertising. It therefore makes sense that some of this advertising money could be used by charitable organisations. For the advertisers the situation is mutually beneficial as the advertising gives the added value of improving the companies charitable image

On top of the financial side, the actual use of a word game is an interesting choice as some users will happily spend a long time on such things. Indeed the nature of quizzes sent to me via facebook seem evidence engouth for this. The website itself states that you will improve you vocabulary, which in turn will help you in everyday life.

Ideas like this for fundraising could be developed much further, including a much wider variety of games.

generally i like this idea as i feel it can use some of the time people waste on the Internet to help those in need. I certainly feel food is a more pressing need, than cheap cut down $200 laptops (see earlier post)

High Voltage trip to Birmingham

2007-10-27T11:38:00.000-07:00

I spent last night visiting my brother in Birmingham.

This was a last minute arrangement, which was decided yesterday afternoon after talking to him on the phone.

In the evening we visited several good pubs, most notably 'The Wellington', an outstanding real ale pub in Birmingham city centre, which is well worth a visit, if you are ever in Birmingham.

We ended up at Cafe Eastern Delight in selly oak for a curry, as this use to be our regular curry house when i was at university. The food, as always was both excellent and reasonably priced.

That should have been the end of the evening, after getting the bus home to my brothers house in harborne.

However, upon arriving at his house, we noticed the lights were flickering and generally the electricity supply seemed a bit weird. Talking with his housemates, we found that there had been problems all evening and that these could be traced to the electricity meter.

This was apparently not the first time, and the land lord had 'sorted it out' last time, by replacing the mains fuse. This explained why the fuse was not sealed in place by metal tags, like every other i have ever seen. This still seems pretty dodgy to me.

Looking at the meter, the dial was spinning faster than i have ever seen, obviously meaning alot of energy was being drawn. In addition to this the mains fuse was boiling hot, to the point where its outer housing would almost burn your fingers to the touch. A regular sparking noise could be heard coming from meter area, along with a burning smell.

After persuading some of his housemates that this was not normal behaviour, we switched off as many appliances as possible and called the electricity board.

Calling for help proved tricky here, I can only praise the staff at UK call centres. 118118 had someone answer who clearly didn't speak English as a first language and tried to put us through to a 'office hours' number at 11:00 at night. 118800 proved more useful and put us through to a number, which in turn gave us the number for the right people to ring. It amazing how easy things can be when you can make yourself understood and explain things to the person at the other end of a phoneline.

Within an hour two electricians came and immediately diagnosed the problem, replacing both the mains fuse and the wires between it and the meter.

we got to sleep at about 2:00am in then end, and so far all is good on the electric front.

All in all it was an eventful evening, and a good trip to Birmingham.

- I even got to buy a copy of the new Robert Ranking book, which i am now looking forward to reading

you call this a supercomputer ?

2007-10-22T03:48:00.000-07:00

As computers have developed people have been constantly miniaturising their inner workings. This leads to some interesting problems when miniaturisation increasingly gets closer to the size of electrons. For years there has been lots of research performed to overcome many issues with miniaturisation.

In a related story, as usual the BBC has jumped on some technology news and shown it has a complete lack of understanding in both technology and the definitions used within it.

I am referring to this story
Hand-held supercomputers 'on way'

Of course the BBC, are actually quoting somebody who has worked on the project in question, so they are not completely to blame. However he is most likely interested in promoting his research and probably also gaining funding.

It's the use of the term supercomputer I object to, as I feel it is overly ostentatious

there are many definitions of 'supercomputer', however most definitions would state that it is a time dependant phrase regarding the most powerful range of computers available at the time they are created.

for example the wikipedia definition is:
A supercomputer is a computer that leads the world in terms of processing capacity, particularly speed of calculation, at the time of its introduction

The term supercomputer has been around decades, and it has always meant a huge, world beating, (often) multi-million dollar computer. We wouldn't refer to a Pentium 4 with gigabytes of RAM and terabytes of disk space a supercomputer

My point is, we already have the equivalent of supercomputers in our hands, by the 1960's standards of a supercomputer.

If you could build the equivalent of a modern supercomputer in a small package, you could then use the same technology to create a more powerful supercomputer on a larger scale.

Therefore by definition the idea of a supercomputer in your hand is preposterous.

£100 laptop

2007-10-16T14:54:00.000-07:00

For those of you who don't know; you can now buy a £100 laptop.

Well it will actually cost you £200 (400USD) as you are buying two of them. One for a child in the developing world and another for yourself.

I could debate how charitable any such action is, however it strikes me as stranger that a child in a developing country needs a laptop in the first place.

We all know basic infrastructure is lacking in many developing countries. sanitation, health care and food can be hard to come by. In such situations is a laptop really going to help ?

I understand that giving children skills to make money can help their countries to develop. As technology is now such a large part of the world economy, the idea is that this will therefore fill a "technology" gap and help countries to catch up. However it still seems strange that we are giving laptops to kids who may not have engouth to food eat.

I also have concerns about how people may choose to use this new technology. It seems to me that many people in Nigeria already know how to use email, and how to scam foolish people out of money. Although I tend to feel anyone stupid engouth to fall for a 419 scam probably deserves it.

Many developing countries have poor legal systems, and increasing the access to technology, where governments have little ability to police it is going to cause issues. We may very well end creating new markets of cheap malware and virus authors, especially if their governments are prepared to turn a blind eye to such things.

Don't get me wrong, i am aware this post may sound very negative but it is human nature which i am skeptical about. Already there have been reports, that these free laptops are being used by children to consume pornography.

Pupils browse porn on donated laptops

maybe this project will actually help another un-intended industry make its way into the third world (although i dread to think who's credit cards will pay for it).

- i remember an advert once saying £10 could dig a well, well nowadays £100 can give a child a laptop. I wonder which is more useful

back from a break

2007-09-13T03:50:00.000-07:00

alot has happened since my last blog. However I have been stuck for a topic to write a post about.

Recently I spent ten days up in the north east visiting my parents and seeing some old school friends. Been doing lots of driving, and generally doing well.

here is a picture i took whilst up there (using my new mobile).

i'll try and keep this blog up to date, when i can think of something to write.

Water Water everywhere and not a drop to drink !

2007-07-27T13:01:00.001-07:00

Am leaving Gloucester again tomorrow. Its been a strange few days with no water, altogether it coinciding with my holiday is probably for the best. They are now saying water should return by Tuesday.

Bowsers like the one below have sprung up all over the city. They are meant purely for essential water, and this water requires boiling before being drank.

Toilets and cleaning are difficult.

I saw a queue of people at one, all of them getting as much as they could carry. Apparently, (according to rumours) some local takeaways have been misappropriating these supplies for business use. However many businesses have closed-up, due to the water shortage. "Closed due to water shortage", is a common sign everywhere.

I have plenty of water supplies, having prepared myself before re-entering Gloucestershire. However water is not the only thing in short demand. Local pubs have closed, mainly because of concerns about people drinking and becoming dehydrated. This has lead to a shortage of places to get a good drink.

Those pubs that remain open are mainly those which have ready supplies of water to hand.

cafe Rene was one such place.

Finally i could enjoy a pint

further pictures of Gloucester's' water shortage can be seen on my flickr account

Escaping the flood

2007-07-25T11:38:00.000-07:00

Over the course of last weekends the floods in Gloucester, and indeed the whole county took a turn for the worse.

I was still working nights and finally finished doing so at 6:00am on monday morning.

Water supplies had been cut off on Sunday evening, and by the time i cycled back from work on monday the standing tanks were out on the streets. By this point I had decided that it would be a good idea to get out of Gloucestershire.

Over the weekend the trains had been cancelled, however some services were running on Monday. As i left my house for the train station the power cut out.

I got the 7:10 to Birmingham New Street, and haven't looked back.

My time off after working nights runs out on friday, and i will have to return to work two days.

After this I have a week off working at the St. Bees Cyfa venture.

There is still no water in Gloucester, hopefully it will return at some point within that week.

- as a footnote (see previous post) i didn't bother trying to get my parking permit on monday, as things had got so bad i knew the council office wouldn't be open

Floods, Cars and Birthdays

2007-07-20T15:33:00.000-07:00

So, it was my birthday today.

I could have forgotten myself, Mainly because i am working night shifts which limits my ability to celebrate.

I slept 7am till 2:30,pm and whilst i slept it rained constantly. I discovered this at about 4pm, when i attempted to visit my local council to obtain a parking permit (as i am getting a car next week).

The council offices were closed, due to flooding, at least that what the security guard told me. I was skeptical, as most people will do anything to get off work early (especially on a Friday).

However, I later discovered that some areas were indeed heavily flooded.

All i can say is that i am glad i did not get my car this week, and park it next to this Mercedes.

I was assured the council offices will reopen on Monday.

I will have to get my parking permit then, if i can find a dry road to use it on !

New Blog Design

2007-07-19T07:17:00.000-07:00

As anyone who reads this regularly* will notice ...
*if anyone actually reads this at all.

i have finally got round to redesigning my blog.

For a while now i have been unhappy with its appearance. I felt it looked very cluttered, and wanted to make to the whole thing much more minimalistic.

There are still a few things i would like to change, but it will probably stay mostly like this for the foreseeable future.

Let me know what you think

- Al

In need of sleep

2007-07-19T07:01:00.000-07:00

This week I am doing night shifts at work. This is something i don't mind, and indeed it can be enjoyable, however it certainly messes with your sleep pattern.

Each day I am waking up about 2PM, doing loads of stuff, going to the gym and then heading into work for 10PM. I then work throughout the night and get home at about 7AM, at which time I go to sleep immediately. Somehow despite my tiredness i seem to be fitting a lot more into my days.

I have a busy couple of weeks ahead. Next week I am off work, and will be heading up north to pick up my car. I intend to spend most of the week up there which will be nice, as i haven't seem many of my mates in a few months.

I will then be heading back down to Gloucester to work the Friday, before driving back up St Bees in cumbria for the cyfa venture i help with.

this will require a lot of driving, much more than i have done before, so am a bit nervous about that.

Architectural Marmite ?

2007-07-10T04:57:00.000-07:00

A photo I took several years ago is going to be featured in an architecture book.

The picture itself is of the Muirhead tower, arguably once of the ugliest buildings at the University of Birmingham. It's certainly fair to say most people, particularly those who work in it tend hate it.

The building itself is the subject of much student folk-lore,supposedly being built at the wrong angle. It has also been covered in scaffolding for the past decade, apparently to stop the windows falling out in high wind.

The picture is to be used to illustrate an example of contemporary university architecture of its time.

The book is about an unrealised development proposal for Stoke called the potteries thinkbelt. I was contacted through flickr, where the picture is shared and asked for permission for its use.

The topic of the book seems a strange coincidence having lived in stoke myself, but i guess its a small world.

- i have now added a link for my flickr account to this blog

A Nice but heavy weekend

2007-07-08T12:39:00.000-07:00

Maybe taking a queue from the white-van man in my last post; I visited a cider festival in Cheltenham this weekend.

Lots of black rat, and old roise was had, and am feeling rather the worse for wear today. Was a good afternoon and my brother Andrew came along too.

Have a week of early shifts (6am to 2pm) this week, which means cycling to work. Thankfully the weather seems to have improved over the weekend. I also have Tuesday off as i am doing the second session of my pass plus. Am looking forward to getting my car, as it will save me from having to cycle so much.

can't really think of much else to talk about, might resdesign this blog when i get a moment, as i think it could do with a redesign.

Breakfast of champions, Battle cry of the masses

2007-07-03T03:30:00.000-07:00

On Saturday last I had been visiting the local farmers’ supermarket with my housemate Toby. It’s the kind of place that sells everything that you would need to be a farmer, from clothes to tools, and other essential supplies.

How we, two non-farmers had decided to go to this store is a long story, which is mainly related to the brand of vacuum cleaner that my landlord has provided us with. The vacuum, being created by a chainsaw company uses bags which are not easy to come by, so we had to go to the farmers store to order some.

Whilst leaving the store we bought two bottles of Stowford press cider, mainly because we had never seen it sold in bottles before, and like it on draft. I can recommend it at the Fountains inn in Gloucester, which incidentally also does good ales.

Walking back to the house we were surprised when a white van, with much skidding stopped next to us. The driver thrust his hand holding a bottle, out of his window, and saluted us with the word “CIDER !”, at high volume. He had obviously recognised his kin.

Who, knows maybe this is an everyday occurrence in Gloucestershire. Why, the white van man had cider to hand at 9:30 on a Saturday is a mystery to me.

lots of change and stuff

2007-07-01T15:03:00.000-07:00

I have been living in gloucester for a while now. Has gone very quickly, and am enjoying my new job. Realised it has been a while since i updated this, so thought i would do an update.

Found somewhere nice to stay in Gloucester, and am generally enjoying myself, althougth i still miss some things about being up north.

I am getting a car towards the end of this month, which i am really looking forward too. Althougth i am concerned about how much money it is going to cost me. I guess i will just have to keep an eye on it and get rid of it if things start to get out of hand.

I am sure there is lots of other stuff i could write here, however as i am feeling tired i will leave it at this and probably add some more stuff soon.

- Al

I've got a job !

2007-02-01T06:42:00.000-08:00

I had an interview at message labs in Gloucester yesterday, I was told I've been successful this morning.

This will mean moving to Gloucester, and I only have a couple of weeks to do this. I don't have a starting date, but it will probably be about the 19th of Feb.

hasn't really sunk in yet.

Also I will have to try and rearrange my driving test which was to be on the 27th (after being cancelled because of ice last time).

In the mean time if anybody can suggest anywhere to get housing in Gloucester that would be appreciated

New Year, New Windows and a new Post

2007-01-22T14:43:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I haven't updated this blog in a while (I wonder what percentage of blog posts start with something like that).

Got my Driving test on Thursday so will hopefully pass this time.

also got to generally sort out my organisation as I have been in a bit of a slump at the moment. I Will try and update this when I see something interesting or have something to say.

In the mean time, as Vista is out now I thought I would link to and do a review of the Microsoft Promo Video for Windows 386 (as i am yet to see anything put out for Vista that can beat this).

http://video/videoplay?docid=4915875929930836239&q=windows+386

Imagine (if you will) mission impossible in your work place, everyone's relying on you, and you only have until 5 o'clock to complete a report.

that is the situation faced by this female executive, but even the most impossible mission is easy with Microsoft windows and a 80386 based PC !. On Top of her report she has to put up with co-workers hitting on her, and incompatible file formats.

At some point the producer seems to have dropped an acid, as after seven minutes the video takes a trip to crazy town. Then there is what can only be called the "Windows 386 rap".

If there is ever a legal case as to why white people shouldn't rap this video will be evidence exhibit A.

In addition to this the characters have melodramatic names like "t-bone" and "Mr Pain".

This is boring in some places and would be completely unmemorable but for the bad rap and like production values.

Oh, and she has a date at the end, with ...?

THE GUY WHO SOLD HER MICROSOFT WINDOWS 386 of course.

- Al

Politics 2.0

2006-10-04T06:14:00.000-07:00

This week is the week of the conservative party conference. For those of you who have managed to avoid hearing about it, i envy you !.

topically and by chance i came across a David Camerons video blog.

It would appear the leader of the opposition has launched his own video blog site called "WebCameron"
for those of you who are intrested, head over to

www.WebCameron.org

Each Video Blog Entry is a cheesy video in Camerons house with his children interrupting him. With Camerons Typical style, but no real policies.

I am aware he is a farther and also has a busy job, but i question his inability to video a political message without being interrupted by his offspring. I guess it feels alot like he is actively using his family to add to his image, and pretending it is accidental.

Cameron does respond to comments that his blogs are staged, by saying he just does it on the spare of the moment and its not staged. Whilst i believe this is possible, it is hard to deny they do have a very staged feel to them.

- Al

Also as an afternote it strikes me, should the leader of the opposition have engouth spare time to be blogging, i mean isn't thier more important things for him to do ?

Windows Vista RC1

2006-10-01T03:24:00.000-07:00

Microsoft has made a pre-release version of windows Vista availible for download. I am currently trying it out on my thinkpad, and have so far been impressed by its stability.

upon installing it warned me my hard disk was possible in the early stages of failure; which i had suspected as i was testing the hard drive for someone; but this as a feature is also pretty useful.

my main annoyance is the changes to the control panel; everything has changed and some parts look 'website' style, whilst other bits look more traditional. I suppose i kind of expected this as i have never liked XP's control panel, and indeed always set it to traditional view.

The new version of Internet Explorer is also nice. It features tabbed browsing, as you'd expect of a modern web browser. However it is a bit slow (at least on my computer), and i am mainly still using firefox.

I can't believe anyone still uses IE, as firefox is just so much quicker. Also firefox has a small footprint and a cleaner appearance. I guess most people who use IE are just novice users who have ethier not heard of firefox or cannot be bothered to install it. Apart from sites that require it i avoid using IE at all costs, althougth hopefully this newer version will be less open to adware

- Al

T23 Generic Host Process Error

2006-09-29T14:35:00.000-07:00

OK, so since i fixed up a Thinkpad T23, by replacing the motherboard i have been having problems with it.

here is a techinical post of what the problem is and how i solved it:

After installing Windows XP service pack 2 i was getting an error at startup. This error was
"Generic Host Process Error"
after this the soundcard amoungst other things would not work.

more detailed information about the fault showed
- svchost.exe, version 5.1.2600.2180, faulting module wbemcore.dll, version 5.1.2600.2180, fault address 0x00010152

so, the error involved both svchost.exe and wbemcore.dll. I looked it up and found wbemcore.dll suggested the WMI service, this service supports the "windows security" service, and the "Windows Firewall/Internet Connection Sharing (ICS)" service.

i found by disabling the "Windows Firewall/Internet Connection Sharing (ICS)" service the error was solved. This However leaves you without Intenet Connection Sharing or Windows Firewall.

I can live without connection sharing, however a firewall is essential when using the internet. So i then installed a third party firewall (in my case i chose zone alarm).

I am posting this as i could not find another fix for it on the web, and hope somebody else can use this to there advantage.

- Al

bit peed off

2006-09-29T14:31:00.000-07:00

ok, so i didn't get the ibm job, and am now waiting for some feedback. Am i bit annoyed as i am sick of looking for jobs, and the pressure from other people putting on me to find a job.

i guess i just need to find something, anything !. but i don't want to end up doing something i hate or find monotonous

IBM Interview day

2006-09-27T09:31:00.000-07:00

ok so I had a final round interview for IBM's graduate scheme on Tuesday.

Mostly it went well, and I feel IBM did a good job of not making it too stressful. However I have since been stressing over every little mistake I made, and am not sure I did that well, but I think that is normal after a job interview.

I’m just very nervous every time I check my email now, as I keep expecting to hear back (although they said to allow ten days).

- Al

so i pull out my GUN !

2006-09-19T05:57:00.000-07:00

recently R Kellys rap opera "trapped in the closet" has come to my attention.

it is pure genious,

indeed i think its a shame it is not longer, althougth by the end it is getting predicatable,

its seems that in R Kellys world everyone is cheating on everyone else, the shock of finding out lasts about 15 seconds and The standard responce to everything is to pull out a gun. In addition to this furnature is just there to be hidden in.

I would recommend this to anyone who wants to watch something amusing. As it stands it is 12 chapters, each of which is around 4 minities. ( it is currently on both you tube and google video).

i can certainly say i am glad that my life is not anything like this video; or i myself might want to shoot someone

- Al

2006-08-19T03:00:00.000-07:00

ok so, i am currently looking for a job. and have a interview at ibm on thurday. so i'll have to see how that goes.

at the moment it is a bit weird not being at uni. its good because i have some time to myself which was particularly hard in my final year.

living in chester-le-street with my parents at the moment. will be visiting stoke in septemeber and may well visit birminghsm again whilst i am down there