Haha

Most people who are alive have seen stupid videos on the net. Sites like youtube have made this really easy- you just type whatever you want in and job done. The following video is a crappy US soccer match: the technique used for this particular throw in has been used many years ago, but not many people use it nowadays. A crap team in the Premiership, Stoke City, employ a similar long throw in tactic, mainly because their players are shite and can't kick the ball that far, but useless defenders seem to get confused by the balls trajectory or something. Anyway, the so called flip throw in when it goes wrong, has funny consequences:

p.s. This is why in football you don't mark the throw in taker, you dumb ass.

Kungsberget

As we've not had an official Xmas holiday planned this year, mainly because of me I might add, we decided to hit the slopes of Kungsberget for 4 days. After an awesome Xmas meal, again no thanks to me, it prepared us beautifully for the days ahead. We took with us some new snowboard gear (yup, mainly mine) and some new Xmas beers: together with the help of some Swedish ladies (thanks for the apartment borrowing) and some perfect riding temperatures, we hit the slopes.

The first few turns were a little rough shall we say....Johanna nearly dived off the side of the run....after 5 metres. We soon found our boarding legs though and it felt good. It's always a semi frustrating situation to be in, having taught boarding: I know mine and Johannas goals are different with riding- I mean I've been riding 10 years (on paper) and have two seasons under my belt. Johanna has had 2 years riding and no seasons. Im not putting her down as to me, she's picked it up incredibly fast and is riding at a very good level. I look with a critical eye of nearly every rider there (forcive habit) and from an unbiased perspective she is easily one of less than a handful of good riders: I would say she's number 2 but that would be assuming something slightly, erm....massively up my own arse.

The thing you learn about teaching is this: if you still want your friend to be a friend after the boarding trip, then don't teach them. This applies to family as well. This is tricky when there is only 2 of you, one of which is an opinionated arsehole who just wants you to get better and the other is well, your fiancee. I don't want to teach Johanna, it's more guidance and small tips: to pick something about her riding and make her aware of it, to improve it.

You see I feel obliged to do so: otherwise it's that 'don't get your thought out' type feeling, where you really want to say something but don't get the courage or whatever, but this case it's to preserve my balls from being chopped off and because I really do want her to get better, almost as much as she wants for herself. So I did indeed go down that path, gave her some advice and so we continued to ride.

Later, no arguments, my balls in tact and again, more improvement in Johanna's riding. We have no video, but took a few pics, check this little snap out (it might not be the best pic. but her stance is near perfection):

So my opinion may be biased, but Johanna's riding is getting ever better. When you see instructors who I just know can't do what Johanna is doing, you know something good is happening.

Well anyway, we arrived back today to our lovely little apartment. It's such a nice feeling to come home to your own, not rented, not stolen, not well anything else you can imagine. The Xmas bit is over for another year. Our tree shall remain while it becomes bloody hard, almost knive like needles then drops them all. The Santa's shall go away for another 11 or so months, then re-emerge from the layers of dust.

Only days remaining from 2008: Today was probably the last Ikea meatballs of the year and thank God for that- you don't have to live with Johanna's farts...........

Xmas

It's that time of year again, much like a birthday, where hurrendous amounts of money are spent on presents to puts smiles on the faces of people. Xmas is some what of an enigma for me: since 'growing up' the meaning of Xmas is not explained, especially for an atheist, it's hard to know why the hell we're celebrating anything.

Don't get me wrong, I do like this time of year: the lights, the trees, the decoration and what not are very nice. Generally people are more relaxed and appreciate peoples company, which is a good thing. More for my situation it's all happening now.

We've just moved in to our new pad, which is just awesome. I've been snowboarding last weekend and will be going for a few days from Xmas onwards. I've got my first own Xmas tree, complete with Julbock guarding it (oh yes). For non-Swedes, they celebrate today as Brits do Xmas day. Yes, don't ask me why: a fair few EU countries do indeed celebrate the 24th, even though (I wasn't there of course) I'm sure Jesus was born on the 25th, so it does seem a little premature to celebrate 1 day too early. However I don't really care as I said before-I'm not religious so I couldn't give two shiny shits what day this Jesus fellow was born.

So today is effectively Xmas day for me, yes it's quite fantastic: it's snowing, have been for a long stroll in to town and am getting ready to eat Xmas ham. No, no turkey for me this year. Ham, sausages, fish bakes, the works really. Also, supposedly Swedish schnapps, but not this year (thank the proverbial God), so just Xmas beers, which are truelly amazing. We tried 'Brother Thelonious' yesterday, which was pretty sweet- a 9.4% little beauty. These Xmas beers are something we don't do in England, but it's just another level of Xmasness (I'm sure Jesus wasn't a drinker).

In 20 or so minutes I get to watch the infamous Kalle Anka or for those not so hot with the lingo, Donald Duck!! It's one of those rights of passage to Xmas over here. Not sure what our equivalent is, but it's one of those that adults have watched every year at 3pm since they were kids and still continue to do so.

It's kind of like those Xmas films you just have to watch.Whether it's to get in the mood or what, but we recently spoke about which films this includes. I've no doubt forgotten a lot of them (well the list isn't that long) but to mention but a few, such as Home Alone, National Lampoons Christmas Vacation and I think personally (it was on yesterday) Elf should be included. Some obscure ones may be Die Hard's etc, I guess at home we have the Snowman, some other Xmas films, including Santa Claus the movie (etc etc), Muppet Christmas Carol, Miracle on 34th Street, Frosty the Snowman, possibly the Grinch Stole Xmas and the list goes on.

This time of the year I guess can be percieved as depressing or amazing. Self pity, the cold, the dark, the lack of family/friends, the sometimes awful TV (yeah right, 'sometimes'), the Xmas songs, the hangovers, the lack of money, the well....the highlight of everything that is missing in your life comes to the forefront, or does it?

Again, perception is a powerful 'skill'. My 'family' is Johanna (in that sense), it snows here, I get to spend my Xmas abroad, in a wonderful place in wonderful company. The cold is cold indeed, but it's a 'proper' temperature- there's nothing a coat, gloves and hat can't tame. I get to go boarding, I get to drink lovely beers, the list goes on. However if my perception is a positive one, well then that's exactly what is going to happen, the whole experience is an enjoyable one.

To finish, we all have goals in life and setting yearly ones is part of it. New years resolutions are partly a joke, but not always. I'm starting a new protein expression system when I get back, I'm living in a new flat, I've got a new snowboard yadda yadda yadda. I've set and will set goals all the time for myself and whatever you're situation, 2009 is another year.

It's a new start, to improve on positives just as much as negatives. The cliche, start as you mean to go on, is a nice little statement. For me, if 2009 is even half as good as 2008, I know it's going to be one crazy, one fun year.

Shifty Shifty

For anyone that's seen a snowboard competition, ridden themselves or thinks they are a bit cool, they will know what a shifty is. Forever will I remember the stereotypical Scandinavian commentator at Sälen last Easter....every trick seemed to contain a 'shifty shifty'....despite not being present at all (another classic comment was 'here comes ladies man').

I picked something else (from youtube of course) that reminded me of some riding I did in Sunday River (out of uniform!!), involving 'bonking': no it has absolutely nothing to do with sex, dyslexic spelling of 'banking' or anything else. It was indeed 'tree bonking' (God that sounds even worse) that involved riding close to trees, whenever noticing a little stump or a ridable branch tapping the nose/tail of the board to 'bonk' it. Although here, the trick is somewhat harder, because they throw in a 360 too....so I've got to improve my 360 bonking.....haha, Christ this could be a bad porno.

Anyways have a gaze at these......

While I remember, Johanna at the Alter Bridge concert said something very funny- it might be a 'you had to be there' moment but upon seeing the lead singer come onstage, in a kind of kiddies English accent, comes out with 'he looks like Jesus'......Yes he has long hair.....erm, that was about it....well I laughed anyway.

I forgot (again)

Well it wasn't really a case of forgetting so much, as not bothering to check what grade I got on the exam: usually when people mark exams they write on there the total points, percentage or at least something. Well not surprisingly they didn't write anything, so I just added up all the marks and turns out I got 88% (67.5/77). Sorted!!

Just to mention, my project results haven't gone so much to my master plan (no pun intended), in monkeys terms: I need to produce a reasonable amount of soluble protein (i.e. one that is active and works), however this is harder than expected and most of what I'm producing is insoluble (i.e. one that sucks balls). Meaning I can't carry on as yet. It's not the end of the world as I'll be changing expression systems after Xmas, all very exciting.

Not much more to report, boarding and moving (in that order and that priority) on Saturday. It feels really good down there, a completely biased thing to say of course, but it really does. Xmas is 1 week away- as most old people tend to say, 'oh it's gone so quick'. Well in this instance, I'd have to agree. The last few years have gone quick, let alone 2008: in the blink of an eye it's frigging 2009, so apparently we have 3 more years until the end of the World and all that, so enjoy it while you can.

I know I will.

I forgot

I forgot to mention I finally got the 2nd exam result back yesterday. Unlike the last one, some did fail, apparently 89% passed and 10% didn't....not sure where the other percent went, but it sums the whole course up- useless.

Now, I just have to wait to see if I pass the course, as they haven't mentioned anything about the seminars, mini-review and lab work. May be if I ask Santa nicely he might go find out what the hells going on........or just dump shit loads of coal in their stockings (Remember Lena has some big ones too : )).

Mini Update

It's been a few days since last time: we rocked out to Alter Bridge in Stockholm last Wednesday. After a slight problem with my bladder control, Lina took over the driving (you can ask if you really want to know) and we arrived safely, not quite on time (we prob missed like 3 songs from support group Logan).

It's a potential shame that these guys don't get the kudos they deserve- Well not entirely true, as with most things, they are big in the states. However there probably werent more than 1000ish people so it was a kind of personal concert. I could go on for a while about how great they are but I won't. Just check them out on you tube or whatever: Myles Kennedy has a fantastic voice and Mark Tremonti could be considered a God in human form (as well as Terje Haakonsen, Al Bundy and Homer Simpson).

Well apart from the concert, the main focus is finishing off the pad downstairs: it's potentially like 98% done- we need an electrician to give us a few more sockets and put some new light switches on (as my physics isn't what it used to be). Most of our clothes etc are now down there, yawn yawn etc.

On a food related note, I had my departments Julbord last night. Contrary to a real Julbord, we had from a set menu: I munched on cheescake (with actual cheese) for starters, awesomly tender lamb for main and a citrus pie with white choc mousse.....mmm mmm mmm. We had a kind of table divide with 2 tables: 1 with Professors, 1 with Post-docs and PhDs (and me of course), which probably saved the evening as us poor students didn't take a Prof bashing (you know, 'back in my day we had to do......' Yes, we are useless, get over it).

Right now my noggin is struggling (need food!) so will be quiet very soon. Have to mention that Kungsberget is now open! Get in. I'll be on the white stuff soon: if all goes smoothly with timing this weekend (moving day 21st), could be out rippin on Saturday.

No jokes, sayings, anything good to finish this off. Brain no work if no food (don't use this sentence for grammar purposes- you get my point though.)

Sorted

Uber quick update: we have put the wallpaper up. Laugh all you want, but the word 'mission' is an understatement!! No more f*****g scraping, spraying, sanding, filling, pasting, cutting, smoothing, crying.......

It's getting exciting

Just a quick update with the progress- Bo has worked his butt off today, getting up at 6am, continuing right through until 9pm, whilst being productive too!! The usual you would think would be to have coffee breaks every 10 mins and even though this is only partially true (Johanna told me when I got in at 4ish they'd had 4 cups, then put some on for me and yes themselves again, so total of 5 up till about 4.30pm) nearly everything is done (well major things at least).

I was surprised to see a transformation as big as I saw when I strolled in, late afternoon. Needless to say, I won't bore you with my mini emotional experience (okay, really not the case, but whatever, I'm excited by it all), but I'll eventually take some pics, to show you the beauty of it all (haha).

To top the next day or two (as in finishing time!) we have Alter Bridge on Wednesday- whether we fall asleep standing (yes we are that bolloxed) is another question, but it's going to be a cracking evening. If I was a rampant homo I'd probably have Mr. Tremonti's kids (for Swedes it's an English phrase...sort of.....).

Need I say more.

When time flies and yes Jim'll definitely fix it

This weekend has been a blur. No not because I've been intoxicated in any way shape or form. The fact that it's crunch time for work in our new flat: Bo (Johanna's Dad) has come up from Tibro for a few days to sort out almost everything in apartment. So me and tvättbjörn have been doing our bit too: We finally managed to scrape all 6 layers of previous wallpaper (some painted too, just to annoy us), filled the holes and power sanded the whole room!! It took a while and we nearly drowned in the dust from the walls- you think I'm joking but I kid you not, my hair feels like a wig it has so much crap in it.

Anyway, we've wallpapered over half the room and it's been challenging. I mean it's very difficult to explain in an interesting way about wallpapering. It could be comparable to watching paint dry, however, the trials and tribulations of us wallpaper virgins is actually quite exciting.

It's not just like you get some paste, get some paper, put the two together and job done. When the ceiling is friggin wonky, when the walls have chunks of plaster here and there, when the walls are rougher than lets say Sarah Jessica Parkers mug, when there are pipes, sockets and shite in the way, when Johanna tries to cut her fingers off, when you use a blunt blade to cut wallpaper, when, well when you potentially have no idea what you are doing, it's actually kind of exciting.

I do take a lot of pride in what I do: I want to impress myself (if that makes any sense) so however crap my decorating skills are, I still expect a good result- why you ask? Well I don't know: it's that level of expectation from myself, regardless if it's new or old. So far, though I am very impressed: I am very proud to see what the walls and room taking shape. Only me and J know the shite that was up before and the effort we've both spent getting it right. I'm not going to have my own design programme anytime soon (probably more because I'm not some raving homo, eccentric weirdo) but seriously, take my word for it: the living room so far looks damn good. A very professional job indeed!!

Well Bosse has already done the kitchen floor: bear in mind he's been doing this since he was 16 or so (he's no spring chicken now!!), so he knows his stuff. It's tremendously exciting seeing it all unfold in front of your eyes- hopefully in 3 days, pretty much everything is going to be done. Only time will tell.......

Boring

Well I usually post a bit of everything, so here's a quick update with my studying: I recieved my first exam from the last course last week- only 2 months after I sat it: yep, absolute disgrace! Never ever study Molecular Genetics of Cancer under Lena Åslund, she is f*****g useless. Needless to say, I passed, well actually everyone did- she lowered the grade boundaries (I would have passed anyway) to make her seem fantastic no doubt. They aren't supposed to do it over here, but I guess lots would have failed, which ultimately looks bad on her. You can't miss this woman: short and how should I put it? erm.....athletically challenged?! When you get out of breath from standing up, you know there is something wrong.....yesvery much my chinese friend Sum Ting Wong.

p.s. 3 c is very applicable

Åre

All plans for holidays have good intentions, especially when it's a trip organised including others. Now, it's getting to decision time to what form a bigger snowboard trip takes: can we afford it (always the biggy and the answer is always no!!), can we get time off to go, will everyone who says they'll go cough up the money, etc etc.

Well the initial plan is looking at going to Åre. No, not because it has the 'highest cafe in Sweden' or the fact it's bloody miles away: more I've heard good things, it looks pretty sweet and I've never been there before- enough said.

The date's going to be around Easter, there's apparently going to be around 8 of us, that's about it for now. I'm looking in to transport to get there including planes, trains and automobiles (!): from bus to car rental, its all much of a much. Accomodation should be cheap and all the rest, so we shall see.

If you are potentially interested for a few days of shreddin' the gnar (yes, Yanks are weird), give me an email or something.

PhD or not to PhD, is it really the question?

Not that I am really thinking about this, but time flies indeed. It won't be long until June comes around and I'm done with my Masters. This begs the question (which seems to be frequently asked at Uni) what to do after: job or PhD (or neither I guess?!)

To me, a job sounds the right course of action. However the main problem for me (no it's not the Swedish I don't think) is the fact I do biology for one, so there aren't any jobs and the second biggy is this whole global recession is pretty shite so no-one seems to be hiring.

That doesn't leave too many options, but one is the dreaded PhD route. I know you don't just do a PhD for the sake of doing one because it just won't happen, I mean you will just fail, simple as.

The PhD students I talk to laugh (in that kind of truthful way) when I tell them 'I hear no-one enjoys their PhD'....enough said. So why do it? Well there's no main reason, amongst them include being very interested in biology and having the scope to study whatever I want (almost!). I'd do anything to stay over here is on the list (well just not to be in England) too. I mean you get paid to do it, yes it's not a fortune, but you gain experience (and the list of reasons to do a PhD) at the same time. I'll be Dr. Thorpe, that will be a first in the family : ) (Ok, not a very valid reason).

I know some of my friends here are destined to do a Phd, I know the struggles and problems many have encountered during their time. It could go horribly wrong, but so can everything else in life right? If you don't take the chance you'll never know. I've got a while before I need to think about it for real: at least 4 years of pain and suffering (!) or try oh try for the dreaded 'j' word....yes, job.

Wow, what more can I say

There aren't many moments in life that take our breath away, today however almost did. Probably because the only day that I didn't want to be stuck in the lab was today of all days, yet guess what? I've just got in (6.45pm)! However I'm not overly disappointed, in fact the opposite.

Crazy you may say? But, as it's been snowing all day again, the whole place is covered: literally the paths have knee deep snow, the trees are white, parked bikes have 8 inches on their seats, its all beautiful. The walk (to and) from where the lab is today almost took my breath away: There's a dim lit path through the forrest, covered in snow: the air is chilled, there's no-one around, I occasionally lose my footing in the cross country ski tracks: there's an absolute sense of peace.

Im actually very surprised and taken by it all. May be the lack of energy due to immense hunger is partly to blame! May be I've come to expect rain on my birthday as November is the crappiest month! But really, walking down the quiet roads, as everyone is already home, seeing white everywhere, the occasional person shovelling their drives, it's just something I've not seen in day to day life (except my snowboard seasons of course!). Remembering the last time I was knee deep in snow on my birthday? Erm......not sure if it's actually ever happened.

25

Age really is but a number. There's a whole bunch of life quotes that summarize what it's all about and the point really is the importance of what you do in life. Success is a personal 'thing': I set goals for myself and have characteristics in my personality that I want to keep or strive to become 'better at' (well lose some as well!). I want to be able to live my life and take pride in what I do. I wish the only thing stopping me is my imagination: to some extent this is very true.

As with 99% of people, we use money as a source of the excuse why we don't 'live', but this is only a part of the greater picture. People with money don't necessarily do anything with their lives: having the biggest tv does not mean you have something I'm envious of: as we've always said before, you need a reason to get out of bed in the morning and money isn't it. I recently heard again the old teacher thing when they ask to kids 'what job would you do if you had a million pounds?' The answer should be exactly what we want to be so we shouldn't be swayed by anything but an interest, pure motivation.

With every event or achievement I take off the list, I add a new one. The beauty with life, is that there's not limits, no-one really is your boss except yourself. Ok, we pay the bills etc, but the real freedom and decisions are made you and you alone. Our working life can be merely a slight inconvience (for those that dislike what they do) to our ultimate goal, or may be not. May be people use having a shitty job (in their eyes) as an excuse for the rest of their life: 'oh I can't do this and this because of work...blah blah'. I don't want to be like that.

So what if I'm 25 and still finding my way. I know what my interests are and that if I can't work in that job I really want to do, I'll make the most of whatever work I get. My point isn't about work, it's more the obstacles (as in work..may be!) that we overcome and the ones that arrise because of the challenges and goals we set. Life if for living, age is only a number, work like sleep dominates our lives so pick something you like doing. Be motivated, dare to dream, keep raising the bar until it's all over.

Winter Jam

What could be better in Novemeber than snow and snowboarding? Well normally over the years, I've definitely come to expect clouds, rain, wind, shite. However this year has been very different. With only 2 days from my birthday the rain has not yet imposed itself, but I am not holding my breath for too long!

Today has been a great day. There has been around 2 inches of snow from last night, leaving the whole place a glowing white. With today not wanting to be outdone by yesterday, we've had another inch or so. One word, awesome. So picture the snow, picture a fresh couple of degrees below zero, a drive to Stockholm in the snow with heated car seats, to arrive to a busy stadium where this years Winter Jam was taking place. Oh yes indeed.

The Winter Jam is a competition of mainly boarders and skiers over quite a big jump:

As skiing sucks balls, we watched the finals of the boarding. So up stepped the big guns, namely Stefan Gimpl, Antti Autti, Risto Matilla. After a solid combined score from 2 out of 3 jumps, our winner prevailed- Janne Korpi, yes another Fin. I took a few shots of the action, so have some inspiration for a few weeks before the official season at 'our' mountain.

How to top up this then? Erm...hard task, but when I got home, Johanna bought some dinner to celebrate my birthday (yes no not now I know but she's not here on Monday!), topped up with some Sam Adam's (my almost homo lover) and chillaxing = all in all, a very satisfied me.

In brief then: We're working hard on our apartment downstairs, trying to get the 6 layers of wallpaper off etc. I get my last course exam results, a shocking 2 months later for the 1st exam (useless course organiser indeed), so we shall see about that. Lab is going well. My birthday present from Johanna is a trip on new years eve to the ice bar in Stockholm (drinks included of course). The snow is here, as I said, gunna do some sledging me thinks. One last thing that is almost sexual is the attachment for the wii fit board as part of Shaun White snowboarding:

Yes I know I'm a sad bastard, but hey, if standing on a plastic mini snowboard pretending I'm cool is sad, then I'll just have to live with it. One day it'll be mine, one day.......

Gossip

There's probably one thing that I can't stand in this whole World; gossip. Ok, there's more than one thing, but that is the topic of this post. Religion to me hasn't taught me much, apart from using it as an excuse to kill someone (not something I've personally done mind you) etc etc (yes, that was a bold statement, but I'm in one of 'those' moods), yet I found a Jewish proverb that really sums up what I want to say here: 'What you don't see with your eyes, don't witness with your mouth'. All I can say to that is 'too true'!!

Living away from it all, i.e. not England for some time, whether it was in the states, up north in England (yes that is another World too) or over here I recieve emails from friends and family etc and depending on the context I try to connect to it in some way. I 'read' the Sky news reports online, but they are about as useful as a screen door on a submarine: they report with grammar and spelling errors, let alone half arsed stories: so what is one to believe? Well history is one big biased passage of time. Only the people that ever succeeded wrote history, otherwise it wouldn't exist! So if every history book is a biased account that has been falsified to fit an image or personal thought for who it affects, what should we believe? My point here? Well this is it. Im not sure if Swedes have a saying 'straight from the horses mouth' but gossip can happen unintentionally- we all percieve things differently and like chinese whispers, we tell the next person with a slight word change, they change another then job done, the whole point is changed.

I say this because things happen with friends and family that are completely independent of everyone, yet people's names for example get drawn in to this distorted picture, where 'so and so said this'.......etc etc. Now it is like being back at school when 'Sven said he doesn't like you' so now tell Sven 'I don't like him' when the cheeky fucker passing the message on is the shite stirrer themself!

I guess we all let gossip in some way or another affect us. After all most of our knowledge is based in this way: we read, we observe, we hear stories etc. There aren't many people who 'have been there' when the accounts were made etc (besides we bias when we see anyway!). May be this is a strength of human character: the belief in things, i.e. to trust other people or information. May be it creates weakness in the form of naivity. Who knows.

I believe there are some things to take with a pinch of salt and may be some to think about a little more. If its ever a 'she or he said...' (especially as a negative) then please please ignore it. The person saying it has more than likely twisted the hell out of it to their advantage, rendering it completely untruthful (yes lots of 'its' I know). Remember if you don't hear it from the actual person then don't assume there's anything in it!! (confront the person, then beat the crap out of them for being a twat.....ok don't really, even if you want to)

3 Doors Down

Although it's been a while (well only a week to this day), I just wanted to mention how good the 3 Doors Down concert was! Most people (well not yanks of course) may not know who they are, but I guarantee you know a couple of their songs. Despite the southern accent (they are from Mississippi) a lot of 'thank you my friends' (picture with a very heavy accent) the booming guitar, the crazy hairy drummer and a whole bunch of songs together created an entertaining evening.

The similar theme of the lyrics can be percieved as life lessons: I dont want to get really 'deep' but a lot of their songs (as with most rock ones) are about the female species screwing the males over. Ok, life lesson you ask? Well titles like 'let me be myself' pretty much hit the nail on the head. The whole intensity when you are there and the singers voice at times made my hairs stand up on end, definitely a sign for me that they really are a great band!

If you've never heard of them, go check them out. In the States, they are probably percieved as a common run of the mill rock band, but everywhere else they appear to be 'underground', regardless, their music is still good (they've sold over 15 million albums, so can't be too bad).

Getting me in the rock spirit, I come home thinking I can play guitar- well one made of plastic, with 5 brightly coloured buttons and no strings, yep I am talented indeed:

Well this leaves me time to talk about what else has happened since that fab night- well not a great deal. I've been working hard in the lab, trying to understand all the stuff I'm doing. If you really want to know (yes, I thought not) then contact someone else. Ok, I'm trying to be funny and failing. If you can't take the piss out of yourself, I don't think you stand a chance of having a sense of humour!

The problem with blogging (or whatever the technical term is) is that everything is my opinion (more or less). Although some people might for some bizarre reason, want to know what I think about seemingly everything and nothing in particular, I'm sure all of about 3 people read this, including me and Johanna! I'm not going to voice my opinion about everything, because it's partly pointless and besides I don't have an opinion about a lot of things- things I don't understand or things I find boring etc. There's something that is kind of bugging me, but I can't be arsed to yack about it- time, effort, singling out someone in particular yada yada yada. Let's just say 'glory built on selfish principles is shame and guilt'....figure it out.

A thought that it's not all bad

We all have those moments where we think we aren't quite enough, from the work we do, to the person we are. Today I almost had one, but for whatever reason it rapidly changed to a positive:

Earlier today, we celebrated my co-ordinators new title of 'Professor', (my supervisor is has been a professor for many years, but in terms of paperwork is 'below' the coordinator...figure that one out, anyways I digress), so we cracked open the champagne and cake and all that....well done, yes.

It kind of puts me in that minion status, where I think, well what the hell have I done? I am a lowly Masters student, below the PhD's (who never seem to leave the lab), below the post-docs (who might as well sleep in the lab), below, well, everyone!

Ok, so this seems a self pity thing, diggin that hole, ready to jump in. However, despite the comment 'Oh I'm the only Professor in the family'..... pushing me down a notch, I thought, wait a minute: I'm not leading a completely normal life. I don't really ever sit here and think 'oh this is pants', because it never is- that would be a lie, which completely isn't just. We all want our C.V's to look impressive but I think it's the whole picture that counts. Im not going to list everything I feel I've achieved, but I can sit here with a smile on my face knowing I bet you my life the next person I meet won't have done what I've done, what I've achieved.

There's a fine line between confidence and arrogance, I'm not saying I'm 'better' (whatever that means) than the next person or that they have less status than me; I love people telling me about their achievements- a sense of pride is a great characteristic. Yet, I know I can be proud of my situation, with the knowledge of my achievements. I have a lot more to put on the list and for every small moment where those crazy thoughts come in, 'I'm not enough', all I have to do is remember where I am and what I'm doing.

p.s. 3 Doors Down are upon us Thursday in Stockholm, rock on!! Here's one from the new album:

Decorating

Oh fun! Ok, not joking too much as the last two days have been an experience: since getting our keys on friday, we've been itching to get inside to start a few things. Johanna's dad (and brother) is kindly coming up in few weeks to fix some bits such as the floor etc, in the meantime we started painting!!

So now the kitchen has a coat of the good stuff, the living room ceiling has been done twice, and some of the cupboards (like inside) are now a lovely shade of white. Our (hopefully) pride and joy (well its fun for me, may be not for a Swede) is on the side of our fridge, we've used some paint that when sets can be used as a blackboard- good for the shopping lists etc! (or may be me being a kid).

Now though, we are both bolloxed, but its pretty exciting putting our own touch in our own place!!As Johanna said to me earlier, she wouldn't have guessed she'd be in Uppsala, with her own flat, living with an Englishman....she never was any good at predicting things (good news for me !!)

Värdelös

Well this week (so far) has been two words- an experience. No it's not because I've wiped my backside for the first time by myself, done any thing to scream and shout about, simply that I've started my Master's thesis. Again, to reiterate, this is more boring than watching paint dry to some, but already I've learned a lot.

The techniques and such are a student's worst nightmare as they are actually used in 'real life'...ahh, scary thought I know, haha. With any new job/experience, I feel like a lost sheep, just wandering around, trying to get my head around what the hell is going on. Now when I'm trying to calculate what size restriction fragments I get when using EcoR1 endonuclease from a novel platypus granzyme sequence, whilst putting it in to the context of what I'm actually trying to do, yes the feeling is very much that I'm värdelös or useless in my native tongue.

But I'm not alone....meeting up with fellow Masters students who like me have started their projects this week, we can all sit there and laugh at ourselves for feeling like absolute muppets. I mean thank god my supervisor allows me to ask him 'stupid questions' with out fear of reprisal.

Ok, enough about that. I guess we all feel like newbies sometimes, I even used the wrong sellotape in my log book for feck sake!! However, if things have started this strong I'm going to learn a lot, and that can only be a good thing. I guess this challenge is actually something (that although at the time potentially sucks) I really do want. At the end of every new experience that really does take vast amounts of mental thought, I know I feel good. This goes for physical aspects too: not enough people experience that gym feeling when you've spanked it and feel like dying, yet somehow very satisfied.

On a somewhat different subject, we get our new flat keys tomorrow! It's always funny explaining to someone we are actually moving 2 floors down, note this is NOT a good band name, Mr Thorpe senior. I can't wait for a place to call our own, so in about 15 hours, this time will come!! Not much else to say, just got to try and stop Johanna getting booed off guitar hero- some things are indeed impossible.....

Guitar Hero

Ok, not the funniest post, or to some, even remotely interesting, but we bought guitar hero the other day. For those who have no idea what the hell I'm talking about, man are you behind the times. Basically you strum different combinations of notes (the lovely coloured buttons) in a analogous way to a real guitar. Easier said than done, trust me. Here's pretty much the one we've got (Aerosmith edition):

It's very addictive, and as you progress through the game you get to play more songs, unlock guitars, characters etc.

There's numerous videos posted on youtube, you know, with all the world record attempts of kids and stuff. I just randomly picked this one, please ignore the stereotypical American teenager thing going on, regardless, its impressive!

Bits and pieces

To start with something fairly amusing, this made the news headlines this morning:

Now I think a picture says a thousand words, so no story needed here. All you need to know is the burger weighed 6.8kg, the extras weighed 2.3kg and the dude pictured took 4hrs and 39mins. What I think is slightly strange is the guy doesn't look particularly weird/fat, but saying that the world champ hot dog man Takeru Kobayashi, is ripped (you have to search for yourself, but his eating habits are very funny, he almost takes 'I could eat a horse' too far).

The World Open squash competition is on at the mo, which is disappointing for me: I mean I am not patriotic and if I could I would love not be English (I don't think I can be proud of this country), however we are good at squash: we had 3 English men in the last 8, 6 in the last 16, 10 in the last 32. Its currently being played now, so will keep you posted. The women has a similar situation with 2 English ladies in the semi-final, hence a guaranteed finalist. So not only have we got significant representation in this competition, it's the WORLD OPEN and it's held in Manchester!! Yet no-one gives two shiny shits about it! BBC has no coverage, nor Sky, just some timid reports on squashsite.co.uk and a weak link if you search hard on the BBC sportpage. Justice at times, doesnt exist!

Moan over, but frustration is the name of the game. On a way more boring note (yes it's possible) the title of Masters thesis is Hematopoietic Serine Proteases: a Functional and Evolutionary Analysis......yes I hear the yawn from here, but the techniques and science behind it is very interesting, the word 'Evolutionary' would make me run away in the blink of an eye. However its interesting in terms of these serine proteases (enzymes that chops up stuff), as Im hopefully going to determine how many millions of years ago this gene diverged, as its conserved among species, from cow, dog to platypus etc. So thats part of it, ok.....probably sounds boring still, but I'm looking forward to it.

Any thing else...hmm....not really, will enter some more squash tournaments soon, we are looking forward to moving in to our new apartment. Johanna's dad and brother are tradesmen, so will come up and give it a 'make over': gunna be like those DIY programs, but less gay.

On that note, looking forward to the bulk of this weekend.....writing a minireview on epigenetics.....christ I'm doing more yawning than an insomniac on sleeping pills.

Something for the Summer

Well bizarrely (spelling?) as this came up considering it's just coming up to winter, but it's just planning ahead. But GPS (Trevor McDoogal) and I are hoping to go somewhere in Africa next year to do some volunteer work- you know help some kids,animals, plant trees etc....There are many biological studies out there, with the likes of HIV, malaria, TB etc, so a lot of patient sampling in carried out: would be sweet to help out with that. None the less it's a potential idea, just thought I'd share that with you...

Two successes

In brief: yesterday I won the Uppsala Squash Club Handicap competition, yey.

More importantly, we signed contract for our new apartment that we own. So officially I own a flat in Sweden, yey.

p.s. bizarrely our flat is exactly the same as the one we are in now- the reason? Well its two floors below us.

Vasa

Last weekend we had a visitor, who cannot be named for legal reasons (he's too old)- let's just call him Sven. Anyway, we thought we'd take Sven on a sight seeing tour of Stockholm (Well actually that wasn't the case nor did we come up with the suggestion) and ended up choosing the Vasa Museum on Djurgården.

For reasons of lack of the green stuff (even though we don't have dollars I know) is probably the tight arse reason why we didn't go in there before, but forgetting we have student discount and a frivolous Sven leading the way, we took a gander at the sight that is the Vasa.

And what a sight it was. Some 60m long and weighing a potential 1200 tonnes, this well armed, apparently brightly coloured ship stood, mostly in tact (for now at least) and had people gazing at its beauty.

Amongst the awe lies a pretty funny, albeit tragic story. Now this beast built over two years, from 1626 to 1628 was built as the pride of King Gustavus fleet, to join them fighting in the Thirty Years War (again Protestants vs Catholics...you know, the usual). However, Henrik Hybertsson (note, Dutch born-hmmm) the shipbuilder continued to build a boat, basically with no plans or design, with little ballast, meaning any lateral force (from the sides) i.e. wind, could easily tip over. Coupled with top heavy weight, this was not a good combination.

No surprises that on its maiden voyage in 1628, a gust a wind blew the thing over and it sank just a few 100m from its launch site. So the boat itself is sort of mounted on a frame and supports, but there are some major storage problems even now (which I wont go in to). Needless to say, I'm glad I've seen it and understood a little about the history and what not, especially with the idea that it could (effectively) rot away. It truelly is as useful as a handbrake in a canoe.

If only the 'engineers' who designed it would have teamed up with their fellow Volvo compatriots, then something a wee bit more reliable would have been produced, but I guess we wouldn't be seeing it in all its glory, sitting patiently on a little island in Stockholm.

P.S.

No, I don't think Johanna is stupid! It's quite amazing she understands me, yet a seemingly obvious Batman film goes slightly over the head.....Women hey- full of surprises : )

The Dark Knight

Having just spent the last 2 and a half hours watching this Batman film, Johanna turns round to me and says 'I don't get it'....Ok, what don't you get?!

Before anyone questions whether this film (being a Batman film) could be good, all I can say is watch Batman Begins, which is without a doubt the best in the franchise.......up until now anyway.

The problem with Batman is that it's slightly tainted- Batman and Robin was without doubt the worst film, not only in the Batman name, but potentially ever made.

Yet somehow this has been turned on its head, as the last two Batman films are potentially some of the best films ever made. Long gone are the days of Adam West, Michael Keaton and George Clooney as Batman. This new film has more than just 'lets beat the shit out of the badies', you really have to pay attention to the twists, the satire and the greater 'meaning' of this film.

It's truelly awesome, especially with the extra roles with Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman. Christian Bale is by far the greatest Batman and the franchise is definitely back on track and I'm sure has surpassed all critics opinions of what was another potential disaster in the making. All I can say is watch this one (preferably Batman Begins first, but not entirely necessary-well ask Johanna!!), you won't be disappointed in the slightest. Heath Ledger has done 'the Joker' justice: I'm sure you can see some truths in his character which led to his untimely downfall. Nevertheless, forget about any previous Batman or even comic book assumptions, this film is truelly one to be remembered.

A bad start but a vast improvement

Well the title appears to be a moan and then some. However this is far from the direction I want to go. Without boring the pants of you, this weekend started like, well as bad as it could: I think throughout my biology education I've avoided topics that have apparent boredom, you know, evolution, ecology, those type of things, whilst maintaining strict distance from the mind-boggling: the biochemistry type process and worst of all, genetics.

So guess what? Yup, Friday morning I sat a Medical genetics exam. For those people who know me, I give my all with most things, from sports to exams, so I wasn't going to be phased by this slight hiccup in the smoothness that is life. Out of my class, I was 2nd to finish. Lets just say, it wasn't as good as it could have been. I don't know when I get the result back, but my first question after was, 'When is the re-take?' A bad start to the weekend, oh most definitely. But boy did it change.

It might be an appropriate time now to mention, this weekend was Johanna's birthday. I think birthdays are times we try and forget about (well after about 15!). It doesn't bode well when 18 year olds are now born in 1990!! I do occasionally remind Johanna she's not far off the 30 mark and that she's a craddle snatcher, haha.

I should also mention this weekend was mine and Johanna's 1 year engagment anniversary.......ok, I can't lie- it's gone fast and yes, I've enjoyed (almost!) every minute of it. I'm definitely one of the luckiest people on this planet.

Well what did I get Johanna for her birthday you ask? No it wasn't the cliche flowers, chocolates, perfume etc etc, all useless presents I know. I got her a sneaky trip to Helsinki instead. For most Swedes, they can't really understand why anyone would go to Finland. I guess it's what Wales/Scotland/Ireland is to England. The language isn't particularly attractive, the proximity to Russia doesn't bode well and it's quoted as the most expensive country in Europe. Good choice Mike, good choice.

After my excruciating exam, we shifted down to Stockholm, where we boarded a boat almost as old as me (courtesy of Viking Line). Not without it's charm and middle aged alcholics, buying crates and crates of tax free alcohol, we found our cosy cabin, ready for the over night trip to Finlands capital.

Being the romantic in the relationship, I bought the cliche bubbly (ok, sparkling wine was all I could afford), check this out:

After a celebratory drink or two, we had an early night ready for a long stroll in the morning. Having no real expectation of Helsinki, it was quite refreshing to go there mostly unbiased and make up my own mind.

First thoughts were good (and no it didn't change!): much like Stockholm it's all surrounded by water, full of buildings similar in size and design. Although lacking in tall, leggy blondes (more angry looking Russian types....ok, there's only partial truth in that), I was expecting a burger to cost as much as it did in Dublin, you know around 20 friggin Euros and it wasn't far off, but slightly cheaper.

The main Cathedral is quite spectacular:

The lay out of the city is compact and well structured, everything (as they say) is where it should be. So after a good 8 hours of non stop strolling, it was time to jump back on the love boat. Of special note after we'd gone to a reptile place (I like snakes etc...yeah I'm weird, whatever.), Johanna officially fell in love with someone else......a 3 month old Bernese Mountain dog puppy, who was standing there all fluffy, just outside the reptile house.....the definition of 'opposites' came to mind.

After another night on the beast of the seas, we arrived fresh faced (officially Johanna's birthday) in Stockholm and what a day it was: perfect blue sky, perfect crispy temperature and perfect company. We had breakfast and all that malarcky, more walking and more pictures.

To summarize is tough, Johanna ordering 'a Newky' on the boat to a Finnish barman was midly amusing. I did tell her afterwards, it's just an English phrase....It's been a year of official engagment and I have no complaints. It's hard to write something all lovey dovey without sounding like a tit, so I won't try.

If this weekend is a fair reflection of what's to come, I definitely have no complaints about my future. 'I've done well' is more than appropriate and I honestly couldn't ask for more. I've got a beautiful, intelligent fiancee.....older woman and all that (grrr.....). It's not hard to enjoy our time together and I can't wait for the 2 year anniversary.......

Just a quick stupid report

The latest thing on Sky News (literally just happened) is a man has died whilst getting assaulted in prison. Shock you may say? Well not really.

For starters he's in jail (well technically he's probably in a morgue now), so no sob story here. He was probably some murderer/drug dealer type person (Im sure the details will be revealed) so fair play I say. You get your just desserts (Classic phrase I know).

The report made me laugh because the opening lines are 'A man has died after being seriously assaulted in prison. Police are treating the incident as murder.'

What genius figured that out?!! A man dies and they are treating it as 'murder', well put a barge pole up my ass and call me George. Of course it's friggin murder!! He's bloody dead!!

However, this line can be surpased by the finishing sentence: 'Two men have been arrested and are being questioned'. Amazing- you can actually get arrested while in prison....what are the odds of that?!

What the hell happens to you after you get arrested in prison? Is it some weird reverse psychology where they actually release you? Do you get locked up in a smaller room? What do you do with a person that gets arrested in prison?!

Well ship them out to Iraq I say, what's the easiest way to deal (a related issue here) with an overcrowded prison? Easy: you lower the inmates right? Conscription is one option but why not kill the bastards? They choose to do whatever they want, so their punishment should be likewise. I guess the government has lost their kahoonas. In the meantime, lets stay amused with lame reports from the Sky News team.....great job

Andy Murray

No he's definitely no Björn Borg but he is Britains best. I thought this quote was quite funny actually. It was regarding his runners up spot at the US open: "I know mentally now that I can get to a Slam final, and physically. The only thing it comes down to is the tennis." Did someone tell him his profession is tennis? 'the only thing it comes down to is the tennis' erm......slight problem there then. Oh you grumpy Scottish wee Jock Mcplop

Music and such

Just doing our usual tonight, you know, chilling, watching Old School (sooo funny), playing on the wii (no Johanna wasn't beating me) and listening to some tuneskies.

Interestingly enough Johanna found a band I used to listen to called Millencolin, who unbeknownst to me are indeed meatballish (Swedish for non natives). They are kind of punky and actually listening to the guy sing, it's fairly logical that he sings like a Swede (you can just tell somethings 'wrong'- you know).

So between us we tried to come up with a list of famous Swedish bands etc. We didn't get far, but again surprising to me, Eric Prydz is a Volvo driver. Yes, the 'talented' song stealing bastard (Ok, the video is good) reminded me about the class English act (Ok, he's a Brummie, so only half English) he robbed: the legend that is Steve Winwood. Now most of my generation even thinks Eric Prydz's song is most definitely his own: that Take That wrote and in no way shape or form stole EVERY single song they 'sang'.

But in that magical year of 1982 (yes when I was almost concieved) one Steve Winwood blew us away with this:



May be blown away isn't quite the right word. It only reached #51 in UK charts, which is actually quite pants. Nonetheless it has become a cult classic, thanks (but no thanks)to Mr. Prydz.

However, this hero of a singer actually had 5 number 1's in the states, which is no mean feat. I mean the Beatles (however crap I think they are) didn't conquer the states. To do such a feat is worthy of great honours, yet no-one seems to know about such things: just a mere shadow of 3 words that Mr. Prydz has butchered, 'call on me'.

Who else is on the hero list from Sweden then? Well ABBA, Roxette, Ace of Base, Europe and the Cardigans are the big 5. (Shamefull Europe are in there I know). Then for the younger generation we have The Hives, Millencolin and Basshunter, Eagle Eye Cherry (sort of), sadly stuff some Brits might know like the Ark or Mando Diao. That's about it though.

Well it's not all doom and gloom is it? Well probably, but hey, what can you do? On a slightly more varied note, we've been trying to find some examples of weird accents from around the World (it sees fitting as I'm on an international Masters taught in English) so we went on line and found some classics here. (Just play around with different countries etc)

Spurring us on to hear how stupid we sound, both me and Johanna read passages in English from her book- yes we recorded them (I should put Johanna's on here-classic!) and had a giggle. For some weird reason Johanna tends to read words that aren't actually there....may be it's a boredom thing or just wants to make it more exciting, needless to say if she was a reporter, she'd definitely be good working somewhere like at Aftonbladet (The Sun equivalent): you know, making up stories.

Don't worry, it's my turn soon- I'll be reading Swedish at a 4 year old level, in the mean time, another classic from Sir (I made that bit up) Steve Winwood

Semi nostalgia

Ok, not really, more of a Caroline music moment (with the lyrics etc). A song about not appreciating life, well sort of. May be that we don't even realize what's around us.

Just to clarify

For those Swedes (mentioning no names ahem, Johanna) 'snaps' are pictures NOT snaps as in schnapps (in English). You cannot drink what the camera produces Johanna.

Camera

We've got a new toy (me and J this time). No funny story, and no it's not a sex toy. It's a Canon Eos 1000D and it's awesome. I'm new to the SLR market, now this isn't the top one, but not half bad. It's better than any standard digital camera and we've been playing around with it tonight. Off to Stockholm this weekend for some snaps and will post some soon : )

Boarding

Don't ask me why but I'm in the mood right now. Check out a semi inspiring vid: the riders are ok, some of the tricks are pretty smooth. Johanna can do most now : )

Gymin' it

Ahh yes, back to the gym. Having not gone to the gym in England, more content with other bits, we've literally just caned it. Straight after an hour sesh of running and weights, my groin has decided to tighten up, probably comparable to an anaconda squeezing the life from its prey. In other words walking has suddenly become a non-natural phenomenon and I look like I've got a severe case of retardation.

Ok, so it's not that bad, all part of the training for our little marathon : ) It feels good to push the envelope and all that. I'll be back on the squash court in no time too. Bring it on.......well after my groin has decided to relax a bit- could be a while......

Here's a video of me earlier today. Yes I've changed a bit over the summer. Please ignore the title screen, it's meant to say Mike Thorpe not Gene Rychlak and it wasn't in 2006- don't believe everything you read on the internet

Spoke too soon

Apparently there is a postage problem so it could be that the whole order has been cancelled. Trying to contact the sender, hmmm.....

Creative Mozaic

It's that time again when technology faulters and you have to dip in to your pocket to buy the next new thing.

With a limited budget and a need for a new MP3 player I had a look at some in the shops here in Uppsala. Needless to say the prices are relatively high, so had a look on the usual (www.play.com etc) and found a bargain on ebay. Now to be perfectly honest, ebay can be as safe as US friendly fire in Iraq, but as long as there isn't such things as I' only accept cash 'etc, you can find a bargain.

I've bought new snowboards for absolute peanuts, and now I've found a new toy, a 2GB Creative Mozaic:

My reasoning for this purchase? Well my computer to which my Ipod is/was registered is dead, which means I can no longer add songs to the bloody thing (only bought ones from Itunes, as you can't register an old Ipod twice-all very complicated). I've got some 4500 songs on my Ipod, but can't be bothered to move them on to a new Ipod or big memory player (both time and money). So for 30 quid (instead of 50 rrp) I've got this little beast so can just add new albums but more likely my fave songs (I have a huge hard drive- not sexual in any way, with all the songs on).

Providing I haven't been robbed blind, I should have it in a few days: we shall see.......

Back in action

Well the good news- we're back in the land of the blonde, we're unpacked and I have a few days to chill. The bad......well none really.

As boring as it to talk about, the weather is fantastic (as in you don't need swimming shorts when you go out), we've done some fodda shopping and it honestly doesn't feel like we've been away.

There is no aprehension, no anxiety, no such things at all. We've come fresh off the back of a trip to Ireland, Dublin to be precise. My thoughts on this?

For starters, being a tight arsed grumpy Englishman- it was expensive. It's a complete rarity to get back to England and think Marks and Sparks is cheap. Ok, it was comparable to London say. Pints were over 5 euro, food was a tad on the millionaires side, but still I'm not complaining really.

Although not a particularly attractive place: I mean it still feels a bit rough and ready, like it's still heavily based on industry- the industry of drinking I mean. The Guinness factory dominates the grey, Georgian terraced places. The main bar area 'Temple Bar' is very nice, cosy and full of some classic pubs, Irish dancing and black stuff is found at every drinking establishment.

The Irish accent was obscure enough to put Johanna in a state of confusion, while a kind gentleman asking 'Are you lost?' in more a 'R ya's lawst' type fashion, momentarily shocked me thinking he was asking us for a car wash.

I would love to post some photos of the place: We had a pint in the Guinness Storehouse, where it's brewed and manufactured, we tried proper pints of Kilkenny, Smithwick's, Bulmers cider, whilst dabbling in Bailey's coffee (Johanna obviously) and some local brews. The slight problem is our camera managed to lose itself (or it got stolen, we don't know). We have no pics I'm afraid, the memories lay in our head.

So yes, if you don't drink then this place probably isn't for you. It's definitely not a Prague (in terms of beauty) or a Stockholm, but does have some Irish charm.

Next on the list is Helsingfors or Helsinki to the untrained linguist (no jokes here you sick puppies).

On a slightly different note, I've got the new Trapt album and what a little gem it is. Check out 'Black Rose'. (The video hasn't been made, so just listen to the song!)



That's it for now, I've already had some proper homemade meatballs courtesy of Johanna's mum so can cross that off the list, think that Swedish massage is just around the corner : )

Home

The shortest post ever, will update tomorrow, but we are home in Uppsala : )

Home, sweet home

But a week until my return (well with Johanna too) to Sweden. Am I excited? Oh yes.

There isn't actually much to say, partly boredom that I write this, may be the fact that I'm working at 3pm until lock later, that I have a couple of hours to chill out.

And chill out I must: after yesterdays marathon sessions of tennis at 7.30am (I ran there too!), followed by squash, swimming, jacuzzi and 9 holes of wet golf in the evening. I guess it all helps in preparation for the marathon (the real one I mean) next year.

It won't be a week (just 4 more days) until I'm off to Dublin to witness the goings on of those crazy Irish people. Then, in just over a month, we're off for a cheeky excursion to the land of the Fin (that's Finland for people who can't put Fin and land together). These little trips and experiences are what makes life; gathering little pieces of countries and seeing what else there is to offer is definitely the way forward.

Well what else? As soon as we're are back in my fiancees home country we're staying in Gothenburg for some fun: There is an Alton Towers type theme park (before you say anything, no it's not as chavtastic, lame, crap, pants as Alton Towers, which is potentially the worst theme park ever. To the MD of Alton Towers: take a look at Florida, California, Vegas attractions and parks), named Liseberg.

We've got the potential of moving apartment when we are back; literally just down the road. No, it isn't because we're fed up with what we've got. It's because we are sub-letting off someone, who potentially at any time in the near future could say 'I want to move back in', meaning that's us done- there isn't too much security apart from 3 months notice. We shall see.

Apologies for no funnies, no stories, not a terribly exciting post I know. I'm watching some of the Olympics, but it's actually quite boring at times: The BBC coverage only shows GB athletes, which are few and far between as we all know. What's more impressive: the Chinese squads (both male and female) winning the gymnastics competition or team GB getting a third in horse riding, where ultimately the horse does all the work- lets see those posh twats jump over 2m hurdles with a person on their back....I think not.

We seem to reward mediocracy (yes I know they are in the Olympics). Isn't the Olympics supposed to highlight the global state of these sports, not just another British athlete coming 4th?

I think it's hilarious that when we do well the athlete is 'British' (or 'English' if indeed they are), when we lose they then become 'Northern Irish, Scottish or Welsh', haha. Man does this country take what it can get....

Just a thought

Don't ask me why I suddenly thought of this. Am reading The Hitchiker's Guide To The Galaxy and interestingly this popped up:

"The argument goes something like this: "I refuse to prove that I exist," says God, "for proof denies faith, and without faith I am nothing."

If this was the case, and God did exist, would he/she/it/whatever be classed as a dictator? It's a matter of opinion what constitutes right and wrong, so all these battles, wars of the passed (not involving Nazi's etc, but throughout even English history say) based on religion, would these Kings etc (God representatives) not be dictators in the same way as Mussolini or Hitler: providing God was proven to be real? Being that he/she/it/whatever doesn't (in terms of proof) it seems like it's justification to fight etc.

Or if there was this God character is real form, would many people follow them? Faith is a funny thing.

New Forest Show and a Marathon

My titles don't seem to be very mind blowing, albeit confusing at times. In this case, they are two distinct events.

We had complimentary New Forest tickets from Ringwood Brewery (guess what that meant?) on Tuesday 29th. Again, a complete new experience for myself and of course Johanna.

The next thing is a Marathon, the 2009 Stockholm marathon to be exact. Yes, we've both entered it, with Johanna probably thinking 'it sounded like a good idea at the time'.....

We're looking at training regimes and getting our footwear all sorted when we get back to Sweden. We have 10months or so to get on, bearing in mind we are pretty fit at the mo! (If I can do the New Forest half marathon with no training in 1hr 49mins, then theres always hope) Will keep you posted on how things are going. Why are we doing it? Well the charity thing doesn't happen in Sweden, it's definitely pride and to say, well 'I've run a marathon' is to me a great thing. While we are young right?

Ok, just a little note on the show. Firstly, being VIP's we needed to dress up, check out how beautiful my lady is:

Note the cider, haha. Secondly, I just want to tell you how much was on display there!! From cattle shows, to wood-chopping, from flower shows to horse parades, it had a lot of classically British things. Lots of local foods, animals, gifts.....too much to summarize, but again I'm very glad I went: Considering it has 100,000 peope visit it in 3 days, it must be worth something. We had free food and drink all day (no we didn't get slaughtered), had a laugh and probably the biggest thing-we went on a SouthWest train, haha. It was on time and didn't de-rail. Again, another day of firsts- I definitely think despite my harsh criticism of this place, we are making the most of it. Just 2.5 weeks until Ireland, then on to Sverige...yey!

For some inspiration, check out this little video;

Levi

Levi, no not a pair of jeans, but my Godmothers mothers labrador. A soppy excuse for a mean hunting dog, no fear, complete obedience......haha, not quite.

I don't know the history or reasoning behind the name, regardless, we've been walking him for a bit whilst the owner is on holiday. There's no story here, just a video of our doggy friend.

Meet Your Navy

Before anyone questions sexuality or thinks I'm talking about the Village People, you are unfortunately wrong.

In Portsmouth, down by the boat yard, there was a rather large collaboration of current Naval vessels and a whole host of Navy related things. Now, I'm not a huge fan of all this sea going stuff. Don't get me wrong, I love the sea, boats etc, but just the armed forces doesn't hugely interest me.

However, I was pleasantly surprised to be honest. I love the history of the old ships there. We had a good old look onboard H.M.S. Warrior, Argyll and a couple of others. We saw the old Mary Rose, all sprayed up (similar technology for conserving as the Vasa in Stockholm) and really enjoyed the day, despite the sailors all dressed up (Ok, just kidding).

Interestingly, or not so, after we popped next door to Gunwharf Quays- a modern shopping centre, based to me, on a very American design. All outlet shops at not quite US prices, but a neat place really.

For those who don't know, I was very in to my mountain bike trials riding. Due to knee problems, time, other interests etc, I don't really do much now, but by coincidence, there was the Animal bike tour- basically 2 blokes including Martin Ashton whos a quality trials rider and his dirt jumper mate, which seems to change from time to time.

So another little surprise was to find them set up in the shopping mall. I can't begin to explain how good these guys are, but just to give you a little insight, check out this video:

So just a word of warning, more just to keep an open mind. I wasn't expecting much from a load of sailors and boats, but as it turns out, the thought of blowing planes from skies, shooting a few badies and jumping on metal frames with a bike never felt so good.