Are you confused about climate change? Do you think it is really happening and is the result of what humans have been up to? If you are confused you are in good company. A recent survey for the Times newspaper found that three in five people did not agree that climate change was largely down to us – human beings. Interestingly the same survey found that four in five people did believe the Earth’s climate was changing and warming up.

So people seem to be saying the world is warming up but we’re probably – or might not be – to blame. Looking at media coverage of climate change this weekend ahead of the Copenhagen Summit you can see why folks might be slightly sceptical.

There are stories of dirty dealing over raw data that might undermine the argument that climate change is happening and is down to people, allegations too of cover-up and leaked emails. Coverage is still being given to the launch by Lord Lawson – the former Conservative Chancellor – of the Global Warming Policy Foundation. Its purpose, “ … to bring reason, integrity and balance to a debate that has become seriously unbalanced, irrationally alarmist, and all too often depressingly intolerant”. The Sunday Times has devoted its entire magazine to climate change.

I ought to declare a prior interest here. Before joining the Commission I was an archaeologist. Specifically, my field was the stone age – running from our earliest ancestors through to when humans started to farm. What my research told me was that the climate has gone through significant cycles of change throughout the history of our species. Climate change sceptics point to this history as a reason not to worry about the unarguable evidence that our world is warming up.

Now I’m not a climatologist but neither are many of the high-profile climate change sceptics. But I’ll drop two uncontested facts from an article by Bryan Appleyard in the Sunday Times magazine into this debate.

Firstly, there are more people. In 1750 there were 800 million people on the planet. Now there are almost 7 billion of us. One of the key survival strategies that our species has used through time is movement. We tend to run away from danger. Well there’s now far less shoulder room to allow all those affected by climate change to up sticks and move.

Secondly, getting here from the industrial revolution has meant putting half a trillion tons of carbon into the atmosphere. So, 250 years to get through this first half a trillion tons of carbon. On present trends it will take us 40 years to get through the next half a trillion. Which is a more reasonable position? To think that this won’t have an impact or to think it will?

St Augustine was not talking about climate change when he asked the Lord to delay making him virtuous but the quote sums up some of the debate. We know we have to do something but do we have to do yet just yet?

A more modern version might be the late, great Douglas Adam’s Somebody Else’s Problem Field. This effect allows you to hide something in plain sight because it’s somebody else’s problem. This means that you can ignore it. I thought he made it up but there’s plenty of evidence that suggests that people actually do this.

Even if there’s not a scientific or moral case for reducing our individual and corporate impact on the environment there’s clearly a value for money reason. Using resources like land or energy more efficiently is going to cost us all less in the long run. This holds good too for public services. We’ve now widened our work on how public services manage the resources they use.

We are looking for the first time at how they manage the natural resources that they use. In doing so we’re interested in answering three big questions. How organisations understand and quantify their use of natural resources and can identify the main influencing causes. How organisations manage performance to reduce their impact on the environment. How organisations manage the environmental risks they face, working effectively with partners.

In our Oneplace launch next week we’ll be reporting our findings on how public sector bodies manage natural resources. The assessments place importance on more than systems and processes. What we want to see and hear about is the difference that is being made on the ground. People will be able to look at how their local public services are doing and compare them against what is happening elsewhere in England.

As I wrap up this post I’m hearing stories of emergency flood evacuations in Knaresborough. For many of us facing more frequent severe weather events I wonder if being good tomorrow may not be soon enough.

Chelsea Clinton and Marc Mezvinsky (on right)

Chelsea Clinton, daughter of former president Bill Clinton and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, will be marrying her Jewish boyfriend Marc Mezvinsky. He officially proposed over the Thanksgiving holiday. Mezvinsky has some political leniage as well with both parents being former United States Representatives. Marc Mezvinsky currently works at Goldman-Sachs and has known Chelsea for about 16 years. Chelsea has no current plans to convert to Judaism from what we know of. But if Marc and Chelsea’s attendance at services on the High Holy Days at the JTS in New York(A Conservative affiliated seminary) tells about Marc’s observance level or if he wants a Conservative affiliated Rabbi to officiate, then plans for conversion may be on the list for Chelsea. This is because of USCJ’s long stance against officiating at intermarriage ceremonies. Chelsea Clinton is a Methodist.

My mum and sister donning my latest designs while out on my graduation day.

Brock University hosted the Brock Cup as part of an OUA swim meet held on Saturday; with universities Laurentian, Queens, McMaster, Trent, Wilfrid Laurier, and York in attendance.

Cd

L’année dernière Louis Vuitton avait recouvert la façade de son magasin situé sur la 5ème avenue de New York avec l’imprimé monogramme dessiné par l’artiste Takashi Murakami.
Cette année, la façade est inspiré des tampons déssinés par Ruben Toledo sur les city-guides de la marque pour les villes de Miami, New York, Los Angeles, Paris, Londres, Mumbai et Rome.

Des vitrines saisonnières, “Home for the Holidays” ont été installés évoquant l’esprit de voyage, la signature du malletier parisien,
ces vitrines ont été pensées par Noémie Goudal et David Steinhorst, étudiants au St Martin College of Art and Design à Londres!

Depuis le 23 Novembre, le site www.departures.vuitton.com vous permet de répondre à la question “Où votre journée vous mènera t’elle?”, quelques réponses seront ainsi sélectionnées et apparaîtront sur les panneaux annoncant les départs comme ce que l’on peut trouver dans les aéroports ou stations de trains, pendant le mois de Décembre.

Source: www.louisvuitton.com

Ignacio Lozano you are “Extrodinary’s Finest” straight brilliance. Thanks Ye. Imagine doing a video decked out in this, why am I hyped-up all of a sudden?

So, the Supreme Court says that Wal Mart was alright to have shut down one of their Quebec locations in 2005 right as the store was trying to unionize.

A Wal-Mart, in case you didn't know what one looked like...

Good on ‘em. I would have been all for the power of unions…..100 years ago.

Now I’ve never worked for Wal-Mart, so I couldn’t say,  but as to my knowledge the corporate philosophy is to treat the employees well above par. So why would they want to unionize?

The bigger question is, why should Wal-Mart stand for it? Call me crazy, but hey, the Supreme Court agrees with me.

And for the record, if anyone’s wondering where my hostility towards unions comes from, I happen to be a York strike survivor. Let’s just say I’m not joining anything CUPE as long as I can avoid it.

It was really heartwarming when winter set in and they were still outside

Jessica's amazing pram .. . a beautiful addition to the photographs

On the 6th November I travelled to York to photograph Sarah, Geoff and their gorgeous little girl Jessica.  I had such a great time working with this family, capturing a variety of  images inside and outside their home. We even got the family dogs and cats in a few shots!  We used natural backgrounds mixed with studio lighting throughout this shoot and captured a huge variety of photographs  that I am really excited to show the family next week.

Sarah & Geoff, I hope you like your sneak preview! and I’ll see you soon …

Making use of the family farmland!

Jessica, all snuggly in her winter coat. (it was freezing outside!)

"wheres my lunch then?"

Jessica having a giggle in her cot!

Bendy legs!!

Sarah having a squeeze of her scrumptious cat

To see more portraits taken on location please visit the gallery, click here

]]> http://bikeclub.org.uk/2009/11/27/a-good-day/ Fri, 27 Nov 2009 10:14:52 +0000 Patrick Carr http://bikeclub.org.uk/2009/11/27/a-good-day/

Evocative scenes from the Newcastle to Carlisle train I took today (I went to see Damian) brought back some great memories of a bike ride I did a couple of summers ago, along Hadrian’s Wall east to west, then down the Cumbrian coast, and back along the well travelled C2C route.

The downhill stretch into Haltwhistle where the road shares a railway cutting; a spot where we stopped to bodge a gear cable repair using tools borrowed from a garage; I even recognised a level crossing in Low Row, near the top of a hill with a welcome pub just around the corner.

The memories came flooding back: the dodgy accommodation which, though cheap, added miles to our journey, as did the “creative” ways the National Cycle Network seeks out beautiful, quiet stretches of road. There was even an ill-advised dip in the Irish Sea during a delirious attempt to reach Maryport.

Not sure that Bike Club seeks to replicate such experiences, rather to allow young people to create their own adventures. It’s a beautiful world out there. Days like these serve to remind people like me of the reasons we do this fantastic job.

The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade is a national holiday tradition, and has been so for the past 83 years, and this year the tradition continued.

This year, the parade route returns to its roots with it ending at 34th street right in front of the Macy’s store. This is different than it has been in recent years.

 There is a list of performers that include Katharine McPhee, Jane Krakowski, and we have Spiderman, Kermit and Spongebob floating down the parade route. Ziggy Marley, the son of the legendary Reggae singer Bob Marley, performed a song with his daughter on a float decorated as a pirate ship.

Ziggy Marley and Daughter awaiting performance at Macy Thanksgiving Day Parade today

 Ziggy performed his new song ”It’s Family Time” while holding his daughter in his arms so she could reach the mike…very cute.

Katharine McPhee, sporting her new sassy blonde ‘do, performed her new single “Had It All.” Jane Krakowski performed a Christmas tune. She may play a ditzy spoiled celeb on “30 Rock,” but in real-life Krakowski is quite the songbird.

Teen superstar Miley Cyrus made an exuberant appearance waving to her throngs of excited fans that lined the parade route waiting patiently for the international superstar. She looked great, in light of the bush crash tragedy that killed her long time tour bus driver this past friday. Today was much happier times for her.

The Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade aired on CBS and NBC at noon ET/9 am PT.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING…NOW GO EAT….

Last winter almost 3500 more pensioners in Yorkshire and Humberside died than in the non-winter months. Almost 3,500 deaths. This figure is around 50 per cent higher than the same figures for 2007/08.  Same as the national picture that Age Concern described as a national scandal. Winter always hits older people hardest. Diseases like flu are at their most virulent. Falls are more common too. But last winter brought a ‘double-whammy’ of normal winter weather and high fuel costs.

In my part of the world there are extra reasons that make winter harder to deal with. While old houses are full of character they are often full of draughts too making them difficult and expensive to keep warm. North Yorkshire and York are full of older houses. The countryside is wonderful to look at but expensive to run gas pipelines across. Country homes are often dependent on solid fuels or bottled gas or oil to keep them warm.

Both York and North Yorkshire have prioritised the needs of older people. This age group is making up a greater part of the population in both areas. Taking on fuel poverty – people spending more than 10 per cent of their income on fuel – is important for local partners. In York they have included national indicator (NI187) in their local area agreement with government. This indicator measures the percentage of people on income based benefits who live in the least and most energy efficient homes.

York performs better on this indicator than many other areas locally and nationally. But around 4600 York households live in fuel poverty. Partners in the city are working on this and we will follow their progress. But York provides an interesting contrast with its rural neighbour – North Yorkshire.

Across North Yorkshire the proportion of people claiming benefits who live in the least energy efficient homes runs around double the figure in York. This reflects the problems in providing access to cheaper fuel like mains gas and the problems in making older housing more energy efficient. This problem of energy efficiency shows through in the figures for benefit claimants living in the most energy efficiency homes. This runs around half the figure for York.

It’s a complicated picture. Clearly making people wealthier will have an impact. As incomes grow then – all things being equal – the proportion of their income which gets spent on fuel will reduce. Why the caution? Well, this holds true if fuel prices remain stable. But fuel prices last winter rose rapidly. Domestic oil reached 60 pence a litre or more. Liquid petroleum gas for homes also rose rapidly in price and it was only in April 2009 that customers with the largest permanent tanks got the right to switch suppliers.

In some rural areas local public bodies have been encouraging community energy generation schemes. Such schemes can reduce both costs and CO2 emissions. Schemes include using water-power from the many rivers and streams in the area. In Harrogate the Council is using ground source heating to provide heating to some of its housing. Using community woodland as a fuel source is also being tried. Community energy projects also bring communities together in a common purpose in a way that doesn’t often.

Partners have also been focusing on the problem from the other direction. Making homes more energy efficient. We have seen many projects both national and local that are starting to tackle this side of the problem. For older housing this means insulation where possible but also draught-proofing.

Of course many of these approaches also reduce the CO2 emissions for these communities and both North Yorkshire and York are working on reducing these as one of their priorities. So this is a case of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts. A virtuous circle.

Our new web site – oneplace – will give people a chance to see where real progress is being made on this through our Green Flags. Meantime we will be looking at how things are developing in North Yorkshire and York. As I write the forecast is for falling temperatures and wintry showers. We are getting closer to the bleak midwinter. But maybe it will be less bleak and warmer for some than it might have been.

So it occurred to me that I gots the opinions and that and what better way to share them than blogging endlessly in to the ether? Anyway, I decided to resurrect my wordpress blog because its way cooler than the old blogspot one and it’s much prettier to boot. This was inspired by some much more communicative friends of mine who write thought-provoking things, some of which I have to say I agree with more than others.

There has been much debate recently on gender equality issues. A housemate of mine is actively involved in the YUSU Women’s committee which I think is great. I’m all in favour of anybody asserting their rights and assembling to protect their interests and ensure that they are treated fairly and with respect. The only slight issue is if it goes too far the other way – but it seems to me at least that oldskool militant feminism has given way to a more mature and equality-centred feminism which is nice.

Another issue for me is gender equality and representation within the church. Without making up any statistics, it is easy to observe the relatively small proportion of men who regularly attend church, but I have had the good fortune to be involved with several churches which seem to be bucking that trend. Some wise words on the subject were penned by David Murrow in his book ‘Why Men Hate Going to Church’ (which has a site here). Anyway, I was quite surprised earlier by a blog post which seemed to me to be suggesting that church based activities specifically for men are of little or no value.

At this stage I must pause to say that I love the church. I know it is made up of flawed individuals – sinners, all of us – but I believe it has the potential to bring the hope of salvation to humanity. Which is nice. I think that the church functions best when it’s membership is both diverse and united. (As an aside, this is why I have chosen to be involved predominantly with St Michael Le Belfrey, York rather than the University of York Christian Union – although they do some ace things too). So, diversity and unity ftw. However, in order to have a diverse membership it is necessary to appeal to a wide demographic. There has been commentary recently on the feminization of church which I think is a shame. There is absolutely nothing wrong with church activities that specifically appeal to females – in fact, great! – however when this is to the exclusion of men, who fail to see the appeal then we have a problem.

Paul explains how the church functions as a body and requires all of its parts to do so effectively. Therefore I would advocate that any activity which brings people in to the church and in to greater fellowship with each other and provides the framework for trust and teaching and support is great. Activities with the whole church, the ‘corporate worship’ stuff, it’s mint – we recognise each other’s differences but rejoice in our common goal of praising God. Activities with a select group based on an age range, gender, taste etc – it’s also great, perhaps we can learn form people who have had similar experiences to ourselves or form relationships with those to whom we find it easy to relate.

Update: Reading the comments of the afore referenced post has produced some very interesting banter. Especially the wise words of Mr. D Burton (more of which can be found here – well worth a read dear friends.). Perhaps the closing words on the subject should be these – and a reminder that in all of this we should be striving for unity.

New York, and the surrounding area, is usually seen as a powerhouse area for professional sports.  When you hear of New York City sports, you think of the 27 Yankee World Series Championships and the multiple Super Bowls that the Jets and the Giants have won.  The Mets have even been good at times.

And that brings us to the NBA.  New York has arguably the two worst teams in the league, the New Jersey Nets and the New York Knicks.  The Knicks are a dismal 3-13, and get blown out pretty much any day of the week.  It gets even worse with the Nets.  Turmoil on the team and massive amounts of injuries have left the Nets winless this season.  That’s right, winless.

It seems that these two teams should be the brightest spots of the NBA.  They are in the biggest city in the country, and have quite a bit of money available to them.  But they just can’t break their respective curses.

But there is some light at the end of the tunnel.  The Knicks have been rumored for years to be in the running for Lebron James, once his contract expires in Cleveland.  And for New Jersey, the injuries will pass with time.  But for now, it’s tough to like basketball in the city of New York.

Posted by Ben

By Cara Sulieman

A WINDSWEPT Susan Boyle breezed back into Scotland yesterday (Wed) after making a flying visit to America to launch her debut album.

And with her first disc ‘I Dreamed A Dream’ already going down a storm in the charts, SuBo said the outlook had never looked sunnier.

Sheltering from rain and gales with her trademark hair protected by a hood, she wandered around her locals shops almost unnoticed at first back in her West Lothian hometown of Blackburn.

Sporting a bright red scarf – complete with a badge of her pet cat Pebbles – she was eventually stopped by overjoyed friends and school children keen to welcome the star back home.

“Brilliant”

But she admitted her new jet-set lifestyle had left her a little bleary eyed.

Smiling Susan, 48, said: “I got back from America this morning and am a little jet lagged. New York was absolutely brilliant.”

Asked how promoting the new album was going, she grinned broadly, and said: “I hope everyone likes it.”

The Britain’s Got Talent performer protected herself from the elements with a light cream waterproof jacket.

But there was no hiding her new found celebrity when she was spotted by school kids eager to take her picture on their phones.

Breaking records

Despite looking tired, the star still took her time to talk to the kids, before walking home in the rain.

SuBo sold more than 130,000 copies of her album in the first day when it was released on Monday.

The Britain’s Got Talent Star is also widely rumoured to be outstripping the rest of the week’s top five albums combined.

If she sells more than 363,735 copies by Sunday – she will go down in history as having the fastest selling debut album in UK history.

The record was previously set by the Arctic Monkeys’ when they released ‘Whatever People Say I Am’ in January 2006.

See more of our pictures at our Flickr site and videos at our dedicated channel,  Deadline TV.

Just a very quick post to remind all you crafty folk out there that there’s  FLARE contemporary crafts market on this Sunday (29 Nov) in York in the chapel at York Cemetery.  We’ll be heading down there in the early afternoon to see what stall holders have on offer and have a bit of a manic Christmas shopping shop!  Rather handily, there were lots of cakes last time, so we can have a cuppa and relax before, during , afterwards…….!

Hope to see you there – if you do go along, let us know what you bought!

FUENTE | abc.es

Una nueva especie de camaleón, desconocida hasta el momento, acaba de ser descubierta casualmente en Tanzania por un grupo de biólogos de la Universidad de York mientras estudiaban monos en el bosque de Magombera. El hallazgo se produjo cuando los científicos molestaron a una serpiente que estaba devorando a uno de estos novedosos camaleones.
El extraño ejemplar, de unos 15 cm, fue recogido, analizado y comparado con otros dos hallados previamente en la misma zona. Tras comprobar que efectivamente se trataba de una nueva especie, fue bautizado como Kinyongia magomberae (el camaleón de Magombera). Andrew Marshall, que fue el primero en ver al camaleón, ha asegurado que «descubrir una especie nueva es un acontecimiento muy poco corriente, por lo que su identificación y la posterior elección de un nombre es algo realmente excitante».
El animalito se diferencia de otros camaleones, entre otras características, por la distribución de las escamas de su cabeza y por la forma de su apéndice nasal.
La selva de Magombera es uno de los lugares con mayor diversidad biológica de la Tierra. Marshall y su equipo, en efecto, han descubierto ya un gran número de nuevas especies en la zona, desde ranas y musarañas a moluscos y ciempiés.
Toda una riqueza biológica que Marshall intenta preservar. El bosque, sin embargo, no está considerado como «área protegida» por el gobierno tanzano y los investigadores consideran que se encuentra en grave riesgo de desaparición a causa del desarrollo urbanístico e industrial de la zona.

Compartir:

Url: http://elboligrafo.es/2009/11/25/nueva-especie-camaleon/

Can’t seem to shake this Jay-Z bug I have.  Everything I’ve tried has not shaken it. Has anyone else been having problems with trying to get away from the Blueprint 3? It’s cocky, it’s real, it’s Jay-Z at his best.  It’s late and random thoughts keep occuring. Check it out and hear it for yourselves. You will not be disapointed.

So I’m writing this on a train to London’s King Cross Station.  Once I get there, I’ll be transferring to the Hogwarts Express and hopping up to Hogsmeade for the weekend and-

Yeah.  Right.  I wish.

But I am on a train to King’s Cross and from there I’ll be getting on the “Tube” aka the London subway and making my way out to Watford, where I’ll spend the night at the Watford Central Travelodge and in the morning, I’ll be visiting the Harry Potter set.  That’s right, the set of Harry Potter.  Where they’re filming Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part One.  Because my aunt has awesome connections and she loves me.

Needless to say, I am super, super excited!!!!  I’m listening to Harry Potter soundtracks to get myself pumped up (as if I even needed to try) and I made sure to bring my Gryffindor House scarf with me (because I am a huge, huge nerd) but the only problem is that I don’t really have anything for the stars to sign.  I was going to go out and grab a cheap copy of one of the books but the bookstore at the station was closed by the time I got there.  So the plan is to just scour everywhere I go for something sign-able and use that.  And if all else fails, I’ll get them to sign my hand and never use that hand again.

Okay, so maybe I won’t do that.  But it’ll be fine.  Because I’m going to see the Harry Potter set!!!!  And its really, really supercalafridgalisticexpealidosiously exciting!!!

So now that that special announcement is done, let’s do a normal update. :p  I went to Whitby a week ago with some of my flat mates, which was incredible.  Whitby is a town on the coast of the North Sea, a couple of hours train ride north of York.  It was the site of a Roman light station way back when and then went on to be the site of a large and impressive abbey for several centuries.  The famous Anglo-Saxon poet Caedmon was a monk there and a few miles to the south is a bay called Robin Hood’s Bay since the famed outlaw is said in some stories to have died at or near the abbey.  Though the abbey has since fallen into ruin, the town became an important port for the whaling industry and was also the launching point for all of Captain James Cook’s ships.  And in the original Dracula novel, the titular villain lands enters England by way of Whitby.  The town today is gorgeous, built into what is essentially a deep cut in the landscape, where the river flows into the harbor and then into the North Sea.

We took a couple of trains northwards to get there and the weather actually cooperated all morning and gave us tons of sun by which to see the North Yorkshire countryside, which I immediately fell in love with.  Lots of rolling hills with random really big steep hills and rocky outcrops, tons and tons of sheep grazing and every so often a small town tucked into a valley.  We must have passed through a dozen train stations that consisted of nothing more than a small stone station house, the stone platform, a sign post, a bench and maybe, if it was a really posh place, a bench underneath a rain shelter.  Its not as overwhelmingly green up there as it is in the south, or even in the York valley, but I found myself really, really liking it.

The town of Whitby itself, as I said, sits in a cut of land, hugging the steep slopes that descend into the water.  Almost all of the houses are narrow, tall, and roofed in red tile.  The streets are winding and take a good bit of cardiovascular power to climb up and are filled with lots of little shops, quite a few of which specialize in the beautiful jet that is the region’s main export, besides fish.  After we got off the train, we grabbed lunch at one of the pubs and then headed to the part of the shore called the “Whitby Sands.”  Now, when I hear “Whitby Sands,” I hear, “a beach with sand,” and start thinking of the beaches of the Outer Banks, complete with dunes and all.  That is not what the “Whitby Sands” was.  What it was, was a narrow strip of sand, right in front of the very tall cliff that pretty much runs in both directions as far as you can see.  Sandy beaches are obviously not northeast England’s specialty.  But we were still quite excited to be by the ocean.  Some of our party decided to strip off shoes and socks and walk in the water.  Having walked around all day in wet feet before (see the International Living History Fair adventure), I opted to keep my feet dry and walk around taking cool pictures.  I also filmed a video, linked below:

After having our fill of the “Whitby Sands,” we climbed back up to the town and wandered a bit until we got up the abbey, which involved quite a few stone steps and few pauses to catch our breath.  We explored St. Mary’s Church first, which is the more recent, not-in-ruins church near the abbey that includes a pretty extensive graveyard.  If I were to be buried (which I won’t be because I’m claustrophobic and the idea of being in a coffin, even while dead, is too utterly terrifying to contemplate), I would definitely not mind being buried on a cliff over looking the gorgeous North Sea.  It was in the graveyard that we came across a seagull doing something really weird, see video below:

According to a helpful guy who commented on the video, the seagull is apparently trying to imitate raindrops on the ground so that worms will come out and get eaten.  I still think the bird looks really silly.  Though a note about English gulls- just like all the other birds I’ve seen so far around here, the gulls are quite a bit bigger than their American counterparts.  Oh yeah, and they have hooked beaks.  Yeah, I don’t want to mess with these guys.

So we moved on to trying to find our way into the abbey ruins.  And after ten minutes of searching, we still couldn’t find the entrance.  (I had actually pointed it out in the beginning but nobody believed me.  So I shrugged and wandered along with everybody else.)  Since we couldn’t find the entrance, we decided it would be fine to just throw ourselves over the stone wall separating the abbey from the road, which we did with reasonable success.  In retrospect, I think we may have cheated the English Heritage Trust out of some money by accident.  But I highly doubt that the English heritage Trust will ever know about it to care.  The ruins were hauntingly beautiful.  Standing on grass, surrounded by the hollowed out skeleton of what was once a cathedral as beautiful and as highly decorated as the Minster was amazing but kind of chilling in a way.  I spent a good fifteen minutes just wandering around touching the stonework, wondering how many people had heard Mass there and how many people had prayed to the Virgin Mother there, who they were and what had happened to them.

Eventually, however, I was interrupted from my reverie by jingling and jangling and clacking and singing.  I wandered over to the (real) entrance to see what was going on and there was a troop of Morris Dancers out in the courtyard.  Morris Dancing is a traditional kind of dancing, performed for centuries in hundred of British towns at midsummer.  And its…well…take a look:

Yeah.  I giggled.  So much.  It was great.

After the adventure of the Morris Dancers, we headed back into town and wandered around for a bit more.  I poked my head into an antique shop and managed to pick up a bunch of old rusty silver keys for cheap.  I have a thing for old keys, for some reason.  I just really like them.  So I was excited to get my hands on some, those they have to be cleaned rather badly.  Eventually, the evening train got in (there are two trains in and out of Whitby on Sundays.  A morning train and an evening train.  If you miss the evening train, you’re pretty much in Whitby for the night) and we dozed our way back home.  All in all, a most satisfying trip north and enough to convince me that I really, really need to go tramping around the countryside of North Yorkshire before I leave.

Other than that, I’m pretty much busy with getting my schoolwork done and working on my research project.  Volunteering at the Minster Library has also been a ton of fun.  After two hours of pulling 18^th, 17^th and 16^th century books off shelves one at a time, putting them on the table, flipping through them and putting them back, my fingers are usually stained black to the first knuckle and my dust allergies are screaming at me but its so totally worth it to open a book and see where someone got bored and doodled a few heads in black ink that has since faded to brown.  Or open a volume of William Wilberforce and see “From the Author” handwritten opposite the title page.  Yeah.  William Wilberforce’s handwriting.  I about died.  Unfortunately, it wasn’t me that found that one, but my supervisor Andrew.  Still, it was pretty awesome.

So that’s pretty much it for now.  Be prepared for tons of fangirl squeals and gushing in the next installment!

Cheers!

Allison

So I’m writing this on a train to London’s King Cross Station.  Once I get there, I’ll be transferring to the Hogwarts Express and hopping up to Hogsmeade for the weekend and-

Yeah.  Right.  I wish.

But I am on a train to King’s Cross and from there I’ll be getting on the “Tube” aka the London subway and making my way out to Watford, where I’ll spend the night at the Watford Central Travelodge and in the morning, I’ll be visiting the Harry Potter set.  That’s right, the set of Harry Potter.  Where they’re filming Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part One.  Because my aunt has awesome connections and she loves me. J

Needless to say, I am super, super excited!!!!  I’m listening to Harry Potter soundtracks to get myself pumped up (as if I even needed to try) and I made sure to bring my Gryffindor House scarf with me (because I am a huge, huge nerd) but the only problem is that I don’t really have anything for the stars to sign.  I was going to go out and grab a cheap copy of one of the books but the bookstore at the station was closed by the time I got there.  So the plan is to just scour everywhere I go for something sign-able and use that.  And if all else fails, I’ll get them to sign my hand and never use that hand again.

Okay, so maybe I won’t do that.  But it’ll be fine.  Because I’m going to see the Harry Potter set!!!!  And its really, really supercalafridgalisticexpealidosiously exciting!!!

So now that that special announcement is done, let’s do a normal update. :p  I went to Whitby a week ago with some of my flat mates, which was incredible.  Whitby is a town on the coast of the North Sea, a couple of hours train ride north of York.  It was the site of a Roman light station way back when and then went on to be the site of a large and impressive abbey for several centuries.  The famous Anglo-Saxon poet Caedmon was a monk there and a few miles to the south is a bay called Robin Hood’s Bay since the famed outlaw is said in some stories to have died at or near the abbey.  Though the abbey has since fallen into ruin, the town became an important port for the whaling industry and was also the launching point for all of Captain James Cook’s ships.  And in the original Dracula novel, the titular villain lands enters England by way of Whitby.  The town today is gorgeous, built into what is essentially a deep cut in the landscape, where the river flows into the harbor and then into the North Sea.

We took a couple of trains northwards to get there and the weather actually cooperated all morning and gave us tons of sun by which to see the North Yorkshire countryside, which I immediately fell in love with.  Lots of rolling hills with random really big steep hills and rocky outcrops, tons and tons of sheep grazing and every so often a small town tucked into a valley.  We must have passed through a dozen train stations that consisted of nothing more than a small stone station house, the stone platform, a sign post, a bench and maybe, if it was a really posh place, a bench underneath a rain shelter.  Its not as overwhelmingly green up there as it is in the south, or even in the York valley, but I found myself really, really liking it.

The town of Whitby itself, as I said, sits in a cut of land, hugging the steep slopes that descend into the water.  Almost all of the houses are narrow, tall, and roofed in red tile.  The streets are winding and take a good bit of cardiovascular power to climb up and are filled with lots of little shops, quite a few of which specialize in the beautiful jet that is the region’s main export, besides fish.  After we got off the train, we grabbed lunch at one of the pubs and then headed to the part of the shore called the “Whitby Sands.”  Now, when I hear “Whitby Sands,” I hear, “a beach with sand,” and start thinking of the beaches of the Outer Banks, complete with dunes and all.  That is not what the “Whitby Sands” was.  What it was, was a narrow strip of sand, right in front of the very tall cliff that pretty much runs in both directions as far as you can see.  Sandy beaches are obviously not northeast England’s specialty.  But we were still quite excited to be by the ocean.  Some of our party decided to strip off shoes and socks and walk in the water.  Having walked around all day in wet feet before (see the International Living History Fair adventure), I opted to keep my feet dry and walk around taking cool pictures.  I also filmed a video, linked below:

After having our fill of the “Whitby Sands,” we climbed back up to the town and wandered a bit until we got up the abbey, which involved quite a few stone steps and few pauses to catch our breath.  We explored St. Mary’s Church first, which is the more recent, not-in-ruins church near the abbey that includes a pretty extensive graveyard.  If I were to be buried (which I won’t be because I’m claustrophobic and the idea of being in a coffin, even while dead, is too utterly terrifying to contemplate), I would definitely not mind being buried on a cliff over looking the gorgeous North Sea.  It was in the graveyard that we came across a seagull doing something really weird, see video below:

According to a helpful guy who commented on the video, the seagull is apparently trying to imitate raindrops on the ground so that worms will come out and get eaten.  I still think the bird looks really silly.  Though a note about English gulls- just like all the other birds I’ve seen so far around here, the gulls are quite a bit bigger than their American counterparts.  Oh yeah, and they have hooked beaks.  Yeah, I don’t want to mess with these guys.

So we moved on to trying to find our way into the abbey ruins.  And after ten minutes of searching, we still couldn’t find the entrance.  (I had actually pointed it out in the beginning but nobody believed me.  So I shrugged and wandered along with everybody else.)  Since we couldn’t find the entrance, we decided it would be fine to just throw ourselves over the stone wall separating the abbey from the road, which we did with reasonable success.  In retrospect, I think we may have cheated the English Heritage Trust out of some money by accident.  But I highly doubt that the English heritage Trust will ever know about it to care.  The ruins were hauntingly beautiful.  Standing on grass, surrounded by the hollowed out skeleton of what was once a cathedral as beautiful and as highly decorated as the Minster was amazing but kind of chilling in a way.  I spent a good fifteen minutes just wandering around touching the stonework, wondering how many people had heard Mass there and how many people had prayed to the Virgin Mother there, who they were and what had happened to them.

Eventually, however, I was interrupted from my reverie by jingling and jangling and clacking and singing.  I wandered over to the (real) entrance to see what was going on and there was a troop of Morris Dancers out in the courtyard.  Morris Dancing is a traditional kind of dancing, performed for centuries in hundred of British towns at midsummer.  And its…well…take a look:

Yeah.  I giggled.  So much.  It was great.

After the adventure of the Morris Dancers, we headed back into town and wandered around for a bit more.  I poked my head into an antique shop and managed to pick up a bunch of old rusty silver keys for cheap.  I have a thing for old keys, for some reason.  I just really like them.  So I was excited to get my hands on some, those they have to be cleaned rather badly.  Eventually, the evening train got in (there are two trains in and out of Whitby on Sundays.  A morning train and an evening train.  If you miss the evening train, you’re pretty much in Whitby for the night) and we dozed our way back home.  All in all, a most satisfying trip north and enough to convince me that I really, really need to go tramping around the countryside of North Yorkshire before I leave.

Other than that, I’m pretty much busy with getting my schoolwork done and working on my research project.  Volunteering at the Minster Library has also been a ton of fun.  After two hours of pulling 18^th, 17^th and 16^th century books off shelves one at a time, putting them on the table, flipping through them and putting them back, my fingers are usually stained black to the first knuckle and my dust allergies are screaming at me but its so totally worth it to open a book and see where someone got bored and doodled a few heads in black ink that has since faded to brown.  Or open a volume of William Wilberforce and see “From the Author” handwritten opposite the title page.  Yeah.  William Wilberforce’s handwriting.  I about died.  Unfortunately, it wasn’t me that found that one, but my supervisor Andrew.  Still, it was pretty awesome.

So that’s pretty much it for now.  Be prepared for tons of fangirl squeals and gushing in the next installment!

Cheers!

Allison

Mix To Go Magazine Presents

DANCE AFTER DARK | The Mix Show

The theme: “At A Classic Pitch”

Dance After Dark

Mix by DJ FREEDOM

Live at 632 Studios in Brooklyn, New York City

Monday, November 23, 2009

(DOWNLOAD LINK AT BOTTOM OF SONG LIST)

SONG LIST:

(1) Razamatazz (Free*Mix) – Quincy Jones

(2) Portuguese Love (Free*Mix) – Phil Asher’s Miami Samba Vs DJ Freedom’s Tribal

(3) You’re My Latest, My Greatest Inspiration (Quentin Harris Remix) – Teddy Pendergrass

(4) Make Sure Your Sure (Quentin Harris & Timmy Regisford Remix) – Stevie Wonder

(5) Baby I’m Scared of You (Free*Mix) – Womack & Womack

(6) Still In Love With You (Masters At Work Dub) – Melisa Morgan

(7) Forget Me Nots (DJ Freedom’s Back To Basics Mix) – Patrice Rushen

(8) Club Lonely (Original Vocal Mix) – Lil Louis

(9) Everybody Dance – Chic

(10) Encore (Freedom’s Classic Club Vocal Remix) – Cheryl Lynn

(11) In The AM (Quentin’s Remix Vs DJ Freedom’s Remix) – Mary J Blige…dedicated to cousin Ann Douglas!

(12) Horizons (Freedom’s Classic House Remix) – The Sylvers

(13) Nights Over Egypt (Freedom’s Nights Over Ibiza Remix) – The Jones Girls

(14) Super Constellation 2009 (Freedom’s Disco Pitch Remix) – Sousa & Mad

(15) Ecstasy (Freedom’s Classic Pitch Remix) – Barry White

(16) Ready 4 More – International Featuring Miss Lynsey

(17) The Night The Lights Went Out (The Black Science Orchestra Remix) – The Trammps

(18) Don’t Talk Just Dance _Free*Mix Project Featuring Jon B

(19) No One – Maxwell

(20) Bad Times (I Can’t Stand It) -Captain Rapp

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=FIWPVCN4

Our friend in the North – North Yorkshire that is – has launched the ‘Turpins Tidings‘ blog…

From the citidal of North Yorkshire comes Turpins Tidings, a round up of News, Politics, Life and football from outside the city walls.

Not the clean look at the region that you get from the tourism agencies!

Stand and delivered.

Sounds right up our street