I just wanted to make a quick blog post to thank all those who took the time to wish me a happy birthday. I got a load of e-mails, texts, cards and other such things, not to mention in-person birthday wishes on campus today which was really nice. Special thanks go to Claire for baking a cake and bringing it over in the evening and Heather for taking time out from revision to come over to see me, not to mention giving me some awesome presents

Glancing at facebook the other day I noticed that a number of my friends have started using the notes system like a blog. As a result I have added a number of the provided RSS feeds to my news reader.

Drew’s writings stood out from all the rest though, not only in that I could identify with much of it but in the quality of the work and thought that had clearly gone into each article. I especially like the article on Microsoft and the one concerning the attitude of people towards a degree in the school of comuting.

As a personal comment I’d like to say to those saying they do history to people when in fact they do computing simply to save face, shame on you. If you’re not proud of the degree you’ve chosen then don’t study it!

Back to Drews writings though, I encourage you to subscribe to the RSS feed and make comment where appropriate, its great stuff. Bravo Drew!

On Saturday night I headed out with Matt, Sarann, Si, Michelle and Phil to go to the Hi-Fi club Boogaloo night. While I knew what kind of music to expect I hadn’t been to one of these nights before so it was a new experience. Matt and I necked a fair few gins to start the evening off and then hit the dance floor.

Its amazing how good funky Latin influenced music is to dance to and how quickly you lose yourself in it all. The DJ wasn’t superb and he crashed a few records, but all in all it was great fun and I’d certainly go again. Others in the group seemed to enjoy it too.

At the end of the night we decided to walk home and we had the amusement that is Matt slightly drunk. I have to say that he’s a brilliant laugh in this state, especially with other folk on the street etc. The walk back was one of the most entertaining I’ve had after a club night and Sarann and Si seemed sufficiently amused as well. His impressions of Andy Bulpit (our AI22 lecturer) will without doubt go down in group history!

When we got back home we didn’t feel like just going to bed so we whipped out a bottle of Plymouth gin and proceeded to cook steak and chips and make a fair dent in the bottle. You can always tell you’re living the student life when you actually think that cooking steak and chips at 3am is an entirely logical thing to do. We ended up staying up till about 6am just chatting about random stuff which was really cool. Certainly this is something that should happen much more regularly, it really adds the icing on an already excellent night out.

On 25th November Heather organised a day out in York for a group of friends to celebrate her birthday. It was a really big day to plan but everything worked out really well.

We did a number of really cool things. Firstly after meeting up with everyone at York station we made our way to the Shambles where we got a Victorian photograph taken of the group. This involved dressing up in traditional clothing, posing in front of a typically York background (the Minster Cathedral) and attempting to look as serious as possible. It wasn’t all that clear after it had been taken that it would come out so well but after it had been processed into black and white with that traditional Victorian look we were all very impressed with it.

After the photograph we had what became known as “free time” where the group slip up and spent a little bit of time exploring York. We took this opportunity to go and grab a coffee and talk about Christmas type things which were really nicely displayed in the various shop windows. We’d hoped to get into Betty’s but the queue was round the corner so we had to settle for Starbucks. The whole free time thing was quite amusing because for about a week before the trip I had been joking with Heather about how this term made it seem like we were organising a school outing. It turned out to be not far from the truth when we had to make a few phone calls to find out if people knew how to get to the restaurant and when we did a sort of head count outside, lol

For dinner we met up with the group again at The Slug and Lettuce which while a fairly generic place to eat turned out to be a really cool part of the day and a good opportunity to chat to everyone and get to know some of Heathers friends a little better. A little time was spent taking photos of each other and Heather unwrapping her presents from friends which was quite amusing because it involved Heather having to explain to me just exactly what the pig feat was! The food wasn’t half bad too with Heather and myself sharing a large duck platter with pancakes and plum sauce. Mmmm, tasty. After a slightly rushed desert we left to make sure we were in time for the ghost walk

The shambles ghost walk is famed amongst York students as being the best in the city and this time we weren’t disappointed. The guy who does the ghost walk is in fact the photographer at the shop past images, where we got the Victorian shot done. As a result of this he knew it was Heather’s birthday and proceeded to put he on the spot a number of times throughout the evening which was really rather amusing. What was so cool is that no one realised right until the very end of the walk who the guy was and how he knew it was Heathers birthday. The point of realisation was when the photo on the left was taken. Click it for a larger copy. Whats so good about the shambles ghost walk is the way the stories are told and how the audience are invited to participate - its one of the best things to do after a day in York, I’d highly recommend it.

After the ghost walk we headed to the Evil eye cocktail bar, not only the best in York but in my humble opinion one of the best in the country. The atmosphere is completely unique and the furnishings very quirky. Its always a good way to end a day. This time around they were serving mulled wine as well as the usual cocktail menu which was a nice Christmas touch. We ended up drinking down a fair few interesting combinations and taking some of the funniest photos of the day.

All in all everybody had a great day out and it was really great to meet some of Heather’s friends from back home. York is a seriously cool place and I can see us making many more day trips there in the future simply because a day is never long enough to explore everything there is to offer. I lived there for over 2 years and still don’t feel I’ve seen everything there is that is worth seeing.

A large number of photos were taken during the day out and you can see a large number of these in the photo gallery of the day. More will be added as they get sent to me. If you took photos of the day send them to me in high quality and I will add them to the gallery. Below is a small copy of the superb Victorian photo we had done. If you click on it you will be taken to a full size scan of the original photo.

NB: This photograph is only to be hosted here. If you want to tell your friends please link them to this post. If you wish to use this photo yourself or upload it anywhere else please ask myself or Heather for permission.

On Friday night I went to an Indian night at Norm’s house. The general theme was a load of Indian food cooked by Norm and then drinks and conversation afterwards. It’s been a little while since the whole group has got together in one persons house and it was nice to chat to everyone in the one place.

After an hour or two we were running a little dry on alcohol and such so we took a trip to a local off-license and got a fair quantity of really cheap cider. To say it was rocket propellant would be an understatment but it certainly further lightened the mood once we started to drink it.

Interesting episodes of the evening included a towel snapping match between Chris and Norm with some interventions from the sidelines, B’s usual antics, and placing Sarann in a wooden cupboard above the stairs - photos available on request! All in all it was a great night, big thanks to Norm for organising it

On Wednesday Chris, Claire and myself took a day trip to Bradford to make use of the ice rink they have there. It was surprisingly good fun. I hadn’t been ice skating for years, about 4 or 5 if I remember rightly and I was pleasantly surprised that the time spent off the ice didn’t cause any falling over this time around.

I did a fair number of laps and got some (what was for me) good speed up. Chris attempted to teach me to skate backwards but this resulted in me starting off and my feet getting ever wider apart with no way to bring them back together. It was fun though, and for only £3 for up to 4 hours skating it was good value. As usual with my trips out I got a few photos but most came out blurred as I had to turn the flash off to compensate for the glare of the ice. You can see them in the gallery here.

The outing to Ha Ha bar for Heather’s 21st went well and was great fun. It was really good to chat to some of Heathers friends I hadn’t yet had the pleasure of meeting and indeed talk more at length with those I had. I’ve collected photos together of the evening to share with you all. You can view them in the gallery

A huge HAPPY BIRTHDAY goes out to Heather who is 21 today. Please join me in wishing her many happy returns by posting a comment

Last night I had my first ever trip to the Hi-Fi club in Leeds to see the Haggis Horns play live. I went with Heather and a number of her friends from Dentistry for her 21st Birthday celebration. I managed to meet up with Sheena there as well which was good as we hadn’t spoken in quite a while! The band already had a good reputation from an appearance of theirs I had seen at the Wardrobe, but it was great to see them in a new venue.

Hi-Fi is a superb club. It starts off fairly empty and then fills up before the band comes on stage. The setting is just how a jazz club should be; the focus being on the stage and dancefloor with seating and a bar round the edge. Despite how full the club ended up being service at the bar was exemplary and there was always to odd stool to flop onto when you were tired of dancing. I can’t really believe that I hadn’t been to this great club before really - its was well worth checking it out. I won’t go as far as to say its better than the Wardrobe, but the two clubs are certianly on a par and I’ll be sure to frequent the Hi-Fi as often as I go to the Wardrobe. Like the wardrobe membership is also available at the Hi-Fi, I certainly think I’ll be applying.

Onto the gig then. The music took a little longer to start than was publicised with the band not getting on stage until just gone midnight, but it was well worth the wait as the sound was vibrant and funky and the crowd were very fired up. It wasn’t long before we were all on the dance floor. The style of the Haggis Horns is not really unique, its heard in quite a few jazz clubs around the country in various forms, but certainly makes for a good night of wholesome jazz entertainment. The clear influences from traditional big band jazz make the experience a memorable one, and the way in which every musician is seemingly given a chance to do their own thing (most notable being the bongo and drum solos) is very refreshing.

I’d definitely reconmmend trying to catch the Haggis Horns live if you fancy a vibrant jazz night out. They play a number of good venues in Leeds so its not usually hard to track them down.

Last night was really cool, I hadn’t been to a bonfire or fireworks night in a number of years but this year I went to Hyde Park with Heather, her house mates, some of their friends and met up with Claire, Chris and Phil when we got there, to see a great fireworks display and one of the largest bonfires I have ever seen.

There is something so nice about watching such a large fire burn. For a start it was a freezing night and yet even at the distance we were standing it was really warming. Also its hypnotic, really hypnotic. Stare at it for long enough and you start to see shapes, faces and all sorts in the flames, dark becomes light, and the flames do literally dance. It really is magic, reminding me of the last time I sat in front of an open fire at Christmas in the dark with only the fire lighting up the room. I got a picture to indicate the size of the fire in the park, although it doesn’t give you any idea about the heat!

After the fireworks we went back to Heathers house to chat and to have drinks and pancakes, very nice pancakes in fact. Its always the simple (and often tasty) things that make life great