We went for a drive all around the south on Monday, we started off going to Arundel, headed down to Selsey, and then ended up in Portsmouth for a very late lunch at about half four! We walked around and had a look at all the ships in the historic dockyard, then had a look around Gunwharf Quays. I was amazed to find the number of retail outlet stores there, which, if my understanding is correct, sell returned/discontinued products at heavily reduced prices. I think the next time I need some new clothes this will definitely be the place to go! Also, I noticed there is a whole Cadbury's shop, which is just awesome!
Anyway, we met up with our friend James down in Gunwharf Quays, and decided to go up the Spinnaker tower to see the sunset. It was well worth it, the view was amazing! Unfortunately none of us had our cameras, but we managed to get a few with James' phone. I don't think they came out half bad for a camera phone in the dark! Take a look at my flickr for the photos. You can actually see the whole length of the Isle of Wight from up there! In retrospect we really should have taken a piccie of the cuddly Spinny spinnakers they were selling in the gift shop at the top though, sorry! ;-p
Friday, February 20, 2009
Tuesday, February 03, 2009
Monday, February 02, 2009
Snow Day!
Hooray! It's a snow day! James had a call this morning to say school was closed for the day, and all the trains to Dorking are suspended until further notice.. so no work for me! =) I also just found out that my office has been closed, everyone's been sent home, and possibly the same will happen tomorrow too! We will have to wait and see.. We've had a couple of inches of snow here in Horsham, enough to make snowman, and it's still coming down.. it wouldn't surprise me if we have another couple of inches by this evening! I just hope we don't get stranded in Crawley when we go to drop off our car for repair!!
Sunday, February 01, 2009
Buchan in the snow
It was nice and snowy when we woke up this morning, so we decided to nip over to Buchan Country Park to take some photos.. the lake was partly frozen over, and it was all looking very pretty, as we thought it might! It was way too cold to stay out there for too long though, so we didn't bother walking all the way around the lake this time!
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Glow Worms!
Have a close up look atthis photo I found on flickr.. amazing! A whole tunnel lit up with glow worms in Australia. I never realised that glow worms existed in the UK, but I was very pleased to find out that they have been sighted and photographed all over the British Isles, even as close as Southwater.. how exciting! I think I will have to go on a glow worm walk! The only glow worm I have ever seen is my one of these!
Some Celebrity Big Brother 2009 links..
I think it was a bit of a shame the way this year's CBB6 ended.. I think Big Brother's Big Mouth, shown directly after the final really finished off the series leaving a bad taste in the mouth! I was highly embarassed watching the guests being insulted by both the host (Jack Whitehall), and the audience members.. it must have given the American guests a very bad impression of the British public. I felt particularly sorry for Ulrika, who having won, was not only booed on her exit from the house, but was then effectively told she wasn't a worthy winner, and was told she probably only won because she was the only woman left. The audience member who made the 4x4 dig too, I would say that was just plain rude really! I don't really blame her for being defensive.. I think they should bring back the psychologists, and axe the dodgy comedians for these types of shows, much more entertaining!
Anyway, I found a nice bit of footage from the press conference afterwards, which I think would have been a much nicer way to round it off.. much more professional.. and, when Ulrika was asked a personal question, both Coolio and Verne stepped in and told the press to back off.. good stuff!
I also found this quite entertaining TV show that aired in the US last year, Coolio's Rules, which you can watch online! It's a reality show about Coolio, his teenage kids, and his attempt to launch himself as a "ghetto gourmet" in the web show "Cookin' with Coolio". We've only watched the first part so far, but what we've seen is good! I can't seem to find any full episodes of Armed & Famous though, which is a shame.. just a few exerpts on youtube are all that seem to remain, doh!
Friday, January 23, 2009
St Leonards Forest, Horsham
I really like this photo, the way the light shines through the trees in the Autumn is very cool..
We bought a book of walks in Surrey & Sussex last year (Pathfinder Guide: Surrey and Sussex Walks) .. unfortunately we only managed to fit in one before the weather got ridiculously cold! We decided to do the most local one first, St Leonards Forest.. home of the last dragon in England, before it was killed off by St Leonard.. it was a very nice 4 mile walk, but probably best off not done in November unless you want to get stuck in the mud! It's also definitely worth setting off early in the day so that you get out of the woods before sundown! It was a close one for us!
I've drawn up a map of the route here, and you can see photos here.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
La Toya Jackson - Armed & Famous
This is a pretty funny clip from the US TV series Armed & Famous, where La Toya Jackson and some other celebrities were trained as cops.
read more | digg story
read more | digg story
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Monday, January 12, 2009
'Unsuitable' Crucifix
This is an interesting local story I heard about at work today.. I couldn't quite understand why people were making such a fuss about this crucifix outside St John's Church in Horsham, until I saw a photo of it here.. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/religion/4140960/Vicar-orders-removal-of-unsuitable-crucifix-from-church.html
This definitely would serve as a reminder of Jesus' pain and suffering for the sins of mankind, and forms a very striking piece of artwork.. but I think I would have to agree that this 10ft sculpture is possibly not the most welcoming image to display on the outside of your church..
Wind Turbines..
Hmm.. well I couldn't really let this pass without comment! It's a shame they found that missing blade right below the turbine, otherwise this would have been pretty baffling!
I do quite like the Daily Mail theory about the unmanned aircraft, Taranis, being tested along that coastal stretch, but unfortunately, according to the Telegraph:
"The MoD has denied earlier reports that any testing of new Taranis unmanned stealth aircraft was taking place and confirmed that the nearby Donna Nook test range was closed to any low flying aircraft over Christmas until the January 6. Taranis is not due to begin testing until 2010. The Civil Aviation Authority also confirmed that they had not granted any permission for the flight of unmanned aircraft, which are banned in UK airspace without special arrangement. "
I've had a little look on YouTube, and it's amazing to see the amount of damage a wind turbine can do to itself (see video). The only problem with this theory that I can see, is that maybe the Conisholme turbine remained a little too intact!Friday, January 02, 2009
Leeds Castle, Kent
This is a picture of the castle from the other side of moat. I just had a little look on Wikipedia and found out the castle was built in 1119 by Henry I, and later became a royal palace for King Edward I of England in 1278. King Edward II beseiged the castle in 1321 with the use of ballistas (I'm guessing they repaired it, I couldn't see any sign of damage!). It went on to be used by King Richard II in 1381, and later by Henry VIII's first wife, Catherine of Aragon. Elizabeth I was also imprisoned there for a while prior to her coronation.
Quite an interesting royal history it has there! When we visited the inside of the castle it was decorated in a very bizarre way.. it took me a while to realise that the Nutcracker event they were advertising was not in fact a ballet show, but a theme for the castle's Christmas decorations! I think maybe it was a little slow of me not to realise this when the main bedroom had a mouse king in it, and the bed and floor were covered with toy mice!
Quite an interesting royal history it has there! When we visited the inside of the castle it was decorated in a very bizarre way.. it took me a while to realise that the Nutcracker event they were advertising was not in fact a ballet show, but a theme for the castle's Christmas decorations! I think maybe it was a little slow of me not to realise this when the main bedroom had a mouse king in it, and the bed and floor were covered with toy mice!
Frozen lake
We decided to do a day trip over to Leeds Caste in Kent on Tuesday. I think it was the coldest day yet this winter, or it certainly felt like it to me anyway. It was so cold the lakes and moat were all completely frozen over! I thought the patterns in the ice were quite interesting though! I was quite pleased with the entry tickets, we thought they were a bit expensive to begin with, but it turns out they allow you entry for a whole year, so we'll hopefully go back when it's a bit warmer. I noticed they do hot air balloon rides over the castle which could be fun! Also the swans and peacocks in the grounds are really friendly, and will eat bread from your hand, so we need to go back and get some photos I think!
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Happy New Year!
I hope you are all looking forward to the extra second we are being given this evening, I'm still wondering what to do with mine! A 61 second minute has to be good for something! (I think I will look into breaking a world record or something.. hehe..) Anyway, happy new year everybody, I hope it's a good one! =)
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Wednesday, November 05, 2008
GenderAnalyzer for http://kipperfrog.blogspot.com
Neural networks never cease to amaze me! I'm very glad this gadget got my gender right, I've already been called "Mr" inadvertently this week, I don't think I could have coped with being told I write like a man too! Test it out on yours at: http://www.genderanalyzer.com
Saturday, November 01, 2008
Pumpkins!
Here are this year's Halloween offerings! Amazingly we didn't get a single trick or treater, although we did see a few vamps and pastey looking people in Tescos.. We indulged in special Halloween Krispy Kreme doughnuts (no pictures, they didn't t last long!), ooh and very cool fireworks in our back garden! =)
Monday, October 20, 2008
Newly released UFO files from the national archives..
It's always fun catching the train and picking up a free Metro! Today I found out that the MoD have released the next batch of their UFO files to the National Archives in Kew.. I was pleased to find that they have made them available online too! http://ufos.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ Should make some fun reading..
Monday, October 06, 2008
How to remove a ring sized by H Samuels
Thank goodness for Dremel is all I can say! The good news is, after measuring James' finger 3 sizes too small, they still accepted the ring back in two halves and have ordered in a bigger one free of charge.. phew!
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