Ross Hetherington

I do believe it is about time for me to update you lovely people about my journey to university and my chosen subject to read of Architecture. At the last contact I had been made an offer by both BIAD and Oxford Brookes for architecture courses and I was thinking about the technology that I needed to acquire to do this course.

On the offer front I have made BIAD my first choice for architecture on my UCAS form, this is mainly because I feel as a university it has a much better feel that at Oxford. Even though Oxford is a nicer area for my studies I believe it has to be Birmingham all the way.  Some people may be confused by this decision over a ‘higher’ placed university, but that university did not fit me and it also did not fit my ethos of an environment that should make you happy the second you walk in, much as what Birmingham provided me.

In terms of technology, I do believe I will be purchasing a Macbook Pro sometime soon as at the moment they are running a free iPod Touch offer and printer rebate. That all sounds lovely and inviting for me. I may in the future by an iPhone but it depends on my financial situation.

Talking about finanaces I have a good solid chunk of money coming my way, courtesy of the student finance people. As I am not staying in Birmingham this should tide me over nicely.

My next update should be after my A level results.

We have six chickens at the end of our garden now, who just love to forage around and pick at the plants we put inside. They are all really adorable, and have just started taking food out of your hands. Hopefully by the end of the week they will let us stroke them instead of feeling at little scared. We have one Bluebell chicken called Clarice, she is so adorable as she listens to all the strange noises around her. Like the train behind us and the factory, very cute.

Yes, my dad made the chicken house out of scrap wood. He is likely to be making these properly soon.

Below are some pictures of them and two videos I have posted:

We went to the live show for War of the Worlds (WotW) a few nights ago and I have to say it is a fantastic spectacle. With the right amount of lights and pyro, mixed with the great sound of a string orchestra and a live band. Then you add a smidgen of uber talented people like Justin Hayward and Jeff Wayne and it makes one brilliant show.

They integrate the vast majority of the music with on screen graphics, that is a nice touch when trying to tell a story but the music is so familiar that they could just play behind a screen and you would be happy.

I tried to get a few pics and a video that I placed below, but it was hard to get the camera focused with the people infont of me confusing it.

Iranian Election:

By Morton Morland

Right we know you have been waiting for this job for ages and to be brutally honest you were left up shit creek without a paddle thanks to Mr. Blair, he left before all these revelations and challenges came out. But you failed to offer us an election when you were voted into power and therefore you premiership is somewhat lacking the clout of the people behind you. The actions you have taken, have brought the country down to its lowest standing in Europe. We all know that were the so called ’shining’ light in the wake of the credit crunch, a credit crunch that you as chancellor could of easily quashed at least in the UK, but reigning in the banks and not deregulating them that you did.

We also know that Mrs. Harmon (or ms. to keep her happy)  has your back and the official party line seems to be that the expenses row is the only thing that made your party do badly. No that is only a small percentage, what really effected your vote in the sloth like nature of the Labour government after 12 years of slow decline. Everybody wants an election, it is just the selfish nature of the Labour politicians who seem to think it is right to hold out for as long as powerful and damage the country further.

Gordon, please go.

Nowadays most vacations or business trips start at the airport. If you’ve done one or more long haul flights you know that proper clothing is essential to being comfortable during your flight. There’s nothing worse than feeling uncomfortable on a 12 hour flight without the possibility to change.

I travel a lot long haul and meanwhile I have my preferred “set of travel clothes” as well as a few little things that help me to enjoy the flight as much as possible.

1. Wear comfortable clothing
My favorites are loose-fitting jeans, a t-shirt and a sweater with a zipper. Don’t use your oldest sweat suit, because you never know who you’ll meet and how embarrassing to look like your own grandmother. It’s also helpful to look respectable when passing through immigration or customs.

2. Use non-iron clothes
You don’t want to show off the “crinkle” look after you’ve been sleeping the night in the plane. Always remember that you will meet people at the end of your journey and not everyone has to know on first sight that you had an awful night at the plane.

3. Never wear tight fitting clothes and shoes
Especially your feet swell while flying, because of the air pressure. It’s rather annoying to force them into tight shoes after a long flight.

4. Bring clothes for warm and cold
Air condition can be either too warm or too cold. That’s why I like to use the “onion principle”: Wear different layers of clothing, so you can take them off if the temperature rises. Suitable is a T-shirt and a sweater, preferably with a zipper for easy dressing and undressing.

5. Wear dark colored clothing
Sometimes a flight can be quite rough and the coffee might land on your shirt…Dark colors don’t show the starches as much as light colors do.

6. Don’t overpack your hand luggage
It’s awful to drag a heavy hand luggage all the way across the airport. You’ll hate it from the moment you leave the check in counter.

7. Always carry a water bottle
This is especially important when flying economy. Service in the different airlines varies and when waking up at night with a dry throat (due to the air condition), it’s a relieve to have a bottle of water within reach.

I used to carry my water bottle everywhere, but with the new restrictions for liquids on hand luggage, you’ll have to buy it in the Duty Free Shop. Or bring an empty bottle and fill it with water from the tap (if you trust in the quality of tap water at your airport).

By: Marion Kummerow

Although I should be thinking about exams, I am more interested in the various pieces of technology that I wish to acquire before I go off to university for architecture, providing I meet the grades.

The decision of a main laptop is a hard one, I want an Apple Macbook but I cannot justify the £1000 price tag plus all the extra stuff you need to ensure it is secure for the first 3 years. So the decision mainly comes crumbling down to a Dell but I have been so frustrated by their machines I may just have to splash the cash on such a device.

Now because going to Birmingham and back with a Apple is going to be some slog even though they are not heavy, I think a netbook may be in order. It can do all the writing capabilities of the Mac but will weigh so much less. This will be good for days where pure theory lectures are happening and when I don’t need to be creative. There is that option or I could purchase an iPhone although I would loose the word processing functionality it would still allow me to be in contact where ever I am and on the move.

The decisions of these products are going to be expensive but hopefully I can work it out after my exams. My iPhone decision may become answered when the 3rd gen of it is announced next month.

This week my History coursework was handed in along with my business coursework, I have worked hard on these so should get what I deserve in terms of grade from them. I also handed my design coursework in, which has taken a lot of out of me mentally and physically. While it wasn’t completed my heath deteriorated and stress rose, since the design is finished I suddenly feel the weight off my shoulders until my exams. I feel a lot happier within myself now and just can’t wait to go to sleep and actually get a decent nights kip.

Below is my finished design project, it has taken over 2 months to make and hours of painstaking work (I cannot show  you any more yet as the exam board may not wish for me to disclose it) but it is done.

Have a good one.