Some congratulations

Congratulations to Patrick who collected his BA (Hons) Music on Tuesday. He's still useless at recognising AC/DC lyrics or listing winners of the Eurovision Song Contest but I blame Nottingham University - obviously they are dumbing down. I can only hope doing a Masters will fill in these crucial gaps in his musical education.

Congratulations to Sam who collects her BA (Hons) in Linguistics this coming week. Because she has wanderlust she's heading off to yet another university for Masters.

Congratulations to Caz for passing her first year with a First. I'm sure Emma has also done something wonderful but there was no mention - her French is coming along well though.

These folk are members of the residential school team at Sussex so if anyone is in the area make sure you say "well done!". And congratulations to all the people who attended week one - staff and students - it was a jolly week.

Bug

Bug on a bin

End of the week

End of week one at Sussex. Great time had by most - time for home and the real world

Bottle

Caz and Ems

The "Beret and black eye" conversation

Entertainment

This bloke is currently wowing the crowds near the JMS Building at the University of Sussex. He and his very noisy dust-creating machine are available for weddings and parties - book now for Christmas.

Lilies

Lilies and fish in the garden behind the Chichester coffee shop. Bit of drama there today - there is a net at the second floor level to keep out larger birds and sparrows flit around feeding their young in the nesting boxes. Today a Sparrowhawk had found a way in but couldn't get out through the net - its presence was keeping the sparrows in hiding and they were sounding alarmed.

This is the sea

Banded snail

Unchained melody

Piece of work on loan to the University of Sussex. It won a Silver Flora at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show in 2006 and is really picked out by the bright sunlight yesterday.

Barren

Barren, bleak, not a spot of shade. It's almost a desert.

It's a beautiful morning!

It's a beautiful morning!

Secret coffee spot at Sussex

Secret coffee spot at Sussex

The sun has got his hat on!

The sun has got his hat on!

Notes

Note on the last posting. It's well know that there is a relationship between genius and the dark beverage from Dublin. In fact they ran an advertising campaign to that effect - Pure Genius. Less well known is the relationship between Guinness and the work of The Bard. Eagle-eyed readers might question how he managed to get hold of any, having been around a few years before the first natural Guinness springs were discovered on the banks of the Liffy but let not that stand in thy way paltroon!

Some famous Shakespearean bits that aren't famous enough:

• "As you like it?" - The proper stuff not that metric ice cold gear
• "Is this a dagger I see before me?" No it's a pint of beer, neck it lad
• "There are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy" - Guinness and blackcurrant

I hope this helps anyone who might be considering the Humanities.

Is this a dagger I see before me?

Is this a dagger I see before me?
Hark! What light in yonder window breaks? It is the East Slope bar!

Falmer House in the rain

Falmer House in the rain

In the rain :-(

In the rain :-(

For those about to rock.........

Heading off for resi school soon. Students start arriving tomorrow lunchtime by which we'll have had meetings and briefings and wandered the campus putting up signs and checking wheelchair access and all the other things that happen underneath to make the swan swim serenley on.

So in the immortal words of AC/DC; For those about to rock - we salute you!

"You used to be so amused....."

Just has to deal with my first comment spam in ages. It was on a posting from 2005 which dealt with some Dylan-related musings. Now I've got this song going through my head; not a bad way to start the day :-)

So how does it feel? How does it feel? To be on your own, with no direction home, like a complete unknown...........

Royal Star Arcade

Royal Star Arcade, originally uploaded by nogbad the bad.

I like the geometry and shadows in this shot

The Ship Inn

The Ship Inn (Old name), originally uploaded by nogbad the bad.

I took some photos while wandering round Maidstone today. Most are pubs and the route is mainly the length of Upper and Lower Stone Street, Gabriel's Hill and the High Street. If anyone wishes to see the architectural majesty of the county town of Kent hit the Flickr set (it also includes three older shots).

1578

1578


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Beer!

Beer!


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Branches

Branches, originally uploaded by nogbad the bad.

Under the yew tree in Loose graveyard. Church House in the background. Took this a few weeks ago and tonight found out that someone famous is in this graveyard; the Reverend Richard Boys was chaplain of St Helena when Napoleon was there.

What is the plural of ukeleke?

What is the plural of ukeleke?


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Lunch

Lunch


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Tea

Tea

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You've got to love digital communications - this one was sent at the time shown on the image!

Lovely day

Lovely day


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I sent this when I took it - 11:50 on 01/07, it seems that some Moby Pictures go through a black hole or a tear in the space-time continuum before being delivered.

Leaning into the Light: The Open University 40th Anniversary Lecture

"Lord Puttnam, Chancellor of The Open University, marks the 40th anniversary of the institution in this special birthday lecture, delivered on Monday 20th April 2009 at The Open University, Milton Keynes. He addresses the challenges facing the world of education as we pursue the digital revolution in face of the credit crunch and the threat of ecological disaster."

Artistic hangings???

Excellent work Mr Pierrepoint!

Coupling

Coupling
Originally uploaded by nogbad the bad

These guys drove the train - you have to admire the beard. Check out the full size version on Flickr

Last of the summer beer

For those who have seen the tweets about beer and the photos I thought I'd just explain what it's all about.

Paul, Phil and I worked together 20 years ago, at that time we were auditors with Berni Inns. For the last few years we've got together to watch some cricket. We've visited Canterbury, Scarborough and Horsham in the past - Phil and Paul are cricket fans and have been doing this for far longer but I muscled in to lower the tone. The venue is planned at the start of the year when the fixture list is released; we aim for somewhere pretty with decent beer and we've now added the "Third Day Trip". The only fixed part of the format is that we park on arrival and don't use our cars until it's time to leave and that determines how far from the ground we can stay. The "Third Day Trip" started last year when we jumped on a train and visited Bognor and Arundel and this year we went to Minehead.

Minehead was a great deal nicer than Bognor and my favourite pub of the week is The Queen's Head in Minehead.

Best pint is a harder call because there are so many to chose from but I think it's the Nutcracker from Cotleigh, a local brewer. We enjoyed that in the Castle Green in Taunton.

Best meal (not too many to pick from) was fish, chips and mushy peas in a lovely place in Minehead.

The service on the West Somerset Railway is nothing short of excellent and I can't remember the last time I went anywhere with such happy and welcoming staff (many are volunteers). Well worth a visit and some lovely countryside on the journey.

If anyone wants to see the rest of the photos they are on Flickr.

Next year? Well we're going to see where Lancashire might play any away games but that's not big deal - I'm sure we'll find something to do wherever we end up.