A thought, a decision, a missed tackle. Anything can be a seed of hope (or doubt).
Today, Liverpool FC made their seed of hope grow that little bigger, and Manchester Utd created a seed of doubt.
With a comprehensive victory against Real Madrid in the week, and a thumping defeat of Man U today, Liverpool may be starting to hope again.
A hope for the Premier League title, not the Champions League, that's old hat, but the PL, the big one, the best one.
4-1 will be the cry. A Gerrard, Torres victory once more. Vidic getting the blame for the 'other red' team losing. The penalty, Liverpool having better clear cut chances and other aspects of the game that will be the talking point.
But its the seed of hope that that winning gives which is the important thing.
A seed, which with more rain, good ground (and probably the deforestation of the trees around it) will lead to Liverpool once more being crowned Champions of England!
Saturday, 14 March 2009
Friday, 13 March 2009
Essential musings
The funny thing about working in a shop is you get to learn all about people's eating habits...
Today I served people around supper time: one guy bought a massive piece of steak, and someone else got 2 things of pot noodles and a can of red bull!
Earlier this week, I had something published in the Kentish Gazette, which I sent to them after writing the story for inQuire. I rang the KM group and asked them if they'd be interested in the stor, and they were. :-) So p18, and on the web with my name at the top.
The story was about Kent Union gaining Sunday Times best 100 companies recognition.
Elections are on the way here in the world of Kent: elections for the Student Union Vice President roles, as well as the President him/her self and part time positions. (Bored yet?)
Well, actually its not boring!
I think not enough people vote in these elections, and I think the outcome is very important. It will direct what happens to Kent Union over the next year, and as KU is currently one of the biggest in the country (in terms of people employed and activities undertaken) there is a lot that could go wrong!
There are a few people who are running under a similar banner, the socialist one, and they say they will give part of their earnings to a learning fund which doesn't have very much money.
I'm not sure about some of them though, do they have a trustworthy attitude, and the respectability to run the Union? Will people listen to them, and will they make a difference?
Today I served people around supper time: one guy bought a massive piece of steak, and someone else got 2 things of pot noodles and a can of red bull!
Earlier this week, I had something published in the Kentish Gazette, which I sent to them after writing the story for inQuire. I rang the KM group and asked them if they'd be interested in the stor, and they were. :-) So p18, and on the web with my name at the top.
The story was about Kent Union gaining Sunday Times best 100 companies recognition.
Elections are on the way here in the world of Kent: elections for the Student Union Vice President roles, as well as the President him/her self and part time positions. (Bored yet?)
Well, actually its not boring!
I think not enough people vote in these elections, and I think the outcome is very important. It will direct what happens to Kent Union over the next year, and as KU is currently one of the biggest in the country (in terms of people employed and activities undertaken) there is a lot that could go wrong!
There are a few people who are running under a similar banner, the socialist one, and they say they will give part of their earnings to a learning fund which doesn't have very much money.
I'm not sure about some of them though, do they have a trustworthy attitude, and the respectability to run the Union? Will people listen to them, and will they make a difference?
Monday, 9 March 2009
There's a lot I don't know (part 2)
We started the journey in an eventful fashion. I was trying to finish the inQuire news section together and it was taking a while.
The sun was shining brightly outside and my two companions were waiting to go.
When I finished in the office, I walked downstairs and set the alarm off because everyone else had gone, and put the alarm on without realising that I was still in there!
We had a real laugh on the way up - stopping at a Burger King somewhere between Canterbury and Durham, I asked for a large burger meal of some description. It was TINY!!!
But, not to be deterred, in full Wylie and Harvey fashion I picked myself up, and said "I'm not satisfied with this, please can I have another burger and some more chips?". They tried to take the burger away and give me a replacement one, but that would have been the same TINY size, so I had both, and some more chips, and felt thoroughly happy with my British complaint.
We thought about saying the Burger King people that we'd travelled five hours just to get to this Burger King and were there for a special 18th birthday meal...
The sun was shining brightly outside and my two companions were waiting to go.
When I finished in the office, I walked downstairs and set the alarm off because everyone else had gone, and put the alarm on without realising that I was still in there!
We had a real laugh on the way up - stopping at a Burger King somewhere between Canterbury and Durham, I asked for a large burger meal of some description. It was TINY!!!
But, not to be deterred, in full Wylie and Harvey fashion I picked myself up, and said "I'm not satisfied with this, please can I have another burger and some more chips?". They tried to take the burger away and give me a replacement one, but that would have been the same TINY size, so I had both, and some more chips, and felt thoroughly happy with my British complaint.
We thought about saying the Burger King people that we'd travelled five hours just to get to this Burger King and were there for a special 18th birthday meal...
There's a lot I don't know
Travelling up to Durham on Friday I realised a lot about the things I don't know.
We were in the car driving for 7 and a half hours following many signs to 'the north'. We went past lots of places I'd heard of, but didn't really know where they were.
By travelling over 300 miles from Canterbury to Durham, we'd nearly gone further than France, and the things I'd discovered felt almost as great.
I would have liked to updated this blog during the weekend, but I couldn't find a computer (partly because I wasn't looking for one) and I couldn't work out how to do it on my phone.
So I'm sitting in Whitstable now trying to rememeber some of the things I was thinking about then to write down now.
We were in the car driving for 7 and a half hours following many signs to 'the north'. We went past lots of places I'd heard of, but didn't really know where they were.
By travelling over 300 miles from Canterbury to Durham, we'd nearly gone further than France, and the things I'd discovered felt almost as great.
I would have liked to updated this blog during the weekend, but I couldn't find a computer (partly because I wasn't looking for one) and I couldn't work out how to do it on my phone.
So I'm sitting in Whitstable now trying to rememeber some of the things I was thinking about then to write down now.
Wednesday, 25 February 2009
My new phone arrived in the post yesterday!
The Samsung Tocco - its pretty cool - with a touch screen and something called smile recognition! It knows when people are smiling and only takes a picture then. :-) picture :-( no picture.
And I have just filled in the National Student Survey. This is the survey of final year students in the UK about what we think of our course. Last year a lot of people did it - about 200,000 - but it was open to abuse, abuse which was documented in some cases. This year my university was offering a £5 reward to people who completed it.
Why? Well, so we would spend five minutes of our lives answering questions about the last three years of our lives.
The questions were slightly odd, well the answers really. I was given the choice of strongly agree, agree, neither agree or disagree, disagree and strongly disagree. Now - the results last year were portrayed as "students love our degree and our university". Is that because lots of people wrote strongly agree? But for which questions? And what about all those people - and I'm sure there were lots that answered "neither agree or disagree"?
The Samsung Tocco - its pretty cool - with a touch screen and something called smile recognition! It knows when people are smiling and only takes a picture then. :-) picture :-( no picture.
And I have just filled in the National Student Survey. This is the survey of final year students in the UK about what we think of our course. Last year a lot of people did it - about 200,000 - but it was open to abuse, abuse which was documented in some cases. This year my university was offering a £5 reward to people who completed it.
Why? Well, so we would spend five minutes of our lives answering questions about the last three years of our lives.
The questions were slightly odd, well the answers really. I was given the choice of strongly agree, agree, neither agree or disagree, disagree and strongly disagree. Now - the results last year were portrayed as "students love our degree and our university". Is that because lots of people wrote strongly agree? But for which questions? And what about all those people - and I'm sure there were lots that answered "neither agree or disagree"?
Wednesday, 11 February 2009
Today an extraordinary thing happened
11th February saw something amazing happen on campus. So amazing, this correspondent felt compelled to write about it on his blog.
Students were actually involved in something other than themselves! Four separate events on campus were going on and people were stopping, listening and thinking about what was happening!
For many, this news would not come as a surprise. Students, many think, are very politically minded, and will often stand up and make a noise about things they do or don't like - look at Nelson Mandela and Nestle, and the campaigns around them in previous years.
However, whether it is the 21st century, or whether it is just the University of Kent, people just don't seem to bother here. 320 people attended the recent AGM, less than 3,000 voted in the Union elections, 'Varsity' - the local sporting derby between Kent and ChristChurch university is unknown to most. Over 15,000 students are part of this university, but many appear not to want to be too much a part of it.
But, today that was not the case. On one part of campus stood the Fruit and Veg stall. This was booming with customers. It is situated in a good part of campus, unlike its former site, in the depths of the Venue. A popular innovation liked by all.
But a little further along was a large white marquee with the words 'have your say' above, and the smell of burgers to the side. This marquee was part of Kent Union's attempt to hear from students about the direction of the Union for the next five years - their strategic plan for 2009-2013.
And people were in the marquee, reading the notice boards, writing down suggestions, and eating the burgers. It was a success - around 100 people had been through only a couple of hours after it was set up! Yes the free food was helping, but just to get people through the doors was good.
Thirdly (and a bit of a plug) inQuire! Woohoo, my own newspaper (well, I'm one of the section editors). I had great fun handing these out today, and people looked interested when I gave them one and started talking about the story on the front page. Again, people interested in what is going on at their Uni.
And finally, a table set up outside Essentials, advertising a Pro Evo Soccer competition in aid of a Gaza society. People here too were stopping, listening and signing up.
So, a normal Wednesday afternoon, but not normal activities, its so good to see people involved in what is going on around them, I like that a lot, and sitting here in the library, the world looks a happy place.
Students were actually involved in something other than themselves! Four separate events on campus were going on and people were stopping, listening and thinking about what was happening!
For many, this news would not come as a surprise. Students, many think, are very politically minded, and will often stand up and make a noise about things they do or don't like - look at Nelson Mandela and Nestle, and the campaigns around them in previous years.
However, whether it is the 21st century, or whether it is just the University of Kent, people just don't seem to bother here. 320 people attended the recent AGM, less than 3,000 voted in the Union elections, 'Varsity' - the local sporting derby between Kent and ChristChurch university is unknown to most. Over 15,000 students are part of this university, but many appear not to want to be too much a part of it.
But, today that was not the case. On one part of campus stood the Fruit and Veg stall. This was booming with customers. It is situated in a good part of campus, unlike its former site, in the depths of the Venue. A popular innovation liked by all.
But a little further along was a large white marquee with the words 'have your say' above, and the smell of burgers to the side. This marquee was part of Kent Union's attempt to hear from students about the direction of the Union for the next five years - their strategic plan for 2009-2013.
And people were in the marquee, reading the notice boards, writing down suggestions, and eating the burgers. It was a success - around 100 people had been through only a couple of hours after it was set up! Yes the free food was helping, but just to get people through the doors was good.
Thirdly (and a bit of a plug) inQuire! Woohoo, my own newspaper (well, I'm one of the section editors). I had great fun handing these out today, and people looked interested when I gave them one and started talking about the story on the front page. Again, people interested in what is going on at their Uni.
And finally, a table set up outside Essentials, advertising a Pro Evo Soccer competition in aid of a Gaza society. People here too were stopping, listening and signing up.
So, a normal Wednesday afternoon, but not normal activities, its so good to see people involved in what is going on around them, I like that a lot, and sitting here in the library, the world looks a happy place.
Monday, 2 February 2009
Job hunting
I haven't written on this for a while, so Honkit, here is the next entry.
June 2009 sees this particular blogger leave his degree at the University of Kent and enter the big wide world (note: that phrase was used when I left primary school, secondary school, sixth form. I think I'm at least partially in the big wide world already!)
I'm looking a job at a newspaper. My aim is to write for a national newspaper, and I have applied to a national newspapers graduate scheme, but I am also following advice to start in a local newspaper, and so I'm reasearching that now.
By picking big towns which are likely to have good newspapers I think I'll be able to find good newspapers to start with - that is what the advice I was given.
So I thought that instead of making the decision when I went to uni of not picking anything with 400 miles of my home, I would start in the South East: London, Brighton, Southampton, Dover, Portsmouth. Any other good towns?
Maybe I'll send a couple of letters off to Liverpool and Manchester too.
So, back to it...
June 2009 sees this particular blogger leave his degree at the University of Kent and enter the big wide world (note: that phrase was used when I left primary school, secondary school, sixth form. I think I'm at least partially in the big wide world already!)
I'm looking a job at a newspaper. My aim is to write for a national newspaper, and I have applied to a national newspapers graduate scheme, but I am also following advice to start in a local newspaper, and so I'm reasearching that now.
By picking big towns which are likely to have good newspapers I think I'll be able to find good newspapers to start with - that is what the advice I was given.
So I thought that instead of making the decision when I went to uni of not picking anything with 400 miles of my home, I would start in the South East: London, Brighton, Southampton, Dover, Portsmouth. Any other good towns?
Maybe I'll send a couple of letters off to Liverpool and Manchester too.
So, back to it...
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