| The end |
[May. 22nd, 2008|09:45 am] |
| [ | music |
| | hoi polloi-alan hull | ] |
I've now finished my degree,as I had my last exam yesterday. It still hasn't sunk in yet that I don't have to study now. It's a strange feeling!
So much so that I'm going to go and continue to learn to drive that is!
Judith
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| A lovely way to spend a Saturday.... |
[May. 18th, 2008|11:27 am] |
| [ | mood |
| |  cheerful | ] |
| [ | music |
| | all fall down- lindisfarne | ] |
Tom and I decided quite recently that as we both like walking that it was time that we'd do something that would raise our game so to speak. So we decided that by October we'd try and walk the Hadrian's Wall Path all the way from Wallsend to Bowness on Solway. Yesterday we started it! We walked about 9 miles from Wallsend to Scotswood Bridge(which is just past the Metro Centre) and it was a fantastic day. That said, we were so tired when we got back that we went to sleep at 10.20 and didn't even to bother watching the Comedy Map of Britain(which has been a fixture for a couple of weekends).
Unfortunately as we didn't take our cameras I thought I'd use a couple of pictures I've found on a certain internet search engine to illustrate what we walked past. If you're not interested in anything related to Newcastle the cut is quite image heavy, so you make up your own minds.
In other news I went to the library on the way back from Sacriston today and decided to go folky for a week. So I've got the Alan Hull anthology, the best of Show of Hands(one of Tom's friends wants him to play a Show of Hands song at her wedding in August, I've not heard any of their material at all) and "Front Parlour Ballads" by Richard Thompson(who I do know and like).
Judith
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| Radio Concerts |
[Apr. 1st, 2008|09:54 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| | happy | ] |
| [ | music |
| | everything is in its right place-radiohead | ] |
They might be pre recorded but tonight I've had the chance to listen to Radiohead live on Radio 2. I'd forgotten how good live concerts are to listen to.
Thom Yorke's warblings may put most people off but I do like the frenzied/minimalist/indescribable nature of Radiohead. Also some of the songs off In Rainbows are beautifully put together.
I wish I hadn't got rid of all my tapes now because I'd have some more live radio recorded gems to hand such as the Manics Nynex Gig from 1997(It's so spooky listening to all the fairly 'recent' mentions of Richey from Steve Lamacq on that tape), the Manics Coal Exchange Gig in 2002,the Blur singles tour from 1999, a Soulwax gig on my birthday in 2000 and Idlewild live in the Shetlands.
Viva la radio!
Judith
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| Greenery |
[Feb. 11th, 2008|10:08 am] |
| [ | mood |
| | awake | ] |
| [ | music |
| | every planet we reach is dead-gorillaz | ] |
This weekend has been very good indeed. I was at the Walkers on Saturday evening and saw Argyle tread all over Leicester. Our away support was magnificent and outsung what felt like the entire city of Leicester.
That said, I do feel sorry for the suffering Foxes because as Tom was telling me on Saturday, he hasn't been to a match where they've won in four years. They do have some good players but they just don't seem to gel in the way that we did on Saturday. As much as I slagged off DJ Campbell and Matty Fryat I still think we felt threatened by them.
We were down in Leicester not just for that match but also for Tom's little sister Emily's 18th Birthday Party. Before the match we had a bit of a wander round and the weather was absolutely magnificent. It made me very much appreciate how green Leicester is as a city. Walking across Victoria Park down New Walk when the sun is shining completely destroys any opinions of how dull a city it is.
We also went in the New Walk Museum, which I love and there was an Ancient Greeks British Museum moving exhibition on. I was such a big kid and had to put a Trojan horse together from wooden pieces didn't I! Also spotted in the museum café were two editions of "Embrace.... all things Rutland" which I found very twee and funny.
The do itself was very good, and Tom did a speech that I know Emily was very very proud of. I know I was proud of him for doing it.
Yesterday we stopped off in Wetherby on the way back for a tea and scone, and the tea really hit the spot. It was such a lovely tea!
A good weekend to prepare me for what could be a stressful week,,,,, Group work is a dreaded word.
Judith
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| Hail,Wind and Snow |
[Jan. 31st, 2008|04:52 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| | cheerful | ] |
| [ | music |
| | the band of gold-seth lakeman | ] |
Durham has been like a weather forecaster's dream today, we've had blue skies, gales, rain, sleet, a blizzard of snow and moments of calm!
In other news I finally did my presentation that I've been posting about over the past two days and all went well until I slipped up and said the SWP was still entrist. What I meant to say of course was it is still boring, which I said to my lecturer to which he laughed. He and the rest of the class seemed to enjoy my presentation of more contemporary events such as Militant and the Labour Party and the (as yet) unsubstantiated claims against Ken Livingstone.
Last night Tom and I went to a different pub quiz, we went to the Tap and Spile in Framwellgate Moor and we came second. There were only four teams, but it was a nice mixture of general knowledge and very different to the Elm Tree quiz. For those who know the fabled Elm Tree quiz, it wasn't as brain meltingly difficult. Also,there were seven different ales on so I was a very happy bunny. Tom would have been if he wasn't the designated driver(as he always is bless him). We'll definitely be going back to the Tap and Spile in the future.
Judith
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| Grotesque Chaos |
[Jan. 30th, 2008|08:41 am] |
| [ | mood |
| | optimistic | ] |
| [ | music |
| | kingston-field music | ] |
For those who want to see the speech I was mentioning in my last post.
Kinnock's 1985 Conference attacking Militanthttp://news.bbc.co.uk/player/nol/newsid_6960000/newsid_6967300/6967355.stm?bw=bb&mp=rm&asb=1&news=1
I sent a link to it to my Mum and she's just commented how when she watched it "tears were rolling down her face and it was a time when she felt things were more difficult but that things seemed more hopeful too".
Unfortunately you can't get a transcript online, so I can't quote from it in my presentation tomorrow. |
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| Politics again! |
[Jan. 29th, 2008|10:44 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| | politics geekery | ] |
| [ | music |
| | 1776-Hope of the States | ] |
I'm currently doing some research on Militant Tendency for a presentation and have just watched an old BBC News report on Neil Kinnock's speech to the Labour Party Conference in 1985. What a speech! They certainly don't do them like that anymore! I wasn't even born when that speech was made(but I wasn't far away as I was born in late October).
Judith
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| New things learnt today... |
[Jan. 29th, 2008|06:05 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| | busy | ] |
| [ | music |
| | canvey island-british sea power | ] |
In my German politics seminar earlier we were discussing Die Linke("The Left Party") and how their colour is purple. Our lecturer found it so funny and asked what purple meant to us. I suggested Spanish Republicanism which was patted down with "well I suppose you've got the excuse of being in Spain for a year". The actual answer was Feminism, which I and my peers were startled by. We all had never heard of purple as being associated with Feminism. Is this a lack of subculture knowledge on our part or just indicative of how Feminism has now become tamed and is unimportant in today's society? (You decide!).
This was my purple association anyway:
You see loads of them on May 1st obviously.
Judith
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| Some hae meat and canna eat |
[Jan. 25th, 2008|08:30 am] |
| [ | mood |
| | awake | ] |
| [ | music |
| | windowsill-arcade fire | ] |
Yes it's Burns Night tonight and therefore all those of a Scottish persuasion or those who like Haggis can rejoice.
I thought I could last night at my first ever Van Mildert formal, but I had an allergic reaction to their Cock a Leekie soup. First off it had prunes in it, which I found strange(but have recently found on a Scottish recipes website that it does have prunes in it but most people omit it). I had to leave the meal as a result, and my hero/star/fabulous Tom came and picked me up from Mildert and took me back to Hatfield to tuck me up.
To those who don't know I am allergic to nuts, and have had my allergy since birth and although I carry antihistamines and an epipen I've never had to use the latter. Normally if things have a 'trace of nuts' in them(like everything nowadays due to fear of being sued) I'm fine as they don't have nuts in. This soup was confounding as the reaction was so quick(so it couldn't have been from something I ate at lunchtime). So I've no idea what I ate to start me off, but as nuts are my primary enemy to my immune system I'm going to go with that.
Therefore, I'm making sure Tom and I have haggis either tonight or tomorrow night!! We'll be sharing a bottle of Old Tom that I got him for his birthday with it too, as I can't drink wine with haggis.(That could have been the problem last night, I was shocked that Mildert bar didn't sell bottled beer, the previous time they had the range of Black Sheep ales in there).
Anyway, I'm a lot better now so that's good!
Judith
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| Driving-the scariest thing in the world |
[Jan. 20th, 2008|05:54 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  hyper | ] |
| [ | music |
| | books from boxes-maximo park | ] |
In comparison moving abroad and speaking a completely different language to your own native language is a piece of cake eh!!
Yes, today at the grand age of 22 I had my first ever driving lesson in Durham. For those who know the area or have learned up here, we went out to Meadowfield Industrial Estate just by Langley Moor did a bit of basic driving and then came back via the Honest Lawyer at Croxdale and turned right by the Cock o the North roundabout. (I almost stopped on this). Then I got the joy of actually driving into Durham, up onto the Bailey and parking outside Hatfield. It was an amazing experience I can tell you but my adrenaline is still pumping!
As for tonight's plans, I've got to finish "On Nationality" by David Miller then I'm off out with Tom to the Travelling Man at Witton Gilbert for their Sunday night quiz.
Judith
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| Back in the DH1 |
[Jan. 14th, 2008|04:24 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  tired | ] |
| [ | music |
| | sudden dilemma- peatbog faeries | ] |
I'm back at University and a new term full of fun awaits me. Two presentations, one on Extremism in Mainstream Politics and the other on Welfare in America, Four essays and a dissertation. I am going to not fuss, fret or worry about it(well I am as always do, but I'm going to try and cut the amount of time spent worrying down).
One good way to start that was a relaxing weekend away with Tom. We went to Swaledale and stayed for two nights in a B and B in Reeth, which has three pubs and no mobile signal(which was just perfect, no phone, no worries!). The B and B was also perfect and we had a massive sized room overlooking the village green(yes I did sing the words to the song "Village Green Preservation Society") and two cooked breakfasts on Saturday and Sunday which set us up fantastically for walking in some of the prettiest and quietest scenery England has. The interesting thing about Swaledale I think is about how industrial it was and how active it still is(although only really with agriculture and tourism), and how you can still see the remnants of lead mining in the area. So apart from walking we also ate well(we visited the Wensleydale creamery in Hawes and tried all the cheeses) and drank well(Black Sheep Best, Riggwelter-this was a revelation. I'd only ever had Rigg in bottles before, so to find it on draught was amazing but readers take note it's an 'end of the evening' pint at 5.9%., Jennings Cumberland Ale,Jennings Dark Mild(I've never been into Milds but I was struck by this one) and just generally had a fantastic time. We were lucky with the weather too, it was overcast but not too raining on Sunday and the sun broke through on Saturday. So although simple and spontaneous, I'll never forget this weekend. It also demonstrates to the wider world that Tom and I don't have to visit warzones, as my Mum and Dad put it.
Today I visited the public library and found out that they're trialling having foreign newspapers in January and February, of which El País is one. So I was heartened by this, but then immediately spotted a spelling mistake on the Spanish phrase they'd put on the poster. That always makes me feel pedantic. I also took use of the 3 CDs for £2 offer once again and walked out with "Our Earthly Pleasures" by Maximo Park(which is a bit of a revelation as it's so good!!) "What Men Deserve to Lose" by the Peatbog Faeries (which is very pleasant) and "Subtítulo" by Josh Rouse(which I haven't listened to yet).
Judith
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| (no subject) |
[Jan. 9th, 2008|11:35 am] |
| [ | music |
| | black and white unite- belle and sebastian | ] |
Did anyone watch the first Family Guy on BBC Three last night with Peter Griffin making friends with Bill Clinton?
If so, has that swung New Hampshire for Hillary?
The political scientist in me would be saying the media was too quick to forecast an Obama bounce straight after Iowa since New Hampshire is always contrary to it. Also, it's FAR too early to forecast who will be the Presidential nominees for the Democrats and Republicans.
I'm still riveted by it though! This is an advance warning to anyone in November, I will want to stay up and watch the results. Tom, the soul he is did it with me last time, and we had a competition between us and his housemate James to see who could stay up the latest. Let's just say we conceded at 4.30 am.
Before then of course, on March 9th is the Spanish General Election. I'm going to go out on a limb and predict early here; I reckon the PSOE will be returned with a slimmer majority. The PP is still full of old faces and far too untrustworthy after 11-M.
Judith
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| Second post in a day! |
[Jan. 7th, 2008|11:05 am] |
[b]75% Mike Gravel (D)
73% Dennis Kucinich (D)
73% Bill Richardson (D)
68% John Edwards (D)
66% Barack Obama (D)
65% Hillary Clinton (D)
63% Chris Dodd (D)
59% Joe Biden (D)
42% Rudy Giuliani (R)
39% John McCain (R)
37% Mike Huckabee (R)
35% Ron Paul (R)
33% Mitt Romney (R)
25% Fred Thompson (R)
20% Tom Tancredo (R)
[/b]
[url=http://www.gotoquiz.com/candidates/2008-quiz.html]2008 Presidential Candidate Matching Quiz[/url]
I thought I'd get Clinton or McCain, so I'm surprised! Gravel isn't going to go anywhere though which is a shame since he is the major figure campaigning for 'Initiatives', he's also from Alaska which is a place I'd love to visit.
in other news I've started writing my dissertation today and already I've got 509 words. Ernest Gellner, John Breuilly, Ander Gurruchaga and Benedict Anderson you've got a lot to answer for.
Judith
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| Tip top for 2008 |
[Jan. 7th, 2008|10:57 am] |
Well it's probably quite late and they'll have been around for years but I heartily recommend:
The Lancashire Hotpots
http://www.myspace.com/thelancashirehotpots
How can you not like a band that has in its lyrics, a plea to an emo kid to "come over here and a have a pint of mild"?
Judith
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| Musings! |
[Dec. 28th, 2007|05:09 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  thoughtful | ] |
| [ | music |
| | radio two | ] |
Why does the world appear to be turning into something out of 24? Or is just because I've been watching too much of it recently?
Christmas with the family went well and as yet we've had no rows, although I'm off up to Oadby to spend the weekend with Tom's family so perhaps something will happen then. I've got yet another Digital Camera, hopefully which will not break within 10 months like the last two have done and lots of other amazing gifts like a book of one's man's quest to find more about the meaning of beer.
I went babysitting last night and came home last night late and sat up and talked to my Dad about my future plans. I've got to be honest I haven't applied for any graduate jobs and I feel that as a result postgraduate study may be a favourable option. I'd like to work more in Europe than in Westminster, because that is where I've always had an interest. So today's quick search of postgraduate courses have pulled up two not really related to Europe(but interesting nonetheless) in Manchester and Coventry. I'm going to apply for things and see how I get on, if I don't get any acceptances then I know that will not be the route for me. However, I feel already that the graduate scheme jobs are not for me, and that I should have applied for them now if they were.
Anyhow that's enough for me now, I'm sure you're all bored by now.
Judith
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| The Manics do Slade/Wizzard/Cliff Richard |
[Dec. 3rd, 2007|11:53 am] |
| [ | mood |
| | cheerful | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Ghost of Christmas- Manics | ] |
The Manics have recorded a Christmas song. It is very cheesy and funny with bouncy Guns 'n Roses bass.
For all those who are interested in listening/owning it you can download it for free from their website.
I am annoyed by the amount of times they use the lyric "because it means nothing to me". You're only allowed that in "Faster" I believe. Relating it to the Queen's Speech is silly. Just don't watch it, or the Channel Four alternative and do something else. That's what we do in my famly anyway.
In other news I may be off to a veritable clash of the titans on the 9th February. On this date Leicester City play Plymouth Argyle at the Crisp Bowl and as I'll probably be in Oadby that weekend(for Tom's sister's 18th) he's suggested that we go and see it. He's also suggested that we sit with the home fans. I'll have to wear my shirt under a coat zipped up then! I hope it's better than the last meeting in which I felt I needed Pro Plus to stay awake(I had none unfortunately) as it was that riveting.
Judith
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| Good moment of the day |
[Nov. 23rd, 2007|12:40 pm] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | DH1 | ] |
| [ | mood |
| | chipper | ] |
| [ | music |
| | generals and majors- xtc | ] |
Thank you to ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) clairybell for some good weighing up of a PhD in relation to my last post.
But my post is to say that my goodies from Amazon have arrived "Awkward Annie" by Kate Rusby and "Black Sea" by XTC.
I'm off for lunch now with Tom on his lunch break.
Judith
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| Image of the day |
[Nov. 21st, 2007|11:49 am] |
A shot of the match between tram workers who were striking and policeman in Plymouth in May 1926.
I love how the goalie is wearing a flat cap.
Judith
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| Quick glimpse into my life! |
[Nov. 14th, 2007|07:32 pm] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | Durham | ] |
| [ | mood |
| | content | ] |
| [ | music |
| | piano concerto no 2 first movement-sergei rachmaninov | ] |
Things are starting to load on top of me here. I've got a lovely presentation on the "Post Unification Governments of Kohl, Schroeder and Merkel" to do for Tuesday. This is quite an undertaking because our lecturer makes us formulate questions about the issues in the actual seminar. As a result I have to read so much on the topic to get ahead of everyone, and in particular one girl who seems to read everything off and on the reading list for each seminar.
I got quite annoyed at the seminar yesterday because we were having a discussion of the Bundesbank having to merge the currencies of West and East Germany and one student said "Well how they did it just shows Germans can't be trusted with financial affairs, and why the European Central Bank is an absolute failure and why we shouldn't join the Euro". I was particularly put off by his racism,anti Europeanism and just generally Tory attitude. The lecturer, did tell him to pipe down though, as it wasn't related to the topic(Unification) and I think she was annoyed too!
I've just tried to read a book by John Callaghan on "British Trotksyism" for my Extremism seminar tomorrow and put it down as it was driving me up the wall and didn't actually reveal anything at all! I emailed a few embassies of Spanish speaking countries today to see if I could get some work experience over Christmas(of course I emailed them in Spanish) as I've no idea how to get into the diplomatic/international arena and I think that is an area I am particularly interested in. I applied to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office about a month ago for their internship scheme, but didn't get in which apparently is very very common(in all European countries too- my Swedish friend Matilda told me her friends had applied to the Foreign Office in Sweden and were told they needed to speak at least 5 languages and be able to name the Secretary for Trade in the Gambia etc).
In other news, I met bravenewcentury today, and we spent a good hour and half chatting about various things! I was glad to find that my suspicions of how good 'carbon neutral' events are were correct and that we both agreed on the frankly bizarre and dangerous approaches made by the Christian Union in Durham. She spotted that I've now got quite a geeky interest in Spanish Politics too, so that's not bad after meeting me for the first time! I look forward to more coffees though!
Now I'm off to the Elm Tree for the weekly 'so difficult it'll burn your brains out' quiz and a wee bit of a celebration as Tom has now got a job until March!
Judith
x
PS: Quote of the week: ¿Por qué no te callas? Juan Carlos I to Hugo Chavéz (Why don't you shut up?)
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| My nose is running my brain |
[Nov. 5th, 2007|01:05 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  sick | ] |
| [ | music |
| | borders young fiddles | ] |
I'm choked with the cold yet again, so am finding it hard to concentrate on anything work wise at the moment. I just want to curl up with the biggest cup of tea ever and biscuits, lie on a comfy settee somewhere and watch something that isn't related to Basque or Catalan Nationalism!
As you can probably tell, I'm having a few troubles getting started on my dissertation at the moment. I know it is a case of jumping off and hitting the ground running but trying to write a Literature Review before tomorrow is so difficult and I don't really know if I am answering a question or not(or whether I have just a broad stroke of an issue). I do know that whatever I do hand in will not be the final piece, and hopefully my supervisor will be able to tear it to bits and help me improve it.
Andrew came up to visit over the weekend and we had a great time. I was happy that he enjoyed everywhere we went(Newcastle, Grey Fireworks, a few Bailey bars, Shildon (for Locomotion) and wants to come back up again to hang out with those of us who don't have proper jobs. I'd like to take him to a Northern League match too, which we didn't do as Tom wasn't in Durham over the weekend and we both felt as he is the future Harry Pearson we needed him to be there in order to write an hilarious match report.
I can't seem to access Harry's Place from my laptop anymore, I don't know if this is because the University deem it 'unsuitable' or not. If so, I think they need to look at it's content in relation to others I can access(BNP, Hizb ut Tahrir et al).
I've only got two lectures this week for some strange reason, and I know I should be rejoicing in this fact but it actually fills me a bit with dread as I've got so much time to work(and I'll know I'll fritter it away).
But best be off to get ready for my penultimate lecture of the week! China: State and Society since 1949, we're going to be looking at Deng Xiaoping's reforms today.
Judith
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