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Been a long time since I blogged, it's because I've got quite a big blog in the works and I've had to do alot of research before I publish it. Now, in the meantime I have decided that it would be fun to a do a bit of a lighthearted picture blog so that anyone who reads these things knows that I haven't abandoned Blogger.

So, the topic of this picture blog is a day out I had with Jenny (my sister) and Lisa to a place called Eyam, to quote Wikipedia...

Eyam is a small village in Derbyshire, England. The village is best known for being the "plague village" that chose to isolate itself when the plague was discovered there in August 1665, rather than let the infection spread.

I'd been there before with school and I really liked it, it was such a small place with tiny roads and old houses, of course I never appreciated it at the time, I was too busy having a laugh and taking the piss with my friends. Ahh to be a teenager...

Anyway, it's EXTREMELY rare that I spend more than an hour or so outside so this was particularly special for me personally. Also, it was the last time I got to spend any real time with Jenny before I left England. I could just about handle it, I was already familiar with the place and I had two people I knew very well to go with me, so if I had any trouble with other folk or if I felt things weren't all right, Jenny and Lisa would be there to help me out

So let's get started...

On the way to Eyam, we found this lovely view so we had to get out and take a picture of it.


So...we parked where we shouldn't have. (Snooze, you lose)


Poor woman lost her entire family...how did she survive?!



Here's me and Jenny walking around, dunno why Lisa took this from behind. I look dead scruffy.



People still live in these cottages, I dunno how they can though because the two times that I've been it has been packed with tourists.


We got to this church, you couldn't really miss it in this small village.


We walked around the church, there were alot of graves, this one stood out to us as it's more of a tomb.



One regret about the trip that Lisa and I had was that we didn't notice the Anglo-Saxon cross to the right of the picture until we got home and looked up Eyam on Wikipedia, turns out it's dated to the 7th century! We would have tried to get a better picture of it had we known.



The graveyard behind the church. Amazing views looking up, lovely greenery.


We went through more than the church but, we didn't want to take too many pictures out of respect for the people that lived there, here's our final shot of Eyam, the museum.


That wasn't all of our day out though, on the way back we stopped at the Five Pits Trail for a bit of a walk. As we were driving there, we had a look at the crooked spire!



We found the Five Pits Trail, Jenny used to come here as a child when she visited my aunt and uncle.



This is a bench...nice place to sit, or stand on.


I look ridiculous in the photograph, typical fat kid, stains on t-shirt and all. Had to put it on though, think of it as proof that I went out? I couldn't make it to where Lisa was...not scared of heights or anything, I just didn't think the tree could hold me and if I fell I might have sunk into the ground.


Here's Jen on the same tree, she had no problem climbing it like Lisa.


The Five Pits Trail sign...


And one last look....



Looking back, it was as if we knew that I was leaving England that Summer, of course at the time that we went on the Eyam trip we had no idea, but when I think about it, it was obviously my last chance to do this kind of thing, to visit all these places before I left it for good. I'm happy with the way things have turned out, so I can look back and smile at days like these.

Time to get back to work on my other blog, thanks for reading and looking at the photos...Lisa did most of the camera work by the way, I took a few, but who's counting?

'Till next time....

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Just thought I'd do a quick blog about this public holiday in Sweden.

Sveriges Nationaldag is a public holiday in honour of King Gustav Vasa, who's election in 1523 is considered the "foundation of modern Sweden". It's a slightly low key affair, infact alot of Swedes barely acknowledge it, but others celebrate by flying a flag on or outside their house.

Why I decided to make a blog about this particular holiday is because of an issue I had with my homeland regarding similar things. The UK is overrun by immigrants, most do what I do and keep to themselves, others come into the country and preach their religion at us and change our culture to suit theirs, I like to call those people "arseholes". In the privacy of your home you can say what you want, do what you want, but screaming at the government to tell them that they're doing things wrong is barbaric...surely only citizens of that country should hold the right to do that.

My main gripe with these people is their lack of respect for the flags of the United Kingdom, whether it's the Union Jack or the St George's flag, they believe that hanging these outside our houses makes them feel unwelcome, so they complain to the authorities and tell them that anyone who has one is racist. How the fuck can the UK be racist if they're letting these immigrants in in the first place? I believe anyone can fly their flag in their own country as much as they want, especially in times of a crisis. It shows pride towards something they love. Now, if someone from the UK were to go to, let's say, Pakistan or Poland and complain about their flags making them feel unwelcome, then they would be laughed out of the country.

There are people in Sweden who also take issue with the flag waving, these are mostly immigrants that associate that flag with a racist government party (whose name escapes me). Maybe these people should hate the person that spouts this racism, rather than the flag itself. The difference between Sweden and the UK in this matter is that the UK is bowing down to these demands at the drop of a hat and are likely going to impliment some sort of law in the future, whereas Sweden's government isn't going to lose sleep over a few pissed off immigrants.

Today I went out for a walk with Lisa and saw 7-8 flagpoles with big Swedish flags at the top flying in the wind and did I feel unwelcome? Fuck no, should I? Well, I don't know what each individual person's feelings on immigration are, but I doubt it. It's refreshing to see a sense of pride, infact the people of Gotland are very proud of their island aswell, I've seen many Gotland flags out all through the year and not once did I feel uncomfortable. It's not about me though, they shouldn't have to care what I feel about this or any other immigrant, it's their island, it's their country, if I didn't like it, I'd fuck off or at least keep my mouth shut.

Anyway, short and sweet.

'Till next time....

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I use coarse language throughout this blogpost. I don't care though.

I don't usually get hooked on the campness of Eurovision, but this year was certainly different.

Living in Sweden has given me a new respect for it, these people are mad for it and for good reason too, their biggest export (ABBA) was made famous by Eurovision and they've always had a great track record when it comes to getting into the Finals. The last 5 years however Sweden hasn't done so well, according to Wikipedia their average placing has been 16th, for a country that prides itself on this kind of competition, that isn't too good is it? This year was their worst though, they didn't even make it to the Finals and I wasn't too surprised either, their song of choice was "This Is My Life" by Anna Bergandahl, a sort of half assed ballad by a half assed singer who only got to represent Sweden based on her fame (she placed 5th in Idol) and I believe alot of fans sympathised with her because she seemed so innocent. In the semi-final, she was very trembly and seemed extremely nervous, sorry to say it but, I don't want to watch that kind of thing on a fun show like Eurovision. This is a classic case of someone being told that they're very good when in actual fact they're very shit.

The "Big Four" are four countries that automatically get into the finals because of their financial contributions to European Broadcasting Company. It's all politics I suppose and this is the kind of thing that has been around since the beginning of Eurovision and I doubt will ever change.

The good stuff about Eurovision though is that it's shit, we know it's shit, yet we can't help but love it. This year in particular was very interesting for me personally, because for the very first time, I got to see what it was like to actually qualify to be a competitor. Back in England, I only ever watched the Final, but this year I got to see Sweden pick their act and watch them compete in the semis. I was extremely impressed by it all, the production and the effort that people put into it was amazing, so many acts to choose from just in the Swedish competition (Melodifestival) alone. The semis were great, my only problem with it was that there was too many ballads for my liking, Eurovision is all about fun and being able to enjoy yourself, I don't want to be hearing some chick or opera singer wailing about losing someone, or important issues like the environment. We see all that shit in the charts and in the news as it is, Eurovision is a good chance to break free from all the crap in the world and just enjoy yourself.

Best (in no particular order)

• Run Away by SunStroke Project & Olia Tira...(Moldova) There's really only 3 words that can describe their entry into the competition; Epic Sax Guy. I was there, sitting on the couch, chillin' like a motherfucker and suddenly theres a dude with a violin spinning on a spinning thing and a blonde guy with massive glasses, humping a saxophone. I think it's fair to say that they should have won.
• We Could Be The Same by MaNga...(Turkey) I hate this kind of music, always have, always will...however, you can't deny that they put on a fantastic show this year. MaNga are quite famous from where they come from, which is rare for Eurovision as usually most countries put relatively unknown acts in the mix, not Turkey though. The song was good, not your usual Eurovision, although it was a tad outdated. Nu-Metal has come and gone, the whole rap/rock thing was laid to rest along with Limp Bizkit and Linkin Park. However, they did really well for themselves.
• OPA! by George Alkaios & Friends...(Greece) I have a good mate called Soto, I've known him for a number of years online, he's Greek and one day he told me all about how Greeks celebrate, for whatever occassion, they say "OPA!" So, when I heard this song in the semis I knew instantly that I was going to like it. When I heard the song however, I didn't like it, I FUCKING LOVED IT! It was how I imagined it to be and more, the dancing, the singing, the constant "OPA!"s...it was fun! Like I said, it's that kind of thing which makes Eurovision great entertainment. This was by far my favourite.
  
• Ovo je Balkan by Milan Stankovic...(Serbia) Ehhhhhhh ehhhhhhhhhh eh eh eh eh. That's the first thing you hear when the music starts and then the first thing you see is a blonde Serbian bloke who looked Chinese and was camp as fuck. I loved his performance, especially with the chicks in the background doing the robot. Once again, brilliant.
• Playing With Fire by Paula Selling & Ovi...(Romania) This was just weird, in a good way though. The guy was creepy, the girl looked like she needed to crap, especially when she reached that high note. The song was good, I could see it being a bit hit if they had the right ad campaign in England.
• Lost And Forgotten by Peter Nalitch & Friends...(Russia) I fucking loved this one, I didn't like it at the time too much, but afterwards I couldn't stop watching the live performance on YouTube. I even learned it on guitar and piano, it was THAT good. Technically it's actually a really tough song to play, well I had no trouble, but that's because I'm awesome. I'm kidding. Not really. The frontman is obviously a big part of why I loved this song, especially the 2nd verse when he is looking at a really bad drawing of a girl and then banters with the guitarist about it.

Worst (in no particular order)

• My Heart Is Yours by Didrik Solli-Tangen...(Norway) Now, I know we shouldn't base Eurovision on talent, but when you're singing a song which is vocal based, then I expect you to be able to pull it off dilligently. This idiot, Didrik, fumbled all the way through his performance with a shoddy voice and zero personality. How Norway could vote to have this guy in the final, I'll never know, maybe it says more about them, than it does him.
• That Sounds Good To Me by Josh Dubovie...(UK) Heh, the title of this song is sort of ironic isn't it? I'm almost ashamed to call myself British after this terrible TERRIBLE mess. I don't understand the mentality of how people could actually vote for a guy who can't sing to save his life and has the personality of a dead fish on valium. The song was shit too. I refuse to comment further.
• Butterflies by 3 + 2 & Robert Wells...(Belarus) They shouldn't even be allowed to have their own country, if this is the kinda crap they choose for music, then how in the Hell are they able to wipe their own asses? Go fuck themselves, thrice. I'm joking, but seriously, thank fuck for Greece.
• Satellite by Lena...(Germany) I lost faith in Europe when they announced this crap as the winner. The likes of Lily Allen and Kate Nash annoy me to no extent, so when I heard this German girl...well you can't really call it singing but, when I heard her "sing" I felt like scratching myself with various scrubbers with chemicals on them. It wasn't too bad compared to alot of the other songs, but this is in my "worst" list because she won, so it's more of a dig at people who voted for her...HOW COULD YOU?! Lol. Each to their own and this is a fine example of that. Sidenote: When singing with a really bad accent, you should be very careful because at 2:10 of this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzOaU5H3P4c it sounds like she's saying "Love my anus straight and through"

In closing, I thought Eurovision was great, you HAVE to have bad acts, what else would there be to make fun of? And thank fuck it's EUROvision, because if a country like America tried to get in on this, we'd just have someone like Miley Cyrus screeching about experiences that she's never had in her life. I've ordered the CD online because I can't get enough of hearing it all, even the shit.

Anyway, that's enough for one blogpost.

'Till next time....