The 11th Doctor?

Could this be the first glimpse of the 11th Doctor on Doctor Who??
Me thinks that would be too obvious :P

David Tennant as the Doctor - Possible Regeneration

Nuclear Power - A Step in the Right Direction

We all know how nuclear power has many disadvantages. We've all heard about the devastation of Chernobyl, seen the Greenpeace scenario video of a terrorist attack on Sizewell, and worried about the methods of disposing of nuclear waste; but the fact is we NEED to make the most of nuclear energy if we want to have the slightest chance of preventing a complete and utter global disaster.
The way I see it, no one who cares about the environment wants nuclear power, but we have to utilize it in order to get away from the more damaging means of creating power that we rely on so much - too much - nowadays.
Nuclear power is clearly a step in the right direction towards a world where we are not constantly attempting to evade climate change.

Lets look at what would happen in the UK if we weren't to replace the aging nuclear stations with new ones. The government would probably build new green energy plants (wind farms, solar farms and wave turbines), but they are building them anyway. These couldn't be built on current nuclear power plant sites. Instead, during the sites' decommissioning, they would probably have new coal/gas/oil powered stations built on the sites. Is this what we want?

In my opinion the current status of the future of power supplies in Britain stand with two options, which all hang on the nuclear verdict.
Firstly, Renewables+Nuclear+Fossil fuels > Renewables+Fossil fuels > Renewables. This means we first work on closing nuclear plants, but means we do nothing to combat climate change until later.
Secondly, Renewables+Nuclear+Fossil fuels > Renewables+Nuclear > Renewables. This means we deal with the problem of climate change now. We use nuclear as an interim solution, before we move to power ourselves entirely from renewable sources.

I have to say that I am glad that the Government have taken this stance on nuclear power, and I am upset that the my Party and the Green Party seem to think that suddenly we are going to be able to find the space and money for an extremely high number of wind farms, solar farms and tidal plants.

That is why I believe nuclear power IS a step in the right direction.

Political Compass

This is the Political Compass for all my Facebook friends who have taken the test.
It is separated by colour into LibDems, School Friends and members of the game Eshraval.

Looks like I have some very libertarian friends!

Click on the image to make it clearer - blogger doesn't really understand showing images full-size.

UCAS

The UCAS online system is as efficient as the British System of Public Transport!

It tells you what to put in, you put what it told you in, you think you're finished.
You submit the application, and then it tells you where you went wrong. But the great part is that once you've submitted your application, you CAN'T EDIT IT!
So it is telling you to edit it, when that is just the impossible!

I would have had the thing off and posted by the end of October if it weren't for the fncked up system that they use!

Oh, and it has an error with the Course start date. If you course starts in September 2008, and you put September 2008, then it may tell you that the start date you have entered is INVALID!!!

Oh the pain of it all!

University

So I'm applying to do European Studies / European Studies with German / German and European Studies / European Politics With German at 5 different universities:

<> Aberystwyth
<> Kent
<> Loughborough
<> Leicester
<> Essex

I decided not to apply to Swansea, as the Uni was quite run down, and the accommodation was offsite (as with Leicester).

Belguim: The Split

Yesterday Belgium reached its 120th day being ungoverned. It is unclear (to me) what is to happen... a coalition reaching an agreement governing Belgium or some other solution would seem most likely.

What I like the idea of is the possible split. Just to have a country so close to us called Wallonia, where people speak Walloon (+French).
This would reshape Europe: the four Europhile low countries (Netherlands, Flanders, Wallonia, Luxembourg) squashed in between the big three of Germany, France and the UK.

And then what about Brussels? This predominantly French speaking city is the capital of Europe located within Flanders. With current EU border travel getting easier and easier by the year, this should not cause a problem for the city whoever were to control it but there are issues.
If you follow the Geographical logic, the Flemish (a dialect of dutch) Flanders would take control of the French Belgian capital, but surely Wallonia would loose out on the Belgium split if they were no longer the country in the focus of EU attention.
Alternatively, going by language, Brussels could stay united with the French speaking Wallonia, but a three kilometer stretch of Flanders would cut the capital off from it's country.
Then option three - I like this option ;) or maybe that's just me! - Belgium is split into three. Wallonia in the south, Flanders in the north, and the self governing capital of Europe, Brussels in the centre. The question that immediately springs to my mind is would each three of these states be able to hold their own in the big wide world? The answer is they wouldn't have to because this could actually strengthen their bonds with the rest of the EU in the creation of a Capital of Europe in the middle. The United States of Europe doesn't seem too far off.

However, at the moment we must remember that Belgium is still just one nation - despite what the Belgian news channel RTBF told their citizens last december!
(You can get the gist if you listen to the French and read the Dutch at the same time).


(Notice it reads "Ceci est une fiction" at the bottom several times throughout the report, but many people including some of the international ambassadors in Brussels, missed this.)

Defeated

And this is where I should have a post saying how Labour have suffered badly! How not only the Torys, but also the LibDems have made great gains! How the LibDems have safely held South Norfolk!

But NO!
Labour have suffered moderately (in england at least), the Tory's have done well - too well, and often at the expense of the LibDems and NOT Labour!
The Conservatives gained 6 councils from the Liberal Democrats (including my own), and only 6 again from Labour; gaining 35 from NOC.
So now, for the first time in my life, I unfortunately live in an area with a Conservative council. What I want to know is how did the South Norfolk Liberal Democrats manage to loose 20 of their 27 seats to the conners? They go from a 8 seat majority to having 32 seats less than the Torys! Anyway, I am off to cry.

Congratulations to Mr Little who now has another friend on Norwich City Council after the Torys gained a seat. The Cons now make up 7.7% of the council, and are the forth party below Labour, Lib Dems and Greens (with only 3 seats).


Feel free to leave comments about the results in your area and your disappointment/happiness.

How to Spell Properly

If you happen to be an American who is a member of the Favorite Mustache Organization, then this post is for you! Firstly you must rename yourselves the Favourite Moustache Organisation, otherwise you will never realise the mistakes you are making! And I will spend the rest of my life sniggering at your unfavourable behaviour; you will never be my neighbour; and I will centre myself around people who eat yoghurt, measure in metres, have ships in harbours and analyse chequered molluscs for likeable, unshakeable catalogues. So get with the programme!

Here is a list of 75 words spelt PROPERLY:
moustache
mum
snigger
speciality
titbit
colour
flavour
honour
behaviour
armour
harbour
neighbour
labour
labourious
favourite
savoury
fibre
sabre
centre
spectre
manoeuvre
metre
organise
recognise
realise
colonisation
organisation
analyse
catalyse
paralyse
prise open
analogue
catalogue
dialogue
monologue
caesium
diarrhoea
oesophagus
encyclopaedia
foetus
aeroplane
modelling
quarrelled
traveller
counsellor
fuelling
dialled
woollen
tranquillise
jewellery
ageing
likeable
liveable
rateable
saleable
sizeable
unshakeable
programme
axe
chequered
cosy
draught
grey
liquorice
mollusc
mould
pyjamas
plough
sceptic
storey
sulphur
tyre
vice
yoghurt
spelt

Now, if I find "Organize, Favorite, Likable or Center" used ever again then I cannot be blamed for my actions! Don't say I didn't warn you!

Scream

You probably know what it feels like when you are down and you feel so low you just want to scream out loud so that all the world can hear you...
Exams coming up, and I've never tried going through anything like this without the extra support you have with a girlfriend. Someone you can talk to about everything. Someone that understands you and knows exactly what to stay to make you feel better. Something I feel I've only shared once, truly. And then I have to try and scrape through A levels to get to the next level - life really could not be any more like a game.
To pass level 1 you have to do this - cant fail. Level 2 is harder and involves more thinking. You have to be really determined to beat level 3, and do some obscure tasks. Then level 4 seems really easy on the surface, but once you start it it is almost impossible to complete. Then you do it. And level 5 is the same, and every time you think that you are about to complete the level, there is something else to do, and another thing and another thing. and then right when you feel you have definitely definitely finished, you die. Game Over. and that is it.
Well I want my life to be different. Free from the system... but that just won't happen. not in this world or any other. Oh how great is life!

Billy Boyd as Pippin

Billy Boyd (who plays Pippin in the Lord of the Rings Trilogy) wrote the melody which he sings as Pippin for the king in Minas Tirith in the Return of the King.

And then here he is singing a cover verion of Hit Me Baby One More Time.

And to think his career is acting!

Skiing Embarrasment

Oh the horror of me skiing! - This was the only time over the week that this happened, and Jana happened to get it on camera!

Parliamentary Debating Club

Our politics class, plus a few more stragglers, are now part of a Parliamentary Debating Club organised by the one and only Mr. Little.
Mr. Little plans to use our debating skills to take over the world by entering us in a competition, for which we have to record a video of our own PMQ's and another of a Parliamentary Debate.
Yesterday, Mr. Little (who is still suffering from man flu, and apparently "only being kept alive by lemsips") decided who would be who in our first attempt at a PMQ's. We have 6 Labour MPs (led by PM Sophia), 5 Tory MPs, and 3 LibDems. Due to my excessively long hair last week, I was given the job of backbencher LibDem, which I have no problems with, and its possibly the position that best suits my beliefs.
By next Friday I need to have thought up some questions that I can ask the PM, as well as decide upon the name of my constituency (I've thought up some great options!)

More updates on this later - with any luck, Labour will ask some pointless questions praising the PM, the Cons will batter the PM like anything, and we will ask some sensible questions that no one really cares about, and it will have been a realistic PMQ's!

Hair Cut!

Those of you who see me regularly will have seen the extent of my Hair Growing experiment. (Right: Me on Feb 21st 2007, wearing Jenni's glasses).
But now I know how easy it is to grow long flowing locks, and I can do it again if I want to, I have decided that a shorter look is in order, which will probably last me through to next Autumn.
So today I went to the Crop Shop and had a new do. I asked for something that was a bit like my hair last summer , when it was quite a bit shorter (see second image from Sept 06).
The outcome was shorter still but I'm liking it. I shall upload some a picture after Monday, so its still a surprise to everyone.

Political Compass Test

A few weeks ago, I answered questions for my placement on the 2D Political Spectrum (the best of which can be found at politicalcompass.org).
The outcome what almost exactly as I had expected, and I was 2 units Left and 8 units Libertarian.
After conducting the test again just now, I have moved to 6 units Left, but thats relatively unimportant. (See new graph below)
The only substantial party from the 2005 election who comes close to me are the Green Party, and seeing as I don't like their progress at the moment (and surely their narrow-mindedness doesn't make them as Libertarian as this?) I don't have a party to go by.
The closest contemporary leader to me is the Dalai Lama, which I don't mind.
So everybody go to the website and take the test to see what you get.

If you are not familiar with my MySpace, then this is what I listen to - though I have recently been listening to a lot of Damien Rice - which hasn't transferred to this chart :(

These are my top 10 artists since Feb. 06

1 in 10 think Tory's have had it!

An ICM poll for the guardian in december found that 12% of people asked thought that the Conservatives may never be returned to power.

The question asked was "When do you think the Conservatives maybe returned to power?"
The majority suggested it would be in one of the next two elections, but 12% of the sample of 1006 (thats 121 people!)
Perhaps it was because they surveyed lots of left wing "tory-haters", or perhaps it was because favour is still moving against the Conservatives?

Next election: 37%
Not until two elections time: 30%
Not until 3 elections time or later: 7%
Will never return to power: 12%
Don't know 15%

You can see this pole and other polls from December 06 Here. Including the voting intentions poll, which shows the conservatives with a majority (40% to Labour's 32%.) So it looks like the world is going crazy... or just the country... or just the Tories... no, they were always crazy... no, I'm just joking!

Side-note:
Accorting to politicalbetting.com, Hilary Clinton is odds on to be the 2008 president of the USA (and obviously she is odds on to be the Democrat Candidate, and the Democrats are odds on to win...) However betters seem to have lost hold of their hats, and the odds for a female president are lower than for a non-female president. Either the betters believe Hilary Clinton to be a man, or they are betting like idiots.... I shall leave my reader(s) to contemplate the intelligence of the American population...

Exams (Kerching)

So I've now added labels to all my posts (after working out how to update my blog to the latest thingy with wotsits and so on) and so I just thought I'd mention that at the start of the post.

So we begin with Maths C1 - a module in which I had previously had varying success across the term. Some of my homeworks have been as low as Ungraded, while my top pieces have been B's, as well as several A's! I was predicted an A before the test, and I would be happy enough with a B, but after sitting in the exam for an hour and a half, I came out smiling inside. I think I done really well, and am pretty sure I done well enough to get the A I wanted. Just hoping that I done as well as I think I did! =D

Then onto my other Exams - Government and Politics GOV1 & GOV2. I done my best, and answered definition questions on: mandate, party splits, campaign strategies, and potential members, and essay questions on referendums & giving electorate a chance to influence the government, geographical factors & voting behavior, party conferences & less policy, and pressure groups & the democratic process.
I think I made the right choices (maybe I thought I hadn't got a chance with some of the other questions!) but although everyone else thinks they done badly and failed, i think I done relatively well in both =D

Got to wait for the results in march, but I expect to be happy when they arrive - hoping for at least 2 Bs, but an A would be fantastic if I could get one.

Sadam and the Capital Punishment Question

On the 30th of December, we heard that Sadam Hussein had been executed, however only a few days later we were presented with television pictures which showed the video of him directly before his execution. It doesn't take much to find the full YouTube version of the video, in which you can see him falling to his death, as well as footage looking down on him as he perished.

Surely this absolutely gruesome footage asks again the question on human rights and capital punishment. Even when the victim is a man who I hate and I know deserves to die, I sit and know that the removal of life like that isn't right. Surely our government, especially with their "expressed opinion" on the matter, cannot just allow a newly created democracy to listen to America when they tell them that killing is the only way to make things better?

Anyway, in the meantime while international laws do not prevent such hangings, we might as well celebrate his death by accepting that he deserved everything he got.

Icy Frost Photo Outside House

For those of you who don't regularly view my Myspace page, here's the picture I currently have as my background, which I took on the common last week when we had all that frost and fog.
I didn't photoshop it at all -it's as is straight off the Digicam. There is a higher resolution pic on my old website supplying the myspace background, so let me know if you want access to the full image. Not a bad picture, even if I do say so myself. ;P

"Frost on the Common" by Linden Parker - 21st December 2006.

Another Year...

Once again I am stuck with my parents for New Year's Eve, after no one at Notre seems to have a house big enough to throw a party, and my friend dropped out from coming round mine at the last minute to go to a girly sleepover thing instead. Oh well... maybe next year I might manage to have fun.

As for this year, its just mum, dad and I round the neighbours for a good old country celebration (lots of linking arms, Auld Lang Sein (or variant on that spelling) and mulled wine) with me being the youngest there as Aiken has blagged an invite round his friends - I could go too, but I can't really stand several hours with a load of 14 year old boys who all play guitar better than me. So yea.

2006?
Bit of a blur for me really!
I was with Aislinn up until July, at Easter we went to the Peaks, then exams came and went, then I was off to Spain, then Camping down in Suffolk, then the rest of the holidays...
Received my exam results and was extremely pleased, even though they could have been better if I'd managed to open my revision guides at all. Started Notre Dame in a flash, and here I am a term later writing my Birthday Blog as it will henceforth be called.

Well I'm feeling quite good about myself, despite school giving me a thorough headache, and I'm looking forward to the year ahead. UCAS Forms lurk just around the corner though, as my cousin Laura has just reminded me, and it is gonna be a tough couple of years before that. Maybe if I manage to string a little money together (which I believe requires getting a job... or so I'm told) then I won't be in a pile of debt quite as large as the one I would be in if I was shipped off to Uni now. But then again, if I take maths at the UEA then I can live at home too. How fun :'(

Final thought. In '07 I should have my blog RSS fed onto the Website I'm hoping to have. But until then its just here I'm afraid. Oh well.

Here's a song from 17 months (and 2 days) ago that I wrote. Something about nightmares, but its reminding me of all the slow Damien Rice music I've been listening to today.

Have a Happy 2007.

Nightmare Spirits
Linden Parker
(27/07/05)

A world full of silent screams,
Haunting everybody’s dreams,
Seeming like fictitious thought,
But they are real spirits caught.

Unbalanced in the path of time,
Seeking for some kind of sign,
But until then they haunt us all,
Playing us their endless call.

(Chorus:)
If only they could be released,
Freed from where they lay,
Allowed to get away from this,
Allowed to leave or stay.

Bad thoughts emanate without light,
Ghosts of darkness ghosts of night,
Seeking peace dealing pain,
Turning sunlight into rain.

(CHORUS)
Shadows dulling in the dark of day,
Know that they will never fail,
Bad prevails over good,
Although no one thought it would.

(CHORUS)

It’s not what we wanted it cannot remain,
Even if we try to refrain,
From choosing sides in the fight of the dreams,
We will have to decide to fight it seems.

(CHORUS)