blog layout changes

Hopefully regular readers will have noticed a few changes in the appearance of my blog. It's been a while since I 'studied' HTML programming, but making changes to existing code is fairly simple, especially with a bit of trial and error. I was finding it hard to write much, knowing that the blog displays in such a narrow column. I've widened the width of the main section. Please let me know if is isn't displaying correctly, due to low resolutions, for example. Also please tell me if the text is too wide to read comfortably - if so I may get really adventurous and try to format posts on two columns! A few colour changes here and there also help make my page a little more individualized.

Nickel Creek

Nickel Creek are the definitive 'Newgrass' band, and one of K's favourite performers. Their farewell (for now) tour came to Innsbrook After-Hours on Friday so a few of us grabbed an early sushi dinner and went to check it out. Four some reason they are touring with Fiona Apple, doing bluegrass renditions of her hits as well as a few other covers and a bunch of their own material. It's kind of a new genre to me, but it's a lot of fun to listen to. I'm considering getting myself a mandolin...

A trip to Mathews

You can take the girl outta Mathews, but you can't take Mathews outta the girl. With that in mind I thought it would be nice for my family to get a glimpse of where K was from, so we took them out to Mathews for a day. Plus I think it's a cool place with fun things to do and great people to visit, so I'll take any excuse to get myself invited out there. We got together a couple of canoes and paddled out into the bay to work up an appetite. On our return, the crabs were boiled to perfection, along with corn, tomatoes, potato salad, apple pie and cookies - fabulous country fare! The meeting of respective parents seemed to go well - birds formed the common interest through which new friendships could be forged. Good Times.

At the Beach

On Wednesday Kristal, myself and the family took a trip to Sandbridge beach. We got great weather for it - you might say a little too good as everyone came away with at least one spot of sunburn. We did all the things you have to do when you go to the beach: build a sandcastle, jump waves, take a walk down the beach, throw a frisbee and eat an ice-cream. Yup, I'd say we about covered it!

At the River

One of the best things about Richmond is the river, and no visit would be complete with spending some time horsing around in the rapids. I took Dad and Martha down to Belle Isle to take a dip in the refreshing waters of the James. Somehow, they'd never been off the southside of Belle Isle, so I took them across the police access bridge then we jumped rocks back to the old powerstation dam. Despite low water levels, the hollywood rapids are still fierce, so once we found ourselves getting complacent of the strength of the current we knew it was time to move on.
We went for lunch at Padow's deli and Dairy Queen then headed over to pony pasture. Unfortuantely the weather started to turn and by the time we arrived a good storm was brewing. We walked out on the rocks a little ways but as the lightning strikes drew closer it seemed unwise to enter the water, so we called it a day.

My Family Arrives

Mom and Dad flew in Yesterday, and Martha arrived today. All had smooth flights. Tonight everyone converged at Sulgrave Road to greet the weary travelers. I counted seventeen including Smoky the dog! It's great to see my family, and I can't wait to finish the work week and begin to show them around the life that I have carved out for myself in Richmond.

The Finals

The Sharks have made it through to the finals, finishing top of our group (Click here for standings). We expected our last game to be our toughest opposition, and played hard with no substitutes to get the win. Now it's on to the knockout stages next week. Hopefully I'll be able to play, but with my family in town I'll have to see how my schedule works out. Click here and scroll down to see the fixtures.

Punk Rock Warlord

I just picked up the Soundtrack to the upcoming film, "the future is unwritten", about the life of Joe Strummer. Joe was with the Clash, later formed the Mescaleros, and DJ'ed a radio show on the BBC world Service from 1999-2002. The album showcases some of the music Joe would play on his show.

I've always enjoyed Joe's musical endevours. He writes songs about stuff that really happened to him; other people write songs about cool stuff they wish would happen to them. Genre isn't really important. Honesty is.

Soccer Schedule

We played the Costa Ricans tonight @ Indoor and were defeated 8-1. A bit disappointing, but as usual no one stayed in position and we didn't talk to one another...

We only have one indoor game left now, on Wednesday at 10pm.

My Outdoor games are as follows:

Date	Time	Location
Jul 11	6:00	7A
Jul 12	7:10	8A
Jul 19	7:10	3A
Jul 24	6:00	3B

The 'A' and 'B' are just used because we play on half of the field. So if the location is '3A', just find field 3 at Striker park and we'll be there.

Night Fishing

Eileen and Anders took Kristal and I night fishing on Friday. In the photo we are setting out on the Pamunkey River just before sunset. It was a really beautiful evening. Later, the stars and the lightning bugs came out. Anders talked to the owls a lot (they been reading too much Harry Potter).

As for the fishing, we we not so lucky. No fish we caught, and we lost one line in the trees, one when the line touched the lantern and burnt off, and another snagged on a branch at the bottom of the river! Still, had a great time, and as long as Anders doesn't think we're cursed, we'll try again another day.

Indepedence Day

This year I decided not to kick up any fuss about the fourth of July. I barely heard anyone call it 'Independence Day', which just goes to show that nobody remembers why they're getting the day off work. Ray invited a few of us from work around to his new house for a cook-out. His dog, a beagle by the name of muddy, ate my potato salad. I feel like the balance of the universe was restored when one of our fireworks almost killed Ray and Muddy! To pass the time 'til it got dark, we played 'Would you rather...', which involved me getting in rather heated arguments with Amanda about how much saliva there is on a cows tongue (among other, more intellectual topics).

I was home in time to watch the fireworks at the Diamond (the baseball stadium is just a few blocks away, so I had a good view from the top of my fire-escape). They didn't start until around 11pm. Apparently the neighbours were complaining about the noise. Again, I think it's rather sad that on such a significant national holiday, some people can only grumble that the fireworks were too loud! It's the kind of thing you expect to happen in England!

Indy Car

My uncle Ben got Kristal and I some tickets for the Indy Car race at RIR last night. The video posted above is not my original footage, but pretty much captures how the race proceeds for 250 laps. However, it was better than NASCAR for the following reasons.
1. It features a smaller field of cars, so it's easier to keep track of what's going on.
2. It's faster - if you're just going to drive around in circles, at least do it at 170mph.
3. Diversity - the current leader is a Scot of Italian descent, and there are four women drivers.
4. They run on Ethanol!
The evening starts off with the usual military posturing - a jet fighter flyby and three paragliders, one with a huge Stars & Stripes tied to his leg! It was pretty cool. We ate the worst cheeseburgers I've ever tasted, washed down with crisp, refreshing Miller Lite. I bought a T-shirt, which I will wear with Pride to work tomorrow!

Soccer Update

I played my first game with the 'Sharks', in the Richmond Strikers' Under 40's League. The game was a bit of a pushover, since the other team were unbearably slow. Hopefully more worthy opposition awaits us. The League is set up in two groups of six teams, with the top teams in each group entering playoffs towards the end of the season. It's a seven-a-side game format with rolling subs. The field is a bit larger than the indoor arena I've been playing in, and of course there are no walls, so you have to play a bit more intelligently!

Talking of Indoor, 'Old School' is in its second session. We definitely started to improve at the end of last season, and this session it looks like the other teams in our league are closer to our level. Hopefully the days of Nine - Nothing defeats are behind us.

Last week my Grandpa and friend James came to watch us play. It turned out to be one of the scrappier games we've played. For some reason everyone was on edge, so our rather easy victory was marred by a couple of outbreaks of unsportsmanlike behaviour. This week was a bye week for us, so maybe by next week everyone will have calmed down!

Kyle's Lake House

This weekend was spent down at Lake Gaston. We did a bit of fishing (I caught a crappy), messed around on the jetski (my bum is sorely bruised after being towed in a poorly designed inflatable), and generally lounged around in the sunshine. Above Kristal, Anders and Eileen are preparing some canned corn bait. Fifty pound carp were the quarry, but sadly none were caught.

Groovin' in the Garden

On Thursday I spent a relaxing few hours taking in some live music at Ginter Botanical Gardens. A mere $15, the show was opened by Chuch with Son Volt headlining. The genre was described to me as 'Country Rock', but really the styles leaned more in the direction of contemporary American rock, in my opinion. Despite Son Volt being the main attraction, I thought Chuch did a nicer job of putting on a show and interacting with the crowd. Maybe I'll pick up their record. It's about time I stopped listening to British rock bands from the seventies and got myself up to date!

An Englishman in America

Kristal kindly indulged me in all things British yesterday, cooking Shepherds Pie (made with lamb!) and apple crumble. It was delicious - dibs to M for providing the recipes. Also provided were Boddingtons, Hobgoblin, Guinness and some kind of Irish Raspberry Cider. Yummy! And as a present, K gave me a Union Jack, which already proudly flies on our balcony.

One Year in the USA.

Today officially marks the end of my first year abroad. I don't recall the exact moment that the airplane tires touched down on American soil, but I do remember pulling up to the back of my grandparent's house at around 3AM on the morning of the 2nd of June 2006 and realising that my adventure had begun.

Looking back through my blog archives brings warm memories of new experiences enjoyed with new friends in new places. It's been a fun year, and perhaps it's time for me to talk in a more conversational tone about my journey so far.

For some reason I feel a weight of expectation as I begin to type. Since I imagine that the audience of this blog is composed primarily of friends and family back home, I sure everyone is hoping for me to announce my imminent return to the Isles. Well, you'll just have to wait and see. Those of you who prescribe more strongly to the xenophobic tendencies of the British are no doubt waiting for a lengthy tirade focusing on the stupidity, narrow-mindedness and unchecked consumerism which I may have witnessed over the past twelve months.

Really all I want to say, though, is that I'm having a really good time! I'm so happy that my attempts to run away from real life have been so blissfully successful! My existence is unblemished my the proximity of anything resembling an authority figure. Money comes, and money goes. I have no immediate plans to make anything of myself.

Thank you for reading. I really miss every one of you terribly, and hope dearly that you can come and visit soon ;-).

Terrarium Update

It's been a little over a week since I installed my terrarium, and there have been many exciting additions to the environment which I'd like to share with you, gentle readers...

First of all, I felt like my tree frog was having a boring time at ground level, so I purchased a fake vine and some fake leaves. He (or she) seems to enjoy them, and he loves to sleep at the top of the tank amongst the leaves. The other day when I fed him some crickets, he was perched about halfway up the vine - them he leapt down to the ground, landing with his mouth squarely on top of the unsuspecting morsel. It was awesome.

I also bought a light, for warming the space, as although the weather is hot during the day, it still gets a little chilly once the sun goes down.

This weekend I worked on supplementing my frog's diet. He eats only crickets at the moment, so I have to dust them with a calcium- and vitamin-containing powder to ensure he doesn't suffer from any nutritional deficiencies.

The carnivorous plants also need feeding I think. Apparently I can sustain them with dead crickets, but I'm having trouble with the transformation of a live cricket into a dead one. In other words, I too much of a sissy to kill an insect. Currently I'm attempting to asphyxiate one in a sandwich bag. It's been half an hour and it seems to be getting nervous at least.

So far, a couple of my Venus fly trap heads have died, but there is one new one growing. There are also signs of new growth in my pitcher plants.

Terrarium

Kristal had a spare terrarium after the gecko that Jim gave her died. It now proudly houses my new Venus fly trap and pitcher plants. Oh, and a Cuban Tree Frog!

Gosport Art Show

On Saturday Kristal and I looked after Pottery by Tasha McKelvey's booth at the Gosport Art Show. It was held on Portsmouth High Street by the quay, so I was more interested in the huge Navy ships docked nearby than the art. However, I did buy some carnivorous plants from the Fly Trap Farm stall.