Kimi triumphs against the odds!

Today I was pleased to see that Kimi Raikkonen scored a brilliant against-the-odds victory in the Hungarian Grand Prix on a day when world championship leader Fernando Alonso came away empty-handed.

Raikkonen arrived in Budapest on the back foot following his retirement from the lead at Hockenheim, which saddled him with the major handicap of being the first man out on the dusty Hungaroring circuit in qualifying.

EuroJam Opening Ceremony!

I thought the opening ceremony was pretty good with Peter Duncan (the Chief Scout and former Blue Peter presenter) abseiling on to the stage at the climax.

In the bit about the UK Scotland was represented by Franz Ferdinand and the Saltaire and Northern Ireland was represented by U2 and also by the flag of the Red hand on St Georges cross. England was represented by Robbie Williams.

The band was the Bogus Brothers and Stomp also featured. I took a seat out to watch the fun & games, I think a good night was had by all concerned, most importantly by the Scouts concerned!

Removed EuroJam countdown from Blog!

As EuroJam has now started I thought I would remove the countdown from my Blog!

EuroJam Setup Weekend

Had a weekend at Hylands Park to prepare for the forthcoming EuroJam Scout Jamboree!

EuroJam Preparation!

Today, I spent most of the day getting things ready for my forthcoming time away at EuroJam. By the time I had finished packing I had compiled quite a mountain of kit which I then had to fit in my case, which was fun!

Hornsea Scouts Water Evening!

Going to help at my local Scout group this evening which is always good fun, and this evening it promises to be particularly good as it is the last one before Summer! We are therefore have been completing a water evening at the Scout Headquarters which should be good fun as always! Will post more when I have the time.

Buy the Scout Associations "The Promise - Hope for You and Me" for EuroJam!

Just a quick post this evening mainly to encourage people to buy "The Promise - Hope for you and me" and help get Scouts to number 1 in the charts!

Gym!

Today, I made my way to the gym I have joined at Hornsea Leisure Centre in order to increase my fitness in preparation for EuroJam!

Now I am feeling tired so I shall say goodnight, sorry for such a short update this evening!

Countdown to EuroJam!

Well, after a lot of work by all concerned including me, the time has nearly come for the event to take place down at Hylands Park, in Essex. If you take a look on the site we have placed a new countdown timer to tell you the exact time until the event takes place, and it actually corresponds with the one on my site which is amazing in itself! We actually changed the menu buttons on the website as well so go on take a look, by clicking the title above!

EuroJam will be the biggest Scouting and Guiding Event in Europe for 10 years. It is 12 action – packed days of new challenges and new friends from 29 July to 10 August 2005 at Hylands Park, Chelmsford, near London in the UK.

There will be participants from 57 countries, including all but one from the European Scout Region. With over 10,000 people on-site, the event promises to be the experience of a lifetime for Scouts and Guides from all over Europe and beyond. It should be quite a bit of fun as long as the British weather is kind to us, we shall just have to wait a short while now to see!

What does my birthday mean?

I was frequenting lots of different websites when I came across this on a link from James Weblog, I actually think it is quite true and quite interesting, so I thought I would include it hear for general viewing!

Your Birthdate: May 15

With a birthday on the 15th of any month, you are apt to have really strong attachments to home, family and domestic scene. The 1 and 5 equaling 6, provide the sort of energy that makes you an excellent parent or teacher. You are very responsible and capable. This is an attractive and an attracting influence. You like harmony in your environment and strive to maintain it. You tend to learn by observation rather than study and research. You may like to cook, but you probably don't follow recipes. This number shows artistic leanings and would certainly support an talents that may be otherwise in your makeup. You're a very generous and giving person, but perhaps a bit stubborn in ways.

What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

Celebration for Graduation!

Tonight I went out to see "The Springsteen Experience" at Floral Hall in Hornsea, after all Carnival only happens in Hornsea once a year and I missed last years event due to completing my MSc in Scarborough! I saw quite a few people I had not seen for a while, including one I hadn't seen since I was 16 which was a long time ago! During the evening I celebrated completing my MSc and the graduation ceremony which after all can be just as stressful as the course itself, however, all went well and I think the evening was enjoyable for all concerned! Anyway until I make my next entry this is Andrew Kemp MSc signing off will speak again soon!

Graduation! (A Sunny Day in Scarborough!)

Well, the day dawned where I had to wear a cap and gown for the second time, to recieve my MSc. Which was just as an enjoyable experience as the first time! I went up on stage in a very hot Scarborough Spa to receive my award with several other students from my year at Scarborough, we then went on into Scarborough and had a last group night out which was a good night overall!

The guest speaker at the ceremony was Jonathan Raban, FRSL a well known novelist. As I sat on the stage I got to sit behind the Vice Chancellor David Drewry and next to Jonathan Raban!

Anyway, below I have included some pictures of the day that I thought may be of some interest, overall I thoroughly enjoyed myself! If you need any more information, or have any questions just comment!
Fig 1: The MSc Group

Fig 2: Me in cap & gown

Fig 3: Scarborough Spa Main Hall

Scouts!

Going to help at my local Scout group this evening which is always good fun!

Graduation 2005!

At present I am spending a lot of time getting prepared for Graduation later in the week, when I will be officially declared Andrew Kemp BSc (Hons) Geography and MSc Internet Computing, both from The University of Hull.

Even though my undergraduate qualification is from Hull and my Postgraduate qualification from Scarborough! This is the main reason for the late posts this week as I am extremely busy completing various things for this as well as EuroJam.

Will post again soon when I have the time!

Gym!

Today, I made my way to the gym I have joined at Hornsea Leisure Centre in order to increase my fitness in preparation for EuroJam!

Now I am feeling tired so I shall say goodnight, sorry for such a short update this evening!

Walking Boots Arrive!

Today, I was well impressed that the walking boots that I purchased last week arrived in better condition than I imagined! So, I now have new boots for EuroJam! So that is another problem solved and one more thing to tick off my long to do list before EuroJam, I thought about puting in another picture but decided against it!

Bought some new walking boots on eBay!

Recently, I completed my first purchase on eBay a pair of Black Karrimor KSB 300 boots at £35.00! At present I am waiting for the boots to arrive, even though I saw a pair of the same boots in a shop in Worcester for £95.00 but unfortunately they did not have my size in stock, as I take a rather large size 12 in boots.

When I checked Karrimor's website on arriving home I found that they had stopped producing the comfortable boots which are known as Karrimor KSB 300 boots! So at this point I started hunting for a pair in various locations until I found the item on eBay at quite a competitive price from a private individual. I will just have to wait and see what the boots turn out like when I get them! However, I couldn't resist trying out bloggers new picture posting facility so here is a picture of the aforementioned boots!

Terror in London on Thursday!

I was in Hull, and actually heard the news whilst walking past the big screen in Hull City Centre. The BBC announced that four explosions ripped across central London, killing more than 50 people and injuring 700. The co-ordinated attack hit three Underground trains and a bus, as the morning's rush hour drew to a close.

The capital's public transport system was halted and a high-level emergency procedure swung into action. All hospitals were full by mid-morning.

Three bombs went off almost simultaneously at about 0850 on Underground trains just outside Liverpool Street and Edgware Road stations, and on another travelling between King's Cross and Russell Square.

The final explosion was on a double-decker bus. I have to say that events of today have greatly worried me and I am deeply saddened to see these events in the United Kingdom!

Hull's Big Screen courtesy of Hull City Council (And yes I have now found out how to put photo's in my blog, so expect a few now!)

Out in Hornsea!

Went out in Hornsea for the evening before getting back in and getting back to everything! Also updated some EuroJam websites, by putting a new EuroJam countdown timer on the main EuroJam site, so a busy day once again!

I also made it to the Gym to increase my fitness levels ready for Eurojam and driving.

Scouts!

Today was a long day, spent filling out application forms, updating some of the Scouting 2007 websites and basically just spending time writing to people via email. All in all I think I wrote to all the people I needed to, however, at the moment I am just looking forward to Summer, and the holidays!

This evening I will be doing my usually Thursday thing and will be going to help at my local Scout Troop, tonights task is to check they had everything they needed for summer camp which should be fun!

London beats Paris to 2012 Games!

The good news broadcast today was that London will host the 2012 olympic games, therefore I think a small celebration is needed, as overall I think this is extremelly good news for the U.K as a whole!

The 2012 Olympic Games will be held in London, the International Olympic Committee has announced. The city won a two-way fight with Paris by 54 votes to 50 at the IOC meeting in Singapore, after bids from Moscow, New York and Madrid were eliminated.

Prime Minister Tony Blair called the win "a momentous day" for Britain. Paris had been favourites throughout the campaign but London's hopes were raised after an impressive presentation by Lord Coe, the bid chairman.

The two cities had President Chirac and Prime Minister Blair respectively in their corners. I personally feel that the French could have done better without the help from President Chirac but that is just my personal view! London also called on England captain David Beckham and a galaxy of Olympic and Paralympic medallists as ambassadors.

Southern Water Shortage!

I was pretty worried to hear that the first summer of widespread water rationing in nearly 10 years is looming after a third supplier announced a hosepipe ban yesterday.

About 140,000 homes in Sussex will be covered by South East Water's restrictions, which follow one of the driest winters and springs on record. Thames Water said it might also have to ban sprinklers. Two companies have already introduced curbs.

Despite the mixed weather of the past few weeks, there has been a hidden drought since November. Rainfall has been below average for eight months, making it the fourth driest period since records began in 1892.

The problem is worst in the densely populated South and East, where rivers are at half their normal height for the time of year.

Gym!

Today, I made my way to the gym I have joined at Hornsea Leisure Centre in order to increase my fitness!

Now I am feeling tired so I shall say goodnight, sorry for such a short update this evening!

Sunday at the Malvern Challenge!

On Sunday we ended the weekend with a Fayre with loads of attractions including Euro bungee, gladiator games, fair rides, bucking bronco, crystal maze, car driving and many stalls and a craft section where everybody will be able to make something - everything was free. However, I started to take my tent down early to avoid the rain, that seemed to be coming quickly, this was not forecast, however we do live in Britain!

Saturday at the Malvern Challenge!

Saturday’s main event was the Malvern & more testing Cotswold Challenges, both 7 mile activity hikes. Participants are in patrols and rotate around checkpoints including a caving maze, jousting, abseiling a rock face, mountain bike obstacle course, video challenge, laser clay and climbing wall competition, Fort Boyard and other traditional skill type checkpoints e.g. Map reading. Points are given at all checkpoints and trophies awarded on Sunday. My task on this day was to check and in some cases help the participants to complete various knots and lashings with various other SAGGA members who where present including Simon.

Made my way down to Cheltenham!

Arrived Friday night with “Busted” playing and featuring Dancers, Guest DJ’s and entertainment. Unfortunately it was raining on arrival so this gave us all trouble in putting our tents up on the hills at the event location. However the location was certainly picturesque, just a pity the weather couldn't be good to make the weekend perfect. I met up with Simon, Simon and Heather on the Friday Evening, all SAGGA members so we could prepare for the following days checkpoint manning, it was well past midnight when we finally called it a night!