24.25 hours of Cardiff

So far I've avoided falling into the dull trap of complaining about whether or not I'm tired, sad or otherwise emotional on this blog. Too many blogs read "I'm so tired and sad right now" post after post. I aim to keep this blog as a brief flash of humour in the pan of the blogsphere, even if occasionally it could be confused for a whale watching journal.
Nonetheless I am going to say that this week has been a busy, tiring and all in all a very testing week.
One of the issues that came up this week was in that hot bed of student radicalism, Imperial College Union. Since my term as President of the Physical Sciences Union ended, I've been careful to keep out of internal PSU matters unless my advice was sought, but I got caught up in the resignation of the Broadsheet editor this week. I think Martin Smith (former Broadsheet Editor) sums it up well when he says, "Matthew will be sorely missed. It is a mistake for the committee to abuse and undermine such a talented and dedicated volunteer to the point of resignation. Editorial independence is a delicate flower that has been thoroughly stamped on in this case."
Yeah, there was other stuff this week as well, but what do you care?
Besides, in 9 hours I'm heading off for twenty four and a quarter hours of partying in Cardiff to celebrate 22 glorious years of Evans.

Yellow jacket

Thanks to my yellow jacket, you can make me out on the bank of the Thames in this BBC whale watching photo taken from the Battersea Bridge.

TBR's Martin Archer

Avid readers may recall that the dude next door to me, Andrew, has started a blog where he shares with us views on a myriad of subjects.
So, what then of my other flatmate, TBR's Martin Archer?
When he has a candid opinion or an insightful comment, how does he share them with the world?
Quite simply he shares them with the whole of the Imperial College London community on IC Radio every lunchtime on his radio show, Liquid Lunch.
By the way, if you followed that link to the ICL website, the news that scientists have found a strong link between cat faeces and schizophrenia is worth a read.
Martin Archer just gave me his demo CD. As you can see from the photo (update: TBR's Martin Archer asked me to remove the personal details visible on his demo CD so I have censored them out, despite these self same details being available elsewhere on the interweb, I have also given TBR's Martin Archer a little disguise so that he is unrecognisble to all but the most sophisticated face recoginition software), it gets my personal Alex Guite thumbs up of approval. It's hard to get better than that, unless you get a double thumbs up of approval (superseded only by the incredibly rare triple thumbs up of approval).
So, if you're a radio producer looking for a new DJ, then Martin Archer is your man. Check his CV here.
And for the ladies, don't forget that Martin Archer is a firm believer in keeping fit and healthy and visits the fitness suite before morning lectures.

More Whale Watching

I met up with Ben yesterday afternoon on the Chelsea side of the very crowded Albert Bridge to watch the Thames Whale being winched on to a barge to take it downstream. As the barge moved off downstream the crowd broke out into a round of applause. I think this BBC News piece describes the day pretty well.
When I got back from the cinema last night I read the news that the Thames Whale had died during the evening. I hope that the legacy of this whale is to renew interest in whale conservation, especially at a time when some countries are pushing to resume whale hunting, under the sham of 'scientific' whaling.

Until yesterday, it had been awhile since I had last blogged. In that time alot has happened in the blogsphere.
The dude next door to me, Andrew, has re-launched his blog, Andrew's Blog. If you're thinking of wathcing a movie or some US TV, the likley hood is that Andy has seen it and has a trenchant opinion on it. Else, just go there for some entertaining and very drole writing.

Richard "Mullet" Warburton began his blog, True Contradictions, in the new year. The name comes from an aspect of paraconsistent logic and is well worth reading about, if like me you don't know what this is all about. Richard uses his blog to share his candid opinions about religion and politics.

Very exciting news is that famous knolwedge man Simon Simpson has got a blogger account. But it doesn't just stop there: he's working on a communual blog, Extravagance and Indulgence, with Andy and myself. It's a blog aimed at the 20 something man about town, intelligent but trendy, single but dating; who savours pleasing wines, has a descriminating pallette for fine cheeses, appreciates gracious cuisine and enjoys all of this with good conversation. Read the statement of intent for more details.

The Battersea Bottlenose

Just got back from watching the Thames Whale around Battersea Bridge. I thought it had headed back out to sea after it had been spotted at Greenwich last night, but when I read on BBC News this morning that it was swimming around Chelsea Bridge I figured this could be my first chance to see a whale, and almost certainly my only chance to see a whale in the Thames outside my house! You can see the floating crane platform in the background from the last Battersea Bridge story, when it got hit by a gravel barge.
The whale was swimming slowly upstream up from Albert Bridge, under Battersea Bridge and down towards Chelsea marina where rescuers managed to persuade it to turn around and finally start heading downstream. The relief amongst the crowd lining the banks of the Thames was palpable, but short-lived.
The whale breached just below Battersea Bridge. When I got down on to the shore line, I got a far better feeling for the scale of the whale.
Rescuers quickly moved in to help the whale, and from what I was told by a Times journalist also on the bank with me, they also took the opportunity to examine and take samples from the whale to assess its health.
Shortly after the rescuers had managed to secure inflatables around the whale, we were asked by Police to moved up from the banks as the tide had turned. When I got back up on to Battersea Bridge Road I was amazed by how the crowd had swelled: the road was closed, camera crews had moved in, children had climbed trees to get a better view and police were trying to keep order.

I've pretty much recharged my camera battery now so am going to head out again when Ben makes it down to Battersea.