| Digital - teacher | Education in a technological world

News headlines?

Well normally when I visit the BBC website, I see a small gif at the top of the page with a link to a section of their website, with the news and sport headlines easily visible underneath.
Sometimes the picture is a little larger - the popes death for example - when there is an important news item but the news and sports headlines are still there to read on the screen.

Well, today there is a  image. it's not news though, it's not sport either. It's actually a dalek. Yes, a dalek. The main BBC page has been taken over by Doctor Who and the final episode in this new and exceptional, series (see image on the left).
If you want to read the news, you'll need to scroll down the page.
There is only one headline today - the Daleks are back!!

Recharge

So, it's 7am and I leave the house and jump in the car to go to work.
Except that I don't go to work. I don't go anywhere - because on a warm June morning the car battery has gone flat and there is absolutely nothing happening when I turn the key.
Then Jones syndrome (Dads Army - brilliant) starts to set in and the small voice in my head starts to shout out "Don't Panic, Don't Panic!, but it's too late as I already am.
In 40 minutes I should be arriving at work, and I still have a daughter to drop off first.
Solution? Call the parents, they collect the daughter. I call a taxi. It arrives. We go to the cashpoint first so that I can withdraw a mortgage amount of cash and then off we go.
How much does it cost me to taxi to work - £17. Seventeen whole pounds that I could put to much better use than paying a taxi driver to get me to work in the morning.
So this evening when I finally get in I call the breakdown people to take a look, and lo and behold: It's the battery. It's flat. Who'd have thought that, eh!
The alternator is not recharging it, so now I have to go and buy another alternator and get it fitted in. In the meantime, it's £17 taxis and buses.
Bloody cars - why do we have them?

Whose afraid...

...of the big bad wolf. Well, certainly Rose and The Doctor as the first series of the new Doctor Who comes to a conclusion this Saturday evening. And what a series it has been. There has been alot in there to keep the older series viewers watching, but new viewers have been picked up too. I know that in our house we all sit and watch it together msot weeks (now when was the last time that your family did that?)
The Daleks are back in numbers and I feel a rearrangement of the settee coming on to allow me to relive those earlier years again!

Another aspect that has never been possible with Doctor Who before is the Internet, and the 'related sites' (mostly from the BBC) that tease the viewer to future events. In particular, Badwolf.org.uk reminds visitors of the number of references to 'Bad Wolf' throughout the series, and whether it could be relevant.

Roll on Saturday and the conclusion of series 1.

Completed the Quest

Finally, after so many years I have completed the Dark Tower. I had chance to read the remaining third of the book whilst on holiday and so I finally read of Rolands journey to the Tower, and the unexpected, unusual but also strangely perfect ending to the whole seven books.

So, now I can start on the list of other books that I have been piling up since last year...

Traditions

We've just returned from a lovely restful break down in Cornwall close to St. Ives. We stayed at a lovely guesthouse run by two of the nicest people you could ever wish to meet. Their hospitality was wonderful, and the breakfasts -mmmm. They were so good we're already saving for another holiday!

Anyway, we were in Carbis Bay, around 1 1/4 miles from St Ives, and had a lovely coastal path linking both areas.

One thing we did notice, there was a distinct lack of cafes serving the traditional cream tea around St Ives. In total, we found only two places - the Beachcomber cafe on the harbour front (where we ended up) and also Bumbles, along the back streets on the way to the Tate gallery.

It's also gone very trendy along the sea front with lots of exclusive restaurants. So exclusive that if you don't book a table at least a day in advance you cannot eat! We discovered this on our first evening, and so ended up at a local pub on the main road between Carbis Bay and St Ives called 'The Cornish Arms'.

I have to say, it was a lovely place, the food was plentiful, the Guiness was perfect, and the evening we were in there was a local fundraising event and we got to meet some of the locals. Aside from being some of the friendliest people that I have ever met, there generousity was outstanding. The fundraising event was related to the Tsunami, and following a raffle for a box of chocolates and other items, the winners donated the chocolates back to auction it off. It was then donated back again and individual chocolates were auctioned off for between �2 and �6.

Now, that is what communities should be like, not around here where people shoot jewellers, and (while we were away) rob a bookmakers at gunpoint close by the jewellers shop.

It's time to move. Can you guess where to...