Checkin' in on Kel

My first day back to a five day week. How will I cope? By dreaming about my last few trips away and those to come... I've much work on the ole ball and chain PhD to catch up on. So apologies for the blip, but there will be more, and they will become more lengthy. Not to worry, just drop me an email if you're interested in what I'm up to. I think I can tell you now for the next few months it will be data analysis and writing... whoopie!

But back to the day dreams.. My last couple of (self proclaimed) long weekends involved a trip to the mainland island of Orkney with a work colleague, Christine. The history was mind blowing and ranged from the wrecks of the scuttled German fleet from 1918 in Scapa Flow, to Skara Brae, possibly the oldest settlement in Scotland dating back about 5000 years (but what's a couple of thousand years between old friends, hey?). The coastal walks along the mainland were, for me, comparable in dramatic beauty to the Great Ocean Road.

Speaking of beautiful coastlines, if you look at my latest photos link, you'll get a taste of what I got up to last weekend in the north of Northern Ireland with my mountain biking mate, Sonya. The Irish Sea and more the Atlantic Ocean were crystal blue. If they weren't subzero temperatures (OK, I'm exaggerating a bit), I would have been tempted to jump in for a dip. Begora begora to be sure to be sure.

Just returned from a long day's marching against poverty and the G8. Amazing day, Approximately 250 000 people making a continuous white circle around the streets of Edinburgh. Quite the spectacle. Just hope Blair, Bush, etc. take note. I must say I doubt it given the speck it made on the politicians who pressed ahead with the Iraq war regardless. I'll continue to hope our voices were heard today... the big meet isn't until this Wednesday. Although the headline on the way to work this morning was G8 trade agreements in doubt... Back to the rally on Saturday, I felt sad to see a group of drunks (amid many) in the park today. In the minute of silence, one guy felt the need to yell out: 'yey for Edinburgh, we can do it' throughout, and a 8ish year old girl waiting patiently in their 'care'. I also felt disappointed by the amount of rubbish and waste generated by the day. Banners nobody could be arsed carrying about and discarded water bottles and pepsi cans dumped in the streets. But, like the protest against the war, I was motivated by the diversity of folk driven to participate and the mass of people dressed in white taking over the streets. That in itself spoke volumes to me. People do care. We're not sure how we can change things politically and economically. We can show support by attending these things and make the point that we do not agree with the way things are. We want change. We support development and meaningful aid in the poorest/'third world' countries and we want to make a difference in what ever way we know how. But currently I think we remain largely kept in the dark. The anarchists and socialists etc. can spread their progaganda which might make us think, but again, that is the extreme view. Some balance is needed. If there was genuine transparency in politics and governance we would be more empowered to effect both local and global change.