An excellent morning at church and an evening with "The Prisoner"...

Wow! I have not been in a church experience like that for a while. People came with a real hunger for God today and threw themselves into the praise and worship with real passion. Our new course DNA was well received and attended and the message teaching by Pastor Mike was also excellent. As I have said in most of my recent Sunday blog posts we are gathering momentum as a church and we are also growing in number each week. There is a real buzz and excitement about the place at the moment, which is excellent and it has also been a great start to 2010 for us.

I am presently watching some DVD episodes of my all time favourite tv show "The Prisoner" devised by and featuring the late Patrick McGoohan. Today's picture is taken from the "Hammer Into Anvil" episode where No.6 (played by McGoohan, pictured left) battles with an insecure and sadistic No.2 (played by the late Patrick Cargill, pictured right). No.6 triumphs by exploiting the character flaws of No.2 to the point of breakdown. No.6 may not escape "The Village" at the end of this episode, but he does succeed in scoring a brilliant victory over No.2. It is probably my favourite episode and one that I have watched on numerous occasions. Visiting Portmerion, as well as "The Prisoner" shop in 1992 whetted my appetite, but I didn't see the show for the first time until the Autumn of 1992 when Channel 4 rescreened the show. I don't think I'll ever tire of it and I expect I'll be still watching it for many years to come.

It's the late late show again for the City!

Sometimes in football the breaks go for you. In Cardiff City's case over the years the breaks have rarely gone in our favour, but today was one of those days when they actually did. We scored a lot of late goals at Ninian Park last season so it shouldn't have come as too much of a surprise that our winning goal came deep into second half stoppage time courtesy of Jay Bothroyd, our stand in captain (pictured). As you can see he was rather pleased with his efforts when the final whistle blew! The final score was Cardiff City 2 Doncaster Rovers 1 with Michael Chopra also scoring for the City. Despite all the off the field problems this week the vast majority of our supporters were superb and sang so much that yours truly is very hoarse tonight! A small group of 300 fans gathered outside CCS after the final whistle demanding the resignation of chairman Peter Ridsdale, but they were a small minority amongst a happy, if concerned crowd of 19,730.

I was saddened to see that the Canton Stand has now gone at Ninian Park and also that demolition work has now begun on my old stand The Bob Bank. The two pictures I have included are of the space that was once occupied by the Canton Stand and the first couple of houses that are now being built on the site of our former home. Change has had to happen, even if it has created additional financial woes for the club. Two of my other teams have also relocated from their original grounds, namely Witney United and Newport County. Both of their old grounds are as in Witney's case a shopping development and flats and in Newport's case a housing estate like Ninian Park is now becoming. I didn't expect to be as affected by Ninian Park's demise as I have been, but its demolition is the end of a small chapter of my life. It was a place where I experienced the highs and lows of being a football supporter as a semi regular between 1994 and 1997 and 2007 and 2009. The late Mrs FlyingVJenks also came with me on a number of occasions too which makes it all the more poignant. Today's atmosphere reminded me of being on The Bob Bank last season and as a tribute to our former home I have included a link to possibly my favourite moment at Ninian Park. Ladies and gentleman please sit back and enjoy Ross McCormack's 2nd goal and Cardiff's 3rd in a 3-1 Easter Monday 2009 win over Burnley last season. Every time I see this clip it both excites me and reminds me of how I really thought we were good enough to go up, but sadly how we also missed out by losing 3 out of our 4 remaining games. I'm one of the 10,000 people on the Bob Bank jumping up and down if you care to look for me!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgGfdYXdA9A">">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgGfdYXdA9A">">

Back to the old routine...sorry I've been absent!

After my illness related exile last week I have quickly got back into the swing of things especially as this has been a much busier week for me in comparison. I apologise for the lack of blogging since Tuesday, but I have been rather busy in my defence. Due to a combination of bad weather and illness over the last few weeks Wednesday was the first Creative Ministries rehearsal of 2010 and it was a really good one. Like with any music team or band the act of rehearsing helps to keep things sharp and fresh. We also began rehearsing our new song by Israel Houghton called "I Am Forgiven". It is a great track and it also captures some excellent Biblical truths in the lyrics.

Last night we had a fun time at our Lifegroup where we held a food night. It was really great to get to talk, share and have a laugh with some some of the newer guys who have just joined the church. These are exciting times with Lifegroups now being set up in Weston-super-Mare and Chippenham as well as our usual one in North Bristol running alongside them. Church is growing in numbers and I really believe this will be a special year for us all.

After the jubilation of the City's resounding 6-0 victory at Bristol City on Tuesday night, off the field challenges are now threatening to destroy the very existence of Cardiff City Football Club. On Wednesday morning an official club statement was released stating that the monies raised from advanced season ticket sales would not be used to strengthen the playing squad as originally promised, but would be used instead to solve the short term cash flow issues to save the club from potential collapse, or administration. This is because allegedly investors have not kept to their promises and additional unforeseen new stadium building costs, although many have also questioned the perceived cavalier way that the club is being run at present. Thursday saw the public apology of under fire chairman Peter Ridsdale for this financial mess, but this has only succeeded in enraging some of our supporters who feel like they've been lied to and completely misled. The club is now trying to persuade Cardiff City Council to allow them to sell some of the additional land around Cardiff City Stadium in order to settle the £2.7 million tax and PAYE debt before February 10th, which if unpaid is when the HMRC could act to wind up the club. If this sale fails to go through the club could cease to exist, although board director Steve Borley has confirmed today that if all else fails the board themselves will come up with something else in order to settle this debt. I feel for manager Dave Jones as he was the face of the season ticket campaign, especially as our injury hit squad is severely depleted and he can't add to it. He has issued a battle cry today for all supporters to get behind the team, to unite in the face of adversity and to support one other through these hard times. As my own Pastor once very aptly said in a message called "Don't Quit", "A quitter never wins and a winner never quits". Here's hoping that CCFC are still here in two weeks time.

There's nothing like a beaten Wurzel....

After a fun evening of food,teaching guitar and seeing friends my eyes nearly popped out of my head when I saw the scoreline from Ashton Gate tonight. It was the 4th meeting between Bristol City and Cardiff City and the final one of the season with tonight's return league fixture being played here in Bristol. To be on the safe side I avoided driving past their ground on the way home, especially as the final score was Bristol City 0 Cardiff City 6! I have never known City win this comfortably away from home and it is also a cause for major celebration for three reasons. This was the first away win the club has had at Ashton Gate since 1969, secondly we have secured the bragging rights by winning 3 and drawing 1 of our Severnside derbies against them this season and thirdly we have gone back above Swansea City in the table into 4th position. Michael Chopra (pictured) helped himself to two goals, Ross McCormack also scored two and the other goals came from Peter Whittingham and a Liam Fontaine own goal. I will enjoy rubbing it in tomorrow as a number of my friends who support Bristol City were hugely confident that they would thrash us. All I can say to them is dream on boys! I would toast the team with a Brains SA if I had one right now, but I will probably have one on the weekend instead when I will be at CCS to watch the City take on Doncaster Rovers. Happy days!

My second team Merthyr Tydfil also deserve a mention as they came from behind to beat Evesham United 2-1 at Penydarren Park tonight. Marcus Griffiths and Cortez Belle scored the goals, which have helped "The Martyrs" climb to 13th position in the table and now they are 6 points away from the relegation zone. Reasons to be cheerful, part 2!

Oh no! Not them!....

Of all the teams, in all the towns, in all the world, they get drawn against mine! Cardiff City were drawn away to current Premiership giants Chelsea in the FA Cup 5th round today. Whilst it will guarantee a much needed payday for the City, I am dreading the prospect of our patched up team getting an absolute thrashing at the hands of the current FA Cup holders. If we had been drawn at home I would have fancied our chances more and if we were still at Ninian Park then I think Chelsea would have buckled under the intense and hostile atmosphere that our former stadium used to generate. I saw some updated pictures of Ninian Park yesterday and three stands have now gone with the Canton Stand bulldozed last week. It leaves my old stand the Bob Bank marooned on its own and the first few houses are now being built on the site of the old Grandstand. I will see it for myself when the City host Doncaster Rovers at CCS next Saturday.

Church was really good this morning and it was great to see everyone again after my illness imposed exile last week. We had some more visitors today who all enjoyed themselves and one of my new friends gave me a lot of City stuff that her ex boyfriend had given her last season. So I now have a few flags, t-shirts, scarves and programmes that I didn't have before. It was also a pleasure to be able to drive to church again as Ethelred coped with the journies well. It certainly makes things easier when getting around and it also means that I am not dependent on other people.

I am watching the film "Twister" at the moment featuring Bill Paxton and Helen Hunt (pictured). I remember going to the cinema with the late Mrs FlyingVJenks when it came out and it is still one of my favourite films. It's about a group of storm chasers in the USA and Bill Paxton's character invents a machine that can measure the inner workings of a tornado. The only drawback is that they have to get in the path of a tornado so that the machine can be picked up by it. My description doesn't do the film justice as it is a lot more interesting than I have made it out to be! When it was originally released it flopped as it came out at the same time as "Independence Day" featuring Will Smith and Jeff Goldblum, which was hugely successful in comparison. I tend to like stuff that most people dislike (e.g. The Prisoner, Cardiff City FC, etc), but I enjoy being different and plowing my own furrow. The film also features an excellent Sammy Hagar era Van Halen track called "Humans Being" which is probably another reason to like the film! I know that previous blog posts may give over the impression that the sum total of my activity is spent watching DVD's. That is only a recent phenomenon brought on by illness and sub standard TV programming, but I promise that this week's blog entries will be more varied!

A late City fightback and hello Wemb...er..hello, Wick St Lawrence...

What a way to end a game and what a shame that I couldn't be there too! In possibly the best fightback a City side has put in for years we came back from 2-1 down to beat Leicester City 4-2 in the FA Cup 4th round tie at CCS this afternoon. Goals from Jay Bothroyd, Peter Whittingham, Chris Burke and Ross McCormack sealed an unlikely but welcome win. It now means that we are in the draw for the FA Cup 5th round tomorrow. What makes todays achievement all the more significant is that City were down to their last 18 fit players. Technically 6 of these 18 are carrying injuries but due to at least 8 of our other players already being out they are having to soldier on through the pain barrier. Hopefully the HMRC bill will be paid this week and we can then get in some extra players too.

Tonight's picture was taken whilst we were setting up for our gig at The Ebdon Arms in Wick St Lawrence near Weston-super-Mare. In the foreground is my Marshall amp and "Missy" my Gibson Les Paul Standard guitar is also in the background. The gig went reasonably well and although the crowd was in the region of 50-60 people we did get some buffet food and a drink in between. Ethelred seemed to enjoy her jaunt down the A370 from Bristol to Weston and back even if the boot was full of all my kit. In a few hours I will be getting up for church and I am looking forward to seeing everyone again.

Rod Taylor v The Morlocks and the safe return of Ethelred....

After a busy day at work I am now relaxing in my bedroom due to the lack of decent tv on tonight. I am starting to go through the final stages of my cold and I will be delighted once I have finally seen the back of it. I have also driven my car again for the first time in six weeks after it was returned to work for me today. Whilst it is useful to have my car back I didn't enjoy my journey home as I had to battle through Bristol rush hour traffic. I will hopefully have a more enjoyable drive to Weston-super-Mare tomorrow where I will be playing a birthday party gig with Mr Big Stuff during the evening.

Today's pictures are taken from my DVD entertainment for tonight, which is the 1960 version of HG Wells' "The Time Machine" featuring Rod Taylor (top left). Below right is a picture of his future enemies in the latter part of the film. No it's not a bunch of roadies, it certainly isn't a Girls Aloud tribute act, nor is it the regional gathering of the Cleethorpes & District branch of the Sir Jimmy Saville fan club. This bunch of reprobates are the "evil" Morlocks.
They are a cannibalistic society of underground dwellers who prey on the Eloi, the good guys. That is until Rod gets involved and in typical Hollywood style he blows up their underground complex and most of the Morlocks become toast (not literally, but if Monty Python were involved in the making of this film it might actually happen). It is a good film, even if parts of it are unintentionally funny. I studied "The Time Machine", "The Island of Dr Moreau" and "War Of The Worlds" at University and I enjoy reading HG Wells' stories. But then again I also enjoy reading books by the late Douglas Adams, such as "The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy". I mean where else could you have a manically depressed robot called Marvin and a two headed character called Zaphod Beeblebrox?

Returning to work, slowly improving health and some vintage movies...

I am writing this after a semi normal day. I surprised my work colleagues by returning to work earlier than expected but I felt pretty lousy by the end of the day. As a result I stayed in this evening and decided to spend the time watching a couple of classic dvd's. First up was "The Italian Job" (pictured left) and I had forgotten how well constructed and funny this film is. No prizes for guessing what Michael Caine is about to say in the next shot! Something about doors, I think.

This was followed by "A Night To Remember" featuring the late Kenneth More (pictured right). I have mentioned this film in one of my first few blog entries before, but it really is the definitive film about the Titanic disaster. No Winslet, De Caprio or Celine Dion to ruin this one (rant over!)

I am counting down the hours until I am reunited with Ethelred. The garage are dropping the car off at work and it will mean that for the first time since mid December I can drive her home tomorrow. I will divide my time between bus travel and driving from now on depending on if I need to be anywhere straight after work. I can't wait as I really feared the worst when she packed in, but I am confident that I will have better days ahead with her from now on.

Health improvements and another Severnside derby win for the City...

Goals are goals no matter how they come. The City managed to see off Bristol City 1-0 at CCS in the FA Cup 3rd round replay last night and Bristol City defender Bradley Orr (pictured) scored a cracking own goal to seal the win for us. I ended up watching the game on S4C online without the sound on whilst listening to the game on Radio Wales with the sound on. Whilst I respect the Welsh Language, I'm afraid that I only know how to count between 1 and 6, the words for "goal", "fire station" and "welcome" and the phrase "blinkin' Marc Jones" that used to appear frequently in S4C soap opera "Pobyl Y Cwm"(People of the Valley). The City could have won by more as Ross McCormack hit the bar from 25 yards out and Michael Chopra missed 2 or 3 good chances. Still into Round 4 and a home tie on Saturday with fellow Championship pacesetters Leicester City (made famous by TV personality and well known crisp magnate Gary Lineker). As we like the wurzels of Bristol so much we are also playing them again next Tuesday in the league and hopefully we can add another Severnside derby win to our growing tally (that's 2 wins and a draw against Bristol City and a win over Bristol Rovers so far). Most of our fans would give anything for a home win against the Jacks (Swansea City) in April though, as this fixture is the the one that you have to win (a bit like Wales have to always beat England in the RBS 6 Nations).

I stayed home again today but by the early part of this evening I can honestly say that I started to feel better. If I was to speak of it in percentage terms then I would say I'm now 75% as opposed to 100%. I am going to go back into work tomorrow and hopefully the remaining 25% will catch me up so that I can be 100% again. Sorry I've just realized that I've been a bit cryptic and mathematical there so I will now call it a night.

A slow recovery and in memory of a great Welshman....

I am slowly getting better, but I stayed home today in order to make sure that I recover properly. During this recovery time I have been watching via my laptop a 1957 British film called "Hell Drivers" featuring the late Sir Stanley Baker (pictured) and the late Patrick McGoohan. It is a great film, which is about a group of dangerous gravel lorry drivers who won't stop at anything to earn their money. McGoohan plays the menacing "Red" and Baker plays ex-convict "Tom". The cast also includes Sean Connery, David McCullum, Sid James, Herbert Lom and Gordon Jackson in their younger days.

On the extras DVD is a poignant film about Baker returning to his native Rhondda valley and to his birthplace of Ferndale. Narrated by Donald Houston it captures valleys community life as it was and as it sadly no longer is anymore. It reminded me of childhood summers spent with my relatives in South Wales and also of my family members who are sadly no longer with us. I found it quite emotional as a result, but part of my heart will always be in Merthyr Tydfil and I will always cherish those memories. Whilst I am Cardiff to the core, overall I am very proud to be Welsh and even though I have lived in England for most of my life I will never consider myself to be English. I don't say that to be offensive in any way if you are from England, nor do I express this sentiment in a derogatory manner. It is more of a personal choice for me to remain true to my roots and to my national heritage.

I tend to be at my most patriotic in sport, especially when Cardiff City FC are involved. I will be listening to the FA Cup 3rd round replay tonight against Bristol City, as due to my ill health I am not going to the Destiny midweek seminar. I am really disappointed to be not going to this as Pastor Dave Reidy was excellent on Sunday and I was really looking forward to hearing him teach again tonight. I will make sure to get a copy of the recording later this week so that I don't miss out.

Under the weather, but keeping my spirits up....

Last year I had the pleasure of seeing a couple of decent comedy shows in Bristol. One was Bill Bailey and the other was Ross Noble (pictured). I am currently watching a DVD of Ross that one of my friends has loaned to me and it is helping to keep me happy despite the fact that I am fighting off a heavy cold that has rolled in overnight. I didn't go into work today but depending on how I feel in the morning will depend on if I go in or not.

Talking of stuff rolling in, one of my favourite films is John Carpenter's "The Fog". It is the story of a small American coastal village (Antonio Bay) celebrating its centenary. However, at midnight a strange fog rolls in and a crew of ghostly pirates appear. They are intent on revenge as their ship the "Elizabeth Dane" was lured onto the rocks and they were all drowned. Their gold was recovered and used to build the village and they are coming back to kill the descendants of the people responsible for their deaths. Whilst it is a horror film it isn't grotesquely violent unlike some other films and the heroine of the story is radio DJ Stevie Wayne (pictured) played by Adrienne Barbeau. Hal Holbrook is also excellent as Father Malone, whose ancestor (also Father Malone) was one of the six conspirators who lured the pirates to their deaths.

I found this really excellent evening photograph of Cardiff City's former home Ninian Park tonight. I had to chuckle this evening when a supporter on our messageboard said we should return to Ninian Park! Bit of a problem there mate! As the Grandstand, Grange End, floodlights and pitch are gone, as well as half of the Canton Stand that is most definitely candidate for dumbest idea of the season! The guy was deadly serious which was the crazy thing, but whether we like it or not we are at CCS now and it's time to move forward. Hopefully that can start with an FA Cup 3rd round replay win at CCS against the Wurzels (Bristol City) tomorrow night.

A great day and bizarre memories from childhood....

There is a definite momentum building at church at the moment and we had another great time together this morning. It was my turn to do the pre service talk and I was pleased that it went well. However, this was the first time that I did one of these without mentioning Cardiff City FC or without drawing parallels to football. Maybe next time, eh? It was great to have Pastor Dave Reidy over from Australia too and he spoke on the subject of "Capacity".

In the afternoon the young adults went out for some food at "Frankie & Benny's" at Cribbs Causeway in Bristol. We had a great afternoon and during the course of the afternoon the conversation ended up on YouTube and especially the humpty dumpty character (pictured) from the Kinder Surprise adverts. At the time it was shown on British TV in the early to mid 1980's he frightened small children apparently. I was never frightened of him but two things struck me at the time, which were coincidentally the same things that occurred to me watching it again today. Firstly Mr Kinder talks a lot of gibberish. He gets rather excited when he unwraps the egg before shouting the word "chocadooby" in a rather loud manner. He does this to such an extent that Brian Blessed would have been proud of him. Secondly unless Kinder were being ironic, why does Mr Kinder then throw himself off the wall? Was he suicidal? Maybe receiving a chocolate egg with a free toy inside pushed him over the edge. I've included the link to the clip below which should help with the postmortem.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGxWxjEr6F8

Whitts to the rescue and the Martyrs are off the bottom!...

Two blogs in one day, now that's really going for it! In a break from my studying I thought that I had to put a football related piece in after the games. Whilst two of my sides Witney United and Newport County fell foul of the weather, my top two teams did manage to play. Peter Whittingham (pictured) salvaged a late point for the City in a 1-1 draw at Scunthorpe United this afternoon at Glanford Park. Back in 1993 this stadium was where Cardiff City clinched the 3rd division title with an emphatic 3-0 win and Scunthorpe kindly allowed our fans 3 sides of their ground due to the large number of travelling fans from Cardiff that day. Back then we had hopes of achieving back to back promotions but by 1996 the club was at its lowest ebb. We were struggling near the bottom of Division 3 in front of average gates of 2,000 after relegation from the second division in 1995. How times have changed and despite the ongoing financial uncertainty that is currently surrounding the club after today's draw we are 5th in the table, but sadly a place below our arch rivals Swansea City. Hopefully we can change that by the next round of league games.

Special mention must also go to my 2nd team Merthyr Tydfil who came from 2-1 down to win 4-2 at Bedford Town this afternoon. Cortez Belle (pictured) scored one of the goals and crucially for "The Martyrs" they are now out of the relegation zone and are 16th in the table. Their efforts have been hampered by a 10 point penalty for going into administration before the season started, but today's win will have given the team a massive psychological boost for the rest of the season. It was the first time that they had played in over a month due to the bad weather so they are also faced with playing 3 games a week for the remainder of the season. Hopefully they can survive in their division and begin to turn the corner off the pitch.

Spot the difference as the thaw advances.....

With the snow now evaporating it is nice to be able to briskly walk along the pavements without the concern of slipping on the ice. Today's picture is of the top end of my road which shows just how quickly the snow has melted and also how everything has returned to normal.

Today is a catch up day for me and I will be catching up on my domestic duties. If I'm not at a game I usually do my laundry on a Saturday. Saturday mornings are also time for the weekly food shop, hoovering and other such things. Even rock musicians can be domestic as Nicky Wire of the Manic Street Preachers once displayed when he wore a t-shirt with the slogan "I love hoovering" to an awards ceremony! I expect I will also catch the radio coverage of Cardiff City's away match at Scunthorpe United on Radio Wales this afternoon, but I will be able to watch the FA Cup replay with Bristol City via the FA website next Tuesday evening. As cup games are extra I am giving them a miss and I am only going to the league games that I've already paid for. If we return to Wembley in the play offs I will probably go if I can though.

I am also going to spend part of the day doing some more study for the FA2 exam I am studying towards later this year. I also need to complete my preparation for my Sunday pre service thought that I will be doing tomorrow morning. Sadie has already kindly text a reminder to me so that I don't forget, although Yahoo calendar has also done the same! Tomorrow is going to be a good day as we will have a special visitor in Pastor Dave Reidy from Australia. He is staying with us for part of the week and will also be running a leadership seminar on Tuesday night too. This is going to be a good week I'm sure.

My new under stair guitar store and the arrival of the new album by Steeleye Span...

In the last couple of days my housemate and I have moved some stuff around. Where her computer once stood in the hallway alcove, I now have a handy storage space for my amplifier and my collection of guitars (pictured). It is just the right size for all of my kit and I can even find space for my Dyson too! I had previously stored them all at the end of my bed and I am pleased to now have much more space in my room.

After coming home from teaching my second guitar lesson tonight I had a pleasant surprise to find that the new Steeleye Span album "Cogs, Wheels and Lovers" had arrived. As I missed their recent show in Weston-super-Mare I was only aware that a new Steeleye Span album had been released when I went on their record company website last month. I have already added it to ITunes so I will transfer it onto my Ipod tonight and have a good listen. The last few albums have been a big return to form for the band and the current line up is on a par with the "classic 70's" line up. Whilst original drummer Nigel Pegrum is now resident in Australia, guitarist Bob Johnson has retired and Tim Hart has sadly passed away recently, the return of both Liam Genockey on drums and Rick Kemp on bass has rejuvenated the band. Ken Nicol on guitar has given the band a dynamic rock edge and is also a superb acoustic player too but stalwarts Maddy Prior (vocals) and Peter Knight (violin) have ensured that the band have retained their trademark sound. Steeleye's music is timeless and along with Jethro Tull they are continuing to push the boundaries of both folk and rock into new and exciting directions.

On the buses....

Much is made of how we need to reduce our carbon footprints. A lot is also said about how we should be looking at greener alternative transport instead of relying on our cars. I am trying to do both whilst remaining patient with local bus services. Whilst on the whole they are pretty good from Hartcliffe when they go wrong they can be enormously frustrating. I really did think that I would miss the free work bus at one point this morning due to the delays in getting into the city centre. Thankfully I made it just as the free bus arrived at the designated pick up point.

I had a fun evening with friends and I enjoyed a really excellent curry before travelling to another friends house for lifegroup. We had some nibbles before playing a great game called "imaginiff?". Some of the questions and answers were very funny and it was great to be amongst my best friends. I am also counting down the days to when I will be reunited with Ethelred and I really can't wait to get behind the wheel again.

All snowy on the west country front....

I knew it was coming, but I really wasn't expecting the snow to fall as heavily as it did last night. Today's first picture is of one of the streets near to where I live and it was quite tricky walking through 2 inches of snow down the hill to the bus stop. Despite the snow being more intense this time buses ran as normal today so getting to and from work was possible even if it took a bit longer than normal.

A higher volume of snow fell at work and so the groundsmen spent most of the early part of the day clearing roads and pathways around the site. Some of my team mates ended up having a snow ball fight which was very funny to watch before a fire alarm went off and we all ended up outside in the snow! The irony was that we were only joking earlier in the day about what would happen if the alarm was to go off. We found out pretty quickly! This should be it for a few days unless the snow returns soon, but most of us just want to get back to some semblance of normality again. The novelty of snow has worn off and it is becoming a little bit tiresome.

On a positive note, Ethelred and I will be reunited a week on Friday! She is being delivered to work by the mechanic who fixed her and I will be able to drive her home on Friday evening (weather permitting!) I am still going to commute using a combination of the local bus service and the free shuttle bus from the city centre to work for 4 days of the week, but I will drive on Wednesdays. I am really looking forward to getting behind the wheel again. I'm just hoping that I haven't forgotten to drive in the intervening time period!

The 200th post, another snowy encore and the City are pegged back in stoppage time!....

So here I am reflecting on my 200th blog post since this blog began in late May 2009. It is amazing to think that I have been able to come up with enough content to manage this milestone and whilst there have been a few occasions where I haven't written anything for a group of days I have enjoyed every moment that I've spent writing the entries.

The snow has come back again, heavier and earlier than expected. What has fallen so far is the light snow, as apparently the heavy stuff is due to hit us between 3am and 6am tomorrow morning. I will be checking the First Bus website shortly to see if they are on target to run services tomorrow.

The weather conditions made the City's tricky away FA Cup tie against Bristol City at Ashton Gate quite farcical at times. I was amazed that the game finished in the end and it ended all square. Cardiff played much better tonight and fringe players Solomon Taiwo and Aaron Wildig were superb tonight. Michael Chopra ended his goal drought with a fantastic goal after an appalling clearance by the Bristol City keeper. However, in time honoured tradition we conceded a late goal when we didn't pick up Gavin Williams (who happens to be a Cardiff City fan!) who fired home from outside the box. Am I disappointed? Not really as I am extremely proud of the boys for putting in a committed and hard working performance in difficult conditions. I would expect Taiwo and Wildig to start on Saturday as they deserve another chance. I expect I'll get some stick tomorrow, but to quote Catherine Tate's Lauren character, "Am I Bovvered?"....

Railways revisited and a resounding victory for traffic congestion in North Bristol.....

Sometimes it is difficult to write about anything interesting on ordinary days. After taking two hours to get home (an hour and a quarter of which was spent stuck in the car park at work) I had very little inspiration in terms of content worth blogging about.

However,today's picture is of my current PC desktop background. This photograph is of Eynsham station in 1956, and it was an intermediate station on the former GWR branch line between Oxford and Fairford. One of the many casualties of "The Beeching Axe" in the 1960's, the line remained open until the early 70's and finally closed to freight in 1970. The final track was removed in the summer of 1972. I vividly remember the remains of the station when I first moved to Eynsham as a child and I also remember when the whole site was redeveloped into an industrial estate. There have been calls to reopen the line from Oxford to Witney and possibly as far out as Carterton. However, 40-50 years of land reclamation and station site redevelopments would make rail reinstatement massively expensive. It's a shame as up until the mid 1970's large sections of the trackbed were still intact. If the line reopened it would have to be on a brand new route as most of the original alignment is now lost forever. The last estimated cost for such a project was £95 million pounds and that will not be attractive to the pro-road UK Government! If we were in Scotland or Wales however.....

A resourceful church, potential American takeovers and get well soon Mr Magennis...

It speaks volumes this morning about how committed people are at Destiny Church. Apart from a small amount of people who were away due to illness, the majority of the church battled through icy conditions and snow in order to get there today. We had a great time together and heard the first part of a new message series which we have dubbed "The Bristolian message" as it was called "I Wuz 'Ere!" It was really great to see everyone after the midweek cancellations of both Creative Ministries and Lifegroup due to the weather. Hopefully the ice will begin to thaw this week and life will return to some semblance of normality. With light snow showers predicted between Monday and Thursday we may have to wait for a little bit longer though.

Today's picture is of young Cardiff City striker Josh Magennis who started yesterday's game in place of Jay Bothroyd who was missing through illness. 25 minutes into the game after a good start to the game he suffered the misfortune of breaking his leg and it was very sad to see him being wheeled around the pitch side on a stretcher in great distress. Unofficial reports are also suggesting that the club could be taken over by some American billionaires by the end of February and that they will pay off the clubs historical debts in full. Hopefully this is a true story as the club needs significant investment in order to take it forward to the next level.

A cold day and another dismal performance by the City...

The snow hasn't really melted yet here, but in the places where it has it has turned to ice. I should know as I slipped and landed on my left arm on my way home this evening! I am ok although I am a bit sore and I am grateful to be warm and safe inside my house now. Earlier on today I took the above photograph in Queen's Square in the centre of Bristol, which was so picturesque I had to take a picture of it.

I enjoyed my trip to Cardiff today and it was nice to be able to go and watch a game. The second picture is of the snowy remains of Ninian Park. The Bob Bank is still there, demolition has begun on the Canton Stand and the first house is currently being built on the site of the former Grandstand. Today's match was only one of 4 Championship games to survive the weather and after a bright start the City struggled to a lacklustre 1-1 draw with Blackpool. Despite scoring after 9 minutes through our captain Mark Hudson, City conceded an early second half goal and were lucky not to lose this one. The team were booed off and against a backdrop of financial issues, visiting potential investors, potential takeovers and a mounting injury list CCS has become a very negative place to be right now. Some of it is because of genuine concern for the future of the club, as well as the way the club appears to be being run. Fans are also frustrated by a perceived lack of effort from the players as well as the non arrival of new players. After last season's near miss and an FA Cup Final appearance in 2008 expectations are high, but perhaps our expectations are too high given the current state of the club. It's great having a vision and ambition, but for that vision to be fulfilled the club has a dire need for significant investment in order to take it to the next level. Hopefully this investment will be finalised by the end of this month and the future of the club will be secured.

The cold snap continues, Ethelred's return draws closer and a fun evening with guitars...

I am thankful that at least the bus services and roads are now clear in Bristol. Despite fresh snowfall tonight I was able to travel across the city without too many problems today. Today's picture is of the snow covered steps leading down to the lake area behind work. This part of the grounds is currently closed for health and safety reasons and I assume will remain so until the snow melts. Grit supplies are running out very fast so more heavy snowfall could bring the UK to a standstill.

I spent the evening with some Polish friends of mine and we shared a lovely meal together before I taught their son his first two guitar chords. Despite my error yesterday they were incredibly gracious and actually thought it was funny that I left my phone behind. If they were English they may have given me the cold shoulder! As a parting gift they also gave me a bag of bananas, kiwi fruit and nectarines as a thank you. Their hospitality was truly astounding and I couldn't have been made to feel more welcome. I enjoyed myself and on the way home I remembered my humble beginnings when I was 14 and learning my first few chords. My musical journey since 1991 has seen me play in bands such as Karnival, Swirl and Opening (including playing The Fringe stage at Greenbelt), performing in "Something In The Way" at Eynsham Youth Centre, one off college gigs, two Bradley Stoke school productions, four appearances at "The AXA Factor", album, EP and backing track recordings through to the present day of Mr Big Stuff and the Creative Ministries team at Destiny Church here in Filton, Bristol. When I look back at that I have achieved quite a lot musically and if the first 19 years were this good, I'm sure the next 19 will be even better!

Finally, Ethelred is now fixed but has been rebuilt to a degree. The head gasket had gone, but so too had the radiator, cam belt, water pump, front driver side tyre and exhaust bracket! I am hoping to be able to get her back by the end of this month and I am grateful to the mechanic for all his hard work and for keeping the cost down where possible. So Ethelred lives to fight another day, but hopefully she will remain fit and well for some time to come.

A day to forget?........

I must be feeling the effects of getting older as my memory went to pot today. In the excitement of finding out that the buses were running and that I could get to work, I left my phone behind which meant that I missed some key appointments. I was due to begin teaching one of my friend's children how to play the guitar, but because I left my phone behind I couldn't contact them when I got lost trying to find their home. When I eventually got home I prefusely apologised and will be going tomorrow instead. The frustrating thing is that I walked right past their house and the sad thing about it is that they cooked me tea too. Flying V Jenks 0 Mobile Phone 1.

I am hoping that some more of the ice will have melted tomorrow as it is slippery under foot on pavements and when crossing secondary roads. The main roads are fairly normal as they have been heavily gritted. There was a message on the Cardiff City messageboards tonight asking for help to grit the car parks, turnstile areas and general area around CCS. The pitch is playable and the interior of the stadium is safe, but it would be a shame if the game is called off due to other areas around the stadium being unsafe. I hope it goes ahead as I haven't been to watch the City since early December due to postponements and travel problems. Otherwise I will have to wait until 30th January when the City are due to entertain Doncaster Rovers at CCS.

I'm not going out, I've got to stay in!...

I expect my family in the USA will chuckle to themselves when they read this post. They have had far heavier snowfall there and yet have been able to carry on with daily life. A couple of inches of snow here and all bus services have been suspended! As a result I have been advised by my manager to stay here and not to venture out. I made it as far as the bus stop before 3 motorists stopped to tell me that the buses weren't running today. I am now thawing out with a cup of tea and will probably spend the day studying the FA2 exam syllabus just to keep the old grey matter working. The second picture is of the view of our garden from the kitchen. The hills that back onto us are like something from a traditional Christmas card, if somewhat late for the recent festive period. It will be interesting to see if I can get to work tomorrow as hopefully they will salt the roads tonight and they will be passable again. Never fear I have plenty of soup, tea and pasta so I'm sorted for the next few days!

Unusual statues and the return of the snow....

I haven't quite sussed out if this statue is purely symbolic, a work of art or a sculpture commemorating Bristol's historical past. I've walked past it a few times on the way to catching the free bus to work, but as I had a few minutes to spare I thought I would document the moment. There are no accompanying plaques or signs to confirm that it is a historical figure so I am presuming that it is a piece of artwork instead. Its name for the record is "the cloaked horseman". How original...

The snow returned this afternoon and apparently its coming back for an encore overnight. Wales, Scotland, The North West and The West Midlands have been affected and apparently it's our turn tonight here in the West Country. The second picture is of the frozen lake at work that is now also covered in snow. This is the first time I have seen this happen in just under 7 years of being with my current employer. I will be interested to see how this will affect travel arrangements in the morning, but I will make my best efforts to get to work tomorrow even if I have to walk part of the way there. As the Cardiff City FC terrace anthem goes "I'll be there, I'll be there. With my little pick and shovel, I'll be there!"

A fun day at work and what is going on at the City?....

It is always concerning when the words "Cardiff City FC" and "financial meltdown" are mentioned together. Whilst "The News of the World" is a paper of overt sensationalism reports emerged yesterday that the City are experiencing huge cashflow problems. When I say huge I mean massive to the extent that if these reports are true then the club could cease to exist. It could just be media scaremongering, but as our chairman Peter Ridsdale presided over Leeds United's spectacular collapse from being amongst the Premier League giants to relegation to League One, serious questions are being raised over his ability to manage the day to day running of the club.

However, there are a number of things that could put this to bed. Firstly we are trying to sign new players to strengthen the squad, our finance director used to occupy a similar position with Ernst & Young (an international accountancy firm), one of our other directors Keith Harris is part of a international financial company called Seymour Pierce and our newest director Datuk Tien Ghee would surely not have joined a club that was about to go down the tubes. We have been here before and I am hoping we can survive this latest incident. The club need to be open and frank with the supporters as we would rather hear the truth of the situation than be led up the garden path.

On a lighter note it was great to be reunited with my work colleagues, some of whom I hadn't seen since before Christmas. There was a good atmosphere amongst the team today and none of us seemed to have the post festive period blues. I also began studying today towards my FA2 certificate in pensions administration exam, which I am presently trying to book. I may have to travel to Cardiff for this one as there are no Bristol examination centres available for the period of time after my tutorials cease. I am looking to make the most of the time that I have got in this stage of my life and if I am successful with this exam, I may consider studying FA1. Either way this is a big step forward for me and hopefully one of many successful steps for me in 2010.

I wish to make a complaint...er..I see you've got an axe, so I will retract that statement...

Today's picture is also from Lechlade and the axe/log combo was just outside the main entrance to an antiques shop. It was hardly the most welcoming of things to see and I expect the shopkeeper has a strict no returns policy!

Church was excellent again this morning as we heard the second and final part of the "Make Time Count" series. It was great to play again today as I haven't played all week and I was pleased that rustiness hadn't set in to my playing. I am looking forward to this week as I have a few things on. I should also find out how much it will cost to repair Ethelred and I am hoping to have her back in a fortnight.

I'll have a E...erm..a N and an L please, Bob?

Maybe I'm strange, but I find this kind of thing quite amusing. This is a picture I took of the New Inn Hotel in Lechlade yesterday and it was too good an opportunity to miss. It brought back memories of some other sign based humour as well. A few years ago the UK chain Morrisons opened a brand new store near the Cribbs Causeway shopping complex in Bristol and unfortunately some of the lights behind their logo stopped working. Unfortunately the three letters that stopped working were the r, i and s so for a month they became "Morons". Many of us who saw this absolute gem still refer to this branch as "Morons" to this day.

Until it became more cosmopolitan Witney used to have a chip shop on Corn Street which suffered a similar comic fate. If you believed the sign then the shop was owned by Northern isheries and it was a Fsh and Cip shop. Reggie Perrin (the 1970's version) also had the recurring joke of the letters falling off the front of "Sunshine Desserts" at regular intervals and Fawlty Towers had the letters rearranged on their sign which included such gems as "Watery Fowls" and "Flay Otters". My favourite though remains the road sign in Essex, which gave directions to a "Secret Nuclear Bunker". It could only happen in Britain!

In memory of one of my biggest vocal influences...

For those of you without any knowledge of British folk rock bands then this probably means very little to you. On New Year's Day I was saddened to read of the death of Tim Hart (pictured left) who was one of the founding members of Steeleye Span. Post Span he also went on to forge a career in wildlife photography and writing books on the history of the Canary Islands where he lived. Tim has always been one of my favourite vocalists and has influenced my eclectic vocal style, although I do not put on a West Country accent when I sing. Although the current Steeleye line up are great and their recent albums are on a par with their 70's output, it is hard to ignore the brilliant vocal and musical arrangements on Steeleye's 1970's albums which all featured Tim Hart. Thankfully we have some great albums which celebrate his musical legacy.

On a lighter note I am returning to Bristol today after a lovely new year with my parents. It is a shame that I can't stay longer but other commitments back home require my return. I am hoping to pop up once my car is fixed and roadworthy again! One minor piece of good news today was that Cardiff City's FA Cup tie at Bristol City was postponed due to a frozen pitch today. This is good news because it gives some of our players time to recover from injuries, Dave Jones a chance to sign some new players this week and I don't have to keep my colours hidden in Bristol city centre. What a relief!

Happy NewYear! I've got it made, I've been to visit Lechlade (rhyming pun No.23)...

Happy New Year readers! I hope you have all enjoyed seeing in 2010 from all the different continents that you live in. I enjoyed it with a nice glass of whisky whilst watching the fireworks display on BBC1 live from the London Eye with my parents. Before you wonder, my parents were in the same room with me and weren't presenting the coverage for the BBC as that honour went to roving reporter Myleene Klass.

I have also been to Lechlade in Gloucestershire today and I had forgotten how pretty the place is. I had a brief glance towards the site of the old railway station as we passed over the remains of the long gone Oxford to Fairford branch line. You can't see anything as it is covered in undergrowth and fenced off from the public. The remains are probably still there....somewhere. I also took some photographs which I will share with you over the next couple of days and I hope they will amuse you as much as they did at the time I took them. Regrettably I didn't take a photograph of a passing motorist who had painted spiderwebs, bats and other Gothic based artwork on his M reg Vauxhall Cavalier. His bumper bore the slogan "it's better to be dead than cool". I bet he would have been a bundle of laughs over Christmas and would have been as sullen and monosyllabic as the Father Stone character in one of the episodes of "Father Ted". I can almost imagine it..."Would you like some Christmas Dinner, Mr Goth?"......(lengthy pause)...."No...I'm fine". He's probably a really nice bloke called Chris who mixes being a Goth with something mundane like working in a call centre. I've had a cup of tea and I'm beginning to ramble so I think I will stop before I take this story beyond the realms of reality!