RatsRunThisTown

DELETE DELETE DELETE

2011-03-08T20:25:00.000Z

Deleting this blog tomorrow. If you liked my stuff, and want to carry on with my adventures, then head on over to http://blogwave.net/rats

OI. YOU.

2011-02-21T22:58:00.001Z

It's finally up!

What you say? EVERYTHING.

New server! New domain! New site!

and more importantly, the fourth podcast!

http://blogwave.net

There it is! Everything we've spent ages making and putting everything into.
Just press play the play button for a free stream of our 4th blog tip filled podcast.
(Btw you can comment using your Google account i.e the one you're using now, so please do!)

Remember Twitter users, http://www.twitter.com/RatsRunThisTown FOLLOW US.

Facebook users: http://www.facebook.com/pages/BlogWave/163481183673557

I for one won't be using this blog much more as I have moved, so be sure to head over, follow http://blogwave.net and please, most importantly, listen to our podcast before you comment. None of this HURR DURR NICE PODCAST LOL stuff. We've put a lot of effort into giving your some great, drunken filled blog tips, so as you blog, listen to our FREE podcasts!

Patriotism Vs Racism

2011-02-13T22:22:00.002Z

Okay first things first, this is a longish post. A rant, but one that I encounter a lot and I get very passionate about. If you're going to comment, please read the entire post, rather than just the first two paragraphs.

Patriotism Vs Racism

Anyone else out there proud of their country? Proud to say "I'm ____ and proud." Well you're a racist. Proud of your country? The land you live in? Your culture and heritage? You're a racist.

Now, of course I don't mean this. I for one, as an English lad am extremely proud to say; 'Yeah, I'm English.' Sure, we have problems in this country, but what country doesn't? Now, I'm not turning this into an America vs Great Britain debate, but I have no issue in saying I am extremely patriotic. I love England, and am proud to be English.

This is where it get's frustrating. I'm not sure what the situation is in your country, (I am lead to believe that patriotism is encouraged in the States) but to put it simply, in England,

Patriotism is a crime.

Here, it is looked down upon. We live in such an overly-political correct country that it is forbidden to say you are a patriot.

So where does this stem from?

Ignorance? Do we just not want to experience diversity and other cultures? Of course not. As a traveller, I love being divirged into new cultures, so no, it's not an issue of being scared of new ideas. The problem with the British government, is that they have brainwashed our nation into believing that the love for your country, is exactly the same as the hate for certain races. There is subconscience link that leads people to believe, saying you're proud to be English, means you're proud to be white. Of course, then, there is an extremely thin line bordering between being patriotic, and racist.

The situation is so bad in Great Britian, that England is the only country in the United Kingdom that doesn't celebrate it's Patron's Saint Day. Although April 23rd is regarded as St George's day, it is rarely celebrated in England. You'll occasionally see someone wearing their England football shirt, to whom I applaud on making at least some effort, but that is the utmost display of patriotism on St George's day. The Irish however, know how to celebrate their St Patrick's day. With street parties, marches, live bands in the street and massive consumption of alcohol, the Irish really know how to celebrate their heritage. We English are so scared of being judged as racist, that we refuse to celebrate St George's day, and instead, the majority of English will particpate in the festivities of the Irish Patron Saint's day.

The problem lies with being judged. Although many of us beleive, we are simply being patriotic, we as a culture are scared of being deemed as racist. So rather than take the risk, we do nothing. It's instances like this that means the English culture is dying. We are one of the only cultures in the entire world that fears standing up for who we are, and being able to say, 'Hey, I am English and love this country. Let's celebrate.'

Let's take this example a little further. At university, we are allowed to set up little social groups. A method of bringing people together, with similar interests, to make friends.

At our university, there are 'Official university group for Indians,' Groups for 'Asians, Gamers, Lockpicks, Spanish, Northeners' and just about everything you could think of.

However, the second I begin to pledge the idea of 'Hey, there's a group for Spaniards, why don't we have an official group for the English?' to no surprise, that idea is turned down, as it is 'racist.' I am by no means suggesting forming a mini BNP group in my university, or parading the corridors with a Swastika printed on the St George's flag, I am simply just suggesting that it would be a good idea to meet other people.

So, what is the solution?

It's simple. Take pride in your country. Show it off. Wear your heart on your sleeve, and remember:

Patriotism isn't racism, and the love for your country doesn't mean the hate for other races.

As always, remember to check out BlogWave! Our comedy podcast full of blogging tips and SEO optimisation: http://blogwave.net

We have some huge news on the way.

Rats Out

Valencia beach

2011-01-25T16:36:00.002Z

I know I said I'd get a Vlog of Valencia up soon, but instead I adventured (It's hardly an adventure as it's like 5 minutes from my new flat) to the beach and took some photos. So to anyone reading this and is jealous of my crazy adventures and living life in Spain, well....

HATERS GONNA HATE

But on a slightly more light hearted note, there's nothing like wandering out into a completely new city, into the sun, with Blink 182 on the iPod, and seeing sights like these.

All I can say is, I can't wait for the summer when the beach will be packed and it'll be so warm!

An empty Valencia beach in January

Valencian sidewalk

The side walk goes on for miles

An empty Valencia beach

Bars and shops line the beach side

More of the bars and palm trees

To anyone reading this:

This is pretty much how I feel right now

It was pretty much just me on the entire beach

Valencia beach <3

And it's this beautiful in January?

Coastline

Valencia coastline

The seaaaaa

Well. that's all from me for now guys! As this is only be third day here, I'm sure I'll bring you hundreds more photos and videos of my travels. And soon, maybe you'll see these over Google images :O Watch this space guys. Hope you enjoyed the pictures.

Remember to check out BlogWave! Our comedy podcast full of blogging tips and SEO optimisation: http://blogwave.net

Como estas? Puta

2011-01-25T00:01:00.004Z

So I've just moved into the most kick-ass new flat in Valencia, and I am loving it. It's absolutely amazing. I'll get a little vlog (video blog) tour of my flat and my time so far.

This is just a little post to let you know I arrived safely, and am not dead.

Update: Learning some kick ass Spanish swear words!

Caquita de la vaquita - Cow shit
Chinga tu hermana - Fuck your sister
Chinga tu madre - Fuck your mom
Chinga usted - Fuck you
Chorra - Stupid
Cojeme - Fuck me
Culo - Ass

El burro sabe mas que tu - The donkey knows more than you
Eres más malo que marihuana - You're worse than marijuana
Eres tan estupido como un perro - You are as stupid as the dog
Estupido - Stupid

Hijo de puta - Son of a Bitch
Hijo de tu puta madre - Son of a Bitch
Hueles a mierda - You smell like shit

Idioto - Idiot

Jode tu madre ayer noche - I fucked your mother last night
Joto - Faggot / Gay

:D

Rats Out!

Remember to check out BlogWave! Our comedy podcast full of blogging tips and SEO optimisation: http://blogwave.net

Moving? Oh hell yeah.

2011-01-21T19:15:00.001Z

Newflash - I move to Valencia tomorrow.

This is my face right now:

That's all for now.

Rats Out!

Remember to check out BlogWave! Our comedy podcast full of blogging tips and SEO optimisation: http://blogwave.net

Travelling from France to Spain

2011-01-18T17:54:00.002Z

Hello audience! Just an update really as my time in France comes to an end. Today I ventured on down to the Strasbourg train station, (which by the way is an incredible building for those that haven't seen it. It's like an old church/cathedral style building, SURROUNDED by a like glass dome. Check it!) and enquired about how much/how long it would take for a train from Strasbourg to Valencia.

Strasbourg Train Station at night

Outer shell of Strasbourg train station

Furturstic, but also not at the same time. Strasbourg's train station is pro

And so it appears I'm off! This Saturday I have to travel to Paris, to take what they call a hotel train overnight to Barcelona, where I'll change and head off to Valencia.

This isn't my last post before I go, just an update on my travels.

That's it for now. Rats Out!

Remember to check out BlogWave! Our comedy podcast full of blogging tips and SEO optimisation: http://blogwave.net

From France to Spain / Best blogging tips

2011-01-14T13:52:00.002Z

For those that have been following my travels and adventures from the start, you'll know that my time in the beautiful city of Strasbourg is only limited. I've been here since mid September, and in two weeks time I am off to the much warmer, just as beautiful city of Valencia.

And I can't wait! I'm going be studying at the university, and when I'm not, I can walk a few hundred metres or so down to the beautiful beach:

Photo of Valencia beach

I've managed to sort out a flat with an English girl who goes to my university back home, and she's been incredibly helpful with trying to find me a place. I'm off in about 2 weeks time, so in the mean time, I'm going to relax, and enjoy the rest of the stay in Strasbourg.

On a side note, those that follow BlogWave, we recorded again yesterday. Yes that's right! Episode 4 of BlogWave is on the way. This one is huge! We had our first guest come on the show and he answered the question (would like to make it plural but it was just the one, Cheers Rorschach!) that was sent in.

We've got some HUGE news on that show that as a blogger, you honestly can't afford to miss. So yeah, head on over to BlogWave! Our comedy podcast full of blogging tips and SEO optimisation: http://blogwave.net

Rats Out!

Facebook to shut down 15th March 2011?

2011-01-09T15:39:00.005Z

What do we reckon Blogspot? For real? Or just another internet rumour. I've seen many posts like these now. To be honest I'm calling BS on the entire thing. For one, I don't think Mark Zuckerberg would talk in such an unprofessional manner.

Here's the news anyway:

Mark Zuckerberg announced that Facebook will be shut down in March. Managing the site has become too stressful. His words are: “Facebook has gotten out of control,” said Zuckerberg in a press conference outside his Palo Alto office, “and the stress of managing this company has ruined my life. I need to put an end to all the madness.”

This news became so popular in Google Trends.

Zuckerberg will explain that starting March 15th, users will no longer be able to access their Facebook accounts. “After March 15th the whole website shuts down,” said Avrat Humarthi, Vice President of Technical Affairs at Facebook. “So if you ever want to see your pictures again, I recommend you take them off the internet. You won’t be able to get them back once Facebook goes out of business.”

Zuckerberg said that the decision to shut down Facebook was difficult, but that he does not think people will be upset. “I personally don’t think it’s a big deal,” he said in a private phone interview. “And to be honest, I think it’s for the better. Without Facebook, people will have to go outside and make real friends. That’s always a good thing.”

For those who are worried about investments and all that he said that “I don’t care about the money,” “I just want my old life back.”

The Facebook Corporation suggests that users remove all of their personal information from the website before March 15th. After that date, all photos, notes, links, and videos will be permanently erased. "

Rats Out!
Remember to check out BlogWave! Our comedy podcast full of blogging tips and SEO optimisation: http://blogwave.net

First tattoo

2011-01-06T15:07:00.005Z

Well as I'm sure you're aware by now, I'm safely back in France! I didn't really do the whole 'Merry Xmas everyone! What did you get?!' type of post, so I'll just assume you're all in good health and had a wonderful holiday. As well as the many awesome Christmas presents I did get, I also got something else for Christmas.

A present from me, to me. Something I've spent the last year and a half thinking about and designing. You've probably already guessed it. If you haven't...well no offence buddy but it is the title of the post!

Yup, I got my first tattoo. Or as my good friend Mr Frosty puts it: "Rat a tat tat!"

So here it is:

Couple of hours after it was done. Also, I have no idea why the date is upside down.

The next day.

I'm no good at taking pictures of my own calf as you've probably guessed, but it looks so much nicer in person!
On a side note:

I have no idea why my camera 1) Shows the date on pictures as it didn't used to and 2) Why that date is in the American format.

But yeah there it is! Took 2 and a half hours and I am dead chuffed with it. It came out so much better than I was expecting! The design itself is incorporated of two main ideas. The first being the English Tudor Rose, and the second being lyrics from one of my favourite songs.

The song is 'England Belongs to Me' by a London based Punk/Oi band called 'Cock Sparrer'

Here are the lyrics:

Years of being told you ain't as good as us

Join the line, sign your name

And they all said that our country's going bust

But no-one's fooling us again

[Chorus]

England belong's to me

A nation's pride the dirty water on the rivers

No one can take away our memory

Oh Oh, England belongs to me

We'll show the world that the boys are back to stay

And you all know what we can do

Heads held high, fighting all the way

For the red, white, and blue

I strongly suggest you check them out.

That's it from me.

Rats out!

Remember to check out BlogWave! Our comedy podcast full of blogging tips and SEO optimisation: http://blogwave.net

Stuck in Switzerland...again! Not a good day.

2011-01-03T22:18:00.004Z

So today guys, being a bank holiday and therefore being cheaper flights and less chaotic motorways than tomorrow, my parents informed me that it would make much more sense to travel back to France today than tomorrow.

Although reluctant, I knew it made sense. So after the bad mood passed, I packed my bags and headed off to Heathrow airport to fly to Basel airport in Switzerland, and then catch the train to Strasbourg.

Well as it's me, and my luck, before leaving the house I found out I lost my Strasbourg room keys. Great start. So I get to the airport and there's a sliiiiight delay. Nothing too major, but still a bit of a pain. So I land, grab my bag, you guessed it, last one off the plane. That's my luck again. So after a bus to the station, I get there to find the ticket office is closed. This isn't that important, I just wanted to know when the next Basel to Strasbourg train was.

After scouting out the nearest timetable, I found out the last train had left 10 minutes ago. Now is it just me, or is leaving just 10 minutes before you get there, so much more frustrating then a few hours ago? So I ~~was~~ am stuck. In Switzerland. AGAIN. I spent the last hour looking for hotels that weren't £7,803,938,756 a night for a single room, and so now I'm bringing you this from a youth hostel.

My life right now...

The things I do for adventures eh?

Rats Out!

EDIT: I'm now watching Not Another Teen Movie. Life just got more awesomeness

Remember to check out BlogWave! Our comedy podcast full of blogging tips and SEO optimisation: http://blogwave.net

Justin Bieber pictures with no shirt? On my blog?

2010-12-28T12:04:00.002Z

As many of you may or may not be aware, since I set up my blog I have had been doing fairly successful with search engines. I often receive about 50-60 hits a day now from Google images.

Google seems to favour my blog content (This are my all time stats so far)

For example, if you Google 'Your Demise Justin Bieber t shirt' you will see my photo, not just on page 1 of Google images, but the very first picture!

My Your Demise Justin Bieber t shirt ranked one on Google images

If you wanted to know why I own that awesome tee shirt, then feel free to read my post on when I visited Paris for the Never Say Die 2010 gig and bought and insane amount of merch. That post can be read here: http://studentaroundtheworld.blogspot.com/2010/11/never-say-die-2010-paris-review.html

Due to my tag words in that post including the little rat that is Justin Bieber, and his huge 13 year old fan base, I often get people stumbling onto my site when search for Justin Bieber merchandise. However, sometimes, I get traffic to my site for weird reasons. Twice this week, I have hits of people looking for...well...you guessed it:

Justin Bieber with no shirt... WAT. (Stats for this week)

So it's for the wrong reasons, but hey! Traffic is traffic right?! For those interested in trying to your blog onto Google and trying to improve SEO optimisation in general, then why not check out my how to increase traffic to your blog with Google here: http://studentaroundtheworld.blogspot.com/2010/10/how-to-increase-traffic-to-your-blog.html

That's all for me for now! Remember guys, take photos, use key words, and hopefully Google will love your site like it seems to love mine! For more tips, remember to check out BlogWave! Our comedy podcast full of blogging tips and SEO optimisation: http://blogwave.net

I'm famous! CNN story on England's flight cancellations.

2010-12-20T16:39:00.001Z

So sat in my hotel room watching CNN about the snow situation in England and I decided to Tweet the news reader, explaining that I was a 20 year old traveller that just wanted to be back home in England for Xmas.

Sure enough, sat here on blogger, browsing the net as you do, and CNN reports news about 'Europe experiencing huge flight delays and cancellations,' And explains about Heathrow and Gatwick runway closures.

Sure enough, he then says 'Steve from the UK Tweets that...' and reads out my situation.

Was pretty weird to hear myself being mentioned on national television.

Those who want my autographs let me know ;D

Rats Out!

England goes into chaos after an inch of snow

2010-12-19T20:11:00.001Z

The title kind of says it all here guys. Essentially, as England has received like 7 snowflakes, the entire country has gone crazy and closed. Annoyingly, Sat 18th I was supposed to fly home from Strasbourg (If you've been following me long you'll realise I'm there studying) for Christmas. However, after getting to Basel, Switzerland airport on a friday night, and spending all night playing Zelda Ocarina of time on my Project 64 emulator, I found out my flight was cancelled. Annoyed, I was told there was a later flight that day.

I changed my ticket for said flight, only to find out that THAT one was cancelled. Now, call me weird or a little strange, but there's something not so appetising about sleeping on a marble floor in a boring airport. This miiiight just be me. Who knows?

Anyway, as I fly with British Airways, I was told that I was entitled to a night's stay in a free hotel with a free bang up meal and breakfast. Exhausted, I grabbed a taxi to my new diggs. After what felt like the most amazing sleep, I headed back to the airport to catch my re-scheduled flight.

Oh hey guys guess what? CANCELLED. So I've changed my ticket for ANOTHER flight tomorrow, and even tried buying another ticket with a different airline. CANCELLED.

4 flights guys. 4 flights cancelled. Holy mother of balls all these flight cancellations are annoying.

Ok granted guys I'm in a foul mood (foul? fowl? Either way I mean bad, not chicken) but hell, I'm getting a free stay in an incredibly nice hotel, with free top quality food, and I'm not paying anything :D

I hope my flight tomorrow get's the all clear, otherwise I am going to implode.

Rats Out!

Remember to check out BlogWave! Our comedy podcast full of blogging tips and SEO optimisation: http://blogwave.net

Strasbourg Christmas market 2010

2010-12-15T15:14:00.001Z

Hello audience! As the dawning of Christmas is upon us, and I am currently living in Strasbourg, the home of all things Christmas-ey, or as they like to call it, 'The Capital of Xmas,' I thought I'd pop into town to take some pictures of La Marché de Noël.

Essentially it's everything you would expect from a typical French market. Mulled wine, pretzels, novelty hats, the real deal. I was lucky with the weather yesterday (when I took these photos) as it remained a clear sky, and fresh snow had settled everywhere the day before.

Let's crack on to the photo's of Strasbourg's Christmas market 2010!

Strasbourg Christmas decorations in the streets

More Strasbourg Christmas building decoration

Strasbourg Christmas pub

Strasbourg Christmas market 2010

Strasbourg Cathedral and xmas market

Another pub with Christmas decorations

Strasbourg market stalls

Strasbourg Snow, Cathedral, and Christmas market. This is probably my favourite picture

Some more of the Christmas stalls in Strasbourg

Mulled wine stall on the right

Again, more of the market stalls

Strasbourg's cathedral

Another one of the cathedral and part of a stall

Strasbourg's Christmas market attracts thousands of tourists

Mulled wine

The entire town seems to get in the festive spirit when it comes to decorating buildings

Strasbourg in all its Christmas and snowy glory

Some more of the market

Every building was decorated in some way or another

More of Strasbourg's cathedral, it's architecture and some Christmas stalls

Strasbourg Marché de noel 2010

Picture came out slightly darker than itended

Just a final shot of Strasbourg's streets in the snow

Hope you enjoyed all these!

Podcast number 3 is up! / What happened last night?

2010-12-12T14:12:00.001Z

First thing's first guys, Blogwavenet has it's third podcast up! It's full of great tips for SEO optimisation, where we stand on white knights and loads of drunken tips for your blogs. It took us a great deal of effort to make, but we had a great laugh and we think it's one of our best uploads yet. It's available for both streaming and a download to listen to whilst you blog. So head on over to http://blogwave.net/ and PLEASEPLEASEPLEASE drop us a comment! We also have our blogwave highlight of the week, which could be you! We're also looking for guests to appear on our drunken blog tip extravaganza! So go check it out guys! We've had some good feedback so far.

And remember, it's a stream that buffers instantly so just have it on in the back ground whilst you blog!

Part 2 of this post is I went to a French rowing club party yesterday. I'm not a rower myself, but a few of my friends are. All alcohol was on the house, and alas I got very very drunk. They had a bottle of '93' which was a spirit MADE in 1993. So yeah, 17 year old spirits are a write off. I also met 2 world champion rowers and got very drunk with them, who are built like brick shit houses. So yea, I kind of lost that drinking game.

New Podcast up soon!

2010-12-05T17:27:00.001Z

Well guys, we're going to be recording another BlogWave podcast tonight full of tips and guides on how to get the best for your blog. It's our secrets of SEO optimisation, and other great tips for your blogs. Bought to you by bloggers, for bloggers.

Remember to stay tuned and check out the podcast, which will include our blog highlight! A blog we have stumbled across and will review. It could even be YOURS!

So hopefully guys it will be up and edited in a few days for your listening pleasure. It's light hearted and full of good tips amongst the banter. You can check out our other 2 podcasts here:

Follow it and drop us a comment if you liked it!

http://blogwave.net

Rats out!

I play Zelda:Ocarina of Time at vacant airports. Where do YOU replicate your childhood?

2010-11-27T14:30:00.003Z

Hey guys! Quick note to say I have returned! And my travelling adventures and experience will be shared with you once more! Today's topic, random places you have gamed or nostalgia'ed! If you saw my post about 'How to prepare your laptop for a lack of internet' which can be found here: http://studentaroundtheworld.blogspot.com/2010/09/tips-on-what-to-pack-when-studying.html, then you'll know I have installed Project 64 on my laptop to allow me to nostalgia over N64 games.

These photos were taken at Basel, Switzerland Airport at 5am, and all I can say is, thank god I was playing the Fire Temple, and not the terrifying Forest Temple:

Saving Gorons at Basel Airport 5am

Zelda Ocarina of Time - Basel Airport 5am

Was terrifying playing Zelda Ocarina of Time when it was this dark

Fire Temple at Basel Airport 5am

Sorry for the poor quality pictures, but my camera doesn't handle the darkness so well. Hope you enjoyed :D

Remember to check out BlogWave! Our comedy podcast full of blogging tips and SEO optimisation:
http://blogwave.net

Another apology / Recording new BlogWave podcast

2010-11-21T19:38:00.001Z

Just another apology guys regarding my lack of posting. I will be returning to France soon, (I came back to England for horrible reasons I'm afraid) so hopefully I can keep you updated with more adventures.

In other news I will be recording another edition of our BlogWave podcast tonight. Be sure to follow and check out my favourite two bloggers, Mister Snickel Sox of AveragejoEgaming and the sexy Frosty of Frosted Heretic.

As many of you are aware, we have already recorded and published two podcasts full of tips for bloggers including SEO optimisation, more views from Social networking, and how to generally make your blog look more professional.

We have a blog for this little project located over at http://blogwave.net/ so would be great if you headed on over to there to check out our two podcasts. They're available to stream so you can listen to them easily as you blog!

New BlogWave podcast is up

2010-11-17T18:04:00.001Z

Popping back onto Blogger to let my followers know that BlogWave has a new podcast up.

I strongly suggest you FOLLOW that blog as we've put a lot of effort into recording it. The topic deals with blogs we like, the 'Read More' hack for blogspot and other great tips about using proxies and getting the best views from Social Networking sites, such as Twitter etc.

The Podcast is now available to STREAM so you guys don't even have to download it. It's be great if you could head over to http://blogwave.net/ to stream the podcastin the background and pick up these tips. We're looking for GENUINE feed back so please, if you listened to it then give us some feed back or your favourite parts from the podcast. A big thank you to my 2 favourite internet bloggers Snickel Sox and Frosty.

Go check follow and view them and please, go check out Blogwave! We've put A LOT of effort into this podcast to share OUR tips with YOU to improve your blog and bring more traffic to your blog!

Lack of posting

2010-11-12T21:38:00.001Z

Just a small post guys to let you know that I'm going to be quite inactive for the next week or two or even more.

Basically I've had to put my adventures and studies on hold for personal reasons which I do not want to post to the internet. My life is extremely difficult right now and I apologise if I seem short or rude with any of you.

In other news, our BlogWave project is coming along nicely, and we have set up a blog for it which you can find HERE.

It includes a STREAM version of the podcast full of tips and guides to make your blog look more professional, but delivered in a light hearted manner.

SO please head on over and follow that site if you're interested in what myself, Snickel Sox and Frosty are doing.

Definitely go check those guys out. They've worked incredible hard and deserve a follow or view as they've worked to bring YOU guys the tips!

Thanks in advance.

BlogWave Podcast is up!

2010-11-09T14:21:00.001Z

Ok for those of you who may have missed my last post and are asking "What is exactly is BlogWave and all these great blogging tips you talk about," well you guys need to visit http://studentaroundtheworld.blogspot.com/2010/11/blogwave-huge-new-blogging-project.html to read more about what BlogWave is and how it can help you. For those that are already aware of what us dedicated and legitimate bloggers are doing, then continue reading!

OK first things first, if you're interested in great blogging tips and guides, cool gadgets or widgets, or just want to make your blog look more professional without trawling through thousand's of internet pages, then this Blogger podcast is for you! If you're a legitimate blogger and dedicated, and enjoy what you're doing, then PLEASE, I URGE you, to join our Twitter page here:

http://twitter.com/#!/BlogWavenet

or our Facebook page here:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/BlogWave/163481183673557

This way you'll be able to share the best blog tips as soon as each podcast comes out!

Onto the podcast itself:

The podcast takes just a few minutes to download depending on your internet speed, and comes to just over and hour and a half long. We cover a wide variety of topics that you can all benefit from and we try to deliver them in a light hearted, banter type of way.

Here's RorschachRedemption 's review on it:

I just listened to the whole thing, and boy are my arms tired. No wait...

Seriously? It was much much better than I expected, and I think Rats here might have the attention of more creepy octogenarians than he ever thought possible.

Ok, really REALLY serious here: If you blog, then you might want to download this. Keep it up in the background. It's not a bad maiden voyage for these 3. They are pretty easy to listen to, they are not grating on the nerves, and they fill the 90 minutes with a good blend of shenanigans and on topic stuff. The advice (usually from their mistakes!) comes in bits and pieces from their banter; I *did* find myself making a note for later. (It was to check out the popular posts widget!)

Kudos!

So I hope that persuades you guys to download it! Like Rorschach suggested, leave it on in the background, blog and have a few beers and enjoy it!

The file is obviously completely safe and available for download here. Even if you don't plan to listen to it JUST yet, please download it. We put a lot of effort into it and would appreciate it if you downloaded it:

http://depositfiles.com/en/files/p33o7yt39

So there it is guys! Leave it on in the background, learn some great tips and give us some feedback! Remember, you can also take part as a guest speaker on the blogcast, just remember to FOLLOW the Twitter page, and LIKE the Facebook page.

BlogWave - A huge new blogging project

2010-11-04T14:57:00.000Z

What is BlogWave?

BlogWave is a project set up by myself and three other dedicated bloggers who regularly get together to share out blogging experiences. Using Skype, and other media, we share and swap our experiences, our daily adventures, but more importantly, simple guides and tips on how to make your blogs more professional. With topics such as SEO Optimisation, great gadgets and widgets for your blog, or generally how to spruce up your blog in order to make it more appealing to search engines like Google or Yahoo.

Who is BlogWave?

BlogWave is set up my four founding bloggers. As all of us work extremely hard to bring our own guides, tips and information and content that we specialise in. I strongly suggest you add and follow these three people if you want your blog to benefit from what we're doing.

The four members are:

Snickel Sox: http://averagejogaming.blogspot.com/
Frosted Heretic: http://frostedheretic.blogspot.com/
Wild Bill: http://traderspectacle.blogspot.com/

and myself.

All of these guys are active and dedicated bloggers who bring brilliant content and guides that YOU guys will benefit from, so FOLLOW them now!

How?

We have trust finished recording and editing our first Podcast! The podcast comes to an hour and a half long, full of not only brilliant tips you guys NEED to hear, but also the light hearted banter and jokes that will keep you guys not only informed, but also entertained! Although the podcast has been fully edited to bring you an equal balance of knowledge and amusement, we are currently waiting to finish building our server before we can host it.

Can I be a part of BlogWave?<

Although we are currently not looking for any more founding members, we will be soon asking for guest speakers to come onto our show and take part in the podcast. All we ask is that you are a legitimate blogger who is willing to put in the effort to come onto our show and share some laughs and also some knowledge with us. Where can we be found?

With other projects in the works, we can currently be found either on Facebook (The box on the left hand side of my site) or here: http://www.facebook.com/pages/BlogWave/163481183673557

Or on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/#!/BlogWavenet

It'd be great if you could 'Like' the FB page or 'Follow' the twitter.

If you guys have any more questions feel free to contact either myself, Snickel, Frosty or Wild Bill, or simple message the two pages above.

So remember guys, if YOU want some brilliant tips for blogging, then Follow the people listed above, and get in contact with our pages. I've provided links so there's no excuse for not making the effort!

Never Say Die 2010 Paris Review

2010-11-01T14:52:00.003Z

Heads up, this is going to be a relatively long post as I had quuuuuite an adventure in Paris. But feel free to read it. Includes my adventure there, walking into the XXX part of Paris by accident and seeing one of the bands walk into Europe's biggest sex shop, the gig review and much much more so feel free to read and share.

Let's roll...

After waking up bright and early on Saturday morning I told myself I needed a nice big breakfast to kick start my travel to Paris for Never Say Die tour 2010. The hyper little child I was poured myself a nice big bowl of cereal, only to realise I was out of milk. Not even this could ruin my day.

I was off to see seven of the most kick ass hardcore bands that the UK, USA and Europe had to offer:

You can check out my previous post here:

http://studentaroundtheworld.blogspot.com/2010/10/never-say-die-tour-paris-this-saturday.html

If you read my other post you'll know I was planning to sleep on Paris Station floor, which didn't bother me as I've done this type of thing before. After proudly putting on my favourite Your Demise Megan Fox tank top (pictured below), my already ruined 3/4 skinnys and converse, I picked up my close to dying rucksack and packed my camera, hoody, blankets and triple checked that my train tickets were in my bag.

My Megan Fox / Your Demise wife beater

After living in Strasbourg for just 7 weeks, I had just about settled into the laid back French culture and the quieter life style. However, the second I got off the train at Paris de l'Est station, I could see life here was completely different. It was almost like something out of a film; the busy side walks, the constant honking of car horns and the general rush of this completely different style of living. I had two hours before doors opened at 16:00, and rather than tour Paris and look at all the wonder monuments, I decided to just try and find the gig. 20 minutes of walking and asking for directions, and constantly checking that my possessions hadn't been pickpockted, I arrived at the gig place and my excitement reached a new level.

Ten minutes later my stomach reminded me of how hungry I was, and decided that I also needed to withdraw some money as I planned to buy a ton of merchandise from the bands. Now being Paris, I assumed there would be cash points everywhere, but I must've walked for about 20 minutes before I actually found one.

Now this is where it get's interesting,
As I began my search for a cash point, I walked past a ALL SEX MOVIES AND DVD store. Of course, being the immature lad I am, I giggled and thought 'Oh Paris' to myself. As I looked further down the street I noticed that there were hundred's of these types of stores. It had seemed I had walked into the XXX section of Paris. On both sides of the streets, for several streets there were shops with the big three red X's printed everywhere. The words LOVERS, SEX, DVDS, TOYS printed everywhere. My fragile little mind couldn't handle it.

As I continued walking, still in search of this non-existent cash point, I recognised Your Demise (one of my favourite bands and one of the groups playing Never Say Die) walking on the opposite side of the street to me.

Then I saw them walk into EUROPE'S BIGGEST SEX SHOP. I tried to snap a picture but had no luck, so took a few pictures of the area I was in;

All I can say is, if you still think Paris is supposed to be the romantic capital of the world. guess again.

Some of the sex shops in Paris

More Sex shops in Paris

I only snapped two photos because I didn't want to look like a huge pervert, and actually found a cash point right after taking these pictures, so decided to head on over back to the gig to join the queue.

After about half an hour more in the queue, and less than 20 minutes until the doors opened, I was approached by two French people, one carrying a big video camera and the other a microphone. In French, they asked if I wouldn't mind doing an interview about the general music scene for a website. After replying in some sketchy French that I was English and it would probably make a better interview for them if they interviewed someone else, they told me we could do the interview in English.

So has the interview began, the interviewer asked me a question in French, so naturally I decided to answer in French. About 3 minutes later I was thanked and told I would be given a flyer later where I could watch the interview online, along with other interviews and footage.

So WATCH THIS SPACE FOR THAT INTERVIEW.

Anyways, let's get on down to the core of this post, NEVER SAY DIE 2010.

Now let me just mention, as I said in the intro, my bag was already filled to the brim with other clothing and blankets as I thought I would be staying on the station floor. Naturally, as I entered the venue, I headed straight over to the merch stand and bought some of the sexiest merch EVER. Most of these aren't online so I snapped up as much merch as possible. Pictures of Your Demise's 2010 merch below!

Your Demise Justin Bieber t shirt

Your Demise shorts

Your Demise Varsity front

Your Demise varsity back

Your Demise varsity back logo

The legend of a guitarist Stu also threw in a free CD for me as I spent so much on their merch!

As you can imagine NONE of this fit into my already packed rucksack. The zips on my bag didn't budge. A little disheartened that I would have to stand with my bag the entire night, I asked Stu if he had seen a place to leave bags and coats etc, but he said it'd be fine if I left all my stuff behind the merch tables. I was extremely grateful for this, and headed off to the floor for We Came as Romans.

These guys were amazing. I'm usually a little sceptical of bands with one screamer and clear vocals live, but these guys pulled it off sensational. Unfortunately, they were limited to how many songs they could play, as were many of the bands, due to the other groups that were playing.

You can check them out here:

http://www.myspace.com/wecameasromans

Next up were Your Demise. I was beyond stoked for these guys. And needless to say, they destroyed it. Although I was gutted it was such a short set list, I screamed my heart out, and even had the microphone for Burnt Tongues. Needless to say, I came out with a bloody nose and a busted lip that would not stop bleeding. I went over to say thanks to Stu at the merch desk for the awesome show, who shook my hand and congratulated me on my bloody nose. I also asked drummer Tailbee if I could have one of his drum sticks, to which he game me a snapped stick that he had played with.

These guys are a safe bunch of lads and I strongly suggest you check them out:

http://www.myspace.com/yourdemise

Every single one of these bands were superb, and I URGE you to check them out. I will post them in the order they played (excluding We Came as Romans and Your Demise who I have already mentioned)

After Your Demise;

War From a Harlot's Mouth - http://www.myspace.com/warfromaharlotsmouth
Emmure - http://www.myspace.com/emmure
Bleeding Through - http://www.myspace.com/bleedingthrough
Comeback Kid - http://www.myspace.com/comebackkid
ParkwayDrive - http://www.myspace.com/parkwaydrive

If you're a fan of hardcore or metalcore I URGE you guys to check all of these out. They are incredible.

I know a few of you were expecting to see some photos from the gig, but 1) My camera was in my bag and 2) I was far too busy in the pit to be taking photos.

Afther Parkway Drive played their final song, I headed on over back to the merch stand to pick up all my stuff. Here I met Your Demise and War From a Harlot's Mouth :D I decided to get my free Kids We Used To Be album signed by Your Demise. I decided to get my bag, which was ruined from trying to fit all my stuff in, also signed. After thanking all of them for the show, I wished them luck with their Birmingham, England gig that they were off to the next day.

After an incredible 6 hours of music, 2stepping and generally screaming my heart out, I was just about ready to collapse. After 20 minutes sat outside lent against a lamp post appreciating the fresh air, I soon spotted the two people that I had had the interview with. I explained my situation to the young woman and asked if there were any hostels or hotels near by that would hold me up for a night that were cheap. She reminded me that this was Paris and I forgot how dear this city was.

She told me to wait 2 minutes as she went other and talked to her friend. Turns out he lived about 30 minutes away and said I could crash at his.

Although at first I was worried that I would miss my train in the morning and therefore be charged to take another, I decided it would be stupid of me to pass up this offer. I quickly agreed and headed back to his. I was extremely grateful not only for the roof above my head and the make shift bed I had, but also for the chance to speak a hell of a lot of French with him.Looking like an absolute state, he decided to take a picture of me using my hoody as a blanket:

After a great night's sleep, and an extra hour asleep because the clocks went back, I packed up my things, said thank you to my new friend for his incredible hospitality and left his place, en route to the Metro to return to the train station for my early train.
After a poor start (I left his place via the wrong door and as I couldn't re-enter I had to jump the fence) I soon found the Metro thanks to his instructions and arrived at Paris de L'Est station for my return home.

As you can imagine, I soon arrived back at mine and collapsed in bed, after an exhausting, yet incredible time in France.
Here's a picture of all my stuff I bought / got signed:

Signed CD and bag drum stick, shorts, varsity and tee shirts

Tailbee's drum stick - Your Demise

Signed CD

And there we have it. If you read it all, then you're a star! If you just looked at the pictures well, I hope they entertained you!

Never Say Die tour - Paris this Saturday!

2010-10-27T12:41:00.002+01:00

So guys, on an entire night without sleep in order to fix my sleeping pattern ( I haven't been able to fall asleep before 5am for awhile) I headed off to the train station today. After a nice 30 minute bike ride along the riverside, I shackled up my bike and wearily headed to the ticket office.

As I approached the counter part of me was kinda excited, I mean although I do get nervous, I genuinely do enjoy speaking French when I have to. So after double and triple checking that I was indeed heading off to Paris this Saturday (30/10/2010) and not Bratislava next April, I arranged to leave this Saturday, and return the following day.

Now, why am I going to Paris? A day trip? Kinda. To sight see? Hell no.

For those of you who haven't been victim to my constant Tweeting, this Saturday is the Paris leg of the Never Say Die tour. If you're into similar music as me you'll be well aware of what this tour is and how many awesome bands are playing it.

So, why trek all the way from Strasbourg to Paris for a gig? Well this isn't just any gig.

This is Never Say Die 2010

So, why am I spending a ridiculous amount of money on train fair and probably on merch? And spending a long time travelling?

Well all of these bands to me are AWESOME! That's why. And being a hugeeee fan of Your Demise I am so stoked to see these guys live again. Oh and after Tweeting them about how excited I was and how far I was having to travel, they said they would try and get my on the guest list!

However, this gig has it's ups and downs for me. When this tour once announced I practically exploded with excitement. Halloween with all my friends and all these awesome bands and only 45 minutes away! AMAZING! Then I realised I would be in France for these dates and felt disappointed that I couldn't go. At a stretch I joked 'Ha. I'll just go to the Paris leg,' although this was just to kinda hide my jealously.

As October loomed nearer, the goal of going to Paris for an all day Hardcore festival didn't seem to hard to achieve. And now, I hold the tickets in my hand.

This Saturday, I am going to bouncing off the walls like a little kid. I am going to go absolutely mental. Going to show these Frenchies how us UK kids do it best!

The slight downside, well I'm going to have to kip on the station floor again, but this is so going to be worth it!

You can't be serious...

2010-10-25T19:08:00.000+01:00

Well guys it's official. I have a guy who officially wants to kidnap me and take me back to his.

Full story here in another video post. Apologies in advance if audio and visual don't match, that's Youtube's fault.

So here it is, 25/10/10, he tries to rape me again. For full story watch part one, which I have linked beneath this video. Here is video post number two, and rape attempt number two. Also a quick video of my residence and talks about a blogcast, aka a podcast for blogger!

Part 2:

Watch part one aka first kidnapping attempt here:

http://studentaroundtheworld.blogspot.com/2010/10/first-video-blog-kidnapping-acoustic.html

Stay tuned for our blogcast!

The Sleep Box

2010-10-22T23:46:00.001+01:00

Any frequent traveler would probably best understand what I’m trying to put forth here, this cool new architectural concept created by the Russian Arch Group could turn into a life saver for most of the frequent travelers and business men. This is your portal to a session of sound sleep in a city where an accommodation or the possibility of finding an accommodation for a night’s sleep is pretty low. This could pretty much revolutionise travelling.

Designed to be installed at crucial points like the Airports, central public places or any place on the map where finding an accommodation is really difficult, this may become the quite usual scene in probably a few years.

Sleep Boxes at airports

The outside of a Sleep Box

Measuring 2mx1, 40mx2, 30m in dimensions, this may sound a bit compact but believe me there is enough space inside to fit an Elephant! The cool “Sleep Cell” ( as I would like to call it) comes custom fitted with a Bed, Linen, Proper Ventilation System, Alarm, LCD T.V, Wi-Fi, space for your laptop and rechargeable phones and finally a cupboard under the bed to store your luggage in!

Free wifi and laptop could mean gaming and internet browsing WHEREVER you are! Airports and delays would never be a problem again!

Cross section

The payments to rent these Sleep Cells are made at the Airport Terminal or the respective offices who then provide the client with an electronic key that can be purchased for as small as a 15 minute power nap to all the hours you need.

Say goodbye to train station floor travellers. Man I hope this thing becomes not only popular enough to be commercial, but also relatively cheap.

First video blog: Kidnapping? Acoustic guitar and a bike :D

2010-10-20T19:52:00.001+01:00

Thought I'd switch it up for you guys today! Here's my first video post including a weird kidnapping story involving myself, an acoustic guitar, and a bike :D

Here's the video:

EDIT: I am aware Youtube decided to lag the Audio/Visual so just minimise it and listen it it annoys you haha

So what do you reckon guys? Friendly French man? Or rapist?

Also if you guys would like to see my video blogs from me, then let me know!

50 of the Most Inspiring Travel Quotes ever

2010-10-18T20:15:00.002+01:00

Ok guys so I've shown you my pictures, given you my stories, even shown you some of the best travel music to inspire you guys to head off around the world.

So now, I bring you 50 of the best quotes to inspire you guys to pack your bags and dive into the unknown.

Some of these are golden oldies, others are much more recent, either way, these 50 quotes are the best quotes to do with travelling that I could find. Some of these made me smile, others made me miss home, but either way all had the right message and reminded me why I love travelling. Whether it's just across town, or to the other side of the world, we travel; To challenge ourselves, to learn and to grow and to stretch our limits because until we travel, we have no idea how we're really living our lives.

I hope you guys will take some sort of inspiration from these. So here we go:

1. “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness.” – Mark Twain

2. “The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.” – St. Augustine

3. “There are no foreign lands. It is the traveler only who is foreign.” – Robert Louis Stevenson

4. “The use of traveling is to regulate imagination by reality, and instead of thinking how things may be, to see them as they are.” – Samuel Johnson

5. “All the pathos and irony of leaving one’s youth behind is thus implicit in every joyous moment of travel: one knows that the first joy can never be recovered, and the wise traveler learns not to repeat successes but tries new places all the time.” – Paul Fussell

6. “Our battered suitcases were piled on the sidewalk again; we had longer ways to go. But no matter, the road is life.” – Jack Kerouac

7. “He who does not travel does not know the value of men.” – Moorish proverb

8. “People travel to faraway places to watch, in fascination, the kind of people they ignore at home.” – Dagobert D. Runes

9. “A journey is like marriage. The certain way to be wrong is to think you control it.” – John Steinbeck

10. “No one realizes how beautiful it is to travel until he comes home and rests his head on his old, familiar pillow.” – Lin Yutang

11. “Your true traveler finds boredom rather agreeable than painful. It is the symbol of his liberty-his excessive freedom. He accepts his boredom, when it comes, not merely philosophically, but almost with pleasure.” – Aldous Huxley

12. “All travel has its advantages. If the passenger visits better countries, he may learn to improve his own. And if fortune carries him to worse, he may learn to enjoy it.” – Samuel Johnson

13. “For my part, I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel’s sake. The great affair is to move.” – Robert Louis Stevenson

“One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.” – Henry Miller
14. “Traveling is a brutality. It forces you to trust strangers and to lose sight of all that familiar comfort of home and friends. You are constantly off balance. Nothing is yours except the essential things – air, sleep, dreams, the sea, the sky – all things tending towards the eternal or what we imagine of it.” – Cesare Pavese

15. “One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.” – Henry Miller

16″A traveler without observation is a bird without wings.” – Moslih Eddin Saadi

17. “When we get out of the glass bottle of our ego and when we escape like the squirrels in the cage of our personality and get into the forest again, we shall shiver with cold and fright. But things will happen to us so that we don’t know ourselves. Cool, unlying life will rush in.” – D. H. Lawrence

18. “To awaken quite alone in a strange town is one of the pleasantest sensations in the world.” – Freya Stark

19. “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” – Mark Twain

20. “Travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living.” – Miriam Beard

21. “All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware.” – Martin Buber

22. “We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventures we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open.” – Jawaharial Nehru

23. “Tourists don’t know where they’ve been, travelers don’t know where they’re going.” – Paul Theroux

24. “To my mind, the greatest reward and luxury of travel is to be able to experience everyday things as if for the first time, to be in a position in which almost nothing is so familiar it is taken for granted.” – Bill Bryson

25. “Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

26. “Two roads diverged in a wood and I – I took the one less traveled by.” – Robert Frost

27. “A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.” – Lao Tzu

28. “There is no moment of delight in any pilgrimage like the beginning of it.” – Charles Dudley Warner

29. “A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving.” – Lao Tzu

30. “If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion and avoid the people, you might better stay at home.” – James Michener

31. “The journey not the arrival matters.” – T. S. Eliot

32. “A journey is best measured in friends, rather than miles.” – Tim Cahill

33. “I have found out that there ain’t no surer way to find out whether you like people or hate them than to travel with them.” – Mark Twain

34. “Once you have traveled, the voyage never ends, but is played out over and over again in the quiestest chambers. The mind can never break off from the journey.” – Pat Conroy

“A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.” – Lao Tzu
35. “Not all those who wander are lost.” – J. R. R. Tolkien

36. “Like all great travelers, I have seen more than I remember, and remember more than I have seen.” – Benjamin Disraeli

37. “Perhaps travel cannot prevent bigotry, but by demonstrating that all peoples cry, laugh, eat, worry, and die, it can introduce the idea that if we try and understand each other, we may even become friends.” – Maya Angelou

38. “Too often travel, instead of broadening the mind, merely lengthens the conversation.” – Elizabeth Drew

39. “Wandering re-establishes the original harmony which once existed between man and the universe”……Anatole France

40. “Travel and change of place impart new vigor to the mind.” – Seneca

41. “What you’ve done becomes the judge of what you’re going to do – especially in other people’s minds. When you’re traveling, you are what you are right there and then. People don’t have your past to hold against you. No yesterdays on the road.” – William Least Heat Moon

42. “I soon realized that no journey carries one far unless, as it extends into the world around us, it goes an equal distance into the world within.” – Lillian Smith

43. “To travel is to discover that everyone is wrong about other countries.” – Aldous Huxley

44. “Travel does what good novelists also do to the life of everyday, placing it like a picture in a frame or a gem in its setting, so that the intrinsic qualities are made more clear. Travel does this with the very stuff that everyday life is made of, giving to it the sharp contour and meaning of art.” – Freya Stark

45. “The first condition of understanding a foreign country is to smell it.” – Rudyard Kipling

46. “Travel is glamorous only in retrospect.” – Paul Theroux

47. “The whole object of travel is not to set foot on foreign land; it is at last to set foot on one’s own country as a foreign land.” – G. K. Chesterton

48. “When you travel, remember that a foreign country is not designed to make you comfortable. It is designed to make its own people comfortable.” – Clifton Fadiman

49. “A wise traveler never despises his own country.” – Carlo Goldoni

50. “Adventure is a path. Real adventure – self-determined, self-motivated, often risky – forces you to have firsthand encounters with the world. The world the way it is, not the way you imagine it. Your body will collide with the earth and you will bear witness. In this way you will be compelled to grapple with the limitless kindness and bottomless cruelty of humankind – and perhaps realize that you yourself are capable of both. This will change you. Nothing will ever again be black-and-white.” – Mark Jenkins

You guys know any decent ones?

Frank Turner lyrics on Travelling

2010-10-16T14:18:00.002+01:00

Now, as I have mentioned in several other posts;

http://studentaroundtheworld.blogspot.com/2010/09/perfect-travel-music.html

and

http://studentaroundtheworld.blogspot.com/2010/10/stephen-frys-increase-traffic-tip.html

Frank Turner is one of my favourite musicians of all time. As a man who tours the world relentlessly, Frank Turner's music does tend to dwell into travelling and touring. Whether it's the highs of experiencing new places and cultures, or the lows of living away from those we love, Frank covers it all in what I can only describe as a man who lives on the horizon, and never let's himself be forced to stay in the same place. So here are a few pieces of the legend's work:

First up - To Take You Home. One of my personal favourites right now as a traveller at the moment, I can totally relate to it:

To Take You Home - Frank Turner

I come from the land of the Wessex downs
From the Hampshire hills near Winchester town
In the country where the soft South rivers flow down
To English channel I roam, this is where I call home
I sing for my supper and I'm pretty well fed
My cross is silent and I make my bed
Where I can find a crown and somewhere to lay my head
And the travelling day is done, and all my songs have been sung

But honey I was lonely on the road, I was all on my own
Hanging outside at the back of a death metal show
I saw you standing there with your hair down low
A kink in your step that made me want to know
If you would like to take me home
Who'd of thought that a French kiss from a Parisian girl could capture an English boy

She comes from the channels of a distant shore
From the land of revolution and of Agincourt
From the Kings blood stain on a tricolour
And the culture a little too high, for an English boy like me
She doesn't know the Island I grew up upon
The valleys and the hills that I've roamed along
And she doesn't like my clothes and she doesn't like my songs
But she's still my Mademoiselle and it goes to show you never can tell.

Cos she was a quiet one
She was a shy one
She was the prettier at the show
She crept up so slowly
She crept up behind me
But still she pretended that she didn't know
But all that she thinks of me, and she kissed me
And she's yet to let me go though I'm far away
Across of sea I'm singing for the hope that she would ever remember me

So honey when you're lonely on the road, you're all on your own
Hanging outside at the back of the country show
Picture me there with hat down low
A smile upon my face to let you know
That I would like to take you home
That I would like to take you home, to the hills that I know
I would like to take you home, to the places I go
I would like to take you home
And that's the way that a French kiss from an English boy can capture a Parisian girl

Jet Lag - Frank Turner

I've heard it said the trick
Is to set your watch when you hit the plane
That way you can trick
The workings of a tired brain
But sometimes I feel sick
Sometimes I just feel so drained
And cut down to the quick
Longing for that voice again
On the phone
You always ask if I'm OK
But it's not the same as being happy

I travelling 40,000 miles last year
And I'm working on the same again
I fell for 15 different girls
And nearly lost all of my friends
Well I am jet set, jet lag, jaded
You're always 16 hours ahead
Quietly reminding me how I used to be

Airports make me sad
I'm sure they shouldn't all be the same
But they're just landing pads
Boring tourist shopping chains
I remember times we had
Drinking while we wait for your plane
Feeling kinda bad
Wondering which one of us has changed
Cos we used to be slick
Subtle young hips, romantic young kissable lips
Unbearably sharp, unbreakable heart
With wide eyes and faith
That life could never pull apart if we were OK
But distance kills the best of intentions
And never intended it to be this way

I travelling 40,000 miles last year
And I'm working on the same again
I fell for 15 different girls
And nearly lost all of my friends
Oh I am jet set, jet lag, jaded
You're always 16 hours ahead
Quietly reminding me how I used to be
I'm trying to remember how I used to be
Used to be slick

The Road - Frank Turner

To the east to the east
The road beneath my feet
To the west to the west
I haven't got there yet
And to the north to the north
Never to be caught
To the south to the south
My time is running out

Ever since my childhood I've been scared I've been afraid
Of being trapped by circumstance and staying in one place
So I always keep a small bag full of clothes carefully stored
Somewhere secret somewhere safe
And somewhere close to the door

Well I've traveled many countries I've washed my feet in many seas
I've drunk with drifters in Vienna and with punks in old dc
And I've driven across deserts driven by the irony
That only being shackled to the the road could ever I be free

Chorus
To the east to the east
The road beneath my feet
To the west to the west
I haven't got there yet
And to the north to the north
Never to be caught
To the south to the south
My time is running out

I've felt old before my time but now I keep the age away
By burning up the miles and yeah by filling up my days
And the nights a thousand nights I've played
And a thousand more to go
Before I take a breath and steal myself
For the next one thousand shows

Chorus
To the east to the east
The road beneath my feet
To the west to the west
I haven't got there yet
And to the north to the north
Never to be caught
To the south to the south
My time is running out

Yes so saddle up your horses now and keep your powder dry
Cause the truth is you won't be here long
Yeah soon your going to die
To the heart, to the heart there's no time for you to waste
You wont find your precious answers now by staying in one place
Yeah by giving up the chase

Chorus
To the east to the east
The road beneath my feet
To the west to the west
I haven't got there yet
And to the north to the north
Never to be caught
To the south to the south
My time is running out
To the south to the south
My time is running out
To the south to the south
My time is running out

I face the horizon everywhere I go
I face the horizon the horizon is my home
I face the horizon everywhere I go
I face the horizon the horizon is my home

This is just three songs which demonstrate his lyrical genius, but I STRONGLY recommend checking out all of his songs. The man is unquestionably one of my favourite musicians EVER. And myself, as a 20 year old lad who started travelling in the last month, I now appreciate the man's genius even more so.

Mad Caddies adventure last night / Unannounced Mad Caddies UK Tour 2011? / My first month here

2010-10-14T14:35:00.004+01:00

So guys if you're reading this now (It's 14:31 Europe time on the 14/10/10), as of this hour I have officially been here a month! Just thought I'd share haha. But yeah life is getting easier here. No longer the lonely, difficult, confused boy I was once, but now...a man. Ok so I'm still kinda confused about this entire country but life is progressing, and so is my level of French, which is always good because it's the entire reason I'm out here.

Anyway, enough of that, if you've been following my Facebook/Twitter/This blog you'll be aware that last night I went to watch the Mad Caddies play!

(Original post here: http://studentaroundtheworld.blogspot.com/2010/10/mad-caddies.html)

So yeah, last monday I was talking to some German lads who informed me that the mighty Mad Caddies would be playing in Strasbourg! Now for me this was huuuuuge. It's been about a month since I'd been to a gig and I'd started to get withdrawal symptoms, so the fact that one of my favourite groups were playing here on such short notice was awesome.

Anyways, I had no idea how I was going to get to the gig (It's about a hour and a half walk) I just knew it was one bus, then a 40 minute walk. Instead, after staring at a map for about 10 minutes a helpful French woman approached me and told me that to get to where I wanted I had to take a tram. So one bus and one tram later, I arrived at tiny back alley gig which was actually a really good venue.

What surprised me about this gig was that there were only one support band. Either way these guys were amazing! A French ska/punk band called Zéro Talent. They were AMAZING. I would strongly suggest you check these guys out. I haven't found a link to their myspace yet but they can be found on Facebook here:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Zero-Talent/119980766185

Anyway, after a very enjoyable 40 minutes, they left the stage and Mad Caddies took over.

And they were just as brilliant as they always are. It was the third time I've seen them and with no barrier at the gig, I was at the very front and all I can say is took part in some serioussss stage diving. There's nothing like running on stage while the group is playing then running and diving into the arms of hundreds of sweaty German's and French. I said I'd take some photos for you guys so here we are:

Mad Caddies singer

Mad Caddies guitarist

Mad Caddies guitarist live

Mad Caddies bass and guitarist

Mad Caddies lead singer

Mad Caddies sweaty singer

Mad Caddies bassist

Mad Caddies trumpet

Mad Caddies trombone

Here's the setlist for you Caddie fans:

Mad Caddies setlist 2010

Anyways, after the gig I asked the guitarist for a plectrum, and the drummer for one his sticks. Although neither were signed, the plectrum is sweet as it has their name printed on it. More merch to add to my collection of band merch I guess! I also bought a pretty sweet Mad Caddies Tee shirt ;D

Front of Mad Caddies plectrum

Back of the plectrum

Mad Caddies tee shirt

Oh, I also met the trombonist after the gig who was surprised to find out that I was English and all the way over in Strasbourg haha. He also informed me the Caddies would be touring the UK in February 2011! So watch this space guys!

After the gig finished at 11 and I discovered that the last tram had left or wasn't running because there was a strike (so typical of the French), I spent the next 50 minutes running and cycling with a lovely chap I found lives at my residence, and as he bought a bike to the gig we kept swapping. It was a brilliant way to improve my language as I spent the next 40 minutes conversing in French!

But yeah that's all. Hope you enjoyed!

Strasbourg at night

2010-10-12T20:03:00.000+01:00

Hey guys. Had a lot of people asking for more photos of Strasbourg and upon my walk home yesterday I discovered that the European Parliament looked amazing at night. So, here are a few photos of the European Parliament and other buildings at night.

Now, these are by no means amazing pieces of photography, (I'm only using a £40 Canon Powershot a470) but the river looks quite cool at night, and some of the colours the buildings use to light themselves are pretty sweet.

Ideally, I would've liked to have taken these at sunrise, but I don't fancy it tonight as I'm tired. Another night/morning I will.

Anyways, here are the photos of random buildings:

and here are some of the European Parliament:

>

And there we have it. I know it's only a few but ~~I'm so tired so I stopped taking many~~ I thought it'd keep it as a bit of a teaser.I was also getting a lot of dodgy looks. I mean, hood up, hidden away, taken pictures of the European Parliament in the pitch black.Hope you enjoyed

Mad Caddies!

2010-10-12T01:31:00.002+01:00

So tonight I decided that rather than spend another night sat with my laptop on the internet, I would venture into Strasbourg city centre and head to some bars to speak French with the locals, to improve my language skills. So after meeting some English friends, we headed to a bar with some French guys and some Germans to celebrate someone who I hadn't yet met's birthday.

After several drinks and therefore a confidence boost I found myself

spending the next three hours talking in French about random subjects from music, to new slang words etc.

But the greatest thing I learnt tonight was that one of my favourite ska bands, Mad Caddies, who I have seen twice before, are coming to this small town this Wednesday!

Needless to say I am so hyped!

Oh and also on the way home I saw an Otter jump into the river. Was pretty bad ass! And found a new place to take some awesome photos so hope to give you more soon!

Strasbourg Cathedral

2010-10-10T00:09:00.003+01:00

Hey guys. I know a lot of you like photography, (this is hardly photography, just photos I've taken with a standard digital camera) so I thought I'd upload some pictures of the beautiful Cathedral in Strasbourg city centre. It's an absolutely incredible piece of architecture and I just thought I'd take some photo's so again, I could make my adventure seem even more realistic to you readers. I am sharing my experiences DIRECTLY with you guys :)

Any fool can just Google pictures, but these are taken from my point of view. Nothing fancy here. Just a standard 7 Megapixel camera.

Check them out!

EDIT: Was just informed by The Lazy Geographer that this was 'Tallest building in the world until 1874, a record it held for over 200 years, and it's still the 6th tallest church in the world.'

It's an incredible spectacle in person. It's honestly over whelming.

Hope you enjoyed!

Stephen Fry's increase traffic tip!

2010-10-08T18:33:00.004+01:00

Ok so this isn't really one of Stephen Fry's tips on how to increase traffic to your blog, but it is relevant to him, and worked substantially well for me. Although this isn't an easy method of increasing traffic and bringing more people to your site, it is an extremely successful one!

First things first; GET TWITTER. Although a lot of people have signed up to Twitter for the pointless reason of just adding their friends, who they already have on Facebook, Twitter is actually an amazing way to ~~stalk~~, I mean follow* celebrities in their daily life. Me? Personally I use Twitter to follow members of bands I love. And through it, I've found out about secret gigs or cheaper merch etc. However, it's nice just on a general level to see members of huge bands as just regular human beings. For example, Frank Carter, lead vocalist of post-hardcore band Gallows, is always Tweeting about his Kill to Death ratio on Xbox Live. It's just nice to see famous people, as well....just people.
'How is this post relevant to ME' you might be asking. 'I don't care about celebrities and their lives.' Well that's fair enough, but the long and short of it is, if you can make friends with a celebrity, the likelihood is they will Tweet your blog.Now I'm not saying that Stephen Fry (I use him as an example because he has the most followers on Twitter out of most celebrities) is going to Retweet each and everyone of your blogs. Far from it. Aim a little smaller.Now if you have been following me for while, you'll recall my post about Frank Turner (You can read it here: http://studentaroundtheworld.blogspot.com/2010/09/perfect-travel-music.html)As one of my favourite musicians ever, (Seriously I strongly urge you to check him out) I of course have him on Twitter and over the last couple of months have been Retweeting (passing in for you non Twitter users) his messages etc.Now, after Tweeting about my blog post that included a short Frank Turner review, I was shocked, yet amazed find that he had passed on my blog to his 13 000+ followers!

And has he has THIS many people following him:

My blog received a huge amount of traffic. As Frank Turner's tweets are linked to his website, I was getting several sources of traffic, and my views rose sharply!

So guys, if you're using twitter, START FOLLOWING CELEBRITIES! Be friendly with them. Banter with them. And if they're a decent bloke like Mr Turner is, then who knows, maybe one day they'll retweet your blog to!

Oh, and Justin Bieber and Britney Spears aren't going to Retweet your blogs, so aim a littttttle smaller than the big celebs!

How to increase traffic to your blog with Google searches

2010-10-07T13:31:00.007+01:00

OK guys, so although this post may not be directly related to travelling, in this post I'm going to tell you one way, that successfully worked for me, to increase traffic to your blog.

Now, this certainly isn't going to bring you 5000 million viewers over night, but if done correctly, you will see a steady rise in your traffic.

Ok I'm going to try and make this as simple to follow as possible as it can be quite confusing.

Now, I know a lot of you are having trouble with making your blog Google searchable. The computer and coding literate amongst have tried added Meta tags to your blog in order to increase traffic. Although I have tried this myself, I haven't noticed much on an increase and have been told that Google no longer uses Meta tags to make it searchable.

Step one. The first thing you need to do is to visit http://www.google.co.uk/addurl/ and add your blog page URL into the URL box. Underneath this box there is a comment box. Now here I just wrote a simple description of what my blog was about. Keep it short and sweet. No need for more than one sentence.
After filling in the Captcha click submit and you're blog will have been added to a list for Google to crawl.

1) Next up we need to open http://www.google.com/webmasters/

2) Then sign in with your Google account.

3) Next you need to click the ADD A SITE... button which looks like this:

4) A small box will appear - Enter your URL here.

5) After clicking Continue,we have to verify that we are the owner of this blog.

6) Here there will be 4 options in which we can choose how we want to verify our site. However, the only option we are interested in is the META TAG. Now we should see a code which looks a little something like this:

Picture of code

Actual code ^

7) Now after we have copied this code (DOUBLE CHECK YOU HAVE THE ENTIRE CODE COPIED) we need to go to the Dashboard of our Blogger, then select Design > Edit HTML.

Now, we nee to look for the <head> tag. This is only a few lines down in the coding so shouldn't be too difficult to find. The easiest way to find it is to bring up the Search function, with Ctrl + f and type <head>.

The Meta code needs to be pasted IMMEDIATELY AFTER the <head> tag.

Once you've pasted this code, simply Save the Template and go back to the Webmasters Account, and click Verify to Complete the verification process.

8) If you've done everything right, you'll see that your site is now verified. HOWEVER, KEEP READING as we're not done just yet.

SIDE NOTE - DON'T REMOVE THE META CODE AFTER VERIFICATION. IT MAY BE USED BY GOOGLE AT A LATER DATE.

9) Now you should see a list of verified sites (Most likely just one, your blog) on your Webmaster tools homepage.

10) Click on your site, and you'll be taken to a dashboard of that site.

11) From here you need to click Site configuration, then Sitemaps.

12) On this page you need to click Submit a Sitemap and it will ask you to enter the sitemap of your blog. As you can probably see, the first part of your blog is already there and you only need to enter the second bit;

feeds/posts/default?max-results=500

Overal all, it should look something like this

http://www.yourblog.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?max-results=500

13) So Submit your sitemap there and within the next 24 hous, Google will start to index the contents of your blog!

Now, give it several hours (I gave it 24 hours) and return to your Webmaster tools. On your dashboard, on the left hand side there should be a Your Site on the Web button. Expand this and you can see data gathered from Google searches! For example, Google will crawl your site and show you the keywords found on your blog!

If you've found this helpful and used it guys, simply Tweet this The button is located below the post title.

Parts of the world you SHOULDN'T travel to

2010-10-06T11:48:00.000+01:00

Hey guys. Just another post from me, time time in a video format as my last post was so hugely text and picture based! Although as a student who loves travelling and seeing the sights and experiencing different cultures from my own, we all know that are just some places you definately want to avoid on your travels.

So guys and girls, I present to you, Why you shouldn't travel:

Oktoberfest 2010 + German Police Station + Train station floor = One hell of a weekend

2010-10-04T11:46:00.002+01:00

As you may or may not have read from my last post, last weekend I travelled to Germany for a last minute trip to Stuttgart, to kill off my liver at Oktoberfest. Now, just to clarify things before I do enlighten you all with my adventure, it wasn't officially Oktoberfest we went to. Although it takes place at the same time as the world renowned Oktoberfest in Munich, the Stuttgart equivalent is known as Cannstatter Volksfest and is essentially Oktoberfest, but in Stuttgart. After speaking to some guys we met there, they said they preferred the Stuttgart version rather than Munich! Anyway, enough of the preliminary story telling, let's get this written story started.

Now, like most students my age I promised myself, that as I had to be up and ready at 5:30am on the Saturday morning, that I would get an early night so I would be fully prepared and ready for the hell I was going to put my body through during the day. And of course, like most other students, I didn't fall asleep till 3:30am. So, on two hours sleep, I got up, got dressed as ridiculously as I could, (The idea was, the more we stand out, the more people we meet and the more free drinks we get. This worked incredibly well!) and headed just outside campus to meet two lads I had met the day before. (Me in my Stalk hat, Megan fox tank top and swim shorts)

An hours walk in the rain to the train station wasn't the best way to start the day, but upon arriving at the train station the excitement soon kicked in. Here we met the rest of the gang, some I had met before, others I soon got to know, and then got the bus into Kehl, Germany to begin our journey to Stuttgart. After cracking open the first of many beers at 9:30 and meeting the rest of the guys we were travelling with, we boarded our second train, which in itself was an amazing experience. The train was rammed to the brim with a variety ages and nationalities, but the one thing we all had in common, we were all drinking.

After a longer train journey than we expected, (the train was so full we had to take a different route!) we soon arrived at the carnival. Now, the reason I call it a carnival and not a festival is because I wasn't expecting roller coasters and rides amongst so many drunken people.

Quick note - All the photo's taken in this post are taken by myself, or others using my camera. These are the people I met, and the drinks I consumed. Thought it would be better to share my experience with you guys if I gave this post a personal touch and took the photos myself, rather than Googling them.

Anyways, THIS is what we'd all been waiting for, the first round of beers! (This is only half of the first round as I'm sure that's all she could carry!)

The lack of sleep, the crowded (to the point I couldn't move and had to pee so bad) train and wait had been so worth it. The first sip of this cold, cold beer was like heaven. Here it was. My first litre of many:

Now, as a student learning French and travelling with a load of French speakers, I found it so much easier to speak French after several of these beautiful things. So, naturally, many more of these followed. After meeting some of the French guys and exchanging opinions on decent punk bands and generally debating on music for an hour, I could already feel the effect of several litres of beer swimming around in my system. Here's a few more photo's, taken by someone else with my camera, of our drinking 'team.'

I'm the douchebag with the pro Stalk hat in this one

Bird hats are awesome, so Matt bought a blue parrot one haha

After several rounds of drinks and all feeling a little more, shall we say, not our normal selves, we'd decided we wanted to head into the actual tent itself to take part in what can only be said as the most awesome part of the festival ever. Now, coming from the UK and therefore an over the top health and safety system, it was awesome to see and take part in what can only be described as slightly dangerous, yet awesome.

Long story short, get as drunk as you can, get on tables as dance your ass off! Took some photos of others doing it, but love this picture because the guy is wearing an AWESOME tee shirt:

Now all day, we'd been sat next to this table full of German lads. They were chanting, singing and drinking and seemed like a right laugh. The only way I can describe it is like drinking with a bunch of football hooligans, but without the football. Was awesome chanting back, having drinking competitions with these guys and just generally have a massive laugh.

Now, part 2 of this hench post, will be shorter don't worry! If you have read up to here so far, thanks a lot <3

Germany Police Stations are scary places.

Sure a lot of you have been curious when reading the title of this blog, as to why I ended up at a Police station. No, don't worry I wasn't so drunk I was making inappropriate Hitler jokes or swore at a bouncer or anything like that. Fact is, although these German kids, pictured above, seemed so nice and friendly to us foreigners, one of these pikeys was a thieving little well. insert whatever swear word you think is appropriate. We were sat at our table drinking, having a good laugh generally have a good time, when my friend stands up and watches this German kid. Following his eye line, I see he is watching one of these kids looking under the table were sat on. As he goes up to him, he sees that this little...again use whatever swearword you feel necessary, is going through his bag, pulling stuff out. Not in a 'HAHA your stuff is on the floor' type of way, but in a secretive, 'What can I steal from his bag' type of way. Naturally, my friend asks him what the hell he thinks he is doing. Being German, he plays the 'I'm sorry I don't understand' card, but no less than 15 minutes ago we were talking in perfect English to this kid. He knows exactly what he's done wrong, so my friend hits him. The German kid's friend stands up, where immediately I tell him to 'Sit back down' and explain the situation to him.

Now normally, we would have just smacked this kid, taught him his lesson and moved on. BUT, the fact that this kid has been hanging out with us, and been so trusting and friendly directly to us made it far worse. So my friend went and explained to a bouncer what had happened where I explained to the German's what had happened. All these lads couldn't believe it. 'Nah, I know him, he's our friend. He wouldn't do such a thing.'
To which I replied that I had just witnessed this with my own eyes. He had gone through my friends bag.

Oh and by the way, luckily the thief didn't steal anything as Police searched him. Yep, Police, or POLIZEI printed on their back, got involved and naturally. All three of us (The thief, the victim and the witness) were carted off to a German police station. About 2 minutes into the trip, the van's doors opened and the Police threw a hand cuffed drunk into the back with us. I have never seen someone so drunk in my entire life haha.

Anyways, after we arrived at the station, and sobered up slightly, the thief had his mug shot taken and was taken off into one room, where my friend was taken into another.

Now, I've gotten explain a hilarious part to this story. Before my friend was taken away for his statement, these three French lads sat down beside us, all handcuffed to the bench, and were in hysterics. I have no idea what they were in for, but they made me laugh so much. They were asking if they could have their mugshots tagged on Facebook! Was hilarious. They kept posing for photos, asking if they could have group shots, one even took out his iPhone and took a photo of the three of them. Although they were drunk (They were laughing about who's breathalyser scored the highest,) they didn't seem to be in a rough state. Just drunk and hyper lads. And I honestly am not sure why they had been arrested. Either way, they were so excited they were in a Police station!

So after about 20 minutes, I was called forward, given my ID back to me, and met up with my friend, and we left the station. At the exit we saw all the Germans (pictured above) who had come to meet their mate, the thief. Anyways, my mate decided to press charges as he would've been left off scott free if he didn't, and chances are NOTHING is going to happen to the kid. We just wanted him to get a good smack, but I guess my mate already gave him that.

Then, we returned to the festival!

Like I said, if this had been anywhere else, normally we would've just hit the kid, told him to 'F__k off' and moved on. I don't want to come across as the 'We had to tell the Police D: ' type, but like I said before, the fact they befriended us, only to steal from us, made it so worse. So yeah, we told the bouncers and they told Police.
The worse thing is, naturally I am really paranoid and like to keep my belongings on me, especially in a foreign country where us tourists are targets. I had just gotten to the point where I felt comfortable enough to leave my bag with everyone elses, and then this happened. Damn thieves.

Now, as this post is long enough, I'll keep it short for words here and basically just post pictures.

A little explanation - We were all drunk, dancing on tables, with Litres of beer in our glasses and in our system. Oh, and for some reason EVERYONE loved my stalk hat! I got so much attention for it haha! Everyone wanted to try it on and have their picture taken with me.

Photo's of a drunken night dancing to a German band on tables:

Me and the Stalk hat ^

Part 3:

Don't worry, this is short ;D

After trying to steal one of these awesome glasses and getting caught, and asked to remove it from my bag, we left the festival. After loosing half our group, and spending the next 45 minutes looking for them, we eventually headed off to the Tram, and got back to the station at 0:45am for a Burger King.

With our train at 07:20am, we soon passed out on the Stuttgart station floor, and as we were, an incredibly friendly French guy and 2 girls gave us some blankets!

Travellers always look out for travellers!

Anyways, on returning home, I spent all day Sunday in bed, nursing off a killer hang over.

And that's IT. STORY OVER!

Hope you enjoyed it, and if you did read it ALL, then thanks so much. Took me so long to type and upload all the photos! I will DEFINITELY be going to this next year, and recommend ALL of you do! Thanks a lot :D

Off to Oktoberfest / Beautiful photo of the Cathedral

2010-10-01T20:45:00.000+01:00

Just a short two part post guys. Part one is that tomorrow at 7:30am I am getting the train to Germany to take part in the world renowned Oktoberfest!

In short, 12 hours of drinking non stop in Germany. This picture kinda sums it up:

Don't worry, you'll receive a post upon my return filled with pictures of me no doubt completely off my head!

Part two

A photo of the Cathedral I took. I planned to upload way more but the plugin crashed so I will post another update when I return!

Cya soon!

Remember, if you like the fact I'm off to Oktoberfest or enjoy this picture I took, you can 'Like' it on Facebook by pressing the button up there^

Breath taking swimming pools from around the world / New HTML coding

2010-09-30T19:44:00.002+01:00

Ok, so as there is a lack of swimming pools here in Strasbourg, I began to do a little research on where the nearest one was, and out of curiosity, soon found myself on a tangent onto how much it would cost to build a swimming pool from scratch. With the short attention span I have, I soon found myself Googling for pictures of the craziest swimming pools ever built. I then stumbled onto some absolutely break taking images of some of the craziest, and most awesome swimming pools from around the world.

Check these out!

Oh, and just a quick note to say I've added some HTML coding into my design to allow those of you with Facebook to 'Like' this post! So, if you find these pictures amazing then feel free to 'Like' it :D

The Tweet button I added a few days ago allows you to share this post to your followers so they too can see how amazing these pools are! Anyways, enough of the Facebook 'Like' and 'Tweet' button, let's get to the pictures!

Golden Nugget, Las Vegas

Yeah, that's a 200 Gallon shark tank in the middle ^

Hugh Hefner Ska Villa, Palms Hotel Las Vegas

San Alfonso del Mar, Chile

Banyan Tree Hotel: Intendance Bay, Seychelles

Le Meridien Hurghada: Makadi Bay, Epypt

Hotel Ellan, Dallas

Hilton Hotel: Auckland New Zealand

Hope these amazed you as much as they amazed me! Feel free to share with the 'Tweet!' button! Remember to check out the rest of my posts including my trip to Oktoberfest and how to increase your views with Google searches!

The best way to learn a language?

2010-09-29T17:54:00.000+01:00

Just thought I'd provide a little update on perhaps the best way to learn a language. Now obviously this varies from person to person. Some prefer hours and hours of countless grammar revision and making notes, others prefer attending university lectures and studying their asses off. Me?

I prefer going to bars and simply speaking the language with the locals. See my problem, is I have a complete lack of confidence. I tend to other think things, and become incredibly nervous when I have to speak French. However, after several drinks, alcoholic for Dutch courage of course, I find my nerves disappear and speaking French becomes so much more easier.

BIG TIP: If you make the effort, so will they. The French here appreciate the fact that although I'm English, I am complete alone in their country and speaking their language. Because of this I have had so many free shots of alcohol it's unreal. So try it guys. Go to a bar. Meet the locals. Speak French the way they do, and soon you'll find that as you become more confident, the ability to speak and foreign language to the natives is a lot easier.

Apologies if there are any spelling mistakes, I've been 'using' this method today, and after several shots of free Patis (A well known French liquor,) I do feel slightly drunk ;D

Perfect Travel Music

2010-09-28T17:11:00.004+01:00

Right guys just a little insight into perhaps my favourite musician ever. As political poet armed only with an acoustic guitar and incredible voice, I've been listening to Frank for about three years now. Ex lead singer of Hardcore band Million Dead, Frank Turner writes the most inspiring music. Whether writing about the excuse of a government we currently have or just waking up drunk from a party, Frank to me is one of the most brilliant and original musicians out there.

As a man who tours the UK relentless, and is currently touring in the states, I feel I can relate to his songs as a traveller.

Although this song isn't my favourite by him, it's had the most radio coverage and therefore seems to be his biggest hit to date. Also, as he talks about touring and travelling, I felt it would be most appropriate to share this song in a travelling blog. I would STRONGLY suggest checking him out.

EDIT - Had a lot of trouble with Youtube embedding so I removed the official video and replaced it with this one. Still the same song :) Enjoy

Album cover for Love, Ire and Song - an incredible album by the legend himself:

Things I've learned about France and the French

2010-09-27T14:05:00.000+01:00

Ok guys so I've been here for two weeks to the day and basically just thought I'd give you a little update on how it's all going and what I've learnt about France and the people here in general.

Quick note; this isn't meant to offend anyone! Just pointing out my observations! And it'd be interesting to hear back from you guys whether the rest of France is like this, or whether it just applies to Strasbourg or the Alsace region!

Another quick note; As an Englishman, these seemed strange to me and the culture I grew up with. These may be relatively common for the rest of the world!

Ok so here we go:

- Everyone here smokes

- Relating to the point above, it's not uncommon to see people using a pipe to smoke

- Everyone cycles

- People who ride motorbikes/mopeds/Vespas are insane. Cutting up cars, speeding down pavements, and EVERYTIME two people on a motorbike meet, they see who can wheelie the longest. I see this a LOT

- Here the French, similar to the Spanish, have a sort of Siesta, and most shops open around 8:00, but will close at midday and re-open at 14:00

- The people here seem to partially fit the stereotypical image of a French person. Seen a lot of berets and nearly everyone (whether it's just the students because is cheap,) eats baguettes

- It's expensive as hell. Some pubs ask for 7Euros for a whiskey, where as a single Whiskey in my home town is around £2.50, or 3.60Euros

- People drink half pints a lot more than pints

- Public transport is ALWAYS on time

- People are very helpful; approaching me and asking if I need help (An obvious student with a map out)

- Juice is extremely common, and it isn't as easy as I thought it would be buy regular, justaddwater style squash

- It's clean. Although graffiti still exists, it exists more as an art form than scribbled names. Litter isn't a problem here

- They LOVE their cheese here. So many varieties.

- A lot of people pay using cheques. Not sure if this is just England being different, but it is rare to find a place that still accepts cheques as a form of payment

- The French don't mind a beer, at 10am

- One of the most bizarre for me, when the 'green man' is displayed when crossing a road, it is not unusual for cars to still drive over the crossing, but simply wait for pedestrians to cross. The fact they can still drive with the green man there is what's a little foreign to me. This point is kinda hard to explain, but in England, if the red man is showing. Pedestrians can't walk, and cars can drive. Here, if the green man is showing, cars can still drive, as long as they are no pedestrians.

- One for just as UK people, still not use to other side of the road driving. Although I don't drive, crossing a road is still daunting as I'm not used to looking to my right hand side first!

That's all I got at the moment! Just a bit of an update on the culture shock really. Love it here though so don't take this as a a 'Things I hate about France' post!

Like I said earlier, be interesting to see if anyone else agrees and whether this is the same throughout France, or just Strasbourg.

German Radio

2010-09-26T19:24:00.000+01:00

So as I will be starting University as of tomorrow, I decided to set up my actual alarm clock, as I always end up pushing snooze on my phone and waking up far too late. I currently own a standard radio alarm clock that means when it's the most painful part of the day and I have to wake up, I will be woken up to French news or some crazy French Hip Hop. Obviously it depends on what station I tune it to.

Now, for those of you that weren't aware of Strasbourg's location, is it located in Alsace, right in the North East of France, here;

Now obviously I know I'm only a few kilometres from the German border, but I did experience quite a shock when looking for a decent French radio station, and all I could hear were German rants. I'm hoping that by finding a decent French news station, I can listening to the morning announcements etc, and even by just having it on in the background, be able to improve my French.

But I don't want to wake up in the morning to German radio! Ahhhh!

La Tomatina

2010-09-25T17:30:00.001+01:00

It's just occurred to me that I may be able to take part in the world famous La Tomatina! For those of you who aren't aware, La Tomatina can only be summed up as the world's BIGGEST FOOD FIGHT.

Now, I can imagine most of your are thinking this is going to be one of those crazy old traditions that has maybe 80-100 people and just a small table of food...WRONG.

Once in a year, in the town of Bunol, in the region of Valencia, (The University I will be studying at during the summer) tens of thousands of people descend on the small town of Bunol. Although this town only has a population of 9000, it is no surprise to see between at least 20 000 - 50 000 turn up to take part in this phenomenon.

In short, each year, on the last Wednesday of August, tens of thousands of people gather in the streets to throw TONS of over-ripe tomatoes at each other for exactly an hour. It has been estimated that around 150 000 tomatoes, or 90 000 pounds of the food are thrown in this hour.

The festival is a week long and consists of dancing, street parties, fire works and on the night before the fight itself, a paella cooking competition.

Perhaps the strangest and yet most interesting fact about this famous event, is that no one is quite sure as to how it officially started. Of course there are rumours that it was simply witnessing a group of children having a food fight in the street, no one is quite sure of the official reason.

I am SO excited to think I may be able to actually participate in this! Pictures below!

A well equipped laptop is key

2010-09-23T17:35:00.001+01:00

Another update for you travellers out there on how to prepare not just yourself, but also your laptop before travelling. This can also apply for all you University go-ers that are heading off this week. Now, if you plan to take a form of entertainment with you, I.e A gaming console or your DVD collection then you may not find this guide as life saving, but merely as another source of entertainment.

See when most people go travelling or go off to university they automatically accept that when they arrive at their residence they will have instant internet access. However, depending on your halls/residence/hotel, it can take several days or even weeks to set up a decent internet connection.

Depending on how sociable you are or how much of internet addict you are, this may not be a problem. But if you do crave the internet and are not guaranteed a connection upon arrival, I suggest the following tips.

Project64

This was probably the biggest life saver for me. For those of you that aren't aware, Project64 is a N64 emulator. In short, it's a program available for free download that allows you to play your favourite N64 games on your laptop. The games, referred to as ROMS, can also be downloaded from a separate website.
I must have spent countless hours rejoicing my childhood moments on these games. Although the gameplay can be a little difficult to get used to at first (the fact that you laptop lacks a analog stick and you have to make do with the direction keys), it is definately worth downloading this program.

Most games will run on just about any generic laptop, I.E you don't need to have amazing computer specs to run this program efficiently. But I do recommend you close down any programs which take up a large amount of the CPU for smoother gameplay. EG Virus scanners etc.

Project 64 can be downloaded here:

http://www.pj64-emu.com/downloads/startdown/34/

Although there are a variety of websites that boost Project64 ROMs, I prefer this site:

http://www.freeroms.com/n64.htm

The program itself is dead easy and straightforward to use. Simply download the ROM ( I suggest keeping them together on a file located on your desktop) Then open up Project64,

File > Open Rom > Find Rom

It's as simple as that. You can also change the default control (Options > Controller Plug In) to suit your gaming needs.

On another note, if you do find gameplay to tedious using your keyboard, you can buy N64 controllers with USB adapters for quite cheap online these days.

That's all I have on Project64, any questions feel free to post below.

DVDs

Now, to most of you this may seem like an obvious one, but depending on your suitcase space and dvd collection itself, you may be limited to bringing dvds upon your travels. For this, I recommend you try to find a way of ripping the DVD to your laptop. Failing that, download it. Although I do not recommend either of these methods as they are illegal, it can be down and there are plenty of guides on how to do so out there.

When I got bored of exploring Hyrule on Project64, I simply loaded up my favourite film, Memento, and an hour and a half soon flew by.

Last but not least, an obvious but often taken for granted:

Solitaire

A very simple, yet EFFECTIVE way of killing time. Not much to say about this one. Pretty much everyone know's how to play it, and it can be found by clicking Start > Games > Solitaire.

That's pretty much it from me guys. If you can think of anything I've missed then let me know! But make sure you do a bit of research before you leave guys as life without internet and be killer!

Picture of the beast D:

2010-09-22T17:47:00.001+01:00

Small children and pregnant woman may want to leave the room....

Ok guys so the camera really doesn't do it justice here. But the silver plate is about the size of 2 DVD CASES . THAT'S HOW BIG THIS BEAST WAS. Body was bigger than my thumb D:

...N'oh my god

2010-09-19T15:58:00.000+01:00

Latest update of my adventure: The spiders here are like the size of Corpsers from Gears of War. Went to lock my door this morning and on the handle was this BEAST. Body was like the size of my thumb and bigger than my fist I swear down. So after I sent it to insect hell, I went into town, but in all my crazy spider killing sesh I left the key in the lock. Ran back to room from town and thankfully the key was still there, next to giant spider corpse.

Was an actual MONSTER D:

But fear not, it's dead and buried. Well not buried but yeah, I destroyed it ;D

New photos/Ad sense disabled ;_;

2010-09-18T14:30:00.001+01:00

Some new photos here guys including a panoramic type photo I made using a program called photostitch. Individual photos below. Oh and my adsense was banned. Dam you Google :[ Either way, still using this as the legit blog it was in the first place so yeah check these out and lemme know what you think :D

Panoramic

Photos of Strasbourg

2010-09-15T14:46:00.001+01:00

These photos are all taken by me guys :D I said I'd provide pictures once I could, so here we are:

I'm so lucky to be here! Was going to take more pictures today but it's raining so doesn't look as awesome. This weekend I'm going to venture around the city like a proper little tourist and take way more photos! Hope you enjoy these in the mean time!

Have arrived!

2010-09-14T14:41:00.000+01:00

Just a little update for those following me, I HAVE ARRIVED. After a chaotic day of not knowing whether I was even going to have a roof over my head for the night, and dragging around two ridiculously heavy suitcases, I arrived in the beautiful city of Strasbourg at 15:17, and found my accommodation at 18:05

I will update the blog with pictures and more stuff later I am just shattered right now.

Just letting you all know I've arrived safely!

Purchased a digital camera

2010-09-12T15:11:00.001+01:00

Pretty self explanatory here guys! Purchased a 7mb Digital Camera so I can let you guys experience my travels just as well as I can! I will also be leaving short video blogs for my friends back home so they can still see and hear me haha.

I'm not out of your lives yet guys ;D

Any suggestions on what's going to be the best way to upload these videos? Don't really won't to upload them to Youtube.

Open to suggestions.

I leave in the morning!

And so it begins...

2010-09-11T22:36:00.002+01:00

And so I depart. It's currently Saturday 11th September - 22:28 (GMT)
At 04:30 Monday 13th September, I will awake and I will leave my house for the very last time for the next 10 months.

My train leaves Gloucester train station at 05:19, where I must travel to London (Only changing once). At Paddington station. I will then have to get the tube and will arrive at Kings Cross at 07:46.

At 08:27 I will board the Eurostar train, and I will OFFICIALLY begin my travels.

It's only just sinking in how real this is becoming. Today I have said my goodbyes to family and friends and all I can say now is; I have never felt like this before in my entire life. As well as bricking it at the thought of being alone, I feel an overwhelming sense of excitement as this is going to be a year of my life I will never forget.

So followers, friends or anyone who's stumbled upon this, at 15:17 on Monday the 13th September, I will have arrived in Strasbourg; Tired, nervous and carrying my life in a suitcase.

And so will begin the most incredible 10 months of my life.

Two VITAL cards to take

2010-09-10T15:37:00.001+01:00

So, pretty sure I'm leaving for Strasbourg either Sunday or Monday! Excitement is kicking in.

Here's another key tip for you travellers:

Travel Ex Cards:

I mentioned these in my 'What to pack' guide. For those of you who have been abroad before I wanted to withdraw money from an ATM using your debit or credit card, you'll notice when you return home there's a nasty fee for using your card abroad. Now, most banks will promise you it's only a minimal charge in comparison to the conversion rate and all this rubbish but the truth is, if you use your card abroad, you're most likely going to be charged for it. Now, I'm going to be using my card for a year, and I don't fancy returning home to £300 of just charges.

This is where Travel Ex comes in. Basically, a Travel Ex card is a card that can be bought for however much money you would like on that account. For example, I purchased a Travel Ex card for £100.60 with £100 (155 euros worth) on it. It can be used at anyone ATM displaying the Mastercard logo and I will not be charged to withdraw my own money! As I created account with cashpassport (the site you use to sign up for the card) I can transfer funds between my regular bank and my Travel ex card whenever I want. So glad my friends informed me of this and I would STRONGLY URGE any travellers out there for an extended period of time to invest in one of these!

Can sign up here:

http://www.cashpassport.com/

Card number 2:

E111 Card.

Now, hopefully I will never have to use this card. Basically it's a European health insurance card that will mean if I do fall ill, I will be able to save a large percentage of the fees. For those of you who have fallen ill abroad before and had to purchase medicine, you'll know exactly how I feel when I detest paying such large fees for anti biotics etc. Although this card doesn't entitle free health care, it WILL cut down your medical fees buy a substantial amount.

Applying for one of these cards is easy enough. You can either pick up a E111 form from your local post office or you can apply online here:

https://www.ehic.org.uk/Internet/home.do

NOTE: This card is only available to UK residents
NOTE: This card is completely free, but some places will try and charge you. DO NOT LET THEM CHARGE YOU

Possible date for flying out to Strasbourg!

2010-09-09T18:05:00.006+01:00

Woah. Just woah. It all feels so real now guys. Received an email today from one of the lecturers at Strasbourg university (after I chased them up a bit)

Here's the email itself :

Bonjour,

Nous avons accepté votre candidature à l'université de Strasbourg au 
département LEA. Vous êtes invité à la 1er réunion LEA le mercredi 14 
septembre. Merci de vous présenter au secrétariat LEA au bureau n°____
et vous adresser à mon assistant M. Roumain Poutet. Tél. __ __ __ __.

In short,

"We've accepted your place at Strasbourg university to the LEA department. You've been invited to the first LEA meeting, Wednesday the 14th of September. If could present yourself to the LEA secretary at office ____ and contact my assistant Mr _______ etc."

Removed names and numbers for anonymity.

So excited! I assume in the next 4-5 days I will begin my travels and will be flying out to Strasbourg, so WATCH THIS SPACE!

Tips on what to pack when studying abroad

2010-09-08T20:15:00.002+01:00

Another post for all you travellers out there with some information on key items to take when travelling. This is going to be primarily based on first hand experience (even 5 days at Reading Festival was a huge lesson on the DO's and DONT's for what to pack!)

So I hope you guys find this useful, and even if you don't, it'll be a good reminder to myself for when I leave in the next fortnight!

Right let's crack on, and remember this is personal opinion! So if you disagree or feel I've missed something, let me know!

Documentation:

Passport and a several photocopies of said passport

Several passport sized photos (These can come in really handy)

Proof of insurance

Acceptance letter or proof of study from university (whether it's the abroad university or your home university)

Cards and licenses:

Debit card

Driving or provisional license

TRAVELEX CARD (This is so important and I'll provide a post about it soon)

Clothing:

Now, this is far more easier for boys than girls!

One pair of COMFORTABLE shoes. I can't stress this enough. Unfortunately shoes take up a lot of space in the bag so it's likely you're only going to have room for just the one pair. You're going to be doing A LOT of walking whilst abroad and I strongly recommend you choose comfortability over style. Although you don't want to look like a tramp for your travels, you're going to be on your feet the majority of the time, and being comfortable is always a bonus over fashion.

For clothing, make sure you research the weather for where you're staying. I.E Don't pack tight tee shirts if it's going to be 30 degrees Celsius! Only take the essentials. I suggest you chose darker clothes as dirt and marks don't show up as well compared to white or lighter clothing. Although you don't want to look scruffy for a year, don't take any clothing that you don't mind loosing or getting damaged.

Toiletries:

Again, this is a much easier decision for guys. I would only recommend taking a toothbrush here. Although foreign stores may not sell your favourite brands, they will still stock types of deodorants and toothpaste etc, so I recommend buying most toiletries whilst out there.

Girls, the same is probably true for your make up. Remembering, your spending your time travelling and chances are, you're not going to look your greatest. That said, most stores will sell make up, but you may have to fork out a bit more cash if you're looking for your high market brands.

Misc:

A small torch

Plug converters

Small notepad and pen

Money Clips

Maps

Extra SD cards for your camera!

A large ruck sack (This saves taking your suitcase everywhere, allowing you to carry your essentials whilst leaving clothes etc wherever you're staying)

Photos of the first city I'm staying in - Strasbourg

2010-09-06T21:27:00.000+01:00

Ok guys so even though I haven't actually officially sorted WHEN I'm flying out to Strasbourg (I assume it's going to be within the next fortnight) I have spent the majority of tonight trying to cheer myself up by looking at the city in which I will spend the next 6 months of my life. Although these are all from Google and not taken by myself, the following photos are of the city of Strasbourg.

Here's a mixture of the city as a whole, some of the bridges, the rivers and of course, the University itself. I can happily say that I just got a lot more excited!

Such a beautiful city. Here's a sneak preview of what I'm going to be confronted with!

Last picture is of the University, and where I will be spending most of my time.

All credit goes to original photographers:

Yellow Comics

2010-09-06T00:56:00.000+01:00

Hey guys, not related to the studying aspect but have been getting a LOT of requests for the source on the yellow comics. They're from a hilarious Icelandic artists called Dagson (or something similar)

They're from the site 'SuperMegaComics' and constantly bring a smile to my face. Such an underrated comic!

Here's a few examples:

Site can be found here: http://www.supermegacomics.com

Hope they put as bigger smile on your face as they do on mine!

Getting quite worried now

2010-09-05T14:50:00.000+01:00

Just an update in how things are going guys. I spoke to my university lecturer several weeks ago who rang Strasbourg university and spoke to them directly. He emailed me assuring me that Strasbourg would send me some information mid August concerning my placement at the university, accommodation and just a general welcome package. However, the beginning of the term starts very shortly and I haven't received anything in the post from the University, and I believe my lecturer is abroad as he usually responds to the emails I send him very quickly.

As I haven't booked a flight yet as I am still in doubt as to where I stand concerning my placement.
So, rather than just sit here and wait, I have sent an email to one of the contacts of the Strasbourg University website asking her where I stand and what my next move should be. Until I hear back from anyone or receive any information, I can't fly out to Strasbourg as I'm not even sure if I'm guaranteed a place at the accommodation. I just hope this woman gets back to me ASAP so I can book my flight and begin my travels and my placement year abroad!

Ugh, life is certainly stressful at the moment. Cheers to all the support I've had from friends and fellow bloggers though. I'll make sure I keep you all informed!

Strasbourg

2010-09-04T17:59:00.000+01:00

Ok guys so first up on my travels is Strasbourg, a beautiful city in the North East of France, right on the German border. Now, I've never been to this part of France before but have heard it's beautiful and a lot different to the rest of the country. I'm guessing it's due to the German influence because Google makes it look like the city has been heavily influences by German architecture.

Although I'm still living in England at the moment ( I haven't booked a flight as I'm still waiting for my lecturer to contact me) I reckon I will be flying out there in less than two weeks.

SO guys, I ask you; Anyone been to this beautiful city before? The do's and dont's etc?

Let's hear YOUR experiences!

Legit blogs - A year abroad

2010-09-04T14:16:00.000+01:00

So guys in two weeks I get to spend a year abroad in Europe as part of my uni degree course. As I study both French and Spanish at Coventry University in England, I get to spend 6 months studying at the university of Strasbourg, then 6 months in the Valencia university. I'm so nervous as this is my first time living abroad and will be completely on my own. I'm most likely going to use this blog as updates with how I'm doing, and will continue to share my experiences and pictures.

So guys, any legit advice for me?

You can follow yourself

2010-09-03T20:49:00.002+01:00

How awesome is that haha :D

England game

2010-09-03T20:05:00.001+01:00

Anyone else watching the football? 1-0 :) Great start.

Best and most underrated comic

2010-09-03T19:40:00.001+01:00

Just a selection of the most hilarious and yet weirdest comics made :D