Thats where you'll find me...way out in the country...

I love scenic views and this one was taken from the lounge window at my Pastor's house near Weston-super-Mare. Now before you start thinking "uh-oh, weirdo alert!" I don't make a habit of visiting my friends and then taking random photographs from their lounge windows. If I did I would have probably collated them into a "special" calendar called "Great walls of Bradley Stoke" or some other such nonsense. Tonight was a recording session to lay down some extra backing vocals for the backing track to our new song "Everything" by Darrell Evans. It went well and I also was treated to tea as well in the form of Enchilladas. Now when I was younger I used to get Chinchillas and Enchilladas mixed up and often wondered why the bloke in the Old El Paso adverts looked deliriously happy about eating "chinchillas". Oh, how ignorant I was! They were very nice indeed (the enchilladas that is). I don't think I will be ordering chinchilla, eggs and chips quite yet!

As the summer nights are extremely warm I have found myself being generally wide awake until the small hours. One benefit of this yesterday is that I got to enjoy a Gavin & Stacey double bill. I am a big fan of Uncle Bryn (played by the brilliant Rob Brydon - pictured right) who is very like a few people I met whilst I was a student in Wales. If you haven't caught the series it is very funny and before too long you will probably find yourself muttering Nessa's immortal phrase "oh, what's occurring?"

Here it is lads......

As proof that my football club has finally embraced the 21st century my new season ticket electronic swipe card arrived today. The paper tickets of last season are a thing of the past, although for posterity I have kept the ticket stubs from all of last seasons games during our final season at Ninian Park as well as my FA Cup final one from 2008. The picture is from the glossy wallet that my new card came in showing the impressive brand new Cardiff City stadium at night. Now unless you ever visited Ninian Park or have followed Cardiff City over the years you won't know how significant a step this is for the club. I am still pinching myself to believe that this has finally happened and it is strange to think that within 8 weeks I will be sitting in my new seat, which is somewhere in the block of seats where the "I" of Cardiff is.

The hot weather has continued and my lounge fan is permanently on at present. As I laid awake in bed last night it occurred to me that this will be the last summer I spend in my current residence before relocating across the city to Hartcliffe. I have a lot to pack in over the next few weeks and hopefully I can get it all done in that time. It is time for a change and for new beginnings.

Sunday fun at Destiny, The Fox Den and at home with Sir Tom....

I have to admit that after having a quieter day yesterday I've certainly tried to keep myself busy today. We had a great service at Destiny Church this morning and today's message "The Power Of One" was an excellent inspirational message. I am just taking a short break from editing together the sound files for the church website to write this blog, but wow what a message!

Our young adults group went out for lunch together at a great pub called "The Fox Den" which is near to where I work. The food, company and weather was great until it rained on our parade so we all went our separate ways.

I have been really enjoying the majority of music from the Glastonbury festival highlights on BBC TV this week and today's delights have included ska legends Madness, rock veterans Status Quo and the man whose voice has been known to blow up recording studio microphones, Sir Tom Jones (pictured right). Before you start thinking "typical welsh man, you're so biased!", I hadn't intended to watch him, but he was surprisingly good and his voice was in fine fettle. I am really excited about tonight's headliners as I can't wait to see reformed British indie legends Blur. Back in the 90's you would have got some funny looks for preferring Blur to Oasis, but over the passage of time Blur have released some great albums and have pushed the boundaries, whereas Oasis have produced ploddy-ploddy middle of the road insipid "dad rock" for the last 10 years (no offence is meant to any dads at this point, so don't bombard me with messages!). Don't get me wrong, I love rock music, but when a band starts treading water and rehashing ideas, as well as "trying to sound" like The Beatles then you're on dodgy ground. A special mention must go to Spinal Tap, the spoof rockers, who performed on the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury yesterday. Stone Henge was a highlight with a faulty 8 inch Stone Henge monument and a skipping dwarves dance routine. It made my day and I am hoping that I can see The Specials on BBC Iplayer later as I really like the British two tone Ska music from the early 80's.

Twickenham 2008 revisited......

I decided to have a quieter day before the pace picks up ahead of my move in 4 weeks time. Recently my gig and football buddy, Rich, lent a DVD to me which was a film of British heavy metal legends Iron Maiden on their groundbreaking Somewhere Back In Time world tour. For a band of their collective ages they still have amazing stage energy and run about the stage as if they are all still in their 20's! I went to see them at one of the featured gigs of this tour at Twickenham last July. They played for 2.5 hours and were good value for money and whilst I may not be as huge a fan as I once was I still consider them to be one of the best, if not the best heavy metal band of all time. Any band with 3 guitarists is worth listening to and messrs Janick Gers, Adrian Smith and Dave Murray - I salute you!
I'm gearing up for an evening of Ebay as I will photographing the items that I will be selling before advertising them for sale. I am hoping to make some decent money on these items and after looking at similar items for sale on the site I should make a few hundred pounds at least.

Roll up, roll up, it's time for a sale!!!

Today was the day of major decisions and after much prayer and thought I will be moving to a friend's house in the Hartcliffe area of Bristol

with effect from the end of July. I had a lovely meal and tour of the house with my friends Sam and Jan tonight and I am really looking forward to moving in. What this now means is that I will be frantically trying to sell furniture and other non essential items over the next four weeks, but I see this as an important part of the moving on process. I have stayed too long in my current flat, perhaps by trying to hold onto memories of my life with the late Mrs FlyingVJenks and I know that it is time to make a fresh start.

The UK Banking system is quirky! My wages should have cleared at midnight and after Ethelred and I trundled out to the nearest cashpoint, I found out that this wasn't the case after all. It was a shame as I had intended to refuel my car and do my food shopping. I had to get fuel before work instead after my wages cleared at 8am! The shopping (in case you are remotely interested) was completed tonight with a till cashier who couldn't possibly work past 10 o'clock! I had a gruff female Bristolian standing behind me in the queue who took umbrage with this statement and made the cashier serve her! Bristolians, you've got to love 'em!

As I didn't blog yesterday (Tsk! Tsk! What a slacker!) I haven't mentioned the barbecue that I went to last night, which was really fun. Both lifegroups got together and it was great to catch up with some of the church guys that I don't usually see midweek. It was a nice way to unwind after a very busy and demanding day at work.

The next move and a little bit of rock and roll...

Today got off to a slow start as the local roads were slow moving due to a serious accident and part closure of the M4 and Almondsbury Interchange. One of my colleagues got held up on the M5 coming to work and it was one of the rare occasions where I got into work before him! We also had a few team meetings which were fun as we really work well together as a unit. I was pleased that I was also feeling better today as I felt run down yesterday evening.

Creative Ministries was exactly what I needed after a busy day and we made great progress on the new song we're learning. It is called "Everything" and it's a cracking song by Darrell Evans. I have played my guitar quite a bit this week, in fact the guitar I am playing in today's picture has been my main stage guitar for the last few weeks following the damage to my Les Paul. I may dust my Flying V off for the weekend as I haven't played it for a few weeks now and "VickyVee" is probably pining to be played!

My next home move took a decisive shift tonight, as the gentleman whose property I viewed last weekend has decided to sell his home instead of renting rooms. It's a shame, but it now looks likely that I will be moving across the city instead, which will be for 1 year. In a year's time I will then look to move back across the city to perhaps Filton, Horfield or Stoke Gifford (all areas in Bristol for those of you who might not know).

Cardiff City decided to sell one of their best players today, namely Roger Johnson to Birmingham City. It is par for the course for a club of our size to have to keep selling its best players, as we're not Manchester United. Some of our fans have become doomsayers, some fickle elements are threatening to walk away and the realists (of which I'd like to think I am part of) see this as something we can't avoid and is a fact of life. I am still confident that we can improve on last season, but the key thing is that the club reinvests the funds from this sale in order to purchase some quality replacements. Roll on August 8th, Scunthorpe United at home. Blue Army!

The return of an abandoned railway and another DVLA plot twist...

There are many passions that I have in life, but one of the ones I rarely talk about is railways. As soon as you mention that you are a rail enthusiast the predictable "heh heh heh, you're a trainspotter then" remark usually follows. I am not a trainspotter, but I have an appreciation of trains which is different.

Today's picture comes from an ambitious attempt to reopen a 3.5 mile section of the former GWR Cornish branch line between Gwinear Road and Helston. This line was one of many rural branch lines that fell to Dr Richard Beeching's axe during the 1960's as part of his "Reshaping British Railways" plans. Fortunately the middle section of the branch has survived without being built on and I am a proud member of the Helston Railway Preservation Society (which is a bit like the Italian Job's self preservation society...except without a robbery, car chases, Michael Caine or an excitable coach driver). They have been able to lay 1/4 of a mile of track so far and have renovated a couple of diesel engines too. It seems that railways are coming back into vogue with ATOC recently laying out their plans to reopen closed lines or to build new ones. One such new line that was mentioned again to my surprise was Oxford to Witney, although this would be hugely expensive as most of the former line has been extensively built on. I should know as the village I grew up in, Eynsham, was on this line and there is very little evidence that a line was ever there.

The DVLA provided me with another twist regarding my former car. The mysterious new owner who texted me is trying to tax "Blackie" and the DVLA haven't been made aware by my insurers that I no longer own this car! A phone call to them in the morning is due, I think. As for now I am going to enjoy a rare evening in and a couple of cold beers left over from my recent birthday! Iechyd Da! (that's cheers to you!).

It's the late, late show with Jenks and U.F.O....

Today has been an incident filled day. I said goodbye to my father-in-law Tony at the beginning of the day before I left for church. Church was great and we were very pleased to host a guest speaker, Pastor Wynne Goss today. Wynne has been a great help to me especially over the last 2 and a half years as we have both shared the pain of losing our wives to death. He delivered a really great message which I will enjoy listening to again tomorrow night before my band rehearsal.

I also went to view a room that I could be renting 5 minutes drive from where I live at present. I've come away from there with plenty to think about, but I haven't made any firm plans yet.

I drove straight from there to Bristol city centre as I went to see U.F.O. in concert at the 02 Academy in Bristol. Although they got off to a slow start they played such classics as "Doctor Doctor", "Love To Love", "Lights Out" and "Rock Bottom". I was especially impressed with Vinnie Moore, their exceptionally talented American guitarist. He replaced one of my musical heroes Michael Schenker in the band, after an inebriated Schenker delivered a dire performance at their now infamous Manchester Nynex Arena gig a few years back. Schenker is a tough act to follow, especially as he is now firing on all cylinders again in the current MSG Schenker Barden line up. I also have a claim to fame featuring Vinnie Moore! I once owned a white Tanglewood ND series electric guitar that bore his autograph. I wiped it off because it was in pink marker pen and by doing so I probably reduced its value immediately! Any way back to the gig, Vinnie Moore put in an amazing virtuoso performance and it was a decent gig. My next gig at the 02 Academy will be British rockers Magnum in November, which I'm really looking forward to. To paraphrase Peter Gabriel's intro on the Genesis classic, "I Know What I Like.." "It's 12 o'clock and time for bed.....when the sun beats down and I lay on my bed I can hear the traffic talk".....

Blimey!....it's early!

You may be wondering why today's blog has such an eye catching headline. The unheard of happened today as I managed to get up at 7.45 so that I could go to work for a couple of hours. My father-in-law Tony arrived safely from Cornwall last night and we will be going out for a meal later tonight probably at my local pub.


I'm home watching the excellent Seven Ages of Rock documentary on Yesterday (previously known as UK TV History, although I would say the word history is used in loose terms in their case). After watching the end of the previous episode featuring Metallica, the next episode is featuring the development of stadium rock focusing mainly on Queen, Bruce Springsteen, Kiss and Led Zeppelin (pictured). I love any documentary featuring great rock music or bands that have influenced my musical style and the programme has made my day by also featuring The Police. If "Message In A Bottle" comes on, I will be in musical heaven!

Although there are some great bands out there at the moment e.g U2, Razorlight, The Fratellis, Kasabian etc, my first love will always be bands like Deep Purple, The Police, Jethro Tull, Gillan, Steeleye Span,The Who, Led Zeppelin and MSG (The Michael Schenker Group). Jethro Tull have produced some of the most memorable, as well as technically complex music I have ever heard. Unlike some progressive rock bands they have managed to stay the right side of self indulgence and A Passion Play, Songs From The Wood and Heavy Horses are three of my favourite all time albums. Steeleye Span however will always be my absolute favourite band and I wish people would look past All Around My Hat sometimes and take them more seriously. Most "Spanners" tend to gloss over this album and it is often called "All Around Mike Batt" - Mr Womble to you and me and the album that alienated Steeleye to the beardie folk purists. Steeleye fans tend to favour such classic albums as Parcel of Rogues, Commoner's Crown, my favourite Now We Are Six and They Called Her Babylon. If you want to hear a band that has kept reinventing itself then if you are a downloader make sure you listen to "John of Ditchford" and "Bonny Black Hare" as these tracks are proof that the band is as alive and as vibrant as it ever has been. I am eagerly awaiting the arrival of their new album "Live From A Distance" which is due for release shortly and I have my next fix of live music tomorrow night when I will be going to see U.F.O. at the Carling Academy in Bristol. In August I will be paying my first visit to the Millenium Stadium in Cardiff to see U2 which will be cool and if rumours are to be believed then The Killers and Kaiser Chiefs could be the support acts. To quote David Essex and Justin Lee Collins, "Rock On!"

Hello boys....i'm baaaacccckkkk!!!!

Due to unforeseen difficulties with my internet service providers server I was unable to blog yesterday, because I couldn't access the internet. In order to celebrate my return to the land of blog I have gone all cinematic on you by including a picture of the actor Randy Quaid (or to give him his character name Russell Case in Independence Day). Today's blog title is the phrase he

yells in this film shortly before blowing himself and a large alien spaceship up in a fit of heroicism. I really disliked this film for a while after seeing Close Encounters of the Third Kind, because it seemed to "borrow" a lot of ideas from it. I watched it again on tv recently however and I can now admit that it is a good film as Jeff Goldblum and Will Smith are very funny in it.

Work was thankfully quieter today and we all felt like we had some much needed breathing space. We even had time to have a fun breakfast meeting together where we planned the week ahead. Giles and I will be in for some overtime tomorrow, although I have no desire to have a repeat of my 5 hour marathon session last week!

I also had a look at the Cardiff City twitter page and saw this picture of Ninian Park, which is presently being demolished. The pitch has gone as you can see and apparently 140 new homes are going to be built on the stadium site. I expect the streets will be named after the stadium or ex players. Imagine if your address was 25 John Charles Street, or 75 Toshack Avenue. I could very easily go on, but I want you to remain interested. It is very sad to see as a diehard City fan, but on the flip side the new stadium looks amazing!

I am also looking forward to seeing my father-in-law, Tony who is staying with me for the weekend. I am now tidying my flat in readiness for his arrival tonight. I'd better get cracking then!

So here it is...an opening day fixture at the Cardiff City Stadium.

There was a buzz amongst the football supporters in my department this morning, as we all eagerly awaited the release of the Football League and Premiership fixtures for next season. Cardiff City welcome Scunthorpe United to the Cardiff City Stadium (pictured top left) on the opening day of the season and a couple of weeks later we "welcome" our west country wurzel "friends" Bristol City. The two fixtures that Cardiff City fans always look for first though are undoubtedly the two must win games of the season against our arch rivals from down the M4, Swansea City. The away game at the Liberty Stadium is on 7th November and they then come to us on 3rd April 2010. The below picture is a comparative panoramic shot of our old home, Ninian Park which is gradually disappearing into memory as the summer progresses. I am on the right of the picture in the Bob Bank stand, but unless you have eyesight with a built in zoom lens it may take you some time to find me, as I am one of 12,000 people; or as is the case in this picture random coloured dots.

Work itself was fine and the dreaded complaints test has now been put to bed after two more attempts and a phone call to update the system! I normally fly through tests but I couldn't get my head straight on this one. At least it's done for another year now.

Tonight is Creative Ministries and this week we will be beginning to learn "Everything" by Darrell Evans, which is a cracking song and is a little bit different from the other songs that we do each week at Destiny Church. He is related to a Pastor called Steve Van Zant from Fort Worth, Texas who is a close friend of our Pastors and our church. I always find the rehearsals are great times and a great antidote for a demanding week. I am also looking forward to seeing my friends Pastors Wynne and Gwen Goss who will be with us at Destiny Church on Sunday. It's gonna be great!

The calm before the storm and relaxing with the Top Gear crew....

We were back to full strength at work today and it made a difference as we geared up for what will be an exceptionally busy and demanding year for us. Tomorrow is going to be a catch up day where we will focus on the bog standard, run of the mill stuff that gets put on the backburner. On the positive front we had a fun meeting together with plenty of laughter in the afternoon as we planned the months ahead. At the end of today I also had to complete a complaints test on our intranet system and passed it at the 3rd attempt only for it to wipe my score! Grrrr! I'll have another go at it tomorrow once I have calmed down a bit.

I am presently relaxing whilst watching the repeats of "Top Gear" on Dave. Today's pictures are firstly messrs Richard Hammond, Jeremy Clarkson, James May and "The Stig" from the show. My brother in law reliably informed me recently that it is shown on BBC America and that he watches it in the USA quite a bit. The other picture is of the eccentric, cute and remarkable Peel P50 which is the smallest production car ever made. It was featured in a recent episode of Top Gear and watching Jeremy Clarkson trying to get both in and out of it as well as accidently driving it across the set of BBC News 24 during a live broadcast was priceless! Still, I've got Ethelred, so nerrr! You can't drive her through the corridors of the BBC, but you can on a motorway!

Cardiff City were drawn at home to Dagenham & Redbridge in the Carling Cup First Round today. Dagenham are from League Two, which is two divisions below us in the Football League structure. I saw City struggle past MK Dons in the same competition last year when Peter Whittingham's wonder free kick saw us win 2-1 at Ninian Park. I have gone picture crazy and have included "Whitts" too! I also celebrated a goal that didn't happen in the same game when Ross McCormack's far post shot cannoned back off the woodwork. I didn't see the shot rebound and took 30 seconds to realize that he'd missed! At least at the Cardiff City stadium the seats are tiered more effectively so I won't miss goals like I did at times when the City used to attack towards the Canton Stand! The football related excitement continues tomorrow with the release of next season's league fixtures and I can begin to plan my trips for next season. I can't wait!

Brain drain!.......

What a manic day at work! I am spent tonight after a day without breaks and I have decided to mong in front of the tv with a cold beer and a DVD tonight. Today's pictures sum up the kind of day I've had in a slightly surreal way, but I didn't fall asleep at my desk and my brain currently isn't flying over Bristol and the West Country. I remember that my dad did fall asleep at work during another riveting day at the HMRC a few years back and after my HMRC form filling exploits on Saturday I can see why!

All of us footy fans at work are eagerly awaiting the release of next season's fixtures tomorrow. I am looking forward to finding out who Cardiff City will face on the opening day of the season and in the Carling Cup. I've tried to get excited about other sports but I'm not hugely fussed about rugby, tennis or cricket, as football will always be my favourite sport. I am, as Cardiff Blues fans call us "one of "that lot" from Ninian Park". It's quite ironic that they will be our tenants at the Cardiff City stadium next season and it has been incredibly funny to hear about their supporters complaining about their move from the Arms Park. You'd think that they were going to play their home games in Kuala Lumpar and not 1 mile down the Ninian Park Road from the city centre! They also seem to think that Leckwith is the Bronx and that us City fans trawl the back streets of Canton and Grangetown waiting to pounce on them in order to "give them a good kicking". Whilst we do have an idiot element, the majority of us "Bluebirds" are law abiding and enjoy nothing more than watching the City and having a bit of a laugh together. Roll on the 2009/10 season and promotion for "the City"! Bluebirds!

Fun in the house and time for some screenwash.....

It was another great morning at Destiny Church. We introduced the much mentioned "Draw Me Close" in the service and everyone enjoyed singing it. We also had a female visitor who kept smiling at me, so either I've got me a stalker or they were tickled pink by the sights and sounds of yours truly. After all there can't be many guitarists in churches worldwide who play a hybrid style of rock, blues, metal and indie. I also make some unusual grimaces whilst I play, which I put down to being locked into the music. Either of these scenarios is somewhat unnerving, but as they left halfway through I'm not going to lose sleep over it. We had a bit of a laugh about it at the end and joked that they were smitten with me. The sheer prospect of meeting another woman let alone falling in love again terrifies me anyway! Ethelred also gave me an unexpected surprise when she ran out of screenwash so I'll have to pop to Tesco's tomorrow!

I've just watched Andy Murray win the final at Queens and significantly he is the first British winner there for 71 years. The British media are starting to already wonder if he will win Wimbledon this year and even though he is spectacularly miserable I wouldn't be disappointed if he did. I can't wait for the football season to start though as I am really missing Cardiff City at the moment. My 2nd team, Merthyr Tydfil made the news this week as they entered administration and will start next season on -10 points. A group of Cardiff City season ticket holders are looking to take over and hopefully this will mean that the ridiculous take over by Bridgend Town will not happen and Merthyr will remain in the English pyramid system. I had hoped that Cardiff City would play them in pre season but I'm not sure that this will happen now, as we are already scheduled to play Chasetown, Celtic and Valencia at the Cardiff City Stadium throughout late July/early August.

Today's picture features two of my favourite comedians, Robert Webb and David Mitchell. Here they are in their guises of Angel Summoner and the BMX Bandit, a shortlived crime fighting duo. I received the first season on DVD for my birthday and I can't stop watching it. So this is my thank you to them for making me laugh heartily over the last week!

Saturday night's alright for....tidying!

What a strange day! After last night's fun and games at the work party I went into work to do some overtime and what was meant to take me 2 hours to do took 5 hours instead! What on earth were you doing man, I hear you cry? Well, how can I say this and attempt to make it sound interesting....I can't make it sound interesting so I will just tell you. I spent 5 hours filling in the new CA1544 and CA1550 HMRC (Inland Revenue) transfer out forms. Wow! I can sense that you're all right on the edge of your seats waiting to find out what happened next....I finished them and went home. I was a bored, tired and relieved man when I climbed back into the driver's seat of my faithful steed, my Rover 216 Si (or Ethelred the Reddy as I call her). I cranked up the stereo and drove home as fast as I could (keeping to the speed limits of course!).

What picture can I therefore use to brighten up this blog and bring you back into consciousness? Well before work I sat down and had my breakfast this morning whilst I was watching the excellent Seven Ages of Rock documentary that was being repeated on BBC3. One of the acts featured was quite possibly one of the best rock bands ever to come out of Britain, The Who. So I salute two rock legends in today's picture, would you please give it up for Pete Townshend and the late Keith Moon! Now's the time for me to do that windmill arm movement whilst I play my guitar....after I have tidied my flat of course!

It's party time!

After a busy week it was great for our whole department to relax and have a party tonight. It was in honour of us achieving all of our departmental performance targets during the last quarter. Here is the photographic evidence featuring some of my team, but this was before the free bar opened! We also had a free buffet too and our own Oscars awards ceremony. I was nominated for best excuse for being late for work (er...boss....I'm running late, because someone's nicked the bonnet off my car...) Sadly I didn't win the award, but I did get a couple of chants sung at me by some of the guys (namely "Where's your bonnet gone?" and "it's on Ebay now!"). I can laugh about it now and talking of "Blackie" I received a strange text message today. My insurers didn't write off my old car like they told me, but sold it instead and the new owner texted me to request the manuals and registration certificate! I was somewhat taken aback, but I will ring my insurers in the morning to check it out first.
I also took time to view the latest updates on the Cardiff City Stadium website and crucially we now have goalposts in situ! Hopefully they will be full of goals for Cardiff City this season and the fans of "the City" can reprise the song "Ross McCormack, duh duh duh duh duh duh!"

Boing!!....time for bed!

If Zebedee was real, he'd be on my case right now! After a poor night's sleep yesterday I spent the first part of the day just trying to get my brain in gear. I resorted to caffeine in the end, which worked for a few hours. I made sure that I had a power nap when I got home from work so that I could be alert and attentive for our church leadership training session tonight. Pastor Mike taught on "Team Synergy" and specifically about the merits of building a strong, healthy team to support, build and drive forward the vision of the church. I really enjoyed it although my lack of sleep caught up with me towards the end of our team break off sessions. We discussed some really exciting and innovative media ideas and I for one can't wait to see them happen. As I have written before this is an exciting time for Destiny Church here in Bristol with many great things planned for this year. I am thankful that I am part of the church and I am excited about the way it is continuing to grow, develop and flourish.

A book written about yours truly?.....

I couldn't resist drawing a parallel with a member of the Mr Men book collection. Today I have mostly been Mr Busy! Work was a mixed bag as we frantically worked to get some internal policy transfers done as part of our daily duties. It was the kind of task that required complete concentration and it was hard to get into any kind of rhythm due to frequent interruptions. I did have a training course in the afternoon that was a refresher course for dealing with difficult callers. Although I don't work in the call centres anymore forearmed is forewarned. When I got home I also had a look at the current demolition progress of Ninian Park and the pitch is now in the process of removal, which was both sad and surreal to look at. This was tempered by the excitement of looking at our new stadium which will put us on a par with most other clubs in the Coca Cola Championship.

On a lighter note my car stereo has offered me some different musical offerings tonight from such diverse artists as Led Zeppelin, Radiohead and Hillsong. I also had an enjoyable time at Creative Ministries tonight as we finished off "Draw Me Close". I am really looking forward to introducing this song at Destiny Church soon, as it is a great song. It was a great way to end a long, demanding and fun day.

Tonight....I'm a rock'n'roll star!

After a manic day at work, it was a joy to be able to travel down to Weston-super-Mare tonight to record some backing vocals for the new creative ministries track "Draw Me Close". I have mentioned this song previously as we have been working on this track over the last few weeks. Hearing the completed play back reminded me of how good we sound and it is amazing how well our voices blend together. Ethelred also appreciated her jaunts up and down the M5 tonight and she handled both journeys well again. I enjoyed my in car musical entertainment tonight where I sampled the delights of Gillan, Feist, Steeleye Span and The Zutons as I made the most of the random shuffle function. I find driving both enjoyable and relaxing, because I really love being on the open road. Some of my favourite journeys have been to see family in both Eynsham, Andover and Truro, trips to Weston and Clevedon and my regular trips to Cardiff for my Cardiff City fix. With the new fixtures out a week tomorrow I will begin to count down the days to the opening day of the season when I will occupy seat V914 in the Ninian Stand at the brand new, shiny Cardiff City stadium.

Computer says no.....

Ever had one of those challenging days when your computer systems decide to stop working for no logical reason? Today at work was one of those days, but thankfully due to the clever bods in our I.T. department, computer was saying yes by the end of the day. It's amazing how everything seems to grind to a halt when computers go wrong. In fact when computers go wrong could be an ITV or Channel 5 tv programme to rival such "classics" as "When Sharks Attack" or "Help, I'm a celebrity builder from hell". Anyway I digress. Thankfully my colleague Giles and I managed to clear what we needed before our deadline so we both breathed a collective sigh of relief! I also authorised my first payments today, which was another major personal landmark for me.
As it was my birthday last Friday it was my turn to buy cakes and savouries for the department and they disappeared at a faster rate than the current level of support for the Labour Party at the elections. Not much was left over, but if they weren't perishable I would send the remaining breadsticks to my nephew ESN1 who joyfully devoured a considerable amount of them when I last saw him! In between work I answered lots of questions about what I got up to on my birthday, which I managed to turn around into conversations about my new car Ethelred the Reddy. It's also amazing to think that 7 weeks ago I was devastated when my old car was destroyed by vandals, but I can now see that it was a blessing in disguise and that God has supplied me with a much better car.

My birthday part 2 and the return of British summertime.....

Today was a fun day at church. The items pictured were a few of the birthday items I received this morning including my second pair of fuzzy dice for the car! I also had a pleasant surprise when Mrs FlyingVJenks mum came to see me along with some of my nieces so I had a few cuddles and some great catch up time. I also got to test out the Ipod through my new car stereo and it rocks! I filled the air with a mixture of Gillan and The Sensational Alex Harvey Band for all you rock fans out there!
British summertime returned with a vengeance here in the West Country with heavy rain making its presence felt. I am currently looking at black clouds from my lounge window and they have now begun their occupation of the Severn estuary before no doubt dropping their contents over South Wales and the Forest of Dean.
I will be devoting the rest of today to completing the podcast and full message MP3 files of today's excellent message from Pastor Mike Radcliffe called "Fire". If you are of the Ipod generation then you can subscribe to the free podcast called Destiny Podcast via ITunes or if you are more of an MP3 player person then the podcast and full message MP3's will be available for you to download by tomorrow care of our website www.destinyuk.com. I always look forward to completing these files especially as they are being downloaded as far afield as Taiwan, Colombia and the U.S.A. It is great to know that as a church we are not only impacting our own community here in Bristol, but also to the wider world too.

A great MOT, a new car stereo and a celebratory Starbucks!

I am still in shock, but the right kind of shock! It was Ethelred's MOT today and she passed after some minor work to the exhaust pipe and the wiring that lights up her rear number plate. I checked the cost against previous MOT's and much to my delight this is the cheapest MOT I've ever had! As a result I was able to purchase a Kenwood car stereo (pictured with free "camp" bag) so I now have radio, CD and crucially an input for my Ipod to play music in my car again. Halfords also fitted it for half price for me too! To say I'm chuffed to bits would be a massive understatement. As a result I stopped at my local Starbucks in the Aztec West business park and enjoyed a delicious Strawberries and Cream Frappucino! I'm now catching up on domestic duties such as laundry and dishes, whilst listening to Wales' World Cup qualifier away to Azerbaijan. Sadly, Wales' youthful team are not going to qualify again this time, but with more talented young Welsh players now playing in the Premiership hopefully they will improve over time. If Cardiff City could get to the FA Cup Final in my lifetime like they did in 2008, then I'm sure it won't be too long before John Toshack leads a Wales team to qualification for a major tournement in the near future.

Another year and more the wiser....

Today was birthday time again. I decided to take the day off work so that I could visit Mrs FlyingVJenks grave and then attempt my much mooted trip to Clevedon. I woke up and opened my cards and presents and I had many lovely gifts. I am currently watching one of them namely the DVD of Season One of "That Mitchell and Webb Look". I got hooked on this series when it was repeated on the UK TV channel Dave (they also have a second catch up station called Dave Ja Vu - it's an oldie but it's a goodie!). A few of the sketches are on YouTube and my favourites are Green Clarinet, Biscuit Levitation and Corner Shop (also known as Lager Beer). Ethelred and I had some fun on the M5 as I was able to drive her at higher speeds on the motorway and she coped very well with it. The photo in today's blog is reminiscent of the M5 last week when it was a giant car park. I went to Clevedon after visiting Mrs FlyingVJenks grave and it was whilst I was leaving the cemetary that I accidently scratched some of the paintwork on my car. I now have a black mark above my rear passenger side wheel arch and a small scratch on the back panel. Thankfully I didn't prang her as I was going less than 10 miles an hour at the time! I travelled to Clevedon but didn't stop due to the lack of available parking on the seafront so I went for a drive instead. I ended up taking a wrong turn and driving on a single track road through the village of Portbury, which is between Portishead and Avonmouth (Bristol). The great thing is though, because it involved a lot of stopping and starting as well as moving in and out of passing places I conquered the elusive bite point! I feel like Ethelred and I have bonded today and hopefully she will pass her MOT tomorrow in Weston. Now in time honoured birthday tradition, where's my ice cold beer?..........

Working towards a car wash....

Today was a fun and productive day at work. I received this pair of comical gifts from my work colleagues ahead of my birthday tomorrow. This is because I have already decided to take the day off so that I can visit Mrs FlyingVJenks grave before driving to Clevedon and becoming a "grockle" for the day. I also voted in the local elections tonight and had a laugh at some of the parties represented. I was quite surprised to see Votes for Kernow - the Cornish Independence Party listed and because of this I was tempted to vote for Plaid Cymru. I don't consider myself to be a political expert, but I do care enough to make my voice heard and to not waste my opportunity to vote. I am looking forward to tomorrow and to having a longer drive on the motorway in my new car. It will be a chance to get to know what "Ethelred" is really capable of and to conquer that bite point!

Let's Rock!

After a good day at work I enjoyed Creative Ministries tonight. I hadn't driven my new car for a few days so I was a bit rusty as I once more tried to remember that her bite point is different compared to my old car. I managed it in the end even if I did stall her a couple of times.

Today's picture is a snapshot of the gear that I use at church and the little kidney shaped device is known as a Line 6 guitar POD. Essentially it's a device with a whole load of clever guitar effects built in and I have used it live (without an amp!) and on the recordings made by our Destiny Church team. We made good progress tonight on the new song we're learning ("Draw Me Close" by Lakewood Church) and it will probably be ready next week. Some of the other guys from church also joined us tonight to pray with us and they then left to complete a leaflet drop in Filton in the area surrounding the community centre where we meet each week. It's an exciting time for our church and I am looking forward to watching us grow and thrive as we reach out to our local community.

Another day in the sunshine and memories of Ninian Park...

We're currently experiencing the unknown concept of a hot summer here in Britain with blue skies and sunshine. In time honoured "doomsayer" tradition most people I know are expecting bad weather to follow this! I'm going to enjoy it while it lasts, although the nights are uncomfortably warm and I am unable to sleep without a large fan on. Oh for the joys of air conditioning! I'm hoping that the good weather lasts until after the weekend as I would like to drive to Clevedon on my birthday and have a day out on the seafront. I'm also in Weston on the weekend as it's MOT time for my new car.

Tonight I hosted the Young Adults group at my flat and it was my turn to do the teaching. I focused on how when we surrender our lives to God, He can do amazing things both in our lives and through us. After this I also looked at recent pictures of Ninian Park the soon to be former home of Cardiff City FC and read that minor demolition work has begun. I am going to miss its rustic, decaying charms and as a reminder of the many happy memories I've had there over the years I have included one of my own pictures showing the view that I used to have from my seat on the Bob Bank. The above picture was taken just before the start of the last South Wales derby at Ninian Park between Cardiff City and Swansea City in April, hence the near capacity crowd. The game finished 2-2 in the end with our goals coming from Michael Chopra and Ross McCormack with a last minute penalty equaliser. A great day out thankfully without too much aggro going on, but hopefully we can go one better at the Cardiff City stadium next season.

Back to work, back to reality.....

After a lovely week off I returned to work today. I hadn't realised how much I had missed everyone, but it was great to be back with my colleagues. It didn't take me too long to get back into gear and I had a really productive day. I also got my new car parking permit sorted out, although much to my shock and dismay my old one was still in the name of the late Mrs FlyingVJenks. She hasn't parked at work since a few days before her untimely death in April 2007. The poor girl on reception was very embarassed but I didn't get irritated with her as it wasn't her fault. It was a spectacular case of "computer says no". The weather was glorious again today and I have included a picture of where I work to show what picturesque grounds the building is in. This is also ideal walking weather and I may pop to Clevedon on my birthday for a seafront walk and a trundle along the pier. Until tomorrow, my dear friends!