Too Nerdy for Words

JRR Tolkien grew up in Halls Green, Birmingham and every year they have a "Middle Earth" festival to celebrate his creative fantasy imagination... or what we now call today: geekdom. So much fun and nerdiness, I felt more at home here than on many other parts of my travels round the world. The highlight of the day was a tribute play which showed JRR as a lad and the different areas of the park where he would have played with his brother and probably would have imagined scenes for LOTR. Some scenes from his books were reenacted too. Sweet!

Rather than bore you with more of my ramblings i'll let a few pictures do the talking instead. Enjoy!









ps Congratulations to little Sis and big Dave on their Engagement - Lyndal & David Jolly. Many friends and family at this moment are sharing in this celebration in an engagement party back home. My thoughts and prayers are with you both :o)

Lochs and Legends

Scotland has been one of my greatest adventure to date. The Scots are crazy! The highland games with their non-stop all-day band competition, the highland dancing and the heavy events contested by 10 huge Scotsmen in kilts was the best cultural experience i've ever had. Although not a serious threat to the competition my favorite was a 16yo kid named Ed - the only ranga in the heavyweights :o) He finished dead last but added a lot of humour to the event. ie the stone lift (70kg) which didn't even move when he tried to lift it off the stump.

The next 3 days in Scotland was on a tour of the Highlands. The country is filled with incredible history and barren yet beautiful landscapes that want you to come back for more. Castles, mountains, Loch Ness, and a tour of one of the isles - Isle of Skye, were a great introduction to this amazing country. The first time in my travels that I've felt I need to come back and see more.

An old tale

Boy meets girl
Boy likes girl
Boy shyly ask girl out
Girl ammusingly agrees
Boy and girl go for a walk in the park together
Boy buys girl an icecream
Boy and girl very happy
Boy and girl continue to going out
Girl & boy have fun and make each other laugh lots
Girl tells boy they need to talk
Girl tells boy she does not feel the same way
Boy understands and accepts
Boy and girl now just friends

Boy wants to be back home with family & friends for the first time this year