This then, is my year. As in both 2003 and 2004, I've blogged a pictorial retrospective featuring my highlights of the past 52 weeks and how they've impacted my life, changed me and moulded my future. Twelve months' worth of pictures which shine the brightest light on the events that have shaped my personality throughout 2005, the people and things that have touched my life. It's an interesting exercise for me, this. Looking back through my diaries and articles, searching through countless images in my portfolio in an effort to filter twelve months worth of life into a single entry. Viewed through the contorting lens of hindsight, this year looks nothing like it did as I lived it. It's the nature of freelancing, but looking back, I see periods of several weeks' worth of inactivity segueing into months where I was so busy, there weren't enough hours in the day. It's not like that, of course; life never is. What looks like inactivity in retrospect was in reality more like a collection of days spent researching, surfing the web at my desk. And compared with some of the things I feel I've achieved in the last twelve months, that's never going to stand out. Each year I've spent freelancing has had an event that has come to define it for me; perhaps unsurprisingly, last year it was the time I spent in Baghdad, whereas this year, it's been travel – a little ironic, seeing as how it started, unusually for me, with no trips booked, in hand, planned or even likely. Also, it’s had rather a military and political hue to it, coloured by close contact with the army, navy and Air Force, their ships, submarines, soldiers, transporters and fighter jets, officers and other ranks. That too is unusual, but that’s the way it’s panned out. In the guise of work, I've once again achieved some of my dreams, struck through a few more items on my life's wishlist. Twelve months ago, I had a diary devoid of assignments and I had no idea of the things, the events that would shape the year for me. Yet just 52 weeks on, I’ve made things happen that I didn't dream possible. I've been busier than ever before, landed some new commissions, made new contacts. I crossed for the first time both the equator and the international date line. I've flown a Harrier Jump Jet at low level. Met and interviewed Prince Andrew, Paul Boateng and Jack Straw. I've been to sea on an aircraft carrier and spent several days travelling under the ocean in a nuclear attack submarine. And after thinking last December that I'd be lucky to travel anywhere outside of the UK in 2005, I've ratched up over 100,000 miles in the air and spent a total of almost 3 months living overseas whilst visiting amongst other places the USA on four seperate occasions, Ascension Island, the Falkland Islands, Belize, Bermuda, Gibraltar, France, Spain, South Africa, India and Japan.Oh, and I flew to Edinburgh, too! I feel a great sense of privilege that my work allows me access to some of the people and places it's taken me to. And no little sense of pride that I've created something from nothing with this career. Seven or so years ago when I first started out in journalism, I was an unknown. It was a struggle. And whilst it's still not plain sailing, these days commissions come more often at the request of editors, rather than from me calling them. PRs know who I am, know what I can do, and invite me on trips or send me things. And other people pay for me to travel. Even now, I still have to pinch myself sometimes and tell myself it's really happening to me. I love what I do and feel blessed at some of the events that come my way. And if all I have to do in return is to write about them, take pictures that others might learn, or live vicariously through my adventures - that seems like a small price to pay. There are 77 pictures here: 77 images, which define the events that I remember most. Some are important, some not so, lying on the periphery of the event that gave rise to their existence. All tell a story and fit with the short narrative that accompanies them. There are rather more than in my previous pictorial rectrospectives, but then I've been busier this year, and my portfolio has grown commensurately larger, too. Each image is an average 55kb in size which on its own is nothing, although collectively, the 77 images here may take a minute or two to load even via a broadband connection. If you can take the time to look, read and comment, please do so - it will be appreciated. If you've stumbled here by accident, my apologies for having slowed your browsing. As previously, I've made no mention of the major events of the past twelve months that have coloured the news, made an impact on society in general or the world at large except for where they impact or collide with my own experience. This is not a blog about world events, war or the changes which contemporary existence visits on the way we live our lives. This is a blog about Someone Else's Life and the events and people that have shaped it. DECEMBER 2004 Party Girls - The Definition of December: Last December seemed like one long round of parties, drinks and networking events. Might not sound like it, but it's vital work for the average freelancer - it's the one time of year you can guarantee to meet the numerous PRs, editors and other media types who you deal with throughout the year, each one of whom is vital to your success. Add in the numerous evenings out with friends to celebrate Christmas and it becomes a long month indeed! Kicked things off with a Christmas lunch with one of my editors; lunch with a girlfriend the following day and on the first Saturday of December, possibly the biggest 20six Blinks to date when over 20 bloggers met at the Old Thameside Inn, SE1. Following Tuesday I had lunch with Torsten, an old colleague and then on the 15th, met my editor at the agency for lunch in London, followed by a night out with Ian, a mate from old who was part of my team when I worked in the City. That set the scene for the rest of the month which saw me out every night in the week leading up to Christmas Day. JANUARY 2005 Hit the ground running this year with a raft of full-length features to write for an immovable deadline at the end of the first week of January, a hangover from a couple of assignments I'd undertaken for the magazine in early Autumn. It's my own fault; I write best when under pressure, so no matter when I do the research, the writing is left until my editor tells me it's required. Once that was done, I relaxed a little, meeting a girlfriend for lunch at her work on three consecutive Fridays according to my diary! Busied myself when not enjoying lunch by coming up with ideas for future stories and planning for assignments later in the year. Banda Aid: An RAF C-17 Globemaster at Banda Aceh Airport, Indonesia. My life turns on a sixpence; a phone call on the afternoon of Friday 14th put me on warning to travel to Banda Aceh to cover the U.K's response to the Tsunami that devastated so much of Asia on Boxing Day 2004. The trip would have taken me to Penang, via Brindisi, Abu-Dhabi, Colombo and Banda Aceh. As it was, I was stood down just 6 hours before departure when the RAF received additional orders that required further personnel on the mission. Service personnel take precedence over journalists, so I was bumped off the flight and one of my colleagues took my place on the next one available, as I was otherwise engaged. FEBRUARY 2005 VC-10 - The RAF's Petrol Station: The 2nd February saw me at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire for what would prove to be the first of several visits in 2005. RAF Brize Norton is the Royal Air Force's centre for Air Transportation (AT) and Air Refuelling (AR), being home to the entire RAF strategic AT and AR fleet. Countless aircraft depart daily from its 10,000ft runway on worldwide operations and any world hotspot or crisis will probably see the arrival of an aircraft from RAF Brize Norton. I was on an assignment to accompany 101 Squadron on an air-to-air refuelling sortie in one of the RAF's VC-10 tankers. Ready to Drink: A Tornado F3 takes on fuel from the VC-10. Air to air refuelling for military aircraft stems from the often limited range of fighter jets and strategic bombers. The Tornado F3, Britain’s primary air defence fighter jet is limited to sorties of one to one and a half hours without refuelling, and its range falls further depending on the nature of the sortie. Its internal fuel capacity of just 5,600 kilograms is one of its greatest limitations. In a normal cruise of 420 knots at low level, the aircraft burns fuel at a rate of 42kg per minute but with the F3’s afterburners engaged on full combat reheat the fighter jet gulps fuel at an astonishing 900kg per minute. Thirsty: Two F3s form up on the port wing ready to take on fuel. The RAF's VC10 fleet comprises the only examples of this ageing airliner flying anywhere in the world today, and with Concorde's demise, it is the fastest airliner still flying. The aircraft carry up to 70,000kg of fuel and are capable of refuelling 2 aircraft at a time from the wing pods. Although the aircraft themselves are of another age, their flight decks are equipped with a modern flight management system and the necessary avionics for full worldwide operations. My wife left me on the 8th for a ten day holiday to South Africa with a friend; I spent the rest of the month preparing for a couple of forthcoming overseas assignments, interspersed with some freelanice I.T consulting for local businesses. MARCH 2005 Ascension: On the ground in the South Atlantic. The 1st March saw me back at Brize Norton with Melanie, a colleague from the magazine. There, we boarded an Air Luxor charter flight bound for the Falkland Islands via Ascension Island, a tiny (just 35 square miles) sub-tropical island situated almost in the dead centre of the South Atlantic. The flight time for the 4,200 mile journey between Brize Norton and Ascension is 8 hours 35 minutes and the 23:00 departure time ex-UK means you leave the aircraft after touch down in Ascension at around 08:00 giving ample time for a night’s sleep in between. After flying across the Equator and a further thousand or so miles of ocean, there it is, alone, rising from the South Atlantic. Ascension is a product of the mid-Atlantic ridge and completely volcanic in origin - it’s little more than a mountain peak rising out of the sea, the island’s 35 square miles of volcanic rock echoing a Martian landscape. The radar domes which litter the skyline, plethora of antennas and other ephemera of military and broadcasting dominate. Ascension has no indigenous population, the inhabitants of the island comprising the employees and families of the organisations working there. The population is about 1,200 now, mostly Saint Helenians but with about 200 United Kingdom and 150 US citizens. The island is also used as a US Air Force base, RAF refuelling point, BBC World Service transmitter station, and European Space Agency tracking station. Cable and Wireless also have an operation there. Fighter Escort: Arriving at Mount Pleasant Airport, Falkland Islands at 14:00 on a windy, if sunny and warm afternoon was a little different from the norm, two RAF Tornado F3 fighters intercepting us roughly 200 miles out and escorting us in. It's nothing more than a sign of the times, the MoD having written into the contract for airlines flying its personnel into theatre that their airliners may be used for practice intercepts by our fighter pilots. Think about it - where else are they, and their controllers on the ground going to rehearse the finer points of vectoring a £30m fighter jet alongside a fully loaded commercial airliner? Over London? Can you imagine the panic that might provoke amongst civillain passenegers en-route to Heathrow? Mel and I were due to spend a week on the islands, writing about every aspect of the U.K military's work in the South Atlantic, from conservation to live-fire exercises, and everything in between. Big Sky: Falkalnds Landscape on the drive to Goose Green and San Carlos. The first you notice in the Falklands is the light, or more specifically, the clarity and brightness of it. It is, quite simply, unreal, unlike anything I've ever seen anywhere. Consider the population of the Falkland Islands, and its popultation - covering a geographical area roughly approximate to Wales, the population is just 2,400, with almost 2,000 of those living in the capital, Stanley (which is also the world's southernmost city). In addition, the islands' location - close to Antarctica and some way distant from any major centres of population - contributes. The net result is a graphic illustration of just how polluted the rest of our planet is. Quite simply, the clarity of light down there is breathtaking. With the atmosphere devoid of dust and pollutants, and occupied by so few people, what you have is pure, perfect vision (the FI also sit directly under the hole in the ozone layer meaning you burn five times quicker than anywhere else). Sparkling night skies, unspoilt by light pollution from major connurbations, the naturally bright nights of the southern hemisphere enhanced and improved beyond measure. The Milky Way is painfully bright, a billion stars shouting out their names to even the most uninterested astronomer. The Southern Cross, Orion's Belt, The Plough - they're all there on a cloudless night, incandescent and alive, ready to entrance and awe the unwary. Monument: One place I wanted to visit was the spot where Colonel H Jones, VC was killed during the battle for Goose Green. With the sun having dropped below the horizon and a gorgeous array of colours in the dusk sky, I stopped to consider the act which Jones had performed to lead his men to victory, sacrificing himself in the process. Foolhardy or brave, his action had a profound effect on the Argentine forces who held the superior ground and were pinning down 2 Para with machine gun fire. His lone attack galvanised the men under his command and saw the surrender of 1,200 Argentine soldiers who vastly outnumbered the British in the attack. Reflecting on the Glorious Dead: The entrance to the Argentine Cemetery built by the British near to Goose Green. It's a beautiful place, tranquil and serene, a fitting resting place for soldiers who were killed prosecuting a war they had no desire to fight. Man at C&A: Mike, one of the Hercules C-130 pilots based in the Falkland Islands whilst I was there, does his best 'Man at C&A' pose to illustrate the clarity of light. Over beer and pizzas in the Officers' Mess one evening, I learned that Mike had been out in Iraq at the same time I was in 2004 and we ascertained that he'd flown me into Baghdad on at least one occasion, even if we didn't know it at the time. Low Pass Over Falkland Sound: I joined Mike and the crew of MPA's Hercules C-130 on several sorties, including a Martime Reconnaisance Patrol. All fishing within 200 nautical miles of the Falklands is subject to licensing by the Falkland Islands Government, but checks are made on some two-million square miles of ocean comprising the South Atlantic Overseas Territories to keep a check on illegal fishing vessels and maintain a military presence as far south as the South Sandwich Islands and Southern Thule. The fishery now generates over £20 million per annum in licence fees, roughly half of government revenue and the total cost to the Falkland Islands Government (FIG)of managing and protecting the fishery is approximately £5 million p.a. The Islands have received no economic aid from Britain since 1992 and are now self-sufficient in all areas except defence (a large element of the Falklands defence budget covers salaries which would be payable regardless). Southern Point: a rock outcrop on Sea Lion Island colonised by Cormorants. On a weekend off, Mel and I blagged a ride on a military helicopter to Sea Lion Island with the resident MoD Conservation Protection Officer. The Falkland Islands are famed for their birdlife and sea mammals, and nowhere is this more apparent than on Sea Lion. In every direction there were penguins, geese, ducks, gulls and moorland birds by the hundreds of thousands, with the beaches full of sealions and huge elephant seals. One of a Pair: A Striated Carcara, one of the world's rarest birds of prey and a species indigenous to the Falkland Islands. The birds, like most wildlife there, are relatively tame, having no reason to fear the tiny population on the islands. The Tip of the Iceberg: Ice floes in the South Atlantic near to the South Sandwich Islands, as viewed from the flight deck of the Hercules C-130 which makes regular resupply drops to the islands. I felt enormously privileged to have been paid to visit the Falkland Islands. The South Atlantic is one of the last great unpoilt areas on earth and is gaining popularity as a tourist destination where tours cost upwards of £5000 per person. We saw whales and dophins, flew in a variety of military aircraft, and saw unique geological phenomena (like rivers of rock) unike those found anywhere else in the world. At MPA, the military has in one place all of the assets which in the UK are spread the length and breadth of the country. I spent a week there, but I could have spent a month and still not covered everything. There's a wonderful sense of esprit de corps amongst the personnel stationed there, and we were embraced by our hosts in the Mess and made to feel extraordinarily welcome. Star Spangled Banner: I arrived back in London on the 9th and a week later, flew off to the U.S on first of what turned out to be four seperate trips there in 2005. My parents have a house in Cajun country, Louisiana and I have a brother who lives in Oklahoma. The trip was an opportunity for us to meet up for the first time in 2 years. Man's Best Friend: Lee, one of my parents' friends, and his dog look out over the water on land owned by Lee and his wife Tina. I attended several 'Crawfish Cookouts' and got a comprehensive education into all things Cajun. Street Life: Street signs in the Canal Street district of New Orleans on a blisteringly hot day. This was my second visit to New Orleans and it was just as I remembered; a normal, bustling, vibrant city. Sadly, just five months later, the devastated city lay under water, after Hurricane Katrina visited the worst natural disaster in the U.S' history upon it. Brownstone: Tenement buildings painted in different hues, bordering the French Quater in New Orleans. Behind the Badge: Unable to go anywhere without my journalists' curiosity rising to the surface, I arranged to spend some time on patrol with the local police department to get an insight into law enforcement, U.S style. APRIL 2005 I spent the first week of April kicking back and enjoying some quality time with my parents and brother, reunited as a family of four on hoiday for the first time since we were kids. We drank beer, read, ate too much, went on road trips and generally had fun. I almost didn't make it home though, after my Prince Albert set off an alarm at airport security and an over-officious TSA officer refused to let me board the aircraft. I eventually got home on the 9th, returning to more outstanding commissions that needed writing up and a couple of lunch meetings with editors. Cat Napped: Katya, one of our two Russian Blues, shows just what I miss most whenever I'm away from home - normality, and all that it encompasses. I love this image for the indignant look on her face and the absurdity of it all; my wife was sat on the sofa beside me reading the day's paper one evening in the week after I returned, when Katya crept underneath it and settled down with just her head peering over. She made herself comfortable and sat like that for about half and hour. Daughter A had an inset day on the 21st, a gorgeous sunny day, so I cleared the decks of work and took her to The Imperial War Museum, perhaps my most favourite of all of London's museums and galleries. We spent 8 hours there, visited all the exhibitions, inluding the one on Genocide, and came home tired but immensely moved. Finished the month with some more IT consulting. MAY 2005 A speculative phone call to a news agency editor at the tail end of April saw me in Soho on the 4th for a meeting over lunch. A pleasant lady, we got on well and shook hands at the end having agreed a deal to work with one another. A nice start to the month! An evening spent in a Soho pub with a motley collection of 20six bloggers on the evening of Friday 13th and some more I.T work for a local firm before a marathon couple of assignments mid-month. Top Gun: a member of the ground crew shields his face from the jet efflux of a departing Harrier aboard the Royal Navy's flagship aircraft carrier, somewhere in the North Sea.On the 24th, I sat back in the luxury of a first class carriage on a GNER express to an RAF base in Yorkshire, from where I was transferred by helicopter to spend three days on assingment aboard HMS Illustrious. Harrier GR7: An RAF Harrier GR7 parked at the end of Illustrious' newly-refurbished flight deck. I was welcomed aboard the ship's wardroom and given an in-depth look at operations aboard our Royal Navy's newly-refitted flagship. A visit to Flyco on the Bridge saw a look of pure delight etched across my face as I greeted with the words, "Hope you don't mind, I've arranged for you to undertake a sortie in a Harrier from Yeovilton with the Navy's Chief pilot later this year!". The Finished Article: What happens when the assignment's over, I've consulted my notes, edited my images and submitted them to my editor. The opening pages of my eight page feature as published late this year. A helicopter from the ship flew me back to Newcastle International Airport where I was met my a naval rating who drove me at high speed to the station just in time for me to catch the last express of the evening to Kings Cross and home. I had to be back in time; the following evening saw me back at RAF Brize Norton for a three day assignment taking in three countries. Dawn Flight: Boeing’s C-17A Globemaster III strategic heavy-lift transporter is one of the most modern and capable aircraft in the RAF’s inventory. Four have been leased from the U.S, with an end-of-lease purchase option, to provide Britain with a strategic airlift capability until the introduction of the Airbus A400M in 2011. The aircraft is a declared part of the U.K’s Joint Rapid Reaction Force and the RAF is currently the only European force which can offer outsize airlift assets from within its own inventory. The aircraft are flown out of RAF Brize Norton by 99 Squadron. An 02:00 alarm call saw me roused from my slumber after just two hours sleep and driven to 99 Squadron's crew room . There, I met with 'Spoons' and Ben, the pilots for our forthcoming sortie which I was joining as supernumerary crew. View from the Bridge: From my seat between the two pilots on the capacious flight deck, I had a perfect vantage point for proceedings, and plumbed in to the aircraft's comms, could couumicate with the crew and air traffic control. Flight Planning: On the ground in San Antonio, Texas ready for our next sortie to the Central American country of Belize, nestled between Guatemala and Mexico on the Caribbean coast. We'd landed in the U.S at 14:00 local the previous day and had the afternoon and evening at leisure in the city. A late night saw some sore heads the following morning, ready for our next sortie which, after some delays, took us to the Caribbean. Close Encounters: The cold, air conditioned cargo bay of the C-17 meets the humid air on the ground in Belize later that afternoon. Whilst the crew loaded the aircraft, a car was waiting for Spoons, Ben and myself immediately we left the flight deck, and whisked us off on the short journey to our luxury accommodation. Men at Work: No, really. This was work! Ben and myself sip cocktails in the pool at the Radisson SAS hotel, Belize just 90 minutes after shutting down the jet's engines. Several cocktails and a couple of hours later, all sense had been discarded and we were laughing like drains as we visited ever more devious practical jokes on one another. The evening was just as much fun! Not so the 06:00 alarm the following morning ready for our nest sortie to Bermuda. It's not all fun and games for the crew though. The aircraft’s capacity – and its range – means that for the bulk of the time, 99 Squadron’s taskings are for flights into Iraq and Afghanistan. When I joined them, however, they were midway through an upgrade program that meant flying the aircraft to the Boeing Facility at Kelly Field, in San Antonio, Texas. One of the Squadron’s aircraft had completed its upgrade and was awaiting collection from there; the one we were flying was to be left in situ for its upgrade over the next 55 days. On Finals for Berumda: Ben lines us up for a smooth landing in a crosswind on the sun-kissed island of Bermuda, a few hours after taking off from Belize. Globemaster: The C-17 on the ground in Bermuda. The guy in the flouresecent jacket at the rear of the aircraft (by the engine) gives some idea of its sheer size, making it the second largest transport aircraft in existence. Our departure from Bermuda was delayed as the aircraft displayed the first of many gremlins, having emerged from its 55day refit. The worst of these occurred mid-way across the Atlantic when I watched a full-scale emergency unfold on the flight deck as a spurious warning told us we had lost all fuel! Our subsequent later-than-planned return to the U.K saw us back at Brize Norton at 04:00 on Monday 30th. Spoons kindly offered me the guest room at his house in the Oxfordshire countryside so I grabbed a few hours sleep before heading home. Spent the evening with friends Nick and Eva and the girls at a National Trust 'hide' in Tewin, Herftodshire watching badgers feed. JUNE 2005 Hot Weather: The sun reflects through the glass monument at the National Police Memorial. Record-breaking weather wasn't wasted (bright and sunny all weekend in London and the South East with a high on Sunday 19th of 92deg. F) with P and I taking a train into the city on Saturday 18th. Designed by architect Norman Foster, the National Police Memorial is the brainchild of film director Michael Winner and was unveiled by the Queen in April. The marble and glass column contains a book with the names of 1,600 officers killed since 1900. The memorial represents the realisation of a dream for Michael Winner who has campaigned tirelessly for a permament reminder of the ultimate sacrifice made by our police ever since the death of WPc Yvonne Fletcher. The project was started by Winner, who donated over £500,000 of his own money to the £2.3m project. Animals in War: The momument in Park Lane honours all of the animals that have served and suffered in Britain's name through various conflicts and they are all there, depicted in bas relief upon the wall. From the horses, requisitioned from private owners in their millions to die upon continental battlefields, to the mules silenced for the Burmese jungle by having their vocal cords severed. The donkeys that collapsed under the weight of amumintion and the dogs that ripped their paws raw digging for survivors in the Blitz or had half their faces blown off searching for mines - but carried on to find more. They are all remembered - the camels and canaries, the elephants and oxen; the messenger pigeons that flew home bullet riddled and on one wing; and even the glow worms, by whose gentle light the soldiers read their maps in the First World War. Socrates said that bold actions done without knowledge aren't courageous. That if you don't know the nature of the horrors that face you, you're just foolhardy rather than brave in taking them on. He was wrong; that cool logic can't, doesn't apply to animals. For unlike the British soldiers to whose efforts they were so vital, animals were forced into battle. As the inscription says, they had no choice. They could also bolt at gunfire without fear of court-martial. Few did though. So regardless of whether their actions were foolhardly, or brave, there is no question that they were admirable. I'd been meaning to visit the memorial since it was unveiled late in 2004; we finally did so after visiting the Police Memorial. A lazy month otherwise, characterised for me by the usual silly season antics. Wimbledon, hot weather. Strawberries, the new series of Dr Who, Big Brother and not much work going on. Perfect. JULY 2005 Shooting Royalty: HRH Prince Andrew, the Duke of York gets into the driving seat of his Jaguar, RAF Northolt, 5th July. I'd joined 32 (the Royal) Squadron and was accommodated in the Officers' Mess from 4th-8th as I joined them on several sorties. On the morning of the 4th, we flew Prince Andrew to Humberside, returning to London to collect the PM's entourage who we then ferried to Dundee for the G8 summit. Back to Dundee to collect the Prince who we then flew back to London. It's All Foreign to Me: The Right Honourable John 'Jack' Whittaker Straw, MP (left) the UK's Foreign Secretary since 2001. Back at Northolt, the aircraft 'slipped' crews and we were joined by Jack Straw and his entourage who we flew to Strasbourg, France for the night. I interviewed the Foreign Sec in his cabin on the way over, and we then made for our hotel. The following morning was the 6th and we had the morning at leisure whilst Jack Straw made a speech at the European Parliament. Whilst we were waiting, the announcement was made that London had won the Olympic Games in 2012 and the Foreign Secretary returned to the aircraft beaming. The atmosphere on the flight back was one of sheer joy and celebration.Spent the night with the station's officers decorating the mess for the forthcoming summer ball. Tony Blair: The following morning, which will be forever known as 7/7, unfolded in a way none of us could have envisaged as London fell victim to four suicide bombers. I found myself in the eye of a storm of military efficiency with the arrival at Northolt of several of those responsible for Britain's response to the terrorists' threat - first, Tony Blair, en-route from the G8 conference, followed by General Sir Michael Walker, the Chief of the Defence Staff . Surrounded as I was by close protection officers, armed police and soldiers - and amidst enough guns and weaponry to start a war, I felt frustratingly detached from events, even though I was there at the heart of the Government's response. I wasn't due to return until the 8th, but cut short my stay at Northolt to fight my way home. My wife had narrowly missed the train from Kings Cross that was blown up, and had been stuck at the station having missed it. She walked to work and then walked most of the way home that evening as the tranpsport network was shut down. I was due to fly to Bosnia on the 11th and 12th with the Foreign Secretary, but the security situation in the immediate aftermath of 7/7 put paid to that. London Stands United: Into central London just a week later on Thursday 14th for the London United vigil which I covered for the agency. As Big Ben struck 12, it was if somebody had pulled the plug on the capital. As noon fell, the city stopped. It takes a lot to stop the traffic at King's Cross. The roads around the London railway station are rarely empty and tailbacks at 2am are not unknown. But yesterday changed that. Drivers got out of their cars and stood in the road. Buses stopped mid-journey. Commuters in the capital's stations stopped where they were, trains halted across the network, and at Heathrow, take offs and landing were suspended; airlines delayed requesting engine starts. The Queen stood silent and alone in the courtyard at Buckingham Palace, Tony Blair stood in the garden at Number 10 flanked by police officers; Ken Livingstone stood amidst the crowds at Trafalgar Square and right across the city, life came to a halt; the only sound in the centre of the capital was silence. Across Britain, the same scene was played out, and it was the same across the globe; 12000 British troops in Basra stood silent and still; people in cities across Europe joined in unity. London Fights Back: If the morning was the time for remembering, the evening was when London fought back - over 50,000 people came together in Trafalgar Square to show their defiance of the terrorist attacks in the capital. This was London at its best, Londoners from every culture, every class, every religion and every creed. Mayor Ken Livingstone spoke passionately, his voice breaking in an emotive speech to those assembled. He opened the way for a series of prominent Londoners, drawn from every aspect of the media, the emergency services, politics and religion, to pay tribute to the victims, those who worked so tirelessly to save them, and to London through a series of readings and poems. Leaders of the Sikh, Muslim, Jewish, Hindu and Christian communities stood side by side and London listened. The atmosphere was electric, the power from the crowd almost physical. Stood in the press pack erected at the front, I could feel the weight of emotion emanating from the tens of thousands of people behind me. But this was no crowd of mourning; this was London at its proud, confident, defiant best. Poet Nii Parkes summed up the mood in one of his poems - "Defiance is a four letter word, spelt with a finger. We Are Not Afraid: It'll take more than bombs to cow us. Not for us the way of the Spanish, throwing out their government and pulling their troops out of Iraq in the aftermath of the Madrid train bombs. Sure, bombs are indiscriminate, but they are remote - they destroy the lives of those involved, but they serve only to strengthen the resolve of everyone else. While others mourn, we're left to carry on as before, our daily routine serving as our collective defiance. Brave? Those killed weren't brave, they were unlucky. And those of us uninvolved aren't stoic, either - that's just a label that seems to fit. What we want, what we've done, is to carry on, working round the hiccup that the terrorists visited upon us. As trees absorb CO2 and give off oxygen, so the stone walls of London's buildings absorb our collective hysteria and exhale calm. The language of London is understatement. It's what we do best, and it's the complete antithesis of terror. So, that'll be London 1, terrorists nil, then. Again. Over to Heathrow Airport on the 19th for a lunch meeting with a new PR contact at British Airways to discuss story ideas. A successful meeting with a positive outcome. Picnic in the Park: Nick's wife, Eva and myself enjoying a glass of wine and a picnic in the garden at Shaw's Corner. Had a most idyllic day on the 23rd when the four of us drove to the Hertfordshire village of Ayot St. Lawrence. We loaded the car with a picnic consisting of wine, complete with glasses, food, blankets and nibbles, together with four camping chairs and headed off to Shaw's Corner, the Edwardian villa that was home to George Bernard Shaw from 1906 until his death in 1950, picnic and chairs in-hand. The reason for our visit was an open air performance in the villa's grounds of Shaw's play, Misalliance. We made ourselves comfortable in the garden and spread our food out in front of us, as us, and about 250 others poured ourselves wine, Champagne, or whatever else took our fancy. AUGUST 2005 Red Cap: On the 2nd, I caught a train to Upavon in Wiltshire where I was met by this woman - Major Nadine Heron, RMP, MBE, 37. She's great fun, with a wicked sense of humour and is clearly destined for great things in the Army. I was there to interview her for a feature I'd been commissioned to write by one of the womens' magazines about women in the armed forces. Nadine was commissioned to the Royal Military Police and in 2003 was awarded MBE for her role in regenerating the Iraqi Police force in Basra during Operation Telic. With just 67 men under her command, and working with minimal infrastructure, she became Basra's Chief of Police overnight and within six weeks, had overseen the building of six new police stations, the appointment and training of locally-recruited police officers and the drawing up of a new legal and judicial structure including prisons and judges. General Orders: Brigadier Jean Dowson pictured at the MoD in Whitehall where I interviewed her on Friday 5th. Until recently, Jean was the most senior female officer in any of Britain's services - her rank is equivalent to that of a one-star general. Her's is a tri-service appointment encompassing responsibility for pay and conditions across the Army, Royal Navy and Royal Air Force and as you might expect, she's a sharp, capable and immensely likeable woman. Flying High: Later in the month, I also interviewed Flight Lieutenant Kat Ferris (right), a Weapons System Officer with the RAF flying Tornado F3s. Wednesday August 10th is one I'll remember for a while; I collapsed in pain and was rushed to hospital by ambulance after an utterly debilitating attack of sciatica which had me laid up for most of the month. Once back home, I was unable to move for over a week and recall little except frustration, pain and boredom. My 2nd blog anniversary on the 12th hardly seems worth mentioning. To add insult to injury, I had a motorcycle delivered for review by BMW on that day that I was unable to even think about riding until the 30th of the month. Space Age Space: The entrance foyer at the all-new five star Cumberland Hotel, newly reopened after a £95million refit. P and I spent the weekend of the 27th there and I have to admit, my first impressions were favourable. They were soon replaced though after scratching more than skin deep revealed a litany of errors, disasters and rude or unacceptable service. Not somewhere I would reccommend; I gave it a negative review in all aspects except aestethics. If It Had Wings, It'd Fly: BMW's £10,500 all-singing, all-dancing K1200RT sports tourer, which had sat idel outside my door since the 12th. The 30th proved something of a red letter day for me, being my first time back on two wheels for almost two years. I don't know why I was worried, though - it's like they say, it was just like riding a bike! Down and Dirty Fun: I was supposed to have one of these delivered at the end of August too, but given I'd only just ridden the R1200RT, there was little point, so I arranged to defer this one until 2006 and kept the R12 until 12th September. Both bikes have the same engine and suspension; both designed for utterly different roles, though. As an all-rounder, this one's predecessor was all but unbeatable. SEPTEMBER 2005 Possibly one of my busiest months this year; it had been hanging over me whilst I was laid up with sciatica like the sword of damocles; three major assignments all of which I needed to be fit for. Somehow, I was and so, on Sunday 11th, my friend and photographer Nick drove down to me and we set off together for RNAS Yeovilton and my date with a Harrier. Spent the first week writing solidy for the new news agency contract and on a gorgeous sunny friday (8th), had a memorable ride into London on the R1200 to pick up preview copies of the magazine from my editor. Top Gun II - The Sequel: Ready for action, dressed in flight suit and standing proudly beside the Sea Harrier T8 with Commander Henry Mitchell, RN - a man more colloquially known as Commander SHAR (SeaHARrier). Nick and I booked into the wardroom at HMS Heron, Yeovilton on the evening of Sunday 11th and had a quiet night. I was silently fighting my demons and fearing the forthcoming Harrier sortie, which was to be my third in a fast jet. With the previous two leaving me feeling decidedly ill, I was under no illusions! Positive Rate of Climb: The Harrier T8 leaves the runway at Yeovilton in a vertical climb. The heat haze from the 21,500lbs of thrust generated by the single Pegasus engine is clearly visible. Fast and Low: Self portrait at low level somewhere over Devon. Flying a loop in the Tornado F3 was a buzz; so was riding shotgun at low level over the Lake District in a Hawk. This though, is a buzz on a different level because whilst I've flown low level in fast jets before, it's been as a passenger - this is flying by my own hand, at 450 knots, just 250 feet above the valley floor which rises and falls beneath me. It take immense concentration, with no margin for error, but the feeling is indescribable. I feel like I'm in the zone, my mind focused on the data that the HUD projects into infinity over the vista visible through my cockpit windscreen. My subsoncious calculates, my hand making minute adjustments on the stick to take us up, over obstacles, down again, right this way, hard left here. If the mic wasn't still on and my words audible to Henry, I'd be babbling like a baby, so immense is my joy. In the Navy: Er...not quite. The high gloss black paint scheme is a feature of all the MoD's training aircraft now as it's supposed to be highly visible. I don't know about that, but it acts as a useful mirror for teasing helmet hair back into something more akin to a presentable shape! I thank Henry for the manner in which he has conducted the sortie. I have no idea whether it's something he has done, or whether perhaps I've adapted, but the effect is the same; I feel exactly the same as before we took off, no nausea, no flight suit drenched in perspiration, no clammy skin. There's no fatigue, either, none of the all-conmsuming tiredness which has washed over me after previous flights. He's modesty itself, the consumate officer and gentleman. An Officer and a Lady: Lt. Polly Robinson, RN. I'd planned on interviewing this lady in connection with my commission on women in the armed forces long before I realised she was based just over the road from RNAS Yeovilton, based in fact in the wardroom where Nick and I had stayed the night before. So it was no great hardship, having landed from the fast jet sortie of a lifetime, to change into smart clothes, put my journalist's head on, and head off to interview her. She's the only female member of the Royal Navy's Polar Quest pole-to-pole expeditionary team. She's delightful, utterly charming company as I talk with her and Nick wanders about us, taking pix. Two hours later, we bid her farewell and make the drive back to London and home. Nick's sleeping over as we both have to fly out of Heathrow the following day on seperate assignments, so we grab a Chinese take away on the way back and sit eating, drinking beer, and working through photos from the previous day. Oh, and celebrating our clinching the Ashes in textbook fashion! Express Service: I should have bought a season ticket for this train service: God knows I used it enough times in 2005. After just a few hours at home, I'm on the Heathrow Express on the afternoon of the 13th, bound for South Africa on a press trip with British Airways. If there's a nicer way to travel than by Club World to South Africa, I've yet to discover it. You take off at 19:00 and a short time out, you're served dinner (Loch Fyne Smoked Salmon, followed by steak on the way out). A short time after coffee, the lights are dimmed and you can slide your seat back into a 6ft flat bed, don an eye mask and blanket and wait for sleep to come. Six hours later, you're woken up with a hot towel, served organge juice, coffee and a full English breakfast and an hour or so later, you touch down in Africa's early morning sunshine, just one hour ahead of the time zone you departed. You're ready to face the day. Street Life, Alex-Style: Alex, just outside of Jo'burg, is the sister township to Soweto. But Soweto is like Mayfair compared to Alexandra, an upside-down world where cholera and Aids, domestic violence and child abuse are rife. One in two adults is unemployed, one in four is HIV-positive and more than 90 per cent of children live with physical or sexual abuse. Here is a town whose perimeters are clearly visible from the first floor balcony of the police station, but where more than 1 million people live in abject poverty, most of them in hand-built 'shacks'. The corrugated iron flat roofs are constructed from whatever is laying around, weighted down with rocks, dirt, broken chairs and the detritus of the community to protect against the winds blowing off the Transvaal. Here is where the children run barefoot, some clothed, some not; where outside abbatoirs carve up sheep, goat and cow heads for the 'meat' in appalling conditions, surrounded by flies, in unsanitary, stinking conditions. "I Don't Care What You Say, I'm Not Wearing It!": Arsenal fan and UK High Commissioner to South Africa, Paul Boateng receives a signed Charlton shirt from club chairman Martin Simons, whilst Met Police Borough Commander Ch. Supt. Ian Thomas looks on. The reason for our visit was to see at first hand the results of a joint partnership between Charlton, the Met Police and British Airways, all of whom had contributed significantly to improving conditions in the township of Alex. In a pioneering scheme, Charlton trained local adults to Football Association Level 1 coaching standard, and through football coaching, reached out to impoverished local children. Red Cube Girls: The dichotomy that is life in Africa was never highlighted more than by the abject luxury of the hotel we were staying in, the Melrose Arch, which is widely regarded as one of the best in Africa. It's situated within an exclusive gated community and evenings were spent by the poolisde bar, basking in temperatures of 90degrees. Gabby, Vanessa, Alexi, Kate and Sophie (above) all work locally in PR. They fill me in on life locally, the privileged existence they lead as young, beautiful and wealthy white South Africans. Men at C&A: Geraint (L) from the BBC, Jay from British Airways and Tony, Geraint's cameraman, all pose in catalogue style on our final evening in Jo'burg. Press trips like these are the best element of my job - thrown together with strangers whom you share life-changing experiences with. As a group, all of us on this trip forged a bond but one of my happiest memories is of the final day that Tony and I spent basking in summer sun, poolside at Melrose Arch. We traded experiences, laughed and talked like old mates. Of all the things I've done, the places I've been and the people I've met this year, none stand so prominent as these seven days in September. Sometimes everything conspires in life to make things go wrong, and sometimes the polar opposite occurs. This week was one of those opposites. The weather didn't have to be perfect when I flew the Harrier, but it was, the epitome of a late summer's day. I didn't have to do it to the backdrop of England taking the ashes back from Australia at the Oval (Nice one, Shane!) but fate dictated that that was the way things would play out. I didn't have to exorcise my demons and enjoy pulling 6 Gs in a turn, feeling overcome with self-confidence, but those were the emotions I felt. And I didn't have to drive off immediately afterwards to interview a beautiful and alluring female officer, but that's what happened. To have it all capped by the most memorable trip to a beautiful and alluring land in late summer, with a perfect group of people - that was the icing on the cake. Undoudtedly, the highlight of the year. We arrived back in London on Saturday morning, the 17th and the following week, I'd hardly caught my breath when I was headed north on another train, for another assignment. This time, to cover a live-fire exercise by British forces in the Lake District. "A Section, close on me!": Flight Commander, Flying Officer Steve Turner of the RAF Regiment takes command at Warcop Live Fire camp, Cumbria. Warcop is situated a few miles from Appleby in Westmoreland, Cumbria and encompasses a series of ridges, gulleys, high and low fells over an area in excess of 24,000 acres. It's the military's main training area for live firing and the high fells act as a natural backstop allowing the use of everything from personal weapons through to more heavyweight stuff such as mortars, grenades, anti-tank weapons and even tanks. "Take Cover!": A soldier runs for cover in the advance during a flight level attack. I'd been shot at in Iraq, but that was by insurgents; this was the first time I'd been in close contact with British forces firing live rounds past my shoulder! Grenade!: A soldier contemplates the pin on a live L2A1 HE grenade shortly before throwing it. The resulting explosions shook the earth under our feet, but there was no time to stop and wander - we had to move forward in the advance, more live rounds zinging past my head. Run Silent, Run Deep: Just a few days after my return from Cumbria I had an 04:40 taxi booked to whisk me to Heathrow airport and a flight to Gibraltar. Afer staying overnight at a hotel, I was collected on the morning of the 28th to embark upon HMS Trenchant, one of the Royal Navy's most advanced hunter-killer nuclear attack submarines. Up Periscope: Trenchant's XO, Lt. Commander Mark Thompson, looks through the periscope below the waters of the North Atlantic. We set sail from Gibraltar in bright sunshine and calm seas on the morning of the 28th and I watched land fade from the Bridge before diving for the three day journey back to Devonport. OCTOBER 2005 Fly the Ensign!: My first sight of blue sky and fresh air in three days as we sail towards Devonport on the afternoon of Saturday, 1st May. I was allowed to surface the boat some 200 miles out the previous evening; sadly it was into a sea state 6-7 and the final hours on the run to home caused much sickness amongst the crew! Land Ahoy: Alongside at Devonport, the view through the main hatch through which all ratings pass to embark or disembark. Although I'd been allowed unrestricted access to the Bridge when surfaced, most ratings won't see daylight from the point they embark until they reach land at the very end of a mission, which could be as long as 104 days. Fighter Leader: Squadron Leader Clive Rowley, MBE, OC of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight. I was there to spend the day with the flight, custodians and pilots of, amongst others, the RAF's remaining Spitfires, Hurricanes and Lancasters. Bandits at 2 O'Clock: A Spitfire and a Hurricane of the BBMF in flight over the South Downs. “Most pilots have read books by WWII fighter pilots”, Clive says. “They all talked about the Spitfire being responsive, their being so in tune with it that they only had to think it and the aircraft responded. And that’s exactly what it’s like – it’s the most satisfying, beautiful, accomplished and dynamic aircraft there is to fly. It’s like your brain is connected to the aircraft. By comparison, the Hurricane is just a biplane without its top wing!” And to think, these guys get paid to fly these aircraft?! Managed to collect three points and a £60 fine for speeding on the drive back from the BBMF headquarters - annoyingly, courtesy of an unmarked, 'civil partnership' van on an open stretch of the A1. Spent the following week at home, with a raft of writing assignments. Lunch with a girlfriend on the afternoon of Friday 14th, and I got home to an email from my editor at the new news agency asking me to fly to Spain the following week! A Place in the Sun: Another aspect of my job that I'll never tire of - trips to places like this, at someone else's expense, swapping the cold, grey and wet skies of England in Autumn or Winter, for mercury-busting temperatures and windless days such as this one. Southern Spain, where I spent the 20th and 21st, on another press trip with another great group of people. Peace and Tranquility: Another luxury hotel, this time in the historical city of Cartagena. Each trip heralds something different though, a new perspective or an education in something that previously existed only on the periphery of my mind. This one was all about the British migration to Southern Spain and golf resorts, such as the huge development of the Murcia region by companies such as Polaris World. Back home on the night of Friday 21st and a quiet weekend at home. Spent the day of Monday 24th in York with my wife. A quiet week at home followed by lunch on the 31st with a contact from the Royal Navy to discuss future story ideas. NOVEMBER 2005 Lunch with another editor on the 1st, followed by a night out in London with my mates Ian and Steve. The first half of November seemed to be taken up with preparation for forthcoming trips, both of which came out of the blue. One from BA - to India, and another, which arose through the press contact I met on the Spain trip, to Japan. Both of these would buttress a two week holiday to the U.S. Shure Thing: A pleasant interlude saw the delivery of these fantastic in-ear monitors from Shure - their E4Cs. Retailing at around £200, or almost as much as an iPod, you can't begin to imagine the difference these make to the audio quality from your MP3 player. They reduce external noise by around 30db and produce incredible clarity - there is quite simply nothing else on the market that even comes close. Self Portrait at Home, a few Days Before My 38th Birthday: Spent the 19th (Saturday) as my 'proper' birthday with the perfect night out in London. Got a new iPod video from P, which proved invaluable on my subsequent trips loaded with a host of TV programs and films. Now, if I could just find a way to extend the battery life... Bombay Dreams: A flight to Bangalore, India on the 22nd. Tired, wrung out and moving in slow motion, eleven or so journalists moved through a host of back to back meetings with various I.T companies in Bangalore, the hub of India's burgeoning computer industry. The Gardener: A local woman tends the gardens at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, scene of the funniest moment of the trip when the Dean of the university, an eminent master of physics, was defeated by a simple 'push' swing door. The trip was once again memorable for taking me to a country I'd always dreamed of visiting, experiencing new things, and sharing them with an entertaining and vibrant group of people. Made several new contacts, too. Returned to London on the 25th and in the early morning of the 27th, flew out to Houston for my third trip to the U.S. At my parents' house for just 2 days before catching the first of two flights to Japan. Welcome to Tokyo - Five Days in Japan: The gate to the main temple at the Meiji Jingu Shrine, Shinjuku. The 15 hour flight from Houston to Narita took me westwards, over the International Date Line for the first time, and introduced me to the delights of a plus 15 hour time difference. Lost in Translation: The view from the Peak Lounge, the bar on the 41st floor of the Park Hyatt Hotel in Shinjuku. I fell in love with the city from here. As if everything else I'd experienced on the trip wasn't enough, this view - with the vibrant, non-stop energy of the city sprawled far beneath me - made me feel like I was sitting on an island of tranquillity. Good company and a perfect Martini helped. Blade Runner: Night time Tokyo looks like every cliche you ever heard about the place, and yes, the comparisons with the seminal film 'Blade Runner' can't be helped. It's a neon paradise and the young population who frequent the streets look like extras from a stylish film. DECEMBER 2005 December is supposed to be quiet, a time for me to build contacts, network at the season's numerous media parties. Yet the 1st saw me on the opposite side of the world with home almost two weeks away. Shibuyu Crossing: One of the most famous places in Tokyo. Word has obviously got round going by the number of people who cross, flooding seemingly from nowhere, everytime the lights stop the traffic. I love Tokyo; I soooo want to go back. Flew back to the U.S on Monday 5th December, a day that thanks to the vagaries of the International Date Line, I got to live in its entirety twice over. Undoubted highlight of that trip to the U.S was being invited to deliver a lecture on journalism to students at the local high school on the 8th. An inspiring, and rewarding experience which seemed to go down as well with the faculty staff and students. New Passport Please: I'm proud of my passport; it's just two years old, but it's tattered, dog eared, and bears the stamps and visas of a multitude of exotic places like a visual record of my life and the roads I've travelled. Finally arrived home, exhausted but happy, on the 12th. Received a new 500Gb hard drive for review the next day (that's half a terabyte, fact fans!) and thereafter, set about writing and delivering the last of the year's work - a 2000 word illustrated feature for the magazine, and 18 short stories for the news agency. With the delivery of those, I shut the door on work for 2005 and set about getting into the mood for Christmas through the first of several nights out. I love travelling - but it's great to be home! And so, professionally, this year both started and ended for me the same as every other; I had no idea what it would bring work-wise and other than a few ideas for potential features, had no inspiration as to what direction things would take or what countries, if any I would visit. As then, so it is now. As 2003 segued to 2004, and as 2004 ushered in 2005, I never dreamed that the years could pan out the way in which they did for me. I've done some things this year which will once again stand out as waypoints in my life, created memories which will live with me always. As ever though, it's the love and support of those closest to me which defines all and shines like a beacon through the mist of my future, illuminating the way ahead. I know little of what awaits in 2006 but then, that's half the fun. I hope that 2006 proves to be a happy and prosperous year for all my readers - and thank you for supporting my blog; thanks too for the countless comments and emails over the past twelve months. A Happy New Year to you all.
A PHOTO-JOURNAL: TWELVE MONTHS of THIS LIFE IN PICTURES - 2005
30.12.05 13:56
Latest entries: Still Here
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pixeldiva / Website (30.12.05 15:32) Wow. ... and I thought I'd had an eventful year. Here's to 2006 being even better than 2005 clearly was for you. Hope you had a good Christmas and have a fabulous New Year. |
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(30.12.05 15:48) PixelDiva: Thank you; and thanks for your support throughout 2005. Hope 2006 proves healthy, prosperous and successsful for you. |
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(30.12.05 21:16) I've just had a quick scroll through this entry and will settle down for a longer read, and look, at the weekend. It's a great selection of photos. I love the cat one ! Looking at them brought back a few memories for the year that's for sure. I hope that 2006 proves to be all you wish for and a peaceful one for all of us. Have a very Happy New Year and Cheers ! |
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(30.12.05 21:33) That was probably the longest post I've ever had to wait for to load! I love the pictures as usual(especially the one with your parents' friend and his dog), it looks like you had one very eventful year. 2005 was a bit shabby for us in general, a lot of ups and downs but what's the high without the low? 2006 will ultimately be bigger, better and brighter for all of us (I say this because 6 is my lucky number...) Have a good New Years... I'll be spending the week skiing in Sweden in about 6 hours time :D |
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(30.12.05 22:05) Not sure how you will top that next year, but I'm sure you'll be trying. Best wishes for 2006 BR |
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(30.12.05 23:17) FlightBuff: Thanks, fella. That one of Katya is one of my favourites too - aside from the absurdity of it (and the fact I had my camera to hand), it reminds me of all that I most miss when I'm away. Happy and properous New Year to you, too - and thanks for sticking around over the past year. |
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(30.12.05 23:21) Rawr: Apologies for the long load time, hon - there are a lot of images there, and even at the small file size per image, they add up to over 5.5Mb! Hope 2006 is a really good one for you, and sees all your wishes come true. Thank you too for your continued support of my blog; always welcome your comments. Hope you enjoy Sweden, too - bring us back some great pictures, eh? xx |
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(30.12.05 23:22) Steve: Nice to see you still around, fella - let's try and meet up again in 2006? Best wishes to you and yours for the forthcoming year. |
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Matt / Website (31.12.05 00:01) Well, you've certainly had a good year haven't you! Or at least a busy one. I don't recall you talking about the Shure E4C headphones originally, so I'll comment on them here. I've seen very good reviews of them, and I have a pair of E2Cs (retailing at about £65, and the entry-level for that company) which are still absolutely fantastic. I can barely comprehend what the E4Cs must be like. Which is good, because it means I won't be tempted to buy them. Still, even though you had such a good year, I got one dream fulfilled: a fully funded PhD place at my chosen University. Now if only I could wrangle my project into something I think I can stay interested in for the next three and a half years... Happy new year! |
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Matt / Website (31.12.05 00:04) Oh and I should mention, thankyou for posting this! So many memories come back. Particularly standout moments from your blogging this year I think would be your ride in a Harrier, the periods on the nuclear submarine and HMS Illustrious, your trip to the Falklands, and getting your brother arrested by the local PD in America. Why the latter? Because one of my friends in the police here did it to me! Although there were no firearms officers involved, and we didn't get as far as the custody suit. Handcuffs still hurt though! |
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(31.12.05 00:04) Matt: Cheers, Matt and thanks for reading. And well done on the funding; that's a real result and not something that comes along every day! Nice work. Oh, and best you don't try out a pair of E4Cs...they really are something else, and your bank manager probably wouldn't thank me for suggesting them to you! All the best for 2006, and best of luck with that PhD! |
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(31.12.05 00:09) Matt: Don't mention it - it's always enjoyable revisiting the previous 52 weeks and trying to filter them down into one post. Yeah, my brother and I still laugh about the day I got him arrested! And as an ex-cop myself, I know just how painful handcuffs can be! High points for me were the week of the Harrier and the trip to South Africa - rarely do such things happen on their own, let alone back to back. Everything conspired to make them right. The Falkands, Japan and my trip on the submarine also stand out for me. Got some irons in the fire for next year that might yet surpass them, but at this stage, who knows?! |
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Andy N (31.12.05 14:06) BR Many thanks for taking the time to share your experiences with all of us and make it an entertaining year. As pixeldiva says, I thought that my year was eventful! Good luck for 2006. Andy |
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(31.12.05 14:19) Hey Blackrat, good to see someone else who has travelled almost as much as me this year  You've had some great experiences, the BBMF still stands out to me though, we all grow up reading about those planes, building airfix models and hurtling them at whichever unfortunate sap had a bf109. Then you get to go see the real thing, awesome. Nice to hear from someone who has used those Shure's too, I'd noticed them on the apple site, and they sounded like they'd be good, but its much better to hear first hand. Have a great 2006 mate... Pete |
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(31.12.05 19:07) Andy: Thanks for reading, and all the best for 2006 to you too. Hope to see you around next year. |
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(31.12.05 19:14) Pete: I'll be uploading the feature I wrote on the BBMF with pictures early in January, so keep a look out if you're interested. Clive Rowley, the guy in command of the squadron has never had a ground tour in all his RAF career and has amassed over 7000 flying hours on all figthers from the Lightnings through to the Tornados, but he still says the Spitfire is his favourite to fly. Imagine that for a job - what a privilege! The Shures are well worth checking out if you get the chance - sonically, there's nothing to touch them. They originated as professional monitors for musicians to use on stage but then they discovered that said musicians were using them on tour buses and the like to kick back and listen to their own music players during down time. So they simply packaged them for the consumer and overnight, doubled their market. Nice move. You can tell the quality from the thickness of the cable and the way they're put together - and obviously, something that costs almost as much as the iPod Video is going to be that much better at its job than the cheap rubbish that Apple supply when you buy it. All the best, fella - thanks for your continued support this year, and all best wishes for a successful 2006 (assuming we're all still around when 20six visits its changes upon us)! |
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(31.12.05 19:23) I'll be watching out for it Blackrat, for sure, he certainly has an awesome job, I liked lightnings too, they were great planes, although nothing has such personality like spitfires. Such a lukcy guy! I've used some Shure microphones and things before and was impressed by the quality, we use them at the church for the mic's, but never used their monitors. As you say, marketing genius to sell them to consumers too... Thanks for the wishes, whatever happens with 20six, I reckon this community will still be about for a long time yet! Enjoy your night! |
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(31.12.05 19:29) The BBMF feature will get the year off to a flying start. I'm looking forward to it. (It also means an easy entry for me afterwards with a few words and a link to you) |
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(31.12.05 19:33) Pete: Fingers crossed with 2006; I'm still not happy with what I've heard but I've too much invested here to consider moving unless things are really bad (i.e., like none of my images display or something). If I have to go back and edit links in several hundered entries, or I lose all my favourites, I might as well just give up and start again somewhere else. And if we're losing the community page, it'll be a lot more difficult to keep up to date with everyone's entries. Still, I'm not going to pre-judge, so will wait and see what it's like once the move is made. |
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(31.12.05 19:35) FlightBuff: Easy entry for me too, come to think of it; January's always a tough month for blogging, should get me off to a flying start (pun intended!) as you say! |
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(31.12.05 21:51) HI! First of all congrats on such a fantastic blog, I hope 20six gives it the treatment it deserves. I won´t forget your kindness when you sent me the pics you took at Malvinas/Falklands, I still keep them, and it was moving to see one of those photos in this entry again. And finally, I wish you a wonderful 2006, as good and full of adventures and photos as this one! Please keep us posted if you decide to move somewhere else...we are all going to wait...but I am afraid we will have to...=( Anyway...HAPPY NEW YEAR from Argentina!!!! MJ |
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Matt / Website (31.12.05 22:08) Yes I think I'll avoid the Shure E4C, lest my bank balance get a nasty shock. Since I adore the sound from my E2Cs, I don't need to look around until they give in anyway - may it not be for a long time! One year in so far and the only concern is that I'm running out of wax guards. I'd forgotten you used to be a cop. I find it very hard to imagine wanting to give that up, but I guess that's because I want to get into it so much. Once I pass that hurdle (if I do), I can start thinking about leaving! Oh and the cuffs weren't painful until I said something unwise like 'oh that's not too bad...' I shall never say that again. |
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(1.1.06 01:05) Maria: Thank you for such lovely comments. And no need to thank me for those images I sent you - for me, one of the greatest tragedies is that for so long, Argentine mourners were prevented from travelling to that graveyard to grieve for those they had lost. It shames me that the residents of Goose Green campaigned against that cemetery being built where it is; they argued that they would find it offensive to have to view the graves of those they regarded as 'the enemy', but thankfully, British pressure saw them cave in and the cemetery was indeed built. It is, in my view, one of the most beautiful and tranquil places anywhere in the islands, a fitting resting place for brave warriors who fell fighting in a conflict that should never have occurred. My best wishes to you, and may 2006 bring you all that you wish for. Here's to a successful and prosperous New Year for us all. x |
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(1.1.06 01:09) Matt: Wax guards should be easy enough to get hold off via your local Shure distributor. I picked some up at Houston airport whilst waiting to fly out to Japan - 20 pairs of the yellow ones (the best by far IMHO) for $19, which I thought was pretty reasonable. Imagine you could get them via the internet if you get stuck. And it really wasn't terribly difficult walking away from the police after 12 years service, although it did feel strange the first time I left home afterwards minus my warrant card. My press card might not be quite as powerful, but it has its benefits! |
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(1.1.06 17:35) Oh you lucky, lucky man! I'm quite envious of all the travelling you've done. I've scrolled through the pictures but will go back and read it in a mo. Did you spend much time in Bermuda? I've been there several times as one of my sisters used to live there. I remember the first time we flew there, the pilot announced that Bermuda could be spotted to the right of the aircraft. I looked out and saw a tiny speck in the ocean and wondered how on earth such a huge aircraft was going to land on such a small island. But anyway, a very Happy New Year to you too! I wonder if it can top last year for you? xx |
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(1.1.06 17:44) Welshchick: We were supposed to spend a couple of days on Bermuda, but as is usual for the military, our mission changed at the eleventh hour when we were tasked with repatriating an urgent compassionate case from Belize. That meant a direct routing, with minimal time on the ground in Bermuda to take on fuel and supplies sufficent to get the fully laden aircraft back to the U.K asap. I know exactly what you mean about small islands and large aircraft though; had a similar experience landing at the old Kai Tak airport in Hong Kong; on finals, you actually watch the TVs on in apartment blocks lining the runway approach, so close were they to the aircraft's descent. That was one place I was always glad to feel terra firma! Wondering about 2006 myself, but then I seem to remember having the same thought this time last year. Whatever it brings, not knowing is half the fun! xx |
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Matt / Website (2.1.06 08:22) Ah well after twelve years' service it's bound to be easier to leave. And looking at what you're doing instead, I don't think there's any argument that it was the wrong decision for you! May 2006 bring you more interesting trips and assignments to blog about. Thankyou for sharing it with us; I feel greatly privileged to be able to come here and read your latest entry. Escapism, pure and simple. Bravo! |
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(2.1.06 17:33) Matt: Kudos to you for taking the time to read through the whole thing! That said though, thanks for the kind words; glad you enjoy reading and I'm grateful for the opportunities that give me the inspiration. |
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(3.1.06 10:36) Happy New Year fella! Obviously I don't want to name drop but I know 2 of the people you photographed from the RAF. My mate Gaz is walking Mr Straw out to his aircraft. Can you tell what a toss job it was by his face? I managed to crate him for that photo appearing in RAF magazine! I also know Kat from my first IOT Course. I'm glad you didn't know the connection before meeting her as there are quite a few tales of Cranwell I am happy to keep a lid on from you journo types! New Year's Resolution no 452: get a better camera! |
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(3.1.06 10:53) Tosh: Happy New Year to you too. Now what sort of a journo would I be if I went an interviewed people knowing only the barest of facts about them? Rule one of successful journalism - don't get caught out knowing less about your subject than anybody else. Rule two - If you want to retain the confidence of those within the military, use your disctretion when wrting copy and keep the really interesting stuff that you learn over beer in the Mess for talking about only with others who drink in the Mess. I shall look forward to talking about Kat, Gaz and a host of other people we both know over a beer when you get back ;-) |
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(3.1.06 11:43) Feel free to drop by when I take my newly formed post of OC Sh1tty Jobs at RAF Scampton when you do your piece on flying a red arrow! |
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(3.1.06 12:30) Tosh: Count on it! Best I book a night at the Mess now. When do you take up your post? |
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(3.1.06 13:24) Early Feb 06 (but I'm seeing if I can get a bit more leave in first). |
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(4.1.06 23:01) tosh: Cool, gives me something to work around, anyway. Going by that timetable, I'll be able to pick up the latest on Basra before I head out there at the beginning of March, if things run according to plan. |
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aidan / Website (5.1.06 17:40) a tour de force, a lifetime in a single year! thanks for sharing with all of us, you have really decided to live this life. may your adventures continue in 2006, truly i am amazed. |
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(5.1.06 18:29) Aidan: Nice to see you back, fella and thanks very much for the commments - much appreciated. I can't promise (or even hope) that 2006 will be anything like that, but I'll work hard to ensure it's anything remotely approaching dull. |
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Matt / Website (5.1.06 23:28) BLACKRAT: I had to pop back after our short discussion of earphones because I just read a brief article about Shure, who have unveiled the new E500 earphones. Triple drivers, this time (and I thought dual drivers in the E5C was a bit on the excessive side). The model number has a very good source: they cost $500. I don't think I'll be getting any. |
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(6.1.06 07:39) Matt: Interesting development, although I can't help but wonder how big the market really is for the E5C. Even the E4Cs were a niche product, being attractive to, or in reach of a small number of users. I can't believe the sonic difference between the ones I have and the 5Cs is going to be as dramatic as it wsa between the 4Cs and the standard iPod earphones. And most users don't even realise there's a problem with the standard earphones - certainly not enough that they'd consider spending $500 on replacements. I'll keep an open mind, but I suspect these are probably aimed at the pro market primarily. |
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Matt / Website (6.1.06 08:35) Yes, very probably. Some people do look at me oddly when I complain that the standard iPod earbuds are awful - but they are! |
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(6.1.06 08:51) Matt: I considered asking Shure for the E5s over the E4s, but there didn't seem to be any point and they seem to be pushing the E4s most as I guess that model is where their profits are. The E3s seem to shift easily enough, so they're moving a fair volume there, but the difficulty lies in convincing consumers to part with the liitle extra that the E4s cost. Sonically, I can't speak for the E3s - all I know is that the E4s are a world apart from anything else I've ever tried, inlcuding Sennheiser studio headphones costing double what these retail at. |
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