Twitter thingy

Not quite sure what to make of Twitter, but should have  a look.

CIEH going well, I think!

It's now May , so where did April go?

What a month!
I need a blog to capture my experiences, just in Valencia.
Photos and stories to come, including David Villa's goal for Valencia v Seville! Great game!
Unlike Boro at the moment! We're doomed!
All sorts going on at the moment!
Gardening, Spanish, Sailing, Stamps, Oh and work!
If I eventually manage to complete all of my projects at the moment, I will be able to boast the following;
Peter Samson B/A [Hons], M/A[ED]
Ok I am showing off with that! But!, do I care?!
SLC. SLCNF, E-Guide, ALC, A1 Assessor, eCPD thingy!
What does it all mean!?

E-Guides Conference March 2009

Chris and I returned to the home of Robin Hood and the same venue , where 2 years ago, a group of Bandits robbed our car and stole our Levis!
Well at least this time we came away with the Booty!
I was 'Highly Commended' for the Tony Burgess E-Guide award. Having met Tony 2 years ago up in Middlesbrough, I think this made the award even more special.
As usual we were involved with our group asking questions and nattering away, to the point where I nearly missed my presentation!

Very embarrassing!

Where did March go?

Oh that's right , I know, into the SLCNF Networks.
What a month and it's not over yet!

It started off in Warwick, 3 days training;
Then to Branston near Burton upon Trent, [Nice Pickle!]
Then to RAF Cosford, Telford, East Midlands.
Nottingham, West Midlands,
St. Helens, Merseyside,
York College and on to the most amazing Conference Centre in America Square, London.

Nearly there!
The last of the six is at the Life Centre in Geordieland, next Monday.
I must admit that I have enjoyed the experience.

Looking forward to the Summer Networks in June!

February films

15th. Burton-Upon Trent.

Vicky Cristina Barcelona.

Worthwhile just to see Penélope Cruz.!

Directed by Woody Allen, I thought it was going to be a real girly film.

But, I was somewhat surprised! A good story, beautiful people in a beautiful city.

Now I will have to go to Barcelona!!!

Director / Uli Edel

The last of my trio of films is the 'Sehr kompliziert'! film.

Der Baader Meinhof Komplex

This was another flashback for me at the Arc in Stockton.

It is definitely the sort of film that I need to watch again and maybe even more .

Although in German, the subtitles were great , it is just the whole political angle that is so confusing. I can't have taken a lot of notice in my teens, but there was a revolution going on!

As a Geman tutor, I feel that this was an insight to an era that I really should know more about. Needs some more research!

Great film!

The second film of my January Season is Danny Boyle's \Slumdog Millionaire.

I got chance to slip off and see this at 'the Gate' in Newcastle.

Fantastic film! It has got everything, it is hilarious in places and tear jerking in others.

Love it!

3 films

I have recently had the chance to go to the Cinema quite often.


The first film I have seen recently was a film that I saw back in the 70s.



I was in London and had an hour or two to kill when I noticed the film advertised ' Bring me the head of Alfredo Garcia'.
It was part of the Sam Peckinpah season at the National Film Theatre on the South Bank.
I loved it!!
I have always thought that it was a weird title for a film, but having seen it again after God knows how many years, it confirmed the violence that I vaguely remembered.
Great film!

World Forum.

It's not too often that you can gaze out of the window where you are working to see Big Ben!

That was the case last Monday in the QE11 Conference Centre,London.

I was showcasing the Grundtvig project and I realised that I was just around the corner from Parliament.

What's a Greek Urn?

What a fantastic time in Edessa! This means that I will now need to learn Greek!
I have been gobsmacked over the last couple of weeks by my visits to Turkey and Greece. The sheer amount of history and tradition is awesome and impossible to get to grips with in such short visits, but I am sure that I will be returning to both countries as soon as I can.

Istanbloodybul!!!

I can't believe it but I am off to Istanbul! Watch this space for photos and stuff. Just the thought of this city brings images of mystery and danger and Aladin!

CORRYVRECHAN July 22nd. 2008

Entering the Corryvrechan Whirlpool, this was my first time on a real yacht!!! Thanks John!!!!

LES INVITES DE ST HUBERT

Les Invités de St Hubert on the High Green Great Ayton, Sunday morning 24th. August 2008.

The beautiful North

We have just returned from a wonderful holiday at Haggerston Castle and it reminded me that we have so much to see in the North!

Having spent some time in Scotland earlier in the summer, I am convinced that I/We need to discover what is virtually on our doorstep.

Only last night we were on a deserted beach in Northumberland, what more can you ask for?

The weirdest part of the holiday was taking a bottle of wine with us and not even opening it! I was so worn out with an overdose of fresh air that alcohol was not required!!

Bloody Hell How long!

I can't believe it has been this long since I wrote even more drivel!
Is blogging going out of fashion? I hope not.

Here's an entry to launch my new website. I would never have believed, not so loing ago that I would be able to offer my own resources in such an organised and accessible way. But with Moodle it is now quite simple.

I am sure that life begins at 53, doesn't it? I had such as surprise today after trying on my jodphers to go riding, they stretched enough to fit!!

Bloody hell, maybe I should dust of my football boots? Or then again!

Encore de drivel

God, doesn't everything happen at once!
After going on Alex Hall's radio show last wednesday [Top lass!]. I was invited to go back on this Saturday to review the newspapers.
Typical! Stokesley show day/Members tent/Boro v Mackems and to rub it in I had to turn down the opportunity of having a stall in the Craft tent.
My old boss used to say that he was suffering from CRAFT!
[Can't remember an f..........in' thing!] The way I'm going I'll end up with CRAFT!

C'est la vie.

Stokesley Show

Already Stokesley Show week, the rides are moving in as I write this drivel.
I was trying to explain what Stokesley Show means to local people the other day and to be honest it means that many different things to different people.
For me it has always meant one thing, GRAFT!
Yet even though I am still involved, [I'll see you in the Members tent!] It means that I will see so many people that I probably haven't seen since last Stokesley show.
The only thing is nowadays, when people say, 'you're looking well', doesn't that mean, God you've put some weight on and where did your hair go?!!!

State of the art Technology

If you have visited my website you have probably seen the 'State of the Art Technology' video on the home page.

This is created using ustream.tv This is a tool that needs to be explored and I am the man to do it!!

I will be working with our friends in France to create some online lessons and somehow, I will!! create Café Pierre TV.

Things are hotting up for the start of the Academic year and I will be attending a graduation in November, MINE!!!! I somehow scraped through my M/A in Education. God knows how, in between Gurkhas, pickles, dogs, kids etc.

It's spitting!!!!!!

It's spitting!

Go to the end of the clip and follow the Pink Dinner Ladies!

The weather

Thanks to André, I've been thinking about the weather a lot lately!

We take our language so much for granted that we sometimes need to think about the richness of it.

For example, when talking about the wind and the cold, what do we say?

It's gusty/there's a nip in the air/ it's chilly.

But how about;

'It's a cold and lazy wind that cuts through you'.

or

'When the wind's in the east it's no good to man nor beast'.

or perhaps a more Yorkshire saying;

I'm nithered!

We English have dozens of ways of takling about the rain.

'It's spitting!, probably the most famous recently thanks to Peter Kay

You know the kind of rain that goes right through you!

Brilliant!