Confirmed...

Before reading this post, click 'play' on the video below. Don't watch the video, just have the music playing as you read...

A couple of days ago, I was sent this:

Dear Mr Mitchinson,

Thank you for your enquiry. Unfortunately we've stopped making Yoghurty Special...

I didn't read on.

This only meant one thing:

This was my last box of Yoghurty Special K ever.

And I was going to show it a good time...

Remember Me?

I'm back! Well, kinda. I haven't blogged in a fairly long time due to my MA dissertation which I'm currently working on. But more about that later!

There are just four things I wanted to blog about, and so I thought I'd get it done quickly, because I haven't posted yet in September - and I've never missed a month. And I don't intend to start now!

So here they are:

Point One:
Another name has been added to the 'Friends who blog' list at the side of the page. Lucia now has a blog and is doing rather well at it - six posts since the start of September! Three of my German friends with blogs are doing pretty exciting things at the moment: Philipp (who's actually Swiss) is spending a semester in Holland with the Erasmus programme, Patrick is spending a year here in good ol' London working with the London City Mission (the only one who blogs in English) and Lucia is working for the Salvation Army in Freiburg for a year. Hopefully they'll all keep their blogs updated (Pressure Patrick, pressure).

Point Two:
I would just like to ask you all to be thinking about me, because I've been going through a hard time recently. I wasn't going to tell you all, but... it looks like they've stopped making Yoghurty Special K. First Asda stopped doing it, and now even the Co-op has stopped. And I've seen this happen before (RIP Diet Coke Vanilla). Just to let you know, I've emailed Special K and I'm awaiting a response, but there's little hope now. Coca-Cola promised me they weren't going to stop making Diet Coke Vanilla and look where we are now. (I really should have twigged when they suggested I bought a crate of the stuff on my next visit to the supermarket). I'll keep you posted.

(I couldn't even find a picture of the yoghurt one. Did it ever exist?)

Point Three:
Now, as I was saying, I'm currently writing my MA dissertation and - I'm really enjoying it! As mine is a practical MA rather than a research-based MA, my dissertation is in fact a giant translation, plus commentary. I decided to translate a Swedish book which contains a lot of information about the early days of The Salvation Army. And it's great stuff - that must have been a great time to be around. It's really interesting, certainly not easy translating stuff from that long ago, but it's really interesting. And it's kinda got me all interested in the early Salvation Army and when the whole thing started.

Anyway, apparently there's like a walking tour you can do through the East-End of London where you start at the Blind Beggar pub in Whitechapel, which is where William Booth (the founder of The Salvation Army - I'm a big fan!) was just walking along, was invited by a small group of Christians to give a talk and the rest, as they say is history. The walk carries on, past the statues of William Booth (which presumably weren't there at the time) and to a whole lot of other places - the first headquarters, the site of the tent where the first meetings were held, etc. I'd personally find that really interesting I reckon. I don't know Whitechapel at all (other than when a man chased me round there trying to give me a coat) and it would be great to get some feel of what it was like back then (although I should think things have changed a little...).

So, if any of you feel like coming with me (I already have one friend!) then let me know. I want to do it one Saturday fairly soon. I'll still go anyway, if if no-one else wants to come, but like I said I already have one friend, so that's ok! :)

And the Monopoly thing is still on!! Now that one I can't do on my own, because I need photo proof...

Point Four:
Isn't YouTube amazing, in a strange and wonderful way? Whatever you're looking for, SOMEone will have put it on (and then I always think what saddos they must be for doing that, while at the same time being really grateful that they did).

ANYWAY, I was having a little look at the site the other day and I found something I haven't seen in years. Thirteen years to be exact. I remember one day, when I was ten (back in ol' 1994), walking up the stairs to my room and putting the TV on and seeing this. It was the Eurovision Song Contest, which I obviously didn't care too much about, and as I turned it on, this song from Germany started. Now I had never really given Germany much thought at that time, but after seeing this, I thought Germany must be the coolest place in the world. This song had everything (check out the musicians in the band!) including a rap. Of course, I didn't realise at the time that they were ten years behind the rest of the world in terms of clothes, but all the same.

Unfortunately, they still have the same clothes today... ;)

So here it is, my first taste of Germany - I will just add that the translation is not brilliant and the lyrics seem a little more suggestive than they originally were. And 'we're giving a party' - what's that supposed to mean? Enjoy (by the way, there's no applause at the end because this version has been 'remastered' apparently. They actually did very well and came in third place, as it turns out... I was in bed and never got to see the scores).

The Best Day!

I am a bit of a Neighbours fan - those of you who read this blog regularly may have been able to deduce that information for themselves... (By the way, for those Germans that read this blog - and I know I have a few - you might want to look at this post, just to find out what I'm talking about).

Anyway, knowing this, my sister booked us places on the... wait for it... official Neighbours tour! I know! (And she laughs at me for liking Neighbours so much, but I couldn't help but notice that she'd also booked herself a place on the tour...). It was the coolest day. And here's why:

So, departing from the centre of Melbourne, the tour drives out to the suburb where Neighbours is filmed. First stop, Erinsborough High School.

The next stop was the famous Ramsay St. Now, this wasn't my first trip to Ramsay St, so I already had all the photos of me standing like a total tool in front of each house (see my first ever post for an example). So we thought we'd have some fun this time and show off our skills just in case a casting agent happened to be walking by...

Ok, so we did a couple of cheesy photos first:

My sister on the Ramsay St. sign (?!): But then: Sad outside Steff's house.Oh no! A fight outside Paul's house...Shocked outside Paul's house...Dead outside Karl and Susan's...
And they were filming their Christmas episodes, so look out for these guys! (Although, thinking about it, that won't be until about March 2008...)

Anyway, you should have seen my face when my sister told me that as part of the tour we got to... wait for it... meet an actor from the show! So we were standing at the studios (Stop Three) and then a big 'G'day guys!' comes from behind, we turn around and see Frazer and Ringo (or Ben and Sam as I call them...) coming round the corner. Apparently it's unusual to meet two cast members - they must have heard I was coming.Us with Ringo and Frazer.

Autographing.

I'd assumed it would just be a quick handshake and autograph or something, but we had like half an hour just chatting with them. They were very nice guys and really down-to-earth. And don't worry, I played it cool.

As you can see.

This is Frazer's head. He's actually doing an autograph here (for the second time, the first one said 'To Don'... I corrected him, then made a joke, he laughed. It was a good joke.)

And does anyone know any Neighbours fans called Don? (Although I doubt that anyone called Don is a Neighbours fan.)

Australia is only about two/three months ahead of us with its episodes, but I managed to catch a couple while I was there and it's completely changed... The theme tune's been jazzed and funked up (ok, maybe 'funked' is slightly too strong a word) and they've changed the way they film it (apparently it's digital now), which means that it looks like a film. It's all very dramatic.(Neighbours: The New Generation it says on the trailers). They've got rid of a whole heap of characters and got some new ones in. And now, do I tell you what happens? Hmm... Well, I wouldn't want to spoil it for you, but there's a dramatic wedding, a surprise pregnancy (it's not Harold - it's not that much of a surprise), an English policeman and a new family...

It just keeps on delivering the goods, doesn't it? :D

And I think my sister may have enjoyed it after all...

Australia (and a few other things)

And why the long pause in blogging? Well, I've just come back from Australia, where I went to see my sister, my brother-in-law and all the family over there (and there's a lot). We spent some time in Melbourne (where my sister lives), went over to Tasmania and then some more time in Melbourne. Now, no-one likes looking at other people's holiday photos (I particularly hate it), so I'm just going to intersperse a couple of them with this blog. Because it's fun to share.
Now Australia is a great country, as anyone who has been there will probably tell you. It's got it all - sun, surf, beaches full of fun, beautiful, sporty people, platypuses (I checked with wikipedia and apparently you can say platypuses, platypi or just platypus), Dame Edna, etc. The list goes on.

But it can't be all good, can it? Is Australia really an earthly paradise? I decided to compile a list of 12 great and not-so-great things about Australia. And not the kind of things that everyone might think of. And here it is:

Great Things About Australia

1. Australian animals are pretty cool, aren't they? Wombats, platypuses, kangaroos? It's unfair that one country got all those. This is me with a wallaby. We'll call him Squishy and he will be my wallaby.
2. Only Australia would give a road a name like this: 3. Only Australia would make stamps like this: 4. Australians are so proud of their country and I find that kinda cool. And it's great how they try to preserve their history - anything older than ten years gets a special plaque on it as an historical building. 'Australia's oldest Post Office, built 1976', etc.

5. On our first day (man I was jetlagged) we went to an Aussie Rules football game at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. And Aussie Rules is actually pretty cool! Contrary to popular belief, there are rules, and once you've got the hang of them, it's a good game to get into. Me and my brother decided we had to choose teams to follow and we bought football shirts. I went for Carlton, being the team my cousins follow, only finding out later than Carlton are permanent fixtures at the bottom of the league. But, I am a man of my word, and I'll keep following them. And I'm sure my support will make all the difference next season.

6. And now the greatest thing of all. Australia still has this:
Not-So-Great Things About Australia

1. Australian English. Now, I'm a big a fan of Australian English as the next guy and, although I do say so myself, my Aussie accent is amazing. And I love the way that no-one calls anyone by their proper name and that you can just make up a word and put it in a sentence and no-one will notice and will still understand it anyway. And Aussie English and Essex English aren't really that far removed. BUT there are traps - we get fooled into believing we're ok with Aussies when they speak, but no. Don't get shocked when a guy tells you how comfortable 'thongs' are and if an Australian tells you that they have a great 'park' next to their house, don't be surprised when you get there and see it's just a parking space.

2. The fact that Australia has Vanilla Diet Coke might tempt me into making the big move over, but the fact that Australia has no yoghurty Special K means that I won't be ringing removal companies just yet.

3. You probably believe Australia to be a civilised country. But it's not true. Hardly ANY Australians have locks on their toilet doors. What's that about?!

4. They may have had great success with Neighbours and Kath and Kim, but Australian TV sucks. You're sitting there watching a morning TV show and all of a sudden it turns into the Shopping Channel, telling you that you can buy five LegMaster 3000s for the price of one and if you order within the next ten minutes using a blue credit card, they'll chuck in another 5 and a LegMaster 3000 hat. There are only about five different adverts that just repeat constantly and every other one will be for a mobile phone ringtone. You get the picture.

5. And Australia gets cold. I'm a big fan of cold weather, but I wasn't expecting it there! I knew it would be a little colder in the south (it was their winter after all), but I never expected snow! (Ok, we did have to go up a mountain to see it). And I was the idiot who didn't even take a coat...And this second picture is the view we actually travelled up the mountain to see. This is an aerial view of Hobart. Enjoy. (And the stupid look on my face is due to the fact that my sister's husband, Brett, pulled down my hood just before the photo was taken and it was UNBELIEVABLY cold.
6. Ok, I'm out of negative things for now.

Ok, all in all Australia is pretty great after all. And it's a pretty beautiful place (This is the view you were supposed to see in the previous picture).
And for one last thing before I move on, meet Scott and Charlene, the platypuses:
And now for some other things:

1. It's always cool when you've been away to have a little look to see what's been going on in the blogosphere. And what has been going on? Well, at first glance, nothing, but after looking a little harder: Glyn has MORE than made up for his recent (but fairly lengthy) lack of blogging; Andy has updated us on his fireplace (?); Daniel has remembered that he has a blog (and maybe he could remind Patrick) and Anna has posted a photo of me looking a complete tool (but she looked good!). And, speaking of people from Switzerland (Anna's from Switzerland, if you hadn't seen where I was going), Philipp Hutter has now joined the blogging world. Good stuff!

2. And speaking of Philipp, as we were, thanks to him and Lizette, I now have the William Booth quote in Chinese and Igbo (there aren't many people who can say that). The list is growing! (By the way, you might not be able to see the Chinese characters, but I can see them on mine - and that's what counts).

3. Somehow, Alex and Owen (of www.worldinonecity.blogspot.com - recently interviewed by George Alagiah) have discovered my blog and seen that they won a Mitchie. That's quite funny really. They left a comment on that post - and I'll be keeping them to their word!

4. I have become a MASSIVE Scrubs fan - what a great show. How did I not notice that series before?! Would anyone else join my Elliot Appreciation Society? (And did anyone else notice she was the second Becky from Rosanne?)

5. And congratulations to my sister for getting into The Salvation Army's Melbourne Staff Band. Now my sister and her husband are the first married couple in the band's history. Well done! (On being in the band, not on being married. Lots of people are married.) :)

You'll notice that I've been quite bloggy today. Unfortunately I'm entering another period of exams, so I'll be missing from the blogosphere for a little bit again, but I think I've given you enough to be getting on with...

An Englishman in Plön

What a motley crew...

Ok, it's taken me a while, but I thought I'd just put up a few pictures and say a few things about The Salvation Army's Music School I went to in Germany a few weeks ago (as promised!). I've been to a fair few Music Schools in my time, but there's just something about the German one that's really cool. And it's great to be at a Christian camp with so many different types of people - and of course seeing old friends and meeting new ones. And here's a little of what went on!

The big football tournament is a pretty big tradition at Plön. I'm the fine specimen in the middle, wearing the blue Faroe Islands shirt (that must be a first). This was shortly before I had my lights knocked out by a goalkick to the face (thanks Oli!)... I don't really remember the rest of the game...

Soaked with a tray (the photo descriptions write themselves really).

P Paddy. Patrick does rap.

Yes, this is me as a pirate (man, to anyone who wasn't there, this music school must seem a little weird...). One of the team events was to dress some people up as pirates in about twenty minutes, using whatever you could find. I think we did pretty well! Yeah, the colour of the headscarf isn't particularly manly, but as we didn't have so long, we couldn't be choosy (and at least mine didn't have flowers on it). And the most impressive thing? I didn't actually have a beard then - Clara did it with a mascara brush. I think she has a fine future ahead of her in the fake-beard mascara industry.

This game hurt.

The youth choir. We're laughing because we were doing 'Let's Get It Started' as a fun item at the Vorkonzert (basically like a talent night and a time to perform all those pieces that weren't quite good enough or didn't fit into the final concert at the church) and we'd just sung the 'Let's get it started, HUH!' bit...

Ruben - my room-mate. Oh the parties we had in Room 210...

Daniel steals my thunder...

One very cool thing that they do is an open-air concert on the Saturday in the town centre (done by one of the bands). We don't do that enough. I'm the good-looking top baritone player...

The final concert is in a great church in the town centre. This was the youth choir singing 'O Happy Day'.

My observations...

1. Germans don't like Marmite (and who could blame them?)

2. NEVER order an After-Eight Ice Cream Sundae.

3. A lot of Germans do this when they're thinking about something...

Sarah can do it better than I can - and Daniel does it even better, but he does it anyway, so that's not so impressive. I'd never noticed it before (nor had many Germans), but I left a trail of self-conscious people behind me...

4. Translating into German on the spot in front of like a million people is HARD!

5. And for all British guys, German girls seem to really like the way we pronounce the name 'Chandler' (worth remembering).

Thanks to Rebecca for most of the photos! (Not entirely sure what I'm doing here...)

The lake at the Army camp. Pretty cool, huh?