Oundle pounded as Milton Keynes find courage for next round-ed (it needs work I know don't judge me)

There was a video taken of me playing one the weekend and it's the first game we've won for a while. Irritatingly my the try I scored at the start wasn't recorded but there was a nice run I made and a sweet inside ball I gave to our fullback, if you want to watch what I would call the "lowlights" of the game just click the link here, or if you'd rather just read the match report, you can do so here.

Sixth Form Open Evening

Yesterday I helped put at the sixth form open evening.

Trevishow and go

Quality game, try from the lineout was slick but no yellow card necessary, tackler safely let him down.

Click here to see highlights of the game :)

Hat Trick

I took three wickets in three successive balls today for the first time ever and I think I may have been the only one to have achieved it this season for any of Stony Stratford Cricket Club's teams.

It's a milestone I haven't achieved before and now I know what can happen if I bowl three of my better deliveries in a row, I think I'll concentrate on consistency for next season.

My First Day

My first day back to school after my long summer was very different from what I had become used to over the summer.

For starters I'd had to get up at the ungodly hour that is eight o'clock. Then there was the question of what to wear, which I've realised is a pain in the arse in the morning when the last thing you want is to have to think whether your clothes are acceptable "smart business wear" or not.

Once at school it wasn't too bad, but the first days of a new year never are, mainly because most lessons involve sitting in a chair for an hour while the teacher sums up a two year cours: necessary - yes, fun - not so much .  .  .

I do realise however that, despite the IB Diploma being heralded as the hardest course you can take pre-University, it seems less like the difficulty of the actual work is the problem, than the quantity of work one is required to complete makes it difficult to keep up with. It will be a challenge but one I feel I am up to - even if it does mean commandeering my living room so I am able to organise myself .  .  .

Just checking!

Test rest test 1 2 3 testing
Click here for Google bold italic

(This was a test to see how easy it was to take a photo, write some text and upload it from my HTC Desire S Android smartphone to Blogger.

It worked, although the quality of the photo - no, I don't mean the composition, as that is just Dad in his pit of a study - isn't great, which gives me something to work on.

It's convenient to blog things quickly as the opportunities arise using the Android phone, and then I can edit the post later on using my desktop, giving me time to reflect on whatever had provoked the post.)

Top Gear

Yesterday I was given a free driving lesson.I was over at the Buszy for a meeting about the festival we are planning to stage next Summer and the MAD organisation had been contacted by two guys who run driving schools who specialise in giving lessons to younger people who haven't had experience in driving, so that when they try for real for the first time, it isn't a completely new concept.


To get around the fact that it's actually illegal for me to drive a car on the public highway yet, we just drove on private land - the old bus station. Before we got started, I was asked if I had any driving experience - I told them unless you counted a Legoland drivers licence, then no .  .  .

When it actually came to driving, I was aware of certain things that I was probably expected to do, the first being stalling it, which thankfully I managed to avoid, much to the approval of my instructor. The next thing I was worried about was accidentally pushing too hard on the accelerator and going straight into the metal fence, ruining the car in the process. I didn't do that either. What I did manage to do was successfully navigate around the course, following my instructor's commands and advice correctly, which I know isn't quite as exciting as crashing and making a huge fireball, but it was certainly as exciting for me to snail along at 10 mph as it would have been at 100 .  .  .

Smart!

This is my watchword for my IB. I shall be using a smartphone to try to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of my studies in ways some of my peers may not have previously considered - unless they read my blog to get an insight - which have not been possible until very recently. For example, my French teacher has recommended that I purchase a book called 501 French Verbs which I shall obtain and I am sure will prove very useful. I have noticed, however, that there is a free Android app unsurprisingly called French Verbs and an associated app called French Verb Trainer which seems to offer everything the book does - and you can hear the words being pronounced as well. That sounds like the sort of learning reinforcement I need.

My school's Sixth Form dress code is "smart office wear" and I am looking forward to abandoning my bottle green blazer (which I have managed to make last five years!) maybe "dressing down" a little on Fridays.

The third part of the smart approach is to work smart.This doesn't just mean not procrastinating, as all the advice on a successful IB emphasises, but setting myself goals in the various aspects of the IB which are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Rewarding and Timely. My CAS planning will be a good place to start with this.

Music for Mongu

Last night I went to a friend's charity event. The event comprised of local acts and bands, all playing to help the charity and to raise awareness and publicity for themselves. The atmosphere was polite, with a wide range of ages from 6 to 60 year olds, all joining in for a good cause. It made me think about the concept of altruism and if there was such thing as a truly altruistic act - because it seems to me that even the most seemingly selfless acts might seem to have something in it for themselves.

My sister is coming back from holiday in France tomorrow. No doubt she will bring back souvenirs for me and my parents. At a glance, this may seem like an altruistic act, however, upon further inspection, I realised a couple of things:

1. In giving us gifts, we will be expected to return them when we go away.
2. In giving us the gifts, it will no doubt make her feel good about giving us souvenirs.


I'm not saying that either of these consequences are immoral or anything even like that, but I would urge to think next time an altruistic act is mentioned. I urge you to think, is that really altruistic? Or is that purely another reason for us to make us feel good about our actions?

Baby Boomers

Today I am learning about the history of Britain's economy, not at a lecture, not watching a documentary but at an evening at a family friend's house, with my Dad and his friends talking about the history of Britain, its economy, what was done, what should have been done and everything else there is to talk about it.

When I was younger, I was always astounded by how much adults were able to talk for so long, exchanging anecdotes, quoting their favourite writers or poets and just talking -  but it's only now that I realise just how much people enjoy telling other people about their lives. It makes me hope that I'll have so many interesting things, anecdotes and quotes to talk about when I'm sipping wine and eating cheese so that I can truly feel that I've lived.

Clichéd may it be, but I am beginning to really understand the concept of growing now. Not just physically or in terms of maturity, but also in terms of experiences .  .  .

LBW

Lousy British Weather! Despite the fact that I've only had one or two cricket games rained off this year, it's still infuriating when the weather ruins a game - but I suppose living in England I've come to expect it.

It did make me think about how much weather can affect sport, and so many other things too. I also generally find myself talking about the weather when I don't know what to say; how quintessentially British!

Looking Forward To It

Here I am at the start of a two year International Baccalaureate Diploma course with all these challenges ahead of me.

I want to be able to look back at this and think: "That wasn't as hard as I thought  it might be".

I feel that if approached in the right way the IB need not be a ridiculous amount of effort that some have suggested that it might be.

For example, I think that a blog will be the best way to keep track of my experiences and reflections, not just in relation to CAS and Theatre Studies, where journals are required, but for all the aspects of the IB, and my transition from GCSE student to a prospective university candidate.

My ambition is to pursue a career in Psychology, and my IB subjects have been chosen with this in mind, and I am hoping that this blog will allow me to document my own insights and feelings about my studies as I go along, so that it will prove of benefit to me in retrospect - and if it is useful or interesting to other (prospective or current) IB students then all the better.

I am writing this in August 2011 before term starts, because I subscribe to Colin Jackson's advice to Linford Christie that turned him from a good sprinter into an Olympic Gold Medallist: "You can start on the B of BANG".

Mobile Phun

As you may have guessed from my hilarious pun in the title, I was recently given a new phone as a reward for my GCSE results, however, the condition was that I would use it for my IB blog, as well as for personal use.

So I thought what better way to start than to blog my first mobile post!

The phone I am using is the HTC Desire S which seems to be one of the best Android systems around, for both work and play, which is good because all work and no play makes Glyn a dull boy, but my Dad adopts a different ethos; "all play and no work makes Dad a scary man", so maybe I should go and do some Biology work . . .

(By the way, Angry Birds rocks!)

GCSE Results - IB Confirmation

Today I got my GCSE results, I know that the done thing is to seem worried or anxious, with one of my peers claiming "it was as exciting and nerve-racking as Christmas Day and Judgement Day all at the same time"  but I wasn't too anxious. I was quite sure of what results I was going to get because of copious amounts of revision, but I must admit that when I got the envelope I wasn't sure I wanted to look, then I realised how clichéd that sounded and it was too much to bear.

So I ripped open the envelope, quite unceremoniously, revealing the key to my future - and fortunately I met the requirements to do the IB at my school for sixth form quite comfortably. With 5 A's and 4 B's I felt proud of myself and the work I had done. I can only hope I do as well in the IB.

I've been told that for the IB you can have two of the following three: Sleep, a social life and passing the IB, maybe I can be the first to have my cake and eat it . . .