house of flying daggers is a complicated film.. somehow more confusing second time around. i suppose it says that the characters can't really control who they fall in love with and often that means completely the wrong person at the wrong time for the wrong reasons. which is why a mad martial arts film where one small woman with a stick can fend off a dozen heavily armed soldiers and a blindfold man can split a bamboo target at a hundred yards can speak to a wider audience than just kung fu fans. Mei is about to start dying now.. killed by the man that loves her.. there's half an hour to go and it takes the rest of the film to kill them all properly if i remember.

rat watch: albert is putting too much weight.. he's becoming proper portly.

leo and jin are now fighting it out in an autumnal landscape and arguing about who loves Mei the most... this is going to get messy

oh dear me... cambridge were far from mighty this aftertoon. Two hours drive with BM navigating brought us to the New Lawn, home of Forrest Green Rovers and a lovely little ground it is. Sitting high up above the village of Nailsworth it is indeed new and friendly. Nice little clubhouse with bar but no real food till we got some chips in the ground. Cambridge brought 301 supporters to swell the home crowd and they were pretty vocal throughout (especially when the large lad that watered the pitch at half time emptied the remains of his bucket over the Yorkshire U's flag). The police (all 3 of them) mooched about and the ground manager glared at the travelling support who cheerfully invited them to 'come and join us over ere!'. But it was all fairly good natured. Unfortunately by h/t the U's were 1-0 and it got worse in the next 45. 2-0 down to Fleetwood's second goal and very little attacking threat meant that the unbeaten run looked in danger. When Peters had a decent shout for a penalty turned down and Fleetwood netted for his hattrick defeat was confirmed. Convery was booked for diving in the area when he should have had the pen and Boylan (just back from injury) scored a neat consolation in the 95th minute. overall, rather disappointing but since the arsenal won away at west ham (RVP header) and the chavs only drew at home the journey back to norfampun was still enjoyable.

came home to find J and her sis collecting stuff. she bought me some flowers and a very nice message of thanks and we got on fine. hopefully things really will be ok..

went to the uni do and it was really fun. Russian/mongolian host with dutch husband and guests from germany and turkey and a few from around the uk. nice people - although the turk was a little ernest. I was surprised that he said that turkey was very class ridden and that upper class people like himself were somehow excluded or restricted there. I had always understood turkey to be a fairly open secular nation if a bit militaristic. the german woman was gorgeous in a tutonic way and im not sure if her man was british or not (i didn't get to talk to him). the dutch are the most cultured race in europe and i'd like to go and work there one day, they are reasoned people, speak perfect english and play divine football. overall the evening was revaltory - i had expected it to be a chore but it was midnight before i'd even blinked and we left refereshed by cherry tea and cake. I hope they enjoy their time in england they certainly improve the place!

off to Nailsworth to see cambridge vs forest green rovers while elsewhere arsenal take on the hammers at the boleyn ground. Both are tricky fixtures but i feel both are winnable. BM is coming with me and I'm glad of his company especially in helping to find the ground. J should be moving more stuff out while i'm away but she has the whole w/end so she may not.

that's the story of the morning, albert and marvin came out to play while I cleaned out their pad. Marvin has now decided that the best place to be is to sit on my shoulder and sway while albert is much more comfortable crouched on my lap. Their personalities are so different and albert is certainly heavier than his sibling (who ate all the sweetcorn pies eh? i think we know!) Cato is outside grumbling because its at least 5 hours since he was fed...

cold and a bit wet today in northampton and we took the first years on the annual introductory tour of the mounts followed by lunch at the bradlaugh. They seem like a nice bunch, mostly straight from school but a few 'mature' students as well. Several of the 2nd and 3rd years showed up as well (after Mac's promise of a pint no doubt) and despite the weather i think most people enjoyed themselves.

weekend starts here really - i got my travel grant app off this morning and booked the flights to lisbon for february (£54 return), going with easyjet so it will be basic but its a short one. I offset my carbon footprint for £3.44. Now just need to pay the conference fee (£140) and the hotel but waiting to see where Jon and Rosie are staying before I finalise that. might as well do breakfast together even if we dont share rooms. I guess its going to cost about £350 altogether and hopefully I can get most of that back. Checked that my passport is kosher - runs till august 2009. reminder of africa with all those visa entries... Zimbabwe...urgh!

going to Olga's housewarming tonight - not at all sure about this but Mac wants to go so am happy to show solidarity and have little else to do anyway. Tomorrow still planning on cambridge away but will decide for sure in the morning then its percy's on sunday lunchtime. not sure what to do now, feel like a sleepie but that's not really me.

CMK makes me feel anonymous. Perhaps its just that everyone is simply focussed on their shopping tasks and perhaps its because so many of the people in there are under 25 but as i wandered around i felt like a ghost, unseen and unnoticed - not a bad feeling but just a bit strange. bought new clothes fairly painlessly, even shoes - first ones i tried on. In and out in under an hour but just £130 poorer..

the tired grotty feeling of this morning is now explained by the appearance of a headcold and a tickly cough, could be worse timing but if i feel bad saturday morning im not sure whether i'll want to go to gloucester.

feel tired this morning.. not sleeping very well and its bringing the attacks back. Is this the result of being alone again? Its difficult to tell. Very brief this morning - not much to say and I have to go to MK to use the library and try and get my travel grant sorted. The trip to Portugal could cost around £600 and it would be nice to get as much of that paid back as possible. Its cold and damp today - autumn is here.

Spent the day in London yesterday with Paul who wanted to walk the whitechapel ripper trail. Its a great place whitechapel - always changing, so many different faces and something new to see. naturally we weren't alone on the ripper walk - you never are - a group of school kids looked (mostly) bored in Mitre Square as their guide (a teacher? Im not sure..) told them about Catherine Eddowes' murder and the bizarre writing on the wall. He kept saying 'they' when referring to the murderer/s which irritated me as we are not at all sure who Jack was let alone whether it was a team effort. I wish people wouldn't be so lazy with history. Paul seemed interested in the sites and particularly the Ten Bells pubs which (naturally enough) had a Polish barman and lots of weirdly outdated atmosphere. If you've never been you should - hasn't changed much in years, even the graffitti seems ancient.

We ended up walking most of the way back to Highbury & Islington - getting lost and rained on a few times - to meet Jennie by the station (well in the pub... it was a long walk after all). Well fed with chips and veggie burgers in a local greasy spoon (honestly the most underrated way to eat well - if not healthily - in London) we headed into the crowds making their way to the Emirates. Paul was impressed - with the ground and the football (well Arsenal's if not his beloved Newcastle's). I thought we were ok first half but it was quite even and there were only a coupel of clear chances. But Wenger must have had a word in the break because the boys (and this was largely a youthful reserve side against United's first team) stormed out second half. At times they played sublime passing football but looked unlikely to score until Bendtner met Traore's cross with about ten minutes to go. The ground erupted! But then Martins should have equalised: he split the defence and beat Fabianski (who had done fine up until then) but his shot was tame and Swiss Tony (captain for the night) was able to scrape it off the line. With a few minutes to go Denilson made certain of victory with a wonder strike for 2-0. Newcastle were buried and Alladyce deserved nothing more for his defensive tactics against an under strength Arsenal team. However, once again Wenger's youth system and his determination to play them in league cup matches was vindicated.
Arsenal team:
Fabianski (6)
Traore (7) Senderos (7) Song (8) Hoyte (6)
Eboue (5)[replaced by Diaby s/half 7] Denilson (7) Diarra (9) Walcott (6)
Bendtner (7) Eduardo (7)

oh and Cambridge were held 1-1 at home by Aldershot, but they are still unbeaten and third in the conference..c'mon you U's!

Burma is revolting - the monks are on the streets and the story is being broascast to the world via utube. This could be a defining moment in the history of alternative communication

i feel very sad today. My girl and I have split up after three years and nearly three months most of which has been wonderful and some of which has been difficult. She is lovely and a really kind and loving person who deserves a much better person than me to spend the rest of her life with. She is honest, true, beautiful, funny, creative, brave, and silly and I still love her loads. But I can't see how we could be together for ever and i don't want the same things as her. So it seems the best thing to go our seperate ways and to try and stay best friends. I hope we can, she is very special and I hope she finds someone worthy of her.

have you seen Witchfinder General (1968) starring Vincent Price? One of the highlights of British horror so they said... I'm not so sure. Price is excellent as the evil Matthew Hopkins who, aided by his comic book henchman Stearne, terrorises 'witches' in Civil War East Anglia. Ian Ogilvy plays the New Model Army trooper who sets out to get revenge on the witchfinders after they rape his fiance and hang her uncle. It is brutal and raw but lacks the power (and indeed the horror) of The Wicker Man and is really a grim historical drama with Vincent Price in it. Oh, and in the scene (Run in) where Stearne escapes from his NMA captors he does so by stabbing them with a plastic handled phillips screwdriver! What is going on! I thought the modern remake of the Crucible was much more effective in dramatising the witch hunts of the early modern period.

Waiting to watch MOTD after Arsenal thrashed poor Derby County 5-0 at the Emirates, which given that Liverpool drew and United play post-Moanio chelski tomorrow, keeps us firmly top of the league. Cambridge also won - away at league leaders Stevenage 2-1 to stay in touch in the top four. If Bolton can beat sperz tomorrow the weekend will be complete!

Freshers week next week - lets hope we get plenty of keen and bright new recruits

falling down, falling down,
stamford bridge is falling down,
poor old chelsea!

the 'special one' has left 'by mutual consent' - as jennie said did he bottle it ahead of sunday's clash with united? Did Roman explode after the blues abject failure to beat rosenborg and a half empty stadium? Did arsenal's flowing football and a full house cause the russian to dig at his tempramental coach? Who knows.. all that is certain is that the man that has guided chelsea to two titles and several cups has left and it will take a strong man to fill his expensive shoes (and raincoat!). So farewell then Jose Mouriniho, you entertained and infuriated us in equal measure - you were never dull. What price JM as the new manager at Barca before the end of the season - or even at OT in the summer? We shall see...

watched arsenal breeze past Servilla at home in the CL, 3-0 with goals from Fab, RVP and new boy Eduardo. It was an excellent team performance against a very good spanish side who have started la Ligua at a canter. Very pleased to see the boys playing so well.

Open day at uni today, spoke to a few prospective students but not really many people turning up to see the place - outnumbered by staff for the most past. Did my taster on the cornwell/ripper debate which seemed to go down well and felders was in his element - i'd sign up for a degree after listening to him! Spoke to one member of staff from the school (but not the department) who fears for the future of history and other non politics/police studies under the stewardship of the current dean. I don't know what to think - there must be a financial element to it (bums on seats, grants etc) but the reality must be that no one's future is safe in an institution like ours. At least our division is doing its best to welcome prospective students, get research grants and deliver excellence on teaching - if someone decides after that they can do without us then so be it, hopefully we will be employable elsewhere.

bed now with that continuing warm glow of football satisfaction and the end of the Long Firm to look forward to

cambridge's 3-0 win away at Altringham means their unbeaten run extends to 10 games - their best start to a season since 1953! That start will be severley tested at Stevenage on Saturday but its still impressive. Abramvovich seemed more interested in his female companion than the 1-1 bore draw with Roseborg tonight, LIverpool also drew 1-1 with Porto away. tomorrow the Arsenal play Seville at home so we will head for the pub.

Matt and Matthew for dinner tonight, an entertaining evening as a pre open day taster.. it feels that the new working year starts tomorrow

as the dust settles on the London derby and Chelski's failure to beat Blackburn at home the football season really does seem to look a lot more hopeful than I might have imagined in the summer. Cambridge also came from behind to beat Crawley 2-1 at home and are fourth, just 3 points behind the leaders and still unbeaten. Now with PB contemplating retirement (from UN at least) I have until after Christmas to prepare my third year Ripper option. This means that excepting a few tasks at uni I can turn my attention to some much needed (and long put off) DIY. Going to make a start by painting the bedroom and visiting Ikea for some new shelving - this time I really would like to sort out our clutter

THE London derby has just finished and Arsenal came back from a Gareth Bale screamer to beat Martin Jol's side 3-1 with goals from Adebayor, Fabregas and Adebayor again at the death. That makes it about 18 games since the spuds won this fixture. And with Liverpool drawing we are top of the league with a game in hand - fantastic!

well I'm back from the hebrides, Skye to be exact. staying in the superbly appointed sligachan bunkhouse in easy stagger of the pub. Long journey there friday night/saturday morning but not too wet at first. Clive and paul shared the driving - bit cramped in the back and didn't get much sleep. Loch Lomond in the early morning light was beautiful - only slightly spoiled by the ravers hidden in the trees. On past the closed green welly shop to breakfast in Fort william Morrsions (first of several fry ups for the week - this is not a place to eat particularly healthy). Finally made Sligachan by 11 and had the tents up (first night camping) by 12.30. Headed for Portree to stock up on essentials in the local co-op and eat fish and chips by the harbour. Tiredness rather prevented any further action until the early evening when we headed for the pub.

Sunday was very wet so dossed about before going for a tramp down the loch - wonderful colours in the heather and seaweed but tricky crossing over the water in places. Moved into the bunkhouse at 3 - very nice place - full of scots from Fife drinking heavily to celebrate victories in the rugby and drown their sorrows at not managing to 'bag' the in-pin. We ate well and hit the pub to plot the following day's adventures.

Monday still looked dodgy so we opted to climb Bruch na Frithe, the easiest of the Munroes on Skye. We made good time although it was failry boggy and we avoided rain all day. Wonderful views from Fhinne Corre and just under the summit - but a bit cloudy (and very cold!) at the top. Journey back seemed to take for ever and I must have pulled or strained my right leg near the knee because by the time we reached the bottom boggy path I was in agony! The pub loomed and we stayed there to eat.

Tuesday - awoke with bad leg and bad head! Arghhhh! All too tired to do much today, and weather not very inviting for climbing so we headed for Portree. After shopping and lunch in the cafe/bakery we took a boat out around the bay with a lively skipper. He found us two sea eagles who dived for his proffered fish in spectacular fashion. I felt very privileged to see Britain's largest birds of prey so close - magnificent! We numbered about in Portree for a few more hours, bought a cd in the music shop and a paper before heading home for dinner in the bunkhouse, pub, Boosh then bed.

Wednesday broke dull but promising and we decided to head for Raasay and Dun Caan (the fort like hill that dominates the landscape). Its only about 1,500 feet but looks great. This was midge attack day - it was warm and very still - and paul managed to let them colonise the car before opting (last minute) to go off and climb Glamaig on his own. Odd fellow. We three set off for the ferry, which was wonderful - gliding across a mill pond from Sconser to Inverarry. We set off at 12 up an old miners' path towards Dun Caan. It was easy going at first but then it got wetter, got steeper (up and down) around an old dissused railway and my leg began to complain. I sprayed deep heat in a vain attempt to keep the pain at bay - it worked on the midges better! We reached Dun Caan and a pretty little lochan at about 3 but I decided that trying to scale it was more likely to finally kill off my legs makingt he journey home both tricky and extra long. Given that it had taken 3 hours to get there and we had just 3 and a quarter to return before climbing the hill I opted to rest by the locan and watch them go up. It was a wise move - as they came down so did the rain - in one big BLAT! We hurried back a better route - through the woods and picking up the road along the headland. Raasay is lovely and I hope to go back again next year. We ended up with plenty of time to catch the ferry, meet Paul at the pub and return for dinner. This time we stayed put for the evening and waited to see what Thursday had to offer,

As it turned out Thursday was extremely windy and none of us (except perhaps Paul) fancied trying to camp in a gale with little chance of climbing before the weekend. So we upped sticks and started south at midday getting back to northampton at about 11 after a fairly dull and uneventful journey. Overall I enjoyed the break, good to spend time with friends I don't see enough of and a reminder of how beautiful Scotland is. I was disappointed not to get on top of more mountains and annoyed that my leg gave out. Next year I'd like to combine a trip to Skye with a trip to the outer hebrides and to take my bike. Meanwhile its back to work and to writing the book...

as the arseblogger would say.. I've a bit of thick head today which I think is the result of cutting down my alcohol intake and then sharing two bottles of red with matthew last night. This morning is a bit fuzzy felt. Anyway I lots to do today with M and S coming for dinner, still work to do at uni before I leave (I doubt I'll be able to go in tomorrow) and various tidying jobs around here. Pavarotti died last night, after a long illness, and radio five's link is to remember the summer of 1990 and the world cup in Italy. Chris Waddle missing a penalty and England going out of the competition as brave losers - Gazza's tears and Linekar's eye contact with Bobby Robson. Oh the memories - I was 17 years younger, living in Wollaston and Quieff and martian came to stay for two weeks and supported Cameroon (and Roger Milla). Heady days..

as helen would say, before i go away and my foot is still troubling me. I can't really work out why it hurts - or aches - but perhaps this is what being lame is like? I hope it clears up before the weekend.

I guess it didn't do it that much good standing on the terraces at the Abbey stadium last night but it was worth it. Cambridge finally beat Gray's Athletic with a goal from Scott Rendell just after half time. First half was pretty forgettable to be honest but they stormed out of the blocks after the break and Pitt and Quinton really took the game to Gray's. The crowd were loud throughout and for the first time we really joined in and felt that it was our side. I wish it was a shorter drive home but its stil quicker than going to the Emirates.

Exam board for resits today, PDR yesterday and module booklets and planning have defined the week. All fairly dull stuff really so I'm looking forward to dinner tonight and seeing Marc and Sarah tomorrow - then its off to Skye!

before I talk about the umberella fayre I need to jump up and down with excitement at how brilliant arsenal were today. They played beautiful football with (crucially) an end product. RVP was tripped as he went past David James and Adebayor converted the penalty. Fabregas reacted first to Rosicky's corner to stab in for 2-0 before Senderos was sent off for a clumsy foul on Kanu. Even with 10 men we still found time to add a third goal - a terrific strike from Rosicky. Kanu pulled one back but the result was never in doubt. Brilliant stuff! Then Villa beat chelski! Magic!

The umbrella fayre in the park was interesting... lots of fairly odd stalls and the usual suspects (greenpeace, veggie food, indian jewellery etc) and local bands and performers. Guff was there using his pole lathe and looking just the same as ever (with less hair), rob was playing in a band and patti was wandering about. It was like going back in time to my blackcurrent days.. the flying sheep had its first outing at an umberella fayre years ago and we made lots of money (although that was something of a false dawn). I saw lots of faces I recognised from the sheep and I suppose most of northampton alternative scene were there (alan Moore, Justin Porter, Snake) and even the conservative party and the local police had stands! It was a very nice vibe and i hope its back next year. I even ran in to someone I studied with in 1997-2000... its been a very good day so far.

a bright and sunny morning hear in the heart of england and the Umbrella fayre is setting up in the park. I'll go and have a look later but first I need to sort everything for next weekend. Albert bit Jennie this morning! Oh what a bad rat, hope he hasn't 'turned'...

short this morning because I've lots to do ahead of the Gunner's game against Pompey later - I might add more after that, we'll see. Jen's off to London again so its me and the boys for the day.

saturday morning - this time next week I should have arrived in Skye (or in Scotland at least for breakfast). We now have four weeks or so before term starts and I am ready for the second years, the first years but have things to sort for the ripper module. Still, there should be plenty of time to get it all ready starting on Monday.

Last night Cambridge drew away at Weymouth after going behind, coming back to lead 2-1 then losing out to a dodgy penalty decision (which Potter saved.. then conceded). However, six games unbeaten is a pretty good start to the season. Now we come to the situation at Arsenal - what a contrast. David Dein has sold his soul (sorry, his shares) to a Russian oil baron - Alisher Usmanov - and now it seems he will 'gradually' buy his way into a postion where he can take over the club. this would be against the wishes of the current board. Dein would be back in - this time as chairman - and we would have Ambramovich style cash to splash around. Now with United and Liverpool (not to mention Villa, Citeh and West Ham) all owned by rich men and chelsea the plaything of an oligargh with bottomless pockets it seems sensible for the gunners to throw in their lot with the russians. After all surely eventually we won't be able to compete with the transfer fees (and salaries) the others will be able to spend. Wenger's team could find itself playing beautiful football in mid table while a cash rich Wigan (say..) field a side of mercenaries managed by Moanio's brother. It could happen, worse it could be sperz... However, Wenger insists we don't need the money, that clubs should be self-sufficient and that when the accounts are produced they will show that arsenal are not only solvent but prospering. The answer, for arsene, is to develop young talent (which is cheap) and surely he is right. After all we saw last season in the carling cup that arsenal's youth team was more than a match for everyone until Cardiff and even then they gave the millionaire's eleven a real run for their money. If arsenal win something this season - dare to dream! - wenger will be vindicated. If, however, they finish outside of the top four and crash out of the CL early then the club will be sold - I've no doubt about that. Then the question will be whether the new owners keep AW on board (if indeed he wants to stay) and for that DD will be crucial. It is going to be an interesting season.

we bought Diarra from Chelski... another midfielder just what we need!