Finally someone has combined the wonderful Google Earth with a funny little flight sim! Goggles Flight Sim is a lot of fun, and can be customised to fly around your home. Whats even better is you can shoot at things... by pressing the space bar. The other controls are Up, Down, Left, Right, A to go faster and Z to slow down.

Find it here

I don't really subscribe to cool. I don't really do high fashion, big cars or posh restaurants. However, today I think I did something which is pretty high up there on the cool list. Today I dropped into a posh hotel for a quick cup of tea, only in a blumming helicopter!

I had a fantastic time, it really is one of the top few things I have ever done. We travelled up the Wharfe Valley where I live, past my house and then set down at the hotel in front of a few on lookers. Sadly the hotel was very busy, so we walked over the road to a nice little cafe. The weather was clear and the views were amazing.



Massive thanks goes to Paul for being a great pilot, Gillian for being great entertainment, and Andy for organising it all for me.

What is it with greetings cards? They really annoy me. They're expensive, look cheap, and take up my time to write. I haven't sent Christmas cards in years. I do actually make a donation to charity (although I suspect many of the people who claim this, don't). A pack of twenty cards costs a few quid, and they claim to support a charity. It supports that charity a hell of a lot more if you just give them the money direct.

There is a whole level of politics with cards I hate. I got one from them, so I must write one back... Why? People have emergency cards in their drawers at work, just in case you receive one from someone, you didn't expect. It's stupid.

So to anyone I know, who thought they might get a card from me, you can now be assured that you wont. So don't be offended.

Two days are rarely the same in my job. Today I received a radio message that a dog was in our student common room. By the time I got there, the dog was back outside, but still on the premises. Luckily it was a playful young golden labrador rather than a child eating doberman. So after finding a bit of wire to tie it up with, we contacted the local RSPCA and then the Dog Warden. Thankfully the owner had contacted the local police station and owner and K9 were reunited. Reports had come in that the dog had been out on the road, and various members of staff had had to avoid it whilst driving into the car park. The owner rang up to say how grateful she was for our help. Sadly not grateful enough to offer any reward or anything...

I was quite surprised to find that the local city council can fine an owner £5000 if a dog has no identifying tag round its neck, even if the owner has the dog on a lead!

It reminded me of that poem I read back in primary school, 'Dog in the Playground'. There is nothing quite like a loose excited mut to liven up a day!

Oh and hello to Michele who emailed me today. Sadly I wasn't the Adam Welch she was looking for!

My usual way of dealing with trick or treating is to ignore the door bell for one day a year. The thing is, I'm not too good with kids, and I don't eat chocolate so would have to make special arrangements and stock up. Living in a first floor apartment, its not too difficult to pretend your not in!

The BBC is reporting today that 20% more crime happens on Halloween, and this year the streets will be policed by more officers, some leave has been cancelled.

Something came to me though the other day. The Americans go in for Halloween in a much bigger way than us Brits, but I don't understand their fancy dress policy. The last time I went to a halloween party, everyone was dressed up as ghosts, or had an axe embedded in their heads (or some other equally hilarious prop). The Americans seem to go dressed up as all sorts of strange stuff. They go to parties as famous people, pirates or Pac Man! Just take a look at what google images brings up, if you search for 'halloween party'. What's with that?

I have been up to my eyeballs for the last couple of weeks. I've been working my regular job, and working for the Ilkley Literature Festival. So I have unfortunately let things slip a little. But don't feel left out as I have hardly had the time to keep in touch with my family, let alone anyone else.

Anyway the great thing is, I get to meet some interesting people whilst doing the festival. This year we had such names as John Simpson (BBC's World Affairs Editor), Ralph Steadman (Gonzo Artist), Melvyn Bragg (Broadcaster), Francesca Simon (of Horrid Henry fame), George Alagiah (BBC News Presenter) and Billy Bragg (Singer/Songwriter, Autor) to name just six. I asked the last two if they would do a photo with my web address, and they both agreed, which is great.

Thanks to all the ILF board, staff and volunteers who made the festival enjoyable for all involved. It was a great success.

I was really shocked and saddened when I heard the news on Wednesday night, that Richard Hammond (known as the hamster) had been involved in a terrible crash at a massive 300 miles an hour. Luckily it’s a tribute to him, the Yorkshire Air Ambulance, and the staff at the LGI that his recovery seems to be so incredibly swift. I would just like to add my own best wishes to Richard and his family.

The people over at pistonheads.com have decided to set up a donations page, to help fund the further work of the YAA. It is however sad that it's taken an event such as this to point out that these services rely completely on donations from the public, to stay in the air. This helicopter is based only a mile from my house (as the chopper fly’s), and Hammond is sat up in his hospital bed only a half a mile from where I work. I first found the page on Thursday last week and they had got about ten thousand. So it’s great to see that the donations page is now up to an amazing £145,000! The plans have now changed slightly, and they are trying to get half a million to put towards a new helicopter, to be based in south Yorkshire.

The question is now, what does it mean for Top Gear. The BBC has said they are delaying the start of the new series, but I worry it could change a lot more than transmission dates. I have really enjoyed the last few series of TG, but I understand why some people have said it’s now going a bit far. But the question I ask is this... If any other person had attempted to break the British land speed record, which ended in a similar way, would people be asking the same questions? What if record breakers had been filming, would it be their fault?

I think if you are going to make an attempt at doing something faster, longer, or whatever than anyone has ever done it before, it goes without saying that there will be risks.

The difficulty in this case is, it's been suggested that the final run, which resulted in the crash was simply for the cameras. The record had already been broken. If this is the case, why still hit over 300 miles an hour? Sat in your living room you wouldn't notice the difference from an internal camera between 200 and 300 mph. I put that down to the fact that Richard might of felt he was cheating the public a little. Which is why, as an avid viewer of Clarkson, Hammond and May, I felt in some small way, I too was a little responsible.

Lets hope the hamster can make a full recovery, and although it's bound to make the top gear people think twice, it isn't another case of the BBC dumbing down and ruining another great show.

Please give generously to the Hammond Yorkshire Air Ambulance fund by clicking the link, and putting your hand in your pocket.
http://www.justgiving.com/PHRichardHammond

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News just in... 28th Sept 2006

The BBC reports that Richard could well be "back to his old self" in six months. Which is great news. Richard today received a further 'lift' from the YAA down to a private hospital in Bristol.

Doctors are still being slightly wary with their wording. However you can't help but be optimistic giving his speedy recovery so far.

Back in early 2005, I had an hour or two to spare. I had just finished helping a friend to create a website he'd come up with one night in the pub ( ratemyhat.co.uk ). It since expanded a little from its original brief, to cover other subjects.

I used this as inspiration to create ratemyhate.co.uk expecting hundreds upon hundreds of pictures being sent in. There has been a link on this site to it, for all this time. Just over there somewhere...

It never really took off though, and it just sits there now getting a handful of hits. Which is a shame, 'cos I still think its quite amusing!

A couple of weeks ago whilst at the Leeds Festival, a lady dress as a doctor came over and asked me to sign a petition about providing medical care in poverty stricken regions. Not a bad cause I thought, so I duly signed. She tootled off on her way, and that was that.

This evening I have received an email thanking me for my 'support', and why don't I 'Just show us how angry you are about poverty'. Now it seems to me that Oxfam the world wide charity have almost stolen my idea. Angry photos; pah. I've been doing these for years! I have to say though. Not many of them really look angry. I was a little disappointed. I guess its hard to get very angry at a festival.

I don't think I am going to start any kind of legal proceedings though. It’s not going to be PR whatever the outcome!