As you all know, Canada is one of my favourite places in the world and with the Olympics being held there I thought I should write a little something about hockey.

Well, we are one game in to the Winter Olympic hockey and what a game it was for Canada. An 8-0 thrashing of minnows, Norway. Norway, in fairness, did play quite well and subdued Canada for around one and a half periods. However, they could not contain them for long.

The biggest highlight from a the game has to be the chemistry of the Canadian forward lines. All the talk before the Olympics was of the Russian forward lines, with Ovechkin, Malkin, Datsyuk and company. I think now is the time to start talking about the power of the Canadian forward line.

We all knew before the tournament started that the San Jose forwards; Thornton, Heatley and Marleau were going to be on the same line. Why would coach Babcock split up one of the most devastating forward lines in the NHL? That line got on to the ice and did what we knew they could do.

The main issue was how the coach would manage the other lines. He decided to go with Crosby, Iginla and Nash to provide the goals on another line. This was perhaps his best decision. That line outperformed all others and looked truly devastating.

Crosby brings the flair and Nash brings the power whilst Iginla uses his positioning and veteran knowledge of the game to piece it all together. The result was outstanding. That line ran rings around the Norwegian defence and created a plethora of chances which led to Iginla scoring a hat-trick.

We all know how well the Canadian team can handle the puck, and to be honest, a lot of the other men’s teams can handle the puck just as well. It is their other traits, such as the ones described above that set them apart and, after just one game, make them look like massive gold medal prospects. As long as the two forward lines mentioned above keep firing, Canada should seal that gold medal.

Right before I go I just found this great employee blog talking abotu the enigin scam. If you have a moment, I recommend that you check it out!

When I was traveling in the UK recently, I decided to visit my boyfriend’s sister and her husband, both of whom live in Nuremberg, Germany, a city not too far from Frankfurt. As an Australian, I’m used to traveling ridiculous distances to get anywhere at all—even to get out of the country can take several hours, and a flight to the UK takes close to a day. So, having checked out the distance to Germany, I was pretty impressed to see that I could fly there in 90 minutes. And, I was even more impressed when I started browsing through the various discount airlines that service the UK. RyanAir had some amazingly cheap flights, so I decided to go with them. Unfortunately, I wasn’t quite sure what I’d got myself into. First, I had to take a bus from Oxford to Stansted airport, which is a fairly substantial trip in and of itself. Given that my flight left at something like 5am, I stayed overnight at the airport. Ah, comfortable sleeping. When my flight finally started boarding, I realized that there were no allocated seats—which I suppose is why everyone had been pushing and shoving in front of each other. To make matters worse, my flight didn’t actually arrive in Frankfurt. It went somewhere called Frankfurt Hahn, which is apparently a decommissioned military base that’s several hours away from Frankfurt. Oops. My poor boyfriend’s sister and her husband had to get up at a ridiculous hour in order to get to this airport, and I felt horribly guilty. I’d also booked a flight out of Germany to Venice, but when I realized that this would mean that I’d somehow have to get back to Frankfurt Hahn, I cancelled my flight. Well, cancelled’s not the right word, since RyanAir doesn’t allow cancellations or refunds. Rather, I gave RyanAir some more of my money, and paid for a train fare as well. All in all, I’m not sure I’d bother again! More amazing update everyone, Bevealy just got a job with a company that sells the infamous Fannie Pack, how great is that job for a traveller, I expect freebies!

Many of us think of a “Cross Channel Ferry” as leaving from Dover and arriving in Calais and it’s main purpose is to do the shopping somewhere where the choice is slightly different and it is cheaper - specifically for he booze.

Several years ago I discovered, though I was far from the first, the delightful french harbour town of Honfleur. The best way to get there is from Portsmouth on the Le Havre ferry. It is then a twenty minute or so drive across the enormously impressive bridge that spans The Seine.

The focal point of the beautiful little town is it’s old fishing harbour. Although there is still some trawler activity the port has now been turned over mostly to pleasure craft and the surrounding buildings house a plethora of bars, restaurants, art galleries and craft shops. The old harbour is an almost perfect rectangle, with a bridge over the sea entrance, so you can walk all the way around it.

The people watching is of the highest quality. I understand that many Parisiens flock to this area, which is on the easten edge of Normandy, so the couples promenading are extremely stylish. The restaurants serve the most fabulous sea food, gorgeous moules frites and succulent crab are the stars.

After lunch, if you can tare yourself away, head up to the narrow streets behind the harbour. These are full of more craft and art shops and an especially interesting kitchen wares shop where you can buy some “different” gadgets - useful for getting something interesting for the difficult aunt! A little shopping then, for an aperitif back by the water and either making your way to your hotel or back across the mighty bridge and home.

Just about everyone has heard of survey websites on the internet; but are they actually worth doing? There are plenty to choose from but a lot of people are (understandably) wary of giving away their personal details and opinions for the sake of a few quid.

Well, like anything else, you need to find out which sites are reputable. There are several very well-known ones that are safe to deal with such as; YouGov, Panel Base and Song People. However, from personal experience, I would strongly recommend Toluna. Out of the survey sites that I have used I would certainly say that it is the best.

I am just about to claim my second voucher for twelve pounds in a matter of seven weeks. Okay, you couldn’t actually turn it into a high-flying career, but at the same time, it is a handy bit of pocket money. If you don’t mind filling out a survey or two every couple of days then it is all extra dosh, isn’t it?

But Toluna is not just about being able to make money. You get some really interesting questions asked by other members and you can also post your own. There are different categories of topics to choose from, so if you fancied answering questions on music you can just go straight to that section.

Toluna is a great website and it is a lot more interesting than any others I have seen. The whole thing actually has quite a strong sense of community. If you want to join one of the survey sites then Toluna is worth serious consideration.

I couldn’t sleep last night and decided to go skulking round the web for something to keep me preoccupied, turns out the House Forum is not only a brilliant way to waste time but also fairly diverting…

This blog is spot on when it says how obsessed we are with time.

The last time that I was ill I did exactly the same thing that is mentioned on here; I lay on the sofa thinking about how much time I was wasting and all of the jobs that I could/should be getting done. We seem to have a natural ability to beat ourselves up for relaxing when rest is actually the most important thing of all.

It is all to do with being in tune with our bodies. If we feel unwell then we need time to get better.

A friend of mine gave me a really good tip for procrastination. Buy a book on it, and then everytime you feel yourself about to put something off, say to yourself ‘if I don’t do this now then I have to read that awful book cover to cover’. Unfortunately I already had to read the awful book because I broke my promise, but I always have a really boring one waiting, this month it is a book on diesel storage!

If you believed half of the stories that go around about celebrities and the government then you would never dare leave your house. Apparently, aliens landed many years ago and it has been kept under wraps, the twin towers was ‘staged’, Elvis works at a supermarket in Putney and we never made it to the moon. Wow, our governments really are busy people. No wonder they never get round to sorting out all of the ordinary problems.

As for Elvis; well I knew about that because he served me last week.

http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/Michael-Jackson-Video-Circulating-On-Web-Shows-Star-Stepping-Out-Of-Coroners-Van-After-His-Death/Article/200908415369178?lpos=World_News_News_Your_Way_Region_1&lid=NewsYourWay_ARTICLE_15369178_Michael_Jackson%3A_Video_Circulating_On_Web_Shows_Star_Stepping_Out_Of_Coroners_Van_After_His_Death

The magical mystery tour news flash.
We’ve got the Amsterdam leg sorted, I’ll tell you in person tonight in the Liberties. Me, Foulds and Diane are going to be staying in Hostel AJAX, if the rooms are all booked there are a bunch more hostel in Amsterdam on this page.

Please Please Please, book straight away remember you are in charge of sorting out your own accommodation. We cannot be responsible, the gorup just too big.

Well to be honest it’s not that great. The reason I’m doign this is becuase at the moment it seems like the best option. I’ve just graduated and with little hope back home of getting a job, I given the choice or going back home living with my parents and looking for a job in a market which is not looking good and slowely eat away at my saving or go traveling on the cheap, and try to establish myself as a writer (it’s hard to write when you have not thing to write about). So I’m off on a great adventure, with my trusty note book and backsack. Tally hooooo