Mark Ormrod

http://www.markormrod.com/

Phil Vickery in The Falkland Islands

Join Phil Vickery on his epic 8,000-mile journey to the Falkland Islands to discover some of the amazing people and places, which make this island community so fascinating.

Harley Mace vs Myles Vale

Harley Mace vs Myles Vale

Commentary of the Town v Gown Boxing event held at the Oxford Union on Wednesday the 4th of February.

Andrew Self & Andy Roberts from Oxfordshire Sports Online provide the commentary.

https://archive.org/details/OxfordUniversityTownVsGown2015-HarleyMaceVsMylesVale

OXFORD University’s highly-rated welterweight Harley Mace tops the bill for this year’s Town v Gown show at the Oxford Union on Wednesday.

He takes on Myles Vale from Eastside, Birmingham in a 69kg contest.Oxford’s captain, lightweight James Kerr battles it out with VJ Shields (Milton Keynes) in a 59kg bout, while featherweight Isra Hale takes on Emma Hanselman (Emeralds ABC, Chippenham) in a 59kg contest.

Coach Greg Kilkenny expects Mace’s bout to be exciting.

“He’s our best boy at OUABC and has a tough competitor from Birmingham coming down,” he said.

“Some of these boys only started boxing in October, it’s truly remarkable the work our coaches put in. The boys are looking sharp.”

Profits from the Town v Gown will go towards Oxford University boxing club’s Outreach programme.

http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/sport

HM Submarine Churchill visit to Tromso 1985

HMS Churchill was the first of three Churchill-class  nuclear fleet submarines that served with the Royal Navy.

Churchill was chosen to trial the first full-size submarine propulsor. Trials of a high-speed unit were followed by further trials with a low-speed unit, and these were successful enough for the same propulsion to be fitted in the rest of the class.Later British submarine classes also featured the pump jet, although first-of-class vessels Swiftsure and Trafalgar were fitted with propellers at build.

Submariners lounge Live event

Live Blog The Submariners lounge

The Tower of London Poppy Planters and Pickers photos

The major art installation Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red at the Tower of London, marked one hundred years since the first full day of Britain's involvement in the First World War. Created by artists Paul Cummins and Tom Piper, 888,246 ceramic poppies progressively filled the Tower's famous moat between 17 July and 11 November 2014. Each poppy represented a British military fatality during the war.

The poppies encircled the iconic landmark, creating not only a spectacular display visible from all around the Tower but also a location for personal reflection. The scale of the installation was intended to reflect the magnitude of such an important centenary and create a powerful visual commemoration.

All of the poppies that made up the installation were sold, raising millions of pounds which were shared equally amongst six service charities

 Click  to visit >> The Tower Of London

                                                          Post by BBC East Midlands Today.

Bigger than Gods

https://www.facebook.com/BiggerThanGodsApparel

How a simple comment made jokingly created the idea that became BIGGER THAN GODs Apparel

While in Nags Head NC enjoying OBX Bike week, a local surfer dude approached and drunkenly exclaimed "Dude, You are bigger than God!"

My answer was, "No one is bigger than God..." and he soon stumbled off.

We jokingly used 'BTGs' the rest of the weekend and the spark was ignited.

We have been very fortunate to have a local artist that does incredible work, Terry Locke...

Terry signed onboard this project and has created phenomenal artwork for your clothes.The BTGs concept is simple: 4000 years ago, man believed in the mythical gods. They could not have ever imagined their gods as evolved as we have become. By building yourself up physically, mentally and emotionally, you become bigger than they could have imagined their gods. You have BECOME BIGGER THAN GODS. Become more, grow past the limitations others place on you. The rest of our story will be determined by hard work and your belief inBigger Than Gods Apparel

Also check out our BLOG and our Photo Album.

We hope you enjoy!

http://www.biggerthangods.com

In a Scottish navy town, locals like the U.K. just fine

GARELOCHHEAD, Scotland – By the winding road leading down to Gare Loch, a small inlet on Scotland’s western shore, there's an uncharacteristic sight for this country: tall wire fences, guard towers, closed-circuit cameras and men in uniform carrying automatic weapons. Welcome to Faslane, the largest deepwater port in the British Isles and the only one serving the Royal Navy’s submarines, including the four Trident nuclear missile launchers.

Since 1998, when Britain cut its airborne nuclear capabilities, the Tridents have been the country’s only nuclear platform. Britain’s military strategy is still centered around the nuclear deterrent, and since 1968, a Faslane-based submarine has always been on alert at sea, ready for a first or second strike should total war break out in Europe.

Nuclear bunkers are dug into the green hills above the loch, where the warheads are kept. The naval base is constantly upgraded and expanded; it pours into the Scottish economy tens of millions of pounds annually and supplies around 10,000 jobs in the region. On Thursday, if the Scots vote for independence, Britain will be forced to move the subs and warheads, but it’s not clear where.

Scots refer to the villages and towns around Faslane as the “most No-voting region in Scotland.” Locals here are expected to vote overwhelmingly for Scotland remaining in the United Kingdom – for them it’s not just about keeping the nuclear deterrent, it’s their families’ livelihood.

“I’ve been a Scot and a Briton for 41 years,” says Tracey McCullough, a cook at a restaurant in Garelochhead, a village next to the base. “I am proud of both my identities and I believe in a nuclear deterrent — there are a lot of nutcases out there.”

In Scotland’s cities, left-wing movements call for nuclear disarmament and a withdrawal from NATO. In the more rural areas there is greater pride in Scotland’s military traditions as part of the United Kingdom.

“Both my grandfathers fought in the world wars” say McCullough. “My ex-husband served on nuclear submarines for 20 years, and he didn’t grow a second head. I am proud of them and don’t understand people who live in the cities coming here and demanding to remove the base. It will be a disaster for us who live here.”

As Stuart McQueen, landlord of the local pub, puts it, “Seventy-five percent of the economy of this area is derived from the base. It’s not just the sailors and officers on the base. There are people working for building contractors. The bed-and-breakfasts, hotels, restaurants and catering companies won’t survive without it. Even the tourism here is based on families of those serving on the base who visit here.”

But the villagers insist their opposition to independence isn’t just linked to the base.

“This village existed before the base,” says Sean Tracey, a retired builder who helped put up the base. “The Scottish National Party has no Plan B if their plans don’t work — no plan to protect our pensions or currency, no idea what will happen if the North Sea oil runs out. It’s all for the glorification of [SNP Leader] Alex Salmond and a group of people with romantic dreams who watched ‘Braveheart’ once too many.”

From King David to Dimona

On every lamppost on Garelochhead’s main street there is a Yes pro-independence poster. “Whoever put them there isn’t from here,” says Tracey. “It’s somebody from outside who wants to rub our faces in it.”

At the mouth of the loch is the town of Helensburgh; its neat houses and gardens attest to the prosperity brought by the naval base. It’s hard to find independence supporters here, but there is a small group of diehards.

“We’re not exactly popular here,” smiles Alexander Morris, a gardener and Yes campaign activist. “I keep reminding my neighbors that we weren’t always a navy town. People lived here 150 years before they built the base in the Second World War and we prospered then.

“The town’s business community clings to the old mono-industrial ideas and thinks we need the submarines to survive, instead of understanding there is great potential in shipping and renewable energy here. They have to realize that nuclear weapons are not relevant any longer in the 21st century, just like King David’s slingshot and the textile factory in Dimona. Scotland will be independent, get rid of nuclear weapons and prosper.”

A friend of Morris, Helensburgh firefighter Alistair Swanson, has a similar view.

“It’s all part of London’s Project Fear,” he says. “You can’t take a walk in the hills around here without coordinating it; the guards can shoot at you if they think you want to get into the bunkers. It creates bad feeling among the people here, and there are more independence supporters than many think. They don’t want to talk because of all those who live off the base.”

The SNP’s leaders have promised Scottish voters that if they win, they will demand that London remove the submarines and warheads. Officially, they are not prepared to discuss the base’s lease. “Anti-nuclear feeling is ingrained in Scotland,” says Morris. “There is no way the SNP could sell a deal with London; people won’t accept it.”

Despite that, Salmond has also promised voters that an independent Scotland would remain a NATO member. It’s unclear, though, how his government would square its membership based on a first-strike nuclear strategy with limiting NATO’s nuclear umbrella. This is just one issue the Scottish nationalists have failed to fully address; others include whether an independent Scotland would remain in the European Union, and what currency it would use.

But the future of the Faslane base also puts into question Britain’s international standing if it becomes the United Kingdom without Scotland. It hasn’t been an empire for over half a century, but its nuclear weapons have made it a member of an exclusive club.

The Ministry of Defence will find it hard to build a new submarine base in the timetable the SNP is threatening to dictate, and the billions of pounds for relocation could lead to a wider debate in Britain over nuclear disarmament. Scottish independence would not only chop off a third of Britain’s territory, it could also severely diminish its stature around the world.

Submariners Lounge Videos

A  lot of the Photos can be found in The Submarines Lounge 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/Sublounge/photos/ 

   

   

   

   

   

 

Space Oddity

In a post on Twitter Tuesday morning, Mr. Hadfield said the highly popular video could only be posted for a year.

“Bowie’s last day – we had permission for a year, so our Space Oddity video comes down today,” the now-retired Canadian astronaut wrote.

Later on the Reddit Web portal, Mr. Hadfield and his son, Evan, said they hoped they could extend the video’s licence but could offer no guarantee.

“We had permission from David Bowie’s people to post the video on YouTube for a year, and that year is up,” they said. “We are working on renewing the licence for it, but as there are no guarantees when it comes to videos shot in space, we thought you might want to have one last look before we take it down.”

Since it was made public on YouTube, the video has been viewed more than 22.4 million times.

Mr. Hadfield commanded Expedition 35, the second leg of a five-month ISS flight that launched in December 2012 and returned to Earth in May 2013. He retired from the Canadian Space Agency in June.

During his time in the orbital outpost, he made extensive use of social media to share his experience, turning him into a prominent member of the astronaut corps.

Though Mr. Hadfield is a capable singer and guitar player who has performed in bands before, the remake of Mr. Bowie’s 1969 classic Space Oddity video took six months to prepare and was carefully laid-out before he lifted off.

After obtaining Mr. Bowie’s permission to use the song, Mr. Hadfield turned to Canadian musician Emm Gryner, a former Bowie collaborator who had also previously collaborated with the astronaut.

Ms. Gryner crafted a new arrangement. The lyrics were tweaked to reflect the technical specifics of Mr. Hadfield’s mission (including a reference to a Russian Soyuz capsule, for example) and to conclude the song on an upbeat tone.

The instrumental parts were pre-recorded on Earth and mixed with ambient sounds from the space station and video footage of a singing Mr. Hadfield floating dreamily in the orbital lab.