One of my hobbies is gaming on Xbox Live. I am captain of a UK team and we have just expanded to become the first team in the World to have three different teams playing under the same banner with different websites.

Here is the press release:

On July 1st Alpha Siege International will be launched. A community comprising of three Xbox Live clans, Alpha Siege Uk, Alpha Siege Juniors and Rogue Cell Alpha Siege U.S. They hope to promote Xbox live communities and compete against clans from across the globe. Alpha Siege have high morales and promote fairness and modesty alongside a fierce competitive streak that they hope will enable them to take the Xbox World by storm. The idea was born through the founding team Alpha Siege Uk who have been an established U.K clan since the dawn of Xbox Live.

The idea is unique. The three clans will operate from three seperate websites within the Alpha Siege domain. The members of each clan were hand picked based on their competitive yet fair approach to gaming. All teams aim to work together as a community to help not only their own clan but Alpha Siege as a whole.

"This is just the beginning" said Alpha Siege UK captain Steven Williamson. "We hope to expand even further and already have plans in the pipeline. We hope to continue to build a large community of clans playing under the Alpha Siege banner whilst promoting good,clean gaming. We plan to work in unity to achieve recognition within the Xbox World as being a 'model' clan and hope to pick up many friends along the way!" he added

Alpha Siege are securing their status as the new breed of 'Super Clan' and with the launch of Xbox 360 just around the corner the Xbox World is their oyster.

Alpha Siege are sponsored by Xequted and The Last Man Standing.

Check out the three teams at www.alphasiege.com

Many thanks to all of the team for their help in making the launch a success

Today they are debating the National I.D card in the House Of Commons. Britain is moving slowly but surely towards the Big Brother state. I do not want a National I.D card. I think it is a waste of money and totally none democratic and intrusive.

People laughed when conspiracry theorists said that we will one day all be micro chipped. This is already happening. Could it really be goodbye to freedom, thought and movement? The I.D cards are just the first step.

In the U.S it is common knowledge that a covert goverment organisation called Echelon aims to monitor movement and manipulate the population. Some insiders have come forward with the information and been silenced!

IBM have already developed such a chip and BT have been involved in the manufacturing of chips.

Millions of military personnel around the world
have been micro-chipped - for reasons of "security."

Millions of domestic animals have been micro-chipped - for reasons of "security".

Countless thousands of innocent civilians have been covertly micro-chipped against their will by their government during routine operations - for reasons of - "security?"

Fundamentalist politicians and government representatives are increasingly suggesting all prisoners and criminals be micro-chipped - for reasons of "security."

The same "Mindless Fundamentalists" are suggesting that laws be implement enforcing the mandatory micro-chipping of all new-born babies - for reasons of "security".

This was from a 1990's article about micro chipping:

"The next computer you buy may be the last one you will need. In future, scientists want to insert electronic chips into our heads so that we can plug directly into the information superhighway British are among international teams working on an implant to translate human thought into computer language. In a generation, one group says, people with a peppercorn-sized chip in the back of the neck will be able to talk to machines."

WHAT ARE THE IMPLICATIONS

Suppression of will

I just hope it's all not true but I have a horrid feeling.

Chekc out here for more information

I was glued to Glastonbury all weekend. Once again a muddy, rain drenched festival!

The highlight for me was The White Stripes. There were unbelievable live. I've just bought the album, which I thing rates alongside their 'Elephant' album. They are by far my favourite band of the last 10 years and I can only dream of having a small percentage of the flair that Jack White shows on stage.

Razorlight were also fantastic and a band I must listen to more.

glastonbury has really got me in the mood for my trip to Live 8 next week. Can't wait!

On Saturday Chante(fiancee) celebrated her 29th Birthday.

During the day we went to a Summer's Fete and in the evening I treated her to a head and face massage followed by Hoppie Ear Candle treatment whilst trying to regress her into a past life. Very strange day indeed. In fact I'm suprised we didn't watch the Wicker Man in the evening.

Apparently I was pretty good at relaxation techniques and almost managed to help her drift in to her subconsience.

If you haven't tried Hoppie Ear Wax treatment my fiancee would recommend it. I have tried it and found it quite uncomfortable.

Woohoo my fiancee's sister Charisse today gained a 1st in English from Leicester University. She has worked really hard and I feel really proud.I'm sure she'll go on to great things!

Well done Charisse!

This is taken from the book 'Chicken Soup For the Soul'.

I just thought this was relevant to my life at the moment. I know what I'm supposed to do but something blocks me from doing it.

RULES FOR BEING HUMAN

1. You will receive a body

You may likeit or hate it,but it will be yours for the entire period of this time around

2. You will learn lessons

You are enrolled in a full time informal scholl called Life. Each day in this school you will have the opportunity to learn lessons. you may like the lessons or think them irrelevant and stupid.

3. There are no mistakes, only lessons

Growth is a process of trial and error.Experimentation. The "failed" experiments are as much part of the process as the experiment that ultimately "works"

4. A lesson is repeated until learned

A lesson will be presenterd to you in various forms until you have learned it. When you haev learned it you go on to the next lesson

5. Learning lessons does not end

There is nopart of life that does not contain its lessons. If you are alive, there are lessons to be learned.

6. There is "no better"than "here"

Where your "there" has become a "here" you will simply obtain another "there" that will again look better than "here"

7. Others are merely mirrors of you

You cannot love or hate something about another personunless it reflects something you love or hate about yourself

8. What you make of your life is up to you

You have all the tools and resources you need. What you do with them is up to you. the choice is yours

9. Your answers lie inside you

The answers to Life's questions lie inside you. All you need to do is look,listen and trust.

10. You will forget this.

Wooohoo! Today we found out we had secured two tickets to Live 8 in Edinburgh on July 6th.

I am so excited that we're going to be able to take part in history.

I will be flying up to Edinburgh on the morning of the G8 Summitt and I hope to take part in the rally before heading to Murrayfield to see some of the great acts performing.

This is the final date of the Live 8 performances and coincides with the G8 summit. Bob Geldof has called for 1 million people to head to Edinburgh on this day to march and protest against the G8 Summitt.

I can't wait it should be fun!

Just some of the bands and acts are:

Daniel Bedingfield
Natasha Bedingfield
The Corrs
Jamie Cullum
Dido
Embrace
Beverly Knight
Annie Lennox
McFly
The Proclaimers
Snow Patrol
The Thrills
Wet Wet Wet
Youssou N'Dour
The Zutons
#The Thrills
Travis
Damon albarn

Rumours about Oasis and White Stripes appearing are not yet confirmed.

This is the website explaining what the protests are about.

Today I went on a typical English day out to the
Botanical Gardens in Edgbaston, Birmingham.

I remember going there on school trips.My fiancee has never been there before so we took a picnic and headed for the green oasis in the heart of Birmingham centre.

We browsed through the amazing array of flower gardens and tropical gardens in the sunshine and had a nice cup of tea on the verranda overlooking the stunning scenery. Chante commented on how it felt like we had gone back to the days of colonial India. Peacocks paraded on the lawns and the chorus of bird song was heavenly.

If only it was close enough to visit more often.

Here are some pictures that were taken:

One of my hobbies is Xbox gaming especially via Xbox Live.

Today I bought GTA: San Andreas and it is totally spectacular. Games have improved at such a rapid pace that it seems strange that only 10-15 years ago I was playing the likes of the ZX Spectrum and Atari. The people who make these games are pure genius.

I can't wait to get my hands on the Xbox 360.It will truly be groundbreaking.

Check out the game:

http://www.rockstargames.com/sanandreas/

Well well! The greed of human beings never ceases to amaze me. I scanned through Ebay this morning after I heard reports that Live 8 tickets were being sold. Bob Geldof described it as 'disgusting'.There are dozens of tickets up for grabs.

These people have entered a draw for a good cause and recieved free tickets that are not for re-sale. Thye have abused that right and illegally put them up for sale. They have bids for huge amounts.

I have emailed three of these people to tell them how disgusting it is. Other bidders are bidding ridiculous amounts and then won't pay, I've seen two bids of £10,000. This is as a protest against these leeches.

There are plans to sue these people. I really hope they name and shame them nationally.

I was transfixed to the TV last night to watch the Micheal Jackson court verdict. I was relieved to find out he was innocent. I really do believe the man is different then the normal human being and he does do some strange things. I would not condone letting a child sleep in a stranger's bed but I do believe that Jackson did not do anything to these kids.

I hope he can rebuild his life and hopefully we'll see him at Number again soon.

I was watching Wife Swap the other night. It was the American version.

I found myself sobbing at the end of the show.My fiancee took one look at me and burt into hysterics.

The one father's step daughter had finally realised how much she missed her Step-dad whilst he was away on the show. She finally called him Dad for the first time on his return. I don't know what got into me but I felt really emotional.

Perhaps something I shouldn't admit to, but it was such a profound experience I wanted to write it here so I remember it in the future.

Perhaps it's a early mid-life crisis

In a desperate bid to gain some colour to my pail complexion before my summer holiday I spent all day sun bathing the other day. My chest hasn't really been exposed to the sun since last time I went abroad to a hot country - many years ago. The day after I realised I was burnt to a crisp. Two days later, Saturday, I woke up with severe itching across my chest and les where I was sunburnt. It was unbearable and I spent a good hour just lying in the bath trying to ease the irritation.I couldn't take it any longer so travelled up tot he pharmacy to buy some cream for Sunburn or heat rash. It eased it - thank God! I could have done myself some serious damage, I have never experience being so uncomfortable. Of course there is always the risk of skin cancer as well.

Please take care in the sun it's stronger then you think.

Please note the picture is not of me.

A few months ago I had a concept which I think could work. Jumping on the band wagon of Reality TV I feel 'Tramp Idol' could be a huge success.

Auditions could be held for tramps in some of the major cities in the UK, London, Birmingham, Manchester and Edinburgh. The tramps would have to pass a set criteria to pass through the initial stages, perhaps a simple questionnaire to determine whether they are a 'real' tramp or not.

Questions such as:

'Where do you live?'
'How much money have you got on you at the moment?'
'Do you drink strong alcohol?'
'On a scale of 1-10 how much do you smell'

Stuff like that.

Once the tramps have been whittled down to the final 100 they could show 10 tramps a week living their normal daily lives on the streets. We vote for our favourite tramp each week until it reaches the final 10.

Then there could be a set numnber of tests such as who can 'down the bottle of White
Lightening' the fastest or 'Who can beg the most money in one day'. This should then whittle it down to 2 tramps.

The public could then telephone vote for who they think should win.

What does the winner get?

Easy! A House! The winner would get a semi-detached 3 bedroom house in a nice part of Peterborough and £5,000 to start a new life.

The remaining tramps would go back to the streets. A ratings winner I think!

The Poor losing tramp heads home

I would like to point out that I genuinely feel for Tramps so don't take this out of context

I've finally got round to compiling a list of my favourite films of all time across 6 different genres. I'm sure I would have missed out a great film here and there but........

ACTION/ADVENTURE

1)Gangs Of New York
2)Carlito's Way
3)Pulp Fiction
4)Reservoir dogs
5)Lost Boys
6)Saving Private Ryan
7)Rocky (all films)
8)The Great Escape
9)Indiana Jones: Raiders Of the Lost Ark
10)Lock Stock & Two Smoking Barrells

DRAMA

1)Shawshank Redemption
2)Amelie
3)Schindler's list
4)One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest
5)Usual Suspects
6)Godfather(all)
7)The breakfast Club
8)Truman Show
9)Casino
10)It's A Wonderful Life

COMEDY

1)Blazing Saddles
2)Brewster's Millions
3)Naked Gun
4)Trading Places
5)Airplane
6)School Of rock
7)Police Academy
8)American Pie
9)Teen Wolf
10)About A Boy

MUSICALS

1)Jesus Christ Superstar
2)Muppet's Xmas Carol
3)Moulin Rouge
4)Rocky Horror Show
5)Wizard Of Oz
6)Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
7)Oliver
8)Scrooge
9)Chicago
10)Breakdance

SCI FI/FANTASY

1)Star Wars (ALL)
2)Back 2 The Future (Trilogy)
3)A.I
4)Minority Reports
5)Matrix
6)Ghost
7)Batman (all)
8)Starship Troopers
9)GhostBusters
10)Gremlins

CHILDRENS

1)Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory
2)The Goonies
3)Miracle On 34th Street
4)E.T
5)Toy Story
6)The Witches
7)Uncle Buck
8)Matilda
9)A Bug's Life
10)Swallows & Amazons

So there you go, forever immortalised on this weird blog thingy. My future kids will be able to look back on this and say, "Didn't my dad have weird taste in films", or alternatively they may decide to relive these great film moments by watching all of the films on the list.

If I had to single one film out it has to be 'Willy Wonka'. I have watched it more times than I could ever remember. It reminds me of the innocence of childhood and makes me feel happy.

I just hope it's not spoilt too much with Johnny Depp's new version

Why is it called Live 8? I don't get it.

Anyway the tickets have gone up for grabs today.

Which of the following cities is nearest to the G8 Summit in July?

A Berlin

B Moscow

C Edinburgh

Text your answer A, B or C to 84599* to win a pair of tickets. £1.50 per text

I think the answer is Edinburgh but I haven't actually checked.

The Line Ups are as follows:

Hyde Park, London

Coldplay
Dido
Sir Elton John
Keane
Annie Lennox
Madonna
Mariah Carey
Muse
Scissor Sisters
Sir Paul McCartney
Joss Stone
Razorlight
Stereophonics
Sting
Robbie Williams
U2
REM
Velvet Revolver
Bob Geldof
The Killers
The Cure
Snow Patrol

Museum of Art, Philadelphia

Will Smith (host)
Bon Jovi
Maroon 5
P Diddy
Stevie Wonder
Jay-Z
The Dave Matthews Band
Sarah McLachlan
Rob Thomas
Keith Urban
50 Cent
Kaiser Chiefs

Eiffel Tower, Paris

Jamiroquai
Craig David
Youssou N'Dour
Yannick Noah
Andrea Bocelli
Calo Gero
Kyo
Placebo
Axelle Red
Johnny Halliday
Manu Chao
Renaud

Brandenburg Gate, Berlin

A-ha
Crosby, Stills and Nash
Brian Wilson
Lauryn Hill
Bap
Die Toten Hosen
Peter Maffay

Circus Maximus, Rome

Duran Duran
Faith Hill
Irene Grandi
Jovanotti
Tim McGraw
Nek
Laura Pausini
Vasco Rossi
Zucchero

You can see how far behind some countries are when you see they have AHA in their line up!

The British line up was critised for not havig many Black artists involved. At the moment I don't think there are any Black British Artists that are worthy of being there - Javine perhaps (I don't think so). So I'm not sure what all the moaning is about.

I've entered and would love to see The Scissor Sisters, The Killers, ColdPlay and others. i think I would pop to the loo when Dido comes on though.

FEED THE WORLD EVERYONE AND GET TEXTING!

Yesterday I went to the cinema to watch 'The League Of Gentlemen'. I am a massive fan of the show and have all the series on DVD but I thnk this is now the end of the line.

The film briefly re-introduced some of the old characters only for them not to reappear. I was expecting more from Edward and Tubbs. The story was boring and been done a million times before - the characters of Royston Vasey are transported into the real world. I think because Royston Vasey is hardly involved in the film in takes some of the character out of the show. I really think they should have made the film along the lines of the tv show - sketches.

Hardcore fans will still go and see it and I wouldn't have missed it but I think they will all go away feeling disappointed and finally realising The League Of Gentlemen is OVER!

Score: 5/10

The same evening I watched Napolean Dynamite on video! What a load of rubbish! 3/10

Today I went on a sunbed for the first time in 10 years. I have never really agreed with Sunbeds so it was kind of ironic that I spent 7 minutes today being cooked alive.I don't really agree with sunbeds for vanity's sake - but each to their own.

I'm going to Turkey in August and thought that the sunbed might toughen up my skin ready for the heat abroad.

It felt like I was being tortured. When I came off the sunbed I was very dizzy. I don't understand how people can use the Stand-up sunbeds.

I'm going to persevere over the next couple of months and have now booked 60 minutes in advance - I just hope it has no adverse effects.

Please note the picture below is not me.

Last Night I held a Poker Night. I was a bit worried when a friend of mine Ed turned up with a metallic briefcase full of professional poker chips and poker cloth.

It was a very successfull night and even though we weren't playing for big stakes I ended up £19 the richer. .

We played three games including a £20 freeze out.I came second in each game. Much beer was drank and the pistachio nuts disappeared in seconds.

I should really do this more often!

The chain on my BMX has come off. I have no idea how to put it back on despite numerous attempts. Why am I so impractical? when it comes to spacial awareness I have no clue.

Example: I have never been able to set up pool balls in the correct order. Despite being shown more times than I can remember I still could not even tell you where to begin and I always get in wrong. I think it might possibly be because its something I'm not interested in knowing about, so my brain dismisses it, or perhaps that part of my brain that deals with setting up pool balls is missing.

My Financee had her bicycle delivered last week. She has bought a Mountain Bike to ride to work!She just landed a new teaching job just down the road from where we live so the bike will help her keep fit.

We will now be able to go for bike rides together IF I can fix the chain back onto my bike at some point.

Pool Balls

I've put a picture of this here in the hope that it may sink into my brain