Warrell's World

Jenny, Sophie and I have had a great week in Chamonix. Perhaps because we changed plans at the last minute everything turned out great. We have rented a bijou apartment overlooking the Aiguille du Midi lift, and three days of sun followed by some fresh snow. The girls are even agreeable to doing some off-piste work if the weather is nice. Sophie and I went up the highest cable car in the World and we both enjoyed it. I had been up in '98 but that was to do the Vallee Blanche and I had more pressing concerns. The last bit where the car is hoisted in is quite terrifying. We have skiied hard evry day and with the journey we are exhausted. I've suffered with credit card fraud (again) but hope that it will all be sorted when I get home. I read the Mark Hanson book, 'The strange case of the Dog in the nighttime', and thought it quite superb. His previous, 'A spot of Bother' is very entertaining too. Anyway we had nice meal at a creperie overlooking the river.

From a relative low-point of the previous entry things took a meteoric rise. I went skiing with the ski club and took lunch in the company of an esteemed Australian businessman and family. We had a lot of fun together and it looks like a long term association might grow out of it. Having enjoyed the best powder conditions in years I was exhausted after 11 days solid skiing. I left tired but happy only to have my Zurich flight cancelled. By the time the dust had settled there was little choice but to spend the night in the airport. My niche was already occupied by an unemployed Brit who had missed his flight to Malaga. There was so much that didn't make sense about his predicament that I couldn't drag myself away. Charlie was a lovely guy, over-fond of his booze and dope but engaging nonetheless. He was delighted to be speaking English again and this was un-fathomable to me. What was a Belfast-born Mancunian accented Bricklayer doing living on the dole in Basle for the last yea...

Wow, it's been too long away. There is so much to tell :- Jenny starting at Christs Hospital The Ventoux trip The Val Thorens trip The Engadin trip Christmas, the new car and Martin and Jana's visit but for now I will describe my trip in Verbier. I'm in the Kings Hotel Bar using their facilities having forked out for a glass of the local red. It has been the best day of the season with the opening of the Tortin itinerary. The media furore over the avalanche death gave me the chance to rubberneck a local TV interview. More snow in prospect and I'm making the most of my time here. Knowledge is powder and something to pursue in the evening. I'm trying to find work for a ski instructor in the chalet, selling his services direct but it's not easy to make any sort of living here. I behave as an uber ski bum and I'm on vacation while those here act like they are on holiday and they are supposed to be working. It can be lonely and very territorial though. I'm n...

Just returned from an action packed and fun-filled trip to see the finish of the Tour de France in Paris. Tim Howells, Mark Goodall and I (along with a local cycling club) took the Sat overnight boat to Le Havre; first Paris train arriving at 10am Sunday. A coffee stop on the Place de la Madeleine was followed by a promenade to the Left Bank for an early neighbourhood brasserie lunch with our new found friends Jon and Graham. Suitably fuelled for the long wait we circled around and ended up on the east side of the underpass. A perfect spot to see the real hard men of the cycling elite. We finished the day in another, more touristy brasserie in St Lazare. Then the long haul back began at 8pm. In the age of everyday jet travel it is great to get back to the boat/train combi. Thanks everyone - I feel like I have just had a week abroad.

It's been a while and plenty has happened. The increasing hype around blogging and RSS has spurred this little effort. Jen has finished her exams and spent 10 days at Christs Hospital school for waifs and strays. An extremely stimulating experience which I did not show enough interest in, apparently. Jane, Jenny and Sophie have all had their birthdays and holidays; I met up with Alison, Denise and Lesley to keep the reunion vibe thang going. In pursuit of the public works eGov dev thang' I've started working with my doppleganger - tweedledum to my tweedledee. This has led to some return of sanity as he sees the world through a similarly evolved scanner. If you understand the literary references there good on you!

Just received from my eldest daughter Jen in reply to a courtesy email thanking her and friend Phil for posting on the guestbook on the main site. Dear Warrell and the people in his head, Word to the wise - 'Yowza' is not, will not, and never has been a) a word and b) cool. So don't say it, for fear of being arrested for indecent word use. And you may have mentioned the war, but I don't think you got away with it, and I wasn't even there! The chances of you getting asked back are slimmer than the fatboy, honey. I also think the chances of a possible screen play, were they to turn sideways, would dissapear. And I don't think novel is the word. There is a word, but it can't be said before the nine o'clock watershed. Having said that, keep posting your stuff on the site though. It keeps me avery amused, and you could start yourself a nice fanbase. And maybe with practice, your intense over use of adjectives and words with more than eight letters could be cu...

Just about recovered from a weekend that began in Grand Style on Friday lunchtime. It was the much anticipated wedding of Chichester Grandee Barry Sampson and Peta Brown. A few members of the Sunday Times Rich List, Antonio Carluccio and his wife Priscella Conran were there together with many other luminaries of the sailing and business world. Ok, about 40 odd souls who formed a Kurt Vonnegut Karass for the afternoon. And what an afternoon. A lovely ceremony at Chi registrar office followed by a perfectly stated lunch at the White Horse in Chilgrove. It doesn't get much better than that, especially for a boy from the Oil Refinery on the wrong side of Southampton estuary. I won't go into detail but I mentioned the war and just about got away with it. I wonder if I'll get invited back????

I had my first go on a skatepark this morning at 6.00am. The dew on the metal ramps made it pretty dangerous but after half an hour I was converted. I took some air off the half-pipe and crashed and burned on the tarmac. Cuts, abrasions and bruises. Hey, why should kids have all the fun!

Got this read out by Jazzy M on the O-Zone show this afternoon!!!!!! He asked for peoples opinions about the Matrix Reloaded film. Fame at last (not) but better than nothing. To: jazzym@ministryofsound.com cc: Subject: Matrix ReLoaded Dear M, Pastiche and half truths from all the world religions. I reluctantly went along expecting twaddle and getting drivel. Was it a spoof of Star Wars, Independence Day, Lord of the Rings and some kinda trance movie? Made by the deeply cynical for the feeble-minded. Oh dear, what wonderful marketing these people have to create the mass hysteria that herds gluttons into a place that smells of old farts to waste three hours. How has it come to this?

Scroll down this page to see some of the reunion photos that have been bumped from the main ReUnion site. I'm off to the Club Med ATHENIA complex on 6th June. Has anyone been there or is going? I'm keen to know someone in advance although I'm hoping my ebullient, affable nature will shine out and it won't take long to make friends. Naturally there may be a language barrier but nothing my Del'boy French conversation can't surmount. I've just given blood after a break of a few years. It always makes me feel self righteous...

We have just held the most wonderful school reunion. Please see http://www.warrell.co.uk/reunion for the details. There are many more testimonials to post but in short there were nearly 200 people who enjoyed themselves enormously. It went so well because a group of us got together and meticulously planned the whole thing. As a web developer and software engineer I made sure that I built the tools to do the job properly. We would like to use this experience to benefit others. The idea is that we act as a broker, party planner, techie web 'anorak' and all round facilitators for any big fat school reunion. Anyone interested, no matter where they live now, can get in touch through Friends Reunited and we can begin the process. We can help tem decide on a date and venue for the reunion. We can build a website where people can reserve their place, pay for tickets, read the names of the people coming, print off a poster and press-release. We will help promote the party in whatev...