Throckmorton airshow 2013 videos

Some short clips of the amazing acrobatics.





Helicopter ride. Bit blurry in the beginning.



All video clips taken using my Nokia Lumia 900. Quite impressed with the results.

Throckmorton airshow 2013

The air show is an annual event held at the Throckmorton airfield in the village of the same name about an hours drive from our house.  Had to pay £25 for all of us. We could have got it much cheaper via Groupon (only £10) or £20 online but we found out too late.

Here are some pics from the event:

It was a bright and sunny day and I actually fell asleep even with all the noise.




New police recruit


Someone is going to the police station








Flying the air rescue helicopter.










Apache helicopter




The RAF Typhoon flown by Flt Lt Jamie Norris - flying past at supersonic speed. It's amazing my camera phone was able to capture it.


Aerostars in their Yak-50s going through the paces






My wife and daughter going for a helicopter ride over the surrounding countryside - only £35 each.









This was an amazing fun day for the whole family.

See their website for more details

A landmark event

My Birthday...


Card from my wife and kids


Cake


Post-it note message from my colleagues Sanjit and Anoop.

8th Blogoversary

It has been 8 long years since I first started blogging on ah ok lah in 2003. What first started out as a place on the web to voice out and share my thoughts, emotions and events ended up changing my life completely. From a hobby it became my source of income and also my area of specialisation.

I received a scholarship to do a PhD  in marketing at the Warwick Business School my research looks at the relationship between interactivity and attitudes towards blogs and towards advertising on blogs. I now blog on several blogs and even have been invited to speak about blogging to different audiences including a presentation on teaching with blogs to some academics at the University of Warwick.

Some say blogging is addictive - in my case it has been therapeutic. Other people play golf, or video games or do yoga. In my case, blogging helped me whenever I was stressed. It has definitely helped me with my writing skills in a language which is not my mother tongue.

I have come a long way - from someone who used to enjoy reading blogs to someone who is now considered an expert on blogging.

Why do I blog?

Royal Wedding - what people are talking about

Last weekend I was in London to see my in-laws off. I was thinking of going out to watch the Royal wedding celebrations but changed my decision at the thought of the crowds and my kids. We were able to watch the wedding in the comfort of my bro-in-law's house.

I really enjoyed and what ever people say, I think that the event was really what the British public needed. To a lot of people weary of the cuts, rise in prices, job losses and everything else, the event provided a welcome respite and brought cheer to a lot of people - even republicans. I am still enjoying the holidays.

Looking at the blogosphere and the various social media, the two most popular topics related to the wedding seem to be about bridesmaid Grace van Cutsem, who is also Prince William god daughter.

She was covering her ears and not really enjoying the event. Many thought that she might have some sensory problems (autism?) but people seem to forget that she is just 3 years old. Some of the comments were really cruel.

Another popular topic is Princess Beatrice's Philip Treacy Hat. It's a viral on the net now and you can even have your own picture with the hat on.

A lot of people don't seem to like the hat. If it was attention she was looking for when she choose the hat, she got it. I thought it was really brave of her.

Other popular news seems to be about Pippa Middleton, the bride's sister and maid of honour;and about the controversial snub of former (Labour)Prime Ministers, Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, both of whom were not invited to the wedding.

Official blogger and twitterer for the Festival of Social Sciences

The Faculty of Social Science here at the University of Warwick is organising the Festival of Social Sciences, which will run on the campus from the 15th (Monday) to 19th (Friday) June this year. I somehow got involved and am now the official twitterer for the festival.

Do check out the official blog to read about the festival including the preparations, information on events and view pictures, etc.

You can also follow the festival on Twitter @socscifestival.

Lets join the Earth Hour Movement

Just wanted to inform my readers about the Earth Hour movement. Join me and millions of other people around the World who will turn off their lights for an hour from 8 to 9 p.m. on March 29.

The movement was initated by WWF to highlight the need for action on global warming.

1K + posts

This is my 1001st post on this blog.

My blog also turned 4 last month. My first blog post was on Monday, September 08, 2003 and it has come a long way since then.

I picked up a lot of skills as I went along and learnt from other bloggers. Through this blog, I made some really good online friends, most of whom I have never met in person but feel like I know them personally.

I would like to say a BIG "Thank You!" to all the visitors to my blog.

Congratulations to Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor

I almost forgot to post this up even though I had written this down earlier.

My congratulations to Dr. Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor on becoming the first Malaysian to go into space. Right now he is on the International Space Station.

Read more about Sheikh Muszaphar on Wikipedia.

BP sponsors the Solar Decathlon

I consider myself quite eco-friendly and am doing my little bit for the environment. We are actively trying to reduce our carbon footprint by taking public transport, recycling, putting up energy saving bulbs and so on. I have realised that it makes economic sense as well. We found that our monthly expenditure has been reduced quite a bit after we implemented the energy saving measures and I think I am fitter as well, with all the walking I do now.

Anyway, I just learnt about the . In partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy, BP is the major sponsor of the 2007 Solar Decathlon. In this bi-annual event, 20 university teams from around the world design, build and operate livable, every-efficient, and completely solar-powered houses.

The teams form a solar village in the National Mall in Washington, D.C. from October 11–19. The contestants run a modern household by only using electricity generated by the sun.

Sponsoring this special event is part of BP’s Commitment to discovering cost effective yet cheap alternative energy sources. They first sponsored the event in 2002 (the first) and again in 2005.

Read the regular updates on the BP Solar Decathlon blog. It should be of interest to anybody who are interested in alternative energy, especially solar energy solutions.