David Matthew Baker

I'll be interested to see how they manage to squeeze all the story in. Reading reviews though it does help a lot to have a good knowledge of the story otherwise apparantly it is easy to get lost. I think it is more or less a musical with acting bits thrown in from what I've been reading. Here are some YouTube clips, they're a mix of adverts and songs. Gollum vs Smegol - To take the ring or not. The Road Goes On The Final Battle The London version is slightly shortened. Originally it had 2 intervals. Apparently now instead of a second interval a load of Orks invade the audience. It will certainly be interesting. EDIT: Here is a song list for what is on the CD that has been produced with the productions songs. It might give you an idea of what is and isn't included. Some how I doubt dear old Tom (Mr Bombadil) makes it. 1. Prologue ('Lasto I Lamath') 2. The Road Goes On 3. Saruman 4. The Cat And The Moon 5. Flight To The Ford 6. The Song Of Hope 7. Star Of E�rendil 8. Lament For Moria 9. The Golden Wood 10. Lothl�rien 11. The Siege Of The City Of Kings 12. Now And For Always 13. Gollum/Sm�agol 14. The Song Of Hope (Duet) 15. Wonder 16. The Final Battle 17. Epilogue (Farewells) 18. Finale.

Is the 360 starting up without the network cable connected to it? When it starts up are any red lights showing on the front ring? The 360s can be a pain to get working properly but will try and help you through it. I have 2 setup on our network (that really causes problems). Even if the ethernet wasn't connected properly I can't think of any reason it should turn itself off. Ours is happy with or without it connected and gets to the dashboard. I expect the first thing to try is disconnecting and reconnecting all the cables (including the video lead and power) as it almost sounds as if one of them isn't connected properly. The fact it isn't getting to the dash makes me think this isn't a networking issue at the moment but one related to something else.

The Top one Mumble. You know me well. You are right that I like the Lion King as well. Not sure what I would think of a stage production of that. That said people I know who have seen it like it.

I've heard one of the songs in the last one is great. Jesus Christ, Super-nanny, Helping children be good to Daddy, Jesus Christ! Jesus Christ, Are you as good, as they say you are?... I'm afraid you've not got it yet BD. Need to fit men on stilts and volcanos in there too.

Will have my mum with me too this year. Very randomly just booked 2 tickets for a West End show at 7.30pm. Was only meaning to look at Phantom but it had sold out. Will let you lot try and guess what for. Will give you a little help and rule out Joseph too. That is also booked solid. Didnt even know a show existed for what were now booked to see. Now need to book transport & accomidation. Will book to stay at the West End YHA in the next couple of days. Still too early for train tickets.

I had to find it earlier to check dates. Can't book train tickets yet but still not really decided how I'm getting down. Really looking forward to it though.

That's all of them up now. I have another picture I took of a rainbow a while back. Had thought I'd uploaded it but can't find it. Will upload that one too as personally prefer it.

Feel free to use any if you want to.

Hi all I've been walking again the last couple of days and as normal have taken a few photos. I'm afraid quality isn't as great as normal as these were shot with my phone rather than a standalone camera (haven't got any charged batteries for that at the moment as don't trust the charger). The weather was a little interesting whilst we were out. Hail, snow, rain! Still it was good fun most of the time even if I did get a little wet. I hope you are all having a good time at the moment. All the best, David. http://s221.photobucket.com/albums/dd258/D...erfall%20Walks/ EDIT: Meant to say still uploading at the moment. Should be all up in the next half hour or so.

I think word play is easy on a forum as you can't read the person who is doing it. That said I keep falling for ones at school at the moment so it may just be I'm not very good at reading it. That's more from the staff than students but one of the students in particular has decided it is fun to make fun of me. Apparently he only does it with people he likes. He's lucky I happen to like his group too. Then there isn't much not to like when it is 3 students doing GCSEs who don't give me much bother. Only occasionally have problems with one who has a very short fuse who other students love winding up for that reason. I'm pleased to say he does seem to be learning how best to combat it though. By reporting it to members of staff. Unfortunatally sometimes he doesn't remember until I've grabbed him to stop he running and attacking them. He tends to come off worse in that case too. Just wish I knew what more I could do to try and avoid the problems in the first place. Luckily he likes me and tends to listen to what I have to say and respects my advice. Boy am I getting way off topic again. Also off topic you'll be glad to hear I've been doing some training. Nothing long yet but still have next week too. I do enjoy walking.

Rail fares are cheaper if you buy singles now-a-days rather than returns (which is rather stupid in my opinion). Last year I payed about �18 both ways. Prices seem to have gone up considerably though. It is a pity you don't like to fly as that may now be the cheapest option. Personally I'm presently thinking of driving it (certainly will if I can convince my mum to come) as really stupidly it would be cheaper. I can do around 300 miles on a tank of petrol and filling up costs around �30. Then will book a youth hostel and overnight. Would probably go and look at some of the museums on the sunday. EDIT: Meant to say sorry your holiday didn't go well. I'm off to the Lakes in the Summer (staying in a cabin on a camping site) I'll let you know if it was any good once I get back. Another thing I enjoyed when I was younger (but is expensive) was canal boat holidays. The one in particular I remember was the Llangollen canal.

I'm looking forward to Oct when the new book 'A Dance with Dragons' is due out in the 'Song of Ice and Fire Series'. Unfortunatally 'The Wheel of Time's' author Robert Jordan died last year before completing the final book though another fantasy author is trying to finish the series using Robert Jordans notes. That book isn't due until Fall next year. I like both series though.

I love flying. First thing you normally see (and hear) is them test the flaps if your sitting on a wing (anywhere in the plane). Then they often powerup the engines to test them. Sometimes they then just start accelerating down the runway (other times you finish taxing to runway then accelerate down it). This pushes you backwards into your seat. You'll then feel the front of the plane lift up. You'll get to feel some wonderful g's and often bank heavily just after take off. I love sitting by a window and looking down. It looks just like a model. As for landing, The flaps will open up to help slow the plane. Then when you're over the runway you'll feel a bump as the rear wheels touch down and then another as the front one does. Then the engines will power upto slow down the plane. I hope you enjoy it.

Have had two nice walks in the last 2 days. Yesterday went to Caldron Snout and then a little further creeping a little way into the firing range to another fall. Today walked up from Low Force to High Force. Weather was better yesterday than today but a bit unpredictable and changable both days. Have taken a few photos as well so will try and upload some soon.

Think of a werewolf which is a person who under certain conditions turns into a wolf. In this case I was making fun of one of the Wallace and Gromit films. Where wallace changes into a rabbit (Called Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit). See here for more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wallace_&...the_Were-Rabbit

I write left handed (with a Parker Fountain Pen most of the time). Eat the normal way round (knife in right, fork in left). Can throw and catch with either. If I play golf play it right handed (though last played when I was a student at school) and that may just be because we only have a right handed set of clubs. Foot wise I don't seem to prefer either and can happily use both, probably more accurate with my left but get more power with the right. EDIT: When I broke my left arm though I wrote with my right for a while. Wasn't happy when one of the teachers wrote on my work it looked like a spider had crawled across it. You could read it at least. Was made to do that because clever clogs here decided to sign his own pot. EDIT2: I'd love to know why schools buy left handed scissors though. Half the time I use the right handed ones in my left hand. Only advantage of the left handed ones is they are usually sharper. The grips are the same on both anyway. The difference is the blades are the opposite way round but I actually prefer the blades the right handed way as it is easier to see what I'm doing.

Yuk!!! Personally I'd not have salad cream or mayo with anything. Nor gravy thanks. Sorry I'm a bit of a fussy eater. Had a burger on friday and had to ask for it with just the cheese and bacon. I do wish they'd use proper cheese though. Unfortunatally had to buy food from a fast food place (not my prefered haunt) but only had 45 minutes to get food. Had booked a cinema ticket to tide me over until the group from my school were due to be out. Still had an hour in a pub on my own. Unfortunatally I didn't think there would have been time to get home and back so had mum come down with me and then drive the car back. I could have gone home and came back on the train. Oh well. If anyone has added me, sorry I haven't done anything. Not been on there for a while. Come on here far more often than I go on facebook.

Still enjoying school. Have been asked to go in after the 'spring holiday'. This means that I'm likely to get bored for the next 2 weeks with not much to do. Should perhaps try and get myself fitter as Mumble kindly has a thing on her profile that reminds me I'm running out of time. Presently providing consistant cover for a support assistant who works with a class of 3 students. They are a higher ability group and spend sometime up at the local mainstream. One day I even managed to end up with a 1 to 1 student : staff ratio. Is a group I get on well with too. Has been a bit boring at times though as have had the joy of invigulating mock exams. Still had a good party on Friday, that me, one of my students, and a support assistant from a different class threw for the two classes teachers. One was 30 and the other 50. Hence lots of cakes, crisps, etc... I also took in a bottle of helium and we put up a few balloons (16 to be precise). Also found out one of the non-aural students enjoys investigating things. He tried to balance the 'lift' of a helium balloon with various objects. I think he'd have managed if we let him use water. The only problem with been back is I get home exhausted but 99% of the time after I've had a good day. Sometimes stay to one of the after school clubs for fun too. On Friday had a nice night out with some of the staff from the school (though I found some of the bars a little loud for my taste, I couldn't properly hear someone who was sitting next to the person next to me). Dad also kindly picked me up. There are more 'permanent' positions (I.E. might also be temporary contracts but I'm on supply) coming up after Easter and various people have been encouraging me to apply. Presently think I'll take the next year to decide on best course for me. Need to work out primary or secondary first still. Trying to arrange a meetup with another friend this week. That's one of the things I'll talk to her about as I'd appreciate her opinion. Sorry hadn't popped in for a while. I'm still around though. I hope everyone is doing well. Hopefully I'll start getting used to working again soon. I'd say this is harder than my teacher training in some ways (as requires more physical fitness) but it is more rewarding. Also might be able to do a placement at the school if I could find a training scheme that would let me. See you all around, David.

You should really add Aardman under the A's I'd love to see what your definition would be. It is fun. I agree with the others. Might show it to some of the staff at school and see what they make of it. Or perhaps see if some more Aspies have a sense of humour. For fun here is my take on Aardman (though I'm sure you can do better): Aardman - A 'hard man' for those who speak proper. The person sent after you when the evil geniouses henchmen, (in particular you should look out for: frogs; penguins, disguised as chickens; and giant were-rabbits) fail to complete their set task, namely to beat you up or kill you. Then a tough as nails Aardman will be sent after you. I've heard that tools of the trade include plastercine (who knows for what dastardly use), stop motion generators (to slow down your movement ) and computer special effects (for added punch). You also aren't bang upto date with Challenge Anneka. It did have those 2 shows recenty that I thought was meant to be part of a new series. 1 helping build something in an area struck by the tsunami and the other where she organised the production of a CD for that childrens charity, I think associated with rainbows. If you've managed to follow that you've done better than I have. BTW I particularly like your windows one. Had Vista show that it hasn't grown out of the habit of its family yesterday. Another definition for you: RAID - Something not to let 'David' play with. Otherwise he will decide that a 6 disc splitting array is a good idea. So far it is still stable but there is no parity or backup. Hence when it fails it will do so in style. Betting is now open for how long this will take. Please add into the equation that the PC is running Vista. Total disc space is over a terrabyte. Which means plenty of room to fill with junk to slow down the PC. It does however mean that hard drive access time is not the bottle neck in the system, the CPU speed is.

to you, to you, , Dear Mike, to you. Congratulations. Many happy returns.

Onto 'The Green Angel Tower' book 3 in the series I mentioned in my last post. Not getting through it as quickly as I have the others. Mainly been reading it in the staff room waiting for the start of the school day. After that I've been quite busy, and often bored out of my mind (mock exams), but not had the opportunity to read. When I get home I've then been playing a Beta (on my Xbox 360) of a game that is due out in the summer 'Battlefield: Bad Company'. At least that is what I have done when I've been able to summon any energy when I get home. Otherwise I've been collapsing and not doing much. * A beta is a test of something before it is properly released to check for bugs and to help with optimisation incase anyone is wondering. I get told off by some of my friends for going on about stuff and loosing them completely.

Newton Hall, Durham City, County Durham. Not giving any more than that on here though. Durham is a lovely city if you haven't been you "should come at once, borrow my car" (to quote a well known author, presently our chancellor at the Uni I believe). I doubt I'd ever move south people rush around too much. Unless I'm talking way south but Kenya was a bit hot for my liking but the people were lovely.

Present hobbies are: Gaming (mainly 360 but also PC, Wii and PS3) Reading (normally Fantasy) Ones that I plan on picking backup: Aquatics (once I can afford it - always liked having a fish tank - Discus are lovely [but messy]) Model Railways (have recently purchased a N gauge Sir Nigel Gresley not got any track really though) Kayaking (would like to work up the star ranks. Got my 2 star ages back but would like to go further) Most of it comes down to finances though. Don't have enough money at the moment. Will be better soon though as working again. Was just surviving on grants for teacher training before.

At times I think it comes down to I know what is best for my child. Had a brief talk today with one of the teachers about it been nice that at least they had the parent on side for one of the more disruptive (able) students at the school. He said yes it was but it had been a long hard fight to make that the case. It took a lot of convinsing for the school to get the parent to realise there was a problem. I was just pleased to hear that she was going to take away privileges at home. After all I don't feel schools can do enough about poor behaviour now days. The back grounds of the worst behaved students are normally not great either. Not that I think any parents on here are the type that wouldn't offer support where it is needed. I can understand why some parents are like it though. It is hard to listen to anyone (even it is truthful) attack a member of ones family. I can certainly attest to never having seen a school like the ones shown in the adverts from the government trying to recruit new teachers.

Most of my teachers from school tell me I am mad wanting to go into the profession. I also know one of my friends is now leaving it (to do a PhD) and won't miss some aspects of it. I think at times a lot is expected from teachers. Often they aren't given the support they need. Some of the lessons I have mentioned previously have had good teachers (or what I call good teachers incharge - someone who is passionate about what they are teaching, who wants to help others learn about it and expends all their energy towards that end). The problem is it does take all your energy. I couldn't manage some of the classes I have seen. I am too soft a touch. I also know that I will rather be out to survive any time I do in mainstream. The sooner I can make it into S.E.N. the happier I will be. I think it is a pity how schools are now. I've met you Bard I know from that short period that you talked passionately about what you do. The problem is at times the negatives end up out waying the positives. The constant battle that goes on between certain students and teachers (or other staff) is very wearying. Even if you aren't the focus of it. Just sitting through a lesson where there are problems you often wish you could do something to help. The problem is with teaching not only do you have to be good at teaching but also good at: Man management Diplomacy Peacekeeping Motivation I don't know many other jobs that ask so much from you. Not to mention when you go home on an evening there is work to do (at least as a teacher - S.A.s have it easy in this regard). At each school I've worked at though there have been students who I know I was making a difference for. I can (normally) take enough pleasure from that to keep me going. It certainly isn't a job choice for the faint of heart. For anyone who is a teacher and having a bad time at the moment I hope things get better soon. I just wish (as I'm sure any other people who work in schools feel) that there were easy ways to overcome any issues in the educational system. Bagpuss: Not sure I can suggest anything I'm afraid. It may be you did just happen to catch the teacher on a bad day though. If you have had to fight through the entire day it doesn't always take much to make you crack. I myself felt the most worked up I've been in a long time when I came home tonight. Spent an hour after school filling in a serious incident form. Really it was 3 incidents that ran into each other. It will be nice to have a few days off for easter. At times you do feel you just need to hang on and survive to the holiday. Anyways people will think why do I want to be a teacher if I keep on like this. Normally I get more enjoyment from a day than I do worries. At least at my present school. That's why I want to go into teaching. Just have to decide Primary or Secondary again. This morning had Class 1s teacher tell me I'm a natural with the primary kids. I do like working with them too. I thought I'd made this decision though. Only thing I've really came down to is I want to stay on at the school and then do my training part time. I guess that at least means I'm making a little progress.