Here’s todays…

Some of the things I write here may offend you, or you may violently disagree with me on certain matters. That’s OK, they offer therapy for people like you these days.

Everything I write on this site is my opinion. No-one elses. That’s not to say that people don’t share my opinion, because, lets face it – who doesn’t? But it is to say, no-one else wrote this stuff here, and no-one else asked me to on their behalf.

And now the bit that should really be common sense but in todays society needs me to spell it clearly out for risk of being sued by someone…

“The Brain of Chris” is the personal blog of Christopher Allen. The views expressed are solely his, and his alone. They are not the views of his employer, his university, or any other organisation he is involved with, has been involved with, or may one day become involved with.

Any text that has been written by another party is clearly highlighted as such, with appropriate attribution – and Christopher Allen can NOT be held responsible for such content, or the content of ANY comment left on this website.

This blog, and all content contained within it is aimed at being informative, humourous, and a genuine insight into the mind of Christopher Allen. All text is copyright Christopher Allen unless otherwise stated.

It is never the intention of Christopher Allen to cause distress to any person through material contained on this blog.

If you wish for any material to be removed with valid reason, you may request so by using the contact page up top.

Please don’t sue me.

I think that kinda covers it…

Also worth noting that NONE of the old comments on the site have been deleted, but they may take a while to show up on the new system.

Thanks Guys! x

UPDATE: Still having issues with Facebook login at the moment, so I recommend using Twitter login, which seems to be working fine, either that or do the normal name, email and comment thing!

This post is password protected. To view it please enter your password below:

Password:

Continuing along the same thought process, I guess it’s also true that the majority of those posts were written a long time ago, with no post looking likely in the near future.

I guess there’s 3 possible reasons for this;

1. They’re a liar – always possible, but unlikely.
2. They lack inspiration – probably the most common, as most bloggers tend to set themselves a target along the lines of writing one post every x amount of days.

   And finally,

3. They’re very busy doing many things.

The reason I’ll hate myself for this post is because, today, I will be putting myself into category 3.

I know, shame on me.

The truth of the matter is, I’ve just moved out of my student house, and at the moment I’m literally living on the floor in my mates bedroom. I’m also trying to secure accommodation for the new Uni year, as well as trying to sort out the mini-recession that appears to have hit my bank account.

I will be writing more frequently soon, I promise you, and I hope the fact that I’ve been updating this blog fairly often over the last year or so shows that I’m not one of those horrible liars I mentioned above.

Hope you’re all well!

Love, Chris
X

Really quick post just to say, if you read my blog ever, (I hope you do!), then please consider following my blog via NetworkedBlogs on Facebook.

I’d really appreciate it if you’d just click the link in the sidebar, and possibly even love you forever.

Chris
x

One one particually dreary day in November 2008, it was announced that Woolworths (and its partner company, Entertainment UK) were both entering administration.

Most people took this news to mean the imminent downfall of Woolworths, and to a large extent, they were right. Personally, I was more worried about the human side of this eventuality, over 27,000 redundancies would occur as a result of Woolworths demise, including those of my Aunt and Uncle, who’d recently had a child. With Christmas around the corner, this couldn’t have been worse news for many people.

At the time, I was only 17, and therefore pretty damned powerless to do much about the situation, without single-handedly buying every last bit of pick and mix from my local branch (which seemed at the time to be a pretty bad plan), and so I turned to the social networking site Facebook, and created a group named simply, “Save Woolworths!”, hoping that I’d maybe get a few hundred members and be able to cobble together a petition of some kind.

The response I got, however, surprised me in every way imaginable.

By the end of the first day, I had a few hundred members, by the end of the week, a few thousand, and by the end of the month, over 33,000 members.

In the press...

The group was mentioned by BBC News, Sky News and in local and national press, which seemed to only drive membership more. Before I knew it, the message boards were full of people pledging to shop at Woolworth’s  on specific dates, with events arranged, and thousands invited. Indeed, I was contacted by a few store managers and told that there was a definite sales spike on the day of the two “Shop to Save Woolies” events.

Newslite Article

There were of course some doubters and naysayers, for example, whoever wrote this article for “newslite”, where it was suggested that if the public had shopped more in the past rather than sitting around on facebook, then Woolworth’s might not have needed saving… No matter though, still the group grew and hoped for the saving of a British institution like no other.

Now of course, sadly Woolworths did cease trading for good in early January 2009, resulting in the loss of 27,000 jobs, and a British institution, which was only months from it’s 100th birthday, but that wasn’t the end of the Woolies name…

Soon after the cease of trade, it was announced that Shopping Direct (owners of Littlewoods) had bought the rights to the Woolworths brand name, and would be starting their own online shop, of the same name.

Time passed and I drifted away from the group, but I still receive emails weekly from members of the group, have been recognised in the street as a result before, and also was contacted a number of times by the then Group Communications Director of Shop Direct, for “chats”.

Well that’s it really. If you’re interested, the group does still exist, albeit with a different name, and you can find it here if you’re interested.

I don’t know why I decided to write about this, but at the time I was proud to be part of a movement. Sure, it didn’t save Woolies, but I know that a large amount of people drew comfort from connecting to other Woolies employees, and I’m proud of the fact.

Trivia fact, we even made tshirts…:

Spring Harvest is a Christian event, taking place over the Easter period at Butlins camps in Minehead and Skegness. Spring Harvest is a multi-denominational event catering for Christians, and those interested in becoming a Christian, of all ages and backgrounds.

Spring Harvest is also Europe’s largest Christian event.

Spring Harvest 2011 dates, click for larger view.

Spring Harvest describe the 2011 event as follows;
It’s time we stopped seeing the Bible as a book. It’s 66 volumes by more than three-dozen authors to make a little library. It’s a repository of reference; a Treasure-chest of truth; a library of lives.

The Bible holds together with remarkable consistency and strength. Core themes run like
rivers through the texts. Questions asked in ages past are answered in dreams of the future. Promises made in times of need are fulfilled in times of grace.

In 2011, the 400th anniversary of the ‘Authorised Version’, we’ll find out just why the
Bible is the most contemporary collection of stories in any time and place.

Route 66: Biblical direction for the road we travel, will equip you to better understand the Bible, to better apply its teachings and to better live out the powerful call of the Spirit who broods and breathes within its pages.

• What does it mean to believe that these 66 books are inspired by the Spirit of God?
• Can we trust them to bring meaning to our lives?
• How should we apply them, knowing that so many of the questions we face today are not directly referenced in these ancient words?

If you’re a Christian, or considering becoming one, then I really recommend that you try Spring Harvest out in 2011.

Prices aren’t awfully expensive, and there are discounts available for those receiving benefits.

For more information, visit www.springharvest.org

I chose it because it works better with the name of the site, and is also a bit more fun, so from this weekend the domain name for this blog will become, thebrainofchris.co.uk

You’re welcome.