At the end of The Northern Lights, Lyra Silvertongue watched in fear and fascination as her father, Lord Asriel, created a bridge between worlds. Lyra and her daemon, Pantalaimon, are now lost in an alternate universe where they meet Will Parry, a fugitive from a third universe. Will has found a small window between Cittagazze (a place where children roam unchecked but invisible Specters suck the spirit out of adults) and his Oxford, which, with its Burger Kings and cars, is frighteningly different from the Oxford Lyra knows.

Lyra’s finest qualities, her courage and quick mind, are stretched to the limit as she has to lie, cheat and steal to keep herself and Will out of danger. However, she must also learn when to tell the truth and when to trust, for, though she does not yet know it, she has a huge part to play in the upcoming battle between Good and Evil.

This is the second in the triliogy, I read the first as part of the 888 challenge (that I still haven’t finished lol), but only started this one last week. In this book you understand a lot more about what’s going on and events from the first book almost make sense, but at the end, you’re stil leftl wandering how it’s all tied together and how it will end! Still at least this time I can continue on to the final novel without having to put it at the end of a very long to read list

This was complete silly madness As well as the bangers, there were grass racers, van racing and at the end an attempt at a caravan race, I say attempt, as none of them made the second corner! Click on thotos below to make them bigger.

The end of the caravans..

One of the 3 Robin Reliants before the racing…

The Robins racing

The van races were full of smashes

One of the grass racers before the race..

and possibly the same one during the race…

1.) Where did you ring in 2009?
The Gardeners
2.) What was your status by Valentine’s Day?
single
3.) Were you in school (anytime this year)?
No.
4.) How did you earn your keep?
claims advisor, then promoted to senior claims advisor in November
5.) Did you have to go to the hospital?
no
6.) Did you have any encounters with the police?
don’t think so
7.) Did you know anybody who got married?
Claire and Des, gutted I wasn’t there for it
8.) Did you know anybody who passed away?
thankfully no
9.) Have you run into anybody you graduated high school with?
I’m still in touch with a few people I was at school with
10.) Did you move anywhere?
no
11.) What sporting events did you go to?
not many this year, no football matches, but I did go to watch Manchester Phoenix play ice hockey a few weeks ago and have been to Belle Vue twice for Stock car racing.
12.) What concerts/shows did you go to?
Again, not many compared to normal…errrmmm Britain’s Got Talent, Boyzone (for Claire), Milkshake and Disney on Ice
13.) Are you registered to vote?
Yes.
14.) If so, did you do your patriotic duty on [last time you were supposed to vote]?
of course
15.) Where do you live now?
same place I lived this time last year
16.) Describe your birthday.
BBQ here, lots of Malibu, then pub with more Malibu
17.) What’s the one thing you thought you would never do but did in 2009?
started running on a regular basis
18.) What is one thing you regret from this year?
not seeing my Nan enough
19.) What do you want for Christmas?
a few days late, I got a wii, a new dvd player, books and running socks, oh and new digital kitchen scales from my bear 
20.) Any new additions to your family?
nope
21.) What was your best month?
wasn’t one that stands out above the rest
22.) What from pop culture will you remember that happened in 2009.
Stephen Gately dying
23.) How do you plan to ring in 2010?
probably same as last year
24.) Who has been your best drinking buddy?
Bob lol
25.) Made new friends?
New housemate, new work colleagues so yeah lots lol

hope everyone has really special days, and as I’m working drives really carefully if you must leave the house, but preferably doesn’t drive at all!

This installment follows the mischief-making heroines of St. Trinian’s as they set off on a treasure hunt after they discover headmistress Miss Fritton is related to pirates.

This is exactly what you expect from a St Trinians film, lots of daftness and laughter and exactly what you need when the whole country has ground to a halt due to the snow!

When I first heard about the campaign to get RATM to no 1 spot for Xmas, I can’t say I was particulaly inspired by it, but in the last week, I’ve definitely been caught up in the hype. Firstly because I remember when getting no 1 slot for Xmas was a major accomplishment, where as now it just seems to be a given that it will go to who ever wins the X Factor regardless of how poor the song is. Secondly it amused me that a song with ‘f*ck* in it could be at number one for Xmas.

But behind all of the fun, there has been some good work being done. The band have agreed to donate money from sales to charity and the founder of the Facebook group that started all of this fuss has set up a Justgiving page and is encouraging fans to give to Shelter, that for me is more about the meaning of Christmas, than someone we’d never heard of 6 months ago getting a number one and disappearing for a year before launching their album.

Click here to join the cause and help the homeless, the official page says We have chosen Shelter because no one should be homeless at Christmas , but christmas or not, no one should be living outside in the weather we’re currently experiencing. At the time of posting, the amount raised stands at £76,003.71 with a further £18,362.18 added on as gift aid, I can’t begin to imagine what a difference this will make to this charity.

So entering into the spirit of things, we did today’s race with Gra and I dressed as Mr and Mrs Claus and Tom as our elf! Neither the fancy dress or the sub zero temperatures helped us run the race, meaning none of us gained pb’s this week, but it was fun and freezing and we were just happy to finish! So far only Gra has been caught on camera, but there were lots of people there with cameras, so more may appear on the site later on. After the race, it was up to the cafe for breakfast, never has a quorn sausage barm been so welcome! The race was very close to being cancelled due to the weather, but thanks to a lot of grit and a bit of rerouting, it was classed as safe enough to proceed. Tom though managed another spectacular fall on the same bridge, causing a shepherd to warn all future travellers of danger of ice…

From top left then round, Anna playing in the park when she skived work because of the snow! Karl, Spanky and George at George’s Christening; Me and Anna in fancy dress for Sarah’s 21st; Rex posing in Bruntwood Park; Areej on the way to Milkshake; cocktails at Circle 23bar in The Hilton: Bike stunts at Thundersprint; Me with Rach and Cherisse after the Boyzone concert; Trying on hats at the hat Museum; Running at Bramhall; the warm up for Cancer 10k race at Rhyl; Lucky charms from Oldham; Gina trying to blow a malteser into the air and playing on the beach at Southport.

Still no times for the plods, only the 10k, but now we have photos All taken just after the start of the race: