|  | | | | You may remember them. Back in April last year, I revealed details of the Karl Blog.com inspiration cards - and how they were to be distributed throughout the globe. Almost a year on and over 50,000 have found their way into diaries and onto fridge doors across our little planet. I've even received mysterious little messages about them, such as: "I just got to work and this card was on my desk. My office door was locked. How did it get there?" The answer: I don't know. But they're being distributed - and on each card, you'll find one of my four favourite quotes of all time. I'm reproducing them below, just in case you don't recall the original post. While I'm on the topic... the ultimate pick-me-up is coming to this blog soon. The Karl Blog.com song. I'm not joking. Stay tuned! :) Labels: inspiration, pictures, quotes  Labels: pictures Today, I'm quickly sharing a couple of personal pictures! On Saturday eve, I hosted my own murder mystery party - "The Porthole Affair". The year was 1935. And we were all on-board the RMS Olympic on her final voyage to New York. It wasn't long before Mr Hal E. Tossis and his son were murdered -- resulting in a full-scale investigation. Over great food and wine, of course! Here are a couple of snapshots from the 1930's evening -- with all characters in full fancy dress. I played Essau Hytall, a German character of dubious repute. I publicly apologize for the stereotypically Fatherland moustache. Ready to see the snapshots?  Enjoy! Labels: friends, fun, pictures Today, I'm sharing a few private pictures from my personal photo album...Over the weekend, I attended a fabulous murder mystery weekend with Peter Padwick and Christine Ball. I've attended three previously, and find them a great way of meeting people. Just prior to that, I spent a little time in South Wales - celebrating the birthday of my great friend, Mark Sandler. And a couple of weeks before that, I held my official housewarming party. So, today, I'm randomly sharing a few private photos from my album. Click on the thumbnails to view a bigger image. Or to view more pictures from my personal album, visit http://www.karlmoore.com/official/gallery/ * * * The murder mystery weekend was certainly a suspicious affair... Left to right: Me, Christine Ball, Angelo Goode, Richard Asquith.
And we were always thrilled to find another dead body...
Left to right: Simon Pass, Gloria X, Karl, Richard... and Lynne, the murdered DEFRA inspector.
Thankfully, the best sleuths were on hand to figure it all out...
Simon "Quincy" Pass, Jill "Fletcher" Womersley, Karl "Columbo" Moore, Mark "Marple" Sandler, Richard "Sherlock" Asquith, organisers Peter Padwick and wife Christine Ball, and Angelo "Poirot" Goode.
But whatever you do... don't keep still. You might end up dead.
Just keep running... as I demonstrated here.
Back in South Wales, we celebrated Mark Sandler's birthday...
Smiles were worn by all...
My good friend, Simon Pass (producer, Antiques Roadshow).
We also took a detour through the BBC studios... Richard and myself enjoy a little hug with Pudsey Bear!  Step aside, camera-men of the world. Karl is here! 
Exterminate... Exterminate...
But after all that indoors fun, it was time to get back in touch with nature!
Four million starjumps later and we finally managed to synchronize the camera to produce this wonderful piece of photographic art....
Left to right: Mark Sandler, me, Richard Asquith - in Ogleby, South Wales.
Mark appears to be levitating... Richard is doing the splits... while I'm really reaching for the stars on this next one... 
All in all, a fun and fantastic few days.... 
My housewarming also went wonderfully... A brilliant time was had by everyone... and I'm blessed to have such great friends.  Well, that's all from my private photo album.
I hope you've enjoyed this sneak peek into my daily life.
Happy Tuesday! :)
Labels: friends, pictures Today, I'm randomly sharing a couple of photos from my personal album, taken just a few days ago at a fancy-dress ball -- as long-standing Durham salsa teacher, Takao, left for Japan.
Everyone gets cosy. Spot the devil!
Left to right: Mandy, Richard, Pauline, me, Pat (I think). Above: Tony.
Everyone saying goodbye, including Takao!
Left to right: Get-Back-To-You, Takao, Richard, me.
Me, showing my usually well-hidden violent side.
Left to right: Me, Lee, Deborah.
Want more fun pictures?
Stop by my gallery at the regular website: http://www.karlmoore.com/official/gallery/Labels: durham, pictures As some of you know, it was my birthday at the end of last month! :)
I had a great little meal in Durham, with around twenty of my best friends. Here are a few quick snapshots...
It's my birthday? It's my BIRTHDAY! :O
And as Plautus said: "Let us celebrate the occasion with wine and sweet words" ....
It's a surprise birthday party! Yay!
You can't see them, however my sister scattered pictures of me as a naked child all over the table. It was... embarassing.
And, yes, I'm the only one not looking at the camera there. My head obscures about ten people.
A few of my good friends -- the fab Rachel, Denice, Maree Lee.
More great friends: Richard the Dance Meister, Vanessa, Me!
Talking of dancing: after the meal, we all headed out to the cheesiest disco in town to show that -- despite advancing age -- we're still full of spunk!
Me and Mark Robertson (son of agony aunt, Denise Robertson) -- after much dancing!
Of course, the celebrations didn't stop there...
Just a day earlier, I'd been dining with my parents -- who had much fun circumnavigating a Chinese meal! :)
Always laughing and smiling :)
And of course me and my sister -- totally and utterly stuffed, I hasten to add!
That's all for today.... :)
Enjoy, and HAPPY TUESDAY!Labels: birthdays, durham, fun, pictures Yesterday, I attended the Tree Appeal charity ball in Durham.Alas, I didn't get a snapshot with David Bellamy, but here are a couple of other pics from the evening!
Left to right: Richard; myself; Printing.com boss, Howard; Clare. 
Left to right: myself; Gerry, the Yorkshire-based Barry White-style singer; Richard. More snapshots from my up-and-coming birthday party soon! :) Labels: durham, pictures Today, I'm sharing a few personal snapshots from my photo album...
You see, the past few days have been jolly, jolly busy.
My friend Mark Sandler honoured me with his presence, and old chum Simon Pass decided to pay me a visit up from Sheffield.
(Simon is a the producer of the Antiques Roadshow and has promised me some VIP tickets next time round!)
I was official tour guide for the day and gave my friends the full historical tour of my home city of Durham.
Here are a few snapshots!
On Karl's tours, refreshments are always provided for happy, smiley people.
During our trips, the three of us explored Durham Castle... occupied by students in the summer and ghosts in the winter.
We checked out the bustling hive that is the Market Place...
And who could forget the cathedral voted as "World's Most Magnificent" by Bill Bryson?
And then 325 very narrow steps to the highest tower of the cathedral. We're talking 217 feet high here.
Here I am looking decidedly brave up on the roof after spending the worst £3.00 ever.
And here is a more accurate assessment of the situation -- with Simon in the picture, for the first time.
And, of course, the Durham tour never ends when it's over.
Everybody always takes a little piece of magic home with them...
Except Mark it seems (background).
The day was a busy one. About an hour after the above picture was taken, I was off to Beamish Hall for the annual salsa ball.
Below, left to right, find myself, my great friend Richard, and Sammy.
And what a great night we had. So good, in fact, we didn't have time to take any further pictures! :)
Clck on any of the pictures to see larger versions.
Well, that's all from my personal album...
Thanks for taking a peek. See you again tomorrow!
PS. Expect more pictures next week. It's my birthday shortly, and I'm going to meet David Bellamy with my friend Richard this Friday!Labels: durham, pictures A couple of weekends ago, I spent my time visiting Conwy in North Wales - and today, I'd like to share a few of my pictures.
Conwy is a fantastic walled town in Caernarfonshire, in the upper parts of Wales. One of it's big attractions is Conwy Castle itself, built by Edward I back in the 1200's. But more interesting to me is the fact that Conwy is a walled town, meaning it's entirely enclosed within a wall -- a little like York.
You can actually walk up and almost all the way around the wall, as I did....
And hide in it's many little caves, just for fun...
But you must remember, dear American readers -- as I've explained before, although Wales is in the United Kingdom, it's actually a different country to England. That means all of the signs are in two languages: English and Welsh... And after walking the wall and eating the finest fish and chips in the world, what's to do next? Alas, Conwy isn't known for its nightlife.Instead, why not visit the Smallest House in Britain?
I tried. But it was closed.
Pound-for-pound, Conwy has more ghosts than any other town in the UK -- and I think, when staring at the castle, I might have just seen a few.
That's all from me.If you're heading around Wales any time soon, try stopping by Conwy. It's small, it's friendly - and within a couple of hours, you'll feel you've lived there all your life. Have a great day! :)Labels: language, pictures, recommendations, travels Okay, just enough time to sneak in another snapshot before I dash!
Here's Billy and Jack having a snooze together just a couple of days ago. (This was, thankfully, one of Billy's quieter moments.)
Remember to send those healthy, healing wishes!
And if you're missing my usual dose of inspirational whatnots, quotations, and self-development stuff, then why not check out the archives?
Here are links to the most popular sections:
* inspiration
* self-development
* random acts of kindness
* quotes
* pictures
* films
* videos
* fun
* God
* factoids Thank you -- enjoy the day! :)Labels: blog stuff, pictures Today, I'm writing with thanks... And to ask for your healing thoughts.
You see, my dog isn't very well.
Billy Moore is my boxer dog, and last Thursday he was rushed into the PDSA in Gateshead with breathing trouble. On the Friday, he was taken to one of only two animal brain scanning clinics in the UK.
Three hours later, and 1100 GBP lighter, his diagnosis was official.
"He's got a brain tumour," said the vet. "I'd say one to three months."
If you're a "Dog Person," I imagine you can feel that pain.
As ever, the usual flurry of frantic Internet searching began. Pure desperation. Strange diets, bizarre potions, Ancient Indian herbal mixes.
Most of it, probably, not much good.
I also sent an e-mail to one of my friends, Rebecca Marina at www.celebrationhealing.com. I asked if she could recommend an animal healer at all.
Now Rebecca lives way over in Texas, but what did I have to lose?
Well, she did something I would've never expected.
She posted my e-mail to her entire list of perhaps 30,000 individuals. And since 8pm GMT on Sunday evening, I've been deluged by responses.
People offering advice. People offer support. People offering to send remote healing to Billy.
And to be honest... I've been overwhelmed, really. Overwhelmed by the Random Acts of Kindness that have been flowing my way from so many individuals.
I've taken up the suggestions too. I'm trying the Budwig diet for assisting cancer, which involves mixing cottage cheese and flaxseed oil -- and a few other potions, too. The EFT surrogate tapping is also greatly appreciated.
So today's post will hopefully serve two purposes.
Firstly, I'd really like to offer my heart-felt thanks to everyone who responded. I'm making sure that I take time out to reply to every single message.
And secondly, to ask whether you -- dear reader -- could send a few positive, healing wishes to Billy today. For his good health, and for the highest good.
Here he is... Billy Moore. He was born July 1st 1996 and lives in Durham, England...
The Roman philosopher Seneca said: "Wherever there is a human being, there is an opportunity for kindness."
No words truer.
Labels: pictures, quotes This blog is usually about inspiration. Today it acts as a warning. To never buy a Tom Tom.Now, a Tom Tom is one of those GPS navigation devices that guides you through the road system to your ultimate destination. As some of you know, I visited Richmond over the weekend to attend a course with Mecthild Ruggier. Unfortunately, my Tom Tom wasn't too keen on the visit. Despite having been recently sent in for repair, to Holland no less, it absolutely failed to figure out where I was for the first two hours of my journey. Then it kept telling me "Turn left in 80 yards" for no apparent reason. Currently it thinks I'm lost in Germany and is providing sensible advice... "Turn around when possible."Useless piece of electronic junk. Next time I'm getting a Navman. Anyway... On a slightly more upbeat note... I appear to have stumbled across a TOP SECRET UK project. It appears some sort of fanatic is building a modern-day Jurassic Park within the shores of Blighty.
I managed to snap this evidence while driving down the M1 last Friday.
Ahhh. It'll all end in tears.
I've seen the film! Labels: films, fun, pictures I don't know about you, but I like random.
When I was 20, I discovered a system of "asking the dice."
For non-critical life decisions, I'd let the dice decide which direction I should take.
Should I hit the town tonight... Or stay inside with my DVD player? Should I say "Yes!" and go on that crazy speed dating event? Should I go on holiday this year to Spain... or India... or New Zealand?
The dice could deliver a straight YES or NO. Or up to six separate answers, depending on which number it landed.
And the dice would take me to places I never dreamed possible.
But... Isn't it just a bit irresponsible using a dice to decide the outcome of your life? Nah.I never use it in critical situations, obviously. But from the seeming random behaviour of the dice came a much deeper meaning. I always felt I was simply allowing "fate" it's chance to change my life. There's a wonderful quote in The Six Degrees of Separation...As the Kittredges attempt to sell a double-sided Kandinsky painting, they demonstrate how one side shows seeming chaos... and the other side shows complete order. "Chaos, control. Chaos, control. You like, you like?"One side of the painting is the seeming disorder of life and all it's random moments. And on the other side is the truth... the reality of the orders of fate that are affecting you right now. Out of chaos comes control.
Out of random dice throws, comes the opportunity for the Universe to play its hand.
So... What FUN decisions could you let the Universe make for YOU today?
Seriously. Do it.
Let the dice decide.
Who knows where it'll lead you.
Enjoy the adventure!
Labels: films, inspiration, pictures, quotes A couple of days ago, I attended an evening with the Amazing Bavarian Stompers at Hardwick Hall in Durham. And as the disco played Living on a Prayer, it got me thinking...... At this time of year, the future always seems fresh. It's the end of one long, hard year. It's a time when we put up our feet and relax. A time when we create exciting new plans for how glorious 2007 will be. Maybe you know what I mean.Well, let's fast forward six months. Will you still be feeling quite as excited?Will you still be feeling as content... as wonderful... as eager of the things to come? If you're like most people - including me - then I doubt it. But the real question is: Why not?What if you made a CONSCIOUS DECISION RIGHT NOW to make every day of next year feel as wonderful as this period? Even though life may be busy. And sometimes tough. Maybe you could still inject a little extra happiness, relaxation, ambition and hope into every day of 2007. And just maybe your eyes could sparkle with a little added excitement each and every day. Just to help you along... in the New Year, for one whole year, I'll be posting a little 7-day challenge for you each week. It's up to you whether you accept each challenge. But every suggestion WILL change your life... if only you allow it to. And you know something?I'll follow each and every challenge along with you too. I'll let you know how I get along, if you promise to do the same. Remember: Keep that sparkle bright. And smile! :) It's going to be wonderful.Now, before I go... a couple of snapshots from the evening! Labels: christmas, inspiration, pictures, random acts of kindness The world's largest digital image has been released online.
It's a shocking 8.6 gigapixels -- and you can zoom around it online!
It's a massive picture of the partition in Santa Maria Delle Grazie's church in Varallo Sesia, Italy. The wall imagery includes many smaller scenes, including the nativity -- especially relevant during this season of the soul.
Click to the site and browse around.
It can be a little slow at times, but zoom in and wait for the detail.
Outstanding!Labels: news, pictures I spent the weekend just past in the Lake District.
I had an incredibly enjoyable two days in Keswick with my good friend, Richard Asquith.
The Lake District is a very special place to Richard, and it was a true delight to see this part of rural England through his eyes.
We did a little filming on the second day, and created a pretty funny video -- by my standards, anyway. I'll try to get it online within a few days.
In the meantime, a couple of snapshots...
(In the words of Richard Asquith, slightly paraphrasing Blackadder... "There are two things you should know about the Lake District. Firstly, it consists of districts. Secondly, they each contain lakes!" - Well, hurrah in a jar!)Labels: friends, pictures, travels You know, I'm rather proud of some of the rubbish I know.
Such as that lettuce is 98% water. Or that Mickey Mouse appears in every single Disney movie.
But here's something I'll bet you didn't know...
You've probably seen statues of leaders on horseback quite a few times already. Especially if you live in England.
In fact, here's a picture of the 3rd Marquess of Londonderry statue -- situated in Marketplace, of my hometown Durham.
Well, there's an unwritten rule from the world of statue makers that will impress you...
If the horse a statue is riding has both front feet in the air, the leader died during battle.
If the horse has just one foot in the air, the leader died of wounds sustained during the battle.
And if the horse has all four feet on the ground, the leader died of natural causes.
Interesting, eh?
Well, it impressed me, anyway. Memorize and share!
(PS. This hot tip came to me courtesy of the book "Yes Man" -- subject of my next blog post. Stay tuned!)Labels: durham, factoids, history, pictures In today's post, I'd like to wish one of my good friends a very happy birthday.
He's Mr Mark Sandler, and you can visit his own personal website online at http://www.marksandler.com/
I've known Mark now for well over 10 years, and we've just returned from celebrating his 35 years on this planet -- by stepping out into Cardiff for the biggest slap-up Italian meal you've ever seen.
And here's the post-pudding proof:
From left to right, we have Rob, birthday boy Mark Sandler, myself, Karl Moore, and Matthew. Who is looking suspiciously like Coronation Street's Kirk Sutherland.
A fantastic time was had by all -- including extra party-goers Richard, his American lady Catherine, Bridget and Rob's wife Ruth.
Make sure you check out Mark's website. He's a great radio producer and even a part-time web designer!
It's November 13th, and so... MANY HAPPY RETURNS, MARK!
(PS. Mark was born in Wales, and now lives in Cardiff. "Penblwydd Hapus" is Welsh for "Happy Birthday." It's pronounced "pen-blwid hap-iss!")Labels: birthdays, friends, pictures Photo update today, as I say hello to the famed Jessy Jex of SWREG.
My company, White Cliff Computing Ltd, has been a long time good customer of SWREG. The company was bought out by US-based e-commerce firm Digital River last year -- and head honcho JJ paid me a trip here in Durham this Wednesday and Thursday.
A small group of us dined at Hide, and had a closing photo taken at the Marriott.
Jessy just sent me the snapshot, so here we go...
From left to right: my good friend, Richard; the world's number one employee and family member, Tricia; myself; Jessy. Click to view a larger version.
Jessy has been the "face" of SWREG for the past year, but not a photo of her exists anywhere online.
And so, perhaps especially for the SWREG Yahoo! Group, here is Jessy.
During her trip to Durham, I showed her where in the cathedral they filmed Harry Potter, gave her the history of the Monks of Lindisfarne, and took her salsa dancing.
I'm sure her life will never be quite the same again.
Or maybe it will.
Anyway, she's on a plane back to Minnesota as I type this.
I hope it wasn't something I said ;)Labels: friends, pictures |
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