Did the earth move for you?

There's a 1 in 10 chance of an earthquake hitting the UK, and thats only once in 50 years but today was the day.

Residents in Folkstone, Kent reported the shake at around about 8.20am this morning and the Earthquake 'people' have just confirmed that a quake measuring about 5.0 on the Richter Scale has been recorded 6 miles underground off the south eastern tip off the UK.



The tremor lasted around ten seconds and although damage has been reported and the BBC and Sky are reporting this as a 'major event', there seems to be little more to say on the issue as earthquakes go.

Earthquakes in the UK aren't rare but ones of this magnitude are. If you'd like more information about quakes in the UK then check here.

***Did you experience the 'quake'? feel free to post your experiences here***

Will the real Paul Hurst please, stand up!

Imagine my shock, no horror! When I realised that in this world of 6,000,000,000 people, I am not the only, Paul Hurst.

We treat our names as our unique identifier and in most cases, they are sufficient for this purpose, although there was also another 'Paul Hurst' in my year at school. So how does the internet change our awareness of who we are?

The current buzzword may be social networking through sites like myspace and even blogs like mine. Each offer individuals a small slice of the web which we can call home, but have you ever done an image search in Google for your own name?

Here's what happens with 'Paul Hurst'



Aside from not being dead (which is always a relief!), It would appear as though I may be some kind of 'yokel' on the run...



And wait for it... How about Paul Hurst the world famous harp player...



And not just nimble with the fingers, but feet too! Lets not forget 'Paul Hurst' the full-back for Rotherham United Football club.



Go on, have a go yourself and please let me know if you can find other pictures of your namesakes from around the world, a bit like my mate George Bush.



Oh and if you'd like the official word on other people who share your name then pay a visit to 'how many of me.com'

High res pics from Rome

I have started to post a few high res pics from my trip to Rome over here.

Forgive me for posting about my trip twice however I had a great time and got chance to grab some pictures that I wanted to take after my first visit last year.

More pictures from Rome

Had a great time this week in sunny Rome. I also 'just happened' to have a camera with me so feel free to take a look at the slideshow below.

Not the ten o'clock news...

I was out and about today, making the most of the holiday and so I visited the National Museum of Photography and Media in Bradford.

The museum is one of the most popular in the country, probably due to the popularity of TV, film and photography and I had a great time having a good look around.

The museum includes lots of original 'props' and equipment from TV and film sets with some lovely exhibitions of Childrens TV memorabilia, some of which brought a tear to my eye and made me feel very old indeed (Chorlton and the Wheelies anyone?).

Aside from the exhibitions and a superb IMAX theatre, there are also a few 'hands-on' areas too and me being me, I just had to have a fiddle at editing an episode of Emmerdale and then breaking a live report into the ten o'clock news from the BBC.



Now just before you all head for the hills H.G Wells style, this report certainly wasn't true although with an autocue failure at the end of my report, conspiracy theorists my just have a few things to say about whats really going on...

Anyway, if you have a spare day and this kind of thing flicks your switch then you'd do well to pay the museum a visit.

...From my Blog, to the world

Its that time of year where the Pope stands on his balcony to address the worlds catholics with his 'Urbi et Orbi' message. From the city, to the world. Here's mine...

At this time where Christians consider new life and a fresh start, based upon the belief that Christ Jesus conquered death, maybe we should all look forward to a positive future rather than a troublesome past. Change for better has to start somewhere and with someone. Maybe at this time of year, everyone of any faith and none can at least draw some kind of inspiration from the easter story.

Our world is full of trouble which supposedly finds its source in religion. Maybe everyone who refuses to compromise their beliefs will look to what they have in common with other faith groups rather than what divides them. There's enough division in the world without religion adding to the issue.

The easter story finds its clmax in the moment when Christ's lifeless, crucified body was raised from the dead and glorified in an instant, life sprang forward from death, hope from despair.

My prayer this easter is that we will all work together to make this kind of hope, a reality in our suffering world.

Blessings to you all this easter, and may everyone have an excellent holiday!

Paul

My first article for 18 Doughty Street

I recently joined the 18 Doughty Street panel of 100 citizen journalists from all over the UK. 18 Doughty Street is a politically based blog which also features television programmes, filmed on the premises exclusively for the website. Although the site is not 100% affiliated to any political party, it leans heavily towards the Conservatives. Largley due to the fact that its founders are members of the Conservative party.

The house is located in London and is a few hundred yards from the home of Charles Dickens. It was also the house where his daugher was born.

The property has been refitted internally to become a state-of-the art television studio, with seven cameras and a full-staff of journalists, technicians and even... bloggers.

you can see my first report for the website here: It concerns the popularity of politics in the North West of England.