Green Card Interview

Those of you who know me in real life will know that my mind doesn't always work in a strictly linear fashion. To those people, it will be of no surprise that the events that I report in this blog don't necessarily always follow a linear time-line, either. To who don't know me well enough to already know that... welcome to my world!

So, using this non-linear progression in time, I'm going to jump ahead to the events of yesterday, when we were finally interviewed for my Green Card (for those wondering why both Whitney and myself were interviewed, it's because my Green Card application is based on marriage to a US Citizen, and so my spouse had to attend, too). By this stage, I had already received my Authorization to Work and Social Secruity Number (I promise I'll jump back to that at a later point!). This was pretty much the last thing I needed to make my presence in the USA permanent.

Of course, some people may well be scratching their head, and wandering what the heck a Green Card is, anyway. In short, it's the card that represents an Alien (i.e. foreigner)'s right to permanent residence in the USA. Up until this point, the US Government could have, in theory, deported me at any time. My visa technically expired back in April, but those who have read this blog regularly will know that once married, I had leave to stay past my K-1's visa while I applied for permanent residence.

Anyway, back to the point. This was it. The big one. The last hurdle. We had received the letter summoning us a few months ago. We had been into our Immigration Attorney's office to go over what we might be asked, what to bring etc. So, we had set about building a serious portfolio of documents - our birth certificates, passports, driving licenses, bills in both our names, bank statements, our wedding album. It was really quite hefty! Our attorney had actually said that it was rare that they called in K-1 Green Card applicants for interview, and that it was probably because they were either just being more dilligent in general for some reason, or that they just didn't have anything better to do.

Feeling fully prepared, we turned up at the USCIS office half an hour before the scheduled appointment time. We met with our attorney in the car park, and proceeded into the building, where we were given a number and instructed to take the elevator up to the second floor, where we sat in a waiting room. Eventually, we were called into an office by a rather severe-looking agent, to whom we handed all forms of I.D. that we had with us - passports, driving licenses, student I.D. etc., after we had stood up, raised our right hands and promised "to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help me God."

To cut a long story short, the agent was extremely thorough when looking through the application. Whitney and I were sitting there thinking that she was looking for an excuse to refuse the application. Her rather stern looks and abrupt form of questioning didn't help with those feelings. Once we got out, our attorney had a different thought - she believed that our case was so "open and shut", that the agent was unsure as to why we had been called into interview, and kept looking through the application to see if there was a reason.

Suffice to say, the interview concluded with the statement that my application had been approved. She took away my Authorization for Employment card, and told us that my green card would arrive in the mail in the next 30 days. Having been married to Whitney for less than two years, this was a conditional green card - I have to re-apply in two years' time, for a longer-term (10 year) Green Card. In three years, I'll be able to apply for US Citizenship, should I so desire.

Biometrics Appointment!

In my last blog post, I mentioned that one of the things that had kept me busy over the last few months was the Biometrics appointment. "BIOMETRICS!?!?" I hear my English readers cry, "don't they take your retina scan, your DNA and your SOUL!?!?" Of course, this was after the whole farrago about ID cards that the previous government seemed so intent on introducing.

Unsurprisingly, when I received the letter telling me that, in my application for a Green Card, I was expected to attend an appointment for the US Government to take my biometric information. Failure to attend would be considered that I had abandoned my Green Card application. And we couldn't have that.

So, I bribed a friend to take me, by first promising to take him to lunch (after all, Whitney only gets so many vacation hours from work, and we didn't really want to spend them on this!). So, after lunch, we rocked up at the state USCIS Biometrics facility. As with all such things, we waited in a queue while I pondered what exactly they were going to do to me. I assumed that they would at least take my fingerprints and retina scan. My imagination, as it does, ran wild. Would they be taking a blood sample to obtain my DNA for their records? What objects would they be poking into various orifices?

Eventually, I reached the front of the queue. The officer present looked at my Passport, then at me, before handing me a clipboard with a form on it. "Fill out this form and wait for your number to be called". So I sat in the waiting room, filled out all my details - name, DOB, Passport number, Alien number and all that jazz. Also required were height and weight. I always find weight on these forms to be a strange one. I'm still working on losing weight, so whatever I wrote down on that form was never going to be a constant.

After a while, my number was called. I went up to the booth with trepidation. I stood there while the agent (a rather grumpy lady of Asian origin) checked over my details and made sure that they were all correct. After a while, my fingerprints were taken, in the usual way - on a digital pad. Of course, this wasn't as easy as it sounds. I soon found myself getting into trouble for pressing down too hard on the pad. After that was over, I was asked to sit in a chair to have my photograph taken. Naturally, I adjusted the chair as I sat down on it. Which again got me into trouble. Whoops! I'm just such a rebel!

And that was it. No DNA was taken, no retina scan... no probing! I was very pleasantly surprised. I was another step closer to being allowed to work.

Busy, busy, busy!

Greetings, intrepid readers!

I'd like to start out for apologising. I haven't updated this blog in AGES. I know one or two people have been wondering why. I suspect a few more may have been wondering that, too. And everyone else reading this is now thinking "who the heck is this strange bloke, anyway?"

Those of you who've been reading this blog for a long time may recall that at one point I was blogging about staving off the boredom. Well, it got to the end of June and everything just went crazy busy. Utterly, utterly bonkers. It started when I got called in for a biometrics appointment (more on that later). Soon after that, Whitney and I decided that we wanted to move out of our appartment and into a house, so we started looking at houses to buy (more on that later, too), and those of you who've done that before know just how time consuming that can be!


BUT, that's not all that happened. Pretty soon afterwards, the Department of Homeland Security sent me my work authorization (more on that later), which led to me finally getting a Social Security Number (and that) and a Learner's Driving Permit (and that). And now I'm job hunting.

So, today's blog post is a short one. But I'm back now, and will be putting up blog posts with hopefully more regularity than I have done recently. Hurrah!

Prohibition in Atlanta!

Contrary to the title of this particular post, this will not be a post about history, but a very modern day form of Prohibition. A bar called Prohibition, actually.

To set the scene, a friend and I were out on Saturday night. Having found the selection of beers at an otherwise authentic English-style pub disappointing, we decided to move on. My friend knew of this bar only around the corner, which he said had a very cool atmosphere, and we were dressed to go.

Prohibition is pretty much disguised. There's no outward indication that there's a bar there. After all, it's themed on a Prohibition-era Speak Easy. All you see in this square is a conspicuous British red telephone box. You enter the telephone box, and dial a number. They actually change the number on a regular basis to keep the bar exclusive. On entering the correct number, a phone inside the bar rings, and a member of staff opens a hidden door in the back of the phone box, allowing you entrance. So far so good.

We were escorted to a table, and given two menus. I found it amusing that it was divided up into subheadings with titles such as "Prescriptions" and "Inhalents", each medical-style subtitle listing certain types of drinks. Or, with the example of "Inhalents", the bar's extensive cigar list. The drinks list is absolutely huge. It's mostly cocktails and spirits, although there is a very small selection of beers and wines. I'm told that the bar is noted for its Absinthe Drip, but having had a bad experience with absinthe several years ago, I stayed well clear and started myself off with a glass of 18 year old Laphroaig Single Malt, while my friend ordered himself a cocktail and a cigar. Not being a smoker myself, I stayed well clear of the cigars.

A second friend joined us later, and ordered up a cocktail and some food. I must say that having had one piece of her Pan-Seared Calamari, it was absolutely to die for. Yet, this was all a little bizarre for me - having come from England, where smoking in enclosed public spaces is now illegal, entering a bar where not only can one smoke, but food is also served was utterly strange. It didn't bother me that much, overall (hey, my father smoked for the first thirteen years of my life, and there was no smoking ban in England when I first started going into pubs). I later dived into the cocktails myself, opting for a whiskey-based cocktail that included bitters, vermouth and something else alcoholic that I've forgotten.

At one point in the evening, a group had tried to get in hot on the tails of someone else. We were glad to see that they were quickly asked to leave. If you don't have the number, you don't get in, one way or the other. Likewise, a group were later turned away for not adhering to the dress code properly. For gents, that means that your shirt must have buttons and a collar. No t-shirts or polo shirts here. It adds a certain classiness to the place.

There are only two downsides to the place - firstly, their ventilation isn't great. It does smell of smoke. Your clothes will smell of smoke when you get home. You hair will smell of smoke when you get home. If you go there knowing this, then you shouldn't complain. I'm not complaining, I'm warning. I had no problem with it. Secondly, it isn't cheap, the most economical drink working out at $12. Again, I'm not complaining - I'm just warning!

Overall, Prohibition made for a very, very fun evening. While not cheap, it's worth every penny for the atmosphere. I know that when I'm finally allowed to work, I'll be coming back on my very first paycheck.

Doctor Who Review: The Doctor's Wife

This is well over a week late, so I'm going to cut to the chase. You know the drill. Here's a wet cat for you to look at while you decide whether or not you want to read this spoilers-ridden review:

I'm going to be entirely honest. Generally, I love Neil Gaiman's work. I'd describe American Gods and Neverwhere as two of my favourite books that I've ever read. I loved Sandman. I even love the Stardust movie. So, it will come as no surprise that I was anticipating Neil Gaiman's first contribution to the Doctor Who universe.

And was I disappointed? No, I bloody wasn't! This was by far the best episode of this season so far. It's like Neil Gaiman looked at a list of fan wishes and just started ticking things off. Perhaps it's because he himself is a fan? But there was so much there that was absolutely brilliant and squeal-inducing.

It was obvious from the trailer that this would be a make-or-break episode - so many elements that couldn't been awful. Mentions of Time Lords. Bringing back the Ood. The Doctor having a wife! Wait... what? Did you say a WIFE!? Unsurprisingly, his wife turned out to have been his most constant companion - the TARDIS. And putting her in a humanoid body was an absolute stroke of genius. It had long been speculated that the TARDIS was sentient, and Gaiman gave us that.

So... things I loved? The white Time Lord communication boxes - they were only seen once, in the final Second Doctor story, The War Games. Myself and many fans were wondering why they were never seen again. And now they were. Teasing us with Time Lords. Any fan of classic Doctor Who loved Time Lord stories. Yes, the often turned out to be awful (see The Invasion of Time or Arc of Infinity), but they were still exciting. And for the first ten minutes or so, we were teased with the prospect of finding living Time Lords.

One big thing for any Doctor Who fan is seeing more of the TARDIS - something that we've been mostly deprived of since the show came back in 2005 (barring a brief appearance of the TARDIS wardrobe in The Christmas Invasion). Gaiman gave us that, with House tormenting Amy and Rory through the TARDIS corridors. I would have liked perhaps to see another room, but beggars can't be choosers, right?

The episode was absolutely full of great ideas - pulling the "soul" of the TARDIS out into a woman, and House possessing the TARDIS to get back into the main universe. House eating TARDISes, and using spare parts of Time Lords to patch up Uncle and Auntie. The idea that all the TARDIS would want to say to the Doctor being "hello" - to be honest, I was expecting an "I love you" and would have been highly disappointed with that. The "hello" was just nicely understated. The idea that the TARDIS archives the old console rooms was fantastic. Heck, I even loved the return of the Ood and finding new ways to utilise him. The sheer number of ideas in this episode could have meant that this would have been too many unrealised ideas. But thanks to the genius of Neil Gaiman, this worked so well. Thank god.

The whole thing was jam packed with references to previous Doctor Who adventures, with particular glee being garnered from Classic Doctor Who references. Aside from the previously mentioned white box from The War Games, there's the Doctor piloting a TARDIS console without a TARDIS shell, as he did in Inferno, there's a reference to the TARDIS's "desktop theme", as in Time Crash, the Doctor jettisons TARDIS rooms to generate thrust, as in Logopolis and Castrovalva, and a reference to the Eye of Orion, which was constantly mentioned during the Fifth and Sixth Doctors' eras. And of course, we got to see the return of the Christopher Eccleston/David Tennant-era TARDIS console room. Wonderful, fan-pleasing stuff! Of course, these references weren't overt, and wouldn't have alienated people who weren't fans of the classic series. Even more wonderful!

The whole thing was quintessentially Gaiman - the characters of Auntie and Uncle could have easily been in Neverwhere. Idris was brilliantly played by Suranne Jones, who was clearly channelling Helena Bonham Carter. The biggest surprise for me was Michael Sheen as the voice of House - I really had no idea that he was in it, and he also channelled the spirit of someone else - Gabriel Woolf, who voiced Sutekh in Classic Doctor Who story The Pyramids of Mars.

Frankly, I think that this was as close to my fantasy Doctor Who story as we're ever going to get. All you'd need to do is change the director to Tim Burton and have Idris played by Helena Bonham Carter, and you'd be there. Not that Suranne Jones wasn't brilliant, of course (as I already said).

There were, of course, a couple of things that I didn't like. Rory got killed. Again. Admittedly, this was only in Amy's mind, but really? He's becoming like Kenny from South Park, being killed off every single week. At least the scenes where Rory aged significantly, and that with his charred corpse and the "Die Amy" graffiti scrawled over all the walls gave us an incite into just how messed up Amy's head is. In addition, Amy contemplating seeing the Doctor die being shoehorned into this episode was irritating. And I don't think that there's a better word for it than "shoehorned", given that this episode was originally written for Series 5 and pushed back due to budgetary constraints. Shame.

But, overall, this will undoubtedly become one of my favourite episodes of Doctor Who. Period. And yes, I am including the classic series there. If I had to describe it in one word, I'd say "SUBLIME!" Ask me to sum it up in six words, and you'd get "More Neil Gaiman next year, please." Utterly brilliant.

Honeymoon in N'awlins!

So, after two blogs about other things, I return to wedding-related stuff. We left off where Whitney and I retreated to our hotel for our wedding night. The next day, we drove down to New Orleans (or as it's commonly known, NOLA or N'awlins).

We pretty much spent that first day driving. Leaving Atlanta at around 9am, neither of us quite realised how tired we were, and this was something that we only discovered on the way down. The drive was simple enough - I-85 from Atlanta to Montgomery, Alabama, then the I-65 from Montgomery to Mobile, Alabama, and finally the I-10 from Mobile, through Mississippi until finally reaching New Orleans, Louisiana. Simple, but by God was it a tedious drive. The I-65 is a long road, that goes all the way from Chicago, Illinois right the way down to Mobile. The section that we drove along, down through Alabama, is possibly the most tedious road I've ever had the please to pass along. There is literally nothing for well over 100 miles. Empty. We were extremely grateful by the time we got to Mobile, and onto the I-10. However, that wasn't exactly smooth going from there - that road, while more interesting, is atrocious. At one point, the road was so bumpy that Whitney thought that we may have burst a tyre. We couldn't have been more grateful for getting off and arriving in New Orleans. We stayed just outside of the French Quarter, in a Best Western. Although it was our honeymoon, we decided to go with a Best Western, as you always know that you're going to get a certain level of quality with them.

That first night, we ventured out into the French Quarter, and I quickly fell to a scam. A rather friendly and affable African-American gentlemen approached me, welcoming us to New Orleans. He complimented me on my shoes, and told me that he was a shoe shiner, and wanted to make a wager with me. Being a naive Brit, I said "go on..." He said that he thought that he could tell me where I "got" my shoes. If he got it wrong, I'd get a free shoe shine. If he got it right, I'd pay him for a shoe shine. I laughed, and said "go on, then!", arrogantly not expecting him to guess that I'd bought them in London, England. He replied "you got them on your feet, here in N'awlins" and before I knew it, he'd got the shoe oil on my shoes, and was polishing them. I'd heard about similar scams going on in New Orleans, and quickly paid up, lest something nasty happen. Despite that, I didn't let it get to me, and Whitney and I quickly found a bar, Whitney feeling more annoyed about the whole thing than I. Fortunately, this didn't setting a precedent for the rest of our honeymoon!

Suffice to say that we spent a few days sleeping off the exhaustion of the last few weeks, emerging from our hotel only for short walks around the French Quarter, and to go out to eat. And boy did we eat well! The second night we were there, we found a place courtesy of Urbanspoon called The Pelican Club. Since moving to the South, I've found that I quite like grits. But I'm picky on my grits - they have to be well made. Instant grits? No thank you! For my main course at The Pelican Club, I ordered Shrimp & Four-Cheese Grits. And WOW, those grits were amazing. That was easily the stand-out thing of that meal, while Whitney messed around trying to pick the meat off the bones of a quail. Never fun.

On the Tuesday evening, we went to the renowned Commander's Palace. Since it was our honeymoon, we decided to splash out and both have the seven-course Chef's Playground menu. We were NOT disappointed by this. It was honestly one of the best meals that I had. For an extra price, you could choose to have the additional wine pairing, which ensured one glass of wine per course, different each time. Well, except with the main course, Filet Mignon, which came with three glasses of Barolo - each one from the same vineyard, but different vintages (1998, 1999 and 2000). Honestly, the food was perfectly cooked, the ambiance was wonderful (spoiled only by the obnoxious lawyers on the table next to us) and the wine was superb. We left fulfilled, happy and a little bit tipsy. Hurrah!

By the time we were ready to do a bit more during the day, we went out to a mall and did some shopping. We had the buffet luncheon at the famous Dooky Chase, which both President George W. Bush and President Barack Obama have dined at. At $15 per person, it was extremely reasonable. Made up of traditional Southern Soul Food - fried chicken, collard greens, casseroles etc., I filled myself up so much that I didn't feel the need to eat for the rest of the day. Wonderful!

By this stage, you're probably thinking that all we did was ate. Well, while the food in New Orleans was fantastic, we did get a few other things done. We went round the Aquarium of the Americas (we seem to have a penchant for aquariums, having been to both the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta, and the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga together). After that, we took a cruise down the Mississippi River on the Steamboat Natchez (again, with a buffet lunch), on which we got to see some of the sights of New Orleans from the river. The Natchez is the last authentic steamboat on the Mississippi. It was a LOT of fun! I seriously recommend doing it, if you visit NOLA.

Those of my readers who know anything about New Orleans, will know that it has a famous Voodoo tradition, which many shops are keen to capitalise on. However, we took a look around the New Orleans Historic Voodoo Musuem. On our entrance, the lady at the front gave us a short talk on the history of Voodoo and lamented how Voodoo in New Orleans has become so commercialised, with everyone seeking to exploit NOLA's Voodoo history. For example, I had no idea how Voodoo had come about - it is a mix of elements of Catholicism and traditional African religions, which were suppressed by white slave owners. The slaves brought over from Africa were keen to continue with their traditional religions, and so melded them with Catholicism, which they decided was surprisingly compatible. The museum itself is dedicated to the former Voodoo Queen of New Orleans, Marie Laveaux. Again, something that is a must visit if you go to NOLA.

Of course, NOLA is full of esoteric and mystical things. It known to be the most haunted city in the world. It's also known to be the missing people capital of the world. There's a company that has taken advantage of New Orleans' reputation of mysterious goings on, Haunted History, which conducts various tours. We decided to take their Vampire Tour on the Friday night that we were there. With the exception of the drunk college kids who were on the tour, it was outstanding. Our tour guide, Tony, absolutely looked the part, and was very entertaining. He took us around the French Quarter, taking us to the scenes where Vampire-like crimes had been committed. Again, something I recommend that you do if you're ever in New Orleans.

We also took a bus tour of the City (during daylight), which took us to areas of the City that would have otherwise been difficult or dangerous to get to. With a short pass-through of the French Quarter, we went round the Garden Quarter, the Warehouse District and so on. It also took us to the Lower Ninth Ward - the area that was worst hit by Hurricane Katrina back in 2005. What was amazing was the devastation, even six years on. Many houses are still abandoned, the State having run out of the money to demolish them. The markings on their front doors from where they were searched in the wake of the storm were still there. Many of the abandoned houses had holes in their roofs, where people had hidden in their attics during the storm, and had to escape when the water began rising higher and higher. I was absolutely staggered by all of this.

The tour also took us to one of the many graveyards in New Orleans. We'd been warned off going to them alone, as they tend to attract drug users and the homeless. New Orleans is built below the waterline, and so it is impossible to bury the dead. The just pop back up when it rains. So, the logical thing is to build crypts. The beauty of the crypts are that when the weather gets hot, they act like ovens. A year and a day after the deceased is placed in his or her crypt, it is re-opened, and the bones pushed to the back, to join the bones of the rest of the family, creating more space. An innovative solution! Of course, this resolves the problems of both the waterline, and any concerns over space. Amazing.

To be honest, by the time we left after a week, we were ready to leave. We'd pretty much seen everything that we found interesting, and were ready for the long drive back. Feeling fully rested, Whitney was ready to do the long drive back up to Atlanta. By the time we got back, we were both exhausted. Thank God that Whitney had taken two weeks off of work, and we had a week together at home, just being a married couple. Despite our misadventure on the first night, I feel that I can safely say that I think that New Orleans is a fantastic city, vibrant and full of life. I'm glad we went there on our honeymoon. Plus, I can now tick off another State from my list...

Ronnie James Dio - one year on

One year ago today, one of the brightest lights in modern rock music passed away. Ronnie James Dio, formerly of Elf, Rainbow, Black Sabbath, his self-titled band Dio and finally, Heaven and Hell, died of stomach cancer, aged 67.

Dio had one of the most amazing voices out there. It's no wonder that he had such a stellar career in his lifetime. Despite being born in New York, he was the definition of the Anglo-American spirit. Although he was American, he was also undoubtedly an Anglophile. After supporting Deep Purple on tour during his time with Elf, he was invited by former Purple guitarist Richie Blackmore to join his new project, Rainbow. Again, the boys in Sabbath were so impressed with Dio's voice that when Ozzy Osbourne left in 1979, he was invited to become that band's new singer.

In the 1980s, he was the driving force between a charity single, Stars, by various hard rock artists under the guise of Hear 'n' Aid. Like Band Aid and USA For Africa, the aim of the project was to raise money for famine relief in Africa. The project brought together musicians from such rock giants as Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Twisted Sister, Motley Crue, Blue Oyster Cult and even Spinal Tap!

During his time with these two bands, he developed a passion for all things English. After spending time in England, he bought a castle and had it taken apart, piece-by-piece and then re-built in California for him to live in. He became friends with another part of Deep Purple's history while with Elf - Glenn Hughes, who introduced him to Indian food, which he developed a keen love for.

It was a testament to Dio that when he died, no-one had a bad word to say about him. Many rock musicians put out statements to say that Dio was the one who encouraged them early in their careers, or that he was a good friend of theirs. And most of them were honest and soulful tributes. The two people who didn't have anything good to say about him have respectfully kept their mouths firmly shut.

He kept working right up until half a year before his death. Heaven & Hell, the re-united line-up of the Dio-era of Black Sabbath (not called Sabbath for legal reasons), has scheduled shows for the Summer of 2010, and were expecting to re-enter the studio afterwards. It was looking like he'd survive. When he died a year ago, it was a big shock to all. Even in his final years, he was still on great form. See the video below of him performing with Black Sabbath Heaven & Hell less than a year before his death (note: song starts at around 3 minutes in):

Ronnie James Dio has left us with an enduring legacy, and this is shown by the long list of artists who've covered songs that originally featured his voice, including the likes of Dream Theater, Yngwie Malmsteen, Gamma Ray, Queensryche and Killswitch Engage. There's a forthcoming tribute album, which will feature the likes of Motorhead, Dave Grohl, Rob Halford and Alice Cooper.

Ronnie lived a remarkable life. He is sorely missed by all. To round things off, here's a video of the Rainbow song (on which Ronnie originally sang), Catch the Rainbow, as sung by Glenn Hughes, the man who's voice Ronnie admired above all others, at Ronnie's public memorial:

The wedding!

It's been over a month since I was married to Whitney, and I still haven't got round to posting about our wedding. Other interesting things keeping coming up in current affairs, dammit! However, I think it's now time to rectify this problem, intrepid readers.

On Saturday 2nd April, I was married to my fiancee of almost a year and a half, Whitney. In my previous blog post on the subject, we left off at that point where myself and one of my groomsmen, Dave, had been left at a hotel for the evening, Whitney and I observing the tradition of not seeing each other on the day of our wedding until she walked up the aisle.

So, after waking up stupidly early to shower and shave, Dave and I were picked up by one of my other groomsmen, before we headed off to Cracker Barrel for a hearty Southern breakfast, including sausage, bacon, eggs, buttermilk biscuits and grits. I'm not going to lie - I've discovered that I really like grits, but I'm extremely picky about them. Cracker Barrel's grits aren't perfect, but their not bad. I should've, by rights, had a hangover, after the night before. But I think that that breakfast, combined with the adrenaline and the bottle of blue Powerade, got rid of that problem.

After breakfast, we all headed back to the hotel room to quickly get dressed (rather British-ly, I'd elected for myself and my groomsmen to wear morning coats rather than what seems to be the standard for weddings in America - a plain tux), before heading off to the church for a load of photos (thanks to the amazing Dim Horizon Studio), carefully avoiding Whitney and her bridesmaids. After all of that, it was Whitney's turn to get various photos done around the church, and I was ushered into the sacristy with my best man for 20 minutes before the ceremony.

Finally, the time came. I'm going to be honest and say that much of it was a blur. After escorting my mother to her seat, I retired to the back of the church, when the organist played Pachelbel's Canon in D, and the officiant, Wallace, and I processed up the aisle, followed by my best man, my other two Groomsmen, Whitney's Maid-of-Honor and her three bridesmaids. Then the organist cranked up Wagner's Wedding March, and the doors swung open to reveal Whitney and her father, who then walked up the aisle. I'm going to be honest here - Whitney looked SO incredibly beautiful, and I was SO happy that I could feel myself welling up.

The rest is pretty much a blur - we had a reading from the Old Testament, a reading from the New Testament and a reading from the Gospel. We sang two hymns, both of which were sung at the Royal Wedding recently - "Guide Me O Thou Great Jehovah" and "Love Divine, All Love's Excelling". We exchanged vows, put rings on each others hands and then we received communion, and the congregation were invited up to receive communion too. After a short blessing, we walked down the aisle in Four Weddings and a Funeral-style, to The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba, much to my mother's amusement!

After that, more photos! This time, with both of us. With the entire bridal party. With family. With friends. Etc. Etc. Etc. Eventually, we got into the Parish Hall, where we were having the reception. Most people were already seated, with a glass of wine. We made the unusual decision of having speeches before the meal, and speeches were given by my father-in-law, myself and finally the best man, before the officiant was called upon to give grace.

The meal was superb. One of Whitney's colleagues at work was formerly a chef in New Orleans, and left that city when Hurricane Katrina hit. Since then, she hasn't been catering, and this was her first gig. However, the food was excellent - a choice of poultry, fish or vegetarian was offered to everyone ahead of time. It truly was superb, and well presented. We couldn't have asked for better. If anyone is looking for a caterer in the Atlanta area, please do contact me, and I'll get you in touch with her. I had the fish option, whilst Whitney had the vegetarian.

In American tradition, we had two cakes - a wedding cake and a groom's cake. The wedding cake was a traditional style cake, while the groom's cake was a chocolate cheesecake. Both were made by Whitney's Maid-of-Honor, and again, were superb. We finished off with various traditions, such as the first dance (which didn't go so well...), the bouquet toss and the garter toss. Amusingly, the chap who caught the garter and the girl who caught the bouquet are a couple, so I guess they'll be the next ones to get married!

Finally, we retired on a horse-drawn carriage. This was probably the only thing that didn't quite go to plan. Although we knew that I was allergic to horses, we didn't realise quite how allergic I was, and thought that we'd be okay if I didn't touch the horses. But, after 15 minutes, my nose was dripping and my eyes were streaming. After we were dropped off, it was a quick trip to Walgreens to pick up some Claritin before heading off to the Georgian Terrace Hotel (where we got engaged) for the night, before heading off on honeymoon.

All in all, it was a wonderful day. Our lives changed on that day. Spiritually, we were made one.

Why I'm glad Britain said "NO to AV"

On Thursday, Britain had its first plebiscite (or referendum) since 1973. In fact, it was only the second such vote in the entire history of the United Kingdom. For the benefit of my readers outside of the UK, the referendum was on whether or not to change the voting system from the present First Past the Post system to an Alternative Vote system. Why was this held? Well, when the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats came together to form the Coalition Government last year, this referendum was promised as a compromise to the Liberal Democrats (who actually support outright Proportional Representation. Their leader, Nick Clegg, referred to the AV system as "a miserable little compromise") As you can probably guess from the title of this post, the result of the referendum was a resounding NO to the Alternative Vote system. And quite right, too.

Back when I was doing my A-Levels, one of my A-Levels was in Government & Politics. One of the things that we studied quite rigorously were electoral systems. We looked at all of the ones used across the world, and pretty quickly, we (as the entire class) realised that there was no such thing as a perfect electoral system. But to me, First Past the Post was the least flawed. Let me tell you why...

The First Past the Post (FTPT) system almost always provides strong government. 2010's General Election was the first time in a very long time that there was no overall majority in the House of Commons. Certainly, the Alternative Vote system would probably end up giving similar results. After all, AV is not a system of Proportional Representation, but a Preferential System. Under a PR system, such as the Party List system or the Single Transferable Vote system, a majority government would almost always be unlikely, and if it were in Britain, it would almost always result in the sort of coalition that we have at the moment, where at least one party is accused of giving up its principles in the agreement made with other parties.

However, I digress. What are the fundamental problems with the AV system? Well, first off, it would allow people who didn't come first, but second, third or even fourth on first preference votes to win the election, once second, third or fourth preference votes have been counted. That doesn't seem at all fair to me. The idea behind it is that a candidate needs to have at least 50% of the votes to win. But if a candidate was my fourth preference, and the ballot was so close that it needed to go down to fourth preferences, then that candidate wasn't really the candidate that I wanted at all. How is that getting 50% of the votes?

The other issue with this is that if a candidate needs 50% of the electorate's support to win, how a candidate have that level of support when turnout is so low? For the record, the turnout at the 2010 General Election was 65%. If a candidate has 50% of 65%, then that candidate would only have 32.5% of the electorate's support. Again, hardly there with the majority behind them. The only way to ensure a true 50% majority for any one candidate would be to eventually introduce compulsory voting. A lot of people say that everyone should vote, because people fought and died for our freedom to vote. However, they weren't just fighting for our freedom to vote, but they were fighting for our freedom of choice - including our freedom to choose not to vote.

Finally, I had one further major concern with the AV system. It would take more time to count, it would cost more money because they'd need more people to count the votes, and it would actually produce less clear results. Why? Well, let me tell you why... with the First Past the Post system, you only have to count one set of votes. The candidate with the most votes wins. Simple. With AV, there's a lot more scope for votes to be miscounted. If an election were to be so closely contested, as I mentioned before, as to go to fourth preference votes, there's a huge scope for error. If we're trying to keep costs down, as the British government is at the moment, then electronic voting machines are not an option. Of course, if a government has the money to pay for such devices, then this entire paragraph is nothing but a moot point.

Before I sign off, I'd also like to say that I thought that the way that both the "NO" and "YES" campaigns were disgraceful. Both were extremely dirty, and relied on smear tactics. I saw this more in the YES campaign than the NO campaign, but both were guilty of it to varying extents. The one that irritated me the most was the YES campaign's billboard poster proclaiming that Nick Griffin, the leader of the far-right British National Party, would be voting no. The implication was that if you voted "no", then you would be siding with the BNP. Utterly vile.

I was also disappointed with the oh-so-persuasive argument put forward by the Yes campaign that if you voted "yes" to AV, then further electoral reform might happen in the future. WHAT!? You wanted people to vote "yes" to a system that they might not necessarily believe in, just because it gives a glimmer of hope for more electoral reform. I've also been extremely disappointed to see Liberal Democrats who are in the British Cabinet blasting their Conservative colleagues over the result of the referendum. Chris Huhne in particular. It seems that everyone involved in the Yes campaign is looking for somewhere to lay blame.

So, I am very glad that the Alternative Vote was voted down on Thursday. First Past the Post may not be perfect, but to me, it makes more sense than the other options. Now the British public have spoken too - overwhelmingly so, with nearly 70% voting against changing the system. Thank god.

Bin Laden Dead!

I woke up this morning to find that the USA's most wanted man, Osama Bin Laden, has been killed in Pakistan. Obviously, killing Bin Laden, the head of Al Qaeda, is a major coup in the ongoing War on Terror.

This, naturally, brought up memories of 9/11 - the event that Bin Laden is most infamous for orchestrating. When it happened, I was only 13 years old. We'd just started back at school, following the summer holidays. It was towards the end of the school day, and I was walking back from an art class to my classroom to pick up my stuff from my locker and go home. On the way back, another boy - Alex - stopped me, and said "the Twin Towers in New York have just been destroyed, and now there's going to be a war." I'm going to be honest and say that I didn't particularly like, or trust, this chap in particular, and my reaction was "oh, whatever..."

After a short walk in which I ridiculed Alex in my head (what a fantasist!), I walked into my classroom with a friend of mine, and lo and behold, on the television, BBC 1's regular schedule had been interrupted to give this breaking news. My friend James, who wasn't there when Alex broke the news to me, simply looked at the tv and marvelled "cool film!" (oh, innocence!) Unfortunately, I had to deliver the news to him that this was actually real ("ohhhhhhhhhhh s**t!")

For days afterwards, speculation mounted as to what would happen. There were rumours that the people responsible for carrying out the attacks had smuggled chemical weapons (including Anthrax) onto the flights, and that this stuff was in the air in New York and Washington DC. Thankfully, those rumours were completely unsubstantiated. A matter of weeks later, the USA and the UK were invading Afghanistan, with the aim of ousting the Taliban - the governing group that were harbouring and supporting Al Qaeda. Of course, this was the day that made the world at large aware of Al Qaeda, and made Osama Bin Laden into a household name. The world truly changed that day.

Likewise, few who lived in London at the time will forget the 7/7 bombings in 2005. School had finished for the summer, and I was taking driving lessons. I was in the car with my instructor, when the radio popped on (he had it programmed to turn on with breaking news), saying that the London Underground had been suspended due to "power surges". Neither myself, nor my instructor, believed that it was true - we were both too cynical to believe what was being said. Suffice to say, that we were right - three trains on the Underground were bombed, followed by a bus around 45 minutes later. The panic on that day was intense. I immediately called my mother, who was still working in Central London, to make sure she was okay. I then worked round all my other friends who could've been anywhere near the blasts - again, everyone was okay. Later that day, a group with links to Al Qaeda claimed responsibility.

People have been quick to condemn the war in Afghanistan. It's still going on today, 10 years later, as allied forces battle Taliban insurgents. It will probably still be going on in 5 years or so. But I strongly believe that it was necessary. I believe that there would have been a lot more terror attacks on the West had we not gone into Afghanistan. However, the question that's on everyone's mind today is probably will Bin Laden's death change anything? Probably not - those who are on the side of Al Qaeda will see him as a martyr, killed by the "evil" West. It will likewise be seen as a PR coup for the Obama administration - they "got" Bin Laden, where the Republican Bush-led administration couldn't. Almost as soon as the news broke, crowds were gathering outside the White House shouting "USA! USA!" as a victory cry - and quite right. After all, this is what we have been told that we were working towards for the last 10 years.

So, will the world change today? Maybe on the surface, but I sincerely doubt that there will be any significant changes. It's unlikely that we'll pull out of Afghanistan anytime soon. It's unlikely that Al Qaeda will be deterred by the death of its leader - another figure will pop up and take Bin Laden's place. His death will be seen as martyrdom, and will be used to fuel further terror attacks. The threat from those who practice a very extreme and radical form of Islam is not over. Both sides will see this as a way to fuel support. The best advice I can give is that old British wartime motto - "Keep Calm and Carry On."