THAT VIDEO CLIP: Karate

This morning in chapel we played a video clip of a Chinese magician doing a karate act. For some reason it was quite a hit (well, it is funny) and I promised I'd blog it by lunchtime. Follow this link to find it.

THIS WEEK IN SCHOOL

It's frustrating! Chapel radio has a really good programme to put on air... but there's something wrong with our Blogmatrix account. We've contacted their technical support team, who responded and asked for more of our account details, and then - haven't said anything since. So we sit and wait.

It may be solved by the time you read this; check up here to see if the new show is up yet. To make it worse, it's the first programme featuring our new 4th Form reporters, who have done a sterling job. Undeterred, they're making another show this week - so if Blogmatrix don't get back to us by the weekend, I may put them up elsewhere. Maybe even on this blog - it can be done! So stand by for a lot more broadcasting before the summer is through...

Incidentally, our regular Friday team is about to become a little depleted. Charlie, Ben, Pete, Josh, Andy and Graham all leave school this year... leaving us with only the four girls (Harriet, Sarah, Hannah and Clare) and newcomer Felix. Is there anybody else who is looking for a different kind of school service activity next year? If so, talk to the chaplain...

Lots of people seem to be going to the "Just Ten" events at Crealy, but if you haven't been yet, remember we can usually offer transport. There won't be any next week, though - the subject is "How to affair-proof your marriage", and we didn't think that was totally applicable to too many people in school just yet...

Finally, look out for a bit of a special chapel this week, led by Mr Davidson. And don't miss the following week, when this year's Chapel Band plays its final number of the year. It's finally goodbye to Mr Consistency, long-serving drummer Jimmy Mac. What will we do without him? Is there another drummer out there looking for a job?

WEIRD WEBSITE OF THE WEEK

What do you want to do with your life? What are other people doing with theirs? Have a look at 43 things, where you can make a list - and post it online - of the forty-three things you'd most like to do.

If you can't work out what your goals should be, clicking around on other people's will give you lots of ideas. What's more, when you actually achieve something, you can mark it off as done, and even write a little paragraph describing how you did it.

If it sounds like a naff idea, have a look anyway. You'll find it strangely fascinating to look at pictures of other people and find out what's most important to them. And you gain a much better idea of what really matters to most human beings... which means you start understanding yourself a bit better as well...

THE WORLD THIS WEEK: UZBEKISTAN

Here's a little more information about the feature in this week's Chapel news sheet, about the massacre in Andijan, Uzbekistan, a year ago this week.

On May 13, 2005, some of the leading businessmen in Andijan were in jail. They were accused of belonging to an illegal Islamic sect (something which they have consistently denied - and in any case, the sect in question poses no danger to the government; it's peaceful and loyal to the authorities). They hadn't had much of a trial, and neither their lawyers nor their families had been allowedf to attend important parts of it.

This was the last straw for many ordinary people in the city, who were losing patience with the corrupt, autocratic, cruel regime of President Islam Karimov. So they stormed the jail, setting the men free, then organized a protest rally. The government's response was to send in armed police who started firing on the crowds - and (according to eyewitnesses) pursuing tghose who fled down the side streets, gunning them down.

According to the government, 169 died - which would be bad enough. But it's clear that the real figure is between 400 and 600. No enquiry has been held. No apologies have been offered.

But when did you read this story anywhere in the newspapers? Sadly, because it's a long way away in a country whose name most of us can't pronounce confidently, the Western media has said very little about it. Find out the facts and background here, here and here. And if you feel outraged, e-mail the Uzbek embassty in London to tell them what you think. Request a reply with an explanation of why, despite international pressure, there has been no independent enquiry into the events of May 13.