Looking from a neutral percpective

Well that's an easy thing to do........

Well it is for me anyway, i can look at someone else and have an opinion in seconds. I even have a parlor tick where i can say word for word what people are texting to their boyfriend etc and understand what the person is thinking behind the text. Nice 21st century idea of a parlor trick.

but why is it when it comes to looking at your own life something always gets in the way of the neutral perspective something always gets in the way of the plain obvious.

This is the same for everyone and the people who would disagree with that are usually the people who arnt looking at their life from a neutral perspective. Unfortunately for me at the minute the one overruling thing which blinds me from the latent obvious truth is my self esteem.

dont get me wrong

I AM NOT A FACEBOOK DEPRESSIVE WHO POSTS ABOUT HOW UGLY I AM

im actually rather synical about that, but even I, Bruv, feels self concious. I know i dont look like it but hey this is what happens to an 18 year old lad i suppose. (i dont know why, i never used to care lol)

See lets take the good old relationship debate....

" im just too (insert irrational derogitary value here) for them, they are out of  my league so blatently"

I know, its sad isnt it. At one point or another most of us have though a variation on this. Instead of seeing the blind obvious truth that if Russel Brand gets to marry Katy Perry then its just proof that your pathically small bad value means nothing.

Thats fine and all and you could probably say that to your mate going through the same thing but when its your own life?!...

Theres one factor that gets in the way, and Thats our emotions. (why is it that when you say the word emotion a blog suddenly sounds deep?) Im sure that if it meant something to you, even "2+2" wouldn't seem so obvious.

I know people who have bottled out on a lot of things or chosen the wrong things to do because of the way they feel. Because instead of keeping a level head they've sided with their feelings.

Thats like trying to fly on a thermal because its the one thing you can feel around you, regardless of where its taking you. Sometimes you end up in the best place and sometimes you end up 10,000 feet over swansea with no easy way home.
We were given emotions to know what to feel about something, we were given our brains to understand why we feel that way and we were given our mind to make decisions accordingly.

Dont decide your life on how you feel, decide your life on the reasons why you feel. That way you keep a neutral outlook on your life and things that you havnt noticed about yourself will become plain to see.

Well that went well

I tried to make a video blog at stathern, and im not sorry to say that i haven't included it on my blog because it was an awful awful attempt at a video blog.

MOOOVING ON

There was one success at stathern lodge that no-one expected.

Sh'ed.

A card game normally only present in 6th forms and colleges however on a strange weekend away at the freezing house of plastic mattresses things can change. (the next bit only really has any relevance if you've played the game, (mr sommers if your reading this particuler bracket then yes you have lost it))

there was a tournament of 8 players and each of them "players" were made up of a team of 3.

By showing these children this game i may have started addictions to the game which may have caused the majority of Saturday evening to be filled with young youth screaming "DAMM IT HE PLAYED A 3!"

Only after this point did i realize i may have a slight obsession with it myself. Not just me though.
I once spent a lunch with a few of the mez making cards out of paper because no-one had brought a pack into college. We even drew pictures of us as the picture cards

(i was the king of clubs)

nothing can compare to a game of sh'ed with a few mates apart from Logan as the Jack of clubs

btw if you cant be bothered to read the whole of my posts just look at http://bruvsnippets.tumblr.com/ for a rough overview of my opinionated life and any interesting findings i see on t'internet, funny quotes of famous or familiar people and overall it looks bett than my blog even if it is less detailed so why not.

The weeks to prepare for stathern

Im not talking about the overall organisation for the weekend.

Im talking about the first video blog ever to appear on this blogg.

At stathern there is an appeal to the diary room being there again.

Although very likely this is still an "if" BUT if the diary room makes a re-entry then there will be a blog done by myself on this very website. I know its incredible.

Unfortunately i have no idea what to talk about on this. So here is my appeal, people of the world please comment on the Facebook link that you have clicked on to find this very page, and tell me what to talk on.

I could talk about stathern, but for those who are there they will have no need to watch it and i would much rather find something surprisingly random to talk about that would be another interesting insight into my brain

SO PLEASE SUGGEST A SUBJECT FOR ME TO TALK ON.

Anywho....... it is only about 3/4 weeks till stathern and anyone who is 18 or younger is welcome to go.

Unfortunately its very much like grapevine in the way that if i was to describe it, the cold rooms of a lower temperature to outside, the looque warm showers (i know its not the right spelling) and the sink pee'ers....... you know who you are.

Saying that though this is one of the main events of my year and there are many withing youth who will agree with me, such a good event that people remember as the social happening to talk about.

ITS WORTH GOING!!!!

If your interested in going spending some time with some dynamic characters with a chance to learn something about God without being bored or patronised.

Please if your interested comment again on the link ive posted on facebook and ill have an invite sent to you with more details.

BLAST FROM THE PAST

Last year on the 24th of April i posted some rules....... rules that im interested to see how they've changed.....

THE 20 RULES OF BEING  NEAR A LEIGH

ok so if you have seen me and my "lovely" brother dave next to eachother then you may notice after some time there are certain rules we expect the rest of the population to abide by.

there are loads so im not going to list them all just 20 of them..... lol
remember some of these rules are made by dave and i dont agree with them and some are made by me which dave thinks makes me "gay"

starting off at number

1. If it is possible to have your meal in a large version, then thats what your eating. otherwise your just a wimpy disgrace of a human being.


2. whats a vegetarian?

3. over 6 foot you are tall, below that you need to grow some more, gimli

4. "Bruv will never be a man"

5. stuff the shotgun rule im bigger than you are

6. If and when possible thoult shall mock wendels for his "titans"

7. If someone is perfectly fitted into a steryotype that is considered to be inferior or just ridiculous ( note the over bolded "i" and say it where necessary) then they are to be mocked either by imitating them or giving a screwed up/ constipated disgruntalled look.

8. THOULT SHALL GIVE ME THE REMOTE

9. The TV has 20 sound settings, lets find the 21st

10. whoever says that we look like our father should be talked down to with a calm yet stern "Can it"

11. Bruv is his name, what made you think otherwise

12. the leigh brothers do not look like eachother. well done, micheal jackson looked nothing like jamain

13. Someone outside of being a leigh will have the same opinion as said leigh. difference is too hard to comprehend

14. dave is stronger than bruv. may god save you if you say otherwise to dave

15. Bruv hasnt worked all day hes been at school

(heres bruvs section)
16. Dave is a burke and therefore all comments should be thought over if they have come from his mouth.

17. At home dave is nice enough to crack bruvs toes (without warning or permission). at some point remind him of his cruelness

18. Any man doubting the fitness of cheryl cole should get out.

19. neither of the leighs have ever counted the calories in their food. neither should you

20. if a film has no action, death or something to stimulate the mind within the first ten minutes do not be surprised if it is swiftly turned off.

and there we have it the 20 rules of being near a leigh brother hope you had a little inside chuckle(or LIC)

GRAAAPEERRS

Thats what my parents call it, and is the bible basher's social event of the year.

Grapevine 2011 was legendary although i wasn't there for half of it.
If i was to advertise it none of you would want to go.

Where Is it u may ask?
LINCOLN.

Where is it?
LINCOLNSHIRE SHOWGROUND

So it's a field?
YES

What do you do while your there?
HAVE CHURCH SERVICES TWICE A DAY.

SO to round up its in a field in the forgotten county of the country, standing in bible bashing services for twice a day.

That would be true if the services didn't speak to you in the way that they did.
Also that would be forgetting the people that go and the banter that ensues.

Me playing football and ending up beached again was a good note. We won 8, 2.

Sleeping in the worst stink of all. Dan ley's tent.

Staying up till all hours with people who you love to spend time with.

Skipping.

And spending the time in my dads jacket. Strange experience when a jacket fits you in every area apart from girth. well that's what you get for forgetting your own.

And last but not least was Tom Cast being kegged by his sister.

It takes alot of people to make a good thing sound bad.

Cowboys and aliens.

Well it took a lot of people in a board meeting to think up that name,,,

"Well paul what does it include?"
Cowboys against aliens.
"I know what we shall call it...."

What a way to make a film seem worse than it is, give it a name that sums up the entire film in three words.
Even the Return of the king puts a downer on it. I mean even Tolkien didn't decide that name because it was a big fat spoiler before anyone spent the 4 and a half hours watching it.

There's been a history of film names that have done the same. Some with oscar winning actors, the men who stare at goats is one of them. Even star wars, the return of the jedi, the empire strikes back, a new hope. In fact if you wanted to sum up what happens just look at the titles in order and you can work it out.

Theres a new film coming out soon and this one is just brilliant.

Its called.....

THE THING


Im not even joking. Theres a guy who has written a script. It gets picked up by the director and somewhere in that process someone decides to call it that. Perhaps its a homage to the classic film...

THE BLOB


At least this has comedic value.

2 hours late with an early start

Well the university clearing houses were open on Thursday from 8 in the morning.

That means that people from all over the country were finding out there grades and contacting there uni's in a race to get there place from 8 in the morning.

That means of course, that the Nottingham Emmanuel school had to open at 10 instead.
Well not that it matters to me im in year 13 next term but hey all my mates are in that lovely place of trying to calculate little "UCAS" points from that general studies exam you forgot about, that allowed you to just get into uni.

This means that when the school gates are shut, there's a hundred of impatient 18/19 year olds and even though the teacher who i have rung has said you can come in through reception (i wont explain why i have there number, its a long story, amusing.... but i dont have the time or effort) the lovely and slightly mindless receptionist is having none of it because its not 10 oclock......

its ten to 10.

Results openings are one of two ways, GREAT

or TERRIBLE.

If you get awesome grades, GREAT, if you get ok grades that you worked reasonably well for, GREAT, if you get bad grades, TERRIBLE, if you get ok grades but you spent every waking hour of your life studying in silence, TERRIBLE, if you get amazing grades but a man with a gun to your parents heads is going to shoot if you get an A, well it could be terrible but it depends on your parents.

well for me i broke this rule and created a third way.

I got a B in drama, C in computing and a D in Psychology. Not bad.
And there it is, NOT BAD

Double Jeapordy

If you go out with Twins you will have several problems.

My solution is to go out with just one of them instead.....

Although this puts pressure on to you in other ways.
The twin that you are with will either be comparing herself with the other ones relationship meaning that if the other twin has a romantic meal out with her boyfriend you also will be subtly expected to do something similar.
If she isn't doing this then her family and friends, as well as your own family and friends will......

So for example if the other twin with red hair decides to get engaged..........
Thats bad enough but when you end up at the other twins wedding du, you find yourself in a room filled with people who are comparing you to the happy couple.

In fact there was even an official photographer that took mine and Cath's picture.
"because shes the chiefs bridesmaid."

I don't beleive that for one second. Its because the chief's bridesmaid so happens to be the brides twin sister. and as i am her boyfriend, that makes us next in line doesn't it............

And that unsaid belief amongst the family clan of spectators means that of course I must go meet them all.
There's Catherine showing me off...... Bad enough.

And you can see it in their eyes... what will the ring look like, when will it be, will they have children, yes they will! i wonder if it's a boy or girl...


Then at the point where i want to drop my mature and charming appearance, its sweet Catherine who makes it worse and confirms there suspicions by cooing over the nearest baby........

Wasted on Friday night

That's how i am, wasted...

Since there's no youth group through the holidays there will be several things that will be wasting tonight.

My time will be wasted watching "a question of sport" followed by whatever film is on film 4.

The many calories and energy that i will have taken in from my pizza will be wasted as i predict that for the rest of the night i will be sat.

I cant believe how different it is without youth group.

Normally i can be sure of the fact that it is the end of the week by getting on a minibus and spending the night mocking small teenagers. However the only proof in the holidays that it is the weekend is the knowledge that im at work tomorrow.....

This starts to get to me when i realize that im not missing out on my Saturdays as i then have the rest of the week to do nothing......

Then this gets to me as i then realize why weekends are normally so good

Because we've just had a week at work, school and college, a good Saturday of hanging out or doing nothing seems appealing.

Weeks of holiday...... bored

What have i come to, my cynicism has reached a new level.

Im criticizing the summer holiday

Misty eyed

Isn't it brilliant when you try and organize an ice skating trip with mates who are unable to come on the same day. Oh well, me and Dan had a nice time at least.

It seems though that hardly anyone else had the idea of going skating today, it was virtually empty.

In fact the place was only just opened for public use so the ice had a mist that was settled at a certain level.

This level was at a certain level equal to where Dan's head is. Bless.

At least he doesn't where glasses, for it means that you end up misty eyed. 

When only Dan is around that's not really what you want.

However Dan was the least ridiculous person out of the few that were at the rink.

We had a confrontation...... With a very angry lass that was about 20 who had a go at us for taking the banter out of a certain man in full grey tracksuit because of the kind of skates he was wearing.

The grey tracksuite would of been a more obvious target of mocking but no. I think the term that was used was

"There different skates, are they hockey cus there kind of in the middle"

Apparently this man was very upset with the comments he heard and would like an apology. 

Thats when the man himself came forward and quite frankly left us alone after we repeated what we had said.

5 minutes of skating time...... wasted by the numptys of the public. Political correctness has reached a new height.

If you say something about someone else, irrelevant of whether its negative or not, it is offensive.

Youths of Great Britain we need you!!!

Well it makes a lot of sense smashing into random shops...

It makes a lot of sense doing it in your own town...

And why wait for a reason thats big enough to warrant the smashing of your town, just do it for the sake of it....

What possible reason is there for it? Because you can get away with it?

Youths of great Britain we need you to change the culture of doing what you can without getting caught to a culture of doing what you can to change make your own town better.

There is no blaming the police in this one, they can only do as their employment rota allows.
Blame the politicians if you like but they arnt the ones who change the culture and attitudes behind this random chav outburst of children and morons.

We are all to blame with our own lack of morals which we pass down. Stand on our own, get rid of the people in the way, as long as your fine nothing else matters

As a God knowing man, im not surprised.

Why do we beleive in what we beleive? Because we beleive that without the use of love given to us from the big cheese events like over the past few nights will carry on and get worse.

 It isnt that these people need to know that its wrong.

they need to be shown whats right.

Sibling Shoe Thief

There are three men who inhabit the hobbit hole of the Leigh residence.

Me, Dad and Dave.
All of us have the same size shoe (12 if your interested)
This means that if we have to go to the shed for something it doesn't really matter which shoes you get to because they all fit. For that short period of time no-one really cares.

However, there are some occasions when shoes belonging to another person fall into the hands of the wrong Leigh. Normally its me stealing the shoes but only when my shoes have broken etc.

Strangely i once stole a pair of size nines, i didn't realise till i got home because i could be bothered to put them on. (sorry about that Tris)

I got my own shoes back from that evening to find a hole in the bottom so i had to borrow some of Dave's until i got some more of my own. Dave has broken the unsaid pact of leaving other peoples shoes well alone.

The new shoes i bought it seems have dave quite taken by them, and he has taken my shoes without asking and spent the weekend house sitting for sussanah crowther. What he doesnt realise is that they are my ONLY PAIR OF DECENT SHOES. Which has left me parading around in a pair of his.

 Dave i want my shoes back!

Top of the foodchain?

Sad to hear about those lads in Norway where one got killed.

Sad as it is it led to a frequently had debate with my father, saying that i take after my father not just in looks but also stubbornness any "debate" we may enter never gets resolved unless one person brings scientific evidence acceptable in the court of law.

"Matt", he says, "see there's the proof, polar bears are the top of the food chain"

See i disagree, and because of my impulse to jump in and prove my point that he is wrong im sat there, beads of sweat running down my temples and my teeth clenched under the pressure of someone speaking out there backside yet not wanting to jump in to the discussion because i dont have 3 hours spare.

After all humans, by the simple fact that we are everywhere and in general most confrontations with humans the polar bear loses.

After an excrutiating time of 24 seconds i cant stand it any longer.

"Dad, humans are the top of the food chain" the relief lasted for only a split second thanks to the big oafs opinions.

"No, Polar bears are" See not even a grown up response just NO IIIIIMMMM RIGHT or something like it, no reasoning, logic or anything that might make his point more correct.

"dad, if polar bears were the top they would be eating humans on a regularish basis to prove the fact, no i think youll find that they get shot or scared off or killed by global warming, all of which are caused by the guys above them, US!!"

I thought its over and saw his features (annoyingly close to my own) looking back over to the TV with the ever present gorm that overtakes my dads face when he watches TV.
I cant beleive it, I won 


Thats the beauty with dad, i can be sat in the bliss of being right and proving it for a good half an hour before the programme finishes, his gorm diminishes and suddenly....

"Well you put a human in a field on his own against a polar bear and see who wins"

The closest to suicide i can get within a normal day is having differing opinions to my father.....

Flowers and Backpain

Ive got the flower shop job that ive been so relentlessly going on about for the past couple of weeks.

Being a pansey with flowers? no today i was shifting scrap and huge ceramic displays. I feel like an old man, a satisfied old man but still a "crisp" none the less ("crisp" is a thin, wrinkly and easily breakable person).

However on the whole its nice work that isn't too hard, nice people and regular pay
Now that's a tad better than my other option, where i would of been walking the random streets of a random city in the random east midlands. I would be knocking on doors and trying to convince whatever tatooed numpty who answers the door to give 2 quid a week to charity. What makes it better is that i would only be payed commission, oh yeh and id be going for 12 hours a day........

So overall a good day of being payed for lugging crap around, could be worse i suppose, well i did get soaked outside in the yard. How can it be so hot when its raining?!!!!!!

Paracetamol is a painkiller

I am going to get ribbed for this next sentence by all of you...

Mum I know your going to rib me for the following post......

I havnt done a post for a couple of days for a couple of reasons, most of all because i forgot but also cus i havnt felt so well. Which leads me to my main point, why when your ill does your mum keep on at you  to take paracetemol?

Dont get me wrong its a wounderous substance that has taken away the headaches of many a long and boring lesson or maybe even the dull ache caused by the dodgy curry the night before.

For this purpose its brilliant, however when im ill there is one problem i have.

aside from the fact that i already feel like heaving without swallowing a solid capsule,painkillers are for pain.

if i had a headache or some sort of pain then yeh great but i feel ill not in pain.

And so i sit to my own business looking paler every minute with a couple of parents on at me to take pills which as far as i can work out arnt designed to help me in this situation. Dont get me wrong, it never gets to the point where there force feeding me..... Ive never let it get that far.

So here is the question, do painkillers kill nausea? As the name suggests no blatently not, if there is a nausea killing pill tell me and i wont hesitate to pop them instead.

Its as hot as a sun burnt vindaloo

Have you ever seen a sun burnt vindaloo? no neither have i.

Which is exactly my point. its too hot. Since when does welsh weather make you feel like your in spain? since when does wollaton park end with you sweating like a pig? Well with me it does seem that happens in most situations...

Family is a weird subject for me, if anyone knows of the weird relations on my Dads side of the family you would understand my confusion. I dont really talk to my extended family much, mostly because we lead very different lives and the idea of extended family from both sides getting along doesn't really make sense in my head.

thats why when i had the chance to go to a castunstall gathering (see what i did there) i grasped the oppurtunity just to see cousins...TALKING IN ONE SOCIAL GATHERING

uncles get on, aunties are gossiping, lads are playing sports and jade is sat there with a magazine. It was well strange. Since when do families get on so well?

more importantly i see it as a threat to the rest of man kind. They know about everything and everyone before they should do because if one member knows someone then they all do because they talk.

Well that's scary, if you watch "the godfather" you will understand why.

At least its another bonding session that can only work for the better of the family my only problem is why in the hot summer would you meet in a deer infested field at wollaton hall?

Another event where ive come back "beached"

Rennie and Fifa

Well over the last week in wales i do believe that we spent more time in the penthouse than anywhere else. After being in llanelli for five minutes thats kind of understandable. however being in an enclosed enviroment has its downfalls.

1. Video games are rampant when there are more than one male with a controller, unlike my gender peers im not that competitive which means i lose appaulingly.

I might not be competitive but i hate losing.

2. People with indigestion problems are at most within 10 feet of you at any one time.

The belches are majestic yet make you gag at the same time.

3. being next to the beach means that the penthouse is the watering stop when out in the sun, this means certain people end up "beached" on the sofa.

It may have been me but the smell is just the same no matter who you are.

4. If you sleep at this penthouse there may find a pair of rather feminine metal legs in your bed.

Personally i thought this was genius but apparently this is a bad thing.

At least the view was amazing and at least the company was better than playing football with an angry pitbull.
that is unless they beleive your jacket belongs to a small korean girl........

Thanks Guys

Rubba Dub Dub Thanks for the *ehem*...... Grub

The welsh town of Llinelli is a strange place.

The double ll in the word is not pronounced how you would think but sounds more like a spitting horse who has a particularly bad cough. It is also the only place where i have seen a burnt out car on a street which otherwise you would expect to find in an uptown suburb. The ASDA that is in the town is perhaps the only good attraction other than the beach which you arnt supposed to swim at (neither would you want to unless your name is luke). In fact in the past week on several occasions i have seen youths sat in the porch reception area.... hanging out.
That and its even possible to meet a local man who has never heard of nottingham or Robin Hood.

However despite these rather tepid surroundings filled with dodgy accents and a language which was invented by a man suffering with a cold and dyslexia at the same time, my time there has been completely different. For one, at "Celebration for the Nations" most people there were korean. The seaside views were amazing and i still cant figure out why you couldnt smell the sea even when you were 3 feet away.

6 hours a day of worship music, well i thought it would be too much, but even when i left the hall or sat at the back i dont think there has ever been a situation where it is undeniable that the whole room (singing or not) were talking to the big cheese ( out of awekwardness or not). Why on earth did they pick llanelli for this event?

Saying that 6 hours was all there was would be lying tbh, especially for alot of the koreans who i either saw in the meeting or outside praying, but for us humble shirelings from notts as well. I beleive that worship isnt just singing and any christian who has had any connection with riverside youth group will have been told this. There hasnt been any other moment that has shown the worship of god through freindship and in my case eating, at any other time in my life. Where else does a genius family of music meet with koreans, an everington, duo generations of wendels and freinds, a creature from lincoln with a first name disquised as his surname, the tellings and a lad who hasnt been called by his real first name since early childhood?

Only through the guy who made the rather rash decision to save a guy now known as Grub.