meet phil smith...

today we have a guest on the blog! meet Phil Smith, all round trendy bloke, Traidcraft employee and Festival regular. He's agreed to dish the dirt for us here on the youth blog about life, working in fair trade and his favourite team...

Hi Phil! Welcome to the festival youthblog! Tell us about yourself.
Hey y’all! Phil Smith here, former youth-worker in Darlington and now working hard at Traidcraft in Gateshead. Who am I? DJ, footy fan, driver, uncle of three (soon to be four), god-father and all-round nice guy!!!

At 10.30am on a Monday morning where would we find you?
Sat at my desk, working hard fighting poverty through trade. Hmm… perhaps that is not the most descriptive answer I could give... I work for Traidcraft (think fair-trade) and my job is to encourage and assist people who want to sell/use fair-trade products in their school/churches/offices. Another part of my job is to develop Traidcraft’s work amongst young people and encourage you lot to buy fair-trade.

What’s your dream holiday?
Went to south west Ireland a couple of years ago. It was great so I’d probably go there again or maybe to Cuba.

Do you believe in God?
Yes, yes a thousand times yes!

What’s your favourite website?
Howies they have the coolest clothing and a really good ethical policy- so the clothes aren’t saturated in chemicals and workers aren’t abused…

If you had a really big decision to make, what would you do to help you make it?
I’d probably ask my fiancé zoe, consult a few wise Christians I have on speed-dial and ask the boss to help me make the right decision… and then I’d go for it.

What football team do you support?
Liverpool, Champions of Europe.

Why?
Spent the first eight years of my life in Liverpool and then lived in Manchester for ten years. While living in Manchester I got bullied a bit for supporting the mighty reds as a result it became a bit of a die hard commitment.

When have felt closest to God?
Probably a couple of years ago when I was studying at Cliff. That was a real special time, in what remains a really special place.

What’s your favourite CD?
Probably Joshua Tree by U2. But just bought the Arctic Monkeys CD so think that might be playing a lot over the next few weeks.

how stupid are these...?

just preparing for leading a service and its all about God accepting because he loves us not because we obey lots of laws and rules that the church is so good at creating. I have discovered some different stupid laws from around the world so how about these...

In England...
Beds must not be hung out of windows
All Englishmen over 14 are meant to carry out two hours of longbow practice a week under the supervision of the local clergy.

In France...
It is illegal to park or land a flying saucer in any vineyard in France.

In that wonderful country USA...
In Alabama it is against the law for a driver to wear a blindfold while driving their vehicle

This is my personal favourite for USA...

It is illegal to wear a false moustache that causes inappropriate laughter in church

If you know anymore stupid laws I would love to hear them. And try not to strive to hard for perfection with God, he accepts us as we are!

how stupid are these...?

just preparing for leading a service and its all about that God accepts because he loves us not because we obey lots of laws and rules that the church is so good at creating. I have discovered some different stupid laws from around the world so how about these...

In England...
Beds must not be hung out of windows
All Englishmen over 14 are meant to carry out two hours of longbow practice a week under the supervision of the local clergy.

In France...
It is illegal to park or land a flying saucer in any vineyard in France.

In that wonderful country USA...
In Alabama it is against the law for a driver to wear a blindfold while driving their vehicle

This is my personal favourite for USA...

It is illegal to wear a false moustache that causes inappropriate laughter in church

If you know anymore stupid laws I would love to hear them. And try not to strive to hard for perfection with God, he accepts us as we are!

don't mess with grandma

Take a look at this! Very funny.

teamwest is the best!!

woohoo!

you've seen some pix..here are some more! seriously, getting married is a fab thing to do!

Craig mc'd, Greg drummed, Renie looked fab..it's all good!

ever wonder wot my spoon are upto?

there we were new years day wondering what to do and sam woods who was at the same house as me decided to look online and show me the 'my spoon' website.

sorry all you festival youth that we haven't put this up before. go and check out the wonderful band's site and leave them loads of lovely comments!

New Years resolutions...

...what were yours? I've never really been a great beleiver in resolutions (mainly as I can never stick to them!). And my lack of tolerance for other new years traditions has only grown stronger having read ridiculous websites like this...

"Global Good Luck Traditions
With New Year's upon us, here's a look at some of the good luck rituals from around the world. They are believed to bring good fortune and prosperity in the coming year...

ENGLAND - The British place their fortunes for the coming year in the hands of their first guest. They believe the first visitor of each year should be male and bearing gifts. Traditional gifts are coal for the fire, a loaf for the table and a drink for the master. For good luck, the guest should enter through the front door and leave through the back. Guests who are empty-handed or unwanted are not allowed to enter first."

Now correct me if I'm wrong, as I haven't strayed north of Watford for a while, but the last time I looked we never did anything of the sort! Anyways, this year I decided to bite the bullett and go for it...

My first was very simple...actually post something on this Blog...and i've only gone and done it already on the 4th of January...I can sit back and koch for the rest of the year now!

My other resolution was to be less slack in keeping in touch with friends, so this kind of helps fulfil that one aswell. Apologies to all of you who I haven't e-mailed when I said I would. It's really poor of me, but I'm so looking forward to seeing as many of you as possible at Cliff this year. In particular - Amy - sorry for not sending you a copy of beautiful one, but we haven't recorded our version still and I cant really send you the Tim Hughes version! - and Brett - I deleted your number from my phone, so drop me a text if you see this.

That's me for now, I hope you are all well. Keep it Cliff.


Craig.

P.S. www.myspace.com/cruci