What's on this weekend in MK

There are a number of events for you to have a look at if you're interested this weekend.

During the day on Saturday, why not head over to the Milton Keynes Museum where there is a telephone and post office vehicle exhibition. Or Saturday and Sunday from midday there is a poetry book signing by Janet Furniss (nee Dennis) who is originally from Weston Underwood. This will be held at Cowpers Oak, Weston Underwood and costs £10.

Saturday night at the Carlton House Club there's a 'night of music' featuring The Bolivian Sunshine Dogs, Paul and Laura, Topped by ERROR 404. Tickets are £15 and the night is in support of the Sick Children's trust and Great Ormond Street Hospital Charity. Doors open at 6.30pm for a 7.30pm start.

At the Olney centre at 7.30pm the Windmill Singers are performing, hosted by the Friends of Cobbs Garden Surgery. Tickets are £10, including an interval drink. The Windmill singers from Bozeat will perform a concert of music including a variety of popular songs.

Whatever you end up doing this weekend, have a great one!

 

Shakespeare's 450th birthday!

Today marks the 450th birthday of William Shakespeare, and so one suggested way of celebrating the day is to talk like Shakespeare (it's actually a national day!) If you're a bit of a fan of the man you'll probably have loads of pose up your sleeves to impress those around you today, but if you're not so much of a fan we've got a few tips for you here...

Of course there are the classics, the lines from Shakespeare you can't fail to know, such as 'Shall I compare thee to a summer's day' and 'Romeo, Romeo, where for art thou Romeo'... but I can imagine these lines probably won't be featuring in your everyday vocabulary!

If you happen to go to a gig tonight, you can pull out a few music related quotes, such as: 'if music be the food of love, play on' and if you want to confuse someone or get them thinking, throw out one of the  more cryptic quotes, such as 'a fool thinks himself to be wise but a wise man knows himself to be a fool'...that should get them thinking!

Here's some basics:
1. Use 'thou', 'thee', 'thine' and 'ye' when talking to and about others
2. Speak in rhyming couplets, and throw in a few 'old sounding' words to add to the Shakespearean feel
3. Speak about yourself in third person, and use words such as 'me thinks' to start a sentence
4. If you're looking for a bit of an insult to throw out, use a word such as 'rampallion' or 'fustilarian'...who even knows what they mean!
5. Add the letters 'eth' to the end of normal words and you'll be sure to sound Shakespearean!

Just a few ideas, we wouldn't recommend you take any of Sheakspeare's stories too seriously today and try jumping from towers of drinking poison etc. but take a moment to remember the legacy of the great writer who was born 450 years ago today, and whose works are still being read, studied and remembered today, tis pretty impressive to have lasted so long we doth think!

Happy Earth Day

Well when Google change their home page for a National day,  my guess is that it must be a big one! Earth day encourages people to think about and act upon supporting and protecting the environment, with events and community groups exploring environmental and ecological issues in the local area and further afield. First celebrated as a day in 1970, Earth Day is now celebrated in over 192 countries each year.

Google are encouraging people to take photos and tag them with the hashtag 'my beautiful earth' in order to celebrate the day. Education is key when it comes to Earth Day, educating individuals in how to best protect and preserve the earth, with schools across the world undoubtedly looking at Earth day and the environmental factors it faces today. There's also a focus on cities this Earth Day, helping cities around the world head towards a more sustainable and 'green' future.

There's even an 'Earth day Anthem', which is the music from the hymn 'Ode to Joy' alongside the Earth Day anthem lyrics which you can read below:

Joyful joyful we adore our Earth in all its wonderment

Simple gifts of nature that all join into a paradise
Now we must resolve to protect her
Show her our love throughout all time
With our gentle hand and touch
We make our home a newborn world
Now we must resolve to protect her
Show her our love throughout all time
With our gentle hand and touch

We make our home a newborn world

The phrase may sound a bit hippy, but happy Earth Day!

Springtime in Milton Keynes

Well it's back to the grind for everyone today, if you were lucky enough to get the Easter bank holiday weekend off work that is, and somewhat unusually, this year we only have to wait a couple of weeks until the next bank holiday weekend is here! Hurrah!

Blossom is beginning to give way to leaves and greenery, and the evenings are getting lighter, is summer really just around the corner?! Even better, it looks like we've managed to avoid the snow this year! (without speaking too soon!)

For something to do at the weekend, why not visit one of the local farms and see the lambs. Spring lambing at Open Mead farm is running until the 30th April, and you can expect to see an abundance of furry white lambs and enjoy the springtime scenery, check out the sky trail for a birds-eye view!

The countryside all across Milton Keynes and the surrounding areas is buzzing with wildlife and springtime flowers, and the weather seems to be picking up ready to allow for some nice springtime walks and fresh air! If you missed getting out there this weekend don't panic, this is only a 4 day week, and the next weekend is just around the corner!

A belated happy Easter from all at the Phonebox magazine, we hope you had a great time!

Freedom of the Press

Extracts from this months edition of Phonebox Magazine. Which can be read online here.

The Phonebox Magazine- Online and interactive

Well, we're moving forward with some exciting new technology this month at the Phonebox magazine, you can now read the magazine online in an easy and interactive way! If you're a bit new to using the internet, a bit daunted by the idea of an interactive magazine or just want to know some of the shortcuts, have a read below and I'll talk you through how to work your way around!

First things first, click here to get to the latest issue of the Phonebox magazine, and you should see the same as the image below.

Once there you'll see there are a number of ways to navigate through the magazine, to flick through every page or to get directly to the page you're looking for.

The circled red areas in the picture above show a few of the basic navigation methods. On the far right is the most simple way of looking through the magazine, by simply clicking on the arrow and it will take you to the next page. Similarly, the arrows on the bottom right of the page do the same thing, with the double arrows taking you straight to the first and last pages if you click on them. Now for the clever bit- on the left you'll see the bookmark tab open (if not, click on the icon bottom left, circled above). This provides you with a list of all of the different articles featured in the magazine, and the option of scrolling through those titles. Click on any of these and you'll be taken directly to that feature!

Posh Push for Play-Offs while Dons Despair in Defeat - MK Dons vs Peterborough United

We've got a debut for the blog today; a report from our MK Dons reporter, Matt Delaney. You can read his match reports most months in the Phonebox magazine, but this month, the timings of going to print mean it's earnt a place online instead! Enjoy!

"MK Dons failed to get on the home score sheet yet again in a must win game, against local rivals Peterborough, whilst on their quest for promotion to the Championship. Peterborough strengthened their play-off hopes courtesy of two quick fire second half goals from Britt Assombolonga to sail to a 2-0 victory at Stadium:MK.

Both keepers had to be on their toes in the early stages of the game with David Martin having to tip over a stinging volley by Nick Ajose and Robert Olejnik diving well to get his hand to a well worked free kick from Ryan Hall to keep the game at deadlock in the first 20 minutes.

No team could grasp the first half by the neck and take command, possession was being given away cheaply by both teams and not many chances were being created. MK did , however, have the best chance of the half when Jordan Spence made a solo charge from the back line to the Posh penalty area then played it to Odelusi who fashioned a chance for himself out of nothing but shot just wide with Olejnik sprawling desperately to cover his goal.