Happy New Year and Goodbye to 188 years of history

Yes, I have finally remembered that I have a blog, broken through the holiday inertia and dusted off my laptop. Unfortunately, my brain is still on holiday therefore do not expect any insightful commentary for some time!

For those that suffered my prevarication for the last five years, "YES", I did in fact submit my research thesis by the deadline of December 31st. In fact, following the five year deadline FEDEX delivered the thesis to that remote bastion of academia in Lampeter, Wales on December 30th with more than 39 hours to spare before midnight on December 31st and "NO", I was not in the least nervous that the airports had been closed for days due to deep snowfall. I had full faith in the FEDEX team of former coal miners, rugby players, huskies, sleds and hardy frost bitten Welshmen to deliver two bound copies of the thesis across deepest rural Wales despite the worst of storms.  
For those of you that are suspicious about the credibility of my college simply because you have never heard of it; it is (sadly I should really say "was") the third oldest in Britain after Oxford and Cambridge and boasted the oldest Rugby Football team in Wales (far more important than any academic consideration with the nickname "The Fighting Parsons" ). In fact, the Welsh Rugby Team's strip was based on that of the University which was the only club team permitted to use it.

Having become part of the federal University of Wales a number of years ago my college has effective this semester merged to become a part of "The University of Wales: Trinity Saint David" and so (no doubt upon the advice of marketers) an identity that had been preserved since 1822 was blended into a "new University for Wales" and I suppose we are no longer "Old Parsonians" and that we also lose the beautiful fur trimmed robes in favor of cotton and micro-fiber.

In memory of this glorious and now defunct history I will sadly close by sharing with you the college Yell, perhaps the first and last time it will appear in a blog:

Hip Hip Hooray
Hip Hip Hooray
Hip Hip Hooray
Nawr Dewi. Nawr Dewi. Nawr Dewi.
Dy Blant. Dy Blant. Dy Blant.
Backshe Odinthorog. Backshe Odinthorog.
Niri Giri Wari. Niri Giri Wari.
Zey Zey Zey
Bing Bang Odin. Bing Bang Odin.
Io Dewi. Io Dewi. Io Dewi.
Dewi Sant. Dewi Sant. Dewi Sant.
Hooray!