Thunderbozz

This is the sign in the window of Zavvi, Sheffield, this weekend. The store has finally closed it's doors after collapsing into administration late last year. It's a shame to see it go, even if it had lost the history associated with Our Price and Virgin Megastores, but it was also inevitable. Video killed the radio star; iTunes killed the record store. In Sheffield, there's a "masterplan" to expand the city centre with a brand new retail quarter. Construction - or rather, demolition to clear the site - began in the economic boom of 2008. Sadly, with so many shops closing, it looks like a rather silly idea today, and work has been put on indefinite hiatus. USC has closed; The Link shut down; Zavvi is no more; Woolworths kicked the bucket; Barclays have downsized from three branches to just one; the days of seeing Lloyds TSB and Halifax branches side-by-side are surely numbered. The High Street is literally shrinking, because these stores will not be replaced...

I've seen some boring football matches in my time. I've been to games with very little atmosphere. I've been to see games on playing fields and in horrible stadiums. But I've never seen a game quite as bad as Rotherham vs Macclesfield Town at the Don Valley Stadium (last month). It was dire . No soul, no excitement, not even any good football. And it cost me £20 to get in, too. ◊ Last month was a really busy time at work, so I managed to build up quite a bit of flexitime, even after a couple of afternoons off to see the dentist. Unfortunately, it's been all but wiped-out by the snow; it's taken longer to get into the office, and we usually closed earlier than usual during the worst of the wintry snap in the first week of February. C'est la vie. ◊ Dartford have had a few games postponed due to the weather, but we've been unbeaten in the last seven we've managed to play, which has shot us into sixth place in the league. It's a fantastic ru...

I have decided to scrap my one semi-serious new year's resolution (to try and reach the arbitrary magic number of five portions of fruit and veg a day) because it backfired in the most spectacular fashion. After four days of fruit juice with breakfast, fresh fruit in the afternoon, lots of veg with dinner... I was struck down with a cold. They say "an apple a day keeps the doctor away" – well too much fruit can kill a man, too, you know. Despite my severe illness, I managed to battle my way into work... and all this despite the literally freezing temperatures up here in Sheffield, which would have made the journey miserable even if I'd been fighting fit. Actually, that's probably not true. I think the only time you can appreciate cold weather, sub-zero temperatures and snow underfoot is when you know that it's not contributing to the destruction of your immune system. According to reports, it was even freezing cold in the tropical south, where the fi...

Dartford's first three games of the new season didn't go particularly well: the 4-0 defeat on the opening weekend was swiftly followed by two games on the wrong side of a 2-0 scoreline. Only Tooting & Mitcham's 7-0 drubbing at the hands of Ashford Town kept us off the bottom of the league on Saturday night. Today's result – beating Harlow 2-1 – has put an end to our losing streak, and fired us up to sixteenth. An infinitely more comfortable place to be sitting. ▫ Sheffield's iconic Tinsley Towers were blown up in the early hours of Sunday morning, although not entirely successfully as the stubborn North tower did its best to remain standing. Not being a local lad, I can't claim any fond memories of them, but they sure were impressive. It strikes me as odd that such iconic buildings can be demolished so unceremoniously in one part of the country, whilst down in Ebbsfleet they're spending millions on building new ones. ▫ It's difficult to "...

I went for a drink down at Sheffield's Leopold Square last night – and sadly, when I say a drink, I mean only one. And that had to be bought for me. A combination of my as-yet fruitless job search, graduation on Wednesday and a healthy student overdraft means that I'm pretty much skint at the moment. Leopold Square is not a place for the cash-strapped. It's full of posh expensive bars and restaurants, precisely the sort you'd find in the upmarket streets of Bluewater. It looks great, and it was nice to hear some live music, but it definitely ain't my scene.

Well, that's it then. I'm now officially a graduate of the University of Sheffield. Graduation itself took place on Wednesday, but mum and dad came up to visit on Tuesday because they were driving up from home. If all goes to plan – by which I mean finding a job up here in Sheffield – then I won't be going home as much this year, so it was really nice to see them. We had a quick tour of the town and my new flat during the day, then enjoyed a meal out in Broomhill at Buon Deli, a fantastic little Italian restaurant, in the evening. I must confess to being quite nervous on Wednesday morning, but then that always happens before things like this. My main fear is falling over and looking like a right goon in front of everyone. This fear was increased by the acquisition of an extremely ill-fitting (too small) mortarboard hat about half an hour before the ceremony started: I was now also worried about the blasted thing falling off, which effectively barred me from moving my...

I've recently found myself reading the forums of Skyscraper City , a website dedicated to architecture, new buildings and construction projects across the world. Specifically, the Sheffield forums, because change is a-coming: cranes litter the skyline, and wherever you turn, there's a building site . As part of the council's " Masterplan " for the city centre, Sheffield will undergo a massive transformation over the next few years. The process has already begun – in the three years I've been living here, there have been significant changes already. But these have only been relatively small projects, like the renovation of the train station, or the construction of the Information Commons. The next phase of the plan is a complete overhaul of the city, redeveloping the riverside, moving the markets, re-routing the roads and creating brand new communities. This is excellent news for architecture enthusiasts, because a city-wide construction project, on a sc...

Image © Chris Sardelis With some time to kill (quite a few hours, as it turned out) online yesterday, I resorted to surfing You Tube. Sheffield's very own Arts Tower features in the first (excellent) film... the rest are just animals doing funny things. Enjoy, if you've got the time... Six minutes: Sixteen seconds: Five seconds:

According to early indications, there was a big turnout for the local elections in England, Wales and for the London Mayor/Assembly. The sunny weather probably helped to boost numbers, but the large number of surprising results suggests that genuine politics was a major factor. Labour has taken an absolute battering, the Liberal Democrats have held their ground well, and the Conservatives have made some very significant gains – in councillors and councils controlled. As well as local issues, Labour's biggest crime has been its farcical handling of the 10p tax rate cut. This policy has had such a catastrophic effect on the party because its hit their core supporters the hardest. It's all very well seeking to gain ground in the South East, but holding on to the industrial North must surely be a priority? Sheffield has just announced its results, and they, too were surprising. Everyone expected the Liberal Democrats to take control of the council: they only needed a couple ...

With a couple of free days to kill up here in Sheffield (I'm stuck up here until tomorrow because I have a (real) dentist appointment to attend), I've spent some time having a good look round town. That's involved a little bit of shopping, wasting some time doing market research questionnaires, and having a look around the Millennium Galleries' new exhibition, Yes, No & Other Options . It's a really good exhibition, so get along to one of the many participating venues and have a look if you can. The theme of the project is the examination of the way we present ourselves within a 24-hour culture . In the past, it was very easy to separate your private life from the hustle and bustle of work and the outside. Today, we are all available "on-demand" – whether we like it or not – and we have to adapt accordingly. Tim Etchells's neon signs (pictured above) combine personal messages with very public displays, just like the way hundreds of people c...

Well here's something I wasn't expecting to write about. England was hit by an earthquake measuring 5.2 on the Richter Scale at around 1am this morning. It's fair to say that the impact wasn't at its greatest in Sheffield, but it's the first earthquake I've ever experienced, so don't knock it. It's quite a strange sensation, really. One second I was lying in bed, leaning against my wall... the next second, the wall starts wobbling and there's a strange rumbling sound from outside. At first, I thought our demented washing machine had finally broken free from the kitchen and made a bid for freedom mid-way through it's spin cycle. It was quickly apparent – the shaking of the entire street outside was a give-away – that this was not the case. To be honest, it was quite exciting. In fact, I'm a little bit disappointed that practically everyone in Blighty had the same experience... It would have been more impressive if it was localised to S...

Sheffield has been top of the news agenda for the last few days, following the torrential rains and fatal flooding which punished the city at the weekend and on Monday in particular. Broomhill, where I live, was unaffected: indeed, walking around its streets on Tuesday morning, you could be forgiven for being absolutely unaware of the terrible situation on the other side of town. Walking to work on Monday, just as the rains became heaviest at around mid-day, I got absolutely soaked. In true comedy style, this was aided by a bus driving through a large puddle next to where I was walking. I hurried on to work, hoping I could sneak in through the front door unnoticed, race upstairs to the staff room and dry myself off before anyone noticed. Unfortunately, I was greeted by everyone standing just inside the (locked) doors because there was a power cut. Since then, the electricity supply has been subject to various planned and surprise outages, as the authorities attempt to restore ut...

In the words of Peter, Paul and Mary, "God send a fire, not a flood next time". I left work this evening to find a massive plume of smoke rising over the city... and coming from the direction of Gatecrasher. Apparently, the building has now collapsed , so that rules out any nights out there over summer. Gatecrasher One becomes Gatecrasher None (and the door to various other jokes including references to Burning Down The House , a fire in the disco! and, of course, Disco Inferno swings wide open...).

I've made a horrific discovery. Thanks to my braces, my teeth are gradually straightening up and it looks as though I may be able to smile with confidence again. That's not the bad news. The bad news is that now all my teeth are in the wrong the right place, I can no longer chew the insides of my cheek or bite my nails properly. This is quite frustrating. Oh look, a pretty rainbow! Ahem. Sadly, this sight from Saturday didn't bring much hope to the supporters of Sheffield United, who were relegated from the Premier League following defeat to Wigan. West Ham managed to stay up - in theory at least, subject to intervention from the powers that be, but it means there'll be no top-flight football to go and watch at Bramall Lane next year. Speaking of rainbows, have you ever noticed that Zippy only has one hand? How has this never been brought to my attention before?

As predicted, Dartford council has been won by the Conservatives (from no overall control) and Labour have lost seats. In fact, across the county and across the country they've taken a battering. Neighbouring Gravesham has also turned blue on the political map, joining Sevenoaks, Medway, Swale, Dover, Ashford, Canterbury... the Conservatives now hold the vast majority of the South East in their control. Conservatives gain Dartford from No overall control Turnout: 36.6% In Sheffield, the Liberal Democrats couldn't quite gain a majority, but they've done enough to shift the balance of power. Sheffield, like fellow major northern city Hull, no longer appears red on the map, but Labour have held on to Rotherham, Barnsley and Wakefield. Labour lose Sheffield to No overall control Turnout: 36.0%

A supporter of the Green Party was handing out flyers outside the union today (not very environmentally friendly, as rather than recycle them, everyone just put them in the nearest bin). "We came second last year, we've got a really good chance of winning this year", he said. Highly amused by this statement, the only reply I could think of was " No you haven't !" Sheffield council is currently led by the Labour Party, who hold 44 seats to the Liberal Democrats' 34. The Conservatives and the Green Party are out of the race with 2 each. In Broomhill ward, the story is slightly different. Being a very wealthy district, the Labour party has virtually no footing, and Lib Dems have a strong hold (although in fairness, the tree-huggers Greens are also well-supported). Above are the votes from last year's election. It's worth remembering that the Broomhill ward is also represented by two further councillors, voted for in previous elections. Bo...

"Born out of completely fresh thinking about learning resources for the 21st century student, [the shiny new Information Commons] contains a whole range of study experiences within a single spectacular building." Just some of those study experiences include: needing your U-Card to do practically everything, walking up and down isles of books and silly chairs just to find a free computer, being watched by people sitting in a part of the building you can't work out how to get into, being laughed at by aforementioned people as you search for the staircase to floor five, and nearly dying of exhaustion because the rooms are full of computers but the place has no opening windows or any decent air-conditioning. Plus, the print machines only work in dollars. I am not impressed.