Aah. Free and single again. Getting back to being the old adventurous me and looking into some serious new adventuring:

I'm wondering about 2 or 3 weeks of elephant wrangling with these lovely people
http://www.godifferently.com/thailand_elephants.asp
Some amazing tales on the website from past adventurers :)

But also Budget Travel do some marvellous looking tours through Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Singapore. The 2 I most like the look of are these (obviously they would require me to ask my boss very nicely for the time off!)
http://www.budgetexpeditions.com/tour/Asia/Best+of+South+East+Asia+2/368
http://www.budgetexpeditions.com/tour/Asia/Singapore+to+Indochina+4/364

This 2 week trek through Morocco includes camel riding, camping in the desert and hiking across the Atlas mountains. Get in!
http://www.bukima.com/Overland/Morocco/MO1.php
Although this one had 8 solid days camel trekking across the desert
http://www.morocco-travel-adventure.com/camel-trek.htm#gm

I'm thinking that maybe Morocco in September would be a good way to go with some serious SE Asia activity in Spring next year. Ooh and I'm off to Prague a week on Tuesday! Woo!

Wow so it's been 8 months since I was last able to muster up the time/inclination/writing ability to do one of these. It's getting more and more rare that I get all three of these at the same time.
So since I last spoke my adventures have included visiting Cape Town for a week, a weekend in Paris, a new year in London and a week in Andorra learning the art of the snowboard. All of which were marvellous on the most part, all of which were accompanied by my ladyfriend and all of which helped keep the itchy-feet travelling bug at bay for a time.
I've been doing some wondering about where I want to be in a year's time and I've realised it's not Birmingham. My savings are doing fairly well at the moment and soon I'll be able to buy a place if I like but there has been something that I couldn't quite put my finger on that's been putting me off. I thought it was simple lust to travel and not wanting to be tied down to a place but recently I've realised that it's just not wanting to be tied down to Birmingham. Birmingham's a very cool place but it's not home. Slowly my friends are all leaving here for pastures new, I'm living in a remarkably concrete encased suburb and it's just not where I want to be at 26. I was back up in Manchester for a long weekend and it really hit me how nice a place it is up there – lovely suburbs, vibrant city, fun people and lots of family already there. A big thing as well is that I know the people up there and understand them, in the past year I've really come to realise how differently people think in different parts of the country. I guess Birmingham and Manchester aren't the most different but I love to be out with people and know how they think, know how my comments will be taken, know that I won't end up accidentally causing offence, know where the line is between good humoured teasing and unpleasantness. I guess I just like to know where I stand with people and it's so much easier with northerners – sure a lot of friendships are purely based on mutual ridicule but it's all in good fun. I'd like to get back up to Manchester.
There are also some family issues that make me really wish I wasn't so far away. My grandmother won't be with us much longer (me and my oldest brother drove up to Edinburgh at the weekend to visit and, probably to say goodbye) and although she's now 89 and she's had a very full and very loved life it's still a very sad situation. My brothers and me have always been remarkably shielded from death and subconsciously I was always very much of the opinion that my loved ones are all immortal. The good thing is that grandmother is still sharp as a tack mentally and in very good spirits, she may have a few more months and I may get to see her again.
My mother's health has been as bad as I've ever seen it recently. She's always had troubles with arthritis and back pain but now she's getting serious chronic fatigue and has been floored for over a month with a recurring case of bronchitis. She spends days at a time in bed and it worries me sick. She'd never forgive me if my decision to move back to Manchester was even a thousandth of a percent to do with looking after her but I would worry a lot less if I was nearby and didn't have two hours of motorway to traverse in an emergency.
Then there's my brother who is doing marvellously well at the moment, he's off the alcohol, making moves towards quitting smoking, is 98% there with getting his house sorted out after a long period of neglect and he's started an Open University degree. He doesn't need my help but I do really miss him. When we were talking at the weekend he said that he thinks if he hadn't stopped drinking when he did he may not have made it to 35. As I said, now he's turned his life around but it does really make me think of all the wasted time. It would be very good to be living just down the street.
Things haven't been so well with the ladyfriend lately, I really can't see us lasting much longer. Maybe we'd be better if it wasn't for the distance between us but at the moment we're barely talking, we haven't seen each other in over three weeks (admittedly my shifts have made that difficult) and the smallest thing seems to produce an argument. I was saying earlier that I understand the way northerners think; well with her I have no clue how things tick in her head. She's from a very upper class background and has been remarkably shielded from everything that's bad in the world and as such she is literally the most sensitive woman I've ever met. She takes offence at the slightest thing I say that she can possibly twist to be taken in a less than pleasant light, then when I try to explain myself she gets upset and says I'm getting at her. I would never do anything intentionally to hurt her but the way she responds makes me feels like she thinks I'm purposefully out to get her. She can't just trust that I love her and only want the very best for her. It's like we each think the other is purposefully jeopardising the relationship, me by saying ‘stupid things' and her by overreacting to pretty much everything. It's been a long time since I was truly relaxed around her and I find myself being so quiet with her as before I speak I'm desperately trying to figure out any way that what I say might be taken the wrong way.
Don't get me wrong, we've had some amazing times together, I wouldn't have seen half the stuff I've seen in the past year without her and she can be incredibly sweet and kind and generally lovely. 80% of her is a wonderful, beautiful woman who I'm crazy about but the other 20% makes me f**king miserable. Looking back on this editorial to stuff I wrote about her just after we got together in Africa (over eleven months ago now) it makes me so sad, I was completely head over heels about her. I think we were both very different people out in the bush than we are back home. Moving further away would end any chance we had together but I think that chance is already microscopic. Yet there's a part of me that will always love her.
For a brief mention of the job front, all is still well in my office, I'm still getting lots of projects to fill my time but all could be easily done from elsewhere. Plus I've already pimped my department here as much as I can, and need a new challenge. There are going to be big things happening with BBC Manchester and I would be very happy to get a transfer.
So on the whole I feel like there are going to be big changes this year, I hope mostly for the better. I'd just love to feel settled and relaxed, in a place I love, surrounded by people I understand and with all this mess behind me.

Back from the road trip. Oh yes. Eight days of racing five cars through western Europe from Venice to Cortina to the Austrian Alps to Munich to Heidelberg near the Black Forest to Dusseldorf to Amsterdam to Naaldwijk and then home. At least five hours of driving every day, quick wander round the towns in the evening followed generally by much drinking and red meat. We did some interesting stuff along the way – camping in Cortina and Heidelberg, canoeing through the Black Forest, an evening in the Hofbrauhaus in Munich, seeing the Old Town in Dusseldorf and wandering through the sleazy streets of Amsterdam. Very random, very much a 'guys' holiday (even though two of our eleven were ladies) but turned out almost exactly as I expected. A good experience no doubt but probably not something I'd do again. I need smaller groups, more time in places and more democratic decisions on the route. The main benefit in the speed at which we moved round places is that it gave lots of tasters so I know where I want to go back to and explore more thoroughly.
Had two minor traffic incidents while we were out there. First one was when I was a passenger in the MX5 and the driver attempted to do an overtake on a single carriageway road when there was another car coming pretty damn fast in the other direction. He bottled at the last second, locked his wheels and skidded us back onto our side of the road. Two tyres then completely balded had to be replaced the next day. The second one was when I was driving the MR2 Mark 2 at the back of the convoy as we were arriving in Koln in Germany. The guy navigating at the front of the convoy radioed us at the last second saying we needed to shift lanes in order to take the next turn. This led to one of our cars up ahead jumping into a gap it really shouldn't have gone for and causing the car behind it to slam on the brakes. Then our MX5 that was moving in behind had to slam on the brakes, locking its wheels again and stopping about 2 millimetres from the car in front. I was next in line and I slammed on the brakes but due to a downward slope, a wet road surface, having all wheels travelling over the painted lines (as I was changing lanes at the time) and the ABS not kicking in I skidded and hit the MX5 into the other car. There was literally nothing I could have done but since one of the cars involved was a local we had to get the police down to make a report at which point I discovered that by German law in such an event the driver of the last car is automatically responsible for the accident. A little unfair I thought but it was only a 35 Euro fine and both the policeman and the guy we bumped were very friendly.
So now I'm back in Blighty, coming towards the end of my first night shift of seven and desperately looking forward to getting to Cape Town (only 8 days away!) and seeing my lady. She's recently got a South African mobile phone sorted out so we can now text each other as often as we like. Makes her seem a little less far away but you can't have a hug by text.
I am making pretty good use of my time though, I've registered with Idealist.org which is a website that allows charitable groups to advertise for volunteers. There are requests on here almost daily for web designers from groups that either have no web presence or are greatly in need of an upgrade. I've already had my services accepted by three groups which should keep me occupied for the next couple of months.
Although I got a very strange email from one of the groups yesterday asking me to send them £300 to help with a charity football tournament. They even went so far as to request I send it by Western Union to the director personally rather than to a charity account. I've been looking into them carefully trying to establish whether they are simply scammers or not. If it turns out that they are I will pull down their existing web site and replace it with a message warning others about them. I will also change the password to the webspace so they can't take it down! But we'll see, I'll make no rash decisions yet before I've fully checked it out, it's just that the idea of pretending to be a children's charity in order to fleece people leaves a really bad taste in my mouth.

Off on my European Road Trip tomorrow. Early I shall rise, slinging my hat upon my head and my bag over my shoulder I shall set off down the road with a song in my heart and a spring in my step headed direct for Venice and the start of my adventures. Or something like that anways. It will be really nice to reset my head, although in may ways it's a bit of a blokes holiday we should be spending much of it travelling across the alps and other such scenic areas which leave ample time for relaxation and introspection.
It feels like everywhere I turn at the moment there is something pushing me to move on, get the travelling going and find my new vocation in life. From the usual crap of living in half a house and so many western people having a fundamental lack of perspective on what's important to overall world issues like the war in Israel and global warning meaning that we should all live the best we can 'cos there's little chance any of us are dying of natural causes at the age of 90 surrounded by great grandkids to the recent news that thanks to the relentless march of technology my department won't exist two years from now. Everything is saying to me "go on Big Lad, travel the world, experience all you can and don’t waste a single day".
I have already sent my CV to an international broadcast training and consultancy company who send people all over this wide world to run courses and lend their expertise. It's a little less hands on than I was intending but could be the worthiest thing. There's also a freelance broadcasting recruitment firm that I've signed up with who cover all sorts of opportunities in distant corners of the world. Could be some good action happening with them I is thinkin.
Had a call from my ladyfriend on Wednesday all the way from Cape Town. We talked for nearly an hour and it was great to hear her voice but it was rather odd for both of us since it's now been to months since we last saw each other and that was only the second time we'd spoken. In many ways it will be like starting over again when we meet in Cape Town (3 weeks today, woohoo!) but I don't think that's a bad thing at all. We already have what I think is a pretty firm base and it will be like we get to have our first kiss and our first night spent cuddled together all over again. Nothing taken for granted, nothing normal or boring, just the excitement of a new relationship all over again. Bonus!

Still living in half a house. It's been 10 months now and my house is still lacking a downstairs living area - although bathroom is good and kitchen is basic but functional. Now the general slow progression in the past would have stressed me (I still have the odd moment but it's usually that something else is bothering me which just kinda opens the floodgates) but recently it's actualy been a blessing in many ways. It's encouraging me to get out of the house much more than I used to, it's good for the whole Buddhist principles of not wishing to control external conditions but simply to control the peace and balance of your own mind and it's preventing me from getting too comfortable in this messed up western world we have. All very good stuff for longer term happiness.
Getting a smodge peed off with work at the moment, I'm paid to be a communications engineer yet 95% of my job is now web design so I'm really doing two jobs at once. Whenever I complete a project or set of modifications another two appear to take its place, I'm badgered from morning to night by people wanting modifications or bug fixes or who have simply not bothered to learn how to use one of my systems. I get no recognition for the stupid workload and all I've got for my trouble is a wicked bad case of RSI for which today's drug is cocodamol.
To that end I have officially started looking for work in the wider world. I have a friend who is a charity worker and has been fantastic in finding me companies that do media solutions abroad - lots of consultancy and training stuff but there are a few more hand-on groups out there. Getting my CV sorted this week.
In other news I had my first swimming lesson on Monday. I did better than I expected to (meaning I was able to swim a bit rather than not at all) but it was majorly hard going and I think I swallowed about half the pool. I seriously can't even contemplate how people are able to swim the channel, I'm a reasonably healthy person but I did a single length of the pool and felt like I'd run a marathon. Plus the fact that my body doesn't float is really working against me :( I'll stick with it though and I'm adding some practice into my gym sessions so hopefully I'll have it as an emergency skill at the very least.
I went through the city centre on my way into work today and saw a lass sat in the main square crying. Everyone was walking by, too wrapped up in their own troubles to pay attention or not wanting to get involved. I suddenly felt really bad for her, I had no idea why she was so upset but to be crying your eyes out at 10.30 in the morning it must be something pretty heavy. So what could I do but walk over to Greggs, buy a double chocolate muffin, walk up and hand it to her and say "I know it's a tough world sometimes but you'll get through it" and carry on my way. I figured she didn't want a complete stranger hassling her and trying to analyse her problems but little is more soothing than a double chocolate muffin. I hope she's feeling a little better.

Direction found.
Was home the other weekend and got talking to the folks about future plans. I've never said to them outright that long term I'm going to be well out of the western world and trying my best to do something much more worthy than sitting in a Birmingham office all me life but I think they'd long since figured that out. They were actually a lot more supportive than I expected - well, my dad is always supportive but my mum (with the kindest of intentions) is automatically opposed to anything that could potentially jeopardise future security. The general opinion was 'yeah we know you're going to do this but we'd rather you did something that used your proper engineery skills than just random manual labour crap and hows about you wait a couple of years'. Coulda been worse and has indeed started me looking around at the sort of opportunities that use commununications engineer skills abroad and for the greater good. I'm thinking building/renovating/maintaining radio or TV stations in an effort to aid democracy, educate the masses and give out all them emergency warnings about stuff. Worthy, a good use of my skills and involving much travelling. Get in!
I've been having a proper look round the past few days and have found the BBC Worldwide Trust which could be a goer if I find the right vacancy. There are so many volunteer agencies out there but, although I don't require much cash to live on, I can't make it a sustainable venture if I'm either getting nothing to live on or paying for the privilige of volunteering. Plus the volunteer people seem to be all about the teaching English, tracking animal behaviour or counting trees - not quite what I've trained for!
So until this happens I've got an array of little plans of action. I'm going to learn to swim, stick with the gym to get in shape for whatever life may present, have my little adventures and work on that whole inner peace thing I've heard so much about. Then it's adios.

Evenin.
Still trying to mesh back into modern life right here. It's been tougher than I expected but then I have been working stupid shifts - 11 days in a row then seven night shifts - which ain't allowing for any sort of routine in my life. Not that I'm ever really about routine and regularity but it would be good to get out of this transitional mindset - only feeling half here and failing to get excited about much that the Western World has to offer. Ah well, 3 night shifts to go and then I get some time out with the folks in Manchester for a bit of a reset.
The thing is my outlook has definitely been adjusted by my recent adventures, way more than it has before (except perhaps for my first 3 month jaunt to America in 2001) and, while I'm liking the direction it's taking me I still need to be able to function. I've been pushed even further towards the long term travelling thing, it has to be done while I'm still relatively young and the world is on the most part a friendly place to venture across. I need to take a couple of years to get plans together, save some money, get another couple of Beeb years under my belt to keep my CV attractive for when I get back and figure out any travelling companions. With all the adventure possibilities out there it's very tough to get enthusiastic about sitting at a desk 40 hours a week.
So anyways I've got my Cape Town flights booked. On the 18th of August I head off six thousand miles south of here to find my lady and spend a romantic week around the Cape. Weren't cheap and weren't easy to arrange but I'm so happy I'm doing it. Yeah I've had all the classic 'you've not known each other that long' speeches and I am trying to stay grounded on this but hey, I'm taking a chance on love. It may backfire, but if I don't try I may regret it for the rest of my life. I did that once before - I was with an amazing girl who was beautiful, great fun and I could talk to about everything. Things were fantastic until I went off to university and got so wrapped up in life there that I neglected her. I created the problems in the relationship and threw away something really special. Not this time. Becky is such a fantastic woman I am going to do everything in my power to make this work and treat her always with the love she deserves.
So given the weird dislocated state I've been in I've been trying to do extra-specially productive stuff with my free time to avoid sitting there staring into space wondering what is going on in the world. Big thing is I've been getting to the gym every other day or so and am really enjoying it. Stamina and strength are up, I'm finally getting some muscles, it makes me feel generally more healthy and energetic and relaxing in the spa pool, sauna and stream room after a hard workout is magnificent! The gym is a bit of a trek from my place out the other side of town but not so bad if I go immediately before or after work and the distance has good psychological effects as I feel I should justify the journey by really going for it. Also you've gotta love the happy endorphins, they're a great kick on a tough day.
As I said, off to Manchester on Thursday for a few days off. Should also involve seeing my somewhat estranged brother one of the nights. We had some issues, there were faults on both sides, mine primarily being losing patience and venting in a less than productive manner rather than attempting to discuss stuff. I accept this and will not try to avoid that responsibility, I'm just a little apprehensive about the meeting. It's been the best part of six months and although chances are we'll skirt around the issues and talk banal crap, if we do get back to the issues between us it could go wrong again. We'll see, I just need to keep hold of the peace I gained on my travels.

So I got back from my African adventure the Thursday before last. And wow, life changing doesn't come close to covering it. I've been waiting a while to write my piece about it as I was hoping that all the thoughts in my head may have gelled into some sort of coherent life outlook but that seems a little far off yet. So maybe I'll just write until it feels like it's all covered.
While I was away I lived without electricity for a month, rising with the sun around 6am, heading out on foot or in the landrover to check out what's going on in the bush, sitting round the campfire at night, sleeping under the stars with the sounds of the bush around me. I chased Hyaena, Baboons and Vervet Monkeys out of the camp, came within metres of Lions and Cheetah, got chased by Elephants and Rhino, tracked big game, kept a respectful distance from the Hippos and Nile Crododiles, avoided the Spitting Cobras in the bathroom and shared my bed with Skinks on several occasions. I had training in animal tracking - identifying both footprints and excrement, weapons handling and firing, approaching dangerous game, bush landrover driving and maintenance and can (in theory) identify a couple of dozen Southern African trees purely by the shape of their leaves and recognise about a dozen bird calls.
I was with a fantastic group of people - 11 fellow coursemates from around Europe and Africa all of which were really quality people. With a group of that size you always expect there to be at least one who makes it tough for the others but not in this case, all were fantastic people and elevated it from simply being an amazing experience to being the best decision of my life. Our two field guides were pretty amazing too - since we were doing a field guide training course the guides that train the guides were always going to be good but these guys were amazing. They knew everything there was to know about safari adventuring and could answer any question we put to them. They worked us very hard but it wouldn't have been half the experience without them.
I also fell in love. And I mean proper head over heels in love, I'm crazy about her. But let me start from the beginning. The moment I first saw Becky at the airport I noticed how amazing her smile is, and a smile is about the best window into a person's soul you can get - a genuine, warm, friendly smile can't be faked and shows that there is a good person behind it. We were all spending practically 24 hours a day together so in our first two weeks together we learned a huge amount about each other and really got on well. Then two weeks in we had our one and only day off, both going off with different group - my group hired a car and went off to explore some of the more scenic parts of the area and her group went to a wildlife sanctuary and a pub! When we all got back I soon found her receiving an intense shoulder massage from Chris, the more frisky of our two guides and was put out in no small way but was well aware that I had no claim on her and if she liked the guide then fair play to her. I left the two of them by the fire and a few of us spent most of the evening on one of the balconies talking crap and putting away a few beers. About 10ish as I was heading to the kitchen to make a cuppa I saw Chris heading off to his tent and Becky approached me looking a little vexed. She came into the kitchen with me and started talking about Chris making advances on her that she didn't want and how she was thinking about me during the day when we were apart. She was still looking quite stressed so I gave her a hug and then just really really didn't want to let her go again. After a couple of minutes she asked me what was on my mind and I said I was thinking of doing something but didn't want to mess up (I'm generally crap at reading signs - especially from women) then, biting the bullet, I leaned down and kissed her.
The rest, as the say is history. We had a fantastic time together and it wasn't long before I had to stop kidding myself that I hadn't fallen deeply in love with her. We knew we didn't have long until the end of the course at which point I was to head home and she was to continue on her travels round Africa but we made the very best of our time, decided to try and make our relationship work longer term and made some tentative plans for me to visit her in Cape Town in a couple of months.

And now I'm home. Trying to integrate all these new thoughts and emotions into what's left of my 'old life'. Trying to keep hold of the new person I felt like I'd become out in Africa when I left the trappings of modern life far behind me and was able to start fresh, independent of any baggage I've collected over the years. Does make me wonder though that if I do revert to a certain extent back to who I was before is Becky going to see me as a different person. Safari me was fun, I just hope that England me is a half decent guy too...
Odd thing is that I wasn't meant to be with that group on safari. I had planned on going a month later (meaning I would be out there now) but as it's an old university housemate's wedding this weekend I shifted to the earlier group. I met the most amazing people and had such a fabulous time that I can guarantee that any other group would have been a major downgrade. Sure, pretty much every group on a course like that will be fun but had I gone a month later I wouldn't know all these amazing people, I wouldn't have met Becky and I would have hit African midwinter which is cold and a half! At this point it feels almost scary as my life has gone off on such a positive tangent as a result of the experience and I came so close to missing out on it. There would have been another guy or girl in my place having those adventures and I would never know what I'd missed out on.
I can't tell you how good it feels when I travel. Exploring other places and cultures, meeting new people, taking only what fits into the bag on my back. I can only really equate it to the feeling of shedding skin - unzipping the layers of crap that build up over time and leaving them behind to venture off into the unknown fresh and ready for anything :)
So when I came back to town what did I return to? A decent job with good colleagues but crazy shifts and far too many computers and TVs involved! A half-built house - hoping to have a living room in about a month! A gym and a climbing centre to keep me healthy. A family who are pretty damn quality people. The aftermath of a rather large fight with my brother which is pretty much sorted out yet we still haven't seen each other or spoken on the phone this year. A scattering of friends around the country. Mostly good stuff but it actually surprised me how I missed none of it for even a single moment while I was away. There was not a moment when I thought I'd rather be here than there.
I think I'm destined to be a traveller. Maybe a much longer journey - a year or more perhaps - would make me appreciate life over here all the more. Don't get me wrong, I never take what I have here for granted, I know I'm extremely lucky to have the comfortable conditions I enjoy in the UK. Equally though I think these conditions give me the opportunity to travel and I'd be wasting that gift if I were to park myself permanently in Birmingham, work all day, drink beer and watch TV at night and pass my life without getting to know the wider world. There are many people who would tell me that I'd be making a big mistake to quit such a good secure job and head into the unknown. My position is that jobs can only give you money and money can only give you quality of life. I think if travelling gives an even better quality of life then I'd be making a much bigger mistake not to follow my dreams.

So I was reading a very interesting article recently about the 'Anthropic Cosmological Principle'. It sounds very complicated but it really isn't. It basically says that the reason that all the conditions on Earth, the Solar Syatem and the Universe seem so perfectly tuned to support our life is that were they not, we would not be around to marvel at them. “Why is the gravity on Earth enough to keep us on the ground and encourage sufficient muscle growth but not enough to crush us?” – because were it not, we wouldn’t be around to ask the question. “Why is the Earth contained within a system containing two gassy giants which act as vacuum cleaners for meteors, protecting the Earth from continuous impacts?” – because were it not, we wouldn’t be around to ask the question. Why is water in its liquid state on the majority of the Earths surface?” – because were it not, we wouldn’t be around to ask the question.
You catching the idea?
All these facts and many others along similar lines (right type of star, sufficient ozone layer, nitrogen-oxygen atmosphere etc) are often quoted by Creationists as proof that some sort of overlord exists. Otherwise they say, the probability of all these conditions combining by chance to make a planet capable of sustaining life is so miniscule as to be disregarded. The presence of a creator overlord is much more likely!

Leading on from this is the Weak Anthropic Principle:
"Weak Anthropic Principle (WAP) is the observed values of all physical and cosmological quantities are not equally probable, but they take on values restricted by the requirement that there exist sites where carbon-based life can evolve and by the requirement that the Universe be old enough for it to have already done so.
We should emphasize once again that the enormous improbability of the evolution of intelligent life in general and Homo sapiens in particular does not mean we should be amazed we exist at all. This would make as much sense as Elizabeth II being amazed she is Queen of England. Even though the probability of a given Briton being monarch is about 10^-8, someone must be. Only if there is a monarch is it possible for the monarch to calculate the improbability of her particular existence. Similarly, only if an intelligent species does evolve is it possible for its members to ask how probable it is for an intelligent species to evolve. Both are examples of WAP self-selection in action."
-Barrow, John and Tipler, Frank (1986): The Anthropic Cosmological Principle. Clarendon Press. (Slightly edited)

It is an amazingly insightful principle despite its simplicity and strangely is one that seems to be quoted by scientists and creationists in fairly equal measure. This, of course is implying that creationists can never be true scientists. Well, to call a spade a spade they can't. Not in any branch of science involving cosmology, biology or anthropology anyways. I have no time for a theory so obviously contradictory with every modern scientific finding. Creationism was a theory that conveniently explained the universe without requiring any thought whatsoever which was necessary for earlier civilisations who didn’t have the tools to carry out complicated scientific studies. Now that we have advanced further in science we do not need any simple, convenient explanations when we can figure out the real ones for ourselves.
The reason that the Weak Anthropic Principle is quoted by Creationists as ‘evidence’ of a higher being is the mention of the values of physical and cosmological quantities being restricted to those that are conducive to the development and sustainability of life. This gives the impression of some supernatural outside force guiding these quantities to allow us to survive and thrive.
This is not the idea behind the Weak Anthropic Principle. The principle is merely explaining that the reason that these quantities appear to be restricted for our benefit is that were they not as they are, we would not be here to comment on them and wonder why not. We only need to look five miles directly above us to find an infinite void, which is very hostile to the development and sustainability of life.

Our Earth, Mars and one of the moons of Jupiter are arguably the only places in the Solar System that contain or once contained life. Earth is the only one to contain intelligent life. Thousands of stars in the galaxy have been examined by astronomers and still only a dozen or so have been deemed capable of supporting life on an orbiting planet if indeed such a planet exists. Currently the primary criteria for such a star are the type of star and ‘wobble’ - when a star seems to be wobbling from side to side, this must be caused by the orbit of a very large planetoid which is itself exerting a gravitational pull on the star. As described earlier, such a planetoid is necessary to act as a vacuum cleaner and attract much of the stray meteors away from life-capable planet to give that life a chance to develop.
Anyway I digress. Within say, a couple of hundred light years (the distance light can travel in two hundred years) of Earth (I have no exact figures but I expect the number to be even greater) there are a dozen systems which could in theory support a planet that is itself capable of supporting life if many other conditions are also fulfilled. We only know of one for sure - us. Chances are we are the only life within this range. So within a volume of space marked out with a radius of two hundred light years there is one little piece of rock with a circumference of just 24,000 miles (light can travel seven and a half times this distance in a second!) that contains intelligent life. Now if we think of the volume of the Earth as a percentage of the volume of this area of space, it is very hard to imagine it as anything but 0%. To any sensible degree of rounding (and I’m talking hundreds of decimal places), 0% of the universe is capable of sustaining life. Given the vastness of space even if a planet containing intelligent life orbited every star in the universe, the proportion of the universe capable of sustaining life could still not be seen as anything other than 0%.
Now think about the probability nebula (from which stars and planets etc. are all formed) existing within our given volume of space, multiply by the probability of a star such as ours forming from this nebula, multiply by the probability of a very large vacuum cleaner planet forming around it, multiply again by the probability of a smaller planet forming at a distance from the star so that it’s water would be primarily in liquid form etc. The end result will be a very, very small number indeed (you don’t need a degree in cosmology here, we’re working rough), but will it be smaller than our value for the proportion of the universe that is capable of sustaining life? I doubt it. In fact the values may very well be quite close to one another.
Increasing the values greatly for the means of explanation we could say that there is a one-in-a-trillion chance of an environment capable of sustaining life forming from in the given volume of space and such environments exist in a trillionth of that space.