Mountains, midges and muscles

This weekend I've been out with Tasha, Chris and some friends of theirs from their work.

We went to Glen Coe camping (me in my new wonderful tent - oh it's nice!!!). The idea was that we'd do a peak on Saturday with all of us and another couple that would meet us at the start of the walk, then on Sunday Tasha, Chris and myself might get another peak in. We met up in the car park, and I discovered a new part of Scotland. The Midges, (they deserve the capitol M). We were next to a river, which was bad enough but when the sun was heading down the sky filled with them. The little bastards were biting every bit of exposed skin available. Out came the Deet 50, with a warning to the others not to get it on synthetic materials, but it was the barbecue that drove them off until morning.
The hill we were planning on Saturday was Buachaille Etive Mor, or as Nicola put it as Tasha and her drove past it on the way in, "Oh My F***ing God!" Starts at 280 M and ends at 1022 M, with most of the ascent 2 1/2 KM. Or to put it another way, 920 ft to 3350 ft in a mile and a half. As the peak is over 3000 ft, it's a Munro. There's another three Munro tops on the peak, the plan was to do all of them and follow the route out but after the second one with the wind blowing strong as hell, the cloud below us and the rock wet and slick, we had to recalculate. Three of the group hadn't done any hills like this and had no ridge time. The ridge to the second peak was quite broad, and from Stob An Doire (second one) to Stob Coire Altruim it looked about the same.
It wasn't.
The ridge went from ten foot wide and gentle to about two foot wide and nasty looking. So we did the only thing we could in the circumstances. We binned it. Cue a back track to the saddle and a descent via scree, wet stones, wet grass and seating glissade (sitting on the wet grass and sliding down the hill - it was good enough for Shackleton!). By the time we got back to the cars my legs were sore as hell. Nicola and the other couple (whose names I can't spell I'm afraid, nice guys though) headed back to Glasgow, while Chris, Tasha and myself headed into Fort William for dinner. Our kit was sodden and we were all damaged in some way or other.
And then came the next morning. Tasha and Chris' knees were buggered, as were my thigh muscles, so we scrapped the idea of doing a hill and dispersed, planning another hill for the coming weekend. We did also find what could be the one of best pubs in the world, the Clachaig Inn. To say that it's a climbers pub is a bit of an understatement. Think I'll be back there at some point.
I think some of the sodding midges hitched a lift home with me, though, I've been itching like a bastard all day (from the midges! Nothing else).

It depends on what you are expecting

I've been to see a few films recently, one major one on DVD and five on the big screen.
The DVD one was at work with Si, Blood Diamond. Not a comfortable film for anyone wearing a diamond that is anything less than certain about it's origin, but a truely excellent film. 92 %
Then we have:
Shrek 3: I liked it, there were a number of jokes about relating to a younger generation, and the characters didn't develop any stupid new traits. Nothing radical but if you liked the first two (and I'll assume you did) it's good fun. If you (or someone you know) has had kids recently, or is expecting, you'll find parts of it funny in a way that is impossible to explain to the other people in the audience. 70 %, rising to 88% if you know someone with young children.
Die Hard 4.0 (pointless .0 really, even if they release a directors cut as 4.1, is anyone going to be awed?), what can I say, it's a die hard. And it's fun, everything you'd expect from a good franchise, cheesey at times but great fun, and if the F35B can do what they suggest in the film the guys up here will have kittens of fun. 82 %
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix: Felt like someone had the plot explained to them while drunk and they were putting what they could remember on film, although they knew the characters and made the film with love for the original. If you haven't read the book, 85%, if you know the book like some obsessive fanboy (like me), 70 %
Transformers: Slammed by the critics, which is always a good start, it depends on what you're expecting. If you're looking for high art - WHY?!?!? It's TRANSFORMERS!!! If your childhood was formed by cars and planes and trucks that were more than meets the eye, you'll LOVE IT! Not a remake of the cartoon movie but there are moments of similarity. They get a couple of things wrong (It was ESA not NASA/JPL that sent Beagle 2, and there's the whole magnetic field thing), but great to watch. 82%
And finally,
The Simpsons
Okay, it's hard to describe, but it's not an extra long episode, there's things in the film that would NOT be in the series (such as gratuitous nudity), the story has more arc than a two part episode and the jokes are generally more grown up than the usual episode ones. Which is saying quite alot from me. 90% if you like the Simpsons, 88% if you don't (I refuse to believe that people exist that don't like it), I mean, Green Day doing the opening music and then a Titanic moment, it's genius!!
(For reference, Equilibrium was a 98%, Hot Fuzz a 94%, Merchant of Venice 88%, Gladiator 70% and Robin Hood Men in Tights 89%.

And another WOO-HOO!!

Today I had my first experience driving a motorbike. Previously I'd had a bit of time on the back of Chris and Tasha's bikes (lovely tourer 600s) and lots of time on my push-bike (that's bicycle for anyone wondering).
Today I went for my CBT. This is the first stage in learning to ride a motorbike in Britain. You've got to have a provisional license first (full car or prov bike) then you do a short course covering basics of riding, maintainance and other stuff. The idea is that from never having been on a bike before, you're now safe to ride a small (125 cc) bike on the roads until you take your full test. Before this you could just hop onto a 125 straight off.
After this you do lessons on a more powerful bike. For over 21 year olds you can take it on a 500 cc and there are now legal to drive any size bike (this is called the "Direct Access" method). If you're under 21 (or too short to sit on a 500 - as was the case with Tasha) you use a smaller bike and then have to wait 2 years until you can ride bigger ones. You can do the CBT and the
direct access in one intensive course, but that looks to be more expensive.
I think I'll hire a 125 for an afternoon and get some road time in, to get used to things like canceling my indicators after turning, road position and not thinking that I'm on a push-bike. Then I'll get the rest of the lessons.
Stay tuned for more info.

50 years ago

As mentioned in the excellent Bad Astronomy Blog, it was 50 years ago that this marvelous cartoon was first broadcast.
Generally held as the best cartoon made, it goes by many names, but generally "What's Opera, Doc?" and has, for myself as well as many others, resulted in people singing "Kill the Wabbit!" to some classic opera.
Enjoy!

Rope tricks

I've splurged a bit (wow, the spell checker actually recognised that one) and bought a rope in the Tiso sale, thought it was 50 m of 10 mm, actually got 60 m and a free belay plate. Seeing as I was in the store and physically chose it, I was suprised that I was suprised. Anyway, my point.
In this age of legislation for everything, the fact that anyone can go into a shop and buy enough kit to go and do silly things in the hills is kind of gratifying. And also worrying- I mean there's nothing to stop people killing themselves or just getting into serious trouble but on every piece of kit, and in most stores, there's the disclaimers:
"Warning: Climbing is a dangerous sport!"
"No liabilities are accepted!"
"Use your own judgement!" - these from an American book.
"The authors..cannot accept any responsibility for [anything] while following any of the techniques described." - From a British book.
These are all fairly standard but the one on the back of the packaging for the belay plate (minimal packaging which is nice to see) struck me as just, well, just about right:
"Climbing and mountaineering are inherently dangerous. It is the sole responsibility of the purchaser or user of this climbing equipment to get proper instruction and to act safely and with caution while using this equipment.... You are responsible for your own actions and decisions."
And that's the thing. "You are responsible." The companies give you the kit and design it to be as good and as safe as it can be, but in the end, if you choose to take the risk, it's your call. You have the say over what you do. Nobody is forcing you to do it, (in all but the VERY rare cases of product failure) nobody is responsible for your safety, apart from you.
This is, I think, part of the appeal of the sport and the lifestyle. That and the feeling you get on a good climb, were everything is flowing and it's like you're dancing up the rock.

With this in mind, there's a great quote from Edward Whymper, a British climber who was on the first ascent of the Matterhorn - on the descent of which, four of the team died.
"There have been joys too great to be described in words, and there have been griefs upon which I have not dared to dwell; and with these in mind I say: Climb if you will, but remember that courage and strength are nought without prudence, and that a momentary negligence may destroy the happiness of a lifetime. Do nothing in haste; look well to each step; and from the beginning think what may be the end."
The passage from "Climb if you will..." is (or at least was) displayed on the wall at the Plas y Brenin National Mountain Centre.

Magazines

There was someone a while back said something that struck me as being true, and I was reminded of it while watching a trailer before Shrek 3 (brilliant film by the way, was worried about it but didn't need to be).
Look at the front of most womens' magazines and you'll see articles on how you're not slim/pretty/generally good enough.
Look at the front of most mens' magazines and you'll basically get one message: "You're a GOD!"

And they wonder why there's a problem with self image?

Think I've already mentioned Facebook, I've also got a page on MySpace, although there's less on it. I've heard that the American sociologists reckon there's a sociological breakdown that can be deduced by which of these two social sites people use. Arse as far as I'm concerned, I was introduced to Facebook two days before MySpace, and Rupery Murdock owns too much of MySpace for my liking. Haven't had a look at Bebo yet but the week is young.
Also I've put some more photos on the Flickr pages (linked --> somewhere), mainly of Clyne Halls in Swansea.

Leave, or holidays for the rest of the world...

Wine is a wonderful thing, especially when combined with the knowledge that you haven't got work for almost two weeks. It might seem like a minor thing but I had a bit of time off over Christmas (as the station was shut) but this time I haven't got much driving to do, unless I choose to.

Well, aside from that, today I have fixed the doorbell (ha, I am man, see me do DIY!) and
found links on Youtube for some of the best adverts made (except for the Guiness and Honda ones).
And here they are:
Snowman.
Goth holiday (current one)
and a classic one.

I'm not sure why, but they're not shown down in't far south in Ingerland. Mind you, Coke and Pepsi rank behind Iron Bru in most of Scotland.