The battery was getting a little low on my camera last night and as were heading to Gallipoli today I found out my convertors = Uk to Turkey, then on Aus to UK – plugged that in to the socket plugged the charger in the charger I had packed only to discover that it wasn’t the charger for my camera but for my video camera which I hadn’t brought with me!!!
All was not lost when we hopped on the bus Lorin – one of my room mates – enquired if anyone had the same camera – and while the answer was no – Joel’s camera took the same batter so has loadned me his spare battery and will charge mine for me tonight!
Monday, 16 October 2006
Sunday, 15 October 2006
Day 1
First full day of the tour today and a leisurely start @ 10am. Went to the Hippodrome, Blue Mosque. Sophia Hagia and Topkapi Palace
Sophia Hagia has an interesting history – being first a church, then a mosque and now a museum. Some of the church decorations were altered and when the church became a mosque and are still there now – the best example of this is the Seraphim – in the Church this had been a face surrounded by 6 wings – just painted over the face in the middle and kept the wings. All images of people in the church was covered over so that when the muslims prayed they wouldn’t be bowing down/worshipping a person rather than Allah.
Blue Mosque was bustling – as it was Ramadan – there were stalls in the courtyard as well as many people making pilgrimage to this mosque. Canar led us inside where we sat on the floor near the Women’s prayer area and listened as he explained to us about the history of the mosque and some of the Muslim culture. To be honest while listening I did get a little distracted watching people come and go at their worship – we weren’t there at a call to prayer – the mosque is closed at that time – but there were a lot of people coming and going.
The mosque it’s self is beautiful with tiles, carvings and carpets – the carpets are woven in a pattern that contains hundreds of prayer mats
Sophia Hagia Photos @ Kodak
Blue Mosque Photos @ Kodak
Topkapi Palace Photos @ Kodak
Sophia Hagia has an interesting history – being first a church, then a mosque and now a museum. Some of the church decorations were altered and when the church became a mosque and are still there now – the best example of this is the Seraphim – in the Church this had been a face surrounded by 6 wings – just painted over the face in the middle and kept the wings. All images of people in the church was covered over so that when the muslims prayed they wouldn’t be bowing down/worshipping a person rather than Allah.
Blue Mosque was bustling – as it was Ramadan – there were stalls in the courtyard as well as many people making pilgrimage to this mosque. Canar led us inside where we sat on the floor near the Women’s prayer area and listened as he explained to us about the history of the mosque and some of the Muslim culture. To be honest while listening I did get a little distracted watching people come and go at their worship – we weren’t there at a call to prayer – the mosque is closed at that time – but there were a lot of people coming and going.
The mosque it’s self is beautiful with tiles, carvings and carpets – the carpets are woven in a pattern that contains hundreds of prayer mats
Sophia Hagia Photos @ Kodak
Blue Mosque Photos @ Kodak
Topkapi Palace Photos @ Kodak
Saturday, 14 October 2006
1st Adventure in Istanbul
Having arrived saftely in Turkey, got to the hotel, met up with the tour group and had dinner Phillipa (a NZ girl on the tour) and I decided it was time to go for a walk and have a look see.
We had been warned about the possibility of being harassed by Turkish men saying things like I want fuck you, have sex with me and the like and some even going so far as to touch you. So baring this in mind we walked confidently and not being on our own though we should be Ok and if not had decided on a course of action – loudly and clearly telling the man involved to GO AWAY!
We walked down to the harbour where there were stalls on the ground selling coats, shoes, belts, and carts selling a wide variety of food including fresh grilled fish which even though we had just had a delicious dinner were tempted by.
The harbour edge and the bridge especially were lined with men and boys fishing they were catching small silver looking fishes.
However out leisurely pleasant walk didn’t last long – we were joined by “our friend” who wasn’t a friend at all he was young Turkish man who was making continuous rude overtures to us and although we ignored him to start with – he was somewhat secrete while we were around larger No’s of people as soon as there were less people around his comments would get louder and he would get closer at which point we turned around and told him to go away – but we soon realised that this only added to his enjoyment when he decided to show us his dick! Which actually prompted not the screams of horror he expected – after the initial shock I laughed – I just couldn’t believe what we had just seen!!
At one point he came up behind us and startled me when he touched me and even my automatic response of turning and hitting him didn’t even put him off.
“Our friend” left us when we turned up the main road that lead to the area our hotel was in. he called out thank-you and by and finally left us alone
We had been warned about the possibility of being harassed by Turkish men saying things like I want fuck you, have sex with me and the like and some even going so far as to touch you. So baring this in mind we walked confidently and not being on our own though we should be Ok and if not had decided on a course of action – loudly and clearly telling the man involved to GO AWAY!
We walked down to the harbour where there were stalls on the ground selling coats, shoes, belts, and carts selling a wide variety of food including fresh grilled fish which even though we had just had a delicious dinner were tempted by.
The harbour edge and the bridge especially were lined with men and boys fishing they were catching small silver looking fishes.
However out leisurely pleasant walk didn’t last long – we were joined by “our friend” who wasn’t a friend at all he was young Turkish man who was making continuous rude overtures to us and although we ignored him to start with – he was somewhat secrete while we were around larger No’s of people as soon as there were less people around his comments would get louder and he would get closer at which point we turned around and told him to go away – but we soon realised that this only added to his enjoyment when he decided to show us his dick! Which actually prompted not the screams of horror he expected – after the initial shock I laughed – I just couldn’t believe what we had just seen!!
At one point he came up behind us and startled me when he touched me and even my automatic response of turning and hitting him didn’t even put him off.
“Our friend” left us when we turned up the main road that lead to the area our hotel was in. he called out thank-you and by and finally left us alone
Security Encounter
As you would be aware there is heightened security measures in the UK for hand luggage – basically nothing of a liquid, gel, cream or lotion nature in addition to the standard no combustibles or sharp pointy items – which means I am currently 5 hours with out lipe balm! :(
My encounter with security came about due not to the new restrictions but to the one on sharp pointy things – which is rather silly considering how used to it I am.
It started on Friday when I threw my scissors in my back pack along with a bunch of Random stuff that I would pack into my check-in bag when I got to London because we were running late.
However when it came to sorting things out I didn’t see the scissors and forgot all about them.
When I checked in they asked about liquids, pointy things, combustibles etc in my hand luggage to which I responded only my water which I would throw out when I joined the cue for security. So with my boarding pass in hand I headed on my merry way to the security check cue – which was rather long so I read my book as I shuffled along and before I knew it, it was my turn to have my bad x-rayed and walk through the metal detector. I made it through the metal detector fine but my bag wasn’t so lucky- it was diverted to a desk where it had to await the attentions of a staff member. Finally they brought it over to counter where everything was taken out of the bag.
Having flicked through all the papers and books I had – he left them with me while he took everything else to be re- x-rayed – but no scissors showed up so he came back to where I was and did a bit more of a shake and flick with the books and papers and there they were – they had been caught up inside the cover of my “Black ‘n’ Read” note book – sad to say they are now the property of Stansted Airport.
I wonder how easy it would be have been for me to palm the scissors from the not book while my bag was being re-xrayed if I had known they were there.
And what do the airports do with all the scissors and other confiscated items?
My encounter with security came about due not to the new restrictions but to the one on sharp pointy things – which is rather silly considering how used to it I am.
It started on Friday when I threw my scissors in my back pack along with a bunch of Random stuff that I would pack into my check-in bag when I got to London because we were running late.
However when it came to sorting things out I didn’t see the scissors and forgot all about them.
When I checked in they asked about liquids, pointy things, combustibles etc in my hand luggage to which I responded only my water which I would throw out when I joined the cue for security. So with my boarding pass in hand I headed on my merry way to the security check cue – which was rather long so I read my book as I shuffled along and before I knew it, it was my turn to have my bad x-rayed and walk through the metal detector. I made it through the metal detector fine but my bag wasn’t so lucky- it was diverted to a desk where it had to await the attentions of a staff member. Finally they brought it over to counter where everything was taken out of the bag.
Having flicked through all the papers and books I had – he left them with me while he took everything else to be re- x-rayed – but no scissors showed up so he came back to where I was and did a bit more of a shake and flick with the books and papers and there they were – they had been caught up inside the cover of my “Black ‘n’ Read” note book – sad to say they are now the property of Stansted Airport.
I wonder how easy it would be have been for me to palm the scissors from the not book while my bag was being re-xrayed if I had known they were there.
And what do the airports do with all the scissors and other confiscated items?
Tuesday, 19 September 2006
Southport - 2nd time around
After my final Scottish Adventure it was time to indulge in a weekend of non stop – well near to dancing at Southport Dance Weekender – which as an absolute blast – had a much better time than in June – for 2 main reasons – knew a bunch more people and my feet kept it together and didn’t fall apart on me every few hours.
I arrived about 4pm and had my hug & dance before I even got to my room – thank you Pretzelmeister!!!
Saturday I had an early nap and managed to dance through the night until 9am Sunday morning – I don’t think there is a better place in the world to be than on a dance floor with nice people, smooth tunes and plenty of space. Thanks to CJ & Dave H for some absolutely fab dances.
Sunday morning – I managed to sleep for a few hours – but not as many as I would have liked before heading back to the blues room around 1pm – and that was pretty much where I stayed until 7am Monday morning when the music stopped – well done to Trampy for keeping the music going until then. The Highlights of Sunday Night/Monday Morning were chatting with Drathzel, new discovery’s jiveaddicted and a couple others who’s name I can’t recall or maybe didn’t get *opps* and lots of lovely dances with people I got to know at the last Southport and with my lovely friends from Scotland including my final dance of the weekend with Pretzelmeister *hugg*
And a big thank you to my lift home – got to leave at the very civilized time of 10am which enabled me to dance through to music’s end and enjoy breakfast (thanks to the organisers for that) with those still standing after all night dancing and helping Rachel & Marc pack up.
Sunday was a little sad as this was time for me to say good bye to many of my Scottish friends but Scotland isn’t all the far away for now at least.
Having a chalet to myself had it’s upsides and it’s downside – it was nice not having to worry about what mess I made or how much noise I made when I came back, or about being woken up by someone else returning – but it was also a slightly surreal and isolating experience – so in Feb I have convinced the lovely Jo to share with me.
Really looking forward to the next one in Feb – hope my chalet is close to the main building *brrrrr* :)
Only a few photos to busy dancing to take photos ;)
I arrived about 4pm and had my hug & dance before I even got to my room – thank you Pretzelmeister!!!
Saturday I had an early nap and managed to dance through the night until 9am Sunday morning – I don’t think there is a better place in the world to be than on a dance floor with nice people, smooth tunes and plenty of space. Thanks to CJ & Dave H for some absolutely fab dances.
Sunday morning – I managed to sleep for a few hours – but not as many as I would have liked before heading back to the blues room around 1pm – and that was pretty much where I stayed until 7am Monday morning when the music stopped – well done to Trampy for keeping the music going until then. The Highlights of Sunday Night/Monday Morning were chatting with Drathzel, new discovery’s jiveaddicted and a couple others who’s name I can’t recall or maybe didn’t get *opps* and lots of lovely dances with people I got to know at the last Southport and with my lovely friends from Scotland including my final dance of the weekend with Pretzelmeister *hugg*
And a big thank you to my lift home – got to leave at the very civilized time of 10am which enabled me to dance through to music’s end and enjoy breakfast (thanks to the organisers for that) with those still standing after all night dancing and helping Rachel & Marc pack up.
Sunday was a little sad as this was time for me to say good bye to many of my Scottish friends but Scotland isn’t all the far away for now at least.
Having a chalet to myself had it’s upsides and it’s downside – it was nice not having to worry about what mess I made or how much noise I made when I came back, or about being woken up by someone else returning – but it was also a slightly surreal and isolating experience – so in Feb I have convinced the lovely Jo to share with me.
Really looking forward to the next one in Feb – hope my chalet is close to the main building *brrrrr* :)
Only a few photos to busy dancing to take photos ;)
Final Scotland Adventure
Well this post has been a long time coming – was so busy enjoying my last adventure in Scotland that I didn’t write anything as I went so here is the somewhat abridged version of Yli’s final Scotland Adventure.*
Trampy arrived back on the Thursday before the Scottish Ceroc Champs so I was able to head to Glasgow the next day to farewell Lemoncake for her 4 month sojourn in Australia
http://www.kodakgallery.co.uk/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=bn23palx.cl09g0ol&Uy=-six4uh&Ux=0&localeid=en_GB
The next morning Pretzelmeister & I head up to Edinburgh for the Scottish Ceroc Championships. Which was a great day!!! I got very lucky in the Lucky Dip and drew Jammie for it – and although we danced brilliantly in our heat and made it to the semi-final – in the semi-final – a combination of extremely blah music and both of having our heads not quite there we danced no were near as well as in the heat *shrug* these things happen and we had fun
I also competed in Advanced with Sheepman and given how much practice we had had I was very please with how we danced – we didn’t make it beyond the semi-final (there were no heats) and this produced a lovely commend from one friend – that we had been robbed and should have been in the final if not placed – nice to hear – even it I didn’t see it that way.
Once the competition was over the real fun began – Freestyle dancing over 2 rooms until late.
http://www.kodakgallery.co.uk/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=bn23palx.6n7kum2d&Uy=vj6iu1&Ux=0&localeid=en_GB
The next day was day one of the trip proper – this trip was with Mum & Dad and we started with a day in Edinburgh – a day I not nearly enough time to see anything in Edinburgh so we kept it simple – starting with Mary Kings Close – which was very interesting – the streets were so narrow that I could touch both walls at once with out stretching!
From Mary Kings Close it was up the hill to Edinburgh Castle – for which a day is barely enough – my favourite place here was probably the war memorial which is the newest addition to the castle.
http://www.kodakgallery.co.uk/PostSignin.jsp?Uc=bn23palx.b8wro8s5&Uy=2ovlyc&Upost_signin=Slideshow.jsp%3Fmode%3Dfromshare&Ux=0
Then it was time to head for the highlands – stopping off at a random small town and coming across the Beatrice Potter Garden on the way -which is not nearly as delightful as sounds - some of the sculptures were rather creepy
http://www.kodakgallery.co.uk/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=bn23palx.50dp8do5&Uy=-xlo2w1&Ux=0&localeid=en_GB
Monday saw us heading off on a Whiskey & Heather tour – with Heavenly Highlands Tours. This was the high light of the trip for me the landscape was breath taking, the guide Paul was informative and we went off road to place you could never get to on your own, add in lunch, whiskey tasting & hills of heather *Sigh* it was heavenly, wandering though heather, deer spotting, ospery spotted and the so very cute sheep.
http://www.kodakgallery.co.uk/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=bn23palx.378dksil&Uy=-enlobs&Ux=0&localeid=en_GB
Tuesday saw us with another early start and heading off to Loch Ness – we decided to pass on the visitors centre and headed to Urquart Castle – a fabulous ruin with breath taking views of the Loch. On our way to URquart Castle we stopped at a viewing point and were able to go down to the shores of the loch & watch the mist moving over the hills surrounding it.
http://www.kodakgallery.co.uk/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=bn23palx.5vf0hyal&Uy=gg82ru&Ux=0&localeid=en_GB
http://www.kodakgallery.co.uk/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=bn23palx.70ite0yl&Uy=mafo40&Ux=0&localeid=en_GB
From Urquart Castle we headed to the battlefield of Cullodeon which was kinda weird – you look out over this field – which has been restored to it’s natural state and it’s hard to imagine that so many men died here and the repercussions that had for the Scottish people…
http://www.kodakgallery.co.uk/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=bn23palx.47o6w8v1&Uy=-l9szfm&Ux=0&localeid=en_GB
After Cullodeon it was off to Clavia Cairn – which a number of burial cairns and from there is was time to head off on a long drive north to Wills ready for early morning ferry ride to Orkney.
If you ever get to Wills – be sure to visit the local hotel – they do a fabulous 3 course fixed seasonally menu – which was divine!!
Orkney was amazing and our first tourist stop was on our way to our B&B at the Italian Chapel – which was built by Italian Prisoners of War during WW2 – from there we headed into Kirkwell for a wander around a look at Magnus Cathedral, some delicious Orkney IceCream before heading to our B&B and once settled there head out to a jewellery gallery and workshop & chair makers workshop before having dinner at local pub.
The next day saw us heading off to Maes Howe, Ring of Brognar, Steness Standing Stones and leisurely meandering around the Island. Then Friday came and it was time to return to the mainland but not before another stop at the Jewellery gallery for a purchase and then onto a weavers gallery and a knitting shop before jumping on the ferry back to Wills.
From Wills we headed towards Inverness taking a detour around Inverness and heading down the side of the Lochs and enjoying the scenic route back towards Glasgow – we didn’t make it all the way to Glasgow on Friday got as far as Fort George where we after we found a place to stay we wandered into town for dinner and then walked back along the river/loch.
Saturday our mission was to get me to Southport for the JiveAddiction Ceroc Weekender and saw us heading over the mountains through beautiful terrain with mist covering the mountains and the sunshine breaking through – tried taking some photos but they just endup blah
Made it to Southport in good time and I was on the floor dancing by 4.15pm - but more about that in my next post
* you will be pleased to know that I didn’t make the same Mistake during my Turkish adventures which will be coming soon
Trampy arrived back on the Thursday before the Scottish Ceroc Champs so I was able to head to Glasgow the next day to farewell Lemoncake for her 4 month sojourn in Australia
http://www.kodakgallery.co.uk/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=bn23palx.cl09g0ol&Uy=-six4uh&Ux=0&localeid=en_GB
The next morning Pretzelmeister & I head up to Edinburgh for the Scottish Ceroc Championships. Which was a great day!!! I got very lucky in the Lucky Dip and drew Jammie for it – and although we danced brilliantly in our heat and made it to the semi-final – in the semi-final – a combination of extremely blah music and both of having our heads not quite there we danced no were near as well as in the heat *shrug* these things happen and we had fun
I also competed in Advanced with Sheepman and given how much practice we had had I was very please with how we danced – we didn’t make it beyond the semi-final (there were no heats) and this produced a lovely commend from one friend – that we had been robbed and should have been in the final if not placed – nice to hear – even it I didn’t see it that way.
Once the competition was over the real fun began – Freestyle dancing over 2 rooms until late.
http://www.kodakgallery.co.uk/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=bn23palx.6n7kum2d&Uy=vj6iu1&Ux=0&localeid=en_GB
The next day was day one of the trip proper – this trip was with Mum & Dad and we started with a day in Edinburgh – a day I not nearly enough time to see anything in Edinburgh so we kept it simple – starting with Mary Kings Close – which was very interesting – the streets were so narrow that I could touch both walls at once with out stretching!
From Mary Kings Close it was up the hill to Edinburgh Castle – for which a day is barely enough – my favourite place here was probably the war memorial which is the newest addition to the castle.
http://www.kodakgallery.co.uk/PostSignin.jsp?Uc=bn23palx.b8wro8s5&Uy=2ovlyc&Upost_signin=Slideshow.jsp%3Fmode%3Dfromshare&Ux=0
Then it was time to head for the highlands – stopping off at a random small town and coming across the Beatrice Potter Garden on the way -which is not nearly as delightful as sounds - some of the sculptures were rather creepy
http://www.kodakgallery.co.uk/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=bn23palx.50dp8do5&Uy=-xlo2w1&Ux=0&localeid=en_GB
Monday saw us heading off on a Whiskey & Heather tour – with Heavenly Highlands Tours. This was the high light of the trip for me the landscape was breath taking, the guide Paul was informative and we went off road to place you could never get to on your own, add in lunch, whiskey tasting & hills of heather *Sigh* it was heavenly, wandering though heather, deer spotting, ospery spotted and the so very cute sheep.
http://www.kodakgallery.co.uk/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=bn23palx.378dksil&Uy=-enlobs&Ux=0&localeid=en_GB
Tuesday saw us with another early start and heading off to Loch Ness – we decided to pass on the visitors centre and headed to Urquart Castle – a fabulous ruin with breath taking views of the Loch. On our way to URquart Castle we stopped at a viewing point and were able to go down to the shores of the loch & watch the mist moving over the hills surrounding it.
http://www.kodakgallery.co.uk/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=bn23palx.5vf0hyal&Uy=gg82ru&Ux=0&localeid=en_GB
http://www.kodakgallery.co.uk/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=bn23palx.70ite0yl&Uy=mafo40&Ux=0&localeid=en_GB
From Urquart Castle we headed to the battlefield of Cullodeon which was kinda weird – you look out over this field – which has been restored to it’s natural state and it’s hard to imagine that so many men died here and the repercussions that had for the Scottish people…
http://www.kodakgallery.co.uk/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=bn23palx.47o6w8v1&Uy=-l9szfm&Ux=0&localeid=en_GB
After Cullodeon it was off to Clavia Cairn – which a number of burial cairns and from there is was time to head off on a long drive north to Wills ready for early morning ferry ride to Orkney.
If you ever get to Wills – be sure to visit the local hotel – they do a fabulous 3 course fixed seasonally menu – which was divine!!
Orkney was amazing and our first tourist stop was on our way to our B&B at the Italian Chapel – which was built by Italian Prisoners of War during WW2 – from there we headed into Kirkwell for a wander around a look at Magnus Cathedral, some delicious Orkney IceCream before heading to our B&B and once settled there head out to a jewellery gallery and workshop & chair makers workshop before having dinner at local pub.
The next day saw us heading off to Maes Howe, Ring of Brognar, Steness Standing Stones and leisurely meandering around the Island. Then Friday came and it was time to return to the mainland but not before another stop at the Jewellery gallery for a purchase and then onto a weavers gallery and a knitting shop before jumping on the ferry back to Wills.
From Wills we headed towards Inverness taking a detour around Inverness and heading down the side of the Lochs and enjoying the scenic route back towards Glasgow – we didn’t make it all the way to Glasgow on Friday got as far as Fort George where we after we found a place to stay we wandered into town for dinner and then walked back along the river/loch.
Saturday our mission was to get me to Southport for the JiveAddiction Ceroc Weekender and saw us heading over the mountains through beautiful terrain with mist covering the mountains and the sunshine breaking through – tried taking some photos but they just endup blah
Made it to Southport in good time and I was on the floor dancing by 4.15pm - but more about that in my next post
* you will be pleased to know that I didn’t make the same Mistake during my Turkish adventures which will be coming soon
Friday, 8 September 2006
Conversations with Strangers
Conversations had with strangers are normally of a ho-hum nature “isn’t the weather lovely” “Oh yes” and then lapsing into silence however occasionally they are outstanding flights of fancy.
On the train to Glasgow I tumbled in to a conversation of this delightful nature with the couple sitting next to me.
It started with a poster of birds from the newspaper and a fear of birds – his not mine, from there the conversation transitioned to tongue curling – she & I could do it, he couldn’t – it’s genetic just in case you didn’t know, to gold fish’s 3 sec memory to fear vs exciting to bumblebees and how delightfully fuzzy and pat-able they look.
And then the train arrived and it was over *sigh*
On the train to Glasgow I tumbled in to a conversation of this delightful nature with the couple sitting next to me.
It started with a poster of birds from the newspaper and a fear of birds – his not mine, from there the conversation transitioned to tongue curling – she & I could do it, he couldn’t – it’s genetic just in case you didn’t know, to gold fish’s 3 sec memory to fear vs exciting to bumblebees and how delightfully fuzzy and pat-able they look.
And then the train arrived and it was over *sigh*
Thursday, 31 August 2006
Up Up & Away
Got taken up in a little plane today by Bob one of the venue managers.
We had perfect weather for the flight - clear blue skies with just a touch of cloud.
The plan was to fly around a bit, do a couple of acrobatic tricks and then do some low flying over the hills, unfortunately the wind was bit puffy low down and the plane was a only little so the low flying had to be left off but the rest went according to plan.
Bob took me upside in roll over and then over to one side on a tight turn - it was amazing - to look down and see the ground at the end of the wing.
the view was amazing and as there was a big airshow coming up there was also a lot of other planes around as well - the chatter on the radio was amazing - between the accents, plane code and speed with which it was all said - it was like listening to another language - actually I'm quite sure it is another language
we had a little bit of trouble just after take off - had made a plane switch at the last minute and gave the wrong plane identity - shortly after take up a rather grump airtraffic conroller was asking Bob to "please explain"
Photos @ Kodak
We had perfect weather for the flight - clear blue skies with just a touch of cloud.
The plan was to fly around a bit, do a couple of acrobatic tricks and then do some low flying over the hills, unfortunately the wind was bit puffy low down and the plane was a only little so the low flying had to be left off but the rest went according to plan.
Bob took me upside in roll over and then over to one side on a tight turn - it was amazing - to look down and see the ground at the end of the wing.
the view was amazing and as there was a big airshow coming up there was also a lot of other planes around as well - the chatter on the radio was amazing - between the accents, plane code and speed with which it was all said - it was like listening to another language - actually I'm quite sure it is another language
we had a little bit of trouble just after take off - had made a plane switch at the last minute and gave the wrong plane identity - shortly after take up a rather grump airtraffic conroller was asking Bob to "please explain"
Photos @ Kodak
Wednesday, 30 August 2006
Rejected!!!
Rejected by the blood bank :(
Went with a Rebecca and Steven from work to give blood today – as it was my first visit I had to see a nurse to go over the questionnaire – for those that give blood in Aus here you don’t see a nurse every time to go through the questionnaire just the first time or if you request to.
Anyway going through the questionnaire and was going fine until I answered yes I have had acupuncture in the last 12 months – as I didn’t have a certificate from the clinic saying that they were a member of Chartered Physiotherapists , British council for acupuncture or general chiropractic council – they couldn’t take my blood for 12 months – however I can go back to the clinic and get appropriate certificate and then give blood so not a huge drama and we continue on and then we hit a snag – we get to the questions of surgery – I’ve had several but the one that worried them was my first one – Harrington’s fusion done in 1986.
The conversation goes something like this
Nurse: Harrington’s Fusion??
Me: surgery to straighten and fuse my spine – scoliosis
Nurse: I’ll have to check about that
She pulls out her manual and flicks through it for a bit
Nurse: I will have to go find out about that one
She leaves the room for a while and returns
Nurse: did you have any marrow products?
Me: um no – they used bone from my own hip to fuse my spine
Nurse: so only your own bone?
Me: yes they took it from my hip
And now it gets fun
Nurse: did you have a blood transfusion?
Me: No
Nurse: you’re sure
Me: yes I didn’t have a blood transfusion
Nurse: No transfusion at all?
Me: No transfusion at all
Nurse: and you are sure that you didn’t receive a blood transfusion when you had your back surgery
Me: Yes I’m sure
Nurse: are you able to check with the Doctor/ hospital
Me: that’s a bit difficult as that is in Australia and I am sure I didn’t have a transfusion
Nurse: but you could check?
Me: it would be difficult but I could do it but I know I didn’t have a transfusion
Nurse: But you should have had one
Me: It’s common to have one with that surgery but I didn’t have one
Nurse: And you are sure you didn’t have a transfusion
Me: yes I’m sure I didn’t have a transfusion, I can check – what documentation, proof do you require?
Nurse: umm none but would like you to check
Me: I know I didn’t have one
At this point the nurse choose to move on to the sex questions
Went with a Rebecca and Steven from work to give blood today – as it was my first visit I had to see a nurse to go over the questionnaire – for those that give blood in Aus here you don’t see a nurse every time to go through the questionnaire just the first time or if you request to.
Anyway going through the questionnaire and was going fine until I answered yes I have had acupuncture in the last 12 months – as I didn’t have a certificate from the clinic saying that they were a member of Chartered Physiotherapists , British council for acupuncture or general chiropractic council – they couldn’t take my blood for 12 months – however I can go back to the clinic and get appropriate certificate and then give blood so not a huge drama and we continue on and then we hit a snag – we get to the questions of surgery – I’ve had several but the one that worried them was my first one – Harrington’s fusion done in 1986.
The conversation goes something like this
Nurse: Harrington’s Fusion??
Me: surgery to straighten and fuse my spine – scoliosis
Nurse: I’ll have to check about that
She pulls out her manual and flicks through it for a bit
Nurse: I will have to go find out about that one
She leaves the room for a while and returns
Nurse: did you have any marrow products?
Me: um no – they used bone from my own hip to fuse my spine
Nurse: so only your own bone?
Me: yes they took it from my hip
And now it gets fun
Nurse: did you have a blood transfusion?
Me: No
Nurse: you’re sure
Me: yes I didn’t have a blood transfusion
Nurse: No transfusion at all?
Me: No transfusion at all
Nurse: and you are sure that you didn’t receive a blood transfusion when you had your back surgery
Me: Yes I’m sure
Nurse: are you able to check with the Doctor/ hospital
Me: that’s a bit difficult as that is in Australia and I am sure I didn’t have a transfusion
Nurse: but you could check?
Me: it would be difficult but I could do it but I know I didn’t have a transfusion
Nurse: But you should have had one
Me: It’s common to have one with that surgery but I didn’t have one
Nurse: And you are sure you didn’t have a transfusion
Me: yes I’m sure I didn’t have a transfusion, I can check – what documentation, proof do you require?
Nurse: umm none but would like you to check
Me: I know I didn’t have one
At this point the nurse choose to move on to the sex questions
Tuesday, 29 August 2006
A Gentle Day of Sightseeing & Swallows at Play
Monday was a bank holiday so now work – public holidays are weird here – apart from Christmas & Boxing day – they are sort of option – you get them but depending on circumstances you make get them at the time of them or at a different time all together. Also they have no name s- apart from the Christmas Day & Boxing Day they are all just called Bank Holidays
Any Monday was one and I got it off so I headed out to Abroath Abbey, which is only 40 drive from Dundee it is where the declaration of Arbroath the Scottish equivalent of the US declaration of independence was written, as far as ruins go it was nice enough but I’m starting to get to the point of seen one ruined cathedral, church etc seen them all – that said I saw a flyer for Edzell Castle and formal garden which was only about 40 mins away from the Abbey and only 40 mins from home so I headed there as well – the garden was lovely although the roses were somewhat past their best.
The Highlight of this adventure was swallows at play – along the drive way to Edzell castle they were swooping and diving all over the place – including one that flew just ahead of the car for about 2/3’s of the length of the driveway!!
Once I had finished looking at the Abbey I spent a good 10 minutes or so watching they over the fields beside the drive way – I tried to take photos but they were to far away to show up in a general photo and moving WAY to fast for a close up
Photos @ Kodak
Abroath Abbey
Edzell Castle
Any Monday was one and I got it off so I headed out to Abroath Abbey, which is only 40 drive from Dundee it is where the declaration of Arbroath the Scottish equivalent of the US declaration of independence was written, as far as ruins go it was nice enough but I’m starting to get to the point of seen one ruined cathedral, church etc seen them all – that said I saw a flyer for Edzell Castle and formal garden which was only about 40 mins away from the Abbey and only 40 mins from home so I headed there as well – the garden was lovely although the roses were somewhat past their best.
The Highlight of this adventure was swallows at play – along the drive way to Edzell castle they were swooping and diving all over the place – including one that flew just ahead of the car for about 2/3’s of the length of the driveway!!
Once I had finished looking at the Abbey I spent a good 10 minutes or so watching they over the fields beside the drive way – I tried to take photos but they were to far away to show up in a general photo and moving WAY to fast for a close up
Photos @ Kodak
Abroath Abbey
Edzell Castle
Monday, 28 August 2006
A weekend of Dancing
This weekend was a weekend of dancing as I headed out to the both the Edinburgh Monthly party and the Stirling Tea Dance.
On the Saturday, Dave & I met up in Dundee and then headed to Edinburgh where we met up with Marnie (Sydney dancer in London and up in Edinburgh for the weekend), Ruth & Roger for dinner. Dinner was delicious and companionable.
From the restaurant it was just a short walk to Marcos the venue for the Ceroc Party. I have to say that I enjoyed this Edinburgh party much more than the first one I attended – which was for 2 main reasons I knew more people and there were less people, so the was room to dance with out fear of stepping on or being stepped on.
Over all a very fun evening – although there was a bit much swing music for my taste – swing music is for lindy and the like not ceroc in my book.
It was fabulous to see Marnie – and not nearly long enough – looking forward to the chance to catch up with her properly when I’m down south more permanently
It’s amazing how much quickly a long drive goes with company – Dave was driving so the time flew even faster for me.
And even though there we were both tired we still stayed up watching WCS dvd’s until stupid o’clock – good thing that we didn’t have to be up early on Sunday.
Sunday saw us dragging ourselves up and out the house in time to have some lunch in town – I had planned to cook breakfast but we were up to late and I was to tired, then after a pleasant wander around town, it was time to depart for my final Stirling Tea Dance!
My turn to drive this time and once again amazing how fast the time goes when you are travelling in company – especially company that talks as much as I do.
The Stirling Tea dance was delightful as always – these have been the highlight of my dancing time in Scotland – so relaxed such a friendly bunch of dancers – several of the regular leads here are amongst my favourite leads here!
It all ended far to soon but with Dave’s company the drive home once again flew by
Photos @ Kodak
On the Saturday, Dave & I met up in Dundee and then headed to Edinburgh where we met up with Marnie (Sydney dancer in London and up in Edinburgh for the weekend), Ruth & Roger for dinner. Dinner was delicious and companionable.
From the restaurant it was just a short walk to Marcos the venue for the Ceroc Party. I have to say that I enjoyed this Edinburgh party much more than the first one I attended – which was for 2 main reasons I knew more people and there were less people, so the was room to dance with out fear of stepping on or being stepped on.
Over all a very fun evening – although there was a bit much swing music for my taste – swing music is for lindy and the like not ceroc in my book.
It was fabulous to see Marnie – and not nearly long enough – looking forward to the chance to catch up with her properly when I’m down south more permanently
It’s amazing how much quickly a long drive goes with company – Dave was driving so the time flew even faster for me.
And even though there we were both tired we still stayed up watching WCS dvd’s until stupid o’clock – good thing that we didn’t have to be up early on Sunday.
Sunday saw us dragging ourselves up and out the house in time to have some lunch in town – I had planned to cook breakfast but we were up to late and I was to tired, then after a pleasant wander around town, it was time to depart for my final Stirling Tea Dance!
My turn to drive this time and once again amazing how fast the time goes when you are travelling in company – especially company that talks as much as I do.
The Stirling Tea dance was delightful as always – these have been the highlight of my dancing time in Scotland – so relaxed such a friendly bunch of dancers – several of the regular leads here are amongst my favourite leads here!
It all ended far to soon but with Dave’s company the drive home once again flew by
Photos @ Kodak
Saturday, 19 August 2006
And the sight seeing continues
After we completed our assignment on the bridge Pretzelmeister and I continued on with the sight seeing first up was an impromptu visit to the Provand's Lordship the oldest house in Glasgow apparently - as well as having some fasinating items on display inside - there is a lovely garden out the back the perfect place to pause and linger for a moment
Now it was time for a drink – which turned out to be rather more of a mission than one would have expected when you are in the middle of a dozen or so tourist attractions while on our mission to get a drink we toured St Mungo’s Museum. St Mungo’s is a museum of religious history – not just Christian history. It’s quite something to see all the details of so many different religions side by side
After St Mungos we managed to finally find a drink and took time to rest and enjoy our drinks before heading to the final item on the agenda for the day – Glasgow Necropolis.
The Necropolis stands on a hill to the east of Glasgow Cathedral, just a short walk across the Bridge of Sighs. The monument to John Knox, which was erected in 1825, dominates the hill. The cemetery itself, like several in Edinburgh, was modelled on Père-Lachaise in Paris.
The Necropolis was amazing and we fabulous weather for it – it was fascinating seeing the different grave stones they used to put so much more information on them than we do these days, gravestones used be not just grave markers but testament to the life lived.
Photos @ Kodak
Now it was time for a drink – which turned out to be rather more of a mission than one would have expected when you are in the middle of a dozen or so tourist attractions while on our mission to get a drink we toured St Mungo’s Museum. St Mungo’s is a museum of religious history – not just Christian history. It’s quite something to see all the details of so many different religions side by side
After St Mungos we managed to finally find a drink and took time to rest and enjoy our drinks before heading to the final item on the agenda for the day – Glasgow Necropolis.
The Necropolis stands on a hill to the east of Glasgow Cathedral, just a short walk across the Bridge of Sighs. The monument to John Knox, which was erected in 1825, dominates the hill. The cemetery itself, like several in Edinburgh, was modelled on Père-Lachaise in Paris.
The Necropolis was amazing and we fabulous weather for it – it was fascinating seeing the different grave stones they used to put so much more information on them than we do these days, gravestones used be not just grave markers but testament to the life lived.
Photos @ Kodak
Bridge Dancing
After finishing our feast at the Willow Tearooms it was time to undertake Bridge Dancing!
LemonCake is working on a new bridge that is being built, and decided that she wanted to dance on the bridge before it was opened to road traffic and she left for Australia and had enlisted Pretzelmeister, McJester & I to assist her in this mission.
We were outfitted in boots, hi-vis jackets and hard hats and we were on our way – and will boots may not be the easiest foot wear to dance in make them 2 sizes to big and it gets really interestings
Photos @ Kodak
LemonCake is working on a new bridge that is being built, and decided that she wanted to dance on the bridge before it was opened to road traffic and she left for Australia and had enlisted Pretzelmeister, McJester & I to assist her in this mission.
We were outfitted in boots, hi-vis jackets and hard hats and we were on our way – and will boots may not be the easiest foot wear to dance in make them 2 sizes to big and it gets really interestings
Photos @ Kodak
Sunday of Sight seeing
Sunday started with Pretzelmeister & I heading to the Willow Tea Rooms for sustenance. These tea rooms have a long history in Glasgow having been designed entirely by Mackintosh and once upon a time were “The place” to take tea now days I would say you visit them more to be able to say you have been there rather than for the food or ambience. The food was average and the ambience rather tired but with the cheerful if somewhat tired company of Pretzelmeister a very pleasant time was had. And I further added to my Scottish food experience by trying some of P’s Arbroath Smokie – smoked fish prepared in Arbroath it was very nice – it was lighter in flavour and less bone filled than kippers which I had sampled the weekend before
The next items on the sightseeing tour were St Mungo’s museum, Glasgow Cathedral and Glasgow Necropolis but first a short intermission for some Bridge Dancing
Photos @ Kodak
The next items on the sightseeing tour were St Mungo’s museum, Glasgow Cathedral and Glasgow Necropolis but first a short intermission for some Bridge Dancing
Photos @ Kodak
Ceilidh Dancing
After finishing up at Kelvin Grove Hall I headed to Pretzelmeisters for the main purpose of this trip Ceilidh (Kay-lee) Dancing.
Ceilidh Dancing is a semi called type of Scottish country dancing and when I mentioned to Pretzelmeister & McJester that I wanted to try it they decided the Riverside club should be the place for my induction.
Prior to the actual dancing there was a home cooked dinner at Pretzelmeisters place with dessert provided by Lemon Cake – There were 12 in total for dinner and apart from an emergeceny run to the local take away for rice all went smoothly and was Delicious!!
From Pretzelmeisters we bundle off into cars to the Riverside Club – which has been running the Ceilidh dances weekly for about 20 years! We arrived right a little late but these things happen and we met up with those that had been unable to make it to dinner and had managed to secure us a well located table.
My first dance was the most sedate one of the evening – can’t remember what it was called – after that all the dances seemed manic in the extreme! I wouldn’t consider myself unfit but there was barely a dance that didn’t leave me at least slightly breathless if not gasping for breath!! This combined with the intense heat and lack of ventilation led us to seek refuge on the stairs outside to enable us to continue the evening.
Not knowing the dances wasn’t to much of a hindrance – as the band would explain the steps of the dance before they started it – and the lads with us led the dances quite well with appropriate explanations as we went along
The maddest dance of the evening for me was one called The Swedish Masqurade – this song was requested by Pretzelmeister requested this one and next thing I know I am following instructions to spin, jump and just follow – the fact that there were only two couples on the floor for this dance was terrifying and reassuring – terrifying in that people were watching reassuring in that I didn’t have to worry about hitting another couple as I whirled around like mad dervish. Pretzelmeister also managed to incorporate some ceroc dips into this dance as well!
One of the really great thing about the Ceilidh dance was the number of boys in kilts – actually boys in kilts is one of the best things about Scotland ;)
After the Ceilidh those of us with any energy headed back to Pretzelmeister’s for drinks, discussion and dancing.
http://www.kodakgallery.co.uk/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=bn23palx.cc49qul9&Uy=9qakkh&Ux=0&localeid=en_GB
Ceilidh Dancing is a semi called type of Scottish country dancing and when I mentioned to Pretzelmeister & McJester that I wanted to try it they decided the Riverside club should be the place for my induction.
Prior to the actual dancing there was a home cooked dinner at Pretzelmeisters place with dessert provided by Lemon Cake – There were 12 in total for dinner and apart from an emergeceny run to the local take away for rice all went smoothly and was Delicious!!
From Pretzelmeisters we bundle off into cars to the Riverside Club – which has been running the Ceilidh dances weekly for about 20 years! We arrived right a little late but these things happen and we met up with those that had been unable to make it to dinner and had managed to secure us a well located table.
My first dance was the most sedate one of the evening – can’t remember what it was called – after that all the dances seemed manic in the extreme! I wouldn’t consider myself unfit but there was barely a dance that didn’t leave me at least slightly breathless if not gasping for breath!! This combined with the intense heat and lack of ventilation led us to seek refuge on the stairs outside to enable us to continue the evening.
Not knowing the dances wasn’t to much of a hindrance – as the band would explain the steps of the dance before they started it – and the lads with us led the dances quite well with appropriate explanations as we went along
The maddest dance of the evening for me was one called The Swedish Masqurade – this song was requested by Pretzelmeister requested this one and next thing I know I am following instructions to spin, jump and just follow – the fact that there were only two couples on the floor for this dance was terrifying and reassuring – terrifying in that people were watching reassuring in that I didn’t have to worry about hitting another couple as I whirled around like mad dervish. Pretzelmeister also managed to incorporate some ceroc dips into this dance as well!
One of the really great thing about the Ceilidh dance was the number of boys in kilts – actually boys in kilts is one of the best things about Scotland ;)
After the Ceilidh those of us with any energy headed back to Pretzelmeister’s for drinks, discussion and dancing.
http://www.kodakgallery.co.uk/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=bn23palx.cc49qul9&Uy=9qakkh&Ux=0&localeid=en_GB
Lunching in Glasgow
Saturday I headed down for to Glasgow catching up with Dave, Jennifer & Caro for lunch, where I got to taste the wonder of Scottish cuisine Haggis – my verdict was taste fine – texture umm errr not so sure of.
After Lunch we wandered down to Kelvingrove Hall – which has just been re opened we didn’t have much time to look around but what we did see was great – including the interactive kids section where Dave created this masterful self portrait.
Highly recommend this gallery/museum to anyone visiting Glagow and for those on a budget it’s Free!
Photos @ Kodak
After Lunch we wandered down to Kelvingrove Hall – which has just been re opened we didn’t have much time to look around but what we did see was great – including the interactive kids section where Dave created this masterful self portrait.
Highly recommend this gallery/museum to anyone visiting Glagow and for those on a budget it’s Free!
Photos @ Kodak
Friday, 18 August 2006
Red Hot & Blue
Friday night saw me heading off to Edinburugh for Red Hot & Blue this is a dance night run by Dance Demon a local DJ. This night is more of a blues wcs sort of night – lots of slow funky music a sort of late night tea dance
The atmosphere was friendly and there were enough faces I knew to make for a very nice evening of dancing. Including some attempts as wcs with mixed results.
The atmosphere was friendly and there were enough faces I knew to make for a very nice evening of dancing. Including some attempts as wcs with mixed results.
The Engagement Party
Arriving back at E&P’s flat it was the usual chaos of 5/6 people getting ready to go out with only one bathroom. E decided to straighten my hair and took to it with Angela’s hair straighter my hair and took it from almost curly to straight in around 20 minutes something which it normally takes me an hour or more to do. I am SO getting myself one of them.
Finally everyone was appropriately gussyed up and we departed for The Lazy Vine, which thankfully was a mere 5 min walk from E&P’s. They had booked out the garden and were having a very casual BBQ – which made for a very relaxing evening with people coming and going and merriment until the witching hour. And so finally the in-laws met with and with Bellini's (a divine champagne and white peach cocktail) lubricating the proceedings all went smoothly
Photos @ Kodak
Finally everyone was appropriately gussyed up and we departed for The Lazy Vine, which thankfully was a mere 5 min walk from E&P’s. They had booked out the garden and were having a very casual BBQ – which made for a very relaxing evening with people coming and going and merriment until the witching hour. And so finally the in-laws met with and with Bellini's (a divine champagne and white peach cocktail) lubricating the proceedings all went smoothly
Photos @ Kodak
Scottish Money
The assistant at the Needle Lady’s was rather perplexed when I handed over my money to pay … Scottish money while valid in England looks very different to notes printed in England. The poor fellow was so unsure that the money I had offered him was actually real that he popped next door to check that it was real hehehehehehe
Human Pin Cushion
After lunch I headed off to my first ever acupuncture session! The acupuncturist didn’t speak much English so much of the history/explanation of why I was there was done a translator which was an interesting experience – but strangely enough it didn’t freak me out that this person with whom I could only communicate with in a minimal way was going to fill me full of long pointy needles.
After establishing that I was there to have the tightness in my neck worked on – I was shown to a small room where I was asked to strip down to my underwear and lay on massage table with towel over me.
When the Needle lady returned she started gentley poking around my neck and then tapped me sharply with a single finger and wa la the first needle was in – I was really surprise at the fact that I didn’t feel a thing as they went in – when she was manipulating them I could feel them but it wasn’t painful more like a heavy weight pushing into my neck. In short order she had 8 needles in me – 6 in my neck and on in each side of my rib cage. After this I was left under a head lamp for a period time I’m guessing about 45 min as the entire appointment took near to 1.5 hours.
After I had been baked for a suitable length of time the Needle lady appeared and removed the needles (this stung a little but not much) and finished me off with a massage.
The massage was different to any other massage/physical manipulation I have ever had which I think is in part due to the acupuncture before hand and just a general difference in technique – the oddest bit was when she smack the heels of me feet…
So far the best treatment I have had for my neck since arriving in the UK and will be having more sessions with the inscrutable Needle Lady next time I am in need when I am down London way
After establishing that I was there to have the tightness in my neck worked on – I was shown to a small room where I was asked to strip down to my underwear and lay on massage table with towel over me.
When the Needle lady returned she started gentley poking around my neck and then tapped me sharply with a single finger and wa la the first needle was in – I was really surprise at the fact that I didn’t feel a thing as they went in – when she was manipulating them I could feel them but it wasn’t painful more like a heavy weight pushing into my neck. In short order she had 8 needles in me – 6 in my neck and on in each side of my rib cage. After this I was left under a head lamp for a period time I’m guessing about 45 min as the entire appointment took near to 1.5 hours.
After I had been baked for a suitable length of time the Needle lady appeared and removed the needles (this stung a little but not much) and finished me off with a massage.
The massage was different to any other massage/physical manipulation I have ever had which I think is in part due to the acupuncture before hand and just a general difference in technique – the oddest bit was when she smack the heels of me feet…
So far the best treatment I have had for my neck since arriving in the UK and will be having more sessions with the inscrutable Needle Lady next time I am in need when I am down London way
Trip to London Town
Celebrations for my Sisters Engagement took me on a trip to London. So I jumped a train from Dundee to London - which while longer than a plane trip is easier straight of the train to the underground and then a short walk to E&P's flat. I arrived at the flat at about 11pm Friday night - just intime to meet P's Sisters husband A and A&B who were also staying at the flat - it was a rather cosy weekend.
Saturday morning E&P and P's siblings headed out to visit around london. I started a bit earlier than them which breakfast with Mum and Dad who were staying in a near by hotel for the weekend. After breakfast Dad & I headed into London where I was going to 1st Contact and after that we wandered rather confusedly around for a bit before heading back to Hammersmith and lunch with Mum.
Saturday morning E&P and P's siblings headed out to visit around london. I started a bit earlier than them which breakfast with Mum and Dad who were staying in a near by hotel for the weekend. After breakfast Dad & I headed into London where I was going to 1st Contact and after that we wandered rather confusedly around for a bit before heading back to Hammersmith and lunch with Mum.
dance practice
The weekend also saw me have my first practice session with my partner for the Scottish Ceroc Championships. These are a chairty event with all the money raised this year are going to DEBRA
My partner for these comps is Sheepman of Meltdown Mix fame - he's in London so we won't be doing much practice. We did 1 hour on the Saturday and where scheduled to 2 hours on the Sunday evening but he & Little Monkey went out for a day of lesiure and the car decided it wanted in on the lesiure bit and ceased functioning!!
we were pretty pleased with what we achieved in the hour we had.
Advanced is a little different in the UK to in Australia - no lifts or aerials of anysort are allowed - which means that the purpose of our practice sessions isn't so much to learn speccie moves as to try and develop a sort of basic connection
My partner for these comps is Sheepman of Meltdown Mix fame - he's in London so we won't be doing much practice. We did 1 hour on the Saturday and where scheduled to 2 hours on the Sunday evening but he & Little Monkey went out for a day of lesiure and the car decided it wanted in on the lesiure bit and ceased functioning!!
we were pretty pleased with what we achieved in the hour we had.
Advanced is a little different in the UK to in Australia - no lifts or aerials of anysort are allowed - which means that the purpose of our practice sessions isn't so much to learn speccie moves as to try and develop a sort of basic connection
Summer Meltdown Mix
Saturday 5th August saw DJ Sheepman spinning the tunes for Dundee's first ever MeltDown Mix.
It was sort of like a late night Tea Dance - there were mellow tunes, delighful company and delicious cakes!
the only down side to the evening was that it did get a little warm in the hall - found out at the end of the evening that apparently there was air-con we could have turned on Doh!!
Didn't loose the photos this time Photos @ Kodak
It was sort of like a late night Tea Dance - there were mellow tunes, delighful company and delicious cakes!
the only down side to the evening was that it did get a little warm in the hall - found out at the end of the evening that apparently there was air-con we could have turned on Doh!!
Didn't loose the photos this time Photos @ Kodak
Parking on the Wrong side of the Road
over here it is legal to part against the direction of the traffic. This is something that still startles me when I see two cars parked nose to nose or a car pulls out into traffic from the wrong side of the road. It just seems so unnatural.
I did my first wrong side of the road park when picking Little Monkey up for our afternoon of shopping - was a very disconcerting experience to cross to the wrong side of the road to park - luckly there was plenty of room so i was able to drive in easily - as parralel parking isn't my forte
I did my first wrong side of the road park when picking Little Monkey up for our afternoon of shopping - was a very disconcerting experience to cross to the wrong side of the road to park - luckly there was plenty of room so i was able to drive in easily - as parralel parking isn't my forte
Taking a Break and going on a Mission
the week after all my fun and games in Stirling my body made it clear that it wanted a rest and it wanted it now!!!
so the next weekend I did nothing! well nearly nothing - I did the usual assortment of house hold duties and went on a Mission for Black Pants!!! Who would think that purchasing black pants made of stretch fabric would be this difficult - this was the 5th trip and still no success - either they aren't stretch, or if they are stretch they don't fit, or the fabric nasty.
So while the mission was unsuccessful I did have a lovely afternoon wandering the shops with Little Monkey - very relaxing afternoon with fabulous company and we found several lovely sparkle accesories for Little Monkey
so the next weekend I did nothing! well nearly nothing - I did the usual assortment of house hold duties and went on a Mission for Black Pants!!! Who would think that purchasing black pants made of stretch fabric would be this difficult - this was the 5th trip and still no success - either they aren't stretch, or if they are stretch they don't fit, or the fabric nasty.
So while the mission was unsuccessful I did have a lovely afternoon wandering the shops with Little Monkey - very relaxing afternoon with fabulous company and we found several lovely sparkle accesories for Little Monkey
Dancing in Stirling
in addition to all my touristing in Stirling I also went to a dance party at Albert hall on the Saturday night and another delightful Tea Dance on the Sunday.
The Saturday night has 2 rooms - Dance Demon in the main room and Tiggerbabe in the blues room. Would have liked to have spent more time in the blues room but it was just to hot - I am in the land that air conditioning forgot! and add to that that the bar ran out of water?!?! so ended up taking an early mark knowing that I wanted and early start and I had the Tea Dance on the Sunday to get the rest of my dancing fix
The Tea Dance was lovely - with nice mellow tunes by Tiggerbabe and lovely company with a merry little picnic to celebrate Freya's birthday before hand - so much delicious food I ended up feeling rather like a beach ball for the first hour or so felt rather like a beach ball.
there were some photos of these events but they have gone awol
The Saturday night has 2 rooms - Dance Demon in the main room and Tiggerbabe in the blues room. Would have liked to have spent more time in the blues room but it was just to hot - I am in the land that air conditioning forgot! and add to that that the bar ran out of water?!?! so ended up taking an early mark knowing that I wanted and early start and I had the Tea Dance on the Sunday to get the rest of my dancing fix
The Tea Dance was lovely - with nice mellow tunes by Tiggerbabe and lovely company with a merry little picnic to celebrate Freya's birthday before hand - so much delicious food I ended up feeling rather like a beach ball for the first hour or so felt rather like a beach ball.
there were some photos of these events but they have gone awol
Sunday is supposed to be a day of rest
the Sunday after the engagement party saw the troupe trooping off to breakfast at organic café – on arrival we were greeted by the master of the domain a beautiful black lab type dog. We ensconced ourselves at a table and pursued the menu which offered up many delights for our breakfast feasting.
Next on my agenda was heading into Kings Cross where I meeting Marnie for a quick coffee before my train back to Dundee so me & my suitcase waved good bye to the troupe and trundled off to the tube station.
Kings Cross was chaotic – much more so than when I arrived or caught the train up to Dundee – Marnie & I eventually found each other, grabbed a drink and found a stair to sit on. It was lovely catching up with Marnie – she seems to be settling into London life very well – a job, a place to live and so on as with all catch ups the time went far to quickly and before we knew it my train was being called.
Next on my agenda was heading into Kings Cross where I meeting Marnie for a quick coffee before my train back to Dundee so me & my suitcase waved good bye to the troupe and trundled off to the tube station.
Kings Cross was chaotic – much more so than when I arrived or caught the train up to Dundee – Marnie & I eventually found each other, grabbed a drink and found a stair to sit on. It was lovely catching up with Marnie – she seems to be settling into London life very well – a job, a place to live and so on as with all catch ups the time went far to quickly and before we knew it my train was being called.
Tuesday, 15 August 2006
I'm sorry i'm sorry I'm sorry
I've been very naughty and not posted here in ages - Stirling sort of brought me undone - I did so much and was so busy and tired it is taking me ages to write it up. And I haven't posted about the things that I have done since then even though I have writen them up because I wanted to keep this blog chronoglogical but I give up - tomorrow I will post links to all my Stirling photos - and about my adventures since stirling and the details of my fun and games in stirling will arrive when they arrive
Tuesday, 25 July 2006
Super Tourist
Ok going to keep this short - Last weekend I went to Stirling and Super Tourist I was you name it in Stirling and I saw it!! It's got an amazing palace with huge significance - whoever rules Stirling rules Scotland the saying goes
any way a full write up and photos will follow in a few days when I have a little more time.
any way a full write up and photos will follow in a few days when I have a little more time.
Sunday, 16 July 2006
Down Tunnels and Up Towers
*note I had really cool pictures to go with this post but blogger wouldn't load them*
Sunday dawned bright and sunny – well I’m assuming it did as I most certainly wasn’t up at dawn.
With a clear sunny sky – I headed off South on the half hour mildly scenic drive to St Andrews. Parking in St Andrews is a bit of nightmare but thankfully as it was Sunday parking restrictions didn’t apply – there are actually park and ride centres just out side the city centre – but didn’t learn about those until my day was over – well I know for next time.
I had intended to start my visit to St Andrews with one of “100 things to do in Scotland before you die” by having a custard slice from Fisher and Donaldson bakery however it was closed – but gives me an excuse to visit St Andrews again ;)
Decided to keep things simple by picking 2 attractions to see and no, one of them was not the golf course. I choose the Castle & the Cathedral. Both are ruins with a long and somewhat bloody history.
Both the Castle & the Cathedral both had an actor doing little character monologues giving a little of the history of the places.
My first port of call was the castle where I purchased my joint entry ticket to both ruins. And in for a penny in for a pound I also shelled out £2.95 each for booklets for self guided tour of each ruin – not entirely convinced that they were worth the money – but they did get me neatly around both ruins
I was advised that both the Castle & the Cathedral both had an actor doing little character monologues giving a little of the history of the places with the Cathedrals next performance in half an hour – so I headed to the Cathedral.
The Cathedral like so many things in this country isn’t just a historical tourist attraction it’s a living part of the community. People are still interned in this cemetery and as such the grounds are open to all and in addition all the tourists there were many merry picnic groups in the grounds.
Here your admittance gets you access to 2 displays of stone carvings and to the St Rules Tower which is one of the most complete structures at the Cathedral and with your token the non claustrophobic and unafeared of heights can take a steep climb up some very circular stairs and you are presented with a rather breath taking view of St Andrews.
Seeing these tombs pic it becomes clear why incense was/is such a feature of Catholic church services – these tombs were under the floor that had to get stinky!
It was quite fascinating seeing the different styles of headstones through the centuries – the older ones featured skulls and cross bones, and used the words, corpse and body no beating around the bush here. It was also quite common not to just give the date of death and age but no birthdate. And others listed not a burial but a true memorial listing the location of a person’s internment else where in the world.
Following the Actors little presentation which while somewhat informative was pretty average to be honest – I wandered a little more around the cathedral before heading back to the castle for the 2pm performance there. It was the same actor at the Castle as at the Cathedral and once again it was an adequate performance – following the performance I finished my self guided tour of the castle including the underground tunnels.
The Castle was sieged at one point in time with the siegers trying to bring the walls down by tunnelling under the walls the siegers were foiled by the a countermine dug by the defenders. These tunnels were discovered in the Victorian era when a the foundations for a house were being dug. For the non claustrophobic and sure of foot you can venture down into the countermine which is rather narrow and windy through into the mine which is large spacious – at the end of the mine there is a grate pic in the roof which can also be seen in the paving out side the castle grounds pic
Wandering back to my car I passed a house with a sign out the front – saying Preservation Trust, St Andrews Museum & Garden entrance was free so I wandered on in – not a place I would put high on your list of places to visit in St Andrews but mildly interesting – the best part was the garden a lovely oasis and it was delightful to sit quietly for a few minutes and be visited by a bumble bee.
I want to pat a bumble bee!!!! They look so adorable and fuzzy and like they would purr if you did – wonder what a bee would sound like a purring – maybe more of a buuurrrrrrrrzzzzzz
Photos @ Kodak
St Andrews
St Andrews Castle
St Andrews Cathedral
St Andrews Museum & Garden
Sunday dawned bright and sunny – well I’m assuming it did as I most certainly wasn’t up at dawn.
With a clear sunny sky – I headed off South on the half hour mildly scenic drive to St Andrews. Parking in St Andrews is a bit of nightmare but thankfully as it was Sunday parking restrictions didn’t apply – there are actually park and ride centres just out side the city centre – but didn’t learn about those until my day was over – well I know for next time.
I had intended to start my visit to St Andrews with one of “100 things to do in Scotland before you die” by having a custard slice from Fisher and Donaldson bakery however it was closed – but gives me an excuse to visit St Andrews again ;)
Decided to keep things simple by picking 2 attractions to see and no, one of them was not the golf course. I choose the Castle & the Cathedral. Both are ruins with a long and somewhat bloody history.
Both the Castle & the Cathedral both had an actor doing little character monologues giving a little of the history of the places.
My first port of call was the castle where I purchased my joint entry ticket to both ruins. And in for a penny in for a pound I also shelled out £2.95 each for booklets for self guided tour of each ruin – not entirely convinced that they were worth the money – but they did get me neatly around both ruins
I was advised that both the Castle & the Cathedral both had an actor doing little character monologues giving a little of the history of the places with the Cathedrals next performance in half an hour – so I headed to the Cathedral.
The Cathedral like so many things in this country isn’t just a historical tourist attraction it’s a living part of the community. People are still interned in this cemetery and as such the grounds are open to all and in addition all the tourists there were many merry picnic groups in the grounds.
Here your admittance gets you access to 2 displays of stone carvings and to the St Rules Tower which is one of the most complete structures at the Cathedral and with your token the non claustrophobic and unafeared of heights can take a steep climb up some very circular stairs and you are presented with a rather breath taking view of St Andrews.
Seeing these tombs pic it becomes clear why incense was/is such a feature of Catholic church services – these tombs were under the floor that had to get stinky!
It was quite fascinating seeing the different styles of headstones through the centuries – the older ones featured skulls and cross bones, and used the words, corpse and body no beating around the bush here. It was also quite common not to just give the date of death and age but no birthdate. And others listed not a burial but a true memorial listing the location of a person’s internment else where in the world.
Following the Actors little presentation which while somewhat informative was pretty average to be honest – I wandered a little more around the cathedral before heading back to the castle for the 2pm performance there. It was the same actor at the Castle as at the Cathedral and once again it was an adequate performance – following the performance I finished my self guided tour of the castle including the underground tunnels.
The Castle was sieged at one point in time with the siegers trying to bring the walls down by tunnelling under the walls the siegers were foiled by the a countermine dug by the defenders. These tunnels were discovered in the Victorian era when a the foundations for a house were being dug. For the non claustrophobic and sure of foot you can venture down into the countermine which is rather narrow and windy through into the mine which is large spacious – at the end of the mine there is a grate pic in the roof which can also be seen in the paving out side the castle grounds pic
Wandering back to my car I passed a house with a sign out the front – saying Preservation Trust, St Andrews Museum & Garden entrance was free so I wandered on in – not a place I would put high on your list of places to visit in St Andrews but mildly interesting – the best part was the garden a lovely oasis and it was delightful to sit quietly for a few minutes and be visited by a bumble bee.
I want to pat a bumble bee!!!! They look so adorable and fuzzy and like they would purr if you did – wonder what a bee would sound like a purring – maybe more of a buuurrrrrrrrzzzzzz
Photos @ Kodak
St Andrews
St Andrews Castle
St Andrews Cathedral
St Andrews Museum & Garden
Dundee Ceroc Party
Last Saturday night was the first of the new regular Dundee Ceroc Dance Party. And although I wasn’t much in a dancing mood, which wasn’t helped by rather too much blues music from Dance Demon early on, it was a fun night as there were many visitors from Glasgow, Edinburgh & Aberdeen – so there was plenty of good company to natter with. Tiggerbabes set later was more inspiring but by that time I was just not in the mood.
The night was a success though and I look forward to the August one.
The night was a success though and I look forward to the August one.
Saturday, 15 July 2006
Hamish Hunting
Went to the movies Friday night to see Superman Returns – this is not a movie that I would normally bother going to see at movies and on opening night none the less. But these are the things we do for friends. Hamish was an extra on and off for several months when this film was being shot in Sydney and in one instance even flew back from NZ for some shooting.
So I went with the impossible task of trying to spot one person amongst dozens and it proved to be beyond my capabilities. But it was fun trying.
Over all the move was a nice light bit of watching - although it's easy to see either a sequal or TV series spin off bringing up junior.
I foresee a movie night when it comes out on DVD to try again
Templeton Woods
Got an early mark on Friday and as I had practical shoes in my car decided to make the most of the delightful sunny weather and finally visit the local woods.
Templeton Woods were and weren't what I was expecting.
It wasn't as quiet as I thought it would be the woods is bordered by roads on 2 sides so there was a fair bit of abient road noise and just general surburan noise.
It WAS exactly as I had read about in dozens of english novels - although the only wild life I saw were these birds - they are bit hard to see in this picture
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they were flitting and chattering around and I suspect that the one in the photo was trying to get the others organised.
I was hoping to see a red squirrel but hopefuly next time.
Saw this wrapped around a flower stem - not sure what it is - and think the bubbles look beautiful close up. In reality though it looked more like that bubbly spit that younger siblings make to drive older siblings nuts.
The rest of my photographic efforts from the woods can be found on here on Kodak for the pick of the bunch check out flickr
Thursday, 13 July 2006
My Apologies to Commenters
My apologies to those people who made comments and were wondering where the hell they had gone.
Blogger had turned comment moderation on but because I hadn’t put an email address for that function I wasn’t getting emails letting me know that comments needed moderating.
I have freed all trapped comments and have turned moderation off so now when you add a comment it will appear immediately - have added an email address so if it happens again I will know when comments come in
Once again my sincere apologies for this and thank you so very much for your lovely comments
Blogger had turned comment moderation on but because I hadn’t put an email address for that function I wasn’t getting emails letting me know that comments needed moderating.
I have freed all trapped comments and have turned moderation off so now when you add a comment it will appear immediately - have added an email address so if it happens again I will know when comments come in
Once again my sincere apologies for this and thank you so very much for your lovely comments
The Dangers of Googling
Was a bit bored at work so decided to do some Google searches on some of my friends. One of the searches turned up a site by another friend in Perth – so thinking it will be nice to read a bit from home followed the link where I got a bit of nasty surprise.
The write up was about a dance event in Perth and in with all the happy lovely stuff – I got a sentence all to myself saying how I was “a conniving, nasty piece of work” it was rather a shock to read this as the person writing it was someone who I thought of as a friend – not a bestest friend but a friend – the sort you happily chat with at class and look forward to seeing and notice when they aren’t around.
I’m not sure what I did to them real or imagined to deserve that comment – but despite the comment being old it has really stung me and I’m not sure how I will feel when I seem them when I am next in Perth again. Thankfully it’s a long way off.
So the lesson here is 2 fold
The write up was about a dance event in Perth and in with all the happy lovely stuff – I got a sentence all to myself saying how I was “a conniving, nasty piece of work” it was rather a shock to read this as the person writing it was someone who I thought of as a friend – not a bestest friend but a friend – the sort you happily chat with at class and look forward to seeing and notice when they aren’t around.
I’m not sure what I did to them real or imagined to deserve that comment – but despite the comment being old it has really stung me and I’m not sure how I will feel when I seem them when I am next in Perth again. Thankfully it’s a long way off.
So the lesson here is 2 fold
- be careful what you put on the big wide web as you never know who wil find it
- if you go a googling you may not always like what you find
Wednesday, 12 July 2006
A bonus for the travelling fund
This Saturday the travelling fund is going to get a boost – I am doing some work directly for University of Dundee, and as this is direct will be getting paid around double the rate I get paid when I work via an agency. YEAH!
Monday, 10 July 2006
Sunday Dinner
On Sunday I treated to a home cooked Sunday dinner by the fabulous Bob & Caroline. Bob & Caroline are venue managers at the Monday & Thursday night venues I DJ at. Bob picked me up at 2.30pm which allowed me to have a couple of glasses of wine with dinner with no worry.
Dinner started with an entrée of smoked salmon and prawns and salad delicious – especially the smoked salmon which I am normally not a big fan of – the flavour was much more delicate than I have ever encountered before. Main course was melt in the mouth roast lamb with organic veggies. An dessert was homemade strawberry tarts – well the pastry was bought but the filling and glaze was homemade – and god knows I I wouldn’t even have attempted to make that much of them. And they were the most delicious tarts mmmmmm.
As a thank you for their hospitality rather than risk wine – not knowing the brands here I suspected I would end up choosing something hideous, I next considered cut flowers but apart from the super market didn’t know where to get them and the ones at the supermarket weren’t very inspiring. So in the end I settled on 2 small flowering plants – I didn’t know if B&C were gardeners as such but if they weren’t the plants would last at least as long as cut flowers. As it turns out Caroline is into gardening and has a lovely garden :)
It was a lovely afternoon of good food and great company including the lovely Tilly the cat to pat.
Dinner started with an entrée of smoked salmon and prawns and salad delicious – especially the smoked salmon which I am normally not a big fan of – the flavour was much more delicate than I have ever encountered before. Main course was melt in the mouth roast lamb with organic veggies. An dessert was homemade strawberry tarts – well the pastry was bought but the filling and glaze was homemade – and god knows I I wouldn’t even have attempted to make that much of them. And they were the most delicious tarts mmmmmm.
As a thank you for their hospitality rather than risk wine – not knowing the brands here I suspected I would end up choosing something hideous, I next considered cut flowers but apart from the super market didn’t know where to get them and the ones at the supermarket weren’t very inspiring. So in the end I settled on 2 small flowering plants – I didn’t know if B&C were gardeners as such but if they weren’t the plants would last at least as long as cut flowers. As it turns out Caroline is into gardening and has a lovely garden :)
It was a lovely afternoon of good food and great company including the lovely Tilly the cat to pat.
I did good in Glasgow
On Saturday I drove over to Glasgow to DJ at their monthly Ceroc Party, I was somewhat nervous about this as I was warned that the Glasgow Crew were rather difficult to please.
Anyway I departed from Dundee a little late around 3.20pm the plan was to leave at 3pm arrive at Pretzelmeister’s around 5pm have time for dinner and to get changed before leaving to for the venue to set up. Well things went pretty much to plan – except for the arriving at the venue to set up – I didn’t have the right intersection programmed into TomTom and drove right by the venue where in it took me 15 minutes to get myself back to the venue by which time I was running late!!! But with Franck’s assistance was all set up by 8.02pm – just 2 minutes late – and with only one punter in the room! Phew!
Glasgow university is a very graceful looking building but a nightmare of a room set up and sound wise. Set up wise it’s difficult as there is only 1 that’s right 1 working power point!! Off this power point on a configuration of 2 extension cords and 3 powerboards we ran
Spent a large part of the night half expecting the sparks to fly – thankfully they didn’t.
From here the night got better – although it was disconcerting that it took about 20-35 minutes before anyone started dancing, according to Franck this is normal they like to have a natter before hitting the dance floor.
At about 9pm there was a short Blues lesson and then the dancing started in earnest. As there was a blues room starting at 10pm upstairs the mix I played in the mainroom was pretty upbeat – mostly middle of the road with a few faster songs and a few slower ones.
Everyone seemed to be enjoying the music through the night – floor was busy most of the time and there wasn’t a mass exodus when the blues room opened so figured I hadn’t got it completely wrong. However at the end of the night I discovered I had done better than not just getting it wrong – they had actually really liked it. I had one couple come up to me directly and tell me how much they had enjoyed the music and Franck relayed several other compliments including one person asking if he could get me back again!! Needless to say I was a happy wee elf!!
Pretzelmeister and McJester assisted me with my pack down and packing the car which meant a lazy pack for me – as they kindly did the heavy caring.
The 3 of us headed back to Pretzelmeister delightful domain where we indulged in drinks, dancing & discussion. McJester was a somewhat sensible fellow and headed home around 4.30am or so I think – time had become a somewhat abstract concept at this point.
And after a water fight that he started and in which I displayed my complete lack of eye hand co-ordination by completely missing a stationary Pretzelmeister from 3 feet away, we finally headed to our beds sometime after 6am.
At a l1am my alarm drove me from bed – as I need to be heading back to Dundee by 12-ish.
My gallant host provided me with a cooked breakfast/lunch to sustain me on my journey and I was away not much past 12.
The other highlight of the Glasgow party was getting to meet several more forumites – including in one case chatting with one but not realising she was a forumite *blush*
And I’m looking forward to meeting more of them at the Dundee party this Saturday.
Anyway I departed from Dundee a little late around 3.20pm the plan was to leave at 3pm arrive at Pretzelmeister’s around 5pm have time for dinner and to get changed before leaving to for the venue to set up. Well things went pretty much to plan – except for the arriving at the venue to set up – I didn’t have the right intersection programmed into TomTom and drove right by the venue where in it took me 15 minutes to get myself back to the venue by which time I was running late!!! But with Franck’s assistance was all set up by 8.02pm – just 2 minutes late – and with only one punter in the room! Phew!
Glasgow university is a very graceful looking building but a nightmare of a room set up and sound wise. Set up wise it’s difficult as there is only 1 that’s right 1 working power point!! Off this power point on a configuration of 2 extension cords and 3 powerboards we ran
- mixer
- Laptop
- 2 speakers
- 2 little swirly lights
- 2 fans
- 1 rope light and
- 1 set of 4 coloured lights.
Spent a large part of the night half expecting the sparks to fly – thankfully they didn’t.
From here the night got better – although it was disconcerting that it took about 20-35 minutes before anyone started dancing, according to Franck this is normal they like to have a natter before hitting the dance floor.
At about 9pm there was a short Blues lesson and then the dancing started in earnest. As there was a blues room starting at 10pm upstairs the mix I played in the mainroom was pretty upbeat – mostly middle of the road with a few faster songs and a few slower ones.
Everyone seemed to be enjoying the music through the night – floor was busy most of the time and there wasn’t a mass exodus when the blues room opened so figured I hadn’t got it completely wrong. However at the end of the night I discovered I had done better than not just getting it wrong – they had actually really liked it. I had one couple come up to me directly and tell me how much they had enjoyed the music and Franck relayed several other compliments including one person asking if he could get me back again!! Needless to say I was a happy wee elf!!
Pretzelmeister and McJester assisted me with my pack down and packing the car which meant a lazy pack for me – as they kindly did the heavy caring.
The 3 of us headed back to Pretzelmeister delightful domain where we indulged in drinks, dancing & discussion. McJester was a somewhat sensible fellow and headed home around 4.30am or so I think – time had become a somewhat abstract concept at this point.
And after a water fight that he started and in which I displayed my complete lack of eye hand co-ordination by completely missing a stationary Pretzelmeister from 3 feet away, we finally headed to our beds sometime after 6am.
At a l1am my alarm drove me from bed – as I need to be heading back to Dundee by 12-ish.
My gallant host provided me with a cooked breakfast/lunch to sustain me on my journey and I was away not much past 12.
The other highlight of the Glasgow party was getting to meet several more forumites – including in one case chatting with one but not realising she was a forumite *blush*
And I’m looking forward to meeting more of them at the Dundee party this Saturday.
Sunday, 9 July 2006
Real Live Cemetery
On Friday I got an early mark and the sun was Shining so something out doors seemed appropriate – as I didn’t have sensible shoes on a walk in the woods was out of the question so I decided to to drop in and check out a cemetery I had driven past a few times.
I have visited many cemeteries over the years – I find the stories the memorials can tell fascinating – when I was a Uni I used to eat my lunch in the oldest graveyard in Wellington – it was a lovely peaceful place with lots of green around.
And not for any reason you would guess – but because it was a live cemetery the graves here weren’t some sort of history of the area they belonged to here and now, connected to this world. The youngest grave I saw had a date of 14 June 06 on it!! These graves belonged not to the person in them but the families that mourned them and came to visit and care for them.
It was interesting to see land so clearly set aside for new graves.
The other thing that I found interesting was that the gravestones or more to the point that there were gravestones as when I visited my grandmothers memorial– that most of the graves there had plaques in the ground – apparently the cemetery didn’t allow stones as they were to hard to mow around. Personally I prefer the gravestones just seems more fitting/proper ...
I have visited many cemeteries over the years – I find the stories the memorials can tell fascinating – when I was a Uni I used to eat my lunch in the oldest graveyard in Wellington – it was a lovely peaceful place with lots of green around.
Anyway this cemetery creeped me out!!!
And not for any reason you would guess – but because it was a live cemetery the graves here weren’t some sort of history of the area they belonged to here and now, connected to this world. The youngest grave I saw had a date of 14 June 06 on it!! These graves belonged not to the person in them but the families that mourned them and came to visit and care for them.
It was interesting to see land so clearly set aside for new graves.
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The other thing that I found interesting was that the gravestones or more to the point that there were gravestones as when I visited my grandmothers memorial– that most of the graves there had plaques in the ground – apparently the cemetery didn’t allow stones as they were to hard to mow around. Personally I prefer the gravestones just seems more fitting/proper ...
Thursday, 6 July 2006
Floating through the fog
Driving home from class last Tuesday was an interesting experience – while we were inside dancing our toes off a fog had descended over the land.
A fascinating lightly glowing blue blanket of fog caressed the landscape. Peering into the fog obscuring the green fields I felt a great desire to step forward into this seemingly magical world and see if the fairy would take me on an adventure or would I just be left to wander aimlessly.
The reality was a rather surreal drive home with minimum visibility – which really should have been stressful but there was something rather soothing about it.
It was as if I was floating along in a bubble, with only the occasional power pole or building to mark my passing by. Sometimes if felt as if I was just suspended in time and would be forever travelling in my fog bubble – which now sounds very horror movie scary but it wasn’t.
A fascinating lightly glowing blue blanket of fog caressed the landscape. Peering into the fog obscuring the green fields I felt a great desire to step forward into this seemingly magical world and see if the fairy would take me on an adventure or would I just be left to wander aimlessly.
The reality was a rather surreal drive home with minimum visibility – which really should have been stressful but there was something rather soothing about it.
It was as if I was floating along in a bubble, with only the occasional power pole or building to mark my passing by. Sometimes if felt as if I was just suspended in time and would be forever travelling in my fog bubble – which now sounds very horror movie scary but it wasn’t.
Monday, 3 July 2006
well done Jessie & Susan
Just got some lovely news from Melbourne, Australia - Ceroc Melbourne has a local comp and a couple of the students from Albert Park came second in the Intermediate category.
WOO HOO!!! Jessie & Susan - you guys ROCK!!!!!!!
Sunday, 25 June 2006
Another Stirling Tea Dance
Once again I headed over to Stirling for the monthly Tea Dance. This time proceeded a cheery journey in the company of Freya, Piglet, Douglas & AussieTime – than you to Freya for driving and an amiable lunch with my travelling companions with the additions of Firefly, McJester & Johnthehappyguy.
Between the lunch & the tea dance – they were studious students at a workshop and I discovered St Ninians – see previous post.
And as 3.30pm rolled around Tiggerbabe started dolling out the tunes, Franck laid out the cake and fun began with delightful dances, congenial conversation, daring debates and most delicious coconut cake.
http://www.kodakgallery.co.uk/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=bn23palx.562ihln1&Uy=-l0ip01&Ux=0&localeid=en_GB
Between the lunch & the tea dance – they were studious students at a workshop and I discovered St Ninians – see previous post.
And as 3.30pm rolled around Tiggerbabe started dolling out the tunes, Franck laid out the cake and fun began with delightful dances, congenial conversation, daring debates and most delicious coconut cake.
http://www.kodakgallery.co.uk/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=bn23palx.562ihln1&Uy=-l0ip01&Ux=0&localeid=en_GB
Wandering in Stirling
Had some time to kill in Stirling today between lunch and the monthly tea dance. So I did what I do I went walking to see what I could find. And wandering along in the balmy sunshine I discovered St Ninians Church and spent a pleasant hour or so investigating what I could of the church and it’s surrounds.
A very short history of St Ninians Church
Photos @ Kodak
A very short history of St Ninians Church
The old Parish Kirk of St. Ninians was blown up by Prince Charles Edward’s forces, who had used it as a powder magazine in 1746.
While Stirling Castle was under attack during the Jacobite rebellion, the original church was used as a powder magazine and was blown up by the retreating Jacobite army in February 1746.
All that survived the explosion was the fifteenth century chancel and the tower which has been added to the Kirk as recently as 1743.
The present church was built in 1751 and altered in 1937, replacing the earlier church. The original 1732 tower is still standing.
Photos @ Kodak
Saturday, 24 June 2006
an experience out shopping
headed into town to do a bit of shopping and as I was wandering along this lady asked me if I wanted a make over - as first I was going to say no - but then I thought what the hell it can't hurt it'll just be some make-up and it's always nice to try something new - and said yes.
well it was a bit more than just a make up stall - it clothes and make-up and it was all being done on radio - so next thing I know they are asking my style issues?!?! apart from the fact that I was on stage in some of my oldest clothes ... I said smart casual - so shortly I was redressed in a smart casual outfit followed by make up - apparently I have lovely skin :)
the outfit was very cute - and if it wouldn't have cast me nearly 2 weeks salary I would have gone and bought it.
Anyway once it was all over and was back into my own clothes they handed me a small black sports bag saying thank you and here is your gift bag. And a pretty fine gift bag too.
Inside the sports bag there, was a large towel, a lush bath ball and discount voucher, a small make up bag, several perfume samples and Lancome samples.
proves you never know what will come your way if you say yes things rather than no....
well it was a bit more than just a make up stall - it clothes and make-up and it was all being done on radio - so next thing I know they are asking my style issues?!?! apart from the fact that I was on stage in some of my oldest clothes ... I said smart casual - so shortly I was redressed in a smart casual outfit followed by make up - apparently I have lovely skin :)
the outfit was very cute - and if it wouldn't have cast me nearly 2 weeks salary I would have gone and bought it.
Anyway once it was all over and was back into my own clothes they handed me a small black sports bag saying thank you and here is your gift bag. And a pretty fine gift bag too.
Inside the sports bag there, was a large towel, a lush bath ball and discount voucher, a small make up bag, several perfume samples and Lancome samples.
proves you never know what will come your way if you say yes things rather than no....
Sunday, 18 June 2006
Beach Ballroom Chill
This is the closing event of the Beach Ballroom weekend – and has a very relaxed atmosphere and takes place at the Northern Hotel with fab music by Tiggerbabe!
Originally I hadn’t intended to got to this party as having been away from Friday night – figured some time at home – those damn domestic duties just won’t do themselves - and an early night was in order.
However with such impassioned pleas for me to come to the event and having found my groove – it seemed worth the back and forth driving involved – so after some frenzied washing and cleaning I was back on the road to Aberdeen.
And it was so WORTH it – the only bad thing was having to tear myself away before the end so as to make it home at a reasonable-ish hour.
http://www.kodakgallery.co.uk/ShareLandingSignin.jsp?Uc=bn23palx.9i8z6r91&Uy=b9r0kp&Upost_signin=Slideshow.jsp%3Fmode%3Dfromshare&Ux=0
Originally I hadn’t intended to got to this party as having been away from Friday night – figured some time at home – those damn domestic duties just won’t do themselves - and an early night was in order.
However with such impassioned pleas for me to come to the event and having found my groove – it seemed worth the back and forth driving involved – so after some frenzied washing and cleaning I was back on the road to Aberdeen.
And it was so WORTH it – the only bad thing was having to tear myself away before the end so as to make it home at a reasonable-ish hour.
http://www.kodakgallery.co.uk/ShareLandingSignin.jsp?Uc=bn23palx.9i8z6r91&Uy=b9r0kp&Upost_signin=Slideshow.jsp%3Fmode%3Dfromshare&Ux=0
Saturday, 17 June 2006
Beach Ballroom
This much anticipated Scottish Ceroc Event takes place in the Beach Ballroom (hence the name), the featured teacher this time was Amir Giles so while I was meandering around the grounds of Balmoral others were cramming their heads full of the delights of Jango.
The Beach Ballroom party was delightful!!! As well as bringing together all the Scottish dancers there were a number of southern boys up for a visit – so even more boys to play with :)
http://www.kodakgallery.co.uk/ShareLandingSignin.jsp?Uc=bn23palx.9r2h28j9&Uy=l777b3&Upost_signin=Slideshow.jsp%3Fmode%3Dfromshare&Ux=0&UV=150871738751_545030190133
The Beach Ballroom party was delightful!!! As well as bringing together all the Scottish dancers there were a number of southern boys up for a visit – so even more boys to play with :)
http://www.kodakgallery.co.uk/ShareLandingSignin.jsp?Uc=bn23palx.9r2h28j9&Uy=l777b3&Upost_signin=Slideshow.jsp%3Fmode%3Dfromshare&Ux=0&UV=150871738751_545030190133
Getting lost in the flowers
To get out of the rain I ducked into the small conservatory – and was seduced into spending the best part of an hour in the intricate of the blooms.
These two are my favourites
Other favourites are on Flickr
These two are my favourites
Other favourites are on Flickr
Balmoral
Today a tourist I was! I departed Aberdeen for Balmoral – the holiday residence of the Queen. Balmoral is a working estate who’s major crop is timber the ground apparently is pretty crap for growing much else. They do however grow enough produce for the Royal table and flowers enough to supply 2 arrangements weekly – one to the local church and the other …. Somewhere else. When the Royal Family is in residence obviously more cut flowers are required in the castle
As Balmoral is an actual residence – visitors only get to enter one room of the building – the ballroom where there is an interesting array of items on display but the real appeal of Balmoral is the grounds and the stories that go with them.
As part of your entry fee you get an self guiding audio tour – which is brilliant!! Sadly as my day went from calmly over cast to soggy and rainy it was hard for me to make the most of it as I tended to have to dash from building to building.
Due to the bad weather I decided to take the tractor tour – this tour is well worth the £2 cost – it goes for an hour and takes you further a field than you can go on foot. With some of the highlights being
John Browns Cottage
The Estate Village
The Highland cows
A west view of the Castle – is a different view that normally seen
Memorials to Victoria & Albert
Alberts Cairn
And I even bought my first souvenir!!!
I so feel like a real tourist now ;)
Photos @ Kodak
As Balmoral is an actual residence – visitors only get to enter one room of the building – the ballroom where there is an interesting array of items on display but the real appeal of Balmoral is the grounds and the stories that go with them.
As part of your entry fee you get an self guiding audio tour – which is brilliant!! Sadly as my day went from calmly over cast to soggy and rainy it was hard for me to make the most of it as I tended to have to dash from building to building.
Due to the bad weather I decided to take the tractor tour – this tour is well worth the £2 cost – it goes for an hour and takes you further a field than you can go on foot. With some of the highlights being
John Browns Cottage
The Estate Village
The Highland cows
A west view of the Castle – is a different view that normally seen
Memorials to Victoria & Albert
Alberts Cairn
And I even bought my first souvenir!!!
I so feel like a real tourist now ;)
Photos @ Kodak
Tuesday, 13 June 2006
And the travelling fund does grow!
I started a 3 month contact today. I didn’t want a contract that long – wanted some time off for doing the tourist thing – to that end I figured I would lay down some requirements and put myself out of the running.
My requirements were simple
Must finish @ 5pm
And must have 3 Fridays and 3 Mondays off
But they must be pretty desperate as the still wanted met o interview – which happened last Wednesday and concluded with “the job’s yours if you want it”
So now I am the newest contractor of ITI Life Sciences.
Seems like a very laid back & Friendly office to work in.
And so the travelling fund does grow.
!
My requirements were simple
Must finish @ 5pm
And must have 3 Fridays and 3 Mondays off
But they must be pretty desperate as the still wanted met o interview – which happened last Wednesday and concluded with “the job’s yours if you want it”
So now I am the newest contractor of ITI Life Sciences.
Seems like a very laid back & Friendly office to work in.
And so the travelling fund does grow.
!
Tuesday, 6 June 2006
On the Mend
Despite the abuse dished out to my feet over Southport the tendonitis in my left foot appears to be clearing up or at the very least it has eased off significantly *knock on wood* something to be said for dancing in thongs
My Life as a Ceroc DJ!
Last night (Monday 5 June to be exact) I officially started my life as a Ceroc DJ!!! @ Ceroc Scotland, Dundee. And thankfully my playlist was received favourably now I just have to do it again next week *gulp* and the week after and the week after….
I wonder how long until I get my first “your music is crap” feedback?
I wonder how long until I get my first “your music is crap” feedback?
My Adventures in WCS
Finally got to try WCS!! Robert & Deborah taught 1 beginner and 2 improvers workshops over the course of Southport – the improvers classes built very smoothly on to what was taught in the previous classes with out excluding those that hadn’t attended them.
Robert & Deborah’s teach style is clear, fun & funky and you had better behave or Deb will “go all New York on You”
The biggest issue I encountered with WCS was/is anchoring properly and not stepping forward until lead forward.
In class many of the guys would just expect the ladies to step forward as the move was being called out by the teachers. So when I attempted to actually dance WCS I wasn’t anchoring properly & in coming forward threw the poor guys timing.
I’m sure Sheepman was much relieved when with a wail of “I official suck @ WCS” I returned us to the Modern Jive fold and left WCS for another day & victim.
And thanks to Paul – from somewhere south of Dundee for going over the WCS stuff
Robert & Deborah’s teach style is clear, fun & funky and you had better behave or Deb will “go all New York on You”
The biggest issue I encountered with WCS was/is anchoring properly and not stepping forward until lead forward.
In class many of the guys would just expect the ladies to step forward as the move was being called out by the teachers. So when I attempted to actually dance WCS I wasn’t anchoring properly & in coming forward threw the poor guys timing.
I’m sure Sheepman was much relieved when with a wail of “I official suck @ WCS” I returned us to the Modern Jive fold and left WCS for another day & victim.
And thanks to Paul – from somewhere south of Dundee for going over the WCS stuff
Acts of Dance Bravery
Aka dance stalking
I committed 2 acts of dance bravery over the weekend
First – Asking Robert Cordoba to dance after only 2 hours of WCS lessons!!
Robert was a very gracious lead – he lead and just let me follow as I would and I had an absolutely lovely dance – and even managed proper WCS when he lead a sugar push.
My second act of dancing bravery (which required all my stalking talents) was to ask Viktor to dance. Viktor is such a sweetie, who made me giggle when he hummed along with the music and asked for a second dance so sweetly I thought I would melt.
I committed 2 acts of dance bravery over the weekend
First – Asking Robert Cordoba to dance after only 2 hours of WCS lessons!!
Robert was a very gracious lead – he lead and just let me follow as I would and I had an absolutely lovely dance – and even managed proper WCS when he lead a sugar push.
My second act of dancing bravery (which required all my stalking talents) was to ask Viktor to dance. Viktor is such a sweetie, who made me giggle when he hummed along with the music and asked for a second dance so sweetly I thought I would melt.
Sunday Bliss @ Southport
Sunday arrived sunny & fine and I headed to the Latin Quarter for my 3rd instalment of WCS and was pleasantly surprised at the difference in the atmosphere – it was much more relaxed, casual & mellow vibe than previously – there were also less people around – which one would think would be a bad thing but it wasm’t well at least it wasn’t for me - what it meant was that there was room to move and see what was going on around the place rather than just a seething mass of people.
As to where the people had gone, some had to go home Sunday afternoon and others were still asleep (20 sturdy and compulsive souls had danced through the night to 9am.
Sunday afternoon in the blues room was the absolute highlight of my weekend.
I finally found my groove, the weather was delightful warm enough to not need a jacket and cool enough not to get over heated dancing.
And some highlights within my Sunday afternoon were
- First convincing Isabella to ask Paul F to dance and then chatting with her after
- Being introduced to yet more forumites by the darling MsFab
- Watching the dancing
And
- Dancing of course (wink)
And in amongst all this social activity I even made it to a couple more workshops – Viktor’s - Jive Masters Secrets & Nigel & Nina’s – Advanced Jive
Lovely day for a drive!
IT was a merry band of 3 – Little Monkey – the most cheerful of ladies, Trampy & myself that departed Dundee on a fine June morning & with the assistance of TomTom we made our way to Potins Southport (a holiday camp very English tradition it would seem) where we banded together with numerous other groups of dedicated dancers to participate in the phenomenon that was “Jiving Away”
The journey was filled with chatter and chuckles and chocolate cake and all things good and car trippy. Including the required chants of are we there yet and how much longer.
The journey was filled with chatter and chuckles and chocolate cake and all things good and car trippy. Including the required chants of are we there yet and how much longer.
Southport
Well I survived my first Southport! And much to my surprise I am planning to register for the Feb 2007.
Southport takes place at Potins – a holiday camp and is approx 6hr drive from Dundee, this one specifically took place 2-5 June 2006.
The basic stats of Southport are
I found the evening freestyles on Friday and Saturday night rather overwhelming – rooms so full, hot, hyped, that if you had asked me at 3.30am on Sunday morning as I gave up and took my sore foot and weary head to bed I would have said it’s been interesting and all but wouldn’t bother with another; But then Sunday happened and made the whole weekend worthwhile.
Southport takes place at Potins – a holiday camp and is approx 6hr drive from Dundee, this one specifically took place 2-5 June 2006.
The basic stats of Southport are
- 1500 dancers
- 3 rooms of freestyle
- All day/night dancing in the blues room
- 3 rooms of workshops
- 26 teachers
- 12? DJ's to keep the music going all weekend
I found the evening freestyles on Friday and Saturday night rather overwhelming – rooms so full, hot, hyped, that if you had asked me at 3.30am on Sunday morning as I gave up and took my sore foot and weary head to bed I would have said it’s been interesting and all but wouldn’t bother with another; But then Sunday happened and made the whole weekend worthwhile.
Sunday, 28 May 2006
Stirling Tea Dance
Smooth tunes, fun dances, delicious cares and great company sum up this afternoon dancing tradition.
Had more fun with my camera
Photos @ Kodak
Had more fun with my camera
Photos @ Kodak
Saturday, 27 May 2006
Edinburgh Dance Party
Having whiled away enough time we headed upstairs to the party. After claiming a table, being the first to arrive so many to choose from, we all changed into our party gear by which time people had started to arrive on mass.
As with any dance party there were the usual assortment of bouncy, non – existent and creepy leads and on the flip side there were some lovely leads and dances to be had.
Really enjoyed watching everyone dancing and putting my camera to good use?
Photos @ Kodak
As with any dance party there were the usual assortment of bouncy, non – existent and creepy leads and on the flip side there were some lovely leads and dances to be had.
Really enjoyed watching everyone dancing and putting my camera to good use?
Photos @ Kodak
Passing Parade
After the busk our cheery trio headed on to Edinburgh for a dance party @ Marco’s – a fitness club – with a pub in it….
As we had sometime to kill before the party started we grabbed a drink and watched the passing parade of Punks. Modern Jive upstairs – Punk band on the ground floor….
As we had sometime to kill before the party started we grabbed a drink and watched the passing parade of Punks. Modern Jive upstairs – Punk band on the ground floor….
Busking in Glasgow
Today a merry little trio, Trampy, Madeline & myself, headed to Glasgow for a busk.
The rain held off and we were blessed with (or so the Glaswegians informed me) a lovely warm day.
The dancing was fun although between super gripy boots and rough paving I felt like the living embodiment of Robert’s “Cruise Ship” metaphor.
The busking got a great reaction from passes by and in the 2 & a bit hours of dancing we handed out 3000 flyers. This is one of my favourite photos that I took.
The busk was followed by a companionable hour of drinks & food at the Witherspoon - courtesy of Franck. It was nice to chat with people and to put some more faces to forum names.
Photos @ Kodak
The rain held off and we were blessed with (or so the Glaswegians informed me) a lovely warm day.
The dancing was fun although between super gripy boots and rough paving I felt like the living embodiment of Robert’s “Cruise Ship” metaphor.
The busking got a great reaction from passes by and in the 2 & a bit hours of dancing we handed out 3000 flyers. This is one of my favourite photos that I took.
The busk was followed by a companionable hour of drinks & food at the Witherspoon - courtesy of Franck. It was nice to chat with people and to put some more faces to forum names.
Photos @ Kodak
Friday, 26 May 2006
My Friend TomTom
This is my friend TomTom
He is a lovely navigator who never complains when I decide to take the scenic route.
I’m looking forward to many adventures around the countryside with TomTom leading the way
Many thanks to Frank for the loan and Trampy for organising the loan
He is a lovely navigator who never complains when I decide to take the scenic route.
I’m looking forward to many adventures around the countryside with TomTom leading the way
Many thanks to Frank for the loan and Trampy for organising the loan
Thursday, 25 May 2006
I have a day job!!!
Once again there is no rest for the wicked I have signed up with a temp agency - Office Angel’s – and I already have a 1/2 week assignment.
I am going working for the University of Dundee formatting and preparing for publication a paper for an academic
I am going working for the University of Dundee formatting and preparing for publication a paper for an academic
Wednesday, 24 May 2006
Ceroc in a Musical Theatre set
Did the 2 hour trip to Glasgow last night so Trampy could teach at Jumpin Jaks.
Jumpin Jacks is a theme club – and the theme is a bayou bar – and has somewhat of the feel of theatre set.
Had some lovely dances and had the pleasure of meeting 2 more Scottish Forumites Tinkerbell & Princess Fi – both lovely lasses.
After class a group headed out for some sustenance - it was fun getting to actually talk with people from class as at class it’s all about the dancing ;)
Jumpin Jacks is a theme club – and the theme is a bayou bar – and has somewhat of the feel of theatre set.
Had some lovely dances and had the pleasure of meeting 2 more Scottish Forumites Tinkerbell & Princess Fi – both lovely lasses.
After class a group headed out for some sustenance - it was fun getting to actually talk with people from class as at class it’s all about the dancing ;)
Friday, 19 May 2006
Out walking again
Did lots of walking around Dundee today – sort of getting to know my way around – well not really – but once again found the flowers and gardens amazing this is my favourite photo from today.
Photo's @ Kodak
Photo's @ Kodak
Thursday, 18 May 2006
Travel to Dundee
Emma had the day off work for study so she helped me and my luggage make the trip across town to Kings Cross Station – which was very helpful as very view tube stations have lifts/wheel chair access.
As a morning tea indulgence we had Cornish Pasties – from the Cornwall Pastie stand – which were very tasty and then it was time to get me on the train.
I was very lucky and had 2 seats to myself for the bulk of the trip.
Trampy – with whom I’m staying – picked me up from the train station – then it was time to have dinner, change and head off to my first Scottish Ceroc class in Perth.
Perth has a lovely venue and very nice people it was lovely to meet Lorna and watch her dance – she’s a great teacher to boot.
As a morning tea indulgence we had Cornish Pasties – from the Cornwall Pastie stand – which were very tasty and then it was time to get me on the train.
I was very lucky and had 2 seats to myself for the bulk of the trip.
Trampy – with whom I’m staying – picked me up from the train station – then it was time to have dinner, change and head off to my first Scottish Ceroc class in Perth.
Perth has a lovely venue and very nice people it was lovely to meet Lorna and watch her dance – she’s a great teacher to boot.
Tuesday, 16 May 2006
The Theatre
Tonight Emma & I went to see We Will Rock You!
We indulged in pre-show and interval drinks – they Domain Theatre as a system where you order and prepay for your interval drinks and they have them ready and waiting for you at interval at a special counter.
The very odd thing for me was that you could buy pop-corn and lollies and ice-cream to take into the theatre like we do at the movies?!?!?
And the Show was GREAT by the way – a lot fun and well worth seeing if you get the chance
We indulged in pre-show and interval drinks – they Domain Theatre as a system where you order and prepay for your interval drinks and they have them ready and waiting for you at interval at a special counter.
The very odd thing for me was that you could buy pop-corn and lollies and ice-cream to take into the theatre like we do at the movies?!?!?
And the Show was GREAT by the way – a lot fun and well worth seeing if you get the chance
Here I go again
Headed out to London again – this time I started at Covent Garden – mostly as I wanted to visit the Bloch shop – which is supposed to be a “flag ship” store – it was sadly disappointing not really much range products as I was expecting. From there I wandered a bit – and found the Masonic House – a striking piece of architecture.
walked along to Leicester Square where I undertook my days mission of purchasing cheap tickets to a show tonight my first choice was Movin’ Out a dance show that I had being hearing about – but sadly as it was Tuesday that theatre was dark – so second choice was the Queen Music We Will Rock You!
My mission accomplished I resumed my wanderings and found myself in Berwick Street – which has all sorts of stalls from fruit & vegie to socks in addition to the stalls there are also regular shops including best of all 3 fabric shops!
Meandering a long Berwick St I found my self at Oxford St – The mecca of London shopping was shops shops and more shops and home to the iconic Selfridges – shopping in Selfridges is similar to Harrods – with the food halls really being the most amazing thing!
Monday, 15 May 2006
Next stop Harrods!
A short tube ride from Piccadilly Circus and I was at Harrods where I managed to while away the remainder of the afternoon.
At Harrods I discovered a new addiction – tried rose & violet cream chocolates – and while violet cream is an acquired taste for me – rose creams are divine!!
The food halls at Harrods are quite mind boggling – with pretty much any speciality food you could think of available to take home as well as numerous “bars” to eat at – my favourite was the ice cream bar – not that I had one of their sundaes – they were huge and I doubted my ability to consume the entire thing.
I did however indulge in a crepe suzette on the 4th floor to sustain me in my explorations of this institution.
Amongst the china, clothes & furniture some of the more striking items you can purchase are fossils – yes really and not just little ones – suspect you would need to ensure that your walls were structurally sound before hanging this item and old maps-some of these are lovely much more artistic than maps these days.
Photos @ Kodak
At Harrods I discovered a new addiction – tried rose & violet cream chocolates – and while violet cream is an acquired taste for me – rose creams are divine!!
The food halls at Harrods are quite mind boggling – with pretty much any speciality food you could think of available to take home as well as numerous “bars” to eat at – my favourite was the ice cream bar – not that I had one of their sundaes – they were huge and I doubted my ability to consume the entire thing.
I did however indulge in a crepe suzette on the 4th floor to sustain me in my explorations of this institution.
Amongst the china, clothes & furniture some of the more striking items you can purchase are fossils – yes really and not just little ones – suspect you would need to ensure that your walls were structurally sound before hanging this item and old maps-some of these are lovely much more artistic than maps these days.
Photos @ Kodak
Out and about on my own
Went into see Buckingham palace – and managed to time it just in time for the changing of the guards – which goes for much longer than I thought – got some nice pictures though
From there I wandered through James? gardens –which are amazing even if they were past their prime.
Once through the gardens I made my way to Piccadilly Circus the big digital screens there are really that big! On my way to Piccadilly Circus came across this building – not sure what it is but found the blue decorative band very striking.
Photos @ Kodak
From there I wandered through James? gardens –which are amazing even if they were past their prime.
Once through the gardens I made my way to Piccadilly Circus the big digital screens there are really that big! On my way to Piccadilly Circus came across this building – not sure what it is but found the blue decorative band very striking.
Photos @ Kodak
Sunday, 14 May 2006
Pengiuns
having heard english friends raving about penguins when I saw them in the shop I figured I would try them. ICK!!! they are a very poor cousin to Tim Tams - they do however have verybright & colourful packaging
Saturday, 13 May 2006
The Liberty shop
The Liberty shops was lovely – although I did barely get out of the cross stitch section. Emma & Paul left me to the cross stitching and headed upstairs to furniture.
Decided to indulge in a little shopping in the form of a cross stitch book mark kit – was still trying to decide between 2 when E&P returned – and Paul out of pity for my indecisiveness bought me 2 book mark kits so I ended up with 3!!!
Lucky girl am I!! The scotty & westies book mark will go to Paul when finished as that one caught his eye.
Made a fleeting visit to the jewellery department and saw some lovely new and even lovelier old pieces *sigh* if only I had a spare £25,000
Decided to indulge in a little shopping in the form of a cross stitch book mark kit – was still trying to decide between 2 when E&P returned – and Paul out of pity for my indecisiveness bought me 2 book mark kits so I ended up with 3!!!
Lucky girl am I!! The scotty & westies book mark will go to Paul when finished as that one caught his eye.
Made a fleeting visit to the jewellery department and saw some lovely new and even lovelier old pieces *sigh* if only I had a spare £25,000
Emma’s Tour of London
Started with a ride on a double decker bus the Portabella road markets well a short walk to them anyway. These markets have an impressive range of antique items as well as other items it’s very crowded between the people and the parked cars and the very narrow roads. The most striking feature of this area is the candy coloured houses – they look like something out of a story book
After lunch it was off to a pub for lunch and if I could remember the name of it I would recommend it – the pie was delicious! Although they struggled with Em’s fish and salad order
From there where we went to Hamelys – a fab toy shop with lots of toys on display to play with, Paul went in search of remote control helicopter but was disappointed to learn the cost of one and the requirement of having to join a club and get some sort of liscence. Next stop was the Liberty Shop!
Followed by New Bond St is the diamond street. Which means lots and lots of lovely Jewellery!!! Cartier, Gucci, to name but a few and the price tags to go with them – however it is lovely to window shop and dream.
Photos @ Kodak
After lunch it was off to a pub for lunch and if I could remember the name of it I would recommend it – the pie was delicious! Although they struggled with Em’s fish and salad order
From there where we went to Hamelys – a fab toy shop with lots of toys on display to play with, Paul went in search of remote control helicopter but was disappointed to learn the cost of one and the requirement of having to join a club and get some sort of liscence. Next stop was the Liberty Shop!
Followed by New Bond St is the diamond street. Which means lots and lots of lovely Jewellery!!! Cartier, Gucci, to name but a few and the price tags to go with them – however it is lovely to window shop and dream.
Photos @ Kodak
Early Morning Walk
Was awake early so went for a walk with Dad – it was lovely walking around with no fixed plan just following the streets that looked good to us.
We did decided to go to Hogarth House which is set in a lovely walled garden – it took us sometime to find our way in but once there it was lovely – so peaceful it was only about 8 am so very few people around – sort of like having it all to ourselves.
Once again I found the lush colours mesmerising
will be adding photos to my various posts once I get my computer access sorted
Photos @ Kodak
We did decided to go to Hogarth House which is set in a lovely walled garden – it took us sometime to find our way in but once there it was lovely – so peaceful it was only about 8 am so very few people around – sort of like having it all to ourselves.
Once again I found the lush colours mesmerising
will be adding photos to my various posts once I get my computer access sorted
Photos @ Kodak
Friday, 12 May 2006
Day 1 in London
After a shower and a nap (from which it took me an hour to wake up from) I went for a walk from around the lovely Hammersmith – it was a balmy 24 degrees and after wandering along the shopping strip bought a sandwhich and made my way to the river where I sat and watch the world wander by.
The thing I found most amazing about here is the colour of the plants – they are just so green and lush. Hammersmith is a very built up area lots of terraces houses with small gardens that are filled to over flowing.
Went to dinner at The Coyote with Emma (my sister), Paul (her fiancé) and my dad. The food was good but the customer service left much to be desired.
Photos @ Kodak
The thing I found most amazing about here is the colour of the plants – they are just so green and lush. Hammersmith is a very built up area lots of terraces houses with small gardens that are filled to over flowing.
Went to dinner at The Coyote with Emma (my sister), Paul (her fiancé) and my dad. The food was good but the customer service left much to be desired.
Photos @ Kodak
When plane seats attack
My flight from HK to London was rather less comfortable than anticipated – I had pre-booked my seat before I left Melbourne – having picked a window seat at the back of the plane which had some extra space – a nice piece of planning I thought.
I had just got settled when I leant forward to get my book out of the pocket and the head rest fell off hitting me in the back!! A steward fixed it and said if there was any further problems they would move me to another seat as it was rather wobbly.
After take off I once again I leaned forward to get my inflight magazine and once again I was attacked by the headrest again! The steward when to locate a spare seat – unfortunately there were no window seats – so the only available spare seats were middle seats as I had no choice I picked one.
So I spent the next 12 hours crammed between to people playing leap frog every time I wanted to get up. So lesson learnt here is that on the 12 hour sleeping flight I want an aisle seat as leaping over sleeping people is not a fun activity
I had just got settled when I leant forward to get my book out of the pocket and the head rest fell off hitting me in the back!! A steward fixed it and said if there was any further problems they would move me to another seat as it was rather wobbly.
After take off I once again I leaned forward to get my inflight magazine and once again I was attacked by the headrest again! The steward when to locate a spare seat – unfortunately there were no window seats – so the only available spare seats were middle seats as I had no choice I picked one.
So I spent the next 12 hours crammed between to people playing leap frog every time I wanted to get up. So lesson learnt here is that on the 12 hour sleeping flight I want an aisle seat as leaping over sleeping people is not a fun activity
Hong Kong & an Angel
Perth to Hong Kong leg of my journey went smoothly. And I was blessed with an Angel of a seat companion named Tracey, who has an addiction to magazines and who having been through this trip a number of times was my happy guide through Hong Kong Airport.
Hong Kong Airport was an amazing experience – they have these darling little trolley’s – so cute and so useful when you have 3 hours to kill at the airport.
It was fun wandering around all the shops – their lollies are amazing to look. The Jewellery was amazing was very tempted as finally found a place where bracelets actually fit.
It was lovely to have Tracey for company both on the flight to Hong Kong & once we got there; she lives not far from London when she is the UK so we are planning to keep in touch and catch up again
Hong Kong Airport was an amazing experience – they have these darling little trolley’s – so cute and so useful when you have 3 hours to kill at the airport.
It was fun wandering around all the shops – their lollies are amazing to look. The Jewellery was amazing was very tempted as finally found a place where bracelets actually fit.
It was lovely to have Tracey for company both on the flight to Hong Kong & once we got there; she lives not far from London when she is the UK so we are planning to keep in touch and catch up again
Wednesday, 10 May 2006
UK here I come
after a round of lunches, coffee's (well hot chocolates actually), dancing and general relaxing around Perth - I'm off on the next leg of my travels - London - via 19 hours flying
Sunday, 7 May 2006
Book Capture!!!
Exciting news!!!
The third book I released through Bookcrossing has been captured and had an entry logged!!!
I recall seeing the lady pick up the book and wave it at the train when I released the book go here to read the story of it's capture.
I realised 2 more at Melbourne Airport on my way to Perth - wonder if they will manage to travel further a field
The third book I released through Bookcrossing has been captured and had an entry logged!!!
I recall seeing the lady pick up the book and wave it at the train when I released the book go here to read the story of it's capture.
I realised 2 more at Melbourne Airport on my way to Perth - wonder if they will manage to travel further a field
Perth here I am
After much umming and ahhing packing and repacking and forgeting of things arrived in Perth yesterday lunch time.
At the airport I was met by the delicious Louise and from there back to her house for an afternoon of nattering.
After a nanna nap it was time to go dancing!!! CerocPerth's Hawaiian Dance Party was on and there was dancing to be done.
It was fabulous to see everyone again and I had many lovely dances and chats.
Watching the dancing was great especially as Louise pointed with a Hawaiian theme is there is always so much more colour on the dance floor than other night - grass skirts, sarongs, lai's and hawaiian shirts of course.
At the airport I was met by the delicious Louise and from there back to her house for an afternoon of nattering.
After a nanna nap it was time to go dancing!!! CerocPerth's Hawaiian Dance Party was on and there was dancing to be done.
It was fabulous to see everyone again and I had many lovely dances and chats.
Watching the dancing was great especially as Louise pointed with a Hawaiian theme is there is always so much more colour on the dance floor than other night - grass skirts, sarongs, lai's and hawaiian shirts of course.
Snap Happy
bought a digital camera last thursday the very pretty and rather nifty Caplio R3
Haven't yet worked out how to drive it proberbly - but am very happy with it so far and have a couple of long flights to read the manual properly and learn how to really make it sing
Haven't yet worked out how to drive it proberbly - but am very happy with it so far and have a couple of long flights to read the manual properly and learn how to really make it sing
Friday, 5 May 2006
So long farewell
Had my last night of Melbourne dancing last night - which was a lot of fun and a bit sad as well. Shaun taught a fun beginners class - really nice routine which he followed up with an equally nifty intromediate class.
enjoyed getting lots of photos of all my Albert Park favourites - which I will share as soon as I can load them online.
Photos @ Kodak
enjoyed getting lots of photos of all my Albert Park favourites - which I will share as soon as I can load them online.
Photos @ Kodak
Wednesday, 3 May 2006
the count down begins
well time for the count down to begin - only 3 sleeps until I leave Melbourne!!!!!! First to sunny Perth and then to the UK - and the adventure that awaits me.
Finished work yesterday and have started packing today - and so far it's going pretty well - not sure that I will be saying the same on Saturday morning though ;)
Finished work yesterday and have started packing today - and so far it's going pretty well - not sure that I will be saying the same on Saturday morning though ;)
Thursday, 13 April 2006
Vrroom vrrroom
As the proud owner of an international drivers license I can now legally drive in 170 different countries.
However at this point I am completely unfluent in the language of approx 150 of those countries.
let the mayhem begin ;)
However at this point I am completely unfluent in the language of approx 150 of those countries.
let the mayhem begin ;)
Friday, 31 March 2006
Books can travel too
I love to read – you will rarely find me with out at least one book in my bag. This however poses a problem for prolonged travelling as I can’t bear not to have books to read – a bored Yli is not a pretty sight, but I like to keep them – have boxes and boxes of them in storage – the poor things – I’m sure they miss their sunny shelves in my spare room in Perth.
So to spare me many thousands of dollars in excess luggage I’ve come up with a 2 part solution – the first part is to buy cheap books to read. My local news agency is great for this they have stand with 3 books for $12.95 – cheaper than magazines or daily paper as a book will generally last me a week of commuting. And when I'm actually travelling well beggars can't be choosers.
The second part of the solution is to then release these books into the wild for others to enjoy.
If you’ve never heard of book releases this is were you leave (release) a book at a public place (the wild) for someone else to read, and if you register your book with Bookcrossing and leave it with a short note of explanation then you may even get to find out where you book travels to if the person goes to the website and adds to the books journal.
I’m doing my first book release today on my way home from work - will be interesting to see how far it will travel.
So to spare me many thousands of dollars in excess luggage I’ve come up with a 2 part solution – the first part is to buy cheap books to read. My local news agency is great for this they have stand with 3 books for $12.95 – cheaper than magazines or daily paper as a book will generally last me a week of commuting. And when I'm actually travelling well beggars can't be choosers.
The second part of the solution is to then release these books into the wild for others to enjoy.
If you’ve never heard of book releases this is were you leave (release) a book at a public place (the wild) for someone else to read, and if you register your book with Bookcrossing and leave it with a short note of explanation then you may even get to find out where you book travels to if the person goes to the website and adds to the books journal.
I’m doing my first book release today on my way home from work - will be interesting to see how far it will travel.
Monday, 20 March 2006
And a Mission is begun
One thing I have been warned of is the difficulties involved in obtaining a UK - based bank account – as I am intending to work legally while in the UK figured that I would get started on this sooner rather than later.
So having picked out a bank HSBC – attempted to ring my local branch – a 1300 number and 12 press this button prompts later I get to speak to a “REAL PERSON” - I had a very simple question – did I need to make an appointment to open a new account – either Australian or UK.
10 minutes later the answer was finally produced – no – I could just walk into the nearest branch and open a local account – but would have to brave the automated phone system *gulp* to open a UK account once my local account is open.
Now I just have to find (apparently they are somewhere on the website) and decipher the forms that I have to take with me to open the local account
So having picked out a bank HSBC – attempted to ring my local branch – a 1300 number and 12 press this button prompts later I get to speak to a “REAL PERSON” - I had a very simple question – did I need to make an appointment to open a new account – either Australian or UK.
10 minutes later the answer was finally produced – no – I could just walk into the nearest branch and open a local account – but would have to brave the automated phone system *gulp* to open a UK account once my local account is open.
Now I just have to find (apparently they are somewhere on the website) and decipher the forms that I have to take with me to open the local account
Monday, 6 March 2006
Full steam ahead and damn the luggage
Well there is no going back now - my ticket is now paid for in full!!
Now all I have to do is work out how to pack enough belongings to get me through a year of life and travels in the UK, Europe and beyond in 20kgs!
I long for a luggage of my own
Now all I have to do is work out how to pack enough belongings to get me through a year of life and travels in the UK, Europe and beyond in 20kgs!
I long for a luggage of my own
The Luggage had an elemental nature, absolutely no brain, a homicidal attitude towards anything that threatened it's master, and he wasn't quite sure that it's inside occupied the same space-time frame work as it's outside.
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