The year was 1991, it was summer, A Levels were over, and six Duke of Edinburgh candidates were out in the Lake District. We called ourselves the Lost Boys (Lost Boys DoE Gold.pdf : 2.9mb) but we obviously had sufficient sense of direction to find our way to the nearest pub. If nothing else, at least we had learned something! I went on to have friends at university who had taken their expeditions way too seriously and were horrified by the idea of pubs, National Trust campsites with shower facilities, and ice-cream vans. Generally speaking, I think we had the right idea. I'm sure HRH Phil would have approved.
I've also clearly been spending too much time with @stevenhorner (stevenhorner.com) and am slowly realising how much I have missed fell walking. So, having come to the conclusion that (amongst other things) I'd like to walk all the Wainwrights, all 214 of them, it seemed like a good idea to dig out these expedition notes. I have the original maps with route pencilled in, and will get it into a GPX file, eventually.
In the meantime, here is the expedition summary, from myself and AJ! I scanned some additional photos and tagged them onto the back of the report. Quality is not great, but I zapped a couple through Photoshop to give them a bit more oomph - which helps a bit. CLICK HERE for a link to my Flickr photostream.
Was just listening to Radcliffe and Maconie in the kitchen, in another desperate bid to avoid the mind numbing, IQ draining banality of ITV's Britain Loves Losers, and heard some amusing white lies on their phone in. These are all along the lines of Great Lies to Tell Small Kids, which includes such gems as "When I was your age Weetabix came in eight different shapes!"
1. The man who told his children that his hair was "blown off" by a sneezing cow. 2. The father who had always refused to buy sweets at the garage because he claimed they tasted of petrol. 3. The suggestion that snooker referees only wear white gloves because the TV lights make the balls too hot to handle. 4. And the extraordinary (and possibly true) claim that Bruce Forsyth invented the potato wedge.
It's a really good show, Radcliffe and Maconie - don't really listen to it as much as I should. Good variety of quality music and always amusing banter between the two presenters.
Was just reminded of this video, while looking at The Long Now. The Long Now Foundation was established in 01996 and hopes to provide counterpoint to today's "faster/cheaper" mind set and promote "slower/better" thinking.
Bit of a jump in logic now, but in a talk on TED Kirk Citron discussed his Long News project, looking at items of news that will "matter" in 50, 100, or 10000 years time; Obama's presidency was mentioned. Which reminded me of this video, heavily featured in No Agenda, in the morning! A few of the copies of this on YouTube have been taken down - due to a "terms of use violation". But of course!
"I will promise you this, that if we have not gotten our troops out by the time I am president, it is the first thing I will do. I will get our troops home. We will bring an end to this war. You can take that to the bank." Barack Obama Campaign Promise - October 27, 2007
"There are over 550 million firearms in worlwide circulation. That's one firearm for every twelve people on the planet. The only question is, how do we arm the other eleven?"
Amazing intro sequence from "The Lord of War" with Nicolas Cage.
Looking at the media in the year 2010, you might as well read The Onion; their news is as accurate and useful as you'll get in the mainstream press, if not more so! Discovered this from a clip on No Agenda. Go to: NoAgendaShow.com
Well worth a watch as it's a very funny clip, but also a very perceptive parody of exactly the sort of inane reporting we've come to expect from the mainstream media. After checking out the video below, if you care at all about the safety of your family, you owe it to yourself to also follow this link: Boy's tragic death could have happened to any family with a 20 foot pet python.
