Davy Crockett

Further to John's comments across at Walkabout/UK:

There's Atkoman continually stretching the bounds within his weblog trying out new ideas and fiddling with a variety of media and ideas. Checking the route out.

I couldn't resist tampering with a photo of mine, as I do like the old ILN style from the 19th century, and woodcuts are just the bees knees.

So, never one to let the moss grow under my feet, and as it is more difficult to hit a moving target, here is a very poor introduction to me trying out the new microphone. I now know what I have to fix (e.g. my delivery), so the next one should be better.

Manuscript available here.

Nothing serious, I just want to add another string to my bow. Or 'trailblaze' if you will.

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Almost forgot. Got a 50p piece in my change today with a VC stamped on the reverse. I was quite taken aback, and my mind was cast back to the heroes who have received the real one. [there is a website about 50p's]

It was also good news today for the Gurkhas serving in the British Army [BBC News]. They secured a pension deal that puts them on a comparable basis with the other units fighting and training alongside them. But the good news doesn't apply to those who retired before 1997.

Harvest Dreams

Out to Bennachie again for the regular - can I class it as regular if this was only the 2nd weekly climb? Accompanied this week by Paul/Oot. Caught the sun on the way back. Talk turned to dSLRs as we both got our wee cameras out.

And we turn to say a fond fairwell to Bennachie. Will we ever see its like again?

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Getting to hear "Open Country" on Radio 4 on my drive back from Peterhead on Thursdays. Good program. Random parts of the country, so you never know where, or what the outdoor theme would be. Today's was about Assynt, and included memories of the training of the mini-subs that would go after the Tirpitz in WW2. You must have seen the movie!

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Rapal on BBC2 Alba featured "Our Small Capital" tonight. Links here to their MySpace page which includes music, blog and much much more.

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Darren's creating the news and calling them "scoops" - he'll go far in journalism. And over to Darren in the studio.

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Wrapping up my PacerPole section to send back to the hosPOLEtil to get fixed. Boom tish.

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Mike's been blogging about the new movie. They've been killing Grubbit in weird and wonderful ways.

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Two-Heel Drive's blog raises the Bill Bryson movie project again. It'd be good to see, but I think I'd prefer a documentary (or Second Life version?).

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Picked up a microphone, stand and pop filters from Maplins today on the way out to the Benn'. For a secret project.

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From Indian Queens to heading up Brown Willy, Alan Sloman's now reached Launceston. On the subject of camp humour, sad to hear that John Inman died in hospital today.

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That's the "Native American Legends" album almost finished. I'm talking requests for the next genre?

Trail: April 2007

April's "Trail" magazine came through a tear in the space-time continuum back to March.

• Sad article about people escaping from Tibet, and the reports on the plight of exiles mentioned in the International Campaign for Tibet's "Dangerous Crossings" 2006 update (available soon).
• The 6 of the Best..Sleep Mats has fun "get it/snub it" comments. Thought the price of the ME Fusion looked too good to be true at £6. Out by a factor of 10.
• As ever, the sense of recognition is a good thing. So enjoyed reading the "Hill Zen: The distance check".
• The main article is "The Trail 100. The finest UK mountains, the best ranges, one list." Well, I'm at 3% just now. Ben Macdui, Lochnagar, Ben Hope.
• The knowledge - as ever, this has lots of information .
• "My inspiration" is an inspired article and should get people thinking of their own heroes and people who inspired/inspire us. And you can view some of the interviews on YouTube too.
• Gear reviews are on footwear. 3-season boots; multi-activity shoes; trail-running shoes; kids' boots; sandals.
• Fitness academy is on scrambling this month. I'll read this in detail later, as Trail's given me good information in the past about overcoming "confidence demons".
• Range guide: Langdale Giants. Routes: wild walks.
• Mountain connections: I've yet to find one I'm interested in. IMHO, bring back the 15 Things, or something better.

Link to magazine site; forum; YouTube.

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Off phone with nice lady from the mobile phone company. Free upgrade to the k800i - 3.2mp camera. Oh, and all the other bits and pieces. Not been worth trying photo-blogging on the k750i as 'only' 2mp. But will be worth giving it a go for the SUW. Also, the old phone's battery has not been lasting as long as before.

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Getting tempted seriously tempted by the "The Backpackers Club AGM & TGO Ultralight Fest" in late April. I'll need to look into accommodation and getting there and back again. With more traders going, it looks like a fun gearfest. If the worst comes to the worst, I could drive down, wildcamp, head into town, tab it round some nice terrain, reive some cattle and head back north. Sorry, I was born in Dumfries, and some traditions are hard to break.
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Good call, WeirdDarren. He found that the US Army had been testing water filter systems. Reported here by the "US Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine"

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And if you though WD's article on plastic bags was detailed, then read this by Jim Wood on keeping your gear dry. I've written less words in degree submissions! Cracking stuff.

I Love it When a Plan Comes Together

So, Weird Darren's got his press pass. Well done.
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Spent my lunch break with my investigating feet on, planning the most difficult parts of the SUW. Getting to Portpatrick, and back from Cockburnspath.
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Got a request in for a condensor mike from out wonderful Multimedia Support team. Bob's given me a plan. A plan so cunning that you could stick a tail on it and call it a fox.

I Ain't Getting on No Plane, Foo

If John Hee is BA, can I be Murdock?

Like A Snake

Darren's hit a snag with his press pass in to TOS and asked for help.

[sfx]

If you cannot get something from Cameron or Bob, or one of the old/new media folks on OM, then perhaps AktoMan Press Baron could help out? Though I note the following from the MCC's regulations, which may be similar (or a tad more stringent) to that for the TOS:

For freelancers, MCC may request in support of your application a letter of assignment on official letterhead of the media organisation for which you will be working. In addition, you may be asked to submit two recently published articles (print media), recordings of two recent reports (radio and TV media), a letter from a broadcast organization which intends to air your work (independent TV production companies), original tear sheets and photos with credits of the issuing organisation (photographers), or three recently published articles with your byline (online media). Please be prepared to provide the required materials to MCC's Press & Public Affairs Officer in advance of your pass being issued.

Let me know if there's anything I can do to help, WD. Getting bloggers in is the quickest way to hear about the new shiny gear.

Cry For Rain

Outdoors shop, Blacks, is closing stores in the UK. Profit drops warning as sales were quoted as 6% down at the end of 2006 [Source: BBC News] The majority of stores being closed will be those trading as Millets, reports The Scotsman. People are reporting sales in such stores. Maybe that was how I got the 50% discount on the Columbia jacket and trousers two Thursdays ago.

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BBC re-showing "The Trees That Made Britain". Then the excellent "Nation on Film". Channel 4 has a programme called "Greenwash" about the statistics and 'facts' being given out. IMHO: any reasonable project that cuts down our reliance on non-renewables is worth serious consideration.

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Wind's getting up.

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Added http://www.freezerbagcooking.com/myblog.htm to my blog-roll. I think the blog is mainly Sarah Svien's work, as there's no mention of Kirk. I first heard of Sarah's book on a PracticalBackpacking Podcast (episode 3) which I had on my mobile phone at Geldie Lodge in the Cairngorms NP.

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Alan Sloman's made it to Truro.

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Gulp - got a comment from Cameron McNeish! I feel like I should be kowtowing. Wow. Having perused the magazine, I'm back at the stage of reading articles in detail. I'm at the stage of fighting intuition. My intuition just wants to roll back onto the safety of the couch and watch re-runs of Star Trek. My intuition says, rain is cold and wet, the car is warm and dry.

I like the philosophical take, but I don't know enough beyond the pop culture. I have Rousseau's "Social Contract" at work but haven't read it; and Hobbes "Leviathan" is kicking around somewhere.

I still can't get into the 'spiritual' side of things, as Cameron is oft to write about and mentions on his recent podcast. I appreciate the majesty of the surroundings, and the aeons of a geological age, or that our forefathers and fifthmothers lived and worked in these surroundings instead of just surviving. But I fail to achieve the spiritual connection. My loss, perhaps, as I've never smelt lavender in rooms in castles, or had the prickly feeling of a ghostly encounter beyond that of my own lively imagination.

Appreciate: yes. Understand: hopefully. Empathise: ditto. Stare in wonderment at how ancestors achieved such beauty or feats of endurance without power tools or motor transport: heck, yes. But to connect on some esoteric, spiritual level: I'm afraid not. My loss.

The Caller

After a call from Bob Cartwright, before he was dragged of for his supper, here's some info that came up in the chat.

Blog Stats (from Google Analysis):

For the period 14 February 2007-28 February 2007

• Visits: 998
• Pageviews 1,504 (1,039 for the main page)
• Returning visitors: 59.82%
• New visitors: 40.18%
• Countries outside the UK: 7 (see below for unreliability)
• Average time spent on the main page: 5 minutes 54 seconds.
• Referrers from: other bloggers: 406 (40.68%). OM: 170. Direct: 237. Search engines/other: 185.

Reliability of the figures was mentioned before, and I can see that the geographical analysis is not reliable, as I can see people appear on the map as I go through a daily view, but they do not appear on the monthly summary. Of course, if one set of figures is shown to be unreliable, can the rest be trusted? But I'm not running an ad campaign, so what the heck.

For the last few days in March, there has been 224 visits. So, over the 1,000 mark in less than a month of the site stats being available.

There's a helloes going out to Chandra in India (the first deity to drop by), Eureka in The Transvaal, Fiorito in Argentina. In Canada, Halifax (got to keep the emigre's happy), and Saskatoon. Oops, almost made the faux pas of pushing Sidney down into the USA. Map's not too clear.

In the USA: Seattle on the west coast; Milwaukee, Lansing, Lexington, Canton (sing the song), Greenway, Warwick, Syracuse, New Haven.

In the EU: Sandnes (Norway), Bleiswijk (The Netherlands), Eschweiler, Bad Camberg, Munich/Munchen, Cologne/Koln, Wolfenbüttel, Berlin, Querfurt.

Japan's had a whole section to itself. And I'm still not giving out details of the 7 visits from China.

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Podcasts that I have on my iPod:

• "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" Audiobook
• AllAboutMiniatures Podcast
• APM: A Prairie Home Companion's News from Lake Wobegon
• Backpacker Trail Tours
• Backpacking Light Magazine
• Backpackinglight Audio Interviews
• Civil War Tours
• CS 61C - Spring 2007: Machine Structures
• Digital Photography Tips From The Top Floor
• free buddhist audio
• IDS 110 - Spring 2007: Introduction to Computers
• indigenouspeoples's Podcast
• JapanesePod101.com | Learn Japanese (Audio)
• Learn To Meditate - Meditation Classes
• net@nite
• Photoshop TV
• Plato - The Republic
• Practical Backpacking™ Podcast
• Pulse of the Planet Podcasts!
• Security Now!
• SETT - The Scottish Learning Festival
• Tai Chi For Well-Being
• The Brickfilms.com Podcast
• The Essays of Ralph Waldo Emerson Podcast
• The Outdoors Station - Audio
• The Outdoors Station - Video
• The Philosophy Podcast
• the tartanpodcast
• The WildeBeat
• The Wonderful Wizard of Oz - A Podiobooks.com production
• this WEEK in LAW
• this WEEK in TECH - MP3 Edition
• TWiT Video
• What's Happening In Tokyo
• Windows Weekly with Paul Thurrott

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I keep forgetting that Radio Scotland has an outdoors show, called "Out of Doors", on a Saturday morning. There's a 'listen again' feature.

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Walkabout/UK's written some more musings on the "UK Walking Blogging & Podcasts" scene. Here's my comment:

I tend to wimp out on negative reviews. I have sleeping bags that were good at the time, but not the best now I'm travelling lighter and with a smaller pack.

Shame I can't get down to Birmingham to see all that shiny new gear.

As to the new media, heck, look at all the things we humans can do with a sheet of paper. I look forward to seeing what we can do with this huge Internet (which deserves the capital 'I').

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And just when I'm about to call it quits for the night, Cameron McNeish has a new podcast available on his blog. Walking in the Cairngorms, including where we were on the winter skills course last weekend.

Black Sheep

Just when you think you've seen everything, there's this. Be afraid, be very afraid. Don't watch it before going wildcamping in Scotland.

As I used to help out with the sheep when I was younger, I know how violent rams can be. I also recall noticing that one of the ewes had escaped, so lifted her back over the fence on my way down to the school bus - only for her to tag me with a dose of the trots down my school trousers.

Sheep aren't stupid, if there was a hole in the fence anywhere on the croft, they'd find it and be out.

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Some fun photos of Inverpolly can be found at Gosney.plus.com - the index has links to other photos too. Canoeing and climbing peaks. I liked the photo of the portage.

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More GITS stuff - found a pile of clips at this tv station.

Ooh, lyrics to the songs too.

TWiT 89

Been listening to the new media discussion at This Week in Tech, TWiT 89: The Future is in Your Hands.

Links mentioned in the podcast are listed on the page above.

Joi Ito was mentioned. Also Second Life, hmm, I wonder if people go Munro-bagging there?

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I resisted the temptation to add this widget to the blog. Also, the label cloud just didn't look useful in the small space available in the sidebar, so I omitted it from this afternoon's revisions.

Lithium Flower

Just updating the site layout to 'layouts' (I hate the smell of XML in the morning, it smells of yet another Tower of Babel). What do I notice, but a visit from Nishinomiya, across in Japan. Another good excuse to play my "Ghost in the Shell" tracks, and congratulate Japan for producing not only the movies but the Stand Alone Complex tv show.

I even ended up buying "Flowers for Algernon" based on seeing one of the Tachikoma reading the book.

• Manga site
• Behind the scenes at Production I.G
• Wikipedia info

Kusanagi is just so...well animated. The picture of her in the closing credits of series 1 could have graced the cover of FHM.

Anyway, on the wiki-write-up on Nishinomya, I notice that sake accounts for 24.3% of food production there. Keep up the good work folks. Especially as I ran out of my last bottle on Friday night. Personally, I blame Stan Sakai for introducing me to sake, that and a great oriental supermarket in Aberdeen.

TOS: The Outdoors Show 2007 Preview

Just listened to the latest BobCast. Don't be put off if, like me, you're not going to The Outdoor Show down in Birmingham later this month. The podcast also includes conversations on women in the outdoors, new gear with built-in electronics (Sprayway's PTT jacket), and a thrilling chat with speaker Baz Roberts including - how he dealt with a polar bear, and advice on trekking in China.

Lets see if my attempt at encoding the MP3 player works (if not, here's the link to TOS):

The OS Outdoors Show

MP3 File

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I'm off to buy a cheap 2nd hand Leatherman Squirt S4 from eBay. Why? Because I'm worth it.

Eye of the Sun

Spent an hour down the beach with Mike snapping shots of the lunar eclipse. GIF animation came out pants, so dropped it into YouTube as an AVI file to see if the compression gives better results.

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Found an online copy of "On The Hill" here. Seems to be a squaddy mountain rescue service newsletter. First I've heard of it. Looks very informative and entertaining. And more info here.

A bit of digging, and I find reference at the home of RAF Mountain Rescue. With a photo gallery, song lyrics, and reports of rescues, this looks like one to add to the list of sites to spend time on rather than browsing.

Their blog can be found at http://rafmountainrescue.blogspot.com/.

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Mike starts filming his new movie on Monday. He's keeping a blog of the production, and making the making of the movie. An alternative take on it can be followed at Grubbit's blog.

LOL - I like the fact that Grubb's already blogged that he failed to find us down the beach taking photos of the eclipse, got cold and went home.

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I was doing some paperwork on Saturday, and realised it is just less than 4 weeks to go until the Easter break. I need to get a move on planning my Southern Upland Way. That's the reason things like a bivvy bag, a seized pole joint, and eating healthily become important. Also getting in a pile of overwork to clear the decks at work. Also getting a list of bothies en route. Next I'll need to open the official guidebook I got a few weeks ago.

I have read Ronald Turnbull's "Across Scotland on Foot", Another fine read from the absurdly romantic Mr Turnbull. 6 trans-Scotland walks in one book (plus a trans-Mull), plus all the background info and advice.

I must admit that this was the first time I visited Ronald's site. It won't be the last time.

Just noticed there's a Gurkha book about the SUW: "Gurkha Reiver: Walking the Southern Upland Way". I got a present of one at Christmas. Excellent read, and a reminder of these hardy young chaps coming to join the British Army. I never did find out if the story I was told about the Gurkha paratroopers was true.

The British army is evaluating the feasibility of creating a Gurkha paratroop unit. So a party of Gurkhas are take up in a Hercules. "So, chaps,", asks the OIC, "what do you think of jumping out of this aircraft?". After some worried looks, and a huddled conversation in Nepali, the WO replies "Sir, if you could just fly a bit nearer the ground, we'll give it a go." The officer then realised that no-one had mentioned parachutes to them.

Anyway, I've just marked the Southern Upland Partnership site for a raid.

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Walkabout/UK's written some more musings on the "UK Walking Blogging & Podcasts" scene. Here's my comment:

I don't do gear tests, and don't review gear (can't afford it, amn't an expert), and certainly don't want manufacturers beating a legal path to my door. Ditto with people.

Even when I do mention (blog or OM) that something works for me, I'm not pushing gear to extremes as I only encounter the conditions that I am walking in, and don't go out of my way to look for some condition to test a product.

I keep a 'weblog', not a magazine or newspaper column. It is a 'log' of my thoughts, and findings, and happenings that affect the outdoors part of my self. I can be honest within the spirit of the law (criminal, civil and employment).

If people read and get something out of the blog, then great. But I do not write to entertain or educate, but to share information. A blog allows people, amongst other things, to release information into the blogosphere.

People have been doing this in one form or another for years. Journals, editorials, etc are nothing new.

As to the format of blogs. Well, "blog your own blog", say I. like any other form of media, blog writers can experiment with different styles, and the blog format allows for a reasonable variety of styles within it.

Personally, I'm enjoying tinkering with the whole new media thing. But that's just me.

So, dear reader, expect more tinkering with formats here.

Back on Station

Bob's The Outdoors Station is back. Looks shiny. I'm off for a nosey round.

Flying Eagle

Further to the comments on Cameron McNeish's blog, and thanks to Simon for pointing out this link: BBC Photos

Looks stunning. I look forward to seeing the whole thing on our screens (or YouTube).

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Alan Sloman's long distance pub crawl ... I mean, walk, continues. LOL. What a guy. I look forward to seeing the photos.

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Total lunar eclipse tonight, starting at 2018GMT, fully visible in the UK (if cloud-free). That's at night, not daytime. BBC info.

Crying Rabbit

Stopped off at Sainsbury's on the way back from the PO Sorting Office this morning. Ostensibly to look for a dehydrator as they stock the Tchibo range. No joy, but found that they have the "Look what we found!" range of ready-real-meals. Sampling the venison sausages for breakfast, I wouldn't class it as a meal. As a large lad, I reckon it is more of a snack.

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Five's "The Gadget Show" tested mp3 covers for iPods. The Otterbox came out well. Details on their page. A bit lost on me, as I don't take my iPod out on the hills. I took the wee stick-mp3 player a couple of times, but prefer the solar-powered radio. Or a book. Or my own thoughts as I look over a stunning view, listening to the local wildlife. If you need to carry in a full opera company, you're not trying hard enough. But each to their own.

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Lower Pacerpole section definitely jammed, so I'll contact them to return for a repair. I don't know my own strength sometimes.

I'm off to crush a grape.

Night Song

Cameron Mcneish's diary entry about artists and mountains is worthy of a read (as usual). By coincidence, I heard a Radio 4 programme from The Wordsworth Trust library at Dove Cottage. Poems were being read by local lad, Ian McKellen, in the local accent. I caught the BBC series a couple of years back (IIRC) on The Romantics. It blew me away. Revolutionaries.

I used the series with my students. Grab a verse from a poem, and animate it in PowerPoint (or whatever prog we're using). Reactions often change as they read words written 200 years ago that express emotions that they too recognise. "So this kid doesn't want to be in school either?", realised one lad after asking what a "bower" was.

The mountain art on Skye looked atmospheric and reminded me of seeing recordings of Aida being played near the Great Pyramids. I'm not sure that lowering opera singers off the cliffs of St Kilda will be remembered in 200 years time, but each to their own. But is it not cheating if the folk can't get down themselves? No doubt there'll be a series of programmes on BBC4 (or YouTube) about it in future.

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Finally got round to joining the Mountain Bothies Association. Costing all of £15 for the year, it is well worth it for the shelter they provide, and the warm sense of delight that such an association still exists in these days of cynicism and self-centred anarchy.

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I hope this isn't an indication that the sultry-sounding Rose is letting herself go...

"For legs, underarm bikini line etc." [source]

There I was, seeing what else I might 'need' to get from BPL.co.uk, and noticed that 'eat shoots and leaves' moment.

Rab Survival Zone bivvy bag (described as a "sleeping bag cover") and travel-razor ordered.

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Not only was it being sported at the OM Meet last weekend, but Mont-Bell got (another?) mention in TGO this month. I'll need to have a nosie round their site. As I can barely write "Totoro" in kanji, I'll have to use the English version.

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Channel 4 are starting a series today about survival, called "Born Survivor: Bear Grylls". I'll give it a watch and see if it is worth giving up an hour of my life to be educated in surviving in the jungles of Costa Rica. The gent has been in the UK Special Forces, climbed Everest after breaking his back in a parachuting accident, and explored the Arctic. Golly. That's some list of credentials.

BBC1 are starting a new series of "Castaway". In New Zealand this time. I have some painting to watch instead.

Now...why not combine the two, and have a real "castaway" with survival experts. And guns...sorry, Battle Royale slipped in there.

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Bored with reggae, I've switched to "Native American Legends". I note with interest that there is a 3-cd version too.

On my iPod, I have Michael "Kickingbear" Johnson's podcast, "Indigenous Peoples Music". He has a mix of audio and video, and a selection of modern and traditional Native American music and related interviews. Link to Kickingbear's blog. I'd love to see the video he produced of Schemitzun. I'll have to make do with YouTube for now.

Good Thing Going

I caught some of the radio shows by Garrison Keillor on BBC7. Some of his work is now in the form of podcasts "APM: A Prairie Home Companion's News from Lake Wobegon". Excellent stuff about growing up in Minnesota, on the edge of the prairie.

Current news can be found at "A Prairie Home Companion".

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Although I have difficulty telling the difference between morning and evening, I note with interest that my comments recently about old and new media are coming true, as the BBC signs a deal with YouTube.

So, the BBC are spending public money on attracting people to watch Doctor Who? I didn't realise that people who were interested in watching it had missed it.

Or getting more people to watch the antics of Russell Brand. Yup, if you hadn't caught Russell Brand, you can see him on YouTube. Paid for by licence-payers' money. Huzzah!

• BBC Channel
• BBC Worldwide

At the moment, for me, the best clips (and yes, they are 'clips') are the Sir David Attenborough natural programmes. And so, in one bound, the lumbering giant that is the BBC dilutes its quality programmes even more. I say that as I cannot receive BBC4. So, I switch off the tv and work on my PC, or listen to the radio, or read. I often ponder why I pay a licence fee for programmes that I cannot view. When I get round to it, I'll investigate watching programmes via broadband. I cannot be bothered paying even more money to receive a public broadcast.

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Tonight I am mainly looking at bivvi/bivvy/bivy bags.

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Alan Kimber's photos are as gulp-inducing as ever. Wow!

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I was getting worried that Alan hadn't posted today, but there he is now. I'm off to read his trek-log (trog). Thanks, Alan (thalan).

Long Day Ahead

You know it is going to be a long day when I've been insulted twice by the radio before breakfast.

One

Some wind-factory pro-ponent company man on the Today programme (approx 0650AM) saying:

• "lowest approval rate for wind farms ever"
• "stuck in the planning system"
• "tiny minority"
• "very vociferous minority"
• "lucky to have the greatest support of any generation consistently 80% of the public support wind farms"
• "why is this tiny minority dedicating their life and resources to actually opposing wind farms"
• "strongest advocates of wind power are those that live by existing operating wind farms"
• "make the planning system accountable and make it deliver"

Issues are that they need 25% of the plans to be granted in 2007 or else their industry won't meet the government targets for 2010. The chap said that only onshore wind factories can do that.

I've stated my thoughts on this before, so it'll be interesting to see the government change the planning laws to over-rule local objections. Nice to live in a democracy, isn't it?

Two

Some sexist advert on commercial radio for a telephone directory enquiries service asking me to call them and say "help I'm a man, it's mother's day, what do I do?"

TGO: April 2007

Recording is so much quicker than typing.

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And in other news: Kate got mentioned in the Galloway MRT incident report. Although she reports that she walked out. Either way, glad that she's okay, and I hope the nose doesn't take too long to heal.
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The gremlinz get a mention in another blog.
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New extreme sports centre in Aberdeen doesn't appear to be open yet.
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FJ pointed a blog out to me by a former Mountie in Canada. "The House & other Arctic musings". He runs a B&B in the wonderfully named Arctic Bay.
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Alan Sloman's trek seems to have started as a good food guide. What a guy! If I could spell nonshalaunt, I'd probably use that word.

Bennachie 010307

55 mins to get to trig point from Rowan Tree Car Park.

Too windy to hang around on summit.

Back down to fort to wait for a mate who travelled out from town later than me. Sat and ate gorp and drank water as the hailstones passed, sheltered in the walls of the iron-age fort.

Test

Test

Women in Love

Alan Sloman's off in a hotel in Cornwall. Start his trek north tomorrow. He's increased his charity target sum to £3,500 as he had already filled his previous target. Already his hotel critique has a ring of the Bill Bailey about it, just don't get drawn into mentioning trouser presses (Corby or otherwise).

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Got Bearded Git's and Andy Howell's blogs RSS feed in to Google.Reader. No comments, which is a shame.

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Got sent a YouTube feed of the old CalMac ferry, "Suilven", hitting choppy weather down in the Antipodes. Takes me back, that does to crossings on the Minch.

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Thanks to some nice scripting from Digital Inspiration, there's now a link to Google-Translate in the sidebar. Which is nice. You can test the translator on this:

Wha, for Scotland's King and Law,
Freedom's sword will strongly draw,
Free-man stand, or Free-man fa',
Let him on wi' me! ..

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Title refers to the Olly Reed/Alan Bates slap-a-thon I failed to get started between Weird Darren and John Hee. All about who scooped the Cameron McNeish blog news.

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Off to look out head torches for tomorrow, when I drag myself up Bennachie; also waterproofs. So far I've only eaten health foods this week. Except for some biscuits. Many fruit and veg. The goats cheese doesn't bring on my migraines, so it was strange eating cheese rolls, as I tend not to bother with such things.

OM Events Calendar

A calendar of outdoors-related events can now be found here on the OutdoorsMagic site. Hopefully it is something that will run and run.

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Oh, and the famous Cameron McNeish is now on the blogosphere. I wasn't going to mention it, as John Hee pipped this notice by a few hours (that's a lifetime, in the blog-time continuum).

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Nice to see 3 of Bob's podcast shows getting rated in the top ten under "travel" at Podcast Nation.

(Cue the music)

Here's the countdown from 8 to 6, pod-pickers. At number 8 "The Outdoors Station - Video", number 7 "The Outdoors Station - Audio", and number 6 "Gap Year Light". That's a hat trick for Bob's casting network. Well done.

I like to move it

Playing around with Google.Reader, as it will save me clicking through the sidebars on my blog to open all the other blogs. It seems to only work on RSS feeds, so no Andy Howell at the moment, nor Bearded Git's blog. I'll see how it works.

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I've changed the 'clustrmap' in the margin to report on visitor locations daily rather than weekly (which is why it has been looking empty recently).

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For those who care, the current blog entry titles are being pseudo-randomly chosen from the "Reggae Massive" double album. If blogging is the new rock and roll, can I be Mr Boombastic?

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Google Analytics info:

Weekly visits for last 7 days: 468, with 707 pages viewed. Returning visitors accounting for 64.96% of readers.

Overseas visitors:

• Canada: Winnipeg
• USA: Seattle, La Quinta, Los Angeles, Schaumburg, Canton (sing that song, folks!), King City, Tucker (welcome back), Washington, New Haven, Warwick.
• EU (ex-UK): Saint-Gobain, Bonn, Markt Schwaben, Fellstrand, Sandnes.

(Singingz in your headz going "Naw go laba laba and a chat pure phart")

Living on the Frontline

I've been playing around with the Sign Generator

The Adventure Show: 26 February

Main feature from the Strathpuffer 2007 mountain bike race. Bits that interested me were:

"The Spot" - with Hostile Habitats, editors Mark Wrightham, Nick Kempe and author Stuart Benn, and how the many authors helped "put together a more holistic picture of the mountain environment".

"plants...tell you something about the processes taking place in mountain...like taking the pulse of the mountain environment."

"Wild Life" discussed red deer, ptarmigan and mountain hare whilst being out in the snow in Creag Meagaidh National Nature Reserve.

"The Spot" - up in the hills, ice climbing, with organisers of the Fort William Mountain Festival. There they discussed the festival, and also gave advice to competitors.

"The Beta" - Chris Townsend discusses smocks and jackets for wearing during the Scottish winter. Also, gave advice on what to look for when buying.

On a Ragga Tip

Monday just blew by. A change is as good as a rest. Thanks to Simon and Kev for emails.

My media empire continues to grow, getting a letter read out in "All about Miniatures" podcast nr 7. Interesting discussion from Americans having difficulty knowing the difference between England and Britain. LOL - nice to they honestly admit they have a problem! Good listen if you play figure wargames.

Off to do a healthy shop, and fast-forward through "The Adventure Show".

Oh, prog on BBC2 Alba, this Thursday about blogging:

• Cuairt Nam Blog 6:30pm - 7:00pm BBC2 Scotland VIDEO Plus+: 71

More photos from the weekend can be found at The Boy Hope's gallery. This was on the same day as the time I was up on the snow, but look at the lack of snow in most of the shots.

Also he has a photo of the "killer ducks" at Loch Morlich. I saw them on Sunday, but they didn't risk approaching me in the mood I was in.

On the dock of the bay

2 gear shops later and i'm a happier bunny. Chap in ellis-brigham gave me some spare rope so i can practice knots. That was all i needed in the shops. Everything else is me. Not a 'wannabe', but a 'gonnabe'. Bought a pile of fruit in Tescos. Like the Uistman said yesterday, "you've got to throw yourself into life". I've lost track of that, as i skite from one project to another.

25-Feb-07 13:31

Clouds across the moon

No excuses. No sympathy. No platitudes. I couldn't even enjoy the forest walk. Got to loch and put on a brew to cheer myself up. Makings left back at lodge. Prat! Drank hot water and ate one of Max's tunnock's biscuits. Thought about things and life's issues, then started heading back to lodge. There's more to me than this blog can say. And there are lots of things i stop myself from writing. Sorry if that means i come across as anything other than 'me'. Low clouds. Weather aping my mood.


25-Feb-07 11:18

Sunday bloody Sunday

Yesterday i realised i wasn't hill fit and decided i wouldn't go out on day 2 of the course. I learnt tons o things yesterday and have lots more confidence. I've had a great time and meeting people from OM has shown me the standards i must aim for. It's not motivation i lack, but purely fitness. Tabbing it round loch morlich by forest paths today, then back to Aberdeen. It is raining.


25-Feb-07 09:25

Shaun of the Dead

I am shattered. Good night folks. (boing)

24-Feb-07 22:32

I am the walrus

What a day. Iain and Kirsten (sp?) excellent. I owe them a public apology for the harness issue. I am sorry for not mentioning it. I should have phoned Iain and asked. Sorry. Dave, sorry for any stress that this may have brought you. Sherry, stuart, john and myself are off for a treat in Aviemore. Outside Tescos. Feels warm

--Media added later--

Back to life

Sorry. Slept through alarm. Others in the building didn't

I am the eggman

In kitchen at barad-ur lodge. All friendly. All warm. I get greeted as the person who cheered up bob scott's bothy. Dave looking into harness with the instructors. Malt beckons. Kate looks bigger in real life. Oot is grand, i'm too big for his harness.

Aviemore

Stopping in shop to get snacks. Forgot to take plastic bags to recycle.

Blork Blork

In a very recent podcast, Bob Cartwright asks "Is Alan Sloman the UK's First Blorker?" (podcast page).

Alan Sloman's walk starts very soon, please sponsor him. If you don't know why he is doing this, please listen to the interview and read his site.

The podcast elaborates more on the novelty of Alan's effort "He is the first UK blogging walker on such a trip", and the podcast interview then expands on the challenge that this gentleman is undertaking.

I'll certainly be following his trek online. As well as donating to the cause.

(we're in your head, singing hiking songs to you in the dark)

Rage against the machine

Tescos danestone in Aberdeen. Open 24hrs. Except just now, as they are building another extension to it. There is a note by the door as you go in. I had 10mins to get odds n sods for the weekend. No chance. I leave my trolly with 1 item in it and save myself the pressure. Although now closed, there's a lot of people still heading into the well- lit shop of dreams.

CinqSport:Aberdeen

Invented the "CinqSport challenge" - hitting 5 outdoor shops in Aberdeen in 2 hours. Although I picked up (i.e. bought) gear for the weekend, no-one stocked an XXL climbing harness.

Rushing around now after heading back to work to get some paperwork caught up with.

Location: Badaguish. Instructors: Kendal Mountaineering Services.

Point of note: people shouldn't use terms like "MIA" and "The deadman" without explaining fully what they mean. Nervous people like me might get the wrong impression ;-)

Weird Darren (sans buff) is re-assuring me with words, links and a photo on his blog, here.

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Speaking of WD, he noticed the "Best of Brit Blog Awards 2007", from Metro.co.uk [link]. This is not the Bloggies, which is organised differently.

So, go find and vote for your favourite UK blog folks. Now, I reckon hiking blogs are under "travel". But the split of opinions has caused people problems in the past IIRC.

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Dave just off the phone discussing solutions to my harness problem. Hmm - no giggling at the back there. I'm off to check late shopping times, and post a 'help' note on OM.

(we're your metro, turning up the hiss on everyone elses' earphones)

You know you're getting old

When a student asked, honestly: were you in Vietnam?

We're going to need a bigger boat

Landed a place on an OM Winter Skills course. Yeah!

Then the gulp of realisation and the knotted stomach of mindedness.

The problem with trying to get out of one's comfort zone is that it is so darned comfortable in the zone.

More later. I'm off to change my trousers. Now then, Coire An–t Sneachda ... where have I heard that name before??

The Cairngorms: this time it's personal. No more slouching in a bothy. Ooo yaaa.

Adrenalin's kicking in now, can't you tell?

(we're in your snow, playing with your holez)

Down to Earth

Starting to seriously think of the Southern Upland Way at Easter instead of the Wainwright C2C, which I'd rather do in the Summer. I remember hearing about a good website that has lots of LDW books on it, so I'll need to dig out the URL.

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Just listened to a 35 minute podcast that Bob has kindly cut for my students. What a nice bloke he is.

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I listened to the "Mountain First Aid" podcast, with the gripping drama of the recent accident in the Spanish mountains. Stunning stuff. Cara-"A mere fleshwound"-Lyn, what a woman! I revisited the photos from here as I was listening.

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Finished reading Bill Bryson's "A walk in the woods". If you haven't read it, it certainly appealed to me, so that is all the recommendation I can give you. Certainly because the closing paragraph reminds me of how I've changed over the past 18 months:

"...these days when I see a mountain, I look at it slowly and appraisingly, with a narrow, knowing gaze, and eyes of chipped granite."

For me, the hills and trails aren't something off in the distant, to be driven through, but are now something to be visited and explored.

If only I had the time ... oh, yes, it is called weekends!

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I just can't get over the fact that there is a study guide to "a walk in the woods". Here is an example under topics for discussion:

' Why is the Appalachian Trail and the idea of a long journey through the woods a good central metaphor for Bryson's memoir? (source)

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Quick runthrough of international visitor locations: Le Polo - which is in Morocco - which is in AFRICA! Woo hoo. I'm easily pleased, and have such low expectations in life.

Shh, but someone came back later on Sunday night (GMT) from China.

On Monday, Munich is back, as is Los Angeles and New Haven in the USA. Fresh in are Warwick, Tucker (a name that has to be shouted in a Grange Hill manner), King City (no comment on the AWI game I managed to hold to a draw), and north to Winnipeg. One visit from South America, Buenos Aires to be exact.

For those wondering, the UK is just a mass of orange blobs, and is difficult for me to zoom in and separate them.

Filum review: Hot Fuzz

Watched the new film from Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. I thought "Spaced" was excellent, innovative, and, sadly, there has been nothing really to beat it on TV since then.

With film "Shaun of the Dead", the first zomromcom, was funny, but horror's not my thing. "Hot Fuzz" is. The homages from movies that I failed to pick up on in "Shaun" are all there, mainly because I enjoy that genre. IMHO: well filmed, well made, has all the stereotypes as stereotypes, and a cracking cast. Intelligent, violent, funny, and doesn't take itself seriously (for example, Angel's police number is 777; the 2 detectives could have been lifted from "Life on Mars"). It also has guns. Lots of guns.

Oh, and Bill Bailey gets to do his West Country accent in a film, as they didn't give him a chance in "The Lord of the Rings". And watch for the Nick Frost moment in the car chase, as he shouts "bang bang" whilst firing his autopistol.

Links: Official Site, Trailer, Video Diary, IMDB, spoilers for after you have seen the film

BobCast: TrailCast

Finally got round to listening to Bob's interview with Bob Butler, to find out what happened to Trailcast. Good discussion on the future of media in general. Something that is being batted around on various hiking blogs just now. I'll be recommending it to folk at work, ties in with the Money Programme's "DIY TV" that was on on Friday.

Site mentioned in the interview: TrailJournals.com

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Went into a couple of shops after setting my works laptop to back up files. The wind-up radio/torch in Blacks looks nice, but I'll wait for a sale, before I replace my current radio (which also came from Blacks). They have the some plastic bottles packed with kit for about a tenner; and discounts on the Camelbak bottles.

Went to Craigdon Mountain Sports next and treated myself to a pair of snow goggles. Following the hike in the snow, and my usual after-action-report, goggles would certainly have saved me from manually shielding my eyes. Chap in the shop said they are quite useful in heavy rain too. Something I'd not thought about.

As expected, wore them in the flat. Wondered where the button was to open the visor?

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Media empire has expanded again after this afternoon's T-shirt hunt.

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Hi to the International visitors. New Haven/USA visited yesterday after I'd closed for the night - don't worry, they came back twice on Sunday. Also from the USA: Eau Claire (I'm sure there's a song in there), Catawissa (that's just a freaky name, were's it from? Any relation to this?), and the more maturely named Catherdral City.

Down the continent to South America, and Bogota and Sao Paulo. Sorry, too tired to do the squiggly bits over the letters.

In Europe, one from Sandnes/Norway - that has got to be above the Arctic Circle. Woo hoo (puts on snow goggles). Takes off snow goggles as too much shadow to type properly. Back south, to Munich once more, then to Korntal-Munchingen - blue/white logo, that's got to be in Bavaria? Ja? Finally, down to Barcelona/Catalonia.

Now, remember earlier I said I was worried about the blog being proxied. Well, shss, don't tell anyone, but there's been visits from China. I can't say where, in case I blow their cover. But there were 2 visits from different parts of the country, and I don't want to spoil their New Year celebrations.

Visitor goals for next week: at least on visit from Africa.

Figures as to 2200hrs: 57 visits, 98 pageviews. 61.40% returning visitors, 38.60 new visitors. 53 people visited the main page, and spent an average of 6minutes54seconds there.

Wear it with pride

I like t-shirts. They help me get into a frame of mind for a task. At present I tend to sport a "Keep on trekkin" one from "Life is Good". I'm on the prowl for an appropriate one my blogger-ID.

• ThinkGeek: "Blogito, Ergo Sum". I do like the "Comments (0)".
• GoogleStore: Blogger logo.
• Jinx: "Nobody reads my blog".
• SplitTheAtom: the design sums up blogging. A bit Emerson-esque in the philosophy though.
• BBC News: interesting, maybe work the Arabic "We will not be silent" into a t-shirt.
• Buy-Tees.com: Some interesting ones there. I'll look back after tee...oops, that should be tea.

Nowt to do with blogging, but this one just cracked me up. It is smart on such a deep level.

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Err, I just found that my blog is being copied via www.pkblogs.com under the heading:

Is your blog blocked in India, Pakistan, Iran or China?
If Yes then you can still access your blog anytime using pkblogs free Blog Gateway.

Err. Should I be concerned? Should Blogger.com be concerned? No-one asked me. I'm in the huff now.

We are the cheeky girls

Reposted from a comment I left on John's "Walkabout in the UK" blog:

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Aye, we blog cos we enjoy it, and someone else gets the advertising revenue from our enjoyment.

Talent shines through, and a blogger lands a book deal from the established media. I fail to see that as a breakthrough. The established media is just hoping that the blogger can sell books to her readership. Good for her.

That is not using the possibilities of the new media in a new way, but is a backward step into real life.

When wireless Net really takes off, and have access to portable readers, then, and only then will the death-nell of the old media ring. Except that they will continue to hold us in their thrall...don't believe me, just ask yourself who owns MySpace?

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Bibliography:

MySpace biography.

"I blog, therefore I am £70,000 richer": The Sunday Times, 18 February 2007

Less than six weeks after starting to write about downshifting from London to rural Northumberland, a mother of three young children has landed a £70,000 publishing deal.

Early last month Judith O’Reilly launched Wife in the North, an online chronicle of her battles with three children, two elderly parents and an absentee husband while living in a northern hamlet, with the nearest town half an hour’s drive away.

Last week, after whirlwind approaches from an agent and a publisher, she signed a deal to turn the blog, which has become a surprise hit in Britain and America, into a book to be published by Viking Penguin.

Weird Darren's commentary at Whitespider1066.

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I think the title of the article says it all, don't you? There are good, talented people out there, how they get found and what niche market they thrive in is all part of life's rich tapestry. Of course, in times gone by, people like Bain and Caselli's work in communication hit difficulties. But we live in a more dynamic age now. Don't we?

(we r in ur cd collexion, hiding the good onez)

Another BCCI?

Here's the reference that Pharmolo at Northern Trip sourced.

Source: Press and Journal, Saturday 17 February 2007

The Uk Government could face a multimillion-pound fine if Scottish ministers allow plans for a massive windfarm on the Western Isles to go ahead, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds warned yesterday.

It believes the Lewis Wind Power application for 181 turbines was made without a proper environmental impact assessment.
That, it says, would contravene the European Habitats Directive.
Western Isles councillors voted 18-8 in favour of the £512million windfarm development on Thursday.
But local RSPB spokesman Martin Scott said: "From what we have seen in the council's report, they haven't even considered any of the European law or European designations. The whole process that the council seems to have followed does appear to be flawed.
"I'd like to think that the Scottish Executive would pick up on it. I suspect that the European Union aren't going to be particularly pleased that somebody has just tried to consent a large-scale industrial development on prime wildlife sites in breach of the Habitats Directive. We've always said it would likely end up in Brussels. It's heading there at a rapid pace now."

...

LWP director David Hodkinson said: "The RSPB is well versed in the application of European law to major infrastructure developments, including the Thames estuary offshore project, which they welcomed a few months ago as the UK's first major windfarm to have been consented in a European special protection area.
"They are also advising on the Viking windfarm development in Shetland, which, we suggest, they know will need to be considered as a special protection area before the windfarm can be consented because of its significant bird interests.
"So we suggest they know that the Lewis windfarm could only go ahead in compliance with European law. It simply would not be consented otherwise.
"To suggest anything different would appear to be yet another example of the RSPB relying on the selective use of the facts to challenge our development. In our opinion, this is a clear sign that the RSPB's campaign against the Lewis windfarm has run out of scientific arguments."

I'll stand by my original comment, and read all the references to habitat management in the CNES terms.

Objections on the grounds of the EU Directives were lodged with the Comhairle in the RSPB media release of 2 Feb 2007 [source].

So, to say that the "This was also not spotted by WIC", is wrong. The Comhairle were well informed of this before they made their decision on Thursday 15 Feb 07. The RSPB are quoted in this BBC report of Friday 16 Feb 07:

The RSPB said the Lewis wind farm threatened habitats and bird-life of European significance.

However, developers claimed that even after construction the project would create 70 ongoing operating and maintenance jobs.

Jobs before birds, was the quote given elsewhere in the media.

And not to dash anyone's hopes, but here is how Lewis MacDonald MSP dealt with similar (but not identical) objections back in 2002 from Linda Fabiani :

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what consultation has taken place with the European Commission with regard to the proposed wind farm at Whitelees Forest and the effects on the six bird species which Scottish Power has confirmed are present on Eaglesham Moor, given that the birds’ priority habitat or species is defined in Article 1 of the European Habitats Directive and are listed under EC directive 79/409/EEC as needing special protection.

(S1W-28165)

Lewis Macdonald: There is no requirement on the Scottish Executive to consult the European Commission on this issue since the area is not designated as being of national or international importance for bird species or habitats. Scottish Natural Heritage was among the bodies consulted about the environmental impact of the proposed wind farm and has welcomed the developer’s proposal to put in place a Habitat Management Plan with the aim of enhancing the existing peatland habitat across the moor, which they believe should contribute towards the offsetting of any local adverse impact.

Source: Written Answers, Scottish Executive, 30 August 2002.

And finally, here's a quote from the Sunday Times:

Last week Lewis Wind Power (LWP), a joint venture between Amec and British Energy, submitted revised plans to the Scottish executive for the £500m project, reducing the number of turbines from 234 to 181 to lessen the impact on wildlife.

The company said it had restricted the search for sites to the Outer Hebrides because one of the primary aims of the project was to provide social and economic benefits to the islands.

The plans are now being scrutinised by the European commission.

The Sunday Times has learnt that officials in Brussels believe that the company must assess other possible locations across Scotland to comply with the habitats directive, which demands that other sites are considered when species and protected tracts of land are threatened by development.

But the article was dated 17 December 2006, and has anyone asked the EU about their scrutinisation of the plans? Perhaps someone could ask Elspeth Attwooll MEP, to ask who exactly is scrutinising it in Brussels, and did no-one think to pass the information to the CNES before Thursday's meeting?

Democracy rules!

TGO Show 8

Two mellow people chatting about long distance trails. Grab a cup of hot chocolate, lie back in the sofa with your TGO open at page 25 and relax to Cameron McNeish and Paddy Dillon blethering away about a topic they enjoy.

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BBC Landward was talking about buzzards this morning. I missed the beginning of it, so will need to catch the full report here. This week's competition is for another name for the buzzard (back to the Germanic). I see a lot of them around, I like their style, but the increase in numbers are cause problems for some animal owners.

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Punched up a picture of the wargames figures I've been working on, trying to recreate a scene from a photo of a September 1918 advance. [Zooomr]

It can't be that easy

Just saw this news about the Lewis wind factories:

And now it turns out that the consortium which is to built the darn thing has not taken into consideration that the Lewis Moor, where the turbines are to be built, is subject to a European Habitat Directive. This was also not spotted by WIC. This means that the planning application is illegal.
The EU does not take kindly to those who ignore its directives. It is likely that this planning application may yet end up in the European Courts. A public inquiry also seems inevitable.

Source: Northern Trip.

I think you might find that the Comhairle took it into account with their terms and conditions (you'll see that there are various environmental and migratory studies proposed, Management Plan 5e). It was certainly mentioned by MWT.

Updated map of the proposed development.

Letter to the Exec.

"The Comhairle decided to recommend to the Scottish Ministers that the application should be approved subject to a range of terms, measures and conditions as detailed in this document." [source: CNES]

50 conditions in a 37 page document. No doubt the corporate lawyers have already been through them so that in a few years time they can punch right through them. Sorry, I believe in the "give them an inch, and they'll take a mile" approach to the world. Sadly, I've yet to be proved wrong.

...so, no, it can't be that easy.

The future's so bright

Reposted from a comment I left on John's "Walkabout in the UK" blog:

The thing about user-generated-content is that it relies on the user to generate the content for the company making the business. The next stage in the business model is for the company (google/blogger, google/youtube, or whoever) to pay a share of the advertising revenue that the user generates for the host. Below a certain number of click-throughs, the money is used to pay for the hosting (and 'losses' on non-profitable sites). YouTube then becomes the media version of eBay.

And then there is the issue of copyright, libel and slander to take into account.

Get rid of the spammers and virus-peddlers, and YouTube could use the bandwidth freed up on the Net to increase the resolution/quality of their hosted clips. Now, that's a radical thought: reclaim the Net!

I haven't updated my personal website in ages, and took off the email links as it was 'farmed' by scumspammers. This blog is an experiment for me, and expect it (and the YouTubing) to go the same way. If I can pull some new concepts out of the hat, then great. Push the boundaries. I don't do shark jumping, and walk away from things before that (I'm not a completer/finisher).

People who work in journalism as a hobby are blogging, I don't think it makes everyone who blogs a journalist. Once bloggers, etc get into reviewing products then there is the professionalism and (probably) legal aspect.

It's not as if there'll be a t-shirt saying "I'd rather be blogging"?

I see the 'new media' going the same way as websites. Lots of people used to build their own. Not many people do that now. As the existing media channels converge on the Internet as the delivery medium of choice, so the amateur productions we see just now will be subsumed by worldwide mass - and I do mean mass - media channels. (Aside: so who exactly will pay the UK govt for the current analogue channels they'll be selling off?) Want to watch "Lost", just log in to your tv subscription channel. Who knows, YouTube may be one of these, but so will archives of old media (tv, films, radio).

I have a feeling that people are turning off from the existing media because they are tired of the same old tat. The arguments put forward that having 4 TV channels in the UK would dilute the viewing figures have come true, and we have more than 4 channels now. I pay for BBC4, and cannot receive it unless I pay for a new aerial. Guess what: I just don't watch it.

If the comment about the falling figures of 'lads' mags is true, then maybe the tipping point is the growing number of 'emo' kids. Will they be the saviour of the human race? It'll be interesting to see the chavs and chavettes running scared in front of a crowd of emo's, who know what they want and how to get it, and will have no problems pushing drunken wasters out of the way to get it. Go on, speak to an emo, you know you want to.

(I'm in your Web 2.0 playing with your mindz)

Photo Story 3

Productive afternoon with FJ visiting. Besides inventing the blogramme format, where we discussed its usage in local history. Okay, maybe 'discussed' is too democratic a term, I babbled on as the images were forming in my mind and the words strove to catch up with the thoughts.

Of course, where no video clips exist, you are limited to stills.Conversation turned to Ric and Ken Burns' use of still imagery in their series "The Civil War". So, I downloaded Microsoft's Photo Story tonight and have been playing around with it. Sadly I don't find it as intuitive as Windows Movie Maker, but the price suits me.

I've uploaded a clip of my Dad's home village, and simulated a complex panning by loading the same basic image in three times. The opening credits were shot against a plain black graphic (I couldn't find the 'credits' section).

Let me know what you think. Constructive criticism welcome. If you prefer static photos to remain static, I still have a site at Flickr.com

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Stats:

• Wednesday: 22 visits (28 page views) [from 2000GMT]
• Thursday: 73 visits (107 page views)
• Friday: 57 visits (86 page views)
• Saturday: 75 visits (112 page views) [to 2200GMT]

Overseas shouts go to Munich, I must apologise for not painting the WW1 German wargames figures as Bavarians, but that would mean I had lots of blue-and-white ribbons to paint, and I'm a bad painter. Across to the US to New Haven in the east, LA in the west, and the wonderfully named, Titusville in Florida. In Canada, there's a spooky tie-in with the earlier posting about Bill Oddie's tv show, as one hit came from Victoria, Vancouver Island. As the hit came before I blogged about the tv prog I had watched, there is only one piece of music that fits the bill (and it is from Canada too).

And we've broached the Southern Hemisphere. Epping, NSW, Australia. I heard about this shark wrestling (audio interview is a cracker) from down there, so I'm not saying anything that may upset anyone in Oz. Honest.

Casio G'zOne

Just caught an advert for the Casio G'zOne here, and it looks interesting. Wonder if it's available in the UK. My mobile stays in a waterproof sack in my rucksack, but that one looks the biz.

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I've been following Bill Oddie's series "Back in the USA". It has been very good, with a mix of facts, humour, and is well put together. Hopefully the BBC will re-broadcast the Nebraska episode that they had to reschedule. And the people in Canada didn't get annoyed when his 'USA' programme visited Vancouver Island.

On this week's one about Arizona, he visits Jesse's garden where humming birds stop off for refueling on their migration. IIRC, he said that one year 1/2 million of these amazing birds had passed through his garden, supping on the sugared water he puts out for them. I think the most relaxing scene I've seen all week was of Bill Oddie, sat in the garden in Patagonia, Arizona, watching these birds flitting around, licking up the fake nectar.

A Blogramme(c) about Stornoway

Just trying out a format that I thought of after re-watching the Money Programme on DIY TV from last night.

The 'blogramme' format I'm using links YouTube progs around a geographic location, or particular event. I haven't seen anyone do this before, so lets see how this possible Internet first goes (don't you feel privileged ;-)

Intro

Where is Stornoway? It is here.

What does it look like?

Driving round Stornoway to give an idea of the place:

Does it ever stop raining?

No, not if you believe the mainland weather forecast. Okay, so the general forecast is often wrong due to the low-lying nature of much of the island. Just look at the sun in this old clip:

Okay, and a more genuine observation of the sun shining on the righteous folk of Steornabhaigh.

What do people do there?

Shinty - it's like rugby, but with sticks.

Go on quizzes.

Attend concerts:

Have wet fun:

And wait for the weather to change:

What are the people like?

Weird, no. But here's a sample of teuchter humour.

And finally:

oidhche mhath

SB on the Ben

Nathan "Skunkbag" has posted his photostory of him and Rob's overnighter on Ben Nevis at Christmas time. [link]

"I was cold. I remember having a quick chat with Rob about the ever increasing wind, and then he said he was just nipping outside... I remember thinking something about captain Oates, then fell asleep." [source]

I'd like to read Rob's story about being outside building a snow-wall around the tent. At night. On top of Britain's highest. Well done, gents, and a cracking read Nathan.

Saturn's Day

Just watched "Freeze Frame" - thought it was very good. Lee Evans in a straight acting roll. Lots of mind games. Thanks to Maggie for the bottle of wine that me and Mike finished off whilst watching the movie. I passed on your thank you present to him as a thank you from me for doing the logos, and he says thank you, as it is... was ... good plonk.

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I'm just off to test something just now to see if I can add Zooomr pictures via html in Windows Live Writer (which I use for blogging if not using Blogger directly).

If it does work, the zooomr code I just pasted in above will load when I post to Blogger. Everyone and their nextdoor neighbour probably does this already, but I just thought about it on the way into work this morn...err...on Friday morning.

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Andy Howell is podcasting about bloggers and their readers. More info from Andy, Darren and the great god OM.

From a statistic point of view, on Thursday AktoMan went international.

Turku/Finland:1. Bergen:1. Madrid: 1. Eastern US: 4 (onward to Richmond! The hit from Canton had me and Mike singing THE song). Western US: 2.

Friday: welcome back from Canton (no song, wine finished, Mike went home carrying props from his new movie - if the polis stop him, he'll be in serious trouble!) and Beacon Falls. Sorry folks, I think Canton is in NY State, but not sure if Beacon Falls is in Connecticut, the states get a little crowded on the map. We're AWI'ing it at the wargames club on Tuesday, so I'll get another chance to give a bad rendition of "this land is our land" as I try to boot the Brits off the table.

Hello to Regina/Canada (lapse into an Akira yell at that). Hi to Luneberg in Lower Saxony.