Rocking out

Last weekend I went climbing outside for my first time in the UK. Given that I had only climbed a couple of times out at Long Beach back home about 4 years ago, it might as well have been my first outdoor climb ever. It was terrifying, frustrating and exhilarating all at the same time. Inside I am a pretty fearless climber. I'll jump for anything, I don't care if I fall, I don't mind if I pop off and nothing really phases me. Outside it would seem is a whole different kettle of carabiners and I tend to cling to the cliff in a very accurate imitation of a limpet and don't trust my hands or feet one tenth as much as I do indoors. I have no idea why this is exactly- maybe it seems more 'real' outside, I don't know. All I know is that at the end of Day1 I was pretty disgruntled as I didn't feel I'd climbed well and was definitely vexed by finding myself scared, a feeling I am not at all used to. I have to say thought that my climbing buddy Graeme was a champion beyond belief and never lost patience with me and just found me something nice to climb on Day2, knowing that getting me up something was the main thing and he was infinitely encouraging and managed to do it all in a totally non-patronising way which is no small feat.

Apart from not feeling that I was on top climbing form, it was the best weekend I've had in a long time. We were climbing at Stanage and the views were stunning and it was great to be outside walking around and doing things which I haven't done it farfarfar too long, given that I've been cooped up in the big smoke for so long. I could yabber on about it forever but instead I'll let the pictures do the talking:

Me at the top of one of my first climbs.


This is the view from the top of one of the climbs. Heather moors. Mmmm, pretty....






Me belaying.


Me and Phil at the end of Day1.


Me looking sceptically upwards as the boys set up the rigging for our top rope.


This is the overhang I didn't make it up. I got to where Phil is in this pic and then had to let go. It was possibly one of the most terrifying moments of the weekend as it meant I pendulumed outwards. As I psyched myself to de-limpet from the rock, I realised that my life was quite literally hanging in the balance. The only things stopping me from swinging out into nothingness and down a rocky hill was the rope which was tied into my harness, which was running up and through a carabiner which was connected to another rope which was tied around a rock. Which is sweet fuck all really when you're that high up getting ready to let go of the rock.


And that's it for now. I'll try to upload the vid of Phil letting go so you can see the swing I had to do. Eeek.

achoo

I think that after weeks of avoiding the various colds going around the office, my body is finally succumbing to some weird mutation of the lot. I woke up this morning with a scratchy throat, have felt dizzy when walking, have a wonky personal thermostat and am in a foul mood (not a symptom, just a result of the afore-mentioned). But we go to press in a few days and there's no time to wallow at home so I just need to hang on a bit longer. And there is a weekend in the middle.

But still- people coming into contact with me at the moment should be aware that I'm prone to wallowing in self-pity and operating on a short fuse. Totally not my bad.

killer monkeys?!?!?!

I have to thank Carl for this link. I seriously didn't believe it at first and thought he'd found a spoof site. (He does read The Onion after all...) But no. It turns out that Delhi had a severe monkey problem. Thanks to my sick and twisted sense of humour, I was laughing in disbelief. Especially at this:

One approach has been to train bands of larger, more ferocious langur monkeys to go after the smaller groups of Rhesus macaques.

Nice one. Bring in more ferocious monkeys. Good thinking Batman. Not. DOES NOBODY READ SCI-FI ANYMORE?! Or have common sense I guess but disaster scenarios of this caliber tend to come up more in sci-fi than real life.

ka pai

I always wanted to do animation but discovered very early on that I did not have the patience for it. You should all check out one of my friend's early ventures into doing it for himself. It's basic, yes, but stop to think about the time that has gone in to this. I think it's way cool and has not been done with all your usual fancy-pantsy 3D programs. I am particularly fond of the creature's funky little rocking gait. Props.

heaven

Yesterday I had what can only be described as a small slice of tv heaven. At least my idea of tv heaven- probably tv hell for some but for me it getting to watch two of my favourite childhood films- Ladyhawke, followed by The Princess Bride. The only way to make this better would have been to add on The Neverending Story but that might have meant a bit too much sofa time. Even for me...

The Princess Bride
This is my favourite movie of all time. I can quote most of it to an annoying degree. I could yabber on and on about it but I'm short on time so I'll let the links do the talking. There is of course the obligatory wikipedia link but I quite liked this guy's review although parts of it made me laugh:

I was surprised to learn from the documentary on this DVD that The Princess Bride was a low-budget film, because it doesn’t really look like one.

Umm.... pardon? I rather think it does. And I say this with all the love I possibly can. It's not a cheap and nasty, badly filmed, green-screen-arama movie but there are quite clearly a lot of built sets and not location shots and I'm assuming it's easier to build it than take all the crew out to a location... Anyway, to me, it smacks of low budget, but in a good way.

This has to be one of the most iconic scenes from TPB. There are many more of course and I could embed YouTube movies till the cows come home but I shall restrain myself and stop here:

classic

I feel rude not giving Ladyhawke any space on this entry- maybe the next one. Right now I gotta dash.

it's official.

Ok so I know this is a bit geeky but look at my rope! I have my own climbing rope, I am now officially one of the cool people! Isn't it beautiful? Look at those colours! I am such a proud mum. It doesn't have a name yet but tends to be called 'ropey' or 'baby'. I know, I know, there is little hope for me but, at least for me, getting a rope is a Very Big Deal.

not funny

stomp

I'm in a foul mood today. I guess I woke up on the wrong side of the bed or something similar but I am dead tired, have no motivation and all I want to do is go home and sleep. So I trying to decide- work through lunch and try to go home early because I think I'm getting sick or go to the gym and try to sweat it out. Now I know Plan B would be the best course of action but seeing as going to the gym yesterday was the least enjoyable activity in a long time, I'm thinking my bed sounds good.

But enough of my misery- if I need to cheer myself up, all I really need to do is think of going to see STOMP last night. I've been wanting to see this ever since I got here and now, nearly 2 1/2 years later, I finally made it. It was totally worth it and was up with the most amazing performances I've ever seen. It's totally my kind of thing- dance, percussion, a bit of humour. I would go and see it again in the blink of an eye. If anyone every gets the chance, leap at it. It's amazing.

comic genius

With some birthdays coming up at the moment, I've come across some brilliant cards I had to share. I'm a huge fan of the Edward Monkton cards.

OCD or just common fashion sense?

Last night was the second and final installment of my lead climbing course and I am shattered. I was quite literally peeling off the wall last night. It's a good feeling as you know you're working as hard as you possibly can but at the same time, I still get frustrated with myself because I think I should be able to do more. And now that we've done this course, we need to buy a rope so that we can actually practice. Also, with a view to climbing outside, I'm looking into a helmet. A helmet is one of those items of climbing gear that I think some people don't wear when they're outside because it isn't 'cool'. But for me, just starting out, I think I'd rather be safe than sorry. Plus the company that made my harness does matching helmets and how is a girl meant to be able to pass that by? I'm practically salivating at the thought and won't even look at any others. I want the one that matches, it's that simple. It may not be the prettiest of colours but it matches my harness so, as far as I'm concerned, that's it. Graeme and I were looking at ropes in the shop last night and he was just shaking his head as I immediately discarded certain ropes because they would clash with my kit. Admittedly, my weird brown and bright green (not to mention the mustard and black shoes) are hard to match but I have to try. Of course if I'd had my way initially I'd have blue or purple shoes and harness but it was not to be...

I've also been looking at climbing t-shirts and this one made me laugh out loud. What does it say about me that this is the one that makes me laugh? I'm sure Graeme would appreciate it.

outrage

In other news, I've found out that I have to wait till the 19th of October for Stardust to come out here. The 19th. That's ridiculous. Boo hiss.

drooling

I don't know why, but Stardust has come out in NZ WAY before it has in the UK. Like it's not even out in the UK yet. And I wanna see it bad.

My parents went to see it and my dad has blogged about it. I have to admit to not reading it (his post) because I don't want to spoil the movie for myself which is actually funny because 1- I've read the book so I know what happens* and 2- I skimmed through the post to look at all the pictures anyway. It looks amazing though. On the phone, Dad described it as a mix between LOTR and TPB**. I really really can't wait to see it but of course now I'm worried I'll have built it up too much for myself and it won't be as good as I expect. But still- everyone should go see and if not, read the book anyway, it's magical and Neil Gaiman is a genius.

*but it was over 2 years ago now so my memory on it is a bit fuzzy.
**The Princess Bride. If you didn't know that then SHAME ON YOU.

WWF the cat way

True to form, the cats did "have at it" last night but in nowhere near their usual style. The night before last, Ossy did this brilliant ambush of Arthur who lay on the carpet unsuspecting but I saw her hiding under the chair. She crept out, wiggled her bum and leaped high in the air to arc down on Arthur with a body slam worthy of any WWF wrestler. She has a nifty jujitsu-esque maneuver in this video which would have made any of us proud at my former dojo.


I should apologise for the shitty dark quality of these vids- it was a bit dim and my camera is not very obliging with video in interior light conditions. Never the less, I post another vid for you to witness these two at their nightly revels. I'm very careful to watch that there are no claws involved...


On other cat habits, I came home one day and one of the pillows looked like it had been moved and my PJs were in the middle of the bed and I was sure I'd dumped them on top of the pillows so yesterday I made special note of where I left them and when I came home, sure enough, they'd been moved. I blamed Ossy and it seems I was totally correct. Jane just got back in the country and texted me to see how the week had gone and I relayed my suspicions about Ossy and my PJs and she replied saying, "Yes it is true she plays with mine too. She likes to chew them for a while and then drag them around the house. She is mad." Yup. She sure is. It's just lucky she's so darn cute and that eccentricity is a personality trait I rate highly in a cat.

pumped

On Tues night, Graeme (my climbing buddy) and I did our first session of our lead climbing course.

It was awesome. I had such fun. I still get all adrenaliney and psyched just thinking about it. At first I was fairly nervous for a myriad (good word) of reasons:
1- lead climbing is more dangerous
2- I might not be fit enough to do it (turns out that at least for learning, that isn't really an issue)
3- we were being taught by Mike, the guy who taught us for our beginners course which was over a year ago now and I was nervous knowing that he was really analysing our climbing and checking our technique and I was paranoid that he'd be thinking, "Holy crap, this chick can't climb for sh*t." Which is of course bollocks but still- that's the way my brain works.

I don't know that 3 reasons makes for a myriad but they were all for naught in the end. I did not get hurt, fitness wasn't an issue and Mike told us that we progressed the fastest out of all the people he's taught so far (only 4 groups before us but that doesn't matter to me and Graeme. We know we're cool.) which was awesome.

It also turns out that the Westway, where I climb, is the only place in the UK (or at least London, I'm pretty sure it was the UK) where they teach falling as part of their lead climbing course because it's deemed as potentially dangerous but Westway backs their course and personally, after having started this course. I don't see how you could teach lead climbing without teaching people how to fall. You're more likely to fall lead climbing so it's great for the climber to make sure you're technique is right and also for the belayer to make sure they know different ways of handling your fall.

So our first night involved quite a bit of going up the wall and throwing ourselves off it again which personally, was a hoot. I love it. I totally trust Graeme to catch me so as far as I'm concerned, it's all fun and games. That said, trust is being taken to a whole new level with this course. We did an exercise where the belayer had to close their eyes which as a climber is a little stressful as it means they're doing it all by touch and feeling the tension in the rope. But Graeme and I have a good deal going: don't drop me and I won't drop you. It's worked for us so far. ;-)

Next week will be the last session, it's just 2 x 2hrs and then we need to get a rope and get practicing as we'd like to get outdoors once before winter really kicks in and it's way too cold and wet to do it. Outside! Awesome!

shameless

I have done my first DIVE cover! Ooer, aren't I fancy? And fairly happy with it too, just had to share.

obligatory cat post

I'm a cat person. I can't deny it. I'm so much a cat person that even the annoying traits of cats amuse me. Don't get me wrong, I like dogs too. I like their mindless enthusiasm and eternal optimism but something with cats just resonates.

Jane is away again so once again I'm looking after the house- and now there is a new lady in the house. After the sad and untimely demise of Sweep, it was decided Arthur needed a new friend. What he got was Ossy. She is a small round, compact little lady who is about half his size and absolutely terrorises him. It is hilarious. I watch their play-fighting with half a watchful motherly eye, making sure it doesn't digress in to anything serious but right now they seem happy to just beat each other up, sans claws, which is just fine.

This is Arthur.


As is this.


And this is the little madam. Amongst her other more catty traits is the desire to wake me up in the middle of the night to scratch her under the chin for a few minutes so that she can then trot off back down to the end of the bed where she usually sleeps. If I didn't have such a warped sense of humour, I would not find this amusing.


She is also very good at the cat habit of walking just in front of you so that you live in eternal fear of stepping on her or tripping over her.




And that's it folks. I'm sure I'll manage to blog something of more substance at some point...

buddy!

I don't know what it says about me that I get a kick out of my dodgey spam mail. The gem of this morning was

Good morning, buddy!
Want to see free porn films?
Use real-player in your attachment. Enjoy!

I think it was the "buddy!" that made me smile.

As of tonight I am once again house/cat sitting for one of the ladies from work. Expect a lot of cute cat pics and "funny" cat stories over the next week coz these two are supercutiepies. Arthur is the "kitten" the size of a horse and his new buddy, Ossy, is about half his size but that doesn't stop this spunky chick. Oh no. She takes great delight in pouncing on him and generally terrorising the gentle giant- it's like he doesn't realise he could squash her with one paw. Good times.

almost famous

Well not personally but I was almost close to someone famous. I could have met him. I was definitely within line of sight. And so, ladies and gentlemen, without further a-do, may I present Quentin Tarantino:

I know, I know, it's a shit pic but my camera hates nighttime shots and has a pathetic zoom so it was the best I could get. I was at a premiere event to promote his new movie, Deathproof. A movie premiere would have been nice but instead this was a banger car rally which actually turned out to be quite fun. A bunch of us from work rocked along and chose a car each and cheered them on. Some of them got pretty crunched up, it was hilarious.

confession of a font nazi

I have a dirty little secret to share. In the October issue of DIVE, there will be Comic Sans.

Sorry.

My defence of this travesty is 'post-modern-irony'. I know it's Satan's font but because in this particular situation, it was actually appropriate (and those occasions are few and far between), I have let it through. So how did I come to stoop so low you ask? Well we have a regular feature every month called 'InDepth' and it always has a map of the area covered. October's is Cuba and the opener was a spread where we had postcard-styled photos of variosu aspects of Cuba and the map was one of these. As such, I sent our cartographer the instructions to cheese up the usual map style so that it looked more postcardy and when it came back, which was pretty much minutes before deadline, I saw that he had used Comic Sans as the font for the place names.

I actually wailed out loud.

But time was running short and, when you think about it, so many postcards use Comic Sans and so, with a nod to Fate's twisted and ironic sense of humour, I let it through. I could have changed the font, I had the technology. But I let it stay.

And that my friends is the burden I must bear.

addicted

I've been scanning Hayden's iTunes and have joyously rediscovered The Brunettes. And, as I am wont to do when I find a song I like, I have been playing and replaying and playing and replaying Dancefloor which I think has to be one of the cutest songs ever. I love it. Love love love. Unfortunately I can't find it anywhere on the web to send you guys to listen to it. But check out their myspace anyway.

In other news, it turns out that my curry man is a smoker. Should I tell him it's because of that that we will never be together as opposed to his impinging on my personal space in an unwanted manner?