Personal

How to get smugged

If one more person tells me I need to get a new pair of headphones I'll not be responsible for my actions.

Yesterday, the most popular matching his-and-hers tabloids of choice in the UK (The Sun and The Times) took great delight in splashing the front page with a story about thieves targetting wearers of white headphones for their iPod.

Arts

Film: Mona Lisa Smile

I couldn't stop thinking that Mona Lisa Smile is really just a Dead Poets Society with girls. Many of the set pieces seem to be lifted from one film to the other, and the main theme - be true to yourself - is identical.

Personal

Bump

Back home, arrived 1.30am.
Back at work today.

Junk through the letterbox,
junk through the ether,
junk in the in-tray.

It's as if I'd never been away.

Coastwalk

Kents Bank → Grange-over-Sands

Distance: 1.1 miles
Ascent: 19 metres
Duration: 25 minutes

Thousand
« Cark | Arnside »

One more for the road. I was about to begin the drive home, but Jon persuaded me on one final walk in the Lakes. (Except this one didn't need much persuasion.)

Walks

Walna Scar Road

A text message sent at two-thirty this morning saved us today. "PS don't forget the clocks," it said. So I was the one running round trying to persuade the others that the seven o'clock they thought it to be was in fact eight.

Jon was out with his Mountain Rescue team today, so Matt and I walked alone. We returned to Coniston to walk the reverse extension of yesterday's planned route: up Walna Scar Road (a track that rises 600m), across Brown Pike and Buck Pike to Dow Crag, then back down to the Road via Goat's Water.

Walks

Old Man of Coniston

It's talk-to-the-wife time. I'm in front of the fire in the lounge while the voices coming from the kitchen and dining room suggest that Jon and Matt are clocking in with Hannah and Janeane respectively.

It was a third consecutive day in the hills for me today. It was Jon's second and Matt's first.

We took a route up Wetherlam from Coniston, then round the horseshoe to Swirl How and The Old Man of Coniston. The weather was similar to yesterday, the hill-fog forcing us to make do with Jon's descriptions of the view from the ridge rather than experience it ourselves.

Walks

Crinkle Gill

An early drive down to Jon and Hannah's meant a full day walking with Jon today. Hannah's off to the YMCA National Assembly for the weekend so she's not been able to come out to play.

Here was the plan: an easy scramble up to Crinkle Crags, then a slow descent taking in "the best view in the Lakes".

Here is the actual: a late start, and topping out in cloud and mist.

Angels

Castle Park, Penrith

"See this path here?" she said. "Go down this path, past the pavilion and a statue of an angel or summat."

Navigation by angels. A first for me.

Walks

(Nearly) Blencathra

You're gonna find this hard to take in, so I'll say it straight: I went for a walk today, but didn't clock off any of the coastline.

I'm heading south again, to arrive at the other end of the Lake District tomorrow morning for three days' walking with Jon and Matt. And since even here my coastwalking has been mainly on the flat, I thought it best to have a warm-up day in the hills.

Distance: 3.95 miles
Ascent: 815 metres
Duration: 3 hours 2 minutes

Coastwalk

Carlisle → Beaumont

Distance: 4.32 miles
Ascent: 128 metres
Duration: 1 hour 31 minutes

West of Eden
« Gretna | Bowness on Solway »

West of Carlisle the Cumbria Coastal Way strikes up a conversation with the Hadrian's Wall Path. They keep each other company for about ten miles, the stronger HWP pulling the CCW back from the banks of the River Eden between Grinsdale and Kirkandrews-on-Eden.

Coastwalk

Gretna → Carlisle

Distance: 11.6 miles
Ascent: 102 metres
Duration: 3 hours 28 minutes

South from the border
« Not walked | Beaumont »

I love Scotland. Last time I was north of the border was May 2000. And now I'm back, briefly. While my car enjoyed a day basking under the Scottish sun, I headed south, crossing the border within minutes.

This isn't the first time I've popped north for the day. The last time was in the late 80s, when our family took advantage of an insane railway ticket offer. The girls spent the day in Edinburgh, but us boys stayed on the train to Dundee so we could cross the Forth and Tay bridges. (Ah, those days...)

Arts

Bradford Film Festival

The good thing about Leeds being so centrally located it has a low Detour Coefficient. Pretty much no matter where I'm heading north of the M62, Leeds is on the way. So I'm taking a couple of days out to catch up with Nicola before hitting the road again.

My visit coincides with the Bradford Film Festival, so we've managed to catch three films from three different countries over two days.

Coastwalk

Gedney Drove End → Holbeach St Matthew

Distance: 6.29 miles
Ascent: unknown
Duration: 1 hour 57 minutes

Kings and winds
« Sutton Bridge | Fosdyke Bridge »

The weather forecasters, they lie. They said that today the winds would be much gentler than yesterday. I repeat: weather forecasters lie. They told me heavy showers would be a dominant feature of the day. Not a drop fell on me. They lied.

My planned walk was brief today, but since I'd cut yesterday's short I wasn't at the right starting place for it. Still, spurred on by a brighter day and an early start, I covered thirteen miles and completed both yesterday's and today's planned distance. This puts me within reach of Fosdyke Bridge - one more circular walk of about fifteen miles and I'll be back in civilisation.

Coastwalk

Sutton Bridge → Gedney Drove End

Distance: 5.01 miles
Ascent: unknown
Duration: 1 hour 29 minutes

Vanishing point
« King's Lynn | Holbeach St Matthew »

The path from Sutton Bridge to Fosdyke Bridge is twenty miles long. There are no regular bus-services to intermediate points, and my memories of the walk to Sutton Bridge aren't happy ones. How to safely and enjoyably cover the distance has had me stumped - until this week when I decided to break it into three or four circular walks. Today's walk was the first.

This all makes a change for me. Usually I get the bus back to the car; today I walked. Usually I overdo it on the first day of a week off; today I walked a total of ten miles.

Arts

Film: Something's Gotta Give

Is it too long? Probably. But that doesn't make it a bad film and the first hour is spectacular. (I just feel it got a bit lost half-way through.)

Website

Up-to-date

With the Lyme Regis to West Bay stretch of my coastwalk written up, I'm now up-to-date with all ninety-one walks.

I'm taking off next week to do some more walking, so might not update this site as frequently as I have been.

If you need a blog to read in the meantime, previously reluctant blogger James has been going through a prolific phase this past week or so. Drop by and see if he can keep the frequency up.

Personal

My mind is melting

Over the Rhine say it best, half-way through the best album of last year:

So tell me your troubles
Let your pain rain down
I know my job I've been around
I invest in the mess
I'm a low cost dumping ground

Trouble is I'm so exhausted
The plot, you see, I think I've lost it
I need the grace to find what can't be found

Having next week off couldn't come at a better time.

Personal

"Olly-olly-oxen-free"

A book I'm reading has just solved a mystery. It explained a song lyric I didn't know where to start with.

Two of my friends are marrying Americans later this year. I'm in awe of them - it's going to be a long journey learning to communicate. Before tonight, the time I most recently met James was the first time I met his fiancée Kari. And as we ate together he'd regularly lean towards her to help her understand the jokes.

Tech

Spot the hotspot

Running early for a "curry" meeting with Karen and Andy, time for a new game. Can you find the wireless hotspot in this picture? I know there's one here. A friend told me.

Personal , Website

Essex

Have you noticed? I've been writing up old walks at the rate of about one a day.

Today I finished writing up Essex. Towards the end, the writing felt almost as laborious and drawn-out as the walking itself was.

Arts

Film: Touching the Void

Two problems with Touching the Void.

First, you have to get me to see it. (Remember, this film should hit the same target market as Vertical Limit a couple of years back, and that crowd won't want to be burned by a crap film again.)

Second, you have to get me to see the right film. (Releasing the film at the same time as Cold Mountain is bound to cause some confusion. Arguably each film would do better with the other's title.)

Greenbelt

Should be in London

I should be in London right now, at a Greenbelt Planning Group meeting. But I've been feeling lousy all week, and various things have conspired to make me cry it off.

Tech

If space probes blogged

I think it started with spirit rover and her twin sister opportunity. Spirit's into goth poetry and drilling while Opportunity is just trying to spread a little love around Mars.

Spirit's been blogging since last year, but Opportunity only started after landing. But this week, more have joined in: Voyager, Cassini and Sojourner.

The frightening thing is I'm taking more of an interest in the rovers by reading these blogs. Is it possible they're just a clever educational device employed by NASA?

Arts

Gigs two and three

If Kathryn Williams was my number one gig of last year, what comes next?

1. Kathryn Williams, Regents Park
2. The Polyphonic Spree, Cambridge Corn Exchange
3. Bruce Cockburn, Manchester Academy 3

In each case, while the music was superb it was the company/setting that made the gigs most memorable.

Personal

10 August, 1 August

My favourite gig of last year was on 10 August.

Today's Time Out carries an advert for Kathryn Williams' next gig. Although my instant reaction was to check the date, I now don't think I'll go. I don't think it could eclipse 10 August.

Greenbelt

A weekly taste of GB

A friend emailed this week to say how much she's enjoying listening to radio stations online. I agree; I can't get DAB at home, so I'm limited to the basic FM stations and those I can find online.

If you enjoy the music at Greenbelt, you'll probably enjoy Rhythm and Soul, Steve Stockman's weekly show on Radio Ulster. It's broadcast each Sunday evening, or you can catch it on demand through the week.

Well worth listening to.

Greenbelt

Stages and bells

They say that to be a true Cockney you have to be born within the sound of the bells of St Mary-le-Bow. One website tells of research to determine where precisely that is. It talks of ambient noise, weather patterns, wind and landscape and the effect they all have on how far sound travels.

Personal

Radio, delivering summer

It's a cold, wet winter's day in Woodbridge. I'd hoped to walk today but my miserable cold and the equally grim weather meant the sensible thing to do was to stay in with the radio.

What I found was a snippet of last summer. Rasmus' In the Shadows was a song we played nightly in Prague since it was number one in just about every country in Europe. Today it finally got an airing on Radio 1, with news that a UK release is imminent.

I liked it back then, and I love it now. It's a full-on rock cliché with no apologies. But it's also full of memories of last summer.

Arts

Film: Along Came Polly

It's been almost a month since I last went to the cinema; I knew I had to do something to break the spell. But surely I didn't have to do something this bad.

Greenbelt

whyblog? ii

A dozen people responded to my earlier article asking for thoughts on blogging. Their comments were wonderful stimuli that fed two great blogging workshops last weekend.

I was intrigued and amused that of those who responded, it was the total strangers who responded first. Those who know me best took longest, or didn't reply at all. (Does this reflect my website's readship?)

Personal

Sniff

I have a cold. I feel drained. I hope I'll be back soon.

(In the meantime, When Harry Met Sally has been keeping me amused. I just wish I wasn't turning into Harry.)

Tech

The 'net works

For the third consecutive day this week, I've just had a video chat with my sister and niece three thousand miles away. Joanna and I talk regularly on the phone, but Isabel's always been reluctant to chat until now. I wonder whether there's something about the visual aspect that makes video-chat more acceptable to three year-olds than talking on the phone.

Whatever, I know this: for families separated by distance, video chat is the "killer app" for broadband: the application that makes you realise you need the technology.

Because of what I do at work I'm supposed to know all about the 'net. I'm not easily impressed. But I'll admit: talking with Isabel and Joanna these past few days has stunned me, and made me realise I love this stuff I do for a living.

Greenbelt

Lost for words

"What does your badge mean?" is not a question I expect to be asked at the supermarket checkout. Still, it's a direct approach and so much more accurate than the previous question asked about it. ("Are you a Pices?" someone once asked me at work. I think he meant Libra, but the answer was still "no".)

Coastwalk

Rainham → Strood

Distance: 9.52 miles
Ascent: 106 metres
Duration: 2 hours 44 minutes

Medway
« Sittingbourne | Allhallows »

What better way to cheer myself up after last night's disappointment than to knock off another ten miles? And what better time to get past an almost entirely road-based leg than when I'm on autopilot due to lack of sleep?

Arts

Herrick '04

I lost. Final score was 11-6 to Jay. The Herrick Award for Lucky Guessing stays in Kent for its fifth consecutive year.

Ah well, at least I won the Loon back.