If you double click you can see the old people on top
It's the peak of mountain climbing, up the North Face of The Matterhorn, well this is the starter kit option. Shuttlingsloe in Cheshire is known in some circles (Homes for the Cheshire Stupid, circles) as The Cheshire Matterhorn. And so the day after the bleakest of Bleaklow tests, Cheshire has burst into bright sunshine and I'm meeting Shad for a rapid follow up walk.
'Meet at the Cat and Fiddle at 9.30am', fortunately Shad was running a few minutes late so I had chance to assess the weather. Glorious sunshine was a brilliant weather bluff, once out of the car it was blowing an absolute hooley and it was bloody freezing. A smiling Shad arrived and I suggested we headed down valley to a warmer and calmer start point by the Trentabank Reservoir. What freaked us both is that not only did I know an alternative start point but that I knew how to get there without a map. Like Grizzly Adams mountain man..... with a car.
Now there is a downside to starting at the bottom, it tends to lead to a rather steep start up the hill and Shads track record isn't good. Y Gant nearly did for the old boy a few months back. I say 'old boy' not in an ageist 'oh bless' way, but more in a 'in the wrong century' mode. As some folk may know, Shad's a bit of a throwback to different and frankly more interesting times. He just knows different stuff to anyone else and also does different stuff.....Ferreting, Hedge Building, Pond Dragging.........that sounds quite difficult, for a start what do you attach the ropes to? I almost forgot, also Kiting ie the big kites that drag you along and are really heavy. In fact heavy enough to pass to your mate to carry when struggling up Shutlingsloe!!!!
He's also possibly the exception that proves the rule....in a nice way. Whilst out for a stroll a few months ago with Craig we were discussing The Theory of Evolution.....no really stick with this its good.
Main Theory of Evolution 21C Modification CSPB adaption.
Evolution has in fact peaked with 'our' generation. (Exceptional use of the word 'our', classic marketing speak to get everyone on your side). Now the first part is mainly down to Craig, but being born only 2 months apart I'm happy to offer the following evidence.
I always knew more than my teachers at every school I attended
My kids haven't got a clue about real stuff - cooking? no chance
Virtually all previous generations spent most of their lives beating the crap out of each other
We invented computers, mobile phones and the internet and made all the other stuff actually work properly e.g. cars
Old people went to Scarborough for a 'holiday'
Our parents' generation invented caravans
As for kids evidence against TXT MSGes! Dis Dat and Dother
Using dip dip dip sky blue ship to choose answers in exams (this one really happened last week - lots of head shaking)
Everything is better than it ever was
Does anyone trust their kids to actually improve things over the next 50 years
And finally, video games that's how bloody good we are.
Just in case I've missed anything feel free to add to it Craig (or others)
I'm going to save the 1977 was year zero special theory of evolution subsection B till later. So out from the carpark and very literally straight onto the mountain. I've walked up Shuttlingsloe a few times, so I knew to take it easy over the first stretch and fortunately Shad didn't need too much persuasion re 'take it easy mate'. Actually it wasn't a bad walk at all until we got to approx 1/4 mile from the top and the weather started to turn. If there hadn't been 20 old pensioners on the top I'm pretty sure Shad would have cut around the base of the hill.
Pride still in tact we clambered up the last pointy bit to the top and did our best to get some shelter whilst the worst of the ice storm passed over. What is it with icy rain, in the old days the options were
Rain
Sleet
Snow
I for one don't think this Johnny come lately pairing of 'Icy Rain' and 'Ice Pellets' have added anything useful to the British weather. In fact they are the wasps of the weather charts, no use whatsoever and can be bloomin painful.
We headed off the cliffside and amazingly overtook the old people a mile later and then it was all downhill back to the carpark via a local pub. The landlord mentioned that there is a 10 miler walk around these parts that takes in 10 pubs. Don't worry chaps I've made a note to look this one up for a summer walk with camping.
And now as its December time for a few top 10's. If I've missed anything that should be included or there's any obvious Bxs let me know.
10 Songs
10 Albums
3 Films
5 Live gigs
3 Books
5 Best other stuffs
It doesn't all have to be 'from' this year, just stuff you've discovered this year.
If you post them on the comments or email me I'll do a completely biased assessment and make CD's for xmas.
7 comments:
Right, here's a top 30 track list from this year (mainly released but also discovered in 2008) in ascending order of how big the shivers are down my spine when I listen to them;
30 White Lies- Death
29 Secret Shine- Voice Of The Sea
28 British Sea Power- Canvey Island
27 The Early Years- Say What I Want To
26 A Place To Bury Strangers- Ocean
25 Lowline- Monitors
24 Mogwai- Dracula Family
23 Glasvegas- It's My Own Cheating Heart That Makes Me Cry
22 Russian Circles- Youngblood
21 I Like Trains- South Shore
20 I Concur- Lucky Jack
19 M83- Graveyard Girl
18 Vessels- Look At That Cloud!
17 I Like Trains- Friday- Everybody Goodbye
16 Mogwai- I'm Jim Morrison, I'm Dead
15 Prego- Cause & Resolve
14 Jakob- Everything All Of The Time
13 Glasvegas- Geraldine
12 Exit Calm- We're On Our Own
11 Sennen- A Different Life
10 God is an Astronaut- No Return
9 93 Million Miles From The Sun- Take Me Away
8 The Twilight Sad- And She Would Darken The Memory
7 Mogwai- I Love You, I'm Going To Blow Up Your School
6 God is an Astronaut- Snowfall
5 Kyte- Planet
4 This Will Destroy You- Happiness: We're In This Together
3 Mogwai- Batcat
2 I Concur- Oblige
1 The Domino State- What's The Question?
And there's only no Longcut or Amusement Parks on Fire because they haven't released anything this year, but they deserve inclusion. Perhaps I should start a top 500 tracks of all time thread!..
Top 5 gigs of the year;
1. My Bloody Valentine & Spectrum @ Manchester Apollo
2. Mogwai & F*ck Buttons & Errors @ Manchester Academy
3. I Like Trains & Kyte @ Manchester Roadhouse
4. The Longcut & Mechanical Owl & Day For Airstrikes @ Manchester Deaf Institute
5. Sigur Ros & For a Minor Reflection @ Blackpool Empress Ballroom
Top 5 albums of the year;
1. Mogwai- The Hawk is Howling
2. God is an Astronaut- God is an Astronaut
3. Vessels- White Fields and Open Devices
4. Glasvegas- Glasvegas
5. British Sea Power- Do You Like Rock Music?
And that's the first word on this year's music..
Brilliant that's 2 entries so far and none from North of the border.
Craig stop being a lazy git and send something in
You've been busy. Nothing for about 3 weeks and then 3 new posts.
About that evolution position peaking with us thing, I'm pretty sure that my usual default position is that its probably a bit arrogant to assume that. But its possible that I might have been led astray by a persuasive argument.
I hate top tens. In fact, they are in my top ten things I hate. But I'll have a think and try and do one.
the whole point is not to leave it to the biased magazines and journo's but to trust our pals judgement. I've had a few belters already
Ok. Top 5 things that scared me when I was a kid.
1. Patterns on curtains that were nothing during the day, but scary once it got dark.
2. Those twins who made me bring them money and sweets to school when I was seven.
3. When I got caught stealing a magazine from WH Smiths at York Railway station when I was twelve. I still remember the shout of the plain clothes policeman and the hot pain of fear shooting up my back. I’ve tried to be good since.
4. The Morlocks from the Time Machine. Actually that was our Zoe who was scared. I wasn’t too bothered.
5. Walking the dog through a field of cows.
well its a plucky effort, I'm just not 100% certain you've got the hang of this yet. I know it didnt have to be this year stuff, but someone elses fear is pushing it a bit.
The Morlock was a bit of padding to avoid it being a top 4 really. I only went to the pictures once this year, killing time whilst Soph went to a concert I think. But on that basis my film of the year would be the one I saw. Cant remember the name but it was the one where the Fresh Prince of Bel Air was left in New York with his dog after some virus had wiped out everyone else. I saw it on one of those really big screens and stayed awake all the way through. Actually it might have been last year.
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