Redneck heaven

Went to the Opry in Glasgow last night to see Hayseed Dixie, and they were amazing.  Brilliant musicians, and an incredible sense of humour.  If you've never seen them, I seriously recommend you check them out.

Support was Glasgow's very own The Meat Men, and they were superb as well.

Two great bands both well worth checking out.

Big Brother is watching you

If anyone in the UK was in any doubt that their communications were being monitored by the state, then this is for you.
Orwell was only out by 16 years, not too bad all things considered.  We've got the surveillance society, we've got the war (the unseen enemy - terrorists attacks or the threat thereof) and we've come close to thoughtcrime arrests.

Big Brother is watching you.

Vidi this my little droogs

Last night we went to see A Clockwork Orange at the Citizens Theatre in Glasgow.  It was an excellent production, with a great cast, especially the part of Alex.  the industrial soundtrack added to the atmosphere, and was pretty much spot on.

Highly recommended.  If you are in/near Glasgow and can get tickets, definately consider going along.

Great views on a blustery day

Yesterday, we took a  wee trip down to Largs, to climb the hill at the back of Douglas Park.  I had hoped there would be a trig pillar at the top - more on this later.

It was a nice sunny day, with a bit of a wind.  At the top, the wind got wilder, as we got more exposed.  But I'm gettin ahead of myself.  First, there's the neolithic burial chamber at the bottom of the hill.

The chamber dates from about 3000 bc, and is along a wee track, behind some houses at the side of the park.

After the burial chamber, it was time to get ourselves up the hill.  It's a reasonably well maintained path, and there's even some benches at various points on the way up, where you can get a decent view.

At the top there wasn't a trig pillar, but there was a bit of OS furniture.  I'd no idea what this was, but a friend who's trig obsessed, informs me it counts and you can bag it.  Here's Karen using it to avoid being blown off the hill.

There was also a wee cairn, which we sat at for ten minutes for a coffee before heading back down.

Finally, here's the view over Largs from the top of the hill.

Back at sea level, we walked back into town and had a curry before driving back  to Glasgow.

Holiday weekend

That was the Glasgow September weekend holiday that just happened.  It was pretty good, and saw me and Karen heading to Stirling Castle for a "Meet the archaeologist" talk, which was really interesting.  It was a guy who had been working at the castle, excavating, since the 70's.  Really good talk, and gave a better insight into what you were actually seeing, when we went round the castle after the talk.

On the holiday Monday, Karen didn't have the day off, so I went climbing with a couple of friends from work.  We were dodging the rain, and ended up in Dunkeld, north of Perth.  We got climbs each in, but I only completed one.  There was a point on the second that I just couldn't see how to get past, but it turned out I would have needed to use a hand jam to get past and onto the rest of the route.  Having never done this, it never even crossed my mind to try it.

All in all a fun weekend, and it makes this working week a four day one, which is always good.

That was a good weekend

On Friday there was only three of us at the karate class, but it was a good session.  Back home it was time to chill in front of the tv with a couple of beers (Trade Winds, and Arran Blonde).

On Saturday, we were pretty lazy, apart from a wee cycle round Pollok Park in the afternoon.  Got the last two pitches of The Great Climb onto dvd.  Awesome stuff.  Four discs of amazing awe inspiring climbing.

Sunday morning, I headed over to the climbing centre, and nailed my first 6a+.  I was totally stoked about it, and my arms were pumped, so after celebrating with a coffee, it was a warm down on a 5+ overhang, then home.
After lunch, Karen and me headed to the Phoenix retail park, where she trawled TK Maxx and Matalan, while I vegged with a pint in the Bobbin Mill.  A quick shop in ASDA, and then home to catch up on Unbeatable Banzuki and Ninja Warrior.

Please don't come whinging to me, you're bringing me down.

I'm starting to get really down/fed up/stressed, with the number of people in work, who are coming into my room and moaning.  To be fair, they're not moaning at me, they're just letting off steam, but the constant stream of negativity is getting to me.
I want to (a) lock the door and curl up in a corner (b) scream at them to "fuck off" (c) get out of hear for a week at least.
(a) isn't an option, (b) would probably get me a visit to HR or a counseller, so fortunately (c) is the option.  I'll have to wait till the end of October though, as that's when I'm off to Marrakesh, so until then I'll have to put up with the negative souls sucking energy vampires that work in this place.

Dumbarton Castle

Yesterday we took a wee run down the Clyde to Dumbarton Castle.  It's the first time either of us had been there, but with us being Historic Scotland members, it cost us nothing to get in.
It's a brilliant place, and there's 557 steps to the top of the rock, where there's a trig pillar, and direction rose.

Gong gig

Well the Gong gig was superb.  The support was Nik Turner's Space Ritual, so loads of really good Hawkwind-esque music from them.  Gong, were totally totally bonkers.  Mr Allen and co are superb musicians, and completely off their trolleys.  The average age of the crowd must have been about 50, so I actually felt young :-)

The meal before the gig was at Oshi, and again was excellent.  Highly recommend it.

Nostromo

Yeeeeha!  I've been watching the Last Exit to Nowhere site, waiting patiently for the Nostromo caps to come back into stock, and today they have.  So, that's the holiday headgear ordered :-)
Now, do I wear my kilt to travel to Morocco or jeans ?  Got about a month to decide.

Birthday Gong

Today is K's birthday, so tonight I'm taking her for dinner, then on to see Gong at the ABC.  She's never seen them, so she's in for a treat.  Support is Nick Turner's Space Ritual.  Should be a cracker of a night.

Climbing on rock

After about 3 years of climbing on and off at the indoor wall, I finally made it out onto rock.  One of my work colleagues regularly climbs outside, and so it was that four of us headed over to Neilston quarry after work.  For two of us it was the first time outdoors, so it was a bit scary initially, but loads of fun.

We all got to climb two routes, before it started getting a bit dark and we had to give up.  On the way back to Glasgow, we stopped off at the Waterside Inn for a wee half-pint and a natter.

It was a really good evening, and I'll definitely need to start picking up gear for outdoors now.

Ben Ledi

On Monday a group of us from work climbed Ben Ledi outside Callandar, for charity.  It was a great day despite the weather, and we raised just over £400.

That was my first proper hillwalk, and I think I might just have caught the bug.  Need to do more now.  Where to start?  The Cobbler?  Goatfell?  Wait, that involves a ferry to Arran.  Oh I'll think of something.

Karate course

Well, the day course at Whiteinch was yesterday, and it was really good fun.  The main practice was on drawing in the energy of your attacker.  We started off doing a practice with boken.  This was to get the feel of what we were eventually going to be aiming for.
Then, the without the boken, we paired up, with one person attacking.  The defender kept the hands as if holding the boken, and the movement was the same as in the boken practice.  You couold then draw in your attacker and get them off balance, and leave them open for your attack.  In practice, the effort required to get your attacker overbalancing, was a very light touch.  If a full punch had been used the effect would have been amazing.

All in all another very tiring but very good course.

Stuff

Not been up to a great deal this week, but the weekend should be pretty full.
Tomorrow, I've got a karate day course to attend.  I missed the last one, but the one before that I got graded and got my green belt.  I don't think there's going to be a grading (for me at least) this time round, but it would be pretty cool if there was.  If someone walks away from these day events with a new belt, it's a good feeling all round.

I'm multi-tasking on the book front, juggling The Soft Machine by William Burroughs with How to Practise: The Way to a Meaningful Life by the Dalai Lama.

On Monday along with some collegues from work, I'm off to climb Ben Ledi.  Really looking forward to that.

So, that's it.  Nothing else to report.

Reading of late

If you know me, you'll know love SF/F and horror.  I also like anything else that's a bit different.  A few years ago I went though a Burroughs phase, during which I read Cities of the Red Night, Place of Dead Roads, Western Lands, Junkie, Naked Lunch and Interzone.  I don't know what appealed about his books.  Probably the fact that the first I read was Cities, and when I had finished I had to go back and re-read as I'd no idea what had just happened.
Anyway, I'm back catching up with Bill, and I'm currently reading The Soft Machine, and I've The Ticket that Exploded waiting to be read.
In a weird combination, I've also just started reading How to Practice: The Way to a Meaningful Life by the Dalai Lama.

Edinburgh festivities

Yesterday we took a train through to Edinburgh to soak up the atmosphere of the Fringe.  The Royal Mile was awash with show promoters, punters, and stalls.  It's going to be mental at the weekend!!!

We didn't bother taking in any shows, but we did visit our favorite Thai restaurant, which was amazing as usual.

Aside from the atmosphere and the food, some ales were partaken of.  So a pretty laid back wander round the town, and a couple of pubs drunk in.  All good stuff.

To Infinity.....and beyond

Well, that's BT been out to upgrade my broadband to Infinity.  ta ta daaaa!  It seems slicker now.  No sign of lag at all.
I'd taken the afternoon off as they were coming out between 1.00 and 6.00pm, but while I was at work this morning (on site, not in the office), I got a call from the engineer.  He was at my house at 10.30!  He knew it was an afternoon appointment, but he had finished another job early, so came along on the off-chance.
When I did get home, he turned up dead on 1.00pm, so 10/10 for service.  The installation went smoothly, and it's all good.

On a totally separate issue, could someone, anyone in Glasgow City Council, please please please get their finger out and do something about the state of the roads. Major arteries through the city and riddled with potholes.  I was in Syria earlier this year, and their roads are in excellent condition.
It's that bad, that a pothole I reported a couple of weeks ago - about 10" in diameter and 6" deep - that was filled only last weekend, has started collapsing again.  The policy seems to be fill it in, not to repair the underlying problem, hence the fact it's now sinking again after less than a week.
Please get your act together, it's a false economy, and it's my tax money your wasting.

Tired tired tired

Birthday done and dusted a couple of days ago and I'm still tired dammit.  I don't feel like I've got ANY energy at the moment, which makes concentrating on anything a pain.

On a lighter note, earlier this week I went to see Inception, and damn, that an excellent movie.  Came out, and just wanted to head back in and see it again.  If you haven't seen it, think what The Sting would have been like if it had been written by Philip K Dick. Immense move.  Utterly brilliant.

Life begins at....

The saying goes "Life begins at forty".  I used to think that was a pile of crap, but I'm 44 this year, and on Friday I was out for a pint with a mate from uni, and this sort of came up during the course of the night.  We were talking about the fact we still liked the same things we did when we were in our 20's, but the key factor is this - you don't get hung up on all the BS you do when you're younger.  You just like what you like doing, and if anyone else has a problem with it tough.
There's no pressure to be cool, and ironically by not trying to be cool, people actually ARE cooler.  If you want to try something then you do, and you don't care if you look like an arse in the attempt.  In our younger days, it was all style over substance.  We knew then that was a crap attitude, but there was a pressure to fit in with whatever peer group you were part of.  Now it's not an issue.
I'm doing things now I'd never have thought of trying when I was younger.  Karate, rock climbing, scuba diving, and you know what, life is better than ever.