My “Personal” Birthday

8th May 2009 admin Uncategorised Leave a comment

Well, its that time of year, and its my birthday once again. I normally spend my actual birthday (the 7th) on my own reflecting and planning for the future and have my birthday celebration (this year the 9th in Liverpool) a few days later.

An old friend Andy Gepp (who at the time I called a Buffoon ) once told me that he always took a day of on his birthday. He reasoned that otherwise, it just becomes like any other day.

Ive always felt the same way, although taking a day off at the moment is a bit redundant (pardon the pun). Still, a candles as bright as you see it, and a day is as special as you make it.

No gym, and a 9am lie in as a treat. Nothing to do, as I have already cleaned my room, prepared my clothes and everything, so nothing routine needs doing today (apart from reviewing available jobs).

Read texts and emails wishing me happy birthday (a nice virtual card from Frank and Na) and then go downstairs and start opening my cards.

Bath and get ready ( Ill be doing some walking later, so I try for the “stylish rugged look” that I can sometimes pull off).

When people think of luxury’s, they probably think of yachts and Ferrari’s. One pure luxury for me, that I absolutely love, is having a sit down full English breakfast. I head for British home stores, and order the whole 10 items breakfast.

Plenty of fuel, I head towards the Grosvenor Park. Its a beautiful day and the sun is shining. After spending another 40 minutes, just wandering around and sitting in the sun, I head for the waterfront, across the handbridge and up towards the Westminster park.

I wander deep into the forest and then leave the path. Exploring in forests is one of life’s pleasures for me. On a tracking course some years ago I was taught to do a sit spot. It involved sitting very still. It was designed as a stalking technique, but over the years Ive learned to develop it to help me relax.

I can do it now for up to 3 hours, but on this occasion, being all alone in the forest, an hour is enough. Wander through Handbridge, notice ANOTHER new pub there. Decide to organise a pub crawl up there at some point in the near future.

Mum calls, and we chat for about half an hour. I miss being in Manchester, but Ive been back and I know that Chester’s my home. Say goodbye to mum, and then head for the meadows (pictured above).

Loads of open ground to walk along, then I make for the banks of the river Dee, and wander back towards Chester town center.

Its nearly lunchtime, so I head back to my local, the Frog and Nightingale. All the staff are there, as its Race day (I hate the Chester Races as town gets really busy, but its no problem, as I have other plans for the afternoon). I get various congratulations (and free “birthday” pints).

Its lunchtime but I’m not hungry after such an enormous breakfast. I know from experience, it takes 28 minutes to walk from the Frog to the Cinema, and the first showing of the new Star Trek film will be at 12:50 so I set of (I have given myself an emergency 2 minutes to spare).

Arrive at the Cinema, the film starts almost straight away, which is excellent. Wont talk too much about the film, as its mentioned in this weeks media review. Suffice to say, it was completely on the wavelength of my birthday mood.

Nip back to see my friends Sean and Mandy. They don’t own half the things I own, haven’t been to a 10th of the places ives seen nor done a 100th of the things Ive done, but they are quite the happiest couple I know, its a pleasure to spend time with them and always gives me a sense of perspective about whats really important.

While there, a mate texts me, and asks how to get into a certain pub (a lot of nice local pubs, get swamped by racegoers, and they have invented some quite ingenious techniques for ensuring only locals and regular get in. Its for this reason, I wont mention the name of the pub nor the routine, in this case).

I explain the procedure and I get a text a few minutes later, he and his friends have got into the pub.

A text from Dan, inviting me out for the evening. The Oaklands, a pub I have never taken too. Still a few friends are out, who I havent seen for a while, so I head over. Evening turns out pretty cool after all (they must have sacked all the staff and re-hired).

On the way home, I pop into the Sea Breeze chippy in Hoole. Pie and Chips, home, one episode of Special Victims Unit and then bed. Another birthday over.

Whats hot, week begining 4th of May (revised)

8th May 2009 admin Uncategorised 1 Comment

Saw the new Star Trek film yesterday. It really was superb. I don’t just mean that from a Star Trek fan perspective, I mean it was 2 hours of action, entertaining plot, and enough science fiction, without going over the top.

The bench mark for me, is similar to the James Bond film Casino Royale. I have always loved Bond films, but I have never seen one that, if it didn’t have someone in it called James Bond and all the usual trappings, would work as a good action thriller in its own right. Casino Royale was the first one to do that.

The new Star Trek, does, I believe achieve the same thing for the Star Trek franchise. JJ Abrahams work in Lost (and before that Alias) along with Mission Impossible III displays his credentials for making exciting action films.

The story shows the original characters growing up and how they develop. There are some cool moments, for example we find that Sulu is an expert with some kind of Samurai sword. The stuff about Spock being a man constantly in conflict with himself (eluded to in the series and films, but never really gone into in any detail) is finally explained.

A drunken Kirk fighting in bar and saying “you can whistle really loud” to Captain Pike, is one of the many genuinely hilarious moments.

If your reading this now, make some time this evening or over the weekend to go and see this film and watch it as it was meant to be viewed. Don’t wait for Sky, wait for the DVD or download it, you owe it to yourself to enjoy this properly.

Main things happening on the media front:

Wolverine, to be honest was disappointing. I remember several years ago, watching film 93. I remember that whoever was hosting it at the time, mentioned 3 things, which were critical to a good film. In the years since, I’ve forgotten 2 of them, but have always remembered the 3rd.

A film must create characters that are believable. If this isn’t possible, then the audience must at least be able to identify with the characters they are watching. The reason this is important, stated the host, was that otherwise, when you put those characters in danger in the film, nobody actually cares.

That’s a lot like Wolverine. There are some great action sequences (I find it funny, that the film makers were complaining about the film being distributed unfinished on the Internet. In reality, every action sequence is featured on the TV advert anyway) but the story never seems to gel, is overly long, and there are some strange moments with his father, brother and Stryker.

Having read up on the film, on the Internet, it seems like the original story, contains loads of other stuff, that would have made it a lot more interesting (you see Colonel Stryker looking at a young male mutant, who has been frozen , no point is made, that the boy is actually his son).

On the other hand, there is some pretty cool dialogue, which I am sure is unintended. When told in that thoroughly military voice “your country needs you”, he replies “I’m Canadian !”.

On TV front, Special Victims Unit, gets better and better. I have also taken to watching every episode of Red Dwarf since hearing about the remake on the Sky channel Dave. Red Dwarf, really is one of the most imaginative TV programs I think I’ve ever seen and I thought the last seen of the last episode of season 8 with the Grim Reaper, was fantastic.

A film I saw last week, 17 again, was far better than I expected. It wasn’t the teenage girl film I had expected, it had much bigger things to say about life. I really enjoyed it, and I would recommend watching it.

Just finished reading Wilbur Smiths new book, Assaigi. It really is terrible. The first half is okay (and considering he only brings out a book every 2 years, that’s far from acceptable) and the second half turns into some kind of Mills & Boon nonsense. Finally, the ending is a complete anti-climax.

If his next book is as bad as this, I’ll stop buying them, and get it from the Library.

Cycling the Wirral Way.

28th April 2009 admin Uncategorised Leave a comment

I decided to spend the afternoon out on my bike. The Wirral way, is a great ride, and runs from Hooton to West Kirby.

Ive walked it a couple of times, and normally set of from West Kirby, and walk to Hooton (means a longer train journey on the way out, but a shorter one on the way home).

On this occasion, the weather was really nice, and whilst a train journey can be done in any weather, cycling is preferable without rain. 10 minutes on the train from Chester, and im in Hooton.

The picture above, was actually taken in the hills surrounding Llangollen as I couldn’t find anyone to photograph me on my bike.

The trail is a converted railway line. The overgrown trees around it, give it a sheltered and peaceful feel. Its possible to wonder along different paths and stand on the hills overlooking the Dee estuary, towards Wales.

I took about 4 hours to complete the route (I could have done it much faster, but wanted to enjoy it, and frankly hadn’t ridden a bike for a while).

Arrive at West Kirby, wander along the water front, treat myself to a sausage roll at the bakery, and then jump on the train home.

Promenade trail, Rowing boat and Museum trip.

25th April 2009 admin Uncategorised Leave a comment

I spent the morning wandering around the Riverside Promenade trail here in Chester (the leaflet from tourist information is free, or you can download one, from the link above). The highlights of the walk for me, were the Water tower, the Grosvenor Bridge and the Suspension Bridge (sometimes annoyingly called the Holyoaks bridge, as its featured in the opening titles. That program went downhill, once Becka left).

After spending 2 hours exploring I debated having a Pie and Pint at the excellent Boat house pub (previous winner of the credit crunch lunch award here at js.com).

Instead, I decided to content myself with my trusty packed lunch and bottle of water, and instead, use the money to rent a rowing boat. Okay, your not exactly navigating the channel, but the feeling of freedom and exhilaration of “piloting” your own boat, are remarkable.

Ive lived in Chester now, for 8 years and the Chester regimental museum is somewhere Ive never gotten around to seeing. At only £3, it was an opportunity not to be missed.

I couldn’t believe how many interesting artifacts and displays were there. The picture above, shows a replica of a WW2 fighting trench. In the middle of the picture (a bit hard to see) is an authentic periscope, used to look “over the top” without getting shot.

There was a great deal mentioned about the Cheshire regiments involvement in Bosnia, and elsewhere, an account of the 2 VC’s awarded to the regiment.

One that I found interesting, was where a private in the regiment, had jumped out of the Allied trenches, and jumped back into the enemy trench having noticed that their machine gunner was dead. From here he was able to traverse the gun down the length of the enemy trench, take the position, and 42 prisoners with no loss of life on either side.

Some of the displays showed barracks and some of the activities performed by the regiment, throughout the world (it was pointed out, that even outside of wartime, soldiers will routinely be sent to places like Borneo and Norway for advanced training. Above an imaginary scene of a soldier in the Borneo jungle). Having spent time there myself, I can tell you its authentic.

One other aspect of the museum, was its honesty and sense of humour. A display showing all the different ranks of soldiers and what they do, mentioned the Colour Sergent major, who is responsible for quarter-mastering and supplying the regiment. It was stated, that when he isn’t there, he is referred to by everyone as “the colour bloke”.

The museum was run by former soldiers of the regiment. As I entered, they told me the rules about photography, gave recommendations for things I might find interesting (they were extremely helpful) and politely, asked me to show respect at all times.

He said with humility that brave people (some of them his friends) had died in uniform. It was a humbling experience.

Hill Walking in Llangollen

25th April 2009 admin Uncategorised Leave a comment

Its not possible to get the train from Chester to Llangollen directly. You normally get the train to Chirk or Ruabon, and then get the bus. I decided to get the train to Ruabon, walk to Trefor (the site of the famous Pontcysyllte Aqueduct) and then follow the Canal into Llangollen.

The Weather was better, throughout the day, than this picture gives credit, however it does show some of the countryside, nature and serenity of the walk.

According to the map, it was 7 miles, but took nearly 3 hours, each way, so not sure what that’s about. On the way, I was passed by a barge. It travels from Ruabon to Llangollen and back again, and costs £11 one way. I thought this was a bit expensive, when you consider that you can hire your own barge for around £100, as I did on my birthday one year.

Arriving in Llangollen itself, I immediately make for the steam railway there. I have been in submarines, flown in helicopters, travelled in amphibious vehicles, and even driven a tank, but I have never actually travelled on a Steam Train.

There was a major Steam Train event taking place, with hundreds of enthusiasts. I have a strange kind of reversal of luck. The ticket seller, explains to me that its my lucky day, and that for £16 I can travel around on different Steam Trains, all day. All very nice, but I only want to go on one, and was thinking more like £3.50. Because of the Gala event, the standard ticket prices aren’t available, so I have to put off this adventure for another day. I take a few minutes to snap a nice picture of a Steam Train anyway.

I continue wandering around Llangollen. I visit the Pro-Adventure (a supplier Ive used several times for equipment and outdoor activities). After wandering around further, I see that the credit crunch has taken its toll on local adventure businesses, but this has created opportunities for people like me.

Normally a days hill walking, mountain biking etc with a guide costs around £100 per day. Now they are offering deals where you can do this for and average of £45. I haven’t done any Kayaking in a good while, so make a mental note of this for the future, when I plan a weekend camping in Llangollen.

No trip to this town would be complete, without a walk along the river. About 250 metres outside the main town is the riverside park. Its pretty quiet, so I buy some tea and a chocolate brownie, get out my notebook and start writing stuff down (its easy in the excitement of the day, to forget things).

A wander around some more, have a good look at the campsite, look around a few bunk houses and camping barns and take down telephone numbers. I see the shop doorway of a charity shop. I remember that several years earlier, my friend Frank had some acting work here. He was working for the BBC on a local news story called “Keep a welcome in the valley”.

The basic idea, was that Frank would stand in the shop doorway, and try to convince passers by to try on a horrendous dressing gown, which he told them he was considering buying for his sister (Ive known Franks sister since she was a small child, and she would have strangled him, if he had ever seriously delivered such a gift).

Frank being Frank, actually got all 5 people to take part and put on the dressing gown.

Back to the Canal, and a long but peaceful walk to Ruabon. The station, it is overrun with Steam Train enthusiasts. travelling home (ironically on Diesel trains !).

I sit there, and wonder how they can get so excited about something like that. But then it occurs to me, how many people would think wandering along a Canal is such a fantastic experience, yet to me it is.

WW2 U Boat and Birkenhead Park

25th April 2009 admin Uncategorised Leave a comment

I’ve always been fascinated by the story of the German U boats in WW2, and Alan Turing’s attempt to catch them by decrypting the Enigma code.

I caught the train to Hamilton Square. The U-Boat story exhibition is just nearby. The main things to see, were various artifacts which had been recovered from the Sub, and the Sub itself, which had been cut into sections to enable it to be viewed more easily.

At the center of this picture, is the rear section of the sub, which show damage inflicted by anti-submarine planes, which ultimately sunk the sub.

At the end of the war, the German high command, ordered all submarines to surrender. Its still unknown, why U534 (the submarine featured in the exhibition) didn’t. It was sunk by the RAF, but its mission always remained a mystery. It was theorised it was carrying hi ranking officers to South America, that it had gold and jewelry, and one other theory, is that its experimental torpedoes were being taken to Japan, to continue the war effort.

Karsten Ree, believed it contained treasure, and decided to raise it. There wasn’t any treasure in the normal sense, but endless information about U-boats and life on-board, which the exhibition attempts (and I believe achieves) to capture.

A working Enigma machine (the Sub carried two, one in general use, and one in storage. The one in storage was in near perfect condition).

Looking inside the sub, you could see just how tiny it was. This section shows the engine room, but in other places, there were 2 small hobs, where food was cooked in shifts, around the clock.

It was said that life on board was very hard (52 men in an area the size of a small terraced house). When they weren’t working they were either sleeping or eating. There was always plenty of food to eat, to keep moral high.

I spent about an hour there and then moved on. About half an hour’s walk away, is the famous Birkenhead park.

Its famous, because quite simply it was the first public park, open in the word. Central Park in new York one of the worlds more obviously famous parks, is based on it, and from the air, the 2 are almost identical.

Using my Iphone, and the trusty google maps, I was able to find the entrance without much trouble. It was much bigger than I expected. On a beautiful day like this one, there are few things more fun than wandering around and exploring in the outdoors.

I continued on through the park, and passed the boathouse, alongside the parks lake. Bit further along, they have re-opened the victorian tea house (I think the Victorians would have been pretty unhappy, as its now called Cappuccino’s. I stop and have the now ubiquitous coffee, and a chocolate muffin.

I spend another hour wandering around the park, and then back to Hamilton Square. Ive passed through the underground station at Hamilton Square many times, but never seen the outside. Apparently, some of the best Edwardian buildings in the country are located there.

Afternoon in Delamere Forest

21st April 2009 admin Uncategorised Leave a comment

With all my daily chores complete, I decide to visit Delamere Forest. Its only about 12 miles from Chester, and about a fiver return on the train.

One area of days out, where money disappears really quickly, is eating out. Its nice if you can afford it, but I always take a packed lunch, some crisps and a chocolate bar. Then I take either a bottle of water or a flask with some coffee in it.

I don’t carry any formal walking stuff, but I wear a T shirt, a jumper and a waterproof jacket, between these 3, they can match just about any UK Summer weather. Bit of money, mobile phone, Swiss Army Knife and an orange bivy bag (not really used for emergency’s, more often used to sit on, and eat my sandwiches. One final thing, is footwear. If your not walking hills, or anything serious, you may find it more comfortable, to wear an old pair of trainers.

I have a map of the area (and I’ve attended NNAS Bronze and NNAS Silver courses). On this occasion, I decide to just wing it, walk in a particular direction, and see where it takes me. I find this superb lake, and nearby a pub and a quite elaborate camp site. I make mental notes, as all these things will make for a pretty good weekend away at some point in the future.

Delamere forrest is scattered with trails. Sections of the Sandstone trail and the Delamere way to name just a few. Most of the trails around there, can be navigated by mountain bike (I even see a van from Fairbridge there, they are spending the day mountain biking). Someone has even constructed a sort of stunt area for mountain bikes. Its empty, so I stop there and eat my sandwiches.

I continue walking along, occasionally leaving the path, to explore the denser forests. After 4 hours of walking around in the sunshine, I decide to head back to the station. I realise, that I don’t actually know where I am, and since I haven’t been monitoring my progress on the map, could be in a bit of difficulty as there’s no one around.

I remember my Iphone, find a road, and use Google. Maps to find the Railway station. Another success for the Iphone.

On the way, I visit this Go-Ape high rope course. I am tempted to give it a try, and pop in to their office to get some details. Its £25, you are given a quick demo, and then you go around on your own. Seems quite expensive to me, and anyway, it’s outside my budget.

The train isn’t due for 30 minutes. I’m still well within my budget, so I treat myself to a cup of tea, in the nice cafe at the railway station.

Get back home, then have a bath and cook dinner. Another interesting afternoon, for £6.50.

BT cheque lands on my doormat and adventure calls

20th April 2009 admin Uncategorised Leave a comment

Unemployed. Not a lot going on.

A lot of people will read this and think that its the end of adventure for the time being. In one way, you’d be right, it can be pretty difficult to get to Kuala Lumpur claiming job seekers allowance.

However, this gives me a chance to prove something I’ve said often before. That Adventure is everywhere, and all you need to do to find it, is research and planning (oh and a small amount of money).

Additionally, since this website is subtitled the adventures of an ordinary person, a lot of ordinary people are feeling the pinch right now, and a couple of budget adventure ideas should help those in a similar position to myself.

On a practical front, I am still unemployed and its urgently important that I get another job. Its nearly 20 years since I was previously unemployed, but I remember specifically, that one really important thing, was to establish a routine.

Each morning, I get up, go for a run (although sometimes its more of a walk), get back, eat a sensible breakfast and then get ready. I then spend about 2 hours scouring the internet, calling agencies and emailing CV’s.

In the old days, I would have had to sit in the house all day, waiting for people to call me back. With the advent of mobile phones, I can get out and do something, while waiting for emails and phone calls, so most of my afternoons are free.

Well, the other morning, I returned from my run, and I found a letter from BT. They had overcharged me, and had sent me a cheque for £36. I decide to find out how many budget adventures I can do with this money (which obviously, I hadn’t planned to receive). Since BT have sort of “sponsored” this project, its going to be known as the BT Adventures!.

The other blog entries will show some of the stuff I do in the coming days.

Dan and I pay our respects to Flo-Rida

19th April 2009 admin Uncategorised Leave a comment

flo

That ridiculous musical absurdity, flo rida (pronounced flow-rider) was on TV recently being interviewed. In the interview, he announced his mobile number, and said that he would love to hear peoples views on his music.

Dan and were in the pub the other evening, and decided to text “flo” with our thoughts on his musical talents and brand.

I won’t say what we said exactly, but words like “unoriginal” and “tool” were used quite a lot.

What’s hot, wk/beg 13 Apr 09

10th April 2009 admin Uncategorised Leave a comment

boatthatrocked

Although its been hyped to high heaven (which always makes me suspicious, for a kick off) the Boat that Rocked, most definitely does not “Rock”. All the elements are there, they just never seem to come together and at two and a half hours, it drags on and on. Peter Bradshaw seems to think the same.

Far better, is a film I watched recently called Revolutionary Road. Much better use of two hours, if you get a chance watch it.

A series with similarities to the X-Files, Fringe is something I’ve been watching recently and I’m really getting into it (the void left by the final endings of the L Word and Battlestar Galactica has been a significant chasm to fill).

UK only TV viewers are in for a real treat with an up coming episode of House. In it, a cat can seemingly predict who is going to die. Obviously house solves it in the end, but its a very creative episode (I am getting a bit sick of house playing mind games and all that rubbish, I’m more interested in a proper story).

On the book front, Wilbur Smith’s new book Assegai has just arrived (it was half price from Amazon, I just had to wait 3 weeks, which seemed worth it. Only 20 pages into it, but its as good as the 30 odd others of his, that I’ve read.

On the web front, I’ve gotten on board with Twitter. You may have heard about it, its been in the press a lot recently. Basic idea, is that I can update, what I’m doing, what I’m thinking or anything really, wherever I am and it will appear at the top of this website in Yellow.

It shows the last 2 tweets, and can even have links to pictures I’ve taken on the Iphone, or links to maps, where I have “tracked” my location to GPS.