Friday, 25 January 2008
India in Contrast
They were both beautiful but in very different ways.
The first one was Unreported World about the gruesome murder of members of the lower caste system by those in 'higher' castes like the warriors as they rebel against the caste system that regards them as untouchables. OK depressing? No. It wasn't done that way, the child of the lower caste being interviewed about being shut in a dark toilet cubicle for daring to ask to go to the toilet, wasn't depressing. And when they were accused of being rat-eaters as a put down by teachers in class it was followed by a rat-hunter digging out rats and his children cooking and eating them on a makeshift fire, horrible as that was to see it also wasn't put forth in that way. They came across in a very dignified, peaceful and determined manner which was amazing to see.
The other was in Natural World showing tigers in the most splendid surroundings. I'd heard the story about why animals are striped because it breaks up their outline - which it probably does - but as the tigers were moving through the grasses it was like a strobe effect which just looked like the grasses moving in the wind - becoming harder to see. Anyway there has only ever been one filmed tiger kill, and they finally managed to get a second on film in the programme. They are incredibly rare for all the usual reasons like loss of habitat, poachers etc. The environment seems different to Africa, less harsh and more sensual.
So in hugely different ways they were both about living life in a beautiful way in India
Thursday, 24 January 2008
Tats
I saw a girl totally covered in tats at QM Union in Glasgow, and thought, I like that!
Apparantly the name comes from the old way of applying them with an ivory thing - it made a 'tatoo' sound when you hit it, the first hit was tat, the oo was it hitting skin.
There is a bit of a spiritual element to them I think. Possibly less so when it is Tigertailz or the grim reaper. I do like the Maori ones, the part of me that is really drawn to indigenous peoples likes it. I think tats are an extension of drawing as a child.
So that's me got that off my chest!! (which if it was a tatoo wouldn't have been so easy). I've no intention of getting one.
Saturday, 19 January 2008
Assortment of entombments
M, #23028, d. 30 August 1900Last Edited=24 May 2007
Claud Hamilton Hamilton, 12th of Barns married, secondly, Hon. Henrietta Anne Bruce, daughter of Robert Bruce and Jane Dalrymple Hamilton Fergusson, on 26 November 1874.1 He died on 30 August 1900.1 Claud Hamilton Hamilton, 12th of Barns lived at Dunmore Park, Stirling, Stirlingshire, Scotland.1 He lived at Cochno, Dunbartonshire, Scotland.1 He was also known as 12th of Barns. He lived at Barns, Dunbartonshire, Scotland. He held the office of Justice of the Peace (J.P.).1 He held the office of Deputy Lieutenant (D.L.).1
Tuesday, 15 January 2008
Down In The Valley DVD
Sunday, 13 January 2008
White Bliss
There was a good path in dryer times but walking conditions were very icy , and snow at the sides was giving way underfoot. Then out of the woods it got even harder as in parts feet were sinking in to my thighs in the white stuff. Walking in footprints was the best way to get any sort of rhythm, but it was heads-down stuff, and very tiring. I had a long rest taking pictures, and basking in the sun that wasn't unlike a sunny day at the beach.
I chatted to a teli-mark skier as he waited for his friend. The huge dump of snow of the previous week, the sun and superb visibility (plus it being a Saturday) had made it THE day of the decade to be out on the mountains. Unfortunately his usual skier friend had his parents Golden Wedding Anniversary to attend! A three-line whip I was informed.
I finally reached the top, all the better as it had been like walking in treacle. The views were exceptional, from Glen Coe to Ben Nevis to Cairngorms - Scotland was quite small really, certainly the central mountain area. The tele-mark skiers showed me the skins they use that stick to the underside of the ski and allow them to slide forward but get grip in the opposite direction to stop them sliding backwards - artifitial ones but seal skin was once used. Going organic isn't an opotion these days. Once I got to the top though, I had this desire to get an even better view by taking a hot-air baloon out of my pocket and going wherever the slight wind drifted me.
I had hoped to do a further three Munros, I started off for the second one but my legs were telling me it was really time to go. The skiers were off across more rocky terrain. If they had headed down the gully I was in they would have had amazing skiing, I had to content myself with a nice bum sledge. The depth of the snow made it really easy to descend quickly but in the shadow of the mountain the air was now very cold, as the ground levelled off it became harder again. The snow took my weight for the next part, just as well as it would have been the hardest part of the day.
The climb had taken 5 hours. I made a small detour and went in by Crieff to see Granny for an hour before her tea. There are a lot of Polish people in her home. Her husband had spent several years as a POW in Poland, though with help from local people he eventually managed to escape. Perhaps during those long years the Polish people he'd encountered hadn't been as good as the ones who risked their lives helping him escape, as she called them in the nicest possible tones of course 'buggers'. In those sorts of times maybe wasn't too bad.
That's the weekend almost over. Calves are a bit soar. I'll be keeping a close eye on the forecast waiting for the stormy skies to pass.
Thursday, 10 January 2008
Chumscrubber
Monday, 7 January 2008
New Music Yvonne Lyon and Helen Boulding
I came across Helen Boudling on a cd of singer songwriters and the standout track on it (other than the Tom McRae song) was New Red Dress by her - I've managed to scrape together an album worth of songs from singles eps etc, but her first official album is out in February.
Cheers
Saturday, 5 January 2008
Breaking and Entering for a living
Thursday, 3 January 2008
Computer Doesn't Know What It's Doing - Its a Computer
Tuesday, 1 January 2008
Happy New Year
Personally I'm looking forward to whatever it brings. Nothing dramatic planned but open to possibilities.