5th March 2013 - Another step forward..

Warmest day of the year, so far, according to the forecast people. After the weekend of freeze and cold, it was quite pleasant to have the sun shining. Today was a day of travelling. Sister back to the the airport to return to USA and the trailer full of the Crimson Moon to the Midlands to their new home.

So - a little more space in the back yard now - from the trailer - not the sister !! and the chance to have a   quiet hour in front of the telly before an early night.

Maybe clear the garage tomorrow - plenty of rubbish left ....

4th March 2013 - Home from the Pirates

I do not think that I have ever been so cold in my life!!
Layers and layers of clothes, sleeping bags, blankets, but still it was a very cold event.
Pirates are meant to be tough, but the old Abbott Costello was not only frozen - but shamelessly chased and murdered only because he was the most Worthy !!!

But first event for the new owners of the Crimson Moon is over - and after loading the trailer today - we will be off to the Midlands again tomorrow.

But found a new band this weekend - the Longest Johns.
Heartily recommend them to anyone - never LARPed before - but played with the Scarlet rag team and assisted in a great event....

here is a sample of their songs...

23rd February 2013 - Cold, cold cold...

Google informs me that King David the 2nd died this day back in 1370.

Despite my claims to my Scottish heritage - I will admit that I was unaware of King David, well the Scottish one. I am well acquainted with the biblical fellow, he of David and Jonathan, and subject of one of my favourite songs - "Hallelujah"..... written by good old Leonard Cohen, though made more famous by a large green ogre called Shrek. At least it was a Green One!!!

So the poor old chap died on this day so many years ago. And I will admit that if it was as cold as this on that day he may have decided to go quietly into that good night...

Certainly, with some flu symptoms, (Man-Flu that is) and an aching back, it was only late evening when I finally crawled from the warmth of the bed and struggled into the living room to hide under a large blanket, curled on the couch.

Goodness knows what the bills will be like later this year. At the moment despite the extra heating ..
It is cold cold cold.....

So here is Hallelujah - LARP style ....

22nd February 2013 - Guest Blog - Dragons

Since I have a sister staying - it seemed only right that we should have a guest blog today...

A Driving Discovery 

Our tour guide in China called adventures into the unknown “discoveries” and we have adopted the phrase.  Today, after checking the laundry on the balcony which was stiff with frost, the trousers were standing on their own, the bird bath covered with a thin sheet of ice, and waiting for the results of the Piscorius bail hearing (aka pre-trial trial) we ventured out into the wild, treacherous unknown on the outskirts of Burry Port.   There be dragons here.    We drove what we thought would be the short distance to the Post Office that Arnold recommended.   Well, five miles later through the narrow streets of Pembrey we found the elusive place.   It was not, as we had been lead to believe, an easy place to get to, nor was it an easy place to park.  Oh but I get ahead of myself.  We first explored the car park on the near side of the railway bridge to get to the Co-op.  A successful discovery.  It was free, easy to get into, and more importantly easy to get out of with plenty of parking available.   We conducted a quick stroll over the bridge to the Co-op to make sure there were no dragons hiding under the bridge on the railway.  We got back to the car without mishap and then drove on to the Pembrey location.  Following that, we followed another set of directions to get to the Mini Supermarket at the petrol station somewhere east (or west) or Burry Port.  

We drove in, found it easy to park and drive out again but did not stop to sample their wares.   Actually, now that we have established that the car park is very accessible and without dragons, there seems to be no reason to venture out to the mini supermarket as the Co-op will provide all essential necessities.  So then, we braved the center of Burry Port where I said that the only way to drive through the town was to straddle the white line in the middle of the road and not hit the cars parked on both sides.   This was accomplished successfully and luckily there were no dragons hiding although there were lots of seagulls attacking the crows.   A parking space was found right outside the Spar shop.   A quick jaunt across the road to the post office, where we robbed the store of mother’s pension money and then we walked back to the car.   It will be noted that we parked outside the Spar which meant there was really little reason to go to the Co-op unless we wanted exotic items such as trifles, smoked salmon and pate.

So the discoveries were all very successful and we returned for a well deserved cup of tea in Mummy’s flat.  She prepared a lovely egg and cheese dish in the oven which was one of granddad’s favorites and now it is time to put our feet up and await the result of the pre-trial trial bail hearing of Piscorius.

Meanwhile, the ice is still in the bird bath.  The trousers are still standing without assistance and the ring doves are cooing at each other and picking up twigs to make a nest.  All is well with the world

Christine Longtin

21st February 2013 - Of viruses and weather plans

Strangely, it is a full week in Wales where the sun has greeted us in the morning. Okay it sometimes blows over with some gathering clouds later in the day, but the morning tends to have a touch of bright Phoebus shining down on me.

I attributed this mainly to having a sister staying in Wales while her normal domicile is in the "dry Heat " of Arizona, and though the winds are whipping from the east bringing cold breezes that strip the house of any warmth, the brightness is a welcome change from the dreary weeks before Christmas.

From a personal point of view though, the cold air seems to have brought back a viral cough that has plagued me now since Christmas. Twice I have assured myself that it has gone and I am returning to my (relatively) fit state and ready to start loading vans and clearing basements. Even a course of antibiotics which the Doctor assured me could not effect a viral infection but cleared the symptoms in 4 days. Don't talk to me about Placebo affects!!! But if it works - don't knock it....

But with the cold weather, comes the return of the hacking cough, and the spasms that have caused me to strap my back up and hobbler around the room like a 90 year old. A birthday this week was insufficient cause to age me thirty years like some Rip Dai Winkle....

So, what of Arizona then? Are they getting their standard 20 degrees of "dry Heat"??

Well actually they are under snow and it seems that the state has ground to a stop. I recall the panic and erratic driving on the highway when we were driving along the Highway and a drop or two of rain fell with permission of the populous. As anxious drivers reached for glove compartments, or whatever they call them in the US, and leafed through the semi automatic weapons that keep America the Land of the Free to find the driver's manual in search of the  button for the windscreen wipers. As they drift across their 5 lanes peering through the muddied windows... As we decided we would be much safer on a back road rather than chancing multi car collisions...

So if that was rain... what will it be like in Phoenix and Tombstone under a canopy of white???

Well, it seems that the World Golf Championships at Dove Mountain, incidentally one of those rare American world competitions that permits other countries to compete in the competition, is being snowed out today. 

Now if we looked at the weather as we look at our computers we would be thinking about rebooting the system and changing the virus software.

But as for me - I want to buy some of those fine old fingerless gloves that Bob Cratchet used to huddle around the one remaining candle... My fingers are cold as I write...  Perhaps a nice cup of tea!!!

16th February 2013 - 59th Street Bridge Song

A time comes in life when you really don't wish to count the birthdays, so it was a great pleasure to visit another poor victim of the day and surprise a friend at their 40th Birthday.

In my case - I am really past counting. So when 59th Street Bridge song came to my mind, I happily started humming "Slow down, you move to fast.." Though in reality I am far too young at 59 to think about slowing down. Widening the girth - yes... And sad to say I am strapped up with a back support with a little pain in the back but that was probably from loading the van with all the marquees and benches and trestles.
But that is a sign of activity not inactivity so not really a portent of dotage.

So as we turned up at the Rose and Crown near Coventry to see a 40 year old birthday boy, and he, expecting to have a quiet curry with a mate, looks out at the meanderings of a large white van trying to find a space large enough to store a long wheel base white elephant.

The look of perplexity, followed by confusion and surprise in itself made the journey from Wales to Midlands  worthwhile, and as the hour continued, and more strangers arrived from all over the country, boosting the dining to 37, he slowly crumbled into a birthday heap......

I love surprises.. Especially being involved in surprises for other people. And this one was as good as they get. Even for the Curry house - who had to take the potential booking of maybe 25 or 30 could be 35 confirmed and up to 40 and were not at all phased upon a Saturday night..

We were all "looking for fun and feeling groovy..."

Now next year ....   Next year will be worth celebrating at home - cos afterwards I will have my bus pass....


 

15th February 2013 - Aliens are among us...

Today, an asteroid wrongly named 2012, or maybe it is just late and should have been here last year, came an astonishingly close 17,200 miles from the earth.  No- not 27,700 kilometres (You may understand this decision if you have seen my previous missives...).

This evening, I am reliably informed, I should be able to look up into the night sky and somewhere near the plough see the passing of 2012. I thought that was a wish of my last New Years Eve, but I can understand that in these days of science fiction, there are many ways of seeing the passing of an era.
No, the night sky, which is actually quite clear this evening, should divulge some indication of the passing of an object universally measured as "the size of an Olympic swimming pool" to those with binoculars or small telescope. I do not intend to here dilate upon yet another system of measurement.

Well Susie has found our old binoculars in the mire and dust at the top of the basement stairs, and an hour washing and wiping have left them pristine and glistening. A nasty scare on the BBC News that the meteor had already passed Australia is put in its place as a mere rumour and the schedule is still that 2012 will pass over Llanelli between 9pm and 10pm this evening.

However, on the same day, no-one seems to have seen the link between this close passover and the real disaster in the Urals today, where a shooting star fell to earth, witnessed by so many vid cams and mobile phones, striking a frozen lake and injuring 950 people ( the current figure at 8.50pm )

Okay - the injuries are mainly cuts and bruises and the result of shattered glass, but video shows the shock wave knocking people over. The Street CCTV shows the glow as the "thing" passes - lighting up the sky. Mr Putin, the body builder leader of the metamorphosis of the USSR, promises help and Russian television is full of scared schoolchildren and Vox Pox.

However, I am totally surprised by the the lack of recognition from my Re-enactment, LARP and generally Geek friends.
I have seen this before - surely they have too?? Why am I alone in seeing what is really happening?? Is it really an age thing?

Turn back only a few decades....  well actually quite a few... 1976.
I so clearly recall the strange intervention onto the world of film when David Bowie became an enigmatic "Man who fell to Earth".  Oh how we thrilled at the funny little globe thing that fitted into a small stand and played music which seemed to have no source!!!. Oh how we marvelled at the television images, not at a maximum 20 inches ( not centimetres!) but wall sized and almost, shock at the thought, in three dimensions.....
How we laughed at the ridiculous concept of private enterprise raising sufficient funds to put a commercial tourist rocket ship into space....   These things were pure science fiction and could never come to pass!

1976 (not 2012).  But I also recall the start. A Meteor flying through night sky, lighting up the horizon.
All right - it was flying over the United States of America, but that was a geographical nicety, it was an American funded film, and was therefore filmed in that great country. It landed with a great explosion in a lake somewhere in the midst of remote states. Today,  a flaming body passes over all those remote parts of the Urals ( they have a population but who would have thought ??) and then strikes a frozen lake in the middle of nowhere.

I am not saying that there is a connection. It is just an observation. But while we talk about 2012 passing so close that our Sat Nav satellites are further out in the night sky, my mind once again reviews the statements of the US Defense when they (laughingly) gave their reasons for not building a Death Star, and the claim that it was not Defense policy to blow up other planets. Was this their real reason??

9pm, and the sky over Llanelli has clouded over. I am not one to be paranoid, but it was crystal clear when I started writing this blog, and now, when I have the opportunity to examine more closely this body called 2012, the skies are misted and there is no way that I can examine the profile of the celestial body to see if it may be perfectly round, bristling with weapons, and hiding an asthmatic Goth leader.

No, I cannot investigate further here in Llanelli. But there are those out there who will strive for the truth. Those who may search the ice and waste of the Urals to see if we have and alien bristling with futuristic technology, or maybe an annoying golden robot and Dusty Bin on wheels.

I am not paranoid. Nor am I demented. But Mr Putin has said that he will sort everything out. The Pope has resigned. We are more worried in our press about the possibility that we are eating Horse Meat, than we are about the utterings of politicians which would better be described as bull***t. I have 200 channels on my satellite TV and nothing worth watching this evening, not even in the night sky....

They are among us!! And they do not want us to know ...   tell your friends ...