Maddog's Box

Surfing the Severn Bore

2007-03-27T23:54:00.000+01:00

See photos here

I returned back from skiing on monday and found the UK in the grip of a cold snap (global warming my ass) and remembered the promise that I had made with Kent to go and surf the Severn Bore on wednesday morning. I thought maybe that the cold has cooled Kent's enthusiasm and could support a sudden feeling I had to go "cluck-cluck". This was not the case...

Kent was more than keen to do it and the fact that I am such a good friend, I thought I couldn't back out on him... unlike his supposed other friends! He had already organised some boards, borrowed a wetsuit for himself and had a potential one for me... Luckily, I had mentioned this to Jason (the surfing around icebergs) and he had luckily brought his 5mm wetsuit from SA AND has a pair of simple booties... PERFECT, so there appeared no reason I could quit!

So after 1 days work I was back on holiday and we were driving down to Porthcawl on the south tip of Wales to a surfboard hire shop. Kent has organised for the guy to come back to his shop (from home) when we got there - so ended up around 8:15pm! We went into the shop and me being me spied a whole lot of things that I wanted to buy (serious sports equipment habit!). I spied a wicked pair of spit toe surfing booties... Mr Mastercard came to the fore! So now both Kent and I had booties (little did we know that this would probibly save Kent's life...). Two 9-foot foam surfboard and we were away - actually we managed to fit these INSIDE the car! Yip Kent's car is not called "The Sherman" for nothing.

Perhaps, I should note at this point that on the way down it was snowing a little... hummm... anyway back to the story!

A lot of phoning around on the way down (thanks Deanne) and we found that there were absolutely no rooms available anywhere near the surfing section of the River Severn for the evening... so we headed to the seafront of Porthcawl and found a very reasonable hotel (shot Mr Surfshop for the suggestion). Dropped our bags off in the room and headed down to bar - hungry and very thirsty. I spied on the board that it was "curry and a pint" - perfect... Unfortunately it was 9:15pm and the kitchen closed at 9:00pm - bugger... So we had a meal of a couple of pints of guinness.

the next morning, at about 6am, we had packed up and were heading back up the motorway, with the River Severn calling our names. We eventually arrived at the spot, Minsterworth, right next to one of our work projects - The Slaughterhouse (yes, an abattoir!). We jacketed up, opened the doors to the cold and began to mingle with some of the other people that were hanging around - some who actually were going to surf. We took a little walk down the river and found a nasty surprise awaiting us... there were sheets of ice on the top of the banks!!! This was looking to be a REALLY BAD IDEA!

Anyways, a while later and a lot more people around it was finally time to start preparing... so we shedded the warm clothes and put on the wetsuits (and booties). My wetsuit seemed like it might be warm enough, Kent on the otherhand... well... his was a triathletes wetsuit. So superthin with more "thick lycra" in some places :) So I lent him my "hottie" to put under the wetsuit (A "hottie" is like a rashvest but it has a rubber inner lining - so keeps you warm-ish). While getting kitted up we were interviewed by local radio - I hope I don't sound like a moron but all the guy wanted us to say was that we would pee in our wetsuits... it was to DAMN COLD to pee...

So half an hour before the bore was supposed to pass we followed everyone as they slowly slipped into the water... F$^K me... it was cold! The bore supposedly broke around the bank on the far side of the river so everyone started to paddle across, drifing with the outgoing river. Once supposidly in position we waited. Now at this point I was using my camera that I put in it's waterproof housing - funny thing was I was losing all feeling in my fingers! It was more than cold... no words can descibe the feeling. However, my body and feet were actually not 'that' bad (10/10 for the booties) and Kent although looking RATHER cold in his 'wetsuit' was probibly fortunate to have the spare booties. If his feet weren't covered then I am sure they would have been as cold as our hands - and that may not have been bearable, as the hands remained a lot of the time above the water.

So after about 28 minutes of mind numbing cold (were I not only lost feeling in the hands but actually lost all motorskills!!) the bore came - with about 10 to 15 people already riding it!! Unfortunatley we must have been in the wrong spot beacause by the time it came to us it had stopped being a foamy and was more a large ripple.... mad paddling couldn't get even the boat of a surfboard I had onto the wave/big ripple... so it passed. WE FAILED... and paddled back to the car.

However, it doesn't end there... Kent wasn't done! We piled the boards into the car, got in wetsuits and all and "raced the bore" to were the River Severn goes under the A40 Bridge at Gloucester... A few illegal manouvers, a rough park down a side road (Horseshoe Drive) and we ran down to the river and launched ourselves into the cold water AGAIN. Launched is a good word because where we got in there was a mud/clay bank and all one could do was slide down it and into the water - very graceful for the spectators!

So we paddled down the river and tried to draw on every bit of knowledge to guess where the bore would be best. (there were about 10 of us now in the water) The best idea was to hug the bank, grabing onto the river plants and wait... Quite soon the now much smaller bore came into sight and after much paddling I managed to get a little ride on it. I got onto my knees (lifesaving style) but didn't managed to stand up - not beacause I couldn't but more due to the fact that the 'ride' required a little bit of paddling to sustain it... not exactly Jeffreys Bay!

So back out of the water it was end of the show and we dried off, put the boards back into the car, drove to Wales, dropped off the boards, drove to Heathrow, dropped of Kent (who was flying out to SA) and soon I was home... with both mine and Kent's muddle wetsuits etc to wash before I could relax.

In hindsight I think we will definitely do it again next year - this time wait in the correct location AND put aside £2 a month towards some gloves! It was so cold that I only regained feeling in my right index finger after a few days! One of the worst bit was not the cold but actually driving from the first spot to the second, when I started getting feeling back in my hands, I can only imagine what it must be like for those arctic explorers who get real frostbite!

Enough of the cold - The next holiday is going to be somewhere WARM and SUNNY!

Ski / Snowboard trip to Borovets, Bulgaria

2007-03-20T23:53:00.000Z

Deanne and I joined Laz's 2007 snow adventure to Borovets, Bulgaria, for some snow-fun. What we weren't banking on was the unusually warm weather the planet was experiencing, so the temperature was actually warm... but still we had snow (even if it was spring-snow)!

See my photos here and Deanne's photos here

The possie was 10-strong, with Laz, DK, Jason, Jimmy, Neil & Tamren, and Laz's two varsity friends (forgot their names now but will edit in when I get a new brain).

We headed out from Gatwick on Thrusday morning, arrived in Sofia (Bulgaria) and were wisked away to the mountains. As an aside... the taxi driver must have taken us through some of the worst areas that Sofia has to offer!!! The hotel Samakov is a great big (quite nice) hotel slap bang in the middle of the resort... less than 100m from the main gondela - so perfect (and it had an indoor pool!!).

Friday, we got suited and booted (and Skiie'd up) in the moring and then decided against going with the hotel ski-instructors and hired a guy called "Orgy"... The day was spent with a 3-hour lesson in the morning and then some lazy sitting around having a couple beers at the pub at the bottom of the main slope. I on the otherhand (because we didn't buy ski-passes), spent the rest of the afternoon walking up the main training slope and than skiing down, then uncliping, walking up, and skiing down, then unclipping, walking up....etc, etc, etc... Eventually after I was knackered the boys came back and I managed to drag Neil, DK and Jimmy up the slope to "practice". Neil had zero control (but a lot of balance!!) and instead of turning managed to point himself down the slope and rocket down... pretty impressive - if it was done on purpose! The rest manged to do some turns and everone had a couple of spills - some of which I caught on camera! Jason, Laz and the others were all on snowboards and carving up the top of the mountain.

The first days skiing over, it was time for beers, food and partying... I being completely "soft" called it a night fairly early but I am told that the others "hit-it-hard"... apparently although Bulgaria is cheap... it is still not cheap enough to be able to by every fine looking female in the bar a drink [or worse :) ]!

The next day, we binned Orgy and went for a ski-instructor from the hotel... far better! His name was "Constantine" and he "...normally teaches the Russians skiing...". He took us up the slopes to a trinaing slope at the top and after a couple training runs we were on the button-lifts and dominating the green-slope! The training was over just after lunch and Constantine had proven himself a winner! So Neil, DK and I joined with the other boys and hit a couple more serious slopes... we were masters! Well... besides Neil (at one point not being able to turn right on one of the slopes and almost skiing horizontally across 3 slopes :) (one had to be there.... Laz said he laughed so hard some pee came out!!). Then we hit the longest, fastest button lift I have EVER gone on... Neil managed to fall off somewhere luckily not to far from the top, so we spent a good 15 minutes just parking cheesy... waiting for the Pencils to walk up a mountain, in knee-deep snow in ski-boots... the boy wasn't happy when he finally managed to get to us and then fall over!

so ended another days skiing and it was back to the hotel, for food, drinks and a hard nights partying (with me pulling "soft" AGAIN!!!). The only thing I did do was go and buy a cool North Face soft-shell jacket.... wicked.... for like £27 (it's like over £150-or so in the UK) - turned out to be officially FAKE but made of the same materials etc... so a complete WIN!

The next day I binned the Ski's, kissed Deanne a goodbye-for the day and headed out with my baby (my snowboard) and went and carved up the slopes with Laz, Jason, DK, etc... It was good to be on my board again and I can now officially say that I prefer snowboarding!!! Although I would like to get better at Skiing...

A couple big stacks later, and after meeting up with Deanne, Neil and Tamren for late lunch, we headed down the slopes... the end of a far to short snow adventure for 2007 :( Next time a week is going to be a must and if I do go for a long weekend again... I will have to do another trip with a whole week as well...like during 2006!

So the day over, we decided to bin the hotel food and went out for some local dishes... Somehow we got dragged into a steak resturant, where we all had the most expensive steaks on the menu... even though there were some rumours of missing horses in the area... Not the best place to eat in hindsight... The night was young and the lads went out... We managed a fair showing before calling it at about 12 and heading off to club-duvet.

A 4am wake up and a 5pm taxi to the airport for a flight out was all it took to deposit us back onto the "Island". What hit us when we arrived was a very cold UK... probibly colder than it was in Bulgaria and me preparing to go and surf the Severn Bore...

REALLY NOT THAT KEEN, with temperatures around freezing, but more of that adventure that I couldn't pull "soft" on!!!

Weekend Paris Trip

2007-03-12T23:50:00.000Z

Deanne and I took a weekend break to Paris on the second weekend of March.

Travel was via the Eurostor into Gare Du Nord on Friday morning and our hotel was the Emeraude Hotel Des Victoires, just a stones trow north of the Louvre.

We did A LOT of walking and managed to cover most of the standard Paris sights... although we resisted the urge to stand in queues for hours, so didn't bother making it up to the top of the "Steel Girder".

Food wise Paris was pretty good, Lunches were mostly had in Montparnasse - at an outside "fast-food" place selling filled bagets and the BEST hotdogs I have ever had! (French hotdogs kick American hotdogs ass's!!). The savoury food store just happend to be next to my absolute favourite food of the trip - a nutella crepe!!! For dinner we tried two options - a nice looking restuarant on the first night (ginger pork & pasta, and chocolate pastry thingy-majigs for dessert), and then a pizza place in some ally near our hotel on the second (Pizza, pizza and chocolate mousse). Actually the pizza place had a little winner of a pizza - smoked salmon, cheese and a blob of creme-fresh in the middle - very nice, surprisingly!!!

Otherwise there was walking, standing, more walking and some going in and out of old buildings... typical city sightseeeing. Of course there was a lot of phototaking and mine can be seen here and Deanne's can be seen here

We left a lot still to do in Paris and will go back again sometime to immerse ourselves more. This time Deanne has promised to be even better at French and I will sit back and place my order with her. I can't be expected to go and get drinks or do anything when I can't understand what's been said to me :) hehe...

Oh yes and I have been playing with Adobe Illustrator this evening - so here is another picture of the Eiffel Tower on ACID :)

Sweet Spicy Sticky Ribs

2007-01-15T21:04:00.000Z

I have decided to blog the noteworthy meals I prepare - some may say this is "Boring", "Stupid" and even "trying to just make up stuff too fill the blog"! However, I will only put up the noteworthy ones AND BOY OH BOY is this one a winner!

Simple to prepare and ready in under 2hrs, with say 30minutes prep time...

Courtesy if BBC Saturday morning kitchen - Sweet sticky spicy ribs with red onion salad

Of course I ditched the salad option and had oven chips!

Infanta Christmas 2006 / 2007

2007-01-13T20:38:00.000Z

IMG_3499
Originally uploaded by Maddog Mardon.

After two long cold Christmas's on the wet Isle I decided it was time to once again return to the best place on Earth - our holiday house at Cape Infanta, in sunny South Africa!

It was the first holiday since my mum had passed away so it was a good time to go fishing with my dad, let my sisters enjoy the honour of my company and for me to enjoy a bit of sun-sea-and-sand!

More...

Annual Company "French Trip" (hummmm..)

2007-01-11T22:44:00.000Z

Okay so now that we are part of a large multinational engineering company on Friday 8th August 2006, the company (the original smaller one) went on a "Team building day out" to France and Brugge (Belgium) - via coach and ferry. The fact that we spent an hour our two in a LARGE french supermarket and filled our coach with wines, beers, spirits, cheese and meats gave an indication of the true motivation for the trip - It was a good old BOOZE CRUISE!!!

The trip started off at some godforsaken hour of 4am, a quick ferry ride over to Calais and then we hit the supermarket. After successfully buying a selection of wines and some stinky cheese I finally boarded the coach (much to the annoyance of everyone as I was the last one on - 30 minutes late!!!). Then we set off to get the hell out of france and into the country of beer and chocolate - Belgium. The rest of the afternoon was occupied by a fabulous meal (on the company) at a resturant in the older (and better) section of Brugge.

Post meal we hit off looking for good beers... unfortunately I was the tour guide and was trying to find a perticular belgium pub 't Brugs Beertje. After standing around in the rain a bit I put a call through to Aussie Steve back at work in London (poor bastard) and got some directions. After getting the correct street (Kemelstraat) we were there in no-time and put about tasting 9 and 10% beers :)

Then it was time to get back in time for the coach trip back, making sure we weren't late becuse otherwise they would leave us.... haha... ya sure, whatever! OR SO WE THOUGH.... Actually one of our guys who made it all the way back to the coach pickup point managed to get himself lost (he was completely smashed) and then managed to get himself LEFT IN BELGIUM!!! Apparently our couach drivers couldn't - much to the anger from his drinking partners in crime at the rear of the coach - but he managed to make it back to the UK, the next day! The coach trip was as it always is after one of these "Team building" events... a complete and utter boozed mess!

Made it safely back to the office and managed to break one of my expensive bottles of red - DAMN! Then home and SLEEP!

Check out the other photos

Company Spring Dinner Dance (in October!)

2007-01-11T21:58:00.000Z

Due to the takeover of the company in July we thought that our annual Spring Dinner Dance had unfortunately been crushed under the wheel of big business. However, the old directors stumped up one last time for a night a swish hotel and a bit of a party! The location for the dance was the company favourite - The Passford House Hotel in the New Forest

The best news was that this year I could finally take Deanne with and get the full benefit of getting the tux out and giving it a little walk around. Deanne didn't dissapoint with a fabulous red dress that forced me to source a red bow-tie and braces to compliment - Shot to Guy Laister!

The next day after the Dinner Dance we had some proper Tea and Scones (with all the trimmings) and then took a slow drive up the Southern England coastline, getting out an enjoying a bit of fresh air!

Compliments to the Directors for a great bit of staff pampering :)

Further photos available here

Completely Useless (Typical) Blogger

2007-01-11T21:43:00.000Z

So I have been completely useless in adding content to this blog, but not totally non-typical of blogging in general :)

So in the spirit of blogging I will very quickly try to catch up to present day!

Back burnt Brown? .. Ummm NO!!!

2006-05-30T23:45:00.000+01:00

Well Newquay wasn't the most sunniest place I have been in my life... actually the weather was pretty ROTTEN for the whole of Cornwall for most of the weekend. This did however give us the urge not to sit on the beach all day and actually get to see some sights.

However, I did join the men and on the last full day we hit the surf. "Suited-and-booted" with full length wetsuits and some pretty basic longboards, we conquered the mighty Cornwall surf... well... ummm... Lets just say an average to poor day at Battery Beach probably had better surf! However, the water did not disappoint - IT WAS COLD.... When I first started walking in I contemplated chickening out but the "shame" would have been too much, so I perceivered! The worst bit is actually when one first goes in, as your body is warm but the bits in the water are FREEKING freezing. So kinda like (but not as extreme) as the effect of heating a glass (or can) in a fire and then cooling only half of it in cold water.... If you don;t know what would happen then try it... but wear some protection (especially for the eyes)... the hot and cold bits don't really wanna be joined together :)

However, once I paddled out (man.. I forgot how hard it was when the body isn't used to it), the water wasn't that bad and I could focus on catching waves. The lack of some dependable swell and my utter enjoyment of actually just parking out at backline on a board meant that I didn't exactly rip up the surf. I did catch a good couple waves and then paddled in to defrost and pas the board to one of the other guys to have a go. I also wanted to test how cold my body temperature was by giving Deanne a hug.... hehehe... nothing like the squeal test!!!

Anyways, I don't have the patience to write about the whole weekend - but as luck would have it, Deanne has... Enjoy!

Gone Surfing at Newquay

2006-05-25T16:37:00.000+01:00

Got a new tent, got a tent buddy - going to Newquay!! :)

Surf, sun and sand!!!!

Yip, tomorrow morning Deanne and I join her other friends from work as they decend on Newquay.

For those not lucky enough to live in the UK, we have been having awesome weather at the moment... Awesome if your a tree that is!!!!

It has been wet, raining and sometimes windy (perfect for me on my bike!!) - the only hot days have been during the week, as one expects - when we are locked in offices & tied to the desk!

I am holding thumbs that the weather-man will have been off in his predictions for the weekend and that it is going to be a scorcer!!!! Feel the burn BABY!!!!

If the weather is right we may sample the delights that the UK surfing scene has to offer...

Hairy Legs 2006 - Team AmaWaveWave

2006-05-18T13:58:00.000+01:00

Hairy Legs 2006 - Laz and I - post race
Originally uploaded by Maddog Mardon.

On Sunday the 14th May, the AmaWaveWave team competed in the Hairy Legs Challenge 2006.

The event was made up of 2 x 5km runs and a 20km cycle (off-road) - Laz ran while I machined on the bike.

We were competing against "Team Machine", who ended up only just beating us.

AmaWaveWave finished in 28th place in the team event (1:52:47), 6 places behind Team Machine who finished in 22nd place (1:50:33)

Here is a photo of me on the bike. My flickr site has more photographs of the event!!!

PS: Guy is crying because it looks from the timing that I beat him on the ride!!! (Guy = 1:02:20, Dave = 1:01:58)... I'll let it go because a girl made him crash into the stinging nettles hahahahaha!!!!

Ohhh... my biggest haul YET!

2006-04-17T01:04:00.000+01:00

Feast your eyes on my chocolatey horde!

Most of the easter prezzies are from Fabulous Deanne! I think.. actually I KNOW I am gonna gobble up all the chocolate and them am going to be VERY sick... LOVELY!!!

The Easter Harvest starts EARLY!!!

2006-04-13T11:10:00.000+01:00

Just look at this winner free Chocolate Easter Egg from our company for Easter AND we are been told to push-off early.... RESULT!!!!

Hey Deanne, your free coffee mug is still cool but sure can't eat a coffee mug :)

Ohhh yummy!!!

Useless Air France and THE BLUE PILL

2006-04-05T17:33:00.000+01:00

What a mission, Air France have now officially bollaxed up both flights! Firstly they were so late in getting to SA that I missed both my flight to Durban and the next one. Well at least my luggage got there…

So there I was, last off the plane at Heathrow, quickly ducking to the toilet as the airhostess said I couldn’t go because we were about to land… OH WAIT I got to back up a bit more…

[Okay this first bit is SA's fault] – at the terminal at JHB there was serious amount of fannying about with getting from the terminal to the station… Some fool had parked the truck that takes the wheelchair people to the plane - in a very annoying place… so the transit busses were all trying to get in to their gates to pick up people (mayhem!!). Then they decide to send a super long connected one (the one with the bendy bit in the middle) – perfect for space BUT not so great trying to reverse out, passed the annoying truck, and into oncoming traffic around a circle (probably the main route as there is so much ‘building’ going on). So finally I get on the plane but it is still a further 20 minutes of so before the final bus gets there with the others – OH YES and the fool at the counter has put me and another guy sharing a seat… I would have taken it had it not been next to his girlfriend hummm…. So after a while I finally got an open seat… However the slight female form of my former co-seater had been replaced with a rather large MAN who took up both arm wrests and MORE…

No personal screens but it was okay as I played PSP and watched the movie on the shared screen in the isle…. ‘Cheaper by the Dozen 2’

So when I finally had stopped playing and decided to sleep it was getting on 1:30am (in retrospect I should have done the next move a little sooner…) My Aunt had given me some of mom’s sleeping pills (blue pills) – quick acting and only 4hrs or so of ‘knock out’ (perfect for a flight)… I read package which said one should only start with 1/2 of the tablet… Frieda suggested 1/4, so I took that…. After 20 minutes it was getting near 2 and I was like ‘HELLO I am still awake here!!!’ so I took the other 1/4…. Well…. That is the last thing I remember… I woke up at 5 with the airhostess offering breakfast – I think I might have drooled…. So doing the math…. 5am minus 2am = 3hrs…. hummm… Breakfast in the belly… OUT… more drooling! Woke again when we landed at Paris…. Now even in my daze I though something was fishy… time wasn't how I remembered it should be… Well… It wasn’t… The plane from Paris to London was supposed to leave at 6:45am…. Now was going at 7:30am…. But it was already just before 7:00am when we got off! YIKES!!!! So a gentle stroll upstairs to find they are already boarding the plane… I did my thing and got on…

So what does one do with drugz the system…. BANG…. OUT AGAIN…I woke again later when the pilot and air-nazi’s said to all return to our seats and buckle up for landing… (But I gotta go to the toilet… ‘Too BAD’ said the Nazi). Now I recon the brits in the controlling tower were having a laugh as we must have circled heathrow for 30 minutes or more before landing AND then they must have landed us at Gatwick because it took another 20 minutes for the plane to get to the terminal… Then DAVID GOTTO GO…. So I did as I got into the terminal…. So when I am done I find the immigration almost empty (they must have jacked up the people there) and go to collect my luggage… I find the correct carosel… no more bags are coming out…. And my bag is nowhere to be seen… Check at the desk… Oh yes…. It’s still in Paris – PERFECT!

So I am now 2hrs later than I planned, minus my luggage, with the only clothes those on my back. The only other luggage I have is a bag I was bringing over for Deanne. Lots of very pretty heals and dance dresses that I didn’t think would be appropriate for work – probibly would be a bit too formal or show to much leg :)

Finally got home, showered, got to work at 12 o-clock…

Oh yes - work is a mess - 3 jobs all due TOMORROW.... BUT I have to go home - hopefully they are going to deliver my bag tonight - Otherwise there is SHIT!!!!

So Long MUM, till we meet again

2006-04-05T17:32:00.000+01:00

The Fridge

2006-03-21T19:17:00.000Z

This is going in as a nomination for special mention for best pic of the trip

One great thing about being tin the snow is that the fridge is never too small to keep all your beers super cold! It was so cold actually that sometimes they needed a little dip in the Jacuzzi to warm them a little.

It was actually so cold one evening that when we were walking to a pub with open beers, the beers actually started to freeze as we were walking!!!!!

Ferrari goes South African

2006-03-21T00:08:00.000Z

Thanks to DaveA for this news update:

Ferrari Formula 1 racing team recently fired their whole pit crew to
employ a few young guys from the Soweto township in South Africa...

...This sudden reaction was due to a TV documentary showing how young Sowetans could take a car's wheels off within 6 seconds, without any fancy equipment.

Ferrari soon regretted their decision, however, as the young men not only changed the wheels within 6 seconds, but 12 seconds later the car had been re-sprayed and sold to the McLaren team.

Still eager to compete in the race and, since Ferrari no longer had a Formula 1 car to race with, they decided to race a Sowetan minibus taxi, complete with an experienced (yet unlicensed) driver and Fare collector, in the Grand Prix.

Of course they easily won the race, since the minibus weaved its way through the start grid, set off before the lights changed and didn't bother to change the tyres when they wore out. It also took all corners at maximum speed, as the brakes were non-existent. On the way to victory, the new Ama-Ferrari-Ferrari team also managed to hijack several competitors' cars, and picked up 35 passengers at some notoriously dangerous spots,including blind rises, as well as in the chicane.

We can be proud of another South African sporting achievement which will put us at the forefront of sporting history!

Les Deux Alpes you beauty!!!

2006-03-20T23:35:00.000Z

Yip I have returned from my second snowboarding trip of the year, unharmed but feeling rather tender. There was some extreme boarding (well for my standards), some big wipes when trying new jumps and a little accident with a skier at about 60-jabillion km's an hour - I SHOULD ALWAYS WEAR A HELMET (which I did)!

Here are some quick photies of from my camera and I'll put more up when everyone from the trip sends me theirs (I am the grand collator!!)

Okay so here ar the topics I should be filling in:

Jacuzzi is a must!

Living in Style

Barcrawl the night before a lesson at 9am....

David vs Mr Skis!

and more when I can think...
Enjoy the pics :)

Soaking up the sun during lunch

The Boarder Cross

The Halfpipe

Myself and Shaun S Chlling on an awesome off-piste section

It's that time AGAIN - MORE snowboarding!!

2006-03-10T23:43:00.000Z

Yip it's time for the snowboarding trip with all the trimmings - it's time for Les Deux Alpes!

I am currenly looking at all the gear I still have to pack into bags, but I thought I'd better spend a little time preparing all for teh lack of posts for the next week (ha ha ... just realised that with my record it would really not make any difference). Pity I couldn't take Deanne on the trip but there is always next year... I think possibly I will have to encourage all the others who have never been before - for a newbie ski / board trip - LOTS of falling and moaning :)

This trip is in a fully catered chalet... with cook and travel rep. That means chocolate cake for tea, jacuzzi, sauna and all the free wine we can drink for supper - PERFECT!!!

Everyone hold thumbs that I don't injure myself - They have a HUGE snowboarding board park!!! "I've seen this trick on TV where you go like this....."

You'd swear I didn't have internet!

2006-03-10T23:34:00.000Z

Sorry all, with the lack of activity on this blog you'd swear that I didn't go near the internet... Well I think it's rather the case of that I am useless...

Well Deanne has spent her second week working for Atkins up in Peterborough - AND already she has got a nifty present from them... Lucky girl!

Neil has started his job for Midlands F1 Racing - The car looks cool.... just we live and wait to see what performance the cars will achieve. Apparently they were 2 seconds slower than the leading contenders during preseason testing but have improved a lot... Lets hope Neil has shown them how to shave off a second or two or they will be lapped every 3 laps!!!

I have been rather boring the last couple days... things have happened but I'll write about them sometime soon.

The legend "Rocinante" goes out in a ball of flame

2006-02-22T21:38:00.000Z

With much sadness I must tell all of the fiery demise of Rocinante / Blue Polo / Thorin's Car - The legend!!!

From Thorin himself:

"For Those of you who know her,

On Monday the 20th of February 2006, in Mt Edgecome Golfing estate,shortly after six o'clock Rocinante (affectionately known as Blue Polo) was called to serve in Valhalla.

It is said that those that the gods love die young.

The acrid smell of burning wires, the glimpse of smoke through the air conditioner vents - then the minuscule flame deep within the dashboard which only took a matter of minutes to engulf the entire car. On giving it deep consideration (although the time was too soon) I cannot think of a more fitting end to a vehicle such as this. Not content to burn politely where we had stopped her, the flames released the handbrake and she sped 20 - 30m down the hill crashing into an inept security vehicle. Unfortunately they were able to move it away to a safe distance and she could not take it with her. She did, however, manage to set fire to a small portion of the estate golfing green and its fence.

It is in this manner that she left us. So when you have your drinks tonight give pause to remember your experiences with her - over the past eight years and 157 000km she has shared a lot with me.

And in future when you wish upon a shooting star, just make sure it's not the spirit of Blue Polo chasing the stars across the heavens...

Rocinante lives on..."

The pits of HELL!!!!

2006-02-22T21:23:00.000Z

I NEVER normally get sick and even when I do it never lasts long or keeps me from work. Well not with the last bought of FLU that hit London!!!

On Monday afternoon, during walking Deanne around London, I started feeling a little - funny. A bit chilled and shaky... It got Worse...

On Tuesday, I woke up for work, tried to get out of bed and almost fell over... so after much delerious working out in my head, of whether I should call in sick - So I did (EVEN though it pained me as it ruined my perfect record :() So I stayed in bed and got a few calls from Kent and Steve at work, warning me that people there were doubting my sickness (having taken a sick day after a holiday... especially with Deanne just having arrived!!!). So even though I didn't feel great I decided to go to work on wednesday.... and COUGH on anyone that chooned me!!! Wednesday was a soggy/sniffly/headcold day... So Thursday came and I thought "Lets go to work" - even though I didn't feel that great. Well.... by the time I reached work I KNEW that coming in was a mistake!!! However, I pulled through and did some work (after overdosing on every bit of medicine I had). After lunch I decided to throw in the towel and I returned home - TO BED. Friday, I felt a bit better but decided not to chance it and remained in bed... So after this I still have a sniffly cold and a nasty chesty cough...

The worse thing about the sickness was not been able to sleep properly. Although the house isn't exactly warm I kept sweating madly during the night... then getting cold... then sweating madly.... arrgggg and this was for almost the whole of last week...

But I am now ffeeling better and as I have finally managed to register at a doctor I will be draggin myself there for a thorough checkup!

PS: Deanne is making me say that the germs did NOT come from South Africa!!!

Fabulous Deanne

2006-02-22T21:12:00.000Z

After an almost endless time waiting in London, Deanne has finally come to test the waters... the sweet, sweet UK working waters.

I picked up Deanne from the Airport on Sunday 12th Feb and have taken a day or two's leave from work to show here about. The rest of the time she has been exploring London by herself - The girl has now seen more of London than ME!!!

This weekend we have hired a car, so we can go check out things further afield AND i'll be dropping her with her potential Irish house-mate on Sunday.

It's been super-fabulous to have her here :)

Another AWESOME WoW Music Video - A Hero's Love

2006-02-03T20:00:00.000Z

Take a MMOPRG game, some dedicated players, Nickleback and some talent.... and you get "World of Warcraft - A Hero's Love"... This could pretty seriously pass as a pretty awesome music video!!!

Very funny song... and use of WoW characters :)

2006-02-03T19:45:00.000Z

Check out the song "World of Warcraft - The Internet is for porn", the song is from the musical Avenue Q.

Extended post here

Epic Snowboarding Video #1

2006-02-03T19:25:00.000Z

Check the epic snowboarding video from our trip to Kasberg last week, put together by GraySkull. As soon as Dave manages to distribute the rest of the video's I am sure more vid's will surface.

BUT in the mean time please enjoy as Laz shows us how to jump-and-roll on a snowboard (TWICE). I end up on my ass after trying to go to big... Apologies for the subliminal messaging - At least it's not a photo of the Salmonators bruised ASS

ENJOY

Snowboarding Trip 1 Done - Awesome

2006-01-31T22:22:00.000Z

I am back from an absolutely awesome snowboarding trip to Kasberg/Greneau in Austria and finally rested enough to contemplate doing some actualy work. The trip was a feast of speed, jumps and spills and a gluttony of the finest beers Austria had to offer.

We had an awesome group of 14 eager snow thrill seekers, with talents ranging snow virgin level to skilled mountain ripper and tastes ranging from piste carver to off-piste powder fiend!!!

A number of epic blog writers were there namely Guy Laister (ChateauToby), Dave Fisher (Woza Friday) and Brendan Gray GreySkullDuggery and others whose sites I don't yet know of...

The parties were epic, the holiday cheap as chips and the conditions perfect! Huge shout out to all who attended and hopefully I will be getting more photos to show off but in the mean time please enjoy my best jumping photo ever!!!!

Snowboarding Locations 2006

2006-01-17T09:11:00.000Z

The loactions are set for Snowboarding 2006.

The first loaction is the Kasberg, in Austria, from the 25 to 31 January 2006. Staying at the Treehouse Backpacker hotel in Grunau im Almatal.
The second destination is at Les Deux Alpes, France, from the 11 to 18 March 2006. This will be a plush trip, with us staying fullboard in a private chalet, with Jacuzzi, Sauna and a private chalet slave :)

These are Google Map screenshots of the two snowboarding locations.

The MOST AWESOME ninja stunts

2006-01-14T20:54:00.000Z

This has to be the CRAZIEST things I have seen in a while. All I could do was look on in awe of some people's talent.

Enter crazy ninja stunts!

These are the two videos of AWESOME ninja stunts... Sorry but people with dialup connections may find it impossible to download... sorry guys :(

My mangy squirrels

2006-01-12T00:02:00.000Z

Growing up I have never been cursed with too much hair, so combined with the fact that I have fair hair - I have never suffered from a 5 o'clock shadow. So this Christmas period a combination of boredom, laziness and stubbornness drove me to complete a little experiment - Could I grow a beard?

It was the holiday period and after a day or two lack of conviction to shave properly, left me with a little stubble. The stubble begged the question: Am I a man!!! So I decided to put off shaving for a few days (I was feeling super lazy) and see how things develop. After a couple days I shaved off the side bits and tried to go for a 'tash and bok-baard.... Most people were not impressed!

Neil asked whether my boss would allow me to go to work looking like I did. Deanne said she'd have to see it to decide. The guys at work laughed when they heard how long it had taken to grow how much it had. The girls were divided... I got support from one, but the other one said it looked stupid... Now I was getting stubborn... but it 'was' looking a bit sad and it 'was' a little itchy... Still I perceivered...

But in the end it had to go.... Although it was a failed experiment there was a plus side...

Now I have always considered myself a blond... but recently my hair has become rather dark (due to no sun in London I AM SURE.... humm) and I was fearing that I couldn't be considered blond again... However as sad as my facial hair experiment was - the hair that did grow was BLOND!!! So please see the time lapsed picture below showing the various stages of "My mangy squirrels"!!!!

FEAR ONE DAY THE RETURN OF THE MANGY SQUIRRELS :)

Liverpool, Veggi Lasagna and The Village

2006-01-12T00:00:00.000Z

Saturday afternoon and evening was filled with sport, food and a couple drinks in Wimbledon Village.

Thanks to Guy I was invited over to his house to watch the mighty Liverpool take on Luton Town for the 3rd round of the FA Cup. Now both Guy and I consider ourselves as jinxed... Whan I actually take the time to watch a game - the side I am supporting end up shooting not only themselves in the foot but also anyone connected with the effort... The game got off strongly with Luton Town coming at Liverpool and Liverpool looking disinterested in being there... However after a cracker of a goal from Stevie G one thought that Liverpool would go on and get another one or two... hummmm... First Luton Town got the equaliser, then they got another and soon after half time, after Liverpool stuffed a penalty shot from the spot... Luton got a THIRD (although SUPER dodgy)... I was shuffling on my set thinking "I am NEVER going to be invited back here again!!" and Guy was saying "If we come back from this I am going to get hammered tonight, but...". Then the game turned... A replacement and 4 unanswered goals later for Liverpool and the game was done! A perfect game of football for me - lots of goals!!! Not this nil-nil rubbish :)!!!

So we then tucked into some fine veggie lasagna made by Sarah, finished our drinks and hit Wimbledon Village to meet up with Laz. We started at the "Brewery Tap" (beers) and eventually moved on the "SW19" (Dbl Jack's and Coke)... but then the impossible happended... With the goverment now allowing late licenses one would expect a new place to have one... but NOOOOOO at 11pm the lights were switched on, the music turned off and the doors opended (to let in the cold air)... So we finised up and I trunded down to Winbledon Station and made my way home... A little tipsy but nowhere near what could have been.. Pity about the 'landmine' I missed seeing on my walk home, pity I didn't notice when I walked in the door... pity I didn't wipe my feet properly.... pity I walked all over the carpets in the house - OOOOOPS!!!! I had to do a little 'cleaning' on Sunday morning :(

However, all in all a fine weekend!

Happy New Year - 2006!

2006-01-03T22:06:00.000Z

Happy Year of the Dog!!!

As the last hours of 2005 drew closer, we hosted a small pre New-Years-Party function at our new house in Earlsfield. A select few people were invited and most of them turned up - the ones that didn't, had plausible excuses! Jason and Lauren provided a couple pizzas and snacks, while Tamren, Neil and I provided some liquid refreshments.

We had a tequila, apple juice, lime and sugar punch from Neil and Tamren - wickedly spiky!!!

While I provided a Champagne, Cointreau, orange juice and cranberry juice cocktail - bubbly and fruity with a kick!!!

Mid way through (at about 8:30pm) we had to endure rant from the lady who lives below who said we were making sooo much noise that we ruined her Saturday evening TV (come on you ~@#'# it's New Years Eve!!!) - remind me to drop things at 2am again :…… We were really just standing around…..

Once the drinks had been elegantly drank we moved on at 10pm to the Puzzle in Earlsfield, for some good old fashion New Years razzle :. The theme was "Black and White" which was the reason for all the smartness. We razzled, dazzled and danced and I think I made it back after 2am. Although early as New Years go the other house mates had long ago thrown in the towel and had disappeared off ….

Sunday morning woke up with almost no hangover…. Well it was 11am :. I put it down to avoiding mixing beer, cider, wine, shooter etc…. and rather just sticking to the hard stuff :

A Happy New Year to all and may 2006 be awesome!!!

One times Merry Christmas please!

2006-01-03T22:05:00.000Z

Thanks must go to everyone that pulled together and created a great Christmas Feast at Laz and DK's house. I rustled up a sweet gammon, while Laz and DK hunted down a man's sized turkey and piece of topside. There was of course all the trimming like roasted potatoes, veggies and other food groups.

I opened a couple bottles of my wine that I bought in France (and guzzled). I then moved on to a couple beers that were looking lonely in the bar fridge :.

Of course a large game of fives had to be played, with suitably stiff whiskey fines! I seem to remember that DK proved not to me the master-of-fives!!!

We then crawled home and I believe sleep happened pretty shortly afterward :)

A snowboard for me…

2006-01-03T22:03:00.000Z

…ohh you shouldn't have!

Yes the deed has been done. I am now the proud owner of a Burton Clash and Freestyle bindings. I just can't wait until I can give my darling a little snow to play with!!!!

The Lure of the Snowboard

2005-11-04T23:57:00.000Z

Well, that time is drawing near again... The time of year that all thoughts of safety and life and limb get shoved to the back of the mind as one throws oneself down montains. Well, although this may only be me I have a sneaky suspicion that onthers may feel the same.

Yes folks its time for SNOWBOARDING...

This year I am off to France with Laz. 16 People, full board (free wine and cakes for tea), sauna, jacuzzi and a slave to do all the house work - leaving us plenty of time to perfect those 360 Aerials (hummmm... possibly not this year - well not on purpose at least)
- NOTE to all concerened: I WILL be buying a helmet this year... AND wearing it!!!

So back to the real topic of this post...
SNOWBOARDING EQUIPMENT - I WANT IT!!!!

Laz and I did some sums and basically if one goes say twice a year it is "possibly likely" that purchasing ones own equipment will not prove to be a bad investment...

So the choice of what to get has begun. This is not such and easy task as one may think...

However I think I have found a winner at Robinhood Watersports. An absolute sweet Burton Package that I have strong feeling may be recieving a call from Mr Mastercard!

Plus it comes with a free bag - What more could a spendaholic ever want :)

It has begun...

2005-10-14T14:49:00.000+01:00

The end game is drawing near and the time has come for the account of the end of days to be written. This task has fallen to me...

The clock is ticking...
The key players are drawing closer...
The clock is ticking...