I was invited, a little while ago, to have a play in a microlight by Andy (known in the trade as "blimey that's good, who designed it? Andy?"). I'd hoped that he'd forgottten his generous offer but, just my luck, the sun shone and the phone rang. Naturally I was a little nervous, the last time I looked microlights were about as confidence inspiring a form of transport as a broomstick, however, as with most things they've got better and the wee beastie which we took to the air in was more like a 2 seat Cessna than the heartstopping lawn mower and hang-glider combo of my youth.
I've attached a very brief video of the experience, (very brief, tell me Mr Sony, what is the point of a 2 hour film and a twenty minute battery?). Please don't be put off by the sight of Andy winding up the big elastic band that powers the machine, apparently they seldom break. It was a lot of fun and I'd heartily recommend it as a great way to get a very different perspective on our green and pleasant land. A real treat, thank you Andy
Star Snow Wars, Episode IV Return of the Jedi Skis
Sunday morning bright and early, up and away. The Master navigator redeemed himself by simply repeating the instructions delivered by the Sat-nav which brought us to the French side of Geneva Airport in double-quick time. Sadly it chose to deliver us en-route into the larcenous clutches of the Swiss collectors of border taxes who were 'désolé' that they had to charge us 30 Euros for the privilege of accidentally driving on 5km of their confusingly signed roadworks. Luckily the delay didn't prevent us from arriving in time to retrieve my skis which had passed a restful holiday in the lost property 'Passenger irregularity office'.
Apart from a generous hour which BA provided parked on the tarmac at Heathrow, (well I expect the crew were tired after that 90 minute flight and needed a sit down) it was an uneventful return to the Barn and an emotional reunion with Mrs Stuffy and the sunday papers. A tremendous couple of days and a huge thank you to Tricky (for his unerring sense of direction and other diverse entertainments) and to R&E for their delightful and generous hospitality, lovely home and splendid company.
A brief flurry of snow, episode III, Fresh, deep loveliness
20 cms of snow overnight meant a delightful day skiing at La Clusaz, astonishingly for a 2 day trip to the Alps R and I (Tricky had managed to twist a knee navigating his way off the chairlift and was taking it sensibly) enjoyed a tremendous day of untracked snow, through trees, big steep open fields of very flattering snow, all in all a great day's skiing. An heroic lunch (a Cote de bouef the size of a small bungalow) good company, great sunshine and perfect snow, a day close to alpine perfection.
A frosty Friday morning proved to be the start of a lovely day. Despite pistes suffering slightly from the poor snowfall to date we were able to enjoy some really challenging skiing at Grand Bornard thanks to R's unerring ability to identify areas of the mountain that few people had been crazy enough to try to ski on. I am delighted to report that my punishing fitness regime has prepared me to totally run out of breath after about an hour and I enjoyed a lovely excursion beneath the pylons of a chairlift (nothing like an audience) where I spent considerably more time prone than upright and was able to practice my patented Darth Vader breathing routine in (apart from the taunts from above) splendid mountain solitude. Apart from the pain it was a lovely days skiing. Friday evening saw us dining in a delightful mountain restaurant Le Bercail(accessed by a pitch dark, suicidal, downhill bumboard run) and enjoying an unexpected heavy snowfall, which promised well for Saturday.
A brief flurry of snow, part the 1st... getting there
A brief trip to Thones near Annecy to stay with chums R & E in their lovely chalet. Flew out of LHR to the sunkissed tropical paradise of Geneva where I spent a happy hour practising my language skills with many variations of, où sont mes skis ? wo sind meine Skis? and of course dove sono i miei pattini? Interestingly the paperwork that "Customer-friendly" British Airways use when they mislay your possesions is the delightfully named "Passener irregularity report"
Fortunately I'd hired a car large enough to accomodate my imaginary skis, this meant that the car had an inbuilt SatNav. My skiing partner ( to save his blushes let's call him 'Tricky') arrived on a a later flight clutching his personal Garmin GPS system, so this master navigator with two electronic navigation systems, two sets of printed directions and 7 assorted maps and diagrams ensured that we completed the one hour journey in a record breaking 135 minutes. Now I'm not blaming Tricky's navigational ability, No, I'm blaming his total lack of navigational ability! Still, he's excellent company, Geneva at rush hour is a lovely place and the hours just seemed to fly by.
Nicholas Cage does a deal with the devil who, astonishingly, (for he is the Prince of Lies) appears to be a little economical with the truth. Cue night-time conversion of Mr Cage into a flaming-skull-headed biker with sense of justice. The truth is that if the Devil wanted to inflict cruel and unusual punishment on someone, he'd just make them sit and watch this film.
A very amusing hours worth of one liners and good visual gags stretched out to twice it's natural lifespan by the really self indulgent Simon Pegg team, a little spoiled for me by an overacting (tough to do in this film) Timothy Dalton and the occasional pretty little sussuration from a gently snoozing Mrs Stuffy, reflecting the inability of this movie to pass the ultimate test of audience attention. Full of movie buff references, very much made for the puerile film fan. Hey that's me !
... an aimless wander through the dusty and moth-eaten corridors of a once beautiful mind, alternating between grumpy optimism and cheerful misanthropy...
Ramblings from the dusty and neglected corridors of a once beautiful mind, alternating 'tween cheerful misanthropy and grumpy optimism, enjoy, or enjoy not, as you wish ...
e got better and the wee beastie which we took to the air in was more like a 2 seat Cessna than the heartstopping lawn mower and hang-glider combo of my youth.
