Tuesday, July 08, 2008
Glastonbury
Well it's taken me a while, but I think I've finally recovered from my last trip to the UK. This time I didn't go back for a wedding...nope, this time it was Glastonbury.
This is the 4th year I've been...but the first year that I've not been working. I'm not sure how I ever managed to get out of my tent at 6am to go and present the weather. I last went 3 years ago, when there were floods and a never-ending trail of thunderstorms. The weather would have looked brilliant presented in the middle of that storm...but unfortunately it was so bad, we couldn't get a signal to London.
Anyway, weather-wise this year was much better. It did shed it down on Thursday night, turning the place into a boggy mess, but it gradually dried up after that....and we all got sunburnt.
There was a new slogan this year:
and we did....we loved the farm! We also loved burgers....and this proved a bit of an issue with Giles' insides....
...and he lost any kind of indie respect with his purchase of Rennie - chewy not chalky.
One surprise guest of the weekend was Har Mar Superstar, who seemed to be on stage with everyone:
(Think you'll have to take my word for the fact that this is him)
There's a man who's never off shift...
Anyway, it was a fantastic weekend,
...and I'm still drying out. I've not touched a drop of alcohol for well over a week now, and the thought is still completely unappealing....unless of course you count the box of Grand Mariner chocolates I scoffed the other day, but they were purely medicinal.
This is the 4th year I've been...but the first year that I've not been working. I'm not sure how I ever managed to get out of my tent at 6am to go and present the weather. I last went 3 years ago, when there were floods and a never-ending trail of thunderstorms. The weather would have looked brilliant presented in the middle of that storm...but unfortunately it was so bad, we couldn't get a signal to London.
Anyway, weather-wise this year was much better. It did shed it down on Thursday night, turning the place into a boggy mess, but it gradually dried up after that....and we all got sunburnt.
There was a new slogan this year:
and we did....we loved the farm! We also loved burgers....and this proved a bit of an issue with Giles' insides....
...and he lost any kind of indie respect with his purchase of Rennie - chewy not chalky.
One surprise guest of the weekend was Har Mar Superstar, who seemed to be on stage with everyone:
(Think you'll have to take my word for the fact that this is him)
There's a man who's never off shift...
Anyway, it was a fantastic weekend,
...and I'm still drying out. I've not touched a drop of alcohol for well over a week now, and the thought is still completely unappealing....unless of course you count the box of Grand Mariner chocolates I scoffed the other day, but they were purely medicinal.
Peace and quiet
There's always a corker of a story in the local papers here...and I'm pleased to say today was no exception. On the front page of The Peninsula was this great story:
It's ok, you don't need to strain your eyes, just reading the headline will do. Anyone who's been here will know that Qatar is hardly a place where all you hear is the twittering of birds. Oh no! The most common sound here is a pneumatic drill, closely followed by a pile-driver...so they must mean peaceful as in 'non-violent', rather than 'calm'.
In this respect they are correct, it's rare to see any kind of disturbance here. However, the headline is somewhat misleading. Read on and it transpires that Qatar isn't the most peaceful place at all, but actually has a global ranking of 33. It's not even the most peaceful place in the region, apparently that's Oman.
...and incase you want to book a holiday to get away from it all, and enjoy some peace and non-violence, the most 'peaceful' country in the world is...oh no, the article doesn't say.
It's ok, you don't need to strain your eyes, just reading the headline will do. Anyone who's been here will know that Qatar is hardly a place where all you hear is the twittering of birds. Oh no! The most common sound here is a pneumatic drill, closely followed by a pile-driver...so they must mean peaceful as in 'non-violent', rather than 'calm'.
In this respect they are correct, it's rare to see any kind of disturbance here. However, the headline is somewhat misleading. Read on and it transpires that Qatar isn't the most peaceful place at all, but actually has a global ranking of 33. It's not even the most peaceful place in the region, apparently that's Oman.
...and incase you want to book a holiday to get away from it all, and enjoy some peace and non-violence, the most 'peaceful' country in the world is...oh no, the article doesn't say.
