And The Weather Forecast Is.....Rather Funny

I've mentioned before that many Brits are more than a tad obsessed with the weather.... but recent antics on the BBC News Channel are enough to get everyone paying attention to the forecasts.

Weatherman Tomasz Schafernaker was caught live on TV flicking a bird to his off-camera breakfast show colleagues.....

Realising his gaffe, Tomasz quickly tried to cover his rude gesture by pretending he was just going to scratch his chin....or perhaps smoking an imaginary cigarette...

That just made him look like he was trying to pull a two-up instead!


Meanwhile in other weather-related news......

Why does it always rain on me?
Is it because I lied when I was seventeen?

No, Travis...it's because we live in the UK! Apparently our summer is pretty much over, thanks to the jet stream (the fast-flowing ribbons of air in the upper atmosphere that move weather systems across the northern hemisphere)....the same phenomenon is thought to have contributed to the devastating floods in Pakistan, mudslides in China, and killer heatwave and wildfires in Russia.

We can expect temperatures to start dropping and rain showers to ensue. But, come rain or shine I need to keep moving.... in just over three weeks' time I'll be walking a charity half-marathon, so I need to step up my training plan.

Walking boots, ipod, phone, brolly.... check!

Rainy days

And blue sky thinking

I've heard that a good way to get fit is to carry extra weight as you walk...I'm pretty sure that means in my backpack and not on the bottom of my boot....

Meanwhile, the local farmers are making hay while the sun does actually shine....

 

Ain't nothing gonna break my stride
Nobody's gonna slow me down
Oh no, I've got to keep on moving
Ain't nothing gonna break my stride
I'm running and I won't touch ground
Oh no, I've got to keep on moving
[Men At Work - Ain't Nothing Gonna Hold Me Down]


Photos of naughty boy weatherman found here.

Wish I Was There Tuesday

There's a definite chill in the air this morning....summer is fast approaching an untimely end! Today I'm dreaming of the hot, hazy days I spent in Tuscany back in July 2008.

We were based in the Garfagnana region, in this lovely old converted farmhouse with a pool and views of the Apuan Aps, just perfect to come back to after a hard day's touring...

La Pozza

We were well-placed for exploring the walled cities of Lucca and Barga.....

Panorama of Lucca from Torre Guinigi

Barga

Barga

Barga

And for day-trips to the magnificent cities of Florence and Pisa...

The River Arno, Florence

Bartolomeo Ammanati's Fountain of Neptune (1563–1565), Piazza della Signoria, Florence

Leaning Tower of Pisa, Piazza del Duomo

Duomo, Pisa

Looking onto the Duomo from the top of the Leaning Tower

Where do you wish you were today?

Red Is The Colour

Some random photos from the Canadian Collection - nothing to link them apart from the colour red, which just happens to be one of my favourites....

Red Barn - somewhere between Williams Lake and Jasper

Motorcycles for hire - Victoria harbour

Seaplane - Victoria harbour

Terra bus - Athabasca Glacier, Columbia Icefield

Fire hydrant - Vancouver

Tofino harbour

Coulson Tanker - firefighting water bomber - Port Alberni, BC

Flying the flag - Stanley Park, Vancouver

Just a Sweet Transvestite from Transexual, Transylvania

Don't get strung out by the way that I look,
Don't judge a book by its cover

I'm not much of a man by the light of day,
But by night I'm one hell of a lover

[Sweet Transvestite - The Rocky Horror Picture Show]

 

Inspired by Pat Tillett’s hilarious post about the perils of men wearing women’s clothing, I’m going to tell you about the time B found out that cross dressing is not exactly his handbag either.

It was the early 1990s... we were young, wild and foolish, given to drinking copious quantities of alcohol and dancing all night long to heavy metal in Cape Town’s smoky, dingy student bars like the aptly named “The Pig”[1]. Just about every weekend, someone would be throwing a “digs”[2] party...too many people jammed into a tight space, drinking too much cheap booze, and shouting at each other over the too loud music. Pretty much my idea of hell these days...

This particular Saturday night was no exception... one of my friends was turning 21, and celebrating with a Rocky Horror Picture Show themed party at her digs. So... we thought we’d both go in gothic, transvestite gear, as you do... and set off kitted out in laddered fishnet stockings, Doc Marten boots, miniskirts, black lacy bras showing through red camisoles. It was a freezing winter night, but there were some other party goers making their way down the main road dressed only in suspenders and bras....much to the delight of the local police parked kerbside in their van, awaiting the ensuing antics of a typical weekend night around campus.

By the time we got to the party, it was in full throttle and people were already dangerously drunk on the punch....the host had started preparing it two days before, by soaking fruit in neat vodka. I don’t think there was any lemonade in that punch bowl, as everyone just kept topping it up with their poison of choice. A couple of cups of it and I was no longer compos mentis.

I don’t really remember what happened at the party... but the next thing I knew, B and I were staggering back along the main road towards my place, the cold night air refreshingly sobering. Our route included a stretch of the main road typically frequented by....well, let’s just say ladies who offer their charming company in exchange for cash...and it was on this particular stretch of road that a car driving past us suddenly slammed on brakes, reversed rapidly and pulled up next to us. Two guys hopped out and one of them said...

“Hey...you ladies OK? You need a lift or something?”

Now in his party gear B may have been a Dude (that) Looks Like a Lady, but even Steve Tyler would have noticed his hairy legs barely covered by fishnets, square jaw and five o’clock shadow under the heavy make-up!

“Nah, we’re OK thanks...” I said, “Don’t worry....he’s my boyfriend!”

Never in the history of disappointed men moving rapidly away from a scenario that has turned out to be not quite what they’d been hoping for, have two men gotten back into their car so quickly and driven off at high speed....followed shortly by the police van from earlier in the evening.

Had the cops come along a few seconds before, we might have had some serious explaining to do, dressed like that and discussing the possibilities of “lifts” with strange men....

[1] Nowadays a trendy pool bar in Obz
[2] Shared student housing

Happy Friday 13th!

The Inside Passage

Get your minds out the gutter, this is not a rude post about a certain body region....Sid, I'm thinking of you now.... but yet another installment from my long-running Canadian collection (and you'd hoped thought they'd finally fizzled out!).

One of the longest, but most relaxing days of the tour was the 14 hour ferry trip from Port Hardy on the north of Vancouver Island, along the Inside Passage to Bella Coola near Tweedsmuir.

Map found here

It was like taking a mini cruise....there were sunloungers on deck (it was just a tad too cold and windy to suntan though!) and inside recliners for just chilling out, a restaurant/coffee shop serving snacks, and in the evening, the staff cooked a barbeque dinner on deck.  Bit of a disappointing day for photographs though, as the best scenery was coming into view as we approached Bella Coola, towards nightfall. We did spot some dolphins and humpback whales in the afternoon, but there was no way I could capture anything half decent with my puny camera.

Fjord scenery

Overboard!

The sunset was spectacular though, so I braved the freezing wind to take these from the heaving upper deck...

Mystery House

There is a house in our village that's been shut up for years. The garden has grown over the front door and is slowly creeping up the walls, tatty curtains still hang at the windows.

I always wonder who used to live there and why it's been abandoned.....

Wish I Was There Tuesday

This is the latest addition to my ever-growing pile of travel guidebooks....it's what I'm currently reading in anticipation of my trip to Andalusia in mid October, and that's where I'm dreaming of being today!

Andalusia (Andalucía) is Spain's largest and southernmost province, just a few miles across the sea from Morocco...

Map found here

Southern Spain was a Muslim territory for about 700 years....after the Muslim dynasties were forced out in 1492 by Ferdinand and Isabella (the "Catholic Kings"), the new Spaniards incorporated the Moorish legacy rather than stamping it out. A new architectural style was forged - mudéjar - which combined Muslim and Christian decorative traditions.

'Alcazar' - a complex of palaces dating from Roman times and later used by both Moorish and Christian rulers. Photo found here

'Alcazar' - photo found here

 

'Giralda' - dating from the 12th century and originally built as a minaret for the central mosque, now the bell-tower for the Seville Cathedral. Photo found here

Andalusia is sprinkled liberally with pretty 'pueblos blancos', or white towns and villages....

Photo found here

The province also offers varied scenery, from the snowy mountains of the Sierra Nevada to the rolling olive groves, and the Andalusian steppes of the southeast.

El Chorro Gorge. Photo found here

Spain's legendery tapas (a small plate of appetizers that are served either as a lunch or evening snack) originated in 19th century Andalusia to accompany sherry....

Photo found here

The region is also famous for the flamenco...more than just a dance, this uniquely Andalusian art form is an expression of the joys and sorrows of life...

Flamenco - the soul of Andalusia. Photo found here

So, where do you wish you were this Tuesday?