No rhyme at all from me today,
I can't think of anything funny to say
Jake had a new outfit, Sam some kneepads.
We went to the slope, it seems that the number of children had multiplied .. perhaps a hatchery had released a fresh batch of demon spawn into the wild.
We still had a decent number of runs. Sam was pleased as she managed to go over the uppy downy part without a spill. Jacob landed a little jump so he was also pleased.
Sam and I are aching like buggery, I know it's a cliche, but we have discovered muscles we never new existed.
My ribs now appear to be ok, but Sam has bruised forefingers? Sam has asked me to point out that the uppy/downy thing was very hairy and consisted of a 3 foot drop and back up the other side, at some speed otherwise you get stuck in the ditch and that she came out of said ditch without falling over and continued down the mountain in one piece.
Our lie in didn't last, it ended at seven thirty.
Forgot to switch the dishwasher on, crockery still dirty.
Bacon for breakfast again, it still tasted awesome.
Walked to town, to get a protector for Jake's bum.
On the cable car, to the peak for lunch,
The massive queue was the knockout punch.
We actually only got half way there,
Chips for Jake, all things being equal, the price was fair.
Back to the apartment to get our snow gear on,
The time was only just after one.
Several hours later, our bodies one large bruise,
A beer helped to mask the pain and abuse.
Curry for dinner cooked by Sam,
Microwave rice cooked in a pan!
Swiss bacon for breakfast, awesome it was too.
We were up far too early, with nothing to do.
Minus twelve outside, we suited up.
Sweating inside, we headed out to try our luck.
Lift passes acquired, we headed for the slope.
A few runs later, hungry and unable to cope.
We headed to the apartment for a spot of food.
Recharged our batteries, we were back in the mood.
The afternoon spent out on the hill,
The bright bright sun masking the chill.
Not a bad day considering it was our first,
Our legs like jelly we developed a thirst.
A spot of apres ski, reflecting on our day,
Jacob got air, the floor got in the way.
Whilst watching the halfpipe my glove froze stiff,
Oh and Sam dropped her board off the ski lift.
Back to the apartment, for our dinner,
Hot dogs and burgers, a valentines winner.
A cracking night's sleep at the mövenpick hotel.
Caught three trains to Davos, all went well.
Stocked up on food at the local spar.
Took a walk to the halfpipe, it wasn't far.
Jake rolled around and had frozen jeans.
We were woken twice by drunken teens.
If you are reading this, it is most likely because you want an invite to the Google Wave preview.
I have 8 to give away at present.
If you would like an Invite I would ask that you request one in the comments below. Please sign in as a guest entering your email address.
If you are on twitter, which is the most obvious route to getting to this blog post. Then it would be appreciated if you could mention your twitter id in the comment box .
If you miss the first batch more will follow in time.
After negotiating the M5 we arrived in Croyde at approximately 6.45pm. We were then read the riot act by Desy (when I say riot It was more of a minor civil disturbance or perhaps a light scuffle). To be fair he said just to be courteous, advised us the house was “no smoking” and then took our breakfast orders!
We then ventured down to what is the intermediately priced food establishment known as “The Thatch” renamed after Mrs Thatcher, during her stint as Prime Minister she used to stay above the pub whilst on weekend surfing breaks. Sam and I had Lasagna variations and Jacob had a hefty looking burger, with drinks the cost came to about £30.
Following a successful nutritional expedition we went for a little walk and discovered the worlds smallest underwater skatepark. We then headed back to the digs to retire for the evening. Jacob slept well and kept us awake for most of the night and boy did it piss down.
It’s a slow work day today, or perhaps the lull before the storm, either way it gives me a great opportunity to document the day that was 23rd August 2009. Today was V day, no not the reptilian alien mini series from the mid 80’s I mean the Virgin Festival.
No I don’t mean a festival of virgins… I am of course referring to the V festival sponsored by Virgin Mobile.
Virgin mobile were racketeering again charging £10 per car for parking, I may be mistaken but I think that has doubled if not last year but quite recently, that’s big business looking after the little folk for you!
Cost aside we were lucky to get a space very near the entrance/exit to Weston Park, the walk down to the arena was a decent hike but the additional exercise easily outweighs the absolute misery that comes of getting trapped in a car park related paradox loop whilst trying to escape the park.
The walk down to the arena was quite pleasant until we started going past the camping areas, quite how anyone can sleep with the with the vapid urine aroma floating through the air I do not know, if I could lower myself to mix with the peasants in their shanty towns of cheap nylon and aluminium my gag reflex would have been working overtime.
The guys and gals on the gates were working efficiently, hardly a queue at all, the bag search consisted of a quick hand delve that lasted a split second, accompanied by a “have you got any cans?” question, how he can call himself security is beyond me unless he deliberately missed my glock and stash of crystal meth.
We headed towards the mains stage, the first act was just starting, and it was hard to make out what it was I was hearing. Bethan rather unashamedly stated that the “band” (and I use the term loosely) in question were Mc Fly. Jacob asked the question “Who the hell are they?” which in my books is a result, the education in decent music has appeared to have paid off. Irony was plentiful, well it was for me as the only decent track they managed to bleat out was a cover of The Beastie Boys – Fight for your right (to party).
Next on were a band of distinct quality – Star Sailor, although I new I liked a few of their songs I never realised how great they were, admittedly they started with a few tracks that I didn’t know but finished with some beautifully crafted tracks…Alcoholic, Good Souls and Four to the Floor
This set was followed by some no mark from Tennessee called Taylor Swift, if you like banal jangly countrified pop music then look no further than this young lady, she was announced as the worlds best selling artist of the last 2 years, I will however take that under advisement, I had heard of her before today but my ears had never previously had to bear witness to her shrill warbling.
During these performances it was a good opportunity to get a few photos out of the way before the alcohol kicked in.
It was during these performances that we pulled the posse together for the first time, I’m really not sure what time we met up with Richard, Chris, Kyle and Cathy, the only person to blame for that is Lieutenant Strongbow.
Next up were some band called The Script, from the get go the a large proportion of the crowd were singing along with these Irish rogues, we vaguely recognised one track, we left after about 15 minutes as our stomach’s were growling and proved to be more persuasive than The Script ever could be.
After some pretty decent (by Festival standards) Tex-Mex food we headed over to watch Dizzee Rascal, I was expecting a decent show but was quite unprepared for how the little chap could whip up the crowd. An excellent showman, I’ll be honest I didn’t know a lot of the earlier tracks and it didn’t matter it was all pretty spectacular. The later tracks including Dance Wiv Me, Holiday and Bonkers had the crowd leaping around in a manner that resembles House of Pain crossed with and old hardcore rave; truly bonkers indeed.
We left at the end of the Rascal set to catch the tail end of Lily Allen’s set. I have soft spot for Lily which I cannot place. She had the crowd on her side which is always a good thing and looked half decent too.
After Miss potty mouth we stayed at the main stage to catch some of The Specials, basically a live version of their best of album, which is what you’d expect for a long established band like these chaps.
We then headed back to the Channel 4 stage for the Ting Tings, they cave a good performance, Sam managed to miss most of the second half of their set queuing for the toilet, the joys of being a male at these type of events, we just spray up walls like unneutered cats creating what can only be described as piss-mud.
The highlight of the day as far as Sam and I were concerned was to follow, they provided one of the most awesome displays I have witnessed at the V festival in fact probably anywhere, what I’d do to see Pendulum followed by Muse one day would probably be considered illegal in most countries.
Not one bad track but a plentiful supply of banging tracks from both Albums with an excellent cover version of Calvin Harris’s “I’m Not Alone” (as featured in this BBC clip) A Techno, Drum and Base rock-fest that had the crowd jumping and raving like epileptic kangaroos, one casualty in the camp at this stage as Sam inadvertently gammified her leg.
We slinked off then to take our position for the headline act of the day; some band or other from Las Vegas called the Killers! We spent most of the time listening to the band belt out their usual array of hits whilst trying to meet up with Adam and Bethan. For me they were good but nothing spectacular, Jacob however really enjoyed them.
I stupidly suggested using ice cream vans as markers for meeting points, I didn’t realise until it was too late the sheer number of ice cream vans around the place! We left about 15-20 minutes from the end to avoid the usual park exit rush.
In all a fantastic day out – oh I forgot to mention – Not one drop of rain all day!
Posts
