War and Peace Show 2012

One particularly heavy shower.

I'm back, who missed me? Just got back from the 30th War and Peace Show. If I could sum it up in one word? Different. It was definitely different this year. Normally you get there and the weather is fantastic for the duration of the show, you have the occasional rain shower but otherwise it's all blue skies and sunshine for two weeks. The place becomes so dry and dusty that if a heavy vehicle (there's usually alot of them) goes past you choke for about two minutes on the dust cloud it leaves behind. This year however was very different.

Hose pipe ban eh?

You know we recently had a hose pipe ban due to a water shortage? We don't now and I'm not surprised. The word "Monsoon" springs to mind when you think about the weather for this year's show. It was horrendous! The worst weather we've ever had down there at the Hop Farm. I'm normally a fan of a bit of rain while camping, I mean the sound of the rain hitting the canvas is one of the most soothing sounds I can think of, but this......this was something else entirely. The rain was torrential and not like a passing shower, it lingered for about 2 days without ever really letting up. Then when it did pass it didn't really pass for long and came back just as strong as when it left. A couple of years we've been worried that the river might burst its banks due to a heavy rainfall but this year it happened, and since the field is a floodplain, it was hell. Massive sections of the fields were underwater by at least 4 inches and I'm not even exaggerating when I say this. 

Our own personal lake.

I wouldn't of had a problem with the weather if the surface water wasn't such a huge problem. I like the rain as I've said but the surface water and eventual mud was hell. For the first time in a good few years I've had to wear wellies at the show. Due to the crappy ground conditions you can't really go and do anything, I didn't have my bike there with me but if i did I wouldn't have been able to use it. The mud was causing all kinds of chaos with vehicles rolling in. People were getting stuck in all manner of vehicles all over the shot and that was just on some of the regular camping grounds. If that was chaos then they need to come up with a whole knew word to describe what happened on the Stalls field.

Water, water everywhere, not a drop to drink.

Any other year, there wouldn't be much of a problem. The stall holders turn up, drive to their pitch and set up shop (the only time I can say that and mean it) without any problems. The pitches are marked out with white spray paint on the grass so everyone knows what kind of space they've got and everything, but this year, the rain kept washing the markings of and due to water-logging pitches people needed to be relocated to other places which is a chore at the best of times. Then the state of the field meant that vehicles were getting stuck all over the place and then chewing the area to shit so the officials decided it'd be easier to tow the stall holders to their pitches. However this took a helluva lot of time due to the lack of vehicles able to tow others without wrecking the place and so this caused mayhem in the form of incredible traffic jams. Ever seen Die Hard 2? The part where they say "Stack 'em and rack 'em"? Well that's what we ended up doing. Normally it's out of our jurisdiction (yeah that's right I just said that) as we're on the Big Monktons team but they needed help and we couldn't just sit there and do nothing. So we headed up there to help control traffic, Uncle Steven helped out for a while towing people to their pitches but the Land Rover got bogged down back at camp one night so he had to switch to traffic duty. It was crazy up there, we had multiple stacks of vehicles along 3 or 4 long roads and more backing up at Booking In. Eventually we managed to clear everyone and get everyone set up but it took ages, a couple late nights for some people and was a battle in its own but we (well they since I only helped for a day or two) got there in the end.

One of many storm fronts.

Stalls wasn't the only place hit hard by the weather, everywhere was affected pretty badly by the often impassable conditions on the ground, creating a need to pull vehicles out and around which in turn created traffic issues. The first week or so of the show was pretty hectic. Things began to ease off towards the actual show week, where it's open to the public, but by no means were things easy. Health and Safety changes caused alot of issues at first but we did our best to adapt to them. It wasn't easy but we were getting there. Dad and the rest of the "real" adults from our camp have been officials for a couple years now, I got drafted in times of need as an assistant official last year but that was fine by me, I don't mind mucking in when needed, but this year I got promoted to full time assistant official. I got called into the dining shelter after the official's shirts had been collected and Dad throws a bag of purple shirts at me. I caught them offhand (I was proud) and simply said "Ah crap..." as I noticed my name on the bag. Now I'm on the team's list it means I actually have to do things! I'm kidding, like I said I got no problem helping out. It's gotten to the point now that I've been there so many years I've pretty much seen everything. Very little changes from year to year so now I mostly spend my time minding camp and reading (which I enjoy) but it'll be a nice change to actually be doing something for once.

I could not be more impressed with this.

You remember a couple weeks back (I think my last post actually was 2 weeks ago....) I wrote about storms and said I'd never experienced an all guns blazing full on storm? Well now I think I've gotten as close to one as I'm going to get. It was stunning. Equally beautiful and terrifying, to quote 'Turn Coat' by Jim Butcher, "I can't decide if it's one of the most beautiful terrifying things or the most terrifying beautiful things I've ever seen". I was literally stunned by the storm that seemed to boil up out of nowhere. The clouds took on an angry looking air behind the tree line but we thought that it'd just blow past and not really amount to much, since most British storms never really do. One flash of lightning and it's over. This one? This one was different, much like the show this year. Thunder roared all round and lighting struck with a ferocity I'd never seen before. The strikes were so close together that the rolls of thunder blended together creating a furious cacophony that hammered at the ears and so bright that they burned into your vision for a good couple seconds, only clearing in time to be blinded by the next one. One photo I wish I could have captured was of a blast of sheet lightning consisting of 5 thick bolts all connected by an incandescent streak of lightning just under the clouds. It was both beautiful and terrifying, such a display of raw power. I didn't get to see where any of the bolts made landfall but I doubt they would have been pretty sights.

One of my favourites.

Despite the chaotic weather and conditions, that forced many other shows to close, the show was still fantastic. Although the atmosphere may have been a little strained but with things the way they were that was to be expected, there was still the regular fun and games and pranks. It just shows the grim determination, willpower and resilient spirit we can all display when facing adverse conditions, it was the 30th anniversary and come hell or high water the show was going to go on!


There was also some brilliant sunsets to see, I caught a few, missed a couple others but I'm not complaining. I managed to get some incredible photos while I was there and I'm happy with that.


Well that's pretty much all for now....


Catch ya later folks.

What a weekend!

First off I'd like to say a massive thank you to Ben and his team of groomsmen for organising and running an awesome weekend. It was great fun, I'd been looking forward to this since I left Lincoln in early June. After having spent the time off doing little to no physical exercise to say I was excited about getting out and actually doing something is an understatement.


It was great fun playing with Jake, Louis, Amanda, Lex and Karl (saturday only) this weekend, we worked quite well as a team and although we didn't do fantastic in the rankings we had alot of fun doing it (well at least I did). We played some very good games but ultimately (no pun intended) the opposition was just that bit better. After playing a couple of games we sort of gelled together abit more and then we were able to throw out some brilliant defensive play which meant we got more chances to let rip with some offense which over time we managed to improve. We got our first win early Sunday after coming back from 5 - 2 down to win 6 - 5....I think? I don't remember, I know we were behind and came through to win which was a great boost to our morale.

Now I ache something fierce.

As most will know I've been following Wimbledon relatively closely and found out on Friday that it was going to be a Murray/Federer final.....which was set to be incredible and something I'd been hoping to see for a while. Two of my favourite players in the final together? Hell yeah! Of course being up in Lincoln for the final without access to a TV or the time to spare to watch it, I had to try and avoid finding out the results. I managed to make it most of the day until Dave said Murray had taken the first set but luckily that's all I found out. Got home and despite being dog tired I decided to stay up and watch the match and I am so glad I did! Federer played brilliantly as always and Murray really managed to pull out some fantastic points. It was a really good match to watch and in the end Federer was just that bit better and took his 7th grand slam title.


I'd try and say more but I'm too tired to really come up with anything. There won't be a post for a while since I'm going to the War and Peace show for a couple weeks. Hopefully I'll have a bit more to say when I get back.


Catch ya later folks

Fulgur Tempestas

Google translate is a wonderful thing. Anyone that reads this and happens to know Latin will probably tell me that the title doesn't read "Lightning Storm" as intended but I don't know Latin so I let the internet do it for me.


So the weather recently has been a bit unpredictable up and down the country. One minute it's brilliant blue skies and the next it's like someone's gone and pissed Thor off something fierce. I've also been thinking about getting back into creative writing since I enjoy it alot and haven't really done any for a long time. So I thought what a better chance then to write about storms, since they've been happening all over the shot recently due to the crazy ass weather patterns ravaging the country.


Unlike most people I like storms, I think they're great. They're not just loud noises accompanied by a few flashes and heavy rain with high winds, well not to me anyways. I've never been scared of stormy weather which is kind of stupid considering how dangerous they can be, not exactly from first hand but I've studied them enough in Geography and watched enough documentaries and stuff on them to know that they can be incredibly destructive.


I love listening to a good storm but walking around in one is incredible. They say there is a calm before the storm and this is true. Everyone and everything goes to ground as the air takes on an excited energy and the  storm begins to creep closer, causing the area to take on an almost deserted stillness. The way the wind howls and drives the rain against the windows and ground is the first thing you hear as the squall enters town and the assault begins. It's almost rhythmic how the wind brings the rain in sheets in a wave like pattern, its almost as if you're laying under a glass roof listening to the tide break against it. There's also something about how the wind seems to whip the trees into a frenzy, tearing at their leaves and making it sound as if it's the trees themselves are shaking their branches in anger. Then comes the lightning. Just when you think the storm might be about to die down and let normality return, you see a blinding flash across the sky soon to be followed by an ear splitting crack caused by its passage. If you get lucky you'll see more then just some flashes, first you'll see the clouds take on a hellish orange glow that seems to come from within, then you'll get to see some stunning fork lightning. It's like watching the sky lash out at the ground with a brilliant yet seemingly ineffective jab of blue-white light that smashes into the ground with all the force and power it can from the unholy rage above only to disappear the instant it arrives. There's something beautiful about watching the lightning dance across the sky as it moves with the wind and the storm clouds. Each blinding flash illuminates the clouds just long enough to see them shifting in the intense gales, briefly burning the image to sight only to be replaced by the next and eventually fading into nothing as the tempest passes. There's always a resounding silence once the screaming winds blow the storm on to ravage some new land in the distance that takes what seems like a decade to be filled by all the day to day sounds as all the life returns to the area from various burrows, nests and homes. It'll start slowly at first and then everything will rush back and act as though nothing ever happened, only leaving the groundwater and lifeless air in the wake of one of the most destructive yet beautiful displays of nature.


Not exactly as descriptive as I would but that's pretty much all I have to say about it for now. If I think of anything I'll probably come back and edit it but it'll do for now. I've never really experienced a severe storm which is probably why this kinda seems lacking.


Anyways, haven't really got much to say about this week other than the astounding week we've had at Wimbledon but I'll leave that for next week when a winner will have been decided and I'll be able to talk about this tournament and Stag On Ben in their entirety.


Catch ya later folks.


PS. Just passed 1000 views! Woop!

A trip to London

 Title pretty much says it all really. Me and Ali took that trip to London to take some photos and kill time like we said we would. Here's a couple of my favourites from the day. Also Ali entered one of his landscape shots into a contest:
http://apps.facebook.com/picturelinelandscape/Contest.psp?c=142304&u=19392&a=366163073439588&p=28861182380&v=Entry&id=416374&rest=1
Which if you could vote for him that'd be great, you can vote once a day but I doubt anyone that reads this will vote but it's worth a shot right?

We were quite lucky really, the weather forecast predicted clear skies and high temperatures and was reasonably accurate for the most part. There was a brief cloudy moment but other then that it stayed bright and clear.

We originally planned on spending a while in the Natural History Museum and the Science Museum but time was kinda against us due to our travel cards for the day, so we decided against the museums and took to the streets and headed for the embankment. That was possibly the best decision we made all day. We got there just as the sun was passing behind Big Ben (see the photo below) and it looked stunning. Ali (being the flash bastard he is) got some incredible HDR combination shots, his version of the Big Ben photo is far better then mine because of the combined lighting effects of three exposures.

 Unfortunately time was quite tight while we were there and we didn't get to see all we wanted to which was a shame but I think we massively underestimated how long we'd need, 1 day is nowhere near enough time so maybe some time later in the holidays we'll head back up there with a bit more time to spare and see what we can do.

All in all though it was a fantastic day out. The weather was great all day and I got to walk around London again and see some of the sights that I hadn't seen before. I really hope we get to go up there again sometime soon, maybe with a few more people, although they might get annoyed with me and Ali stopping all the time to take a photo of something.

I'm not sure why, but I absolutely love this lion.

 I'm amazed by the variety of different architectural styles around London. You can get buildings that are hundreds of years old next to those that are no more then 10 and while you'd think that seeing that kind of difference would be sort of an eyesore but for some reason it works. I for one love it, although I'm sure there are plenty of people who would argue differently but for me I like it. I think its great seeing the modern meet the old. Admittedly there are places where it doesn't work and it just looks ridiculous but for the most part I like it.

In other news, Wimbledon starts today. This is one of my favourite events to watch, second only to the winter olympics when they roll around. I'm really looking forward to seeing some great tennis played by some of the greatest players. It'll be interesting to see how this one plays out. I'd love to see John Isner climb the ranks ever since watching his marathon of a match against Nicolas Mahut.

I'm up in Lincoln soon for the Stag on Ben tournament which should be amazing. Get to play some ultimate for the weekend and get to see some of the guys from the club which'll be great. I've missed both the sport and the gang quite a bit, and the weather being piss poor hasn't helped matter. Thankfully it's starting to improve so hopefully I'll be able to get outside and play some tennis or talk some friends into going for a throw about. I haven't picked up a disc since I left Lincoln for the summer so I dread to think how I'm gunna perform at the tourney.

Well the tennis is on as I'm writing this so I'm gunna stop and watch it properly. Sharapova is putting down another incredible performance, it's always impressive to watch.

Catch ya later folks

Everyone has a soundtrack to their life....

First off, a thank you to the 4 readers last week who read this without a link being posted anywhere. You're the die hard fans I'm writing for so feel special. Second I want to talk about something that if I lived with out it, I would be a lot more insane then I currently am.


Music. We all listen to it and we all listen to different varieties of it. I'm not going to go into the whole "dubstep is shit" thing because I could rant and rave (not in the party sense) about it and get absolutely nowhere. In the end it all comes down to your own opinion, you like then good for you, just don't force me to listen to it (I apply this argument to heavy drinking but that's another can o' worms entirely).


I like to think I have a pretty diverse taste in music ranging from power metal to classical and most stops in between and listening to all the different types (sorry, genres), I think its incredible how each one effects your mood. I mean, I know I'm not the first person to say this but it really is intriguing how something that....unnoticed has such a large impact on our mood and us in general. I say unnoticed because even though music is almost always playing wherever you go, it may not be music in its conventional form but there is always some kind of background noise to whatever you're doing, where ever you happen to be. For example right now I can hear a generator powering a neighbour's house, due to some power cable issues, humming away outside my window (I sleep with it open because I like it cold in my room....I'm weird, how've you not got that yet?) and although it's just one sound it's still a sort of music. It's unnoticed because even though it's there you can often zone it out, you can hear it and you know it's there but you don't necessarily listen to it and so it goes unnoticed. Even though it's unnoticed it is still a massive part of our lives, well mine at least, and I can't think of a life without it.


As I've said it has such a powerful influence over us that just listening anything from a couple notes to a whole verse of a song/tune/melody (whatever, I don't know all that much about music if I'm honest) and it can change your mood almost instantly. I mean (I say that alot don't I?) you only have to hear a couple notes at the least for it to bring back some kind of memory of some event linked to that song, more often then not it's a link you don't even realise you've made but you hear those couple notes and BAM! you get some memory come steaming to the forefront of your mind. For example as soon as I hear the opening to Shoot to Thrill by AC/DC then I think of some of my favourite Iron Man scenes, that one's a little obvious but it proves a point.


Although songs you've never heard before, or haven't heard all that often, can still cause huge changes in your mood and this I think is down to the kind of music (well no shit sherlock). Jazz/classical music a lot of people (including me, I like a bit of smooth jazz) use to wind down or relax because that's just what that kind of music is for. I'm not sure of the exact reason (I don't think anyone is...) but the slower tempo and the often lighter music is very relaxing and can be used to relax and put your mind at ease. Just as jazz/classical can relax, rock music can be used for situations that require a bit of energy or aggression, for example alot of movies and games use music that is a bit faster and gets the blood pumping. Personally I listen to rock music alot whenever I'm doing anything but especially when I'm playing a game that involves a lot of action. I wouldn't play something like Professor Layton (a puzzle solving game) while listening to AC/DC and Rise Against.....well I would but it wouldn't suit the mood very well, where as in games like Battlefield where it's all gunfights and explosions, rock music is right at home. Of course there are songs from certain genres that cause mood shifts you wouldn't expect, for example whenever I hear The Wolves by Ben Howard, I tend to be quite happy and uplifted which considering the songs lyrics and genre you wouldn't expect.....maybe I'm just a weirdo but hey ho, that's what happens.


As you've no doubt realised by now I tend to ramble for ages and not really say much, which this post probably seems to be....and it kind of felt like it while writing it. Hey I'm always open to criticism and ways to improve so feel free to comment or let me know if you think of anything or think some of my ideas are kind of disjointed and want some clarification and I'll do my best to address it in the next post.....not that I'm expecting anyone to actually leave any feedback....not like many people read this or it's getting published anywhere or whatever.


Maybe next week I'll have some kind of event to talk about that's mildly interesting, if not I'll either leave it (not likely....I get bored and this kills time) or I'll ramble on about some random topic much like this time, I'm thinking maybe something on changes as in people/places. That kind of thing.


Catch ya later folks

Tennis, woo!

First off, I'm not posting a link to this anywhere to actually see who (if anyone) goes out of their way to read this and I know I said I probably wouldn't update this weekly since nothing is likely to happen but that doesn't mean I haven't got anything to talk about. The outdoor tennis season has started! Woo!

Most people would say tennis is a boring sport to watch and that all it is is two people knocking a ball over a net back and forth. They wouldn't be wrong in saying that but I don't think its boring to watch at all. It's fast and furious and quite unpredictable. Its one of the few sports I actually enjoy watching being played and playing although I'm not particularly good but I still enjoy playing it. I've been dying to get on a tennis court since the french open started but the weather has been shit and prevented it from happening. Tennis in the pouring rain is not the best idea. We tried it once....we didn't go out in the rain to play in the tennis, the forecast was good but turned miserable pretty fast but since we were there we thought fuck it and carried on. Water flicked off the ball straight into our eyes, it sucked. Can't wait for the weather to improve so that I can actually go out and do something physical....I'm beginning to get a little restless since I haven't done anything yet this summer. I'm gunna miss playing Ultimate something terrible....

So the French Open finished today. It was a brilliant match between Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, two of the best players I've seen. Although I don't like Djokovic he played a good game but I'm glad he didn't get the title. Nadal played brilliantly as always and only dropped one set but even that was a battle for Djokovic to take. The fourth and final set I didn't see but since it went 5 games to 7 for Nadal I'm guessing it was a good one, making this his 7th French Open win, something only one other person has achieved. Here's hoping he puts on another awesome display at Wimbledon in a few weeks, course that won't happen unless the weather improves...It's been hammering down all day.....

Catch ya later folks

Home Sweet Home...

I'm back in Billericay now, have been since Saturday. It's good to be back, my bed is far comfier and yet I still can't manage to sleep like a normal person.

So my last exam was last Tuesday. I'm now done for the summer and hopefully don't have to go back to Lincoln to work until September. The exam went better then I was expecting. I was expecting some kind of grotesque maths paper spawned by satan himself but it wasn't too bad.


It's a strange feeling having absolutely nothing to do all summer. I have free time coming out of my ears, it's fantastic, although I can see life becoming pretty boring pretty quickly back here. I kinda miss everyone from Lincoln already, it's going to be strange not having them around for ages but I guess I'll just have to deal with it. I'm going to miss the ultimate gang something terrible too since there's no local club to go train/play with so I'm going to have to make do with random throw abouts with people from back home. Kind of dreading going back after summer, I'll be so out of practice....not that there's alot I can really do about it. 


Got a couple of cool things planned for the summer like my trip to London with Ali and The War and Peace Show. I'm sure there'll be other things that come up while everyone's back and when the weather improves a bit. Tennis season has started again which I love. I'm not great at tennis by any means but I still enjoy playing and watching it. Wimbledon is always great to watch and starts soonish so that'll be good. 

This week is E3 week which is a pretty big event for the gaming community. Although it's not as great as it once was, now all the big developers (Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo, EA etc...) release pre-conference material announcing what they'll be announcing, or at least severely hinting at it and it sucks! Now there's no suspense in waiting to see what they'll be talking about and unveiling. Now you can watch/read/listen to the pre-released information and still find out pretty much all the key things from the conference without having to pay attention to the conference itself. I'm still going to watch it and see what's revealed but that's because I have nothing better to do with my time and I'm pretty unlikely to watch/read/listen to any of the stuff after the conference finishes.


Well that's pretty much it for this week....since there's not much likely to be happening for awhile I'll probably post less often since I'll have nothing to say other then "Nothing's really happened...." but we'll see how it goes. 


Catch ya later folks