Glastonbury Avalon Wainwright

Slash is a GOD.

I just saw him play at Glastonbury and he continued to fulfill all the ridiculous stereotypes of a rock star. He barely spoke (can he speak?), wore his big hair and hat (so even those at the back of the crowd could see who he was), played his guitar effortlessly, and at one stage behind his head without looking! I grew up idolising Slash and he lived up to it. However, being at Glastonbury seeing him was a little bizarre, as this makes his music accessible to all, so at the ends of songs several people clapped and shouted, 'Jolly Good. Well done old chap'. Seriously though, it was a weird environment as i'm used to gigs where people will do whatever it takes to see these musicians, standing for hours and living the music, singing along like people had come to see them perform. But at Glastonbury people didn't even know the words! I enjoyed it thoroughly though, and having now seen Slash, Hole, Metallica and the Foo Fighter - I only need to see Axel, Aerosmith and Silverchair to be able to retire from live music forever.

During the course of Glastonbury i got to spend some quality time with my in-laws (who go every year and love it). The highlight of which was a conversation around GA Wainwright reckoning his name is boring. He managed to find an alternative luckily: Glastonbury Avalon Wainwright. In this way he can keep his initials and not have to change all his post etc. Xss and I like unusual names and are often joking about what we might call our future child. We are quite taken with giving our child the suffix 'the second', so have made a deal with GA, that if he does indeed change his name, we will call our son the same! I mean its not really a girls name is it.

A New Destiny Arrives.

Xss and i have been planning our nosey around the world for a long time now and as we have increasingly got more and more done, other things have come undone! Most concerning for us has been the 3 month volunteer project in Brazil and finding someone to fill our room.

The Brazilian farm we are going still want us, but it is no longer on a farm in the middle of nowhere (one original major plus) but in a city and no-one who will be there the months we will can speak English. Optimisits would now cry, well thank goodness you and XSS already took 2 terms of Portuguese classes! But no, we can remember nothing and dont fancy trying to fit into a new, normal lifestyle in rural Brazil not having anyone to tell us how to work the oven! Well, luckily for us we have met somone who works in Brazil and she has an idea of another place we can go called New Destiny Farm. It looks great. This is a farm in the middle of nowhere and could be just what we need. Think what you want God, destiny, fate; but i get the overwhelming feeling that God is sorting this all out for us. Our trip around the world will be perfect

Now to work on renting out the room!

P.S found a picture of me on Big Sis' Hen night and love it. I WANT A PET FERRET!

Bikram Yoga? It's full of hot air!

Dear Rowl,

Thanks for the advice: I have now been to Bikram Yoga, and got ringworm. Yes. I got ringworm from a sweaty yoga mat! I did enjoy many aspects of Bikram yoga (yoga in a sauna type room) like the poses where you have to pretend you are flying (i only needed a small amount of encouragement on any day and towels make very good capes!) I also felt that i wasn't terrible at it, which is unusual for me when trying new things.

However, the negative aspects usurped these positives, namely the incident of my naked bum flesh touching a complete strangers naked thigh flesh when trying to squeeze into those titchy showers which even though they pretend to be built for 6 (note no curtains for modesty) should only accommodate one buck naked stranger at a time. This shower appeared to be the lesser of two evils, the other being seen on a tube on the way home in soaking wet, semi see-through cycling shorts and untamable hair which looked like I'd been on an adventure sports weekend. I'm not vain, but its got to be rude to stand up from your tube seat and leave a wet sweat mark for the next person to inherit!

Now i realise that i might be in the process of offending my already nominal blog audience by taking about this, but what is a blog for if it isn't for espousing unqualified opinions about topics only cats care about: I THINK YOGA IS CRAP. There I've said it. I think my body is a pretty technical but well- erm, well.... good machine, i don't think it benefits from an hour of improving my blood flow (if you blood doesn't flow well, doesn't that mean you are already dead?) or from improving my breathing (again, dead if i don't breathe). I can understand that some postures might help these things more than others- but if so, well surely a deportment style finishing school where i am taught to do these continuously as part of life is better than a sweaty 90 minutes, a few times a week. People are convinced that Yoga changed their life; i don't think so. They changed their life whilst attending yoga and they haven't managed to work out what it is they changed. What most people need is to slow down and spend 90minutes a few times a week investing in themselves and feeling good. it is an enforced calm and time to forget about daily hassles, a time to get in touch with your body. Great, but why not diversify, read a book for those 90 mins, watch a film, walk round the park and smell the flowers, have a bath, do proper exercise!


Well i hope that Rowl, Nman and Lovely will forgive me this rant, but you can keep your yoga values, i'm sticking to kick boxing. There were only so many times i could hit the person next to me in yoga and still make it seem like an accident.

So with less modesty, some great new ideas of how to pose as if flying, an ability to breath better and a tasteful array of pink spots i think i have definitely, well and truly earned my Bikram yoga badge.

The 5:30 Sheep Race

Today my family found patriotism and the sheep McCormick Mayhem (ridden by Slippery Slim) won the 5:30 Gibbons' ground national.

I really like trying new things, and having recently been stuck in my teenage disappointment that I've done it all wilder than anyone else and nothing can ever be anything but 'boring' ever again, and then i discovered SHEEP RACING. Do you know how high sheep can jump!!! no wonder people count them to sleep, they can actually jump those old, wooden gates we dream of.

Here they are lining up, the men didn't actually ride them, just the teddies, but i think the men wanted to so just posed like this for the photo.

It was so nice because all the money raised went to the local village school, and the kids were the ones taking the bets money. £1 a bet for a sheep to win, then they divided half the total money taken for that race to give to the people backing the winning sheep. The little kids all took such pride in taking the £1 and giving you the tickets, all with their England kits on, and supervised by a suitably stern and decomposing elderly school ma'rm. You couldn't pick a better cast.

And they're off! The first race was the best as the sheep all came out the pen, then stood around not knowing what to do next. Then one of them took the initiative and ran off down the track, jumping over the little jumps. Each sheep followed in turn but even when they had a chance to over take didn't (!!- quite annoying when you have bet on them and are putting significant effort into cheering them on- but in hushed tones so as to to scare them!). The sheep like following each other, so as soon as one started the run, the race was over. This made betting quite funny, as you couldn't bet on the most active sheep, or the one ready at the gate to go, but had to try to pick out a sheep with initiative, which due to a lack of background details on the sheep's individual histories made it very hard. The farmer must have made a killing.

Next year if you are free, check it out Priddy Annual Sheep Race 2nd weekend in June.

After the sheep race we watched the football, as most of Britain probably did. My father-in-law in a moment of inspiration/temporary insanity, had brought everyone an England shirt, and two flags to fly from the car windows. Here's XSS and his pa posing non-proudly.

Things that should only be eaten in pairs:

Cadbury's buttons
Pringles (after having licked both sides)


thats all i can think of.


P.S At youth group tonight we all did that thing were you anonymously write down the qualities you like about other people- Someone wrote 'Sporty' on mine and my biggest childhood ambition was achieved! Sporty, me! aha. I'm so proud, True had the whole package at school and when we, the 'odd couple', bundled along together i am sure the teachers thought it odd that the cleverest, prettiest and sportiest (well not est- but she held the discuss record for years!) girl would hangout with me, the misfit. Little did they realise that i would get alright grades and be labelled 'sporty' at aged 27! True knew all along. :)