Sunday, December 31
conversion
I was going to add that the edit/publish/review process was much slicker to use.
Well as least I tried to but the amendments were being removed from the previous post, so I've finally added them as a new item.
Hopefully a temporary glitch
Labels: blog media
Blogger conversion
Well I took the plunge earlier this weekend and the blog is now converted. There were a few anxious moments when the migration advised"this may take a few minutes". and was still saying the same 1/2 hour later.
Oh nooooooooooooo
;-(
In the event it took over two hours, and as there's less than 70 posts on here heaven help the more established blogs when they try the same.
But it all looks stable now.
My original question still remains, eeeeeeeerrrrr where the benefit to me, coz I can't see any at the moment except the drawback of a longer login process.
The jury, as they say, remains out.
And to all of you out there - have a spiffing New Year celebration, and whatever your resolutions may be, just keep on having fun n frolics along the way.Labels: blog media
Sunday, December 24
Blogger Upgrade - postcript
Just spotted this discussion which come swith a strong recommendation to upgrade
We'll see.Labels: blog media
Blogger Upgrade and Xmas greetings
Since my last few posts the Blogger site seems to becoming more insistent that I should upgrade, and the beta tag has now been dropped from the welcome messages.
I'm wary of change for change sake in the pc world - I go way back to when pcs ran at 6MHz off a 5.25 " floppy disk that that really did flop.
If anyone has upgraded I'd be interested in feedback. Especially as the semi-auto Yahoo Messanger upgrade last week locked me out of my account, and needed the XP System Restore to get things working again.
But maybe it's a little something to keep me occupied over the Xmas hols when I'm not overindulging in food, alcohol, or generally debauched and decadent living.
Or at least as much of this as I can manage.
Have a good one yourselves, normal service will be resumed after the hols.
Hic.
Labels: blog media
Thursday, December 21
Greeting the dawn - the skyclad group prepare for sunrise
Thursday, December 14
Ruddy spammers
Ooooo look at yet another set of offers trying to subvert my local blog readerships to the dark side of their spam.
So for the moment the comment checker is going to have to be switched back on.
Bloody annoying overhead as far as I am concerned but better than letting the buggers back in againLabels: blog media
Wednesday, December 13
Judy Armstrong - Alpine Challenge Podcast
I was listening to one of BobC's recent podcasts recently on Judy Armstrong's Alpine Challenge.
The way I approach podcasts is to download them to my MP3 player and cease some 'me' time by taking the dogs out onto the New Forest, listening as I wander. During particularly foul weather this can keep me covering far more distance than may have otherwise have been the case.
Either I know I will be interested in the topic, or after 5 minutes or so I'll start to skip through to see if there's anything to keep my interest. Cruel I know, after all the podcaster's hard work, but some of the topics can be repetitive or just not that relevant to me at the time, especially the US based ones talking about bear attacks and Trail Treks etc.
So back to Judy.
I know Bob's casts continue to maintain a high standard of entertainment and the guy is a natural, no doubt something that's taken many years of hard work to seem so easy. So I'm always prepared to give his offerings that little bit extra.
This cast started like so many others -I'm off for a long walk - yipee - but then veers off as Judy starts to get into her topic and what a challenge she's set herself - to hike around the entire Alpine mountain range covering 3,300 miles, and 320 miles of climbing and descent, which as she points out "No-one seems to have attempted before"
Not content with that she'll be mainly solo, a brave stance for a female especially, and also intends to produce a series of route guides for an area lacking anything substantial in the english language, or indeed in any language from what she reports.
Judy has made the ultimate break with her normal life, and proves very thoughtful when discussing her gear, approach and preparation. Much of her experience suggests she's been leading up to this point in her life for some time.
I'd highly recommend listening to this piece - there's plenty to learn both of a technical nature, but more importantly just about one person's positive attitude without becoming blasé or high risk about what's to be achieved.
And this is not a woman taking a gap year, or getting out of the rat race and running off to the countryside. There's much more of a sacrifice taking place here, despite her pedigree.
I've added a link to Judy's site, she'll be keeping a diary as she goes and I wish her well. A brave woman.
And blond too - bang goes another stereotype!
;-)
Saturday, December 9
Voting open for the 2006 Weblog Awards
OK I know it's predominantly run, fed, and votes on by the USA.
But wouldn't it have been so great to see a UK based walking site on the short list!
How about Outdoor Magic for Best Online Community and Walking Must Be This Way for Best UK Blog , or (since Andy had to restart the site following the failure of his previous ISP/site) Best New Blog. Hee Hee
But no; The nominee lists are already there to vote on, and personally, with all due repesct to the bloggers involved, they don't make the most entertaining reading except for JonnyB's Private Secret Diary which I occasionally drop into.
Now I don't hang around the Net as much as I have done in the past (well not since I decided to get a life - rofl) but I don't recall any links mentioning that the list was open.
So who's going to sort out a real UK Weblog Awards, including the Pod & Vid Casts? Must be some brave soul out there willing to suffer the barracking that is bound to arise
;-)
Monday, December 4
Holmsley wandering - and unexpected pleasures
My Sunday wander out in the New Forest was a little delayed yesterday. Not by much; But enough to bring home to me just how much the season has changed and the days shortened.
The mid afternoon wander was put off in the hope that the gusting wind/rain would back off a little. Vain hope. A very late night Saturday, err well more a near dawn finish really, and a mild hangover didn't help much. Ahem.
As is often the way with these things, what started out grudingly as a short slog turned into a real delight. Nature in the raw, the air fresh and full of moisture. The path wet underfoot, but having picked a reasonable ridge route to the south-east of Burley, the gravel strata meant that thick mud could be mostly avoided.
And the few hardy souls that were around seemed similarly interested in enjoying the conditions, so for a change a few smiles and cheery hellos (It amazes me the amount of glum grunts that I often get as I pass by within a couple of feet of people, and offer the courtesy of a pleasant greeting. Miserable gits)
Starting to enjoy the wander it turned into a longer circular route, dipping down to the old railtrack once leading down from Ringwood and now a cinder & gravel cycle/tourist path. Usually this is littered with families trying to stay upright on their newly hired mountain bikes, and as a result it can be a bit of an obstacle course as they attempt to conquer their unfamiliar steeds.
My two collies are trained to voice command to heel/stay at distance, but sometimes the dogs can act as a magnet for small children trying to handle the mechanics of balancing on two wheels, safe from the usual threat of cars whizzing by. So I usually have to proceed with a little caution rather than watch some five year old disappear off the track and into the squelchy bog either side of the track. But no two wheeled traffic today. The deep flood across the track near the old rail bridge remains effectively cutting off all through travelling unless part of the welly brigade.
The original bridge, so the story goes, had been blown up by the local TA unit back in the 70s as a hands-on training exercise in the use of demolition explosive. Unfortunately whoever thought they were getting a bit of cheap remodelling work had assumed the TA would remove the resulting debris as well. Oops. Bridge blown the TA went into a full and effective tactical retreat, leaving bits of exploded brick bridge over a wide area. No great surprise there really - I can't recall the SAS being asked to clean-up after their workday. Quite.
So back onto the track along Holmsley ridge, following the deer and pony tracks back to my start point. As I dropped off the ridge ahead was the ending of a stormy day.......
.....and as I glanced behind, the sight of night coming on and the moon already rising high in the sky. Surely worth a picture? But no camera with me. No wait; Out with the phone camera. Not great but sometimes the feeling of the image is the important thing. The perfect shot picture isn't always strictly neccessary.
My New Forest view - Sunday 16:00;
Still managed find the car before it got dark though. Just as well as its black and covered in mud!
Not exactly a beacon of visibility as dusk falls and the rainclouds drift across once more.
Simple pleasures. Stolen moments. Sweet.
Blogger spamming - back again?
During the last couple of weeks I've spotted some infrequent spam for other websites being added via my blog comments.
It's not enough to switch back on the comment vetting, but more an irritation for me.
I'll leave the comments as they are for the moment. After trawling through all my posts I've found the spam being added randomly on some quite old items. Not too sure what the spammer hopes to achieve with those as most blog readers will check the current stuff - so it seems a bit of a strange technique to use.
Thought I 'd mention it just in case any others out there are finding the same circumstances.Labels: blog media
All site material © John Hee - ask before you snatch
Well as least I tried to but the amendments were being removed from the previous post, so I've finally added them as a new item.
Hopefully a temporary glitch
Labels: blog media
Blogger conversion
Well I took the plunge earlier this weekend and the blog is now converted. There were a few anxious moments when the migration advised"this may take a few minutes". and was still saying the same 1/2 hour later.
Oh nooooooooooooo
;-(
In the event it took over two hours, and as there's less than 70 posts on here heaven help the more established blogs when they try the same.
But it all looks stable now.
My original question still remains, eeeeeeeerrrrr where the benefit to me, coz I can't see any at the moment except the drawback of a longer login process.
The jury, as they say, remains out.
And to all of you out there - have a spiffing New Year celebration, and whatever your resolutions may be, just keep on having fun n frolics along the way.Labels: blog media
Sunday, December 24
Blogger Upgrade - postcript
Just spotted this discussion which come swith a strong recommendation to upgrade
We'll see.Labels: blog media
Blogger Upgrade and Xmas greetings
Since my last few posts the Blogger site seems to becoming more insistent that I should upgrade, and the beta tag has now been dropped from the welcome messages.
I'm wary of change for change sake in the pc world - I go way back to when pcs ran at 6MHz off a 5.25 " floppy disk that that really did flop.
If anyone has upgraded I'd be interested in feedback. Especially as the semi-auto Yahoo Messanger upgrade last week locked me out of my account, and needed the XP System Restore to get things working again.
But maybe it's a little something to keep me occupied over the Xmas hols when I'm not overindulging in food, alcohol, or generally debauched and decadent living.
Or at least as much of this as I can manage.
Have a good one yourselves, normal service will be resumed after the hols.
Hic.
Labels: blog media
Thursday, December 21
Greeting the dawn - the skyclad group prepare for sunrise
Thursday, December 14
Ruddy spammers
Ooooo look at yet another set of offers trying to subvert my local blog readerships to the dark side of their spam.
So for the moment the comment checker is going to have to be switched back on.
Bloody annoying overhead as far as I am concerned but better than letting the buggers back in againLabels: blog media
Wednesday, December 13
Judy Armstrong - Alpine Challenge Podcast
I was listening to one of BobC's recent podcasts recently on Judy Armstrong's Alpine Challenge.
The way I approach podcasts is to download them to my MP3 player and cease some 'me' time by taking the dogs out onto the New Forest, listening as I wander. During particularly foul weather this can keep me covering far more distance than may have otherwise have been the case.
Either I know I will be interested in the topic, or after 5 minutes or so I'll start to skip through to see if there's anything to keep my interest. Cruel I know, after all the podcaster's hard work, but some of the topics can be repetitive or just not that relevant to me at the time, especially the US based ones talking about bear attacks and Trail Treks etc.
So back to Judy.
I know Bob's casts continue to maintain a high standard of entertainment and the guy is a natural, no doubt something that's taken many years of hard work to seem so easy. So I'm always prepared to give his offerings that little bit extra.
This cast started like so many others -I'm off for a long walk - yipee - but then veers off as Judy starts to get into her topic and what a challenge she's set herself - to hike around the entire Alpine mountain range covering 3,300 miles, and 320 miles of climbing and descent, which as she points out "No-one seems to have attempted before"
Not content with that she'll be mainly solo, a brave stance for a female especially, and also intends to produce a series of route guides for an area lacking anything substantial in the english language, or indeed in any language from what she reports.
Judy has made the ultimate break with her normal life, and proves very thoughtful when discussing her gear, approach and preparation. Much of her experience suggests she's been leading up to this point in her life for some time.
I'd highly recommend listening to this piece - there's plenty to learn both of a technical nature, but more importantly just about one person's positive attitude without becoming blasé or high risk about what's to be achieved.
And this is not a woman taking a gap year, or getting out of the rat race and running off to the countryside. There's much more of a sacrifice taking place here, despite her pedigree.
I've added a link to Judy's site, she'll be keeping a diary as she goes and I wish her well. A brave woman.
And blond too - bang goes another stereotype!
;-)
Saturday, December 9
Voting open for the 2006 Weblog Awards
OK I know it's predominantly run, fed, and votes on by the USA.
But wouldn't it have been so great to see a UK based walking site on the short list!
How about Outdoor Magic for Best Online Community and Walking Must Be This Way for Best UK Blog , or (since Andy had to restart the site following the failure of his previous ISP/site) Best New Blog. Hee Hee
But no; The nominee lists are already there to vote on, and personally, with all due repesct to the bloggers involved, they don't make the most entertaining reading except for JonnyB's Private Secret Diary which I occasionally drop into.
Now I don't hang around the Net as much as I have done in the past (well not since I decided to get a life - rofl) but I don't recall any links mentioning that the list was open.
So who's going to sort out a real UK Weblog Awards, including the Pod & Vid Casts? Must be some brave soul out there willing to suffer the barracking that is bound to arise
;-)
Monday, December 4
Holmsley wandering - and unexpected pleasures
My Sunday wander out in the New Forest was a little delayed yesterday. Not by much; But enough to bring home to me just how much the season has changed and the days shortened.
The mid afternoon wander was put off in the hope that the gusting wind/rain would back off a little. Vain hope. A very late night Saturday, err well more a near dawn finish really, and a mild hangover didn't help much. Ahem.
As is often the way with these things, what started out grudingly as a short slog turned into a real delight. Nature in the raw, the air fresh and full of moisture. The path wet underfoot, but having picked a reasonable ridge route to the south-east of Burley, the gravel strata meant that thick mud could be mostly avoided.
And the few hardy souls that were around seemed similarly interested in enjoying the conditions, so for a change a few smiles and cheery hellos (It amazes me the amount of glum grunts that I often get as I pass by within a couple of feet of people, and offer the courtesy of a pleasant greeting. Miserable gits)
Starting to enjoy the wander it turned into a longer circular route, dipping down to the old railtrack once leading down from Ringwood and now a cinder & gravel cycle/tourist path. Usually this is littered with families trying to stay upright on their newly hired mountain bikes, and as a result it can be a bit of an obstacle course as they attempt to conquer their unfamiliar steeds.
My two collies are trained to voice command to heel/stay at distance, but sometimes the dogs can act as a magnet for small children trying to handle the mechanics of balancing on two wheels, safe from the usual threat of cars whizzing by. So I usually have to proceed with a little caution rather than watch some five year old disappear off the track and into the squelchy bog either side of the track. But no two wheeled traffic today. The deep flood across the track near the old rail bridge remains effectively cutting off all through travelling unless part of the welly brigade.
The original bridge, so the story goes, had been blown up by the local TA unit back in the 70s as a hands-on training exercise in the use of demolition explosive. Unfortunately whoever thought they were getting a bit of cheap remodelling work had assumed the TA would remove the resulting debris as well. Oops. Bridge blown the TA went into a full and effective tactical retreat, leaving bits of exploded brick bridge over a wide area. No great surprise there really - I can't recall the SAS being asked to clean-up after their workday. Quite.
So back onto the track along Holmsley ridge, following the deer and pony tracks back to my start point. As I dropped off the ridge ahead was the ending of a stormy day.......
.....and as I glanced behind, the sight of night coming on and the moon already rising high in the sky. Surely worth a picture? But no camera with me. No wait; Out with the phone camera. Not great but sometimes the feeling of the image is the important thing. The perfect shot picture isn't always strictly neccessary.
My New Forest view - Sunday 16:00;
Still managed find the car before it got dark though. Just as well as its black and covered in mud!
Not exactly a beacon of visibility as dusk falls and the rainclouds drift across once more.
Simple pleasures. Stolen moments. Sweet.
Blogger spamming - back again?
During the last couple of weeks I've spotted some infrequent spam for other websites being added via my blog comments.
It's not enough to switch back on the comment vetting, but more an irritation for me.
I'll leave the comments as they are for the moment. After trawling through all my posts I've found the spam being added randomly on some quite old items. Not too sure what the spammer hopes to achieve with those as most blog readers will check the current stuff - so it seems a bit of a strange technique to use.
Thought I 'd mention it just in case any others out there are finding the same circumstances.Labels: blog media
All site material © John Hee - ask before you snatch
Oh nooooooooooooo
;-(
In the event it took over two hours, and as there's less than 70 posts on here heaven help the more established blogs when they try the same.
But it all looks stable now.
My original question still remains, eeeeeeeerrrrr where the benefit to me, coz I can't see any at the moment except the drawback of a longer login process.
The jury, as they say, remains out.
And to all of you out there - have a spiffing New Year celebration, and whatever your resolutions may be, just keep on having fun n frolics along the way.
Labels: blog media
Blogger Upgrade - postcript
Just spotted this discussion which come swith a strong recommendation to upgrade
We'll see.Labels: blog media
Blogger Upgrade and Xmas greetings
Since my last few posts the Blogger site seems to becoming more insistent that I should upgrade, and the beta tag has now been dropped from the welcome messages.
I'm wary of change for change sake in the pc world - I go way back to when pcs ran at 6MHz off a 5.25 " floppy disk that that really did flop.
If anyone has upgraded I'd be interested in feedback. Especially as the semi-auto Yahoo Messanger upgrade last week locked me out of my account, and needed the XP System Restore to get things working again.
But maybe it's a little something to keep me occupied over the Xmas hols when I'm not overindulging in food, alcohol, or generally debauched and decadent living.
Or at least as much of this as I can manage.
Have a good one yourselves, normal service will be resumed after the hols.
Hic.
Labels: blog media
Thursday, December 21
Greeting the dawn - the skyclad group prepare for sunrise
Thursday, December 14
Ruddy spammers
Ooooo look at yet another set of offers trying to subvert my local blog readerships to the dark side of their spam.
So for the moment the comment checker is going to have to be switched back on.
Bloody annoying overhead as far as I am concerned but better than letting the buggers back in againLabels: blog media
Wednesday, December 13
Judy Armstrong - Alpine Challenge Podcast
I was listening to one of BobC's recent podcasts recently on Judy Armstrong's Alpine Challenge.
The way I approach podcasts is to download them to my MP3 player and cease some 'me' time by taking the dogs out onto the New Forest, listening as I wander. During particularly foul weather this can keep me covering far more distance than may have otherwise have been the case.
Either I know I will be interested in the topic, or after 5 minutes or so I'll start to skip through to see if there's anything to keep my interest. Cruel I know, after all the podcaster's hard work, but some of the topics can be repetitive or just not that relevant to me at the time, especially the US based ones talking about bear attacks and Trail Treks etc.
So back to Judy.
I know Bob's casts continue to maintain a high standard of entertainment and the guy is a natural, no doubt something that's taken many years of hard work to seem so easy. So I'm always prepared to give his offerings that little bit extra.
This cast started like so many others -I'm off for a long walk - yipee - but then veers off as Judy starts to get into her topic and what a challenge she's set herself - to hike around the entire Alpine mountain range covering 3,300 miles, and 320 miles of climbing and descent, which as she points out "No-one seems to have attempted before"
Not content with that she'll be mainly solo, a brave stance for a female especially, and also intends to produce a series of route guides for an area lacking anything substantial in the english language, or indeed in any language from what she reports.
Judy has made the ultimate break with her normal life, and proves very thoughtful when discussing her gear, approach and preparation. Much of her experience suggests she's been leading up to this point in her life for some time.
I'd highly recommend listening to this piece - there's plenty to learn both of a technical nature, but more importantly just about one person's positive attitude without becoming blasé or high risk about what's to be achieved.
And this is not a woman taking a gap year, or getting out of the rat race and running off to the countryside. There's much more of a sacrifice taking place here, despite her pedigree.
I've added a link to Judy's site, she'll be keeping a diary as she goes and I wish her well. A brave woman.
And blond too - bang goes another stereotype!
;-)
Saturday, December 9
Voting open for the 2006 Weblog Awards
OK I know it's predominantly run, fed, and votes on by the USA.
But wouldn't it have been so great to see a UK based walking site on the short list!
How about Outdoor Magic for Best Online Community and Walking Must Be This Way for Best UK Blog , or (since Andy had to restart the site following the failure of his previous ISP/site) Best New Blog. Hee Hee
But no; The nominee lists are already there to vote on, and personally, with all due repesct to the bloggers involved, they don't make the most entertaining reading except for JonnyB's Private Secret Diary which I occasionally drop into.
Now I don't hang around the Net as much as I have done in the past (well not since I decided to get a life - rofl) but I don't recall any links mentioning that the list was open.
So who's going to sort out a real UK Weblog Awards, including the Pod & Vid Casts? Must be some brave soul out there willing to suffer the barracking that is bound to arise
;-)
Monday, December 4
Holmsley wandering - and unexpected pleasures
My Sunday wander out in the New Forest was a little delayed yesterday. Not by much; But enough to bring home to me just how much the season has changed and the days shortened.
The mid afternoon wander was put off in the hope that the gusting wind/rain would back off a little. Vain hope. A very late night Saturday, err well more a near dawn finish really, and a mild hangover didn't help much. Ahem.
As is often the way with these things, what started out grudingly as a short slog turned into a real delight. Nature in the raw, the air fresh and full of moisture. The path wet underfoot, but having picked a reasonable ridge route to the south-east of Burley, the gravel strata meant that thick mud could be mostly avoided.
And the few hardy souls that were around seemed similarly interested in enjoying the conditions, so for a change a few smiles and cheery hellos (It amazes me the amount of glum grunts that I often get as I pass by within a couple of feet of people, and offer the courtesy of a pleasant greeting. Miserable gits)
Starting to enjoy the wander it turned into a longer circular route, dipping down to the old railtrack once leading down from Ringwood and now a cinder & gravel cycle/tourist path. Usually this is littered with families trying to stay upright on their newly hired mountain bikes, and as a result it can be a bit of an obstacle course as they attempt to conquer their unfamiliar steeds.
My two collies are trained to voice command to heel/stay at distance, but sometimes the dogs can act as a magnet for small children trying to handle the mechanics of balancing on two wheels, safe from the usual threat of cars whizzing by. So I usually have to proceed with a little caution rather than watch some five year old disappear off the track and into the squelchy bog either side of the track. But no two wheeled traffic today. The deep flood across the track near the old rail bridge remains effectively cutting off all through travelling unless part of the welly brigade.
The original bridge, so the story goes, had been blown up by the local TA unit back in the 70s as a hands-on training exercise in the use of demolition explosive. Unfortunately whoever thought they were getting a bit of cheap remodelling work had assumed the TA would remove the resulting debris as well. Oops. Bridge blown the TA went into a full and effective tactical retreat, leaving bits of exploded brick bridge over a wide area. No great surprise there really - I can't recall the SAS being asked to clean-up after their workday. Quite.
So back onto the track along Holmsley ridge, following the deer and pony tracks back to my start point. As I dropped off the ridge ahead was the ending of a stormy day.......
.....and as I glanced behind, the sight of night coming on and the moon already rising high in the sky. Surely worth a picture? But no camera with me. No wait; Out with the phone camera. Not great but sometimes the feeling of the image is the important thing. The perfect shot picture isn't always strictly neccessary.
My New Forest view - Sunday 16:00;
Still managed find the car before it got dark though. Just as well as its black and covered in mud!
Not exactly a beacon of visibility as dusk falls and the rainclouds drift across once more.
Simple pleasures. Stolen moments. Sweet.
Blogger spamming - back again?
During the last couple of weeks I've spotted some infrequent spam for other websites being added via my blog comments.
It's not enough to switch back on the comment vetting, but more an irritation for me.
I'll leave the comments as they are for the moment. After trawling through all my posts I've found the spam being added randomly on some quite old items. Not too sure what the spammer hopes to achieve with those as most blog readers will check the current stuff - so it seems a bit of a strange technique to use.
Thought I 'd mention it just in case any others out there are finding the same circumstances.Labels: blog media
All site material © John Hee - ask before you snatch
We'll see.
Labels: blog media
Blogger Upgrade and Xmas greetings
Since my last few posts the Blogger site seems to becoming more insistent that I should upgrade, and the beta tag has now been dropped from the welcome messages.
I'm wary of change for change sake in the pc world - I go way back to when pcs ran at 6MHz off a 5.25 " floppy disk that that really did flop.
If anyone has upgraded I'd be interested in feedback. Especially as the semi-auto Yahoo Messanger upgrade last week locked me out of my account, and needed the XP System Restore to get things working again.
But maybe it's a little something to keep me occupied over the Xmas hols when I'm not overindulging in food, alcohol, or generally debauched and decadent living.
Or at least as much of this as I can manage.
Have a good one yourselves, normal service will be resumed after the hols.
Hic.
Labels: blog media
Thursday, December 21
Greeting the dawn - the skyclad group prepare for sunrise
Thursday, December 14
Ruddy spammers
Ooooo look at yet another set of offers trying to subvert my local blog readerships to the dark side of their spam.
So for the moment the comment checker is going to have to be switched back on.
Bloody annoying overhead as far as I am concerned but better than letting the buggers back in againLabels: blog media
Wednesday, December 13
Judy Armstrong - Alpine Challenge Podcast
I was listening to one of BobC's recent podcasts recently on Judy Armstrong's Alpine Challenge.
The way I approach podcasts is to download them to my MP3 player and cease some 'me' time by taking the dogs out onto the New Forest, listening as I wander. During particularly foul weather this can keep me covering far more distance than may have otherwise have been the case.
Either I know I will be interested in the topic, or after 5 minutes or so I'll start to skip through to see if there's anything to keep my interest. Cruel I know, after all the podcaster's hard work, but some of the topics can be repetitive or just not that relevant to me at the time, especially the US based ones talking about bear attacks and Trail Treks etc.
So back to Judy.
I know Bob's casts continue to maintain a high standard of entertainment and the guy is a natural, no doubt something that's taken many years of hard work to seem so easy. So I'm always prepared to give his offerings that little bit extra.
This cast started like so many others -I'm off for a long walk - yipee - but then veers off as Judy starts to get into her topic and what a challenge she's set herself - to hike around the entire Alpine mountain range covering 3,300 miles, and 320 miles of climbing and descent, which as she points out "No-one seems to have attempted before"
Not content with that she'll be mainly solo, a brave stance for a female especially, and also intends to produce a series of route guides for an area lacking anything substantial in the english language, or indeed in any language from what she reports.
Judy has made the ultimate break with her normal life, and proves very thoughtful when discussing her gear, approach and preparation. Much of her experience suggests she's been leading up to this point in her life for some time.
I'd highly recommend listening to this piece - there's plenty to learn both of a technical nature, but more importantly just about one person's positive attitude without becoming blasé or high risk about what's to be achieved.
And this is not a woman taking a gap year, or getting out of the rat race and running off to the countryside. There's much more of a sacrifice taking place here, despite her pedigree.
I've added a link to Judy's site, she'll be keeping a diary as she goes and I wish her well. A brave woman.
And blond too - bang goes another stereotype!
;-)
Saturday, December 9
Voting open for the 2006 Weblog Awards
OK I know it's predominantly run, fed, and votes on by the USA.
But wouldn't it have been so great to see a UK based walking site on the short list!
How about Outdoor Magic for Best Online Community and Walking Must Be This Way for Best UK Blog , or (since Andy had to restart the site following the failure of his previous ISP/site) Best New Blog. Hee Hee
But no; The nominee lists are already there to vote on, and personally, with all due repesct to the bloggers involved, they don't make the most entertaining reading except for JonnyB's Private Secret Diary which I occasionally drop into.
Now I don't hang around the Net as much as I have done in the past (well not since I decided to get a life - rofl) but I don't recall any links mentioning that the list was open.
So who's going to sort out a real UK Weblog Awards, including the Pod & Vid Casts? Must be some brave soul out there willing to suffer the barracking that is bound to arise
;-)
Monday, December 4
Holmsley wandering - and unexpected pleasures
My Sunday wander out in the New Forest was a little delayed yesterday. Not by much; But enough to bring home to me just how much the season has changed and the days shortened.
The mid afternoon wander was put off in the hope that the gusting wind/rain would back off a little. Vain hope. A very late night Saturday, err well more a near dawn finish really, and a mild hangover didn't help much. Ahem.
As is often the way with these things, what started out grudingly as a short slog turned into a real delight. Nature in the raw, the air fresh and full of moisture. The path wet underfoot, but having picked a reasonable ridge route to the south-east of Burley, the gravel strata meant that thick mud could be mostly avoided.
And the few hardy souls that were around seemed similarly interested in enjoying the conditions, so for a change a few smiles and cheery hellos (It amazes me the amount of glum grunts that I often get as I pass by within a couple of feet of people, and offer the courtesy of a pleasant greeting. Miserable gits)
Starting to enjoy the wander it turned into a longer circular route, dipping down to the old railtrack once leading down from Ringwood and now a cinder & gravel cycle/tourist path. Usually this is littered with families trying to stay upright on their newly hired mountain bikes, and as a result it can be a bit of an obstacle course as they attempt to conquer their unfamiliar steeds.
My two collies are trained to voice command to heel/stay at distance, but sometimes the dogs can act as a magnet for small children trying to handle the mechanics of balancing on two wheels, safe from the usual threat of cars whizzing by. So I usually have to proceed with a little caution rather than watch some five year old disappear off the track and into the squelchy bog either side of the track. But no two wheeled traffic today. The deep flood across the track near the old rail bridge remains effectively cutting off all through travelling unless part of the welly brigade.
The original bridge, so the story goes, had been blown up by the local TA unit back in the 70s as a hands-on training exercise in the use of demolition explosive. Unfortunately whoever thought they were getting a bit of cheap remodelling work had assumed the TA would remove the resulting debris as well. Oops. Bridge blown the TA went into a full and effective tactical retreat, leaving bits of exploded brick bridge over a wide area. No great surprise there really - I can't recall the SAS being asked to clean-up after their workday. Quite.
So back onto the track along Holmsley ridge, following the deer and pony tracks back to my start point. As I dropped off the ridge ahead was the ending of a stormy day.......
.....and as I glanced behind, the sight of night coming on and the moon already rising high in the sky. Surely worth a picture? But no camera with me. No wait; Out with the phone camera. Not great but sometimes the feeling of the image is the important thing. The perfect shot picture isn't always strictly neccessary.
My New Forest view - Sunday 16:00;
Still managed find the car before it got dark though. Just as well as its black and covered in mud!
Not exactly a beacon of visibility as dusk falls and the rainclouds drift across once more.
Simple pleasures. Stolen moments. Sweet.
Blogger spamming - back again?
During the last couple of weeks I've spotted some infrequent spam for other websites being added via my blog comments.
It's not enough to switch back on the comment vetting, but more an irritation for me.
I'll leave the comments as they are for the moment. After trawling through all my posts I've found the spam being added randomly on some quite old items. Not too sure what the spammer hopes to achieve with those as most blog readers will check the current stuff - so it seems a bit of a strange technique to use.
Thought I 'd mention it just in case any others out there are finding the same circumstances.Labels: blog media
All site material © John Hee - ask before you snatch
I'm wary of change for change sake in the pc world - I go way back to when pcs ran at 6MHz off a 5.25 " floppy disk that that really did flop.
If anyone has upgraded I'd be interested in feedback. Especially as the semi-auto Yahoo Messanger upgrade last week locked me out of my account, and needed the XP System Restore to get things working again.
But maybe it's a little something to keep me occupied over the Xmas hols when I'm not overindulging in food, alcohol, or generally debauched and decadent living.
Or at least as much of this as I can manage.
Have a good one yourselves, normal service will be resumed after the hols.
Hic.
Labels: blog media
Greeting the dawn - the skyclad group prepare for sunrise
Thursday, December 14
Ruddy spammers
Ooooo look at yet another set of offers trying to subvert my local blog readerships to the dark side of their spam.
So for the moment the comment checker is going to have to be switched back on.
Bloody annoying overhead as far as I am concerned but better than letting the buggers back in againLabels: blog media
Wednesday, December 13
Judy Armstrong - Alpine Challenge Podcast
I was listening to one of BobC's recent podcasts recently on Judy Armstrong's Alpine Challenge.
The way I approach podcasts is to download them to my MP3 player and cease some 'me' time by taking the dogs out onto the New Forest, listening as I wander. During particularly foul weather this can keep me covering far more distance than may have otherwise have been the case.
Either I know I will be interested in the topic, or after 5 minutes or so I'll start to skip through to see if there's anything to keep my interest. Cruel I know, after all the podcaster's hard work, but some of the topics can be repetitive or just not that relevant to me at the time, especially the US based ones talking about bear attacks and Trail Treks etc.
So back to Judy.
I know Bob's casts continue to maintain a high standard of entertainment and the guy is a natural, no doubt something that's taken many years of hard work to seem so easy. So I'm always prepared to give his offerings that little bit extra.
This cast started like so many others -I'm off for a long walk - yipee - but then veers off as Judy starts to get into her topic and what a challenge she's set herself - to hike around the entire Alpine mountain range covering 3,300 miles, and 320 miles of climbing and descent, which as she points out "No-one seems to have attempted before"
Not content with that she'll be mainly solo, a brave stance for a female especially, and also intends to produce a series of route guides for an area lacking anything substantial in the english language, or indeed in any language from what she reports.
Judy has made the ultimate break with her normal life, and proves very thoughtful when discussing her gear, approach and preparation. Much of her experience suggests she's been leading up to this point in her life for some time.
I'd highly recommend listening to this piece - there's plenty to learn both of a technical nature, but more importantly just about one person's positive attitude without becoming blasé or high risk about what's to be achieved.
And this is not a woman taking a gap year, or getting out of the rat race and running off to the countryside. There's much more of a sacrifice taking place here, despite her pedigree.
I've added a link to Judy's site, she'll be keeping a diary as she goes and I wish her well. A brave woman.
And blond too - bang goes another stereotype!
;-)
Saturday, December 9
Voting open for the 2006 Weblog Awards
OK I know it's predominantly run, fed, and votes on by the USA.
But wouldn't it have been so great to see a UK based walking site on the short list!
How about Outdoor Magic for Best Online Community and Walking Must Be This Way for Best UK Blog , or (since Andy had to restart the site following the failure of his previous ISP/site) Best New Blog. Hee Hee
But no; The nominee lists are already there to vote on, and personally, with all due repesct to the bloggers involved, they don't make the most entertaining reading except for JonnyB's Private Secret Diary which I occasionally drop into.
Now I don't hang around the Net as much as I have done in the past (well not since I decided to get a life - rofl) but I don't recall any links mentioning that the list was open.
So who's going to sort out a real UK Weblog Awards, including the Pod & Vid Casts? Must be some brave soul out there willing to suffer the barracking that is bound to arise
;-)
Monday, December 4
Holmsley wandering - and unexpected pleasures
My Sunday wander out in the New Forest was a little delayed yesterday. Not by much; But enough to bring home to me just how much the season has changed and the days shortened.
The mid afternoon wander was put off in the hope that the gusting wind/rain would back off a little. Vain hope. A very late night Saturday, err well more a near dawn finish really, and a mild hangover didn't help much. Ahem.
As is often the way with these things, what started out grudingly as a short slog turned into a real delight. Nature in the raw, the air fresh and full of moisture. The path wet underfoot, but having picked a reasonable ridge route to the south-east of Burley, the gravel strata meant that thick mud could be mostly avoided.
And the few hardy souls that were around seemed similarly interested in enjoying the conditions, so for a change a few smiles and cheery hellos (It amazes me the amount of glum grunts that I often get as I pass by within a couple of feet of people, and offer the courtesy of a pleasant greeting. Miserable gits)
Starting to enjoy the wander it turned into a longer circular route, dipping down to the old railtrack once leading down from Ringwood and now a cinder & gravel cycle/tourist path. Usually this is littered with families trying to stay upright on their newly hired mountain bikes, and as a result it can be a bit of an obstacle course as they attempt to conquer their unfamiliar steeds.
My two collies are trained to voice command to heel/stay at distance, but sometimes the dogs can act as a magnet for small children trying to handle the mechanics of balancing on two wheels, safe from the usual threat of cars whizzing by. So I usually have to proceed with a little caution rather than watch some five year old disappear off the track and into the squelchy bog either side of the track. But no two wheeled traffic today. The deep flood across the track near the old rail bridge remains effectively cutting off all through travelling unless part of the welly brigade.
The original bridge, so the story goes, had been blown up by the local TA unit back in the 70s as a hands-on training exercise in the use of demolition explosive. Unfortunately whoever thought they were getting a bit of cheap remodelling work had assumed the TA would remove the resulting debris as well. Oops. Bridge blown the TA went into a full and effective tactical retreat, leaving bits of exploded brick bridge over a wide area. No great surprise there really - I can't recall the SAS being asked to clean-up after their workday. Quite.
So back onto the track along Holmsley ridge, following the deer and pony tracks back to my start point. As I dropped off the ridge ahead was the ending of a stormy day.......
.....and as I glanced behind, the sight of night coming on and the moon already rising high in the sky. Surely worth a picture? But no camera with me. No wait; Out with the phone camera. Not great but sometimes the feeling of the image is the important thing. The perfect shot picture isn't always strictly neccessary.
My New Forest view - Sunday 16:00;
Still managed find the car before it got dark though. Just as well as its black and covered in mud!
Not exactly a beacon of visibility as dusk falls and the rainclouds drift across once more.
Simple pleasures. Stolen moments. Sweet.
Blogger spamming - back again?
During the last couple of weeks I've spotted some infrequent spam for other websites being added via my blog comments.
It's not enough to switch back on the comment vetting, but more an irritation for me.
I'll leave the comments as they are for the moment. After trawling through all my posts I've found the spam being added randomly on some quite old items. Not too sure what the spammer hopes to achieve with those as most blog readers will check the current stuff - so it seems a bit of a strange technique to use.
Thought I 'd mention it just in case any others out there are finding the same circumstances.Labels: blog media
All site material © John Hee - ask before you snatch
Greeting the dawn - the skyclad group prepare for sunrise
Ruddy spammers
Ooooo look at yet another set of offers trying to subvert my local blog readerships to the dark side of their spam.
So for the moment the comment checker is going to have to be switched back on.
Bloody annoying overhead as far as I am concerned but better than letting the buggers back in againLabels: blog media
Wednesday, December 13
Judy Armstrong - Alpine Challenge Podcast
I was listening to one of BobC's recent podcasts recently on Judy Armstrong's Alpine Challenge.
The way I approach podcasts is to download them to my MP3 player and cease some 'me' time by taking the dogs out onto the New Forest, listening as I wander. During particularly foul weather this can keep me covering far more distance than may have otherwise have been the case.
Either I know I will be interested in the topic, or after 5 minutes or so I'll start to skip through to see if there's anything to keep my interest. Cruel I know, after all the podcaster's hard work, but some of the topics can be repetitive or just not that relevant to me at the time, especially the US based ones talking about bear attacks and Trail Treks etc.
So back to Judy.
I know Bob's casts continue to maintain a high standard of entertainment and the guy is a natural, no doubt something that's taken many years of hard work to seem so easy. So I'm always prepared to give his offerings that little bit extra.
This cast started like so many others -I'm off for a long walk - yipee - but then veers off as Judy starts to get into her topic and what a challenge she's set herself - to hike around the entire Alpine mountain range covering 3,300 miles, and 320 miles of climbing and descent, which as she points out "No-one seems to have attempted before"
Not content with that she'll be mainly solo, a brave stance for a female especially, and also intends to produce a series of route guides for an area lacking anything substantial in the english language, or indeed in any language from what she reports.
Judy has made the ultimate break with her normal life, and proves very thoughtful when discussing her gear, approach and preparation. Much of her experience suggests she's been leading up to this point in her life for some time.
I'd highly recommend listening to this piece - there's plenty to learn both of a technical nature, but more importantly just about one person's positive attitude without becoming blasé or high risk about what's to be achieved.
And this is not a woman taking a gap year, or getting out of the rat race and running off to the countryside. There's much more of a sacrifice taking place here, despite her pedigree.
I've added a link to Judy's site, she'll be keeping a diary as she goes and I wish her well. A brave woman.
And blond too - bang goes another stereotype!
;-)
Saturday, December 9
Voting open for the 2006 Weblog Awards
OK I know it's predominantly run, fed, and votes on by the USA.
But wouldn't it have been so great to see a UK based walking site on the short list!
How about Outdoor Magic for Best Online Community and Walking Must Be This Way for Best UK Blog , or (since Andy had to restart the site following the failure of his previous ISP/site) Best New Blog. Hee Hee
But no; The nominee lists are already there to vote on, and personally, with all due repesct to the bloggers involved, they don't make the most entertaining reading except for JonnyB's Private Secret Diary which I occasionally drop into.
Now I don't hang around the Net as much as I have done in the past (well not since I decided to get a life - rofl) but I don't recall any links mentioning that the list was open.
So who's going to sort out a real UK Weblog Awards, including the Pod & Vid Casts? Must be some brave soul out there willing to suffer the barracking that is bound to arise
;-)
Monday, December 4
Holmsley wandering - and unexpected pleasures
My Sunday wander out in the New Forest was a little delayed yesterday. Not by much; But enough to bring home to me just how much the season has changed and the days shortened.
The mid afternoon wander was put off in the hope that the gusting wind/rain would back off a little. Vain hope. A very late night Saturday, err well more a near dawn finish really, and a mild hangover didn't help much. Ahem.
As is often the way with these things, what started out grudingly as a short slog turned into a real delight. Nature in the raw, the air fresh and full of moisture. The path wet underfoot, but having picked a reasonable ridge route to the south-east of Burley, the gravel strata meant that thick mud could be mostly avoided.
And the few hardy souls that were around seemed similarly interested in enjoying the conditions, so for a change a few smiles and cheery hellos (It amazes me the amount of glum grunts that I often get as I pass by within a couple of feet of people, and offer the courtesy of a pleasant greeting. Miserable gits)
Starting to enjoy the wander it turned into a longer circular route, dipping down to the old railtrack once leading down from Ringwood and now a cinder & gravel cycle/tourist path. Usually this is littered with families trying to stay upright on their newly hired mountain bikes, and as a result it can be a bit of an obstacle course as they attempt to conquer their unfamiliar steeds.
My two collies are trained to voice command to heel/stay at distance, but sometimes the dogs can act as a magnet for small children trying to handle the mechanics of balancing on two wheels, safe from the usual threat of cars whizzing by. So I usually have to proceed with a little caution rather than watch some five year old disappear off the track and into the squelchy bog either side of the track. But no two wheeled traffic today. The deep flood across the track near the old rail bridge remains effectively cutting off all through travelling unless part of the welly brigade.
The original bridge, so the story goes, had been blown up by the local TA unit back in the 70s as a hands-on training exercise in the use of demolition explosive. Unfortunately whoever thought they were getting a bit of cheap remodelling work had assumed the TA would remove the resulting debris as well. Oops. Bridge blown the TA went into a full and effective tactical retreat, leaving bits of exploded brick bridge over a wide area. No great surprise there really - I can't recall the SAS being asked to clean-up after their workday. Quite.
So back onto the track along Holmsley ridge, following the deer and pony tracks back to my start point. As I dropped off the ridge ahead was the ending of a stormy day.......
.....and as I glanced behind, the sight of night coming on and the moon already rising high in the sky. Surely worth a picture? But no camera with me. No wait; Out with the phone camera. Not great but sometimes the feeling of the image is the important thing. The perfect shot picture isn't always strictly neccessary.
My New Forest view - Sunday 16:00;
Still managed find the car before it got dark though. Just as well as its black and covered in mud!
Not exactly a beacon of visibility as dusk falls and the rainclouds drift across once more.
Simple pleasures. Stolen moments. Sweet.
Blogger spamming - back again?
During the last couple of weeks I've spotted some infrequent spam for other websites being added via my blog comments.
It's not enough to switch back on the comment vetting, but more an irritation for me.
I'll leave the comments as they are for the moment. After trawling through all my posts I've found the spam being added randomly on some quite old items. Not too sure what the spammer hopes to achieve with those as most blog readers will check the current stuff - so it seems a bit of a strange technique to use.
Thought I 'd mention it just in case any others out there are finding the same circumstances.Labels: blog media
All site material © John Hee - ask before you snatch
So for the moment the comment checker is going to have to be switched back on.
Bloody annoying overhead as far as I am concerned but better than letting the buggers back in again
Labels: blog media
Judy Armstrong - Alpine Challenge Podcast
I was listening to one of BobC's recent podcasts recently on Judy Armstrong's Alpine Challenge.
The way I approach podcasts is to download them to my MP3 player and cease some 'me' time by taking the dogs out onto the New Forest, listening as I wander. During particularly foul weather this can keep me covering far more distance than may have otherwise have been the case.
Either I know I will be interested in the topic, or after 5 minutes or so I'll start to skip through to see if there's anything to keep my interest. Cruel I know, after all the podcaster's hard work, but some of the topics can be repetitive or just not that relevant to me at the time, especially the US based ones talking about bear attacks and Trail Treks etc.
So back to Judy.
I know Bob's casts continue to maintain a high standard of entertainment and the guy is a natural, no doubt something that's taken many years of hard work to seem so easy. So I'm always prepared to give his offerings that little bit extra.
This cast started like so many others -I'm off for a long walk - yipee - but then veers off as Judy starts to get into her topic and what a challenge she's set herself - to hike around the entire Alpine mountain range covering 3,300 miles, and 320 miles of climbing and descent, which as she points out "No-one seems to have attempted before"
Not content with that she'll be mainly solo, a brave stance for a female especially, and also intends to produce a series of route guides for an area lacking anything substantial in the english language, or indeed in any language from what she reports.
Judy has made the ultimate break with her normal life, and proves very thoughtful when discussing her gear, approach and preparation. Much of her experience suggests she's been leading up to this point in her life for some time.
I'd highly recommend listening to this piece - there's plenty to learn both of a technical nature, but more importantly just about one person's positive attitude without becoming blasé or high risk about what's to be achieved.
And this is not a woman taking a gap year, or getting out of the rat race and running off to the countryside. There's much more of a sacrifice taking place here, despite her pedigree.
I've added a link to Judy's site, she'll be keeping a diary as she goes and I wish her well. A brave woman.
And blond too - bang goes another stereotype!
;-)
Saturday, December 9
Voting open for the 2006 Weblog Awards
OK I know it's predominantly run, fed, and votes on by the USA.
But wouldn't it have been so great to see a UK based walking site on the short list!
How about Outdoor Magic for Best Online Community and Walking Must Be This Way for Best UK Blog , or (since Andy had to restart the site following the failure of his previous ISP/site) Best New Blog. Hee Hee
But no; The nominee lists are already there to vote on, and personally, with all due repesct to the bloggers involved, they don't make the most entertaining reading except for JonnyB's Private Secret Diary which I occasionally drop into.
Now I don't hang around the Net as much as I have done in the past (well not since I decided to get a life - rofl) but I don't recall any links mentioning that the list was open.
So who's going to sort out a real UK Weblog Awards, including the Pod & Vid Casts? Must be some brave soul out there willing to suffer the barracking that is bound to arise
;-)
Monday, December 4
Holmsley wandering - and unexpected pleasures
My Sunday wander out in the New Forest was a little delayed yesterday. Not by much; But enough to bring home to me just how much the season has changed and the days shortened.
The mid afternoon wander was put off in the hope that the gusting wind/rain would back off a little. Vain hope. A very late night Saturday, err well more a near dawn finish really, and a mild hangover didn't help much. Ahem.
As is often the way with these things, what started out grudingly as a short slog turned into a real delight. Nature in the raw, the air fresh and full of moisture. The path wet underfoot, but having picked a reasonable ridge route to the south-east of Burley, the gravel strata meant that thick mud could be mostly avoided.
And the few hardy souls that were around seemed similarly interested in enjoying the conditions, so for a change a few smiles and cheery hellos (It amazes me the amount of glum grunts that I often get as I pass by within a couple of feet of people, and offer the courtesy of a pleasant greeting. Miserable gits)
Starting to enjoy the wander it turned into a longer circular route, dipping down to the old railtrack once leading down from Ringwood and now a cinder & gravel cycle/tourist path. Usually this is littered with families trying to stay upright on their newly hired mountain bikes, and as a result it can be a bit of an obstacle course as they attempt to conquer their unfamiliar steeds.
My two collies are trained to voice command to heel/stay at distance, but sometimes the dogs can act as a magnet for small children trying to handle the mechanics of balancing on two wheels, safe from the usual threat of cars whizzing by. So I usually have to proceed with a little caution rather than watch some five year old disappear off the track and into the squelchy bog either side of the track. But no two wheeled traffic today. The deep flood across the track near the old rail bridge remains effectively cutting off all through travelling unless part of the welly brigade.
The original bridge, so the story goes, had been blown up by the local TA unit back in the 70s as a hands-on training exercise in the use of demolition explosive. Unfortunately whoever thought they were getting a bit of cheap remodelling work had assumed the TA would remove the resulting debris as well. Oops. Bridge blown the TA went into a full and effective tactical retreat, leaving bits of exploded brick bridge over a wide area. No great surprise there really - I can't recall the SAS being asked to clean-up after their workday. Quite.
So back onto the track along Holmsley ridge, following the deer and pony tracks back to my start point. As I dropped off the ridge ahead was the ending of a stormy day.......
.....and as I glanced behind, the sight of night coming on and the moon already rising high in the sky. Surely worth a picture? But no camera with me. No wait; Out with the phone camera. Not great but sometimes the feeling of the image is the important thing. The perfect shot picture isn't always strictly neccessary.
My New Forest view - Sunday 16:00;
Still managed find the car before it got dark though. Just as well as its black and covered in mud!
Not exactly a beacon of visibility as dusk falls and the rainclouds drift across once more.
Simple pleasures. Stolen moments. Sweet.
Blogger spamming - back again?
During the last couple of weeks I've spotted some infrequent spam for other websites being added via my blog comments.
It's not enough to switch back on the comment vetting, but more an irritation for me.
I'll leave the comments as they are for the moment. After trawling through all my posts I've found the spam being added randomly on some quite old items. Not too sure what the spammer hopes to achieve with those as most blog readers will check the current stuff - so it seems a bit of a strange technique to use.
Thought I 'd mention it just in case any others out there are finding the same circumstances.Labels: blog media
All site material © John Hee - ask before you snatch
The way I approach podcasts is to download them to my MP3 player and cease some 'me' time by taking the dogs out onto the New Forest, listening as I wander. During particularly foul weather this can keep me covering far more distance than may have otherwise have been the case.
Either I know I will be interested in the topic, or after 5 minutes or so I'll start to skip through to see if there's anything to keep my interest. Cruel I know, after all the podcaster's hard work, but some of the topics can be repetitive or just not that relevant to me at the time, especially the US based ones talking about bear attacks and Trail Treks etc.
So back to Judy.
I know Bob's casts continue to maintain a high standard of entertainment and the guy is a natural, no doubt something that's taken many years of hard work to seem so easy. So I'm always prepared to give his offerings that little bit extra.
This cast started like so many others -I'm off for a long walk - yipee - but then veers off as Judy starts to get into her topic and what a challenge she's set herself - to hike around the entire Alpine mountain range covering 3,300 miles, and 320 miles of climbing and descent, which as she points out "No-one seems to have attempted before"
Not content with that she'll be mainly solo, a brave stance for a female especially, and also intends to produce a series of route guides for an area lacking anything substantial in the english language, or indeed in any language from what she reports.
Judy has made the ultimate break with her normal life, and proves very thoughtful when discussing her gear, approach and preparation. Much of her experience suggests she's been leading up to this point in her life for some time.
I'd highly recommend listening to this piece - there's plenty to learn both of a technical nature, but more importantly just about one person's positive attitude without becoming blasé or high risk about what's to be achieved.
And this is not a woman taking a gap year, or getting out of the rat race and running off to the countryside. There's much more of a sacrifice taking place here, despite her pedigree.
I've added a link to Judy's site, she'll be keeping a diary as she goes and I wish her well. A brave woman.
And blond too - bang goes another stereotype!
;-)
Voting open for the 2006 Weblog Awards
OK I know it's predominantly run, fed, and votes on by the USA.
But wouldn't it have been so great to see a UK based walking site on the short list!
How about Outdoor Magic for Best Online Community and Walking Must Be This Way for Best UK Blog , or (since Andy had to restart the site following the failure of his previous ISP/site) Best New Blog. Hee Hee
But no; The nominee lists are already there to vote on, and personally, with all due repesct to the bloggers involved, they don't make the most entertaining reading except for JonnyB's Private Secret Diary which I occasionally drop into.
Now I don't hang around the Net as much as I have done in the past (well not since I decided to get a life - rofl) but I don't recall any links mentioning that the list was open.
So who's going to sort out a real UK Weblog Awards, including the Pod & Vid Casts? Must be some brave soul out there willing to suffer the barracking that is bound to arise
;-)
Monday, December 4
Holmsley wandering - and unexpected pleasures
My Sunday wander out in the New Forest was a little delayed yesterday. Not by much; But enough to bring home to me just how much the season has changed and the days shortened.
The mid afternoon wander was put off in the hope that the gusting wind/rain would back off a little. Vain hope. A very late night Saturday, err well more a near dawn finish really, and a mild hangover didn't help much. Ahem.
As is often the way with these things, what started out grudingly as a short slog turned into a real delight. Nature in the raw, the air fresh and full of moisture. The path wet underfoot, but having picked a reasonable ridge route to the south-east of Burley, the gravel strata meant that thick mud could be mostly avoided.
And the few hardy souls that were around seemed similarly interested in enjoying the conditions, so for a change a few smiles and cheery hellos (It amazes me the amount of glum grunts that I often get as I pass by within a couple of feet of people, and offer the courtesy of a pleasant greeting. Miserable gits)
Starting to enjoy the wander it turned into a longer circular route, dipping down to the old railtrack once leading down from Ringwood and now a cinder & gravel cycle/tourist path. Usually this is littered with families trying to stay upright on their newly hired mountain bikes, and as a result it can be a bit of an obstacle course as they attempt to conquer their unfamiliar steeds.
My two collies are trained to voice command to heel/stay at distance, but sometimes the dogs can act as a magnet for small children trying to handle the mechanics of balancing on two wheels, safe from the usual threat of cars whizzing by. So I usually have to proceed with a little caution rather than watch some five year old disappear off the track and into the squelchy bog either side of the track. But no two wheeled traffic today. The deep flood across the track near the old rail bridge remains effectively cutting off all through travelling unless part of the welly brigade.
The original bridge, so the story goes, had been blown up by the local TA unit back in the 70s as a hands-on training exercise in the use of demolition explosive. Unfortunately whoever thought they were getting a bit of cheap remodelling work had assumed the TA would remove the resulting debris as well. Oops. Bridge blown the TA went into a full and effective tactical retreat, leaving bits of exploded brick bridge over a wide area. No great surprise there really - I can't recall the SAS being asked to clean-up after their workday. Quite.
So back onto the track along Holmsley ridge, following the deer and pony tracks back to my start point. As I dropped off the ridge ahead was the ending of a stormy day.......
.....and as I glanced behind, the sight of night coming on and the moon already rising high in the sky. Surely worth a picture? But no camera with me. No wait; Out with the phone camera. Not great but sometimes the feeling of the image is the important thing. The perfect shot picture isn't always strictly neccessary.
My New Forest view - Sunday 16:00;
Still managed find the car before it got dark though. Just as well as its black and covered in mud!
Not exactly a beacon of visibility as dusk falls and the rainclouds drift across once more.
Simple pleasures. Stolen moments. Sweet.
Blogger spamming - back again?
During the last couple of weeks I've spotted some infrequent spam for other websites being added via my blog comments.
It's not enough to switch back on the comment vetting, but more an irritation for me.
I'll leave the comments as they are for the moment. After trawling through all my posts I've found the spam being added randomly on some quite old items. Not too sure what the spammer hopes to achieve with those as most blog readers will check the current stuff - so it seems a bit of a strange technique to use.
Thought I 'd mention it just in case any others out there are finding the same circumstances.Labels: blog media
All site material © John Hee - ask before you snatch
But wouldn't it have been so great to see a UK based walking site on the short list!
How about Outdoor Magic for Best Online Community and Walking Must Be This Way for Best UK Blog , or (since Andy had to restart the site following the failure of his previous ISP/site) Best New Blog. Hee Hee
But no; The nominee lists are already there to vote on, and personally, with all due repesct to the bloggers involved, they don't make the most entertaining reading except for JonnyB's Private Secret Diary which I occasionally drop into.
Now I don't hang around the Net as much as I have done in the past (well not since I decided to get a life - rofl) but I don't recall any links mentioning that the list was open.
So who's going to sort out a real UK Weblog Awards, including the Pod & Vid Casts? Must be some brave soul out there willing to suffer the barracking that is bound to arise
;-)
Holmsley wandering - and unexpected pleasures
My Sunday wander out in the New Forest was a little delayed yesterday. Not by much; But enough to bring home to me just how much the season has changed and the days shortened.
The mid afternoon wander was put off in the hope that the gusting wind/rain would back off a little. Vain hope. A very late night Saturday, err well more a near dawn finish really, and a mild hangover didn't help much. Ahem.
As is often the way with these things, what started out grudingly as a short slog turned into a real delight. Nature in the raw, the air fresh and full of moisture. The path wet underfoot, but having picked a reasonable ridge route to the south-east of Burley, the gravel strata meant that thick mud could be mostly avoided.
And the few hardy souls that were around seemed similarly interested in enjoying the conditions, so for a change a few smiles and cheery hellos (It amazes me the amount of glum grunts that I often get as I pass by within a couple of feet of people, and offer the courtesy of a pleasant greeting. Miserable gits)
Starting to enjoy the wander it turned into a longer circular route, dipping down to the old railtrack once leading down from Ringwood and now a cinder & gravel cycle/tourist path. Usually this is littered with families trying to stay upright on their newly hired mountain bikes, and as a result it can be a bit of an obstacle course as they attempt to conquer their unfamiliar steeds.
My two collies are trained to voice command to heel/stay at distance, but sometimes the dogs can act as a magnet for small children trying to handle the mechanics of balancing on two wheels, safe from the usual threat of cars whizzing by. So I usually have to proceed with a little caution rather than watch some five year old disappear off the track and into the squelchy bog either side of the track. But no two wheeled traffic today. The deep flood across the track near the old rail bridge remains effectively cutting off all through travelling unless part of the welly brigade.
The original bridge, so the story goes, had been blown up by the local TA unit back in the 70s as a hands-on training exercise in the use of demolition explosive. Unfortunately whoever thought they were getting a bit of cheap remodelling work had assumed the TA would remove the resulting debris as well. Oops. Bridge blown the TA went into a full and effective tactical retreat, leaving bits of exploded brick bridge over a wide area. No great surprise there really - I can't recall the SAS being asked to clean-up after their workday. Quite.
So back onto the track along Holmsley ridge, following the deer and pony tracks back to my start point. As I dropped off the ridge ahead was the ending of a stormy day.......
.....and as I glanced behind, the sight of night coming on and the moon already rising high in the sky. Surely worth a picture? But no camera with me. No wait; Out with the phone camera. Not great but sometimes the feeling of the image is the important thing. The perfect shot picture isn't always strictly neccessary.
My New Forest view - Sunday 16:00;
Still managed find the car before it got dark though. Just as well as its black and covered in mud!
Not exactly a beacon of visibility as dusk falls and the rainclouds drift across once more.
Simple pleasures. Stolen moments. Sweet.
Blogger spamming - back again?
During the last couple of weeks I've spotted some infrequent spam for other websites being added via my blog comments.
It's not enough to switch back on the comment vetting, but more an irritation for me.
I'll leave the comments as they are for the moment. After trawling through all my posts I've found the spam being added randomly on some quite old items. Not too sure what the spammer hopes to achieve with those as most blog readers will check the current stuff - so it seems a bit of a strange technique to use.
Thought I 'd mention it just in case any others out there are finding the same circumstances.Labels: blog media
All site material © John Hee - ask before you snatch
The mid afternoon wander was put off in the hope that the gusting wind/rain would back off a little. Vain hope. A very late night Saturday, err well more a near dawn finish really, and a mild hangover didn't help much. Ahem.
As is often the way with these things, what started out grudingly as a short slog turned into a real delight. Nature in the raw, the air fresh and full of moisture. The path wet underfoot, but having picked a reasonable ridge route to the south-east of Burley, the gravel strata meant that thick mud could be mostly avoided.
And the few hardy souls that were around seemed similarly interested in enjoying the conditions, so for a change a few smiles and cheery hellos (It amazes me the amount of glum grunts that I often get as I pass by within a couple of feet of people, and offer the courtesy of a pleasant greeting. Miserable gits)
Starting to enjoy the wander it turned into a longer circular route, dipping down to the old railtrack once leading down from Ringwood and now a cinder & gravel cycle/tourist path. Usually this is littered with families trying to stay upright on their newly hired mountain bikes, and as a result it can be a bit of an obstacle course as they attempt to conquer their unfamiliar steeds.
My two collies are trained to voice command to heel/stay at distance, but sometimes the dogs can act as a magnet for small children trying to handle the mechanics of balancing on two wheels, safe from the usual threat of cars whizzing by. So I usually have to proceed with a little caution rather than watch some five year old disappear off the track and into the squelchy bog either side of the track. But no two wheeled traffic today. The deep flood across the track near the old rail bridge remains effectively cutting off all through travelling unless part of the welly brigade.
The original bridge, so the story goes, had been blown up by the local TA unit back in the 70s as a hands-on training exercise in the use of demolition explosive. Unfortunately whoever thought they were getting a bit of cheap remodelling work had assumed the TA would remove the resulting debris as well. Oops. Bridge blown the TA went into a full and effective tactical retreat, leaving bits of exploded brick bridge over a wide area. No great surprise there really - I can't recall the SAS being asked to clean-up after their workday. Quite.
So back onto the track along Holmsley ridge, following the deer and pony tracks back to my start point. As I dropped off the ridge ahead was the ending of a stormy day.......
.....and as I glanced behind, the sight of night coming on and the moon already rising high in the sky. Surely worth a picture? But no camera with me. No wait; Out with the phone camera. Not great but sometimes the feeling of the image is the important thing. The perfect shot picture isn't always strictly neccessary.
My New Forest view - Sunday 16:00;
Still managed find the car before it got dark though. Just as well as its black and covered in mud!
Not exactly a beacon of visibility as dusk falls and the rainclouds drift across once more.
Simple pleasures. Stolen moments. Sweet.
Blogger spamming - back again?
During the last couple of weeks I've spotted some infrequent spam for other websites being added via my blog comments.
It's not enough to switch back on the comment vetting, but more an irritation for me.
I'll leave the comments as they are for the moment. After trawling through all my posts I've found the spam being added randomly on some quite old items. Not too sure what the spammer hopes to achieve with those as most blog readers will check the current stuff - so it seems a bit of a strange technique to use.
Thought I 'd mention it just in case any others out there are finding the same circumstances.Labels: blog media
It's not enough to switch back on the comment vetting, but more an irritation for me.
I'll leave the comments as they are for the moment. After trawling through all my posts I've found the spam being added randomly on some quite old items. Not too sure what the spammer hopes to achieve with those as most blog readers will check the current stuff - so it seems a bit of a strange technique to use.
Thought I 'd mention it just in case any others out there are finding the same circumstances.
Labels: blog media
All site material © John Hee - ask before you snatch
