It’s February and theres still snow about – if this doesn’t raise your spirits then nothing will!

So that was the first big weekend of the summer…
Starts thursday as usual with the canteen quiz and again no-one wins the big cash prize.
Later I do my sound bloke routine by approaching gina’s new boyfriend to say that he shouldn’t feel that there’s any animosity between us and then I even go and make peace with her shouldn’t have bothered.

Then on friday night we went through to the arches…

There was only one car going so some of us had to get the train. we got through quite late. then we went to a pub to take the gear.
There was no problems getting in – we saw some others waiting down the front of the queue so we skipped in.
It was a good night – everyone was nutted and I ended up dancing with some blonde girl.
I thought she had been quite pretty until last night when matthew informed me that she had, in fact, been a pig.

When the club finished we wandered the streets for a while until we got to this 24-hour cafe.
I didn’t like the look of it so we left and got a taxi back to morag’s flat.
I couldn’t sleep so I sat about drinking someone else’s strawberry tonic wine and tried to keep everyone else up.

Then at ten o’clock in the morning we went downstairs to buy some drink. we had intended to watch the football in the afternoon but we’d passed out by then and slept right through it, awaking to that england had won two-nil.

Then we went to get the train home and had a few in the station bar.
We had some stuff left from the previous night’s supplies so when we got home we decided to go down to john’s indie disco.

Same story as friday – lots of hugging, lots of dancing etc. etc.
I couldn’t sleep again so went to the park to look at the toon, taking a detour through the playpark. To get in we had to climb over a ten foot steel fence, which resulted in severe bruising of our hands, legs and groins, but we had a good laugh on the stuff, especially the tube-slide, which pro
Doubles up as a urinal for drunk teens.
Then we walked through the woods to have a look at the toon. big disappointment, but the mist on the lake was cool.

Sunday afternoon we go up to john’s with a lot of beer in time to watch the simpsons – it was a really good episode about love always ending in tragedy except, of course, for marge and homer. it was Quite moving at the end and to tell you the truth my eyes were a bit damp.

Then we watched these young girls in swimsuits have a water fight in the street.
We went up to the pub about ten.

It was busy for a sunday night, lots of people we know, including my first ever girlfriend who I still find very attractive, quite frankly, but I didn’t really speak to her
She’s probably still a bitch, anyway.
Her friend gillian was there, I had a chat with her, she was still quite pleasant.
At the same time I watched malcolm make some terrible attempt to try and chat up a girl we know called jo. he made some remark about her skirt that was barely there the previous night or something

I couldn’t sleep again that night, thanks to some seriously disturbing nightmares…matthew says I should cut down on the cheese.

“went out for the weekend, it lasted for ever, high with our friends it’s officially summer.”

I got some sleep eventually on monday afternoon.
It was a beautiful day, and later that evening malcolm introduced me to the power of merrydown – ³1.79 a litre, 8.2% – mmmm…..
Judith and laura came round later and we sat in my back garden and drank.
Then matthew came round and we went up the town.
It’s officially summer.

I’ve been going there since 1997, in fact, almost every Sunday for the first few years with Speakers Corner almost becoming my ‘Church’ in the process. I say ‘church’ due to the many religions represented there, all debating/arguing there various points of view or holy book – it’s certainly an education. So, having not been for several years I had the opportunity to head back there last weekend and I’m pleased to report, nothing has changed – it’s as bonkers as ever and I love it!

Its one of the few places in the World where actual free-speech takes place and nothing is sacred so if you’re sensitive to a particular issue be prepared to hear all about it – it can be very provoking! However, I can vouch that it’s always entertaining and you do actually come away (most of the time) having learnt something.

In essence, anybody can turn up, stand on a box/small ladder and speak about whatever you wish – though be fully prepared to be challenged, heckled or even shouted down!

Monty Python’s The Life of Brian did an amazing parody of Speakers Corner…

Located at the Marble Arch end of Oxford Street (top of Park Lane) it occupies one corner of Hyde Park and whilst it wasn’t as busy as I’ve known it, in attendance were all the regulars; evangelical christians, muslims, jews and other random nutters – it’s a real spectacle and great entertainment for a Sunday afternoon – though if you’re a young American (and there’s certainly a few that get reeled in) maybe think about what you’re going to say before getting into a ‘discussion’ with the speakers – these guys have been doing it for years and are experts!

Some video footage from Sunday 12th, 2012.

And some portraits from the same day.

Having seen it up close, it really is a stunning piece of public art. Designed by Nic Fiddian-Green, it was only supposed to be there for a short period of time, but some three years later its still there – someone somewhere is missing this piece from their garden!

Preparing the Ground around the Sweatlodge

We were heading to Stanmer Park, which is located on the outskirts of Brighton to participate in a sweatlodge. A sweatlodge to purify our bodies and minds, to acknowledge the end of winter and to celebrate the shoots of spring. The days preceding the lodge saw lots of snowfall which made for a stunningly beautiful location, everyone and everyone was in high spirits, building the fire and helping to make the sweatlodge.

Cup of Tea?

The format for the day was as follows:

• Fireside Ceremony
• Playful warm-up qigong connecting with Mother Earth and Elements
• Cleansing and Purification with Heat, Breath, Steam and Sound
• Medications for visioning and Decision Making
• Prayers and Dedications

Enjoying the Sun

With the Ancestors placed around the fire, a ceremony was performed which culminated in the Ancestors being tossed into the fire to heat through, ready for the later Sweatlodge. Whilst the Ancestors were being baked we took part in various stretching exercise and prayers were offered.

Ancestors surrounding the Fire

Once ready we all stripped off – our toes quickly becoming numb due to the icy snow and we entered the Lodge, with 30 or so in attendance, it was a tight squeeze and quite intimate.

Ancestors into the Fire

‘…Welcome Ancestor….’

The first of several red-hot rocks were bought into the lodge and placed into a hole, cut into the ground at the centre of the Lodge. The door of the lodge was then closed and we were enveloped in darkness, the only light being the red glow from the Ancestors. Bunches of  Pine were then dipped into water and brushed against the stones causing the heat to rise by an incredible amount, within seconds the sweat was pouring out of you.

The Sweatlodge

Over the course of the afternoon we entered the Lodge five times and each being a different experience to the last – we were chanting, singing, massaging our bodies and listening to drumming. During one session we heard an Owl hooting and it felt very magical. Whenever a session finished we would leave the Lodge – steam emanating from our bodies, our eyes squinting into the bright light to roll around in the cold snow – really awakening our senses.

Steaming

The day ended with shared food and sitting around the fire, some in their own thoughts others chatting with newly found friends about their experiences during the day.

White Owl Sweatlodge

Buenos Aires is a great city and we were fortunate to be able to live there (rather than shooting through) as given the distance you certainly need more than two weeks to explore this fascinating city.

With regards to our plans, we had mixed results – after several weeks of Spanish we could ‘get-by’ – my wife certainly picked up Spanish a lot quicker than me. And the Tango, unfortunately for us, we met Cristian with one week left in Buenos Aires and typically his studio was not more than five minutes from our apartment! Having found him, we spent a good week learning Tango and whilst we only had a short time with him, we were very pleased with our Tango, Cristian is a great teacher and we were very fortunate to meet him…

And this morning.

This is so true…

Berthed alongside the wall is the wreck of the MV Royal Iris, a former Mersey Ferry which was relocated from Liverpool to London during 2002 to be converted into a nightclub. Having seen her, I very much doubt that anything will come of it – she’s looking very sorry for herself and I guess with the economy as it is it’ll just continue to rot.

A personal memory of the MV Royal Iris

On the opposite side of the Thames, east of the barrier is the sugar refinery of Tate & Lyle, a vast industrial estate with chimneys bellowing smoke – it looks quite lonely sat there against the grey skies.

Beyond the police/harbour master launches you can just make out the Thames Barrier crossing the River Thames. Completed in 1982, it protects London from flooding and interestingly for me, my father fitted the lightning protection to the structure during the early 1980s.