[blogfocus tuesday] easybloggers [part 2]

Part 2 of the three part series on easy-bloggers, those cheerful souls who don't usually get on their high horses about the political issues of the day but prefer to cut a slice of life from the pie and serve with relish. Usually.

1 Lady MacLeod finds hereself in Morocco and reflects on jumping out of aeroplanes:

I find it interesting that when I was in my twenties and thirties and was climbing mountains and jumping out of airplanes people said, “Are you nuts?” I have found this past decade the response to the very same activities is, “Well good for you!” Now what the dickens does that mean? Now that I have some age and experience on me it’s all right if I die in a meaningless pursuit of danger, or was I so much more loveable in my youth more people feared for my life? No that can’t be it. I am still really adorable.

2 David Farrer is light on words here and heavy on photographs - over 800 of them, in fact. Prepare to spend some time on his magnificent collection:

Inevitably there was a visit to a carpet outlet. Despite the high-pressure technique of a cockney - "I've often played at St Andrews" - salesman, we didn't buy. Anyway, he was unable to demonstrate any flying models.

3 Alex is not exactly an easy-blogger, as he gets into high debate but he's an easy going soul. This is typical of the man and just look at the comments he got! I'm green wioth envy:

Recently I tossed out one of my token objections to atheism in the comments section of one of Stephen Laws posts. His post had basically nothing to do with the comment I made, but I touched a nerve as I always seem to do and basically I ended up hijacking the entire comments section responding to objections to my objection. So, in the interest of drawing the fire in a different direction, I decided to move the debate over here. That way the good folks over at Stephen's blog can focus on the actual issues he raised.

4 Now let's stretch the definition of 'easy-blogger een further. Here's one about pollies but from a personal angle. Morag speaks:

I do not believe politics is about celebrity’………is like when I make comments along the lines of ‘only girls with loose morals go topless’ – in other words it’s not that I really believe such a thing, it’s that I know I can’t play the game that way so I try to change the rules to suit. We live in a media-driven world and while the majority of us wish it wasn’t so – it is. If you are a politician you need to acknowledge the power of ‘presence’. Of course politics is not about celebrity but ignoring that the playing field now has different obstacles to navigate is like people who say ‘I don’t have a mobile phone because I want to rule my own life’. Grow up. The best way to win the game is to play it from the inside and beat them at their own rules.

5 Is this blogging or is this blogging? Ask Geoff Jones:

More interesting statistics from my GR5 walk across The Alps last year:-

Date Place Ascent (m) Descent (m) Distance (km) Time Av.Gradient

02/09/06 Saint Gingolph

03/09/06 La Chapelle 1929 1306 14.9 05:53 22%

04/09/06 De Chesery 1750 764 17.5 06:04 14%

07/09/06 Moéde Anterne 1894 620 18.4 06:28 14%

and so on …

As you can see, the walk nearly equals climbing 4 Everests from sea level in 22 walking days. Hoping to make a youtube video of a 3D fly through of the walk....

6 Sally In Norfolk is more water deep than mountain high on this occasion but the redoubtable Geoff Jones still manages an appearance. That man gets around:

Today was the official opening of the Jesus Green outdoor pool in Cambridge. Open may to September, it's the longest outdoor pool in the country: 100 yards long, 15 yards wide, depths of 1.2m - 2.5m - 1.2m. A few brave souls turned out on this cold damp day, to christen the pool. The water temperature was 12 deg. Who was first in ???

Geoff of course; lucky for me I had not taken my costume to Cambridge this week-end.

Good to see Jesus getting a mention as well.

7 Come on - what do you really know about glaciers? come to the guru and learn - JMB:

Now first of all, what is a glacier? We all learned in school that a glacier is a river of ice. Well, that's about all I learned and I never really understood much about them at all. High in the mountains, where huge amounts of snow fall, and where it does not all melt in the summer time, this snow accumulates and packs down. Under the increasing pressure of new layers it is transformed into ice, typically blue in colour due to the crystal structure of the ice. When the cirque or area between the mountains, which is roughly bowl shaped becomes full the ice begins to overflow at the lowest point of the cirque, just like lava running down the side of a volcano…

8 Finally. Look at her comments!! Sigh. I'm referring to the amazing Wife in the North, of course, who has rapidly achieved the staus of cult-blogger. Someone syndicate her quickly!

Went shopping for a bathroom. We had drawn up a list of six showrooms to look round. We took the baby and the four-year-old with us. Shopping with children concentrates your mind. We selected the bathroom in the first shop. The baby was wailing so loudly, I did not think we would make it to another. We had to keep putting the children in the baths to quieten them. The baby got very confused because the baths were, of course, empty. Empty of water. Full of my children. I think the showrooms miss a trick. I think sales staff should wander round in bathrobes and shower caps with outsized sponges and rubber ducks. It would, at least, entertain the children so you could get into the bath and try it on for size.

I'll try for Thursday but can't promise anything at this stage. The theme will be "Neglected Friends".