Neigh

Baking baking baking. Lofty aspirations of pulling on teeny razor crimps massively misplaced in such conditions, even at early o clock on saturday morning. Met Ed at Topley pike at 0930 and even then it was 17 degrees in the car and tres hot walking down. Needless to say I didnt so much as go backwards on Entree as to be almost unable to pull on. Bit disappointing, but must remember that it was conditions rather than me that was the problem. Made a couple of potential sequence changes which seem to make the hard bit more amenable, so will have to see the next time its cool. Constance Variable writes in the latest On the High camping and walking up hills magazine that this is the time to be training, and he is right, but when you have seen a glimmer of success you spend your waking moments scrabbling for opportunities to seal the deal.

Dave Hesleden and other chap who i know and speak to but dont know name of turn up and do pitch one of darl. Ed clips up Orange Sunshine and dispatches it on his first or second go. He even does a man bark, so it must actually be quite hard. We sack it off at 12 and walk out. Sweaty. This leads me to mine and Ned's idea of the graph of climber perception. At one end of the scale, the quiet destroyer, genuinely modest and a secret beast, ticking their way through whatever they try without telling anyone about it, and at the other end he who shouts and screams, tells anyone who will listen about his successes and respins his failures to be the fault of conditions/someone else/etc or just lies about things. You know the sort - the one who tells you his hardest ever tick when you ask what his favourite climb had been. Anyway, they're at opposite ends of the scale. We realised it wasnt a linear graph - rather perhaps, it was a horseshoe? from goon to good un in the shape of a horseshoe? no. further analysis of the model revealed actually, the graph is the shape of a proud stallion, stood in a field with its phallus erect and glistening. On the hoof of modesty is your Ed Robinson's and Roy Mosely's, on the very tip of the penis is Squiff, Ned would be the buttocks, I the mouth, the littlefair/davies are on the other front hoof - at the modest end but say more than your Mosinators and Robinsons and beasts every step of the way. Jon Fullwood - you'd be a bee flying around the horse. You see, the model works for us all - Jon wouldnt be on the model, therefore he fits as a bee which would be in the picture. Adam Mong, he would be the lustrous mane. Jim is the belly. Lee is its tiny pin head. Consider where you fit, and if you cant place yourself - ask. I can extrapolate your position using a complicated mathematical model.

That afternoon she and I buy her a car, its a Mini, and I am well jealous. Saturday night we go to a barbecue, and there are decks and everything. I get quite excited and ask for a turn. I have no records and have to make do with someone else's but remember what to do and can actually do it. This is interesting, because as you know i have recently started digital DJing, and argued that beatmatching is a basic mechanical skill which anyone could learn. And I stand by that, Traktor does take you away from having to keep the records in time which leaves you free to concentrate on building a soundscape. But, actual physical DJing is a very intuitive thing, and more about the selection of the right record for the mood than it is about seamless beat matching. Thing is, that once you get to an automotive level of being able to do it without thinking then you can layer sounds together with turntables as well as on the computer. I still think digital is the way forward, but I had great fun on the actual decks, and perhaps this is the crux of the matter. If you want to mess around and do a bit now and again then physical is the way, but if you want to go serious and make sprawling epic four deck prog-a-thons then digital is the answer.

Sunday was a day of sport, but not for us. We had to go to the car garage to finish the purchase of her car. Once that was done we sat in the garden and then started watching the match. I imagine that because I find commentary on climbing from people who dont understand it irritating that any such football comment from me would be seen likewise, but we watched and were disappointed with everyone else. Tried to go for a walk after that but it was just too hot.

Meanwhile at the BBCs and in comp land in general, some bright spark had organised for the British Bouldering Champs to be held the same weekend as a world cup round. This meant that the horse's buttocks couldnt take part and defend his title. I imagine the thinking here was that well, we already know that we want the people we are sending to eindhoven to be in the team, so it doesnt matter that they miss the comp. Well it does, because its not fair that the incumbent doesnt get chance to defend his title. As it happened, the horse got sent to the glue factory and he got back in time, but was tired and didnt win. Nige Callendar did. Leah Crane won the ladies.