Went jive dancing last night with Ruth, exellent fun, fast, but really easy to pick up. The whole basis of it is the dance is completely lead by the guy, so i just have to follow, making it a lot easier for me! Did about four hours of pretty much continuous dancing, and the only problem this morning is blisters, which means four hours whithout problems with either my knees or my back! Those drugs actually work! (I went to the doctorsd after sidmouth about back pain and he gave me bright pink ibuprofen!! :) It was nice to know that various moves i had done before when dancing with either Steve or Tom were either the same or similar to ones i was dancing there, which meant i wasn't at a complete loss. The evening took the basic form of, beginners class where they teach a short routine, rotating the women round every few minutes as, like usual when dancing, there weren't enough guys, so different people sat out each time. Then freestyle, which was ok, didn't dance much, just sat and watched in awe, really want to be able o dance this well, it looks really good when danced well! Then either an intermediate class or begginner refresher class, which went through the same stuff as the original begginners class slower, and with more information about technique, also teaching about various signals which the guy uses to tell the girl what to do next.
Then freestyle again, danced every dance but one, and had great fun, most partners were really good about doing simpler stuff as i was a begginner, and some would teach me the moves if i got it wrong then do it again. So much fun!!
I am going again on wednesday, mum and dad have agreed to fund twice a week for a few weeks, then once a week, provided i use it for my Duke of Edinburgh, well I'm not complaining, i get to dance!!!
On music, Mum and Dad are looking for a concertina for me, that isn't £800, so if anyone has an english concertina they dont want, even if it needs restoring let me know! Theres a session on a monday that mum wants me to go along to, so during term i shall probably do that on a monday and Ceroc on wednesdays, and if i can persuade them, the university ballroom dance thing as well.... hmm, im actually going to have a life next year!
And meaningless kipple, i have been decorating my wall, mostly due to lack of funds to get it re-painted and dislike of the colour it is at the moment (lilac, i chose it 5 years ago!). I have covered it in pictures from all the animal picture magazines i have been given over the years (the daily mail did a series a while back) and am currently writing quotes up, if anybody know any nice quotes please leave a comment with them in, and who they are by, thanks! My wall tends to get more detailed each holiday as i get bored and do it some more, then have school and no time, so nothing happens until the next holiday!
Well this post is long enough so i leave you with:
Quote:
In the end we remember not the words or our enemies, but the silence of our friends.
Martin Luther King Jr.
21 August 2007
12 August 2007
Sidmouth! (Part 3 of 3)
Thursday:-
Concertina as usual, a little more insteresting, mostly because I was tired and so the whole thing was a little harder! I went back to the tent early due to severe back pain, and sent out a random plea for anyone who was free to come keep me company at my tent! Instructed Jen in sooking dinner on our gas cooker, and took the executive decision not to go out that evening in the hopes of being able to dance that evening. This didnt quite work out, and i ended up going to the second half of the concert at Manor Pavillion. Saw Cockersedale, who were quite good, very trad. folk, with one especially funny moment where the guy who gave them the chord on the guitar had his guitar in the wrong key, which he didn't notice for a little, and the lead singer just sort of stared at him!
Went back to the tent then despite the pain headed up to LNE, sat in the pub/food tent all evening, had a good talk with Jack about books and literature, and have come away with an even klonger reading list than before. Then tlked to Justin for a while. Ended LNE with a very slow walrz because I refused to go an entire day without dancing.
Then headed to the music/jam/talk thing in the marquee at the campsite which was great fun, started talking to Stephen Taberner ( Spooky Men's Chorale) and ended up watching the sunrise with him, steve (he cooked us breakfast earlier in the week) and cathy. Very fun, but abcolutely freezing!
Friday:-
Was good last concertina session in the morning, a little sad, but have borrowed a concertina, and can get lessons from john when hes in cambridgeshire area so will definitely continue!
Went back to the campsite in the hopes of resting my back, but ended up walking round with jack as he helped to dismantle the site (his last shift as a steward). Was good fun. Then met stephen as he was getting the bus and got invited down to town with him. So went there instead.
Wandered round sidmouth randomly, after first having found breakfast for stephen (at 2 o'clock in the afternoon! australians, honestly! :p). And went to the afternoon concert at the Ham, saw The Devils Interval and Uiscedwr, it was interesting, stephen pointed out every time they hit a not wrong! twas funny, i cant actually tell so.... ! I like Uiscedwr though they were quite good, but I had to go sit outside and read for a bit, i was so tired i was falling asleep!
After the concert Stephen taught us a clapping game/rhythm/ thing, which was great fun, if a little complicated, i think i can remember all of it though! (and the cup game!)
Then me and him wandered off down the sea front and Cathy and her friend(Cathy came to the concert too) went to get food.
I headed off back to the campsite to 'pack' and kinda lazed around, then went to the eveing concert, well the second half of it and saw Vin Garbutt, who was good, but better as a story teller than a singer! Once again, sitting next to someone who sings proffesionally was interesting!
The torchlit parade and the fireworks were brilliant as ever, and the LNE was fun, my back killed, but i was determined to dance, so did about 3 or 4 dances and the polka at the end!
Stayed up as usual and had by about 3, managed to aquire Stephens hat, Justins jumper and whisky and Jo's scarf! Twas a lot of fun, the whisky was alright, im still trying to decide whether i like the stuff, but i kept nicking justins hip flask of it and handing it round everyone, got into a conversation with someone who i cant remember the name of about how it was illegal for him to take the piss out of me because he was a teacher, so i wondered what was the policy on accepting alcohol from a minor!
Stephen headed off to bed about 3, but let me borrow the hat, as he decided i would be miserable without it (anyone who has seen spooky men will understand the importance of the hat!) I went at about 4:30 as i was ltiterlly falling asleep standing up, so justin, persuaded me to go to bed. And there ended my sidmoth proper for 2007 **sobs**
Saturday:-
Was a mixture of rushing off to say goodbye to various people and awing my family with my amazing abilty to make random friends (my family beign avid spooky fans, and me having a genuine spooky man's hat! they were even more impressed when he came to collect it, butn for some reason they all thought id nicked it, no matter how many times i pointed out how completely unlikely it was for him to go back to australia without it!)
I had a theory that if i kept wandering off i wouldn't have to do any work, almost true! So went and sat and talked to justin for a while, twasn't fair, I was gunna laugh at him for having a hangover, but he didn't have one! Went through his lines with him a little, and generally did nothing.
Then went back to the tent and helped a bit, justin turned up to say goodbye, and me and ruth randomly headed over to see steve, who was taking an extremely relaxed attitude to packing, kinda standing where his tent had been doing pretty much nothing! Justin drove past while we were there and said final fare wells, and we went to say goodbye to Manon and Peter-Paul, who, having speant an hour and a half packing the car, then had a momentary panic when they couldn't remember where the car keys where. Fortunately they were in Peter-Pauls ruck-sack, but it was hilarious!
Said fond fairwells to random people like tom, who we see at most festivals and ended up dancign a six-person rosa with, dont knwo what a rosa is, ask me and il explain sometime! And we were off home, to dream for another year (well 6 months IVDF, cant wait!)
the journey home was uneventful, stopped off at Uncle Ernests and Auntie Pamela's for a couple of hours, i ended up falling asleep i was so tired and arrived home at about 10:30.
And there concludes my epic post. thanks to all for such an excellent festival. i'll be there next year!
Quote:
It takes wings to make miracles happen
On the side of a lorry on the way home from sidmouth!
em
x
Concertina as usual, a little more insteresting, mostly because I was tired and so the whole thing was a little harder! I went back to the tent early due to severe back pain, and sent out a random plea for anyone who was free to come keep me company at my tent! Instructed Jen in sooking dinner on our gas cooker, and took the executive decision not to go out that evening in the hopes of being able to dance that evening. This didnt quite work out, and i ended up going to the second half of the concert at Manor Pavillion. Saw Cockersedale, who were quite good, very trad. folk, with one especially funny moment where the guy who gave them the chord on the guitar had his guitar in the wrong key, which he didn't notice for a little, and the lead singer just sort of stared at him!
Went back to the tent then despite the pain headed up to LNE, sat in the pub/food tent all evening, had a good talk with Jack about books and literature, and have come away with an even klonger reading list than before. Then tlked to Justin for a while. Ended LNE with a very slow walrz because I refused to go an entire day without dancing.
Then headed to the music/jam/talk thing in the marquee at the campsite which was great fun, started talking to Stephen Taberner ( Spooky Men's Chorale) and ended up watching the sunrise with him, steve (he cooked us breakfast earlier in the week) and cathy. Very fun, but abcolutely freezing!
Friday:-
Was good last concertina session in the morning, a little sad, but have borrowed a concertina, and can get lessons from john when hes in cambridgeshire area so will definitely continue!
Went back to the campsite in the hopes of resting my back, but ended up walking round with jack as he helped to dismantle the site (his last shift as a steward). Was good fun. Then met stephen as he was getting the bus and got invited down to town with him. So went there instead.
Wandered round sidmouth randomly, after first having found breakfast for stephen (at 2 o'clock in the afternoon! australians, honestly! :p). And went to the afternoon concert at the Ham, saw The Devils Interval and Uiscedwr, it was interesting, stephen pointed out every time they hit a not wrong! twas funny, i cant actually tell so.... ! I like Uiscedwr though they were quite good, but I had to go sit outside and read for a bit, i was so tired i was falling asleep!
After the concert Stephen taught us a clapping game/rhythm/ thing, which was great fun, if a little complicated, i think i can remember all of it though! (and the cup game!)
Then me and him wandered off down the sea front and Cathy and her friend(Cathy came to the concert too) went to get food.
I headed off back to the campsite to 'pack' and kinda lazed around, then went to the eveing concert, well the second half of it and saw Vin Garbutt, who was good, but better as a story teller than a singer! Once again, sitting next to someone who sings proffesionally was interesting!
The torchlit parade and the fireworks were brilliant as ever, and the LNE was fun, my back killed, but i was determined to dance, so did about 3 or 4 dances and the polka at the end!
Stayed up as usual and had by about 3, managed to aquire Stephens hat, Justins jumper and whisky and Jo's scarf! Twas a lot of fun, the whisky was alright, im still trying to decide whether i like the stuff, but i kept nicking justins hip flask of it and handing it round everyone, got into a conversation with someone who i cant remember the name of about how it was illegal for him to take the piss out of me because he was a teacher, so i wondered what was the policy on accepting alcohol from a minor!
Stephen headed off to bed about 3, but let me borrow the hat, as he decided i would be miserable without it (anyone who has seen spooky men will understand the importance of the hat!) I went at about 4:30 as i was ltiterlly falling asleep standing up, so justin, persuaded me to go to bed. And there ended my sidmoth proper for 2007 **sobs**
Saturday:-
Was a mixture of rushing off to say goodbye to various people and awing my family with my amazing abilty to make random friends (my family beign avid spooky fans, and me having a genuine spooky man's hat! they were even more impressed when he came to collect it, butn for some reason they all thought id nicked it, no matter how many times i pointed out how completely unlikely it was for him to go back to australia without it!)
I had a theory that if i kept wandering off i wouldn't have to do any work, almost true! So went and sat and talked to justin for a while, twasn't fair, I was gunna laugh at him for having a hangover, but he didn't have one! Went through his lines with him a little, and generally did nothing.
Then went back to the tent and helped a bit, justin turned up to say goodbye, and me and ruth randomly headed over to see steve, who was taking an extremely relaxed attitude to packing, kinda standing where his tent had been doing pretty much nothing! Justin drove past while we were there and said final fare wells, and we went to say goodbye to Manon and Peter-Paul, who, having speant an hour and a half packing the car, then had a momentary panic when they couldn't remember where the car keys where. Fortunately they were in Peter-Pauls ruck-sack, but it was hilarious!
Said fond fairwells to random people like tom, who we see at most festivals and ended up dancign a six-person rosa with, dont knwo what a rosa is, ask me and il explain sometime! And we were off home, to dream for another year (well 6 months IVDF, cant wait!)
the journey home was uneventful, stopped off at Uncle Ernests and Auntie Pamela's for a couple of hours, i ended up falling asleep i was so tired and arrived home at about 10:30.
And there concludes my epic post. thanks to all for such an excellent festival. i'll be there next year!
Quote:
It takes wings to make miracles happen
On the side of a lorry on the way home from sidmouth!
em
x
Sidmouth! (Part 2 of 3)
Monday:-
Found out that I had got into the concertina workshop run by John Dipper, excellent first session, if a little slow, i had worked out how to play the scale in about 15 mins, and he took the hour teaching it. But it was still fun, and i really enjoy playing it! Then went to a talk at the Woodlands Hotel with Manon, about the laws you have to follow as a performer, and all the paperwork involved, interesting, and a bit scary just how beurocratic our country is! Speant the afternoon with Manon and Peter-Paul, as they stewarded the Arts Centre, had several nice cups of tea. Went to the evening concert in the Ham, Eliza Carthy and the Ratcatchers, alright, but not my favourite, and ended up leaving early, due to a fever! To put it in perspective, the Ham Marquee is about 40 degrees, and I was shivering! Went back to the tent and rested then went off to LNE, danced a Boureé with Tom, we were supposed to dance a Boureé de jeunesse, but instead danced a boureé de ligne instead, much more fun!
It was the first night I stayed up after LNE and was great fun, a group of us, Ruth, Tom, Justin (i think), Manon and Joe stayed up until about four thirty! Having the most random conversations, which went from the mundane (cooking, dancing) to the insane (ceilidh karma sutra). I tried whiskey for the first time, Laphroaig, apparently, was odd, but quite nice, warmed you up considerably! We all went to bed about 4:30, having decided to meet at 9 to have breakfast with Tom's friend Steve (who had no idea of this!). And then head of to a contra workshop.
Tuesday:-
Dawned, but we already knew that as we were up to see it! And we went of to meet Tom and Manon for breakfast, Tom's friend steve wasn't up yet so we headed off to catch the bus and have food in town. Having missed the bus we headed off to see if steve were up, he was so we went back, and had coffer (or tea in my case) with him. After having made an executive desision that i was too tired and hungry to go to my workshop i stayed for breakfast, a very nice meal or tomato, bacon and spam!
We then went to a playford workshop and speant a lot of it mucking about, but we ahd fun, I kept nicking tom's hat, and we passed it randomly round the dance floor! Although some of the older people got annoyed with me and tom because we kept mucking up the dances!
Had lunch with tom, ruth and steve (lovely burgers from the bedford hotel) and saw tom off on the bus home, then sat having drinks in a bus stop seeing as we thought it was almost certainly illegal.
Speant the afternoon once again with Manon and Peter-Paul doing pretty much nothing.
In the evenign i went to the Black Tie Ceilidh in the Blackmore Gardens which was great fun! The range of people from those who took it seriously, to those who turned up in normal clothes with a token black tie, i went in between, with my black halter-neck, a bright blue cummerbund(sp?) black and white over the knee socks and fancy shoes, oh and the token black tie of course!
Then went to LNE dressed like that, except for the tie which i had borrowed from Chris under threat of painful death if i lost it! LNE wasn't as good, mostly because Whapweasel were playing, and although they were very good, there were way too many people there to do any decent dancing, went to bed at about 1:30 due to tiredness.
Wednesday:-
Concertina Workshop as usual, cant remember most of the afternoon, but met up with Steve, and Ruth and various other of Steves friends for tea at a lovely tea shop a ltitle way along the coast. I had to leave early from that to get the bus with Jen to Sidford for a Fench Dancing Workshop, panicked because I lost my purse, but borrowed some money of dad.
The workshop was quite good, although th teacher wasn't the best. The following bal was quite fun, though more that 2 An Dro's ( and the other one which ic ant remember the name of) gets a little boring.
Left early, to catch the bus back, but ended up with a lift from manon and peter-paul, six of us in a car designed to take four! was a bit of a squish.
LNE was fun, but i had to leave early because my back was hurting too much.
Quote:
In every community, there is work to be donw
In every nation, there are wounds to heal
In every heart, there is the power to do it
Marianne Williamson
Emma
Found out that I had got into the concertina workshop run by John Dipper, excellent first session, if a little slow, i had worked out how to play the scale in about 15 mins, and he took the hour teaching it. But it was still fun, and i really enjoy playing it! Then went to a talk at the Woodlands Hotel with Manon, about the laws you have to follow as a performer, and all the paperwork involved, interesting, and a bit scary just how beurocratic our country is! Speant the afternoon with Manon and Peter-Paul, as they stewarded the Arts Centre, had several nice cups of tea. Went to the evening concert in the Ham, Eliza Carthy and the Ratcatchers, alright, but not my favourite, and ended up leaving early, due to a fever! To put it in perspective, the Ham Marquee is about 40 degrees, and I was shivering! Went back to the tent and rested then went off to LNE, danced a Boureé with Tom, we were supposed to dance a Boureé de jeunesse, but instead danced a boureé de ligne instead, much more fun!
It was the first night I stayed up after LNE and was great fun, a group of us, Ruth, Tom, Justin (i think), Manon and Joe stayed up until about four thirty! Having the most random conversations, which went from the mundane (cooking, dancing) to the insane (ceilidh karma sutra). I tried whiskey for the first time, Laphroaig, apparently, was odd, but quite nice, warmed you up considerably! We all went to bed about 4:30, having decided to meet at 9 to have breakfast with Tom's friend Steve (who had no idea of this!). And then head of to a contra workshop.
Tuesday:-
Dawned, but we already knew that as we were up to see it! And we went of to meet Tom and Manon for breakfast, Tom's friend steve wasn't up yet so we headed off to catch the bus and have food in town. Having missed the bus we headed off to see if steve were up, he was so we went back, and had coffer (or tea in my case) with him. After having made an executive desision that i was too tired and hungry to go to my workshop i stayed for breakfast, a very nice meal or tomato, bacon and spam!
We then went to a playford workshop and speant a lot of it mucking about, but we ahd fun, I kept nicking tom's hat, and we passed it randomly round the dance floor! Although some of the older people got annoyed with me and tom because we kept mucking up the dances!
Had lunch with tom, ruth and steve (lovely burgers from the bedford hotel) and saw tom off on the bus home, then sat having drinks in a bus stop seeing as we thought it was almost certainly illegal.
Speant the afternoon once again with Manon and Peter-Paul doing pretty much nothing.
In the evenign i went to the Black Tie Ceilidh in the Blackmore Gardens which was great fun! The range of people from those who took it seriously, to those who turned up in normal clothes with a token black tie, i went in between, with my black halter-neck, a bright blue cummerbund(sp?) black and white over the knee socks and fancy shoes, oh and the token black tie of course!
Then went to LNE dressed like that, except for the tie which i had borrowed from Chris under threat of painful death if i lost it! LNE wasn't as good, mostly because Whapweasel were playing, and although they were very good, there were way too many people there to do any decent dancing, went to bed at about 1:30 due to tiredness.
Wednesday:-
Concertina Workshop as usual, cant remember most of the afternoon, but met up with Steve, and Ruth and various other of Steves friends for tea at a lovely tea shop a ltitle way along the coast. I had to leave early from that to get the bus with Jen to Sidford for a Fench Dancing Workshop, panicked because I lost my purse, but borrowed some money of dad.
The workshop was quite good, although th teacher wasn't the best. The following bal was quite fun, though more that 2 An Dro's ( and the other one which ic ant remember the name of) gets a little boring.
Left early, to catch the bus back, but ended up with a lift from manon and peter-paul, six of us in a car designed to take four! was a bit of a squish.
LNE was fun, but i had to leave early because my back was hurting too much.
Quote:
In every community, there is work to be donw
In every nation, there are wounds to heal
In every heart, there is the power to do it
Marianne Williamson
Emma
11 August 2007
Sidmouth! (Part 1 of 3)
Well, I have just got back from Sidmouth Folk Week and am absolutely knackered, however after a week of not going to bed till at least 1:30 (quite a lot later in some cases!) I cannot sleep yet!
So, instead I shall follow the basic structure of Tom's blogpost and do a rundown of each day!
Tuesday:-
Set of nice and early (abiout 10ish) in the car to Bristol, we were going to stay with my uncle there till thursday and then go on to sidmouth. However about half an hour outside of cambridge, on the Buldock bypass for anyone who knows the area, we broke down, with what smelt distinctly like a burnt out clutch! Anyone travelling along the Buldock bypass on the 31st of July and saw three girls sitting playing cards on the verge that was us! We called the AA, who, rather than coming themselves sent a local company with instructions to bring us back to cambridge, which we protested, but were told that if we took the car to a garage in cambridge then it would be fixed my wednesday morning and we could still get down to bristol to see uncle ceri and sara. So we went home and stayed the night there, living like we were on holiday, for some reason even though it was home none of us did what we usually do, but hung round together and watched videos and such, which was really odd! Got invited to dinner with Steve, an old friend of my parents who moved near us a couple of years ago. Was very nice, chicken stir fry, then we went to bed.
Wednesday:-
We got up, all ready to go, only to be informed that in fact out car needed more work than was first expected, and wouldn't be ready till friday (way too late to get a pitch like we needed for camping!) Phoned the AA, who promised to hire us a car but couldn't get one with a topbox attatchement or a tow bar! In the end we hired a van, which me and dad drove down in, whilst Mum, Ruth and HEather went by train down to honniton.
It was great fun, and the longest time me and my dad have speant together just the two of us for ages, so was really really nice! Beautiful view of stonehenge sihllouetted against a beautiful sunset as we crossed salisbury plain.
We arrived at the campsite at about 10 ish and were putting up the tent in the dark! Excellent fun, and the earliest night I got for the rest of the week!
Thursday:-
Dawned bright and rainy, we spent the morning sitting about the tent after we had finished setting up the rest of the tent. When it finally got sunny me and ruth decided to head off to the beach, which we finalyl did after a few altercations with various people threatening to go home. Unfortunately did not swim as ruth didn't want to, and I hate being in the water on my own!
And that was about it for thursday, apart from meeting up with Emily, an old friend from my very first sidmouth and speanding the evening catching up with her!
Friday:-
First proper day of the Festival, took the bus down to go to the lunch time ceilidh, which was great fun, although the caller was not the greatest and i had a little trouble getting used to having to tell my left from my right! Met a lovely brother and sister pair from Holland (Manon and Peter-Paul de Graaf) with whom i met up with agin several times during the week.
Went to the Show of Hands concert in the evening, it was absolutely awesome! They are amazing! Excellent songs including ones with lyrics like 'Is there anywhere left in England not for sale' and 'Hey ho boys let them go, out in the wind and the rain and snow, we've lost more than we'll ever know, round the rocky shores of england'. Also an excellent performance of Innocent's Song, a setting of the poem by Charles Causely (link).
We then went off the Late Night Extra, which is the late evenign ceilidh, running from 11 till 1 o'clock. Is great fun, although by the end of the week I started asking people how much they'd had to drink before dancing with them, dancing with a drunk guy who has no idea what he's doing is just not fun!
Saturday:-
Dawn broke, crash, and we headed of nice and early for the Celebratory dances workshop, with a caller who was alright, but not the best. Had lots of fun though, and was almost getting the hang of it by the end. Then did a Playford workshop, Jane Austen style dancing, wich is excellent fun to do, because you do have to think slightly about what your doing which makes it much more interesting! Then went once again to the lunchtime ceilidh at anchor gardens, and cant really remember what I did after that! In the evening I went to see the spooky men's chorale, an excellent singing group from the Blue Mountains in Australia, which was a hilariously funny and gripping performance as ever!
Went to LNE in the evening, and the to bed!
Sunday:-
First workshop was the Festival Choir run by Sandra Kerr, it was quite good, although the warm up was odd, but I enjoyed doing some singing, and going to a rehersal where people actually knew how to shut up and work! Brilliant!
Then went to the informal meet and greet with the Spooky Men at the Rugby club at 11:30. They turned up slightly late due to having been up singing till 4:30 that morning! But it was a brilliant session, with both some singing and questions! Speant the afternoon randomly wondering around with Manon and Peter-Paul and in the evening went to the dance event at the Bulverton with Fluxus, a band from Belgium. The evening was great, none of the dances were called and I had never done any French dancing before! But it was relatively simple to pick up and the first dance i joined in on was a Jig wich was really easy. I also danced a Boureé, well more than one, the first with Peter-Paul,its a great dance but hell on your calves! Danced later on with Tom, who was also considerably better than me, and who put the variations in, which was great fun, although a little confusing for me! Danced a scottische with Jen, which was great fun as she was trying to remember how, both of us speant all of the dance going forwards two three, back two three, one two three four! Excellent fun! Danced a waltz with fancy moves with Tom, which was fun, although i wasn't very good at doing to fance moves, haveing never done more than a simple waltz before! So all in all it was an excellent evening, and the fastest I have ever picked up dances in my life!
LNE that night was great, didn't dance much due to being a little tired and my back was causing problems so sat talking to Tom, a rather more interesting 20-something-year-old than most, while he stewarded, ended up with him teaching me a Mazuka (spelling?) at the edge of the floor, because he couldn't find anyone to cover his post while he danced.
All in all an excellent day, which lead to me discovering a new dance style that i absolutely love!
I am going to cut it there for tonight and head to bed, partly because i need to sleep and partly because otherwise this is an insanely long post! Will write up the rest of my week in the next few days.
Quote:
Whatever you want to do, do it. There are only so many tomorrows
Unknown
So, instead I shall follow the basic structure of Tom's blogpost and do a rundown of each day!
Tuesday:-
Set of nice and early (abiout 10ish) in the car to Bristol, we were going to stay with my uncle there till thursday and then go on to sidmouth. However about half an hour outside of cambridge, on the Buldock bypass for anyone who knows the area, we broke down, with what smelt distinctly like a burnt out clutch! Anyone travelling along the Buldock bypass on the 31st of July and saw three girls sitting playing cards on the verge that was us! We called the AA, who, rather than coming themselves sent a local company with instructions to bring us back to cambridge, which we protested, but were told that if we took the car to a garage in cambridge then it would be fixed my wednesday morning and we could still get down to bristol to see uncle ceri and sara. So we went home and stayed the night there, living like we were on holiday, for some reason even though it was home none of us did what we usually do, but hung round together and watched videos and such, which was really odd! Got invited to dinner with Steve, an old friend of my parents who moved near us a couple of years ago. Was very nice, chicken stir fry, then we went to bed.
Wednesday:-
We got up, all ready to go, only to be informed that in fact out car needed more work than was first expected, and wouldn't be ready till friday (way too late to get a pitch like we needed for camping!) Phoned the AA, who promised to hire us a car but couldn't get one with a topbox attatchement or a tow bar! In the end we hired a van, which me and dad drove down in, whilst Mum, Ruth and HEather went by train down to honniton.
It was great fun, and the longest time me and my dad have speant together just the two of us for ages, so was really really nice! Beautiful view of stonehenge sihllouetted against a beautiful sunset as we crossed salisbury plain.
We arrived at the campsite at about 10 ish and were putting up the tent in the dark! Excellent fun, and the earliest night I got for the rest of the week!
Thursday:-
Dawned bright and rainy, we spent the morning sitting about the tent after we had finished setting up the rest of the tent. When it finally got sunny me and ruth decided to head off to the beach, which we finalyl did after a few altercations with various people threatening to go home. Unfortunately did not swim as ruth didn't want to, and I hate being in the water on my own!
And that was about it for thursday, apart from meeting up with Emily, an old friend from my very first sidmouth and speanding the evening catching up with her!
Friday:-
First proper day of the Festival, took the bus down to go to the lunch time ceilidh, which was great fun, although the caller was not the greatest and i had a little trouble getting used to having to tell my left from my right! Met a lovely brother and sister pair from Holland (Manon and Peter-Paul de Graaf) with whom i met up with agin several times during the week.
Went to the Show of Hands concert in the evening, it was absolutely awesome! They are amazing! Excellent songs including ones with lyrics like 'Is there anywhere left in England not for sale' and 'Hey ho boys let them go, out in the wind and the rain and snow, we've lost more than we'll ever know, round the rocky shores of england'. Also an excellent performance of Innocent's Song, a setting of the poem by Charles Causely (link).
We then went off the Late Night Extra, which is the late evenign ceilidh, running from 11 till 1 o'clock. Is great fun, although by the end of the week I started asking people how much they'd had to drink before dancing with them, dancing with a drunk guy who has no idea what he's doing is just not fun!
Saturday:-
Dawn broke, crash, and we headed of nice and early for the Celebratory dances workshop, with a caller who was alright, but not the best. Had lots of fun though, and was almost getting the hang of it by the end. Then did a Playford workshop, Jane Austen style dancing, wich is excellent fun to do, because you do have to think slightly about what your doing which makes it much more interesting! Then went once again to the lunchtime ceilidh at anchor gardens, and cant really remember what I did after that! In the evening I went to see the spooky men's chorale, an excellent singing group from the Blue Mountains in Australia, which was a hilariously funny and gripping performance as ever!
Went to LNE in the evening, and the to bed!
Sunday:-
First workshop was the Festival Choir run by Sandra Kerr, it was quite good, although the warm up was odd, but I enjoyed doing some singing, and going to a rehersal where people actually knew how to shut up and work! Brilliant!
Then went to the informal meet and greet with the Spooky Men at the Rugby club at 11:30. They turned up slightly late due to having been up singing till 4:30 that morning! But it was a brilliant session, with both some singing and questions! Speant the afternoon randomly wondering around with Manon and Peter-Paul and in the evening went to the dance event at the Bulverton with Fluxus, a band from Belgium. The evening was great, none of the dances were called and I had never done any French dancing before! But it was relatively simple to pick up and the first dance i joined in on was a Jig wich was really easy. I also danced a Boureé, well more than one, the first with Peter-Paul,its a great dance but hell on your calves! Danced later on with Tom, who was also considerably better than me, and who put the variations in, which was great fun, although a little confusing for me! Danced a scottische with Jen, which was great fun as she was trying to remember how, both of us speant all of the dance going forwards two three, back two three, one two three four! Excellent fun! Danced a waltz with fancy moves with Tom, which was fun, although i wasn't very good at doing to fance moves, haveing never done more than a simple waltz before! So all in all it was an excellent evening, and the fastest I have ever picked up dances in my life!
LNE that night was great, didn't dance much due to being a little tired and my back was causing problems so sat talking to Tom, a rather more interesting 20-something-year-old than most, while he stewarded, ended up with him teaching me a Mazuka (spelling?) at the edge of the floor, because he couldn't find anyone to cover his post while he danced.
All in all an excellent day, which lead to me discovering a new dance style that i absolutely love!
I am going to cut it there for tonight and head to bed, partly because i need to sleep and partly because otherwise this is an insanely long post! Will write up the rest of my week in the next few days.
Quote:
Whatever you want to do, do it. There are only so many tomorrows
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