Well 10th is looking good so far so will be in touch. Or I may be so cold I’ll just stay in bed 😯

There’s no beach in Minas Gerais!

Hiya!

Yep – back on 8th March for a few weeks. I was going to post up about potential rides nearer the time. I fancy Kirroughtree maybe on 12th as a mini STW group ride.

I am down the gym most days so you may not recognise me 🙂

Brazil is fine but very hot! 35 degrees in the day right now.

The tricks are endless now in BMX. Quad whips, double flips, 1080’s, it’s hard to know where it will end!

Morphic resonance innit?

Well it’s 35 degrees in my part of Brazil right now and açai is served in a way that is so super cold it can give you a sore throat if you eat it too quickly, but it really hits the spot and cools you down.

I’m more of an açai man myself nowadays.

Kit – true – I went two or three of years ago and it was so difficult for me I ended up bailing back to the car.

However, I went last summer when it was super dry, and it was a revelation. I then went back this November I think with some better skillz * cough * and had a whale of a time. I now love it this is true! I can now say that I really * get * Drumlanrig and with Craig1975 as my witness I can ride (or attempt to ride) maybe 95% of it. I’m not saying I can ride that but I now have the confidence to at least have a go, but there are two or three bits that see me getting off and walking.

I guess his “pass” doesn’t extend to internet time tonight 🙂

I love Drumlanrig.

Did you ride the red first and then go back to do the black? I normally ride the first bit of the red, then the black, and then get back on the red to finish it.

Hey franksinatra – how did it go? Are you still in one piece? What did you think?

Don’t forget you get a big student discount with Apple. The really big student discounts are on software so check with Apple directly on prices. Some shops offer apple student discounts but these are not nearly so great as dealing with Apple directly. I am not saying do buy apple, but make sure you factor this in to your price comparison.

Ah but the great beauty of my style of riding is that I am able to enjoy the lovely views 😀

It’s all relative anyway – I went down quite quickly for me and if I get an adrenaline rush pootling down well that’s fine isn’t it as I am not someone telling other people how to ride or what to wear etc 🙂

And if I can ride all three loops then I reckon most people should be able to too! (Although I was a bit pooped and had nothing left in my legs trying to climb back up the blue to the car park). It may be a blue but it is great fun too.

It’s amazing how the same trail can be perceived so differently. I am really a red route rider in terms of ability, and a mediocre one at that, but I had a huge amount of fun in the cold and wet at Whinlatter last year. Maybe I was just going too slow or something compared to you guys, but I guess it is just a case of taking care and riding within your limits. It’s a great trail and people should not be put off by these tales of woe!

After saying that, I think it is the North red, there is a steep s bend on the way down and I had a comedy “over the handlebars” moment, no damage done at all, so yeah, some challenging bits but it is a great trail.

Well I managed both reds and then the blue so if I can do it then so can you! It’s a brilliant trail, great cafe, and I am sure you will have one heck of a lot of fun. I was very impressed with what had been built, and would happily ride there again.

I would do the blue at the end when you are tired!

With my CD coming out next month too, could STWorlders be about to take over the music charts? 😀

Just been listening to the tunes this morning – very nice indeed 😀

Tidy

Just wanted to say I agree with Toons – Ae is way improved, and the red is even better if you ride up to the top of the DH taster track too – give or take the need to walk down a few of the jumps 🙂

Have you thought about entering for the Olympics or world cup XC with that time?

Not a single distinguishable feature that made me want to go back.

That’s fair enough – I guess you either love or hate Dalby. I bought my first bike when I was living in Leeds, and used to go to Dalby loads. This was in the olden days when the old red/black could get a bit too muddy when wet. But in the dry I loved the trails, loads of fab features, and I went right over my handlebars too once on that chute steep descent. Of course to an expert rider it may be a bit dull, but Dalby built up my confidence getting me from a blue route rider to a much more confident red.

And when the new red opened that was great for winter rides, and it meant there were just miles and miles of trails that you could pick and choose how to ride.

Is £7 really that expensive? Is it per car or per person – I forget.

Excellent video – loved it. But can someone tell me what is happening with that chap on the left in the photo around 1:10 please?

Oh, and there is a typo – you spell it Altern8 from what I remember from my rave days 😀

What’s Bruce been up to? I can’t get it on the BBC iplayer over here. Any quick summaries?

I thought this article was excellent by George Monbiot, revealing a little discussed tax break for banks, a few days ago.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/feb/07/tax-city-heist-of-century

Some very interesting and inspiring dreams on this thread. I hope many of you get somewhere towards achieving them. 🙂

Well I am working on a dream project right now which is publishing my book. This has been something I have wanted to do for years 🙂

If I had a wad of cash I’d pay someone to do the formatting, front cover and do a ton load of advertising. I am also in a world of pain trying to learn how to get it on to the kindle, so I would pay someone to do that too.

As it stands, I reckon I will sell a few hundred copies maybe without all that cash, but then all it takes is a few good reviews and word of mouth kicks in and you never know. Assuming you have a good book of course!

Cheers John – nice t shirt.

Do you know if I can sell just an album as opposed to individual tracks on amazon and itunes via reverbnation? My CD does not make sense in terms of individual tracks.

Yeah – I need physical distribution too as I am not in the UK. If my book gets reviewed in the specialist press (e.g. shaman related magazines such as Shaman’s Drum and Sacred Hoop etc) then people will also hopefully find out about the CD. My blog also gets a small number of hits each day, so that is another outlet.

It remains to be seen if any newspapers or magazines will be interested in reviewing the book or writing articles. I did do a long interview with a BBC journalist last week but he probably won’t write about my book, he just wanted background information on what my book is about.

Thanks willej

The good Captain dropped me an email to tell me about reverbnation.com. This also seems to be able to offer a shop whereby people can order the physical CD, as well as the individual tracks, so this could well be the route I go down!

Cheers

Simon

Capt Kronos

That would be great and the info much appreciated. Some of the reviews seem to be from when tunecore first launched, so maybe they have sorted out some of their supposed issues.

I have found a recording studio in Dumfries that seems to be able to do the basic recording for around £100, but as for distribution that is the issue.

Ta

Simon

There’s always one Simon

And there was me thinking you were just listing random tube stations. Are you saying this is actually a game with real rules?

I don’t care what the rules are to be honest. 😮

Richmond upon Thames!

I am going to pop in with covent Garden 😀

Democracy in the west is the illusion of choice orchestrated by a financial elite financing both sides of the political spectrum, while also financing brutal dictatorships in other countries of use to them.
🙂

I have but last time we discussed it I got reprimanded on here for being a bit too graphic so let’s just say I would recommend it but make sure you go to someone good and you will also need to take some food supplements afterwards as the procedure can get rid of some good stuff as well as the bad stuff.

Ton it’s carnival week in Brazil next week. The entire country. 170 million crazy people partying. So get yourself over here – it’s sunny, 35 degrees, we’ll grab some beers, drink cachaca, I know some great bars, we can go to the country side, swim in some lakes, hit the beach, you’ll love it! 8)

Ton – there are some pretty excellent “earth” houses in Wales that are struggling to get approval from the government, and also I know of one person who makes houses from car tyres, but these too are deemed illegal which is a shame as they have been designed to be very eco-friendly.

I would say my lifestyle is quite alternative right now, but not my dwelling.

Oreana45 – that looks great!

Ditto Simonralli2’s post (apart from the looking around worrying bit)

Well that wasn’t meant to be so negative. Worry as in thinking about how best to spend one’s energies and deciding to try and work with environmental charities, universities and social enterprises for the protection of the environment and people in poverty 🙂

I for one am very happy with the forum and have no complaints 🙂

I look around this planet and see things to worry about, but luckily for me this forum is not one of them.

Yes – hence me being in Brazil nowadays!

– although really in terms of my last proper girlfriend she was suicidal and also sleeping with her doctor who also turned out to be suicidal and who she ran away with but who ended up being sectioned due to the threat of violence and more etc etc. I had a tough time but really tried to chalk it up as experience and did my best to be supportive when she was dumping on me.

But hey, life is very good right now 🙂

Yeah, my friend Lucy has an amazing singing voice. Here is one of her songs. Her band is called Pilgrim’s Way

http://www.myspace.com/pilgrimswaymusic/music/songs/handweaver-and-factory-maid-74450273

Surely some mistake there Simon… you’re not in any of the photos!

Oh you’re right! What was I thinking?? Here you go 😀

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December24th[/url] by simon ralli[/url], on Flickr

I am very pleased with my S95, although it seems to have far more functionality than I understand right now. The low light function is particularly good, and it amazes me how it captures handheld pics without much blur, whereas my Ixus would be really blurry.

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December 14th[/url] by simon ralli[/url], on Flickr

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December 3rd[/url] by simon ralli[/url], on Flickr

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December 7th[/url] by simon ralli[/url], on Flickr