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Walking With Dinosaurs

by makeupandmirtazapine on April 19, 2013 in Art, Action & Inspiration, Books, Music & Films, Travel

“I heard that Jesus had a pet dinosaur. Evolution must be a myth then.” ~ John Bacon

I like dinosaurs.

I mean, I really like dinosaurs.

I got so excited about dinosaurs when I visited The Natural History Museum while I was high as a kite on back pain medication that some woman asked me if she could leave her five year old son with me for the dinosaur section. As she felt he’d get so much more from the experience if he was accompanied by somehow who was as excited by the whole thing as he was.

Then she went off out the other end of the dinosaur exhibition hall to sit and wait for us.

Some people, man.

But, anyway, I used to really like the BBC television programme Walking With Dinosaurs. Even though some of it was absolutely heart breaking; like the one where the pterodactyl was old, and no one at the mating colony wanted him any more, so he couldn’t get a good enough perch, and so he died. So when I saw that there was a Walking With Dinosaurs arena tour I really wanted to go and see it.

So I did. With a friend.

And we were literally the only people there who weren’t accompanied by at least one six year old child.

Somehow the thought had never occurred to me that this might be a kids thing. The television show was on in the evenings, and talked about dinosaurs in a way that was educational for adults. I just assumed that the arena show would be the same.

I was wrong.

I didn’t learn anything really.

Although I did get to see all the ‘main’ dinosaurs except plesiosaur. I guess I’ll just have to go to Loch Ness for that. (Shut up. You’ll be telling me next there’s no Big Foot.)

The show is introduced and narrated by a paleontologist. Or maybe an actor playing a paleontologist. It’s unclear.

He tells us to turn off our phones or he won’t be responsible if one of the dinosaurs is upset by them ringing and turns nasty. Also, that we won’t be able to get any reception anyway, as mobile phone masts aren’t set to be invented for hundreds of millions of years.

He then introduces us to the super-continent Pangaea, and spends the next couple of hours walking us through the Cretaceous, Jurassic, and Triassic periods; explaining how Pangaea broke apart to form the the continents of Gondwara, Laurasia, and Eurasia, the evolution of plants, and introducing us to some of the most well known dinosaurs.

All at an age appropriate level for the six year olds in the audience.

The show is very well put together. The dinosaurs are well made, and the set design is impressive. I particularly liked the way they presented the pterosaur. They turned the back drop into a rolling movie screen, which made the massive model look as though it were flying around its natural habitat.

It was a very good show.

I’m not entirely sure I’d have been as keen to see it had I realised that it was really for children, but I can’t complain now I have done.

The tour is currently continuing around the UK until the end of May, so if you’re interested you may still be able to catch it.

The English Man Who Went Up A Hill And Came Down A Mountain

by makeupandmirtazapine on April 9, 2013 in Travel

(Except, there were two of us, and we’re both women)

“Everywhere is within walking distance if you have the time.” ~ Steve Wright

It’ll be good for us to get out for a quick walk, she said. We’ll just have a wander round the reservoir, she said. It’ll only be four miles, she said.

We ended up here.

Well, do you see a reservoir?

The ‘walk’ started off sedately enough. We parked up and went for a stroll along a nice, well-trodden, bridle-path, stopping every three minutes to take pictures of the pretty scenery.

No, it’s just you. You have a dirty mind.

This occupied us for about an hour or so, but, then we reached the point where the bridleway joined back on to the road. So we needed to choose a new path.

So we, reasonably enough, followed a sign saying ‘Public Footpath’.

Which in hindsight may have been an error.

And the first sign that this may have been the case came just five metres in, when, just after we’d confronted The Limbo Tree, we found ourselves edging along a rock face to avoid falling into the stream… I mean, violently surging river.

The Limbo Tree

Proper public footpaths do, as a general rule, tend to have actual paths.

Then we had to climb quite a bit. Up a rocky trail, following in the footprints of some dog who appeared have been that way before.

And, somehow, instead of coming to the reservoir, we ended up on the moor.

A moor with a big fence across the middle. And instructions.

But we weren’t lost, because there was a sign…

Look, we’re not lost, there’s a sign!

We followed the arrow pointing upwards, since it was the only one that pointed in the direction of a passable way.

We thought if we carried on the short way up to the top of the hill we’d be able to see where we were and find our way.

Only, as we carried on, so did the hill. It kept growing.

Every time we though we were just getting to the top of it, another top appeared higher up and further away. It was though someone was watching us, and every time we were almost at the top of the peak, they dropped another bit in and laughed at us.

And then we lost the path entirely.

And yet, somehow, we weren’t particularly worried.

We eventually found another, proper, path, that looked as though it might lead us back to civilisation.

That ran along beside a snowy river.

We also found a thing.

And a touching, memorial bench.

“For Minnie Smith and her son Donald, who so enjoyed this view.”

And the Smiths didn’t have half bad taste in views.

But we really knew we were getting closer to where we wanted to be when we came across some horses.

And a farm-house.

And some sheep.

And we did eventually find the reservoir.

And the road back to the car.

These guys were beside it.

“What are you doing?”

“Huh, not feeding me.”

“Well, in that case, I’m not interested. I’ll be getting back to my grass then.”

And set off home about five hours later than we’d originally planned.

Stopping on the way for a nice cup of tea. And a fantastic country pub lunch of pork, mashed potato, and vegetables, inside a huge Yorkshire pudding, and covered in gravy. Followed by a banana split.

None of which I remembered to take pictures of, but then again, this post is probably quite long enough already.

I’m Not Going To China

by makeupandmirtazapine on February 21, 2013 in Life, Mental Health & Wellbeing, Travel

I’m not going to China.

I couldn’t get a working visa.

I’m not sure what I’m going to do instead. I’m currently in the process of applying for almost every job in the country, and one or two abroad. Also considering going back to university to get more qualified, because I know I need a change in career, for the sake of my sanity.

I don’t know. We’ll see. I shall keep you posted.

I’m just feeling a little silly after I held a going away party and everything.

In the meantime I’ve written a more interesting blog post that I’ll share with you as soon as I’m feeling brave enough.

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