Van Pic

Sent by a friend. Source of picture says it was taken in Bristol U.K, recently.


 

Brits Complete First Ever Road-Vehicle Crossing of the Bering Straits from Russia to Alaska.

You can trust gritinthegears to bring you occasional snippets of news that have slipped through the cracks in the mainstream media.

I bring you here a report from the Bering Straits, it took a long time to reach this page because I'm a procrastinator with a chance of olympic gold in procrastinating...... If I ever get around to seeing if there's a procrastinating category in the olympics...

I like the idea.
"BANG!" And the runners are off to a good pace, the leaders are now breaking free of the pack and surging forward in the second turn......
AND LOOK! yes, there, in the entry way of this great stadium, we see Great Britain's entry, Soubriquet... he's scratching his head and yawning, looking a bit bewildered.... I think he's about to get changed into his running shorts.... Oh, no, he's stopped to accept a nice hot cup of tea, he's sitting down, oh! he's taken a book out of his bag... he's reading... and it's the Kenyan in front as they hurtle around the final lap, the german is gaining on him, and it looks as if OH! Peru's entry just stumbled, bringing down the leaders as they attempt to lap him... the track is chaos, runners everywhere, falling over the leaders... oh... Soubriquet is strolling toward the finish line, still reading he steps over the fallen athletes.. as he nears the line, sweden and japan's runners are up and sprinting in deadly earnest, Soubriquet yawns again... stops, farts, steps over the line to take gold, sits down and continues reading... this man is the very pinnacle of achievement for procrastinators... see the toothbrush in his pocket?
Yes, at four in the afternoon, Soubriquet is still heading vaguely toward breakfast... A well-earned Gold for procrastination there!!!

What? Bering? oh yes. A first! A first for Great Britain, and a first for Yorkshire!!!!!
The first ever successful amphibious crossing of the Bering Straits occurred on the 8th August, 2008, when an amphibious Land Rover finally made landfall on Little Diomede in the Aleutian Islands, having crossed the international date-line from Russian Great Diomede island, driven by Yorkshire farmer and adventurer Steve Burgess, navigated and abetted by Dan Evans.
The expedition drove on the sea ice of northern Siberia to Uelen, where the land Rover was left until the strait thawed. Floatation units designed for the crossing were attached and they then set off into one of the world's most famously hostile and changeable seas, for Little Diomede, the first point of contact with the United States of America. Storms there caused a delay, but when the weather calmed enough, the team continued the voyage to Wales, on the mainland of Alaska.
http://www.capetocape.org.uk/
Video here... it's in Russian.


Governor Palin, so far as I know, was not present to greet the adventurers.

(It's worth noting that the first ever successful foot crossing of the strait was by a two man team of French/American Dimitri Kieffer and Yorkshireman Karl Bushby in march 2006.)

Update to banned poems

(Read earlier post)
I found this via? Anyway
I wish I could recall my tracks across the innertent, I really do... A link somewhere sent me here,
to see pics of a rather colourful "Back to School Knifepack". I think schools should emphasise the need for a set of colour co-ordinated knives, as part of any child's school kit.



The items are sold by Vons, which I understand is Safeway... Hm.. Very safe thinking... Anyway, they're in that safe packaging that lacerates you as you try to open it, unless you have a nice sharp knife from inside the packaging.
The pic linked was in Von's, Yorba Linda.
I have only a vague idea of where Yorba Linda is, without deploying Google earth. California, I think...
White Stripes, Hotel Yorba coming up if I can find it on Too Yube.....



I just resisted the temptation to add Zorba the Greek....
Oh Dammit! alright then....

Moby Dick.

Yves Rossy. First man to fly across the English Channel, by jet, without an airplane.

I need not say much here. This is a man who had a dream of flying, fast, without a plane. All the Buzz Lightyear jokes have already been made. Yves Rossy, a man with a history as a fast-jet pilot, "Yves has served as a fighter pilot in the Swiss Air Force, flying Dassault Mirage IIIs, Northrop F-5 Tiger IIs and Hawker Hunters. He also flew Boeing 747s for Swissair and now pilots an Airbus A320 for Swiss International Air Lines."

Louis Bleriot, 1909

Rossy flew the route that Louis Bleriot flew, in 1909, when he succeeded in becoming the first person in powered flight to cross the channel, thus winning the (then)huge prize of £1,000, put
up by the british paper, the Daily Mail.

Yves Rossy!

Bleriot took 46 minutes, Rossy took just thirteen minutes.
So far, he can not take off and land under power, he is lifted to altitude by a Pilatus Porter turboprop plane, from which he jumps with four jet engines idling, but then he accellerates away, under control, and truly flies, he can climb, manouevre, maintain level flight. He is working on greater duration, and his dream is to become fully aerobatic. To be fair, he's not the only person trying, like Bleriot, there are rivals, but Rossy's achievement is at the peak of the game.
Some people laugh, and say he's "only a parachutist with a powered interlude".
Yes. Like the Apollo crews were just parachutists with a big firework to take them higher?

This man's bravery, intelligence, and determination are second to none.

See here, another jet-powered man... no wings.




t

Just When You Thought It Was Safe To Get Back In The Bath.......

The Real Tuesday Weld:- Cloud Cuckoo-Land.



Followed by "Bathtime in Clerkenwell"
(I have posted this one before, but it was a long time ago....)



Yes, I know it looks as though the titles make more sense transposed... Ask Tuesday, not me. She was once married to Dudley Moore.
Oh... No, that was the OTHER Tuesday Weld.

A few pictures from Whitby, North Yorkshire, England

"Why?", you may ask, well, "Why not?", I may reply...
The reason is that Max, at Britishspeak, a blog in which he, an American, seeks to make sense of Englishness. Obviously, impossible, but he recently posted a portion on fish and chips, noting that the Daily Mail? had said that Whitby had britain's best fish and chips. I know. Debateable, subjective etc... Ohhh. I see top fish-chef and renowned foodie, Rick Stein has said the Magpie Cafe in Whitby has the best fish and chips in britain.. I see. I wonder how Rick managed to try them all?
And how he kept track of the scores?
Max posted a pic of the swingbridge.
I thought I might offer a bit more of Whitby, for his readers, should they care to look.
The pics here were taken toward the end of a long day out across North Yorkshire, I'll post a few of other places soon, the sun was sinking, and the light was fading, but I like Whitby in all weathers. I've been there in a blizzard, and in rain, and grey morning sea-mist, as well as full-on summer sun.
On the day these pics were taken, we found a group of people sitting on the quay, man with megaphone etc... On asking what was going on, we discovered it was the fishermen's rowing club regatta. hence the pic of an upturned boat.
Oh.... one picture in the above set is NOT of Whitby... It's where the road into the village of Robin Hood's Bay ends. it just turns into the slipway into the North Sea. I can think of worse places to sit and ponder as day yields to darkness. Whitby, of course, was where Count Dracula came ashore in Bram Stoker's book, so, having no garlic or crucifixes, nor silver bullets, we decided to get out of town before sundown.

WARNING!- Banned Poem!

Education for Leisure

Today I am going to kill something. Anything.
I have had enough of being ignored and today
I am going to play God. It is an ordinary day,
a sort of grey with boredom stirring in the streets
I squash a fly against the window with my thumb.
We did that at school. Shakespeare. It was in
another language and now the fly is in another language.
I breathe out talent on the glass to write my name.
I am a genius. I could be anything at all, with half
the chance. But today I am going to change the world.
Something’s world. The cat avoids me. The cat
knows I am a genius, and has hidden itself.
I pour the goldfish down the bog. I pull the chain.
I see that it is good. The budgie is panicking.
Once a fortnight, I walk the two miles into town
For signing on. They don’t appreciate my autograph.
There is nothing left to kill. I dial the radio
and tell the man he’s talking to a superstar.
He cuts me off. I get our bread-knife and go out.
The pavements glitter suddenly. I touch your arm.

Carol Ann Duffy

This poem was banned by an examination board in England, after three complaints.

"A spokeswoman for AQA confirmed there had been three complaints, two referring to knife crime and a third about the description of a goldfish being flushed down the toilet. The first complaint about knives was made in 2004. The second, made in the summer by an exams officer, was then taken up by an MP.

The most recent complaint was made by Lutterworth grammar school’s exams invigilator, Pat Schofield, who welcomed the board’s decision and said: “I think it is absolutely horrendous - what sort of message is that to give to kids who are reading it as part of their GCSE syllabus?”

The AQA spokeswoman said: “The decision to withdraw the poem was not taken lightly and only after due consideration of the issues involved. We believe the decision underlines the often difficult balance that exists between encouraging and facilitating young people to think critically about difficult but important topics and the need to do this in a way which is sensitive to social issues and public concern.”

*(GCSE, "general certificate of secondary education, exams taken by 16 yr olds)

This sparked a fierce debate.... Okay, not much of a debate at all really. In Britain our kids are not very likely to decide to take a gun into school, although... in some inner city areas.. but, knives. Knives are in our minds following several fatal stabbings amongst school-age children-and not just the boys. So the subject is indeed delicate. I can, to some extent see the aforementioned Ms Schofield's point of view.
Should poems and other literature taught in school be devoid of violence for fear that pupils will copy?

The poet herself provides a balancing riposte.

Mrs Schofield's GCSE -by Carol Anne Duffy

You must prepare your bosom for his knife,

said Portia to Antonio in which

of Shakespeare's Comedies? Who killed his wife,

insane with jealousy? And which Scots witch

knew Something wicked this way comes? Who said

Is this a dagger which I see? Which Tragedy?

Whose blade was drawn which led to Tybalt's death?

To whom did dying Caesar say Et tu? And why?

Something is rotten in the state of Denmark - do you

know what this means? Explain how poetry

pursues the human like the smitten moon

above the weeping, laughing earth; how we

make prayers of it. Nothing will come of nothing:

speak again. Said by which King? You may begin.