REMEMBER: When camping, always use tend pegs. And use them well ; )
Looking to sell your camping equipment? Try out free local advertisement at americanlisted.com.
Tuesday, 23 September 2008
Wednesday, 10 September 2008
Does the tent come with home insurance?
This summer festivals seem more fashionable than ever. The whole point of being at a festival used to be that you could escape reality and forget about being fashionable, just letting your hippy self loose for the short time you were there. It did not matter if you got covered in mud because you would be wearing your old clothes, your wellies and a big shapeless waterproof.
Today it is a whole different story. Lots of thought goes into what you pack for a festival these days. The juxtaposition of scruffiness and glamour has produced a whole new look in itself...you want the ‘festival look’ without looking like you have tried too hard.
The dilemmas of what to take to a festival in a field that ensures you fit the bill of being effortlessly cool and fashionable, comfy and weatherproof (sun or rain) is one that feels almost unfair. It’s alright for the thoughtless celebrities like Kate Moss who made dressing for festivals de rigeur. She doesn’t have to sleep in a tent, probably gets a shower every day and can afford to chop floor length gold gowns at the buttocks and team it with a £400 belt. Scruffy chic, yeah whatever!
In fact I took this quote from www.catwalkqueen.tv/2007/06/girls_pay_500_t.html just to prove my point.
“In a survey conducted by Freeview it was revealed that a third of people bought new clothes and posh tents to take with them, while 27% of people confessed to spending about £500 on a festival weekend.”
I find that my problem is trying to resist packing my whole house into my (massive) back pack. I hate camping in the rain because the wetter it is, the more stuff you need. Two of everything in case the other gets wet, waterproofs, umbrellas, wet wipes for yourself and your wellies, a bigger towel (or two), socks…you get the picture.
This year I am tempted to hire a podpad instead of bothering with a tent. A podpad for those of you who are not familiar with new festival accommodation is a wooden house made by slotting together bits of treated wood. It is tall enough for you to stand up in and even has raised beds a light and a shelf inside. There are cute little windows and a lock on the door, hell it probably comes with home insurance. Now that’s my kind of festival accommodation!
There are so many festivals now I never know which one to choose. I am not loyal to any of them, the sort of person that likes to keep their options open if you like. There is Glastonbury the daddy of all festivals, the Secret Garden Party, V Festival, the Isle of White Festival, Bestival, ‘breath’ the list goes on. I feel as though I have so much choice that I am bound to choose the wrong one.
The grass is always greener on the other festival site or so the saying goes.
Today it is a whole different story. Lots of thought goes into what you pack for a festival these days. The juxtaposition of scruffiness and glamour has produced a whole new look in itself...you want the ‘festival look’ without looking like you have tried too hard.
The dilemmas of what to take to a festival in a field that ensures you fit the bill of being effortlessly cool and fashionable, comfy and weatherproof (sun or rain) is one that feels almost unfair. It’s alright for the thoughtless celebrities like Kate Moss who made dressing for festivals de rigeur. She doesn’t have to sleep in a tent, probably gets a shower every day and can afford to chop floor length gold gowns at the buttocks and team it with a £400 belt. Scruffy chic, yeah whatever!
In fact I took this quote from www.catwalkqueen.tv/2007/06/girls_pay_500_t.html just to prove my point.
“In a survey conducted by Freeview it was revealed that a third of people bought new clothes and posh tents to take with them, while 27% of people confessed to spending about £500 on a festival weekend.”
I find that my problem is trying to resist packing my whole house into my (massive) back pack. I hate camping in the rain because the wetter it is, the more stuff you need. Two of everything in case the other gets wet, waterproofs, umbrellas, wet wipes for yourself and your wellies, a bigger towel (or two), socks…you get the picture.
This year I am tempted to hire a podpad instead of bothering with a tent. A podpad for those of you who are not familiar with new festival accommodation is a wooden house made by slotting together bits of treated wood. It is tall enough for you to stand up in and even has raised beds a light and a shelf inside. There are cute little windows and a lock on the door, hell it probably comes with home insurance. Now that’s my kind of festival accommodation!
There are so many festivals now I never know which one to choose. I am not loyal to any of them, the sort of person that likes to keep their options open if you like. There is Glastonbury the daddy of all festivals, the Secret Garden Party, V Festival, the Isle of White Festival, Bestival, ‘breath’ the list goes on. I feel as though I have so much choice that I am bound to choose the wrong one.
The grass is always greener on the other festival site or so the saying goes.
Friday, 5 September 2008
The sexy Olympics
In recent debates about whether or not journalists should comment on an athletes looks, many people expressed the view that to do this would be demeaning to most men and women of the sporting profession.
Looking at pictures on my laptop of the Olympic athletes competing in Beijing however, it only enforces my opinion that the human body is a beautiful thing that should be complimented. Far from shying away from writing about the excellent bodies and looks of these five star athletes we should be making more of them. In an age where obesity is rife and the idea that skinny is fashionable prevalent in nearly all fashion publications then why not sing praises over the honed athletic perfection that we are witnessing at this Olympics?
Athletes have impressive bodies however this standard is only achieved because sport and exercise is their profession, it should not be the view that everyone should look this way. Wouldn’t it be more productive however, if people should aspire not to look like fashion model twigs but more like healthy sports personalities, appreciating athletes for their aesthetic as well as for what that aesthetic can do?
The issue is when specific athletes are always singled out and also the nature of the comments that are made. When it becomes evident that an athlete is getting praise just because of his or her looks then there is a problem. I can understand the opinion that beauty is in the eye of the beholder and that one persons Cinderella is another’s ugly sister but why not find something in everybody to celebrate? There is no problem with complimenting the way certain people look but there is a problem with deriding the way others look. This sort of attitude creates a sense of worthlessness in people who have less complimentary attention.
Of course I am not talking about society at large but for those in the sporting profession. People in the public eye will always be subject to aesthetic criticism whether it is politicians through newspaper caricature cartoons or pop stars who often actively try to ‘package’ themselves through their appearance. Athletes however should be looked up to in terms of appearance. They are trying to better the workings of their body not their sex appeal and this should be accepted and rejoiced in whatever the subjective opinions of individual journalists. Singling out individuals and making sexual innuendos will always be tactless and tasteless; appreciating athletes as a whole on the other hand is a completely different story.
So, next time you sit down to watch an Olympic event feel free to enjoy it in whatever way you choose. Sport is also about personality and physicality as well as performance and no one should be made to feel guilty for appreciating all three elements. I can’t think of a healthier way to look at sport.
Looking at pictures on my laptop of the Olympic athletes competing in Beijing however, it only enforces my opinion that the human body is a beautiful thing that should be complimented. Far from shying away from writing about the excellent bodies and looks of these five star athletes we should be making more of them. In an age where obesity is rife and the idea that skinny is fashionable prevalent in nearly all fashion publications then why not sing praises over the honed athletic perfection that we are witnessing at this Olympics?
Athletes have impressive bodies however this standard is only achieved because sport and exercise is their profession, it should not be the view that everyone should look this way. Wouldn’t it be more productive however, if people should aspire not to look like fashion model twigs but more like healthy sports personalities, appreciating athletes for their aesthetic as well as for what that aesthetic can do?
The issue is when specific athletes are always singled out and also the nature of the comments that are made. When it becomes evident that an athlete is getting praise just because of his or her looks then there is a problem. I can understand the opinion that beauty is in the eye of the beholder and that one persons Cinderella is another’s ugly sister but why not find something in everybody to celebrate? There is no problem with complimenting the way certain people look but there is a problem with deriding the way others look. This sort of attitude creates a sense of worthlessness in people who have less complimentary attention.
Of course I am not talking about society at large but for those in the sporting profession. People in the public eye will always be subject to aesthetic criticism whether it is politicians through newspaper caricature cartoons or pop stars who often actively try to ‘package’ themselves through their appearance. Athletes however should be looked up to in terms of appearance. They are trying to better the workings of their body not their sex appeal and this should be accepted and rejoiced in whatever the subjective opinions of individual journalists. Singling out individuals and making sexual innuendos will always be tactless and tasteless; appreciating athletes as a whole on the other hand is a completely different story.
So, next time you sit down to watch an Olympic event feel free to enjoy it in whatever way you choose. Sport is also about personality and physicality as well as performance and no one should be made to feel guilty for appreciating all three elements. I can’t think of a healthier way to look at sport.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)