Villebois Pouilly Fume 2011

This seems to be a wine that inspires controversy, it really is a love it or hate it.  Wine is always subjective but the responses to this Villebois Pouilly Fume 2011 appear to be more subjective than most.  Firstly the wine is definitely acidic, which is something i personally like a lot, I tasted thai s wine with a meal after a long ride,  so fresh from the shower tired and ready for the table, so with a clean palate and lungs flushed with Scottish fresh air there were no contaminants and I had a more than healthy appetite.

I tasted the wine before any food had touched my mouth and the acidity is striking, this wine is instantly refreshing, and there is a definite after taste, , I can imagine on a warm summers day slightly chilled this is a wine that one could easily drink  copiously with out noticing how much had been consumed. This is a wine for simmer pleasure and instant gratification, not thought provoking just fantastically drinkable.

Must Read

I, like anyone who is interested in cycling, have been following the Armstrong implosion with fascination and a variety of mixed emotions.  On one hand the sheer force of the man's personality and drive,  the way he attacked cancer as ruthlessly as he attacked a stage and it turns out any one who crossed him inspire simultaneously admiration and disgust. Which probably says more about us than it does him. Can aggression and ambition be tempered with humility and compassion?  Is it like trying to flip a coin and expect both heads and tails to show, or is it more like the coin landing against all odds perfectly on edge?  I have absolutely no idea what the answer is, but it has made me look at many aspects of my own life and wonder at my actions motivation s and my own morality. Armstrong clearly believes he has done no wrong, he has structured his own moral frame work that justifies his actions, in his world view what he did was right, it's just that his world view is substantially different from most other peoples, ( there is an argument that this is in fact sociopathic). I look back at timesI have lived through, one example springs to mind, many years ago as a serving Police officer I was involved in a multiple arrest of a group who were armed with a variety of weapons, it erupted into violence, and t here was a moment when I was literally fighting for my life, procedure, reasons for arrest, had all vanished the survival instinct had taken over, failure could have resulted in my death or at least serious injury.  What interests me though with hind sight is what happened to me during that moment, I had to win, and if I am completely honest, I enjoyed it. That is in itself frightening, The opponents were violent criminals who belonged away from society, of that there is no question, the actions of myself and the other officers involved were taken as a whole morally acceptable by the standards of our society, and the courts upheld this and imprisoned the offenders for numerous offences. But morally, even if my actions ( lets be legalistic about this)  my Actus rea were entirely legal and moral, at the out sent my mind; mens era was also at  a state entirely acceptable to society ( and me), but what happened when the adrenalin and endorphins started to trigger pleasure responses in my brain? There was a point when my mens rea was definitely not what was required by society even if my actions were. Siegfried Sassoon  describes something similar when he talks about becoming a "Happy Warrior".

The world wanted Lance Armstrong and he gave the world what the world wanted. To do this he cheated lied and mercilessly destroyed other people.  The world does not want this. This is a dilemma that society faces all the time, we want Saddam Hussein deposed but we don't want top see the twisted bodies of children killed by weapons paid for with our taxes, we want to live n a crime  free society but we do not want the Police to achieve this in the most practical manner, intact we want a police force that is so squeaky clean it is emasculated.   Basically we want our fantasy world, our heroes our military our police to be effective but we do not want the truth.  I recently saw an old documentary  about the SAS assault ion the Iranian embassy, the SAS soldiers involved were clearly very brave professional men, but it was also quite clear that they enjoyed the killing. They were killing bad guys ( from our perspective)  but they enjoyed their job none the less. Does that make it wrong? Should they be contrite? Personally I think not. How does this relate to Armstrong? Well I read a post on the blog  Velo Dramatic which linked Mitt Romney to Armstrong and it was that post that inspired the train of thought that lead to this one. In Arm strings mind, life is clearly a battlefield it is a win at all costs universe that surrounds him,  the haunting lyrics to the famous MASH theme sums it up perfectly;

The Game of Life is hard to play

I'm gonna lose it any way

The losing card I'll someday lay

So this is all I have to say

The only way to win is cheat

We all see the world through our own moral filters, Armstrong through his, it just happens that for most people there is a rough overlap or continuity between those moral filters Armstrong's was different. We might have lauded him on the battle field. According to most of us he was wrong the real question is now are we any better?

Look at the web site Velo Dramitic www.velodramatic.com it is a beautiful collection of photographs and a stimulating blog

Snubb Snob

My new JP Snubb arrived today. This is my third JP board. Now I admit to being something of a board snob, and whilst i knew that a fatter rounded nosed planning board was more appropriate for the generally insipid surf we have here in Aberdeen it took a lot of frustration before I finally admitted it. My first JP board was a T4 6'6, a fantastic board that I  surfed in Cameroon, Senegal and Mozambique. Unfortunately it is still stranded in Africa though I am doing my best to get it back. I had a 7'2"  narrow thruster made for the bigger holower days in West Africa which I have with me but struggles in the smaller weaker surf on the east coast. Tomorrow hopefully I shall launch the Snubb, full report to follow.

Hell, The Taliban or Chocolate

Today I made the mistake of going into "Hotel Chocolate" which is a bit like an ex heroin addict taking a sabbatical in Afghanistan, not  good idea. However, once we accept that rehab has failed better of buy good gear that putting any old junk in your body. And Hotel Chocolate does good gear. It was actually a slab of 70% cocoa dark chocolate fruit and nut slab that broke my resolve after which it was just down hill. However the nice thing about the high cocoa content chocolate is that it does not have hat silky sweet after taste the awful sugar spike, in fact as a deadly sin it's pretty damn good

Legend

Aftershave is something I am usually fairly conservative about, I know like and trust "Bleu de Channel", I like its crisp coolness, I put it on and forget. However I was given, by my wife, a bottle of Mont Blanc Legend, Eau de Toilette, which once one gets through the packaging , which is more over the top than even an Apple product, is served up in what looks like a small hip flask. The smell itself reflects that image ( no it does not make you smell like an inebriate), but it is definitely woody mossy, the touch of lavender makes a sort  of autumnal smell that definitely sits well with the idea of open hearths, hip flasks and grouse mores..  It's very warm and welcoming.

Breathless

This morning I was faced with one of life's dilemmas ; rubbish surf, on shore blown out and the possibility of hypothermia or an interesting bike ride with the possibility  of a great ride or hypothermia. I chose the ride, it's been awhile since I got some serious tarmac under my wheels, the roads seemed dry so Out came my beloved Wyndymilla. The first few minutes my legs complained, just the change over from the Trek and the indoor trainer required a little adjustment.  As soon as I was " warmed up though" things felt better and I headed for the open roads, in fact the Old Slug road that climbs and twits from Banchory to Stonehaven.  The gusting 22mph cross/head winds were biting the flurries of hail stung my face, and the fresh air forced itself in to my lungs.  There were a few other cyclist out, clad in bulky ski jacket typ outfits, where as I had trusted to my faithful Rapha Winter Jersey and a helly hnsen under shirt, there were times, particularly on the descents when I did consider getting home jumping on the net and ordering a classic-softshell-jacket but I am hoping that winter is nearly over. It is a treat I can wait for next year ( or move south). Anyway the over all the winter jersey did sterling work and in sub zero conditions with only two layers on 60 km/h descents it was never too painful.

 Being a roadie I do suffer from the compulsive stats syndrome, so; 2.400 calories, burnt ( not counting the reheating,
 Av Hr 144,
 max hr 168,
 descents, terrifying, 
Bike Wyndymilla Beasty Boy ( worth more than my car)
 Scottish Scenery , priceless. 

Wave Length a step in the right direction

I read many years ago in one of the very early issues of the now defunct "Atlantic Surfer" magazine  a short story spread over two issues " Legacy, the prospect of Surf Time and Space" by Neil Watson, the story was illustrated in grainy black and  grey slightly floral line drawings, and I knew I wanted to write. The next issue had a story about Indonesia which I recently learnt was inspired by one of my favourite books, The Heart Of Darkness. Atlantic Surfer did not last long and I had ( I was about eleven years old at the time) spent all my pocket money on a years subscription when it went belly up, I was heart broken, but Neil Watson's Stories Alex Williams's Photography and the general enthusiasm of that magazine changed my life, I need to surf, to travel and to write, I even had some early experimentation with surf photography, I had wonderful Minolta with me in Morocco, but in those days ( pre-digital) film was prohibitively expensive.

As a post grad ( I was a Bristol) I met Alex Dick Read ( now editor of Surfer's Path) and a long  haired walking stereo type of an Australian surfer from Nossa, pot smoking, itinerant, and an amazing raconteur, Danny Caine. Danny  was a few years older than the rest of us and was returning to education after a few years reaching English and Surfing in Japan, and had spent time living in a cave near Margaret River, had lived and worked in Indonesia. Danny was to became something of a role model for me, though he was tragically recently killed in a plane crash, whist herding sheep in Western Australia. Inspired by these encounters both human and printed I made my way to Morocco, planed trip 1 month  actual duration 5 years.

it all seems  distant past, as I sit in a frozen Aberdeen writing this, paddling out a Fresh water West or Aberystwyth  in the depth of Welsh winter with marigolds instead of gloves back then seemed so easy, even when the surf was just a rampage of white water without a face or peak in sight, it was a ritual.

Now I have with me a big wave board  for Africa ( made by JP in Wales)  which i brought back because it was the newest board I had, I left my other JP board behind and am still waiting for some one to transport it back. A fanatics quad that should be ideal for the local conditions.

Any way at long last, over 30 years after reading Neil's stories that I have finally achieved a two page spread in a UK surf Magazine WAVELENGTH,  but thanks to Danny, Bez Newton and many others the story it tells is true.

to go to Wavelength Mag CLICK HERE!