Tent Failure

Anyone who knows me will know that I have got a bit outdoorsy over recent times in an effort to stay fit. I think the pictures on the blog support that. One thing that has been playing on my mind is camping. It is something I have been curious about but never done. I have been invited along to a couple of trips to give it a go. I never had the right kit and usually had other stuff on so had to decline each time. That has all changed though. While on our daily lunchtime trek down Sauchiehall Street, me and Mac stumbled into Millets and walked out, each being a tent richer. I was thinking of the possibility of getting a tent maybe come festival season when there is a plentiful supply of them kicking about, but being one for a bargain, that day came early. I was now the pround owner of a Eurohike Backpacker tent for the bargain sum of £20 (saving £40 on the retail).

I have never tried to put a tent up and I wouldn't know where to start. With this in mind, I have left it sitting, waiting for a relatively nice day to set it up. Last weekend was chucking it down but today was the day. The ground looked alright and it was nice out. With my plot of land sorted (my garden), it was time to construct my summer house.



Remember when I said it was a nice day? I lied, it was very windy and even more so when you don't know what your doing and bits are flying to other gardens.



It was quite good though after the first pole was through as it let me gauge an idea to the size of it.



After getting the basic shape (pre guy ropes), I decided to call it a day and wait for it to die down. I know what you are gonna say, it'll be wet and windy when you use it. I know that, but I want to have the experience of building it first time round so I have a clue how to do it when the conditions are a bit adverse.



As usual, you can check out more photos with some comedy captions at the Picasa Web Album.

2011-02-20 - Tent Failure

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Project Disney: Hello Friends

The next period in Project Disney sees a slight detour off the path of what we all perceive to be Classic Disney. In the 40s, Disney released their so-called 'package films' due to a shortage of staff resulting from the war effort and the immediate aftermath. The most important one of these is probably the first one. Saludos Amigos was the result of an ambassadorial mission to South America funded by the US State department. Disney animation was well received in Latin America so the government felt they should be used to try and counteract the Nazi ties that existed on the continent. The notes and inspirations became Saludos Amigos and it's 1944 follow up - The Three Caballeros. The story of the trip is documented in the documentary Walt And El Grupo which I aim to cover in a bonus post when all 6 package films are complete.

With the backstory dealt with, I can move onto the actual movie. I have not checked, but at 40 minutes, this might be the shortest of the Disney Classics. Being a package movie, it is made up of four short animations inspired by Latin America with live action footage in between each one showing the animators on their trip. The movie is narrated in Portuguese with subtitles provided.

1. Lake Titicaca - In this short, Donald Duck plays an American tourist basically getting to grips with the local culture.


2. Pedro - In true Disney fashion, they used an inanimate object as the focal character. Pedro is a small plane who takes overthe mail delivery duties from his father. The short follows his trip through the Andes in a storm.


3. El Gaucho Goofy - Goofy portrays an American cowboy who is transported to the pampas to experiance what it is like to be his Argentinian equivalent.


4. Aquarela do Brasil - This is the one the previous three were building to. It embodies all the elements you assosciate with South America. Key to this are bright colours, the sounds and samba dancing. It follows Donald Duck being shown the latin dance from José Carioca, the "dapper Brazilian parrot" created specifically for South American audiences.

I'll be honest, I didn't like this one. Short no 4 was refreshing but I felt the preceding three were a bit labourious regardless of their runtime. I would maybe give it another viewing in the future but for now, it wasn't for me.

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Project Disney: Thumper

Bambi was no.5 of the Disney Animated Calssics. Again, this was another one that I had not seen before and to be honest, I didn't even know the premise of it. People kept telling me in the run up to it, that it is one of the saddest of the Disney films. I've seen Toy Story 3 so I was ready for anything.

As with Dumbo, this was presented in stunning quality on the Disney BluRay label. Based on what everyone was saying, I went into this expecting better than I got out of it. It was alright. I think my problem with it, is that The Lion King has borrowed some similarities from it and that is the one I grew up with so this felt a little bit of an imposter. Ironic, considering Bambi was over 50 years earlier.

With number 5 over, I am taking a break from the 'classics' we all know and love to view the ones I have never heard of. Nos 6-11 could be tough.

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Project Disney: When I See An Elephant Fly

Disney Classic no.4 was Dumbo, the timeless tale of social acceptance. When I started this, Dumbo was always set to be a special one. The reason being it is the first high definition viewing on the list. A lot of the list is currently sitting on my Sky HD box, taped from Disney Cinemagic, but this one is Blu Ray presented in the oriignal 4:3 aspect ration.

At only 63 minutes, this was an easy one to put on, and I'm glad I didn't put it off any longer. In the previous post, I said that Pinocchio was the first of what I consider to be the proper Disney films. It is nothing in comparison to Dumbo. This truly does warrant the term 'classic'. Visually, it may not be as strong as Pinocchio but the story more than makes up for this. It really is a tale which could only be told through the medium of animation.

Watching this has really set me up for getting through this list.

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Project Disney: The Sorceror's Apprentice

1940 saw the release of two feature length Disney movies. The first was Pinocchio as mentioned in the previous post, with the second being Fantasia. Fantasia is a strange one. It is not your nomral Disney feature. It is showcase of the animator's talents to visualise orchestral music with the movie being divided into 8 segments.

I remember watching this when I was young and really not liking it. Looking at it now with a more mature mind, you can see how it was a departure from what they acheived with the first two movies. It focusses on dark themes to bring the music to life. As expected, the visuals have dated. I believe they would have been out of this world back in 1940 but looking at it nowadays, it was a bit of a drag to watch and the two hour runtime didn't help matters.

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Project Disney: When You Wish Upon A Star

Next up on the Disney releases was 1940's Pinocchio. As with most of the films on the list, I know the premise but haven't seen the Disney version the full way through. And this is no different. I vaguely remeber seeing bits of this in the early 90's when the VHS was released around the time of the first Lion King release.

For me, this is the first proper Disney movie. It brings to life and gives a voice to characters that wouldn't exist in the real world which is the key Disney element. I think that was what my issue was with Snow White. All voiced characters were of this world. Fair enough, there was the mirror but that could have been in her mind.

The story of Pinocchio works well in the Disney format and it let them set their stall to show what can be acheived when you use an old story as the canvas.

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Project Disney: Mirror, Mirror, On The Wall

Project Disney officially kicked off last night. First on the list was Walt Disney's first feature length picture from 1937 - Snow White And The Seven Dwarves. Having never seen this one, I was quite looking forward to it. It was the film that started it all. All the other classics on the list came about due to the success of Snow White.

What happened with this, is something I feel will happen with a lot of the movies. I know the story but just haven't seen the movie. The film was not that bad. It wasn't the best Disney movie I have ever seen but I wasn't expecting it to be. It was from 1937 and a feature length animation had not been done before. The visuals were quite raw but I am looking at this as someone who grew up with the well established Disney movies of the 80's and early 90's and into the Pixar era. I did feel the storyline was a bit rushed. There was obviously a bond between Snow White and The Dwarves but it wasn't really showcased. Of the 80 minute running time, there was minimal interaction of the key 8 figures on screen together.

Overall, this achieved what I aim to achieve with this project, to watch the Disney movies I previously wouldn't care for and see the developement of animation over the past 77 years.

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