Eclectic Ramblings

Would You In Łódź?"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_z4X0aK3NM

Promotional video for Lodz/Woodge. Seems I am working for the Lodz tourist board at the moment.

Litzmannstadt Ghetto

Working in Lodz, Poland at the moment, turns out it is a fascinating place. The scale of the place is so impressive. Most of it was built during the late 1800’s as a result of the textile industry and it must of been very profitable as you can see from the mansions on Piotrkowska street.

Went on a trail around the Litzmannstadt Ghetto on Sunday. It starts in the Baluty district of Lodz. A plaque on the wall reveals the past – a former Gestapo office now used as a shop. White lines on the pavement indicate the boundary of the Ghetto. Inside around 230,000 Jews, former residents of Lodz, were contained. The trail takes you past several other important sites and then on to the Jewish cemetery. This shows the wealth of the Jews before 1939 (huge – house sized tombstones) and the atrocities that followed (large numbers of people are buried here that died in the Ghetto from illness). Then onto the Radegast statio

n, perhaps the most disturbing place. A train and wagon awaits you at the station. You can walk on the wagon to sense something of what it must have been like to have been carted away from Lodz not knowing your grim fate. As the Ghetto was emptied more Jews were shipped in from Germany, Czechoslovakia, Austria and Luxemburg. At the end less than a 1,000 Jews survived.

Catch-up

Spent 2007 in Newcastle working with Accenture. Holiday in France – Paris + South of France (Mandelieu la Napoule+Cannes).

2008 first half travelling to Telford, again, then switched jobs to EMCC in Manchester. Bad move they went bump only a few months later. A cruel comment has been “maybe this was not a concidence”. Holiday in Marbella.

Martin has got me in to bird watching – am now spending a couple of pounds a week feeding the local birds (Sparrows, Blue tits, Chaffinches, Wrens, Bull Finches).

Greg has renewed my interest in growing vegetables (perhaps because I was made redundant when EMCC went bust).

Macc Bikeathon

Did the Macclesfield Bikeathon last weekend. 13 miles around the Macclesfield countryside (via Siddington) to raise money for Marie Curie Cancer Care. It was a gorgeous sunny day and we really enjoyed it. The event is very well organised with marshalls and refreshments (drinks plus Jaffa cakes) along the way. What more could you ask for? Pleased with my time this year 1 hour 35. even thinking about doing another bikeathon – Chester have one on the 24th June.

<http://macclesfieldbikeathon.com/>

Labels: Bikeathon, Cancer, Macclesfield, Marie Curie

What does not kill you strengthens you

Ignoring the forecast bad weather we set off into Macclesfield forest from Trentabank carpark. Climbing through the tree lined paths the weather was sunny and we were sheltered from the wind. Once we emerged onto the open plain the biting wind cut into our comfort. As we walked along the stone path to the pimple, that is the Matterhorn of Cheshire, it started to hail/snow. The driving wind forced the hail like pins into a cushion into your face. However, only as we reached the peak did the weather vent its full fury. Facing the wind it was impossible to breath with the wind and hail jetting into you. It was very scary for a couple of minutes. We gradually managed to make our way down the slope.

On reaching the bottom of the hill we settled down to a cup of tea and baps filled with burger/bacon/eggs at Nice Nosh. Excellent food. If you have not tried it you really should. John specialises in local, quality sourced ingredients crafted into tasty snacks.

<http://www.peakdistrictonline.co.uk/products.php?productId=316&categoryId=179&page=1>

Labels: Walks

Killing Fields

We met at 9am on a dank grey winter morning in the car park next to a wood with trepidation about the day's events. Other groups also formed some of whom, maybe it was just my imagination, looked more gorilla than human in form. Each group eyeing the other suspiciously. Clearly they were more experienced and willing to do battle. My foreboding increased – was it too late to change my mind. Stories from friends had not helped my state of mind.

On entering the site in the wood, with little formality, our conscription papers were taken from us and we were handed our kit ( head mask, damp black overalls, a plastic bag of paintballs and what looked like a vessel for holding bodily fluids which was actually a container for the paintballs). On closer investigation the paintballs appeared fairly hard but reassuringly it was possible to squeeze them between your fingers. Bright yellow paint oozed out.

The area we were in resembled a scene from Mash – army tents, wooden buildings and benches covered in camouflage netting ( presumably to protect us from some imaginary airstrikes). The mood amongst the troops was sombre. The marshals dressed in high visibility yellow jackets gave us a safety talk stressing the importance of following the rules – people have been seriously hurt during these exercises in the past. Gulp.

At last we were handed our rifles (CO2 powered) and we able to test them out at targets on a shooting range. The guns made a slight popping sound as the paintballs were fired. Holding the trigger down caused the gun to rapid fire. Then it was onto the first battle zone – Bridge. Our team colour-coded white was against the nasty evil good for nothing oranges. At the start of the first game I must admit to some fear at being hit by the paintballs but by the second game I was a crazed battle hardened commando. The only good orange is one covered in yellow paint. Each game lasted 10 minutes each way with 6 games in total ( Graves - Shapes, Bridge, Hostage, Speed Ball, Attack / Defend Building and Jungle ). As the day progressed we gained confidence and started to try different strategies – it was like being in the army but with no real danger of being killed. On the final game Greg ran into the center of the game zone under heavy fire to try and collect a flag whilst given protection by the other members of the team.

This was pure fun but it was hard not to make comparisons standing in six inches of freezing cold mud with pellets flying around your head in the rain with some of the experiences I imagine happened in the World War 1 trenches. Taking breaks after each game for tea made with slightly dirty cups only added to the realism.

I would highly recommend paintballing for ages 14 years up wards. You do need to be able to withstand slight bruising but nothing more than that. Even Ghandi might enjoy paintballing. A great release for pent up frustration.We were joined by Callum, Alex, and Brandon. We counted them all out and we counted them all in again.

http://www.ipg.uk.net/

Paris Training

Spent last week in Paris for intense training session. Stressful experience as had exam at the end of the week which still don't know if I passed (ugh).

Good Food, Excellent wine. Many interesting people.

http://www.les-fontaines.com/site_en/home/home.aspx

Meat and Tattie Pie

500 grams Stewing Steak - cut into cubes
Plain Flour
Sunflower oil
1 onion, peeled & diced
380 mls of beef stock
Salt & black pepper
500 grams of potatoes, peeled, cut into cubes about 1cm & boiled for 10 minutes
Short crust pastry

Dust the meat with the flour (add salt and pepper).
Heat the oil in a pan & fry the meat & onion until lightly browned. Add the stock.
Bring to the boil, cover and simmer for an hour or until the meat is tender.
Mix in the drained potato cubes. Put into a deep pie dish and cover with a short crust pastry crust.
Make slits in the top of the pastry (for the steam to escape), brush with beaten egg and bake for about 40 minutes at gas mark 6 until the pastry is golden brown.

Based on a recipe from Grandma Grimshaw

Eclectic Ramblings
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Sunday, August 09, 2009

Would You In Łódź?"

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Litzmannstadt Ghetto

Catch-up

Sunday, May 27, 2007

Macc Bikeathon

Sunday, March 18, 2007

What does not kill you strengthens you

Friday, December 29, 2006

Killing Fields

Sunday, September 17, 2006

Paris Training

Sunday, September 03, 2006

Meat and Tattie Pie

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