Martin McDowell's Blog » Leisure http://blog.martinmcdowell.com ... from a Slovenian in Wales Thu, 09 Sep 2010 19:11:10 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 Woody Pines in Cardigan http://blog.martinmcdowell.com/woody-pines-in-cardigan-1562.html http://blog.martinmcdowell.com/woody-pines-in-cardigan-1562.html#comments Sat, 27 Mar 2010 18:50:36 +0000 Martin McDowell http://blog.martinmcdowell.com/?p=1562

Woody Pines (woodypines.com)

What a great night. Never though I would like country & western music. Funny thing to hear it in the heart of Wales.

The guys played great and made a great atmosphere despite the hall not being completely full.

As a fellow guitarist I was impressed and did appreciate how quickly the vocalist and guitarist Woody recovered from a broken guitar string.

By the way, I thought the name of the band “Woody Pines” came from an association with the local North Carolina forests. In fact that is the name of the apparent leader of the group Woody (last name Pines, of course).

They are currently touring Scotland and they come very warmly recommended!

http://woodypines.com/

http://www.myspace.com/woodypines

Reblog this post [with Zemanta]
]]> http://blog.martinmcdowell.com/woody-pines-in-cardigan-1562.html/feed 0 Snemanje Robina Hooda – malce bližje http://blog.martinmcdowell.com/snemanje-robina-hooda-malce-blizje-1326.html http://blog.martinmcdowell.com/snemanje-robina-hooda-malce-blizje-1326.html#comments Wed, 01 Jul 2009 18:38:28 +0000 Martin McDowell http://blog.martinmcdowell.com/?p=1326 Slika z BBC strani, avtorja Scotty

Slika z BBC strani, avtorja Scotty

Včeraj sem šel spet malo na ogled do lokacije snemanja novega filma o Robinu Hoodu na obali Freshwater West in zadeve so se precej spremenile od prejšnjega tedna, ko sem bil nazadnje tam. Varnostnikov ni bilo veliko in tokrat so me vsaj spustili na plažo, kljub temu, da je na tam potekalo snemanje. Povsod sami statisti, večinoma v horizontali. Če se nisem spotaknil ob statista, sem se pa skoraj ob kako sulico. Mnogi so bili pokonci že od 4. ure zjutraj, da so jih ustrezno pripravili na snemanje in ko sem bil tam so morali biti pokonci okoli 10 ur, povrh vsega pa je še sonce žgalo. Ti res, spet so se mi zasmilili. Vsi so bili obleženi v obleke iz tistih časov (vsaj upam, da so bili iz tistih časov, kakšnih ustreznih prič nimam na voljo), na severnem delu plaže so bili, tako kot teden prej, statisti na konjih. One glavne zvezde me niso zanimale in opazovanje snemanja od blizu mi je bilo precej bolj cool.

Najprej sem se sprehodil gor in dol po plaži – svetovali so mi, naj hodim bolj vkraj pa se mi zdi da to ni bila najboljša ideja saj so ves čas po tem delu drveli avtomobili in štirikolesniki raznih vrst. Eden se je celo ustavil in mi ponudil prevoz do produkcijskega tabora na južnem delu. One hute, ki sem jih videl prejšnji teden, so že podrli. Od varnostnika sem izvedel, da trenutno poteka druga faza snemanja, in sicer snemanje podrobnosti, kjer glavni zvedniki niso vpleteni. Prav tako je bilo zaključeno snemanje večjih scen, kjer so bili vklopljeni številni statisti in konji.

Danes so se v lokalnem časopisu tudi razpisali o gospodu Crowe-u – kaj sočnih podatkov niso razkrili, so pa potrdili, da je njegov plan, da bi se vsak dan prevažal na snemanje s helikopterjem iz prijateljeve posesti v Buckinghamshire-ju, ni bil izvedljiv, tako da je snemanje preživel v produkcijskem taboru ob snemališču. Verjetno je malo precenil oddaljenost Walesa od Londona. Matr sam smo res daleč od prestolnice, mi noben ne verjame !!!

So pa v zgoraj omenjenem lokalnem časopisu tudi objavili, kako je šel na večerjo s soigralci in čisto lepo se je obnašal in popolnoma nič zvezdniško. Gostilna se imenuje Carew Inn in je v neposredni bližini srednjeveškega gradu Carew. Še celo toliko se je sprostil, da je pobral kitaro in zapel par pesmi – ena od teh naj bi bila “Leaving on a jet plane” Johna Denverja. Za hvaležnost je uslužbencev dal 350 britanskih funtov vredno napitnino. Imam tudi nekaj fotografij s tega gradu, ki jih je posnela moja mama.

Ajd, dost je, sem dal danes ven modrostni zob in se mi ne piše več. Mi je zobozdravnik dal navodila in me ddrugim tudi piše, da se moram izogibat alkoholu. Ja, pa še to!!??

Nekaj super fotk z BBC-jeve strani…

Related articles by Zemanta
Reblog this post [with Zemanta]
]]> http://blog.martinmcdowell.com/snemanje-robina-hooda-malce-blizje-1326.html/feed 0 Snemanje Robina Hooda – od daleč http://blog.martinmcdowell.com/snemanje-robina-hooda-od-dalec-1308.html http://blog.martinmcdowell.com/snemanje-robina-hooda-od-dalec-1308.html#comments Sun, 28 Jun 2009 19:30:44 +0000 Martin McDowell http://blog.martinmcdowell.com/?p=1308 P6230013V mesecu juniju 2009 so pričeli nedaleč od tod s snemanjem naslednje filmske upodobitve princa tatov – Robina Hooda.

Lokacija, kjer poteka snemanje, se imenuje Freshwater West in gre za eno lepših plaž v Pembrokeshire-ju in Wales-u nasploh. Tu so pejšnji mesec celo snemali naslednji film o Harryu Potterju. Produkcija za Robina Hooda pa je precej večja in vključuje veliko več ljudi in opreme. Pred tedni so imeli v bližnji dvorani avdicijo za statiste in prijaviti se jih je hotelo veliko več, kolikor je bilo mest na voljo.

Ogled galerije.

Ker je produkcija tega filma tako velika, so uspeli pri občini (izraz občina upoorabljam kot nadomestilo za county council, v tem konkretnem primeru Pembrokeshire County Council) dobiti dovoljenje za dvotedensko zaprtje lokalne ceste, ki poteka mimo plaže, kjer se bo snemalo največ prizorov. Očitno prihaja do manjših zamud, saj so morali zaprositi za podaljšanje tega dovoljenja za nekaj dni.

Sam sem bil priča snemanju prejšnji torek. Čeprav so govorili, da bo plaža odprta za javnost, to skoraj ni bilo mogoče realizirati, saj je med snemanjem tam ogromno opreme in statistov, tako da do plaže sploh nisi mogel, je bila pa odprta pot ob plaži in ima tudi posebno ime – Pembrokeshire coastal path. Na njej je bilo kar nekaj opazovalcev in fotografov, ki so opazovali dogajanje med snemanjem. Očitno so se pripravljali na snemanje spopadom med nekakšno srednjeveško pehoto s sulicami in konjenico. Stal sem ravno nad severnim delom plaže, kjer so ravno takrat počivali konji z jezdeci. Na sliki se prav dobro vidi, da so precej izmučeni in da se jim kaj dosti ne da. Ko jih je šef začel klicati naj grejo na konje, jih je moral včkrat nadreti naj že spravijo riti na sedla in odsmrdijo do snemališča.

Sredi zaliva pred Freshwater West plažo je bilo kar nekaj plovil, nekateri v stilu robinhoodovskih časov (baje) in nekateri malo bolj današnji. No, iz enega iz slednje skupine se je vsake toliko časa izpustil gost oblak dima – verjetno je šlo za posebno meglo, ki jo uporabljajo za snemanje. Ta megla se je najprej razprostrla preko zaliva in potem še naprej na celino in prav čudno je smrdela.

P6230029Tik pred snemanjem se je potem pojavil še helikopter za katerega sem najprej sumil, da je pripeljal glavne zvezde – najverjetneje pa je bil uporabljen samo za snemanje – na nosu je imel namreč namontirano ogromno okroglo belo ohišje s kamero v njej. Ko snemanja ni bilo, je šel začasno “parkirat” na bližnji hrib. Takoj, ko se je snemanje nadaljevalo, je zopet zaštartal motorje in nadaljeval delo. Meni je bilo vse skupaj precej zanimivo, ker še nikoli nisem bil na prizorišču snemanja filma, kaj šele za snemanje tako velikega holivudskega filma. Bi bilo kar kul, če bi me spustili na plažo, da bi si zadevo bolje ogledal in kaj poslikal – avtogram Russel-a Crowe-a me namreč niti malo ne interesira.

P6230015

Na trenutke je bilo dogajanje na plaži kar gledljivo, prav kamlu pa se mi je začelo dolgočasit. Prav hecno pa je bilo gledati eno prvih vaj pri spopadu prej omenjene pehote in konjenice. Ko se je režiser zadrl “Action” in ko so planili eni proti drugim, se je režiser kmalu zadrl “Cut”. Statisti so bili očitno toliko zagreti ali pa so začasno oglušeli, da so nadaljevali z bitko, tako da se je moral režiser še večkrat zadreti Rez …  rez, da so končno prenehali s klofanjem. Fotograf, ki je spremljaj dogajanje mi je povedal, da gre za igralce rugbija, ki so bili precej zagreti za dober “fajt”.

Na koncu sem si še mimogrede ogledal prizorišče snemanja, ki naj bi še prišlo na vrsto – ob plaži, nad plitvimi pečinami, so postavili nekakšne manjše enostavne koče.

Na dan pa že curljajo novice iz samega snemanja. Čisto slučajno se je kolegičina mama uspela slikati z glavnim igralcem Russelom Crowom. Sem pa iz zanesljivih virov izvedel, da je nek statist, ki je bil zaposlen kot veslač v filmu, stopil do Russel-a in ga poprosil za fotografiranje ali avtogram. Russel mu je obljubil, da ni problema in se lahko zmenita, ko pride nazaj. No, nazaj je prišel le nek asistent , ki je tipu (veslaču) zabičal, naj ne nadleguje glavnega igralca in naj se pod nosom obriše za fotografijo in avtogram. Pijar, da mu ni para.

View towards the south. You can see a tractor "combing" the sand next to the wood stacks

View towards the south. You can see a tractor "combing" the sand next to the wood stacks

Slišal sem tudi za novico, da se je pri snemanju prevrnila barka na kateri so bili konji z jezdeci. Kar nekaj jih je bilo pripeljano v lokalno urgenco. Konjem, po poročilih, ni bilo nič hudega. So pa imeli še eno težavo, ko so spet druge barke pri snemanju, nasedle na mivko. Pri tem je prišlo do hujših težav s posebnimi motorji Mercury Verado saj so se ti, kljub mehki mivki, poškodovali. Poklicati so morali neko lokalno podjetje, ki je zastopnik za te motorje, da so zadevo rešili.

Snemanje bo potekalo še kar nekaj dni in na dan bo, prav gotovo, prišlo še kar nekaj zanimivosti.

Ogled galerije.

Related articles by Zemanta

Še nekaj fotografij, zmontiranih v filmček, avtorja wizard327:

]]> http://blog.martinmcdowell.com/snemanje-robina-hooda-od-dalec-1308.html/feed 0 Trekking the hills of Snowdon http://blog.martinmcdowell.com/trekking-the-hills-of-snowdon-1229.html http://blog.martinmcdowell.com/trekking-the-hills-of-snowdon-1229.html#comments Thu, 11 Jun 2009 09:56:12 +0000 Martin McDowell http://blog.martinmcdowell.com/?p=1229 snowdon_01

Ever since I moved to Wales 2 years ago I had a quiet wish to climb the highest peak in this country – Snowdon. Last weekend was showing to be a perfect opportunity to fulfil that wish. I was working only till 12 pm and the forecast was for sunshine and high temperatures stretching way into the following week. Getting some good literature, so you know what your are doing, is very advisable.

View from Garnedd Ugain: to the right is Snowdon and to the left is Y Lliwedd with its three peaks ) from left Lliwedd Bach, East peak and West peak. Any similarities with Triglav are strictly coincidental :-)

View from Garnedd Ugain: to the right is Snowdon and to the left is Y Lliwedd with its three peaks ) from left Lliwedd Bach, East peak and West peak. Any similarities with Triglav are strictly coincidental :-)

If you are based in southwest Wales it is a good idea to head up there on the day before you are climbing as the road trip takes you over three hours. There are no motorways or even dual carriageways between the south and north parts of Wales! Instead of going for a more expensive option of a hotel or B&B (the decision to go to Snowdon was make pretty late and the hotel accommodations were either not available or very pricey) I opted for a campsite. The last camping I did was for a skydiving tournament that was held in my “home” DZ in Prečna near Novo mesto a few years back and I was a bit worried I might forget to bring along something essential. Hold that thought.

See the full photo gallery here.

There was a slight snag with camping in this part of Wales. I looked at the weather forecast and the low day temperatures were very, very close to freezing – and I mean 0° or 1°C. This was the forecast for Llanberris. So instead I went for campsites a bit closer to the sea and, of course, the warmth. I found one close to the town of Penrhyndeudraeth called Barcdy. Would recomend it, but it is a bit more pricey then others: it cost £10/person/night for a tent – other campsites were around £6 or £7. The additional problem you might have to contend with is kids – there was a family that came to the camp after me and they put up their tent right next to mine and, you guessed it, had a bunch of very noisy kids with them. Don’t seem to be a big fan of them, but would maybe feel different, if they were mine – and I stress – MAYBE ;-) .

Coming back to the issue of forgetting things – by some strange reason I forgot to take my sleeping bag with me – when I returned home on Sunday it was there, sitting on the floor in my bedroom, waiting to be taken along. I put all my camping stuff on one big pile to pack in the car and somehow I missed it. Thank god for sat-navs and Tesco Extra. I found one in Bangor that was open 24/7 and had a good selection of camping gear. The other unpleasant thing that happened was my car. At about 2 or 3 am it decided it is being attacked or stolen and the alarm went off. Now usually I wouldn’t be that upset about it but it was parked just outside the tent about 2 m away from my head with not much soundproofing in-between (if you can consider a tent wall soundproofing, that is).

The following morning I set of quite early and arrived at the Pen-y-pass car park at about 7am as the parking spaces were just running out. Some trekkers were already returning from the summit! Come to think of it, it might have to do with the parking as there were no parking attendants at that time in the morning. Just a word of warning – bring enough change. The parking is a pay-and-display and it is quite expensive, especially if you are staying longer than 3 or 4 hours as the parking is about £6 and the machine does not take notes. At that time in the morning there is nowhere to get change so you have to bring enough along. I, of course, did not have enough but an angel appeared in a form of another climber who saw my predicament and just gave me the missing three pounds in coins – just like that. I couldn’t believe what happened, I was in shock. I quickly realized I did have a £5 note and I ran after him and caught him on the parking lot just before he set off to the summit, gave him the £5 note and thanked him for about the fifth or sixth time. Really, why should he be out of pocket, I did had the money but just not in coins. See, there are still some nice people going around who will help you when you need it. I don’t know his name but I am sure his good deeds will be rewarded sooner or later.

The trek itself started off on a reasonable steep incline, with the morning sun warming my shoulders. I started on the Pyg track and then turned right on top of the pass to continue on the Crib Goch path. Now I would not recommend this route for beginners or young children – it can be very tricky. The majority of the track runs along the Crib Goch ridge and in some places is only about a metre wide with sheer cliffs on either side. Then you also have to contend with the wind trying to blast you off the cliff. If you have fear of hights then give this route a miss. You also might freeze on that ridge from fear and getting you down could prove to be very tricky. The route is also not recommended as a descend from Snowdon. I was surprised how much climbing was actually involved, much more than I was used to in mountains in Slovenia. This took a toll on my legs and I had to stop a few times, even on the descent, to relive the cramps in my upper legs.

There were not many climbers on the Crib Goch path but once you reach the 3m marker stone you joined the rest of climbers from the Pyg and Miners track and there were loads of them on that beautiful day. On this weekend it was like downtown Haverfordwest – full of people. The remainder is a short walk up to the summit walking by the Snowdon railtrack.

The Snowdon Mountain Railway goes right to the top of the Snowdon summit edit Delete caption

The Snowdon Mountain Railway goes right to the top of the Snowdon summit edit Delete caption

The descent on the Miners Track was a bit tedious and still quite stressful on the legs – it is almost completely covered by rock slabs and that does not make a very comfortable walking surface. In other places you have smaller stones and there you have to watch you dont sprain an ancle. There are some nice views of the lakes (see photo gallery) and the end part of the track is very easy – like a walk in a park :-)

At the time of my trek on May 30th the top railway station was closed for renovations and there were no refreshments or toilets available. I was surprised not to see a local entrepreneur selling us drinks and snacks – I remember seeing someone at the top of Triglav and there definitely weren’t as many people on that summit as there were on Snowdon.

Glaslyn lake

Glaslyn lake

Reblog this post [with Zemanta]
]]> http://blog.martinmcdowell.com/trekking-the-hills-of-snowdon-1229.html/feed 0 Robin Hood filmset all ready at Freshwater West http://blog.martinmcdowell.com/robin-hood-filmset-all-ready-at-freshwater-west-1238.html http://blog.martinmcdowell.com/robin-hood-filmset-all-ready-at-freshwater-west-1238.html#comments Wed, 10 Jun 2009 06:55:52 +0000 Martin McDowell http://blog.martinmcdowell.com/?p=1238 Second location at the south Freshwater West carpark

Second location at the south Freshwater West carpark

Had the opportunity to have a walk from Angle to the Freshwater West beach and it looks the production team has a lot of logistics to deal with. They seem to have chosen two locations to pitch-up marquees, one is just of the turn from the road to Angle on B4320 and B4319. The second, you could say the main, location is right next to the beach at the southern carpark.

The first one looks like its going to house animals, I presume horses. Actually I am surprised there is nobody already writing about this who is already involved with the production. Perhaps they have a confidentiality clause ;-) Well I don’t :-) )

Just a warning to anyone who would want to have a look at the filming location. The B4319 road will be closed next week from June 15th to June 30th.

Related articles by Zemanta
]]> http://blog.martinmcdowell.com/robin-hood-filmset-all-ready-at-freshwater-west-1238.html/feed 2 Freshwater West meets Harry Potter and Robin Hood http://blog.martinmcdowell.com/freshwater-west-meets-harry-potter-and-robin-hood-1190.html http://blog.martinmcdowell.com/freshwater-west-meets-harry-potter-and-robin-hood-1190.html#comments Wed, 22 Apr 2009 19:59:14 +0000 Martin McDowell http://blog.martinmcdowell.com/?p=1190 Freshwater West beach in Pembrokeshire

Freshwater West beach in Pembrokeshire

Of course not literally, but it was published today in the local newspaper that the Freshwater West (the location of one of my recent trecks: The difference is in the Angle) will be used as a filming location for the upcoming movies Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and Ridley Scott’s Robin Hood remake.

The debate is now mostly concerning whether the beach will still be opened to the public and when the road will be closed during the filming in May and June 2009. The biggest problem I see is that there isn’t much parking available close to the beach anyway so I suppose that is why they will shut the road off.

See the gallery from the hike here and here are some photos taken of the beach…

p4120055

p4120011

p4120054

Related articles by Zemanta
Reblog this post [with Zemanta]
]]> http://blog.martinmcdowell.com/freshwater-west-meets-harry-potter-and-robin-hood-1190.html/feed 9 Is the Ryanair website really so bad http://blog.martinmcdowell.com/is-the-ryainair-website-really-so-bad-1067.html http://blog.martinmcdowell.com/is-the-ryainair-website-really-so-bad-1067.html#comments Sun, 15 Mar 2009 18:50:10 +0000 Martin McDowell http://blog.martinmcdowell.com/?p=1067 RuinairAccording to my experience, yes. I tell all Ryanair visitors in advance that this here is my personal opinion and will not allow the publication of rude comments from anyone.

I had the misfortune of booking my flight today only to be confronted with an error just at the point you would least like it – after purchase.

A while ago I found a blog post about a session problem with the Ryanair website here. OK, some bad responses from some Ryanair employees who basically did not apologize or acknowledge the problem. However here I am today using their website on this computer for the first time and just after confirming my credit card details get the message »Ryanair Session locked«. What does this mean? It did remind me of the problem mentioned on Jason’s blog as it involved problems with the sessions on the website transaction system.

I did get a confirmation by e-mail but I cannot verify my booking through the Ryanair website. OK, the natural thing would be to ask Ryanair about it. All they have for the UK is a hugely overpriced phone number 0905 566 0000 at £1.00 per minute!!! Why would I pay for Ryanair’s mistakes. So that made me a bit ticked off, hence this post.

Oh, yes, if Ryanair would like to contact me they can do so after paying me £5.00 for my troubles. And that goes for any possible comments for this post.

Related links:

I found the below joke very fitting for this post. I don’t know where it originated from but I found it on Vetsugeon.org

airline_2d00_charge

Reblog this post [with Zemanta]
]]> http://blog.martinmcdowell.com/is-the-ryainair-website-really-so-bad-1067.html/feed 12 Schmap-ing me http://blog.martinmcdowell.com/schmaping-me-637.html http://blog.martinmcdowell.com/schmaping-me-637.html#comments Thu, 14 Aug 2008 19:15:42 +0000 Martin McDowell http://blog.martinmcdowell.com/?p=637

The photo of Bristol Cathedral chosen for the fifth edition of the Schmap Bristol Guide

I received a mail today from an on-line publisher of digital travel guides called Schmap that my photo of Bristol Cathedral was chosen to be included in the fifth edition of the Schmap Bristol Guide.

I received an e-mail a while ago saying that the photo was short-listed for it and I didn’t think my photos were good enough for somebody to publish them in a guide. Well I am still not a great photographer, maybe not even a mediocre one as my equipment is testament to, but I am still proud to be chosen none the less :-)

The page with my photo can be seen here.

Update 9. April 2010

I have heard from the Amroth Castle website that they want to publish a couple of my photos that I took at the Robin Hood filming location in Freshwater West.

http://www.AmrothCastle.com

http://www.amrothcastle.com/PembrokeshireNationalPark.aspx

Reblog this post [with Zemanta]
]]> http://blog.martinmcdowell.com/schmaping-me-637.html/feed 0 Curdridge Country Show http://blog.martinmcdowell.com/curdridge-country-show-141.html http://blog.martinmcdowell.com/curdridge-country-show-141.html#comments Tue, 22 Jul 2008 19:03:28 +0000 Martin McDowell http://blog.martinmcdowell.com/?p=141 To soboto sem imel priložnost ogledati si nadvse angleški sejem z mnogimi angleškimi tradicijami vključenimi v program. Šlo je za nek lokalni sejem v majhnem mestecu Curdridge v grofiji Hampshire. Sejem je trajal en dan in na njem je bilo najti od lokalnih avtomobilskih prodajalskih podjetij do malih prodajalcev z nakitom.

Imeli so tudi hortikulturni šotor, kjer so imeli tudi nagradno žrebanje ter osrednji prireditveni prostor, kjer so med drugim imeli britansko različico pihalnega orkestra – v tem primeru so bili to igralci dud v tradicionalnih škotskih oblačilih.

Precej me je pritegnila tudi razstava starih (vintage) avtomobilov. Temu so zgovorne fotke v Picasi.

Zemanta Pixie
]]> http://blog.martinmcdowell.com/curdridge-country-show-141.html/feed 0