Sun-Dodgers grace Latitude

I must start this blog by just stating that Latitude was awesome... FACT! It was full of fun times, and music, and drink, and food, and comedy, and poetry and literature and lazy afternoons... I think that makes the perfect long weekend!

We saw so many great artists that its ridiculous to even consider it, but I shall try and break it down for you all. Before i talk about the brilliant artists, I shall venture into the relms of self-publication... There was an open-mic event in the poetry tent and I was stupid enough to sign up... this video is the harrowing (for me) evidence.

But enough about me and my escapades, here's a little breakdown into what and who we saw:

This is not technically an artist but we did see a mini Dr Who who was dressed up perfectly, with his sister doing a very good impression of a small Amy Pond, it was ridiculously cute, especially as the little Dr Who had a shock of ginger hair and they looked like the love children of the Dr and amy pond.

The Sunrise Arena was this perfect little tent hidden up on the hill in the woods and was a brilliant venue to see Lissie and First Aid Kit in the days, and Darwen Deez in the evening. I've like all these bands before but hearing them live has really got me excited about their stuff, and them as musicians. Lissie was astounding and certainly a voice that is going places!

Florence and the Machine on the Obelisk arena was the perfect way to end the first day at the festival. She previewed a couple of new songs, suitably dark and exciting and it was so much fun jumping around in the dark to all the classic songs. We even sung happy birthday for her little sister.

Frank Turner is an old time favourite for us and it was so much fun yelling political songs in the sunshine of an afternoon.

Mumford and sons were epic... i love these guys probably more than i should and the banjo always makes me dance, so to see them live was brilliant.

To contrast all these afternoons spent with male bands Laura Marling and Corrine Bailey Rae were peaceful, and beautiful and such a lovely way to chillax with the lady love with a cider in the sun.

Moving away from Music we probably managed to spend 40% of our time living by the lake, or in the two tents! We saw some beautiful ballet by Sadlers Wells by the lake and despite the crowds it was awe inspiring.

The poetry tent was a hot-bed for new talents and it was really good to see how new people are doing their thing... Joe Dunthorne and Luke Wright were especially good (go check them out!) and we even got to see Phil Jupitus as Porky the Poet (and comedian) for a whole hour of hilarious stories.

A highlight for the lady (and myself) was to see Sebastian Faulks speak and read from his two new books, he even managed a rather wonderful rendition of Alan Bennett for his Pistache book... (if this is not on youtube it should be!)

So this may not be quite as succinct as my normal blog posts, but take it as a representation of the madness and ad hoc nature of a festival.

To end i shall leave you with my poem about the whole occasion.

* * *

If the monsters came I knew I could find you

with your torch and your whippy sign

against the mist of the fountain

a projection of our destination

The daring sharp showers interrupted

a perfectly sedate sunshine

against the grass and tent collage

countless lost souls calling keep coming where?

in the forest at the top of the hill

as the guitar picks away as a soundtrack

the trees are whispering echoes of laughter

and mini-me doctor with his shock of ginger hair

dances with his sister and self

yesterday socks and wellingtons soak up the beer

from the animal hat-ed groups

their neon paint smeared across their faces

There’s those sneaky groups of couples

who don’t register the queue

and the families who use their kids

as their reason to go first

before the middle class find the need

for a helpful chalky rennie

and as the music begins to fade

the lights dance across the sky

I find you took away my pillow

and now my heads under my heart.

The Perils of a Cyclist

Someone during my weekend adventure decided that they wanted to start a diatribe about how much they hated cyclists, he compared them to canoeist who float down the river right in the way of bigger boats. I decided not to argue with him (he's quite a bit bigger than me) but I did want to make the point that as cyclists, we have our problems too, and we do not like getting the blame for being in the way. (we're legal road users too!!)

So, i've decided to tell you about some of the perils of being a cyclist...

Blind drivers. I am quite obvious, I wear a big red and white helmet, and I generally ride in the road, not hugging the curb, how then, did you pull out of a parking space, cross the road, and pull into another space on the other side of the road without seeing me, even though I had been cycling down said road for a good 5 minutes.

Angry, Impatient Drivers. I came across a lady in her car trying to zip down the lane (it was an attractive option as it was empty) and as i cycled down the said lane, keeping to the left of the lane (the right of the lane was a concrete barrier and i wasn NOT being pushed into that in a hurry) she started to honk her horn, even though in the lane that I needed to be in as i was turning right, she drove off rather quickly after she got passed me, I hope because she realised she was wrong.

Drivers who like to use the bike lane. Most drivers get annoyed at cyclists taking up their lanes so they have to go around us, understandable to a certain point, now why do you need to take up my little red lane (that isn't really big enough for me as it is) so that i can't get down the road, and don't get me started about the drivers who sit in the red boxes at junctions... THEY ARE TO PROTECT CYCLISTS!!

Anyway....

One of the most dangerous perils for a cyclist is in fact other cyclists, the posh types who like to scowl at you and shake their heads when you decided that although you are on the right of the park path, it would be more dangerous to go to the left (and correct) as there are pedestrians and her coming towards you.

If you are a cyclist who likes to use the park paths, and the bike paths (those that are part of the pavement but split into two for bikes and pedestrians) then you should be warned of people. That's right, I said people. Grown ups who like to stroll down the path clearly marked with a white bike, children who run around crazily and even dogs (not kept on leads) who stroll so slowly down the middle of the path that you have to stop just in case.

*insert disclaimer here, I actually like people, children and animals*

But for all the perils, cycling is a good thing, wasn't the most exciting thing when you were a kid when you got your first bike and you finally got the stabalizers off? So at what point did cycling become something that people started to resent? (because god forbid we shouldn't try and get fit and save the envirnoment a little) It makes no sense...but then alot of things don't!

And on that note I am off to recover from the latest peril, Marcus and the stationary bicycle, 150RPM is not human, so I need an Ice bath.