Off Topic The Goodhand Arms

Fear not, I'm living on past glories......my car fits kids in the back now!

 

mine have always done that!

 

Fabulous Fats, don't forget to PM us with details of how to pay you!

 

There were a few wanting to help out, so if they could PM me so I know ... or I can trawl through the posts

 

I got mine on Monday, first time ever I have keyless entry ETC........love it.....oh yeah and it's silver

 

This programme is upsetting as ****.

 

Has anyone else watched Everest [2015].? Just finished watching it myself. It's about a notorious climbing disaster during 1996, when the commercialisation of Everest had been well under way for a few years. Basically, you could be totally inexperienced, but checked out as physically reasonably fit, had paid your money [US$65,000 so one of the clients said] and the guide got you up the mountain and back down fairly intact [no guarantees]. In 1996, this was so viable that 3 big teams were on the mountain at the same time and were all going to summit on May 10th. There had been a storm but it had gone past. In that weather window most of the climbers had got up to the summit and started to go back down. The first problem was that an old friend [Doug Hansen] of the lead guide [Rob Hall] had tried and failed a couple of times to get up Everest. He'd made slow progress and was well past the time for getting to the top but insisted so much that Hall accompanied him, when they should have been very much going down. That was just one of several factors where the disaster started. Midway through the day the storm returned with huge ferocity and people became stuck up high, some set to stay there until the present day, preserved in that freezing cold.

It's a good film. For a long while I found myself not caring too much about the people's fortunes because they made the decision to go. But inevitably the relentless tragedy does have an effect because of all the people whose lives are torn apart. Beautifully photographed and well acted. There's very little left spare for the imagination. If you want a very realistic thrill, then this one may be for you.

 

Yeah I watched it a few weeks ago. Good film. People make wrong choices all the time, but you make a wrong choice on Everest you put yourself and others in grave danger.

 

Sounds great, I'll have to have a look at that. I love mountaineering films.

Your description reminds me a bit of a film I saw a few years ago called Touching the Void, which is a true story about 2 young climbers, Joe Simpson and Simon Yates, who make the first successful climb to a peak in the Peruvian Andes. They get to the top after being delayed by bad weather and are on the way down when Simpson falls and breaks a leg. Because of the delay on the ascent they are low on fuel and food by this time, so Yates lowers him down a cliff on ropes until a knot in the main rope gets stuck in a pulley. Then the weather starts to close in, and Yates accidentally lets go of the safety rope, so he can't pull Simpson back up. Then his belaying point starts to work loose, so he has to choose between both of them falling, or cutting the rope and trying to save himself. He does this and digs himself a snow cave to wait out the storm, and the next day manages to get down to where Simpson must have fallen, only to find he has gone into a deep crevasse. After calling unsuccessfully for Simpson he assumes he must have died, so he makes his way down to the base camp where there are other climbers, but they don't send out a rescue party because of the hopelessness of Simpson's situation. Meanwhile, Simpson finds himself stuck on a ledge in the crevasse, with no way of climbing up, so he has to use what's left of the rope to lower himself further down to see if there is another way out. Fortunately when he gets to the bottom of the crevasse he finds a way out up a snow slope, and then proceeds to crawl and hop 5 miles down the mountain, which takes him 3 days, with no food. When he eventually gets to base camp, he finds Yates preparing to leave the mountains, having giving Simpson up for dead.

The film is essentially a dramatised documentary reconstruction of the actual events, played by actors, but with the real Simpson and Yates, who incredibly are still friends, giving a commentary. It won the 2003 BAFTA for Best British Film. Even though I've completely given away the plot, it is well worth watching!

 

Did anyone watch the end of Line of Duty? The ending was a bit far-fetched (though exciting), but it has been a good series. Amazing how tense they made interviews seem as you watch people desperately trying to unravel themselves from accusations. New series been announced.

 

Yes, I saw it. A tiny bit far-fetched, especially the final chase scene, but it's been a brilliant series. As you say, the action scenes tend to be a bit run of the mill, but the interview scenes have been excellently written and acted. Great that there's another series on the way, but a shame Keeley Hawes won't be in it.

 

Yeah, I saw that one too, at the cinema IIRC. It was very good indeed. As with all these true story mountaineering films, it's not so bad giving away the plot. What you can't impart is the experience of watching it. The viewer will still get that. And a little bit of story leakage can help to attract anyway.

Tell me what you think of Everest, when you've seen it..

 

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/worl...de-tv-station-after-bomb-threat-a3236616.html

Man in a panda onesie shot after threatening to blow up a TV station. I agree....wearing a onesie should be met with lethal force.

 

Agree,we were disappointed with the daft American style "let's all run around with guns" nonsense but the interview scenes and series overall were very well done.

 

I've read the book Into Thin Air written by Jon Krakauer who was on the mountain at the time of the disaster. The film is based on his book and is a harrowing account of death and what it takes to survive in those conditions. Although I would never put myself in that situation I am quite fascinated by the people who do. I have also read Touching The Void mentioned by Chilco, another harrowing story of survival against the odds. I preferred Into Thin Air but both books are great stories of true events.

 

Be prepared for your heart to melt: http://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2016/apr/29/duckling-rescued-from-drain-in-droitwich-video

 

Fantastic film!! I loved it and am now going to watch Everest!!

 

Seeing Captain America Monday. It's meant to be amazing.