sayjann

thought it was longer than that - walked soi 8 to soi 6 last trip and it was a good half hour (most of that dodging other pedestrians) - since walking st is further... up to you. Would see a lot of funny things on the way I guess.

i like walking along the streets and just observing the going-on's.

Torchlight procession starts Edinburgh Hogmanay celebrations

 

 

Edinburgh's Hogmanay celebrations have started with a torchlight procession through the city centre.

 

About 7,000 torchbearers were expected to gather on Chambers Street for the annual event which attracts tens of thousands of spectators.

 

Up to 80,000 revellers are due to descend on the capital for Monday night's street party.

 

This year, hourly one-minute firework displays will mark the count down to 2013.

 

From 21:00 GMT on 31 December there will be a display on the hour until midnight, when there will be a longer firework sequence.

 

There will be five live stages, with Scottish bands Simple Minds and The View, as well as The Maccabees and Admiral Fallow among the acts due to perform.

 

Steve Cardownie, Edinburgh City Council's festivals and events champion, said the torch parade is a popular start to three days of New Year celebrations.

 

"It is hugely important to us," he said ahead of the event.

 

Sunday's procession saw thousands of members of the public light up the city's streets

 

"We actually moved it back a day because people were saying they wanted to participate but they arrived in Edinburgh too late to take part.

 

"There will be around 28,000 to 30,000 people. About 5,000 candles have been purchased and a further 2,000 can be purchased on the evening itself, and two charities will benefit because of this.

 

"It is spectacular to watch that procession. It will be making its way down the bridges on its way to Calton Hill. It is a great way to start the celebrations."

i remember a VERY COLD couple of nights in Edinburgh over the new year period.

watched the procession down from the castle up to Calton Hill and then the bonfire and fireworks.

and a good night on Princes St. watching the bands and just having fun.

i think Big Country and The Bay City Rollers were on the bill that night.

the firework display with the castle in the background is spectacular.....

It's easily 2 kilometres from the 'Walking St' sign at the entrance to that overcrowded 'Russian promenade' to Soi 6 - I've walked Beach Road many times and it can be an ordeal in peak season, but I feel much more in control than I do on the baht buses where I seem to get jammed in up the front of the bus as the Thais all want to be at the back where they can leap off. Besides, once you get past the girls at the dreaded 'Coconut Bar', the second half of the walk can be reasonably relaxing - sea breeze and all that. Absolutely loathe the beach during the heat of the day - way too many vendors - but its better at night.

just over a mile?.

seems good exercise to me.

yes it is - but too far to walk. Baht bus should get you there

how far is 'too far to walk'?

Hi,

 

Saw it last week as well, and agree on the comical part. While I enjoyed it a lot, I didn't think it was as good as the first part of LOTR.

 

Flash, yes, they're making this into a trilogy. Apparently it is partially to make the books connect more closely, but I do wonder what will happen to the original story. It's been a long time since I read the book, so can't really comment on differences between it and the movie.

 

Sanuk!

as i percieve it the 2nd part will feature the trials and tribulations of the journey to Erebor with long drawn out phases to plug some gaps.

if they leave out the scene featuring Tom Bombadil then that will be a disgrace and i think the journey through Mirkwood will be lengthy which i hope.

and the 3rd part will dealing with the lake city and the entering of the mountain and a long climax with Smaug.

but i could be totally wrong which i would be normal.

but i see Peter Jackson had the the original hobbit house transferred to his estate in NZ for his grandchildren to stay in when they visit.

however it's so popular with adult friends that thay all want to stay in the house despite the scale of the place.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZF7i2n5NXLo

The Hobbit.

finally got round to seeing it and while i loved it it was confusing at times concerning the dwarves.

hard to tell who was who and they were made to look comical too often.

but the awesome locations make up for everything.

i read the book when i was about 11 and this caused a bit of fuss when i mentioned it.

a silly woman(mid 20's)said she had no intention of seeing the trilogy just as she had never watched the LOTR's trilogy.

said it showed it was a kiddies book and she was'nt into seeing kiddie films and she liked a lot of action,fights and blood and gore.

i suggested she might give it a try as it might fill her criteria.

she just looked at me and smirked.

of course it was'nt perfect but was still a very enjoyable few hours.

Nope, not one of my languages.

i only ask because for some reason the greatest Scottish football team were on English TV the other day.

the mighty Cowdenbeath were shown in a live game against Partick Thistle,no idea why.

but the commentary was in gaelic,very strange.....

Nope, wrong time of the morning. Sorry Kamui.

Mr.Munchmaster,do you speak Gaelic?.

Which explains why Americans have won The Open Championship, which is always played on links (seaside) courses, so many times?

i'll concede the point the Yanks have won 23 0f the last 40 Opens held in GB.

but not all in Scotland and if all the Opens are held on seaside courses,why do you say this one coming up is inland?.

is Gleneagles a links course and on the coast?.

the sort of course the americans don't like,they prefer the well manicured courses which don't have a lot of problems.

but the courses with the wind howling off the sea ruffles them.

Andy Williams, 'Moon River' Singer, Dies at 84

 

i'm much too young to remember him of course

my mum was a big fan and in the UK we had his show on a Saturday night for years and we always watched it,but i had no idea who he was.

but of course he has his place in infamy for introducing the Osmonds to an international audience.

i watched the bloody thing last night and i got really pissed off.

started around 9pm in the UK and Murray raced into a 2 set lead but then lost the next 2 and the match finally ended in Murray's victory after almost 5 hours.

i was as exhausted as both players but what a great match.

but something for Mr.Munchmaster about Scotland.

a friend of mine is planning to drive with her family the length of the UK and has asked people for the best places to drive.

i love Scotland as a place to visit and i suggested the drive along the Glencoe valley.

sorry can't remember the names of the places at either end but i drove it in drizzling rain/mist and with the hills on either side made it a fantastic drive.

took an American friend of mine who has Scottish blood on the same road and he was just speechless on the drive.

a little off topic.

what is this thing for re-makes?.

Total Recall and Judge Dredd coming out soon.

not the best of films in the first place and i certainly won't be wasting cash going to see them.

do the film studios have no new ideas of films?.

while not strictly a re-make a version of The Sweeney,a great British TV series of the 70's is coming to the silver screen soon.

as much as i like Ray Winstone i can't see him playing the Jack Regan role as well as John Thaw did.

but only my opinion.

not a fan of watching darts or snooker but Sid Waddell and Ted Lowe were 2 of the legendary commentators of their sports.

some great one-liners from both of them over the Years....

The start of the grouse shooting season, often referred to as The Glorious Twelfth, has been put back a day because it has fallen on a Sunday.

Shooting parties will have to wait until 13 August this year before heading onto Scotland's grouse moors, due to a Scottish custom.

In England, Wales and Northern Ireland it is an offence to shoot grouse on a Sunday.

In Scotland there are no statutory restrictions.

i admit i found this story strange when i first saw it...

if no statutory restrictions about a Sunday then why postpone the event for a day?.

Field Marshall Montgomery Pipe Band wins world championships

Munchie was there.

i had an inkling you might post about this.....

definately not my scene......

Some crackers amongst that lot .

have to agree,some made me chuckle....

of course you can walk across the road without the use of overpasses/underpasses, but that would be considered unsafe, even you have a green light!

always crosss the road in BKK,dangerous at times as i take my lead from the locals and wait and go with them on mass.

not to say that that they have good road sense but the traffic does stop when the road is blocked by many people walking across.

Phuket is much more civilised,while i never trust motorbikes to stop the vehicles with 4 or more wheels tend to be rather good at letting people cross,but i concede the traffic in BKK if far more busy then HKT.

but easier if you know where to cross,many safe places and you just need to quicken your pace a little sometimes.

but the drivers are pretty good at slowing down to let you cross and i always make a point of making a gesture of thanks.

he did not cross yet! he just asked for advise how to cross safely, either overpass or underground...

 

someone should propose to the city planer to build a new washington square underground of Suk/Asoke intersection with entrances from all 4 corners...

 

(then we could also get back to the original topic of the thread!)

i don't see the problem in question?.

can you not walk across the road without the use of overpasses/underpasses?.

i'll look out for it,i just love the scottish vista's.

but looking at the trailer i would imagine some people 'might' have problems with the accents.....

saw Machete by Roberto Rodriquez(sp).

wanted to see it for a few Years and so bad it's brilliant.

many of the actors/actresses are regulars in his and Tarantino films.

but also had lead roles for Robert De Niro,Jessica Alba and Steven Seagal and the great Cheech Marin.

very gory and stupid at times but i loved it.

just something to watch and have nothing to think about,just admire the stupidity.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NcQIvmR21VU

i'll look out for it,i just love the scottish vista's.

but looking at the trailer i would imagine some people 'might' have problems with the accents.....

Barry will be wondering how long he's got left?

 

Andy died age 30

 

Maurice died age 53

 

Robin died age 62

 

Barry still alive at 65

not surprised but am pondering....

a few weeks ago when it was announced he was close to death i thought another bites the dust shortly.

suddenly it was said he was making remarkable progress and confounding medical science.

all quiet for a while and then this news,sudden after the hopeful news.

Melancholia :up:

Captain America.

i like the comics made into films.

as a pre-teen i used to enjoy reading the mags and a highlight for me was to go to the shops on a Saturday and buying the latest ones available.

never really knew much about Captain America at the time or now and obviously a very American patriotic piece of work.

but i like these films as you have no need to think,just watch.

Spiderman was my fave comic and The Sandman has always been my fave villian,disappointed in the film version though where he was the baddie.

but i also enjoyed The Fantastic 4 comics.

i look forward to the Avengers Assemble film coming up,hopefully some thing thing to watch on my next flight to Thailand.

i can just sit back and go into dreamland.

Didn't wanna start a new thread but saw this on a football forum (that's soccer to fellow Americans). This guy is hilarious. I didn't know of too many Brit comics and I want to start looking up more

 

i found the guy a little humerous but not overly funny.

but i certainly identified with some of things he said,i was on a quest in the late 80's to get as many women as i could.

i remember many of the products he mentioned as a way we teenagers thought it was a way to a womans heart.

Steve.

check out Jethro,he's a funny guy if you can understand his accent at times.

seeing this on the news tonight and wether you believe the BBC or not they stated the skiing areas around Aviemore are closed because of too much snow........

what's up with these people?.

moaning when there's too little snow and then moaning when too much...

but i did walk up my local cornershop tonight and definately a nip in the air after the last week or two.