Shangri-La

Its recently occured to me that i'm visiting the area that has mythically been called Shangri-La. Shangri-La. A fictional place? Like a Utopia.


I remember studying Thomas Moore's Utopia at school. Utopia meaning No place. An ideal.
I'm not an idealist. I've never thought of going to Tibet as some ideal, perfect forbidden city. It's a long way from that these days. I think i even expect to be saddened by how unlike the garden of eden it once was painted like it is in present day.
Thomas Moore's Utopia depicted his ideal political system and state, the best kind of republic.
I'm not sure Shangri-La had the same connotations, but its ironic if it did, as apparently Tibet (Tibet Autonomous region) , China and Pakistan have all claimed that Shangri-La was within their geographical boundaries.
Shangri-La was described in the 1933 novel 'Lost Horizon' by James Hilton, a book which i intend to read on holiday! The phrase "Shangri-La" most probably comes from the Tibetan ཞང་,"Shang - a district of Tsang, north of Tashilhunpo" + རི, pronounced "ri", "Mountain" = "Shang Mountain" + ལ, Mountain Pass, which suggests that the area is accessed to, or is named by, "Shang Mountain Pass".

Some think Bhutan is the last 'Shangri-La' now because of its unspoilt nature.

Some think Shangri-La is a state of mind.

I never thought i was going on a search for Shangri-La, i've heard of people doing that. I'm sure it was something that was really popular in the 1970's! But in some ways that's exactly what this is!

One week to go. I can still hadly think about it for being so moved.

Its nice to dream, some say its one of the things that differenciates humans from animals. But i think cats dream, and dogs dream, and orangutangs dream... animals dream.

But i dont think any of them are so stupid or naieve to dream of a Utopia. Wishful thinking. It's beautiful.

So much of my current life is taken up with thinking of 'the fall' and the temptation rather than the idea of the Garden of Eden.

Sex, drugs and rock n roll - i'm sure its some people's ideal, but it wasn't the Utopian place that has been dreamt of in this literature, and in sober moments i'm sure its not what metalheads would really want.

I'm a pretty sober person, who's practical, not so much a dreamer as a do-er.

So here i am going to the mythical Shangri-La. Will i dispell a myth? Or will i find out how what came before 'the fall' was so much better than the aftermath.

In terms of the myth of the Garden of Eden, the innocence Adam and Eve were supposed to have before Eve bit into the apple from the tree of knowledge... that kind of innocence of being un-aware - that doesn't seem like paradise to me. Ignorance, one of the 3 major poisons in Buddhism (Ignorance, Hatred and Lust). Ignorance, something we were meant to aspire to when wanting to return to a Garden of Eden like state.

The apple Eve took - from the Tree of knowledge of Good and Evil - that made (hu)man aware of lust, sin etc.

I have most surely partaken in that most dichordant apple as a daughter of Eve, but surely its only when you've seen that can you appreciate Utopia/Shangri-La - i dunno, do people in Bhutan think that they're in paradise?

And is it true that once you've partaken in the apple you can never return? And would you really want to if you could?

Well i'm getting on a plane in a week, i'm not ....returning! I'm just visiting.

And i can't wait.

Are you ready?

Are you ready?

23 days to go! Am I ready? The easy answer is no. But I’m getting there.
In my mind I had a plan. I always have a plan. I planned that before I left for Tibet I would have read all the Tibet-related books on my shelves and understood some of the Buddhist philosophy I’ve been trying to understand, or more believe than understand. Such as “The Tibetan book of living and dying” by Sogyal Rinpoche. Which I haven’t got through… yet. And I can’t say I totally ‘get’ yet.
“Learning to live is learning to let go”
I understand the concept. But I am wary of one line generalisations. But it’s a good one. But you have to first hold on to things in order to have something to let go of.
I think its all well and good basing things in the mind and knowing that everything you do and see is filtered through your mind, and that mind is capricious etc and essentially unreal… but I want action. I am a girl of action. This year I wanted to take action, get things done tick them off the list. Accomplish. DO… stuff.
It says at the beginning of “The Tibetan book of living and dying” that there are different types of laziness and procrastination… those that sit around doing nothing, and those that fill their days with things to do avoiding whats important. Buzzing with things and avoiding the issue. But surely its a good feeling, ticking things off the list - like starting physio, or sorting out old boxes of books... etc.
And too much sitting around thinking makes me sad.
Introspection makes me sad. Doing makes me happy. Maybe i'm never gonna be a Buddhist.
Maybe that's not a bad thing.
Am i ready?
In my mind this trip is a big deal on every level. Not just financial, but personal, spiritual, physical, mental - definitely mental.
I've been thinking i should prepare myself, prepare my mind, but either i'm avoiding it or procrastinating or both - cause i'm not getting through these books very quick and i still haven't finished my injections! Or my insurance!
And now i'm avoiding cracking on cause i'm writing a fucking blog!
I better go... or i'm gonna end up shouting at myself!!

Hip hip hooray

DISLOCATED HIPS



I was born with dislocated hips. When i was little i used to have to have to see a specialist. He was old and called Dr. Catterell. I had to see him every Friday, then every year, then every 5 years, then i stopped when i was 18. I guess Dr. Catterell is probably dead now, and i was never really that troubled by my hip problems - partly because i never really did any sport, and partly because i thought it was part of me being 'special'. Seriously. I think part of me was like 'oooh Talita, you are special cause you're hips dont work so well'
My sister also had dislocated hips, when she was born they put her in plaster and her hips set, the end. When i was in utereo my mum could hear my hips clicking so she knew i too had dislocated hips although the docs poo-hoo'ed her sure enough when i popped out my little legs were all over the place. The docs put me in a frog splint, which my mum knew was wrong, and complained and they gave her a kind of 'shut up nervous mum' attitude, but she could still hear my hips clicking, so she knew it wasn't right. After 6 months my hips hadn't set so they then put me in plaster and after i was a year it was all ok.
Obviously i don't remember this myself - this is the story so it goes.

Apparently with congenital dislocated hips-
" Some studies suggest a hormonal link. Specifically the hormone relaxin has been indicated.
A genetic factor is indicated by the trait running in families and increased occurrence in some ethnic populations (e.g. native Americans, Lapps/ Sami people). A locus has been described on chromosome 13. Beukes familial dysplasia, on the other hand, was found to map to an 11-cM region on chromosome 4q35. With nonpenetrant carriers not affected."



I don't know what a nonpenetrant carrier is, but i'm not Native American, Lapp or Sami.

Anyway, now and again throughout my life i've come into difficulty. Now and again one hip or the other would completely give way. But mostly its no problem. Just clicky clicky clicky.

But then again i have never been a sporty person. Partly because of laziness, partly because of embarrassement, partly because sometimes you have a choice of sport of music and i chose music and partly because lacrosse sucks.

However i do LOVE rollerskating. I have always loved rollerskating. I had a big 10 year break in rollerskating after i ruined both my knees skating outdoors down primrose hill with no knee pads and getting a twig stuck between my wheels.

I joined London Rollergirls 2 years ago. I wanted to skate more. As you can see from the little photo of me at the rollerdisco though, my knees bend inwards and i look a bit odd. Apparently i have been compensating for my hips through my knees etc for a long time. Not suprisingly when it came to crossovers i found them really difficult. In my own way i paid no attention though and just thought i was 'special' cause of my hips and that i would find a way round it.

I left London Rollergirls before Christmas as i was having more and more pain in my hips and i didn't have the time. I put of going for physio, then i got on a waiting list. Then my hips got a whole lot worse after the 14hr flight from Buenos Aires and i had an x-ray. Then after swapping docs and another wait, i eventually had physio yesterday for the first time ever.

I'm not sure they did physio so much in the 80's when i was little, but i learnt alot in a short space of time yesterday and had a bit of a shock. I mean, i guess i never thought about it all too much, but the muscles around my hips are shockingly bad apparently and i have been compensating in different ways for a long time - making my knees go bendy inwards (hence my duck waddle walk), using my ribcage and arms to get up more than my pelvis muscles etc.

So no i have 2 exercises i have to do 20 times a day, and then i have to go back in 2 weeks. She says i'll be able to skate and run and swim breaststroke again in 6 months if i'm good, but that i need to improve my muscletone and that now's the time to do it before i end up with arthritis.

So hip hip hooray for physio. Although it hurts a bit. Another thing i'm gonna get done in 2009. Honest guv.

Municipal Waste crowd surfing attempt @ Bloodstock

I just found this on youtube and thought i would share:



Please look closely at the girl on stage with the blonde hair! hahahaha

Life's a beach!

Here's some photos from my weekend at my parents new place!

Playing cricket! Got the fever! Now we've won The Ashes back!

Looks so idyllic!

Unfortunately this follows my Blackberry being nicked! So nice to have a break! Out of contact too! But damn those thieves!

Bloodstock Open Air 2009 - Festival number 8

This was my first Bloodstock festival. I remember in previous years getting to the point of Bloodstock in August and being festivaled out and never going before. There's only so many festivals you can take right?
Wrong! Bring it on! I'm in swing of this now!!
So Tony Foresta (MW) flew into London for a Kerrang shoot and Ol Drake (Evile) was in London doing press so the 3 of us and Louise (Terrorizer) set off in the hire car Friday morning bright and early to get to Bloodstock.
I won't lie to you, i don't like driving hire cars. I don't like driving on the motorway, i don't like having such precious cargo or 3 rockstars, i don't like the fact that I'm personally and financially liable, i don't like the fact the car has only done 8 miles before (probably in rap lyrics)
AND i hate GPS. I'm meant to be looking at the road! And this pink road, red road, arrows going up and down etc is just annoying
Anyway, enough bitching about hire cars (this partially also stems from my first and only car i ever owned, my 1973 Fiat 126 which frequently fell apart at speeds over 60mph) after a smooth ride, picking up The Sun and The Metro on route (that had MW in) we arrive at Bloodstock, drive backstage and get everyone out. 3 hours before MW showtime. Press to do, booklets to sign, plans to make, records to break - plenty to do.
Because Municipal Waste had, onstage in Norway earlier that week at Oya festival, burnt a cardboard church onstage - http://www.dagbladet.no/2009/08/12/kultur/oyafestivalen/musikk/municipal_waste/7627076/
magazines had been asking what antics they would get up to at Bloodstock. The pressure was on. 20 mins before show time Tony decided. "Talita, you have a notepad, you're from the Guinness book of records we're gonna do a crowd surfing record attempt"
Ok win. No problem.
So the set looked like this:

Then after playing Black Ice, Tony tells the crowd how he has a special treat for them and introduces Gwendolyn... (that's me) i walk on stage with a little wave, sunglasses on, thinking "no one is gonna believe this crock of shit" Tony explains I'm there to record MW breaking the crowd surfing record attempt. I've seen record attempts before, they would have to define what crowd surfing is, explain what counts and doesn't count, and definitely have more than one person with a piece of paper and a pen to count the numbers properly.

As it is when the song kicks in, its impossible to count the numbers of legs, arms, flailing and waving and dumping themselves over the barriers. I try to keep up with ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ written all over my page on my clipboard with my marker pen. But the truth is like many of those crowd surfing attempts out there, I'm drowning! No worries. This isn't for real and my anxious, counting face is playing its part. Half way through the track Tony stops, the bass and drums keep going, he comes over to me and says "look like you're saying something to me" and i say "like what?!" and he says "SHE SAYS WE HAVE 75 MORE TO GO!!" and they kick back in. More rapid ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ scribbles.

At the end of the track when heaps of people, like lemmings, have gone over the barrier, more than the security staff could cope with, when injured, blooded Waste fans, hungry for more, had surfed their hearts out Tony comes up to me and says "How many we get?" i had been desperately trying to count my ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ and I'd got to 128. "428!!!!" Tony screams for the stage "We've broken the record!!" win. Hahahaha. Municipal Waste are fucking winners! I love them. Yes!

I scurry offstage.

Later on during the signing session Tony ended up signing kids injuries from the record attempt. One or two asked for the total crowd surfers, he pointed at me and said "Ask Gwendolyn".

I just nodded politely, and looked like i didn't speak english.

Later on mucho hanging out. All MW apart from Tony were staying the rest of the weekend too. I found a bottle of vodka courtesy of Seregon, which ended up with Louise and i coming across a game called Forkie Forkie near the fair ground rides.

With the help of my friend Dutch Frank, Louise fell in love with this game about a fork and started eulogising about how wonderful and socially aware this game was, and how she never was a team player until now. Forkie forkie convert.

The next day was mainly taken up with Evile press. Then cocktail o'clock.
I like to think I'm good at making cocktails. Even if Evile weren't so sure.

Later on we ended up in the fairground, trying to do a shoot for Terrorizer.

At some point after the Waltzers and Dodgems, Louise and Lucy Darkness passed out.

So the last day of Bloodstock.

Headbanging, more Evile press, Sabaton, and driving back to London with Mike and Ol from Evile - Louise and i entertained them all the way home by singing Madonna at the top of our voices.

Here's the Earache crew at the stall.

And one last look at Bloodstock during Turisas' set.

First Bloodstock, probably not the last! 8th Festival this summer DONE!!

Only Reading and Leeds to go!

Jab jab poke poke 5 weeks to go!!

So i now have 5 weeks to go until i leave for Nepal, Bhutan and Tibet. Even though I'm only away for just over 2 weeks i still have to have some jabs. Trying to work out which ones isn't so easy "consult your doctor" it says.
So i can tell you i definitely don't need the Yellow Fever jab - as that only occurs in South America and Africa.

I've had 2 jabs so far which are handily combined vaccines - Hepatitis A, & Typhoid fever and Diphtheria (which my Nan once collapsed of on the stairs when she was a kid), Tetanus and Polio.

Now i have to decide whether i want the Meningitis jab - The travel Meningitis jab isn't the same as the immunisation you get just for the UK - Here in the UK you get a meningitis C jab which lasts for life - the travel vaccine is A,C, U or something.
All this jab business is very complicated. You have to do your homework it seems.
Rabies is another one that takes a decision.


Its endemic in Asia, but it is in most places, even in Europe.If you get the jabs you need to get to a hospital within 24hours for a top up. If you don't get the jabs you need to get to a hospital within 24hours for jabs. I like animals and will probably want to stroke a cat or hug a monkey whilst I'm away... but do i need 3 jabs in advance... ugh i dunno. Can i not just control myself and not hug a bat?

Ahhh Malaria. Not a jab but tablets. Tablets that can make you sick. Bhutan has malaria, but only in the lower areas of the country that I'm not going to. Same with Kathmandu. So I've decided I'm not taking anti-malarials.



Oh jabs! What a lot of fun they are! There's still loads more disease-related stuff i have to read up on, and work out what precautions I'm meant to take against altitude sickness etc.
5 weeks to go, and I'm trying to be organised. I went to the docs too to get a repeat prescription for my inhalers - he said "5 weeks ahead! you're very organised!"
But i was there planning jabs anyway...
Now i look like a hypochondriac! I've never had jabs for travelling before. I've never bothered. But because I'm going by myself I'm just trying to be safe... cause although there's a hospital in Kathmandu and Thimphu there isn't anywhere else.
And at least if i get this out the way asap, then i can think about all the fun stuff to do with the trip!
I have no fear of needles, and jabs don't scare me at all, in fact i hardly felt them, just felt a bit weird for a few hours after but nothing major. I really want to be able to enjoy my trip as best i can. That's why i don't want to take anti-malarials!