Project Disney: The Bear Necessities

If you were to ask people to name a well-known Disney film from the past, The Jungle Book is most likely to appear high up the list. Widely regarded as one of the classics, it is a mainstay of the Disney library.

I had never seen it before so was quite looking forward to it. The outcome - I didn't really enjoy it. It is the kind of story that lends itself perfectly to the Disney touch but I just don't feel it flowed. Incidentally, it was the last film which Walt oversaw prior to his death.

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Project Disney: Excalibur

Next on the list was The Sword In The Stone. Watching this, I always believed it was a Disney original on the take of the King Arthur legend. Turns out, the story of Young Wart befriending Merlyn was adapted from T.H. White novel of the same name. What I have found with the Disney movies, is that they are either brilliant or a bit crap. I honestly found this a bit tough going therefore falling into the latter category. Storylines aside, the animation in each Disney movie does improve and you can see the development of animation styles through the years.

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Hill of the Ptarmigans

The forecast for Saturday was set to be nice and as we aren't winter walkers, it was an ideal weekend to get back into the walking. Incidentally though, it was changed to Sunday so Grant would be out the house in an effort to let Rona get a kip after nightshift. So, with the seed planted, it was time to find a hill. I knew just the place to look - Steven Fallon's site. Having done 14 rounds of the Munros, his route knowledge is pretty extensive but the best bit is the '10 easiest Munros' list that he has compiled. My suggested hill for the expedition was Meall nan Tarmachan in the Loch Tay region just opposite the Ben Lawlers range.



So, Sunday morning arrived and it was time to go. Leaving Greenock at 08:00, we parked up at 10:00 ready for the trek. It wouldn't usually take 2 hours for the drive, but we stopped en route in Inveruglas to take a photo of the glass like Loch. This route wasn't scheduled to take ages, but as we have been off it for a while we just decided to take our time but try and keep a good pace. It was quite steady going and the weather was getting better and clearer as the day went on.



While walking, we saw the above peak in the near distance, but I knew it seemed to appear too quick so I had a feeling there was more to come. My suspicions were confirmed when I heard Grant just in front shouting "You're not going to like this."



And he was correct, I didn't expect what was now ahead of us. It turns out we were now standing on the 923m SE peak of Meall nan Tarmachan with the proper submit 100m upwards.



After a steep ascent up the crags and a patch of snow to navigate, we made it. Munro no. 8 for me was in the bag. What was surprising, was the fact we still had a phone signal. So after a few novelty texts and Facebook/Twitter updates and lunch it was time to descend.



When we came to this bit on the way up, I immediately started to fear the way back down. It actually turned out to be not that bad. With the worst over, the rest of the descent was fairly pleasant and we arrived back at the car less than 4 hours after starting.

So, that is that. The first proper walk of the year and the bug is properly back. Roll on the next one.

2011-04-10 - Meall nan Tarmachan

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Project Disney: Spots

I can't believe I have never seen this before. One Hundred And One Dalmations is truly remarkable and is definitely one of the best non CGI animated movies I have ever seen. As animated movies go it is perfect. It has a great storyline bringing about a full spectrum of emotions. On top of this, it is a perfect example of the use of animation to bring animals to life with humans also included.

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Project Disney: Having A Long Lie

The last film of the 50's for the Walt Disney Classics range was Sleeping Beauty. Although, widely considered to be one of the best animated movies of all times, I personally couldn't see why. It was generic. There was nothing 'special' to it. Of the Disney 'Princesses', Aurora has to be the worst. On top of this, the production budget used was double the previous efforts. This combined with a a poor year in general saw Disney post it's first annual loss. And to be honest, the output was not worth the staff cuts that ensued.

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Project Disney: He's A Tramp

Lady And The Trampis quite significant to me. It was the first Disney home release (VHS) that I recall having in the house when we were growing up. The story follows Lady, a cocker spaniel who is purchased by a youngish, quite well to do married couple and Tramp, a mongrel stray. Lady becomes a significant part of the couple's life and as time goes on, the family expands with the introduction of a baby. The couple decide to take a break and leave the baby and the dog with her aunt. The Aunt takes an immediate dislike to Lady and gets her a muzzle. At this point, she runs away and encounters Tramp, a local stray.

What follows is a brief friendship and serious of events that have resulted in Lady and the Tramp being only one of two animated films to feature on the AFI's 100 years...100 Passions list as one of the greatest love stories made.

I really enjoyed this one. If I decide to do a top 10 at the end of this, I am fairly positive this will be in it. It had all the classic elements I would associate with the Walt Disney Classics brands.

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Millport

Since October, I have pretty much not done any exercise or walking out with normal day to day activities. With time going by, this was playing on my mind and for the last 6 weekends or so, I've been planning some kind of walk to get back into it. Between the snow, ice, other crap weather and having stuff on, my plans always ended up scuppered.

This weekend, I had nothing planned and the forecast was looking favourable so I decided a wee trip to Millport was on the cards with the 12 mile trek of Great Cumbrae the objective. As good as the plan was, I had reason to be a bit weary. I have had mild sunstroke like symptoms twice in my life and both involved Largs. The first was a few years ago, after I cycled round Cumbrae and the second was the aftermath of my walk up the back of Largs last June.

The plan was set and nothing was going to stop me. This was definitely enforced by the weather on Saturday morning. Spring had definitely arrived. One of the appeals of walking from Largs is that the bus stop is literally 2 minutes from my house. However, the bus station is not there at the moment, so my day began with a brisk jog to the temporary replacement stop a few blocks away.

Half an hour later, I was in Largs and buying my ticket at the ticket office on the pier. The ferry that runs between Largs and Cumbrae Slip is quite frequent with a departure every half hour and the total trip only taking about 12 minutes.



I arrived on Cumbrae and was ready to set off just after 11:00. My route started by turning right off the ferry and following the road north.



That is the main road on the island but as it mainly caters for walkers and cyclists, there is next to no traffic on it. An advantage to this is that the conditions underfoot are ideal as the road follows the circumference of the island. Just shy of a couple of hours later, I was walking along Millport's main street having completed about half of the intended 12 miles.



A few minutes for a rest and a couple of photos of Little Cumbrae, and it was time to set off back to the ferry. The original plan was to follow the full outline of the island, but at this point I decided to cut out the south-east section which would put my total hike around about the 8 mile mark. Thus meaning, the final trek up Ferry Rd should see me land at the ferry in about 2 miles time.



Of the whole day, this was [mentally] the longest section. My feet were starting to get a bit of a strain, and the scenery was rubbish and the road never seemed to end. Eventually, Largs and the Clyde came into view again and eventually the pier and ferry. The final slog around the corner and I was back in the queue waiting for the outbound ferry to return.



The route taken covered 14.1 km (or 8.7 miles if that's your unit of measurement). It was a good day out. I'm glad I done it and it was a good kick start into some exercise for 2011 especially with the lighter nights and good weather starting. The day was rounded off with a visit to Uncle Stewart's for a bite to eat and the England - Wales Game.

2011-03-26 - Cumbrae

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