Hiroshima and Nagasaki, by Stevie Haston.

This is a photo of Nagasaki, most of the photos of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were confiscated by the USA military.

Yesterday a man called Manning was found guilty of making public some  bad things, he will be sentenced to a very long time. Its possible he faces 126 years for disclosing some truths about the US military. There are many dark secrets about America and with this sentence less will be disclosed.

Years ago, about a week before America dropped the first Atomic bomb on Hiroshima, a man called General Eisenhower visited Truman and begged him not to drop the bomb on innocent civilians. Eisenhower called the bomb an evil thing , clearly it was-it killed an estimated 100,000 innocent people by incineration and radiation. Incineration had already been happening in Japan in cities by conventional means, fire bombing cities had already resulted in cities loosing about the same amount of dead!

If Manning had been alive at the time he might have told us that Japan had wanted to surrender for months already, and that there was no need to drop two evil bombs, and kill nearly 200,000 people for no reason. The awful facts of the dropping of Atomic bombs on a starving and basically inert country is not known to the general public to this day.

When America talks of weapons of Mass destruction, let it be remembered that Japan wanted to surrender, and was starving. To this day it is only America that has used atomic bombs.

If you wish to research it further, please do.  

Self doubt, self confidence, by Stevie Cocky Haston.

(c) Inigo Taylor

I don't normally do self doubt, neither do I do self confidence, I prefer to have a go, and see whats up. Lately though, I aint been having a go, I have felt a bit used up, and it might have given me a bit of self doubt, but luckily as I said I don't do self doubt. Anyway despite having lots of reasons not to try hard routes-like number one, I aint good enough-I decided to jump on some stuff. The above is a sterling project, I reckon its 8c+, its tip top, Cracker jack, a cosmic decoction of burly and ballerina. Its a very good reason to get on the training train, the train that I haven't been catching, the train I thought led to no where-it leads to this, a great route, and thats enough. 

This is me gearing up with optimism, under a route that has a low grade and flicks me off if I let her, sure as hell is hot, the optimism  was misplaced, and she flicked me off. 

(c) Inigo Taylor

This is Laurence looking fit, indeed is fit, but about to get her come up pence, for not working a couple of crucial exercises.

(c) Inigo Taylor

This project is called the Wasp, a project of the great local climber Phil, I recon it's got multiple stings in its tail. Its in a few guide books as a route, it isn't, which just goes to show don't believe everything you read.

Three friends under one of the best cliffs in France, and therefore the world. I have much to thank them for. They cheered me up.

(c) Inigo Taylor

Another old friend, a punch bag. Bruce Lee said, 'they don't hit back', he was wrong, he was wrong about many things, but he is venerated. A punch bag will happily exhaust me like no other exercise thingy in the world, 12 times 3 minute rounds, has left me heaving, I have never managed, 12 times 5. The punch bag is the finger/pullup board of fighting arts. Float Like a Butterfly, sting repeatedly like a Wasp. I haven't had self doubt, but I have certainly been scared of training, not a wasp, a wuss.

Friends from America, by Stevie Haston.

 You spend time with people, you climb with them, you share interests and aspirations, and then you don't see them for years. I aint been to the states for a very long, things keep changing over there, but my friends are still the same. Those great states with huge space, great rocks and big sky, and hardly any people are largely the same.  Steve and Cynthia are two of my favorite people, Steve is a boyhood friend, we share mates, climbing partners, it spans oceans, and much of the history of British climbing. Ten years have gone by,  he's going tomorrow, when will I see him again. In  another 10 years? 

Steve went to Birkinhead School, a peculiar source of many of my friends, Liegh Maginly, Tim Caruthers, Alan Rouse. How many people know of the great Alan Rouse, and his historic ascent of Positron with the unforgettable, unforgivable and unrepentant Peter the Mad Molecule Minks.   

This is Steve on an under graded  mistress of the perverse at Sabart, temperatures are hideous.

Steve's a philosopher prof who likes to climb.

We used to find it strange that old people climbed, now we find it unpardonable that old people don't.

If the ring had been mine, that hairy little hobbit Bilbo would never have got it out of my fist, and of course the whole history of Middle Earth would have been different! My friends saw some of the climbs we have here, visited some cliffs and sampled our strange grades, they approved. I now long to to go back to Utah and the Colorado Plateu, I want to see Towers again, Gandalf. Not Dark towers, but Red Towers of Windgate sand stone, and splitter cracks, humming birds, and eat some spicy Mexican food before going to sleep in the sand under a sea of stars.

Climbing , fighting, same, same. by Stevie Haston

 In the morning we got beat up by a rock climb. It was crafty, cunning, it's powerful moves overwhelmed us in a rush and kicked us, so we couldn't breath, or function. In the evening I went Martial Art training. I love the huge hall, I like the tranquility of my warm up, and stretch, I like much about it, not everything, it's like climbing, it's not everything.

Climbing for me, is, and always has been, extremely natural, I think I have been doing it from my earliest moments. Fighting which is basically the simplest way of describing all things Martial, seems to be there in some way for many people too, from a very early age.  I was never a good fighter, if anything I am a good counter fighter, or defensive fighter, and the big thing that interests me, is the deception, the feinting, the position. In climbing I like the sneaky, sly ways through cruxes, elegant bridging, I like being out witted by rock!

My opponent dumped me last week, by luring me into thinking he was slow, then picked me up, took me for a walk, and then landed on me, it was 'game over'.

Here is the classic, tap him in the calf, and then flick to the temple. Classic deception! Fighting isn't for every one, it's not for me, but it is good fun, when your opponents respect you. Rockclimbing is not for every one, and believe me, the rock and the Mountain do not respect you at all! Simply putting your gear together badly, as has been shown this week, can, and will kill you, stone dead. Be careful out there, life in some ways is tough, and it don't give you too many breaks, so when you get one, lie down in the flowers and wonder at the blue of the sky.

All photos Inigo Taylor, who will be outwitted today by a completely non sentient bit of stone!

New cliff, new perspectives, by Stevie Haston.

Went to a cliff which was new to me and very local. Wow quelle surprise, really beau, but oh dear, felt so weak in the 28 degrees in the shade, and a slippy, slimy, oily rock. Felt a bit embarrassed at the lack of excellence and then got over it and stopped moaning and just enjoyed it, after all you need to be able to climb greasy rock, and you need to take repeated unexpected falls.

A slight breeze made things easier for the others  later on in the evening, but I was too tired to use it.  

Inigo our guest, had the a similar experience today, unexpected, and unused to using his feet on sloping or blank rock he over pulled, and quickly became pumped. Still and all, of course he has to learn, but it's not intuitive to push more on your feet when the foot holds lack shape or adhesion. 

Back at the house an old fore arm work out had me using half the weight, again, embarrassing!  

This final photo shows the richness of my local landscape and rock, the harsh grades are the only harsh things for miles and miles, great people who are frank without being rude, no pretense  in the landscape of the hills and the human population full of humanity rather than selfishness. 

Birthday Visitor Perspective......by Stevie Haston

 Having visitors can be good, and can be bad. Inigo is 25 today, it's his birthday, for some reason we get on well, despite him being half my age, and being a so called product of the modern age. Anyway happy birth day Inigo, I have seen your climbing blossom from poor, to reasonable, in a very short time, it should, with work get to a good standard one day. Above is a photo of Laurence on an 8a, she hates being less than very good, and because she has been taking Yoga exams, and learning for a couple of weeks, she dropped the last move to the chain. I think I heard her say Sugar, a very un-yogic little expletive!  

 This is me, not dropping the last move, I havent been climbing for a couple of months, I have been taking a holiday from climbing, and doing Marshal Arts. Instead of a couple of thousand pull ups, I have been doing a couple of thousand kicks a day, it's fun, and boy, it is very hard.  

 This is Inigo, trying valiantly on the start of the 8a, he did good! In French we say he has good placement, that is in English, he places him self well. Learning good basic technique is one of the most important things in climbing. Unlearning  bad habits , like poor placement, is a real pain, and is a primary reason why many people fail to progress, despite being strong enough. Better to learn things well first time round, it is very like having a poor service in tennis. Anyway.....

this is a photo from the   Pro Photographer Inigo Taylor.

This is a photo from an old Pro climber, never stop learning, especially about strong Belgium beer. When you stop learning you might as well kill yourself.

Summer Holiday For Morons by Inigo "Troglodite" Taylor

All photos (c) Inigo Taylor

 After 3 hours sleep i arrived in France looking for an easy afternoon, after a relaxing drive with Laurence I was abducted by a Coughing Asthmatic  Lunatic and taken underground possibly never too return, or so I thought, as one never knows with this personage.

 After miraculously finding this gated entrance we plunged underground, and despite my apprehension upon following this large chested white rabbit into his underground lair i found it it to be an extraordinary experience. 

 Just a few of the huge Stalactite thrusting up into the huge roof of the cavern, at approx sixty feet....

After a tiring journey through the center of the earth I was alarmed at the display of regional morris dancing/self defense.

The awful one searching for new entrances to Moria....

All in all a great first day of my summer holiday......