don't believe the hype

If you haven't seen it already check out this video clip from the band OK Go. The song has been played a fair bit on Triple J and it's a pretty good one.

Ben and I met up at about 11 and picked up Steve on the way (Steve does some jumaring while we climb since his elbow is fused from a car accident... he comes out mostly to get some fresh air and get moving which I think is a great idea). Since Ben hadn't been to anything on the eastern side before I thought we'd start there. We ended up spending all day there! First we went down to Flake Off (16) which Ben led. Unfortunately he committed that most grievous of sins and pulled on a draw!! I top-roped it, and it was harder than I remember (probably mostly due to my loosely laced, non-technical shoes). While we were there we had a play on Pegasus (23) and I managed to do one of the hard moves (not the crux though). Ben didn't get much further so we headed over to the unnamed area which has Mt Pilot Unearthed (17) and Helmets On (12). Ben led first again on MPU, mostly because I thought that if I led I would feel frustrated if I didn't do it without falling (I have tried it twice so far). It's a very sustained route, with the crux coming low (there is a misleading obvious hold which Ben, like me, took and subsequently spent 10 minutes arsing around when he ran out of holds). After the crux there's about 12m of slabbing on small crystals (hence my 'sustained' comment). The position which you clip the 2nd bolt from is not comfortable and since you're on small holds you can start panicking a little. Ben ended up grabbing the bolt again :( He was a bit annoyed because he is quite a good climber but is very scared of falling, even on bolts (it's good to be a bit scared but not too much). Eventually he topped out and I followed. This time I fell just after the 3rd bolt when a foothold disintegrated. I think next time I'll lead it, just have to be very careful in choices of footholds.
Next, I led Helmets On with gear, as I wanted to practise placing gear, and also see what kind of gear would go in. It takes pretty good gear (assuming the loose flake doesn't pull when you fall), but it runs out when you step onto the slab (a little less than halfway). Ben pulled the rope and led it too, however he took a lot of convincing to trust the footholds.
It was getting a little cold so Ben and Steve headed back up top and I climbed up again, but this time up a new line that I think would be about 15. Maybe we'll have to "stealth" bolt it???
Ben and I agree that he needs to take some more falls on bolts, so next time we come out he's going to head straight to MPU. I had a good day, I still remember how to place gear and I think I might even be getting better at climbing slabs.
Just need to take my camera next time as there were some awesome photo opportunities on Helmets On!!

Well I took Monday (21 Aug) off work (time in lieu since I've been on call a lot lately). Paul and I had already planned to go to Mount Stanley on Sunday and Felltimber on Monday. When I went into town on Saturday morning to buy some bread I saw Ben Mace and he was heading to Felltimber that afternoon, so I went and did some bouldering with him. Sunday we spent out at Mount Stanley. Was good to find out where the Talon block actually is, although I didn't hop on that climb. In the morning we started at Grendel Corner. I followed Ciaominh up a 17 face climb (which had a couple of tricky moves to begin with) and then attempted to lead a 19 crack on Paul's gear. I got spanked a few times before I managed to pull through the crux, but just as I was getting to the good jambs I slipped and went back down again. Decided to leave that one for another day. When we headed over to the Talon area, I led a nice little flake-crack thing which ate all my big cams - a very nice climb. I also tried a grade 17 slab which seemed very difficult. Paul made it look easy (of course) by smearing where there was no foot-holds.
On Monday, we went out to Felltimber at about 2pm and I got up Pimp Daddy Superstar (20) with 3 rests (did the crux move second shot). Was pleased with this as my New Year's resolution was to lead a grade 20 and this one seems doable - considering it was my first time on it and I was feeling a bit sore from the previous couple of days.
Bouldering in the garage on Tuesday made it 4 days in a row.
The only worthwhile picture I took on Sunday is a panorama which I upload to Flickr (here).
Paul posted a few photos and a little trip report on Chockstone (here).

It's worth reading this article which provides a different perspective on the recent capture of terrorists planning to bring down planes.

If you like the occasional Flash games, be sure to check out Ferry Halim's Orisinal site. Very nice looking and fun games.
Also, it's often handy to be able to mute the sound in Flash. Check out FlashMute.

I saw this documentary earlier this week and it was fantastic. You get to see the events of a coup from a unique perspective. Also shown is the way the elite in Venezuela manipulate the media and use fear to gather support from the wealthy. It's definitely also worth reading this article by Michael Parenti about the good things that have been happening in Venezuela.

Spin is a documentary about the tactics of modern politics. See it on Google Video here.