Pole To Pole With Michael Palin (DVD)

Advantages: Excellently written, an epic adventure
Disadvantages: It's crying out for an update ten years on!

...It is truly amazing how much the social and political shape of the world has changed in the last 10 years. You simply don’t realise how much progress (whether for good or for bad) has been made in the last decade, and sometimes the simple act of reading a book brings it all home. At least, this is the experience I had when I decided to pick up ‘Pole to Pole’ again a few weeks ago. The BBC series that Michael Palin’s book accompanies was screened on BBC digital TV when I was back in Britain for Christmas, and I watched a couple of episodes, mainly because I had been given the book some years ago and vaguely remembered that the programmes themselves had been quite interesting. I simply can’t have been paying attention the first time around, or maybe it was because the events described were then so recent... Read review

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Advantages: Very lightweight, contained in a bag, easy to set-up/put away
Disadvantages: Gets rather tedious when your dog's a complete numpty.

...your dog, willing them each day to achieve the level you didn?t get to yourself. I digress somewhat. Dog agility is essentially an obstacle course for doggies that includes jumps and other particular pieces that each have their own rules. One of the most difficult pieces of equipment to master (though I picked it up quite quickly) is the weave ? it involves poles sticking vertically out of the ground which the dog has to enter from the right and ?weave? in and out right to the 12th pole ? yep, 12 poles. How on earth do you explain to something as dimwitted as a Labrador the rules of the weave? On average it takes about 6 months for a normal dog to grasp the concept, thus, I knew we were going to have a long road ahead of us and she wasn?t going to pick it up by just attending training twice a week. ~~*~~ The Clix Weave... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: Brilliant laugh, novelty factor
Disadvantages: Pricey as exercise class, the aches & pains, the neighbours wanting a demonstration in the back garden.....

...I recently went to my sister's Hen Do. This, in itself, is not all that unusual as she is about to get married for the THIRD time. (Our Dad is banned from using the word "again" in his Father-of-the-Bride speech!) What was slightly novel was that included in the itinerary for our day was a Pinkkiss Pole Dancing Class *gulp*? Now I had been told that Pole Dancing is very good for toning and fitness and it is regarded as a credible exercise form. I'm not sure, however, that 16 girls/women in the tipsy state we were in, doing ANYTHING could be considered a healthy pursuit. No matter the alcohol definitely helped to reduce our inhibitions and we were all game to have a go. Our particular lesson took place in a club in Edinburgh near the Playhouse Theatre (I think it was called C.C. Bloom's.) I found it a bit weird going into... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful