Twist & Shout

have you noticed?

 Oil prices are at record high’s, $120 a barrel almost.. what’s going on? Motor vehicle and domestic fuel prices are astronomical and climbing. The cost of food worldwide is rising, with the poor in many countries now experiencing starving and near starving conditions. The worldwide economy is slowing at alarming rates as prices rise. Airlines are closing, some abrubtly, and causing chaos in the Air Industry. Banks are beginning to ‘feel the pinch’ with many major UK banks expected to follow the Royal Bank of Scotland’s lead of having a rights issue. Governments worldwide are ‘propping up’ their major financial organisations. It looks like the world is heading towards a global recession that may be impossible to recover from.

Then the Middle East process seems to have stalled, and along with a rise in tensions in the region there is a potentially explosive situation. Couple that with the CIA’s recent statement of a nuclear reactor being built in Syria, alongside other comments made in the last few months and years and you conclude that something ominous is brewing there. The whole Middle East could explode like a tinderbox and nobody is doing anything to try and halt it.

Linked to the Middle East is the current ‘crisis’ with North Korea. They have been linked with the Syrian reactor project and are late with their promise to make a full nuclear declaration. Also over in the East is the Tibet crisis, and the protests following the Olympic flame. Then there is the Taiwan situation which the BBC website has an article about it being another potential ‘flashpoint’ highlighted in first position as a ‘Best Link’

Coming back across EasternEurope you have Russia and Georgia currently in a war of words over two disputed regions of Georgia and the shooting down by Russia of a Georgian unmanned drone. In Pakistan and Afghanistan, Pakistan claimed 5 soldiers were killed in a fracas with American troops that had allegedly followed Taleban militants across the border. The Tamil Tigers of Sri Lanka were blamed for todays bus bomb attack that killed 24 and injured 52 others amidst fighting in the Tamil regions between the two.

 In Africa, the contested Zimbabwean Presidential Election has caused many countries to raise concerns over the validity of any ‘final results’ after the delay in the release of results by the Zimbabwean Electoral Commision.

 There seems to be no end to the doom and gloom, and as we continue to do nothing we continue to flow down this great big spiral into self destruction..

In a nutshell, the worlds heading down a great big fucking plughole..

 Laz

What do you think? Am I wrong, or is the world heading towards an ‘Armageddon’ scenario?

Yeah, an apology first. I have just been really busy these last few weeks and now I am way behind with the blog, massive apologies but I will catch up, probably (hopefully) during the course of this week.

 I have reports from Hull, Bridlington, Yarm and Hunmanby to post, pictures from Hull, Brid and Yarm to publish and videos from Brid and Yarm to deal with. Yep, you saw right, 2 weeks of Hull fair, 100 or so rides, not one single video of a ride. At least, not a video of a single ride, I did get some videos showing the views and I may publish them if they are ok to do so.

Hull fair kind of beat me, really badly, and I am still recovering.. (my sleep pattern is shot to pieces).

And now a request..

Do you know anybody that is holding a Bonfire event this weekend that is well attended and has room/access for a fairground ride? Are you organising such an event and would like to see a fairground ride as part of the attractions? The days I am interested in would be Friday the 2nd and Saturday the 3rd of November, (although Sunday is a maybe aswell).

If you are, or know someone who is, then please contact me/post a comment and I shall get back to you as soon as possible. The best, and quickest, way to contact me would be by email admin@lazaru5.net.

With a bit of luck, by the end of next week I’ll have the blog fully updated with all the latest pictures and videos plus more from Bonfire events, etc. Then it will be the winter so there wont be much to keep up to date with although I do have some plans for the blog that I intend to add/implement over the winter in time for next season.

 Apologies again, and yes I am serious when I ask if you want a fairground ride at your bonfire event.

 Laz

Hull Fair is billed as “The world’s largest travelling funfair” and rightly so. Over the two weeks there will be over 100 rides on Walton Street in Hull, (right next to the KC Stadium).

One thing about Hull fair is, no matter when you go prior to opening, (I first went on Sunday for example), there is always something either built-up or being built-up. When I got there on Sunday there was already a good dozen or so machines built-up ready for opening (and it doesn’t open until Friday!).

Over the course of the 2 weeks, hundreds of thousands of people will visit the fair, it’s almost an annual tradition for many families. The fair is probably one of the oldest in existence, Hull having first been granted the charter to hold a fair on 10th November 1279.

“King Edward I, who had taken possession of the town re-naming it Kingston upon Hull, granted a further charter on 1st July 1293 for a fair from the 26th May until 7th July. Finally on 1 Apr 1299, a Royal Charter granted the Burgesses of Kingston upon Hull a fair to be held after Easter (26 May), in a place appointed in the town.

This fair continued until 1598 when a new Royal Charter gave permission for a fair to be held during September. According to Kevin Scrivens and Stephen Smith in Hull Fair published in 1991; the changing of the calendar in 1751 led the locals to believe that the loss of eleven days affected their fair. Give us back our eleven days was the cry as the enraged mob charged around the streets of Hull calling for the return of their eleven day festivities, which they believed to have been lost due to the calendar change. The outraged masses got their wish and from that year onwards October 11th became the official date for Hull Fair.” (taken from http://www.hullfair.net/ check it out for info and history pertaining to Hull Fair).

I  shall be going to Hull on an almost daily basis, I will try to get as many pictures and videos of different things as I can and will attempt to make sure that my list of attractions is complete. Part of the problem is the “changeover” when some machines come from Nottingham Goose Fair, (also being held this week) and replace some of those that are already there. This used to be done on the Sunday, (the gaff lads call it “mad sunday”) but it appears that now the Goose Fair runs until Sunday so I can see there being a lot of lads working through the night Sunday to both pull-down, travel through, and build-up their machines, unlucky hehe..

Get on down to Hull Fair, it’s an experience not to be missed, the number and choice of attractions is always huge, the sideshows have every possible game imaginable, the food is typical fairground fare, and the kids will have too many things to choose from.

I’ll post a full report some time after the pull-down, probably Sunday/Monday following Hull Fair. It is open from this Friday, 5th October until Saturday 13th October.

Stay Tuned

Laz

First off, let me apologise for the delay in writing this, I have been extremely busy these last few days. Anyway, Scarborough was held between the 26th and 29th September. The list of major attractions is as follows:

• Andrew Harniess’ Seastorm
• Marissa Shaw’s Waltzer
• Michael Gallagher’s Twister
• Michael Wallis’ Vertigo
• Freddy Stokes’ Superbob
• Shaw’s Dodgems
• Billy Crow’s ‘King Frog’ hopper
• Alan Crow’s ‘Over The Top’
• Billy Crow’s ‘Exposure’ Miami
• Graham Sedgewick’s Superspin
• Evan Moran’s Superbowl
• John Wheatley’s unique new ride the Speedbuzz
• Jay Barwick’s Freak Out
• John Armitage’s Gallopers
• Charles Church’s ‘Crazy Shake’ Tagada
• Jamie Whiting’s Ghost Train
• Stuart Miller’s Toboggan
• Jamie Whiting’s Runaway Train
• Victor Gray’s Rotor

The ground was fairly busy on the nights I was there, but the local newspaper and radio were both advertising that the funfair closed at 8:30pm (which was wrong) and this led to a fairly quiet last hour or so, which was disappointing. All in all, the gaff was just another ’steady’ gaff, no really busy periods or anything.

John Wheatley took his Speed Buzz ride which is unique in this country. With it being a brand new ride, John has the rights to it for the next two years meaning that nobody else can have one until then. Personally, it looks boring, I don’t see it becoming a major money spinner, but people like something that’s different.

Another thing that I found surprising was the proximity of the bomber to the twist. It was damn close, not dangerously so but it must have definitely added to the “thrill” of riding the bomber. All I can say is: ‘rather you than me’.

Also there was Freddy Stokes’ Superbob. I remember that machine when it was all built up from nothing, there was no real flash to speak off and definitely not a tilt like it has now. Freddy has done a lot of work on that machine, putting it all onto a truck, putting a really nice flash on to it and, more importantly, putting a tilt on it. Having worked on a twist for many years, I know the problems that rain can cause for a machine with no cover, especially when the rain is heavy. A tilt protects the punters from the worst of the weather and you are more likely to get punters onto a dry ride than a wet one.

After pull-down at Scarborough, Michael took the twist through to Hull, (built up Sunday), ready for Hull Fair which opens on Friday. Apparantly it was around 4:30am when the lads got to bed, altogether now.. awww, heh. That was because, even though the twist isn’t a hard machine to pull down, they had to wait for the other travellers pulling their stuff down and getting out of the way so they could get the twist off the ground and onto the road. This is a common thing, part and parcel of travelling funfairs. Still kind of annoying if you are the one waiting though

Well that’s it for Scarborough, a few vids and pics as usual, next is Hull Fair, and that I am dreading, my list of attractions is gonna be huge, (and very possibly missing some things/mistakes re: owners). At the same time, I am really looking forward to Hull, go figure..

 Stay Tuned

Laz

Completely off-topic I know, but something I feel needs to be shared. I recieved this e-mail yesterday and immediately decided to make a post on my blog about it, mainly because I agree with the message.

“The innocent victims of Internet child abuse cannot speak for themselves.
But you can.
With your help, we can eradicate this evil trade.
We do not need your money.
We need you to light a candle of support <http://www.lightamillioncandles.com>.
The more candles we light, the more powerful our voice becomes.
This petition will be used to encourage governments, politicians, financial institutions, payment organisations, Internet service providers, technology companies and law enforcement agencies to eradicate the commercial viability of online child abuse.
They have the power to work together. You have the power to get them to take action.
Please light your candle at lightamillioncandles.com <http://www.lightamillioncandles.com> or send an email of support to light@lightamillioncandles.com.
Together, we can destroy the commercial viability of Internet child abuse sites that are destroying the lives of innocent children.”

 I read some of the comments on youtube yesterday evening and was shocked by the attitude of some people, making it out to be a joke, or just being downright evil. Please show your support for this campaign, it is way overdue for something to be done BUT it is NEVER too late!

 Thanks

 Laz