The Edmondson Blog

I've just got back from seven days in Dahab, Egypt. Tori and I had the most fantastic time diving and doing yoga every morning, though our trip was saddened by the bombs that went off on Monday. We were sitting having a drink on the beach 300m away when the three blasts happened. Here are some pictures of the aftermath.

For my benefit, these are the six dives I did, along with my rating out of 5 and a description:

1 Oasis **
Secluded spot excellent for marine life 8km south of Dahab

2 Three Pools **

3 The Canyon *****
Popular dive, can be harrowing at first. From theshore, you snorkel along the reef before diving, past a wall of coral to the edge of the canyon and into a cavern undert he sea bed (where I did some sums). It's dark narrow and seems capable of swallowing you

4 Bells Wall and The Blue Hole ****
Starting north of the Blue Hole, the wall is reached through a small chute. Rich coral and marine life. The Blue Hole is an 80m deep pool in the reef, a few metres out from shore. Infamous deep dive has claimed many lives due to mitrogen narcosis or improper use of equipment. For experienced divers only. Some people think it is overrated

5 Eel Garden ****
North of Dahab lighthouse, popular snorkeling spot, good for learner divers. Max depth is 17m with a sandy bottom

6 The Islands ***
Collection of colourful coral pinacles just south of Dahab

Some pretty interesting information from the State of Texas Department of Criminal Justice. In the way the USA does best, freedom of information allows the State to publish each executed prisoner's last statement (click on "Executed Offenders") and a list of "interesting" facts. How about: The State of Texas has executed brothers on six occasions. Great.

The latest Darwin Award nominations are out. My personal favourite:

Ken Charles Barger, 47, accidentally shot himself to death in December in Newton, NC. Awakening to the sound of a ringing telephone beside his bed, he reached for the phone but grabbed instead a Smith & Wesson 38 Special, which discharged when he drew it to his ear.

Residents of Southern states always seem to figure prominently among the Darwin nominees!

Had a fantastic few days taking in some end-of-season skiing last week. Did the Vallee Blanche twice, got to do some touring and caught up with Will, who's been out in Chamonix for the last three months (asshole). The photo is of (l-r) Heps, Chloe, Will, me standing outside a restaurant half way up a mountain one evening. A pain in the backside to get up there, but great fun sliding back down, helped along with a bottle of Gamay. Look for more photos on Flickr.

With The Queen's birthday on Friday, I thought I'd post one of my favourite quotes from Prince Philip, said during a WWF meeting in 1986:

"If it has four legs and is not a chair, has wings and is not an aeroplane, or swims and is not a submarine the Cantonese will eat it."

Recently went on a long weekend to west Ireland with Tori. Great fun, except for my food poisoning and the constant rain! We got cheap flights with EasyJet to Shannon (£24!), hired a car with IrishCarRentals.com (watch out for the fuel charge) and drove down to where the River Shannon meets the Atlantic. Stayed in a place called The Lighthouse Inn in Kilbaha (€60 for the night), which was pretty dodgy, but found a fantastic restaurant in the nearby village of Carrigaholt called The Long Dock (€25 each.)

On the second day we drove up the coast, stopping off for occasional refeshments, before arriving in Doolin for the evening. We stayed in a homely B&B called Churchfield as a guest of a spritely lady called Maeve. Doolin is a picturesque though touristy coastal village with some great walks. Unfortunately, by visiting out of season, many of the hotels and restaurants were closed.

On Monday we drove inland, through Ennistymon (where this photo was taken), onto Ennis, which was pretty crappy. We ended up going to the cinema and watching V for Vendetta (average), mainly to get out of the rain!

Three fun days, with the inevitable "issues" associated with drinking too much Guinness.

Great site dedicated to "pimping" chocolate bars, a la "Pimp My Ride", without Westwood. PimpKat is my personal favourite. New sweeties added every day.

First off, sorry for the lack of posts recently. I'll post a few bits this evening.

Just found out that Trevor Kavanagh has started a new blog on the Sun's website. Sometimes feted as one of the powerful men in the country (after Graham Norton), he always manages to sum up the mood of the common man, myself being the perfect example. Should be interesting reading...