GOOD

One of the good things about surfing is that once you have invested in a surfboard and wet-suit, expenses are minimal. The bare necessities are a surfboard, some decent wax to avoid slipping and, in most of the world, a wet-suit. Prices of surfboards and wet-suits vary greatly but, as is true of most things, you usually get what you pay for. If you plan to take up surfing as a permanent hobby, it is definitely worth paying a little extra for high quality products. Wax can be purchased cheaply from surfing shops, usually for less than £10. Many suppliers will throw in wax for free if you are buying a surf-board or other  relatively expensive item


-You shouldn't need to buy many more things in order to get started, but you might want to consider:

• Board wax: Board wax is important because, without it, balancing on your board whilst standing up will be next to impossible. The good news is that it is relatively cheap. One tube should cost you less than £10 and will last for a good length of time.
• Board leash: Surfboards should come with a leash attached to them. The purpose of leashes is to ensure that you do not lose your board if you wipe-out and are forced to let go of your board. Before leashes were used, it was not uncommon for a surfer to lose his/her board and be forced to swim back to shore without it. Loose boards were also hazardous for other surfers in the area. If your original leash becomes detached and you lose it, you can buy a replacement from surfing suppliers (N.B. You should be aware that leashes are designed as safety nets, and you should surf as though you are not wearing one. You should never let go of your board and rely on your leash unless absolutely necessary because of the danger this can pose to other surfers and swimmers).
• Surfboard repair kit: These usually cost around £15 and include instructions and tools designed to help you fix minor 'dings' on your board yourself.
• Suncream: This is an essential! It is very easy to burn whilst surfing, so plenty of suncream should be applied at the first sign of the Sun.
• Ear-plugs: If you find that your ears often become filled with sea water after wipe-outs, a cheap and easy answer is to buy some ear-plugs. There is no need to go to a surf shop for these. They can be bought at chemists or supermarkets for as little as a couple of pounds.
• Surfboard bags: If you have to travel to the beach to surf, it might be worth investing in a surf bag to protect your board when you are out of the water. Prices vary according to the length of your board, but a bag will probably set you back somewhere in the region of £30.

- E-MAIL FROM SAM ASHWORTH , ABERSOCH BOARDRIDER

PRESENTATION

Abersoch is a small town in north Wales , on the end of the Lyn peninsular. a lot of people call it mini Manchester or little Liverpool because almost all the holiday makers are from there

I have spent every summer down there with my family since I was born and I have some great memories of being mischievous and annoying welsh farmers with my friends on the caravan site, and were all still really close which is nice

We Used to camp on the edge of a cliff overlooking my favourite beach, PORTH CERIAD

It is my favourite beach because its hidden down a cove , it doesn’t get too busy like all the other beaches in abersoch, there are often dolphins and Wales and seals spotted in the sea in the evenings which is always exciting  its quite sheltered so its always hot in the summer and the waves are always massive

Which is why it is such a popular beach for the surfers

Waterspouts is big in abersoch , and it hosts Europe’s largest wakeboarding festival

Waksetock is the first and only festival that I have been to,  I enjoyed it so much that have been every year since 2008 mainly because it always has a good line up and the wakeboarding shows are amazing, and it’s a bonus that my caravan is nearby because and my mates have somewhere to shower and chill in the day instead of being on a muddy , smelly campsite

Threes also the glass butter beach which is a sports festival which is new to abersoch this year , similar t

One of my favourite things about abersoch is its shops

It has an OSD which sells one of my favourite brands of clothing , insight , which is quite pricey but I usually save up through the year so I can buy I few things down there in the summer

They also have a jack wills , board rider , crew clothing and coastal culture

.another thing about abersoch I love is the atmosphere there, everyone always

seems happy and the town is always buzzing , there always seems to be something going on , for example this summer there was wakestock, glass butter beach,

the mackerel race which was to raise money for charity

Surf competitions

Abersoch 10k

Dinghy week where people make their own boats and race on abersoch’s main beach

Aberosch regatta week, which was celebrating 125 years of abersoch’s famous boat race which takes place every summer

And the big sandcastle competition , which my caravan site have won three years in a row.

There are also events all through the year like the new years sea dip , which is when everyone dresses up in funny costumes and runs into the freezing sea on new years day, Also there is a great jazz concert that takes place every …….

Borsch is quite a wealthy place and  is known for its big houses and nice cars, you often see a few famous faces, a couple of years ago there was a reality programme for MTV made called ‘living on the edge’ which was based and filmed in abersoch. Also bear grills lives and owns the small island about a mile out to sea from abersoch and is often seen in aberosch.

It is also quite a beautiful place , it has some gorgeous beaches, walks and sights , if you ever get a chance you should see for yourself. And yeh that’s is why I think abersoch is good , Thank you for listening

Why children become so attached to toys and comfort blankets

· Psychologists link beloved object to intuitive belief 
· Study shows most will not swap for identical item

• Steven Morris
• The Guardian, Friday 9 March 2007
• Article history

Children become emotionally attached to cuddly toys, blankets and even smelly old scraps of material because they intuitively believe they possess a unique essence or life force, psychologists said yesterday. In a study that will surprise few parents, it was found that children preferred their cherished comfort blankets or favourite raggedy bear over duplicates apparently identical in every way.

The results suggested that even very young children invest in such objects intangible qualities that cannot be replicated.

The study compared the reaction of the children to that of art enthusiasts who prefer an original to a copy that is identical in every way.

Previous studies have shown that up to 70% of young children develop strong attachments to objects such as toys or blankets. The phenomenon tends to be confined to the western world, where children usually sleep apart from their parents at an early age.

Bruce Hood, of the University of Bristol, and Paul Bloom of Yale University in the US, decided to try to find out why.

Parents were asked to bring children aged three to six into a laboratory with their "attachment object" or if they had no such object, a toy or doll that they liked.

To count as an attachment object, the child had to regularly sleep with it and have had it for at least a third of his or her life.

The children were shown what they were told was a "copying machine" - in reality a conjuror's cabinet made up of two boxes. The doors of the two boxes were open and a green block put into one of them. Then the doors shut, an experimenter twiddled some knobs and the first box buzzed.

A few moments later a buzz came from the second box. The doors of both boxes opened to reveal a green block in both of them - the experimenter had slipped an identical block into the second box.

Then the experimenter asked the children if they would let the objects they had brought in be copied. They could choose if they wanted the new one or the old one back. All of those with "non-attachment" objects allowed them to be copied and almost two-thirds decided to keep the "new" object - in fact, it was their own object.

Of the 22 children who did have attachment objects, four stubbornly refused to allow them to be copied at all. Of the 18 who did let their precious items be copied, only five opted to have the "duplicate".

At the end, all children were shown how the illusion worked so they knew they had their original item back.

Prof Hood said the experiment showed that children believe that in addition to the physical properties of their objects, there was some other quality to them that cannot be copied.

He said: "If there was a machine which copied a favourite object in every way down to atomic level, we would still prefer the original. It has an essence to it. This experiment suggests this is an intuitive process.

"We anthropomorphise objects, look at them almost as if they have feelings. The children know these objects are not alive but they believe in them as if they are."

While the tendency to sleep with a comfort blanket is thought to be largely a western trait, Prof Hood said believing objects had an essence was not. Some eastern beliefs centre on all things having a life force and some cultures find it difficult to live in other people's homes because they feel there is something intangible left of the previous people in them.

OBJECT

Liv Chapman

does anyone have/had a comfort blanket or teddy?

 ·  ·  · 21 minutes ago

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    Emily Fairbank i had a duck

    16 minutes ago · 
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    Sadie Thompson I do actually have a blanket... but its cath kidston.. does that make it less sad ha x

    13 minutes ago · 
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    Matthew Chatfield i have chris

    11 minutes ago ·  ·  1 person
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    Chloë Wilkinson I had a teddy bear

OBJECT

6 STEPS TO LETTING GO OF YOUR'E BLANKIE- NONE OF THEM WORKED

1. 1
   Ask your friends if they still have their favorite blanky. Regardless of what they say, admit that you still have yours. Hopefully, through peer-pressure, you will feel you should let go of your blanky
2. 2
   Make yourself hate your blanky. Put something like garlic, wasabi, soy sauce etc on your blanket so you can't stand the smell of it
3. 3
   Throw it in a charity bin knowing that some other person needs a blanky more than you. You're too old for it. Let some less-fortunate younger kid have it. You may want to wash it first after doing Step 2, though
4. 4
   If all this fails, try and get onto Dr. Phil. He is very helpful when it comes to letting go of your blanky
5. 5
   If all this fails, seek professional advice.
6. 6
   Of course, if you couldn't bear to lose your blankey, just love it forever.

OBJECT

BLANKIE

Blankies RULE! 

i have had had a blankie all my life and i can NOT sleep without it! all my friends and family hate it, probably because it not longer looks like a blanket , or smells like a blanket, its most common name is 'rag'.

It looks like this because i had a habit of tieing ribbon to it and knotting it together.

My Mum has tried to yeild me off it in the past , and has tried everything to persuade me....

NOTHING WORKS