Support Team Cooper on their Trek to the Mount Everest Base Camp in Nepal!!

You may remember back in December, I wrote a blog article regarding my parents undertaking the arduous task of trekking to the Mount Everest Base Camp in Nepal.  Whilst funding this trek themselves, they have decided to use this amazing opportunity to raise money for charity.  The charities chosen were The British Heart Foundation and Afasic Scotland, which is a speech and language charity for children and young people with communication problems.  These charities were chosen due to my Granddad dying from heart disease and because in mum's nursery, she comes across children with speech and communication problems on a regular basis.

The time for this trek is almost upon them, and in one week's time, they fly out to Kathmandu from where a 3 week trip shall then commence. :)

In order to get in shape for this epic trek, they have spent the past year doing lots of trekking and hillwalking throughout the UK, and documenting their adventures on their blog - Team Cooper Take on the Mount Everest Base Camp.  Their last outing before Everest was two Saturdays ago when they climbed Ben Nevis with some of our family.  This included my auntie Corinne and her partner Steve along with Team Cooper mascot, Alistair McAlistair who I introduced you to in my blog last December.  

(Pictured below - Alistair showing Team GB spirit with the Olympic Torch!!)

Also my cousin Dom and her boyfriend Kev, and their Border Terrier Pippa, and members of the Canadian side of my family Jim and Annie Szpajcher who on a tour around all the French and Belgium battlefields, made Ben Nevis their first stop!! :D  What made this all the more freakin' epic was that Nevis was the first summit completed for a number of the group, how many people get to say that!?!! ;)  

(Pictured below - the gang at the summit of Ben Nevis)

Anyhoo, after climbing Ben Nevis, mum said that they didn't even feel like they'd climbed anything...which is definitely a good sign for Everest when climbing the highest peak in the UK is a walk in the park!

(Pictured below - the Parentals at the summit of Ben Nevis)

Now obviously Ben Nevis is like baby steps in comparison to Mount Everest...even to the Base Camp.  One of the most dangerous things about this trek happens before you've even pretty much started.  That comes from having to fly into Lukla Tensing-Hillary Airport.  According to a documentary entitled World's Most Extreme Airports which aired on The History Channel in 2010, Lukla was rated the most dangerous airport in the world...and when you watch the video below, you can see why!!

When it comes to actually trekking to Base Camp, obviously one of the biggest dangers comes from the ever changing altitude, which is why there are days set aside for acclimatisation to help individuals get used to the thinning air. Mum and Dad might have been getting in tip top shape, but even climbing Ben Nevis which has a true height of 4, 408ft, it's just no where near high enough for them to have gotten used to the air quality at such a height above sea level!  And to be at that height for such a long period of time as well.  

These are just a couple of the dangers, and I think I'll stop there as I think that's enough to put most people off...well, if the actual distance and fitness levels needed didn't already, haha.  

(Pictured above - Dad at Vindolanda)

This is why I think it's such a great idea to use this trek to raise money for charity as well.  I mean, the point of a really good fundraiser is to do something different right...something that has you in the minority.  Between the JustGiving pages and sponsorship donations they've been receiving from colleagues and for example, kids parents at my mums nursery etc., they are currently sitting on £1376.  This is totally amazing, but let's see if we can raise the bar all that higher and see just how much more we can raise!! :)  

In this blog post I have linked to previous blog articles, as well as various websites etc.  Please do add @EverestBunny on Twitter for on the trek updates, where and when a signal is available of course.  Also please LIKE the Facebook Page, follow their blog and Flickr accounts.  If you could retweet their posts, and share their Facebook page and blog, that would be totally rad as well.  And think, you can feel happy in the fact of knowing that you helped out, and didn't even have to leave the comfort of your sofa, haha.  

You can donate via the Team Coops Just Giving page or via Paypal.  

You can also donate via text message by entering the following details - 

FSCK63 *insert amount in £* to 70070 for BHF

i.e. text - FSCK63 £5 to 70070 if you want to donate to the British Heart Foundation

QJDQ52 *insert amount in £* to 70070 for Afasic

Ooh, and last but not least, have a wee nosey at the little slideshow I've put together of  pics from some of their various training treks. :)  

Thank you! xo

Guest Blogger Pete Birnie from The Cult of Alfie talks Hobo with a Shotgun!

Sooooo, it is with great pleasure that I introduce Mr Pete Birnie from The Cult of Alfie as my guest blogger today! Pete is a bit of a kung-fu nerd and from working at the local leisure center, is one of the guys responsible for helping my Parental's Roy and Gail Cooper into shape for their trek to the Mount Everest Base Camp this October. Anyhoo, when I heard he had just written a blog about Jason Eisner's Hobo with a Shotgun, I figured, what a perfect post to introduce y'all to this crazy young man! :) When you get a chance, please do check out his website, and the numerous video parodies that are on there! There are definitely a few belters...although you might be questioning his sexuality by the end of them, haha!

Without further adu....

Hobowith a Shotgun, this is now one of my favourite films. The beginning comes across as whimsy, bringing back memories of that great show the littlest hobo...honestly that’s what the music reminded me of. As the Hobo arrives in town making it feel like it's the happiest event in the world. Rutger Hauer was made for this role, acting perfectly as the tired old man, god I LOVE Rutger Hauer.

People’s heads get blown off, arms broken, hung, the violence is gruesome, someone’s head even gets mashed in by dodgems...this is where the movie turns into the ultimate revenge film. As people die left, right and centre, Hauer's face is concentrated on his trolley as it fly’s across the street, as if it's the most important thing in the world. Bottles fly and all his belongings lay spread around the floor. Watching Hauer turn into the angry revenge filled Hobo is a joy. As he realises the police are under the thumb of the bad guys, as they carve the word scum into his chest...the troma like violence within this movie suits it to a tee. With heads exploding and hands being ripped off, I didn't even flinch as it suited it so much. Hauer is amazing, his rugged I’ll do what I want charm is brilliant and being a huge fan of him, it's a guilty pleasure.

Watching it dawned on me what the following scenes reminded me, the old westerns I used to watch flashed through my head. You know the scenes where the good guy has had enough crap, the massive music letting him deliver justice one shell at a time! That’s the tagline to this movie.

I can't begin to express how much I enjoyed this film, the moral message obviously being don't stand and watch, help your fellow man. As the Hobo hooks up with a local prostitute, their relationship becomes more father and daughter. A favourite part of mine, when she tells him he can't fix everything with a shotgun, and then they dream to start a lawn moving business together. 

The bad guys are brilliantly cast, two brothers and their father, who watches them vie for his attention, preferring one son over the other, a sadistic little weasel who performs all sorts of horrific acts (watch out for the "dad he blew my dick off" scene!) Drake the father has the town under his spell of fear, calling it the Drake show throughout.

As always one last obstacle comes between the town being free or doomed to become hell on earth.  Two unstoppable brutal monsters, all metal clad, sweep into the action...watching as one brutally hangs people with what I can only describe a harpoon gun. He ropes their heads and hangs them by shooting them into the ceiling, showing no emotion. It's a classic scene as they hang twirling, and then Hauer enters the scene. The plot is light but what do you expect, it's called Hobo with a Shotgun!?! And it's AWESOME!!!

(And the ending song was taken from the cartoon the Raccoons, which is indeed also awesome!)