| Serpentine Christmas Party |
[Dec. 22nd, 2006|08:36 am] |
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I got some great pictures of the running club Christmas party.
Some notes:
- The girl in the green dress is the mysterious Mariana that you've probably all heard about but never seen.
- This is the first time I've seen some of those people wearing anything other than running kit (or, in one case, Speedos).
- This year's Candy Necklace Handout Program will be greatly expanded next year in order to enourage more girl-on-girl-necklace-eating.
- Post-party hotel rooms are definitely the way forward.
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| 5 things... |
[Dec. 22nd, 2006|07:49 am] |
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Tagged from the recently-engaged birthday boy, Ryan.
- I didn't drink alcohol until I was 23.
- I missed my senior prom to compete in a national science competition.
- I met the president of Bulgaria at the Bulgarian embassy in London.
- I'm a virgo, but right on the cusp so about 1/3 of horoscopes identify me as a leo. When I explain this to astrologically-minded friends, they say "that explains a lot" or "you are definitely a virgo", which I generally think is a load of crap.
- I go by my middle name. My first name is shared by my father, grandfather and great-grandfather.
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| Shaggy |
[Nov. 19th, 2006|02:59 pm] |
4 months and counting since my last haircut. The current plan is to go until Christmas, when I may get it cut so I don't look like a vagabond at my cousin's wedding.
Yes, this is the kind of banal drivel that blogs are famous for... |
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| Random Updates |
[Oct. 21st, 2006|01:47 pm] |
I'm finally getting back into running thanks to a couple of races last week. My first cross country race was last Saturday and I managed a respectable time despite the hills (thanks to loads of confidence from a year of hill training in 2004/5). I then ran the Cabbage Patch 10 on Sunday and missed a PB by 20 seconds. Of course, running two races back-to-back is never going to produce your fastest times, but I only managed 7:15 minute miles. That's nowhere near where I want to be: my PB in the 10k is 6:35 minute miles. Hopefully, weekly track sessions and a winter of cross country will get me back there (and beyond... a 40:00 10k is one of my new goals).
After a couple months of sleeping in almost every day (getting into work between 9:30-10:00, as a result), I decided to become an early riser. So far, I've got a week of 6am starts behind me. I've gone to the grocery store, made lunches, done laundry, paid bills, etc, etc... all before going to work. Like he says in the article, I'm getting about 5-6 extra hours each week because I'm not sleeping in.
I'm probably the last person to join the allofmp3 party (especially if the record companies get their way). I got into it so I could load Mariana's iPod up with the music she likes without spending a fortune and without spending hours on one of the free download networks. But I'm now using it to try out new music. I'll probably still buy physical CDs for any albums I really like, but being able to give everything a pre-listen for a few pennies is fantastic.
Lastly, the Whitney Music Box is one of the neatest Flash/music experiments I've seen in a while. I think my favorite part is the tiny bit of silence and anticipation before 1/3, 1/2 and all the notes are played at once. Check out the variations on the right-hand side of the page, too. |
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| Epic Parties and Broken Windows |
[Sep. 24th, 2006|04:51 pm] |
Last night I celebrated my 30th birthday one month late with a party in the flat. I cleared out as much space as possible (bikes & keyboards in the bedroom) and set up the flat for a two-room, dancing extravaganza. Mariana and I filled the guest bathroom tub with ice and beer. On the music front, no guilty pleasure was denied: Bon Jovi, Kylie, Madonna, Brittney. And all was good...
...until about 11pm, when some punks on the street lobbed 3 rocks at the windows. One came sailing in through an open window and was lucky not to hit anyone. The second shattered a pane of glass. And the third broke a hole in another pane. The punks ran, the police were called, a report was made, etc., etc. The police are unlikely to be able to do anything about it so the report is really just for insurance purposes. Oh well.
After that, we closed the windows, lowered the blinds and the party went on until 3:30am. I'm currently staring at a huge mess of bottles and a very dirty floor. But it was well worth the trouble. Maybe I should do this "Birthday Party" thing more often. |
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| "Oh my God, it's Michael" |
[Sep. 13th, 2006|11:38 pm] |
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It's hard to describe my brother but here's an article to give you a small idea... He knows the reporter, but the reporter didn't know he was the "Michael" everyone was talking about. So he's only mentioned as one of the guys who passed the torch: http://www.wweek.com/editorial/3245/7977 |
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| Classic moments in spam literature |
[Sep. 1st, 2006|01:50 pm] |
Subject: coup papal
From: Clementine Maloney
Date: Fri, September 1, 2006 13:38
Then there was sudden silence and a voice yelled "Curses on your religion, Jimgrim!
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| Lovers Electric |
[Aug. 29th, 2006|03:25 pm] |
While at Greenbelt, I found a fantastic new band: Lovers Electric. They play sugary indie pop rock and feature a cute, Kylie-sized lead singer (perhaps a small reason for my affection).
They're up from Adelaide for the next few months trying to promote a new single/album. Unfortunately, their first date conflicts with running night so I'm torn...
The entire album is available online for free, so give them a listen. My favorites are "Honey", "Won't Give In" and "In Love". |
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| (no subject) |
[Aug. 21st, 2006|05:32 pm] |
How do you repay thousands of strangers for supporting you along a 13+ hour race? By going out and supporting thousands of strangers at another 13+ hour race!
For the second year in a row, I went out to Sherborne to watch Ironman UK. This year, I had a much better understanding of what these people were going through. So I clapped until I had bruises on my hands, shook a cowbell (!) until I had blisters, and yelled until my voice stopped working. Cheering for that long was hard work, but I got enough smiles and "thank you's" that it was well worth it.
This year, we had 7 Serpies to support and all of them finished (some in amazing time).
This was my 2nd camping trip in 3 weeks and I'm going out again next weekend. It's not quite "real" camping (we usually buy dinner in a nearby pub) but it's great to get out of London and into the country for a few days. |
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| This is why I live in London |
[Aug. 15th, 2006|10:12 pm] |
After a hard day's work, I went out to a pub for a long-overdue meetup with Ryan and Jim. We drank a few at the pub before going for dinner. Drank a few more over dinner. And drank one more after dinner. Now, I'm guzzling water in order to avoid tomorrow's hangover.
It's a Tuesday night and I realize that I wouldn't be doing anything like this in America. And I love that fact. |
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| Ironman! |
[Aug. 2nd, 2006|11:35 pm] |
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10 days ago I wrapped up a year of training with the 2006 Ironman USA in Lake Placid.
If you don't know what that is (because you're not a crazy, endorphine-addicted, excercise freak like me) an Ironman is a race that is comprised of a 2.4 mile swim, a 112 mile bike and a marathon (26.2 mile) run, back-to-back. In one day. The cutoff time is 17 hours.
My swim time, 1:16:30, was about what I expected. Nothing can prepare you for a mass start of 2000+ swimmers... the first 200 meters was chaos. Even through the first half there were people clawing at my feet and calves. The second half was a bit more relaxed but I was still constantly surrounded by people.
I'm most proud of the bike. Given that I don't like cycling that much and the course was incredibly hilly, I couldn't believe it when I came through the first half at 3:09 (17.74mi/hr!!). Fatigue started setting in on the second lap but I still managed to finish the whole thing in 6:41:31 with an average speed of 16.74mi/hr. I never imagined I'd finish the bike in under 7 hours!
Unfortunately, the speedy pacing on the bike had a huge effect on my run... or - more accurately - walk. I basically ran the first 10k and walked the rest. My time: 5:13:53. Nearly 12 minute miles. Disappointing, but I didn't have much left to give by then (though I don't look too bad in the pictures!)
With the two transitions (where I spent a leisurely 10-12 minutes each), my final time was 13:34:15. I was going for sub-14 and I'm chuffed to have done so well.
The detailed results (and even a video of my finish) are here.
It was great to have Dad and Kathy out supporting (and - I found out later - Mom following eagerly on the computer at home) and I saw Steve and Jeff (the two guys I signed up with) several times along the course. There was also loads of camaraderie between competitors and support from the spectators. It's a major accomplishment and I'm proud all the hard work and sacrafice paid off.
So that's done. What's next? :)
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| World Cup Update |
[Jun. 29th, 2006|10:00 pm] |
The first two weeks of the World Cup was manic: several matches each day with enough surprises to keep everyone guessing. Things in the latter stages are going a bit slower, but it's all still pretty exciting.
I had people over for the England v Sweden and England v Ecuador matches. The projector and the Bathtub O' Beer® went over pretty well. After spending most of the first match in and out of the kitchen, I learned my lesson and had people bring food for the second match. That yeilded a lot more time to watch the game... too bad it was one of the most boring games I've ever seen.
So far, the highlight has been watching Australia fight their way through. They shocked Japan in the last minutes of their first game. They lost - but looked strong - against Brazil. And they drew in a very weird game against Croatia. Those results brought them into the second round. Unfortunately, they lost to Italy in a very controversial last-minute penalty. It was especially heartbreaking since I wanted retribution for a shockingly flagrant elbow-to-the-face in Italy's match against the US.
So, I was happy to see the following:
Summary of Australia v Italy
We're out. Australia are out. So I guess I'm supporting England, now. <sigh> |
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| Random London |
[Jun. 29th, 2006|07:52 pm] |
I showed up a bit early for the talk this morning, so I went on a stroll around Clerkenwell. My reward: a weird, spaceship-like device.
London is filled with little gems like that. Shortly after moving into my new flat, I found a tiny alley - wide enough for one - on the way from my flat to Liverpool Street Station. Last night, I saw a new (to me) Banksy painting while biking to the running club. Since I usually find these things while travelling somewhere else, I rarely have enough time to appreciate them. |
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| Web Development Geekery |
[Jun. 29th, 2006|04:22 pm] |
I went to an excellent talk on AJAX by Dave Crane (not to be confused with another David Crane) this morning.
Dave is a big believer in "basic principles". So instead of just showing us how a single framework does AJAX, he covered the whole history of the web - from basic HTTP to DHTML to JavaScript to the original ActiveX XMLHTTP object. Thoughout the talk, he took a small JSP from form submit/page refresh, to "raw" AJAX, to AJAX with a framework. He finished up the talk with some discussion of the tools he uses. There was no shortage of code examples and funny anectdotes.
I came out of the talk with a lot of respect for JavaScript. Dave made it clear that it was never a toy language, people just treated it that way. The fact that it's stuck in the browser has something to do with that... and the fact that most middle-tier devs associate JavaScript with frontend, cross-browser yuckiness. But the recent popularity of scripting languages with the 'serious programmer' crowd probably has some positive effects for JavaScript, too. It supports closures and projects like Prototype add some very useful objects and functions.
Dave also pointed out FireBug, which looks to replace Venkman as the JavaScript debugger of choice in Firefox.
All in all, the talk was much more interesting than I first thought. |
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| World Cup - Match 1 |
[Jun. 12th, 2006|11:46 pm] |
Everyone I know is celebrating a World Cup victory except me. England won 1-0. Australia scored three goals in the last 10 minutes to win 3-1. America lost 3-0.
By the time the next World Cup comes around, I could be eligible to cheer for England (I can already sing along to My Country, 'Tis of Thee before the games). Until then, I'm going to spend the next 4 weeks talking about how America always wins the World Series. |
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| Halfway Home |
[Jun. 6th, 2006|11:35 pm] |
Random tidbits:
- I finished the Weymouth middle distance tri this weekend. I was looking to finish strong and get some confidence for the full ironman (Weymouth was just a bit shorter than a half). I zig-zagged around the swim course in a dismal 45 minutes but made up for it with a sub-3-hour bike (despite 8 minutes to repair a puncture) and a stellar 1:43 half marathon. After last weekend's horrible ride, this was the boost I needed to keep my spirits up. The result also put me in 4th place on our club's multisport chart... largely because I've done lots of events (not because I'm actually any good!)
- There's been more and more put on my plate recently at work and I'm getting a bit stressed... but that's mostly because I want to do ALL OF IT. :) Yes, I still love my job. We've hired 7 poeple in the last 5 months and they're all fantastic. We have a team of superstars. It's almost like Trilogy again. And bonus, I'm off to Antwerp for a conference in two weeks. There will definitely be chocolate consumed. There may also be banana beer. Perhaps both at the same time.
- After someone noted that my chain should be silver (not black), I spent part of tonight cleaning my bike. Two things I learned: 1) Degreaser is amazing. 2) Grease - even after degreasing - is still a huge mess.
- The latest musical obession: ye olde skool. Jazz and classical feature pretty highly in iTunes right now. I'm feeling fairly stressed at work and they seem to soothe more than the stuff I normally listen to. I just got Nicola Benedetti's CD after reading a good review. It didn't take me long to get into it. I've got a Beethoven CD on the way and am hoping to find a decent CD of Clementi's piano works soon (ie. before this obession ends).
- Should any of you need help, I'm now first aid and CPR certified (after a short lapse in certification). I'll be defib trained on Thursday. So if your heart stops, you break a limb, or if you choke on something, I'm your man. Interestingly, CPR has recently changed. First off, it's now 30 compressions to 2 breaths (instead of 15/2). Also, after checking the airway and breathing, you immediately move on to chest compressions if they aren't breathing. The theory is that 99% of non-breathing casualties will not have a beating heart and - for the 1% that still have a beating heart - it will stop very soon after they stop breathing.
- Mariana is still in Australia. That's probably the only thing I have to complain about right now... Too bad it's a fairly major thing.
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| Too Easy |
[May. 7th, 2006|01:28 pm] |
Just as a follow-up...
After several practice runs and some tips from the club specialists, I managed to vault 2 meters on Saturday. I didn't expect vaulting over my head to be so easy. I guess I'll spend the rest of the summer seeing how far over my head I can go. :) |
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| Save Phil |
[May. 5th, 2006|01:53 am] |
Westminster Council is trying to silence Phil - the Oxford Street preacher - with an ASBO: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/4969450.stm
You may not agree with Phil's Christian message but I find it hard to fault his tactics: he simply speaks into a megaphone during busy shopping periods. No pressure, no hassling, no forms to fill out, no money to give... listen to him or ignore him.
http://www.sinnerorwinner.com/ - Phil T-shirts
http://www.b3ta.com/interview/winnerorsinner/ - Phil: The Interview
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zc-b4Hpx8xU - The Phil Movie
And a couple paragraphs from an article on ASBOs from The Economist:
Feb 3rd 2005
WHAT'S a government to do when faced with a bunch of undesirables whose guilt is difficult to prove in a court of justice? Lock them up without a proper trial, of course.
That's how the British government is dealing with people it suspects of terrorism. Its actions, including its shocking announcement last week of a new power of house arrest, have rightly been condemned as an attack on civil liberties. But cases of suspected terrorism are not the only ones in which the principles of the criminal justice system have been abandoned. The state has given itself new powers to deal with minor offences and other crimes which are scarcely less draconian than those to deal with suspected terrorism.
It's a pretty sad state of affairs. I'm amazed that some guy can be silenced for the most benign of offences. |
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| To Bank Holiday or Not To Bank Holiday |
[May. 2nd, 2006|10:33 pm] |
It sounds like everyone had a pretty eventful bank holiday weekend. Mine was significantly less eventful but did have one major accomplishment: I pole vaulted.
Summer is Track & Field time for the running club. The first meet was on Saturday at Battersea Park, so I biked down to help out. When I heard there was a need for a pole-vaulter, I signed up immediately. I've always had an odd fascination with pole vaulting. It's weird (how many poeple do you know that have ever done it?), it looks impressive, and it seems like it would be handy should I find myself in an Indiana Jones-like predicament (I can think of several instances where Indy could have saved a lot of trouble by pole vaulting away from the problem).
Anyway, after 3-4 practice runs and 3 official attempts, I managed to clear 0.93m. That's 14cm shorter than a hurdle...
Needless to say, I have a long way to go (the winner got 3.4m) but I'm shooting to vault over my head by the end of the season. I've already found some vaulting advice sites and even an inspirational video. |
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