Category: Journal

A few months back Graeme suggested that I join him in training for a 5k run. At the time I thought it would be no problem – it’s not so big a distance that I wouldn’t be able to get myself in shape for it, even if I was a little lazy.

Turned out that I was a lot lazy; managing maybe only one run a week for the first month, before maxing out at two a week by the end of June. Even then, all I managed to do was a lap of Sefton Park each time, which is about a kilometer short of 5k.

So it came as no surprize last night when I found it tough going, ending up with a time of 28 minutes 26 seconds, while Graeme went off like a robber’s dog, finishing five minutes ahead of me, and a minute ahead of workmate Steve.

I said before I started that I’d be pleased with anything under 30 minutes, but for some reason I wasn’t really mega happy. I could and should have done it in a far better time if I’d applied myself, so I’m regretting not showing the discipline to train a bit harder.

At the end of the run I felt quite good, strangely, and it was fun in a weird way, too. I guess it’s kind of cool to see where your limits are, even if I didn’t really push them. For the full results of the Joan Barr 5K memorial run follow the link: http://www.lps-athletics.co.uk/promotions/results/otherevents/joanbarr-5k.htm (n.b. it refuses to turn into a URL for some reason. Also, they spelled my name wrong.)

We’re now considering doing a five mile run on July 20th, although it’s quite a step up in distance and would definitely require a bit more dedication to training than I’ve shown thus far. I’ll take a few days to think about it, but I’m pretty sure I want to do it – having targets to aim for makes keeping fit a lot more purposeful.

I’ve been wanting to see Henry Rollins live for a long while, especially due to the good things my mate Colin has to say about his material, so when I realised I wasn’t tied up on the night of his gig, I got Fliss to grab me a ticket.

From what I had gathered beforehand, he either tells lots of short, loosely related stories, or longer ones where he goes off on tangents along the way. The gig turned out to be of the latter variety, mostly revolving around a trip he took on the Siberian Express.

What was spectacular was the pace and clarity of Rollins’ delivery. The man did not stop for a drink of any kind in the two hours or so that he was on stage, yet the gravelly grunts and roars that punctuate each enthralling tale seemed to suggest he’d be better off taking a sip of water every now and then.

I have to say that I was captivated, both by the yarns and by the sheer presence of the man. To say Henry Rollins is a comedian would be doing the man a disservice; he’s more like an unstoppable juggernaut of incisive wit and sharp observation that has the audience caught in the headlights. His political stance is all too familiar, showing a contempt for George Bush and a desire to live life to the fullest in equal measure, leading to a performance that resonates with raw energy to such an extent that it’s empowering.

In short, I’m glad I finally caught the man live. If there’s any chance I can do it again, I’ll jump at it.

Check out this Parade of unfortunate Star Wars costumes. It’s almost as funny as that video of Triumph, the insulting comic dog, interviewing the line of Star Wars fans as they queued for one of the earlier prequels.

I’m not really fussed about whether I see the latest one or not. I seen the first prequel in the cinema with my little brother Andrew, and that was pretty grim, so I made a point of avoiding the second one. Dunno, I guess I’ve just kind of made my peace with the fact that George Lucas doesn’t have a clue and that the original Trilogy were accidental classics.