The sun is out, the birds are singing (even at 2am - one very insomniac bird (possibly a blackbird - I'm not sure...) that was going full tilt when I came back from babysitting last weekend), the breezes are warm, and I've lost my voice... Given that this is the only cold I've had this year, and it has followed its usual course (severe sore throat (which I blasted with a strong hot todday!), move to chest, get better, kick out voice with last gasp!), it's not too bad (and, after judicious application of chocolate) is starting to come back :-)
The glorious weather meant that our final hockey match of the season was played in bright sunshine, which made the 2-1 win feel so much nicer than normal! The fact that we are at the top of the league, however temporarily (about half the league still has another game to play...) is a great team-ego boost as well.
I had my first training with the TKD-Demo team - I'm going to be doing some sparring (choreographed, but should hopefully look very real!), and also one of the skills (which I wasn't expecting, as I've not done those before) - essentially, I'm going to be breaking a board with a side kick (not a wooden one, but a plastic one which slots together, as in this vid (from about 1.26 onwards - it's Bradley and Vaughn doing a pattern before then)) Then Bradley is going to be doing a flying kick over my outstretched leg and breaking another board. We've done it with pads, but it's going to be very different with boards - I envisage a lot of practice over the next few months!
Sunday was spent pretty much in the kitchen - cooking roast beef for the first time in ages, and getting my Yorkshire puds just right - I'm very pleased about that, as I've never done them before! But they rose perfectly and tasted great - and as a bonus, we only ate four out of the twelve, so I've got another 8 bagged and frozen for future use. I also made my pasties for work, and then pancakes for supper, as we'd eaten a large meal at lunch, so didn't want anything major before heading out to TKD in the evening.
Yesterday, I went for another run - this time managing to get out whilst it was light, and we had a lovely trip down by the river - very peaceful and lovely scenery to look at whilst moving through. We covered 1.7 miles in total, but I wouldn't think that more than 0.7 of that was actually running...
Wednesday, 25 March 2009
Friday, 20 March 2009
Sharing
Should you happen to be bored and trawling the internet, FML is a relatively new website (1 month) where people post the miserable / ironic etc things which have happened to them, in nice short two or three sentence paragraphs. It might be Schadenfreude, but I have found a number of these incredibly funny...
(thanks to Boobs, Injuries and Dr Pepper for that one!)
(thanks to Boobs, Injuries and Dr Pepper for that one!)
Tuesday, 17 March 2009
More Sport and stuff...
As if I don't have enough to do...
Somehow, and I'm not really sure how it has happened (peer pressure from my TKD teacher - thanks, Kerry! ;-) ), I've signed up for the Race for Life this year. For anyone who doesn't know, this is an annual "women only" event (I'm not really sure why it is women only - Wikipedia says that it was originally set up to promote awareness of women's cancer, and there is a Run for Moore which is men only.), to raise money for Cancer Research UK.
So - in the summer, (June 13th to be precise...), I'm going to be running 5K (3.1 miles for those who deal in old money). Not a huge distance, I'll be the first to admit. But, my general length of run is either slowly once round a hockey pitch (there's a very good reason that I'm the goalkeeper, and it doesn't just involve general insanity or a love of being pelted with hard balls), or a sprint up to the station gates, down the steps and back up the other side, just in time to see the train pull away.
I had my first training run today with my friend Alice (who is also doing the Race for Life). Well, really, a training walk with an occasional break into a jog... But good enough for a first go :-) Hopefully in the next three months, I'll be able to train up to running the full 5K :-)
Obviously, the aim of the race is to raise money for Cancer Research. So, if anyone fancies looking at my fundraising page, the address is:
http://www.raceforlifesponsorme.org/jotoon ;-)
In other news - anyone who enjoys classical music and comedy should check out this link to the BBC Radio 3 Classic Relief - a concert done for Comic Relief - it is fantastic!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00j199y
Somehow, and I'm not really sure how it has happened (peer pressure from my TKD teacher - thanks, Kerry! ;-) ), I've signed up for the Race for Life this year. For anyone who doesn't know, this is an annual "women only" event (I'm not really sure why it is women only - Wikipedia says that it was originally set up to promote awareness of women's cancer, and there is a Run for Moore which is men only.), to raise money for Cancer Research UK.
So - in the summer, (June 13th to be precise...), I'm going to be running 5K (3.1 miles for those who deal in old money). Not a huge distance, I'll be the first to admit. But, my general length of run is either slowly once round a hockey pitch (there's a very good reason that I'm the goalkeeper, and it doesn't just involve general insanity or a love of being pelted with hard balls), or a sprint up to the station gates, down the steps and back up the other side, just in time to see the train pull away.
I had my first training run today with my friend Alice (who is also doing the Race for Life). Well, really, a training walk with an occasional break into a jog... But good enough for a first go :-) Hopefully in the next three months, I'll be able to train up to running the full 5K :-)
Obviously, the aim of the race is to raise money for Cancer Research. So, if anyone fancies looking at my fundraising page, the address is:
http://www.raceforlifesponsorme.org/jotoon ;-)
In other news - anyone who enjoys classical music and comedy should check out this link to the BBC Radio 3 Classic Relief - a concert done for Comic Relief - it is fantastic!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00j199y
Thursday, 12 March 2009
Mornings...
Does it say much about my morning state of mind that it has taken me till 9.50 to realise that my work trousers were on inside out?
Time...
Like a winged arrow bears all its sons away...
As it does my posts - when the post in draft is over a month old, it gets a bit silly to finish it as it is! So I am starting again with a bit of a summary of the last month...
Hockey - some great wins... I've not been able to play as much as I liked, with other events on Saturdays and Tuesdays preventing me from getting to matches and to practice. But we are still 2nd in the table with two matches to go - there seems to be an excellent chance that we will go up the league again!
Tae Kwon Do - I had another competition in Feb, this time in Cardiff. I came away with two bronzes, one of which was similar to the last time, as there were only four in the sparring, so, winning or losing, I was assured of a medal (and I did lose, but only by a point, according to my instructor, who was one of the judges). The patterns, however, had nine people in the group, so I had to beat two others to get my bronze - and neither time did I think that I'd done well enough to win, so I was incredibly pleased with that! I've also had the trials for the demonstration team - going round various fetes and fairs in the summer, showing off TKD to the masses. Very pleased to have passed that and got into the team, and even more pleased with my company, who have generously offered to sponsor our doboks, meaning that we won't have to pay for them! (Hey, I asked the MD on the off-chance, not expecting anything, and he turned round and said 'Yes' :-D)
Culture - We had a trip to London to see Sir Derek Jacobi in Twelfth Night, which was *amazing* - there wasn't a weak link in the cast, and the Letter Scene (which, particularly when Sir D.J was performing it, deserves the capitals!) was just side-splittingly funny. Add to the mix a brilliant meal in a lovely Chinese, and fantastic company - it was an amazing day.
Culture - We also went to see Watchmen - I really enjoyed the film - possibly a little too much blood and gore when compared to the comic, but certainly nowhere near as much as Sin City! The changes in storyline (which I know some of the fanboys have been screaming about), I felt were completely justified, and fitted the story a lot better.
Orchestra - We've got a whole load of new pieces, including Danse Macabre, which is one of the first pieces which made me realise that I wanted to play in a group, rather than as a solo musician. We've also got the Polovtsian Dances from Prince Igor, which includes as the first piece, the tune from Stranger in Paradise, played first on the oboe, and then on the cor. As the first oboe can't play both instruments at the same time, I've picked up the first oboe part for this, and also for the first two of the Snow Maiden pieces (though I've handed it back for the Dance of the Tumblers, the last in the four dances - with having to do solos in 1 and 2, and having done a simplified version of Tumblers with a slightly different rhythm, I don't think I could cope with that one as well!)
New Zealand - We've had our medical checks, and they have all come back clear, which is a fantastic piece of news. I've also fired my CV off to a number of recruiters, but they've pretty much all come back and said "Let us know when you have a visa". I did find another GIS company (reselling a rival's software) in Wellington, who are very promising, so I'm hoping that they will take me on once we've got the visa sorted...
Microcon - We headed down to Exeter at the end of Feb for the annual Exeter Uni Sci-Fi Society convention - as always, a great mix of people, some really fun talks and discussions (including one on the nature of Fandom with a capital F - I'm sorry, but if I'm not a Fan because I don't tick every box on the list of Fandom (Go to conventions, Run a convention, Slag off other people because they don't fit in to your definition of Fandom, Slag off guests because they happen to disagree with you...), then I'd rather just be a small f fan and enjoy sci-fi in my own way. Here endeth the rant (poor John heard a lot more of it over the weekend!)), and generally an all round chilling time :-)
I've also signed myself up for Race for Life, which I'm a bit scared about - I don't normally run further than up the incline to Temple Meads to get the train! However, it isn't till June, so I've got all the time in the world to learn how to run 5K...
And that is, in brief, the last Month. Hopefully, I'll post another one before the start of the next one, though I wouldn't hold your breath... I'm currently out four or five nights out of seven till the middle of May...!
As it does my posts - when the post in draft is over a month old, it gets a bit silly to finish it as it is! So I am starting again with a bit of a summary of the last month...
Hockey - some great wins... I've not been able to play as much as I liked, with other events on Saturdays and Tuesdays preventing me from getting to matches and to practice. But we are still 2nd in the table with two matches to go - there seems to be an excellent chance that we will go up the league again!
Tae Kwon Do - I had another competition in Feb, this time in Cardiff. I came away with two bronzes, one of which was similar to the last time, as there were only four in the sparring, so, winning or losing, I was assured of a medal (and I did lose, but only by a point, according to my instructor, who was one of the judges). The patterns, however, had nine people in the group, so I had to beat two others to get my bronze - and neither time did I think that I'd done well enough to win, so I was incredibly pleased with that! I've also had the trials for the demonstration team - going round various fetes and fairs in the summer, showing off TKD to the masses. Very pleased to have passed that and got into the team, and even more pleased with my company, who have generously offered to sponsor our doboks, meaning that we won't have to pay for them! (Hey, I asked the MD on the off-chance, not expecting anything, and he turned round and said 'Yes' :-D)
Culture - We had a trip to London to see Sir Derek Jacobi in Twelfth Night, which was *amazing* - there wasn't a weak link in the cast, and the Letter Scene (which, particularly when Sir D.J was performing it, deserves the capitals!) was just side-splittingly funny. Add to the mix a brilliant meal in a lovely Chinese, and fantastic company - it was an amazing day.
Culture - We also went to see Watchmen - I really enjoyed the film - possibly a little too much blood and gore when compared to the comic, but certainly nowhere near as much as Sin City! The changes in storyline (which I know some of the fanboys have been screaming about), I felt were completely justified, and fitted the story a lot better.
Orchestra - We've got a whole load of new pieces, including Danse Macabre, which is one of the first pieces which made me realise that I wanted to play in a group, rather than as a solo musician. We've also got the Polovtsian Dances from Prince Igor, which includes as the first piece, the tune from Stranger in Paradise, played first on the oboe, and then on the cor. As the first oboe can't play both instruments at the same time, I've picked up the first oboe part for this, and also for the first two of the Snow Maiden pieces (though I've handed it back for the Dance of the Tumblers, the last in the four dances - with having to do solos in 1 and 2, and having done a simplified version of Tumblers with a slightly different rhythm, I don't think I could cope with that one as well!)
New Zealand - We've had our medical checks, and they have all come back clear, which is a fantastic piece of news. I've also fired my CV off to a number of recruiters, but they've pretty much all come back and said "Let us know when you have a visa". I did find another GIS company (reselling a rival's software) in Wellington, who are very promising, so I'm hoping that they will take me on once we've got the visa sorted...
Microcon - We headed down to Exeter at the end of Feb for the annual Exeter Uni Sci-Fi Society convention - as always, a great mix of people, some really fun talks and discussions (including one on the nature of Fandom with a capital F - I'm sorry, but if I'm not a Fan because I don't tick every box on the list of Fandom (Go to conventions, Run a convention, Slag off other people because they don't fit in to your definition of Fandom, Slag off guests because they happen to disagree with you...), then I'd rather just be a small f fan and enjoy sci-fi in my own way. Here endeth the rant (poor John heard a lot more of it over the weekend!)), and generally an all round chilling time :-)
I've also signed myself up for Race for Life, which I'm a bit scared about - I don't normally run further than up the incline to Temple Meads to get the train! However, it isn't till June, so I've got all the time in the world to learn how to run 5K...
And that is, in brief, the last Month. Hopefully, I'll post another one before the start of the next one, though I wouldn't hold your breath... I'm currently out four or five nights out of seven till the middle of May...!
Friday, 13 February 2009
Another catch-up!
Well, it has been a long while since I posted (again!)
I can't believe that it has been 2 weeks since our fab Newcastle trip, where we headed up-North to visit one of John's ex-housemates and his wife. As well as a chance to catch up on the many years since we last saw each other (hey - we've all got married since then!), and fondly Jenny's cat, we also took the opportunity to expose my thin Southern blood to the chill Newcastle wind and head out into town. To get out of the knife-like wind, we walked over the tilting bridge (though sadly, didn't get a chance to see it tilt as the website with the times on it was wrong by a couple of hours...) into Gateshead, and went to the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art.
It wasn't the first time I'd been in an art gallery, but it's definitely the first time I'd been in a modern art gallery. I can't say that I was overly impressed... I was a little bit amused by the display of the Fluxus art, where the description given ran along the lines of "These artists (especially George Maciunas, who founded the movement) felt that art shouldn't be contstrained by galleries or museums, and some campaigned for such buildings to be closed", yet the display was being hosted in a gallery...
I know that modern art is supposed to "speak to the soul", but I really think that if something needs to have an essay next to it explaining what it is about, then surely it isn't doing its job as art.
Getting out of Newcastle was fun... We won't mention the refusal to use the sat-nav, nor the getting on the wrong motorway...
The last couple of weeks have seen some interesting weather hit the British Isles; Bristol seemed like it was getting away with it (it *never* snows in Bristol...), then got smacked with a couple of inches at the end of last week. However, other people have posted on the snow (particularly UHDD who has some amazing shots of the Lake District), and as I think that it covers the worst of all possible weathers (being both cold *and* wet), all I shall do is grumble about the cancellation of a hockey match and two hockey practices (apparantly we had the wrong sort of snow for our "all weather" astroturf...)
I'm looking forward to the weekend - I've got my first TKD competition for a while over in Cardiff. Whilst I don't expect to do any better than I did last year (in fact, given that I've gone up a couple of belts, I do expect to fact tougher competition...), I'm looking forward to the challenge!
Still doing my sewing as well, though I'm learning the follies of overconfidence; after finishing John's waistcoat, I've had to unpick a *lot* from my latest top due to first of all sewing up the sleeveholes, then, through trying to be too clever (fitting in a lining where there wasn't one on the pattern), made the armholes too small... Ah well - all good experience!
I can't believe that it has been 2 weeks since our fab Newcastle trip, where we headed up-North to visit one of John's ex-housemates and his wife. As well as a chance to catch up on the many years since we last saw each other (hey - we've all got married since then!), and fondly Jenny's cat, we also took the opportunity to expose my thin Southern blood to the chill Newcastle wind and head out into town. To get out of the knife-like wind, we walked over the tilting bridge (though sadly, didn't get a chance to see it tilt as the website with the times on it was wrong by a couple of hours...) into Gateshead, and went to the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art.
It wasn't the first time I'd been in an art gallery, but it's definitely the first time I'd been in a modern art gallery. I can't say that I was overly impressed... I was a little bit amused by the display of the Fluxus art, where the description given ran along the lines of "These artists (especially George Maciunas, who founded the movement) felt that art shouldn't be contstrained by galleries or museums, and some campaigned for such buildings to be closed", yet the display was being hosted in a gallery...
I know that modern art is supposed to "speak to the soul", but I really think that if something needs to have an essay next to it explaining what it is about, then surely it isn't doing its job as art.
Getting out of Newcastle was fun... We won't mention the refusal to use the sat-nav, nor the getting on the wrong motorway...
The last couple of weeks have seen some interesting weather hit the British Isles; Bristol seemed like it was getting away with it (it *never* snows in Bristol...), then got smacked with a couple of inches at the end of last week. However, other people have posted on the snow (particularly UHDD who has some amazing shots of the Lake District), and as I think that it covers the worst of all possible weathers (being both cold *and* wet), all I shall do is grumble about the cancellation of a hockey match and two hockey practices (apparantly we had the wrong sort of snow for our "all weather" astroturf...)
I'm looking forward to the weekend - I've got my first TKD competition for a while over in Cardiff. Whilst I don't expect to do any better than I did last year (in fact, given that I've gone up a couple of belts, I do expect to fact tougher competition...), I'm looking forward to the challenge!
Still doing my sewing as well, though I'm learning the follies of overconfidence; after finishing John's waistcoat, I've had to unpick a *lot* from my latest top due to first of all sewing up the sleeveholes, then, through trying to be too clever (fitting in a lining where there wasn't one on the pattern), made the armholes too small... Ah well - all good experience!
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