No Longer Immortal

Solomon Kane

Interesting movie, not totally what I had expected. This might have been because I had seen commercials for both Solomon Kane and Dante’s Inferno around the same time. So what was the game and what was the movie ?

The movie was very enjoyable, the story is pretty simple Solomon Kane is a Captain/Mercenary out to kill people and get as much gold as possible on the way. During his travels he runs into a minion sent from Hell to collect his soul as debt due. Not one to give up so easy, Solomon goes on the lamb and hides out in a monastery. While he’s hiding out there, evil is spreading through England and eventually he has to give up hiding.

The catch is, one more act of violence and he’s 100% going to hell, so what do you do ?

There's plenty of sword fights, and rain. It seems to rain almost constantly through the film. The fights are pretty good, not too showy or over board. The bad guy's make up was pretty cool, shame we didn't see so much of him. The story is a tad weak, but it IS based off books by Robert E Howard. 

I’ll leave the rest of the movie for you to watch. It’s not going to win Oscars, but it was definitely enjoyable way to spend the evening.

Healthy alternatives

So here I am, on a Saturday on day 2 of replacing my bad choice unhealthy diet with more paleo type foods. This morning has been terrible, since I’ve just been sitting here having an inner monolog as to why I cannot just go downstairs and buy a diet coke. Instead I’m having espresso and pain killers for the headache that has resulted! (No I was not out last night). This got me thinking, is coke better than diet coke ? Is espresso better than both  ? I am also drinking water, so no fear on that account.

I do like the  idea of getting calories from fat, but if you can’t have carbs to go with them it makes it tricky to eat. Bacon cooked in butter is lovely, but I’d kill for butter on toast. Apparently after two weeks I won’t notice anymore. I actually think this is true, as I realized that when I’m away on holiday (parents where ever), I don’t eat any toast at all. It’s only when I’m at home, and need a quick snack. Probably because when on holiday I’m eating correctly as I just eat out all the time, and when I’m at home I’m lazy and cook junk food.

Today’s breakfast: Rachel’s Greek Yogurt with a handful of blue berries, and 4 rashers of smoked bacon (mmmm). Served with an Illy espresso (might make another) and a pint of water.

Primal lifestyle

So today marks the start of my following a primal lifestyle. I got to admit, the fact that I can eat meat + fats without real limit is a winner! The downside is no grain, I really _really_ will miss my toast in the morning. It seems funny it’s ok to have pure butter, but I can’t stick it on toast! I have discovered though that you can use almond flour as a substitute so shall be investigating making my own cookies + pizza with that.

One of the addictions to go is Diet Coke… I have slowly been cutting it out, but when I get stressed or very busy at work, the intake increases again!

So, this weekend I’m making cookies, pizza and pancakes… all with almond flour. Should be interesting.

My stats are published at: http://dailyburn.com/locker_room/kirth

Aim is 75kg (roughly), Waist back to 32inch, and BodyFat under 15%

I’m not going to start exercising like mad, but going to look to adding sprints to my current regime of cycling everywhere.  

A rant against cyclists by a cyclist

This is getting more and more common an occurrence, that’s driven to me writing a post about it.

What am I talking about ? Simple. People who get all the health and safety gear for cycling and then jump red lights.

Here’s the breakdown:

High Visibility Jacket – check

Lit up like a Christmas tree – check

Compulsory Helmet –check

Glide through red light without looking/slowing down – check

Do they somehow think that the gear they have makes them invincible ? I’m not saying that I have not on occasion skipped a red light,  but at least I look, and go slow through it. The most common jumped junction I see is near The Latchmer in Battersea. This is a large 4 way junction with buses etc… yet people still just skip the red lights.

Even after all this, people have seem to think that I am living “dangerously” because I choose not to wear a helmet when cycling. I’ve weighed up the evidence provided by both sides of the argument and I disagree it would protect me in an accident. That said, I _do_ wear one when downhill MTB’ing, or snowboarding. The reason is, I’m a lot more likely to either fall, or get hit by something. Interestingly enough, with Snowboarding it’s far more common to break/compact the wrist than damage the head. I’ve got wrist splits in my gloves because of this!

A friend of mine actually got taken out while teaching a ski lesson by another person. The ski’s actually cut his face, and the guy skied off without checking if my friend was ok. So, since then he’s worn a helmet, and that lead me to figure if there’s people who’ll do that I’d rather not have my head cut up/broken! Oh and it keeps my head warm. Up to about -15 Celsius, then I need a beanie on under which is good to about -25 as I discovered in Zermatt recently.

If you choose to cycle (especially in London), I strongly recommend taking a cycling course. It’s not just about how to ride a bike, but how to handle traffic, and the world surrounding you while you commute.

2010 - a new decade!

So here we are, 2010 already. It’s funny, life really does seem to speed up the older you get.

Since it’s that time that everyone makes outrageously impossible resolutions here are mine:

1-      Get out of debt. Pretty obvious really, and only two ways to do it. Spend less or earn more. I’m actually going to try for both. I would like to work out a way to make a passive income stream, the holy grail of income. Not sure what yet, but I’ll keep trying!

2-      Get back into shape. Usual NY resolution this one, but it’s something I’ve been working at recently. However, I did notice over Christmas that I was getting out of breath doing simple things. Not sure what that was about as I feel fine now. I have been working towards running 5k non-stop. I’ve actually run further than 5k but still not in one go. I can do it in two parts with a small 4 minute walk in the middle. Guessing Christmas will have ruined that.

3-      Do new things, try out stuff I keep thinking about but never do. I’ve joined a bunch of groups on meetup.com and am planning to actually attend some of their events! This may hinder number 1, as they cost money,  but it helps with number 2 as it will get me more in shape.

4-      Party less, Socialize more. An obvious this one, starting with a two drink per night rule. I’m pretty good at partying too “hard”, and it’s time to accept I’m not 20 anymore! I’ve made an idiot out of myself on more than one occasion so time to do something about it. I think out of all the resolutions, this might be the hardest one for me. Years of partying on Friday nights with my first job (5+ years of this!) has got me conditioned. That said, I gave up smoking no problem, so let’s see.

5-      Embrace networking. This is a weird one, I understand the ideas behind linked in and so on, but it’s not something I’ve used to full capacity. This needs to change. Following on from 4, I need to get out more and network. Meet like-minded people, and see what’s going on in the world.

6-      Learn a language properly. I keep on and offing this, speaking a smattering of both German and French. I used to be fluent in both languages as a child, but then stopped talking. It seems silly to have lived in both Germany and Switzerland for so long, and yet barely speak either!

7-      Work on my photography more. As some of you may know, I really do enjoy photography. I really do not enjoy photo editing! I have two books by Tom Ang that I need to sit down and read through. Then get outside and put it all into use. If anyone has any suggestions etc… let me know! I did try to do a photograph a day, but with editing that becomes pretty difficult.

There is probably a lot more I could add, but then I’d be making it impossible for myself. I’d end up becoming a totally different person! Is that a bad thing, I don’t think so but maybe too drastic.

Here’s to 2010. Let me know what you have planned J

Lack of immortallity

So it dawned on me this weekend, that the assumed immortality of youth isn’t actually true! Trundling around Battersea Park this morning doing my daily run, I was contemplating what to do about this. Now wild ideas floated through my head, maybe Indy was right and the chalice of Christ would give me immortality. In fact, had a lot of ideas, they all came down to two factors required: 1- money, 2- fitness. See, even if there was the fabled Holy Grail, I’d definitely require money to go find it… and I’m sure it wouldn’t be a luxury cruise, but involve all sorts of hardships (hence the fitness!). So, on my route to finding the Holy Grail I figured I can start by addressing fitness.

What’s always killed me before, is like anything I tend to stop start stop start and never really get into it. Even writing this post my mind is wandering to things like “wonder what’s on the news… how work is going… it’s cold outside” . So, I decided to put my money where my mouth is and enter some races. Thing is, I can’t do a marathon. Not physically, rather the thought of 26 miles of the same thing, plodding along… that’s my idea of hell really. I just can’t slow the mind down enough to handle that, even my current 5km runs I feel like I should bring a Dictaphone so I can record my thoughts on coding/work/gaming etc… while I run. Now with straight running out, and my love of bikes perhaps a cycle race ? Again, not really. I don’t have a race bike, and currently just cannot afford one (4 ski trips to pay for!). In the end, a friends trip to the Abu Dhabi Adventure Challenge, lead me round to the UK Rat Races.

I’d seen the Rat Race 2009 in London and enjoyed watch it. It’s not a straight single discipline to the end mind numbingly boring same-thing again and again. Now, I’ve already taken up climbing this year (although finding a partner for 9am mon->fri is proving impossible), and having done some white water kayaking back in 2007, I thought why not ? The race is not till Sept, which is ages away and plenty of time to get in shape. The only issue was, I really didn’t want to try this solo. Enter Al (stage left). Al’s my old room mate for about 7 years during end of Uni and start of the real world. He’s currently doing some matrial arts, so I figured why not ask him ? Result: yes. So, here we are, entered for 2010. The full Weekender race, http://ratraceadventure.com/page121.asp .

Now I am looking for some smaller scale races before then, and maybe try find a club in London. Of course, my work hours hold everything up. I only work 2pm -> 10.30pm mon-fri, but that makes any evening training virtually impossible (unless people can't sleep!). I’ve found the Ace Races, which they should have a 1 day in May (normally Ashdown Forest), so I’ll see what they post when the 2010 calendar is decided.

Have I bitten off more than I can chew ? If Eddy Izzard can do 43 back to back marathons in 51 days, as an overweight middle aged person, I sure as hell should be able to do this. Although, I don’t plan to be overweight, nor middle aged by next year! I’ll be updating with further comments about progress and races entered as we go.

Enjoy your day J

Worum geht es ?

Ich hat ein Idee das ich muss mein tag auf Deutsch geschrieben. Warum ? weiß nicht, aber diese ist das Resultat.

Bitte, Nachsicht mit mich, viel ich den Deutsch Sprache zerstören.

Heute var sehr  beschäftigt, mit einem viel Eve gespielt. Mein Bruder denke das ich kann zwei Jahr in einem tag gelernt.

Im Abend hat mein freund  Kevin besucht. Wir hat 10,000 BC gesehen. Es war nicht schlecht, aber kein Oskar Film.