thanks for that Paul McCartney

So I've never been a fan of the Beatles or Paul McCartney despite Band on the Run and Silly Love songs being two of my favourite guilty pleasure songs (pleasures really, the guilty bit is bullshit in that phrase.)

And so this morning I woke up and grabbed my phone to catchup on the overnight scores and the news. Somewhere or other stumbled on a story about Macca being on Carpool Karaoke. James Corden is a likable chap so I thought I'd spend 23 minutes having a watch before rolling out of bed.

It gets to 5 minutes. We get to Let it Be, one of the most over played songs of all time I reckon. Sir Paul tells us it was inspired by a dream in which he was visited by his deceased mother and she  reassured him that it was going to be OK, just let it be.

Which is a kinda saccharine but nice story. Only...

My mum told me it was going to be OK. She was wearing a brown skirt and an orange top, was in our lounge room and her face had no sign of what the cancer had done to it. She looked beautiful. She'd not been dead long when I had that dream. Twenty five years have passed since.

So I had a bit of a weep; thanks Sir Paul-fuckin-McCartney, just what I needed to start the last day of my family holiday in Bali! Nah, I don't mind getting a bit teary, and of course I'm welling up a bit as I type this, but it's a good thing. Better than forgetting. It's good for the soul. But yep, "I didn't see that one coming round the corner."

OK, normal service will resume later, but I felt like sharing that. The Beatles, not so bad after all (maybe.)



...does make me wonder how many people have that dream though...


Oh, and Let it Be now joins R.E.M Everybody Hurts in my tear-jerker draw, that latter because in the video the subtitle "she's gone" pops up.

THE FUNKMASTERS

And...relax. I had 17km to get to my revised target of 600km and decided I'd knock t out in one go so by the time I got to work I could say it's over.

Yet more proof, as if any were needed, that the eighties were awesome.

I was expecting a heavy-legged slog today. It's been a long month - aren't all the -athons? - and the finish line was in sight. I knew I'd not have any difficulty covering the distance (don't want to sound flash, but I can grind out the Ks) and I always run out of a bit of steam at the tail end. I was in a bit of a mental fugg on the way in and didn't know how I'd add the 6k to the commute.

My decision, made on the fly, was to get the extra done before I got to the bridge so that from the steps I could trundle in to work. And that's what I did; I didn't take the Galipolli Steps but ran the hill, I ran down through Mosman and then around Cremorne Point and then did a loop under the northern side of the bridge before the final couple of km to work.

And I was done. Seventeen and a half commute to work. Finished at 8am in Sydney, so I think I was the first to finish this year? I've been typically slack on touring the other entrants' blogs so I don't know if there are any Kiwis who beat me to the finish line?

Maybe see y'all in January. Putting my feet up now.

EUROPE

Obviously in the last week of my job and Juneathon there is good reason to slip in The Final Countdown by Europe. And I was going to. But I just couldn't resist another number from Europe because it is so awesomely cheesy hair metal. Enjoy Prisoners in Paradise!

Not a lot to report on the road today. It was a double JAC (Just Another Commute) there and back again. The body is starting to ache a bit, different aches on different days as I suppose different bits engage in different ways to help other bits out. I don't know, I work in IT, I'm not a PT.


And I'm spent. More tomorrow I hope, on Juneathon the last.

FLORENCE AND THE MACHINE

Very brief today, more tomorrow including the story of today.

I took Rowlf, my dog, for a walk then put him on a plane to his new home.

His original home with the breeder. Sad for me after almost 8years, good for him. There is a story to tell but we have guests tonight and I don't have tome to write it.

Easy song of the day for this sad runner, based on the title alone.

It's a good sad though, best for everyone. Especially Rowlf.

In running news, I did pretty much the same 20km loop that I did last weekend. Was quite nice.

JAMES BLUNT

The morning started as many have with a coffee and a dog walk and a commute to work. I got to the bridge and on the steps passed another runner. He looked like a runner. Around half way over the bridge he eased passed me and I stayed with him. I was in no mood for a race, but figured I'd use him as a pacer and get a little above my usual plod. After a while I pulled alongside him and started a conversation. I told him I was in no mood for a race and asked if he was training or commuting. He was commuting and he asked me the same question and I told him it was a bit of both, with Juneathon thrown in for good measure.

And then he told me that 100km was about the shortest distance over which he raced. And he'd been invited to run La Ultra High. Only 10 people were invited to run it, and if you take a look at the course - a single stage 333km through the Himalayas - you'll understand why. It started to dawn on me that this guy, Jason Dunne, was one of those people that you read about but don't think really exist. In his training he was averaging a marathon distance a day and even managed to knock out an overnight 100km before going to work the following day. He is off the end of the bell curve. Nice guy though, if you met him in the street you'd not pick him.

So, have a bit of James Blunt "High." Let it be known that there are no guilty pleasures, just pleasures, and I quite like James Blunt. So there.

The run home was just another commute, but it saw me scrape back to a 20km/day average and tick over 520km for the month to date. I'll take that. The sunset was quite a stunner. Mostly cloudless with a deepening blue sky leading down to an orange that became a red on the horizon.

4 NON BLONDES

Twenty five days and my month is still trying to run up this bloody great hill, to work and my resignation. Or something like that.

Another tired day*, low on inspiration so not a hugely representative song choice. But I like it; one hit wonder (I think.) Their song Superfly is kinda cool too. I was 22 when What's Up? was a hit in 1992. Wow.

Dropping off the distance a bit for a couple of reasons. Want to have a decent rest before the CPUltra, and what with me leaving my job at the end of next week I do need to start taking home the shit I've accumulated over the past eight-and-a-bit years. Would rather not run home with a bag full of the morning's stinking running gear, many pairs of sunglasses (I was drunk one night and bought 60 pairs of sunglasses for $80), one of my Olympus Trip film cameras and a few rolls of film...just stuff.

So today was a single run to work, the 11km takes me to 498km after 25 days. Plan is to run to and from work tomorrow and finish this working week and day 26 on the 20km/day average I'm looking for.

That's kinda all for today. Sorry folks.

*the tiredness probably not helped by the three bottles of IPA I had last night. Carbs are good though, right?

YELLO

This far into the month of juneathon and with my unplanned song-a-day-sort-of-theme coming along quite nicely (One Direction notwithstanding) I was running my usual run wondering what to use for another day of JACs (Just Another Commute.)

Inspiration came on the bridge as I eased past another runner and thought he decided to stick with me...for a while. I'm pretty sure he did speed up and maintain his10ft gap for a while before I dropped him (in my mind) or he just slowed down because, really, why bother (more likely)?

The answer to that question is "The Commuter Olympics", a phrase I heard from a semi-pro triathlete who once worked in a building I once worked in and I'd chat with every so often. I hate getting beaten over the bridge, so will invoke The Commuter Olympics if someone tries to stay with me, or I'll pick a target ahead and try to beat them. I usually do pretty well.

So today I thought of Yello.

Good facial hair. I look like a hobo at the moment with an unkempt red beard, flecked with grey. Doesn't help that I like wooly hats and wandering around unshod. A colleague I have worked with for maybe 5years genuinely mistook me for a homeless person last week. My beard is, to coin phrases my brother uses to describe his, a "beard to be feared" and "full hobo."

It was a short day at work. AJ was being presented with a Principal's Gold Award for something or other this afternoon at a special school assembly to be held at 2pm. A more engaged parent would likely know more than I did. So I did 4hours in the office, mainly so I could run in and back (I could have worked from home) before leaving at noon. The run home was a slow, lead-legged plod in some wonderfully un-wintery weather. I've been Sydney based since 1999 and I may be getting soft, but it can get cold here. A proper bone-chilling cold. Not today though. Maybe 20 degrees, wispy clouds in a mostly blue sky. Lovely.

But it was just another commute, albeit in daylight hours.

The assembly was cute. I'd been to one last year when AJ was in kindergarden and it seemed to go on forever and it seemed like everyone got some award or other. Maybe because I was (and still am) getting used to this having-a-kid-at-school malarky, maybe because I have no recollection of anything like this from my school days. Of course I may have been a dunce...

The letter we'd got from school said she was getting a "gold award" which turns out to be pretty special. Only 8 kids in each year get it, for excellence in maths and English. Seems my laissez-faire approach to schooling is paying off - go me!

But really, go AJ! The especially touching bit came yesterday though; she knew she was getting an award but seemed just as (if not a little bit more) pleased that I'd be there to see her collect it.  bought her an ice ream after the assembly and gave her her first pair of Dunlop Volleys, dad's favourite shoe. She seemed happy.

I guess I'm doing something right.

ONE DIRECTION

I only ran to work today. So in One Direction. 

Sorry about that. I mean they're good at what they do, but ye-gods...

I'm tracking well enough this month. Strava (which syncs with Garmin Connect, which syncs with my Garmin Vivoactive, which syncs with my phone) shows 465km for the month. Runningfreeonline, which no longer seems to sync with anything I own, shows a bit less. I suppose I've forgotten to save a couple of .tcx files from GC and manually upload them to RFO. It's a wonderfully quaint way to do things.

This difference annoyed me and I wanted to fix it.

But what annoys me more is that runningfreeonline does not upload my miles - and never has - in the correct timezone. So it all went into the too hard basket today when I started trying to find the gaps. I supose it would have helped if I'd added any blurb to the uploaded RFO miles instead of petulantly clicking save and sulking a bit. Every day. The saving grace is that it still looks as though I've run every day - which I have, just not at the times RFO says I have - so I'l not get disqualified from Juneathon.

What's the date? June 23rd. Over three weeks and this is the first time I've let my irritation at RFO get the better of me.

A-n-y-w-a-y, it's the run-in now, the legs are feeling a bit heavy and I'm eating like a horse. I've downgraded my personal goal for the month so figured I could give myself an extended rest of 24hours between this morning and tomorrow morning. I was all growed-up about it and didn't take a second set of running kit in to work (I did toy with the idea of wearing the stinking, damp morning commute gear for a lunchtime loop...briefly...though better of it.)

That's about it really.

SILVERCHAIR

Considering how little I managed to write about yesterday's run to and from work I am, unsurprisingly, struggling a bit to find much to say about today's run to and from work. At least today the GPS battery was full.

My new GPS, a replacement for my ageing Garmin Forerunner 305, is the Garmin Vivoactive. I was tempted by the Fenix and Epix, but I could not justify the spend considering how few of the features I'd actually use. I don't pay much attention to data fields other than distance, time, lap time, average and current pace. Occasionally I will put on a heart rate monitor, but that is so rare that I decided to save the extra $60 the strap cost. Having said that, I did see if the HRM strap from the 305 would pair with the new watch...and it did. Sixty bucks well saved.

The Vivoactive has all the data fields I need and a few smart features. It pairs with my phone and automatically uploads my data. It send me mail, calendar and facebook notifications and it does the day to day activity tracking. And it is properly waterprrof. I like it. And I think it looks OK. But the best thing about it, and the thing that made me retire the 305, is the battery life. Even with my reasonably high mileage I get several days on a charge. The blurb says you get 10hrs on the GPS, up to 3weeks without. Alas the 305, from full, was complaining about low battery during two runs earlier this year. I can't have that I'm afraid. And it locks on satellites far more quickly than the 305. The times I've spent 5minutes shivering in the pissing rain while the 305 stubbornly refuses to lock on...

The only pain with the Vivoactive is that it refuses to re-pir its conection to my phone once it is broken. Turning bluetooth off and on on my phone (currently a Samsung Galaxy S4) fixes it; not too much of a burden.

I need a song for the day. This is more a song for yesterday, when I hit the milestone of 2000km for the year to date. Have some Silverchair. It's got 2000 in the title. And the video is filmed about 200m from my office. That'll do.

CHARLES & EDDIE

There really is not much to say about today's miles other than they are a bit out of the normal run of things. A bit Mondayish really. It was a (sun)day in the office so I ran to and from work for another 22km day. Not the most inspiring running, just workmanlike commuting.

It was an early start, so running was the best way to get to the City from home. At 06:30 the bus service from the beaches is patchy at best. Maybe I didn't notice some buses pasing or maybe I only started paying attention later in the commute, but I am fairly sure I saw only 2 buses pass me on the run in. Both passed me on the Harbour Bridge, one was 'out of service' and the other wasn't from the beaches. So rather than wait 55min for a bus to maybe turn up I ran 55min and turned up at work.

Where I stayed for the next 10hours, successfully deploying stuff with colleagues, eating pizza and drinking coffee. The Garmin was looking somewhat light on juice. In fact it had warned me that the battery was low on the run in. I have pushed it a bit between charges, probably has something to with a colleague buying an iWatch and me ripping the piss out of him over its battery life - or rather lack of. Should have charged it last night. Nevermind, might be lucky. Wasn't.

It was dark when I left work for the standard trot home. I noticed on the run that the battery had died. I did wonder if the Vivoactive was smart enough to shut the screen down and still track me? Didn't know. Once home I uploaded today's miles to find it had crapped out 5.9km into my 11km run home. So today I manually claim to have run a further 5.1km to bring up the 11km commute home.

You know I ran it. You can trust me. I mean, would I lie to you?

That's a bloody awful song, it really is. I wish I was making my miles up so I could pop in something better.

But no, I am far too OCD to not run 20-22km pretty much every day of the month.

MINNIE RIPERTON

I forgot to write up my Juneathon post yesterday. I have some work stuff to do, so I'd set an alarm for 01:00 Sunday and went to bed early. The Juneathon rules allow 24 hours post-run to write things up, so that's alright. As it happened my boss just called at 00:02 and I'm now up and awake. I was going to plonk on Billy Idol Rebel Yell because of the lyric 'in the midnight hour, I cry more, more more!" but then I found this, from a show called The Midnight Special. Minnie Riperton had a sublime voice and bonkers vocal ability, so in it goes because of the show's name; the song has bugger all to do with running.

The miles today were knocked out in one go. Saturday is a kids' morning, which I've probably mentioned twice already this month. So, dog walk, gymnastics, a bit of a break for some breakfast and then swimming. I skipped lunch so that I could head out for a run while the kids and mum chillaxed at home. Can I still use the word "chillax"? Sod it, I just did.

I picked a run I've done before, albeit in reverse today because it seemed like the best bang for my buck. A gentle 5k climb followed by 12k of downhill to flat and then a 3km climb home, mostly not too nasty but with one short-sharp-shock. It's pretty much an extended version of my usual beach loop that gives me 20k.

Or it does if I finish the run with 100m past my house and back again to click the GPS out of the teens.

Lovely running weather today; clear skies and fresh. I think I'm still a bit under the weather because I did manage to get cold to the degree that my (self diagnosed but I think I'm right) Reynaud's Phenomenon left me with yellow fingertips. Maybe I do need gloves.

Anyway, work has finished for a few hours, it's 01:10 in the morning and that was my 20km for yesterday.

I'm going back to bed.

BILLY THORPE

The run to work was JAC - just another commute - but I do feel as if I've over the worst of my cold. It was another sweaty affair, unsurprising with humidity in the high 90-percents. I'll not bitch about that as I do in January when that humidity, added to temperatures that can be in the mid to high 20s before work make it rather unpleasant. This time of year I can shower and then not sweat afterwards, the temperature in the low teens. Far better.

Work was work, punctuated by chats with soon-to-be-former-colleagues about my new job. Closer to home (20min if I run, about 10 on the bike), no formal dress code, 200m west of the beach and about the same south of a brewery; really, what's not to like?

I worked through lunch, having forgotten about a 1pm meeting. I probably wouldn't have run at lunch today. I need* to buy a new phone and might buy a new laptop for my new job.

*sort of. I give my main phone back when I leave my current job and my personal mobile is the original Galaxy Note. And that won't sync with my new Garmin Vivoactive. I can't have that. And I need** a decent camera phone.

**sort of. I have plenty of cameras, but take the majority of my pictures with my phone. So I'm tending towards the Galaxy S6.

I digress.

I decided to run home. The city was grey and damp. Reasonable running conditions but nothing special. Until I got to Military Road when something that sometimes happens in Sydney happened. A gap opened up between the western horizon and the grey clouds. The sun shone through the gap, picking out buildings and trees and stuff in bright, vivid detail. Very pretty, I like that. And then I noticed the rainbows. Two of them.

I am amazed I didn't run into a person or a lamp post as I spent a couple of kilometres gazing at the rainbows and not really paying much attention to anything else. I picked the pace up a bit and hoped it would keep raining so I could stop and take a few pictures with my soon-to-be-handed-back phone.

There was quite a lot of swearing at said phone as I struggled to unlock it with cold, wet hands while standing in the rain dripping sweat on to the screen. Not entirely sure it was the devices fault, but swearing is big and clever and I am sure it helped. The pictures were so-so, but you get the picture. Literally.

I jogged on, stopping again at the Spit to take another few sunset pictures, and then it was up Mount Seaforth and home for another there-and-back 22km day.

So the song of the day was an obvious choice - Over the Rainbow. I love the Judy Garland original (who doesn't), still have not worked out whether or not I like the Tori Amos version (I think I do, but it is a bit...tense), the Israel Kamakawiwo'ole leaves me a bit cold and I've already used a Jamie Cullum this month. So it's a god job I found Billy Thorpe. An Aussie singer who released the song in the 60s as Billy Thorpe and the Atzecs, but I like this solo version.

Enjoy!

MANILOW

Really quite pleased that I can justify - to myself if no-one else - shoehorning some Manilow in today's post. But that's for 4:45PM and I'll do the day in order.

To the surprise of no-one I awoke feeling grotty. The Citrus IPA chaser to last night's stout did little to help my dehydration. And I was phlegmy. And My first few coughs had a bit of a stab in my chest. Look, I'm getting pissed off with myself for the daily whine about my cold-at-the-door so I'll drop that and just let you know when I feel better. For the time being you can just assume I start each day feeling like crap.

Rowlf, my Irish Water Spaniel, gets a longer walk at the weekend. That's a link to quite an old picture, but damnit he was a handsome lad. Today it was a shorter than usual longer walk; we didn't make it all the way to Manly and turned at 3.5km. We'd left at around 6am and I needed to be back to take H to gymnastics. I wasn't sure when I was going to knock out today's miles. The plan was to get home and have some food before getting kid-duties started; gymnastics for H, soccer (football!) for AJ and then swimming for both. Then, er, run?

But I got home to find mum and the girls still in their pyjamas and the decision for H to miss gymnastics today had already been made. She's been a bit under the weather, so no biggie. I sculled a pint of water with a Berocca, put a wash load on and did my standard anticlockwise beach loop. I was pretty much on auto-pilot and was surprised when it wasn't as slow as it felt. A quick shower, another pint of water and no time for food because it was AJ's soccer o clock. Via a coffee stop, so at least I had a couple of large cappuccino to get me through the morning. They didn't render me sharp enough to spot AJ scoring a belting goal form the halfway line though. D'oH!

Same as last week I almost fell asleep at swimming. Today Sal was there to prod me awake. The nana-nap after lunch (of leftover last night's goat masala) did not come a moment too soon.

Run number two was the same beach loop as the morning. It was all a bit lazy-in-front-of-the-tele at home and I left at about 4PM, which meant I ran through sundown. It was lovely, and the beach section was especially nice and provided my Manilow moment. Today's song of choice was going to be "Let's Go Round Again" for obvious reasons. But I got to the beach to see small turquoise waves just off shore and out at the horizon there were some pink fluffy clouds in a pink sky that got less pink and more blue the further away from the horizon I looked. Right out on the horizon was a brilliant white triangle, the sail of a yacht. As I ran I kept looking back over my shoulder at the scene. And then the yacht was gone. A bit tired I started wondering if it had turned suddenly and the sail was now edge-on, or if it had sunk extremely quickly or simply disappeared a-la Bermuda Triangle. So obviously...

I spotted the very faint outline of the yacht after a while and worked out what had happened. The sun had dipped down enough so it was no longer picking out the yacht's sail. Mystery solved. I turned away from the beach and headed west, looking towards the sunset over the lagoon. Lovely.

Rolled the legs home for another 23k day.

tears of a clown

Clowns copyright their face by painting a copy on an egg. True story. That has nothing to do with anything here, but my brother told me and I'm telling you and it is interesting.

Another groggy morning, up at a bit after 5am then the standard coffee-heart-starter and dog walk. I drop the kids off to before school care and daycare each Friday which adds 500m to my journey to work. I really struggled today. Over-dressed in the Helly polypro and singlet combo I was sweating like a racehorse from the get-go. Legs were heavy, the backpack seemed heavy; everything felt heavy. It was a proper plod today and I was glad to get it out of the way.

I'd hardly got through my first meeting and first Lemsip when my phone rang. Daycare had called Sal who was now calling me. H had spewed 4 times and I needed to go and collect her. Sal was in a workshop with 40 people, so I was "it." Fair enough. I figured the run would not be much slower than the bus, especially outside of peak hour when bus services to the Northern Beaches get a bit patchy.

So after a two hour break I was on the road, heading back homewards. It was a bit of a slog again; the total distance is not a problem, but I was all set for an eight hour break between runs with more food and fluids onboard before number two. But with my first ultra on the horizon I figure that a bit of running-near-empty is probably good training. So I did struggle, and mount Seaforth was a bitch, but I wasn't too grumpy about it.

H seemed full of beans when I turned up. Once again a sweat monster I decided to walk the under-one-km home, with her on my shoulders, rather than stink the car up. And this afternoon I worked from home. And now I am drinking Rogue Chocolate Stout, which is really rather good. Probably not ideal stuff to rehydrate with - and I am a bit dehydrated - but it's Friday so sod it.

So 23km for the day and a milestone for the year. With 18 days of June left I have reached 1826.8km in 2015, which is the equivalent of 10km per day for half a year. Unlikely to keep that up in the second half, but I should thank Cathy and all at the J-athons for pushing me twice this year. Bastards.

Let's return to the clown theme. Again, bugger all to do with running but there you go.

PLACEBO

I live on a hill. To get to work I run down that hill (OK, I usually take the shortcut down the 149 Gallipoli Steps) and then over Spit Bridge and up the hill that is Parriwi Road. Military Road is a ridge line for a while, then I drop down Wycombe Road and Thrupp Street, down to sea level at the back of Kirribilli then up another short hill before crossing the Bridge and getting to the City.

I took my running gear to work today for the possible but unlikely lunchtime top-up. I ended up working through lunch but I did, of course, run to work. I was expecting a busy afternoon but things got a little less busy and I grabbed the opportunity to leave on the dot of 4 and run home (or rather to H's daycare.)

Which was pretty much the reverse of the morning run. Through the City and over the Bridge, pass through Kirribilli then run up Thrupp and Wycombe streets to Military Road. Drop down to Spit Bridge then up 'mount Seaforth.' Heading to daycare instead of home adds a bit more climb the final hill.

So there are plenty of instances of me running up this or that hill. I'll pop in the Placebo version, which seems more apt for today because it's more in tune with my generally flat mood of late. And Brian Molko's vocal flatness is a neat counterpoint to the hilliness of the song. Good god, did I just type that?

So there you go. A bit low on inspiration today, maybe Friday will provide a bit of a pick-me-up. I suspect few if any Gods would be prepared to make a deal with me, so I shall be running up that road, running up that hill tomorrow and I'll just deal with any problems that crop up.

CILLA BLACK

Surprise surprise, I went for another run! Now I could not, in good faith, embed Surprise Surprise, so here is one of my (not at all) guilty pleasures, our Cilla singing Alfie.

Thoughts of an evening run had not occurred to me. They briefly came to mind when I got a message from Sal saying she was going out to dinner with colleagues; that was a bit surprise suprise in itself. So I had lunch with the girls, AJ read to me and H and H fell asleep on my shoulder. Very cute. They toddled off to bed and I wrote up my morning run.

Then, at about 8pm Sal got home and immediately asked "too late for a run?" Didn't need any more encouragement and I was changed and out in about 5min, reversing last night's run for another 11km.

Another chilly evening, tonight with some light cloud cover obscuring that moon. A few things of note. As I ran in the dark alongside Manly Lagoon I was struck by how many ducks were standing on the grass. It was all a bit creepy and Hitchcock. I ran on and got to what there was of the beach, a huge tide - thanks to that full moon - lapping up almost to the footpath.

As I looped back towards home I went past Fairlight, another sliver of a beach tonight. I dropped off the pace a little as I walked and chatted with Bev. I know Bev from the morning coffee stop. I didn't recognise her; most people in a puffer jacket and beanie, in the dark, when viewed from behind look remarkably similar. But the two dogs, Borzoi, were a bit of a giveaway. I think I gave her a bit of a shock; bearded and sweaty, you'd not really want to be approached by me at night. Or day.

I ran off with a cheery "seeya at the bakery!"(the morning coffee comes from the bakery in Seaforth; it opens before 5:30am.) And made my way home to clock up another 11km.

So that's 57km for Juneathon so far. A bit more respectable (so, SO tempted to embed a Mel and Kim video!)

60 songs called Rat Race

And now for something a little different. Today I ran to work, it is fairly safe to assume I will run home and you can take it as read that I'll run the same course I've been running for the past fortnight; I guess that's my little Janathon OCD. No on lobbed anything at me and I was back t my calm, reasonable self.

So in running summary it was humid, it rained and I didn't really enjoy the run to work. After the standard breakfast of mixed berry smoothie, large cap and turkish toast with vegemite I thought I'd listen to the Boomtown Rats song "Rat Trap." Why I typed "rat race" in to YouTube is a bit of a  mystery, but it set me off on a listening odyssey of songs with the title "Rat Race."

So, in order of listening, here goes...have a listen; there is some gold in there, but beware the shite.

Skindred (ska-rock)
The Specials (ska) Bob Marley (Reggae)
Billy Idol (rock)
Impellitteri (Christian Metal)
The hundreds and Thousands (pop I guess, a bit like the cure)
Goft of Gab (hip hop)
Les Double Six (jazz)
Kubla Khan (unsigned pop/rock)
Childs Play (sleaze rock)
The Ruby Tuesdays (Indie pop)
UK Subs (punk)
Kaya (UK Soul/Hip Hip)
Baha Men (poppy movie soundtrack)
Hi Tension (80s soul)
Antibalas - Reggae/Afro Beat
The Righteous Brothers Band (Northern Soul)
Mind Museum (Indie Pop Placedbo and lots of other stuff imitation)
Pal Joey (dance trance)
Chester P (rap, but leave it to Eminem eh?)
Scroobius Pip (spoken word/beat poetry/rap with intelligence)
Idle Warship (80s-esque, er confused pop)
A Broken Silence (melodic hip hop)
Koolant (Jamaican reggae)
Big Wig (indie rock)
Sizzla (roots)
Raine Maida (er, not sure)
Drapht,Ciecmate and Jase (yet more rap)
The Fastbacks (a bit punk)
Kid iD (oo, jazz-pop-avante-garde>)
Papa Fish (er, more jazz-pop-rock...stuff>)
Gino Washington (sweet sould music>)
The Mandators (poppy reggae to mke you ire>)
Biff Naked (pop...a bit eurovision if you ask me>)
The Beat Seekers (MOR, AOR>)
Avantasia (awful rock>)
Dave Jorgenson (country...shudder..>)
Seminal Rats (Australian punk>)
Capleton (more reggae, indistinguishable from most other reggae>)
La Rebla Fam - live (ska>)
Gun (soft rock>)
Skankshot (ska>)
The Unknowns (60s inspired early 80s pop>)
The Gravy Train (folk rock)
Reproach (thrash-hardcor>)
Shaded Red (MOR-AOR I've heard too many times before)
Wolf Down (noisy shout thrash!)
Wet Lev (avant garde nonsense, next!)
Devilfish (dull dance for druggies)
Disfear (screamy almost death noise. YES!)
Todd Evans (hippy with a guitar who can't really sing)
Akir (more rap...haven't we heard this before?)
Skytone (limp, wet pop)
Urban Riot (breakbeat)
Patriot (punk)
Urban Riot (breakbeat)
Patriot (punk)
Silver Stars (rock)
Ralfi Pagan (70s soul)
Race Card (rapcore, apparently. Didn't know that was a genre)
Eric Burdon (white man funk)

Whadya know, I ran home for a total of a bit over 25km today. I also kicked a pyrex pie dish that I'd put on the floor for Rowlf to clean up. Hope my big toe is OK in the morning because I've got 25km to run tomorrow.

lost in YouTube

Fifteen degrees! FIFTEEN! I'll be needing a coat soon. Humidity was aroud 70%, but this is still a decent combination, unusually pleasant for Sydney in January. I was feeling a little bit dusty after a couple too many beers last night. The guys I was catching up with had been running a bit late, so I'd sat and caught up on the UK news on my phone while absent mindedly throwing back a couple of micro-brewery bevvies in Sydney's Small Bar.

I met JC and The Chad through a local scuba diving shop over a decade ago, back when we were all single. Now all married with kids we compare the length of time since we last dived. If I exclude my recent holiday to Fiji (where I did 5 dives that, pleasingly, I took in my stride. Like riding a bike only completely different) I win hands down...kids can do that. We still have our gear sitting in our homes and we'll be back - we always say. I went snorkelling last Saturday morning; it's a start. We had a couple more beers and then, as another round approached I made a dash for the exit. In such circumstances I need to bolt because my mates don't really understand what "no, I'm all done, no more beer for me" means. Either we're all having a beer or none of us are. And if a beer is placed in front of you it is incredibly rude to not drink it.

The run this morning was dramatically different to most mornings. No, that's a lie. I ran about 200m into St Leonards park to get to a loo and then got back on metronome duty. I had a chat to a lass I caught up to as she got to the top of the bridge steps; I'd passed her on Parriwi so to find myself behind her again, I guessed, meant she had cut the corner from Military Rd to the Bridge, something I do when it isn't janathon. I let her get back to her music and did the last bit to work. Run one done, said the poet. And, for a change, there were a couple of sweat-free patches on my shirt! Woo-hoo!

One of life's little pleasures came next. Before heading up to my desk I shower and change then head out to get a coffee and some toast. I have started doing this walk barefoot. Not VFF, but barefoot. I like walking around the city in rush hour without any shoes on. Not sure why, but like I said - one of life's little pleasures.

Up at my desk and I had a quick look at the UK news. I read a piece on the Muslim Brotherhood's performance in the Egyptian elections. This proved to be my entry point into a morning of Youtube listening.

The first two songs I selected, but from the Jones Girls on it was suggestions all the way, and this is where I went:

1. The Brotherhood of Man - Save Your Kisses. Because I read a news article about the Muslim Brotherhood's election result in Egypt.
2. The Jones Girls - Nights Over Egypt. Because I was keeping on the Egypt theme.
3. Dextar Wansel - The Sweetest Pain. Because I saw the suggestion, and Dextar Wansel is an awesome name! Let's go wiht Youtube suggestions from here
4. Marcus Miller - Brazilian Rhyme. Because of the picture of Miller's bass
5. Faze 0 - Riding High. Because it keeps cropping up and I don't know them or this tune. Hmmm, I think I may only ever listen to this once...
6. Curtis Mayfield - Pusherman. Because Fred is Dead wasn't suggested. Starting to get all funked out.
7. Stevie Wonder - Higher Ground. OK, a bit more funk, and this might lead me to Chili Peppers.
8. The Clash - Bankrobber. No idea why this was suggested, but I'll take it.
9. Pixies - Where is my Mind. Wow, we're on a roll now!
10. The Stranglers - Golden Brown. Not so much for this song, more to see where it would lead me next.
11. OMD - Enola Gay. Because 80s synth pop is awesome.
12. Enigma - Sadeness. Because there is nowhere near enough Gregorian chanting in popular music. How I long for the olden days of 1990.
13. Nik Kershaw - The Riddle. Because Joy Division was a little too obvious and the Kershaw hair-eyebrow combo more than makes up for the musical failings.
14. Phil Oakley - Together In Electric Dreams. OK let's make this the last dodgy (yet awesome) 80s synth pop number.
15. Feargal Sharkey - A Good Heart. OK, this is a blatant attempt to get The Undertones "Teenage Kicks" (best pop song ever said John Peel) suggested. Damnit Feargal had nice hair.
16. The Jets - Crush on You. Bollocks, no Undertones, so it's electro-beat-box-break-dance-boogaloo. Must resist the urge to flatten out some cardboard boxes and spin on my head in the office.
17. Hey You - The Rock Steady Crew. Because B-boys break and electric boogaloo. OK, maybe this was a mistake. OK, this WAS a mistake.
18. Sugarhill Gang - Rapper's Delight. Not sure how much old school hip-hop I'll be able to take. Hotel, motel, Holiday Inn!
19. Ollie & Jerry - There's No Stoppin' Us. You really need to watch the video for the full effect.
20. Ice Cube - Bop Gun. Lead me out of the 80s Ice Cube...
21. Snoop Dogg - Sensual Seduction. Not sure I like where this is headed
22. G Unit - Feel Good. Still looking for a way out but I find myself lost in gold-chained mysoginistic bitch nigga bullshitland. HELP!
23. A basic Reggae beat. No artist, just a bit random, but this might just be my way out...
24. TOP 10 - Bob Marley. Soem shitty and unnecessary upload, but it is but a step on my path out of here...
25. Bob Marley-Don't worry be happy. Dear god, I'm getting lost in YouTube moronland as someone credits Bob marley with what is clearly the Bobby McFerrin song Don't Worry Be Happy. Still, it's a nice little tune...
26. Bob Marley - Three Little Birds. Right, we're back in the land of what-it-says-on-the-tin
27. What a woderful world - Louis Armstrong. 

Time to take a break for lunch because I could not possibly go anywhere better than this.

I figured that the problem with the foot long sub was the bread and tested this theory with a beef burrito for lunch that did not come back to haunt me on the run home. The run home was a nice commute and I finished the day on the standard distance in the standard time - nice to se that I've not slowed as the week has gone on, merely been slow throughout.

Highlight of the run home was undoubtedly the Datsun 2000 that was parked near Spit Bridge. It was definitely worth the break to click off some pictures. I was going to write a bit about mental fatigue, but I'm tired - which seems appropriate - so that'll have to wait for another day.

And now the weekend is here, I have a couple of kids parties to attend, Alex urns 3tomorrow and then a friends daughter does likewise on Sunday. Logistics of running are tricky this weekend. I also have the chew-the-fingers-to-the-second-knuckle fear of what twitter will tell me Andrew has clocked up while I've been wearing a silly hat and pretending to like pink princess stuff.

Over to you Mr. Fletcher :-)

Jessica Mauboy and the ARIAs

The dire state of Australain free to air television and the tastes of Sal came together last night to ensure the Australian Recording Industry Association's (ARIA) annual award ceremony was on our tele. Either that or it was a two hour long advert for iTunes, not sure which. Anyway, I didn't make it through to the end, just up until Robbie Williams belted out his first song of the evening. A not-so-guilty-secret is my like of the lad's superior pop offerings. Apparently he may be moving down here.

Anyway, Jessica Mauboy. She was the runner up in Australian Idol a couple of years ago and since has released a handful of decent R&Bish singles (that looks a bit like the word "rubbish" to me...) She's pretty inoffensive. She was up for seven ARIAs - seven! Wow, she must be good. The night started well for her; she won the first gong, the ARIA for highest selling single.

Hold on. I am not entirely sure that is an award per-se. Surely that is more of a measure. If more copies of your single are shifted than anyone elses then you have the highest selling single. Doesn't mean it is any good.

Her speech went on for the next several hours. She thanked almost everyone, finishing by thanking her fans. It looked like she needed to be reminded to thank them. Now come on Jess, this award is for highest selling single; the only people you need to thank are your fans. Our Jess went on to win a grand total of just that one ARIA award, so it was a good job she thanked everyone up front because she didn't get another chance. She won no peer awards, which suggests she is popular, but not particularly good. Poor Jess.

She thanked god first. Proper thanked God, not "thank god for that!" I feel sorry for her parents, who came later, but still well before her fans. So Jess, God has made you lucky and popular. But not very good. Fair enough; the big fella thrives on popularity, not quality. Big up him!

Mind you, the ARIAs are hardly meanigful; Gabriella Cilmi (remember her?) won six in 2008 and has since gone on to do, well, as far as I can tell, fuck all.

Next!

Black Velvet Black Velvet Black Velvet

Alannah Myles's name cropped up at work today. We were discussing shit records and naturally Canadians featured highly - Richard Marx; nuff said. Anyway, I found myself browsing the Canadian warblers website and found these two news items.

Alannah Myles reclaims 'Black Velvet' with modern reworking
2008-04-18
Alannahs latest interview with Canada Press has been picked up by many news outlets across the country, including a cover spot in the Toronto Stars entertainment section.

But wait, what is this I read from 2007...

New Album 'Black Velvet'
2007-11-02
Alannah Myles is back with her new album, 'Black Velvet.' This 11 track disk features a rerecorded version of Alannah's grammy award winning hit 'Black Velvet.'

Hmmm. With no overseas hit in over fifteen years, when the Mylster released the Grammy winning Black Velvet, she tries to reignite her career with the single Black Velvet in 2008 after the release of the album, Black Velvet, in 2007.

Not a great deal of growth and development there Ally.