Oh Per-Lease...

The whole Russell Brand and Jonathon Ross issue has got slightly out of hand.

It has made front page news for the past 3 days and over what...

A "Jibe" over an actors grand daughter, the same actor that offended a generation of Spanish citizens, and his grand daughter who, until last week, no-one had heard of.

Now we see there have been nearlty 30,000 complaints regarding the comments made by Mr Brand and Mr Ross.

Brand has since quit the BBC, and Ross has been suspended for 3 months...

...suspended, ... 3 months, does Mr Ross not earn £16 grand a day for the BBC, does that not cost us, the tax paying, licence paying public.

Ok they cocked up and upset said person/s, but am I not alone in thinking something is not right, Gordon Brown and possibly other politicians putting their oar in and "expressing the views of the general public" speaking for the people, Mr Brown, when have you ever spoke for the people, if you did that, then you'd step down or call an election to see what people really think of you !!! (I DARE YOU).

So now we are left paying our licence fee to not watch the Jonathon Ross show on FRidays, which, to be honest, is the best chat show on TV, I dont really listen to Radio 2 as I'm not old enough just yet.

Ok they went a bit too far, but how many people who complained actually heard the show (I think 3) and how many people complained for something to do.

Don't worry, you'll feel a lot better come Sunday, because you'll be able to watch Top Gear that you hata agnd complain about that come Monday.

Still, takes the focus off the fact we're in a recession, can't afford food, petrol and our mortgage.

Does anyone else think this has gone too far.

Whatever next, people complaining about a Black US President !!!!

Note: Apparently Jonathon Ross has been suspended without pay - NOTE TO Mr Ross - QUIT THE BBC AND GO TO CHANNEL 4 .... We'll watch you there...

More Gadgets

I have had my HTC Diamond for a couple of months now, at first I didn't like the lack of keyboard and almost went back to my old trusted s710, I continued and now quite like it.
I have now been given a shiny new device however, The HTC Touch Pro - Which is the same as the Diamond, but with a keyboard.
This must be perfection I thought... Nope, now it has the keyboard which I wanted, the device is too big, its double the depth of the Diamond. - It also doesn't have 4Gb internal storage like the Diamond has, it does allow for MicroSD however.

I will continue to play, I have already begun by wiping the Vodafone software by flashing the ROM to a more Damo friendly OS.

More soon

5K - Bring it On

Fresh from my 5K run last Saturday, I have come to the conclusion that I actually enjoyed it and not only will I be doing it again next year, but will be "Raising my game" and running the "Derby 10K" in April (Sunday 19 April).

This time I plan on doing more training, I say "More" I should actually mean "Some", rather than the 1 5k run in Tenerife and a pathetic 3K attempt the sunday before my run, I'll plan properly and aim for a time of less than 60 minutes.

I have ages - 7 months to ready myself for this one, how hard can it be.

Tao - Are you joining me?

The Holiday

I'd get round to it in the end and yesterdays' news prompted me.

After 3 weeks of worrying wether or not our flight company would still be around to get us to Tenerife, we managed to get there, the weather was great, the restaurants were nice as usual and the nightlife was...

...Dead.

Tenerife must be going through the credit crisis along with the rest of the world. the usually busy Veronicas strip was empty, the pubs were pumping out music but had no-one in them, the people that usually hassle you to death until you go into their pub for a "buy one - get one free" were standing around talking to each other, occasionally asking "where you were going later".

I'm not sure whether this was down to the recent problems with holiday companies and airlines going bust, prices in most of the restaurants increased, the Euro dropped from 1.6 to 1.2 meant this is not the cheap as chips holiday it once was.


Thanks to the in-laws though who take us with us at extra expense to their timeshare, this means we managed to get a rest when they took Leah on their daily walks, as well as an on-call babysitter.

... 2 weeks after returning to the UK, our flight company (LTE) went bust....

It was Big and was not Fun !!!I DID IT !!!!

My first ever Fun Run.

Went to the gym (to leave my clothes in the locker),

got to the start/finish line at 10.30 for the the big warm up which consisted of doing excercises that made us all look like fools !!! (but had a laugh doing so).

at 11.00 the air gassy soundy thing went off and we were off.

I know I wouldn't be able to run the whole course, I had a but of a run, then walked for 3 minutes, before I knew it I was at the 2 Km marker, before I knew it someone was saying "come on, you can do it", decided then and there he was to be my pacemaker and wasn't going to get away from me, 30 seconds later he had got away from me...

I managed to catch him up again eventually and before I knew it I had reached 4Km, turned a corner and could see the finish line. I managed to almost run the last bit and crossed the finish line, panting, sweating and needing a beer healthy bottle of water.

I set my target at 45 minutes, hoping to do it in around 40 but amazing myself that I did it in 28 minutes.

Thanks to everyone who has sponsored me, both online and on paper, my chosen charity was SADS UK, I have so far managed to raise about £200 which is fantastic, I really only thought it would be £50 but the generousity of people is overwhelming.

Also thanks to SWMBO for coming out to support me, less than24 hours after having an op to remove the device monitoring her heartbeat intervals. (Reveal Implantable Loop Recorder (ILR)).

Now then - I really need that beer.

I'm Back
I am back from my Tenerife retreat and ready for my big run.

I have trained, (2 short jogs), have my sponsors, (me) have my water bottle, (JD) and am ready for the Big Fun Run.....

Please sponsor me at my Justgiving site, its for a very worthy cause if you read my blog you will know all about it.

Thanks all

Holiday

I am due to go on holiday soon, this is just the break I/we needed, a couple of weeks in Tenerife with the "missus" the "little-un" and the "in-laws".

At first, I though the main issue would be the credit crunch causing the exchange rate dropped from an average €1.5/£1 to €1.2/£1. It has just got a whole lot worse.

A Serious XL Crash

XL Leisure Group, the 3rd largest tour operator in the UK has effectively gone bust, all flights and package holidays are now non-existent, although we have not booked with this company, following the recent collapse of Zoom, Silverjet and only yesterday Futura International.

Even football is now affected

It is very worrying hoping company we are flying with will still be operating when we do go (and come back), we are not on a package holiday as the in-laws have timeshare, we are still relying on the flight company to get us there.

There is no alternative, alternative flights are 4 times the price we paid (and ours weren't cheap!!!).

This was the week that the rain came down, holiday companies went bust, the world ended and the channel tunnel closed, on a positive note, petrol came done 1 pence....

Question: What is worse, getting to Tenerife and getting stuck, or not going on holiday

The End of the World is nigh (tomorrow)...

(... but if it doesn't end, there are new gadgets on the way).

News is the world will end tomorrow, although I would have guessed at a repeat of the Bibles "40 days of rain" apparently the "Large Hadron Collider" is a 27-kilometre underground tunnel that thousands of science geeks have built along the France-Switzerland border in an attempt to "maybe" discover the "Theory of Everything"

It's not pocket-sized and doesn't have a touchscreen

This Gadget is being switched on tomorrow when it has been said one of 3 three can happen

1. The secret to theory of everything being revealed

2. Nothing

3. The creation of a black hole that will devour the Earth.

Obviously I'm going with option 1 or 2. If it does turn out to be option 3, my holiday plans are scuppered and I haven't written down my logon passwords in case anyone does survive and needs to log onto my computer.

If, however the world doesn't end, there's 3 new gadgets coming very soon...

1. The next generation iPod Nano

Photo courtesy of Engadget

2. The HTC s740

3. The HTC Touch Pro


Hurrah...!!!

Edit:

The next generation iPod Touch also announced

I am a Prince....
... 2 Foundation qualified chap.

I have just completed (and passed) my PRINCE2 foundation course

The reason for doing this course is not to become a Project Manager, but to understand the methodology of Project Management in my day to day life - especially when being "updated" by PRINCE 2 Project Managers, I should now be able to relate to PRINCE 2 management practices when dealing with projects.

I was advised to go further and do the Practitioner but I am not really wanting to go that far (I might be forced into Project Management).

For now I am happy with PRINCE 2 and ITIL v3 qualifications

.... Now where do I use them?

Update...

Dear Damian Byrne

Thank you for signing up to run in the Big Fun Run event. Your application for
a place in the Derby Big Fun Run 2008 on Saturday 11th October has been
accepted. We look forward to seeing you on the day.

Tis done, I have signed up, chosen SADS as my charity and paid my £7.50 entrance fee, this is it, I have to do it now. 5k here we go.

I understand the treadmill/cross trainer is a completely different experience to road running, I did however manage 5k on the cross trainer (5.01Km/20 min 20 sec/ 302 calories), then straight to the treadmill for 2.5k (2.51Km/15 min 7 sec/ 261 calories).

I am going to set a pace of 30 minutes to do the 5k, this is at a steady 10Km/hour, not sure how realistic this is, only time will tell.

Am I going Mad.

I had a thought while waiting to go to the gym. - (May have been a momentary lapse of sanity)

Why don't follow the Tao route and do a real out-of-the-gym run.

Googling for "Derby 5k" brought a link to the same event Tao is running, the Big Fun Fun, and it's in Derby too.

There is no "fun" in a "run"

The only problem, it's 11 October. This gives me less than 6 weeks to prepare, not only this but I'm on holiday for 2 of those.

Can I compare running on the treadmill with running on the ground ?
Will my knee hold up for 5k ?
Will I wake up from this nightmare ?
How long are you supposed to prepare for a 5k run ?

I shall go to the gym and try a 5k treadmill run - Paramedics on standby

The Fatloss Fitness Continues

That's me that is (almost)

I have hit the gym 4 times in the last 5 days (I went for a walk on the other day !!!!)

As Tao will agree, the Podrunner Podcasts are not only good at listening to whilst doing your cardio, they also make it easier.

I managed 40 minutes on the cross trainer yesterday, burning 6oo calories and running 10k. YES Damian Byrne did a 10k run. - This was while listening to the latest podcast "167 BPM - “Waiting for the Sun”

OK I know its nowhere near a real 10k run, but made me think, could I do a real 5k run, Tao has gone a stage further and entered himself in the MK 10K.

I am off work this week and made a vow to go every day.

Todays workout consisted of;

• 15 minutes treadmill - 200 calories - 3Km
• 15 minutes x-trainer - 225 calories - 4.7Km
• Weights
• 15 minutes treadmill - 200 calories - 3Km

2 hours in the gym and still home by 9.30

By the end of this I aim to cycle to the gym, do my workout and cycle back again (7 miles on cycle), If that doesn't help me lose weight, I give up...

.... To think I'm calling this holiday from work !!!

Well... Would you ?

This report shows some companies are starting to allow employees to work 4 days instead of 5.

Great news I hear you shout, it does mean working 4 long days rather than 5, (for some this would mean us working 4 long days rather 5 long days, weekends and evenings).

This saves both the company money in operating costs, while saving the employee in travel costs and time, nursey fees etc and more importantly, gives them a 3 day weekend.

I'd be in, would you?

Still getting fit

An amazing coincidence occured, my fellow blogger, Xbox Owner, Ipod lover and former work colleague Tao has just started getting fit and has also blogged about it here and here.

We are both doing identical workout regimes using the exact same running podcast (Podrunner Intervals).

These Podcasts are brilliant, I am now listening to Level 1 - Week 4 which consists of;

BPM CHART:
5-minute warmup @ 129 bpm
3 minutes @ 140 bpm
90 seconds @ 130 bpm
5 minutes @ 140 bpm
2 minutes 30 seconds @ 130 bpm
3 minutes @ 140 bpm
90 seconds @ 130 bpm
5 minutes @ 140 bpm
Two minute cooldown @ 130 bpm

I ran this earlier this morning and managed a distance of 7.25k, burned 470calories in the 30 minutes the podcast ran for.

Geek Alert - Tao is now ready to run in the real world and splash out on pimping his iPod with the Nike Plus sports kit or a GPS watch and Google Mapping his route.

I have done similar althoug spent less (nothing). Firstly I don't go out running, however when I go out on my bike, I have a GPS enabled PDA and use GPS Tuner to map the route (30 day trial) which allows you to upload the data.

That's all I need (for now) although am looking to get a heart rate monitor to ensure I keep my heart at 150BPM (optimal for fat burning/cardio).

Get Fit (again)

It's that part of the year where I decide to get fit (again) 5 weeks to my holiday where I start to think, "Sh!t, I need to lose weight, I'm going on holiday soon".

I am quite lucky as the excess weight just drops off me as long I eat sensibly and exercise, I attempted the "AH nearly dying diet"* last year, although it worked and I lost almost 1 and a half stone, it's not recommended for 2 reasons;

1. You might die
2. You will probabyly put weight back on.

I have resorted to normal methods, cycling (Kind of) and going to the gym - this is what this post is about.

If you like listening to your iPod while running, and like fast music to help with the cardio, have a look at the Podrunner podcasts.

The Podrunner podcasts have a fixed BPM for use when cardio training
There are also Podrunner Intervals which have a varied BPM which I use for High Intensity workouts, I am currently doing the "First Day to 5K".

Try it.. (Or Don't)

The AH diet so called after "me mate" at work, who decided to go one better than me last year and have a brain tumor. - It's all about one-upmanship on our office...

EDIT: Apparently it wasn't a brain tumour - it was a "giant pituitary macroadenoma", (Isn't there a dance to that song). - I SAY : SAME THING

HTF

This is an addition to "WTF" in relation to what I have just watched...

How the hell did Usain Bolt manage to run 100m in 9.69 AND leave the rest of the field standing, it seemed he didn't even try.

Wow - I hope this is pure natural ability. Well done that man (He shouldn't have slowed down though).

Watch it here on the BBC site

Another One

Bernie Mac - a great actor and even greater comedian also passed this weekend, his stand up shows (not suitable for children) always featured is trademark "I ain' scared of y'all Mother Hubbards" - It wasn't actually hubbards but you get the drift. He died on Saturday of complications from pneumonia at just 50 years old - Wow !!!

RIP Bernie Mac

London to Brighton Bike ride
(Read: Little Eaton to Makeney Bike Ride)

They say things happen in 3s' My 3rd blog in a day.

First blog was the motivational video from a man who was dying, then a blog about a legend who has passed, this one is the very opposite (no not more babies - but staying alive).

This is going to be a shock to some, but I am back on my bike - the shock may be the sight of me in cycling shorts hence the conveniently placed newspaper showing the date.


I managed a 6 mile bike ride on Thursday, not far I admit and I had to stop twice, but it's most definetaly a start - less than a year ago I couldn't even pedal full circle so this is quite good going.

I'm all geeked up too - I have installed GPS Tuner on my PDA which gives tracks the whole route including distance, speed, altitutude, rate of climb etc, so will be able to monitor exactly where I have my heart attack. how well I am doing - I am hoping I can do a 10 mile ride in the next couple of weeks.

.... remember kids, wear your cycle helmet at all times. you may look a div - but when you smack your head on the ground - you just need to buy a new helmet rather than a coffin.

Bring on the bike ride Cookie - Lets have ya !!!

Isaac Hayes - RIP

Isaac Hayes - 20/08/1942 - 10/08/2008)

I was raised listening to Isaac Hayes, In fact Black Moses was one of the records I used to use to skid around the carpet on when I was a wee boy (Sorry Mum). Sad to hear that he passed away today.

He was the voice of the 70's for the single reason that is the movie "Shaft", and was the voice of the Chef in Southpark (until he fell out with the creators over a scientology episode).

Chocolate Salty Balls anyone?

Altogether now

"Who is the man that would risk his neck for his brother-man? Shaft"

Life... and all that is associated with it.

We all bitch and moan about our lives, our jobs, our family and friends and the world in which we live in, most of us should be thankful we are alive, fit and well, I for one shouldn't complain after coming through a year of "a dodgy knee" as I can walk, ride and do everything else again that at one point thought I'd never do.

For those who still do have things to moan about, spend 11 minutes and 32 seconds watching the video below. This is a lecture given by Randy Pausch, a University professor in the US who was diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer. This is actually a reprise of his last lecture given to his students and rather than be morose and sad.... well just watch.



Inspiration or what ?