Slightly exaggerated

Well, another dog attack and another death. The latest is a poor Australian 2 year old. The culprit? A mastiff cross.....sigh.......another stereotypical dog.

As sad as it is, typically and cliche as it is, it's usually the owners fault. Having a dog is simple. It's a basic animalistic approach that you can't apply human psychology to, yet I would suggest the majority (almost without fail involving small, shitty dogs) of people do it wrong. You have to own your dog, you have to be the pack leader, a philosophy which is empowering for the human and vital for the dog to behave.

It's funny how some people genuinely believe they have a dog that couldn't ever attack. While this may be true whilst supervised, when left alone is another thing. A dog is not simply set in stone one day and that's it, you need exercise, discipline and affection all the time. A dog is a relative of a wolf, which might give you a clue as to what it's capable of. Pure breeds have a genetic disposition for whatever they have been selected for. Pitbulls and relatives were bred for fighting, simple as. They are predisposed in a different way to say a golden retriever. 

Nevertheless, we have a gorgeous, very relaxed dog, who happens to weigh almost 50 kg, again wouldn't that give you some clues as to what he's capable of doing. I cannot sit here and say he would never hurt our son. Granted I believe he wouldn't but I also would never leave my son in the same room as the dog, especially when he's going to be a toddler, with all the grabbing and pulling etc. A small kid can't read the body language and signs of a dog. Every dog gives a warning, albeit in a split second for some, whilst more strung out for others, you just have to know what to look for. 

Dogs have very strong jaws, large teeth and relatively big mouths, they have powerful stabbing canines so what about these features would give you any sense of belief to leave them with a small child? 

However, the average comment about such tragedies is along the lines of 'ban all dogs', 'ban these breeds' etc. What needs to be done is educating people. Many dogs are status symbols for the wrong reasons, whereas many people don't know how to handle their dog. People go on dog training courses, which have absolutely nothing to do with how a dog is mentally behaving. It's psychology, it's understanding animal behaviour, which people simply don't understand, not through lack of wanting, but it's too easy to buy a dog and not have a clue. Teaching your dog tricks is not the same as teaching him to be calm. 

Ironically, some comments argue that the dog owners should be take responsibility, which I agree with, although 99% of people don't know how to greet a dog, which could be the difference between being bitten or not. That is something people have to take responsibility for. Yes there are stupid people, so should we keep the same thought process and 'ban' them? To back this up even more, data from the CDC from 1979-1998 concerning lethal dog bites has shown an average of 16 people die per year. If we compare that to the global murders from 2004, which comes in at a staggering 490,000, we can see the numbers don't quite add up. Yes, there are probably slightly more dog deaths than what is covered by the CDC (in US) and yes, there are more people than dogs on this planet, but the numbers are not even close to accounting for ideas such as 'banning all dogs'. In that case, yes, humans are far more dangerous and shouldn't be left alone with other people! Before we go around screaming for dogs to be put down, we should take a closer look at ourselves first.

Women's Euro Football

Normally, I would not be posting on women's football. Yes, I'm a chauvinistic pig and think it's tedious to watch half-paced, half-man looking, handbags football. 

However, I'll take it back and say I watched (amongst bits of other matches) Sweden against Finland yesterday. Not only this, but I was pleasantly surprised, no not because I'm watching 11 Swedish women running around in shorts. More that it was actually quite entertaining.

You see, yes, the pace is slower, yes the shooting is appalling at times, yes many of the players look like men, yes Italy especially have the ugliest team by far BUT there was something that kept me watching.

The biggest difference in my opinion about women's football is the space. The key concept in any team sport and in the men's game is about creating spaces to attack. The whole (men's) game is very compact, with the ball travelling much less distance, therefore it looks (and is) much faster. With women's football, I've noticed, much like in kids football, they spread out everywhere. This is noticeable on the wings as during any single moment both wingers tend to be on the line. This creates a natural hole in the middle of the pitch. It is also something you never see in men's football. What this does is allow easy through-balls and masses of space to run into, hence women's football is potentially much more flowing then men's (minus someone like Spain's national team who just pass the ball constantly and do nothing with it). The poor women subsequently have to run much longer distances as the ground to cover is much larger. It creates many more opportunities and thus is potentially more entertaining. 

The negative is, things take time to build and usually the finishing can be fairly terrible. The ball seems to suspend in slow-motion at times, as it can freely role half the pitch before anyone touches it. 

However, one more thing I do love about women's football, which is in complete contrast to the men's, is how hard the women are. After watching Johanna give birth, I now know why that is. These women just get battered, and not just the handbags that you see in the men's game, but truly munched and they just get back up like nothing has happened. No diving, no messing around. Actually, what football is supposed to be like. That is something I do like to watch, no nonsense, no cheating.

Sweden put 5 passed Finland, but could have been 10-15 nil, no problem. I'd rather see some 'namby pamby' women getting bruised and battered then just getting on with it, than some overrated, overpaid, under-educated man fall over the second the wind brushes his shirt, whilst grabbing his face and rolling around on the floor for 5 mins. 

Women's football, I owe you an apology.

Scary stuff

Once again America has shown us the way of the caveman (ok, that's not fair on them either) with the ruling of George Zimmerman.

Based on this 'stand your ground' law (in at least 33 states, i.e., the majority of the US): 

'Provide that people who fear for their lives can use deadly force to defend themselves without having to flee a confrontation'

Erm, which genius came up with this law??

Mr. Zimmerman kills a 17-year old kid and gets off scot-free. Classic. Apparently then, it's fine to take a life and literally nothing happens to you (minus the fallout after, which in the US probably means someone will kill him soon).

How can you argue you killed someone in self-defence when you are carrying a gun?? Surely the kid, Trayvon Martin could have killed George Zimmerman on the grounds that he felt threatened to the point of death simply because Zimmerman had a gun?

Logically you could go around on a killing spree just because you wanted to, with the defence that 'your life felt threatened'. What absurdity! Besides the whole gun concept, which is just ridiculous, what happened with good old talking and non-violence?

What would you do at school, in some abusive fight, you could just kill the person if they threatened you with something along the lines of 'I'm going to kick your head in?' That would be just cause to kill them in the US? 

Something is very wrong and once again the US leads the way in behind the times thinking. 

Apart from twisting this into a racial derived case, despite both men (well technically all Americans are), sorry, a boy and man being 'ethnics' (or whatever the term in now), the point is, a man kills a boy, even if the boy punched the guy, so what, but nothing happens to the killer! What is wrong with that picture? I just don't understand it. Surely it's manslaughter and he should do his time, he killed an un-armed kid!! 

The classic defence strategy was to lure the jury into Martin's history, showing him smoking cannabis etc, come on, what a cheap trick.Yet it duped the jury and judge and now Zimmerman is a free man. Incredible. Live by the sword, die by the sword. 

I thought Islam-extremism was bad, but how different is this? Don't pee-off anyone in Florida, they might pull a gun on you because they can justify it by claiming you threatened their life. What a country.

Amazing stuff

After the quite tragic Boston marathon event, the world famous London marathon went ahead today. Whilst viewing on TV is about as interesting as watching paint dry, if you either a) watch it live or even better b) run it yourself, the buzz and atmosphere are quite amazing.

Although I can't vouch for the London one, I have some experience with the Stockholm one so I do know the feeling. My point was about a quite incredible lady, yes, even she admitted she was proud of her age, indeed the ripe old age of 85. 

No, this is isn't a typo, 85. The reason I chose to write about this person is mainly due to her little BBC interview before the start, as the oldest female in this years race (possibly including the men, but don't take my word for that), which obviously caught my eye.

Apparently she hadn't done a marathon for a few years (you know, like you do) but I had to look her up just now to see if she actually finished. Most people would think it's some PR campaign but oh no, not with this lady. The time was 6 hrs and 37 mins, which is quite staggering. I mean I'm genuinely impressed. 85 years old!! If ever you wanted some inspiration or you are just a lazy bugger, please take note. 

There aren't too many amazing people on this planet, but this is an amazing feat. It's easy to remember how much pain your body is in during the following days after running a marathon. I'm not yet 30 and I thought I had it bad. Imagine doing it when you are almost 3 times my age. I probably won't even be on this planet at that age.

Iva Barr, take a bow, you are an inspiration.

Brewdog

It's kind of funny if you are 'into' wine you are considered cool/interesting, right? However if you are into beer you are considered an alcoholic......

Well I'm not (an alcoholic) and I just want to say that Brewdog is an awesome brewing company! I've been a big fan for many years now and have an extensive, well bottle, collection of their beer. 

I am an IPA fan and their Punk IPA is quite amazing. They release some very unique beer and Sweden was their first (and maybe still biggest) market to tap into. In April this year they will open their first overseas bar in Stockholm (they are Scottish), so maybe I can work there after my PhD.........haha. It would probably be easier than finding a job in biology right now. Ok, I'm not bitter, back to the point......

I have no idea where you can get the stuff in the UK. I think most big retailers stock their 'core' range but some special stuff can only be found online (click here). Trust me, if you like proper beer, you won't be disappointed. If you like generic piss lager, well then your palate is screwed and you probably couldn't give two shiny shits as to what you drink........

Vikingarännet 2013

Due to the wife having some weird alien bulge that should enter this world around the Stockholm marathon, we, or I should say I, decided not to partake in this years 42 km torture. The potential for no sleep leading up to this grueling task is not something I look forward to, let alone leaving my newborn and wife all alone. Plus the following days of probably being more helpless than the little one (you know, that crippling muscle pain feeling) wouldn't go down too well, it wouldn't be easy for Johanna to look after two babies......

This is where Vikingarännet comes into the picture. Loosely translated as 'the Viking race', it's a fairly long, 80 km race from Uppsala to Stockholm on the ice, on Sweden's third largest lake, Mälaren. The course is quite nice, for me, it's still bizarre to think that the open water can really freeze all the way to Stockholm, and still be safe to stand/skate on. There is one small blip, possibly where some fast water meets (maybe two rivers/tributaries or something) which isn't frozen, which results in a 2 km walk to get to the next ice point. 

I'm not sure of the number of participants, but I'm hazarding a guess of around 3000, mostly with sharp-tipped poles that help (apparently) with the speed and balance. I opted for good old flailing arms......

The other difference, which most non-Nordic people won't know about are the skates. They are all based at least on a Nordic skate, which normally has a separate boot (the same boots used for cross-country skiing) that clips/ties into a long blade, mine are 50 cms, meaning you can glide a lot easier than on normal ice skates. I would say the down side is the weight at the end of this long course, after many thousand repeats of pushing and lifting your legs back into position, lets say, you feel it, mostly in your lower back, arse and generally every muscle you never knew you had in your legs.

It maybe trivial to a Swede, but being on natural ice is something I'm definitely not 'used to'. For me it's a great feeling, although restricted in the sense that you follow a course that has been brushed by a car (yes on the ice) with plough, there is something quite special with being on it. No, not just the idea that if you fall through you could die within minutes (You should carry these spikes that fit around your neck, which you can  stab and grip the ice with), or avoiding some rather large cracks in places (very easily done and very messy when your 50 cm skate disappears and gets wedged, resulting in a rather comical and painful immediate halt on one foot, usually ending in a face plant of some kind). I love that 'almost' freedom feeling. Ice skating, well this Nordic skating, is not something probably anyone (or at least very few) can appreciate in England, but it's awesome. I'm by no means good at it but I did finish this race. It took me 5 hrs and 21 mins and just one quite spectacular fall, which hurt like hell and amusingly landed me at the feet of a nice old Swedish lady, who kind of laughed, asking 'Gick det bra?' (Directly translated as 'went it good?')......yes, bloody marvelous actually, I love landing on my arse and the colour of brown and blue, you know, those things called bruises.

This year the wind was also quite perfect, from the north, around 7 m/s so quite chilly on the willy but mostly a tail wind. The ice too was apparently quite magnificent, which although I have nothing really to compare to, is highly understandable. This was shown with a new course record, some 2 hrs 35 mins by some Dutch speed-skater guy. Truly remarkable, really. Especially as last years time was 30 mins slower. The conditions must have been really great.  This is probably more confounded as a couple of years ago it was cancelled (it's only been running for 10 years) because of lack of ice........believe it or not, Sweden isn't like -20 all winter......just occasionally (I practiced once on a frozen lake a few weeks ago and it was -26 before wind chill and my apparent wind.....not very pleasant).

I feel ok today (one day after), not quite as bad as the marathon, but my legs definitely know they've done something other than the typical 4 km walk to work and back. I will no doubt enter next years, now I know what I'm up against. Fingers crossed the wind, the weather and more importantly the ice is all behaving. Otherwise I'll have a battle on my hands, as it's quite staggering how much the wind can kill you. My average time per km into the wind was say 4 mins 15 secs. Downwind on smooth ice is a whole other ball game, I managed just under 2 mins 30 secs for consistent periods, which if my maths is correct is around 24 km per hour. That feels pretty fast on a bike, let alone a set of bloody ice skates........I'm amazed I'm still in one piece come to think of it.........picture Bambi on ice and you're pretty much there. 

p.s. I shall try and post a video (not mine but someone else's) so you get the picture. Or if you are really adventurous, you can youtube it, probably not many videos of this year, but last years is around.

Case Swedish Open

A top European squash tournament has started today (qualifying as we speak) and I will be venturing down to Linköping on Friday and Saturday. 

Squash is pushing all the way for a place in the 2020 Olympics, twice denied, but with the likes of the modern pentathlon verging on getting the boot (hopefully), squash has a better chance than ever before. There is a slick application video to the IOC, which I don't want to show you. 

What I do want you to see are two rallies from the last two major tournaments. The first is from the World Open, which is the biggest tournament in the squash calender, keep in mind the score and the importance of what you are about to witness. The second is a clip from Grand Central terminal in NY, from the Tournament of Champions. I don't need to say more than, this is why squash is one of the most awesome sports on this planet.......

2012+1

First post of the year and can start writing again. There's more than enough to talk about but already it's basically February. Quite crazy really.

2012 was pretty special, as with every year. You make every moment your own, so there's no reason why things can't stay positive. I'm married and have a sproglet on the way, well there's a shock I suppose. 

Not that this year I can (or want to) repeat the last, but I'm not under any pressure to. There's always something new, if you want to find it, and believe me, I will find it. 

Life is good. I intend to keep it that way.

We are seeing Biffy Clyro for the hundredth time soon. They have a new album out (Opposites), which sounds pretty awesome. They played a show last year in London, so if you're at work and not working, check it out:

Broken record

Well, as always I start with 'it's been a while', but I really have been busy and so much has happened since last time on here. Anyways, not a long post, I (successfully) defended my half time PhD thesis, my licentiate on Friday so I'm half a fake doctor now......haha.

My wife thinks that's good news.....yeah, that's another story......

InMe

Their new album is out (it came out end of February actually) but to get hold of it over here takes ages.

Once again it is a great album and people really need to listen to proper music, written and played by themselves, just awesome. The first official single called 'pantheon' is one of 10 songs from the album 'the pride'. Enjoy. 

Stockholm marathon 2012

Wow, where do I start. Quite an unbelievable day, no not the 28-29 degrees from a few years ago, the complete opposite infact; try 4 degrees, rain and a 15 to 20 m/s northerly wind. 

Now I'm not looking for sympathy, quite the opposite, but I kid you not, anyone who ran this race would probably say it was the hardest race they had ever done. Let me give you a few examples.

Firstly, the finishing times were 'slow'. The top man came home in 2hrs 19mins, with (I think) 7 of the field having 2hr 9min PBs. The top woman strolled in with 2hrs 40mins. Secondly, of the 21 odd thousand entrants only 11,200 finished. Thirdly, with a record 75% woman entrants, Johanna actually place two better than last year despite running a few minutes slower, so more competition yet place wise, did better than last year. Fourthly, the top favourite Swedish male got to 38km (of the 42.195m) and collapsed; turned out he was suffering from a potentially severe hypothermia and reports say he had a 32 degree body temperature. It's not hard to explain why, because it was just relentless, just numbingly cold, not able to chew the power bars, the bananas mushed up like baby food getting stuffed into our mouths and swallowed. Even the water and sports drink felt like a hot drink. This folks was a nightmare.

In all seriousness, I will not be running in these conditions again. I was cold before I started, I was wet through, shivering like you would not believe, then it got worse. Standing water everywhere, feet like ice, body tense all the time, wind howling and a growing number of people wrapped in blankets in those lovely looking first aid tents.

I'm not exaggerating and people can say yeah, it rained, it was cold and windy, quit whinging. If you have run a marathon before you know how hard it is, even on a flat, 10-15 degrees, sunny, calm day. Add another level, this time not the heat from a few years ago, which is difficult in another way but not like this. You can't find the warmth, you constantly doubt yourself because it's so easy to give up. Brutal is a reasonable word. 

The infamous part of the course Västerbron, a near km long lovely curved bridge that exposes you directly to the elements. Lovely when you've just run 34km and crying for the finish line. You see some awe inspiring things when running, such as really old people slogging it out, a guy in a wheel chair with his head down and arms grinding the wheels forward, people running with blood soaked clothes and legs, the full works. Despite the pain, the constant disbelief, the feeling of wanting to stop you still march on. I think people who enter these things probably have a screw loose. The desire to move forward is incredible, many run for charity, for awareness and in Sweden, most run for pride. That's something that takes a lot to be broken, so even if they have to drag their arse over the line they do it. Put them in hypothermic conditions and it really sorts the men out from the boys. 

Personally, I am super proud of Johanna. She wanted under 4hrs, a mean feat by any stretch of the imagination. She ran 4hr 7mins 35secs, which again, I can't stress enough is quite unbelievable for the conditions. I ran 3hrs 53mins 59secs, which I am quite staggered with too. We both did great and of course are completely crippled today, haha. The idea of taking the dog out for a walk is less than amusing. 

After we finished the race, they make you hand in your shoe timing chip, forcing you agonizingly down a flight of stairs, then actually that was the worst thing; we just couldn't get warm. We were shaking to the point of not being about the open bags, hold water bottles and do simple tasks. That pain is indescribable, aside from the aches and pains. I was still so tense in my stomach, it hurt to just stand, to just be there. We fortunately made it to the subway, shaking away, slowly made it to a local subway toilet, which was like heaven. Johanna took her wet shoes and socks off and put on some fresh. I was struggling with my bowels (another lovely marathon consequence) and just the warmth of the radiators filling the room was just heavenly. Sounds a bit gross but god was it nice in there. We camped out for a few minutes until the saviour of the day came; Niklas (Johannas brother) came and picked us up, had the cars air conditioning set to 32 degrees, complete with two clean, warm hoodies each. I've never felt so great in all my life. 

It sounds so easy to run a marathon in 4 hours. For any runner (lets not say club runner, but 'average' sporty person) it's the target. It's a piece of cake to run under 1 hour for 10km, I can do it in just over 40 minutes. I can now run 5 km in 19 minutes and 13 seconds (ok, now it sounds like I'm blowing my own horn), but the point is a half marathon is 'easily' (you know what I mean) finishable. Yet the marathon distance is just something else. Why people do ultramarathons, say 55km and above is beyond my comprehension. As if 42km isn't enough. 

I can respect the ironman triatheletes, the fittest guys on the planet. My uncle will be doing his first soon (so I hear). Like those before him, there must be something misfiring in his brain! Or may be not. To find your limit or to see what you really are capable of achieving is one of the greatest things you can do in this life. Some get pets, others have kids, all great challenges, but some just want to taste the blood sweat and tears, and come out smiling the other end.

p.s. go look at the Stockholm marathon website pics and video to truly understand what I'm talking about. I'm English so I'm used to wind, rain and the cold, but I'm not used to running 4 hours in it!

p.p.s the blip in my time is from a toilet trip at 19km which provided me with a nice two minute heat break...mmm.

The 300th post

It's just a habit, to remember to go on here. I'm not on facebook, twitter, linkedin or any other social network thing. I understand the benefits, but god do people lose touch with reality. Get off your arse and get a life! This is more a reminder to some people that I am alive, haha.

Anyways, thought it fitting that Johanna started singing (incorrectly of course) 'machines' by Biffy Clyro. Short and sweet; the song is about coming to terms with the death of the lead singers mother, but can be applied to anyone close that is no longer here. I could have picked many songs (that are great, if not sad), but it was only Johannas attempt to sing that pushed me to post this one. 

As a mini tribute to a good friend of my Dads who passed away recently. I know we should celebrate life, but it doesn't mean we can't appreciate a sad song to remember 'the good old days'. For one fine gentleman, Ken Goss, you will be sorely missed.

A little delay I know

Mini post, but should of course update this more often. I'm actually sitting here with my new vibram fivefinger treksports on (the orange ones) for a momentum change in my running (or attempt at least). 

The Stockholm marathon is 2 weeks away and for the last 2 months I've not been running due to patellar tendonitis. Up to that point I was doing a half marathon every Sunday and more shorter runs midweek, but all came to a crashing halt, likely from over-running. Well, the good news is that I've done 2 x 10 km runs and a 5 km today (over 1 week) and fingers crossed, but all is fine. 

Now this optimism is needed as running 25 km per week with a 2 month gap just before you are supposed to run 42 km is erm......not ideal. I am going to attempt it though, if my legs fall off, then sobeit! 

My train of thought back to the vibrams. In a short summary, basically I believe I need to free my feet, free my leg muscles etc to use our perfectly evolved bodies in a natural way. Not encasing them in padded cocoon making us completely change our posture. I intend to very very very slowly transition (I will see how it goes of course) to running in these 'barefoot' beasts and see if my injuries decrease.

Timewise for the marathon then, well I know in my heart I can run 3.30 (and would have been close based on my good form until now) but the mileage is seriously lacking, so aside from the problem of finishing the dam thing, if I can run 3.45 I would be over the moon, christ I'd be just ecstatic. I must re-emphasize the optimism here as in reality this could become a serious nightmare. Temps are up and I don't want to run in 28 degree heat again, so I know I'm up against it, but you never know. 

Looking forward to next year, I intend to run it in my minimalist shoes; at least that is the target. I like the idea of 'don't fix it if it ain't broke', well it is broke and I'm going to try and fix it.......

A random bit of whatever

Well a great title I admit. The point is, well there is no point actually.

Last weekend we were in a very snowy/slushy/shitty Stockholm but for good reason. Firstly we went to Monks 'Cafe' as it's called. Don't let the name deceive you as this place is in my opinion a true mecca for beer. The original place is in Gamla stan or 'old town' in the capitals centre and it has something like 1500 kinds of beer....I kid you not.

We couldn't sample all of them, although Johanna tried her best (kidding). They have (at least) 46 Swedish microbrewery choices on tap, with many many more weird and wacky bottles from any and everywhere. Quite a price range too, as a lot of the higher percentage stouts (15 % and upwards say) were somewhere in the region of 500 kr and beyond (so let's just say around 50 quid, although you must remember people earn relatively more over here, but you can understand it's fairly expensive). We stuck with somewhat more appropriately priced (shall we say) beer, but great stuff.

Not that I advocate getting hammered, we didn't anyway, but this setting is like a classy pub. I'm not an alcholic and don't look forward to getting wasted like some pre-pubescent teen, but it's pretty cool to see and taste so many beers. It's not like going to the local Tesco, picking up a chav-tastic 6 pack of wife-beater, then wince in pain as the taste of that piss water runs down your throat. Oh no, it really isn't anything of the sort. My favourite of the bunch was some Dutch wheat beer with a banana hint, have no idea of the name but it went down well.

This whole event was really the warm up for the real reason for our Stockholm trip. For the first time in my life I went to a music award show. Now no, it's not like the Brit awards or anything remotely recognized internationally. It's name is based on the regional rock radio station called Bandit, hence the Bandit rock awards. Basically it's a pretty cool station that plays only rock (mostly modern) and none of this pop talentless crap. Mixed in with some awards, the important thing was the live music from a few of Swedens (apparently) finest and somewhat bigger groups, Seether and 3 Doors Down (from South Africa and the States, repectively).

Having no idea if anyone outside Sweden have heard of the bands that won awards etc, one band who are worth listening to, at least for a slightly different approach of long-haired 80's rockers, that sing melodically (both male and female.....not shemale, but separately) and scream a little.....are a band who played a few songs called Amaranthe. They have released a few songs so far, check this out for an idea. The 'headline' acts as said were Seether (who were much better than I thought they would be) who have a song called 'broken', which is my personal favourite of theirs (without Amy Lee of course). They have much newer stuff that's always on the radio, but can't be arsed to tell you all about that.

3 Doors Down shouldn't need much introduction, although I'm sure many have no clue what good music is, so are probably thinking 'who?'. Let's just say they aren't like Justin Bleeder, Blabber, Bloody, Bum something, I don't know, that little sellout talentless kid who the 10 year olds just go mental over. Once again (think I've seen them 4 or 5 times now) they were amazing, playing some songs off their new album and many many 'classics'. Although me and Johanna both agree we've never seen the lead singer, Brad Arnold so engaged in the crowd- basically he must have been hammered or high or something......but could still sing and kind of talk (I mean he's from the deep south in the US, so already slightly retarded). We figured they were on late and were just waiting around so what better else to do than drink......That's what the snow does to you over here.....or something like that. Not that I would want my kids to engage in that side of life, but as I said, a great sound and great entertainment. Johanna will fly to England to see them again, so she will get to see how they behave next time (I sound like a parent lecturing there 'deaf' kids....)

Some good and bad news about my back problems, that I've had for close to a year now. Wow, where did this topic from? Anyway, I saw a decent physio and she reckons I have 'diskbuktning' or a protruded disc in my lower vertebrate. Considering I can't put my socks or shoes on without wincing in agony, it all kind of makes sense. I've been doing 'the cobra' (look it up) many a times a day and it's been getting better. It's all about my crap posture when sitting too. Mentally it's feeling better as your brain is a huge hurdle in overcoming such injuries too.

The good news I can still run. The bad news I can't run outside right now as it's slipperier (that can't be a real word) than the proverbial eel.

I have dipped back into my childhood in some aspects as I've just bought a new trials bike. Again, probably not many people understand what this is all about, but let's just say, it's like riding a bike, just erm, differently. Just watch any Danny MacAskill (wow, to have the word 'skill' in your name must be a great omen, oh yeah there is also 'kill', hmmm......) video, like this one. Now you can't really class it as true 'trials' but all the static hoppy type stuff is as good as. Who would have thought you could ride a bike like that?!

Loads more to talk about but I have to take the dog out then go for a quick 5km run before the 3 S's, you know showering, shaving, shi.........

Oh yeah, it's a long post so don't expect the grammar etc to be so great.

A tennis moan

Just a short one. I'm not that bitter, but life is unfair. Take the Australian Open, won by Novak Djokovic in just under 6 hours. It sounds amazing, 6 hours of hardcore, nail biting tennis, but the truth is, well, it wasn't.

At 2-1 in sets to Djokovic all the comments from the tennis pundits (and public) are highlighting just how average the match is. I kid you not, there were no comments about it being a high quality match. Then suddenly, the report afterwards claiming it was '5-set epic', then John Lloyd saying it was 'Djokovics greatest ever match'!!! How can it go from dull to the greatest in 2 sets??

6 hours sounds impressive, but remember 5 and a half hours of it are resting periods for either a towel, a drink, a change of ends, a choice of balls, come to think of it, anything they like really. It takes forever to serve because they miss once, then go through the motions again.......

My point of slight bitterness isn't that SCOTLANDS Andy Murray once again gets to a semi-final of an open, once again failing to live up to any potential. In the meantime in NY, considered a 'squash major' is the US Open, more correctly called the Tournament of Champions, there was a more important battle going on.

The final was contested not only by two ENGLISH men: These men are one and two in the World, plus this final would decide which one would top the rankings next month. Four English men made it through to the quarter finals, yes, thats half of the people left. The depth right now in ENGLISH squash, not bloody Scottish, is amazing. It's a true 'golden era' for England in squash right now. Guess what? A useless Scot gets more coverage for not even making a final, than the 2 best in the World, from England in a sport that doesn't require you to take breaks every 30 seconds, once some poor kid has just given you a choice of balls to hit.

The names are now (again) World number 1 Nick Matthew and former (last month) World number 1 James Willstrop. Forget Andy Murray, check out a real sport, with real athletes and real home grown talents.

UB40 and dogs

No, not related, but something to talk about.

Firstly, the dogs!! We don't have pictures or videos, but next time there will be. Basically we went to a 'Sennenklubb' meeting, where all breeds of the sennenhund family (all 4) meet up and well, let the doggies loose.

We hadn't been to any of these meetings before, and as I'm just not a fan of such weird dog-related things. However it wasn't quite as I had imagined. There weren't actually any bizarre, self-obsessed people, hell-bent on living through their little poochies making up for some lost inadequacies that they forgot to either live or pass on to their children........

Instead, there were some quite normal, laid back people, who simply let their little (or quite big actually) 'babies' loose. It's quite enjoyable watching the funny goings-on of a pack of (similar) dogs, possibly 15 strong. Quite a sight if I may say so myself.

Bizarrely, our dog looked the most puppy-like, even with the youngest around 8 months. It's funny to see an almost 2 year male, bound around like a puppy, yet being one of the biggest dogs there.

What was also interesting, that another male was there weighing around 60kg. The owner had told us that this dog was the same weight and size as Charlie (45kg) up until 3 and a half years old, then suddenly a growth spurt ensued. If this is true, we could be in for a shock.......

Funnily enough, the only other dog to scoop mouthfuls of snow as he layed down or ran around was this other rather large male.......funny coincidence there.

On a completely unrelated note, we saw one of the most successful bands of all time, in a tiny venue in my home town, right here in Uppsala. Yes, UB40 came with all 10 members and a lot of dodgy brummie accents....

Despite the lack of English skills, the singing and entertainment was second to none. I've never seen any reggae type music (whatever you class them as really) live, but it was quite chilaxing. Very tight music and good singing = good combination. Some classics were played and some new stuff, with that calming reggae beat. Think Johanna enjoyed it too, and no we weren't the youngest either: There was quite a mix of ages and backgrounds, considering these guys are 55ish, there weren't so many 40 year old, wannabe-menopausal women screaming after the 'hotties'......

They played for nearly 2 hours by my timing and overall, had a great time. Would definitely recommend, even if it isn't your thing. Any well played/well sung music is always good to see live, doesn't really matter who it is......so long as they don't lip sync and pretend........so forget pretty much all current music, you will have to go back a few years, may be try UB40 and see how you fair.

A test

We have just bought a video camera, a Samsung HMX-Q10, so tried it out. Have got some neat editing software too, so will do my best Spielberg impression too. Just a test though (not bad in flat light)....

Not surprising

It doesn't matter what country you're in, religion is full of lies, deceit and abuse. How many more examples do we need of this before people realize it's all tripe. Now in the limelight is the Catholic faith in the Netherlands. The study asked some 34,000 people of whom up to 20,000 abuse cases have been identified in less than a 40 year period. Quite staggering.

I just can't see any benefit of these brain-washing propaganda 'faiths'. How about some independent thought and may be the World would be an amazing place.....

No biggy

There is finally snow on the ground (may be there is more in England already?) and temps are looking low and steady. Hopefully the winter will stay now.

I have started my half year (as in half a year left) marathon training. Yes, third time lucky or something like that. Slow and steady to start, well kind of. I'm following a 3.5hr plan, the pace is quite quite slow, but when you run that long you soon understand why it 'appears' that way. It's bloody tough either way, but my main goal is to finish it again 'properly', meaning at least be fit enough so my body doesn't fall apart. Considering I'm not starting anywhere close to 100% it's going to be a challenge- still really struggling with my lower back or glutes are the real problem actually. Anyway, enough of that. Johanna no doubt will kick my ass (as usual). Would be good to take her this time though : )

I'm sure there was something remotely interesting that I was going to talk about, or apparently not. Was just funny really to see Man U get knocked out of the champions league. Quite amazing the lack of talent that is paid so much money. I promise I won't rant about football......

Just thinking out loud, but finally managed to get around to watch The A-team (film). Thought it was going to suck, as the series is just a classic. Apparently these 'rangers' in the original series never actually kill anyone, never shoot or injure, so it's funny these four are so badass. However, the film is actually really good. Nice twist and all the actors do a good job of imitating their originals.

Considering we are going to Florida next year and will venture to the Harry Potter part of Universals Island of Adventure, which wasn't built the last time I was there, we have started to watch the films. Yes, the books are better......all that crap, but as I can't read, the films will have to do. What I am trying to find out is why this franchise is worth so much and is so popular. Wow the story is totally unoriginal, wow, where do I start. We've watched the first two films up until now and not only is the acting just god awful, the story is full of redundancy and so many loopholes that make no sense. Yes it's a kids book, but what the hell, give the kids some credit, they aren't all morons. I'm hoping the films (well the whole story) will get better, but I won't hold my breath that's for sure. It's just a rip off of classic kids stuff, pieced together in some messed up jumble then sold to us through 3 annoying, overacting kids. My left nut has more talent than these 'wizards'. Well, anyway, I'll stick with my Lord of the Rings, yes, potentially slow starting (I have read the book(s)) but a full and original story, great character development and clear to see the old good vs evil, clear and precise, no messing around hiding behind strange plots and pointless outcomes.

Xmas is round the corner, another year gone like that. I heard I am getting a nephew, I told Johanna and bet all my money they will name it either Luke or Joshua. Now if you are reading this, don't you dare change it to the other popular names; no Mohammads (plus variants), Oliver, Harry, Jacob or Thomas just to spite me. You know I'm right......

Feeding time at the zoo so better get those munchy crickets out.

Good news

Following the bad news, I'm happy to report good news. Yes it's along the same lines as before, but as I had a sizable terrarium just sitting there, I needed to fill it.

Well it didn't take long, as my reptile people have some amazing animals, so I now have Marwin, another Rhacodactylus species (like the two I have), R. Chahoua or Mossy gecko (or Mossy prehensile-tailed gecko (meaning it can curl it's tail up) or Bavay's gecko (who discovered it)).

He is a very stunning thing, little bit skittish but will handle him once a week and see if he calms down a bit. Amazing colours, the pictures below dont really do it justice, but didnt want bright light as he was already stressed from the trip.

Might be able to find a female in the future to make little ones, but these are a pretty rare species and are fairly tough to breed, but we shall see. In the States and UK they are worth a lot, but got him for a relative bargain.

Some good news after some sad, yes you might think they are just lizards, boring boring. But to have something that has been 'made' in your hands, then to see it pass is not easy to take, whether it be a lizard, a dog, or whatever. These are fascinating little creatures, come from one island in the World and once again I have another piece of amazing natural history to ponder over.

Meet Marwin:

Stuck on the glass....


He really has bark type colours, just perfect camouflage