Archive
23-Nov-2014 Coogee Wedding Cake Island Swim
30-Oct-2014 Latest Russell Brand
I know Russell Brand seems very wacky but I really really like what he says … his politics are pretty darn good and a well-needed dose of cold water over the shower of s….e that passes as the political establishment in the UK and even more so, here in Australia.
A couple of articles:
Me, mayor of London? No, there’s a comic in the job already, says Russell Brand
Comedian denies he may try to succeed Boris Johnson: ‘If you want a daft comedian running London, leave things as they are’ – from the guardian.
and
Russell Brand Must Be Doing Something Right – from the Huffington Post.
And of course this video:
14-Oct-2014 Himalayan Yogis
I watched this video about Himalayan Yogis whilst washing the dishes tonight. I usually set my laptop up in the kitchen and stream Youtube over the wifi. It works quite well.
I have a real desire to walk around India with few clothes, possessions or money.
6-May-2014 Kid Vid
This post is an indication of how your kids grow up without you really realising, and they become their own selves expressing their own individuality. Jazmin (18 yrs) got it into her head to buy a snowboard. She’s barely even seen snow. She looked up a guy on gumtree, drove our car to Manly over an hour away and bought one for $50. Then they drove into the Royal National Park, and hiked in for an hour each way to Marley sand dunes and went sandboarding. Totally awesome. Here is a video of 12ys old Kody.
14-Nov-2013 Thursday Blahs
Well I had 2 days off sick and made it in today. I was just about better although I had a few nervous looks when I started coughing. I tried to keep it strictly 9-5 and then came home, no gym, no yoga, no running, no swimming etc as wanted to recover properly. I have done no exercise since a small swim on Saturday and a small walk on Tues – shows how unwell I was.
I saw an interesting article in the paper : Michael McIntyre: the biggest comedy star you’ve never heard of – I had seen his shows late at night on TV. Great English comedian.
There was also this article and video – I think I appreciate it as our youngest is now 12 and whilst it was good fun when they were younger, it’s good that everything is easier now as they are older (more difficult in other ways of course ..):
4-Nov-2013 Talking ’bout a revolution
I saw an interesting video yesterday from the UK interviewing Russell Brand. It’s only 10mins so well worth watching. He was talking about the need for the current political system to change as it’s just not working ie greater wage inequity, just for starters. I actually read about the interview a few days back: In calling for revolution, this half-messiah has hit a nerve
Brand was challenged by host Jeremy Paxman – you want a revolution to overthrow elected governments, but what sort of government would you replace it with? ”I don’t know,” replied Brand, grinning like a wildcat. ”But I’ll tell you what it shouldn’t do. It shouldn’t destroy the planet, it shouldn’t create massive political disparity, it shouldn’t ignore the needs of the people.”
The burden of proof is not with him, he argued. It is with those with power.
The article ends with:
Be that as it may, I suspect Russell Brand is somehow speaking to the future.
Which of course is dead right: we shouldn’t destroy the planet, we shouldn’t create massive political disparity, we shouldn’t ignore the needs of the people.
I am not really political but sometimes we need to boil it down to it’s essence.
What has this got to do with us here in Australia ? well this was in the papers today and it makes me boil with rage : The lucky country? Try selfish and deluded, too – Cutting $4.5b from our foreign aid budget suggests we’re happy to live in a world of obscene disparities.
We think of ourselves as a generous people and many Australians are. But it’s a form of national psychosis when a rich, secure nation unblinkingly spends more on killing people than helping them.
In Afghanistan, our military spending has outweighed development aid by about seven to one. Now, after a deadly 12-year exercise in military hubris, Australia is withdrawing aid along with our troops. The overall aid budget will fall to 0.33 per cent of gross domestic product and the defence budget will rise to 2 per cent, in an increase 10 times as big as the aid cut.
This is an idea of security that erects defensive walls, Fortress Australia, rather than building bridges that defuse the triggers for conflict and hostility – poverty and extreme inequity. Helping others is not pure altruism if we make friends of people who might otherwise be resentful enemies.
Advertisement
So how do super-fortunate people like us get so mean-spirited that we resent our money going into aid? When did ”charity” get a bad name?
It seems we can live with a world of obscene disparities, as long as we imagine our lives, careers and successes are all our own work. If others struggle, that’s their fault, their own mistakes, or lack of skills or work ethic.
We are kidding ourselves. I have never seen prosperous Australians work as long and hard as I have seen Africans toil just to survive. People living in rural Africa struggle for everything we take for granted. Fetching water and firewood can involve a long walk every day. Our essential services – running water, sanitation, power and healthcare – are unattainable luxuries.
Villagers get up before dawn and work until dark even when they are ill, which is often. Millions of Africans have to be resourceful (they make fine floors of polished dung), brave and resilient to survive in mud huts housing families with no visible means of support, save for some meagre crops and livestock if they’re lucky.
And so it goes…. all so sad.
Addendums:
- Brand was right over public’s disgust at ‘tawdry pretences’ of politics
- Don’t vilify Russell Brand – he’s right to demand the impossible
2-Nov-2013 The Clash – Interview
I finally got around to listening to the recent interview from early September with the remaining members of the Clash. Brought a tear to my eye a few times, but well worth listening to. Makes me realise that it’s a big part of me and my history. “I wanna riot … a riot of my own”
Interesting that although it’s on Youtube it’s audio only with a static image on the centre of the 7-inch single of “White Man in Hemmersmith Palais”. I used to have that exact single (the “b” side is “The Prisoner”).
Cerys Matthews hosts an audience with The Clash at the legendary Maida Vale studios. Cerys and an audience of 6 Music listeners chat to Mick Jones, Topper Headon and Paul Simonon.
In this exclusive, intimate and very special interview the band talk candidly about their career and affection for the late singer Joe Strummer. The surviving members reveal some of their long held secrets such as how they recorded the end of “I Fought The Law” in a public toilet, also telling Cerys that some of the sounds on “Guns of Brixton” were made by the band pulling bits of velcro apart in the recording studio.
Recorded in the Bing Crosby studio at Maida Vale on September 6th, around 150 6 Music listeners successfully gained a place to be in the audience and were able to pose questions to the band.
During the show Cerys is also joined by Johnny Green, the Clash’s tour manager from 1977-1980, who tells some brilliant anecdotes about his time on the road with the band.
21-Aug-2013 My challenge this month
For breakfast I had an almond milk with a banana and about 5 fresh strawberries blended to like a smoothie. The almond milk was made by soaking 30 raw almonds in a big glass of water for 24hrs. This way when I have it in the morning I can put a new batch on to soak for the next day. You would not believe how frothy and silky a drink it makes and it’s pretty filling too. Some mornings I gave dates and/or an expresso coffee or blueberries or raspberry etc.
This month I have set my myself a personal challenge and it’s not going too bad (I will post my full tracking sheet at the end of the month). I general I am pretty healthy and generally eat a vegan diet but I really want to get more hard core and not eat any processed foods and ensure I don’t pick at aynything I don’t really want, so I am keeping a tick list for each day on the wall by my desk to track :
- no packaged breakfast cereal (hence the smoothie)
- no chips (usually my post-yoga salty treat)
- no chocolate (usually a nibble late at night)
- no butter or yogurt (sometimes when snacking)
- no bread or pasta (I used to have too much and felt bloated – prefer to cut down the bulk and go for better nutrient quality)
- sport/sweat once a day (create a better DAILY habit)
Dawn left at 5am for work so I sorted the kids and then after work (at Kogarah all day today) I got home early-ish to cleanup and supervise etc.
I did manage to go for a short-ish run of 30mins thru the streets approx 8.30pm – it was very dark and very cold approx 7C. Very sore glutes right where they join my bum – this is definitely from the gym.
Jacket potato with our home-made homos and baked beans for tea.
Instead of watching tv we watched a couple of “live more” videos from the UK. They were really great and incredibly inspiring:
Woman who rowed the Atlantic
Debra Searle MBE is a professional adventurer, author, TV presenter and Director of The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award.
Debra is arguably best known for rowing across the Atlantic Ocean. After her oarsman husband developed an uncontrollable fear of the ocean, Debra, a novice rower, continued alone and rowed 3000 miles across the Atlantic. It should have taken them 6 weeks but Debra ended up spending 3 months at sea alone, encountering 30ft waves, sharks, and force 8 squalls in a 23ft plywood boat.
The exposure Debra gained from this one feat has enabled her to spend the past 10 years working as a professional adventurer. She has completed the longest canoe race in the world with Bruce Parry (of Tribe and Amazon fame), sailed around Antarctica, completed the grueling L’Etape du Tour cycle race in the Pyrenees Mountains and raced in the Monte Carlo Rally Historique. One recent adventure gained significant coverage when the now-Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton, joined the Dragon Boat crew called The Sisterhood. Debra navigated the Sisterhood to a new Cross-Channel world record and raised £110,000 for charity.
Expect a truly inspiring and motivating experience as you listen to Debra Searle MBE
Guy who cycled around the world in 4 years – AWESOME!!
Alastair Humphreys is an adventurer, author and blogger. He has raced a yacht across the Atlantic, rowed the Channel, canoed 500 miles down the Yukon river, run the Marathon de Sables and is currently training for SOUTH, the first unsupported return journey to the South Pole. www.alastairhumphreys.comAged 24, Alastair left home to cycle around the world. His journey covered 46,000 miles and took more than four years to complete. Alastair tells the story of his global odyssey, revealing lessons learned along the way whilst challenging each of us to be bold enough to begin our own adventures.
20-Aug-2013 Gym
After work I went to the gym. A while back I decided I wanted to build some core strength or upper body strength as I am frankly very weak everywhere apart from my legs which is quite natural for a runner. As I get older I want to be overall fit all over so have made a conscious effort to scale back the running and do more all round fitness.
This has taken a couple of years with my brief flirtation with crossfit that I love. But it was inconvenient to go to the Kogarah one even when I am working there. And the pricing model is bung $30 a session or $250 unlimited a month.
I went for a while to Andy’s Gym in Bundeena which pretty much hit the mark exercise-wise and price-wise at $20 a session, but he’s been scaling back and is now only open one day a week which is just too inconvenient for me.
I decided a couple of weeks back to make a change and find somewhere else. Luckily the big Pitt St Fitness First in the Sydney CBD has just re-opened with their crossfit-style model for $27 a week. So if I commit to 2x a week that is only $13 a visit. 3x a week and it’s looking pretty cheap.
Dawn said that I shouldn’t really start a gym membership AND keep going to the “films for change” with dinner at $30 a week which is a fair call so I am not going to the films anymore (maybe just for really good ones as a treat).
Anyway I am trying to go to the gym 2x a week for now, without going too hard early on and getting injured. I will try to uplift it to 3x a week in due course. I am totally loving it. Tonight I arrived for a 6pm class, having left work at 5.50pm and doing a bit of a dash to get there, and changed.
I started off with a HIIT class (all classes listed here) ie High Intensity circuit for 30mins – kettlebells, star jumps, burpees, boxing, sledge-pushing, rope lifting, box jumps etc. 2 circuits in total.
Then a kettlebell class for 30mins, kettlebells in 4 or 5 ways with a bodyweight exercise in between, 2 circuits.
The finished off with a 30 min Kinesis class ie pretty much like a weight machine but actually 10 machines, 1 min on each then 2 circuits. But not high weights more like medium-weight but high reps.
As you can imagine I was wrecked afterwards so had a quick shower and went home. Was very tired on the train.
Later that night I watched a talk by a guy who rode his bike from the UK to India. It was well cool.
Danny began adventuring at the age of four when he cycled down the steep steps that led up to his family home in Buxton. The cuts on his knees, and sore head did nothing to deaden his adventurous spirit or his love of cycling.A racing bike took Danny around the world racing for Great Britain in Duathlon, Quadrathlon and Triathlon from 2004-2008. A mountain bike won him the Guinness World Record for Bog Snorkelling Triathlon but it was his touring bike, the beautiful Shirley, that took Danny 15,000km, and half way round the world, to India to teach at a school in the jungle.Battered and bruised, covered in dust, looking sickeningly thin and with a rather dodgy haircut after a nasty brush with a host of maggots, Danny arrived into Chembakolli on his 31st birthday twenty years since he had told his head mistress in an assembly that what he wanted to do in life was cycle round the world for charity.
12-Apr-2013 Videos about Bangla-Dash Run
I shot some video of Chris talking about the Bangla-Dash run. This was just after we had returned from Jessore, in the pool at the American Recreation Club in Dhaka:
I managed to record a video after day one of my run from my hotel room at Bangaon (background vocals from the muezzin at the local mosque):
And I am afraid they are the only videos !
6-Apr-2013 Dhaka Day Off
I slept well and got up at just gone 7am. No headache and felt heaps better. Everyone is talking about the hartal and there is a big demonstration in Dhaka so it seems like no-one is going to be interested in sorting out the support crew as there are hartals planned until Tuesday which is when Chris goes away.
Photo of “Million Man March” that happened today:
I guess the reality is starting to sink in that the run is over. Pretty disappointing. However that’s what can happen in places like this. It’s a good opportunity to just let it go. Non-attachment as the Buddhists teach. I can’t change the situation and just have to move on as dwelling on it will just make it worse.
I had 2 great days running by myself from the Kolkata megalopolis through the Bengal countryside. I ran until I could barely stand up straight – I fed the rat (see here for what this means – my running buddies knows it’s one of my favorite phrases):
“every year you need to flush out your system and do a bit of suffering. it does you a power of good. i think it’s because there is always a question mark about how you would perform. you have an idea of yourself and it can be quite a shock when you don’t come up to your own expectations. if you just tootle along you can think you’re a pretty slick bloke until things go wrong and you find you’re nothing like what you imagined yourself to be. but if you deliberately put yourself in difficult situations, then you get a pretty good idea of how you are going. that’s why i like feeding the rat. it’s a sort of annual check-up on myself. the rat is you, really. it’s the other you, and it’s being fed by the you you think you are. and they are often very different people. but when they come close to each other, that’s smashing, that is. then the rat’s had a good meal and you come away feeling terrific. it’s a fairly rare thing, but you have to keep feeding the brute for your own peace of mind. and even if you did blow it, at least there wouldn’t be that great unknown. but to snuff it without knowing who you are and what you are capable of, i can’t think of anything sadder than that.“
I should just remember the good things about the run and I knew something like this could happen.
I am totally confident that with a crew and without carrying my pack I would have been ok to make it.
We had breakfast then me and Chris went to the supermarket by Gulshan-2 (weird name for a suburb – sounds very sci-fi) and checked out some of the antique / curio stores there – totally fascinating – bits of old ships, clocks from russian submarines, old tea chests, just so many interesting things. Didn’t buy anything though. Chris has a driver who took us from the “diplomat enclave” where he livesand back.
Afterwards we went to the American Recreation Club and went swimming and had lunch and met Al and Nick (country manager for Cathay Pacific airline) and some other teachers & guests. Quite a nice expat community.
We came home and I had some quiet time reading & writing with the oldest boy whilst Chris and Shiela went out. The we went to probably the best coffee shop in Dhaka, probably better than anything in India (http://www.northendcoffee.com).
We came back home and chilled out reading, chatting, writing, dinner etc.
I shot some video of Chris talking about the Bangla-Dash run:
3-Apr-2013 Day 1 of Bangla-dash run
I set the alarm for 4am and sprang out of bed, got ready and packed the last of my bag, checked out of the hotel & caught a taxi thru the dark streets and was ready to start at Howrah station dead on 5am.
I remembered to get someone to take a photo of me. I have never ending problems showing people how to take a photo with my phone (a Samsung galaxy s3 – it’s bloody great!). Maybe the volume is off so I can sneaky ones confuses them (will try to make a sound tomorrow).
I started at a comfy pace although titally scared of what would happen and found my way well as I had walked part of it and basically memorised the rest. As it got lighter the traffic grew. The early stages went past so fast and I was almost past the airport. I lucked out on some of the roads as they were direct and easy. I finished my water & perpetuem drink and then probably made an error in drinking a cold soft drink, then a chai at various intervals then a water then a coconut juice, repeat a few times in random orders. I was drinking a heap but wasn’t hungry and made good progress almost 30km in 4hrs. I had rivers of sweat coming off me from the very start. The scenery became more rural villages. Quite scenic. The people were nice and obviously thought I was a crackpot. The same questions – name, country from, where are you going to/from got very tired very quickly. A thumbs up or wave is fine. Some people even wanted me to double back and chat to them in their shop ! Even the plentiful police gave me a wave! Phew!
Around noon my pace slowed as it git hotter and I realisef I had a few blisters which were getting worse rapidly. I suspect my feet were swollen due to 8hrs+ on hot roads – I hardly run on roads my beautiful Royal National Park home provides everything a runner could want! I had a larger pair of shoes my only luxury – I could have swapped them or fixed up my blisters but I was filthy dust & grime stuck on wet & dry sweat.
I toughed it out to Habra at 47km whuch leaves just 35km tomorrow – I can’t do more as I am meeting my crew at the border. Unfortunately by the time I got there I was desperate for a shower and a lie down but there are NO hotels. Of course this took 90mins to work out and 1000 conversations with everyone. I was literally dying on my feet by now.i had to sit down and get a cold drink. In the end it was decided I’d catch s tuc-tuc to the next town whete there was a hotel. Barely. The town was like all the ones I’d passed thru that day – small, dusty & scraggy.
Anyway I got a room and a shower although I did lock myself IN and had to climb through the window to unlock from the outside. Phew ! I had a sports bar and sports drink for dinner as after I’d showered and popped my blisters I wasn’t game for going out for anything.
After I finished typing this I went to bed lights out, the guy came back to ask some more questions about my hotel registration – there were more questions for foreigners and as he’d never had any he didn’t know the drill. I then got somw extra water and made some hydrolite electrolyte drink from tablets from the chemist. Bed for proper approx 10pm.
I managed to record a video (background vocals from the muezzin at the local mosque):
Anyway here are some photos – comments on my instagram page
Sorry I could have taken more photos but it’s hard to keep stopping for even more reasons …
23-Mar-2013 Packing & sorting
I developed a bit of a headache by the time I left work on Friday, I think it’s my sinuses and being stressed brings it on. On Saturday it was no better, but I spent a quiet and relaxing day at home, sorting out my travel sim card, printing stuff to take with me, and a heap of other things that take time.
I have been looking at video of Bangladesh etc and found this one filmed in Jessore – I will go through this town, fingers crossed!
In the evening I took Jaz out driving, took Dawn to work and came back. Spoke to our friend Victoria about the sinus trouble and she suggested Apple Cider Vinegar. Googled it when I got home and sure seemed like everyone was raving about it. I tried half Apple Cider Vinegar and half hot water. I felt sick and went to bed early !!
I got up very late 10am and tried to keep sorting my stuff, but my head feels so bad. Went to the beach for a walk and a swim etc which was good, it’s so beautiful there. Interesting in today’s Sun Herald newspaper, there was an article about tourism in Bangladesh:
I’d read warnings about travel in Bangladesh: the toilets are filthy, the kitchens are like toilets, and travellers will get sick. Hartals, or general strikes, regularly paralyse the state. In the villages, people are taken by Bengal tigers. But nothing filled my heart with quite as much fear as the item on day two of my Experience Bangladesh seven-day tour program: “In the evening, as part of their daily practice of affirmation of sustainable living, you will listen to songs by the neighbourhood fishermen, weavers and farmers.”
If I were in my house, and the neighbourhood fishermen were in my dining room singing songs about sustainable living, I wouldn’t come out of my bedroom until they had gone home.
More here: http://www.smh.com.au/travel/curry-cats-and-chaos-20130321-2gho0.html
2-Jan-2013 Cool Video on Capitalism & Charity
I know it’s 10mins and people struggle to concentrate for that long, but the graphics are cool.
7-Dec-2012 a 2min video that says so much
I have been thinking the same for a number of years now :
11-May-2012 Never Give Up Video
I sometimes read the Elephant Journal for the yoga and general life stories (they say – yoga, organics, sustainability, active citizenship, enlightened education, conscious consumerism, buddhadharma, ecofashion & the contemplative arts).
They linked to this awesome video today at just under 5min. Best 5min you could spend today is to have a look at it, it works well on so many levels.
19-Feb-2012 Busy weekend
I think I can safely say that this weekend I did exactly the sort of things I love.
- Advanced Bikram Yoga on Friday night – am improving (from a low base!)
- 3hr run on Saturday from Bundeena to Wattamolla & return. Hot. With Ipod and cool down dip in the sea afterwards.
- Dinner out with the family (Japanese, Hurstville)
- Surf Lifesaving patrol on Sunday at Burning Palms. Lots of dolphins. Crystal clear water, board riding, run on beach and swimming “after work”. Short bushwalk there & back.
- Totally cactus in the evening
Saw this video. I like it:
22-May-2010 Swimming Video
In the morning I took the Ko and Chel to the open days at Kids Yoga then I took them both to their parties then I went Swimming – see below video.
Then after that I went running with Dawn – Bundeena Trig to Big Marley 12.1km return.
Kevin Tiller 
Recent Comments