new blog

I’ve been playing around with a different blog platform (when I put it like that I feel like a philanderer – just call me Tiger).

Much as I love you, wordpress, there are some things my new blog does that you can never do for me:

• allow readers to submit photos, video, links, and posts themselves
• write proper html in posts
• customise templates
• easily update twitter and facebook
• blog from my phone a lot easier (including pictures)

The new blog understands me.

So what is the new blog, you ask?

runs.tumblr.com

There’s an RSS feed here:

runs.tumblr.com/rss

Check it out, contribute something, play around and change any bookmarks or rss subscriptions you might have, cause this blog may not be around too long.

updates

Something is amiss in the land of “social media” and things “2.0”, or at least the blogosphere. To be perfectly accurate, there is something amiss with that small section of the blogosphere that emanates from the eastern suburbs of Melbourne and concerns itself with distance running of the decidedly amateur standard.

Yes, that icon of the running fraternity, emruns, has threatened to retire from the business (blogging, not running).

I too, have been a touch on the lazy side. I’m not having a crisis, I just have a new job, plenty to do, and with the weather like it is, sitting hunched over a computer screen for hours at a time doesn’t seem an enticing proposition.

Last Saturday we had a barbecue for the grand final replay. It was such a lovely day, I don’t think I saw more than 2 minutes of the match itself. Then Sunday was, if anything, lovelier.

I could learn to like this spring stuff, if it wasn’t for the small matter of a marathon to run this weekend. I have no desire to run 42km in a heatwave, and given I’ve done all my training at sub-antactic temperatures, anything over about 16 degrees counts as a heatwave.

Oh well, I’m sure I’ll cope. At least it gives me an incentive to finish quickly, to get out of the heat.

Must go, I’ve only checked the weatherchannel website 20 times today.

why cousins shouldn’t marry

This is why cousins shouldn’t marry. You end up with sad people like Sarah Ferguson. From the Australian today:

…the main impression is sheer sadness at the progress through life of an exuberant, impetuous, dim, kind-hearted girl who in her 51st year should be safely stashed under some woodwormy beams in the shires, with an amiable lunkhead husband and a houseful of labradors, saddles and hilarious novelty ornaments, blamelessly raising money for the local hospice and cooking hearty lasagnes. Sarah Ferguson was just not born to be looked at and judged by millions of strangers, or to racket around the world like Becky Sharp: to put it kindly, she’s not very sharp at all.

Ouch.

Running
16km this morning in 68 minutes. All good.

Blog
I’m trying a few different templates for the blog. I think this one’s better than the previous option. Lighter.

Android

Trying out the wordpress for android app. It seems okay, but I’d rather not have to type the whole thing out on my mobile.

A short post, methinks.

Running
10km vegie run this lunchtime. 285km for the month.

6 degrees of perving

At some point in the recent past, somewhere in the world, someone (probably a man) managed to take some pictures of a naked lady or two. That’s a little pervy.

He (again, assuming it’s a man) put the pictures on his computer and loaded it onto a website and/or emailed it some of his friends. His friends and/or random website visitors had a bit of a look at the pictures. That’s perving at one degree of separation.

Yesterday, someone working at a financial services firm in Australia opened an email and had a click through the pictures while pretending to listen to his boss talking. That’s perving at two degrees of separation.

Unfortunately for that banker (yes, if you like, that can be rhyming slang), his desk, and computer screen happened to be highly visible in the background of a nightly news finance report. Finance news viewers, if so inclined could perve at three degrees of separation.

This story was picked up on the 7pm project, who put it on their show, which makes four degrees.

I read about the story on theage.com.au – five degrees.

You’re reading it on my blog, so you’re the 6th degree of perving separation. Congratulations.

And if you read about this on an RSS feed or something similarly new-fangled and web 2.0-ish you’re lucky 7.

And the original naked lady, she is famous beyond all imagining. She – or at least, her naked form – is having her 15 minutes as we speak. I hope she enjoys it.

What a wonderful world we live in!

Edit: it turns out the young woman is none other than Miranda Kerr, well-known “supermodel”. That still doesn’t make it right.

Running
I’ve run 3 times this week. All three have been fairly uninspiring efforts. I’ve been tired and just generally blah. Oh well.

Blog
This blog has been feeling a bit down-at-heel lately, needing a bit of a pick-me up. So, I’ve lashed out for a bit of plastic surgery, some judiciously applied makeup and a bit of primping and plumping. Also, I applied a new theme – Monochrome. I’m not sure I like it, but I’m sure it will grow on me.

You like?

speak you’re branes

I’m a touched p@%@ed off with running, fitness, knees and life in general at the moment. Also, it’s wet and grey and gloomy outside. So, I’ve disappeared into cyberspace for a while.

Cyberspace led me, via a maze of articles on the Guardian website to this blog: spEak You’re bRanes – a collection of all the supidest, most ignorant comments left online, mainly on the BBC website.

It’s a blog that had to be done, though I can’t help thinking the effort of producing this sort of stuff day in-day out has left a taken it’s toll on the writer’s bien-etre. There’s a certain sarcastic tone creeping in there. Anyway, check this article out: Falling over.

And after that, I stumbled on this video:

Educational, very.

Running
Bugger all. I’ve done my 5km runs, for what it’s worth and some swimming. Bloody swimming. Don’t talk to me about swimming.

new skin for the old ceremony

Those of you out there who are keen Leonard Cohen fans will appreciate the super-clever pun in today’s title. Before you ask: there are Leonard Cohen fans out there, plenty of them. He’s doing a concert at Rod Laver Arena!

Anyway, not only do I have a rather excellent album from the mid 70s, I’ve also managed to give this blog a new template.

It’s stark, chic, and devilishly attractive. Kinda like me.

Also, I can’t figure out how to make it work properly. That also is a lot like me.

Running
If you happened to have been up and about before the dawn in Ringwood East this morning, you might have seen me sweating up a storm. What was meant to be a recovery session turned into 12.85km of hill reps. Fun.