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Archive for August, 2006

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Untapped talent

Monday, August 7th, 2006

From early morning to early evening, Radio One plays the same songs in a seemingly endless loop. The digital radio selection in Greater Tadley is no better (with the possible exception of One Xtra, but they keep blowing a foghorn and when I’m writing, I can’t do with any theme-sounds; they break my concentration).

Back in the days when I had my laptop, I got around the boredom by listening to NME Radio while compiling my reports, but recently, I have discovered the joy of mp3 downloads.
[read on]

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Greenland: Jitters

Friday, August 4th, 2006

I’m seriously getting the jitters about this trip. Sure, it is for less than two weeks, but it feels like a journey to the end of the Earth. I was only half-joking when I described Ilulissat to John: “I’ll be camping in a mosquito-infested swamp with 6000 slavering sledge dogs and the world’s biggest glacier up my arse…”

But I’m sure it will be fine. My tent is right for the conditions; provided the ground is soft enough to pitch it, I should be able to erect it in the dark and rain while it’s blowing a gale. There are thousands of huskies in that town, and they are restless because they haven’t been worked since May, and they may pick up the scent of a stranger and reckon it’s open season on them—but I’m not the only tourist there, and I’m sure the residents will look out for us.

There are no polar bears in that area of Greenland. That is a good thing!

As for the language: I’m dithering about buying a dictionary. I’m definitely not buying a phrase book. But over the last few days, I’ve been getting snippets of Danish back in my dreams. It is very exciting to remember a half-forgotten language. Now, I just mustn’t forget to look up the numbers up to 100, or it could get embarrassing.

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Karate-Woe

Thursday, August 3rd, 2006

There is a fair amount of infighting going on the organisation John and I joined last week. However, that is nothing new. Of course we would have liked to stay with our old organisation (and preferably with our old club) but there is not exactly a choice in the wider Tadley area, and what matters is the training.

Nothing else.

It did feel good to move like that again. For two days afterwards, every individual muscle in our upper bodies ached, including tiny, little ones which I never knew existed, around the sternum and armpit. This after a single beginner’s session with just a few basic punches. It means we still have it! However, for training with the hard, full-on school of karate (as ‘Go Kan Ryu’ could be translated) we got off lightly. I have had some hard, full-on training in the past, and I’m not refering to kumite (sparring).
[read on]

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The Ultimate Sportsdrink

Tuesday, August 1st, 2006

I can’t stand it. The first thing I heard on the radio this morning was some sqeaky American slurring that coconut milk, drunk from a coconut, is the latest trend in New York.

“Eh, like yeah, you know, the ultimate sports drink. It’s all natural, ya know…”

No kidding.

I’ve decided to rain on their parade. I can’t stand the thought of up-their-own-ass-trendy New Yorkers posing with a goddamn coconut.

Coconut juice is rich, and I’ve always considered it as a meal in itself. My first look confirmed that coconut milk contains 552 calories and 57.2 g fat, mainly saturated. But these silly New Yorkers are talking about coconut water, even though they don’t call it that. This is much better at 46 calories and 1% fat per cup. And 6.3 g sugars.

I’ve got to hand it to them, as distatefull the thought of coconut-slurping New Yorkers posing in the latest jogging gear, i-pods sticking out from their asses, makes me feel, I’m not saying that it doesn’t work.

Quote from The Whales of Trincomalee:

‘I was exhausted from all the walking and activity of the day and the unrelenting rain was sapping my energy. I was also dehydrated, my water bottles had been empty since rowing back across the lagoon. So I drank the coconut juice. It left me instantly refreshed and re-charged. It was sweet, hence contained energy, along with vitamins and minerals. It struck me that this was the perfect sports-drink.’

Posted in Neither here nor there | Comments Off on The Ultimate Sportsdrink

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