Month: October 2013

Going zombie crazy….

~ Phil Lengthorn ~ Leave a comment

Everything seems to be about zombies at the moment. Not exactly sure why, but the desiccating, decaying, emotionless beings and their insatiable desire to consume living human flesh is all around. Now I understand that today is All Hallows' Eve, but zombies seem to be infiltrating my life….

  • I have recently finished reading 'World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War', which I thought was a great read. This novel was a follow-up to Mel Brooks' 'The Zombie Survival Guide' – which is now on the list of must reads.
  • The blogosphere seems to be jammed packed with zombie related blogs. People taking part in various zombie runs, people in zombie training and people seemingly obsessed with zombies. I did experience a zombie run last year, so maybe it's time to have another go.
  • I've also recently started watching 'The Walking Dead', slightly late to the party I know, but people having been raving about this series so I thought I'd give it a go. Who can resist a post-apocalyptic world dominated by flesh eating zombies?

So, seeing that zombies are all around, I downloaded the 'Zombies, Run!' app for the iPhone and took to the woods to run from zombies. I did use this app a year or so ago and how I've missed it! The new version is packed full of missions including zombie chases that force you to speed up to avoid the zombie hordes and is very slick.

Zombies were not the only things I had avoid, I came across this…

This seemingly harmless bit of twig, with huge thorns, was about six feet long and somehow I managed to get the evil thing wrapped around my legs. Trying to escape its clutches was quite a mission. Give me zombies any day of the week!

In other news….we approach Movember….

Only three weeks until my first ever MoRun at Nottingham…..the cultivation of an impressive moustache starts tomorrow!*

* Please note I can not actually grow a very good moustache.

 

Braved the storm….

~ Phil Lengthorn ~ Leave a comment

The onset of the biggest storm in the history of the world was not going to stop us making the trip to Leicester. I had taken all precautions. The car was loaded: chainsaw, mop and bucket, various changes of clothes and first aid kit. I had heeded the advice from the media: I would indeed be driving at an appropriate speed with the expectation that around every bend I would find a fallen tree blocking the road.

Suffice to say, we made it one piece. Mainly due to the fact that there wasn't a storm. Shock horror.

Q: Why risk life and limb?

A: The fantastic Beans on Toast playing at the equally fantastic Cookie Jar.

'Beans' was on top form, as usual. What you get when you attend a Beans on Toast gig is entertainment. Whether it be the tunes, the storytelling, the banter, or the fact that you never quite know what you are going to get. It never fails to entertain. Tonight 'Beans' was sandwiched between the fabulous Will Varley (well worth googling) and the rather loud Jim Lockey and the Solemn Sun.

In other Beans on Toast news…..

  • He'll be supporting Frank Turner on the up and coming UK tour.
  • New album 'Giving Everything' out on 1st December.

 

Amsterdam Baby!

~ Phil Lengthorn ~ 2 Comments

WARNING: This blog post may contain stereotypical images of Holland and the Dutch.

After a few days in Amsterdam I can safely report that the place is crazy. Totally crazy. I'd like to write this post avoiding any stereotypical images, but I think that may be impossible. So I thought I'd get them all out of the way early on….

The first thing you notice on arrival in Amsterdam are the bikes! Bloody bikes everywhere! Every space in the city has a bike attached to it. I'm sure that if you stood still long enough someone would prop a bike up against you. So not only do you have to contend with cars, buses and trams, all driving on the wrong side of the road, you have bikes whizzing everywhere. It is quite a challenge.

Marijuana. You can't write a blog post about Amsterdam without mentioning weed. Who had the idea that it would be sensible to make it legal to enter an establishment and smoke weed? On top of that they call them 'coffee shops' just to add to the ridiculous idea. And then just for people that don't actually smoke you can buy a 'space cake' and join in the crazy behaviour. Furthermore, it has become a tourist attraction.

Talking of tourist attractions, what city in the world would you see prostitues selling themselves in shop windows as families walk past pointing? It is a very strange situation.

Amsterdam does, of course, have some pretty typical tourist attractions: museums, historical buildings and canals. It wouldn't be right to visit Amsterdam without visiting the Van Gogh Museum and getting a picture of the famous 'Sunflowers' (also please note you can buy all sorts of crap under the guise of sunflowers). It was also surprising to see the man himself in the foyer painting…..

Amsterdam is a strange weird fantastic city and well worth a visit.

 

It was a tad wet…..

~ Phil Lengthorn ~ 4 Comments

Last Sunday, the wettest since records began*, saw the annual Great Eastern Run. A half-marathon set in the picturesque** surroundings of Peterborough city centre.

Now to say the morning was wet and windy would be an understatement: it was frickin' very wet and frickin' very windy***. I'm not a great fan of running in the rain, so my first thought when I drew back the curtains was: f###ing hell. In fact it was probably not even I thought, I may have actually said it out loud, and probably loud enough it wake up most of my neighbours.

But, having said all that, I'd put in quite a few miles in training for the sodding event so I gathered my stuff**** together and set off for the proxy place. Initially I was planning to post a new half-marathon PB, but after arriving at the start I quickly decided today was not a day for PBs….

This race has been a mainstay on my race calendar for the last five or six years, so I knew exactly what to expect. Although I didn't expect to have to clamber over a fence, which a marshall wasn't amazingly impressed with*****, just to get somewhere near the start. I must admit it seemed a particularly disorganised start, although the weather and everyone rushing to the start at the last minute probably didn't help.

Now plodding the streets of Peterborough on a wet and windy Sunday morning isn't everybody's cup of tea, although I did spot some slightly amusing happenings:

  • Before we had even crossed the start line a fella, too busy waving to friends in the crowd, ran through a MASSISVE puddle.
  • Overtook a particularly knackered looking Batfink, his sponge 'wings of steel' probably not helping, they seemed to have soaked up quite a bit of water.
  • I ran most of the way in the vincinity of a bloke called 'Simon'. Not entirely sure who he was, but he was getting a lot of support along the way from the crowds. He must have been some sort of local superstar. 13.1 miles is along way to run wondering if Peterborough has any famous Simons. One did come to mind, Simon Bamford, him of Hellraiser fame, although I quickly dismissed this possibility…have you seen Butterball******?
  • Darren Ferguson, Peterborough FC's manager started the event, it was quite amusing to see how many people were avoiding the high-five.

Well suffice to say, I completed the race in a time of 1.37, a minute or so off a PB, pretty pleased with that. My reward:

* this is a lie

** this is also a lie

*** this is another understatement

**** flippers, snorkel, etc.

***** sorry Marshall, needs must and all that

****** obscure film reference

 

Frank Hamilton at Junction 2

~ Phil Lengthorn ~ Leave a comment

Sunday saw a visit to Junction 2 in Cambridge to see the fabulous Frank Hamilton. Now I’ve been to the bigger brother, The Junction, a few times but this is a first for Junction 2. A cool little venue, about 200ish capacity, very swish, comfy seats and it’s even got its own little balcony level.

Frank was, as is usual, very good. Great set list of all the favourites including an impromptu visit to the balcony to play ‘Thinking Back’ unplugged. I’ve seen Frank a few times and every time it gets better and better, it sounded great on Sunday. On the back of #onesongaweek he seems to be catching the eye of a few people, new EP ‘Summer’ out soon and in the midst of another succesful tour. All seems good in the world of Frank Hamilton; long may it continue.