One Second Everyday

~ Phil Lengthorn ~ 3 Comments

It has been a busy couple of years since I began blogging: 2011 saw #project365 where I posted a picture every day; 2012 saw a different project completed and blogged about every month; and 2013 began with the annual attempt at #janathon. Since then I have given myself a month away from the blogosphere, but now I'm back…complete with a brand new project….

Inspired by a fella called Cesar Kutiyama who has been recording 1 second every day for the last 2 years, you can read more about his story here. He has also created an easy to use app – so anyone can do it. You can literally take short videos through the day, if you remember (although you can get reminders), then decide which 1 second part you want to use, then mash them together. Simple. Here is the inspiration…

Today is my birthday so I plan to begin today and by the end of the year I will have a 365 second video of my year. Not entirely sure how it is going to go – I'm not sure I do enough 'interesting' things – but we'll see what happens. I'll probably be posting monthly videos on the blog just to see how we're doing.

 

Beans on Toast at the Cookie Jar!

~ Phil Lengthorn ~ Leave a comment

It has not gone unnoticed that this post has lots of food items in the title. So, if you have come across this post hoping for either a new funky recipe or a video of someone eating beans on toast by a cookie jar you are going to be extremely disappointed.

Last weekend saw a rare visit to Leicester to watch the fantastic, folky and a little bit sweary Beans on Toast. The Venue: The Cookie Jar – a basement venue beneath the coffee shop The Crumblin' Cookie.

Considering 'Beans' wasn't on until 10.15pm, and it was a Sunday night, an impressively sized audience had gathered. Now, if you've ever listened to Beans on Toast before you will understand that musically they are not the most complicated and complex melodies, in fact 'Beans' will be first to point out that they all sound the same. But what you get is a great collection of simple intelligently written songs, with lyrics that immediately strike a cord with listeners. 'Beans' has a way of breaking down the barrier between artist and audience.

It's not just great little songs you get with Beans on Toast, it's an evening of entertainment: funny stories, requests, forgetting verses, impromptu 'beat boxer' from the audience, and my personal favourite….”Right Leicester who likes blowjobs?”.

It was a great set, funny and quirky – bizarre in places – but what you ultimately get is a 'real' singer/songwriter without a glimmer of pretence, and with it a very enjoyable evening.

 

Back in the Blogosphere…

~ Phil Lengthorn ~ 4 Comments

Let's be honest: Janathon was a disappointment. Only managed to run for 22 days, barely reached the 100 mile mark and found the second half of the month very tough. Cue an endless list of excuses: cold, snow, ice, busy at work, snow, cold, ice, dark nights, busy at work and it was very cold.

Following on from the monthly projects in 2012 and Janathon I feel like a bit of a rest is needed in February.

Work has been very busy and I've been working hard to catch-up with marking in an attempt to have a pretty quiet and relaxing half-term. The hard work has paid off and I've somehow managed to do everything apart from a class set of Y10 controlled assessments that need doing. A week to recharge the batteries this week because the next term is probably going to be very busy: exam preparation, after school sessions and other general rubbish.

So the start of half-term began with beer, some vodka martini in a James Bond style, some blue stuff…

….followed by some green stuff….

In other news….I have managed to bag some tickets for a few gigs in the coming months:

 

I have a confession to make….

~ Phil Lengthorn ~ 11 Comments

Forgive me JogBlog for I have sinned, it has been 7 months since my last confession (some time during Juneathon to be more precise). I accuse myself of the following Janathon sins:

  • Failing to run on day 14
  • Failing to run or blog on day 22
  • Failing to run or blog on day 23
  • Failing to run or blog on day 24
  • Failing to run or blog on day 25
  • Failing to blog on day 26

Although I ask you for forgiveness, I also want you to understand. The last week has been a very hectic and extreme week: work, snow, dark nights, ice, work, slush, dark nights, work and quite a bit of work.

JogBlog I am very sorry for the sins I have committed and ask that all Janathoners forgive theses sins as well as any I may have forgotten to confess.

Day 26 mileage = 3.17

Today's mileage = 4.95

Total Janathon mileage = 101.65

 

Who said miracles don’t happen…?

~ Phil Lengthorn ~ 8 Comments

The day started with a text message, just a simple text message. But one that on reading, had already become my most favourite text message ever. It was a short message of no more than 20 words, but two of those words stood out like a mound of carrots in a gravy drenched sea of mashed potatoes: school's closed.

Miracles do happen!

After several laps of the bedroom, accompanied with screams and woops of delight, I calmed down and thought about how to spend my 'snow' day. I had plenty of work to be catching up with, but equally a snow day means an 'extra' day, a chance to be reckless, a chance to do something different. So after careful consideration I decided to spend the morning marking! Rock and roll! Reckless or what!!?!

I actually had a very productive morning: finished marking some Y9 Gothic stories and a set of Y7 work. Did a load of bits and pieces that needed doing, before deciding it was time to get Janathon's run out the way, unusually early and in daylight for a change.

Today completes the third week of Janathon, it does seem to have gone very quickly, one minute it seems like you're gearing up to get started, the next your struggling to get out the door. And so to today's run, and due to the snow overnight I did manage to do something a bit different, some may even say reckless: I actually went for a run, in the snow.

But no normal run, things were a bit different. I began on the very icy paths, completing a few pirouettes on the way, before deciding to head for the woods. My thinking was that fresh snow, although hard work, wouldn't be quite as dangerous as the paths. The woods felt very different under a blanket of snow, weirdly strange and peaceful. At some stage, I must have clambered through a wardrobe and entered Narnia, although I don't actually remember doing it. The woods looked amazing, like a crystal forest….

However, it wasn't long before I began battling with the elements. The wind had picked up and as I ran through deep snow along the edge of fields…

…I thought to myself, is this how Captain Scott felt? Miles of snow fields and no shelter….

Yes, slightly overly dramatic I know, but it was bloody cold, and REALLY tiring running in the snow. Completed just over 6 miles in the end and on arrival home had the most wonderful cup of tea ever.

Today's mileage = 6.1

Total Janathon mileage after day 21 = 93.53

Total time running = 13.1 hours