Plasticene is a love song. An obsessive lovesong, from the kind of lover that someone could really get the creeps from. But me means well.
Ten Years After
Ten years ago today, I married Katie at Casterton in Cumbria.
Time flies when you’re having fun.
Please sign the 10 year anniversary guest book below (by leaving a comment!) – we would love to hear your memories of the day.
Love Dave and Katie
Podcast: “Leave Me, I’ll get by”
Leave Me I’ll Get By is a song written in 1990 and I finally got enough skills together as Minnellium to record it in 2004. Now there’s a learning curve for you.
Kinder Downfall fell race 1 April 2007
My first fell race since Whittle Pike some eight months ago after a bit of a break from competitive running trying to get my back injury better. I was really very chuffed to finish 11th out of a field of about 250. I was 25th in 2005 (last attempt) in 1:20:06. I covered it in 1:16:25 this time round.
The Garmin Forerunner clocked this at 9.71 miles and 1770 feet of ascent and descent. Advertised at 10m and 2,500 feet, there’s quite some difference here, but I trust the Garmin. The start’s almost 700 feet up and Kinder’s only a shade over 2000 feet.
Still – it’s a tough, classic fell race. Faster than many Lake District ones, it’s descents are good under foot, and easy to keep your momentum up without being too steep. There’s a killer (for me) 1.5 mile run in at the end – the type I detest(!), and I annoyingly lost two places here, but that’s the price I pay for being a cyclist who just can’t be bothered to train to run on roads.
View the race route magically trasported from my Garmin Forerunner into Google Earth KMZ here.
Click on the image above for the profile of the route (and my pace along the way in blue)
Elvis posing
Took advantage of some lovely sunshine to take some piccies of my favourite high contrast canine. He may be a dim whit, but he’s an incredibly handsome one. For Elvis (not Presley, but just Dog), Posing comes naturally.
Spring: fresh air.
Really feels like spring’s on its way now. It’s a warm, sunny Monday, the clocks have finally jumped into summertime, and people are starting to smile again. I had renewed vigour this weekend after a slight sick bug last week, and had a tough but really enjoyable 3.5 hour hilly ride through Bowland into a fairly relentless headwind on Saturday (even finding the time to take this photo with my new camera phone).
Had a great run up Ingleborough with Elvis on Sunday morning to revive the legs a bit. Views slightly stifled by haze (and a bit windy again), but, as ever, it’s an enjoyable 5.75 mile run.
Here’s links to the Google Earth path files for the ride and the run. The more astute will notice my annoying five mile detour on the ride at Slaidburn, when I wasn’t concentrating and took the wrong turn….!
Podcast: “More than you ask for” 19 years on
“More than you ask for” was written by me in 1986, and recorded by the Doofers in December 1987 (see separate article). It’s always had a special place in my heart because it represented such an exciting time – starting to create music. I still like it, and had a modern re-take on it, which I thought I’d share with you.
Unintentionally funny comic strips
I was sent these by my friend Simon…. the top 15 unintentionally funny comic strips of yesteryear. I suppose they’re funnier when they’re exposed out of context. Fnarr fnarr.
William runs through chains
I was watching a fantastic bit of stop frame animation the other day on youtube, when I saw a cheesy camera trick exactly like I’d done about 12 months ago with my friend Will whilst on holiday in Wales.
Howgills, some Sedbergh reminiscing, and an overdue dose of snow
I had a great day out with some soon to be ex-colleagues (and a currently ex colleague) in the Howgills the other day, taking in a 9.5 mile walk in the beautiful Howgill Fells. It enabled me to (fairly) quietly reminisce about my two years living in Sedbergh as a teeneger, especially as we retraced the route of the Sedbergh Ten Mile race on our way back into the town (“Muddy Slide” – a steep gorge – the excitement came rushing back to me).
The snow finally came to the north west for me – our house has had the barest of coverings this winter, much to my disappointment, so to get out in the snow, albeit just a generous dusting, was great.
Piccies on Flickr. Here’s the walk as a google earth (.kmz) path if you’re interested.
When the cat’s away…
Katie went to stay for the night with her friend Lucy so I had a lovely 36 hours or so with Lily on my own (ish). We had a busy old weekend in many ways, including a trip into the Manchester Art Gallery and a stay with Matthew and Holly, but it was lovely fun from start to finish, and we’re allowed to eat stinky things like kippers when Katie’s not here.
Podcast: “Feature”
My first podcast… a tune from the past.
Feature is quite a heavy instrumental, with a hefty chorus. Hammond organ and some organic drums.
Enjoy…