Just Resting

[Sweder]

No adverse reaction to yesterday's shuffle. A brisk walk this morning - back in walking boots, to safeguard against any urge to take flight - of around 45 minutes and a steady increase in leg exercise intensity are the order of today. Another shimmy over the weekend is likely. Should that also prove trouble-free Dan's kind words can be taken at full value and I can finally administer the coup de grace to this eternally moribund thread.

Staring down at my knee as I clench and unclench my quads I can see just how skinny my legs have become. If only the same could be said for the rest of me.
There's a lot of hard work to be done.

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

Excellent news! You must look a bit wobbly though with a beer belly on skinny legs. Did the doc give you any thoughts about how the knee might hold up to a round of golf?

[Sweder]

I have my 10 day post-op on Friday. I'll ask him then. For now it's just brisk walks, stretches, leg lifts and general back-to-use activities with the occasional bout of jogging thrown in. Next (second) wobbly session is planned for tomorrow.

I was curious to see how the mighty Aussies would get on v Pakistan over in Abu Dhabi.
Not terribly well, it seems. Who do you have over this summer? Hopefully someone who'll give you more of a game that our bunch did last year.

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

Yes, given our recent good form the Aussie test performances in Dubai are somewhat inexplicably bad. We have India touring over summer for four tests which will hopefully be a little more interesting than the whitewash currently under way.

[Sweder]

Weekend wobble postponed: heavy rain stops play. Like most modern F1 drivers I can't risk going out in the wet. A slip could prove catastrophic, or at best set my recovery back a few weeks. So, (HEAVY sigh) I shall wait for better weather. Ho hum.

PS. Strewth, Cobber, I just looked in at ESPN. That's a proper thrashing, is that.

[Sweder]

The ten-day post-op meeting last Friday cast a shadow of dissapointment over my unseasonally sunny disposition. The good Doctor reckons another two weeks of gentle rehab, with some cycling/ spinning thrown in, will be required before I can hit the trails. His rueful smile when I told him of my 400 shuffled steps left me in no doubt that he didn't approve. He's happy enough with the knee, through, so that'll have to be good enough for now.

On, on ... carefully

[marathondan]

Ah yes, the subtly disapproving smile of the consultant...

Get CC to take you for a little bike ride, perhaps?

[glaconman]

That, MD, is a great idea. Sounds like CC is missing his cycling so it would kill two birds.

And I speak as somebody who is currently suffering from knee problems.

It's another world of wonder and excitement. And, whilst it does require you to have functioning knees, it's much more foregiving. Unless you fall off, of course.

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

Hey Sweder, there's always the treadmill. Indoors, in front of ESPN, climate-controlled, sure-footed road to recovery. I know, I know, you'd rather bite your own head off than spend half an hour on a treadie, but hey, sometimes in recovery you just gotta do these things.

And yes, the cycling does sound like a good idea as well.

[Sweder]

Treadmill is out (thank goodness) as any significant impact is to be avoided.
A CC 2-wheeled outing sounds like a good plan, though.
I'll need to get a bike ...

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

...or a wheelchair.

[Sweder]

That's enough outta you.
Mind you, those wheelchair racers get a shift on.
Don't see too many off-road, though.

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

That's enough outta you.
Mind you, those wheelchair racers get a shift on.
Don't see too many off-road, though.

Maybe not so many on quiet old Blackcap, but wheelchair athletes have climbed Everest, crossed deserts and oceans; they play the fiercest brand of rugby you'll ever see and are general bad-boys of the sporting world.

You'd fit right in.

[Sweder]

Rather hoping it doesn't come to that. By the way my knee has reacted to a week on the hard Rotterdam show floor it remains a possibility. Looking forward to putting my feet up this weekend.

[Sweder]

Yesterday, Thursday 27th November, I took delivery of and assembled my very own spin bike.
*peek out into the night* No sign of the Four Horsemen, so I shall contiunue.

I posted this image in a more appropriate section just now, but it bears repeating.
No-one who goes out to play sport expects to die. The untimely passing of Phillip Hughes has sent tremours around the world. Thoughts are with his family, friends, team-mates and the lad who struck the fateful blow.

   

If I had a bat, I'd put it out #PutOutYourBats

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

The outpouring of emotion here in Australia has been immense. Sportsmen and women die all too frequently, but none have stirred the country quite like the death of Phillip Hughes. Not just a talented player, but a decent, unselfish human we now know we would love to have met. The fact that he played the national game - a game everyone here has close association with - and died playing that game has impacted the nation like nothing else has.

It is fair to say his death won't just fade from our memories as so many others have. The game will change with his passing, and already 63 not out is being commemorated all round the country, with batsmen in minor leagues that played today (Saturday) retiring if they reached that score.

Phillip Hughes has been accorded a state funeral which will be broadcast live around the country. The first test against India that was scheduled to start the day after his funeral has been postponed, and speculation about which players will actually participate, and whether or not bowlers will be able to bowl bouncers without breaking down is the topic du jour.

Vale Phillip Hughes.

[Sweder]

A young lad from Lewes FC, Sam Piper, played against Hughsie a few times for Lords Youngsters. He attended a Skype session last night, with fellow team-mates and officials, at Lords, with Phil's family. He arrived at the Lewes Ladies Big Night Inn last night totally distraught, eyes red, uncharacteristically quiet. The man was dearly loved by all who met and knew him. A genuine tragedy for all concerned.

[Sweder]

Just realised I have no clue how to start a new thread in this place. Ah well, no matter.
So then, Exodus: Gods and Kings, the latest decree from the High Priest of Cinema, Sir Riddles. A re-telling if the story of Moses, Ramses II, God, Plagues, Commandments and a neat low-tide trick that will be reacreated on my next visit to Dorset.

The Big Scenes are BIG, and plenty dazzling. The plagues are beautifully rendered, piling up like ever more serious parking tickets on the Pharoh's cracking windsheild.

Casting, a cause of much pre-match jibber-jabber, seems more cliquey than racist. There was no need for Sigourney Weaver to spend days in make-up for 45 seconds on screen in Linebacker eye-liner, and the appearance of Breaking Bad's Jesse was distracting. 

Run time felt longer than Interstellar (it's not), but I reckon everyone had a lot fun making it, quite possibly more than I had watching it. Like Moses, I was left feeling a fair bit older than when I started. Perhaps not so enlightened, but, in a sense, glad it was all over and it hadn't totally sucked.
A story well told, just not Ridley's finest.

Technical: 3D was well (softly) executed, used sparingly. Soundtrack suitably Biblical in the right places. An over-blown, perpetually uplifting score proved a major flaw in Prometheus but seemed appropriate here.