2006 - January

[El Gordo]

Ooops. Sorry, decided to delete the first 'placeholder' message and have just discovered that this deletes the whole thread. And I hadn't even read the messages from Peter and Sweder. Hold on, I'm going to see if I can find the deleted messages somewhere in the bowels of my machine....

[El Gordo]

[SWEDER]:

Ha! Set out a weight loss plan and promptly pile it on - sounds familiar.
I've never found running terribly useful for weight loss - the key seems to be to stop shoving all manner of good things into the hole under my nose, and this so far has proved to be beyond me.

I do seem to move a lot of stuff around; convert some fat into leg muscle, that sort of thing. Ultimately I'm pretty much stuck.
Or my scales are buggered.

[SWEDER]

[El Gordo]

[PETER WARD]:

Andy

Just to say thanks for writing that piece on New years Eve. It gave me the kick up the posterior I needed and I went out for a three miler with the running club last night and ran there and back. Edinburgh was bathed in a cold blanket of freezing fog and the pavements were treacherous in parts (thankfully we ran in the meadows and there was grass to run on.) I fully intend to drag me and my new Hilly Jacket out for an amble tonight as its milder than yesterday.

The thing is after all your griping to get out the door and the initial discomfort that accompanies the early stages of a run you end up enjoying it despite yourself and end up feeling great after.

Just two and a bit months till I run the furthest I have ever run in my life in a race! Am thinking about a cross country as a warm up as there are no road races up here in December/january.

Pete

[PETER WARD]

[El Gordo]

Thanks Pete, good to hear from you again. Is the race in question the Edinburgh Half?

You'll be fine as long as you run reasonably regularly between now and March, and build up your long weekend runs. The rule is that if you can run 10 miles you can run 13, so just try building up slowly towards that 10. A race through the streets of Edinburgh sounds like a fine reward for the short-lived discomfort of the training.

Keep us updated.

Andy

[Sweder]

I'd have to agree with much of your take on the reign of Charles the Worst. Kennedy achieved the greatest Parliamentary result for the Lib Dems in modern times. Sadly he did not so much rest on his laurels (and modest they were, too, in view of the appalling state of the opposition); he wears them still as if they were awarded yesterday. The image of a man feasted on spoiled riches, tattered remnants of ballot papers hanging from his maw, the bubbles of victory flat, staining his impressive collection of chins, is a hard one to shake off.

Interesting that you raise the Cameron issue alongside Charles' plight.
I believe DC has more to do with the imminent demise of Kennedy than a few drams over the eight. So long as the Tories spiralled, smoke billowing from rusted fuel tanks, toward the political abyss, Status Quo always had a more than even chance of another tour or two around Westminster.

Whatever the longevity of the Born Again Camerons, the cacophony of re-birth has shaken the Third Party to its' core. They need a leader, someone with gumption, spittle and in no way bashful about bareing teeth and letting blood from a Government losing its' way with a wounded PM. As for an assault on Her Majestys' Opposition, I fear the creaking hinges of the gate mask the sound of hooves dissappearing into the night. At least for now.

The real question is 'wherfore art thou, Libero?'
Will the Golden Firebird once more prove to be False Pheonix?
Ming the Merciless? I don't think so.
Simon Hughes? Wet fish are surely out of season.
How mighty seem the shadows of Steele and Ashdown now.

[Seafront Plodder]

Rumours abound around this neck of the woods that our very own Stormin' Norman Baker may be *ahem* persuaded to take the bull by the horns give it a shot.

[Sweder]

Ma Baker more like.
Although I see our Normans' name is on the 'rebel' list, so it's possible he could stand.
Trouble is, he's no oil painting, is he? Not that that should count for much, but it does.

Now that screen persona and so-called 'celebrity' and 'glamour' are requirements for party leadership, the dearth of Natural Born Leaders within the LDs is cruelly exposed. The Tories openly discussed not having a follically challenged leader before their recent 'election'. William Hague, a fantastic Commons performer and a man who perhaps reached the summit ten years too soon, committed political suicide by donning a baseball cap to cover his pate. Howard resorted to the Ralph Coates/ Bobby Charlton tactic, not trying to head a football helping to maintain the illusion of a man in control of his barnet.

The demand, driven by a rabid media, is for a hirsuit, squeeky-clean, good-looking tee-totaller who can think on his/ her feet, speak like Churchill in his pomp, kiss babies and eat Paxman for breakfast.
It's just a shame SP's so busy with his IFA business . . .

[El Gordo]

Political discussion certainly teases the metaphor from that cupboard under the stairs, doesn't it...?

I agree that Cameron's rise has focussed the minds of the Lib Dem front bench. Their own leader's ineffectiveness didn't matter so much as long as the Tories were floundering. I still sense that Cameron will ultimately disappoint his party. Much of his popularity and the (to me) absurd exaggerations of his qualities are a reflection more of their desperation to have someone (anyone!) to lionise than of his intrinsic ability.

You raise a good question about Kennedy's successor. At the moment this problem is his best hope of survival. It will have to be someone relatively unknown. Menzies Campbell has authority, but is probably too staid and old-school to be a hit with the voting public. Simon Hughes is one of the most irritating politicians on the stage. I remember his interview with Ali G at his miserable flat in Kennington or wherever, with his voluminous Y-fronts hanging up to dry behind him. I've never managed to shake that image from my mind when he pontificates.

Do the Lib Dems have another Paddy Ashdown tucked away somewhere? Boy, do they need him in this hour. Hasn't Ashdown just finished his stint in Bosnia? Hmm. What price a return to domestic politics for a final, daring, SAS-style rescue of a drowning friend??

[Seafront Plodder]

Political discussion certainly teases the metaphor from that cupboard under the stairs, doesn't it...?

It certainly does. But at the end of the day the job is a political hot potato.

[Sweder]

Oh dear.
I've just listened to Simon Hughes, interviewed by Brian Alexander on the Beeb. Sounds horribly like a coronation in the offing, probably Sir Menzies Campbell (Ming the Merciless) - a bloodless hug-fest to appease the sensitive party faithful. (Sigh) - a perfectly formed belated gift from St Nicholas for the Cameronites.

We (the British Voting Public) need a strong third party. We need that party to have credibility, influence and a real chance of impacting events in the House. Much as I'd love to see Paddy abseil into Parliament, still clad in army greens, beret askew, grinning and winking at the members as he descends from the Westminster eaves, I suspect he has more nouse than to attempt a second coming. The Lib Dems need a miracle - real Loaves and Fishes stuff.

Perhaps today of all days, as we celebrate the 70th Birthday of The King, wishes for a new iconic leader may be granted? I fear not.

[Sweder]

Well done on a dreary 14 - much the same though slightly less for me today.
There's something really satisfying about these hard yards - I always feel they contribute more somehow.

Sorry about the R's , but not as sorry as I was watching Luton flatter to deceive on MoTD last night. I watched without knowing a single result (must be a first). I've no great love for the Hatters, but their heart and fight seemed to have earned them an unlikely Scouse scalp.

[El Gordo]

I watched the Luton - Liverpool game live on the BBC. Great match. Am just conducting an internal debate about going to the gym to watch Burton v Man Utd.

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

Am just conducting an internal debate about going to the gym to watch Burton v Man Utd.

Burton's efforts even made the news here! But no-one (down here) ever seems to have heard of them. Do they get a home replay? Imagine what that'd be like for their coffers if they do!

[Sweder]

Better than that they get to replay at Old Trafford, home of Manchester United and potentially mega-money for Burton. The crowd today was a record for the ground - just over 6,000. Old Trafford holds 67,000 - Ka-ching!
Sadly the ground is unlikely to be chocca, but it's never half-empty and Buton's share of the gate will be handsome, in excess of half a mil sterling. This sort of tie throws up a unique and wonderful moment; the manager, urging his knackered players to one more effort, screaming for a winner. The Chairman, financial security for years to come only minutes away praying for a draw. Wonderful.

I watched most of the game as I worked through my Honey-Do list. The least Burton deserved was another match; they were unlucky not to score and win the game. It's been a cracking day for the FA Cup. Spurs went down 3-2 at Leicester after leading 2 nil, Fulham fell at home to the 'mighty' Leyton Orient, and of course Burton cheered the nation by holding the second-most hated team in the land to an embarassing draw.

[El Gordo]

Burton's efforts even made the news here! But no-one (down here) ever seems to have heard of them.

Not surprising. Not many people here have heard of them. They play outside the 4 professional leagues. For most of these smaller clubs, the FA Cup begins way back in August. Some of them have had to win 8 ties before getting as far as this round, when the big clubs come in.

Actually MLCM, Burton is a place close to your heart, if only you knew it. It's the historic centre of the British brewing industry - or at least it was, before we became deluged by continental lagers (or worse, our own very pale imitations of continental lager). Burton Ale is a celebrated commodity here.

I suspect a fair few pints of the stuff will have been sunk last night in celebration.

[Sweder]

Aye, there were a fair bit o' swiggin' an' dancin' in the streets of Burton last night, and fair play to 'em.
[sourgrapes]It'll be a different story in the replay, when I hear we're due to play them on grass . . .[/sourgrapes]

[marathondan]

Hello all, been lurking for a bit but thought I'd post this as you're talking about the Cup.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/berks...598198.stm

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

Hmm, I wonder what odds that bookmaker would give us on Andy breaking 5 hours?

[El Gordo]

Hmm. That's given me an idea.....

[Sweder]

If only there had been a vessel with a tube to collect the moisture and feed it into my water bottle, I could have been totally self-sufficient.

This reminded me of the Fremen, the Desert-dwellers in Frank Herbert's Dune. A lovely piece, Andy; it captures the paradox of running, the pain and the pleasure. The latter would be so much less without the former.

I invited Mrs S to read the entry; it neatly captures emotions hard to convey to the non-runner. She enjoyed it, but followed her appreciation with 'You wouldn't get me out at that time of the morning.'
It's her loss.