Grand National This Saturday!
Just saw an advert on BBC1 for the Grand National this weekend. The Grand National is the only horse race I watch each year, I am a typical horse racing fan on this day. I check the papers, read the opinions and try to determine which of the Grand National runners and riders are likely to make it to the finish line.
Many years ago, when I was still a child, I managed to predict the 1st, 3rd and 4th horses (I had 4 bets) in the race. I used to swear by the Today Newspaper’s guide, read the form they provided, and make my decision. I only placed a few pounds, but won about 20 quid as a result. It has never happened since! The Today was the first fully colour newspaper, which made life so much easier when it came to Grand National day and spotting your jockey in the busy field. Now you can get all the jockeys colours on any betting site.
Looks like the clever money is going to be on Mon Mome this year. There’s your little Grand National Tip from Runners and Riders!
My Telegraph – A New Free Blog Service
Just stumbled across a new place to blog for free, My.Telegraph.co.uk. So I started my own new blog about health and losing weight, so will be blogging there for a while. Still getting to grips with the blog editing and not delved into the community yet (which I hope is thriving). Should be a good mix of people there blogging away. Some interesting reads!
Not sure what else I will blog about. I think it will be more of a “Grumpy Old Men” style of blog than a fitness one really!
Jury Service, Hospitals, Fitness Equipment and Car Parks
It’s been a funny few weeks. Not all of them together either. Firstly I have to sing the praises of all the staff in the Sunshine Ward at St. Johns hospital in Chelmsford. This is the children’s ward, where my 2 month old baby went recently. He was treated so well, the staff were excellent and the care both mother and baby received was second to none. Let’s hope the high standards continue after St. John’s is closed later this year.
This leads to a first note on car parks. I managed to find a nice free spot near the entrance and avoided paying about 30 quid in parking costs during the time my son was in hospital. That was nice. Why are hospital car parks so expensive? Why do we have to pay at all?
I went on Jury Service 2 weeks ago. It was a great experience. Sat in 2 cases, one where we found a woman guilty of arson, and another which was thrown out by the judge due to the terrible evidence and the fact that the police failed to follow their own rules of conduct. Basically some chap was being prosecuted based on the fact that he lived up a certain street and wore a particular colour of shirt. He was then thrown in a police van, and while sitting in a cage, a highly emotional witness was asked if he was the man that did it. For the record, this is not the proper procedure!
I have finally decided to take more drastic measures to get fit. I have ordered a Reebok cross trainer which is setting me back 400 quid (was 600 quid in JJB Sports, cheaper from an online store based up north). I have a dodgy ankle and very tight Achilles tendon which is making running or kickboxing more difficult. Managed to arrange good delivery rates with the excellent “Essex Man With A Van” service that I always use for my run arounds and deliveries in Essex.
What else? Hmmm, not much.
How To Lose Weight
If you are looking for new way of losing weight then one of the best up and coming resources on the Internet is MotleyHealth.com. Their advice on how to lose weight is second to none, and they provide honest information on losing weight and getting fit. So head over to MotleyHealth.com today.
Jonathan Ross Quits BBC
Just heard that Jonathan Ross has resigned from the BBC. Apparently it is not due to cut backs. Jonathan Ross hosts the Friday night chat show, does film reviews for Film 20XX and also a Radio 2 show.
He is the highest paid employee of the BBC, with reports that he earns in the region of £6million a year. With that salary behind him he can certainly afford to retire.
He is 49 years old, relatively young for a male BBC presenter. Where he goes, who knows?
Jonathan Ross has quit the BBC!
Rage Against the Machine are Christmas No 1 – and Beat the Cowel's bloody X Factor!
People power rocks! Rage Against the Machine are the Christmas 2009 number 1 after fans downloaded their song (often for as little as 29p) to ensure that the manufactured tripe that is the X Factor did not make it to No.1 in the pop music charts. Good work people of Britain!
A Quick Word on Slimming and Staying In Shape for 2010
Christmas is almost here, and in a few weeks it will be forgotten. There will be a massive surge in people signing up to expensive health clubs and gyms in a hopeless attempt to lose weight and get fit. Is there a better way? Yes. Our friends over at Motley Health and Fitness say that you can workout at home, and with the huge selection of quality workout videos that are available on their site, embedded from YouTube, you can get fit at home without spending any money.
Cockermouth Sees Severe Flooding Again
Cockermouth in Northwest England has been severely flooded, waters are rapidly flowing through the streets and in places have risen to the first floor of properties. Even though the river defences were raised in recent years they have still failed. Torrential downpours continue. Most properties are without electricity and many people are suffering in total
darkness while the flood waters rise.
The BBC spoke with Gwenda Jones who has seen her second hand book business washed away.
The RAF have been working hard to rescue 200 residents with several search and rescue helicopters on patrol.
West Cumbria floods continue and the areas affected by flooding are increasing.
Latest news is that electricity has been restored to many Cockermouth homes. However, many people are still trapped in their homes with no light or heating while the flood waters continue to rise.
Map of Cockermouth showing river that is now flooded
The Torture of Katie Price by ITV
Just watched the end of I am a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here on ITV and Katie Price (Jordan) was nominated to perform the bush tucker trial.
What she went through seemed to be nothing short of torture. She had to put her head in a tank of maggots and pull a prize out with her mouth, and do the same in what I think saw some sort of spawn. The stuff got in her eyes. Then she had to avoid snakes, climb in a water tank of crocodiles, then try to catch an eel (the water was foul, full of eel shit) and finally was covered in cockroaches. Oh, I forgot to mention the green ant gloves.
Her fellow contestants looked on with horror stricken faces, which probably reflected the faces of the viewers at home. Ant and Dec just stood by the smirked. I wonder if they would volunteer for the same treatment.
Is this entertainment? Is it fair that a woman can be voted by the public each day to have to go through this ordeal. It seems likely she is being victimised following her very public split with St. Peter Andre. Madness. Only on independent / commercial television.
Lose Weight With Twitter
There is a new growing trend in the weight loss community. Rather than subscribing to expensive weight loss programs, people are now just registering for a free Twitter account and “tweeting” everything they eat. The idea is that you will then be shamed into eating less. It is just like peer pressure to do better, but you bring it on for yourself.
In a way this is no different from keeping a diet diary and sharing it with friends. Most people gain weight simply because they over eat by just a little bit every day. By tweeting everything you eat, as soon as you have too much, fellow weight loss tweeters can tell you off.
The food diaries are actually aggregated on www.tweetwhatyoueat.com. You just log in to their website with your Twitter account and then start tweeting every meal, snack, biscuit, drink etc. You can set it up to count calories also, which could make managing your diet all the more easier.
However, the system does not work for everyone. Some users have said that the act of writing down everything they eat makes them more aware of the food, and makes them feel hungrier. Thinking about food is certainly enough to whet your appetite. As with any weight loss method, you need to be strong willed. Also you need to ensure that there are people available to criticise you when you fail, otherwise the whole process is pointless.