Rocko’s Modern Life

As I’ve previously talked about, I’ve been doing a reasonable amount of cycling recently. I’ve felt a lot fitter because of it, although I know that this is a fairly one-dimensional form of fitness. This was exposed quite badly yesterday, when captaining a rounders team at my work sports day, when I rediscovered the muscles that cycling doesn’t do much for but that running relies on. Suffice to say that I wasn’t as quick as I’d have liked, and that I’m a bit stiff today.

Admittedly, I did a lot of running and certainly didn’t let the side down, especially as we exceeded expectations and bowed out in the quarter finals, both when batting and when hurling myself about in the field in the spirit of Jonty Rhodes.

I think it may be time to spend a little bit more time on sporting activities than I have been. As I don’t enjoy running for the sake of running, I’m going to have to find a more engaging/interesting way to do this. Any suggestions are welcome.

May has come and gone, and we’re now into June. So it’s therefore time to recap over May, once again trying to keep things brief.

The main thing to mention is that I’ve now started rehearsals for my latest theatrical experience, ‘A Russian in the Woods’. As I have quite a big part (oo er, missus), I’m rehearsing four times a week! So far, rehearsals have been going well, but there’s still plenty left to do and a gradually decreasing amount of time to do it in. The biggest problem I’ve had so far is getting my head around all the lines, but I’m gradually starting to see the wood for the trees.

Outside of that play, but still on the subject of the theatre, I’ve been able to see a couple of very different but very good plays - ‘The Beguiled’ and ‘Bullshot Crummond’. The former was an excellently creepy and tense drama set during the American Civil War, while the latter was a wonderfully silly send-up of 1930s ‘B’ movies. In addition to those two visits, I also attended a screening of ‘The Rocky Horror Picture Show’, which was amusing to see - many people dressed up, and it was a nice way to spend an evening.

Over the month I visited family twice - the first to see my brother on his return from a long stint abroad for work, and the latter to see my parents after their holiday to Thailand. Both trips were good - all family are well and largely intact, which is always pleasing. I was also able to see my sister on the second trip, so we were all under the same roof again for the first time since last summer!

Other social stuff included a rather tasty dinner at the RAC, courtesy of Justin acting the suave host. It’s a lovely building and set-up, and we had a wonderful, wonderful meal!

I also went to the cinema for the first time in a long time this month - after checking back for the purpose of this blog post, I realised that I hadn’t seen a film at the cinema since going to see ‘Run Fat Boy Run’ with Liz W and Sian in September! I went to see ‘What Happens in Vegas’ with The Girl. It’s was an obvious choice of film really, considering how much I like silliness in general, and how she appreciates a good rom-com…and absolutely adores Vegas. I thought that it was a very funny film indeed, and would definitely recommend it to others as one see at some stage. It’s not one that absolutely has to be seen on the big screen, but it never hurts to do so! After the film we stopped off to share a pizza, which was also lovely.

To draw the month to a close, I had a very pleasant evening at Ruth & Rob’s birthday party - it was set up as a house party with interesting cheese, and it fit the bill. It was lovely to see Ruth, Rob and their guests, and trying so many different cheeses in such a short time period was a very exciting experience! I didn’t have any strange dreams that evening, either, so it’s clearly not bad for you…

I’ve been cycling to and from work for about a month now, and I’ve finally noticed the change. I feel as though I’ve moved up from one class of cyclist to the next, from being one of the cyclist that everyone overtakes, to whom every road is uphill (no matter in which direction one travels) and every breeze is a fierce headwind, to joining the middle class of cyclist - the ones who breeze along at a respectable rate of knots without it looking too difficult, using the gears to optimum effect and dodging the pot-holes with aplomb.

All in all, I feel fitter, stronger and faster. I’m getting easily more than my recommended moderate exercise amount (30mins three times per week), and it’s rather good. Admittedly, today was very sunny, but I also had a day that was hideous weather wise and still cycled in and back.

It feels good, in the cycling middle classes. I’ve no plans to join the cycling upper classes - firstly, I’ve no desire (or money) to trade in my folding bike for a racing bike. Secondly, and this is the one you’ll be most pleased to hear, I’ve no intention of donning lycra!

Now that we’re well into May, it’s time to recap over April. It felt like a very busy month, although I’ve not got a lot of particular incidents that I’d like to flag up in terms of highlights. It means a very short update from me.

The most important thing that happened for me was the return of my brother from his first tour of duty. He came back in one piece and physically fine, but really quite tired as you’d expect! I saw him this weekend just gone, which was nice (but a matter for the May update in more detail, really). It’s a massive relief, and one less thing to worry about.

I’ve tried to see people a lot, including a trip out to Roydon to see Liz W for lunch, several social excursions including two trips to club nights (one indie, one cheese), and regular trips to see comedy which will just about terminate now due to the upcoming onset of rehearsals. One seeing people thing I will mention is finally feeding Ruth, Rob and Tor in return for the lovely meals that they have cooked for me, with a roast dinner that actually turned out quite nicely. I didn’t have any complaints, anyway, and all those present are still alive and well!

That’s it - I warned you it would be short!

Well, this is a rarity. A post about something topical!

I live in London, which will have a series of local elections to appoint a new Mayor and London Assembly on the first of May 2008. If you also live in London and are eligible to vote, I encourage you in the strongest possible terms to ensure that you have registered to do so, and that you do take the time to read about each candidate’s policies so that you can cast a vote.

Don’t worry - I’m not going to tell you to vote for any particular person or party, as that’s entirely down to you. To be entirely honest, I’m not interested who you’ve voted for and why, as long as you do exercise your right to vote. History has shown us that the right to elect people to these sorts of roles in this country has only been won with a lot of hard work, sweat, tears and even blood, whether that is in the last century or even earlier. Even this year we’ve seen events in places such as Zimbabwe that show us that this right, that so many people simply can’t be bothered to make use of here, is something that others want desperately, but aren’t able to have at this point in time.

In fact, I’ll do you a deal. I won’t ask who you voted for, and you won’t ask me. Just read about the candidates, and cast your vote for the ones that you think will do the best job for you, me, and everyone else who lives and works in London.

March has flown by, and it’s a bit hard to remember all the things that have happened. I’ll try to cover the key points, but here’s a chance for you (the reader) to comment on a question I have – do you prefer to have factual updates in this sort of brief format, or more general musings on particular topics in individual posts?

The month began with a trip to north London to visit Ruth and Rob for a mass lunch. As they are one of several couples to take the decision to get married recently, this was an opportunity to see shiny things, spend time with lovely people and eat lots of very tasty food.

That first weekend continued with a surprise visit home for Mother’s Day. My sister, father and I colluded to take my mother out for the day, choosing Swindon as it meant less of a long drive for my sister. We had a very tasty three course lunch at a carvery, then pottered around some shops before stopping for a quick hot chocolate before everyone dispersed.

I’ve been to see quite a lot of comedy this month. As well as the regular trips to see comedy in Brixton, I also managed to see some excellent acts (such as Phil Nicol, Mitch Benn, Stephen K. Amos and Reginald D. Hunter) with Will, Sian and Ruth at a gig for the charity Shelter at the Comedy Store, and others (including Ed Byrne and Michael McIntyre) at the same venue for the filming for Paramount’s stand-up comedy programme with Ben.

March also saw my first trip west for some months, as I headed to Cheltenham for Jon Carter’s birthday bash. This was pleasant enough; a curry, followed by a few drinks, with plenty of conversation. It was nice to catch up with how Jon is getting on, and to see Steve who also made the trip. I’d previously decided to make a weekend of it, and so dropped down into Bristol on Saturday morning to see people. As the trip coincided with the PantoSoc Easter show, I got to see that as well which was fun. I think that going to Bristol was a good idea, as it was lovely to see some of the people who have decided to stay there post-University.

Over the past couple of months, I’ve been going to the occasional audition for plays at the theatre. I went to one for a play called ‘A Russian in the Woods’ early in March, which I didn’t think went particularly brilliantly for me. However, I got offered the part I went for, and so I’ll be appearing on stage in quite a meaty role in July! For more details, see the relevant page in the ‘Theatre’ section of the website, but rest assured that I’ll be emailing around the usual suspects to invite them to come and see it if they can and want to.

I should mention a particular meal briefly, while I’m writing. A few people gathered at a lovely Argentinian restaurant called Buen Ayre for a steak dinner one evening after work. I ate some of the best steak that I’ve ever eaten - two people could share a platter comprising a 14 ounce sirloin steak, 10 ounce fillet steak, two sausages, black pudding and a mound of bubbling provolone cheese. Dom and Sarah are to be commended for discovering this place, as it was very, very tasty indeed!

There’s been a fair amount of eating out recently - I also paid another visit to probably my favourite Italian restaurant in London in the middle of the month, meeting up with my parents and sister after their latest visit to the annual orchid show that takes place somewhere near Victoria.

I spent a nice weekend visiting my parents at the end of the month, taking advantage of a group wander in the Chilterns to make a weekend of it. The wander itself was enjoyable, we were very lucky with the weather and it was great to spend a bit of time doing something completely different from normal.

I think that this is a brilliant example of how people can turn almost anything into some means of harming others.

If you look at it with a particularly negative approach, you could say that it devalues any progress made in reducing the numbers of traditional offensive weapons (knives, guns, witty remarks) on the streets as people will resort to less obvious means. A more positive view would be to think of all those hedgehogs that are now being looked after and carried around in coat pockets, fed well and valued not just for their inherent cuteness but also for the potential killing machines that they could be in the right hands.

In case I’ve raised any concerns in the minds of readers, let me assure you that I personally would never do this – not least because I’d forget and then put my hands in my pockets, thus doing myself an injury!

I also wondered whether the staff of St. Tiggywinkles will be arrested for conserving Weapons of Mass Destruction, but this just may be getting a bit silly…

It’s probably a good thing that I didn’t say that one of my resolutions for 2008 was to update this blog more frequently, because I think I’d have failed that one quite spectacularly already. It’s been a bit of a busy time, and so I’ll cover quite a number of isses in passing. I’m now considering trying to do a monthly update, recapping quickly over the bits of the month that stand out, with additional posts as things that I want to talk about specifically come up.

The first thing that I should probably mention is that I moved on to a new role in the organisation that I work for in the middle of January. I was overdue a move, but I was surprised at just how much effort went into sorting out handovers and blitzing a number of stubborn issues that hadn’t as yet been resolved. The positive surprise that I had was that, if I can focus my attention enough, my work-rate can be quite phenomenal. I know, quite a shock! Of course, this was helped by handing over more and more of my portfolio as my leaving day approached, but it was still a very good feeling to realise just how much I was able to get done in the last couple of weeks. My new job is so far going reasonably well, although it’s a change of pace for me. Combined with going from a position of knowledge to a position of knowing very little, it’s been a bit of a challenge to adapt to. Hopefully I’ll grow in the role as I continue within it.

The major thing that I’d like to write about happened at the start of February, with a skiing trip to Tignes. I’d never been skiing, and was a bit nervous before I went. My fears evaporated pretty quickly once I started learning the ropes and, a minor arm injury aside, I emerged unscathed (not everyone was so lucky, sadly). It was lovely to spend a week with a group of good friends, taking in French food and wine (mmm, fondue and raclette washed down with a good Bordeaux…) with beautiful mountain views. I’ve caught the bug a bit, and so could be tempted to have another go at it in the not too distant future!

With a gap of some days, I went from one English-hating country to another with a work trip up to Edinburgh last week. Although I wasn’t there for long, I thought the bits I did get to see were beautiful, and so I could envisage another trip up there at some point. Having said that, the train journeys were a bit epic (I didn’t realise you could spend 4.5 hours in continual motion on a train from London without having to cross a significant body of water), and so I’d like to make that trip when the memories of that part of it have faded a bit.

It’s been a bit of an odd period recently, with a number of friends deciding to take a big step in their lives by getting engaged. While I am very happy for them, I will also take this opportunity to make clear that I am not planning to take such a step with The Girl in the near future, and so any questions to that effect shall be summarily dismissed. We did have a nice and quiet time on Valentine’s Day, with home cooked dinner and a film.

The final thing that I’m going to mention is the dreaded physical exercise. Cue the drum roll - I’ve actually been doing some! Not a huge amount so far, but with a combination of the hard work involved in skiing and a few sessions down the gym, I’m actually beginning to feel a little bit more athletic and less like a sedentary couch potato. I’m going to start cycling to work again soon, so that should also help to get me back into a state of fitness that I’m less ashamed of.

Hopefully you’ll next hear from me before the end of March!

Instead of an overall resolution along the lines of the Ten Commandments (”Thou Shalt Conduct Moderate Exercise No Less Than Three Times Per Week”), I’ve decided to list some targets that I will try to keep to over the coming year.

I’ve been to quite a lot of theatre/performing art stuff recently. Following another trip to watch ‘The Now Show’ being recorded, I managed to get to see ‘Aladdin’ performed at SLT on Friday night, followed by seeing ‘Avenue Q’ for the second time on Saturday night.

The trip to SLT was a bit of a lucky break really. I very nearly didn’t make it, due to being stuck late at work and only heading down on a bit of a whim just in case I could both arrive in time and snaffle a ticket that had been reserved but not paid for or collected. I arrived with three minutes to spare and in time to get the penultimate such ticket, and so settled down to watch the performance.

All in all, it was very enjoyable. It was a very camp production, with a lot of singing, dancing and energy from all concerned. There were a lot of funny moments, and several characters shall stay in my memory for a long time. There were a few glitches though, including a problem with the radio microphones which meant that a number of solos in the first half were inaudible, which detracted slightly from the experience.

This was followed up by ‘Avenue Q’ on the Saturday night, as a birthday present to my sister Liz and her fiance. It was another enjoyable experience, although the shock value that had contributed to the great first viewing wasn’t there this time around. It was interesting to see how it had changed in the better part of a year though, with a whole new cast and some interesting modifications to both the script and the staging.

It was a lovely night out though - good to spend some time with all the people I went with, and nice to do the dinner-and-a-show thing once more. Especially when dinner involved giant burgers, followed by a quick trip to the pub!