Going Down - New and improved video footage!

I’m sort of getting the hang of this active lifestyle thing. And when it comes down to a fiver a week for gym membership or taking myself out into the hills, I’m afraid body sculpting loses out every time.

Fortunately I’ve got a bike. It has two tyres and a saddle. It even has brakes that slow me down, eventually. No suspension, or anything like that. None of your fancy stuff here. I don’t even have any lycra. Shame on me! Call myself a cyclist?

I’ve got a huge purple helmet, though. Not many people can say that with a straight face.



Anyway, mountain biking is brill. Official. I’m getting to grips with some quite tricky sections, even though in doing so, I’m learning a very valuable lesson: Falling off your bike is only funny when you’re in company. When you do it on your own it’s just tedious and quite painful.

Just for fun I thought I might show you one of my favourite trails. It runs down from the moors on the edge of Barnsley and down to Holmsyles Reservoir via Hade Edge. It only takes about three minutes to get down, but it’s a joy to ride.

This video was the third attempt. The first time, I attached the camera (using tape) to my mouth, and managed to record the floor whizzing by. The second time I attached the camera to my helmet, and managed to record a great view of the tree-tops. This third attempt was recorded with the camera strapped to my left hand.

I’m disappointed with the result, though. Out on the bike you get a great 180 degree panoramic of the surrounding countryside and the feel of the wind against your face. The video doesn’t do justice to the feeling of freedom and speed.

Having said that, since this was the third trip down the hill I was pretty tired by the time I did this one. I think this final run took a minute longer than the first!

New Video!

I wasn't at all happy with the old video, so I decided to go back and re-shoot it today (Sunday. This time I had the camera strapped to the helmet, and miraculously managed to keep most of the image in the viewfinder.

Good fun nearly killing the hikers on the way down. To be fair, they were expecting me. They'd had a bit of a giggle with me while I was trying to find a way to fit the camera and operate the buttons at the same time.

This one is less jerky, and because it's filmed from a higher vantage point, it's less likely to induce motion sickness. (He says)

Pottery Corner 13

Box Nine

Could you be the one?
Neurotic, insecure, materialistic, spoilt, petulant, depressive, image-obsessed, greedy, arrogant, selfish, unreasonable, self-absorbed, tantrum prone, sulky, loud-mouthed, two-dimensional, vapid, emotionally-bullying, empathy-lacking, unfaithful, money-driven, consumerist, racist, attention-seeking, contrary, bitter, misanthropic, clingy, binge-drinking, label-centric, immoral, insensitive, shallow, duplicitous, judgemental, gossiping, intellectually stunted, twisted, slovenly, abrasive, spiteful, sarcastic, pedantic female, 24.
Seeks Prince Charming for fun and friendship.
Maybe more.

Cyberpunktastic

I've posted this one on the discussion forum of Cyberpunk Review. If you'd like to join the debate there I'm sure your comments and input would be warmly received by SFAM and the others. Once there, click on "Virtual Meatspace" to plug in.

We've often heard about scientists "playing God". It's a charge that's levelled at scientists just about every time they come up with new ways of doing things. Rutherford was accused of "playing God" when he split the atom, just as Copernicus was accused of "playing God" when his model of the Solar System removed Terra from its centre.

Did you know that nineteenth century Irish sailors considered it unlucky to learn to swim, because to escape drowning would be to cheat destiny?

Anyway; my point: We're often told that there is a limit to how far scientists will go or how far they should go in making the world a more manageable place. But are objections to science consistent enough to actually keep the brakes on?

For example, In the USA President Bush has made history by vetoing government funding into stem cell research, calling it "murder". Where as the Chinese government is lobbying hard to get its state run stem-cell research company into the NASDAQ listings. (It's backed, of course, by American investors)

Here in the UK we're losing good pharmaceutical scientists involved in research that requires animal testing because homes are being fire-bombed, dead family members are being dug up and kidnapped (I kid you not) and families supplying the animals are living in fear. However, if you'd like to pop across the channel to Europe, scientists are free to experiment with impunity.

In most of Germany and France you'll find an opposition to Genetically Modified crops that will result in just about any trials being sabotaged before they germinate. Even African countries which are on the verge of starvation, such as Zambia and Ghana, have turned down GM maize from the World Health Organization.

Compare and Contrast with the USA, who have routinely been using GM Soya and corn products for so long that there is virtually no unmodified stock left in the production line.

And of course, we can all get hot under the collar about human cloning, unless we're from South Korea.

It seems that every culture has its demons. Whether for religious or ethical reasons there are certain aspects of technology that we instinctively shy away from. But on a truly GLOBAL scale, these local taboos become irrelevant. There will always be somebody who will pick up the torch.

Do we have a duty to establish a globally acceptable ethical code? And who should set the agenda?

Should there be global laws regulating scientific endeavour? And who should have the responsibility of policing them?

Is it fair for any nation to back away from the development of technology that it will eventually benefit from?

Discuss.

Man and Boy

Click to enlarge.

Red Letter Day

Yippee! I've lost 10% of my body weight since April and now I can finally fit into the pair of jeans that have been waiting for me to re-claim since leaving the army.

Top tip: Slimming World. Go on... You know you want to...

Twenty two pounds lighter. That's like eleven bags of sugar. Urge to shop for new clothes rising!

Role Model

Pottery Corner 12

Merlin

We found this baby bird,
Kim and me, one summer.
Looked alien and stupid.
Grey-black eyes and
Old man's skin.
Pale swollen belly
And a head too heavy to lift.

We fed it milk,
Mixed with bread and sugar.
It didn't like it though.
Next day found him dead,
In his little shoe box bed.
I made a cross of wood
And we had a new game.