Nicely broken

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After my run yesterday, there is mixed news. Yes, I’m quite sore, as my joints and muscles get back into being pushed a bit more than the weights and static bike in the gym have offered, but it’s a good sore.

I’m nicely broken.

And – in even more positive news – my crappy ankle is no sorer than any other bit of me.

Given that it has previously tended to flare up at the first sign of any impact work at all, this is a good thing. I’ll give it a few days off (the impact stuff, at least) and then we’ll give it another go and see what progress can be made. Baby steps (that’s not an idea for an exercise routine.)

In the meantime, there’s a piano lesson (not me), a photography extramural (not me), some dodgeball training (not me) and watching Sheffield United away at Reading during a bout of loadshedding (me), to get through.

Another quick catch up

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Admit it: The Army Corps Of Engineers Has Released a 2023 Calendar Of Giant Cats Attacking Infrastructure is the sort of headline that makes you want to go and look at the 2023 Calendar Of Giant Cats Attacking Infrastructure. It’s also the sort of headline that made me think that it would be the perfect subject for a blog post.
And it does exist: just click the link above. Sadly, it’s also really disappointing.
So… er… maybe don’t click the link above.

Coverify is an online playlist cover making app. And if you don’t have Photoshop or something similar, then it’s perfect for making your online playlist covers. I do have Photoshop or something similar, so I do my own, but I did enjoy the simplicity of the Coverify process and the results do look pretty good.

I knocked out a reasonably decent 7km this morning, (given that I’m still struggling with this) with just a bit of hill thrown in for good measure.

No world records were in any danger, but on the positive side of things, while I’m aware of my ankle, it’s not causing me any big issues after this morning’s efforts. Yet.
Tomorrow may bring a World Of PainTM, but for the moment, I’m feeling pretty good and highly motivated.

Fair point. I’ll tone it down a bit.

The Cut-Off Low (see here) which threatened the interior of the Western Cape this weekend, did its best to cause panic and mayhem. Grabouw got 84mm of rain yesterday, Kirstenbosch got 48mm, Struisbaai 35mm and Laingsburg (which has a bit of history of these sort of things) (the museum is excellent, btw) thankfully managed just a single mm.

I made some Yorkshire Puddings last week and they weren’t quite up to my usual standard. They were still damn good; it’s just that I set myself very high standards for that sort of thing.
Could this air-fryer recipe (I can almost hear my ancestors turning in their graves) be an option for next time?

Right, and on that bombshell, it’s back to the studio time to end. More tomorrow.

Weird evening

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Weird everything, in fact. Ballet tickets that were bought, but then disappeared. And weren’t charged for. But then an unexpected thunderstorm. Heavy rain. And suddenly (given that the ballet was outdoors), it seems like a lucky escape.

Still, at least we’re not further east this weekend:

Not nice.

Fire up the braai, then. And let’s make the most of a non-ballet evening, and watch the lightning.

From Nothing To A Little Bit More

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New Lathums album day. And I’m enjoying it. Plenty of what they’re good at, and a little bit extra.

It’s good stuff.

And because familiarity is important, it was good to kick off with songs like Struggle, Sad Face Baby and Say My Name, all of which we knew and loved (and the last of which maybe the Tall Accountant might actually go for, as well). But then there are other tracks like Rise and Fall, Facets and Land and Sky, which I didn’t know, but which have that classic Lathums feel that makes them instantly likeable and easy to enjoy.

There’s variety too, though. Hawley-esque and Motown vibes in I Know Pt 1. Housemartins’ happiness on Lucky Bean. The epic 8 minutes plus of storytelling on Undeserving. And for me, the stand out track: Crying Out. Such power and passion.

And then – and I really don’t want this to be the thing you remember from this post about what is a very good album, but – there’s Turmoil. That’s the name of the track, as well as the effect on my feelings, because this one also sounds a bit familiar, but it’s not Lathums familiar…

And worryingly (worryingly for a number of different reasons), I was able to work out what familiar it was ever so quickly. Remember this?

Look, I really do think that it’s more a problem with me, rather than with the Lathums, to whom I apologise profusely for casting any aspersions. But music is meant to take you places, and just for a moment, I was back on the 1988 French Exchange Trip to Dornes.

Not where I was expecting to be today.