Well I decided 5 weeks ago I would run a marathon so the training was short and could have went much better (calf injury) but I kept my eye firmly on the goal even cut out Guiness. The fatest time was 2 hours 25 min! UNREAL... I finished 3 hours 50 min, my legs cramped continiously for the last 10km however for the lack of training I am happy enough. 43km is along way but I only trained at the most for 28km jogs but next time I will crack under 3 hr 30 min without a doubt. I have found a new challenge in this marathon running also considering the Iron man events now too.
Photos will be posted soon. I had a fantastic day with Jess and family who came out to support! even though I looked like a train wreck crossing the finishing line it was great to see the support. Mick (Jess Father) competed in the 20km also! he finished 2 hrs 15 min which was a great time but he has decided to train harder and run the marathon next year so it will be a training partner for the future runs.
The last 10km by calfs gave me hell, agony cramping all over hamstrings and thigh it was hell! I was cursing at my legs! people must have thought 'this fkn irish man is crazy, but I was never going to give up my legs might but my mind just drove me to that finish line, once crossing I said 'fuckin never doing that again, its just for crazy people' next day I thought I want to do it better, faster than before so roll on my training and my future marathons... this was my first and the start of a new challenge for me.
I have a real admiration for Luke Kelly, born in 1940 in Dublin he was more widely known as the lead vocalist for the Dubliners along with another great singer Ronnie Drew. Luke possessed thee strongest of Irish traditional voices of the century, Kelly immortalised many great songs which our very own Phil Coulter wrote 'The Town I love So Well' and 'Scorn not simplicity' written about Coulters very personal experience of rearing a child with disabilities, Luke Kelly himself would often not perform this song when touring as he believed it was very special and wanted to preserve the beauty and relevance to it.
A strong minded socialist who was also an activist he became a member of the Connelly association (James Connelly a hero of my own), mainly providing his talent to occasions of hardship. During the Free Derry Festival, Luke Kelly performed to the masses in Derry, a community in relief and celebration for having no British rule within the community although it did not last too long I can only imagine the party, it must have been fun none the less. Other performers included Tommy Makem who brought the entire community to a standstill with a performance of his "Four Green fields" a song that tells of the rape pillage and terrorism that Britain brought to the Gaelic community over the centuries and the resilience and fighting spirit that never accepted defeat. Kelly embodied that strength in his voice. You can hear his depth of feeling and love for his country which echoed the rebels of yester year.
DERRY MERRY DERRY FREE - also a former teacher of mine speaks -Mr McCallion god rest him
I have been churning my way through this book 'Love all the people' its a collections of interviews, live acts, poetry and philosophy by Bill Hicks. Bill renowned for being an outspoken American comedian who told the audience how he seen the world via his comedy acts. I would recommend not reading this book in public! I have busted into fits of laughter on several occasions in cafes all over.... this man was a true genius.
Here are some snippets from the book..
Bill Hicks on Americans selling weapons "I'm so sick of arming the world, then sending troops over to destroy the fucking arms, you know what I mean? We keep arming these little countries, and then we go and blow the shit out of them. We're like the bullies of the world, y'know. We're like Jack Palance in the movie Shane, throwing the pistol at the sheepherder's feet.
"Pick it up."
"I don't wanna pick it up, Mister, you'll shoot me."
"Pick up the gun."
"Mister, I don't want no trouble. I just came downtown here to get some hard rock candy for my kids, some gingham for my wife. I don't even know what gingham is, but she goes through about ten rolls a week of that stuff. I ain't looking for no trouble, Mister."
"Pick up the gun."
(He picks it up. Three shots ring out.)
"You all saw him - he had a gun."
Hicks on Iraq 'People say "Iraq had the fourth largest army in the world". Yeah, maybe, but you know what, after the first 3 largest armies, there's a REAL big fucking drop-off. The Hare Krishnas are the 5th largest army in the world, and they've already got all our airports.'
Hicks on Fundamentalist Christians
******
Fundamentalist Christianity - fascinating. These people actually believe that the the world is 12,000 years old. Swear to God. Based on what? I asked them.
"Well we looked at all the people in the Bible and we added 'em up all the way back to Adam and Eve, their ages: 12,000 years."
Well how fucking scientific, okay. I didn't know that you'd gone to so much trouble. That's good. You believe the world's 12,000 years old?
"That's right."
Okay, I got one word to ask you, a one word question, ready?
"Uh-huh."
Dinosaurs.
You know the world is 12,000 years old and dinosaurs existed, they existed in that time, you'd think it would have been mentioned in the fucking Bible at some point.
"And lo Jesus and the disciples walked to Nazareth. But the trail was blocked by a giant brontosaurus... with a splinter in his paw. And O the disciples did run a shriekin': 'What a big fucking lizard, Lord!' But Jesus was unafraid and he took the splinter from the brontosaurus's paw and the big lizard became his friend.
"And Jesus sent him to Scotland where he lived in a loch for O so many years inviting thousands of American tourists to bring their fat fucking families and their fat dollar bills.
"And oh Scotland did praise the Lord. Thank you Lord, thank you Lord. Thank you Lord."#
This Book is hilarious exposing hypocrisy’s of people, religions, nations and the corporatocracy. Bill Hicks has enlightened me with his comedy and his truth.
Well first of all I would like to congratulate the man himself on getting married, All the very best in the future Rosy and have a great honeymoon ya bullocks :) I'm jealous. Due to 'immigrating to Belfast' up in the North hi its been hectic to get any type of work done aside from my full time job working for BT.
Indeed the designing has recommenced now that I have settled, tonight I have made small steps on planning and redesigning the Rosy Surfboard Website. I have found my love for design again i guess the break really done me good... now my own creative edge is crawling back without the guidelines of assessors or lectures.
I will be adding screenshots of the website to this blog so people can see first hand the design process in implementing a website. A variety of software will be used my personal favorites being Adobe Photoshop for the creative side, Adobe Lightroom for image correction and Visual Studio 2008. I will be using ASP.net with an SQL database for the backend.
Rosy Surfboards
Rosy has been designing and manufacturing surfboards for over 6 years now, previous to that he specialized in automobile restorations and painting, I don't know a greater perfectionist than this man he truly does what he loves so if your buying a board your guaranteed his knowlegde and standard will exceed your expectations. As a fellow springs man and good friend he has pulled me out of more loops than enough.
I drove my Nova into a ditch at the age of 18 little boy racer I know but Rosy fixed it!! the car got a full respray. He has been a great friend throughout the years and I would like to once again wish him and his bride all the very best for the future. Speak soon bud.
This was a picture that i took from a family portrait at home. My sister Passed away in june 2008 this image shows the family without face yet my sisters face can clearly be seen. This image depicted alot of my feelings at the time of my sister.
Wild Australia, Kangaroo's and Women!!! mmmmm..... Anyway to check all my pics from Taronga Zoo, The Sydney Harbor Aquarium and some random nights out with friends click here
Harbor bridge - Another excellent day out in Sydney is renting out a boat to navigate and drive your own way around the harbor its costs $300 for 3 hours but split that between 6 people and you got a bargain day trip. Thanks to Gareth and friends we all had a great time. The harbor is very beautiful and a great family day out, there is plenty of shops, cafes, pubs, entertainment attractions and restaurants all around but it has to be seen first hand to be really appreciated. This year Sydney has been voted the most beautiful City in the world for the second time and it has my vote too.
Another good win for Raymond who was fighting in the Bushtown Hotel, Garvagh road, his opponent Jamie Houston from Coleraine had the crowd behind him however in the first round they didn't get anything to cheer about. Raymond immediately from the first bell dominated his opponent, with hooks, uppercuts, cornering his opponent very well then continued to open up with 4-5 punch combinations of punches whislt young Houston couldnt' escape from. Raymond landed an overhand right which stunned his opponent, but didn't take the opportunity to finish him off. By the second round it was clear that Raymond had over worked in the first round, Jamie started to catch Raymond with straight jabs and crosses and even landing a few haymackers of his own stunning Raymond, however Raymond did manage to up his tempo again and finish the round strongly. 3rd round was a tiring one for both fighters as neither failed to make much impact on each other, Raymond on his toes jabbed his opponent and moved well avoiding a toe to toe battle and scoring well. The decision was 21-15 to Raymond who was the clear winner at the end of the night. Well done kid.
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