TEDxHull – Why don’t you?

I ticked another one of the to-do list.. speaking at a TED/TEDx event:

Mostly happy with how it went, was a bit thrown at the start due to an equipment malfunction just before I went on, but recovered after a minute or two!

Sadly you can’t really see my slides which were revealed one by one, so I’ve loaded them onto slideshare.

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Wise words from Tim Minchin

Wise words from Tim Minchin

I wanted to write a long rant blog about people making up and/or believing in nonsense – one of my goals for 2012 is to tackle idiocy head on more this year….

then I remembered this beat poem from Tim Minchin… so good that they made it into an awesome animation.

This video pretty much says everything I’d want to… 100x better.

Watch it:

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Time for a refit in 2012

I think it’s time alukeonlife had a bit of a refit… an overhaul, new theme and a bit of love.

Luke Williams could do with some content, or something too.

Personally I’m working on a lot of cool things in 2012:

  • A TED talk at TEDxHull in Feb
  • Cycling John O’Groats to Lands End
  • Doing the 3 peaks challenge (hopefully in under 24hrs)

I’ve also got a new years resolution: not to eat cadbury chocolate fingers one pack at a time.

 

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another new beginning…

well you know I like them!

I’ve accepted an offer to merge SocialTech into RT Media.
(click for full press release and photo)

It’s taking some re-adjustment to get into the whole working in an office thing, plus they’re based in Wimborne so I’m cycling 20 miles a day (or getting the slowest bus known to man)… but that’s good too, it helps with the ambition to do JOG to LE on ym bike so I’ll bump up the training while commuting. WIN

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Taurine addiction and a morning balancing act

I find it hard to get going in the summer, a kind of hay fever induced grogginess is only counteracted by taking a tablet of some description (tried most types Loratadine and hexy-whatever) with a taurine drink like red bull.

I’m wondering if I actually have trained my body to the point it needs one energy drink a day – that can’t be good? I’m too sluggish for words unless I have the combo above… but I don’t like this legal high balancing act in the morning.

Time to try and stop, I think I’m going to start (now that I’ve retired from DJing) getting up early (6/7am) and working out first thing each day.

Can you get addicted to taurine? I know caffeine has addictive traits in that you suffer from withdrawal symptoms if you don’t have a hit.

Hmmm… damn these drinks companies…

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Surfing as a therapy for Reiters?

I’ve had a couple of small relapses of Reiters recently (see Reiters Syndrome for the history) and found something odd…

Surfing seems to make it better.

No, really.

My reiters causes swelling of the left knee and right ankle (that’s the worst affected parts anyway), previously a moderate does of steroids for a week kicks it back into touch… but on Thursday surfing did the job.

Now I thought this had been the case before, but I dismissed it as a co-incidence.

Wednesday I had a bad flare up while I was away with work, so I had no access to the emergency steroids my doctor left with me. Upon my return to Bournemouth I spotted some good swell, despite the pain (visible swelling and heat) in my knee I really wanted to go out.

I surfed for an 90 minutes or so and I’m sure the combo of restriction from the wetsuit plus the cold sea water sorted my knee.  Wow!

Is that even possible? Next time I get a flare up, I’ll be heading into the sea!

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