Home Before Lunch

If you're bored with your usual running route this weekend get a little creative.  Go somewhere different or do it a different way.  You can still run an epic route and be home in time for lunch...

Finding the Shot

A while ago I read an interesting study about people becoming depressed due to 'everyone else having a great life' and flaunting it on Facebook and Instagram.  Last week I read a light-hearted article discussing it.  I see how this could become a problem; afterall, people have blamed every other technical advancement for their own inadequacies- why stop now?

For anyone complaining that Facebook or Instagram is making them feel bad I'd ask the following questions:
1) Are you 12?
2) Do you think people would put up photos of themselves doing anything but amazing things? (I guess some people think photographing dinner is amazing)
3) Is this any different to people telling stories of their amazing weekend?  (great photos may even reduce embellishment...)

The people I follow on Instagram are chosen BECAUSE they put up great photos.  I like to look at photos that show people having an amazing life.  It gives me ideas, not only on how to make my life more exciting, but how to photograph my own life because it is just as exciting as most others'.

I'd suggest the majority of those who shift the blame to Facebook or Instagram are those who cannot, or don't want to see that any life can be made to look amazing in photo.  The art is in finding the shot, not setting up the subject.  But that would require hard work and self discipline...

Some of my favourite Instagram accounts:
Ashley Baxter
Caleb Farro
Clint Kimmins
David Darbyshire
Garrett Chow
Jered Gruber
Joel Parkinson

But the best by far, is Mike Escamilla

Go out and take photos of your amazing life.  Make your friends jealous.  I'll do the same.

Imaginate. Finally.

It's been a long time coming but this video blows me away.  Gotta love Danny Macaskill.



I'd like to see more Swiss Ball action at skate parks now, please...

King out, Carney in

The Governor of the Bank of England, Mervyn King, finishes up his second, and final, 5 year term this week, and was really the only BoE Governor I've known.  While there was nothing really for me to dislike about him, he did seem to have an easy run before an unprecedented tough period in which he failed to take action and blamed his lack of power.

www.mirror.co.uk

He eventually gained more power- too late to stop a lending squeeze which brought down Northern Rock- and introduced a quarterly Inflation report.  That was useful; if you wanted to highlight how poorly you were doing your job.  My understanding of the BoE's mandate is to keep Interest Rates steady, growth sustainable, and Inflation below 2%.  I don't remember seeing inflation below 2% in the whole time I lived in the UK.

In true British tradition there were some cool quirks that he who leads the 400 year old bank must abide by. Dealing with a twat with a red briefcase is one of them.  Another is writing a letter to that a fore-mentioned twat explaining why Inflation is over 2%.  That letter must have been written so often during Mervyn King's reign that it would have been smart to set up an email template.

Last week Mervyn mentioned that one of his regrets was not being vocal enough about the growing risks in the financial system in the lead up to the lending crisis in 2008.  Hindsight is wonderful.  With a change of powers, the BoE is now the authority when it comes to bank oversight and financial stability.  So his successor, Mark Carney should have no trouble when the next unprecedented financial shock rolls in.

Make a Stand

People make a stand in different ways.  I don't think it matters how it's done, as long as you do it.  In light of Adam Goodes' stand against racism I thought about one of my favourite photos of all time, which is actually on show at Victoria Park at the moment to celebrate 20 years since it was taken.

Photo: Wayne Ludbey for Herald Sun

Decide what you believe in and make a stand.

Hip Flexors

I just learned that hip flexors are made up of two muscles (the psoas and iliacus) contains both slow twitch and fast twitch muscles fibres, and 50% of humans have a 3rd muscle in the hip flexor named psoas minor.

Now you've learned that, too.

McConkey Doc

Oh... Shit... Yes.



Unfortunately, here is a morbid post featuring McConkey from my blog.