Words About Things

Unless you have been offline for the last month or so you are bound to have heard of Chatroulette. If not here is a quick lowdown: you go to the site and are connected to a chat with a random stranger on webcam (although there is a text only option). If you get bored with who you are talking to or they offend your sensibilities (this is quite likely) then you click ‘next’ and you are connected to somebody else. The possibilities are endless and you cannot control who you talk to or what they might say or do.

The video below was created by Casey Neistat and features a study he made of his experiences with Chatroulette. Other than a bit of bad language the video is safe to view at work whereas the actual Chatroulette site definitely is not. It is also worth checking out Casey’s other videos which are similarly entertaining.

chat roulette from Casey Neistat on Vimeo.

I have been running for about two years, I started off doing a few miles once a week and have gradually increased over time. I have now managed a fairly a respectable half marathon time and whilst I’m not going to break any records I have increased my fitness level.  Throughout all the  changes in training schedules and distances one thing has remained constant: I always take my mp3 player with me. Whist it is interesting to be running outdoors and there is always something new to see I couldn’t do it without music – it helps to distract me from the boredom and the pain.

I don’t spend ages compiling complex play lists which are tailored to my exact run but I do make sure whatever I listen to has a quick tempo. For me this tends to mean Metal or Punk and in particular Hardcore Punk like Minor Threat or Youth of Today. Rage Against The Machine are also a favorite of mine. For me it is important to use music which will maintain my interest over time without becoming background noise.

I am hoping to run the London Marathon next year (it is a bit late for this year) because I have reach a plateau in my training and need something to work towards. Most people who run a Marathon get sponsorship and many charities are reliant on receiving this sponsorship money each year so I am hoping to be able to raise quite a bit.  I am trying to increase the distance of my weekly runs, this means I have an excuse to buy a load more music in order to soundtrack my training!

I have recently added CommentLuv to this site so feel free to comment and let me know what you listen to whilst you run.

Having run out of ideas completely I have decided to write the least original blog post ever…welcome to the 10 worst things about the years 2000 – 2009! (excluding war, terrorism and household appliances).

1. The ‘noughties’

Worst name for a decade ever (so far).

2. Piers Morgan

A vile man with all the personality of a dead badger (see also: Nick Griffin, Jeremy Clarkson)

3. Crocs

Special shoes for special people. You don’t even have to wear shoes, trainers will do or anything that doesn’t make you look like a hospital cleaner.

4. Kate Nash

Annoying, ginger, mockney excuse for a singer. “I hate seagulls and I hate being sick. I hate burning my finger on the toaster and I hate nits.” = music for the mespace generation.

5. Ugg Boots

Proof that girls only care about what other girls think and couldn’t give a monkeys about what men think.

6. Bands getting back together

If you haven’t spoken to each other or made any music for 10 years then you should call your tour the ‘Cashing in before we’re too old tour’.

7. blogs

There are now more blogs than there are people with more than 1 brain cell which explains rubbish posts like this.

8. The ‘Credit Crunch’

The most patronizing bit of dumbing down ever, because people couldn’t possibly understand a word a long and complicated as ‘Recession’.

9. Reality TV

People like to complain about reality TV but we only get what we deserve. If people didn’t watch it they wouldn’t continue to make it.

10. Your mum joining Facebook

Sorry for the lack of posts of late, I have been having problems with my database. Hopefully everything is sorted and normal service will resume shortly…