Simon's Cat "A New Arrival Causes Chaos"

Missed this when it came out in October - best Simon's Cat video for ages :)

Find out more about Simon's Cat.

Looks Like Fun - "Rollerman"

Signing Christmas Hedgehogs

Lovely animation, and fantastic use of YouTube's annotation tools.

Dolphin Jetpack Thing Please Santa...

..and a house in the Maldives so I can play on it everyday.

Trainspotter's Massive Anti-Climax

Hats off to you South West Trains, perfect comedy timing! Rest of the time, your service is bobbins.

Dubstep Parrot

The Procatinator was funny, but the Dubstep Parrot is fantastic. Thanks to both J McNamara and Katie Barber for sharing literally within minutes of each other.

Ooh, That Sounds Familiar : 1 : U2 "With Or Without You"

It's not very important, but it recently dawned on me - how much U2's massive "With Or Without You" sounds like Harry Nilsson's "Without You". Not only the obvious title, but the sentiment and mood of the track, another to be filed under "Talent Borrows, Genius Steals (Shits Copy)".
Whilst on the subject of "Talent Borrows, Genius Steals (Shits Copy)" here's the latter, The Stereophonic's "Maybe Tomorrow" vs The Littlest Hobo's "Maybe Tomorrow".

Uncanny. Only so many notes to go around I suppose.

Santa Venn Diagram

Love this - and there's loads more brilliant illustrations on Stephen Wildish's website

Something else discovered on b3ta.com, you should really pay it a regular visit.

"Brush With Death" Short Film

Love this. Destined to be ripped for a future TV advert.

Thanks to Curley for sharing;

Deadmau5 4D Projections In London

The Deadmau5 show was superb last year, closing the Hove Festival in Norway (here's a clip) - missed this show in London, here's some video highlights.

Splendid International Space Station Footage Of Earth.

Watch this. I love a window seat on a plane, but just imagine looking down on the Earth from this height. Superb.

Alpine Rollercoaster - I Want A Go

This looks superb, though I'm sure I'd use the brake, unlike the chap making this video. Why don't we have something as exciting and dangerous as this in the UK? We get theme parks - where we are charged the same as a budget family holiday, and made to queue for hours whilst being attacked by wasps for a ride that last barely a minute - then charged for junk food, and then to park the car in their car park. Legoland Windsor. I'm looking at you. Or in the case of Thorpe Park - all of the above, as well as changing the height restrictions (detailed on the gate after paying for the tickets) on many of the rides so my youngest was unable to go on anything vaguely exciting. Did we get a refund? No, we got LEGOLAND WINDSOR tickets. I'm NOT paying for the bloody car park this time.

This is what you ride on.

The Man Who Made Things Fly (Lawn Mowers, Washing Machines and a BBQ)

Don't let the fact that its for an advert put you off, this is the "making of" or "behind the scenes".

Thanks to b3ta as usual.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3's SUPERB TV Ad, staring Sam Worthington (Avatar) & Jonah Hill (Superbad)

It's not like they needed to make a clever TV ad or anything, is it. This is superb. And the game is only £29.99 from Sainsbury's if you spend more than £30. Time to stock up on washing powder and dishwasher tablets again I think.

Thanks to Matt Harris for sharing

Lego Robot Machine Solves Shuffled Rubiks Cube In 5 seconds

I suppose its saves time ramming a screwdriver inside it, and taking it apart.

7 Billion: How Did We Get So Big So Fast?

"It was just over two centuries ago that the global population was 1 billion — in 1804. But better medicine and improved agriculture resulted in higher life expectancy for children, dramatically increasing the world population, especially in the West."

Surfing The Severn Bore

Coming from Malvern, you'd think I'd have popped down the road a few miles to witness this weird natural phenomenon - nope, never - it's on my new 'to do' list. I'd also like to surf along it like this lot, but alas, I can't surf very well - yet. So that's two things added to the list. This is beautifully shot from the air, looks great in HD on YouTube

Found on The Endless Winter - A Very British Surf Movie

Why Do We Dream?

Because sleep would be boring otherwise wouldn't it?

Actually, hearing people recounting their dreams is very boring, isn't it?

Lucid Dreaming however is great - it's the weird feeling you have when you are dreaming that you are infact dreaming. If you can control the mild panic of feeling you are paralysed (which more often than not, wakes you up) you can do whatever you want in your dream.

How about shuffling a deck of cards, picking one and putting it in a sealed envelope without looking at it before you go to bed. Then, when you are in the middle of a lucid dream, imagine you are opening that envelope to see what the card is. When you wake up, actually open it up and see if you were right. Might work?

Video Of The Year? Duck Sauce "Big Bad Wolf"

Update: People's reactions to the Big Bad Wolf video;

Midnight Sun, Iceland

The Earth is a beautiful place isn't it?

Midnight Sun | Iceland from SCIENTIFANTASTIC on Vimeo.

As found on b3ta.com

Angry Birds - In Real Life

Superb photoshoppery / dark arts skills. See the Angry Birds In Real Life gallery by clicking back there. By the way, now I've upgraded from my 1st generation iPhone to the all-new iPhone4S, I've lost all the 3 stars and golden eggs, and have to start the entire game again. Oh well.

"Wish You Were Here..?" The Mars Rover Completes A Half Marathon - On Mars

During the three-year trek of NASA's Mars Rover Opportunity from Victoria crater to Endeavour crater, rover planners captured a horizon photograph at the end of each drive. 309 images taken during the 13-mile journey appear in this video.

Great Britain Just Got A Little Bit Shorter

And a little bit wider Well, Cornwall did.

Everything Is A Remix

Discovered this fascinating series today, "Everything Is A Remix" - huge you to watch this, then click to watch Part 2 and Part 3. Certainly didn't know how blatantly Led Zeppelin ripped other musicians off.

This is also good, Everything Is A Remix : The Matrix:

Real Life Angry Birds

Great idea and a great advert.

Thanks to Pete Robinson for sharing!

Night Surfing On An Electric Blue Bioluminescent Sea

"On the beaches of Southern California, a phytoplankton called Lingulodinium polyedrum is responsible for a spate of red tide. Massive algal blooms like this make the water ruddy during the day, but disrupting the microorganisms at night results in bursts of electric blue bioluminescence."

As found on Geekologie.com

Delia Smith - Wash Your Mouth Out With Soap And Water

Dirty Delia. You are getting to be like that tart Nigella.

Delia spotted on b3ta.com - as most of the best things are. More from 80gumdrops here

Fake Freddie Vs Fake Eddie

Fake Freddie Mercury Vs Fake Eddie Vedder. Who's the best? Fake Fred, although he could do with tidying his room up a bit.

I can't stand Pearl Jam. As previously mentioned with regards to Bon Jovi, who only have 3 songs (ok, at a push they've got 5) - compared to Pearl Jam that's prolific. Pearl Jam have one song "Alive" but have sold 60 million records worldwide.

Downton Abbey Episode Re-cap (Probably)

I can't stand costume dramas. This is probably what happened last week in Downton Abbey, it reminds me of Acorn Antiques. NSFW due to language.

As found on b3ta.com - thanks to cymrogav

To Celebrate The 20th Birthday Of Nirvana's "Nevermind"

Yes, this really happened.

Goldfrapp "Happiness" directed by Dougal Wilson, GREAT video.

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Looks a bit dangerous this, I'd've gone for a bigger lake. But hey.

Ever Wondered What The Earth Looks Like From A Window On The International Space Station?

Wonder no more. It looks like this. I hope the astronauts get peanuts, miniature bottles of red wine and hot bread rolls with their window seats.

"A time-lapse taken from the front of the International Space Station as it orbits our planet at night. This movie begins over the Pacific Ocean and continues over North and South America before entering daylight near Antarctica. Visible cities, countries and landmarks include (in order) Vancouver Island, Victoria, Vancouver, Seattle, Portland, San Fransisco, Los Angeles. Phoenix. Multiple cities in Texas, New Mexico and Mexico. Mexico City, the Gulf of Mexico, the Yucatan Peninsula, Lightning in the Pacific Ocean, Guatemala, Panama, Columbia, Ecuador, Peru, Chile, and the Amazon. Also visible is the earths ionosphere (thin yellow line) and the stars of our galaxy"

Escaped Parrots Teaching Wild Parrots To Talk

Naturalists in Australia have reported a growing phenomenon of pet parrots that have been taught to repeat phrases by their owners before escaping from their cages and then passing on the technique to the wild flocks they join, The Daily Mail is reporting today.

One scientist said that he had received numerous calls from people who were baffled to hear voices calling to them from trees in their gardens.

‘Hello there!’, ‘Hello darling!’ and ‘What’s happening?’ are among the chorus of comments that flocks of wild birds have been repeating after picking up words and sentences from other birds that were once household pets.

Naturalist Martyn Robinson said: ‘We’ve had people calling us thinking they’ve had something put into their drink because they’ve gone out to look at the flock of birds in their back yard and all the birds have been saying something like “Who’s a pretty boy, then?” ’

Tame language for a Parrot isn't it. Can you imagine if Ruby escaped and stated breeding in the English countryside? Warning: NSFW or Small Children.

Magic Water Fountain at Osaka Station City

Isn't it lovely. Completely pointless - apart from the fact that it tells the time - but still, I wish my shower did this.

Found on the excellent Geekologie

London 2012 Olympic Mascots Get Ready For Next Year...

As found on b3ta.com

Did The Moon Landings Really Happen?

Yes, pretty concrete evidence from the stuff they left behind, explain away conspiracy fans. The video was shot by The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC), and you can watch loads more from it here.

British Winning Something Shocker

Pure skill. Further proof we are as a nation now best at sports that involve sitting down (Motor Racing, Rowing, Cycling)

Can you imagine Alan Green getting this passionate about an English football performance - he sounds more excited about Hole In The Wall nowadays doesn't he?

1984 : Steve Jobs Introduces The Macintosh

I've got one of these. Suppose I should get the start up disks off eBay or something, set what it can do. It's got less that 1MB of memory though.



Via Business Insider

Gaffer Tape Tron (TV Ad)

Duck Tron from Ryactive on Vimeo.

Where's Wall-E?

London-Surrey Cycle Classic - London 2012 Olympics Practice Race - North Downs, Surrey

I happened to be around the North Downs last weekend, and saw a load of blokes on expensive bikes escaping bike looters in cars, who were chasing after them - some had bits of bikes on their roofs, mocking the bicyclists with their trophies. Or something.

However, this is not the reason for posting this. A surrey country lane, on top of a large hill, lined with curious locals.. and a Policeman on a motorbike checks if he's going the right way. Brilliant.

The Secret Cricketer

"In 2006, Goldsborough Cricket Club 2nds suffered the worst score in modern English recreational cricket. Their defeat to Dishforth Cricket Club resulted in ten of their batsmen getting out for a duck and the last man left stranded on zero. That year Dishforth went up a division, Goldsborough down a division. They've not met in a competitive match since.

In August 2011, NatWest staged a rematch giving Goldsborough a chance to win back some pride and Dishforth the opportunity to prove it wasn't a one off. To help Goldsborough avoid history repeating itself, NatWest gave them a secret weapon.... The Secret Cricketer.



Discovered on B3ta.com

Travis "Re-offender"

One of my favourite Travis songs, and then Anton Corbijn made this utterly brilliant video. Can it really be 8 years ago? Blimey.

What Does That Button Do? Inside Space Shuttle Discovery's Cockpit

It's a 360 photo thing, so click here and spin around and zoom in, and admire the PVC tape with sharpie pen scribbles. That right seat looks very uncomfortable, but I suppose in the weightless environment of Space, who needs a cushion, when a couple of bits of velco will do.

Billie Jean On The Ukulele

James Hill performs "Billie Jean" at Uke Fest 2010. Why is it good? Well admittedly he isn't the best singer, but he juggles the rhythm, bass and the beat all at the same time. Nope, no idea how he does it either, maybe its something to do with flapping his left elbow?

Without YouTube - We Wouldn't Hear Stuff LIke This...

Kenneth Williams Is Darth Vader

As found on B3ta.com (as usual)

Augmented Reality Cinema App Overlays Scenes From Movies Into Real Life

YouTube Users Collaborate To Cover Radiohead's "Paranoid Android"

Using only the audio from submitted users videos and mixing the best parts together, this is a fantastic version of "Paranoid Android" - and a bloody great idea.



Found on b3ta.com

Sony's Wimbledon Ad

Loved the original ad with 1000's of pretty bouncy balls bouncing down the streets of San Francisco to Jose Gonzalez's "Heartbeats" 5 years ago (!?) but really like this twist they've done for Wimbledon, very British BUT something tells me dark arts have been included this time around.. some of those tennis balls don't look real in HD do they.. shame.



Montage of the original & Jose performing live

Mash : Jefferson Airplane vs. Fatboy Slim - Somebody To Praise

Love a good mash up, there's only so many notes after all.. this is a good one isn't it.



Found on b3ta.com

Fredde Gredde & Clones "Killer Queen" Cover

Following on from yesterday's cover of Bohemian Rhapsody by Finnish band Porkka Palyboys, here's Fredde Gredde and 7 clones doing Killer Queen. One would assume that there's a bit of Queen revival going on in Scandinavia.



For the record, Travis also did an amazing version of this. Footage is a bit ropey mind you.

Toy Story : Is The Woody Doll's Voice Really Tom Hanks?

Computer Virus New Military Weapon? No, It's Not Called Skynet, It's Stuxnet

In June last year, a computer virus called Stuxnet was discovered lurking in the data banks of power plants, traffic control systems and factories around the world.

Pandora's box has been opened; on the new battlefield the aggressors are anonymous, the shots are fired without starting wars and the foot soldiers can pull their triggers without leaving their desks.

Last week the United States government announced they would retaliate to a cyber-attack with conventional force. The threat is real, and the age in which a computer bug could cost lives has begun.

A 10K Swim At Dorney Lake, Eton - It's A 2012 Olympic Venue Don't You Know

All that training, all that extra training, and then the event itself - it seemed a bit of waste not to do something else after 2Swim4Life.

In hindsight, dining out on booze, ribs and missing the early Guildford City Swimming Club Masters training sessions in aid of a few lie ins wasn't the ideal way to prepare for this - but hey, I've done 10k in training before, swum 150x100ms (15k) too and although I can't believe I entered it, let alone complete it - did 24 miles in 24 hours only a month before -and I've run at few 10k's - it's only 6 and a bit miles isn't it. That's two Swimathons.

So with a week to go, I decided to enter this long distance swim - a 10k swim in Dorney Lake, it's where the Olympic 2012 rowing will take place. Ooh.

Now, the evening before wasn't the usual early night packed with pasta and chicken - it involved quite a few drinks in a lovely sunny pub garden in Big London and a Waterloo Burger King special to munch on the train home - so the morning of the event was met with a 'oh what have I done' - amplified when I glanced out of the window and saw the grey dull clouds that had "R A I N" written all over them - I must admit I was looking for any excuse not to do it.

Bananas, Red Bull and Nurofen later, the adopted pre swim anthem of The Prodigy's "Take Me To The Hospital" and I found myself stuck in a traffic jam driving onto site - ah, this could be the excuse I needed.



But no. They opened a new car park, nearer the start, and delayed the start - just as well, because due to my late entry, I hadn't received a confirmation letter, race number or anything.. which meant I had to queue again - this time to register. Ah, I thought, this could be it - the reason to get back in the warm car and drive home. Walking along the long long line of people seemingly in the same situation, I bumped into fellow GCSC member (and open water legend) Jim Boucher who suggested I join him, half way down the long line. Whilst chatting to Jim, I also spotted fellow 2Swim4Life competitor and lane mate Matt Dawson, who was on his way to drop off his drinks at the refreshment point. What refreshment point? Oh bugger.

Finally at the front of the queue, name found but lack of identification (left in the car at least 10mins away) I thought again, this could be it - homeward bound - until the steward spotted my name and phone number written on my wetsuit - and that was enough.. swim cap, wristband and timing chip were handed over, an apology because they've run out of event t shirts - and I headed off to put my trusty Orca wetsuit on, with a generous helping of Vaseline around the neck - oh the glamour.

Heading back to the place where I thought the start was, I heard the PA call for the 10k swimmers - oh no, I'd made it - just in time to listen to the last half of the safety talk, which also involved the most important bit of information - the course, and how many lengths we were required to do. Oops. I heard "3" and had looked at the length of the lake without contact lenses and thought bloody hell, that's a long way. "Furthest yellow buoy, turn and swim back" I heard, but couldn't see it. Oh bugger.



Air horn sounding, and the mob of orange capped 10k swimmers headed into the water, and I remember thinking that the sand they'd nicely put down to protect our feet was a bit nippy - which was quickly replaced by "OMFG" when entering the 16c water - and SOME people weren't wearing wetsuits (Jim Boucher included).

Googles immediately steamed up, and leaked - and my feet, hands and head hurt like I'd been stamped on - my head throbbed with every pulse. OUCH. Should've put two swimming caps on. Then again, should've had an early night.

A short swim to the start (around 200m), a shout out to smile for the camera (yeah right), then another air horn, and we were off. Open water swimming is always frantic at the start - a sprint from some, a gentle warm up from others - it's like fish caught in a net, thrashing over each other, and unfortunately I was near the back of the pack. After swimming over the top of several slower swimmers (sorry, blame the traffic) I decided to head off to the right - it seemed clear, as everyone was hugging the bouys near the centre of the course. It was a good tactic - and I had clear water ahead of me and got into a really nice pace and rhythm - ooh, it felt great! And no need to turn - and Dory sings in Finding Nemo - just keep swimming, just keep swimming!

Hold on a minute. That's the yellow buoy. Hey this is ok! 3 lengths of this? He did say 3 lengths didn't he? Yeah 3 lengths - this isn't going to be too bad I thought - superb, the yellow buoy was a third of the way around, and as I turned, I changed up a gear and started over taking more people! Oh it felt great!! This was going to be fine after all.

A small seed of doubt entered my mind and starting nagging me about half way down the second "length" when I realised that swimming 3 lengths, and '3' being an odd number, would mean I would finish at the opposite end of this huge lake from the start. Will we have to walk back? Will they take our stuff to the other end? Maybe we'll only swim half the length and swim back for the final one?

Then, colder than the pain of the water the realisation hit me - we were swimming 3 laps, not 3 lengths. Ouch. I wasn't even halfway. Nightmare. Worse still, my shoulders started complaining - probably because of the increase of pace, and the calves, like the bass player of the band of muscles - decided to sulk, unplugging their jacks, putting their 4 string stupid looking guitars back in their cases and refusing to take part any more. Ok, arms only for 6.6k then.

The rest is a bit of a blur. Swimming in a straight line is hard, but following the wire holding the buoys in place was a good tactic. The far end of the lake seemed to be choppy - I wonder if this will be problematic for the Olympics. For reasons I can not explain, The Seahorses "Love Is The Law" always pops into my mind whilst swimming long distances. Why?! Does it match my stroke rate?



With the end in sight (albeit blurred) I informed the calf muscles that there is no "i" in "team" (although there is "me" if you look hard enough) and that they were required to do something now, there were people on the bridge watching, and four swimmers ahead of me - and we, collectively could over take them, and rather than being selfish spare a thought for the arms that have done most of the work so far - great they said, come on then - lets go for it.. unfortunately, no one had told those bits of my feet that live in the arches, connecting my big toes to something else, and feeling left out after during all of this, despite being first in the freezing cold water, they decided to complain, cramping almost immediately, and in unison - ouch, ow, shit - cue and weird front crawl stroke with twisted and contorted legs and feet - must have looked *amazing* from the bridge.

Still, somehow, we managed to settle our musical differences, and the muscles pulled an amazing encore out of the bag - passing the fourth swimmer whilst climbing out of the water and running for the finish line.. well, I say running, I think it looked more like someone in a bit of a panic looking for the loo with severe stomach cramps.



And so, without stressing about doing it, then stressing about not doing it - then stressing whilst doing it - I'd done it. 10k open water - and in under 3 hours. Smashing. Never again. Well, I'm swimming Hampton Court to Kingston Bridge soon, but that's only 2.6miles.

Band Perform Bohemian Rhapsody Inside A Rusty Old Volkswagen Polo

Fantastic. Bound to be featured everywhere from tomorrow.

Weeeeeeeeeeee!! Indoor Sky Dive Dancing (Probably called something else)

Spotted on B3ta.com

Justin Timberlake Is Great Isn't He - Why We Need A Saturday Night Live

Can Justin Timberlake do no wrong? Disney child presenter / member of a global boy band / credible solo artist / very good dancer / singer of great choruses in shit hip hop songs* / actor / partner of beautiful women - he's also able to take the piss out of himself, and turns up on Saturday Night Live in the US regularly - can you imagine a British artist doing the same? Well no, because come to think of it, we don't have anyone that could fit the bill. Gary Barlow? Robbie *yawn*.

I also think that following clips also go to show that we need a Saturday Night Live in the UK, rather than the pompous, heavily scripted and extremely tired 'Have I Got News For You' and that very good attempt by Channel 4 to do a weekly news satire - but which had something missing - a purpose for Lauren Laverne.

This clip also features Lady Gaga. I think you can buy it on iTunes.


This one is funny. It also features Lady Gaga. The sound is funny to get past the NBC copyright claims, but you get the idea;


For those younger readers, we did actually have SNL in the UK back in the 80s, it was called Friday Night Live - or Friday Live - featuring 'alternative' comedians such as Ben Elton (Yes, he was a stand up) and I remember it being actually really bloody good - bands went on it too. Wonder why they axed it?






*It's my personal belief that 99% of hip hop tracks are actually bobbins, except for the chorus, so why bother with all the boasting inbetween

City Limits Time Lapse - Watch This Full Screen & HD

What Can The Astronauts On The International Space Station See Right Now?

Yes, yes, it looks like a Tie Fighter and yes, you can follow it on Twitter and it'll tweet to tell you when its going to come over in your location - but this site goes one better - with a Google Maps overlay, updating constantly, so you can follow exactly where it is live, and what the Astronauts with a window seat can see too. Very cool. Still looks like a Tie Fighter.

Thanks to Colonel Boris on B3ta.com

The Ice Book

"The Ice Book is a miniature theatre show made of paper and light. An exquisite experience of fragile paper cutouts and video projections that sweep you right into the heart of a fantasy world. It is an intimate and immersive experience of animation, book art and performance.

We created the show during a four month artist residency at the Kuenstlerdorf Schoeppingen in Germany. All we had was a 5D Mark ii, an old Macbook with After Effects, some builders lights and a green cloth that we improvised as a makeshift green-screen. Before we started we had no idea how to make pop-up books let alone how we could combine them with projections. With a lot of care, love and arguing the idea eventually came to life."

Stunning isn't it. Thanks to Dom for highlighting. Just imagine what you could do for a live show, in theatres or even retail shop displays. 1st, 2nd and 3rd of June as part of Toy Theatre Festival in Harderwijk, Netherlands. For times and location click here. For more information visit The Ice Book here.

President Obama's Missile Proof Car Beached By An Irish Kerb

Thanks to Kieron

Massively Underrated, Hugely Influential - Echo And The Bunnymen

Can't wait to see them on Friday at Guilfest 2011.

"Like a Virgin.. Launched for the very first time"

Fantastic Music Video - Fantastic Cover (2 Years Old Now, Still AMAZING)

Baby Goes Mad For Bon Jovi

Well, it had to be this track, out of the three songs they've got. Then again, he might be saying "Shut Up Dad, Big Babies is on CBeebies"

Why I Like A Window Seat On A Plane

Can you imagine seeing this out of the window?! Fantastic.



And up close.. RIP Endeavour

Nope, No Idea Either, BUT It Could Be A Future Olympic Sport

Yosemite's Frazil Ice & Firefall - That's a Waterfall that looks like its on fire

Parkour / Free Running Is OLD - They Were Doing It In The 1930's

Big Babies

You may have heard of Rastamouse and In The Night Garden - but you haven't got kids, you probably haven't heard of Big Babies. It's comedy gold. You may recognise one of them from the new J20 advert...

Juggling. Dancing Like A Robot. Or Both. Or Something.

Swimming 24 Miles, In 24 Hours. Who's Daft Idea Was That?

Also read :
A Marathon In A Pool (Well, Almost)
Having Problems Counting To 16
And if you'd like to donate click here, all money goes directly to Help For Heroes.



I've talked about it, dreaded it, trained for it, regretted entering it and last weekend, completed it. 2Swim4Life - swimming a mile on the hour, every hour, for 24 hours. Who's daft idea was it to enter? Mine.

Training with Guildford City Swimming Club for up to 9 hours a week wasn't enough, extra sessions in long course pools with fellow Master's swimmer and 2Swim4Life participant Kieron Taylor saw us swimming the 100x100's, (that's 100x 100metres back to back with around 5 seconds break inbetween, or a 10k swim) followed by 150x100's (a 15k swim) - both down at the Aldershot Barracks 50m pool, the 150x100's took over 4 hours. THAT was knackering. And boring. Who's daft idea was that? Kieron's. But it was good training for 2Swim4Life. I remember saying that on the big day, we'd look back at that 150x100's and find it harder. I was so wrong.

So the big day came along, the day after Wills and Kate got married. That was a challenge in itself, staying off the beer / burgers and junk in our local community street party. Infact, I failed, but it helped me sleep!

An earlier start than planned, we needed to set up my big tent as base camp at 8am, and be ready for the Mayor of Guildford's opening speech at 9.25am, before we started our first mile. It was a hot morning, but also had a nice cooling breeze - perfect weather for lazing around in the rays, not that great when getting out of an open air pool, with a temperature of around 21c - wind chill was a worry.

Anyway, the Mayor said her thing, the adrenaline pumped, the clear blue water of the Lido shimmered in the sun and with a shout, off we all went - 8 people in my lane, lane 2. I was determined NOT to go too fast, to swim at my own pace, and take it steady "it's a marathon, not a sprint".. trouble is, that competitive streak is hard to keep at bay.. and staying on someone's toes, drafting - slipstreaming, is feels like the right thing to do. First mile flew by. 25mins to be exact and getting out feeling ok and deciding the cold water wasn't a bit of a rush - hey, we only had to get back into water another 23 times!!

1 Mile Down, 23 To Go


Pretty much did the first 7 miles without any problems at all - jumped in, churned out the lengths (all front crawl), got out, had a drink, dried off with a sports towel, put on a dressing gown, sent a tweet, crossed the mile off the white board, ate something, relaxed, had a bit of banter with Kieron / Friends / Family / Fellow swimmers and enjoyed the sunshine. Btw, Kieron was consistantly faster than me in lane 3, as he was throughout training. Maybe too fast. 21 minutes for one of his miles!

Choppy water (Photo courtesy of Ruth Cordero)


The 8th mile meant we were a third of the way through the challenge - quite a feat. Physically and mentally, I was fine - mentally, myself and Kieron had practised counting the lengths at 100's, rather 50's.. this meant we would count to 16, rather than 32 (32 lengths of a 50m pool = 1 mile) - which seemed like a lower amount. Also, rather than thinking about how many miles there were to go, I'd just focus on that mile, getting it done, and look forward to sitting down and relaxing in my camping chair for a bit, or the hammock. Of course, I'd constantly lose count, and rely on the person infront of me not to be so absent minded and make us all swim too far.

High Elbows (Photo courtesy of Ruth Cordero)


Mile 9 hurt, as did 10 - which also marked the furthest I've ever swum (15k = 9.3miles) and as the sun started to set, the cold started to become a problem - and that cooling breeze made it increasingly hard to stay warm. I was quite happy to stay at the back of the pack, and a couple of the fastest 4 in the lane lapped me, which didn't feel great. It slowly got worse. Bally (my wife) took the kids home, but came straight back to check I was ok - fortunately bringing with her, my wetsuit (and more food).. 11 and especially 12 we very hard, staying in the pool seemed warmer than getting out.. by this time the party atmosphere had gone, as had all the friends / families from the pool side, and people had started to drop out.. that in itself was demoralising - fellow swimmers would simply disappear, hitting home how hard this event was.

Halfway should've been a celebration, but I was struggling. I could not get warm. A dip in the hot tub worked a treat - both myself and Kieron stretched out a bit, and enjoyed being warm again - but getting out of that was harder than getting in the pool, and my whole body shuddered like a sudden flu type fever in the cold night air. Heading back to the tent, covering myself in two or three towels, dressing gown, 2 sleeping bags just didn't help, plus I remember thinking I only had 10 minutes before I was due back in the pool. Kieron mumbled in the tent that he "hadn't swum 150x100's to give up". Looking at my wetsuit felt like a cop out, but I had mentioned to fellow lane swimmer Matt Dawson (read his blog of the event here) that I wanted to get a least halfway before putting it on, and now was the time..

As I struggled to get into the thing, hearing the dreaded shout of "5 minutes" panic started to set it - but the change was pretty immediate - I stopped shivering for one, the wind couldn't penetrate.. hearing "2 minutes" and rushing to the pool side, I noted that Matt had also put his wetsuit on, and I didn't feel too bad. We'd survived longer than most in our lane (except for Carole, who like Kieron stayed in her cosy the whole blumming way!) and duly got in behind the faster 4. It took just 100metres to suss out that either those 4 were slowing down, or I was speeding up - a tap on the toes, and myself and Matt found ourselves leading the lane. We were flying - infact, I swam my fastest mile on mile 13 - unlucky for some. One of the fastest 2 from the fastest 4 commented on how fast we were in our wetsuits, and I think that was the last we saw of her. The lane dropped to 6.

Friend and neighbour Big Chris turned up to buddy me through the early hours, this involved saying "right, get something to eat, and try and get some sleep, I'll wake you up with 10 minutes to go" - which he did until about 4.30am as the dawn finally started to show. More and more people were dropping out. At some point only 3 were left in lane two, Matt, Carole and myself. I was getting around 10-15minutes power naps during my rest periods, the miles were ticked off, and it was all a bit of a blur.. when the birds started to sing, I started to feel ok, the end was finally in sight - although my right shoulder was starting to be a bit grumpy, and I could feel the threat of cramps in my legs - so simply stopped kicking.

Wetsuit Is On (Photo Courtesy of Ruth Cordero)


After the 22nd mile, friends and family started to return to the Lido to cheer on those left - Jon Brayne, our coach at GCSC popped back in to see how we were doing (thanks Jon!) and Bally and the kids arrived at about 7am, it was amazing to see them, but I was so focused on finishing, I didn't really say that much. My shoulder now started to complain a lot, and I was already up to my limit for Nurofen - my stroke technique wasn't great, but I was still finishing in under 30mins - no legs and one arm - hahahaha!!

23rd mile was a struggle, but crossed off the white board.

Before hand, we'd joked that after mile 23 we'd run over to the Premier Inn and have a pint before the final mile, we didn't.

Then the moment I'd been waiting for - the final mile. Couldn't quite believe the end was in sight to be honest, I don't think anyone realistically thought I'd be able to complete this challenge, and I'd not really thought about failing. I just wanted to get in, and get the job done.



Matt was struggling too, but was still ahead of me, as was a rejuvenated Carole. Every length, every turn got a cheer from the poolside, along with shouts from my two daughters, Jasmine and Saffron. About halfway through, losing count as usual, I spotted them walking along the poolside for each length - I remember thinking they were walking really slowly.. ah. The trouble with losing count at this stage in the challenge, is you don't know when you are going to finish - the last mile went on and on and on - I'm sure Matt hadn't lost count, I was just willing it to be the next 100, and it never was.. the only way to tell it was all over was if I could see Matt stand up - but he was almost 50m ahead of me, and he kept turning and doing another bloody 100m.

And then, he stood up. No more. Last 50metres, and it would be over. I thought about a stylistic ending to this, bit of fly? Turning on the speed? Show off a bit? No. Nothing. Just finish - that's all I wanted to do. And that's what I did, touching the end to make sure it was over, then standing up, throwing my arms up in the air, as well as congratulating my lane mates, to a backdrop of cheering and clapping from the poolside. IT WAS OVER!

Lane 2 FINISHED!! Left to Right - Carole, Ritch, Matt (Photo courtesy of Ruth Cordero)


The "It's over" feeling finally sinks in! (Photo courtesy of Ruth Cordero)


Unfortunately my arms got stuck in this position.


Congratulating Matt Dawson (Photo courtesy of Ruth Cordero)


Congratulating Carole (Photo courtesy of Ruth Cordero)

Watching Kieron finish in style, with his lane mates Lucinda Pollington and Mark Robson (read his blog here) side by side was superb, as was the applause / hand shaking and general well done from everyone including fellow Masters swimmer and open water specialist Jim Boucher.

Lane 3 Left To Right - Lucinda, Mark, Kieron


Lane 3 FINISHED (Photo courtesy of Ruth Cordero)


Lane 3 Relief (Photo courtesy of Ruth Cordero)

Looking back, it all seems a bit of a dream. I still can't believe I've done it, and that after 24 hours I was absolutely fine - no aches, pains or strains - maybe I should've put more effort in.

To document what food, drink and supplements I was taking for potential future 2Swim4Life participants, here goes - bearing in mind I read somewhere that we were expected to burn between 20,000 and 25,000 calories during this (yeah, right!)

Banana's. Lots of them. Over 12 I think.
Cadbury Twirls. 2 x family packs
Red Bull Light. 8 x cans (Although, as coach Jon Brayne pointed out, I shouldn't drink these as I'd eventually get a caffeine low (I heard the same when Chris Moyles & Comedy Dave were preparing for their marathon 50 hour radio show for Comic Relief) and they'd dehydrate me.. anyway, I drank 6 cans from about 10pm and felt great!!)
Ham Sandwiches. Craved them for some reason - think Kieron was too.
Pasta and pesto. Horrible when cold.
Salted Peanuts. Again, crave these after a swim - loss of salt?
Granola Bars. Never eaten them before, but love them now
Nurofen and Creatine tablets. Both take away the pain, the latter seems to help with lactic acid.
Vaseline. Rubbed around the neck to stop nasty chaffing from the wetsuit
E45. My skin doesn't like me swimming - nor do my sinuses - E45 is great for the skin, not much I can do about my nose.
And in that bottle, next to my blue fake crocs - PhD Battery +3 - energy and endurance range from GNC

Oh, almost forgot. A secret little bottle containing Malvern water - taken from source from the Hayslad spring on the Malvern Hills



Right. What't the next challenge.. Channel..

Also read :
A Marathon In A Pool (Well, Almost)
Having Problems Counting To 16
And if you'd like to donate click here, all money goes directly to Help For Heroes.

Arsenal Meet The Queen

Highlight of Mock The Week for me, Hugh Denis's voice overs, light relief from today's Royal Wedding coverage..

Ruarri Joseph "Severed Dreams"

Ruarri makes fantastic videos.

Hove Festival, Norway

Lovely film.. sums up why I love working at the Hove Festival, and what makes it unique.

Hove festival 2010 from Lavafilm on Vimeo.

Studio Killers - Ode To The Bouncer

Mobile Phone Viral sorry ADVERT

This video has been doing the rounds the last few weeks, yes its fantastically shot, its a clever idea (although the song is sort of out of tune / time), and it has quite a few YouTube views - it's one of those videos that keeps you guessing what its for, right until the very end, and that's where it becomes extremely disappointing.

What a let down. Two mobile phones sat there, the only connection being a wooden finish to the phone. You could run the same video and plonk a can of dog food at the end, it would't matter, I doubt viewers would care. If they wanted to make this advert "go viral" as I'm sure they did when it was conceived, maybe adding a simple bit of humour to the end would've encouraged more people to send / share it with friends, rather than the worry that they might be spamming.

Maybe after going all that way, playing Bach out of time and tube, the ball knocks into the phones and they splat into mud (face up of course) and the director shouts "take two".

Leaving Card

Was reminded of this today, when I heard someone humming Frank Sinatra's "My Way". When a colleague (Adrian) left Independiente (2003?) we made him a DVD rather than giving him a card - everyone said something to camera, without warning, and all were done in one take. Here's two - Ernan's was my fave, mine played on his gags, but both are now a lovely reminder of the label how it was back then.

Leaving Work from Ritch Ames on Vimeo.

Wills & Kate Wedding Song, by Amateur Transplants (NSFW)

Cassetteboy vs. The Hairy Bikers - Mothers Day Special?

ET Sequel!! Trailer For ET-X (The X Stands For Extinction)

"Come on E.T, Let's go save the world!"

Featuring original cast members, Drew Barrymore and Henry Thomas (Elliot) but as grown ups, Peter Coyote (Keys, the FBI / Secret Agent we all thought was a bad guy, that probably got together with Elliott's Mum after the little space alien went home) as well as Bruce Willis (of course) and Morgan Freeman, who isn't playing the US president this time, as it has a cameo from President Obama!

ET has come back.. to save the Earth - from the other ET's that aren't so nice and environmentally friendly!

A fantastically made fan spoof trailer unfortunately, featuring clips from ET, War Of The Worlds and other alien invasion / disaster films but a must watch all the same - I wonder what Steven Spielberg thinks...?

'XXX Are Sh*t And Here's Proof' Les Dawson Would Be Proud

There's not much that makes me laugh as much as Les Dawson (RIP) on his piano. As the old man would say (he's a pianist too) playing songs slightly out of tune is actually very difficult to do. I'm sure Les would be proud of Irish comedian NostrilShorts, who has posted some fantastic videos of well known artists - with the "real" sound from the front of house desk, under the title 'insert band' are shit, and here's proof.







Then there's the "real" sound feed from Kings Of Leon from the 2009 Reading Festival posted by allergonoise


And finally, Les Dawson himself;


Thanks to 'Big' Kyle Mackenzie for posting the Coldplay Are Shit link earlier on Facebook

The Known Universe - Mapped

I can hear Prof Brian Cox saying "you know, the Universe, is, like, dead big".

Here it is then, taking you from "the Himalayas through our atmosphere and the inky black of space to the afterglow of the Big Bang. Every star, planet, and quasar seen in the film is possible because of the world's most complete four-dimensional map of the universe, the Digital Universe Atlas that is maintained and updated by astrophysicists at the American Museum of Natural History"



Thanks to b3ta's buffet_the_appetite_slayer who posted "If you are ever feeling lonely, perhaps this is why"

Bon Jovi Only Have Three Songs

A tired bunch, late at night and huddled around a heater in the production office of the Radio One / NME stage at the Reading Festival last year, dwelled on the subject of the 2011 main stage headliners.. it sparked a lengthy albeit weary discussion on one band, put forward by someone that *really* should know better.

Bon Jovi.

I've no idea why amongst other worthy contenders such as SoundGarden / Muse / Red Hot Chili Peppers / The Strokes (hey we got two right!) Jon Bon Jovi's band popped into this person's head, but he backed up his suggestion with the lines that they'd "go down a storm" - the case against them was overwhelming;

a) they'd get bottled off almost immediately
b) amongst the six or so people discussing this global mega-band (they've sold over 130million records), we could only name three of their songs.

It has since been pointed out that they've got two others, "It's My Life" and "You Give Love A Bad Name", but for me, it stuck - Bon Jovi only have three songs.

Click here to see this years Reading & Leeds Festival line up so far.

How Do You Play Football If You Live On A Floating Village?

This film is based on a true story. In 1986 a football team that lived on a little island in the south of Thailand called "Koh Panyee". It's a floating village in the middle of the sea that has not an inch of soil. The kids here loved to watch football but had nowhere to play or practice. But they didn't let that stop them. They challenged the norm and have become a great inspiration for new generations on the island.

A few days ago in a desert not so far away...

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

Marble Madness

Well, ok Ball Bearing Madness. I remember making a helter skelter type of thing for marbles out of cardboard as a wee lad in the Grove Primary School. This bloke has spent hours doing it, far too many if I'm honest. My favourite is at around 1min 42secs though, as the ball zooms down the slide, goes back up another, and then down a twisty little helter skelter. Weee!

Pencil Sharpening Sculptures

I come from a technical drawing background, and having a *very* sharp pencil (of various weights) is vital to doodling- sorry accurate drawing. Despite failing my 'o' level - in which I was predicted an 'a' (special thanks to a teacher that didn't teach the curriculum AT ALL - plus, as someone that has a surname also beginning with 'a' at a MASSIVE disadvantage at the front of the exam room because I couldn't eavesdrop on the other upright drawings like my also failing-albeit one grade above - 'n' grade class mates) Anyway, this is very impressive. And slightly obsessive. And most of them would be rubbish for drawing with

See much more here, thanks to Elke Laleman

Space Shuttle Launch: Viewed From An Airplane

When I fly, I HAVE to have a window seat to watch the world go by underneath.. catching the final launch of the Space Shuttle Discovery whilst having a hot bread roll / mini can of Carlsberg - wow.

The Beatles Performing "Smack My Bitch Up" in 1965 *NSFW*

Sword Fighting Shadows

You've probably seen this, but all the same, its very good. Imagine artists interacting with their backdrops / visuals.. Travis *gawd bless them* picked a lucky fan out of the audience during their Invisible Band tour to play Gran Turismo projected onto their huge backdrop during Coming Around. *aw memories*

Having Trouble Counting To 16

As previously posted, I'm taking part in a 24 mile swim in 24 hours, swimming a mile on the hour every hour, from 9.30am on the 30 April through to 9.30am on 1st May.

Training for this has well and truly started, with extra sessions outside GCSC Masters, and a Saturday afternoon spent at the fantastic Aldershot Barracks 50m pool - which is always pretty quiet / empty, and home to the British Army - apt as we are swimming in aid of Help For Heroes.

The plan was to swim 3 or 4 miles. Again the first mile hurt, and seemed a hell of a long way, and take ages. I'm sure both myself and fellow GCSC member Kieron lost count of the number of lengths - this is bloody demoralising. I know it might seem a simple thing to do, but each length feels exactly the same as the last length - and in a 50m pool I allow my mind to wander off. When this happens, I think of the number I could remember counting to, then take two off it, and start counting from there, seems like a fair way to make sure you do the distance. In a 50m pool, a mile is 32 lengths. To ease the counting confusion, we count every 100m or 2 lengths, so count up to 16. When you lose count, you are never sure when to finish - and makes the swim drag on. And on. and on. AND ON.

Anyway, my first mile (and a bit) was done in around 28mins I think, Kieron who is much faster, finished in around 26mins. We had a quick drink, and started the next - this time, I didn't think I'd lost count, but did an extra 100m on the end for the hell of it as Kieron had started his - finishing in around 26mins. Again, a quick drink, and back for the last mile - doing these in 100m bits, off 1.50 (that means you've got 1min 50secs to complete the length, and have a rest, before starting the next 100m.. the faster you swim, the longer you rest). I'm aiming to complete each mile in under 30mins, so on the day I get a nice 30min "rest".

I've had confirmation of my place in the swim, an email from the organisers also brought good news.. the Guildford Lido is going to be heated to 24c (hooray!), they will allow us to set up tents / camping equipment (small luxury!) and there will be a Hot Tub (Amazing!). Kieron, stick a stamp on that envelope and get it in the post!

So that's 5 miles down in the extra training, 19 to go, and 68 days left to get match fit. Loads of time *ahem*

Next Time It Snows, I'm Going To Build Something Like This..

Because last year's igloo is already soo last year..

A Marathon In A Pool (Well, Almost)

So, myself and fellow Guildford City Swimming Club (GCSC) Masters Squad member Kieron Taylor have entered a swimming event - the more we've discussed it, the more we realise how hard it will be to complete, and from reading previous participants comments, mental strength is going to play a huge part in it.

You see, for swimmers, there aren't many high profile / well organised challenges to test you, unlike Running or Cycling. Take running. Anyone can do it, at anytime, anywhere - from a simple jog around the block, to entering a 5k / 10k, or even a Half Marathon (Never EVER again) or full Marathon. Other than swimming club competitions and meets, there isn't much for swimmers - triathlons (tick), BT Swimathons (tick) and British Gas's Great Swim Series (tick). Then there's the English Channel - more people have climbed Mount Everest than successfully swum to France. Maybe one day.

Anyway, we've entered 2Swim4Life. It's a 24 mile swim, in 24 hours, in the Guildford Lido, taking place on Saturday 30th April. The basic challenge is to swim one mile on the hour, every hour, starting at 9.30am in aid of Help For Heroes.

Other than my GCSC training (up to 9 hours a week, mostly starting at 6am) I'm going to have to start getting fit for swimming a mile at a consistant and comfortable pace. A mile in a 50m pool is 32 lengths. A mile in a 25m pool is 64 lengths. Ideally, I want to be swimming the mile in under 30mins, so on the day, I'll have time to get out of the pool, warm up, stretch out, eat, refuel, rest before getting back in for the next mile.

Training started this morning. My first thought was "32 lengths is a bloody long way", followed shortly afterwards by "what the hell have I entered this for", along with "I've lost count already, how many lengths was that" and "I've not actually posted that entry form yet.. maybe I won't get a stamp for it"

Managed the first mile in around 25mins, had a 3minute break, and did another mile in around 28mins. That's 2 down, 22 to go then. Ouch.

The Average Faces Of Women Of The World

Think you'll agree the average female face is actually quite attractive - the results are achieved by overlapping images from around the world, this image adds female faces from individual countries (click here or on the image below to see the full resolution image, with loads of other countries) that have been uploaded so far - you can upload your own too on the Face Research site here.



Thanks to Geekologie / Face Research

Ice Skating & Swimming - Or Is It A Vodka Viral?

Sceptic, Me? Pretty sure this is a viral video for the Norwegian Vodka Vikingfjord Liked it anyway, and love Norway, though I only get to go in the summer..

Reading Time Lapse

1,000 tonne bridge deck moved into place over Caversham Road as Network Rail completes first phase of six-year project to improve Reading's railway.. *think* the Reading Festival site was under threat by part of this project a few years ago, as it involved altering the route of Cow Lane so they could replace the bridge across it - building a road on the site (well the allotments) and through the Little John's Lane tunnel.. *think* the threat has gone away..

First Celebrity Advocate Of The No Sh*t Sherlock Diet?

It has been brought to my attention that I might consider getting in touch with Comedian / Actor / Writer / Thoroughly Nice Bloke Simon Pegg for my book idea, the "No Sh*t Sherlock Diet". In this month's Men's Health, he answered "What's Your Secret To Good Health" with the following;

"No matter what people say, if you want to get smaller, you need to move more and eat less, that's all there is to it"

Book cover strap line?

Homemade Solar Power

Back in November, I got excited about "Melting Rock With Sunlight", after seeing a scientist from the Solar Furnace Research Facility in Southern France demonstrating his concave mirror, focusing the sun's energy, reaching temperatures of over 3500c.

Well, an American teenager has built one of his own, from an old satellite dish and loads of mirror tiles, and has achieved the same sort of results.

As stated in my original post - imagine what you could do with this free energy from the sun? Off the top of my head, a smaller version focusing onto water to heat it for households, or a larger version heating water into steam to generate electricity, seems like a such a simple idea, maybe too simple for anyone to manufacturer. Maybe I should get in contact with Sir James Dyson.



Here's Captain Slow aka James May from his Big Idea series, visiting Spain's Solar Tower..

Introducing The "No Sh*t Sherlock Diet"

I'm thinking of writing a diet book ready to tap into the 2012 market.

The "new" Atkins (so I understand) is called the Dukan Diet, and it has sold over 1.5million copies in France alone, and with Celebs such as Giselle Bundchen and Jennifer Lopez rumoured to be following it, it'll no doubt sell by the bucket load now its available in English. By the way, the Atkins Diet has sold over 15million copies worldwide.

Trouble with my "No Shit Sherlock Diet" is that it is based around the following 4 basic principles;

1. Eat less food
(as well as food that is bad for you)

2. Drink less alcohol
(as well as fizzy and sugary drinks)

3. Exercise more
(that's exercise that makes the heart rate go up, and might even make you out of breath)

4. Do this all the time
(ronseal)

It'll be hard to pad this out for a few hundred pages I must admit, but I think I'm onto something - I'll even get some solid scientific evidence to back up my new diet, as well as including recipe ideas (don't use lard, don't add cheese, cut down on the fat, don't eat ready meals 24/7) exercise plans (walk to the shop, go for a little run / bike ride / swim regularly) as well as how to watch TV of an evening without drinking a bottle of wine.

Wonder which celebrities I could get to endorse this lifestyle revolution?

History Of Hip Hop In 4 And A Bit Minutes

If Disney Made "Up" In 1965

Polar Bear Swims 426 Miles Non Stop

Scientists studying Polar Bears in the Beaufort Sea, North of Alaska, have watched one swim continuously for 232 hours (that's nine and half days), covering a distance of 426 miles / 687km in near freezing temperatures - a marathon for an animal searching for new hunting grounds, as the ice sheets melt, and probably something its cubs are going to be faced with, as the ice retreats due to climate change.

When talking about endurance swimming, you (well maybe just me) naturally think of the English Channel - which is approximately 21miles / 32km from Dover to Cap Gris Nez - depending on tides. So our plucky polar bear has swum the equivalent of 20 channels non stop.

The furthest a human has swum continuously is 122 miles / 197 km in 38 hours or so, the distance Susie Maroney did by swimming from Mexico to Cuba. Yes the water was much warmer, but she did get stung by a jellyfish, and break her wrist on the first night in unexpected storms. Ouch.

Then there's Lewis Gordon Pugh, who in July 2007 swam 1km in 18min 50secs across an open patch of sea at the North Pole to draw attention to the melting of the Arctic sea ice. The water temperature was Minus 1.7˚C, the coldest a human has swum in. He did this in speedos, a swimming cap and a pair of googles - the challenge was conducted in accordance with Channel Swimming Association Rules.

Lewis has since swum Lake Imja in the Himalayas, created by recent glacial melting, and Lake Pumori a body of water at an altitude of 5300m on Everest. Watch his fascinating account of this, and his views on climate change from his talk at last years TED conference below.

For the record, the furthest I've swum continuously, is 4.4miles / 7.1km in November 2009 in the 25m Guildford Spectrum. It took me two hours. I was going for 300 lengths, but for a young lad sharing the lane with me, who seemed to struggle with his turns, spending most of the time under the water, almost stationary and generally getting in the way. After a while it dawned on my the dirty boy was spending his charity swim letching at women in the neighbouring lane. The coldest water I've swum in? The now legendary open air swimming pool in Malvern, the thought of which still makes me shudder.

Toy Thailand

Just when I thought I'd got tired of Tilt Shift, this came along. The little boats around the 2min mark look amazing.

I wonder if you could somehow reverse this technique to make small stuff seem big and real? It would be great for those that that have little train sets in their lofts, with tiny villages, hills and trees - then again, maybe that's not the point.

Toy Thailand from joerg on Vimeo.

3D Fractals

I remember as a student back at Kington Uni getting a bit of fractal generating software for my 286 PC (Windows took up half of its memory). I left it calculating and working out for over 24hours only for it to spit out a rubbish looking image that filled a tiny proportion of the big fat screen, so I stuck to playing Lemmings (I got stuck on that level with the fast walking lemming, and the slow building one. Drove me mad)

Anyway, check this weird but mesmerising 3D fractal landscape, that would have probably have taken my 286 the last 20 years to have attempted;

Surface detail from subBlue on Vimeo.

The Banking System

Watched "Britain's Banks : Too Big To Save?" last night with an open mouth. It's available on the iPlayer until 25th Jan, its a shocking insight into the greed of the few, that without regulating, risk another banking crash, worse than the one that caused the global recession.

Incidently, at the start of the recession - after the run on Northern Rock, the failure of Lehman Brothers and the government bail out, I found myself at a friends drinks party talking to a couple of bankers. After a lengthy and lively discussion, I pointed out to them that they were probably (understatement) "public enemy No. 1" for the state of the economy. The reaction was shocking. "The general public are to blame, for getting mortgages without the means to repay them".

Anyway, watch this "Britain's Banks : Too Big To Save?" on the iPlayer here.

"It's more than two years since the giant banks were bailed out with billions of pounds of tax-payers' money, yet little has been done to reform or regulate these vast institutions. The BBC's business editor Robert Peston looks at how the international regulators, a little-known and secretive committee that sits in the Swiss city of Basel, have consistently failed to curb the excesses of the giant banks and how new proposals fall short of the root-and-branch reform promised after the crash.

With the fate of Ireland, brought to its knees by the excesses of its banking industry, fresh in our minds, Peston asks whether Britain would be in any position to bail out our huge banks should there be another crisis. Are the banks, once thought to be too big to fail, now actually too big to save?

The film contains the first interviews with the government's new Banking Commission, as well as contributions from Business Secretary Vince Cable, new RBS chairman Sir Philip Hampton and the Bank of England"