fish and chips

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Aliveandrunning June 17 2014 Juneathon Day 17

 
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Into Cambridge city centre today. I took  the opportunity, as anyone would, to snap some bookshops because in 25 years or perhaps 5 years, they will have disappeared into history. “Books” will be downloaded directly into our heads as we sleep and we will awake with the full memory of the pleasure of the contents. Physical books will be regarded as unnecessary fire hazards which attract contaminating, throat choking dust, and the broad coalition government of the Daily Mail party, UKIP and Best Do AS You Are Told Alliance will ban them. The American Psychiatric Association  will categorise physical book reading as an unhealthy fetish and advise psychosurgery if the patient persists with his/her deviant behaviour. We follow suit in the UK.

Anyway, that’s the future. Let the unreconstructed enjoy today. I have included T.K. Max because this was where Borders had a three floor store before it went bust. I liked this large shop.It had a fantastic range of magazines, a good coffee shop, a wide range of books, comfy chairs and a relaxed atmosphere. After my heart attack 5 years ago, I couldn’t reach the second floor  because it was only accessible by stairs which I wasn’t permitted to use. I was disproportionately put out despite the relatively short ban.

I seldom go into the Cambridge University Press bookshop. Too many titles I would like to own, and expensive.

Heffers is Cambridge’s premier shop for bibliophiles, both for the general reader, the specialist  and students. A lovely, big, sprawling store with very knowledgeable staff.

Out road running with Cambridge and Coleridge this evening. We did 6 x 3 minutes with decreasing recovery from 5 mins to 1 minute. We stopped to a loud whistle so all speeds were catered for. We then returned to the position  from where we started, or where we reached at the 3 minute whistle. Then back home for fish and chips, baked beans and salad, accompanied by delicious flat bread. Alas, no Brussels sprouts!

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Aliveandrunning Janathon January 24

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Day 24. I was very disappointed with  the lack of appreciation evident in the response to yesterday’s blog concerning Brussels sprouts. It reflects a general disdain all too apparent in society for the wondrous green balls. In an attempt to redress the balance I am considering forming a Cambridge Society for the Protection and Promotion of Brussels Sprouts and any potential sponsors or “business angels” may contact me via this blog. In the meanwhile a series of home produced, sprout featuring meals will be exhibited, in these posts, on an occasional basis during its natural season. Here are two images ( one taken with flash, the other without) that demonstrate how Brussels sprouts can transform the humble meal of fish, chips and beans.The plate also contains ye olde mixed salad and a cheese and red onion flat bread. Just the thing to set me up for tomorrow’s parkrun in Walthamstow, East London where we will meet up with two of our children and hopefully some old friends who took up running for the first time in their sixties.

The weather was dreary in Cambridge today and yet again I went for a run just before creating the potential Michelin starred meal above. It was steady and slow. I resisted the temptation to stop and canvass people on their stance towards sprouts. This was easy because I didn’t meet anyone except a dog walker whom I startled despite making noises to warn him I was coming up behind.

I frequently think about doing stretches and dynamic exercises during the day. I think it would help to relax my body and mind if I did it on a regular basis. But I always manage to fail to do it on a consistent basis. I need to find extra focus and concentration to move another new idea forward – developing and enhancing the public perception of the beautiful  brassica, broccoli.