Three Strikes: Week 32

Highs of 25 today and yesterday. Scorching. I am not in the habit of preparing for the sun, living in rain-drenched Oldham, and ended up developing the lobster look in Manchester's Castlefield yesterday. Can't believe I've never chilled there before on a sunny day. With its canal and old stonework buildings, some modified into a range of upmarket bars, it's the perfect blend of urban chic and leafy suburbia- nestled right in the city centre.

I missed the last night at Prohibition Manchester. The bar, which was a favourite of mine, was a top spot for lovers of house music and trendy 20's décor. It's now shut, presumably due to dwindling customer numbers. Instead, I rocked a karaoke bar on Portland St with this number.

Yes, that WAS my Sing Date song, before you ask.

Today I sat in the strip of council grass that passes for my garden, doused in Factor 20, and finished off Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72. An interesting, generous and slightly mental account of Hunter S Thompson's coverage of the 1972 presidential elections, the book is a compilation of Thompson's articles, written as he followed and supported the doomed underdog, George McGovern. If you're not well-versed on 70's American politics, you'll probably struggle and not find it half as interesting as Thompson's other books. At least, that's my experience.

The most interesting aspect of the book is its creation. As the deadline for publication loomed nearer, the writing became more and more manic, desperate and basic. The final few articles were transcribed from handwritten notes that Thompson had ripped out of his notebook and faxed over to his office to be typed verbatim. Also included towards the end are transcribed conversations with his editor about the election itself where no time was left to develop a more traditional format for the reporting.

Next week's Three Strikes post could be similarly urgent- maybe a Youtube vid or Soundcloud file for immediacy...

I've passed the 150K page view mark! I must be doing something right. I've been running this blog since late 2008 and I only passed 100K some time this year. The exact date evades me. I'm sure I blogged about passing it. If you can find it on here, let me know. Stats have slumped over the last few weeks, but overall people are finding the site, commenting and feeding back to me on Facebook and Twitter and the page views are flying in. I'm getting somewhere.

Likewise, I'm getting somewhere at the gym too- my cousin noticed my arms were “looking big”. Appropriately, I'm a weight higher on vertical dumbell fly, which is my sole PB this week. I decided to mix in a little cardio to my sessions again, and- unsurprisingly- I'm not anywhere near as fit as I was when I last used these machines. An endurance project might be on the horizon...