Wednesday, November 11, 2009

I beat my wife to get healthy

My sister and I are fighters.

As kids, whenever someone attacked either of us we would back each other to the hilt. When there was no-one else to battle we fought amongst ourselves, also, in a very energetic way. Its only my sister and I, although we did have a dog for a good many years, we are very close and there are many similarities between us (my sister and I, not the dog and I).

In fact when my sister and I chat to each other, even in front of our parents, we speak so fast and in such an Essex accent that no-one can understand us.

We also have something else in common - obesity. I haven't seen my sister in a few months but I do know that we are both on the heavy side.

She has 7 kids and a husband to clean up after, runs a community center and helps out at a variety of charities as often as she can. This leaves her very little time to look after herself.

Me? I like eating chocolate and have an aversion to sport.

Back in April I started using my trusty pedometer, in fact its the Omron Walking Style II (below) and I recommend it to everyone.
A pedometer measures the amount of steps you take whilst wearing it. Different health organisations agree that taking over 10,000 steps a day is highly beneficial to your health. My sister has yet to purchase a pedometer but hopefully after this little blog she will do so.

Mrs. Jumblerant recently bought a pedometer, exactly the same as mine, and challenged me to an interesting competition. Whoever has the most paces at the end of each day gets to stay in bed in the morning when our 8 month old baby boy wakes up! My kind of challenge.

In the last 3 days I have beaten her 3 times.

To add to the fun I also picked up on a challenge by fellow blogger Treppenwitz to his readers to log their steps, for free, at Walker Tracker. I have a rather green widget near the top of this blog if you want to go there and have a look.


Anyway, its a no frills competition normally. I even started 2 competitions this month in an effort to get back into walking myself thin. The winner gets bragging rights or something of an equal value, but it means that there are people out there helping you to walk more paces, push a bit harder and get a little bit healthier each day.

And that can't be a bad thing.

kthanxbai!

Sunday, November 8, 2009

Rude. Crude. Lewd.

I can honestly say that if you like sarcasm, rude jokes and a British accent then Jimmy Carr is the comedian for you.

Jimmy CarrImage by chase-me via Flickr



I was feeling a bit under the weather earlier so decided to treat myself to a viewing of 'Jimmy Carr, Telling Jokes' and boy did I laugh.

Painfully funny.

But it ain't for the kiddies so keep them away. A long way away.

kthanxbai!

ohh please

A friend of mine is the star of a new video on YouTube, produced by a real advertising company.

He'll be the first to say that the video is nothing to write home about, he is just breaking into the acting market here - but I like him and it is a funny video - so here you are:

Enjoy!



kthanxbai!

Friday, November 6, 2009

Fort Hood - details emerge

Spook 86 at In From the Cold has a very interesting piece about the killer in the murders this morning at Fort Hood.

I strongly suggest you go here and read it.


Above: Fort Hood in better days.

Tam, over at View From The Porch asks why more military personnel, in Texas of all places, weren't armed on their base. Go here and read her blog too.

This Ain't Hell But You Can See It From Here has a round-up of all the important news sources and their theories on why it happened as well as the all important Dr Phil and others on Larry King. And, of course, they have their own, highly plausible, theory too. And that's available if you click right here.

kthanxbai!

Thursday, November 5, 2009

The Making of an American Soldier

Neptunus Lex links to an in-depth photo essay from the Denver Post following one Ian Fisher from home, to Iraq and back again.





Go here to see the complete series. Definitely worth a viewing.

kthanxbai!

Pictures of an 18 year old model

Now that I have your attention, please vote for me at the 2009 Weblog Awards. I'm assuming I won't win but I do like a challenge!!

I'm entering myself in the category of Best Individual Blogger

Below is the info you need to copy and paste on the Nomination Website

Jumblerant
http://jumblerant.blogspot.com/
http://feeds2.feedburner.com/Jumblerant


And here are the pictures of that 18 year old model railway I promised you in the title:





kthanxbai!

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Put your ears back and listen

Medic Matthew over at New Life Changes put this video from YouTube our way. And I liked it so much I thought I'd share it.

Pomplamoose Music's cover of Beyonce's 'Single Ladies'

Pay particular attention to the lyrics at approximately the 2 minute mark

Enjoy.



kthanxbai!

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

One versus many


Makes you think eh?

I saw this on Sharp as a Marble and he first saw it here.


kthanxbai!

Why I don't use twitter

As twitter takes over the world and His Amazingness Stephen Fry takes twits seriously, please click on the link below to understand why I am currently an untwitterer.

Twitter Badge 1Image via Wikipedia



Slight swearing but we're all adults here aren't we?
Seriously, aren't we? The Bloggess - Twitter will molest you

kthanxbai!

A mix of two loves

That title sounds a bit naughty doesn't it? I think I'll leave it there to raise the number of visitors to the blog from Google.

Jenson ButtonImage via Wikipedia


Anyway, with the Formula 1 season now over and the last Grand Prix watched, analyzed and misanalysed I thought I'd share with you two things I love: Fry & Laurie and Auto Racing. Like oil and water mixed in a puddle they show a myriad of color .. blah blah blah

Enjoy the sketch



kthanxbai!

Monday, November 2, 2009

USS New York goes home

The new Navy assault ship USS New York, built with World Trade Center steel, arrived in its namesake city Monday with a 21-gun salute near the site of the 2001 terrorist attack.


The USS New York was discussed on this very blog just 2 weeks ago: Going Home.

Just saying.

kthanxbai!

Drive I Swear

As I mentioned in a previous post, the first real rains of the season began yesterday. So here are a few rules for your delectation;

+ If you slow down to 20 km/h because of the rain I will gesticulate at you. Now get out of my way.

+ If you slow down to 20 km/h because of the rain and continue to hold the phone in your hand and talk into it I will gesticulate at you and insult your parentage. Now get out of my way.

Result of a serious automobile accident.Image via Wikipedia



+ Look at the road in front of you. If it looks like puddles then slow down. The odds are that your car weighs more than a bag of hot air and so in a Vehicle v. Puddle fight, don't worry, you WILL win. Now get out of my way.

+ If you do not think that lit headlights are a required addition to driving in stormy conditions I will flash my lights at you. I will also gesticulate and debate your parentage. Its not about you seeing the road, its about other drivers, and pedestrians, seeing you.

+ Driving with one armed draped over the passenger seat is never a good idea. If you do so whilst it rains heavily, and you're talking on the phone, and you have a cigarette in the same hand as your phone and you're undertaking someone I will do nothing.
I will do nothing because I'll be busy phoning the Police because you're a Caulking Font (rearranged for the faint of heart).
You may be suicidal but I like my life right now so I'll do my utmost to get you off the roads.

+ Everyone else? Yeah, you're good.

Thus endeth the rant.



kthanxbai!

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Odd goings on at the UN

The Austrian Police believe that the death of a British nuclear expert who fell from the 17th floor of a United Nations building is not suspicious, and this article explains why.

Flag of the International Atomic Energy Agency...Image via Wikipedia

Timothy Hampton, 47, a scientist involved in monitoring nuclear activity, was found dead last week at the bottom of a stairwell in Vienna.

An initial autopsy concluded that there were ‘no suspicious circumstances’. But it is understood that Mr Hampton’s widow Olena Gryshcuk and her family were deeply unhappy with that verdict.

So like any loving wife she ordered another autopsy, not under the authority of the local police.

...a doctor who undertook a second post-mortem examination on behalf of the family believes she has found evidence that Mr Hampton did not die by his own hands.

... she said one possible theory was that Mr Hampton was carried to the 17th floor from his workplace on the sixth floor and thrown to his death.

Professor Yen used new forensic techniques to detect internal bruising caused by strangulation which would not be visible to the eye.

She said: ‘In my opinion, it does not look like suicide. My example is that somebody took him up to the top floor and took him down.




Funny that, because at the end of the article there is a little notelet about a similar 'non-suicide' by an American:

Under a year ago, an American died at the IAEA in strikingly similar circumstances, his body being found at the bottom of a stairwell.

A UN spokeswoman said an investigation into that case continues, though Austrian police have concluded it was suicide.

She said: ‘This might have been a copycat thing in the CTBTO.’

As Iran and Friends are coming under pressure to toe the line with their Nuclear weaponry and North Korea keep showing off their nuclear arsenal this happens. And it doesn't make headline news?

Curiouser and curiouser.

Make up your own mind! The Daily Mail original article can be found here.

kthanxbai!


Random Thoughts part deux

We had the first heavy rains of the winter on Friday so I was going to rant about how cars aren't made of paper and at over a tonne a piece, can quite happily go through a puddle or two - thinking that goes against what most of my fellow countrymen believe.

A light chocolatey dessert ... I love it chill...

Our Friday night guests canceled on us because of the weather so now Mrs J (aka 'Her Indoors) now have 2 chickens, a half kilo of rice and a whole chocolate mousse to get through. And I was going to rant about that too but going through a chocolate mousse really isn't a bad thing!?!

And then I started going through the blogs I follow on Google Reader and came across a few things you might find interesting, just not finger licking good!


At Random Acts of PatriotismASM 826 posted this fund raising blog:

Semper Fi

All we need is the will and the vision. We have the finest trained, best equipped military in the history of the world.

The music in this video can be purchased from iTunes, profits to support the men and women of the Armed Forces. Details here.




Wars may be fought with weapons, but they are won by men.
--General George Patton Jr.


And for Firefly / Serenity fans like myself SigBoy's posting about the TV show 'Castle' made me smile:







kthanxbai!

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Danger in bed

I just saw on the Crappy News Network that a drunk driver smashed his car into a house, pinning 2 people in their bed.

I assumed (dah!) that they were talking about someone living in a basement or cellar but look at the photo, below;

Yes, thats right, they live in a normally situated building, however trailer-like it may look.

Somehow the car flew into the wall approximately 2 meters above ground level! There don't seem to be any conveniently parked ramps or cardboard boxes around. . . any ideas?


kthanxbai!

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Surviving the world

After my post yesterday on The Men Who Stare at Goats, the blog Surviving the World explains just how true to real life these films generally are;



And they go on to give some sage advice.



Go over to their site to see today's lesson on surviving the world.

kthanxbai!

Monday, October 26, 2009

Crazy looking film

I saw the preview of this film over at Soldier Systems where they are celebrating their 1,000th post! Mazel tov.



This film looks pretty 'off-beat' and yet I was still strangely drawn to it.

Ewan McGregorEwan McGregor via last.fm



The scenario looks odd but they keep going on about how it is based on a true story.

And it has Ewan McGregor, and George Clooney, and then Jeff Bridges sashays in! And if that cast wasn't good enough for you, Kevin Spacey joins in too!!

Watch the trailer and see if you agree.


kthanxbai!

What a day!

On Saturday night we received the sad news that a friend of ours had passed away. She was in her late 30's and had been fighting cancer for a year and a half and we already knew that on Friday she'd been taken to hospital where they could help her with the pain.

As is the custom in Judaism she was buried as early as possible, this happened to be Sunday morning.

The saddest part of the whole thing, as if funerals weren't sad anyway, is that her 9 year old daughter was there. The daughter was obviously having a hard time but was being bolstered by the fact that there were over 200 people there, most of whom she recognized.

And then there was the service.

As the 9 year old came to see her mother she screamed and ran off. Her father followed her and slowly managed to cajole her back to the front of the congregation.

Our late friend's brother, sister and father spoke. If we weren't all in tears by then the bravery and maturity of her 9 year old daughter brought a salty drop to our eyes.

She spoke. In front of hundreds of people she spoke. She spoke of her loving mother who was beautiful and fun and the best Mum ever. She spoke about how she'd help her two sisters, aged 4 and 2 to not only grow up as good girls but also to remember their mother.

No-one mentioned that our friend was a hero for battling cancer, or was a world leader in something or that she was a beacon of light in a dark society. They just mentioned that she always smiled, was fun to be around and was a great mother.

I guess the truth hurts the most.


kthanxbai :-(

Thursday, October 22, 2009

I advise you to watch this video

Way back in April - oh those were the days weren't they? - I shared a lovely video with you.

When: 2nd April

Where: http://jumblerant.blogspot.com

What: Her morning elegance


But now I found something that might be even more interesting.


Watch it and enjoy. If you can work out how it was done please tell us in the comments!

kthanxbai!