Probably best described as a cross between Foals and ¡Forward, Russia!, combining the former's mathy guitars and danceable beats mixed with the latter's vocal acrobatics (and the production duties of former ¡F,R! singer Tom Woodhead) .
Owing to problems with their record label, they have decided to give their debut EP away for free. Definitely worth a listen!
Check the Myspace for the details.
Check the video for 'Busy Hands' here:
Thursday 12 February 2009
Monday 9 February 2009
Birmingham Games 2009, 31 Jan/1 Feb (part 1)
What a weekend! I'd entered myself for the 800m, where I made the final last year (finishing 6th), running a PB in the heats in the process. This time around, however, due to excessive entries the organisers decided to put in first round heats at 10:30 on Saturday morning, before semis and final on the Sunday. This already claimed one victim - Irish hopeful Eoin Everard, who booked his flight for Saturday before the extra round was added (more on this later).
This put an extra strain on what was turning out to be an extremely busy weekend. The Oxford University AC 'Annual Dinner' was on the Saturday night, and I was going, even though I wasn't going to be drinking due to the race on Sunday (or so I thought, before the Saturday round was added). The only train that would get me there on time necessitated a 6:30 start, which was far from pleasant. (This was still a better prospect than the other Irish contender, Joe Warne, who told me he had caught a flight at about 4 that morning and travelled to the stadium from the airport).
Warming up for the race, I felt okay, not wonderfully fresh considering I had tapered for the race, (I put this down to the early start) but felt confident about making the semi finals at least (like I said, I was a finalist last year, so surely the semis was a given, right?). There were to be 5 heats of 5, with the winners and 5 fastest losers progressing to the next day's semis (bizarrely, they seemed to be only using 5 lanes of the 6 lane track for the start).
The intention was to go out and try and run 1:55 or so in the heats, as I would be at my freshest throughout the weekend and I was up for making it a time trial as well as a championships. Things didn't go to plan though, and as I took the lead, from Joe Warne, I was watching the clock every 100m and found myself drifting off from my pre-race target pace. 28 through 200m, fine, then 58 through 400 which was slow. I just had no zip in my legs and at the bell (reached in 1:28) Warne took the lead which he held to the line, with me second in 1:58.41.
That time, I thought, might be good enough to take me through. Of course at the time I had only a rough idea of what I had run, the exact tenths and hundredths were beyond my knowledge. So I sat through the remainder of the heats (I was in heat 1) looking to see if I was to make it. Heat 2 was okay, only the 2nd placed athlete beat my time, but the third was a disaster. It was so closely packed, and with the 4th athlete well into the 1:57 mark I was suddenly the last qualifier on time, with two heats still to run! At that stage I believed I was gone, and was facing the prospect of returning to the Annual Dinner (having made a fuss about not wanting to go so I could race on Sunday) with my tail very much between my ill-equipped legs.
The fourth heat was a much slower affair, thankfully, with the winner outside of 1:58. Suddenly I felt in with a chance again, with one heat to go. The athletes here went through 200 in 29 (slower than me - I felt safe), 400 in 58 (same as me, and I could not feel confident any longer) and two approached 600 in 1:27. That was it, I'm out, I thought. Mercifully, one of the two seemed to fall apart in the final 100, and I looked and saw that he was being passed by Danny Crates (2004 Paralympic champion) who was finishing like a train. The clock had stopped for the winner, but I continuted counting in my head, and felt that Crates had crossed the line 2nd in a mid-1:58.
This was agonising. Had I made it? If I had it would only have been by tenths, if that. I went for a 15-minute cool down run by the nearby canal, hoping that when I returned, the results would be up. They were...and I was through! I was right on the times though, my 1:58.41 was the slowest man through, Danny Crates was next on a 1:58.56. Although I was relieved at being put through, I was not at this stage confident of my chances; I felt like I ran hard, and there seemed to be nothing there. My focus on 400m training (rewarded with an indoor PB last month in Sheffield) seemed, perhaps, to have detracted from my 800 performances. Still, I could do nothing more than come back the next day, and try again in a more competitive field.
This put an extra strain on what was turning out to be an extremely busy weekend. The Oxford University AC 'Annual Dinner' was on the Saturday night, and I was going, even though I wasn't going to be drinking due to the race on Sunday (or so I thought, before the Saturday round was added). The only train that would get me there on time necessitated a 6:30 start, which was far from pleasant. (This was still a better prospect than the other Irish contender, Joe Warne, who told me he had caught a flight at about 4 that morning and travelled to the stadium from the airport).
Warming up for the race, I felt okay, not wonderfully fresh considering I had tapered for the race, (I put this down to the early start) but felt confident about making the semi finals at least (like I said, I was a finalist last year, so surely the semis was a given, right?). There were to be 5 heats of 5, with the winners and 5 fastest losers progressing to the next day's semis (bizarrely, they seemed to be only using 5 lanes of the 6 lane track for the start).
The intention was to go out and try and run 1:55 or so in the heats, as I would be at my freshest throughout the weekend and I was up for making it a time trial as well as a championships. Things didn't go to plan though, and as I took the lead, from Joe Warne, I was watching the clock every 100m and found myself drifting off from my pre-race target pace. 28 through 200m, fine, then 58 through 400 which was slow. I just had no zip in my legs and at the bell (reached in 1:28) Warne took the lead which he held to the line, with me second in 1:58.41.
That time, I thought, might be good enough to take me through. Of course at the time I had only a rough idea of what I had run, the exact tenths and hundredths were beyond my knowledge. So I sat through the remainder of the heats (I was in heat 1) looking to see if I was to make it. Heat 2 was okay, only the 2nd placed athlete beat my time, but the third was a disaster. It was so closely packed, and with the 4th athlete well into the 1:57 mark I was suddenly the last qualifier on time, with two heats still to run! At that stage I believed I was gone, and was facing the prospect of returning to the Annual Dinner (having made a fuss about not wanting to go so I could race on Sunday) with my tail very much between my ill-equipped legs.
The fourth heat was a much slower affair, thankfully, with the winner outside of 1:58. Suddenly I felt in with a chance again, with one heat to go. The athletes here went through 200 in 29 (slower than me - I felt safe), 400 in 58 (same as me, and I could not feel confident any longer) and two approached 600 in 1:27. That was it, I'm out, I thought. Mercifully, one of the two seemed to fall apart in the final 100, and I looked and saw that he was being passed by Danny Crates (2004 Paralympic champion) who was finishing like a train. The clock had stopped for the winner, but I continuted counting in my head, and felt that Crates had crossed the line 2nd in a mid-1:58.
This was agonising. Had I made it? If I had it would only have been by tenths, if that. I went for a 15-minute cool down run by the nearby canal, hoping that when I returned, the results would be up. They were...and I was through! I was right on the times though, my 1:58.41 was the slowest man through, Danny Crates was next on a 1:58.56. Although I was relieved at being put through, I was not at this stage confident of my chances; I felt like I ran hard, and there seemed to be nothing there. My focus on 400m training (rewarded with an indoor PB last month in Sheffield) seemed, perhaps, to have detracted from my 800 performances. Still, I could do nothing more than come back the next day, and try again in a more competitive field.
Wednesday 4 February 2009
This blog.
Hey,
I'm not sure why I signed up to this, or what it will become in the end. At the very least it is probably the best place to dump a whole spectrum of my thoughts. This will include those on running (specifically my progress therein, but maybe on the sport in general) and perhaps stuff on other sports I like to follow too. Also I will probably post stuff about music - bands I like, gigs I've been to, that sort of thing. And then just anything else that amuses me (but I'd guess no-one else).
For now,
Danny.
I'm not sure why I signed up to this, or what it will become in the end. At the very least it is probably the best place to dump a whole spectrum of my thoughts. This will include those on running (specifically my progress therein, but maybe on the sport in general) and perhaps stuff on other sports I like to follow too. Also I will probably post stuff about music - bands I like, gigs I've been to, that sort of thing. And then just anything else that amuses me (but I'd guess no-one else).
For now,
Danny.
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