Running Free

It's times like this last week when I wish that somehow my day could
elongate by another 3 hours - time enough to get everything done and
still get 8 hours sleep! The end is in sight though with a 4 day week
until easter, I'm going on a surf camp in taranaki… my treat after all
this madness.

My friend emailed me this morning about this developing movement
called "Parkour" or Free Running, I did a little googling to find out
that this is a sport which turns running into an extreme sport - full
of jumping, balancing, rolling, climbing, spinning and anything else
that works, it gets you from A to B across a city leaping buildings,
jumping fences, vaulting walls and running walls.

Parkour is: An art to help you pass any obstacle to get from point
A to point B using only the human body. It was developed by soldiers
in Vietnam as a method of escape or to reach an objective, so you use
what is most useful, as in an emergency situation.

Look at some of the drills and moves on urbanfreeflow.com

I'm thinking of taking it up, coul be handy for getting around the
city during rush hour

Invisible Children

Last year my friend from California sent me a dvd. I watched this dvd
numerous times and showed it to a friend - it opened up my eyes (and
compassion) to something I was otherwise completely oblivious to…. the
invisible children of Uganda. The film is still in rough cut and shows
3 american guys who travel to Rwanda and end up in Uganda uncovering
the secrets of young kids who are swept away from their villages to
fight in an army where they are likely to die themselves, where they
are hardened so they are no longer kids but fighting machines with no
chance to enjoy their innocence. Watch this! It is playing this
Thursday…..

Thursday 6 April at 12:00 - 2:00 iSPACE & 6pm - 8pm in the Auckland
University Quad: Mum's Dollar is playing for the first half an hour
followed by a screening of Invisible Children

Visit www.invisiblechildren.com

Blink and you miss it

I've been casually reading a very interesting book: blink by Malcolm
Gladwell on the impacts of our unconscious mind on split second
decisions we make. I'm slightly doubtful about some of his theories
but the concepts are fascinating: the theory of slices was tested by
psychologists who asked participants to spend 15minutes in a strangers
room and then assess what this stranger's personality was like. He was
comparing close friend's assessments of these people with the
stranger's assessments after seeing their bedroom.
The Results? The strangers ended up doing an even better assessment
than the subject's own friends overall! At first that seems incredible
but there are so many telling things in our rooms; mess, order, art,
music, things we hang on our walls to put across an image we want to
portray.

Looking around my room I see surf photos, a stereo, a bit of mess
(clothes on the floor and dirty mugs and an unmade bed), textbooks,
phone, plenty photos of friends and scenic photos, my surfboard and
guitar, a desk covered in random bits and pieces…. so go on, analyse
me, see if this test works.