Break

Interesting conversations over the past few days about what it's like to be on the cusp of 30. Daunting seems to be the order of the day. You start to think about where you are (Suggested listening material - Once in a Lifetime by Talking Heads) currently, and what you should be doing with your life.

I'm 29 in less than 4 weeks, and i'm bricking it. I know that I'm not particulary happy in my chosen field, but have no idea what I really want to do. Actually, that's a lie. I'd love to write a cult sitcom, or own a record store like the one in High Fidelity, but Edinburgh's not really the place to do it, and besides, it's the age of iTunes, so I find myself back at square one.

If you can think of any potential occupations for a disillusioned IT engineer, drop me a line.

Ali Bumaye

"I am the astronaut of boxing. Joe Louis and Dempsey were just jet pilots. I'm in a world of my own."

"If you even dream of beating me you'd better wake up and apologize..."

The greatest boxer of all time is 65 today. He may not float like a butterfly anymore, and you'll not get much of a sting of his fists now, but he's still a giant among men. I would say more, but PF says it all in this post.

Riot City Blues

Rock Stars, eh? What a bunch. If they're not throwing televisions out of hotel windows, they're utilizing red snappers in, er, interesting places.

By far the most interesting type of rocker is of the middle-aged variety. I'm talking Roger Daltry buying trout farms, or Liam Gallagher (he's effectively knocking 40, you know) declaring a love of Spongebob Squarepants. However, I think it's time to elevate Bobby Gillespie of seminal band Primal Scream this heady status.

Remember, the Scream Team once refused play Top of the Pops because landing at Luton Airport (they were due to land there after flying back from Dublin to play the show) wasn't "Rock n' Roll enough". Imagine then, the surprise in finding out that Bobby can now be found writing letters to his local council to protest about his local having its opening hours extended.

Apparently the pub was "disturbing the peace of our beautiful street and attracting noisy, drunk people to our area...." (He's from Glasgow, surely he's used to it) and "the sound was of a very high frequency which reverberated into my bedroom and my children's bedroom. I found the repetitiveness disturbing and I was unable to sleep because of it".

Bless him. As one wag suggests on the NME forum, it "makes a change from 4 grams of crystal meth keeping him awake".

Tit

My name is Scott, and I am a mountain biker. There, I said it. Acceptance is the 1st step on the path to recovery and all that.

There's a term used within mountain biking to describe one of the worst things that can happen to you when you're out pedalling your little heart out. It usually happens in an instant, and usually half way round your circuit at the most inopportune point.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I put it to you, I hope you never have to experience the terror that is.....

THE LONG WALK HOME!!!!

I had my first one today, and being honest I wasn't best pleased. It was bad enough that I hadn't been out in a month, and that that month off was spent getting to learn how to hold a pint glass again. It was also bad enough that the weather was poor, really windy, and really cold. To compliment that, I only had shorts on, and my shoes and socks were soaking wet. Perversely the worst of the circuit was over, and it was all down hill from that point, in more ways than one.

You see Ladies and Gentlemen, I found myself on a windswept moor, freezing cold, and swearing a lot because my back brakes had failed. Those of you with a bike can appreciate that this is a major thing, especially if you're about to charge headlong down a hill. I wasn't the happiest of bunnies. Therefore the only thing to do was walk the last couple of miles back to the car park. So, I feel i'm a hardened veteran now. I can regale novices about the time I had to trudge through mud and wind with nothing but a bike and a half eaten biscuit for company (I had the iPod as well, but i'll leave that bit out round the campfire).

Thankfully there's a pub by the car park, so there was light at the end of the tunnel...