Brewfest

5 Years time

2011-10-26T09:01:00.002+01:00

Hello! - It's abeen a while. How are you all?

The www.before40.co.uk is no longer mine, & i'm currently thinking of re-launching the "To-Do" list, most commonly called a 'bucket list' these days.
I feel there's no need to change the actual "To-Do"'s, but more have no limit on the timescale involved in completeing them.
So I need a name for it:
'DearLiza' (There's a hole in my Bucketlist) ?
'TDBID'
'Before40mk2"
"Before40 or 100"

Any suggestions most welcome!

I'll update this blog as there's some others to add on that have been completed.

Solsbury Hill

2009-06-26T20:38:00.002+01:00

21st June 2009 = Summer Solstice & the longest day of the year.

Mega. Shame about the sunrise, and the tiredness the next day - but what an event!
So that's another task done.
What one next?

Starting Over

2009-04-26T16:39:00.001+01:00

As luck would have it I kind of fell into the next task due to this recession thing.
- I'd had a little project on the backburner for a while evolving around a website, a logo, a brand & some ideas & the industry that i've worked in for the past 20 years.
Anyhow, during the Xmas break/New Year holiday I really had a good think and a breather and ensured that it would be one of my new years resolutions to start up this company & GO FOR IT!
.....& then I went back to work, and got caught up in the hussle & bussle of everyday working for a large worldwide company.
Move onto March 24th '09 and would you Adam & Eve it - I'm up for redundancy & my branch is set to close!. A branch I'd spent the past 20 years at (on & off).
Seizing this opportunity, & potential void in the marketplace it was all systems go - The project went LIVE!.
A similar minded individual to myself (yes, there is one out there!) also up for redundancy had the same idea, & so with our unique dynamic & mutual inspiration a company was born!
Click Here to take a peak at our website.
Click Here to see the task on the site.

I'm a company director. How Bizarre. But not like one of those that you'd see Here on Google.
Other things:-
Big bike ride - http://www.cycleisland.co.uk/ been training properly for months.
& so I've seen a sight not uncovered for over 12 years. - The '13' stone number on the scales.
That's 2 stone lost in 2 years. 1 to go.

Lifted

2009-01-17T18:33:00.005Z

The Great Recession stopped play (so at last I have an excuse!). Before 40 will therefore become "Before 50", and therefore there remains less pressure to cram 30 tasks into the remaining 18 months. There will be a new expiry date of 13th July 2020 posted on the site soon!
It would be inappropriate to carry out some of the tasks during this horrible crappy climate, but rest assured the affordable ones will get done soonest.
So, the plan is to freshen up the site a bit. Maybe a new logo? - I'm still getting 50+ hits a day, the site is Google friendly & high on rankings and searches. Lot's of people email me with nice comments (& bad ones!).
Also 'Vlogging' seems tobe the new 'Blogging', but it's not my style, so this Blog survives to see another day.
In the meantime, I think this clip needs a few more hits. Then maybe it'll get seen on Channel 4's "Rude Tube" or something. The one I posted on You Tube where I shave my head has had over 13,000 hits (Mainly thanks to the website?), so here goes:-

I'm Back!

Have I Told You Lately?

2008-07-17T20:24:00.002+01:00

So here we are at Half-Way point of the Before40 project. Just eight (and a half) tasks complete out of forty. Not good progress is it. Just 20 % of the way there & should really be 50 %.
- So i got to thinking about this, & looking at some options my current thinking is:

1. Turn Before40.co.uk into maybe something more honest like 'before40 (+1)' & if all tasks still not completed by 2011 then maybe extend it again into 'Before40 (+2)'? - If you match the time taken to complete the eight tasks so far, it is more likely to be 'Before50'!! in the year 2020.!!
2. Change the tasks. This would be a slightly more controversial choice as the whole point in a "to Do" list was for me to complete the 40 things that I'd always wanted to do! - Some, however are proving just to difficult to plan & organise. For instance, will the England football team ever qualify for a Tournament? + Laurence Stone is improving impossible to track down.
However some tasks that i have achieved i would've never believed I'd have completed! - i.e. the London to Brighton & "Meet Francis Dunnery tasks". Now, After completing L2B twice(!) I have applied for the 2009 London Marathon via the The Children's Trust. I no longer desire to stay awake 24hrs. Not sure I even want to go to Glastonbury now.
3. Abandon, or put the site on hold?

So is the Mid-Life Crisis at an end? - YOU DECIDE!

Other Stuff:-

- In Feb I changed jobs after 17 years in the same company. I went back as a Manager to the place where i completed my engineering apprenticeship in 1990. I started back full of happiness & with a good feeling but after 1 month I started to get doubts. After two months I hated it. But leaving my previous employer made me (& them) appreciate each other more & has enabled me to gain a promotion back there that may never have existed otherwise! So now i just think of it as a 'Lost Weekend' or a Four Month holiday!

- I want a Nintendo Wii

- It Bites have a new album out! - First new release in 18 Years. MEGA!

- Sky+ is quite good innit

- Training for the marathon to begin in August. I now own a pair of Nike's for the first time in my life. That means i am taking it seriously!

- I intend to start a campaign to ensure that the BBC use Fleetwood Mac's "The Chain" as the theme tune to their Formula 1 coverage that starts back again on the beeb in 2009. Remember when they tried to change the "Match of the Day" theme tune?

I'll post here again soon. Promise

Tour De France

2008-07-05T20:05:00.004+01:00

....(Or London TO Brighton to be exact)

After 6 months training on every Saturday Morning (bar 1 due to a serious hangover), and a grand total of over 900 miles cycled, 3 punctures, four inner tubes, 8lb weight loss, muscle/bottom toning, and a mass love handle reduction, i finally took part once again in the London To Brighton bike ride 2008.
As readers of the blog will know, 2007 was my first time at the event, and after that i said never again. But the truth is last year I was "Beaten by the Beacon"! - Yes I never recovered from the fact that I didn't cycle up Ditchling Beacon in one go, without stopping etc. I'd got about half way up before i almost passed out with exhaustion. (Please 'Google' DitchlingBeacon to see all about it - In summary it is hard enough to walk up, yet alone cycle. Harder still when you consdier it is located 46 miles from the start line of L2B, and only 6.5 miles of downhill/flat remain after it).
Back to the point, After much consideration I posted my "Priority" application back in December & was delighted? in March to receive a 06:00 start time for this years event.
Damn I trained hard for it this time. The highlight was completing a 100km ride around the IOW at the annual IOW Randonnee. which on the day totaled 81 miles as i'd cycled to the So'ton ferry & then home again after the ride was complete & the ferry had docked back at So'ton.

So all the preparation was done. I don't think infact i had been as fit in maybe 10 years.

To get over the mental, psychological side of cycling up Ditchling, I took the 'Clever' step of driving to the foot of the hill the day before L2B, I got the bike out of the car & then went for it.

- 9 Minutes later i was screaming with joy at the summit. I'd done it and celebrated by cycling down again in just over a minute! MAD!!!!!!!!!. Then i drove onto Brighton, parked up at the Marina & then cycled back into Brighton town Centre & caught the Train to London, Clapham.

I stayed in exactly the same place as last year, the Eurolodge, Clapham. Cheap, cheerful but right next to the start line. My Bike was kept in the courtyard & an early night was had ready for the 5:00AM start (Didn't really sleep as Clapham high street is incredibly noisey!).

-SUNDAY 17th JUNE-

I'd Got to the start line in good time and joined the first group, eager & ready to go. It is worth noting that the sort of people that start at this time know the score. They are serious cyclists, they know the streets will be empty & they are on a mission to get to the finish line ASAP!! That said there is still lots of banter & good fun to be had.

06:00hrs exactly & we're off! The weather was perfect & the pace was fast.

Through the whole London part i managed to get through every set of lights without stopping. Once I entered Surrey the roads became very empty & hardly a cyclist in sight - the fast ones had peddalled off into the distance, the slower ones left behind. No one really on the streets to wave us on at this time of the morning!

Turner's Hill is the first serious hill that comes along, but thanks to some great hill training throughout the Winter months it didn't pose me a problem at all.

- The ride did become quite lonely from here on. On the plus side I had the iPod on Shuffle and some great random 80's tunes were coming through the ear phones!

Two & A Half hours in, I still haven't stopped, my average speed was over 16 MPH and then there, lurking in the distance, was the grand sight of Ditchling Beacon.

Now it was 'Ditchling preparation time'. Get the energy snacks in, get the last bit of energy drink down whilst trying not to choke or crash. Catch my breath, slow the pace, only 1 mile to go before the foot of the hill. There is a deadly silence. We (total strangers!) all wish each over good luck. There are signs at the side of the road wishing us good luck. This is it. This is the moment. I have cycled 45 miles at an amazing pace without stopping & now I have slowed my pace to almost a crawl. I'm in the lowest gear at the lowest part of the hill. Only 1.5 miles to the top. No rush just make it up there without stopping.

I'm now Half way up. Some people are allready on foot, pushing their bikes, beaten, breathless & almost in tears. Not me. Me & my £300 bike from Halfords are as one, we're gonna do this.

Three quarters up. Nearly there, but it's tough. Tougher than last year. At this point I've allready made it much further than last year and now i'm struggling. The pace is slow & for the first time in ages i'm breathless. I'm high up a hill and i'm struggling. My body is seizing up. But come on, pull it together, it's not much further now surely?

I turn a corner, this hill has levelled off a bit. This is it, I'm almost there. I must be. It didn't seem this long yesterday?

I look up and i'm beaten. There is one last further incline. I'm drained. In cycling terms i've hit the "Bonk", "the wall". There is nothing left in me. It's either pass out or get off & push.

I'm off now on foot & pushing my bike the final 50 yards to the top. Angry & sad. For the second year running i'm beaten by the Beacon. I console myself in the fact that I did manage to cycle it the day before without stopping, but that was different, i'd had fresh legs.

No time to dwell on it. Back on the bike & now it's all down hill to the finsh. I manage an amazing 46 MPH going down the final hill into Brighton, THE ultimate buzz. Damn dangerous but great.

Then I join in with a group of Pro's and we sprint the last two miles into Brighton, through the town centre and onto the finish line.

It's now 09:19hrs & i've crossed the finish line. Total time of 3hrs and 19 minutes. There are crowds allready cheering us through & it feels great!

I've burned something like 150g of fat, 1800 calories and actually feel not too bad. There is free water to be drunk, and then a mile or so onto the Marina & find the car parked up from the day before (Thankfully no parking ticket!).

Yet to have breakfast, I find myself an hour later in a McDonalds off the A27 eating an egg McMuffin, and then it's home to enjoy what remains of a very different kind of Father's Day!

This year i made no demands on people for sponsorship. I have created an online sponsorship page, and if on reading this you feel inclinded to want to do a kind of 'post' sponsor type thing and give to a good cause (BHF), then here is the link to my online sponsorship page :-http://www.justgiving.com/pbrewer

Next post coming soon, and some good ideas about the damn tasks i've yet to complete!

My Heart Will Go On

2008-04-24T21:08:00.002+01:00

It's that time again.....

Click Here to see !

Current things happening:-
Sky+
Training Hard in prep for L2B
My Broadband is back on (5 weeks on 56k is not good)
Exhausted with new job (but it's acually OK)
Played on a Wii for the first time (Good innit)

Current things not happening:-
tasks on www.before40.co.uk

Oops

Road To Nowhere

2008-03-16T14:15:00.004Z

So here we go again, the early 'pre' application was succesful & training for the BHF London To Brighton Bike Ride 2008 has begun in earnest. Event date - Sunday 15th June 2008.

I was in two minds whether or not to go for it again after last year, but i just gotta "Beat The Beacon" & so will be focused not only on getting to the finish line, but also climbing the Mother of all hills, Ditchling beacon without stopping to get off & walk (It's very, very steep).

You may also note the ridiculously early start time this year. Those in the know however would say "Well Done" - No issues with traffic & bunching up at junctions etc. me thinks.

Talking of all things 'Bike', here's me from a 1982 local press cutting (I'm the one in the middle with the dodgy blonde hair)

The guy doing the "Bunny Hop" is none other than Andy Ruffell - BMX Freestyle champion of the 80's era, & in a later life, founder of the MoBo Awards no less.

See more about him here AndyRuffell.com

So just when am i going to complete another task......................?

Motorcycle Emptiness

2008-02-19T18:53:00.005Z

As is the norm at the moment, not much happening at Before40 towers in terms of tasks completed. No rush, I've still got 874 days to go = 1 task a month.
The new house decorating is progressing somewhat slowly, and has become my current distraction. Every room has it's own unique challenge. The living room is virtually done. Spotlights have been installed (12 in total; that gives you a rough idea just how god damn big the living room is!), just a fireplace to go in & a bit of sanding & polishing on the parquet flooring.
Whilst that is going on, the wallpaper is off on the hallway (Well the downstairs part anyhow). That in itself has allready presented problems. Underneath the anaglypta wallpaper is lining paper. Under that is a layer of paint that is flaking off, & all needs to be scraped off bit by bit. 6 months work to finish the hallway decor is my early guesstimation.

Want to know the Best 80's T.V. programme?
&, definately the best T.V. theme tune? (IMO):-

Nailbiting stuff:-

+
Let's celebrate! - Mercury is no longer in Retrograde! (Ended Feb 18th) - Bet you all feel better now? Maybe I'll be cursed now? - I broke the rule of this that says "Do Not sign Any Contracts". Oops. I also sarted a new project during retrograde. Double Oops!
Also,
Loving this blog by the super talented Jem (From the band Frost) http://www.thenewcube.blogspot.com/ - Why can't all bands do this sort of thing?
Finally, a Quick hello to my friends over at www.before30.co.uk Go check 'em out.
I have now counted at least 40 x "Forty Before 40" lists/blogs on the net. Seems like Google loves me the best still though! - Type in "Forty Things to Do" or "Forty Before 40" or "The Big 40" or "40" & you'll find me there, right there waiting for you at the top of the listings. Go on, Come & find me!

I Predict A Riot

2008-02-11T20:38:00.000Z

Well, if only i had a task as one of the 40 "Change my Job"!. After 17 and a bit long years i finally got out of the rut & got myself a new job. A big decision to make, but to move on & move forward definately the right one.
I'd been dreaming about handing my notice in for many months, and how i'd do it etc., but in the end once i'd received confirmation it was just a quick drive upto HO with a letter, a hastily arranged meeting with my boss, a quick explanation of why & where i'm off to & then drive back home. (Definately won't miss that horrible drive on the M3 & M25 motorway that's for sure.!)
I'd got an agreement/arangement that i would not announce the resignation until Tuesday 12th, as it would be best to announce it to all my reports (17 in all!) in one go.
So there is a prepared statement just waiting to be read.
The new job is back at the place where i started in 1986. Some say you should never go back, but 21 years on & now i go back as the big boss!
..........Just need to sort out this ridiculous 3 month notice period. I mean, just how do you keep focused in a job when your mind (& career) is somewhere else?

The Way I Are

2007-12-11T11:20:00.000Z

......More apologies for not updating the site recently. I could list here many reasons why i've not been able to complete some more tasks recently, but that would make boring reading.

The main reason however would be the energy that moving into this place has taken out of me. It has all been worth it though as the peace & quiet here is something else!
I am currently writing from the new abode, again with illness (Man Flu). That means time of work, & a chance to update this!
2007 has definately been one for illness & aches:-

Frozen shoulder
Man Flu (x 2)
Wrist injury
Back Pain
Migraine (4 weeks!)
Sprained Ankle

On refelction it looks like i have spent half of the year in some sort of discomfort. What a waste!

So 2008 will have to be better!. The main cause of injurues = 5-a-side football, so that means i've obviously passed my peak & need to retire from the beautiful game! On the plus side, i've never been fitter than i am now, & my weight/diet is under stricter control than ever before!

I've had many emails from 'fans'? of the site, & it's been an inspiring pleasure reading these; I always try & respond where possible, so please keep the comments coming (Good & Bad).

The site also got a mention on a popular blog in Italy. Grazia.blog.it I tried to translate the site using the google translate service, but it made no sense to me. If anyone knows of the site, or can translate Italian into 'proper' English or indeed know of the blogger, please drop me a line!

I am getting loads of spam mail, not sure if that means i'm popular (likely), or i have been a little lazy in my filtering of such trash (unlikely)?

That reminds me:-

Saw a guy promoting his book on TV recently. It's all about his annoyance of spam emails & how he got revenge by "Spamming the Spammers" - Brilliant!. So if anyone is after a good Xmas gift idea for me this year here it is:-

Available at all good bookstores. & Amazon.com i'm told.

The 'Secret Website' Task continues to baffle all. If the truth be known, it hasn't quite worked out as expected, so plans are afoot to replace this back to a completely different task that was part of the original '40'. As alway's if you want to know where the website is email me (no Spam eh!) & i'll send you the link.

Updates on previous blog posts:-

Remember how I waffled on abouth the Wispa bar coming back to our shelves? (Wispa Blog) Well, they finally came out in October but it took me ages to finally source one locally. In November i got to taste one again having found them in a local newsagent. Brilliant. Had about ten of them since, but now i'm bored.

I had a "Top 10 Crisps" (Crisp Blog) blog where i told you all of my top 10 crisps of all time. Well i'm sad to say that No.10 in the list, the Pom Bear crisps have cheated us. Slightly.

There are less crisps in the packets now. Approx 30% less. My kids are quite upset by this. So am I.

In August's blog i mentioned Justin's site one red drawing pin & his ambition to trade up from a red drawing pin to something much more useful.
Well it seems he hasn't progressed very well. Not well at all. Done nothing. But it transpires the idea isn't that unique. Searching round the web, it seems there are quite a few similar themed sites. Looks like we're all out of unique idea's these days!

Talking of which - John Boileau, the main inspiration of the Before40 website has vanished! - He hasn't updated his thoroughly enjoyable beforethirty website for what seems a lifetime. Let's hope he's well & that we get an update soon. Email me if you know his whereabouts?

It's been a pleasure. Be safe this Xmas & see you in 2008 somewhere!

Purple Haze

2007-08-24T11:13:00.000+01:00

With everything in my world at 100 MPH at the moment (House Move, Car change, Work projects, School Holidays etc.) it's very easy to forget what's been achieved over the past year since this whole Before 40 thing began. So let's take some time out & have a quick refresh......

Cycling/Fitness - Last September, i upgraded my 'daily' 2 mile ride to work & back to include a Sunday morning ride around my local village, approx 5 miles. I was so proud of my achievement! Each Sunday i would then cycle a little further. Then i brought a 'proper' bike. By Xmas i did my first 25 mile ride - Then completed the amazing & emotional London To Brighton Bike Ride under my target time 0f 4 hrs. 10 months on, I ride 75+ miles every week, and can manage a 100km sprint in under 4 hrs. The spare tyre round my waist has gone, belly is reducing, Bum is super toned & I've lost over 18lbs in weight & no longer use an inhaler. Generally, i feel a lot better & sharper mentally & quality of sleep has improved. Above all this I realise that cycling really is great for self esteem and motivation, it rewards the effort put in too. I have found an exercise i really enjoy.

Poo - The Colonic Hydrotherapy has help me discover that in fact i eat quite healthy after all & most of the time my Veggie poo is good poo. Even if it does stink a bit.

Eyes - As feared, i need to get glasses or lenses. Six months on from my test i still haven't sorted this. Will my sight get worse if i don't get this sorted?, or now I'm aware of the situation will i be able to strengthen my eyes & train them around the problem? We Will 'See'.

Hair - I have less of it now. Barbers are a thing of the past. Annual saving = £100 (35 pints of lager) as i simply shave it myself once a month. It feels quite liberating, I have one less routine to adhere to & I spend less time in front of the mirror = more time to watch TV/sleep/facebook etc. Most people have got used to it & the jokes have ceased.

Charity - Got a real sense of pride & achievement out of raising loadsa cash for charity on some of the tasks. Gonna make this a new feature of my life from now on, helping out others & raising cash for others more needy that me.

So - even if the task list ended now 3 years early, I feel that I've achieved so much mentally, physically & emotionally that it has all been worthwhile. That said, i don't plan to give it up & so watch this space for some more completed tasks coming soon!

Peace and love to everyone, no matter the colour of your nose!

99 Red Balloons

2007-08-09T21:03:00.000+01:00

Come across an interesting website recently; simple, but one of those great internet type ideas.

- It may not be original, But looks like a bit of fun.

So i've added my two penny's worth, so let's see how it goes from here. (& remember where you heard it first!).

www.onereddrawingpin.com

Other news from Before 40 towers:-

Bust my ankle playing footy. Looks like the Bristol to London ride will be a no go, but there is another 100mile ride coming up in Sot'on in September! - www.tourpourlamer.com

Before 40 towers has been sold, & looking to relocate (After 14 years!) to a bigger place nearby (Let the stress begin!).

Planning the next task for September - Winchester Pub Crawl.

Weight loss task going very well.

Happy Holidays!

Do The Bartman

2007-08-01T16:25:00.000+01:00

I have been turned into a Simpson!

Before

After

Have a go too:-

http://simpsonizeme.com/#

Careless 'Wispa'

2007-07-11T21:20:00.001+01:00

Remember these:-
Well, Cadbury's stopped making them a few years ago (Shame on you) & replaced them with the far inferior Dairy Milk Bubble :-Well, there has been many online campaigns to "bring back the Wispa" such as these one's here:-

http://bring-back-wispa-bars.blog.co.uk/

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/bringbackthewispa/

&, I am happy to reveal that Cadbury's have bowed to public pressure!!:-

http://www.cadbury.co.uk/EN/CTB2003/information/press_releases/products/wispa/

Roll on Oct. 2007!!

Run To The Hills

2007-06-24T12:45:00.000+01:00

Took part in the London To Brighton Bike ride last Sunday (June 17th 2007).
After 8 months & 750 miles of training, & with a final practice run of 49 miles the Saturday before it was all systems GO! The training plan was completed to perfection.
Stayed in Clapham the night before after travelling up on the train. The EuroHotel Clapham served it's purpose - Cheap (£40 B&B), good location + I was allowed to keep my bike in the room.
Woke up at 06:00hrs, fuelled up & got to the start half an hour before my due start time of 07:00hrs. Thousands allready there & waiting. I got away "Officially" at 06:50hrs & felt rather chuffed at sneaking through whilst many were still waiting around from their planned earlier 06:00 hrs / 06:30 hrs starts. The weather was perfect. Cloudy & cool.
London was all stop/start due to the roads/roundabouts/junctions. Once out of London the ride become more & more enjoyable & the views more & more scenic. I seemed to manage & maintain a respectable pace, & looked on track to beat my goal of completing it (54 miles) in under 4 hours.
Took my first break at the top of Turner's Hill. Just a couple of minutes to sort the ipod (damn earphones!), snack & refuel. Then onwards & onwards. Overtook what seemed like hundreds of people (Check: It's a ride not a race!), the hills were great fun going down (43mph the fastest - got flashed by a speed camera in the process) & not too steep going up. Except for one.
I didn't "Beat the Beacon" :-( Ditchling Beacon must be about 1 mile long & is reached at the 47 mile point. I managed to get halfway up & then had a choice: Pass out, or get off & walk. Went for the walk & was absolutely gutted. Even more so when all the Mountain bikes i had overtaken along the way seemed to have no problem getting up with their super-low gearing (Note to self: Get better gearing next time!). But hey i wasn't alone. I would estimate about 2 in 10 actually made it up cycling without stopping. Must train harder next time!
The final descent into Brighton was the best. Super fast, & the excitment knowing that if i had to, i could walk the final few miles. No such worries in the end, just a few stop starts due to the busy demands of Brighton Traffic & then one last turn into the home straight. The sun started to shine & I got very emotional as the crowds lining the finish cheered & clapped. Holding back the tears i crossed the line in a very impressive 3hrs 41 mins (even if i say so myself - the "average" person completes the course in 7 hours - getting away early certainly avoids the congestion).
Recevied my medal, downed loads of water, got changed, had a smoothie & then cycled to Hove for my lift home!
A great Fathers day was topped off by a visit to the Chichester Pizza Hut. & stuffed myself silly to regain all those burned calories (1062) & fat (138g).
Managed to drag myself into work the next day, not too sore but just a bit physically drained.
1 week off the bike to recharge & then it's time to up the training regime ready for the Bristol to London ride on Sunday 26th August. 100 Miles.

Two Pints of Lager & A Packet of Crisps please

2007-05-26T16:49:00.000+01:00

Crisps - The best food invention ever bar none. I love crisps. I am a crispoholic. A typical Crispoholic eats upto 6 packs (1 multipack) in one sitting. My record is 12 packs in one day (& you wonder why i need to lose some weight?!)
In homage to my crisp fascination i have compiled here a list of my top 10 crisps of all time. Nothing more to say except please feel free to comment on your favourite crisp snack. No apologies for the amount of "Cheesy" type flavours! (Maybe a Cheeseoholics top 10 cheese list soon?)

-------------------------------------------------

1. - Marmite Crisps - Walkers got it spot on when they relaunched this popular crisp. After many years of doom & gloom, crispoholics everywhere rejoyced when supermarkets started re-stocking this ulitmate crisp flavour snack. Marmite - "You'll ever love it or hate it" as the advert says. I love it and for me this is THE ultimate bags of crisps. If only they would stock them in Waitrose or Somerfield too!

2. - Cheese & Onion Ringo's - A Childhood favourite, this "Low Calorie!" snack also disappeared from shelves for a while, but was welcomed back in the late 90's. Great shape & texture & a real oniony taste. A real plus was that Ringo's then & now always cost less than a normal pack of crisps. How great is that! The low calorie factor also meant you could eat twice as many! Unfortuately, Golden Wonder never launched the multipack version second time around. Shame.

3. - Cheese & Onion Disco's - Yet another childhood favourite that seemed to disappear from the shelves from the late 80's to late 90's. A real crisp crunch was the added bonus of the Disco crisp sensation, along with the perfect cheese & onion taste. I seem to recall some real tacky adverts that were used to promote these crisps in the early 80's. (Must look out for those on YouTube).

4. - B.B.Q. Beef Hula Hoops - A strange choice for a vegetarian you might think, but thanks to MSG & flavourings there is not one ounce of beef in these hoops. My earliest memory of these crisps was aged 9, & with a fasciantion with all things hula hoop so great i wrote a letter to KP expressing my complete & utter happiness in this new flavoured Hula Hoop. The result? - KP wrote back enclosing loads & loads of vouchers for free bags of the same! - Heaven!

5. - McCoy's Cheddar & Onion - WARNING! - These crisps make you fat! - This packet of crisps has the highest calorie & fat content on this list, but who cares when they taste so good!. This is not helped by the fact that there always seems to be an offer on at the supermarket for these crisps! - either 'Buy One Get One Free' Multipack or '12 for the price of 6' multipack. So faced with that choice, you're always going to select these at your shopping trip "Crisp Choice" time. The ultimate cheese & onion crisp in my opinion.
6. - Walkers Max Paprika - First got into the Paprika thing via the launch of Paprika flavoured Pringles. I'd never eaten Paprika knowingly until that point. So the 'Safe Spice' taste of Paprika married with my fascination of all things 'ridged' makes this crisp the perfect answer when in need of a crisp spice sensation. Quite hard to find these on the shelves nowadays, but fortunately there are many other alternative Paprika options.

7. - Salt & Vinegar Twirls -Available at petrol stations everywhere, this twirly snack became a favouite of mine during my years in sales when i would refuel my 'rep car' on a weekly basis. Great value snack (Almost twice the quantity of crisps for same price as a standard bag), low calorie & a great vinegary taste.
Also available in this value range from Redwood are "Onion Rings" - omitted from this list due to strength of other brands crisps.

8. - Cheese & Onion Square Crisps - I guess the novelty factor of being 'Square' as opposed to standard potato shape made these crisps a success. In my mind the bag & it's content always seemed small, so for me one bag was never enough. Still, these are available in Multipacks, so not really a problem.
A great crunchy crisp, old favourite & more cheesy than oniony. The ready salted version of these were my mum's favouite crisp of all time.

9. - Cheesy Wotsits - A kids favourite, and no doubt a favourite for chesse lovers everywhere. It's the crisp we all grew up with, & is like an old reliable friend. Probably one of the most famous crisps alongside standard ready salted, cheese & onion & salt & Vinegar potato crisps. Again, very light on the stomach so more than one bag is never enough. Fun thing you can to do with Wotsits? - combine them with Hula Hoops! feeding the wotsit through the hole in the Hula Hoop - Crisp Heaven!
10 - Cheese Quavers - Always popular & always on special offer in supermarkets. A good value, nice reliable cheesey snack that never fails to satisfy cheese desires. Very low calorie, & light. For me that means that 3 packets of quavers equates to a normal crisp fix. Fun alternative to crunching is to let the quaver dissolve in your mouth. Walkers experimented with alternative flavours for a while but nothing ever exceeded the original & best.
And For the Children of the new generation?

Pom Bear Crisps - Great light & fluffy snack that i steal from my children all the tme. Ready Salted is probably the most healthy option, but look out for the rare Tomato Ketchup version also. They also come in a "Grab" bag size which is brilliant for parents! - There is also multipacks of all varities. One for the future!

Waiting for a train

2007-05-13T15:27:00.000+01:00

Just over a month to go until the London to Brighton Bike Ride 2007, & as i seem to get regular requests on training, preparation, sponsorship, well wishes etc. for the big day i thought i'd try & answer most questions here via my blog.
So to summarise, i am rider 09995 out of 27,000. The big day is Sunday 17th June.
I have been 'Fortunate' in getting a 07:00 hrs start. I say fortunate as from reading reviews of previous years events if you start any later than 08:00 hrs, the time it takes to complete the course can double due to crowding & accidents. So if all goes to plan i should be able to get away 1 hour after the official start time.
Training
Training for the day has been going well. It all began back in October 2006 when i bought a new racing bike more suitable for the occasion. Now I have nothing against mountain bikes, but let's face it, they're designed for going down mountains; not 54 miles of tarmac on a hot summer's day. So my first tip would be - get a decent road bike! (Try ebay for a good second hand bargain).
What a difference it made. From struggling to manage 5 miles round the local town on my old Mountain bike i breeezed through 10 miles on my first attempt. This inspired me to go further each time until i found a great route totalling 25 miles that i have stuck to each weekend. I stick to this route for two reasons -
1. Safety (All left hand turns, quiet roads).
2. So that i can track & compare times to see improvement in fitness.
I have managed to get round this route in 1 hr 30, knocking 17 minutes off the time of my first attempt 5 months earlier. Great thing about the route is the amount of steep hills. Good practice for Ditchling Beacon, the nasty 1 mile steep hill just before the end of the ride.
As of May 2007, I have now extended this route to 30 miles, on my quest to get fitter & go faster!.
- See the route here on: Google Maps
I try also now to do two cycle training runs in a week, totaling 55 miles. Damn hard work but i am sensing a real benefit now to fitness & health levels & reduction of my beloved beer belly (lost a stone in weight since Christmas). On top of this i play five-a-side footy once a week just to top up the stamina levels.
So to summarise, tip two = practice at least twice a week, doubling your route at weekends when you are likely to have more time available. Also try to eat sensibly from now (less weight = more speed!), and cut down on the booze (it dehydrates you). All easier to write here than to actually carry out me thinks.
Preparation (i.e. non training)
So what other things do you need to remember?
Well, if you haven't actually applied to take part for the 2007 event, it's probably too late. (Check Here to check on the BHF website). You may be able to buy an entry on ebay?
Bike Service - Make sure your bike is in good health. Your local bike shop should be able to give it a good service under £20.00.
What to take? - Assuming it's going to be a warm hot day, remember sun block, Safety helmet, Shorts, fluids, energy bars, iPod, camera, phone & cash (just in case!). A spare inner-tube & pump is recommended, but i understand there are plenty of repair points around the course. If you havn't trained much, go to Asda or Halfords & buy a Gel saddle / saddle cover to stop your botty getting too sore!
How to get there? - tricky one this. If you live in London, you're sorted. Outside of London things are tricky. On the day, local trains will not allow cycles on board. The organisers lay on lorries to take you & your bike back to the start line at Clapham (if you drive to Brighton for you car to be there for you at the finish).
Me? - well, due to the early start i had a logistical nightmare to plan this one.
However, I have been fortunate enough to secure a room close to the start line at Clapham Common for £40.00 B&B (Not sure if i'll take the breaky in though). So my bike & i will take the train to Waterloo the day before, and as a bonus i won't need to wake any earlier than probably 06:00hrs.
My partner will then drive to Brighton on the day to meet some friends, & all being well pick me up at lunchtime & drive me home!.

On The Day
Drink lots of water (& eat sensibly the night before - Pasta is good apparently).
& above all cycle safely & really just enjoy it!
- I have set myself a target time of 4 hours. I am taking it seriously. Others, (rightly so) make it a fun day & take upto 9 hours! It's for Charity after all!!!!
Keep checking back here as i am going to post some links to other people's blogs with stories of previous years ride's.
If you would like to sponsor me, or check how my sponsorship total is progressing, click HERE

Other than that, i am looking to do the Action 100 mile London To Bristol bike ride in August!!!!

American Idiot

2007-04-29T11:32:00.000+01:00

Someone sent me this great email re: Google maps:-

Go to google maps & click on the "Get Directions" Link.

Enter the directions 'From' NEW YORK & 'To' PARIS in the search box:-

Press "GET DIRECTIONS" & scroll done to LINE 24 of the "Directions".

The Result?

"Swim across the Atlantic Ocean" = 3,462 minutes

Try it? (the link silly, as swimming or driving across the Atlantic ocean is not recommended).

DISCLAIMER - No responsibility can be taken by Before40 if you are mad enough to attempt to swim the Atlantic ocean on the back of this blog, let alone in 3,462 minutes (57.7 hrs, 2.4 days). If you do manage it however, let me know & i will gve you a mention on this blog.

Unfinished Sympathy

2007-04-14T16:53:00.000+01:00

7 weeks on from what i thought was a cold, & here i sit, still suffering from laryngitis. A sore throat that won't go away. The doctor has now prescribed penicillin, but still no better.
On the plus side, i am back in training for the London To Brighton Bike Ride after a six week break due to the illness, so i guess i'm on the mend.
Due to the illness i have delayed the back wax task & the colonic irrigation task, but will try & get these done by early May. Then it's time to 'up' the cycling to get fit for the "L2B 2007". The plan is to put in at least 50 miles each week, up from the current 25. (Think of the London To Brighton bike ride as the "London Marathon" for cyclists!!).
5-a-side footy has begun again as well on a Monday. I hope that the illness, cycling & footy combined will kick in the "Loose some weight" task.
Other things going on in "Before40" land:-
A reply from TGI Fridays re: my Disaster visit to their Fareham Resturant. (Will post it here soon).
Over 200 "Friends" now on the Before 40 MySpace site.
Mmmm

Fat Bottomed Girls

2007-03-25T16:05:00.001+01:00

Great News! - My Entry for the 2007 London To Brighton Bike Ride is confirmed!
(Bit of an early start, but that should mean less traffic!).
- Click HERE to Sponsor Me!
On a more serious note, i am now into my forth week of Laryngitis which has therefore meant no exercise/cycle training for four weeks. Assuming a recovery is imminenet i would hope to resume training & up the ante for a midweek training ride of say 10-15 miles.
Other benefit of this nasty illness is weight loss! 7lbs so far.

Tell Me Why?

2007-03-18T18:22:00.000Z

Sometimes, things should just be left alone.

Shave to the Rhythm

2007-03-17T10:52:00.000Z

12:05PM 16/03/2007 & all is calm. It's red nose day & over £400.00 has so far been pledged; it's time for the head shave.
The clippers have been purchased, the crowd is waiting & the obligitory red nose is in situ.
Location = A "Functional" workshop inside an industrial unit somewhere on an estate in Winchester, Winnall, UK.
Barber(s) = Lisa Finch (Secretary), Bob Thomas (Administrator).

- Five minutes later.
There is laughter. Lots of laughter. Cries of "Oh my God", "What have you done". Lisa is struggling to scalp me, & so hands over the clippers to veteran Bob "Razorhands" Thomas.
Cool as you like, Bob gets to work & calmly/cooly continues the hair excavation works.

No going back now!

& there you have it. Head shaved.

What do you think? - please leave me your comments

At time of writing, the amount pledges = £476.00.
So only £25.00 to go before the back wax becomes reality.
To view the current amount, & to Add your donation here

I'm Too Sexy

2007-03-10T13:49:00.000Z

So there we have it. 1 week ahead of schedule & the target is reached. In 7 days time i will have a bald head & become an honoury member of right said fred.
So far my good friend Simon is the highest donator, & the reward for his generous donation will be a journey to Winchester to do the shave in front of all my work collegues.
So whilst i contemplate a life of baldness, where to buy clippers, no more washing hair etc. i'm hoping the donations keep coming.
The next target is £500.00. & then it's a back wax too. (Click here for back wax task details)

To Sponsor me & Donate, click here:- SPONSOR ME HERE

Charidee, innit

2007-02-24T14:33:00.000Z

Got to thinking one day that with some of these tasks i should try & link to charity & raise as much cash for charity as possible:-

(Shave My Head, Parachute Jump, London to Brighton Bike Ride to name but a few)

So, here goes. The first charity one is gonna take place on Friday 16th March 2007
& here's why:-

So my Mission? - Shave my head - for charity.

£250.00 will make this task a reality. No Target, No Head shave.

I really hope you can support me in this task & help raise some cash for charity.

To Sponsor me, click here:-

SPONSOR ME HERE

If i hit the magic £500.00, I will also have a back wax!! (Click here for back wax task details)

Blinded By The Light

2007-02-17T13:13:00.000Z

Cor blimey govenor. Went for an eye test & 'look'!
I NEED GLASSES!!!!!
Read all about it at: THE EYE TEST TASK!

I.O.U. Sunday's

2007-02-09T20:46:00.000Z

TGI Fridays
Southampton Road
Park Gate
Fareham
Hampshire

To Whom It May Concern

This is my first ever letter of complaint to you regarding the poor service at your restaurant. Thinking about it, i could probably write one for every visit I've made to a TGI Friday's 'restaurant', but yours got the short straw. (Wonder why I keep coming back then? - read on......).
I would like to outline a tale of poor customer service dished out by your staff at a visit to your Park Gate facility, Hampshire on Sun. 4th Feb. 2007.
I hadn't planned to visit your restaurant on this date, it was pure luck that I was nearby, passing through; unluckily for you (& them), I had my two young children with me. (Incidentally, parents with young children who are fortunate enough to eat out now & again have not much choice in 'Themed/Kids restaurants - TGI's, McDonalds, or a 'Hungry Horse' type place - I am happy to class TGI's as leader of this poor grouping).
I wished I had chosen McDonalds on this instance as they actually manage 9 times out of 10 to get both parents & kids served at the same time.
( - perhaps you could contact them to send some managers on work experience there?)
Question. Why would you send out a kids meal (Veggie Burger, Chips & Beans) out 25 mins before all other orders on the same bill? (On complaining, the 'Duty' manager suggested that we probably ordered this as a starter!) - Yes, that's right, my 5 year old daughter loves burger, chips & beans as a 'Starter'. I guess the fact that on our 'order' was missing her usual main course of rump steak, onion rings, extra fries + side dish of pasta followed by Knicker Bocker Glory might have misled your staff somewhat.
Worse still, people that came in much later than us were fortunate enough to be able to place an order, get served & finish their meal before ours finally turned up. I guess I must thank my lucky stars that the food was at least "Hot".
Some other things to moan about whilst I'm at it:-

Why is it not possible to combine kids meals with Kids cutlery? A steak knife for kids to eat pasta with is great entertainment for everyone i'm sure.
Balloons. Please don't tease young kids with balloons. It must be TGI's policy to have balloons, balloons in fact lot's of balloons. Everywhere. Young Children love balloons. Balloons are harmless. So if they ask for one, please assume that means 'NOW'. The manager (man "in charge") suggested that most kids who ask for balloons are quite happy to wait until leaving the restaurant.Really?
It was great to be able to complain to someone at the restaurant about our problems encountered. However, it would have been nicer still to have complained to someone who cared. In your defence, the complimentary 'Balloon Sculpturer' who came round just as we were leaving was a nice touch, & the balloon monkey & balloon flower are still inflated as I write. Please tell the "Sculpturer'to stick to balloon sculpturing though as his card tricks & jokes were appalling.

Sorry to nag. I love America. I love your food. Generally the service is OK. It's great that you provide a little drawing pack to keep my children occupied. God damn it, even the balloons add a little atmosphere. It's just that on this occasion it just didn't happen.

I sent you some feedback via the "www.tgifridays.co.uk/Contact-Us-About-A-Visit" web page, but have heard nothing.

Therefore I am resorting to sending the information you require via letter as I cannot seem to contact you any other way. Can I suggest that TGI's follow the rest of the free-thinking world and allow two-way communication via the medium of e-mail? I assure you it is much more effective than a link that doesn’t work.

Hopefully a voucher will be in the post very shortly for my family and I which takes in to consideration how much of a disappointment this visit was (including making me miss Dragon's Den whilst writing this letter. Although I can keep up through the www.bbc.co.uk website, it just isn’t the same, is it?).

Yours Sincerely

Paul Brewer

P.S. You may want my 'Check' number for the meal on said date to prove i am real. Obviously there was more than one Paul Brewer & Co. eating at table 85/1 on 12:45hrs - 14:14hrs with 3 family members on Sunday 4th February so if you weren’t able to look it up for yourselves, here you go:
3699

Spocks Beard

2007-01-22T20:10:00.000Z

1 months worth of 'Fluff'

Born: 22nd December 2006
End: 21st Jan 2007

New Year Message

2007-01-01T08:43:00.000Z

Happy New Year to everyone.
2007 is "Year of the Pig".......
So make those resolutions come true. (Mine? - to complete at least 12 tasks from my "to Do" List!)

- most of all - Keep Smiling, Keep Believing!

PAUL

It Bites!

2006-12-16T13:25:00.000Z

They're Back!

IT BITES are Back!!
Best gig in fifteen years took place on Thursday 7th December, Islington, London UK.
Read some reviews here:-
Dave Ling.com

& see pictures of the band here:-
Rock Reviews

& so i didn't make it to the TV recording of "Ready Steady Cook" Xmas special, so that task remains "Work In Progress".

Ready, Steady COOK!

2006-11-24T14:40:00.000Z

At long last it looks like the "Be In A Live TV Audience" task is fianlly going to happen.
I today received notification that I have a ticket for filming of the "Christmas Special" of Ready Steady Cook

The email went something like this:-
""OUT OF THOUSANDS OF REQUESTS, YOU (AND YOUR GUESTS) HAVE BEEN INVITED TO PARTICIPATE AS MEMBERS OF THE STUDIO AUDIENCE, IN ONE OF THE BIGGEST TELEVISION SHOWS IN THE UK!
This exclusive eTICKET (sic) is valid for you & your guests to attend the recording of CELEBRITY CHEF READY STEADY COOK! on the --(Deleted to avoid stalker(s)-- December 2006. Doors will open from 13:00PM onwards.
We are really happy that you will be joining us for the recording of this hit cookery show! All we ask is that you (and your guests) are familiar with the date, time and location of the filming and we regret that on this occasion, no one under the age of 10 years will be admitted into the complex and there is no parking available at the studio.
Ever wondered what happens to all that fantastic food after the show? Ever wanted to go behind the scenes of Britain's most popular cookery show? Well now you can! We are really excited to be able to offer you this unique opportunity and become a member of the studio audience and vote for your favourite team... will it be the Red Tomatoes or Green Peppers...only YOU can decide! Hosted by AINSLEY HARRIOTT & special guest celebrities/chefs. ""

So there you have it - I'll be off to London town in December to complete another task.
(It ties in nicely with the It Bites Reunion gig (Can't Wait), and my flight from London to Brussels for work next day - "Killing three birds with one stone" so to speak.

Other things going on in before40 towers recently:-
Before40 is now on MySpace - see me & my 20+ 'Celeb' friends here at www.myspace.com/before40 .
John from beforethirty.co.uk has asked me not to reveal his alternative site design. So i may/may not have.
I have been training heavily for the 'London To Brighton' bike ride in May. Upto 25 miles at a time now & have a posh new racing bike to take me there every time.
Turned down the chance to appear on celebrity scissorhands on Friday 17th Nov. & get my head shaved for Children In Need. Damn. Bottled it, had a cold, Had other plans.

The TV show X factor is fixed - Why? :-
The time it takes from Kate Thornton to announce that 'Voting has ended NOW for the bottom two' & receiving the card with the results on is literally seconds. Too quick in my opinion for someone to write the results down, or for the card with phone/text results on to be printed.
So is it that the card is a 'prop', & that maybe the results are fed to her via the ear-piece?
Or, as I predict that ITV (via Simon Cowell - Don't forget he OWNS the show via his SimCo Company) is fixing the result & maybe pre-determining who is in the bottom two, and then letting the judges decide in-between shows who stays & who goes??
I've just read a piece somewhere that suggests Leona is going to win. Why? - It seems Leona will take the top prize because the song chosen for the winner's debut -single - ('Kelly Clarkson's A Moment Like This') - is better suited to a female voice.
So, you know where you read it first. (C'mon The McDonald Brothers!)

"The only thing you get to keep is what you give away"

Beware! - Mercury Is In Retrograde

2006-11-08T10:44:00.000Z

On October 28, 2006, Mercury, the cosmic magician, turned retrograde in Scorpio, the sign of the Scorpion, sending communications, travel, appointments, mail and the www into a general snarlup!
This awkward period began a few days before the actual turning point (as Mercury slows) and will last for three weeks or so, until November 18, when the Winged Messenger reaches his direct station. At this time he halts and begins his return to direct motion through the zodiac.

Everything finally straightens out on December 5, 2006, as he passes the point where he first turned retrograde. Mercury turns retrograde three times a year, as a rule, but the effects of each period differ, according to the sign in which it happens.

November is going to be a bad month (Hence no further tasks for a few weeks).
So beware of misunderstandings with friends or lovers; communication problems, problems with phones, computers and transport. All of these usually arise because some crucial piece of information, or component, has gone astray, or awry.
It is therefore not wise to make important decisions in November, since it is very likely that your decisions will be clouded by misinformation, poor communication and careless thinking!!!!!!!!

You've been warned!!!!

China Crisis

2006-10-25T20:25:00.000+01:00

I thought it might be a good time to mention a bit more about the 'Mid-Life Crisis' side of life. After-all, I'm in the middle of one, & the www.before40.co.uk is dedicated to me getting out of it & safely to the other side!
Francis Dunnery is still on his House concert tour (Now re-named the 'Mid-life crisis tour' ironically) and a local newspaper recently had an interview with him in which he spoke about his theory of it all (A Mid-life Crisis):-

"It's something that happens to all of us," he says. "It starts at about 35 and ends at about 42. It's when who you think you are gets killed by who you really are. You get absolutely devastated. It kills your confidence. For some of us it means divorce. For some of us it means starting a whole new career. But in the great British tradition, nobody talks about it."

That summed it up quite nicely for me.
Some Psychologists do not recognise the 'condition' & merely put it down to depression / stress / tiredness etc.
What do you think...............?

Another task done this week, thats three in 3 months, so i'm on track for the full 40 to be completed in 4 years!
I have also uploaded my task list onto two similar type sites (= More exposure for me!) -
my50.co.uk
&
43things.com
Go on, have a look.

Free Download

2006-10-17T20:10:00.000+01:00

So another task has been completed & to celebrate i am offering all my viewers/readers/fans etc. a FREE DOWNLOAD!!
Yep, that's right a free download, no catch, no signing up to any selling scheme or mailing list.
The downside? - You need to visit my site & read about the task.
Click here to view the site & get the free download -
FREE DOWNLOAD
"What is it" I hear you ask? "Sounds to good to be true".

Yep, to celebrate the making of the Before40 Vegetarian Lasagne, & thus completion of another task you can now download my special recipe for free! - Here.!!!!!!!!

ENJOY!!!!

What a Ranker!!

2006-09-30T12:34:00.000+01:00

It's good news today.
My Before 40 site got a page rank from Google!!

Google rates my site 4 out of 10 :-

This is brilliant for a site so new. Read all about Page Ranking here
To put the 4/10 rank into prespective, i have listed some famous sites & their Ranking:

Stat Counter = 10/10
Google = 9/10
Ebay = 8/10
Nat West = 7/10
Money Supermarket = 6/10
Francis Dunnery = 5/10
B&Q = 4/10
Daily Mail = 3/10
Frankie Goes to Hollywood = 2/10
Before Thirty = 1/10

Hope that gives you an idea of how google rates 'importance'. This also means that the Before 40 site will now be ranked higher in the search engines when typing in such things as "things to do" or "Mid-life Crisis" etc. etc.!!!!

Oh, & just incase you were wondering, my next task is coming very soon!

Wake Me Up Before you 'Logo'

2006-09-05T19:29:00.000+01:00

I was thinking that the www.before40.co.uk site needed some kind of logo to help give it 'modern' twist, & so set myself the mission of finding a logo company able to meet my strict criteria & demanding nature.
After a day of browsing round 'the net' I came accross the site of a Web designer called Samantha from www.designasite.biz - I liked their philosophy of "A design service is based on the KISS (Keep It Stupidly Simple) principle"
Anyhow a few email exchanges later and the first design was through & had an immediate impact on me. A few 'tweaks' later & we had the final design, as seen now on the site & on the top of this blog.

Sam's idea behind the logo can be explained thus:

"The Sideways '40' is basically to represent 'unconventional', & also acts as a 'stop' (i.e. stops the word before). This is to tie in with doing things before forty. The arrow has a few wiggles (or 'humps' or 'hills') to graphically represent over the hill which you may be considered at forty, especially if you are trying to do some impossible things before that. Also being an arrow,
represent moving forward and not being hindered by age, hence why it points away from the number 40".

Genius.

& so the Before40 logo was born......

All Change

2006-09-01T12:58:00.000+01:00

I like Change. Change Is Good,

Change Is Fun.

So I have Changed A Task

NEW TASK!

Somewhere on the good old 'www', 'internet', 'The Web', 'The Net' etc is this new task.

It is a task in progress, but deemed 'unacceptable' or 'inappropriate' to host on the main www.Before40.co.uk site.

So I have called this task - 'The Secret Task'

It's a VERY BIG challenge & needs your help, your friends help, in fact it's gonna need a lot of help. But it is achievable.

- & It should be fun watching it's progress.

The Task itself when complete will be very 'Pleasureable' (Now there's a clue!).

So go on 'The Net' & have a search - (Think 'Keywords' of this site).

Can't find it? - Then search again.

(If you are desperate to know, email me & as long as you agree to participate, I will email you the link!)

Found it Yet?

First One Done

2006-08-17T08:27:00.000+01:00

So there we have it - the one task i thought was going to be virtually impossible infact becomes the first task completed! -
Meet My Hero Francis Dunnery.
So imagine this - you've followed your favourite band/
singer/
artist for 20 years. You've bought every CD, DVD, 'T' shirt etc. & travelled all over the country to watch the gigs. If someone said to you "one day, that band/singer/artist will come & play in your living room" you'd say they've lost the plot & tell them to get a life.
Well, this has happened to me (sort of):-
(For those of you who haven't heard of Francis Dunnery before let me explain)
Once upon a time (1986-1991) there was a band who had a top 5 hit with 'Calling all the heroes'. The bands name? - It Bites. The Lead Singer/Guitarist was a young Cumbrian called Francis Dunnery He hit the booze in a big way & quit the band in 1991. I was gutted. Absolutely gutted. It Bites continued with a new singer, new name, but it wasn't the same. A few years later, Francis got his life in order & has since created many a masterpeace of a 'solo' album. He also now has his own record label & has written for & produced many artists (Ian Brown, Santana, Lauren Hill, Marti Pellow, Chris Difford to name a few!).
Back to the gig - Francis is currently touring the world via a series of 'House Concerts' - yep, he comes to your house & plays to your family & friends. Amazing. You can apply to host one via the website. I did just that & was offered the opportunity to host a house concert on 17th August, but had to decline due to my little house being unable to hold 35 + 'middle-age' people in one room. Damn.
As luck would have it, a couple (Ian & Venessa) from a nearby town in Bursledon, Southampton also applied & were successful. The date - August 16th 2006. So i contacted them & got 2 tickets. The scene was set!
Their house is beautiful & they were the perfect hosts for this kind of event.
Francis, full of cold turned up (eventually) Played for well over two hours & was full of great psychological banter inbetween songs. Francis explained to everyone about his mid-life crisis - (how bizarre that his started at 35 years old too!)
It was a truly amazing gig. A dream come true.
Afterwards, he joined everyone for a natter, a bite to eat etc & this is when the pic above was taken - we talked about astrology, starsigns etc. but not for too long because:-

- It was Bl**dy late & our babysitter was getting a bit miffed
- I was too shy & nervous to think of something more interesting to natter about
- There were 30 other people all wanting a bit of Francis & his time, so felt it was best to 'Share him' around a bit!

In fact i think V spoke to him more than me! Anyhow, i have given Francis my www.before40.co.uk 'business card' (how tacky is that!) & he has promised to pay the site a visit. So if your reading this Francis, thank-you very much for a truly amazing night.

There will be a short video to follow from the night, and a more detailed write up on the site.

+ More details of the night to follow soon on www.before40.co.uk

So now it's onto the next task.........................................

'Pimp' My Task

2006-07-28T16:00:00.000+01:00

I was thinking last night on how I can generate more visitors (& more publicity) for my site & then came up with a brainwave in the early hours of the following morning.
In summary, I am auctioning a task on ebay. The deal is that the successful winning bidder will be able to choose the next task; the amount bid will contribute towards (& hopefully fund) the task with any excess being donated to charity.
You can view the ebay auction HERE.
Not sure how it's going to go, and i'm a bit nervous as to what task will be selected.
Still, the next 10 days could be very exciting. Be sure to tell your friends & everyone you know!

The Apprentice

2006-07-26T16:32:00.000+01:00

One of my 40 tasks was going to be "apply to be in a Reality TV Show". Truth is, I had allready done this back in June when applying to be on the Hit BBC2 Programme The Apprentice, & as such did not think it right to include this in the list (Think i substituted it for the Appear in the audience of a live TV Show one instead).
Well, much to my horror I actually got an interview for the show, and ended up in Hammersmith on Saturday (22nd July) in the middle of a hotel meeting room being interviewed by a very 'feminine' chap by the name of Chris.
I was a bit frustrated anyway as they had kept me waiting for an hour (there was a fair few people there!). They asked the usual interview type questions - "Why do you want to work for Sir Alan", "What do you do to relax" etc. & it lasted for around 20 minutes.
Looking back, i think you need to go into these TV audition events with a kind of game plan, almost playing a kind of character; me? i just went in as 'myself' with no preparation at all!
Anyhow, i never made it through to the screen test, where as some others did. Chris advised me that if you don't hear back withion 10 days, you are not 'hired', so I think that is as far as it goes for this 'non-task'.
Maybe i could try & audition for Big Brother 8...............................?

Going Live

2006-07-17T09:16:00.000+01:00

Finally got to release the website to the 'World' on Thursday, & emailed everyone i knew with a www.before40.co.uk/ link on Friday14th.
There are still a few pages with blanks to be filled, but this should be done within a day or two.
I will also need to do a bit of SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) to enable a good page rank on Google, and to get as many 'Hits' as Possible.
Then it's time to focus on the first task. My calculations show that to complete all Forty Tasks in Four Years = one task a month (allowing for Christmas, Holidays, Illness etc.). It would be easy just to pick off one of the easy ones such as Task 17, 26 , 32 but to make this project a success I think I should start with a 'Biggie'.
Watch this space for details of the First Task coming soon........

Welcome to the Blog of Before40.co.uk

2006-07-12T19:54:00.000+01:00

Well done, you've found my Blog!
This is the first of many postings, day before i officially 'go live' on Thursday 13th July.
Enjoy & feel free to add comments as you so desire!