British 10k
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Sunday, 06 July 08 - 03:16 PM (GMT) By Justin Dean in Running |
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No pictures yet 
, but today i completed the British 10k in 55 mins and 49secs 
. It's not a bad time, but it was crowded with 25,000 runners and a chaotic start. The British 10k was unlike last months BUPA run, as the runners are all grouped together in no particular order. Fast runners start with slow runners and this has a knock on effect all around the course with people bumping in to each other and jostling for position.
However, despite this, it was a realy fun day with a great route. There was patches of fantastic support out on the course and I have so far managed to raise £240 for SOS Children's Homes. Its a great cause and well worth donating money to, so if you haven't done so already you can always sponsor me by visiting my fundraising page.
Thanks to everyone who sponsored me this time, especially HTL . I will be running for the same charity again soon.
BUPA London 10k - I did it!
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Monday, 26 May 08 - 06:41 PM (GMT) By Justin Dean in Running |
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Today in London was wet and cold, but despite the weather I still managed to run the 10k. My time was 50m and 58s, not bad for my first attempt at a long distance run, but I feel I can do better in the future.
The weather kept many spectators away, but my family braved the elements to give me some well needed support. The whole event was very well organised and seemed to pass without a hitch. The run was wet and windy, and parts of the city felt like running through a ghost town, but with the occasional band and other runners egging you on it seemed relatively easy to keep up the pace and run a relatively decent time.
Thank you to all those that sponsored me. It's been great to have your support, and I'm happy that between us we will help Amnesty to make a difference for those less fortunate than ourselves. For a full list of those who sponsored me please see my Justgiving Webpage. I have (so far) raised £405, so I didn't quite make my target, but the website will stay up for at least another month, so if anyone else feels the urge, please feel free to sponsor me 
Special thanks also to Natasha Green, who has been helping me train. From the unfit blob I was 3 months ago to this! A great achievement for her! If anyone needs a professional, reliable and motivational personal trainer whose great fun to work with then please visit her website.
Today was a great experience and one that I hope to repeat again soon 
Running 10k for Amnesty International
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Wednesday, 16 April 08 - 02:48 PM (GMT) By Justin Dean in Running |
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On the 26th May I will be running in the BUPA 10k London run. I realise it doesn't sound far, but I haven't run a distance like this in 20 odd years, so for me it feels like a marathon. I am busy looking for sponsors and would be very grateful to any one that would consider sponsoring me.
I'm running for Amnesty International because they work for things that many of us take forgranted. It's the 21st century and governments all round the world continue to treat their people like their lives, thoughts and beliefs are completely meaningless. Amnesty stands up for individuals in tragic circumstances, and tries to change their government's views on human rights.
The upcoming Beijing Olympics have really hightened the worlds awareness of the Human Rights Situation in China and whilst it is so high on the press agenda Amnesty can do with every penny we can give them to help make a difference.
To sponsor me please visit my justgiving.com web page (click here). Donating through this site is simple, fast and totally secure. If you are a UK taxpayer, an extra 28% in tax will be added to your gift at no cost to you.
Thankyou for your support 
Beijing 2008
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Monday, 17 March 08 - 06:42 PM (GMT) By Justin Dean in General |
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The Olympics own charter states: "respect for universal fundamental ethical principles" and its goal of promoting "a peaceful society concerned with the preservation of human dignity." The profoundly sad irony is that the above two points listed in the Olympic charter are located on the Official website for the Beijing 2008 Olympics.
Lt Cdr (P) Derek Fieldhouse (RN)
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Monday, 17 March 08 - 05:17 PM (GMT) By Justin Dean in Family & Friends |
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I'd like to share with anyone who visits my site the story of my Granddad's military service and tragic death.
Lt Cdr (P) Derek Fieldhouse RN (1926-1963)
He sadly lost his life piloting a Royal Navy Sea Vixen. The website www.seavixen.org is dedicated to lost SeaVixen Aircrew. On the website you can find a biography of my Granddad - Lt Cdr (P) Derek Fieldhouse - or simply click here.
James Dean sings Perfect Day
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Saturday, 02 February 08 - 12:27 PM (GMT) By Justin Dean in Family & Friends |
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I just loved this when I first saw it, and now it has been put on YouTube I can share it with everyone.
This is a video made in aid of Children in Need by HighCliffe School where my brother teaches. You will spot him easily because he always has a Rugby Ball in his hand.
Good work HighCliffe, and nice singing bro!
*Part 1
*Part 2
Dive The Red Sea - 'Simply the Best'
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Sunday, 03 June 07 - 11:05 AM (GMT) By Justin Dean in Diving |
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I have just returned from Hurghada in Egypt where I have been diving in the Red Sea. The 'Simply the Best' trip on MY Hurricane was organised by Tony Backhurst Travel, Its been a fantastic week, but I am totally exhausted.
The main part of my Terapad site has been updated with a detailed description of the trip. We had a truly fantastic week and I would recommend it to anyone.
I am also assured that Terapad will be launching an underwater Template soon, so maybe my site is about to have a makeover.
More Photos can be found in my Image Gallery
Malta - April 2007
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Monday, 30 April 07 - 12:28 PM (GMT) By Justin Dean in Family & Friends |
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Malta – 25th to 29th April 2007
For many years as a family we have talked about going to Malta. As a result of my Granddad’s career as a pilot in the Fleet Air Arm, my Gran and Granddad were stationed there for many years, and as a result, my Mum and my aunties spent allot of their time growing up there. More recently my Mum and Dad had also been stationed there, my Dad also being a pilot in the Fleet Air Arm.
Prior to Christmas 2006, my Mum and I had been discussing what to get my Gran for her Christmas present. As the talk of a family visit to Malta had been going on for so long, we decided to actually do something about it. A ring around the family couldn’t find anyone willing to commit to getting the time off their commitments to join us, but we went ahead and booked it.
Gran an I overlooking Golden Sands
In secrecy we booked with Expedia . A flight for my Mum, Gran and I leaving Heathrow on a Thursday morning and returning back on a Sunday evening. We would fly with Air Malta, and stay at the Victoria Hotel in Sliema. The air plane tickets, and hotel brochure were all presented to Gran on Christmas day, and were well received.
Thursday morning came. It was an early start from Heathrow, but despite the fact that I had arrived by Heathrow Express from Central London, and my Gran and Mum had driven up from Somerset, we all arrived at the Air Malta check-in at exactly the same time. Checking was fine, and we had some time to enjoy a relaxing breakfast prior to the flight. Air Malta, by the way, were exceptional. No problems in either direction - always efficient, courteous and friendly.
In Luca Airport, we found the Avis Car hire desk easily and picked up our Chevrolet hire car. No sat-nav, so we have to rely on good old fashioned map reading. My Mum was given the role or Navigator which she managed to do extremely well despite her being the most neurotic passenger on the planet. First stop was the Hotel Victoria.
Exploring the small streets of Mdina
One of the reasons we had booked the Hotel Victoria was for the rooftop heated pool. We thought that sea swimming would be a big chilly at this time of year so having the pool would have been a nice way to unwind. Unfortunately the sight of cranes as we rolled up should have prepared us for the bad news. The roof was no longer a swimming pool. It was a building site. I was realy mad at Expedia for not warning us of such a major event, but despite emailing them I have had no response. Probably the last time I use Expedia. Anyway, we were determined to not let this ruin our holiday. The pool is still advertised on Expedia as I type.
That evening was took a stroll down to the sea front and had a couple of drinks as we walked along the promenade. Maltese seem very keen on power walking as a form of exercise and during the early evening they were power walkers overtaking us in their dozens as we strolled along. We happened along a traditional Maltese Restaurant for dinner, and settled in to try some of the local specialities. Fish was delicious, and the local fish sauce contained lots of capers and was particularly good. Mum took a fancy to a Maltese digestif called Leila. A walk back up the hill to the hotel finished the day.
Gran and Mum both talked about how much Sliema had changed. How built up in now was, and how it was difficult for them to remember the places they used to stay. I too felt that Malta may have lost much of its tradition to the modern tourist boom. Sliema could have been any town in Ibiza or Tenerife.
One of the many steep staired streets in Valetta
On Friday we got up early. We wanted to tour the island in the car. We headed North out of Slima on the highway until we reached the tourist resort of St Pauls Bay. St Pauls, like Sliema has changed beyond recognition with lots of hotels going up. We then ventured inland looking for Mdina and Rabat. We stopped on the point overlooking Golden Sands where we had some photos taken. It’s the only sandy beach on the island and has not changed much since Mum was last there. Mdina is one of the oldest cities on the island, and its tiny streets reminded me of wandering around Venice. There are several tourist exhibits that guide you through the turbulent, violent and fascinating history of the city. They are worth a visit, although the waxwork tour seemed to go on forever. Nestled amongst the streets is the Mdina Cathedral, with a massive fresco depicting St Paul being shipwrecked on Malta.
We then took a short walk to Rabat to visit the Roman Catacombs. These are ancient burial chambers where entire families and communities were buried together. Although the Catacombs stretch for 3.5 square kilometres under the city, only a small part is open to visitors.
From here we returned to the car and headed for some other points of interest. The Dingly Cliffs, the giant cross overlooking Luca, and the Blue grotto. Most importantly we wanted to reach Hal Far and Berzebbuga, for it was here that the naval families used to be stationed.
Hal Far was an interesting visit. One of the three WWII airfields on Malta, it later became the main airport for the country before being replaced by the modern one at Luca in the early 80s. The ATC tower still remains, but the runway is a drag strip and the taxiways an industrial estate.
Gran enjoys a pint of Cisk at a harbour front bar
Onwards to Berzebbuga, and we were in for a shock. My Mum had been talking about the places she used to swim when she was a child and had hoped to find them. Berzebbuga is a small town, and it is surrounded almost entirely by Freeport. One of the largest container shipping ports in the world. This is what happened to my Mum’s childhood swimming spot. My Gran couldn’t recognise where they used to live. Again progress has changed the place beyond recognition.
A drive back to Sliema, and a quick change for dinner. The concierge recommended another local traditional restaurant which we headed for. A local couple ran a small restaurant, probably only capable of seating 20 people. It was a squeeze at the table, but they were so welcoming that it didn’t matter. The food was excellent and they shared the concern of the modernism of the island. They didn’t like that it was commonly referred to as ‘progress’.
After dinner a walk past the main Sliema docks, took us past the ferry boats and yachts, and we stopped at an ice cream shop to buy ourselves a desert as we walked back up the hill to the hotel.
Saturday was the day we had set aside for visiting the capital of Malta – Valetta. From Slima it is a short ferry ride across the harbour to Valetta. Valetta is another walled medieval city, and unlike the other places on the island, hadn’t changed as much over the years. It was more commercial – the obvious signs being things like McDonalds and Marks and Spencer in the high street, but on the whole it was very similar to how it had always been.
Mum and Gran pose in the gardens overlooking the Grand Harbour
From the ferry we have to walk up a steep hill the main street, and then down the other side to see Valetta Grand Harbour. This was where the carrier fleets used to come and moor up when they visited Malta, and where my Mum on many occasions greeted my Dad as he came ashore after months at sea. I too had been there to form the welcoming party on at least one occasion, but I was still drinking milk from a bottle, and my memory struggles to go back to last week, let alone to when I was a tiny baby.
Valetta provides an outstanding view of the Grand Harbour, the Mediterranean Film Studios where they filmed movies like Gladiator are just about visible in the far eastern harbour entrance. In front of you are the oldest walled cities in Malta called Vittoriosa, Senglea, and Cospicua. We walked around Valetta for some time, visiting the War Museum in St Elmo's Fort, and St John's co-cathedral where the famous painting of the beheading of John the Baptist by Caravaggio can be found. A small lunch in a sunny square where Mum and Gran overdosed on apple pie was followed by a brief walk up to the Phoenician Hotel, where Mum remembers buying me the most expensive bottle of milk, served on silver service, when she made the mistake of booking into the most expensive hotel room on the island all that time ago.
We walked back to the ferry, and went back to Sliema, but we were interested in the Grand Harbour and immediately boarded another tour boat which gave us a guided tour of the three harbours of Malta including the Grand Harbour. The Grand Harbour has some very large dry docks, some of the biggest in the Mediterranean and the tax perks of the island make it an ideal place to have your private super yacht taken out of the water for servicing. I must remember that for when I need it!
We had discovered that Saturday night was a grand fireworks display in Valetta, and so we went back to our hotel, changed, and again took a ferry back to Valetta. There was a traditional band, with the strongest men carrying the Virgin Mary on their shoulders. They were lead by a tremendous old gentlemen, who had unfortunately forgotten to put is false teeth in, and the grin he wore from the pride of carrying the flag, did not do him any particular favours.
The traditional Maltese horse drawn carriage
For the large part the fireworks festival involved selling hamburgers, hot dogs, candyfloss, and any other type of fast food to any fool willing to pay for it. Once finished the plastic containers and wrappers would be tossed on the floor with all the empty beer bottles to form a layer of litter which has to be walked through. We found a nice little restaurant and ate pasta, outside in the wind. From here we had an excellent vantage point for watching the fireworks, and they were spectacular. Exhausted from our hard days sightseeing and eating we headed back to the hotel for a good nights sleep.
On Sunday Morning we paid a quick visit to St Julian's where Mum remembered the Dragonara Casino, and various nightclubs used to be. It could have been any grimy Mediterranean resort, and so Anglicised that you would not recognise it as Malta at all. We had a nice walk along the rocks before checking out of the hotel and heading off pack to the airport.
Before we dropped of the car we had time for one last meal, and we aimlessly headed out following the east coast looking for somewhere suitable. We found St Thomas’ bay. A delightful, unspoilt corner of Malta, and an ideal place for a fish lunch. We headed back to the airport where the check-in went smoothly and the plane left on time.
It was good for me to have spent some time with my Mum and my Gran. We all lead busy lives and it seems that it is all too easy to sacrifice the important relationships with your family, with the not so important ones of work and professional life. We had a great time, it was nice to catch up, and great for Mum and Gran to see where they used to live, even though allot of it had changed beyond description. I hope we will get a chance to go away together again someday.
More Pictures can be found in my Image Gallery
Web 2.0
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Saturday, 17 March 07 - 10:53 PM (GMT) By Justin Dean in Terapad |
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For those who didn't realise there was a Web 1.0 let alone a Web 2.0 this inspirational video sums up the whole thing in 5 minutes. Can you see where Terapad fits in?
Of course whilst the rest of the world is undergoing these huge changes in the way we communicate with each other, there will always be some who have different ideas.
Doing it Right
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Monday, 19 February 07 - 08:20 PM (GMT) By Justin Dean in Diving |
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I have finally received Doing It Right: The Fundamentals of Better Diving , by Jarrod Jablonski of Global Underwater Explorers. I ordered it last November, but this is a privately published book, without an ISBN number and not available on Amazon. They had no copies left in print when I ordered so I had to wait for more to be printed and the delivery from Florida. I am so pleased I waited. This is a book which I have heard people talk about on various dive boats, and I sincerely wish I had read this when I was learning to dive. I trained the PADI way, which is relatively straight forward, and you tend to learn parrot fashion. This book answers so many questions, and raises new thoughts and ideas. |
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Although the book is full of sound advice and tips about training, equipment and techniques, he goes on to say that the book was not designed to teach uncertified individuals how to dive, and should not be used to substitute professional training. I couldn't agree more, a little theory can be a dangerous (often lethal) thing and no substitute for experience.
Jarrod writes with experience, listed amongst his acheivements is the illustrious World's Longest Cave Penetration at Depth - 19,000 feet at 300 feet deep, achieved in Wakulla Springs cave system, Florida, in 2000.
One of my favourite bits of advice in the book is the recommendation to change the method of donating air in an emergency situation, My PADI training tells me to have an octopus, a secondary regulator, preferably in a high-vis colour, on standby for an out of air diver to use in an emergency. Jarrod suggests that perhaps an alternative method is preferable. If a diver is in a no-air situation the chance is high that in their panicked state they will grab whatever air supply is nearest, and that is usually the one in your mouth. So why not just let them have it? After all, we know the regulator works, its had no blockages, and has a good flow of air. The DIR method is to have the primary reg on a long hose, and a secondary on a necklace ready to use if a diver takes your primary. It's food for thought, and a great example of the kind of out-of-the-box thinking that this book advocates.
How I wish I had this book when I was learning to dive. You know the situation, you're sat on the dive boat, proud that you are finally doing your PADI advanced, or Rescue Diver course, and there are guys sitting around discussing their dives, their equipment, their technique, using long words and acronymns. You have loads of questions, but are afraid to ask. Well this book is the answer. From the basic techniques, to complex equipment configuration or mixed air breathing this book provides an insight into the world of diving. It realy makes you think about the technical and physical challenges that divers face and need to overcome to be proficient and safe at what they do.
Just one downside ... I feel the need to reanalyse my equipment configuration. It all seemed to be good purchases at the time, the salesmen said it was what I needed and I felt happy with my puchases. Now I wonder if I could be doing it differently, doing it right.
Go buy this book, you'll be pleased you did. 
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