Author: martinjamesphd
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Garden news: hard work pays off
Woke up to the delightful sight of my first lily flowering. Last year my crop didn’t come through before autumn set in, it simply wasn’t warm enough to get them over the line. I took it like a man and looked forward to them coming back around this year. I now have a bumper crop…
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Transformation gym session #3
I have recorded 5 of my 16 leg day sets from today’s session, you can see the videos below. It was my first full legs session of the new era and I would be lying if I said I enjoyed it. I got the job done though and that’s the main thing. I was shattered…
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Diet reflections #3
After 3 weeks of slow losses (1.8lbs, 1.8lbs, 1.6lbs) I have to accept that the current formula is under performing. It’s not rocket science it’s pretty simple: in the last three weeks my calorie burn has been seriously curtailed. My target is 32,000kcals burned per week whilst my actual has been 27,900, 29,400 and 28,100.…
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Transformation gym session #2
Managed to squeeze in a quick workout late on Saturday (20th June 2020), eight sets targeting arms and shoulders. The videos are a bit naff – I’m living and learning! 🙂 Details of each set are elaborated in the table below. Shoulder press Lat. raises Tricep curls Bicep curls EXERCISE SET WEIGHT REPS Shoulder press…
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Transformation era ride #2
Today I wanted to try out a new route. It turned out to be slow going with poor surfaces and a fair few hills. Add in a fair bit of wind and I didn’t manage my usual 16mph average. In the circumstances 15.7mph wasn’t too bad. My target was 20 miles or more and 1,000kcals+.…
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Results are in!: diet week #5
Exactly 1 stone lost in 5 weeks! If you had have offered me that at the beginning of the journey I would have snapped your hand off, so it’s paradoxical that I feel a little disappointed week to week. 1.8 + 1.8 + 1.6 lbs losses (the last 3 weigh-ins) isn’t much to be excited…
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Cava pilava
As I’m sure you all know Prosecco exploded in the UK in 2008. Don’t get me wrong it was readily available before but few paid it much attention. Then the recession hit and the masses went looking for an alternative to Champagne. Prosecco became the popular choice and soon after the default choice of fizz…
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“White Collar” & “The Power Elite”
I’m very happy to add these classics to my library. C. Wright Mills was a great sociologist, a particularly bright star in a golden age of American organisational analysis. The observations in “White Collar” resonate 70 years on, which is an apt reminder of how continuity prevails over change. I am less familiar with “The…
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“Why we can’t afford the rich”
My first read of the new era was Andrew Sayer’s exceptional “Why we can’t afford the rich” (Polity Press, 2016). I discovered Sayer’s work when I first became familiar with critical realism, which is now my theoretical toolkit of choice. I love the depth of analysis here, especially the relentless cross-examination of “greed/inequality is good”…
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“THIS COUNTRY” (BBC)
I doubt I’m the only person raised in a former mining town wondering “how did they get it so right!?” “Kurtan” is the average Hucknall 20-something, or at least was back in the 90s. The hair (which I had a worse version of), the outfits, the backwater mindset – it’s uncanny. Such a good show about the UK’s hopeless…
Dr Martin James 