The Forty Fourth of my 40 donations goes to Amnesty International UK Section Charitable Trust to stand up against injustice and help defend human rights for all.
Forty Fourth of 40 Donations
My 41st Birthday / 4th of the 7 Summits / ITU World Triathlon Championship Abu Dhabi!
OMG I’m 41! Does that signal the end of 40s 4 40?! Am I too old for any more of those shenanigans now?
I’ll post a conclusion to #40s440 separately, but for now want to express my gratitude for everyone’s support and contributions to my ‘Forties for 40’ concept – what a blast being 40 has been #40s440!
Some may recall that I was scheduled to climb Cartenz Pyramid (my 4th of the World’s 7 summits and one of the original Forties 4 40 challenges) on both my 40th and 41st Birthdays but due to the ongoing travel restrictions surrounding the COIVD 19 pandemic, I haven’t been able to travel and / or enter Indonesia.
I WILL climb Cartenz Pyramid but it will be the subject of a future post…
Not to be outdone, I signed up as an age group entry to the Olympic distance ITU World Triathlon Championship race in Abu Dhabi as an alternative challenge. The 2021 instalment was later in the year than usual and as luck would have it, on my actual Birthday!
I’ve done this race twice before, once in 2016 on the cornice (left picture below) and once in 2017 around the Grand Prix circuit (right picture below).
Thankfully the 2021 event is also around the Grand Prix circuit so I was thrilled to race around it again and try to beat my previous time.
Being that it was relatively flat and a smooth surface I changed my wheels, rear cassette and brake pads to suit.
The Elite races were on the Friday so I made a video summary of both the male and female print races after I finished my practice swim. I even got to meet some of my heroes mashallah 😍
Elite Women’s Race Report by Tri247:
Elite Men’s Race Report by Tri247:
I originally signed up to complete to the Olympic distance triathlon but two days before the race was due to take place this was cancelled due to the weather conditions being too hot.
Everyone who had entered the Olympic distance (1,500m swim; 40km bike; 10km run) was offered the opportunity to complete the Sprint (750m swim; 20km bike; 5km run) instead and I decided to race – after all, I had come this far!
Below you will find something of a ‘race report’.
My Results:
First and foremost, I need to state that i am really happy with my position of 78th overall out of 479 male finishers (top 16%) and 26th out of 182 in my 40-49 age group (top 14%).
Even better, if I add the females to it (a total if 103, 8 of which came before me) this equates to an overall place of 86 out of 582 and therefore in the top 15% overall – a great result for me!
However, three things are of note:
1). It seems like the distances of each discipline were out. My Garmin says that each discipline was further than the stated distances? I will go into detail in the sections below.
2). Joining the original sprint and Olympic races meant there were far too many bikes on the technically challenging 2 lap 10km course. Imagine if everyone is on the course and spread out evenly, that would equate to at least 22 people on bikes per kilometre – keeping yourself to yourself is a challenge in itself!
3). Not the best organisation. Left hand not talking to right hand type stuff on the part of the organisers and my luxury Hotel (the W on Yas Island) who despite trying very hard to impress, unfortunately couldn’t get basic bed and breakfast right!
On the basis that everyone has to do the same course, what counts is the order and time you go past the finish line, not the specific distances so I remain pleased with my result.
Swim:
Recognising that the swim was half what I thought I was going to swim, I didn’t hold back and made a point of maintaining good form. I therefore assumed and felt like I was swimming at less than 1:40 per 100 metres. The results say I was swimming at 1:59 per kilometre? This is because they if you divide the distance the swim should have been (750m) by my time you get a slower pace. My Garmin measured the swim at 877 metres – an extra 127 metres and taking an extra couple of minutes to swim it!
I doubt it was from me veering off path because there wasn’t much scope for getting it wrong!
More likely I would have been swimming at the 1:35 average moving page as per the below:
In any case, the water was like a bath, the temperature was lovely and whilst setting people off in age groups rather than abilities led to slow swimmers getting overtaken too often by faster ones coming up the rear, it remained a civilised affair.
T1:
Fine, no issues just got on with it.
Bike:
Massively technical two-lap 10 kilometre course and brilliant to cycle on the Grand Prix Circuit again. It is so smooth and the corners fantastic but I am always amazed just how undulating it is and to feel the different cambers all over it. It’s a pleasure to cycle fast on but don’t hit the tall curbs whatever you do!
I love the tight twists and turns and swerving around, it’s a real test of bike handling. The only thing that detracted from it was how many people were on the course. Often people, including me, would get in the way and trying not to draft became really difficult.
You can see from my heart rate that I was trying hard and stupidly, I did not register my entry into the second transition at the correct time so the figures are a little skewed because of this.
Nonetheless, my Garmin measured the distance at over a kilometre more than stated – there really wasn’t that much scope for additional distance so I suspect the course has not been measured quite correctly?
T2:
Couldn’t find my spot, no numbers, no markers, no signage or sections – ran past it and had to come back, left my Garmin running so didn’t record the time properly – doh!
Run:
Probably my best 5k run as part of a triathlon. I didn’t look at my watch once. After all the training I’ve done, I know how fast I am running by how I feel and I knew I was running well less than 5 minutes per kilometre, more like 4:30 and I resolved to simply run as fast as I could.
With this in mind, when I see the official results that say I ran 5k in 25:42 at a pace of 5:15 I can hardly believe it. I know how I was pushing. Taking a look at the Garmin post race, tells me I was running at an average of 4:41 and that I actually ran 5.39km so again, the distance seems out.
After a cycle like that, the run was an uneventful and simple but warm 2.5km out and back.
Conclusion:
I’m made up to have been running at an average of 4:41 on my 41st Birthday (lol) #40s441?!
Huge respect to the Elite athletes that presumably only raced in the afternoon so us plebs could watch them?! I aw a few collapse and they were sweating heavily working really hard so this gave me an insight as to what my race might be like – thankfully, I started just after 7am when the sun, heat and humidity were bearable!
Notwithstanding my disappointment, in retrospect I think cancelling the Olympic was a good call. There would have been a lot of medical calls had it continued. However, that many people doing a Sprint with a two-lap bike course was bordering on dangerous at times and this led to some bunching – the event just was not big enough to handle that many people all at once so I’m actually glad a lot Olympic hopefuls didn’t swap to the sprint as this provided some natural alleviation to the problem.
If it were not for the questionable accuracy regarding the distances, I think this would have been a PB for me as I feel stronger in all disciplines and the Garmin agrees!
Alas, my official Sprint PB still stands at 1:17:41 as per the below:
I’m interested to hear anyone else’s experience of this race and if their own tech recorded any similar anomalies regarding the distance.
I will post up and further relevant information and official photos as and when…
Forty Third of 40 Donations
I’ve seen some incredible stuff over the past few days at the ITU World Triathlon Championship, none more so than the ‘People of Determination’ as the UAE refers to someone who is less able than others, for whatever reason.
I really like this terminology and will adopt it going forward.
Who are people of determination?
Under the National Policy for Empowering People with Special Needs, people with special needs or disabilities will be referred to as ‘people of determination’ to recognise their achievements in different fields. As explained on the Abu Dhabi portal, the law defines a person with special needs as someone suffering from a temporary or permanent, full or partial deficiency or infirmity in his physical, sensory, mental, communication, educational or psychological abilities to an extent that limits his possibility of performing the ordinary requirements as people without special needs.
The UAE Government runs long-term targeted campaigns to help people of determination and they do not seem to be looking for donations.
Read more:
https://u.ae/en/information-and-services/social-affairs/people-of-determination
Therefore, I looked closer to home and after the inspirational efforts of Team GB in the Elite races, I have donated £40 to Paralympics GB.
Juggle for 40 Seconds!
One way or another ‘Juggling’ is something we all do, balancing work, family, social and personal commitments can be a real challenge. So much so, it’s easy to ‘drop a ball’ every so often…
Forties for 40 has had me juggling so many different things that at times I didn’t know if i was making progress or not but when i look back at how far I’ve come, it’s been a remarkable journey.
I originally learnt how to juggle as a child but it’s not really something I kept up with unless the opportunity to show off presented itself (and this invariably led to me putting bruised fruit back in the bowl!).
Like ‘spinning plates’, ‘juggling’ became a metaphor for managing many moving parts at the same time.
Having found I could only actually juggle for about 10 seconds before I made a mistake and dropped a ball, I decided to challenge myself to see if I could last a full 40 seconds – what seemed like a really short time proved more difficult than I originally anticipated.
The main issue I had was maintaining my concentration. Stupid, often completely irrelevant thoughts would pop into my mind or I would start thinking about when and how much I was breathing and even this would be enough to put me off!
Juggling really is a test of mind, hand and eye coordination; you have to control and anticipate where each ball will land before reaching your hand out to catch a ball before quickly throwing it again.
I can juggle 2 balls in either my left or right hand and three halls in both hands. I understand juggling 4 balls is really only juggling two balls in both the left and right hands at the same time and juggling 5 balls is very similar to juggling 3 balls but requires each ball to be thrown much higher to make time to fit the others in.
This challenge is based on juggling 3 balls for a minimum of 40 seconds.
I started out with tennis balls but they were too bouncy and often bounced right out of my hands.
I upgraded to a set of 120 gram Speevers Xballs that are a specific weight and more like a bag than a ball so they fall really consistently and do not bounce upon impact – these helped a lot!
So here’s the proof that I did actually Juggle for 40 seconds, click the link or the below picture – I hope you appreciate the background at least:
https://youtube.com/shorts/xUACz7h4AgQ?feature=share
Forty-second of 40 Donations
The Forty-second of my 40 donations goes to Movemer! I grew a 40mm beard for #40s440 and recently cut it it back to make Manchester Marathon even more memorable. Now, I am merely a vehicle to propel my magnificent brush around this moral coil.
My donation will fund medical research, ground-breaking tests and trials, life-changing men’s health programs and innovative treatments.
Donating to Movember is doing a whole lot of good for a whole lot of men!
40 Cold Showers
I’ve heard so many good things about cold showers but actively avoid them – what have I been missing?
May be you’ve heard the phrase ‘nothing warms you like a cold shower‘?
Well, I challenged myself to take 40 cold showers and recorded my experience not only prove it but to record it and try and understand what all the fuss is about.
You can see the video I made of my experience via the below YouTube link:
After dong a bit of research, I was surprised to find that showers are only classed as cold when the water temperature below 21°C which I think is still quite warm?
With that in mind, I began the challenge in Riyadh with much trepidation only to find that even on the very coldest setting, the water was still not actually that cold so I decided to wait until I was in the UK to ensure the shower was truly cold… and it was, really, really cold!
This suited me as it allowed me to prepare for the open water swim section of an Ironman 70.3 I was taking part in. I had only trained in tropical sea water and heated pools so using this to prepare for the shock was a welcome training aid!
I understand that exposure to cold water produces endorphins, the cold water sends electrical impulses to your brain that increase alertness, clarity, and energy levels which can improve general well-being and optimism.
Examples of some other benefits people have suggested are as follows:
- Wakes you up
- Increases circulation
- Reduced stress and other symptoms
- Improve hair and skin
- Reduces post-workout muscle soreness
- May stimulate the metabolism and assist weight loss
- Improved immunity
Sure a cold shower stimulates the heart rate, makes you more alert and is quicker than a warm shower but I found that the threat of a cold shower made me stay in bed longer, dreading the event and putting it off! I didn’t enjoy it as much as steaming away in a hot shower feeling the hot water running down my skin and so a cold shower had the opposite effect, in fact I’d go as far as to say that it depressed me – what a miserable experience!
I was so keen to get out of each cold shower that I really didn’t spend long enough in there to get clean! Nor did the really cold water activate any products such as shampoo and soap as well as hot water does.
Supposedly exposure to cold water increases your metabolism and levels out hormone levels and even more so if this is done earlier in the day. I guess regular exposure could help weight loss if a person has naturally slow metabolism but I do not believe cold showers alone are not going to offset a poor diet for example.
I totally get swimming in cold water because the body to work slightly harder to maintain its core temperature so immersion is invigorating. I assume this is good exercise for the circulatory system and could lead to the skin looking better or help blood pressure. The problem with a shower is that there is no immersion and I really didn’t feel anything other than uninspired by it, whereas open water swimming for example is thrilling.
I appreciate that ice can reduce inflammation and I think not only does the skin shrink as all things do when cold, by reducing the temperature of an area of the body, this accelerates the delivery of warmer, freshly oxygenated blood to that area, thereby accelerating recovery time. This works better for me on a targeted area with a shower and I am yet to try an ice bath but that’s for another time.
The shock of cold water in the bloodstream stimulates leukocytes. This means that taking cold showers can help your resistance to common illnesses, like colds and the flu.
I reckon the majority of people prefer a warm shower but I like it steamy hot.
Science says that hot showers activate the parasympathetic nervous system which can help us relax and will help some people get to sleep but for me I found it stimulating, refreshing and energy giving.
Examples of some of the benefits of hot showers I’ve heard are as follows:
- Respiratory symptoms relief / reduce congestion
- Easier to get cleaner
- Muscle relaxation
- Stress relief
I do love a steam room and a really hot shower is the closest thing I’ve got at my own home. The heat from the water and the steam can help to open airways and clear out your nasal passages. I also found it a lot easer to get clean and to feel cleaner afterwards as the hot shower opened up the pores of my skin, which facilitated me cleaning out the trapped dirt and oil.
Some people find that hot showers irritate their skin and make them itch and I feel sorry for them but it has not ever had this effect on me and I can’t imagine warm showers do much for blood pressure or weight loss.
Conclusion:
There are obvious benefits to both hot and cold showers and after my experience, I think both are important but at different times, for different reasons and for different people.
For example, I would pick a warm shower to bathe, to relax, to warm up and to share with someone. Conversely, I would pick a cold shower to wake up, to have a refreshing and quick ‘splash and dash’ and to cool down after exercise for example.
Perhaps the best balance could be achieved by starting with a warm shower to relax and get clean and then switching to cool to rinse off , close your pores and freshen up…
Like a lot of things, persistent extremes of anything aren’t healthy and by introducing balance and variety into your routine you can get the best of both words, tailored to your own self.
Nothing warms you like a cold shower? Yer right..!
Forty-first of 40 Donations
The Forty-first of my forty donations goes to the Gabby Petito Foundation. The Gabby Petito Foundation has been established by Gabby’s parents in the memory of the Van Life Blogger who went missing while on a cross-country road trip across the United States of America.
The mission of the foundation is to address the needs of organizations who support locating missing persons and to provide aid to organizations who assist victims of domestic violence situations, through education, awareness, and prevention strategies.
Gabby’s parents wish to turn their personal tragedy into a positive by bringing these important issues into the forefront of the public eye to the benefit of all our communities.
I’ve been following a number of ‘van life’ stories and this one in particular came to my attention when it was reported in mid-September by the BBC that The couple had been stopped by police after what sounded like a domestic violence incident a couple of weeks before but the police determined they simply needed some time apart to cool off.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-58579717
Following this, her Fiancé Brian had returned to his parent’s home from the road trip on 1st September in Gabby’s van but without Gabby! No one had heard from Gabby and Brian and his Family (who Gabby had lived with for over a year) were refusing would not talk to her Family or the Police. Her family reported her missing 10 days later.
After returning home, Brian then proceeded to go camping with his Family as if nothing has happened and upon being named as a person of interest, he took off on a lone hike which ultimately led to his disappearance. His parents even went and collected his car for him afterwards!
Unfortunately, Gabby’s remains were found about three weeks after Brian had returned home without her and this was almost a week after he disappeared.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-58646087
I find it incredible that Brian and his Family can get away with saying nothing and him simply disappearing. It could appear that his very calculated actions got him a head start on the authorities. A warrant for his arrest was only issued for his unauthorised use of a debit card in Gabby’s name in late September – by this time he was long gone!
Sad as it is, I have become captivated by this story. What makes this story stand out from many others of a similar nature are some of the following considerations:
The internet aided by modern technology has responded in a way I have not ever seen or appreciated before. Some other Van Life bloggers Red White & Bethune happened to remember driving down a trail and seeing a white van that when they checked their dash cam turned out to by Gabby’s van and proved to be a crucial lead in locating her body. Even more incredible was that this happened on what would have been their Son’s Birthday but the Son was killed a few years back in a car accident and it was as if their late Son had somehow influenced this.
Even more incredible is that when the incredible internet sleuths analysed the footage they speculated about all sorts of things that do seem to appear in the video like the van’s back door closing as the Red White & Bethune van gets closer, Gabby’s flip flops and a book and pistol at the back of the van and various figures that seem to be walking in the woods close to the van – this could suggest that Gabby was still alive at this point, which I think was August 27th.
Brian was seen to be hitchhiking on the 29th of August when he was picked up by two different women. The second named Jalovec said she didn’t realize who she’d picked up until she saw a video posted on TikTok on September 17th by Miranda Baker, who claims she and her boyfriend picked Laundrie up on Aug. 29 when he was hitchhiking at 17:30 – Brian got out of the first ride after starting to act strangely for some unknown reason. Jalovec ended up taking Brian back to Spread Creek at 18:40.
When Gabby was found on the 20th September, the Coroner subsequently conducted an autopsy and classed her death as a homicide and determined she has been throttled. He also said that she had been dead for three to four weeks. Remember, by this time, Brian had been on the run for almost three weeks!
This and the fact that Brian was back at his Parent’s house IN GABBY’S VAN on 1st September suggest to me she was killed on the 27th or 28th and Brian took off on a hike before deciding he needed to use Gabby’s van to get back to his Parents.
During Brian’s drive back to his parents he created a new Spotify play list and this included a track with some suspiciously relevant lyrics.
Some internet sleuths have also speculated that Brian is hiding in a bunker under his parents house after his parents were spotted by a drone seemingly talking to a flower bed when what looks like a hand reaches out to pass something to his Mother!
There seem to be so many stands and avenues and characters involved in this story and so much information on the internet as people generate videos and analysis, many of which conflict that it is difficult to know what is current and what the truth is.
The only thing I know for sure is that even if Brian didn’t kill Gabby, what kind of person would leave another person, let alone someone they love and care for, alone without any of their things to be able to survive, it’s a death sentence in itself!
Thus, I can only assume he already knew she was dead.
Two other women who had complained about a ‘creepy guy’ near their campsite were shot to death and found in a creek similar to how Gabby was, only about 40 miles away. Coincidentally, following the traffic stop, the Police dropped Brian off at a motel only a few minutes walk from the last place these two women were last seen! Further, these two women were linked to Brian and Gabby as one of them worked in the Moonflower Community Cooperative where I understand Brian was seen arguing with Gabby outside.
Strangely enough, the day after these poor women were killed, Brian flew back home to clear out a storage unit with his Dad to ‘save money’ (a story which was changed by their Lawyer a few weeks later as frankly, it didn’t make sense). Why he would’ve been doing that? Wouldn’t the flight alone cost more money than he would have saved?
Brian then travelled back to meet Gabby and within a few days, she too was dead (and the pattern of travelling home repeated before his disappearance).
Further, the remains of a guy called Robert Lowery who supposedly committed suicide by gun shot wound in an area relatively close to where Gabby was found was only found because they were looking for Gabby and whilst this may be not be directly related and remains very sad for his family, it is at the very least notable in this case for its timeliness and proximity to where poor Gabby met her fate.
Some videos get published and are quickly taken down as these are ongoing investigations so I’ll continue to follow them closely.
#JusticeforGabby
Brian found dead, 21/10/2021:
Brian Laundrie claimed responsibility for Gabby Petito’s death:
In the spirit of positivity, I am concluding this post with a link to Gabby’s ‘Nomadic Statik’ YouTube and her blog in memory of her and to show that she was a talented individual. It is eerie that only the one video that was published on August 19th exists as that is all she was able to complete before she was killed and also that it has now been viewed so many times – rest in peace Gabby, you did a great job!
Grow a 40mm Beard
I don’t regret many things in life but each time I cut my beard I instantly wish I hadn’t…
Thankfully, lock down and wearing masks presented an ideal opportunity to let it to grow without fear of looking unkempt or ‘unprofessional’!
I understand that the average growth rate is about half an inch or 12.7mm a month so growing a 40mm beard should take about 4 months.
Now I was under the impression that each strand of hair would have to be at least 40mm long to be able to say I had grown a 40mm beard and it seemed to be taking a log time to achieve that – was I trimming it too much too often?!
I stopped cutting my facial hair during Ramadan 2021 (which ended mid-May) and since then I only trimmed it occasionally in an attempt to maintain some semblance of control. At the time of posting this blog it’s mid-October 2021 and that equates to 5 or 6 months growth but only now do the individual strands seem to be comfortably above 40mm to claim it.
Theoretically, my beard should have reached somewhere between 63mm and 76mm in that time but with all this confusion regarding how to ascertain the correct length, I wasn’t sure how to measure it properly!
Thankfully my Mother referred me to the good old Guinness Book of Records. According to them, the longest beard measures 2.495 m (8 ft 2.5 in) and belongs to Sarwan Singh of Canada!
https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/longest-beard-living-male
This led me to read up on the World Beard and Moustache Championships. Unsurprisingly, there are rules in place and these determine that beard length should be measured from the lower edge of the bottom lip to the end of the beard below the chin, without stretching any hairs.
https://www.worldbeardchampionships.com/categories
So how did I do?
Applying these rules, meant I had actually grown a 2.5 inch or 65mm beard in 5 or 6 months so on the slower side of the average but definitely well over 40mm (may be I did trim it too much, to often?!).
In retrospect, I wish I had documented the growth day-by-day and had photographed it so I could create a time-lapse but will everything else gong on that kind of commitment is for another time…
I really enjoy having a beard, it keeps my face protected from sun and wind and I swear kept me warmer during the Ironman.
I didn’t ever find any cornflakes in it but it did get a bit matted on occasion and was difficult to keep clean when on the bike part of the Ironman. It’s also strange to feel it flopping about during a swim, especially when I turn in the pool.
Probably my greatest surprise was just how red it grew; I have a new found appreciation for all the ‘Ginger T*sser’ jokes…
Fortieth of 40 Donations
The Fortieth of my 40 donations goes to the Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM).
CALM are united against suicide. That means standing against feeling shit, standing up to stereotypes, and standing together to show life is always worth living.
CALM help to make sure everyone gets the support they need, no matter what.
125 lives are lost every week to suicide. And 75% of all UK suicides are male.
CALM aim to change that by provoking conversation, running life-saving services, and bringing people together so they reject living miserably, get help when they need it and don’t die by suicide.
If you need someone to talk to, CALM have a helpline that is open 5pm until midnight 365 days a year:
If you’re worried about someone or want ay further information, check out CALM’s website:
Play 40 riffs on the Guitar
The sum of my continuum of covers, taken in good humour and with a solid dose of artistic license is an ode to the friends I’ve made over the past 40 years – thank you for being part of it.
The songs were all chosen using two requirements:
- Does it have meaning to me regarding someone or something, and
- Will it fit in a 40 song mash-up?
I learned the guitar part of each song or specific riff that I wanted to stitch together and then concentrated on trying to achieve an acceptable transition between each song so that it could be played as if mixed by a DJ, in a continuum. Some songs had to be in there, others were simply made to fit around them.
I’ve been able to play the guitar since I was young but find that I have to play regularly in order to remember anything worth playing. Out of all the 40s 4 40 challenges, this one was planned to be over the longest time. I started learning and relearning these riffs at the start of 2020 and it’s still not perfect. It has taken a lot of playing to get to this point but I’ve really enjoyed it.
I was initially hoping to demonstrate how, similarly to the ‘Amen Break’ just how many songs revolve around similar chord patterns and whilst this remains true and features a lot in the continuum, I found this approach somewhat limiting in song choices so chose not to use any meaningless ones simply because they fit better.
Some people will appreciate the whole list, others only one or two at best. Think nothing of it if a specific song didn’t make the cut; sorry if I murdered anyone’s favourite tune!
The full list of songs / riffs with credit to the original artist is as follows:
1 Are you with me – Lost Frequencies
2 Shape of my Heart / Lucid Dreams – Sting / Juice Wrld
3 Bond theme tune – Monty Norman
4 Come as you are – Nirvana
5 Dive – Nirvana
6 Day Tripper – The Beatles
7 Cigarettes and Alcohol – Oasis
8 Park life – Blur
9 All Apologies – Nirvana
10 Serve the Servants – Nirvana
11 Married with Children – Oasis
12 Where is my mind? – Pixies
13 Lithium – Nirvana
14 Polly – Nirvana
15 All I have to do is Dream – Everly Brothers
16 About a Girl – Nirvana
17 Zombie – The Cranberries / Dolores O’Riordan
18 Gangster’s Paradise – Coolio
19 Half the World Away – Oasis
20 Crazy little thing called Love – Queen
21 Should I stay or should I go – The Clash
22 For Lovers – Wolfman featuring Pete Doherty
23 Still DRE – Dr DRE
24 Pennyroyal Tea – Nirvana
25 Pumped Up Kicks – Foster the People
26 Smells like Team Spirit – Nirvana
27 Foxy Lady – Jimmi Hendrix
28 Shook Ones – Mobb Deep / Claptone
29 Billie Gene – Michael Jackson
30 Smoke on the Water – Black Sabbath
31 Money for Nothing – Dire Straits
32 Surf – Mac Miller
33 Sunshine of your love – Cream
34 Voodoo Chile – Jimmi Hendrix
35 Purple Haze – Jimmi Hendrix
36 For all the Cows – Foo Fighters
37 Welcome to Paradise – Green Day
38 Doctor Doctor – UFO
39 Coronation Street – Eric Spear
40 You Wish – Nightmares on Wax
I used a first run Fender 50th Anniversary JagStang in Sonic Blue that I modified with a Seymour Duncan Lipstick Tube at the neck and a Fender Special Design Humbucker at the bridge, both were switched to run in phase with each other.
The amp is a Marshall SC20H Studio Classic JCM 800 Lead Series powering a Marshall 1 x 12 SC112 Speaker Cabinet. I didn’t use any effects nor did I apply any distortion to the guitar and amplifier’s natural sound.
Having watched the recording back, I’m pretty sure I made at least one mistake on each one of the riffs but at hey, I got to the end! I went outside to record when it was sunny and before too long it was cold and raining – my fingers were freezing and you can see the rain coming down from around 11 minutes 11 seconds!
I am less familiar with the JagStang having been away from for a number of years so remain optimistic that I will improve.
To that end, I will attempt another run of this on the Gibson Les Paul I’ve been playing for the past few years for comparison purposes as time and location allows.
As Mark Twain said “Continuous improvement is better than delayed perfection”.
By the 5th of February 2022, the recording has had 440 views!
I’ll be the first to admit it’s hardly gone viral but had I been paying in front of 440 punters, I think I would have been nervous so this is a great example of how effective YouTube is as a sharing platform.
