The first articles in The Sunday Mail have begun appearing and training is well and truly underway for many. I’ve started quite slowly, just trying to get the legs adjusted to regular running again and have been running 30-40 minutes 4 times per week.

I have been able to maintain this for a good month now and am ready to try and increase my intensity a bit to make some progress. I’ve begun running some intervals in some of my runs and am going to try incorporate some hills next.

It has supposedly been the wettest Adelaide July in some years but, luckily, I have managed to avoid most of it–finding a rain-free half and hour even on the wettest day. It has been a bit windy though but my new Brooks jacket has been a brilliant purchase. Lightweight, waterproof, hooded – an absolute necessity at this time of the year.

I also bought some new shoes because last year I wasn’t accustomed to running in the shoes I ran in. The result was blistering unlike I’ve ever experienced.

Hopefully posting my progress will help me remain accountable and persevere with my training. I know Steve is training hard and so is the rest of Adelaide.

To anyone else training, keep it up. If I can do it, anyone can.

I’m not going to do a review of these books, just sharing with you the ones I have enjoyed and recommend. So here we go…

The Facts behind the Helsinki Roccamatios – Yann Martel

I received this book for Christmas and it was completely unknown to me but this collection of short stories was well worth the read. The title story involves a young man and his dying friend writing a story together. Their strange story is written with each chapter being influenced by an event from the years 1901 to 1986.

Of the other short stories, my favourite is Manners of Dying.

The Howling Miller – Arto Paasilinna

I borrowed this book from the library and I’m not sure why but it just seemed to stand out to me on the day. The plot revolves around a mentally ill but otherwise good man who takes to howling like a wolf during the night. I’m pretty sure this is the first book I have read that has been translated from Finnish and this background provides an interesting and uncommon setting.

Life in a little Finnish village is seemingly quite bizarre.

Ice Station, Area 7, Scarecrow, Hell Island – Matthew Reilly

I’d read Ice Station and Area 7 some time ago and found them to both be action-packed page-turners. I bought Scarecrow too but it had been on the bookshelf and I had never got around to reading it. Well, I couldn’t let it sit there forever so I decided that I HAD to finally read it.

Having been such a long time after reading the first two books in the series I really needed to reread the others as well and so I did. Sadly, they weren’t the books I remembered. Perhaps my tastes have matured somewhat since I read them (I was about 15 at the time) but these books are the most far-fetched stories I have ever read. I still like Matthew Reilly but his writing really does cater for the masses so to say.

By the time I got to Hell Island, I was wondering why I bothered. Sure, there is action and explosions but I just can’t believe any of it any more. I would love to see any Matthew Reilly books made into movies though. The Scarecrow is a great character.

Tuesdays with Morrie – Mitch Albom

I first saw this book on Oprah a couple of years ago but don’t think that I hang on Oprah’s every word and worship her. Nevertheless, the Oprah factor did eventually lead me to read this book (although it wasn’t until a good 5/6 years later). It was a bit hard to find this book because I thought it must’ve been one of the “Oprah’s Book Club” selections but it wasn’t. The effect on the sales was the same though. A brief appearance on Oprah and this book became the highest selling memoir of all time. That fact alone should be enough to convince people that it is a worthwhile read.

It is actually kind of similar to The Facts behind the Helsinki Roccamatios.

Anyway, let me know your opinion and drop me a comment.

Nothing particularly brilliant but this little site is just the beginning of Pooraka Sand’s online presence. These little upstarts will be all other the cyberspace before you know. Their trucks will be just part of the scenery on the information super highway.

OK, I think I’ve gone mad. Oh well, if you ever need some mulch, gravel, firewood and the like then check these guys out.

Here’s a couple of screenies:

Let me know what you think of my latest effort.

Part of the reason for making this blog was so that when I google myself (don’t sneer ~ you do it too) there would be some relevant results. You hear it all the time, people can google you and find out all about you.

Well, imagine my disappointment when the only google results for sean bennett weren’t related to me. Believe it or not but there are actually other people out there with the same name as me.

I don’t really want my innermost thoughts, secrets and embarrassing photos online but something would be nice.

And so I have set out to get the top google position for the search “sean bennett”. I know, it’s a pretty specific search term and not the same as the top result for iPhone but it’s a start.

Having said that, I am up against some pretty stiff competition.

Apparently, there is an American Sean Bennett who is a bit of a star in the classical piano world. I’m not going to link to any sites because don’t want to improve his google index but this guy is quite something. From his wikipedia page (yeah, he’s on wikipedia):

Sean Bennett (the piano guy, not me)

• born February 14, 1979 ha! got him beat on that point… if younger equals better
• He is a former child prodigy, he performed Rachmaninoff’s Third Piano Concerto at age 14 ah… that’s one to him
• He holds the distinction of being the only classical musician to have had a top ten selection on Download.com alright, he can play the piano. him: 2, me: 1
• He holds academic degrees from Harvard University and Cambridge University and by age 24 he had taught musicology, psychology, and neuroscience at both universities and researched linguistic sciences for Noam Chomsky at MIT. Are you serious!? I guess I still have two years to beat him on that one so I’ll call it a draw for now

Anyway, getting that number one spot on google shouldn’t be too hard. His site is pretty static and hasn’t got that much content (neither do I) but at least if I can keep posting regularly then I’ll bolt past him.

And then there is Sean Bennett, the technical author. He specializes in Heavy Duty Trucks, Medium and Large bore Diesel Engines, and Computerized Vehicle Management Systems. He has published some 20 textbooks…

What have I got? A humble little blog where I talk to myself.

They don’t stand a chance.

I’m getting excited. I bought my tickets the other day for Adelaide United’s AFC Champions League Semi Final first leg match against Bunyodkor of Uzbekistan. [that was a bit of a mouthfull, wasn't it?]

This match is the biggest game in Australian club football and it’s this Wednesday. Adelaide have gone further than any other A-League club and Hindmarsh Stadium will be buzzing. The game sold out days ago.

Being part of a full Hindmarsh Stadium is great and witnessing an historic game like this will really be something special. Adding to the match is the chance to see Bunyodkor’s newest star signing – Brazilian legend Rivaldo.

He is a star. For people who don’t know Rivaldo, he is the guy who infamously caused a Turkish opponent to get a red card during the 2002 World Cup with this appalling display.

His excuse?

“I was thinking in advance, I thought that the ball was going to roll up my body and hit me in the head, therefore I tried to protect myself”

Anyway, this got me thinking about diving (or simulation as FIFA call it) and there is a lot that has been written about it. It really is a blemish on the game and there are far too many controversial incidents that have decided big games. The most painful incident (for Australians) was in the 2006 World Cup game against Italy when an injury time dive earned Italy a match-winning penalty. Heartbreaking.

If Rivaldo thinks about trying any of that stuff on Wednesday he will cop it. But on a lighter note, there is the story of Jürgen Klinsmann. His reputation as a diver attracted abuse and ill-feeling from English supporters when he joined Tottenham Hotspur in 1990. However, he managed to endear himself to supporters with this cheeky celebration after scoring on debut against Sheffield Wednesday.

Oh, I can’t wait for Wednesday.