See below to find out how you can win this shirt!

An important part of goal setting that I didn’t mention in my previous post is accountability. Once you have set your goals the next step is making sure you try to reach them. Sticking to your plan is always a little bit easier if you make your goals public. If others know what your goals are, they may ask you how it is going, encourage you to persist, provide support or call you on it when you don’t follow through. I am pretty sure Magnus had this motivational aspect in mind when he made submitting goals and logging training on Attackpoint part of the High Performance Program application.

On that note, I thought I would make myself a little more accountable in my goal to reduce my CO2 emissions this year by sharing my goals with you. So where did this come from? Well, I am a member of Play It Cool, which is a group of Canadian National Team athletes concerned about climate change. I recently received a thank you package from Play It Cool for helping promote the reduction of carbon emissions. It kicked me in the butt. I like to think I am pretty environmentally aware.  In 2009, I didn’t consciously do anything to reduce the amount of carbon I emitted over what I did in 2008! I didn’t have any specific goals. That is sad. I mean you have to practice what you preach, right?

This year is going to be different. I thought I would have one goal for air travel, one for car usage and one for the home. What would have the biggest impact for the least effort (remember the “R” in SMART goal setting–realistic)? I came up with the following goals:

1. To emit 10% less CO2 from air travel. I will try to stay a bit closer to home. I think I can do a nice trip in the Yukon instead of flying somewhere. Maybe I can combine two trips to Ontario into one. One less trip to Ottawa would save 2.22 tonnes!

2. I will drive less:

a) by either running, cycling or taking the bus to work instead of driving 2 days a week. This amounts to 16km roundtrip x 2 days x 52 weeks=1664km

b) by doing all my errands in one trip or in combination with other trips. This amounts one less trip downtown per week or 14km round trip x 52 weeks =728 km

The total means I will emit .39 tonnes less of CO2.

3. I have to admit this one is challenging. I am not sure where we can save the most energy around the house.  I think the best course of action is to get an energy audit done on our house. Also, a couple of our appliances are nearing the end of their life, so when we get new ones, I will seek out the most energy efficient models.

WIN THE SHIRT

Okay, so we will add in a little extrinsic motivation as well. Play It Cool sent me this really nice 100% organic cotton shirt (size L) from Nate Organics. To be perfectly honest, there is no way I would give it away if it wasn’t too big for me. So how can you win the shirt? Easy. Post your goals for reducing your carbon emissions in the comments section of this post. Remember to make them SMART! If I get more than one entry, I will draw a name and mail it off to the lucky winner. Deadline is Tuesday, Jan 5.

Last week, I had a great chat with Sara Renner, one of Canada’s fantastic cross-country skiers. Sara told me about her personal efforts to improve and take care of the world around her, which includes the work she and her husband, Thomas Grandi, do with Play It Cool, a program they started with the David Suzuki Foundation that challenges athletes to reduce their impact on the environment.

Through the program, many summer and winter Olympians – as well as NHL players – have committed to going carbon neutral. This sets an excellent example and is a great way for athletes who regularly travel on planes and buses to do their part and show they care about the changing climate.

“I travel in jet planes and I live a really nice life and I expend a lot of carbon through my traveling for sport, but at the same time I’m trying to take personal steps to reduce,” says Sara.

She has challenged her teammates to take part in Play It Cool.  I’d love to see the Canadian ski team be the first carbon neutral team at the Olympics and inspire more athletes to do what they can to protect the earth.

We go from sweet and sentimental to yet another Super Furry Animals remake of Tron. This is Play It Cool, off 1997’s Radiator. The song rocks, and the video is mostly a mod for Actua Soccer, which is has the twin benefits of being clever and cheap.

Courtesy once again of rhisfa.

Gros bisouxxxxxxxxxxx

Junior

Voici les paroles traduite….

 Oh … you Vous
Though I see you can’t hide your tears Je vois bien que vous ne pouvez pas cacher vos larmes
I don’t want to live with all those fears Je ne veux pas vivre avec toutes ces peurs
Guess I always have to be your fool Devinez je dois toujours être votre fool
Better break it up and play it cool Better break it up et de la jouer cool
Oooh … Oooh …

There’s something wrong Il ya quelque chose de mal
Something has gone Quelque chose est allé
And your eyes are cold and lonely Et tes yeux sont froids et solitaires
Tears from no one Larmes de nul
Sitting next to you Assis à côté de vous
I feel the way you do Je pense que la manière dont vous le ferez
So is it any wonder Alors, est-il surprenant
We realize the moon is turning blue Nous comprenons la lune tourne bleu

Sweet dreams in vain Sweet dreams en vain
But who’s to blame Mais qui est à blâmer
I remember love was easy Je me souviens de l’amour était facile
And forever Et pour toujours
That was long ago C’était il ya longtemps
Oh, how was I to know Oh, combien ai-je été de savoir
You took all my affection Vous avez pris toute mon affection
And gave it to a dozen Romeos Et le donna à une douzaine Romeos

Oh … Oh … you Vous
Though I see you can’t hide your tears Je vois bien que vous ne pouvez pas cacher vos larmes
I don’t want to live with all those fears Je ne veux pas vivre avec toutes ces peurs
Guess I always have to be your fool Devinez je dois toujours être votre fool
Better break it up and play it cool Better break it up et de la jouer cool
Oooh … Oooh …

If you intend Si vous avez l’intention
To let it end Pour laisser fin
You don’t need no explanations Vous n’avez pas besoin pas d’explications
No excuses Aucune excuse
So look me in the eye Alors regardez-moi dans les yeux
Cause you don’t have to lie Cause vous n’avez pas à mentir
I wanna hear you tell me Je veux vous entendre me dire
That starting out again ’s not worth a try Qui commencent à nouveau s’ pas la peine d’essayer

Oh … Oh … you Vous
Though I see you can’t hide your tears Je vois bien que vous ne pouvez pas cacher vos larmes
I don’t want to live with all those fears Je ne veux pas vivre avec toutes ces peurs
Guess I always have to be your fool Devinez je dois toujours être votre fool
Better break it up and play it cool Better break it up et de la jouer cool

Oh … Oh … you Vous
Though I see you can’t hide your tears Je vois bien que vous ne pouvez pas cacher vos larmes
I don’t want to live with all those fears Je ne veux pas vivre avec toutes ces peurs
Guess I always have to be your fool Devinez je dois toujours être votre fool
Better break it up and play it cool Better break it up et de la jouer cool
Ooh … Hmm …

This is the story of Ronald Wycherley , better know as Billy Fury , Britain’s so called answer to Elvis Presley. In truth he was an original…he arrived on the music scene in the shadow of Elvis and in bad health …..and died before his time…..

http://www.hmv.co.uk/hmvweb/displayProductDetails.

http://www.billyfury.com/

http://sillyoldtwit.com/2006/04/04/i-remember-billy-fury-2/

I Remember Billy Fury and Blind Joe Death.

I remember Billy Fury. I remember a lot of things.
When he came to Dublin in the sixties they wouldn’t let him
perform. They literally brought the curtain down on him. That sort of
thing can happen in Dublin.

In the early eighties I had been living in London for about ten years
and made the mistake of returning to Dublin. I was back only an hour
or so and when I decided that I wanted to get out and go back to
London but they wouldn’t let me go. That’s the literal truth.

My first Fury record was “Half way to paradise”, but my very very
first record was Elvis Presley’s “Lets Have a Party”. I didn’t buy it,
a friend gave it to me. It was a 78rpm record which unfortunately
I dropped and broke within a few days. This was in the late fifties
or very early sixties, ‘cant remember the exact date. I used to play
it on an old pickup that plugged into a valve radio.
Of course music, or rather the context of music was very
different in the late fifties. There was no MTV or for most people
no t.v. at all. In Ireland there was really only one state radio station
and if you wanted to hear rock music you had to wait until after
7;00 pm to tune into Radio Luxembourg.
The good old days?
Well, as far as music goes they were really exciting times.
As for all the rest, Dublin was a grey city run by the Catholic Church.
It still is run by them. They own the schools and if you own them you own everything.
But there is a new God.The entire Irish nation worship at the shrine of Bono. Don’t get me wrong, by all accounts he’s a nice guy. But he IS worshiped here.

Most Irish people are just one step away from poverty and the
narrow-mindedness that goes with it. It seems that almost everyone owns
their own house which more often than not is paid for by the rent
from the less affluent who have no choice but to rent. And as soon
as its at least part paid for they then get another house. Ireland is a property
owning democracy. Historically, landlordism was the curse of the
land and was regarded as a great social evil. Now in the land of the
Celtic tiger its the only morality. A morality devoid of morality.
As I said in a previous blog there are a lot of homeless people
here, you can see them in their droves every day on the streets of
Dublin.

THERE IS NO LEGAL RIGHT TO SHELTER IN IRELAND.

Both Property and God are enshrined in and protected under the
Irish Constitution. Which explains in part why all the drug pushers
invest in property. And Ireland is crawling with pushers and with
the peace process……. well the Patriots have to eat too.

I remember Clarence Frogmout Henry. A great voice. ‘A great name.
There was no toilet roll in the 50’s. That’s one thing they tend not to
mention in the history books. When people went to the Gents/Ladies/little
rooms/crapper or whatever it was called they used newspaper. It was
quite normal for people to disappear for hours and everyone read them.
All joking aside the loo was a great educator.
I used to read The Beano.
I’m pretty certain that ‘Frogmouth Henry died this year. You always hurt the
one you love. That was his big hit.
I have reached that stage in life when most of the music I
listed to is sung by Dead People.
Half the Gratefull Dead are dead.

Theresa, that was the name of my first love. I used to go to the
Regal Cinema in Ringsend with her. The Regal was less than regal.
It was what was known as a flea pit. Wooden seats and a good
scratch on the way home. The guy on the door wore a dirty
uniform and hated, really hated kids. His name was Louis and he was
unpleasant to all the patrons. Theresa used to go to the regal
with her mother every night. I could never figure out why but
they spent every night there watching the same films.
I was in love with Theresa. I thought she was beautiful. It was all
very innocent.
One day I got out of bed. This was in the late seventies. I got out
of bed and did whatever I did, I can’t remember, it was a long
time age, but I do remember that I went into a record store and
in the course of rooting around I came across a record by two
guys called John Fahey and Blind Joe Death. Well I thought it was
two guys. It said so on the sleeve notes. Fahey started making records
in the 50’s. They were tiny print runs, perhaps twenty or thirty, I really
cannot remember, small print runs anyhow and he wrote the sleeve
notes himself. They weren’t printed they were actually all done by
hand and would vary from record to record. So that the biography
of, say, Joe Death would change depending on which copy you
happened to buy. The first of Fahey’s records I bought had
Fahey on one side and Blind Joe on the other and after playing it
I decided that Blind Joe was a lot better than Fahey. And so did
a lot of other people. What we didn’t know of course was that
Blind Joe Death was a figment of Fahey’s imagination.
He died a few months ago. He was one of the greats.

Life goes on. Time passes. And there is a whole generation growing
up who have never heard of Billy Fury.
Billy died, died young. He was never a healthy boy.

The good ones always die young.

Yesterday I bought myself a little treat, a DVD of Jethro Tull.
………. “Your too old to Rock and Roll, but your never

too young to die”………

See also this page ,”I remember Blind Joe Death.”http://www.metafilter.com/62267/I-Remember-Blind-Joe-Death