Diversions Manifold

A few days ago I took part in my third BASF Firmencup at the Hockenheim Ring. It was my best so far, 25'29 for the 4.8 km track, a two minute improvement over last time, yet leaves me with an obvious goal for next year, to beat 25 minutes. Where does that stand in relation to the best runners? Well, the best in our group ran it in 19 minutes, and he was 200th or so. I was 2500th, give or take, and there were around 12000 participants, so I didn't do too badly. I definitely felt fitter than the previous two times, and I had more energy. Energy was the biggest realisation from 2010. That year I had trained reasonably well, but I made the mistake of eating nothing other than an energy bar from lunchtime. This year I ate well at lunchtime, but kept munching at various intervals (I was at work, it being a Wednesday). I also made sure that I was well stocked for the bike ride from Heidelberg Pfaffengrund, where I work, to the Hockenheim Ring. 2011 was also my first "race&

My stance on energy is an open one: I am for a mix of available technologies. Oil will remain a key component of transportation energy for years to come Coal should be wound down (very slowly) Gas and shale gas are interesting agents for energy balancing Nuclear should be the key base energy driver Renewables should be part of the mix but should nor cannot become dominant sources Local energy (on houses or in communities) are interesting distractions from the energy requirements of whole countries Efficiency drives are necessary (and result in fascinating technological challenges in themselves) but should not return us to the dark ages I will come back to each of these as I develop my own knowledge base. My key sources of information are the now classic Sustainable Energy Without the Hot Air by Prof David MacKay and Prof Barry Brook's Brave New Climate blog, which was a key resource for me in becalming the media panic that surrounded the Fukushima Dai-ichi crisis.

I wish... somebody had taught me how to breath much earlier; how important the body is to playing; that the lips are the gateway to the trombone, but that the work is done much earlier; how important the mind is to playing; how important relaxation is to playing; that the instrument should be brought up to my posture, not the other way around. These things I now realise and know intellectually, but they are not innate. Does it matter? Well, I am where I am with orchestra, and I don't necessarily need to be at a higher level... But I do dream of it sometimes. We can all dream.