As many of you know, and a few may even have the misfortune to witness, myself and my mighty ukulele made our world debut last a couple of weeks ago at the Hadrian’s Walk wrap up party.

Here’s a photo of me looking dynamic and rock star like:

I’m incredibly grateful to Rich, Rich, Paul and Roger for letting me play alongside them. And Rich Bassinder in particular for badgering me to go through with it when I tried to make feeble nervous excuses as to why I shouldn’t. For the record I joined in on “Girls in their Summer Clothes”, “With a Little Help From My Friends”, and a fair old chunk of “500 Miles” until I stopped because I was paranoid I was playing out of tune (I wasn’t apparently, although I’m yet to be convinced).

I must point out that by no means was I any good. In fact I was rather bad. But the room was full of friends with forgiving natures and so it didn’t really matter.

That’s not to say that there wasn’t some pretty impressive talent on display. Not only are the guys themselves pretty damn skilled, but there was a very cool star turn from Craig on the harmonica for a couple of numbers. It’s true what they say you know, we bald men really can play the blues.

And you know what? I really enjoyed myself. Not particularly the playing in front of an audience bit (although that was fun), but the being part of a band.

As anyone who’s known me for more than a couple of years will tell you, I am a man of fleeting passions. I pick up hobbies like a veritable Mr Toad. Flitting from one to another like a butterfly with ADHD. And amongst my various interests over the years I’ve toyed with playing a number of instruments: guitar, piano, accordion, and now of course the ukulele.

But I’ve never actually played alongside anyone else. Which is a real shame because it’s fantastic. The feeling of being a cog in a machine that’s pumping out music that actually worth listening to is amazing. And I really got into it. Kerry said she even noticed me jigging about a little bit on a couple of the numbers. Not much mind, I am severely tethered by my self consciousness when doing anything even approaching the suburbs of dancing. But from me a slight shift of weight from one leg to another is equivalent to a full on break dance routine from someone else, so relatively speaking I was basically stage diving.

So I had a great time. Although judging by the photos that I’ve seen of the evening it didn’t actually look like it. Oli even caught my eye at one point and told me to smile so as not to wreck a photo he was trying to take. But what can I say, I’m the Morrissey of the uke world, it’s just the way I roll.

I’m not sure if I’ll ever play with the band again. They perform extremely infrequently, and anyway I think muscling in on a paying gig would be stretching the boundaries of friendship a little too far. But it was a hell of a lot of fun and has certainly inspired me to practice a lot more recently. I’ve even managed to master the previously elusive “E” chord now so the world is my oyster.

Amy and I are even developing a mighty fine version of Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing” which, providing you close your eyes, block your ears, and go and stand three villages away almost sounds like the Glee version. Almost.

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One of the reasons I came out of my blog sabbatical before it’d even really begun is because I wanted to announce my participation in a rather exciting blogging project:

The Coalition of Awesomeness!

To quote the tagline: The Coalition of Awesomeness is a place where bloggers of awesomeness blog about things that are awesome.

There’s a lot of awesomeness in their I’m sure you’ll agree.

To be slightly more specific it’s a group of faintly geeky guys from all over the world coming together to muck around and write about stuff we probably should have grown out of a long time ago. If you’ve ever hung around the comments section of Lee’s blog then you probably know most of us already. And all the Hadrian’s walkers will know the delightfully profane Arjan (that Holland world cup match will stick in my mind for a long time)

I kicked the whole shebang off at the beginning of the week with a post about my greatest ever video game achievement. I’m quite pleased with it too, so go check it out.

And while I’m plugging stuff, don’t forget to check out our Midnight Movie Club Podcast every Wednesday. This week we’re talking about the 1993 film Demolition Man. Whats more we actually stay generally on topic this week, which is a first for us. You can even listen to it below should you be too lazy to click on over to our main site

 

 Standard Podcast: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (12)

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Drum roll please:

£26,000

Bloody amazing. Well done all the walkers, and a huge thank you to everyone who sponsored us. You are all fantastic.

£26,000. That’s $40,134 US dollars. Or €31,083 Euro.

As I say, bloody amazing.

The huge list of people I need to thank for making such a incredible sum possible is almost beyond comprehension. But most of all I need to thank every single person who did that 84 miles across the country, be they going east to west, west to east, or peddling furiously on the back of a bicycle. I am honored by your comradeship, good humor, and dogged determination to get the job done. Every penny you raised contributed to that sum, and for that you’ll have my eternal gratitude.

Thank you.

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Yes, I know I said I was taking a hiatus, but I just thought I’d resurface briefly in order to invite you all to a special “Welcome Home” party for Hadrian’s Walk.

This isn’t another attempt at wringing cash out of people. In fact it’s just the opposite. We’re throwing it as a thank you for everyone who went on the walk, and everyone who supported us.

All are welcome, the more the merrier. Bring your friends and your family. The only thing we ask is that you let Neil know if you’re coming so he knows how much food to put on (did I mention the free food? Yes, there’ll be free food!). Email him at: info@thejosephsalmontrust.org.uk

There will be a live band too: Hadrian and the Walkers featuring our very own Rich Brook, Craig Kelly, and Rich Bassinder. And in keeping with the theme of charity, the band are allowing me to plink and plonk on my ukulele for a couple of songs in a Linda McCartney esque way. There are even plans afoot for me to play the cowbell.

There will also be a written quiz, photos of the walk on display, the drawing of the raffle, and the unveiling of the grand total. And cheap beer too, lots and lots of cheap beer.

So if you are in driving distance of Huddersfield why not pop by for a bit. It’d be great to see you.

This Saturday 24th of July, 7:30pm until 11ish, Marsh Liberal Club (31 New Hay Road, Huddersfield, HD3 4AL). Be there or be square.

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The eminently quotable Gary once told me that whenever he finishes one of his epic multi day long distance cycle rides he tends to hurl his bike into the corner of the garage and can’t bring himself to touch it again for several months.

Hadrian’s walk was great. In fact it was bloody awesome. But it was also an incredible strain. Not only the event itself, but the run up. I’m not naturally the most organised of people. In fact I’m the very antithesis of organised. And so planning and implementing such a big event was like trying to squeeze a gorilla into a size 14 dress. It’s possible, but there was a lot of creaking at the seams.

This blog is my bicycle. It’s the vehicle I used to convert all that effort into actual results. And pretty amazing results they were too. Not only have we raised over £20,000 for an exceptionally good cause, but we had a fantastic time doing it too.

On the walk I made new friends, and cemented old ones. I walked 84 miles across the entire width of the country without any significant injury or negative after effects. And nothing went wrong, which is the real amazing bit. No one died, every hostel we booked was expecting us, and the walkers were able to have three square meals a day.

That’ll do pig, that’ll do.

But now it’s over, and all of a sudden my life is my own again.

I think it’s highly likely that I’m going to let All That Comes With It go to fallow for a little while. My enthusiasm for it has taken a real dip recently. I’m not good at being creative when I feel obliged to be so – that’s one of the reasons I’ll never be a writer. And with the need to plug the walk constantly over the last few months I’ve increasingly felt that the blog was a chore rather than a pleasure.

The urge to blog will return I’m sure, but for now I need a rest.

Which isn’t to say I’m going to be completely absent from the internet. I’ll still be doing the weekly podcast with Lee (I have far too much fun doing that to let it slide) and there is also a rather awesome collaborative project that I may be getting involved in soon.

I’ll still be hanging around twitter too, although maybe not as much as previously.

I hope no one feels like this is me kicking them in the teeth. I really appreciate all the support that the walk has got from the blogosphere and we wouldn’t have been able to raise half as much for the Trust without it. But I’m tired and need a break lest I slide into resentment and disgruntlement and end up impulsively deleting everything in a fit of pique.

Of course, now I’ve written this I’ll probably have an irresistible urge to post tomorrow and end up eating my words. But as it stands, it’s goodbye. At least for now.

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The mighty Hadrian’s Walkers are victorious.

You know what? It turns out that 84 miles is quite a long way. Who’d have thunk it.

More later. For now, bath, bed, and ibuprofen.

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By the time you read this I’ll be on the train up to Newcastle in order to kick start Hadrian’s Walk.

I’ve sat down with a calculator and worked out that once you add gift aid, and subtract processing fees charged by Justgiving.com we have raised a staggering:

£17,250

That’s pretty damn impressive stuff. And the fat lady has yet to sing on the fundraising, there’s still room for a few more pennies in our buckets if you want to help us reach our target of £20,000.

But I won’t be around to pester you for it as I’ll be trudging across the country. The hike itself doesn’t actually start until tomorrow, but I and a few others are going up early in order to get an additional 5 miles in before it begins.

Because we’re idiots basically.

Anyhow, see you when we get back. Providing I haven’t died on route of course.

You can donate here: http://www.justgiving.com/hadrianswalkers
You can buy a raffle ticket here: http://www.justgiving.com/hadriansraffle
You can buy a Buff here: http://www.justgiving.com/hadriansmerchandise

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I sat down this evening to write another post trying to persuade people to donate to the Joseph Salmon Trust.

But then I asked myself, just who did I think was reading this that hasn’t donated already? And if they hadn’t, what was I going to write that would be able to persuade them to open their wallet?

Not much I suspect. In fact a lot of people may have stopped reading already, being pretty bored of the whole thing.

There are also probably a few people who are waiting to see if I survive the walk before donating. And that’s fine. In fact I’m kind of curious to see if I’ll live through it myself. But again, nothing I write here is going to affect the amount they choose to give a great deal.

So what do I do now?

To be honest that’s what this week has felt like pretty much. This walk has taken over my existence for the past six months, but now there isn’t much left to do except wait until it actually starts.

So if you’re reading this the odds are you’ve already supported the walk, and for that I’m profoundly grateful. People’s generosity with their time, effort, and cold hard cash has been absolutely staggering. Our total raised is currently standing at £15,575. Without all the incredible support and participation of so many people I’d have probably been able to manage about 0.05% of that. Seriously – 0.05%.

Bloody amazing.

There is a big thank you post in the offing. In fact it’s looming over me like a big bloody monolith so numerous are the people I need to thank and so paranoid am I that I’m going to leave someone out. But that’s for after the walk. For now I’ve got one last favour to ask.

I’ve probably reached everyone I’m likely to reach. But I haven’t reached everyone you’re likely to reach. In the coming week if you haven’t done so already (and many of you have) if you could mention the walk, the walkers, and the cause on your own blog, Facebook, and twitter stream then I would be incredibly grateful.

This is something that I’m not really planning on doing again on this scale. The stress and strain on my time, home life, and nerves has been pretty immense. And additionally I’m making moves to shift the focus of this blog in a direction that will lose the interest of all the PR companies and corporations that I’ve been milking on behalf of the Trust.

In short I think this is going to be pretty much my last hurrah in terms of massive fundraising efforts for the Joseph Salmon Trust. And dammit I want it to count. There are 60 of us buggers dragging our arses across the width of the country and it would be a shame for us not to reach our full potential.

We’ve raised £15,575. But not in one go. That £15,575 is made up of £5, £10, and £20 pound notes. Every penny counts and every time a donation comes in the total creeps ever higher. Anything you can do to publicise what we’re doing and perhaps push our total just that little bit further would be massively appreciated.

Oh, and try to get someone to buy the Buffs too. We’ve sold about 80 of them, but I still have another 80 of the fuckers cluttering up my lounge.

You can donate here: http://www.justgiving.com/hadrianswalkers
You can buy a raffle ticket here: http://www.justgiving.com/hadriansraffle
You can buy a Buff here: http://www.justgiving.com/hadriansmerchandise

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Kerry’s still going strong with her iPhone project 365. This was yesterdays:

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I keep being tempted to have a go at it as well. Except, well, she’d win (what are you talking about? Of course it’s a competition!).

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