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Brixton news, rumour and general chat - May 2014

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Winot said:
I don't disagree, I just don't think that not voting achieves anything.

What do you imagine is going to happen if turnout continues to fall? Do you think the political class is going to have a crisis of confidence and start paying attention to people's concerns? Bullshit - they will quite happily go on serving the needs of the few.
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Of course they will - that's both their intent and their purpose.

The "crisis of confidence" that I anticipate isn't of the political class, it's of the electorate, and a crisis of confidence in the political class. I don't mean the current grumbling and minor disillusion, I mean a general demographically-defined turn away from electoral politics. It already happens in some areas, but gets dismissed (in the usual "cart before the horse" style by our politicians) as an artifact of being part of "the underclass", given that it generally manifests in poor areas. Even the number of over-50s (the single most reliable sector of the electorate, regardless of income) who vote is no longer as high or as stable as it was.
 
leanderman said:
I run because it is free and allowed me to cancel gym membership.

And it's much more efficient than swimming and gym in terms of calories burnt in total time expended. You just step out of your front door.
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Unless you live by a river or in a flood zone.
 
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editor said:
I hope criminal charges are eventually brought against those responsible for what happened at the Heygate.
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So do I, but I'm not sanguine that it'll ever happen - there are too many interested parties with the power to drag out any investigation long beyond when the findings would be useful. :(
 
ash said:
Was planning to go to Sams cafe on Acre Lane this weekend following the rave reviews here. Someone told me it was closed weekend. Does anyone know if this is true, strange if it is??
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No it's open on Saturdays. Make sure you're hungry though because their portions are very generous. I recommend the cheese omelette, chips and beans option, although we always share one plate between us (with some toast) as it's too much for us!
 
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Rushy said:
As mentioned above, fell running is a popular community sport in the industrial north - but they are tougher up there ;).
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fell running has its roots in agriculture rather than industry, and the levels of fitness resulted from spending all day up in the fells herding sheep, Walking races might be a better example of sport popular among the industrial working classes up north. btw I used factories and coal mines as examples of physically strenuous work because I am from the north but I'm sure there were equally strenuous and long hours for low pay jobs in London, the docks spring to mind or the meat pie factory on acre lane , next you'll be saying that convicts on the treadmill were the precursors of those yuppies you see sweating out dude food and imported lager out at that big posh gym opposite the craft beer place on clapham manor street.
 
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Rushy said:
Given that it is generally a good thing for the individual to exercise - and that you really can get out what you put in - what are the main barriers to breaking down perception?
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Perceptions don't change very easily. I will not be taking up jogging because I'm shit at it. As much as everyone can bang on about how lovely exercise is, if your only experience of sports and exercise is school and that wasn't a good experience, how do you encourage people to get past that?
 
boohoo said:
Perceptions don't change very easily. I will not be taking up jogging because I'm shit at it. As much as everyone can bang on about how lovely exercise is, if your only experience of sports and exercise is school and that wasn't a good experience, how do you encourage people to get past that?
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Create a new experience, the only way to do that is to put one foot in front of the other.
 
leanderman said:
I hate every metre I run. Really loathe it.
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This is also my experience, and it is why I've not run (as excercise) since about 1991.

Thanks for the namebadge, by the way. I'll be sure to get my deposit back off myself at the end of the night.
 
I tried jogging for a while but really didn't like it or see the attraction. I'd rather just walk briskly to somewhere I actually need to go, or get off the tube two stops earlier.
 
Jogging is not just about burning calories, it also increases heart rate significantly which helps keep it healthy for longer. There are tonnes of other medical benefits to jogging / high intensity cardiovascular exercises that cannot be gained from brisk walking.

But brisk walking is better than no exercise at all.
 
cuppa tee said:
fell running has its roots in agriculture rather than industry, and the levels of fitness resulted from spending all day up in the fells herding sheep, Walking races might be a better example of sport popular among the industrial working classes up north. btw I used factories and coal mines as examples of physically strenuous work because I am from the north but I'm sure there were equally strenuous and long hours for low pay jobs in London, the docks spring to mind or the meat pie factory on acre lane , next you'll be saying that convicts on the treadmill were the precursors of those yuppies you see sweating out dude food and imported lager out at that big posh gym opposite the craft beer place on clapham manor street.
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I think in terms of the roots of commercialised (and monetised) exercise as a leisure activity, you are right. Once upon a time working class jobs were hard physical labour so who on earth would go for a run after that? Middle class jobs tended to be more sedentary, so they were more open to exercise as a leisure activity, that seems to have increased with the concept of healthy lifestyles in the 80s and 90s. Plus, in common with so much today, fitness has become a retail opportunity, and who has the spare cash to spend on branded performance enhancing kit? But I think it changes over time and that's all very broad strokes- in the early Georgian era, Victorian times and again in 40s it was fashionable and high status for women to be curvy or even plump to prove they had access to plenty of high quality food and didn't have to do hard physical work. Cf fashion for smooth, white skin. At other times skinniness or cut muscles have been fashionable (along with tans)- it's complex and ever changing IMO.... It's not remotely simple historically, socially or economically
 
editor said:
I tried jogging for a while but really didn't like it or see the attraction. I'd rather just walk briskly to somewhere I actually need to go, or get off the tube two stops earlier.
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I do that too, but the evidence is that for optimum health you need a mixture of exercise types, including high intensity cardio, load bearing, toning etc. I know I feel better if I push it a bit, rather than just walking briskly between points. My mood is noticeably better after really strenuous exercise, preferably outside- the sort that makes your muscles shake afterwards, and leaves you stuff the next day.

Which all sounds slightly suggestive :hmm:
 
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