Someone called Nell Frizzell was having a bit of a rant in today’s paper about sportswear:
“This spring, I ran 13 miles wearing a free T-shirt from a cement supplier, a pair of leggings I got from Oxfam, a £4 sports bra from Walthamstow market and a pair of £15 trainers off Vinted. I ran it, I am sure, at exactly the same speed and with the same level of comfort as I would have in a pair of £150 designer running tights and an £86 running shirt designed by Paul McCartney’s daughter. Which is to say that I hoofed along, sweating and sniffing and occasionally stopping to wee in a bush.”
On the whole I agree with her, although I am prepared to pay for decent running shoes. Years ago when I used to go aerobics classes I was always amused by the conversations I overheard along the lines of “Oooh, what a lovely leotard! Where did you get it?“ I wore a basic black leotard and black tights but others clearly regarded going to the class as being a bit like going to a fashionista competition.
But, hey, it’s a free country. Well, at least, I think it still is. And if some people want to spend huge amounts of money on sports gear, well, that’s their business. Mind you, they should perhaps wonder about where that expensive gear is produced and if the people who made it work in sweatshops for a pittance.
As for me, I ran round the village in my old and inexpensive sportswear (with quite expensive running shoes) and all was well. It started to rain as I was on the last stretch but it wasn’t too bad.
Here though is an odd bit from the article:
“We had a member turn up at the gym in a dress one time,” says Ajaye Hunn-Phillips, a personal trainer and co-founder of Oxford-based inclusive gym The Project PT. “It was a hot day, she was going on to something afterwards, so she just came in and trained in a dress. After all, if a tennis skirt is considered fine, then why not a dress?”
Well, okay! But would you really want to go on to some social event in a dress you had got all sweaty in? Not if you want to be invited again!
In the papers online I saw a headline about the CEO of Timpson, the shoe repair and key cutting people, being given a role as prisons minister. It struck me as odd but when you read the article you realise he is a businessman of the old school, paying his taxes and doing stuff to help the community. He employs ex-offenders, offers free dry cleaning services to unemployed people who have an interview coming up and want to look their best. On the whole, a good bloke. I wonder how much he is paid.
Here’s an interesting photo posted on social media by Michael Rosen:
Here’s the explanation: The Barricades on la Rue Saint-Maur, Paris, France, 1848, during the Year of Revolution that shook the reactionary regimes of old Europe and which inspired Karl Marx to write The Communist Manifesto. It is also claimed to be the first ever photo used to illustrate a newspaper story.
And here are a couple of Michael Rosen comments of the political world:
Dear Suella
I weep with you this morning reading that the Trotskyite Starmer has abolished your brilliant Ruanda policy - probs to leave more time for him to fill Number 10 with tofu. Once we got rid of Idi Amin, Ruanda has been a terrific place.
Cilla blac et charybdis
Boris
Dear Mogg
I feel like Hamlet when he says, 'we few, we happy few, we band of brothers'. You and I and those close to us must meet in country houses and plan our next move. This Pol Pot in Number 10 will crumble and we must be ready to seize the date.
Cranium in anus
Boris
That’s all. We have two family birthdays, and the birthday of a friend of Granddaughter Number One this weekend. I am hosting a mini birthday party.
Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!
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