MarcForrest.com

Category: Personal

Xbox & Kinect Review

A few weeks ago a package arrived at my door that had an XBox & Kinect nicely packaged inside, to try out for a few days. I have been lusting over an Xbox for the last couple of weeks(months), and was really excited to get one to try out. So, I opened the boxes, and literally in 5 minutes, I had the whole system up & running in my lounge. Within in a few more minutes I was jumping around like a mad thing, trying to make my imaganry raft float down an imaginary river in my lounge. Soon after I had the wife next to me trying to get the damned raft to the end of the river, while collecting our imaginary coins. As you can see, so much of fun !

But. That’s where my Kinect fun ended :(

Well actually, my fun ended and my kids fun started. Over the course of the next couple of days, I was relegated to “game disc changer” & supervisor. I was banished to the couch to watch, and given the dirty evil eye, that only a 6 year old knows how to master, whenever I attempted to play.

In all seriousness, the Kinect got rave reviews and a sturdy “Thumbs up” from the kids (and the wife). The guys at XBox sent me 3 games to try out.

Kinect Adventures,which is the standard game that comes with all Kinect devices. This is the fun one which allows you to play a whack of games, including the river raft one which got us all excited at the beginning. The other game was Dance Central which my daughter loved and had all the moves down to Lady Gaga down to a T after the 2 weeks. The last game we got was called Kinectimals, which is a really cool adventure game for the kids, where you get to take your pet tiger across an island. Another sure hit with the kids.

I also managed to get the XBox live portion of the console working, which works really well (and simple to setup), and allows you to connect to friends and play against them. I am also keen to try out some of the sport & fitness games which will help with the weight loss mission I am on at the moment.

All in all the Kinect & XBox was a sure win in our house, and made things tough to explain when the daughters Birthday came around last week. I know for definet that the Kinect will be high on the “must have gadget list” for the year, even if it is just for the kids.

Thanks to the guys at Microsoft & XBox for the chance to give it a run, you have potentially made me a bit poorer :)

February 25, 2011
Awesome night out at the U2 concert in Jozi

So, on Friday afternoon at about 4 o’clock I got a phone call from the guys doing the Highveld Stereo U2 campaign, which I blogged about a couple of days ago. The phone call was pretty brief, with just one simple question, “Can you get to Joburg on Sunday to see a certain band called U2 playing to over 100,000 people ? ” The obvious answer was OF COURSE YES !!!

Pano of the stadium before the show (Click to enlarge to full size)

And with that, my weekend plans changed in a matter of seconds. A few quick phone calls to the brother, and I had a plane ticket booked to Jozi for Sunday morning, for what would turn out to be, well, “A beautiful day”
I had made arrangements with some friends in Durbs to go camping on a dads and kids weekend on Saturday night, so I woke up early on Sunday morning, and got the show on the road. I eventually got to Jozi at around 12pm, and slowly made our way to Park Station to catch a train to the FNB stadium to see U2 in action. The vibe was incredible, and when we eventually got to the stadium there were thousands & thousands of people.

I would say the biggest disappointment was spending 45 mins in a queue for a beer token and then go to a bar to get a few beers. There should have been more places selling beer tokens.
Eventually after having a cold beers, we made our way into the stadium to find our seats. I was in absolute awe as to how big the stadium is, and in even bigger awe as to how HUGE MASSIVE the stage was.
The stage is designed in a 360 degree shape, so the band can move around and the whole stadium can see them. Although, we only saw Bono twice on our side, cause were at the “back” of the stage, but the huge screens and seeing the standing crowds kinda made up for that.

The production of the concert was unbelievable. I honestly don’t think I have ever seen anything as slick as that, and the huge screens & video production were amazing. I also got the opportunity to (finally) meet Tinus from Fancam, who did a 360 pano shot of the crowd, which I reckon is gonna be amazing.

All in all a HUGE big thanks to the guys at Highveld Stereo for the tickets, it was well well worth it getting up to see this once in a lifetime opportunity, so glad I did it :)

February 14, 2011
Getting fit with Kettlebells

If you follow me on Twitter & Facebook, you may have seen my raving (and sometimes not being able to walk) about doing Kettlebells with the guys from FluxMotion here in Durbs.

As part of my #Project2011, the ideal goal is to shed the KG”s and start leading a much healthier lifestyle. The riding is really going well, and I have to admit I have really improved since starting out just over a month ago. The hill climbs I used to struggle with are becoming so much easier. I have also started doing a few lengths in the pool at lunchtime, which is a great work out and way to relax during the day.

But, the biggest change I have made is that I took up Kettlebells. What are Kettlebells ? See the pic on the right -> Think, a cannonball with a handle, and you on the right track :)
The weights come in different sizes and after staring out on a 4kg, I’m up to an 8kg now. They go up to about 79kg’s. The main technique of Kettlebells is a swinging motion with different styles to choose from. Using this basic premise, you have different muscle group work outs.

You might be thinking, 4kg’s, a swing, pah…what workout ? But let me tell you, this is probably, by far, one of THE best workouts I have ever had. After doing them for about 3 weeks, I am already seeing huge results in weight loss & muscle density as well as strength.

Flux is based in Durbs & Ballito, but they are expanding all over the country. From what I hear Cape Town is on the cards soon, and there are partners in Jozi who offer classes. They are also opening a Corporate wellness division, where they will be going into companies, and do ad-hoc training and advise to your staff. Also opening later this month is a Flux Wellness gym in Umhlanga.
We are really lucky here in Durbs, because some of the classes take place on the beach early in the morning, and a quick swim in the sea after, and you still in time for work ! Bonus :)

Check out the Flux Motion website – FluxMotion.net, for more details, or visit the Facebook Fan page for updates and photos of some of the classes. You can also follow Flux on Twitter for daily updates of classes, and schedules etc.

All I can say is, if you haven’t tried it yet, I highly recommend it. I can see this helping LOADS with my #Project2011 ;)

February 11, 2011
My 1st Mudman Triathlon – Hermannsburg

If you had told me 6 months ago that I would be taking part in my first triathlon in 6 months time, I probably would have laughed at you, taken a bite of my pizza and washed it down with an ice cold Hansa :)

Needless to say, life has some magic & interesting ways of working things out, and yesterday afternoon saw me taking part in my first ever triathlon. For me, this is a HUGE step personally. Since starting out with my #Project2011 about a month ago, I have made a complete turnaround on my lifestyle (More detail in later posts)
I have gone on a fantastic eating programme, taken up Kettlebells (post about this soon), Mountain biking on the Cannondale at least once a week, swimming and generally trying to restore order in my life. So far, I can honestly say this is the best I have felt in years, but there is still a LOT of work ahead, and I just need to maintain focus.

So back to the triathlon. The series is called the Mudman, which is a local series of 4 fun events in and around KZN, and the first one took place yesterday in a really beautiful part of the country called Hermannsburg, about 20km outside of Greytown. The town is better known for it’s German school, which is where the event took place. I opted into the half race, which consists of a 375m swim in a dam, 10km mountain bike through the pine forests, and a 2.5km run around the dam.

Pano of the finish

The race took place in the afternoon, and the swim was up first. I had been doing a few lengths at the Kings Park pool in the week, so had a bit of swimming training in, but swimming in a dam is a whole different story. No place to stand, and dam water tastes kak ! But it went pretty good, and I was out the water in around 20 mins. The run up to the transition area, where you get your bike, was around 250m, and I was buggered by the time I got up to the bike. But I took a bit of time out, and got kitted up, and got on the bike. I have been doing a few rides on the bike, and I think it definitely helped. I did walk a bit as well, but I was pretty happy with the ride. The first part was quite a climb, but at the top, I got a cup of Coke at the one watering station, and that gave me the energy boost I needed. After 1:05 hours I finally got off the bike, and prepared for the run.(Runkeeper activity of the ride)

For those that know me, my frame is not built for running(yet), and I always knew this was going to be the tough one. I hadn’t done much running training, so I told myself I would take it easy. And that I did. I will admit that I walked most of the route, but did a few short jogs. After 35 mins (Runkeeper activity), I finally crossed over the finish line. There was this awesome feeling of joy & achievement for me. It felt amazing ;)

Done & Dusted. Awesome !!

An amazing sunset, after an amazing day…

My total time was 1:58, and I was really happy with the time. Considering that I would have never thought I would be doing this, I am beyond ecstatic, and am looking forward to the next one which takes place on the 6th March at Albert Falls dam. The guys that I did it with have all made a “pact” that we will try and do all the events, and at the last one, we will do the full distance, which is double all the distances. I know that with a lot of training, this should be do-able, and am really looking forward to it :)

February 6, 2011
Project 2011 is a go

I’m not really one to make new years resolutions, mostly because like SO many others, I never stick to them. But that said, this year, I decided to change a few things in my life. Things that can be changed quite easily, without all the pressures of “sticking” to them, and having fun at the same time.

Enter “Project 2011”. My personal “Lifestyle change” project for 2011.

For the past few weeks, I have been chatting to the guys over at Cannondale South Africa, who have agreed to sponsor me a 2010 Cannondale Trail SL2 (valued at around R10,000) mountain bike for a while. Time to get fit, and hit the mountain bike trails, and get some fresh air, and well….lose some of that horrible weight I have following me around :) I will also be watching what I eat, while trying to shed the KG’s…

My good mate Rich McLennan has offered to take me out on the bike, and teach me the ins and outs of how to get going on my new bike. I have been wanting to start riding for a while now, but have simply never got round to it, and never got me a bike. So now, I should be out on the Mountain bike trails at Holla Trails here in Ballito in no time.

So, expect a few more “lifestyle” related posts in the next couple of months. I am looking to showing off some cool gadgets which can be used with mountain biking, as well as sharing some cool iPhone apps that you can use to make it more fun. Kinda like making the geek fit ;)

I got a lot of work ahead of me, and am really really excited about my pet project, and will be updating my site with info on rides & progress throughout the year. Oh ja, if you looking for a bike, lemme know, and I will put you in touch with the good people at Cannondale…

January 3, 2011