Wednesday, July 27, 2005

Gallery Jack

My friend Matt Fawl has taken over an art gallery in Surry Hills. His aim is to build a thriving art studio and gallery with a unique focus on creative opportunities for those who would not otherwise get them. Here is Matt's Mission Statement. I hope you find it interesting. Ring Matt or leave me a message here if you want to get involved ;-)

Gallery Jack (working title) - Mission Statement

Gallery Jack’s main focus is on providing a charitable outreach program to teach art classes and help develop creativity for the underprivileged people of our society.

Gallery Jack will also focus on providing a thriving gallery / art studio space amongst its peer galleries in the inner city suburb of Surry Hills. Its aim is to achieve this by promoting to everybody, not only the underprivileged, but to the whole community as a Gallery space to exhibit and as a place to work and develop creative processes in its communal area and studio work spaces.

This is where Jack can succeed by hosting its outreach classes in an environment which is used by people who rent the studio spaces, through to established artists exhibiting in its gallery.

Where Gallery Jack is right now

Jack has a large, well established galley / workshop in Surry Hills offering, upon its lease ending towards the end of the year, the space for Jack to fulfil its mission. These premises are absolutely perfect for Jack’s objectives and the bonus is it has already been known as a successful gallery space for 4 years.

Even in Jack’s conceptual stages it has attracted some very keen interest in setting up affiliations and programs with large organizations such as The City of Sydney Council, Art Gallery of NSW and the University of NSW College of Fine Arts.

Jack has already come a long way in setting up structures and sourcing teachers and general advice as a team of very committed people are working around the clock to ensure its success. However, we are in need of help. Our biggest problem is lack of funding, lack of building material and art materials.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Dated 22/07/05


Matt Fawl, Director.

Mobile 0418 415 828

Tuesday, July 05, 2005

Who are my Sponsors?

In my athletic endeavours I'm fortunate enough to be supported by a lot of people. These are people who know me and understand the nature of my journey. My aim is simple:

"to be the best triathlete I can possibly be ... no more ... no less"

Inner City Cycles

Its the best bike shop Sydney. Why? Because they understand and deliver what I need. During my final preparations for my first Ironman (Forster 2003), I had a critical mechanical faliure which could have kept me from racing but Ainsley and the crew came through for me, located a replacement part and got my bike ready in time.

The Shop Ainsley is also the person who has given me the best explanation of how an upright road position should translate to an aerodynamic TT position (clear and simple concepts are much easier to understand). These are just a couple of examples of my good experiences with the shop. I know that great customer service is the rule rather than the exception so I feel really good about recommending Inner City Cycles.

The staff are all enthusiastic cyclists with a wealth of experience in triathlon, road, MTB and BMX. The shop is well connected to the triathlon scene and sponsors both Canberra City Half Ironman and Star City Triathlon. Besides this, Inner City Cycles offers an abundance of easily accessible expertise and exceptional value for money.

Overall its a pretty cool shop!


Pauline Lindsay and Murray Smith from Pharmanex supply me with Lifepak, Cordyceps and Overdrive nutritional supplements to enhance my training, recovery and general health.

I first met with Pauline at the Gold Coast Half Ironman in 2004. More recently Murray (and most of his family!) travelled up to Port Stephens for the Club Championships. It was great to have their support whilst I was racing and several of my friends took the opportunity to get scanned.

Working as a teacher in an enclosed space and coming into close contact with 240 children from over 20 different schools means I get exposed to whatever is going around! During the 2004 winter (before I started using LifePak) I missed some key training weeks with a pretty nasty flu. Since then I have worked to improve my chances of staying healthy. I believe that using LifePak, eating better, more rest & improved life balance been key changes. I've been in great health in 2005 and I've been able to enjoy training consistently at a new level.

lifepakLifepak is a high quality source of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and phytonutrients with a big difference. Pharmanex have developed the BioPhotonic Scanner - it represents a big advance in technology whereby a low intensity laser is used to measure the amount of carotenoid (a key antioxidant) stored in your skin. This is indicative of your body's ability to deal with free radicals, harmful chemicals which damage body cells, accelerate ageing and can cause cancer. Free Radical levels in the body are elevated by exposure to pollutants such as cigarette smoke, car exhaust fumes and excessive exercise (eg Ironman!). My skin carotenoid score was good to start with and has risen consistently since I started using LifePak. It's great to know that my body has the best protection available when I'm subjecting it to the rigours of intesive overloading aka training harder than I ever have in my life!

cordymaxoverdrive Cordyceps and Overdrive are two extra supplements that I have been using for endurance and recovery in my specific preparations for the Ironman Worlds in Hawaii in October.

Cordyceps is a natural extract from the Cordyceps Sinensis mushroom that has been used in China for over 1000 years! It is said that the Chinese Emperors used the mushroom to help them to keep up with their concubines!!! I'm using it to boost my life vitality during training and at work.

Overdrive is a herb, mineral and vitamin formulation which aims to replace key nutrients that are lost during intensive exercise. I'm using it to help me to train better and recover more quickly.

I had a really interesting experience at the NSW Club Championships soon after starting to use these 2 product. When I'm racing hard it usually feels as though I come up against a ceiling of speed which prevents me from going faster without 'blowing up', kind of like a boundary line that I can't cross without paying for it later. This race was different. It's hard to describe but I felt as though the line became less solid and I was able to push myself to go faster. I felt really strong despite the lack of any specific preparation (the event came soon after racing the Forster Ironman).

I have had some excellent experiences with the 3 products I have been trying out. You can follow the links to find out more and I have no hesitation in recommending that you try out the products if you want to experience the benefits that I have experienced. If you have any questions or comments please leave me a message.

"stay balanced, train effectively and enjoy every moment of it"