Make me get off my arse and do something worthwhile

So what has Our Man done to make the world a better place? How about a list?

1. Made smart arse comments about dodgy Japanese politicians.

2. Taken the piss out of crap robots.

3. Found any old excuse to run pictures of the DPJ's Kumiko Hayakawa (here's her latest from her blog)

4. Er, that's about it.

Well now he really is going to do something Inspirational, Selfless and Sweaty.

Yes, he's going to do something for charity. He's going to teach the world to sing in total harmony. Well, not really. In fact not at all. Here's the deal:

1. Our Man runs/walks/crawls round the Abikan Inland Sea (also known as Teganuma - a formerly putrid cesspit that is now a place of cement, er, scenic beauty) in a half marathon (21km - that's 13 miles in old money) on October 25th.

2. To cheer him on his way to a heart attack, you dear reader, can sponsor him with as little or as much as you like on his fundraising page right here. It's painless because you can use your credit card, or someone else's. That works even better.

3. The money goes to Justgiving, a disreputable holding firm with a world HQ in Bermuda - just joking - a well-established charity site back in the UK.

4. They then take a tiny cut to pay for their subscription to the Guardian and the rest of the money goes to Book Aid International. For every two pounds (¥300/$3?) they can get a brand new book into the hands of someone who really needs it in Sub-Saharan Africa and other war-torn places where reading is a valued skill, not a way to spend the workday "researching" on Facebook. The charity is right here. But don't take Our Man's word for it, John Irving is into it and David Cameron.

5. So, click here, donate, and Our Man will thank you in a personal pre-typed bog standard message.

6. Now, Our Man just has to start training. Ahem, piece of cake.