Photoshoped?

Part one.
I've been reading a kind of a lot about news photography/photo journalism/faked photos lately, mostly in regards to good/cool/editorial Photoshop chops, and then today I came across this photo and I thought, "No way is this real..." But I haven't read anything that purports it as a fake. It which case, it's quite the picture. Or wait, does that matter?Part two.
Does it matter if a photo is "real" or not? Do we still believe by seeing? And isn't the term "Photoshop Fake" redundant? :)

In terms of judging imagery for its visual appeal, I don't think that these things matter all that much really. I like to look at pretty things, and most of the time I just don't care how the image came to be. Other times I'm excited by images that show the mastery that a person can have over their images, equipment and software. It's when these images are purported as News that things can get confusing.

How about this: What's the difference between a photographer dodging and burning his photograph and increasing the contrast to bring out the smoke of a burning building (all very old-school) and a (new school) photographer using Photoshop tools and brushes to make that same smoke look more menacing?

Or what if the above photo is chopped/faked, but based on factual information? (The gator was seen holding the zookeeper's arm in its jaws, knuckles curled and severed 3/4ths of the way between the wrist and the elbow - with 3" of tattered bloody flesh trailing out the severed end...) Gruesome, right? But why not make that picture to get people's attention? I think some gory headline would be just as sensational as a "fake" photo.

Thoughts?

(...all of that just so I can show a crazy picture that I saw today...)

Re: Huckabee

Hey [friends],

Some of you have... expressed your concerns, shall we say, over my casual support of Republican Presidential candidate, Mike Huckabee in my last post. And although I might not be entirely coherent, educated, or logical in my theories on Presidential politics, I thought I might be able to clear up my stance a little bit - at least for this upcoming election.

For one, I don't actually think that I'd vote for Huckabee if it turned out to be him verses, say Clinton... especially not based on one ad. (Now if Chuck Norris was standing next to the ballot booths while I was voting, that'd be another story!) :)

It is interesting though, that because of the "political climate" in America, I find myself caring less about what a candidate claims that s/he stands for, and rather more about the impression that said candidate makes on me [or doesn't] as a loyal, trustworthy citizen. And Huckabee seems to be a solid, stand up guy. I agree with you that on most [if not all] accounts, Huckabee takes a different stance than I might on the issues, and so technically I shouldn't even consider him. But I find myself trusting him more than, well... most of the viable candidates.

Some of these candidates I see as bearing a cross, or caring an agenda that's outside of doing the best for the country. (Power? Pride? Fame?) And I hate watching these debates where candidates squirm their way around answers and try to distract us from the severity of the issues with snappy comebacks and winning smiles... So I'm cynical about the process and the people in it, and I feel that regardless of where a candidate stands these days, I want them to be genuine. Because the reality is, if we have a genuine leader in the top position in this country (and not a no-brained, power-hungry-war-monger), the power will stay with the people - and it will be the people making unified decisions on the big issues with the President as their voice.
An ideal President doesn't have to agree with me on everything. They just have to be sensible enough to understand the many sides of the issues at hand, and selfless enough to act in the best interest of the country. All of the candidates say that they could do that. For the Rebulicans, Huckabee seems the most capable.

Maybe he's just the best actor. Yeesh.

Like I said, I probably wouldn't vote for him over the Dems top pick next fall. On paper, he stands just too far to the right. There's just that part of his character that I think is missing, for the most part, in politics today. Obama is the other candidate that I find some of that same quality in. I think that he would still be carrying quite a bit as the first black Pres., but the man's genuineness is apparent. Huckabee and Obama talk like they believe what they're saying - whereas Clinton, Romney, Giuliani, Edwards, McCain... I suspect them of having their fingers crossed half the time they're talking...

Sorry. There's a big mix of patriotic idealism and cynicism going on in this post, and honestly I'm still pretty lost. If anything though, this race is interesting, and likely, the results will be historical. And I hope that the following 4-8 years follow suit. [Well, historical in a good way... not like the past 8 years!]

Huckabee/Norris '08

Well, that's pretty much un-toppable. I'd have to say that my choices for President now go: 1. Barack Obama, 2. Mike Huckabee.

I think I'm serious. Along with sounding like the most reasonable Republican candiate since I've been alive (...and boy is that Mitt Romney a douche bag... ), Huckabee now comes out with the best campaign platform ever. BECAUSE CHUCK NORRIS SAID SO.

Although you can't help but think of the new Chuck Norris jokes that this will spur...
"Chuck Norris endorsed Mike Huckabee for President, but Huckabee still didn't win... because everyone wrote in CHUCK NORRIS! on their ballots instead. And Chuck Norris wouldn't accept the Presidency [as usual] because he didn't want to downgrade to President, from his current status of Chuck Norris".

Beard Cap

Ha ha!

I was going to buy this for Davin, but then I found out they're $135...

Too bad Davin.

Happy Thanksgorging.

Yeah, but can he do Elliot's Exploding-Wine-Glass-Trick?

I busted out the Gyro Ring (aka Jitter Ring, Chatter Ring) at a party last night in an attempt to steal some of the fire out from under the Wii: that I knew would be otherwise dominating the nerdiest of party goers' attentions. I'm happy to say that my friends are at least as 'cool' as they used to be (I definitely am), and many of them really had fun with the toy - and Elliot even invented a new trick... (I wish we had a video of that... Sorry Baker and Marie!) :)

I got one of these at a toy store back in high school, right after the Yo-Yo craze, and recently decided to try to get my hands on one again. Not knowing what the thing was called, it took some creative Google searching to come up with the right item, but I eventually found them for sale (on Ebay) . I'm already as good as I once was, but that's not saying much. I expect that I'll play with it a couple more times in the next month or two, maybe learn a new trick, and then back to the closet it'll go.

But it'll be fun while it lasts.

SGIA '07 - Orlando

Me, working the booth in Orlando.

At the end of last month I got to go to Orlando with 'the guys' here at Northwest Graphic Supply and help out at our Screen Systems booth. Mostly, I acted as a general technician and TJET operator, but I got to try out my share of sales pitches on the passing crowds as well. (Usually my customer interactions went something like, "Oh yeah, that's a great product. What's in it?/What's it used for?/What's the distributor discount? etc... Oh, I don't know, I'm just the booth lackey, but I can have you talk to one of our sales people as soon as one's free... How 'bout this weather?") But by the end of the show I actually felt like I had helped out quite a bit.

These pictures are from inside the Convention Center. Uncrating (above), working the booth (left, below right). Bob, Dave and Ben (and me, in the right corner) are in the picture here to the right. Alan (my boss, the company owner) and John were also at the show, but we took turns manning the booth so everyone had time to wander the floor. You can see Canon has a booth a couple rows behind us, Anatol (a big screen printing press maker) is right next to us, 3M was off to the left a couple rows. Also at the show were Epson, Brother, HP, Graphtec... basically all of the big names in printers/printing, as well as thousands of smaller outfits you've never heard of.


It was pretty cool after all was said and done. And definitely a nice break from the day-to-day type of work I do at the shop. (And we actually got to go to some pretty incredible restaurants for dinner each night too!) I hope that they decide to take me again next time... or maybe I'll have to go as a representative of NWG to one of the international shows I hear my boss talking about.

Paris anyone? :)

Grounds for Impeachment

I started reading this article, Joseph A. Palermo: The Starr Report: How to Impeach a President, not knowing exactly what it was all about, but I quickly guessed where it was going... Still though, I thought the article well written and thought provoking -- enough so that I could realistically consider the points that it raises for the impeachment of our current president.

For the most part, the arguments I've heard for Bush's impeachment have come across as bitterly idealistic and as unhelpfully accusatory as the allegations against Clinton that are noted in the above article. (The Palermo article is mostly about Clinton/Starr, and builds a case against Bush by weakening Starr's and the public's attack of Clinton.) But this article seems sincere, and sincerely worried about the state of our country and it's unfortunate leadership.

And where I'll certainly agree (with my terribly limited knowledge of US and Presidential history) that Bush is the worst President of all time, I can't see him doing anything as horrible as people like Palermo are forecasting... Again, that kind of thinking sounds like 'bitter-liberal' to me... But after reading this article I have to agree, if Clinton deserved impeachment, so does Bush. Not that necssarily I think we should go there.

See, as partisan as this country is, I wouldn't want impeachment to become a trend for every President down the line... Then I suppose it just goes downhill until we have another civil war.

Sorry. Not funny. Thoughts?

ZIPskinny

Where are you? ... Who are you? Who are your neighbors? Is my 'hood denser than yours? Population-wise or education-wise? Richer? Culturally or Economically?

ZIPskinny.com has the answers! (In the strictly statistical sense.)

Based on the data from the last census. I found it pretty interesting.


Try popular zips, like 90210...

So... That shut me up.

Flaming Moe didn't qualify for Nationals 2007, where we likely would have been seeded, like, 5th. Weird? Frustrating? Absolutely. Every time I look at the Nationals seedings I realize I'm still looking for our name. But that's that. The season is over, and we're all still fine (and great Ultimate players). Maybe you can get more out of me in person, but that's all I plan on writing about it.

Fortunately, there's still cool stuff on the internet.

Like this ballerina image.

Apparently, some people can see this spinning one way, and some the other. I can only see it spinning one direction, but I won't tell you which until after you look at it (in case the suggestion could affect how you see it?).


And ok, one more thing about Flaming Moe.

We did have a great season. I'm not going to say that it was so good that not going to Nationals doesn't matter, but we still did get to play with the top teams in competitive games all season, and those are experiences that we shouldn't soon forget.

Best of luck to Poodle, the VBBs, Rackages...

$499 to Ireland! Inclueds Flight, Car & Hotel!

Another great resource from The NYTIMES Freakonomics blog:
Arthur Frommer Online: Fly/drive Ireland (in winter) for only $499 is again available to each of two persons traveling together, for bookings until September 28

There are lots of great travel ideas and bargains that I shouldn't even be considering right now... but I'll be glad that this site is around someday!

What I've been saying for years. :)

"People often talk about saving the planet. But really, the planet will be just fine without us, and the issue is more whether our species will be smart enough to survive the climactic and biological changes we are wreaking on ecosystems."

Graham Hill, founder and CEO of Treehugger.com

I've been reading the Freakonomics blog on nytimes.com lately, and I came across this article about Global Warming today. Besides finding the above quote (basically echoing the argument that I use against 'environmentalists' when I feel preached at), I thought it interesting to discover that the article was repeatedly suggesting, if not promoting the unpopular?/realistic?/scientific? argument that one person really can't do anything. The real point being that it's up to our governments to do anything that would actually have a planetary effect.

Maybe it's just my personality type, but I find that kind of logical/cynical honesty refreshing. I feel that the One-Person-CAN-Make-a-Difference!-type arguments are generally corny and not-powerful. Sometimes I even think that they hinder the development of the kinds of technologies and legislature that could actually help these situations, because people start to think that turning off the lights is all it'll take... In the end it can really dumb down the issue.

And it seems like these contributors are all sticking with the argument (for action against Global Warming) that [I think] you're stupid not to buy into - no matter what side of the political scale you weigh in on - and that is: No matter what the cause of Global Warming is, it is happening, and it could make life for humans difficult in years to come, so why not try to do something about it? The cause matters in terms of HOW we fight Global Warming (whether it's a naturally occurring temperature fluxuation or completely human-caused, or whatever...), sure, but WHY NOT do something about it either way? The only reason that I see for the massive onslaught of GW Doubters is $. (Dolla dolla bill, y'all.)

And I'll be pissed if in 50 years I find out that all the penguins had to die because the US was too scared to offend Big Oil to not consider the funding and development of alternative technologies.

2nd place is the first loser?

Heavyweights in Chicago lived up to its name this year with Elite contenders from all over the nation. Going into the tournament Flaming Moe was the 2nd seed to Slow White - we'd seen Slow once in Boston (where Moe won) and once at Spawnfest (where Moe lost). Slow proved themselves the better team once again in Chicago, beating Moe handily, 15-7.

What this means: Unfortunately, barring some disastrous upsets early in the series, Moe doesn't have a shot at a #3 seed going into Nationals.

What this also means: Holy sh!t Moe! So you lost to the [now] #3 team in the nation... That makes us what? The worst team ever to be the 4th best team in the nation? Yeah...whuh? Hell no!

Moe has earned it's place at the top this season. Start owning your successes Moe! Realize who we are. If you're on Flaming Moe 2007, you're on the fastest, toughest, hardest working, best looking team in Mixed Ultimate. It doesn't get much better. It CAN'T get much better than this.

Sure, there's room for improvement, and we're going to make adjustments. But from here on out, for every point and every game, you're going to know - but more importantly, we are going to know - that Flaming Moe is on the field.

P.S. - I don't think that my readership extends very far into the Ultimate world (or the world in general) but for those of you that do read this; yeah, this is a rather candid and personal look at Flaming Moe, but I couldn't be prouder to be the first to tell you how well this team is going to play throughout the 2007 club series.

...So watch out.

Spawnfest Elite Highlights.

Flaming Moe went 3 and 3 this past weekend in Washington. We lost close ones to both Shazam Returns and Mischief (again, we lost to them in Boston too), but we also lost to a better looking Slow White (compared to in Boston, where they were still in try-out mode). We had close wins against Brass Monkey and the Flycoons, and a more decisive win against The Horde. I think that it was in the back of many a Moe's mind that we might crack Mischief or Shazam in Washington to go 1 and 1 with them on the pre-series season. Unfortunately, that didn't happen for us... It did, however, happen between us and Slow White when they beat us Sunday morning... So that'll make for an exciting Heavyweights rubber-match.

Someone said that someone said that "[we're] losing to the teams that we're supposed to be losing to this season," and I suppose that's right... however little it seems to matter when you're down by a couple points in the second half... But now, a couple days after the tournament, it does lend some perspective on where Moe is, and where Moe is going this season. And that's exciting too. Turns out I mis-quoted here. The original statement said something about how we were beating the teams we were supposed to be beating... but I'll stand by what I said about us losing as well. :)

Also in Washington, probably the most entertaining game of Ultimate I've ever watched...

The Buzz Bullets of Japan vs. Sockeye.
(and other clips from UltiVillage... the top 5 or so are from last weekend)

The Buzz Bullets (who won Worlds in Australia last year) had two close games against Seattle last week and displayed an incredible array of talent and athleticism - and spirit, despite the games not ending in their favor. Sockeye must have played well to have won both games, but it seems nobody was watching them... I will say one thing though: the reason the Buzz Bullets were so fun to watch (well, besides their awesome spirit), was because you could see them trying their hardest, every second of every point. Sockeye's game was generally dismissed as boring, but they won.... They win. They're a team that wins. By sticking to their game, with only those brief flashes of brilliance when something goes 'wrong'. Then they're right back on track again. Flaming Moe probably aligns more with the Buzz Bullets style of play, but could learn a lot more from Sockeye... Anyway, enough about that. Watch those clips. They're awesome.


Some more pictures of Moe's and other action from Spawnfest/ECCs (thanks for compiling Baker).

Moes:
http://photos. scobelwigginspho tography. com/displayimage .php?album= 73&pos=4
http://photos. scobelwigginspho tography. com/displayimage .php?album= 73&pos=5
http://photos. scobelwigginspho tography. com/displayimage .php?album= 73&pos=11
http://photos. scobelwigginspho tography. com/displayimage .php?album= 73&pos=12
http://photos. scobelwigginspho tography. com/displayimage .php?album= 73&pos=14
http://photos. scobelwigginspho tography. com/displayimage .php?album= 73&pos=17
http://photos. scobelwigginspho tography. com/displayimage .php?album= 73&pos=33
http://photos. scobelwigginspho tography. com/displayimage .php?album= 73&pos=35
http://photos. scobelwigginspho tography. com/displayimage .php?album= 73&pos=83
http://photos. scobelwigginspho tography. com/displayimage .php?album= 73&pos=84

Cool:
http://photos. scobelwigginspho tography. com/displayimage .php?album= 73&pos=50
http://photos. scobelwigginspho tography. com/displayimage .php?album= 73&pos=60
http://photos. scobelwigginspho tography. com/displayimage .php?album= 73&pos=64
http://photos. scobelwigginspho tography. com/displayimage .php?album= 73&pos=101
http://photos. scobelwigginspho tography. com/displayimage .php?album= 73&pos=104
http://photos. scobelwigginspho tography. com/displayimage .php?album= 73&pos=105
http://photos. scobelwigginspho tography. com/displayimage .php?album= 73&pos=126
http://photos. scobelwigginspho tography. com/displayimage .php?album= 73&pos=157

Post coming soon!

A real post, I mean.

I'm waiting to get some pictures back from our backpacking trip to do anything substantial here, but a quick update:

- The Hagstrom Family Vacation in Lusten was nice. We got to see more of Amy and her kids. It's nice to feel like I know my youngest cousin's personalities a bit better now. It was Änna's first time up there with a large majority of the clan, and she survived it. I understand how the constant 'togetherness' can be a little overwhelming. And especially, I assume, to an in-law. (Weird! I'm an in-law now too!)

- The Montana & Wyoming wilderness was awesome... and cold, and invigorating, and windy, and scary, and goat-filled, and familiar... I had a lot of good memories and experiences come back from the backpacking trip I took 10 years ago! I'm glad that my next trip will [very likely] be much sooner than that. (Davin, we should do that again! Dad, hope you can come with us next time too!) Unfortunately we got word two days ago that after we left early (to come back to work, etc), Jeff severely tore his quad (OUCH!) coming back down the mountain and had to be evacuated by horse... they finally got back late last night and Jeff has surgery scheduled for next Tuesday. I hope that all goes as well as it can!

- And we leave for Washington state tomorrow afternoon! Saturday/Sunday tournament in Burlington. Monday, a day in Anacortes on the WA coast... maybe some whale watching?

- Lastly, something cool. Check out this 'reverse graffiti'. They can't arrest you for cleaning up!

"...and myyy, how soft your hands are!"

So last week was kind of unique. I got to go to Phoenix on a work trip Wednesday night through Friday night for a Dealer Training Course at US Screen Print & Inkjet Technology.

First, somehting about the Phoenix area:
I could not live there. No way. And it's not just the heat. (It was really hot though. About 100 each day, PLUS it was humid, which was unusual, but I guess it happens for a couple weeks each year.) But that heat makes the landscape really... well... UGly. Yeah, with a capital 'UG'. I know it can't be that UGly everywhere, but as far as my eyes could see beyond the city, everywhere we went, it was just this barren, rocky, red/brown/grey, dusty, hilly pile of a landscape. None of that beautiful desert you might see on nature programs either. No dunes. No canyons or rock formations. Just dry piles of rock and dirt.

I guess I'm used to seeing natural greens (grass, trees) when I look out my window... the nature that we have around here is somewhere that I want to get away to. To relax, run around, whatever. From what I saw (and again, I'll admit that my views were limited... I saw nothing like the Grand Canyon area I've been to before) The Outdoors around Tempe and Phoenix looked only like a place you'd get away to... to die. :) Driving back to the airport on Friday, I realized for myself what you hear all the time about how 'there just should not be a major city out on that desert'. It really looked like the surface of an uninhabitable planet. Like I wouldn't even be able to breathe out there. The Outdoors, as I imagine them, is something I value too much to ever live that remotely from it.


The actual city of Tempe, where we stayed each night, seemed nice enough. (We never got a chance to see much of Phoenix itself.) And the people at the Screen Institute, as they call it, were pretty cool. Most of our days were spent in a classroom setting. We learned about everything from inks and maintenance, to artwork and software, to what the competition has out there. We got to see some of their bigger printers in action. We met Scott Fresner. (He's like a celebrity in the screen print business.) And we ate. A lot.

The hotel that they had us up in served a full breakfast. Eggs, bacon, sausage, waffles, yogurt, fruit, cereal, juices, toast, pastries. So that was awesome. At The Institute, they brought in lunch each day, and they also had cookies, dough nuts and bagels around all the time to snack on. Thursday night they took us out to dinner, which I've learned means - start by 6 with rounds and rounds of free drinks for everybody, then eat a little, then go out drinking again - if you're on a business trip. Lots of food and booze went on not only US Screen's company card last week, but also the Northwest Graphic's card for Wedneday's and Friday's evening meals.
I don't think I'm cut out to be a salesman. I snuck off to bed earlier than the others each night. (Actually, both Wednesday and Thursday night I stayed up watching American Gladiators on ESPN classic. What a great show.) I had good trip over all, and it was definitely nice to break up the routine. I don't think I'd spend any of my own money to get back to Phoenix though.

--


Back at home Saturday, Änna and I decided to start in on our landscaping project. Our plan is to tear down half of the retaining wall that separates our yard from our garage, and then build it back up, but parallel to the house instead of curved out towards the alley. Our goal is to gain both more usable yard-space AND more driveway-space, which may not seem possible, but you'd get what we meant if you saw the yard. This, I recognize, will be a whole different kind of 'work' than the couple of days I'd just spent in Phoenix.... Like Boston's Big Dig, only without the tunnels and car crushing ceiling panels. :) Eventually a privacy fence and some more soft-scaping (plants, etc) would be nice, but we'll see what our budget allows.

I put in something like 6 hours Saturday and 11.5 hours Sunday of taking down 70 or so of the 50 lb. stones, stacking them up, digging out the new shape, and loading out fill. Last night my hands felt hot, bloated and raw because I was too tough to put on gloves after so many years of working on a landscape crew without them. And today my body feels like I played a tournament over the weekend, or at least had a really good Acceleration workout. I also lost the 4 lbs that I gained 'working' in AZ. :) I can't help but be amazed at my[former]self for being able to do that kind of work every day, every summer, for 7 years.... and I'm SUPPOSED to be in good shape right now! But I guess it's just a different kind of fitness.

We forgot to take before pictures, but maybe I'll get something up here as the work progresses. It will be pretty sporadic though. For the month of August anyway we'll be out of town quite a bit. There's our backpacking trip next week, the Hagstrom family Lutsen trip, the Spawnfest tournament in Washington state... But I guess that building a rock wall would be a good, symbolic way of spending our 1 year anniversary coming up at the end of this month!

Cavalier de Moto

On Friday I took a [very] long lunch to drive up to the DMV/DVS testing station in Arden Hills. Basically, it was a 40 minute scoot down Lexington, each way... Definitely the most scooting I'd done at a time, or in a day. If better prepared (goggles, long-sleeves) I could see how a cross-country scoot would be fun, although a day-long trip would take a lot of stopping (for gas, and to rest), and with the restricted top-speed you really wouldn't get all that far. Someday though, someday.

Anyway, I took the scooter (the 'bigger', 150cc one, obviously) up to Arden Hills to take my motorcycle license road test. Without the full motorcycle license (with my bigger-than-50cc engined scooter) I can't ride at night, or with a passenger, or without a helmet, or go on a highway. Not that I mind those last two, but riding after sunset, and with someone on the back is something I want to do.

When I pulled up there were 3 dudes already waiting, posed by their bikes... 2 choppers and a crotch-rocket... "Great," I thought, whining up on my Honda. "I'm totally the tool on the scooter." Fortunately though, there ended up being 3 or 4 scooter riders that showed up by test time.

The instructor called attendance and gave us our testing order, I was to be second.

This is what the test consisted of:
1. The Sharp Left-Hand Turn Through Cones, Followed by Braking Test in Which You Must Smoothly Come to a Stop with Your Front Tire Resting in The Box test.
2. The Weaving Through Cones and then Making a Right U-Turn without Touching the Lines test.

3. The Quick-Stop Test in Which You Must Maintain 15 M.P.H Through the Cones and then Stop in an Appropriate Amount of Time test.
4. The Swerve Test that is Similar to the Quick-Stop Test in that You Must Maintain 15 M.P.H. Through the Cones, but then Swerve to Either the Right or Left Without Touching the Lines, or Crashing test.
Not bad, right? That's what I thought when I saw it on paper too. But looking at the course in person for the first time, I was like, "Dang! Those cones are really close together."

I was nervous.

And so was the first guy, on his crotch-rocket. You could tell. And I didn't think these other guys with there big fancy motorcycles COULD get nervous. I mean, come on. You OWN a MOTORCYCLE, MAN! But I guess that didn't matter. Because he failed. The jerk. Fails right in front of me on the slaloms. He went off course, missed a cone, and touched his foot down. That's 2 strikes. And that's enough at the DMV.

One up, one down.

My turn.

I scoot over to the starting T. ('Whiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnne.')

I take a deep breath.

And I perform. Beautifully.

I become one with the bike. I no longer have feet, but wheels. And I caress the pavement. It caresses back, urging me along. Through the cones and lines that are no longer obstacles, but ornamentation. The natural beautifiers of my habitat. I am in my element. The course begins to move beneath me as if I am sitting still. I am the Sun in a pavement universe.

And then... "Here's your paperwork," I hear faintly, as if spoken by a flea, or an ant. "You can go finish up in the office."

"Ok," I say, remembering human language.

I go to the office and wait in line. For humility's sake, I say to myself, knowing that no piece of paper or social institution's 'endorsement' could tell me now what I am, or am not.

Bjorn Hagstrom
cavalier de moto

Sick List '07

Well, it's Tuesday, and that means that we have Acceleration training . It'll be my third session tonight, and I still get a little nervous about how I'll manage on the treadmill and doing all of those plyos. Really, I don't have any reason to be nervous. From what I've experienced so far, the training is much like a good high school XC workout, and I enjoy myself for most of the hour or two that we're there. Maybe I'm just going to be a bit apprehensive until I join the slew of people who have gotten sick so far this year... maybe puking at Acceleration is just a big milestone looming in front of me.

The Sick List '07:
Jeff - Well, duh. (He pukes all the time working out.)

Shwa - Seemed ashamed to admit it, but I might envy him.

Moss - Got the most out of that first workout.

Pat - Didn't fully 'lose it', but probably would have if he tried to get up from that chair after the tread mill.

Jeanine - Couldn't throw up, but wanted to at last Friday's workout.

Even in writing this list, I get the feeling that these people have been inducted to some hall.... But I haven't decided what adding my name to that list would feel like. (Fame or shame?) I guess there's always the chance that I'll find out tonight.

iWant

Man do I want an iPhone.

And I swear that I'm not just blinded by the hype...

Ok, don't believe me? For every negative aspect of the device, I bet I can list something that makes it worth buying. Just try me...


---

The iPhone is only available through AT&T (formerly Cingular).
Awesome! I already use AT&T! Sucks for you if you don't.

The iPhone only has 4 or 8gigs of storage.
Hey, that's 4 or 8gigs more than my phone now has!

You can't use the iPhone wearing gloves. It requires skin contact.
Cool. How does it know that? (Take off your gloves!)

There aren't any games on the iPhone.
I hear the internet has games.

But the iPhone's browser doesn't support Java, Flash...
Yet. Doesn't *yet* support...
The AT&T Edge network (for internet) is slow and outdated. The next-gen. iPhone will be on a faster connection.
You're slow and outdated!

And for $500-600, you could get a iPod video and a new smart phone or a Blackberry.
Ok, shut up. You're missing the point.

---

Well, and seriously you are, if you're one of the people out there telling everyone they're stupid to buy, or buy into, the iPhone. Of course there's going to be something better in a couple of years. When hasn't that been the case with consumer technology? I actually believe that Apple is delivering pretty much what they said they would be when they announced the iPhone last year. They're asking a pretty high price, but nothing worth complaining about. The real money spent is on the plans with AT&T anyway, and here, I'm surprised to say, things actually look pretty good. $60/month for all the minutes I could use, all the texting I'd ever do, and unlimited data (internet). Maybe not enough for some, but for me, that'd work. Especially when you consider the combined cost of voice and data plans for a Blackberry. Good luck staying under $80/month.

So what's stopping me? The fact that I don't actually NEED any of the things this phone offers (that took me a while to come to terms with), so even if I'm getting a good deal, or my money's worth, it's still a good deal of my money.

So maybe if I rake in a lot of money doing freelance, or I find $600 in my sweatpants pocket I'll go get in line at the nearest Apple or AT&T store... Otherwise, if you get one, could I just hold it for a while? Thanks.

2007 Boston Invitational

This kind of says it all:
http://upa.org/scores/tourn.cgi?div=68&id=3537

Or maybe it doesn't if you're unfamiliar with the UPA Score Reporter, or the Club Mixed landscape... (Hint: Those are considered 8 of the very top mixed teams in the nation. Look at our seed going into the tournament, and look at the final standings.)

Yeah, we did very well.

Exactly HOW well we did is just sinking in too. Especially considering how much room for improvement there is on our team (just having a full roster would improve us for our next big tourney). Certainly it's possible (maybe even likely) that the other teams we played in Boston will improve as much as I see Moe improving by the time the series rolls around. But even if that's the case, it feels like Moe is going to have a much more competitive, productive and meaningful season than ever before.

Speaking of productivity - I'm starting Acceleration training tomorrow. Yikes.
I'm still a little worried about burning out physically, but I should hit my peak just around the Spawnfest tournament (Burlington, WA) in August, which is pretty much ideal. Between then and now... I just hope I have all the energy that I want for practice, etc... not to mention life in general. (I think Jeff has me a little over-anxious about his sprint-and-jump-'til-you-puke training stories from Acceleration.)
I am really looking forward to having a more structured workout program though. The idea of having an authoritative training figure (like it was to have a coach) back in my athletic life sounds good. We'll see how it goes.

the raw story

I'm not entirely sure how accurate, or slanted, the views are over at rawstory.com, but I've been directed there twice by digg.com following interesting sounding headlines... Such as this one: "Cheney tells agency that Vice President's office is not part of the executive branch."

...ok, they're definitely slanted. But there seems to be some worthwhile content on the site. If nothing else, this was at least another endorsement of digg.com.

*Going to Boston for the weekend... wish us luck!

Tidbit.

A bullet shot from a perfectly level gun will hit the ground in the same amount of time as one dropped straight down, from the height of the barrel.

Poultry Days 2007

By far, the best Ultimate trip to Ohio that I've ever experienced. (In college I went to a tournament in Ohio, and with all of the crappy traffic we hit, and the crappy games that we played, I vowed never to return to that state... I've obviously, and gratefully gone back on that pledge. Flaming Moe and Poultry Days have saved Ohio for me.)

At the end of last week, Änna and I suddenly realized that we were actually going to play Ultimate - at a tournament - with Flaming Moe! ...something that we felt we hadn't done in a really long time... (7 months!) ...and something that we hadn't realized we'd been missing as much as we had.

Bright and early Friday morning, with expectations high, we got on the road.
The trip was relatively quick, and uneventful... which was great. We picked up Alicia in Rochester on the way down, ate some fast food, listened to some Dan Brown... We got into Versailles with enough light to set up tents and hang out/throw for a bit, before going to bed (early - like, 10pm... maybe trying to sleep a little extra for those who wouldn't be arriving for another couple hours).

Saturday we were matched up against a variety of teams that weren't as good as we were. :) Where every once and a while there would be a player on the other team that could match some of our players in individual skills/talent/speed, no team could match the cohesive offense and stifling team defense that Moe is already showing this early in the season. All of the tryouts vying for the last few spots on the team played well, both generally, and with in the Moe O and D systems. I do not envy the captains in their upcoming decisions.

Saturday night was fun. Much food was eaten. Lasagna, breadsticks, cheeseburgers, apple sauce... funnel cake! Watching Alicia in the All-Star game. Awkwardly walking through the carnival, waiting for it to get as fun as it looked. :) Circling back up at the tents, Moes expressing love via sarcasm. (Good point in your email, Dave, about how this can translate to the field.) Also, pistachios and vanilla wafers.

Sunday morning started off a little weird. The TD went nuts at us because we went into a huddle for a quick talk when the game was supposed to start. Instead of just letting us start a minute late, he yelled at us to get seven on the line, argued with us about the importance of starting on time, and caused us to start the game 2 minutes late. Pick your battles, dude. Anyway, Dave later talked to him and he regretted the incident, blaming the pressures of TDing for his attitude.

Then a major blow - Anton dislocates his shoulder laying out for a deep pass. It looked really painful. That sucks. Especially for Anton as one of the last few tryouts. I have no idea what the recovery process can be like for a dislocated shoulder (probably depends on if/what he tore), but I hope he can bounce back from this.

We got a bit down, and down on each other after this, and it showed in the game. Even up 7-4 at half some of us looked like we'd not only just lost the game, but that we'd caught our own teammates kicking puppies behind the wood pile on the other sideline. Dave said something like, "Come on guys! We're BFFs! We're winning! And those were evil puppies!" And everybody got there heads on straight to finish the game.

The next game we had was against a much higher caliber team. The kind of caliber that Moe most enjoys playing against. There were great plays coming from both teams, making the game easily the most exciting to both play in and watch. It seemed like we traded points in groups of three. Us, them, break, break. After our last run we were tied at 10s, they take a time out, and eventually score the last three. It'd been better if the pattern wouldn't have stuck there at the end of the game, but start-to-finish, each point was played hard, every disc contested, so I'm still happy with the result. Quarters finish for our first tournament.

Highlights: Mike and Elliot had some memorable layouts. Jaime ('that tiny girl!') kept beating everyone covering her. John was good in the air on 'O'. Mike's pulls. Jeanine and I got Callahans. Änna flicking everybody off.

I shouldn't have gone there...


The drive home's highlight was Ruby Tuesdays. We gorged on salad bar and burgers for a good hour. We got home just after 1am, which is so much better than 5am (although I think I'd still be able to blog at work either way). Meeting tonight to decide the final '07 team. I don't see how it can go smoothly. :) But I'm excited for the next tournament either way.

*Oh, and maybe I'll bring the video camera to check out footage from the weekend. I don't think I got anything awesome, but it could still be fun. (Could a Video Blog Post be on the horizon?!)

Summer Plans, etc.

So are you anything like me? Are most of your weekends now busy... through, say, November?! This seems to happen every summer - being an Ultimate player, it's sort of expected, but it's still crazy looking at my calendar and seeing all the events that get packed into a summer.

It looks like it'll be a fun one though - there are some 'firsts' this summer that I'm especially excited about. Like backpacking in the Beartooths with the Melbys. We're thinking that'll happen the first full week in August. And I found out yesterday that I'm scheduled to go on a 'business trip' to Phoenix the 25th-28th of July. (Someone's moving up in the world!) On top of that, Flaming Moe has the most interesting and challenging schedule we've ever had.

So it looks like it'll be a good one, however busy.

Upcoming events:
Poultry Days in Ohio this weekend.
Film Club hopefully next Saturday.
Father's Day stuff next Sunday.
Boston Invite the 23rd and 24th.

*I've been really bad about posting my training stuff... mostly because I've been really bad about training. Tryouts always kill my motivation to workout, but at least they've been happening 3 times a week (keeping me pretty active). I've still been running a couple times outside of tryouts, and lifting maybe once a week. Last night I was really good - I lifted for 45 minutes AND THEN went on a good run. So that's that.

Track '28'

[For Jay, and all those others of you preparing for World War Z... I thought it was about time there was a 'z' themed rap.]

Blood drips
-Off his teeth and his lips

He can’t quit
-All his thoughts been eclipsed

By a need
-By a need to commit-

By some cryptic desire to FIND FLESH and RIP IT!


A slight shift
-A wrong turn of the hips

All it takes
-And his next victim slips

Soon enough
Has her wrists in his grip

Nearby someone screams “It’s the a-pocalypse!”


‘It is the apocalypse!’ ‘Is it the apocalypse?’ ‘It' is the apocalypse!’ ‘Is it the apocalypse?’

Far off
On the deck of a ship

The air’s tense
Men are loading their clips

They have doubts
They doubt they’re equipped

To-deal with-an-evil no-army’s-yet wit-nessed

'The horror'
Watching men conscience-stripped

Devour
Their own ‘cause they've flipped

And become
Become like horses whipped

IT overtakes all life
Like the ol’ movie script.

'script'

'script'

'script'

Training Links

http://www.mapmyrun.com/

Easier than trying to use Google Maps, or some such program to determine routes, etc. Just draw it on the map!

http://www.thestick.com/

Does anybody know where to get one of these locally? If not, I'm thinking of buying a couple... I know quite a few Ultimate players with hamstring issues right now. Without borrowing one of these last year, I don't think I could have played Saturday of Nationals.

Tryouts '07

Well, Flaming Moe had its third tryout for the '07 season last night. And I finally started playing. The first two tryouts were fine, but I was playing quite "conservatively." I had a couple opportunities that I could have done more with on D, especially. Last night was a little bit better though. I shut down a couple people, beat someone out in the air, and had a couple of nice throws completed. I don't want to sound like Lou here (wink wink), so I will admit that I'm still a work in progress for this season... I just finally felt like I was coming into my own a little bit. (It's a true luxury to be a returner at tryouts, because I have the opportunity to 'come into my own...' I'm trying to take as little advantage of that as possible though - it's definitely a lot more comfortable to play my way onto the team.)

Other than on the field, it's been fun talking to tryouts on the sidelines and getting an idea of what Moe '07 could look like. There's going to be a lot of weight on the returner's shoulders this year - and especially, I think, in the handler postitions. But when I take a step back and consider only the top 10% of the field (the top tryouts), I see Moe being better than before (Best Case Scenario), or just within reach of the talent we had last year (and that's Worst Case Scenario). Best of luck captains.

I Wooted.

Er, excuse me?

:)

In case you haven't heard, Woot.com is a web- site/community/lifestyle that offers products on a one-per-day basis. The Woot team apparently has a huge warehouse full of random junk (most of it consumer electronics) and they select one item each day to sell until it's sold out. There's no bidding or anything - the price is set at midnight each night for each product.

So each night the more committed Wooters wait for their atomic clocks (purchased on Woot) to signal the change of day, and the release of some new product into the Wootsphere. About 25% of Woot's sales are committed between that hour of midnight and 1am.

Anyway, I've been excitedly waiting for the first product that I could justify Wooting, and today it came. It's just a bottom line (many of Woot's products are no-name, refurbs, etc.... but the price is always right) wireless card that I could/might use for my desktop - but my first Woot nonetheless.

My Feet Hurt.

Training Log -- 4/19 - 5/13

Moe had another pick up game last night, which was pretty fun. Maybe more competitive than the last one, although a little less poorly attended. I'm not sure who is benefiting the most from these pick up games... But I've decided that I am benefiting to some degree, so that's a good thing. :)

Joe was right when he said it last night: Only Ultimate can really prepare you for Ultimate. Although I've been running 3 days a week very consistently for the past month, I still can get destroyed on the Ultimate field during these games. So I'm benefiting from these games when I come out knowing that I need to work harder to come into tryouts a bit stronger. Or maybe just better prepare myself for competition.

Another major part of Joe's Ultimate true-ism that I [re-]discovered last night was just the wear-and-tear kind of toll that Ultimate takes on your body. Last night for me it was my feet. Stupid, frustrating things like breaking in cleats can be just as bad as breaking in out-of-shape lungs and legs. Running on straight paths in perfectly comfortable shoes doesn't quite cut it, but I guess it has to start somewhere.

My lifting has suffered these past weeks. I've pretty much taken on the mentallity that running is more important than lifting for me now, and most nights I only have the time and energy for one or the other. So I run. I'm still doing my push ups and sit ups, and when I remember, 'supermans'... we'll see if it pays off.

Support MN Ultimate!

--- from whatmoves.com ---
Some of my teammates are getting together fund-raising ideas to cover jersey & travel expenses this season and one idea that's currently on the hot plate is MN Ultimate shirts/jerseys. We're thinking that Minnesotans are pretty proud people, and that Ultimate players from the Central Region are just as proud to represent their sport and their home state. Furthermore, with the growth of Ultimate as a sport there are hopes that local teams will develope a fan base, both within the Ultimate community (including High School, College, Club, League and Pick Up players) and among people introduced to the sport via friends and family. So without futher ado, here is the concept design for MN Ultimate apparel!



*Notice* These designs do not [yet?] have any affiliation with TCUL or mnultimate.com...

Wal-atin?

I was always a little cocky about not having any allergies. In my group of geeky friends only I could eat anything, pet any animal... I never got Poison Ivy...For a couple summers I even tried to rid myself of histamines so that not even mosquitos could bother me. I'd think, these reactions that other people have to tasty and/or cuddly things... to nature... are defections. Impurities.

Lately (fortunately) my extreme views on allergies and allergy sufferers have relented -- or at least have become subconscious. :) But I think that it was those same idyllic notions of purity that kept me from coming to the realization that I too have become a victim of nature's air-borne arsenal. I'm not sure how many years I've been in denial about this. Last year though I can clearly remember complaining of a cold that seemed to last the entire spring and summer.... At some point this winter/spring, and with the addition of a second shedding cat to our household, it clicked.

Dang. I have allergies!

And lately they've gotten pretty bad. I wake up most mornings at 4-5am because I can no longer breathe... my nose clogged and my mouth like sand paper after trying to take over breathing duties. (Humidifier be damned!)

Gross.

So I'm on my 3rd day of allergy medication. I went to get some Claritin™ at Walgreens, but ended up with Walitin™... At $5 for 10 once-daily pills, they're half the price of Claritin™, so probably worth checking out.

And so far, so good (?). Judging by my wake up times... Yesterday (Day 2) I woke up at 6am, but in same condition as pre-medicated. Today it was 7am. Maybe tomorrow I'll wake up with my alarm, and still able to breathe!

One can only hope.

Scooter Update and Training Log.

What a glorious past week for scootering! And this week is shaping up to be just as nice. I've been scootin' to work just about every day, and I've found it to be pretty relaxing way to get around the city. Why? Because on my scooter at least, you CAN'T be in a hurry. Where ever I go I have the throttle wide open, just to maintain 27 mph. So what's there to do (?), but settle in and enjoy the ride. I guess stop-and-go traffic can be annoying. Some days it's pretty bad going through the construction on Lake St. But not as bad, I usually decide, as if I was in my van! Bottom line: it's easy to be content upon a scooter.

Training Log, uh, for this last week or so.
Dang. I've been distracting myself away from working out. I think I've gone running twice since my last post, but I've only lifted once. I have been doing my situps on off days still, but admittedly, I've been slacking. It was nice to get out and play Ultimate the other day though. Not exactly the toughest game, but still a little workout. Goal for tonight: lift before going on a run. Tryouts are a week and a half away!

1987 Honda Elite SE50P

Hello all,

I know that I've been a little behind on the posts lately, so I hope that this explains what I've been up to the last couple weeks...

- so -

A year or so ago I bought a beat up, piece of junk scooter from my friend Mario. And although the price seemed a little high at the time - especially for a scooter that had definitely seen better days - it was the novelty and potential of the machine that attracted me, and I couldn't help but go forward with the purchase. Since then, however, the scooter has been rusting away in the garage... leaned up against my dusty drum set; alongside my home-made didgeridoo; within reach of my corroded climbing gear; and just in sight of my crusty keyboard...

But earlier this spring, and just as the weather was getting better, something called out to me, motivating me to work on the scooter. Maybe it was the desire to delve into mechanics a little... to get some grease on my hands... or maybe it was my eco-consciousness reminding me of the 90-100mpg rating of the engine... or maybe it was the groaning of the mini van over those potholes that led me to work towards a better way.

...or maybe I just wanted to look cooler and feel the wind through my hair on the way to work...

Regardless, the project began.

After getting the Title/License & Insurance stuff out of the way, I took the scooter to work a couple times. The thing still ran pretty well, especially considering it had old oil and not super new gas in it. Yea! Then it snowed and got cold again, so I had to wait a couple weeks before I did any riding or tinkering. Boo. In the meantime, however, I was able to learn a lot about Honda scooters from "the Internet" and plan my course of action.* Yea!

The body was in really bad shape. Cracked and broken plastics, missing lights and lenses... Some new parts were definitely needed. And this is where things got a little out of hand.




Soooo [re]addicted! I still spend a good chunk of time at work each day searching "honda scooter" "honda elite" "honda se50" and so on, and so on. Good news is, I found a lot of what I was looking for. (Not everything though! If somebody had a right side fairing for an '87 Elite I'd probably promise to name my first son after them for it.)

Like I said, a couple weeks went by and I started accumulating parts, and knowledge. And the first Saturday it was supposed to be above 40* I was out in the garage at 7:30am working on my ride.






So with a LOT of sanding, painting, screwing, cranking, tapping, cleaning, grunting - a couple trips to HondaTown on Lake St. - and another couple weeks later, this is where I'm at:





And I'm pretty happy.


*Something I did try to remedy, but unsuccessfully, was the top speed of the scooter. Right now I can do 27 mph (according to the on-board speedometer) while going on a flat or down-hill slope. Apparently there are 2 models of the '87 Elite: the S and the P. I have the P, which stands for 'Ped, or moped, which accounts for the restricted speed. Some scooters can be easily brought back up to speed by taking off clutch restrictor plates and/or washers in the muffler - unfortunately mine has neither, so the restriction is built into how the machine runs as opposed to being added on the way out of the factory... I'm not interested in soupin' up the scooter and negatively effecting its longevity, gas mileage, etc, so I'll just have to live with the top speed.
Until I get another scooter. :)

Training Log - 4/16 - 4/18

Again, I've been pretty good so far this week. (Yea!) Both Monday and Wednesday I lifted before going on a run. Lately I feel really slow when I'm out there running... I hope that goes away. The season is really sneeking up on me!

Training Log - 4/9 - 4/16

Looks like this has turned into a weekly entry at this point. Which I still think is OK. Keep on me if I dip below that...

Anyway, I kept on the lifting schedule last week, and as long as I do Day 1 of the program today, this week should go alright too. I went running yesterday and plan on going again today. I'd like to get up to 3-4 days a week running, even if it's only a mile or two some days. Adding plyos to a short run makes for a pretty good day-off-of-lifting workout.

The Way Of The Swayze

Friends, especially Jay, I thought you'd like this article (and Zach definitely would if someone forwarded it to him).

The Way Of The Swayze: How To Be A Thoughtful Hunk

Happy reading.

And have a scary Friday the 13th.

Lynch Weekend

"Spend an amazing weekend with filmmaker David Lynch and quantum physicist John Hagelin (“The Secret” and “What the Bleep Do We Know?”) May 25-27."

http://lynchweekend.org/

Wow. That could be pretty amazing. Unfortunately it will be right in the middle of tryouts... if someone (Davin? Jay?) was super psyched about this and was going anyway I could see myself taging along...

Hmmm.

SNL

Too lazy to go out and do anything Saturday night after a movie, Jay, Davin and I found ourselves in front of the TV. *Flick* Charlie's Angels? *Flick* Man vs. Wild? *Flick* History Channel? Each were given their chance to impress us, and each were passed by... I guess we were looking for something truly special this night. And on the way back around, back through the network stations, we found our entertainment in an unexpected place.

It's 11:30pm, and we arrive on channel 22. NBC, that is, on Comcast basic cable. Saturday Night Live is on... Huh... And if you're like me, there's good reason to be skeptical of what SNL has to offer these days. Many nights I wouldn't have taken a second look. More commonly I'd make it through half a skit before moving on - shaking my head - once - twice - three times - partly out of pity, remembering what was; and partly to clear my head of their brand of comedic rubbish.

Expectations low - maybe getting desperate(?) - we settled in for whatever this (largely 'unknown' to me) SNL cast could deliever. And, well, we made it through one skit... and we were laughing?! I thought, "Was that a fluke? Could it last?" But then there came another, and yet another, actually funny skit! At one point I remember saying, "This is the funniest SNL I've seen in 10 years," conveniently forgetting some of the great skits by Farrel et al, but being truly enthusiastic about a show that I'd basically left for dead.

AFI was the musical act, and their poor performances brought us down a little by the end of the show... also, the last skit was definitely the worst of the bunch, so that was another unfortunate downside... But overall (and with some time to reflect) I'd say that I'm ready to try out SNL again.

AFI really does suck though.

Training Log - 4/3 - 4/9

Let's see. I did OK last week, although I did have to skip a day of lifting. I got out running twice I think (the days that it was only 10-15 degrees below normal... like yesterday). I'm really looking forward to the weather warming up, just a little, so I can be more excited about training outdoors. Anyway, I'm all caught up, and will likely do Day 2 of lifting tonight or tomorrow.

Training Log - 3.28 - 4.01

I lifted on Friday, and meant to again on Sunday, but found myself too sore from the 3 games (of Ultimate!) that I played on Saturday (at Spring Ding, down in Winona)... It's been a rough couple weeks for the lifting schedule. :(

Playing outdoor Ultimate was pretty fun though. (And imagine if it hadn't been 40 degrees and raining!) I was actually pretty suck-tacular... my throws were OK, but my hucks were less than awesome. I did get to flop in the mud a couple times though. Two offesive layout grab attepts, one of them succesful, and a layout D. I'll say that brings me back over 50% for the weekend... You hear that?! OVER 50%! YE-HAH! ...and I'm sure that makes Moe really excited to take me for this next season...

Training Log - 3.27 - 3.28

Well, I'm almost back on track. Tuesday I did a good lifting session - not necessarily a specific "Day" (1, 2, or 3) on my workout schedule - but a combination of lifts to help bring be up to speed. Yesterday I went a a good run too. 4 miles, and I ran down off of River Rd. to the 'trails' (in various stages of maintenance) that run along the river. So it was a little bit of stop-and-go, but more interesting and fun than usual.

Now I know...

...how a father feels after a child finally does something you feel proud of...

...or something like that.

That's sweet.


(What's this guy's name?)


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

UPDATE! - There's yet another EZ tattoo out there!
How many of these guys did this on Spring Break?!

Training Log - 3.21 - 3.26

I'm falling behind! AH!

Most days I've been too busy to get a real workout in (this is what I hate about getting freelance work). I still haven't done Day 3 from last week... but Änna and I did go on a 4 mile run last Thursday (+ light plyos)... so I'm sitting at about a C-... The worst part is, I know that when I get home there's still a project waiting for me that needs to be done by tomorrow, so I doubt that I'll be catching up at all tonight. That will put me at a solid D, meaning Tuesday I'll have to do some A+ workin' out to get that average back up.

ASS.

Training Log - 3.9 - 3.20.07

Friday the 9th was a sad day. It was the first time since the New Year that I didn't do a "workout" of any kind... after flying in to CO and then driving to Boulder, I just collapsed into bed (with visions of ski slopes swishing through my head) without doing any push-ups or sit-ups. Boo.

Saturday and Sunday (10th & 11th) - downhill was a good workout. Some of my usually-un-used muscles got a rude awakening on some of those black diamonds. :)

Monday's (the 12th's) - "workout" was pretty 'lax'... just an hour long hike. But I was still acclimating, so get out of my grill.

Tuesday and Thursday (13th & 15th) - was some, at times, pretty grueling, but mostly very enjoyable XC skiing.

Wednesday and Friday (14th & 16th) - those hikes left my quads and lungs burning.

Saturday (17th) - I failed again and did nothing for a workout. (But I did drive 900 miles!) Really though, I wish I could be as good at working out every week that I was on vacation last week.

Sunday (18th) - Day 1 of the workout week + plyos.

Monday (19th) - Push-ups & Sit-ups.

Tuesday (20th) - Day 2 of the workout week + 2 mile run.

The Conclusion of the Spring Break Saga

Where I last left off, Änna was still holding that tarantula... Sorry to leave you in that situation, honey. But from the jungle (it was really sticky in the Pavilion) to the snow covered mountains - our story continues at the Eldora Nordic Center.

What I really found incredible about Boulder was how quickly we could go from walking down Pearl St. or The Hill (in a t-shirt and shorts, temps in the 70s), to clamoring up the side of a mountain, or even to skiing on well maintained, completely covered cross country trails. We did something like this every day, and because it never took more than a couple of hours to hike a nearby mountain, or to ski at Eldora, we would get back and still have half a day to go find something else to do.

Tuesday afternoon's skiing was excellent. And even though our skis weren't waxed quite right (hard to do for 40-50º weather and 30-40º snow...) it was still pretty amazing to be skiing in only tshirts with views of the mountains all around us. I could get used to that. Oh, and a crazy side-note... Änna and I were heading back to the car when who do we run into on the trail? Laura Hannah! Laura was a friend of mine from high school who I'd recently heard was living in Boulder and dating one of the Johnny Bravo guys...
I introduce my wife... "Wife?!" says Laura... and then she asks, "Do you know a guy named Pokey?" To which we both laugh and explain our connection to Katy and Pokey (Dan).
It's a small, small world.

The rest of the week, in brief:
Dinner Tuesday gave Änna her first Fondue, and we either met up with Katy and Dan for pool, or went over to their place to hang out... my nights are getting confused now. Hot tubbing happened one of these nights as well... Wednesday started with a relaxing morning, followed by a run that turned into a hike (we ran a mile and found ourselves at the foot of a mountain, so we went up), finished by a dramatic dinner at the Tea House (made dramatic by the frat boy and sorority girl who drunkenly broke up, and even more drunkenly got back together, all in the first 45 minutes of our dinner...). I also had a first, sending back my very well done ribs for a fresher rack. Thursday we almost didn't go back to Eldora (the plan was to ski) because it was raining in town, only to drive up and find a sunny mountain top waiting for us. How nice! My wallet was accidentally stolen by some geezer skiers who took home the wrong shoes (?!) and there was a couple of hours where we didn't know how easy it would be for me to buy drinks (or anything), let alone fly home in 2 days (although it turns out that wouldn't have been a problem either... I'll explain later.) Thursday night we postponed our dinner until 10pm to take part in Hapa Sushi's happy hour. I think we got the most sushi I've ever seen a table of five get... and we finished all of what could have been 100+ pieces. (FYI - Dan can really put away the sushi after a workout! Dang.) Friday turned into much the same kind of day as Wednesday, more chillin' and more hiking (this hike was cooler than Wednesday's, although we had to drive a whole 5 minutes to get to the base...). We finished the day with a nice Mediterranean dinner, and we said our goodbyes back at our hotel after trying to watch Running with Scissors on pay per view... I should say right now, things started to get weird at the end of our trip... maybe just a sign that it was time to go home....

For instance:
1. Thursday - The wallet/shoe dilemma.
2. Friday - We couldn't figure out the bill at the restaurant.
3. Friday - The $13 pay-per-view movie's sound was all messed up.
4. Saturday - We wake up with 2 messages. The first is that, although our waitress said it was IMPOSSIBLE, we have been double charged for our meal Friday.
5. Saturday - The other message says that our flight that was supposed to take off in 3 hours has been canceled due to weather out east and we will not be able to leave until Monday afternoon...

Saturday - we rent a car (our hotel lobby happens to house a Budget car rental desk - furthermore, the guy tells us that a car came in from Montana that we will be allowed to take one-way to Minnesota) and drive home.

In spite of the inconveniences at the end of or trip (and even those were fairly entertaining), we had an awesome time. Who knows, in 2 years maybe Änna will land some job at a firm out west and we'll have to move out there... I wouldn't be complaining very loudly. :)

1000 Visitors! + Blogging Thoughts.

I thought I'd take a quick detour from chronicling my Spring Break to celebrate my blog's 1000th visitor who came yesterday (March 17th - St. Patrick's Day) at 12:16:22pm.

Thank you, friends, for helping me out with my self-worth... I don't plan on quiting the blog anytime soon.

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While writing at a coffee shop this weekend I was asked the question, "Why do you have a blog?"

My initial response was a silence that became pregnant with the awkward supposition [by my inquisitor] that I was [silently/awkwardly] coming to the realization that this "blogging" that I so enjoy doing is mostly a pointless waste of time - a cry out for attention from a want-to-be writer, with less talent than ambition, or less ambition than talent - a desperate stab at stardom, scrawled upon the vast bathroom-stall-door that is the internet blogsphere...

"To let friends know what I'm up to," I recovered, finally realizing that my friend's question wasn't meant to be the pseudo-psychological probe that I let it become.

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There's a lot of The Dream wrapped up in blog culture. The Dream of Being Read. The Dream of Being Recognized. The Dream of Being Appreciated. The Dream of Affecting Someone's Thoughts and Life.

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Maybe that's dipping a bit too far under the surface for something so mainstream right now - and I doubt the majority of bloggers would agree with me some points - especially considering how darn functional blogging can also be.... For travel and news sites it's great. Writers can post from anywhere with an internet connection and need only basic word processing skills. Reading about my friends' trips abroad, in Rich Text, with pictures, has been great and exciting. And maybe it's just because this technology is new and hot right now, but blogs seem to be a format that people [both writers and readers] want to return to. On a couple occasions that's happened right here - unlike the bathroom-stall-door, blogs have the potential to [conveniently] cultivate dialogs, and I feel privileged to have some documented in my archives.

So like I said, for now, I'll keep blogging. And then later I'll decide what was a waste of time and what wasn't.

Again, thanks for reading.

Spring Break pt. 2

Tuesday morning our plan was to head out to the Butterfly Pavilion, located just 10 minutes South of Boulder. Anna had heard about this educational and scientific center in a Boulder travel magazine and even the guys at our hotel's front desk were pretty enthusiastic about the place when we asked for directions.


And although my camera was barely functioning (LOW BATTERY!) I still got a couple neat pictures.








I do have to admit that I wasn't as excited for the butterflies as Anna was, but it turned out to be a pretty cool addition to our trip. It was almost other-worldly to be surrounded by 100s of those delicate, beautiful bugs. (The 100s of 5-15 year old kids I could go either way on... haha.)

Aside from the butterflies at the Pavilion, there were a number of other creatures on exhibit: leaf bugs; stick bugs; spiders... And if you know anything about Anna, you know that she has a very real fear of spiders... So you might be a little surprised when you hear that she made it a personal goal for herself to hold Rosie, the Pavilion's tarantula. (Ok, you're probably not surprised that Anna made a personal goal... but she seriously, if not stubbornly, faced her biggest phobia. It was a proud moment.)

I guess uploading those pictures wore me out. Still coming up: Eldora Nordic Ski Center, more good eats, and hiking.