Son of a bitch, brotha'

Tuesday is LOST day, and in honor of tonight's episode, here's a couple of video compilations; Sawyer's catchphrase "son of a bitch" (although used by other characters, as seen below),



and Desmond's "brotha'".

• 12:42 PM 0 comments

I'll be a monkey's uncle

I barely remember if I said that first, and Kevin started acting like a monkey, or if he was acting like a monkey and I said that. It was so long ago. Kevin must have been 3 or 4, which would make me 9 or 10 (exactly, because he was born on my birthday). I remember it was warm, and we were in the front yard of Kevin's parents' house (apartment?) and I remember everyone laughing when I said, out of frustration and not a small amount of smart-assed-ness, "Well, I'll be a monkey's uncle."

That launched him into a joyful kid's spasm of eek-ing and cavorting and swinging his arms and miming the eating-of-bananas that anyone would recognize as being a monkey, deflecting my grumpy complaint and turning it into a game.

That's my earliest memory of Kevin, my nephew, friend, and basically-my-brother. And if he's reading this (hi, Kevin!), I'm thinking about him pretty much all day.
• 10:19 AM 2 comments

Shatnerday, TOO?

All this, and it's William Fucking Shatner's birthday, too?

Via Bill Corbett, my favorite William Fucking Shatner song, animated.



Happy birthday, William Fucking Shatner. You rock. • 8:27 AM 0 comments

Ah, Teddy, I wish you could have held on a little bit longer

Ted Kennedy in 1978:



"It's a matter of right, and not a privilege." Damn straight. Every one deserves health care. Everyone. • 6:01 AM 0 comments

Yes, we can. Again.

I know the bill is flawed, and I know there are loopholes, and I know there's reason enough to criticize the process, and the leadership, and our broken traditional media, and all that.

But… c'mon. This is a turning point. Doing at least this much is more progressive then allowing the status quo.

And for right now, I'm happy I voted for President Barack Obama. He got something done.

Tomorrow I'll go back to bitching about him not ending the war fast enough, continuing some of the worst abuses of #43's foreign policy and detainee and terror war policies.
• 9:16 PM 0 comments

Trying not to celebrate early, but…

I'm watching C-SPAN while our Congresscritters debate and, hopefully, vote on Health Care Reform today.

And this song keeps going through my head:



Of course, the first time I had that song running through my head, it was in support of a potential Presdient John Kerry. So, y'know, that's how effective it was. • 1:01 PM 0 comments

Rewards of blogging

Yesterday was Friday, and Fridays on Twitter are for Follow Friday. And I got a shout out from t.a. barnhart, that also mentioned film critic Roger Ebert. I'm sure t.a. only did that to save space and wasn't comparing me to Mr. Ebert, but secretly I'm going to pretend that's exactly why he did that. Well, secretly, and here on my blog.

And then @sjkpdx re-tweeted t.a.'s post, doubling my pride.

Finally, I woke up this morning to find that Athena, of The Bliss Quest, a writer whose posts about herself and her goals and dreams are an inspiration I use in living my life transparently and honestly (and guest-blogger here), tweeted something to me that made me feel very good:

@lunarobverse I'm goin' running shoe shopping tomorrow!Your Shamrock run and posts have got me inspired!

It was a very good day for me. I'm happy to be a small part of the community online, and am humbled by the people I interact with. I just never know when something I write will reach someone unexpected. I honestly just write for myself, about the things I like and care about and do; I've said that I don't care if millions read what I say, and I am sincere. It's nice, though, to learn from time to time that others do, in fact, read what I put up here.

Thanks to everyone and anyone who reads this.

Also? Yesterday was the third anniversary of my joining Twitter. What a great present on my Twitterversary!

Labels: meta

• 8:16 AM 2 comments

Thinking about food

I've been thinking about food. A couple of internet articles (and you know how accurate and well-researched internet articles are) have mentioned an idea that I'm considering: that being the idea that if you stick to whole, unprocessed foods that have been around for thousands of years, you don't have to worry about counting calories, you will build muscle, and your fat will melt off you. It's called, among other things, the Primal diet, as in the diet of our distant ancestors. Basically what you could kill, harvest or gather yourself. Meats, grains, fruit, vegetables, berries, nuts...

It's an appealing idea to me; particularly the idea that it would be a bit cheaper and require less preparation. Yes, Primal dieters still cook things; no raw meats for me, thank you very much.

I have some friends who follow this diet, too. I've seen what they eat: salads with some nuts and a small amount of meat.

Here's the thing: Primal diet aficionados make the claims I mentioned above (build muscle, melt fat, never worry about overeating) and a few others: have more energy, and your tastes eventually change to where refined sugars and processed foods taste bad. But the more I've thought about it, the more I've convinced myself that changing to this diet would also decrease or eliminate my hay fever: allergies are a result of a weak immune system, and we are what we eat, and eating whole foods may build up the immune system, so...

Keep in mind that my thought on eliminating my allergies through diet is one that I have not read in any of the actual literature on Primal diets. I haven't actually read that much about the diets; just a few things here and there, and the recommendations of friends on the internets. I think it's interesting that my brain has basically manufactured a benefit out of thin air, born of my frustration the past few days with my allergic response to the nice spring-like weather.

At any rate, I may or may not switch my diet. I really do love doughnuts, and giving them up would be a mental strain I'm not quite ready to bear. But I like thinking about it.

I'm also a bit afraid to bring it up, since some, not all, of the folks who follow this diet are quite evangelical in their passion. So if you feel moved to comment on this post, please keep in mind that I am not asking to be persuaded. I'm just thinking out loud at this point. Don't over-enthuse, because I feel a bit uncomfortable with that and will likely react to avoid. Just sayin'. • 6:00 AM 3 comments

Shamrock Run 5K Results

While Shawn, Kevin and I were trying to get in line to get our post-race beers, Kevin asked a blonde woman "Are you in line?" It was confusing, because there were two beer stands on opposite sides of the fenced-off area, and the lines from each blended into each other.

She looked back at us with a look of disdain and surprise. "No!" she said, and sneered, and walked away.

We'll never know why she was so offended at being asked that. But now I'll remember her for the rest of my life.

The weather Sunday was nearly perfect for a race; low 40's, clear, no rain. It could have been less windy, but I have to say I much prefer this year's weather to last year's.

I got a definite vibe that the race, long a Portland running institution, has benefited from new organizers, or at least newly-organized organizers. Lots of little details point to them taking control of the event: from the traffic control at Saturday's packet pickup, to the new tech t-shirts rather than cotton shirts, to the fact that the number of entries were capped, to the staggered start for the 5K event, to the beer garden being in Waterfront Park rather than crammed into a tiny parking lot (I'm glad that they accepted Dale's fine suggestion from last year), it all just worked, and worked well.

And I benefited, personally, from two things: having my friend Shawn there in the race with me, and the staggered start. I think those, plus my training and mental toughness and determination, led me to finishing the Shamrock Run 5K course faster than I ever have before: in 30 minutes and 44 seconds, for a 9:54 pace.

Yes, I've run a faster 5K before, but the size of the crowd at the Shamrock Run, the first major run of the year for Portland, has always hindered me, giving me many people to dodge and weave among as I push myself. So I've stopped pushing myself in the past. But not this year!

And having a friend next to me gave me the excuse to a) not stop running, and b) pace myself properly. Shawn did great for it being his first ever race! And he even finished a step ahead of me: as we passed the 3 mile marker, with the finish line in sight, Shawn got a look in his eyes that I can only call "want-this-to-be-over-ism", and he found his final kick.

And so did I!

Such a fun race. I love the energy of the crowd, the crazy folks who dress up; spotted the guy in the Guinness beer glass costume, someone in a Teletubby full-body costume, lots and lots of kilts (are they still kilts when they're on a woman? Related: rawr), and of course the Southeast Shamrockers (I can't find a webpage for them but, surely, they must have one, right?) in their mullet wigs and sleeveless t-shirts and spandex pants and big sunglasses.

I love this race, and I love my town.

Labels: exercise

• 8:56 AM 0 comments

Shamrock Run 5K 2010

I'm in running clothes waiting for Kevin to show up.

It's 36° F according to my weather widget.

I can hear a train outside.

I've had a slice of toast with peanut butter and jelly on it, and one and a half cups of coffee.

I went to bed last night around 9:00p - 9:30p, although last night we turned our clocks back an hour, so getting up at 5:30a is almost exactly like getting up at 4:30a. Not to mention the fact that I had very restless sleep.

I'm wearing my running pants, new(-ish, I've run in them a few times already) Brooks Adrenalines, long-sleeved (green, for St. Patrick's Day) tech shirt, and my white Shamrock Run commemorative t-shirt over it. Oh, and a black stocking cap.

I've got my timing chip strapped to my left ankle and my iPhone strapped to my left bicep - oh, crap, am I going to be unbalanced?

My worst time in this race was my first year, 2006: 35:07, an 11:19 pace. But that was before they started using timing chips.

My best chip time was last year, 2009: 31:21, a 10:06 pace (my gun time was 34:00). I'd like to do better this year, and it's within my reach.

I'll report back later on my time and experiences.

Labels: exercise

• 6:33 AM 3 comments

I'm kind of in love with Simon Singh

Why haven't I ever heard of this man before? He dramatically demonstrates how an expectation can create a false signal from something that's nothing but noise.



This demonstrates why it's so important to have tools, objective and rational, that can be used to separate out actual signals from the noise that surrounds us.

If you expect there to be an invisible sky man, then you will see an invisible sky man, in spite of the mountains of positive evidence against ISM's existence.

Labels: atheism

• 8:27 PM 0 comments

Cherry Bomb

Hollywood is so out of ideas they're remaking music videos.



I'm astonished at two facts about The Runaways biopic:

• Although it seems odd that the role of Cherie Curry is being played by 16-year-old Dakota Fanning, that's the correct age for when Cherie auditioned for the band. If anything, Dakota is a year too old.
  
• But Kristen Stewart does not a Joan Jett make, in my head and without having seen the movie yet.
  

Of course, I'll see the movie. And this song is practically Stormy's theme song. • 5:52 AM 1 comments

Who is Newton?

Mmmm... Newton. • 8:26 AM 0 comments

Video game memories

Wil Wheaton has reminisced about video games, and why not? And it's prompted me to remember old video games, too.

• Asteroids Deluxe, the short cabinet version, Elevator Action, and several others will always remind me of the 7-11 at Park Ave. Kevin and I would play that damned Elevator Action for hours.
  
  
• Dragon's Lair will forever be associated with Kellogg Bowl in Milwaukie, OR. I remember Terry putting quarter after quarter into it, while I stood around and watched, until he got to the end one night. He had done it before, and wanted to show me that at the very end (Spoiler Alert!), when the knight killed the dragon and rescued the princess, his helmet came off and he looked like our friend Andy.
  
  
• There was a video game that involved landing on a planet that was only found at Kah-Nee-Tah in eastern Oregon; it was a black and white vector graphics game in a primitive cabinet. I can't remember the name but I have a vague feeling it wasn't Lunar Lander, though it may have been. I played it once during one brief glorious road trip, with Amy and Terry.
  
  
• I and others from high school would play Battlezone, the tall cabinet version, at the Kienow's in downtown Milwaukie, a store no longer there. Steve Kilgore was the best at that game. Kilgore was also the best I'd ever seen at regular ol' Asteroids; he demonstrated the trick of saving one small asteroid, then flying up constantly and waiting for the saucers to come out, picking them off one by one.
  
  
• I know there were games at the bowling alley in Gresham where mom and dad and Donna and Gary would play, but I can't remember what they were.
  
  
• And the sit-down versions of Pole Position and Red Baron, and several others remind me only of the arcade at Clackamas Town Center. I can still hear the sounds of that arcade, and feel the excitement of knowing all that entertainment was waiting for me. I can hear the jingle of exchanging quarters for tokens, see the specific brass color of them, and feel the groove in one side of the tokens that made sure you could only put the token into the slot one direction. I remember the red-headed guy who worked there, then moved next door to the hamburger place after a while, and spending hours talking to him. I worked in that mall, at a small game store that sold, among other things, Dungeons & Dragons books and dice, for six long years, and spent years there prior to getting a job, and the arcade was a favorite hangout. I could write a week of blog posts about all the silly things I did or saw there.
  

You? • 7:55 AM 2 comments

Running

Nine days ago I participated in the Running With The Wolves 5K, and I ran the fastest I've run in months: 5K in 0:30:17, for an average pace of 9:44 per mile.

The day was perfect: not too cold, sunny, no rain. There were very few people on the course; only 81 finishers total. But it was fun, and I am glad I did it.

Then I didn't run until tonight.

I had a mildly-injured foot, a bruise or something on the ball of my left foot. Other than that, I really have no excuse. Maybe I needed the break, and maybe I just failed to motivate.

Mrs. McGinnis, my sophomore high school English teacher, once told me, "If anyone learns how to motivate you, you'll be an unstoppable force for good!" She meant it kindly, I suppose; generally I liked her. But that fear of motivation has haunted me for over 20 years. To this day, I don't know what motivates me.

I run because I want to be faster, although realistically I'm too old to ever be considered a fast runner. I run because I want to be thinner, and then I wipe out any gains from exercising with a single donut. I run because I want to meet other runners, and then I just run, solo, through my neighborhood and never join running groups. It's like I'm working at cross purposes to myself.

The inner workings of my mind are as impenetrable as, well, other people's minds.

But I ran tonight; I ran 15 minutes at 6 MPH, and then switched to run/walking, with about a minute break every half-mile. I finished 3 miles in 0:31:28 total.

My plan is to run again on Thursday. I'll be sure to update if it happens.

Labels: exercise

• 6:46 PM 2 comments

What the internet is for

Here's what the internet was made for: funny cat videos.

This one made me laugh out loud.

• 9:31 AM 0 comments

"I didn't do anything to you, you stupid creature!"

That's what I said to the opossum in my dream that was spraying me like a skunk.

Good morning, blog. • 8:45 AM 2 comments

Bother me tomorrow; today I've got no sorrows

Doot doot doot, lookin' out my backdoor.

• 5:53 AM 0 comments

This Too Shall Pass

I love these guys.



Seriously. I want to give them money. That's how much I love them.

Update:

I gave $7.99 to Amazon so I could download their album. I hope Amazon gives at least some of that to those guys. • 6:14 AM 6 comments