I've never really been into High Def, that was until my roommate came home with a 60" High Def TV. I've been sold. I recommend going to buy one just so you can watch the Discovery Channels "Planet Earth". It is amazing. They spent 5 years filming this show just to capture some of the most amazing scenes in the world.
I also watched the show Three Sheets to the Wind on the HD channel. That show is also amazing (the theme of the night). The theme of the show is a comedian who travels to different countries and gets wasted with the locals. Tonight he was in Prague and he drank absinthe, which is awful, and he came to that same conclusion.
Here comes my digression....I tried Absinthe for the first time in Aix en Provence, France. As youngsters studying abroad in Europe, the first thing we had to do to break the shackles of American restraint was go buy the most horrid looking green liquor from the local market and consume it. Everyone had read the stories of people hallucinating on this intoxicating mixture of green fire water and wormwood. While in the 1800's may have had enough wormwood to cause hallucinations, the only thing it is now is highly alcoholic, on the order of 151 proof.
It tastes like a mixture of Jaeger and Everclear. Prague is famous for it, but no locals drink it. Why? Well, did you not just hear the two liquors I compared it to. How do you think they would taste mixed? It is a stupid gimmick that stupid Americans think they will be cool if they try. The last time I got drunk off the stuff, which coincidentally was the first time, I ended up covered in soot at 4 A.M. Unfortunately it wasn't a hallucination.
Oh yea, the Travel channel has a show coming on tomorrow about 1000 places to see before you die. I'm going to watch that too. Hopefully they wont be trying absinthe.
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Monday, March 26, 2007
Atlanta ING Mararthon
Ok, so the title is a little misleading, I only ran the half, but that is still 13.1 miles. I dont really know why people enjoy these things, they are fairly painful. Me, I much prefer cycling. You dont put your legs through the pounding, you can coast when you get tired, and you go much faster. But anyway, my girlfriend and her Dad were running it, so I couldnt let them show me up.
For the inaugural ING Marathon, it was done really well. The course was beautiful and I saw parts of Atlanta I wouldnt normally see for fear of getting shot. Fortunately, when you are with 15,000 people at 7:00 AM you dont have to worry about much. For the beginning of Spring, it was fairly warm. The temperature later rose to 80 degrees, but luckily we ran so fast that the convective cooling relieved us of the heat.
The week before the half marathon I was training with my girlfriend and I am fairly sure I suffered plantar fasciitis. Which feels like you have a bruise on the bottom of your foot and you are walking on it. Luckily the day it happened was the wonderul day of St. Patrick. So in order to dull the pain I medicated myself with Guinness. Nevertheless, in order to not look like a wuss I still had to run the half. I once read a story about the Tarahumara Indians of Mexico who run up to 50 miles a day and subsist on corn mash and a type of beer they brew from it. Since they dont have running shoes handed down from goddess Nike, the Tarahumara run in sandals fashioned from used rubber. Therefore, they have to run as if they are barefoot, or on the balls of their feet.
Since it works for these Mexicans, and I live close to a lot of Mexicans on Buford Highway, and I like beer and I am sure they do too, I decided that I would adopt their running style. Unlike them, I didnt have years of running like this to practice, I had a week. A week of no training because I didnt want to aggravate my foot. So I ran the half marathon on the balls of my feet, or at least for the most part until the 4 Ibuprofen kicked in and it didnt matter how I ran. Anyway, it is an interesting style of running and I recommend reading about the benefits of barefoot running, something I am going to start doing more of.
So before I start rambling (too late) I will just point out a few highlights/pointers:
A shot of ice cold PBR given by a wonderful bystander is actually extremely refreshing.
I got to run with the marathon winner for all of 5 seconds as he passed me hoping I would get on TV (Yes, that means he lapped me)
As my friend found out the hard way, prep your nipples so they dont get wore down by your shirt
Make sure you get a good playlist going on the MP3 player (Bruce Springstein, Coldplay, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Old School Michael Jackson, etc.) and DONT forget to recharge your batteries
If you are not doing the race, and trying to drive around during raceday make sure you dont have to cross the course, or else you will be stuck for a few hours while thousands of people jog past you
The uncomfortableness in my feet I felt around mile 2 went away as soon as I saw everyone jogging past and clapping for a person doing the marathon in a wheelchair. Who the hell am I to complain about a little foot pain?
Bottom line is it was a lot of fun, but doing something like this on a bike would be a lot more fun! All in all the Atlanta scenery was great and so was the weather. It makes me feel pity for the people who are too lazy to get out of their houses to enjoy this type of thing.
For the inaugural ING Marathon, it was done really well. The course was beautiful and I saw parts of Atlanta I wouldnt normally see for fear of getting shot. Fortunately, when you are with 15,000 people at 7:00 AM you dont have to worry about much. For the beginning of Spring, it was fairly warm. The temperature later rose to 80 degrees, but luckily we ran so fast that the convective cooling relieved us of the heat.
The week before the half marathon I was training with my girlfriend and I am fairly sure I suffered plantar fasciitis. Which feels like you have a bruise on the bottom of your foot and you are walking on it. Luckily the day it happened was the wonderul day of St. Patrick. So in order to dull the pain I medicated myself with Guinness. Nevertheless, in order to not look like a wuss I still had to run the half. I once read a story about the Tarahumara Indians of Mexico who run up to 50 miles a day and subsist on corn mash and a type of beer they brew from it. Since they dont have running shoes handed down from goddess Nike, the Tarahumara run in sandals fashioned from used rubber. Therefore, they have to run as if they are barefoot, or on the balls of their feet.
Since it works for these Mexicans, and I live close to a lot of Mexicans on Buford Highway, and I like beer and I am sure they do too, I decided that I would adopt their running style. Unlike them, I didnt have years of running like this to practice, I had a week. A week of no training because I didnt want to aggravate my foot. So I ran the half marathon on the balls of my feet, or at least for the most part until the 4 Ibuprofen kicked in and it didnt matter how I ran. Anyway, it is an interesting style of running and I recommend reading about the benefits of barefoot running, something I am going to start doing more of.
So before I start rambling (too late) I will just point out a few highlights/pointers:
A shot of ice cold PBR given by a wonderful bystander is actually extremely refreshing.
I got to run with the marathon winner for all of 5 seconds as he passed me hoping I would get on TV (Yes, that means he lapped me)
As my friend found out the hard way, prep your nipples so they dont get wore down by your shirt
Make sure you get a good playlist going on the MP3 player (Bruce Springstein, Coldplay, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Old School Michael Jackson, etc.) and DONT forget to recharge your batteries
If you are not doing the race, and trying to drive around during raceday make sure you dont have to cross the course, or else you will be stuck for a few hours while thousands of people jog past you
The uncomfortableness in my feet I felt around mile 2 went away as soon as I saw everyone jogging past and clapping for a person doing the marathon in a wheelchair. Who the hell am I to complain about a little foot pain?
Bottom line is it was a lot of fun, but doing something like this on a bike would be a lot more fun! All in all the Atlanta scenery was great and so was the weather. It makes me feel pity for the people who are too lazy to get out of their houses to enjoy this type of thing.
Monday, March 19, 2007
If we only knew then....
One of the main reasons I started a blog was so I could vent, so today it will serve its purpose. I haven't been able to blog as much as I planned because a week after I started the blog I decided to start a website with two friends, so that is now occupying my time. But after my Dad sent me a great article from NY Times columnist Frank Rich, I will blog.
I used to get fired up about the war. I can remember getting in arguments with my friends before the elections 2004 after studying abroad and passionately arguing how it was a mistake. Now, I am almost numb to the war. It isn't that I don't care, it's just that I feel like my point, and everyone else who opposed the war, has been proven. What more can I say or do? After awhile "I told you so" loses its allure.
But there are times when I still get fired up, and now is one of them. Four years have gone by and what have we seen? Videos of Saddam hanging, carbombs going off, Baby Noor or whatever her name was.....
Hopefully, if nothing else, the past four years will teach us the pitfalls of over exuberance and the danger of having an idiot in the white house.
The following are quotes and comments taken from Frank Rich's NY times article.
March 6, 2003
President Bush holds his last prewar news conference. The New York Observer writes that he interchanged Iraq with the attacks of 9/11 eight times, “and eight times he was unchallenged.” The ABC News White House correspondent, Terry Moran, says the Washington press corps was left “looking like zombies.”
March 7, 2003
Appearing before the United Nations Security Council on the same day that the United States and three allies (Britain, Spain and Bulgaria) put forth their resolution demanding that Iraq disarm by March 17, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Mohamed ElBaradei, reports there is “no evidence or plausible indication of the revival of a nuclear weapons program in Iraq.”. He adds that documents “which formed the basis for the report of recent uranium transaction between Iraq and Niger are in fact not authentic.” None of the three broadcast networks’ evening newscasts mention his findings.
[In 2005 ElBaradei was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.]
March 19, 2003
President Bush declares war from the Oval Office in a national address: “Our nation enters this conflict reluctantly, yet our purpose is sure.”
Price of a share of Halliburton stock: $20.50
[Value of that Halliburton share on March 16, 2007, adjusted for a split in 2006: $64.12.]
I used to get fired up about the war. I can remember getting in arguments with my friends before the elections 2004 after studying abroad and passionately arguing how it was a mistake. Now, I am almost numb to the war. It isn't that I don't care, it's just that I feel like my point, and everyone else who opposed the war, has been proven. What more can I say or do? After awhile "I told you so" loses its allure.
But there are times when I still get fired up, and now is one of them. Four years have gone by and what have we seen? Videos of Saddam hanging, carbombs going off, Baby Noor or whatever her name was.....
Hopefully, if nothing else, the past four years will teach us the pitfalls of over exuberance and the danger of having an idiot in the white house.
The following are quotes and comments taken from Frank Rich's NY times article.
March 6, 2003
President Bush holds his last prewar news conference. The New York Observer writes that he interchanged Iraq with the attacks of 9/11 eight times, “and eight times he was unchallenged.” The ABC News White House correspondent, Terry Moran, says the Washington press corps was left “looking like zombies.”
March 7, 2003
Appearing before the United Nations Security Council on the same day that the United States and three allies (Britain, Spain and Bulgaria) put forth their resolution demanding that Iraq disarm by March 17, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Mohamed ElBaradei, reports there is “no evidence or plausible indication of the revival of a nuclear weapons program in Iraq.”. He adds that documents “which formed the basis for the report of recent uranium transaction between Iraq and Niger are in fact not authentic.” None of the three broadcast networks’ evening newscasts mention his findings.
[In 2005 ElBaradei was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.]
March 19, 2003
President Bush declares war from the Oval Office in a national address: “Our nation enters this conflict reluctantly, yet our purpose is sure.”
Price of a share of Halliburton stock: $20.50
[Value of that Halliburton share on March 16, 2007, adjusted for a split in 2006: $64.12.]
Thursday, March 1, 2007
400 lb girl
Over the past few days there have been several link about severely fat kids. This one,
http://emuse.ebaumsworld.com/video/watch/15068,
is a 400 lb 7 year old! There was another one on CNN, http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/02/27/obese.child.reut/index.html, about a 200 lb 8 year old.
Now some people will argue, "It's genetic!", but in the video she is seen eating macaroni and cheese and asking for popcorn. The Enlish boy eats 4 bags of potato chips a day as snack and has a whole pizza for lunch.
What the hell is wrong with these parents? If your kid is fat, not just a little hefty - which is fairly normal - but FAT, dont feed them unhealthy food! It is that simple. They say their kids are hungry. Here's a hint: Bananas or apples, granola, and salads with whole wheat bread on the side all help to cure hunger. I am astonished with fat people out there who claim they cant lose wait, but then go eat fast food. The next time you hear someone complaining that they cant lose wait ask them how many miles they run a day or how healthy they eat, ei cutting out fried foods. If they say they dont have time, say, "It's not that you cant lose wait, its that you aren't willing to try."
I am not writing about people who are slightly overweight, I am talking about the people who are in danger of getting diabetes or heart disease, dying because they are so fat. Society is scared to really address this topic because it is afraid it will hurt fat peoples feelings, because of this these people dont really grasp the severity in which they hurt their chances of having a long, enjoyable life.
Bottom Line: If you are very fat, or you have a kid that is very fat, stop making excuses! Eat healthy, exercise, and lose the wait. If you dont want to do that I guess you can just pick the other option and shorten your lifespan.
http://emuse.ebaumsworld.com/video/watch/15068,
is a 400 lb 7 year old! There was another one on CNN, http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/02/27/obese.child.reut/index.html, about a 200 lb 8 year old.
Now some people will argue, "It's genetic!", but in the video she is seen eating macaroni and cheese and asking for popcorn. The Enlish boy eats 4 bags of potato chips a day as snack and has a whole pizza for lunch.
What the hell is wrong with these parents? If your kid is fat, not just a little hefty - which is fairly normal - but FAT, dont feed them unhealthy food! It is that simple. They say their kids are hungry. Here's a hint: Bananas or apples, granola, and salads with whole wheat bread on the side all help to cure hunger. I am astonished with fat people out there who claim they cant lose wait, but then go eat fast food. The next time you hear someone complaining that they cant lose wait ask them how many miles they run a day or how healthy they eat, ei cutting out fried foods. If they say they dont have time, say, "It's not that you cant lose wait, its that you aren't willing to try."
I am not writing about people who are slightly overweight, I am talking about the people who are in danger of getting diabetes or heart disease, dying because they are so fat. Society is scared to really address this topic because it is afraid it will hurt fat peoples feelings, because of this these people dont really grasp the severity in which they hurt their chances of having a long, enjoyable life.
Bottom Line: If you are very fat, or you have a kid that is very fat, stop making excuses! Eat healthy, exercise, and lose the wait. If you dont want to do that I guess you can just pick the other option and shorten your lifespan.
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