MotivateUfatbastard

Anti-Wal-Mart essay

2010-05-02T17:53:00.000-07:00

This isn't really the place for this, but I spent two+ hours writing it today, and I thought it might serve as thought-fodder and talking points for some other people.
Why Not Shop at Wal-Mart?
I felt it was wrong to shop at Wal-Mart, but when my thinking was challenged I realized the main reasons I had for it were that other people whose opinions I respect were anti-Wal-Mart, and it just seems too big. The too-big argument works a little bit; small and local is better in general than big and international. Udder Place preferred to Starbucks, Siano's or GLB to Applebee's or Ruby Tuesday, Geary's to A-B, etc. It's consistent with slow-food, locavore-type thinking. Even though Hannaford is owned by a multi-national conglomerate, they have a local distribution center, and buy produce from local suppliers, and contribute to local charities, and support local causes. Wal-Mart is the opposite.
Still, I felt the need to research and articulate other reasons not to shop at Wal-Mart, and I found them. Wal-Mart -- the largest company in the world -- like other big-box stores, contributes to sprawl. But beyond the negative qualities it shares with other big-box retailers, Wal-Mart consciously employs practices that are bad for customers, employees, business partners and the local and national economy.

"Many people continue to support Wal-Mart because they do not think they can afford to shop anywhere else. There is an element of truth to this, and of course, it is part of Wal-Mart's plan -- kill off every low-cost competitor. In short, Wal-Mart creates poverty and then it becomes the store of last resort for victims of poverty." (Sprawlbusters)

Big-box stores like Wal-Mart are detrimental in many ways to our quality of life. In 1998 Home Depot and Wal-Mart built more than 250 new stores, adding 33+million feet of retail space to America. Here's the argument against sprawl, made by the website Sprawlbusters:

"Sprawl" is defined by the National Trust for Historic Preservation as "poorly planned, low-density, auto-oriented development that spreads out from the center of communities."
The 10 sins of retail sprawl
* It destroys the economic and environmental value of land
* It encourages an inefficient land-use pattern that is very expensive to serve.
* It fosters redundant competition between local governments, an economic war of tax incentives.
* It forces costly infrastructure development at the edge of towns.
* It causes disinvestment from established core commercial areas.
* It requires the use of public tax support for revitalizing rundown core areas.
* It degrades the visual, aesthetic character of local communities.
* It lowers the value of other commercial and residential property, reducing public revenues.
* It weakens the sense of place and community cohesiveness.
* It masquerades as a form of economic development.
http://www.sprawl-busters.com/caseagainstsprawl.html

Wal-Mart is not alone in contributing to sprawl, but Wal-Mart is far worse in its evil practices and ill effects than any other retail company.

Wal-Mart is not just the world's largest retailer. It's the world's largest company--bigger than ExxonMobil, General Motors, and General Electric. The scale can be hard to absorb. Wal-Mart sold $244.5 billion worth of goods last year. It sells in three months what number-two retailer Home Depot sells in a year. And in its own category of general merchandise and groceries, Wal-Mart no longer has any real rivals. It does more business than Target, Sears, Kmart, J.C. Penney, Safeway, and Kroger combined. http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/77/walmart.html

But Wal-Mart is not worse merely because it is bigger; it is bigger because it is worse. An annual list of the most ethical companies in the world includes some Wal-Mart competitors. Target, Trader Joe's, Wegman's, Gap, Best Buy, and IKEA are on it this year, but Wal-Mart has never been on it. Costco is another Wal-Mart competitor that keeps prices down while treating workers decently. "Costco CEO Jim Senegal pays workers more and himself less (this is a CEO who can live on just a half million bucks a year!), allows some workers to be unionized, and still runs a profitable business." http://webhost.bridgew.edu/jhayesboh/badbusiness.html
In contrast, Wal-Mart's CEO made more than $19 million last year (after a $7 million pay cut), while keeping employee wages and benefits at poverty levels. Wal-Mart's pay forces tens of thousands of employees to apply for food stamps and Medicaid. "Some larger Wal-Mart stores have welfare offices in the store -- for the people who work there." http://webhost.bridgew.edu/jhayesboh/badbusiness.html Wal-Mart's pay and benefit policies are costing US taxpayers billions of dollars. "On April 26, as part of a campaign called 'Love Mom, Not Wal-Mart,' five members of Congress joined women's advocates and labor leaders to assail the company for not paying its female employees more," according to a NY Times article. In December Wal-Mart agreed to pay $40 million to settle the largest wage-and-hour class-action settlement in Massachusetts history --after fighting it for eight years. The case is one of many: "in December, the merchant agreed to pay up to $640 million to settle 63 federal and state class-action wage-and-hour lawsuits." http://www.againstthewal.com/#Wal-Mart_will_pay_$40m_to_workers__
Wal-Mart also damages the American economy by pressuring the companies who supply it. On basic products it demands "profit-killing concessions from vendors," paying less each year. Suppliers have been compelled to lay off employees and close US plants if they want to keep Wal-Mart's business. "Sure, it's held inflation down, and it's great to have bargains, but you can't buy anything if you're not employed. We are shopping ourselves out of jobs." http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/77/walmart.html One supplier closed his factory because of Wal-Mart's demands. "In January, he lost money on a Wal-Mart order. A few months later, he was asked to make 10,000 intricately worked cardigans for the retailer within a week. The sample already bore a Wal-Mart price tag: $8.47. 'You can't make it here at that price,' Reed said at the time. 'Not legally, anyway.'" http://www.pulitzer.org/archives/6831
Other than supplying increasingly cheap and crappy products, Wal-Mart does little to serve its customers. Here's one rant:

On any given day I can go to my local Wal Mart and buy a box of bullets, a pack of smokes, a movie full of swearing with either some killing or fucking in it and a video game that has a lot of killing in it... but I can't pick up an unedited Eminem CD? What's up with that? Do I even need to get into the recent censoring of books? Both America the Book by the people from the Daily Show on Comedy Central and George Carlin's new book When Will Jesus Bring the Pork Chops? were pulled from the shelves of Wal Mart across the US because they were found to be objectionable. http://www.disgruntledhuman.com/wmrtnf.htm

Visit any of these sites for long lists of customer complaints about Wal-Mart:
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/retail/walmart_customer_service.html or http://walmart.pissedconsumer.com/ or http://www.measuredup.com/company/Wal-Mart-Walmart-1584/Reviews/Consumer-Complaint-1 One frequent feature is that the store manager, district manager, or corporate headquarters is not available to respond to the complaint.
Here's a concluding summary on Wal-Mart:

Wal-Mart is a parasite. Like a giant tick, it attaches itself to the side of a community, digs in and begins to suck the money out. It entices local folks with goodies at prices unheard of. Like innocents entering an opium den, people succumb to the illusion of prosperity, not realizing the enormous price to be paid soon after. Everything sinks to the lowest denominator (or is that dominator)—wages, prices, products, and services. Until most people have to shop there, because either they can’t afford to do otherwise, or there’s no other stores left.

Every purchase is political.
Every purchase affects the environment.
Every purchase is your conscience.
Every purchase is a vote.
Every purchase is a prayer.
Every purchase matters.
Buy local. Buy little. Buy organic.
Live in the world you want to create.
Create the world you want to live in.
http://www.alternativesmagazine.com/30/baynton.html

Celtics off to a Strong Start

2008-11-10T13:11:00.000-08:00

Check out what LZ Granderson says at ESPN's Daily Dime:

the truth is, barring injury, you'd be hard-pressed to find a team in the East that will get past Kevin Garnett's defense in the middle in a seven-game series. Sure, Andrew Bynum will give the Lakers more beef in the middle if the Finals repeat, but unless Pau Gasol undergoes a heart transplant between now and June, Leon Powe, Glen Davis and Kendrick Perkins will once again have their way down low.

"Our bench has been phenomenal [and] has been the reason we've won games," Rivers said. "They play together, they share the ball and they've done all the things as a group that makes them a good group. There is no one guy that can carry them, but when they play together it makes them a really good basketball team."

Tony Allen is looking like a candidate for 6th Man of the Year. Leon Powe is no flash in the pan. The team defensive commitment is still there. I'm not worried that Paul Pierce has not played like Paul Pierce; if the team can carry him to the All-Star break, he can carry them the rest of the way. But I wonder about Ray Allen's minutes a little. I think he must be averaging the most on the team, and I wish they were fewer. I know his game involves the least explosiveness of anyone, but he also is the oldest and has the most wear-and-tear. I wish they were saving him a little more than they are.

Banner 17

2008-07-01T09:46:00.000-07:00

A movie tribute to the World Champion Boston Celtics, and the playoffs MVP, and, in a way, to "The Artist of the Day."

Highlights

2008-06-13T19:32:00.000-07:00

Ungracious Gloating

2008-06-13T19:13:00.000-07:00

I don't know why I despise all these Euros, except that they are in Laker uniforms and playing with the great American Euro, Kobe Bryant -- I hate him, I hate him as a person, I hate him as a player, I hate that he's so good at the game, I hate the way he is the apotheosis of the superstar mentality that took the league back into a big money toilet after Bird and Magic pulled it out of the toilet it was in.
Rant over.
Here's video of a crying Laker who just got tooled in the biggest moment on the biggest stage of all.

Celtics-Lakers Game One

2008-06-06T15:15:00.000-07:00

Meg and I went down. What a great night it was!
Very pleasant to be in Boston. Nice, traditional Boston dinner at Durgin Park. A couple beers at an Irish pub called Hennessey's while we watched the middle part of the Red Sox game. Then the atmosphere around and at the Garden was electric. Converse gave us some green shirts ("Weapresent Boston") outside. Reebok gave little signs saying, "You Got Rondo'd." Our seats were draped with white shirts ("Gotta Beat LA" in green) courtesy of Modell's.
Then the game was a terrific see-saw battle. I thought the Celtics were outplaying the Lakers early in every phase except field goal percentage. Kevin Garnett should be able to torture any Laker who tries to defend him. Rondo the same. Whichever wing man Kobe doesn't cover should also be able to shoot essentially unmolested.
Pierce going down was scary. Then they were getting tough without him, and his return was inspirational.
It was great!
Now I get a sick feeling worrying about Pierce (and Perkins) recovering to be effective the rest of the series.
Here's Bill Simmons's column, which expands on my take.
Pierce's return creates echoes of Willis Reed's legendary limp out of the tunnel against the Lakers, but those with short memories have not yet made the full comparison. Reed went down in the first quarter of the fifth game and was out for the rest of that game and the sixth. The Knicks pulled out the fifth game without him; the Lakers won the sixth. In a nightmarish best-of-the-worst scenario paralleling that, the Celtics win game two in a terrific team effort, spawning reams of analysis and hours of sportstalk blather about team basketball -- what would today's Bill Simmonses have made of that Knicks team? They were a team of "aberration guys," you didn't know who would rise up and carry the team on any given night -- then they lose game three, maybe even four in LA without Pierce, but he makes it back for game five because it's LA and he's Paul Pierce. Then, unlike Willis Reed, Pierce plays almost the whole game and carries the Celtics to a victory in his hometown, cutting out the Lakers' hearts and stomping on them. The return to Boston for game six becomes a forgone conclusion when the Celtics smothering defense causes the Lakers to set a record low for first quarter scoring in the finals, Kobe won't pass to anyone because every Euro on the squad has gone catatonic and Lamar Odom has imploded. Fish brings the ball up, passes to Kobe on the wing, who dribbles twice before hoisting an off-balance three again and again and again.
Well! That's just getting carried away into fantasyland.
But as shell-shocked as those Euros looked and played, I think the Celtics can steal a game without Pierce if they have to.

Eastern Conference Champs

2008-06-02T13:48:00.000-07:00

Paul Pierce was disappointed with the Celtics fourth quarter in the fifth game. In the sixth game he personally made sure they didn't play as soft. Even one of the craziest bad calls in a playoffs rife with bad calls only made him more determined. Even the refs couldn't take that game away from him.
Here's a picture of him celebrating with Celtic fans in Detroit's arena. Detroit fans were so fed up they left while the game was still in question, but a quarter to a third of all the fans were Celtic fans, and still there when this picture was taken.

Yeah, He Got Game

2008-05-19T17:16:00.001-07:00

Also what sport is about

2008-05-19T11:41:00.000-07:00

Maybe I should look harder for a video that includes LeBron James's spectacular performance too. But, hell, I'm a Celtics fan; this is good enough for me.
It used to be a leprechaun on the rim; now Pierce says it's Red Aurbach.

This is what sport is (should be) about

2008-05-19T11:36:00.000-07:00

Katahdin is the coolest

2008-04-27T18:03:00.000-07:00

This hike was actually up North Brother, then across to find the site of a WWII-era commercial plane crash on Fort Mountain, but I'm using the Katahdin moment as an excuse to cross-link.

I Reach Katahdin While in Georgia

2008-04-27T17:54:00.000-07:00

As mentioned in the previous post, the St. Simon's Island vacation allowed us to kick up the exercise regimen. We went out for a run that I estimate at 4 miles three times while we were down there. We went for bike rides, exercise walks and easy strolls, played catch with the lacrosse stuff and tried frisbee golf.
Logging a couple of my workouts on Anthemrewards.com I finally hit Katahdin after two years of cyberhiking. Should I go back to Georgia?

Odds and Ends

2008-04-14T16:46:00.000-07:00

Next week is school vacation. As usual we are headed south. As usual we plan to kick it up a notch on the exercise front. So look for an activity report in a couple weeks. We're already trying to run a little more, more than three miles today and it felt good since the weather was sunny and warm.

On my other favorite topic here, the Celtics, I realized there's a good chance I'll be in Georgia for the first round of the playoffs so I've sold my two first-round games. I have home games two and four of the first round, and if nothing untoward happens the game four tickets won't be necessary. For the second round I have home games one and three -- those should be fun to go to.

A Brief Celtics-related Post

2008-03-30T10:33:00.000-07:00

I just read some posts at Shamrock Headband (follow the link to the right; it's worth the time).
One connected to a great interview with the Celtics' new-this-year defensive assistant coach. Good Reading! http://basketballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=235

March Madness

2008-03-23T17:40:00.000-07:00

This year, if gambling were legal, I would have wagered on the tournament three different ways. One was an auction of teams at which I would have quickly been outbid on any team I really thought could win. At this point I'm hoping that West Virginia and Washington State can somehow win two more games. If I had bet on them and they went to the final four it would be an incredible payday if gambling were legal.
In another pool I play just for fun, with no money changing hands, I picked eight teams, each with a different seed # and only two from each region: UCLA, Georgetown, Stanford, Washington State, Marquette, West Virginia, Arkansas, and Davidson. I got through the first round happy, happy, happy. There's been other years when I tried to pick so that my teams wouldn't be knocking each other off until late in the tourney, but they got knocked off by other teams anyhow. This year Davidson knocked off Georgetown, and Stanford put Marquette out. Oh well.
Finally, you have to just pick the whole bracket before the thing gets going. I got 24 of the first 32 games right, which might be pretty good, since there were four crazy upsets. I got 11 out of the 16 2nd round games right; still pretty good. Of course I have picks ahead that are already wrong, since I thought Kent State could win three games, Clemson two, Georgetown four: you get the picture.
Still, even if I had actually wagered actual money, I might still be in the running, because of the weird upsets named above.
For a few years now, a bunch of us have gotten together for the second weekend, to watch the games, drink beer, and hang out. Sadly, this year it's not happening because another friend is inconsiderately turning fifty and we have to have a party.

Road Racing Season Has Begun

2008-03-16T17:38:00.000-07:00

And I'm slower than ever...
Last Sunday I ran the Brian Boru Irish Road Rover in 27:51 (Results)
Compare to last year's results here
This Sunday I ran the Kerryman Pub 5K in 27:02 (Results)
Compare to last year's results here.

Celtics Pick Up Veteran Help

2008-03-05T05:50:00.000-08:00

Bill Simmons' links this week include a piece he wrote in April '06. Most of what he says about Sam Cassell is quoted below. I know Sam won't be there tonight, and P.J. Brown won't play, but I'm psyched through the roof for tonight's game against Detroit.

Say what you want about Elgin Baylor (and I have), but the longtime Clippers GM swung the single most important trade of the summer: a sign-and-trade where Minnesota ended up with the incompetent Jaric and the Clips ended up with a No. 1 pick and Sam Cassell. It was a calculated gamble for a team that desperately needed leadership, experience, someone who wasn't afraid to take big shots, and someone who looked like E.T. Sure, Sam is a little crazy (or so they said), and he wore out his welcome a few times, but what's more reliable than a good player trying to prove himself in a contract year? In the words of Val Kilmer in "Heat," the bank was worth the risk.

Sensing one final chance at a big payday, as well as an opportunity to define his career, Sam grabbed the steering wheel from day one. He shouted to everyone that things were changing, that the Clippers wouldn't be pushovers anymore. He started working on Brand, telling him over and over again that Brand was their horse, that he needed to carry them, that they would only go as far as he took them. During the team's first official practice, when they were scrimmaging full-court, Mike Dunleavy stopped the proceedings for a water break. Everyone went to get a drink except Cassell and Mobley, who remained on the court to shoot free throws together. The next time, it happened again. And the next time. They never said a word, just kept shooting those free throws. Within a few days, nobody was getting water during water breaks; everyone remained on the court.

See, it's the little things with Sam. We always hear the whole "This guy's a winner, he's teaching them to win" refrain with sports, but I watched it actually happen with Sam and the Clippers -- little by little, game by game, week by week, month by month. Baby steps. Almost like watching my little daughter. From the first game in Seattle, Sam made this team his own, scoring 17 points in the fourth quarter, including a couple of dagger threes, followed by Sam skipping around the court doing his "I have giant testicles!" dance, then screaming in the postgame interview, "I told you! I told you this was a different team! This ain't the same old Clippers anymore!"

That Seattle game set the tone for the season: Sam casting his shadow over everyone and everything. There's nobody in the league quite like him. He knows everyone on every team, every referee, every coach ... he's like the old guy in the sports movie who shows up at the playground and starts jawing at everyone, only everyone starts smiling because they know it's finally time to start playing some ball. He's constantly working the crowd, the officials, even other players. He's always up to something. During one game against Minnesota, Sam found himself fighting for a loose ball with KG -- whose intensity during games is almost bordering on homicidal at this point -- and it seemed like KG was going to punch this Random Clipper Who Dared To Battle Him. Then he realized it was Sam and kissed him on the forehead.

I always believed Sam was underrated in the past, but now I'm starting to wonder if he was the most overlooked good player of the past 15 years. The proverbial raps on Sam: head case, complains too much, bitter about being underpaid, can't guard anyone. Maybe there was some truth to all of those things, especially last season in Minnesota. But this was also a guy who won two rings in Houston with Hakeem (making some huge shots for Rockets, by the way), then happened to lead FOUR OTHER TEAMS that just "randomly" came together while he was there. Two went from the lottery to the playoffs (the '97 Nets and '06 Clips), the other two made the conference finals (the '00 Bucks and '04 Timberwolves).

Can we still call it a coincidence after the recent Clippers resurgence? Probably not. Some guys just know how to win. It's in their blood.

Rajon Rondo on LZ's Cafe

2008-03-03T15:15:00.000-08:00

7 - 0, Baby!

2007-11-15T15:03:00.000-08:00

Garnett finally didn't get a double-double. Maybe he's running out of gas? Ha! I don't think so!
Gotta stay calm, gotta not turn into a psycho sportsfan blogging asshole. Deep breaths. Keep cool.
They had 21 steals and 15 assists last night!Oops! I got that backwards, didn't I? Damn! I'm not keeping cool. But hell, I think there could have been whole months they didn't do that the past ten years.
After the first time they beat the Nets someone on that team said there was no way they were going undefeated -- like it was a possibility! Like anyone's come even close ever before!
Go here to look at a bunch of pictures of Kevin Garnett in action.

Opening Night

2007-11-04T11:00:00.000-08:00

The headline of the game story on NBA.com says "Garnett leads," and his line shows some real leadership: 22 points, 20 rebounds, five assists, three blocks and three steals. Pierce was the scoring leader.
One thing I noticed was that each time the Wizards started to close the gap as other Celtics were taking their turns shooting (and missing), one of the new big three very deliberately took things in hand and made sure we got a hoop or some foul shots. Ray Allen did it two or three times.

One young fan, though, was rooting for a shorter-term Big Three -- titles for three local pro teams.

He held up a sign: "RED SOX PATRIOTS CELTICS The BIG 3.''

We can hope right now can't we?

Cleveland Rocks!

2007-10-10T13:44:00.000-07:00

They have a whole different batch of decorated guitar sculptures now, and Johnny Cash's tour bus is parked out there, too.

We went to Cleveland for Erin's wedding. The reception was at the Cleveland City Club, which was cool. We stayed at a Marriott Suites only a couple blocks away, also cool. Bracketed by one of the oldest shopping malls in the country, recently refurbished and very cool.
We went for a run on Sunday that went down into the Flats by the Cuyahoga river, past the new stadium where the Browns play, by the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame, down to the lakeside, back up 9th St., past Jacobs Field and around Quicken Loans Arena, back to the hotel, a very cool run of about 4 1/2 miles.
As it happens, on Friday night we had been stopped at the corner of 9th and Prospect, listening to the Indians/Yankees game on the radio when the winning run was knocked in. What a noise! Later we went down to a local bar to watch the Red Sox and enjoy the crowd. Later, we watched on TV as Manny hit the walk-off HR for the Sox. Great night! Great weekend! Great wedding!

Trail to Ale 10K

2007-09-16T14:28:00.000-07:00

First of all, what a great idea! May all your trails lead to ales.
Meg and I ran the Portland Trails fundraiser 10K this morning, sponsored by Shipyard Brewing, hence the name. What a great day, and what a great race. The race started at 9:00, and by 10:15 I was drinking the first of two "free" Shipyard Export Ales. by 10:40 we were on our way home,talking about getting our second cup of coffee of the day.
Here's the site for the race results: http://www.coolrunning.com/results/07/me/Sep16_Portla_set1.shtml
They have my results and Meg's reversed, honest! Really! Seriously!
Anyway, we never ran a 10k before, so we're really proud of ourselves, and thinking about running another one around Halloween.

Air Show Replay

2007-08-20T12:54:00.000-07:00

My face is still weather-burned after spending four-and-a-half hours out on the flight line with my head tilted back. I got the raccoon eyes too.
The American Air Power planes were as cool as I thought they'd be. That Avenger, and also the Corsair have massive engines and make the air throb when they come down the line. The announcer mentioned the "30 seconds over Tokyo" raid while the B-25 was flying around, and I haven't fully gotten it out of my mind: they flew those things off an aircraft carrier basically knowing they would never be able to land them anywhere (crash-land at best). Ballsy!
The modern jets were great too. The FA-18 put on a great show. One memorable part was the pass at nearly the speed of sound. The jet came in silently, and was gone as thunder rolled across the field.
I felt compelled to leave to meet Meg before the F-86/F-16 formation, but our meeting spot was just below where they formed up, so I got to see them fly together anyway.
One other really cool part was when the B2 flew over. They're from Missouri, not Nebraska; all flown by the unit that dropped the A-bombs back during WWII. A B2 flew the longest mission ever: 44 hours without landing, from Missouri to Afghanistan and back. The one that flew over at Pease came in like Batman, made a couple passes, then slid on out again. Two crewmen in the thing, and it costs and delivers ordinance on par with a missile destroyer. Serious warbucks!

The only thing that could be more far out would be to see an SR 71 Blackbird.

Brief Celtics Update

2007-08-11T05:21:00.000-07:00

As of last night there was no news on the Reggie Miller story.
However, the Celtics have signed Eddie House and Scott Pollard. I'm not sure why they need House, who is described as a "three-point specialist" (I'd like to see them sign someone described as a "defensive specialist," but maybe that's just me). Scott Pollard was a teammate of Pierce's at Kansas, so maybe they'll mesh well. He's also a solid pro of the big white stiff variety, probably has a good work ethic and has been on winning teams.
Bill Simmons thinks they are poising for their big push in '08, not this year, but may pick up a final puzzle piece in season if things break the right way.

Pease Air Show - Wings of Hope

2007-08-09T04:36:00.000-07:00

I'm getting excited about the Wings of Hope show, and thought that, even though it is nominally off-topic, I wanted to blog about it. First, here's the web address:
http://www.peaseairshow.com/
And here's the schedule:
9:00-11:00 Civilian Air Craft Rides (limited)
11:00 Opening Ceremonies (Saturday Only)
11:35 Flag Drop "Silver Wings" US Army Jump Team
11:45 American Air Power B-25, P-40, P47, TBM Avenger
Noon Jet Car and Rob Holland Act
12:15 L-39 Demonstration - Dan McCue
12:30 Red Star Formation Team
12:45 B-2 Flyover (August 18th Only!)
1:00 Carol Pilon Wing Walker (Rob Holland / Pilot)
1:30 Jim Parker Salto H101 Sailplane
1:45 F4U Corsair (Dan McCue / Pilot)
2:00 U.S. Navy F/A-18 Hornet Demo Team East
2:15 Legacy Formation / F-18/F4U
2:30 P-40 Warhawk Demonstration
2:45 NH Army Guard Helicopter Ground Assault Demo
3:00 Rob Holland Airshows / Ultimate 20-300s N8UB
3:15 Lockheed T-33 "Shooting Star"
3:30 F-86 Demonstration (Ed Shipley / Pilot)
3:45 USAF East Coast F-16 Fighting Falcon Demo Team
4:00 Heritage Formation / F-86/F-16 - End of Flying

The parts I'm most excited about are the heritage formation flights. Here's why:

Okay, this is a Bearcat, not the Corsair, but that just means the formation will be that much cooler, because the Corsair is cooler than the Bearcat.
But if that doesn't rock you, how about this one:

The F-86 was the primary US fighter in Korea, and unofficially the first plane to break the sound barrier (it could do it in a dive, but not level flight). The F-16 was developed in the post-Vietnam era, and is still manufactured for export.

I'm also excited about the American Air Power flight. Just look at these beasts:
B-25,

P-40,

P47,

TBM Avenger

I'll leave it at that for posting pictures, but the shooting star is what you thought a jet fighter should look like when you were a kid, so that should be cool too, and the B-2 is the stealth bomber that takes off from Nebraska to bomb someplace in the middle east, and looks like it could beat anything in Star Wars.
Man!

Hot Celtics Rumor of the Moment

2007-08-08T15:36:00.000-07:00

I'm going to post the entire AP article here. One way or another it will be out of date by the weekend.

Celtics luring Miller out of retirement
By JIMMY GOLEN, AP Sports Writer 1 hour, 26 minutes ago
BOSTON - The Boston Celtics have spoken with future Hall of Famer Reggie Miller about coming out of retirement to help the once-proud franchise in its push for an unprecedented 17th NBA title.

"I'm always flattered when my name is mentioned as someone who can still help an NBA team win a championship," Miller said Wednesday in a statement relayed to The Associated Press by the TNT network. "I've had limited discussions with Celtics management about their roster and a potential role for me. At this time, I'm enjoying my role as an analyst with TNT."

ESPN.com was the first to report the talks.

Celtics officials did not respond to requests for comment. Miller's agent, Arn Tellem, declined comment.

Miller, who will turn 42 this month, played 18 seasons, all with the Indiana Pacers, before retiring in 2005. He is 13th on the league's career scoring list with 25,279 points and the leader in 3-pointers made and attempted.

His uniform No. 31 was retired by the Pacers last year.

In addition to working on television broadcasts of NBA and WNBA games, he has run a movie production company called Boom Baby Productions and co-hosted "Live with Regis and Kelly." But he admitted when the Pacers opened training camp without him in 2005 that it wasn't the same thrill.

"It's strange not to be a part of an (NBA) organization or part of a team," he said then. "I'm not joking with anybody on the bus like I usually do. But waking up with my back, knees and ankles hurting — that's not stuff I'm going to miss much."

The Celtics were 24-58 last season and have won three playoff series in the nine years since drafting Paul Pierce. But they have undergone a near-complete roster overhaul this summer that has taken them from a rebuilding program to Eastern Conference contenders.

They traded for seven-time All-Star Ray Allen on draft weekend and then pulled off an unprecedented 7-for-1 trade with the Minnesota Timberwolves for former MVP Kevin Garnett. Those two will team with Pierce to form one of the most formidable top three in the NBA.

But the rest of the roster needs work.

The starting lineup includes second-year pro Rajon Rondo at point guard and Kendrick Perkins at center. Only four other players are under contract.

"Clearly, we need a little bit more help just to shore up the bench," coach Doc Rivers said after the Garnett deal. "But it's sure better talking about shoring up our bench than shoring up our starting lineup."

That's where Miller would fit in, as a backup for Allen and the kind of veteran who would provide guidance — and perhaps a key 3-pointer — in the playoffs. (The last time the NBA's most decorated franchise, made the postseason, in 2005, they were bounced out in seven games by the Pacers in Miller's final season).

More About Our Time in NH

2007-08-03T11:50:00.000-07:00

On Sunday we hiked Mt. Starr King, 3907 ft. The trail continues on to Mt. Waumbek, 4006 ft., and only a mile across the saddle, but we did not go across. We shared the peak of Starr King with a couple guys who I surmised by their conversation to be peak-baggers: they were plotting future "death-march" hikes intended to get several 4,000 footers in a day. Between their conversation and the location off Rt. 2 my mind drifted back to what I still consider one of the most unpleasant and dangerous hiking experiences I've ever had, our rain-soaked assault on the Adams/Madison monolith.
On Starr King those two guys and one other older solo hiker were the only people we encountered. We marched right along without conversing, stopped only three or four times on the way up, and twice on the way down, and got back to Gorham early in the afternoon.
Here's someone else's picture of their tent on the peak at Mt. Starr King. This is where we encountered first, the lone hiker, then, the pair of peak baggers (there was no tent).

Gorham, by the way, is full of restaurants that are out of business or soon will be. We had a late lunch at a place that billed itself as a "Mexican Seafood Grill." Like Senor Pizza down the street, it served a variety of styles. Both of us opted for a burger. You know, I don't think they should ask how you want your burger done if they're going to deliver it well-done regardless.
That night we ate light at J's Lounge right next door to our motel. J's might have the best food, and did have the best service, of the three places we tried, but Senor Pizza wins out for the outdoor deck (J's doesn't even have windows).

Early Monday morning we took a bike ride. Less than a mile up Rt. 16 from our motel a railroad bridge, with a walkway suspended beneath it, crosses the Androscoggin. We rode up there, walked our bike across, then rode on a dirt road that parallelled the river (except for one slightly disconcerting detour due to a canal) for about six miles east, where we crossed back over to ride back to town on Rt. 2. For a short portion of the dirt road and bridge at that far end we were actually riding our bikes on the Appalachian Trail, a notion that tickles my funny bone.

Once we got ready after the bike ride, we headed up to Lake Umbagog, nearly an hour drive north. We went into the NH State Park there and rented a canoe. I think our day use fees and half-day rental of the Grumman barge totalled $21. The ranger told us where we might see osprey, a mother duck and chicks, and a yearling moose, but we saw none of them. We did see the osprey nest, and later we saw another, and saw an osprey flying from it. We paddled a ways up the lake to one of the remote campsites no one was using and landed there to take a nap and have a swim before returning.
I really would like to go back to Umbagog and camp at one of those remote sites sometime. It is a beautiful and remote lake, and camping at those sites would have a great wilderness vibe. Seeing Umbagog may have been the best part of a trip that had many great parts to it.
This picture from NH Parks shows a paddler on Umbagog in the same kind of canoe they rented us:

This picture I think shows the exact remote campsite we stopped at.

Celtics Push In All the Chips on Three of a Kind

2007-07-31T16:16:00.000-07:00

Last night I saw some references to this trade, but it is only being officially announced this hour. KG comes to Boston. Jefferson, Gomes, Green, Telfair, and Ratliff to Minnesota.
Every paper, web site, and blog has had time to do a full analysis before the trade even became official. I scanned 'em on NBA.com, and got sucked over to my man Bill Simmons on ESPN.com. He used a gambling analogy about Ainge's move here, and I played off it on my title.
The point is Garnett, Pierce, and Ray Allen are all competitive late-career vets who know they've got a shot at a ring that they may not have ever expected to get just a month ago. Pierce is 30, Garnett 31, Allen 32. None of them has had the kind of support the other two will provide next season. Each of them has carried a team into the playoffs before. All of them are within spitting distance of career decline.
Check out some stat lines:
Ray Allen PPG: 21.5, APG: 3.9, RPG: 4.6, FG%: 44, FT%: 88, STL: 1.3
Paul Pierce PPG: 23.6, APG: 3.9, RPG: 6.5, FG%: 44, FT%: 79, APG: 3.9, STL: 1.7
Kevin Garnett PPG: 20.5, APG: 4.5, RPG: 11.4, FG%: 49, FT%: 78, BLK: 1.9, STL: 1.3

You know those three guys will be "helping" Rondo make the right decisions game in, game out (rush the ball up the floor every time, then give it to the first one who is open, cut through the lane to the other side, then rotate back to the top of the key, probably). You know Scalabrine, Powe, Brandon Wallace and (if he's smart) Glen Davis just realized that all they have to do is work their ass off on D and crash the boards and their jobs are real easy. Kendrick Perkins just got a big pat on the back and better play his ass off or get it kicked.
The schedule comes out soon...

Adventures in the White Mountains

2007-07-31T15:04:00.000-07:00

Meg and I just got back from staying three nights in Gorham NH. On the way back today we detoured through Jackson to hike the Black mountain ski trail off Carter Notch Rd. From the peak we could see Tuckerman's Ravine, Wildcat, and Carter Notch and Dome.
Above I tried to paste a hybrid image from Google maps to show the place, but it didn't work that way. I think if you click on the question mark you can see it, though.

Whitewater Rafting in September

2007-07-21T18:07:00.001-07:00

http://northernoutdoors.com/kennebec_river_maine_white_water_rafting.html
Looks like I'll be missing it...

The Sports Guy on NBA Summer League

2007-07-20T13:16:00.000-07:00

Just got my copy of ESPN the Mag and read Bill Simmons's column about what's so great about NBA summer league in Vegas. He's about got me talked into taking a week to go out there next summer. You can probably read the column online at ESPN.com.

Celtics Summer League Retrospective

2007-07-16T18:10:00.000-07:00

It looks like Glen Davis holds the promise of being the guy I hope he'll be, Gerald Green is still learning how to play basketball (but concentrating on the right thing: defense), Brandon Wallace could be a little like Tayshaun Prince, and Leon Powe is a better player than I've given him credit for.
I think the Celtics are going to be much better on D next year than they have been for a long time.
Here's a big quote from Sean Grande's wrap up of the summer blog (go to Celtics.com to get the whole thing):

...A very strong week for Rajon Rondo, particularly on defense and on-court leadership. As it stands on July 14, an awful lot could be asked of Rajon this winter. Finding that next level isn't an option, it's going to be a requirement...The out-of-nowhere emergence of Brandon Wallce, so impressive away from the ball, and long and active, that he lived the Summer League dream, signing his a two-year NBA contract next to a box of Lay's Potato Chips downstairs in the media room...The spectacular arrival of Posh and Becks, resplendent amid the hundreds of paparazi Oh wait, that was in Los Angeles, scratch that. (Ladies, be honest with me for a second, he may be the Sexiest Man Alive or whatever, but tell me that voice doesn't kill it for you. It has to, right?)...The late-week emergence of Glen Davis was impressive (12.0ppg, 9.8rpg for the week, 17.4 rebounds/48 minutes). Almost as if he moved very quickly along the learning curve, cutting down his fouls-per-minute dramatically over the final two. He was the best player on the floor in the finale this afternoon (6 blocks in addition to a 19-14 double-double). And he looks more and more like one of those guys. The guys who've figured out how to play in the post despite being undersized.
Leon Powe showed once again how much heart is the great equalizer in the paint, Malik Rose has made a lot of money in this league with that game. And neither has the offensive skill set Glen Davis does...Gabe Pruitt's best half may have come last night against Milwaukee. With Rondo on the sidelines, he struggled "commanding" the team in the first half, which is what Armond Hill was looking for. But a strong second half, quarterbacking a come-from-behind-win and punctuating it with the baseline drive and jam that made Sportscenter...Of course, there will be questions about Gerald Green. The reality is, there's an expectation as a third-year player here in Vegas, the numbers will come easly, especially for an offensive prodigy like Gerald, and obviously they didn't. 29.8% from the floor will raise some chatroom eyebrows I have little doubt. But, and stop me if you've heard this one before, but he's still just 21...What you want to see from "vets" in summer league, is what I talked about here the other day, the feel that they're varsity players playing against the JV. That's an indication of the leap, which means that maybe Leon Powe's desert fortnight may be the best news of all. The C's leading scorer this week, Leon's one of the great reminders that the draft is a snapshot of the horse race, but there are so many ways to improve at this level, if you bring your mind and heart.

Complete change of subject: I took a long bike ride today, and later went for a similarly long walk, so even though neither one of those activities rates highly as a workout, I think I did a good job of burning some calories in a low-key way.

Keeping up on the AT

2007-07-11T18:22:00.000-07:00

I just made it into Connecticut. Thought you might want to know.

Back to the grind

2007-07-08T18:32:00.001-07:00

Meg and I planned to go for our usual Sunday run this morning, but when we first woke up it was raining. Then a couple things conspired to delay us getting going, but we dressed in our running gear, planning to get to it. It continued to rain off and on. Eventually we checked the weather forecast and found out it could be raining any time from now until -- Armageddon, I guess. So Meg's wavering between running right now (after 11:00, and I still haven't had anything to eat), and running tomorrow AM. She asked me what I wanted to do. I hemmed and hawed. She asked again and I said, "I want to eat breakfast!" So she got more specific; when did I want to run?
Anyway, we ran right then. While I was running I was thinking that, for me, putting "want" and "run" in the same sentence without a negative is just never going to make a true statement. I STILL never want to run. I do like how I feel knowing I went, though.

More on the Celts

2007-07-05T15:22:00.000-07:00

Talked with Brad a couple days ago. He's not psyched; thinks they should have gone ahead with a total youth movement. Talked with Pete yesterday. He sees it more positively as an attempt to make a move in the next two years. But thinks they are still a couple pieces away. I'm hoping Theo Ratliff can be one of those pieces. If he can be the defensive and rebounding presence he was three seasons ago (5 rebounds and 2.5 blocks in 27 min. per game), they can afford to be aggressive and active on D because they'll have Ratliff, Jefferson, and Perkins eating all the space in the paint. With Green and Gomes and Davis, and I hope, Tony Allen, you're going to see some highlight reel jams, follows and put-backs.
I notice they're trying several huge free agents on their summer league team over the next week, along with some guards. Maybe one or two of those guys will turn out to be the missing piece(s), or maybe it's just a case of another year of confidence and maturity in a young guy...
The first summer league game is tonight.

Celtics Outlook

2007-06-29T10:58:00.000-07:00

First, here's an email exchange I had with a friend. I leave his gracious comment on in the spirit of hopeful self-congratulation:

Jeff,
Good, thoughtful analysis, as always. I just
talked to Scott. He had a similiar take to yours.
Pat

----- Original Message -----
From: Jeff
To: Pat
Sent: Friday, June 29, 2007 9:46 AM
Subject: Re: Celts moves
> --- Pat wrote:
>> The real question, what do you think of the C's
>> moves last night?
>> P
>
> I've gotta stay ever-hopeful. I was bouncing from the
> computer out to my car to listen to ESPN radio on AM
> last night until I got the confirmation of the Ray
> Allen deal. When I saw you had written "moves" I had
> to go see what the rest of it was. I think Glen Davis
> has great NBA potential. Pierce was reportedly
> lobbying for immediate veteran help, and they got that
> with Allen. Then Davis, I'm almost surprised he fell
> far enough for them to get him.
> I think Allen is a great pro with a great attitude, if
> his body hasn't broken down, I'm psyched, He's known
> for his shooting, but he works hard at every aspect of
> the game. I'm imagining Pierce driving and kicking to
> Allen for threes, or Jefferson drawing doubles and
> getting it to Allen for a three. He's got a quicker,
> more accurate release than Wally. I think we won't
> miss Delonte too much because of Rondo, and because
> Pierce, Allen and others handle the ball well. I'm
> hoping Tony Allen comes back as good as he was just
> before he went down. I like Gerald Green as a seventh
> or eighth man. They are in danger of being undersized
> unless Kendrick Perkins gets his shit together and
> Ratliff can contribute, because Davis will have to
> play power forward, and the next best player I haven't
> mentioned is Ryan Gomes, who is small but plays like a
> power forward in some ways too.
> i want to see them get rid of Scalabrine and
> Olowakandi, then I'd be pretty happy about the
> attitudes and mindsets of the guys they have. I'd
> expect them to play better defense than they've done
> for years, and to fast break a lot and get points in
> flurries in a lot of regular season games.
> Time will tell.

Next, here's some of Bill Simmons's draft diary:
4:30 pm (PT): Thanks to rumors that the Celtics might trade the No. 5 pick, Wally Szczerbiak and Delonte West for a soon-to-be 32 year-old shooting guard coming off double ankle surgeries (Ray Allen), I just spent the last 20 minutes on basketball-reference.com trying to find one great shooting guard who didn't decline significantly in years 12 through 14 of his NBA career. Here's the list: Reggie Miller. That's it. Also, I just threw up in my mouth and some of it went up the back of my nose.
4:41: Andy Katz reports that Boston agreed to deal the No. 5 pick, Szczerbiak and West for Allen. Not even 10 seconds later, the Sonics take Kevin Durant ... the guy I'd been rooting for the Celtics to get since December.
(Hold on, I'm picking my jaw off the ground.)
Unless there's another major move coming -- and Lord, let's hope so -- are we really contending for the title in 2008 or 2009 with Pierce, Jefferson, Allen, Doc Rivers and nine unproven young guys? Are even we winning 47 games? Three seasons from now, if you're watching Doc and Danny Ainge announcing the same TNT game, then you flick channels and see a broken-down Ray Allen jogging around a half-empty TD Banknorth Center at age 34, you'll think of me. I promise you.
4:52: ... I'm busy trying to find the right adjective for my father on the phone right now. Beaten down? Distraught? Perplexed? Horrified? Apoplectic? All of them fit. He's absolutely appalled by the Allen trade.
"Shooting guards always lose their legs when they hit 32 or 33!" Dad yelps. "It happens to all of them. They can't avoid it. Make sure you put in your column that we traded the fifth and seventh picks in consecutive years for a point guard who was too short and a shooting guard who was too old. Put that in your column. Put it in. I hate this trade."
(Ummm ... sure thing, Pops.)
4:56: Dad calls again: "And by the way, I liked Delonte West. Put that in, too. Terrible. This is just terrible."
4:58: Boston picks Jeff Green for Seattle at No. 5, but Green has to go through the charade of wearing a Celtics hat for the next few minutes because the trade hasn't been officially announced yet.
6:53: Looks like Boston acquired the 35th pick in the Ray Allen trade as well. Hmmmmm. I'm feeling a little better about things. I was a 2 out of 10 two hours ago ... now I'm a 3 out of 10, and I'll be a 5 out of 10 if they take Big Baby with one of their second-rounders. As for my Dad? Let's call him.
6:53: "I'm still a 0 out of 10," he says.
Well, then.
...One more thing: With the second-rounder obtained from Seattle, my Dad and I were on the phone rooting for Big Baby ... and when it happened, we both cheered and did the whole "I can't believe we got him at 35!" routine. Sure, it was a minor victory, but when you're a Celtics fan these days, you take what you can get.

Last, a few more hopeful thoughts of my own: mostly I'm dreaming that Glenn Davis becomes a Barkley-like impact player. I'm moderately hopeful about Ray Allen: he's been carrying teams of stiffs around for most of his career, but in the ideal Celtics arrangement he's one of a rotating cast of third options, and I see him as very Reggie Miller-like. I don't think any other team in the Leastern Conference did anything to separate themselves from the crowd, so with good luck about injuries and rehab, and reasonable development of the most promising kids, we could go a couple rounds into the playoffs next season. Who knows?

My Back Went Bad

2007-06-27T17:52:00.000-07:00

Suddenly in the middle of the day on Monday. Well, there had been moments of twingeyness the past couple weeks, but then it was real fine on Sunday. Then POW!
So I blew off basketball on Tuesday. Had planned to join Pete's Wednesday speed sessions, but had to pass on it this A.M.
However, I did all the right things, I guess, culminating in floating around in the municipal pool this afternoon, after which it felt good. So I went to volleyball tonight, and it felt fine, and it still feels fine. So I'll go to basketball tomorrow, and try to keep doing the good things and cut back on the bad things (like slumping in this chair typing on this computer), and maybe I'll be OK for a good long while to come.

Erin Roberts Memorial 5K, Hanover MA

2007-06-24T12:49:00.000-07:00

This blog isn't just about me and my cheese sandwiches.
Dan Dowling ran the above-named race on Saturday. Click on the post title for full race results. He only runs one race a year, he claims. I think he did a great job.

38 183 DAN DOWLING 48 M 10/23 M4049 HANOVER MA 24:21 7:51

38th overall, tenth of 23 among males 40 to 49, and the time of 24:21 is right there with my best time this season. Congratulations, Dan!

Re. #5 Below

2007-06-24T12:41:00.000-07:00

Dragged my sorry self down to the Boulevard around 9:00 this AM, and around it to the 3 1/4 mile post, then back around, starting and ending with just under 1/2 mi. of walking, so I think I ran (and I use the term loosely) 10K. Due to all kinds of factors it was a relatively miserable experience, though the beauty of the weather, music from Meg's iPod, and the distraction of other Boulevardiers helped quite a bit.
Right now (3:45) my sorry self is dragging again. I think I need a little more caffeine.

Another entry with numbers

2007-06-22T19:55:00.000-07:00

1. On my AT cyberhike, I'm now in New York state.
2. Taking my workout level from so-so to spectacular may not have been a great idea. The storm did blow through, so volleyball time was the sunniest part of the day. It was one of the longest days of the year, and very competitive volleyball, so we played five games. At basketball yesterday morning my legs were dead, and I eventually felt some strain in my achilles, so I left a little early (I had just been joking that I had things to do and couldn't stay for more than five or six more games).
3. Another bike ride today at lunch. I put the old Shogun Stumpjumper in the shop, so I was riding the Peugot, a real speedy machine.
4. I'm negotiating with Pete about joining his speed workouts.
5. I have to run long all by myself on Sunday, because my long run is a short jog for Pete and Scott.
6. Just another number, with nothing else to say.

Today's "workout" and even more about the Close-to-the-Coast

2007-06-20T08:01:00.000-07:00

1. Meg rousted me this morning to revive our summer bike ride tradition. It was beautiful out when we rode. The back cove and Casco Bay were glassy. It's wonderful to sit outside on Commercial St. when hardly anyone is around yet (we get there around 6:30, just before the early commuter ferry docks). Now it is sprinkling and we may get a thundershower this PM, but I got a seven-or-so-mile bike ride in, and an hour plus of yardwork, too.
2. If the storm blows through fast enough, we may still get to play volleyball tonight, which would take my activity level from so-so to spectacular.
3. The reason the age classes were so small at Close-to-the-Coast is that all the serious runners there were in the 10K. New strategy for finishing high in my age group: run 5K's on weekends when there is a "big" 10K, 5-miler, or other (It wasn't just the 10K taking away competition; the Doc's Tavern race was the evening before, and the Maine Mile was the same weekend too). Helpful tactic: start actually racing the races instead of just jogging and running.

Additional Close-to-the-Coast Info

2007-06-19T15:19:00.000-07:00

Mike called yesterday just to tell me, "You blew it." Turns out they were giving away pies to the top few finishers in each age group. You had to be there to win, and lots of people weren't, so eventually they called my name. I coulda hadda pie!
Actually, the results are posted at http://www.coolrunning.com/results/07/me/Jun16_Freepo_set3.shtml
I finished third in my class (of six, so la-di-frickin-da). Meg was sixth in her class (of fourteen, and with a pace twice as fast as the fourteenth place finisher).
Now that I look a little closer at the times, I think if I'd known I was in a head-to-head duel with these old farts, I might have been able to take every one of them and had the first-place-pie for our class! Anyway, the first four of us were relatively close together.

Close to the Coast 5K

2007-06-17T16:09:00.000-07:00

Meg and I ran the Close-to-the-Coast 5K on Saturday. We had planned to train up and try the 10K, but we aren't there yet. Both of us posted slower times than we did back on Mothers' Day, and blamed it partly on running on trails parts of which were covered deeply with chipped wood, and other parts of which called for close attention to avoid tripping on a root. I did 25:16 and Meg 27:11, if I remember correctly (the results still aren't posted online). We got shirts, printed by Mike Loughlin; he seemed disgusted with the design of them. His son Henry turned in a great run, finishing seventh overall.

Back in the Habit

2007-06-14T13:47:00.000-07:00

I seem to be fading back to five days a week: going hard on Saturday and Sunday like a weekend warrior, skipping Monday then sandwiching Wednesday's volleyball with Tu/Thu runs before blowing off Friday.
After school gets out on Monday, I know I'll change up a little, playing basketball Tu/Thu AM and maybe bike riding with Meg on MWF if she wants to do it again. Maybe I can keep the afternoon runs going too. That could really kick everything up a notch!

Gone Hikin' Fer Real!

2007-06-10T15:01:00.000-07:00

http://www.firelookout.org/towers/nh/green.htm
Last year on Memorial Day weekend Bob, Chris, Lorene, Mary Beth and I climbed Green Mountain in Effingham NH and visited with the firewatcher in the tower. When we told others back at camp about the hike, many wanted to return there this year. Well, this year on Memorial Day weekend we were too far away, but we did plan to do the hike this weekend. When push came to shove only Meg and I went on the hike. And a nice start to the season it was, though we did not find the trail to the ice cave (reason to return).

One Step Up, Two Steps Back

2007-06-09T08:02:00.000-07:00

For anyone keeping score at home, after the nine straight days of significant aerobic exercise, I went without on Monday, then three days in a row only by counting mowing the lawn and walking to and from a bar as a workout on Thursday. Today I got back on track with a walk to USM, long basketball session and walk back. Tomorrow should be a return to the concept of the longer long run, maybe from here around back cove and back to here.

I'm in New Jersey

2007-06-09T07:51:00.001-07:00

Cyber-hike wise, that is. I just crossed out of Pennsylvania into NJ on the Anthem Rewards site. Pennsylvania is a long, long haul on the AT. My goal is to make it to Katahdin electronically by the time I go up there for real next September.

Pride Goeth

2007-06-06T02:44:00.000-07:00

Yes I was proud of making it to nine days in a row of significant exercise. Then the weather threw me a whammy on Monday; I just couldn't convince myself to go out in the rain. Then Tuesday some serious thunderstorms boiled up right at workout time and I thought it was going to happen again. Meg and I decided to wait until later to run. The storms blew through, we had supper, the sky cleared, and we ran. The rest day helped me feel good and run fast and easy.

Well, I did exercise a little on Friday

2007-06-03T14:04:00.000-07:00

So here I am on Sunday having worked out every day for more than a week. Is there anything less inviting than waking up on Sunday after staying up too late and drinking too much too late too fast on Saturday, with the plan of going for a run. South Boston, the sugar bowl, Castle island, and Day Boulevard were never viewed with a more jaundiced eye.

Some kind of milestone

2007-06-01T12:35:00.001-07:00

Yesterday, Meg and I went for our neighborhood 3+ mile run. The last day that I didn't do some kind of exercise was last Friday. Basketball and walking on Saturday, running Sunday, bike ride Monday, running Tuesday, volleyball Wednesday, and running again last night. If I haul my butt out for something today, it'll be a week straight, and with the weekend coming I could stretch it to nine days easily.
I noticed about the runs that even though I never felt that great about doing them, they were easy to do. I fell back from my intention to stretch my long run day and add intensity, but I think it was OK to have a plateau week, especially since in a sense my "mileage" did go up. All this sounds like even more reason for me to get out of the house and stretch my legs right now.

Memorial Day Weekend Camping Trip

2007-05-29T14:06:00.000-07:00

It was a great trip! Great to see Tommy and Dorothee, Chris and Lorene, Bob and Betsy, Donna and Bogey, Dr. Evil and Magma, Mary Beth and Jonathan, and all the kids.
I was a slug and never even made it down to the point or the dock past the Harb cottage. Meg did drag me around on one short run.
Mainly I abused my body with unhealthful food and too much alcoholic beverage -- got me thinking about Baxter next fall!
I think we have a hike planned for over in NH in about three weeks.

The NBA draft

2007-05-24T13:39:00.000-07:00

A sad, sad day for Celtics fans. Read Bill Simmons on ESPN.com for the high and low of it.
I created this image of "Unlucky" for my Dark Trail project. It really speaks for my mental and emotional state right now (in relation to the Celtics)

Still going longer

2007-05-20T11:18:00.000-07:00

Meg visited some website that uses GPS technology to give you mileage of routes you put in. Apparently the distance from here to the Boulevard is more than 3/4 of a mile, when I thought it was closer to 2/3.
This morning we ran, starting from the end of Rackleff St., down and around, then back up Woodfords. I slowed to a walk, but Meg continued to run all the way to Forest Av. I figure that's @ 4 1/2 miles, well probably a little short of it.
Of course, while I'm talking about that as a long run (and it is for us) Pete is out today running a 25K race, while Phil is going for 50K. I hope it went well for them, considering it was misty, cool morning.
The boulevard was packed with walkers there for a heart charity fund raiser. The negative part was weaving around them. The positive part is that there was a drumming group out under a shelter for distraction and entertainment at one point, and Crackers and Salty Pete (Portland Pirates mascots) hanging out at the walk finish line. I gave Crackers a high five.

Stretching Out

2007-05-17T17:00:00.000-07:00

But only a little. Meg and I pushed our standard neighborhood run by a few blocks here, a couple blocks there. I think (hope) it takes the distance up past 3.5 Mi. We ran it on Tuesday. Yesterday I did diddly. Today we ran it again. I felt real good on the run; I was in kind of a mood when I started, but physically it was fun, and I held at that pace all the way around, so it was a nice time. I've probably doubled my running miles this week (counting from last Saturday), but no basketball and no wallyball or volleyball, which probably means less abuse on my legs, especially from the knees down.

Sea Dogs Mothers Day 5K

2007-05-14T18:09:00.000-07:00

Great Day! Great Times for Meg, Pete, and me, as well as many other people I talked with. Here's the link for the race results. I finished in 24:25, Meg in 26:53. Go to Pete's blog Transitions and Motivations to see my whining comment.
Meg wants to run longer races and I agreed to do it. She's found a 10K on June 16th here.

NBA thoughts

2007-05-06T10:47:00.000-07:00

I was talking with a fellow Celts fan last night at a party who was more optimistic about all the young players than most of the people I've talked with lately. He was really keen on Delonte West's growth, and used it to support his argument that Doc Rivers has developed the youngsters.
Today, reading Steve Kerr's analysis about why the Rockets lost their series gave me more hope for the Celtics, too. Kerr wrote,

as we're seeing with teams like Phoenix, Chicago and Golden State, it's critical to have multiple players who can attack defenses and score the ball.

The NBA has changed quite a bit in the past five years or so, and big, stodgy teams aren't effective anymore. The Spurs have been great with Tim Duncan in the post, but only because they added Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili to the mix several years back. With today's rules – the zone defense and hand checking, in particular – it's critical to have slashing perimeter players.

Zones make it easy to bottle up big men, so you have to be able to rely on perimeter penetration to generate offense. And since you can't hand check anymore, great guards can get to the rim. Look at some of the players who are dominating the league these days – Baron Davis, Steve Nash, Dwyane Wade, Ben Gordon, etc. Houston needs one of those guys.

Pierce, Green, Allen, even Ryan Gomes: these guys slash to the hoop, and all shoot threes too. Put Oden behind them on the defensive end, so everyone can play aggressive, ball-hawking, rotating defense and maybe we can get somewhere in the playoffs. If we don't get Oden, maybe Perkins+Jefferson+Ratliff can get it done with the help of Durant or Wright or Noah.
Check out ESPNs mock NBA lottery and draft. Click here then click on Play: lottery+mock draft.

Another Boring Workout Update

2007-05-04T16:14:00.000-07:00

When I go for a run I still feel like I'm struggling (part of every run), but I noticed that afterward I don't have any soreness, extra fatigue, etc. So I knew I had to step up a little more. Well, there's only three choices: run more often, run more distance, or run more intensely. I don't think I can consistently get myself past five workout days a week until I get out of work for the summer, so I decided to run more distance AND to run with more intensity.
Yesterday I jogged to the Boulevard then alternated race-effort quarters with jogging quarters all the way around, then walked back. No fatigue today, so I guess I can push even harder next week.
My idea is to raise my mileage on Sundays, and run some kind of pace workout on either Wednesday or Thursday. Saturday's basketball and walking, Tuesday's wallyball -- soon to be volleyball. Add something on the Wed/Thurs that's not intense, I think I'm doing OK.

Conditioning pays off

2007-04-28T07:05:00.000-07:00

With chances for more conditioning?!
Today at basketball I could really tell that I'm in better shape (aerobically -- not aerodynamically, haha!) than I've been in years: I ran more, helped more on defense, blocked and/or changed more shots, worked harder for better shot opportunities, etc.
And I was still fresh when other people were leaving. Some of us stayed on for a final game of four-on-four.
So, I got in better shape so I played harder and longer, so I'll keep getting in even better shape. Woo Hoo!
I need to go for about a five-mile run tomorrow morning.

Return to -- Maine? Reality?

2007-04-23T13:11:00.000-07:00

Meg and I ran again on Saturday, the same course as before, but reversed. I'm sure it is more than 3.5 miles. Aerobically I felt good most of the way, but I had noticed that my calves have really tightened up, so I did an unusual thing: I stretched a little before I ran. After about three miles one of my calves was really tightening up. I ended up walking the last 1/4 mi+.
I'm not blaming it on the stretching. Conventional wisdom for runners says you should increase mileage by only 10%/week. I put mine up by around 30%, and increased the intensity during the same week.
The calf feels good today. I may be able to get through this just by dropping the mileage back naturally (because I'm not on vacation any more).
I'm considering that I may have to initiate some of the things that mature runners do, like regular stretching and strength training. I hate to consider it, but I don't want to spend the summer with a nagging tightness, or go down with an injury.

More from the sunny south

2007-04-20T13:04:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Meg and I went for an estimated 3.5 mile run. I walked a couple miles on the beach later.
Today I rode a bike down to the pier area and back, with some side jaunts and some walking around down there. I estimate the bike ride at around eight or nine miles.
Later we went back down there to visit the lighthouse museum and climb to the top of the lighthouse.
So, running and walking yesterday, biking and walking today; I can't seem to get psyched to run two days in a row, but we're definitely staying very active.

Marching Through Georgia

2007-04-17T14:32:00.000-07:00

Meg and I ran just over three miles this morning. Then we went to the beach. After a while we decided to walk to the village for a coffee; that's about two miles. two thirds of the way there, we had a little conference and I went back for the car. So I figure I walked a good three miles. Early this afternoon we went for a little bike ride. I logged it all on Anthemrewards and made it into Pennsylvania. It'll be a while now before I cross another state line.

Another State Flashes By

2007-04-14T15:21:00.000-07:00

In contrast to Virginia, West Virginia has only two miles of the AT. I'm already in Maryland. Woohoo!
I didn't expect Anthem to give me bonus points for this state line, but they did.
The exercising is really becoming a habit; earlier this week I felt like I had to get out and walk just because I felt like I had to, if you know what I mean.
I'm hoping to be able to legitimately log two hours each day (the max Anthem allows credit for) while we're in Georgia -- well, Tuesday through Saturday.
Maybe I can make it to Pennsylvania by May.

Mileages and High Points Along the A.T. By State
State Mileage Highest Point Height (Feet)
Maine 281 Katahdin 5267
New Hampshire 161 Mount Washington 6288
Vermont 146 Near Killington Peak 3870
Massachusetts 90 Mount Greylock 3491
Connecticut 52 Bear Mountain 2320
New York 88 Prospect Rock @ 1433
New Jersey 74 High Point 1803
Pennsylvania 232 Methodist Hill (?) @ 2100
Maryland 41 unnamed @ 2000
West Virginia ** 2 ? ?
Virginia 544 Mount Rogers 5729
North Carolina * 371 Clingmans Dome 6643
Tennessee * 371 Clingmans Dome 6643
Georgia 75 Blood Mountain 4461

Makin' Movies

2007-04-12T17:27:00.000-07:00

Woodjunkie pestered me a while ago about not having posted much. What I've been doing is making iMovies using Tom Martin's digital pictures and videos, with soundtracks I made in Garageband. I have three. I thought I could post them on Youtube, but I can't. I haven't figured out a way to get them out of this computer!

Finally Out of Virginia

2007-04-07T06:16:00.000-07:00

I knew I was getting close; seems like I've been in Virginia forever. This morning's 90 minutes of walking put me across this bridge into West Virginia on my cyberhike of the AT at AnthemRewards. Fifty bonus points, baby!

"Warrior of Love"

2007-04-06T19:18:00.001-07:00

I'm a warrior of love
With helmet in glove
And baby you'll know
when we go toe to toe
I'm trained in hand to hand
I'll bang until you can't stand
I'm a warrior
Warrior of Love

--for Woodjunky
Woodjunky would
Woodjunky would
He likes to see that junk
slidin' round in your trunk
He's got a power tool
but he's a trunkjunk fool
Woodjunky would
woodjunky would
He'll smooth it good
He keeps the project clean
Puts on a tung oil sheen
Woodjunky would
woodjunky would

Oops, should've posted this at Jasmine Six-string.
What I meant to say is, I went for a long walk today (snore)

Katahdin Krew Workout Skedule

2007-04-05T17:58:00.000-07:00

Boring Exercise Update

2007-04-05T17:14:00.000-07:00

Last week I had probably the best workout week in years. I played wallyball Tuesday, walked 45 min. on Wednesday, went for that run (see my last post) on Thursday, walked 45 min. again on Friday, did my regular walk/basketball/walk on Saturday, then ran for about 40-45 min. on Sunday.
This week the weather is playing havoc. How about a foot of snow on April 5!
I had a great night at Wallyball Tuesday, though. The first games were played at a very high level; it was intense, and I felt like the people on the court were pretty much all into it, where sometimes you have some people who make you feel like you have to take a little off. This time it was both teams playing really intensely, some great plays being made, and my team winning, which is still part of my definition of a good night (I'm still seeking spiritual enlightenment in that area).
Today Meg and I went over to the S.P. Rec and ran for about half an hour on the track, which prevented a serious backslide from last week to this one. I just need to go for a walk tomorrow, then have an intense Saturday and Sunday to stay on track.

Back on the Road, Out in the Wind

2007-03-29T15:57:00.000-07:00

I went for a run today, probably about four miles. I walked to Woodford's corner, ran down to and around the Boulevard, then walked home. It was just chug, chug, chug the whole way: no spring, no zip. Heavy headwinds the first and last half-miles. But I feel good because I went out there and put in the time and put the miles under my feet.

Last Saturday I thought someone was gonna have an aneurism or heart attack or stroke when five of us went to the school yard and played two-on-two. All morning these guys are talking about their cholesterol and their blood pressure, then they run for five minutes and their heads turn red and they can't catch their breath. It was scary. Maybe I should learn CPR.

I'm in second place in one final four pool. If Ohio State beats Georgetown, and Florida wins it all, I think I'll have the victory. It'd be nice to fold up those bragging rights and tuck them into my pocket.

Going on Record before the Sweet Sixteen

2007-03-22T14:30:00.000-07:00

It's all just in fun, since wagering is illegal, but with the fresh start of the sweet sixteen only hours away, here are my picks: I'm still calling UCLA, Fla, and UNC for the final four, but switching my allegience from Ohio State to Texas A&M (though I think Ohio State might get serious about trying to win games earlier after that last scare. Then again they might be too cocky to see it as a scare -- I hope so). Actually I wish I could believe that UNC could get knocked off by Georgetown, but I don't. So what's left? UNLV beats Oregon before losing to Fla. and So Ill sadly must fall to Kansas. Fla prevails over UNC in a bruising final.
Good thing I'd never do anything illegal, like bet on any of the above. If I did, by now I'd be thinking that as long as I'm going to lose money anyway, I might as well bet so I can root against the teams I'd like to see lose (UNC OSU, UNLV) and for the teams I'd like to see win (Fla, Georgetown, Texas A&M, UCLA, So Ill).

You think I've completely stopped working out? No! I played wallyball 2 on 3 Tuesday night and went for a three-mile (estimated) run today.

Basketball Weekend Hangover

2007-03-19T12:35:00.000-07:00

It's just a good thing wagering is illegal, or I'd be losing money on my not-quite-good-enough choices of teams in the two pools I'm playing "just for fun." I have five teams still alive in the pick-eight pool: Fla, UCLA, Tex A&M, S. Ill., and Tenn. But someone else has seven teams left, and a bunch of people have six, so they all have to be really wrong about the sweet sixteen while I have to be really right for me to catch up. In the other pool I've fallen about ten points behind the leader.
Here's a killer about the whole thing: even with no money involved I'm emotionally invested in my choices, so when a UNLV or a USC plays really well, I can't bring myself to root for them because I chose the other team to win. Then when a team like UNC plays...well, I'd love to have seen Mich. St. knock them off, but my only interest was to know they'd won (by that late I couldn't even concentrate to follow the game).

March Madness!?

2007-03-17T05:53:00.000-07:00

Huge Winter Storm.
Some decent games last night; I hung in right to the end. My afternoon was happy, and in the evening things continued to go pretty well. I got out of Thursday with only one loss, but as yesterday went along things slid a little. Winthrop was my big pick to upset, and they did, but Georgia Tech let me down, then Villanova let me down, Arizona let me down, and to finish off the night Arkansas let me down. From now on I don't pick any teams whose names start or end with "a." I played that bracket with a very small number of people, so I may still be in the running on it; five losses in thirty-two games doesn't seem too bad.
I play another pool that involves picking eight teams, two in each region, no two with the same seed number. I have all eight teams alive in that one, but I'll probably lose one or more today (BC and/or Mich St) and could easily get spanked hard before the end of the weekend.
It was hard to drag myself out of bed to go play basketball this morning. Then, sadly, I was one of only three people who showed up, so we didn't play. The walk there and back, plus some shoveling will make up my exercise for the last three days.
Today and tonight: more Guinness and more basketball watching.

9:40

2007-03-15T18:40:00.000-07:00

I was full of despair about VCU when I wrote the earlier post; I ended up having to leave to get Sadie before I wrote about how they seemed to be hanging on by their fingernails, how foul trouble was going to take them out of the game, how my anti-Duke bias had made Duke seem more vulnerable than they really are.
VCU pulled it out! What a great game! Eric Maynor! Oh my goodness!
The first upset of the tournament and I picked it. Oh! I'm so excited. And Michigan State won, too (I don't think a 9 over an 8 is really an upset). My Xavier over BYU isn't looking so hot right now, but there's a long way to go. I've only actually taken one loss so far.

8:15 PM

2007-03-15T17:16:00.001-07:00

Quick update on my tournament standings:
We've just returned to Ohio State v. C Con State, a game everyone in the gym and everyone watching on TV knew was going to be a blowout after the first six possessions. It is nice to see and get to know Ohio State's players, but they aren't being tested, so we aren't really getting to know them. VCU-Duke is at halftime.

Mary's Walk one more time

2007-03-14T17:27:00.000-07:00

For the next few days any blogging I do will probably be March Madness related, but here's a last Mary's Walk note. Click on the header to see many photos, but here's one of some of my favorite Mary's Walkers (the three in the background).

March Madness

2007-03-12T17:22:00.000-07:00

I printed out a bracket, read a web page that offered odds on each team winning each game each round, looked at the power rankings (I don't even know what those are!). Read an analysis by somebody on Yahoo, looked back at ESPN Mag's giant killers article, and made most of my picks.
I want to believe that a year's experience and maturity will only help, and I loved the way Florida played last year, so I'm favoring them as my #1 of #1s. North Carolina looked really good while they were crushing Duke last week, before the nose-smashing. As corollary, Duke looked really bad. An aside: Bill Simmons says a basketball fan has to choose between UNC and Duke, but I'd just as soon see them both lose -- the only historically good program I continue to root for is UCLA; I like their chances this year. VCU got high marks as a giant-killer from ESPN and I'm picking them (maybe wishfully) to knock off Duke in the first round then stay hot to beat Pitt. My even more sketchy giant-killer pick is Old Dominion. After choosing Winthrop to win a couple games I see that an analyst on CBS sportsline is calling them the "sexiest" pick.
I want to see as much of Durant as possible, so I've picked Texas to go until I reluctantly chose UNC over them. I've got OSU going to the Final Four because I want to see more Oden. But based on yesterday's game, I'm hoping he gains a lot of polish in the first two games; OSU looked vulnerable to me. Georgetown is another team I've seen enough highlights and fragments from, and read enough about, to think they'll do very well, and I want to watch them.
I know I'm being tempted into some wishful thinking; I'd like to see Kentucky beaten in the first round (another in the list of historically good teams I just don't like), but I haven't actually pencilled Villanova's name in yet. Either way, I think Chicago is a Kansas walkover weekend.

Kerryman Pub 5K

2007-03-11T17:29:00.000-07:00

Pete paced me again. Much faster than last week. Meg ran also. As did Unca Phil. Sadie and the rest of the family walked Mary's Walk.
Results:
58 16/41 M1518 20:29 6:36 Jason Decker 18 M 226 Shapleigh ME
(A former student)
116 22/70 M4049 22:17 7:11 Philip Vezina 47 M 290 South Portland ME
(Unca Phil)
126 26/41 M1518 22:34 7:16 Madison Moody 16 M 547 Porter ME
(Another former student)
228 20/55 M5059 24:58 8:03 Jeff Lyons 50 M 502 Portland ME
229 21/55 M5059 24:58 8:03 Pete Lyons 51 M 613 Portland ME
434 30/58 F4049 28:48 9:17 Meg Lyons 45 F 503 Portland ME

Click on the post title for a link to complete results.
My time was more than two minutes faster than last week's, so I'm feeling pretty good about running right now.
Later in the day I flopped on the couch to watch Ohio State, and fell asleep. I've watched parts of maybe six college games, read a handful of articles and columns, and printed out the brackets. Tomorrow I'll make a post about the tournament, with art, links, etc. Maybe I'll even pronounce some opinions based on my great depth and breadth of knowledge.

I am motivated

2007-03-08T17:21:00.002-08:00

The Irish Road Rover got my Irish up. Yesterday it just seemed too cold to get out and run, but this evening Meg and I went to the SP Rec and ran on the track there. I felt good, and while I was doing it I daydreamed about improving my 5K time and/or upping my mileage enough to run a 10K or more this year. Or maybe I'll just manage to lose a few more pounds and get up and down the floor with more alacrity at basketball.

Raise Your Glass

2007-03-05T16:05:00.000-08:00

Sad News for all adventurous drinkers:

Beer's "Indiana Jones" researched worldwide
By Douglas Martin
The New York Times
Article Last Updated: 03/01/2007 10:24:54 PM MST

Alan D. Eames followed beer to 44 countries. (The Denver Post)Dummerston, Vt. - Alan D. Eames, who cultivated his reputation as "the Indiana Jones of beer" by crawling into Egyptian tombs to read hieroglyphics about beer and voyaging along the Amazon in search of a mysterious lost black brew, died Feb. 10 at his home. He was 59.

His wife, Sheila, said he died after suffering respiratory failure while he slept.

Eames called himself a beer anthropologist, a role that allowed him to expound on subjects like what he put forward as the world's oldest beer ad, dating to roughly 4000 B.C.

In it, a Mesopotamian stone tablet depicted a headless woman with enormous breasts holding goblets of beer in each hand. The tag line, at least in his interpretation, was: "Drink Elba, the beer with the heart of a lion."

He explored similar topics in seven books, the best known of which was "The Secret Life of Beer" (1995); in myriad radio and television appearances; and in speeches at colleges and other institutions. A typical title: "Beer: A Gift From God, or the Devil's Training Wheels."

Eames followed the golden liquid to 44 countries.

His favorite and perhaps most startling message was that beer is the most feminine of beverages. He said that in almost all ancient societies, beer was considered a gift from a goddess, never a male god. Most often, women began the brewing process by chewing grains and spitting them into a pot to form a fermentable mass.

Eames was born April 16, 1947, in Gardner, Mass. His father was Warren Baker Eames, a Harvard-trained anthropologist. By the time he was 11, young Alan was advertising his magic act. He graduated from Mark Hopkins College in Brattleboro, Vt., now closed.

In 1968, he moved to New York City and opened an art gallery. He spent evenings at the New York Public Library researching beer.

Eames, who never learned to drive or use a computer, wrote his last article about witchcraft and beer. He stopped drinking the stuff eight years ago.

More Irish Road Rover

2007-03-05T13:49:00.000-08:00

These pictures were all at the results site on cool runnings.
Here's Pete and me finishing in stride, as I said before.

This is my friend Bob from Wallyball. I think this is like the only race he runs all year.

Early in the race Pete pointed these women out a little in front of us, and claimed he'd never lost a race to a greenhead before. He can't repress his competitive fire. We did eventually pass them and finish ahead of them.

TJ Hesler teaches with me, and is pretty serious about his running. In the second picture he's holding his age group award.

Irish Road Rover

2007-03-04T10:22:00.000-08:00

I had a great time at the Irish Road Rover today; I didn't post a good time, but I had a great time. Pete ran with me; I think staying near me helped keep his racing instincts in check so he didn't go into the anaerobic zone except while whe were climbing the big hill.
We saw TJ, Bob, Unca Phil, and a bunch of runners Pete knows. Pints of Guinness, Harp, and Smithwick's are $2.50 at Brian Boru' on Sundays, so we had three after the race.
Here are our official results from Cool Runnings:
place # name time avg. mi.
302 451 Jeff Lyons 27:44 8:57
303 469 Pete Lyons 27:45 8:57
It stinks that it's published this way, because Pete was waiting for me the whole time, like I said above, and I think both of us were trying to finish in stride, and did.
I'm guessing this is Unca Phil:
133 521 PHIL ZEZIAZ 23:19 7:32
Now I'm psyched for the Kerryman next week, for the Seadogs' race on Mothers' Day, and for more running.

Saturday Action

2007-03-03T12:57:00.000-08:00

Did my walk/hoop/walk today. I actually hustled maybe a little more than usual in the games today. Then walking home I helped some people get their car out of their icy driveway. Afterward they offered me a ride. I said, "No, thanks. I'm walking for the exercise." Which made me feel very altruistic (and healthy, like pushing the car was part of my workout.)

Road Racing Season is Here

2007-03-02T05:36:00.000-08:00

and the snow is piling up outside :(
The Brian Boru/Habitat for Humanity race is day after tomorrow. I think the last time I ran 5K in one straight shot was December, maybe early January. Argg!
I went for a run on Wednesday, but I don't think it was more than 2.5 miles.
I'll just jog along, and concentrate on the drinking afterwards; you gotta love road races sponsored by pubs. Next weekend it's the Kerryman Pub 5K in Saco.

Making miles this week

2007-02-24T10:21:00.000-08:00

Today I did my usual walk/basketball/walk, which I log on Anthem Rewards as two hours of walking (as I told Chris [Chris at basketball -- not Chris Reagan], no one can make me run more than I want to at basketball). So on my cyberhike of the Appalachian Trail I'm at Rockfish Gap in Virginia (pictured above). I've now covered 850 miles of the trail, and am already back up to 270 reward points.
Here's another picture that's appropriate as far as the cyberhike is concerned:

The guy on the left in the picture is Dave Twomey, a basketball friend and a neighbor.

More on Dennis Johnson

2007-02-23T11:27:00.000-08:00

I'm still really down about DJ.
I remember going to see Pepperdine play then-undefeated UNLV with Uncle Lorry. First of all, we got there and the game was sold out, but he scored us a couple nosebleed seat tickets from some student/scalper. UNLV was loaded with unbelievable athletes, while Pepperdine had some big South American center and Dennis Johnson.
At the end UNLV had the lead and the ball and were in a four-corners. One of their players busted from the backcourt to the hoop and dunked. This was the year BEFORE dunking became legal again in college hoops. Technical foul. Pepperdine gets a shot and the ball and wins the game.
Bill Simmons' article (linked at the link above) is the best thing he's written in a couple months.

A Sad Loss

2007-02-22T14:35:00.000-08:00

Dennis Johnson, September 18, 1954 - February 22, 2007.

What It's All About

2007-02-21T12:46:00.000-08:00

Nominally this blog is about logging workouts and motivating each other to get in shape for the big K.
In keeping with the workout log theme I should mention that I walked to and from the gym for basketball yesterday (planning to do that again tomorrow)and played wallyball last night -- doubling up during vacation week.
In practice, a scan of entries will reveal, the blog is about anything to do with working out, anything to do with Katahdin, Baxter or the K Krew, the Celtics, the NBA and soon March Madness, also probably anything about beer drinking (especially if it is funny).

How Oldathan gets up Katahdin

2007-02-20T10:33:00.000-08:00

This will solve one of Stephen's complaints, too!
I've been tutoring this guy's grandson after school, and he's teaching me how to harness up Bullwinkle here. I'm starting to get to work on how to drive him; this vacation week came at a great time.
They keep pretty busy with skidding out logs in the winter, but he (and his cart -- not pictured) are going to be available next September. Does one of you guys have a tow hitch on your vehicle so we can trailer his rig up there? We are going in early September, aren't we? He's scheduled to pull at the Fryburg Fair the first week in October.

G Money, Baby!

2007-02-18T05:10:00.000-08:00

Peter Stringer on Celtics.com:
LAS VEGAS - It was all about hops and props for G-Money Saturday night.
He used props in his dunks, gave props to Dee and Red, and he's about to get mad props after being crowned the 2007 Slam Dunk champ, putting on a memorable show in Las Vegas in front of 15,694 fans.
For weeks, Green's been telling anyone who asked that he had some tricks up his sleeve, and wanted to do something nobody's ever seen before. And despite a painful toothache that bothered him all weekend, Green rose to the occasion - literally - to out-dunk defending champ Nate Robinson, Tyrus Thomas and Dwight Howard.
Along the way, he brought out a few props (a table, a retro Dee Brown jersey and a cardboard cutout of Robinson) and showed a little respect to the old school by evoking the memories of Brown's 1991 peek-a-boo slam, and by donning a #2 headband to honor Celtics patriarch Red Auerbach.
"He was the heart, face and soul of the Boston Celtics, I went with the Number 2 to show him thanks," said Green.
Teammate Paul Pierce lent his support to Green throughout the night, whether he was tossing him a lob from behind the backboard for a two-handed power jam or lobbying the judging panel for a better score. And after the contest was over and Green was being led back to the interview area, Pierce told him, "You go do you then call me. We're goin' out tonight!"
Green notched a perfect 50 on his final attempt of the night, leaping over a table (he planned on using a poker table) positioned 10 feet from the basket. He cleared the table with ease and grace, and hammered home a one-handed windmill to send the crowd into hysterics and seal the deal.
Green's four dunks had a little bit of everything. His first attempt might have been the toughest in terms of degree of difficulty; with Pierce's running assist off the left edge of the backboard, Green caught the rebound and finished with a two-handed baseline windmill. Green mentioned Friday during a photoshoot that he wanted to start the contest strong just to let the judges know he was there, and he certainly got their attention, earning a 48 out of the gate and establishing himself as the man to beat right off the bat.
And he got a big assist from his opponent when Pierce brought out a cardboard cutout of defending champ Robinson. Rather than watch Green dunk over his own likeness, Robinson said he told Green, "You might as well dunk over the real deal."
"I wanted to jump over Nate Robinson since he was the Slam Dunk Champion," Green said. "I did what I tried to do. I tried to take it away from him and that's what I did."
Green not only jumped over Robinson, but added a little No-See-Dee for affect, pulling off his jersey to reveal Brown's #7, and then covering his eyes to re-enact the dunk as he sailed over Robinson.

Call me Zippy

2007-02-17T08:13:00.000-08:00

I don't know why, but I'm drawn to the idea of the zipline.

Dick O'Meara told me about taking his family on a zipline ecotour in Costa Rica, and it reminded me of Alpine Adventures' setup over in NH.

Penobscot River Pics

2007-02-15T14:55:00.000-08:00

Check out these other great Penobscot River Pics from the same source as the Cribworks pic below. He's got a bunch of other great Maine pics there too. Here's to digital Dan!

Rafting in Baxter

2007-02-15T14:35:00.000-08:00

Looks like Fun!

Here's what North Country has to say about this trip:

Breathtaking scenery as you paddle under Katahdin in Baxter State Park. Guaranteed whitewater through dam-controlled releases every day. Classes range from three to five; overall a class 4 river: the most technical whitewater in Maine and the eastern United States.

This is the cribworks, a class five bit.

Snow Day

2007-02-14T05:08:00.000-08:00

I was so motivated by Pete's comment about my Sunday workout that I did the workout again last night.
That's all sort of true. Actually Meg and I went to play wallyball, but when we got there a racketball player had apparently had a heart attack on one of the courts our group uses. There were lights flashing all over the parking lot; I think they used that shock defibrillator on him in there; when they wheeled him out an EMT was squeezing an airbag into his unreacting mouth and compressing his chest as they went by. It all looked very grim.
That court was not available that night.
Every Tuesday Meg has to decide between basketball and wallyball, and she had been begged to fill in last night. When the situation became 12 players with one court, she switched to basketball, and after a moment's thought I went with her.
I walked 1/2 mile to warm up, ran 1 mile, walked 1/2 mile, ran 1 mile, walked again (another mile) until I'd been doing it for 50 minutes.
Today I'm in the middle of: shovel snow, goof off for three hours, shovel snow, goof off for three hours, shovel snow, goof off for three hours, shovel snow, goof off for three hours, shovel snow, get ready for bed.

It's Not Off-Topic, It's Widening my Focus

2007-02-12T17:07:00.000-08:00

Still waiting for the reward. I watched the refreshing box score for the last 2 1/2 minutes of last night's game against the T'wolves. When I started Pierce had played 29 minutes and scored 29 points. While I was watching he got an assist on a Jefferson dunk. But the Celts went from up five to tied, with the ball, with 26.something to go. They got a 24 second violation!!! Ricky Davis, former Celtic Ricky Davis, scored the game winner with .2 left. Much-maligned former Celtic Mark Blount scored 20.
How does Pierce do it? He's been out forever with the "stress reaction", just got out from two days in the hospital, and he goes for 29 points and more minutes than Shaq's playing after two weeks back. What would Pierce accomplish with a Shaq or Duncan drawing mega attention in the low post? I hope Al Jefferson is rounding into a guy who'll give us the answer next season, though I noticed Doc Rivers was subbing Kendrick Perkins for him on D at the end of last night's loss.
I might have to go out for a couple months with a stress reaction to the way they're going.
By the way, the photo is from SI's pictures of the week.

More Slogging

2007-02-11T16:15:00.000-08:00

Meg had a basketball game this evening, so I went to SP Rec with her and walked and ran while she played. I ran about twenty minutes in the middle of about thirty minutes of walking. Actually felt good while I was running, like I could have kept going for longer. Really I stopped out of boredom as much as anything else.
I'm really looking forward to February vacation, because I'll kick my workouts up a notch for that week. Then when I run those two races in early March I'll get pushed again. That, and a little spring weather, will get me motivated to do a little more each week until April vacation when I can go up another notch.

Katahdin, so far away

2007-02-10T06:39:00.000-08:00

I came home from basketball this morning and logged my walking for this week on the Anthem Rewards: Awesome Adeventure page. I'm still in Virginia, and got curious about where in Virginia. Apparently, I recently crossed the James River. Here's a link to a National Park Service map (in pdf) of the Appalachian Trail. This week I'm somewhere between the Priest and Reed's Gap. Katahdin is a long, long way away.

First Friday Frenzy

2007-02-02T17:56:00.000-08:00

Portland has something called the First Friday Art Walk: all the art studios downtown in the "Arts District" have open houses.
I walked into town (I'm trying to get past thinking of the walk as a workout, but it burned calories), met Meg and friends at the Intown Grill for Geary's Pales and appetizers, then hit an open house for another Geary's and a snack. Healthy body, cultured artistic sensibility, fogged mind, and home before nine, as the sleet turns to icy snow.

Candy and Curls

2007-02-01T13:04:00.000-08:00

Here's how Candy stays in shape during the off-season. Yes it's the Vacationland Vixens, Maine Roller Derby. Click the pic to go to their web site. Team members include Punchy O'Guts, The Mom Bomb, and Lois Blow.

Now, about weight lifting and the age-old question: heavy weights/low reps. Or light weights/high reps?

This picture shows the proper initial form being demonstrated in the Guinness Brewery.
The following picture shows the proper initial form being demonstrated by Candy Trash in Fantasyland.

Conclusion: if you're Candy, or a candyass, go light. All others go for the gusto.
If you're only half a candyass, you could try this:

Random Health Notes

2007-02-01T07:05:00.000-08:00

In the news today:

Eating less and exercising more are equally good at helping take off the pounds, U.S. researchers said on Friday in a study that challenges many of the popular tenets of the multibillion dollar diet and fitness industry.
Tests on overweight people show that a calorie is just a calorie, whether lost by dieting or by running, they said.
They found there is no way to selectively lose belly fat, for instance, or trim thighs. And their carefully controlled study added to evidence that adding muscle mass does not somehow boost metabolism and help dieters take off even more weight.

Within the story there are implications that keeping your weight low may extend your life.

Here's a link to my brother Pete's blog, where he's recording his daily work to return from out-of-shape (read "better shape than Jeff") to in shape (read "better shape than a man his age has a right to be"). Again this reinforces my point that in my world I'm a fatass lazy shit. Re the news above, check out Pete's entry "Road Weary."
This is a picture of Pete running the Boston Marathon a couple years ago.

Lastly, just to keep logging my own workouts, I had to go to the dentist this morning (no Chris, I'm not counting that as a workout) so I had a chance to go play basketball, "a rare Thursday appearance." Mike and I came up with the motto I'm adopting as my own: "unskilled at any age."
Now I'm sitting at the computer waiting for my mouth to unnumb; somehow the coffee is all making it down my throat anyway.

Wallyball

2007-01-31T12:47:00.000-08:00

Last night I played wallyball, the regular Tuesday outing. I may just be on a good streak, but I think I'm playing better because I go every week since Meg keeps choosing basketball instead. We won three games, and every one was a come-from-behind 15 to 13 win. Those were tough battles. Fun!

Just Plodding Along

2007-01-30T17:35:00.000-08:00

My grill tools arrived from Anthem today. I don't think my grill is good enough to go with them; I'm going to have to get a new grill, maybe bigger, maybe stainless steel, better yet enamelled steel. I think that'll help me get in better shape.
They're in a little silver suitcase. I really want to take them somewhere. I'd feel like James Bond with the attache case, or the guy who carries the nuclear launch codes for the President, or -- hey what about the suitcase in Pulp Fiction?
Yesterday and Sunday all I did was go for a walk. Here's the sign for where I am on my virtual Appalachian Trail hike. Somewhere in Virginia.

I might be getting close to halfway to Maine. I wonder if I can get to the virtual Katahdin by the time we go back to hike Katahdin next September?