Jim's Guts

And the award for…

…Most excellent use of greyhounds goes to! As I've said before, the web is a fun and interesting place; I got to the linked to this post through a comment on one of my coaches' blogs, but I'm stoked that I did. I can't even imagine getting our two Golden Retrievers, Eli and Toby, to sit still for a regular picture (Eli wants "pats" and Toby wants to retrieve a tennis ball), let alone pose them with books! And they're 13 and 8!

Bonus – Here's a little amusement from the one of my favorite Wingnuts, Michelle "Internment Works" Malkin:

So, Arnold Schwarzenegger endorsed John McCain. He extolled McCain for "reach[ing] across the political aisle to get things done."
We'll hear that annoying platitude a bazillion and one times through Super Tuesday and beyond.

To which I say: When did it become the Republican Party's top priority to "get things done?"

Seriously, you couldn't make this stuff up…

Kill The Weasel…

The L&T makes an impassioned plea to change the University of Washington's logo back to a Husky from the current Fighting Weasels here. It's definitely worth a read. I've always wondered why a team that was in the middle of a successful streak decides that it's time to change things (see Padres, San Diego), better to make a change when things aren't going so well (see Seahawks, Seattle).

“Word of Wisdom…”

I don't know retired U.S. SFC Red Thomas, I've never met the man, and until yesterday had never even heard of him before. But, I'd sure like to by him a beer. The World Wide Web is a strange and wondrous place, and it's amazing how following a little path can take you to great sources of wisdom, and so it is that I found "Words of Wisdom About Gas, Germs and Nukes by SFC Red Thomas, Armor Master Gunner, U.S. Army (ret)".

The 2004 article is maybe the best piece of writing about civilian responses to what the military calls NBC (Nuclear, Biological, Chemical) Warfare, all of which could probably be boiled down to don't panic and use your head, but the whole thing is really worth reading. Look, if there's an NBC attack, that would be very bad, but realistically, except for the psychological effects, it would be limited in scope and there are a lot of things you can do to minimize your exposure and risk.

Seriously, go read SFC Thomas' article, I promise that it's well worth your time…

The worst two weeks…

Between the last playoff game and the Super Bowl there are two weeks. Two weeks of interviews, press conferences, practices, pundits, and buildup to the biggest football game of the season. I used to read about the teams and the game during those two weeks, but it was never a big deal to me. That changed in January of 2006…

Growing up I wasn't a big football fan, instead it was mostly baseball. Still living in Northern California my parents, and by extension I, followed and rooted for the San Francisco 49er's. The 49er's won Super Bowl XVI in 1982, which was nice, but nothing too exciting. Years and events passed, and I'd watch a game if it was on and usually watched the Super Bowl, but it still wasn't something I was passionate about. Then I met the L&T who was passionate about football and in particular "her" Seattle Seahawks. She was a fan, so I became a fan (which wasn't easy back in those days because the team wasn't always that good). In 2002 I took it to the next level join 4 of the best guys on the planet

The 2005/2006 Seattle Seahawks' season was a magical thing to be a part of. By finishing the regular season 13-3 (including a meaningless week 17 loss at Green Bay) the Seahawks had secured the #1 seed in the NFC and the road to the Super Bowl would go through Seattle, and the 5 of us would be there to watch it. After the bye week, Seattle opened the post-season beating Washington 20-10 and the next week beat the Carolina Panthers to win the NFC and the right to go to the Super Bowl.

And thus begun two of the most fun (and probably least productive) weeks I've ever had as a sports fan. When I was home, the NFL channel was always on, away from home there was a ton of Seahawks talk, the web the sites that I frequent were all talking about the game. It was fantastic! Media day, team practices, interviews with players on NFL Total Access, features on the team, replays of all our games, as well as planning to go to Vegas to watch the game. It was just fun to be a Seahawks' fan.

The problem is, now that I've experienced it once, it's hard to watch all the same stuff, but about a different team. Sure, I'll read the articles, and I'll watch the game, but unlike all those years before 2006, now I know what I'm missing…

“F*cked his sh*t up…”

In October of last year I signed up for a fantastic offseason workout program at Cycle U, called InCycle. When asked what "it" is the only thing I can say is imagine the hardest spinning class you've ever done, and then do it for 90 to 120 minutes. Three times a week. And this week the coaches turned it up to 11.

I understand the philosophy and some of the physiology behind it, next week is a scheduled recovery week for the class (more technique, less "hard" time") so the general idea is to stress the rider's system to the breaking point this week and then allow us to recover next week. Like I said, I get the idea, but damn this week was difficult on the system! I have class Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays and besides feeling wiped out, it's wreaked havoc on my GI system! The three days following class have just torn me up. Look, if this makes me faster (and I think it will) and if it makes me able to compete (ditto), then it will be completely worth it, but "Jim's Guts" aren't happy about it right now…

BTW – I really like all of my coaches at Cycle U, they're excellent coaches and really great people, so when I say this it's with the uttermost respect, but Coaches Craig, Tammy, and Toby, I hate you… ;-)

Friday Morning Pick-me-up...

I'm going to try this as a regular feature, but those that know me best, know that "regular" and I aren't always on the same page. Still, let's see what we can do...

Great song, even better video. Although there are no "real" celebrates, there are tons of "kings", see if you can spot them all...

Blogging…Or…

…"Even a blind squirrel occasionally finds a nut"…

A friend made a post wondering who the audience was for his writing, and in posting a comment in response I mentioned that we, ourselves, are our own biggest audience. I then noted;

Blogs are electronic dairies, but instead of hiding the key, we leave it out there so anyone can find it

It's true, sometimes, even if it's by accident, I can be remotely profound.

Home Jim…

The L&T and I have had a membership to a local gym for several years. We both used to go on a regular basis, but then I got a trainer for my bike and pretty much stopped going (the L&T however, still goes 4-5 times a week). The problem is that I need the strength training as well as the "saddle time" but I couldn't bring myself to spend 60 minutes on my bike then get into the car, drive to the gym, find parking, deal with gym folks, and go fight for machine time.

You see ads for home gyms all the time, and I always wondered about them, but couldn't get myself to commit to one. Then my best friend Buckethead (who I wish would write more frequently, poke, poke, poke…) mentioned that he'd gotten himself a Bowflex and really liked it. During last weekend's depressing Seahawks meltdown, I pestered him with a bunch of questions, and finally decided to make the leap – As of last Sunday, I too am the owner of a Bowflex Extreme

Now, I don't expect I'll get "rock hard abs" or start ripping shirts with my massive pectoral muscles, but I am hoping that it'll help convert some of 185 pounds from "man-boobs" into useful muscle. Even though it's only been one week, I can tell you for sure that after spinning it's a lot easier to move to a machine just across the basement than drive to the gym.

But you know, rock hard abs wouldn't suck…

Lance gets a pass…

As some of you know GYGIG had to change the dates of our Texas ride because in late 2007 (well after we had chosen our date) the Lance Armstrong Foundation chose the same weekend as GYGIG to have their huge fundraising ride. I understand it, the LAF has to scheduled the ride around when "The Man" is going to be available, but still, it was a little disheartening, because it means we have to reschedule, reprint flyers, etc (to answer a frequent question, no, we can't have it the same weekend as the Livestrong event, they're just too big, and all of the Austin based cycling support goes to them). Suffice it to say, that even as big a Lance and LAF fan as I am I was a little disappointed.

Then I read about Lance's trip to Iraq, Afghanistan, and Kyrgyzstan as part of the USO's 2007 holiday tour. The USO is a fantastic organization, and for the troops the morale boost, support, and yes, entertainment they provide is hugely important. As a guy who spent many a weekend at various USO facilities, I owe them a ton for making my first few holidays away actually enjoyable. If you'll indulge me, here's a quick story – In November of 1982 Mr. Stout and I were still in Hospital Corpsman School and on the same duty schedule, so neither of us would be making it home for Thanksgiving. It was our first big holiday away from home, so when we heard that they were going to be serving Thanksgiving dinner at the San Diego USO, we jumped at the chance to go. Fantastic! We ate wonderful food (and as much of it as we could stuff in our belly), were served by wonderful people, they even had cards and decorations on the table made by local kids. For our first Thanksgiving away from home and family, we were surrounded by home and family.

Suffice it to say that I have nothing but praise and love for the USO, and for those performers who are willing to give up some of their time and comfort to give some good times to the men and women out at "the tip of the spear". So yeah, Lance gets a pass…

Quick hits…

…Bike edition

Well I've got at least one more season of racing ahead. My freshly renewed USA Cycling license arrived today (#266220 if you're scoring at home), and I entered the 2008 Frostbite Time Trial on February 24^th in Everett, WA. It's a 9 mile, out and back course, which looks mostly flat. We'll see. It does mean that I've got to get new tires soon.

Speaking of "new" how about a little bike porn courtesy of the fine folks at Orbea? I'm not totally thrilled with the color of blue (I prefer navy blue, go figure), but the rest of her is fantastic. And light, she comes with the new SRAM Red group and weighs 15.05 pounds. And the cost? Only $5,640.

I'm thrilled to be on a cycling team, really I am. I honestly believe that it can only help my cycling. That said, what in the hell are they doing calling for a team ride scheduled for the same time as the Seahawks' Divisional Playoff game? Hopefully I'll get to see the second half.

Finally, this is not the place to look for up to date Get Your Guts In Gear information, but I'd be remise if I didn't mention that we had to change the date of the Texas ride. That ride will now be taking place on October 17^th – 19^th. We found out in late December that this guy who won the Tour de France 7 times in a row had moved some charity ride he does to the same weekend we were originally scheduled for. We figured we'd cut the guy some slack and change our dates, you know, so he wouldn't have to compete against us. Because, you know, that's how we roll…

Friday, January 11, 1991…

17 years ago today, at 5:30pm on a snowy Seattle winter's eve (actually it was in Shoreline) I married the Lovely & Talented Mrs. Smith. 17 years sounds like it should be a long time ago, but it really isn't. Don't get me wrong, if the old saying "it's not the years, it's the mileage" is accurate, well, then we've put on the mileage. Sickness and health, births and deaths, travel, adventure, good times, great times, and yes, some bad times too. The longer I've been married to the L&T, the harder it becomes to remember what life was like without her.

After all this time I'm still not sure why she said "I will" that night, but I'm grateful for it every day…

A study in Black, White, and Red…

I was fortunate enough to see Steven Sondheim's "Sweeney Todd – The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" when a full orchestra revival of the theatrical show came to the 5^th Avenue Theater in the fall of 2005. Until then I had never seen the show live, but knew most of the music from watching the production on PBS in the late 70's. (Side note, if you've seen the show or movie, try to imagine the lovable Mrs. Potts as Mrs. Lovett in that version, very disturbing. But I digress…). After seeing the production, I thought the show was classic Sondheim, tight story, great music, and just the right amount of gore. So when I heard they were going to make a movie of it, well, I was a little unsure.

Turns out that I shouldn't have worried. The movie is actually better then the show (which is painful for me to say that a movie is better than live theater). The problem with the live theater is that everything has to be played BIG or the folks in the back will have no idea what's going on. On screen however you don't have that problem, so a movie can bring it in close and quiet, which in this case adds an amazing punch.

Johnny Depp is excellent as the deeply disturbed Todd, and while I agree with most that perhaps Helena Bonham Carter doesn't quite have the vocal range for Todd's equally disturbed accomplice, Mrs. Lovett, she really is fantastic in the role. There's also a very strong supporting cast, including Sacha Baron Cohen's fantastic turn as Signor Pirelli (a rival barber) and Alan Rickman's Judge Turpin (Rickman may be the best "villain" in film right now).

The movie is shot in mostly black and shades sepia, and a fair amount of red. Not so much red that it becomes "Friday the 13^th", but when the Todd does his thing, it does get colorful. Director Tim Burton does a wonderful job of juxtaposing the dark, cold side of London's Fleet Street, with the vibrant colors of sudden violence that's a huge part of the story. And he does on film what can't be done on the stage; he brings the viewer in close, and during several of the songs, has the actors sing quietly, which just adds to the tension.

Overall, the movie was totally worth the full price ticket that I paid for it and I highly recommend it (though due to its subject matter, it is definitely for mature audiences).

Go and read...

...This - It's not about whether you support the war or not, and it's not about the all too frequently hollow "I support the troops". It's about the fact that every war has costs, and those costs are the lives of young men and women like Andy. We would all do well to remember that.

Fair winds and following seas Andy.

Happy 2008…

It's pretty well documented that 2007 was one of the toughest and weirdest that I've experienced in my nearly 44 years on this planet. And yet, even with all of the bad times, I can't help but feel blessed. People significantly wiser than I (you can insert your own joke here) have said that the true measure of a man is the company he keeps and the people he counts as friends. I believe that's true, and it makes me one of the fullest people on the planet.

Thank you to everyone who has touched my life in the last year. It's because of you that I can look back and say that, even with all of the bad times, 2007 was a good year. I wish everyone a joyous, healthy, and peaceful 2008.