Run. Rock. Write. Repeat.

2011-01-02T08:33:00.004-05:00

The 1,000 - 100 Challenge for 2011

New Year's Resolutions may seem kind of corny, but almost all of us do them, right? I think there's something we all love about the idea of starting fresh - a tabula rasa for the year. And the Interweb has made it easy to make these resolutions public.

Sooooo.... here's mine for 2011.

First - I'm going to try and run 1,000 miles this year. I've never hit this milestone, even in the years in which I've run a marathon. The most I've ever run in a year was 820 miles (in 2009) and last year was 573 miles, the lowest since I began recording runs online in 2004.

I'm looking for a kickstart this year, and hopefully this will be it.

The second has to do with the very page you're reading. I know I'm hardly alone in wishing I wrote more on a blog - my blogging has been in fits and starts through the years, but I really love doing it when I create the discipline to just sit down and write.

My challenge here is to write 100 album appreciations in 2011. Some may be quite short - some may be long and rambling - but hopefully they'll all be somewhat interesting. To be clear, these are not my Top 100 albums - but just ones that I feel like writing about on a certain day.

Let's get started!

2010-08-15T21:04:00.004-04:00

Review: "Up in the Air"
Really, this movie should be called "Up in Despair."

Can you imagine if someone offered you an ice cream cone, but it was actually a baseball bat, which was then used to smack you in the head? That's what this movie felt like.

We thought it was fabulous for the first hour and 45 minutes, but the last 15 minutes destroyed the whole thing.

I don't expect every movie to have a fairytale ending, but when you spend the majority of a movie creating an arc - and then have it come crashing down in the way this one did, it's incredibly cruel. The word parenthesis will never mean the same thing for me again.

Six Oscar nominations for this? Unbelievable. Sure, the acting performances are incredible, so I won't quibble with that, but Best Picture and Best Screenplay? Blech.

Skip this piece of garbage.

2010-05-18T12:42:00.002-04:00

Album Appreciation: Exile on Main Street

May the good Lord shine a light on you... make every song you sing your favorite tune...

Let me start by saying I'm a very late bloomer to The Rolling Stones. I was always more of an "appreciator" than a fan. Of course, I knew all the songs on the radio, but I didn't get my first Stones album until a couple of years ago - and it was "Exile on Main Street."

I got it because everyone said it was the album for the Stones, but when I first played it, I didn't get it at all. Where were the songs that I knew? The Stones had more hits than Mike Tyson, but I only really knew two songs on the album - "Tumbling Dice" and "Happy" and I sort of knew "Loving Cup" from hearing Phish do it.

When I first listened to Exile, I heard this big mishmosh of gospel, blues, song fragments, and it was all so muddy. I gave it a few more half-hearted listens and then put it away for a long time.

Well, now I'm on the page with the rest of the world in thinking that this album is completely brilliant. I don't know what changed, but at some point I just got it! Now, I think the album is a great bar band doing what they love - playing all types of music - and sounding like they are just having so much fun playing it.

What a beautiful buzz....

2010-05-14T13:28:00.004-04:00

The Digital Download Era Begins!

Did you know that you can actually download music from something called the "Internet" instead of buying CDs? What a cool concept!

OK - back to reality. I've downloaded songs here and there for several years, but have steadfastly resisted buying digital albums. My reasons have included the following:

Lower music quality of digital downloads
Enjoyment of reading lyrics, liner notes, etc.
Protection from a computer crash
Easier to throw in another CD while driving instead of fumbling with my iPod

But over time, my arguments have become weaker. The reality is that I listen to music on my iPod 95% of the time, so the quality argument goes out the window, and do I really ever look at lyrics and liner notes? Not so much.

And while the other arguments may have some merit, the environmental arguments for downloading vs. buying CDs is compelling. You can read a 30-page report here, or just trust me and take a look at the chart below detailing CO2 usage for various methods:

There's also a compelling financial case for downloading too. When I first started looking into this, I was frustrated that an album I wanted to download on iTunes was $9.99, but the CD was $7.99 - aren't you insulting my intelligence just a little bit to tell me that a download is more expensive to produce than a CD?

But then my friend KG turned me on to emusic - where the album cost the equivalent of $5.40 (they use credits, so it's not an exact match, but that's a pretty fair comparison). Their selection is somewhat limited, but there are so many albums I've never gotten around to buying that it will keep me happy for some time. Plus, digital bargains are available other places - for example, this morning, I bought "Let it Bleed" on Amazon for $5.99.

All for now...

2009-10-05T13:03:00.005-04:00

A new name... a new idea

Welcome to the latest redesign of my blog! Still finding to find the right way to write regularly here - the last name/idea worked well for a bit, but didn't seem to sustain itself. SO, the latest idea is that I'm going to try and post 26.2 thoughts per month here (no, I haven't figured out what the .2 thought is going to be - we'll all find out together around the last day of the month).

If this doesn't work out - look for something new in a few months! Let's get started, shall we?

1. Marathon training is moving along, step by step

Been quite a while since I posted a marathon update, so here's the catch-up mileage:

Week 3 mileage: 18
Week 4 mileage: 21
Week 5 mileage: 23
Week 6 mileage: 16
Week 7 mileage: 23.1
Week 8 mileage: 22
Week 9 mileage: 20

Total training mileage: 178.1

So, it looks like I'm more than halfway through the training for the Philadelphia Marathon on November 22. My longest run so far has been 14 miles. On the plus side, I've added in some speedwork and hill repeats, as I wanted to in my original goals. On the minus side, I've still not gotten together cross-training. With limited time to exercise and still get take care of the rest of life, I just don't seem to be able to carve out time for yoga, bike riding, weights, etc. I'll keep working at it. Most importantly, everything feels good physically, and no injuries so far (knock wood!). Back next week with more...

2. "Prime" is a really terrific movie that seemed to go under the radar

Andrea somehow randomly found out about this movie and asked me to get it from Netflix, and we're both really glad we did. As romantic comedies go, the movie just does a great job - both Uma Thurman and Meryl Streep are wonderful, and Bryan Greenberg should be more known than he is. Definitely recommend checking it out.

2009-08-20T13:21:00.004-04:00

Marathon Training - Week 2... or Backpack!

Week 2 mileage: 15
Total training mileage: 35

Week 2 is in the books, and even though I'm not thrilled with the total mileage for the week, I'm still happy that I got four runs in - considering the week included trying to get things back to normal after vacation and going to the Hamptons for my brother's wedding.

What the week lacked in total miles was saved by some very interesting runs. Tuesday night, I went out for a 9 pm run and listened to most of Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon." I've done Floyd/Roger Waters for evening runs a few times, and it's always really cool. I actually like getting creeped out by the music in the dark.

Then on Thursday, I ran to work!

Well, not exactly, but I ran from my house to the train station... ran from the train to my gym.. showered and went to work. It was fun, environmentally friendly, and saved my $7 in parking fees.

I quickly realized that a proper backpack was key, though. The one I used basically looked like this:
So, over the weekend, we went to EMS and I got this one:
I was all psyched about this - I'd run to work several times a week, save gas and money, and come home from work with 5 or 6 miles done.

Then I tried it.

My new fancy backpack did a great job of holding all the things I needed, but it has so many straps and buckles that it seemed impossible to adjust properly. As a result, one of the shoulder straps rubbed against my neck the whole time until it was almost bleeding.

Then I got to the gym and discovered that my lunch, which included leftover veggies sauteed in garlic and olive oil, had spilled in the bag, giving my work clothes a faintly garlic odor. My colleagues either didn't notice or were kind and didn't mention.

Finally, there was the run home. When I tried this for the first time last week, I only did one leg, because I went to Long Island after. Now I had to reverse my run. So, I changed at the office, took the train home, and had to slog the three miles to my house. At 6:30 pm, this was pretty much the last thing in the world I felt like doing, and the fact that it was still 90 degrees and horribly humid didn't help matters any.

I ended up walking about half the way.

Anyway, we'll see where this idea goes. In the meantime, this has been a lousy week for running, with only 4 miles done so far - I'm sure the heat is part of it, but I've got to get my act in gear!

Until next week...

2009-08-11T10:09:00.007-04:00

Marathon Training - Week 1

Week 1 mileage: 20
Total training mileage: 20

A friend once told me of a saying: "A wise man climbs Mt. Fuji once, a fool climbs it twice."

What does this mean for someone who climbs it three times?

I wonder this as I set out training for my third marathon - I did Cincinnati's Flying Pig Marathon in 2004 and 2007 - and the time felt right to do another.

So, November 22 - Philadelphia Marathon - here I come! And I'll be there with my brother B, who decided he wanted to run a marathon by the time he turned 30.

Originally, I was going to do a marathon last November to celebrate my 40th birthday, but just didn't feel the motivation. You've got to really want to do a marathon, just sort of want to.

I don't think I'll ever become a two or three marathon per year guy, like some of my friends. For me, it's a great opportunity to celebrate another couple of years of running, and remind myself what it's like to train hard.

Not to get overly zen-like, but marathon training has to be about the journey as much as the destination. The long runs, better eating, more sleep, etc are all good reasons to train for a marathon, not just the hours spent on the race course.

So, what am I going to try and do better for this third marathon? I've got a few goals:

Cross training. I've always been lousy about this - there's always such limited time to exercise, and I love running, so why would I want to spend time biking or lifting weights? Because I need to if I want to stay injury free. So I will.
Speed/hill/tempo work. Again, I've never done much of this, because I don't like running fast - I like running far. However, as my father once said to me: "Wouldn't it be nice to get off the course quicker?" Uh, yeah, it would :)
More sleep. 'Nuff said.

Week 1 is now behind me and overall, I'd rate it OK. On the good side, I got 20 miles in, which is a lot for me these days - and I did it while we were on vacation, which can often be a tough time to get quality runs in. On the bad side, no speed work, but it being vacation, I'm alright with that. Of course, I'm halfway through Week 2, and I don't see it happening this week either, with the wedding coming up in the Hamptons this weekend.

BUT, my first two runs of this week have been quite interesting - more on that next week...

2009-06-24T13:23:00.007-04:00

Sound Opinions

I love podcasts. I probably spend as much - if not more - time listening to podcasts on my iPod as I do listening to music. It's no big secret that commercial radio is 99% boring, and my excellent local public radio station - WFUV - doesn't play music for most of the weekend, the only time I'm in the car for sustained periods.

Podscasts have reignited my love for radio again, and opened my mind to a whole new world out there. The first time I listened to "This American Life" - it was so wonderful that I couldn't imagine a world without it. And since many of these terrific radio shows broadcast at odd times, the on-demand world of podcasts is perfect for me.

My colleague talks about how she and her husband sit around on Sunday mornings, drinking coffee, reading the New York Times, and listening to "Wait Wait Don't Tell Me." I'll check back with her in a few years, once they have kids, and see how that's working out for her :)

So, from time to time, I'll write about some podcasts that I really love. Today, I'll start with Sound Opinions. Hosted by hosted by Jim DeRogatis of the Chicago Sun-Times and Greg Kot of the Chicago Tribune, the show is wonderfully opinionated. Very often, I don't agree with them - especially Jim, who seems to loath Bruce Springsteen and Dave Matthews for some reason - but I love the fact that my disagreement stirs strong emotions inside.
For Jim and Greg - and for me - music matters. It's not just something to listen to or have on in the background - music is a reason to get up each day! Not all of the shows are top-notch, and sometimes I won't finish it - but when it's good, it's really terrific.

For example, a few weeks ago, they did a dissection about disco's place in the history of music. You can listen to it here. The show really opened my ears to the origins of disco, and how it came directly out of the Motown, Stax/Volt and funk genres. I also never realized that disco was born in the gay clubs, and the whole "Disco Sucks" movement could be considered a reaction from the more homophobic elements of this country.

Check it out!

2009-06-23T13:26:00.003-04:00

TIDT: Tuesday, June 23, 2009

As I write this, I'm listening to the Grateful Dead at Woodstock - the preshow chatter is pretty funny and insane. The Dead notoriously hated their performance at this show - I remember listening to it years ago and thinking it wasn't that bad - let me see what I think now. Anyway, here are some quick hits for a Tuesday:

American Buffalo - My buddy MP told me this movie was a must-see, and I don't disagree with that. It's well worth watching for the performances of Dustin Hoffman and Dennis Franz. The movie was adapted from a David Mamet play, and amazingly, there are only three actors in the movie. (note, it must have been incredible to see Al Pacino do this on Broadway in 1982!). Unlike some play adaptations, this doesn't try to change much, so it's very very talky, but the intensity never slows down.

Woodstock update - the first two songs were OK, but now they're having equipment problems that seem to go on forever. The MC rambling is nutso but fun to listen to.

Forgetting Sarah Marshall - Loved this movie! First saw Jason Segal in "I Love You Man" and he's terrific in this movie (which he wrote too). It's not as raunchy as a movie like "Superbad" - which makes the moments of raunch even more impactful. For me, the performance of Russell Brand was most surprising. He always kind of annoyed me, but he was hilarious here - just a terrific character. Can't go wrong with any movie featuring Jonah Hill either!

Cocoa Pebbles - Finally, today I consider myself a good father because I bought my kids Cocoa Pebbles last night. Strange as that might sound, I think this because sometimes I feel guilty for depriving my kids of most of the junk food I ate as a kid. I practically existed on Chunky Soup, Suzy Qs and Chips Deluxe. Our kids are pretty healthy eaters, so I think it's a good lesson to teach them that every once in a while, it's ok to just eat something horrible. Of course, who ate the first bowl of Pebbles last night? Yeah, that would be me.

2009-06-15T13:16:00.009-04:00

Back in Blogness!

Blogging is a funny thing. I go through waves where I can't wait to write on the blog each day, and creative thoughts are feeling "mossy" in my head (to quote Cosmo Kramer). Then, all of a sudden, it seems like work to write a blog entry - and you turn around and it's been six or seven weeks since you've posted anything. Either way, as I sit here enjoying some mushroom-barley-dill soup from Hale & Hearty, and listening to some 1969 Dead, I'm back at they keyboard. Let's see if anything interesting comes out, shall we?

First, some unfinished business. The last blog entry I wrote, back in April, mentioned both Magic Hat beer and the Dead. Well, on my way home that very night, I saw the bumper sticker below on a car parked next to me at the train station lot - spooky!

Showtime shows

I am thoroughly impressed with the quality of the shows on Showtime. A couple of years ago, we switched from HBO to Showtime so I could watch the TV version of "This American Life." After the Sopranos ended, and Curb Your Enthusiasm went on extended hiatus, I didn't see much motivation on keeping HBO. Interestingly, I never managed to get into TAL. I just love the radio show, and never felt the motivation to watch the TV version.

Anyway, shortly after that, my sister encouraged us to check out "Weeds." We fell in love with the show immediately. We raced through the first three seasons on DVD, then the fourth season On Demand, and last week Season 5 began. While Season 4 may not have been as strong as the earlier seasons, it's still the best thing on TV right now, IMHO.

And last night, we finally watch the series premiere of "Nurse Jackie." Time will tell, but the first episode was just incredible. Moody, dark - but very funny - and incredible acting throughout. Great twist at the end of the episode, too - I definitely recommend checking it out! Even if you don't have Showtime, you can watch the first episode here.

2009-04-22T13:39:00.002-04:00

mmmmmm.... beeer!

Magic Hat is quickly becoming my favorite beer. I recently got a variety 12-pack and loved every one in there. This weekend, I bought a six-pack of their new summer brew, Wacko. In addition to being delicious, it has a very cool red color - derived from beets! Sadly, it's Wednesday, and the six-pack is gone - though I did get some help!

Music Fasting -the other topic for the day is musical deprivation. I've got a big concert week coming up, with the Dead at MSG on Saturday night and Bruce Springsteen in Philly next Tuesday night. I know many people gorge themselves on a particular musical artist in advance of a concert... but I do the exact opposite. I try to deprive myself of the artist's music for one week prior to the concert. Much as Passover makes me appreciate pizza even more, avoiding an artist's music for a week before the concert makes the concert experience even more fresh. Of course, I do tend to gorge myself after the concert (not dissimilar to the pizza experience!) Anybody else practice musical ascetism?

2009-04-14T13:22:00.006-04:00

Albums

I love my iPods. In fact, I'm mildly obsessed with them. This explains why our family has six of them (iPod Photo, Shuffle, Mini, two Nanos and an iPod Touch). There are so many ways in which I enjoy life more because of the iPod - whether it's for running, walking around the city, driving 19 hours to Florida, listening to Podcasts, etc.

I also love the effect it has had on my son's listening to music. When I was a kid, I had a handful of my parent's dusty albums to peruse, from Simon & Garfunkel to the Beatles to Buffy St. Marie. S, on the other hand, has 9,000 songs on an iPod, and can explore so much so easily.

However deep my love affair is with the iPod, though, there is a major drawback I've discovered. I stopped listening to albums. Too often, I would get a new CD, throw it on the iPod, and listen to it at some point. If one of the new songs came up while I was running, I'd skip past it, since I didn't know it.

This wasn't always the case, of course, and there were certain albums that I would play at home and in the car over and over again. But I realized that there were dozens of my CDs that fell into the "I sorta know this" category.

I've read a few articles about how musicians have changed the way they create albums for the iPod generation - focusing more on individual tracks and thinking more about a user shuffling or downloading a few songs.

But most of the artists I listen to haven't given up on the album.

So, at the beginning of this year, I made a commitment to listen to albums again. Now, the days of sitting and listening to an album straight through are gone, replaced by two wonderful but time-consuming children, a house, etc.

Instead, I'm using car time as album time, and keeping just a few CDs in the car so I can intensely listen to a disc a few times over a short period. Granted, given my relatively short drives to the train station, I only hear 5 songs or so a day, but it still gives my a lot more continuity than I had before.

I've begun listing the CDs in my car on the right side of the page, and will talk about them during blog updates. So far, I've really enjoyed this exercise and it's rekindled my love for the story an album can tell.

2009-04-08T15:55:00.002-04:00

It's Wednesday - time for cool cars and hot matzoh ball soup!

Scion iQ - went to the NY Auto Show this morning, and saw some pretty amazing vehicles (I must admit that I enjoyed sitting in a $115,000 BMW M6). However, the most interesting (IMNSHO) was the Scion iQ concept, which is based on the iQ minicar we now sell in Japan and Europe. Dramatically, they lowered the car to the ground from the ceiling. Can't imagine that would work with a Tundra!

Lemonade runs - had another one of these this morning. Think I've written about this before, but this is my term for a run that makes the best of a situation you're not happy about. Like this morning, when I woke up before 5, even though my alarm was set for 5:45 (had to get up early to go to the show). Lay there frustrated for a while, then said "what the hey" and got up and ran a few miles.

Anyway, a happy Passover to all those celebrating!

2009-04-07T13:11:00.007-04:00

Tick Tick Tick... Time running out on pizza and beer...

Wow, it is really brisk out there! Really hard to believe it's spring - though this weekend was a nice tease. So, that's a good lead-in to the Things I'm Digging Today:

Spring - Sunday was just so perfect - sunny with the temps in the low 60's. Did as much outdoors as I could. SS and I took his bike out and then did some batting practice. After lunch (nice splurge treat - egg and cheese croissants from Dunkin Donuts), I went for an 8-mile run with E. In fact, E was enjoying the weather so much that he decided not to nap. He's usually out like a light within 5-10 minutes, but on Sunday he just kept yammering, singing songs, etc for the whole run.

Role Models - the Paul Rudd movie festival continues! Watched this on Saturday night. As funny as I Love You Man was - this was even better. It started a little slow, but once it got rolling, the dialogue was incredible! Can't print most of it here, but here's one that I can:

Danny: Can I get a large black coffee?
Barista: A what?
Danny: Large black coffee.
Barista: Do you mean a venti?
Danny: No, I mean a large.
Barista: Venti is large.
Danny: No, venti is twenty. Large is large. In fact, tall is large and grande is Spanish for large. Venti is the only one that doesn't mean large. It's also the only one that's Italian. Congratulations, you're stupid in three languages.
Barista: A venti is a large coffee.
Danny: Really? Says who? Fellini? Do you accept lira or is it all euros now?

Special kudos to Jane Lynch for stealing numerous scenes. If you though she was great in all those Christopher Guest movies and 40-Year Old Virgin, she's even better here. One sign of how funny this movie is: we watched every one of the deleted or alternate scenes, and were rolling on the floor with laughter! In a movie with so much improv, it's amazing to see the lines that didn't make the final cut.

2009-04-01T09:21:00.004-04:00

Happy April Fool's!

Each year, I look forward to great April Fool's websites, and this year did not disappoint. Whole Foods may have been my favorite - the site was filled with great stories and recipes, but this image was the best:

Starbucks also had a great image that they posted via Twitter:

Some other great pages were from Google and Runner's World. Any others you really liked? Post them in the comments...

2009-03-31T08:42:00.003-04:00

JoCo Rocks the Times!

Awesome piece in The New York Times today by my favorite do-it-yourself rocker, Jonathan Coulton. If you haven't checked out his music, you definitely should. He's got some stuff available for free on his site, or go to the podcast directory on iTunes and search for "Thing a Week." Below is a picture of JoCo and Seth after one of his concerts a few months ago:

2009-03-30T12:54:00.010-04:00

Phil Schaap, Thelonious Monk and Me

The other day, I was out for a run and Charlie Parker's "Just Friends" came on the iPod. It reminded me of a great story from my early PR days. I was at my first agency, and doing PR for the theater of a local college. The particular group I was publicizing was going to be performing, among other things, some songs by Thelonious Monk, so I included that in the release.

When we showed the document to the client, they told me that Thelonious was spelled incorrectly, and cited the CD liner notes from the group performing. Now, remember this was the early 90's, and the Internet was barely out there, so I trusted them, revised the release, and sent it out.

Cue Phil Schaap.

For those who don't know, Phil Schaap is a legendary New York radio personality on WKCR. Exhaustive doesn't even begin to scratch the surface of Schaap's knowlege of jazz. His show "Bird Flight," a 70-minute Charlie Parker program on each day at 8:20, was on in the office every day.

So, a few days after sending out the release, my boss and I are listening to Bird Flight and Phil Schaap starts to mention our client's concert. We were barely beginning our high-fives when Schaap starts ripping "the PR person" who sent out the release for misspelling Monk's name. Turns out that my inital spelling was correct and the client made me change it incorrectly.

I was devastated. Not only was I knocked down, but by a person I admired greatly. I wrote him a contrite and humble letter, which began with the line: "I never thought my 15 minutes of fame would begin with such ignominious shame" and told him about the misspelled CD liner notes.

Fast-forward a few years.

I signed up for an evening course on Charlie Parker that Phil Schaap is teaching at a local high school After the first class, I went up to him and recounted the Monk story. He clearly remembered every detail of the news release and my letter, and even told me he considered using my name on-air during his scolding, but changed his mind.

The guy is mind-blowing in person. All the trivia that he knows about Charlie Parker, such as the date of every Charlie Parker recording session and each musician who plays on each record, he's doing from memory! Not a single notecard in front of him! He also mentioned that he could tell us each World Series winner going back to 1915 or so.

Which ultimately brings me to "Just Friends." This track, from "Charlie Parker with Strings" was analyzed in great depth in class and became one of my favorite all-time Bird songs. Check it out sometime.

2009-03-26T08:53:00.004-04:00

Drizzly Thursday, Looking Forward to Grey's tonight

Well, amazingly enough, I'm back. Added a site counter yesterday, and looks like I got 10 hits - woot woot! Of course, I think I was three of those :)

On to TIDT!

Canned Goods -be sure to check out this great blog from LeFemmeMonkita in Seattle. She's also got another blog on her journey to adopt a little girl from the Ukraine. Alternatively funny, touching, and down to earth - and she's got great taste in music!

All I Want is You - this came up on the iPod during this morning's run. As much as I'm completely obsessed with the new U2 album (more about that another day), it reminded me just how incredible Rattle and Hum is. I've got the majority of U2 discs, but this one has always been my favorite. From the incredible drum parts on God Part II to opening guitar riff of Angel of Harlem the great live versions of Bullet the Blue Sky and Still Haven't Found... this album is perfect.

Nils Lofgren's solo on Youngstown - right before the U2 song came up this morning, I heard a live version of Youngstown from the Vote For Change show I saw in Philly in 2004. Bruce & Co. began playing this version during the Reunion tour in 1999 (holy crow, that was 10 years ago!) and was always a highlight for me - the solo just goes on and on - and just when it seems like it will end naturally, it takes off again. Speaking of Nils, when I saw Bruce at Giants Stadium last year, he did a forward somersault during his solo on Because the Night. Unreal.

2009-03-25T08:58:00.008-04:00

TIDT for 3/25/09

Welcome to the latest relaunch of my blog! Thought I'd try something new and post a list each day of things that are making me smile. A little positivity is not a bad thing these days, eh? Let's see how it goes...

I Love You Man - went to go see this on a man-date with @researchguy last night. If you're a fan of Apatow movies, this one's for you. (even though it's not an Apatow flick, his fingerprints are all over it) I've always been a huge fan of Paul Rudd, and his role here as a dork with no guy friends is played wonderfully. The best parts are when he tries to come up with cool phrases and nicknames and always fails miserably. A good audience at the movie theater helped this one too, as the crowd hooted and clapped together. The characters also have a major obsession with Rush - something I can definitely relate to - and the Toronto trio even makes a cameo in the flick.

Republic - before the movie, we ate ate at Republic in Union Square. Cool space and great food - reasonably priced and came out about three minutes after we ordered. Highly recommend the broth noodles with lime chicken, cilantro, peanuts, bean sprouts, and scallions.

Starbucks bacon, egg and gouda sandwich - been meaning to try the new breakfast sandwiches for a while. Finally did this morning, and it did not disappoint!

Iron & Wine - finally, in music news, on my second listen to Iron & Wine's "The Shepard's Dog." Sam Beam's voice is really interesting, and reminds me of Lindsay Buckingham - and the arrangements are dense and interesting. This is definitely a challenging album to get into, but I think it will be very rewarding in the end.

So, that's it for Day 1 of the new blog - let me know your thoughts!

2008-11-11T13:07:00.002-05:00

Review: From Time to Time by Jack Finney

So, if a book has a terrific beginning, and a super ending... is it a good book? I'm afraid not. From Time to Time is the sequel to Time and Again, which was written some 20 years before this book, and is just an excellent book.

I read it last year just after moving back to New York, and its depiction of late 19th Century NYC really made me fall in love with this city again and all of its history.

Ultimately, though, the sequel just doesn't work. It has the same time-travel premise as the first book, but there's a lot more bouncing around, as characters try to alter events from the past. This would have made an excellent short story, but it seems to me that Finney took a great concept, and then had to fill in a few hundred pages to get there.

The result is pages upon pages of details that I just don't care about, such as a moment-by-moment viewing of an early 20th Century Broadway play. Ultimately, even the great "ah-ha!" ending didn't make me come away from this book with a positive feeling.

2008-11-10T14:20:00.002-05:00

Kristin Armstrong Blog

Great entry today from the former Mrs. Lance. What a great paragraph:

...a valuable strategy for approaching long mileage, and also for approaching the difficult sections of life. There is no way to sanely consider the magnitude of dealing with a diagnosis, a financial pit, a rocky relationship, a crying newborn, a new job, no job, an addiction, or a challenge of any kind if we look at the distance as a whole. If we can just get to the next mile marker, the next appointment, the next paycheck, the next conversation, the next week, the next day, the next hour, the next five minutes. Wherever we are and wherever we're going - we won't break if we break it down.

2008-10-14T17:51:00.002-04:00

Change we can believe in

Greetings from Charleston, West Virginia! Here for a media event tomorrow, then off to Cincinnati for another media event, then home Thursday.

Something pretty funny happened on the plane today. I was on US Air, which has followed other airlines with the brilliant idea that you can charge for water and soda on the plane. The guy next to me orders a Diet Coke for $2, and gives the flight attendant a 5-dollar bill. She looks at him like her gave her a 100, and asks if he has exact change. He says no and she begins canvassing the rest of the passengers: "Does anyone have change for a five!?" Happily she found someone who could break it.

Seems to me like they've got some kinks to work out.

2008-09-12T16:16:00.002-04:00

Tom Friedman on Fresh Air

Great interview - a must listen - check it our here. He's got fire, passion, and the smarts to back it up!

2008-09-12T10:18:00.002-04:00

A Fervor of Boost

Well, I'm leaving for Japan in eight days, and my colleague in LA will also be going. We're both big baseball fans, so we're looking to see if there are any games we can attend while we're there. Never been to a Japanese baseball game, and I hear it's wild - every game is like the Super Bowl.

So, looking online to see about Yomiuri Giants tickets and found a great Engrish page on various tickets. Check it out here. Some of my favorites:

Please watch out for faul ball
You are able to see exciting fine play and throwing to the plate of outfielder. (wow, they actually throw the outfielders?)
A motion of fielding and flow of batted ball are plain to see.
That seats give you a fervor of boost and having point that you are able to see parabolic arch of home run.
If we're lucky, you'll win the home run ball!?

2008-08-18T13:32:00.003-04:00

Quick Hits for a Monday

You may have noticed that the "Upcoming Concerts" box is missing from the right side of the page. There's a sad reason for that. I don't have any! Last week's Wilco concert was the last one I've got planned. A couple of weeks ago, I had an amazing run of four concerts in six nights. Well, karma penalized me for that great week. Right in the middle of the concert run, I learned that a trip to Japan scheduled for mid-September was actually going to take place at the end of the month. As a result, I had to cancel all my plans to attend the much-anticipated Austin City Limits festival. I'm trying not to dwell on all the great bands I'm not going to see.
Great weekend of running, which made up for a zero in my running log until Friday at 5 pm. Decided to do a five-miler outside, despite the threat of thunderstorms. All was good until the halfway point, when the skies opened up, and it never let up. I was soaked to the bone - and I really should have been worried about the lightning that was dangerously close to me. Honestly, though, I was more concerned about my Nano. Pathetic. Added another three on Sunday morning to cobble together a passable week. But, I'm more psyched that I actually did two sessions of yoga over the weekend - something I really need to add to my routine.
Wilco last week was great as always (although Brooklyn Vegan found reason to gripe). The venue was quite cool - when they said it was at McCarren Pool, they weren't kidding - you're actually standing in a massive, empty pool! This was my third time seeing Wilco, and they never fail to impress. They played nearly every song I would have wanted to hear (except anything from AM, which would have been quite a bonus). Beer lines at the concert were horrible. BS and I waited at least 30 minutes to get a beer! And what made it worse was that you had to buy your tickets for beer on another line, meaning all the beer servers had to do was take a ticket and give a beer. Taiichi Ohno was turning over in his grave. Thanks to KR, we got invited to the backstage afterparty, which was nice, but not terribly exciting. Tweedy didn't come out for this, but several of the other guys in the band did. Overall, just a great show, and I'm still buzzing almost a week later!

2008-08-12T11:11:00.000-04:00

Picture of the day

2008-08-11T11:11:00.003-04:00

Fun with transration

I've always been a big fan of Engrish.com, but this story is priceless. A restaurant owner in China wanted to "Americanize" his restaurant's name for the Olympics - so, he typed it into an online translation site, and the result...

2008-07-30T13:29:00.003-04:00

Seven Nights to Rock!

Wow - what a week it's been - fun events five out of seven nights - kind of an entertainment marathon, and most of it just came together at the last minute! Here's a summary of the week that was:

Wednesday, July 23 - Mark Knopfler - Central Park

In the end, it was all about the guitar. Clear, crisp and cutting through the NYC night. OK, that does sound a bit dramatic, but nobody plays the guitar like Mark Knopfler. Sorry, Eric. There's something about Knopfler's tone that is so magnificent to hear. And while I do enjoy his acoustic playing, his genius really comes through on the electric.

This show had its high points and low points. Part of that can be blamed on how Knopfler set up the pacing - he began the show with several unfamiliar songs (to most people in the audience, myself included) and there were sections of multiple mellow songs in a row.

Also, the fact that two guys behind us almost got into a fistfight during the show didn't help the mojo any. One guy felt that he paid money for his ticket, so he should have the right to talk to his friends during the show at any volume he pleased. This would have made me crazy too, but I wouldn't have taken it to the extreme that the other guy did. However, it felt great when security threw out the talker (who was a real snooty looking James Spader type, almost down to the turned up collar on his polo!)

Back to the music - in addition to some of my favorite Knopfler solo songs (Speedway at Nazareth, What it Is), there were some amazing Dire Straits songs, including Romeo & Juliet, Sultans of Swing, Telegraph Road, So Far Away and Brothers in Arms.

Thursday, July 24 - Lucy Kaplansky, Eliza Gilkyson and Cliff Eberhardt - Joes's Pub

This show was a celebration of Red House Records, and featured three of their artists. I've seen Lucy probably 6 or 7 times, and Cliff once a few years ago. It was my first time at Joe's Pub, and it's a wonderful venue, with good sightlines and acoustics. Kind of reminded me of the late great Bottom Line (sniff, sniff).

This show was ragged, sloppy, and fun. Mics didn't work, guitars wouldn't get tuned, songs had to be restarted, etc. But it was very real, and that's a good thing. Of course, we would have wanted to hear more Lucy, but the four songs she did were awesome, and the group rendition of "In My Life" was a good way to end it.

July 27 - Bruce Springsteen - Giants Stadium

If he had played Spirit in the Night and not Growin' Up... Dayenu

If he had played Jungleland and not Rosalita... Dayenu

If he had played Adam Raised a Cain and not Janey, Don't You Lose Heart... Dayenu

This show was an embarrassment of riches - three hours and twenty minutes of pedal-to-the-metal rock and roll. No problems of timing for the Boss. The band hadn't played together for a week, and you could tell they were ready to go from the start.

This was the 13th time I've seen Bruce, and it was close to - if not the best - ever. Several songs from Tunnel of Love, my favorite under-rated Bruce album... songs from Magic sounding tight and fun... my first Rosalita ever... and on and on. Thirty - that's right - 30 songs!

And, if I had gotten to see him once on this run, it would have been enough... Dayenu.

July 28 - Bruce Springsteen - Giants Stadium

... but it didn't work out that way.

Around 3 pm the next day, at the office, exhausted from a mere four hours of sleep, I got a call from AJ's aunt. Her husband wasn't able to make it to the Bruce show - and would I do her the "favor" of going with her. Ha! She had me at hello.

So, off to Port Authority Bus Terminal - wait for about an hour with 1,000 other Bruce fans for a bus, and then it was showtime again. I was a little concerned about not being able to generate as much enthusiasm after the amazing show on Sunday night, but my worries were groundless.

Bruce played 14 different songs from the night before, and there were some beauties: Held up Without a Gun (only the third time the band has ever played this), Sherry Darling, Drive all Night, Because the Night (which included Nils doing a forward somersault in the middle of his amazing guitar solo), the Detroit Medley, Glory Days, and Twist and Shout.

Definitely a more loose show - at one point, Bruce and the band went back and forth on whether a song was in C or A, but the energy was still amazing throughout. And if I had any disappointment from the first night, it was that there were no songs from the River. Well, that omission was solved on night 2, with five songs from that great album.

I'll be sitting by the phone tomorrow, in case anyone calls with tickets for the third and final Giants Stadium show. :)

Tuesday, July 29, 2008 - Yankees vs. Baltimore

Well, after two nights in a row of 2 am bedtimes, I had to act my almost 40 age just a little bit and take a vacation day to recover from all that fun. The Yankee game last night was a good way to come down from the high of 7 hours of Bruce over two nights. Too bad they didn't win, but it's always so much fun to be in that old stadium that it doesn't really matter.

Back to reality now.

2008-07-21T13:14:00.003-04:00

Quick Hits for Monday

As Elvis Costello said: "Welcome to the workin' week. Oh I know it don't thrill you, I hope it don't kill you..." Here's some catch-up thoughts on the weekend.

Two runs this weekend. Saturday night was a quick two miles on the treadmill around 7 pm. Put me in great spirits for the rest of the night - made it to 7.5 mph. Then, I got up Sunday morning and wanted to do 5 miles to get to 10 miles for the week (had a nice 3-miler on Thursday in Central Park at lunchtime, which was somewhat tempered by the fact that I left my gym bag on Metro-North on the way home. Have to go to Lost & Found again tonight to see if I get it back). Anyway, it was already quite hot and humid at 8:15 am, so I decided to bring some Recharge with me and go anyway. Woof. Didn't realize how hot it was until I got back and was drenched and spent. Below is the beautiful picture of me post-run.

We had E's third birthday party yesterday afternoon - about 30 people at the house. Averted a potential disaster - no working sink in the kitchen - with some cold, hard cash to get a plumber in on a Sunday. The party turned out really nicely - especially considering the heat. I made the wise decision on Saturday to abandon my plans to grill veggie burgers and we went for the so-much-more-simple bagel and toppings route. Bought lots of nice beer for the party, but the first one that people wanted to dive into - myself included - was the new BudLight Lime. It's a terrific beer - refreshing and crisp. I think it will be my rest-of-the-summer beer.

Just found out that I'm going to see Mark Knopfler at Central Park's Summerstage Wednesday night! I've been a huge Dire Straits/Knopfler fan for years, but I've never seen him live, so I'm really psyched. And, if AJ gets a babysitter, we're going to see Lucy Kaplansky on Thursday night at Joe's Pub. Oh, yeah, and then there's Springsteen on Sunday! A good concert week, to say the least.

2008-07-15T15:11:00.004-04:00

Everybody Loves a Parade...

...except me. As my wife will attest, I hate parades. I have a total bah-humbug attitude towards them. What is the point of standing four deep in a crowd to see someone waving from the top of a slow-moving vehicle? So, when people told me that the All-Star Game Parade was passing right by my building, I was thoroughly uninterested. However, when a colleague came to my desk excitedly and told me that there was almost no one on 58th Street... Hall of Famers were included in the parade... and the players were so close that you could practically reach out and touch them... I decided to give it a whirl.

Am I glad I did! It was practically empty on the street, and I got to see several HOFs, including Juan Marichal and Reggie Jackson - and the entire AL lineup, including Jeter, A-Rod, Mo, and Joe Girardi. Some of pictures didn't come out well at all, but a few were quite decent - I've included them below.

2008-07-15T13:32:00.005-04:00

Review: Waitress

It was hard to watch this wonderful movie without sadness over the tragic story of Adrienne Shelly. But putting that aside, this terrific film is a worthy example of what might have been if Ms. Shelly had been allowed to continue her career. The cast is great. I've never seen anything with Keri Russell before - but wow - funny, sexy, sad - all at the same time. Curb's Cheryl Hines is good, and Andy Griffith practically steals the movie with his scenes.

Shelly's writing is sharp and crisp - dialogue moves along quickly, and it all makes for a gripping story. Here are some of my favorite lines:

Dr. Pomatter: I want to talk to you, somewhere outside of here. Maybe we can have a coffee or something?
Jenna: I can't have coffee, it's on the bad food list you gave to me. What kind of doctor are you?

Jenna: Cal, are you happy? I mean, when you call yourself a happy man, do you really mean it?
Cal: You ask a serious question, I'll give you a serious answer: Happy enough. I don't expect much. I don't get much, I don't give much. I generally enjoy whatever comes along. That's my answer for you, summed up for your feminine consideration. I'm happy enough.

Last thought - in case you didn't know - the baby in the final scene is Adrienne Shelly's three-year-old. Sigh.

2008-07-02T09:54:00.002-04:00

Shut up, Hang up and Drive

Great blog entry today in the Detroit News about the dangers of yapping and driving - even when using a hands-free device. Now, I'm certainly guilty of this sometimes - and even commit the greater sin of sometimes reading my Blackberry in the car, but this article will certainly make me consider twice before even picking up the phone. As a runner, there are few things more annoying than a distracted driver not seeing me at an intersection, because of that oh-so-important call.

2008-07-01T11:18:00.003-04:00

Marathon Nightmare

Check out this story from the Pacific Northwest! Is it my imagination, or are these stories becoming more common? Cincinnati's Flying Pig Marathon, which, after running twice is near and dear to my heart, had their own debacle earlier this year - and of course, Chicago was such a mess last fall.

2008-06-24T10:59:00.002-04:00

White Plains - 4 miles

This morning I had what I call a Lemonade Run - as in "when life deals you lemons..."

Thanks to my two-year old boy and 16-year old cat, I was woken at 3:30 am, and just couldn't get back to sleep. So, after lying there for an hour, I went out and ran to the sounds of the new Gnarls Barkley album - "The Odd Couple." The fun, yet dark music paired well with the early morning dimness.

Oh well. Going to see "Rent" in Stamford tonight, then off to Tennessee for business early tomorrow morning. I guess I'll sleep at some point.

2008-06-23T12:50:00.004-04:00

Dave Matthews Band - Saratoga, NY - 6/20/08

I thought about the old joke: "I went to a fight and a hockey game broke out" during DMB's concert last Friday night at SPAC. In this case, I would say: "I went to a frat party and a Dave Matthews concert broke out."

This had all the elements to be such a great concert. I hadn't seen Dave in two years - went with my sister-in-law and huge Dave fan PG, and SPAC is such a gorgeous venue. So, what went wrong? The lawn.

Thanks to our friends at Ticketma$ter - even though PG and I logged on to get tickets the moment they went on sale - and got through about 4 minutes after - the pavillion was sold out, so we ended up with lawn seats.

For many concerts, that would be great - just kick back - lie on the grass, and enjoy the show. But in this case, the crowd was just horrible. Drunken frat boys and sorority girls - trashed - smoking like chimneys - and - here's the worst part - for them, the music was just a background for their party. Talking - pushing their way through us constantly to look for their friends - talking on their cell phones - everything in the world but listening to the music.

Now, all of this would have been happening anyway if we had seats, but I just wouldn't have noticed or cared. Bottom line - they really ruined the experience for me.

Oh, yes - and then there was the music. Here's the setlist:

Bartender
Everyday
Proudest Monkey
Satellite
Corn Bread
You Might Die Trying
Out Of My Hands
Eh Hee
Crash Into Me
Old Dirt Hill
Bitch
Two Step
Stolen Away On 55th & 3rd
The Idea Of You
Dancing Nancies
Crush
Louisiana Bayou

Encores:
Sister
#40[Tease]
Gravedigger
Tripping Billies

Musically, there really were some great points of the show. First, the amazing Tim Reynolds played almost the entire concert with them. His guitar playing was such an integral part of some of the early DMB albums, so hearing it live was wonderful - and when he soloed, especially on "Two Step" - it was mind-blowing. "Bartender" was a great way to open the show, and "Everyday" actually got the frat idiots to stop talking for six minutes. The new songs - "Corn Bread" and "Eh Hee" sounded great live. For me, the highlight of the show was their cover of the Rolling Stones' "Bitch" - complete with horn riff. Wow!

Finally - almost embarrassed to admit it - because I'm not sure I've ever done this at a concert before, but we left early - after Crush. It was getting late - had a three-hour drive home ahead of us - and the annoying people and the smoke was just getting to me. Kind of bummed because I like the songs we missed, especially Louisiana Bayou. Oh well.

2008-06-19T09:17:00.001-04:00

Quote of the Day

"Fussball ist wie Schach, nur ohne Würfel." (Football is like chess, only without the dice.)

To read this and other wisdom about German football, click here.

2008-06-18T23:24:00.002-04:00

Washington, DC - Five Miles, Two Newsmen

Got back tonight from a day and a half in DC. Good 5-mile run when I got in yesterday. DC can be a great town for running. Obviously, you look around and the scenery looks like a postcard, and it's mostly flat. However, the red lights can be pretty frustrating. I must have stopped my watch 30 times during the run! Still worth it, in the end, to see the Capitol against the beautiful blue sky.

On the way down, I noticed that the great Bill Moyers was in the same train car as me! After we exited the train, I got up the courage to speak to him. Told him that I've always admired him, but really was impressed with the way he handled the jerk from Bill O'Reilly's show in a YouTube video that's been making the rounds. Check it out.

Then, I had dinner at Brasserie Beck with DM, a former colleague who I haven't seen in 12 years or so. Great time - talking about the past, present and future... and music of course.

The train ride home today was less exciting, although Stone Phillips was sitting across from us.

2008-06-14T09:04:00.003-04:00

My day as a faux Yankee

So, this was so cool. Yesterday, I was invited to a Sporting News event at Yankee Stadium. The day began with breakfast at Micky Mantle's restaurant, then we took a bus to the shrine of baseball.

After we got there, we played softball in the outfield! (they didn't allow anyone to even step on the infield). No matter. Just walking on the same grass that Joe D. and Bernie Williams did was enough for me!

As an added bonus, we had a pretty good outfielder on the team - Mickey Rivers! Dude's a hoot. Got a big gold tooth in the front of his mouth, and happy to talk to and hug everyone. Bucky Dent was there too, but he was much more reserved and just hung back.

Did OK in the softball game - 1 for 3 - a decent single up the middle and two popups. I also played competently at first base.

After the game, we got a tour of the dugout and clubhouse. That was truly amazing. To sit on the bench and look out at the field, and then see Derek Jeter's locker - wow. Interesting, Jeter is the only Yankee with two lockers - he's got one just to hold his boxes of fan mail. Unfortunately, they didn't let us take pictures in there.

After lunch in Monument Park, we were free to just hang out and play catch in the outfield.

What a day! Some pix below:

me and Mickey

the view from the dugout

what every Yankees sees before heading onto the field

2008-06-12T14:09:00.003-04:00

Smoking "athletes"

This is an amazing story. Seems that smoking is banned for the fans at this week's US Open, but the USGA went out of their way to get an exemption for the players.

Best quote: "Our concern was for the players," said USGA president Jim Vernon. "This is THE national championship and some of them smoke."

That's rich. They are concerned with the players... and that means letting them smoke.

What am I missing here?

2008-06-11T13:45:00.003-04:00

Robert Plant and Alison Krauss - MSG - June 10, 2008

On a sweltering night in New York City, things really got smoking at the Theater at MSG (or whatever it's called this week). I was really looking forward to this show - last year's collaboration between these two was a great disc - and I couldn't wait to hear some Zep songs from the Golden God of Rock (whom I'd never seen live before).

But first, AJ, M&D and I needed dinner. Fast becoming my favorite pre-concert meal, Waldy's filled us up with some grade-A pizza. See my review here.

I haven't been to the Theater in many years, but think I was there twice before - for Joni Mitchell and Van Morrison. Great venue - nice seats, easy in and out, and wonderful air conditioning (a bonus for last night!)

Plant looked the complete rock star, with leather pants, the hair, etc. Alison was in perfect voice, as always. Throughout, the two of them just seemed to be having a great time on stage.

I haven't been able to find a complete setlist, but here are some highlights:

Black Dog - wowowoowow. This blew my mind - the guitar riffs were handled by Stuart Duncan's fiddle, and the version was slow and simmering. Before the show, D and I were guessing which Zep songs would be played, and this once was miles away from either of our lists.

In the Mood - haven't thought about this Plant solo song in years, but the video of this, with the breakdancers, still sticks with me.

Black Country Woman - I don't think about this gem from Physical Graffiti too much, but I should.

Down to the River to Pray - nothing short of stunning. Alison began the song by herself, and eventually was joined by Buddy Miller, Duncan and Plant on backup vocals.

The Battle of Evermore - Alison handles the Sandy Denny vocal wonderfully.

The Raising Sand songs were great as well, especially Sister Rosetta Goes Before Us and Fortune Teller.

The only downside of the concert was the sound. Now, I know I'm getting older, but it was just too loud! I'm all for loud when appropriate, but this music is meant to be heard, not blown into you. It really made listening painful at times.

Small quibble - great show. Still buzzing today.

2007-12-06T15:23:00.000-05:00

The first picture from Japan!

2007-12-03T21:21:00.000-05:00

The last post from Japan

So, this great trip is coming to a close. I'm back in Toyko now, in the JAL lounge - getting ready to board the 11-hour flight to Chicago. Got an all-day meeting on Wednesday - that should be interesting, as I try to avoid falling asleep at the table.

I'll write more about the experience here in the coming days, but being a part of this team was just amazing. The pride we felt - even coming in 294th place - was incredible.

Next stop - Chicago!

2007-12-02T00:51:00.000-05:00

A Most Triumphant Race!

Just got back to the hotel - what an amazing experience today was! It's hard to describe the pagentry that went along with this event - bands, cheerleaders, fireworks - and three THOUSAND runners competing! The stadium was filled, and the streets outside were lined with crazed cheering fans, shouting things I couldn't even get close to understanding - except when they yelled "TMA!" (our company acronym on our uniforms).

It turns out that we misunderestimated (thanks, W, for inventing that word) the number of teams competing - it was 375!

Our team did so well - we finished in 2 hour, 40 minutes - nearly five minutes faster than last year. And more importantly, we didn't come in last. Now, while this doesn't sound like a lofty goal, remember that our little company of 70 people is competing against plants with thousands of employees to choose from.

Two years ago - the first year TMA competed - we came in dead last. Last year, there were five teams behinds us - and this year, there were 14 teams slower than us! Slow and steady progress - that's the heart of kaizen.

On a personal level, I exceeded my expectations. I was hoping to do a 7:30/mile pace for the 3.2 miles, and I finished at 7:17/mile. So, I'm happy, but not satisfied - I'm really motivated to do more speedwork and get faster for next year.

Dinner tonight - then a day of touring tomorrow - one of our plants here and the Nagoya Castle - then off to Chicago Tuesday morning.

I'll check back soon...

2007-12-01T06:49:00.001-05:00

And the jetlag hits...

It's 8:45 pm here in Japan, and I'm fighting to stay awake for another hour, to avoid waking up at 4 am. It won't be easy. Several of us almost fell asleep in our pasta at dinner.

Good day today. We went to the arena where the race will be tomorrow, ran some practice laps, and met several of the other teams competing tomorrow. It's pretty incredible, really. We saw teams from Australia, UK, the Czech Republic, India, Thailand, and China.

After that, several of us walked around Nagoya - had a great lunch - Indonesian, I believe - it was a dish of fried rice with an egg on top, and fried onions on the side. Then we walked around some of the shopping markets and visited a local temple.

All for now. I'll report back after the race tomorrow!

2007-11-30T10:13:00.000-05:00

Looks like I made it!

Well, about 23 hours after I left my house this morning, I made it to the hotel. We had some delays at Narita Airport which slowed us down, but I couldn't be happier to be here.

My colleagues rallied me to go downstairs and have a drink and a plate of pasta. In the long run, this is probably a good thing, 'cause I'll sleep better.

Off to bed - finally!

Tomorrow we go to the race site and do some practicing, as well as a "cheer-up ceremony." Can't wait to find out what that's all about.

zzzzzzzzzz

2007-11-30T03:49:00.000-05:00

In Japan!

Well, it's about 4 am New York time, and the first (and longest) leg of the trip is done. We're in the JAL lounge at Narita airport, waiting for our flight to Nagoya in about 40 minutes. Not sure if I mentioned, but I'm travelling with 5 of my colleagues, which is really nice.

So, one of the things I'll be writing about during this trip is how I do with vegetarian dining on this trip. Overall, JAL did pretty pretty well, even though they kept forgetting that I had put in for a veggie meal, and put meat or fish in front of me. Food highlights included some wonderful sauteed mushrooms and peppers, terrific fresh papaya, wonderful Suntory whiskey (which, I believe, is what Bill Murray was hawking in "Lost in Translation"), and several bowls of udon noodles and tofu (hold the soup, just soy sauce).

Got two small naps in - totalling about 3 hours of sleep. Would have liked more, but just couldn't do it, even though I tried. Spent the rest of the time on the iPod, reading magazines, and starting a Robert Heinlein book, which has totally sucked me in already! More on that later. No interesting movies on the plane, unfortunately.

Time to go to the next flight!

2007-11-29T12:08:00.000-05:00

On the plane now

No real purpose to this post, I just wanted to see if I can post from my Blackberry.

We'll be in the air in about 20 minutes.

Until tomorrow!

2007-11-29T11:17:00.000-05:00

The Journey Begins

Hello, strangers!

It's going to be an interesting week, and seemed to me like as good a time as any to begin blogging again. I'm currently sitting in the JAL lounge at JFK, waiting to get on my 14-hour flight to Tokyo (then a 2-hour layover, then an hour-and-a-half to Nagoya). We arrive around 8 pm Friday night.

So, why the heck am I flying to Japan? Believe it or not, to run a 3.2 mile race. Ain't corporate life great?

I'm running for Toyota's Ekiden team, competing against about 250 other teams. This race has been going on for over 60 years, so it's quite cool to be part of such a long tradition. I'm the fourth leg in an 8-person team.

I've got to say - I'm pretty excited about 14 hours with nothing to do but watch movies, listen to my iPod, and read magazines and a book. Let's see if I feel the same way after actually doing it. :)

Next stop: Tokyo

2007-04-13T17:38:00.000-04:00

Cleveland - 5 miles
or... I know it's only rock 'n roll, but I like it!

Yes, it's been quite a long time since I've posted here - but instead of looking back, I'll stick in the present. This blogging thing is still pretty new for me, and I've found that when I got behind in posting on my runs, I felt that I had to catch up on all the runs I had done - which make it feel overwhelming. So, let's get started again.

We're all here in Cleveland - Andrea, the boys, and Meghan (Eytan's babysitter). Last night, we went to the Cavs game and saw King James spin some his magic. Never seen him play before, and it was truly jaw-dropping.

Today, we went to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and had a great time there. Then I went for a 5-miler through downtown Cleveland. And tonight - Billy Joel... without kids :)

Below is one of the great pictures we saw at the HOF - bought a print of this:

2007-03-07T12:55:00.000-05:00

Hyde Park - 5.7 miles

Nice run this morning at a pretty quick pace - chilly here, but not too bad. On a more interesting note, NPR did a terrific story this morning about Toyota, and yours truly is interviewed in it! Kind of goofy to hear my own voice on the radio, but I'll admit it's kind of cool to be on Morning Edition. Check it out here.

2007-03-06T21:29:00.000-05:00

YMCA Treadmill - 3 miles

Good workout day! I got up early and did some weights at the Y and then did three miles on the treadmill there. And, for the first time I did speedwork. I don't pretend to really understand how this speedwork thing is supposed to be, and I'll admit to be baffled when I read about 4x400 repeats in Runner's World. So, I just took the basic idea as I understand it - run fast for a while - then recover with a slower pace. Did three minutes at a 10-minute pace, then one minute at an 8-minute pace - for the three miles. Amazingly, it was lots of fun... and I'm looking forward to doing it again next week.

2007-03-05T12:33:00.000-05:00

Catching up with....

Wow - I see it's been almost a month since I've posted about a run - amazing how the time flies. Well, I know I initially planned to write something about every run I did - and that seemed to work for the first month - it may not make sense over the long haul. Maybe I'll do that when it feels right, but when things are crazy busy with travel and other stuff, I'll just try to write about the interesting days. So, here are some highlights of the past four weeks:

San Antonio - 5 miles (2/7/07)

This one felt great! We were in the middle of the cold snap here, and I had the opportunity to go down to San Antonio for a way-too-short day and a half. After two weeks of temps in the single digits, running in shorts felt soooo good. It was in the 70s when I left San Antonio that day, and I begged the flight attendant before I got on the plane: "please please - don't make me go back!"

Cincinnati - 13.1 miles (2/10/07)

This one was really significant for me. I don't think I've "announced" this here yet, but I'm officially going for my second marathon - the Flying Pig this May. My one marathon so far was the Pig in 2004, and for the last two years, I've planned to run it, but both times decided not to. And, each time, that decision came shortly after my 13-mile run. Both of those runs were SO tough that I dreaded the idea of increasing my mileage significantly from there. However, this run was tough, but felt terrific. So, now I know I'm ready. Pig Bound!

The Next Two Weeks

The next week was scheduled to be a recovery week, and this worked out fine. I had a total of 15 miles, including a 10-miler in the snow that was really really fun. I had a big stupid grin on my face during most of the run. Love it when that happens.

Now, the week after the recovery week was when I really was going to kick into gear with some big miles and a 14-miler. However, I felt just terrible on Friday and Saturday mornings. In fact, Friday morning I was so exhausted that I wasn't sure we were going to make it to St. Louis. Recovered enough to make the drive, but just had no energy.

So now it's Sunday morning and I had a total of seven miles for the week. To use a golf term, I saved par with a great up and down. Here's how:

St. Louis - 4 miles (2-25-07)
Cincinnati - 4 miles (2-25-07)

Did four miles on the treadmill at the hotel - drove 365 miles home - got the kids to bed - and then another four miles on the treadmill upstairs. Not the 24-mile week I was hoping for, but I was pretty darn proud to pull 15 miles out of a week that looked doomed.

Tupelo, MS - 2 miles (2-28-07)

As some of you may have seen, we announced a new plant last week in Tupelo, Mississippi last week. The day before the announcement was super-stressful, of course, with last-minute changes to documents and journalists screaming at me for not giving them the information in advance. So, it was a wonderful break to take a short 2-mile run through the quiet town of Tupelo the morning of the announcement. I stopped to read the plaque at the hardware store where Elvis' mom bought him his first guitar, for $7.90.

After the event, my colleagues wanted to go out for BBQ - and not being interested in having cole slaw for lunch, I picked up a sandwich as a place called P.B. Loco that only had different kinds of peanut butter sandwiches. I got a sun-dried tomato, lettuce, cucumber and cheese sandwich. Never heard of this before? There's a reason. Oh well, I admired the effort, and the next time I'm there, I'll try the raspberry white chocolate peanut butter, which sounds *much* better.

Hyde Park - 5 miles (3-1-07)

Five miles after work in the pouring rain - this was kinda fun, but mostly nuts!

Cincinnati - 15 miles! (3-3-07)

Wow, this one was great. I haven't done a run this long since the Pig in 04. I was planning on doing 14, but at the 7 mile mark I was just a few blocks away from Northside (a funky little area in Cincy), so I added another half mile there and back to make it to 15. Did this at a 9:33 pace, which I was really pleased with!

The next day, did a 3-miler to finish off the week at 25 miles - again, my best week in a long, long time - but one which I plan to surpass this week :)

Thanks for reading.

2007-02-09T14:35:00.000-05:00

Like a Rock!

A letter to the editor from today's Chattanooga Times includes my favorite self-reference of all time...

"The most devastating information for Chattanooga’s chances came from the official Toyota spokesman himself, Bob Sieger, who said that in two decades since the company started building plants in the U.S., all of them have been on "greenfield" sites, land that was either agricultural or undeveloped. He said and I quote, "Whether a site is a greenfield or brownfield is something we look at. It is a factor, but by no means is it an absolute prerequisite for a decision." I think you can read between the lines. "

The next time I'm asked where the next plant is going to be, I'll simply turn the page, practice my night moves, and answer - Ka-ka-ka-ka-ka-Katmandu!

2007-02-04T17:02:00.000-05:00

Hyde Park - 3 miles

Finally ventured outside for the first time this week, and was rewarded with a really nice run, despite the temps in the low teens. It didn't feel bad at all thanks to the bright sun. So, I really played catch-up this week thanks to taking Monday-Wednesday off, but managed to get in 20 miles for the week anyway.

Off to San Antonio on Tuesday and Wednesday this week - I can't wait for a little warm weather!

2007-02-03T10:59:00.000-05:00

Home treadmill - 12 miles

And now for something completely different. It is just too cold today to run outside, in my opinion. Last week was painful, and it's much colder and windier today. Current weather is 22 degrees, but feels like 8 degrees and there's a 17 mph wind.

As we say in New York - fuggediboudit!

So, I'm trying something uncharted. 12 miles on the treadmill. I don't think I've ever done more than 8 before, so I'm afraid of going nutso, so I'm going to try two new things.

1. Change the DVD every 3 miles... and
2. Come back to the blog and post here at the same time.

Time to kick it off - starting with the Grateful Dead Winterland DVD - it's 11:08...

11:41 - first three miles in, and feeling great - in fact, had to hold myself back at times to save energy for the long haul. GD DVD was great - gotta love 79 Dead - after 30 minutes, they managed to make it through three whole songs! Ok - back on now, and switching to Elton John at MSG - never seen this before...

12:15 - halfway there now, and still feeling good. The EJ was terrific - highlight was Billy Joel guesting on "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road." Big laugh when Elton sang the line from "Candle in the Wind" - "they set you on the treadmill..." Time to get going again, Clif Shot is consumed, next movie is "Stop Making Sense."

12:48 - nine down - three to go. ok, I'm feeling it now - tough tough tough - but it's supposed to be, right? Stop Making Sense was awesome - appropriately, the 3 miles ended with "Life During Wartime" - where David Byrne does laps around the stage. OK - I think Elton is going to wrap things up today. See you in 30.

1:26 - Rock It, Man! I'm done :) Tough as expected - in fact, during the last mile, I was counting down by one-hundredths til the end. But it's done done done. Seth hung out with me the last three miles - it was nice to have some company.

Th-th-th-th-that's all folks!

2007-02-03T10:56:00.000-05:00

Home treadmill - 3 miles (2-1-07)
Home treadmill - 2 miles (2-2-07)

First, let me catch up on the last couple of runs. As I wrote last time, it was a tough week for motivation - and once again, I had the dreaded 3-day gap. But finally on Thursday, I got up and did a few miles on the treadmill and then again on Friday.

Now today comes the real challenge. On to the next post...

2007-01-30T13:03:00.000-05:00

Erlanger, KY - 4 miles (1-26-07)
Hyde Park - 10 miles (1-28-07)

Gotten a little behind in posting, so I'm catching up on my last two runs today. Nothing eventful about Friday's lunchtime run, other than it was really starting to get cold and my overall feeling was eh.

Sunday brought cold to a new level though. Weather.com said it was 23 degrees but felt like 5, and I certainly wasn't going to argue! Because of the cold weather and my general tiredness, I decided to do my three-mile Hyde Park loop several times. The hope was to do 12 miles. I stopped after 6 at the house to thaw out. This may or may not have been a good idea - my skin began to tingle, and it was pretty darn hard to motivate myself to get out and go again.

Eventually I did though, but called it quits after another four miles. I'm OK with it - grinding out a 10 mile run is pretty good, and I finished another week of 20 miles.

Amazing, though, was how bad I felt afterword. Maybe it was the cold affecting my muscles... maybe it was the fact that instead of a Clif recovery shake, I had a Goose Island Oatmeal Stout, but I was so sore Sunday night and Monday.

Haven't run yet this week, and frankly, I'm having a hard time getting motivated. That's the problem with training. You work and work to build up your miles... and then next week starts with ZERO again.

Tomorrow, hopefully...

2007-01-25T23:51:00.000-05:00

Erlanger, KY - 4 miles

or... 4 miles yesterday, 4466 miles today

So, yesterday I did a lunchtime run of 4 miles... and today I went from Cincinnati to Long Beach, California.... and back.

Of course, I can't complain at all about the travel, since I was on the corporate jet. Once you go on the jet, it's really tough to go back to steerage on Delta. Sadly, I must.

2007-01-22T22:52:00.000-05:00

Ontario, Canada - 2 miles

or... beauty way to go

A less than exciting run on the treadmill at my hotel in chilly Canada - but I can say it was my first run outside of the country this year!

2007-01-20T16:33:00.000-05:00

Hyde Park - 10 miles
or... something...

Great run today - Eytan and I did 10 miles down to Eden Park and back - and it felt completely effortless (memo to self - remember this during all the runs where it's certainly not the case!)

Finished a 20-mile week, which I'm especially pleased about since it was only in three runs.

Music note of the day. So, while listening to a podcast, I heard a snippet of the incredibly beautiful version of "Somewhere over the Rainbow" by Israel Kamakawiwo'ole (check it out if you've never heard it!).

I realized that I didn't own the song (yet!) - but wondered I had any other versions - I didn't, but noticed that I had a bunch of songs that began with "Somewhere" - so I listened to them in order. Lots of fun and got me through two miles.

Off to Canada tomorrow afternoon for a day...

2007-01-18T22:57:00.000-05:00

Hyde Park - 6 miles

or... how I wish you were here

Well, I just got back from a 6 miler. What? You say... it's nearly 11:00! Yes indeed, I did my first nocturnal run in a long time (if ever!).

Wow - it felt terrific. Not too cold tonight. I ate a dinner that I thought would be good for pre-running (udon, scambled eggs, corn and miso) and I think I was right. Lots of energy, but didn't feel too heavy.

So, to make the experience even more fun, I picked a dark, hilly route - and listened to the whole "Wish You Were Here" album. Totally the mood I was hoping for - and amazingly, I still ran at a good pace, even with the less-than-upbeat music.

I'm definitely going to try this again with some other Pink Floyd and Roger Waters albums. Anybody got any other ideas for albums that would fit the bill?

2007-01-16T14:11:00.000-05:00

Erlanger, KY - 4 miles

Finally... some cold weather! It is January, for crying out loud. About 30 degrees plus some wind today made it chilly for a few minutes, but once I got going, I didn't even notice it. Good run today - did the four miles at an 8:41 pace.

OK - on to some non-running stuff. This is almost embarrassing, but I didn't own any Steve Wonder music... until a week ago. He's one of those artists that I've always appreciated, but just never got around to buying any of his discs. Since his career spans so many phases, I decided to start with a greatest hits disc.

Holy cow - I can't stop playing it! Stevie Wonder - The Definitive Collection is 21 tracks of pure joy - from the Motown years to super-funk, to later-era "lite" songs like "I Just Called to Say I Love You" (which really does sound better 20 years later).

Question of the day: What's your favorite Stevie song? Post it on the comments. My vote (today) goes to "I Wish."

2007-01-14T22:25:00.000-05:00

Home Treadmill - 2 miles

Well, capped off the week with a short 2-miler on the treadmill upstairs. Another wet and raw day here in Cincy, and I just couldn't bear to run in that two days in a row. As much as I dislike running on the treadmill more and more, today was fun - mostly because Seth and I watched part of "A Hard Day's Night" as I ran.

Pretty happy with how this week turned out - a total of 15 miles - especially since I woke up on Friday morning with only 2 miles so far.

Rest day tomorrow...

2007-01-13T20:08:00.000-05:00

Hyde Park - 8 miles

Great surprise today! Had just began my run when I saw my colleague and friend S. getting ready to go out for a run. We teamed up and ran down to Eden Park and back together - always nice to have good conversation.

The other big news of the day is that I got new running shoes... and I actually switched brands! I've had three or four pairs of Sauconys in a row, but the woman at Fleet Feet had me try a pair of New Balance 767s just for comparison, and they felt terrific! So.. change is good.

2007-01-12T13:03:00.000-05:00

Erlanger, KY - 3 miles

Well, had the dreaded "Three-day rest" this week. I'm fine with missing one day of running and can accept missing two days, but when it gets to three I really get irked at myself. Plenty of excuses, of course - had a cold, the weather here was freezing and dreary, travel, bla bla bla. Excuses are easy, but I need to work around them and never let myself get to the three-day miss.

Anyway, great run today - 50 degrees and drizzly - it felt terrific. Amazing - I've probably done as many lunchtime runs in the first two weeks of the year as I did all of last year. I think running in the middle of the day during our East Coast trip got me used to doing that... and it's pretty hard to motivate myself to get up in the cold and dark mornings of winter.

2007-01-08T22:30:00.000-05:00

Detroit, MI - 2 miles

Just a quick run on the treadmill at the Detroit Airport Westin this morning. This is a terrific hotel if you're ever staying in Detroit. The coolest feature of this hotel is that it's connected to the airport, and actually has its own security entrance into the airport. One time, I left my hotel room, checked out, checked into my flight and arrived at my gate - all in seven minutes!

2007-01-06T22:33:00.000-05:00

Hyde Park - 6 miles

Originally planned to do a 10 today, but woke up with a cold, so I decided not to push it. Weather went from cold and damp to sunny and warm, and back again - all in the space of an hour. Nothing particularly special about this run, but I did listen to a new podcast for the first time - one that's all about the Beatles. I'll need to listen to it a few more times before I recommend it, but it's got real potential.

2007-01-04T22:29:00.000-05:00

Erlanger, KY - 4 miles

A much better run than yesterday... Did four miles around the office at a good pace - 8:47. Overall felt very good. Some fun music on the iPod today - first, a random shuffle pulled up Jethro Tull's "Nothing is Easy." So, I went back and listened to some more Tull, including "Fat Man." Now that is a good motivational song for running!

2007-01-03T15:25:00.000-05:00

Erlanger, KY - 3 miles

First run of the new year was during lunchtime on a beautiful fall day (in January) - bright, sunny, cool, and perfect running weather. Maybe too perfect. Went out really fast, and by the middle of the run was feeling pretty wiped.

Of course, I'm still recovering from the 12 hours of driving on Monday, and the 1,900 miles overall from our East Coast jaunt.

2007-01-02T13:07:00.000-05:00

Welcome to Run, Blog, Run!

So, I thought I'd try something new for 2007. The first blog I started - Bla Bla Blog - basically has turned into a family photo album. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but when my buddy P. goaded me into starting a blog a few years ago, I had hoped to use it for creative - and sometimes interesting - writing.

My plan now is to write something on here for every run I do this year. On some days, it may just be a couple of lines - but other times, I hope it veers off into related areas - music, nutrition, cross-training - and sometimes into areas that have nothing to do with running.

I hope you'll find it interesting enough to check in every once in a while... and I'd really like your comments - from both the runners and non-runners.

See you on the streets!

Dan