If you didn’t have enough reasons to root for Green Bay over the Steelers this week, here are 3 more. I love the “Cheeseheads with Attitude” and the host of videos they have on YouTube.
I hate to admit it, but I’m getting close to an age where I *may have* passed the point of my peak athleticism. Now, I’m not ready to give in, so I took the bait from some friends and signed up for the Rock and Roll 1/2 Marathon.
Some people will just run the race with quiet dignity. But, not me. I’ve decided that 13 miles is a long way, and frankly, there are a lot of reasons between now and June 25 for me to back out. So, now I’ve announced what I’m doing on this blog, and the faithful 4 of you who read it must hold me accountable.
So that means when you say, “Let’s go grab a beer” and I reply, “Let’s go run Greenlake instead,” I’m not saying I’m embarrassed to be in public with you. Nor am I curious to see what you look like in a rainstorm. I just need the run more than I need the beer.
Anyway, there are a number of months between now and then, so Mike Decklever, Rob Newton and I are putting together a couple of teams for some upcoming races, and you all should join us. March 13 is the St. Patty’s Day Dash, a nice little 4 mile run around downtown, followed by an Irish celebration at Fisher Plaza. Two months later on May 15 is the Beat the Bridge Run. Team “No Runner Left Behind” will be making its mark for the 5th or 6th year. This 5 miler has the extra challenge of making the 2 mile mark before the University Bridge goes up. If you haven’t done this race before, join us, as it’s one of the more run races to take part in. Plus, there’s a champagne breakfast at my house after the race for the whole team, so double bonus. I’ll get the team info set up shortly and set up a Facebook Page or something.
So how is the training coming? I have Ryan Bostick leading me on 3-4 mile mountain trail runs to get me acclimated to hills. And a number of different folks have joined me for regular trips on the Greenlake loop. So now that I’m about 15 pounds lighter from Jan 1, and up to a steady 3 miles in 31 minutes pace, I think the groundwork is pretty well laid. I’m not fast, but I’m not hopeless.
All of this is a long way of me saying, that I’ve planted my stake in the ground and not letting myself off the hook. So if you’re hitting a trail or going for a quick jog, drag me along. Left to my own devices, I can always convince myself that a powerpoint *needs* to be done instead of running.
Wednesday night, Seattle’s top names in the sports community gathered in Benaroya Hall for the 76th Annual Sports Star of the Year Awards.
If you are any kind of fan, then you need to attend one of these. Part cocktail party, part ESPY’s, it’s a unique collection of season ticket holders, athletes, corporate sponsors, coaches, front office execs, broadcasters and writers. You feel like you “almost” recognize just about every person in the room, but no one looks in place in their suit and tie.
This year had its share of highlights, but the sentimental moment for me (predictably) revolved around Dave Niehaus. There was the standard video montage, but it was made more special by the man who introduced the clip. I can’t explain exactly what made it so cool, but seeing Keith Jackson – the real Keith Jackson – on stage seemed surreal. I know he’s a WSU grad and former KOMO broadcaster. But when a national legend takes time from his schedule to pay tribute to the memory of our local Play-by-Play man, you begin to appreciate the breadth of Niehaus’ popularity.
Kudos to the Seattle Sports Commission for doing a great job pulling this event together. They did a great thing by saving it when the P-I went out of business.
It goes without saying that a room full of sports stars, legends and fans makes for a great party. Try to fit this in your 2012 plans next year.
This guy just got $2 Million a year for surfing. I will now go call my dad and ask him why I spent my childhood reading books.
Julian Knows Surfing from Nike 6.0 on Vimeo.
One of the things I want to start doing in 2011 is travelling to more places that are off the beaten path and writing about them. The first stop on the tour was Northern Arizona, including a town called Jerome, and a follow up hike in Sedona’s Boynton Canyon.
Jerome is an old mining town built on a hill. It was a fairly populated place until the mine shut down, and then had as few as 50 residents in 1950. Since all the houses were still in good shape, just abandoned, a bunch of artists moved up and took them over. So now what you have is a kind of old ghost town with art galleries.
The notable feature of the town is that it’s built on a hill. A few streets run back and forth through the town at different elevations. So you don’t walk north, south, east, west as much as you walk up, down, left, right, navigating from street to street (which is actually the same street curving around) via a set of staircases. For example, here are the directions you get when asking how to get from our hotel to a place to eat. “Go down the hill there. When you get to Haunted Hamburgers, walk down the staircase about 100 yards north. At the bottom of that staircase, turn left. There’s one place down on your left. If that doesn’t look good, walk down the stairs to the next street and you’ll see another place.” We spent a little time in one of the most bizarre and enjoyable watering holes I’ve ever had the pleasure to sit down in, “The Spirit Room.” There a bartender – who made her way to Jerome via Kansas City, LA and Lima, Peru – managed a single open room with a jukebox and a pool table. River guides, large flamboyant Native Americans, 75 year old locals, confused tourists and some funny but odd young locals all took turns telling stories, dancing, whooping it up, and asking questions. It was an odd crowd, but one you could appreciate.
We stayed in the biggest hotel in town, which turned out to be the old mining hospital. The hospital shut down with everything else in 1950, and it was another 25 years before someone bought it and turned it into a hotel. They say it’s haunted, and I believe it, because I had some pretty nutty dreams.
The next day we hit Boynton Canyon in Sedona. Now Sedona isn’t really off the beaten path for people who live in Arizona, but for us Seattlietes, I think it’s a fair to lump in there. Plus, we were on some different trails for 4 hours or so and only ran across about 20 people.
If you’ve not been to Sedona, it really is about the most beautiful place on earth to go for a hike, bring a philosophy book, clear your head and just marvel at everything around you. You just can’t get away from brilliant red rocks, stunning vistas, and changing scenery. One minute we’re walking nextto a canyon wall, the next we’re at a vista, and suddenly we’re in an ice trail and I have a mild concussion from slamming my head on the ground. Ok, maybe I’m exaggerating the concussion part, but I spent some time on my keister in the depths of that canyon.
So overall: Jerome – an awesome place to get away from everything. Boynton Canyon – like all Sedona trails, just a marvelous spot for walking and reflecting. Get down if you can. You won’t be disappointed.
I love when I get to promote something that has popped out of the UW’s Foster School of Business.
Check out Frames for Facebook, a slick little iPhone app that lets you customize those 5 little pictures at the top of your Facebook profile that everyone gets to see.
All you do is choose a pic from your phone, manipulate its position across the 5 frames, and hit publish. I played with a few things (some which worked better than others) and agree with the people who have told me they think it has great entertainment possibilities. For example, if the light was right, this Kid Rock photo would be pretty cool.
For all you M’s and Niehaus fans.
So, this video isn’t very high quality, but it would be cool if I could find a few other full length clips from closer angles. Maybe a few of you will find it fun.
I pulled out a few pics from different trips to restaurants and grocery stores. Hopefully, I’ll add some background shortly.