Watching 10 Items or Less and am laughing like crazy…there’s some great moments, and it’s wonderful watching Morgan Freeman having what’s obviously a great time and not taking himself too seriously.  Am also smitten in a most serious way with Paz Vega.  Sex y Lucia was nice, but I wasn’t feeling it back then.  I fell hard for her in Spanglish, and the feeling is renewed with this one.  Perhaps I was meant to live in Spain?

Something (still trying to find out the exact tune) comes on to soundtrack a really nicely filmed car wash scene and I’ve got the stereo cranked and am bouncing like mad.  This rocks.

I grabbed a handful of cassettes as I left the door on my roadtrip back home last week, and one of them was the tape Highway Robbery. I have no idea what it’s real title is, if it had one at all. I named it such because it reflects how I came across it. I was living in Little Rock in the summer of 1996 and had made friends with a guy on the other side of the complex’s pool who was attending the police academy. I was without a car and so we bonded and he’d take me with him for weekly grocery shopping trips. One day at his place we were listening to a tape a friend of his back home in Ohio had made for him some time before (best I can tell it’s vintage 1991/earlyish ‘92). I heard it. I loved it. I immediately dubbed it and took that copy for myself. I don’t know a thing about her, but I wish I did. I listened to it again today to and from work and decided I need to try to replicate most of it onto CD. That’s the rub…most tapes were 60, 90, 100 or 110 minutes and a CD is 80. That’s ok, there’s a few songs that I think probably need to be left behind. While it may have been something quite personal, I’ll let Amy Grant and Baby, Baby do their own thing elsewhere, and I’m up in the air about a few others…I want Candy, It’s the End of the World As We Know It and Blitzkrieg Bop are so everywhere already, but then again, they help give this tape its flavor.

What I really love about it is that it could have been made by someone would I would have really gotten along with…I just sense this sort of thing by song and band choices, and the really special thing is that none of my friends have ever used close to any of these picks. It’s a completely new friend branch in my friend tree that I’ve missed out on, except for that tiny little bud sticking out that I call Highway Robbery.

After 11 years, the magnetic tape still sounds pretty good.

Looking at the box, I thought to myself “This is too much”.

Unpacking it, heavy it was, I actually still thought it was too much.

Same for sitting in front of the big black empty screen, which I need to add, completely dwarfs the 20″ model. DWARFS!!!

So I fire up this monster and it’s display, and I suddenly find myself in heaven. 30 inches is perfect. Just large enough so I can sit 2-3 feet away and not hurt my neck by turning it too far in any direction to encompass the screen size, yet large enough that I can have several windows open at the same time, side by side. My puny dual 19″ LCD’s really only work well showing 2 windows side by side, one per screen. This big one makes workspace useable.  So, of course, I’d like to run duals.

I really found myself wanting that monitor tonight as I stitched together some panoramas I shot at Mt Magazine last Wednesday. Casey and Chuck have started shooting lots of them, and I took their lead and the opportunity and snapped a couple, one of an approaching storm, and another overlooking quite a bit of the state from a communications tower on the edge of the mountain. I really wish I could have had the super wide display to stretch these pano’s and give them a good screen view for editing. It’s just so much easier.

In biking news, I did the Sunday group ride in the rain, which was not ideal, but still fun…the group is just wonderful and good spirited and incredibly supportive, with people riding at all paces, so I can chill out or I can be challenged. After 2 days off I went out this afternoon. After getting home from work I really didn’t feel like going, but I told myself to anyway. I thought it would be horrible, but soon after getting on the bike, all was well. 14mi and small change at 16.2mph. Yes, I had a tailwind, but since it was out and back, I also had a headwind. I’m getting to where I can stay in the big ring on flats and I go to the 42 when I come to a hill, but I still keep my speed up. I’ll also keep it in the small one for twistys, as it’ll let me keep the cadence high, which promotes balance, at least for me. My legs are thanking me tonight, still tingling from being worked pretty hard. Gonna go riding with a friend tomorrow night and then I’ll be eagerly awaiting the Sunday ride.

This afternoon I finally got it back and after getting home and changing clothes, I hopped back out for my first ride in almost 2 weeks.  It hurt.  Heading out I encountered a pretty good headwind and got the full effect of the last 2 weeks of minimal exercise, poor eating and too many beers.  Sucked.  I got to the point where in some stretches, I just putted about between 8-12 mph, but I managed to hammer up the hill after the wood footbridge in Burns Park and got to over 28 on the descent.  I plan to cross 30 on that short downhill turn before too long…just a small milestone.  Poked and putted and occasionally cranked it up until I got to the bridge and turned around.  Stopped for about a minute to rest a sec and get a good couple swigs of drink in me, then headed back the other direction, where I immediately felt the benefits of a strong tailwind.  Wasn’t below 16mph the whole time, with a good chunk at 18-19 in the big ring, which is another new thing for me.  Powered up both climbs without much difficulty, and what’s better, no fatigue shortly thereafter.

I managed to pass a pair of fit folks on the stretch of road before Riverfront Park, but they were on MTB’s.  Still, it was good, but after doing that, I felt compelled to keep my speed up, I guess to not get passed and feel like a poseur.   This is where the stomach cramps and lower back soreness kick in…plus the rough saddle.  My butt got soft in just 2 weeks, how disappointing.  But I made it back to the car with an avg speed of over 15, which is quite nice considering how hard the ride  out was for me.  Hopefully next ride in a night or 2 will be much better.

So for dinner…some salad.  Yum.

For all her wonderfulness, I managed to stand only about 3 mins of the MTV movie awards hosted by Sarah Silverman.  Granted, it was well into it the show by the time I tuned in, so maybe there was this wonderful monologue or something, but it’s just so horribly artificial…even worse than the other artificial awards shows.

From the Things That Are Good pile, there’s Long Way Round, a documentary that follows actors Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman on their motorcycle trek across Europe, Asia and North America.  2 DVD’s of seven 45 min episodes…I loved every minute.  This is how National Geographic needs to do things…cheeky humor, expletives tossed out in frustration, and the genuine expressions of emotion as someone immerses themself into a completely foreign situation.  Very highly rated.

Yesterday my parents celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary.  40 years…it’s incredible.  Hopefully medicine will improve to where I’ll be around for my 40th anniversary, which is farther and farther into the future, given my poor luck in finding a mate.

Will get to hit the road for more work-related adventures this week.  Am looking forward to it…always good to have some space between myself and the office.  It’s also a chance to reconnect with some of my users I haven’t seen in quite a long time.

The good news is that Flickr is cool enough to let you upload RAW files and it’ll handle all the conversion for ya.  At least I got one shortcut out of the deal.

The wedding was a complete success, my fears of shooting it poorly were unfounded and I think everyone will be happy.  Let’s hope so, at least.

While I can’t exactly post all the songs up and stream them - I’d be strung up by the royalty whores - the magic of YouTube and MySpace allows me to share these selections, and I think that’s pretty neat.

So, in what wound up being fairly without order, but the order still fits, here’s my May 2007 mix. Ya don’t have to like it, it’s mostly for my own enjoyment. But anyway:

1. Maia Hirasawa - And I Found This Boy
2. The Fratellis - Flathead
3. Hot Hot Heat - Give up
4. Hail Social - Heaven
5. Aquaduct - Keep It Together
6. The Icicles - La Ti Da
7. Lily Allen - LDN
8. Minipop - Like I Do
9. Lucky Soul - Lips Are Unhappy
10. Son Volt - The Picture
11. Dntel - Roll On
12. Mark Ronson - Stop Me If You Think You’ve Heard This One Before
13. The Noisettes - The Count of Monte Christo
14. The View - The Don
15. Moonbabies - War On Sound
16. Manic Street Preachers - Your Love Alone Is Not Good Enough

I’ve become a big fan of all this stuff, but especially the funky, the groovy, the happypoppy and the super sweet… so I guess if I had a radio show, this would be my set list one show.

Other neat things include finding a Willie Nelson cover of Halleluia. Wow. There’s always a big rush I get when I find new GOOD music. Tonight I’m a happy guy. Plus the 19 mile ride that kicked my butt this afternoon is making me quite mellow.

More later, I’m sure…

I’m curious to see this year’s records, compared to last year’s $10 billion profit. I have a very tough time seeing this happen without some sort of positive effect on the other side. Granted, I’m not the most well-read or worldly-aware, so perhaps these things are really happening elsewhere, but to my eyes, there’s a dearth of positive benefit occurring from this high cost. The only example I can readily think of is the El Dorado Promise, where Murphy Oil, local black gold conglomerate in El Dorado, Arkansas, offers college scholarships to high school graduates on a sliding scale, all the way up to full tuition, depending on how many years the student was enrolled in the local public school system.

Hopefully my ears are just too busy with tinnitus to hear stories like this happening elsewhere, but I doubt it. What’s worse is that this is like every other energy price hike. The ones affected the most are the ones who can least afford it. All of these common commodities, which practically all people use and consume, are increasing in price with no regard to the income of those who are purchasing it. Of course, there’s no way of leveling the playing field as long as a Lexus uses the same gasoline as a Toyota (and not just because they’re the same freaking cars). In 2000, to fill up my car it would cost $15-17. Three years ago it cost between $20-25 on the extremely high side. Today it will cost me over $35 and according to predictions, by this time next year, or sooner, it will cost me around $50.

I’ll need to join the oil industry just to pay for the gas to get to work.

I’d at least like to see some of these exorbitant profits funneled toward improving some of the social shortcomings our country is facing. We’re saddled with war costs of hundreds of billions of dollars. I imagine what good could have come if we had pumped half a trillion dollars back into our own country. Americans would be healthier, with better roads, air & water quality, natural resources would be better preserved and open, new energy might be discovered or produced elsewhere in large amounts, and we might have an educational system worth a flip.

Of course those things would have never happened because we won’t raise taxes or go into debt for the common good. But when there’s WAR…ah yes, the great glue of patriotism that binds America together. Except there is no Hitler, Tojo or Mussolini. The Axis of Evil should be more aptly named The Coalition of the Willing to Not Like America and sometimes I just don’t blame them.

Yeah, Kim Jong-Il is a friggin nut case with serious penis envy and a tall shadow of daddy to walk in. I mean, the dude kidnapped a South Korean actress and kept her as his plaything for years. Iran hasn’t liked us for decades. What about China? You know they’re not too keen on us, but they own too much of America to be impolite on the world stage. Russia, half of Europe and on and on.

I find it sickly humorous that Bush won’t do a damn thing about Fatah vs Hamas.

Ok, getting tired and my mind is wandering so I won’t rant too much longer.

Except for Mr Fallwell.
Love him vs. Hate him
and

My wife and I have sent our condolences to Macel Falwell and her family. Jerry has been a tower of strength on many of the moral issues which have confronted our nation. Liberty University is a magnificent accomplishment and will prove a lasting legacy. Jerry’s courage and strength of convictions will be sadly missed in this time of increasing moral relativism. I join with the tens of thousands of his friends to mourn the passing of this extraordinary human being. - Pat Robertson

It’s interesting how divergent the opinions are about this guy. Of course, what’s to say that the 700 club moderators aren’t policing their message board like Angelic Gestapo, and religious conservative posters to the Metafilter boards are run off rather swiftly and severely. Still though…

The biggest problem I have with him, Pat Robertson and others, who use their massive media exposure to rail against all that’s wrong in the world is that they do it the easy way. They don’t tackle real issues. In my little mind there are two categories that could use cleaning up in society. I see them as behavioral and situational. Jerry and Pat threw down their varied interpretations of the Bible as their law and judgment against people and their behavioral actions.

Homosexuality is immoral and you’ll go to hell.
Having or performing abortions is immoral and you’ll go to hell.
Feminism is immoral and you’ll go to hell.

That’s such an easy way out. I could hop on television and say that telling people they’re going to hell without doing anything to really fix the world is immoral and you’re going to hell.

I want to see statements saying that the homeless situation in America should not exist for one more day. With every dollar you send in, we’ll build more homes and provide opportunities for employment so that they’ll never have to live in a shelter, or worse, again.

Don’t tell me that gays are destroying America, tell me that the health and school systems are failing America, and then tell me that we’re going to fix it! Fix the situations Americans find themselves in, not the behaviors or the actions that they perform. We all screw up, fine. Let God decide what to do with our souls.

Don’t push your agenda as if it were the Word, interpreting and skewing the texts as seen to be fit to correspond with said agenda. If you want to be a man of faith, try to instill some faith in this country. Try to fix things and stop placing blame.

Speaking of gays destroying America, this is a good analysis:

Lewis Black: [referring to Rick Santorum calling gays a "threat to the american family"] It’s prejudice, and it’s ignorance, on a level that is staggering at this point in time. But, maybe I’m wrong. Maybe there’s a group of gay bandidos. They travel from village to dell. And as night falls, they travel to that cul-de-sac, where only one house stands. And in the window, you see a family, just setting down to their evening meal. And these queers… these queers… don their black hoods, and matching pumps, very tasteful. Sneak up to the house ever so slightly, open the door, and start… FUCKING EACH OTHER IN THE ASS! AND ANOTHER AMERICAN FAMILY… IS DESTROYED!

Anyway…

I love my bike. I love it love it love it. I’m at over 200 miles so far this year, which for a real rider is a week and a half, but for a fat boy on a skinny bike, I’m kinda proud. I’m also getting better with each passing week. When I first started, it took 3 weeks to a month to get to where I could do a round trip of the NLR River Trail, probably averaging 12ish mph if I was lucky. Tonight I think I did a personal best, 14.1 miles in 55 minutes, while feeling horrible, off and on stomach aches and a pain in the butt headwind that, thanks to the river, was a headwind in both directions! I was quite disappointed that the promise of stiff tailwind was tossed out the window on my return from the BDBridge.

Nevertheless, I continued on and even managed to catch a guy going up a hill from about over 30 yards back. I think it bothered him, not the least of which is I’m probably 40 pounds unhealthier than he. He sped up and stayed on my back wheel for the next quarter mile. I knew I was gonna lose my head of steam soon so I chickened out and pulled off into the parking lot to do a recovery lap rather than keep on with this guy, though I did 19mph UP the next hill, the last one of the ride, where I would have caught back up to him, I have no doubt. But I still have issues with headwinds and sustained speed on the flats and mild inclines. I let the hills tap into my anger, so I just get mad at the hill and that allows me to fight through it.

I’ve been riding the Sunday group rides with Kelly’s marathon coaches, Tom and Hobbit, and the assortment of characters who show up each week. I keep meeting really neat people and it’s great fun, plus Tom is a great guide and teacher. I can see why Kelly admires him so much. She and I were talking about goals a couple weeks back, like maybe next year’s Big Dam Bridge 50 or 100…I figured out my current goal is to not get dropped by Tom on a Sunday ride. He’ll set the faster of the paces and slowly push until people can’t keep up and then he backs off. I want to get to where he doesn’t back off.

I also want to get to where I pass someone who is reasonably fast and stay past them. I am so much more comfortable on the bike than I was even 2 weeks ago. I’m standing up in the saddle while accelerating, I’m going downhill fast, and I’m developing twitchy reactions that allow me to ride near the edge of the road without falling off. Endorphins rush madly through my body and my general spirit has improved.   I’m losing weight and really losing body fat and getting stronger as well. As long as I stay healthy, this is going to be one very excellent summer.

Except for gas prices sucking.