My new post

I'm still here. I still update my blog. I promise.

Let's see, what's new...

It snowed this weekend.

We played in a "Rock Star" contest and I was "Guitarnivore". Ok, actually I ceded my lead guitar to be "Basic Programmer" playing Base.

I installed a sweet weight plate rack in my garage for my beloved bumper plates. I only have to install hinges underneath the center wood platform and I should be done. But then what will I do with my life?

Training was going well for the latest track meet that will occur this Saturdady, but I went to a soccer practice and injured my right knee, right trap and left hip. I just had a light upper body workout yesterday. I hate getting old.

Poor mom is recuperating from her cateract surgery on Thursday. It "looks" like everything went fine and she can see much more clearly through the first eye, the yellow curtains have been drawn back. Now she'll have the other one done. Suzy says "Gack."

Speed Stacking!

Looks like I'll have to give up Shot Putting and start this sport:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q395-F6hAcg&feature=related

But is it a sport? Folks is up in arms about this latest craze:
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/othersports/347676_sportornot17.html

But do you have to wear a cup?
Personally I don't think it's my cup of tea.

Gag

Suzy asked last night when I was going to update my blog. If I'm not going to post on it, I should just shut it down. Fair enough. So I give to you...daily minutae:

So I was choking down my (try to be )daily salad as usual with some particularly tough broccoli. All of a sudden I feel a soft slimey ball in my mouth. I thought for a second it might be a piece of tomatoe, but it doesn't really taste like anything. So I pull it out with my fingers, and it’s a big 2" black and grey ball of rotten broccoli! Needless to say I just threw the rest of the salad away. In retrospect it might've been a rotten bug.

Paper or Plastic?

You may remember the Honda commercial from a few years ago addressing this age-old supermarket conundrum. The commercial stated it didn't matter. You're screwing the environment either way.

But new studies show there is a winner: Plastic. (although the best way is to bring your own bag yada yada)

Save the world and ask for plastic. AND turns out somebody from Van Halen did the study! Who knew?:

"If you're stuck at the store without your own bag, then choose plastic.
Why plastic? Making a plastic bag requires fewer natural resources and produces less pollution than making a paper bag. Plastic bags do take five to 1,000 years to decompose, but paper bags take about the same amount of time due to poor landfill design. (See The Live Earth Global Warming Survival Handbook, by David de Rothschild.)"

http://www.greendaily.com/2007/09/30/this-or-that-paper-or-plastic/

Jones Soda goes X-treme

In cellebration of Father and I's yearly birthday trip to a Seahawks game (Only for him; I am but a disinterested observer), I'll be buying some of the new Jones Soda flavors. They just released special Seahawk football flavors:
- Dirt
- Sports Cream
- Perspiration
- Natural Field Turf
- Sweet Victory

Among the flavors that didn't make the cut:
- Pigskin
- Jock Strap

"It pays tribute to football players," Jones CEO van Stolk said. "The amount of sweat they go through, and they're eating dirt and grass and using sports creams — those were the four flavors that really resonated with them."

The article didn't say whether it would be regular sugar or Aspartame. I hope for the former.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2003907748_webjones27.html

The unthinkable has happened. While busting a move, motivating like beckham and being generally off-the-chain, I tweaked the left biceps femoris while biting a chav. Translation: I pulled my hamstring. So now I get to watch Raiders of the Lost Ark tonight. It's been a tradition that whenever I get a major injury, I sit on the couch and watch the Lucas/Spielburgian masterpiece.

It all started back in 19 tickety-two when I was 14 and having a break-out year in track (long jumping 19'2") when a basketball injury during lunch (Gary VanBrocklin shoved me while I was up in the air, twisting my ankle) put me out for a couple weeks. But that night Dad had rented Raiders, which was something I really wanted to see, and it made me feel better.

Soccer

I've successfully played 3 soccer games now. It's all part of my quest to:
a. get my cholesterol (245) down
b. Get my body fat below 20.5% which is apparently bad and overweight according to the evil nurses who ran the battery of tests
c. Reduce my blood glucose level (eating less sweets would help too I guess)
d. Reduce my high blood pressure. (Arguable, since it was 100/74 July 9, then 136/89 a month later, after I had to powerwalk/run to the clinic)

and most importantly
e. Introduce some cross training into my training regimen to increase lateral dexterity and cardio shape during those long throwing sessions. The throwing books say one should do some sort of alternate cardio-like activity with lateral movements (basketball, football, soccer, tennis etc.) during the fall season, so here am I.

What I'm finding however is that I'm very much motivated to become a better soccer player, and not as motivated to use soccer to become a better thrower. I'm didn't think I was much of a competitive person.

Also the comraderie and change of scenery is refreshing, not to mention the fact that it's a common, accepted sports activity that other people do, and don't look at you sideways. In other words, it's nice to belong.

I have been running more, and sure enough getting into better "shape" as measured by the above 3 yardsticks. My achilles are always sore from running.

But to continue beyond this season (7 more games) would definitely be a bane to my throwing.
I'm also Gung Ho (who is that?) to sign up for a soccer workshop to work on my non-existent mad skillz.

What am I becoming?

Hopefully this is just a phase and will pass. Afterall nationals are in Spokane this year, so it's an easy way to give myself a "national champion" title.

114 year old dies

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2003835233_oldest14.html
(ha! A clickable link! Must be at work on a PC)

The master's track circuit is woefully thin in the 110-119 age group. Scratch one more potential participant. Grumble. Personally this would be a nightmare for me. Do you know how much money you'd have to put aside if you planned to live another 50 years after retirement?

TOKYO -- Yone Minagawa, who became the world's oldest person earlier this year, has died at a nursing home in southwestern Japan, an official said today. She was 114.
Minagawa, who raised four sons and a daughter on her own by peddling flowers and vegetables, died of old age Monday, said Toshiro Tachibana, an official at the nursing home in Fukuchi, 520 miles southwest of Tokyo.
"Her appetite had been declining recently and her energy fading," Tachibana said. "The death was not sudden."
Born on Jan. 4, 1893, Minagawa was named the world's oldest person by Guinness World Records in January following the death of Emma Faust Tillman, also 114, in the United States.

"I just wanted to take the record from that 'Johnny-come-lately Yank', which I did" said Yone. "May I rest in peace now."

Minagawa outlived all of her children except one daughter, and had seven grandchildren, 12 great-grandchildren and two great-great-grandchildren, according to the nursing home.
The number of Japanese living beyond 100 has almost quadrupled in the past 10 years and is soon expected to surpass 28,000, the government announced last September.

Hammer Close Call

I threw discus last week with a couple guys who were also throwing the hammer. One of whom was a sophomore in high school, and just learning how to control the beast. (It's good to live in Washington, where HS hammer throwing is supported:)

There's a very tall (around 40') retaining fence to the left of the ring. I'm left handed and for the first time ever, having thrown there for years, I released early and the discus just managed to clear the fence, and fall into the large bushes on the other side.

I went around the fence and proceeded to search for the discus in the bushes. After about a minute I suddenly heard yells of "HEADS UP! HEADS UP!"

Under normal circumstances of course I would look up and hopefully get out of the way, but being inside a large bush, there's no way to see what's coming. So I decide, in the 1/2 second I have to decide, to jump out of the bush into the open. Before I even have time to look up, I see the hammer crash down maybe 3 feet in front of me! It's a good thing I decided not to keep moving forward!

I've always preached safety in the throws, but this situation completely caught me off guard. In retrospect of course, it was stupid of me to put myself in that situation. Also, once I did know iron death was raining down, I shoulda hugged the fence, since I knew the circle and hammer release point was at least 10 feet away from the fence, and therefore would follow an arc that would make it land 10 feet away from the other side of the fence fence. And the bush might've slowed the speed of the hammer a bit.

I guess if there's a moral to this story, it's "Expect the unexpected" and think of all eventualities next time you throw the hammer. The odds of this situation coming up were extremely small I think, but tragedy almost happened nonetheless.

Whew!

Cyril

Parrotlets: Chirp chirp chirp
Cyril: Hey, can you guys turn it down a notch?
Parrotlets: Chirp CHIRP CHIRP Squack SQUACK
Cyril: Really, I'm trying to take a nap here.
Parrotlets: Chirp SQUACK SCREACH CHIRP
Cyril: QUIEEEEEEEET!

My season thus far

Sadly, I haven't plucked up the gumption to throw my flaming hamma yet in competition, but I did whirl it around the lawn a few times this weekend, terrifying the neighbors. I didn't hit the car though.

My first meet was a bust, in that yes, I woulda hit a PR, and did in warm ups (~44'6"), but alas could not duplicate the effort when it counted. My best was a paltry 41'1" still good for third, but no where near my best effort. Of course I did volunteer to OFFICIATE the event, which was a factor, dag nab it.

My bigger problem is my release, that I'm pushing the implement beyond the toeboard and toe fouling. Either that or I'm staying back on the left foot in the power position, but tightening up and releasing it early down the left sector line, and fouling. Well, I guess that's what first meets are for, getting the rust out and figuring out what REALLY needs to be worked on...

StreetLamp

It is with great fanfare and much excitement that I announce THEY FINALLY REPLACED THAT BLINKING STREET LIGHT ABOVE OUR HOUSE!

I noticed a ruckus and flashing lights outside a couple nights ago, and opened my door to the glorious sight of a cherry picker replacing the sick, flickering light that has been dogging us for the past 5 years. Nothing more distracting than watching TV and seeing the streetlamp flicker on...then off...then on...then off.

Sweet web page

Curious where I got the kick-ass graphic from the last post? Wonder no more. TAKE ME THERE, DORRET!
http://www.harrythecat.com/graphics/



This is the kind of design I aspire to.

And for a preview of MSN Games v11, CLICK HERE.

More Craig Madness

Another brilliant response to one of my Craig's List listings:
http://seattle.craigslist.org/see/fur/288282764.html

"May I ask what kind of bird that is? Very Beautiful."

sigh.

ps I'm at work on a PC so I can actually style the post and put clickable links & colors 'n' stuff without having to hack the code! I love PCs. I LOVE THIS COMPANY!!!

pps see why I make a living makin' web pages?

ppps I LOVE THIS COMPANY!!!

Craig's List

I'm doing some spring cleaning and selling a few things on Craig's List, including a bird cage. Some of the people I get emails from are baffling. Like:

"I'm interested in your birdcage if you still have. I don't have internet access so you can leave me an email at xxxxx@yahoo.com. Or you could just call me David at (425)xxx-xxxx Thank you"

Just don't call me late for dinner...

Why buy a mattress...

Suzy and I caved and bought a new mattress this weekend, to replace the aging and small 7 year old full-sized model. We'll get delivery on Tuesday of the Simmons BeautyRest, and I for one can hardly wait. Because After all, as close as you are to your partner, there´s one thing you don´t need to share: Sleep motion. Each Simmons® Beautyrest® virtually eliminates transfer of motion with a patented Pocketed Coil® or Pocketed Cable Coil™ technology blah blah blah. Hee hee.

It features a "pillow top" that's cushiony and squishy, as opposed to the temperapedic mattress material we've used (and used by NASA). Hopefully I'll be able to sleep better, and so will Suzy.

Mr. SalesGuy, Skip Winkerson, said some people come into the showroom with their pillows and take naps on different mattresses.

We did take a test lie in the "Rolls Royce" of mattresses, the $5400 model. It was nice. But $5400? Don't think so.

The Acopalypse is here.

Check da bottom of da page and don't aks questions:
http://www.konami.com/edealinv/servlet/ExecMacro?nurl=control/XboxLive.vm&ctl_nbr=3810



Time to invest in Microsoft yo, because we'll be bustin' buttons faster than they can make 'em.
Plus of course the Dow dropped 416 points today. Time to invest. w00t!

More *irds

Red-cheeked Christian holds a blue-headed pionus. Close relative of Cyril:















Suzy holds a fist-full of love:















"You say 2 in the hand is now worth 1 in the bush? Shut....up!":

birdie picture

Suzy and I went to Denise's Parrot Place this weekend and played with wonderful Caiques!:

Thanks to national hero Koji Murofushi, (Athens gold medalist, beating out drug-filled Anus) Hammer throwing has become a visible part of contemporary japanese TV culture these last few years.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWrL0Ip_c4U

This is what American TV should aspire to. Next I'll figure out (again) how to make a link clickable in HTML! (Stupid Mac)