Wow. Again.
What will happen to the human race? What is the Cylons' new plan?
Stay tuned until October for season three. Goodness gracious, that's seven months from now!
Friday, March 31, 2006
Galactica, Season 2.5
I finally watched my recordings of this season's final episodes of Battlestar Galactica, Season 2.5--or rather, The Sharon Show as I'd come to know it (geez, the humans treat her soooo badly that I often root for the Cylons!).
Wow. Again.
What will happen to the human race? What is the Cylons' new plan?Will Sharon and Cally ever receive the box of heart shaped chocolates I FedExed them last month?! Ahem, I mean, will they ever find Earth?
Stay tuned until October for season three. Goodness gracious, that's seven months from now!
Wow. Again.
What will happen to the human race? What is the Cylons' new plan?
Stay tuned until October for season three. Goodness gracious, that's seven months from now!
Monday, March 27, 2006
Icing on the cake
Just when I thought I had my last snowboarding runs in, Mountain Creek does a surprise re-opening for this past weekend. I took off like a rabbit with my brother toward the resort Saturday morning.We did four trips down the green trails of Vernon Peak before quitting at noon. I got a little better practicing my slalom ride down the slopes. These are the 'linked turns' that I finally got the hang of on my supposed last trip.
Who knows, maybe they'll keep the resort open for April Fool's Day.
Friday, March 24, 2006
Back to business
I'm starting this year's spring workout season with a battlecry song -- Unwritten, sung by Natasha Bedingfield. It's followed closely by Good Times, sung by Tommy Lee. I didn't pick them to be the flagships; I just happen to be listening to them as part of a playlist while working out and then suddenly they made me feel that spring 'gotta-give-it-a-go' sensation.
It happens every year. There's always a song that sort of symbolizes the beginning of my renewed drive to physical self improvement. I usually end up repeating it over and over again on my mp3 player like when I'm biking or running or even shopping alone at Costco. And I'm seriously talking about hours of repeat of a single song.
So with that, I started my methodical training regimen on the 20th with an interval workout on the bike trainer for about 45 minutes. Rested on the 21st, biked on the 22nd, rested on the 23rd, and biked once more today, the 24th. Yeah, I know it's a little late in the year for starting triathlon training, but I unfortunately let other things get in the way and couldn't get anything consistent going. Live and learn.
It happens every year. There's always a song that sort of symbolizes the beginning of my renewed drive to physical self improvement. I usually end up repeating it over and over again on my mp3 player like when I'm biking or running or even shopping alone at Costco. And I'm seriously talking about hours of repeat of a single song.
So with that, I started my methodical training regimen on the 20th with an interval workout on the bike trainer for about 45 minutes. Rested on the 21st, biked on the 22nd, rested on the 23rd, and biked once more today, the 24th. Yeah, I know it's a little late in the year for starting triathlon training, but I unfortunately let other things get in the way and couldn't get anything consistent going. Live and learn.
Monday, March 20, 2006
Knowing more Bode
The day after the 2002 Olympics ended I did an interview on MSNBC with some yakker who had the temerity to ask me ... "Hey, Bode, you did a great job for America in Salt Lake City, two silver medals, but your teammates ... not a medal among them. What happened there?" ... It was like saying, "Hey, Bode, the dam broke and drowned all your neighbors, but you survived. What's up with those dopes - couldn't they swim?"
--Bode Miller (Bode: Go Fast, Be Good, Have Fun)
I unintentionally awoke at 5:43 am today, but with the first thought of finishing the last chapters of Bode: Go Fast, Be Good, Have Fun. It was a done deal 30 minutes later. A good book.
Of all the athletes from the 2006 Winter Olympics, Bode Miller retained the longest of my interest and has currently become the reference hero who continues to fuel my drive to be a better me. He may have disappointed many of his Olympic fans (although I seriously doubt the bitter ones were fans; more like one time watchers), but at least he stuck to his ideals of snobbing over the media's ever present medal count and gave us an in your face reminder of the Olympic creed of "not to win, but to take part." It figures he would stick to his guns. His 'hippie' upbringing, as I'd read, seemed to make him so.
Reiterating his viewpoints on life and competition at this year's Olympics, he said stuff that I certainly would tell to my kids as well, against the grain of what the sports announcers were saying like, "Bode finished a disappointing 5th and 6th in the men's Downhill and Giant Slalom," or "Bode gave such a lackluster performance in today's events." But hey, what's up with those negative adjectives? It turned out that he was the highest ranking American in those events; info you guys never told me that I had to dig out somewhere else. So how about a pat on the back and a "well done, Bode! you beat the shit out of your U.S. teammates" encouragement instead? But I heard none of that, and neither did my kids. So I thought it was unfortunate that they left it up to me to do the spin doctoring.
And what about that death-defying mishap in the Super-G when he clipped a gate and gracefully skiied out of disaster on only one leg! How many wrote about that instead of the more 'important' lack of a medal? The sports announcers weren't exactly bringing Bode and other athletes into the brightest of light. If I were in the negative, I suppose I'd have to say to my kids, "Hey look Tina, Bode messed up again and didn't get a medal. Let's make an L shape with our fingers and hold it up to our foreheads, just like the news guys on TV seem to be doing." Instead I preferred, "Y'know sweetie, Bode never holds back and he may have gone out so much faster than the other guys, as he loves to do, that he missed the gate and got DQF'd; but at least he gave it his all; f*ck the medal. And screw the media." Well, you get the gist.
Anyway, it's all water under the bridge now, isn't it? After all, he and Darren Rahlves just did an unprecedented respective 1st & 2nd place in the Super-G World Cup Finals in Aare, Sweden last week. It placed Bode 3rd overall in the World Cup final standings (the equivalent of the winning cumulative times in the Tour de France) as well. Again, he was the highest American finisher.
So perhaps the hate mail of the disappointed will now stop flowing. But if not, hopefully they'll read the book, cruise the sites, see the lifetime results, think beyond the media's comments, and get a bit of a bigger picture of the man Bode is. It might just bring about some positive fuel for their betterment.
--Bode Miller (Bode: Go Fast, Be Good, Have Fun)
I unintentionally awoke at 5:43 am today, but with the first thought of finishing the last chapters of Bode: Go Fast, Be Good, Have Fun. It was a done deal 30 minutes later. A good book.
Of all the athletes from the 2006 Winter Olympics, Bode Miller retained the longest of my interest and has currently become the reference hero who continues to fuel my drive to be a better me. He may have disappointed many of his Olympic fans (although I seriously doubt the bitter ones were fans; more like one time watchers), but at least he stuck to his ideals of snobbing over the media's ever present medal count and gave us an in your face reminder of the Olympic creed of "not to win, but to take part." It figures he would stick to his guns. His 'hippie' upbringing, as I'd read, seemed to make him so.
Reiterating his viewpoints on life and competition at this year's Olympics, he said stuff that I certainly would tell to my kids as well, against the grain of what the sports announcers were saying like, "Bode finished a disappointing 5th and 6th in the men's Downhill and Giant Slalom," or "Bode gave such a lackluster performance in today's events." But hey, what's up with those negative adjectives? It turned out that he was the highest ranking American in those events; info you guys never told me that I had to dig out somewhere else. So how about a pat on the back and a "well done, Bode! you beat the shit out of your U.S. teammates" encouragement instead? But I heard none of that, and neither did my kids. So I thought it was unfortunate that they left it up to me to do the spin doctoring.
And what about that death-defying mishap in the Super-G when he clipped a gate and gracefully skiied out of disaster on only one leg! How many wrote about that instead of the more 'important' lack of a medal? The sports announcers weren't exactly bringing Bode and other athletes into the brightest of light. If I were in the negative, I suppose I'd have to say to my kids, "Hey look Tina, Bode messed up again and didn't get a medal. Let's make an L shape with our fingers and hold it up to our foreheads, just like the news guys on TV seem to be doing." Instead I preferred, "Y'know sweetie, Bode never holds back and he may have gone out so much faster than the other guys, as he loves to do, that he missed the gate and got DQF'd; but at least he gave it his all; f*ck the medal. And screw the media." Well, you get the gist.
Anyway, it's all water under the bridge now, isn't it? After all, he and Darren Rahlves just did an unprecedented respective 1st & 2nd place in the Super-G World Cup Finals in Aare, Sweden last week. It placed Bode 3rd overall in the World Cup final standings (the equivalent of the winning cumulative times in the Tour de France) as well. Again, he was the highest American finisher.
So perhaps the hate mail of the disappointed will now stop flowing. But if not, hopefully they'll read the book, cruise the sites, see the lifetime results, think beyond the media's comments, and get a bit of a bigger picture of the man Bode is. It might just bring about some positive fuel for their betterment.
Thursday, March 16, 2006
The last run
The gods of snowboarding must've had me in their favor this morning. They'd blessed me with two gifts today: 1) a final trip to the slopes for the season and 2) mastery of the final stage in learning how to snowboard: Step 10 - Linked Turns.
Sweet.
After all the warm weather days this past week, I didn't think there'd be much snow left on the hills. But when I got to Mountain Creek this morning, the white stuff was still plenty enough to keep a small number of trails open, albeit with a few bare spots of ground showing here and there.
I managed three runs down the 'green' trails from the top of Vernon Peak before calling it quits by noon. And it was on the 2nd run that my 'eureka' moment arrived. That is, I finally got the hang of linking my toeside and heelside turns to create that slalom S shape path as I traversed down the course. It was a quantum leap from constantly falling to suddenly carving the mountain with control. After all the determination, it just clicked in me. A really beautiful feeling.
Winter is truly wonderful. How silly of me for ever considering moving to warmer weather.
Sweet.
After all the warm weather days this past week, I didn't think there'd be much snow left on the hills. But when I got to Mountain Creek this morning, the white stuff was still plenty enough to keep a small number of trails open, albeit with a few bare spots of ground showing here and there.
I managed three runs down the 'green' trails from the top of Vernon Peak before calling it quits by noon. And it was on the 2nd run that my 'eureka' moment arrived. That is, I finally got the hang of linking my toeside and heelside turns to create that slalom S shape path as I traversed down the course. It was a quantum leap from constantly falling to suddenly carving the mountain with control. After all the determination, it just clicked in me. A really beautiful feeling.
Winter is truly wonderful. How silly of me for ever considering moving to warmer weather.
Friday, March 10, 2006
76F degrees today!
:-(
That's F for 76 f*ckin record degrees on March 10, 2006 -- Newark Airport high temperature. How beautiful it was to bring the kids to the park today. Yet ironically, in the deep recesses of my heart (okay okay, not that deep; more like way north of my ventricles and aorta, just below my corneas and pupils, at about the epidermis layer), I was bawling like a baby.
Bawling because the snow was melting. My snowboarding mountain snow. Going, going, gone. Nuttin' but water now. At least a lot of it.
I'll need to check the local ski conditions today to see how much of the fluffy white stuff is left on the hills. Last week, Melinda said I could go boarding Sunday (tomorrow). So if there's any good god left in this universe, she will bless me with at least one more run down the slopes before the season's over.
Long live frozen precipitation!
That's F for 76 f*ckin record degrees on March 10, 2006 -- Newark Airport high temperature. How beautiful it was to bring the kids to the park today. Yet ironically, in the deep recesses of my heart (okay okay, not that deep; more like way north of my ventricles and aorta, just below my corneas and pupils, at about the epidermis layer), I was bawling like a baby.
Bawling because the snow was melting. My snowboarding mountain snow. Going, going, gone. Nuttin' but water now. At least a lot of it.
I'll need to check the local ski conditions today to see how much of the fluffy white stuff is left on the hills. Last week, Melinda said I could go boarding Sunday (tomorrow). So if there's any good god left in this universe, she will bless me with at least one more run down the slopes before the season's over.
Long live frozen precipitation!
Friday, March 03, 2006
More whoring of my cuisine
"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are."-- Theodore Roosevelt
Ahhh, thank you very much, Teddy. Who knew you'd be dishing out advice in the kitchen while leading a country? Thus, you've motivated me to add a bit of style to a practical morning meal. I made this Pasta & Egg breakfast dish from last night's leftover dinner pasta (you can also use potatoes) and it only took 3 minutes to prepare. 5 minutes at most. Serves 1.
Ingredients
pasta leftovers
1 egg
grated cheese
salt & pepper
chives (dried)
olive oil
Directions
Reheat pasta in a microwave on half power for 2 minutes. While reheating, coat a nonstick frying pan with Pam spray. Fry one egg over easy about 1 minute first side, flip over, then 30 secs other side.
Place pasta in center of plate and top with the fried egg. Sprinkle with cheese, salt & pepper, chives and drizzled olive oil. Microwave dish on high for 30 secs to melt cheese.
Serve. Bon appetite!
Tip: Place a small lid over the frying egg to allow the steam to help cook the top side. The egg will cook more evenly with less of that undercooked-egg-goo that we all hate.
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