Running over Grapes

NYT does Netflix Cues

2010-01-19T18:59:00.000-08:00

The link in the title is pretty cool---it shows the top Netflix rentals in a variety of Mpls/St. Paul neighorhoods. The most intriguing stat in the whole of the area is that "Battlestar Gallactica" is the bomb in the MSP Airport Zip. That, and Milk, is really, really popular in the Minneapolis area. Does everyone really still like Sean Penn that much or is the story that good (or familiar?)...

Louisville Swamp

2008-11-23T15:33:00.000-08:00

Our Sunday running group headed down to Louisville Swamp for our run today--if you've ever been to the Rennaisance Festival here in town, you 've very close to a gem of a park. Instead of turning into the field outside of the Festival, continue down the road, where it dead ends in the Louisville Swamp parking lot.

The trail runs through oak savannah, flood plain forest, and by some great ruins of farmsteads.The Jab farmstead also doubles up as a warming hut come XC ski season. Add to that the fact that we saw a river otter floating around in one of the

creeks (swimming on his back, just looking at us) made it a great, great run.

There is an 8 mile loop, but it can't be completed since a bridge is out. Hence, a double out and back is necessary to see the whole park. I highly recommend this trail if you are ever in the area just south of Canterbury downs.

Yes, the World has Ended

2008-11-21T18:30:00.000-08:00

I just drank a wine that came from a screw top bottle. No big deal. The same wine came in a plastic bottle. Yes, the World has officially ended. To be fair, it was a Beaujolais Nouveau--which I'm sure that all of you know is a "fresh" wine, meant to be drunk between the 3rd Thursday of Nov and the New Year. Nonetheless....

I'm snooty. (or fancy in TX speak). Plastic bottles of wine are just plain wrong--unless of course you sell it as a "green" thing. Shipping less weight saves jet fuel (it does). However, it also saves shipping costs and puts money back into the pockets of the winemaker. I guess it is a win-win situation...

So, the wine tasted okay--buy it for the novelty. Don't buy it for the taste.

Feeling Wimpy.

2008-11-16T14:14:00.000-08:00

I went to the gym for the first time in a long time and lifted some weights. I'm shocked at how weak I am, particularly my right arm, which is the one I broke earlier this year. I think I need to eat my spinach.

Speaking of spinach, a new grocery store (Cub) opened right by our house. It is so convenient I don't know what to do. Being able to buy bread an deli meat mid-week is going to make lunch that much better. That, and the store is much, much nicer than most Cubs. They even have a sushi bar. Yum. Maybe.

A Little Motivation

2008-11-15T14:20:00.000-08:00

This morning's run was awesome. The weather was great, there were little fluffy flakes of snow in the air and the sun came out for the first time in days. Add to that a great group of guys to run with and a great group of people to drink coffee with after and you can color me happy.

I've Forgotten

2008-11-12T16:21:00.000-08:00

I've forgotten how to run. Well, at least it feels like it. A 6 mile run tonight felt like 20. It must be all the beer and hamburger I've had since Chicago. Ugh.

Armistice Day

2008-11-11T16:45:00.000-08:00

Kurt Vonnegut was born on Armistice Day, which is today. In one of my favorite books of all time (and one of my least favorite movies of all time), he wrote the following...

“I will come to a time in my backwards trip when November eleventh, accidentally my birthday, was a sacred day called Armistice Day. When I was a boy, all the people of all the nations which had fought in the First World War were silent during the eleventh minute of the eleventh hour of Armistice Day, which was the eleventh day of the eleventh month.

“It was during that minute in nineteen hundred and eighteen, that millions upon millions of human beings stopped butchering one and another. I have talked to old men who were on battlefields during that minute. They have told me in one way or another that the sudden silence was the voice of God. So we still have among us some men who can remember when God spoke clearly to mankind.

“Armistice Day has become Veterans’ Day. Armistice Day was sacred. Veterans’ day is not.

“So I will throw Veterans’ Day over my shoulder. Armistice Day I will keep. I don’t want to throw away any sacred things.

“What else is sacred? Oh, Romeo and Juliet, for instance.

“And all music is.”

- Breakfast of Champions , Kurt Vonnegut

Shoe Recycling

2008-11-09T12:15:00.001-08:00

I don't know about you, but I have a bag full of old shoes that I've been waiting to recycle in some way or other. Lucky me--the South of the River 'burbs are having a shoe recycling drive starting next week. The details are;

Recycle Your Soles

Recycle your Shoes in Eagan, Apple Valley & Burnsville

Instead of throwing shoes away, residents in Apple Valley, Burnsville and Eagan are now able to recycle their shoes during a free one-week collection coordinated by Dakota Valley Recycling. Residents will be able to drop off shoes from Monday, November 10 to Sunday, November 16 at locations in each community. Shoes of all types, sizes and styles will be accepted.

Shoes donated as part of the program are shredded by a local company, Wipers Recycling LLC, and turned into new products.

Eagan
Eagan Civic Arena, 3870 Pilot Knob Road.
Daily 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.

Apple Valley
Apple Valley Community Center, 14603 Hayes Drive
Monday – Friday 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.
Saturday/Sunday 12:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Burnsville
Burnsville City Hall, 100 Civic Center Parkway *
Monday-Thursday 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Friday-Saturday 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Sunday 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
*Closed Tuesday, November 11 for Veterans Day

For more information please contact Dakota Valley Recycling at (651) 675-5011 or visit www.DakotaValleyRecycling.org on the internet.

Stealthy Guest Post

2008-10-14T17:55:00.000-07:00

First, I have to come clean, this is Anne. I'm trying to clean things up around the house and one of the things that has needed some attention is the backlog of wine varieties that should be added to our century club checklist.

These bottles have been sitting around for a while...
(for some reason I can't get the photo to post right now...I'll be back to add it later)

The only information I have on these wines is what is on the label, what I can learn from the internets and the knowledge that as soon as I publish this blog they'll all be moving to the recycling bin. I wish I could tell you that they were grassy or leggy or unctuous, but frankly, I can't remember any details about the wines themselves. I do know, however, that they are now officially checked off on our Century Club checklist.

Deer Flies

2008-07-07T19:55:00.000-07:00

First, I finally took the time to figure out how to add a title to my blog, which is nice. Second, I had a horrible, scary run at Lebanon Hills tonight. Swarms and swarms of deer flies chased me down for a good hour while I ran scared. The uphills were the worst, as my legs were tired and I had to slow down--meaning the evil flies had time to land. Ugh. I wore a white hat and white shirt and sprayed myself with bugspray but they still were horrible. I made it roughly 9 miles tonight, but I hardly enjoyed any of it...

Here is to hoping that the deer fly season doesn't last long.

Alright already Chad…

2008-07-07T13:12:00.000-07:00

I ran a 5 Mile race in Apple Valley on Friday and ran it pretty well—nearly 2 minutes faster than last year. The start of the race was total mayhem, with a cross country style start that combined the fields of both the 2 mile and the 5 mile race. The result is that you have no idea as to where you are in the race until the race breaks up at the 1 mile mark, where the 2 milers hang a U-turn. I went out in a somewhat conservative pace and found myself way back in the field with about 8 guys in front of me (and none were that close). I had my work cut out for me. Luckily, I've run enough races to know that patience can be a virtue. After climbing the ridiculous hill that is cruelly scheduled in the race after the first mile, I began to pick runners off, one by one. I had all but the top two pulled in by the time I hit mile 4 with only one runner hanging on to me. Somehow, I held off the 16 year old kid (that’s 20 years my junior-dang I’m getting old) and crossed the line in 28:26. Not a great time for a flat course, but this isn’t a flat course.

My secret? I pre-planned and built in a great alibi the night before. Nathan and I did a 90 minute progression run (30 easy, 30 medium, 30 hard) and ran the last few miles in sub 6. That took off all the pressure of running fast! Could I have run faster had I not done this workout? Sure. Did I have a great Alibi? You bet! And nothing beats a great alibi heading into a race.

Truthfully, I believe I’m having a great early season because of the consistency of training over the winter that I had. Training for the Boston Marathon by only running base mileage built my strength up and made sure that I didn’t burn out after running a marathon like I normally do. I didn’t start doing any real speedwork until a few weeks ago and most of that has been oriented around sprint leg turnover (strides) and speed (short fartleks). I still haven’t run a track workout and I have no idea how fast I’m running during my workouts—I’ll take care of that later in the year when it is time to sharpen. Nor do I know what % of my HR I’m running. I know I’m breathing hard and that is good enough for me. Sure my Boston time suffered, but that wasn’t the goal. Running fast at Chicago was. And I believe I’m on my way. I’m looking forward to it already.

2008-06-01T15:06:00.000-07:00

TWIKR Notes

My favorite show when I was a kid was This Week in Baseball and one of my favorite segments of the show was TWIB Notes, when you got to learn about what was really happening in the league. In honor of the show, here are my TWIKR notes (This week in Kirk's Running)..

I hit 80 miles this week, with all but 6 of them on trails. The week started with the Brian Kraft 5K, which went pretty well for me--I ran a 16:55 and placed 51st among males at the race. Yes, the field was that good. While it is a ways off from my PR, it is early in the season and I've only done a few workouts that even resemble 5K speed workouts (If you can call strides a workout...) The rest of the week's runs were amazing runs through Lebanon Hills (my favorite place to run in the Cities, and the Sibley House (Minnesota Valley trails).

The only run of note was a 35 minute Steady State that Mike and I ran on Thursday night. Very good workout in that I was only ready to be done with it once we hit 30 minutes--so only 5 minutes of not enjoying a workout. We then proceeded to destroy any benefit from the run by drinking lots of beer, eating lots of peanuts and popcorn and eating an unhealthy meal at Lucky's in Mendota. Some people eat to run and some people run to eat. I'm Schizo on that one.

2008-05-26T17:31:00.000-07:00

Building a Wine Cellar...

Anne and I have been talking about building a wine cellar for a very long time. This weekend, we finally got on it. I bought a book--How and Why to Build a Wine Cellar, by Richard Gold--an Engineer's Engineer. It is a great read, and very instructive on how to build a wine cellar. Sooooo----We decided on a rough dimension for the wine cellar, borrowed a truck, and bought some lumber.

The first thing to do was to rip out the old insulation and vapor barrier. After this, I added electrical wire for future purposes. We don't need electricity inside the wine cellar (now), but we will (likely) need electricity in the rest of the basement at sometime in the future. The insulation was in bad shape after having too many winters with moisture (note the black color in the picture on the left). The problem was that the vapor barrier and insulation was stopped below the bottom of the wall, allowing for moist air to run up the wall and sit there. So, after the rough electrical was run (12/2 Romex, for those who care about that kind of thing), I reinstalled insulation (R-13 Fiberglass) and added a new coat of 6mm Poly Vapor Barrier. The look and insulation is much cleaner and much better than the previous installation. So, call the exterior walls semi-done.

I then had to build and install the interior walls (those that face the interior of the room. The picture below is me starting to build frame that became the wall. I used 2x6 construction and added 2x4 for the stud wall to allow for 2 layers of R-13 insulation (yes, it will be slightly compressed and if I had to do it again, I would have used 2x8 construction). The finished product looked like the picture on the right.

Now that the stud-walls were up, I had to put vapor barrier (6mm Poly) on the ceiling, but not the joices, per the book (too much vapor barrier can cause too much humidity). After this R-30 unfaced fiberglass insulation went up on the ceiling, protecting the wine cellar from the heat in the living room directly above the wine cellar.

After finish the celings, it was time to insulate (R-13 again) and vapor barrier the interior walls. This seems easy, but it was time consuming. and I was happy to be done with handling fiberglass iinsulation for the time being. There is quite a bit more work to do, but the tough stuff (like handling huge amounts of fiberglass insulation) is largely done.

There is quite a bit more to do, but the least glamorous parts of the project are done and things are looking up. I'm looking forward to next weekend so I can entirely seal up the room and see if how well it holds temperature and humidity.

One of the things we really noticed was how much heat an incandescent light put off--and so we replaced it with a flourescent light bulb. The room stayed much cooler and will definitely be the normal light in the cellar from now on...

To be continued...

2008-05-23T17:38:00.001-07:00

Overdue

I can't believe how overdue on wine updates I've become. I'm adding 6 grapes to the list as of this moment--Riesling (I can't believe it wasn't on the list already, considering my love of the grape), Marsanne (a normal blending grape that should remain a blending grape), a Touriga (Portugal's National Grape), Muller Thurgau grape from Deutschland, and a Columbard/Ugni Blanc Mix that I'm drinking as I'm writing this.

I don't have alot to say about the grapes as none of them knocked my socks off. However, the Touriga is a Rose Wine that I picked up for under $8/bottle and was pretty pleasant. The winemaker is Quinta Da Alorna and was purchased at Byerly's.

The Muller Thurgau was a gift, so was the best kind of wine in the world. Free. That and it tasted pretty good. I don't know how much it cost, so I'll leave it at that.

2008-04-28T11:53:00.000-07:00

24 weeks ‘til Chicago

I’ve been thinking of adding a running angle to my blog for a while, but I’ve been afraid that I’d bore the tears off of my friends and family if I did. I’ve finally realized that no matter what I write, I’m boring them, so why not add some running stuff to the blog?

So, my blog is down to running and wine. I guess that they are two of my major passions in life, if not the major passions. Maybe I should rename my blog to “Running over Grapes” or something similar…

Why did I decide to do Chicago? The (Medtronic) Twin Cities Marathon is one week before Chicago and is my favorite marathon ever. I placed 3rd in my age group last year. I know how to run a great race on the TCM course and I love the local support. So why not run it? Why choose Chicago? I’m not sure. It might be that I’m starting to get up there in my running years and I wanted one last shot on a flat course and a significant PR. It might be that I was impulsive and when Marty and Deb decided to do Chicago, it sounded like a great idea and so I went and signed up. It could also be that I simply needed a change. (and CHANGE seems like the them for the year, doesn’t it???)

I’m already looking forward to the training cycle; hard runs, easy runs, and long runs. Cold runs, yielding to incredibly hot runs, yielding to cool fall runs. To strides, to fartleks, to tempos, to hill runs, to long runs, to easy runs. I’m looking forward to it all. Chicago can’t come fast enough….

2008-04-25T18:06:00.000-07:00

I Heart the Marathon (Part 3)

Anne's Freevo picked up the Paris Marathon, which I watched tonight. Two things stuck out. First, the Men's race was tight at the 40K marathon. Very tight. Two guys, mano-a-mano, trying to run the other into the ground. Kenya vs. Ethiopia. Man vs. Man. So, they pull up to a water stop, one guy grabs a water bottle, the other slows for him and they go on and share the water. Seriously? Share water? Slow down for the other competitor? Yep. That is marathoning. And that is why I love it. Ethiopia's 20 year old wonder one, but it didn't matter to me. 40Km showed everything I needed.

Second, the women's race. Amazing. Kenya vs. Ethiopia again. Kenyan woman running with horrible form, obviously beat. Ethiopian lady, drafting off of her, biding her time and finally grabbing a commanding lead. Or did she? Kenyan lady, basically running like the Humpback of Notre Dame, passes her back. And breaks Ethiopian lady. Kenyan lady, runs across the finish line with her head bobbing like she was listening to Def Leppard or Poison in the late 90's. With a strain on her face that makes waterboarding look like pleasure (okay, maybe not). I clapped at a recording of a recording. It was awesome.

2008-04-25T17:32:00.000-07:00

I Heart Boston (and the Boston) Marathon

This (past) weekend was incredible. Anne and I flew into Boston on Friday and checked into the most kick ass hotel I've stayed at in a long time, the Marriott Custom House. The building was built in the 1860's as a Custom's Building for Boston Harbor. In the 19-teens, the feds built a 26 story building on top of the building. So, imagine the Jefferson Memorial with a a 26 story building (similar in style to the Foshay tower in Mpls.) The Feds moved out in the 70's into the awful Pei designed Boston Federal Government Building. Yes, this is the same Pei who designed the Pyramid at the Louvre and JFK Library. I can't speak for the new digs, but the old digs rock. Marriott gutted the tower in 1910 and renovated the Custom House in the late 90's. This hotel was amazing.

Anne and I went out to eat at Sel de la Terre, about a 3 minute walk from our hotel. Amazingly good. So much so, we went back later in the trip.

Saturday, we went to the Expo, and because it was so incredibly beautiful out, walked around alot. We went to lunch at a restaurant on Tremont Street called cafeTeria, in which we had a pretty good Kobe Hamburger. Hmmm--Hamburgers and fries two days before a marathon. That evening we (Mike, Nathan, Emily and some of her friends) drank some beer at the Black Rose (awesome) and then went to Todd English's Kingfish Hall, which was mediocre. (Sel de la Terre was cheaper and 5x as good). So, we walked alot, but enjoyed the day.

Sunday rolled around and we watched the Women's Olympic Trials. Simply amazing, except that we walked around for 5 or 6 hours 1 day before the marathon. No problem, right? That night we went to Trattoria di Monica, an awesome but very small restaurant in the North End of Boston. Off the main drag, but packed due to it's 6 table space, it was great and an opportunity for us to meet a couple we met on diving on Dominica who live in the Boston Greater Area. Great Fun.

Monday came early. Breakfast at the hotel at 5:30, buses to the start at 6:15, and the start at 10 am. It was cool before the start, with temps in the 40's and very damp. Unluckily, the clouds broke at 9:59 and shone on us throughout the marathon. I started in corral 1, and started conservatively. I don't have my splits, but tons of people passed me throughout the first 10 miles. The problem was is that I didn't feel comfortable. I realized that I hadn't run at marathon pace (or faster) for more than 6 miles all spring--and both of those were in very short races. My legs also hurt from walking around the 2 days prior to the marathon. I hit the half in 1:25 and change, exactly what I'd hoped.

By 16, I knew I was toast. My legs were mush, especially the inner quad muscles. I was in trouble. I pushed through the Newton Hills and held myself together with very few people passing me. However, once we hit the downhills after Heartbreak Hill, my quads were on fire. I tried to stay composed, but I was sure that I was going to cramp up for the remainder of the race. Luckily, they didn't and I only slowed a little, finishing in 2:55:08. Losing just under 5 minutes in the second half. Much better than the first time I ran the race when I lost 15 minutes, but still slightly disappointing. But only slightly...

Looking back, I'm very happy with my time. Very. I did no marathon specific training and ran this entirely on base mileage. I walked around a lot the days before and had some great meals and some great times at the Black Rose. I got severly dehydrated (my bad, yeah, but hey--it was the warmest day of the year so far!).

So, in summation, great race, great time and an amazing city.

2008-04-13T17:53:00.000-07:00

I Heart the Marathon

I work up 3x this morning before 4 am and finally got up at 4:15. Why? The freakin' London Marathon was on WCSN.COM for free. I dragged my butt out of bed, threw my body on the couch and watched the marathon. What a show! I can't believe the I can hang out and watch 2:05 (2:25 FOR the women) worth of running. But I can. And there is no better show on the airwaves. The tactics and the physicality of this are second to none. Imagine running 1:11 400's for 105 laps. And then having 2 other guys hang on to you. And then sprinting away from them. WOW.

I can't wait until Boston next week.

2008-04-04T19:15:00.000-07:00

Spring has finally Sprung (2008)!

I made it over to Lebanon Hills today and was astounded by the sounds of spring. Warblers, chickadees, cardinals, and yes, frogs... I can't wait for the trails to be clear--they look like mashed potatoes and gravy right now-- snow, and mud mixed together to make a mess. In two weeks we'll be running in the parks and enjoying the solitude (funny that I used we, eh?) of the woods once again.

2008-03-31T19:40:00.001-07:00

Lucy caught a whaaaaat?

Yes, Lucy (notice here cool-ass runing in really cold weather beard in the Picture to the left) had this Possum in her mouth not too long ago. BTW--this possum wasn't dead. It was playing possum. As in not really dead, but playing like it was. I could see it breathing. I'm not sure how good of defense mechanism it is when you are in the grips of a predator (Lucy???)... but it worked with me. It was gone the next day.

2008-03-31T19:25:00.000-07:00

Minnesota, Ain't She Grand?
Contrast this picture, taken today---

With this picture, taken March 25, 2007 from Anne's Blog

Ain't Minnesota Grand? At least it keeps most of the Texans out of here...

2008-03-15T15:54:00.000-07:00

Struggling to keep up with his wine varietal postings, Kirk asked me to guest blog tonight.

Speaking of struggling to keep up, I'm feeling behind...my big bro (who Kirk refers to as the Wine Monkey) is way ahead of us on his wine quest. He's up to variety #89 as of 6 PM tonight...we're currently up to 39, but with this blog I officially bring the total to 41.

#40 - Mandolina Classico Toccata, 2003
This was one of Kirk's Wine.Woot.com bottles. A nice wine to have as a standby around the house. The wine is a blend of 5 varieties and only one of them, freisa, is new to our list. At only 15% it feels like a bit of a cheat to add it to the list, but I'm feeling desperate.

#41 - Chateau St. Jean Gewürztraminer, 2006
The decision to drink this wine was purely based on the fact that we haven't checked it off the list yet, but it was was a well made decision. This wine has a nose of vanilla, slightly sweet (but not to a fault) this wine is really drinkable. Just don't pair it with pistachios...

Cheers!
Anne

2008-02-29T18:49:00.000-08:00

Update Update Update

Tomorrow we go on vacation. I'm very excited to escape the cold of MN. Very very very. Some warm days in a warm, humid clime is just what the Doctor ordered.

So, I told Anne that I'd clean up the counter of wine bottles that I'd been meaning to blog about. So, realizing that I was (finally) done packing, I'm finally writing about them..

Varietal #35-36 Viognier and Chenin Blanc--Pine Ridge, CA 2005. This is one of my favorite summer wines and it works well in winter as well. Light, with some residual sugar--fruity and yummy. I think this is one heck of a wine for ~ $10...

Varietal # 37 Viura---Medievo, Rioja, Spain. This was another great white wine, especially for the price. Fruity, with some decent body, I like this one alot.

Varietal # 38 Pansa Blanca. No wait this one has already been drunk. Same name as Xarel Lo. Dang. None the less this Marques de Alella makes a very nice wine of this grape, which is typically blended into Cava, Spain's version of Champagne.

Varietal #38 (again) Garganega- Tamellni Soave 2004. The wine maker must love oaky Chardonnay. California Chardonnay that is. I'd prefer that they handled this wine a little more delicately... I'd no go this wine again.

Varietal #39 Muscat. Joao Pires 2004. This one was bottled in a tall bottle, similar to wines from the Alsace Region or the Rhein. Labeled as a white table wine from Portugal, I figured it would be made in the German Tradition. I was kind of right. A ton of acidity, a little residual sugar. Fine, German Style. Odd taste, confusing palate. Not German whatsoever. I'd recommend that everyone try this wine, because you'd never expect a Muscat to NOT be a desert wine. Nor would you expect it to be as dry as this one... I'm confused. Still.

I'll see you in a week. With a tan.

2008-02-13T17:26:00.001-08:00

Vino Update

Have you ever fallen so far behind in a task that you rue catching up? That's what I did in the wine varietal count. I finally decided to catch up today by simply placing them on the count and not worrying about writing what the wines were and how they tasted. That would take so long that I would never get it done. As you can see, we're up to 34 varietals--this occurred much more quickly than I expected. Much more. And yet, I'm happy and my liver is just fine. It helps to have family that is interested in the same thing.

By the way, I just finished reading Red, White, and Drunk all Over by Natalie MacLean. If you have any interest in wine, this is a great read.

2008-02-05T18:44:00.000-08:00

I Voted

I wasn't planning to vote today. However, I got out on my run a little late due to a work function. I was running through my neighborhood and there was quite a bit more traffic than normal. I thought "Dang, there must be something big happening at the High School tonight"--because we live so close to the High School. I then made my way onto Diffley Ave, and I noticed that traffic was backed up nearly 2 miles, waiting to get to the High School. This is 2 lanes of traffic, backed up for 2 miles. I'd say voter turnout was high. Then I felt guilty, and decided I had to vote. So I dropped Lucy off after my run and ran to the High School, where they let me vote despite the fact that 8 PM was when the polls was supposed to close and it was now 8:15. Thanks caucus people. Thanks.

FYI--Lucy has run 30 miles in 3 days. She is turning into quite the athlete.

2008-02-03T14:49:00.000-08:00

Sally's has Me Seeing Red!

Today, I was "lucky" enough to get free tickets to the Gopher-Badger Basketball game. (lucky is relative, as the game was brutal). We decided to meet at a U of M standby-- Sally's Saloon. I know it is a U of M bar because 1) it is right next to the U of M Campus and 2) it proclaims it in an ad right outside the bar on a sign on a bus station shelter. (The U of M Gathering Spot!)

Soooo--I walked into the bar, purchased a Summit Winter Ale (because I only purchase MN beers when possible), and wandered into the bar. There were the usual assortment of Gold and Maroon wearing folk scattered with the ugly color of Red and White folk in the front half of the bar. Then, I wandered into the back of the bar...where the University of Wisconsin Badger Pep Band was playing and Bucky Badger was dancing. WHAT??? Yes, it appears that the owners of Sally's has sold out to the mighty greenback and fallen prey to the "Badger Nation". The entire back end of the bar was full of ugly leather jackets and incredibly tacky red and white overalls. I was shocked. I was upset. This is a bar that hosted the U of M Alumni Pep Functions for the same Gopher Basketball Team last year. This is a bar that is named after " female companion for Goldy Gopher (the U of M Mascot) was in order - thus the creation of Sally the female gopher." What the heck? What the !#@$?

I turned to the bartenders for sympathy, but they were wearing a sticker that stated "Rolling Out The Red Carpet"; featuring a Badger on the label. Now I was incensed! I went to the manager to plead my case. He simply stated that they were paying customers and that they arranged with the bar to show up early and take over the back half of the bar. I stated that I didn't mind that Badger fans dropped their money at their bar, but they did not have to allow the pep band into the bar along with Bucky Badger... He basically said that they had sold their Soul to the Devil (not his words) and that he didn't feel bad about it. I left and another guy walked up to complain. So did someone else, and then another. Because complaints don't mean anything to Sally's, I ask that all of the "Gopher Nation" speak in the only words that Sally's understands--the mighty dollar. Boycott Sally's now until Sally's apologizes and agrees to never host another Badger function on their premise... If you want to email the traitors, email them at sallyssa@sallyssalloon.com.

2008-01-21T18:35:00.000-08:00

90 Days--and Counting

I did some math today and determined there were only 90 days left until the Boston Marathon. This marathon is coming up much more quickly than I'd like. The temperature today was 9 F and there was 1/2" of fresh, powdery snow--it sure seems like the gods are against me training for Boston. Alas, I went outside and I ran and surprised myself--I had a great run.. My legs were tired by the end, but this was a redeeming run. Wrapped up in my own thoughts, I looked forward to the hills of Boston, the heat of training through the heat and humidity of a Twin Cities summer and another Twin Cities Marathon. Here's to looking a crappy day in the and telling it to bugger off.

2008-01-21T18:03:00.000-08:00

Dang where does the Wine Go?

A trip to a couple of wine bars and a wine tasting later, and we've zipped through a few more varietals. I didn't do a good job of taking notes, so I'm going to forgo writing about the wines--just note that all were good unless noted otherwise...

Varietal #12 Aligote
2006 Shooting Star Washington State Aligote--a bit flabby, we didn't mean to purchase this wine, but all ends just fine. This one would be better on a sunny deck than on a day when it is -15 F outside.

Varietal #13 Colombard
2006 McNab Ridge Mendocino Niemi Vineyard French Colombard--very similar in taste to a Gewurz--lovely with a salad or sweets

Varietal #14-16 Gropello, Marzemino, Barbera
2004 Garda Classico Negresco--this one also has Sango, but that one has already been covered. This is a great blend of red wine with some rare grapes. A great one for the challenge.

Varietal #17 Monica Grapes
2004 Argiolas Perdera--another nice wine, and a nice price too. I'm impressed with Italian wines especially dollar for dollar.

More later, maybe...

2008-01-15T18:25:00.000-08:00

The Weekend Wrap

This weekend was a beautiful one up here in the Tundra, with temps sitting in the mid 20's and some nice light snow. The run on Saturday morning was wonderful--the falling snow dampened the din of the city and the only sound you could here were footsteps for much of the run.

On the wine drinking front, it was a productive weekend (including tonight)--

Varietals #7 & 8 Arneis & Tocai Friuliano

The wine--2005 JB Cellars Margaret Anne, Mendocino CA

Anne picked this one up at Byerly's because of the interesting grapes involved. Both are Italian in nature but these grapes were grown in the cool temperatures of Mendocino. I had a tough time with this wine because it was slightly corked. I'm a little more sensitive to TCA than most people and I have a tough time evaluating a wine once I sense it. Regardless, this wine was fine--it reminded me of the table whites we had when we were in Italy--a little grassy, very little nose, and honestly not that much flavor. The structure was good and the wine was dry--pretty good with food, but definitely not a sit and sip wine.

Varietal #9 Gruner Veltliner

The wine--2004 Hopler Gruner Veltliner, Austria

I love Gruner Veltliner. Dry and minerally. A little fruit but definitely not overpowering. This grape has become my favorite white grape. Maybe it is because I have relatives from Austria. I am soooo happy that Austria is making a comeback and we are able to get these incredible grapes once again.

Varietal #10 Pinotage

The wine--2003 Wamakersvallei La Cave Pinotage, Wellington, South Africa

When I asked for a Pinotage at the wine store, the clerk's eyes shine and he walked me straight to this one and claimed it was in the top 5 wines in the store. It was pushing the price threshold for the wine century club (~$24), but based on this recommendations, I had to bite. I'm glad I did. This wine was deep ruby--dark and beautiful. The nose was lush and dark. The flavor--chocolate, raspberry and spice. Yummmm. I won't go on, but I would definitely recommend this one

Varietal #11 Grenache

The wine--2006 Almira Los Dos, Campo de Borja, Spain

Admit it, when you hear for Grenache, you think of Gallo White Grenache from the late 80's. It was popular at the same time as White Zinfandel and it still confuses people. To get a good idea of what a real Grenache tastes like, head for some Spanish wines--this one is Spanish and it is a Grenache. It should be great, right??

Hmmm-- after the Pinotage, I knew there would be a letdown. I was right. I picked to eat this wine tonight because we were having Mexican food and this was a Spanish wine. They serve tamales in Spain, right??? This wine is actually 85% Grenache and 15% Syrah, but I'll only take credit for the Grenache. The wine is rather weak in color--not quite like a Pinot Noir, but definitely not as beautiful as the Pinotage or the wine with Petit Verdot in it. The nose matches the color--it is rather underwhelming--a little fruit and a little earth. The structure of the wine is good--light tannins (there but not strong) and a taste of blackberries and maybe cranberries. In spite of this, overall I think this wine is underwhelming--however, for $10 I might pick this one up again.

2008-01-09T17:30:00.000-08:00

#3-6 in one Sitting

I honestly didn't mean to cover 4 grapes in one sitting, but I did. I think I feel downright dirty and will have to revisit many of these varietals when I can. Here is how it happened--I found myself at the liquor store, nearly panicking at the variety of varietals. I picked up an Hungarian wine but put that aside for later. I settled on a wine from Forte de Valle (Valley of the Fort, I guess) from the Yecla DOC in Spain. Little did I know that it was a blend that covered 4 varietals--56% Merlot, 24% Mouvedre, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 10% Petit Verdot.

Varietal #3 Merlot
Vatietal #4, Mourverde (dog strangler in French??)
Varietal #5, Cabernet Sauvignon
Varietal #6, Petit Verdot

The wine--Casa De Las Espacias, 2004 Forte del Valle, Yecla DOC

With a deep red olor (likely from the Petite Verdot), but not quite inky, this is a pretty wine in the glass The nose is a little different--almost smells of anise??? The flavor is straight up the middle of the tongue with some pronounced Tannins when swirled around the mouth. There is some density -almost meatiness to the wine, similar to Jumilla district wines--the terroir is definitely there. We are definitely not in California anymore--and it reminded me of many of the wines we had when we were in Spain in 2003. So if you like somewhat challenging wines that reflect on Spain and you like paying under $10 for a bottle, this one would be right up your alley

2008-01-08T18:33:00.000-08:00

2 Down, 98 to Go

Dang, the first 2 went down fast. However, I'll be sick of wine and missing beer in now time, so my brother in law, Ted , can relax. Please note that he has now joined the Blog Community for the challenge.

Varietal #2: Zinfandel

2004 Zinfandel, Luddite Vineyards, Russian River Valley, 68 cases produced

I made a pretty great (if I do say so myself) Hungarian Style Goulash on Sunday, which we ate as leftovers tonight. The cookbook recommended Limerick Lane Zinfandel (one of my favorites)--but the only Limerick Lanes I had formed a vertical so were off limits. Hence, the Luddite wine, which is only a few miles away as the crow flies from Limerick Lane. We bought this wine in the tasting room and shipped it back with some other bottles--I'm glad we did. For those of you not familiar with Zinfandel--it is quite often a very fruit forward wine that is often described as jammy and quite often at 15+% ABV (alcohol by volume). It is one of the quintessential American Wines, but is often "dissed" by wine snobs because it is too fruity and too high of alcohol. Good for them, but I really like it for drinking in front of a fire on a dark cold evening.

This wine is deep, particularly for a 2004 from Sonoma County. It is peppery with very little fruit on it, which I find rare for CA Zins. The nose is dominated by pepper, with a little hotness, hinting at the 14.2% abv (alcohol by volume). While this isn't particularly high for a Zin, I always smell it before tasting it. The taste is of plums and chocolate. Surprisingly, the tannins are still prevalent, which again, is rare for a few year old CA Zin. I think that this wine could sit for a few years and do very well.

2008-01-07T17:21:00.000-08:00

100 Vino Varietals

I was browsing the internet (actually reading my Google Reader Acct), and I came across Wine Century, which really peaked my interest. The challenge is to drink 100 different types of grapes and submit your "accomplishment". I quickly filled out the checklist and realized that I had only drank (drunk?) 38 different varietals in my life. 62 to go. Some people would feel daunted by that task. I felt invigorated. I wrote Anne and my brother in law Ted, who leveled the challenge that we start over! We get no getting credit for past work (pleasure), and we have to log each and every varietal we drink. I now felt doubly invigorated!!!! Running 3500 miles in a year is too daunting, drinking 100 varietals of grapes is not. Plus it gives me something to blog about. Sooo, here goes...

Varietal #1--Sangiovese

2005 Mayo Family Winery, Dry Creek Valley, Unti Vineyard

This wine varietal is one of my favorites and Mayo makes a pretty good wine. Sangiovese is a wine typical to Tuscany, but is usually blended into Chianti, which is a blend. Mayo, for those of you not familiar with them, are a family winery based in Sonoma Valley. They focus on single vineyard designations, and this one is no different. Cranberry in color and taste, something I find common in California Sangos this wine has a nice light finish and some berry flavor (not too fruity), which make this a particularly good dinner wine. I'm not talking big steak and potatoes kind of dinner, I'm thinking Pizza or a light red sauce on Polenta or Pasta. Excellent.

2008-01-06T18:52:00.001-08:00

Spirit of the Marathon

On the 24th of January, for one night only, theaters throughout the US will show Spirit of the Marathon, a documentary about, what else, the Marathon. I've pre-purchased tickets for the show at the Eagan 16. This is normally my workout night, but if you can't give up a workout for this, what can you give one up for? I hope to see you there as well.

2008-01-05T12:24:00.000-08:00

German Corporations

Cracked.com does an interesting and funny look at companies that got their start during WWII--you can find that here. What I find disturbing is that so many of these companies have so much style. Who would have thought that Adolf would have had such a strong fashion sense? You certainly wouldn't have guessed that from his 'stache.

PS--you might want to spend some time wandering around cracked.com -- it is pretty good.

2008-01-01T17:10:00.000-08:00

Christmas in Fort Myers Beach

was great. To give you an idea of how I spent my days...

I "filmed" this with my new Flip Video that I received for Christmas... It appears thus far to be a pretty cool tool.

2007-11-06T17:53:00.000-08:00

Pooh Style Sports

Imagine a world where all sports were Pooh Style. If you don't know what Pooh Style is, you can check out Mike's rant about it or just imagine wearing a shirt but no shorts/underwear. So, imagine Pooh Style sports. Awesome, right? My #1 Pick for greatest Pooh Style sport is Tennis. Imagine if the shirt just covered the privies. You throw up the ball for the serve and voila... You lunge for a ball, voila! Imagine the disgusting possibilities...

What are your picks for coolest Pooh Style Sports?

2007-10-28T16:41:00.001-07:00

Cat Humor

I know that Cat Humor pervades the internet--most of which is just plain weird. However, this animated cartoon, made my laugh out loud, and laughing out loud is good---

2007-09-20T21:01:00.000-07:00

Gen Text (of which I'm not)

The conversation at Matt's strayed to why I don't use the text feature on my phone and how antiquated I am when it comes to technology. Heck, I just learned about blogs last year and RSS feeds yesterday. I realized tonight that the reason I don't have an affinity to texting is two fold; 1) I car pool with my wife to almost everything (work, runs, groceries,) meaning I don't have to text "Where U at?"--because I know she's right next to me and 2) My Mom and Dad taught me that grammar is important: I can't read a sentence with a misspelled word or improperly used verb or noun without cringing. How am I supposed to read a whole conversation with both problems? I think I'll just wander over to Grammar Girl and see if she wants to chat...

2007-09-20T20:10:00.000-07:00

Another Equinox, Another Great Night

Looking at the calender, one might think that the Equinox was on the 23rd of September this year. If so, we observed the Fall Equinox early this year--tonight. We convened at Matt's once again for our quarterly celebration of the passing of the seasons. This time there was a total of 9 people, up from previous meetings. I have to tell you, this is one of my favorite nights of the year. Seriously, how can you beat Jucy Lucys and a bunch of friends (including the founder and inventor of jucylucyrestuarants.com)? Conversation was great, food was great and the weather outside was frightful. Did I mention that I had a great night?

2007-09-02T09:07:00.000-07:00

Indestructible Wine

Another month, another post, another wine. And this one isn't a whine about bad wine--it is actually a celebration of a pretty darn good one, especially considering the price. After my disastrous encounter with Trove wines, I stopped in and purchased a different box-- a Black Box. I was hesitant, of course, but the 2 employees of the Byerly's Liquor Eagan store both swore by Black Box, with one even claiming the Cab was as good as any of the $20 bottles of Aussie wine in the store. The beautiful part? A box of wine holds the equivalent of 4 bottles of wine for the nifty price of $23 (likely cheaper at other liquor stores). So, I picked up a box of Black Box Monterray County Chardonnay, brought it home and threw it in the fridge...

The verdict? Very nice, particularly for a summer porch sipper. This wine has quite a bit of citrus nose to it, some melon undertones, and a nice silky texture. No malalactic fermentation has occurred, leaving out the buttery flavor you sometimes get in a chardonnay. There was a little bit of oak, but definitely nothing like Kendall Jackson. If you are a Sauv Blanc drinker who has shied away from America's best white grape (and there is not doubt that Chardonnay is California's best white grape), this is the box Chardonnay for you.

2007-08-14T17:27:00.000-07:00

It's about time....and wine
I've been a little tardy in the posting. It seems that spring sprung, summer came and I forgot to look at my computer away from work. I believe there are worse things in the world, but I do feel ashamed. Those of you who know me, know that I like wine. Specifically good wine. However, I have come to realize that there is a time and place for a $25+ bottle of wine and it isn't to drink one glass with dinner midweek. Because of that, and because the marketing is so good, I decided to try a box wine the other night. Specifically the Trove Chardonnay. Cool box, $18 for 3 liters (or four bottles worth), and a cute name (get it treasure trove???). They even claim to be "premium wine in a box" on their website. I have one word for that--NOT. Maybe I have more words. Never (and I mean never) have I had a worse wine that this. I'm not sure what monkey poop tastes like, but it likely tastes better than the Trove Chardonnay. The color was golden, the nose was putrid, and the taste was unfathomable--as in how the heck do they ever get anybody to try this stuff twice??? My only hope (for the vineyard, that is), is that this wine was cooked, causing me so much derision and (dare I say) pain... I went to their website and filled out a product complaint form. I'll be interested to see what their response is. I'll be sure to follow up with this information.

However, I've decided to stick my chin out and go again at the boxed wine trials. I'll follow up in the next few days on my 2nd box o' wine.

UPDATE---Trove Wines Customer Service responded promptly and are sending me a refund for the full amount of the wine. So, crappy wine, stellar customer service.

3000 meter 1996 World Record

2007-04-07T12:01:00.001-07:00

Even if you are not a fan of people running in circles, this is a race to watch. 3000 meters (7.5 laps), with all laps sub 60. He takes the world record by 4.5 seconds. Unbelievable...

2007-04-03T19:12:00.001-07:00

Lebanon Hills Spring Inventory

Amazingly, I ran today. More specifically, due to the crappy weather, I ran through Lebanon Hills to avoid the wind. On the run, I took a spring inventory of the park. What I saw;

1) One tent in a non-tenting area with approximately 24 cans of beer strewn about. The nice park officer I later saw mumbled something about "damn spring break".
2) Four Wood Ducks. This is a relatively new thing for me at Lebanon Hills, and I am glad to see them. Yesterday, I saw four in different part of the park. That makes 8, which is 8 more than I've ever seen at Lebanon.
3) Roughly 20 Coots--or some other similar bird.
4) 6 pairs (at least) of mated Mallards
5) 2 Beavers (one swimming and one slapping)
6) One Red Bellied Woodpecker (I think, he/she was moving fast)
7) Quite a few deer tracks, but no deer.
8) A very large number of small birds, largely chickadees, nuthatches, finches, and other small woodland birds. They kept me company on the run.
9) The furry remains of one very dead rabbit. All that was left was the tail and what looked to be a wishbone. The tail must not be very tasty.
10) Most impressively, 2 Trumpeter Swans. This is decidedly a first for me. Never before have a I seen these beauties and definitely never at Lebanon Hills. Freakin' Awesome!

So, in roughly 12 miles of running, I saw a lot of wildlife. I feel very lucky to live within 5 minutes of such a great park.

2007-04-01T18:19:00.000-07:00

Minnehaha Blogarooni

My friend Nathan, finally joined the Blogsphere, with his blog Minnehahablog. He waxes poetically about Minnehaha Falls, mentioned by Longfellow in his famous poem, "The Song of Hiawatha". While Nathan is no Longfellow, he does write well and is one smart and insightful gent. Enjoy his blog.

2007-04-01T17:47:00.000-07:00

Wicked Dance Finales
It is raining here again in Minneapolis, so what better thing is there to do than sit around and watch movies? I've had Napoleon Dynamite on my Free-vo for quite some time, so I finally got around to watching it for the second time (first time was via Netflix, not TV). In the meantime, I've forgotten most of the movie. I really loved it this time around, especially the dance finale. I'm not sure if this was the beginning of a trend, but Little Miss Sunshine seems to have followed the same formula-- Oddly depressing movie followed by a wicked dance finale. Are there other movies that have wicked dance finales? Can I talk my friend Mike into compiling such a list?

1) Napoleon Dynamite
2) Little Miss Sunshine

2007-03-25T15:34:00.000-07:00

Spring has Sprung (Again!)

Amazingly, I saw another sign of spring today. Okay, not so amazingly, considering the weather (70F and sunny). In a previous post, I stated that the first sign of spring was all of the old jocks out trying to lose their middle aged swell. I declare that only a weak of sign of spring and not the official sign of spring. For me, the official sign of spring is nearly always found during a run through Lebanon Hills. The sign? Frogs! We're talking a chorus of frogs. Specifically a chorus of "Chorus Frogs" (pictured at right). It is always a encouraging to hear their call throughout the forest and know that they have officially put their stamp on spring. They are not out in full force in the thick of the woods yet, but I'm guessing that my mid-week, the whole forest will erupt in a chorus of clicking sounds. I can't wait to hear the symphony.

2007-03-22T19:59:00.000-07:00

Matt's Equinox Dinner

My first blog that I ever wrote came on the heels of our quarterly "meeting" at Matt's Bar. That was 2 seasons ago, as we just had our Spring Equinox dinner yesterday evening. This has truly turned into one of my favorite events of the year--which is great, considering it happens 4x per year. I'm not sure if there are many things better in the world than a Jucy Lucy, Fries, Summit on Tap, and a group of friends to share it with.

2007-03-15T19:09:00.000-07:00

Why the time between blogs?

I stopped blogging last month after Anne and I went to Mike and Em's house. We were sitting around drinking a few brewski's before heading out for dinner, and we stumbled on conversation something fierce. Em was saying "So I was heading to the bus...err, you read it about that in my blog." Next, I was saying, "Did you see the Prince 1/2 time show? Err, you read about my thoughts about this on my blog." Based on this, I knew it was time to slow up my blogging. Hence the month off.

I learned a lesson--don't blog everything. Save some cool stuff for conversations. Conversation is waasy cooler than blogging, although blogging is waaay cool too.

2007-03-14T18:56:00.000-07:00

First Day of Spring?

Yesterday, at least to me, was the first day of Spring. Why? All of the former high school athletes who now weigh 50 lbs more than they did when they were 18 years of age were out for a run. What I find funny about this is that they still wear the same workout clothes they did in High School. We're talking cotton shorts, a (now) way too small T-Shirt stretched across their guts and cross trainers (or maybe even a pair of high tops). It is a nice look that I'm sure many of you have witnessed.

The question is--what is the sign of Spring for you? And if you cop out and say a Robin, it is time to rethink your thinking...

2007-02-04T17:44:00.000-08:00

Prince's Performance

I was seriously hoping to see a wardrobe malfunction tonight. Alas, I leftthe half time performance disappointed. If someone as Masculine (androgynous perhaps?) as Prince had shown some nipple, would there have been an outrage? If he had taken the time to put a star shaped pasty on his nipple, what would we have talked about at the water cooler?

Instead, we had a staid, but good, performance and a subtle wish (Purple Reign (sic)) for the Vikings to win a Super Bowl... He did however, get quite phallic with his guitar--bravo Prince, for being imaginative, bravo. If Janet had gotten that phallic, what would the FCC have done? Shut down the station? No worries about FCC fines for CBS, I guess.

2007-01-29T18:45:00.000-08:00

State Fair Catch-Up

I've been meaning to post this picture since I had Anne take it while driving home (from the State Fair, I believe). How cool is this vehicle? I know that it isn't as cool as the wiener-mobile, but it is pretty darn cool... And wouldn't driving this vehicle around be a great job? On the other hand, I wasn't sure how to spell wiener, so I consulted Ed's favorite dictionary website, the urban dictionary for consultation. Here is what it said...

And here is another picture that we took at the State Fair, specifically for our friend Pancho (or is it Poncho?). Pancho's (Poncho's) owner Mike, Em, Anne, and myself actually had a discussion on how Pancho (Poncho) should be spelling his name. I guess the answer was in front of us all the time. Silly dog, not knowing how to spell his name and everything.

2007-01-27T14:27:00.000-08:00

Houston, WTHDABLT?

For those of you not familiar with my use of Acronyms, WTHDABLT stands for Why The Heck Does Anybody Live There. It is amazing when you go to a town several times per year and no matter how hard you try, you have a tough time finding any redeeming qualities. The town literally sucks. Okay, make that figuratively. None the less, it really sucks. Reasons to hate Houston;

W's Family Lives there
Kenneth Lay's Family Lives there
No cohesive zoning strategies (there is a rather large adult bookstore right next to the Galleria)
No good radio stations (unless you like Latino, Hip Hop, or Country)
Bums at every freeway exit (even in the best part of town)
No sidewalks throughout most of the town (try running in Houston)
The one "good" park has only 2.9 miles of running trails. This is considered awesome in Houston.
Oh yeah, they only have one "good" park
More big cars per square foot than you can shake a stick at
Sprawly Sprawly Sprawl Sprawl. Houston is 600 square miles in size. Greater Houston is 10062 square miles in size. And all of it is ugly.

2007-01-26T10:54:00.000-08:00

Extra, Extra, Read all about her...

My wife has bravely ventured into the blogging world. She named her blog tvsnacks and I've now added her to my "blogs I read" section. You go girl!

2007-01-17T18:21:00.000-08:00

Poppies will make him sleepy....

Thank you Slate for bringing us this picture and the accompanying article. Nothing like seeing the military tromping through fields of flowers dreaming of visiting an opium den somewhere other than Afghanistan. Not only that, they argue for legalizing opium. That means that the dude in the picture could visit an opium den in his home town instead of getting drunk on Lone Star (or whatever his poison is)...

2007-01-17T18:09:00.000-08:00

Weather Underground

One of my favorite websites is Wunderground.com . It is undoubtedly the best weather site on the web that I've found (Noaa.gov is good too). What I'm here to tell you is that for free, you can get the ad-free version of the website, compliments of yours truly. Just click on the $10 for no-ads, and enter in the code N4Z4N when you get to the pay page. It adds tons of Paul Douglas like capabilities (e.g. zooming on the radar map), and there are no ads. This is some good stuff.

On the other hand, the other Weather Underground were not so cool. Well, cool in a 60's terrorist Black Panther kind of cool, but not really.

2007-01-11T19:24:00.000-08:00

Vita.MN

I ran across the website (linked on the side) Vita.MN --which looks to be a subsidiary of the Strib. I'm pretty impressed. Rants about overrated restaurants, the stiffest drinks in the city, and heck, a mention about a friend of a friend, Zander Cannon (mind you it was in an article about a nerd map of the cities)

What a website! (I'll even forgive the adds)

2007-01-10T19:05:00.000-08:00

Tanner Dog

Last summer, we lost one of our two dogs. It was one of the most devastating days of my life having to say good bye to the best companion you could ever imagine. Tonight Anne and I were out jogging and came across another runner who was running with her dog. It reminded me of running with Tanner. I became nostaglic and ended up looking for pictures of him. I pulled a few of the best...

Sorry for my little round of nostalgia--but I miss my Dog.

2007-01-03T18:28:00.000-08:00

Mexico, Oh Mexico

Last month, I took one of the best trips of my life. I've traveled quite a bit, so saying this really means it. It honestly was one of the best trips of my life. We stayed at a resort called Hotelito Desconocido and lived the good life. No phones, no TVs, and hardly any electricity for that matter. Just Beach, Sun and Amazing Food.

My favorite thing to do the entire trip was to release baby turtles at sunset. The resort lies on a turtle sanctuary and has a staff biologist who cultivates eggs shortly after they've been laid and hatches them in holding pen. Then, once they've hatched, he digs them up, puts them in a big bucket and lets the guests of the hotel release them into the sea. 3 out of 4 nights, we released more than 150 turtles. Simply Amazing! So, here I am, lining the turtles up to go into the sea and watching the turtles begin their slow and scary walk into the big surf (and it was some big big surf on this beach). Next, a wave came in and wave caught me by surprise--it obviously caught the little fellas by surprise too, as they washed back up on to the beach some 20 yards down and 3 yards up the beach as compared to where they started. We made sure they all made it into the sea, then went about our business of drinking and eating. The little fellas (and they were little), had a full night ahead of them, swimming into the sea and trying not to become dinner for some big fish. Sadly, we were told that only 1 in 1000 of these guys would make it back to the beach. Thanks,Anne for capturing this awesome sequence. You are a better action photographer than I could ever hope to be.

If you ever get a chance, visit this place and experience what it is like to vacation. I'll most certainly be back.

2007-01-01T14:33:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year!

I recently heard somebody call January 1st "National Hangover Day". I like it and think that we should formalize it somehow--I'll be writing my Senator tomorrow. It certainly is a good day to sit on the couch, particularly if you like Parades and College Football. Even if you don't like either of these, they both are great as background noise as you sit and work that hangover off.

Speaking of hangovers--What's your cure? 1 glass of water per drink is the standard way to not get the hangover, but what do you do to get rid of one? Anne prefers Coca Cola Classic. I always know how she feels if she is drinking one. Me? I've tried pretty much everything without success--the only thing that works is sleep & time. I'm looking for help here people. Not for today, since I finally slept enough that my hangover is gone. But next time...

2006-12-07T18:22:00.000-08:00

Letsrun.com--does it get any better?

I hate to admit it, but I am a closet letsrun.com junkie. It is one of those websites that you don't really enjoy, but for some reason you go back every day or maybe even multiple times per day. The message board is the place to witness real runners interact with teenage malcontents with just some plain old wierdos. However, occasionally there are some great posts. What got me to write about this tonight was a thread started by one of the best runners we have here in Minneapolis (Pat Russell)... It starts something like this (and can be found here )

I recently witnessed an aquaintance attempt to eat the entire Dollar-Menu at McDonalds in under 10 minutes. He did it, but it looked painful towards the end. How do you think you would do?

1 Double Cheesburger
1 McChicken Sandwich
1 French Fries (~ size medium)
1 Medium Soft Drink
1 Snack size Fruit and Yogurt Parfait
1 Hot Fudge Sundae
2 Hot Apple Pies
1 Side Salad (w/ dressing)

I will be running 22 miles Saturday morning and make an attempt to do it in 9 minutes (1 min/item).

Then, there are pages and pages of people commenting. Honestly, does it get any better? Tell me why I can't stop reading this (crap)???

Sesame Streets

2006-12-06T16:48:00.001-08:00

A must see. I'm guessing Bert or Ernie gets a best supporting actor nod.

2006-12-06T16:20:00.000-08:00

Not my job award...I realize that you might have seen this before, but my bosses bosses boss sent this to the group today and it made me laugh. Was this idiot in that big of hurry to get to the Krispy Kreme? Was he asleep at the wheel(?) and this was a pure reaction? Was this the same guy who misspelled school in that other photo or was he seriously that lazy? Notice I call the person who called this a He and not a She. Sorry ladies, there is just no way one of you would have done this.

2006-12-05T18:23:00.000-08:00

The most exciting piece of news in the world yesterday was the announcement of the Insight.com Bowl pairing of the Minnesota Golden Gophers versus the Texas Tech Red Raiders. Imagine the excitement of both the Twin Cities and Lubbock at the news.

The only reason I write about this is the fact that my friend Mike N. is (inexplicably) a Texas Tech fan. His degree says Minnesota, but for some reason, he prefers a team from West Texas over his hometown. I mean, the best thing about Lubbock is seeing it in your rearview mirror... Anyway, beers and food are on the line when the Mighty Red Raiders take on the Golden Gophers...

Enough about the game--lets talk mascots. Have you seen the alternate Red Raider Mascot? If not, here is a picture of him. Does he not look a little like Zorro the gay blade? I mean, the Gophers are a rodent and all--but Zorro as your mascot? C'mon. One more mascot picture because I think it is so cool and it is from the only time the Golden Gophers were good at football (think 1930-1950). How can you not like a picture of Alvin spiking a football? I'm guessing he caught a bomb from Dave (or maybe one of the other chipmunks...

2006-12-03T16:48:00.000-08:00

Today was a Sunday, which meant that I woke up, brewed some coffee and read the Star Tribune. One story in particular stood out for me. You can find the article here but I'll save you the time and summarize it for you. Roughly 800,000 to 1,000,000 people supporting Hezbollah drove (or rode) to Beirut and protested the government. I'm not going to get into regional politics, but I am going to expound on this here. Here is a picture of the protest...

In college, I went to Lallapalozah with roughly 15,000 people when Ministry started up "Jesus Built My Hotrod". I thought I was going to die due to the movement of the crowd. Can you imagine a 1,000,000 person moshpit?

Another time, I was at a Wild Game with roughly 15,000 people in downtown St. Paul and it took me 30 minutes to get out of the parking ramp. I thought I was going to have to kill somebody. In fact, I got out of the car and started directing traffic in order to speed things up. Can you imagine going to a rally with 1,000,000 people? How long would it take you to get out of the local parking ramp? 1,000,000/15,000*30 minutes is one freakin' long time. I would kill somebody and I don't even end my celebrations with AK-47 shots! How could this ever end peacefully? I have a newfound respect for the Lebanese if it did. Of course, I am American and I tire easily of war. 4 years? Enough! The people in the middle east are fighting a war that has lasted 500 times that long. Can you even imagine???

2006-11-30T18:48:00.000-08:00

I was out for a run tonight (surprise, surprise) and I began to feel sad. I was running on a fairly busy street at around 6 pm and I couldn't believe how many cars were on the road. Were all these people just getting home from work? Were all these people just driving around? All I know is that a ton of gasoline was getting burned by people driving around at 6 pm. I then imagined that all of these folks went home and ate Kentucky Fried Chicken and they all had chubby cheeks and chubby butts to match. I then started to giggle, just because the name Chubby Butts sounds so close to a '50's rocker...

Then I went to the gym. Mega Chubby Butts. Everywhere. And a guy wearing a shirt with holes in the back. I'm ok with the chubby butts. At least these people are working on it. But the guy wearing a shirt with multiple holes? Even worse, this is the second dork I've seen in the same predicament. Freakin' ridiculous. I have something like 1000 T-shirts. Maybe I'll bring them to the gym and hand them out to these folks.

Obviously, my mind was working overtime due to the very cold weather tonight (13 degrees F at the start of my run). Both of these things happen quite a bit in Minnesota. Cold weather and minds working overtime. I think that maybe Atmosphere has a song about that.

2006-10-05T18:16:00.000-07:00

I went out for both lunch and dinner last night. I felt like a true bachelor, which I'm sort of this week, as my wife is out of town on business. Both lunch and dinner were great for different reasons.

Lunch was at Panera, but this isn't the story. On the way back from the restaurant, there was a flock of Pelicans flying overhead. This is really freakin' cool, as I see them very few times a year, mostly in Florida. Seeing them in Minnesota when it is only 52 F outside just seems wrong. But, Fall and the migration of the Pelicans brings this pleasure...

Dinner was at Matt's. This seems to be a recurring theme of this Blog. Maybe I should rename this blog to "I ate at Matt's tonight, here's my notes." I met Mike (see his blog hurtin' jackalope) and his lovely wife Emily. I learned a good number of things about Mike and Em and some lovely ways to woo my wife in the future--like writing I love Anne on the hamburgers with ketchup. Or, if you are imature, you could possibly draw men's genitalia on the hamburger with ketchup. NOT my idea. Mike?

So, you see how much fun dinner can be? Matt's forever...

2006-09-23T18:42:00.000-07:00

All Four Seasons? WTF? Yes, All Four Seasons. This is my blog name because out of everything Minnesota has to offer, a true 4 seasons is what I love best. So...

This past Thursday, we had our 4th annual turning of the seasons celebration at Matt's Bar and Grill. Of course, we (being the Chris, Tyler, Anne and I) had Juicy Lucy's (sp?) as there is no better way to celebrate the fall equinox than with 1/3 lb of burger and some molten cheese. What the heck were you doing to celebrate the equinox?

In looking forward to the next celebration; anyone reading this is welcome to join us at Matt's on December 21st at 6:30 pm to celebrate the turning of Fall into Winter, the turning of darkness into light, the shortest amount of daylight you will witness for another year, the Winter Solstice. You get the picture.

Here's looking to a beautiful fall.