The SoCalCross scene was mentioned in the Glendale News today. Right on! I got smoked in my race but that’s all right. I had too much turkey and too many liquids of the wrong kind during and after Thanksgiving to manage any resemblance of bike racing speed.
The American Music Awards were weak. Jimmy Kimmel was ok, he slammed a few people that were in the audience, but overall the performances were lackluster and the vibe was not there. Time for bed.
BTW – Comment spammers pay attention. I don’t approve any comment spam so why even try?
burnt paper plate
Originally uploaded by Deep Orbit.
I put a potato in the microwave at work. The paper plate I put it on didn’t enjoy the heat!!!!
I was reading a good post on one of my former co-workers blogs and it got to me. He points out several key matters that I think will go down in history as shining examples of how the GOP has tarnished their image. Another post he made really breaks it down in a point by point manner.
All of this got me thinking. GW is now saying he wants bipartisan cooperation on the issues. What? Remember when he nominated John Bolton to be ambassador to the UN? The dems blocked the vote on that one to prevent the nomination. GW went ahead and appointed him to the post anyway during a congressional recess. What?
George Deutsch was annoited by GW to the press office of NASA. This site has a good summary of how the Administration is plying the religion card to scientists at the highest level. It really makes me wonder just what goes on in that little brain…
Let’s set a scenario here and ponder the possibilities. Say for example you are going to start a prestigous university that you want to be the best of the best. You need a leader. So you look through the ranks and try to find someone that can do the job and stand up for what the school should believe in. A stack of resumes pours in, people call you and make recommendations. A few rise to the top so you take a closer look. The first one you scan over shows a GPA from Yale of 2.35. Hmmm, C average at Yale, let’s see what else he has done. He has a criminal background that is cause for concern, DUI, disorderly conduct. Let’s put this one aside for now. Now here is a good one. The next candidate was a Rhodes Scholar and a graduate from Yale. This is really interesting. I have someone with exceptional education and a mediocre student with a criminal history. Now, who should I choose to lead my school……..
The point is this. Do you want to go with the educated scholar or the petty criminal? The USA picked the scholar in 1992 for president and picked the criminal for president in 2000. So the GOP could only produce a criminal for their presidential candidate for the 2000 election. The Dems produced Al Gore. We all know what happened with that election and the next debacle in 2004. What is GW’s legacy? Divisive politics and a “my way or the highway” mentality which has demolished foreign policy, costs thousands of lives in Iraq, and blown the largest surplus in history. Now the people have spoken and voted. The time for a change in leadership was in 2000, but not the kind of change that happened. Would it have been a major problem for GW to look at his position as the president and say to himself “let’s do what is right.” But he said instead something like “hey I am the boss now, let’s do something different.” It will take years, if not generations, for the USA to rise to the top in the world’s eyes. We are hated for many things now and most of them point to the White House. Take a look around you, everything you see could be gone in the blink of an eye. It happened in NY and it could happen anywhere. But, if the Dems can repair the damage and make friends, negotiate, and urge good will, them maybe, just maybe, we can get back to the good old days of not having to worry about a terrorist showing up on US soil and taking out Americans.
Think about it.
Read this and watch the video at the end. It may change your outlook on many things in your life.
Rumsfeld is stepping down. Great news. He might as well quit now before his ass gets handed to him!!! Isn’t the democratic process wonderful?
How about Denmark speeders??
Now that is appears that the Dems are going to win the House I wonder how many Republican lawsuits will spring up. That seems to be their credo in California. Everyone votes, the majority rules, then the Republicans sue when they lose. Remember the past?
This is a good one!!! Check out this SoCal front yard. That is a great idea. Now I am thinking, what can I do next year for Halloween to blow some people away?
On this past Sunday the Prestige Series made it’s way to San Buenaventura State Park in beautiful Ventura, CA. for the 4th round of the So Cal cyclocross series. It was an awesome day. Temps in the high 70’s and the course was at the beach. Definitely a sweet day. The course was mostly grass, not your front lawn grass, but some tough short crab grass that had a very bumpy layer of sand/dirt as the base. To say this course was bumpy would be the understatement of the year. I am not griping that I couldn’t hang, it was the same for everyone, I just struggled to find a good rhythm. A couple things worked against me which were completely my doing. First off, my great neighbors had a party and the woman of the house made a very nice traditional Bavarian dinner. I followed up the dinner with a 6er of Heineken while bullshitting with her husband and another neighbor. It was a great night but not the way to prep for a race. Anyway, the next fubar was to leave late. We got on the road at 10:30 am for the drive. It is about 88 miles so I figured we could do it in an hour and half tops. Once we left the house we went straight to the local Von’s for some bottled water and cash for the race. Then a gas stop. Once we got on the freeway it was almost 11:00. I mashed it pretty good all the way to Ventura and got to the event site at 12:26 pm. Once there we all had to hit the head. That took a few minutes but it wasn’t too bad considering my kids were going as fast as possible. I got signed up and then I heard the announcer say that the Men’s 4 race would start in 15 minutes! Say what?!?! Since when has a bicycle race been on time? This was not good. The races always run at least 15 to 20 minutes behind schedule. I got my gear on and made it to the course for the warm up lap. I usually need about 20 minutes to get properly hot and ready. No point in being a whiner so I did what I had to do in the time I had and made it to the line when we were called up. The start was a little slow for a cross race and I ended up getting shuffled back a bit more than I would have wanted. The first turn was a wide fast right hander followed by a sharp left hand U-turn that stretched the field out immediately. I stayed in about 7th or 8th for a while and then the bumps started eating me alive. I tried a big gear, not very comfortable, so I tried to spin, not even good. By this time the first lap was half over and I was not liking the course. There were 2 paved sections that allowed for a slight recovery from the constant pounding of the bumpy grass. Into the 3 lap I had gotten passed by a few guys and I felt my kidneys starting to hurt from the jarring of the course. Whenever I could I would hover above the seat and try to keep the pedals moving. I stayed focused through the barriers and actually passed 2 people. By then I was just maintaining 13th position. I kept my head in the race and tried to catch the guy in front of me. I got close but he turned it on when he felt my presence and I couldn’t catch him. So, I ended up 13th out of 15 on the scoreboard. I think there were more, we’ll see when the official results are posted. What can I say? Flat bumpy courses don’t suit my style which is fast steady pace with a big sprint at the end. But that is criterium racing!!! Next year I will be back on the road. Cross racing is purely for the sick dogs that can hammer and excelerate repeatedly. That’s not me. Anyone got a cold one?