***Post Deleted***

I have come to realize that the post I had up yesterday was inappropriate, and was me spouting off on subjects that I truly had no business spouting off about; in consequence of which, I ended up hurting two people I truly love, and for that I am truly sorry.

As for the other two… the two that yesterday’s post was really aimed at… *Sigh* you're not worth my time and wouldn't listen anyway.

Olympic Oval

Ya know, I’m kind of lucky about where I live.


Last night was freaking cold; with a wind coming in from the south west that was even colder. So, after dinner I stood looking at my training schedule, knowing that come Hell or high water I had to put down 4 miles last night, I was starting to despair just a little bit. I just can’t do cold.

Here’s where I’m lucky. Just 2 miles down the hill from my humble home is the Olympic Oval. Built for the 2002 winter games, it is the home of (what has been billed as) the fastest ice sheet on the planet for long distance speed skating, a short track, a sheet of ice for hockey, and for curling, as well as a 446 meter running track. It is a little chilly in there (somewhere between 55f and 60f) but compared to the freezing temps and wind chill of the streets, I can put up with the chill and the monotonous round and round… and round of the track.

When I hit the track last night, it was pretty busy, as it seems to be on cold winter nights. I turned on my wife’s iPod shuffle, since my old iPod mini is having battery problems, did my lap warm up walk, and then started the clock… or would have had I remembered to put on my watch before leaving home. Disgusted with my forgetfulness, I looked up at the digital clock and waited for it to turn to 7:24pm before heel striking my first lap around the track. For some reason there are nights that I just can’t get a rhythm; it takes a mile or more for me to find a good pace and a smooth rhythm.

The track is 446 meters long, so I figure that 4 laps works out to be just a touch over 1.1 miles, (but I was an English Major in college, so I’m probably wrong) so when I clicked off my 16th (mind numbing) lap I figured that 4.4 miles was good enough. Also, at just after 8:00pm, the speed skaters had finished their workout, a workout that makes my knees ache to watch, by the way, and the more serious runners start taking to the track… you can only be lapped so many times before you start to get a complex.

At about the 200 meter mark there is a sign sticking out from the wall next to a large garage door which reads “Runners Must Yield to Zamboni.” Which I’ve always thought was kind of funny. Thanks to whoever took that picture for me.

I often wonder about the people who were against Utah having the Olympic Games. They were so wonderful and so eye opening for me and my children and the venues continue to provide fun and the “Olympic spirit” to the community. Plus… on cold winter nights, the oval gives me a great place to run.

Ragnar Wasatch Back training has begun… Slowly, oh, so slowly.
This will be my 3^rd Ragnar relay and my second Wasatch Back, so I’m aware of the challenges, but it just feels like I’m progressing slower than I have in the past.
There was a time when running was just second nature, I’d hit the road every other night, after we put the kids to bed, and I’d lay down 5 miles with a 10.5 minute mile pace no problem. Then last winter, I took a spill on the ice, spraining my ankle. The 6 week rest I took, turned into 8 months. I got out of the routine of running and never really got back to it. So now, I’m training again. I’m stuck at an 11.25 minute mile and I just can’t make my 43 year old body go any faster. I’m afraid to push much harder because I can feel the beginnings of shin splints coming on. I’ve been down the shin splints road, and don’t ever want to be there again, so my training has backed off a bit, and the ice packs are a constant presence in the freezer.
I’m only in the first few weeks of a 20 week training schedule, so I have a long way to go, and I nave no doubt that I’ll be ready for the race come June.
So far it’s been a mild winter and the roads have been dry, and running hasn’t been a big problem for me, but it snowed last night, the first really good snow storm of the year, which means wet roads and ice. Yikes!

Science vs. Religion... Again.

"Science without religion is lame. Religion without science is blind." -Albert Einstein

I've just had a thought going through my head today. 

Why do the religious among us disregard scientific findings, unless it supports their beliefs?  And, on the other hand, why do the scientific minded among us, disregard religion and God entirely?  I believe that it is through science that God shows us his most beautiful creations.

That's... just what's on my mind today.

Zombie Love

Something has been on my mind, and I think I just found the answer. Why are Zombies so dang popular right now? Unlike the other undead “monsters” of past fads, zombies can’t be turned into some teen love interest… or can they? Vampires have always had this erotic thing going for them, but it was Joss Whedon and Anne Rice (in my opinion) who humanized them, and it was Stephenie Meyer who made them pathetic. I’ll get back to that. As for werewolves, I guess that they could be a love interest… as long as the moon isn’t full. I mean Oz, in the Buffy Series was a pretty terrible monster on a full moon, but that didn’t stop him from dating Willow. But Stephenie Meyer turned the werewolf into a cuddly puppy that you could curl up with by the fire.

So yes, I’m blaming the latest undead fad, the zombie, on Stephenie Meyer, because she and her “Twihard” army have pushed the public into a place where they are wishing, hoping, and praying for a zombie apocalypse. The public has had their fill of pathetic movie monsters and have latched onto a creature so terrible that there is literally no way that Stephenie Meyer or her imitators could possibly turn them into a teen love interest… Although… I wouldn’t be surprised if somewhere deep on the SM hard drive, one would find… wait for it:

The story of a goth girl in Flint, Michigan, who, being misunderstood and unliked by anyone in her school, falls in love with the rotting, yet walking, corpse of her formerly living boyfriend, Chuck. She longs to be with him, to have him eat her brain so that she can rot for eternity by his side. And yet, she is torn between her love for Chuck, and the Flesh Gollum created by the science geek down the street.

 … oh, man… I think I just threw up in my mouth.

Hunger Games Fan Film

A few months ago I checked out "The Hunger Games" at the urging of my wife.  Two Words... "Loved It!"

So now I'm reading the second book.

A day or so ago, I found a little fan film by a local production company "Mainstay Productions."  Let me just say... Bravo!



And if you happen to be associated with Mainstay, and happen to be reading this... I'm a makeup artist, and would like to talk to you... (shameless plug)

No Nuclear Power in Utah!

In case you didn’t know, I live in Utah. I love this state; its diversity in terrain, wild life, beauty, and natural wonders leave me in awe any time I venture out into the wild parts of the state.

Recently our governor, Gary Herbert, has proposed that a nuclear power plant be built in near Green River, Utah in the south eastern part of the state. At first, I was all for it, but then something started troubling me.

Now, before you start spouting off about how clean and safe nuclear power is, because I know all that. Here’s where I’m troubled… cost and water. Nuclear power is tremendously expensive. This power plant is going to cost the state, what, a couple of Billion dollars? And it won’t be on line for a decade or more? What good is that? Our energy problems are starting to happen now. What will they be like in 2020 when the new reactor is finally, maybe, going to come on line?

And what about water? Water is life in the west, and nuclear power takes a tremendous amount of water, from what I’ve read. Water is needed for the steam that actually turns the turbines, water is needed to cool the steam back into water, and water is needed to regulate the reactor core temperatures so that the whole thing doesn’t go boom. Water! Yes, the reactor will be by the Green River, and “the Green” is a pretty big river, by western standards. But it is but a trickle compared to the mighty rivers they have back east where nuclear power works and is sustainable because of their enormous amounts of water. Those of us who grew up in the mountain west have no idea what a river can be. A few years ago my wife and I went back east to visit the town in New Jersey where she grew up. We landed in Philadelphia, rented a car and then drove over a bridge into New Jersey. While on the bridge, I looked out over this vast expanse of water and asked, ”what bay is this?” Where upon, my wife looked at me as if I were the biggest dolt in the world and answered, “It’s a river, the Deleware.” Oh, my gosh! I thought. In my experience, the mighty Colorado was big water, The Green River, the Snake River, The Weber River, those were big water where you can catch large trout and crossing on foot is impossible. So with that mindset, I never understood why it was such a big deal that Washington took his army across the Delaware. After seeing the incredible size of the Delaware, I finally understood.

So I ask you, again, from where is the water is going to come. The Green is just not big enough to sustain the water needs of a nuclear reactor. Farmers down in the south eastern corner of the state need the Green and the Colorado to water crops, and the towns down there need the water to sustain themselves. This year has been a great water year for the mountain west. Lots of snow fall last winter, and mild temperatures have filled our rivers, lakes, and reservoirs to overflowing. But are we forgetting the years past, when water levels fell so much that parts of Lake Powell could be hiked again? What would the reactor do for water in drought years? Ship it in from… where?

Do I have a better idea for the power needs of the state? Yes, I think I do.

Last June, my family took a trip to Oregon, and on our way, we drove along the Columbia River; also, a very mighty river by any standard. Along the way I noticed wind farms; gigantic wind turbines by the hundreds churning away on the wind that rushes up the gorge from the Pacific Ocean; cheep, clean, plentiful energy. And I thought, why can’t we do that in Utah. The west desert, from Delta in the south to Dugway in the north is one vast plain of nothing but sagebrush, sand, abandoned mine shafts, and wind, lots and lots of wind. There has not been a time in my memory that I have been out there that I have not been beaten raw by blowing dust. For the cost of the proposed Green River Reactor, and half the time, we could build the world’s largest wind farm, spanning thousands of acres, churning away in the desert wind on the state’s western border. Zero emissions, no spent fuel rods to store (or pay someone else to store), and the only water required would be by the workers who maintained the turbines.

I love the idea… but, I’m just one voice. And the “leaders” of the State and the Country, can’t hear a single voice.

Save the Books!

What are we becoming? If you have followed this blog at all, you probably know that I am not a fan of eBooks in any way shape or form, and that I believe that most (Yes, I said most, meaning not everyone, Mei Mei) readers of ebooks are transient literary voyeurs. Well… you can scan into the archives and read my ebook rants. So it is with much dismay that I pronounce the final nail in my coffin for ebook readers.
Booktracks. (www.booktracks.com)
According to their website:

“Booktrack represents a new chapter in the evolution of storytelling, and an industry "first" in publishing, by creating synchronized soundtracks for e-books that dramatically boost the reader's imagination and engagement. The company's proprietary technology combines music, sound effects and ambient sound, automatically paced to an individual's reading speed.”

That, in my never to be humble opinion, is the biggest pile of bull excrement I have ever read… and I’ve read some whoppers in my time.
Let us examine the phrase “boost the reader’s imagination.” Hummmmm… Ya... How? By taking the imagination of the reader away? When I read a book in which the author describes, say, the lapping of the waves against a boat’s hull, I have to access a part of my memory (sometimes referred to as the schema) in which I’ve stored all of the lapping waves sounds, and I use those sounds in my imagination to flesh out the scene. Therefore, the scene that I create in my mind is going to be vastly different than that of any other reader in the world. It’s different, even, than the scene visualized by the author when he (or she) wrote it. THAT, my friends, is using imagination. What Booktracks proposes to do is insert their own soundtrack to books, stunting the imagination of the reader.

Where does it end? Pictures? Video Clips? Isn’t that just TV?

If you have not ever read Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury shame on you! Now go out and buy a copy. Don’t borrow it from the library because you’re going to want to write comments in the margins. My copy is so annotated, that I can hardly read it anymore. Anyway, there's a part toward the middle of the book where the Fire Captain, Beatty, is explaining to Guy Montag how they got to where books were outlawed. The funny thing is, what the Captian describes is exactly where we’re headed. Read it and you’ll understand.

I don’t know what can be done about this. I’m concerned for the future. We’re already seeing a degradation of imagination, writing ability, and reading comprehension. I can’t tell you how often I get comments to my blog posts that are written in some kind of “textese,” which most of the time are so unreadable that I can’t post them to the comments area.

Kids don’t read, and so have no idea how to organize thoughts into coherent writing.

Can I blame this all on the nook? Obviously, no I can’t. But television, movies, video games, iPods, smartphones, all those distractions that quite literally suck the intelligence and imagination right out of your head, I can lay a little blame there. And now the distractors are going after books, by making them more interactive they are stealing the ability of readers to read and interpret a book according to their own set of experiences. Soon book clubs around the world will have nothing to discuss, because the book will be presented to them in a neat little package of sounds and colors, where all loose ends and plot twists are explained away rather than left to the reader’s imagination to fill in.

I don’t know about you, but I will continue to buy and collect books. The kind made from paper and ink. The kind that smell wonderful and that have bindings that crackle when opened. The kind that cannot be edited at the push of an unseen button, and the kind that will not have sound effects unsupplied by my mind.
An eBook reader of any kind will never be allowed to cross my threshold, and my home will be joyous in books until the day that the Firemen come to burn it all down.

Costumed Freaks!

In the past few months, I’ve joined a group of… well… self-proclaimed costumed freaks. The Society for Creative Anachronism is an “international organization dedicated to researching and recreating pre-17th century European history” (to quote the web site), but I’ve found it to be much more than that. It’s a group of people with very different interests, faiths, beliefs, skills, ages… we’re not just a bunch of geeks. There are, who I refer to as, the beautiful people mingling with the nerds… and everyone is good with that. Kids learn about what chivalry means, not just through reading about it, but by living it.
I know, were only using the romanticized version of history… true. I mean, my persona would have lived through the Black Death… and that’s ok.
Here’s what I think is neat. My heritage is mostly Celtic. I have ancestors who came from Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and England. A major weapon in the 13th and 14th centuries was the Welsh Longbow (sometimes called the English Longbow) and so, for some time, I’ve wanted to learn to shoot one. When my daughter expressed an interest in doing the same, I took the opportunity to find a group who could teach us. It just so happened to be the SCA.
Three weeks ago at Baron’s War, I was awarded my Ranger Tassel in Period Long Bow, which basically means that I’ve been able to score an average of 60 and above in a shoot we call the “Royal Rounds.” I’d say not bad for a guy who’s only been shooting since January. I was awarded my rank by His Royal Majesty King Morgan and Her Royal Majesty Queen Esabell of Artemisia, which, I must say… was surreal… in a good way.
I mean… how many people on this planet can say that they have taken a knee before a King and Queen who earned their titles through feats of arms, to be awarded a rank earned through skill and competition? Not many I’d say.
All of this doesn’t stop my younger sister from thinking that we’re “just weird.” Nor does it stop my younger brother from wondering why we can’t use “sites on our bows.” I don’t know, maybe I’m the normal one and everyone else is on the fringes. I can only dream.

Rate the Books!

In this world of ours, we put warning labels on everything. Ladders warn you that you might fall off of them, coffee cups warn that the hot coffee contained therein, may just be hot. Toasters warn you that making toast while taking a shower may not be a good idea, movies are given ratings, explicit music is marked as such, and video games carry labels that warn parents that they may not want their 8-year-old hacking away at evil hoards of the decaying undead.
So in this Big Brotherish society that we’ve build around us, why is it that my 11-year-old can walk into any Barnes & Noble and walk out with a copy of Looking for Mr. Goodbar?
Books can be as graphic about Sex as any of those “Special” password protected channels on cable. In fact, I think that a talented author can be even more graphic than any pornographic video because they can tell you what’s going on in the character’s head even as they describe what’s happening to their body!
So I pose the question again… why is there no rating system for books?
Before you start yelling at me, calling me a book burning fascist, or some such, let me make one thing crystal clear. I believe that everyone has the right to write whatever they feel. Any stray idea that goes through their head can be committed to paper and then disseminated to the reading public. I believe thoroughly in the first amendment, but that being said, I have the right to read whatever I wish, and what I don’t want to read is a bunch of profane crap that happens to make it onto the shelves of my local bookstore.
Many a time have I heard that a book was so deep and powerfully written that I rushed out to the book store, picked it up only to be so disgusted by the content that I’ve had to toss it into the trash so that it didn’t soil my bookshelves with its bitter disappointment and reminder of the $24.00 I paid the lazy hack who wrote it.
And to me, that’s what it really comes down to, how lazy was the author when he wrote it? Any no talent hack to write and describe a sex act in lurid detail. It takes a truly talented author to describe the act without telling the reader what went where. Authors who go into detail don’t trust the reader enough to be able to fill in the blanks… so to speak.
The same goes for profanity. I believe in a certain amount of honesty when it comes to characters. I mean, I don’t expect a drug dealer to call a cop a “Flippin’ doodle-wop” before putting a bullet through him. That’s not real, it’s not honest. But why would a 3rd person narrator ever drop the F-Bomb? That’s not real, that’s not honest, and that’s a lazy author who doesn’t think much of his readers.
One of the most brilliant uses of profanity I ever read contained no actual profanity. Not a single word, but it was the filthiest thing any character ever said in any book I’ve ever read. It was in a book by Dashiell Hammett. I can’t quote it right now, because I don’t have access to the book (or even remember which book it was) but it went something like this. “In my life I’ve known of only three truly profane words, and at that moment I used all of them.” Hammett trusted his readers enough to let them fill in the blanks, and since my mind is usually in the gutter, the three words I used could have been used in a Sundance film with no problems.
So what am I getting at? Is there any way that book publishers could put a little sticker with a small warning about explicit language or sexual content on the back cover by the UPC? I know that this wouldn’t be a fix all. But when standing among the books, debating on which author is going to get my $20.00, I’d really like to know that one of them at least has the possibility of being read by me over one that may have some questionable content and just end up in the trash.

Elizabeth Taylor

One of the last of Hollywood’s golden age has died.
A fine actress and a true beauty. She will be missed.

Vader Commercial

I don't watch the Super Bowl for the football... after all, I am a geek.
That being said, Here is the best commercial of 2011

Merry Freaking Christmas Everyone

Ho-Ho-Hooooo!

Aron Ralston... Dumb Kind of Hero.

I just want to take a little time to thank Aron Ralston for being the best kind of idiot, and for keeping his name in the spotlight so that I can use him as an object lesson... Let me explain.

You see, I’m a Scoutmaster, and every year, just as spring is getting into full bloom, I teach my boys about Leave No Trace and about the rules to safe hiking. Prior to Aron Ralston I really didn’t have a good example of why these rules are important.

In case you don’t know, the first principle of Leave no Trace is to Plan and Prepare. Where are you going? What’s the weather going to be like? What’s the terrain like? What are the hazards? Do you need a permit? Does anyone know where you’re going? Food? Water? Jacket?
All of these questions raised by the very first principle of Leave No Trace tie into the rules to safe hiking.

1. Plan where you are going. (Break out a $4.00 topo map and plan your trip)
2. Tell someone where you are going, and when you are planning on being back. (ie. “We’ll be taking this trail into this basin. Don’t plan on us being back until Sunday afternoon.”)
3. Dress and pack for conditions.
4. NEVER hike alone. (Hey Aron… ever hear of the buddy system?)
5. Be prepared. (did you pack everything you need… Like a buddy?)

Now I will not tell you that I have never solo hiked… because I have. When I was a teenager and an Idiot! Fortunately, I grew up and finally realized that what I was doing was foolish and stupid. I thank the good Lord above for the fact that nothing really bad ever happened to me while I was alone in the wilderness long before cell phones.

People... Aron Ralston is no hero for cutting off his arm, and leaving a good deal of his DNA all over the desert of South Eastern Utah. I believe that he broke at least 3 of the Leave No Trace principles right there… but I digress. If he were following the priciples of Leave No Trace, he would have had someone with him and, thus... still have 10 pretty fingers.
He’s not a hero, he’s no one to look up to. He’s the poster boy for everything that you don’t do in the wilderness.
I can only hope that he has learned a healthy respect for the land, because as people seem to find out from time to time, if you don’t respect the wilderness, the wilderness will scrape you off it’s boot, and good riddance to you.

What The... ?

IT'S AN AIRPLANE!
You people have got to be the dimest of dim bulbs. I sware!

I Just Have to Say...

Something has been on my mind, and I just have to get it out, even though I may me ridiculed, or pronounced a bigot, or even cause hurt to some people that I deeply care for.

Please let me begin with this… I am a Latter-day Saint, a Mormon, a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I attend Church every Sunday; I’m a Sunday school teacher, a Scout-Master, a holder of the priesthood, my wife and I were married for time and all eternity in the Jordan River Temple, and we attend the Temple as often as we can, our goal is to attend at least once every month. And every six months during General Conference I raise my arm to the square to sustain the first presidency and quorum of the twelve apostles as prophets, seers, and revelators, and I would not do that if I did not believe that they were just that.

Now that I have that out of the way…

Much ado has been made out of Boyd K. Packer’s talk at the last General Conference of the Church. This, to my way of thinking, really amounts to a tempest in a teacup, a giant load of falderal, as it were. And the greatest amount of noise seems to have been made by those who hate the church anyway, or by groups that want to change Church doctrine to suit their own wants and desires.

In case you don’t know, here’s what he said:
“Some suppose that they were pre-set and cannot overcome what they feel are inborn temptations toward the impure and unnatural. Not so! Remember, God is our Heavenly Father.”
So, big question, do I believe this? Yes. I don’t believe that same sex attraction is genetic.
A few years ago, while sitting in a paleoanthropology class at university, we were spending several weeks going over genetics, and the question was asked, “Is same sex attraction genetic?” My professor said that most likely it was not. And his reasoning was simple. (Now this was a long time ago, and so my understanding of his reasoning may have suffered, but in essence this is what he said) A gay person does not always produce a gay offspring, and so, the so called “Gay Gene” would be recessive, meaning that the gene requires the same gene from the other parent in order for it to be expressed. Let’s say that 10,000 years ago, same sex attraction was introduced into the gene pool by a point mutation, or some other right error in the RNA of several individuals. People who are same sex attracted don’t usually seek out partners of the opposite sex, thus producing offspring. Considering this fact alone, it would take only a few generations, 5 or 6 at the most, for the trait to die out completely.

And so, President Packer’s words were no great shock to me, because I already believed that the cause of same sex attraction was environmental.

The thing is folks, we’re here on this planet to make choices, and some of us have been given challenges to overcome, and God does not give us challenges that we cannot overcome. It may seem like a steep hill to climb, but as long as we’re moving forward, we’re moving in the right direction.

I could stop this entry here, but there is something very important that I have to say. I have people in my family who are LGBT. Several of them have spouses. And I love them all, and consider them to be members of my family. No, consider isn’t the right word. They are members of my family. My uncle has been with his partner for as long as I can remember, and it is impossible for me to imagine one without the other. I have a cousin in California who I consider to be the older sister I never had. Her wife is a tremendous person whom I love dearly. I hope that my words have not hurt them in any way.

You may be asking yourself… hey Murph… in your archives, you argue for Gay Marriage… Have you changed your mind? My answer is no. What I wrote in that post still stands. Civil marriage is an equality of rights matter. Personally, I am married to one very lovely lady, and she is my life. That’s how I believe it should be, within the boundaries that the Lord has set. But if you want to set your own boundaries on what two consenting adults can do, be my guest, I’m not going to stop you, and I’m not going to judge you and ask that you do the same for me.

The Big Bang Theory

I don’t know what it is about Christians, that they think that The Big Bang Theory disputes the existence of God. I look at the results of the Big Bang and think, “what divine poetry.” To me The Big Bang Theory is proof that there is a God in Heaven and that He loves us and all of His creations.
Doesn’t the Bible say that “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth?” Well, maybe the Big Bang was how He created those heavens. Ever think about that?

Remembering How it All Started

Years ago, when I first started doing stage makeup... well... lets back up.
Back in 1990, a friend of mine called me up and asked if I could give him a hand with a couple of rooms he had at the the Haunted Old Mill. He needed someone who could swing a hammer and I could. As time went on, and as we began to realize that we needed to populate these two rooms with scary monsters... and we had no idea how. So, we went to the library and checked out every book we could find on stage and fx makeup. Then we went to the only shop we knew of to get the stuff described in the books... the Costume Closet. There, I dropped about $200 on cream makeup, latex, blood... lots of blood. The makeup counter used to cover two walls and was terrific. I could buy liquid latex by the gallon... which I did. The people there, especially this one guy... I'm afraid that I can't remember his name... I'd describe what I wanted to do, and he'd tell me how to do it, and what I'd need.
When the Haunted Old Mill was condemned and shut down, all of my makeup supplies went into a toolbox and then into my closet. Occasionally the box would come out on Halloween for my kids, but for the most part it stayed in the closet slowly drying out and aging.
On the rare occasion that I needed new makeup, I would go to the Costume Closet and was distressed to see that the makeup counted, hardly had any makeup available and when they did have what I needed it was as old and dry as the stuff I had in my case anyway.
A couple of years ago, my daughters volunteered me to do the makeup for a musical our church was doing, and so I went back to the library and back to the Costume Closet. The Library worked, the Costume Closet didn't. I ended up buying all of my makeup at another place, and it lacked the magic that it once had.
Now I do about two theatrical productions a year, and am glad to say that the Costume Closet has been bought by a great couple of people who renamed the company to Mask Costume, and have brought the makeup counter (almost) back to it's former glory. And I thank them for that.

So I run the Ragnar Wasatch Back Relay in a week and a half.

Ask me if I'm ready... no really... Ask me.

This has been a strange training period for me. I started the year so high, running so well. Then the shin splints started up again and I was ready to give up. This was last March. I've since changed so things and am running strong again.

So If you find yourself along the race route be sure to chear on team "Complete Structural Failure."

Geek Pride Day?

You know…

Today is Geek/Nerd Pride Day, and I say… so what.

Anyone who has read my blog before knows that I don’t hold a lot of stock in what is “Geek Chic.” And if you don’t know what that is… turn on G4 television and watch “Attack of the Show” there you’ll see a bunch of beautiful people pretending to be Geeks because for some reason… geek is cool… but is it?

Look, geeks are the social outcasts. They’re the ones that got shoved into things (i.e. lockers, garbage cans, girls restrooms, etc.) while trudging through the public school system. We were the people who were the victims of the beautiful crowd, we were the ones who would say that we would rather read a book or play D&D than go to a party (as if we were ever invited to one), and many of us secretly wished we could go… in our heart of hearts. We wondered how we could get into the beautiful crowd and still feared what would happen if we ever did. And so, we surrounded ourselves with people who were like us. We filled our lives with SciFi, and Fantasy; with games so complicated we were sure that the beautiful people would throw a rod if they ever even picked up a Dungeon Master’s Guide. We hung out in comic book shops or gaming stores because most of the time, the people behind the counter were just like us… they could sing (badly) the theme to “Land of the Lost” for crying out loud.

Incidentally, do you know why most true geeks hate sports? I think that it’s because the same self-important bungholes that tormented us in high school play most sports.

Nowadays, Geek has become cool… and I’m not sure why. The beautiful people think that they can throw on a faux-hawk (no true geek would wear one of those by the way… we seem to be an all or nothing kind of people) and a tee-shirt sporting the number 42 and say that they are just “so geeky.”
I’m sorry my friends… shout your geekyness from the rooftops… but you will only be a pretender. Until you have been labeled, and tormented, and pushed from society… you will never be a Geek, only a poser.

So… false geeks everywhere… enjoy your day. Those of us, and we know who we are, who are the true geeks of the world, don’t need a day to show our pride… we show it daily.

A Love of Running

So I keep wondering… Why do I run? I’m reading a book, “Born to Run” by Christopher McDougall. It’s primarily about a tribe of runners in Mexico, The Tarahumara, who regularly run impromptu marathons of 300 miles, just for the love of running. But mostly it’s about US Ultra-marathoners who run organized races of 100 miles plus and why they run. Sometimes it’s to prove something to the world or to themselves. To battle the beast of fatigue or to test the limits of their own bodies.
One of my favorite quotes from the book:

“ …the real secret of the Tarahumara: they’d never forgotten what it felt like to love running. They remembered that funning was mankind’s first fine art, our original act of inspired creation. Way before we were scratching pictures on caves or beating rhythms on hollow trees, we were perfecting the art of combining our breath and mind and muscle into fluid self-propulsion over wild terrain. And when our ancestors finally did make their first cave paintings, what were the first designs? A downward slash, lightning bolts through the bottom and middle - behold the Running Man.
Distance running was revered because it was indispensable; it was the way we survived and thrived and spread across the planet. You ran to eat and to avoid being eaten; you ran to find a mate and impress her, and with her you ran off to start a new life together. You had to love running. Or you wouldn’t live to love anything else. And like everything else we love - everything we sentimentally call our “passions” and “desires” - it’s really an encoded ancestral necessity. We were born to run; we were born because we run. Were all Running People, as the Tarahumara have always known.” (pp. 92-93)

So why do I run? Is it really a desire locked in my DNA?
I started running as a teenager. I likes to go and run from my home to Eisenhower Junior High and back with my friend Scott. We had a great pace and rhythm, and even though I’ve always been an asthmatic, I’ve always been able to fight through it and run. Then life happened and I stopped running. A couple of years ago I started again and ran my first Ragnar Relay in Las Vegas last October. I had a blast and am looking forward to my first Wasatch Back Relay in June. But is the fun of the relay enough?
Even as I write this, with an ice pack wrapped around my leg for the shin splints that have always been a plague to me, I wonder, when will I find the love for running that the Tarahumara have? Or do I need to find my own inspiration?

Utah Ren Faire

This is what you come to see.
This ain't no Dinner Show, Baby!

Being to Hard on B&N?

Ok, so…
After being chewed, and rightly so, by a person whom I respect quite a lot, I feel that I need to set the record straight vis-à-vis my last post.
No, I don’t HATE Barnes & Noble, and not everyone who works for them are illiterate drones. I love Brick and Mortar book stores, and really do hope that they are able to survive the digital revolution… but…
I don’t think that the future is bright, and that makes me sad.

Now, that being said, let me explain just a little bit.

I am one of those people who would love to spend an entire day in a bookstore. I’m one of those annoying people who sit on the floor, in among the stacks, blocking the aisles to other shoppers while lovingly thumbing through book after book. It’s like a little vacation to me. And like vacations, I rarely have time for that sort of thing, and so when I go to a bookstore I’m on a mission for one or two particular titles.

I’m a list maker. Just ask my wife. My pockets are always full of book lists. Titles I’ve heard about on “All Things Considered” or read about in the Arts Section, or found out about on one of the many book related blogs I follow. Sometimes these lists make it on to my “to Read” list on Goodreads, but most of the time they end up in the top drawer of my night stand, or (horror of horrors) get put through the wash still in my pants pocket and are thus rubbed out forever. And so, generally, when I go to a bookstore I’m almost always armed with one of my many lists. Yesterday was one of those days. I went into the Sandy B&N with a list of 3 books. And they weren’t obscure or out of print books. Two of them I had heard about on “All Things Considered” on Monday. The third was one by Dashell Hammett (I’ve been going through a Pulp Fiction phase… I don’t know why.) While I am always on the lookout for a Chapman translation of Homer… I’m pretty sure that I’ll never find it at B&N, but these books were not in that category. And then to find out that two of them are never stocked… well, lets just chalk it up to having a bad week… and so my cork popped and I wrote a post critical of everything B&N and brick & mortar bookstores in general.

But while I’m on the subject… the vampire comment… ya gotta know that’s totally true. What was the first table I passed when I walked into B&N yesterday? Can ya guess? A table full of “Twilight” clones. Then there was a display of a book titled: “Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter.” My brain almost began shooting out great gouts of blood at that point. And then to top it off, I passed one other table full of “Twilight” clones when I neared the Fiction & Literature section. Not that they were the same clones I had passed at the door, they were a table of completely new clones. I went back and forth several times just to make sure. And so, my statement still stands, if you want to read about teen angst vampires… B&N is your place, and at least the management of the Sandy B&N are proud of that fact.
Now, granted… that’s what’s selling, and they have to stock what’s selling, but… come on!
Now that being said…
I think I’m starting to channel Tevia from “Fiddler on the Roof”
“On the other hand…”

Now that being said, I’m not implying that B&N has no intelligent literature on their shelves. I’m a big fan of their classics collection. They’re an inexpensive way to get some of the greats in literature. The B&N collection is way cheeper than the Modern Library, or Vintage editions of the same book.

My big complaint… and it is purely MY complaint is that nine times out of ten, I walk into B&N and I walk out with either no book, because they didn’t have any of the books on my list that day, or I walk out with some other book that wasn’t on my list that may or may not have been close to what I wanted. It is truly a rare and happy occasion that I am able to walk in, pick up the book that I am looking for, pay for it, and walk out again. And if I want one of the more obscure books on one of my many lists, I have to go to one of the smaller, local bookstores like “The Kings English” or “Sam Weller’s.” While they are far smaller than B&N, my chances of finding those kinds of books are better. And if they don’t have it, the people working there have almost always heard of the book, if not read it.

So yes, I’m critical of B&N, but that doesn’t stop me from walking in there a few times per month.

Bookstores are Dead!

Brick and Mortar bookstores are dead.
When was the last time you walked into one? And if you have walked into one recently, when was the last time you walked into one and actually found what you were looking for? I just walked into a Barnes & Noble with a list of 3 books. Not really obscure or out of print books… 3 books recently featured on “All things Considered.” So, they are books with a relatively good chance of being read.
Well, I couldn’t find them on the shelves, so I ask one of the illiterate book drones that work there. The computer told them that they were out of stock.
“So when will they be in stock?” I ask.
“Well,” he droned, “we don’t stock any of those books… but I can order them in.”

The lesson here, boys and girls, is that if you want to read anything about teen angst vampires, go to Barnes and Noble… if you want anything else… find it on line.

The Wisdom of Alan

I couldn't agree more.

Alan, you rock!