No More Daily...No more Dose...

With regret, sadness, and a little bitterness, I have decided to end my run at The Daily Dose. Lately, I just have not found the motivation to continue the updates at a pace that is required to maintain a good, well maintained blog. I made it 206 consecutive days with the blog, but unfortunately, it ended during one of my most anticipated events of 2008...The Olympics.

The Olympics were amazing, Michael Phelps and his eight Golds, Usain Bolt, the fastest man in the world, and of course...beach volleyball dominance. Personally its just watching good looking girls in bikini's play volleyball :-) But with it, I noticed that the desire to post no longer exhisted. It became more of a chore than a passion, and that is not why I started this blog...it was supposed to be fun. So with that, through some Blog soul searching, I decided I should step away from the blog.

There may be a few posts here and there, but from this point on, The Daily Dose and Zachawii are no longer here. I thank you all for the wonderful support and hope that you will be able to find another feed that will tweak your interest for those few small moments in which you spent with The Daily Dose. I thank you, and so long!
Peace!

Water World!!!

Unbelievable!
I have watched a redic amount of Olympics on TV thus far, and today was not an exception. I wish I could have seen a better variety of events, but so far not a bad total.
*Swimming
*Gymnastics
*Sculls (Rowing)
*Volleyball
*Beach Volleyball
*Road Bike Racing
*Basketball
*Fencing

But tonight's Mens 4X100m freestyle relay was simply amazing. Plus, I have a total dude crush on the American mens team, I wish I could look like that when I yell haha. Jason Lezak raced an amazing anchor leg to come back from over a half second at the turn to take gold for the American's. It was sweet redemtion, as the French, the favorites, had a bit of trash talking before the event. If you talk trash, be sure you can back it up! To think, the Olympics have been this exciting so far, and the best is yet to come...track and field (in my opinion)

A Brewing good time...

I need to see some ID's...
Hoganistan and I decided to head over the Abita Brewing Company today to take a tour of the Brewery. K&A Wags headed along with us as well, and, upon arrival, was Hoganistans "Happiest day of my life." The tour really is not a tour, mostly a "here is where the beer is fermented" and "this is where the beer starts its life" tour of two stops and 10 minutes in length.

It is a good time, as they make it fun and, as you walk in the door, are ushered over by the receptionist who checks ID's. With that, you get your "sample cup" and have free access to all of the beers on tap. Best part...its free. No limit on the drinks, and 14 taps of various brews. There is even a tap for their rootbeer, which is AMAZING! So, if you need something to do on a Saturday and want to have a few cold ones, head over to Abita Springs, and its local, so you feel all warm and fuzzy for supporting the local economy...or maybe its just the beer...I'm not sure!

And so it begins...

Simply put...the 29th Olympiad has begun, and China started it off with an amazing bang! Lets have some amazing games and I am pumped! I am biased, but USA, USA, USA! Hopefully my foreign readers are not offended:-)

No...not that Phelps...

Speechless
Kansan's most beloved son...ok, not really, has made his entrance on to the media stage once again. The controversial preacher Fred Phelps and his breakaway church, Westboro Baptist Church, is planning on picketing the funeral of a Winnipeg man brutally killed on a Greyhound bus earlier in the week. Why, might you ask, would this church protest the funeral of a man sliced and diced by a psycopath? Its Gods punishment on Canada for allowing homosexuality, abortions, and divorce. Seriouslly?

This is nothing new for this dispicable sect, as I documented earlier in the year of the protest in Greensburg, KS during that towns 1 year anniversery of a powerfully destructive storm. The Westboro Baptist Church "is best known for picketing the funerals of fallen soldiers in line with a belief that God has been using the war in Iraq to kill American military personnel to show contempt for a nation and military that has allegedly become overly accommodating to and sympathetic of gay/lesbian concerns." As I said back in May, "this, by all accounts of the definition is a radically religious group no different of the Taliban. Extreme assertion, yes, but the stuff that this group chants at a fallen soldiers funeral is a shame and they themselves should be made to serve on the front lines."

Hopefully the group will not get to protest, let the man rest in peace. I agree that we have the right, as Americans, for freedom of speech, but there is also a moral obligation as humans to let ones family have a proper time to grieve, no matter the circumstances...On a brighter note...The OLYMPICS start tomorrow!!!

Hump Day Challenge...The End

The season finale of another Club South Runners Hump Day 2-Mile Challenge was a success. I purchased my new kicks before my 5-mile warm up and absolutely loved them.

I will try on 20 pairs of shoes before the perfect fit is achieved. Its almost like the line in Transformers (the movie) where Bernie Mac says" A driver doesn't choose the car, the car chooses the driver." For me...the shoe chooses the runner, not the runner choosing the shoe. So what shoe was it?

The Nike Skylon 11, seen below. Its one of Nike's newer shoes and I was surprised by how well it fit. Normally, Nike and I do not get along, but, as I said earlier, the shoe chooses the runner!

After getting the shoes, we did a good 5-mile run with the Varsity Sports group and then jetted over to the final Hump Day Challenge. The race was stacked, tons of ex-collegiate runners, high school runners, and just plain fast guys. I went out fast, but conservative and pushed the second mile hard. I set a new PR for this racing series, which is nice. Placed second in the 'old mans' division. The Varsity Sports group represented well in most categories with two overall division winners and three 2nd place age group finishers.

In another note, in Hoganistan and I's absence, the Humpday All Stars pulled out another win...we officially have a winning streak now.

"The Rouge" View

Back in early March (here) I mentioned that it would not be long before "The Rouge" would be showing up in GoogleMaps nifty little service called Google Street View. Well today, it has arrived, we, "The Rouge" are now mapped and photographed. Hopefully everyone was smiling when the camera rolled by! The streetview below is of Tiger Stadium...also known as "Death Valley" one of the hardest places to come into and play!



View Larger Map

Zachawii in "The Rouge"

Hoganistan and I made it into "The Rouge" late last night. So, I decided to post a update on the past weeks worth of blogs. Some have said this is a cop out for a blog posting...oh well! Enjoy

1. Preseason Football..oh wait...thats a Cop (7/28/2008)
2. Take a deep breath...or not (7/29/2008)
3. Kickin Balls to a Win (7/30/2008)
4. Filler (7/31/2008)
5. One Week to Go! (8/1/2008)
   
6. HP Waiting Game (8/2/2008)
7. Back in "The Rouge" (8/3/2008)
   

Heading to "The Rouge"

I will be heading down to "The Rouge" for two weeks today to continue the support of the company transition off of our program. I am excited to head back for a trip to join back up with the VS group and have some good runs. I need new shoes as well...so hopefully I will be able to sport some new kicks. And there are a few races I may partake in. It should be a good two weeks...see you from "The Rouge."

Waiting...and Waiting...

Awhile back I posted that my trusty blogging laptop became ill and was a little under the weather. Heard from HP tech support, from India, and they informed me that the part to replace the piece (what is wrong...would not tell me) was back ordered. I'm looking at the 19th of August as my receiving date...great! Thanks HP thanks alot...

Olympics, one week away!

Its only one week till the official opening of the Summer Olympic games...who's not excited! The athletes should start showing up in the Olympic Village in the next couple of days and the excitement will be awesome! Today, August 1st, was the opening day of the controversial 1936 Berlin Games. Hopefully these games will go smoothly but also bring awareness to China, in whatever manner floats ones boat: pollution, lax manufacturing standards, Tibet, Darfur.

Another Day Another Dollar

Work was long...nothing to report

Hump Wins...Hump Wins...

It is that time in the week again where the rubber meets the foot...KICKBALL. So the Humpday All Stars (my team) have never won a regular season game in their existence. I was not apart of the teams inaugural season, so for me, we have only ever lost one game (last week). In a lot of ways we are looked down upon, the little engine that could NOT win. But alas, that all changed.

Supported by "rummy worms" (Rum infused gummy worms)supplied by Hoganistan and VW we, the Humpday All Stars scored our first victory of this season and the first victory of franchise. Do I smell a playoff run? I think so...Following the game we headed to Penn Quarter (our sponsor bar) and held it down at the flip cup tables as well. All in all...a great day to be a Humpday All Star...a great day indeed!

Pollution go Away...

Acid Rain, Particulates, Smog Oh My
As we get closer to the Beijing and the opening ceremonies, the talk surrounding the air quality in Beijing is heating up, much like the temperatures in the Chinese capital city. But, as much attention that has been given to China, I believe one much criticize their own backyard before criticizing someone else.

The Nature Conservancy recently released a report examining the impacts of air pollution on the ecosystem. They found that pollutants such as mercury and ground-level ozone are resulting in less fish stocks, reduced farm production and possibly linked in the drastic reduction in the honeybees population.

The image above depicts the distribution of the varying pH levels of precipitation across the U.S. Interesting, but ugly, map where red indicates a greater acidity. Its rare that studies actually document the impacts of pollution on anything other than human respiratory health. Imagine what the bugs and bunnies feel about all of our pollution.

"Dodge This"

Most of you have probably heard or seen about this intersting video that occured in New York a few days back. A rookie NYPD cop was stripped of his badge and gun today after the video caught him slamming a bicyclist to the ground in an apparent unprovoked attack.

Officer Pogan was one of two cops monitoring the Critical Mass bike rally when a swarm of cyclists rode by ringing their bells about 9:35 p.m. Without warning, Pogan, appears to single out one cyclist, jog toward the sidewalk and then slam his shoulder into the biker, shocking the crowd on the sidewalk.

Critical Mass and Time's Up!both advocate for environmental issues with the monthly protest ride in several cities, including "The Rouge. Hopefully as gas prices goes up, we wont have angry motorists "car-checking" riders into ditches...its not fun!

Gravely Point

Hold On To Your Hat
On our way to the airport to drop RAC off, we decided to stop by Gravely Point, near Reagan National Airport. Its a nice little spit of land that is on the flight pattern of the planes landing and taking off at the airport. It sits just a stones throw away from the runway and the planes literally fly directly over your head!

I shot the picture of a nice NWA aircraft as it was coming in for a landing. A great place to bike (click on link above) or drive and spend an afternoon having a picnic and watching planes! If you bring small children, ear plugs would not be a bad idea, though its not too loud. All in all, a sweet location to visit every now and then!

Up in the Monuments

RAC'in up Monuments
This weekend RAC came for a visit up to good ole DC so I wanted to have a good trip. We decided that Saturday was going to be a Monument(al) day! We got up fairly early so that we could catch the metro to downtown to get in line for tickets to go up into the Washington Monument, you know that tall pencil looking thing. We waited in line and had to endure the "all knowing" knowledge of wanna-be locals who kept rattling off stats on the various monuments on the Mall.

After we got our tickets (you can book online weeks in advance here ) we headed to hit the rest of the sites. We went to the WWII









Vietnam, Lincoln, Korean, Jefferson and then to a few Smithsonian locations.








Finally we got to head to the top of the Washington Monument. Simple elevator ride to the top and you are presented with some wonderful views of the DC area. I highly recommend it if you ever get the chance. Below is one of the pictures from the top...

Marion Jones

Do the Crime, Serve the Time...
It has come to light recently that former track star Marion Jones is asking President Bush for a pardon for her crimes in using steroids and check fraud. She is but one of many people who are requesting a pardon from Bush before he is out the door in January. I am deeply troubled by this, yet another high profile person using their fame/money to get preferential treatment that you or I would never have the chance of obtaining.

Marion Jones was the darling of the Olympics, looked up to by many young people and an inspiration. Her smile could lighten up a room and she had talent too. But she cheated, by her own admission (though lied to a federal grand jury) and with that, she is serving a 6-month prison sentence. Do the crime, do the time. That is why, after her tearful admission in January, I am astonished and upset that she would seek a pardon from the President. This just makes me feel like she has more to tell, more to admit to. If not, those tears back in January were obviously faked...

'Kickin it' at the Mall.

Today, I officially became initiated into the wonderful sport of DC Kickball. I first talked about this in May, but I was only a spectator then. Now, I am a full fledged member of the HumpDay Allstars!

Before the game started, a ritual that I will most likely never get tired of, progressed down Constitution in front of the WWII Memorial...Motorcades!!! I am pretty certain that GW was not in this motorcade as it was fairly large, but not nearly as burly as (what others tell me) GW rolls with, but still...what a way to roll home.

It always starts with you noticing that cops are stopping traffic on certain streets, kind of odd, but you don't think anything of it. Then, all of a sudden you hear them...the sirens and the motorbike police. They coming flying down the roads and you have the black SUV's (totally pimp looking) come screaming by, followed by the limos. Trailing is the "gunship" which are the boys you would not like to mess with. All windows and back hatch are wide up and automatic rifles are visible. It happens a lot, but its a spectacle every time.

Oh...and we lost kickball...3-1. No biggie, bunch of newbies (Myself included) so it took awhile for the team to mesh. We beat the rains, and all in all a great day!
Cheers

Dolly...

Not just a country singer...
Dolly has hit the Texas/Mexican border packing poorly sung tunes and a Category Five bust(i.e. chest)...wait...I mean. Ok, not that Dolly. The Hurricane Dolly hit as a Category 2 hurricane and looks more impressive on radar. The outer cloud/rain belts stretch clear to the south central coast of Louisiana. At least Dolly will not cause as much damage as Dean did last year...I hope.


One thing though, when anytime something like this hits the US, we can count on one thing...Jim Cantoree from the Weather Channel will be there! This guy is a manimal and loves to be in the thick of 100mph winds. Gotta love this guy! So the motto of the day is:
"Three things are certian life: Death, Taxes, and Hurricanes with Jim Cantore.

Turnin the Mocha lites off...

Store closing list announced
Earlier this month Starbucks announced that approximately 600 of its locations would be closed by early next year to help it return to profitability. With the 'credit crunch' (really a reality check in my opinion), rising fuel prices (that 100 mile commute), and rising food prices (sorry, no name brands for you) have all squeezed consumers disposable incomes and hurt sales.

The list of the stores has just been released (here) and I was surprised to see that a few of the stores I used to frequent in "The Rouge" are getting axed. In particular are a couple that are less than 'across the street' from each other, which was obviously not good for sales. The loss of jobs and the empty buildings will be just another casualty of this latest spate of bad economic news.

Beijing dream popped...

Amputee Denied Olympic Dream
Oscar Pistorius, the double amputee from South Africa will not be competing in Beijing after failing to reach the required A standard time and was not invited to the 4x400m relay. This particular topic has been one of mixed emotions for me and in a sense its a relief and a disappointment that Pistorius did not make the Olympics.

I am relieved because one of the biggest negatives of NBC's Olympic coverage is their over-the-top in depth personal stories that they fill in between starts of the 100m dash. I do not mind them, but a lot of times they go over the top and it gets old. I would rather see more of the athletes competing than standing around posing for their personal interest stories. We know, that if Pistorius had made the Olympics they would have talked about his struggles (which are legit) and the controversy surrounding the use of his carbon-fiber blades. Personaly I could do with out...

I am mixed, because it is hard to quantify the advantage Pistorius gets from his blades. There is, in my opinion (which doesn't mean much) an advantage from a material standpoint as the blades will return a significant amount of energy, but since Pistorius has been a double amputee for almost his entire life, there is simply no way to quantify his advantage. Either way, at least for Beijing, the dispute has been settled where it should have been...on the track. Accourding to Pistorius's agent, he had a slower time than the top 6 South African 400m runners times, therefore not deserving a place on the team. This case is far from over however and it will soon be back before us as London 2012 nears closer. Only 16 more day!!!

Where is Zachawii...?

I apologize to all of the fans of the Daily Dose, life has been hectic since the trip to DC. First, there was the delay of my personal belonging arriving 7 days late, then the subsequent painting of my multi-colored walled room, the unpack, and repack of the stuff I would not need, and then...the dying of the laptop.

I believe that the motherboard is fried, but luckily I was under warranty still by 7 DAYS! Whew. I was not happy and it has been very disappointing working with HP customer service. The box to ship the product to the company has not arrived (supposed to be overnight...hum??) but is supposed to be there tommorow. So, I will try my best to get back to the daily dose and be a better blogger than I have been the past couple of weeks. Please keep checking back, I hope the second half of the year is just as good as the first!

Zachawii

Fireworks...and flashing lights

Busted in a BUS
Today is the Nations Birthday!!! So happy birthday to you America! Since this was the first 4th of July in D.C. I wanted to get a chance to see some of the fireworks. Two of the three roommates had left for the weekend so it was just VW and I. VW is an avid fan of old school VW buses, those air cooled wonders of yester-year. We decided to head downtown and try and catch the fireworks.

We headed out, me sitting on a couch cushion, and not 2 minutes into the trip...the FC Heat comes swooping down on us. So...after a long drawn out processes and a couple of gotcha's, I had to drive the bus (the one on the right in the picture) back home and grab Calie to head to the fireworks!

Fireworks Precurser???

400m Olympic Trials Surprise
Its almost that wonderful time of year when the smell of gunpowder fills the air! I'm talking fireworks, and I am really excited to try and catch the great fireworks show on The Mall here in D2theC. But, the excitement of the day/night was on the track in Eugene, where Merritt upset Wariner in the 400m Olympic Trials final.

Wariner is the reigning World and Olympic champion, but the prodigy who's agent just happens to be the real superman, Michael Johnson, was handed his krypotnite in the form of Merritt. Granted, its just the trials, but hopefully the electricity from this race will lead straight to Beijing!

W and OD

Trails Trails, everywhere a Trail
Today I discovered I live RIGHT next to a sweet trail system called the W&OD trail system. It is an old railroad right-of-way and is about 8-9 feet wide and paved super smooth. It will be great for when I get my bike up here and I can fully take advantage of it. The good thing is, there are lots of trails that connect and cross it. More exploring will have to take place!

July !!!

Today was the second day of working in the new office and so far it has been alright. I am still sleeping on an air mattress and I have 4 shades of white on my walls from a shoddy paint job by the landlord. That will hopefully get taken care of on the upcoming long weekend. Otherwise, things are good, just tired. Adjustments will take a little while to get used to...

"Diving" into a Dream

Christian Smith...from the Land of Oz
The Olympic trials just keep getting better and better. One of my personal favorite events is the 800m run. Nick Symmonds and Andrew Wheating, qualified in less dramatic finish, but the coveted third spot went to Christian Smith as he literally dove at the finish line to qualify for the U.S. Olympic team in the men's 800 meters.

Click the link above to get NBC's telecast of the whole race, it will only take a few minutes of your time. I raced against Christians older brother in HS, as they are both from a small Kansas town. Long ways from home, but an amazing feat! I know who I will be rooting for in Beijing! Video below is from a spectators view of the race...absolutely epic!

Tysons Corner

Worlds Fastest Man?

I am a little tired after the week that I have and I sat around and watched the Olympic Trials for part of the day, which did not disappoint. After JUST about missing the semi-finals, Tyson Gay decided that one close call was close enough to him missing out on this years Olympics. So much so that he decided to break Maurice Greene's American record in the 100m. In the finals, well he decided he'd run the fastest anyone has ever run. Unfortunately the wind was over the allowable limit. Nonetheless, Beijing just got that much more interesting!

The Twisties

For the final leg of my trip to DC I decided I wanted to put Calie into her designed elements...twisting roads. There are not many twisting roads in Louisiana, as there just are not that many mountains...ha! The route would take me up the final stretch of the Blue Ridge Pkwy and then up the entire spine of the Shenandoah National Park portion of Skyline drive, which can be seen here.

I will say that I never have had so much fun driving in a car on twisting roads. Absolutely amazing views and even better driving! Calie handled like a champ and I have a much better understanding of what she can do in her stock settings. So for her efforts, she gets a few of her poses in the blog for the day. We did pass seven other MINI's on the drive. British Racing Green was the color of the day, followed by a blue, Chili Red, and a Pepper White. Got some good friendly waves as well!

Oh, and I did make it to the DC area in one piece and noooo tickets...woot!

Ah...Topography!


3000' of Elevation...I'm winded


Another wonderful view...


Locals admiring the wonder drivers passing by...

Geriatric Club

I left "The Rouge" for good this morning in Calie heading east...goal...Abingdon, Va. Calie ran amazingly smooth and steady for this leg of the trip and has averaged around 37-38 mpg at 75mph with the AC on the whole way, which for me is VERY acceptable. Not the numbers that hypermilers put up, but hey, I'm not claiming to be a hypermiler.

I arrived in Abingdon, but unfortunately there were no hotel rooms available, just lots of old people. Again, I have nothing against the elderly, I just wanted a room to crash in. Another hour to an hour and a half later I finally have arrived in Wytheville, VA. I am in a smoking room...gross...and surrounded again by the elderly. LOTS of buses of elderly indivduals...LOTS! I guess I'm a youngin in a land of oldins :-P To much driving...I think so...

Goodbyes

Today was the final day of me being in "The Rouge" and so a fitting way to end my last day in this town was to finish with a good workout and hang out with the Varsity Sports running group. We did a good workout in a slight rain (perfect!) which included 4X400m repeats at Goodwood Park. Afterwards we headed over to Bobbie Joes place for a little cookout and celebration. They say it was for me, but I will say that it was just another reason to have good food and good company. It was sad to have to leave everyone that I have become close with within the group. I felt like I was finally starting to really become one with the group and, as it seems to be happening lately, was snatched away. I will miss them very much, but luckily I will have to travel back a few times for work. THey better bring their running shoes though...half marathon training has started!

Give me a P O D S

Time to Pack
I announced last week that I would be moving to the DC area in the very near future. Today, that reality started to take shape. I decided to use the PODS moving system for my move because I want to take Calie out and play in the mountains of Virginia when I finally drive up DC. This morning, my moving PODS was delivered. Interesting machine, the pod-zilla- that comes in and drops of the container.

This is where the Pod-Zilla removes the container from the bed of the truck. Now it can be positioned anywhere you like.


Positioning the POD


This is the amount of room I have to put everything in...hopefully it will fit.


Well its time to get started packing...wish me luck!

Work..Pack...long nights

I will not post much till this weekend. I have to pack and have SEVERAL hours of work to do. Not going to be a fun week. Check back soon for more posts..

U.S.A. U.S.A.

What dreams are made of...
I have lacked in Olympic information for quiet awhile. The furor over the torch has taken a back seat to the humanitarian efforts for those affected by the earthquake in China. But this weekend the attention will be turned back the track, at least here in the U.S., as the US Olympic trials begin at historic Hayward Field, in Eugene, OR.

The distance events, which I am the most fond of, should set the stage for some fun races. The 800m will see the revival of the hottest duel on the track between Khadevis Robinson and Nick Symmonds. The 1500m will bring old and new together again. Naturalized Bernard Legat will try to defend his title against one of the fastest in the world, and the American Record holder at the distance, Alan Webb. Webb has a bad habit of struggling when it matters most, so an interesting race to be had there.

Legat will also run in the 5000m, the other race he won in his historic 1500-5000 double at the world championships last year in Osaka, Japan. He has the best time for an American this year at 13:16. Matt Tegenkamp and Adam Goucher will be big names to look for in this race as well. Should be a good next couple of weeks for us track fans out there. You can see the event schedule by clicking this link.

Lets just hope that the TV coverage for these events will not be limited to just the 100m dash. I am not holding my breath though, as we all know that the 100m will get 20 minutes of coverage and ALL other events will get the remaining 5 minutes in the allocated 30 minutes of coverage for the sport.
Cheers!

Lagniappe

Negative Aspect of the Job
This article is a little old, but I have been wanting to write about it for some time, and now I have finally come around to writing my take on the story. I am down here to help with the recovery efforts for Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and when I find stories like this one, I get very frustrated at the inability of people to do things for themselves.

Recently, FEMA has mandated that all remaining trailer parks be closed and are trying very hard to move people out of the FEMA Trailers who still have them on their property, like the photo above. With this push to get people out of these trailers, FEMA has provided these people with housing assistance until they are able to find a place to live. Well...what do they do with YOURS and MY taxpayer dollars in the hot Gulf Coast summers?

"The scorching heat puts many at the Quality Inn poolside, but for Gwenester Malone, she chooses to beat the heat by setting her thermostat to sixty degrees. Malone's room for the past three months, along with three meals daily, have all been paid for by taxpayers."

I completely understand this in the months following the hurricanes, but nearly THREE years and countless handouts later, it still a "what are you going to do for me?" mentality that is a big disappointment for me and the work that I do. This is not the case for everyone, which is highlighted by the marked improvements in New Orleans and other hard hit area's, but its this, for lack of a better word, laziness, that leaves me with some bitter memories of "The Rouge" and Louisiana. Like the saying goes, one bad apples spoils the whole bunch...defiantly true when it comes to this disaster.

Fernandez is a 'Manimal'

German Fernandez is back and in better form than ever. A few weeks back (see link) I introduced many of you to a young California track athlete that has set the running world on fire. Not this much hype has been thrown towards a high school track start since Alan Webb broke the Ryun's HS mile record back in 2001.

German just broke the 20+ year old record in the true 2-mile distance by two seconds, running a blazing 8:34. That is 4:17 mile splits, back to back. Or better yet, that's 1:04 for a 1/4 of a mile. Impressive? You better believe it. An also interesting note is that the third place finisher in this race will be German's teammate at Oklahoma State in the fall. I will place my prediction now, Oklahoma State will be a top contender in this falls NCAA championships...just throwin that out there. Watch the race below, if for nothing else to hear two of the funniest sport announcers I've heard in a long time...dude.

Jamie Lynn Solstice!

Its summer...
Ah...Summer. That great time of year where the sun is out, pools are filled and tans are darkened. We even have some great lyrics, like from Grease "Summer lovin...had me some fun" or quiet possibly the greatest summer hit ever...LFO's Summer Girls, with the AMAZING lines

"And I think its fly when girls stop by for the
Summer, for the summer
I like girls that wear abercrombie and fitch"

Ok, all joking aside, summer officially started today with the longest day of the year (though technically its tommorow...) and pagan revelers in England celebrated the summer solstice by hanging out at Stonehenge. Anyways, I hope you prayed to the sun gods and remember, there is no such thing as a healthy tan...now its time to go lay out...but WAIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ah...Baby time!!!
Jamie Lynn Spears had her baby!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I know riveting isn't it. Her and baby daddy Casey Aldridge welcomed Maddie Briann to the family in Mississippi yesterday...yeehaw! This is as good of news as that pregnancy pact that is setting the town of Glocester on its head...ah you gotta love hormones!

Cheers!

Dominica update...

Thar She Blows...
I have seriously been slacking in the Dominica department of late, REALLY late actually, so I decided I would do a little bit of an update. In all honesty, there was not alot of newsworthy updates to talk about. Except...whaling...

Dominica will not back a measure by Japan to reverse a worldwide commercial whaling ban that is being challenged at a IWC meeting that will begin next week in Chile. In an interview with Caribbean Net News, Roosevelt Skerrit, Prime Minister of Dominica stated that, "Our stringent environmental practices and philosophies have earned us the label, ‘The Nature Island’ and, upon careful review and deliberation of the issue, it has been determined that voting for an overturn of the existing worldwide ban on commercial whaling would be inconsistent with the standards and principles of sustainability that we so fervently advocate.”

Its a good thing too, as Dominica is known as the Whale Watching Capital of the Caribbean (among others) and has around a 95% success rate on seeing whales on whale watching excursions, which I have heard are fantastic. I only know of ones that originate from the Roseau area, hopefully when I return in the next couple of months I will embark on one of these trips. Any readers out there been on a whale watching trip? Pictures? Send them along!

Cheers

Hump Day Challenge #2

Today was the second race of "The Rouge's" hump day challenge running series. I did the Varsity Sports easy 5 again, similar to two week ago and wasn't really feeling like racing, but alas, this weeks race was free to Club South Runners members. So, I said what the heck and decided to head over and see how it would go. The honey bun I ate at 4 that afternoon was not very happy with me at the moment...oh well

I decided that, unlike two weeks ago, I would take this race with a laid back start followed by a faster second mile. This is called running negative splits. I ran the same time as 2 weeks ago and it felt so much easier, even with a faster second mile. Placed a little worse probably, but there are no awards, so no biggie there.

Sports, Sports and MORE SPORTS!

Tiger wins 14th Major
This is a post of sports and nothing but sports because the last few days have had some...interesting results. The first is the ridiculous feat by Tiger Woods at the U.S. Open this weekend. Tiger stormed back with some big time shots to take the lead going into the round on Sunday. Rocco Mediate maintained his sweet game and Tiger faltered, needing a clutch birdie putt to take the Open to a playoff.

Playoff was Monday, and boy what a treat. Back and forth, Tiger up by 3 strokes at one point then faltering again to Rocco Mediate to fall behind by 1 stroke. Needing another clutch putt on 18, Tiger pulled through again, taking the Open to its 91st hole. Rocco Mediate hit a couple of bad shots and left the cup on the course for Woods to take. Great weekend of golf and it was hard to decide who to root for this weekend, as Rocco Mediate is a great guy. But Tiger beat the world...on a bum knee. Crazy!

LSU Rallies...Again


Almost like guessing if Tiger is going to win another Major in golf, the LSU Tiger baseball team rallied in an amazing comeback to win against Rice in the College World Series. The video above is from a fans perspective of the game winning hit. Can you feel the excitement? This is LSU's 30th comeback victory (of their 49 wins) this season. They have earned the nickname cardiac cats...I wonder why. :-P

Celtics Win...Again
Finally, on this blog, the ole Boston Celtics won the NBA championships with the destruction of the LA Lakers. It wasn't much of a game tonight except that the Celtics were clicking as best they could. Paul Pierce (KU product...woot) was the Finals MVP and for someone who has been on an up and down ride with the Celtics. Going from the worst team to the best is quiet a feat, but he did have some help from Kevin Garnet and Ray Allen. I will see you later!

MINI's out of production...temporarily

Production shut down
The drastic rise in oil and fuel prices this year have caused ripples to form in the massive global economy. Last week in Spain, cargo carriers protested the high prices of diesel fuel. This caused traffic and shipping headaches and effectively shut down the production of my favorite new car...MINI's.

A key component of the car is manufactured in Spain, and with the drives on protest, MINI was forced to temporarily shut down production of the cars until the protests were resolved. This effectively shut down the production of around 700 cars per day and affected several workers. As of today though, it appears that the protests are fading and the parts are starting to arrive again. You can see the update here. Motor on!

Custom Emblems

I have decided to dress up Calie some more and put together some custom MINI emblems to put on the car. I pulled them off and started to sand, prime and paint the emblems. Minus the little hiccup that occurred when I was baking the paint, the process was simple and fun. Adds a little flair, what do you think?

This is before:








This is the new emblem:








This is after: