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!

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

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."

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!

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.

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.

Oilin the Leeve with fruit

A good way to start your morning is a good brisk run. Some will say that sweating out your impurities is the best way to go. I got both this morning when the Varsity Sports gang headed downtown here in "The Rouge" and boy was it hot. We did a 5 mile run down the new bike path that runs from downtown to LSU. Goal was to run faster on the way back than on the way out. Made it...barely...

If you're ever in "The Rouge" I highly recommend hitting up the farmers market that happens every Saturday morning during the growing season. Its got fresh fruits, vegetables and countless plants. Good stuff!

Finally, I performed the first oil change on Calie. MINI is supposed to cover all fluid changes for 3 years or 36,000 miles, whichever comes first. But here is the gotcha, that equates to really only about three free changes if you are lucky. The first, yes FIRST, oil change is supposed to be at 15,000 miles or 1 year, which ever comes first. I decided that I did not like that policy and decided I would just change it my self till I reach my first 'official' change. It was easy, fun and started raining JUST as completed the job. Good day all in all!

Oil Change

DC here I come!

I am happy and sad to announce that I will be leaving "The Rouge" come the 27th of this month (June). I will be moving up the corporate office to continue my work duties up there. I will ultimately be traveling several time, so my exit is not yet permanent. But I have enjoyed my time but am looking forward to the new and exciting frontiers that await. I will try to keep the updates coming and I hope you will keep checking in as I embark on this new journey!

Heat + Run = No Fun

Today it was hot hot and hotter. I have been very inconsistent running wise and it will only get worse as the heat and humidity keep ticking up. I'll have to start sucking it up if I want to try and break my PR in the half marathon and also defend my only half marathon win here in "The Rouge."
Trying to get some motivation going, I decided that running in the heat would be fun (yes I'm sick :-P) and so I headed to the lakes near LSU. It was not a good run by any definition, hot, humid and I seemed to want to walk about every mile or so when I was in the shade of a big oak tree. There was only one other person out running at the time...maybe I should smarten up and run in the morning or evenings. DUH...haha.

Run...Motor...Run

Varsity Hump Day Fun
The summer here in "The Rouge" brings out the heat, humidity, and the Hump Day Challenge series. Its a small 2-mile race series that takes place throughout "The Rouge" every other Wednesday night. tonight was the first race of the season!
First though, I did a nice light easy 5-mile run with the Varsity Sports group which was a lot of fun. I love this group as it has a true southern charm that is hard to describe. Its one of the few things I TRULY enjoy down here.

After the 5 mile run (which was a new course...yikes!) I had to motor on over to the Jefferson Hwy BREC park to make registration. Luckily I was already dressed to run so no worries there. Paid my bucks (5 to be exact) and then headed to the starting line, which I just barely made. Lined up and decided to start out relatively fast for this race and see where the chips fall.

Passed through the first mile in a decent 5:38 but I was rather winded at this point and many people started to pass me up. One dude in particular would surge then die, surge then die, surge then die. Almost made me dizzy at the number of times I passed him. With about a half mile to go I passed him for good and finally started to feel ok and was able to pick up the pass. Finished 12th overall and ran 11:37, which was faster than any of the times I ran last year at these races. Happy? Sort of...Need to train more? For sure!

Taco Thursdays

800's, Margarita's, and Taco's!
Working long hours this week I accumulated enough time to leave early today (yes a Thursday) and head back to the apartment to hang out with RAC. With her triathlon fast approaching, she wanted to get in a run or two while she was down. So I offered up my running club that I attend as tonight was an unusual occurrence. PARTY TIME.

One of our runners, Meg, is leaving to go to bigger and greener pastures, so the club gave her a little going away party...and RAC wanted to be apart of the festivities.

The festivities began with a nice moderate 5 mile workout that included 4x800m intervals with a minutes rest in between each interval. It was a good workout, just a little humid though there were some storms in the area to help cool down the air some. RAC held up just fine, go her!

We finished up at Zippy's Mexican restaurant for some burritos and margarita's! I had never been and it was a lot of fun. Its a converted gas station with a large outdoor bar area for games and hanging out when its nice out. All in all it was a good time and we even got some good storms out of the deal! Wahooo..
Cheers!

Power Outage

Today was totally uneventful. It rained off and on here in "The Rouge" so I messed around with photoshop adding "modifications" to Calie. That really was my day, oh yea, the usual laundry and vacuuming but how much fun is that, let alone interesting. Anyways at around 9pm cst the power decides to go out...wahoo. I break out the candles, finish dinner and decide to have some fun photography fun. So I made my apartment have a ghost that was a slash of light. Nothing fancy, just playing around. Oh well, another week, another pay check!

Cheers

The "Sign" of Healthy Lawns...Ha!

I had to stop today and do a double take on my way back from Barnes and Nobles today. Down here in "The Rouge" spring has been in full swing for several weeks now. Yes, I know, many of you have not even started spring or are just on the upswing. But with spring comes the upswing in the frequency of cutting America's greatest crop...our lawns. Yes, you read that right.

Americans have an obsession with "the perfect" lawn, and at a rate of over $17 Billion (US) every year, you'd think we were obsessed. Americans also mow over 31 million acres of that "perfect lawn." I think we could cut our dependence on foreign oil if we cut our lawn mowing significantly. A "healthy" lawn is really a dead lawn ecological. The variety of organisms in a lawn are nearly non existent and its naturally impossible to maintain that perfect green color. Yet we pump the chemicals and pesticides on our turf to get that perfect look.

So back to that double take and the picture of the sign. What is wrong with this sign? I think its terrible marketing for your product, but it proves just how toxic our quest for the perfect lawn is. The "Sign" that the sign is talking about is Massey's lawn sign after pesticide application which has the image of an adult, child, and a pet warning them not to get on the lawn. Studies have shown that the chemical residue is tracked into our homes and our pets accumulate dangerous levels of these chemicals. This sign doesn't elicit my idea of a healthy lawn at all, more like a toxic wasteland. Just thought you might find the twisted humor...maybe not.

Geaux Turena

Olympic Trials
Today was the 2008 Womens Olympic Trials held in Boston, MA. Now normally, don't hate ladies, I would not pay much attention to the womens trials. Yes, the Olympics, but not the trials. This changed this year as a friend of the running club I frequent here in "The Rouge" was running in the trials. This morning, at "Ellis Island" the Boston "T" party was had, which included fresh blueberry and walnut pancakes, various fruits, breakfast casseroles, and of course OJ, milk, coffee and champagne.

Turena Johnson Lane ran a great race and ran a personal best for the marathon at 2:34:17 and came in at 6th place. A great showing indeed, especially considering the interesting race tactics that were had by several of the competitors. It was a great get together and we are all proud of how well Turena ran and represented the US and "The Rouge" Geaux Turena! Watch the video below, you'll see Turena at the 37-38 second mark and also her finish at the 1:15 minute mark. Brief but sweet :-)

Deena Kastor, the pre-race favorite, battled back from being over two minutes down to beat Magdalena Lewy Boulet who led the race from nearly the beginning. Kastor holds the U.S. marathon record at 2:19:36 and her experience and strength showed in the later miles. Averaging close to 5:30 miles for the last 12 miles, Kastor caught Boulet at mile 23 and never looked back. Don't forget, tomorrow is the real Boston Marathon. Good luck to everyone!
Cheers!

Kwags, RAC and Carolina Blue

Saturday is the Big Day...KU -vs- North Carolina. I have since found out that RAC and Kwags which is the K in K&A Wags are traitors. We can even throw my mom into the mix. What is this craziness I speak of? They all have UCLA beating KANSAS in the championship game of their brackets. If they happen to beat North Carolina this weekend and then play UCLA in the championship game and then loose. All friendship is off. It should make for some interesting tension in the office over the next couple of days. I'm just teasing, but how can you vote against my boys? haha

Parrains is a Star
My friend Sigle was back in town for the night on his way around the south selling college apparel. He said he wanted to try some authentic sea food and what better place to do it than in "The Rouge." I suggested Parrains, knowing that he would not be disappointed. If you do happen to stop by, be sure to try out the fried alligator and the list of sea food options is pretty good, you will not be dissapointed.

Afterwards we headed down to Red Star bar for a few drinks and call it a night. Wednesday nights are Karaoke night and have "the champagne" of beers on tap for free till 10 (Miller High Life). Red Star will also be hosting the upcoming Yuri's Night party for "The Rouge."

Yuri's Night, April 12th, celebrates the first man in space, Yuri Gagarin in 1961 and the first launch of the space shuttle 20 years later. It is a world wide party to celebrate space and the exploration of space. "The Rouge's" party will be a celebration of the artistic expression of space by local artists as well local music. If you're around, be sure to check it out. Details can be found here.
Cheers!

Tunica Waterfalls of Salsa

Clarke Creek
RAC and I had planned on going camping this weekend but "The Rouge" and surrounding areas decided that it wanted to get a leg up on summer, it was muggy and warm all weekend. So, instead of being miserable inside a tent that doesn't breath, we scrapped the camping idea and headed up north to the Clarke Creek nature area near Pond, MS. The particular trail we were on had 6 small waterfalls.

RAC and I found 4 of the 6 and had a great afternoon hiking around. Lugged the camera around, but was running low on batteries so only had a few good shots. Plus I should have packed the tripod. The picture to the left was at the top of one of the bigger waterfalls and the water swirled as if it were going down a drain. It exited onto a ledge and then over the main fall complex...it was a cool feature and had fun getting some photos! So if your ever in the neighborhood of Pond, MS hit up the Pond Store and hit the trails to find some falls.

Serranos Salsa Love
After the day of hiking, RAC and I had worked up a good appetite. After cleaning up, we head down to Serrano's Salsa Company here in "The Rouge." I had a gift certificate from winning a local geocaching competition put on by "The Rouges" BREC, so I figured it was a good time to try it out.

Serrano's specializes in south of the boarder foods and the menu is is extensive but simple. Huge selection of tequila's and south of the border drinks, and the Salsa is to die for. We settled in with a Red Sangria and a Chameleon Margarita and enjoyed the atmosphere and the never ending supply of chips and salsa. We decided to pair up on our meal and got the steak fajitas for two.

The steak was a little tough, but the flavor made up where it lacked in tenderness. It was served with the full compliment of garnishes and it was more than the two of us could eat. Probably because we were already partially filled by the chips. My favorite touch to the meal was the warm tortillas that are heated on a griddle once your order comes available. This touch made the true taste of the tortillas stand out. All in all, check it out if you are in "The Rouge" sometime, you will not be disappointed!

Clorox, Hibachi, and Basketball

Green Works or Does it?
Surprising news came out today about Clorox's new "green" cleaning line, Clorox Green Works. One of my very first posts on "The Daily Dose" was the purchase by Clorox of the natural personal care company Burt's Bee's. This was one of Clorox's main purchases in an attempt to expand into the$150 million (US) green product market. Another key product acquisition is that of Britta, the water filter maker. My main emphasis in that early post was how 'green' these products really are. I am still not 100% sold, but this recent news may sway me a little more.

The Sierra Club has given Clorox the right to use its name and logo on its new Green Works cleaning line. This endorsement is the first ever of a product by the Sierra Club in its entire 116 year existence. It is an interesting shift for the Sierra Club, as its reputaion for a tough environmental crusader often pits it against the likes of Clorox and other chemical manufactures. The executive director of the Sierra Club, Carl Pope, feels that instead of fighting the nitty gritty details of the product, its better to have a much better alternative than no alternative to the current status quo. He talked with the NY Times about the reason behind their support of the product.

“One of the reasons green home cleaning products haven’t achieved much market penetration,” Mr. Pope said, “is if they came from an environmental brand, people had the sense they won’t work — green won’t work. And if it came from someone with a cleaning reputation the reaction was: They can’t be green.” He went on to say that, "I won’t pretend it’s not internally controversial; it is. But we decided it was more important to try to create this marketplace” than to keep the peace."

Koto of Japan
To end the week and enjoy good company, RAC, myself, K&A Wags, and Kmewalt decided to hit up a local Hibachi Grill and Sushi Bar here in "The Rouge." We decided up Koto of Japan, as it has good reviews in 225 Baton Rouge, the ezine and magazine. We were awed by some nice knife work, witty humor, good food, and good company. If you are in "The Rouge" I highly recommend Koto, though reservations are a good idea. And another good thing...KU made the Elite Eight tonight after a romp of Villanova. Look out Davidson, here we come! Rock Chalk Jayhawk KU
Cheers

RAC Attack and the Olympics

RAC arrived today after a long and dreary flight. First, RAC flight was 'delayed' for four hours in Memphis due to 'mechanical' failure and was eventually canceled around midnight. So RAC arrived at around 1 PM (cst) today into "The Rouge" and I was so excited. RAC presented me with my 'late' birthday gifts and it was a good haul. A much needed new game for the Wii and Pullens new book, "In Defense of Food." I can not wait for either!

We settled in for the evening with a delectable dinner of pizza rolls and salad and went at the new Wii game, Mario and Sonic at the Olympics! The main characters from the world of Mario and Sonic come together to compete in the Beijing Olympics in 16 classic events and 4 "Dream Events." Classics include the 100m, 110 Hurdles, High Jump, Long Jump, Triple Jump, Fencing, Rowing, and gymnastics.

Strengths and weaknesses were hashed out and at the end of the day...NEW WORLD RECORD in the 100m. As it currently stands with Zachawii holding the record, its at a blazing 9.64 seconds. I feel that I have a 9.5 in the legs, just need to train a little bit more. Oh the fun we will have this weekend....and its only Thursday!
Cheers

Happy Easter

Happy Easter
Happy Easter to everyone today. I hope that your time with family and friends is a good time on a wonderful day. It is a time of renewal and rebirth, as spring is right around the corner. It is gorgeous here today so I'm out to enjoy my Easter Sunday! I had an egg hunt in my apartment last night as my parents told me they had hidden 12 eggs in my apartment. Talk about a surprise for someone who thought he was observant. haha. Happy EASTER!

Picture is of the three crosses just off of I-10E here in "The Rouge." Took the picture on a whim. Enjoy!