Tour de 1/10th


This is it. I am going to do what I will be calling the Tour de 1/10th. I talked about it a few times before and never followed through. The goal is to ride 1/10th of the miles ridden by the riders in the Tour de France each day of the tour. I will take my time in my 1/10th and multiply it by ten and then see how far down in the standings I fit amongst the riders in the tour. In addition, since these guys are going to be blowing me away by hours ever single day, I am allowing myself a bonus of a one-minute reduction in time for each 'extra' mile that I do. Okay, its a bit cheezy, but it should keep me focused on riding and since I will be adding an element of time into the equation, it should give my fitness a kick in the pants too.

The stages are as follows:
Prologue - Individual Time Trial
Liège Saturday, July 3rd (3.79 miles)
Stage 1
Liège > Charleroi Sunday, July 4th (125.8 miles)
Stage 2
Charleroi > Namur Monday, July 5th (122.4 miles)
Stage 3
Waterloo > Wasquehal Tuesday, July 6th (130.5 miles)
Stage 4 - Team Time Trial
Cambrai > Arras Wednesday, July 7th (40.1 miles)
Stage 5
Amiens > Chartres Thursday, July 8th (124.6 miles)
Stage 6
Bonneval > Angers Friday, July 9th (121.8 miles)
Stage 7
Châteaubraint > Saint-Brieuc Saturday, July 10th (127.1 miles)
Stage 8
Lamballe > Quimper Sunday, July 11th (104.4 miles)
Rest day inLimoges Monday, July 12th
Stage 9
Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat > Guéret Tuesday, July 13th (99.7 miles)
Stage 10
Limoges > Saint-Flour Wednesday, July 14th (147.3 miles)
Stage 11
Saint-Flour > Figeac Thursday, July 15th (101.9 miles)
Stage 12
Castelsarrasin > La Mongie Friday, July 16th (122.7 miles)
Stage 13
Lannemezan > Plateau de Beille Saturday, July 17th (127.7 miles)
Stage 14
Carcassonne > Nîmes Sunday, July 18th (119.6 miles)
Rest day in Nîmes Monday, July 19th
Stage 15
Valréas > Villard-de-Lans Tuesday, July 20th (112.2 miles)
Stage 16 - Individual Time Trial
Bourg d'Oisans > L'Alpe d'Huez Wednesday, July 21st (9.6 miles)
Stage 17
Bourg d'Oisans > Le Grand-Bornand Thursday, July 22nd (127.1 miles)
Stage 18
Annemasse > Lons-le-Saunier Friday, July 23th (103.5 miles)
Stage 19 - Individual Time Trial
Besançon > Besançon Saturday, July 24th (34.2 miles)
Stage 20
Montereau > Paris (Champs Élysées) Sunday, July 25th (101.3 miles)
- posted by Chris @ 12:28 AM 0 comments

 
Important Client Meeting Tomorrow
Dave and I have a very important client meeting tomorrow. A gentleman by the name of Peter Parker requested a couple hours of our time to discuss a film production issue. Although Parker is expected to be in town for several months, we wanted to jump on this opportunity to meet him and partake of his vision.

I am pretty sure Mr. Parker will bring his lovely Aunt May to the meeting. She said something once that I still remember... "I believe there's a hero in all of us... keeps us honest... gives us strength.... makes us noble..."



Spider-Man 2 opens tomorrow!!
- posted by Chris @ 7:49 PM 0 comments

 
First Ever Crap'N Crunch Awards
I have decided to add a new feature. The Crap'N Crunch Award will be given to anyone or anything that I deem stinky enough to deserve it. These will be awarded with no schedule and only when the spirit moves me....



Our first award winner is Coca-Cola... and their new C2. What is this crapola? Coca-Cola's C2 is terrible. (Yeah, I bought a bottle to see what the hype was about) It is just a half-real-coke-half-diet-coke blend. Half the sugar - twice the cancer - one nasty taste.

First off, you have probably read my opinions on this low-carb craze... if you haven't let me summarize - people are suckered into spending a lot of money on low-carb items and eating tons of fat that is KILLING them! Sure, they lose weight, but they gain cholesterol and are stuck on a routine that can do nothing but cause health problems.

Carbohydrates are a nutrient, and nutrient, by definition, means "chemical elements and compounds found in the environment that plants and animals need to grow and survive." There's obviously a flaw with any program that asks people on a massive scale to eliminate intake of a vital nutrient. With a true understanding of the differences between complex carbs and simple sugars, it becomes possible to eliminate the true culprits (simple and refined sugars) and reacquaint individuals with high quality valuable complex carbs (along with protein, fats, vitamins, minerals, and a generous supply of water).


Articles
How the Low-Carb Craze Is Making Us Fat
10 Best Reasons a Low-Carb Diet is Wrong
7 Reasons Why a Low Carbohydrate Diet is Wrong
Is Low-Carb Really The Way To Go?

Okay, I meant to just post that C2 was crap and then got off on the whole anti-low-carb thing. Okay, on to the next Crap'N Crunch winner... The Graham Norton Affect.

This dribble is more political-correctness gone awry. It is simply a gay variety show. Okay, before you start throwing the homophobe label around, hear me out. I don't have a problem with homosexuality - to each his own, right? But I DO have a problem with BAD ENTERTAINMENT!! This show is just stupid and much like Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson do more to hurt the cause of blacks in American, Graham Norton hurts the cause of homosexuals. He fills his show with shlock and gay toilet humor. Feel free to mix in one joke that doesn't have a gay angle.

This latest import should enjoy his 15 minutes of fame in America while he can and he better cash his checks quick... the show is NOT going to last.
- posted by Chris @ 6:47 PM 0 comments

 
I have decided to add a new graphic to the blog - my newly created Weekend Update logo. (I have been playing around in Photoshop)



So what did I do this past weekend? Well, a WHOLE lot of video production. Dave and I are still working on the large project that has tied us up for a couple weeks. We finished up the rough master Sunday night and I sent out six DVDs this morning. There is still a lot of editing to do, but they wanted to see a rough cut so they could start some editing notes of their own.

During rendering/burning/copying times, I finished cleaning out the garage. It sounds like no big deal, but those of you who have seen it, know that it was HUGE!! Our 3,000 square foot office was brought to my house after we closed it down and the lion's share went in the garage. Add that to the two coke machines stored in there and you can start to see how there was absolutely no room in there. Long story short - there is a ton of room now and I have even started working out again on my exercise equipment.

I also got a little handy and created a storage rack for my DVDs. As you can see, it is nothing fancy, but is extremely functional.



It was a fun little project that required about two hours worth of work (including buying the lumber at Home Depot) and cost about $15. I worked only from an idea in my head (no plans) and that made it even cooler that it turned out well. I treated it with a clear varnish because I like natural wood as opposed to a dark stain.

Today, I added another notch to the home handyman tool belt - I replaced the exterior garage light with a motion sensing double flood that does a great job of lighting the driveway when someone approaches. It will come in handy when coming home at night and should discourage any attempts to fiddle with mine or Brian's trucks.



- posted by Chris @ 9:54 PM 1 comments

 


Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story was a fun romp. It took me back to the old Three Stooges shorts. What a fun bunch of slapstick comedy! Oh yeah, and it was FREE - thanks to a Mystery Shopping assignment.

RATING 8 out of 10

- posted by Chris @ 8:48 PM 0 comments

 


I just finished the audiobook by John Grisham, "The Summons." As usual, it was brilliant at weaving a great setup. Unlike the last one I listened, The Brethren, this one fulfilled on its promise and gave a good finish as well.
- posted by Chris @ 8:43 PM 0 comments

 
The President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports has launched www.presidentschallenge.org, a new interactive Web site to help all Americans build a regular physical activity routine.

I have decided to track my activities on that web site and try for the various awards.
- posted by Chris @ 9:43 PM 0 comments

 


Less than two weeks until the Tour de France! Big news from the Lance Armstrong camp - USPS (United States Postal System) has decided NOT to renew its contract at the team's title sponsor. Immediately into the opening came Discovery Communications! The company behind Discovery Channel, TLC, Animal Planet, Discovery Health, Travel Channel, Discovery Times, Discovery Kids, BBC America, Science Channel, Discovery Home, Discovery Wings, Discovery en Espanol, Discovery HD Theater, & FitTV will now be the title sponsor. When I heard that USPostal was going away, I was concerned about the future of the team, but it looks like not only did they land a great team, but they should get smoe serious exposure across the satellite spectrum.

"I'm truly excited about our team's partnership with Discovery Communications and their long-term commitment to the sport of cycling," said Armstrong.

This year's tour features a first ever time trial up L'Alpe d'Huez
- posted by Chris @ 9:08 PM 0 comments

 
Well you start eating healthy and it is amazing how horrible bad food starts to taste. Brian changed the brake pads on my truck yesterday so I told him I would take him out to eat and he could pick the place. He chose Hooters (big surprise - haha) and we went there to have some wings and take in the last inning of the Yankees/Dodgers game.

Well, I always remembered their wings being greasy... I just can't believe I used to eat this stuff. Not only eat it - but look forward to eating it! Don't get me wrong - there is nothing wrong with wings, in fact, there is really nothing short of scoops of lard that isn't okay in moderation - but these wings are the greasiest gunk I have ever tasted. I first got an extra plate and covered it with paper towels. I transferred the wings to the new plate to soak up the grease and then covered them with more paper towels. I completely soaked 8 (EIGHT!) paper towels with grease. We are not talking dabs of grease of spots of grease - we are talking soaked! You could wring them out and make a puddle.

After making them somewhat safe for human consumption, I had a few and they tasted okay. I figured I had another all-day yardwork-garage cleaning-marathon so I could afford a little decadence. What a waste of a splurge. The stuff kept me up half the night with a general nausea and a feeling like I was going to do the heartburn thing really bad. I woke up this morning and my stomach felt like I swallowed a 10lb lead weight. In fact, it wasn't until I had a USANA Nutrimeal shake that I got back to normal. (I guess I needed something healthy to cut the grease.)

Long story short - the view at Hooters was decent - but the wings are disgusting. Next time I feel like being a bad-boy at mealtime, I am not headed there.
- posted by Chris @ 10:54 AM 0 comments

 


Tapeheads was one of those films that I had often heard referred to as a "cult classic." It was cute, but it was pure 80's schlock. The left-wing anti-wealth storyline mixed with a formulaic happy ending is dribble. The film has the feel of UHF without all the comedy. This is one of those that you watch once and never consider cueing up again.

RATING 4 out of 10

Donnie Darko on the other hand was an excellent film. It is advertised in the horror genre, but I see it more as sci-fi (there is a time travel storyline.) The film is interesting, the characters are believable, the acting is top notch and the story is captivating. Do not watch this one if you won't have time to pay close attention - this requires focus. Overall, a really good movie. Jake Gyllenhaal who I discovered in another excellent film October Sky did a great job. (PS - he was the only good performance in that piece of rot called The Day After Tomorrow - see 5-29-04 post.)

RATING 8 out of 10

- posted by Chris @ 7:57 PM 0 comments

 


It must be my time to watch burnouts and people's lives destroyed. I got Sid & Nancy on DVD from the library and watched it while working. It is amazing how much Gary Oldman looks like Sid Viscious. As a documentary of the the screwed up lives of this couple it does a good job. Where the movie fails is in making them sympathetic characters. You just have a hard time building up any empahty for them and in the end are left feeling that the film is as much about exploiting their story as the Sex Pistols were about exploiting the disaffected youth of London. It is a cash grab aimed at making money off SP fans, just as the anti-establishment punk band was really only about making money off those youths.

I did like the irony of Courtney Love playing a cheap slut - and the fact that she was in real life a carbon copy of Nancy - a cheap drug slut that latched on to a misguided talent and rode him to fame and eventually death.

RATING 5 out of 10

- posted by Chris @ 4:17 PM 0 comments

 


Holy Toledo!! What a movie! Monster starring Charlize Theron is an excellent film. It is raw, gritty and real. It takes the life of a streetwalker turned serial killer and slams it in your face. Charlize deserved the Best Actress award. She is more than a pretty face - in fact, in this she is anything but. This girl has mad skillz!

Check out the transformation as the beautiful Theron becomes the "first woman serial killer" Aileen Wuornos, a prostitute who killed many of her clients, and had an unlikely lesbian relationship with a young girl on the side.




Yes, this is the same woman.

I really cannot say enough about the acting job by Charlize. She can say more in a look and a subtle twist of the head than a dozen pages of script. You WILL know who Aileen is intimately when it is over and you will be moved to feel something about the fact that this is a true story.

RATING 9 out of 10

- posted by Chris @ 10:49 PM 0 comments

 


Well, I admit it - the advertising worked on me. I have seen ads for the straight-to-dvd film, Bubba Ho-Tep and figured what the heck. The tagline is "The King of Rock vs. The King of the Dead." Bruce Campbell plays Elvis and with the help of fellow retirement home occupant, President John F. Kennedy, (played by Ossie Davis)sets out to kill a mummy returned to life wearing cowboy hat and boots and terrorizing East Texas.

The acting was great. These are really some fun characters... with lines like Elvis saying, ""you got bugs... the size of a peanut butter banana sandwich." As a piece on these two characters it would have been entertaining... as a mummy movie it really blew. I fought to stay awake in the middle and the end was rather boring too. Overall, great characters, great acting, great sound, terrible screenplay. Once again, poor writing can kill the best project.

RATING 5 out of 10

- posted by Chris @ 7:17 PM 0 comments

 


Dave loaned me the movie The Longest Yard the other day and I kicked back to watch it. I remembered it as a 70's cornball Burt Reynolds movie and you know what - it was! The cool thing about this cornball movie though, was the fact that I discovered while watching it, that I really sorta missed the old 70's cornball movies. Sure, there were no deep philosophical questions posed, there were no soul-tuggin storylines... there was just fun - two hours of flashback fun. Say what you want about Reynolds, he has developed into a really good actor and is finally getting some credit, but I do think his acting talents were overlooked for years because he was viewed as a pretty boy.

It was awesome to see another favorite of mine, Michael Conrad - an actor I grew to love as the patriarchal Sgt. Phil Esterhaus, on the best cop drama of all time - Hill Street Blues (his last role).

Fun stuff!

RATING 7 out of 10

- posted by Chris @ 7:06 PM 0 comments

 
Well just a couple weeks after I switched to using a water filter for all my drinking water, I heard on the news today that some 20 water districts in Texas have reported problems with pollutants in the public water supply. ABC 13 News announced that a water district in northwest Harris county recently sent out letters to residents stating that there were radiation levels in the water supply that exceed state and national standards.

If you are not using some sort of filtration, I would recommend it.
- posted by Chris @ 11:13 PM 0 comments

 
I have really been getting into the Backyard Habitat thing. It has been growing over time ever since I really got Turtle World up and running. Here is a partial list of the creatures spotted in my backyard since that time.

Reptiles/Amphibians
American toad
Leopard frog
Green anole
Garter snake
Red-eared slider

Fish
Minnows
Goldfish
Channel catfish

Birds
Bluebird
Cardinal
Lincoln's sparrow
Brown-headed cowbird
Ruby-throated hummingbird
Grackle
Mockingbird
Mourning dove

Insects
Dragonfly
Bumblebee
Honeybee
Monarch butterfly



- posted by Chris @ 9:53 PM 0 comments

 


Pennie and I joined Dave and Laura at the Alamo Draft House to see The Dark Side of the Rainbow. It is billed as "A magical mystery tour of audio/video synchronicity. Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon meets MGM classic The Wizard of Oz"

Where to begin... I think the strongest argument for the synchronicity is during the black and white portion of the film. Coincidentally, that portion of the Wizard of Oz is the exact length of the album The Dark Side of the Moon. The transistion between scenes work almost perfectly during this segment. It is eerie to hear the female voice wailing as Dorothy is caught up in the twister. And you want a jaw dropper? The instant the film changes to color, coincides perfectly with the opening cha-ching sound from the song "Money."

Throughout, as the mood of the movie changes, the songs transistion rather closely - at times the lyrics even seem to fit. In retrospect though, I think that this is one of those albums with a non-committal sound. That is to say that the songs work as well for scary scenes as they do for happy scenes. After the amazing fit during the B&W segment, your mind sorta helps to make the rest of the film fit together.

For the experience alone and just so you can be the life of the next party, you should see this one.

RATING 7 out of 10

- posted by Chris @ 11:33 PM 0 comments

 
Wow, I just discovered a new smoothie I can make with my USANA Nutrimeal product. My favorite so far has been what I call the Strawberry-sunrise Smoothie or the Chocolate-nanner Smoothie. (I will list their ingredients below)

The new one is inspired by those chocolate-orange balls that you buy - the ones you have to whack real hard on the counter to get them to break into slices. I call it my Chocolate-orange surprise.



Chris' Chocolate-orange Surprise

4 scoops USANA Dutch Chocolate Nutrimeal
1/2 scoop USANA Mild Vanilla Soyamax
1/2 cup Sunny D(or other orange juice)
5 ice cubes
1 1/2 cups chilled water

Mix ingredients in a blender until a rich smooth consistency. Pour into a large glass, grab a straw and enjoy! This make a great meal replacement at 470 calories and is a completely nutritional treat. We are talking a great low glycemic meal that is high in soy protein, dietary fiber, and is rich in vitamins and minerals.

Here are the other incarnations I have created:

Chris' Chocolate-nanner Smoothie

4 scoops USANA Dutch Chocolate Nutrimeal
1/2 scoop USANA Mild Vanilla Soyamax
1 banana - quartered
5 ice cubes
1 1/2 cups chilled water

and the one I drink most often...

Chris' Strawberry-sunrise Smoothie!

4 scoops USANA Strawberry Nutrimeal
1/2 scoop USANA Mild Vanilla Soyamax
1 banana - quartered
1/2 cup Sunny D(or other orange juice)
5 ice cubes
1 1/2 cups chilled water

Not that I have been dieting, but as you can tell from the blogs from the previous few weeks, I have been trying to eat better - USANA Nutrimeal smoothies have played a huge role in eating healthier. I generally have one for breakfast. (I used to not eat breakfast at all so it is not like it is really replacing a meal.) In the three plus weeks I have been focused on eating healthy, I feel a gazillion percent better. (Just look at all the things that were done around the house this weekend) I also have lost weight without even trying. I am about 20 lbs less than when I started.

Oh yeah, and the other side benefit, if you were thinking of trying some of this stuff - you can not only get the health benefit from the products, but also income from your own USANA business and huge tax savings for running it from your home.

Buy the products!
Start your own home business!
- posted by Chris @ 8:30 AM 0 comments

 
I sent an email to Pennie telling her what I did today and thought - "I can just cut and paste the email in the blog, rather than reword the whole thing." So here it is (well, the part about what I did anyway.)

I worked on rendering a video project. That requires short bursts of work on the computer followed by long wait times while it processes what I have done. The result is that I have a ton of free time in one and two hour segments, but really cannot go too far or production stops. I decided to "putz around the yard" durring the breaks.

Here is my putzing...

Dug up the area in front that I want to make into a cactus garden
Found some sand at the old construction site
Loaded a truckload of sand
Laid down sand bed for cactus garden
Planted the grass in the middle of the cactus garden
Trimmed front Rosemary bush
Trimmed front bushes on each side of garage door
Trimmed Red-tipped Photenias by server room window
Trimmed Sage bush near Brian's window
Trimmed bushes on Andy's side of the house
Stored all bush trimmings in both compost bins
Tore down deadwood from Carolina Jasmine (over compost bin)
Repaired broken fence behind compost bin (8 slats and one post)
Filled sand at Sparrow Beach
Filled in sand under pond to keep rats out
couple other things...

in other word - sweated my @ss off all day...

Then the storm blew in --- I opened the front and back door - propped screens to keep dogs from going out. While it rained like mad, the wind blew in amazingly strong gusts right through the house. The rain was coming at an angle that worked out great as only an occasional fine mist would find its way into the house. It was way cool!! I turned off the A/C and let Ma Nature do the cooling. There was a light and sound show as the lightning flashed and the thunder roared.

Very productive day - I got about 10 hours worth of editing work finished too.
- posted by Chris @ 10:51 PM 0 comments

 
The saying is "When it rains, it pours." I might have to agree right now. Well, I got off my @ss and fixed the threshold on my back door. (Kudos to Dave for the assist) After finishing the job off last night and feeling proud of my accomplishment, the snafu bug kicked in. Brian came home and decided to do his laundry. Well, all was normal until I went out to the garage about an hour later to discover, water all over the floor, Brian covered in sweat with tools in hand and my washing machine completely dismantled in front of him.

He told me that when it got to the spin cycle, the engine just hummed and did nothing. Let me just say that I was pleased as punch that for the first time in his stay, when something sounded funny, he did the right thing and shut it off. The same cannot be said for two weed eaters, two vacuums, a drill and a lawnmower - all of which are destroyed through his handling and care.

I get up this morning, intent on trying to figure out the washer, nearly fully resigned to the fact that I will probably have to do my clothes at a laundromat until I can buy a new washer and the other foot drops. My pond is silent as I let the dogs out. Sounds peaceful, huh? Yes, but there should be the sound of running water. Okay so the neighbor cats destroyed the babbling brook, but the pond should still be pumping water. It is silient.

Turns out there is something wrong with the outside electrical outlet. I checked all the fuses and nothing seems to be out. The outlet just doesn't work. As of right now, I have a cord run into the house powering the pump (and probably ruining the seal created by the new door threshold.)

And just when it seemed like it couldn't get any worse... a strange thing happened. It seemed like something from one of those creepy art films... I looked over to the peach tree which had recently been split nearly in half from heavy wind and on the droopy branch sat a perfect white dove. While all the rest of the birds scatter when someone walks outside - this one just sat there. It cocked its head to the side and watched. I know it is stupid, but it sort of gave me a peaceful feeling. I walked up to it and it just sat there. I stuck out my hand with my finger extended under its feet and it seemed frightened at first, but then stepped onto my finger as a perch. After setting him back down on the branch, I went inside to get my camera.

When I returned, he had left my peach tree and was pruning himself in the Green's oak tree. I got this shot off.



Maybe it means nothing, maybe it means that somebody's tame dove got loose. As I watched the dove, I glanced at the ground in the Green's yard and spied the fresh grave of Teddy. (see blog dated 6-9-04) I prefer to think it was Teddy who never got to say goodbye, just swinging by for a visit.
- posted by Chris @ 7:34 AM 0 comments

 
To think I took a night off from my diet and treated myself (and Pennie) to Mexican food at Chuy's only to have it turn out that it sucked! The food was really subpar, the service was unimpressive and had it not been for the fact that I was mystery shopping and it was FREE - I think I would have complained. Instead, I will write my complaint up in the form of my report.

We did discover something really cool about the Chuy's on Westheimer however. The bar is called the Chihuahua Bar and there are hundreds of small framed pictures of dogs belonging to the clientele. What a great marketing idea! Who would not want to return to a bar that had a picture of their dog?

Speaking of pets, I discovered the cause of the leak that has developed at Turtle World. CATS!! Yes, the neighbor cats are apparently trying to get at the mice that live underneath the pond and have succeeded in clawing at the lining enough to pull it away from the side of the pool. Looks like a couple weekend jobs are in order - 1. get rid of the mice - 2. drain the pond down and fix the liner.

Oh well - I have to have something to do around the house while these computers are churning out video segments.
- posted by Chris @ 9:40 AM 0 comments

 
I just heard the most horrible news. One of my best friends in the neighborhood was hit by a car and killed. Teddy was the sweetest dog ever. Sure, dogs are always glad to see people, but there was something special in the way Teddy approached. She was the most loving and bright dog around and brought an instant smile to the face of anyone she touched.




I will miss her terribly as too will everyone in the neighborhood.
- posted by Chris @ 8:02 PM 0 comments

 
Here are the totals for the day: (goal)
Total Calories: 1,603(<2,200)
% Fat: 25%(25-35%)
% Carbohydrates: 45% (45-55%)
% Protein: 30% (15-25%)
Weekly Aerobic points: 4.6 (19/wk)

Did good again on calories, all the percentages hit right on except the protein was a bit high. I am not worried though because I ate fish a couple times today and out of the three, protein is the better one to overdo. I have been super busy again with some video projects and haven't really had time to do much exercis so the aerobic points are suffering.
- posted by Chris @ 11:21 PM 0 comments

 
Here are the totals for the day: (goal)
Total Calories: 1,740(<2,200)
% Fat: 32%(25-35%)
% Carbohydrates: 52% (45-55%)
% Protein: 16% (15-25%)
Weekly Aerobic points: 5.25 (21.3/wk)

All the numbers look pretty good again. I actually ate a USANA bar just a little bit ago just because I felt I didn't have enough calories for the day. I am not really on a diet, but I have lost 12-15 lbs since starting.

I took a bike ride while I was rendering a DVD for a client. I logged a few miles while listening to the Lakers lose game 1 of the NBA Finals to the Pistons. Oh well.

In addition to getting my exercise in, I was able to watch quite a few movies between renders, rips and burns (albeit in 25-40 minute spurts.)



I watched Torque and pretty much got what I expected. Okay, actually I didn't watch all of it - the thing just couldn't hold my attention. Brian wanted to watch it so I put it on my NetFlix list. It steals a lot from The Fast and the Furious. The whole zoom through the engine when the nitrous button is pressed is copied almost identically. In addition, it steals actors and even dialogue from the film in an effort to make it known as the motorcycle version of F&F.

RATING 4 out of 10

I also watched Dancing at the Blue Iguana. It was a convoluted mess that was nearly unwatchable as the storyline made little sense and the actor was way to high tension all the time to be believable. There was no contiguous plot and you were left not caring about any of the characters. The commentary track said that it was shot this way on purpose and the actors were given their character's background and encouraged to make up the dialogue as they went along. It was an interesting experiment in filmmaking, but a valuable lesson in why that is the WRONG way to make a movie.

RATING 4 out of 10

- posted by Chris @ 11:34 PM 0 comments

 
Here are the totals for the day: (goal)
Total Calories: 1,993(<2,200)
% Fat: 32%(25-35%)
% Carbohydrates: 50% (45-55%)
% Protein: 19% (15-25%)
Weekly Aerobic points: 25.57 (19/wk)

Did good again on calories, all the percentages hit right on. I also beat the total for aerobic points. Not a bad day.
- posted by Chris @ 11:11 PM 0 comments

 
A great American and great leader passed away today. Ronald Reagan died at the age of 93.





He was father-figure to a country and despite the media's constant attempts at revisionist history, it's citizens were never more proud to be Americans than when Reagan was President.

Reagan Quotes

"This country was founded and built by people with great dreams and the courage to take great risks." - January 26, 1983

"In America, our origins matter less than our destination, and that is what democracy is all about." - August 17, 1992

"We have every right to dream heroic dreams. Those who say that we're in a time when there are no heroes, they just don't know where to look." - January 20, 1981

"...there is no limit to what a man can do or where he can go if he doesn't mind who gets the credit." - January 21, 1981
- posted by Chris @ 5:53 PM 0 comments

 
Here are the totals for the day: (goal)
Total Calories: 2,216(<2,200)
% Fat: 39%(25-35%)
% Carbohydrates: 37% (45-55%)
% Protein: 24% (15-25%)
Weekly Aerobic points: 25.57 (19/wk)

Calories hit right on the mark, but I was way too high on fat calories. The flounder I had for dinner was a lot higher in fat than I expected. The canoeing and geocaching has done wonders for the weekly aerobic points. The GPS is very cool in that it keeps your speed while walking and tracks your total trip, making it easy to keep track of things.
- posted by Chris @ 11:36 PM 0 comments

 
Well, we had quite an eventful day yesterday. We took the canoe out to Lake Woodlands for a day of paddling, geocaching and fun. We got a whole lot of each. Tony and Allison came up for the day and we got to the lake pretty early. We put in at Northshore Park and seeing that all the grills were full, decided to go find one of the geocaches on our list and hope the grills were open later.



Here we are at our first stop. We paddled just over a half mile to get to the spot and after some brilliant (not really) moves like parking on the wrong bank, unloading, realizing the error, reloading, moving the right bank, and unloading again... we were on our way to the first cache. After some pretty rough searching, (between the 90+ temperature, brambles that ripped flesh from bone and constant fear of snakes) we found the cache.



This in on the trip back to the park. The sun is relentless at this point.



While in the middle of the lake, these ducks made their way over to us. At first they were a bit shy and standoffish, but when the we broke out some treats for them, they became much more friendly.



Back at the park, there were indeed several grills open by now. As you can see, the heat was giving me the "red face" and Tony was just glad to be in the shade and relaxing.



Allison and Pennie looked fine. They worked on the "slaving over a hot grill" thing. Okay, well maybe just Pennie did.



After an excellent lunch, Allison and I wandered off to a cache that was hidden just under 300 feet from the campsite. Here she is holding what is called a microcache. Most caches are larger so that you can find big treasure, these contain primarily just a small log book for you to write that you indeed found it. They are great fun to read sometimes.



We got the bright idea to check out the other end of the lake and paddled another mile in full sun. It took its toll on Tony who didn't drink enough water. There is a nice pagoda at the south end of the lake where we chilled for a while and recuperated from the taxing trip.



At the end of the day, all was well as everyone took a refreshing dip in the cool water. It was a really good ending to a really good day.
- posted by Chris @ 9:30 AM 0 comments