checking in before bed.

I was going to head off to slumberland without a post for the day, but
figured that it was due time for an update. After discussing Duane's
psychotic It's A Small World feat on the Hugh Hewitt show for a minute
or so on Thursday, I finished up degreasing and lubing the bikes and
taking them out for test runs. There's nothing better than the
near-silent click of a shift that you just made a bit easier. I've
never understood wanting to make something louder... most of the time
on the bike the object is to make things quieter. I guess I'll never
be a motorcyclist.

Ang and I watched Robin Williams' The Final Cut after running
some errands this afternoon. It's always interesting watching films
that step to the side of traditional sci-fi stereotypes. Sleek metal
computers gave way to hand carved wooden computers in this film. The
"guillotine" as the editor was called in the movie was a gorgeous
piece of equipment. Two large jog dials on either side of the counsel
made out of polished metal and three 20" or so LCDs with frames carved
out of Oak. I'd kill for an edit station like that at work. In a way,
it's almost a fetish object the way the production designers
meticulously pieced these systems together.

Hollywood Video had 3 for 25 DVDs again so we picked up the
aforementioned The Final Cut along with Metallica:Some Kind of Monster
(which, even though I'm not a big fan, heard was amazing), Sky Captain
(which I kept meaning to buy, but couldn't pass up at $8) and then Ang
grabbed a copy of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. It's not
my cup of tea, but she has the other two and wanted to add it to the
collection.

At the end of our errands, we swung past Movie Trading Company and
they had a big batch of new 'no cover DVDs' so we made a sweep through
the selection.

The haul from that?
Samurai Fiction
That Thing You Do
Superman III
Sleeping Beauty (Disney 2disc)
Pitch Black unrated Collectors Edition
The Chronicles of Ridding unrated Collectors Edition
Equilibrium
and last but not least Footloose.

earlier in the week we had picked up Flashdance in the $5.50 bin at
WalMart, so maybe we'll need to have an 80s dance marathon tomorrow
night. Tie that in with The Company (Robert Altman's movie about a
Chicago ballet company) and it's been a week of dance. Now if only I
KNEW how to dance. I don't know how, but it hasn't stopped me.

Hugh thinks that triathlon is a fever. I guess it is. Though of all of
the alliance members, I'm probably the one who has the fever the
least. There's a certain amount of energy a Iron-Virgin has that goes
away over time. It doesn't mean that the goal is appreciated less,
it's just appreciated differently. It's kind of like growing up I
guess.

Anyway, I'm blathering on. I can't find the quote in Hugh's book IN,
BUT NOT OF, but i seem to remember that at one point he talks about
moderation in exercise. Oh wait, I found it.

I have run for twenty-five years, and can't imagine not
running for as long as the knees hold out. Sometimes, when training
for a marathon, for example, I'll spend six or seven hours a week
training, but mostly I get in three or four hours a week on the road.
This is about what the balanced life requires - an average of a half
hour of exercise a day.

But I cannot understand ultra-marathoners or compulsive trainers. I
cannot see the advantage of three hours a day int he gym, or every
weekend spent scaling rocks. And the whole idea of eco-challenge is
just silly navel gazing.

There are serious things to accomplish, and they are before each human
being. You choose to do them, or you choose to do other things. A love
of adventure is a choice to do things for yourself. It is almost
always a poor choice that cannot be reversed because of the
expenditure of time that is involved. Those who would influence the
world cannot afford wasted time. Keep Rich's message in mind. Skip the
cliff swinging and focus on real challenges.

There my friends is the argument. The argument I would even have to
admit, is not specious in the slightest. That said, I don't know that
it's entirely true. While training is oft times a solo thing, I can't
even begin to tell you how many people I've connected with through
this solo sport. Social networks can develop anywhere. Hugh talks
about spending your allotment of time carefully, and he's right. But
sometimes the best way up the building is to throw the ladder around
the back instead of climbing the stairs. The answer to which path to
take is ours. I think there are calls on ones life that need to be
answered, but there are also choices that we can make with the rest of
our time and while on the surface they might look foolish, they just
take longer to develop into legitimate cause and effects. I want to
delve into this furthur, but I'm falling asleep at the computer.

More tomorrow... err I mean later today. :-)