Summer is Over

The leaves are changing color and falling from trees. It's colder out there, too. And Ben is leaving town this morning for Arizona for 2 years to work on an Indian reservation. The last triathlon of the year was on Sunday (the Black Diamond Olympic Tri). It's time to start looking for a job, I guess...


I was not able to compete in the tri due to a bad cold, but I did go down and hang out w/ Ben while he raced and my mom came down too, to keep me company - she's so great. Ben and I have been training together all summer, so I was really bummed to not be able to race together. We even had consecutive numbers.





Ben did awesome tho. His overall ranking was 84/271 for a total time of 2:43:16. He also survived an assault by redneck hillbillies in a pickup truck and running an extra mile due to misinformed race staff! Strong work, Guiney!

Eat the Sandwich

I discovered something interesting today. You know that guy Joe Rogan? He's one of the commentators for the UFC and he was on that Fear Factor show - you may have also seen him on the Chapelle Show. Well I was browsing thru Netflix today and saw that he's a stand up comedian. I ended up watching his show and was impressed. It was really funny. Here's the intro to his show - it's more interesting than comedic...

Onion Videos

Outsourceing child care. Brilliant.

Report: Many U.S. Parents Outsourcing Child Care Overseas

Orcas Island

Kathleen and I celebrated our 3 year wedding anniversary last wkend by going to a little cabin on Orcas. The cabin was only $50 per night and we found out why when we got there. THERE WAS NO BATHROOM. It seems like something that you might disclose to someone before they rent from you, but I guess not. Anyways, it had a charming little outhouse, no really, it WAS charming, and we had a great stay. The weather was perfect and we ate amazing meals every day, since we were saving $$ on the accommodations. And we saw lots of wildlife.

Here's our little deck and pre-breakfast treats.

View from the cafe at Doe Bay. We went back at night to sneak into their nude hot tubs. Some folks actually had the nerve to wear clothes, if you can believe that.

We drove up Mt. Constitution for an amazing 360 view.

Kathleen tamed wild dear with her charm and good natured spirit.

Did a little hike and found some monster old school trees.

We went for a couple bike rides and encountered some really steep uphills. Due to the restrictions of Kathleen's "comfort bike" design, she was not able to pedal straight up hill (that's right we're blaming it on the bike) so we tied the two bikes together with my sweatshirt and I towed her up the hills.

We had much good food, but were particularly impressed with our final breakfast at Chez Chloe. I had Steak and Eggs with wilted arugula and Kath had Crepes with pomegranate baked apple inside.

Whitey on the Moon

You've heard the song, or at least the title, "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised", right?
Well this is the same guy - Gil Scott-Heron
Someone put some imagery to the song...

Chief Sealth Pulls No Punches

This is supposed to be a speech from the Chief to a Seattle audience. It suffered thru 2 rounds of translation, so it's probably not accurate, but it's still a great read. He pretty much hits the nail on the head as far as the ways of the white man and how he treats the land, and he has some great insights and words of wisdom...

Chief Sealth, 1854 “How can you buy or sell the sky, the warmth of the land? The idea is strange to us. If we do not own the freshness of the air and sparkle of the water, how can you buy them? Every part of this earth is sacred to my people. Every shining pine needle, every sandy shore, every mist in the dark woods, every clearing and humming insect is holy in the memory and experience of my people. The sap which courses through the trees carries the memories of the red man. The white man’s dead forget the country of their birth when they go to walk among the stars. Our dead never forget this beautiful earth, for it is the mother of the red man. We are part of the earth and it is part of us. The perfumed flowers are our sisters; the deer, the horse, the great eagle, these are our brothers. The rocky crests, the juices in the meadows, the body heat of the pony, and man—all belong to the same family. So, when the Great Chief in Washington sends word that he wishes to buy land, he asks much of us. The Great Chief sends word he will reserve us a place so that we can live comfortably to ourselves. He will be our father and we will be his children. So we will consider your offer to buy our land. But it will not be easy. For this land is sacred to us. This shining water that moves in the streams and rivers is not just water but the blood of our ancestors. If we sell you land, you must remember that it is sacred, and you must teach your children that it is sacred and that each ghostly reflection in the clear water of the lakes tells of events and memories in the life of my people. The water’s murmur is the voice of my father’s father. The rivers are our brothers, they quench our thirst. The rivers carry our canoes, and feed our children. If we sell you our land, you must remember, and teach your children, that the rivers are our brothers, and yours, and you must henceforth give the rivers the kindness you would give any brother. We know that the white man does not understand our ways. One portion of land is the same to him as the next, for he is a stranger who comes in the night and takes from the land whatever he needs. The earth is not his brother, but his enemy, and when he has conquered it, he moves on. He leaves his father’s graves behind, and he does not care. He kidnaps the earth from his children, and he does not care. His father’s grave, and his children’s birthright, are forgotten. He treats his mother, the earth, and his brother, the sky, as things to be bought, plundered, sold like sheep or bright beads. His appetite will devour the earth and leave behind only a desert. I do not know. Our ways are different from your ways. The sight of your cities pains the eyes of the red man. But perhaps it is because the red man is a savage and does not understand. There is no quiet place in the white man’s cities. No place to hear the unfurling of leaves in spring, or the rustle of an insect’s wings. But perhaps it is because I am a savage and do not understand. The clatter only seems to insult the ears. And what is there to life if a man cannot hear the lonely cry of the whippoorwill or the arguments of the frogs around a pond at night? I am a red man and do not understand. The Indian prefers the soft sound of the wind darting over the face of a pond, and the smell of the wind itself, cleaned by a midday rain, or scented with the pinion pine. The air is precious to the red man, for all things share the same breath—the beast, the tree, the man, they all share the same breath. The white man does not seem to notice the air he breathes. Like a man dying for many days, he is numb to the stench. But if we sell you our land, you must remember that the air is precious to us, that the air shares its spirit with all the life it supports. The wind that gave our grandfather his first breath also receives his last sigh. And if we sell you our land, you must keep it apart and sacred, as a place where even the white man can go to taste the wind that is sweetened by the meadow’s flowers. So we will consider your offer to buy our land. If we decide to accept, I will make one condition: The white man must treat the beasts of this land as his brothers. I am a savage and I do not understand any other way. I’ve seen a thousand rotting buffaloes on the prairie, left by the white man who shot them from a passing train. I am a savage and I do not understand how the smoking iron horse can be more important than the buffalo that we kill only to stay alive. What is man without the beasts? If all the beasts were gone, man would die from a great loneliness of spirit. For whatever happens to the beasts, soon happens to man. All things are connected. You must teach your children that the ground beneath their feet is the ashes of your grandfathers. So that they will respect the land, tell your children that the earth is rich with the lives of our kin. Teach your children what we have taught our children, that the earth is our mother. Whatever befalls the earth befalls the sons of the earth. If men spit upon the ground, they spit upon themselves. This we know: The earth does not belong to man; man belongs to the earth. This we know. All things are connected like the blood which unites one family. All things are connected. Whatever befalls the earth befalls the sons of the earth. Man did not weave the web of life: he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself. Even the white man, whose God walks and talks with him as friend to friend, cannot be exempt from the common destiny. We may be brothers after all. We shall see. One thing we know, which the white man may one day discover, our God is the same God. You may think now that you own Him as you wish to own our land; but you cannot. He is the God of man, and His compassion is equal for the red man and the white. This earth is precious to Him, and to harm the earth is to heap contempt on its Creator. The whites too shall pass; perhaps sooner than all other tribes. Contaminate your bed, and you will one night suffocate in your own waste. But in your perishing you will shine brightly, fired by the strength of God who brought you to this land and for some special purpose gave you dominion over this land and over the red man. That destiny is a mystery to us, for we do not understand when the buffalo are all slaughtered, the wild horses are tamed, the secret corners of the forest heavy with scent of many men, and the view of the ripe hills blotted by talking wires.”

Aero Bars

You know how there are some things kick ass? and then there are some things that totally kick ass? Well these new aero bars totally kick ass. They get you low and aerodynamic and they're really comfortable, too. I rode 24 miles the other day and averaged 20.2 mph, which is pretty good for me. The funny thing that I noticed, too, was that now I'm in the unofficial aero bar club. Other guys going by w/ bars would nod or give the little hand raise, silently saying "cool dude, you're one of us now..."



And what bumped these bars into the totally kick ass catagory is that they were amazingly cheap. Ben turned me onto the deal (as he bought the same bars) at Performance Cycle. There was a 15% store wide sale and I think they were mis-marked on top of that, so we ended up getting them for around $25. That's easily 50 to 75% cheaper than any other bars out there.