Minute Maid Commercial

This had me laughing out loud and rewinding to watch again.

What Happened to Ben Harper?

Over the years, I have given Ben Harper plenty of my money and time. I was first introduced to him in the mid-90's when I started going to the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival and have been following him around periodically since. I have followed him through each new album and venture, from picking up the Innocent Criminals to the Blinds Boys of Alabama and now this new phase with the Relentless 7.

Each album created a new persona for Ben Harper, but it was still uniquely him. This new album and band seem far more removed from those previous standards. From articles that I have read about the direction he is heading, he wanted to turn towards a more stripped down rock 'n roll feel, although there are elements of that scattered throughout his previous records from Welcome to the Cruel World to Both Sides of the Gun. This new album lacks the soul and biting lyrical phrasing that made him appealing to large groups of diverse fans.

My wife and I are both graduates of Auburn University and have since moved back to that area. We found out that Ben Harper and the Relentless 7 were going to be performing a free concert for the students of the university. I did not give it much credence, but my wife was insistent that we go. She had seen him once a few years ago and instantly connected with his music. She knew very little of his song library at the time but was hooked from the first couple songs. I had already previewed the new album and kinda knew what it was going to be like, but I wanted my wife to be happy. So, we got student ID's and tickets from our nanny and her fiancee and headed to Beard Eaves.

They played songs only off the new albums with very little typical Ben Harper flair. It was only in the encore that the crowd that was left in the Coliseum really got into his cover of "Under Pressure." The Relentless 7 looked like a cookie-cutter house band, with their standard issue jeans, button up oxford shirts, and shaggy hair. They all looked like Bill Heder, from SNL, clones. They were not in sync, came in at wrong time, and had odd, almost corny, solos. The drummer spend more time bouncing up and down on his stool and throwing drum sticks up in the air than he did connecting with the guitarist, bassist and Ben. I felt like Ben still had something to prove to himself that he could take a mediocre band, at best, pull them under his wing, and build them (and this album) into something there are not.........good. That would be the motivation behind not playing any relatively known Ben Harper songs. It just feel short of the mark, and I was not the only one to notice. I made sure to veil my ho-hum sentiment until my wife spoke out first, and she confirmed it. No connection.

There was a limit of 8000 FREE tickets available. On the day of the event, our nanny went to pickup our ticket and it was around number 4500. I don't think there were that many that showed up, and I would guess that were only 2500 there for the encore. I am sticking by Ben Harper, but I am ready to sweep this itch that he had under the rug.

Photo from musicremedy.com and graphics from thescenestar.typepad.com

Raising Cole

Raising Cole: Developing Life's Greatest Relationship, Embracing Life's Greatest Tragedy: A Father's Story by Marc Pittman

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
This was a very good book for me to read right now, and I sincerely thank my friend Stan for recommending..insisting that I read it. My wife and I have two 2 year old boys at home.

Although my upbringing was not as rough as Cole's father, Marc Pittman, I struggle with trying to identify and remedy areas in which my parents fell short and replicate the love that was shown to me. This book is heart breaking to listen to him talk about how invested he was in his son and then lose him. It goes to show that our days are numbered and that we have to do the best with who we and what we have to offer.

This is a very honest book about everything that the author was going through. At times, it was heart-felt, it was brutal, it was arrogant, it was direct and to the point, and it showed the greatest love of all. The last few chapters had me glued to the binding, and there was no way I was putting it down before finishing it. I really enjoyed his descriptions on the "Dead Man's Talk" and can see that being something that I will adopt into my relationship with my sons.

It was hard for me growing up to really connect verbally to my parents and build that since of trust that no matter what I told them was proprietary between them and me.

View all my reviews.

Race Day, Part 2

Now in the heart of downtown Nashville, we made the break from the half marathoners on the circle around the Tennessee State Capitol Building. We began a long, slow climb up our next out-and-back route following Rosa Parks Blvd. heading towards the Metrocenter area. This part of the route was one of the less scenic parts of the entire day. It was very industrial and very gritty.

It was only until we were on the northwest end of the Metrocenter area that the route turned to show us vistas of another Nashville landmark…The Cumberland River. For the next 2 miles, we ran along an elevate footpath that looked to be a part of some “Rails to Trails” project. There were steep banks on both sides of the path, with one side being the river and the other being an industrial park. There was only one area on the trail that had spectators and no water stations. I just keep looking to my right, admiring the river and greenery that tried to hide the rock-faced cliffs. You could barely see the downtown area to the right. Although the area was lacking in crowds, it was nice to have a few miles without the fanfare. It was more like a normal weekend run I would have at home.

The peacefulness did not last long as we made our return trip south on Rosa Parks Blvd to join back up with the half marathoners around the State Capital. If there was a confusing part to the route, this was it. Half-way through mile 19, we were again running alongside the hoards of half-marathon runners. Over the next mile, our paths were overlaid but were sprinkled with turnoff they would take before rejoining us on our path over the Woodland Street Bridge. This is where we got out first glimpse at LP Field where the race concluded for all of us.

The half marathon runners only had1/2 mile to go, but we would have to stick it out for another 10k. The joy that I had felt when I first saw LP Field quickly dissipated as we began to weave our way through more neighborhoods to our final loop around Shelby Park. Although I was in serious pain at this point and doing an alternating run/walk combo, this was one of the most scenic parts of the route. On one side we had the Riverview Golf Course and Shelby Park and on the other side was the Cumberland River again.

Now on our final leg, we headed down Davidson Street and passed under Interstate 24. As we rounded the corner and started heading straight towards the southern end of LP Field, I got my first glimpse at my wife that I had kissed good-bye at 5:30 a.m. that morning. Her and our other friends started yelling out my name. I looked at them and all I could do was shake my head. I actually found a little kick for the last quarter of a mile and pulled into the finish area in 4:19:39.

Race Day, Part 1

There was no other word for it than hot. The official high for the day was 87 degrees, which was a record high for the tenth edition of the race. The winner, Kenya’s Amos Matui that finished in 2:13:41, could have lapped me twice. I was happy to survive the hilly course under those conditions in 4:19:39. Tragically, one young man did not survive the event (more on that in a future post).

I arrived as close as I could get to the start of the race on West End Ave. at 5:30 a.m. and kissed my wife good bye as I headed towards Centennial Park. As I walked down West End Ave., the corral numbers kept falling in descending order, 29, 28, 27, 26….so on and so on. I was in corral number 4, obviously a little optimistic after coming off a good showing at my first marathon. I finally made it down to the park to drop my clothes off, stretch, warm-up, and make one final trip to the portable toilet before the race start. The bag drop off was well organize and manage by UPS. I had zero problems with drop off or pick up. By 6:15 a.m., the crowds really began to pick up. They could have put an additional 500 portable toilets in and around the park, and there still would not have been enough. After stretching and going for a warm up run, I ended up waiting in line for 20 minutes to use the bathroom. The wheelchair athletes were taking off while I was still in line.

The enforcement of the corral assignments was laughable. There were people from every corral down the line in a group with me. I could not even actually get into the corral until groups 1 and 2 left. Then, we were able to move our way into place and make the march up to the starting line. With the horn, we headed down West End Ave. as it passed by Vanderbilt University and turned into Broadway. Along the way we passed many famed Nashville landmarks, including the impressive Union Station Building, the Sommet Center, making the turn at the Gaylord Entertainment Center and coming back around in front of the Country Music Hall of Fame.

We then headed towards and out & back route down Music Square and Belmont Ave to a small loop past Interstate 440. This was the most scenic and shaded part of the entire course. Being a builder, I enjoyed the Tudor cottages and classic bungalows that lined the streets. Large oaks, maples, and poplars shrouded the sun as best they could. This helped mask the full effect of the hills in this section of the route. There were also large numbers of fans that turned out for this part of the courses, mixed in with the variety of bands that were stationed every couple of miles. As you can tell, I was pretty upbeat during the first 10 miles.

We made our way back into downtown, along the railroad tracks adjacent to the old Union Station Building again. You could still see people on the overpasses waving us on. The aid station people were top notch. The Cyto-max was in clearly marked cups, the water in water cups, and the Vaseline-on-a-stick was ready for places that were rubbing. As we made our way up onto Rosa Parks Blvd., the ½ marathoners were still with us until they made their turn off at Harrison St. on their way to glory at mile 11.5. For the rest of us, there was another 14.7 miles to go.

Also, check out the service by Garmin/MotionBased to give you elevation charts, 3D maps, and Google Earth view.

Photo from www.cmmarathon.com

Country Music Marathon Expo

We made it back yesterday from our weekend at the Country Music Marathon in Nashville. It was a good, tough weekend. I wanted to take the next week to review a few aspects of the race festivities. Since there is no better place to start than at the beginning, I will begin with the Race Expo on Friday.

The Expo was held at the Nashville Convention Center just off the downtown Broadway Street area and right across from the Ryman Auditorium. My wife and I decided to head up there early to avoid the bulk of the crowds, and we were glad that we did. We arrived not long after they opened at 11 a.m. and found no real lines to speak of. From the way the Convention Center was set up, you could tell of what was to come later in the day, with over 30,000 runners and 50,000 total visitors expected. They had plenty of security and event personnel on site ready to help and had the entrance weaving around to manage the expected crowds.

Once you entered to hall, there was a large area just for receiving your race number. There was an area for chip solutions and changing your corrals (although on race day this was useless). From there you proceed to the next station to pick up your event t-shirts, half-marathoners to one side and full-marathoners to the other. Next, you picked up your race bag/packet and headed off to the largest single-purpose area in the exhibit hall…The Official Merchandise Zone. We looked around for a little bit, but everything was way overpriced and a little too self-indulgent for a low-key guy like me. Besides, I’ll just wait until after the event when they mark everything down on the web site.

Finally, we moved along into the vendor area. This put my, most recent, first marathon expo to shame. My first marathon expo was held on the ground floor of the local Hilton Garden Inn in Albany, GA. With a higher caliber event, there comes a higher caliber expo. Just about every major shoe and clothing manufacturer was present, including Asics, Brooks, New Balance, Mizuno, Sugio, 2XU, etc. There were also numbers of vendors selling discounted clothing, nutritional products, running accessories and everything else under the sun. We ingested our fill of the samples, got some cards and flyers for items I want to check out online when we got home, and slowly meandered our way through the maze. All in all, there was little I couldn’t live without.

We made our way towards the exits and headed to Broadway to eat at a Bar-B-Q place there called Jack’s that a friend recommended. It was very good, as we should have known by the long line to get in the place. Without our bellies full and our feet tired, we went back to where we were staying to cat nap and watch some NFL draft previews.

Graphics from www.cmmarathon.com

The Hidden Key

My last post had me thinking back on something that happened at the Albany Marathon that I ran a couple months ago. At the time, it was quite nerve racking, but in the end, it turned out the be a much more embarrassing situation.

Before the race, I place my car key on the rear tire of my car. I could not carry it in either of my short's pockets since they both had gel packs in them. The race went fine, and I headed back to the car to wash off and change clothes. With my pockets now empty, I decided to put the key in the outside pocket of my shorts. I headed back down to the area along the river where all the post-race activities were going on. About half-way down the path back, I heard a "ping-ping." The key had worked its way out of my pocket and onto the asphalt. Now, this has happened in the past while I was running but never when just walking around.

After this, I decided to put the key in the inside pocket of my shorts. I proceeded to walk around, checking out the other runners coming in, trying to eat and rehydrate, watching the awards presentations, etc. All in all, I walked around for around 1 1/2 hours before I was ready to pack it in and make the 2 hour ride home. I reached for my key...nothing.

At first, I did not panic. I rechecked both pockets and tried to retrace my steps. Then, the reality of the situation set in. For you see, this was not only the sole key that I had with me...it was the only key to the vehicle that existed. This was my company car that I had put off getting duplicate keys made for over the last 9 months that I have been employed by my current company. So, back to the story.

I tried retracing my steps for well over an hour. At this point, I was full on FREAKING OUT. I start weighing my options. Do I call my wife to come pick me up (my phone was in the car), do I just leave it there or get it towed, or do I keep looking? I decided to find the race director and ask if there was a lost and found. No lost and found. There was no news from her that anyone had found a key at any point in time. I gave her my phone number and address, in case it was found.

CONCLUSION: I tried giving the grounds another once over...what else was I going to do. This was a good 2 hours since I decided I was ready to leave. Being male, I reached down to adjust myself. I felt something hard and it was not me. I said a quick prayer, opened up the waistband of my shorts, moved my manhood to the side and out popped the key. How could I not have felt it down there. I felt like such an idiot. I wanted to kiss that key but quickly thought better of it. I quickly headed back to the car and got out of there.

graphics from www.snickersmarathonenergybarmarathon.com

Nashville Bound

My wife and I are heading to Nashville tomorrow for the Country Music Marathon. I will be running in my second marathon ever. I ran my first almost two months ago. The Snickers Marathon Bar Albany Marathon had only a thousand runners. At that time, it was the largest event in which I had ever participated. It was a good flat course and a good temperature, but it was literally 100% humidity with zero precipitation.

The Country Music Marathon seems overwhelming even before I even show up to the starting corral. Besides there being 26,000 runners to navigate, 50 bands stationed around the course, and endless numbers of spectators, there is an mountain of paper work. I have a folder filled with maps, confirmation sheets, shuttle schedules, parking instructions, timing chip instructions and a final information packet.

It has been hard to recover from my first marathon, start building back mileage for this race, and then taper back down to make sure that I am rested enough. I have been doing a lot more cross training during my time between races. I have really started putting some significant miles on the bike and made my first visit to the pool Tuesday morning. All of this is looking forward to my first triathlon at the end of May. It is a modest sprint distance, but you have to start somewhere.

Also, this will be my last race in my Nike Max Moto +5 shoes. They have been a good shoe but I have run the soles off. I will have to see how they look after another 26.2 miles. Finally, here is a map of the race course. From what I understand it is different from last year but still has some scenic views and a great finish at LP Field.


photos and graphics from www.cmmarathon.com.

Running Avenue

Here is my first post on my new blog. I created this blog as an extension of our family's blog, Two By Two By Two, in order to share some items in my life that didn't really fit with the format of what we are trying to do there. As much of a mission statement as a blog can have, I want to discuss not only running, triathlon, and cycling event, gear reviews, etc, but also share with you books that I've read, web sites that I use, general life lessons, and elicit advice from all of you.