Chad's spot for various thoughts, musings, poetry, ideas and whatnot

Saturday, November 17, 2007

Just a short rant here.

The lastest set of Hyundai Christmas commercials just fries my hinder. I want to go beat an ad executive. I want to flog someone at Hyundai for greenlighting the ads. I want to chastize the networks who sold the time. I might even want to berate and speak sharply to the actors who participated in this atrocity. OK, maybe atrocity is too strong a word better reserved for ethnic cleansing and Lou Dobbs' political speeches/editorial posts but the ads are an affront in my mind.

I understand that not everyone wants to celebrate Christmas. There are those who would rather think of the season in terms of some non-Christian framework and I have no problem with them doing that. Never-the-less, I don't know anyone who generally thinks it' a good idea to associate this time of year, when we're all trying our best to think good thoughts, focus on our and others better nature and give the idea of peace and good will more than a passing glance, with stupidity.

Yet, in my eyes, that's what Hyundai's "Duh" ad campaign does. It's just offensive to me. Downright offensive. Car commercials are annoying anyways with their, "If you really loved that special someone, you'd drop $30,000 on a big shiny example of conspicuous consumption," but this goes that extra mile towards abject crassness. I get the point, "Buying a Hyundai is so obviously the right choice that you'd be dumb not to do it," but that's not the message a company should associate with this time of year. If you want to do it around New Years' Day or following while people are striving to do the better thing, OK; but don't dress folks up in some parody of a church choir and have them mock traditional carols by singing them with the single word, "Duh."

Hyundai, if any of your execs are reading this (and Lord knows they should be-it being the fount of wisdom that it is) know one thing. I'm going to be looking at buying a car in the the not too distant future. Your vehicles were on the "to be considered list". I'll now not be doing business with your company. I no longer care that you've been building factories here in the south bringing much need jobs to a region hit hard by the loss of manufacturing jobs to overseas outsourcing. All I'm going to remember is your stupid ad campaign and it's absolute tastelessness.

That is all, you may now return to your regularly scheduled programming.

The Physicist   Link Me    |

Well, today turned out to be a super active day, which is a good thing. It also seems to continue a pattern in the winter months of combining riding and hiking which I think I could really get to like.

The day started with the usual weekly excursion with the Pain Train. We're slowly building up our distance and today was the first metric century. We did roads I was mostly familiar with though one section I hadn't done in the direction we did it. That section, which includes four leg burner climbs (followed by breakneck descents-steriod rollers I call them), was definitely easier the way we went today. Things were mostly flat with a couple a big climb sections. I definitely felt better than last week and while I still can't climb with the best riders in the group, I certainly did better. I also got a couple of chances to practice my time trialing skills with the group gapping me after a pee stop and someone later letting a gap open up during the attack zone. I had no problem holding a 170+ heart rate for long stretches and there was a good climbing section where I sat at 181 for a good 2 minutes, dropped to 172 to recover and then did it again. For the first time in a while I actually seemed to be sort of enjoying the suffering which was very cool. I really do seem to need these group rides to get me to train hard.

After the ride I came home, did a few things and then went on a hiking date with my wife at a local state park. While we don't have spectacular colors here, what fall color we do have was certainly on display on the trail today. It really was lovely. We took the two puppies on the hike and they discovered that they are trial dogs. Made the hike a little more vigorous than I wanted but that was OK. This is the second time I've done the bike-n-hike combo and I have to say that I like it. I think I spent four hours today doing something that really got my heart rate up and I'm guessing I burned about 3000 extra calories. I probably should have eaten and drank a bit more on the hike but other than that it was really great. I think we're planning on another jaunt in a couple of weeks, weather permitting.

The next week looks pretty promising on the training front. While I hesitate to say that I'll have a great training block because it always seems like something spoils it when I do, the schedule and the weather are looking good. Finding that I seem to be coming into some form is helping as well. Nothing is harder than a long training ride where you can tell that your legs just don't care anymore. We'll be travelling to LA for the holiday so I'll get the added bonus of some not quite so familiar roads to spur my training.

I hope your weekend has gotten off to as good a start as mine has. Thanks for reading.

The Physicist   Link Me    |

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Over the last couple of months there has been a steady trickle of news about Major League Baseball players and NFL players that have been found to be using steriods and/or human growth hormones. When I hear the national media (drunken slobbery hacks that they are) talk about these offenses they sort of downplay them as minor violations or they say that the relative leagues are taking "appropriate measures" to punish the offenders.

My response to this is: what a load of crap!

if these guys were participants in an olympic sport governed by WADA they'd have gotten a two year vacation without pay. Shawn Merriman would still be cooling his heals at home. Richard Seymour's career would be over. About half of the pro baseball players would be looking at stocking groceries at the SaveMart. Just having their names associated with these fake doctors (or at least dentists with suspended medical licenses) and "anti-aging" clinics would be enough to get them removed from their teams and suspended from competition.

I'm sick of the double standard. Either reveal that most of the big money sports are about as credible as pro-wrestling or clean it up. If you look at the number and types of injuries in pro football, it's pretty clear that steriod and HGH use are rampant. Muscle tears on simple tackles are almost always a result of more muscle mass than can be sustained. Why do college seniors need a month or more to prepare for the NFL Combine? Why do they have separate "pro days?" It allows you to plan your drug enhanced proformance peak for the exact conditions without having to hide your injections for two or three days.

And don't even get me started on the NBA.

I love sports. I hate cheating. I want to believe in something in sports as inspiring but I don't. Every time I see an incredible play in an NFL game I think...drugs...

At least in cycling there's still the purity of suffering.

I have to go now; my glass is half empty.

The Physicist   Link Me    |

Saturday, November 10, 2007

Ouch!

The attack zone last wwek was low rollers. This week is was a 4 mile long, hard stairstep climb. Once again I spiked the heart rate over 185 a couple of times. What doesn't kill me...

I didn't feel that good going down to Tarmac and when we began our ride south and east of the city I spent the first 10 miles feeling like I might puke. After that things settled down a bit as the route flattened out quite a bit and we got into a rhythm pushing the big ring around. I took a couple of pulls at the front. I probably shouldn't have as I was feeling yucky but I just can't draft other guys all day. I felt like I had some power on the flats which was good but not so much once we got to the hills at mile 35. That's OK, the hill power will come later in the training season.

So, the rest of the day will likely consist of sleep and rest. My wife has a real whopper of a cold and I'm doing everything I can to not get it. Either today's ride will crash my immune system and I'll succumb or it'll burn this thing out. Some rest will help though.

Thanks for Reading.

The Physicist   Link Me    |

Thursday, November 08, 2007

From: NFL Coaches Association

To: Don Shula and Loudmouth Sports Media Pundits

Re: SHUT UP!!!

Dear Sirs, Madams and Scuzzy, Whiskey-Soaked Media Hacks,

While we, the collected head football coaches of the teams of the No Fun League (otherwise known as the National Football League), understand your desire to express yourselves on all topics related to our great game, it has come to our attention that you occasionally feel the need to talk about the New England Patriots, our estranged colleague Bill Belichek and the validity of a possible 19-0 season for the aforementioned two entities. Please cease and desist this practice at once. We mean it. Right now. Don't write, say or unintelligibly mumble another word.

To date, your unrestrained questioning of the accomplishments of the team and their coach has led to unmitigated suffering on the part of us, our players, our fans and our lame, fuzzy mascots. As has been noted by the United Nations Council on Human Rights Abuses, the Patriots and their recent winning streak has caused misery only surpassed in the history of sports by that game the Incas used to play where they kicked a human head around in an attempt not to be the next team sacrificed to the angry gods at the next solar eclipse. And it's all your fault.

Your continued need to raise issues about the team seems only lead them to want to grind the rest of us into powder with which they will chalk their field. While Coach Shula has certainly earned the right to comment on the state of the game today, his words have only been a cause for grave concern on our behalf (in other words, they may well lead us to our graves). In response to the coach's criticism of the team, one Patriots linebacker has indicated that he will answer said aspersions by playing harder. We can only view this with alarm and abject fear. Our ticket sellers have begun reporting that the crowd at the sales line window looks more like medieval mob coming to cheer on an execution than a group of loyal fans gathering to cheer on their team.

So, for the love of God, stop. Please. We're begging you. We'll ship you all the liquor you need to drown the voices in your heads if you'll just agree to put down your pens and step away from your microphones. Failing that, we can't held responsible if five or six steroid crazed practice squad players were to find your home on Google maps and decide to help you with your next column or fake interview.

The Physicist   Link Me    |

Tuesday, November 06, 2007

Well, it sounds like more bad news from Salt Lake. While we're still waiting for the test results to come back to confirm the initial diagnosis, it looks like my Dad suffered a heart attack sometime late last week that has done damage to the heart muscle. In a way I've been worrying about this since my Mom died. Everyone has heard of the case where a person followed a spouse in death within a few months. Well, this is an old wives' tale that actually has some basis behind it fr4om what I understand. Due to the stress of losing a loved one and adjust to a new life, it is more common for the widow or widower to suffer from heart attacks and strokes and the general population.

I'm not sure if this is what happened with my Dad but I do know that he's been under a good deal of stress of late. Not so much from my Mom's death (maybe) but from having to deal with his in-laws who haven't exactly handled it all very well. I've been fearful that something might happen to him now that he's alone with no one to check up on him. Fortunately my brother checked in on him and he complained of shortness of breath, nausea and chest pains. Chris talked him into going to calling the nurse line and that got him sent to a doctor's office. I'm very thankful that this wasn't the massive heart attack I've sort of feared he would suffer. He's smoked for the last 50 years and weighs about 150 lbs more than he should.

The results are due back tomorrow and I'll check in on him then to find out the results and to see how he's doing. I have to say this raised a lot of issues for me. I really don't like that he's out there all by himself with no one to check in on him. I keep wondering if I should think about looking for a job out there and moving in with him. I'm not sure I want to live in Salt Lake but I'm torn about how to handle this. Maybe I should build something onto my house here to care for him or build a "father-in-law's" place here. I'm pretty sure he wouldn't move down here if we asked him to but I'm wondering about it.

Anyways, please keep Hank in your prayers if that's the sort of thing you do.

Thanks and thanks for reading.

The Physicist   Link Me    |

Saturday, November 03, 2007

OK...so today was the first Peach Peleton ride. The Peach Peleton rides are supposed to be Saturday long, steady distance (LSD) rides where a group of us from around the region sort of spin through central Georgia at around 18 or 19 miles an hour and build our base. After Christmas the rides get longer and harder as we move into "Tempo" miles. My usual preparation for the PP rides is to not eat the night before and on the morning. I drink a little extra caffeine to promote fat burning and then I ride for three hours at around 70-75% of my max heart rate. Given that this was the first one, I was looking forward to spinning and chatting with some guys I haven't seen in a long time.

We've got a pretty diverse group with a few 50+ triathletes (that seem to actually know how to ride in a group), a few of us 40ish psuedogeezers, several 30 somethings and finally a 17 year old who rides for the US Junior National Team (he spent two weeks in Europe late in the summer). A couple of guys are Cat 1/2 and the rest of us are strong Cat 4s so it's an interesting and fun mix. When things get a little faster after the year turns the goal for us slower older guys is to try and hang on to the fast guys' wheels when the attack zones start.

So I head down to Tarmac (my name for Macon) this morning looking forward to a great ride and as we gathered in the parking lot, Chad, the ride organizer, says that the plan has changed. Uh-oh, I think. Did he say there would be an attack zone? Oh no. I haven't eaten for this. Maybe they'll take it easy until then but I have my doubts. When people say attack zone it has a way of energizing things. Still, the weather was perfect and I was looking forward to my first group ride in about six months.

My fears were well founded. What was supposed to be an 18.5 mph ride ended up being a 20.5 mph ride. I spiked my heart rate to over 185 several times on hills. There was one time when the HR monitor read 194. Given that I'm 41 that's way over what my max should be. By the attack zone I was cooked and starving and so I sat up. Still there were some of the hardest hills on the route and I had to slog up those. Yikes!

Still, I had a great time and it was great to see the guys again. Best of all, no dizziness. Now I'll spend the most of the upcoming week recovering so that I can do it again next Saturday.

Thanks for Reading

The Physicist   Link Me    |

Friday, November 02, 2007

Ok, so I'm not usually into the whole celebrity news thing. I could care less what ET or the TMZ or People or whatever are saying. Usually I make fun of the celeb rags that sit next to the National Enquirer in the grocery store as a way to amuse the check out girls and embarrass my wife (try it some time...it's really fun). However, a fellow cyclist brought me a piece of news that has stained my brain and made me wish I had some "thought bleach" so that I could sort of scrub the image out of my head:

Lance and Ashley Olsen???????? Making out in a restaurant?????


EEEEEEWWWWWWWW!!!


On a related note, biologists at Case Western Reserve University have announced that they have genetically engineered mice to be the Lance Armstrongs of their species. They can run for six hours straight with a lower heart rate and no lactic acid build-up. There's no news wether the mice have been turning the TV to old episodes of "Two of a Kind" or "So Little Time" or listening to old Sheryl Crow tunes.

Now you're the one who needs brain bleach....

The Physicist   Link Me    |

Thursday, November 01, 2007

As I mentioned earlier I've been reading a great book on ancient Christian hospitality and the reviving of its practice today titled, Making Room. As I was reading while riding the exercise bike today (in prep for some weight work) I got to thinking about our new freshmen students here. One of the points that the author of the book makes over and over is that hospitality was traditionally directed as those who could be thought of as "aliens and strangers"; those marginalized or forgotten about by a community or society. The practice of such hospitality is supposed to minister to their needs of course but to do it in a way that creates a more equal standing between the giver and the recipient as well as respecting and honoring that person.

Yesterday the Dean of the Faculty held a forum that, from what I've been able to gather (I was unable to attend due to a committee meeting ironically focused on creating a First Year Experience course here), focused on why our students are doing so badly. He related that the one class he's teaching will have only a 40% success rate. Several other professors at the forum chimed in that this is their common experience as well.

As I was reading the book it occurred to me to wonder if our students are really aliens and strangers of a sort. We assume that since they've been to twelve or thirteen years of public schooling that they should be members of our community but the truth is that high school is so completely different that college in terms of work and expectations and culture and all the rest that new freshmen oftentimes don't have a clue about what lies ahead of them.

So what I'm wondering about is what does hospitality to this group look like from a Christian perspective? What would Chrysostom have said about meeting the needs of this group of aliens and strangers? What would Wesley have advised? How does a college create a culture of hospitality that welcomes strangers into its community while maintaining the standards and norms of the community?

I see a lot of issues in this topic and this consideration of what hospitality means. I see questions about how prepared the students are to enter the community. I see considerations related to a sort of intellectual poverty rather than a financial meagerness. I see it being very hard to change the culture of the school as a whole but I'm wondering what sorts of things I can do.

It's an interesting and powerful thing to consider.

The Physicist   Link Me    |