Lost Forest After Dark

Last week I was at the hospital waiting for the elevator. The door opened and there was this Priest all dressed in black except for his white collar and huge silver crucifix. When the door opened he looked at me and said in a very low voice "going down?" Even though I was, I said no and waited for the next elevator. Here's your Random Top 10:

1. Pale Blue Eyes -- R.E.M.
2. Bob Dylan Wrote Propaganda Songs -- Minutemen
3. Troublemaker -- Weezer
4. Mesmerizing -- Liz Phair
5. I'm Sorry For You My Friend -- Hank Willams
6. One - Aimee Mann
7. Bad Luck -- Social Distortion
8. Kid About It -- Elvis Costello
9. Joke About Jamaica -- The Hold Steady
10. What Led Me to This Town -- The Jayhawks

Bonus: Alone + Easy Target -- Foo Fighters

Hey, that's not a bad list, good variety, nothing embarrassing. What's your top 10?

Last weekend was big plus rare with all four major sports leagues were in action. Here are some thoughts

Vikings-Packers. This was the biggie. Favre back at Lambeau. Opportunity for Vikings to put away the Pack and grab a stranglehold on the NFC North Division. A million words have been spilled on the event, I'll just add that the anguish Packer fans are going through (see image above) makes me even happier than the Vikings 7-1 start. Vikings secondary is still a big concern and I worry how they would match up v. the Saints or Colts.

Gophers v. MSU. A must win and a crazy game. How many times does a team commit 17 penalties and win? Plus the Gophers got a couple of key calls late. Go back to my prediction, I've practically nailed it. Gophers win next two and lose at Iowa. However, I would gladly trade those two wins for a victory against the Hick-eyes and ruining their national championship hopes.

Timberwolves Start Play. A miracle win in their opener followed by 3 loses. This team ain't going to win a lot of games, hopefully they will be entertaining.

Gophers Hoops. Three plays suspended. Ouch that's 25 percent of the team. Hopefully White and Bostick's transgressions are minor. With those three players, this could be a fun team to watch this year.

World Series. Jeez, Chase Utley is playing out of his mind, too bad it seems like the Phillies will need to score at least 6 runs every game to even have a chance at winning. It will be interesting to see if Girardi's strategy of using only three pitchers on three days rest backfires. Burnett looked awful last night.

The H1N1 Virus under a microscope

Even though cases of H1N1 increases every week, including mounting deaths to younger people and those who have weakened immunity, there still is a small, but vocal, contingent of vaccine deniers who will refuse to take the vaccine once it becomes available. Given the fact that a Minneapolis clinic was overwhelmed with over 120,000 calls last week when it became known it had the vaccine, I do believe that vaccine deniers are a small minority of people, hyped up by 24/7 news channels looking to fill time and by (ahem) bloggers who need something to write about.

I have no issue with taking the H1N1 vaccine and will get a shot when it's available and make sure the rest of my family can get one too. The vaccine, its development, and manufacture is no different than the seasonal flu shot, and while I am sure there are some people concerned about the seasonal flu vaccine, we don't hear much about them.

I also don't have an issue with people refusing the H1N1 vaccine, even though it may cause the virus to spread further. First, more people refusing the vaccine means that I will get my vaccine that much quicker and will be easier to find vaccines for my family. But more importantly if a few of these vaccine deniers actually contract and die from the virus, we will "thin the herd" of those who obviously are of lesser intellect. Many of these vaccine deniers would be prime candidates for a Darwin Award and if they want to eliminate themselves from the gene pool, we'll mourn their passing but then feel grateful they can no longer propagate. Surely someone who takes their medical advice from some white dude rapping about H1N1 or Bill Maher instead of the CDC, gets what's coming to them.

So all you vaccine deniers out there, deny away. I'll go get my shot, stay healthy, and check out your stuff when the estate sale is held.

Sorry about light blogging lately, I've been dealing with family illness issues. Hopefully things are getting better and next week I can expound on H1N1 vaccine deniers, the Mpls Mayoral race, and crappy gophers football and hockey teams! Don't worry I wouldn't miss a Friday random top 10:

1. Don't Be Cruel - Jerry Lee Lewis
2. Chinese Lorraine - Jack Logan
3. To Sir With Love - Lulu
4. Wear My Ring Around Your Finger - Elvis Presley
5. Baby I Love You - Aretha Franklin
6. I Ain't Ever Giving In - Fred Eaglesmith
7. He's A Good Dog - Fred Eaglesmith
8. Blue Sky Mining - Midnight Oil
9. Floaty - Foo Fighters
10. Jesus Built My Hotrod - Ministry

Bonus - Too Much Sex (Too Little Jesus) - Drive By Truckers

A little different list today. Double shot of Fred Eaglesmith and a double shot of Jesus! Big Mak, how many Jesus songs do you have?

Another gloomy, rainy, wet and cold October. Maybe a Random Top 10 will brighten things up.

1. The Rest of the World -- The Waco Brothers
2. Mayfly -- Belle & Sebastian
3. When the Whip Comes Down -- The Rolling Stones
4. Darby Hall -- The dB's
5. Stacy's Mom -- Fountains of Wayne
6. Black -- Pearl Jam
7. Window of My World -- Guided By Voices
8. New Amsterdam -- Elvis Costello
9. Son of a Gun -- Nirvana
10. Nightshift -- The Names

Bonus: 3-Legged Dog -- The Handsome Family

How did Stacy's Mom get in there? What's your top 10?

I guess there is a reason they call him A-Rod! Also Robins Cano's facial expression is classic. Like he always suspected but seeing the evidence right in front of him was too much too take. Matsui's just playin' it cool.

The Dakota Trail near Spring Park

Today I rode my bike to work and given the 5 day weather forecast and late date, it is probably the last time I ride my bike to work or anywhere for that matter so let's look back at 6 months of bike riding.....

First I will have over 1100 miles on my bike from mid-April (plus 50 miles on a tandem) which is about 200 miles a month. While a big increase from years past, there is room for improvement. One thing I want to do next year is to have more later evening rides, even short 10-15 mile rides, during the week. I have purchased a light in anticipation of later rides. If October hadn't been so crappy I probably could have broken the 1200 mile mark but I still refuse to ride in the cold and rain and don't have anything to cover my legs. (I do however have a biking jacket, a long sleeve shirt, and ear warmers).

As documented in this blog, I really increased my longer rides. Prior to this year, the furthest I ever rode was probably about 40 miles. Beside my 97 mile trip to Siren Wisconsin, I had a ride of 71 miles, a couple of about 60 miles, and a 50 mile ride in addition to the numerous 35-45 mile rides that I have done in the past. I definitely increased my routes and went out to Lake Minnetonka a couple of times and out to Stillwater. Next year I will have to go south more often.

I try to set a goal for myself each biking season with last year making it up the hill at Fort Snelling and this year the ride out to Siren. Next year I want to ride the Willard Munger Trail from Hinkley to Duluth with an overnight stay at Jay Cooke State Park and then onward to Two Harbors. Mileage may be similar to Siren but the camping will add a complication. I also hope to have more rides in the 70-80 mile range. It would be nice if I could approach 1500 miles but that may be tough as I have lots of other things going on and an old house to take care of. I had fun at the Urban Assault Ride and definitely plan to do that next year as well. I think I may check out other bike races as well. It might be kind of fun to see where I stack up.

Finally my bike. I ride a Marin hybrid which is good for the bike trails around the metro area. It's 5 years old now but is still holding up. While not a touring bike, it serves me quite well. Unfortunately I don't have the coin to buy a new $1000 or more bike so I'm going to stick with the bike I have for a while. I do think I am going to invest in new wheels however. I have had trouble with broken spokes which I think speaks to a general cheapness of the existing wheels. Also hopefully with new, higher quality wheels I will be able to add a mile or two per hour to my average speed. Even that slight improvement would be a big help. Also a tandem may be in our future so more bike rides with the wife may be a bigger part of the summer.

Finally besides the health benefits, the main reason I ride is because it is a blast chugging along at around 20 miles per hour under your own power, music screaming in your ears. Sure the scenery is sometimes gorgeous and there is nothing like riding by or over snarled car traffic but the thrill of going fast is what keeps me motivated to keep going. This year was a success, hopefully next year will be even better.