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tox's toxic toxins

Sunday, January 29, 2006

The Best Cross-Country Race on the Planet 2006

This was supposed to be so much better. I went over to the Best Cross-Country Race on the Planet (only a mile from my house) to shoot some video. I used a low quality (mpeg) camera mounted to a tiny tripod six inches off the ground as my stationary cam. I also had a handheld better quality (miniDV) camera to try to get motion shots. Well, the miniDV camera malfunctioned and I got nothing from it. What you see here is what I could salvage from the day - all stationary, low quality video. But, the Beastie Boys and Fugazi give it a little life. It's all I've got - and I'm sharing it with you.
VIDEO

so sez tox senrab @ 1/29/2006 01:13:00 PM

Sunday, January 22, 2006

The Subway Challenge

I love this. The challenge: get off the Glasgow subway at one stop, go above ground, race the train (however you want - break the law if you want), and get back on the same train at the next stop. This Scot has a plan and a little help, and the fun ensues.

so sez tox senrab @ 1/22/2006 09:55:00 PM

Wednesday, January 11, 2006

Let the Dreaming Begin (Continue)

Apple Computer released its MacBook Pro yesterday at the Mac World Expo. I have a 6-year old iMac that hangs in there and does almost everything I want, I scam the use of the school's Macs (G5 PowerMac and G4 iBooks) for other purposes, and the iPod is the only portable music player worth having. But, this new MacBook Pro has me dreaming. $2K is a lot of money though.

Speaking of a lot of money for fantasy toys, Bianchi's OETZI carbon frame with an XT/XTR combo groupo is the mountain bike I have my eye on. My current bike, while once great, literally disintegrates beneath me on every ride. It's getting to the point where I don't enjoy riding it - continually frustrating. This little toy would set me back about $3K. Again, a lot of money.

But our house has at least $10K worth of work that absolutely needs to be done (our house is now a monument to entropy), so these toys will likely stay in fantasy world, along with the other $80K of work we'd like to do on the house. Why didn't I become a soulless lawyer or a drug-pushing doctor or a weasel of corporate America? This teaching thing doesn't yield me many cool toys. I do get to sleep well at night and feel like my life has more of a positive than negative effect on the world - but, geez, these toys are cool. To bitch, call 1-800-waaaaah. As long as I can afford $85 running shoes once every six months, I'm happy. Oh yeah, food too - I like food.

so sez tox senrab @ 1/11/2006 08:43:00 PM

Saturday, January 07, 2006

Abbey

I introduce you to one of my kitties, Abbey (aka "Bee"). She is named after one of my favorite authors, Edward Abbey (cool website). Even though she is female, the name worked out well for her because, just like ol' Ed, she is fiercely individual. In this vid, she shows who she is.

so sez tox senrab @ 1/07/2006 06:28:00 PM


..... "Running is a big question mark that's there each and every day. It asks you, 'Are you going to be a wimp or are you going to be strong today?'" - Peter Maher ..... "It hurts up to a point and then it doesn't get any worse." - Ann Trason ….. "I always loved running...it was something you could do by yourself, and under your own power. You could go in any direction, fast or slow as you wanted, fighting the wind if you felt like it, seeking out new sights just on the strength of your feet and the courage of your lungs." - Jesse Owens ..... "Most people run a race to see who is fastest. I run a race to see who has the most guts." - Steve Prefontaine ..... "The gun goes off and everything changes... the world changes... and nothing else really matters." - Patti Sue Plummer ..... "Some of the world's greatest feats were accomplished by people not smart enough to know they were impossible." - Doug Larson ..... "I have met my hero, and he is me." - George Sheehan ..... "Tough times don't last but tough people do." - A.C. Green ..... "Laziness is nothing more than the habit of resting before you get tired." - Jules Renard ..... "The will to win means nothing without the will to prepare." - Juma Ikangaa ..... "Every morning in Africa a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must move faster than the lion or it will not survive. Every morning a lion wakes up and it knows it must move faster than the slowest gazelle or it will starve. It doesn't matter if you are the lion or the gazelle, when the sun comes up, you better be moving." - Maurice Greene ..... "Good things come slow - especially in distance running." - Bill Dellinger ..... "Run hard, be strong, think big!" - Percy Cerutty ..... "Once you're beat mentally, you might as well not even go to the starting line." - Todd Williams ..... "The body does not want you to do this. As you run, it tells you to stop but the mind must be strong. You always go too far for your body. You must handle the pain with strategy...It is not age; it is not diet. It is the will to succeed." - Jacqueline Gareau ..... "[Scientific testing] can't determine how the mind will tolerate pain in a race. Sometimes, I say, "Today I can die.'" - Gelindo Bordin ..... "Sport is not about being wrapped up in cotton wool. Sport is about adapting to the unexpected and being able to modify plans at the last minute. Sport, like all life, is about taking risks." - Sir Roger Bannister ..... “There are as many reasons for running as there are days in the year, years in my life. But mostly I run because I am an animal and a child, an artist and a saint. So, too, are you. Find your own play, your own self-renewing compulsion, and you will become the person you are meant to be.” - George Sheehan ..... “Stadiums are for spectators. We runners have nature and that is much better.” - Juha Väätäinen …..