Saturday, March 15, 2008

Running with An Eagle

Work. Work, work, work. A 12 hour shift here, a 12 hour shift there. Some weeks it feels like I have so much time off. Other weeks it feels like I've put 80 hours in. The real number's generally always the same: 36 or 48, give or take (always give) a little extra time on the clock. Monotonous but at the same time not. My schedule from one week to the next is rarely ever the same. And then my office includes an entire town of roughly 30,000 people. Never the same thing which suits me wonderfully. But at the same time I'm longing for something new. Ahhh well, that restless part of me, at least I know it's alive and kicking and I'm not content sittin' on the couch wasting life away.

The North Face trail running shoe -- good for use in the Appalachian Mountains ... but seriously, they are rather small compared to the Rocky Mountains ... Sierra Nevada are sweet, too.  Would definitely use 'em in the Alps, that's for sure.  One thing's for sure -- Jerry Garcia or Bob Weir or Phil Lesh or Blaise Compaoré probably never went running in Colombia, Paraguay, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Côte d'Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Ouagadougou, Pyongyang, 평양 직할시 조선민주주의인민공화국 平壤直轄市 朝鮮民主主義人民共和國, Türkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Кыргызстан, Киргизия, Uzbekistan, O'zbekiston, Ўзбекистон Республикаси, Tajikistan, Тоҷикистон.  Probably the same with Brent Mydland.  At least that's my gut feeling.  I could be wrong.  I mean, there were a lot of drugs at Grateful Dead shows and the good Lord above, He knows I did my share!
Saturday Night Run: 18 minutes 11 seconds+5 sec
· indoors ·
XXXXXXXX+++++++ 49 sec +++++++XXXXXXXX
Run Time March:1 hour47 minutes
February:3 hours11 minutes
January:2 hours56 minutes

Straight to the gym after my shift was done tonight. I changed at work first as I absolutely hate gym locker rooms. I don't use them. When I walk in the front door of the Rec Center or the local Alaska Club gym, I put my bag aside, get my mp3 player ready, and hit the running track -- I'm in, I'm out, I'm on my way drivin' back to my house in no time. Tonight the same ol' thing. This, compared to work, is so unbelievably monotonous but at least the music's different every time.

Not a bad run yet again. Didn't add much time but that's okay. I was able to survive without the pesky thoughts of quitting because "it's so not worth it to be running." "Yeah, yeah," I tell that little devil on my shoulder. "Go away!" And I persist. It's still not really freakin' easy for me. Having that mild desire to eventually run a marathon, well, I must be insane. I can't even do 20 minutes without at least some minor difficulty. Make it successfully, sure, but like I keep sayin' -- this ain't easy. Still, these small runs are better than nothing. My body's holding up just fine and physically, aside from a mildly achy quad here, a minor stained hamstring there, I'm feelin' so damn good!!!

Running tunes from
the album of the day...


Joe Walsh - The Confessor (1985)Joe Walsh

The Confessor

1985





Problems
I Broke My Leg
Bubbles
Slow Dancing
15 Years
The Confessor
Rosewood Bitters
Good Man Down
Dear John

Hmmm... solo Joe Walsh? Sure, this Drew Carey Show co-star (occasional guest star) and former resident of Montclair, New Jersey has got a couple hit songs that I'm very familiar with -- Life's Been Good and Rocky Mountain Way -- but what else has he put out over the years? This album would be my first ever introduction to the wider world of solo Walsh.

I'm not sure what to make of this collection of music from The Eagles lead guitarist. He's the lead guitarist, right? I'm not even sure but I think so. Anyway, being released in early '85, I believe, recorded in late 1984 probably, this really shows its age throughout. Problems to kick off the album starts with almost a reggae feel but evolves nice enough into not a bad tune. The next two tracks, I Broke My Leg and Bubbles, holy cow, just downright dumb. Almost Phish dumb. Slow Dancing could be on an episode of Miami Vice and I seriously wouldn't be surprised if it was!
Dear John has gotta be one of the worst songs to ever close out an album. Another total lame-o. 15 Years seems to be an autobiographical song that just goes nowhere interesting. Rosewood Bitters, apparently a cover of a Michael Stanley tune, who apparently is a former Cleveland rocker and current DJ there, isn't bad, while Good Man Down is the most rocking tune on the album -- probably two of the only good songs on here aside from the title track, The Confessor. Spring ahead a dozen years or so and Bon Jovi's Dead or Alive has the feel of (part of) The Confessor. It's almost two songs with the first half being done with acoustic guitar before a strong drum beat kicks in and electric guitar replaces the acoustic for the end. It finishes rather abruptly, which is kind of too bad but it's a cool tune, a total after midnight on a cold and empty highway driving tune.

Overall an odd mix but then again Joe Walsh is odd guy. Maybe not the best place to dive into his catalog of albums but I'm glad I gave it a shot.

MUSIC NOTE 128 kbps dload @ Walldill MUSIC NOTE

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I have always had a special affinity for Joe Walsh. I actually saw him open for Stevie Nicks back in '83. His albums were always hit or miss. There Goes the Neighborhood would probably be liked more. I know I always liked it. Just remember, Joe is silly.

one says one number and the other another
but they were set at the same time. Hmmm...

i love you amy uzarski.  always!
 
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