The Issue is Snow, Failure, and Material

Ahhhh, Springtime in Alaska -- overcast with freezing temperatures and more snow comin' down. Springtime?!? Yup, last day of April and roughly halfway to Summer and in blows this storm to give the land a fresh covering of the white stuff. Most of it had melted away over the past week or so, and this will also melt away rather quickly, but for now it makes this part of central Alaska a Winter Wonderland once again. Anything's possible here... this could happen anytime at all throughout May even. It made work a little interesting this morning, that's for sure. It's amazing how all through Winter, people know how to safely drive on snow -- so few weather-related accidents. So the question is -- why can't they also drive safely on snow this far into Spring? Before my shift ended at 9 a.m. this morning, I worked two accidents that were likely caused by PEOPLE DRIVING TOO FAST ON THE SNOW. There were two week stretches in Winter when the number of snow-related accidents that I was on scene for was zero -- no EMT, no ambulance needed, cops took care of it and that was it. Just doesn't make sense that I had two calls this morning to tend to the wounded... or at least make sure those involved had on scene medical care just in case... plus a safe ride to the hospital to be checked out for further injuries. Well, then again, if everyone drove carefully AS THEY SHOULD, I'd be out of a job. Not really but I'd surely not be needed as much as I am now. Thanks, Henry Ford!

I'm so tired now after working the Overnight Shift and then going for a run almost immediately afterwards. I thought about running outdoors in the snow but when I checked the trail after work I found it to be too soft even with these cold temperatures. When it's not freezing, the trail's mushy... when it is freezing, it's still too mushy right now. Mushy, mushy, mushy. Oh well. So I got back in my truck and headed to the University, to run indoors once again. Oi. If only I decided to be a road runner... but my stubborn unwillingness to change keeps me off the roads. This I don't really mind, though because after all, I'm not really a "runner." I don't dress like a runner, I don't have a runner's mentality. I'm a hiker and a mountain climber who runs to help stay healthy. Being a hiker and a mountain climber, I've chosen to run on a trail and I'm gonna try to keep it that way until the day I run the London Marathon... if I ever do.

Anyway -- I'm not sure if I'm tired enough for sleep or if I'm good to stay awake today. Working the Overnight sometimes gets me all confused on when to Catch My Zzzzz's and when to Be Up.

Whatever. All's I know is I failed for the month of April to pass my Total Running Time for March. Idiot. Stoopid idiot. Well... at least I ran and at least I accomplished the miles that I did in the name of better health. I'm gonna have to keep that in mind.

almost outside today but with the temperatures hovering around freezing, the trail's too mushy for running... so still indoors.

Wednesday Morning Run: 19 minutes 45 seconds

+5 sec

XXXXXXXX++++++· 00 sec ·++++++XXXXXXXX

Run Time April: 3 hours 51 minutes <-failed to pass March March: 3 hours 57 minutes February: 3 hours 11 minutes

I was quite tired when I hit the track about an hour ago. Running after working a 12-hour shift usually goes okay. Running after working the 12-hour Overnight Shift, well, this time it wasn't that easy. Maybe I've also been tired from all this running that I've been doing in the past week. Compared to the rest of the month, my frequency has been severely increased and perhaps that's taken a bit of a toll on me. I made it around the track as many times as I needed to in order to reach my 19:45 goal... I made it semi-just fine.... but thought about quitting quite a bit. What made it worse is that I've pretty much written off eclipsing my March Total Time. Kinda close. If I wasn't in sub-par condition I could easily go do 7 minutes later and beat March... but I dunno. So what's happened is for April -- I failed. Not happy with that. Not at all.

Running tunes came from the album of the day...
	Material Issue Destination Universe 1992
What Girls Want When I Get This Way (Over You) Next Big Thing Who Needs Love Destination You Everything Ballad Of A Lonely Man Girl From Out Of This World So Easy To Love Somebody Don't You Think I Know The Loneliest Heart Whole Lotta You If Ever You Should Fall

Twas a time long ago, in this galaxy, not that far, far away, when I listened, for awhile, to the once great radio station known as KJQ in Salt Lake City. They were "Utah's Modern Rock Leader" at the time, playing everything from Adam & The Ants to Zwan. Okay, well Billy Corgan's band Zwan wasn't around yet... The Smashing Pumpkins were barely on the national scene... but anything "alternative" from A to Y, that was what KJQ played... no stoopid automated corporately chosen playlists -- real music, real DJ's, real care for spinning the songs that the listeners wanted to hear... definitely one of the best stations of it's kind in America. And Material Issue was one of the countless bands and artists they were playing at the time. It was on that station when I first heard them and what is perhaps/probably their most popular song -- Valerie Loves Me. Good stuff... all like 3 minutes of it. And that was the entire extent of Material Issue that I ever heard until a few days ago when I pressed play on this album, their second effort from 1992.

I'm not so sure I dig this that much. It's not bad, I suppose; a whole bunch of the songs worked just fine and dandy for my running playlist but otherwise I'm not that that impressed. It's almost something I could see myself blaring on the stereo with the windows wide open while cruising down the Garden State Parkway on the way to the Jersey Shore for a couple days of surfing, beer drinking, and relaxing with friends. Yeah... it's got that fun feel to it: a bit of Cheap Trick, a bit of The Replacements... but the image of the summertime roadtrip works a LOT better with the cassette in mind, the one that's kept in the tape case covered with surfing and Grateful Dead stickers. Ahhh... Jersey. Okay, this really has nothing at all to do with the music anymore so it's time to say -- done. Good tunes. Nothing to spend a ton of time writing specifically about but there are some pretty good songs on here.

find a dload @ Infinite Foolishness
(sorry, the link is dead)

From Chicago, Illinois...
Material Issue -- "Valerie Loves Me"
from their debut album in 1991

Randomness for a Tuesday Afternoon

Yada yada yada...

Anyone from MINNEAPOLIS?!?!?!
Yeah, probably someone out there from Minneapolis or that general area...

It's Random Old Postcard Time, Volume 2, from my grandma's collection that I hope to eventually sell on ebay for at least a buck a piece... some might be pretty collectible to... to old postcard collectors, who else? Hey, I don't need 'em, they're not sentimental to me or nothin' and I don't like to own stuff...

(you can click any image for a larger view, if you want, eh)

Lake Of The Isles, Minneapolis, Minnesota
circa 1958

• • • •

If you're fat, it's hard to be fit
New research challenges the idea you can be fat and fit.
Being active can lower but not eliminate heart risks in heavy women
Active was defined as getting at least 30 minutes
of moderate activity most days, including brisk walking

the whole article can be found here

• • • •

my "Dead" dog again -- Cassidy, the Samoyed

I haven't said it yet but I could say it a million times.... ready?

He's got a smile so briiii-iight, if he wasn't a dog,
you know he coulda been a cannn-dle!

Just an Acca Dacca Run

No drama this morning from goings-on yesterday. Slept my butt off for about 12 hours and then was awakened this morning by my dog when he, HALF COVERED IN MUD, crazily pounced on my bed. How rude! Thanks, dog! At age 12.75, I thought Cassidy was too old for diggin' in the mud. Nope. When he was younger -- yeah, almost a pastime of his but still at this age? Yup. I can't recall a single instance last year but somethin' must've gotten him riled up. That's fine... but coming inside to jump on me... not so fine! Actually what am I gonna do?! Get mad at him? He's a dog!! Wash my comforter is all I could do but there was no point in getting mad at him. He might be an older dog but at times he's got those great moments of youthful playfulness in him. Very cool to see.

the snow is still melting on the trail and it's way too slushy for running... so still indoors.

Tuesday Morning Run: 19 minutes 40 seconds

+6 sec

XXXXXXXX++++++· 02 sec ·++++++XXXXXXXX

Run Time April: 3 hours 31 minutes March: 3 hours 57 minutes February: 3 hours 11 minutes

If only there were 31 days this month. Dang it. I'm running out of time to eclipse my Total Run Time for March... I need TWO runs today or tomorrow if I don't want to fail in my objective. I don't want to fail in my objective. Got one run done this morning shortly after waking up and eating a little breakfast. Roughly 36 hours to go -- 24 considering 12 of those I'll be working -- to accomplish two more runs. Hmmm, technically one of those runs could just be like 7½ minutes and I'll pass my March time. But that would almost be like cheating. My idea was to pass my previous month's time using only regular, full runs. But would it really be cheating? Would I truly be cheating myself? Hmmm....... I just don't know.

In any case, my 2nd run in two days, my 3rd in four days -- didn't go too badly. I keep saying that shortly after running, sort of putting aside the fact that if there's any problem from a run, it'll emerge like 24 hours later. Well, for now I feel fine and actually better than fine considering how running makes me feel. It's such a horrible thing that I often dread doing... but the results are so beneficial that I really don't know why more people don't put themselves through it in order to enjoy the outcome that I know I do.

Running tunes came from the album of the day...
	AC/DC T.N.T. 1975
It's A Long Way To The Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll) Rock 'n' Roll Singer The Jack Live Wire T.N.T. Rocker Can I Sit Next To You, Girl? High Voltage School Days

I am so not a big fan of "Acca Dacca"... but when it comes to using music for running, almost anything goes... so I thought I'd give an album of theirs a listen.

My first time pressing play on this a few days ago, one of my first thoughts, aside from the interesting bag pipes on the first song (bag pipes and AC/DC?!), was -- wow, this almost all sounds the same, from one song to the next. The guys in AC/DC had talent but they weren't very creative, were they? Just doesn't seem like it.

I've never heard their debut from the year before this; supposedly that's significantly different than what followed from them. This second album is when they really started to develop the general sound that most people know them by.

And as far as the bag pipes go, I guess that's just (lead singer) Bon Scott incorporating some of his Scottish roots into the first track here. I guess that was creative and definitely interesting (as seen in the video below.)

download AC/DC: T.N.T @ 320 kbps
mp3 free rapidshare
Bag pipes!
Filmed on Swanston Street, Melbourne, Victoria.
Apparently this is a classic AC/DC video from 1976. I dig seein' the street scene...
I love Melbourne and when I was there I rode the same tram lines
on Swanston/St. Kilda Road, from downtown to the beach and back...
me and millions of other people... but hey, I still think it's cool.

Spent the night in the Arctic in a cave up in the hills...

...well, I wasn't in a cave but I was in the Arctic overnight. Wasn't supposed to spend the night in Fort Yukon, twas supposed to be just a three hour tour... sort of... but sometimes planes have engine problems... and it's better to be grounded and waiting out a repair than, oh... dead after crashing. Yeah, I'm fairly certain that would suck.

In order to build two houses in Fort Yukon this Spring & Summer and yesterday was a supplies delivery. As there are no roads going to Fort Yukon -- a moderately remote village located just above the Arctic Circle about 140 miles from Fairbanks -- all building materials must go by barge on the Yukon River or by air. I signed up to go on yesterday afternoon's flight with another volunteer to help with this drop-off. One way only takes about an hour and ten minutes in the air. All went just fine. We were met at the air field, off-loaded the cargo and stored it away. After a little less than an hour on the ground, when it was time to depart and head back to Fairbanks, a wicked fluid leak was found to be coming from the Piper Navajo's left engine. Thank God for a pilot who religiously performs a pre-flight check of the aircraft! Actually if the problem hadn't been detected visually, this would have registered on a gauge in the cockpit... but this there was no missing before getting into the plane to take off.

A whole bunch of thumb twiddling later, the verdict came in that we were grounded and had to stay the night. Oh joy. Fort Yukon is a village of about 600 people but no one was available to fly us back to Fairbanks and we weren't about to call for a taxi -- which would have been about a $200-250 airfare! One room at the Holiday Inn, please? HA! Not quite. Arrangements were made with local families and they made us their guests. There was just one problem with this -- my dog would be wondering where the heck I went!!! I knew he'd be fine but usually I tell him I won't be back for awhile. Oh well.

Anyway... a strange night it was. My Gwich'in host family for the night had a wonderful reindeer pot roast cooking for their Sunday dinner which I became a part of. Thanks to the satellite dish we got to watch some of the NBA playoffs on TV. Pilot Carl apparently worked into the wee hours o' the morning to replace the blown gaskets causing the leak. And also apparently, had it happened mid-flight, we may not have crashed crashed but without any nice, flat spaces to land (i.e. an air strip) we would have had to perform a crash landing right in the middle of the wilderness. So a rather close call it was.

The first faint glow of daylight comes a lot earlier at the Circle than in Fairbanks. Sometime around 4 a.m. I woke up and with a window in my line of sight, the sky I saw was not black as it still would have been outside my bedroom window further south in the state. Way too early of a morning it was but filled with plenty of coffee and a huge breakfast all compliments of my immensely gracious hosts. It's amazing, this house they had was not like suburban American or even rural America... it's an Alaskan bush home, crudely constructed, added onto left and right at different times, dripping here and there, drafty, cramped, muddy outside with a salmon smokehouse and insulated chicken coops out back and a dozen old snowmobiles parked in what looked to be their final resting places. Yet they still went out of their way to make me, a total stranger, as comfortable as possible with bedding and food, and even offering me to pick what to watch on television. We didn't even talk all that much. The night before I shared with their kids a few things about New York City and where I'm from... all the while consciously trying not to put it in such a light that they'd leave their village forever someday in hopes of finding a Promised Land On The Hudson. From little ol' Fort Yukon to The Big Apple -- man, The City would eat them alive!

This whole thing, being stuck there overnight, as much as I grumbled and grumbled and grumbled about it when the oil leak was discovered, it turned out alright. Sometimes I don't care for new experiences, for the unknown when I could have the comfort of the known... but this was very interesting.

And now that the whole potentially dangerous plane deal is behind me and I'm sittin' here comfy and warm in my own house with my dog sleepin' at my feet after I've assured him that I'm really me and I haven't left him to find a pack of wolves to roam for food with, it either hasn't hit me or my mind has processed it as no big deal... probably the latter... but I'm not sure. Every Alaskan who flies in small planes has a close call (or worse) at some point... I finally had mine. Unscathed. No worries.

One of the best things to do after something like this -- dust yourself off and continue like nothing happened. So this morning I headed to the Rec Center to get some running in. Back to the usual. I was gonna get this run in last night... I wanted to because for this month of April my running goal is to push past my Total Running Time for March and we're runnin' out of days. Crud! Before today I needed 4 runs in 4 days. Skipping yesterday -- 4 runs in 3 days.
Great (<--sarcasm.)

indoors... at just above freezing, the trail's too slushy for running

Monday Morning Run: 19 minutes 34 sec

+7 sec

XXXXXXXX++++++· 22 sec ·++++++XXXXXXXX

Run Time April: 3 hours 11 minutes March: 3 hours 57 minutes February: 3 hours 11 minutes

Took another day off between runs and this time I added an additional second to the increase over my previous outing. A whole extra second -- 7 this time instead of 6. Wow, I know.

More of an easier time today. I can never explain why. Or almost never. Sometimes I know when I haven't properly fueled up or when I'm not properly hydrated or when I haven't properly rested. Last night I slept in the clothes I had been wearing all day, in a sleeping bag on the floor and without any padding beneath me except a rug. Not exactly Comfort City in a familiar place. But it must have been sufficient because this morning when I got to the University I was fired up to get this run in. Felt great around the track and near the end I thought about hitting the afterburners and speeding up over the last minute or so. I didn't but the fact that I thought it means I had plenty of extra energy and could have kept going for a ways beyond my set time. A good run it was. I know that working my way towards being able to run a marathon is taking me literally forever... but why push it?

Running tunes came from the album of the day...
	Matchbox Twenty Mad Season 2000
Angry Black & White People Crutch Last Beautiful Girl If You're Gone Mad Season Rest Stop The Burn Bent Bed Of Lies Leave Stop You Won't Be Mine

As someone who cares very little doesn't care at all about Top 40 Radio and what's currently popular, Matchbox 20... or Matchbox Twenty... means next to nothing to me. I've been aware of their existence, I know Rob Thomas is their lead singer, but the names of what's been on the charts from their albums... beats me. I'm sure there's a song or two I'd recognize as being from this band from Orlando, Florida, but for the most part I'm clueless. It's the very same way with so many bands. Doesn't mean I won't give them a listen.

Matchbox 20's debut in 1996 was quite successful. Rob Thomas then went on to Grammy Gold thanks to working with Carlos Santana on his 1999 release Supernatural. Mad Season would be the follow-up to that... sort of. Apparently this sophomore effort from Matchbox Twenty had a couple of hits... but a testament to my non-radio listening ways would be the fact that I've never heard a single song on here until I pressed play on this for the first time a few days ago. This morning I used several tunes for my running playlist and I've had it on shuffle/repeat for about the past hour plus. I'm not that impressed. It's not that it's bad music, it just doesn't float my boat all that much. A few songs are decent -- Angry, Crutch, Rest Stop, Leave -- but much of the rest is... ehhh. Just not a very good album all around, in my opinion.

320 kbps dload @ Walldill

The News is all about Weather, Running... and Huey Lewis, of course

Miserable day some would say. But the question is: why is sunshiney weather in the 70's called beautiful while rainy & snowy around freezing is not beautiful? Well? Huh?!?! What international committee was formed to officially declare what it beautiful weather and what's not? Huh? Well? Yeah, no answer... I didn't think so.

Twas a day to do NADA... twas a day to sit inside and do nothing. Just a few days ago we had SPRING... this morning was more like a White Christmas... yesterday morning... still today for me but this'll get read tomorrow, today -- Sunday. Oi. I've gotta post earlier in the day to avoid all this confusion.

Anyway... got all the way up to 36° (about 2 C) this afternoon. For a whole few hours we got above freezing and there hasn't been spot of sunshine all day. Almost all day if it hasn't been lightly snowing, it's been lightly raining.

Personally I don't mind it. Great excuse to do nothing. Although... living elsewhere (New Hampshire, Jersey, Montana) I know I'd really dig bein' outside, enjoyin' life that doesn't involve putting logs into the wood-burning stove... in late April!

Ahh well. At least tonight I got off my butt and went to the Rec Center to get a run in. Man, that place is dead on a Saturday night so close to their 10 p.m. closing time. Good for me... I don't like when I'm on the track and it's crowded. No worries tonight. And crowded or not, I'm making a serious end-of-the-month push to beat my Total Time for March. Might not make it... but I'll give it a shot.

· indoors... the trail is wayyyyyy tooo slushy! ·

Saturday Nite Run: 19 minutes 27 sec

+6 sec

XXXXXXXX++++++· 48 sec ·++++++XXXXXXXX

Run Time April: 2 hours 51 minutes March: 3 hours 57 minutes February: 3 hours 11 minutes

For a second I thought that this was my 2nd run in 2 days but nay... 2 in 3 days... which is better than I'd done practically all month long so far. Pretty good. That's all I've gotta say about it. Back in my house for about an hour now, cleaned up, relaxin', feelin' good!

Running tunes came from the album of the day...
	Huey Lewis & The News Sports 1983
The Heart Of Rock & Roll Heart And Soul Bad Is Bad I Want A New Drug Walking On A Thin Line Finally Found A Home If This Is It You Crack Me Up Honky Tonk Blues

Man, this is really, really, really takin' me back. I started listening to this album a few days ago... for the first time since... ??? Way back when I had this cassette tape. It was the 1980's for sure. If I listened to this in 1990 or later, I'd be surprised... so it's been awhile.

Kinda interestingly, this was the #2 selling album in America in 1984 after Michael Jackson's Thriller. Wow. I guess that's kind of impressive. The tunes here aren't that bad after all these years. Had a great run with a bunch of 'em and I've had it on Shuffle/Repeat for about the past hour. This is definitely a cool album. Huey was pretty big on MTV back in the day, too... you know, when they actually supported the making and showing of music videos?!

Grateful Dead links: Marin County part-time resident Huey Lewis jammed with the Dead in Eugene in 1994... and playing bass here in The News is Mario Cipollina, younger brother to Dead friend John Cipollina.

Personal link... sort of: I saw Huey in Kalispell, Montana one time... not playing live, but in a cafe there eating breakfast with someone. He lives in Missoula or somewhere 'round those parts in Western Montana, I think in the Bitterroot Valley a few miles south of Missoula.

Pretty cool... well, at least I think so.

find an album dload @ Walldill

4 Months Down, 8 To Go...

Boy, it's been a long night. It feels like it coulda been Christmas Eve. Twas about 2 a.m. and all through the town, there weren't too many people stirring, not even a clown.

No clue how many games of pool were played... nor how many pitchers of Alaskan IPA were downed. Glad I was that I was not driving, for an accident I might've gotten into, a good situation that would not have made.

When we walked out the doors and into the night, with the snow that was falling, this close to May, well, it was quite a sight!

Two days ago I thought listening to this would be incredibly out of place. By now there should be warm weather and flowers everywhere with trees all in green and Springtime in the air... that's sure not the case.

Here I am this morning, at the break of dawn. The sun is beginning to give a light blue glow to the sky, I watch out my window and I can't see my lawn!

It should be there, be there, be there it should. The snow's covered it up, it's cold, cold, cold and my stove needs more wood!

My coffee is made, but the stockings are not hung by the chimney with care. It's freakin' April, still got 8 months before St. Nicholas will be there!!

So go outside today, enjoy your warm weather. Ain't happenin' here, there'll be no game of ball that the kids in the schoolyard like to call tether.

This sillyness really has gotta come to an end. Whaddya want from me, I've been awake all night, my mind, it's starting to bend!

I'm purty sure today the white stuff will melt. I'll sleep away while the Mets lose again, booo's the team will hear, victory's something no one will have felt.

Some music it's now time for, time to Press Play. This weirdness is all done, how about some Christmas tunes for the start of the day?

Erich Kunzel Cincinnati Pops Orchestra Christmas With The Pops 1989-1990

320 kbps
	Cincinnati Pops Orchestra: Christmas With The Pops - Part 1 Cincinnati Pops Orchestra: Christmas With The Pops - Part 2

individual files with a are 192 kbps
	The First Noel
	Deck The Halls (with the May Festival Chorus)
	Winter Wonderland
	The Christmas Song (with Doc Severinsen)
	Holiday Favorites (with Children's Chorus) · Santa Claus Is Coming To Town · Here Comes Santa Claus · Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer · Frosty the Snowman, Jingle Bells
	White Christmas (with Rosemary Clooney)
	Carol of the Bells (with Bell Choir)
	O Tannenbaum
	Do You Hear What I Hear?
	Christmas Waltz (with Toni Tennille)
	Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
	Angels We Have Heard On High (with Bell Choir)
	God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen
	Go Tell It On The Mountain (with Sherrill Milnes)
	O Come, All Ye Faithful
	Walking In The Air from The Snowman (with Stephen Van Dyck)
	Sleigh Ride
	Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas (with Rosemary Clooney)
	O Holy Night (with the May Festival Chorus)
	Silent Night (with the May Festival Chorus)
· Bell Choir: First Presbyterian Church of Fort Thomas Bell Choir · Children's Chorus: Cincinnati School For Creative & Performing Arts Children's Chorus