Thursday April 17th 2008

5:07PM | My Back Is Killing Me

Tuesday April 15th 2008

6:46PM | The Orange And The Black

ake up philadelphia
and let me hear you sing
the orange and the black
the orange and the black

across the blue line we attack
we are
the orange and the black
the orange and the black

re-load and shoot again
we are
the orange and the black
the orange and the black

and a 1 2 3
let the hats go flying
for a flyers victory
and a 4 5 6
our bold batallion
may they take us all the way

down my family it was passed
we are
the orange and the black
the orange and the black

kick the boards and pound the glass
we are
the orange and the black
the orange and the black

and a 1 2 3
let the hats go flying
for a flyers victory
and a 4 5 6
our bold batallion
may they take us all the way

wake up philadelphia
and let me hear you sing
the orange and the black
the orange and the black

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Saturday March 29th 2008

10:02AM | Photoshop Express

dobe released the beta version of Photoshop Express this week, an online "lite" version of its renowned image editing software. Their hold on the graphics editing market is strong (who hasn't heard of "photoshopping an image"?) and the release of Photoshop Express is another fine move on their part. Express brings the most used features of Photoshop onto a web-based image editing platform, so that you can easily upload photos and remove red eye, add special effects, and generally touch up the image. Accounts are free and you receive 2GB of online storage space for your photos. Photoshop Express runs smoothly and easily, and is great for simple projects since it does not tax your computer's RAM like launching the full Photoshop software might. You'll need the latest version of the free Flash player, and this can be downloaded from the Adobe website (and a nice looking site it is).

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Thursday March 27th 2008

6:56PM | On Running

t being a beautiful day, and my cold gone, I decided to test my ankle with a run in my favorite local park after work. The run started out a little limpy due to some pain in my right foot: my ankle was not fully flexible when pushing off the ground and my foot a little sensitive to the impact of landing. However, I kept going since I figured I just needed to work out the lingering stiffness, and by the end of my first mile and a half or so run I was feeling fine and running more or less like normal.

I was satisfied with the quality and the length of today's run: it was rather average for me, which is terrific considering that it was my first in nearly two weeks of no running or leg strengthening exercises. After running for two miles I walked around the lake to wind down and enjoy the outdoors, and near the end of my walk I noted the runners who passed me in the opposite direction: one girl, followed shortly by another, and ahead of them both an older man not quite power-walking, but really trucking along. I passed through the parking lot and was considering running a little bit more before leaving, so I started up again and on the burn over the lake saw both girls finishing their circuit around the lake and also saw the older man marching past me again. I couldn't believe they had already made it around the lake, and it made me feel really slow. That always pisses me off so I determined to sprint another two miles around the lake to make myself feel better.

The kind of runner I am can be compared to the undisciplined fast runner in the T Rowe Price commercial, who passes the slower runner but later on in the commercial stops from exhaustion and is surprised to see the slower disciplined runner pass him and keep on going at that same solid pace. I sprint more than I jog because I like to go fast, and I like to pass other runners, though I do not do that so much anymore. I don't think I'm particularly fast because when I race friends who do not usually run and who might not look athletic, we are usually neck and neck. When I start to get tired towards the end of a run but think that I am still getting along rather quickly, I am often humbled when I pass a family and as I pass the little kids start running and keep up with me as they dart around my feet for a few seconds before returning to their parents.

Unlike the runners I saw today who made it around the lake quickly and were still going strong, I am rather undisciplined: quick to succumb to exhaustion and wanting rather to think about refreshing things such as hamburgers and beverages than pushing myself to keep going. What usually helps me out is when I can run with or behind other runners, because then my competitive nature compels me to keep up with them, and match what they do. I'm a weekend runner: I do not really run regularly during the week anymore, though I would like to. I don't build up endurance on treadmills, because I do not enjoy running indoors and do not like the way my feet sound heavy on the treadmill's surface, like I'm an elephant among gazelles. Hopefully with the change in weather I will be able to work a little more on my running and endurance.

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Monday March 24th 2008

6:24PM | Spring Fever

omorrow morning will see two of my favorite things combined at 6:00AM, as I eat breakfast and watch the first major league baseball game of the season. The early game time is due to the opening two games being played between the Red Sox and Athletics in Japan. The rest of the league still has about one week of spring training.

There should be some tight races in both the American League and National League this year, and I am really excited to see how they turn out. Did the Detroit Tigers add enough talent to surpass the Red Sox in the American League this year? Will the National League pennant be won in the NL East or NL West, or can the Cubs finally win it? My prediction for the World Series is the Dodgers against the Red Sox, with the Dodgers winning in seven games. I think Miguel Cabrera will be the MVP in the American League in a losing cause, leading the Tigers to the ALCS against the Red Sox. The National League will be completely up for grabs: will it be another Phillie, Utley, or will Howard resume the crown, or will it be Holliday, Soriano, or Chris Young?

Yet again the NCAA basketball tournament delights with buzzer beaters, monumental upsets, and tight games: my favorite underdogs are Washington State, Villanova, and Davidson. I just want someone to take down UNC, and Hansbrough to begin his career as a bust in the NBA so that I do not have to see him on tv anymore.

My ankle is almost fully healed. I can hop no that leg and walk without pain, but I do not quite have full flexibility in it yet. I'm hopefully confident that it will be normal by next weekend, when the weather will be warm again and my cold will hopefully be gone.

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Sunday March 16th 2008

2:57PM | What Lousy Brewers Do To Mask Their Suckitude

his weekend I have seen commercials both on television and on the internet advertising Coors Light's new vented wide-mouth can. The can is old; the vents are new. The vents - shallow diagonal ridges on each side of the can's mouth - are supposed to let air into the can whilst the undiscerning honest drinker drinks, enhancing the beer's flavor.

What a perfect example of what separates good beers from low-quality beers for the masses: if good beers want or need to improve, they modify their recipes and experiment with their selection of ingredients. Low-quality brewers cannot comprehend going to the trouble of improving their beer itself, so they scam you with a couple of changes in the physics of their can.

Note of clarification: Guinness improved their glass bottle by adding a nitrogen widget that is supposed to preserve a tap-like flavor. It does not work. Guinness, a good beer, is not so good in a bottle, but the quality of their keg product is their redemption.

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Saturday March 15th 2008

10:02AM | Springing Ahead

his first week of Daylight Standard Time has been great: not because of anything that happened during the week so much as the fact that days are now longer in terms of sunlight. On the two or three days weekly in which I get off from work early enough, I can leave in sunlight and go running. I took advantage of this twice this week.

Today I attempted my usual weekend cross-country run, but did not get very far before I sprained my ankle. Fortunately it seems like a mild sprain and might heal quickly. I heard a crack when my ankle rolled and feared a broken ankle, but thankfully it was just a crack and a pop from unusual stress on the ankle and foot, as nothing is broken. I guess I'll be sitting around my apartment this weekend.

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Tuesday March 4th 2008

3:56PM | Was He Smoking?

couple stories today regarding religion: one interesting and the other requiring a lot of faith to believe.

The first story about Iraqi young people's seemingly growing disenchantment with their harsh, oppressive, and culturally heavy-handed religion makes me wonder if this could be the means the Lord uses to once again bewilder those who oppose him. I can see him laughing the whole while, but we still need shepherds for the sheep over there.

The next story theorizes that Moses and the Israelites were under the influence of a hallucinogenic drug sourced from acacia trees. This is why Moses ascended into the mountain, spoke to God, saw a great light, had glowing skin, and so forth.

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Sunday February 24th 2008

11:46AM | Works and Righteousness

ome convicting thoughts from John Calvin, collected from chapter one of The Golden Booklet of the True Christian Life:

"For why were we delivered from the quagmire of iniquity and pollution of this world, if we want to wallow in it as long as we live?"

"Since Christ has united us to his body as his members, we should be anxious not to disgrace him by any blemish."

"Since the Holy Spirit has dedicated us as temples of God, we should exert ourselves not to profane his sanctuary, but to display his glory."

"The apostle denies that anyone actually knows Christ who has not learned to put off the old man, corrupt with deceitful lusts, and to put on Christ. External knowledge of Christ is found to be only a false and dangerous make-believe, however eloquently and freely lip servants may talk about the gospel."

"Our religion will be unprofitable if it does not change our heart, pervade our manners, and transform us into new creatures."

However, after all this tough talk regarding our pursuit of the holiness to which we are called, Calvin offers some comfort and encouragement:

"We should not insist on absolute perfection of the gospel in our fellow Christians, however much we may strive for it ourselves. It would be unfair to demand evangelical perfection before we acknowledge anyone as a Christian. There would be no church if we set a standard of absolute perfection, for the best of us are still far from the ideal, and we would have to reject many who have made only small progress."

"But let everyone proceed according to his given ability and continue the journey he has begun. There is no man so unhappy that he will not make some progress, however small. Let us not cease to do the utmost, that we may incessantly go forward in the way of the Lord; and let us not despair because of the smallness of our accomplishment."

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Saturday February 9th 2008

7:08PM | Thrice Ran

y running log looks better today than it has the past couple years. I went running three different times today in three different parks, totaling nine miles. Johnson Lake: 3 miles, Bond Lake: 2 miles, Shelley Lake: 4 miles. I had to run in spurts at times so probably the net miles ran is closer to 6.5. Still, that's progress, and hopefully I can combine all that into a single run this summer.

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