Rediculousness

Hi All,

I know that it's been a long time coming but I hope it will be worth the wait. I've created a brand new blog over at Foxoon.org

I've been working on the design for awhile and most of it is up and running. I'll be leaving all the old posts from this blog up and starting fresh over at Foxoon so come over and visit.

About a month ago, I was asked if I wanted to join the training team for the project I've been working on. I thought, hey, that sounds like a nice relaxing way to wrap up what has been a pretty intense project for the last 6 months. So two weeks ago I had my first glimpse at the schedule and realized what I thought would be a little rest and relaxation was actually a marathon of around 20 flights in 40 days to all the hot spots in Western Canada from Calgary to Vancouver to Victoria to Regina and Brandon Manitoba. I've decided to keep you up to date best I can and to let you know what is going on across our country.

This cover of Nelly's song "Hot in Here" by one of my favorite artists from last year, Jenny Owen Youngs, is fantastic. Pretty much looks like the last party I was at in Edmonton. It's almost as good as human tetris.

It dawns on me today that Chariots of Fire never even entered my mind yesterday. Surprising since I used to play that record all the time on my parents stereo. I guess the focus required to not curl up into a ball on the pavement as I ran my first ever half marathon took most of my mental energy.

Not that it was that bad, the pain mostly came after the race when my legs became solid tree trunks as they remain a full day later. Don't let that deter you if you're training for a long run, it's actually pretty fun. Getting up at 6 am, jumping on a school bus up to the start of the Toronto Marathon. I sat beside a pale and stubbly man from St. Loise who had huge bags under his eyes, though I'm sure I had chinchilla like luggage under mine. It was a very collegial run with orderly lines for the port-a-poties at the start line and cheering squads with signs like "Go Mommy Go!" down most of the race course.

It was a cool morning on Sunday and I have to say I was feeling pretty good. At around 17 km, Jodie found me and I got to hand off the long sleeved shirt I'd taken of 1o minutes into the race. Somehow in the hand off a threat caught on me sending Jodie to the ground but as I stopped to help her she just looked up and yelled keep going. What could I do? I turned around and kept running. The guy beside me turned and with a spittle filled smile said, "I think she's falling for you." Well that earned some serious respect from me. Cracking jokes at 19 km into a half marathon shows true character.

I kept running and next thing you know there was the finish line. Every step took a little more concentration but I made it and with my last ounces of effort I managed to not toss my cookies at the finish line. A couple Gatorade's later and Jeremy and Jodie (aka Cheer Team) were off to Fran's Diner and a BIG breakfast.

The pain continues but I think I did pretty well.
Half Marathon (21.1 Km or so): 1:44:40 (that's 1 hour, 44 mins and 40 seconds) and worth it I think... hopefully I can walk better tomorrow. The question is what now?

I've spent much of the last month cris-crossing the US. First there was a flight to Seattle that started off the cross country road trip to repatriate my brother Jeremy. A relaxing weekend of moving him out of his apartment led smoothly into five days of driving across the Northern US. Washington, Montana, Idaho, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, South Dakota. It was pretty amazing to see and the seemingly endless supply of truck stops and faux family diners were only topped by the down home charm of the people in Montana and South Dakota. We had a true patriotic experience at Mt. Rushmore, Amish cheese from a gas station in Wisconsin and a large amount of what I think is the modern day equivalent to American apple pie, Starbucks. Then after a few short days back at home it was back to the west coast for my cousins wedding in Portland.

It's been awhile since I've done an all out music post and it's about time I get on it. Here are some great artists that I wanted to share.

The White Stripes as closing off their cross Canada tour next week and I have to say I'm a little sad about it. I actually missed their concert here in Toronto but I've been following their tour and the stories as they crossed our great country. I read about their plan to visit every Canadian province and territory back when they first announced the tour. It's ambitious to say the least and something most Canadian bands couldn't boast having done. Plus it meant that The White Stripes would be playing places like Iqaluit and Whitehorse which probably have a smaller population overall than most of the stadiums they play in the US. But they played them all and played them with style. Not only did they win over the hearts of Canadians coast to coast by playing every province and territory, their now famous secret shows while they crossed the country are the things of legend and I'm pretty sure there will be a lobby to give Jack and Meg honorary citizenship.

With notices going up on their message board only minutes before the shows, only a few lucky people saw the secret shows. From a bowling alley in Saskatoon to a city bus in Winnipeg to strumming the blues with a busker, a youth shelter in Burnaby and the Hope Centre in Edmonton to singing with little kids at the YMCA in Toronto, The White Stripes dove into Canada and we love them for it. Below are some clips that I think are pretty cool. If you're Canadian and didn't love The White Stripes before I don't know how you could not love them now.