New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #330

Was your hand on that end table's leg?   

This is my idea for the New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #330. It has been a while since I've done one of these. Let me know if you have any ideas for a caption too.

Happy Easter!

Running the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler

I ran the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler race on Sunday. Though I had run a marathon in the fall, I was in no shape to run a 10-mile race. I had problems with my sciatica (self-diagnosed) and have not been running much.  Anyway, I signed up for it months ago and since I already paid (yes, I'm a cheapskate), I ran it.

I did OK, but was about 7 minutes slower than when I ran the same race 2 years ago. My net finish time was 86 minutes and 31 seconds. I was very happy to have finished in under 90 minutes.

I was on the race Web site today and found a slew of stats about the race that I thought I'd share here.

I came in 5,211th of the 16,840 finishers of the race. Not bad for 50. That means I finished ahead of 69 percent of all the racers and ahead of 81 percent of all the women who raced. Of all the racers, 57 percent were women and 43 percent were men.

Among men, I came in 3,401st place with 3,770 finishers behind me. About 47 percent of male finishers were ahead of me. In my division (Men aged 50-54), I came in 195th with 268 finishers behind. About 44 percent of finishers ahead. The winner of my division was Mark Neff, also 50, who ran the race in 57 minutes and 27 seconds.

 

During the second half of the race I passed 157 runners, but 410 runners passed me (bastards!).

 

I averaged about 6.9 miles per hour or 8 minute, 39 second miles during both the first and second half of the race.

 

The winner of the race, a man from Kenya,  fininsed in 45 minutes, 15 seconds, which was a course record. When he was finishing, I wasn't even halfway done yet, because I didn 't cross the start line until more than 4 minutes after the start--there was lots of traffic.

 

The oldest finisher was George Yannakakis, 80, who finished in 90 minutes and 34 seconds--only a few minutes slower than me.  In fact, even if I had been in the men's division for 70 to 74 year olds, and finished with my time, I would have come in fourth. The winner of that division finished in 81 minutes and 11 seconds.

 

I barely beat out to Heide Moebius, 73, the winner of the women's division for 70 to 74 who ran 10 miles in 88 minutes and 54 seconds, and Imme Dyson, 75, the winner of the women's division for 75 to 79, who finished in 93 minutes and 11 seconds.

This Film Was Not Produced by Fox News

Old Man Shelling On the Beach

I took this of an old man walking past me as I sat on the beach today. The temperature was in the 80s. He was dressed for snow. He was searching for sea shells. Why do people search so much for sea shells? I get exhausted watching the throngs of people constantly searching. You can buy a big bag of shells at the store for a few bucks. There must be a thrill in the hunt. At least he is out in the fresh air.

The Waves Were Crazy Wild for Florida

Shane and I are down in Florida this weekend and we went to the beach today.  We had thunder storms earlier this morning and it was overcast when we left, but we decided to risk that it would be nice at the beach. We were wrong.

The sky was clear, but it was very windy and the waves were wilder than I've ever seen them in Florida. The Gulf of Mexico is usually flat as a pancake, but the surfers were out today.  The surfers didn't look like they were very good. We didn't see any of them ride a wave for more than a few seconds.

We only stayed about a half an hour. The wind and sea spray did not make it pleasant for beach sitting.

Seeing "War Horse" on Broadway

I took the day off on Wednesday and we went to New York City for the day.  Shane had business and I tagged along. I saw War Horse on Broadway. I went to the discount ticket booth at Times Square and was surprised that tickets for this show were even available. Perhaps since the film was release, the show isn't as hot as it had been.

Anyway, I got an amazing ticket six rows back from the stage.  The show is at a theater at Lincoln Center with stadium seating, so any seat would have been fine in the orchestra section, but my seat was ideal. Because the show was only discounted 30 percent, it was still a bit pricey, but it was well worth it.

I loved this play.  It was amazingly well staged.  The life-size horse puppets are extraordinary. The horses had so much personality that you totally accepted them as real characters in the show. If you have the chance to see it, I highly recommend it if you can take this emotional story of World War I. Tears were running down my cheeks by the end.  Yes... puppets made me cry. It is easy to understand how it won the Tony for best play last year.

Of course, my friend Elaine, an avid horse lover, would love parts of this show, but she could not take the tragedy. Years ago, we went together to see the film, The Horse Whisperer, and there is a scene where a horse is struck by a huge truck and Elaine went hysterical. You could tell it was about to happen and she slid down on the floor in panic. When it did happen, she loudly sobbed for a prolonged period. I had to remind her that it wasn't real. She would have to be committed if she sat through War Horse. Not to give too much away, but there are some equine deaths in the show (and some human deaths). The program explained that more than 8 million horses died in WWI.  Elaine... Do Not See This Show!

Though seeing this show was largely a positive experience, there were a few negatives.  If you have ever seen a Wednesday matinee of a broadway show, you know there are primarily two categories of people in the audience--high school students and senior citizens. The kids, overall, were fairly well behaved. They sometimes laughed at inappropriate moments and were a little noisy, but because this was such a great show, I think they were too involved to misbehave.

The seniors on the other hand were not so great.  I think some older people forget they are in a live theater show and not in their living room where they can freely comment on what's happening around them without bothering others. I sat between a woman with a bad cold who was constantly blowing snot for the entire performance, and an old lady who's husband and her had seen the Steven Spielberg movie of War Horse and were constantly making comments like, "I don't remember this part in the movie." I had to give them some looks. They got the message.

Cherry Blossoms Blooming Very Early

The Cherry Blossom Festival doesn't begin for a week! The blooms are pretty much at peak! Shane and I took a walk down around the Tidal Basin this afternoon.

My Chinese Fortune Cookie Fortune

SNL Sketch: Liza Turns Off a Lamp

I thought this was funny.

Family Portrait

Mom, Gary, Kathleen, and me on Easter 1969. 

Help Finance a New Gay Rights Documentary

Film maker Ryan James Yezak is raising money to finance his documentary, Second Class Citizens, about the gay rights movement. This is a preview of his work so far. If you would like, you can contribute to making the film financially, but it looks like they already have exceeded their goal of $50,000. Click here to find out how to get such perks as a DVD of the film, a film poster, or having the director come to your home to host a screening of the film and doing a Q&A with your guests.

New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #319

Get your ears checked.  I said you were a nice asp!

This is my idea for the New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #319. Too obvious? Let me know if you have any ideas for a caption too. 

A Walk Around the DC Waterfront

Me and the birds on Hains Point.

Shane walking near the gulls.

We are considering selling our house and buying a small condo near DC's Southwest Waterfront, so we went to a couple open houses this afternoon. Afterwards, we went for a walk around the harbor even though it was quite chilly today. It actually was very nice walking the one way, but the wind was in our face on the way back and we had frozen face when by the time we got back to thc car.

Hulu Plus Versus Netflix--And the Winner Is...

When Netflix raised its prices last summer I was pissed and promptly canceled my membership. I showed them.

Since then, I tried out Hulu Plus.  It also provides movies and TV programing streaming on the Internet, which I can watch on my television with the help of my Roku machine.

I have to say that I wasn't all that happy with the Hulu. The programming was OK, but the big problem is the ads. You are forced to watch commercials every few minutes, often the same commercials over and over. It gets old.

Since they are the same price ($7.99) for their streaming service, today I re-signed up for Netflix (no commercials). I can forgive and forget. I am not getting the DVDs in the mail; just the streaming movies and TV.  We've spent most of the day watching stuff on Netflix. So far so good. They have the first season of Louie. It is hilarious. We also watched Breakfast at Tiffany's.  Both Shane and I recently read the novella. It was interesting to see the differences in the movie and the book.

Lip-Synching Showtunes: This Guy Is Brilliant!

This Guy Needs to Work On Facial Expressions

My niece, Kelly, sent me the link to this on Facebook with the note that she thought I might like it. She knows me pretty well.

Cat Video: Maude Attacks Her Catnip Mouse

This is Maude playing with the catnip mouse she got for Christmas. You might notice that although this is as energetic as Maude gets, she lays down throughout. Also, the light on the iPhone causes Maude's eyes to turn into Devil Eyes. Though she has Devil Eyes, she really is sweet. The catnip makes her crazy though.

Little Danger of Dying from Running Marathons

Both Shane and my Mom are always worried that I will drop dead as a result of running marathons. It didn't help that two people died the day I ran the Philadelphia Marathon -- one at the end of the marathon and one at the end of the half marathon. Finally, here is some evidence that it really isn't that dangerous. 

In an article by Kristina Fiore published today at MedPage Today, she argues there isn't that much danger. Here is an excerpt.

Despite well-publicized stories of people dropping dead during or after running a marathon, the race isn't all that risky, researchers found. 

Among nearly 11 million marathoners and half-marathoners, only 59 went into cardiac arrest during a race, for an incidence rate of just 0.54 per 100,000 participants, Aaron Baggish, MD, of Massachusetts General Hospital, and colleagues reported in the New England Journal of Medicine. 

"Event rates among marathon and half-marathon runners are relatively low, as compared with other athletic populations, including collegiate athletes, triathlon participants, and previously healthy middle-aged joggers," they wrote. 

Men, however, were more likely to have an event than women, they noted. 

Shane wanted me to add that he does not believe it.