I know, I'm like a year behind on this one. Mike and I just joined Netflix, so this was the first movie I rented.
Who knew we still lived in a world like this? What an eye-opening movie! I think Leonardo DiCaprio played an excellent role... he was very believable as Danny Archer, a diamond smuggler who knows the moral rights and wrongs of what he's doing, but chooses to continue smuggling anyway.
It breaks my heart that people forced children to do such amazingly awful things - in this movie they show the child soldiers and what is done to them in order to make them hardened. I think Djimon Hounsou's character Solomon Vandy was absolutely perfect. He is a naively innocent man who is just trying to raise his family when rebels take it all away. His struggle to remain a strong father and do what's right is fantastically portrayed.
One of the best quotes in the movie came when Solomon was riding on the press bus with Maddy Bowen (a reporter embedded in Africa). He is questioning her about the article that she's currently writing:
Solomon: "So when people in your country read it, they will come help, yes?"
Maddy: "Probably not."
This is definitely a movie you should rent if you haven't already seen it.
Monday, July 26, 2010
Friday, July 23, 2010
Movie Review: Eclipse
Yesterday, my work did a really cool thing. They rented out the Palladio movie theater in Folsom and offered every Intel employee at the Folsom and Sacramento sites the chance to go see a movie for free. IT was pretty darn cool. When we walked in, each of us got a free small drink and small popcorn (which in movie theater speak is gigantic!). My friend Jess and I signed up to see the latest Twilight move, "Eclipse".
Here's the thing... I hated the first movie (it was horribly done... I think they had no idea it was going to be as big as it was, so it was lower budget). The second movie was much better.
I don't love Robert Pattinson as Edward. For some reason, he just doesn't look or act the way I envisioned him after reading the books. I think they nailed Bella with Kristen Stewart and while I like Taylor Lautner as Jacob, he's a pretty bad actor. I loved the storyline and this one really kept me interested and entertained. I loved the wolves... the animation on them was awesome!
I can't wait for the next movie... without giving anything away, it's by far my favorite book of the series... and if they keep going with the same production quality that this last one had, it will be fantastic!
Here's the thing... I hated the first movie (it was horribly done... I think they had no idea it was going to be as big as it was, so it was lower budget). The second movie was much better.
I don't love Robert Pattinson as Edward. For some reason, he just doesn't look or act the way I envisioned him after reading the books. I think they nailed Bella with Kristen Stewart and while I like Taylor Lautner as Jacob, he's a pretty bad actor. I loved the storyline and this one really kept me interested and entertained. I loved the wolves... the animation on them was awesome!
I can't wait for the next movie... without giving anything away, it's by far my favorite book of the series... and if they keep going with the same production quality that this last one had, it will be fantastic!
Monday, July 19, 2010
Water Ballerinas
I'm going to preface this post by asking all of you faithful readers to not be offended. I am a strong believer that everyone should and can exercise and I know that not everyone does it how I do.
Which brings me to my pet peeve. Water ballerinas. Like I said, if people have medical issues, swimming can be one of the best ways for them to lose weight, build strength and work up to stronger workouts. Some movement is better than no movement, right?
Fast forward to today. I hop in my lane at the pool and, excuse the pun, dive right into my 2,500 yard workout. I'm not just floating along - I'm working through my strokes (yes people, doing all four - butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke and freestyle), drills and kicking. Mid-swim, there's just a person standing right in the middle of my lane. I almost ran right into her.
Allow me also to say that I swam competitively for ten years. I'm no stranger to sharing lanes, bumping arms and getting kicked every now and then. I honestly don't mind it. But, for God's sake, at least tell me you're jumping in on top of me!
This woman says nothing to me (by the way, pool etiquette is to say hi, ask if someone minds sharing their lane, etc) and starts kicking down the lane... with her noodle. That's right, not a kick board, not a pull buoy, a noodle.
Again, let me sidetrack to say that noodles are very effective rehabilitation tools... but that said, you don't typically DIVE IN THE SAME LANE AS SOMEONE WHO IS DOING SERIOUS SWIMMING!!! There are other lanes (including the lane with the grown men doing handstands) and the shallow end (which is deep enough to do some noodle floating).
The reason this really bothered me was that she started swimming some weird-noodle-backstroke thing that then zig-zagged across the lane. Here I'm trying to do a butterfly set while also figuring out where the hell in the lane this woman is going to end up. I was not a happy camper.
Moral of the story... be considerate when you're in the pool. I never would have thought twice about what this woman was doing in the pool (I commend anyone who is willing to get wet and move around), but when you start to impede someone else's workout, it's just plain rude.
Which brings me to my pet peeve. Water ballerinas. Like I said, if people have medical issues, swimming can be one of the best ways for them to lose weight, build strength and work up to stronger workouts. Some movement is better than no movement, right?
Fast forward to today. I hop in my lane at the pool and, excuse the pun, dive right into my 2,500 yard workout. I'm not just floating along - I'm working through my strokes (yes people, doing all four - butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke and freestyle), drills and kicking. Mid-swim, there's just a person standing right in the middle of my lane. I almost ran right into her.
Allow me also to say that I swam competitively for ten years. I'm no stranger to sharing lanes, bumping arms and getting kicked every now and then. I honestly don't mind it. But, for God's sake, at least tell me you're jumping in on top of me!
This woman says nothing to me (by the way, pool etiquette is to say hi, ask if someone minds sharing their lane, etc) and starts kicking down the lane... with her noodle. That's right, not a kick board, not a pull buoy, a noodle.
Again, let me sidetrack to say that noodles are very effective rehabilitation tools... but that said, you don't typically DIVE IN THE SAME LANE AS SOMEONE WHO IS DOING SERIOUS SWIMMING!!! There are other lanes (including the lane with the grown men doing handstands) and the shallow end (which is deep enough to do some noodle floating).
The reason this really bothered me was that she started swimming some weird-noodle-backstroke thing that then zig-zagged across the lane. Here I'm trying to do a butterfly set while also figuring out where the hell in the lane this woman is going to end up. I was not a happy camper.
Moral of the story... be considerate when you're in the pool. I never would have thought twice about what this woman was doing in the pool (I commend anyone who is willing to get wet and move around), but when you start to impede someone else's workout, it's just plain rude.
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Shadow's Best Day Ever
Today Shadow officially had his best day ever. Mom and Dad asked if we wanted to go out on the lake, so of course I said yes! Shadow has only been on the boat once or twice, so I was excited about getting him out there again. We went out pretty early (8am) so that we could avoid the heat (ha!). The weather was actually really beautiful. Shadow started with a swim at the docks:
While that was fun and all, he was anxious to get out on the boat... so he drug me down the dock:
We did a little bit of fishing and both Mom and Dad caught some pretty nice fish. Mom had a 1 pound, 6 ounce silver salmon and Dad had a 2 pound, 12 ounce large mouth bass:
After all of that, we found this great little island in the middle of the lake (there are lots of them right now as the water is higher than it's been in probably the last ten years!) and beached the boat. Those of you that know sweet Shadow know that he doesn't do well with other dogs and that his attention span is less than developed, so I have never actually let him off leash at the lake (even when swimming). I just can't risk him going after a little dog or finding something small to chase (because then, that attention span seems to really kick in!). This little island was the perfect opportunity to let him run around and swim like crazy in a controlled environment! He had the time of his life:
That last one is one of my favorites... he had started to go around the other side of the island and I called him... he came charging around and Mom got a great picture! It was such a fantastic day... this whole weekend has really felt like I've been on vacation and this was the icing on the cake! I'm 100% sure that Shadow is going to have fantastic puppy dog dreams tonight!
While we were pulling the boat out we saw a guy do something crazy... there are three straps that hold your boat to the trailer... two in the back to keep it from bouncing and a hook in the front to actually keep it on the trailer. Normally, before you back the boat down the launch ramp, you unhook the back two straps. Then you back it down and when you get close enough to the water, you unhook the hook. Then when you keep backing, your boat floats off the trailer. Well, this guy seemed to think that he should unhook them all at the top, so as he's backing down the launch, his boat pretty much slides off his trailer... onto the cement. Definitely no good... to make matters even worse, he said that he had just greased his skids (the little bars on the trailer that the boat rests on). Not sure why you would do that, but apparently the boat definitely comes off! Bummer for him!
I'll leave you with the final two pictures of the day... one of me and my boy and the other of him just plain looking badass. :)
Friday, July 16, 2010
TGIF
I'm sure this is not new to anyone reading this blog, but dang, it's HOT. I went for a run at 7:30am this morning and it was already "back East muggy". Yuck. Even poor Shadow came in from playing in the yard to lay on air conditioning vent. Apparently summer is finally here in full force!
In honor of it being Friday, I thought I'd share an email I got... it has some pretty short but funny jokes! TGIF!
I was in the six item express lane at the store quietly fuming. Completely ignoring the sign, the woman ahead of me had slipped into the check-out line pushing a cart piled high with groceries. Imagine my delight when the cashier beckoned the woman to come forward looked into the cart and asked sweetly, 'So which six items would you like to buy?'
--------------------------------------------------------------
Because they had no reservations at a busy restaurant, my elderly neighbor and his wife were told there would be a 45-minute wait for a table. 'Young man, we're both 90 years old, ' the husband said ..'We may not have 45 minutes.' They were seated immediately.
--------------------------------------------------------------
The reason Politicians try so hard to get re-elected is that they would 'hate' to have to make a living under the laws they've passed.
-------------------------------------------------------------
All eyes were on the radiant bride as her father escorted her down the aisle. They reached the altar and the waiting groom; the bride kissed her father and placed something in his hand. The guests in the front pews responded with ripples of laughter. Even the priest smiled broadly. As her father gave her away in marriage, the bride gave him back his credit card.
------------------------------------------------------------
Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Three friends from the local congregation were asked, 'When you're in your casket, and friends and congregation members are mourning over you, what would you like them to say?'
Artie said: ' I would like them to say I was a wonderful husband, a fine spiritual leader, and a great family man.'
Eugene commented: 'I would like them to say I was a wonderful teacher and servant of God who made a huge difference in people's lives.'
Al said: 'I'd like them to say, 'Look, he's moving!'
--------------------------------------------------------------
Smith climbs to the top of Mt. Sinai to get close enough to talk to God. Looking up, he asks t he Lord... 'God, what does a million years mean to you?' The Lord replies, 'A minute.' Smith asks, 'And what does a million dollars mean to you?' The Lord replies, 'A penny.' 'Smith asks, 'Can I have a penny?' 'The Lord replies, 'In a minute.'
-------------------------------------------------------------
A man goes to a shrink and says, 'Doctor, my wife is unfaithful to me. Every evening, she goes to Larry's bar and picks up men. In fact, she sleeps with anybody who asks her! I'm going crazy. What do you think I
should do?' 'Relax,' says the Doctor, 'take a deep breath and calm down. Now, tell me, exactly where is Larry's bar?'
--------------------------------------------------------------
John was on his deathbed and gasped pitifully. 'Give me one last request, dear,'he said.
'Of course, John,' his wife said softly.
'Six months after I die,' he said, 'I want you to marry Bob.'
'But I thought you hated Bob,' she said.
With his last breath John said, 'I do!'
--------------------------------------
A man goes to see the Rabbi. 'Rabbi, something terrible is happening and I have to talk to you about it.' The Rabbi asked, 'What's wrong?' The man replied, 'My wife is poisoning me.' The Rabbi, very surprised by this, asks, 'How can that be?' The man then pleads, 'I'm telling you, I'm certain she's poisoning me, what should I do?' The Rabbi then offers, 'Tell you what. Let me talk to her, I'll see what I can find out and I'll let you know.' A week later the Rabbi calls the man and says, "I spoke to her on the phone for three hours. You want my advice?' The man said yes and the Rabbi replied, 'Take the poison'
In honor of it being Friday, I thought I'd share an email I got... it has some pretty short but funny jokes! TGIF!
I was in the six item express lane at the store quietly fuming. Completely ignoring the sign, the woman ahead of me had slipped into the check-out line pushing a cart piled high with groceries. Imagine my delight when the cashier beckoned the woman to come forward looked into the cart and asked sweetly, 'So which six items would you like to buy?'
--------------------------------------------------------------
Because they had no reservations at a busy restaurant, my elderly neighbor and his wife were told there would be a 45-minute wait for a table. 'Young man, we're both 90 years old, ' the husband said ..'We may not have 45 minutes.' They were seated immediately.
--------------------------------------------------------------
The reason Politicians try so hard to get re-elected is that they would 'hate' to have to make a living under the laws they've passed.
-------------------------------------------------------------
All eyes were on the radiant bride as her father escorted her down the aisle. They reached the altar and the waiting groom; the bride kissed her father and placed something in his hand. The guests in the front pews responded with ripples of laughter. Even the priest smiled broadly. As her father gave her away in marriage, the bride gave him back his credit card.
------------------------------------------------------------
Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Three friends from the local congregation were asked, 'When you're in your casket, and friends and congregation members are mourning over you, what would you like them to say?'
Artie said: ' I would like them to say I was a wonderful husband, a fine spiritual leader, and a great family man.'
Eugene commented: 'I would like them to say I was a wonderful teacher and servant of God who made a huge difference in people's lives.'
Al said: 'I'd like them to say, 'Look, he's moving!'
--------------------------------------------------------------
Smith climbs to the top of Mt. Sinai to get close enough to talk to God. Looking up, he asks t he Lord... 'God, what does a million years mean to you?' The Lord replies, 'A minute.' Smith asks, 'And what does a million dollars mean to you?' The Lord replies, 'A penny.' 'Smith asks, 'Can I have a penny?' 'The Lord replies, 'In a minute.'
-------------------------------------------------------------
A man goes to a shrink and says, 'Doctor, my wife is unfaithful to me. Every evening, she goes to Larry's bar and picks up men. In fact, she sleeps with anybody who asks her! I'm going crazy. What do you think I
should do?' 'Relax,' says the Doctor, 'take a deep breath and calm down. Now, tell me, exactly where is Larry's bar?'
--------------------------------------------------------------
John was on his deathbed and gasped pitifully. 'Give me one last request, dear,'he said.
'Of course, John,' his wife said softly.
'Six months after I die,' he said, 'I want you to marry Bob.'
'But I thought you hated Bob,' she said.
With his last breath John said, 'I do!'
--------------------------------------
A man goes to see the Rabbi. 'Rabbi, something terrible is happening and I have to talk to you about it.' The Rabbi asked, 'What's wrong?' The man replied, 'My wife is poisoning me.' The Rabbi, very surprised by this, asks, 'How can that be?' The man then pleads, 'I'm telling you, I'm certain she's poisoning me, what should I do?' The Rabbi then offers, 'Tell you what. Let me talk to her, I'll see what I can find out and I'll let you know.' A week later the Rabbi calls the man and says, "I spoke to her on the phone for three hours. You want my advice?' The man said yes and the Rabbi replied, 'Take the poison'
Monday, July 12, 2010
Death Ride 2010
I'm just going to say it... my boyfriend is a stud. Yup, that's right a certified grade-A stud. On Saturday, he and a couple of his buddies got up at the bright and early time of 3:45am to get ready for the 2010 Death Ride. For those of you who don't know what the Death Ride is, let me fill you in. It's known as the "Tour of the California Alps" - a 129 mile ride with 5 mountain pass climbs that total 15,000 feet of climbing.
Here's Mike and I at the top of Carson Pass (the last pass where we sat and cheered):
Note that he doesn't look like he's just been riding for the last 11 hours. I have no idea how all of these guys looked so good! There was a downside... about 2 hours into the ride, Mike had a pretty bad crash. His chain broke, which promptly tossed him off his bike and onto the ground. He ended up with some pretty crazy scrapes and bruises... I suspect that most of the soreness he's feeling now is not from the crash but rather from the fall. Here's a side picture that doesn't do the injuries justice:
He has some pretty good scrapes down his legs, too. Here's the part that just absolutely amazes me... this crash happened 2 hours in. He had to sit almost a full hour waiting for one of the course mechanics to come around with a new chain (his was completely broken in two). I'm pretty sure that most people would have stopped there, but not my dude! He hopped right back on that bike and rode for another 8 hours! I'm absolutely blown away!
We were also there with Sean and Erin:
Rich and Clarissa:
Of course, we set up a fantastic cheering section - Erin and Clarissa brought cowbells (who doesn't love a couple hours of cowbell ringing?!). We had a blast cheering for all of the people coming up the last pass! Here are the "cowbell girls" doing their thing:
My parents also came and brought Tucker... who woofed along with us when we cheered and rang the bells!
Tucker and Dad eventually got sick of the cowbells and walked over to the side of the road to look down on the beautiful lake below us:
Who doesn't love a good "boy and his dog" picture?
In other cycling news, it looks like Lance Armstrong is pretty much out of contention in the Tour de France. He had a couple of crashes yesterday that put him way too far back to make up the time before the end of the race. Sort of sad, since I would have loved to see him go out with a win (he's said that this is his last Tour). He's had a lot of crap thrown at him this time around... some crazy crashes and flat tires at times that were just very bad luck. I think I might have to start cheering for Andy Schleck!
Here's Mike and I at the top of Carson Pass (the last pass where we sat and cheered):
We were also there with Sean and Erin:
In other cycling news, it looks like Lance Armstrong is pretty much out of contention in the Tour de France. He had a couple of crashes yesterday that put him way too far back to make up the time before the end of the race. Sort of sad, since I would have loved to see him go out with a win (he's said that this is his last Tour). He's had a lot of crap thrown at him this time around... some crazy crashes and flat tires at times that were just very bad luck. I think I might have to start cheering for Andy Schleck!
Friday, July 9, 2010
Evening in the Yard
Today I did some much needed work on my garden. I had planted some hanging baskets a couple months ago and my pansies and snapdragons did not do too well once it started to get really hot. I replaced them with several versions of geranium and a succulent. I'm so excited!
I did some work upstairs as well... we had two patches of basil growing which was WAY too much, so I pulled one of those out and planted some thyme. I have a row of hummingbird feeders and I decided to add a hanging fuchsia to help lure more. It is a spectacular plant!
I also got some spectacular pictures of a sweet little hummingbird eating out of one of my feeders. I absolutely love those little guys!
Finally, Shadow and I spent some quality time together. It's been a while since we just rolled around on the floor and he got a tummy rub. Clearly, he liked it:
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Controversy - BART Shooting Verdict
Today the verdict was announced in the Grant Oscar BART shooting case.
Here's a little background information on what happened the day of the shooting:
On January 1, 2009, police were called to the Oakland Fruitvale station of BART after passengers complained about fights on the train. One of the responding officers was Johannes Mehserle, a BART police officer. Bystanders took cell phone video of what followed - three suspects were sitting on the platform when one tried to get up. The video shows officers pushing him back down, at which point one of them puts his knee on the suspect's head. Another officer stands above him, pulls out his weapon and fires a single shot into the back of the man laying on the ground. The man, 22-year-old Grant Oscar, died. Today, the officer was convicted of involuntary manslaughter which typically carries a 2 to 4 year prison sentence.
One version of the video can be seen here.
I have two conflicting opinions on this. The first is that you probably should never put yourself in a position to have one police officer with his knee on your head and another has his gun drawn on you. You should never resist arrest. Oscar Grant had a background of two prison terms for various felonies including drug dealing. He also did time for running from the police with a loaded weapon (an incident that he was Tazed in). Does any of that mean he should have been shot in the back while laying face down? Absolutely not. Might he have done something that was not captured on the grainy cell phone video that would have provoked the officers? Maybe.
Here's my other opinion: I believe that being a police officer might be the hardest job in the world. You constantly see society at their worst, and if you trusted everyone, you would end up dead. In this case, Mehserle claims that he meant to draw his Taser, not his gun. Was it truly a horrible mistake?
Let's talk a little about involuntary manslaughter. The actual definition is as follows: the unlawful killing of a human being without malice aforethought. Basically, you killed someone without actually meaning to (as opposed to you set out with the purpose of taking life). Another example of this would be accidentally backing your car over a child. So, if he truly meant to pull his Taser but in the heat of the moment pulled his gun instead, wouldn't that be involuntary manslaughter? The idea behind this lesser conviction (as opposed to murder) is that you shouldn't lock someone away for life who did not set out to be a murderer - they still deserve to be punished, but at a lesser sentence.
Also, there's the race deal. It breaks my heart to see that racial prejudice still exists in our country today, but I'm sad to report that it's alive and well. You see, Mehserle is a white man while Oscar was a black man. There are claims that if both men would have been white, the same actions would not have been taken. There are claims that he may have received a harsher punishment if there had been a black person on the jury (there were none).
Finally, it's really sad that there was reason to be nervous if you were in Oakland today. It turns out that police and city officials were worried that once the verdict was read there would be riots throughout Oakland. It makes me really sad that people can't find any other way to get their point across other than completely destroying their own city. What happened to community pride? Luckily, it seems that there were a few relatively minor incidents, but still sad that we live in a society that still thinks violence gets a point across.
Personally, I'm very torn in this case. I firmly believe that you should never be in a position to have the police arresting you, but I do understand that sometimes it happens. I like to think that our police officers are trained to react calmly in situations that would scare the crap out of us normal people (the same way that EMTs and paramedics are trained to see people in horrible crashes, but still remain rational). I'd like to think that there would be safeguards in place that would allow an officer to feel the difference in a taser gun and a pistol when they are in his hand. I think it's a truly sad situation and that both Mehserle and Oscar's lives have been destroyed.
Here's a little background information on what happened the day of the shooting:
On January 1, 2009, police were called to the Oakland Fruitvale station of BART after passengers complained about fights on the train. One of the responding officers was Johannes Mehserle, a BART police officer. Bystanders took cell phone video of what followed - three suspects were sitting on the platform when one tried to get up. The video shows officers pushing him back down, at which point one of them puts his knee on the suspect's head. Another officer stands above him, pulls out his weapon and fires a single shot into the back of the man laying on the ground. The man, 22-year-old Grant Oscar, died. Today, the officer was convicted of involuntary manslaughter which typically carries a 2 to 4 year prison sentence.
One version of the video can be seen here.
I have two conflicting opinions on this. The first is that you probably should never put yourself in a position to have one police officer with his knee on your head and another has his gun drawn on you. You should never resist arrest. Oscar Grant had a background of two prison terms for various felonies including drug dealing. He also did time for running from the police with a loaded weapon (an incident that he was Tazed in). Does any of that mean he should have been shot in the back while laying face down? Absolutely not. Might he have done something that was not captured on the grainy cell phone video that would have provoked the officers? Maybe.
Here's my other opinion: I believe that being a police officer might be the hardest job in the world. You constantly see society at their worst, and if you trusted everyone, you would end up dead. In this case, Mehserle claims that he meant to draw his Taser, not his gun. Was it truly a horrible mistake?
Let's talk a little about involuntary manslaughter. The actual definition is as follows: the unlawful killing of a human being without malice aforethought. Basically, you killed someone without actually meaning to (as opposed to you set out with the purpose of taking life). Another example of this would be accidentally backing your car over a child. So, if he truly meant to pull his Taser but in the heat of the moment pulled his gun instead, wouldn't that be involuntary manslaughter? The idea behind this lesser conviction (as opposed to murder) is that you shouldn't lock someone away for life who did not set out to be a murderer - they still deserve to be punished, but at a lesser sentence.
Also, there's the race deal. It breaks my heart to see that racial prejudice still exists in our country today, but I'm sad to report that it's alive and well. You see, Mehserle is a white man while Oscar was a black man. There are claims that if both men would have been white, the same actions would not have been taken. There are claims that he may have received a harsher punishment if there had been a black person on the jury (there were none).
Finally, it's really sad that there was reason to be nervous if you were in Oakland today. It turns out that police and city officials were worried that once the verdict was read there would be riots throughout Oakland. It makes me really sad that people can't find any other way to get their point across other than completely destroying their own city. What happened to community pride? Luckily, it seems that there were a few relatively minor incidents, but still sad that we live in a society that still thinks violence gets a point across.
Personally, I'm very torn in this case. I firmly believe that you should never be in a position to have the police arresting you, but I do understand that sometimes it happens. I like to think that our police officers are trained to react calmly in situations that would scare the crap out of us normal people (the same way that EMTs and paramedics are trained to see people in horrible crashes, but still remain rational). I'd like to think that there would be safeguards in place that would allow an officer to feel the difference in a taser gun and a pistol when they are in his hand. I think it's a truly sad situation and that both Mehserle and Oscar's lives have been destroyed.
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Tour de France
My name is Anna and I am a Tour de France-aholic. That's right, I'm hooked. Last year I sort of paid attention because Mike liked it, but it's really grown on me. We went and watched Lance and the boys ride the Tour of California and I just totally fell in love with this sport. We tape it on Versus in the morning (it's broad casted twice a day, but the morning version shows everything, while the afternoon version is clipped) and watch it when we get home from work.
The first three stages (well, two plus the prologue) were absolutely amazing. The weather was pretty crummy in Holland and Belgium (they started there and reached France yesterday), so there were TONS of crashes. It amazes me to see these guys hit the cement at 30 miles an hour and then pick themselves right back up and get on the bike again! There were several guys that had to drop... broken jaws, collarbones, thumbs, etc.
Last night we watched Stage 3, the dreaded cobblestones. They made the riders race over 7 different spots of cobbles... one those crazy skinny little bike tires. It was an absolutely insane race to watch... I was totally on the edge of my seat for 2 hours! In fact, when I went to bed, I couldn't sleep! Lance Armstrong was pretty amazing - he lost a lot of time, but after getting a flat tire made this incredible charge to catch up to one of the main groups! I would love to see him win, but don't know if he has it in him this year. I want to at least see him beat Alberto Contador! Lance dropped down to like 18th place and I'm not sure that he can make up the time that he lost, but there are still 18 or so days left to go!
The other cool thing about professional cycling is the team aspect. Obviously, the riders are in it for the big individual win, but they're also riding for their teams. And they have some pretty neat strategy. For example, they'll "watch over" the guys that they are pushing to win the race. There are some guys that know they will never win, but are still excellent cyclists, so their sole purpose is to get their man up the hill, to the front of the pack, over the cobblestones, etc. If fact, in one of the Stage 2 crashes, a Saxobank rider actually got off his bike and handed it to Andy Schleck so that he could keep going. But it's not just the team spirit that amazes me, it's the excellent sportsmanship. After a serious crash took out most of the teams, a couple of the guys in the lead decided to hold up the group so that they all crossed the finish line together, neutralizing any advantage that they would have had due to the horrible crash. This happens time and time again - it's almost as if they feel they only want to win if it's a fair race. Very cool to watch!
I can't wait for Stage 4 tonight!
The first three stages (well, two plus the prologue) were absolutely amazing. The weather was pretty crummy in Holland and Belgium (they started there and reached France yesterday), so there were TONS of crashes. It amazes me to see these guys hit the cement at 30 miles an hour and then pick themselves right back up and get on the bike again! There were several guys that had to drop... broken jaws, collarbones, thumbs, etc.
Last night we watched Stage 3, the dreaded cobblestones. They made the riders race over 7 different spots of cobbles... one those crazy skinny little bike tires. It was an absolutely insane race to watch... I was totally on the edge of my seat for 2 hours! In fact, when I went to bed, I couldn't sleep! Lance Armstrong was pretty amazing - he lost a lot of time, but after getting a flat tire made this incredible charge to catch up to one of the main groups! I would love to see him win, but don't know if he has it in him this year. I want to at least see him beat Alberto Contador! Lance dropped down to like 18th place and I'm not sure that he can make up the time that he lost, but there are still 18 or so days left to go!
The other cool thing about professional cycling is the team aspect. Obviously, the riders are in it for the big individual win, but they're also riding for their teams. And they have some pretty neat strategy. For example, they'll "watch over" the guys that they are pushing to win the race. There are some guys that know they will never win, but are still excellent cyclists, so their sole purpose is to get their man up the hill, to the front of the pack, over the cobblestones, etc. If fact, in one of the Stage 2 crashes, a Saxobank rider actually got off his bike and handed it to Andy Schleck so that he could keep going. But it's not just the team spirit that amazes me, it's the excellent sportsmanship. After a serious crash took out most of the teams, a couple of the guys in the lead decided to hold up the group so that they all crossed the finish line together, neutralizing any advantage that they would have had due to the horrible crash. This happens time and time again - it's almost as if they feel they only want to win if it's a fair race. Very cool to watch!
I can't wait for Stage 4 tonight!
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Things I'm Thankful For
No, I haven't missed 4 months of blogging and we haven't flashed forward to November. My cousin Emily did this post on her blog the other day... I thought it was cool, so I'm going to duplicate her effort here. This might be an ongoing thing I do every now and then... just a little reality check about how good my life actually is! Without further ado, things I am thankful for on this lovely 4th of July:
Today I'm heading over to Mom and Dad's for a little 4th of July celebration. We're also celebrating their birthday as well as Nate's (he's next Tuesday). After that, I'm zipping home to hang out at the Blankenheim's for their 4th of July party. I'm a busy girl! No fireworks tonight... apparently Amador County does them on the 3rd every year. I'm still trying to figure out why... but we went last night and watched them from the Mount Zion lookout... it was cool to actually look down on fireworks. We also had about 10 other people there, so there was no waiting in traffic to get home!
Hope you all have a safe and fun 4th of July!
- a day off from work
- the surprise gift of Ghiradelli white chocolate powder
- my family
- Mike and Shadow
- hummingbirds
Today I'm heading over to Mom and Dad's for a little 4th of July celebration. We're also celebrating their birthday as well as Nate's (he's next Tuesday). After that, I'm zipping home to hang out at the Blankenheim's for their 4th of July party. I'm a busy girl! No fireworks tonight... apparently Amador County does them on the 3rd every year. I'm still trying to figure out why... but we went last night and watched them from the Mount Zion lookout... it was cool to actually look down on fireworks. We also had about 10 other people there, so there was no waiting in traffic to get home!
Hope you all have a safe and fun 4th of July!
Friday, July 2, 2010
Happy Birthday Mom and Dad!
I know it's a bit odd, but yes, my parents were born on the same day! Crazy, right? Well, happy birthday Mom and Dad... I hope you both have a wonderfully fantastic day!
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