Monday, July 25, 2005

A realistic look at Lance

I like the comparisons here...

Friday, July 22, 2005

Refuse to Lose

A unique experience last week when Garrett and I went to the Day of Destruction races. They had something called Spectator Drags which I had never seen before. Essentially, its a drag race, but held on a race track instead of a drag strip. This meant that cars were actually racing, not just being judged on reaction time and horsepower.

The highlight of the event was when a quick, 70-something Duster with a pretty beat up body, put a very nice looking 2000 mustang GT into the wall because the guy wasn’t going top let him pass any other way.

I’ll always remember the announcer saying “Good luck explaining THAT to your insurance company!” as the Mustang limped back to the pits with its passenger side pretty well banged up.

It reminded me of something Earnhardt said (in the movie at least) “It’s not the guy with the faster car that wins, but the one that refuses to lose.”

Maine Rock Gym

Maine Rock Gym is a specially designed and highly controlled area that allows people of all ages to safely experience the sport of rock climbing and to take it to what ever level they desire.

Thursday, July 21, 2005

Hall of Happiness

May the joy that is everlasting gather in this hall. Not the joy of a sumptuous feast, which slips away even as we leave the table; nor that which music brings—it is only of a limited duration. Beauty and a pretty face are like flowers; they bloom for a while, then die. Even our youth slips swiftly away and is gone.

No, enduring happiness is not in these, nor in the three joys of Jung Kung. We may as well forget them, for the joy I mean is worlds away from these.

It is the joy of continuous growth, of helping to develop in ourselves and others the talents and abilities with which we were born—the gifts of heaven to mortal men. It is to revive the exhausted and to rejuvenate that which is in decline, so that we are enabled to dispel sickness and suffering.

Let true affection and happy concourse abide in this hall. Let us here correct our past mistakes and lose preoccupation with self. With the constancy of the planets in their courses or of the dragon in his cloud wrapped path, let us enter the land of health and ever after walk within its bounds.

Let us fortify ourselves against weakness and learn to be self reliant, without ever a moment's lapse. Then our resolution will become the very air we breathe, the world we live in; then we will be as happy as a fish in crystal waters. This is the joy which lasts, that we can carry with us to the end of our days. And tell me, if you can; what greater happiness can life bestow?

Cheng Man-Ching
New York City, 1973
This poem by Professor Cheng, hung in the Tai Chi studio on 87 Bowery.

Can you say Muy Largo Cajones ?!

Hand tagging great white sharks...

"What, the dynamite tester job was already taken?"

Deep thoughts...or too much free time

You decide...

"A REALISTIC ASSESSMENT OF HOW MANY 12-YEAR-OLDS I COULD BEAT UP BEFORE THEY OVERTOOK ME- BY MATT SCHWEIGER"

Tuesday, July 19, 2005

Fast truck, big flames



Cool...for so many reasons. A surprise appearance at Beech Ridge Speedway Day of Destruction

Dinner



Good food, good friends...good god, we've known each other for a long time !!!

Monday, July 18, 2005

The Jerk - Steve Martin

Navin R. Johnson: The new phone book's here. The new phone book's here. This is the kind of spontaneous publicity I need. My name in print. That really makes somebody. Things are going to start happening to me now.

RiRa - Portland, ME

“All the pub’s interiors were salvaged and restored in Ireland and shipped to Portland. Ri Ra is an exciting combination of history and culture. I cannot imagine more appropriate surroundings than Portland’s waterfront area,” said Ciaran Sheehan, a native of Dublin who designed the pub and is one of the owners.

Full Circle Synergy

As a martial art, T’ai Chi clearly demonstrates that one’s greatest martial power is found in cultivating and maintaining relaxation, internal peace, and emotional calm.

Yogism

"I just want to thank everyone who made this day necessary." - Yogi Berra (1925~) American Baseball Player, Coach, Manager

Stewart's many hats

Marketing executives call it the hat dance - the moment just after the victory lap when, as cameras flash, a race winner shuffles through an array of logo embroidered hats in an effort to please his many sponsors.

Thursday, July 14, 2005

A Poem for Kate and Anna Pearl

When the Wind awakened
And moved across the still face of the water,
A tiny Wave was born, not much more than a ripple.
The Wind pushed down harder on the Sea,
Rolling the water before her, bunching it up,
And the ripple became a Wave in full.
And it grew until its head curled mightily upward,
Rolling onward, surging with great strength forward,
Rising higher and higher.
And now the Wave could see a great distance,
And he shuddered in fear when he saw
Those ahead of him, ceaselessly, one after another,
Crashing onto the sand
And dying with a great pitiful roaring.
So the Wave cried to the Wind, begging her to be still.
But she would not.
And so he asked her, “Why are you doing this?”
The Wind asked, “What is it you think I do?”
“You are pushing me to my death!” The Wave exclaimed.
“And if I stop pushing?”
“The Sea will receive me back into itself,” said the Wave.
“And if I keep pushing?” the Wind asked.
“I will crash – “ and the Wave paused,
“And the Sea will receive me back into itself.”
And the Wave,
Water before he was born,
And water evermore,
Laughed a great roar, and rolled mightily onward.

-Henry Stewart as written by Sonny Brewer, The Poet of Tolstoy Park – A Novel

Wednesday, July 13, 2005

Loud Goodbye for Hunter Thompson

Looks like its going to happen after all...

Gonzo goes bang

Friends and relatives of Hunter S. Thompson are preparing to pepper the sky with his ashes, The Associated Press reported. Thompson's cremated remains will be shot into the air Aug. 20 from a cannon installed on a 150-foot-high tower behind his home in Woody Creek, Colo

Tuesday, July 12, 2005

Looky what we found

So we got lucky last night. You see, we still have hundreds (little exaggeration) of boxes and crates filled with our Stuff from the move. Problem was, Garrett lost his front tooth last night...it had been hanging by a thread for a week or two now. And, since we started a little tradition where the Tooth Fairy brings him a silver dollar for each tooth, courtesy of my grandfather who gave them to me for each good report card (and my parents for saving them all these years), we were under the gun to find them before the night was through.

So off we went last night to find an old check box with the coins in them...somewhere in a box called Office in the house. We searched 5-6 likely candidates and then wouldn’t you know we came across it within 15-20 minutes.

It was worth it to see Garrett’s face this morning when he learned that the Tooth Fairy was able to find his new house. He must have grabbed the coin while he was sleeping, because when he woke up he was amazed to find it in his hand !!

He was thrilled

Monday, July 11, 2005

King Cole tea



Ssshhhh...i took some over the border on my last trip. Don't tell

"Earth Options" Raid Bug Killer

Kill bugs without killing the environment....what's next, fruit flavored Drain-O ? They should have come out with a new brand name in my opinion. When you think Raid, you think "dead"...for better or worse. I think they missed an opportunity to extend their brand into a more favorable image by not calling the whol line something else.

Friday, July 08, 2005

See what others see...and take pictures of

Search for places you've been to see if anyone has taken the same picture you did when you were there ! (And other time wasters)

Report- David Lee Roth to replace Howard Stern

Wooblie zoobolie zibbity bop !!

Start that Sirius Radio subscription today !!

What i'm reading-A World of Thieves

"In 1928 New Orleans, eighteen-year-old Sonny LaSalle is a top prep student and champion amateur boxer -- and he venerates his fraternal twin uncles, Buck and Russell, armed robbers who love their profession. "

Wednesday, July 06, 2005

07-06-05

We'll call it countdown day

Ethos....one month down

Time flies when you are having fun...and i can actually say that the last 30 days have been just that. I think this is going to be a great fit for me.

Tuesday, July 05, 2005

Friday, July 01, 2005

Mainely Motorsports

Kind of cheesy...but they must capture quite an audience.

just wondering

So who rakes up all the leaves on the highway ? There are tons of trees...but you never ssee piles of leavves along the roadside.