Mr. T Tee from @Threadless

Love it! By the way...I wear a small. I'm just saying.

Tri for Joe

 1:13.07

Swim: 11:20
Bike: 37:40
Run: 24:07

12th place in my age group

Forest Hills 5K

Last weekend we ran the Forest Hills 5k.

Cheryl | 23:18.00 | 7:31 miles
1st place in age group!
12th overall female 
57th overall

Brian | 24:02.00 | 7:45 miles
5th place in age group
63rd overall male
82nd overall

Probably the best part of the FH5K was Meka in the Future Forest Hill-ers race. The 3 year olds were lined up first, we told Meka to run to Rosie Red (the mascot) when the whistle blew (forgot to tell her to wait until the 4 year olds started). So...when the 3 year olds started, she took off diagonally across the field to Rosie. For the record she pretty much destroyed the 3 year olds.

Muppets American Woman

100 Unanswered LOST Questions

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

Yeah...that's a pretty good start...

Charles Wesley's "A Man of Fashion"

A man of taste and dissipation ...
In sleep, in dress, and sport and play
He throws his worthless life away...
With a disdainful smile or frown
He on the riff-raff crowd looks down;
The world polite his friends and he;
And all the rest are - nobody!...
Custom pursues, his only rule,
And lives and Ape, and dies a Fool.

Spartan Race

The gauntlet is thrown for summer 2011.

http://www.spartanrace.com

Wow (in a 1980s/train wreck way): Mr. T's Ode to Mothers (ht @elliotgrudem)

Poor Frisbees

so, i have a pretty screwed up cell phone. the screen is busted on the inside so that it is about 90% covered with what looks like an ink blot. therefore, i can see that i get text messages but have no idea who they are from or what they say other than a single word here or there.

i have been getting a lot of texts lately. if any of you have been writing me, i am sorry if it seems like i am ignoring you - i just can't write back or even know that it is you who is writing i am eligible for a new phone at the end of june but until then i am textless.

this is an unfortunate circumstance for a guy who has the conversational phone skills of a chubby and hyper 7th grade girl with a thick retainer in her mouth and a propensity to blurt out single-sentence expletives about her parents' messy divorce in between awkward jokes involving people who don't like her. ...yes, i am describing a girl i knew in seventh grade who would not go out with me...i wasn't cool enough.

so, if sabrina has one favorite celebrity of all time, that celebrity is steve martin. she has long been claiming that steve martin is her spirit animal.

a friend of ours that i go to school with knew this (and, in fact, was on a mini-golf team with us called the beav' martins) and through a connection in the music biz got us tickets so the 3 of us could go see the taping of steve martin's appearance on austin city limits. we were first row center right in front of steve. he played a helluva banjo with a kick-ass back-up bluegrass band called the steep canyon rangers.

seeing the taping was extremely bizarre. the set for austin city limits is totally different in person and you have cameras passing everywhere. really cool experience.

apparently it won't be airing until october but try and catch the show because he was damn good, hilarious, and you might just catch a few jerks in the front row you recognize.

summer!

i got my tickets for the trips this summer!

india = june 22nd - july 29th

and only about 6 days to recover before

switzerland = august 5th - 16th



AND jeff's wedding in mid-june and the surrounding days at the cottage with you fools might just be the finest trip of them all. certainly the most relaxed...actually, that may not be true at all knowing our family. "relaxed" is not a word that our clan usually brings to mind.

Hipster vs. Natural Hipster

2010 Miami University Student Foundation Triathlon Results

Time: 1:21:19 | Place: 163 out of 600

Last year: I was 453 out of 600 with a time of 1:39:44

Way to go Ben Z on your first Tri! Pretty killer man. Now you're going to be addicted.

Next up...Flying Pig Half Marathon. Then the Tri for Joe.

Todd the Christmas Corpse

Movie Review: Run Fat Boy Run

4.5 of out of 5

Enough sophomoric humor like bare butts and slap fights to keep juvenile guys like me interested and laughing, relational enough to keep the romantic interested, inspiring enough to keep the warrior interested. Especially if you are going to be running events this spring and summer but even if you're not, you have got to watch this one. Excellent!

Big Day by Reverend Fun. Mmmmm...giant coffee.

Standing Cat Video HT @asthmatickitty

Book Reviews: The Reason for Sports and Season of Life

Since football was over, opening day hadn't arrived, I was neck deep in UM History and Polity and Biblical Interpretation, I've been finding escape in some sports books when not reading for school.

I recently finished both the Reason for Sports by Ted Kluck and Season of Life by Jeffery Marx. (Working on Ball Four by Jim Bouton and starting The Long Snapper by Jeffery Marx; reviews forthcoming).

In the Reason for Sports, let's say 3 1/2 stars out of 5, Kluck presents a series of essays or longer blog post type writings of his sports experiences and observations about the professional sports ethos. The strong point is his humor and he brings an authenticity and honesty that is refreshing. The theology of sports isn't heavy handed but could probably be more thorough but that is probably intentionally beyond the scope of the book.  A good, quick read for fans of sports, particularly those interested in exploring lightly how Christianity and sports are, and can be, interrelated.

Season of Life was recommended in a booklist by the Center for Parent and Youth Understanding as one of their favorite books. I wouldn't necessarily add it to my favorites of all time but it's pretty close to a must read; say 4 out of 5. The book chronicles the journey of Marx as he re-encounters Balitmore Colt Joe Ehrmann in his later adult years as a pastor and football coach. Marx embeds himself with the Gilman school football team in the fall of 2001 and chronicles the teams' journey as well as his own journey learning about how Joe is investing in helping young guys "become men for others." I would say this is a great, maybe even must read, for all teen guys who are athletes and even anyone who coaches. It presents what is best about participation in sports and transcends sports to what is ultimately more important without demeaning sports for the value it holds. Maybe the reason I only give it 4 out of 5 is because I don't have the option to experience the refreshed relationship with my dad that is held out as vital throughout the book. Sorry if my sitz im leben brings down the impact of the book. I'd say unequivocally, pick it up and read it. Maybe in mid to late August on vacation as we approach high school football season.

 

Kermit the...?

In Mexico, he’s La Rana René (or René the Frog) and in Spain he becomes the flamboyant La Rana Gustavo. In Kuwait, he is known simply as Kamel, and in Turkey not-so-simply as Kurbağacık.

The most severe variation comes from Brazil, where Kermit the Frog turns into Caco o Sapo, translating to Caco the Toad.

Click here for more.

Easter Sunday Run

Axe Cop

This is possibly the coolest comic ever: CLICK HERE

Written by a 5 year old, illustrated by his older brother.

The Edie Monster

bound for the himalayas!

i have been accepted to an amazing design/build program in Ladakh, India this summer focused on sustainable design! the program is from about june 25 - july 26 and has a group of architecture students from Texas, Portland and Harvard participate in designing and building sustainable and culturally appropriate architecture at an amazing school. Ladakh is in the northernmost region of India located in the Himalayas. It is a Tibetan town and the school is focused on maintaining the traditional Tibetan culture in Ladakh.

there is a 25-minute television program about the school and the area. it was made by pbs and is narrated by brad pitt and is really well done. definitely check it out when you get a chance and see where i am a-headin'. here is the link:

http://www.hulu.com/watch/67733/design-e2-the-druk-white-lotus-school-ladakh

sufficiently bent after my bender

so, i am back in school after a week of spring break, which happened to coincide with south by southwest. i am going to do my best to recruit some of you fools (chase, this particularly includes you since i know you read this) to come and experience the wonder that is sxsw next year. it is absolutely amazing! here is my pitch:

i did not spend a dime and every day at several bars/clubs i:
*drank free, endless (often very good) beer
*ate tons of free food
*saw dozens of pretty good bands - a couple great ones
*was given things like free t-shirts and sunglasses
*enjoyed the greatest people-watching tht can be done this side of odessa
*went to a lot of parties with more bands, free food and free beer

so, if that doesn't sell you - there is a movie festival that makes up the first few days of sxsw and many of the movies are also free, again with parties to go to, etc.

my final selling point is this - there are pancakes. and not just pancakes. free, delicious pancakes from a spray can with the most wonderfully disturbing name imaginable:



oh, and i played some serious disc golf and we have some fantastic courses in austin.

so, 2011! - who's with me?