Jump Into Boulder Dive Bars

So another fun and exciting thing I've been up to: Drinking!

I've got a little gig going around to bars and chronicling the escapades for DenverSixShooter.com

Check out my first post, Dive Bars Beneath the Streets of Boulder.

Disney World Marathon... check!

"No!" in response to: "Are you ready?"

Maybe I shouldn't be so brutally honest to the staff of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, but honestly, I was not feeling very ready to run that marathon.

But Sunday rolled around, and I showed up, started, and I finished the Walt Disney World Marathon! It was my first and last.

Kyle and I met with my parents in Florida on Thursday, January 8th. We had a few great days hopping around parks before my 6 hour run/walk on the 11th.

Some things to note

• The altitude made a huge difference! I ran the first 18 miles wihtout getting the least bit winded.
• Running stinks! One should only engage in running to save one's life, and often that decision should really be weighed more carefully.
• I walked from 18 to 25. Although my cardio system felt great, the altitude didn't save discomfort from ligaments and muscles in my feet, of all places.
• Disney has characters throughout the course. Many racers stopped to take photos, I did not.
• I spent almost 30 minutes in line for port-o-lets along the way.
• During the race I ate 2 bananas, 2 cups of honey, and probably drank more than 2L of water.
• I finished the 1/2 marathon in about 2 hours and I crawled through the second half to come in at 6hrs.
• No injuries. No joint paint. No major muscle soreness. I crossed the finish line on my feet, and each of the succeeding days were pain-free, with only slight stiffness in my shoulders.
• Goals accomplished: (1) completed the race, (2) didn't get hurt, and (3) won't be in a state of recovery for any part fo the following week.

Now onto a bigger and better 2009, in which there are no marathons, but plenty of chocolate cake.

"Newly" Published Article about Politickin'

I scoured the internet and found an article I sold to an unknown bidder last month.

Check it out: Dear John...That Sarah Palin Thing... it was a joke, wasn't it?

Dear John...congratulations on a hard fought Presidential campaign. I have a lot of respect for you. Still, I voted for Barack Obama. It's only fair, I think, that I tell you the ten reasons why I did not vote for you, John McCain. (And, may I call you John?)

1. Sarah Palin.

I got the joke, John. You chose Palin to stick it to the GOP. They demanded right wing; they got it! Maybe you called your pal Lieberman and you both had a good bipartisan laugh. Who would have thought they would go along with Palin, who's so inexperienced? (Even Castro said Sarah Palin ""doesn't know anything about anything.")

2. Overuse of the word "maverick".

I sympathize, John. Obama seized the younger generation. You wanted to compete, to appeal to the kids. Give them a simple, yet fun, drinking game. Pull them into your speeches. Alas, after 5 minutes and 15 drinks, they all sat around talking about Obama, and everyone still sober wondered, "Why would a real maverick need to keep pointing it out?"

3. I own fewer than one home.

John, when you need to count on your toes to keep track of your property, you've lost my vote. I know you're a little on the older side. You've had plenty of time to accumulate wealth, and then forget about it. Still, I don't think we'd have anything to talk about at a party. Maybe, we wouldn't understand each other at all.

4. Sarah Palin.

Remember when she said she could see Russia from Alaska? That was cute.

5. Victory obsession.

I like winning: Scrabble, gaining possession of the remote control from my brother. These competitions cost relatively little, and there's very little chance of death. Sure winning is great, but at what cost, and isn't protecting your country from real threats more important?

6. Not a good fireman.

When a fireman witnesses a fire, she attempts to put it out or help in some way. John, at your rallies people were "screaming "kill him" and "terrorist about Obama. If you want to be President, shouldn't you try to lead?

7. Sarah Palin.

"Ak-me-DEEn-a-shad." Look, John! Pookey pronounced her first foreign leader!

8. Does not play well with others.

Each time you have a clever Obama zinger, or when you refused to look at him during Debate 1, or when you called Obama "That one" in Debate 2, I have to wonder, how would your represent the U.S. to, say, the Prime Minister of Pakistan?

9. Kept referring to me as "friend."

I'm flattered, John, but before this letter, we hardly knew each other.

10. Men in Black.

I liked you a lot going into this race, John. You sponsored middle of the road bills. You like Joe Lieberman; I like Joe Lieberman. But right around the time of the Republican Convention, I got a feeling that recalled the movie Men in Black. You were no longer John McCain; you were like a right-wing alien wearing a McCain suit.

Anyway, John, I hope there are no hard feelings. At least we still have the Sarah Palin joke. It was a joke, wasn't it?

How Amazon.com Users Describe Products

Paranormal Romance.

I know what you're thinking. You're thinking, "No shit! I just tagged about 50 items on Amazon.com with the phrase 'paranormal romance'." Well, you're not alone. Of all the phrases and words in the English dictionary, "paranormal romance" is the 6th most popular adjective that comes to the minds of Amazon.com users when they want to describe Amazon products.

Nearly 42,000 products on Amazon.com are tagged with the phrase "paranormal romance".

Tagging is the Web 2.0 practice of labeling items with keywords. As far as I can tell, the theory is to "tag" web content with keywords to improve search engine rankings.

I was initially shocked to learn that 42,000 items exists on Amazon.com that are worthy of the tag "paranormal romance". Then I became shocked at the number of common terms that get used less than "paranormal romance". Here's just a couple:

• "Book" only had 32,000 tags.
• "Disney" owns 14,000 tags.
• "Christmas" gets a nearly 13,000 tags.
• "Toys" and "Sex" (not one phrase) each get fewer than 9,000 tags.

Please feel free to not believe one word of this, and check out the Amazon.com Tag Map for yourself. Hover over the words to get stats on the number of tags for each of the "popular" phrases.

World War Z, you should read it this weekend!

Everyone should read World War Z or at least listen to it on tape as soon as possible!

The World War Z is the story of the great zombie war told through the words of dozens of individuals throughout the globe, and in the end, you get a fantastic book, excitingly action-filled and forebodingly satirical. I just finished World War Z, and I am completely in awe at how engaging and evocative the experience was!

The story begins in rural China with a doctor witnessing Case Zero, the first documented case of the living dead. From there the story takes off across the globe crafting the stories of different nations: from how they become aware of the zombie epidemic to their progression of reactions including denial, concern, panic, retreat, and finally, regrouping and offensive.

Each of the characters had unique stories to tell, and each of them had unique mannerisms and culture backing them up. The military figures have a broad command of weapon and strategy terminology. The Israeli scholars speak methodically yet conversationally. The businessmen seem to swagger and strut.

Of course interesting characters are nothing without action and conflict and with millions of zombies hungry for human flesh, there was plenty of decapitation, skull-busting, disembowelment, and cannibalism (on both ends of the fence). Even before the Great Panic, international tensions are high. Palestinians fear that offers to take asylum in voluntarily quarantined territory may just be Israelis trying to lure their enemies in for enslavement. Without diplomatic relationships, misunderstandings lead to nuclear war. Celebrities become torn off their pedestals by the very people that initially instated them. Civilians flee in all directions, and everyone falls under the category of refugee.

Above the action and the impeccably crafted characters, is the satire. Every character that told a personal story in World War Z had some keen insight into our modern world, without being corny. The book was rampant with topical themes such as community vs. isolation, selfishness vs. cooperation, practical vs. prodigal.

The setting in time added tremendously to the book's allure as well. The author constantly references the Cold War and pop figures so that you know exactly when this story took place. In short, if World War Z was a prophetic book, zombies will be taking over the globe in something like 2 to 5 years from right now! Keeping within the frame of reference of the reader only enhances the illusion of World War Z.


The audio version of this book is like listening to a movie! Its only 6 hours long, and whereas many audiobooks are done by one reader playing voices for each individual character, World War Z featured a new reader for each character. readers included, among more than 12 others, John Turturro, Mark Hamill, and Alan Alda.

Download it from audible.com, listen to it on your way to work next week or while you're at the gym, and you won't be sorry.