Defender
Tuesday, July 07, 2009

I love my wife. I really do.

Case in point: This past weekend was her parent's 40th wedding anniversary (the "ruby" anniversary, for anyone out there looking for ideas), and she and her sister (and their most wonderful husbands, naturally) pulled off a spectactular party. But that's not really why I bring that up. I bring it up because events like this bring family and family friends to town, and that inevitably leads to large dinners.

And that somehow always leads to conversations about email, blogs, and other internet oddities. Oddities which I seem to know all about and often involve myself in.

I don't know how some of you do it: sit there and answer questions, defending your interests while people rant about the utter uselessnsess and waste-of-time that the internet has become. Twitter? Why would anyone do that? Who cares what you just picked up at the grocery store?

And yet, I find it amusing. I think the key is this: in order to actually enjoy something that could otherwise become banal, trivial, or just redundant (Twitbook statustweets anyone?), you have to actually be creative in it. Basically, the key to it all is trying. Be funny. Be original. Be entertaining.

Only for some reason, when I hear the words coming out of my mouth, all I hear is, "Yes, I totally waste all my free time on the internet when I could be doing something meaningful in the world."

Maybe there's a hint of truth to that, but honestly, if something "meaningful in the world" was as interesting as all my usual distractions, wouldn't I be doing that instead?

I've had this blog for four and a half years now, and yes, in addition to that I have a facebook page, a twitter ID, and I've waded into countless other interactive internet (ad)ventures. For the most part? I've had a good time with it. Periodically things get stale and frustrating, but that's just the name of the game.

I try not to judge something before I've had a chance to look into it, and frankly, that's where I really appreciate my father-in-law. He's the type of guy who's curious about the internet and its many forms of communication. Short of twit-blog-booking on his own, he always makes an attempt to listen to me explain whatever it is that is occupying that little corner of my brain that needs entertaining. The Lovely Wife is much the same. While she may have, in the early days of our relationship, been skeptical about the online life, she at least appreciated that I found it stimulating [shut up], entertaining, and engaging. She's met some of the people that have travelled here to meet me, or have been passing through, and I'm pretty sure she agrees that they're all good people and worth knowing, whether they're local or live far away. In short, she goes beyond indulging me as I socialize with other internet dwellers.

But I can't say the same for most of the other people around the table at these family functions. And so usually I try to cut these conversations as short as I can, offer little that I will either regret saying or have to justify its merit endlessly.

Because in the end? If they were really curious about something? It wouldn't take a debate to prove its worth.

Posted bythemikestand at 12:00 PM 3 stepped up to the mike  

Labels: bitterness, identity

In your pockets again
Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Posted bythemikestand at 11:58 AM 0 stepped up to the mike  

Labels: charity, cycling, fundraising, mike rides a two wheeler

Shiny
Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Meet the new baby.

a quickr pickr post

Posted bythemikestand at 10:54 AM 3 stepped up to the mike  

Labels: photography, toys, what was I thinking

Glen Breton Rare, Chapter ARE WE STILL DOING THIS?
Friday, June 12, 2009

I'm only posting this so that the few people coming to this site for information on Canada's only Single Malt Whisky and the neverending tiff with the Scotch Whisky Association. (Click at the bottom of this post for the previous entries.)

To distill the story for you (see what I did there?)*: The SWA didn't like the original decision to allow Glen Breton to continue using the word "Glen" in it's marketing, so it decided to go to the Federal Court of Appeal. Which said, in a word, "Nuh." So to the Surpeme Court, which also shot it down. Unfortunate for the SWA, but good for local distillers in these parts.

Also, if we on the east coast are going to be treated to a dearth of Scotch Whisky, what else can we turn to??

The Supreme Court of Canada said Thursday it will not hear the association's appeal of a lower court ruling that approved the label used by Cape Breton's Glenora Distillers. The court dismissed the appeal with costs, meaning the association must also pay part of Glenora's legal fees according to a scale set by the court.Source: CBC News

"However, the Court of Appeal's findings that the mark has caused confusion because of its use of a 'Glen' prefix, and that Glenora has marketed its product as Scotch in all but name, have not been reversed."

Posted bythemikestand at 9:14 AM 1 stepped up to the mike  

Labels: cape breton, scotch watch, whisky

Local News: Tories blue over orange government
Thursday, June 11, 2009

I suppose that with all the other elections and by-elections that we've had around these parts lately, it seems we've just been through this process. But for those of you from away who care, and for those of you here who managed to miss the election ( we did have near record low voter turnout, after all), the Provincial government fell, and it fell hard:

Posted bythemikestand at 9:23 AM 1 stepped up to the mike  

Labels: politics

Leaving it all on the Trail
Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Last weekend I competed in the Cabot Trail Relay race, and if I was at all underestimating how exhausting a 24 hour relay was (and how it can quickly turn into a 48-hour affair), I now have a much better idea of the level of exhaustion it can produce. I was part of a 17-person team (for 17-race legs) where each person faced varying distances and hill profiles, and a 6-minute kilometer (9:30 per mile) deadline in which to finish their distance or else fail to hit the mat.

The event itself was nothing short of spectacular; a well-oiled and well-organized machine in its own right. Legs started in the exact spot the previous leg stopped, just minutes after the maximum alloted time. Slower runners trickled in and were awarded the slowest finishing time plus five minutes. But by 30 minutes after the close of each leg of the race, one would never know that anything out of the ordinary was happening, much less suspect that the better portion of the 1,200 participants were roaming the ten to fifteen mile distance only minutes earlier.

Saturday morning had us following and supporting runners as they worked their way to the top of the Cabot Trail, starting with rolling hills which grew in to hellish beasts of straight-up switchbacks. Needless to say, this was not my preferred leg, though I might like to attempt it some day. By 5pm, a teammate and I were on our way to Cheticamp, on the other side of the trail, to ready ourselves for his 0330 run and my 0530 run on Sunday morning. Some spectacular fish at a local eatery and a very early sleep (the sun had still not fully set), and we were raring to go at 0200. Well, we were sleepy and grumpy, but nonetheless committed to the challenge.

I dropped him off at 0315 and trailed him part way, then headed to the end of his leg (the start of mine) and waited for his finish. He took on a 20-km leg with no trouble; in fact, you'd never know that he ran 20 the day before (for another team, under an assumed name -- not uncommon for this relay), giving me some hope that me and my bum leg/groin/hip could take my 15.5km race down (with the help of 400mg of Ibuprofen, naturally). After the gun, I started with a decent pace, lost somewhere in the latter half of the pack. About 3km into the race, someone let us know just how far we'd come, and for some reason I found that a source of inspiration. Perhaps I was just looking to get the race over with and was disappointed that we hadn't hit 5km yet. Whatever the reason, I started to put a push on while the terrain was reasonably flat.

The middle and final 5-kilometre stretches were considerably hillier than the first, which suited me fine. I tend to speed up on the hills (again, get them over with!) and I passed a few other competitors, ending with a time of 1hr and 17 minutes (for reference, my 10-mile training runs weren't nearly that fast at 5:22/km and 5:54/km) -- a finishing pace of 5:01 per kilometre! Surprisingly, this put me at 20th place in my race (of 70), the best finish for any of our team members throughout the relay. Talk about beginner's luck. (note: all the results are here, incluing my Leg 15 results)

While I never once called the Cabot Trail Relay by its full name (including the word "Race" at the end)I will definitely sign up for this race again. It's just that fun.

Posted bythemikestand at 3:42 PM 1 stepped up to the mike  

Labels: cape breton, running, what was I thinking

The Whole Half
Wednesday, May 20, 2009

For those of you who haven't checked up on me online, I did indeed finish the Half Marathon this past weekend, with a time of 1:52:49, though I'm a little confused about the chip time vs. the official time. I was aiming for the 2-hour mark (a 9:06 mile pace), which was a little bit of a stretch given that my trining runs with my running partner were putting us about 2hrs and 5 minutes.

Well, as you can see below, we ran together for about the first 6-8km and then wound up getting separated. I hit the stopwatch wherever I could to figure out some splits, and I spotted the Running Room Pace Rabbit (aside: what a cool idea) wearing the "Half 2:00" pink bunny ears (we had started with the 2:15 group at the start line), and figured I would be home free if I stayed in contact with her. So, at a water stop, I kept on going and never saw those little ears again. The weather was perfect, the fans/supporters came out in droves, and all the runners were very friendly. All in all, a very motivating, satisfying experience. I finished 435th out of 1,520. My running partner finished only ten minutes after me, but 400 participants behind. Maybe I was the bottleneck?

Split times, by the geek himself

I'm recovering quite well, I think. On Monday I took a little spin on the road bike to keep things loose, and yesterday I ran 6.8km (4.23mi) in 8:07 pace. And I told myself I was only going to take it easy and do 5km. Clearly the two things I'm not very good at are controlling my pace, and actually following through on an "easy jog". But hey, I guess it's working for me.

One more training run (well, maybe two) and then it's off to Cape Breton with sixteen strangers for the Cabot Trail Relay (check out Leg 15, which will have me on the pavement at 0530 on Sunday morning). There's a 9:30 per mile (6min / km) allotted time to finish your leg, otherwise you get the time of the slowest finisher plus five minutes. I'm hoping that I'll be awake enough and energetic enough to hit the finish mat. After all, I have one of the easiest legs to run.

And, if I have the energy and motivation (and why wouldn't I?), I'd like to try out a couple duathlons this summer. I think the Tri is out of the question, unless of course they're doing life saving training in the pools. October will bring the Valley Harvest Half Marathon, which I've already recruited some running pals to do.

Is this the new me? If it is, I like it. Er.. him. Me.

Posted bythemikestand at 9:22 AM 3 stepped up to the mike  

Labels: cabot trail relay, cape breton, running, the half