One more thought before I go...

Ok, here's another example of how we fuck our kids up...

Here's an excerpt from an article someone sent me from Kidshealth.Org ("Bullying and Your Child")


The key to helping your child deal with bullying is to help him or her regain a sense of dignity and recover damaged self-esteem. To help ward off bullies, give your child these tips:

* Hold the anger. It's natural to want to get really upset with a bully, but that's exactly the response the bully is aiming for. Not only will getting angry or violent not solve the problem, it will only make it worse. Bullies want to know they have control over your child's emotions. Each time they get a reaction from your child, it adds fuel to the bully's fire — getting angry just makes the bully feel more powerful.
* Never get physical or bully back. Emphasize that your child should never use physical force (like kicking, hitting, or pushing) to deal with a bully. Not only does that show anger, but your child can never be sure what the bully will do in response. Tell your child that it's best to hang out with others, stay safe, and get help from an adult.
* Act brave, walk away, and ignore the bully. Tell your child to look the bully in the eye and say something like, "I want you to stop right now." Counsel your child to then walk away and ignore any further taunts. Encourage your child to "walk tall" and hold his or her head up high (using this type of body language sends a message that your child isn't vulnerable). Bullies thrive on the reaction they get, and by walking away, or ignoring hurtful emails or instant messages, your child will be telling the bully that he or she just doesn't care. Sooner or later, the bully will probably get bored with trying to bother your child.

This article deals with a bunch of different types of bullying. The above advice is given for all types of bullying. I'm just going to deal with one--physical. I think the above advice is shit if your child is being pushed around and beat up. (I won't say a word about the other types of bullying...I've got no experience.) Complete shit. There will be no regaining dignity nor protection of self-esteem with the above method. Think on it for a moment. If you were ever bullied physically and you walked away and stood tall, you probably got shoved from behind, smacked in the head, spit at, called a pussy. If you still walked away, I GUARANTEE that that act--the walking away--still haunts you. And it will haunt your child too.

Here's Al's advice for dealing with physical bullying and bullies:
1) Pay attention and make sure your kid isn't a little asshole bully him or herself. If he/she is...DEAL with it.
2) Teach your child to defend him/her self. (Notice, I said DEFEND. I'm not condoning offensive behaviour--though it can be fun.)
3) Teach him or her (your child) to assess situations and the level of the bullying. Verbal bullying is hurtful, but it is far less serious than physical bullying. If your child is verbally bullied, have him/her say something like "The show's over tough guy, I'm walking away." (Forget the language and get the idea...) The idea is to show the bully that his/her verbal garbage is not respected/feared and is seen as stupid and irrelevant. Furthermore, the goal is to say "it takes two to tango, and I don't want to dance."
4) If the bullying escalates to physical: well, first be pre-emptive. Teach your child to fight. (Yes, teach your child to fight.) And do it before a problem happens. I don't simply mean that he/she should just learn karate (though this is good for a variety of reasons). I mean teach him or her how to fight to win and to understand fighting. Here's another crazy suggestion: practice a little role playing in a safe environment...at home. Here's what I mean. Teach your child (and stress this) to never strike first and never instigate a fight. Have them learn this motto though "I won't start a fight, but I'll sure as fuck finish one." {Disclaimor: Now let me be clear here. Part of the learning should be understanding situations. If there are weapons involved or bullies who might be armed / have gangs behind them...all this means nothing. Have him/her run away and seek help. What I'm referring to is the very common punching and shoving of the schoolyard bully. I am not talking about gang violence and armed attackers here.} Here are some scenarios that your child can learn and begin to understand:
A) Bully escalates to a shove. Do This: Have your child show no fear and do stand tall. Have your child say "I'm walking away. Don't touch me again." Have your child be very firm and look asshole other kid in eye. Have your child hold the look and wait a moment before walking away. PRACTICE THIS (simulate the shove). Then he/she walks away. Have your child report the situation to teacher or other. (Yes, they'll look like a tattle tale, but they will also have a record of the bullying if things escalate and he/she must act...see B.)
B) Bully punches your child. Do This: Have your child punch the bully in the face. (Do not talk, do not wait for any further provocation.) Aim for the nose. Even big people get very fucked up when punched in the nose. (Often bullies are bigger.) A punch to the nose disorients, causes blurred and watery vision, hurts like a motherfucker. And face punching is frightening, hurtful, ballsy and serious as a heart attack. A punch to the arm/chest in a boxing match has a purpose. On the playground it communicates, "I'm not too serious and I don't want to be here." {Note: Your child should know how to throw straight, hard punches in combination. No need to learn terms and types: jabs, hooks, uppercuts etc. Just have him/her throw straight hard punches, right then left then right etc. This is easy to practice. No wild hay-makers, no dazzling specialty shots, just straight punches out from the chin area with some body pivot behind them and then fist straight back to a protective position. Again, easy to practice and learn.} Your child should seek to hit the bully with three or four very hard face shots. If he falls down and cover, keep striking for three to four good shots. If he/she is fighting back, just keep striking (and strike until you get pulled apart / pulled off).



You want your child to be safe and you want to protect his or her self-esteem. Even if your child loses that fight, getting beat up in the schoolyard won't kill him/her. (And it will probably teach him/her a lot.) Your child will feel like he acted, did something. "Yeah, I lost, but I got a few licks in and showed that asshole that I won't just role over and give up my belly." But it is even more likely that your child will win. Landing the first real punch--a face shot--is usually the determining factor in a schoolyard fight. and if your child keeps punching...
Plus, the bully will go pick on someone else next time. If the bully knows he/she must take a few good hard shots when he/she fucks with your child, he'll go elsewhere. (Such is the psychology of the bully.)

Rocky Mountain High

Al Vacations In Colorado

I'm off for summer vacation to Colorado. I'll be away for 3 weeks...can anyone say "a little elevation training"? My ass should get good and kicked a mile in the sky in boulder. I'll be back 8/21. Look for updates then.

That Shitty Fan (ok, you come up with a better title)

Landis organizing defense
By AFP
This report filed July 28, 2006

Tour de France winner Floyd Landis, facing the loss of his title in a doping scandal, on Friday again insisted he was innocent.

The 30-year-old rider said that his positive test for testosterone showed up levels which "are absolutely natural and produced by my own organism".

Landis said he was in Madrid to consult with his legal team and added he was willing to undergo whatever tests the sport's authorities asked of him to establish his innocence.

"Until such research has been carried out I ask not to be judged and much less to be sentenced by anyone," Landis told a news conference at a Madrid hotel. "I'd like to make it absolutely clear that I'm not in any doping process."

"I will proceed to undergo all of these tests" to show the levels "are absolutely natural and produced by my own organism," he promised.

The American added that he wished to state "categorically that my Tour win was exclusively due to many years of training and dedication" to his sport.

Landis said he was in Spain "for meetings to establish a plan" to respond to the doping allegations and that he and his entourage would "explain to the world why this is not a doping case but a natural occurrence."

Landis, who will be fired by his Phonak team if the B sample confirms the first result, passed on medical questions to his lawyer, Jose Maria Buxeda, who is also the lawyer for Spanish racer Roberto Heras, caught doping on the 2005 Vuelta a España.

If he is stripped of his Tour de France title he would be the first ever champion to be disqualified for doping.

"I came here to tell you my point of view," said Landis, who succeeded compatriot Lance Armstrong on the winners podium.

Armstrong has also repeatedly been questioned over how he managed to come back from life-threatening cancer to land his championship-winning performances but has never tested positive for doping.

"I am proud of the fact that I won the Tour because I was the strongest candidate - that's my position," Landis said, adding he would be pushing for the testing of his "B" sample to be carried out as soon as possible at the French laboratory of Châtenay-Malabry.

Landis said Thursday in an interview with U.S. magazine Sports Illustrated that the abnormally high Testosterone/Epitestosterone ratio which showed up after his staggering solo 130km breakaway win in race stage 17 could be due to a thyroid problem or possibly to have occurred naturally.

Landis is also scheduled to appear on CNN's Larry King Live on Friday evening.

New Hand Signs

Al Just Wants To Contribute

There are those who might accuse me of being "all take and no give" when it comes to the world of sport. But I'm here to tell you they're wrong. Here's my contribution:
New Hand Signs


This one was invented by Al K. on our last outing: I'm Making a Right Then Crashing















This one is the "How the fuck should I know, I don't have the cue sheet" signal. Quite helpful if you peel off the back of your Sunday bagel ride with a few fellow sloths.














This is the "Check the hottie on the left" D.L. signal















This is the "Check the 2 hotties on the left" or alternately "Check the second hottie" (as needed) D.L. signal














So...this week has been tough. I've been slow to recover from my Tuesday Bi-AL-thalaon. I have just felt plain shitty. But yesterday I did 2000 in the pool (nice easy 600 to open, then a set of 4x200s fast, some drill work, some kick/pull, and a nice swim down). And today I banged out 6 miles in a slowish (8:30s) run. I guess I'm hammered. I'll come back. I'm scouring ebay and craig's list for a vintage bike to turn into my SUPER FIXIE! More on this as it develops.

The Shit Hits the Fan

Freddy-Boy alluded to this in his blog today...here's more:


Phonak confirms Landis rider in question
By The Associated Press
This report filed July 27, 2006

The Phonak Cycling Team confirmed Thursday that Tour de France winner Floyd Landis is the rider who submitted a positive "A" sample following the 17th stage of this year's Tour de France.

Landis tested positive for high levels of testosterone during the race, his Phonak team said in a statement issued Thursday.

The statement came a day after the UCI, cycling's world governing body, said an unidentified rider had failed a drug test during the Tour.

And the statement came just four days after Landis stood on the victory podium on the Champs-Elysees, succeeding seven-time winner Lance Armstrong as an American winner in Paris.

The Swiss-based Phonak team said it was notified by the UCI on Wednesday that Landis' sample showed "an unusual level of testosterone/epitestosterone" when he was tested after stage 17 of the race last Thursday.

Landis has been suspended by his team pending the results. If the second sample confirms the initial finding, he will be fired from the team, Phonak said.

Landis made a remarkable comeback in that Alpine stage, racing far ahead of the field for a solo win that moved him from 11th to third in the overall standings. He regained the leader's yellow jersey two days later.

Landis rode the Tour with a degenerative hip condition that he has said will require surgery in the coming weeks or months.

Arlene Landis, his mother, said Thursday that she wouldn't blame her son if he was taking medication to treat the pain in his injured hip, but "if it's something worse than that, then he doesn't deserve to win."

"I didn't talk to him since that hit the fan, but I'm keeping things even keel until I know what the facts are," she said in a phone interview from her home in Farmersville, Pennsylvania. "I know that this is a temptation to every rider but I'm not going to jump to conclusions ... It disappoints me."

"He is prominent and temptation is strong," she said. "He is still my wonderful son. If it has happened I love him as much as if he had won... (his) temptations are different than mine."

Phonak said Landis would ask for an analysis of his backup "B" sample "to prove either that this result is coming from a natural process or that this is resulting from a mistake."

"The team management and the rider were both totally surprised of this physiological result," the Phonak statement said.

Landis wrapped up his Tour de France win on Sunday, keeping the title in U.S. hands for the eighth straight year. Armstrong, long dogged by doping whispers and allegations, won the previous seven. Armstrong never has tested positive for drugs and vehemently has denied doping.

Speculation that Landis had tested positive spread earlier Thursday after he failed to show up for a one-day race in Denmark on Thursday. A day earlier, he missed a scheduled event in the Netherlands.

On the eve of the Tour's start, nine riders -- including pre-race favorites Jan Ullrich and Ivan Basso -- were ousted, implicated in a Spanish doping investigation.

The names of Ullrich and Basso turned up on a list of 56 cyclists who allegedly had contact with Spanish doctor Eufemiano Fuentes, who's at the center of the Spanish doping probe.

Landis plans to have hip replacement surgery this fall to ease pain in the arthritic joint still aching from a 2003 crash during a training ride.


The Phonak Cycling Team issued the following statement Thursday:

The Phonak Cycling Team was notified yesterday by the UCI of an unusual level of Testosteron/Epitestosteron ratio in the test made on Floyd Landis after stage 17 of the Tour de France.

The Team Management and the rider were both totally surprised of this physiological result.

The rider will ask in the upcoming days for the counter analysis to prove either that this result is coming from a natural process or that this is resulting from a mistake in the confirmation.

In application of the Pro Tour Ethical Code, the rider will not race anymore until this problem is totally clear.

If the result of the B sample analysis confirms the result of the A sample the rider will be dismissed and will then pass the corresponding endocrinological examinations.

Please understand that we cannot at this time give you more detailed comments.

Run and Be Numb

Single city block hosts world's longest race
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The longest foot race in the world is 3,100 miles, long enough to stretch from New York to Los Angeles. Those who run it choose a different route: they circle one city block in Queens -- for two months straight.

The athletes lap their block more than 5,000 times. They wear out 12 pairs of shoes. They run more than two marathons daily. In the heat and rain of a New York summer, they stop for virtually nothing except to sleep between midnight and 6 a.m.

"I think this is what they're looking for: The feeling that you're living life for real," runner Pranab Vladovic said of himself and 13 other athletes now competing in the 10th annual Self-Transcendence 3,100 Mile Race in Jamaica, Queens.




The 51-day event is sponsored by followers of meditation master Sri Chinmoy, who teaches his students to excel mentally and physically. Some swim the channel between England and France or climb a mountain. Those in the race run under the motto "Run and Become. Become and Run."



Ok, so my day wasn't as hard as that. But I started the week off with a rugged bi-AL-thalon: 20 mile bike and 4 mile run on hilly terrain. I pushed along as hard as I could on the hills. And I stopped only long enough to throw the bike in the back of the truck and change shoes. The bike was about 65 minutes and the run was about 32 minutes. And I was wiped after.

I'm pretty happy: the leg feels pretty strong. And I'm feeling pretty fucking beat up. This morning at PT (last week of PT) I didn't look the therapist in the eye. I just gave him a side of the mouth "gonna take it easy today," and slinked over to the massage table.

Fuck Uma

Fuck Uma. She and Oobi are favorites of my kids. They watch this fucking show, these fucking hands bounce around and refer to themselves in the third person: "Uma loves Oobi!" I mean, what the fuck!? Fuck Uma (and Oobi too)!





Fuck puffins!. Everybody with their, "oh they're so cute...and they're endangered." What the fuck are they? With that beak and the useless wings... They sit around all smug, riding penguins coat tails. Fuck puffins!




Fuck L.A. It's so hip and now and trendy Wow! Is it even a city? Does anyboday actually live in the city, like downtown? Fuck L.A.




Fuck reality tv. It's more unreal than daytime soaps. Everything is "reality" worthy now, it seems: "we're following Jim, a constipation sufferer, with the camera. Five contestants, Mindy, Jay, Sara, Kamal, and Foo Ying have just 21 days to make him shit. But Jim has no idea..." Fuck reality TV.




Yesterday I ran 5. Today I ran three and biked 20. I still have the persistent knee ache. Tomorrow, i'm off. I'll ice and elevate and nurse myself back.

Hasselhoff!? and Super Floyd

Europe loves Hasselhoff's singing talents

Sat Jul 22, 3:05 PM ET

PASADENA, Calif. -
David Hasselhoff's superstar status as a singer in Europe hasn't carried over to America but he says "if it happens, it happens." "I'm a big punching bag," he told the Television Critics Association's summer meeting Friday. "I just kind of go with the flow. I never really desperately tried to break this market."

The 54-year-old actor is best known in the States for his TV hits "Baywatch" and "Knight Rider." He currently co-stars with
Adam Sandler in the movie "Click" and is a judge on the NBC reality series "America's Got Talent."

Hasselhoff said his new single "Jump in My Car" is headed toward the top 10 on the British charts.



No explaining these fuckers. They like Jerry Lewis too. But they don't like Floyd!...





Who, by the way, is wearing yellow again. Kick ass tomorrow, Floyd! (And stop letting Bono buy your eyewear for you.)

I'm off to take a run right now. Knees are KILLING me. That super sore feeling you get from training hard. I need a few days off.

Al and the Great White

Has Al Jumped the Shark?

I'm not feeling it right now.



I'm sore and tired. My knee feels like it is full of fluid (sore as an MF). But I'm signed up for two Tris in september: one sprint and one olympic...

Shark Jump

Belt-Ran, Heatwaves, and other nonsense...

So Beltran smacked another Grand Slam last night, and the Mets beat up on the Reds. But look out 'cause here comes Atlanta. Yes, they're still 11.5 games back. But they are on a tear, and you can never count them out.








In other news, this heat wave was still kicking ass in NY and surrounding areas yesterday. I did the unthinkable and ran at 3 in the afternoon (yes, it was 100 degrees). I pounded out a fast 3 miles on the boardwalk, pulled off my shoes, and jumped in the ocean...aaahhhh. Then, last night, I went down to the public pool and got in 2000 yards before the rains came.

Hopefully, the heat is gone.

And (since Fred seems to be fucking around at the movies) I'll have to report that it seems Tom Boonen has pulled out of the TdF after having some breathing problems in the Alpe D'Huez stage. Al doesn't know much about this except that this pussy didn't finish the tour last year either. Come on! Nobody breathes on the tour, Boonen.

Don't Hurt 'Em, Barry

Australians upset over loud Manilow music

AP


It could be magic for some, but the use of loud Barry Manilow music to drive away late-night revelers from a suburban Sydney park is getting on the nerves of nearby residents.

In a move reminiscent of U.S. efforts to drive former Panama strongman Manuel Noriega from the Vatican Embassy where he took refuge in 1989, the local council in Rockdale, in Sydney's southern suburbs, started a six-month trial of high-volume hits by Manilow and Doris Day to chase away car enthusiasts who were gathering on weekend nights at Cook Park Reserve.

"Barry's our secret weapon," Rockdale Deputy Mayor Bill Saravinovski told The Daily Telegraph newspaper, four weeks after the start of the effort. "It seems to be working."

But some people living near the park are less than enthralled. They say the barrage of "Copacabana," "Could It Be Magic" and "Que Sera Sera," blasting from 9 p.m. to midnight every Friday, Saturday and Sunday is driving them crazy.

"I don't know how I will cope," said Moya Dunn, describing how the songs have invaded her house. "I just can't sleep when it's on, and to think there's going to be another six months of this."


Holy Shit! I'd rather they shot at me (were I a late night reveller).




So today was hot. And I mean FUCKING HOT! Al K. and I got to pedalling at about 9. By 9:30 it was over 90. We called it quits with 15 miles and headed for the bay. Al K.'s dad was kind enough to lend us the runabout, and we anchored and swam a nice open water course on the Great South Bay. We probably did about 3/4 of a mile. And damn was it refreshing.

We're So Dead!

Yoga trend catching on with soldiers

Associated Press
PENSACOLA, Fla. - When Marine Lt. Alan Zarracina finally did the splits after months of struggling with the difficult pose in yoga class, the limber women around him applauded.

Zarracina, a 24-year-old Naval Academy graduate and flight student, admits he would have a hard time explaining the scene to other Marines.

Each class ends with a chant for peace. Then, instructor Nancy La Nasa hands students incense sticks as a gift for their 90 minutes of back bends, shoulder stands and other challenging positions.

Zarracina has tried to drag some of his military friends to class, but they make fun of him. "It's not necessarily considered masculine," he said.

Still, the popular classes, based on ancient Hindu practices of meditation through controlled breathing, balancing and stretching, are catching on in military circles as a way to improve flexibility, balance and concentration. A former Navy SEAL told Zarracina about the class.

The August edition of Fit Yoga, the nation's second-largest yoga magazine with a circulation of 100,000, features a photo of two Naval aviators doing yoga poses in full combat gear aboard an aircraft carrier.

How Hard Up Can A Brother Be?

Is it drugs? Gambling debts? Child support to a lot of babies' mommas? Mystery illness requiring experimental and VERY EXPENSIVE treatment? Whatever the case, Samuel L. clearly wants to get PAID.









Today is Al's 49th wedding anniversary. (Ok, it only feels that way.) Don't know what I will have to report to you all later. I'm trying to work a bit of "reflecting, separately, how good it is to be together" time right now. Wish me luck.




And if the Mrs. forces me to watch the whole fucking wedding video again...

Don't you just love this?!

Beer baron Coors loses license for DUI



DENVER - Beer baron Peter Coors' driver's license has been revoked by a hearing officer who ruled the executive had been driving under the influence of alcohol, officials said.

Hearing officer Scott Garber ruled Friday that Coors did not stop at a stop sign on May 28 and was driving intoxicated.

Coors, 59, said he had consumed a beer about 30 minutes before leaving a wedding, the Rocky Mountain News reported Saturday. He faces a July 20 arraignment and has 30 days to appeal the revocation.



2 thoughts:

1.I just LOVE this.

2.1 beer? My ass!




Today's Rehab / Training Update:

Swam a mile in a mixed set of Long Yards / drill work / some speed. After the swim, I logged three miles at abou 8:15s.

The Kids Are Alright!

The Who to tour after nearly 25 years

NEW YORK - It's been almost 25 years since the Who blasted their way through a major concert tour, so they should be ready. This fall, they'll give it another go, band members
Pete Townshend and
Roger Daltrey announced Thursday.

Opening date will be Sept. 12 in Philadelphia.

The legendary band will then wind its way through the U.S. and Canada before jumping next year to South America, the Far East, Australia and Europe.

North American destinations include New York, Chicago, Boston, Detroit, Seattle, Portland, Ore., Vancouver and Toronto.

The Who will perform songs from their upcoming album, "Wire and Glass," which will be released Oct. 23. It's the group's first studio recording since 1982's "It's Hard."

Yeah, baby! And you thought Al and Fred and Heywood, and GVB were the only ones rocking in their decrepitude. I've got my tix already (and I don't care who Pete buggers or if Roger only has one eye or if half the band is dead--miss you Ox and Moon the Loon!). Do you?

Today, in sporting news, I banged out an 8 mile run. Didn't push the pace; just nice and easy at 8:30s. This is the first time I've gone beyond 3 miles since the injury (and my dr. better not be reading this). But I feel good. No problems at all. I'm staying on flat terrain and not pushing pace for a while yet, but "my body feels so good..." (Free homebrew to the first of you homos--no offense, Fred--who finishes that line.)

Playing with the Pee Wee

More than 15 years have gone by since he hopped, skipped, and screamed across our TV screens. But, thanks to the savvy programming of Cartoon Network, Pee-wee Herman is back, and things are pretty buzzy about Pee-wee's big return.

So Pee Wee returns. Personally, I'd prefer to remember him as he was in the photos above: cute, cuddly, sweet. But if we must see him "Tequila-dance" across the screen again, so be it.

Al has been taking it light since Monday. I did a spin for an hour on the trainer last night and some swim / run / lift on Tuesday. Nothing too extensive. Today I'm planning a bigger run/swim combo.

Thursday Afternoon Update: I ran a 3 miler in the awful heat and got that heat exhaustion feeling quickly (light headed, nauseous etc). But I ran down to the pool and jumped in and felt ok quickly. The water was cool (outdoor and not heated) and just perfect after my stupid "sun" run. I did a set that totaled 2000 yards. The leg feels strong. Bueno.

Keeping Abreast

Our Hero, Al, Rides On

So today, I went for a nice 25 miler with Moveitfred. It was the first time I have pushed the calf muscle to "perform." I'm happy to report that it held up well. While we did not push things, we had a nice ride, and I experienced no pain nor "loss of function." Plus, I was able to bask in the wisdom of Moveitfreud:



See, Mrs. Al believes that Al was stairing at her friends' boobs yesterday during a friendly weekend BBQ. Mrs. Al was a bit miffed and gave Al a bit of a stern talking to about discretion and decorum after the tongs and skewer were cleaned and put away. Al, as a mature and responsible spouse, denied it all.


Fred schooled Al a bit on the finer points of relationships and marital bliss. What still troubles Al, though, is how he could be so maligned, so misunderstood, so falsely accused.

UPSTATE AL

Al returns from upstate where he vacationed with Mrs. Al for a few days

It's amazing what 2 days away from kids can do for you. (The only ass I had to worry about wiping was my own...Whoa!) I mean, I love my kids, but boy it is nice to spend some time not worrying about anything but what to drink with dinner or what activity to do after lunch.

The Mohonk Mountain House is a gorgeous place. I recommend it. Great food, and lots of great activities. (The leg felt really good. I did some vigorous hiking and scrambling, some bouldering, some biking, swimming, and even (just a little) trail running.) But here's the thing: you've got to chop your way through a whole passle of peaceniks and beats and hippie weirdos selling spiritual healing to get there. Every other asshole up there (most in their second decade of matriculation at SUNY New Paltz)is selling crystals, aromatic oils, spiritual experiences, and tantric secrets. I mean FUCK! Can't we do something with these fuckers? I thought they had signed some treaty or something: the US cedes them Berkeley and Boulder, CO and they agree to stay way the fuck away from the east coast. What gives?

Rehab

Al Celebrates America
Well, my homebrews were a hit at my BBQ.(Mostly cause they are about 9% alcohol, methinks.) And the rain came when we headed in to eat and departed as we finished dessert, so the kids were still able to blast around the backyard and have fun. Perfect. Their cousin (my nephew)is right in between them in age (the kids are 4, 3, and 2) so they are able to play and enjoy. The only hitch in the day was that my white trash neighbors (who, every year, after their 15 minute garage band version of Smoke on the Water sans vocals, put on their own little fireworks show that runs until 2 or 3 am) didn't kill or maim any of their brood. You can't have everything.








Al is on the mend.

Rehab has gone well, and I am getting stronger. I ran a small amount today (about .25 mile) in the midst of a 4 mile fast walk. I felt good and experienced no pain. (But I was too chicken to try more. Dr. wants me to wait, yet, anyway.) I've been swimming and biking with limited resistance (small ring and the 15). And weight lifting has gone well too. In all, I couldn't ask for a better return on the effort. So, if we don't get nuked by North Korea or Iran (in the not too distant future), I plan on shooting for a sprint tri in September. And, god willing, beating up Fred in Cyclocoss season.

In My View: A) Shut Up And Fuck Off Cow AND B) Shut Up, The Rest Of You Bitches

Star Jones Reynolds sorry for wedding spectacle
Friday June 30 9:51 PM ET

Newly fired co-host of "The View," Star Jones Reynolds, apologized to fans on Friday for getting "caught in the euphoria" of marital bliss when she planned her lavish, freebie-filled wedding in 2004.

Reynolds' mea culpa for behavior that earned her the label "Bridezilla" in tabloid headlines two years ago came during an appearance on NBC's "Today" show, one of several interviews she has given since her messy departure from "The View" this week.

ABC and Barbara Walters, creator, executive producer and lead host of "The View," has said the negative publicity surrounding Reynolds' wedding extravaganza was a key factor in turning viewers against her, which ultimately cost Reynolds her job.




The former prosecutor, then known as Star Jones, came under fire around the time of her November 2004 wedding to Al Reynolds when she accepted expensive wedding supplies and services for free, donated by corporate "sponsors" in return for publicity.



On Friday, Reynolds, 44, acknowledged that she had gotten carried away with her nuptials.

"I don't think I took the viewers on the right journey with me, and I want to apologize for that," she said. "I was a 40-year-old who, according to urban legend, had a better chance of being kidnapped by a terrorist than getting married. And I was caught in the euphoria. And I think I used, and some would say abused, my celebrity in planning the wedding."

If she had it to do over again, Reynolds added, "I would be more humble, and I would allow them to see the genuine character of who I am, which I hope they see right now."

But Reynolds was less forthcoming about another issue that ABC and Walters said came up in network research last year showing that Reynolds was falling out of favor with viewers -- her abrupt and dramatic weight loss.

While Reynolds is widely assumed to have shed more than 100 pounds with the help of gastric bypass surgery, she has never publicly acknowledged undergoing such an operation while promoting the benefits of a healthy lifestyle.

Asked about the issue by Roker, who himself has undergone gastric bypass, Reynolds would only say that "a medical intervention, doctors, had to step in to save my life." And she said found it "disheartening" that ABC "would use something so private ... at this moment."

Reynolds touched off a wave of public blood-letting when she caught Walters and ABC off guard by announcing on Tuesday's broadcast of "The View" that she would end her nine-year tenure on the show in July.




That same day, People magazine published excerpts of an interview in which Reynolds complained she had been given notice days before learning that Rosie O'Donnell, one of her most vocal critics, would be joining the show in the fall.

Walters, who had clasped hands with Reynolds, warmly wished her well and led the studio audience in a standing ovation on Tuesday, opened the next day's show with the frosty declaration that Reynolds was not welcome back.


Walters later said that she felt betrayed that Reynolds refused to stick to an understanding she had reached with ABC to leave the show with "dignity" -- by inventing a reason for her exit that the network and "The View" would support.

All right, I guess I need to say it: "Who Gives A Fuck?" So why am I reporting this, eh? I guess there's just a piece of me that grins at the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune. In short, I just love seeing this cow brought low. Of course, there'll be another cow mooing her multiple and inane opinions soon: Rosie O'Don-cow. Is it just me, or would you smile from ear to ear if the View took their show on the road and the tour bus swerved off the road into a ditch, caught fire, exploded, rolled off the side of a mountain with the force of the blast, careened (while still burning) to a rock pile below, was then crushed by a landslide its fall started, was swallowed by an earthquake fault, and then compressed as the fault closed?


In the world of Al-lympics, I'm on the mend. I began doing some PT for the wheel. And I'm seeing some progress. I've pressed a bit with some fast (er) walking and more resistance while pedalling...so far so good. (But shit am I sore right now.) I'm tentatively thinking ahead: Could I get myself whole enough to do a sprint Tri in September? Can I get myself ready for cyclocross season in the Fall? Hmmmmmm