Turkey Trot Race Results

I am pleased with my performance in the Buffalo Turkey Trot. I was about 7 minutes faster than last year and finished in the top 20% of men my age. The odds of me improving as much next year are remote but maybe I could take a minute or so off if I really pushed myself. I stopped to tie my shoes so I might have lost 20 seconds for that. In any case, I had a good time racing with Rachel and Jimmy. I didn't see anyone I knew although I did see my first girlfriend's mother was a finisher at 75 years old.


































I am writing this from the Detroit airport en route to my niece's wedding. I just had a Fuddrucker's hamburger for lunch, substituting baked beans for french fries.I am staying an extra two days because it was cheaper to fly home on Tuesday. I will probably do some work on Monday since I don't expect my visit to be action packed. Fortunately, the weather is clear so I don't anticipate any flight delays.

Update

It's a fractured finger. The doc sent me for x-rays which showed a clean break right near the tip of the finger. Not that much pain but I am wearing a splint. I will be wearing it for a month or so. I went to an orthopedic surgeon after the xray. First the physicians assistant came in. "Wait a minute. I am not paying good money just to be seen by this guy." I was going to demand the doctor come in but the PA said, "I need to get the doctor to look at this." He said the fracture had pierced the tissue a bit so to prevent infection I am on an antibiotic for 10 days. I go back next Wednesday.

I was determined to kill myself today

Figuratively, that it. :-) The safety indicator on my car said there was a door open. So I walked around the car slamming the doors to make sure they were shut. When I closed the back door hard the window came down a millisecond later directly on my right ring finger,splitting my nail. I was in excruciating pain as I grabbed a paper towel to stop the bleeding. So I drove off for my two hour ride home from campus with my finger throbbing . I considered going to the emergency room but decided instead to stop at a Wendy's to get some ice to reduce the swelling. I missed the turn off and pulled into the parking lot of a Loehmann's next door. I walked through a path between some bushes not noticing the watering hose stretched across the ground. I tripped and went sprawling breaking my fall with my damaged finger and my other hand, scraping it too. So I was a real sight going into Wendy's. No more guitar playing or any other activity with my right hand for a while. :-)

NY Times 36 Hours in Seattle

But you all ready know this right? :-)

36 Hours in Seattle

Brian Wilson

The concert was good. It was actually pretty similar to the last one Marty and I saw in 2004. Brian still has a voice which is a ghost of his prime. The band how ever is superb. At points they have 8 singers doing the various parts of the song. The instrumentation was amazing too. One of the guitarist tripled on French horn and flute. They did lots of the hits and a few less known ones from the Beach Boys 60s albums

After intermission, they performed his new album Lucky Old Sun which I am not that impressed with on CD. They did it very well live. The theme is growing up in California in the 60s so there was a screen with images and animations. I heartily recommend the show if there is ever an opportunity to see him. They also weren't very loud so no one's ears will be ringing afterwards.

The crowd was really old: lots of grey hair and paunchy faces standing and singing along. You really couldn't call it dancing. It was amusing to look at. Of course good old Lloyd was there with a free ticket. I talked with him a bit. If he had known I was going to be there he probably would have suggested a dinner on CL.

The weather was really frigid. It didn't seem so bad when we first started walking. Our original plan was to go to some galleries in Chelsea or SoHo. After a while we just decided to go to MOMA. It was free Friday but the line was long for tickets. We paid the $20 each so we wouldn't have to stand in the cold. Lots of greatest hits there. I had never seen it before. There was also a sold out Van Gogh show. It was very crowded. There was a cool video installation with large two floor high images posted on three walls with ambient music playing. I am not sure whether it was recently installed or not.

All in all it was a nice bonding day. No discussion of my personal issues.

Quantum of Solace review

Good but not great. I agree with AO Scott about Daniel Craig as JB. He just has no sense of humor or playfulness about him. He doesn't come across as charming like the others before him. In this one he is almost a psychopath. There is not a lot of suspense in it either. Casino Royale had that with the card game and it also had the love story. I really want to see Slum Dog Millionaire. It sounds very good to me.

Off to see Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys this Friday in NYC with Marty. He is flying up to Philly at noon. I am picking him up and we are taking the train to Manhattan to hang out before the show. He is an artist so I suggested we do some galleries in the afternoon. Unfortunately it is going to be very cold and windy so it is not the lovely fall day I always like to talk about.

No More Kelly

She is leaving to work for Joel's company as of next Monday. I was going to help her with an Intro Biz workshop at one of my old schools. Now I need someone to help me do it. I have asked Maureen for assistance. No more Mark V either. I heard that today. He works for Wiley.