The recreational division of my bike club decided to go kayaking this time, in nearby New Smyrna - one of the popular beach destinations for locals (the other being Cocoa Beach. Daytona is for "tourists".)
We drove out J.B.'s Fish Camp, a restaurant that also rents kayaks, and prepared for an hour or so of kayaking by lathering on sunscreen and getting the rentals taken care of. I rented a single kayak, the kind that you sat on top of, as opposed to ones where you sit inside.
The group paddled out and it was a lot of fun exploring up and down the river and beach area. We didn't go in the ocean and instead stayed on the shallower protected side - in some places the water was only a foot deep. I saw a stingray, but the picture didn't turn out.
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Friday, May 09, 2008
Dexter
I finished up watching this TV series via Netflix. It was fantastic, even if the subject matter is so odd.
Dexter is forensics expert working for the Miami police department, and his particular expertise is in blood spatter analysis. Dexter is also a serial killer, a hobby he pursues in his spare time. He only kills people that he feels deserve it, such as the child molester he kills in the pilot. Or the snuff film maker, or the repeat drunk driver, or the "coyote" couple he kills - a husband/wife team smuggling Cubans into the country and then extorting their relatives. If the relatives don't come up with extra payment, the couple kills them. Until Dexter takes them both out!
As such, the show tries to provide insight into the mind of a serial killer, attempting to explain his motivation and ethics code that he follows. Dexter also has a girlfriend with an abusive ex-husband, a sister on the police force, some interesting coworkers, and another serial killer on the loose in the city.
Yes, the main serial killer is one that is out murdering prostitutes and freezing their bodies - and thus is called the Ice Truck Killer. Things get really interesting when the Ice Truck Killer makes contact with Dexter... for example, Dexter returns to his apartment to discover a Barbie doll chopped up in his freezer. He examines the hand, which has painted fingernails. The very next victim's hand is frozen in a block of ice, with painted fingernails. Thus, the Ice Truck Killer knows about Dexter and makes contact. Will Dexter figure out who it is before the Ice Truck Killer exposes him? What does he want anyway? The game is on!
Season 1 is just 12 episodes, and I could barely wait until the next DVD showed up.
Dexter is forensics expert working for the Miami police department, and his particular expertise is in blood spatter analysis. Dexter is also a serial killer, a hobby he pursues in his spare time. He only kills people that he feels deserve it, such as the child molester he kills in the pilot. Or the snuff film maker, or the repeat drunk driver, or the "coyote" couple he kills - a husband/wife team smuggling Cubans into the country and then extorting their relatives. If the relatives don't come up with extra payment, the couple kills them. Until Dexter takes them both out!
As such, the show tries to provide insight into the mind of a serial killer, attempting to explain his motivation and ethics code that he follows. Dexter also has a girlfriend with an abusive ex-husband, a sister on the police force, some interesting coworkers, and another serial killer on the loose in the city.
Yes, the main serial killer is one that is out murdering prostitutes and freezing their bodies - and thus is called the Ice Truck Killer. Things get really interesting when the Ice Truck Killer makes contact with Dexter... for example, Dexter returns to his apartment to discover a Barbie doll chopped up in his freezer. He examines the hand, which has painted fingernails. The very next victim's hand is frozen in a block of ice, with painted fingernails. Thus, the Ice Truck Killer knows about Dexter and makes contact. Will Dexter figure out who it is before the Ice Truck Killer exposes him? What does he want anyway? The game is on!
Season 1 is just 12 episodes, and I could barely wait until the next DVD showed up.
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Blue Springs
The Sunday club ride has fractured a bit, into several groups, more or less people that want to hammer all the time, and people that really are just wanting a steady moderate ride. I'm in the steady moderate group, and every now and then we mix it up and do a fun ride or a destination ride. This week that ride was to a state park, Blue Springs.
We met up and rode on back roads and side streets the 30 miles or so to the park. Once there, we took advantage of the swim area, and jumped in!
I joined the others shortly after taking the pic.
You can see manatees at this spring, especially during winter mornings when they come to enjoy the relatively warm water. There weren't any around when we were there - by midday they are out in the river searching for food - and of course had there been, we would have kept our distance.
After splashing around for 15 minutes or so, we got out and pedaled our way back to Lake Mary.
We met up and rode on back roads and side streets the 30 miles or so to the park. Once there, we took advantage of the swim area, and jumped in!
I joined the others shortly after taking the pic.
You can see manatees at this spring, especially during winter mornings when they come to enjoy the relatively warm water. There weren't any around when we were there - by midday they are out in the river searching for food - and of course had there been, we would have kept our distance.
After splashing around for 15 minutes or so, we got out and pedaled our way back to Lake Mary.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Concert
A friend from the Y running club called up and asked if I were interested in seeing a Bruce Springsteen concert. I'm not the hugest fan, but I thought it would be fun so agreed and bought a ticket.
I didn't realize he was still an active performer - my memories of him are from the mid 80's and the album Born in the USA. But I knew he had a large catalog of songs. On the other hand Nicole, my friend from the running club, is an enormous fan, had seen him in concert a half-dozen times, knew every song on every CD, burned me a copy of his latest one to listen to later, etc.
It was fun. He played for 2 and a half hours, everything from his music from the 70's to songs off his recent CD. I was hoping to hear Glory Days, my favorite song of his, off the Born in the USA album, but he didn't play it. I thought it was cool that he took 4 or 5 requests from the audience - people showed up with signs listing the songs they wanted to hear, or folded sheets of paper, and occasionally he would grab one, show it the the band, and then start to play. No lip-syncing and air guitar here!
I don't go to many concerts. I think the last one I saw was Thievery Corporation, in Seattle.
I didn't realize he was still an active performer - my memories of him are from the mid 80's and the album Born in the USA. But I knew he had a large catalog of songs. On the other hand Nicole, my friend from the running club, is an enormous fan, had seen him in concert a half-dozen times, knew every song on every CD, burned me a copy of his latest one to listen to later, etc.
It was fun. He played for 2 and a half hours, everything from his music from the 70's to songs off his recent CD. I was hoping to hear Glory Days, my favorite song of his, off the Born in the USA album, but he didn't play it. I thought it was cool that he took 4 or 5 requests from the audience - people showed up with signs listing the songs they wanted to hear, or folded sheets of paper, and occasionally he would grab one, show it the the band, and then start to play. No lip-syncing and air guitar here!
I don't go to many concerts. I think the last one I saw was Thievery Corporation, in Seattle.
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Spirit of the Y 5K
This event has grown over the 3 times it has been held. It is a small local race held by the Lake Mary YMCA, to raise money for some of their programs. The first year, it was about 50 people. I didn't race that year, instead I volunteered as a course monitor. Last year it went up to 150 or so. This time it was up near 350.
This was a great race for me. I finished in 22:56, which isn't all that fast for my age group, but for whatever reason (mostly being other faster guys not showing up) I actually medaled! Check it out, 3rd in my age group, winning a very rare piece of hardware. :)
The runner finishing just behind me, 1 second later, was my coworker and friend Francis (using his nickname Cisco). I heard somebody pull up behind me around mile 3, but didn't want to turn to look to see who it was. He just stayed there and we both raced in. Normally a time around 23 minutes isn't good enough for a top finish so both of us were quite surprised to see the results (last year I did 21:50 and was 5th). I also know the 2nd place finisher, Victor, from the Orlando Running Club, and he is a really strong runner.
Diana did great, taking 2nd in her age group (F25-29) at 22:28. She was happy, but the funny thing was after the race, she was obsessed with the course measurement. I wore my GPS, and so did Brooke and Kurt (1st in F35-39 and 1st in M30-34 respectively) and all three of us measured the course at 3.2 miles. To Diana, this meant she was cheated out of a sub 22 minute finish at 3.1 miles, since the course was 0.1 miles too long.
Overall, it was a great race!
This was a great race for me. I finished in 22:56, which isn't all that fast for my age group, but for whatever reason (mostly being other faster guys not showing up) I actually medaled! Check it out, 3rd in my age group, winning a very rare piece of hardware. :)
The runner finishing just behind me, 1 second later, was my coworker and friend Francis (using his nickname Cisco). I heard somebody pull up behind me around mile 3, but didn't want to turn to look to see who it was. He just stayed there and we both raced in. Normally a time around 23 minutes isn't good enough for a top finish so both of us were quite surprised to see the results (last year I did 21:50 and was 5th). I also know the 2nd place finisher, Victor, from the Orlando Running Club, and he is a really strong runner.
Diana did great, taking 2nd in her age group (F25-29) at 22:28. She was happy, but the funny thing was after the race, she was obsessed with the course measurement. I wore my GPS, and so did Brooke and Kurt (1st in F35-39 and 1st in M30-34 respectively) and all three of us measured the course at 3.2 miles. To Diana, this meant she was cheated out of a sub 22 minute finish at 3.1 miles, since the course was 0.1 miles too long.
Overall, it was a great race!
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Bible Joke
Well I've been a slacker on the blog; I'll get back in gear soon.
During my little breaks at work, I've been trying to solve this puzzle. Recently, I was forwarded one of those Internet jokes:
Naturally, being an inquisitive sort of person, I immediately went to look up Psalm 129, to read it for myself.
What I found was interesting - the lack of that passage! I cannot find any Bible anywhere, that has a passage even remotely similar to the above little quote. In the course of my searching I have found two different numbering systems for the Psalms, the Septuagint and the Masoretic - Wikipedia mentions these as Greek and Hebrew numbering - so allowing for those differences (basically reading Psalm 128, 129, 130 for good measure) I come up with zilch.
I've tried several different Bibles, I know translations can vary quite a bit. But still, between the American Standard, New International Version, King James, Skeptics Annotated Bible, in addition to the above New Advent Catholic Bible, there is nothing.
Googling for the quote in the joke, "Go forth and seek, further up, you will find glory" only leads to about a million hits for various forms of this joke, all of which apparently are referencing a non-existent quote. Another possibility is the joke has it wrong, it isn't Psalm 129 and is instead one of the other 150 of them.
If anybody actually knows what Psalm that is, leave a comment. I'm going to peck away at this and eventually read through the Psalms and either find the right one, or conclude the joke is funny, but bogus.
EDIT: A commenter Reggie points out that Matthew 7:7 works as the punch line in this joke:
Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you
Another commenter Steve points out that part of Luke 14:10 works, perhaps not as well, but reasonably:
that when he that bade thee cometh, he may say unto thee, Friend, go up higher
Thank you very much!
During my little breaks at work, I've been trying to solve this puzzle. Recently, I was forwarded one of those Internet jokes:
A priest offered a Nun a lift.
She got in and crossed her legs, forcing her gown to reveal a leg.
The priest nearly had an accident.
After controlling the car, he stealthily slid his hand up her leg.
The nun said, 'Father, remember Psalm 129?'
The priest removed his hand. But, changing gears, he let his hand slide up her leg again. The nun once again said, 'Father, remember Psalm 129?'
The priest apologized 'Sorry sister but the flesh is weak.'
Arriving at the convent, the nun sighed heavily and went on her way.
On his arrival at the church, the priest rushed to look up Psalm 129. It said, 'Go forth and seek, further up, you will find glory.'
Moral of the story:
If you are not well informed in your job, you might miss a great opportunity.
Naturally, being an inquisitive sort of person, I immediately went to look up Psalm 129, to read it for myself.
What I found was interesting - the lack of that passage! I cannot find any Bible anywhere, that has a passage even remotely similar to the above little quote. In the course of my searching I have found two different numbering systems for the Psalms, the Septuagint and the Masoretic - Wikipedia mentions these as Greek and Hebrew numbering - so allowing for those differences (basically reading Psalm 128, 129, 130 for good measure) I come up with zilch.
I've tried several different Bibles, I know translations can vary quite a bit. But still, between the American Standard, New International Version, King James, Skeptics Annotated Bible, in addition to the above New Advent Catholic Bible, there is nothing.
Googling for the quote in the joke, "Go forth and seek, further up, you will find glory" only leads to about a million hits for various forms of this joke, all of which apparently are referencing a non-existent quote. Another possibility is the joke has it wrong, it isn't Psalm 129 and is instead one of the other 150 of them.
If anybody actually knows what Psalm that is, leave a comment. I'm going to peck away at this and eventually read through the Psalms and either find the right one, or conclude the joke is funny, but bogus.
EDIT: A commenter Reggie points out that Matthew 7:7 works as the punch line in this joke:
Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you
Another commenter Steve points out that part of Luke 14:10 works, perhaps not as well, but reasonably:
that when he that bade thee cometh, he may say unto thee, Friend, go up higher
Thank you very much!
Saturday, February 23, 2008
MarathonFest
OK I've been a slacker with the blog. But, I wrote three more entries about my Japan trip and am resolved to finish up the rest by next week. I've been busy with the usual... and a heavy dose of running.
I returned from the trip determined to pick up and emphasize my running. It was so exciting to travel there and also meet a bunch of other people sharing an interest. Plus, I would like to do a marathon later in the year, and finish in a decent time, so I signed up for Marathonfest, a local training program. The program includes Tuesday track workouts, Thursday tempo runs, and Saturday morning runs.
I'll attend as many Tuesday track sessions as I can, but probably skip the Thursday tempo run in favor of staying local in Lake Mary and running with the Y group. The Saturday morning long run is the cornerstone of the program, and something I haven't been doing on my own. Or done for quite a while.
What is tough is how early that long run is - meet at 5:45 AM (or earlier!) and leave at 6:00 AM. Harsh but necessary.
So it was tough getting up at 4:45 AM for the first long run I could make. I was still groggy pulling into the park, but was happy to see about 40-50 other people also up at this crazy hour. Others tell me this spring session is half the size of the fall session! The group has critical mass, whereby you could search around a bit and find other people wanting to run your pace and desired distance. Or you could just run the day's workout with your own pace group. I wound up running with 3 or 4 others, an out-and-back in Winter Park for 7.9 miles in 1:06, for an 8:25 pace.
The next workout was short for me - I signed up for a 5K, so I just ran a warmup of 3.9 miles, out-and-back to the first water stop. Following this I did the House of Hope 5K in about 22:40, which I am very happy with since I haven't been doing much speed work.
I returned from the trip determined to pick up and emphasize my running. It was so exciting to travel there and also meet a bunch of other people sharing an interest. Plus, I would like to do a marathon later in the year, and finish in a decent time, so I signed up for Marathonfest, a local training program. The program includes Tuesday track workouts, Thursday tempo runs, and Saturday morning runs.
I'll attend as many Tuesday track sessions as I can, but probably skip the Thursday tempo run in favor of staying local in Lake Mary and running with the Y group. The Saturday morning long run is the cornerstone of the program, and something I haven't been doing on my own. Or done for quite a while.
What is tough is how early that long run is - meet at 5:45 AM (or earlier!) and leave at 6:00 AM. Harsh but necessary.
So it was tough getting up at 4:45 AM for the first long run I could make. I was still groggy pulling into the park, but was happy to see about 40-50 other people also up at this crazy hour. Others tell me this spring session is half the size of the fall session! The group has critical mass, whereby you could search around a bit and find other people wanting to run your pace and desired distance. Or you could just run the day's workout with your own pace group. I wound up running with 3 or 4 others, an out-and-back in Winter Park for 7.9 miles in 1:06, for an 8:25 pace.
The next workout was short for me - I signed up for a 5K, so I just ran a warmup of 3.9 miles, out-and-back to the first water stop. Following this I did the House of Hope 5K in about 22:40, which I am very happy with since I haven't been doing much speed work.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)