KRAC Blog

I have had it with the Lake as well. As Ayatollah Rock-n-Rolla, I have issued a death warrant for that infidel station for blaspheming all that is rock.

The difference between The Lake and listening to some I-Pod you might find is that with the I-Pod you could skip to the next song. They have started to run ads, but they will never have dj's-- they don't need them. The target audience can identify every song in three notes. I was never a big Elton John fan, but I surprised myself this morning when I was able to identify the crowd sounds that open "Bennie and the Jets". I mean, this stuff is so familiar, you don't even need to hear the music. It's like going through somebody's old vinyl, and saying, "Hey, I haven't heard this in a while". I'm pretty sure that it is completely random. This morning, for instance, I got two Jackson Browne tunes: on the way out to Batavia, "These Days" (he wrote it for Nico, you know); on the way back, "Rock Me On The Water". No human would progam like that, and, of course, the songs on either side of both were irrelevant to what came before or after. And I don't think I've heard anything recorded in the last ten years. Maybe 15.

I just registered for Chicago.

"Lord, what fools these mortals be."

Thinking about Dave and the process of recuperation got me thinking about where we are and about the genius of Higdon's program. Because we were working towards a Memorial Day peak, and because of where the Boilermaker fits into the schedule, we are actually ahead of where we would be if we were starting from our ordinary base. The brilliant part is that Higdon contemplates that there will be time needed for recovery and builds that in: there are a lot of weeks that are designed to be rest weeks, so catching up after a hiatus is something that can be pretty easily accomplished. There are plenty of times when I think about how far there is to go, but that's probably the wrong way to approach it: week by week this is very attainable.

Headline of a recent issue of local alt rag THE BEAST:

Reagan Accepts Key Cabinet Position In Hell

Newly Appointed Minister of Injustice to John Hinckley: "I'll be waiting!"

I hope I get the same revisionist history treament Reagan did:

"He was a tall, good looking man, an excellent golfer and a great guitar player. He had a huge penis and he never drank any alcohol."

Although my own physique more closely resembles an eclair, I was very pleased to learn that the French expression for six pack abs is "la tablette de chocolat": the chocolate bar! C'est bon!

We did our rain-check Sunday morning run at the Amherst Bike Path, seven miles for me and 6.4 for Judy. And we did it after gorging ourselves the previous evening on a feast prepared by Dave that included, inter alia, chicken, eggplant and carmelized onion quesadillas, grilled pork loin topped with romanescu sauce, a bottle of Rioja and strawberry shortcake.

It was, as Bill notes, a glorious morning for a run. I suggest that for a change of pace, when we get to our nine and ten mile runs in the next few weeks, we do those runs at the Bike Path. It's smooth, marked in tenths, fairly flat and pretty, and, at that time of day, mostly shady.

It was raining buckets at 6 AM yesterday. "If it's like this when it's time to go, I'm blowing it off," I said to myself, and rolled over. By seven, however the rain had stopped-- but not at the Ridge. When Tom and Judy pulled up, at 8:00 on the button, by the way, it was raining steadily, and the outing became a search for breakfast. I don't know what's up with a place called Country Breads and More that doesn't open until nine, but back in Buffalo Towne did not disappoint. You just never know when it might be time to go to breakfast instead of running, so it's important to go as often as possible so you don't miss it when it comes around.

So that the day wouldn't turn into a total washout, I rode my bike over to Fort Erie to see Jim engage in his other hobby. I was joined by the rest of my family, who drove over. EGA was in a poor humor, and as I watched Jim in his Catholic girl school uniform piping away, I said to her, "I don't think I have any hobbies that are quite as eccentric as Jim's." "Probably not," she snarked. "Going to it, perhaps."

My plan was to see if Jim was up for a Sunday morning trip to the Ridge, and he was. We were joined by EGA, in a better mood today, and had a glorious run. This time the weather was perfect: just cool enough to be comfortable for the whole way, clear blue skies that were like a reward for living a good life. The whole 7.5 at the Ridge is, right now, the hardest thing I have ever run. It is amazing how the extra two and a half miles makes the hardest thing I'd ever run before that seem like a loop around Delaware Park, but there it is: when you get to the phone booth and then keep going, the 5 mile loop with the Mother and everything else seems almost as comfortable as staying in bed would have been. Part of it felt like the sort of run you do because you know it will make you stronger for the next one, but most of it was just plain good, and I managed it faster than last week, which tells me that I am still on track.

I had breakfast when I got home, showered and took a nap. You can't tell me that isn't a quality day.

Patty Gillen offers these courses, which are keyed to the Olympia Health Club:

1. OHC to the lighthouse is about 3 miles.

2. down pearl to chippewa to niagara to porter and thru lasalle
park, thru the condos and out to lower terrace, up to franklin, past the
police station and back to the OHC. About 4.5 miles

3. if you take that same route but turn right on lower terrace and
go out to the lighthouse and then back, its about 6 miles.

4. if you continue up niagara and run to the pier (w. ferry, where
rich foods is), and then down the pier and back, back to niagara, all
the way to w. huron and then to the OHC, that's about 7.5 miles

5. if you add the lasalle park to that route, it's about 9 miles

6. head from downtown out seneca street all the way to cazenovia
park, thru the park and back downtown, is about 11 miles.

7. take the lighthouse route and the go up delaware thru the
cemetery, out of the cemetery and cross over to go around the delaware
lake, out to forest, down elmwood, back downtown, is about 14 miles.

8. from the OHC up delaware around the park, out thru nottingham,
down elmwood and back downtown, is about 10.5 miles. You can use
lincoln parkway for a diversion. Every loop around delaware park adds
another 1.8 miles and allows for more water stops.

9. up delaware to west ferry, down west ferry past LANOVA'S to
niagara, back down niagara to the OHC, is about 7 to 8 miles (I think).

I'm not sure where to put this, so I'll cross-post. The US Anti-Doping Agency has decided to introduce a diminished standard of proof for athletes accused of doping offenses. The standard used heretofore (I guess "heretofore" makes this an "Outside Counsel" post) was proof beyond a reasonable doubt-- the standard used in criminal matters. The new standard is "comfortable satisfaction"-- rather novel, I'd say. In civil matters the burden of proof is a fair preponderance of the credible evidence, which is easy to get your mind around. New York's Pattern Jury Instructions defines it as follows: "The credible evidence means the testimony or exhibits that you find to be worthy to be believed. A preponderence of the evidence means the greater part of such evidence.... The phrase refers to the quality of the evidence, that is, its convincing quality.... The law requires that in order... to prevail... the evidence that supports [a] claim must appeal... as more nearly representing what took place than the evidence opposed...."

I guess I don't have a problem with backing away from the criminal standard of proof: what we are talking about here is closer to a civil action than a criminal action: nobody's liberty is at risk, merely the privilege of being permitted to compete. I have a problem with doping rules in general-- actually, I have several problems-- but that's not what is at issue here. Right now I have a problem with changing the burden of proof in the middle of the process, which impresses me as fundamentally unfair; and I have a problem with the new standard. What the hell is "comfortable satisfaction"? Is it just that it sounds so smug? Rules are rules, but this is a rule with no historic definition that I am aware of, and who knows what the parameters are? I'm all for our sport cleaning up its image, but I'm more for fairness and transparency. "Comfortable satisfaction" as a standard of proof doesn't do that for me.

Hot. I settled the case I was supposed to be picking on Tuesday, but it was too late to get to the gym, and it was a warm day anyway, so I figured I'd run in the evening. It was still quite warm, and humid, by the time I got out, and I was feeling underhydrated. My plan had been to go up Delaware, around the Ring Road, and then see how I felt before deciding on a long run or a longer run: by the time I got to the basketball courts I was sucking wind. The woman in the red sports bra that had been dogging my footsteps darted in front of me and got to the water fountain first. Nothing. Dry. The City of Buffalo has shut off the water fountains in the park. She swore. I swore. We went on. I am going to have to be more careful about staying hydrated during the day now that we are into the warm weather, and I think a visit to Fleet Feet for a survey of hydration options is in order. I am ust getting used to wearing a watch running, now this?

Yesterday I played my annual round of golf at a political tournament at Legends in Canada. Words cannot express how terrible I am these days. I bought a dozen Titleists and lost all but one. But my putting was excellent and I won $150 in a split club drawing.

Lake report: This morning's sequence: Rocky Mountain Way, Joe Walsh; Look Sharp, Joe Jackson; Hey Nineteen, Steely Dan; Dixie Chicken, Little Feat. Odd, but not bad.

Last night I heard Sultans of Swing, Dire Straits and Lowdown, Boz Scaggs; even when those songs were popular and on the radio all the time, I never got tired of hearing them, and they sounded fresh.

The Lake's play list and the recent "greatest guitarist" issues from The Rolling Stone and Guitar Player (I still think the old Musician Magazine list is the most accurate) have sparked me to list my favorite (the ones I most enjoy) guitarists:

1. Jeff Beck
2. Chuck Berry
3. Elliot Easton (The Cars)
4. Keith Richards
5. Nils Lofgren

My first time for the whole shot at the Ridge today. I realize that it will become routine, but whoa-- that's a tough run. It's hard enough to run past the phone booth: like a horse when he sees the stable, I know where I want to go, and it isn't up any more hills, let me tell you. Where it really gets hairy, though, is after you start in at the loop at the top. It's kinda flat, and it feels okay, and then you realize there's a mile and a half to go. I was exhausted, and heading back nothing looked familiar, and I was wondering if I was even on the right trail for a few minutes in there. It's a nice enough downhill finish, but it left me pretty done in. Can't wait till we start doing it twice.

The 50 Coolest Song Parts. This starts off promisingly, then falls apart. It is an interesting idea: there are parts of songs that make the song great when it otherwise might not be. Two that still give me pleasure, even today: the "Yeah, yeah, yeah yeah" at the end of Linda Ronstadt's cover of "Heatwave", and Darryl Hall's, "She's goooooone, oh my," coming out of the instrumental break on the song of the same name. Looking at this guy's list, I'd have thought that another that I really like would have been there: the section of "Thunder Road" where the band, on an instrumental break, starts winding down, and the Boss yells, "One, two, three, four!" and it revs back up again.

There are some picks here that I certainly will go with: the openings to "Gimme Shelter" and "Baba O'Riley? Absolutely. "Anarchy of The U.K."? You bet. Likewise "Sympathy For The Devil". The thing is, those are all indisputably great songs. The Hendrix numbers here are as well. For this sort of thing to work, I think you have to be working off a premise of consistent quality-- and any list that includes "The Devil Went Down To Georgia", Lionel Richie, and as many cuts by Queen as the Stones or the Who is not operating on that basis. Phil Collins? Please.

It's like watching a car wreck:

The last few days I've been driving around listening to 107.7, The Lake, the new radio station. Let's put aside for a minute my preference for a return of the Yankees radio broadcasts to any music format. It's torture to listen to but I can't keep myself away. I would say that I'm at the epicenter of its target demographic, which I would describe as: "White, 35 to 55, went to college in the 1970s and tried to stay hip about pop music after that, sort of like that guy from High Fidelity." I have heard everybody from Al Green to Pink Floyd ("Sheep") to Billy Joel (two songs in one day from "The Stranger") to Dr John to Bill Withers to Paul Simon to Elvis Costello ("Red Shoes") to Rod Stewart ("Every Picture Tells a Story") to . . . whoever else you can possibly think of, and the promos threaten to play the Indigo Girls and Dave Matthews. The fascinating part of it is that you have no way to guess what the next song will be. One song will be great and the next will suck like no song has ever sucked. There is absolutely no thematic or philosophical continuity to the music sequencing. It's like a Canadian cover band. You would never make a mix tape or disk so lacking in structure. Although all of the sequences are terrible, I memorized one in paticular because it was so weird:

Pretenders, "Show Me the Meaning of The Word" or whatever they call it
Led Zeppelin, "The Ocean"
The Cars, "Stop and Go"

HUH?

Fascinating but infuriating.

I think we use this one for the movie poster. 

This is one for the mantlepiece. 

I thought it was a graphic novel:

Dave rises from the dead and chases Jim through the graveyard, devours Jim (except for the hat) and staggers on.

I don't think many people really saw Birdstone coming, even with the Nick Zito angle, but there were undoubtedly many people who walked out to Belmont parking lot bragging about how they had him the whole time. I put $48 of my Derby winnings into four boxed trifectas using the horses I thought had the best chances of being there at the end. I was too greedy for a big payout. At the top of the stretch I was yelling Jim's war cry, "STOP THE RACE!", because I had my horses first, second and third, and I saw Birdstone coming on strong.

In retrospect, a good use of the money would have been to box separate $2 exactas with Smarty Jones and each of the other horses, a total bet of $32. Some of those combos would not have recouped the $32, and if Smarty ran poorly, you'd be shut out completely. But some of them would have paid off well, like Birdstone, whose winning price was $74 and whose exacta was $139 (which is pretty low considering what a longshot he was, because of Smarty's 1-5).

It's nice that the first day of marathon training is a rest day.

Boilermaker 2001. Fat, fat, the Water Rat. Fifty Bullets in your hat. 

Looks like Tom has clawed his way back to the middle of the pack. For now. Far be it from me to be talking smack, but it's a long season, and the road is getting longer. I took a doctor's videotaped testimony yesterday, working straight through to 9, then home to find that my family was at the movies. When A arrived home at around midnight she asked if I'd spoken to Tom-- of course I hadn't, so today's workout was my run through LaSalle Park, about five miles, then a swim. It was the first time back at it since Sunday, and it felt pretty good. I registered for the Boilermaker when I got into the office.

I'm thinking of boxing a Trifecta: Smarty Jones, Purge, Royal Assault.

My relay time of 50:45 was a PR for a 10K, faster than last year by 27 seconds. That makes me very happy, but I was also very pleased to see that my time at the five-mile marker was substantially faster than my best time at either the 8K (4.97 mile) Shamrock or Turkey Trot. Hard work does work.

I hope all had a good time at the post-race party. With the influx of Knabs and the tequila, it was all a blur to me. What was intended as a laid back affair didn't turn out that way.

On the Belmont:

I think Smarty Jones will win, but right now his odds are 2-5 and they will only get shorter as we get to post time. I don't even think an exacta will pay much, especially if Rock Hard Ten, who I think is second best, draws a lot of money. Therefore, unless the Racing Form talks me out of it tomorrow, I will be boxing those two in trifectas with one or two other horses, one of whom may be Purge, who won at Belmont two weeks ago against decent competition.