Football Epilogue

 I'm relaxing in a Chicago hotel room waiting for both the Minnesota Vikings to start playing and for my daughter to emerge from one of what might be the best nights of her teenage life. The two of us ventured here to witness the spectacle that is Harry Styles. The original plan, still intact, is to attend his concert tonight, October 9th. We have tickets and are all ready to go.  However, in preparation for our travels I was informed that she'd like to try to find tickets for the Saturday night show as well and that she was willing to pay for them. So we headed down to the arena and found the ticket window line to stand in. Just like hazy memories of an old movie or two that I could never remember, the ticket window curtains closed, SOLD OUT, with about a dozen people to go before us. Maybe 30 tickets out of 30,000 short.  Defeated and hungry we went to find a little food and see if there was an online resale option that would work. There's a place on the corner from the...

 The last few months I've been working on my basement. The 1960s paneling and horridly worn and musty carpet had to go. I improved the lighting, reinsulated, hung drywall and installed vinyl plank flooring. The space feels much more open and useful. I'm now getting set back up down there.  Yes, I'm still part teenager. I moved my murder of electric guitars (I think a group of guitars should also be called a "murder" just as with crows; counting, black or otherwise) back to the basement from my room and have set up a drum kit I bought shortly post-divorce. In the interest of being thrifty, I added a free couch and chair.  I like neither the couch nor chair and have already relocated the chair to college housing. I even delivered it for the kid. The same will occur for the couch when spring shows up.  Really, furniture improvements are needed throughout the house, but it's one of those things I can be patient about. Behold the shortlived chair and fugly, the cou...

 

Here's a beat to start your week with Nirvana/Foo Fighters musician Dave Grohl.

Icehouse in Minneapolis has live jazz on Monday nights. Check it out if you need some thinking music.  I watched Luminous Flux from above the dining area.

A little Longview for you

A little post-Christmas catharsis. \m/

From http://brickellmensproducts.com/blogs/grooming-manual/66267203-top-5-anti-aging-tips-for-men I was originally going to write about the football successes of the weekend. It was a good weekend for "my" teams. Obviously, the Vikings and Minnesota Gophers have a larger stage and it was good to see them win. It was exciting for me to see the Hamline Pipers get their first win over Gustavus Adolphus since 2005 and for the Champlin Park Rebels to beat the Blaine Bengals.  Instead of attempting analyst detail on these games I think I'll go another way. I'm realizing I'm dwelling on something from week 1 of the football season. It was a fact an announcer said and it put who I am in perspective. The oldest offensive lineman in the NFL is 35! That is younger than me (by 3 years at this writing). I don't think this was really the stuff of mid-life crisis generating profoundness. I already know 40 is a matter of months away for me and have had to square with a...

So my kids have been listening to this incessantly lately. It's catchy...just as "Uptown Funk" is catchy. Have fun!

Ok, so I've been posting a few of the more "mainstream" songs I like to workout to. The reality is though, I like my cardio and workout music heavy and fast. This latest from Slayer is blowing my mind. If you're stuck in the '80's and take the cover art too seriously...that's your problem.

Here's a wake-up call for you.

Music is one of my great motivators. To mix things up a little, here's one of my cardio favorites (yes, I'm a child of the '90s)

Another in a long line of theme'd 5K races, the  Color Vibe 5K  was this morning in the Twin Cities. The good: Dousing with color packets every 3/4 mile or so was fun and helped break the monotony of the race The course was a flat, manageable "there and back" making it good for bringing kids as turning around early was no challenge One of the best "after party" DJs and music I've come across...although the first "Run for your Lives" Zombie obstacle 5k in MN had original live bands which can't be beat in my book. The bad: It rained (not the races fault) and it probably did help with the parking situation It was in a mall parking lot, not the most exciting location; although given how poorly malls are doing these days it may have bolstered some sales. In all it's fun to get out there with the family and get the kids moving and hopefully this bolsters more fun runs, etc. this summer.

Music isn't always a "must have" for my workouts, but it often helps. Like most people older than 25 my tastes consist of what I liked in high school plus a new album here and there. This post was actually inspired by my purchasing The Pretty Reckless's album "Going to Hell" which I think will do me well when lifting. I tend to prefer heavy music in the gym, but some stuff I like elsewhere (e.g. in the car) doesn't often do it for me. An example of this is Guns 'n' Roses "Appetite for Destruction". I love this album and it was one of the first cassettes (kids, ask your parents...what a cassette is), but for some reason it doesn't work for me in the gym. I have no clue why as "Welcome to the Jungle" is, or was, nearly a warm-up anthem during football pregame warm-ups. There are a number of albums I keep coming back to though to give me that extra bump in energy. Here are a few: "Greatest Fits", Ministry'...