Guster Loves the Planet (and brownies)...

Guster is among my favorite bands. So I was pretty excited to hear they (finally) had finished their new album (check out Easy Wonderful here. Thanks to WSJ for streaming the album). Guster has also been supporting Reverb, an organization that tries to keep concerts as green as possible, and raise environmental awareness among fans (like selling carbon offsets for travel to the show). One of the more visible changes is to use those metal, re-usable water bottles.

So, what's the whole point of this? excellent question.

Well, I pre-ordered the new CD, and it arrived like this:

It's nice to see that they're extending their environmentalism to shipping packaging.

It's also nice to see that they like brownies.

sometimes you have just have to try something stupid. something so ridiculous, that most people wouldn't believe it's possible.

no, not this. i'll leave that to someone else. no, instead, i chose this. why? probably because i'm an idiot. why not try something that requires you to sign a waiver that mentions the possibility of death 4 times? and, no - i did not opt for the ever-popular relay (seriously, try to find 4 other tortured souls such as myself?), or the measly half-marathon. marathon - why bother? let's make it an ultra-marathon.

ultra, huh? so, have you ever run further than one marathon before. oh, no - of course not, but i have run a marathon. and, they do have a 50 K(ilometer) race. that's only 5 miles further than the marathon. seems like a reasonable way to wade out into the world of ultrarunning.

f**k that. grit your teeth and give it hell. i signed up for the 50 mile race. that's nearly twice the distance i've ever run before. not only that, but it's more than i run most weeks.

but here's the messed up part:

i'm gonna do it again. just wait and see.

Little 500 FAQ

There are some common questions I get regarding the Little 500 (see my pre-dated blog post here), so hopefully I can answer at least some of your questions.

So, it's a relay race, uhm, how does that work?

Well, each rider has a minimum number of laps they must ride (I believe it's 10 for the men), and each team must complete a minimum number of exchanges (10 for the men).

Exchanges? Like in track relays? Is there some sort of baton?

No, no, no. There is no baton. The bike acts as the baton. Teammates exchange the bike, and the new rider continues on the track. Here's a picture:

Still don't get it? Here's a series of pictures to illustrate.

You ride bikes, have you ridden the race?

No.

I think you should.

That's not a question.

Oh, yeah. Well, why haven't you?

I can't

Oh, yeah, because you're so busy with grad school?

Mostly because I'm not allowed.

Why is that?

I'm not an undergrad.

Why are only undergrads allowed to race?

Because those are the rules.

Oh. But why?

(sigh)

Ok, well, what about that running race? The one no one cares about?

You don't seem to be getting this, do you?

You're supposed to be answering questions, not asking them.

OK, fine.

What about the bikes? Do they have to use road bikes? Can they use anything?

Good Question (finally). The teams are restricted to using a single speed (no gears) bike, equipped with a coaster brake (the pedal backwards kind - like when you were a kid). They are issued by the university each year, and for the last three years have been provided by Schwinn. Here's a picture of the bike used for the 2007 race.

So, do the riders party all week, and then just jump on their bikes on saturday?

No, the riders are very serious about the event. They will be training year-round for their next shot (the good ones, the bad ones might not be so stringent). While the students go crazy, the riders are very focused this week.

What's the deal with the race? How did it all come about?

It was originally started as a promotional event for the Indianapolis 500. Both races feature 33 teams, which have to qualify from a larger field. The starting grid is 11 rows deep, and there are three teams in each row. The pole is awarded to the fastest qualifier, who gets the inside slot in the first row. Both races cover 200 laps (men's bike race), although the bike race is significantly shorter at approximately 50 miles.

The trophy awarded to the champion is even a replica of the Indy 500 Borg-Warner Trophy.

So, what's the purpose of this whole deal?

The Little 500 is a fund-raiser for the Indiana University Student Foundation, which uses the moeny for scholarships for students.


Other questions? Let me know and we'll see what I can do. Or ask Wikipedia. He's the smartest guy I know.

The World's Greatest College Weekend

NOTE: I have been meaning to post this, but may not have if it were not for the harping provided by Mrs. Samantha Johnson. She was rather insistent about getting my pictures to post on her blog. Instead, I decided to post them on my blog, and make me more popular. Yeah me! (5/14/2009).

On to the show...

The Little 500 is a cycling race held every spring at Indiana University, commonly referred to as 'little five', and has been called the 'World's Greatest College Weekend' (I'll save you some time, here's the link to wikipedia so you can see for yourself. I'll wait...I told you.)


See, there it is printed on the barrier. I am so awesome. So awesome. You can hardly believe it, can you. I know, hardly. If you didn't know me, you probably wouldn't.

If you want the ESPN/sportscaster/sportswriter version of the events, i would advise you to go elsewhere, as I'm not up to relaying all the specifics. I'm going after the atmosphere.

This year was the 59th running of the men's race, which is the centerpiece of the weekend (this is the official view). To many, there is only the men's race, and a bunch of other bullshit that happens before the men's race.

What sort of bullshit?

Well, it kicks off on thursday evening with the women's and men's Little 50 running race. The little 50 is a 50 lap relay running race. Each team has up to 4 runners, who exchange each lap (generally). This is the event with the lowest attendance - in part because it is the newest (in its seventh year), and because it is the most boring. my apologies to Team X and Team Mercury (women's and men's winners, respectively). I attended, and promptly left - and I like running.

Friday afternoon plays host to the women's Little 500 bike race. The women race 100 laps around a cinder track (important side note, which you don't care about: the bike race is not on the same track as the running race. ironically, the runners use a modern, rubberized track, while the cyclists ride on gravel).

The women's race is great, and vastly underappreciated. First, it is much easier to watch the race, in part due to its underappreciation. Second, those girls get after it, so it is a very entertaining race. Wait...let me amend my 'second'. The best of the women's teams get after it. There are a bunch of women's teams that just flat out suck. good on them for trying though.

The weather was awesome, the women's race was also awesome. There were, like, a hundred wrecks, which was also awesome. Congratulations to Pi Phi, who won their first Little 500 title. I would have put the official greek name up there, except for two things. One, I don't really like the greeks, and as a result, Two, I can't be bothered to figure out how to put the Greek alphabet onto my blog. But seriously, good job ladies. I'll even add a pic from the women's race.

Saturday afternoon then, is the main event. Again, the weather was beautiful, and the coeds were drunk, excited, and feverishly supporting their respective teams (the fever may have been a result of the booze).

At this point, I think we need to take an aside to explain the party atmosphere of little 5. This isn't your normal 'weekend' at campus. This far exceeds the standard debauchery of tailgating. As you may know, weekends in a college town start on thursday (some refer to this as 'thirsty thursday'. the parlance may vary by locale.), and proceeds through saturday night. For little 5, the 'weekend' starts the thursday before the thursday before the race. Allow me to explain: Thursday, nine days before the men's race, a standard college weekend starts. This continues through saturday night, but then a funny thing happens. Come sunday, there is no end to the revelry - no, no, it is only getting started. There are deck parties on tuesday mornings, and students in all phases of the drunk/hungover spectrum to be seen in class all week. Many, do not even show up in class. More, complain that we would even hold classes the week of little 5 - on monday. Seriously, not even I could make this up. On wednesday, three days prior to the men's race, the partying really gets cranked up - keg parties, beer bongs, and closing down bars. Now, keep in mind that all this was most likely happening before, but now it is the rule, rather than the exception. If you're an instructor, you pray you don't have a friday class. Or, you pray you do, so you can fuck with the drunk kids. (there is also a set of faculty who have no idea what little 5 is, or have any idea when it is, who miss out on all sorts of opportunity).

By saturday after the race, the bars are empty. It is my theory that the students have drunk themselves into some sort of coma, and are no longer capable of movement.

There was also a men's race. Here are some pictures:











Congratulations to the Cutters, who won their 10th Little 500 title.

Golden Boy, Michael Phelps

It's amazing to me that no one has a problem with Michael Phelps smoking pot. Even with a DUI in his history, it's not a problem. Speedo still supports him (I wonder how much marijuana that sponsorship money can buy?), despite the fact that he is supposed to be a positive role model and their target audience is young swimmers (and their parents). Omega says it is a 'private matter' and doesn't matter. VISA still supports him. Worst of all, FINA, the world governing body of swimming actually praised him for what he has done.

In the NBA, Josh Howard was jumped all over for admitting marijuana use. Two NBA rookies were fined $20,000 for smoking pot at a camp in Vegas. Perhaps it's Phelps' good fortune that he's white, and he is the most successful person in a sport with limited interest by the general public. Not to mention the numerous professional athletes Congress has subpoenaed about drug use.

Being male probably helps too - Amanda Beard was blasted by USA Swimming Executive Director Chuck Wielgus for inappropriately portraying swimming:

“As a membership that caters primarily to children and teenagers, I don’t feel that the appearance by [Beard] in the July issue of Playboy magazine is an appropriate portrayal of our sport.”

Maybe if she won more gold medals everything would be forgiven. Or smoking pot is a better example for young people than being naked.

28

Happy birthday to me!

If you're wondering, I have so far gone out of my way to take it easy. slept in, hung out, went to the golf course, and am planning an evening of cooking meat with fire and drinking water and grain combinations. it should be fun.

and yes, sometime i will get around to finishing the Japan portion of the blog, and i can promise you that won't be today.

Is no creature safe? (Tokyo, 8pm, 5/11/2008)

Just when you think you've tried it all. Jellyfish. At some point I'm going to make a list of all the weird shit I've eaten on this trip. That should be quite a compilation.

as a side note, sake is good. compei!