Filed under: life, music | Tags: 104.1 madison, beatles, live your life, piggies, rihanna, ti
It seems that, at times, the radio and my iPod try to drive me a bit crazy.
My iPod, if on random, seems to play the Beatles’ “Piggies” while I’m listening to music before bed (listen to it, harpsichord+oinking+talk about bacon). I have had dreams about it or woken up with the song in my head. I’ve stopped using the randomizer.
The radio, whenever I go to Madison’s 104.1 FM for my pop fix, seems to play TI/Rihanna’s “Live Your Life” without fail. Much more frequently than the Beatles incident. I can’t stand that “Dragonstea din tei” sample… both TI and Rihanna have had better songs (see “What You Know” and “Please Don’t Stop the Music”).
We have gotten a ridiculous amount of snow and very cold temperatures. This past thursday night / friday morning we got like a full foot. Imagine a snow downpour.
This week went well with the assistance of RJD2.
His Breezeblock Mix 8-6-2004 is a great mashup of his songs with a couple oldies. It’s about 20 mins and is solid working music.
RJD2’s first two albums, Deadringer and Since We Last Spoke are very good. They are some of the best instrumental hip hop beats created from sampling a wide variety of music, including old jazz and soul. Where as DJ Shadow’s best songs are downbeat and contemplative, RJD2 should be played loudly, especially while driving. His latest, Third Hand is not my favorite. It trades the sampling and hip hop for his own written, played, and sung pop. I respect the urge to change one’s style and explore new areas, it just didn’t work out for him this time. This is not to say that he’s not talented, there is still potential for great upcoming albums.
The weather has been much warmer this weekend -in the low 30s, though a bit wet. It’s better than 14 degrees and icy.
Yesterday was a good day: I did 10 miles at a 7:18ish pace. Today I did about 6, but didn’t keep track of any pace.
Granted, today my legs and left foot felt like hell. I’m guessing that my running shoes are spent.
It’s like $5 at Woodman’s. For $5, it’s phenomenal. The Don David Malbec for about $13 is good too, very smooth, but $5 is a steal.
Filed under: Running, art, cars, life, madison, photos | Tags: madison, Running, snow
I was able to run 10 miles in the windy, blowing snow last Saturday and hold an 8:00/mile pace.
I haven’t run as much this week. The weather really hasn’t helped with that: between Monday and Tuesday we got a ridiculous amount of snow. Monday night it started out as ice, which I had to scrape through about a solid 1/8 inch covering my entire car. Tuesday, I was on the way to work when WPR tells me that officially we shouldn’t leave home unless necessary -it should have sunk in when I was the only non suv on the road and my car (which is decently heavy) felt like a sled.
So, I did some running and cross-training indoors, then I tried a longer run outdoors tonight. There is an insane amount of ice, especially on hills. My run was more dancing, balancing, hopping, and slipping than anything else.
I did manage to make it six miles.
Oh well. It is winter.
Tuesday morning:
Filed under: art, madison | Tags: george segal, madison, madison museum of contemporary art, MMoCA, street scenes
I’ve actually been to this exhibition 3 times now at the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art. First by myself, then with friends from Madison, then with a friend from school. I really enjoy this exhibit and think it’s extremely well put together. It helps that Segal is an excellent artist: he takes the time to painstakingly create these ghastly figures and then recreate the environments in which he sees them. The sparse backdrops in the gallery at the MMoCA really match the works’ color scheme and make them stand out.
I love comparing Segal’s Bread Line with Edward Hopper’s paintings of the great depression -it really illustrates the difference between installation and painting.
This one is my favorite:
The Diner
(The artist statement next to the work adds much, go see it.)
oldcar by Pat Jordan on Zooomr
An old car off the capitol square.
turkeys by Pat Jordan on Zooomr
An extended family of turkeys in the arboretum.
Filed under: madison, music | Tags: lawrence university, madison, the chairs, the chairs band, the frequency
I discovered last Friday that a fellow swimmer from Lawrence is in a band. Lawrence has extremely talented musicians, trained in classical performance and jazz; however, when it comes to contemporary popular music, it’s really not their thing. This friend is a percussionist in Lawrence’s Conservatory of Music and had a link to this new band’s website on his Facebook profile.
The band’s name is the Chairs, and their November EP (available for free on the site) is actually pretty good. Some of the lyrics and vocals are a bit rocky at times, but overall the sound is promising. The sonic texture is solid and I enjoy the harmonies. The key idea is potential. The lyrics will improve with a little editing. The vocals will mature with experience. Overall, I’m impressed -it’s a solid start for a bunch of kids in college.
Coincidentally, they’re playing tonight at The Frequency in Madison. They’re opening up for a band named Athens at 9:00pm. There is a $5 cover and the show is 21+.
P.S. I ran 10 miles yesterday in the snow. The extra slip that the snow gives you at the end of your step really takes it out of your legs. The sunlight didn’t help as much as I though it would, the wind was even worse than Thursday… but I finished at a solid 8ish minute pace. Not too bad considering the snow, hills, and wind.
Filed under: Marathon, Running, madison | Tags: endurance house, fox valley running company, madison, Marathon, nike triax structure 11, Running
This week I have put in 20 miles running since Monday, this is interspersed with some lifting. I’ll phase out the cross-training as it gets more bearable outdoors. Yesterday, I ran 8 miles in the evening when it was 11 degrees and windy, which I didn’t feel till I hit halfway and turned back right into it. My sweat caused ice to form on my hat. Tomorrow I’m going to go for a ten mile run, at least there will be sunlight.
On Tuesday evening, I went for a run with a two co-workers and an Endurance House employee (who happens to be the sister of one of the co-workers). Apparently, every Tuesday night at 6:30pm, there is a run that starts from Endurance House in Green Way Station, Middleton and goes through trails throughout the neighborhood. The paths were pretty and had rivers with large stepping stones that made them crossable – we had a headlamp so we didn’t kill ourselves. We went about 5 miles overall. It was fun and I suggest it.
Endurance House is a sport store that caters to runners, swimmers, bikers… and the combo of the three: triathletes. They also do running analyses where they film you running on a treadmill with your current shoes and then other pairs. They do this to determine how you run and how to correct it if need be. When I went to school at Lawrence, I had this done once at Fox Valley Running Company in Appleton, WI. The store owner, who is a marathon runner himself, told me that I over-pronated heavily on my right leg, but was much better on the left leg. I told him that I previously had good experience with Brooks shoes, but wasn’t as happy with the last pair. He let me run with a few of them (yes go outside and run around) and then gave me the Nike Triax Structure 11s. I put them on, which felt weird at first because of the cushioning, and the way my feet were falling felt right. I got those and have been extremely happy with them since (seen below). I highly recommend Fox Valley Running: the people were extremely helpful, knowledgeable, and friendly. In addition, they offer a competitive price, with the analysis free if you buy a pair of shoes.
If you consider yourself a runner of any sort, I suggest going to one of these stores. It will help you find the right shoe for your running style and even for your mileage. It will definitely also help prevent injury (remember running shoes should fit, not look cool). I haven’t purchased anything from Endurance House yet, but I will post about it when I do.
