so...a little on the late side here, but figured I'd post some visual proof of the race from two weekends ago now, courtesy of my own personal paparazzi: Guido Geneseo.
This here is a shot of about the half-way point in the "downtown" of Cape Elizabeth. I love the patriotism of the Cape Fire Department--Go Big or Go Home, right?
And the proof is in the pudding here. And no, that wasn't a 
fat joke. But, I suppose this is proof that even fat guys can run. And run a bit faster than slow, to boot!
All said, this was a great experience. Still a little giddy about how well I did in comparison to my expectations. But getting back into training mode is proving to be a little on the trying side.
Having said that, I'm optimistic (perhaps falsely so) about both the Portland Trails to Ale 10K sponsored by Shipyard at the end of September as well as the 1/2 marathon in Conway at the end of October that I'm still trying to psyche myself up for. (More to come on this point.)
But all things being equal, I feel like I've started to embrace being a runner. 'Course this would've been immensely helpful say, 18 years ago when I was hating track and the long road workouts in the cold and the icy "track" workouts on a makeshift track in the school parking lot. But, I guess better late than never, right?
OK, first off some major thanks are in order. To all the volunteers who made the Beach to Beacon happen today--thank you! You're the best and I'm in absolute awe of your efficiency in moving and cleaning up after over 5,000 human machines! Truly amazing! Special thanks to each and every person that handed me or sprayed me with sweet sweet H2O! Honestly, I never realized how much of a difference water makes while you're running (I never ran any kind of distance race before, so lay off, huh).
Next, to all the spectators who cheered us on--a big fat Thank You! Never realized how much of a boost that simple cheer and that beautiful sideline enthusiasm can make. Really, I felt like I had a can of NOS in my back pocket every time I came into a group of spectators. Thank you for turning out!
To Julie Lake for carting our sweating, stinky hides around--thank you! You're the best and it's been far too long since we've seen you! Glad to have you back in our lives! And to Guido for making the long haul up here to the North-country wilds just to take a picture and slap me five--meant a lot! And I know Becca appreciated talking to you after her accident!
So, by this point, you know that the Beach to Beacon is over, I finished and I had a great time and am exceptionally thankful for all the people along the way. Really, I don't know if all races are like this one, or if B2B is an exception (and I mean that doubly in the sense of "exceptional") but DAMN! what a great event! And for how awesome everyone was, I feel like I need to commit to volunteer in some future year should I be denied entry.
And as long as I'm giving shout outs and mad props, I need to give a mad-dopeness award to my lovely wife for a truly Herculean effort. For anyone who doesn't know the back story on this one, Becca & I registered for this hootenanny together with the intention of training together and of using this race as a motivator to start getting back in shape. Well, as the cosmic whoopie cushion would have it, B got sick not too long ago. With a heaping helping of pneumonia. As in double-barreled. Yup. Both lungsacks. And at the same time, even. Needless to say, that put a little bit of a crimp in her stride. AND...then, after getting past the worst of the lung-buttery goodness, she was exposed to and tested positive for the old oink-oink. Yup. H1N1--the so-called Swine Flu.
So again, Becca has not really been able to train for this race. And then (yeah, as if that wasn't enough, right?), after she decided to walk the course so that she could at least finish, take this as Day 1 to train for another race, etc. her walking partner wound up in the ED last night. So, as we approached the stat line, Becca was resigning herself to having to walk this thing alone. But big thing here was that, in my humble opinion, I thought it took great big sacks of juice to step up and say "the past two months have pretty much sucked from a health point-of view, but eff it--I'm going to finish this thing any way I can." Big-ass awesomeness, right? Made me really proud, anyway, and if the rest of you disagree, you can flip the eff right off.
So, and this I was not there to witness, but Becca linked up with a couple of other gals that were walking the course and they were walking together, making good progress...until...wait for it....the girl walking directly behind my wife, gets run and knocked over by some kid on bike not paying attention. All three girls went down and needed tending to. The girl in front of Becca wound up in the back of an ambulance en route to Maine Med for her injuries. Becca, after getting cleaned up by the paramedics on scene, refuses to go to the medical tent and decides to walk back to the car to wait for us.
After doing the math, we realized, after the fact, that Becca actually completed the full distance of the race, just not all of it on the course. So, the sum up to this part of the race coverage: my wife, still recovering in one lung from pneumonia (yeah, it really takes that long to get over, believe it or not--just ask someone who's had it) and injured still managed to do 6 miles, give or take. In my book that's pretty awesome. And I think it deserved extra-special mention, since if you look at her name on the site, you won't see a completion time since she never crossed the finish line. In my, somewhat humble opinion, she won her own race.
Anyhow, watch for us on the Trail to Ale 10K that we start training for this week. Race is September 29th (I think). We'll be there and running our hindparts off for that beer at the end.
And finally, all that nervousness must have just channeled into my running. In the end, I had a great race, had a lot of fun, and finished in what I think, again in my humble opinion, is a very respectable time, especially for a beginner.
Results: Gun time - 1:20:06
Net time - 1:13:26 (in other words, the time from when I actually crossed the start line)
Pace - 11:49
Which is to say, better than the 12:20 pace I expected based on my last distance run. All in all a good day for a run. ...but next time, I'll remember to actually use the sunscreen...
So...the last post in an otherwise post-lethargic month. Today is the eve of the Beach to Beacon, a road race run in Cape Elizabeth for a distance of 6.2 miles. For the uninitiated to the world of running, this distance is affectionately known as a 10K.
We went and picked up our bibs yesterday and I found that I now have a knot of wet oatmeal-cement-worms that immediately took up residence in that area of the abdomen generally known and referred to as the bread basket.
Now I have to admit, I really don't think I've had nerves this bad since I ran track (badly, I might add) in high school. And, despite the fact that I know this run is against myself more than anyone else (something I could never quite grasp in high school and perhaps one of the many reasons I was so bad at it then), I still find myself in an excessive state of nervousness.
I'm fairly certain that this will pass once I've got past the official starting line and am solidly under way, but for now, I'm doing what I can to keep my (still somewhat sizable) stomach in its proper place. And for now that will have to do. I'll update you all with my official time tomorrow and fill everyone in on the (hopefully not too) gory details.
But until then, you'll have to wait. Or go to the Beach to Beacon site...
...or at least I think I had a high school gym coach that proclaimed some such nonsense. However, I must say, I feel a certain measure tougher since getting stepped on with cleats during last night's match. I feel even tougher having won the fight and come away with the ball.
all of which is to say that I'm not really that tough and need to take what I can get...
All in all a rather disappointing loss to Olympia, but not for lack of a valiant effort and a few scrapes and bumps all the way round. Good game to the T.Doc team and nurse your bruises well...
...and I haven't written or posted anything for you, my faithful readers. Bad blogger! Bad!
On the up side, it's been a fun-filled month and there are pictures aplenty to be showcased. Although not today. I still have to download them all before I can get anything onto the post here. But rest assured, I will have some eye candy for your orbs to feast before long!
Much of what I'll be showing will be shots of the woodsly goodness (as so-named by the inimitable Albie Rock on his self-named blog) and similar. The wife and I have spent no small amount of time out Conway...um...way over the past month and must admit that "the woodsly goodness" though not all-encompassing, is an apt name for the goodness to be found out in the more primordial, less built up areas of this world.
So you can expect some photo documentation of our travels in the coming days. Also being worked on is some graphic goodness. And though I can't promise a date for it to begin, I will be, starting this month, posting some mini-comics and exercises in graphic story telling. I won't promise anything as related to quality as this will largely be an experiment by which to get into practice for the quickly approaching 24-Hour Comics Day, but as I'm planning to post these as experiments, I would greatly appreciate any and all feedback on said comics.
That said, I'll be signing off now to go work on some of those pics and drawings. Keep your eyes peeled and your souls real.
Peace.
cute lil' bugger, ain't it? Yup. That's what I looked like 33 whole years ago today. Check out the super-seventies-tastic couch Mom'n'me are chillin' on there, right? Straight awesomeness!
Considering the straight dopeness of bullheads everywhere, I figured today would be as good a day as any to give a big old trumpeting welcome to the Taurus club to two new little additions to the world.
May 14th saw the arrivals of one Cameron Nicholas Geneseo (my 1st nephew), weighing in at 7lbs, 8oz and 20 inches long and of one Ms. Lula Moren Dockendorf (daughter of a good friend of mine) coming in at a whopping 6lbs & change and 21 inches. WOW! Those are some small-type beings, right!
Well, regardless of size and signature, welcome to the club to both of you; you're in good company!
This is a piece I've been slowly working on and have been pretty happy with the way it's turning. Not much to say about this one really, as it kind of speaks for itself, right? The many-flavored denizens of an idealized summer-city in the sky. And a big ol' balloon in the distance, cuz it just wouldn't be the same without it. This one is pencil on paper, scanned and cleaned up a little in Photoshop. Eventually, this will be transferred to panel for paint...I think...
How'd ya like to find this big galoot on yer doorstep with a candy-gram for your cupleanos? Probably not so much.
But we'll go easy on the poor fella as he's still a bit rough...
In any case, mad birthday wishes go out to our fiendish friend Jamie, my cool cousin Dean and my mad mother. And to anyone else who shares this most dope of birthday days.
And finally, happy National Cartoonist's Day to you all. Yup, that's right. National Cartoonist's Day. Who'd a thunk it. So here's the skinny on that: the first comic strip The Yellow Kid was first published on this day in 18...uh...something, something (I forget the actual date, sorry y'all). So, in appreciation of all cartoonists everywhere, go out and get yourself a comic or pick up a collection of your favorite strips.
Enjoy the day. Live it hard.
So I've been a little dormant on the blog-front through April, but the sketchin's staying active and getting better (at least in my humble opinion). Here's a recent piece from the wire-bound catalog. A guru just this side of the Sand & Surf (if you know Long Sands, you know the break I'm talkin' about and may even recognize the silhouette in the background), chillin' & checkin' out the line up. Waitin' for a set.
So here's another creation from the deep dark pages of my mind-on-paper. In techni-color awesome-ness, no less.
So, awhile back I mentioned that I'd be better about posting up some thoughts and visuals on a more regular-like basis and then, apparently, promptly dropped the proverbial ball, seeing as how it's been over two weeks since I last dropped any science, Gs.
So, here's some raw sh@t straight outta the notebook to give y'all summat to peep.
This is a little strip I did last week to appease the drawing demons gnawing away in my guts. Kind of a -steam-viking-bot hard-style exorcism of those very same worm-demons in pictures.
As this is meant as more of a work-in-progess, expect to see some cleaned-up, techni-colorized goodness yet to come.
So those of you who know me, know that I tend to fight the whole bigger, better, faster, more paradigm of personal technological gadgetry on the grounds that, for the most part I equate it with electronic masturbation. However, I had cause this morning that I absolutley kicked myself in the dirty hind-parts for not having a phoen with a camera in it. And, yup, you guessed it, I'm'a gonna tell y'all why...
Pulling onto Brighton Ave this fine, frigid-@$ first part of the day, I got stuck at the train crossing. Now, normally, I bring the hard-hearted hate when I'm behind the wheel. I mean really, with the sheer number of sh@theads that are allowed to have licenses and feel it necessary to drive at the same time of day that I need to, I feel downright obligated to drive offensively. Straight CARWARS-stylee. For those of you not down with Steve Jackson, that means I drive like MadMax as a matter of course. Why? Cause stupid should hurt and the weak need to be culled from the roads...but more on this later.
The point being, normally when I get stopped at a railroad crossing, it turns into a self-directed maelstrom of hot hate in my car. However, with the self-discovery trip I'm on right now, I chilled, pulled into the left lane and watched the cars go by.
First thing I thought of was Baldy (that's my grandfather, you sickos, getcher minds outta the gutter) and watching the trains out behind the greenhouse when I was a kid. Such a simple thing and yet whe you're a kid, that kind of thing is the hotness. Period.
The next thing I noticed (and here's where I start ot bring it back in. watch...) was that the quality of the graffiti on the cars was far and away better than most of what we see up here in the southern northern reaches and I was seeing the work of several writers recurring. I'm a fan of graffiti, but one of my big pet peeves is the schwag bollocks that passes for writing around these here parts. This stuff was waaay beyond the stuff we normally get around here. It was on the level, yo.
And I really wished I had a camera in the communicator-box or a real-camera to document and capture the images and give props to some pros who truly set me day spinning in the right direction.
So, my apologies to my faithful readers for having failed in being able to share the dopeness, but I guess I'll throw out a little moral, if you'll indulge me: keep your eyes open. You never know where the dopeness will hit you...
Just a quick update to let you all know I'm still think 'bout'cha. Got a couple of pages of sketches I'm working on tidying up for post and hope to have those up by the end of the week.
Saw Watchmen this weekend and I have to give the powers behind it some credit--it wasn't as bad as it could have been. In fact, it really wasn't a bad translation of the book, taken point for point. Casting was pretty good, effects and set design were excellent and the story was faithful, almost to a fault.
So what, then, is it that's got my boxers in a bunch? There have been a couple of things that stuck in my craw--Malin Ackerman as the Silk Spectre II--good job physically casting her, but kind of flat and nowhere near the intensity that Laurie had in the book. A little more gratuitous sex?--sure but didn't really add anything to the movie except it was obviously thrown in for the "I still live in my mom's basement and haven't had a date since the first Bush administration" crowd; somewhat annoying, but expected, sadly. The over-the-top bloodshed?--again, not wholly unexpected, though not entirely horrible, in and of itself.
No, I think what really bothered me about this movie was more subtle. The book was dark. Grim. There's no arguing that. But the book focused more on the senseless violence of society against the individual as opposed to the film's focus on person to person violence. And I think that's where it started to unravel for me.
The next thread that let go was in the fact that in the book, the characters were complicated and developed and entirely human. There was a lot going on from frame to frame and the story was told in such a way that the reader is never allowed to get fully comfortable with any given character. No one in the book is innocent, no one is "the bad guy" or "the good guy". The labels that litter the conventional superhero comic book are turned on end and parodied by Watchmen and used to mirror the horror and beauty of modern life.
And that was my big gripe with the movie. It wasn't so bad, and really as far as translations between media go, it was pretty good. But only as a stand-alone thing. In comparison to the source material, the movie is really nothing more than a thin shadow that, at its best, will serve to pique the audience's interest in reading the book.
And that's all I've got for now...
apologies, mein freunds, but no new artwork this fine, frigid evening. no, I apparently have been far too involved in the small screen of late. and by that, I mean the computer. this beast of a PC dino-puter is taking up much of my precious minutes in the pursuit of mastery over the social network. yes, my friends, I have succumbed to the Facebook and am in what I hope to be the initial addiction phase of membership.
I must admit, the interaction is fascinating to watch. how people find you and find their way to you. how you find your way to them. the level that people are content to leave their "friendships". it is all enthralling. like digital Soma... it makes one wonder, yes?
but back to the makey-makey. as I said, no makey-make tonight, but perhaps I will doodle up another sketch to post up or bring the noise with some pages from my hard-hearted, hoo-doo, heat-holder; my MAIN sketchbook, y'heard.
I must say, that it is strange to see my own work posted up and out there for anyone to see. it's almost motivating. especially when I can look at something that started off as a sketch in my notebook and say "hey, that's not half bad." which is certainly saying SOMETHING, considering how hard-hearted I usually am towards my own work.
so, although I have no art to post up tonight, I promise, O faithful readers and viewers, there will be more ORIGINAL artsy-farsty to follow.
SOON.
and till then, go look at some Dave Gibbons, yo.
The update is small, but I figured a little art-type-peice in the profile might be aproppos. Check it. Not much to go on, but that's just a doodle character that's been haunting my sketchbook for a couple years now. Figured he needed to get out. Watch for the evolution, yo.
Kind of a doodle-demon,
a sketch-imp,
a line-art lich,
creeping the coils that bind my sketches,
stalking the stock pages of my bristol board pad,
haunting the blank pages that my mind pours onto...
the quick-sketch character story in one act, yo.
I've been reading some about the first human cannonball, a fourteen-year-old girl who performed under the name "Zazel." Which got me thinking about the daredevilry of our youth and how that often carries with us into realms that perhaps are best left slower.
For instance: there's a blurb in this month's issue of Wired that interviews a man who is in the process of trying to access and flip the genes in chicken embyos to enact the resurrection of the dinosaurs. Now, we're not talking about Jurassic Park-style monsters roam the earth armageddon style resurrection. I think this is much more innocuos and at the same time more reason to worry.
This doctor is working on research that will allow scientists to access the genetic material of chicken embyos and essentially flip the switch on certain characteristics. Basically, chickens retain the DNA of the dinosaurs. Certain genes are turned on in order to block those traits. The two mentioned are the trait of the long tail and that of fusing three finger/claws into wings. By turning those traits off while still in a formative stage, the result will allow, for instance the long tail and three fingers rather than wings to manifest.
I now have an image of tiny, feathered dinosaurs which frankly scares me. Big dinosaurs are destruction incarnate, agreed. However, if I was a dinosaur, I think I'd be more than a little pissed that I was A) tiny, B) feathered and C) ridiculous looking. I'm sorry but the lifeform they're talking about here sounds like a gremlin covered in featherbed innards. Why? How is this a good idea?
According to the article, the goal here is to allow a gateway byu which to jump to working with spinal regeneration and other life-altering bio-technologies. It is, regretably, largely beyond my grasp, but sure, I can see the benefit in theory. I just wonder if sometimes we experiment a little too freely with our knowledge. What I'm thinking of here is the argument looking at science: "Just because we can doesn't mean we should."
I think it should be noted that the scientist that is doing this work, was a consultant on Jurassic Park. Things that make you go "hmmmm..."
I say "sorta" 'cuz it's still kinda new to me. I know. Really pretty inexcusable seeing as how I work in advertising and design and should be up on this stuff. But hey, it's never too late right?
Checked out a fantastic seminar on social media yesterday at the Portland Harbor Hotel put on by the Maine AdClub and given by Catherine Allen of SHIFT Communications of Brighton/Boston, Mass. A big shout out to Catherine: Thanks for the seminar! Great way to introduce people to this stuff (myself included) and you did a great job of making it interesting to all levels of users, making the media seem practical and getting people excited and engaged.
So, as I start to post a little more regularly and get things out there, I'll beg the forgiveness of my faithful readers (all 1 of you) and am grateful for your patience. I think it may take a little while for me to hit my stride here as far as subject matter, tone and voice. things may be a little bumpy for a bit, though I'll try to get some interesting things going for all.
For anyone who follows: Congrats to the T.Doc Futbol Club! Great win over the Pirates last night, 6-2. Things got a little tense towards the end with some cheap shots and unacceptable aggro behavior from our opponents, but everyone emerged relatively unscathed. Good job everyone!
So, it's Fat Tuesday, which only means tomorrow is Ash Wednesday, which means that I'll get my yearly dose of Catholic guilt for not being Catholic any more. Or at least recognizing myself as one, anyhow. I don't think I actually believe that anyone gets to stop being Catholic. It's kind of like alcoholism that way. You never get to be not an alcoholic, you just get to be a recovering alcoholic. Kinda the same. Anyone in the same boat gets this. And like the song goes: if you have to ask...
Anyhow, getting ready to head out to head home and get me some good ol' fashioned ghetto-style tacos in my belly-hole. Take the furry-beastlies for a nice long walk on the prom and admire the cold and white. As much as people (myself included here) bitch about the winter, this is really one of my favorite times of year and truly reminds me of how much I love living in Maine. I mean, really, if you can't appreciate the cold bite on your cheeks and the big-@$$ snowflakes in your eyes during a storm, well, then, you just don't deserve to live here. You should go someplace warmer and, likely, much more polluted and sucky.
So there....
Awfully bummed about cancelled plans this weekend at the Ninja-domo, but am refreshed that we'll see the other ninja-folk in the warmer parts of the Spring. I guess that is the traditional time for all us winter-hermits to emerge bleary-eyed from our hidey-holes, right?
I think we can all see this is going nowhere fast, so I'll keep the damage to a minimum:
Your mission today: find me a jellyfish recipe. No, really. I was flipping through the Food Lover's Companion this AM and came across an entry for jellyfish as an honest-to-God foodstuff. So I'm curious. So go forth and find me yon elusive jellyfish recipe. Do this immediately.
fat joke. But, I suppose this is proof that even fat guys can run. And run a bit faster than slow, to boot!
