johnguinness's Diaryland Diary
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birds and cycling
I'm not really happy with my week. There were some setbacks and discomforts, but I don't feel like dwelling on them, so I'm going to distract you with photos and things, and you'll be so glad to reach the end that you won't have noticed that I didn't talk about me. Hah!
I need an Internet crush to get me through until Summer, and Cara from Biggest Loser pretty much forced herself on me (and all other Twitter followers).. She's relentless at posting pics like this one - she's in the white dress.
I guess that since she's a boxer and personal trainer, she really likes to clean up and look...like that. There are episodes left this season, so she's my pick.
Camelot lost me last night, and no it's not from the lack of cute female nudity. If you've known me for a while, it's obvious that I'm kind of a stickler for realistic sword play. But if you want me to enjoy a movie or TV show, you never, EVER screw around with a sword, especially a legendary one. Spoiler alert for one paragraph if you're gonna watch the show.
Arthur needed a kingly sword, so Merlin went to the famous sword maker who had moved to the woods after his wife died. Merlin said he could describe Arthur, his size and style and things well enough for the guy to make a custom sword, out of the best bit of iron he had. A daughter showed up and made them both a meal. The whole process went from, "Hi, I'm Merlin" to "this is the best sword I've ever made" in about a day, which is just wrong. Anyway, the guy says he wants to give the sword to Arthur himself, but Merlin has a vision that the guy will kill Arthur, who he's never heard of and knows nothing about, but he used to have blood lust years ago. Merlin tries to take it, the guy stops him, and Merlin causes him to be engulfed in flames. The teenage daughter shows up, sees what happened, grabbed the sword, said he'd never have it, and ran off to a boat on the lake. She rowed out a ways. Merlin made the lake start to freeze, and started walking toward the boat. She ended up falling into the lake, holding the sword, and reached it up above the surface as ice formed above her. Merlin grabbed the sword, apparently forgot how to do magic, tried breaking the ice with the sword, and watched her die. He went back, said the sword maker that the instructor had sent him to was dead when he got there, but that he rode past a lake, and there was a mist, and a voice like a Siren called him over, handed him a sword out of the water and said it was for Arthur. Merlin called it Excalibur. BTW, craftsman used to put their mark on things, and a guy who made great swords would have put his mark on the best one he'd ever made, especially since he'd retired years ago. Except that the sword with the special steel was partially made, he just didn't know how to finish it. But if you want me to believe that Excalibur came from two innocent people dying, and a huge lie, I don't like your TV show.
Last week I gave up on Justified. The likable people did bad things, and their on air time was really cut, and I was sat here watching drug dealers and murderers interact, which isn't what I signed up for. Now the Camelot people have married off Guenevere, but she had sex with Arthur on her wedding day, and now he's obsessed with her and doesn't give a damn about the country or his closest supporters. It's all just Merlin's ideals in the background, except Merlin is a murderer and a liar.
Hopefully Game Of Thrones will be better, and someone will post it online.
I missed the owl attack the other day, but when I clicked on the eagle cam this morning, it had snowed. The nest is really high up - if you look at a gray band from the top middle to the right, that's a two lane highway, and it's super windy, so seeing the mother with snow on her back while she kept the babies warm was impressive.
I wasn't watching until after the eagle eggs hatched, but I have another chance coming up starting in twelve or so days. Baby hummingbirds.
Friday was the big day where I could finally watch Contador attack on a mountain finish to win the race. Except he had three flat tires while riding the two mountains, with the last coming two kilometers from the end of a steep climb. He had to wait for the team car while everyone else rode away from him. Today was a Time Trial, and he won that by a second, but he's not winning the overall.
The other big news for the week was Italian police going around searching pro cyclist hotel rooms, getting Biological Passport info about five Russian riders who live and train in Spain, all tied to a banned Doctor Ferrari and possibly an International doping ring. Then a high ranking Italian police guy told AP that Lance had met with the Doctor in Switzerland and Monaco a number of times over the years, including prior to the 2010 Tour de France. They had already come up with a tie from a raid on a Radio Shack rider who was living in Italy - one of Lance's pals who had been dragged in before the grand jury last year. The Italian policeman said that Ferrari had continued to work with 20 or 30 pro cyclists, including Lance, and that the Swiss police had been watching Ferrari. All the police are exchanging info with the American investigation, and working with Interpol and customs. One Italian publication says a storm is about to hit cycling over the next couple of weeks. Fun times.
Sports media are trying to compare the Armstrong case to the Barry Bonds steroid one, saying it's a waste of time. Imagine if Barry Bonds had gotten illegal doping products, some not even in production, in other countries, smuggled them by helicopter or private jet from country to country, got his whole team to use them to help him win, lied about it in lawsuits, including one that earned him seven million dollars, sold equipment on eBay that sponsors gave the team for the players to use and spent the money on doping. Imagine he paid bribes to people to let him know when he and the team would be tested, and to officials to cover things up when he tested positive anyway. That doesn't even cover the drug part of the story, and there's oh so much more he's been accused of.
I decided it was a big time for Contador in terms of racing and his legal case, so I unlocked my twitter. Fifteen minutes later, the Irish journo I used to get along with was following me. People from the Cycling News Forum have followed. I don't follow them back, so don't read anything they might try to say to me, but I'm kind of preparing for battle again. If there's a big story in Spanish or something, I'll put a hashtag on it so that anyone who follows pro cycling can check it out, and maybe write the story in English. I've got a second journalist following me too, so I'm tossing out scraps of other cycling stories to keep them interested for the Contador stuff.
If you actually made it this far, well done. I'll try to get my act in order, but I'm afraid I need Sam-e more than I knew. I've got a bit of cash from my sister for taking care of her plants. I need to decide between paying a utility bill, getting a new air mattress, or using it on something like a cheap pair of walking shoes big enough to wear with socks. Since I finished school, I only wear shoes when I leave the apartment, and walking around barefoot 23/7 for a couple of years while gaining weight encourages the feet to get bigger. It would be good to have a pair that gets me through the first stage of weight loss without sores and blisters and things.
That's sorted. After trying to walk, at this size, in fencing shes with no arch, insole or cushioning, or those Teva water shoes that make my legs hurt as soon as I put them on, that brainwave about new shoes I can wear with socks, right this minute, seemed like an idea whose time has come. I found these bad boys on closeout for half of the hundred smackers retail price. Shipping is free and I'll have them Wednesday morning. They're approved by some podiatrist organization - I haven't seen that before. They won't be perfect, but if they can get me out for half an hour every morning without crippling me or making me gush blood, it's a win.
9:27 p.m. - Saturday, Apr. 16, 2011
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