olympic cyclists herald a new beginning
There is real opportunity to be had in the next couple of weeks. One that could have profound effects on the future of the planet. Olympians wearing masks. If a large percentage of Olympian were to wear masks, not due to political posturing, but instead out of necessary because air pollution in Beijing is so bad, then the world would quickly begin to understand just how dire the planetary predicament has become.
Dangerous air pollution in most major cities is real. The threats of over-population are real. Massive ecosystem threats and potential collapse of major ecosystems (such as the oceans) are real. Global climate disruption is real. And no matter of apology, or cloud-seeding, or jingoist 7-ringed fervor, or advertisements for sports gear will cause it to dissipate.
But athletes wearing masks to protect themselves can quickly spread a different message to every nation that something needs to be done. Quickly. And something can still be done. While Obama has been moving to the center as quickly as McGruff seems to be embracing senility, he did offer something this week in his energy address that could signify a real and lasting change. Energy independence in 10 years.
Think of that! The geopolitical implications alone are staggering. The ability to address socio-economic problems, not only at home, but also abroad, would again be possible. Grab a mask and tune in to the opening ceremony. We still have a chance to shake our political leaders into sensibility.
Image: Yves Herman, Reuters.
mcgruff to bush: you suck! big time!
Hey things are getting nutty again. Know what they say, It ain't the heat, it's the stupidity.
We got our phone line fixed. Again. Another short in the wire. And we didn't have to be here. They called and said we're coming. They called and said it's fixed. And it was. This time the short was in the drop line from the pole to the house line. Kinda makes you wonder how many other shorts there are in the phone lines. No wonder everyone uses a cell these days.
McGruff the Crime Dog has admitted that perhaps the country isn't better off after 8 years of Dick "the Dick" Cheney and his lap dog, George Bush. Damn that must really piss off El Presidento to know that no one likes him and wishes him to go away. He should consider himself lucky because although McGruff may growl at him, the rest of us would prefer that he be impeached. Come on. Still time. 6 more months of this jackass. Let's do him out right.
But at least they solved the 7-year-old anthrax-in-the-mail case! Hate to break it to the FBI but folks are going to just laugh out loud when they hear that part of the government's case is based on the notion that the 62-year old Ivins was obsessed with sorority girls. Come on! I bet half those FBI wankers have the whole set of Kappa Kappa Gamma Girls Gone Wild videos. Oh, and then there's that book that came out today suggesting that in 2001, CIA chief George Tenet was instructed by either Bush or Cheney to fabricate a letter linking Sadam Hussein weaponized anthrax so we could start our bogus war. Damn. Where are the Ghostbusters at a time like this?
We voted this evening during our state primary. They had one of the new-fangled touch screen machines so we decided to give it a whirl. The rest of the machines are the fill-in-the-circles scanning machines. The touch screen machines were DEBOLD brand. The first thing that happened was once I started to vote I realized that the election judge had loaded the wrong party ballot so I had to ask her to change it. Turned out it wasn't possible to cancel the ballot, she had to go through the process and cast a blank ballot. She had to do this in order to get the card back which the election judge has to place inside the machine every time a new person votes. When I asked, well wait a minute, won't you be casting a vote under my name/number that will be blank and then if I try to vote again using the proper ballot, won't it reject me as having already voted?
No she said, there's nothing to tie your vote to the machine. Really? Sounds like a problem to me.
But once I got the new ballot loaded, it was quite easy to use and at the end of the process it gives you a summary and highlights any blank spots you have left. So you get a visual summary of how you voted before you hit PRINT and can make any needed changes.
PRINT is not the same as VOTE. PRINT makes a little printout of your ballot and you can see it scroll past you in a tiny little window, but you don't get a copy of it. You can read it and see if it matches with what you selected. After PRINT, you have to press CAST to actually have your vote recorded. I can see this being a problem during the general election for many, many voters.
All I can say about the general election is get your hands on one of those little programming cards and then go to the polls and VOTE EARLY and VOTE OFTEN. We haven't had the opportunity to do that in a long time.
Just don't vote for any knuckleheads.
We got our phone line fixed. Again. Another short in the wire. And we didn't have to be here. They called and said we're coming. They called and said it's fixed. And it was. This time the short was in the drop line from the pole to the house line. Kinda makes you wonder how many other shorts there are in the phone lines. No wonder everyone uses a cell these days.
McGruff the Crime Dog has admitted that perhaps the country isn't better off after 8 years of Dick "the Dick" Cheney and his lap dog, George Bush. Damn that must really piss off El Presidento to know that no one likes him and wishes him to go away. He should consider himself lucky because although McGruff may growl at him, the rest of us would prefer that he be impeached. Come on. Still time. 6 more months of this jackass. Let's do him out right.
But at least they solved the 7-year-old anthrax-in-the-mail case! Hate to break it to the FBI but folks are going to just laugh out loud when they hear that part of the government's case is based on the notion that the 62-year old Ivins was obsessed with sorority girls. Come on! I bet half those FBI wankers have the whole set of Kappa Kappa Gamma Girls Gone Wild videos. Oh, and then there's that book that came out today suggesting that in 2001, CIA chief George Tenet was instructed by either Bush or Cheney to fabricate a letter linking Sadam Hussein weaponized anthrax so we could start our bogus war. Damn. Where are the Ghostbusters at a time like this?
We voted this evening during our state primary. They had one of the new-fangled touch screen machines so we decided to give it a whirl. The rest of the machines are the fill-in-the-circles scanning machines. The touch screen machines were DEBOLD brand. The first thing that happened was once I started to vote I realized that the election judge had loaded the wrong party ballot so I had to ask her to change it. Turned out it wasn't possible to cancel the ballot, she had to go through the process and cast a blank ballot. She had to do this in order to get the card back which the election judge has to place inside the machine every time a new person votes. When I asked, well wait a minute, won't you be casting a vote under my name/number that will be blank and then if I try to vote again using the proper ballot, won't it reject me as having already voted?
No she said, there's nothing to tie your vote to the machine. Really? Sounds like a problem to me.
But once I got the new ballot loaded, it was quite easy to use and at the end of the process it gives you a summary and highlights any blank spots you have left. So you get a visual summary of how you voted before you hit PRINT and can make any needed changes.
PRINT is not the same as VOTE. PRINT makes a little printout of your ballot and you can see it scroll past you in a tiny little window, but you don't get a copy of it. You can read it and see if it matches with what you selected. After PRINT, you have to press CAST to actually have your vote recorded. I can see this being a problem during the general election for many, many voters.
All I can say about the general election is get your hands on one of those little programming cards and then go to the polls and VOTE EARLY and VOTE OFTEN. We haven't had the opportunity to do that in a long time.
Just don't vote for any knuckleheads.
cingular floods
A weird thing. For the second time in a few short months our land line has gone kaput. Nothing. No dial tone. No phone, except the wireless, but more importantly No DSL. NADA. Same symptoms as before. A growing amount of static on the line, jumpy, disconnected/disconnecting Internet service and then -- line dead. This means more dreaded calls to the black hole of Cingular customer service, but we think we may have learned our lesson about taking the day off from work. Probably not needed since the issue is somewhere besides the line to my house. We were thinking that the previous problem may have had something to do with water levels, but when the repairman showed me the two splices in the line, and after he replaced the line and the phone worked like a dream, well now we're not so sure.
What does that mean for you, dear reader? Well, visual aides are a problem since we're forceed to type things out on our one laptop per child notebook which means that we type like a second-grader. Typing is slow. Research is slow. Posts are going to take a backseat for awhile until we get things restored or until the government says, "don't worry, everythings back to normal!"
What does that mean for you, dear reader? Well, visual aides are a problem since we're forceed to type things out on our one laptop per child notebook which means that we type like a second-grader. Typing is slow. Research is slow. Posts are going to take a backseat for awhile until we get things restored or until the government says, "don't worry, everythings back to normal!"
star trek boogers
Before you convict the recently deceased Bruce Ivins of the anthrax mailings you might want to consider a few things. Homeland, the Dept. of Justice, and the news media (yes, even the illustrious NY times) really mucked up this investigation from the beginning. So much so that DOJ had to pay the first "he's-our-man" 5.6 million dollars in defamation reparations. A similar suit against the NY Times was dismissed at the request of the plaintiff. I guess 5.6 M and a front-page retraction from the Times was enough.
Now that Ivins is dead, he'll never be charged and we may never know who sent the letters that killed 5 people. Although Ivins is certainly one person who could have done it because he had access to the material and he may have had a motive - to foment fear about anthrax in order to get research money for his lab. He may have had a history of depression and mental illness, but remember, we've only heard from one therapist. His friends and co-workers stress that he's not the guy but some family members aren't sad that's he's dead. Who knows, but compelling evidence from this administration should always be taken with a grain of salt. Don't however lick the envelope unless you're certain it didn't come from the Ft. Detrick Bioweapons Reasearch Facility.
Count on a nice tidy summary of the case to be filtered to the media in the next week. Remember, they solved this case once before. Mistakes can be made.
Such is the case for Scotty's ashes (James Doohan) which were to be sent into space last night, except the rocket, a Falcon 1, blew up in low orbit, beaming Scotty down, rather than up. Think about the next generation this week when you're blowing your nose.
Aye Captain!
Now that Ivins is dead, he'll never be charged and we may never know who sent the letters that killed 5 people. Although Ivins is certainly one person who could have done it because he had access to the material and he may have had a motive - to foment fear about anthrax in order to get research money for his lab. He may have had a history of depression and mental illness, but remember, we've only heard from one therapist. His friends and co-workers stress that he's not the guy but some family members aren't sad that's he's dead. Who knows, but compelling evidence from this administration should always be taken with a grain of salt. Don't however lick the envelope unless you're certain it didn't come from the Ft. Detrick Bioweapons Reasearch Facility.
Count on a nice tidy summary of the case to be filtered to the media in the next week. Remember, they solved this case once before. Mistakes can be made.
Such is the case for Scotty's ashes (James Doohan) which were to be sent into space last night, except the rocket, a Falcon 1, blew up in low orbit, beaming Scotty down, rather than up. Think about the next generation this week when you're blowing your nose.
Aye Captain!
month of summer
It's finally gotten hot. As in heat warning hot. Essentially, by around 2 o'clock in the afternoon, it's so freakin' hot outside you feel like you're walking into an oven. People routinely say to one another when it gets like this, "hot enough for you?" as if it's possible not to notice the combination of humidity and heat. A good reply, if you're not feeling especially conversational, (the heat tends to make me introspective is), "naw, not really, I'm planning on going to hell,so this is fine preparation. I'm headed to the kitchen right now to dry peppers, can tomatoes, and bake an eggplant casserole. Then there's the wood that needs choppin'. the fencepost holes that need to be dug, and the poison ivy pulled. My afternoon's spoken for. How about you?"
So give it up. It's like complaining about the rain. Without the rain and the heat you wouldn't have watermelons. Or cantaloupes. And these, along with ice cream, make August just another month of summer.
So give it up. It's like complaining about the rain. Without the rain and the heat you wouldn't have watermelons. Or cantaloupes. And these, along with ice cream, make August just another month of summer.
let's play the race card
No more old geezer white guys in the white house who are afraid of being progressive. No more white males who have to warmonger to prove their manhood. No more honkys who think being American revolves around drinking water-downed beer, listening to bad country music that lacks heart, soul, and honesty, or who think it's more presidential to watch sports on tv than read history, literature, or a graphic novel. No more white dudes who's idea of a graphic novel is 4500 body bags hidden from the eyes of America. No more pasty idiots who try to convince you that being a patriot revolves around wearing a lapel pin and praying to their god but can't see the injustice that lurks on most American street corners, in many classrooms across this country, and in the boardrooms full of corporate malfeasance.
That pretty much leaves out the Republicans in this year's elections. You are now free to vote for the candidate of your choosing.
That pretty much leaves out the Republicans in this year's elections. You are now free to vote for the candidate of your choosing.
a foot soldier for senility
McGruff the Crime Dog has been airing new attack ads, containing many untruths but what caught our attention was the notion that having a popular U.S. President isn't a good idea. I suppose McGruff prefers the idiot we currently have in office, whom almost no one in the world likes, or trusts. Perhaps McGruff, if he's elected President, plans to carry on the recent Republican tradition of senile, not-so-bright warmongering idiocy. He does like to refer to himself as a one-time foot soldier in the Reagan revolution. Boorah! Let's get stupid and start another war.
bush fails obama's final exam
Recently a number of Obama's class notes from his days teaching Harvard Law School have been released. No doubt some members of the right, who haven't read a book in a decade, will try to find some information in the course syllabus and Obama's notes to his students to try and convince others that Barack is a gay communist Muslim. These would be the same right-wingers who lack the intellectual capacity to understand why it's not possible to be gay and communist and a Muslim, but really, I'm giving the Limbaughites way too much credit.
But imagine, just for a moment if you will, if we had a President - right now! right this very moment!- in the Oval Office who had actually attended classes during college, much less had the intellectual prowess to teach a subject? Imagine that.
Perhaps the train wreck could have been avoided? We still have time to impeach the idiot.
But imagine, just for a moment if you will, if we had a President - right now! right this very moment!- in the Oval Office who had actually attended classes during college, much less had the intellectual prowess to teach a subject? Imagine that.
Perhaps the train wreck could have been avoided? We still have time to impeach the idiot.
more law-breaking from the administration that doesn't care
Alberto Gonzales (remember him? the former Attorney General, the person who is supposed to have the highest regard for the law of the land) and his aides repeatedly broke the law by testing prospective judges with how they stood on “god, guns + gays.”
The activist judges the Republicans so love to discount are exactly what they want in office. As long as they love god and guns and hate gays.
The July 28th edition of the NYTimes reports on a technique developed by Justice Department attorney Monica Goodling called “The Thorough Process of Investigation” whereby the names of candidates for Federal court positions were jointly googled along with words such as abortion, homosexual, Florida recount, or guns.
Bush is going to busy with the pardons in his last days in office.
The activist judges the Republicans so love to discount are exactly what they want in office. As long as they love god and guns and hate gays.
The July 28th edition of the NYTimes reports on a technique developed by Justice Department attorney Monica Goodling called “The Thorough Process of Investigation” whereby the names of candidates for Federal court positions were jointly googled along with words such as abortion, homosexual, Florida recount, or guns.
In forwarding a résumé in 2006 from a lawyer who was working for the Federalist Society, Ms. Goodling sent an e-mail message to the head of the Office of Legal Counsel, Steven Bradbury, saying: “Am attaching a résumé for a young, conservative female lawyer.” Ms. Goodling interviewed the woman and wrote in her notes such phrases as “pro-God in public life,” and “pro-marriage, anti-civil union.” The woman was eventually hired as a career prosecutor.
Bush is going to busy with the pardons in his last days in office.
mcgruff plans european tour
McGruff the Crime Dog, here accompanied by his driver, Wooster the Welsh Terrier, chagrined by the huge crowds that Obama drew in Munich and Paris, is reported to be planning his own European tour. To emphasis his tough stance on high gas prices (about 1.5 times in Europe than in the US), McGruff plans to tour European capitals in a golf cart. It's an idea he claims to have gotten from another old geezer completely out-of-touch with reality. 
Said McGruff, "It's like that glass coffin His Holiness rides around in, except mine comes with it's own personal ball washer!" Europeans are expected to to lay down their arms and welcome the dogs with shock and awe.
more spainiards
Spaniards. Everywhere. Even on the Champs Elysee. It's 3 times in a row in Le Tour for the Spanish.
2006 - Óscar Pereiro.
2007 - Alberto Contador.
2008 - Carlos Sastre.
Pereiro , who backed into the '06 title after Flance was exposed as a Big Dope, crashed out of this years tour after a 15 meters drop from one side of a hairpin curve to the other on a mountain descent. Result. Broken collarbone, fractured femur.
At least in '07 and '08 the winners were supported by the best teams. Discovery Channel's swan song in '07 and this year CSC drove the train through the Alps and no one could come close to staying with them. Cadel Evans, the great-white-hope-from-down-under couldn't do it in the final race-of-truth, the Saturday 53 km time trial before the run in to Paris. That leavess Carlos Sastre to stand atop the podium come Sunday in Paris and he did so in his last great chance to win what is still the greatest cycling event in the world. Forget what the American naysayers say about problems with doping, the dopers are losing their footing and nothing else even comes close to this event unless you have to be a football fan. And I'm not talking about the American version.
Two American teams, both in their first Grand Tour event, had impressive showings. Team Columbia (formerly High Road, as in take-the-high-road) and Team Garmin (formerly Slipstream Chilpolte) were impressive. Columbia threw up 5 stage wins, four on the back of the world's best sprinter, Mark Cavendish (Brit) who then left to prepare an assault on the Olympics and one by Marcus Burghardt (Ger).
Team Garmin had the American Christian vande Velde finish 5th in the General Classification, not bad considering that he had almost no support from his teammates in the mountains and that his teammates with the most Grand Tour eperience, David Millar, didn't perform to expectations after the 2nd week.
Next years tour to be wide open as more and more dopers retire, or are forced from the sport. This leaves teams with progessive training programs and an emphasis on clean racing, like Columbia and Garmin, in a good position to make an even bigger mark next year. Of course, they'll still have to contend with the Spainards. And next year, Contador will be riding again.
image: Carlos Sastre by Pascal Pavani, Agence Frace-Presse
mr340 river race update no.18
mr340 river race update no.18
OK, we'd be remiss if we didn't send shouts out to those who helped us this year. Sarah Star, who worried like a parent worries about their children, and who along with the other Sarah, fetched our car from Kaw Point and had the brilliant idea to have it detailed of 1 years worth of river mud and Rare West Tibetan Dog hair. Awesome idea.
Wendy Sangster, Bonnie Chasteen, and Jim Low, all of the Missouri Department of Conservation who served as Warrior Ant Press field operatives and brought us needed supplies. Garry Manhart who met me @ midnight @ the Washington boat ramp with the last of my supplies and found the only spot around the boat ramp by which to land a kayak in the dark. River Relief West Coast Coordinator Vicki and her pal Susie who made me a cup of french press by the fire at Weldon Springs and told me to shut up and "get back to nature, you only have 3 more hours to go" when all I wanted was a biscuit. Joan G. Friend who drove me to the car rental shop at Lambert International and roasted a leg ó lamb extraordinaire to bring us back into the fold of civilization and the daunting task of running the WorldWide Anthill Headquarters. To the nurse @ Glasgow who taught me that duct tape works wonders on foot blisters and to the unnamed support person (paddlefast, live slow) who gave me packs of ice @ Mokane Access and Herman that finally allowed me to get some much needed sleep.
Hurrah! See you next year on the muddy mo unless we're lucky enough to visit on a river near you.
View a sideshow of all the images from the 2008 Missouri River 340 as well as images from the 2007 and 2006 events @:
warrior ant press mr340 slide show
breathe.paddle.sing. the 2007 mr340
2006 mr340 race journal
OK, we'd be remiss if we didn't send shouts out to those who helped us this year. Sarah Star, who worried like a parent worries about their children, and who along with the other Sarah, fetched our car from Kaw Point and had the brilliant idea to have it detailed of 1 years worth of river mud and Rare West Tibetan Dog hair. Awesome idea.
Wendy Sangster, Bonnie Chasteen, and Jim Low, all of the Missouri Department of Conservation who served as Warrior Ant Press field operatives and brought us needed supplies. Garry Manhart who met me @ midnight @ the Washington boat ramp with the last of my supplies and found the only spot around the boat ramp by which to land a kayak in the dark. River Relief West Coast Coordinator Vicki and her pal Susie who made me a cup of french press by the fire at Weldon Springs and told me to shut up and "get back to nature, you only have 3 more hours to go" when all I wanted was a biscuit. Joan G. Friend who drove me to the car rental shop at Lambert International and roasted a leg ó lamb extraordinaire to bring us back into the fold of civilization and the daunting task of running the WorldWide Anthill Headquarters. To the nurse @ Glasgow who taught me that duct tape works wonders on foot blisters and to the unnamed support person (paddlefast, live slow) who gave me packs of ice @ Mokane Access and Herman that finally allowed me to get some much needed sleep.Hurrah! See you next year on the muddy mo unless we're lucky enough to visit on a river near you.
View a sideshow of all the images from the 2008 Missouri River 340 as well as images from the 2007 and 2006 events @:
warrior ant press mr340 slide show
breathe.paddle.sing. the 2007 mr340
2006 mr340 race journal
mr340 river race update no. 17
mr340 rivermiles update no. 17
Some of the peeps in and around this year's event.
The last two finishers were in a beautiful boat they'd built themselves and were still learning how to pilot it when the race begin.
Two of my favorite rivermiles smiley faces, Travis and Karin. Travis saw me after my 'swim in the river" and had the decency not to laugh out loud.
scott rivermiles, The master of ceremony.
Some of the peeps in and around this year's event.
The last two finishers were in a beautiful boat they'd built themselves and were still learning how to pilot it when the race begin.
Two of my favorite rivermiles smiley faces, Travis and Karin. Travis saw me after my 'swim in the river" and had the decency not to laugh out loud.
scott rivermiles, The master of ceremony.
mr340 river race update no. 16
mr340 river race update no. 16-team division
We're not going to try and dissect the team division because they flew off the front so fast we barely had time to see the windmill flash of paddles. Let's just say that according to one member of the winning boat, it's better to have 6 captains, than one. Everyone's in charge and no one is. Puking. Part of the game. We'll cover for you for a while but get it together because it's going to look real bad if that surfer dude in a solo boat beats us.
I guess the passengers on these boats, which are traveling at almost 10 miles an hour, have time to enjoy the scenery and the moonrises during the race, I don't see how they can't. 'There's not much else out there to distract you from them. One of the more interesting teams in this year's race, team Z, was a mixed team tandem with 2 men and 2 women. Competeting against teams of 6 men, they had little chance, but they did finish 10th overall in a time of 51 hrs and 24 min.
Moon set on day 1, downstream of Miami. This race is always held during the full moon of either late July or early August. Once the moon sets, it's pretty dark out. You can still see the water, but if you hear growling ahead, better drop the paddles and make sure you're on the right side of the river lest you find yourself unexpectedly testing your whitewater skills in the dead of the night.
And here's the moon rise on day 3 near the approach to Berger Bend. This was definitely one of the more scenic parts of the river. The "growlers" (as Bryan Hopkins likes to call them) could be heard for several miles above the bend. The river gradient steepens through here and there's easily a mile or so of either natural riffles or man-made rock and wing dikes that line river right. They were partly submerged and it sounded like Niagara Falls on the approach. River left is a meander cut-off with a large (several square miles) copse of trees. There was enough drift from the recent floods crammed against the front of this copse to power every wood stove in the Ozarks through the winter.
We're not going to try and dissect the team division because they flew off the front so fast we barely had time to see the windmill flash of paddles. Let's just say that according to one member of the winning boat, it's better to have 6 captains, than one. Everyone's in charge and no one is. Puking. Part of the game. We'll cover for you for a while but get it together because it's going to look real bad if that surfer dude in a solo boat beats us.
I guess the passengers on these boats, which are traveling at almost 10 miles an hour, have time to enjoy the scenery and the moonrises during the race, I don't see how they can't. 'There's not much else out there to distract you from them. One of the more interesting teams in this year's race, team Z, was a mixed team tandem with 2 men and 2 women. Competeting against teams of 6 men, they had little chance, but they did finish 10th overall in a time of 51 hrs and 24 min.
Moon set on day 1, downstream of Miami. This race is always held during the full moon of either late July or early August. Once the moon sets, it's pretty dark out. You can still see the water, but if you hear growling ahead, better drop the paddles and make sure you're on the right side of the river lest you find yourself unexpectedly testing your whitewater skills in the dead of the night.
And here's the moon rise on day 3 near the approach to Berger Bend. This was definitely one of the more scenic parts of the river. The "growlers" (as Bryan Hopkins likes to call them) could be heard for several miles above the bend. The river gradient steepens through here and there's easily a mile or so of either natural riffles or man-made rock and wing dikes that line river right. They were partly submerged and it sounded like Niagara Falls on the approach. River left is a meander cut-off with a large (several square miles) copse of trees. There was enough drift from the recent floods crammed against the front of this copse to power every wood stove in the Ozarks through the winter.
mr340 river race update no.15
mr340 river race update no.15
Mixed tandem and cutest couple (?) winners Jana Shannon (Durham, NC) and Mike Massey (Bellingham, WA) of Immersing Ourselves. They came from opposite coasts, had no expectations of placing, got to the first checkpoint in the lead and never looked back. They seemed to be more relaxed than most folks I met, although I only saw them at the start and finish, so who knows the demons they had to conquer on the water. They certainly seemed to be enjoying themselves and not taking things too seriously, but yet had the quiet resolve of someone who knits their own rugby socks. Winning? Oh that was an unexpected surprise.
Men's tandem winners, "Cattledrive" If you see 2 Texicans in your rear view mirror in this race, move river right and yield. That cracking you hear, it's not your ribs, it's a bullwhip. Move along, get 'em up. In rain and wind and weather keep them dogies rollin'.
Women's tandem winners Tabatha Adkins (Gower, MO) and Chris Jump (Lawrence, KS) of RED2[squared]. Notice the dazed look of sleep deprivation. This will disappear in about 12 hours; the hair color won't.
Mixed tandem and cutest couple (?) winners Jana Shannon (Durham, NC) and Mike Massey (Bellingham, WA) of Immersing Ourselves. They came from opposite coasts, had no expectations of placing, got to the first checkpoint in the lead and never looked back. They seemed to be more relaxed than most folks I met, although I only saw them at the start and finish, so who knows the demons they had to conquer on the water. They certainly seemed to be enjoying themselves and not taking things too seriously, but yet had the quiet resolve of someone who knits their own rugby socks. Winning? Oh that was an unexpected surprise.
Men's tandem winners, "Cattledrive" If you see 2 Texicans in your rear view mirror in this race, move river right and yield. That cracking you hear, it's not your ribs, it's a bullwhip. Move along, get 'em up. In rain and wind and weather keep them dogies rollin'.
Women's tandem winners Tabatha Adkins (Gower, MO) and Chris Jump (Lawrence, KS) of RED2[squared]. Notice the dazed look of sleep deprivation. This will disappear in about 12 hours; the hair color won't.
mr340 river race update no.14
mr340 river race update no.14 - warrior ant press women's solo division.
The winners of the 2008 MR340 Warrior Ant Press Women's Solo Division were:
1st Place. Katie Pfefferkorn. 50 hours.
2nd Place. Erin Magee. Texas, 57 hours 11 min.
3rd Place. Hillary Kelly, Leavenworth, Kansas. 69 hours 2 min.
The race for 1st place was pretty close, closer than the time difference might indicate. Erin Magee lead by as much as 1.5 hours for the first 200 miles of this race, from Kansas City to Cooper's Landing. Something happened in the 26.5 miles between Coopers Landing and Jefferson City to turn the race around. I don't know exactly what that was, but if we find out, we'll post an update. Could have been that Erin just pushed too hard for the first 200 miles and couldn't hold the pace (unlikely) or got over-heated (more likely), don't really know. Katie typically runs a very patient and controlled race and it's not uncommon for her to pass you about 2 miles into the race as she tends to take it easy at the start, find her pace, and then just hold it for a really, really long time. In this case, for two straight days. When she goes by you, she appears to be paddling effortlessly and at this point, you'd better look close because you won't see each other until the end.
I typically find the stretch between Coopers Landing and Jeff City very difficult a couple of reasons. Foremost, it's the 2nd night and the sleep deprivation is really starting to kick in. Secondly, the winds are more often than not, southerly which means you're going into a headwind. Although the winds usually tail off at night, sometimes you can get that stiff summer breeze which feels great, unless you're exhausted and paddling against it. This year I just happened to paddle this section with Hillary Kelly, the 3rd place finisher. About 3/4's from Cooper's Landing to Jeff City (around 4 am) in the morning, we were both so exhausted we couldn't keep from nodding off in the boat. The head snap is what brings you back and when it does, it's kinda scary. Apparently, this head snap is some kind of hormonal release that causes your head to snap back. When this happens in the boat your first thought is you're going to fall in the river and after about 20 times it happens over the course of a half-an-hour about all you can think about is, I'm going to die if I don't get off this river and get some sleep. The last morning I actually fell asleep while trying to paddle. Hillary told me the same thing happened to her. Guess the body isn't just prepared to do 3 straight days of no sleep.
All of these women beat me to the finish line which really isn't surprising because they're very fine athletes and very tough. You may think you're tough, but there's always someone tougher than you on the river. Hillary, who was once one of the few and the proud, also spent a year on square-rigged sailing ship. Not only is she a better paddler than I am, she's also a better sailor.
Photo of Erin Magee by Carter Johnson.
The winners of the 2008 MR340 Warrior Ant Press Women's Solo Division were:
1st Place. Katie Pfefferkorn. 50 hours.
2nd Place. Erin Magee. Texas, 57 hours 11 min.
3rd Place. Hillary Kelly, Leavenworth, Kansas. 69 hours 2 min.
The race for 1st place was pretty close, closer than the time difference might indicate. Erin Magee lead by as much as 1.5 hours for the first 200 miles of this race, from Kansas City to Cooper's Landing. Something happened in the 26.5 miles between Coopers Landing and Jefferson City to turn the race around. I don't know exactly what that was, but if we find out, we'll post an update. Could have been that Erin just pushed too hard for the first 200 miles and couldn't hold the pace (unlikely) or got over-heated (more likely), don't really know. Katie typically runs a very patient and controlled race and it's not uncommon for her to pass you about 2 miles into the race as she tends to take it easy at the start, find her pace, and then just hold it for a really, really long time. In this case, for two straight days. When she goes by you, she appears to be paddling effortlessly and at this point, you'd better look close because you won't see each other until the end.
I typically find the stretch between Coopers Landing and Jeff City very difficult a couple of reasons. Foremost, it's the 2nd night and the sleep deprivation is really starting to kick in. Secondly, the winds are more often than not, southerly which means you're going into a headwind. Although the winds usually tail off at night, sometimes you can get that stiff summer breeze which feels great, unless you're exhausted and paddling against it. This year I just happened to paddle this section with Hillary Kelly, the 3rd place finisher. About 3/4's from Cooper's Landing to Jeff City (around 4 am) in the morning, we were both so exhausted we couldn't keep from nodding off in the boat. The head snap is what brings you back and when it does, it's kinda scary. Apparently, this head snap is some kind of hormonal release that causes your head to snap back. When this happens in the boat your first thought is you're going to fall in the river and after about 20 times it happens over the course of a half-an-hour about all you can think about is, I'm going to die if I don't get off this river and get some sleep. The last morning I actually fell asleep while trying to paddle. Hillary told me the same thing happened to her. Guess the body isn't just prepared to do 3 straight days of no sleep.
All of these women beat me to the finish line which really isn't surprising because they're very fine athletes and very tough. You may think you're tough, but there's always someone tougher than you on the river. Hillary, who was once one of the few and the proud, also spent a year on square-rigged sailing ship. Not only is she a better paddler than I am, she's also a better sailor.
Photo of Erin Magee by Carter Johnson.
mr340 river race update no. 13
mr340 river race update no. 13 men's solo division
Some of the participants in the men's solo division.
Carter Johnson, who now holds the course record in all of the major ultra-marathon canoe races (MR340, Texas Water Safari, Everglades Challenge, and Yukon quest) at the start of this year's race. Johnson shattered the previous record by 10 hours, paddling the 340 miles in 37 hours 46 minutes. He was beaten only by a 6-person tandem boat full of Texans, all of whom have their own heavy-duty, ultra-marathon credentials, and they only beat him by an hour and a half. Johnson was racing in a Huki surf-ski an evil reflective-tape grin that just screams "you're annihilation is about to begin."
3rd place finisher Chuck McHenry finished in 2 days. McHenry's never met a river he couldn't paddle upstream on. If this race was 340 miles of whitewater, he'd be the favorite every time.
Big Tiny, racing in his first ultra-marathon finished in a respectable 76.5 hours.
Joe Mann, in just his second year of kayaking finished 4th. Joe expects to move to Texas, train with the Insance Clown Posse down there, and return home next year with some even more serious intentions.
Left to right. John Mann, field captain for Joe "the dark horse paddler" Mann, Black Coffee, and Uncle A Dog. In the world of "what's the craziest thing you've ever done" these dudes have one upped everybody. Coffee and A Dog paddled the mr340 in their home-made kayaks in 2.5 days with their dissembled bikes strapped to back and a home-made trailer stowed in the hatch. Less than 12-hours later, they were preparing to return to Kansas City via the Katy Trail pulling their kayaks behind themselves. Purportedly, they had a logical reason for doing this but I don't recall exactly what it was. I think it might have been, "we'll we've never done that -- yet."
Some of the participants in the men's solo division.
Carter Johnson, who now holds the course record in all of the major ultra-marathon canoe races (MR340, Texas Water Safari, Everglades Challenge, and Yukon quest) at the start of this year's race. Johnson shattered the previous record by 10 hours, paddling the 340 miles in 37 hours 46 minutes. He was beaten only by a 6-person tandem boat full of Texans, all of whom have their own heavy-duty, ultra-marathon credentials, and they only beat him by an hour and a half. Johnson was racing in a Huki surf-ski an evil reflective-tape grin that just screams "you're annihilation is about to begin."
3rd place finisher Chuck McHenry finished in 2 days. McHenry's never met a river he couldn't paddle upstream on. If this race was 340 miles of whitewater, he'd be the favorite every time.
Big Tiny, racing in his first ultra-marathon finished in a respectable 76.5 hours.
Joe Mann, in just his second year of kayaking finished 4th. Joe expects to move to Texas, train with the Insance Clown Posse down there, and return home next year with some even more serious intentions.
Left to right. John Mann, field captain for Joe "the dark horse paddler" Mann, Black Coffee, and Uncle A Dog. In the world of "what's the craziest thing you've ever done" these dudes have one upped everybody. Coffee and A Dog paddled the mr340 in their home-made kayaks in 2.5 days with their dissembled bikes strapped to back and a home-made trailer stowed in the hatch. Less than 12-hours later, they were preparing to return to Kansas City via the Katy Trail pulling their kayaks behind themselves. Purportedly, they had a logical reason for doing this but I don't recall exactly what it was. I think it might have been, "we'll we've never done that -- yet."
mr340 river race update no. 12
mr340 river race update no. 12
We're back on land, where the food is more than gogo juice, power bars, and fruit leather. I really have to work on the gogo juice recipe because maybe in another couple of days the mouth ulcers will have healed from all the acid. That was one mistake we made, another was dropping the first aid kit with the lip balm into the river on day 2 resulting in second degree lip burn. between the mouth ulcers, the lip burn, and the sleep deprivation I talk like I'm drunk.
Another mistake, compounded by sleep-deprivation, stupidity, and inefficient preparation involved attempting to obliquely surf the wake of the river relief safety boat which resulted in a swim in the muddy mo. It was hot anyway and that's a good way to cool off, but thank goodness for pfd's.
More later.
We're back on land, where the food is more than gogo juice, power bars, and fruit leather. I really have to work on the gogo juice recipe because maybe in another couple of days the mouth ulcers will have healed from all the acid. That was one mistake we made, another was dropping the first aid kit with the lip balm into the river on day 2 resulting in second degree lip burn. between the mouth ulcers, the lip burn, and the sleep deprivation I talk like I'm drunk.
Another mistake, compounded by sleep-deprivation, stupidity, and inefficient preparation involved attempting to obliquely surf the wake of the river relief safety boat which resulted in a swim in the muddy mo. It was hot anyway and that's a good way to cool off, but thank goodness for pfd's.
More later.
mr340 river race update no.11
mr340 river race. update no.11
This might be our last post for awhile. The batteries, both the OLPC notebook and mine are in serious need of recharging. We may just have to wait till St.Charles and not post till sometime on Saturday. The leader board should let you know if we've finished.
We're trying to track down a persistent, yet unconfirmed rumor, that keeps getting passed downriver and upriver like power-bar gas. Seems like what originated as good-natured banter between some of the more testosterone-riddled men's tandem teams eventually escalated until the teams took turns hurling captain's bottles at each others boats. For the river-unininiated, a captain's bottle is a bottle of whiz, done on the go, and apparently these tandem teams were trading plastic captains bottles with loosened lids as though they were water-balloons. One can only imagine the rage of getting bombed by one of these would tend to inspire, especially in 90-degree heat. Sounds a bit like a bloody lot of footballers, if you ask me.
All of that piss and vinegar got me to thinking about the only non-human (not counting the lonestar state paddling machines) who's ever competed in the mr340 and that would your friend and mine, Trex, the rare West Tibetan Mountain Dog. Trex loves to mark things as well. If only he were here to hike his leg on some unsuspecting rednecks. That'd be perfect.
Elsewhere:
real-time race results
This might be our last post for awhile. The batteries, both the OLPC notebook and mine are in serious need of recharging. We may just have to wait till St.Charles and not post till sometime on Saturday. The leader board should let you know if we've finished.
We're trying to track down a persistent, yet unconfirmed rumor, that keeps getting passed downriver and upriver like power-bar gas. Seems like what originated as good-natured banter between some of the more testosterone-riddled men's tandem teams eventually escalated until the teams took turns hurling captain's bottles at each others boats. For the river-unininiated, a captain's bottle is a bottle of whiz, done on the go, and apparently these tandem teams were trading plastic captains bottles with loosened lids as though they were water-balloons. One can only imagine the rage of getting bombed by one of these would tend to inspire, especially in 90-degree heat. Sounds a bit like a bloody lot of footballers, if you ask me.
All of that piss and vinegar got me to thinking about the only non-human (not counting the lonestar state paddling machines) who's ever competed in the mr340 and that would your friend and mine, Trex, the rare West Tibetan Mountain Dog. Trex loves to mark things as well. If only he were here to hike his leg on some unsuspecting rednecks. That'd be perfect.Elsewhere:
real-time race results
mr340 river race update no.10
mr340 river race. update no. 10
I smell like a pole cat. So I took a bath in the river. Naked. Nothing like being naked in the river in the summer time. It feels great.
All those power bars are full of fiber. You definitely want to stay regular out here. So I took a big crap on a corps wing dike. Man. It took a boulder to cover that thing but if felt great.
A bath. The loss of a weighty subject matter. I feel like a new person. Time to wrap this up.
Elsewhere:
real-time race results
I smell like a pole cat. So I took a bath in the river. Naked. Nothing like being naked in the river in the summer time. It feels great.
All those power bars are full of fiber. You definitely want to stay regular out here. So I took a big crap on a corps wing dike. Man. It took a boulder to cover that thing but if felt great.
A bath. The loss of a weighty subject matter. I feel like a new person. Time to wrap this up.
Elsewhere:
real-time race results