1,500th post

Tom Wilson probably found this hilarious. I have committed the same sin, inflicting a cartoon on the public that only I found funny. What is speaking, the toaster or the toast?


In honor of my 1,500th post - a funny Marmaduke.

Walter and I had the same sort of thing happen at our wedding reception. Some guy danced with everyone but he was not part of my family, Walter's family nor one of our friends. Just some guy.

From The Onion: Goofy Guy Named Gary Enlivens Otherwise Intolerable Wedding Reception

Our wedding reception was quite fun.

Marmaduke is a big hit at this party.

Initial Test

I did 15 push ups using proper form for my initial test. I get to use column 3 in the first week of the 100 push ups program.

New challenge

Walter came across this website:
one hundred push ups

He was working on it for a while but I think other things have come along. I decided that I will try it myself. I will do my initial test tonight. Maybe I can convince him to resume the challenge.

If anyone wants to join me, visit the website above to read about the program. Impress your friends and family at holiday gatherings with your feats of strength.

Crop Walk

Members of the Unitarian Universalist Church of the Brazos Valley participated in CROP Walk today. See if you can find the minister in this photo.

Compare this photo with the list from Stuff White People Like and see how many you can check off.

Numbers 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 13, 27, 34, 35, 39, 42, 47, 49, 50, 53, 55, 76, 77, 83, 84, 88, 99, 108, and 109 apply to me. Not all of it is based on the photo, of course.

A very exhausted Loki after the walk. That is water on the pavement. The tongue is 3 inches wide at this point. He can fit the whole thing in his mouth occasionally.
A Saint Bernard named Suki. She and Loki played a little but mostly sprawled out on the concrete together.The church raised over $1,700. I managed to raise $70 of that. I did not pursue sponsors as vigorously as I did last year. Walter participated for the first time in many years. I need to get a t-shirt and a hat made that has Walter's picture on it for events like this. That way he can be in the group photo even though he is taking the picture.

More pictures from the Bryan/College Station CROP Walk can be found here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/22287142@N02/sets/72157608394510096/

Exercise Log: October 19 - 24

This week I ran and biked 34.21 miles, burned 2807.5 calories and weigh 147.3 pounds.

Sunday: Harbor Half Marathon - 13.1 miles in 2:24:57
Tuesday: bike 4.48 miles in 20:00; ran 1.84 miles in 20:00
Wednesday: ran 3.42 miles in 35:00
Thursday: bike 7.73 miles in 35:00
Friday: ran 3.40 miles in 33:58

I will attempt to run a sub 30:00 5k at the Impact Animal Foundation 5K on Nov. 8. More details about the race: http://www.woodstocktexas.org/index.php?funrun2008

I have maintained the required pace (for 5 miles) during a tempo run while training for the Harbor Half and on the treadmill. I am confident that I can do this in a race now that I have a feel for the pace I need to run.

Race Photos

Photos are out of order.

Hooray! Beer! I was surprised to learn that parts of Texas still have blue laws. In Corpus Christi, when serving beer before noon it must be served with food. In the information packet runners were informed that they must have a pizza in their possession before approaching the beer table and to bring an ID if age is an issue. Alas, that is no longer an issue for me.

Finished!

Racing down the home stretch.

I don't know why my left wrist behaves that way while running.

Racing toward the finish line.

Over halfway there. Beer, here I come!

Catch me if you can!

Maybe they can.

Approaching the halfway point and pleasantly surprised to find Walter taking photos. He snuck around some traffic cones to get here. There goes that left wrist again.

I'm getting the hang of this running thing.

Walter has posted all the photos that he took at the race on his Flickr account. Now he can post the other pictures he took.

That's my job!

Besides, forcing people to open up and meddling in their lives is my job, says Mary Worth.

A bit of useful advice:
While waiting for someone to answer your phone call, stop talking.

Identify the food

Let's play identify what's on that plate!

Maybe Drew seems distant and non-forthcoming because he followed your advice, Mary, and ended up doing work he was not called to do. Did you ever think of that, Mary? Probably not.

Both Dr. Coreys are unhappy but Mary cannot see that.

Thanks Karen Moy for reminding me why I hate Mary Worth - not the comic - the person.

Harbor Half Official Results

Place in Female 35 - 39: 19 (out of 31)
Bib Number: 34
1st Half: 1:14:27.2
2nd Half: 1:10:29.8
Gun Time: 2:25:29.5
Chip Time: 2:24:57.0
Pace: 11:04
Overall Place: 196 (out of 253)
Overall by Sex: 92

I move into a new age group in late February.

Walter took 400 photos. They can be found on Flickr.com at http://www.flickr.com/photos/22287142@N02/sets/72157608186452366/

He will make additions in the coming weeks.

Harbor Half Marathon

I started the tracking a minute before crossing the start and continued tracking a minute after crossing the finish. On the flat sections I easily maintained a 11:00 min/mile or less. The official results are not posted yet. Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 4 ft Location: Corpus Christi, TX, Elev. Gain: +0 ft Date: 10/19/08 Up/Downhill: [+196/-196] Time: 09:33 AM Difficulty: 2.3 / 5.0 Weather: Sunny 71 F temp; 77% humidity 71 F heat index; winds N 6 mph Performance Distance: 13.34 miles Goal: 11' 30 min/mi pace Time: 2:25:32 Speed: 5.5 mph Attained: 106% Pace: 10' 54 /mi Calories: 1443 Map Pace (min/mile) Splits Mile Pace (min/mile) Speed (mph) Elevation Gain actual +/- goal actual +/- goal 1 12' 10 +0' 40 4.9 -0.3 +4 ft 2 11' 54 +0' 24 5.0 -0.2 -3 ft 3 10' 59 -0' 31 5.5 +0.2 0 ft 4 11' 24 -0' 06 5.3 +0.0 -4 ft 5 10' 48 -0' 42 5.5 +0.3 0 ft 6 10' 26 -1' 04 5.8 +0.5 +4 ft 7 10' 31 -0' 59 5.7 +0.5 0 ft 8 10' 22 -1' 08 5.8 +0.6 0 ft 9 10' 29 -1' 01 5.7 +0.5 -4 ft 10 10' 32 -0' 58 5.7 +0.5 +3 ft 11 10' 22 -1' 08 5.8 +0.6 +3 ft 12 11' 36 +0' 06 5.2 -0.0 -3 ft 13 10' 30 -1' 00 5.7 +0.5 0 ft end 9' 45 -1' 45 6.2 +0.9 0 ft Versus goal of 11' 30 min/mile

Posted from bimactive.com

Mystery solved

Now, we know where Mary Worth goes during her absences from her comic strip. She works her speed checking shift in Ziggy.

Funnies

I might have to try that.
Send the son-in-law's mother up the ladder. Ed Crankshaft at his finest. Wonder what threats he used to get her up that ladder?
Did Grant Wood have any idea that his painting would become one of the most parodied?
Just one?
You go Andrew! Let your flag fly!

As for Barney Google, I could not find the answer on the interwebs but the interwebs came to me and provided an answer. I need to try this for other trivial questions.

Harbor Half Marathon

I did a trial run on Saturday to prepare for my race this weekend. I ran 13.24 miles in 2:26:49. I maintained an average pace of 11'06 min/mile or 5.4 mph. That pace was not too difficult to maintain. I set my BIMActive pace monitor to 11'36 min/ mile. I will keep that setting for the actual race. I might push a bit harder on the second half of the race depending on how I feel and the conditions but unless it is unusually hot and humid then I should finish in under 2 and a 1/2 hours quite easily.

The hard part will be the trip to and from Corpus Christi.

Barney Google watch

The comic strip is still officially called Barney Google and Snuffy Smith despite Barney not having made an appearance since the mid-1950's. The Houston Chronicle files it under "S" for Snuffy Smith but right clicking to save the image yields the filename, BarneyGoogle.gif. King Features Syndicate lists it in the A-B section of their comics listing between Baby Blues and Beetle Bailey.

I wanted to start a Barney Google watch like the Mary Worth watch but I cannot find an exact date for Barney's last appearance. This is just the sort of information that should be readily available on the Internet.

Lessons from Nanny 911

I've spent too much time on Saturdays watching back to back episodes of Nanny 911 on CMT.

What I have learned from Nanny 911:

1. Don't have more than 2 kids.
2. When trying for a second child avoid using drugs that increase your chance for multiple children.
3. Children will exacerbate any issues that the parents have.
4. Mothers should do something outside the home without the children once in a while.
5. The pets are usually well-behaved.

All this is easy for me to say, I'm not a parent and I own a dog that I allow to behave less than perfectly.

I've not seen an episode with the blonde nanny in action. I wonder what her special abilities are?

I like It's Me or the Dog. I've not watched any of the episodes filmed in the United States.

Victoria Stillwell's dog training power comes from the big red belt she wears on almost every episode.

Okay, I like watching train wrecks but only of the self-made middle class sort.

Dog pictures

When Loki relaxes the tip of his tongue sticks out of his mouth. When we replace the floor covering we will take a picture of Loki with us to insure that we pick something that contrasts with his coloring.
Economic crisis? Wake me when you have something to eat or want to pet me.
Beware of dog, you might trip over him.

Poke Mary in the eyes!
Mix those metaphors ladies!

At least I was able to stay awake for the duration of the Vice-Presidential debate. My first thought afterwards: "Boy, Sarah Palin is loud."

Waiter, what's this fly doing in my soup?

Using silliness as a diversion from nonsense. No that is not the punchline. One of my cartoon writing techniques is to play with a cliche or very old joke. I've been having fun with the fly in the soup joke.

Standard joke:
Waiter, what's this fly doing in my soup?
The backstroke.

Variations:
Waiter, what's this fly doing on my soup bowl?
He's the lifeguard.

Waiter, what's this fly doing in my soup?
That's stew not soup.

Waiter, what's this fly doing in my soup?
Oh my, that's the wrong fly! Let me take your soup back to the kitchen and make sure you get the right fly.

Waiter, what's this fly doing in my soup?
A lousy remake of an old joke.

Waiter, what's this black fly doing in my chardonnay?
Being ironic.

Waiter, what's this fly doing in my soup?
Someone shrunk Michael Phelps!

Waiter, what's this fly doing in my soup?
That's no fly, that is my wife!

Waiter, what's this fly doing in my soup?
Recon.

Waiter, what's this fly doing in my soup?
That's a cockroach.

Waiter, what's this soup doing in my fly?

Anything to add?

Interesting indifference

Boy, Mary Worth is quite spry for a woman her age. When I am her age I hope to be able to move that fast in the middle of a sentence.

Moy no longer cares about the writing, Giella no longer cares about the art, soon the coloring person will stop caring and then the comic will become real interesting.

90% of mothers would make the same mistake, the other 10% would be at the party.

Amen, Joe, amen.

Speaking on nonsense, Walter and I will watch the debate tonight. Netflix said that the Muppet Show Season One: Disc One should arrive today. I hope so.

When Jurassic strips go topical

Word of the financial crisis reaches the Lazarus compound. Evidently, he owns a television.

Hey, who put this coffin in the middle of the forest? Better move along, Mary and Toby, before the glacier in the second panel runs over you.

Mary Worth fans anticipate a nice display of pompous douche-baggery from Ian when Toby finally tells. Like many times before, Karen Moy will fail to deliver the goods. Yet, we keep reading.

Fun Budget Game

Hat tip to several UU bloggers