Yay! Another Snow Day...

I don't think we got nearly enough of it, but it finally snowed again last night and this morning. The forecast originally called for us to receive 3 to 5 inches, but last night they backed it off to 2 to 4 inches.

I always like to take long walks when it snows, and today was no exception. As always, I headed down to the greenway and got a few shots along the way.

Fountain by the soccer field:

Crabtree Creek:


I got off the greenway at one point and was walking through the woods when I came across this chair. I guess someone put it there to just sit and enjoy watching the creek flow:

I sure hope that whoever sits there doesn't do any fishing in the creek. There are signs up all over that the fish are contaminated with high levels of PCB's.

Our favorite hang-out, the Ale House deck:


I wonder how many hundreds (thousands?) of beers have been consumed there by me and my friends???

My street:

View from my porch:


As expected, Foy emailed me early afternoon and wanted to know if I wanted to go with him and Terry to the Ale House deck for a few cold brews in the snow. And of course I did! Who wouldn't want to sit outside in 35-degree weather on a snow-covered restaurant deck and drink ice-cold beers? I mean, really?!?

They swung by and picked me up a little after 4:30 and down the hill we went. As always, the restaurant's management thought we were out of our damned minds.

We hung with the cold for about 90 minutes before surrendering to the warmth inside the Ale House. After a couple of rounds inside, the three of us headed to the High Park Grill, the bar & restaurant that's about 450 feet from my house, to end the evening. I walked home from there around 10pm for a late dinner.

With temperatures for the weekend ahead forecast in the 70's, I suspect we're done with snow for the year. Which I guess means it's time for me to go back to work…

Slipknot

I decided to drive to Greensboro tonight to see Slipknot, a band I worked for back in 2001. They were the first band I worked for as a Tour Accountant. I had just quit being a Tour Manager and was trying to decide if I would continue my road career. I was pretty stressed out and ready to kill me some rock star assholes, so it was either quit the road or find something else to do. Their TM at the time was a buddy of mine and he offered me the accounting slot. I took it and never looked back.

It was like my eyes were opened for the very first time. Suddenly, it was fun to be on the road. As a TM, I'd never really had days off – there's always something you need to be doing. Most TM's will tell you, there are show days and non-show days, but no days off. But as a TA, I could do what I wanted on days off. Trust me, that changed everything. Sure, the job didn't pay as well, but the stress just disappeared.

Now, I feel like the luckiest guy in the world and I love my job. A wise man once said, "Find a job that you love and you'll never work a day in your life."

Anyway, a bunch of my roadie buddies are on the crew – Sol, Martin, Ernie, Gary, Shirt, Drew, and Gio – so at the very least, I needed to go hang out and say hello.

My friend Paige likes heavy music, so she humored me and went along. Heavy is one thing, but Slipknot sounds like a bunch of jackhammers and chainsaws. Not sure exactly how much she might have enjoyed it.

After an hour or so of socializing with my friends backstage (thanks for the beers, Sol), we watched their set from the soundboard area out front. Only stayed for about 30-35 minutes of the 'Knot before heading up the road, home to Raleigh.

The 2009 Krispy Kreme Challenge

It's that time of year again. Today was the 5th annual Krispy Kreme Challenge, a student-operated race here in Raleigh benefiting the NC Children's Hospital. First run a few years ago with a mere 10 participants, it has grown exponentially to a whopping 5,038 runners in this year's race.

Beginning at the NCSU Bell Tower, each runner runs 2 miles to the Krispy Kreme store located on Peace St. in Raleigh. After downing a full dozen of the famous Krispy Kreme glazed doughnuts, the runner must run the two miles back. All in one hour. And without throwing up, which will disqualify you.

Nutritionally speaking, those 12 doughnuts total 2,400 calories and 144 grams of fat. That shit would make me sick even without the run.

I sent out an email a few days ago to more than 20 of my friends, but the only person brave enough (crazy enough?) to join me was my old buddy David Johnston, who was also my roommate back in the very early 90's.

We met up about 2 blocks from Krispy Kreme and walked over, arriving a few minutes after 9am. Mostly just volunteers and a couple dozen spectators were there at the time. We stepped inside for a doughnut breakfast and started killing time while waiting for the runners to arrive.

I was intrigued by this family and their sign. Is it in support of Elvis, or does it mean death to Elvis, or Elvis is toxic, or are they (as David suggested) a group of Elvis Pirates? Arrrrrr…

Scattered all over the parking lot were many tables of doughnuts, manned by volunteers:


Also, multiple water stations:

The race started at 9:30, so the first runners started arriving just shy of 9:45:


Grab yer 'nuts, fellers:


Time to choke 'em down:

Looks like a stomachache:

After a few minutes, the parking lot was full:

Lots of runners, lots of techniques. Some people ate their goodies delicately, followed by sips of water; others were dunking them one at a time into their cups of water. Quite a few took 3 to 6 doughnuts at a time and smashed them down into a doughnut pancakes. We saw one guy pour 3 cups of water into his box of doughnuts, and then smash 'em and eat 'em in handfuls. Another guy stacked his on the surface of the parking lot to smash them. I wonder if he picked up any gravel bits and broke a tooth or anything…

This girl had a double handful:

This guy didn't seem to be feeling too well.

One runner puked all over a piece of plastic, then kinda bagged it up as a souvenir:

Caught this guy in the act:

The odor of bile wafted over parts of the parking lot. Not surprising.

After about an hour of the festivities there, we bolted for the Bell Tower to catch some of the finishers. There was a faint odor of bile hanging in the air there, too.

Talked to his guy briefly after the race. He was running for the third year in a row in a full gorilla costume. Nuts:

The NCSU Bell Tower is directly across the street from Sadlack's, a slacker dive bar, so we hit the patio there and had a few beers while waiting for the finish announcements to be made over the PA in the finish area. The winner had finished the race in less than 30 minutes, including the four-mile run and the time spent choking down the doughnuts. Pretty impressive.

After the crowd disbursed, I drove David back to his car downtown, then I headed home to watch a couple of basketball games. I was gonna take a bike ride today, but not with a buzz, no thanks.

The 2009 NASCAR racing series started tonight with the Bud Shootout from Daytona, a 75-lap non-points event. Unlike the regular races during the season, this one's an All-Star event. Twenty-eight drivers in the field, and Kevin Harvick won it by passing some steering wheel holder on the last lap. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. got caught up in a wreck and didn't finish the race. Bummer!

Around 10:30, I headed out to go see my buddy Bert's band, who were playing downtown at Deep South. Got there just before they went on, only to find out that Barry, the singer, had completely lost his voice. They tried to play, he tried to sing, but they packed it in after two songs. After they loaded out, Bert came back in and hung out for a couple of drinks. Next thing I knew, it was 2am and time to go home…

Warming Up

We've had some pretty cold weather (for Raleigh) this week. So naturally, this is the week I broke out the bike and started riding. Not much will wake you up as effectively as riding a bicycle 18 or 20mph in 35-degree weather with winds gusting to 25mph.

I got in 65 miles over 4 days this week, pretty light by last summer's standards, but a good way to start up the season. Bike riding has kinda taken the place of running while I'm waiting for my hamstring to start behaving again.

It's supposed to be warming up around here for the next week or so, starting this weekend with highs in the upper 60's or low 70's. Now THAT will be some great biking weather.

Super Bowl, Schmuper Bowl

I had to stop running for a few days after Tuesday. I still walked about 4 miles each morning, hoping the walks would help ease the hamstring problem. But I can tell it's still too tight to try to run on.

Watching the Duke game this afternoon got boring pretty fast. They were kicking the shit out of Virginia, up by 25, when I finally turned it off.

I stepped outside and it was such a pretty day that I decided to break out the bicycle. Didn't really have a plan, just wanted a little fresh air. Wound up riding about 21 miles. Bet my ass is gonna be sore tomorrow.

Watched the Super Bowl, but didn't really care about it. My team was pretty good all year, but were "one and done" in the playoffs, getting bounced out. Even the commercials weren't very good this year. Or was it me?

Raleigh Underground

Once a year, there's a charity event that features local area bands performing as tribute bands. The event used to be called the Great Raleigh Coverup or something like that, and was held at King's, a nightclub that closed sometime in the last year or so.

The event is now called Raleigh Underground (I think), and this year it's being held this weekend at Tir Na Nog, an Irish Pub downtown that has to be one of the worst places in town to see and hear a live band.

In spite of that, I found myself standing at the soundboard at 10pm, hanging out with my buddy Robbie, the house sound engineer. First band was on, covering My Bloody Valentine, a band I didn't like then and don't like now. Things got better right after that when the next band played a set of songs by the great British glam band Slade. THAT was pretty rocking.

Next up were my buddies Santa Monica '72 with a set consisting of all Thin Lizzy covers. Well done, too.

The next band covered Bryan Adams and weren't bad, either. But when I heard that the last band was gonna be doing the Beastie Boys, that was my cue to exit.

Went next door to the Pour House to hang out with Jac Cain, that club's sound engineer. He had a hip-hop show going on, and the place was packed to the walls. I only stayed for one beer, then headed home.

Crowleys? Oh, Hell, No...

Met up with Foy late this afternoon and we wound up over at the Ale House for a few cold ones. It didn't turn into an all-evening affair because I'd promised some folks I'd meet them to see a band at Crowley's later on. It was my buddies The Nevers, but performing as their alter-ego cover band, Santa Monica '72. They play 70's rock covers like Grand Funk, Cheap Trick, Thin Lizzy, etc. I'm all about some 70's rock.

I can't stand going to Crowley's – the smoke in there is fuckin' horrible. I managed to stay through a couple of sets, but finally gave up. It was so bad in there that when I got home I had to go out to the laundry room and take off all my clothes. Pew!

Damn Ham

Damn left hamstring is killin' me. I have no idea what's up with that, but it's pissing me off.

Stretch, stretch, stretch and stretch some more.

Hoping tomorrow will be better…

Running Along...

Damn left hamstring is killin' me. I have no idea what's up with that, but it's pissing me off.

Stretch, stretch, stretch and stretch some more.

Hoping tomorrow will be better…

Whew!

So I decided last night to just stay in, watch a movie and enjoy a bottle of wine. About halfway through it, my neighbor Regan called and said she was building a fire out back and having a few folks over and that I should join them. I politely declined, but changed my mind about 20 minutes later.

So of course I got home at nearly 5am.

Damn!

I didn't wake up until nearly 1:00 this afternoon. Hated that, because I had some stuff I wanted to do before all the ACC basketball games started coming on. Oh, well.

Later, I met Paige & Greg, Jeff & Kim, and Ossie at a restaurant called Firebirds for dinner. It was pretty decent.

Then I was off to Tom O'Keefe's 45th birthday party at Slim's, one of my fave bars downtown. There were 4 or 5 bands playing, including Lustre, who were doing a reunion gig just for Tom. He had been their road manager back in the mid-90's when they were signed to A&M Records. They only put out one album before getting fucked by the label (didn't everyone?), and to this day it's one of my favorite records.

They only played 6 songs, but I was in seventh heaven.

I also walked around the corner and stuck my head in to see my buddy Jac Cain, the FOH guy at the Pour House. He was mixing Kevn Kinney, the dude from Drivin' & Cryin'. Stayed there for a couple of beers, then headed back to Slim's to see Tom's band play.

After that, headed home…

Happy Birthday To Me (sort of) (ok, not) (but sort of...)

Today I'm 50½. Maybe I'll go out for a beer after all…

Snow!!!

Finally!

One of the reasons I love my job is because it's kinda seasonal. There might be years when I'm on the road during winter, but usually I'm off and at home, which I prefer. Winter is my favorite season. Always has been, always will be. There's just something about it – the sights, the smells, the memories.

Last year, I was out from mid-October until mid-February, and it totally bummed me out. I had two days off in between the R. Kelly tour and my flight to New Zealand to start the Rage Against The Machine tour, but to me, those didn't even count.

There was no measurable snow here last year, so I guess I didn't miss anything. Come to think of it, other than a very light dusting two years ago (I think?), I haven't had snow since buying this house 3 years ago next week.

Don’t get me wrong; I'm not looking for a blizzard or anything. All I ask for is a few inches of snow, a couple of times each winter. Not enough to cause major problems, just enough to enjoy.

So today was finally my day. Looks to be about 4 inches or maybe a bit more on the ground right now. TV weather staff said it was gonna taper off about noon, but it's an hour past that now and it's still coming down. The temp isn't supposed to go over freezing today, so I'll get to enjoy it all day and into tomorrow.

7am, just starting to accumulate:



The snow was blowing up onto the porch, too.

My Toyota snowmobile:

Took my run a little later than usual today. I was enjoying sitting by the window and watching the snow fall, and the time just kinda slipped by me. Decided to take my camera with me and I stopped a few times to snap photos.

The greenway:

Crabtree Creek, which the greenway runs beside:


Railroad trestle near Atlantic Avenue. Note the original trestle base structure to the right:

I even stopped as I was running by the Carolina Ale House, thinking I could get a shot of the pristine, snow-covered deck that we spend so much time on:



Your humble author, self-portrait:

It was fun to run in the snow, I've always liked to do that. Not that I would move up north to do it more often, but still.

After I got home, I piddled about the house, not really getting anything done. Foy called mid-afternoon and we made a plan to hit the Ale House deck for a few cold beverages around 4 o'clock or so. After picking his wife Terry up from her office, they swung by here and snagged me.

The deck was still undisturbed when we got there. I mean, come on, who on earth else would want to sit outside in the snow and drink beer?



Bob and Foy:

The way a Budweiser should always be served:

I even played the ring toss game in the snow:

Joel, the GM, when told by our waiter that there were crazy people outside, even came out to take a photo of us with his phone. Poor Joel, he's used to us sitting outside year-round, but this was a bit bizarre, even by our standards.

The icicles before the sun started going down:

And as the sun was going down, with the neons turned on:

After 90 minutes and a few rounds outside, the sun finally set:

The temperature plummeted from a very comfortable (WTF!) 32 degrees to something we didn’t want to sit around in, so we moved inside to the bar.

While we were inside, several members of the staff went out and built a snowman on the deck, and staged a meal in front of him:

Foy, Bob and Terry partying with the Ale House Snowman:

Further adventures awaited us at both Northside Billiards and the High Park Bar & Grille, but those details are currently being withheld to protect the guilty…

The Comeback...

After a few days off from running, the comeback began today. I need to not go overboard, just take it a day at a time. Decided to limit the runs to 20 minutes until I'm absolutely certain the knees can take it. Today went just fine.

Happy 40th birthday, Jen!!!

Race Day At The Rock!

Got in bed last night right at midnight. I was reaching for the lightswitch just as all the neighborhood fireworks (and maybe a gunshot or two) were going off.

Woke up at 3:37 because I had to pee – damn those beers at the party – and never could go back to sleep. Finally got up around 5:30 to start the day.

Foy pulled up out front about ten minutes to 7. Long day ahead of us. Today is the inaugural running of the Polar Bear 150 at Rockingham Speedway and yes, we're just crazy enough to sit outside for six or seven hours in the cold to watch loud cars go around in circles.

The high for today was forecast to be 42 degrees, so I got totally layered up – two pairs of running tights, topped with artic pants. Up top, 2 base layers, topped with an artic shirt and a jacket. Hat and gloves as well.

Due to the pounding sunshine, by 2:45, I had peeled down to a t-shirt up top. Had to take off the hat, gloves and jacket long before then.

The race was a blast. There were 61 cars at the start, and 31 running at the end. In between, lots of wrecks and downtime as the safety crews cleared the track of debris from the wrecks. Although it was only a 150-lap event and had started just past 1pm, it didn't finish until about a quarter after 5, just after the sun went beyond the horizon. The Rockingham track doesn't have lighting for night-racing, so they wouldn't have been able to race much longer.

After driving back to Raleigh, we hit a couple of our favorite spots near my house for a frosty cold beverage. Foy's wife Terry joined us at High Park Grill at some point. After that, my memory's a bit murky…