Nashville’s Country Music Marathon

Wow – one year ago yesterday I ran my first (and only to date) half marathon (which actually set me on the path of blogging). I was so sick with food poisoning I didn’t have fun at all. But this year I think I would have liked it. Past Monday, I called to see if I could register – just to do it, you know! – and they organizers had capped participation at 23,000 half-marathon participants. YIKES!

The Country Music Marathon is a blast and it is getting super-duper popular since Nashville is an easy destination to get to and there is a lot of fun stuff to do, not to mention the marathon itself is a blast with bands lined up all around the course. In reality, the bands are lined up all around the half-marathon course. The full marathon course is sparsely attended by runners and fans alike and fairly challenging so I don’t believe there to be a ton of stuff going on in the back 13.1m. Ugh – and I LOATHED my training runs on the back half of the course, over the river and through the hood. Bad.

This year, I was a mere spectator. Hopped on my bike @ 7a.m. and rode over to Belmont to meet up with the Hedges to support our friends and colleagues. Shanan, of course, came prepared with non-fancy champy for Kir Royales to toast the physical prowess of those around us. We saw a LOT of people we knew run by – I was looking for my friend Rachael Rowland who was my running buddy last year, but I never saw her. I was bummed out about that. I really wanted to cheer her on. But I did see Marshall, who I work out with every morning, and was glad to see she was strong and in good humor at mile 7. HALF WAY, BABY! I put her picture on flickr so check it out. We saw Eddie George running with a 6-person security detail. Hilarious. But I can’t hate on him – he is an amazing athlete (and SO TALL) and a Buckeye – HOLLA! I seriously heart him.

After watching two hours of people first whipping by, then running by, then struggling by, then laboring by, then walking by, we (me, Shanan, and Anne) decided to call it a morning and go to the fair grounds for the monthly flea market. I wasn’t looking for anything other than entertainment.

Boy did I get it. Never in my life have I seen so many MORBIDLY OBESE people. I kind of got really mad – I mean, they are going to be a serious serious drain on our healthcare system in years to come (b/c these were people of ALL ages). For-profit healthplans will insure these individuals, who are often times poor or of lower income, and it will be MY premiums that go up. I think there should be a tax break or something for people who maintain their weight within a certain healthy range – yes, I know that is TOTALLY impossible to regulate and police. But something has to be done – this was a pit of adult onset diabetes and heart disease and lifestyle related cancer and just nasty fatness. I can guarantee these people haven’t seen their genitalia in years.

Anne and Shanan, after having their fill of the fair, wanted to go have drinks with lunch. I opted out and went to the gym to run 6 miles (almost a quarter marathon! LOLz) – and thought about how I never wanted to get heart disease.

Mr. Murdoch Goes To China

When looking for fun on Online Social Networks, I don’t exactly look to share “pain and loneliness”. Which is exactly what Luo Chuan said, who used to run Microsoft’s MSN portal in China, when discussing MySpace China. “We want to create a site that allows people to find serious relationships and to share something with new friends,” he said, “to share pain and loneliness.” (source)

Whaa…?

Well, kids, Mr. Rupurt Murdoch is traipsing off to China like many other leaders of hot hot Internet companies (and as he has done in the past with his vast media empire) in the hopes of taking a bite out of the 137 million Internet users in that country. So MySpace.com is off to China, acting as a latecomer that bets it can overcome that handicap by competing unconventionally as a start-up.

The News Corporation signed a deal to license the MySpace brand and allow local Chinese entrepreneurs who understand their market to pick and choose to build an indigenous business. Ok, but there are over 100 companies competing in this super hot space right now, including China’s home-grown Internet companies, like Baidu, Tencent, Sina , 51.com, and other new westerners like Woyano, Ziki, Vox, Twitter, Socializr, and about a gazillion others.

Analysts say that Chinese Internet entrepreneurs have thus far outmaneuvered their Western counterparts, partly because they have a better sense of the needs of Chinese Internet users. I am glad analysts have such a firm grasp of the obvious.

I look forward to seeing how MySpace grows and changes and how competitors evolve to better compete for user bandwidth. ‘Cuz frankly, when it comes to me, I am about out! AND I certainly don’t have time to mope around and discuss pain and loneliness (but isn’t that interesting insight into the psyche of the people, their attitude and outlook, not to mention social technographics). Can we get some OSN-type prozac for these peeps, please!

Iz She Forealz??

I mean, be prepared to laugh until you cry. Get a band-aid cuz you funna cut you chin when it hits the floor.

Where’s the Beef?!

OH THE HORROR!!! Wendy’s has closed the first Wendy’s ever opened! Dave Thomas is rolling over in his GRAVE! Earlier this year Wendy’s closed the first store Dave Thomas opened in Columbus, Ohio, in 1969. Now the No. 3 burger chain is considering selling the chain entirely as net income fell 71% in the first quarter. DAYUM!

OH. MY. GOD. NO.

Sure, downtown Columbus is a total dump, sure no one goes to City Center Mall, but dang, y’all! Why you gotta go closin’ down the first ever Wendy’s?!This is the worst possible news (you know, besides all that Iraq war stuff)! I love Wendy’s! I love dipping their french fries into my frosty. Shoot, I remember when they had those crazy beads for curtains. I looooove their food and passionately HAAAAATE McDonalds. I don’t think the answer to winning hearts and minds (let alone profitability) lies in selling out. They need to embrace a cause, be it corporate social responsibility, global diabetes awareness (just a thought!), childhood fitness – something! But a sellout? That’s for weak, reactionary bitches. Buck up and get a strategy. PS: that little purchase of Baja Fresh was kinda off message and reactionary to McD’s Chipotle success. Not super helpful.

Here’s to Dave T…and knowing how to make delicious fast food that is the best in the industry. PLEASE don’t loose the #3 spot to Hardee’s. WTF?!?!? (Now there’s a turn-around for ya…)

Calatrava’s Chicago Twizzler

So, this Twizzler Tower has one step closer to reality in Chicago. I used to live there and think this is totally cool, but also totally crazy. Taller than the Sears Tower by 550 feet (which I never have gone up – Aon building was enough, thank you), this construction will be found in the 400 block of Lake Shore Drive – where the Chicago River and Lake meet. Really a cool area. And “they” are to break ground this spring…WHOA!

Can you imagine that wind whipping over the lake and making that building shimmy?! [gulp]

Totally 80’s!

Remember “Le Zinc”? That neon zinc oxide sunblock that was all the rage in the mid-80’s? Well, hell, Bjork is rockin’ the “Le Zinc” look hardcore on the cover of French Rolling Stone. Tubular, dude!

MyDeathSpace?

Oy! MyDeathSpace.com is a site that specializes in “respects and tributes to the recently deceased MySpace.com” members, and links to the profiles of some of the victims of Monday’s Virginia Tech tragedy, and posts their profile photos. It first became notable due to media attention that it garnered over the practice of seeking out dead MySpace users such as Taylor Behl.

It launched in January of 2006 but did not receive national attention until March 2006. It was started by Mike Patterson from San Francisco.

Online social networks are now used for a lot more than ever anticipated.

Social Networking and the Virginia Tech shooting

As I listen to this tragedy streaming live, my ears perked up at the mention of the benefits of Facebook as students search for their missing peers. Students are using Facebook, since phones are jammed and the school internet service is disrupted, to check in with loved ones, look for friends, alert others that they are ok, or disseminate necessary information (be it unofficial). It makes me think about other cases of mass displacement that could have benefited from social networking sites: 09/11/01, Hurricane Katrina, Columbine, even the Oklahoma City bombing. It is amazing these unintended uses of social networking mediums.

Catching Up On Lost Time

Lately, as you well know, I have been Super Healthy Girl, able to leap benchpress benches in a single bound. Well, to make up for lost time out, I decided to close a bar last night. Ed and I and a very large group of friends went to our hang out for some din-din. I was just there the other day and saw Nick Lachey and one of the Nelson twins, and the time before that I saw Lyle Lovett, and about a month before that I sat next to Tim McGraw and Faith Hill. Well guess who I touched last night (as he passed to go to the men’s room)? Joey Joe McIntyre!!!!!!!!!! Seriously I almost died!!! I couldn’t decide if I needed to laugh out loud or just swoon. Come on now, I was a HUGE fan of NKOTB waaaay back in the day! Loved them! Sad – I know, but I’m over it, you should be too. Sure, cheesy, whatevs. But I was excited for the first time to see a celebrity. I mean, I was excited when I saw Alan Rickman in Paris sitting near me at Le Theatre Du Soleil, and John Malkovich drinking a cocktail 3 feet away at the Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago, but this was a little bit more fun and pop culture-y.

Ok, enough name dropping. After dinner, we all decide to go to our favorite beer joint, Broadway Brewhouse. Ed had to leave, he’d been partying for many many hours and just couldn’t hang. I, on the other hand, unable to shed my Super Healthy Girl persona, was fully hydrated and ready to socialize. All the way to 3 a.m. I have not been out so late to hear the words, “LAST CALL FOR ALCOHOL!” in ages. But there we were, all just chillin’ until we were kicked out. SO FUN! I can’t wait to do it again…in 12 months. I am exhausted now and have to hit the gym. Booooo. I hope my super powers can carry me through an hours of cardio and sprints….

Doppleganger

So, I invite you all to try out chatting with my cyber twin. This could be hilarious.

Chat to my CyberTwin online now!