Monday, November 24, 2014

"Mission: Impossible" and "Ocean's 11"

 

Last night, MeTV aired the pilot episode of "Mission: Impossible" - and believe it or not, I've never seen it before. Like most pilots, it had some rough edges compared to the series that followed, even in the first season. On the other hand, in the case of "Mission: Impossible," those rough edges actually worked well, in that the mission did not go off as expected, requiring instead a degree of improvisation not usually seen in later episodes.

Friday, November 21, 2014

Indications of obsessive-compulsiveness about running?

A few weeks ago, I was invited to go debate another professor at his home institution in a city that's less than an hour and a half flight away. (All expenses were covered, and there was a small honorarium.) Because it was relatively close, I was able to arrange a flight schedule that departed my home city in the late morning, arrive in the mid-afternoon, take part in the debate and then the post-debate dinner, and fly home that night.

Oh, and the destination city is one that I have not yet gone running in....

Well, that is not an opportunity to pass up! Since I was scheduled to arrive more than 90 minutes before the debate, I asked the student organizer who was handling the arrangements if it would be possible for me to sneak in a quick run. He was quite helpful and even noted that the building had a shower that I could use to clean up.

And so I ended up carrying a bigger tote bag than I otherwise would have needed for a day trip, since I had to carry a suit, formal shoes, etc. instead of just wearing that stuff on the flight.

The destination city was less temperate than the Pacific Northwest; the polar vortex was still letting its presence be known, so the outside temperature was 29 F, and there were clumps of snow still on the sidewalks. A few patches covered the entire sidewalk and were icy/slippery, demanding extra attention to footwork; other spots were dry and snow-free. And then there was the puddles of ice-water, one of which my right foot plopped right into. Saucony Kinvaras are pretty awesome shoes, but they are also very thin. Yeah, that's not good.

In the end, I managed to get in 3 miles at a good pace, showered and dressed up, debated, had a nice dinner, and made it back home at a decent hour.

Saturday, November 8, 2014

ABC's "Once Upon a Time": who will be next to die?





"Once Upon a Time" doesn't rack up a body count the way "24" does, but it certainly hasn't been shy about killing off characters, including semi-main ones. It sounds like the deaths won't stop, per this interview with the creators/producers:

Thursday, November 6, 2014

Weird foot injuries that don't affect running

I seem to have tweaked my foot during last week's bowling session, which is a big "d'oh" in that it's not even like I got injured while running. It's not a noticeable pain unless I happen to bend my right foot sharply, in which case I feel discomfort in the top of the ankle joint where the foot meets the lower leg.

The weird thing is that this hasn't affected my running at all, and in fact, since that bowling session, I've run 32 miles, including a really good tempo run (indeed, faster than tempo pace) and a hard set of 1/2 mile repetitions. Maybe I should get weird, minor injuries while bowling more frequently?