Seek the Peak

On July 5th (one week from today) I will be participating in the 6th Annual Seek the Peak Relay up Grouse Mountain, and raising funds in support of Rethink and the ongoing battle against breast cancer.

(http://www.grousemountain.com/Events/seek_the_peak_2009.asp)

Rethink Breast Cancer is a charity supporting young people who are concerned about and affected by breast cancer through innovative breast research, education and awareness programs. Rethink is thinking differently about how to beat breast cancer. Please consider pledging me today and help fight breast cancer one vertical step at a time... just follow the link.

https://secure.reachout4rethink.org/ParticipantPage.aspx?L=2&CCID=46&PID=1042&GC=GTv2

Thank you, and have a terrific summer.

March 21 Run details

Here are the details for the run this Saturday.

There are 3 options, in order of the maps below: 9.0 k, 6.0 k, 4.5 k.

C'mon, give 'er a go!






Hopefully we'll see you out there!

C

Storm (Little) Mountain - March 21

Running for Nothing - Storm (Little) Mountain!

March 21, starting @ noon.

Meet and finish at the Starbucks at 19th and Cambie.

Route details to come.

March 8 Run details

First Run, Second Attempt - Sunday March 8

Okay, this time I mean it.



The first run will be Sunday, March 8 meeting at NOON at Yukon and West 4th, as before.



Remember DAY LIGHT SAVINGS!!


The route will be available this evening. Come on back now, ya hear?

Run POSTPONED

The run will be postponed until next weekend. Sorry!

Running for Nothing - First Run

Sunday, March 1 - 1:00 pm

The first RUNNING FOR NOTHING run will be this Sunday, March 1 starting at 1:00 pm.

We will start en masse from the Starbucks at Yukon and West 4th Ave (2055 Yukon St).

There will be two routes to choose from, one 3.8 k and one 6.0 k. Route details will be posted shortly that you can print out and carry with you. The routes are mostly flat and easy to follow. Check back in a few days for the route description.

Come on out for the inaugural Nothing Run. See you Sunday.

Running for Nothing - Starting February 2009!

Running is awesome. And it is awesome to have a reason to run. In fact, running for itself can be reason enough.

But we all need a little motivation now and then.

And while all those competitive events and races that happen throughout the year are great causes that can give you that extra push to put those shoes on and get out the door, especially when the weather sucks, they can cost a lot of money over time.

So I'd like to invite you to join "Running for Nothing"... an informal group of runners, new and experienced, who meet at a set time in a set location to "race" a set distance (<5k>10k).

There are no fees, no prizes, no shirts, no sponsors, and no timing chips. There ARE bragging rights, your stopwatch, and the motivation that a community of runners can offer you.

And ensure you ARE ready to take on that big event you have been training for.

Every few weeks, I will post a new route, and where & when to meet. After the run we'll meet at a coffee shop at the end of it all to warm up or cool down and share our stories.

Want to be Running for Nothing? Keep an eye on this blog and your emails.

AR for ALS!!

Greetings everyone.

Please share this message.

I am participating in a fundraising event, the ALS Adventure Challenge, that seeks to raise funds to help find a cure for ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, a progressive and ultimately fatal neuromuscular disease that affects 3000 Canadians ( http://www.als.ca/).

This adventure race is to be held Sunday, July 16th, and involves a series of physical challenges such as kayaking, mountain biking, and trail running through Belcarra regional park.

In order to participate, I will need to raise $700 for ALS research before Thursday July 13th. 100% of the funds collected will go to support ALS research and local patient services through the Nilsson Foundation (a federally registered charity, # 85650 1176 RR0001).

I am hoping that I can gain support from my friends, my family, my friend's friends, my friends family, my family's friends, and everyone, everywhere else EVER!!. Plus, if you have heard the stories of my last adventure race, you know this could be good comedy (i.e. collapsing at the finish line... on oxygen for 30 minutes)!

You can help me by making a donation. Take the time to visit my pledge page at https://www.sporg.com/registration?form_id=48028&view_type=DEFAULT. And for more information about the race, please visit www.ALSadventure.com.

Donations over $20 are eligible to receive a tax receipt. And the more you give, the more it helps!

I would sincerely appreciate your help.

Thanks, and best wishes.

Ode to my parents

Great forces often align themselves in random and unexpected ways. Hydrogen and oxygen, Sonny and Cher, peanut butter and chocolate.

This weekend, through the quirks of timing and circumstance, it happens to be both MOther's Day and my dad's 60th birthday.

My mom and dad have been the greatest support and influence to me in my life. With their help and love, I have made it to this point, 31 years on, through some pretty tough moments, and lots of great ones. My parents are my friends. So this is just a small tribute to them.



Everyone wants to make their parents proud. I believe nothing will make them more proud of me than this.

Thanks, mom and dad. I love you.

The perils of Slivovice

Of course you have heard of Absinthe, and you may have herd of Becherovka. Both have their well-deserved reputations: Becherovka is made from the spa waters of Karlovy Vary, famed for its marvelous health effects, particularly for Russian grandparents; whereas Absinthe just causes artists to go crazy and cut off their ears (see Van Gogh).

But do you know Slivovice?

Slivovice... plum brandy. Somewhere along the way, though, the 50% alcohol level ran over any remnant of plum flavour and left it writhing on the road side somewhere in Moravia. This is no sipping drink, but something to get wrecked on quicker than Charlotte Church on Holy Wine. Equally suited for de-greasing car parts.

How do I know this? My good friend from Prague, Hanka, and her boyriend Jiri in particular loved to share it with me. And not the wussy store bought stuff either, but the stuff straight from a friends bathtub in Moravia. More than once I had to really work at standing up.

But the man who REALLY knows what it can do is this Andeler, who shall remain nameless. Actually, I suspect he doesn't really know. This picture was taken over a stall door at a Christmas party at a college dorm in Prague, about 30 minutes after Mr. Life-of-the-Party knocked back about half of a 500ml bottle and did a rendition of Black-Eyed Peas "My Humps", with all the moves. It was the snoring that alerted me....



Yes, I have some at my place. Come by for a drink anytime, or make it yourself...

http://www.everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=1673716

Just remember... humans and Slivo don't mix.

Who's the ad wizard that came up with this one??

All the fuss around here, at least amongst a group of former classmates and colleagues from UBC's Scool of Community and Regional Planning (oh, and the New York Times and much of the world), is the new Chevy Apprentice ad series.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/04/business/media/04adco.html

The marketing department at Chevy has jumped on the user-generated advertising trend by letting people write their own commecials for the new Chevy Tahoe.

Let's see... web-based, write-your-own ad series for a gas guzzling, eco-UNconscious SUV unleashed to tech-savvy, eco-VERY conscious subversives. It reminds me of that Far Side comic where Pinocchio unexpecetedly gets his wish to be a real boy... in the middle of a Lion's den.

Wicked!

Here are a few of my favourites, done by some classmates:

http://www.chevyapprentice.com/view.php?country=us&uniqueid=1ade3344-14b1-1029-98eb-0013724ff5a7

http://www.chevyapprentice.com/view.php?country=us&uniqueid=2d41d40a-1420-1029-98eb-0013724ff5a7


http://www.chevyapprentice.com/view.php?country=us&uniqueid=1d56c63e-1422-1029-98eb-0013724ff5a7

Or visit

http://www.alaskaaction.net/tahoe/

somewhere in Central America

Looking out over Antigua, Guatemala in the summer of 2005

Up an running

Well, it has only taken me years to get this going, but I wanted to jump on the techno-wagon, too. And as I am currently self-employed, I have all the opportunities in the world to procrastinate.

I am hoping this is the way to keep in touch with the great people I have met, in my little corner here in Vancouver, and those around the world. From those who have been my friends from my first days, to those from SCARP at UBC, to the wacky mix of ex-pats in Prague....

Cheers to you all. Keep in touch