Friday Motivational Poster

Show of Hands

How many people think that the term "Birther" is used as a substitute for "Nigger"



Story here

To summarize my day

Science

"We don't have a bowling alley at Fermilab"

Blah

I'm sure I've mentioned it before, but July in SF sucks. Glad I'm going to Chicago next week. I've signed up for the Soldier Field Crit on 8/12 and hopefully I can pick up some more racing while I'm there.

Krugman makes a good point on health care.

One of the truly amazing and depressing things about the health reform debate is the persistence of fear-mongering over “socialized medicine” even though we already have a system in which the government pays substantially more medical bills (47% of the total) than the private insurance industry (35%).

Keep the Menlo GP Alive

Where'd The Week Go?

Lot's of work this week, not much time for anything else.

E has been racking up the Flyer Miles and seeing lots of cool stuff.

The Tour is coming to a close, great stage today. Parts of the tour (Green Jersey competition, Thor's Stage 17 breakaway, Columbia owning the flat stages, Lance's return) have been a lot of fun to watch. Other parts (Contador looking "too good", no real competition for the overall) have been a little disappointing. Thor Hushovd has been the highlight of the race for me. He has built a big lead in the points competition by riding aggressively and intelligently, to the point where Cavendish was penalized for Columbia trying to box him on Stage 14.

The problem I have with the tour is that it's become more of a measure of the best climber than the best bike rider. Alberto Contador has been dominant this year, winning in the mountains and in yesterday's time trial. I'm admittedly not a fan of his, but I really hope he's racing clean. It's sad that the state of cycling has me questioning every result. But when the 5'9" 140lb Contador is beating Cancellara in time trials, even with some questionable motorpacing, it's enough to raise some eyebrows.

Coming on the heels of DiLuca's positive in the Giro, it would be catastrophic to have to tour winner caught doping. I don't like even raising the suspicion of it, but Contador's performance certainly demands attention. If this were baseball or football no one would care, even open cheaters get away with trivial punishments. But Cycling cares about doping, and since Cycling catches and punishes its riders it is viewed as being a bigger problem.

If he's clean, you would think that yesterday's effort will leave him vulnerable for tomorrow's stage up Ventoux. We'll see, hopefully it will be an entertaining stage.

Kim Jung Il still needs a hug. Seriously this dudes need for attention is off the charts. You never know whether stories like this are true, but the keep the little dictator in the headlines.

Colbert's Health Care Hell-Scare - Die-agnosis: Mur-DR

Remember Iran? You know the millions of people that were in upheaval over a fraudulent election. Well, even the death of Michael Jackson didn't stop them (it just caused the media to stop caring). They're still fighting.

The World according to Pravda. Funny stuff.

I'll leave you with this bit of awesomeness:

July in SF

Is just stupid cold, and dark and rather bleak. I think every July I wish I was living somewhere (anywhere) else, but every year I make it through, and August is better, and September is better still.

I was planning on racing Sunday, but ended up riding 80 miles on Saturday so I didn't feel too motivated on Sunday.

The Tour has been fun. Most of the drama has been background stuff. I can't imagine anyone is surprised that Contador flew up Verbier yesterday. Columbia had a nightmarish today on Saturday, with Hancapie missing yellow by five seconds and Cavendish being penalized for an irregular sprint.

Next few days should be interesting. It will be fun to see who gets stronger and who fades.

Every time I see Contador do his stupid gun shot thing at the finish I think of this:




Elsewhere: Livestrong MCA!

Lock up your dogs, Vick's on the loose.

Another shocker, the former first ho's were a pain in the ass.

And the stupidest Republican of the day is in Virginia.

Quizes are fun

So take this one

San Rafael Twilights

I decided to not race in this one, but E and I went to see the pros. The women's race was really good, lots of breaks, lots of hard work. ProMan and Tibco fought it out for dominance and in the end, ProMan prevailed. Coming out of the last turn it looked wide open, then a bolt of lighting named Coryn Rivera struck, leaving me to mutter "Holy Shit" and the rest of the girls to watch in awe.


Ms Rivera sitting a comfortable second wheel.


Alison Starnes driving hard

The mens race was equally good, one of the best fields I've seen. USA Crit Champion Rashann Bahati, Ben Jaques-Mayne, Dan Hollaway, Freddie Rodriguez, Chad Gerlach, and the day's winner Ken Hanson, put on a great show. The final sprint was awesome, with Hanson just holding off Bahati for the win.

Unfortunately no pics for the men.

This weekend should be a good one for racing, Saturday in Novato and Sunday in Berkeley.

Weeds + Snakes

Just finished watching Season Two of Weeds. This is pure genious. Sorry- Embed is disabled.

Who Says the Brits are Repressed?

An Orgasm A Day?

Mr Slack believes that if teenagers are fully informed about sex and are making their decisions of their own will in a loving relationship, they have an equal right as an adult to an enjoyable sex life.

Maybe then they won't be resorting to using Mountain Dew as Birth Control?

Good People, Good Times

Really, it's hard to beat a DBT show. Whether it's the whole band, parts of the band, or former members of the band, you're going to see a good great show. Case in point, Patterson Hood & The Screwtopians last night at The Independent. It's so clear that Patterson loves being on stage playing music. I've seen so many bands put on a good show, only to follow it up with a disappointing performance. I've seen DBT, Patterson Hood, and Jason Isbell over a dozen times, and every show has been great. Patterson only played two DBT songs last night, which was a little surprising. One being Feb 14, which happens to be the song that introduced me to the Truckers (yep, I was quite late to the party). I loved last nights version, which was, in keeping with the show, very chill. The show had the same feel as listening to his new album does. I could have sat there all night listening, and been quite happy.



Will Johnson, front man of Centro-Matic and South San Gabriel when not a Screwtopian got to play his own song (and I cannot for the life of me, think of the name of it) which just confirmed all the more that I need to see a CM/SSG show. He and Patterson were great together.

The Truckers will be back with Booker T in October for Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, but I might not be able to wait that long.

JPW, we're going on that bike ride!

TdF Stage 6- Thor Brings the Thunder

Really, You Can't Make This Shit Up.

Arizona State Senator thinks the Earth is 6000 years old.

I'm sure there's a reason why it's 6000 years old, and not 5000 or 7000, but I really don't care. Stupid people annoy me.

Show of Hands

Who is surprised by this?

In a videotape obtained by CNN, a covert GAO inspector places a bag containing bomb components on an X-ray machine conveyor belt and then walks through a magnetometer at an unidentified federal building. Unlike some covert tests that use simulated explosives, the GAO used actual bomb components in the test and publicly available information "to identify a type of device that a terrorist could use" to damage a building.

Russia Does it Again

World’s strongest vagina breaks own record lifting 14 kilos

A Russian woman has set a new world record, lifting a 14-kg. glass ball with her vagina muscles.

I can't possibly add anything to this, except... why?

Tour Time

I typically prefer the one day races to the Grand Tours. But the French version just has so much pageantry that it's hard to not appreciate. So far, the race has been a blast and so many pieces are in place for this to go down as one of the best Tour's in History. Fabian Cancellara absolutely crushed the TT on Saturday, he's so fun to watch. It must be really demoralizing to everyone else when he's on good form. When he is, he's unbeatable. Speaking of unbeatable- Mark frikkin Cavendish- holy crap. The fastest guy in the race, no question about it. If he makes to Paris, it's difficuly to imagine him not winning the Green Jersey. Thor is hanging tough, but he's going to need to get/make some luck.



Ironic maybe that when the peloton split today, Lance was in position to jump with it, and Contador was not. I doubt it means much it the overall race, but I'm sure it's feeding the fires inside Astana. It just shows that the mental aspects of cycling are just as important as the physical ones.

On the course, seeing the conditions, everyone should have known that a split was possible. Still when Columbia made the move to break it apart only a handful of guys- notably Lance, Thor, Cancellara- were where they needed to be. Those that got left behind were screwed. For most of the GC guys, the gap wasn't fatal, but to the other Green Jersey contenders- especially those who were caught out by yesterday's crash- they have their work cut out for them.

Expect big changes in the standings tomorrow from the Team Time Trial.

Go Away Already

Despite her disastrous performance in the 2008 election, Sarah Palin is still the sexiest brand in Republican politics

Palin is unlike any other national figure in modern American life—neither Anna Nicole Smith nor Margaret Chase Smith but a phenomenon all her own. The clouds of tabloid conflict and controversy that swirl around her and her extended clan—the surprise pregnancies, the two-bit blood feuds, the tawdry in-laws and common-law kin caught selling drugs or poaching game—give her family a singular status in the rogues’ gallery of political relatives. By comparison, Billy Carter, Donald Nixon, and Roger Clinton seem like avatars of circumspection. Palin’s life has sometimes played out like an unholy amalgam of Desperate Housewives and Northern Exposure.

Music Update

I haven't talked about music in while and what better time than now? Lot's of good new stuff out, and some great shows coming up. I missed Deer Tick last night at the Independant (thanks United). Their new album sounds really good. Next Wednesday is Patterson Hood supporting his excellent new album, this will be the second time I've seen him solo, the first was in Atlanta and it may have been the best show I've ever seen. Also next week is Chuck Ragan, who is always a good show. Then Friday is Cracker, and yes, they have a new album out too. I like this album more than most of their older stuff, probably because P Hood was involved.

Other good albums I've been listening to:

Kristeen Young, Damien Jurado, Blind Pilot, and Dinosaur Jr. Oops almost forgot one of my faves, Silversun Pickups

This is Encouraging

It's a step forward at least.

Three new genetic studies are providing some tantalizing hints about what causes schizophrenia.