Baking in the sun

Just time for a short post today in between getting back from the wedding of a couple of GBTC members, Brad and Laura, and heading out to Seattle for some good coffee, some grunge, and a meeting of computer scientists. The complete set of wedding snaps can be seen here.

There were many musical highs and lows for the week. On the low side, I probably don't need to hear another Jimmy Buffett or Bob Marley song for a very long time. Nor do I ever need to hear "Nights in White Satin" in a Karaoke bar. By a 60 year old woman. On the plus side, we did get to go dancing at the Love Shack - not the original one in Georgia, which burned down in 2004 - but a charming facsimile built in the parking lot of a strip mall on St. Thomas. The music spanned 5 decades, and parts of it were excellent.

So, here is Love Shack by the B-52s - which, by the way, the Katies and I sang in the aforementioned Karaoke bar. Sadly, no audio recording was made.

Love Shack - The B-52s.

One small step...

Cantabloggia fans have been waiting with bated breath for news of my running progress (or else waiting for me to get off the torn meniscus theme and back to architecture).

So, the news today is that, for the first time since February 12, I went running. Total distance, approximately 1 mile. Pace: about 9:30 per mile. I would like to say that it was completely painless, but that would be stretching the truth. However it was pretty comfortable, and as my good orthopedist kindly pointed out last week, I did sustain the equivalent of two stab wounds to my knee just three weeks ago. So I'm willing to believe that it's going to keep on getting better. Still, I guess I'll be keeping up the cycling to maintain fitness for a while since I don't see myself running a fifty mile week in the immediate future. Well, I wanted an excuse to buy a new bike anyway. Comments on the merits of carbon fibre and Shimano Dura-Ace vs Campangolo Chorus welcome.

[Quick Update on Sunday April 9: ran 1.5 miles at 8 minute pace. Felt much better than Friday. At this rate I predict a four minute mile by the end of the month.]

Speaking of competitions between collections of high performance machinery, here is a cool mashup that my almost-relative Kim sent, by the aptly named Bastard Runners:

Don't Start me Down - Bastard Runners

In case you are wondering, ELO are singing "Grus" not "Bruce" in that song, but many people think otherwise.

And on the Armstrong-on-the-moon theme, I'll throw in:

David Bowie - Moonage Daydream

from the excellent Bowie at the Beeb collection of early BBC performances.