99to1

I had a wrestling match with a new pair of tires for my bike on Sunday. Contentals are my nemesis.
1/2 an hour to change them over (it'll typically take me less than 5 minutes without tire irons). The bad news is that now I think I don't like them (haven't ridden them yet) and that I suspect they'll flat easily. The really bad news is that they will be as difficult to remove as they were to put on. The really embarrassing news???
In addition to ruining my hands....I ruined 2 tire irons...

Got a chance to see the Finns again Sunday evening.
Am swamped in the production department...corporate reorg seems to now be taking shape= more work stress.
Had a wonderful Thai massage with Christine.
AND a wonderful social visit with her afterwards...including Thai food.
Loren's vernisage tomorrow night, the dept biennial.
Her piece is absolutely wonderful...Without Desire...without Fear

And it is without desire or fear that I sign off to unload the dishwasher.

Iron And Wine on Itunes

Loren's text accompanying her 2 beautiful images

If I return to all the places
I have ever been
will I find my home?

If I cross the oceans
and climb the mountains
will I find a place to lie down?

If I walk around my mother's chair
a hundred times
will I have a seat
when the music stops?

Well it looks as if my initial cycling training for the 2006 cycling season has started (I don't compete).
Over at 295 tonight on the rollers. I pedalled to disk 2 of the music I used to use when I was teaching a spin class the the west island Y.

R.L Burnside, St. Germain, Jerry Jerry and the Sons of Rhythm Orchestra, The Police and Madonna...to name a few...oh yeah and even a Stakka Bo tune...Church of Consumption.

My arse hurts...is the close to the insertion points of my hamstrings near my sit bones??? The slight bouncing on the saddle really pummels them. Climbing stairs is kinds painful.

Any how... I'm actually trying to trick myself into doing some exercise so that I'll be able to pick up with my asana practice a little more easily. Just to break the inertia I'm confronted with...kapha you ask??

After the hour on the bike...and lots of sweat...I held the leg position of prasarita padotanasana for some time. Even did my Sharmila version of "A" for 1/2 a minute or so.

Here's the stats
Polar:
53:49 minutes, in zone 21:33 (the monitor is probably not calibrated for my zone) limits 119-156 bpm, ave 155 bpm
Cateye:
time 54:32, ave speed 31.3km/h, max 54.5, odo (will reset for 06 shortly), dist 28.55

Am finishing a Sleeman red, accompanied by a couple (I swear Loren, only a couple) of Cape Cod Whole Earth Collection garlic and herb corn chips...yummmm

Off to the country tomorrow to see Hannah and Comlin and hopefully Madeline for a Thanksgiving meal/weekend.
Might actually take some photos this time. Loren has done lots of cooking a baking in preparation (we've got a couple of pumkin pies!!). Looking forward to the getaway. Might not be able to let Zen run wild as she's just been fixed and is healing.

On iTunes: Calexico, Hot Rail

At least for fall wet leaves wet rocks riding.
Might be better for spring mud...I should pay a shop to remove them...they'll think I'm nuts...untill they try.
Just over an hour ride with Colin up at Lake Patrick...we had fun.
We had a really nice weekend with Hannah, Colin and Madeline...and of course Zen, the speed-muffin.

Speed Muffin

Me After a 2-Hour Nap After a 2-Hour Breakfast, After a Long Night

Indoor roller ride
Riding the Rocky Mountain with 26x1" tires...these ones don't suck. Though as I get fitter, I may swap them out for fatter tires to get more rolling resistance... the magnetic resistance attachment for these rollers is 150$.
Used my original cd to pedal along to, the one I made (in 2000) when Joe asked me if I would get certified to teach Reebok Cycle classes. Some very fun music on that disc...

And so as I suspected, the heart rate monitor needs calibration.
Even though I haven't personalized it, I thought it would record the limits of the session correctly. During Sunday's ride on the rollers (this time I had the unit attached to the handlebar mount where I can read it, instead of on my wrist) I noticed that during the heavy exercises (Drive in Drive out Dave Mathews Band) I was up over 180. On the stats page the workout limits are recorded as 119-156, though the ave HR is 161, and that probably is correct...more futzing with technology...

Giovanni will be picking up a set of rollers as well, and Greg is considering joining the fun, perhaps once a week.
I'd really like to see Greg... though he is the busiest man on the planet, and I just doubt that he'll be able to join us.

Polar
Time 54.55
In Zone 14:15
Limits 119-156
Ave 161

Cateye
Time 54.57
Ave 33.5 kmh
Max 54
Odo 152.8
Dist 30.71

On itunes...Ramasutra dance-type-stuff...not sure if I like

On the way to work this am, there was a partial rainbow in the sky. Oddly it appeared that the end would be located at my workplace...promising no? A pot of gold at the end of a rainbow right at one's working place??

I thought to myself this appearance couldn't last, and that by the time I got closer surely its end would appear
to be elsewhere.

And this indeed happened...only by the time I got closer, the rainbow was revealed in a full arch in the sky, and
now it was the other end which appeared to be located right at my workplace.

Had better keep my eyes open today...just in case there's a treasure in my path.

I've been reading I Am That by Nisargadatta Maharaj.

There's a lot I don't like about this book, but there's also a lot I do.

The thing that occured to me this morning is that there's a relationship between Nisargadatta's main message and the blessing at the end of most Anglican (Christian??) services.

The blessing goes like this...
In the name of the father and the son and the holy spirit, may the peace of Christ, which passes all understanding,
be with you, and remain with you, always.

Nisargadatta's main message is to go beyond mind and examine profoundly the sense of
I Am.

Where does understanding lay?? In the the mind you say? So when one experiences a peace beyond the mind...

" 'I am' itself is God. The seeking itself is God. In seeking you discover that you are neither the body nor the mind, and the love of the self in you is for the self in all. The two are one. The consciousness in you and the consciousness in me, apparently two, really one, seek unity and that is love."

I'm in touch with Ed...after 12 years?? Perhpas longer even...
We had a short chat this morning. He's open to playing music, and to travelling (he probably lives close to an hour away from me...or more). Looks like we'll be able to get a little shared practice space happenning at 295. He and Louise have three kids now, Daphne, Xavier, and Leaha.

I'm waiting for him to send me some mp3s of the music he's been working on...he warned me to not be afraid.
I think he's forgotten that I've probably listened to more Ed's Acid Bastards, than anyone besides himself.
Though I suspect he's correct...the style of music he probably doing right now will be a stretch for me...and most people.

The very good news about hooking up with Ed is that we both really want to work one-on-one for a (long) while.
That was the hardest part for me, when playing with another guitarist, Colin. Colin always wanted to get a bunch
of musicians together to jam...a very awkward dynamic for me...and my limited drumming capacity.

I hope we can satiisfy his need to complete songs he's currently working on and to forge/discover a new type of music.

I'm setting him on to Bill Frisell, in many ways I imagine Ed and Frisell as different aspects of the same person.
Or different persons with a similar aspect??

A new chapter begins...

And apple pie...
The kettle's boiling...the pot's warmed and I'm off to make tea. I'm going to finish off the last piece of pie that Doreen bourght Saturdaynight...I might even melt some cheddar on it.

Gio and I last did our first roller training...he did very well for his first time...lost it only about four times.
Heart rate over 182 and sprints was 54km/hr...will post the rest of the stats tomorrow.

And perhaps post more about my recent effort at vigorous asana...

Polar (still not claibrated)
Time 53.27
In zone 11.47
Limits 119-156
Ave 162

Cateye
Time 52.39
Ave 34
Max 57.5
Odo 183
Dist 29.8

And a really big BANG!
When we pumped Gio's tire to (beyond) max...and his old worn rim tore apart when the tire exploded.
Luckily we were not cut by the rim shard...photo to follow...

Our crash course on some hard business skills in the area of Change Management has ended.
Rushed introductions to theory and rushed simulations/labs...though it was a very good experience.
Looking forward to seeing how I may get the opportunity to use the skills...

From Nisargadatta Maharaj I Am That

"Find the spark of life that weaves the tissue of you body and be with it. It is the only reality the body has."

Pulled out the Darby and Nicole video to practice along with Sunday evening...thought it would be a good kick-start to
over come my kapha sliggishness. (I typically practice with my breath and that's quite slow)

It's been a very long while since I've moved at that pace and for that duration.
I practiced to navasana...I was zonked...and now I'm a good-ashtanga-sore-all-over.
It's a rediscovery of my hamstrings

Planning the same routine once a week for a while, in addition to sun sals at night or the mornings.

Arvo Part, Tabula Rasa
Stephen Micus, Music of Stones
Gyuto Monks, Freedom Chants From the Roof of the World
SteelyDan, Aja
Paul Simon, There goes Rhymin Simon

Your most marked characteristic?
boyishness

The quality you most like in a man?
humbleness

The quality you most like in a woman?
good taste is shoes

What do you most value in your friends?
the experiences we share

What is your principle defect?
primordial ignorance

What is your favorite occupation?
Learning

What is your dream of happiness?
to lessen sufering in the world

What to your mind would be the greatest of misfortunes?
not knowing when to listen

What would you like to be?
better at managing my time

In what country would you like to live?
Scotland

What is your favorite color?
perhaps green...or kind of a crimson...

What is your favorite flower?
sunflower

What is your favorite bird?
solitary bird

Who are your favorite prose writers?
not sure

Who are your favorite poets?
my wife

Who is your favorite hero of fiction?
Pi

Who are your favorite heroines of fiction?
Bat Girl... still

Who are your favorite composers?
Arvo Part, JS Bach, and Ed

Who are your favorite painters?
Klee, Hockney

Who are your heroes in real life?
Kukla and Luna

What is it you most dislike?
meanness

What natural gift would you most like to possess?
home repair

How would you like to die?
at an appropriate time

What is your present state of mind?
settling

To what faults do you feel most indulgent?
sloth

What is your motto?
life is what you make it

I had a wonderful dream last night...
The setting was a large social event like a marriage or some other celebration.
There were lots of people at the table and not everyone knew each other.
It was very a detailed ...I can remember exerpts of conversation even...
"If I understand correctly sir you are the owner of this enterprise?"

Any way, one of the important people at he table passed me his ring to look at (I think I asked to see it).
He must have been some powerful man to have such a magnificent ring...white gold...with an inner dual spiral encrusted with diamonds...very unique design/configuration an incredibly complex and beautiful structure...it was like looking at crystalized DNA.

While I was admiring it one of the diamonds became loose and fell into my hand. When I returned the ring, I made very sure to point out that it had fallen out and that I was returning it to him...he was very impressed with this gesture...as if he knew that I did not, even for an instant, consider keeping it.

Very hard to imagine that 15 years has passed...
Speaking with each other like the last time we spoke was a couple of days ago.
We exchanged stories and recalled how much fun we have shared (and of course how brilliant we had been) .
Looking forward to swinging into creative mode.

Really...just this morning...
OK so it wasn't actually Barbara Gordon or Yvonne Graig...it was my usual stylist (hair cutter??) dressed up as Bat Girl for haloween.
After recently citing her as my favorite heroine on the Proust...

Coincidence #1

Was channel surfing last night and stumbled across the show Classic Albums. I think on the civilization channel...and watched an episode based on this Steely Dan classic. Within just a few days of posting it as a desert island 5 pick.

Coincidence #2

Will coincidence #3 be the numbers on our lotto ticket???
(a pool at work, not Loren and I)

Further to this entry.
"60 psi???...naw you can pump'em up higher than that..."
And I proceeded to pump Gio's tire close to 80 psi...

That's the name of the first band I ever played in. We were a strictly Basement Band...never played anywhere else.
Since Scott is visible in the background, this photo is from Spot The Kiwi days...circa 1986/87. This is Ed (from back in the day).