the simanek six: music and cars

1. as i was doing my morning ritual post-coffee, a guy walks into the bathroom, saunters up to the urinal and as he's taking a leak, starts singing. and not just humming or singing softly. this was full-out american-idol-wannabe singing. i had a horrible time not cracking up at his penis serenade.
2. every wednesday at noon on our local hip-hop station, they have "way back wednesday" where they mix old school hip hop. they actually managed to mix in the Night Rider theme song with some of michael jackson's "smooth criminal" and made it sound crazy-good.
3. Q101 played a remix of Jay-Z's Big Pimpin' with the words from Billy Joel's "Big Shot". It was remarkably decent.
4. on my way downtown tonight, i saw a volkswagon bug with a "molleget racing" sticker on it. dude, you drive a VW bug...you're not racing a steamroller. on top of it, it was the TDI version (diesel). look at him go!
5. i saw a mid 90's jeep wrangler with chrome spinner rims on it today. i can't even fathom a comment for such a tragedy.
6. another ridiculous piece of automotive adornment came from a custom painted ford escort station wagon. not only was it a custom shade of purple-ish blue, but the guy actually spent the money to have his muffler painted to match the body. and not just the little tailpipe...it was the WHOLE THING. This made me wonder if this kind of thing could look good on any car. I determined that if you drove a red ferrari and had some bright yellow muffler tips, that would probably be acceptable.

running and eating

results from this weeks 4x1 mile repeats (3 minute recovery):
mile 1: 5:18 (third fastest mile i've ever had)
mile 2: 5:40
mile 3: 5:48
mile 4: 5:41
If you'll notice, when not hungover, i'm significantly faster.

Every tuesday at noon my buddy who is serving as my running coach and I do a hill workout. On the way home, we stop in to Portillos (a local hot dog joint) and pick up lunch and run back to work with it. Try carrying a large chocolate shake and a sack full of fat and preservatives while attempting a dead-out sprint some time. I feel very prissy doing it. It feels like one of those posture drills (like the ones you see on tv where morons are walking around with books on their heads). Anyways, I get back to work and am sitting in yet another meeting and begin eating my lunch. Two fully loaded hot dogs, a dipped italian beef with cheddar cheese, and a large chocolate shake later, and the whole room is looking at me like someone should grab the AED...just in case. Well, it amused me anyways.

it motza been a good trip!

last weekend took me to texas to see eric and his family for the jewish holiday of passover. during the seder dinner, we played a rousing game of pin-the-yamulkah-on-the-catholic where everyone got a good laugh out of me trying to pronounce words common only to those who light the menorah. Oy! The thing I love about the holiday is that it is mandated by God that you drink 4 glasses of wine at this meal (at minimum). Well, if the Almighty says so, then I guess we simply have to do it. By the way, Manischevitz tastes like alcoholic grape kool-aid...only sweeter. I think I got just as much of a sugar buzz as i did a liquor buzz. By the end of the night I half expected a giant square wine bottle burst through the wall and say, "oh yea!"

Not only did I get to participate in a Jewish holiday but the highlight of the trip was getting to see my nephew Jack who is three (in spite of his 6:45 wake up calls). If he keeps up his basketball skills, he's the next J.J. Redick. The kid is hitting shots on a 10 foot rim with his mini-ball already. Incredible. He also manages to make me feel incredibly dumb. I was sitting on the patio drinking a beer taking a break from making clover, rosemary, leaf and random-weed soup with him when Jack spots a spider.
Jack: Uncle Mike, are spiders oviparous?
Me to my brother: What did he just ask?!
Eric: Are spiders oviparous.
Me: What the f...freakin' heck does that mean?
Eric: He's asking if they come from eggs.
Me (with big dumb/astounded look on my face): Yes Jack, spiders are oviparous.

We continue talking about what other animals come from eggs and things. It turns out that my brother, the biology/chemistry extraordinaire, did NOT teach him this. He learned it in preschool. Standards are certainly much higher than when I was in preschool. Damn!