long or wrong?

some days i feel like a brown bean...

bon news, bad news...

bad news: i went to the optometrist this week for a much anticipated eye exam. he told me that i was getting very old, my vision will only get worse, and when i get sick of taking off my glasses to see close objects, come back for bifocals. ouch. i forked over ninety bucks to be shot down in flames.

good news: the egyptian opticians did a really good job with my current glasses. they got the prescription spot on according to the doctor.

walk down memory lane...

i had a big bag of old t-shirts to sort out yesterday. THE find of the day? a shirt commemorating the 1978 commonwealth games in edmonton. my friends, it was like finding the holy grail. here's the bonus, it can be yours!!! wow, the first ever BTOG contest with a real prize. submit an essay, 1000 words or less but at least 50 words, expressing to BTOG the emotions you experienced as you watched diane jones-konihowski light the games' flame in commonwealth stadium back in '78. you have till december 19th to make submissions - just in time for xmas. out of town winners will be responsible for postage. good luck.

if there aren't any takers, i'll ebay the sucker. t-shirt memorabilia is sellin' for big bucks these days.

on more of a personal note, i found shirts that i wore for house league sports in junior high!! they still fit!! well, not really. anywho, i loved junior high. these shirts will be the first artifacts in the BTOG museum of natural history.

movie review...

on tuesday night, gina and dave showed up unannounced at my doorstep. i love their spontaneity sometimes. ha. they wanted me to go to the flix with them. the weather was frigid that dark and stormy night but i decided to go with them. it sure beat huddling in front of the puter all night long trying to draw every btu of heat coming off the screen trying to keep warm.

off we went to see the Bourne Ultimatum starring the always hot matt damon. i was in trouble even before i stepped in the theatre. little did know watching the first two movies of the trilogy would have been helpful in understanding the third. dave told me to focus on two words during the movie: amnesia and revenge.

without his advice i would have been totally lost because the the action started about 10 seconds in and kept going, at a million miles per hour, all night long: brilliant chase scenes, fisticuffs, gun play, bad guys posing as good guys, and relentless plot twists. with the occasional flashback, dave's answers to my constant questions that began with "what/who the hell was that...", and the mantra of "amnesia...revenge..." rattling in my brain, i managed to follow along.

my review: Ultimatum was astounding in a flabbergasting way.

my recommendation: go to the library and sign out the Bourne I and II dvds, then watch III again.

global warming...

what would a blog posting be without talking about global warming?

first, congrats to all my aussie friends for voting out their Bush crony of a PM.

second, my take on the current post-kyoto global warming talks in indonesia is this: china and india should call PM Steve-o's bluff and sign on to a pact that calls for mandatory c02 emission targets.

my prediction: PM Steve-o still won't sign on but it'd be fun to watch him squirm for a while.

the hills...

is this tv show for real? it's hot...

public service announcements...

(caution: do not lick metallic poles in sub-zero temperatures, you may be in for a nasty surprise)

for all those who know me, i'm pretty much a night owl. when i'm not partying or out on the town till all hours, i'm watching cool shows like letterman or conan.

suffice to say, the anguish i've suffered because of the writers' strike has been immeasurable.

for the love of god, i hope the repeats come to an end soon.

here's to the writers. studios, show them the money. they're not asking for the moon...

bubba's running tip of the day...

i'm often asked, "bubba, how do you pull off the herculean effort of running in minus 20 Celsius weather?"

good question, my friends.

first, minus 20 Celsius is nothing.

second, dress for the occasion. as with everything in life, it's not the volume but the quality of the clothes you choose that is the salient feature.

wear layers and wear them often.

for example today, for my upper torso, i wore 2 wicking layers comprised of nike "dry fit" material and 1 cotton long sleeve t-shirt. not finished yet... these were sandwiched between a base layer of MEC midweight transport long-sleeved polypropylene t-shirt and an outer windproof nylon jacket.

for the lower body, i wore a base layer of MEC midweight polypropylene long underwear. on top of that, my usually jogging shorts. then finally the gnarliest wrecked sweatpants (complete with strategically place vents) ever.

add mitts and a toque (with a totally breathable lining made of a super secret material), and i'm good to go.

(caveat emptor: the above ensemble is only meant as an anecdotal suggestion. if emulated, beware of any high voltage taser-like static electrical discharge that may occur upon disassemblage. persons with medical histories such as cardiac arrhythmia, and/or psychotic anxiety episodes should consult with a physician before wearing similar clothes and/or embarking on cold weather activities. BTOG is not responsible for any injuries resulting from electrocution or any other contraindications resulting from the above garment suggestions or extreme exercise programmes.)