Sunday, April 29, 2007

Runner's Heights: Of Pickles and Bling Bling

Another 7-miler accomplished during lunch when the hot mid-day sun and the cool ocean breeze tried wresting control. There were fewer runners/joggers today but lots of bikers in colourful athletic appointments. I have always wondered why bikers would pay to advertise so many products on their clothing--from cel phones to hybrid cars. It might be that their sponsors need them as traveling billboards across the bike path on the beach.

We attended a live taping of Real Time with Bill Maher at CBS studios and the folks at CBS won't let you leave the studio once you are inside from 7-9 pm. So, with a restroom out of sight and out of the question, it's not so bad to be a tad dehydrated, which I was. Of course, after the taping, you can always head over to Canter's and ask the waiter to sit the water pitcher on your table and chug away. I did not do that--I chose to munch on some moist and vinegary kosher dill pickles that are compliments of the house. But I did remember (and I paraphrase here) about what Bill Maher said about the Pope being the one who started the rage of bling, blings--what with the gilded silk dresses, the rings, and the gaudy ornaments. Now, if only his Mercedes Popemobile had the chrome spinner wheels and Eminem on the boombox. What would Jesus say..."gold-studded dandy?"


Wednesday, April 25, 2007

Runner's Heights: The T-Rex and the Handstand

Attempted the 7-miler today. It is supposed to get easier but it's anything but that. Today's run was sans everything: no wind, no radio, no running partner, no strong sun to nourish the daylight. This was the taste of the solitude run...actually, that is not quite true because you meet and greet other runners up and down the Creek. But do they suffer and strain as much as I do -- that's cause for wonder.

How do water birds snooze on one leg? Does equilibrium just self-adjust to the intention of the bird? Or should the yogis and mystics spend hours studying storks and other water birds as the avians engage in a perfectly-balance reverie. And if birds are indeed descendants of dinosaurs, can a T-Rex conceiveably take a one-legged siesta? Or is the T-Rex more interested in a hand-stand with those stubby forearms because posterity is watching and exploring? One day, the Jurassic Park in Costa Rica will provide us with raw camera footage to answer these profound queries that stemmed out of the Creek.

Monday, April 23, 2007

Runner's Heights: Mangled up in Manglik

When you are running alone, there's nothing like some salsa music to set up a good canter. You just groove to the beat which makes your heart race. When you finally stop after your 5-mile run, your quads and knees remind you that you might have done something that you shouldn't have had. But hey, tomorrow is rest day--

And talking about remorse--I couldn't help but feel remorse at the way Amitabh Bachchan dealt with the "manglik" moniker attached to his daughter-in-law, Aishwariya Rai. While Big B professes to be the face of a modern, resurgent India, and the cultural mouthpiece of a progressive nation, in this case he promptly toes the Hindu male chauvinism line. The entourage of priests and astrologers hop stepping through as many temples as possible, trying to appease the Gods to undo Aishwariya's star-crossed fate...ah, the circus and the humiliation. As Big B and family dig deep into their coffers to extricate Aish out of her astrological birth defects, I wonder how deeply they are edifying misogyny and prejudice into the Hindu psyche.

Razor Pics: Hand of Golf