ianknox.net

Man do I need a beer.

As promised here’s a map of the course (there’s also a neat-o interactive one here). I should be moving at around 8:15-8:30 per mile. Given approximately a ten minute lag time to get across the starting line here’s a breakdown by mile marker where I should be.

All times are approximate of course. I’ve never done this before so I have no idea how much this will vary– Plan on as much as fifteen minutes either way and I think you’ll be safe.

• Mile 2– 8:26:30am-8:27:00am
• Mile 4– 8:43:00am-8:44:00am
• Mile 6– 8:59:30am-9:01:00am
• Mile 8– 9:16:00am-9:18:00am
• Mile 10– 9:32:30am-9:35:00am
• Mile 12– 9:49:00am-9:52:00am
• Mile 14– 10:05:30am-10:09:00am
• Mile 16– 10:22:00am-10:26:00am
• Mile 18– 10:38:30am-10:43:00am
• Mile 20– 10:55:00am-11:00:00am
• Mile 22– 11:11:30am-11:17:00am
• Mile 24– 11:28:00am-11:34:00am
• Finish Line– 11:45:30am-11:52:00am

If you’re planning on being on the course, drop me an e-mail or leave a comment here and let me know where you’ll be (what side of the street in particular) and I’ll keep an eye out for you!

It all began with this post to my blog about a year ago. I doctored up a picture about Samuel L. Jackson’s movie Snakes On a Plane, made a funny comment, and moved on.

Cut to a few days ago. I was checking the web stats for my blog (which I haven’t been particularly good at updating over the summer months) and I noticed a had some very odd sites linking to mine– people I don’t know about on topics I don’t care about. After a little digging it turns out the reason is that they are direct linking/in-line linking my Snakes On a Plane picture. Now in case you don’t know what it means here’s the brief version. There were using pictures hosted by my web server for their websites– more from wikipedia
This pissed me off pretty well. If you’re going to take someone else’s artwork (and yes I use the term VERY loosely) and post it on your site at LEAST have the decency to

A: host it yourself and

B: ask permission first.

So I replaced the image with this:

This made me a feel a bit happier and it was taking up a LOT less bandwidth since the new one is much smaller than the original.

Cut to this afternoon. I was taking a closer look at the past few months web statistics and discovered the extent the linkage had gone, and how much it was still going.

Holy Crap! Over 7 GBs of data in August! 800,000 people viewed it! I never suspected that it was so widely linked. After doing some more digging it seems it’s still in very wide circulation, the numbers are decreasing but we’re still talking hundreds of thousands of people looking at this image I control over the next few months. The number one culprit?

MySpace.

Now I really hate MySpace. It’s an unattractive, annoying, pit of Internet stupidness. Yes I DO have a profile there but only for the purpose of keeping up with a few friends who are otherwise difficult to reach/keep up with.

So here’s the dilemma– I have the ability to replace that image again with whatever I want. It can be crass, ugly, gross, insulting, or whatever I want it to be! I can even advertise a good cause or my own website. My revenge on MySpace for being a eyesore on the face of the Internet is at hand!

What should I do? If anyone has brilliant idea’s please leave them here as a comment– but for right now I’m going to ponder the possibilities and giggle happily.

The first snow always makes me very, very excited.

2005 Chicago Half Marathon results

• Place in my age/gender bracket(25-29 male): 443 out of 561
• Place overall: 4306 out of 7145 finishers
• Age: 27
• Time for the first 1/2 of the race: 1:08:35
• Overall time: 2:14:43
• Pace: 10:17 per mile
• Afterwards: Hobbled to the bus, wrapped my feet in ace bandages and spent the rest of the day on the couch.

2006 Chicago Half Marathon results

• Place in my age/gender bracket(25-29 male): 191 out of 671
• Place overall: 1400 out of 8989 finishers
• Age: 28
• Time for the first 1/2 of the race: 56:01
• Overall time: 1:47:52
• Pace: 8:14 per mile
• Afterwards: Ran another 7 miles for marathon training then went for a bike ride with some friends.

Bring it Chicago Marathon. I’m ready for ya.

So Sally left me.  Well she ran away with Glen– Although he did pay me for her, so I guess it’s not such a bad deal.  The nice part is that made room in the hallway for Shannon (bigger!):

Shannon is a Bridgestone RB2 which was designed by the legendary Grant Petersen of Rivendell Bikes and I gotta tell ya, that guy knows his stuff.  Even with both wheels badly needing truing and air it rode like a tightly spinning gyroscope all the way home from the loop.  The only concern I have is that the rear hub is pretty much shot and the front chainring seems a bit warped (I’m hoping it’s just the big chainring) but neither one of those should cost too much to resurrect this classic.

If you happen to dig it check out Sheldon Brown’s page on the old Bridgestones– there’s quite a bit about them that’s well ahead of it’s time and it makes for some interesting reading.

For some reason I am really not photogenic. I mean, if I sit there long enough with a camera I can take a picture that looks like me, but more often than not in quick snapshots I’m the guy who looks either like a goon, a goof, or a monster from another planet. This is why I was amazed when my friend Julie managed to take a casual snapshot of me that not only looks like me, but that actually looks good!

Too bad there’s not much call for shots of me sitting on the sidewalk next to a trash can and a bike.

Tantalus has another show running that I somehow neglected to list here. I’m not involved in this one but please come out and support the arts, eat some food, and hear som great stories!

Here’s the press release.

The Strange Dreams of Nobody in Particular is a timeless pageant celebrating the power of stories. Tantalus Theatre Group presents a three-night mosaic of storytelling, song, spectacle, and food. Come hear the story of the child emperor, the tragic fall of his magical kingdom, and the hope that made his people whole again. Join us around the campfire and celebrate with us the simple magic of a story well told.

Matthew Rossi proposed this mosaic of storytelling and song to the Tantalus Theatre Group last year. His idea was to tell a story by telling the stories surrounding it. It would be like learning the story of Hamlet through the stories of Fortinbras, Polonius , Rosencrantz, and a guard in the castle Elsinore. The project began to take shape this winter with the help of Apollo M Weaver who joined the writing team and was signed up to direct the production. By the spring they had created a complete three-night epic that told the stories surrounding the Child Emperor and his palace made of paper. After a period of work shopping, the production got underway with the help of the talented cast of Mikayla Brown, Tina Carney, Jordan Keller, Joanna P. Lind, and Parrish Morgan. Each night’s performance is a celebration so come join us for stories, songs and food around the campfire.

Schedule:
The Storied Sun: Fridays June 16 - July 21
The Fall of the Tower: Saturdays June 17- July 22
The Rising Moon: Sundays June 18 - July 23*

All shows are at 7:30. In heavy rain, the show will be cancelled.

*On Sundays July 2 and 23 we will present all three stories:
3:30: The Storied Sun 5:30: The Fall of the Tower 7:30: The Rising Moon

Location:
Waters School Community Garden (Sunnyside and Campbell - 1 block West and 2 blocks South of Western Brown Line.)
Map

Cost: $10 suggested donation

Concessions will be available at all shows.

Yep it’s time for yet another Tanta-production! I’m AD on this one so you won’t see me on stage, but come on out and support the arts (and for that matter the artists). I really think it’s going to be a fun show to see– heck 12 foot tall puppets in a 11 foot tall space is reason enough to come see it.

Here’s the official press release:

02/11/06

– For Immediate Release –

The Tantalus Theatre Group Presents: The Serpent Woman

By combining elements of commedia, fairy tales, a classic love story, and giant puppets the Tantalus Theatre Group has created a new and exciting production of a classic Italian commedia script.

The original production of the Serpent Woman by Carlo Gozzi was popular in its time but the years, and subsequent translations, had not been kind to its audience appeal. Devin Brain (director and Tantalus Theatre Group company member) adapted the script to both simplify the overly complex plot lines, and to further explore the darker, more frightening side of the fairy tale archetypes.

The project really got off the ground when Brain teamed up with veteran puppet maker Marc Chevalier. Marc wasn’t daunted by Devin’s artistic concept; take a very small theatre (the Side Studio with a capacity of about thirty people) and place the largest, most technologically advanced puppets he could into it. Marc has created larger than life, fully articulated puppets of mythical creatures that take up to four actors to control.

The combat sequence between the main character Farruscad (played by Andy Kirtland) and the 12 foot tall skeletal giant posed a particular challenge to Lindsey Noel Whiting whose influence can also be seen in the hypnotic fire dance inspired by traditional Indian candle dancing.

Plot Abstract:

Farrascad is a mortal man trapped in a fairy kingdom who must overcome his own nightmares to be reunited with his true love, despite the efforts of the mischievous fairies Farzana and Zemina who long to keep her for themselves.

The show opens February 24 and runs every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at 8 pm through April 1.

The Side Studio 1520 West Jarvis Street (map)
Tickets $10.00

Phone for reservations: 773-960-2066

P.S. I know I owe the world an U/RTA update but that post takes more time and energy than I have right now– Expect it once SW opens!

Hear that?

That’s the sound of my head imploding. I’m not going to have much time to update this between now and the middle of February. Grad school preperation, The Serpent Woman, and work stress have my plate about as full as it can be.

Now, if I keep focused I think I can make sure it doesn’t stop spinning…