Dumbing it down for the peeps

I saw this on Shorey's blog and I had to check to see the level of my blog...

TV Reviews

Dang You, Hurt Foot

Thursday night on our monthly Austin Duathletes pub run I wore my Vibram Five Fingers thinking I had worn them for two weeks and my feet were ready for running in them. I guess I was wrong. The previous two weeks worth of wear did not prepare me for several miles of running on the pavement. While running I do not know if I stepped on something or rolled over on one of the toes but by the third stop, my left foot was hurting. By the fourth stop it was really in pain. And that was the end of my running for the night as I had to walk to the next stop.

Friday, I woke up and it was still really painful and I was hobbling along like a gimp. After going out to lunch and feeling light headed a few times because of the pain, I knew it was time to see a doc. At the doc's luckily I found out nothing was broken and I only had a soft tissue contusion. The problem is the pain is solely radiating from the area around the second toe, both on the top and bottom of my foot. So I cannot really walk normally as it hurts to roll up on the toes as I walk. I basically do this crazy side foot/heel walk.

Saturday, it was still swollen but not as painful. I was able to manipulate the second toe a bit to try to loosen it up but I still have the crazy limp shuffle walk going on.

Now today is Sunday and the swelling has gone down but the pain in the foot area still continues. Oh well, at least I had a reason to wear flip flops to church today. Of course this is South Austin and flip flops are a normal part of people's Sunday best around here. And now I have an excuse to ice my foot, wrap it, and prop it up and watch hoops all day. I guess being injured isn't all bad.

Please Support Me in the 2008 Tour de Cure

On May 17-18, I will once again ride from San Antonio to Austin in the American Diabetes Association's Tour de Cure fund-raising event.

Last year, with your generous support I was the among the top fund raisers in Texas. Thank you very much for giving so much to this great cause. Please help me once again raise money for the ADA by supporting me with a donation. You can donate from my personal page at:

http://main.diabetes.org/goto/timintx

Our efforts will help set the pace in the fight against diabetes.

Thanks

Tim

SXSW Recap

Another SXSW has come and gone and here is my recap:

Favorite Show: My Morning Jacket at the Austin Music Hall

Most pleasantly surprised: Nightwatchman at Ester's Follies

Favorite After-party: Pure Volume Ranch

Favorite Day Show: Friday Village Voice party at La Zona Rosa

Next year I think I will go back to my old style of skipping the wristband and solely hitting free day shows.

SXSW - Day 3

Start: 12:30

Spent all day Friday at a day show at La Zona Rosa. First band was the Cribs and I personally did not care for them. Next was the Black Keys, who were really good and I would definitely see again and will probably get their new album when it comes out next month. Next was the Soundtrack of our Lives, who certainly put on a big rock show. Finally was And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead. They were solid but did not smash any instruments which was a big let down.

The best thing about this day show besides the great lineup was the free beer and fajitas. I love SXSW during the day.

End: 6:00

SXSW - Day 2

Start: 7 PM

Well I tried to get into the Body of War showcase but when I hit Stubb's the line stretched all the way from the door down to 9th street back along Red River and almost to 8th so I knew there was no way I was getting in there. So I wandered the streets a bit just soaking in the huge influx of people.

My first stop of the night was at Barcelona to check out Shepard Fairey. Basically this was a DJ set and the only reason I was interested in it is Shepard is the founder/designer/guru of Obey so I was hoping they would have a cool poster for the gig and they did.

Next it was off to the Music Hall to hunker down for a few hours. First up at AMH were The Whigs and they put on a pretty good show. The Music Hall seems a little big for what they can do and they would have been better suited at a smaller venue. Next was Yo La Tengo, I do not know much of their stuff but they put on a pretty noise filled set. Finally, what I had been waiting for My Morning Jacket. They played for almost two hours and it was absolutely fabulous. Traveling the festival circuit they have certainly honed their craft to an art form. A great mix of new songs and favorites with a really intense light show. Certainly the highlight of my festival so far.

After MMJ I thought about hitting some afterparties but decided sleep was more important.

End: 1 AM

SXSW - Day 1

The annual music extravaganza SXSW started yesterday in Austin, TX, here is my recap...

Start: 4 PM
Akron/Family: pretty good
Ra Ra Riot: okay
Saul Williams: okay
Black Joe Lewis: This guy is from Austin and he was very good, I think he will have a much larger following in the near future
Deer Tick: it was okay but I was not feeling it, only stayed about 20 minutes
Wax Fang: nice gritty rock and roll, but the best part of the show was Jim James of My Morning Jacket was right in front of me, pretty cool
Nightwatchman: this was the highlight of the night, the Nightwatchman is Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine and he put on a great show, plus Ben Harper came out and played a song with him
Pure Volume afterparty: I was under the impression that they had gotten rid of most of the afterparties but I was certainly mistaken as this part went on until the wee hours and the free beer, liquor, soda, water, etc. flowed
End: 3 AM

A Year Without...Update

Well I am one month into my little no clothes buying experiment and so far it is going pretty well.

Since my pledge not to buy clothes I have not bought any, but have satisfied my new clothes hunger by receiving two tee shirts from my brother for my birthday and getting three Rogue shirts that they gave away when they moved out of the Annex.

5 new tee shirts with a total cost of $0

So my thirst has temporarily been quenched by freebies. Let's see how long that will satisfy me.

Amazing Saturday in Austin

Saturday was just your all around awesome day in Austin. First thing in the morning I got up and did a short little run workout. This was followed by a quick change and heading over to the Veloway to meet Shorery, Menard, Arturo, and a few of his friends. After a loop around the veloway it was off for two autobahn circuits, followed by another veloway loop. Including the ride to a from about 27 miles of riding.

By the end of the ride at 11:30 the mist had burned off and it was on its way to being a crystal clear blue sky day with temps around 80.

After grabbing a quick lunch and a shower Carri, Shorey, and I went and saw Semi-Pro at the Alamo. I felt the movie was pretty good. It was your typical Will Farrell comedy, and the only place in town to see it is the Alamo as they showed tons of really funny SNL, and Funny or Die clips before the movie.

After the movie the three of us headed to Barton Springs Saloon for a few beers on their patio.

Shorey left us at this point and Carri and I stopped and got a final beer at Boomerz before coming home and calling it a night.

A good day indeed.