It's Time for the Boat Show

The Annapolis Boat Show is this weekend, and I was able to go with friends.  The show is enormous - every size sailboat from small dinghies to large schooners.  Plus tents and booths for all the nautical gear any sailor could wish for.  I didn't see all of it, by a long shot.  But I got a good look at some nice racing dinghies from Laser, some cruiser from Catalina, even the schooner Virginia, the state's official Tall Ship.

As is so often the case in big events like the boat show, there was absolutely nowhere to sit down and take a break.  I'm sore from being on my feet all day.  So today will be given over to aggressive relaxation.

Before the rest, though, there was the hockey game.  Some of my friends had tickets they were unable to use, and were generous enough to offer them to me.  They were up high in the corner, giving a pretty good view of all of the ice.  And it was a good game - the Caps trailed through midway through the second period, and took the lead late in the third.  There was some sloppy play early; it's only the first home game, so that wasn't too surprising.  That also meant we got to see them hoist the Southeast Conference pennant they won last season.

All of this made for a very long, fun day, but an exhausting one.  I'm already looking forward to  a few naps and going back to bed.  So  lazy...

Gordie Howe Hat Trick

A friend offered me a ticket to the Capitals pre-season game against the Flyers on Friday night.  It was pretty great - we were 9 rows behind the penalty boxes, as close as I've ever been to the ice at a pro game.  The Caps had a good game, winning 5-1.  We debated whether Ovechkin qualified for a Gordie Howe hat trick: he had a goal and an assist, and got sent to the box for fighting.  Problem was, it wasn't the gloves-off kind of fight that leaves no room for doubt - more of a scuffle.  And besides, it was preseason, so does it really count?

For a follow-up, on Saturday I biked over to the Shirlington Oktoberfest after checking out Art on the Avenue.  It was pretty fun, once I managed to meet up with friends and stow my bike at their house.  Great weather for biking, and the perfect way to avoid the headaches of parking.  It was an absolutely enormous crowd, which usually makes me kind of squirrelly.  But it was very relaxing, just hung out and tasted a few beers.  Afterwards, watched the first half of the Alabama game at the apartment before riding home.  And then watched baseball until bed.  Pretty good day, I'd say.

There Will Be Blood

Yesterday was an excellent day for sports. Well, for my teams, anyway.

For the Reds, rookie pitcher Johnny Cueto had an outstanding first start, hurling seven innings of one-hit ball. I didn't get to watch the game, since it was a Thursday businessman's special, but I did catch it over the fantastic Gameday service. I'm amazed how much that tool has improved over the past few years. It now includes data on every pitch's release speed, speed at the plate, break, drop, and position over the plate. The next frontier is data on the trajectory of batted balls, I'd wager.

After work, I joined Sarah & Paul and Zina & John at the Capitals-Lightning game. Washington pretty much had to win in order to stay in playoff contention. And despite the disparity in the two teams' records, it was a close thing for the first two periods. But things got awesome in the third. The Caps scored three goals, some brutal hits(Blood on the ice? Check), and a decent fight with about 20 seconds to go (if you are in to that).

We went to the game because of Zina, who got us a nice deal that also helped out Margie Shapiro's Team Spirit. She is trying to make the Olympic triathlon team, and Zina vouched for her. She sounds like a class act. And those tickets were 1) cheaper and 2) included a visit to the Dewars Lounge for free drinks and food. Paul estimated that at Verizon Center prices, the food we ate was worth more than the price we paid for the seats. If we didn't come out ahead, we may have broken even.

So it was a really fun outing, and capped a really nice day. In all, though, my favorite moment may have been during the first intermission peewee hockey scrimmage, when one kid (probably about 8 years old) got out on a breakaway and scored.

Feats of Strength

All kinds of athletic achievement happening this past weekend. First up, Kirk took 7th overall in the Chesapeakeman Triathlon, an Ironman distance race in Cambridge. It is an incredible achievement, demanding months of training to even finish, let alone place so highly. He even won his age group, one of the most competitive. I am very glad he is done, too, since now he may be free from time to time, instead of training.

Second in our weekend review was Sarah and rest of the Capital Rowing Club at the Head of the Potomac regatta. For those unfamiliar with crew racing, head races are to other regattas as marathons are to a 100m dash. This course ran down the Potomac from Fletcher's boathouse to the Roosevelt Bridge. That's about 2.5-3 miles. In 15 minutes. I managed to see the start of one of their races by riding up the C&O Canal towpath, and caught the finish of the women's 4 from the Kennedy Center. Even though the starts are staggered, coming around the turn in the river at Georgetown, there were 9 boats all bunched together, and Sarah's passed at least one other team. It was pretty exciting, actually. Though a word of advice, if you go to a crew race - save your voice, don't bother cheering. Especially at the finish, or even as they row back to the dock, 'cause they are zombies in the boat at that point.

Lastly, and most dear to my heart, baseball. What an incredible finish to the regular season. My Reds did not do well, but I am a fan of the game as well. You can read elsewhere about the collapse of the Mets, but there is one measure that stands out in my mind. The sabermetricians at Baseball Prospectus do a Postseason Odds Report - the performance of the teams is quantified, and then they simulate the rest of the season 1 million times, measuring how many times each team qualifies for a playoff berth. By this measure, the Mets had the second highest Playoff Probability of any team, ever, that managed to not make the postseason. This was an epic choke, one for the history books, bigger than Philadelphia in 1964. And a the same time, the Rockies and Phillies both played extraordinary baseball for the past few weeks to earn their chances. Look up their stats since early September. Yes, the Mets choked and the Padres stumbled - but Colorado and Philadelphia both deserve to keep playing based on the quality of play they've shown, especially recently.

Expertise

I like to think I know a little bit about some things. I'm not an expert about much of anything, just enough to be dangerous. But one of my chief pleasures is learning more, especially from people who are experts. And it is doubly enjoyable when they are passionate about the subject.

I bring this up because I recently had three very enjoyable conversations along these lines. The first was part of my ongoing rowing education courtesy Steph, Aaron, and Sarah. Aaron and Steph have explained technique and the various positions in the boat (stroke, "engine room," etc). Sarah has been teaching me about how they start, training methods, and coxing (which she did for the first time recently). I'm not a rower and don't imagine I'll ever find myself in a shell, but they make it interesting. Probably because all three of them clearly love rowing.

This past weekend, Chris was visiting while he was at a professional conference. He gave me a copy of the most recent Architectural Record. It had very interesting articles and gorgeous photos of the church of Saint-Pierre de Firminy by Le Corbusier, the refurbishment of Griffith Observatory, and other significant buildings. But what really got Chris going was the bit about the opening of Glass House. I'm not fluent in the design arts, so he had to teach my why Glass House was just an inferior rip-off of Mies Van der Rohe's Farnsworth House. In Chris's opinion, Farnsworth is "otherworldly" and a consistent expression of Van der Rohe's ideology and architectural ideals, while Glass House is the unwieldy marriage of the otherworldliness of Van der Rohe and the site-specificity and engagement of a Frank Lloyd Wright design. It was very cool to hear him hold forth.

And yesterday, I skipped out of work to have lunch with Sarah and Heidi, who is in town for a few days. She talked at length about her trip to China, how to find work in the pastry and 4-Star restaurant businesses, and Alexander Hamilton. I've always found Heidi to be much more culturally literate than myself, more traveled and with excellent taste. So I pay attention and try to pick up a few things. We talked about her visit to the National Portrait Gallery, and then about Hamilton. This was a bit more in my wheelhouse, but she just finished the latest big biography on him, and taught me a few things. So now I'm looking forward to getting that off my "to-read" shelf soon.

I am interested in all of these topics, in of themselves. But even more, I am interested in these people, and that includes their hobbies, interests, and passions. So I really enjoyed all of these conversations. They remind me how broad the world is.

The Strokes

I biked into DC this morning to watch the 14th Stonewall Regatta on the Anacostia. Steph, Sarah, Abby, and many other friends and acquaintances were racing, so I joined Sarah's husband Paul, her parents, and her dog, Louie, to watch and cheer. It was a long day, but a great deal of fun. I managed to get up close to the start of two of their races, and just barely made it down the river to the bridge in time to snap some photos. The slide show below should have a a link in the lower left to an album of the photos if you want to take a closer look.

I admit I'm a little envious of my rowing friends. Not for the actual rowing - I figure if I'm on the water, I want the wind doing the work. But I talk with Steph and Sarah often about their training and races, and it seems like they get a great deal of satisfaction from the experience. I doubt I have the competitive spark anymore to get up at 0430 to practice anything like they do. But they have this hobby, this sport, and it is something of substance they choose to do with their time. That is a fine thing to have, and I'm very glad for them. They did pretty damn well today, too.

Barfolomew

I was having such a nice weekend. On Friday night, Tyson came to visit, after finishing up his training at Yorktown. We went to Annapolis and visited the Oberlanders. Melissa made a really delicious dinner, and Kirk and Tyson got to catch up on 4 1/2 years of sea stories. Good times. On Saturday, I finally got the HD digital video recorder from Comcast, so I can watch the HD and record the HD channels. They seem to have accidentally turned on the premium HD channels as well, so the first thing I watched was The Empire Strikes Back. It's rough seeing Han get frozen in carbonite, but the asteroid chase in the Falcon makes it all worthwhile. Hmmmm, it seems I geeked out all over my keyboard there... sorry.

Steph & Aaron stopped by on Sunday morning so Steph could borrow my oven to bake a chocolate cake. The plan was I would come over after I finished my chores, and we would play Halo 2, watch a movie, eat, watch the Superbowl, etc. However, while I was doing my laundry, I started to feel awful. Weak, nauseous. But I rallied, because I really wanted some of that cake, and to have some fun.

And I did have fun, but I had to excuse myself a few times when I thought I was going to be sick. The pulled pork, the cake, everything was great. I just couldn't work up any appetite, which made me feel worse, since Steph & Aaron put so much effort into putting out a great spread. I felt ok while I was distracted by the game, or while we watched The Guardian (hoorah Coast Guard). But once I got home after the game, I barely got any sleep for the sickness.

I'm not looking for sympathy - everybody gets sick from time to time - but I wonder if maybe I was selfish. By going over for dinner, I'm worried I infected Steph & Aaron. So a word to the wise should be sufficient: if you get sick, quarantine yourself. Try not making your friends sick, too.

Delayed

Finally uploaded a handful of underwhelming photos from the USNA vs. UMass football game last weekend. Enjoy... if you dare!

Commentacular

I've had some folks tell me that they can't leave comments anymore, and I'm here to tell you: "It's not my fault." Well, it kind of is.

I recently upgraded from using the normal Blogger framework to the new Blogger Beta. It made it easy to make some layout changes, adds labels to posts, etc. However, it seems since I now have a Blogger Beta account, I can't leave comments on regular Blogger sites, and folks who use regular Blogger cannot leave comments on mine, unless they too trade up to Beta. Google says that this will be addressed, but nothing has happened yet. The workaround I use is to leave comments as a "Guest" user, and just manually add my name and a link back to here. Technology is a double-edged sword.

I had a very productive weekend. On Saturday, I visited Kirk, Melissa and Kolton in Annapolis. They have a kick-ass apartment right across the street from the Naval Academy where Kirk is teaching. We all went to the Navy vs. UMass football game, which was pretty great. We got a very low flyover from some S-3 Vikings, and watched the Brigade of Midshipmen march on to start the game. And the contest itself was a good one - Navy barely managed to pull it off, 21-20. Many, many turnovers, and some spectacular reversals of fortune. After the game, we went to downtown Annapolis for dinner - one of maybe two places I know where every bar serves a solid Dark and Stormy. I don't go to Annapolis often, so it a nice change of pace; next time I need to remember to take my camera out around town to get some photos of the old buildings, sailboats, etc.

Sunday also went well. I finally got some... stuff... to kill my crabgrass, so that got sprayed down. I got a new mailbox installed, so my letter carrier doesn't destroy all my letters trying to fit them into the matchbox-sized box I used to have. And I refined some details on the replacement duct-tape wallet I made Saturday. Not a day of earth-shattering accomplishment, maybe.

More impressively, Steph competed in the Iron Man Wisconsin race, in and around Madison. I followed her progress online, and she finished in 13:22:10. Apparently in quite punishing conditions, temperatures in the 50's with rain all day. It doesn't sound bad at first, but when's the last time you spent 13 hours continuously running in the rain?