My Happy Song

I'm not sure when it started, but lately there's been one song that I consider my "happy song." This song just makes me smile. It puts me in a good mood, and when I close my eyes, I can imagine myself in a Coke commercial circa 1978, holding hands with strangers on a hill and singing about teaching the world to sing in perfect harmony. Here's my list...

1. "Treehouse"- I'm From Barcelona *
2. "I Feel It All"- Feist
3. "Dashboard"- Modest Mouse
4. "Young Folks"- Peter, Bjorn and John
5. "Energy"- Apples in Stereo
6. "Sleeping Lessons"- The Shins
7. "The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song"- The Flaming Lips
8. "Massive Nights"- The Hold Steady
9. "Don Gon Do It"- The Rapture
10. "Blankest Year"- Nada Surf
11. "Kaboom!"- Ursula 1000
12. "Lightning Blue Eyes"- Secret Machines

* Current Favorite

Final Thoughts on a Scandel-Plagued Tour

It seems incredible to me that this year's Tour could provide bigger shocks than the 2006 Tour de France. Last year, before the race had even begun, the top two riders were thrown out because their names were linked to the blood doping scandal that had come out of Spain. Since then Jan Ullrich, who was the most gifted natural rider the sport had ever seen, has retired, his entire career a tragic series of missed opportunities and tactical blunders. Ivan Basso, the Golden Boy from two years ago and the man who was supposed to succeed Lance Armstrong, is facing a 2-year ban and was let go of the Discovery Team. Then there's Floyd Landis who "won" the 2006 Tour de France only to test positive for a banned substance and, a year later, is still caught up in legal battles to keep his Tour victory. This year was supposed to be a fresh start. The organization that governs professional cycling was supposed to be cracking down, and the teams themselves were supposed to implement their own anti-doping measures. So, with all the heightened awareness, how is that Alexandre Vinokourov, the race favorite, and Michael Rasmussen, the race leader, both got bounced during the race because of doping? Some people say that kicking the Astana and Cofidis teams out of the race and removing Rasmussen while he was in the Yellow Jersey somehow cleans up the sport because it sends a "zero tolerance" message to the riders. Others say that cycling is polluted with doping, and there's always going to be questions about whether a rider is "clean" (just like the ones that have dogged Lance Armstrong despite repeated blood-doping tests that were always negative). I fall somewhere in the middle. This year's Tour was great, despite the scandals, because it was about the next generation of riders. Alberto Contador is 24 years old. He could be the next great Tour de France winner, in the tradition of Eddy Merkyxx and Miguel Indurain. Tom Boonen is another young guy who's in top form and is dominating the sprints. He's incredible to watch. Fabien Cancellara is the time trial world champion, and his win in this year's Prologue was astonishing. The list goes on. However, my feeling is that the only way to really clean up the sport is to impose ever harsher penalties on the riders who continue to break the rules. I'm talking about a lifetime ban. Riders might not consider EPO worth the risk of losing their livelihoods which could eventually lead to a clean Tour. What happens next year is anybody's guess, but I'm hopeful. The Tour de France is a beautiful event, made even more magical when you know these incredible athletes are performing on their own and without the help of performance-enhancing drugs. I'd like to know that the man who ultimately stands on the podium in Paris wearing the Yellow Jersey got there because he really was better than everyone else, something that we'll probably never know about Barry Bonds as he breaks Hank Aaron's home run record.

Police @ Fenway 7/28/07

It's now the day after the Police show at Fenway, and I still don't have adequate words for the concert. Ever since I found out there was going to be a reunion tour back in the spring, I've been waiting for the show, and you'd think with that kind of hightened expectation, the actual concert would be a bit of a let-down. Au contraire. It was easily one of the best shows I've ever seen (Pink Floyd at Foxboro for the Division Bell tour edges them out slightly), and I think the venue definitely added to the magic. The first big surprise of the night was where we sat. I was not in charge of getting tickets so I had no idea where we'd end up. Turns out it was on the field. Six rows back. It was the best seat I've ever had by far. Looking back, there was a sea of people in the stands, and the perspective must be what it feels like for a Red Sox player during a game. The band opened with "Message in a Bottle" which immediately ramped up the crowd, and all the major hits were played... "King of Pain," "Synchronicity 2," "Can't Stand Losing You," "Every Breath You Take" and "Roxanne." But they also played lesser known songs off their albums which I figured might be a nod to the fact that the Police has a long history with Boston, something that Sting mentioned during the show. Songs like "Invisible Sun," "The Bed's Too Big Without You," and "Walking in Your Footsteps." One of my favorite Police songs is "So Lonely," and they played a fantastic version of it during the finale. Also at the end, a photo montage of the band in the early days flashed across three jumbo screens, and it was kind of cool to see the way it had been and what it is now. This was a once in a lifetime show, and it was awesome to be a part of it.

I do have to give a shout-out to the two knuckleheads "sitting" next to us during the show. If the concert had been any less great, they might've ruined the whole night for me. While the Police were onstage, on tour for the first time in 20 years!, these two guys kept leaving for more beer. I think they went back and forth 10 times. Obviously already drunk, one of them dropped his brand new iPhone and spilled beer all over his chair... and that was just during the first song. They were total assholes who didn't deserve to be there and who should've just stayed at the beer concession stand because, clearly, they were at Fenway Saturday for the beer not the band. Un-fricking-believable.

Viva le Tour de France!

The single greatest sporting event in the world is underway, ladies and gentlemen. For three solid weeks, 200 riders will endure grueling conditions through the heart of France until one of them gets to stand on the podium on the Champs-Elysees as the overall leader. It's a compelling race that combines physical ability with mental toughness and tactical maneuvering. There's drama, tragedy, scandal, pain, moments of sublime individual achievement and, of course, the "agony of defeat." One man wins overall, but he can't win without his team's support and sacrifice. So here's a basic primer for all you Tour neophytes...

1. The Prologue- A short time-trial at the beginning of the Tour. Some men specialize in this distance, and this year's winner, Fabian Cancellara, was incredibly dominant. An American, George Hincapie, was 3rd.

2. The Yellow Jersey- The overall race leader gets to wear the yellow jersey. It will usually change hands several times during the early stages of the Tour. There's strategy involved too with giving it away. If the leader wants his team to rest up before a difficult stage, he might let another rider win the yellow jersey so that another team has to ride hard to defend it.

3. The Peloton- The main body of riders.

4. A Breakaway- During a stage, some riders may break away from the Peloton with the hope of putting enough time between them and the Peloton to make it to the finish line so that one of them can win an individual stage. Sometimes it works, but the Peloton is capable of catching most breakaways, especially if the team with the yellow jersey decides it's too dangerous to allow one of the riders in the breakaway that much time in the overall standings.

5. Sprinters- These guys like it rough. When the Peloton comes barreling towards the finish line, it's like a stampede, but that's when the sprinters burst through tiny gaps between the riders to emerge ahead of the pack to take the finish. It's a crazy thing to watch, and if one rider bumps another, the whole Peloton can go down. Those crashes at the end are always the worst to watch. Riders to watch... Robbie McEwan and Tom Boonen.

6. EPO- The banned substance of choice among riders.

7. Polka Dot Jersey- The climber with the most points through the mountain stages gets to wear the polka dot jersey.

8. Time Trials- There are usually a couple time trials during the Tour. In addition to the Prologue which is an individual effort, there are typically two others as well as a team time trial. They can be kind of tense to watch because sometimes the outcome of the entire Tour depends on someone's time. Jan Ullrich used to be poetry in motion during the ITT. The team time trial is a little different because the entire team has to ride together, and the clock doesn't stop until the 8th rider crosses the finish line.

Worst Job Ever

The summer before my sophomore year in college, I got a job at a frozen pie factory called Rich's in Saugatuck, MI. The previous two summers I had worked at a couple restaurants where my family summered on Lake Michigan. The first went bankrupt; the second I abruptly quit and spent the rest of August on the beach before I went back to school. This new job sucked, and I kind of had that figured out on the first day. We had to wear all white... white shirt, white pants, white shoes and white hard hat over a hair net. It was an assembly line where the dough was formed over metal dishes, the fruit was measured out and dumped in, another layer of dough added and smoothed down. The work was utterly monotonous and soul crushing. Because I was in college, I was also a bit of a pariah since, I'm guessing, very few of the other people working there ever went. I mean, how else would you end up in a frozen pie factory? My second day, I was on the line after the fruit was dumped in the pie shells when I noticed one of the metal dishes didn't have a pie shell so I went to pull the tin out. Only the next section on the line was a round metal disk that came down and smoothed the fruit out, and the tip of my thumb was crushed between the two pieces of metal. This is the gross part. Immediately after it happened, I quickly stepped away from the line and ripped off my plastic glove. Just thinking about that kind of makes me queasy. The secretary had to take me to the hospital where the doctor removed the bit of nail that was still hanging on and stitched my thumb up. The very next day I went back to work, but because I was injured, I had to do something relatively easy. For the next month and a half, I stood beside a conveyer belt, looking for bits of dirt in the dough to remove. I've never had a Rich's frozen pie and never will. Because, somewhere, out there was a pie with a piece of my nail in it. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is my Worst Job Ever.

43 Things

A while ago, I came across an article about this website called 43 Things, and I was really intrigued. The premise is that, in a person's lifetime, it's possible to achieve a certain number of goals. Some can be silly, some serious, some truly life-changing. After I read the article, though, I promptly forgot about wanting to check out 43 Things... until today. So I signed up, and right now I'm trying to come up with my list of 43 attainable goals. #1 on my list- Ride a Mechanical Bull. Yee-Ha!