April was a phenomenal month, much better than even I could have expected. The month did get off to a slow start with a couple of really painful days that cause a few days off from the running on the treadmill and getting my taxes finished took a couple of days away from the running as well, but the second half of the month, I just stepped it up a notch and finished the month exceeding even my expectations.
As my blog readers already know, I purchased some new Nike running shoes in the last week and they’ve make the biggest difference in the world in my running. I never would have believed what a difference it could make had I not experienced it myself. A friend of mine, Antonio Roderick, recommended getting sized for running shoes and I picked Road Runner Sports to get sized for new shoes. Their evaluation of my feet determined I have high arches and and overpronate when I run, so I should pick shoes from the “Stability” category of running shoes and $70 bucks later, I had some new shoes that feel so much more supportive of my feet, and having done a few runs in them now, have relieved me of all the pain I’ve endured the last couple of months. Sounds like $70 well spent to me.
Continue reading Running Update With Nike+ April 2009
The most amazing book about ABBA’s music is the one called “ABBA: Let The Music Speak” by Christopher Patrick. This book which is subtitled, “An Armchair Guide To The Musical Soundscape Of The Swedish Supergroup” is exactly that in that Christopher Patrick is a musician and he is able to musically guide us through every song in the ABBA catalog from the perspective of a musician. Everything you could possibly want to know about the construction of an ABBA song musically is there. 
I’ve long felt that the music industry has been out of touch with reality with the business model it has been using since the Internet became so popular. My opinion remains unchanged but I wanted to share a recent experience, that had the record industry been set up to capitalize on it, they would have not only gotten a sale from me, for which I was perfectly willing to spend money on, but because of sheer stupidity and region issues, I was forced into downloading for free, what I was perfectly willing to pay for. 
of my favorite group, 
Since running has become part of my routine and my endurance has been building steadily since I started my running program at the end of November 2008, it seemed that the cheap Court Classic brand shoes I bought from Costco many, many years ago but barely used prior to my running program needed to be retired. They were fine for a couple of months, as I went from a complete novice at running to about the point when I first got afflicted with shin splints. I suffered through the shin splints and the increasingly sore knees for longer than I should have, but what can I say, I’m a little stubborn about feeling like I’ve not gotten my money’s worth out of the products I buy. 
With the election of Barack Obama to the Presidency of the United States, and the election of the most liberal congress in many years, the concern is that socialistic government ideas are going to be making their way to America and turning America into another Sweden. Sweden is one of the most highly taxed nations in the world and “The Daily Show With Jon Stewart” a politically minded show with a strong emphasis on the comedy of it, takes a satirical look at what they dubbed, “The Stockholm Syndrome.” 
It was sad news to hear that Bea Arthur, best known for her role as Dorothy Zbornak in 
, a role she would later reprise in a 
. 
is having an incredible sale on the First Season Blu-Ray Box set for 
The 
is an amazingly simple and fantastic hand-held device that allows you to take self portraits without your arm being in the way. The amazingly clever device that telescopes out 18 inches allowing you to include more of your background and allowing the objects in the photos to appear more natural without any arms in the picture. 
I recently received a recipe for a sugarless brownie that sounded rather interesting, so I decided I should try and make one. If the brownies turn out as delicious as they were described, then this might make for a great way to curb a sweet tooth for cake. 
Finally everyone in the United States has a chance to try the amazing grilled chicken that Kentucky Fried Chicken has been test marketing in San Diego and a few other select cities for the last year. As I wrote in my original blog post on February 19th, 2009 (