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Yay! Weddings!

I put together a video/picture montage of Jesse and Alicia’s wedding. Check it out here. Ideally, watch it with sound. It’s much better that way.

Jesse and Alicia’s Wedding from mikedidonato and Vimeo.

Congratulations Jesse and Alicia!!

Jesse and I have been talking about my buying out Jesse’s half of the house. Last night we completed negotiations.

The negotiations were a perfect mirror of the excitement that is the House of Rock. Jesse and I were going back and forth, each of us trying to be fair but at the same time looking out for our own financial stability. It got down to an $800 difference in our prices. This may not seem like a lot in the grand scheme of things, but 800 is 800. And both Jesse and I are cheap.

I offered to split our difference at the half-way point: 400. Jesse said 500. Neither of us would budge.

We stared each other down and then… sat down for a $100 game of backgammon.

An eerie silence fell across the table. We set the doubling cube aside and positioned our pieces on the board. Jesse and I play very different games of backgammon. I’m aggressive and take chances, Jesse tends to be calculative and more conservative. I think I have an advantage on him in the main play, but his end game is flawless. Recently, most of the games have gone to Jesse. His end game is too good.

The starting roll went down. Jesse would start with a 5-2.

Game play continued from there. Jesse had an unlucky streak of rolls with consecutive 5-2’s for three turns. I followed with consecutive 1-2’s (not quite as bad considering the layout). But the critical point came halfway through.

I had five points covered, split half way through by an empty spot. Jesse was on the leading edge of my potential prime and had a single piece on that dividing point. I rolled a roll that gave me the opportunity to hit his guy. But at the same time it left me open to a risky coup by Jesse’s leading piece. If Jesse could knock my guy back, the potential for a prime would be lost and Jesse, whose home row was locked down tighter than Fort Knox, could surely capitalize on his superior end game. But if the dice fell in favor of the D… a prime would be one roll away and with it victory would be all but certain.

I went for it.

Jesse rolled…

.

.

.

Some say that as the dice dashed across the backgammon board guitar distortion could be heard throughout the Appalachian mountains. Others report that the clouds above Connecticut parted and a haunting figure of Jimi Hendrix could be seen walking down Plumb avenue, Stratocaster in hand. What can be certain is that when those dice came to rest an epic era of the House of Rock ended and two fiends started their journeys down diverging paths.

Here’s to good times, good friends, and great rock. Jesse will be missed greatly.

A week ago I was at Ryan and Ruth’s place and I happened to look at the calendar.

On Saturday, July 7th was written: “Get married. Quarter to 5am. The Knob. $75.”

“Ruth?”
“yeah mike d.”
“are you getting married on Saturday?”
“… maybe…”

And sure enough, they had a secret elopement!

Photos!

Let’s talk fashion. Here we have Ruth in a stylish yet comfortable dress with matching accessories. Notice the necklace and earrings. Ryan’s decision to go with a bold pink collared shirt was a wise one. The pink works well with his complexion.

Here they are exchanging vows. Notice the official paperwork of the judge, complete with official alligator clip.

“The Knob” is a pretty beach spot in Falmouth. Ryan’s sheer joy is evident in this photo.

Tim Sweetser got married too? Tim chose to go with a short sleeved collar shirt. This business casual look is particularly fitting as Tim is a mathematician and his shirt resembles graph paper. Let’s get a close up on the shirt.

See that? I do not lie.

Champagne for everyone!

Congratulations Ryan and Ruth!!!

Does someone want to get me some of these for my birthday?

from Ben.

Devin ran 50 miles this weekend. Here is his memoir.

“Ready! GO!”
No starting gun, no count down, and two minutes after the “official” starting time. The only thing left to do now was run.

Earlier that morning, in the pre-dawn stillness that can only be seen at 5:00 AM in the middle of April, the weight of the endeavor I was about to undertake was too heavy to bear. As Casey was taking a shower, I decided to head over to the lodge and try to eat something. I had packed bananas and peanut butter and some oranges, but that morning, the thought of eating any of that stuff just didn’t seem appealing to me. In the lodge I was able to get a few muffins down, followed by a number of cups of water. The food sat in my stomach like a stone, oh well, whatever. After that I headed back over to the tent to put on my t-shirt with my number on it. I soon figured out that the cool thing to do was to cut your number down and pin it on your shorts, oh well, next time, you only get to be a newbie once.

Motivate

The day before, the folks at registration were suprisingly non-instructive:

“I’m here to register”
“Whats your name?”
“Devin Krevetski”
“There ya go Devin.”

After leaving the registration building and realizing we had no idea where to camp, we decided to return, and ask directions. The second time we returned, a nice guy came out and showed us where to go:
“Yeah, camping is right down there, and we serve dinner over at that lodge, and in the morning there will be coffee and stuff in there. Tommorrow there will be 300 people here, so just follow the crowd.”
His name was Scott Mills, he was the race director for a time, but he had since moved to California, and he was just back to run.

He was right. At about 5:40, I met back up with Casey, we hung around inside the lodge waiting for everyone to do something. About 6:00 am the tides changed and everyone starting sauntering over to where we were to line up to start.

We got down to the start. There was a clock with the time on it. It was 2 minutes to start. We had a nice volunteer snap our picture in front of the clock, Casey looked tired, I looked nervous.
I gave her my jacket, a kiss, and wandered over to where all the people with numbers pinned on their clothes were standing. There was a nervous energy about, some folks joked, others were quiet, some stretched, some chatted.

“So is this the start of the 5K?” I asked.
Everyone laughed.
I would get a lot of mileage off that joke.
Shortly there after, we were off.

The course looped around the park that the race started in to spread the runners out, less than a mile later, we were back at the start heading down a trail towards the river. This stretch of trail Casey and I had hiked the day before, it was nice, but to see a huge conga-line of runners heading down it was quiet surrealistic. I just slowly ambled along, trying to ignore the pace of whoever was in front of me and paying attention to my own body’s signals.

Soon we met the river and hung a sharp right. From here, the course would follow the river along until a creek crossing and a trail junction. We would cross the creek and run 7 miles to the first aid station. It was pretty easy running, there was a short technical section that wasn’t an issue so much for me, but everyone was walking it so I figured I was in no rush. The trail I had trained on was a lot steeper and much rockier, and for that I am very glad.

I was paying attention to my knee, it would act up here and there, but nothing serious, yet. I was pissed. I couldn’t believe it. I decided to keep running until the pain was too much, then I would stop. I had actually given up at finishing 4 miles into it, because I knew my knee wouldn’t last.

Soon the trail left the river and headed up into the rolling hills along the valley, nothing was too steep or too long, I could have easily run the hills, but I knew I had a long way to go, and I figured I would take it easy. I also was still following in a line of runners, and I figured they had a better idea about what they were doing than I did, but that didn’t last.

Most folks where walking the hills at a pretty slow pass, huffing and puffing as they went. I had trained religiously on the hills, so even though I knew I could run them without going anaerobic pretty easily, I took the easy approach. I finally realized that I could walk the hills and STILL pass folks comfortable, I started doing just that. The trail was in great shape and it was really nice to be running after 2 and a half weeks off, before I knew it, I came upon Centerville Road, the first aid station, 7.2 miles, or 2.31 5Ks into it.

That first aid station was a blur. There were runners everywhere and folks yelling at me asking me what I needed in my bottle. I asked for some water, as I sipped it, I saw Casey. I’m not sure what happened then, conversation-wise, but I’m pretty sure that it had to do with food or drink or something. I dropped my fanny pack with her, and ran off down the course with just a hand-bottle of Cytomax. From this point, the course heads another 2.2 miles up the river, turns around, and heads back to the start. This was also the point that I was passed by the Front runners, who were
at this point already 4.4 miles ahead of me, and moving REALLY fast. I was amazed. I just continued on my merry way down the trail. The course followed the Bull Run closely here, so it was pretty flat. At this point also, everyone was passing everyone else, because some folks were running out, and some where running back, and the awesome thing was that everyone was encouraging everyone else, all encouragement was some form of either “looking good” or “keep it up”. It was really nice.

The turnaround caught up to me abruptly, there were these two gentlemen standing in the middle of the trail, next to two Starbucks cups, an empty beer bottle, and a flower all stacked up like a cone. I do-see-doed the cone and headed back the way I came.

I was back at Centerville in no time. This time I left fully stocked, loaded with my fanny pack again, a bottle of water a bottle of cytomax, 2 granola bars, and 2 packets of Gu, for the 5 miles back to the start, where I would meet Casey again.

So far in the race, I had drank roughly 2 quarts of liquid and consumed somewhere along 400 calories. The long of the short of it is that you need to consume more than water to go 50 miles, and thats all there is to it.

The night before Casey and I ate pasta and salad and chicken at the pre-race briefing. We sat with another couple, in hopes that maybe we would get to know sombody.

I guess his name was Bill, but this was his third year running the Bull Run Run, and it was by far his favorite race. When I told him it was my first, he asked me if I had trained significantly, I told him my longest run was 24 miles, and he said that was just fine. That made me happy. This whole endeavor had intrigued Cas from the beginning, and she asked Bill’s girlfriend/wife/whatever if she had done anything like this.

“I did a 5K, and that was enough for me”
I guess we all have different ideas about the phrase “anything like this”.
Three plates of pasta and two more of salad later, I was full. It was good.

The run back from Centerville was easier in that I knew the terrain that was coming, so the hills weren’t as scary, and the aid station broke up the runners a little bit more so I wasn’t stuck running the pace of whoever was in front of me.

Some time passed, I met a nice guy from South Jersey who didn’t seem to be having much fun, it was easy to tell from his get-up that this was probably his first ultra as well.
“How are ya doing?”
“Man, these hills are killing me, I did all my training on roads.”
Again, I was thankful that the hills gave me no problems and that I had trained almost exclusively on trails.
The course took a different trail at the first creek crossing we had passed originally, and headed up the hill back to the start.

Soon we were crossing an open field with some challenge course elements, and someone said “Good thing we don’t have to do the obstacle course to finish!”

This was going to be the “home-stretch” at the end of the race, 35 miles away, my knee wasn’t hurting me, but I wasn’t thinking of finishing, I was just getting to the next aid station.

When I arrived back at the start, I grabbed some water from the aid station volunteers, and headed up looking for Casey. I didn’t see her. We had decided that if I didn’t catch her at an aid station, I would just keep running and she would get me eventually. I took stock of my supplies as I munched on a handful of M&Ms, I had a bottle and a half of water, a gu, and a granola bar. I knew I should’ve gone back to the aid station to get some electrolyte, but I didn’t, and stupidly I kept running down the road, a decision that could’ve very well cost me the race.

As I sauntered down the road towards the trail that originally took us down to the river, a lady in a visor said:
“What? Your girlfriend left you?”
“Yeah, probably better off anyway….Her, I mean, not me.”
She laughed.

I ran back down the trail, and soon I started getting sluggish. I ate a granola bar, and drank some water and my energy returned, I was only 4.5 miles from the next aid station, so I wasn’t worried about it. But what I didn’t realize at the time, is that it had been close to 2 hours that I hadn’t had any cytomax/gatorade/salt, and I was only going about
50/50 on what I drank in terms of water and sportdrink This soon caused a problem. I pounded the second Gu from Centerville, and drank more water, but I wasn’t feeling good at all. I had to slow for a walk, as the course meandered through a park with soccer fields and baseball diamonds, as folks jogged by, they asked if I was okay…

“I’m moving, which is better than the alternative.”
I would like to say it got better, but it first got much worst.

I soon found that if I had over-extended any of my leg muscles too much it would immediately seize up and cramp. I had muscles in my legs cramping that I didn’t even know I had. The strangest being the muscle on the outside of your ankle that pulls your arch down to the ground and your ankle to roll inward, yeah, even THAT was cramping. I was afraid that soon the big boys(quads) where just going to seize up, my knees where going to buckle and I could do nothing about it, but I managed to get to the next aid station, at the Bull Run Marina.

I had figured that Casey had probably just missed me at the start, so she would probably wait, then be too late to catch me here, so I wasn’t really expecting to see her, so when I didn’t I wasn’t surprised, or mad, I was just happy she was in Virginia with me.

Something I had read about in ultra races was the (in)famous baked potato and salt. There are cut up pieces of potato, and a bowl of salt, you take the potato, dip it in the salt, and eat it. It never seemed appealing to me, and I never thought that I would be doing such a thing, but here I was wobbling into the aid station, actually CRAVING this crazy ultra ritual.

This was the first aid station I spent an amount of time at. Centerville I probably hung around for less than 2 minutes, tops. The start I almost walked through, but I knew that if I wanted to continue, I had to regroup.

I took a piece of potato, dipped and ate it, took a piece potato, dipped and ate it, took a piece of potato, dipped and ate it. I had a volunteer fill my bottles up with gatorade, I swung one back right away, sipped the other with the potato, and soon had both refilled again. I ate some banana, another potato, and some Pringles. I was feeling better almost immediately, and I had a new outlook on my new best friend, Mr. Baked Potato and Salt.

As I ran out, headed towards the next aid station, I heard a volunteer…
“Yeah, this is mile 21.9 out, and 44.9 back”

Hearing that shook me back into the reality of the endeavor, and it was scary, I was on the verge of complete physical breakdown, and I wasn’t even half way there. I felt like I had really made some miles, but in truth I had barely started. I thanked the volunteers, and headed along my way.

Soon the trail crossed a road, and there was a cop there directing traffic letting runners by. By the looks of him, he was having a grand time watching all the crazy people try to run 50 miles.

I was feeling better but my legs where still cramping up now and again, so I continued to take it easy, but I was able to keep pace with the folks around me because they would slow way down on the hills, where I would keep my pace and pass them, then they would pass me on the flats, but soon I would see them again on the hills.

I slowly hiked up a hill, passing a farmhouse when I saw him. Wearing a yellow shirt, black shorts, with a number 1 pinned on his shorts, was the guy in first place. I cheered him on as he flew passed me, that guy is a machine. His name is Leigh Schmitt, this was his third year in a row winning this race. In case the reader thinks my experience is noteworthy let me put things in perspective:

Leigh was 15 minutes ahead of the second place runner. He finished with a time of 6:24:43. That means that he AVERAGED just over 8 minutes a mile, for 50 miles. Training for this, my really fast pace for interval runs was 30 seconds slower than this guys race pace. Just seeing some of those front runners was an inspiration. Oh, and this wasn’t only Leigh’s third year winning the Bull Run Run, it was also his third ear running it. I know, its okay, my hokey saunter jog-pace really doesn’t seem all that great anymore, so feel free to stop reading if so inclined.

The next aid station is Wolf Run Shoals Road 26.1 miles, or 8.4 5Ks down the way. Being that this is the first station after the halfway point, they celebrate, with ice cream sandwiches, and costumes. This year the whole aid station staff was dressed up like M*A*S*H. When I got there, I went straight for the potatoes and salt again, and more Pringles, and Gatorade. I was able to get one of the aid stations volunteers cell phone’s to call Casey, hoping she would catch me at the next station. The conversation didn’t last long, spotty coverage, and her uncertainty about who I was calling, and why I would know it was her on the phone made for a unconstructive phone call that I didn’t want to waste anymore time with. On my way out, I grabbed an ice cream sandwich. It was only 2 miles to id station, and I was feeling my momentum building once again. This was also undiscovered territory for me, my longest run only having been 24 miles, but I wasn’t worried, I was just getting to the next aid station, where there would be drink, a cute
blond(hopefully) and some more of those great potatoes and salt.

The trail since leaving the start the second time was definitely more hilly, which I didn’t mind in the least, because it gave me ample excuses to walk, and the hills still weren’t giving me trouble.

Before I knew it, I had reached Fountainhead, 28 miles down the way. Casey finally caught me, and she had met up with Katie. Katie used to work with me at Starbucks in Glastonbury before she moved to DC with her fiance, Jeff. I had met Jeff in passing before, he was big into bike racing and triathlons, so I had to put on a good face to try to trick him into trying one of these crazy races, I don’t remember if I went to the friends cheering me on or the food at the aid
table first, either way, it was really great to have folks there specifically cheering me, personally, on. The next 10 miles would be what I considered the “meat” of the run. Its that stretch between “run a long way” and “almost finished”, it was mentally exhausting as well, because this is where the trail becomes less direct and more meandering, in its quest
to be a 50 miler as opposed to a 44, or whatever miler.

Right after leaving the aid station, the trail heads off on “The White Loop” thankfully, the white loop only has to be done on the way out, because its not really a loop as much as a series of zigzags up and down back and forth in an acre of a few acres. It took a painfully long time. When I was at the aid station though, I was able to get some more GU packets from Casey, so I popped one of those, and realized something. I need to be less stingy with the simple sugars this late in the race. I had become so enamored by those salty baked potatoes that I had ignored all the other girls on the dance floor, but personal discovery would soon change all of that.

When I reached the next aid station, at a place called “The Do Loop” I saw it, in little red cups sizzling like a magic elixir, Mountain Dew. Yes, Mountain Dew, I asked a volunteer to load my bottle up with half Dew and half water. I felt the effects almost immediately. Understand now, I had been running for 7 hours at this point, mental capacities were
probably pretty limited, and I hadn’t had any significant caffeine all day, and man, that stuff was rocket fuel.

The Do Loop was the Southern most portion of the course, it was shaped like a lollipop, the run heads out from the aid station, around the loop, and back. Running out, there was a volunteer telling runners which way to go where, I asked him a question:

“If I really like to do the Do Loop, do I get to do the Do Loop twice?”
I’m sure he got that a lot(maybe) but he laughed anyhow.

When I got back to the Do Loop aid station, I realized something, I was 35 miles into it. 15 miles to go, with somewhere in the range of 5 hours left to finish before the cut-off. For the first time, the entire race, in my entire life, for the first time since getting this whole crazy absurd idea in my head and bobbing it around and training for it and paying for it and buying Gu for it and telling people about it, I knew I was going to finish. I was going to finish. I was going to finish.

I asked the nice lady at the aid station to fill my bottle up with more Mountain Dew, I grabbed some more
potatoes, and I was off on my way, finally, heading back to the finish. I hit Fountainhead the second time around, saw Casey, Katie and Jeff. I got some more of the M.D. Rocket fuel from the station, then sat of the grass to change my socks, I brought three pairs, and ended up changing into the last two for the last 12 miles. Running was really hard at this point, the physical pain of it had sort of leveled off, so that wasn’t the issue, the issue was that I KNEW I was going to finish. So the will power to run versus the ease of walking was hard.

The next 6 miles to the next aid station was slow going. I got back to Wolf Run Shoals Road. My entire view on everything had changed, I knew I was going to finish. The conversation with the runners out on the trail was completely different as well. The conversation wasn’t about the pain so much as it was about the completion, we talked about training, what worked for us, and the fact that we could walk it in from there. It was here that most folks learned that
this was my first ultra, and then they were even more amazed by the fact that it was my first running race at all. Something strange happened just before coming into Bull Run Marina, I actually got sick of walking the hills. The whole 50, the only thing that I knew wouldn’t give me an issue was those hill, so hey, I had less than 10 miles left, I was going to run
.

“On your left.”
“Holy crap, What are you doing?! Are you retarded!?”

A skinny lady with frosted blond hair responded when I passed her on one particularly long uphill section, running.
Bull Run Marina, I had run 14 and a half 5Ks. Only a few hours ago, I was on the verge of complete destruction at this very place, too scared to even think about how many miles I had left. But there I was, with my crew cheering me (and everyone else) on. My head was just flooded with the emotional release of just knowing that yes, I was going to finish my run. I (again) cracked the “this is a little long for a 5K dontcha-think?” joke, and everyone laughed. They were
probably not laughing at the joke as much as laughing at the guy who is still cracking jokes after running 44.9 miles. I was just lingering when a volunteer said something along the lines of “hey, you gotta finish to finish.” I gave Casey my fanny pack, loaded up on a Mountain Dew Gatorade Cocktail, finished a snicker bar, and headed off on the last 6 miles of the race.

Finally, it was coming to an end.

The final miles were great, it was this section of trail that I was at my darkest, that a simple mistake of mine almost completely wiped out my dream. I was making great time, I ended up running the last 5 miles at a pace that was probably faster than that I had for the 20 previous. The course passed the original trail we had used to get down to the river, to climb up on the opposite side up the hill and across the field that was an impossible dream earlier that day.
I started running when I knew the end was near, I knew that Casey and the gang wouldn’t be expecting me so quickly, so when I saw the crowd, I let out a whoop. Right at the front of the crowd was my cheer squad, it was so great to see them. I’m pretty sure I asked where the finish line was. Whether I sprinted, jogged or walked across the finish line, I don’t remember, and honestly, I don’t care, I had run 50 miles in 10 hours and forty-six minutes. I had done it, I had done it, I had done it.
Its two days later, I can hardly bend my knees, my legs are still swollen like balloons, and I can’t get over the fact that, yes, I ran 50 miles.

UPDATE! PHOTOS!

A short while back, Roland, one of our favourite UK readers, sent me an e-mail asking if I could do him a favour.

Roland: Hey Mike D. I want to buy a camera, and the camera costs WAY more in the UK than it does on Amazon. Can I buy the camera, mail it to you, and then have you forward it to me?

Mike D: You betcha.

So that’s what happened. But CLEARLY I had to include a few bonus items for Roland. So I decided to prepare: THE ULTIMATE CARE PACKAGE.

Yesterday Roland received the Ultimate Care Package.

Here were the contents (Warning: if you’re not viewing this webpage in FireFox or an equivalent awesome browser, you may have to do some serious scrolling to reach the pictures. Please, please update your browser):

Reese’s Merchandise:
1 bag Peanut Reese’s Pieces
4 Reese’s Cookies
2 Reese’s Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups
2 Reese’s Caramel Peanut Butter Cups
4 Reese’s Peanut Butter Bars
3 Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup Packages (king size)
1 bag Reese’s peanut butter cups (miniature)
6 Reese’s Peanut Butter Eggs
1 box Reese’s pieces

Fort Knox Milk Chocolate Gold U.S. Coins (yay America!)

1 Automatic Reach Flossing Toothbrush

Full set of Star Wars Pez dispensers:
C3P0, Stormtrooper, Leia, Chewy, Luke, Boba, Yoda, Darth, & 3 containers pez
Roland, if you ever sell these for a sweet profit… I expect 3/4 of the proceeds.


1 Padme’ Naberrie Action figure
1 Queen Amidala Christmas Ornament

1 glowing lightsaber keychain

Pile of Junk:
4 crayons
Dice
Squirt Gun
The letter V from Scrabble (worth 4 points!)
Four bouncy balls
One set vampire teeth
A chain that Jesse didn’t want
Mouse to USB adapter
Plastic Jumping Frog
One used Battery.


4 Postcards. One each from:
A Pirate (probably a dangerous pirate)
Natalie Portman
Bjork
Angelina Jolie

1 Mini Disco Party Set

1 set of slippers from Beijing

1 “I’m #1 so why try harder” t-shirt

1 Cupcakezilla t-shirt
home made by mike d, this silk screened masterpiece was designed using Roland’s original cupcakezilla drawing. It should be noted that this was my first multi-color silk screen. and of the 6 t-shirts we attempted, this is the only one that came out even remotely close to ‘okay’

1 copy of America’s worst Pop Magazine: People

1 Star Trek Encyclopedia

1 Sock, previously lost

Expected Camera and Flash Card

1 picture of Jesse. Signed.

Certified House of Rock Frisbee, Signed.

A bag full of bags. (American bags!)

And finally,

1 poster of hot Miller Lite woman and 1 mini space explorer sky lab

Yay Roland!!!

Check out Roland’s Flickr pictures here.

Clothes for little Rockers.

(from my mom)

I got an e-mail from Pete. It reported information from a recent Red Bull Dolomitenmann competition.

It is extreme.

event Red Bull Dolomitenmann
sport Multiple Sports
place Lienz
country Austria
date 08.09.2006
website event-page
description Rocking the Dolomites

Glorious sunshine and still 440 agonized faces. A picture suggesting
that the 19th Red Bull Dolomite Man contest was more extreme than ever.
More than 25,000 fans managed to get the very best out of the 110 teams
lined up for the event, driving the Red Bull Team - comprising mountain
runner Markus Kröll, paraglider Wendelin Ortner, kayak expert Harald
Hudetz and mountain biker Roland Stauder - to victory in Lienz on
Saturday.

Right at the start, the mountain run through the Lienz Dolomites, where
runners had to cover 12 kilometres and an altitude of 1700 metres,
demanded everything from the athletes. Team Fackelmann from the Czech
Republic were ahead over the varied terrain and the steep final section,
with Jiri Magal (CZE) beating Markus Kröll across the line. “Brutal! We
ran at breakneck speed,” gasped Austrian world-class mountain runner
Markus Kröll. Jiri Magal’s winning time was 1:23:06.

Every second, the runners handed over to the paragliders. After a
breakneck run towards the starting point, Pavel Stepan (CZE) was the
first to take to the skies, but was shown the way by Wendelin Ortner
(34:07.3 minutes/Team Red Bull). The 19-time Red Bull Dolomite Man
competitor swooped through the valley to Moosalm, leaving the
competition standing. “The flight was technically at the limit. The
2-kilometre run to the second take-off point was hell thanks to the 20
kg of equipment,” said an enthusiastic and exhausted Ortner, whose win
in the paragliding event gave his team the overall lead.

Whilst the paragliders began undoing the knots in their chutes, it was
the turn of the kayakers to feel the strain. To get to their kayaks,
they first had to swim across the River Drau. Seven-metre jumps and a
five-kilometre white-water race peppered with upstream stretches, Eskimo
rolls and 34 gates followed. The ride through the Drau was critical to
the outcome of the overall result of the competition. Harald Hudetz
(Team Red Bull) from Carinthia was ahead of the competition by an arm’s
length, thereby securing a clear victory in the kayak event with a time
of 28:09 minutes. “I’m totally finished, I gave everything I had,” said
Hudetz, expressing how he felt in a nutshell. His win gave mountain
biker Roland Stauder a head start of more than three minutes on the
14.8-kilometre mountain bike stretch (1400 metre ascent).

Stretches where the competitors were forced to carry their bikes and an
average downhill gradient of 26.4 percent didn’t put off Red Bull
mountain biker Roland Stauder. The South Tyrolean pushed himself to his
limits, managing to hold on to the overall lead to cross the finish line
- plagued by severe cramp - on the Lienzer Hauptplatz as the new Red
Bull Dolomite Man 2006. “This course is hard, really hard. You have to
be unbelievably careful and it only takes the slightest lapse in
concentration to lose all the ground that your teammates have made up,”
said Roland Stauder, who was only beaten by Italy’s Hannes Pallhuber
(01:27:40.8/Team Robotunits) on the mountain biking course. Posting an
overall time of 03:55:41.6, Kröll, Ortner, Hudetz and Stauder could be
certain of the cheers of thousands of spectators at the finish. Team
Robotunits finished second, 6 minutes and 26 seconds behind, followed by
Skoda Auto with an overall time of 04:07:27.7.

Final results of the 19th Red Bull Dolomite Man 2006

1. Red Bull – 03:55:41.6
Kröll Markus (AUT), 01:24:11.4
Ortner Wendelin (AUT), 00:34:07.3
Hudetz Harald (AUT), 00:28:09.5
Stauder Roland (ITA) , 01:29:13.4

2. Robotunits – 04:02:07.5
Frick Gerd (ITA), 01:29:54.1
Pranti Markus (ITA), 00:35:45.5
Schmid Gerhard (AUT), 00:28:47.1
Pallhuber Hannes (ITA), 01:27:40.8

3. Skoda Auto - 04:07:27.7
Skalsky Roman (CZE), 01:26:34.3
Skrabalek Jan (CZE), 00:36:32.7
Mruzek Kamil (CZE), 00:28:48.5
Bresser Carsten (GER), 01:35:32.2

The fastest of the individual competitions and winners of the Red Bull
Dolomite Man trophies by Jos Pirkner:

Mountain running: Jiri Magal (CZE)
Paragliding: Wendelin Ortner (AUT)
White-water kayaking: Harald Hudetz (AUT)
Mountain biking: Hannes Pallhuber (ITA)

If only one of the events was climbing. Or kiteboarding.

My mother sent me this. She said it reminded her of me.

F Minus is one excellent cartoon.

I had to stop by Dick Blick’s Art store to pick up some materials for silk screening this past Saturday. As I walked in, I heard the sweet melodies of Journey playing over the loudspeaker. I strolled over to the silk screening section to investigate photo emulsions.

As I stood, perusing the options, a store dude, Jonathan, approached.

Jonathan: Hello!
Mike D: hi!
Jonathan: How are you doing today?
Mike D: quite well, you?
Jonathan: Well, being that Journey is playing, I’m doing awesome.
Mike D (in partial awe): YES! I… I totally agree!
Jonathan: Journey makes everything better.
Mike D: Yes! Absolutely!

so then we talk briefly about silk screening and I go about my business. I finally make my choice and move up to the counter. Jonathan and co-worker Kayleigh(sp?) are talking more about Journey.

Mike D: You know, there’s something about Journey. No one does not like Journey.
Jonathan: Agreed.
Mike D: Once I was traveling with a friend who was only partially okay with Journey, and there was a rock block on the radio. So we heard two journey songs in a row. Then, I switched stations to find yet ANOTHER rock block of journey. 4 more Journey tunes! We got 6 songs in a row!
Kayleigh: That’s awesome!
Mike D: It was great!
Kayleigh to Jonathan: there’s a karaoke bar in Prospect that has a Huge selection of songs. And they totally have Journey. We should really go.
Jonathan: Yes we should.

Jonathan then turned to me.

Jonathan: You should come too.
Mike D: I’m totally game! Yes.
Jonathan: Leave your e-mail address, I’ll send you an e-mail.

Once again, Journey has brought people together.

What an awesome band.

Check out the newest House of Rock video out on Vimeo by clicking on the video below. I decided to use Vimeo instead of YouTube… because YouTube can’t freakin’ get the sound synced.

Produce Production on Vimeo

if the video isn’t working for you, try clicking this.

If you have windows media player and Vimeo isn’t working for you, I highly recommend you download the original and watch it. It’s really important that the sound and the video be synced for the full effect. In addition to downloading it to your local computer, I would recommend watching it as a relatively small video instead of full screen so that your computer can handle the seriousness of the rock.

Check out the real deal, here.

I did indeed make it to the BSO last night. Pepe Romero’s guitar skills were sick and the orchestra was powerful. Erich, Kim, Jesse and I had front row seats which gave us a wonderful view of Pepe’s miracle fingers. These fingers would best be described by the word ‘fast.’

Also….there was no mic on the guitar but the sound still filled symphony hall. It was humbling listening to his music. It was also extremely fun to see my sister play with the BSO. Great job Alicia!

A few other fun things happened. In one of the final movements of the final piece, the timpani came in furiously at the conductor’s cue. Because of our proximity to the stage, we could immediately notice the violin players stifling laughs. Violin #9 caught the eye of Viola 1. They smiled at each other. Violin #5 actually turned her head to catch the eye of one of the other violins behind her. What was so funny?

I spoke with Alicia afterwards and she informed me that usually the Timpani’s came in quiet and reserved at that point. But that this time, the musician decided to belt it out. The humor was just too much for the violins to handle.

Also, because of our Row A seats, our heads were right at the level of the orchestra’s feet. Jesse, who was sitting behind us, leaned forward just after the admission and whispered to me:

“New game, find the musician with the most exciting socks.”
he then leaned back in his chair and said
“so far, I’m not impressed.”

The woman next to him only heard the second statement and turned in shock and horror at Jesse’s disapproval of this phenomenal group of musicians.

The only bummer of the night was the fact that we got back to the HoR close to 2:30am. I am one very tired mike d.

Team MikeDiDonato .com? We can do this.

Roommate Liz sent out this image. The goal is to identify the bands that are payed tribute. We can do it folks. Rumor has it that there are 74 bands.

I think I have abou 43 of them… so I think that 74 number is wrong.

In any case, let’s get ‘em all.

It’s days like these that make me proud to be a human.

It’s coming.

While Mike D is away in Georgia rocking a presentation, I, Ryan Schenk, am coming to you live from Cape Cod with a report of the most heavy metal pumpkin carving contest this world has ever seen. Nigh a week ago, a Mr. Copeland-Will challenged yours truly to a mano-a-mano heavy metal pumpkin carving contest. He who carves the most metal pumpkin wins, he who carves the lesser metal pumpkin shall forever go down in history as an enemy of metal; that is, until next year when he is allowed to redeem his transgressions against heavy metal.

The Chaos Gourd is Mr. Copeland-Will’s entry. Inspired by Meshuggah’s Chaosphere, and carved with the blinding speed of a pearing knife blast beat, the Choas Gourd was finished in under one play-through of Napalm Death’s Peel Session. Much like the Chaosphere, the Chaos Gourd is covered with spikes, designed to mortally injure the enemies of metal, and looking shockingly like Mike D’s sisters’ (we still aren’t sure which one) flail. In this piece, the artist explores the dialectic tension between art and object, as explored by contemporaries Frank Stella and Eva Hesse, but not in a heavy metal context. Plus, it could probably injure you. Badly.

The Metal-o-Lantern by Mr. Schenk, on the other hand, is a figurative work that does not explore the implications of medium-as-message or the boundaries of the canvas. However, based on Manowar’s Hell on Earth 4, and carved during a single continuous 48-hour sitting with Manowar’s Warriors of the World video on constant loop, it is truly a work of epic heavy metal. And as an added bonus, it encouraged mothers to keep their children away from my door; I didn’t have any candy anyway, all they would have gotten was a surly demeanor.

You may click here for a Flickr set of all the action!

Two bits of awesome news:

1) I climbed my first 5.12b/c at the gym last night. It’s been a work in progress for the past few months and last night I zipped through it cleanly. The climb starts off pretty brutal and remains consistent for most of the climb. I am still not doing it as efficiently as I think I could… but it’s a big step for me.

It’s an amazing feeling reaching up and grabbing a hold with your right hand and feeling your fingers slowly failing. You know you probably only have about 3/4 of a second before that right hand will not be able to hold on any longer so you make a desperate grab for the next hold with your left hand. You STICK it. and immediately your right hand slips off the previous hold. But you’re solid.

It’s exhilarating.

2) We are trying to work it out so that we can have our ROCK SHOW at the ROCK GYM.

please take a moment to re-read that last sentence and realize how awesome that would be.

Rock Show@Rock Gym

If we could pull that off… it’d be huge. HUGE. Asprin Snacks performing at the gym? I think yes.

I went rock climbing at Ragged mountain yesterday in Southington with Irene and Pete. It was really great. The weather was perfect and the rock was beautiful.

I love climbing with Pete. He’s an older guy whose patience and willingness to teach is awe inspiring. You’ll be half way up a climb, fingers limp from exhaustion and mind numb from 30 minutes of trying the same move again and again… and Pete will speak calmly from the base and coach you and encourage you. He’s great.

The highlight was a climb called “sublime.” It’s about a 100 ft ascent along a crack in the rock. The rock is perfect with really tight crimps and the occasional bucket. This has been one of the few times where I’ve needed to use hand jams. A hand jam is where you stuff your hand, wrist, fingers, etc, into a crack and then twist it until you have enough resistance to pull yourself upwards. It’s mildly painful but very effective.

The other great highlight of the weekend? I finally had some time to sit down and write out sax parts for THE BAND. I spoke to great lengths on Saturday night about the band with Erich (alto player) and we have planned a jam session for next Sunday. I am extremely excited. We’re hoping for a Big Gig sometime in early 2007.

It’d probably be smart to just pencil us in for every weekend in January, February, and March. You won’t want to miss this.

Today, I am heading to Texas for business.

I will be in the Longview area, so if you’re a Texas native feel free to fire me over an e-mail. We’ll grab some dinner. I will be there until Friday, and I will do my best to eat as much steak as possible. I will likely have some internet access and I’ve already AUTO-POSTED this week’s Feature section.

UPDATE:

Jesse is engaged to Holy Cross Alicia.

Here’s the story:

It was the summer of 2001. As a leading dude at WPI’s Newman club, I was invited by Father Scanlon to attend a silent retreat in Naragansett, RI. A silent retreat is a retreat where no one is allowed to talk. It’s a time when you can think and be pensive and reflect on your life. I was the only non-Holy Cross student to attend. Upon arriving, the first two people I met were Holy Cross Alicia and Holy Cross Theresa. This was especially odd to me because my dear sisters are named Alicia and Theresa.

The week went well and despite not being able to speak, I felt by the end that I had friends in the Holy Cross folk. After the event H.C. Alicia and H.C. Theresa made frequent appearances at our WPI appartment.

The following spring I went away to Denmark. When I returned, Jesse and H.C. Alicia were coupled.

time passes

Last weekend Jesse went up to Maine where H.C. Alicia just started medical school. On the way to a restaurant, H.C. Alicia’s car broke down. A tow truck was called. In the cab H.C. Alicia commented that she was having a good time because although the car had broken down she was able to spend time with her fat loving boyfriend (awwwww).

A short while later, H.C. Alicia turned to Jesse and asked “you want to get married?” Jesse said “yeah, I do.”

Jesse has asked me to post this story to provide proof to the generations to come that Jesse did not force H.C. Alicia to marry him. That it was her idea and that he is not responsible for the mayhem that will likely follow their union.

Congratulations Jesse & H.C. Alicia. I wish you many years of Rockstar lifestyles.

Tim Baird pointed this one out to me:

A few Mexicans survive many many months at sea, fishing, singing, and playing Air Guitar.

I mentioned that I went to Steve and Lesley’s wedding on the sixth of August.

The picture above shows Lesley and Steve hoisted up in all their glory on chairs. I think the picture really captures the surplus of happiness at the event. It was good times all around. (I should point out that Lesley’s expression in that picture was not accompanied by screams of horror but joyful laughter).

Congratulations Steve and Lesley!

Jes Saint has opened my eyes to this.

Watch, and love.

Jesse and I are writing a song that has amazing potential to be awesome.

Stay tuned for great things.

1. Rock ‘n’ Roll
2. Hard Rock
3. Soft Rock
4. Classic Rock
5. Rockabilly
6. British Rock
7. Garage Rock
8. Industrial Rock
9. Punk Rock
10. Christian Rock
11. Alternative Rock
12. Sedimentary Rock
13. Hair Metal Rock
14. Psychadellic Rock
15. Igneous Rock
16. Southern Rock
17. Progressive Rock
18. Indie Rock
19. Metamorphic Rock
20. Modern Rock