11/30/10

2010 Beaujolais Nouveau



Every third Thursday in November I buy a bottle of the latest release of Beaujolais Nouveau.  Today I’m tasting the 2010 George Duboeuf Beaujolais Nouveau and giving you my first impressions.   

11/29/10

Happily Deluded: My Final Thoughts on Professor Dawkins GREAT Book



Here are my final thoughts on a great book by Richard Dawkins, who didn’t change my mind about God, but did give me some things to think about AND taught me a great deal about the human condition (and importance of science).

Running Thought of the Day Number One

"There’s something so wonderfully satisfying about the “BLOCK” feature on Facebook.  

It’s like grabbing a new roll of duct-tape and wrapping up all the freakin’ nasty holes in the tubes of the Inter-webs that are pouring down upon you from your past.  
People we never want to hear from again but who have been peeking at our profiles on a daily basis are magically DUCT TAPED away!  This isn’t a satisfaction “form of malice kind of thing” it’s more of a STOP STARING AT US form of privacy insurance that warms the cockles of my heart.  

I have major issues with Facebook security and their data-mining of my personal information BUT, at least they offer us a virtual roll of duct-tape with which we can banish those whom we don’t want to “hear from” to the Block List.  Sometimes “BLOCKAGE” can be a very good thing!"

- Steve Runner

A Tour of Mat-Village



Join me on a tour of the "Magical" village of Mat: a Christmas Village with a plan.

11/27/10

Ten New Commandments and the American Taliban



In reading Richard Dawkins book “The God Delusion” I find myself agree with him more than I expected to, as in the section of the book titled “The Moral Zeitgeist” where he lists an alternative to the traditional 10 Commandments, also I bring to your attention some of the most hateful quotations from some of the most ignorant people who have ever lived: The American Taliban.

11/26/10

Bringing You The Mojo Loco LIVE!



On December 11th, we'll be bringing you LIVE coverage of Team Mojo Loco's 50 mile run from St. Augustine to Daytona Beach Florida! In this video, I talk about WHY and HOW we'll do it!

11/24/10

Wine Week: Making Wine



In very BASIC terms, I talk today about the making of wine.  This is really just an introduction to a HUGE topic that I'll expand upon in the future; but I wanted to at least cover some of the key elements in the steps towards creating wine.

11/23/10

Why Mojo Loco?


On December 11th fellow runners will assemble in Florida to take part in a 50 mile relay adventure to celebrate community and friendship in a way that takes social networking and new media to the NEXT level.  This magical, crazy event is something we call The Mojo Loco!

Wine Week: Tainted Wine



Sometimes bad things happen to good wine.  Today I’ll talk about some of those things and what causes them, how to detect them and the take home tidbit for the day that will impress your friends: TCA.

This is a GREAT documentary about wine:

11/22/10

Tasting Wine and Learning the Language.



In order to describe the taste of wine you have to be able to relate it to the food and beverages you’ve tasted in your past, along with everything you’ve ever felt, smelt, seen and experienced. Remember what the air tasted like in that old barn you visited when you were a kid?  THAT is part of the language you need to call upon to describe the wine you taste.

Wine Week: Talking Taste


It's wine week on Intervals, and this week we're going to get a little scientific, starting off with "what taste is".

11/20/10

Dawkins: Proof of God's Existence


I'm moving through Professor Dawkins book "The God Delusion" and I think he's making some excellent points: but he misses a few points.

Show and WINE!



oday I'm kicking off another WINE WEEK with a show and tell (errr...Show and WINE) of some of the bottles in my collection.

11/19/10

Non-Overlapping Magisteria



Today I’m continuing with my comments as I read Richard Dawkins book “The God Delusion”.  I’m up to chapter three, as you hear this…but I’d like to go back and cover something I read in chapter two: “The God Hypothesis” and a section titled “NOMA”.

Grapevine Post Mortem



Today I dig out one of the grape vine clippings that I planted last Spring to see if I can determine why the 2010 vintage of Steve Runner Vineyards failed to produce any grapes!

11/18/10

10 Years and 5 Miles

Click image to enlarge
This chart shows my total time to finish for a 5 mile course at my office in Holliston Massachusetts.  It's a complete history of my fitness level and running performance ability since December of the year 2000.

I have alot of work to do.

- Steve

You Can’t Teach Well By Calling Your Students Stupid



I’m into the second chapter of Professor Richard Dawkins book “The God Delusion”, and it’s becoming clear to me that I am a complete idiot.  I’m stupid.  I’m a moron.  I’m misguided and not worthy of respect or the right to vote.  As I’m trying to keep an open mind, and really REALLY listen to what Professor Dawkins is trying to say: I have to wade through the muck of his relentless ridicule.  This is going to take awhile.

11/17/10

Channel Runner Review - Send Us Your Review!



We'd like to invite you to be a part of our project: If you'd like to add your voice to our growing collection of running podcast reviews or want to download a review to include in your own podcast - please visit us at http://channelrunnerview.com

What I'm Reading


I'm reading a book that I've meant to consume for some time, and in the next few weeks I'll be talking about what I'm learning from it: as I seek to determine if I'm delusional!

11/16/10

If they put an i next to some Poop, the iPoop would sell out!


Help me answer the question: Do I need/want:
(1) an iPad
(2) a Samsung Galaxy Tab or
(3) neither (wait for something better to come out)

Delusional Runner



I’ve started reading Richard Dawkins book “The God Delusion” and as I go through the book over the next few weeks I’ll be posting my notes/comments on http://www.twitter.com/steverunner and http://www.facebook.com/phedippidations I’m trying to go into this book with an open mind, but thus far it seems to me that Professor Dawkins is falling for some local fallacies that I’m surprised he would make.

11/15/10

Running While Sick


I've been told, quite often, that I'm "sick in the head", but that doesn't stop me from going out for a run!

11/13/10

Ideas for Future Episodes


Today I'm going to talk about some of the ideas I have for future podcast episodes of both Intervals and Phedippidations...just to give you some insight to my creative "genius" (or lack thereof).

11/12/10

Do NOT Watch This Video!


You have been warned! (actually, I really didn't have much to say here except "have a great weekend")

A Podcast About Nothing


I really didn't have much to say in this episode; my advice would be to move along and skip it...listening to my blathering can't be good for you :)

11/10/10

Nominate New: PodcastAwards.com




Nominations are open for the 2010 PodCast Awards ( http://podcastawards.com ) and this year I'd like to suggest that you nominate a podcast OTHER than Phedippidations.

11/9/10

The Corked Wine Simulcast



Presented to you in video and audio (the audio version is longer because You Tube has a restriction on video length) today I taste a wine that should have been outstanding: but seems to be "corked".



11/8/10

Describe your PERFECT day!




Here’s a thought experiment for you: how would you describe your most PERFECT day?  In this episode of Intervals, I tell you one of my ideas for a perfect day and invite you to consider your own.

11/7/10

Mojo More than a Tweet


The concept behind the Mojo Loco is MUCH more than just your standard "Tweet-Up"!

11/6/10

Musical Passion - Black Labs new album: Two Strangers

Before you read further, you HAVE to understand that this blog entry is NEITHER a review, or an advertisement of any kind.  It is simply a recommendation from one fellow runner to another.

I am not being compensated in any way for this blog post (well, aside from having some AMAZING music to listen to).  No one has asked me to write this and this isn’t some kind of a clever ad campaign that I’ve woven into this blog.

Remember who you’re dealing with here: I am a doofus. Enough said.

The ONLY reason I’m writing this is because I want to share my passion for the music of Paul Durham and his band Black Lab.  I want to tell you about their latest (and in my opinion GREATEST) album: Two Strangers.

If you’ve listened to Phedippidations (my podcast) you know that I am an uber-fan of Black Lab.  This is true for many reasons, which I’ll attempt to now explain.

I have always been a fan of music that has an underlying passion and intelligence about it.  This, we call “poetry”. 

My life, as a runner, is all about the passion.  I carry within me a passion for family and friends, running, wine, history, astronomy, science, God, and the natural beauty of the universe. 

The philosopher Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche once wrote that: “In music the passions enjoy themselves.”

If you are without passion in your life, then you are truly not living; and this band: Black Lab is more alive than so many of the other musical artists you will hear through your life.  It’s all about the passion: you can hear it in their music.

Myself, I have a passion for music.  I spent four years behind the microphone of 91.5 FM Real Underground Radio (WJUL, Lowell Massachusetts) in my college years where I grew to appreciate many different styles of music that I might not have otherwise exposed myself to. 

It was at WJUL that I learned about Jazz and Jazz Fusion, Rhythm and Blues, Punk, New Wave…even classical.  This radio station allowed the “Dee Jays” to explore music, to test the boundaries of musical styles and themes.  We had to play from the “heavy rotation” bin, but were encouraged to dust off some of the older albums (large, black plastic disks called “records”) to play early Pink Floyd, Spyro Gyra, Frank Zappa (and the Mothers of Invention), and Muddy Waters…all within the same show!

So, while I don’t consider myself an expert in the area of music; I do appreciate the art.

Which brings me back to Black Lab and their new album: Two Strangers.  This is art.  The album fills your head with themes and ideas that remind you of the passion you once felt, and the passion you will continue to experience.

From the first track “This Ship Goes Down Deep” (“I can’t believe that you’d suffer in silence. Is it all just a lie that we all still believe in? if you tell me your lie then I’ll know your name. Cause I have no shame I have no sadness I feel no blame”) to the song “Say Goodbye” (“how am I supposed to feel? you strike at my achilles heel with everything that’s wrong I can’t make right”) these songs strike a nerve buried deep within your heart. They force us to raise our heads above the ennui of our lives and remember the passion of love, loneliness, joy, sadness and anger which we all have experienced.

In the song “Dying Just to Hold You” the lyrics bring back that urgency of our first true love: I want your love your scent, your touch it’s not enough to dream this baby I want your love you smile, you go but I could show you what I’m made of you’re watching me from above but baby I want your love the wall comes down the dawn shines out I’m dying just to hold you.  I’m reminded of scenes from my youth where I was in love and broken hearted…the music and lyrics force me to face those moments that I’d otherwise prefer to flush from my memory.

But those memories are important, they helped to create the person I’ve become (for better or worse) and it’s important to reflect on those feelings as inspired by passionate music.


Black Lab’s “Two Strangers” offers a poetic injection of passion that reminds us of the fevers that once burned, and continue to smolder within our hearts and minds. 

Run long and Taper

Steve Runner

The album “Two Strangers” by Black Lab is available on iTunes and Amazon.  You can purchase a CD for $12 US or download it directly from http://blacklabworld.com/music/two-strangers for only $9 US

11/5/10

Bring on the Weekend!


As the sun sets in Oxford, Massachusetts I'm talking about the 251st episode of Phedippidations, my running plans for the weekend and a little bit more! Run long!

11/3/10

More About el Mojo Loco


Expanding on what I was talking about in my last video regarding the Mojo Loco; today I want to tell you WHO is running it and specifically WHAT we're going to do.

11/2/10

el Mojo Loco - a Primer on the Subject



In the next month or so, I'm going to be talking about a Crazy Magical event that we are calling "el Mojo Loco", a 50 mile relay run with friends who will lace up their shoes and run together from Saint Augustine Florida all the way to Dayton Beach. In this video, I introduce the basic purpose behind what we're going to do, and why this is something YOU will be involved with going forward.

11/1/10

Congrats to the Medium Raw Winner!


Well, as expected: I didn’t win the Medium Raw essay contest (I wasn’t even a finalist!) but I have to admit, the essays that did win were much better than mine, and certainly deserved the glory!  THANK YOU to everyone who took the time to vote for me all summer…I may not have won the prize of being published in a book BUT I feel like a winner to have you as a friend and fellow runner!
Medium Raw: A Bloody Valentine to the World of Food and the People Who CookKitchen Confidential Updated Edition: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly (P.S.)A Cook's Tour: Global Adventures in Extreme Cuisines

The Dreaded Sigh From Terry


Today I want to tell you a little about someone who made a very positive impact on my life: a teacher and Boy Scout Master who taught me NOT to disappoint and the power of a exasperated sigh.

Rest in peace Terry Winter.