calling out spades

You know the adage, "Let's call a spade a spade"? I have no idea where this came from, but if there is one thing that shuffles my cards it's non-26.2 mile running races calling themselves a "marathon." I'm not trying to be elitist, because it's longer distances as well.

Here's the problem: as dictionary.com states, a marathon is defined as a foot race over a course measuring 26 mi. 385 yards, alluding to Pheidippides' 26-mi. (42-km) run from Marathon to Athens to carry news of the Greek victory over the Persians in 490 b.c. This is a very specific distance and therefor, races ONLY of this distance should be referred to as a "marathon."


However, dictionary.com swiftly turns around with a giant back-stabbing knife to offer second and third definitions: any long-distance race; any contest, event, or the like, of great, or greater than normal, length or duration requiring exceptional endurance (ex. a dance marathon, a sales marathon).


So ANY long distance race? Seriously?!? How then do you define "long"? Seems awfully subjective.


When in the context of running (and it really should only be used in this context; other contexts, get your own word), I declare ONLY the distance of 26 miles and 385 yards to be referred to as "marathon," because common sense should rule all. In this case, I'm looking at you "13.1 Marathon" (get over yourself - clearly a half, call it so), "Comrades Marathon" (56 mile ultra, why not mention that?) and this new "UVU Jungle Marathon" (preposterously long 242 kilometer, multi-day race through the Amazon jungle - yeah, that sounds like what Pheidippides did). 


Let's stop this charade, once and for all. I'll put a committee together.

page turner

This is AWESOME, yet ironically lazy:

flying to work

I try to ride my bike to work every day I can, averaging about three days a week. It's certainly more enjoyable that driving, although I have to pay infinitely more attention to traffic. As wise people once said about bike-car disputes, "You may have been right, but you might also be dead." I'm always looking for things that will help with safety, including a jacket I long to own: Nike Vapor Flash. Perhaps this would also help the daily commute:

cornhole (i guess?)

Would any self-respecting cornhole enthusiast say there is something wrong with the picture to the right? Plastic boards? Come on. We signed up for a cornhole league with hopes of playing on real boards against good competition to see how we really stack up. We showed up to the bar last week to this disappointment, not to mention the boards are 15 FEET APART! Are you serious? Talk about leveling the playing field, this game takes far less skill. The boards slide on impact and they actually collapse half the time. Stay tuned for the potential formation of a new and improved cornhole league by yours truly (with a little help from friends)...

london calling

Yep, I'm getting pretty excited for this, happy 100 days!

this, on the other hand...

is brilliant:

what, in the name of all things marketing??

How many people from the ad agency, client, production company, etc. agrees that THIS was a good idea? Honestly, this is awful:

is that hummus?

Have you ever been posed the question about what your last meal would be? I've often thought about the perfect chips and guacamole being my final food foray, however a recent up-and-comer has got me debating: Pretzel Crisps and hummus. The only question would be what combination? With chips and guac it's simple, but look at the options of Pretzel Crisps alone, not to mention any of the million flavors of hummus):

And the Pretzel Crisps are all low fat and supercalifragilisticexpiala-delicious. That's not even counting these, which I will be hunting down at the end of the year:

Try them! (If you can find them that is - I have yet to see all these flavors in stores, but I'm always on the lookout) Also check out the sweet combos they recommend: Pretzel Crisp pairings.

what the what?

This was in my hotel bathroom a couple weeks ago. Of course I tested it, but alas, it didn't work. I would love to have lived in a time where this switch actually accomplished what it was supposed to do. I mean, I know it actually did live during that time, but I'm sure I was far to young to understand the importance and luxury.

Side note: this actually has NO purpose whatsoever, even if it did work. Really? You need to turn the TV up from the bathroom? Perhaps when remote controls were just a figment of the imagination, but even still, was anything on TV back then worth watching (or listening to) so much that it needed to be turned up from the shower? Maybe "Mash" or something. 

workin' for the weekend

Nice little video our team at work put together.

really?

And this is why I don't read local newspapers or watch the local news. I thought this was an Onion article for a second.

ram rising

Look at that, little ol' CSU front and center on the MBB page of ESPN.com - can't describe how nice it is to see the basketball team getting some positive national press lately. Looking forward to (hopefully) cheering them on in the NCAA tourney next week - been a long time coming. If football could get it's act together, we'll be in good shape.

(headline below the pic looks worse than it is)

that's tight

I've been realizing I spend an inordinate amount of time wearing spandex. And my legs are way skinnier than this guy's. Damn.

the rock rises again

Hooked on yet another show, but not convinced it will be for the long run. Actually not sure how long it will be on air, I don't get the sense many other people watch. "Alcatraz" on Fox piqued my interest because of my well known fascination with the former prison; it's been entertaining, while not over-dramatic enough to keep me watching. But I only watch for the prison shots.

chasing the king

I was going to post about the "I (heart) Burger King" bumper sticker I saw whilst driving today. I was stopped at a light thinking, "This person really must have a strong affinity for Burger King to put a sticker on their car. I don't think I've ever SEEN a Burger King bumper sticker before. It's ironic there is a Burger King on our right at this exact moment, but I'm in the center lane going past it and this person couldn't have just eaten there so they had to have gotten it from another Burger King. Do they have stickers at that Burger King? Maybe they work at Burger King?" I also like to pretend I was thinking about this in Jim Gaffigan's Voice.

As the light changed I thought, "I should pull out my phone to take a picture so I can blog about how odd it is to be so devoted to Burger King that you'd put a sticker on your car so as to pronounce this devotion to everyone." I took out my phone and had it at the ready to take a close up of the sticker at the next red light....only I (we) never hit one. It was honestly one of the greatest green light streaks I've ever had, and certainly the most ironic green light streak I've ever had.

sprouting obsession

Something weird has been happening. I find myself thinking about roasted brussels sprouts on a regular-to-frequent basis. Easily my new favorite vegetable and ridiculously easy to make. Never thought I'd be saying this, but I absolutely love brussels sprouts. Whew, that felt good.

happy birthday mr. president

Want to give a quick shout out to our Presidents for allowing us to have Monday off work - good work boys! This is also a reminder I should brush up on politics.

super fans, part 2

As promised, the video (takes a little while to load):

2012 Hot Chocolate Run - Super Fans from Nate DeMercurio on Vimeo.

super fans

Fun little morning watching the Hot Chocolate 15K Run and cheering on athletes. Someone had to provide a little warmth, it was freezing! Thanks to Carly for providing the get-ups, hopefully we brought a few smiles along with the tunes. Will try to post (awesome) video on Monday. 

#funny?

I do enjoy a good "#" punchline on Twitter although it's reaching a breaking point. Not everyone understands how to apply this type of humor and quite frankly, most are obvious and aren't that funny. But it got me thinking, isn't this really the original hash-tag humor? Kevin Nealon as Mr. Subliminal:

#fan

taken to the woodshed

Chef Love himself cooking up some goodness

We had the opportunity to check out Chef Tim Love's newborn creation, The Woodshed Smokehouse. After great experiences at his other spots, I was chomping at the bit, so to speak. Rustically decorated as expected, Woodshed could be the quintessential summer hot spot; it's a fine restaurant, but when the weather is nice, it's set up to transform into an epic patio location right on the Trinity River. It's built in an "L" shape with large see-through garage doors comprising the inner walls facing an expansive patio to open up the entire dining room for the majority of the year in Texas.

Dining room with large opening doors in the summer time

Bar on the other side, same doors opening to large patio

The Woodshed has only been open for about a week and the service could definitely use some fine tuning, but personally I thought the food was very good. There actually wasn't a thing I tasted that I didn't like. I would consider it mid-to-upscale BBQ with a creative culinary flare - some stand-by's like ribs, BBQ sandwiches, etc., but also a few twists in line with his other ventures, showcasing unique sausage (rattlesnake/rabbit) and intriguing small plates like smoked cauliflower, stuffed peppers, and acorn squash. It has gained initial notoriety for using "pit fat" instead of butter as a dipping sauce for the camp bread and tortillas, and while the bread was delicious, the fat was probably more of a talking point than a necessary caloric sidecar. While not as traditional, I'd say it was one of the better BBQ places I've tried, albeit on the upper end of reasonably priced. I'm excited to go back when the temps are up and the whole shed is in full swing.

morning reading

While I love riding my bike to work most days, I take a different route than that which I drive, thus depriving myself 4 seconds of joy on my morning commute. Beside serving tasty tacos, Taco Joint posts a witty new remark each day on the sign out front for passers-by to enjoy. This morning's: "Too bad Super Bowl rings don't cure dumbface and mouth breathing." Also, it's difficult to zoom, focus and snap a picture on your left while making a right hand turn.

the final bite

Another year, another delicious cake. Once again, after many glorious servings of rich chocolate cake and decadent peanut butter icing, my traditional birthday dessert bids me farewell until next year. Rest In Peace. And by "Peace" I mean "my stomach."

hooray for the rams

Proud of Colorado State University for raising a massive amount of money. I don't actually recall if I contributed directly to this, it started 7 years ago for crying out loud, but I'm pretty sure I did. I'll feel good about thinking I did.

groundhog pux planet

Pure Evil

Lately I've been seeing a lot of the same joke/comment/post/wit about Phil and his shadow. "If six more weeks of winter means six more weeks of great weather, then bring it on..." and so forth. Granted, it's felt like the United States of San Diego lately, but all is not as it seems. I have a growing suspicion that Puxatony Phil has been behind global warming for years in an effort to win over people's opinions toward him each February. How can you hate a rodent that delivers you six weeks of 70 and sunny? You can't and he knows it. I'm sure he owns stock in hair spray and Hummer. Genius. (this is not confirmed, just speculation)

been a while

Well, it's been over three years since I've written on this blog. I think that's long enough. The hiatus in summary: settled in Dallas, worked too many events to count, got engaged, went to the Olympics in Vancouver, went to France, began working with Gatorade, got a bike, drove halfway across the country (again), went to the Super Bowl, did a 50 miler, got another bike, got into triathlons, got married, went to the World Series, got another bike, moved to a house, went to Costa Rica, sitting at my computer. That's about it, more to come.