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: