Shooting yourself and others?

As a smoker you really may just need to see this image. As a non smoker I already understand it.

Art Party, Art Party, Art Party

I held my first Art Party at my house several years ago and what was then an annual event, happens now twice a year. Basically here is how it works: Each invited guest is asked to bring a piece of art or something they crafted themselves with no higher material value of $25.
What people bring is actually amazing and very nice and it ranges from paintings to sculptures to photos to pottery to knitted items and handmade candles. At the end of each Art Party after a "Chinese Auction", each person goes home with someone else's piece of art. The most pieces displayed at any Art Party of mine was 34 different art works.

Below is a nice sampling of some of the pieces of art and the creators themselves. :-)


James is an amazing photographer

Heather had painted this very nice image

Sam created this beautiful 3 piece art work

Kelley created this nice image lamp shade with a Chattanooga theme

Steve came all the way from Atlanta with this photo

Karen work hard on this slightly political collage

Steven and Shayna created a very beautiful tile mosaic

Janelle just recently started with photography as a passion and the result is very impressive

Dana created these very attractive coffee mugs

Julie knitted this very attractive scarf

I had painted this abstract art work for my "own" Art Party

Who am I ?

Whenever I get introduced by certain people to someone new, it goes something like this. "This is my friend Herbert, he does Ironmans." Is that really who I am? Some jock who trains day and night, and who has pretty much no other interests?

I am aware that the people who introduce me like that, really think that is something great, but I really do not live vicariously through any sport. I don't wear finishers t-shirts or related apparel, nor do I have a tattoo of any athletic achievement. My interests are actually quite bigger than that, for example I like art, smart people, learning new things, politics, traveling, experiencing food, and yes, I like to be fit. But I am actually happier about my mind being fit. :-)

A modern tragic figure

Jens Lehmann has been the hero goalie for FC Arsenal London for many years now, but in the biggest game for Arsenal he became a modern tragic figure. 18 minutes into the Champions League final, Lehmann fouled the FC Barcelona forward Eto'o outside of the penalty box and was shown the red card. With one player less and the substitute goalie in the goal, Arsenal lost to Barcelona 1:2.

New warning stickers for my MINI

We all seem to have those ugly airbag warning stickers on our car visors and I came up with two replacement version ideas for my MINI Cooper S.

Style A: For the driver's side


Style B: For the passenger's side

Mark Ryden

I stumbled upon Mark Ryden's art accidently a few years ago and I find it strangely fascinating. Mark Ryden apparently came to preeminence in the 1990’s during a time when many artists, critics and collectors were quietly championing a return to the art of painting. With his masterful technique and disquieting content, Ryden quickly became one of the leaders of this movement on the West Coast. His dewy vixens, cuddly plush pets, alchemical symbols, religious emblems, primordial landscapes and slabs of meat challenge his audience not necessarily with their own oddity but with the introduction of their soothing cultural familiarity into unsettling circumstances. The painting featured here is called Princess Sputnik.

Escaping the crowded city?

The slogan of this Tokyo Water Park is : "Welcome to Tokyo Water Park where you can wash away the pressure and stress of the overcrowded city and relax with your friends in the soothing enjoyment of sun, fun and splashing."
Now all I want to know, where the hell is my towel? ;-)

What about Charlie Brown?

I guess we all have a pretty good idea what human skeleton looks like. But what about those cartoon characters we all like so much?

What about Charlie Brown?





What about Fred Flintstone?

My little girlfriend and I

This little cutiepie is the beautiful daughter of a beautiful former girlfriend, and I get to see her a couple times a year. Her mom and I dated more than 10 years ago, and we seem to get along better today than we did then. But since we live far apart I guess it is hard to tell how much we'd get along if we lived closer. One thing is for sure though, I do enjoy it when people think that I am the dad of this cute little pumpkin. But then again, who wouldn't.

Oh beautiful Road

What can I say other than I love you.

You go Robbie!

Aussie super sprinter Robbie McEwen just won his second stage of the 2006 Giro D'Italia. He is an amazing athlete and a super nice person and I think he will win tons of races at the Pro Tour this year.

MINIS, MINIS and more MINIS

This overlook on the Tail of the Dragon is just beautiful
MINIS as far as the eye can see are lined up at the base of the Fontana Dam
MINIS are lining up for a MINI parade on the Dragon. Guesstimated number about 250 MINIS.
On Saturday night there was a midnight run on the Dragon after which every one lined up for a special light festival.
This may indeed be a fake MINI in that whole line of MINIS from all over North America

A MINI weekend

Tonight I arrived in Fontana, NC for a weekend with about 600 other MINI enthusiasts. The event is called MINIS on the Dragon, and basically is a weekend of driving on stunning twisty and scenic roads, plus of course all kinds of other activities such as mountain biking, running and rafting. The main attraction here though is a road called Tail of the Dragon or Deal's Gap, which is an 11 mile stretch of US 129 with 308 turns right at the TN / NC border. It basically is like a wild amusement park ride, and after a couple rides up and down it you are about as dizzy like after a crazy roller coaster ride.
It is quite unusual though for me to attend an event like that, as I really see myself more as an individual versus a group / fraternity type person. But I wanted to be open minded and at least check it out.
I'll try to post some other pics in an updated blog, but the pic here shows my little MINI after arriving in this beautiful area.

Ironman free 2006

The last three years I did at least one Ironman race a year, but this year I feel not motivated to train and race in them. I will still do a few other triathlons and running races, and even a few roadbike races, but Ironman events will have to wait for me until 2007 because it takes to much time to train. It is actually quite nice to not have to train 6 hours each day on the weekend, and actually take a few weekends off with light training. The pic here shows me in Ironman Arizona 2005 and that race pretty much worked me over and made me decide to take a bit time off from IM races. I had a nice swim there, and a very good bike time despite heavy winds, but my run time was terrible and in the end I even managed to have a faster bike time than my run time. For those of you who don't know what that means, one should not ride the bike faster for 112 miles versus running 26.2 miles. :-)

Mmmmm Chocolate Milk :-)

Since I was a little boy I have loved chocolate milk and hot chocolate and to this day nothing has changed. Well, I am a bit older and smarter, and now instead of just relying on the one brand my parents supplied then(Kaba), now I get to experience all kinds of brands and choices. I currently have Suchard Express, Kaba, Nestle Quick, Milka, Ghiradelli, Abeulita, Godiva and MarieBelle at my disposal. :-)
Hot chocolate is great on a colder day and cold chocolate milk during the summer is quite refreshing.
Got chocolate milk?

Keds are bad taste defined

I think shoes say quite a bit about people's taste and personality and along those lines I think that Keds are quite possibly the worst shoes on anyone. Well, I am less worried about guys who wear them as they are really not in my dating pool, but they look stupid on guys too. But on a woman they are plain ugly and basically there is no way that I would ever consider dating a woman who wears those shoes. They are ok for kids to wear in a sand box, but why would any woman wear them to go out? They are usually a shade of dirty and go well with loose fitting sweat pants and Disney embroidered t-shirts and sweatshirts. Plus of course during the holidays they go well with themed sweaters. Yikes.