Neil Young rules

Harvest is most likely the greatest album of all time...

Taylor Made soon

Toyed with a set of these yesterday. Just waiting a few more weeks before I pull the trigger.

Baby it's cold outside...

This picture was taken last year (2012) at the Coba ruins on the Yucatan, just about an hour west of Tulum. It was hotter than hell that day and we found this unexcavated ruin in the jungle just off the beaten path. I thought it was appropriate to post this as it is absolutely freaking cold here today and it is supposedly going to be at zero tomorrow morning when I head to the train with the wind chill.

Anyway, I did manage to get to the gym today and bang out just over 5 miles on the dreadmill. I am going to try and make the five mile mark my minimum now when I run. Lets see how that works out. I am already sick and tired of the dreadmill, I much prefer to be outside running but I am not running in the dark around here with it so cold out so I guess that will have to wait a while until we spin this earth place around a little closer to the sun. 

Had a nice quiet new years eve with the wife and my grandaughter. We went downtown for the parade and fireworks but they were cold so we blew off the fireworks and came back for the traditional Chinese food feast. On to 2013, lets hope that I am not on the layoff list next week. It's coming, we just don't know who is up for the pink slip this time around.

Another Christmas gone by

Again, have not had much to say of late and I have not been running much either due to some lingering, minor injuries. I did get 5.5 miles in Christmas morning. Actually went out and hit the road in some minor snow and rain but it did feel good to get off the treadmill and get some fresh air for a change. After that my wife along with 2 of my sons took in the new movie 'This is 40' and then retired to Smith and Wollensky's for a very nice meal. The movie was pretty funny I must say but it did seem to lack direction. You really didn't know where it was going at most times but there were some very funny moments. I would not recommend taking your kids to this unless as the content is way to adult and it would be embarrasing as hell to have to sit through some of this with them. Anyway, I actually laughed the hardest at the blooper reel they posted while the credits were running. I was crying it was so funny.
Dinner was fantastic and expensive as to be expected at Smith and Wollensky. I think the total with tip for the 4 of us was about $525. We did do the Oysters, Lobster cocktail and some pretty amazing steaks and desert. Oh, the chocolate cake slice was as big as your head and could have fed a family of 4. It was ginormass.
I did catch the Stones pay per view event a few weeks back even though it was $50 freakin dollars. You used to be able to by 4 tickets to a show for $50 bucks never mind just pay per view but it was worth it I guess. I don't know if I will now need to shell out the coin to see them live if and when they come back around on tour. It's kind of remarkable the tours that have passed through Boston of late, The Who, Bob Dylan, Neil Young and Crazy Horse.
I am missing the warm weather, not just from Tulum, just south of Playa Del Carmen earlier this year. God how I love that town.

The needle and the damage done...

And I did miss the Neil Young and Crazy Horse show at the new Boston Garden last night. The Herald review is that the show was excellent and as expected, loud. I have already blogged about Psychedelic Pill, their new album which is great.

Highway to Hell...Sort of

Not sure that I have to much to say other than the running has been way down given the back injury and the turn to cold weather which just makes it more difficult to get motivated to get off my ass and get to the gym or outside for a sprint or two. I think I am down to less than 20 miles this month vs. the almost 90 that I did last month. There was a nice development in the world of music last week as AC/DC finally published thier catalog on iTunes after being one of the last holdouts. I instantly downloaded about 12 songs that are must haves. I have never been a huge fan other than their classics. I am currently contemplating how to complete my Neil Young/Crazy Horse collection. That will most likely push aside any other major purchase for a while. I have about 10-12 albums now but there are many more I need to purchase. I did download Stars and Bars the other day just to get Hurricane and it was worth it. I saw Neil Young in 2009 I think on the Rust Never Sleeps tour at the old Boston Garden and from what I remember it was quite a show. From what I remember.

Perhaps the Greatest Album Of All Time!

Ok so I downloaded Neil Young and Crazy Horse's Psychedelic Pill last weekend and forgot about it and then remembered a few days later. After listening to this piece of art for about the 4th time in as many days, I can say without hesitation that this might be one of my all time favorite albums. It is full of fuzz and feedback and hard ass rock and roll that you would expect from the band but the tone and lyrics will just set you on your ass and make you think a bit. It's full of melancholy and plenty of retrospect I think and it's just an absolute thing to behold. I can't stop listening to it. It made me go back and listen to Cowgirl, Down by the River, Powderfinder and a few other favorites that he really rocks on but this is clearly his BEST WORK EVER!

Anyway, I had to take a week and a half off from running as I managed to tweak my back really bad playing golf two weekends ago. I just got back to the gym this week and I have managed to put in 2 5ks and a 5 miler. I have been trying to alter my running style and get off my heels which hopefully will stop the pain in my heels and achilles. I stumbled across a book that I think most real runners have already read, Born to Run. I won't go into detail now but it was an eye opener on many fronts and I would highly recommend you read this book, even if your not a runner. It is quite the story and quite inspirational. Oh, and Psychedelic Pill is even more amazing in that the beat to most of the music is very metronome like and easy to adapt to a long or short run. I even found on my 2 short runs this week that the music made me want to keep going.

A great album and the iTunes download comes with video versions of the music as well which I have yet to view but can't wait.