I've always wondered how the internet works (or doesn't work)... now I know:
We have officially registered for our first (and probably only) marathon. Many thanks Eliza for the information about a possible marathon ‘rain check’ in nearby Jordan (www.deadseamarathon.com). The race will take us through the desert Moses and the prophets once walked, winding our way from Amman to the coast of the Dead Sea. Needless to say, the race course should prove to be as inspirational as it is challenging. We will try to take in the sights during the 2 days leading up to the marathon, since we don’t plan on doing any moving afterwards. When I talked with our security advisor about these new travel plans I discovered that Jordan is actually one of the most popular destinations for Qatar-based expats because of its proximity to Doha (2.5 hour flight) and religious/historical significance. If you’ve been to Jordan or know someone who has, let us know what to include in our short itinerary (keeping in mind that the real reason we’re there is to run 42km in 5 hours or less).
Kudos to those of you who submitted a wide variety of motivational music for our Marathon Playlist. Although the rules for the DeadSea marathon prohibit use of headphones (sad), keep the rec's coming because we’re still using our iPods for up-tempo runs. It’s only fair to share our own top 5 songs for dominating the competition (that’s you Cervantes and Maddox’s – only a few more days ‘til we have our Nike+ systems up and operational so get your miles in now):
1. Fuel – ‘Shimmer’ (Jess, Fuel also has a song entitled ‘Bad Day’ with the same applicability as your Daniel Powter but a bit more rock for the road)
2. Jimmy Eat World – ‘Let It Happen’ (had to search hard to get my favorite band into the mix, this song has plenty of pace)
3. Black Eye Peas – ‘Shut Up’ (a song about breaking up also helps keep us from whining when our bodies start giving out)
4. Ludacris – ‘Southern Hospitality’ (nothing says "keep running y’all" like Cadillac Grillz and Hand Me Down Flip Flops)
5. Modest Mouse – ‘Dashboard’ (quirky yet effective song to keep the legs moving)
PS. Sheri and I's favorite television indulgence - Rob & Big (on MTV), is now available in the iTunes Store catalogue (glorious iTunes)... and the first episode of Season 3 is gratis! You've got nothing to lose but some of your bandwidth and 24 minutes of your evening; I'm confident that 80% of you will report delightful outbursts of laughter as Rob (skater) and Big Black (body guard) give you a glimpse into the life of a C-list celebrity. You’re welcome in advance.
The brother and sister-in-law of one of our close friends in Houston welcomed their 2nd son, Maddox, into the world yesterday afternoon. During the pregnancy Maddox was diagnosed with Trisomy 18 and Spina Bifida, a fatal diagnosis, but Dusty and Kenzie stood firm in their faith. Their story is one of encouragement and inspiration (and emotion). If you have time start by reading the first posts in October 2007 to get some background - it's a story best told by the mother herself. In addition to leaving a supportive comment on their blog you can also support them by calling their Prayer Pager (713.200.0955 ) to let them know you are lifting them up today.
http://www.thestanfieldjourney.blogspot.com/
Maddox's Verse: "But now, thus says the Lord, your Creator, And He who formed you, 'Do not fear for I have redeemed you. I have called you by name; you are mine!'" Isaiah 43:1
Sheri and I discovered last week that the 'Doha Marathon' has been postponed indefinitely, but we're sticking to our training regiment in preparation for the next closest opportunity to run 26.2 miles... even talking about organizing our own, innagural Doha Marathon with my supervisor and manager: t-shirts, number placards, little gatorade cups, medals, the works. Not to say that if we're prepped in time for the Barcelona marathon that we wouldn't leave planning the innagural Doha Marathon to the experts.
Our longest run thus far was a 10 mile jaunt last Friday morning along the Corniche - a 6 kilometer paved walkway next to the Gulf that has a distinctive 'California' feel to it (minus the shady fish market and large Oryx statue from the Asian games). I learned a valuable lesson about chaffing AND that our iPod Shuffle playlists desperately need more inspirational songs... that's where this gets interactive.
I need your help filling our iPods with ~150 hot tracks that will keep our feet moving forward and our minds ignoring the natural desire to hail a cab. Try to limit your recommendation to your top 5... ah who am I kidding, we'll be lucky to get 2 responses, so leave as many as you like. Don't be shy.
*Note we will be joining the Nike+ crew (www.nike.com/nikeplus) as soon as the high tech accelerometers arrives from the USA. Let us know if you're interested in setting up some joint goals or friendly competitions (Maddox's?).
Sheri and I happened upon a unique documentary about the life of Martin Luther King, Jr the other night - focusing in large part on stories shared by his civil rights friends and compatriots... those closest to him. It was a moving piece, combining personal stories with powerful pictures & statistics, serving as a reminder of why our nation honors Dr. King on this day.
The AP released a story this morning describing time's effect on our perception of historical figures, often reducing a complex man or woman down to a single ideal or quote... so I encourage you to take a few minutes out of your holiday (for those who get to celebrate it) for a Dr. King refresher course. The first link is to the AP article on not losing sight of Dr. King's complexity, the second link is to Wikipedia, which including some juicy tidbits on the holiday itself, namely Arizona's reluctance to trade Columbus Day for MLK Day, and Public Enemy's lyrical threat to assassinate governor Fife... just what MLK would have wanted! I actually remember the coverage of Proposition 300 back in the early 90's to make MLK day official for Arizonans too, what I don't remember is that it was threats of tourism boycotts that motivated voters to give a thumbs up (sad).
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/US/01/21/mlk.legacy.ap/index.html (eroding complexity)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Luther_King_Day (MLK day - not right away)
Getting reaquainted with the Civil Rights Movement has reminded me of an incredibly powerful movie I saw when I was in the 7th grade starring Sidney Poitier called 'Separate But Equal' - does anyone else remember seeing the film? You know it's good when you have to get your parents to sign the permission slip to see it! (http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/separate_but_equal/)
For the lawyer who reads my blog, we would be remiss were we not to give some MLK Day props to Chief Justice Earl Warren, one of the many people instrumental in our country's racial maturation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earl_Warren).
iPods are incredible machines with scores of features packed into a sleak, pocket sized super computer. Everything about my iPod makes me smile, the vibrant screen, the touch wheel with integrated control buttons, the playlists, the tv shows, the podcasts, oh and the album art... everything except the most basic feature - the SHUFFLE.
Why is it everytime I "Shuffle Songs", my music seems to defy the rules of RANDOM. I started noticing this phenomena a few weeks ago. The same artists would pop up a few songs after themselves, which is unusual in a library with 4578 songs, right?
My friend Matt could probably explain it better because he took way too many Game Theory courses in college (something about a major?). The trick is in calculating the probability of the event not happening and subtracting from 1 to find out the probability that the event will happen. For example:
first song can be anything of the 4600: (1)
probability the second song isn't of the same album: (4590/4599)
probability the third song isn't of either album: (4580/4598)
probability the fourth song isn't of any previous album: (4570/4597)
probability the Nth song isn't of any previous album: ([4590-10*(N-2)]/[4501-(N)])
Multiply all together and you got yourself a probability of non occurence - subtract from one and you have your proability of occurence.
If you carry the one you find out that in a 12 song set I have 12% chance of hearing two songs from the same album. In 27 songs I have a 50/50 chance of hearing two tracks from the same album... it's math, it doesn't lie.
Would you believe in a room with 41 people there is a 90% chance that two of them share a birthday... isn't math amazing? And you thought all that stuff you learned in college was a waste.
How can a product from the same Mac line that inspires us with simplicity and appeal, disappoint in an area that seems so simple? The answer is our own human brain finds patterns in the randomness, leading to some theories that Apple is paid to choose certain songs as a form of marketing (wouldn't that be an awesome job).
Anyone else ready to go buy a new Samsung media player? yeah... me either
*note, I discovered this probablity info online while trying to figure out why my albums kept repeating - this is not a personal discovery, merely a summarized version of what other people much smarter than me proposed*
Doha averages 2.5” of rainfall annually… meeting the requirement for ‘Desert’ – (130 degree temps in August also helps).
Since moving here 7+ months ago Sheri and I have not seen a drop of measurable rain fall from the dusty sky. In fact, seeing a cloud is quite an uncommon experience most of the year. So you can imagine our surprise when we woke up last Friday (our weekend) to the pitter patter of steady rainfall hitting our roof. After inspecting our ceiling for leaks – which are quite common in Doha construction, we opened up the shades to see an overcast sky gently illuminating the glistening tennis court below.
*note we do not have a private tennis court in our backyard, but rather our master bedroom on the 2nd floor overlooks the community tennis / basketball court.
It wasn’t the unexpected rain that had us chuckling, it was that our marathon training regiment called for a 13km jog that morning – our longest run since starting our running program. Thinking the morning drizzle would let up, we watched Transformers (still laugh at the ‘Qatar’ scenes), strapped on our shoes, filled up our water bottles, and set out to complete the painful task at hand. 1:15 later we returned, completely drenched from two Houston style downpours, motivated by several honks of support, and ready for a warm shower… the more we prepare for our marathon, the more respect I have for those who actually finish the 26.2 mile journey. Raise your hand if you’ve run a marathon… (ie leave a comment to receive your kudos).
What was a pleasant surprise during our weekend quickly became a nuisance as we drove to work on Sunday morning. Since Doha averages 2.5” of rainfall annually, the majority of roads don’t have drainage systems… feels like you’re driving on day 34 of Noah’s 40 day journey. Couple the poor drainage with the driving habits of the locals and we’ve had some white knuckle commutes this week. Like the dedicated postal worker, neither dust nor speedcamera nor flooding rain will motivate Qataris to drive safely.
With the rain came some cold temps too – dropping into the 40’s at night... before you go on about how cold it is where YOU are, keep in mind that Doha homes rarely have heating. With one terribly inefficient space heater per floor we’ve resorted to sweatsuits and hot chocolate to make it through the nights. Never thought we'd have to wish for warmer weather here.
Sheri discovered a great website that is helping combat world hunger in a very creative way.
