Why are you just sitting there?

I thought it might be fun to do something a little different today. If you are anything like me you spend far to much time in front of a computer. Some of you (myself included) may have even delayed getting out the door for exercise because of losing so much time sitting in front of this wonderful electronic gizmo that keeps us all in touch.

So today I've selected some hits from the past. Your assignment, should you choose to accept, is to stand up right now and select a few of the songs I have posted below and shake your groove thing baby. Significant others are welcome too.

Peaches & Herb - Shake Your Groove Thing


The Trammps - Disco Inferno



Heatwave - The Groove Line


Let's Groove - Earth wind and fire


Kool and The Gang - Celebration


KC & The Sunshine Band - Get down tonight


Wild Cherry - Play That Funky Music


B.T. Express - Do It (Til You're Satisfied)


Jaggerz - The Rapper


Disco Tex & The Sex-O-Lettes - Get Dancing


Bee Gees - You should be dancing


Meatloaf - Paradise By The Dashboard Light


Otis Day and the Knights - Shout


Sly & The Family Stone - Dance To The Music

Drawing a Line

I found this picture of the internet and then doctored it a bit. Apparently this is a real group. If you want to know more click here.


It appears these soldiers have a choice to make. What's yours?

Training Update:

57F 85% Humidity today. Set out for a long run complete with water and even brought some raisins for some midway energy. Overall the jog was decent for my first long run in two months. 12.4 miles in 2hrs 25 min.

There were two issues. The raisins were a mistake. I took them at mile 7 and at mile 9.3 they wanted to come back up. I wogged for about 2 miles to curb that feeling. Eventually it passed.
The other issue is my new shoes. Once I got into the higher miles I noticed that I was striking my left heel across my right ankle from time to time. The heels have a bit of a flare to them and my stride must have changed as I grew tired. So now I have an open sore on my ankle.

The Treasure of Matecumbe

Recently I purchased a copy of Disney’s “The Treasure of Matecumbe.” This is an original film produced for the “Wonderful World of Disney” back in 1976. Previously this title was only available through the Disney Movie Club. When I saw it at Best Buy for only $9.99 I decided to pick it up. The packaging itself describes the “Wonderful World of Disney” TV show and I had hoped that it might include the opening fanfare of the show along with an introduction and Tinkerbell waving her wand.



But alas no, the DVD opens and ends with only the film. To me this is a huge marketing miss. Think about the early episodes of “Disney’s Wonderful World of Color” who would not want to see these shows as they aired complete with an introduction from Walt himself. I recall a few shows from the “Wonderful World of Disney” that were introduced by Uncle Walt. I’m sure many of his intros came from archived footage. I wish they would bring that back.


Walt Disney had a manner about himself that drew you in. He was a grandfatherly figure and when his show came on, I wanted to sit and stay for awhile. I miss Walt. He was a true visionary in every sense of the word. He documented everything and as a result, generations to come have the opportunity to get a glimpse of who he was. I will say that during my last visit to Orlando I was pleased to see his image and presence continues to be promoted throughout the parks.

A Nod to Rivers of America?

Let’s get back to the DVD. I can’t state with any certainty that I recall seeing this film when it originally aired on TV. It’s most likely that I did though. While viewing the film I was surprised that it had not been precluded by Leonard Maltin. The story line contains slavery, Indians, and even a cross burning with the KKK. The film was set in a time period that made all these things logical.

Hidden Mickey?

A Nod to the Jungle Cruise?

A unexpected scene for a Disney film.

Now I have to say this DVD may have been created before Disney became so sensitive about its image regarding such things. I have never been one that feels like the studio should have to offer any explanation about its content. In my opinion one should consider the times before jumping to conclusions. Consider the era and what else was on television in the mid seventies. A certain popular mini series comes to mind. You may recall it as ROOTS. Does the recent DVD release of this program contain an explanation about its content?

I’m not against the introductions by Leonard Maltin. In fact I like them quite a bit. They often provide insight into the history of the Disney studios and as a Disney junky I like that. I also do not mind that in some cases you can’t skip Mr. Maltin’s intros. It’s not a big deal to me as long as the show is presented in its original form.



A brief side note. After watching this film I can’t help but wonder why Disney does not release Song of the South. I’ve seen the film, it’s not great but it’s ok. Actually I feel that by not releasing it the studio is creating its own controversy. Let Mr. Maltin present the film and let us be the judge.

Oh and there's a new Doc in town. Dr. Snodgrass

Announcing D Harmony

Are you tired of dating someone who just doesn’t get it?

Hi I’m Dr J Clark Warren. I’m here to tell you about D Harmony

D Harmony is designed help you find your soul mate, your Disney soul mate.
You see other dating services show you a picture and match you by the responses you give to questions across 29 levels of compatibility. 29 levels? Where’s the Enchantment in that? Get matched with the wrong person and your life could be turned into complete Chaos. And while we enjoy a little Mayhem now and then, our goal is to connect you with that special someone who does get it. And when that happens, it’s Magic.

At D Harmony we match you on one basic principle, your Disney character type. The process is easy, just visit the D Harmony Link, enter the password “Walt” Then answer the seven simple questions on the Disney Personality Test. What could be simpler?

Here is a brief testimonial from two of our satisfied clients.




So stop wishing upon that star. Your dreams can come true at D Harmony.

A Cameron Kinda Day

Ran this evening because I was too lazy this morning, and even tonight I was having a rough time getting myself moving. For some reason I found myself thinking about Ferris Bueller and his pal Cameron. Specifically the scene where Cameron is sitting in his car reasoning with himself. "He'll keep calling me, He'll keep calling me" Cameron gets out of his car determined not to let Ferris get his way. Hopping mad behind his car Cameron gives in.

I just felt like Ferris' voice was telling me to get off my butt and get moving. So I gave in at about 10:45 tonight. Dewey in 78. The only thing about exercising so late is its difficult to go right to bed. If you haven't congratulated Deb yet on her 10 mile jog stop by and give her a shout out.

Tundra Calorie Burner Summer Edition

In the email Jonathan mentioned, I told him that one area I need to work on is the weight training. I really do not enjoy it. My motivation for it comes and goes. I'd rather just run or bike.

I am on track for getting where I was pre Dam. I've dropped 5 of the 15lbs I gained. All I'm doing the same things I have always done to get back to 200. I am doomed to plateau again if I don't make changes.

No run today, however I think my day does count as weight training. I helped a friend move two 26' u-hauls full of boxes and furniture. We started at 9 and wrapped up around 5 this afternoon.
My feet are a bit sore from everything today so I am going to run tomorrow.

Hope your all having a good weekend.

Podcast Award Nominations Coming Soon

Click here for more information on the 2008 podcasting awards. This is where we the listeners get to vote. Past winners in different categories have been WDW Radio and Inside the Magic. I want everyone to mark your calenders and submit nominations this year. Let's see how many Disney podcasters we can support and encourage this year!

Training update 9:43pm
Made it up to SNAP tonight for some biking. Details over in the August Log.
My daughter has lost some interest in going up there. Guess her attitude is a little different now that school is back in session.

Back To School With Professor Von Drake.

Update 8/19/08

Ahh I see that at least some of you have been paying attention. The correct answer is of course sweat. It may be smelly and disgusting but it serves a useful purpose. Without our sweat glands we'd all overheat, and then like Alex Trebek where would you be? POOF! is were you would be. As your bodys heat up it produces sweat which evaporates off your skin helping you feel a bit cooler.

For those of you that missed the answer please review the assignment here.

Training:

Put in a comfortable Dewey plus this evening 6.65 in 67 min. My outdoor pace is beginning to come back. The shoes worked out well. I have a 4 day weekend coming up and I am planning to put in an 8-10 mile run on a least one day. Hopefully it will be cool this weekend.

Caption This #9

"After a full day of school supply shopping, Mr. and Mrs. Charlie Chan pose with their children, whom are seen here in their new back to school fashions."

From Matt: "Hey look! It's the "Step" family!" (Because they look like steps... Get it?)

From Chris: "More bars in more places....Verizon Wireless"

From MikeF: "The Travis Henry family photo."

From Craig: "So long...Farewell...Auf wiedersehen...Sayonara.
We hate...to go...and leave this pretty site."

From Doc Terminus: "When Siamese Twin Cloning goes awry"

Me again: “Ambassador Chan Presents China’s 2008 Olympic Team”

From Tony: "Ching & Chong Plus 12"

Is it really that time again? Back to school, my kids are ready for it. I'm a little bummed looking back over the summer and thinking about how I did not listen to my wife and take us on a family vacation. She would haved liked to visit Arizona and the Grand Canyon. Perhaps next year.

Went out Thursday and picked up a new pair of running shoes. The store let me try on a pair of Asics just like the ones I've been using. After 500+ miles its was amazing to do a side by side comparison. With my old shoe on my left and the new one on my right I went out for a test jog. It was night and day. I realized I should have been buying shoes sooner.

I decided I wanted to try some additional arch support this time and once more jumped brands. Purchased a pair of Mizunos.

Due to PC trouble at home Thursday I waited until Friday for my first treadmill run.

Walking warmup for 6 min
Jog Pace 10:00 for 24 min
Sprint Pace 8.34 for 5 min
Jog Pace 10:00 for 5 min
Sprint Pace 8.34 for 3 min
Jog Pace 10:00 for 5 min
Sprint Pace 8.34 for 3 min
Jog Pace 10:00 for 7 min
Sprint Pace 8.34 for 2 min to finish with 6 miles in 60 min.

The shoes preformed well. They have a comfortable bounce to the heel that cushions heel strike nicely.

Reading around on the blogs today I noticed Deb posted her "best run ever" a great 9 mile run. She will certainly be up for our next virtual event. And I owe her a Scrooge Medal. Way to go Deb!

You can find inspiration over on Mike F's blog.

A trully well written and justfied rant can be found over on Matt's blog

And please stop by and wish Lisa a speedy recovery following her neck surgery this week. Get well Lisa.

Update 8/17

Another TM jog in the Mizunos this morning. They continue to feel good so I plan to do my next run outside.

Today

5 Min walking warmup pace 15:00
35 min pace 10:00
1:32 min pace 9.13 to finish it out.

4 miles 41.32 min

Iowa State Fair 2008 Trip Report

One of my favorite places to visit at our state fair is the cultural building. Here is where you can see the artistic talents of Iowans from across the state. The building showcases photography, wood carving, painted china, paintings done in various media, miniature dollhouses, plus rooms showcasing art from Iowas young folks. Much of which is astounding. Ten year old Megan Snyder from my home town of Grimes took third place in her age group for this Q-Tip painting of our mutual pal Donald Duck.

This year the Budweiser Clydesdales are here. They visit about every five years. This is the first time I was able to see them locally. These are such beautiful animals. At 2:00 in the afternoon they were hitched up and traveled around the grounds. It was so cool. They even had a Dalmatian.



Earlier in the day we had stopped by the Agricultural building to check out some good ole Iowa Corn.



And of course the butter sculpture of Shaun Johnson.



This being Iowa we had to stop and check out the BIG livestock. Here is this years big bull.



And this years big boar.



In the sheep barn I was surprised by this years fashions. Look closly and you will notice that the sleeve this sheep is wearing has Blondie all over it.



But what really caught my attention was the sheep wearing the Team Voice sleeve next to Beetle Baily. Looks like we may have a mascot. I think his name is Murphy.



As a child I grew up watching Duane Ellett and Floppy. Duane passed away in 1987. Sadly he suffered a heart attack while jogging. Yesterday a laser etched paving stone was dedicated to his memory. Duane had begun a career in broadcasting and to help make ends meet he created Floppy and he would tour around Iowa entertaining folks. Eventually he had two spots on TV each day. A 15 minute show that followed the noon news and an afternoon show in which kids would be on set and after the third cartoon kids could line up and tell Floppy a joke and beep his nose. The cartoons were Loony Tunes and Popeye. I was on the show twice.



Once more this year a cast your kernel event was held. Simply two choices this year. Obama or McCain. If you enlarge the picture you will see how close the voting is.



And not far for the kernel booth was the vendor station I had been looking forward to all day.



So that was my day in a nutshell. Here is a parting picture for our pal Jonathan.

How Sweet It Is...

Finally after much anticipation I get to once more enjoy a nice cool Dole Whip at the Iowa State Fair.

We had nice weather for the fair today and we saw some interesting things. I will write up some thoughts about the fair tomorrow, as it is very late and I committed myself to getting my run in before blogging. That said, the temp and humidity dropped here this evening and provided great conditions for a run. My goal tonight was to complete a longer run and to maintain a comfortable pace all the way through. I managed a 7.68 mile jog in 83 minutes. This certainly was not a fast run and I did not intend for it to be either. It turned out to be the most comfortable run I've had post DAM and that made me feel good.

I figured out the issue with the toes on my right foot. A close inspection of the insole revealed that it had traveled halfway up my heel. Evidently I have been running like that for some time. My toes must have been pushing it backward as they flexed. By the end of this evening run it had slipped back again. New shoes are a must. Mine have roughly 500 miles on them now. I just need to budget for a pair soon.

Before retiring for the night I am going to be updating the finishing roster over on the AATC blog. I will be adding Kristin and Kate to the list. Kate did 15 miles Saturday and another 10 on Sunday. Way to go Kate, Goofy is in your grasp! Kristen had to do her run following a long 12hr shift on Saturday. Glad you could get your run in this week Kristin!

I will be posting another Virtual Team run soon. I want to keep this fun without over doing it, so lets aim for a run in October. Spooky huh? Could be...

Wrapping Up the Day

Greetings TEAM VOICE! Wow what a day it’s been. It’s been exciting hearing from everyone today and reading your blogs and all the comments out there. What a cool way to bring everyone together. I’ve mentioned a few highlights over on AATC but truthfully you should go around and visit each blog.

My own run did not start until 9:00am. I had wanted to be out the door by 5 or 6am but I had to play my part for the Olympics. Early this morning I joined the ranks of those people behind the scenes that deliver these events to your home. My part was simply to log in to a pc at work at 1:00am and change the HD feed for USA networks to an HD Olympic feed. My office received word on Thursday that this was coming. Each day of the games someone from my office will log in and change various feeds to deliver the games to Iowa, Illinois, Southern Minnesota, and parts of Missouri. I will be making another 1:00am change tomorrow. There are 4 changes per day. 1:00am, 1:30pm, 4:00am, and 4:30pm. There are three others in my group sharing this responsibility.

So following that change I went to bed and did not wake up till nearly 8. Bummer, because I had to deal with the sun. But I’m still fairly pleased with my run. I ran my normal Dewey course which took me past a sad scene that occurred a couple days ago.

For those of you I have not told, a man died along the trial last Wednesday evening. I noticed flowers as I jogged by. If you’re interested you can read about it here. I can’t help but wonder if the gentleman was out exercising alone and had a heart attack. Cause of death is still unknown. However his bicycle was found nearby.

I will say one thing about that bothersome sunshine. It does make you appreciate shade. The weather here has begun to tease us with cooler temps. I can’t wait for it to “stay” cool. I’m not certain how to address the fact that I will be dealing with humidity again when I get to Florida. By then I will be using the Treadmill leading up to the event. I am planning a couple short runs when I do get to Florida.

Watching the games here tonight. Saw Michael Phelps take Gold in his first swimming event as he set a new world record for I believe it was the 400m. If this post wasn’t already so long I would rant about how they butchered our National Anthem as he received his medal. Grrrrrr.

That moment on the podium is always a moving moment as the top athlete gets to enjoy a few minutes of national pride. No athlete should have their moment tarnished. Hopefully this will not happen again.

Great job today everyone!!!

It was bound to happen...

It's official. This morning 2+ hours All About the Mouse achieved the Mongello standard for show length.



Which begs this question guys. How did you know I was driving to Centerville this afternoon?

A mixed bag...

I saw the comic above in yesterdays paper and just could not resist sharing it.

Went out for an evening run as I did not get out of bed like I should have this AM.
Humidity was down and I had a good run. However, I encountered more obstacles along the way than ever before. First there was a dog that came out of nowhere and startled the sh** out of me.(thank goodness for invisible fence) There was the fishing boat parked across the sidewalk, the skateboard, the bike ramp (which I almost did not see in time), trees that need a good trimming, and the heaving sidewalk that caught my foot. Also the toes on my right foot began to feel crowded and that last mile was painful. The later issue used too happen on longer runs at about mile ten. I think I figured out why though. I believe the issue is my running socks. They have a lot of elasticity in the toes which I feel is squeezing them together. I will try a different pair on my next run.

Now it's time to relax with a classic film. Tonight it's Charlie Chan at Treasure Island. A mystery set during the 1939-40 worlds fair in San Fransico.



Hope you all having a great week...

An Interesting Comparision

Stately Wayne Manor

Haunted Mansion: Liberty Square

Looking into Batman stuff this weekend I came upon the picture up top. I could not help but compare the building style to that used for the Haunted Mansion in Orlando. Eerie huh?

Weather channel here tonight says 85F but feels like 94F with humidity at 74%. To quote Matt it's like a sauna out there. I had to wait for late this evening to workout. Today should have been a run but I opted to go to SNAP and bike instead.

Congrats go out to Matt for reaching Donald this weekend and also congrats to Rae! for achieving a nice weight loss goal. Go Team!!!

Coming up next Saturday is our virtual Team Run. I plan to update AATC tomorrow.

Interesting Article Does Anyone Know More?

Below is an article from the Orlando Sentinel Blog

Pirates of the Caribbean Beach Resort
posted by ScottPowers on Jul 30, 2008

Walt Disney World has unveiled a rendering and a few details of some retheming and renovations in the works for Disney's Caribbean Beach Resort -- theming it after the hugely-popular Pirates of the Caribbean ride/movies/games franchise.

Beds that look like ships. Dressers that look like old crates. Curtains that look like tattered sails. The attached artist's rendering shows a few of the details.
Disney is planning the look for 384 rooms in the Trinidad South Village Area, set to be ready sometime next year. The resort has a total of 2,112 rooms.

Disney also announced a revised Magic Your Way plan. For fixed price per day, guests can add a Quick Service Dining starting Jan. 11, 2009. The package offers two quick service meals and two snacks for each night of stay, as well as a refillable drink mug for unlimited refills of non-alcoholic beverages at Disney resort hotels.

Clients who book through Walt Disney Travel Co. also will receive a new benefit -- 30 minute play-cards for Disney's resort hotel video arcades.

Have any of you heard more about this? I like the idea of two counter services and two snacks. It would be great if you could mix and match with other days that would allow table service. But who knows. My guess is that once you pick a package that is what your stuck with.