U2

I went to U2 with Katy, Paul, Nick & Becca, Josh & Laura and Laura's sister, Christen. Bob & Deb were also there but in a different section.

I still haven't been to many concerts in my life but this one was phenomenal. U2 played for about 2 hours and 15 minutes, well worth my two $65 tickets. In fact, why didn't we pay more and sit closer?

Tree/Bush Down!

Last Sunday Katy, Paul and Nick helped me take down the bush/tree and trim the one closest to the house and the sidewalk.












































































This was the view on June 13, 2011 when Dad and I first started the job.



















This is our new ladder with contributions from Eric & Emily, Bob & Deb. It'll get some painting done on the outside of the house soon.

June 4

Thank you for the Birthday wishes, calls, cards and presents.

I enjoyed the day at work before getting out into the nice Friday evening and enjoying a little bit of Brasa with Katy, Paul, Nick and Becca. We all enjoyed it, their garage doors were open at the Grand Avenue spot. We wandered a little on Grand, going into J. Crew but most stuff closes down early on Grand so we didn't go in too many places. However, we did get a dish of ice cream from Grand Old Creamery.














Nick, Joel and Paul waiting in line for some ice cream.


This was at Biaggi's in Maple Grove on Wednesday night June 2. Katy and I picked up Mom, Dad and Grandma. It was quite the few days of hanging out with Mom and Dad and it was great to see them. Some people asked when I saw them last and I wasn't sure. That means it was a long time, I suppose it was last summer.

Among our time together it seemed that most of it was spend enjoying a great amount of calories. Sunday was PF Changs! Monday we were at the Johnson's and were able to enjoy a great spread of food as well as the key item, venison! Monday night we went to WA Frost. I enjoyed lobster risotto with roasted shiitake mushrooms, julienne of snow peas in a smoked paprika sauce and a vanilla emulsion. It was a crazy good. Dad also ordered a charcuterie plate, which is just a bunch of cured meats on a plate with some sourdough bread and a couple of sauces. It was awesome, tasting something new!

We also ate at Old Chicago one night but then night before they left we ate at Biaggi's. It was pretty good as I stayed on the seafood train and got some lobster in pasta and it was delicious.

So, that's that. I'm 27 years old with 73 more years to go. I wonder what I will accomplish in this coming year. I do pray for alot...

Twin Cities 1 Mile 2010

I didn't get enough running in before this year's Twin Cities 1 Miler downtown Minneapolis. I set out a goal a couple months ago to get going and run a 4:40-4:45 for the 1 mile race.

I just didn't get going enough. I ran more miles this year than last year, but not too much more. A little trip to Branson, Missouri cost me some training/running time as did alot of laziness. Some days I just couldn't get out of bed and get going or get going after work when it's already 6:30 and I'm starving.

Ah well...I still ran it and again it was a great event. I turned in a 5:18. I thought it would have been a little faster as I thought I crossed with the clock at 5:13-5:14 but I guess the clock wasn't quite timed correctly.

I ran a bit fast through 400 meters but felt comfortable. From the 400 meter mark to the 800 meter mark seemed like a long time but I came through in 2:35ish. I just kept motoring along and stayed pretty comfortable smiling a couple times and enjoying the run for the live broadcast camera that drove by me between the 400m mark and the 800m mark.

With a few hundred meters left I saw Nick and Becca on the right side of the street and heard "Disch!" I enjoyed that and picked it up and finished strong, though I could have finished stronger but there was a bit if a race going on in front of me that I was content on watching two guys go at it trying to place one spot better. No one was behind me to get me so I just enjoyed watching their race.

I met up with Katy and Nick and Becca after the race. We stuck around, as we should have, to watch Anna Willard and David Torrence win the USATF 1 Mile Road Championships.

All in all, it was good to run and feel good. Now, to get going with miles for my half marathon on July 4th! Twin Cities Red, White and Boom!

My results.

Location	Race Time	Time of Day	Overall Place	Division Place	Sex Place
Time	05:18	19:40:13	99/2358	41/232	96/1123
GunStart	00:00	19:34:54
ChipStart	00:01	19:34:55	194/2358	52/232	161/1123

Minor's Wedding & Branson, Missouri

Last weekend Katy and I were coming back from Branson, Missouri and Chris and Lauren's wedding.

We drove down with Paul, Lance, Jon, Justin, Nick and Becca. We left the cities Thursday morning and drove to Kansas City where we found our nice hotel that Nick found and got ourselves some Jack Stack BBQ! I got a sampler platter of a polish sausage, a beef, lamb and pork rib and enjoyed a side of baked beans. It was a goal of mine to get to a legitimate BBQ place in KC while we were there. We did and I think it was enjoyable!

We then drove to Branson on Friday morning and arrived around noon. We drove right to a softball game that Chris had with a bunch of guys! It turned out to be quite the fun afternoon of softball, hot dogs, chips, catch and meeting Chris' friends from Missouri, Kamp Kanakuk and all over!















Chris, BJ, Lance, Joel, Brad, Brad, Jimmy, Jon, Sam, Jon, Chris, Justin, Chris, Jake (l-r)





















Chris with a rip to the outfield.















Looks like it was an inside-the-park home run. Like little league, must have been on errors or missing the cut off man.





















Nick Jones connects and dashes off to first.















Nick rounding third in another situation.















That's me, starting off the game as always in a state of confusion. Am I right handed or left handed? I think this was my first AB, an opposite field slap in the gap.















Turning on the track speed to make an effort to get to third base.















Here I come! Did I use the right foot rounding second base?















See, here is my right handed version. I think this one was a weak pop up.


We then proceeded to the church to rehearse and the rehearsal dinner.




























And then on to the after party with the guys!




























Unfortunately, that's all I can show you. It was a fun night.




























This was Saturday morning/early afternoon. We met Nick and Becca at The Landing. It's a riverfront shopping center just a couple blocks from downtown Branson. It was a new nice set of buildings and was sunny enough to enjoy a couple hours outside.















Chris and Lauren making their exit...















...and now their entrance to the reception.




















Nick Jones having a blast!













Unfortunately, Chris was having more of a blast!



















Maybe I was too. I don't know what this means.













She's beautiful!













Bethel roommates, doing "the Chris." (That means holding up your pointer finger in ALL photos.)













Bethel roommates doing "the Chris." This, however, is a slightly newer version!

U2 Tickets!

We're going to U2!

In a pretty random occurrence of events Katy and I bought u2 concert tickets for June 27th at TCF Bank Stadium.

I went to lunch with Nick who was on the internet looking at trying to buy U2 tickets. We ate a nice lunch in the Bethel dining center and I went to Turn Style to turn over some watches and old photo coasters from our wedding. I had to register in the home part of Turn Style and while I was registering a U2 song was playing on the radio. She said that they had been playing U2 all day and there must be a concert going on or something. For some reason she explained to me that she was a Gophers season ticket holder and they got an email so they could pre-sale the tickets. I said that the tickets were hard to come by as Nick was just looking for them and the website wouldn't let him buy any yet. Then she volunteered to forward me the special email that she got to pre-sale the tickets-which she did!

Later on in the evening Katy was talking about U2 and I remembered the email which we then opened and hit the link.

We ended up checking out with 4 U2 tickets! So, we're going with Nick and Becca, and I emailed it to Paul-who ordered to and Lance will come. I also emailed it to Josh who got tickets for himself and Laura! It's going to be fun!

Katy can't wait! We figured it was a semi-once in a lifetime shot at getting tickets and for a concert, for being U2 they weren't really that outrageous. It was $55 a pop with all of the fees and extras and ticketmaster garbage.

But we're excited to go to U2!


Also on the news front. Katy sliced her finger a couple weeks ago but it's getting better, though she lost some feeling in her left pointer finger. Also, her pickup cost us a little money last week, her starter decided to stop doing its' job. So we fired it and replaced it with a new one for the fair cost of $600! Are you kidding me!

What A Day!

Yesterday was a very enjoyable day as I did many very enjoyable activities.

My day began getting up lazily out of bed at 9 am before heading out on a run. I didn't know how long it was going to go but I wanted a decent day of running. I went down Hamline to Como Park, where I ran around the lake. However, I just happened to be running around the lake at the same time as a 5K heading in the same direction. So, I just cruised along all the way around the lake, making the 1.6 mile loop a little better effort with all of the 5kers around. I got to the pavilion and decided to stop and see who was going to win the race and in what time. Now, who do I see before the leaders come through? Dave Borner! His wife, Nikki, was running and we watched her finish 4th overall. It was fun chatting with him for a while. I then ran the opposite way around the lake for another 1.6 miles, getting myself up to six or seven miles. It was fun to run a couple miles with Nikki too, she's been running about 60 miles a week, working as a nurse and running very well.

It's always fun to run into Dave and Nikki and I just wish we got the chance to hang out more.

I then continued on my run home, but I ran the back loop of the MIAC CC championship course checking out the ground before the big races went off. I made it home and ended up gathering in 9.25 miles for my day, in 1:04 and change.

I showered, relaxed and then headed out to the MIAC Championships. Bethel's women finished 2nd and Marie Borner won by about 30 seconds. The guys finished with some disappointment, 7th overall. But Dan Greeno destroyed the guys race winning by more than 30 seconds as well.

All that time I got to run around with some good friends: Adam Erickson, Dave and Nikki Borner, Josh Tschetter, Peter Caldwell, Josh Otto, Hannah Carlson and so many more. Quite a fun time running around the course with Bethel running alumni.

After the race, Adam and I went to Caribou to get something warm in our hands and down our throats. It was fun to enjoy a coffee with Adam before getting to work and writing the articles for Bethel's athletics website.

Here's the men's article.

Here's the women's article.

So I went home and wrote the articles and enjoyed some of a quesadilla burger and watched the Phillies-yankees World Series with Katy and Paul while flipping back and forth to the USC-Oregon football game too.

All of that...and I still got an extra hour in the day with day light savings!

And now, I'm up at 7:30 am, writing a blog, waiting for Universalsports.com to air the NYC Marathon. I'm looking forward to watching Ryan Hall run, as well as some local runners from Team Minnesota USA.

What a day!

With more to come today!

My Thoughts: How It Really Happened Vikings vs. Steelers

(AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)

Let's start with a preface.

Last night Katy and I were at Curt and Megan's reception and Nick texts me asking what we were doing. The result was a phone call and a set of Sunday afternoon plans to enjoy chips and cheese and salsa, a veggie platter and some Swedish fish and snickers and an afternoon in front of the old Samsung to watch the highly anticipated Vikings vs. Steelers contest.

We watched all afternoon and enjoyed the food and relaxing with friends. It appeared that the game didn't get real exciting until late but it blew up with action.

I ended up listening to KFAN and their post game shows and heard some crazy thoughts on what happened during the game from callers and hosts. So, here it goes.

During the first quarter the Steelers held a 3-0 lead. Like I said, the action didn't blow up until late.

The second quarter consisted of a five plus minute Viking drive that put them ahead 7-3 on an Adrian Peterson TD, his eighth of the year. Late in the second quarter the Steelers took it right down the field and scored in 1:15, with big passing plays of 22 yards and 40 yards, both to the rookie Mike Wallace. Roethlesberger to Wallace put the Steelers up 10-7 leaving the Vikings twenty-four seconds to put the pigskin in play.

Here is where fans had some trouble in hindsight. Kneeling down with :24 left on the clock.

A few were very frustrated and thought that having twenty-four seconds left in the first half was a great chance to march down the field and get a field goal or a touchdown.

As a fan and a former video gamer aspiring coach, yeah, I absolutely would have liked to see and would have called at least two plays to get into a position to score the football. However, Favre and Childress along with Darrell Bevell must have put their noggins together and decided to kneel down and go into the half down jut 10-7. Again, I thought it was odd that they decided to do that but you can't even come close to assuming they would have scored. That's just a coaching being content for some unknown reason.

Fault: Childress.

Here came the third quarter. The Steelers took it right down the field to begin the second half, using the first 3:55 of time to put it in through the uprights with a field goal by Jeff Reed. 13-7, Pittsburgh with the lead.

In the next 6:21, the Vikings would respond with a field goal of their own, on 13 plays going for 64 yards. 13-10 Pittsburgh still led.

The fourth quarter is when everything ensued. And I mean everything.

The Steelers were driving on their possession from the end of the third to the fourth quarter. However, Rashard Mendenhall took the handoff made a couple of moves and was within sight of the goal line. However, one of his teammates was kneeling down on the ground blocking a Viking defensive lineman. Mendenhall, though at the five yard line, thought it would be fun to go airborne like it was the goal line and add a couple extra yards to the carry. However, the young man's idea backfired on him. He was hit hard in the air, fumbled, and the Vikings recovered.

Vikings Fans: Let's not forget, had the youngster not made the boneheaded play, it would have been 16-10 or 20-10, at the beginning of the fourth quarter. Easily.

Fault: Vikings benefited on the fumble but could have easily given up 3/7 points.

At this point the Vikings took the football back and drove pretty well right down to Steelers territory. This is when more "controversy" happens. Now the Vikings were right down in Pittsburgh territory and tight end Jeff Dugan was called with tripping or leg whipping (both penalties) a defensive player. The television crew (Somebody, Daryl Johnston, Tony Siragusa) thought it was a weak call but didn't sound too emphatic. The KFAN crew (Cory Cove and Mike Morris) thought it was an offense and that it was a penalty.

Fault: Jeff Dugan. You committed a penalty. Either way it went it wasn't a big deal, but it was called so you got caught.

However, three plays later Favre was sacked, fumbled the football and James Farrior of the Steelers took it 77 yards to the house, putting the Steelers up 20-10. (Could have been 27-10 or 23-10 with that Mendenhall fumble snafu, let's not forget that)

Fault: Vikings OLine. You've got to protect your 40 year old quarterback who has made this team as formidable as it is right now. With Jackson or Rosenfels I say the Vikings are 4-2 or 3-3 right now.

More craziness ensues, kicker Jeff Reed boots the following kick to Vikings rookie receiver and special teamer Percy Harvin takes it quickly back 88 yards for a score.

Fault: Nah. Credit. Percy Harvin made it happen. (Just think about this. NFL teams typically return 3-4 punts/kicks back for touchdowns a year. It's not a let's just execute play. Just think if it hadn't happened. It wouldn't be 20-17 at that point. It'd be 20-10 still.)



(AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
So, the Vikings defense forces a Steeler punt and the Vikings go to work from their own 26 yard line looking for at least a field goal to tie the score up and force overtime. Not to make the game boring the Vikings drive down to Steeler territory again.

And in one of the plays of the game that portrays football at its adrenaline contact filled peak, Adrian Peterson catches a pass from Favre, turns and drills defensive back William Gay, before disposing of him and running forward more. It was a beautiful play and Peterson must have been gassed.



(AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
So, Chester Taylor comes in to spell Peterson for a play or two (turns out just two). In that mix, Chester catches one for seven yards. What happens next Vikings fans question for some unknown reason.

Callers on KFAN had perfect 20/20 vision hindsight. What is the best player in the NFL doing on the bench in a critical end of game possession?

Fault: Nobody. Hhmm, AP just drills a DB and gains 29 yards on a huge play filling his veins with adrenaline and he's got to stay in the game? Players come in and out on their own all the time and Peterson needed a breather. Not a big deal, yet Vikings fans/callers yell and scream and rant, how could our best player not be in the line up?

How about this? He got tired. I bet if you made that hit you wouldn't have kept running for a bigger gain! You may have drilled William Gay but you would have fallen down on your face after.

Ok, so Peterson is out and Chester Taylor is in. He's a third down back for the Vikings and he's a better third down back for the Vikings is than Adrian Peterson is. To be a good third down back you've got to be a very versatile, intelligent player. You've got to be a threat to both run and catch, but the emphasis is on catch. You've also have to be smart enough to pick up the blitz and tough enough to get in the way of it.

So Chester Taylor was in, Peterson happened to be on the bench. Favre throws his second consecutive dump off to Taylor. However, something happens with this throw as with many of this other INT's. It's off the fingertips, bounces high in the air, giving plenty of time for the defense to find it in the air and pick it off.

This Favre pass was high. No doubt about it. Chester's hands went up towards his face, the ball glanced off of his fingertips and because it was high to begin with and popped up in the air allowing Fox to pick it off and run the distance to for the touchdown.

Steelers lead 27-17 with the point after touchdown. 1:00 to play after the kick return by the Vikings.

Fans were upset with the play calling and the fact Peterson wasn't out there. Childress was trying to actually win the game by being aggressive and scoring a touchdown! (Refer back to his kneel down with :24 left in the first half please. Too conservative.) Vikings callers wanted them to run it there and get the field goal. Now, isn't that just being like Childress? Too conservative? And they'd be calling after the game yelling if he had played for the tie, got it but lost in overtime.

Fault: Uh, 60-40 Favre and Taylor. Put it this way, if Favre plunks that ball in Chester's gut, does that ball pop up in the air and allow the defense to pick it? I think not. It either hits him in the gut and he catches it, hits him in the gut and he catches it before dropping it because he got drilled in the back or it hits him in the gut and he drops it. Favre threw it high and he paid the consequences for that.


(AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)


(AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
I actually laughed when it happened. I immediately thought of how Vikings fans now feel the same way I did on all of the interceptions that Favre threw that were partially his fault but not completely.

One other point. A couple weeks ago, listening to KFAN, someone, brought the bend do not break defensive method to the table. The Rams out gained the Vikings 400 to 377 but someone else was defending "well we bent but didn't break." Well, the Rams were also penalized more than the Vikings and the Rams also won the time of possession battle. Hhmm, seems to me that Jared Allen returned a fumble for a TD in that game too-another similarity between these two games. But the "bend don't break" argument won out versus this Ram team that did some good things against this Vikings team. (Talk of garbage time is another argument and hasn't been thought through-don't bring it to the table :)

So, another set of callers and hosts said that this Vikings team dominated the Steelers and that the Steelers were "lucky" to get the win. Are you kidding me? Please refer to the Rams game. Also, did you see how the Ravens missed a game winning kick indoors from a manageable distance? If he made that, and probably should have, the Vikings would be 5-2.

Also, did anyone see that amazing Favre to Greg Lewis throw and catch to defeat the 49ers on the last play of the game? I think the Vikings were extremely lucky to get out of there with a win. They could be 4-3, could they not be!?

It might not be wise to say "the Steelers got lucky and we should have won" argument. If you do then you would have won the Pittsburgh game but lost the 49ers game as well as the Ravens game, would you not have?

So yes, the Vikings might have dominated statistically but ultimately they did not win and should not have won, judging by the Steelers defense scoring twice and fully employing the Vikings "bend but don't break" defensive style.

Take aways from the game:

Childress is still too conservative. Kneel down with :24 left in the first half? Have fun, pretend you play a game and give it a shot or two! You really should, no reason not to.

The Vikings could have lost by more. (See Mendenhall fumble)

O line did not protect Favre well enough.

Harvin came up big with his kick return.

Peterson fatigued after a big play. Yeah, it happens. People get tired and it's very common in football to substitute.

Favre/Taylor should take blame for their misconnection. Enough said, Favre's pass was high and Chester didn't keep his paws on it.

The outcome was closer than the score.

I don't care if you dominate statistically. You can not and will not win a game if you allow two defensive touchdowns. Please refer back to when Sharper/kick/punt return went against the Giants in the Meadowlands a few years ago. I recall a Sharper INT return, a Mewelde Moore punt return for a TD and a Koren Robinson TD for a score. Vikes won that game 24-21. Sheesh, how bad were the Vikes if they got 3 unusual TD's and only win by 3? Ha.

Don't believe me? I was there. http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/recap?gameId=251113019

Twin Cities 10 Mile Pictures

Abdi Abdirahman









Abdi again in a record run for the Twin Cities 10 Mile-46:35



Josh Moen-"ran against" this guy in college. I was far behind, he ran for Wartburg College in Iowa. He was second in 46:38, he and Abdi ran a great surging race from what I read and hear.



Here I come, a little ahead of schedule.



























I was pumped. I was well ahead of schedule and cooking the last half mile. I was also glad to see everyone in front of the Cathedral.