Gale Force

In honor of the holiday season, and in true i-have-nothing-original-to-blog-about-so-i’ll-do-a-top-X-list-post style, here are my favorite internet memes from days yonder. From my tubes to yours (there’s a joke about an surrogate motherhood in there somewhere), enjoy:

5. The Rick-Roll (a family favorite). Have you ever been tricked into clicking a link that led to a video clip of the Rick Astley video “Never Gonna Give You Up”? If so, then you’ve been Rick Roll’d! Why anyone would ever be annoyed by this is beyond me…I love Rick Astley and that song is an anthem to my youth.

More after the jump… Read the rest of this entry »

I recently discovered an incredibly awesome podcast that I wanted to share with my faithful readers.  Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me is an NPR radio show that provides a humorous look at the week’s top news stories.  Monday is my favorite day of the week because I know a fresh new episode of Wait Wait will be waiting for me when I fire up iTunes in the morning.

Seriously folks, this show is hilarious…and I’m not talking Jim Carrey in Ace Ventura Pet Detective-type funny, it’s actually intelligent humor!  If you’re looking for a good way to blow 40-45 minutes of your Monday, subscribe to this podcast!

It used to be that I’d only strap on a single gadget when I’d go running. Just me and my trusty iPod, strapped to my arm and powering the awesome Sennheiser headphones I purchased a while back. Well I’ve added another gizmo to the routine and I think this one puts me ever closer to being accepted as a “real” runner (come on all you elitist running jerks…you know as well as I do that if someone doesn’t have a Garmin Forerunner strapped to their wrist they’re not to be taken seriously). I finally broke down and purchased a Garmin Forerunner 205. I passed on the 305 because I wasn’t convinced the extra $100 for the heart monitor strap was worth it. Besides, who wants to know how close they are to a pulmonary embolism while they’re running.

Now that I’ve had a few week to play with my new toy, I gotta say, I’m loving it. It has all the functionality you’d expect from a GPS but it really shines as a training aid. You can display all sorts of data on up to 3 data screens including pace, distance, current lap time, overall time, elevation etc. You can save courses and compare your performance on a given course over time and you can compete with a virtual training partner! The full list of features can be found on the Garmin Forerunner 205 Product Page….check it out, you’ll be impressed.

Now, if the watch alone weren’t cool enough, I’ve recently discovered an awesome website that let’s you map your workout routes online: www.mapmyride.com. What does that have to do with the watch you say? Well the website developers created an awesome little utility that will take the routes from your Forerunner and upload them to the website directly. I’ve used the site for quite a while, but I used to input my routes manually which was laborious and prone to inaccuracies…now I’m in heaven.

Here is my profile on MMR with links to some of the routes I’ve uploaded.

Being the gadget addict I am, I’m convinced that very soon I’ll look very much like Locutus while I’m out jogging around…Resistance [training] is fruitful…

PS - The Garmin Forerunner 205 gets the official Gale Force Seal of Approval!

I’ve decided to add a new feature to my blog. I know I know…my witty commentary on life combined with my intelligent writing style doesn’t leave much room for improvement…but I’m a progressive-ist. With that said, I am officially introducing the “Gale Force Seal Of Approval” feature to the site. What is this “GFSoA” you say? Well it’s my way of telling you, the humble internet tube-surfer, those things that I deem “cool”, “hip” or otherwise worthy of your attention and/or consumer dollars. So on with it already….

Today’s GFSoA award goes to Sennheiser for their super-awesome PMX 70 headphones.  Here’s what Sennheiser’s marketing folks have to say about these beauties:

Short Description

The rugged stereo neckband headphones fit comfortably behind the neck. The moisture-resistant construction makes these headphones the ideal sports companion.

Features

Ergonomic neckband and vertical transducer system
Powerful neodymium magnets for detailed sound
Sweat and water-resistant
Extremely rugged earphones and cable
Accessories: cable clip

If I had just one gripe about the iPod it would be that the first time I took my brand new 30GB video iPod out jogging it broke.  Boy, that sadPod icon really IS sad…I almost cried.  If I had two gripes about the iPod, gripe #2 would be that the earbud headphones don’t stay in my ears and are, for me, practically useless.  With a mounting collection of useless Apple earbud headphones I set out to find the perfect replacements.  My requirements were simple:

1. Would be good for working out
2. Would stay in my ears (seems like a reasonable requirement)
3. Had a cool day-glo green headphone cord
4. Sounded better than my current $4 behind-the-neck headphones

After a few Google searches I started to notice a pattern…Sennheiser’s new line of “Sport” headphones kept showing up.  All the reviews I read were favorable so the decision was an easy one.  The only hard part was choosing between the PMX 70 and the OMX 70, which is an over-ear design as opposed to the behind-the-neck variety.  I’ve never had a problem with the behind-the-neck headphones so I settled on the PMX 70 and placed my order. 

Now that I’ve had the headphones for a few days I can tell you that I’m utterly thrilled with my purhcase!  The sound is fantastic and they stay put during even the most rigorous workouts.  The ONLY thing (and honestly it’s hardly worth mentioning) that annoys me slightly, is the fact that the headphone cord came rolled up (see picture above).  After a few days of use the cord is still coiled and has a phone-cord spring effect thing going on.  I’m sure it will relax over time but for now it’s a mild annoyance…but that’s hardly enough to keep Sennheiser from receiving the very first GFSoA award!  Congratulations!