Celebrity Sighting: Lance Armstrong in Portland

So there I was, minding my own beeswax last night in the lobby at Merrill Auditorium milling with the throngs of hipster fans before the Ryan Adams & The Cardinals perform. When all of a sudden, and quite randomnly, a friend of a friend pointed out that standing out 15 feet away was none other than Tour de France rock star cyclist, Lance Freaking Armstrong. Notebook in hand, I gently approached him and he was perfectly pleasant. I wasn't after an autograph, I was after a couple of quotes to throw into my review of the show. I introduced myself and told him I was covering the show for the local paper.Lance told me he's been a fan of Ryan's for many years, dating back to Whiskeytown days. He decided to come to Portland for this show before heading to NYC tomorrow to celebrate his 36th birthday. Lance had never been to Portland before and he did what any well do to first timer would do: have dinner at Fore Street. Then we shook hands, I thanked him and that was that. I saw him again during the intermission (which was an unplanned one due to sound issues) and we chatted some more about the show. I then patted him on the shoulder, said "Thanks, Lance" and he thanked me as well and I was on my merry way. As for Ryan Adams, he is an incredibly talented musician but something of a tortured soul. He was Mr. Negative Nelly but he and the band sounded GREAT.
And that my friends, is my tales from the city from last night. Later, ALP

Peace March & Rally descends on Kennebunkport

So there was a super cool peace rally and march held in Kennebunkport on Saturday August 18th. Tra and I went and were accompanied by our pals Amy and Lee. It was scorching hot out but it was an incredible day. Speakers included Dennis Kucinich (who I shook hands with) and Cindy Sheehan and after the march through the streets of Kennebunkport we returned to the school field and heard more speakers and a five song set from none other than the Indigo Girls.
Here's a couple 'o pics from this special day.

Watermelon Bliss

My love for watermelon was taken to an entirely new level a few nights ago. So there in the fridge was a huge bowl of cut up watermelon which I was just about to serve to Tra and I somewhere around the 4th inning of the Red Sox game. She looked at me and said "Aim, I think you should put it in the blender." I looked at her and said "You know something...you are SO freaking right." And so, I sashayed into the kitchen and dumped the aforementioned watermelon into the blender and let it rip. Then, I poured the magical conconction into pint glasses, added bendy straws and retreated to the living room; glasses in hand. We took a sip, and then another and then another and well as you can imagine, it was the best damn thing I've had to drink in at least 4,568,253 years. Just chilled watermelon in a blender. No ice, no nuthin' Though a friend did suggest maybe a little vodka next time. I don't know though, it was so supremely perfect just the way it was. I mean no foolin' around holy shit this is so incredibly good I can't even believe I'm drinkin' it good. As luck would have it, seedless watermelons are on sale again at Shaws for $3.99. Run, don't walk to the market. Cheers, ALP

p.s. in case there is any doubt, you wanna use seedless watermelon, people

Summer Snacking...

Here's one of the many reasons life can be so challenging...

+ALP

Summer Reading...

8/16/07 Went on something of a shopping spree at Borders last week.
Two of the books I picked up where "The Taming of the Chew: A Holisitic guide to stopping compulsive eating" by Denise Lamothe and "Run for Life: The Real Woman's guide to Running," by Sam Murphy. I haven't read a single page of either. Hmmm I wonder what that means?
+ALP

Me & Isabella

This picture is of the lovely and enchanting Isabella Rossellini. It was taken at a fundraising event in New York City in February 0f 2002. It's a very long story but the crux of it was that I was her personal assistant for the day. Sorry the pic is so small, it's from an on-line wire image service and I'd have to register with them and pay for it. But I promise, it's me with my head turned wearing the black shirt and red (leather I might add!) pants. I just HAD to put this up on the blog. Cheers, ALP

Erin McKeown live in Portland!

The incredibly talented and charming Erin McKeown put on a stellar show a couple of weeks ago (July 26th to be exact) outside on Monument Square as part of the "Alive at Five" Series. Tracy and I were there as well as Smitty, Babsy, Michelle C., Tom, Molly and Bea, among a few thousand others. Am posting a couple o' pics from the show.+ALP

p.s. on a non-related note, my current Red Sox stress level is sharply rising...

Beach to Beacon Pics

Here are two shots that Tracy took of yours truly at the Beach to Beacon last Saturday (8/4).

I would appreciate it if you could not spend too much time, maybe just a quick glance, at the one that prominantly features my tush.

Much Appreciated!

ALP

Beach to Beacon Update!

Monday Morning 8/7/07 (aka my friend Soozie G's Birthday!)

Beach to Beacon went GREAT on Saturday. My time was 3-4 minutes slower that my three previous attempts but I felt great! I was one hour 8 minutes and a few seconds. Congrats to Amy S. who broke her personal best with a time of just over 50 minutes! You rock! Thanks to everyone who was out there cheering for myself and the other runners on Saturday; especially Tracy who got a couple of pics which I'll post very soon.
Now it's time to register for the October 7th Maine Marathon. Am doing the half this year.
Bye for now, ALP

Midnight Train Musical Moment this Morning

I was a couple of minutes away from my office this morning when what to my wondering ears should come on the radio but one my absolute favorite songs: "Midnight Train to Georgia" by none other than Gladys Knight & The Pips. Indigo Girls also do a stellar live version of it but it's the original that really spins my spurs. Truly a classic song. I especially love when Gladys sings "He kept dreaming, one day he'd be a star..." and then the Pips pipe in "A Superstar, but he didn't get far..." Does it get any better? I was so caught up in it that I had to sit in my car to finish off the song. The pic I took with my phone is me singing along with my invisible microphone. Viva la Gladys! Happy Thursday. Thoughts of course are with the people in Minneapolis today because of that inconceivable bridge collapse disaster... +ALP

Beach to Beacon !!!

This Saturday will mark the 4th time I've run the 10K Beach to Beacon race. Oddly enough, my times for the past three years have all been within 4 seconds of each other. Hey, consistency must count for something! Amy S. and I have run the course the past two Sundays and it's felt pretty good. Tracy ran part of it with us last Sunday and then hopped on her bike and handed me an ice cold; water drenched wash cloth which was worth it's weight in gold somewhere around the four mile mark. I've started to really concentrate on my "foot turnover rate" meaning I'm not running faster, I'm just running smarter and more efficiently. Last night was the final Hannaford Training Run and one of my heroes; Joan Benoit, was on hand. I said hello and told her I had just seen the documentary on HBO the other day that is about the 1984 Olympic Games which took place in Los Angeles. She won the gold medal for the marathon. I remember watching it live when I was 15 years old. She's the bomb! Anyway, wish me luck. It feels great to be getting serious again about running. Amy S. and I are going to register for the half marathon (am not attempting the full one again, at least not this year!) but we both felt that pyschologically we wanted to wait until after the Beach to Beacon was behind us. I'll post a report on either Saturday afternoon or Sunday. Here's a link to the race website: http://www.beachtobeacon.org/ Good luck to all my pals running it!

Grape Nuts Commentary

Click here to view a retro Grape Nuts commercial. I must however say this, Grape Nuts doesn't hold me over all morning. I'm pretty much starving again by the time I get to work. But whatever...

http://www.retrojunk.com/details_commercial/874/

And so it begins...

July 31, 2007

It's close to midnight on Tuesday night and I am working on a cd review. Although I fancy a bowl of grapenuts, I thought instead I'd finally launch the blog I've been meaning to do for quite some time. Tracy and I will continue with our wonderful blog: http://www.squirrelrocket.blogspot.com/ but we both thought it was time I have my own little goofy lily pad to hop onto where I can spout off about the incandenscent random thoughts that richochet through my head at any given moment. Expect lots of music and movie chatter with some Red Sox joy and pain mixed in. And who know's what else. Here's mud in your eye, y'all. Let the shenanigans begin.

XO ALP p.s. The Red Sox lost tonight and I'm pissed off.