Just the other day I started reading Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen by Christopher McDougall. I first heard about the book while reading an excerpt in an issue of 5280 Magazine. The author travels to find a tribe of the world’s greatest distance runners and learn their secrets after suffering injury after injury.

The Tarahumara Indians of Mexico’s Copper Canyons are capable of running hundreds of miles at a time without rest. They do not run to stay in shape, but rather as a method of travel between villages or to hunt food, such as deer. However, because of their persistent running they are some of the healthiest people on Earth. Though I don’t plan to run down a deer anytime in the future, I do hope the book becomes an inspiration to go out and run more often. And maybe I’ll find the secret to making it not be as painful of an experience as it sometimes is.

As I mentioned last week, my hockey team advanced into the championship game for this session, which took place last night. The game started off pretty rough for my team. Our opponents were definitely out to win the game, while we couldn’t get any offense going. Eventually they put in a few goals in our net, and I believe they may have scored three or four before we put one in.

In the third period we were down 5-1. Finally, in the second half of the period we started playing at our full potential and put in a quick three goals. That took it to 5-4 with a couple of minutes left to play. At that point I really thought we had a chance to tie it up. If the game went to an overtime shootout, I felt like we could take it, as our goalie is the strongest in the league. Unfortunately we couldn’t get that last goal, and the other team actually scored an empty netter on us to take the game with a final score of 6-4.

I now have the next few weeks off, and when it’s time to get back on the ice I will be on a different team. A few of the guys that I’ve played with for years are getting our old team back together for the fall and winter. We are also recruiting some new players and even moving up a level and into the “C” division. I watched a semifinal game in this league last night and it is quite a bit faster than the current league, but I think with the right players we can totally compete. Time will tell, but this last season was a blast.

Nearly two years ago, Kim and I attended our first Film on the Rocks presentation. And last night we attended another sold out movie screening, the last of this year’s season. Once I heard that they were showing Top Gun I knew that we would be there. Not only has this always been one of my favorite movies, it also happens to be one of Kim’s favorites as well. In fact it is the only movie that she can quote better than I can.

We met up with some friends in the parking lot to have a few beers before hand. Just after the sun started to set we made our way inside Red Rocks and discovered that the seating area was completely packed! There were two areas down front where part of the screen was cutoff, but we decided to sit there anyway. Eventually the staff removed some ropes that were setup for a VIP area, and we moved over to nearly a full screen view. The nice part was that the sound was deafening in our closeup seats. In fact, parts of the movie could have been louder than any music note I’ve ever heard inside the venue.

We stayed for the entire movie. I was happy doing so as I can’t recall the last time that I actually watched Top Gun all the way through. All of the flight sequences were amazing with the loud sound and excitement throughout the crowd. There were lots of cheers and even a wonderful singalong to You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’. Watching any movie at Red Rocks always turns into a great time with the large sold out crowd. I would attend more of them throughout the summer if it didn’t mean a late night. Since the movie didn’t start until well after 9pm, it was about midnight before I finally made it to bed. But it is well worth it, at least once a year.

I finally got my recording of MER and Noah Gabriel’s performance from this year’s Pig-Fest uploaded. Unfortunately I forgot to set the recorder to automatically record another track after the three hour limit, so we missed the end of the show including the Paff Family All-Stars rendition of Friends in Low Places. What I do have is nearly three hours of solid tape of the two musicians playing together, as well as some songs played on their own. There’s a fair amount of wind in the recording, but it’s still very listenable. Check it out here or by using the embedded player below.

And the weddings just keep on rolling. Kim and I were back in Cincinnati yet again this past weekend for the wedding of my cousin Gina. Her and Geoff have been dating for a number of years and they are for sure a good fit. The ceremony was down in an beautiful old church near the Ohio River called St. Rose. The ceremony was the first full Catholic ceremony I’ve been to that was less than an hour in length. Apparently the priest there is known for his speedy masses. Gotta love the dedication of us Catholics!

Their reception was held at The Grand in Covington, KY. This was my first time in this room and I was really impressed. Despite being next-door to a gentleman’s club, the inside is beautifully restored and renovated. I believe it’s a newer hall, but had it been open during the time of our wedding, I would have highly considered it. Needless to say, the party was great, the food was wonderful, and the drinks were flowing. It’s always great to see family and I look forward to another celebration in another month from now.

As always, my mom has tons of pictures on her flickr. A slide show is below:

Great news on the travel front. Frontier Airlines is here to stay, at least for now! The bid that Southwest put down to buy the bankrupt airline ended up leading to disagreements with both pilot unions. The terms were never agreed to, so Republic Airways ended up winning the battle. This was regarded as the best option for Frontier, and I hope it turns out to be a great cooperation in the future. We took a flight on Frontier last night and I know that all of the crew was very excited to be working with Republic instead of Southwest. I am also happy with the results and look forward to many future Frontier flights.

Last night was the semi-finals in our adult league hockey. It was my team’s first game in the playoffs after we miraculously received a first round bye. The rest week must have treated us well, as we came out flying! We scored a quick goal on our first shift, which I help to setup but was not credited with an assist. Our team went on to put another goal in before the end of the 1st, which I did get a credited assist on. And I believe our opponents put in a goal before the end as well, making it 2-1 at the first intermission.

Our scoring didn’t stop there, and I again assisted the team with two more goals, getting credited assists both times. Our opponents also managed a goal in there somewhere, and late in the final period we put in an empty netter to seal the game at 5-2. I should have had four assists, but was only credited with the playmaker (three assists). We now move onto to next week’s Championship, playing a team that we beat two of three games in the regular season. I’m hoping we come home with the cup.

Our upcoming trip to Alaska is quietly sneaking up on us. We’ll be on our way to Anchorage in two and a half weeks. I told myself earlier that I wanted to get a new lens for my camera (Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi) before our trip, and I guess I better make a decision quick. I’m looking for something that is more wide angle than the two lenses that I already have (EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM and EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS).

Currently I’m looking at EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM which would give me a great range of zoom that I am currently missing. I’m just not sure I want to spend that much money. Any other suggestions to consider or is this the best bang for the back considering the small sensor of the camera? I also need to get the sensor cleaned before going, so suggestions for that would be great as well.

We had a subscription to the Denver Post for awhile now, but I think we may finally be ditching it. We really only read it during breakfast each day, and therefore I feel it’s a pretty big waste of not only money but materials as well. I primarily get my news online, and therefore read the same stories again the next day in the print news. Kim prefers to get her news in print form, so we are trying to find something good for her to read during breakfast or other times in the day. She was thinking of maybe getting Newsweek again, but I was curious if anyone had other suggestions.

We had another great weekend at my parents’ house for their annual pig roast, better known as Pig-Fest. This was the sixteenth year in a row for the party. It was a hot day, but fortunately we saw no rain. In typical fashion, my wiffleball team lost in the first round, but I was able to win the cornhole tournament! The nice thing is that the winners of the cornhole tournament take home the jackpot after each player throws $2 in the pot.

My friend MER came down from Chicago once again to entertain the crowd after the sun went down. He also brought another musician with him, Noah Gabriel, who I’m looking forward to seeing again in the future. Other events of the day included a pinata, volleyball, and of course some flip cup toward the end of the evening. My body is very sore from too much fun, but i can’t wait until we can do it all over again next summer.

Pictures are starting to show up on facebook, and I’m sure my mom will have tons on her flickr page soon. I’ll be sure to keep the Pig-Fest website updated with any photos I find.