So when I feel like quitting.....

I have a lot of heroes in my life people who I look up to for strength and inspiration. Like many people I admire several sports figures: Jackie Robinson for his courage, Michael Jordan for his consistency, John Elway for his toughness just to name a few. However the athlete who inspires me most of all at this point and time in my life is Lance Armstrong.

When I'm on the elliptical at the gym I pretend I'm Lance on the mountains of France. I bounce up and down like a cyclist out of the saddle on a 4 hour climb. I can hear Phil Liggett's voice narrating my progress, reading the determination on my face. The sweat drips down my face onto the cobble stoned roads of the Champs Elysees. Over and over again there is a Lance Armstrong quote that repeats itself in my mind. Because believe me there is not a day where I don't think to myself "eh that's enough for today, maybe I'll quit early. Just today. Then this quote pops into my head:

"Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place. If I quit, however, it lasts forever. That surrender, even the smallest act of giving up, stays with me. So when I feel like quitting, I ask myself, which would I rather live with?”

So I push on. I push past the pain. First I ache, then I sweat, then comes the pain. Once you've pushed past the pain then the numbness sets in and you can ride the numbness till you've reached your goal for the day. When it's all done the sweet euphoria of having pushed yourself past pain into numbness is the best feeling in the world and I chase that everyday I'm at the gym.

Okay just wanted to share that with you guys. Oh here check this out!

Training For San Diego

So some of you may know already but for those who do not. I have registered myself to participate in the San Diego Rock N Roll Half Marathon being held on June 3, 2012. Yes a half marathon is 13 miles. Well it might be 13. something but I'm focusing on just finishing.

Up to this point the most I have walked/jogged is about 6.2 miles and this took me about 2 and 1/2 hours to accomplish. This marathon has a time limit of 4 hours. So right away the numbers are not in my favor. But that's cool because I dig a challenge! But I really think 13 miles may realistically be out of my reach. So I was curious 'what would happen if I could not complete the course in the required time?' I went to their website and found this:


If a participant’s pace falls below the course time limit, they have a few options:

• Increase their pace to stay within the event minimum pace


• Board a “sag wagon” shuttle to move forward on the course, where they may continue to participate in the event, maintaining the minimum pace required


• If the participant cannot continue, they may board a sag wagon to be dropped off at the next shuttle location, at a nearby medical station. The participant will be seen by a Medical Team captain to be cleared for the medical shuttle to transport the participant to the finish line.

Well here is my promise to all of you right now: I will finish this race. I might not do the full 13 miles. Matter of fact I've set my training goal at finishing 10 miles. I think this is a respectable number and I will be very very happy when I cross the finish line in 4 hours having completed 10 miles of the 13 mile course.

This means in training for this course I'm really looking to step up my bodies endurance over a long period of time versus training to set any kind of speed record. I know where I am at in challenging my body and I'm sure there will come a day when I will be finishing within the course time limit but not this first one. This first one I just want to finish. So my training is going to be all about pushing my endurance.

I started January being able to last 30 minutes on the elliptical at the gym with a goal of 60 minutes 6000 strides by the end of the month. I hit this goal today! My next step will be to hit the bluffs sometime this weekend and walk for 2 hours without stopping. I should be able to do just under 5 miles.

At the end of February I will step up the walking to 3 hours then 4 hours by the end of March. Not exactly sure what my distance walked will be in those time frames but I just need to be able to move for 4 hours without stopping because this is what I will have to do in San Diego.

With the ability to walk for 4 miles under my belt hopefully by the end of March I will then spend April and May maintaining this endurance of 4 hours and just keep trying to increase the distance. Now, don't get me wrong. If in March I realize that 13 miles is doable in 4 hours then I'm stepping my game up and going for it. Always be ready to adapt!

At the gym I'm doing cardio 4-5 times a week and weights 3-4 times a week. Using the weights to strengthen my arms and back while the cardio on the elliptical should be toning my legs. I'm drinking a lot of water and eating tons of chicken from Fresh & Easy and Freds Bar B Q (on Rosedale) and plenty of 1/2 Cobb Salads from Sequoia (Downtown).

Cardio, weights, protein, carbs and the support of my amazing family and wonderful friends. This is how I'm training for San Diego Rock N Roll Half Marathon. If anyone has suggestions or wants to join me one of these days on the Bluffs HMU!

CD Review-Red Hot Chili Pepper's: I'm With You

From Fuzz to Funk. The Red Hot Chili Pepper's still make me want to dance naked!

The opening chords of Monarchy of Roses the opening track off the Red Hot Chili Pepper's 10th studio album I'm With You sound like they are being broadcast through an old beat up transistor radio until it jumps into a funky dance groove reminiscent of One Hot Minute.

The Red Hot Chili Peppers then spend the next 59 minutes going back and fourth from Fuzz to Funk to just plain silliness. Would you want your Red Hot's delivered any other way?

Rick Rubin is back producing his 6th Red Hot's album. And of course we are all waiting to see if new comer Josh Klinghoffer can come anywhere close to filling John Frusciante's shoe's. But come on let's be realistic. No one will ever take the place of Frusciante. Die hard Red Hot fans should know and accept this undeniable fact. The best we can hope for is that Klinghoffer does not come along and try and be Frusciante and that he brings his own element to a sound that is already very well developed.

By the time we reach the half way point of Did I Let You Know complete with trumpet solo and wavy guitar solo your so lost in the Red Hot's rhythm section of Flea and Chad Smith you forget all about the razor's edge guitar solo's that once cut through the Red Hot's songs on previous albums. Like a boxer Klinghoffer waits until Goodbye Hooray to show he can unleash his fury and go toe to toe cutting and shredding on par with the legend of Frusciante.

Is it Californication? No. Is it Blood Sugar Sex Magik? Hell no. Is it the next logical step in the long and winding road that is The Red Hot Chili Peppers? Yes! Will they go on tour and shred these songs and many more? Of course, they've been doing this since 1984.

Track Listing for I'm With You:

1. "Monarchy of Roses" 4:11
2. "Factory of Faith" 4:20
3. "Brendan's Death Song" 5:38
4. "Ethiopia" 3:50
5. "Annie Wants a Baby" 3:40
6. "Look Around" 3:28
7. "The Adventures of Rain Dance Maggie" 4:42
8. "Did I Let You Know" 4:21
9. "Goodbye Hooray" 3:52
10. "Happiness Loves Company" 3:33
11. "Police Station" 5:35
12. "Even You Brutus?" 4:01
13. "Meet Me at the Corner" 4:21
14. "Dance, Dance, Dance" 3:45

The Abby Roadies, Live at Fishlips Bar

When I was in young I used to get home from school everyday at about 2:30 in the afternoon. My brother would get home from High School at about 3:30. So this meant after I put away my stuff and got settled I had about 45 to 30 minutes alone with his stereo and his record collection.

There was some Santana, Moonflower was my favorite. War-The World Is A Ghetto. Then there was The Beatles and my favorite Beatles record was Abby Road, my favorite song Maxwell's Silver Hammer. Over the years every song on this record would take it's turn as being my favorite song of the album or the moment and The Beatles of course as with every other red blooded American would over the years accompany me as I grew up and tested the boundaries of life and reality.

So you can only imagine my excitement about a month ago when I saw a flyer on the Fishlips bathroom wall for The Abby Roadies Beatles Tribute Band: Performing Abby Road in it's entirety and other Beatles selections. I did all I could to get to Fishlips on time last night but as luck would have it. I missed the first two songs and showed up just as Maxwell's Silver Hammer was serenading the Bakersfield night air.

The Abby Roadies pretty much being a Bakersfield All Star band tore through the rest of Abby Road and worked the crowd into a sweaty dancing frenzy by the end of the night. The Abby Road stuff was received in awe as most of the bars patrons sat at their tables with band friends and random shiny happy people milling about the front of the stage swaying to and fro singing along.

The party really started when Abby Road was done and the band returned from their break and sprent the rest of the night ripping through everyone's favorite Beatles tunes: Paperback Writer, Help, Sargent Pepper, Twist and Shout just to name a few. I was in Beatles heaven for about 45 minutes last night as time stood still and I along with a bar full of Bakotopians sang and danced our asses off! It was great to relive those childhood memories of first falling in love with the Beatles it was good to be out and having a good time.

When live music is done right it makes time stand still and you forget all about the world outside. You forget all about your bills, your job, your struggles and all the other ruckus of the daily grind and you just get lost. I want to thank the Abby Roadies for helping us all get a little lost last night. Hope you guys find your way back to a bar soon because I can't wait to do it again.

The Abby Roadies are:
Chris Carton
Joey Romley
Tyler Evans
Therese Muller
Nick Romero
Paul Jacob Cartwright
Rob Ruiz

Here is the incredible setlist:

First Set
Abby Road-
Side 1
Come Together
Something
Maxwell's Silver Hammer
Oh Darling
Octopus's Garden
I Want You
Side 2 (they even took a little pause here to recreate having to get up and turn the album over)
Here Comes The Sun
Because
You Never Give Me Your Money
Sun King
Mean Mr Mustard
Polythene Pam
She Came In Through The Bathroom Window
Golden Slumbers
Carry That Weight
The End
Her Majesty

Second Set
I Should Have Known Better
Wait
Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
Lady Madonna
She Said She Said
Please Please Me
Fool on the Hill
Abbey Road (17 songs)
Dear Prudence
Paperback Writer
Drive My Car
This Boy
Help!
A Hard Day’s Night
If I Fell
Can’t Buy Me Love
And I Love Her
Sgt. Pepper
With a Little Help From My Friends
Lucy
Getting Better
Don’t Let Me Down
Michelle
We Can Work it Out
Eleanor Rigby
Tomorrow Never Knows
Twist and Shout
While My Guitar Gently Weeps
Yesterday
All My Loving
Rocky Raccoon
Birthday (Thank you Amy!)
Ticket to Ride
Taxman
Strawberry Fields Forever
Penny Lane
A Day in the Life
Revolution
Helter Skelter
All You Need is Love
Got to Get You Into My Life
I Am the Walrus
Hello Goodbye
Day Tripper
Eight Days a Week
I Wanna Hold Your Hand
Hey Jude

So, it's been about a year...

....and what have I learned since that day I fell and could not get up?

I've learned there is a lot wonderful people in my life who love me and will give me all the support I need to succeed. I've learned the only thing holding me back from accomplishing what I have yet to accomplish is my own mind. I've learned my heart is strong though it was once very week. I've learned I can walk a mile sometimes two or three. I can workout and push my limits past what I once thought possible. I've learned I can eat healthy food and still enjoy it. I've learned to love myself and try to change the things about me I haven't liked in the past.

Am I done learning? Never! The day we stop learning is the day we die. I know I still don't have all the answers yet, but at least I've started asking questions and the only place I'm looking for answers is within myself

I've come a long way in a year and I can't wait to see where this determination will take me in another years time. I hope everyone who's on board sticks around to see where we are a year from now because we all know where I was a year ago.

So, I'm just going to keep doing what I've been doing and see where this roller coaster ride called life takes me. Don't worry, you know wherever I go. If I don't blog it, I'll Instgram it and if I don't Facebook it you sure as hell know I'ma Tweet that shit!!!

Thanks everyone, I love you all!!!


Desparation
Dislocation
Separation
Condemnation
Revelation
In temptation
Isolation
Desolation
Let it go!!!!!! I'm wide awake....I'm not sleeping....oh no....

Power Station Vs Arcadia

So the other day on Facebook, I posted what I thought was a simple question asking some of my music-adoring friends whom they favored in Duran Duran side project bands. For those unfamiliar with the story ....... go read some other blog. This story needs no introduction.

I wanted to know which group, between Arcadia and The Power Station, did people favor? Basically, I was asking folks to turn their clocks back 25 years and recall which of the two was their personal favorite. Here are some of the responses I received:

“Power Station hands down. Tony Thompson on drums. TONY THOMPSON!!!”- Cesareo Garasa - Local Drummer (too many bands to list most recently however I saw him Retro Rock the Fishlips stage with Members Only)

“Power station! Loved Robert Palmers voice and Tony Thompson was awesome on drums!”-Stephanie Viray 80’s/90’s Music afficionado and all round cool chick.

…and @Chulaliz couldn’t make up her mind: “I am torn! I really liked Arcadia though...”

Another respected music historian in my book, Dela, was quick to give his opinion: “Power Station!”

Hmmmm...all valid and thought-out opinions - for the most part. But there was one person who had yet to weigh in. I was still dying to find out her opinion and when I did hear it, it pushed me in the direction I was already swaying:

@MrsJU said...“As a self-proclaimed Durannie & Authority on all things Duran, I sway Arcadia on this one. While the Taylors (& Palmer's voice like buttah) strayed more guitar-heavy, truer 2 the Duran sound was Arcadia. With the emphasis on the synth & melodies, I have 2 admit proudly that I actually own "So Red The Rose" on vinyl. And alas, there is no Power Station in my collection ---not that I can't appreciate the musicality of the venture. But in my opinion, Arcadia is the winner here, not just as a fan of LeBon & Rhodes...just listen 2 "The Flame"...it's pretty much the business...”

Okay let’s listen to The Flame…



Alright then. I see what’s she’s talking about and I’ve gotta agree with her!

With the line up of:

• Robert Palmer - Vocalist
• Andy Taylor - Guitarist
• John Taylor - Bassist
• Tony Thompson – Drummer

Not to mention production by Bernard Edwards. The Power Station is the safe and easy commercial bet. My money was even on them when I started this whole thing, I swear. But upon further research, I gotta say these credentials speak for themselves:

• Simon Le Bon: vocals
• Nick Rhodes: keyboards
• Roger Taylor: drums

And some added muscle:

• Additional vocals: Sting, Grace Jones
• Guitars: Carlos Alomar, David Gilmour
• Additional keyboards: Herbie Hancock

I'm not even gonna Straddle the Line in Discord and Rhyme on this one. Style, art, sound, and vision - the winner, hands down, hair up is Arcadia.

From the album cover to music videos, Arcadia defines 1984 far better than The Power Station could have ever hoped. Come to think of it, being the super group that they were in retrospect, The Power Station played it pretty damn safe. They just put the ingredients on the table and didn’t dare add anything to them or turn up the flame. A very polished production value only added to that feel.

And like @MrsJU states, Arcadia moved right along with the progression that Duran Duran had been daring enough to explore. You can hear inflections of Notorious and A View To A Kill peppered over the entire LP. A move like this may have killed their massive mainstream following, but by taking this hiatus and experimenting with Arcadia, musically they were able to see what worked, what fit and exorsize the demons that were holding them back - hence releasing Duran Duran from Boy Band status to Supergroup.

In short, Arcadia gambled; The Power Station merely rolled the dice.
Although both groups were short lived, what they gave musically will never die.

Want more? Peep the links below:

Arcadia So Red The Rose Fansite
The Power Station

****This Blog Post is a MrsJU/Illasever Creation****