DC Wedding

It's been a while since I last posted, but I've been busy. My friend Austin from college decided it was time to tie the knot and that meant a trip to the land of taxation without representation. As usual, the full photo experience can be found at my Shutterfly Page. Since Mike was also attending the wedding I decided to leave a few days early and stay with him in Baltimore. It was great to hang out with Mike in his obscenely large apartment, play Winning Eleven 9, practice chipping with foam golf balls, eat Quiznos, and learn that Fox Soccer Channel is part of my basic cable package.

On Friday Mike and I headed down to DC for the wedding festivities. Friday morning was a full round of golf starting at 8 am sharp. The event was completely paid for by the father of the bride. In my group was Mike, Austin and his father Larry. A good time was had by all despite the intermittant drizzle and eventual fatigue. I'm so out of practice that there was no point in keeping score, but I must note that I had a fantastic shot where the hole was on an island completely surrounded by water. My first attempt landed in the water, but my second was a gorgeous 7 iron shot that landed right on the island. Yeeah baby!

Saturday was the big day and since Mike and I were ushers in Austin's wedding, that meant we got to pay $130 for a tuxedo. Hurray! Oddly, it was totally worth it as I haven't worn a tuxedo since I was 6 and that doesn't really count since the cumber bun was aquamarine. This time around it was a classic look and the closest I've ever gotten to looking like my favorite secret agent.

The wedding ceremony itself was very nice. Unlike the previous wedding I attended it actually started on time and I attribute this to the pimptastic ushering of myself and Mike. The little old ladies loved being escorted to their seats by yours truly and honestly, how can you blame them? Austin and Nicole (his bride) looked great. Still, it was pretty weird watching the ceremony. They just seemed so young to me. I guess I'll never get past people marrying in their 20s, but it sure is the norm nowadays.

By far the most fun was had at the reception after the wedding. Unlike all other weddings I've been to, this reception was more enjoyable than not. It really helped that I knew more than 2 people at the wedding, was in the wedding party, and that the families were really friendly and sociable. People really got around and mingled with each other. As usual, I was a hit with the ladies and spent a lot of time chatting and dancing with them. The music was largely R&B/HipHop, so that meant it was pretty much bump n' grind for the dancing, but what can you do. YMCA did get some air time which was nice. Unfortunately Mike was passed out in our hotel room when I was dancing, so I have no pictures of that. Maybe someone else took one of me, but I have yet to see it. Sorry guys!

After the reception I recovered Mike and we went to a local bar with Austin's sister Hilary, her boyfriend, one of the other bridesmaids and some other attendees. Mike and I had a great time talking with Hilary who didn't pull any punches when talking about life. It must be said that she noted quite emphatically that "Hayden" is her absolute favorite name of all time and that if she has a son, he will be named Hayden. Now that's what I'm talkin' about.

On sunday things wound down and I decided to make use of the fancy fitness center at the hotel Mike and I were staying at. I did some Core and then took the opportunity to jump in the steam room. I cranked it up to 9 so as to get a good cleansing. Unfortunately, I dozed off a bit and it was pretty early in the morning that I was in there and a cleaning lady decided to come into the locker room and then open the door to the steam room. She gave a loud apologetic yelp at seeing me naked which scared the living daylights out of me. I guess she was expecting a towel. Whatever. Anyway, unlike most newlyweds, Austin and Nicole did not jet off to their honeymoon destination (Maui). Instead, they stayed and hosted a Sunday morning brunch where I told my steam room story and where I was questioned about my lack of towelage. Look people, if you wear a towel to a steam room which is steaming at max and you're steaming yourself for an hour (I don't play around with this), your towel will become drenched and it's just disgusting.

But the brunch was nice and it was a great way to wind down and see the bride and groom one last time. As it turns out they needed a ride back to their apartment after the brunch, so Mike and I drove them home and helped them unload their stuff. There's nothing like manual labor after a wedding.

After that it was off to Dupont Circle to see the sights, of which there really aren't any. It was also crazy hot all of a sudden and I was sweltering in my black outfit. However, as Mike and I crossed south across the circle, I heard somebody yell my name and I turned to see Alix (my friend from High School) in a car. She got out of the car and ran over to us. What are the odds that she would cross the circle at the same time we would? It was great to see her again and we made plans to meet up after Mike and I saw X3. After the movie Mike and I had dinner with Alix and her hubby at a nearby Chinese Diner. The food was good and the company even better. Mike had never met Alix before and really had a good time. Once again, hearing Alix talk about her job at the Justice Department with great affection made me want inquire about a government job. Who knows, maybe after my post doc I'll decide that's the route I want to go. It sure has some nice benefits and it could bring me one step closer to being a secret aaaaaaaagent man.

The New 007 Push Begins...Sort of

I'm a huge 007 fan, but with the drawn out process of trying to decide who will be the next Bond, I guess I sort of lost track of things. Ultimately they announced that Daniel Craig would be the new 007, blond hair and all. I wasn't furious at this as I knew they were trying to make a film that portrayed a more gritty and critical secret agent - more like the 007 described in the novels. Still, I thought it was odd that they chose someone who really doesn't *look* like James Bond. He's not a pretty boy, so that's something, but his blond hair is still really wigging me out. At any rate, the point of this post is not to meander on about Craig, but to note that the teaser trailer for the movie (which opens in Novemeber) can now be viewed. There was virtually no press or announcement about this trailer. That I found the trailer accidentally is quite surprising and more than a little bit disturbing. At any rate, for those that are interested, you can see the trailer here.

New York Wedding & Core Phase I Ends

This past weekend my friend from work, Danielle, had her wedding. I still feel very honored that I was invited to her wedding since I haven't known her that long. Other members of my lab were also invited, including my advisor. It's no secret that I'm not a fan of weddings, but this one was the most enjoyable one I've attended so far. I actually knew less people at this wedding and my parents weren't there (which was a big negative), but the food was incredible and the atmosphere gorgeous. Being in NYC is also a plus in my book. Sadly, I forgot my camera for this event, but I was pretty tame at this one and later this month my friend Austin will be getting married so I'll be sure to have my camera with me then. In addition, I'll be in a tuxedo, so all the pictures of me will be mega Damn Sexy!

This week marks the end of 3 weeks of Core for me. The 3 week mark also means I've completed Phase I of the program (foundation). So, what's the difference? Well, I'm definitely more flexible and haven't pulled anything at practice since starting Core. I'm also only getting 6-7 hours of sleep a night and it's totally fine for me. Finally, I'm a bit more muscular. The difference isn't much (there wasn't a lot of strength training in this phase), but it's there. I'll be curious to see how I look at the end of week 12. Anyway, the foundation phase is over and I'm now into more extensive units. Of course there are new exercises in this phase, but interestingly some of the old ones reappear and they are exactly the ones I felt I would like to work a bit more on (dumbell pullover extension and split dumbell curl to press). One of the great things about this program is how it varies the exercises from day to day and then week to week. It does keep things interesting and...dare I say, fun!

Infinite Crisis, Finite Playmats

This past weekend was the Sneak Preview for the latest DC Versus expansion, Infinite Crisis. I was very excited about this set because I've been following the Infinite Crisis storyline in the comics and it's a good one. I figured that many others would feel the same way and that attendance would be up, but it wasn't. DC expansions draw fewer players than Marvel expansions and this set was no exception. Thus, it appears that the popularity of the characters is what holds a lot of the players' interest. I can understand this, though how can you not love Shazam (aka Captain Marvel when my Dad was a boy). His card even requires you to say Shazam! if you want to turn him into the beastly superhero. Ah well. Ant any rate, this time around (and possbly for X-Men too) playmats, tins, and shirts were better spread out so more players were getting stuff. Unfortunately, the number of tins and playmats (the latter with the above Shazam art) were not given out to judges in the same quantities as they had been in the past. I was somewhat bothered by this because it meant judges couldn't get complete sets, but ultimately I did get a Shazam playmat, so I was happy. I emailed UDE about this and they said they didn't want to overproduce items and flood the secondary market. Also, judges at 10k events get full sets. So, they've got their reasons I guess. They did say there are some big things for judges on the way, so I'm looking forward to that!

This weekend also markes the end of Core week 2. This week was very similar to week 1 but with a bit more reps in weights and longer running times. I'm definitely getting more flexible which is nice. The hand walk and sumo squat-to-stand which were kicking my ass (my hamstrings are very inflexible) are now a tiny bit easier for me - I'm getting a better distance in my stretch, so that's very exciting, especially since soccer players pull their hamstrings all the time. Unfortunately, Core is doing nothing to help me not get turf burns when I dive for saves. Last Monday I scraped my right elbow and knee on an impressive dive (yes, I saved the ball). Granted I wasn't properly dressed for goaltending that night, but still, I shouldn't have gotten that cut up. So, yeah, I need to work on my side-diving technique.