Of being a gentleman

I favor myself prevailingly as a gentleman. Even when I'm on the trails. If I see someone in need, I stop to ask if they need help. If someone is stranded and needs a tube or a shot from my CO2 pump, I don't think twice. However, when I am rolling at a decent clip up a hill, I usually (as trail etiquette states) take the right of way. Much like the scenario last night. I was riding with Hop at Loch and I come upon two riders after a decent who were stopped in the trail. They said one more rider. I look up and see only Hoppe, so I continue on. I peak a smallish hill and hear "you're no gentleman" from one of the guys and then I see a woman who wasn't even clipped in yet who was attempting to restart.

Well sir, you don't know me....and indeed I am a gentleman. Just ask me Ma! I treat women with respect but when you strap on a helmet you are no longer classified by gender, rather you're a rider. Everyone following the same set of basic rules for a common end and that is riding your damn bike...What was I talking about???

The trail ride was fast and fun. The singlespeeds are a welcomed change. Just you and the bike working together to peak ascents, scale decents, absorb root and rock and methodically tuning mind and muscle to adjust for the ever changing terrain. Sound difficult? I used to think the KISS method was Keep It Simple Stupid, but now it also means Keep It Single Speed. Simplicity at its finest.

Be looking for the wisdom of Shih Tzu Propaganda coming soon....

She's a witchy woman

So I discuss Brewer's Alley yesterday and in comes my wife from a business meeting with a growler filled with the sweet nectar that is Kolsh!! That's fantastic!! A little on this tasty little number:

This style originated in the area of Cologne, Germany. It exhibits the more desirable features of both ales and lagers. Our Kölsch is pale gold with light body and a slightly dry palate. It has a mild bitterness and delicate hop aroma. This beer is a clean and pleasant thirst quencher, which earned a Bronze Medal at the 1998 Great American Beer Festival. 4.6 - 5.0% alcohol, by volume.

In other news...I ran. The light doesn't kick out much light. My pops suggested that I use the red insert. Hopefully it makes an improvement. Right now the light is washing everything out making the variation in terrain very hard to read. Not a good thing when running.

Hop and I will be at it again tonite at Loch Raven. Weather should be cool. That's all for now!

Blazing Single Barrells

Loch Raven was set ablaze last night with the vicious assault of the single dingas! Hoppe and I killed it last night with nary an issue. I was taking some hills that I haven't been able to conquer this year...holla! Hoppe still set a feverish pace, but I was able to keep better tabs on him. Maybe the kid is getting all grows'd up!

I saw 229 on the blubber scale this morning and dropping...not bad for a kid who was 270 ten months ago. Sure I give the credit thus far to myself, but I have an awesome group of friends that have helped me along the way with the motivation I needed. Watch out 200...I'm coming for ya!!!

A part of my weight loss regimen has been to cut back on the wobbly pops, so I have made a trade-off. No more "regular" beers. Gots to treat myself right. So I have a new found friend in Rogue's HazelNut Brown Nectar. Tasty as a muv! I've also hit up a few other Rogue selections including: Dead Guy Ale and the Mocha Porter - both delicious brews. I will try to make my way through all of the available 22 oz selections. They have a great attitude towards beermaking with a handcrafted mentality that seeps into each beer I've imbibed. Their beers aren't like the others!

Kris and I are hitting In the Streets this weekend. With great weather and good friends, we should have a wonderful time with all the music and food and, oh yeah, Brewers Alley. Yes...more beer talk. But this is where I cut my teeth on good beer.

Until next time...stay sexy RideCam readers.

Let it Rain

We haven't seen rain in a while in these parts. Last night the skies opened up. I still went on my trail run...rain and all. It felt refreshing. It felt like my old club soccer days in high school when we practiced rain or shine. The smell of the wet earth was sweet.

I opted to do some hill repeats. Two in the beginning and three at the end. The rest of the run was pretty smooth. I brought along the Petzl and it got some use at the end of my run. I'm not sure if it's exactly what I want/need. Yes, it does give off some decent light, but not enough for my usage. It is better suited for night hiking or camping. I may have to return the light. I'll give it one more whirl. It said it threw light up to 17 meters (rough guesstimate 50 feet)...it felt more like 15 feet. We'll see. Maybe the rain had something to do with it, but I intend to occassionally use it in the rain.

After my run, I hopped into the truck and headed home to whip up some stuffed salmon from Trader Joe's. I liked it, wifey not so much. Oh well. Next time I take her to Trader Joe's to pick something that she likes!

Cobi Joan is now a caged animal. She has been relegated to the kitchen during the work day. She has been a bad girl around the house, so she has free reign in the kitchen. Note: K and I have sometimes been bad parents by not coming home quickly after work, so we'll sit in the kitchen during the weekend :) Sorry Cobi girl!

The weekends are too short!

Saturday started with a Bike and Run at Loch Raven -Seminary. The cast of characters were Hoppe, Volk and myself. We hit the regular 10-12 mile loop. Hop and I rode single, while Volk was on his old trusty steed (he's still waiting on his SC Blur LT...4 months and counting!!).

Not too many surprises...Hoppe smoked us. We all made good times. After the ride we did a 2-2.5 mile trail run. Wow that was different. There definitely is an art to this that I will need to figure out. Maybe it's as simple as ride and run hard.

Got a new headlamp, a Petzl Tikka Plus. I may try it out on a trail run tonight. I will let you know how that works.

Sunday was relatively a chill day. Some housework, but no rigorous outdoor activity. My brain has been re-wired to crave some sort of activity outdoors. So, although not outdoors, I steamed our carpet. Good times!!!

Fish Fry Friday

Not much to report from the family. Barbara and I have been discussing Armstrong's War over emails. It's a fantastic book. She absolutely blew my socks off with some of the questions she had. Kudos Barb!

My Dad was a bachelor last week as my mom attended a women's retreat with the church...I assume eggs or rice and milk for dinner? :)

K and I attended the Maryland Wine Festival last Saturday and then I drove her to the airport on sunday so she could attend her friend's wedding. I know, I know...why didn't I go? Well, I would have had I known her friend was going to back out at the last second. The ticket price wasn't so much the concern, but work has been brutal the past few weeks. My punishment...I couldn't sleep Sunday night.

More on the Maryland Brewer's Oktoberfest:

Featured breweries

• BREWERY - CAM'S NOTES
• Baltimore-Washington Beer Works - Yum-dog...the Raven rules!
• Barley And Hops Grill & Microbrewery - Never been - never had
• Brewer’s Alley Restaurant & Brewery - The place that started it all for me - Kolsh is delish!
• Brewer’s Art - Resurrection Ale, please...night, night!
• Clay Pipe Brewing - I think I had a One and Done...however, there is no hard evidence
• Clipper City Brewing Company - I've been, but nothing comes to mind
• DuClaw Brewing Company - OZZY!
• Ellicott Mills Brewing Co. - No dice
• Fordham Brewing Co. - some good brews, better music venues
• Red Brick Station - ehh
• Ryleigh’s - can't say that I have
• Summit Station Restaurant & Brewery - Brewer's Alley's little sister and she's naughty!
  

Live Music Featuring

• The Bridge - I dunno
• The Kelly Bell Band - The best party band ever!
• Kenin - never heard
• Pale Stars - I think pop-a-billy might be an accurate decsription. The front man, Brandt, played in Greenberry Woods and is a part of Splitsville. And has a terrible time cutting salad.
• And oompa bands featuring the local favorites The Edelwiess Band!

On The Riding Front

Hoppe and I attacked the Loch Raven trails closest to the bridge or did they attack us. More like, Hoppe's bike. He's looking at getting a whole new drivetrain, because his is now trashed. I on my singlespeed..putted along just fine. I may need to gear down for the next trip there though...too much walking

Run Cameron Run

Another night of trail running at Soldier's Delight. In and out without any run-ins or other issues. I'm beginning to like these runs. Gives me a lot of time to think and varies my workout. I'm beginning to pick up on little techniques as I get more mileage under my belt. I never thought running needed so much technique.

I definitely need to become a stronger runner, so I guess I need to begin a regimented workout program - build the base, intervals, etc.

I also decided that I need to pick up a headlamp sometime in the near future. I'm running out of light - pun intended. I've done a cursory search and am completely unsure what to get, so I am heading to REI to test and get advice. I have a $25 amazon Gift Certificate to burn, but I think I'm going to purchase the headlamp from REI for the return factor. They have an awesome return policy. If you have any suggestions...comment me!

Hittin' the trails with, who else, Hoppe tonight...Surly time! I may rest on Friday, so I am ready for the ride/run on Saturday.

It looks like the October calendar is getting full. My poor wife, she hates that no grass grows beneath my feet. Here's what's on tap (non-bike related):

Frederick's In the Street : October 1st










Oktoberfest: October 15th













Western Maryland College Homecoming (unfortunately known as McDaniel College): October 29th













So honey, if you're reading this, I've spaced these events out...just for you! Of course there will be some sort of bike riding involved with each and every one of these events. Maybe some Gambrill before In the Streets, a Loch ride before the BeerFest and a little Hashawa before Homecoming. Beautiful.

Who turned out the lights?

As mentioned, Hoppe and I hit Loch Raven last night. It felt great to be back on the single dinga albeit a little awkward. The cockpit is slightly more compact than the Sugar, but I got adjusted quickly.

After a quick few mishaps with Hoppe's bike (spilling in front of an SUV and flatting out after crashing over a log whilst bunny-hopping it), we were cruising through the hardpacked singletrack that Loch has to offer.

I believe Hoppe was trying to motivate me by riding behind me, but that got short lived, as I am not a big fan of someone hogging my wheel, especially on rooty sections with a rigid bike. The man is plain ol' fast...I appreciated the gesture, but I had to set him free. Plus, I was pushing that bike as hard as it could go (32x16).

Once we reached the midway point, we headed back....and like that...the lights had been turned off. No more day light to easily navigate our way back to the cars. At this point, Matt had a considerable lead on me and my night vision sucks!! So I amble may way back, like a drunken sailor steering his boat, over the numerous obstacles that never impede my progress under normal circumstances. Throw into the mix a rigid fork and you have a recipe for disaster. I eventually made it out unscathed, but I am definitely rocking the light system next time.

And no, I didn't commute...

Singlespeed Daze!!

It's time to shelf the Sugar and whip out the Surly Flying Monkey (1x1). I've never gone so long without riding her, so she's my sled of choice for the fall/winter. I have a ride scheduled for tonite and Thursday with the living legend himself, Hop. On Saturday, we are attempting our first ride/run. Should be interesting and tiring and exhilarating and tiring. Hopefully I can knock these lyrics out of my head by then:

Ain't nothing gonna break my stride
Ain't nothing gonna hold me down
Oh no, I've got to keep on moving
Ain't nothing gonna break my stride
I'm running and I won't touch ground
Oh no, I've got to keep on moving

The last run/hike, this was running in my noggin...over and over again. Damn you Matthew Wilder...damn you to hell!

Oh and yes all, I am most definitely commuting tomorrow.

And for your viewing pleasure:

Use your Illusion 1

Use your Illusion 2

Event filled

UPDATE: (Note: I'm now putting updates at the top of the blog). Just another inspirational tidbit. Lance training in the Pyrenees (read the product description to read quote).

Here's the recap folks:

Friday: Took a half day at work to surprise the ol' wifey for her b-day. Afterwards took a trail run at Soldier's Delight. I thought I was going to do a one lapper at "speed". I was a half mile into the run and here comes this truck up the trail. Mind you this is a hiking only trail and this wasn't a ranger.

I got off to the side of the trail to let the truck pass and the driver stops and rolls down the window. Obviously in distress, I ask if everything is okay and he says his dog passed away. I thought that's too bad, but thought he meant he buried his dog in the woods. After talking to him, I come to find that the pup just died on the trail and he is trying to get the truck to him. I told him that I was doing a lap and would help if needed.

I continued on my run preparing myself for what I was going to see. As I approached there was a lady and her two dogs and this huge dog lying dead next to her. My heart dropped, but my "comfort" side kicked in as I started to get closer. I told her I ran into her friend and said I would help. I now decided to take another lap, so off I went. I was a half mile away from the start before I ran into the guy who was now walking down the trail towards the dog without the truck. No luck, he couldn't get the truck any further into the trail.

So I ran back to my truck and pulled a tarp and ran back to the two grieving hikers. The owner and I rolled the dog onto the tarp and we began to hike him out, but he was just too damn heavy (est. 180-200lbs). I told the guy that we are getting this dog out of here today and we hiked back to the truck. He looked at the 20 yard piece of trail and said no way. I looked at it and said give me the keys.

And like that I was through...nary a problem. He drove the remainder of the way and we put the dog into the truck bed. I stayed to talk to him for a while. He was telling me about the travels he and his pup had...trust me, the dog had a great life, albeit short (4 years). He travelled more in his short life than I. The guy was obviously grief stricken, but said he didn't know how to feel. I told him remember the good times and savor the pictures, which struck a chord. He had just taken pictures that day.

As we were about to part he asked me how he was to re-pay me. I told him that rescuing the dog was payment enough and if you run into a similar situation as I did...help.

I continued to run in the opposite direction. I assume I logged 7-8 miles.

Saturday: I was the designated driver for my wife and her two best friends, as we all headed to the Maryland Wine Festival. I had a great time, but the heat was pretty killer. I did partake in two glasses of wine, but that was about it for the imbibing. The college crowd was younger and I didn't see any of my peers. K, on the other hand saw her whole entire high school, which was great. When the festival was over, we were invited to a party afterwards. I was hoping to hit the Citizen Cope show with my buds, but Kand friends were having too good of a time to end it. Since the party was all of her high school friends, I opted to drive her and her friends over and then head abck to her parents house. I thought she would have a better time not having to worry about me and I got to hang out with her parents. After a while, I got "the" phone call and was on my way to pick them up.

Sunday: Made breakfast, took K to the airport and went for a trail run/hike...all in all 7 miles. The rest of the day I snoozed.

Monday: Work, no commute due to K's return flight, which I told her to bump to an earlier flight if desired. I haven't heard from her since she landed, so I assume an 8PM pick-up.

Damn the Man!

Many late nights at work have definitely side tracked my AR training and commuting efforts. I hope I can get on track soon. I am hitting the bridge-side of Loch Raven with fellow Draggin', Hoppe. It will be his first to the 'other side'.

And I am teetering on whether or not to commute tomorrow. I need to get a haircut and most importantly it is my wife's B-Day. Priorities have been a bitch lately. Either way I'll get a ride or run in!!

Sorry, not much more to comment on.

Long weekend

OK, so it was only the normal "two-day variety" weekend. On Saturday, I woke up with pup in tow and set off on a 5-mile hike. I thought this would be a great opportunity to get some training in for the adventure race and also get my pup out and about...Kill two birds with one stone. Well, these two birds were cast quite early in the day as myself and Cobi Joan. We were hiking in contained woods with 3 miles worth of trails. The trails were blazed horribly. And the story goes, we got lost trying to find our way out of Soldier's Delight. 8-10 miles later we found or way back to the Jeep.

Highlights:

• Saw old chronium mining shafts. Baltimore was the first to mine chronium and produce chrome...I never knew that. Cobi was more anxious than I to explore the shafts/caves, so next time I'm bringing a flashlight.
• Put the Xterra backpack to good use. Packed it with two 3lb weights and some additional clothing. Then I proceeded to pack the helmet carrier with rocks for additional weight.
• There was some sort of Native Indian ceremony, but I couldn't find where it was coming from. I heard the beating of drums and chants. Pretty neat.
• Cobi Joan finally figured out she was a dog. By mile 6ish we came upon a stream where she dove right into and drank from. She did Papa proud!
• Don't always trust the trail map. I would swear that there are more trails cut throughout the original Soldier's Delight trails.

On Sunday, I did some house cleaning and then hit the Ravens game with my buddy Keith. we went with a local watering hole who supplied food, beer and transportation. It was a fun time, but my body doesn't do so well the next day after an extravaganza like that. Oy vay. I think I'll stick to watching the game from home. Don't get me wrong it was fun...too much fun...Ouch my head!

See ya, wouldn't wanna be ya!

Re-commitment

I hope the "on again-off again" routine doesn't become commonplace in regards to my commuting. I had a perfect storm of late work nights and evening commitments taking me away from the bike recently. But with the increasing gas prices (I never had the pump stop at $50.00 before, I thought that was an urban legend) and my Adventure Race aspirations, I have brought in next weeks work clothes and I am tweaking the bike. I'm doing this damn thing!!!

If I could feasibly ride every workday I would save $2,400 in gas money alone. That's a sweet ass bike! At the rate I'm riding (3 out of five days) I would save $1,440, which is a great down payment. I need to figure out a decent goals and rewards system, I think I work better that way. Obviously there are intangible rewards, but my dumb little brain is wired for the tangible benefits. The bicycle marketing gods that be, you won this time...you've got me cornered into the world of "There's cooler stuff out there!" DAMN YOU!!!

Watch out for me blazing the roads of B-more county...seriously watch out and give me my space!

Cam out!

NEWSFLASH: In other news, I recently assisted in the purchase of a new bicycle that my company was sending to a fellow employee in Pascagoula, MS. The benefits for working with a fleet leasing company is that we were also able to score a demo vehicle for him as well. Toyota let us use a Prius from their demo pool. Our transportatioin company drove the Prius with the Trek locked safely in the trunk. I can only imagine that the driver felt like a steak amongst a pack of wolves as he drove the 50+ mile per gallon car through the hurricane zone. Our c0-worker stated that there wasn't an operating gas station within 100-200 miles. The Prius will come in very handy. His wife is also enjoying the use of the bike to run local errands. She is also riding for leisure to due to the lack of electricity, etc. Hopefully it is an escape in an otherwise desparate situation. It's a Trek Cruiser with a front loading basket to help with errands. He told us not to worry about a helmet, so we sent one :)

Adventure Racing...here I come!

I always try to set goals for myself. It's the only way I can motivate my big butt off the couch to do something more productive with my life instead of watching the idiot box. After college I didn't have the infrastructure to keep myself as active as I'd like (free gym, tons of buddies, intramurals, girl chasing...yada, yada, yada), so I fell into a terrible cycle of work, eating poorly and drinking beers. I still kept relatively active, but the bulge started to creep in. I was going to the gym, mountain biking and running on an irregular basis...they were no longer a priority.

Well, after the loss of my brother I needed to find a venue for release and I needed it bad. There was a huge void in my life and I needed something to not so much fill it, but soothe it. So I decided to concentrate on mountain biking. My dad picked me up by boot straps and hauled my ass to the bike shop. He said if I was doing this, I was doing it right. I went home with my first real mountain bike...a Gary Fisher Sugar 2. Well, the next few month you couldn't get me off the machine and I had new buddies that ensured that I hit the trails. I now had a mission...to race in a 24 hour race. The players were set and the goal was ultimately achieved. I've been mountain biking ever since.

Recently, a buddy of mine lost his mother who was also a good friend to me...the whole family is good to me. She fought a long tough battle with cancer and it ultimately won. Needless to say there's a void in my buddy's life. He sent an email a few days after his mom passed away asking who wanted to do an Adventure Race. It sounded a lot like my situation (although he is a seasoned racer). This could be his reprieve from the emotions that he is experiencing...heck, it will be therapeutic for me too. Well, not one to let my friends go through things alone...I threw down the gauntlet. I'm here for my friend and how dare I waste my life on my couch gorging myself, when I can test, extend and possibly break myself while I have the chance.

So, now here I am. WTF did I get myself into? And how the hell do I train for this. I have the biking thing down, but running, swimming, kayaking, rappelling, orienteering...oy vay. So what's a guy to do? Find the experts and get schooled. As we speak, I am compiling a list of event experts ( a marathoner who qualified for Boston, a D-1 swimmer, a rodeo kayaker, and an old Army grunt who was thrown into a foreign jungle...haven't figured out the rappelling part...maybe an ROTC instructor). Hopefully these guys will give me some key training advice and hopefully some motivation.

It's on like Donkey Kong!

Twenty-Fo Hour Shin-dizzle

So we finally got to go on our much anticipated Biking Camp Trip to Gambrill State Park. We were a little worried about the confining camp spaces and the anal campsite supervisor, but once we gurgled a few cold ones, the trip was put into cruise control. Here are the stats:

Number of attendees: 5 (Hoppe, Volk, Toby, Phenomajon and myself...Jimmie, we missed ya and can't wait to rock out next time)

Number of beers: ?

Length of Hoppe's sausage: 3 ft (it's turkey and you have a dirty mind)

Number of night laps around the campground loop: 4...try doing it without lights...not fun.

Number of words Toby said that I didn't understand: TONS

Number of mountain bike rides: 3

Number of times Volk observed the same rock on different laps: 2

Number of jerseys that I had that matched someone elses: three...go team!

Number of times Volk personally inspected the terrafirma or other natural obstacles: ?

Number of weeks Volk is going to have to wait to be the number one stunner on his Santa Cruz: many + the 12 weeks he's already waited.

Number of miles: guessing over 30 miles.

Amount of fun: ENDLESS

The terrain was more technical than I remembered but it was a fantastic trip. We slept under the stars and ate really well. What more can I say?

All work and no play

Not really, but I haven't posted in quite some time due to a high volume of work traffic and other worldly duties. But my word is bond. I will start posting at least some jibberish everyday, if I'm around a computer. I don't have time now but here are some future topics:

• The 24 Hour After Party - Camp/Bike trip.
• Write-ups on my stable of steeds
• My kick-ass weed wacker
• To adventure race or not to adventure race - there's no question
• Upping the not-so-daily commutes to daily

Until next time, stay classy, readers!

NEWSFLASH: DON'T AWAKEN A SLEEPING GIANT!!

Perfect

Good ride on Saturday with my boys Hoppe and Toby. Haven't had the Tob-man out on the trails for over 3 weeks. Unfortunately the chain on his single speed didn't want any part of being on the trail and exploded midway through. We tried a trail side fix and someone even gave us a master link but unfortunately the existing link was beyond repair and the link was SRAM not Shimano. Hoppe and I finished the ride in record time to meet Toby back at the car. However, at the end of our ride we split up. On the way back to the car I ran into a raccoon, not literally. This little guy was hunched and ready to fight as I came to a skidding stop. Needless to say, I was scared. I waited the little guy out for two or three minutes before he decided to Lolly-gag off into the woods.

After we all got back to the cars we headed to Chipotle for some burritos and then to Silver Spring for a couple beers. What a perfectly enjoyable afternoon. We were deciding whether to go back out on the trails or not, but we opted or one more beer instead.

I also hit up Trader Joe's for some groceries and made the discovery of a lifetime. They sell Usinger's!!!! Hell yeah!!!

The end of the day had me cooking meatball sammies on Ciabatti bread for my wife, who's headache was subsiding. A perfect ending to the perfect day.

Oh, the 24 hour camping trip is on for this weekend at Gambrill, so if you are reading this and want to attend, let a brotha know!

Lazy Arse

I haven't hopped on a bike since Tuesday...so much for the "what are you on" motto. I pick up my wheel from Performance tonight, so I might take a quick OM loop. Tomorrow we are hitting Loch Raven for a morning ride. Ahh....back in the saddle again.

It looks like the 24 Hour After Party is set for Labor Day weekend at Gambrill State Park....shweet! Should be a blast.

It has been recommended that I do a write up a my bikes with pictures (thanks Crankenstein). Coming forthwith, I will create the dossiers for my stable of steeds. Stay tuned.

If you want a good write up on the Single Speed World Championships 2005, a local rider has a fantastic summary and other pertinent links here. Not your typical race structure, but a great race with a huge following. I might have attended if I weren't maxin' and relaxin' at the OBX. Although all 402 race slots filled up within 24 hours, I believe.

What are you on?

"This is my body. And I can do with it whatever I want with it. I can push it. Tweak it. Study it. Listen to it. Everybody wants to know what I'm on. What am I on? I'm on my bike busting my ass six hours a day. What are you on?" - LANCE

That's a great quote. Something to live up to. Step it up, son!

I was on the Loch Raven Trails. Hoppe and Volk put on a show last night at Loch Raven. Hoppe again showing strong and Volk showing what he's always had but never displayed...an unmatched flow on the bike. Makes this kid want/need to get on his bike every breathing second.

I was on my bike, gloveless. A good time was had other than the fact that I forgot my gloves. Forget a piece of equipment and figure out why you really need it. Sweat + Rubber = Slip and Slide. My forearms worked double time to keep grip ending up in both forearm and hands cramps. I'm not sure what the deal was yesterday but I had a bad showing.

I was on my bed reading. A lot. Still reading Angels and Demons. Last night I picked the book up around 10:30 and when I went to bed the clock read 4:00. That will hurt today, but damn the book is good.

YESTERDAY'S RIDE: Mountain - Loch Raven Seminary

Distance: 10ish
Conditions: Weather was beautiful, trails were dry except for a few locations.

A lesson in being a hero

What? Two articles in one day? Well, you daily readers deserve it, plus I got a wild hair.

Just read an article written by Ben Stein about his adjusted attitude towards the definition of stars. Once used to be the Hollywood-type but a life change altered his views towards family, local peace officers and our troops overseas.

I know a guy who actually signed up to fight for our freedom in a time it wasn't the thing to do - during Vietnam. The definition of a true star.

The guy on the lower right is my pop.