The Sad State of Literature in My World, originally uploaded by Brian Knight Photography.

I just walked into my office to find a book to read because though I
am quite tired, I sort of feel like I need to spend some quiet time
with words before giving in to sleep. Only, i could not read the
titles of any of my favourite books what with all the DVDs lined up
along the shelf. A sad statement on all of the books I have read cover
to cover this year (zero). What a difference a few years makes.

Words, when spoken out loud for the sake of performance, are music. They have rhythm, and pitch, and timbre, and volume. These are the properties of music, and music has the ability to find us and move us, and lift us up in ways that literal meanings can’t. Do you see?
- President Josiah “Jed” Bartlet, The West Wing

If you’ve ever read this blog you know I’ve got a thing for Sorkin. I’m a sucker for his writing, I’m a sucker for his stories, I just can’t get enough. And, as I watched Obama’s speech tonight, as I listened to his words, it was hard not to hear the voice of Sorkin’s greatest characters echoing around the back of my head.

At one point tonight my iChat status read: “It really does sound like Sorkin came in and punched up the speech a bit,” so you can imagine my happy surprise when I flipped from PBS’s excellent convention coverage to MSNBC in time to hear Brian Williams say that listening to the speech reminded him of two things… He mentioned quickly how he was left wistfully thinking of Tim Russert and then went on to say that the other thing he was thinking of was Aaron Sorkin.

Williams then went on to quote the parts of the speech that sounded like they’d been pulled almost directly from the movie The American President. The American President, a movie about a dashingly youngish President fighting an uphill re-election battle against a gnarled old Senator. Sound a bit familiar?

The speech sounded familiar too, but not in the “I think he blatantly ripped of Sorkin” kind of way. No, it was more that he did what good writers do, he developed a rhythm, he developed a cadence, and it worked for him. I mean, at one point tonight Olbermann had to cut off Pat Buchanan because Buchanan could not stop gushing over how great the speech was! Srsly.

Now, I’ve found an early copy of the speech and a script of The American President and pulled out a couple of the passages Brian Williams mentioned…

The American President:

I’ve known Bob Rumson for years. I’ve been operating under the assumption that the reason Bob devotes so much time and energy to shouting at the rain was that he simply didn’t get it. Well, I was wrong. Bob’s problem isn’t that he doesn’t get it. Bob’s problem is that he can’t sell it.
- President Andrew Shepherd

Tonight’s Speech:

A nation of whiners? Tell that to the proud auto workers at a Michigan plant who, after they found out it was closing, kept showing up every day and working as hard as ever, because they knew there were people who counted on the brakes that they made. Tell that to the military families who shoulder their burdens silently as they watch their loved ones leave for their third or fourth or fifth tour of duty. These are not whiners. They work hard and give back and keep going without complaint. These are the Americans that I know.

It’s not because John McCain doesn’t care, it’s because John McCain doesn’t get it.
- Sen. Barak Obama

And then, more from The American President:

A.J.
Would we have won?

SHEPHERD
If we’d had to go through a character debate three years ago, would we have won?

A.J.
I don’t know. But I would’ve liked that campaign. If my friend Andy Shepherd had shown up, I would have liked that campaign.

Tonight’s Speech:

And just as we keep our keep our promise to the next generation here at home, so must we keep America’s promise abroad. If John McCain wants to have a debate about who has the temperament, and judgment, to serve as the next Commander-in-Chief, that’s a debate I’m ready to have.
- Sen. Barak Obama

Later on in the coverage NBC News’ Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent Andrea Mitchell reiterated the Sorkin connection. I definitely got a big kick out of that.

And now, I’ll finish with one last snippet from The West Wing where Sam explains how the great writers do it…

 MALLORY

One good moment is good.

SAM
Oh, I’m not complaining. I’m saying one good moment is great. It’s a golf shot. I’ve got to get back in there. That’s where it’s happening. (beat) You came by just to tell me you liked the speech?

MALLORY
“This is a time for American heroes and we reach for the stars.”? I’m weak.

SAM
Yeah. I think I stole that from Camelot.

MALLORY
Let me get you home. I don’t think you’re going to make it.

SAM
Yeah. I don’t think I’m going to make it, either.

MALLORY
Camelot?

SAM
Good writers borrow from other writers. Great writers steal from them outright.

THE WEST WING
“20 HOURS IN AMERICA PART II”

I spent quite a few of my days in Montana driving around the middle of nowhere with Alexandra Alter (seen in photo above), feature writer for the Wall Street Journal. She was great company as we searched for stories and photos and video that might capture the essence of a race chock full of amazing stories, fantastic quotes, and some of the most beautiful scenery you can imagine. Her story, following Team #28’s Kathy Roche-Wallace, is in Friday’s paper and online now.

As someone who has recently struggled to get my version of the race pared down to under one thousand words (see the October issue of Trail Runner), Alexandra’s version does a great job at capturing the many challenges a race like PQ Montana presented to racers. Go pick up a copy of the Journal at your local newsstand or read it online right now! Oh and be sure to watch the video. My left arm and camera make a cameo at 20 seconds into the film. Just don’t blink!

Iron Mom

Alexandra Alter follows a 47-year-old woman out to conquer 548 miles of mountains, snow and exhaustion.

By ALEXANDRA ALTER
July 25, 2008; Page W1

Big Sky, Mont.

Four days and 263 miles into a backcountry race and Kathy Roche-Wallace isn’t even halfway to the finish. She’s limping on a big toe that is infected and swollen. She has a purple bruise the size of a grapefruit on her left thigh from a spill down a mountainside. Her sweat smells of vinegar and ammonia, a sign her fuel-starved body has started burning muscle. |Read Full Story|

TOBY
It was my argument a little while ago, when I was arguing in my head.

JOSH
It was a better organized thought in my head. Is she done?

BARTLET
I converted it to Celsius in my head.

BARTLET
Hang on, I’m doing math in my head.

SAM
I could’ve countered that, but I’d already moved on to other things in my head.

JOSH
I’m sorry, I had in my head that we were doing this in your office.

BRUNO
I have to be. I have only so much RAM in my head. I have to prioritize. I have to throw some things overboard, so, I’ve chosen, for instance, not to care whether or not Purdue has a fencing team.

CycleFest, originally uploaded by Brian Knight Photography.

Does the week begin on Sunday or Monday? I’ve never really be clear on the matter. I’m of the opinion that Sunday is the last day of the week, but all of my calendars seem to differ. Anyways, the point here is that since Sunday (be it the start, or end, of something – and really, while we’re at it, maybe we should further investigate our need to quantify events and place them on a time line… or, maybe not) I’ve been a little busy.

First of all, Sunday afternoon I had to take a giant nap. It was great. I love to nap, especially after spending many hours exposed to the elements. Sunday morning was an early wakeup, followed by shooting the cold and wet CycleFest 10K trail run at Wakefield, followed by the afore mentioned nap. Which was great. Post nap activities included editing photos. And editing photos. And John Adams watching. And editing still more photos.

After editing and posting photos I got sucked into watching “Babel” that Brad Pitt movie where the lives of four families end up being tragically interconnected on account of one man’s desire to hunt. Or something like that. I wouldn’t know because I ended up pausing the movie a couple times to focus on the photo editing and then I had to rewind it a couple times (have I mentioned how much I love the DVR?) too. Finally, towards 2am I was able to settle in and really start to enjoy the show. The pace was quickening, the story lines were converging and then… then I pressed a button on the remote and jumped forward to real time on the TV. And the movie was long past over and there was nothing I could do to figure out how to get back to my end point. There were maybe 15 minutes left. I was so disappointed. Anyone know how that movie ends? Feel free to leave spoilers and/or commentary in the comments.

Monday I was back at work and then I went on an odyssey to first the District where I was honked at not once, but twice by an impatient Metro Bus driver because apparently I was waiting in a no waiting zone. (And let me have a quick word with that driver… Mr. Metro Bus driver I don’t honk my horn at you when you’re taking your sweet ass time all over the city and regional highways. No, I am patient. In fact, there is one Metro bus I regularly encounter and I pretty much always let him merge over to one of the middle lanes on I-66. So get off my ass already, ok?).

But I digress… the purpose of the trip was to go to the College Park IKEA and assist Heather with the loading and delivering of her new kitchen cabinets. And so on to the pride and joy of Sweden did we travel and waiting there for us were harried, seemingly overworked/underpaid employees who had apparently forgotten that they have a pretty sweet deal* working as they do at IKEA (*based on a quick Google search for “ikea employee” and then skimming the results it seems like IKEA should be a wonderous place to work. I mean, $2 lunches? For anything on the menu?! Awesome.). Their attitude could best be described as “surly.”

Long story short, they didn’t want to fill the order with less than an hour to closing and there was no way we were going to leave without cabinetry. Guess who won? HMG did. Duh. And before too long the car was loaded, tied down, and we were enjoying a nice reward of delicious pancakes (that’s no sarcasm there btw, the pancakes were really good, and not just because we were starved – though I’m sure that helped).

I got home around 12:30 and then went to bed. Then the next morning, on Tuesday, I went to work. Then after work I drove to Burke and met my Dad for dinner (since he was in town for some meetings or something). Then after dinner I came home and worked on race photos. Until 2am. Then I went to bed. Then, the next morning (Wednesday) I went to work. Again. Then, after work, I came home and met up with my brother’s fiancée (Leah) who was in town for meetings or something. I drove her around the old neighborhood and we discovered that someone has been messing up the old house. Then we went to dinner. Then, after dinner I came home and worked on race photos.

Raise your hand if you’ve detected a pattern!

Now though, instead of staying up past 2am I am going to throw in the towel and go to bed. This has really just been a long way of saying that the CycleFest photos are almost done, but not quite, and so I am begging everyone who may be anxiously awaiting the final upload to please be patient one more night.

Thanks!

Hohner Squared, originally uploaded by Brian Knight Photography.

Senior year of high school I taught myself how to play harmonica by:
a. buying this book & tape combo (yes, really), then
b. reading the book & listening to the tape until it nearly wore out, and
c. carrying a harmonica in my pocket pretty much everyday for the next six years.

You go through a lot of harmonicas this way, but it’s totally worth it.

Sadly, two things have conspired against my harmonica playing. First thing is I got a real job where you can’t just play harmonica whenever you feel like it. No one seemed to mind when I would pull out the ol’ mouth harp while working at the Hemlock zip wire. But in cubicle computer land busting out a nice blues riff in the middle of the work day just isn’t kosher.

The second (and truly the saddest) thing that killed the harmonica playing is the mighty cellular telephone. My harmonica always went in the right front pocket of whatever pair of pants I was wearing, but now that’s where the cell phone goes and there’s really no more room another hunk of metal (plus, you have to leave room for the Big Red which predates the harmonicas by nearly six years).

Anyways, the roommate is out of town for the next couple nights and so without anyone to bother I decided to take advantage of the empty house. Out came the guitar, and harmonicas, and the song book. I belted out classic bluegrass and some Johnny & June Carter Cash songs for over an hour before calling it quits. There are really few things that relax me as much as picking at the guitar.  It was great… I’m definitely having music night again real soon.

I’m sure someone spent lots of research dollars researching this very important subject mater, but they could have saved a lot of time (and money) and just asked me. I could have filled them in pretty quickly.

“Young men just find it difficult to tell the difference between women who are being friendly and women who are interested in something more,” said lead researcher Coreen Farris of Indiana University’s Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences.

Duh.

Luckily guys seem to be equally clueless when things are possibly working in their advantage too…

…the study, to be detailed in the April issue of the journal Psychological Science, also found that it goes both ways for guys – they mistake females’ sexual signals as friendly ones. The researchers suggest guys have trouble noticing and interpreting the subtleties of non-verbal cues, in either direction.

So for you ladies out there, if you’re at all wondering about what it takes to get through to someone, generally the most direct/blunt way will do it (brightly lit, flashing neon signs, whacks on the head with cast iron kitchen appliances, etc.).

And because with me most things generally come around to words written by Aaron Sorkin I leave you with this awesome scene illustrating a guy (The American President) who is having trouble reading the signs…

				SHEPHERD
		As you pass through, you'll see a
		large closet on your left. And if
		you feel comfortable, hang up your
		coat, and when you come back I'll
		have fixed up a drink, we'll sit on
		the couch, and I will explain to
		you my plan.

				SYDNEY
		You have a plan? Don't make me
		wait. You're on a roll.

	SYDNEY disappears into the BATHROOM/DRESSING ROOM area.
	SHEPHERD keeps talking as he goes to the bar and makes a
	couple of drinks.

				SHEPHERD
			   (speaking up)
		Okay. You're attracted to me, but
		the idea of physical intimacy is
		uncomfortable because you only know
		me as the President. It's not always
		gonna be that way, and the reason I
		know that is because there was a
		moment last night when you were with
		me and not the President, and I know
		what a big step that was for you.
		So, Sydney, I'm in no rush. Here's
		my plan: We're gonna slow down.
		When you're comfortable, that's
		when it'll happen.

	SYDNEY comes back into the room...she's wearing one of
	SHEPHERD's dress shirts and nothing else. She walks toward
	him.

				SHEPHERD
			   (continuing)
		Perhaps I didn't properly explain
		the fundamentals of the "Slow Down"
		plan.

				SYDNEY
		You explained it great.

Consumer Reports has finished their annual auto tests and I just finished reading a quick summary of the Top 11 Worst Cars.

I gotta say that the write up for the Jeep Wrangler Unlimited, the #1 Worst.Car.Ever. (2008), is amusing:

Highs: Off-road ability

Lows: Everything else… (Ride, handling, braking, noise, fuel economy, fit and finish, visibility, front seat comfort, access, reliability)

That’s quite the list. And also, have you seen these things out there on the road? Could they look any dumber all stretched out like that? It’s true, I’ve never been a Jeep Guy (or a Car Guy for that matter), but still… I know an aesthetically pleasing auto when I see one, and the Wrangler Unlimited is not it.

In the Shattering My Dreams Category comes #6, the Toyota FJ Cruiser. This is a cool looking car that I want to love. My neighbor has one and he parks it out front, often right next to my little Pathfinder, and boy does it make my car look shlumpy. Now, I know I just made a sort of bold statement by calling out the stretched aesthetics of what once was a classic vehicle design, but the FJ Cruiser looks cool in that same, weird sort of way that the Honda Element looks cool. They’re sexy-ugly.

Anyways, I want to like the FJ, but apparently there is much left to be desired…

Highs: Off-road ability, powertrain, reliability

Lows: Visibility, ride, handling, noise, fit and finish, premium fuel, access

Again with the high marks for off-road ability. If only Consumer Reports took that into account. Seems that not a lot of people require off-roading skills to drive to the Giant for milk. Shocking.

Now, I’m not sure why this car got to be #8. If you ask me I’d bump it up to the #1 spot. Why? Well, let’s see what they say about the Suzuki Forenza (base)…

Highs: Turning circle

Lows: Acceleration, fuel economy, ride, IIHS sidecrash result, ABS option hard to find

Ok, so it can turn in circles (and I’m assuming we mean tight circles here). Fantastic. Let’s skip down to some analysis on the low points. It won’t accelerate quickly so if you do need to get out of a problem you’re out of luck. Also, you’re going to get to pay a lot in fuel dollars for the privilege of driving an underpowered small car. And the ride will be crappy. And your anti-lock brakes option (a helpful tool for, you know, stopping and what not) is difficult to find. And then, what’s this about the “IIHS sidecrash result”? Hmmm…

The Forenza received a “Poor” rating from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety for side impact protection despite having head- and torso-protecting side airbags.

Even with extra air bags you’re still going to get totally F’d up in a crash!! The Jeep at least (one assumes) is going to let you live and/or walk away from an accident. Not so much with the Suzuki death trap. Awesome.

Now, to be fair and end on a positive note, here’s a link to the Top 10 Best Cars.