Paging the Lake Show...Where Are You!?!

"It's a problem of motivation, Bob.  Initech ships a few more units- I don't see a dime..." - Peter Gibbons (played by Ron Livingston), Office Space


That's exactly the attitude eminating from inside the Staples Center's home locker rooms.  For the Clips, it's that the end of the season is upon them and they can't wait to head out on their fishing trip with EJ, Kenny, and Charles.  As for the Lakers, needing just 1 win out of their last 5 to lock up the #1 Western Conference seed, what's the motivation to step your game up when you can put that off until the Playoffs? 

The Lakers still have a Hallway Series game to play on their schedule, which they might wake up for if they lose the next 4 games.  But with 2 of the other upocoming 4 against Minnesota and Sacramento, it's a safe bet to say that the players are most likely rationalizing their lack of on-court focus with this forward-looking mentality.  Granted, Phil would probably like them to use it as an opportunity to grease the wheels, but if it's a few slack games that they need to get out of their system, better now than in 3 weeks!

Raymond vs. Raymond - A Blip of Decent Musical Production from the Industry

I was reviewing my blogroll, and noticed that similar laments of the music industry were touched on last year.  2010 hasn't been any better of a year for music than 2009, at least not yet.  However, Usher's latest release, Raymond vs. Raymond leaves me a little optimistic.  To be fair, I was also a fan of Here I Stand, which left a lot of the fan base with a confused look on their faces.  However, it seems like the collaborators of old have been brought to task in Usher's latest, and with new talent woven in, it's definitely a 2010 LP to go out and get.  Kudos on the relase, Ush, R&B needed this!  Now, Dre, hip-hop's hurtin', please whip out the pad and drop us the antibiotic we all need....DETOX!

Finish Line #1 - The Snail's Pace

So here we are, a month later and with a 5K behind me.  It took steady, mild activity during the week to prepare for this one.  I really do need to screen-capture my routes on a Google Map, or something.  Prepararion was nearly all walkin-based, with most of my 'work-outs' consisting of 4 mile walks upon returning home from work.  In the final week before the Santa Anita Derby Day 5K, which I highly recommend participating in if they continue to host the race, I did head down to the Ballona Creek bikepath and go for a couple of jog/walks for further preparation.  I mean, I would eventually like to jog the whole 5K, so periodic jogs down the path will be a necessity.

Finishing in just about 41 minutes (nothing special, and a far cry from my PR of 19:38 set in 8th grade), a sense of pride filled me as I crossed the finish line.  Knowing there's room for improvement in my time, I'll continue to 'train' with my walks and jogs, hopefully of increasing length on the jogging part.  Personally, I'd be happy to break 30 min for a 5K any time in the future, so we'll leave that modest goal out there and get after it.  Next 5K on the docket is sometime in May...I think the Brentwood one, but will provide details in a subsequent post.