Monday, April 30, 2007

Take Me Out ... For Some Food on The Road

Singer/guitarist Alex Kapranos is the frontman for Franz Ferdinand, one of the best (and most successful) new bands of the decade. He is also something of a gourmand. In September of 2005, he began writing a column for The Guardian newspaper about the food he was eating while touring the world. His observations have just been published in Sound Bites.

It's an interesting read, filled with stories about friends and meals, from Milan to Melbourne. One of the best passages describes an interlude in Wigtown, Scotland. Kapranos has been recommended to visit Reading Lasses, a women's studies bookstore & cafe. There, he basks in the simple pleasure of two great loves: eating & reading:
I am brought a thick plank of wood stacked with Galloway cheeses, chutneys and homemade bread dense with seeds. I open my book and flick through it, comforted by the reassuring flavors.

You can buy Sound Bites at your local bookshop, or here.

Franz Ferdinand is at work on its next album.

Thursday, April 26, 2007

Not Bitten Again ... Yet

It's Spring again, and I'm still waiting to get bitten again by the running "bug".

I've described myself as a "runner" for over 25 years now. I went out for track and cross country in high school, and was pretty good about running in the off-season as well. But when I got to college, I had quite a lot else on my mind. My running suffered, and each time I would commit myself to getting up early in the morning, lacing up those shoes, and heading out the door, I found a reason not to go.

Eventually, in the late 80s, I set myself some goals (distance races, etc.), and off I went. I entered a bunch of races, from the Marine Corps and Philadelpia Marathons, to a New Year's race that began at midnight in Central Park in New York City.

In looking through extensive logbooks I kept of my training runs, I noticed a pattern I had settled into. It went something like this: training for a race, running it, taking a break from hard running for a few months, feeling bored, setting another goal, and returning to serious running. I haven't run in a competitive road race since 2003. Maybe this'll be the year I decide on something to train for, then go out and do it.

But so far, I'm just not feeling it.