Outside Lands win

When I'm not obsessively checking the "Missed Connections" section on Craigslist, I put in work on the brutal athletic training regimen that is designed to transform me into a model for North Face activewear (and/or Michelob Ultra commercials).  This self-created program is highly sophisticated and thusly also highly secretive, so if you think I am going to spill all the beans right here, you are dreadfully mistaken.  I will, however, admit that one activity in the program involves me putting on shoes, churning my legs briskly so as to propel myself out to some pre-determined location, then turning around and repeating the process until I'm back to the same place where I started.  

This breakthrough form of exercise is most commonly known as running, and can often be seen in action if one knows where to look.  You're probably tempted to go to Wikipedia's page on running to get a better understanding of this concept, but that won't be necessary.  After all, it was way too long an entry to hold my interest, and generally I also don't want people navigating away from the blog and getting distracted.  Here's a much more condensed download, then: As far as I can tell, going for a lope really exploded in terms of popularity in late 2001.  That, of course, is also when the first iPod was released.  The experience of running is generally quite disagreeable, so without music at one's avail the agony would be too much to bear.  Ipso facto - running is most likely a fairly new activity.  

Back to me: I, like many others, have set up a dedicated playlist on my iPod specifically for listening during trots and gallops.  The items on this list are another closely-guarded secret, but I'll still tell you that my favorite song for scurries is The Funeral by Band of Horses.  

Tonight I was out for a jog along my normal route (listening to my normal playlist), and there was some mild disruption from a massive annual music festival called Outside Lands which happens in Golden Gate Park.  I didn't attend any of the shows this year (or last).  In fact, some people will probably tell you that I poo-poo the Outside Lands, which is true to an extent.  I suppose it's consistent with my nature of irrationally hating all activities in general, but I can also flimsily offer that this event always seems bring big mainstream bands of whom I was always indifferent (Pearl Jam, Dave Matthews, Tom Petty), instead of the obscure Welsh sci-fi/doomsday/thrash rock quartets that I fervently track.

Also - the whole thing is a massive cluster.  Seriously.  Who amongst us can forget the tragic events of August 29 (2008, when the bus I took home from work became so crowded with concert-goers thatIliterallycouldnotgetoffuntiltheentiremessofcreaturespouredoutattheentrancetothefestivalthirty blockstoofarfrommyhouse)?

My regular scamper takes me right by one of the Outside Lands stages.  As I got close tonight I pulled my earbuds out, figuring I'd enjoy some free tunes for a minute or two.  Imagine my delight, then, when the band playing on stage at that exact moment was Band of Horses, and the song they were playing was The Funeral.  I don't know if it was a burst of energy from that sweet little coincidence, or if it was the two McDonalds breakfast burritos I had eaten twelve hours earlier, or if it was some combination of both, but tonight's dash through the park was unequivocally the best skedaddle - strength, pace, energetic finish - that I've ever had.  

In 2009 vernacular, it was a Win.