My X-Mas Tale

Well, my Christmas tale is pretty straightforward. No workout? No problem!

I slept in until 9. Apparently, Trudy and Bam-Bam were feeling benevolent.

I cooked myself breakfast. Yep, I really did. Three eggs and turkey bacon. Ahhh, yeah.

I jumped into Borderlands on Xbox 360. My thoughts? So far, it feels a little like Wild Arms on PlayStation 2 but with much cooler weapons. Art style is kinda cool too with the cel-shading. One might say Borderlands is a cross between Ratchet & Clank (upgradeable outrageous weapons) and Wild Arms (desolate pseudo-steam punk, pseudo-western), if there ever was such a thing. So far, I'm a level 11 hunter. I'm probably going to move onto another game (most likely Halo: ODST at this point) but can't quite put the controller down on Borderlands. I'm a little surprised by that since I'm not a huge RPG guy. But since this is cleverly called an RPS (my initials, and a "role-playing shooter"), I'm a little more patient. Plus, this is probably the most accessible RPG experience I've played in a while. Kudos for that.

After some extra stretching and a soothing hot tub bath, I plopped down to watch the Lakers pathetic performance against the Cavs. Forget the (horrible) referees for a moment, and consider how bad the Lakers' bench looked. Totally outclassed. It's definitely been a concern of mine all season (paging Sasha Vujacic, Josh Powell, etc. ...). And, I think what the Cavs did by playing Ilgauskus and O'Neal at the same time against the Lakers' big lineup was very smart. It took the Lakers out of their game. Something they're not used to seeing, and for one game, that Shaq signing looks like it may pay dividends. IF the Cavs come out of the East. That's a big if.

(By the way, speaking of LeBron and Kobe, have y'all seen those Nike "Most Valuable Puppets" ads? I gotta say, those are among the catchiest and coolest spots I've seen in a long time. They've outdone themselves compared to the Kobe-LeBron spots during last season's playoffs. And the NBA spots with the "defense" hip-hop remixes are strong too. No other sports league is marketed as well as the NBA, and the League has raised the bar further for the likes of sports brand juggernauts like Gatorade and Adidas.)

All in all, today has been a solid day. I haven't left the house (for a change), and I'm refreshed for another week of training, which starts tomorrow with a trail run in Pt. Mugu State Park, Boney Mountain Wilderness. I'm also to swim for an hour after the 13-mile trail course, which will have to occur after I visit with my long-time friend Jeff. We're going to see Invictus. I hope Morgan Freeman doesn't mail in another performance. He's been quite average lately, IMO.

Well, gotta go. The couch is calling to me again.

334 days and counting.

PS: If you haven't already, this LA Times column about a local triathlete couple whose husband has battled back from a coma is inspirational and heartwarming. I definitely recommend taking a few minutes to read it.