St. Pat's Dash

On Sunday, March 15th I ran in the St. Pat's Dash. It was my third dash, and it was a toughie. The weather was nasty, with a snow/rain mix and cold temp. The course was modified this year, due to construction, taking runners and walkers north on Aurora to Canlis restaurant before looping back to Seattle Center. The route was a tad longer this year at 3.75 miles, or just over 6k. Naturally, my time was my worst, given the length and the fact that I went at what turned out to be a slower-than-necessary pace. Percentage wise it was also my worst, as I finished just over the 4000 mark out of 7900-and-some runners. I won't bore you with the specifics. I always like to have a finishing kick, but on Sunday, I positively sprinted the last 100 yards. this told me that I left way too much in the tank, and I really could have improved my time, if even by just a minute or so. Oh well, that's not really the point. I did have fun and can't wait for next year's run.

BTW, here was my ipod playlist, which ended just about exactly the time I crossed the finish:

Wasted Years - Iron Maiden

First Tube - Phish

Jenny Ondioline - Stereolab

Blind - Hercules & Love Affair
The Ides of March - Iron Maiden

Whiplash - Metallica

My god, I didn't realize until now that I was listening to Ides on March 15th. Cool.

Antony & The Johnsons in Seattle

Silvie and I caught Antony & the Johnsons at the Moore on Saturday, February 28th. The band is touring in support of its third full-length, The Crying Light. I’m not sure if I’ve ever been so captivated by a performer; Antony really pushes the right buttons with me. He and his combo did not disappoint on Saturday at the Moore, as they treated a rapt audience to a memorable evening. The new record was stressed, with all but two tracks being played. Antony sat at the piano throughout, with the rest of the combo comprising a cellist, two violinists (one who doubled on acoustic guitar), a drummer, an electric bassist, and Doug Wieselman on various horns and electric guitar. Most of the tunes were haunting, soulful ballads. These were punctuated by a few up-tempo rockers. Wieselman shone on two, bringing the house down with his sax playing on “Shake that Devil” and blistering guitar on the fantastic “Fistful of Love.” The group encored with two of their more dramatic pieces, “Cripple and the Starfish” and “Hope There’s Someone.”

Here is the setlist, for those keeping score at home:


where is my power

her eyes are underneath the ground

epilepsy is dancing

one dove

for today i am a boy

kiss my name

everglade

another world

shake the devil

crazy in love

you are my sister

fistful of love

i was young when i left home

twilight

aeon

cripple and the starfish

hope there’s someone