Monday, December 29, 2008
Triumphant Returns
Before I go any further, I want to say a few words about the Met-Rx World's Strongest Man Competition. It is on every year around the holidays, and it is one of the greatest things in the world. The contestants all have names like Lars and Magnus and weigh approximately 3000 pounds. They have to do things like lift an actual car or pull an airplane. There are overstressed tendons as far as the eye can see. And it's all edited at a breakneck pace so there's barely any waiting between events. Just enough time so that you can start to tell the difference between Mariusz and Vasyl. Don't miss it next year, trust me. For one thing, the contestants could put a serious hurt on you if you do.
Anyway, I have returned to Chicago after my holiday sojourn with my parents. The week went by surprisingly quickly. For one thing, I agreed to be in a benefit variety show for my high school music department that more or less took up two days of that week. (Yes, I realize that anyone with a discernible IQ could tell that trouble was coming just from the phrase "benefit variety show." The whole premise is that things that were cute when you did them at 16 will still be cute at 30. Big mistake.) And I'm not entirely sure, but I think I sort of got in trouble with my parents for staying out too late on Saturday night. Although there were $3 Long Island iced teas involved, so it was totally worth it.
Before I go any further, I want to say a few words about the Met-Rx World's Strongest Man Competition. It is on every year around the holidays, and it is one of the greatest things in the world. The contestants all have names like Lars and Magnus and weigh approximately 3000 pounds. They have to do things like lift an actual car or pull an airplane. There are overstressed tendons as far as the eye can see. And it's all edited at a breakneck pace so there's barely any waiting between events. Just enough time so that you can start to tell the difference between Mariusz and Vasyl. Don't miss it next year, trust me. For one thing, the contestants could put a serious hurt on you if you do.
Anyway, I have returned to Chicago after my holiday sojourn with my parents. The week went by surprisingly quickly. For one thing, I agreed to be in a benefit variety show for my high school music department that more or less took up two days of that week. (Yes, I realize that anyone with a discernible IQ could tell that trouble was coming just from the phrase "benefit variety show." The whole premise is that things that were cute when you did them at 16 will still be cute at 30. Big mistake.) And I'm not entirely sure, but I think I sort of got in trouble with my parents for staying out too late on Saturday night. Although there were $3 Long Island iced teas involved, so it was totally worth it.
