Things that are Made of Win

Squirrel Suits:

Caffeinated Crocodile Gum:

Enormous, flying dinosaurs (here's a hatzegopteryx that likes to eat giraffes):

Small Troy in his impenetrable "bear suit"

Surviving the north face of the Eiger, "murder wall"

Tornado-proof robot cars:

And finally, Skeleton racing. Here's the 2010 world cup winner!

Rally to Retore Sanity (and/or Fear)

I'm so excited about this un-rally and I have no idea why. The first rally to restore sanity and/or fear might be a hilarious stew of people who think politicians at either extreme need to chill out, or an awkward, aimless time (kind of like middle school).

When: October 30th, 2010, 12-3pm

Where: Washington DC, East end of the National Mall between 3rd and 7th street. Primary public entrance = 7th Street NW between Constitution and Independence Avenues.

What it has morphed into:
I don't exactly know if anything is planned for the rallies. Jon Stewart doesn't even seem to know what's going to happen [Larry King excerpt]:

KING: Who will be speaking other than you and your pal?

STEWART: You're saying we should have planned speakers?

KING: There are no speakers?

STEWART: Oh, Jesus. What --

KING: It’s just a bunch of people rallying?

STEWART: What exactly -- what would you --we got things planned. It's going to -- it’s going to shock maybe not even just this world, other worlds. Maybe aliens.

Colbert's agenda is based on shaking up Stewart's...

"America, the Greatest Country God ever gave Man, was built on three bedrock principles: Freedom. Liberty. And Fear — that someone might take our Freedom and Liberty. But now, there are dark, optimistic forces trying to take away our Fear — forces with salt and pepper hair and way more Emmys than they need. They want to replace our Fear with reason. But never forget — 'Reason' is just one letter away from 'Treason.' Coincidence? Reasonable people would say it is, but America can’t afford to take that chance."

Officially, Stewart calls it "a rally for the people who've been too busy to go to rallies." Unofficially, the only thing that I can solidly count on being there is the port-o-loo that King gave Stewart the other night:

Worth Checking Out: Colbert's "Spooky or Dooky" costume contest page. My favorite is the Swine Flu Avenger:

Race Report

Soo I finally did a post!
Here's the original

TM Pros: Ridiculous, really well organized, lots of paramedics and military personnel around, great cause (wounded warrior project), great food, band, and free beer afterwords. They also had a complimentary mullet booth.

Cons: Effing cold water. This made the water cannon obstacle and the 2 swimming-related obstacles a lot harder than they seemed. If the TM you're doing takes place in a ski resort, this is probably going to be a factor... as will the ski slopes you'll have to run up, down, and up again. They also have these "remember, you signed a death waiver" signs along the way.

Mystery Obstacle 18: It was taking a shot of Tabasco sauce! Much better than the bears and/or sharks I was afraid they'd have waiting for us.

Note: Do it with a teammate. I did it solo, and although a team (the Budgee Smugglers) took pity on me for the obstacles where you needed to hurl one another over something, it would've been nice to race this thing as it's intended.

Mudder Championship: 48 hours of hell for finishers in the top 5% from all the other Mudders, plus 100 lucky winners who enter the random drawing. They "confidently predict" it will knock out 90% of the starting pack. "Expect 50 miles of mud, ice, snow, fire, hot coals, rock climbs, barbed wire, electric fencing, underwater swimming, boulder carries, rope climbs, extreme weather conditions and 100 ft dives from waterfalls."

The water cannon obstacle, free tattoo booth, me struggling, and a competitor in a pig suit (someone also did it in a Shrek costume):

ps - I was the 3rd girl! I managed to get there late and started with the 2nd wave so they tacked on 15 extra mins--> not sure what I am in the official results, but it's not 3rd

pps - I either qualified or won a lottery slot for the Mudder Championship. I got an ominous email the other day, and I'm thinking participating might not be the best idea.