Getting back into the groove

Wow, this was a pretty active week.

Monday, played tennis.

Tuesday evening with J. at Crissy Field. 3miles? Late run, but still light out. Windy.

Wednesday was soccer.

Thursday down Lake Street, with Mountain Lake Park detour. Indian guy asks me how to get back to the Marina from here; he’s run from Pacific and Gough. I point him up the hill towards Washington St. I thought I might go longer; but I only run to 30th. just over 4 miles.

Friday night with J., again, this time in GGP from the end of the panhandle down to the inner loop on Stow Lake and back. 3 miles, I’m guessing. Started off breezy but I took off my wind breaker by the end of the run.

Saturday, I just rode from my place to K’s in the sunset, and then to a haircut, and then back from a movie.

Sunday morning, 5 miler. Run with W. from Conservatory in GGP down Middle drive and back. Lots of good stories and catching up.

Sunday afternoon, played tennis again, with p’Joi this time was longer, 1hr 20 minutes, and we only waited 30 minutes to get a court. Was super windy, so I was running around chasing down balls. we had several good volleys, so hopefully I’m improving.

So, I need to keep this pace up and build the base back up. J. says once I get back into the groove he’s gonna push me harder. We’ll see about that. At least I’m not in complete sluggitude.nn1

Richmond Loop

Night run. 47 minutes, 7:50pm to 8:37pm. 5 or 6 miles… I need to figure it out, exactly. Still, 5 miles under 50 minutes is pretty good for me.

Really good playlist.

Down Lake to 30th, continue up around Camino del Mar to the golf course, cut across to Clement, head back down Clement to 24th, then back up to Lake and home.

Saw Joanne at Hair Bank working late–on her daughter’s hair, which is waist length, beautiful, and platinum highlighted. Did intervals on the flat parts of Lake both ways. Some guy racing me up the last part of Lake from 11th to 4th.

Lincoln Park

First run past 30th Avenue. I’m extending how far I’m willing to go, pushing out my turn-around. I made it into the golf course at Lincoln Park, and the beginning of Land’s End in GGNRA.

Overcast, with just a glimpse of sunlight as I set out. It was dark for most of the run. That bothered me less than you might expect. Nice and cool.

My ipod ran out of juice after 5 minutes. Had to carry the darn thing the whole run, though.

55 minutes, 5 miles. 4th and Lake to 30th Ave. continued on Lake into El Camino Del Mar, to the Land’s End sign. Crosswalk into the golf course, all the way to Clement and 35th Ave. turn around and back to El Camino, dowm El Camino to 26th, where I gutted uphill to Lake. Then retracing my steps all the way back down Lake.

Nobody Knows

MILL Valley Film Festival.
Oct 16. 615 pm. Raphael 2.

I saw this with M and C. We drove up to San Raphael early to get dinner. San Raphael is nice, touristy, and looks like a New England town.

The thing that is remarkable about Kore-eda’s movie is how real it feels. We often equate documentary style with realism, but Kore-eda has evolved his work into a pure visual experience that wires itself directly into your head. Because of his visual craft, I had surrendered my disbelief that when I finally saw an actor I recognized, I found it jarring. What is that actor doing here, in this real story?

This movie lingered with me, and a day or two later I was still sorting out the images, realised that I missed some foreshadowings, and some symbols.

Nobody Knows is told so dispassionately, so quietly, that it leaves an emotional void that you want to fill. And so you do, in a sprawling emotional journey with a young boy taking care of his 3 younger siblings, all alone.

Update: in May 2005, I bought the DVD. It includes a long essay by the director in Japanese, which now I’ll have to read sometime.

Night run

oct 12

30 minute quick run. Along the Embarcadero, from Folsom to maybe Pier 21, close to the old Snap.com/cnet building.

Really mild night, a good pace, passing people strolling along the waterfront. Saw Jaime talking on her cell, waiting for her bf, who we had run by earlier.

Maybe 3 miles.

Puffy at The Fillmore

notes:

japanese family with 3 young boys came to the show. the youngest, maybe 8 years old, asleep on his dad’s shoulder.

waft of pot smoke going up at 3rd song.

ami with long hair: yumi in a tank top, short hair looking very relaxed and having fun.

the bassist who couldn’t stop smiling. (from band ‘neurotics’)

went with chris and motoko.

encores: circuit de musume and asia no junshin

Windstruck

DVD

Here’s a movie I bought because it had paired the same actress and director from [@movie:My Sassy Girl].

It’s not as funny, and after fumbling around with a comedic opening, decides it is going to mostly a melodrama, maybe. It does this in a most manipulative way. But my complaint is not that I’m being manipulated–after all, that’s what I expect from a movie like this. It’s just that I resent being manipulated so clumbsily.

The director takes a lot of risks with his genre mixing, and when it works, it is a lot of fun for the audience. But the movie as a whole can suffer from it, especially when the core story hasn’t gelled yet.

You’ll be much happier turning this movie off before the very end, when she gets to the train station. The ending gimmick is awful. It is evident that the script ran out of steam a long time before the ending.

Still, the lead actor and actress are radiant, charasmatic good company, if at times a little cheesy.

Hiking in Napa

sunday.

went hiking in Napa, at Boethe-Napa State Park. A nice easy trail–it is pretty interesting. Didn’t see many animals, though. Lots of shade under small redwoods, punctuated with walks through brush under a pretty steady sun. Absolutely cloudless day.

went with Lorin, his dad Ben, and the guys from work.

on the way home we stopped at a couple wineries and then dinner. bah.

the trail took us not quite 3 hours. Maybe 5-6 miles, with a few steep climbs.