Category: Virginia

Jim updates from Monson, Maine, after an unusually long silence caused by library closings and other trail issues. This is the home stretch for Jim; he has about 115 miles remaining on his Appalachian Trail adventure. News: the AT is crawling with liberals (8/29); Harvard frosh are unprepared (9/4); hiking the Appalachian Trail can cure snoring (9/14); and Jim gets to eat more calories at one meal than I am probably consuming during most full days (see for instance 8/28, 8/29, 9/8, and 9/15).

Browsing a fellow Microsoftie’s blog tonight, I came across a “Greg Howard” reference. Familiar name, I thought. It was in the context of a Dave Matthews concert. I thought, Did he get famous? Greg used to record concerts for the Virginia Glee Club back in the day; I also saw him a few times playing in a band called “Sticks and Stones” with… oh yeah… Tim Reynolds. Hmm, he became famous too, didn’t he?

Sure enough: GregHoward.com. Still playing the Chapman Stick, still goateed, still looks the same as he looked ten years ago. And he still lists Transmigration, which I have on cassette along with his 1989 release Face of Sand, on his Releases page.

Morrissey may hate it when his friends become successful, but I have nothing but good wishes for Greg Howard, who was once kind enough (or impoverished enough) to record fifty cocky undergrad guys who had the nerve to sing sacred Renaissance music in Virginia.

Every now and then I get a reminder that it’s a good idea to check out Greg’s actual blog, not just to rely on his RSS feed. His links “on the side” are blog poetry—concise, to the point, and frequently high value.

Example: where else would I have learned that my old friend (and former neighbor) Kate Bolger was one of Fox’s lawyers in their now infamous lawsuit against Al Franken?

This reunion is looking more and more interesting the closer we get. Imagined scene: Michael’s Bistro, or perhaps the Court Square Tavern. Participants: Greg, Bernie, me, Kate, Dan, maybe George. Guinness all around. Question: “So, Kate, tell us all about it…” Unfortunately at that point my fantasy ends because attorney-client privilege probably kicks in.

Anyway, I’m now subscribing to Greg’s “On the Side” feed. It’s the best thing since Poodah.

Virginia football had a great starter against Duke, shutting them out 27-0. The victory was soured by only two things: Duke hasn’t won a football game since approximately the Pleistocene Era, and Heisman Trophy candidate Matt Schaub injured his shoulder. How severely is difficult to say, as Al Groh isn’t talking. So the big question is: Will Schaub play in Saturday’s game against South Carolina?

Incidentally, it sounds from this article like South Carolina is still smarting from last year’s smackdown (seven turnovers?) and is spoiling for a fight. Should be a fun game.

From Russ and Caroline Swindell, a birth announcement for the newest member of their family, their first child, Catherine Jane, born Saturday. My heartfelt congrats to the new parents and a moment’s regret that I’m on the other side of the country… but all the more reason to go to my ten year reunion next summer.

Jim sent a bonus update yesterday which gives some fascinating insight about the logistics of hiking the Appalachian trail. Highlights: pack weight management, the economics of propane sales to people hiking on foot, trail food, and a most-Hobbit-like affinity for “second breakfasts.”

Jim writes from North Woodstock, New Hampshire, coming closer to the end of his through-hike of the Appalachian Trail: “It was a fortuitous time to receive my winter gear! Two nights ago, in a shelter, the temperature seems to have dipped below 40 (F), and it promises to get colder as we get higher. Mount Washington, the third highest peak on the east coast and the last time we’ll be above 6,000 feet above sea level, had recorded the highest wind speed on earth (231 mph) until two years ago, when Antarctica topped that.”

Jim Heaney, AKA Mothman, updated yesterday from Rutland, Vermont, where Chris Doyle has been apparently hosing him down. He notes that the Appalachian Trail was probably one of the few places in the Northeast that was completely unaffected by the power outage this past weekend. He also notes, “Strange to think ‘nearly over’ and ‘500 miles to go’ at the same time, isn’t it?”

Jim Heaney posts another update, only a week after his last, from Dalton, MA, which he notes has brought non-stop rain and mosquitos along with a comparative dearth of scenery to his through-hike of the Appalachian Trail.

My officemate reminded me that college football season approaches (quote, “I can’t believe the Vols’ first game is the end of this month!”), and I decided to check out VirginiaSports to see the game schedule. What should appear when I load the page, though, but an interstitial ad promoting Virginia’s Great Hope, Matt Schaub, as the nation’s “No. 1 Returning Quarterback” and offering a link to the site for his Heisman bid, Schaub4Heisman.com. Nice photos on the home page. I am glad, at least, that Schaub appears to be a true student athlete, working on his five-year bachelors/masters in economics and education.

I’ve added a live blogroll of Hoobloggers to my site, and you can use it too. Just copy the source code from the Hooblogs page.

Note: this is going to make my link list really long, and there are unavoidably some duplicates with my existing blogroll. But I think it’s worth it.

Jim writes, again from his New Jersey base of operations, after finishing the New Jersey/Delaware leg of the trail, and shares some advice about water on the trail.

If memory and Google serve me well, today is Greg Greene’s birthday. Stop by the Green[e]house sometime today and wish him well, won’t you? And tell him to update his freaking Amazon wish list.

It’s also Doc Searls’s b-day, and Wil Wheaton’s. If that’s not a trio headed for trouble, I don’t know what is.

Another Mothman Chronicles update this morning, this one from Jim’s temporary resting place of Mahwah, NJ, with the “Mothmom” (his word, not mine!!!). Jim is now well over halfway done with his through hike of the Appalachian Trail and spends some time today giving us a historical perspective on the trail.

Happy first blogaversary to Greg. So go, in my immortal malaprop sense, and spank the blog.