Suppose your house is on fire. Everyone’s out safe and you’ve got time to run inside and grab one or two things (yeah, I know, in a real fire it’s a bad idea to go back inside for anything, but this is hypothetical, so cut me some slack). What do you go get?
For me, the answer’s both easy and obvious: I grab the two originals my sister Lori has painted for my family (the half-dozen or so prints we have of her work can be replaced).
First, there’s the painting Lori gave to Susan and me when the twins were born:
And next would be the painting she made especially for Susan upon finding Susan has cancer:
These (cameraphone) pictures don’t even come close to doing Lori’s work justice, but I wanted to show them off anyway. These are — absolutely literally — our two most-prized family possessions.
Lori painted these years and years ago, and her style has evolved quite a bit since then. Take a moment and check out the gallery on her site. Here’s one of my favorites of hers, titled “Fun Mom:”
Lori lives in Brooklyn right now, but occasionally she’ll still come to Salt Lake and do a show. When she does, all of her art sells out. Immediately.
Yeah, you can tell I’m kind of a proud brother, huh?
Why I’m Going On About Lori Right Now
The reason I want to talk about Lori’s paintings right now, though, is because my sister Jodi has persuaded Lori to paint a portrait as one of the prizes in the giveaway Jodi’s doing as part of her LiveStrong Challenge. This giveaway ends Monday night.
Lori’s paintings routinely sell for $5000 – $15,000, so — when combined with the fact that this prize will be intensely personal for whoever wins it — I don’t think I’m at all going out on a limb when I say this is definitely the best prize that’s ever been part of the Team Fatty LiveStrong Challenge. Go to Jodi’s blog right now to learn how to win.
Additional Awesomeness
Jodi’s giveaway goes way, way broader and deeper than the possibility of winning a commissioned painting by my sister Lori. As part of the same giveaway — in other words, when you donate to Jodi’s LiveStrong Challenge Page — you could win any of the following prizes:
Tickets to theColbert Report?. These are otherwise impossible to get without spending some serious quality time with a scalper.
Tickets to the New York Red Carpet premier of Martin Scorsese-directed movie“Shutter Island“, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Michelle Williams. Watch this preview video and get freaked out a little bit.
Tickets to Friday, Saturday and Sunday shows atAll Points West, featuring Beastie Boys, Tool, Coldplay, My Bloody Valentine and about 80 other bands?.
And there are a whole bunch of additional cool prizes, too. Seriously, Jodi has put together a phenomenal giveaway. Click here to learn how to enter.
This afternoon was the pre-ride BBQ for Team Fatty-Seattle, and tonight (Saturday) is the Recognition Dinner for the Seattle LiveStrong Challenge.
I’ll be getting photos and video from folks soon, but for now, let me just say that from the email and text messages I’ve been getting, the BBQ was terrific.
As for the Recognition Dinner, well, Team Fatty Seattle will kind of own the night. There are four awards, of which we have won three:
Individual Champion: The person who raised the most money for the Seattle event is Team Fatty Co-Captain Steve Peterson, who comments on this blog as ClydeSteve. $41,000.00. That is just remarkable. You know what this means? It means that Steve raised more money than the entire second-place team. Yes, that’s right. Steve raised more money than the entire Microsoft team. I think my head just exploded.
Team Champion: Team Fatty-Seattle has raised $144,000. I am just astounded at how hard everyone on Team Fatty-Seattle has worked, and how much we have raised toward fighting cancer.
Team Messenger: Team Fatty-Seattle has close to 100 members who have raised at least $100. I’m not sure of our exact figure, but it’s more people than any other team.
I can hardly wait to see the video of Steve picking those awards up.
The only award I don’t think we won is the Individual Messenger award, which I think will go to Jimmy Fowkes. Frankly, I believe that if there’ve ever been people who deserve recognition, they’re Jimmy and his sister Molly. Go take a look at Jimmy’s donation page and see what I mean.
Since I won’t be able to be there to accept either of the Team Awards, the LiveStrong people were nice enough to ask me to make a video they could show at the dinner tonight. Here it is:
You have no idea how tired my arm got holding that camcorder at arm’s length as I filmed myself for that thing.
Here’s a great pic Jonathan S sent from the event:
At least to me, that “WIN SUSAN” card is the boldest, most visible one there. I like that.
Here’s my friend Jeff, evidently in serious need of what they’ve got at the anti-chafing zone:
More Soon
We’re also entered in the Best Jersey contest; the results of that will be announced tomorrow this (Sunday) afternoon. Fingers crossed!
I’ll update with video, photos, and riders’ impressions as I get them.
And if you were at the Seattle LiveStrong event and have pics and / or a story to tell, send them my way!
That’s because 405 of you donated $5 to my LiveStrong Challenge account yesterday. Well, actually, a few of you have a hard time following directions (and I mean that in a really grateful way) and donated more than the $5 I asked for. Which means that all told, yesterday you donated $3040 to the Lance Armstrong Foundation on my behalf.
Thank you. Multiplied by 405, of course.
It’s 5:00 AM here; I’m up early because my birthday party / personal LiveStrong Challenge ride starts in one hour: some friends and I are going to ride The Gauntlet Supreme. So I will do the prize drawing and send email to winners later today. After I’m back, have showered, and taken a three-hour nap.
Seattle LiveStrong Challenge Coverage Coming Soon
I am not able to attend the Seattle LiveStrong Challenge, but — since Team Fatty-Seattle has made an incredibly impressive showing: $141,328! — the LAF asked me to send them a video for them to show at the Awards ceremony tomorrow night. I’ll post that video here for you to see here then, too.
And as I get videos, photographs, and reports of Team Fatty’s goings-on, I’ll update as frequently as needed.
All of you: thank you for reading, for your generosity, and for your support.
Now I’m going to go get ready for a big ol’ ride. I understand there will be cake at the end.
PS: Today Team Fatty crossed the 1/3 million mark!
A Note from Fatty: The contest to win one of two copies of Windows 7 from my good friend Nick ends this Friday. And to make it more interesting to people who may not live to upgrade their operating systems (although Nick has a difficult time imagining how such a person could exist), Nick’s expanded the prize list. Now, two winners will get to choose from any of the following:
Any three Microsoft gamesfor Windows: Halo 2 PC Vista, Halo PC, Rise of Nations Rise of Legends PC, Shadowrun PC Vista, Viva Piñata PC, Zoo Tycoon 2 PC, Zoo Tycoon 2: Extinct Animals X Pack PC, Zoo Tycoon 2: African Adventure, Gears of War PC, Flight Simulator X Acceleration Pack, Flight Simulator X Deluxe, Fable The Lost Chapters PC, Dungeon Siege: Legends of Aranna, Age of Empires III PC, Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties, Age Empires III: WarChief English PC
Before we begin, can we agree to not make this an argument over whether it’s a good idea to listen to music while riding your bike? I know the pros. I know the cons. Nobody is going to be persuaded.
But the fact is, some of us sometimes listen to music when we ride. And I’m pretty sure that — for those of us who like to rock and ride, I’ve got what comes close to being an ideal solution.
The Foundation: The Second-Generation iPod Shuffle
First, you’ve got to start with an iPod Shuffle. The second-generation one, not the newest (third-generation) model. Why? Because the second-generation Shuffle is a perfect combination of form and function — you can get to all the controls just by feel, even with gloves on. It’s tiny enough that it’s never gets in your way, and even the low-end version with just 1Gb (this is the version I use, by the way) holds more songs (200+) than you’ll ever get through before the battery dies.
The third-generation Shuffle, on the other hand, seems like it’s a joke article from the Onion. No controls, at all on the main unit? Teeny tiny controls on the headphones? The same headphones which are the most likely part to break on the Shuffle itself? And the controls are so small they’re hard to work with normally, much less when you’re wearing gloves and are on a bike? And the controls are hard to even get to because before you can use them you have to capture them as they sway back and forth on your headphone cable?This is what they’re replacing the 2nd-generation shuffle with? Really?
OK, sorry. I seem to have started ranting. And using a lot of question marks.
I wouldn’t be doing this post at all if my big revelation were “Hey, use an iPod Shuffle!” ‘Cuz, well, a lot of you have probably heard of iPods before and may not need my help with that.
The reason I’m doing this post is because Arriva headphones are pretty much the most perfect thing ever for cyclists. Check them out:
Confused? Don’t worry, it will all make sense in a moment. Your Shuffle docks right onto the headphones, like this:
Then — because the headphone cables are springy, you just pop the headphones on and the iPod rests at the base of your skull, beneath your helmet, like this:
And — since everyone asks me this — no, they don’t dig into my neck or pinch when I ride.
What I Love About the Arrivas
There are two big things I love about these headphones.
No more cables. With this setup, I have no cables at all dangling from my ears and helmet, and I don’t have to hassle with routing the headphones under my jersey and to my iPod — whereever the iPod happens to be clipped (or pocketed).
Incredibly easy access. With the iPod positioned like this, I always know exactly where it is — it doesn’t budge even during mountain bike descents — and can quickly and easily get to the controls. Obviously I never can see the controls, but since the Shuffle’s volume and Next/Previous buttons are raised in a ring around the Play/Pause button, I don’t need to see anything. Even with my gloves on, I have no trouble at all operating this thing.
So those are the main benefits — the compelling reasons, as far as I’m concerned, to get one of these. There are a few other things I like, too:
I can hear what’s going on around me. The Arriva headphones are springy, and when you bend them, they retain that bend. I’ve now got my headphones so they’re positioned just outside my ears, not nestled deep inside. So I can hear my music, but — unless I’ve really got the Shuffle cranked up — I can also hear conversations and noise around me.
They’re comfortable. It took a few rides for me to get these headphones bent just right, but now I don’t even feel them when I ride.
They’re cheap. $35, free shipping. Not bad at all.
They work with helmets. I had never seen anyone use the Arrivas with a helmet before and so I wasn’t sure whether they’d work with the Roc-Loc head gripper thingy at the back of helmets. As you can see from the photo above, there’s no interference at all.
What I Don’t Love
I personally have no problems whatsoever with these headphones, but I can imagine that some people might. Here’s what you may not care for:
You will be assimilated. From the front, the Arrivas are darn near invisible. But you’re a cyclist; hardly anyone will ever see you from the front. From the side and back, these headphones make you look like you’re joining the Borg Collective. But really, would being part of the Borg be so bad? I hear the job security is great and they have a terrific benefits package. And don’t get me started about their retirement plan and 401K matching: wow! Anyway, if you’ve got a style issue with these headphones, there’s nothing I would even try to say to convince you to go with them.
They don’t sound great. At their best, these headphones sound pretty good. But if you are an audiophile or even a music snob, the sound quality will disappoint you. Hey, I’m not a music snob and even I could tell that the sound quality on these is not the best. But they’re $35 headphones with specialized equipment from a small company in Telluride, CO. I didn’t expect these to sound awesome. For my listening while cycling needs, pretty good is good enough.
They are utterly defeated by wind noise. At least for me and the way I have these headphones positioned, when I’m on a road descent, I can’t hear the music at all. I think this is partially because of the fact that I keep the earbuds themselves pretty far out of my ear, but also because of the way the cable goes in front of your ear — that’s bound to create some wind noise of its own. With the Arrivas, I turn off my music before I turn downhill.
Additional Info and a Question
Size Stuff: I puzzled and worried over whether I should get the Small or Regular-sized headphones, and finally decided on the Small. That turned out to be a good call. For comparison, I wear size Medium helmets.
If you do get the wrong size, the Arriva site says they’re good about exchanges. But I haven’t tried that out, so can’t vouch for how easy it really is.
Judgment Call from You: I kind of enjoy writing about stuff I use when I ride, and wouldn’t mind doing it more. But obviously that’s not what I started out doing with this blog. Let me know whether you would get sick of me writing these review-ish pieces once a week or so.
Full Disclosure: Since I’m starting to get free stuff sometimes, I figure I should let you know when I get stuff for free. In this case, I paid retail for the headphones on the Arriva site, and they don’t know I’m writing this. I don’t think that changes the way I feel about something, but who knows. In short, I have never had any communication at all with the Arriva folks.
Short version: I’m glad the 2nd-generation iPod Shuffle is still around, because combined with the Arriva, it’s the best cycling / music solution I could ever hope for.
A Note From Fatty: A huge thanks to everyone who stepped up their LiveStrong / Team Fatty fundraising game last week, and especially monstrously huge kudos to Team Fatty-Seattle. Here are a few interesting factoids from last week:
The combined Teams Fatty raised $27,582. That is an incredible effort. Of that amount, Team Fatty-Seattle raised $15,247 — more than the other three teams, combined. I guess the incentive of a Revolution Wheelworks Road Wheelset, combined with the impending event deadline, did a good job of motivating Team Fatty-Seattle.
Team Fatty-Seattle currently has raised $99,939 $101,219. That makes it the TOP team right now — finally passed Team Fatty-Austin, which has 21 more members — and within $61 of being the first team to have raised HAS PASSED $100,000. That’s seriously impressive.
13 people in Team Fatty-Seattleraised their first money for Team Fatty-Seattle last week.
19 people in Team Fatty-Seattle crossed the $250 fundraising threshold, making them eligible to participate in the event.
Congratulations to the Revolution Wheelworks Road Wheelset Winner: Shaun Darragh joined Team Fatty-Seattle last week, and has already raised $2,775. That netted him 555 chances at the Revolution Wheelworks Road Wheelset. Of course, he got a bonus 10 chances for starting from $0 and for crossing the $250 mark. So with 565 chances of winning those wheels, it’s no surprise that he did. And I should note that his fundraising page is one of the most powerful tributes to a mother there could ever be. Read it. This is clearly a man doing the right things for the right reasons. I’m very, very glad he won this wheelset.
A Congratulatory Note from Fatty: Many of you will remember that we raised more than $30,000 with the Kona Cadabra contest. A few of you have probably also noticed that I have not mentioned the winner…until now. That’s because until late last night, my congratulatory notes sat unread in an email box while the winner was busy moving. But now I am happy to announce that the winner — MV C — is (sort of moved in) and is very excited about getting this bike. Here’s what he has to say:
I started raising money for Leukemia and Lymphoma Society through Team in Training a few years ago when my girlfriend Jen’s uncle was fighting Lymphoma. Jen decided she wanted to do something to help and got me to do it too. We have done quite a few Century (road) rides with TNT. We ended up getting a tandem road bike so we could stay together on the rides (Jen refuses to go fast unless she is on the back of a tandem.)
We estimate we have raised around $25,000 or so in the past few years. This year, Jen decided we should do the Livestrong ride instead, because her Aunt just finished treatment for colon cancer. (Jen says since this was her idea, she should get the bike. Hmmm….) We gathered a group of friends from Michigan to all go down to Austin together for the ride. I think we have 10 people so far. Can’t wait for the ride!
I love hearing all the stories and reasons people people have for joining in this fight. There are a lot of people to admire in Team Fatty.
Congrats, MV!
A Plug for My Sister Jodi’s Contests
My sister Jodi just started raising money for her LiveStrong challenge, and has got some incredible prizes lined up: tickets to a mega-concert, tickets to see the Colbert Report (theoretically free but impossible to obtain through 2010), tickets to a movie premier, and more. Head on over to her site and see everything you can win — again, all to help raise money to fight cancer with the Lance Armstrong Foundation.
Fight Cancer, Win Windows 7
Nick Abbott and I have been friends ever since I started work at Microsoft. And the fact is, everyone who meets Nick is immediately his friend. He’s that kind of guy.
Here’s us shortly after we met and rode our first big ride together (The 11 Hills of Kirkland) in May of 2005:
Just for your information, I weighed 181 pounds back then (and yeah, that’s about where I am again now). Nick was a few pounds heavier then, too.
Check us out: all muddy and happy after racing the Leadville 100 together last year.
Of course, I’ve moved back to Utah, but Nick still works at Microsoft and is riding the Seattle LiveStrong ride. And as a ‘Softie — yes, they really call themselves that — Nick has access to the hotly-anticipated Windows 7 coming out sometime this year.
And if you donate to Nick’s LiveStrong Challenge page — http://seattle09.livestrong.org/nickabbott — you can win one of twocopies of the top-end version of this new version of Windows. Just go to his page and donate; for every five dollars you donate, you will get a ticket in the raffle.
This is huge – pricing for Windows has not been announced (you can bet it will be more than 5 dollars) – and Nick will give you the full retail product once it is available in stores (of course you can’t resell it – that wouldn’t be right). If for some reason you are a Mac user – Nick can substitute Windows 7 with a copy of Office for the Mac.
Oh, and one other reason to donate at Nick’s page, besides the fact that you’re fighting cancer and besides the fact that he’s a great guy and besides the fact that you might win a copy of the top-end version of some seriously expensive software: If you donate at Nick’s page, you’re donating to a Microsoft employee with the chance of getting a Microsoft product while helping Team Fatty defeat Team Microsoft. Using their own products and employees to defeat them. Ha!
