2010 Plans

As I am officially healthy (finally), I've decided what races I will do in 2010. It is a mix of skiing and running races.

My race schedule will look like:

January 30th - The Mountain Smoker - Banff, AB

February 14th - Hypothermic Half Marathon - Edmonton, AB

February 24th - Masters Race Series - Banff, AB

March 14th - St. Patrick's Day 10 km - Calgary, AB

March 27th - Bruno Engler Giant Slalom - Banff, AB

April 24th - Golden Ears 5 Peaks - Maple Ridge, BC

May 1st - Big Run 10 km- Calgary, AB

May 22nd - Canada Olympic Park 5 Peaks - Calgary, AB

June 27th - Scotia Bank Half Marathon - Vancouver, BC

There will also be 5 X-country races in April and May.

I am excited about New Year and new prospects in 2010. It feels great not to feel any pain during practice. My training in this year will be guided by triple Death Race winner Jack Cook, as he prepared my training program.

Get a clue Bono

If you are interested in this world you probably heard about U2's lead singer Bono call for tougher controls over the spread of intellectual property over the Internet. You can read it on New York Times online.

I've been U2 fan for many years. I've been Bono's fan for many years. I've bought almost every U2 record since early 80's. I've enjoyed their work and their music all of these years. I've downloaded here and there some of rare U2 recordings since MP3 files become reality. I also paid ~$100 couple of times to see U2 and Bono live. I've been their fan even in this millennium when they haven't been able to deliver music that streets and public wants.

I've been also using internet since its mass inception. Certainly I've used it for file sharing (including MP3 files), using different applications such as Napster, LimeWire, Vuze, Miro...I've downloaded my share of 'intellectual property'.

However, more then ever, this method enabled me to discover art(s) that otherwise I wouldn't be able to discover. This led me to purchase more audio records and video products than ever before. I've actually have become a much better consumer. I've seen many more movies in theaters than before 'file sharing' era.

Nevertheless, to say, I paid Bono and his band for their art.

Generally, people don't agree with Bono - Couple of opinions on this topic:

New artists are getting launched and discovered daily because of the internet.

Anything that is worthy gets bought, garbage goes to the trash bin where it belongs.

Is the reason for being an artist to make art or to make money? This is the essential question. Some of the greatest works of art throughout the ages have been created by people in poverty. Perhaps their poverty improved their art? Bono was undoubtedly a great artist but maybe he is too interested in money now to produce really great art. Maybe his art is controlled in his mind by the potential for it to make money. So he always takes the safe, monetarily rewarding path. If so, he has cheated himself and his audience.

We begrudge Bono talking about how poor starting musicians are, and how poor people are in Africa and how we're not doing enough, all while wearing $500 sunglasses. What would you say if Bill Gates told you that you weren't doing enough to ensure computer accessibility in Africa, or Dick Cheney told you that you

weren't tolerant enough towards Muslims or that you took your civil liberties for granted?

The hypocrisy and holier than thou attitude is the problem, not the money. There's a difference between Bozo and Mick Jagger, for instance. The latter knows how to keep his mouth shut.

My daughter has been a full time musician for 15 years now. She is an indy musician that travels Canada & the USA. She has NO big label sells her CD's from a table between sets and is thrilled just to be able to eat and have enough gas to get to her next gig. Bono has made it big and good for him but file sharing has helped give my daughter a bigger audience than normal. They come to her gigs and buy her CD's anyways they know it helps keep the music alive. Bono should stick to the other causes (and they are many..some good ones) he is into and stay out of this one....Gimmy....Gimmy...Never Gets.

I never thought I would see the day that Bono would be a shill for the record companies. I guess piles and piles of money changes your perspective, and heaven help the person who takes a penny from that pile. Bite me Bono. Musicians must adapt to the new market, its called the internet. So what if you can't become rich from record sales anymore. That has been a scam for decades anyway. If any musician used his brains, they would understand the record industry is a leach on their creativity, and they pick and chose who is gonna be the next thing. Bah, the whole monetary system sucks anyway. An economy of scarcity breeds corruption, greed, and crime. We need an economy of abundance. Visit Venus Project online, and see what the future should be, but most likely won't because of mankind's collective stupidity.

Oh man. I didn't know Bono felt so strongly about this. Well, I know the rest of the world has been doing things a different way for over a decade but a middle-aged Irish rock star has an opinion so we have to change. I'm glad someone who can charge $100+ for a ticket to his show in a sold-out stadium can stand up & say that artists aren't getting their cut. Kinda like how he can fly all over the world and then chastise world leaders how they're not doing enough for Africa while wearing a $3,000 suit & $500 sunglasses. When I'm done writing this post I am throwing my laptop into the garbage and then going to the store to buy a $20 copy of U2's Pop. It shall be my most prized possession.

My Blue Heaven

It feels as it was yesterday when we were waiting for new millennium - 1999 suddenly became 2000. Everybody was still alive, and there was no doomsday, all 0 and 1 were still up and running.

10 years after that, (some of us) are still alive. First decade of 21st century was officially over, and we immersed ourselves into second decade, which everybody hopes will be better.

We've had doomsdays in last decade, and it is hard to say who is crazier in this world, 'democratic' west, or 'terrorist' (middle) east.

We lost John Paul II, Syd Barret, Marlon Brando, Richard Wright. And many others. Everybody remembers someone who left us. Good thing is that we still remember some of them.

Analyst and journalist and everybody else who likes various lists talk about last 10 years - Top 10 events of the decade, Top 10 scandals of the decade, Top 10 business news of the decade, Top 10 movies of the decade.....Easy search on any search engine can give you all these lists - and some of them are quite intelligent.

However, all of that is quite boring. Big question is what did you do during last decade, and during last year to feel better, and to make things better? Not for yourself though - that's an easy one - we love ourselves, of course - I don't have any doubts that everyone did as much as they could to elevate themselves to the top of food chain.

Bigger question is what did you do for everyone else, what did you do for this world?

We could go back to 2000, and 2001, and 2002, and 2003, and 2004, and 2005, and 2006, and 2007, and 2008, and 2009, to find and to discover if we did anything. That could be useful, as it would help to perhaps redefine some targets in new decade.

However, that belongs to the past.

What are you personally going to do for this world in next 10 years?

Are you going to take for granted everything that you have, and everything that you are used to? Imagine world in which only once in 10 years you could see the stars on the sky. What would you do on that night when stars would be visible?

What are you willing to sacrifice for your (and all other) children?

What will happen in next 10 years?

Are you going to be selfish?

Are you going to become part of "One"?

Are you at least going to think about it?

What are you going to do to understand the world, to become aware?

Are you going to choose an easy way?

What is your Blue Heaven going to be?