The Loving Sounds of Static

Yello. It's officially fall now, which I've always considered my favorite season. The weather has been downright amazing the last month or so, great for training. Good news on that front. My foot didn't bother me at all when I ran early last week, but then I started having tightness in my left IT band, a common runner's ailment that has plagued me in the past. I was worried I wouldn't be able to finish my 20-mile run on Sunday, but I had no problems with it. It's still very sore, but it didn't bother me while I was running. I left around 6 a.m. and it was in the mid-40s out, which made things pretty chilly until the sun came out. Two more long runs of 20 miles or more and then I start winding things down until the race.

This, that, and other thing:

• Man, all my old childhood TV icons are dying. First Gilligan, now Maxwell Smart. I used to love everything about "Get Smart" from the awesome theme to the spy spoof to the lovely Agent 99. Sure, the jokes were kinda corny, but you've gotta love how the show pioneered shoe phone technology.
• Strange casting news of the week (yeah, I know this actually broke a few weeks ago): Elijah Wood is going to play Iggy Pop in a new movie. Right. Separated at birth.
• I totally dig the Wayback Machine, the Internet Archive's digital library of web sites that aims to archive the entire Internet. You can find defunct old sites like Webnoize. It's pretty cool. And like all things that are pretty cool, somebody's suing it. I hope this doesn't force the site to go dark, because it's a valuable resource and record.
• The craptastic world of reality TV gets even crappier with the announcement of the newest "Surreal Life" cast of has-beens: Sherman Hemsley (aka George Jefferson), Poison axe-mangler C.C. DeVille, the tool singer from Smash Mouth, and Whitesnake video car humper turned husband abuser Tawny Kitaen, among others.
• Just over a week until the NHL season kicks off. Hockey nerdz everywhere are getting fired up. My fantasy league draft is set for next Sunday, so I've got to start figuring out all these crazy free agent moves. I ordered the Center Ice package so I can get my fill of the Toronto Maple Leafs, which as always will be sure to disappoint me.
• For the sports fans out there, check out a couple of cool new blogs (new to me, anyway): Just Another Blog on Sports is a clever offering from Toronto Star sportswriter Chris Young, while Deadspin is a funny, gossipy look at the sports world from the folks who bring you Gawker and Defamer. Enjoy.