Threshold Apprehension

Well, we jumped right into the sweaty, humid 80-degree temps of mid-summer this week. I'll take it. I need to get some hot-weather runs in before the Run to Remember half marathon on Memorial Day weekend. It definitely takes a few times running in sweltering heat to get accustomed to it again.

It's a tough time to be a Blue Jays fan. They've lost NINE in a row, getting swept by the Indians, Rangers and most painfully, the Red Sox. Even the mighty Roy Halladay has been getting knocked around in his last two starts. And the team just announced that lights-out closer B.J. Ryan is out for the year. They're 10.5 games out of first. And it's only May. Crap.

Now, let us visit the Halls of Mentholyptus:

• The third round of the NHL playoffs began last night, with Ottawa knocking off Buffalo, 5-2. I still think (nay, hope) the Sabres will prevail in six games. In the other conference final, I predict that Anaheim will take out Detroit in seven games. Then I hope Buffalo beats the Ducks in the finals. I may have to submerge myself in these games to forget about the horrendous Jays.
• Meanwhile, Milwaukee baseball fans are getting excited about their first-place Brewers. A little too excited.
• I like the rock music, but there have been plenty of hit songs with idiotic lyrics over the years. The good folks at Jefitoblog offer up but a sampling. There's much more where that came from.
• If you haven't been watching it or gave up on it, you're probably S.O.L., but Lost has been absolutely amazing lately. There are two more episodes this seasons and I wish I could watch them right now. This week's show was incredible. The show's creators are answering a lot of questions while raising even more, something the X-Files failed to deliver on after its first several excellent seasons. In other good news for fans of the show, ABC announced that Lost will run for three more seasons, concluding in 2010. But the key is they will be shorter (16-episode), uninterrupted seasons, so there won't be anymore of the stupid midseason hiatuses (hiati?) and endless reruns that the show has been plagued with the last few years. The best thing about this is the show's creators can plot out exactly how they want the show to end, without any worries about it being cancelled early or dragging on too long.
• Queen Elizabeth's recent visit to the U.S. makes it more than appropriate to check out this classic punk video from one of my favorite TV shows ever (thanks to WFMU's Beware of the Blog).