Goodnight Bad Morning

Back home and chillin' on a Sunday night. After attending yet another successful birthday bash for my nephews (this one with a Star Wars theme) and consuming generous amounts of birthday cake, whoopie pies, candy, and Sam Adams Octoberfest (I think I found room for dinner, too), I got up early this morning and met Matt's buddy Joe for an 18-miler. It was cloudy and very muggy, but the rain held off. I saw several deer during the run, but fortunately no bears. I felt pretty good and we met up with Matt for the last two miles; he was finishing a 10-miler of his own. Joe's training for New York in early November, and Matt will likely do the half in Philly while I do the full marathon. Got cleaned up and we hit the road by 11:30. Amazingly, we made it through the entire four-hour trip without stopping for a single bathroom break. I don't think that's happened in a long, long time.

Last night, my good buddy OJ attended the Built to Spill/Dinosaur Jr./Meat Puppets show at the Orpheum. I had purchased the ticket a few months back, scoring second row center seats, and was very excited for the show, at least until I found out we'd be away for the weekend. Fortunately, I was able to find a good home for the ticket with OJ, and he says the show didn't disappoint. His review mentions the last time I saw BTS, which was in 2001 with him and Doobs about a week after 9/11. It was a great show and also a weird time to see a show. I also had a ticket to a blues fest featuring the great Buddy Guy at Harborlights (now the BankBoston Pavilion or something) on September 12, but it was postponed for a week or so. Hey, we had to do our part so the terrorists wouldn't win, right?

Pass the peas:

• Next up on the debate front is Thursday night's battle of the VP candidates. If nothing else, it should be good for a few laughs, between Palin's deer in the headlights act and Biden's tendency to put his foot in his mouth (seriously, that quote about FDR going on TV after the stock market crash in 1929 was classic).
• As for Palin, Tina Fey returned to SNL for another great opening sketch this week, although the real interview wasn't much different from the parody.
• Sad to hear of the death of Paul Newman this weekend at the age of 83 from cancer. He was a truly great actor in such classics as "The Hustler," "Cool Hand Luke" and "The Sting," but my favorite Newman role is in one of my favorite movies, "Slap Shot." Not to mention all the great charity work he did. He will be missed.