We had us some fun here at the Lanning residence last night, celebrating the birthdays of my two favorite cousins. I tried to be sneaky with my pictures to get the scene candidly, but I think Daniel was on to me...



Timothy: "Are we done yet?" I like the action in this picture...



Glen gave a free screening for parasites (how absolutely miniscule my head looks in his hands!)



One thing I realize (from "behind the scenes") after moving in with grandma (Doris) is how much love and effort she invests in these get togethers that we have from time to time. Way to go Gram!



See the rest of you all next time!

What's Fair is Clear

Last night, after our hard work as TOC volunteers in Long Beach, Cindi and I made our way over the Vincent Thomas bridge to San Pedro for an evening with Floyd Landis. It was a thoroughly enjoyable evening for me. Took some pictures, shook Floyd's hand, listened to the presentation on fairness in drug testing in sport.

LA Times coverage this morning

I didn't really have any opportunity to see any local news coverage on the TOC this year.

This if from the LA Times by Diane Pucin. She reported on the 2006 from France.

According to race organizers, an estimated 1.6 million fans watched the eight-stage, 650-mile trip from San Francisco to Long Beach.

The Tour of California is in its second year and is owned by AEG. Shawn Hunter, president of AEG sports, says the company intends to continue its five-year plan of growing the event into a premier cycling stop.

"We are looking to expand the race from eight to 10 days next year," Hunter said. "A mountain finish is something we're going to look at in the next couple of years."

Leipheimer and American Bobby Julich (CSC), who finished fourth overall, both said gaining a true mountain stage finish was important.

"A mountain finish would make it pretty exciting," Julich said. "Do we really need one? Yeah, we do."

Leipheimer agreed: "Fans would really like it, even if we have a shorter, uphill finish."

Channel 9's helicopter spent a lot of time following the riders up and down Ocean Blvd yesterday. Only a few brief moments on their "Sports Central" program at 10:30 PM.

VS. changed their schedule at will, unannounced on Saturday. The Bull Riding show just went too long I guess.

Sunday in Long Beach

Long day. Cold Day. No rain. Fun Levi--shown above in yellow wins the General Classification (GC). You too can get a staff tee shirt and a turkey sandwich for your effort as a volunteer.

More photos to come with commentary on Floyd-->

More photos from Saturday in Santa Clarita

You can click on any of these photos to get to Flikr to see more pictures. Daniel has some comments on some of these over there.

What a day in Santa Clarita

Click on any of these pictures to see more over at Flikr.

Speaking of Floyd

Floyd signing water bottles in Sacramento. His line was the longest. Many people waiting line were saying postive things about him.

Free Floyd!

My two favorites from the race.

One picture is of a policeman positioning a young boy out in the road during the prologue. I was touched by how he holds and protects.

The other picture is Bettini trying to find the starting line. He and his team were lost and even with us waving toward the right direction he seemed oblivious to us.

Tour of California Photos

Picture one is the "boys" on television. They are just past the starting line in San Francisco. Picture two is "George" during the time trial. Picture three is the leaders entering Santa Rosa. Picture four is the volunteers early in the am Tuesday. This is right at the starting line in Railroad Square. The last picture is the leaders in Sacramento on the first of four laps.

Tour of California 2007

What a great couple of days. Sunday Beth and I watched the Prologue in San Francisco. 300,000 people lined the route. Warm day with slight wind. I took pictures sitting next to the team photographer from Healthnet Racing. Monday I worked as a course marshal for Stage Two in Santa Rosa. I was posted to a cross street on the run into town. Spent time with a traveling course marshal from Portland. There are seventy five traveling course marshals. This year there were twenty three openings and a thousand people applied. I had a number of unhappy drivers mad at me when we closed the road. One man in a pickup truck tried to drive past me. The traveling course marshal used his radio and several highway patrolmen showed up. The folks sitting on the sidwalks all were chatty and asked a dozen questions. I enjoyed the interaction and adding to their enjoyment. Tuesday I was a course marshal at the start and finish of the second stage. In the morning I was posted on the section leading out of Santa Rosa. Pretty quiet with the main spectators being the homeless men and women who live in the local park. There were more interested in finding drug connections than the race. I drove to Sacramento and found a parking spot. Not an easy task. Walking around I met up with a couple of course marshals just past the finishing line. Spent the next hour with them keeping flying bags and leaves off the course. We had a small section of course where the barracades were missing. The crowd was real excited and almost pushed us into the path of the riders. Added to the excitement. I am glad I took the time to volunteer. The crowds were loud and the cycling exciting. I will have to revise some of the photos to less pixels and post. This one is from Sacramento. What a rush as they swept by.

Bike networking site

I am playing around with this cycling networking site where you can blog about your rides and your bikes. I hardly need another thing to do online, but the routing thing you can do is pretty awesome.

Aren't you glad you don't live here?

Better put away your bicycle if you live in this kind of climate!

V day for Brianna

Brianna open's her valentine's day gifts from Mama Jane and Doris. She was a little concerned that they would have to stay at Mama Beth and Papa's house. She was relieved when she could take them to pre-school and show them off.

Yum, Yum

Are these really good for you?

LA Marathon Acura Bike Tour--March 4, 2007--UPDATE (2)

I am planning to ride in this again this year. The route is changed from previous years. It no longer approximates the route that the Marathon Runners take.

The runners will start at Universal Studios and end up downtown LA. The cyclists start at the LA Colessium and end at USC--Similar start and end as previous years. But, this year we ride east and loop around downtown instead of off to the west and south. I should be fun. Check the link for all the details.

Anyone wanna ride with me? Rob? Timothy? Daniel? Anyone?

UPDATE--The above mentioned names are not to limit. Anyone can go with us. Andrew? David? Steve? Beth? Garth? Audrey? Sam? Doris? Dick? Jane?

My truck would be filled up with 4 bicycles and their riders. Then we could enlist another driver. And, you'll have to figure out a way to be in LA with a bicycle.

Next "fun" ride will be Rosarito-Ensenada April 21, 2007. That one is fifty miles and I think will require a passport now.

END OF UPDATE---

UPDATE 2--

NO PASSPORT REQUIRED. Passports will not be required to return from Mexico by land until January 1, 2008.

END OF UPDATE 2--

New Movies Worth Seeing

I am looking forward to these new movies. The information is quoted from several sources.

Daddy’s Little Girls ( releases 2/14)
A single father, Monty, is a garage mechanic who lives in a poor neighborhood and struggles to make ends meet as he raises his three young daughters on his own. But when the courts award custody of his daughters to his corrupt, drug-dealing ex-wife, Monty desperately tries to win them back, enlisting the help of Julia, a beautiful--and hard-nosed--attorney he meets during his short stint as a chauffeur. While Monty and the Ivy-League-educated Julia couldn't be less alike, an unexpected romance blossoms--and it soon begins to feel like true love. But in order for their relationship to survive, the couple must reconcile their two very different worlds--and overcome the forces that threaten to tear Monty's family apart. A Tyler Perry movie. - daddyslittlegirlsmovie.com

(Glen & I are Tyler Perry fans. He is masterful at sharing a story about experiences different from our own in a humorous and touching, authentic way.)

Amazing Grace (releases 2/23)
William Wilberforce led efforts as a member of Parliament in 18th-century England to end slavery and the slave trade in the British empire. Wilberforce was elected to the House of Commons at 21 and took on the issue of slavery, successfully assembling a diverse coalition that went up against the most powerful men of the time. - Yahoo Movies

AMAZING GRACE reflects the no-nonsense storytelling skills of prolific helmer Michael Apted, whose career-long mix of feature and documentary work holds him in good stead once more. - edited from an article by Eddie Cockrell, Variety.com


The Ultimate Gift (releases 3/9)
Jason Stevens lives a life of wealth and privilege. When his grandfather dies, Jason expects to receive a hefty inheritance. Instead, however, Jason must set out on a journey of self-discovery to earn the true gift his grandfather meant for him to have. Along the way, Jason befriends a dying girl and her mother and learns what is really important in life. Based on the book The Ultimate Gift by Jim Stovall. Produced by David Ross -- movies.excite.com

The producer is the husband of my Creative Memories client/friend)

After Doris cooked stir-fry veggies w/ turkey sausage and rice, we had some delightful lingonberry scones with cultured cream and organic raspberry jam from Trader Joe's!


Guess who has the coolest room mate!

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