25 MILES TO GO……HUH?

During my recent running of the L.A. Marathon I remember just barely starting out and running through the streets of L.A. I then hear Edwin Starr's classic hit 25 Miles to Go. HAHA! Perfect! A great choice as SAXOMAN probably had about 25 miles to go. Oh man….25 miles to go I thought. Oh well, as you know SAXO persevered and the rest is history. So here is that classic song for all of you to enjoy!

JAZZ CD PICK OF THE WEEK - STANLEY TURRENTINE

This weeks long overdue Jazz CD Pick of the Week is my man Stanley Turrentine with the cd titled A Bluish Bag. Now I have to admit that I have a ton of Stanley cd's in my collection. When i saw this cd I wasn't quite sure if I had it or not. I asked the store clerk if I could return it if I already had it and they said no. Jeez…..what do you think, I'm going to download to iTunes and return it. Hmmmmmm……Anyway, recorded back in 1967 on the Bluenote label this gem was only recently released. Featuring more of a larger ensemble than Stanley normally works with. Featuring hip bossa novas, ballads, blues and jazz standards another treat from Stanley Turrentine. Anyway, check it out!

SAXOMAN RUNS THE L.A. MARATHON - WHAT?

Yep, you read right my many readers. SAXOMAN ran the L.A. Marathon! What? Yep, I kid you not! Last Sunday SAXO joined 30,000 others and ran from Dodger Stadium to Santa Monica. 26.2 miles, oh yeah! Now I must say that this was my very first full marathon and quite a physical challenge. Starting in the wee hours of the morning we all converged on Dodger Stadium. Because we could sit anywhere in the stadium I took full advantage and went and sat behind home plate. Nice! Probably the only time I will ever be able to sit behind home plate but regardless it was very nice! Anyway, the hot day made the race even more difficult as the streets were lined with cheering fans who urged us on to the finish line. Several people told me cool ocean breezes were up ahead but I'm sorry to say there were no breezes to be found. As a matter of fact it was over 80 degrees in Santa Monica where it's supposed to be cooler. Oh well…..anyway, thanks to my brother-in-laws for meeting the wife and I at mile 13 for some much needed Gatorade and a quick snack. A special thanks to the Pasadena Pacers who had a cheering station at mile 20 where you could get about anything you needed. The photo here is my actual medal that was presented to me at the finish line. Now as I'm running this ungodly distance I'm thinking to myself I'm never, ever going to do this again. This will be a one and done experience for me. But now that the pain and soreness has gone away I'm sure I will sign up for another marathon and forget about the difficulty I had. Now I will probably have my eyes set on improving my time. HAHA!