dinner at mb restaurant, cancun

last night we switched gears and went a bit upscale for dinner - at mb (michelle bernstein's) restaurant here in cancun. no waiters with drinks balanced on their heads for tableside service at this place - but a still great food and a great time!

world lung foundation at the 40th annual union conference on lung health in cancun

after a couple of meetings at the convention center that took up most of the day thursday, spent a couple of hours at the world lung foundation exhibit booth at the 40th annual union world conference on lung health.

here are a few photos:

cancun: mariachi and margaritas at la parrilla

last night my friends and i went to la parrilla mexican restaurant in downtown cancun. aside from the actual meal, the highlight was the unique delivery of our drink order - and the tableside music that came along with our dining!

cancun day two - convention center

i arrived in cancun, after a somewhat bumpy flight, late yesterday afternoon. ran a few miles on the hotel treadmill to unwind, but didn't do much else. i spent a good chunk of today at the convention center in meetings. but, i did get in a nice 4 mile run (hot and very humid) along the main strip, boulevard kukulcan before they kicked off.

now it's time to relax for a few hours :D i have a few more hours at the convention center tomorrow - then i can explore cancun and its enviorns a little. the only major planned activity is a trip to the mayan ruins at chichen itza on saturday.

stay tuned....

flying down to cancun!

just about to head to the airport for a flight down to cancun. since my laptop isn't coming with me (it's still in the shop), i'll be a the mercy of kind strangers - or the hotel business center - when it comes to updating my blog over the next few days...

stay tuned :D

happy birthday woody allen - 74 years old today!

woody allen was born on december, 1, 1935 - 74 years ago today (and grew in the midwood section of brookly, not too far from my old neighborhood)! it would be difficult to overstate how big of fan of woody allen's early work i am. his recent output hasn't done much for me - especially "whatever works" - which was just awful. but i won't hold the occasional lame film against him. in fact, despite 3 oscars and the dozens of other honors and awards for his prolific artistic output, allen could have rested on his laurels 30 years ago with just two films: "annie hall" and "manhattan" - two seminal films of the 1970's, and new york city life in particular!

but those two aside (and not overlooking the lesser 70's work like "sleeper," "play it again, sam," and "the front"), allen gave us such winners as "hannah and her sisters," "zelig," "stardust memories," and "crimes and misdemeanors" in the 1980's. the 1990's (aside from his own personal drama - channeling, no doubt, charlie chaplin's fondness for youth) brought us "manhattan murder mystery," "mighty aphrodite,." and "deconstructing harry." but from the mid-1990's onward, i think it's been a mixed bag. even so, allen can still produce a 21st century hit, "matchpoint" - crossing the atlantic to get it done!

so here's to a happy birthday woody allen - and many more films in your future!

december 2009 race schedule

i can't believe how fast this year has flown by! it's suddenly december, and in the blink of an eye, 2010 is upon us! running-wise, the 4 races i have on the schedule will unfold over the two mid-month weekends. december kicks off for me with a short business trip to mexico (cancun) - so no races on deck for this weekend. the last weekend of the month, christmas, is currently empty because few if any races are on the calendar.

here are my four december races:

12/12 - roxbury marathon
12/13 - trrc couples relay - [w/emmy]
12/19 - norfolk pub 10 miler
12/20 - christmas t(h)ree miler - [w/katie]

i've never run the roxbury marathon (or any of the roxbury series races) - so i'm looking forward to that one. and while i had the christmas t(h)ree miler on my calendar last year, it was postponed twice because of the weather(!!) - and i never got to run it. i'd like to run it w/katie (and see how much running indoor track this year has done for her road racing)!

i ran the norfolk pub for the first time this year - yes, in 2009, and loved it! the nasty weather pushed back its traditional december (2008) date into january 2009. which reminded me just how bad the weather we had was last winter!! the only downside of its regular spot on the calendar is the direct conflict with the nyrr ted corbett 15k - the race i'd otherwise run!

and, last but not least, since emmy and i won the couples relay last year - and, post-race, i won the raffle for a fantastic homemade cheesecake to boot - not going to miss this event! but, running a marathon the day before might make defending that title for a second year a wildly unrealistic prospect :D i'd settle for a good race and a piece of cheesecake :D