start times

It would also be worth noting the start times. Hal may just playing humble here. But if you figure in the fact that he started behind almost everyone else, it appears he really kicked ass. Too bad he can't count laps and got caught napping at the sprint finish thinking he still had a lap to go. That's a strong start to the nordic cross season. A marked man from here on out.

The start times were, of course, determined by one's mental acuity in dealing with a set of all-too-cryptic clues. Ian walked away with this one, and earned a 50 second head-start on the next to go. This turned out not to be quite enough in the end. It's still not entirely clear what all of the correct answers are. But in the interest of full-disclosure, here are my answers, which, for the record, I still stand by, even though they've been deemed less than entirely adeuquate.


1. Can you see the Lite in Winnipeg? Tell me what it is. The right answer earns you points towards your start and placement.

Local Investment Toward Employment. A local charity.


2. Earn start and placement points by bringing items for Winnipeg Harvest. Do you understand the Lite to earn extra points?

Items will be brought, don't worry. Does Lite mean the same thing in this case? I.e., are you referring more specifically to their food hamper program. As far as I'm aware, this is not officially connected with Winnipeg Harvest. Or perhaps you are suggesting--as LITE does--that the items should be purchased from Neechi foods. If so, that's an unreasonable request and I refuse to do so in principle. It's like Wal-Mart starting what sounds like a well-meaning charity and yet demanding that they will only accept donations purchased at one of their stores. That's bullshit, pure and simple. Or are you asking that we bring less fattening foods? That I am willing to do.


3. Popcorn and dark rooms - name three “physicians” that made appearances in the city this last year? These "doctors" presented ideas and answers to questions about issues you and others are concerned about. (I never said this would be easy). The right answer earns you points.

movies with a moral conscience?

An Inconvenient Truth - the doctor is Al Gore
Fast Food Nation - Eric Schlosser?
Blood Diamond - the doctor is Charles Leavitt (author of the book), or is it Maddy Bowen/Jennifer Connelly, the chief moral protagonist?


4. Earn start and placement points by “visiting” at least one of these “physicians.”

Not going to happen. I've got more important things to do. But I watched Fight Club with one of my classes this week, and I'm sure it beats the hell out of any of those movies, morally speaking. These "doctors" are too unambiguous to be ethically interesting.


5. Have you eaten a meal within “a century?” Tell me what this means to earn points.

I suspect I very well may have, given all the home-cooked meals prepared by my farmer grandparents over the years. Or perhaps the meal I once ate in with real live Bedouins in the mountains near Jerusalem. They don't really get around that much on a day-to-day basis. Of course this experience suggests that the century meal is not all it's cracked up to be, as it left at least one member of our party with hepatitis. In any case, I assume you're talking about a meal in which all the food comes from within 100 miles.


6. Earn start and placement points if you do #5 during this week – you will need to answer several skill-testing questions to earn these points.

What consitutes a meal? What if I eat a huge, plain, unseasoned omelette made of farmer Geoff's eggs for breakfast? I don't see anything that suggest there needs to be multiple courses, let alone ingredients.


See also the race reports from Dave L and Jonny B.

OTT: Smashing Pumkins, Here is No Why