Eric Covener’s Journal

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/10/22/MNCI13MDH0.DTL

The fifth-grade teacher from New York City ran the fastest time in Sunday’s Nike Women’s Marathon, but she was told by race officials that she didn’t win because she wasn’t among the “elite” runners who were given a 20-minute head start.
O’Connell was unhappy - and as corporate sports giant Nike quickly learned, she wasn’t the only one.

Faced with a blast of criticism from all over the country, Nike issued a statement Wednesday saying that it “recognizes Arien O’Connell as a winner.”

Did you catch that? It says a winner - not the winner.

Even though she ran 11 minutes faster than the “elite” woman who was given first place, O’Connell’s career-best finish will exist in an odd parallel universe where, no matter how fast you run, you can’t win the race unless you’re among a special few.

edit: looks like “crazy bitch” theory is panning out

http://failblog.org/2008/10/20/sneaky-restaurant-fail/

Say Hi to your mother for me…

Dance of the Dead is a campy teen zombie movie in RedBox now. Shawn of the Dead isn’t losing any sleep, but it was a decent rental. Cross between a bad Not Another Teen Movie and a bad Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode.

http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200811/airport-security/1

“It’s allowed,” he said. Medical supplies, such as saline solution for contact-lens cleaning, don’t fall under the TSA’s three-ounce rule.

“What’s allowed?” I asked. “Saline solution, or bottles labeled saline solution?”

“Bottles labeled saline solution. They won’t check what’s in it, trust me.”

They did not check. As we gathered our belongings, Schnei­er held up the bottle and said to the nearest security officer, “This is okay, right?” “Yep,” the officer said. “Just have to put it in the tray.”

“Maybe if you lit it on fire, he’d pay attention,” I said, risking arrest for making a joke at airport security. (Later, Schnei­er would carry two bottles labeled saline solution—24 ounces in total—through security. An officer asked him why he needed two bottles. “Two eyes,” he said. He was allowed to keep the bottles.)

Marjorie thinks they fucked up, because it was 3.29 this morning and 3.69 this afternoon.

http://flickr.com/photos/covener/tags/engagement/

If you add a hardcover textbook to your cart at Amazon, the “Amazon Prime” trial offer turns from 1 month to 3 month. You can enable the 3-month trial and remove the textbooks, netting you free 2-day shipping on any items that would otherwise be only free 5-9 day shipping on orders over $25 (no minimum for the 2-day prime shipping though).