The Quaffer: Captivate Wine Blog

Many of you know that after a good joggle, I often enjoy a glass of wine. In my job as senior editor at Captivate Network, I now have a wine blog called The Quaffer. I'll be doing some wine reviews, but most of the entries will be about interesting developments in the world of wine. My latest post is about the cork vs. screw cap debate.

Gearing Up for the 5000m

I went to the track on the weekend for a time trial to see what kind of joggling shape I'm in for the 5000m world record attempt. It turns out that I have a lot of work to do in the next few weeks. I joggled 2 x 1600m in 5:20 each and then joggled an 800 in 2:40. It was much harder than I expected, which could have something to do with the fact that I haven't been training very much lately. Let's see if I can get fit in time for the big race on August 29.

Juggling Clubs

After a few years of working hard at juggling beanbags, I've finally become addicted to juggling clubs. It's much harder to practise indoors and there's a near-constant risk of seriously injuring one of my children. Now that I'm dropping less and learning some tricks, I'm really starting to like the clubs thing. And the kids are learning that my immediate vicinity is "the danger zone."

One day, I will learn to do this (or maybe not):



It's funny to watch Anthony Gatto do this in practice after seeing Cirque to Soleil, where a drumroll leads into a short run of maybe 14 catches of seven clubs like it's a huge deal for him.

IJA Juggling Festival Joggling Championships

Here's some footage from the 2008 Joggling Championships in Lexington, Kentucky. Some great results from Perry and Anders. No one ever told me that joggling was an Olympic event in 1932. I need to go look that up.

Velomobile Advertising

Here it is: my first velomobile advertiser. I park the Mango in high-traffic areas of downtown Toronto, which makes it the perfect billboard. Thanks to home-business company, Yellow Brick Road Inc., for signing on as my first sponsor. I already have two other potential advertisers lined up, and more in the works.

Velomobiles are fast

Impressive speed on these Quest velomobiles. The winner of the 25K race, Ymte Sijbrandij, averaged just under 57 km/h. I've pushed the Mango up to 55 km/h on a flat, but that took some serious huffing and puffing.

Eric Gillis wins Olympic appeal

The Canadian track and field community is rejoicing as Nova Scotian 10,000m runner, Eric Gillis, won his appeal to represent Canada in Beijing. CBC.ca writer Paul Gains has been following the story, and filed this report shortly after the announcement. Go for it, Gillis.