I, Shane › Shane Adams’ personal weblog

Several months ago, my sister-in-law began dating my worst nightmare. A FITNESS GUY. Everything I heard about him, even before I met him, was “he runs” and “he works out a lot” and the stuff that people that are in the shape that I’m in (more round than anything) would be considerably intimidated by.

After meeting Tyson (who comments as Ty on this here web space), I found him to be much more approachable as a person, especially considering that he and I soon bonded over subjects like nerdery and technology.

He never really pushed his fitness on me, but I found him the kind of person who makes you want to be a little more active. Several months later, I’m totally happy for my sis-in-law because she’s got a great guy. It’s really great that they’ve found each other.

A few months back, Tyson launched StartBeingFit.com, a website devoted to fitness and health, built to help connect folks interested in those subjects with information and resources that they need. Even more cool is that he built the site himself using the very capable web application framework, Joomla.

If you are a person interested in fitness or even in just learning more about fitness and some tools, articles and other resources, go check it out.

In related news, Tyson is trying to encourage me to do the Chicago Urbanathlon with him - a 10-mile trek around the city of Chicago over obstacles and up stairs in Soldier Field and more. There’s a 12-week training program that I’ll have to start pronto in order to do it and I’m considering it because WHY NOT. Like I shouldn’t have a reason to get more fit. Still, if I stop posting entirely sometime around October, it’s likely because I HAVE BEEN CONSUMED BY THE URBANATHLON.

Besides The Catcher in the Rye, my all-time favorite book is High Fidelity by Nick Hornby. The main character (played by John Cusack in the movie version) is obsessed with making lists.

I love making lists. In fact, one thing that I like to do when interviewing people I will potentially work with is I ask them their top five movies of all-time. Say what you will, it’s my version of a personality test and I think that your top five movies say a lot about who you are as a person.

My love for making lists is what led me and my brother to name our company topfivedesign.

So when my friend Allen came to me with his idea for a site - a place where people could list their favorite of anything.

“I always seemed to be looking for recommendations from people on products and places and wanted a site where I could easily find something like ‘Favorite brand of refrigerator’.”

I’ve been beta-testing Topulist for the past several months. It’s a straight-forward website that’s easy to use and very addicting. Think of it as a social networking version of Consumer Reports, only it’s not limited by anything. You can list your favorite Marvel Comics character, your favorite game for the Wii, your favorite hybrid car or even your favorite McDonalds Dollar Menu item.

You can create your own Topulist and Allen’s ninja Rails skills make sure that it’s not already up there.

It’s a cool site and you should totally go check it out.

On the heels of David Cook, the Kansas City area has another reality show star in position to win their own show on HGTV. Jennifer Bertrand of Olathe (represent!) solidified herself in the final of HGTV’s Design Star against Matt Locke of Colorado Springs.

For the past several weeks, Bertrand and Locke have competed in numerous interior design challenges on HGTV’s version of American Idol. Since the Food Network and HGTV are on constant rotation in our house, we’ve been keeping tabs on the hometown girl. Next Sunday, she’ll compete for her own show on HGTV.

Of all the contestants, I’m glad it’s come down to Bertrand and Locke. While I imagine the producers would have liked the “I want my mommy” guy to go a little further, I’m glad that the two I picked from the very beginning as my favorites are in the final. This way, even if the hometown girl doesn’t win (as I’m sure many of those who are jealous of other Kansas Citians’ success might hope for), I can be glad because the other guy is good too (whereas if David Archuleta would have beat David Cook on American Idol, I’d have been pretty annoyed).

In the same way that heavy voting from the Midwest helped David Cook emerge victorious on Idol, let’s help Jennifer Bertrand continue Kansas City’s dominance of reality show contests! At the very least, maybe this blog post will encourage her to come do some work in our house for free…

Alli and I just got back from seeing The Dark Knight with Tyson and Ashley. It’s 4:00 AM.

I’m still processing since it’s early (or late) and all, but my first thought is: Heath Freaking Ledger.

Honestly, I don’t know if the movie itself is better than its predecessor. I may have to watch it once more in order to make a proper judgment. At first glance, though, The Dark Knight should probably just be called Joker! because it truly is the Heath Ledger show.

Christian Bale takes somewhat of a backseat to Ledger and Aaron Eckhart’s Harvey Dent (perfect casting). I love Bale as Batman and I love Nolan’s interpretation of the story, but Ledger’s performance in this movie is so massive that everyone else just kind of fades into the background. This is an impressive feat considering the cinematic heavyweights surrounding him during the movie - Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Bale and Eckhart.

Ledger is undeniably awesome. In contrast to the original Tim-Burton-directed Batman where you could see shades of Jack Nicholson in his version of the Joker, in The Dark Knight Ledger literally disappears behind the makeup and scars and turns in a performance that really does deserve consideration from the Academy.

If he manages to get the nomination, it will be the first time since 1995 that someone has been posthumously nominated for a Oscar (only one ever to win was Peter Finch for Network in 1976). An even more stunning accomplishment would be for him to bring accolades to the genre of comic book and superhero movies, which - let’s be honest - is here to stay.

Ledger’s death is sad, but I applaud Christopher Nolan and the producers of The Dark Knight for not changing the story or trying to somehow soften the viciousness of The Joker. It’s a true testament to Ledger’s ability as an actor to showcase the full range of his talent - a guy who broke out as Patrick Verona in 10 Things I Hate About You and played Ennis Del Mar in Brokeback Mountain.

The Dark Knight is long, but it’s an amazing accomplishment. I felt like the story itself could have been tightened up in a couple places, but overall, I’d go see it again in the theater. Maybe not at one in the morning, but it’s worth multiple viewings.

If you liked Batman Begins, you’ll like this. A lot.

Now, I shall stop rambling because I have to get up for work in a couple hours.

Author’s Note: I realize upon waking up that this may or may not be coherent. The thing about going to a midnight showing of a movie is that every single person in the theater wants to be there and is very likely to love the movie no matter what. Last night was no exception. People rarely clap after movies anymore. However, at midnight showings (and particularly last night’s), they do.

Every so often, I have to re-evaluate the blog and its purpose. Lately, I haven’t been feeling all that bloggy lately. Perhaps it’s my effort to scale back my responsibilities in life since I tend to take on too much. I’m freelancing less, I’ve been to church 2 times in the last 6 weeks and I’m figuring out that the word ‘No’ can be extremely liberating.

Still, there’s plenty going on in my life so I’ll give a quick rundown…

• I’ve discovered that I like my oatmeal a lot more if you add some sliced strawberries.
• Summer means it’s time for So You Think You Can Dance. This group is more talented than any other season, but in my opinion, the contest is Will and everyone else. That guy is amazing.
• Alli and I are going to a spiritual life workshop at the end of the month. I’m really excited because it’s at our alma mater. I’m kind of excited to spend some time up there (although it will be ridiculously hot).
• I am officiating over my first marriage a week from this Saturday. I’m so excited to be a part of this union. It’s one I believe in very much and I’m thrilled they chose me to officiate.
• Alli’s business is going really well. She’s had some great jobs this summer, including one that involved painting all the planets in the atrium of an elementary school. 
• Speaking of Alli, we bought her her very first bicycle in her life last weekend. I dusted my 10-year-old Raleigh off and we went for about a 4-mile ride the first time out. She’s really doing well for having never owned a bike before.
• I’m helping my brother build a dog house on Saturday. 
• I’ve yet to find a coffee you can purchase in a store that is better than Starbucks Pike Place Roast.

So that’s about it. I hope this blog finds you well. Not really, but it’s all I have time for this morning.

Steve Carell is funny.

There’s no denying he’s funny. In the remake of the 1960’s spy spoof TV show, Carell is just…Steve Carell. He’s funny, but he’s probably more Michael Scott than Agent 86 Maxwell Smart. And while I love Michael Scott, he didn’t really belong in this movie.

Carell is surrounded by a huge cast. Anne Hathaway plays his Agent 99 counterpart and The Rock (don’t give me this “Dwayne Johnson” stuff…he’ll always be The Rock to me) plays Agent 23, Max’s idol in the offices of CONTROL. Alan Arkin plays his boss, and there are brief cameos by Bill Murray, James Caan and many others (some funny, some not so much).

The real winner here is Steve Carell. He should get more and more starring roles because he’s a funny guy. If you like him, I’d suggest going to see this movie if only for the scene in the airplane.

Otherwise, I’d probably just rent it.

I was exposed to TED a couple years ago when Internet semi-celebrity Ze Frank spoke and pointed his many feed followers toward the TED site. TED is essentially the smartest conference in the world. It stands for “Technology Entertainment Design” and people pay $6,000 just to be able to go to the conference AFTER they get the invitation. The waiting list is about 2 years long to go and you have to be amazingly accomplished in order to become a part of the conference.

Speakers include such folks as Bono, Malcolm Gladwell, Bill Clinton, Frank Gehry, Peter Gabriel, Seth Godin and Al Gore. The motto of the conference is “Ideas worth sharing” so I thought I’d share one today.

The above video is “rock star physicist” Brian Cox talking about the Large Hadron Collider at CERN in Europe. The LHC is a fascinating piece of scientific machinery and to hear someone like Cox describe its purpose is nothing short of remarkable. Cox purports that there is an equation that helps to explain the universe and how it works, but it requires one small little thing - a subatomic particle called the Higgs particle that has not yet been discovered.

I mention this because it is a fascinating piece of science. This Higgs particle is what gives matter its mass. It is a part of everything, yet has not yet been seen by scientists, but is essential to proving all their theories and such. According to Cox, it’s what gives matter its mass. To me, the Higgs particle sounds an awful lot like the presence of a power greater than ourselves.

Part of the goal of the research at the LHC is to try and find sub-atomic particles not yet seen, like the Higgs particle. I don’t claim to be an expert on all this scientific stuff, but I think it’s completely fascinating. Scheduled to be turned on sometime this summer (I think…the date is a bit difficult to find), the LHC will answer some pretty big questions about the universe. Or maybe it will just raise more…

Discuss.

Now that our official anniversary is over, I wanted to just take a quick crack at what the next 8 years might bring…

1. A trip to Hawaii to celebrate our 10-year anniversary.
2. A trip back to Europe - at least to revisit Paris and Venice and check out new places like Prague, Germany and London.
3. New cars. I somehow don’t think that our cars are going to make it another 8 years (as much as we’d like them to).
4. New careers, although that one might just be for me…we’ll see what happens.
5. You finally getting recognized for the brilliant artist that you are.
6. Welcoming more nieces and nephews into the world.
7. I hope that we get to counsel and marry more couples…I’ve had a blast doing that with you.
8. Changes to our house - new carpet, landscaping and more!
9. I predict that in the next 8 years that blogging will fall by the wayside somehow. It’s totally jumped the shark (or nuked the fridge, whichever you prefer).
10. And much much more awesomeness…

I’m constantly questioning whether our lives can get better - whether we can be more insanely happy than we already are - and I’m always amazed that we manage to be happier and more blessed. I can’t imagine the next 8 years being better than these first 8 have been, but I’m going to expect the best because I’ve yet to be disappointed.

Love you.