Take a deep breath. Dive in. Psyching up for an address to a camp audience. Swim Camp to PodCamp.

I'm speaking at Pod Camp tomorrow. I'm a bit nervous. I might ask everyone there to go topless, so as to 'break the ice' and calm my fears. The last audience I spoke to at a camp was topless -- and is shown in the photo.

(Click photo for larger view. Or, go to Rauterkus.blip.tv to see the latest upload about 'drag' in open water swimming from Coach Bower. That segment was from the same morning the photo above was taken.)

In other news, my wife heads to Chicago Sunday morning to chair a meeting with 400 people. Safe travels to her and all others.

We'll be swimming at the Oliver Bath House from 6:30 to 7:30 on Sunday -- as the Steelers play.

Our meet today was a success. It was the first dual meet of the season. We beat Riverside.

PodCamp Pittsburgh

Today, after our swim meet, I got to hit a bit of the afternoon at PodCamp at Pgh Filmmakers. Looks like a great event. Lots of fellow Pgh Bloggers are there. Lots of others from around the nation as well.

I'm on stage on Sunday afternoon.

Time will tell what comes out in my presentation. I've got a few ideas.

kdka.com - Pittsburgh Marathon Could Make A Comeback

kdka.com - Pittsburgh Marathon Could Make A Comeback (KDKA) PITTSBURGH After a three year absence, it looks like the Pittsburgh Marathon will be back again.

Pittsburgh should host a 10-mile spring road race, not a marathon.

Should the marathon return, it should be in the fall. Furthermore, the marathon should NOT be run in the loop fashion like it was done in the past. Rather, more prudent routes, perhaps of an out-and-back nature, on the busway for part, should be part of the events staging.

The marathon was killed because the overtime from the police killed it. The costs were too great. The sponsors too poor. The local support was nice, but not anything to take to the bank.

A more purdent course structure would be welcomed in terms of cutting the race overhead by 80 percent.

A 10-mile race in the spring would generate a 500% increase in local support as well. Perhaps the Kenyons won't arrive, but frankly, I don't give a Volla Budd if they do.

Should a marathon take root, it should be coupled with an Iron Man as well. I'd love to see a three day staged race with a Friday swim in the rivers. A Saturday 110 mile bike race. Then a Sunday marathon.

The Politics of Play | Metropolis Magazine

The Politics of Play | Metropolis Magazine There is a movement afoot to create recreational spaces that better serve our cities and our children.

Nice try... We need less urban design and more coaching. We need a simple solution, as in teamwork, sport, teaching, friendship making, discipline and effort.

The Politics of Play | Metropolis Magazine “We wanted to invert the typical layout, where caretakers are on the outside,” Nash says.

Who says caretakers are on the outside? Come on. We've got layers of issues here. Parents and caretakers are not to be on the outside in a vibrant setting. But, there are lots of ways and times when parents are put on the outside by various institutional designs.

I fully agree that some need to "think again" and "rethink the relationship among children, playground design, and public space. Creating more inclusive spaces for children and families, so the logic goes, is one step toward making the entire city a safer and more welcoming place for kids."

Bingo!

The City of Pittsburgh has a long, long, long way to go before it is more welcoming place for kids -- and for safety.

Pittsburgh should not be trying to build subsidized downtown lofts for rich folks without kids.

Pittsburgh should not be short on Crossing Guards and long on downtown safety ambassadors, hired by the Pgh Downtown Partnership with its own BID (Business Improvement District) tax.

Pittsburgh's improvements to its parks landscape is a joke. The short-term goal of a bike path from Etna to McKeesport isn't something that is going to be of value to kids. But kids would really like to be able to ride a bike to school and secure it without getting killed on the way or have the bike stolen.

By the way, the Merry-Go-Round in Schenley Park is a sure way to put the caretakers on the outside, perhaps at the Coffee Bar or with a Danish. No insult intended for the Danes or Danish landscape architect Helle Nebelong. Perhaps I should say spectators with a mega sized muffin, not Danish.

And the merry-go-round that has been taken out of parks in the USA isn't like the one at Kennywood. I think they are talking about the spinning platform that you push, run and jump on before falling off dizzy as a drunk at 2 AM on East Carson Street merry-go-round.

A party man once more. Georgia guy, Bill Ferguson

I love the opening graph in his column:
This election season passed through us like a kidney stone - a very painful experience that we're all glad to have behind us.
The rest of the article works for me too.

KRT Wire | 11/09/2006 | A party man once more presents my viewpoint particularly well, and during the campaign season the mud-slinging completely turns me off to both sides. So there I am - a political free agent looking for a friendly port in the political storm.

And I've found that port, at least for the time being, with the Libertarian Party. I don't agree with every plank in their platform, but in general I think the spirit of small government and respect for individual liberty that first attracted me to the party of Reagan in the 1980s has found new life with the feisty Libertarians.

So this year I voted for the Libertarian in every race where that option was available. If any Republican or Democrat in those races had convinced me that they deserved my vote it was there to be had, but none of them came close to doing so.

Go ahead - tell me I threw my vote away. Tell me I wasted my time with a lost cause. I'll answer back that I voted my conscience. I'll answer back that although I am disgusted with the two party system, I still believe in this country. I still believe in our potential.

Do you think this bloke is going to Pod Camp?

What's going on here? Take a guess. Hint, the next quote helps. And, this is in a park area.

County, city parks aim toward joint work

Here is the steeple. Open the door and there are no people.

Isn't it wonderful that the Riverview Chapel now has running water in the kitchen. Splendid advancement for our Citipark.

Isn't it great that we can ride a merry-go-round year round in another key park. Plus, we can get a bit to eat too -- from a corporate vendor, not a pushcart nor a food truck. Yuck to that.

Does it send chills up your spine when you look at the garden and gateway in Highland Park and rest assured that the shrubs and landscaped flowers are going to return to the way it was in the 1920s. How inspirational is that to turn back the clock?

County, city parks aim toward joint work After helping to lift a steeple in one park and build a temporary bridge in another, Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl said yesterday that he is investing in the city's play areas and continuing talks with Allegheny County to establish more cooperation on parks.

While accompanying the mayor at the raising of a wooden steeple at the reconstructed Riverview Chapel Shelter in Perry North, county Chief Executive Dan Onorato said they are 'weeks' away from announcing a plan to collaborate on their parks.

Well, I've been barking about parks cooperation for many years. I was named by one on County Council to a task force for one of the parks. But, they only had two meetings and never had minutes of those meetings. Then it died an unspoken death.

There are NO county parks in our part of the county, by the way.

The city and county want to work together on capital costs because there is NO capital budget for parks in the city. There hasn't been a capital budget for parks since the kids who are 18 or so now were born.

Onorato, while on city council, helped to damage the parks. The decline then was advanced.

The band-aids are old.

Maintenance has been postponed for decades.

The last big thing to happen from any elected offical at a park in the city and county was when Jim Roddey was in charge and he took the bull by the horns and ordered "jersey barriers" along stretches of South Park's roadways after a senior driver hit pedestrians. That sums it up, besides the new steeple and running water in the kitchen.

When a real park discussion begins, I'll be there.

Quote: The problem with elections is ...

The problem with elections is that no matter who wins, you're only
flushing half of the toilet.

Toilet -- a good one -- in China.

Toilet to go! It is on the back of a bike.

Google Calendar - Community Charter School Forum

Google Calendar Charter School Forum Tue Nov 14 5:30pm - Tue Nov 14 8pm

20061114T173000/20061114T200000

Bidwell Training Center, 1815 Metropolitan Street Pittsburgh, PA 15233

Not sure if you can see my Google Calendar. But you can link to it from the sidebar of the blog or at Rauterkus.com. I'd love to share calendars with others around Pittsburgh.

Bloggers, podcasters meet in Pittsburgh

Join us.

Bloggers, podcasters meet in Pittsburgh: "Scores of Internet technology professionals and enthusiasts are expected to gather over the weekend at PodCamp Pittsburgh, an informal meeting to trade tips on creating blogs, Web sites and podcasts, an organizer said Thursday.

The free event is among several being planned in cities from San Francisco to Berlin to pair established Internet media producers with newcomers 'to improve the quality of our creations together,' said Justin Kownacki, a Web video producer.

'It's a completely grass roots effort,' he said. The meeting's unconventional format allows participants to help shape the agenda and 'blow past all the formalities of a conference and get the brain trust in the room,' Kownacki said."

Parents risking jail / Truancy cases continued for 90 days in charter school dispute

News comes that Pgh Public Schools are way below the projected numbers with the student enrollment. Now this comes.

Parents risking jail / Truancy cases continued for 90 days in charter school dispute Parents risking jail / Truancy cases continued for 90 days in charter school dispute

Thursday, November 09, 2006
By Joe Smydo, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Shaye Carter and Janie Lewis each risked a $300 fine yesterday because they had refused to withdraw their children from Career Connections Charter Middle School and enroll them in Pittsburgh Public Schools.

You attract more with honey than with a $300 fine.

City school budget released

City school budget releaseddip into the reserve fund

$21.9 M deficit

6-percent spending cut, across-the-board.

Humm.... When does across-the-board really come to be understood as cutting what should be cut and keeping what should be retained, if not improved upon.

Dick's buys naming rights to Colo. sports complex

Seems like a nice investment and complex. Too bad it is in a different time zone.

Dick's buys naming rights to Colo. sports complex Dick's Sporting Goods has signed a 20-year naming rights deal to put its name on a Colorado property being touted as the largest soccer sports complex in the world.

The new Dick's Sporting Goods Park, scheduled to open in April, will be home of the Major League Soccer team Colorado Rapids and will include an 18,000-seat outdoor stadium and 24 outdoor fields, according to the announcement from site owner Kroenke Sports Enterprises.

The sports complex will anchor a 917-acre public-private project in Commerce City, Colo., that will also include a new municipal hall, retail stores and a visitors' center for the nearby Rocky Mountain Arsenal Wildlife Refuge.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Ryun's run ends in DC

PittsburghTrib.com Ryun, a Kansas Republican and once the world-record holder in the mile, lost in his bid for a sixth term in the House.

'I am really, really grateful for all that you have done,' Ryun said in conceding. 'There are so many rich stories and rich memories. I cherish those.'

Congressman Ryun was pushed out in the blistering given to the Rs yesterday. He is a friend to 'audiology' and was helping in a specific healthcare effort.

Jason, you'll be hearing about this shortly.

Ryun is hearing impaired and wears hearing aids. Years ago he helped with our book about hearing and athletics called, "Time Out! I Didn't Hear You." http://rauterkus.com/PDF/SPORTS/TIMEOUT.PDF

Best of luck at the Ryun Running Camp in 2007, http://www.ryunrunning.com/ryun/.

City questions URA's blight designation request

Breaks on Blight!

City questions URA's blight designation request The city planning commission yesterday questioned the city Urban Redevelopment Authority's application for blight certification as part of its plan to aid development of the old Nabisco plant site in East Liberty.

The URA is seeking blight certification as part of pursuing tax-increment financing, or TIF.

Think again! Pittsburgh needs to end TIFs. Plus, Pittsburgh needs to end the expansion of the designation of blight. Blight is everywhere, because they designate blight throughout the city.

The former NABISCO plant does NOT sit in an area of blight. Nor should the former plant get a TIF.

Election Day +1

Quote from the P-G coverage:

Mr. Swann dodged interviews and spoke in vagaries, ...

Bingo!

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania won't elect a person to stand with the people when the candidate hides from the people and attempts at honest, direct, communications on issues.

An elite glow came from the Team 88 efforts in the early stages. At the end of the campaign, candidate Lynn Swann was doing line dances with seniors in Homestead. And that interaction is a new verse of the same message -- don't engage in issue discussions.

Lynn Swann and Bob Casey both used the same playbook in terms of being a good guy in a suit that says little. Meanwhile, Rendell and Santorum are both bold. Swann's sticking point was being unknown beyond the celebrity status and football legacy.

Good guys with little to say, or I could say, GREAT GUYS who are new to the scene and choose to play defense in terms of political discussions won't win.

Casey is unlike Swann because Casey has run for public office in the past. Casey ran and won and ran and lost. But Casey has run.

Swann should be gearing up for County Council, perhaps as the at-large candidate. Or, for County Executive. Or, for State Rep in 2008. I think it is too late to have Swann move into the city and run for mayor in 2007.

Swann needs to stand on his issues and ideals all by himself. I'd love to see Swann dance in political circles in isolation. Win or loose, it won't matter. But, Swann needs to gain confidence and trust with the people in the realm of being a political governor.

Surprises, close finishes highlight races for state House seats

Spin the truth.

Surprises, close finishes highlight races for state House seats Petrone wins big in 27th
Rep. Tom Petrone, D-Crafton Heights, easily won a 14th term over GOP challenger William Ogden, 45, a Crafton councilman.

Mr. Petrone, 69, said his re-election showed that constituents in the district are satisfied with his representation and service.

'People who came to the polls they were not dissuaded by any negative comments made about me,' Mr. Petrone said..

The negative comments made about Petrone came from citizens in the district, and not the other candidate. The other candidate, Bill Ogden, spoke in a negative way about Petrone being in office for 13 terms and in favor of term limits. Petrone had been in Harrisburg for 26 years. That isn't a negative -- by falsehood.

Another biggie that was talked about by Ogden was the pay raise. Petrone voted for the pay raise. Petrone took the pay raise. Petrone said he gave the pay raise to chairty -- but only proved that he gave $100 of it away to a widow of a veteran. The rest remains unaccounted.

The only other point that was made as far as a negative about Petrone is the fact that Petrone is on the urban affairs committee in the PA House. Nuff said.

Citizens including Carl Sutter of the district have been spreading the negative messages.

Hacking Democracy -- HBO special, now online

Check it out.

HBO's special, Hacking Democracy. Finding out how America counts its votes.

SI.com - Olympics - Olympic-spirited Beijing considers car-free days for 2008 - Monday November 6, 2006 11:23AM

SI.com - Olympics - Olympic-spirited Beijing considers car-free days for 2008 - Monday November 6, 2006 11:23AM: "Beijing ponders car-free days for '08

BEIJING (Reuters) -- Beijing may expand a campaign to urge people take public transport to work and could introduce totally car-free days ahead of the 2008 Olympics, an official said on Monday. A voluntary effort over the China-Africa summit at the weekend to encourage people not to drive was successful, cutting down on traffic and clearing away pollution, said Du Shaozhong, deputy head of Beijing's Environmental Protection Bureau.

'We believe that cutting down on driving is helpful to the general Olympic spirit,' Du told a press conference in increasingly rich Beijing where some 1,000 new cars hit the streets each day."