"Gobi Desert - Day 6"
OK - You know you are motivated and inspired by the Gobi Desert Expedition when:
1. You register for Ray Zahab's i2P 38km run at Lac Philippe in August 2013 AND
2. You register for the New York City Marathon in November 2013
Ray - I hold you responsible!!
"Gobi Desert Day 5"
Day 5 - Ray is now a couple hundred Kilometers into his 2300km run across the Gobi Desert. Kevin Lin has suffered a leg injury so he is taking it easy rehabilitating so that he can continue on with Ray on the trek. So far they have been in the grasslands just on the edge of the Gobi Desert proper, and the team is being eaten alive from voracious mosquitoes. As Ray put it, Northern Ontario pales in comparison to the mosquitoes they are encountering in the Gobi.
"Gobi Desert Day 3"
"If you think you can, or think you can't, you're right!"
Henry Ford
Day 3 - Ray ran 60km today.
"Gobi Desert - Day 2"
Day 2.
Ray and Kevin ran 70km today, proving once again that nothing is impossible.
I have to say, the i2P team has turned my conceptual framework on it’s head. When I look at the achievements of this impossible2Possible team, I am completely blown away. In ten short years, they have created a movement - a revolution of sorts, challenging the status quo, taking personal action, and demonstrating by example, that anything you set your mind to is achievable.
You just have to believe!
“i2P - Gobi Desert 2013”
Today, Ray Zahab and Kevin Lin started their latest adventure - running 2300km days across Mongolia’s Gobi Desert, one of the most remote deserts on the planet. To put this into perspective, they will run close to 70km, each and every day for 35 days! Today was their warm-up day, and they ran 61km through mosquito infested fields, testing out their equipment and shoes. These guys are absolutely amazing.
What fascinates me about Ray Zahab and the impossible2Possible team is they have total clarity of vision. They are totally and completely connected with the “WHY”. Why they get up each day and train; why they do all these crazy endurance expeditions; why they challenge some of the most hostile environments on the planet over and over. You only have to go as far as the front page of their website to understand their “WHY”. It is three simple words:
EDUCATE
INSPIRE
EMPOWER
And inspire they do.
For the next 35 days, I will be following Ray’s journey and creating a painting a day inspired by Ray’s expeditions. The way I look at it, if Ray and Kevin can run 70km per day for 35 days, I can produce a painting a day for each day they are running theGobi Desert.
Good luck Ray! I look forward to hearing the stories when you get back to Ottawa!
"72 Hours in Toronto"
A lot can happen in 72 hours. You just have to pay attention to the small stuff.
This is the first instalment of a short illustrated 72 hour whirlwind journey to the "Big Smoke."
"It's Only a Beard Dude!"
As I bomb around the city on my Brompton, I have noticed that there is a new fashion trend on the rise. I keep seeing these dudes, sporting these huge beards! There is nothing particularly new about the beard, but these are definitely different - They are bigger and bushier.
Facial hair has alway been a symbol of manliness (no pun intended). I am certainly no expert on beards, in fact I couldn’t grow one until I hit my forties, but my guess is that the beard was an evolutionary thing, to make men appear bigger, stronger and more intimidating to their enemies and competitors. Why do you think hockey players sport the playoff beard - it’s not for good luck, but is intended to intimidate the crap out of the opposing team.
Men wear beards for many reasons. They are often worn for religious beliefs. Followers of Islam, Orthodox Judaism, Sikhs, Hindu and Rastafarianism believe strongly that maintaining their beards is a function of their faith. Beards were worn by kings, emperors and world leaders as a symbol of power and aristocracy - Emperor Meiji of Japan, Czar Nicholas of Russia, Henry the 8th, and President Lincoln to name a few. Beards came and went over the ages as fashions changed.
Beats, poets, philosophers, athletes, artists musicians, rebels, hippies, hipsters and grunges all sported beards. Some notable beardo’s include Charles Darwin, Carl Marx, Earnest Hemingway, Brahms, Che Guevara, Castro, Henry David Thoreau, Jesus, Brad Pitt, Alan Ginsburg, Chuck Norris, Walt Whitman, Kimbo Slice, Kenny Rogers, Billy Gibbons and Dusty Hill (ZZ Top), Santa Claus, Leonardo Da Vinci, Rasputin, Rembrandt, Gerry Garcia, John Lennon, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Macho-Man Randy Savage, Luciano Pavarotti, Sigmund Freud, Gandalf, Lanny McDonald, Joaquin Phoenix, Colonel Saunders, Curt Cobain and of course you can’t forget Clint!
As I read various webpages about beards, I have come across some interesting anecdotal tidbits of historical facts, truths and hyperbole. Did you know Alexander the Great banned beards in his armies because he was of the opinion that enemy soldiers would grab them in battle? I read that online - it must be true!
So as I said above, there is definitely something going on. I keep seeing these big awesome beards all over the place. Skaters in the parks, hipsters in the coffee shops, bikers (as in cyclists), and musicians, all sporting these big, bushy, kick-ass Viking beards. Call em hip, call em cool, call em funky, whatever. All I can say is this dude, is suffering from kind of beard envy!
I may just have to grow me one of those “Attitude Beards!” Haha! Now that would be a sight as I play my banjo!
