Reading time: 2 – 3 minutes

Laura and I finally got out to see Pan’s Labyrinth this weekend at the Landmark Century theater in Chicago (if you are ever in Chicago you should see a movie there – they have a great reputation for always picking top notch films to show). I had heard a lot of great things about the movie going in so I was expecting a lot and yet the film still blew me away.

Pan’s Labyrinth is a visually stunning gothic fairy tale set amidst the post-war repression of Franco’s Spain. A little girl named Ophelia (Ivana Baquero), who takes us through the tale, is uprooted by her mother and brought from the city to a rural military outpost that is commanded by her new stepfather. At this outpost we witness murder, lying, deceit and a host of other transgressions which turns Ophelia to her fairy tale as a means of escape.

Ophelia’s fairy tale is dark and disturbing, much like her real life, and foreshadows a lot of what is to come in reality. The one difference between the fairy tale and reality is that in the fairy tale she is powerful and has the help of a faun and fairies who guide her whereas in reality she is powerless and extremely lonely.

I’ll stop there as I don’t want to give anything away but suffice it to say that Guillermo del Toro has created a film for the ages. The timeless themes of love, loss, bravery and sacrifice are weaved expertly into the fabric of the plot leaving us with a stunning and engrossing film that I, for one, could watch time and time again. Pan’s Labyrinth is a must see. If you can, see it in theaters so you can get the full effect of the film.

Reading time: 3 – 4 minutes

A while back I reviewed Metal Cowboy by Joe Kurmaskie which I thoroughly enjoyed. Joe is an amazing writer with a flair for getting to the best of a situation or person and he always has a way of making me laugh out loud while reading his tales. After finishing Metal Cowboy I immediately went out and picked up the follow-up called Riding Outside the Lines.

In Riding Outside the Lines Joe tends to focus more on his international adventures which made for a nice change of pace coming off of the mostly U.S. centric Metal Cowboy. One line in and I knew I was hooked again. I wouldn’t be able to put this book down until I finished it off.

The cast of characters this time around was impressive. I always wonder how he meets such interesting people time and time again. My favorite stories in Riding Outside the Lines took place in Ireland because I had spent a decent amount of time there and backpacked across the country with Laura (I hope to someday ride across Ireland but that’s a whole other story).

Joe is a masterful storyteller and this book showcases that talent. His descriptions truly bring the people to life in your mind and you begin to feel like you are there with him every revolution of the pedals. In fact, I call Joe by his first name now as if I we were lifetime friends. It’s pretty crazy!

From his run-in with the local lifeguard trainees in New Zealand to the the brush with death in Ireland that lead him to the best impromptu B&B in the country to the mountain biking trip that ends the journey in Mexico Joe shows us what it means to be alive and that people, while they have their problems, are generally good and kind. The book is a great read for cyclists and non-cyclists alike and I guarantee you’ll become engrossed in Joe’s stories within a page or two.

Needless to say I have since purchased Joe’s most recent and third book called Momentum is Your Friend and am eager to read it. In Momentum Joe takes along his two young sons on the journey which should yield some interesting stories.

Why am I not jumping into that book right away you ask? Well, I picked up Miles from Nowhere by Barbara Savage which I am going to read first. I actually got the name of the book from the chapter in Riding Outside the Lines where Joe nominates people for cycling sainthood. Barbara is one of the nominees and in the paragraph about her Joe calls Miles from Nowhere the cyclists bible. After that kind of recommendation how could I not read it?

Please go check out Metal Cowboy and Riding Outside the Lines when you have a chance. They are top notch reads and will really get you thinking about what you want out of life. Ride on!

Reading time: 1 – 2 minutes

We always knew it was true but now it’s in and print and you know what they say about stuff you read. Wait, was that don’t believe everything you read or do believe everything you read? Anyhow, our friends at ProfessionalRockstars.com actually took a shot at determining how much FeedBurner saves them in a given month for the folks at PC Magazine. The answer: $750

Not bad for a service that’s mostly free (Professional Rockstars uses the paid upgrade that costs $8 per month) and, if you are using the FeedBurner Ad Network, actually pays you. I wonder how much we save all of our 330,000 publishers in a given month. If anyone else wants to do a quick calc of what they think they save please do and let me know. A big thanks from the team and I to Chris and the rest of the Professional Rockstars crew for crunching the numbers. You guys rock (both literally and figuratively)!