An Evening at John's Place

I was going to post this as a Random Shot of Beauty a couple of weeks ago, except for the fact that I felt nearly overcome with dread while taking it:

The National Steinbeck Center in downtown Salinas, where my friend Mike and I were scheduled for a “Meet the Authors” presentation for our Running Life book on a recent Friday evening. We were invited to talk a little bit about our book, read a few excerpts, and explain how the natural beauty of Monterey County helps inspire both our running and our writing.

I’ve mentioned before that I’m much more comfortable as a writer than as a promoter, and this night was no exception. Of course, I might not have felt nearly so self-conscious if we hadn’t been speaking just below the brooding visage of Steinbeck himself, looming over us as if waiting to pass judgment. You know … no pressure or anything.

Our warm up act – I swear I’m not making this up - was a class of mariachi guitarists. It was one of those “Only in Salinas” scenes, and helped to lighten the atmosphere a bit before Mike and I took the stage.

It wasn't competely empty ... it just seemed that way sometimes.

Attendance for our presentation was less than what we hoped for; check that – it was WAY less - although I guess if you count the mariachi players you could say we had a decent showing. However, for as anxious as I was beforehand, once we started talking about the book and running, the whole experience was actually more enjoyable than I had anticipated.

I presented a slideshow of images - most of them taken directly from this website – called “Running in Steinbeck Country.” As I began to describe the timeless beauty of this area, the stories that took place here long before my arrival, and the appreciation I have both for this land and the people who occupy it, I settled into something approaching comfort. (Although considering the circumstances, that’s still a pretty strong word; perhaps “I no longer wanted to crawl under the table” is more accurate.)

Obviously the two of us don’t measure up to Steinbeck any more than we do to Olympic-caliber runners – however, in both cases, lack of world-class talent doesn’t diminish our enjoyment of either activity. I enjoy writing, I love running, and as long as I can continue to do both of them in some form or another, I’ll consider it one of life’s greatest blessings.

*The Running Life is now available for $16 from our dedicated book webpage.




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Vibram FiveFingers Komodo Sport Review

When Vibram FiveFingers first hit the market, and especially after the outstanding KSOs were released, part of their appeal was that they were adaptable to practically any activity you could think of. Early marketing campaigns showed users running, hiking, practicing yoga, doing parkour, leaping from boulders into a lake, and so on. The product mimicked barefoot function almost perfectly, and people came up with countless new applications for use as their popularity increased.

From the beginning, Vibram has embraced customer feedback and suggestions for improvement, and as a result, they’ve spent the past couple of years expanding and specializing their product line to appeal to the widest range of athletic interests possible. So while the KSO is still a great all-purpose shoe, it’s not nearly as good for hiking and trail running as the KSO Trek, or for road running as much as the Bikila (and Bikila LS).

(And to make sure everyone knows what I'm referring to before we progress any further, let's throw in some back links to my original reviews, shall we? I'll have these at the end of the post as well:

Vibram Fivefingers KSO review

Vibram FiveFingers KSO Trek review

Vibram FiveFingers Trek Sport review

Vibram FiveFingers Bikila review

Vibram FiveFingers Bikila LS review

OK - back to our primary programming.)

Vibram FiveFingers Komodo Sport

This spring, Vibram introduced the Fivefingers Komodo Sport, which is targeted at multi-sport athletes and general fitness enthusiasts. It has some very noticeable design changes from previous FiveFingers models, most of which are very effective, although there’s one in particular that I wasn’t crazy about. It features an entirely new outsole that will appeal to athletes who demand a lot of lateral movement (think tennis, basketball, etc), and is ideal for working out in the gym. However, it’s still quite attractive as a running model – in fact, most of my testing has centered around trail running (I know … shocking), and this model has performed nearly as well as the KSO Trek, which is Vibram’s gold standard for going off-road.

Closed mesh upper; PU abrasion dots on toes

From the midfoot to the toes, the upper of the Komodo looks very similar to the Bikila, although its closed stretch mesh material is slightly thicker than the mesh used on either the Bikila or Bikila LS. Also present here are the same polyurethane dots above the toes which the Bikila LS uses for increased abrasion resistance.

Very dirty ... but still very yellow

The Komodo is available in black, gray, or yellow; the dark colors are quite sharp-looking, and the yellow is, um … very yellow. Since bright colors aren’t really my thing, I was kind of hoping that a lot of trail miles would dull the color of this particular pair a bit, but that hasn’t quite happened yet. I’ve heard that some folks really love the bumble-bee look though, so I won’t dwell on this too long.

Separate straps around heel and on top of foot

One of the design changes I wasn’t crazy about was the addition of a second strap to the upper. Stylistically, this two-strap design borrows from both the KSO (with its single strap that wraps around the heel) and the original Bikila with a top strap that isn’t integrated around the heel. On the Komodo, there is a second, independent Velcro strap to adjust the heel fit – but in practice, I found that cinching this strap tighter than the “factory” positioning resulted not in a more snug ankle fit, but in gapping at the inside of the ankle, as seen here:

Gapping at R inside ankle collar with heel strap tightened (click to enlarge)

Ultimately, rather than mess around in search of the perfect heel fit, I just returned the strap to its starting position, and the ankle collar stayed in place just fine. If you have unusually fat ankles, loosening the strap probably won’t help, either, since the primary size-limiting component here is the circumference of the ankle collar. So I’d say the extra ankle strap is a nice idea, but doesn’t quite deliver the practical application for which it was intended.

Removable smooth 2mm insole

One noticeable change to the Komodo is a smooth insole that provides a seamless, stitch-free bottom layer for improved comfort against bare feet. The insole is 2mm thick and is removable, although replacing it is somewhat difficult thanks to the individual toe cutouts. Many sockless users will appreciate the fact that for the first time, there’s no stitching underneath your foot to cause potential irritation. Although I generally wear socks for my long trail runs, I’ve spent many sockless miles in the Komodos, and the combination of sockliner and insole is nearly as comfortable as the Bikila and Bikila LS. If you’re thinking of removing the sockliner on these, be forewarned that the undersurface is fairly coarse, so you’ll probably end up wanting socks – which might defeat the point of removing the insole in the first place.

The insole brings up a point of overall thickness, which gets a little bit confusing with FiveFingers sometimes, because some models use insoles and others use an EVA midsole. On the Komodo, there is no midsole material, so its standing height is the 2mm insole plus the 4mm outsole, or 6mm total thickness. That’s actually slightly less than the Bikila models at 7mm (3mm insole plus 4mm outsole), as well as the KSO Trek and Trek Sport (4mm midsole plus 4mm outsole), but slightly more than the KSO with a 2mm insole and 3.5mm outsole. Perhaps it’s the power of suggestion, but I found that the Komodo’s ground feel generally reflects the specs: it’s noticeably better than the Trek and Trek Sport, roughly equal to the Bikila and Bikila LS, and slightly worse than the original KSO.

At 7.1 oz, the Komodo weighs in as the heaviest FiveFingers to date, although to be fair it’s only a half-once heavier than the Trek Sport. I suspect that the extra weight is primarily attributable to the additional Velcro strap – which is unfortunate, since I just explained that I didn’t find the extra strap very effective – and perhaps the thicker mesh of the upper. If you use these as a dedicated running shoe, you’ll probably notice a weight difference compared to the 6.0-oz Bikilas, but if used for their intended multi-sport purpose, the additional weight of the Komodo might not be too troubling to most users.

New multi-sport outsole

Here’s where Vibram really changed the game on the Komodo: its brand new aggressive 4mm rubber outsole that is grooved in multiple directions to facilitate rapid stopping and turning, and for additional grip on generally flat or smooth surfaces such as asphalt or hardwood. Just as with the overall thickness, flexibility of the outsole is a middle ground for Vibram as well: the Komodo is more flexible than the KSO Trek and Trek Sport, but slightly less than the podded Bikila and Bikila LS.

Just for kicks, I spent several afternoons shooting baskets on the blacktop with my kids while wearing my Komodos, to get a feel for how they perform in rapid stop-and-go situations. The outsole is really quite strong in this regard, probably the equivalent of many general-purpose sneakers on the market. It’s a significant improvement over the original KSO, and I don’t have to worry about wearing the knobs down like I do whenever I wear my Treks on pavement. I would imagine that if you’re in an aerobics class or using weight machines at the health club, the Komodos would give you all the grip you need.

Lab testing in the Wasatch foothills

I’ve also been pleasantly surprised as to the general durability of the outsole for running. I’ve put close to 100 trail miles on mine, and they aren’t showing any significant signs of wearing down yet. When I heard that this was a “multi-sport” model, my fear was that it wouldn’t be compatible with distance running, but the Komodo has been more than up to the task. In fact, for dedicated trail running, I definitely prefer it over my Trek Sports, although it’s not quite strong enough to dethrone the KSO Trek as my first choice. For dedicated road running, I still prefer the lighter weight and overall comfort of the Bikila LS, but if you’re going back and forth between road and trail a lot, the Komodo would be an ideal choice.

All things considered, the Komodo just might be the successor to Vibram’s original KSO as the premier all-purpose do-anything model. The KSO was the first FiveFingers model I owned, and I used it for everything – trail running, yard work, and general goofing around. Thanks to my product review gigs, I now have the luxury of owning different models for different uses – but if I had to go back to a time when I could only pick one FiveFingers model to do everything with, I’d definitely pick the Komodo over the KSO now. For anyone else in that situation, the Komodo would make a great introduction to the joy of wearing Vibrams.

*Disclosure: this review was sponsored by TravelCountry.com, who provided my pair for testing, and who have the best stock and selection of all Vibram FiveFingers models anywhere on the Internet. The Vibram FiveFingers Komodo Sport retails for $100 in both the men’s model and women's version.

**
See related reviews:

Vibram Fivefingers KSO

Vibram FiveFingers KSO Trek

Vibram FiveFingers Trek Sport

Vibram FiveFingers Bikila

Vibram FiveFingers Bikila LS




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Barefoot Kids Animation; Random Shots of Beauty (Father's Day Edition)

A few odds and ends for you this weekend on the subject of children and fathers ...

* First, a quick reminder: you've got until the end of Sunday to purchase VIVOBAREFOOT children's shoes at a 15% discount with coupon code RNR15. Your kids' feet will thank you, because ...

* This should be obvious, but being barefoot is great for your kids. Short of that, having barefoot shoes is the next best thing for healthy foot development. VIVOBAREFOOT recently released a video promoting this theory; the clip combines children's art-class visuals with a description of some recent research into the benefits of natural footwear for kids. It also has precisely the sort of Oliver Twist-y narration that you'd expect from an English company talking about children's shoes.

The information itself probably isn't anything you haven't heard before (especially if you've hung around here for a while), but the animation is kind of clever, so take a few minutes to check it out:

"Barefoot is Best", by VIVOBAREFOOT Kids (click to play):




* Finally, since today is Father's Day, a brief snapshot comes to mind about what it means to be a father. Sometimes fatherhood isn't about the major things like being a role model or teaching right from wrong or providing comfort or counsel during life-altering circumstances; sometimes it's just letting a tired fat kid sleep on your shoulder in the middle of a long day:

By the way - the kid in the backpack? That would be me. Happy Father's Day, Dad.



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Evolution of the Soft Star Moc3; Moc3 Preview Video

In my ZEM Gear review earlier this week, I described how the gap between socks and shoes is narrowing, as socks become increasingly rugged and shoes become less and less substantial. ZEM was an example of a company approaching the ideal middle ground from the sock side, and today I’m excited to offer a photo and video preview of a new minimalist model from a company who originated on the shoe side of the spectrum.

Truthfully, calling Soft Star a shoe company is something of a misnomer, since they primarily specialize in slippers and moccasins, including the well-publicized (around here, anyway) RunAmoc and Dash which I’ve worn for all of my ultras this year. Their footwear was already almost as simple and natural as possible, but this spring they’ve managed to create a fairly remarkable product that even makes moccasins seem bulky by comparison. Last week the company released a promotional video of the new moc, which follows at the end of this post.

The new model is called the Moc3, and it’s essentially a hybrid of sock and slipper; think of what would happen if your form-fitting socks snuck out of their drawer and mated with your most comfortable indoor/outdoor slippers, and you get a good sense of what the Moc3 is like. It will be available for purchase on June 23, and I’ll have an official review posted shortly thereafter. In the meantime, I’m sharing a bit of the product development process that I’ve been involved with since the first of the year; I always find it fun to go back and see how something evolves from prototype to finished product, and this particular process has been very interesting indeed.

When my first prototypes arrived in the mail, they reminded me of water booties on top, and bear paws on the bottom.

For obvious reasons, the outsole was the most distinctive aspect of these new mocs; unfortunately, it was also the most problematic. I wore these for all of one day before the rubberized Vibram patches started peeling off all over the place – this would be a recurring theme for the first few test pairs. However, they were super-comfortable, and it was clear that this was something that could completely break the mold of other minimalist shoes on the market.

About halfway through the process

Once the prototypes held up long enough to actually take a few runs in them, another recurring concern was the overall fit.  The earliest prototypes were too loose, causing my foot to slide around inside them. Sometimes the heel area was snug but the length was too short. When the length was extended, the ankle opening was too wide. Sizing switched back and forth between standard numeric shoe sizes and a “small-medium-large-XL” convention like you use for T-shirts. (I think they settled on traditional shoe sizing, but I’m not positive.) There was a lot of tinkering, and several prototypes were tested and discarded before the proper width and length were dialed in.

Playing around in Jacks Peak, Monterey

However, even with the fit somewhat off-kilter on each pair, I was having a blast in these mocs every time I went for a run. The blue and black pair above are what I was wearing in this photo tour in Monterey, on a day when I was jumping off tree trunks and climbing on fence railings and otherwise acting like a little kid; the feeling of running through the woods in a pair of thin slippers channeled my inner wild child even more quickly than my standard RunAmocs do. In my book, that’s a good thing.

 

You’ll notice that the outsole design was still under experimentation on this pair, with some of the previously-separated pods now merged together. This worked a little bit better … but I hadn’t logged very many miles before these outsoles started peeling off as well. Back to the drawing board.

Smooth leather outer surface

There was also some discussion of whether to make the outer surface of the uppers out of smooth or perforated leather. My preference is always for perforated leather, and that’s the style that’s used in the promo video below, but there’s a possibility that smooth leather will be an option for customers who prefer it; I’ll confirm this prior to the official review.

Finished product: Soft Star Moc3

By the time we were done, there was probably more trial and error involved with the Moc3 than any other prototype testing I’ve been involved with. The good news is that every problem that was identified was properly solved, and the finished product is truly extraordinary. The outsoles (now a single piece) stay attached even with high mileage, the fit is comfortable and secure through the whole foot, and the ground feel is among the best I’ve ever felt.

Single-piece outsole

There’s one more important point to note abut this whole process: the Moc3 is the brainchild of Mike Friton, one of the most impressive shoe designers you’ll ever meet. He’s featured in the video that follows, and I’ll have more to say about him in my official review next week. In the meantime, Soft Star produced this outstanding video overview of the development process, with some additional shots of the finished product that will be available next week.

Soft Star's Moc3 retails for $94 from the Soft Star website.

*
"Moc3: Running Uninvented" by Soft Star (click to play):






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Be Good To Your Daughters: VIVOBAREFOOT Kids' Shoe Sale

"Fathers, be good to your daughters ... "
-John Mayer, "Daughters" (video after post)

*
Since Father’s Day weekend is approaching, I thought I’d take a moment and show off my two beautiful little girls:

Well, at least part of them anyway. For today’s purposes, what you see above is the most pertinent part of the discussion – because I love my little girls’ feet just as much as the rest of them.

I’m a little bit protective of my daughters. My heart breaks when either one of them feels sad or lonely. I want to shelter them from harm and provide all the necessities they need to grow and thrive and chase their dreams. I want to teach them to love and respect themselves so that later on in life, they can teach someone else to love and respect them nearly as much as I do.

It’s probably this same protective instinct that has inspired one other admittedly ambitious goal I have for each of them: I want them to go their entire lives without wearing high-heeled shoes.

For the life of me, I can’t figure out why women haven’t collectively dismissed this societal relic at least a few generations ago. I mean, OK - I get the notion that walking around like circus performers is supposed to make your legs look more attractive … but really? Do you honestly believe that if high heels disappeared tomorrow, men would stop gawking at women’s legs?

The whole issue wouldn’t be so troubling if there weren’t so many physical risks associated with high heels: foot deformities, knee arthritis, and chronic back pain are the primary maladies, not to mention the countless falls and ankle injuries women have suffered in an effort to be fashionable. The more I think about it, the more convinced I am that outlawing high heels should have been right up there with suffrage and equal employment in the women’s rights movement. If only Susan B. Anthony had dealt with this 150 years ago, maybe I’d be slightly less neurotic today. (On second thought … probably not.)

Perhaps all of this is coming into sharp focus for me lately, mainly because of these:

They’re my 7-year-old daughter’s church shoes, which she loves to wear. Although both of my daughters love going barefoot and wearing minimalist shoes, they’re also drawn to the dress-up aspect of heels – and this particular pair somehow slipped past the goalie (me) and ended up in her wardrobe.

The platforms are only a couple of inches high, but I see them as a gateway drug that will eventually pique her interest in something more enticing and potentially dangerous – and for that reason, I’ve been trying to stomp out this threat at every opportunity. Unfortunately, for a few months, they were the only black shoes she owned – so whenever she wanted something black to match an outfit, she was stuck with the evil heels.

That’s why I was thrilled when VIVOBAREFOOT swooped in to the rescue, providing both of my daughters with these:

Their Pally girl’s shoe that I reviewed back in October, which is black enough and satisfactorily sharp-looking to use as formal wear. Both of my daughters love them; for my youngest, they match the pink version that she started wearing in the fall and alternated as an everyday shoe throughout the school year along with her VIVOBAREFOOT Oaky. Best of all is that by wearing them, along with my ongoing encouragement and instruction, my girls are learning to respect their feet – and by extension, the rest of their bodies – in the way that they deserve, and in a way that will literally protect them from physical harm as they grow older.

Since I’ve already reviewed both shoes, I’ll spare you the specs and details and just refer you to my Pally review from September and my Oaky review from December. More importantly, I’m happy to report that this chapter of the battle against high heels is over; once my youngest daughter got her feet in the Pallys, the old church shoes were sent out to pasture. There will undoubtedly be more skirmishes to come in this war, but for the time being at least, I feel like I still have the upper hand.

I’ve mentioned before what a cool company VIVOBAREFOOT is, and this whole story is a great example: in exchange for the shoes, all they wanted me to do was help promote a Father’s Day sale they’re having this week on all VIVOBAREFOOT kids models. From now through Sunday, June 19th, you can use coupon code RNR15 for 15% off the Pally, the Oaky, or any other children’s model from their collection. (By way of full disclosure, there’s also a 15% off sale on all adult models as well, with a different coupon code; if you sign up to the VIVOBAREFOOT mailing list from the website, you'll receive the "insider" promo code.)

With the coupon code, you can get the Pally for about 56 bucks; it’s not the cheapest children’s shoe you’ll ever buy, but if you do like we did and order them slightly large, they should last you at least a year like the first pair of Pallys my youngest is still wearing. Considering the task that I’m up against in keeping my girls away from high heels, that’s a price I’m willing to pay for a year’s worth of peace of mind.

*
As for the music video - it was a pretty easy selection for this one.

John Mayer, "Daughters" (click to play):




*Products provided by VIVOBAREFOOT
**See other product reviews on sidebar at right. If you have a product you’d like reviewed, contact me at info@runningandrambling.com.



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ZEM Gear Ninja Review

On the continuum from bare feet to minimalist footwear, there’s something of a disconnect in the transition from sock to shoe. Shoe companies trend downward by stripping away all but the bare essentials, while sock manufacturers augment their products to tolerate general all-purpose outdoor activity.

The ideal middle ground is to have a product that feels as thin, natural, and comfortable as a pair of socks, with enough durability to run high mileage in various conditions like you could with a shoe. I've recently been testing two products that come closer to hitting that sweet spot than pretty much anything else I’ve tested; one of them comes from the “sock” side of the spectrum, and the other one (which I'll introduce in the near future) originates from the shoe side.

Today’s post features ZEM Gear, which packs a lot of technology into a rather simple design, and has multiple applications for people who want to feel barefoot without actually being barefoot. I tested the Ninja Low Ankle version, which the website describes as the “first choice of barefoot enthusiasts, runners, and athletes.” It basically looks like a neoprene sock, and at 2.2 oz, it’s about the lightest thing you can put on your feet.

Material construction of ZEM Gear consists of a 4-way stretch lycra upper that is approximately 2mm thick. They provide enough insulation to keep me warm on 40-degree mornings, and breathe fairly well on hot days, although we’ve yet to see an extreme heat spell so far this year. The Ninja is intended for wet or dry use, so they would be equally suited for a winter run in the rain or a summer day at the lake.

Across the top of the upper are stripes called high frequency tech-bands which help prevent slipping of the foot inside the upper – and while this next point has nothing to do with the their performance, my gold-on-black stripes kind of reminded me of something an ancient Egyptian pharaoh might wear.

Walk like a minimalist Egyptian ...

As the name implies, the collar of this model sits quite low around the ankle – perhaps lower than pretty much any other minimalist footwear I’ve tested. Although I had a compulsion to reach down and pull the collar up at times, it actually stayed in place quite well. The Ninjas have a secure-top collar which stretches far enough to put them on easily, but stays snug enough around the ankle to keep debris out. There’s a high ankle version which appears as if it would sit right above the lateral ankle bone if that’s your preference.

Ideal flexibility

The Ninja upper is most noteworthy for its split-toe design which separates the big toe from the rest to help improve barefoot feel and balanced during activity. Yes, it looks weird, but I found this to be a nice compromise between Injinji-style toe pockets and single toe box models. I suspect that with a single toe box, my foot would have a bit more trouble gripping the ground, but having single toe pockets on a neoprene upper might make the Ninjas more difficult to put on or take of.

Narrow outsole shape

While the upper feels very comfortable against bare skin and stays in place quite well, I found the overall shape to be somewhat narrow, especially in the front of the foot. Each time I ran for more than an hour or so, I noted hot spots on the outside of my pinky toes, where the toe box angles inward a bit too sharply. If the toe box was slightly wider, the outer toes could spread and flex completely naturally, but with the current shape they seem slightly restricted.

Outsoles of the Ninja are composed of a soft 3mm-thick rubber with molded traction lugs to improve your grip. Obviously with such minimal thickness, flexibility and ground feel in ZEMs is outstanding; you’ll feel every single crack in the road and bump on the trail. One problem I noticed with the outsole is that its softness sometimes causes very small or sharp pebbles to get embedded in the rubber – think of the feeling you get when there’s a small rock stuck to the bottom of your foot, and that’s what I experienced every now and then with my Ninjas.

Beginning to fray on inside of big toe seam

Another potential drawback of the outsole is the rather large seam that attaches it to the upper. I thought this would be an issue at the heel area where I tend to wear out the insides of my Soft Star Dash moccasins, but the first point of failure was actually in the forefoot and toe area, where the fabric seam started to fray after repeated abrasion on asphalt.

The biggest challenge in sock-like products such as ZEM is making them durable enough on the underside to be worn for running or other high-demand activity without excessively compromising ground feel. This is a drawback for ZEM as well, as mine started to fall apart after about 75 miles or so. However, a few points are worth noting in their defense:

1) ZEMs weren’t originally intended as running shoes; they’re another of those products that were designed for fairly routine barefoot use only to be seized upon by the minimalist running crowd. There’s actually a disclaimer on the website saying that you shouldn’t wear them for an extended period of time on concrete or asphalt … but we all know how good runners are at listening to precautions.

2) The company has a new product line coming out very soon which features an outsole with greater abrasion resistance – but then I’m sure some purists will gripe about the decreased barefoot feel. They’ll be interesting to test, and I’ll pass along more feedback about them as I’m able to.

3) With a low retail price of $35, you can afford to burn through a few pair of these in relatively short order with a return on investment that’s close to some other minimalist footwear out there. I'd predict that you could get at least 100 miles or more out of a pair before you need to replace them - and if you just wear ZEMs for walking and general outdoor use, you’ll probably stretch your dollars even further.

Ultimately, I think the Ninja is more suitable as a light-use shoe than as a hardy training shoe, but there is a lot of potential for ZEM’s products to be an extremely attractive option for minimalist runners looking for bare-bones protection without sacrificing the barefoot feel they love.

ZEM’s Ninjas retail for $35 from the company website.

*Product provided by ZEM Gear
**See other product reviews on sidebar at right. If you have a product you’d like reviewed, contact me at info@runningandrambling.com.



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Relentless Forward Progress Winner; Random Shots of Beauty; Dude Looks Like a Minimalist

A few odds and ends for this weekend's post, none of which necessarily relate to each other ... but that shouldn't really surprise anyone, I guess.

First, the main order of business is to announce the winner of Bryon Powell's Relentless Forward Progress book. Running Preacher: e-mail me your address - you've won a signed copy of the book! Thanks to everyone else who entered - and for those who indicated that they'd probably buy it anyway, I'd definitely give it a high recommendation. The book is quite affordably priced on Amazon, at $10.17 for the paperback version, and $9.66 in Kindle format. Thanks again to Bryon for providing a giveaway copy.

*
Our Random Shot of Beauty features a backdrop that's somewhat out of the ordinary for me:

The Wasatch Mountains above Salt Lake City, where I've landed for a bang-bang weekend visit, but still thankfully managed to spend a couple of hours on the trail in the early morning.

**
Finally, I wasn't quite sure where to put this item or exactly what to say about it, so we'll just call this a Random Shot of Whaaaat? and move on.

On the off chance that you needed any more convincing that the minimalist footwear revolution is creeping its way into the popular conscious, consider the following photo that was snapped by TMZ.com earlier this week:

That would be Steven Tyler, of Aerosmith (a band I adored as a kid, by the way) and American Idol fame, doing ... well, exactly what he's doing is uncertain - as is the question of what might have happened to his pants. What's clear, though, is that he's wearing a pair of VIVOBAREFOOTs on his feet.

That's right ... hard-rocking, cross-dressing, brain-cell-baking, common-decency-stretching Steven Tyler is now one of us. I suppose whether that's good news or bad is open to debate.




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