A Wonderful Evening - Can you guess who we met? If you're a James Bond fan, you'll appreciate this

I had the most amazing evening yesterday. A good friend was kind enough to invite me to dinner at the Post House. It is, from what I now fully understand, a true New York Steakhouse and institution. What I didn't realize is what a quiet but solid celebrity magnet it is. Let me say at the outset that I don't consider a big celebrity "gawker". Having lived in and around the New York area for the last 20+ years, I won't say I'm immune to the thrill of celebrity sightings, it's just I have always felt in nice to keep an appropriate and respectful distance when people are just doing what they do. I know that if (and it's not my reality) I was someone well know for something, I would want my privacy respected.

All that being said, we were sitting in the Post House enjoying a fantastic meal when - and here's the fun part - I'm not going to name names - a very well known actor came in to dine with a friend. Here are some hints; he was in the Sting, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, the Way We Were. Those are all movies that squarely place him as more of a 70's - than an 80's, 90's or current icon. I will only say that my friend sent him and his companion drinks, made a gesture that was clearly from one of his films. He responded in kind and cheered us as well. And we left it at that. No dogging him for autographs or pics. No staring. Just cool to see someone so recognizable being so, well, regular. So can you guess who it was?

But for me the highlight happened after this. Naturally upon sighting this actor, we started talking about movies. After a few minutes, the rather distinguished gentleman (think Sean Connery these days) who was seated next to us with a companion, leaned over and asked me a question. He said "sounds like you guys are movie goers"..I said that I am with some frequency. He then asked what I thought of the latest James Bond installment, Skyfall. I shared that while I thought it was good, with all of the hype and marketing, I liked it but was a little let down. I mentioned that amongst the Daniel Craig films, I'm pretty partial to Casino Royale. In fact, I like that one for so many reasons - Daniel Craig's performance, the locations (especially Venice which we recently visited) and most of all because unlike so many of the films, this one contains the really core elements of the book - a High Stakes Card Game, An Unrelenting Torture Scene, A Girl that turns out to be a Double (I'm assuming since it's out six years already, I haven't spoiled it for too many) and then Bond's realization that he was played. Both even end with him saying "the bitch is dead".

What I've never written about here is my James Bond fanaticism (is that the right word) since 1983. I think much of it is because - probably like many others - these movies became time holders for certain events in my life...

I remember seeing my first Bond movie, Live and Let Die in 1974. It was on the first Wednesday I spent with my Dad after he and my mom temporarily (but later permanently) separated. What a treat to have dinner out with my Dad, see a movie and then he bought me my first Mad Magazine, which coincidentally had a spoof of what, at the time, were the 8 James Bond movies. I still have the magazine -was just looking at it in fact - and the memories.

In 1983, I was on my post-high school graduation trip to Israel. One of my favorite memories was going into Haifa to watch "Octopussy" in this incredible open air theater where the top of the theater moved back to reveal the night sky. And then coming back to our farm where I was staying for a month and having one of the best nights there. To this day, when I hear All Time High by Rita Coolidge, it brings it all back.

And I think of the summer of 1987 - one of my favorites. Timothy Dalton, who I believe was incredibly under-rated as Bond was in his first outing, The Living Daylights. We had a house in Ventnor New Jersey (about two hours away from home in Philly). I would listen to the full soundtrack including those great Aha and Pretenders songs all the way down there. There was also the time that my car died on the road down there. I was so poor as a college student that my car overheated since I hadn't taken proper care of it. All this to the sounds of Aha singing the Living Daylights. Those were the days!

Of course the closest I come to living the Bond lifestyle is driving my 1974 Kharmann Ghiaa which bares some resemblance to an Aston Martin. Did I buy it and love it because of that? Absolutely. Not ashamed to say it.

Anyway, I got to share all this and more with my neighbor. After asking my opinion, he went on to tell me his name who I instantly recognized from both the movie credits and books I've read. As a hint, he is Cubby Broccoli's step son and the Producer of Skyfall as well as several of the other films. He also wrote several of them. Go ahead, hit your Wiki. All write, if you read this far, I'm just going to tell you - I was sitting next to Michael Wilson of Eon Productions. What an honor....

So, I didn't gawk but I was in heaven sharing what those movies have meant in my life. He was, simply stated, a pleasure to speak with. No, I didn't ask for an autograph. He did ask what I did and I shared my business card. I left it at that. Sometimes great evenings and special opportunities like that are best left on the high note.

If he happens to read this, happy to share that it was such a thrill for me. Since it's my birthday tomorrow, guess I got an early present. Naturally, I'm listening to Chris Cornell's "You Know My Name" as I write this....

Winter Training, Campaigns, Heart Rate Training and Garage Band (which of these things doesn't belong?) Actually they all do..

Hi All,

Well, way too long away from the blogosphere but lots of exciting things to catch you all up on.

First, in Teens Run Westchester land, we're on the cusp of starting our Winter Half-Marathon Training Program. We have a couple small things to nail down but bottom line it's going to happen. While we had hoped to launch early December, we may end up just waiting for the New Year - just depends on a few variables. Bottom line, super excited about doing a Pilot Program that will give 25 to 30 committed teens the chance to work with some great adult mentors and run in one of our New York area half marathons - the exact one is still a surprise. You'll know soon enough.

I've also been thrilled with the response to our first ever year end campaign - if you haven't seen (but I'm sure you have) my posts on it, surprise! here's another shot. Please go to this sight and make a donation and/or create your own fundraising page and post it to facebook, twitter and all that other good social media stuff. Just go here:

http://wwwteensrunwestchester.causevox.com

In another bit of somewhat old but worthwhile news, I am still so appreciative that Bethany Lee, a terrific blogger on health, exercise and generally healthy living, did a wonderful story on Teens Run Westchester. While I appreciate that there's some nice stuff about me (my mom really liked it), please check out the stuff on our organization. It's very cool. You can find it here:

http://projectwhitespace.com/interview-robert-grabel-and-teens-run-westchester/

In terms of me and my running, some great stuff to share and some stuff where I have to change my habits a bit. I've been doing lots of reading on running recently and came across a great book simply title "Running" by a guy named John Stanton. Info is here:

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7735857-running

By the way, John is the owner and founder of the Running Room, a great running and accessory store in Canada. His methodology has some similarities with Jeff Galloway but he's more about a ten minute run/one minute walk as opposed to specific intervals like Jeff. Anyway, he has excellent section in his book about using heart rate to time and measure your abilities for your longer, easier runs as well as your tempo and speed work. I've been doing a lot of self-monitoring on that but have gotten a bit too comfortable doing it on the treadmill. So, as I look outside on this unseasonably beautiful day (it's 60 degrees here in Yonkers), I've committed myself to getting outside and taking my crazier dog- who needs to run off some energy - outside for a good run. We'll see if this heart rate stuff works as well on the road.

Finally, on an unrelated note, I am having such a blast jamming these days. I'm back to the old addictive state of playing that I used to have back when I was a teen with measurable hair. My next goal is to figure out garage band and get my songs on there finally! If anyone knows how to use that, happy to pay you for a good tutorial.

Enjoy the day wherever you may be!