Who Am I?

I am an avid runner and have been running since I was 15 years old. I began running low to medium distances while on my high school track team, running the 800 meter and 1600 meter races (I was a sub 5 miler and a 2 minute 800 runner). In addition to the track team, I also joined the cross country team. After high school I still wanted to run and decided to start doing road races. I have probably ran a couple hundred 5k races (16.29 PR)along with many 10k's as well. In 2009 I decided to step up my game and try to tackle my first marathon. I will be honest; the only reason I did this was because my father ran a few and I wanted to show him that I could do what he did. I trained poorly for my first one and regret it. If you are going to run a race, train like you want to win. I still continue to run marathons and other distances as well, and every race is a chance for me to better myself.
I started this blog to hopefully communicate with other runners and to shed any knowledge I may have about the sport that can help other runners. I believe running is the best sport and can be a great stress reliever. I encourage all runners to spread the word of our sport and show people why running is so good and why the community of runners has such great people. You can follow me on twitter @byrne1324 or find me on facebook- Shaun Byrne

Friday, March 13, 2015

Friday Randomness











Welcome to another edition of random Friday. Last week we talked about animals that sent the internet in an uproar. This week I am talking about something that I really like, art. We are not talking about your normal Mona Lisa’s or Starry Nights though. Instead I am talking about the art of graffiti. I bring this up because today while doing my normal routine of catching up on all the latest news (not sure if you call the yahoo headlines news though) I came across a story about the world famous artist Banksy. If you have never heard of Banksy, let me give you a brief description of the person. I say the person because no one really knows who the person behind the can is. Banksy is the pseudonymous of an English artist. Mostly doing political paintings, his or her work can be seen all over the world and some pieces have even been auctioned off. Unfortunately you are purchasing a wall and it is your job to try and figure out how to move the art to your desired location.

So the story I was reading today was about David Possee,who owned a house in the small English town of Cheltenham. Possee rented the house out. After a tenant moved out Posseereturned to the house to find a painting on one of the outer walls. It was one of Banksy’s. The piece is known as the “Spy Booth” it shows spies listening in on conversations to the phone booth that is standing next to the wall. Possee liked the artwork and wanted to preserve it. He went to the local board to see what could be done. What happened has brought him nothing but trouble. His house was found to be a landmark. He was told he could not use a special chemical to preserve the painting. He also wanted to fix the deteriorating wall but was told he could not since it was a landmark. He was also fined for the wall not being up to code. Kind of a catch 22 if you ask me. Possee now has no one living in the house he frequently rented for income, and to think all this trouble came after a famous artist decided to use his wall as a canvas.

Here are my thoughts on graffiti, and please remember this is just my opinion you don’t have to agree with me. I think graffiti is one of the most underappreciated arts of the world. What is art? By definition it is a diverse range of human activities and the products of these activities, usually involving imaginative or technical skills. I understand graffiti is not your basic art on a canvas or paper, but the people that do this have unreal talent. It’s a shame because most of the artist will remain faceless and we will only know them as a pseudonym. I do see why so many people have a problem with graffiti and see it as vandalism though. No matter where one does his or her art they are doing it one a piece of property that does not belong to them. When Banksy came to New York in 2013 the mayor was doing everything in his power to capture him. He had no such luck. For one moment though look past the act of vandalism and actually focus on the ART and I am sorry but there is no way you can argue the people that do this have such talent it’s amazing. In my opinion some of these artist are actually better than the mainstream artist you see in museums. Graffiti artist mainly do their art in the dark of night and are rushing to get a piece done. There is no time to stop, take a look, and then decide your next line. Next time you see a train passing by stop and take a look, there is a good chance you will see some amazing art work pass your view. Yes graffiti is considered a crime, but for once can we call it for what it really it is……..an art form.

What are your thoughts on graffiti?





4 comments:

  1. I find graffiti so beautiful and artistic. Not only does it look awesome but there's often a message behind it, and the artist risks a lot for their passion. I love banksy, partly because of how talented he is, but also love the air of mystery around him/her/them. Will we ever find out who banksy is?

    Great post!

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    1. Thanks, good to hear someone else can respect the art the way I can. And I can tell you heard of Banksy or you would of never used them as a reference. I forgot to say Banksy could be a group of 7 people.
      I hope one day we really do find out who it is so the person can get the credit they deserve, unfortunately there is a consequence that comes with it

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  2. We were actually in NYC in 2013 when he was there but we didn't know it until later. He had a crazy art thing on a van that went around the city, and we saw it while out walking & were like, WTF? Then, we walked through Central Park right when he'd given a street vendor some of his stuff to sell....for like $20 that was actually worth a fortune. We are still kicking ourselves for not looking at the vendor's stuff!

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    1. Oh wow, I would be kicking myself too. I was up there around the same time and got to see some statue he did that was outside the McDonald's. I didn't know much about the person then though.

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