"Gage"ing progress

I feel bad about all these people losing their homes because they couldn't pay their mortgage. On second thoughts...why should I feel bad? It was their decision to buy a house when they didn't have enough money in the bank to buy the whole thing in one stroke. In the movie Million Dollar Baby, Clint Eastwood gives good advice to Hilary Swank when he advises her to pay cash to buy her first piece of real estate...a house.

For the past couple of years, I had been reviewing real estate in a lot of places: Newton, the North End, Charlestown, etc. But now I am going to wait a bit and buy real estate after I make enough money to pay cash for the whole thing. With only a single source of income (that is, a monthly salary), it could probably take a couple of decades. But you know how the saying goes: Necessity is the mother of invention.

Five exercises I like - Part 4

This is the fourth of 5 parts.

Over the years I have tried many movements and exercises. Some felt like a waste of time. Others helped me add on pounds and absolute strength (thereby making me look muscular than my 165 lbs) while at the same time keeping me light on my feet (like I was when I was a 100 lb kid). Here are five movements that I seem to have settled on now. They get done on a regular basis although not in each and every training session.

Bicycling


Who? Me, of course...

Getting on a bicycle is a great excuse for me to get out and do something. 2007 is the year that I have spent most on my bicycle. I have been getting around Boston on a bike too, a first. Unlike a sport like Tennis or Snowboarding, bicycling is an extremely low impact activity on the knees. There is no lateral movement involved, which means you are not likely to tear a meniscus in a knee. You also end up using the muscles of your lower body through a fuller range of motion (as in sprinting but unlike in walking or jogging). And when you hit hills, the glutes and abdominals can be called into play. You will also develop the ability to breath into your stomach, which, of course, is the correct way to breathe (even some "experts" in physical fitness don't realize that). If you have kids who are getting fat, then this is a great (and subtle) way to get them to get their flabby asses moving. You could culminate such a family activity with a picnic. I have taken some of my dates bicycling over to the Fells or down to Cohasset state park. Dates, of course, come and go but the activity (aka health) has remained a constant in my life.

(Acceptable substitute) Whatever that gets you out, gets your blood moving and allows you to forget everything and everybody else in your life for a few hours a week.

Anatomy of a scene

I sat there for a while on my paloose in the middle of a small, snow-covered clearing and studied the scene around me. It was very late in the afternoon. There was no sun. And the sky was awash in dark grays and blacks. Yet somehow there was light. The big pine stands surrounding the clearing were still. Not a soul seemed to be stirring within them. I was maybe fifty yards away from the nearest tree and could see the dusting of snow on their leaves but what caught my attention most was how still the trees were. Their tops gradually and unevenly disappeared into the swirling fog above. It was eerily quiet and surreal. This was an entirely new world and me and the paloose had somehow wandered into it. Had man even tread here before?

I looked to my left and ahead to the edge of the clearing where a short black cliff maybe 20 feet high glistened in the dusky light. There was a faint rough, white line somewhere about the cliff's middle that gave the suggestion of a slight crease in its otherwise smooth surface. On top of this cliff grew more pines, their trunks barely visible in the fog. The fog was descending then. Very slowly. But it was descending, pushed by a wind I could not see or feel. The air was moist to the taste. A storm, a big one, was on the way. It felt ominous and a shiver ran through me.

A slight movement ahead caught my attention. I looked up at the trees and saw what looked like a lone owl or perhaps a raven soundlessly and slowly making its way diagonally up and across the trees and then vanished into the fog. Baba-Yaga! That witch. Did she live here then? Suddenly I was desperate to find a good spot to pitch camp before it started to snow!

My eyes strayed back to the majestic forest in front of me. I could make out a dim trail between two trees right in front of me. Who or what used that trail? Small animals? Perhaps a wolverine? Perhaps some ancient forest people? My eyes rose from the trail to the blackness that it led to. There were more trees further in there as I could see their gray tops faintly visible in the canopy. But I could barely make their trunks out. It was just black in there. Should I venture in there? Maybe I could find a small boulder in there that I could use as a fire reflector. A lean-to and the leaves above me would provide good shelter and also dissipate the smoke from my fire.

I sensed the first snowflake before it even came down. And then there were more. I had a feeling the paloose knew where it wanted to go...right onto that trail. The thought of a fire and a warm blanket was tantalizing. I flexed my weary muscles to get the blood moving, lowered the brim of my hat a bit and let the paloose have his head.

'nuff said

The Sacromento Bee has an article today about people who still have no use for cell phones. Some excerpts:

"I'm a cell-phone holdout and proud of it. I have yet to find a situation where I feel that my life would be enhanced by owning one. When faced with a flat tire on a freeway ramp in 100-degree temperature in Sacramento, a kind young man saw my plight, stopped and changed my tire. I would have missed out on experienceing this act of kindness had I used a cell phone to call my towing company."-- Maria E. Tebbutt, Davis

"I purchased a cell phone in February 2006 and it's still in its original package. I bought it because my friends were telling me it's good to have in an emergency. Well, apparently I don't have emergencies since it's still gathering dust in the package. I've seen people walk right into oncoming traffic, light rail trains, you name it, because they were so busy yakking that nothing else seemed to matter."-- Alexandra Adams, Sacramento

"Cell phonoholics are right up there with parents who bring infants to movies and people who don't clean up after their dogs on the street. Cell phones don't belong with teenagers on bikes or skate- boards or in movies or church or at the steering wheel. It's an epidemic. Give me peace!"-- Kathleen Sasse, Sacramento

I am pleased to know that there are people out there echoing my thoughts. 'nuff said.

Original Sacromento Bee Article here.

Pondology

I have a thing for ponds. I do. Someday I will have a cabin in the woods, somewhere in Northern New England (or maybe up in the Yukon) and a 100 miles from the nearest road. I will get around on a mountain mustang and have a rifle handy so I can turn that fat red squirrel into a mid-day snack at short notice.

People who want to stop at my cabin for a coffee and a hot meal will first be required to shout,

"Halloo, the camp!"

Or risk being shot in the caboose.

But the highlight of the cabin will be my own pond. It will be as big as a skating rink and maybe 5 feet deep in the middle. My colleague John, a former field biologist, tells me that if I really want to preserve the ecosystem, I should leave it alone. Normally I would agree to that. But not on this one. I shall build that pond, fish year round and I shall ice skate on it in the winter. In the spring, I will lie beside the water's edge with the sun on my back, just me and my picnic basket and some good memories, and chew on a stalk while I watch Mr. and Mrs. Frog go at it next to a lily. In late summer, I will stand on a ridge overlooking the cabin and paint the pond from an angle whilst keeping an ear cocked for the approaching sounds of a horny moose.



All of this, of course, will mean no more health (definitely not dental) insurance. But then I will be enjoying life off the grid so much that I probably wouldn't give a sh*t. And 500 years down the road, I will be so well-preserved that whoever goes digging around there will have a few archaeological problems on his mind.

Original link to the site containing the above picture here.

Five exercises I like - Part 3

This is the third of 5 parts.

Over the years I have tried many movements and exercises. Some felt like a waste of time. Others helped me add on pounds and absolute strength (thereby making me look muscular than my 165 lbs) while at the same time keeping me light on my feet (like I was when I was a 100 lb kid). Here are five movements that I seem to have settled on now. They get done on a regular basis although not in each and every training session.

Overhead Shoulder Press

To achieve and maintain optimal shoulder health, everyone should do at least one overhead movement on a regular basis (once a week or so is sufficient). The overhead shoulder press is the perfect way to keep the shoulder girdle (which includes the rotator cuff and shoulder blade muscles) and upper arms (especially the triceps) healthy and mobile.


Start...


Finish...

You should do this movement standing to allow your legs and lower back to stabilize the lift and reduce compressive forces on your spine. When you go heavy, this can become a productive total body movement.

This video beautifully demonstrates the right way to do the press:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhNOcMecei0

When the palms are turned toward you at the bottom position of the movement, this exercise is also known as the Arnold Press (after Schwarzenegger who apparently popularized it in the 70s). I like it this way as my shoulders are placed in a very mobile and comfortable position. Occasionally you could use a barbell for variety. I use a barbell as part of a Hang Clean and Press move. But I recommend dumbbells for the most part as they are forgiving on the joints in each arm while forcing each side of the body to work to its maximum potential.

Acceptable Substitute: None. A strong shoulder press is indicative of perfect shoulder health. But...you could do a variation of the Pushup, if you can't get to a gym. Just remember to keep the elbows tucked in. That is, your upper arms should be close to your torso. This will put the shoulders in a stable position. I don't recommend the bench press for anyone (did that just fall on deaf ears?).

Oh, ye of little faith

Apparently Walmart is coming out with a full line of religious toys.


The Samson on...I mean, and Goliath toy. Hey, where's the delectable Delilah? Are they fighting over her?

If toys have to put the faith in kids, then that to me is an act of desperation by those who want to send the message. Of course, I can't discount the possibility that this (out-of-control kids who need to be showered with the latest toy) is also an economic opportunity for some shrewd people to make money.

It will always be difficult for a high-consumption, fully democratic society and religion to "integrate" the way religious leaders probably want the general population to. Because if it were any easier, then there wouldn't be that much of a difference between the societal "morals" of the United States and Saudi Arabia.


Guess who this is? Yup. David. That discerning young man who slayed Goliath. This was a sculpture by Donatello (circa 1440). Of course, its hardly want you want your kids to see and play with in Walmart during these enlightened times...

Original BBC article here