For the kids

In case you missed it, there’s been a story floating around the past few days about a kid in Connecticut who sounds like a pitching phenom. Apparently, this kid throws so hard—and accurately—for his age that one team in his league forfeited, packed up, and went home when they saw he’d be pitching against them that day. His team’s league has said he’s no longer allowed to pitch because he’s just too good. Without getting into the what-ifs and why-nots of the matter, what a great message to send, not only to this kid but to kids everywhere: if you’re too good, you won’t be allowed to play in any reindeer games. Pending the outcome of this situation, I’m sadly not surprised—how prevalent is this mindset in society? Very. Dumb down the material to the lowest common denominator so that everyone can participate, everyone can “succeed,” everyone can “win” and take home a trophy—more like Atrophy if you ask me, atrophy of the will and desire to excel and develop individual talents for fear of ostracism and marginalization. When “success” comes easily and kids—well, everyone, for that matter—begin to expect “success” (read: having everything handed to them on a silver platter), not only do they develop an unrealistic perception of themselves and the world around them, but they pout and whine and sometimes become violent when their expectations aren’t met. I saw this a lot in my classrooms, especially in my honors students, many of whom were sailing through grade school with minimal intellectual resistance. They got to my class, I challenged them a little, and suddenly, I was a mean ol’ (23-year-old!) teacher. To them, I recommended a commencement speech courtesy of radio talk show host Neal Boortz.

That being said, let kids be kids! Parents, if they allow sports at all, track their kids toward one sport or another as soon as they start walking instead of just letting the kids try out different activities, develop other interests, or *gasp* just PLAY! Kids are supposed to be enthusiastic and energetic, especially in their learning, but society dictates that they get up earlier than their biology is wired for, sit quietly still for six or eight hours at a time, come home and sit for another couple hours through homework and supper, then go to bed often at a time much later than they’re wired for. All the while, parents hover over every single minute of every single day, making sure their kids are “safe,” which usually involves little or no physical activity and often also includes instantly jumping on teachers and other kids’ parents for not bowing down to their precious little downloads. Again, I say let kids be kids. Let them run around, jump, fall down, splash in puddles, make mud pies, skin knees, eat worms, bring home frogs (without getting yelled at), ride bikes, and all sorts of “dangerous” things. Think about constraining a puppy the way our society constrains kids. Don’t you think that puppy would be extra hyper, disruptive, and even destructive? You think kids are any different in their energy output? And this says nothing of the psychological consequences (potentially NSFW) that all this stress puts on a youngster in his or her formative years. Instead, we’ve managed to medicate (Ritalin) and hypnotize (video games, TV, computers) our munchkins into lazy, sedentary blobs who may not outlive their parents (it appears North Carolina just passed a traffic law aimed at dealing with the current state of affairs, at least *ahem*). They’re deprived of real sex education, monetary education, culinary (read: alcohol) education, and are instead left to figure it all out on their own or from peers who often don’t know any more than the next person. The results: unplanned pregnancies and STDs, credit crises, binge drinking, and brotards, but it’s okay because Mom said you were special (just like everyone else). Good job, everyone, congratulations! These kids have no realistic sense of themselves.

What comes of all this, aside from the obvious health issues, is that otherwise pointless (non)issues become larger than life. How else do you explain the hysteria that accompanies American Idol and other “reality” TV, Harry Potter movies (I have no problem with the books—books are books, usually), Britney/Paris/Lindsey, and such? People end up living through others’ lives, and there’s no better place to find those other lives than on TV, which has been linked to altered brain wave activity, essentially hypnotizing viewers (and don’t think marketers aren’t taking advantage).

Needless to say, I have a pretty pessimistic view of the direction our society is heading. However, that’s not to say there isn’t hope for change, but IF it happens, it’s going to be a long, difficult, expensive, painful process… unless the kids get hooked and grow up with a sense of physical activity (hey, it’s fun!) and decent nutrition (hey, this doesn’t taste like salt and/or sugar!). This is the main reason for my recent and growing interest in youth conditioning and athletics. I’ve been reading more and more on proper physical programming for children, and you know what? The majority of it involves just getting kids to be kids, learning what their bodies can do through running, jumping, and all sorts of things (some of which even involve *double gasp* free weights), which would normally be an exercise in self-education, but like so many other things, this behavior is often suppressed once Junior learns how to walk (apologies for forgetting where I heard this, but one noted person in the weightlifting community said something to the effect of: “I didn’t learn how to squat. I learned how to stand up.”). The human body and mind in conjunction are powerfully intelligent entities if allowed to develop naturally. Unfortuantely, it’s taking a rise in “youth conditioning” and similar movements in adult fitness to teach people how to forget what they’ve “learned.”

We aren’t all cut out to be elite physical specimens, and by that, I mean about 99% of us, but we can at least develop ourselves to our potentials, which doesn’t involve cookie-cutter workouts and fad diets, but it does involve commitment, hard work, and time. It’s tough to teach an old dog new tricks, but it’s not impossible; however, think how much easier it would be to hook ‘em young (ya know, like churches and cigarette companies). Who knows, maybe you’ll want to do something fun with your kids that involves physical activity, maybe you’ll do this stuff often, and maybe—just maybe—many adults will finally swallow their pride and realize that there’s a lot to learn from (being) kids.

—Body matters: a couple nuggets from Jonathan (namely research into stretching), recovery is physical as well as mental, your lower back is supposed to have a LIMITED range of rotation, ’tis the season for knee injuries.
—Food: Spezzatino has arrived from Berardi et al of Gourmet Nutrition acclaim, eat in the context of your training (read: more when you are, less when you aren’t), eating out doesn’t have to be a dietary bomb, the occasional hot dog isn’t going to kill you (note the word “occasional”), Mark touts low-carb on local TV, colleges shun trays to save calories and save the planet, MSG is still bad for you, all hail urban farming (Victory gardens are definitely a way to go), and for goodness’ sake, EAT if you’re pregnant!
—Mind matters: Lyle posts part 4 of 5 on his leptin series, stop making excuses, finding and making sense of the medical literature.
—Geek-out: a Lego anniversary, the search for dark matter, biological music, the Internet is more screwed than first thought, iPhones are more screwed than first thought, virii in space, Olympics (China restores most of iTunes, Dara Torres undergoes shoulder surgery, limits of human speed revised), Krakatau erupts again, survive a power blackout, X-ray photography, Leno speaks to the American car maker.

Finally, a congratulations to Cassandra Forsyth-Pribanic (left), co-author of The New Rules of Lifting for Women, who was recently married. Blah blah blah, I just wanted an excuse to post this picture of what muscle on women should look like:

Bookworming

First, apologies for that stinker of a post last time (not even going to link it), at least for the disconnect between title and body. The more I’ve thought about it, the more I don’t like it. I really did have good intentions, but they petered out along the way and turned into a hodgepodge of rambling. Second, I finished reading Omnivore’s Dilemma. Wow, just wow. I hate that it took so long for me to get to it, so don’t make the same mistake I did (at least not any longer)! I may or may not do a “review” post on it, but I’ll need some time to, um, digest. Seriously, though, I can’t think of anything offhand that wasn’t good about the book, and that’s taking into account the possible sensationalist media slant that may’ve gone into its writing. Let’s face it: tracing the food chain isn’t sexy by itself unless put in the context of some good storytelling (consider the movie Supersize Me). Despite this, facts are facts, and they’re disturbing at best. Even Mike(y) liked it (he’s probably going to kill me now for calling him Mikey).

Quick aside: a couple weeks ago, I ordered a few books from Amazon.com and took a mini-poll on which to read first. After deciding on a reading order, which of course went against majority opinion, I jumped in and quickly realized that Omnivore bred its own tangential reading list (all the Hemingway on my bookshelves, Ishmael for the third time, and maybe a couple others referenced in Omnivore, namely Meditations on Hunting).

Back to the present, it’s a good thing I had a reading list already setup since I could’ve easily gone off and read some other stuff. I’m already a few chapters into Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers, and there are fireworks in my head. On its own, Zebras has a lot to say about substantial underlying conditions for obesity, heart disease, diabetes, and so on. The opening chapters are a dense Cliff’s Notes walkthrough of some basic endocrinology, presented with some humor and irreverence that makes the material much easier reading. So far, so great; however, after reading Omnivore, whicn also had a lot to say on its own about obesity et al, I’m starting to get a sense of how the combination of an industrialized food chain, a stressful (real or perceived) lifestyle promoted in our society, and lack of education (through ignorance or apathy) is a perfect storm for skyrocketing obesity, and I do mean perfect. One thing of value I touched on last time was the harumphing over other cultures who practice supposedly unhealthy dietary and other lifestyle habits, yet they’re healthier than most Americans. Why? Tradition bred from evolutionary viability, use of fewer or no processed foods, and lack of stress. One point made so far in Zebras is that as cultures are introduced to Westernized diets and lifestyles, they start to see increases in these same diseases affecting our society.

I’ve seen this phenomenon firsthand. I may’ve mentioned before that I went to Taiwan on a two-week study abroad in the summer of 2002 under the guise of being a “future educator” (which wasn’t a lie, though I wasn’t technically in grad school yet), so most of my focus was on the Taiwanese education system and the use of English both there and in general society. At the time, it was just a side note to other work, but on a couple different occasions, conversation with some of the locals mentioned (with some hidden disdain) how obesity and associated diseases were more prevalent in the Westernized northern part of the island, particularly in the capital city of Taipei. Sure enough, it was. Looking back, one thing I discussed with locals, with fellow students, and somewhat in my academic work was my reaction to the food I ate. Nothing bad by any means; rather, it was the first time I was aware of the taste of food itself rather than blandly overwhelming sugar and salt (a topic brought up in Omnivore). The flavors were subtle at first, but with an almost complete lack of ubiquitous “seasonings,” I quickly became accustomed to the taste of actual food and various spices and sauces (not to mention the much lower cost), results of traditional cooking methods and straight-from-the-dock freshness (I was on an island, after all). Even the vegetarian fare during an overnight stay at a Buddhist monastery was great (soy-based immitation crab meat, mmmm). All this occurred over the first week or so in the southern half of the island. Once I got to Taipei, though, it took going to a very high-end restaurant to get anything comparable, and even that’s a stretch to say. So sure, the not-north was financially poor compared to the north, but they were far richer in nutrition and health. Coincidence? I think not.

I’m not sure if I’ll be able (or need) to write up a capstone post following these two books, but Lyle’s blog is up-to-date on a lot of these issues already (I’ve already read some hoo-ha about leptin in Zebras as well, one topic Lyle is currently ripping apart). Don’t be afraid of the jargon or depth of the topic, whether in that blog or in Zebras if you happen to pick it up. If I can get a grasp of endocrinology, so can you. Trust me. On a completely unrelated note, I registered for adult/child/infant CPR, first aid, and AED training next week with the CSCS exam to follow semi-shortly (yes, I’m going to go ahead with it), mainly to get some letters (which I can allow to expire) behind my name that will appeal to the public at large as I attempt to get some personal training started up for the new year, hopefully a boot camp setup (highly recommended by people I trust—the advertising format is an unfortunate necessity in the fitness industry) for middle-aged moms, and oh by the way, I’ll offer conditioning for their rugrats—I mean, future star athletes as well.

Total chaos:
—China: the Olympics are over, the censorship never (completely) stopped, and the glitzy facade didn’t end widespread persecution. I’m still eager to see how quickly life reverts to pre-Olympic drudgery.
—Age: more defiance, weekend warriors (harkening back to my recent diatribe on proper warm-up and preparation), a money pit of magic pills, fine wine.
—Body matters: general exercise (a treatment for cancer, a fountain of youth, a source of humor), preventing and treating back pain issues, elite runners rely on build and genetics more than form (neither you nor I are elite runners, so we do need to worry about it), flexibility, referred pain.
—Food: safe grilling (BBQ is a noun—a food—not a verb), stir-fry adventures, FDA allows irradiation (more reason to grow your own veggies), Napa Valley pr0n, powdered peanut butter (ordered mine this weekend with some oil; souffle anyone?), hummus, you’re never too busy to eat right (no, not even you).
—Kids: (illegal?) immigrants worse on obesity, concussion recovery, corporal punishment.
—Obesity: a direct financial burden, terrain is a consideration, correct bodyfat calculations.
—Gosh, no, really? Shocking: illegal immigrants not self-deporting, lotteries aren’t very helpful.
—Mind matters: unused brain power, lessons from Batman, sanity in space, assess within a system (in and out of the gym).
—Geek-out: happy birthday to the CT scan, Transformers that didn’t make the cut, bicycles on Craig’s List (here, here, and here’s your sign), volcano pictorial, dog-friendly dog training, world’s deepest hole, movie theaters surviving, card tricks, five used cars for less, how to administer epinephrine and everything else, lightweight Linux, video game douchebaggery, Eric catches for Comcast.

Foundations

Last time (and several times before), I talked about the importance of warming up and easing into a workout/program/lifestyle rather than blindly jumping in with both feet. As I’ve been reading Omnivore’s Dilemma, I’ve been presented with some compelling reasoning that suggests our country suffers from a mass(ive) eating disorder, largely because we as a whole lack a common culinary tradition. Mass media (and the people who take it as gospel) *tsk-tsk* other countries and cultures that supposedly eat unhealthily based on what science tell us, yet these other peoples are far healthier and happier than us. How can people who eat seemingly high levels of saturated fat or maybe drink seemingly high levels of alcohol possibly be healthier than a society whose gastronomic tendencies are rooted in the infallability of science? Because that’s how they’ve done it for who knows how long, and it works. In the case of food, tradition—over generations and centuries, not a single nuclear family’s lifespan—is a marker of dietary viability.

One of the beauties of science is that it can—and does—change. The earth used to be flat, the sun used to revolve around said earth, and running used to be the only possible way of achieving any level of physical fitness. Obviously, those theories and many others have been disproved and discarded; other theories have held up better under scrutiny and continue to be tested. However, science through the lens of mass media tends to (a) sensationalize, (b) omit, and (c) turn correlation into causation. You’re surely aware of the recent push for low-carb eating—this idea supplanted the low-fat lifestyle, but what on earth was there before? Well, um, nothing more than people sitting down to supper with the family almost every single night and knowing more often than not exactly what they were putting into their bodies. As we’ve become further and further removed from our food sources, we’ve started caring less and less about their origins and processing, instead focusing on price and convenience rather than quality, thereby setting the table for wild, almost instantaneous mood swings when it comes to what we eat. Believe it or not, we’ve known what to eat for a long, long time, but we sometimes put way too much faith in unsubstantiated facts.

Dilemma raises an excellent question, paraphrased: how is it that we discriminate the most fundamental source of life and livelihood—our food—based on the least healthful factors, and how did this change come about? I’ll leave you to read the book—obviously, I highly recommend it—but seriously, think of the foundation and make-up of our bodies. Do you know where your supper came from? I couldn’t tell you about mine if my life depended on it (I’ve been searching for local farms in the Charlotte area on a regular basis and have two on the radar, here and here, with a third and possibly fourth to be determined soon). Until I find local food sources, especially in winter (summer is easy), one trick I’ve started using is looking at ingredient lists—the shorter (and more pronouncable), the better. Sure, it costs a little more, but at least I can better picture the actual components of what I’m eating (couldn’t hurt to do the same for the pets, either), and the long-term cost savings are immeasurable.

In an earlier post, I stated: “People who train only their mirror muscles are preparing for others to see them following. People who also train their hidden muscles are preparing for people to see them leading.” While food is the ultimate bodily foundation, biomechanics can’t be allowed to suffer, especially given our increasingly sedentary lifestyles. I’ve also mentioned the need to examine the “why” of what you’re doing, not just the “how,” which is increasingly being made more complex than is necessary. Ideally, you’re in it for the long haul, not just beach season. Remember all those grade-school gym and playground exercises? There was a reason—general physical preparation—behind doing those, even if the PE teacher didn’t know it. When was the last time you saw anyone beyond elementary school doing bear crawls and crab walks? (For the record, I did both and more at the gym on Monday and consequently scared two Barbies out of the aerobics studio. Sweet.) The body is a unit, not a conglomeration of parts to train individually; if you treat it as such, you’ll get a lot of bricks with no mortar to hold it together.

Follow-ups:
—Cultural and modern medicines can co-exist in harmony.
—Olympics: Dara Torres’ aftermath in age and goal setting, Yahoo! tops NBC in online coverage, life after the lights.
—Part three of Lyle’s discourse on leptin.
—Dr. Eades piles on another pro low-carb study.

Stuff:
—I’ve long had a problem with the statement that the brain runs only on carbohydrates. Of course, I haven’t been able to support my opinion other than having done three separate iterations of a (mostly) cyclical ketogenic diet (sometimes I went a couple weeks at a time without a carb-up) with only very temporary mental hiccups during the fuel source changeover. A recent study at Biosingularity suggests that I might just be right.
—Mmmm… meat cake and meatless muffins.
—Some randomly good randomness from Tony.
—Fat: Troubleshooter updates, high-metabolism brown fat.
—Stem cells: heal more quickly, universal blood and other uses.
—Family matters: why rush to marry/divorce, singles are getting healthier, egg donation in a down economy, more women foregoing children, a breather from elderly care, a family tree for all humanity, Lonesome George, if life is a highway…
—The military is (as always) pursuing ways to control enemies’ minds. Under this guise, there are domestic, civilian implications on the radar as well. For all the windmill chasing, at least they call off a charge once in a blue moon.
—Mark’s Mystery Meat: juicing, your immune system,
—Geek-out: space (training, risks, pictures), viral batteries, digitizing vinyl, secure your Gmail, Facebook cranks up the creepy factor in advertising, wearable and zero-emissions motorcycles, a pictorial history of electricity (and transportation to come), how photography connects the world, round-the-world helicoptering, hey McFly!

More stuff:
—A tale of two people.
—Barbara Guerra.

Warming up, etc.

Right now, before doing anything else, go check out Rob’s liftSTRONG challenge. If you were thinking of donating to mine, divert that instead to his. I’ll push mine more as the summit approaches.

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Hey, look! I didn’t post a Friday night blog! Actually, I’m on day three of writing this. I just haven’t been able to sit down and knock it all out at once. Maybe I should’ve titled this post “Heating up” because of the weather and because I’m in a mood to gripe, but that would have less relevance to the ultimate point of this post. Perhaps my last post combined with a recent severe downturn in the atmosphere and clientele at my regular gym are adding to my mood (I’m looking at possibly rejoining my old boxing gym soon), or maybe it’s because I’m finally reading Omnivore’s Dilemma and am seeing shades of Ishmael in microcosm, or maybe I’ve been reading Michelle’s blog too much.

I read a lot of blogs and news sites and what not. For the most part, they’re written fairly well with some modicum of intelligence and forethought, but there are a couple that irritate me to no end with their egregious spelling and grammar. If there were mistakes here and there, that’s one thing, especially with informal blogs (like this one *ahem*), but when mistakes are the rule rather than the exception, I don’t care how good the material is—it does no one any good if the content can’t be conveyed well or understood by the reader in the first place—and I seriously have to consider remaining subscribed to these sites (let’s just say my resolve for that particular information is waning).

People who can’t write really shouldn’t, at least not until they can. That’s not to say you shouldn’t develop the skill—and preferably the art as well—but if you have no intention of improving your communication skills, keep them to yourself, please. In a former life, I taught English to high school sophomores and juniors. In addition to weekly vocabulary assignments—yes, spelling and vocabulary in tenth and eleventh grades—my students would come in to class every day, sit down, and start a “warm-up” of grammar exercises—yes, basic grammar, in tenth and eleventh grades—as both a skills review and a mood/mindframe setter (getting thirty hormone-soaked soon-to-be co-eds settled in for a ninety-minute sitting session requires getting control early, often, and sometimes forcefully). In North Carolina school curricula guidelines, spelling begins in kindergarten—and presumably continues ad infinitum—and grammar, though informally incorporated throughout grade school, is officially tested in seventh grade. So, why did I insist on such seemingly elementary “busy work” in a high school setting? Because the skills had either been forgotten or never learned in the first place, and in my classroom, presentation counted as much as content. The torrent of complaints and *shudder* whining was endless, but from day one, my condition was this: if everyone in the class earned a perfect score on the weekly quiz, then that section of the course content would go away. This held for spelling and grammar separately since they were separate quizzes. You know what? It never happened. One class came close—one person missed one item while everyone else scored perfectly on one particular test—but at no time did everyone get everything right, so the spelling and grammar kept on going.

You might say that was a bit harsh on my part, but as I explained to my students, these exercises weren’t only about getting the “right” answers. They were about linguistic fundamentals as well as following directions since I required a specific format on both homework and quizzes (it also made grading much easier for me), not to mention that the real world couldn’t care less about feelings—it just wants results, regardless of whatever excuse you use to explain why your TPS report is missing its new cover sheet. Presentation counts, and if I can’t even begin to understand what you’re trying to say, no matter how important or groundbreaking it may be, I’m just going to stop bothering with it after awhile. 1334 (“leet“) speak is fine for text messages, instant messages, and casual e-mails be”tween” friends (rocka-rocka), but homework, formal e-mails, typewritten or *gasp* handwritten letters, business proposals, resumes, informative blogs, and on and on and on and on and on require effective communication skills.

So, what do the boring intricacies of life in the classroom have to do with health? As I mentioned before, the purpose of these class-opening exercises (mindframe warm-up) and week-ending quizzes (fundamentals reinforcement) in vocabulary and grammar was two-tiered. Sound like a similar rationale for mobility and flexibility training? It should. I’ll be the first to admit that warming up (before working out) and stretching (after working out) are sometimes (often?) monotonous, boring, and seemingly unnecessary. While I can’t fully disagree with the first two traits and their inherent subjectivity, the last one is simply wrong. Mobility and flexibility are supremely important in overall physical health, sometimes more so than the actual workouts that many people do (apologies to Andrew), but they are too often half-assed or skipped altogether. For most of my early training career—from August 2000 to April 2007—a warm-up only happened if I wanted to kill some time, maybe wake up if it was early, and even then only consisted of isometric stretching. I had no inkling of dynamic movement prep work, mobility drills, or active release (massage) and self-myofascial release therapy (foam rolling and such). I lifted a lot, often without much of a plan other than just lifting heavy weights or tinkering with plyometrics (I was only slightly more aware of proper nutrition). Then, as I’ve mentioned before, I blew a hamstring, which required me to look at (p)rehab work and imbalance correction. Too bad I didn’t practice in the gym what I preached in the classroom. Following supervised rehab, I fell into more of a full-body program of (p)rehab that, for once, tricked me into doing mobility and flexibility work as a design element, neatly laid out, rather than just saying to warm up before exercise because it’s good for you. That’s like telling me to stop biting my nails—I know it’s not the prettiest or healthiest thing in the world and probably contributes to some issue I have yet to discover, but that doesn’t mean I’m just going to stop (seriously, I’ve been trying for twenty years with obviously no success; it’s totally mental, I know, but that’s a reason, not a remedy—HALP!).

I’ve previously linked to a series of articles over at T-Nation titled “Neanderthal No More” (pardon the occasional semi-NSFW image on that site). There’s another one I’ve probably mentioned called “Feel Better for Ten Bucks.” If you already workout semi-regularly, are thinking about working out, or just happen to get out of bed every morning, read that second link and think about taking a few minutes each day to get in some regeneration work like that, then move on to the first link. If you’re so inclined, consider looking into qigong or any other system of restorative movement as well. After all, life is full of stressors, and rather than taking time to restore ourselves, we’re more inclined to pile on additional stressors (like less sleep and more caffeine) to get by, which ultimately results in problems down the road. In the words of renowned strongman George Hackenschmidt, “If you do not find time to become and remain healthy, you will be obliged to find time to be ill.” In the words of Larry the Cable Guy, “Git ‘r dun!”

I am so far behind on my link updates…

Bronze:
—Olympics: Michael Phelps is gold (by a fingernail), Dara Torres is silver only in her medals, next-gen doping possibilities, and too bad that few teens bothered watching any of this (not that NBC is worried).
—Dr. Eades touches on the fallacy of equating correlation and causation.
—Just kidding, says the FDA (because they’re ALWAYS right). I’m still not taking chances, not to mention that reducing plastic usage makes more sense environmentally and, ultimately, financially.

Silver:
—Back to Phelps for a second, he eats 12,000 calories a day (which includes *gasp* fat!). Now that’s competitive eating. Of course, that doesn’t mean you can or should do the same. Olympians are real-life action figures and train hard to get that way (and not by using some obscure or downright silly fad routine, either—when did fitness and Halloween become excuses to act and/or look like strippers?). Chances are that you’re not. He probably also gets more and better sleep than you (thanks to Paul for that link).
—In light of the Olympics, gestures of pride or shame may be universal. Also, doctors are being compelled to perform culturally-sensitive practices, though they may be reserved in their demeanor.
—The key to running faster is to spend time running faster.
—Craig adds his take on “cardio” via Keith.
—Lyle gets geeky (okay, that’s redundant) talking about the role of leptin in obesity (one and two). I should mention that, based on his suggestion in an earlier post, Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers is on-deck in my reading queue, so after I get good and pissed off reading Omnivore’s Dilemma, that should be a nice change of pace.
—Having a kid? Have it at home.
—Obesity is not funny and shouldn’t be taken, um, lightly or dismissed as irrelevant, but lower income earners may be stuck there. Being skinny carries its own health risks, too.
—Tony calls out the overrated, like Cheesecake Factory and walking instead of running (I agree with both).
—Mark’s Mystery* Meat: the Zone Diet, eggs, hot fat (not a fetish site link), exercises to avoid at all costs, prescription drugs, some potpourri, reasons to get out of the gym, and how stress makes you fat (* denotes some guest bloggers on Mark’s site).
—Geek-out: cars (Volt teaser, texting, hotwiring, fuel efficiency and hypermiling, Lotus Omnivore, engineers needed, tire gauge politics), stop getting (some) pre-approvals, human versus virus, all your iPhones are belong to Jobs, indigenous cultures, let’s just “see what happens,” Gmail hiccups, peek-a-boo, weird vending machines.

Gold:
—Lyle furthers discussion on the human body’s set(tling) point.
—We actually can be happy if we don’t get what we want IN SPITE OF having more options—and it may not involve sex—so stop whining and get to it.
—Sometimes, you just can’t avoid the bonk.
—Guilt by association.
—Scott teaches a lesson on learning new things using FedEx as an example.
—Ross comments on the Richard Jansen story linked here before.
—When victory is your duty…

A case of the Mondays?

Yes, I stole that from Office Space. Yes, it’s horribly cliche and overused by now. Yes, I know you probably stopped reading at the title, but I’m going to continue anyway. No, I don’t really have a case of the Mondays, but I’m feeling uncreative at the moment, so :P

ANYway, I posted the following on my training log this morning and figured I’d give you a Monday trifecta to read at work:

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I spent an unplanned, unlogged three hours or so at/in a friend’s pool yesterday. For one, though I got some good sun, I STILL have a tan line on my legs from the Friday boat outing at the summit (yeah, I got cooked despite the sunscreen). For two, this was my first time shirtless in public since said summit (those pictures remain under lock-and-key), and in comparison to everything else at the pool, I actually felt pretty good about it, but there’s still a lot of work to be done. For three, having fun doing nothing is hard work. I slept really well last night, all night, for the first time in a couple months, though “all night” meant only just over six hours. Hey, it’s a start, but I have a feeling I’m going to have a tougher time getting to my workout today (maybe I can get a nap at work).

That being said, I’ve been fidgety and restless as all hell for the past week or so. Insomnia aside, it’s been a little difficult to explain, but I do know that I’m not currently reading something, which is usually a good indicator (mass purchase from Amazon is set to arrive later this week). Something also hit me this morning that I’ll continue to explore over the next few days, basically a “why am I doing this” in my studies. Am I studying for the CSCS because I hold that certification in high regard (less so lately), because it’ll get me doing something I really want to do, or because it’ll get me out of a work and living situation I’ve long since tired of? After reading several recent posts on this and other forums, and after researching other certifications (namely ISSA–which has several supplemental certifications I really like–and NASM), the sense I got from the questioning this morning was that I’m not so much interested in getting letters as I am in just simply opening and running my own small, hole-in-the-wall gym that caters to people like me who hate the typical franchise “fitness center.” Opening my own place has always been an option, just one that’s been WAAAY back on the stove, maybe even on the backsplash rather than even a back burner. I don’t need a certification to own/operate a gym, just a viable business plan and a small-ish loan (or sugar mama). (Of note, I’ve also wanted to open my own dance club–country/Western, of course–for awhile since the only decent place in town has really tanked over the past year or so, and I really hate giving them the two-dollar cover to get in, let alone the cost of any drinks.)

Part of what triggered this dormant thought was a quick conversation with an ex who lives in Richmond. She mentioned that the old 24-hour gym I used when I lived up there had been turned into an Irish pub (the place had been a restaurant in the first place, and I knew the gym owner had sold the space) and that the place had literally been destroyed after a blow-out party of some sort. There wasn’t anything particularly special about the place other than it was the only 24-hour gym I’ve belonged to, a tiny place accessibly only by a microchipped key given to each member, meaning the “desk” didn’t have to be staffed all the time (a closed-circuit camera recorded the entrance for ten seconds every time the door opened). It was just a great setup that I haven’t really stopped missing.

This isn’t to say I won’t get a certification–after all, that’ll put some legitimacy behind the ownership–but I’m thinking more and more that the CSCS isn’t what I want (anyone want to buy some study materials?). Though there is more expense, and though I’m already an NSCA member (I can let that expire eventually), I’ll likely look toward those other aforemention letters for the sake of letters when it comes to that, but I’m thinking that I’ll shift some temporal and mental resources toward the whole “my own place” thing. I’m already technically an independent contractor, so maybe it’s time to actually be my own boss.

—————

Voila.

I suppose I could throw out some quick links as well:
—Olympics: Dara Torres, Michael Phelps, (legal) technology and gadgets, continued censorship and pollution.
—Biosingularity posted ten new blogs over the weekend. Of note: the brain’s reward system works somewhat similarly on food and cocaine, water is still the beverage of choice, peppers induce thermogenesis, and their take on the exercise-in-a-pill pill.
—Video games: turn dieting into a role-playing game, Guitar Hero Lite?
—Geek-out: Yahoo! will allow visitors to opt-out of ads, Aston Martin unseats the Veyron for most expensive production car, Chuck E. Cheese revival.

Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning Multimedia Symposium

Description (from the product website): The multimedia symposium CDs provide strength and conditioning and personal training professionals an opportunity to listen and follow along as internationally-recognized speakers lecture on the facts, concepts and theories relevant to the CSCS and NSCA-CPT exams. Each multimedia CD includes an interactive video and slide presentation that reflects what a person experiences at a live symposium, and a printable presentation outline accompanied by tables, figures and photos. Following each presentation, fitness professionals can assess their retention of the information through an interactive set of ten self-assessment questions written in the same style as actual CSCS and NSCA-CPT exam questions.

Retail price: $134.95 (NSCA members), $199.95 (non-members)

My thoughts: Sometimes, visual aids are a good thing; sometimes, not so much. Think of the 1960 presidential race, during which came the first televised debate ever. In the case of this symposium, it is painfully easy to see who truly enjoyed and prepared for their presentations and who walked in cold out of (I can only assume) some obligation. Some presenters are dynamic, passionate, knowledgeable, and provide relevant extra information; other presenters look like they are struggling through a high school book report and reading straight from their slides and/or notes, sometimes trying to liven things up with stories of self-aggrandizement. On several occasions, the PDF outline notes that the material there does not match the material in the lecture, and more often, there is notable inconsistency in an outline’s content from one presentation to the next (some match the slides with room for notes while others already contain extra information presented in the lecture). On a few other occasions, there are typos on the outlines or unedited yet blatant mistakes in the presentation. I understand how multimedia editing works, and the package’s insert notes that there are occasionally some editing issues, but for the amount of money this thing costs, would it have killed anyone to do a second or third take of a sentence here and there, even though a couple of the lectures appear to be in front of an audience? By the way, these are enriched CDs and not DVDs, so they will not work in your standard DVD player. The self-assessment questions are either (1) basic enough to answer correctly without watching the presentations, (2) so miniscule in scope that watching the presentation is the only way to answer “correctly,” or in one or two cases, (3) completely wrong based on the information given in the lecture. Finally, I won’t mention names here, but I still can’t get over the fact that the guy presenting the sports nutrition information had an eery resemblance to a bearded Jabba the Hut huffing through Richard Nixon’s jowls. I’m sorry, I know that’s mean, but that doesn’t instill a lot of confidence in that particular information I’m getting.

Three good things: The good presenters who truly add to their lectures, PDF outlines—when they are edited correctly—for later reference (it helps to have a full PDF program that allows you to edit or at least make cover-ups and notes on the pages), brevity and density of information.

Three not-so-good things: The poor presenters who could make a mint as non-invasive alternatives to Sominex, unedited mistakes in both the presentations and outlines, technical issues (does not play nice with Opera, minimum system requirements are probably the lowest standard that keeps your computer from completely crashing rather than running the program smoothly).

My opinion: Unless you have absolutely no chance of learning outside of a visual lecture environment, skip this purchase, especially if you already have at least moderate familiarity with the content of the Essentials textbook, which has more and better visual aids. I didn’t pick up anything I didn’t already get from the textbook, and I sure as hell wouldn’t use this in place of the textbook.

(Note: The NSCA will begin testing with content from the third edition of Essentials in summer 2009, so if you plan to sit for the CSCS before then, study the second edition on which this symposium is based.)

Harleys, sports, and Idiocracy

How’s THAT for a potpourri of a title? So yes, here I am again, blogging on a Friday evening. I’m not even at work this time, but this just seems to be one of the few times I get some writing done. I started this morning, but I had to get to the gym before noon so as not to interrupt the ABZ class with my wallowing on the floor in a heap of sweat and tears after my workout. I got back, showered, and since it was less than 95F today, the girl and I jumped on the Harley to hit a couple dealers and see if I could straight-trade my ride for an older and/or more used touring model (no go: one dealer was out of stock—2009 models are coming in—and another wanted $1700 down, meaning they could’ve made the trade if they weren’t so concerned with a sizable profit, but hey, dems da berries, so I’ll just use what would’ve been a down payment to upgrade what I have). So, now I sit here on my couch putting this together while the daylight fades away. One very cool thing from today, though: not too long ago, my car became a self-contained rotisserie (follow-up here). Just for kicks, I decided to try out the Harley key-and-fob that the firefighters pulled out of the ashes, and wouldn’t you know that the sonuvabitch works, alarm remote control and all? Hilarious, but at least I have a back-up key-and-fob again, though the charred one is still a little gooey.

At any rate, today is the day (by the time I post and you read this, much of this will be old news… “olds”?): the Olympics are here, and it doesn’t look like the Chinese government’s extremist measures to reduce pollution have worked. Doesn’t it just suck when you find out you can’t bend Nature to your will and whim? At least there’s a chance we’ll get to see some unprecedented coverage angles, depending on the level of censorship in place. Maybe all the big explosions—the planned ones, at least—will make everyone forget all the environmental and human rights issues at play (more on a dumbed-down society in a few minutes).

Elsewhere in sports, Brett Favre will likely be playing again this season. For the New York Jets. Um, yeah… here’s some rambling I did on a frequented forum earlier today:

“I will always respect Favre as a great QB. There is no question there. Right up until a month or two ago, I would’ve had 110% respect for him as a person, too. I don’t doubt his retirement tears were sincere, but all this recent bullshit has really put him on an “annoying people” list. In previous seasons, even though he played it out up to training camp, he never said he was definitely gone. This last time, he said he was definitely gone, early enough so the Packers could move ahead without him, but when the season rolls back around, he has to pull on the jersey for one more? Please. I can sort of relate to the feeling since that happens to me every November with wrestling season, even though it’s been eleven years since I competed and five years since I last coached, but if your decision impacts an entire franchise’s personnel and gameplan, and you decide to reverse course at the risk of fucking all that up, I’m sorry, but you’re a dick. He’s going to pull a Montana or a Unitas and keep coming back long after his prime, and it’s going to be a sad decline, especially when he had the chance to go out on top of his game like Elway or Sanders. I hope but don’t expect that Green Bay has a great year, probably playoffs at best, and I hope the Jets flounder for a couple more years before realizing they paid a lot of money for a name.”

Isaac has a similar opinion. Love ya, Brett, but my opinion of you fell to just about the same level as my opinion of the other New York QB, recent Super Bowl championship notwithstanding (read: not good).

I watched Idiocracy for the first time last night. Yes, I realize how far behind I am on some of my movie watching, but then, I’m not a big movie watcher in the first place. At any rate, I couldn’t help but think about how Wall-E ripped off a LOT of the movie, from the mountains of garbage to dumbing down of society (obesity was conspicuously absent from much of Idiocracy, but then, Hollywood couldn’t show REAL people being fat, just cartoons, right?). Copyright infringement notwithstanding, this is another dark picture of mankind, albeit with an obligatory comedic twinge, set 500 years into the future. Wall-E is a cartoon set 700 years into the future with mankind in outer space and robots left to clean up the mess. People can watch and enjoy these movies—well, sort of—because the plot is set so far into the future as to not really matter to us today, or so it would seem. However, that future is now, or at least a lot closer than we think. Don’t believe me? In the context of Idiocracy and Wall-E, take a look at some recent headlines: “Paris Hilton enters election fray,” “Opposite sides weigh in on flying fat,” “Could a little indecency save network TV?”, “Ohio inmate says he’s too fat for execution” (and commentary from Michelle), “Prince Chunk the fat cat will be saved,” “Less talk and more pills from psychiatrists,” “Micro S’mores,” “We’ll all be fat in 40 years” (thanks to Andrew for that one), and Eric Cressey convinced a high school pitcher that the YMCA dance is good for shoulder health. Last time, I linked a New York Times article showing what and how much more we’re eating compared to thirty years ago, almost all of it in refined, processed carbs (Dr. Eades posted an intensely scientific—and all-around excellent—blog about issues related to that article). Need I say more?

This is why I like a lot of good, classic science-fiction. There are a lot of way-out-there technologies and life forms, a lot of darkness (funny or not), but also a lot of lessons to be taught and learned. Weird sexual relationships aside (I’m thinking specifically of Robert Heinlein’s work), there is hope, grounded hope, not pie-in-the-sky hope. Not so much with most recent stuff. Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower is a great read that I highly recommend if you’re into near-futurism—it paints a much darker picture of humanity without pulling any punches or trying to yuck it up from time to time. Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is a must-read for everyone (and yes, I do keep a towel with me most times). A mass order from Amazon just netted me Ender’s Game (no, I’ve never read it or Dune, for that matter), so I’m looking forward to that in a couple days as a get-away from all the CSCS-related reading I’ve been doing.

/completely random rambling

From before:
—Dr. Eades continues his series on the Israeli low-carb study I’ve reference here the past few posts.
—Did cavemen eat carbs? Perhaps, but nowhere near the amount we do now (see link to NYT article two paragraphs ago).
—Peter Donnally talks about common mistakes we make in interpreting numbers (think: scientific studies in mass media).
—Aging patients are seeing the doctor more, but they’re waiting in line just like almost everyone else—that is, unless they’re out completing Ironmans (embedded in Andrew’s post).

For now:
—Bugs for breakfast? I’m all for it. The best line from this article comes at the end: “Why douse fields with pesticides if the bugs we kill are more nutritious than the crops they eat?” Absolutely. In other news, protein powder will kill you.
—Hey, guess what? “Cardio” alone is not going to give you the body you want (unless you like the Sta-Puft look), nor is it a precursor or foundation for strength or speed.
—Brad discovered kettlebells. It’s all over now.
—Mike gives another BOOYAH to self-myofascial release (soft tissue work). Are you doing yours? (*pssst* I’ve been slacking myself, and I can feel it.) And is stretching all it’s cracked up to be?
—Andrew gives props (kickstands?) to cyclists. A bicycle has been my next major purchase for awhile (just as soon as life’s necessities are well taken care of). What are you on? Andrew also sequels an old blog about presidential fitness, a topic Lou Schuler tackled at this year’s JP Fitness Summit (wow, who knew Lou had his own Wikipedia page?).
—We humans are Neanderthals no more. Oh look, another article with the same title (these latter ones are actually helpful; click through for all four parts of the series).
—I finally bought a metallic water bottle yesterday, and as much as I hate throwing away plastics, my old water bottles are gone now. This thing is great and will pay for itself pretty soon.
—If marathon video gaming doesn’t kill you, it can still create a need for some psychological help.
—Geek-out: the era of air rage (if you can’t afford a $14,000 ticket on a copycat, or even your own plane), speakers make hybrids sound like regular cars (mainly to save lives), a gas pedal that pushes back, weather insurance, happy birthday to the mimeograph, happy fifteenth anniversary to the Microsoft antitrust case, DNS was is could be so screwed, no lock is unpickable, never lose at rock-paper-scissors, get more from Google Reader (like this blog), Halligan bars for everyone!

For later:
—Lyle continues his look into the relationship of physiology and psychology, in which he touches on the idea of a biological set(tling) point, something I first heard about from Alan Aragon at this year’s JP Fitness Summit. Frankly, I’m living proof of the idea. Set aside some time for this one—it’s well worth it.
—You need to fail in order to truly succeed.
—Ross notes that Randy Pausch of “Last Lecture” fame did a lot more than just, well, the last lecture. Gary also invokes Pausch in a few words on staying the course.
—It’s not the size of the dog in the fight…
—Variety is the key to success, but moderate that moderation, too.
—People who train only their mirror muscles are preparing for others to see them following. People who also train their hidden muscles are preparing for people to see them leading. (No, there’s no link—I came up with that myself while doing 400m sprints yesterday. Hey, even a blind squirrel finds a nut every now and then.)

Mondays and the Olympics

Many people love their birthdays regardless of any self-effacing comments about how old they’re getting. I don’t—my birthday is just like any other day to me. Many people despise Mondays. I don’t—they’re the same as any other day to me. For one, my weeks aren’t generally divided into work week and weekend—such is life in radio and other self-employment ventures—and haven’t been that way for over five years. For two, there’s a certain sense of hitting the figurative reset button in that Monday signals a return to self-improvement, whether that’s getting back into the gym or paying attention to the diet again, after a weekend of all manner of debauchery. If I had a traditional work schedule, I’d probably look forward to Mondays rather than having no real opinion on them one way or another (depending on the job I had, of course).

When it comes to the gym itself—not the workout—Mondays are terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad days. As if I needed a refresher, I was reminded of this yesterday. If you’ve spent any amount of time in a typical commercial gym, you know that Mondays are National Chest & Biceps Days, every week, period (well, unless there’s any hint of a holiday nearby, in which case the place is barer than Minka Kelly in Tony Gentilcore’s mind). Mondays are a perfect storm of entertainment, annoyance, and Darwinism, and in a relative crush of humanity to boot. So many people scurrying to a single room to contort themselves in all manner of positions on what they think (believe?) are paths to better bodies. I won’t go into the complete idiocy involved in the majority of what most people consider to be good workouts, but the attitudes with which they approach their “training” are deplorable. There’s nothing wrong with a grunt here or a heavy exhalation there, but there is absolutely no reason to fake an orgasm while doing a ten-pound shoulder press. There is nothing wrong with dropping a weight when you go for and miss a personal record lift—I often drop from the pull-up bar when I miss my last rep simply because my grip gives out—but there’s no reason to THROW your dumbbells after finishing your twenty-rep incline bench press (if you can still throw them, they obviously weren’t that heavy in the first place, and you’re obviously a prick for potentially damaging equipment that others use, and f*ck your excuse of “I pay membership dues here just like everyone else”—if it’s your personal equipment that you bought and use, that’s fine; otherwise, sit and spin, buddy).

Did you notice that the Summer Olympics are here again? I didn’t. I was really into the Olympics ten or fifteen years ago, but as I followed them more, two things really turned me off to them: (1) the promoted atmosphere of pure, fair competition repeatedly marred by impure, unfair means of competition—I frankly don’t care if the athletes dope, but don’t advertise an event as free of performance-enhancers if it’s really not—and (2) the rampant politics of the whole shebang behind a facade of world unity. Who in their right minds would approve Beijing as a host for this thing? If nature and physical well-being is your thing, who in the developing world has a worse (current) record of environmental damage than urban(izing) China? If human rights are your thing, who among the countries vying for hosting the Games has a worse (current) record of oppression and violence against its own people? Hell, people are forgetting—or never really knew—the facts behind September 11, so I guess it’s no surprise that no one remembers Tiananmen Square (I was almost ten years old when it happened, and *I* still remember it). What about censorship? The Chinese government has sworn up and down to have free and open media access. Yeah, right. Athletes, governments, and whole nations are questioning, protesting, and even boycotting these Games for various reasons, but somehow, Beijing landed the Olympics. My only real interest—and it’s a fleeting interest, at that—is the amount of coverage from NBC and its affiliated networks. They’re claiming to be broadcasting every hour of every competition, so I may try to catch some of the wrestling. Otherwise, I’ll probably be sleeping or out training in the relatively light smog and ozone hovering over Charlotte on any given day.

Recycle:
—Dr. Eades offers more evidence supporting a low(er)-carb diet (this is a geeked-out article of the Alan Aragon ilk, so be prepared).
—Recently, it was the statin mess. Now, surprise of surprises, fast-food kids’ meals are *gasp* high in calories and fairly unhealthy? Gosh, no, really? Shocking. Oh yeah, advertisers target kids, and movies turn kids into violent psychopaths. Just in case you were wondering.
—Prostate screening may do more harm than good, so age may actually be a viable excuse.

Reduce:
—Here’s another “yay” for nutrient timing, even though I’m increasingly moving away from this school of thought, but if it works for you, then go for it. For me, what you do or don’t eat is as important, if not more so, than when you eat. There’s still less than a snowball’s chance in hell that I’ll ever like beets, but I’ll gladly continue my coffee regimen until there’s definitive evidence saying moderate intake (1-2 cups per day) has more risk than reward.
—Mark weighs in on fiber, fat, and fasting.
—We’re yet another step closer to living, breathing, Wall-E-esque flubber, maybe because fewer of us live in established neighborhoods. Until then, Leigh wants you to eat her. Who am I to argue?
—Who knew that smoking, undoubtedly a health hazard, also raised racial questions?
—Geek-out: happy anniversaries (of some sort) to quasars—er, QSOs—and absinthe, happy trails to Gene Hughes and a $5 billion warship that can’t defend itself, interplanetary scuba diving, biodefense labs themselves may be more dangerous than the pathogens they contain, getting comped in Las Vegas, never be fooled by childproof packaging again, South Park’s “Imaginationland” series compiled (totally NSFW), how’s that whole energy independence thing going?

Reuse:
—Lyle begins a series of articles on the role of stress and the interplay between physiology and psychology, which could tie in nicely to biotensegrity (I admit I haven’t fully reviewed either of these links as of this writing). I’m probably getting his book recommendation during my best bookstore binge.
—Even when Gary talks about training, he references inspirational stories (I will never again complain about the hill I use for these drills).
—As a former (mediocre) wrestler, Richard Jensen’s story is particularly compelling.
—What exactly IS our place in the cosmos?

Friday finale?

They did it. They really, truly, honestly did it. They created a magic pill, which by itself is nothing unusual, but this pill causes muscular adaptation in the body that renders actual exercise unnecessary. This blog, started less than two months ago, is quickly rendered obsolete.

Even more amazingly, I actually said that with a straight face :) Yes, I’m writing again late on a Friday night (well, Saturday morning by the time this is finished). No, I don’t have anything better to do. Yes, I know that most of you won’t read this until Monday, if at all. No, I’m not even supposed to be here today, but it seems I’ve developed a nasty habit of working Friday nights lately. Rather than get into my own diatribe about what this latest pharmaceutical attempt to avoid work really means, I’ll instead hand you off to Andrew, who has already done a superb—if admittedly biased—job of pointing out the underlying humor involved here (speaking of bias, which I’ve harped on before, Alan Aragon was a guest blogger over at Lyle McDonald’s site where he delved into the issue of biased research—put your thinking caps on for this pile of gold, and no, I’m not faking it). Bottom line: our societal weight will continue on its path to Wall-E proportions for the foreseeable future.

Since it feels like a nutrition kind of day, I want to toot my own horn for a second and say that, for some odd reason, I’m on an unprecedented streak in the kitchen (no, that doesn’t involve cooking naked—do you know what popping grease can do?). I’ve never been much of a cook until the last couple months when I’ve been cooking (not eating) for two. I enjoy cooking but have never really cared enough about it to dress it up since it’s just been for me, and when that’s the case, I eat more for my macronutrient numbers than for flavor. That being said, my second batch of beef jerky in the last two months is going into the dehydrator this weekend—the first batch was usually enough to last over a week but made it only three days (rather than give my very simple recipe, try Mark’s instead—it’s a lot more difficult than mine). I’ve had a bag of pinto beans sitting the cabinet for weeks and finally took two minutes to throw them on the stove for a day (I’ll remember to add the ham bone next time), which worked out great since I found a long-forgotten box of corn muffin mix—hey, sometimes, I like to eat like I know where I live (fried green tomatoes are in the queue), which most certainly doesn’t involve intermittent fasting (not that it’s not a viable option for some people). All this comes amid the little daily successes and surprises of tweaks here and experiments there (baked stuffed squash, stuffed tomatoes, no-carb squash and tomato casserole, Asian prep of decidedly non-Asian veggies, etc, etc), and no, I don’t have recipes (so far), just some mostly blind leaps of hope that have turned out well. That’s not to say I don’t have Domino’s on speed dial, just in case.

Prologue:
—It’s too soon for the dust to have settled from that recent low-carb-wins study, but then, when you have commentary like that from Dr. Eades, it’s still entertaining to follow. It also questions the conventional wisdom of “a calorie is a calorie”—some say yes, some say no (you say good-bye, I say hello).
—Last time, I linked one of several recent articles about renewed concern over cell phone radiation risks. What these studies fail to consider is that a large number of people who might be affected won’t be around long enough to be affected.
—Sunscreen labeling may be getting its legislative day in the sun.
—As our population ages, will that be reflected in a more “seasoned” moviegoing experience?

Bridge:
—Mark extends his pinky finger to the LA Sheriff’s Department.
—Sometimes, “green” is a euphemism, but leave it to Brad to channel Dr. Seuss.
—The guys at Cressey Performance toss out their usual Friday randomness. Of particular note, Eric demonstrates how to use a leg abductor (aka: “good girl”) machine as a human slingshot, and Tony reminds us that C is for cookie. Elsewhere, Leigh says that C is for—oh just shut up and eat more already! (This link is a gratuitous excuse to, um, promote the Ringside Boxing heavy bag, yeah, so I’ll be expecting my, um, royalty check—or pin-up calendar—any day now, kthxbye.)
—Andrew offers firsthand commentary on how dumbbells are sometimes found behind the gym desk, not just in the free-weight area.
—I finally landed a copy of SimCity Societies and Destinations this week (it’s been nice knowing y’all). I’ll be considering the use and impact—though unfortunately not the full economics—of mass transit in varying sizes of cities, and I’m pretty sure space travel won’t fly on frequent flyer miles (truth may be stranger than fiction here). I WILL be trying my hand at creating viable walking cities, though. Speaking of video games, here’s a Johnny-come-lately article on fitness in gaming, and here’s one on how the interactive music performance genre may get a little more acoustically genuine in the near-future.
—Geek-out: Intel pwnz OLPC, the Antikythera Mechanism, how to stop a fight (I really just wanted an excuse to post the article-ending video), happy birthday to cable TV regulation (and to even more largely subjective red tape), the cosmic Rosetta Stone, the world’s fastest production car goes topless, gallery of the recent solar eclipse, origami on crack, cable cars still rolling, a $46,000 oil change.

Epilogue:
—This thirty-three year old mother of three is going to Beijing. Also, check out Ross’ new video compilation.
—Beware the company you keep.
—Even the most overwhelmed of parents can find inner peace, and it doesn’t involve muzzles or ritual sacrifice.
—Talent is never enough.