Today I realized that I am not as young as I sometimes think.

My body huuuuuuuuurts.

After winning the teacher limbo yesterday, I apparently thought it would be a good idea to bike all day. One thing that I had always wanted to do was bike across the Golden Gate bridge and having Sarah here in town, it seemed like a great time to do it. So I met up with her on the wharf at about 130 pm and we went and rented a tandem bike.

Yes, it most certainly was a bicycle built for two. For $11/hr.

We have yet to determine how they actually get tourists to do this. We rented our bike, got our directions and away we went. A few wobbles at first but no falls and we were going strong! The path was not clearly marked and we spent the better part of the beginning of the journey checking to see where we were. Finally after an gruesome battle up hill from the ocean to the level of the bridge we were on that bridge painted with the fantastic International Orange color!

My hair was windswept on the Golden Gate bridge.

At the bridge level, it was windy, fast moving and crazy! But so amazingly beautiful and worth it. Being in the front, I had to make sure that we didnt crash and didnt run into the serious bikers of the bridge given limited space. In doing so, I didnt get to see too much of the view but from what I did, it was fantastic. After making it to the other side of the bridge, we went down an amazing down hill slope and walked a ways into Sausalito where we could take the ferry back to SF instead of having to bike it back. In Sausalito while Sarah was waiting in line for the ferry I had the most fantastic strawberry margarita froyo. Soo good (and pricey)!

We were in line at 4:05 for the 4:30 ferry. The ferry finally showed up at 4:50 and sure enough there were just enough people ahead of us that we got to the front of the line and they said they couldn’t fit any more. So we had to wait for the next ferry and given that we were paying for our bikes by the hour, we weren’t too happy about it. We got back into the city at 6:30 but the ferry didnt take us to where we needed to go and had to tandem bike from the Ferry building to Hyde street which is about a mile. However we were now tandeming amongst the traffic and almost (almost) got run over by a sight seeing double decker. We had such a good time doing it. Once we had dropped out bike off at the rental shop (where we did not get a refund because the ferry f’d up and caused us to be late), we then had to walk all the way back to the ferry building where the BART station is close to. Walking back seemed to take a lot longer than biking towards!

We finally made it back to Oakland where my body is in rough shape. I had an amazing time but the time spent in the hot tub this evening was well deserved!

Sarah and I in Sausalito, with SF in the background

The table below shows the sales activity for Marin County and Southern Sonoma County for the month of October 2009, sorted alphabetically by the name of the City.

For more information about a specific City, click on the corresponding link.

Please note that all Original Asking Prices are without any price reductions.

This information is current as of November 6, 2009 and the sources are BAREIS and CleanOffer.   

As of November 6, 2009 only 21% of available listings in Sausalito are in escrow.

For the month of October 2009 only 7 homes (1 of which was a distress sale) sold in Sausalito, for an average final selling price of $1,190,750.

The average original asking price of these homes was $1,197,429.

The range of final selling prices was from a low of $346,500 to a high of $2,925,000.

Of the 7 homes that sold, 1 sold at the original asking price and 1 sold over the original asking price.

It took these homes an average of 70 days to sell.

To see everything that is currently available for sale through our MLS, click here.

To learn more about this area, visit my website or feel free to contact me directly.

Join us for three hours of dancing, light food and fun to benefit Marin YMCA’s Strong COmmunities Campaign. Hosted by the Marin YMCA group exercise departent along with 6 Bay Area certified Zumba instructors.

Bring a smile, water and hips that are ready to shake, shake, shake!

When: Saturday, November 7th

Time: 6:30 pm – 9:30 pm

Where: Marin YMCA Gym

Fee: $20

Tickets are on sale now!

Bring a friend! You don’t have to be a YMCA member to participate.

Contact Stephanie Mahoney at (415) 446-2145 for more information

MArin YMCA • 1500 Los Gamos Drive, San Rafael, CA 94903 • 415 – 492 – YMCA

The BACKMASTER

A Gerente Geral do Varanda das Bromélias Boutique Hotel  fez uma viagem inesquecível com um grupo de amigas aos Estados Unidos. Elas conheceram Nova Iorque e a Califórnia, em 2006. Nesta entrevista ela conta o que mais chamou atenção, os momentos divertidos e claro, as dicas imperdíveis como os fascinantes  Sausalito, Carmel e Monterey. Confira os momentos marcantes e por que vale a pena conhecer esse destino.

DUE  - Quando fizeste essa viagem e com que objetivos?

Fui em 2006. Frequentemente  vou  à NY para visitar minha irmã que continua morando lá. Neste ano aproveitei e convidei amigas para a primeira viagem juntas ao exterior.

DUE  - Por que escolheu esse destino?

Morei 4 anos em Nova York e não tive a oportunidade de conhecer a costa oeste. Naquela época, precisava voltar para fazer essa viagem e também porque  sempre tive muita vontade de conhecer São Francisco. Idealizava muito esta cidade e sonhava em estar nos mesmo lugares das minhas heroínas dos livros e dos filmes, o que acabou sendo uma decepção.

DUE  - O que te chamou mais atenção? Qual dos destinos visitados nos EUA mais gostou e por quê?

Difícil dizer o destino que mais gostei… Para mim, em primeiro lugar sempre Nova York, é a segunda cidade do meu coração, por toda história que vivi lá. Então Nova York não conta, vou falar da Califórnia. Amei Napa Valley, adorei as cidadezinhas visitas pelo caminho, estes pequenos lugares sempre me fascinaram  e lá não foi diferente… Sausalito, Carmel, Monterey,  são lugares imperdíveis.

DUE - Que lembranças traz da viagem?

Em Los Angeles foi inesquecível. Fomos visitar os pais  do meu cunhado, que são mexicanos, moram em um bairro típico mexicano e nos receberam com muita comida, música, bebidas típicas do México e muita alegria. Uma mesa posta  debaixo de uma árvore no jardim da casa com pessoas  amabilíssimas, alegres e simples. Com certeza sempre será a melhor lembrança de lá.

Outra foi quando a policia nos chamou a atenção no Central Park. Como todo   nova-iorquino, estávamos fazendo um piquenique lá. Só que os nova-iorquinos sabem que bebidas alcoólicas só são permitidas envoltas em saco de papel e nós, bem felizes da vida, “explodindo” espumante no meio do gramado! Claro que não deu outra, logo estacionou o carro da policia e foi aquele mico!

DUE – Voltaria? Por quê?

Com certeza, sempre é pouco tempo para fazer tudo, passei pouco tempo em LA, gostaria de voltar com mais calma para conhecer melhor e para fazer a Rota 66 de carro.

DUE  - Que conselhos tu dá para as pessoas que quiserem conhecer o local?

Ir com tempo, fazer o trajeto Los Angeles -São Francisco de carro e ir parando em todos estes lugares incríveis pelo meio do caminho. Não deixar de conhecer Napa Valley, mesmo aqueles que não se interessam por vinhos. O lugar é incrível. Em Nova York ir com mais tempo ainda, fazer piquenique no Central park (melhor levar coca-cola) no verão.  No inverno, andar pela neve no Central Park. Ir para os outros bairros, o Brooklyn, que é lindíssimo, atravessar a ponte a pé. Procurar fugir dos meses de junho e julho em NY pois é muito quente, melhor mês para viajar é setembro para quem quiser ainda um calorzinho ou janeiro para quem quiser neve e muito frio. Nova York não precisa carro, de metrô se faz tudo, é seguro e  barato. Já Los Angeles o carro é imprescindível, tudo é distante.

DUE – Quais dicas imperdíveis que tu compartilharia com os leitores da news?

Metropolitam Museu em NY sempre – precisa um dia.

Cafe Wha em NY- apesar de ser considerado um local turístico (eu sempre procuro fugir destes lugares, pois os mais interessantes estão fora desta rota) tem uma das mais incríveis bandas  que já assisti, além de ser um local legendário, por lá já passaram Bob Dylan, John Mayer e por aí afora.

O bairro Nolita concentra um grande número de restaurantes e cafés imperdíveis.

Berkley, na Califórnia, do outro lado da Baia de São Francisco, fica essa cidade universitária. Adorei o clima do local com muitos cafés, a Universidade vale a pena conhecer também.

Here is another shot from the morning shoot of Sausalito, San Francisco.  

I hope you like it.

Chegando em  Sausalito você pode decidir continuar seu passeio pedalando até Tiburon, ou pegar o ferry de volta pra São Francisco. O centro de Sausalito é bem pequeno, e é muito fácil encontrar o ponto de onde  os barcos saem.

Existem 2 linhas de ferry pra São Francisco: a Blue & Gold Ferry que te leva até o pier 41, ao lado do pier 43 1/2, onde alugamos as bikes. Já o Golden Gate Ferry vai até o Ferry Building ( ou pier 1), da onde dá pra pedalar tranquilamente até o 43 1/2. Entramos no primeiro ferry que chegou, que ía pro Ferry Building. Já tinhamos comprado os tickets quando  alugamos as bikes; mas também dá pra comprar dentro do barco.

A travessia demora 20 minutos, tempo ideal pra relaxar e até dar uma dormidinha. Mas aqui é preciso ficar atento pro processo de embarcar e desembarcar as bikes, porque é uma super confusão. No momento que você entra no ferry com a bike, você precisa colocá-la no rack de bicicletas. Até aí nenhum problema. Acontece que você e mais 200 pessoas (tô chutando o número) vão fazer a mesma coisa, o que quer dizer que se você foi um dos primeiros a entrar ( meu caso), sua bicicleta fica presa lá no fundo, e você precisa esperar as outras 180 pessoas tirarem as bicicletas delas pra você poder sair.

No  momento em que o alto-falante anuncia o “bem vindos à São Francisco”, os mais rápidos saem na frente ( foi o caso do P.), e os mais calmos  ficam horas lá atrás, esperando sua vez ( meu caso). Como se não bastasse, o pier  em São Francisco fica um andar acima do nível da água, e você precisa carregar a bicicleta rampa acima mais uma vez. Soltei um ” I’m not sure if I can make it”, e um homem que trabalha no  ferry carregou minha bike rampa acima.

Na saída, passe pelo Ferry Building, vire à direita, e vá pedalando pela rua até o Pier 43 1/2. No caminho ainda dá pra ver um pouco da arquitetura da cidade,

E a super lotação dos leões no Pier 39.

E, finalmente, o Pier 43 1/2 de volta. Pagamos $ 32 por cada bike mais $ 7 pela ticket do ferry. Não é um passeio barato, isso sem incluir comida, mas é muito muito divertido e pode render até 1 dia inteiro.

Leia também:

Bike the Bay: O melhor passeio de São Francisco

Bike the Bay: Do Fisherman’s Wharf ao Crissy Field

Bike the Bay: Atravessando a Golden Gate de bike I

Bike the Bay: Atravessando a Golden Gate de bike II

Bike the Bay: Da Golden Gate até Sausalito

Depois de atravessar a Golden Gate, você chega no mirante chamado “Vista Point”, dali dá pra ver a cidade toda. Esse mirante também é um lugar lindo pra se ir de carro numa noite bonita. O único problema é que precisa pagar o pedágio de novo pra entrar em São Francisco. Já de dia, a vista da baía é essa aqui.

Daqui  pra frente, o passeio vira uma volta de bicicleta pra criança. Não precisa nem pedalar na descida pra Sausalito, e chegando lá, é só pegar o ferry de volta. Vamos lá, passo-a-passo:

Saia do mirante em direção à freeway e você logo vê a placa pra Sausalito e as pessoas descendo de bicicleta

Ladeia abaixo, não  precisa nem  pedalar

Cuidado com quem vem atrás, quando parar pra tirar fotos

Em menos de 10 minutos, você entra em Sausalito pelos fundos (literalmente),

Vá pedalando em direção ao mar até chegar no centro.

E a vista de São Francisco,

Dê uma volta  por Sausalito, mas cuidado com a bike, porque aqui também roubam bicicletas. Vá até a pracinha central,

ou escolha um dos cafés  de frente pro mar.

Tem  também uma sorveteria lotada, com uns sorvetes enormes.

Depois de Sausalito, dá pra  seguir o passeio até Tiburon ou pegar o ferry de volta pra São Francisco. Nós escolhemos voltar pra São Francisco.

2a feira: De Sausalito pra São Francisco de ferry

Leia também:

Bike the Bay: O melhor passeio de São Francisco

Bike the Bay: Do Fisherman’s Wharf ao Crissy Field

Bike the Bay: Atravessando a Golden Gate de bike  I

Bike the Bay: Atravessando a Golden Gate de bike  II

A entrada na ponte é impressionante, principalmente pra quem nunca passou lá antes.A Golden Gate  além de bonita, é imponente. A vegetação na entrada da baía é linda, e a ponte, que liga o Land’s End de São Francisco ao Marin Headlands, faz desse lugar, um dos mais bonitos dos Estados Unidos. Lembro de ter ficado surpresa com a cor e com o tamanho, da primeira vez que ví; agora, já acostumei.

O que também  chama atenção, além da cor, é o barulho ensurdecedor pra quem está andando ou pedalando por ali. É uma  sinfonia descoordenada com o barulho dos carros, barulho do vento, barulho  das placas de aço da ponte que tremem com a passagem dos carros, o apito dos navios que passam por baixo dela e um helicoptero pra completar a cena. Nem pense em ter aqui aquele momento romântico, com cochichos no ouvido;  definitivamente não é lugar pra isso.

Ainda que a audição não seja o sentido mais privilegiado, a visão e o olfato se deliciam com o cheiro forte de maresia, o azul do céu, o azul escuro do mar, a vegetação e as prainhas lá em baixo que, fora a areia escura, me lembraram a Rio -Santos por um breve momento.

Como atravessamos  a ponte pelo lado esquerdo, tivemos  a visão de fora da baía, com o Pacífico lá no fundo. Se você atravessar durante a semana, pelo lado direito, vai ver melhor a cidade.

Demoramos uns 45 minutos do Crissy Field até a entrada da ponte, e mais uns  20/30 minutos  pra atravessar, tirando fotos e curtindo bastante a paisagem.

Por incrível que pareça, a Golden Gate tem uma das maiores taxas de suícidio do mundo, então você  encontra esses telefones ao longo de toda a ponte. A intenção é ajudar os suicidas antes que eles pulem. Existem grupos que vivem  tentando aprovar barreiras de proteção, mas tem muita briga por causa disso, porque qualquer tipo de barreira  afetaria bastante a beleza da estrutura.

No final da ponte, o único “bad moment” do passeio. O mirante, Vist Point, fica do lado direito da saída da ponte. E não sei se vocês lembram, estamos no lado esquerdo, por causa do final de semana. Então, ao invés de cairmos direto no mirante, tivemos  que descer a escada de acesso da pista esquerda pra direita, cruzar por baixo da ponte ( mais e mais barulho) e subir a escada do outro lado. Nenhum problema, se não fosse a bicicleta e o cansaço depois de quase 2 horas de passeio. Porque, apesar de estarmos nos  Estados Unidos, tivemos mesmo que  carregar a bicicleta no muque. As escadas são super inclinadas, então se você acha que só é difícil subir, tá enganado. Descer também é bem complicadinho, e minha bicicleta quase voou algumas vezes. Agradeci  minhas aulas de ginástica e os músculos que ganhei ultimamente nos braços, poie eles foram definitivamente fundamentais nessa etapa.

Mas quando chegamos do outro lado, esquecemos de todo o  esforço que foi  chegar até ali. A paisagem é muuiito bonita, vale muito a pena.

Amanhã: Da ponte até Sausalito

Leiam também:

Bike the Bay: O melhor passeio de São Francisco

Bike the Bay: Do Fisherman’s Wharf até o Crissy Field

Bike the Bay: Atravessando a Golden Gate de bike – I

This image was taken from Sausalito looking out toward Angel Island in the San Francisco Bay area.  Myself and Neal headed to the location about 30 minutes before first light which proved to be a good move as this is when I found the light to be at its best for this particular morning.  It was still dark so the city lights reflected nicely off the low lying cloud and light fog that was about.  We were also hoping for a spectacular sunrise but unfortunately the cloud was too heavy on the horizon.

Luck comes into play in a big way when you only have that one or two days to shoot a particular location. You can do as much research as you like, and have allllll the gear at hand, but having the weather do exactly what you want, when you want just isn’t going to happen.  I bet if Jesus was here today and into this whole photography thing he would capture some incredible images.

6 image stitch

Depois do descanso, chega a pior parte do passeio. Eu digo pior, mas não no sentido de ser ruim, mas sim de ser a parte menos prazerosa.A subida começa atrás da lanchonete, e, dessa vez  é mais inclinada  e  mais longa. Dá pra pegar embalo e subir um pouquinho, mas logo o folêgo acaba,  obrigadando você  a descer e empurrar a bicicleta ladeira acima. Nada trágico, garanto.

Lá em cima, dá pra ver todo o Crissy Field

E mais adiante, a cidade

Pare  pra tomar folêgo, porque tem mais ladeira, a última

Depois dessa, já dá pra perceber que a ponte está bem mais perto e você tá chegando lá.

Aqui o caminho se divide em 2:  existe uma rota usada durante a semana ( fiz essa da outra vez), que atravessa a ponte pelo lado direito. E existe a rota do final de semana que atravessa a ponte pelo lado esquerdo. Isso acontece porque durante a semana, o lado esquerdo da ponte fica fechado pro pessoal da manutenção poder trabalhar.

Meu conselho é tentar ir durante a semana, não só porque dá pra ter a vista do  lado de dentro da baía, mas por causa de um detalhe logístico que vou contar no final da travessia da ponte.

Um desvio na  trilha do final de semana leva à um lugar lindo daqui ( preciso fazer posts de lá, nunca fiz), que é o Land’s End.

Vire à esquerda e você chegou  na entrada da ponte

A travessia até Sausalito, vai ficar pra amanhã.

Leia também:

Bike the Bay: O melhor passeio de São Francisco

Bike the Bay: Do Fisherman’s Wharf até o Crissy Field

Stacy Finz, Chronicle Staff Writer

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/10/25/FDQ51A8BRI.DTL#recipe8#ixzz0V9wOQJJb

Remember Hunt’s slogan for sloppy Joe sauce: “A sandwich is a sandwich, but a Manwich is a meal”? Well, to borrow a phrase from the Virginia Slims folks, sandwiches have “come a long way, baby.” Once the simple stuff of… » Full Story on San Francisco Chronicle

Our very own Shana Morrison will be performing at Yoshi’s San Francisco.

Wednesday, November 18
Yoshi’s San Francisco
1330 Fillmore @ Eddy
San Francisco, CA (map)
8 p.m. show
Info: 415-655-5600

Posted by: pantilat | June 16, 2009

If you are looking for some E (elevation) in the Bay Area, this post provides a great list of hill climbs, including famous mountains like Diablo and Tamalpais, but also lesser known trails and summits. These ascents will not only get your heart pumping, but will also inspire you with the beauty of nature. The high point is listed in parenthesis.

CLICK HERE TO READ FURTHER

The quick answer: LEGS

Long answer: Your legs are the most powerful part of your body.

The quadriceps femoris (Latin for “four-headed [muscle] of the femur”), also called simply the quadriceps, quadriceps extensor,quads, is a large muscle group that includes the four prevailing muscles on the front of the thigh. It is the great extensor muscle of the knee, forming a large fleshy mass which covers the front and sides of the femur. It is the strongest and leanest muscle in the human body. (wikipedia)

When you work your leg muscles you burn the most calories, fat and energy leading to a stronger base and an amplified strength. Your legs not only consist of the quad muscles but also the calves, thighs, gluteus and hip muscles. They all account for your foundation which the rest of your body relies upon.

The Workout:

1.Assited Squats (one hand on wall for stabilization): 3 sets of 10 reps – 6 minutes

Stretch (muscles should be stretched with blood flow present): hamstrings, calves, quads

2. One-leg stair lunge (Skip every other stair while lunging into a deep stretch): 2 sets of 10 reps – 8 minutes

3. Calf Raise: Put your toes on the edge of a stair and thrust up on our tip toes, the lower to a stretch: 3 sets of 15 reps – 10 minutes

4. Wall Squats: place yourself in a sitting position up against a wall and hold yourself there for 30 seconds. do this 2 times – 5 minutes

A rain delay was all that stood in the way of the Yankee’s and the World Series. A-Rod rid himself of his useless post season player file. Andy kept up being Andy and C.C. showed why he was paid so much. The only thing the Yankee’s didn’t do so well was accounting for their Tax (Teixiera) as he went 0 – 489,098 or so it seemed. Just shy of a $1 billion roster gets you a 6-game series win into the World Series. Imagine if the Yankees only spent $850 million, they would have been bounced out of the ALDS vs. the Twins. Close one . . .

Congrats to the Yankees for proving that $$$ does buy wins. I have them in 6 against the Phillies. Read on.

The Yankees do a great job at showing what a lot of money can do for you, but what if you don;t have the payroll to finance a great team, a great life, a great body? You will need to be resourceful and do a better job working with what you have, thank you Oakland Athletics and Tampa Bay Rays. Take full advantage of what you got and maximize your results so that future investments end up hitting home runs.

Nautilus of Marin is your low-budget, affordable health club geared towards offering all the amenities you need to achieve the healthiest body and lifestyle you can while keeping your wallet heavy. We call it a Fat Wallet – Healthy Body diet. Call Nautilus at (415) 331-3020 today and see how we can get you on track with a sure-fire money-saving, body aiding lifestyle.

Visit Nautilus of Marin’s website for more information.

El Sausalito es el estadio del Everton de Viña del Mar, el equipo chileno que jugó contra las Chivas del Guadalajara en la Copa Libertadores 2009. Tiene capacidad para poco menos de 20 mil espectadores, pero ha llegado a albergar hasta a 30 mil aficionados.

Fue construido en 1929 y fue sede de la Copa del Mundo de Chile 1962.

Y bueno, estas fotos son precisamente del día que jugaron Everton vs Chivas, horas antes de que empezara el partido y durante el transcurso de éste. Las subo hasta ahora porque creo que en su momento (después del partido) no las subí todas a internet.

Saludos.

Fotos: Elias Arriazola

THE UNDEAD were warned: No eating anyone.

“The zombies have been instructed,” Kathleen Kelley says. “No eating the humans. They can’t attack people.”

Good to know. It makes lunch breaks at rehearsal less complicated.

At 5:30 p.m. Saturday, thousands – perhaps more – unusually dressed people will line up in formation at their prospective locations all over the world, including Marin. The iconic strains of Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” will start. Then all those people will start the most famous synchronized zombie dance in history – not that there’s a lot of competition.

Read More

Most people set goals like, lose 25 lbs in a year, get a new job in 6 months, be married before I turn 35. These goal are great but the one thing they have in common with other goals is that they all take time. A lot of time, and time is simply something we don’t, well, have time for. So the simple solution is to cut out the time and make the goal easier to obtain while keeping the bigger picture in reach.

Fitness makes couch gravity unstoppable  to most people. In order to pry yourself away from the lazyboy you have to give yourself a chance. Set goals like; 3 lbs a week, an extra 5 minutes a day, steam room once more a week. All this will eventually lead to the overall goal you seek. If you lose 3 lbs a week you will lose 12 lbs a month, well on your way to any goal your fitness-ambitious mind sets.

Tips to setting goals:

1. Think fractions – if you want to lose 12 lbs. a month – cut it down to 3 lbs. a week. Smaller time chunks mean quicker results. It is all how you think about it.

2. Prioritize your goals: The most important goal is first but not always finished first. Losing weight can be done at the same time as running a 7 minute mile.

3. Figure out what it takes to achieve other goals and your initial goal might be met along the way: Julie wanted to get married by the time she was 35, she also wanted a better job. During her job search she met Tim at a recruiting meeting, who she ended up marrying. New job and a husband. Nice!

4. Most important step: Write down your goals. Get those ideas out of your head and onto paper. Put the paper in places you see everyday like the fridge, bathroom mirror or computer. Remind yourself of them and make them part of your daily ritual.

5. Don’t worry about setbacks. If you are trying to lose weight but on saturday night you ate three pieces of cheesecake – remember – that cheesecake wont show up on you for another couple days, you wont gain the weight overnight – you still have a chance to go to the gym and work it off! All food can be broken down into fat or energy. You can eat what you want, do what you want, you just have to make up for it later. Set backs teach us to focus more. Use the cheesecake as a motivational factor, besides, there is always a trainer ready to help you when you need a boost. – Visit Nautilus of Marin for our trainer info and rates.

To photoshop or not to photoshop: that is the question.

Due to recent photochop scandals – ahem – Ralph Lauren – Maxim – Everyone on match.com. Nautilus is now being exposed to the media as a photoshop wonder. Recent ads have shown our cover model fitness guru – Mark (last name withheld due to privacy maters) as a perfectly proportioned individual with a “tad” bit of an enhancement. We here at Nautilus dispute that any photoshop was used and that his result of heavy lifting has given him his biceps of power, his triceps of steel and his shoulders of pumped up lead bearing Zeus cannons. See for yourself and compare the actual photo with the controversial photo and you will see the only difference is a few warm-up sets and a good pump. For more photo’s and gossip: visit our website at nautilusofmarin.com and email us.

Original Photo

Advertised Photo

Pound for pound – boxing is the best way to lose weight and have fun.

We are not talking about Muhammad Ali or Mike Tyson, we are talking about constant cardio – quick bursts of power mixed with a steady flow of areobic movements. Since the late 40’s boxing has been associated with bar fights – military workouts and social betting. In the 90’s boxing became a hit in gyms with cardio kickboxing. Now, after a few years of recovery – boxing is back in a new, time efficient workout.

The main idea is to keep your heart rate up and the intensity through the roof. It only takes 30 minutes but you wil do enough work that 3o minutes of high intensity cardio and power moves will equal the same as 90 minutes of walking. It is all about intensity!

High Intensity Cardio Boxing Workout (30 minutes):

each exercise should be done right after the other – no rest unless specified! Weighted exercise in bold

treadmill at 6 mph – 5 min

10 lbs Dumbbell squat – 2 min

treadmill 6 mph – 5 min

ball crunches – 2 min

15 lbs dumbbell squat – 2 min

2 lbs dumbbell shadow boxing – 5 min

treadmill at 6 mph – 5 min

2 lbs dumbbell shadow box – 4 min

The goal is to get the sweat going fast and keeping it throughout the entire workout.

The treadmill portion will keep your sweat flowing while the weights will intensify your workout.

Nikon D300s + Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 at 31mm f/11, ISO200 20.0 Seconds

Today was a vacation day. No cleaning, no cooking, no organizing, no studying, no work, no doing anything that HAS to be done. Our destination? Sausalito California, a quick 2o minute drive from our house. We found the spot above for some dawn shooting as we pulled into town. The weather was perfect even before the sun came over the horizon, and the clouds over the bay reflected beautiful golden and red color as the sun continued to rise, while fog slowly enveloped the San Francisco skyline:

Nikon D300s + Tamron 17-50 f/2.8 VC at 20mm f/11, ISO200 1/20 Second

The morning time is a good time to meet the locals, who are also out with their dogs (we brought Suki along), and is a great time to enjoy some peace in the town before the tourists start crowding the sidewalks from the late morning on.

I had the camera with me the entire time, of course, and took the opportunity to do more testing of my new Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 VC, checking out its bokeh quality as well as sharpness at its widest aperture. I ended up being quite pleased with both:

Nikon D300s + Tamron 17-50 f/2.8 VC 50mm f/2.8, ISO200 1/320 Second

Here’s Suki being herself while we ate breakfast outdoors by the waterfront. Though she moves a lot, the sophisticated auto-focus in the D300s kept up with her erratic behavior, and the Tamron was up to the task as far as focusing speed. The above shot was taken at f/2.8, and I was pleased with the sharpness of the shot, even at a 1:1 magnification at her eyes.

As I mentioned, we ran into other furry friends as well:

Nikon D300s + Tamron 17-50 f/2.8 VC at 50mm f/2.8, ISO200 1/250 Second

We were especially excited when we met the following dog. Below is Kuroman, a black and tan Shiba Inu we met during our stroll. I just called him Kuro for short, which means “black” in Japanese. Born in Japan and bred into a champion show dog, Kuro was an absolutely stunning Shiba:

Nikon D300s + Tamron 17-50 f/2.8 VC at 50mm f/2.8, ISO250 1/160 Second

Nikon D300s + Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 at 50mm f/2.8 ISO200 1/500 Second

While Kuro has a black top coat, his undercoat, like Suki’s, is white. So stray white hairs are easily seen on his face, which is especially funny when he puts on his “serious” face. Despite his stern look, he is a goofy guy with a wonderful temperament, and Suki got a long well with him right away:

Nikon D300s + Tamron 17-50 f/2.8 VC at 50mm f/2.8, ISO200 1/160 Second

Kuroman’s owner actually just lost her red Shiba Inu, who only two weeks ago died of old age (16 years!). She was so excited about seeing Suki that she invited us over to her house nearby so Suki and Kuro could play, which they did, for nearly two hours!

Nikon D300s + Tamron 17-50 f/2.8 VC at 50mm f/2.8, ISO3200 1/1000 Second

With all that black fur, Kuro heats up much quicker than Suki. So after short bursts of play like you see above, he’d run for cover inside the house and relax:

Nikon D300s + Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 at 20mm f/4 ISO2000 1/80 Second

Kuro is much more easy to photograph than Suki. When he relaxes, he REALLY relaxes, and he doesn’t mind the camera one bit. So I kept shooting funny portraits of his handsome face!

Nikon D300s + Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 VC at 50mm f/5.6, ISO 200 1/60 Second

Nikon D300s + Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 VC at 50mm f/4 ISO2200 1/80 Second

Nikon D300s + Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 at 31mm f5.6, ISO2800 1/80 Second

Suki wouldn’t let Kuro rest forever of course, and would soon start pestering him to wrestle! The dogs continued this way while we talked with the owner about the joys and hilarious memories involved in living with a Shiba Inu. When we parted ways, we were told that Suki is welcome whenever we want to bring her over to play with Kuro, which was nice, because that house was fabulous (it is Sausalito after all). I’m pretty sure her four-car garage is bigger than my entire house…check out the area where I pulled my car into her property:

Nikon D300s + Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 VC at 23mm f/16 ISO200 1/200 Second

After this we headed to Mill Valley and ate some local organic food, including some salted chocolate and Guinness (yes, Guinness, and it DOES taste like it too) gelato. I went back for a second cup of the salted chocolate…it was THAT good. There’s a lot more about this day that I really wanted to write about, but I’m absolutely exhausted….gotta get to bed. Maybe I’ll write more tomorrow. Good night!