(photo source)

I don’t know about you, but I have a couple of servings of Thanksgiving stuffing (and maybe some pumpkin pie) I need to burn off my thighs.  And what better way to do that than a high intensity, no holds barred, balls to the walls spinning class?!  Now that’s what I’m talkin’ about!

Find this playlist on iTunes iMixes at Spinning Spincycles 11.28.09

Always Be—Jimmy Eat World (3:05)  Warm up and be prepared to say buh-bye to that extra helping of  Thanksgiving leftovers

Hurry Up Let’s Go—Shout Out Louds (2:19)  Add more tension and pick up the pace in the saddle.  Let’s keep our heart rate on the up and up.  Add another twist of tension around 1:20 because it’s time to run.  Go!

Shine a Light—Wolf Parade (3:47)  Climb #1 of the day.  No messing around, crank the resistance so it feels difficult and heavy in the saddle.  Hold a strong seated climb for 1 minute 45 seconds.  Increase the resistance and finish the song in a standing steep narrow climb.

Molly’s Chambers—Kings of Leon (2:17)  Hold hands in position 3 but lighten the tension for 1 minute.  Coming down the hill…finish the song with hands in 2 and find a jogging cadence.  Advanced riders give me a little speed surge to match the music

Brick By Boring Brick—Paramore (4:14)  Heavy resistance in the saddle again.  Stand and run with resistance on the chorus alternating with a seated climb.  Oh yeah, it’s supposed to hurt a little.

Give It All—Rise Against (2:51)  Light resistance in the saddle.  Quick 45 second recovery only to add resistance back on to a moderate feel.  Picture a wide open road.  Seated flat….advanced riders: speed surges on the chorus

Back It Up—Colette Carr (3:09)  Climb #2…in the saddle for 1min 30seconds.  Finish the hill out of the saddle.  Check your resistance, can you go heavier than climb #1?  Of course you can! (I can’t find the MP3 on Amazon.com, but you can watch the video here or find it on iTunes)

Ring of Fire—Social Distortion (3:51)  Back to your seated climb.  Pick up the pace it’s time to alternate 30 seconds seated 30 seconds standing run.  Hold it steady. 

Fire Away—The Swellers (3:52)  1 minute opportunity to lighten up the resistance and recover.  Start to pick up the pace again.  Seated flat or standing jog…riders’ choice. 

Jars—Chevell (3:20)  Climb #3.  Heavier than last time.  Start seated for 1 ½ minutes, finish strong and solid out of the saddle. 

Photograph—Weezer (2:19)  Quick downhill, recharge your legs.  Jog—sit—jog

Piranha—The Prodigy (4:05)  Last push, ask your legs for a little more power…we are almost finished.  30 seconds in the saddle 30 seconds running with resistance.  Resistance should be on the heavier side, but we need to keep the cadence up

This Is Beautiful—Tyrone Wells (4:36)  We are finished, what’s more beautiful than that?  Take a nice long cool down in the saddle. 

Come Back When You Can—Barcelona (3:44)  Stretch, give yourself props for finishing with gusto…now relax…

Self magazine’s December issue (the one with Amanda Peet on the cover) has a short one-page feature on Spinning.  You can check out the article and corresponding video here.  It’s mostly the basics that are covered, though I love one of phrases they used and will probably start incorporating it into cueing my classes. Here it is:

• During a standing run…use your core to hold your body over the tip of the seat to avoid knee strain.

Oh, and by the way, please ignore the advice they give about pulling your abs in tight.  According to Mad Dogg Athletics (whom I hold my certification with) in order to properly perform deep breathing, the abdominals should NOT be pulled in or kept tight…as this practice will hamper optimal breathing. 

You’ll serve yourself best by performing ab exercises off the bike….or taking my Body Pump class on Wednesday evenings where you’ll get strength training and killer ab exercises!  (you know I can’t pass up  even the smallest opportunity for self-promotion)

 Have a great week spinners!

Another political masterpiece!

British Health Minister Andy Burnham is urging us to give up meat; this will apparently help to save the planet.

Andy Burnham! (Seriously)

Now, it is very noble of the Minister to try to help save the planet. However, his efforts do raise some questions.

• The thing is, if it is essential to stop eating meat then shouldn’t the government put its money where its mouth is and DO something about it? Such as tax it? (usually the first instinct!) Or do they only do things that are electorally favourable? (this is a rhetorical question, by the way – feel free not to answer it …)
• Or is this perhaps a long process of “educating the electorate”? Well, there are plenty who leave school hardly literate already, so he’s being a bit optimistic, isn’t he? And why start with poor, little Britain? There are tens if not hundreds of millions of our American buddies to convince ….

And at the same time as we are being sermonised about our meat-eating the the USA is edging towards the opening-up to oil-exploration of previously off-limit areas.

In our quaint British lingo this is known as “not singing from the same song-sheet”.  And as for oil, I wish they would make up their minds once and for all; either we have to reduce its use or we don’t.

At the moment, all they seem to be doing is organising conferences (at vast carbon footprint) where they promise to reduce emissions. This is schizophrenia, isn’t it?

Re the British sermon, one wonders whether the noble minister is himself a vegetarian, and of course whether he is among the vast government contingent attending the international climate conference. And does he drive the car 50 metres to the baker’s on Sunday mornings?

Personally, I’d be prepared to give up meat if: A) I were convinced it would do any good and B) I thought that the great and good (and rich) would make a similar sacrifice.

These are two VERY big “ifs” ………

Must go – got some burgers in the pan …..

By Chris Snuggs

These posters/cards are high quality photos, but they are of genuine old paper graphics so the colors and noise issues are to be expected. To me it makes them more authentic looking then ones that are overly doctored in Photoshop.

Santa and Chimney

Santa Claus checking his list circa 1950s. This would have been more a template for a mass produced greeting card then a poster. The sender could write a short message on the list, i.e. something like “Hope you get everything you wish for.”

Children setting a trap for Santa 1950s. As I understand the rules about being naughty or nice, if they has succeeded they would have been sorely disappointed at the consequences.

Yule Tree and small town circa 1950s.

Santa Claus Sleigh and Reindeer

According to the poem  “A Visit from St. Nicholas” , also known as “The Night Before Christmas” or “Twas the Night Before Christmas”, Santa’s reindeer are named,

More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and call’d them by name:
“Now, Dasher! Now, Dancer! Now, Prancer, and Vixen!
“On, Comet! On, Cupid! On, Donner and Blitzen!

Coca Cola Santa Claus 1954

Veteran Jon Soltz asks, What Color Is The Sky In Palin’s World?

I never thought Sarah Palin could say something that would leave me totally speechless, but this time, she’s done it. Reports Politico:

Former Alaska GOP Gov. Sarah Palin on Monday accused President Barack Obama of not acknowledging the sacrifices made by the men and women in the U.S. military.

“There’s been a lack of acknowledgment by our president in understanding what it is that the American military provides in terms of, obviously, the safety, the security of our country,” Palin said during an interview with Fox News’s Greta Van Susteren. “I want him to acknowledge the sacrifices that these individual men and women — our sons, our daughters, our moms, our dads, our brothers and sisters — are providing this country to keep us safe.”

Hasn’t acknowledged their sacrifices? Seriously? What’s this look like?

[   ]….The president ended the Stop Loss policy, which involuntarily extended troops in theater past their commitment — one of the most offensive policies to troops who made incredible sacrifice(s).

[   ]….This president also ordered his Pentagon to re-prioritize their funding requests, to move away from high-end, unneeded weapons systems, and towards on-the-ground equipment that our troops in the field right now desperately need. One of those big ticket items, funding for more F-22s, was finally ended under the Obama administration, while funding for more desperately needed on the ground Mine Resistant Ambush Vehicles (MRAPs) was increased. Who opposed ending F-22 funding? Palin’s party.

President Obama at Dover Air Force Base

Both as a Senator and in less then a full year as president, Obama has been very supportive of actve duty military and veterans. President Barack Obama signs the Veterans Health Care Budget Reform and Transparency Act during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House, Oct. 22, 2009 - a blog post written by Iraq veteran Tammy Duckworth.

President Obama also  introduced, S. 713, the Dignity for Wounded Warriors Act( passed into law) Obama Steps Up To The Plate

Obama introduced, S. 713, the Dignity for Wounded Warriors Act, legislation written to “ensure dignity in care for members of the Armed Forces recovering from injuries,” which has been referred to the Senate Armed Services Committee for review.
[..]
Obama’s legislation would fix conditions at outpatient VA residence facilities by setting higher standards — such as stipulations that recovering soldiers’ rooms will be as good or better as the best standard rooms for active-duty troops — and increasing administration accountability. The bill also provides for expedited repair of maintenance problems in the facilities and, as Obama put it last week, “zero tolerance for pest infestations.”

President Barack Obama signs the Veterans Health Care Budget Reform and Transparency Act

At this link - Bush Threatens Veto Over Troop Pay Raise, Military Widow Benefits – there is a photo of Bush is one of his many plastic photo ops with the troops in which he smiles to their face as he and his administraion stabbed the military and vets in the back. And let’s never forget that Palin’s conservative “common sense” party did to returning wounded at Walter-Reed, Soldiers Face Neglect, Frustration At Army’s Top Medical Facility

I wouldn't mess with him either

The news breaks this morning that, apparently, the North Korean regime is going to ensure that it’s long suffering residents will only be able to see their national team play if they are fortunate enough to achieve yet another Glorious Victory.

Denial of the facts and rearrangement of them to prove otherwise is as old as humanity itself. Repressive regimes certainly don’t have a monopoly on it. After all, its what our politicians attempt to do on a daily basis. Spin is the name of the game.

The real difference is that rather than sitting back and taking such arrant nonsense from our politicians, we are, for now, allowed to hit back. Well, I say we, but most of us just sit back and let the media do it on our behalf. That’s not always a good thing, but it’s better than nothing. And it keeps those dastardly pols on their toes.

But what intrigues me most is that we like to forget about North Korea. OK, we’re a bit worried about the crackpot in charge of the country, and whether he has or hasn’t got nuclear weapons. But otherwise, we don’t really have anything to say about the fact that the vast majority of the country are living in great poverty, and the regime doesn’t tolerate any dissent.

Over here in the West, we call those human rights abuses. Sometimes we use terms like “crimes against humanity” or even “genocide”.

When it suits us (which is definitely not when anyone talks about China), we like to use such positions to sit atop a high horse of moral superiority. And, perhaps, rightly so. After all, in a direct matchup between state-sponsored murder of trouble-makers we really ought to come out much lower than they do.

Some years ago, some of you may remember a small conflict that occurred in the Middle East. It involved a country called Iraq. There was an exchange of gunfire, and a small handful of military largesse, and soon enough we’d got rid of the blighters. Our justification at the time was that the country was posing a grave threat to the West. “45 minutes from destruction”, some fella quipped. That convinced everybody.

As the years passed, we realised we’d been duped a little. It seems, in fact, that the leader of the country was playing us along, hoping we’d believe he did have weapons of mass destruction and so would leave him alone just in case he was crazy enough (and he was) to use them against us.

But just like politicians, they cannot be trusted. All of a sudden the war was never about WMDs. No. It was because the leader of Iraq was an “evil dictator”. A brutal repressor of human rights. Stock footage of the man firing shotguns off balconies and ordering people to be executed soon rolled on the airwaves. Apparently, without us even knowing it, the war was actually fought to liberate the Iraqi people of such tyranny. And who could disagree? The man was batshit, after all.

Yet there remained troubling questions to those who were sceptical all along. “Why Iraq? Why now?” was what they used to say, before they would get shouted down by some Blair character for daring to have no compassion for the suffering of their fellow humans in Iraq.

It was classic memory hole stuff. The original pretexts for war were shuffled into the fire, and an ex post facto justification emerged.

The unfortunate consequence of such a doctrine can be seen in the headline to this post. A little facetious, yeah, but I’ve gotta get your attention somehow.

Got a repressive regime? Genocidal tendencies? Feeling the need to butcher a few of those people with the wrong skin colour or religion?

Well watch out, cos the World Police will soon be knocking on your door. Maybe. If they can be bothered.

And you aren’t China, or one of their chums.

Here’s to realpolitik!

“Put a unique spin on this, throw it out there so it can grow legs, get some traction and go viral.  I want a footprint!”

I woke in a cold sweat.

Words and phrases that should be killed are sprouting faster than zombies in a George A.Romero film.   They’re more persistent than sallow vampires in the twilight.  I can’t stop thinking about them though some say I’m anal (props to Freud for that evergreen).  Others have likened our kind to being word police, but I consider us mavericks.  No, wait.  The paunchy maverick slid back to the Senate  and unleashed The Rogue.

Yikes!  I step back from that since the first definition of “rogue” in dictionary.com is “a dishonest, knavish person; a scoundrel.”  Hmm.  Well, I guess it’s safe to call yourself a rogue if you know your audience never uses a dictionary.

Actually, I’m just a guy who loves the language, respects the creative use of it and dislikes lazy use of language, especially among “educated” professionals.  I’m just giving you a heads-up that.

Really, I’m being totally transparent.

The phrase making the sales rep rounds is “reaching out.”  Several, from different parts of the country have used that on me, always beginning, “Dennis, I’d like to reach out and see how our company can help you.”

Well, friend, it’s like this:  if I’m drowning, I really want you to reach out and help me.  However, if your goal is to fill inventory, get the manager off your back and boost your commission, a simple media kit will do.  If it looks like your station is a good fit, I’ll reach out to you.

And then you know what we’ll do?  We’ll have a conversation!

Actually I’ve heard this in higher ed more than in the media.  It usually begins with a problem (masked as “a challenge”) between two people or parties who disagree (have “different goals”) and the path to a solution is to have one of these conversations.  Conversation implies civility which means you can’t raise your voice or even let your face get red from rising blood pressure.

“Conversations” are bland, mishmashes of buzzwords that suffocate our ancient instincts to reach out and kill the opponent.

Hey,  I’m just sayin’. . . .

****

( I’ve had a lot of feedback from readers.  I’m thinking of setting up a separate page with all three posts and everyone’s contributions.  So please send me the words and phrases that drive you nuts.)

Note:  Thanks to the guys over at Target x  who picked up on our shared love of language and continued the, umm, conversation.

Parade at South Shields Town Hall this Sunday

I am delighted that this homecoming parade is taking place in South Shields and I hope that as many people as possible from South Shields, South Tyneside and the surrounding area will turn out to welcome the five members of the Territorial Army who have just completed six months service in the troubled Afghanistan province of Helmand. The parade and march past in front of the Mayor of South Tyneside by TA soldiers from 205 Battery Royal Artillery, based in Horsley Hill, South Shields, and the 12th Company of the 4th battalion Parachute Regiment (Volunteers) will be led by the Pipes and Drums of 101 Regiment and starts at 12:30 -  a great opportunity for all of us to express our thanks for their commitment and professionalism.

I was at the March meeting of South Tyneside Borough Council when a unanimous decision was taken to arrange this parade after opposing councillors gracefully accepted each other’s amendments to the original resolution. It was one of those rare occasions in the council chamber at South Shields Town Hall when unity counted for far more than dissent, and with no need to introduce politics, sentiment, personal circumstances, family or friends’ opinions, pro war or anti war positions, – it was a real pleasure to see each and every one of our councillors wanting to support this kind of public measure which displays our appreciation and honour for our armed forces wherever they have been sent to serve.

So it is with great disappointment that I see one political group appearing to steal a march on the show by almost single handedly claiming credit for the parade. One of my commenters has just emailed me the link to the piece which reads:

Almost 8 months later the South Tyneside Independents are proud to announce that a civic reception and homecoming parade for veterans from the borough will be held on Sunday 29th November.

You can find the link to their website in the side bar, just why they think they have some prior right to proudly make an announcement on behalf of the whole council, nay on behalf of the whole borough, is quite beyond me. The council has made an announcement non politically, on our behalf. The South Tyneside Independents may be as happy as any other group on the council but to almost claim credit is a travesty and does a great disservice to all those who either supported their amendment, changed their own resolutions, or altered their words in order to find amicable unanimity. This is an occasion where the people of South Tyneside can claim credit for all their own pride in our armed services, an occasion where the petty politics can be left at home thank you very much!

Update

In a magnanimous gesture, the admin person (now who could that be) at the South Tyneside Independents website has agreed to change the wording in their post  -to keep politics out of the issue.

:: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: ::

Guten Tag liebe Leser und Innen!

Heute habe ich bei Google nach “husten sekret grün” gesucht. Ich habe nichts gefunden. Naja, macht ja nichts.

Deshalb habe ich mir einfach geschickterweise überlegt wie eine Kreuzung von Marienkäfer und Elefant aussehen würde.
Das kam dabei raus:

Marienicus elephas - nicht vom Aussterben bedroht

Außerdem haben Martin und ich herausgefunden, dass:

Barbapapa ≠ ein Kaon mit einem Spin von 0⁻

ist, aber das geht alles viel zu weit.

In the category of “What the?”, comes the recap of last night’s episode of Fox’s “American Dad!”.

I have to admit that I know virtually nothing about this show other than its inclusion in the Seth MacFarlane portfolio, but Episode 7 of Season 5 begs to be watched.

The episode, titled “My Morning Straightjacket”, has a bizarre storyline centered around the great Louisville band My Morning Jacket. 

My Morning Jacket's Jim James guest-stars on the animated American Dad!

I won’t even try to provide a recap, but both Spin and MTV have the scoop on this must-see concoction of inspired tribute to a band not necessarily accustomed to primetime exposure.

Thanks to Hulu, you can catch the entire episode (for now) here. 

MMJ fans, at the very least, should appreciate the opportunity to experience the band in any form during its current hiatus.

And everyone else can watch to figure out why Jim James just might be the sun.

Just a quick post because I’m a spazz and totally forgot I pretty much already recapped Fitness (I blame lack of carbs :p). So I’ll recap Figure Finals quickly, then move on to what I’ve been up to since.

Saturday

I spent the morning watching Bikini finals, which two girls from STS were competing in.

Figure Finals were short & sweet. They had us all walk out, called out top 5, then top 5 re-posed and then they announced the winner. Seriously, it was that fast and they hardly gave you time in each hold before they called to turn. So as you saw yesterday, I was not called out, and I only found out later that I was 6th.. by 2pts!

After Figure Finals I was granted a “healthy cheat,” and I went with a Turkey Sandwich on Sourdough with Avocado, Swiss and Tomato.. it was fantastic. I also order Onion soup, but only ended up taking a few sips, I was stuffed!

Carb-tastic Yumminess!

Sunday

I had some time to relax and catch up on my Reader Sunday morning before my noon flight. But look what I found at the airport on the way home

Even though it took everything in my power to get there, once at the gym I got in a great Back & Shoulders workout, please 30 minutes Cardio. It felt so awesome! I hadn’t worked out since Tuesday, which was the longest I’d gone without working out since April!

No Case of the Mondays

I was up early to be at the gym by 6:15am for a leg workout with my trainer. Then it was home where I whipped up a fantastic breakfast. Mixed this one up a bit by adding a 1/4 cup of oats,  a couple tablespoons of Sugar-Free Cookie Dough Syrup and a ton of Cinnamon to get an awesome moist Snickerdoodle Protein Pancake. Delish!

Cinnamon <3

Next I was off to school for one class, then work for a few hours, then Spin! It’s funny, I’m still sporting a lovely orangey tan, so every so often I catch myself in the mirror and do a double take.

I don’t have school or work Wednesday, so tomorrow’s my Friday, woot woot! That leaves me with all sortsa time to prep for this weekend. My parents are coming in Thursday, which I am super excited about, so they’ll be here for my competition Saturday, then we’re doing a belated Thanksgiving on Sunday!

As you can imagine I’ve been planning this meal for ages, it helps that my parents are amazing cooks. Post on that coming up  because I’d love your feedback and ideas too! Ok, gotta finish up a little reading for tomorrow. Have a wonderful Tuesday lovelies!

Yep, the whispering was a surprise birthday party for moi!  I had no clue.  Even when Lake was ushering me into the house, I actually thought he might be staging a yarn intervention! 

So after a wonderfully exhausting Saturday, I relaxed and spun yesterday.  I hate to admit this (because I love the color), but got kind of bored spinning the Plucky Knitter Honey Wilkes sw merino.  I like color changes. I can’t help it.  So I pulled off the partial bobbin and plunked on some of my own dyed sw merino.

Then I re-watched the how-to-navajo-ply on a wheel video again and holding my breath, gave it another shot.

Not so bad-

154 yards sport weight

I am still cleaning up from the party. Popping balloons (40 balloons-seriously?) and unwinding black crepe paper (de-crepifying per the husband!) from the banisters.  Then spinning!

(You’ll have to pretend there’s a great photo here to top off the page as I have officially run out of personal bike-themed photos to feature on this blog.  My photography hobby hasn’t quite taken off like I thought it would.)

I have two new website resources to pass along to you.  The first one may be of greater consequence to fellow Spinning instructors:   http://www.indoorcycleinstructor.com/ This website is chock-full of valuable spinning instructor tips!   You have the option of becoming a member or simply enjoying the free articles and podcasts.  It will change the way you teach!  I swear!

As you may, or may not know, I’ve started to become much more interested in nutrition and how the food I consume affects my body.  Case in point, I was teaching a Body Pump class a few weeks ago.  I love Body Pump and am usually, well, pumped to teach.  But not that night, I felt like I was forcing the energy and by the 8^th track I was dead in my Nikes.  Driving home from class I realized that I had not had anything to eat since lunch (the class I teach is at 6pm)…so yeah, food has a huge impact on energy levels, mood, and of course weight loss or gain.

And so I give you the second new website resource.  About a month or so ago I stumbled upon The Fitnessista    At first I found the extra fizzle wizzle schizzile confusing (the Fitnessista has her own vernacular), but now I find it endearing….and she has impressive food and recipe suggestions (complete with photos).  In fact, I’m going to make my very own Breakfast Cookie as soon as I finish my blog post.  In the words of The Fitnessista herself:  foodgasm!

Saturday’s class goal was to use the first 3-4 songs to slowly elevate our heart rate to 80-85% MHR…and then hold it there for the remainder of the class.  This ride should be a test of your training over the past few months.  Heart rate should be steady, mind focused and uncomfortable areas handled with ease.  The mind must stay calm and supple in order to be successful at combating the difficult of this task.

Find Saturday’s playlist on iTunes at Spinning Spincycles 11.21.09

1. Swing, Swing–The All-American Rejects (3:36)  Start to warm up your legs with an easy seated flat and prepare to burn some extra calories today.

2. Storm In A Teacup–Red Hot Chili Peppers (3:44)  Stay seated with your hands in either position 1 or 2, add resistance until it feels moderate or medium…pick up the pace and hold it for about 1 minute.  Give the resistance knob another bump up, bring yourself to a standing jog…pick up the pace and…yep you guessed it…hold it for another minute.  Last position, add resistance, hands in position 3 & start climbing with an increase in cadence & hold it there for the rest of the song

3. Does This Mean You’re Moving On–The Airborne Toxic Event (2:12) Medium resistance, have a seat and get your legs moving!  Stay here for one minute, add more resistance, and a little more to come up & stand.  Hang out here and use this position to transition into the next song….

4. The Rake’s Song–The Decemberists (3:15)  Since you are already up out of the saddle, make the resistance thicker and keep climbing.  Your legs should be fresh at this point, so take it advantage of that & tough it out.  Once you’ve found that uncomfortable resistance vary your cadence to match the music.

5. Highroyds–Kaiser Chiefs (3:18) Breathe!  Drop the resistance and sit down.  Find a comfortable seated flat and recover for no more than 1 minute.  Stretch your legs and start jumping for 45 seconds.  Alternate that with a standing flat run for 30 seconds, go into jumps for 30 seconds after that.

6. Rock Star—Everclear (3:30) Medium resistance sit and spin fast x 30 seconds; Stand and run fast x 30 seconds; Sit and spin x 15 seconds; Stand and run x 15 seconds; Add resistance & make it a little hard; Sit for 30seconds, stand for 30 seconds, sit for 15 seconds, and finally stand for your last 15 seconds

 7. The Red—Chevelle (3:58)  Start seated & add resistance every 15 seconds for a minute or so.  Bump the resistance knob to find the hill, then stand with hands in position 3 and keep pumping your legs.  Once there add a little more resistance & hold it for 30 seconds alternating with subtracting a little resistance & holding that for 30 seconds.

 8. Percussion Gun—White Rabbits (3:08) Make it feel thick and hold it in the saddle for 1 minute.  Make it thicker and bring it to a standing run for 1 minute.  Can you make it even thicker….finish the song in a climbing stance all the while keeping your cadence up. 

 9. New Noise—Refused (5:12)  This one of those songs that has mad-cadence changes which force your legs to follow.   We are going to stop thinking and let our body just follow the speed of the music.  Start with medium resistance and stand to run…when the beat hardens have a seat & sprint…do this for the first 3 minutes of the song.  At that point the music will slow, add more resistance & let your legs recover a bit while in a climbing position.  Of course the music picks up again…drop off a small amount of resistance, sit down and sprint it out for the last minute of the song.

 10. You Better Pray–The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus (3:35) Whew, slow it down, drop the resistance to easy and recover for about 1 minute.  When you are ready add a tad bit more resistance back and find a fast seated spin.  The words “you better…” is our cue to add more resistance and come back up into a climb.  Drop back to the saddle after the chorus. 

 11. Zero—Yeah Yeah Yeahs (4:25)

• Easy sit x 30 seconds, then make it hard x 30 seconds
• Add more resistance to stand x 30 seconds, make it harder for another 30 seconds
• KEEP THE RESISTANCE
• Sit x 15 seconds, stand x 15 seconds, sit x 15 seconds and so on….

 12. Talk to Me, Dance with Me– Hot Hot Heat (2:47)  Your choice of resistance (make it harder if you are an advanced rider) and jump on the chorus!  Recover with a standing run between the jumps.

 13. Know Your Enemy—Green Day (3:10)  Love this song, love this drill.  30 second stair stepping uphill.  Find a seated flat tension and alternate 30 seconds in the saddle 30 seconds out.  Power through the resistance by keeping your breathing steady and using a strong pedal stroke. 

14.  Alphabet Soup—Bell X1 (4:50)  Cool down in the saddle.  Finally let your heart rate slowly come back down. 

15.  Maybe—Ingrid Michaelson (3:12)  Stretches off the bike. 

Nice work!!

Hmmmm, it feels like I’m forgetting something.  What could that be, oh what could that be? 

Oh yeah, New Moon opened this weekend!!!!!!  SQUEE! Oh Edward, I’ve missed you so much….(thank you everglow….http://www.edwardandbella.net/)       

And I would be remiss if I did not mention Jenn Lancaster’s fantastically accurate portrayal of the New Moon story via Twilight action figures:   New New Moon.

Have a Happy (and healthy) Thanksgiving everyone! 

Spin magazine  has compiled a list of rock’s most notorious myths. Everything from whether or not Nirvana killed hair metal  to Marilyn Manson is a puppy killing nazi to whether or not Radiohead  is the greatest band ever! A lot of Spin’s take on these myths will straight up PISS you off, but, that’s the point!  Agree to disagree and have fun with it! Myth or reality?

Click here for the 16 rock myths.

Tree Tire Swing Autumn wallpaper

Conservative Bruce Bartlett writing at Forbes get the Bush/Republican Medicare part D story mostly right, Republican Deficit Hypocrisy

The human capacity for self-delusion never ceases to amaze me, so it shouldn’t surprise me that so many Republicans seem to genuinely believe that they are the party of fiscal responsibility. Perhaps at one time they were, but those days are long gone.

This fact became blindingly obvious to me six years ago this month when a Republican president and a Republican Congress enacted the Medicare drug benefit, which former U.S. Comptroller General David Walker has called “the most fiscally irresponsible piece of legislation since the 1960s.”

[   ]…Recall the situation in 2003. The Bush administration was already projecting the largest deficit in American history–$475 billion in fiscal year 2004, according to the July 2003 mid-session budget review. But a big election was coming up that Bush and his party were desperately fearful of losing. So they decided to win it by buying the votes of America’s seniors by giving them an expensive new program to pay for their prescription drugs.

Contribution to fiscal deterioration 2009-2010 by American Progress

Some may remember the Bushies threatened to fire Medicare’s chief actuary Richard Foster for publishing the real projected costs (pdf). I’m not sure that Bartlet is telling the whole story when he describes Part D as somehow buying the senior vote – though that figured into to the Bushies thinking. Conservatives generally hate Medicare ( even the one’s that collect it), but also know that dismantling such a popular and successful program would be political suicide. What’s a con like Bush to do. The second best thing. Turn a government program aimed at helping working class Americans into a gravy train for the pharmaceutical industry.

GIGANTIC BREAKING NEWS from Michelle Malkin aptly named Hot Air, “Surprise: Many San Francisco booksellers refusing to carry Palin’s book; Update: Palin apologizes to those whose books weren’t signed”. This is news because 1. Everyone knows that you cannot walk into a Barnes and Noble or Books-A-Million in S.F. and order any book still in print. 2. There is some divine secret truth in Palin’s book and unless all the book stores stock up to the rafters everyone in S.F. will miss out. 3. No one is S.F. has a computer or internet connection so they cannot buy it on-line.

Two conservatives agree with this post and Attorney General Holder that its a good thing to prosecute terrorists, thus Lindsay Graham(R-SC) is a grand standing twit.

By contrast, there is no question about the legitimacy of U.S. federal courts to incapacitate terrorists. Many of Holder’s critics appear to have forgotten that the Bush administration used civilian courts to put away dozens of terrorists, including “shoe bomber” Richard Reid; al-Qaeda agent Jose Padilla; “American Taliban” John Walker Lindh; the Lackawanna Six; and Zacarias Moussaoui, who was prosecuted for the same conspiracy for which Mohammed is likely to be charged. Many of these terrorists are locked in a supermax prison in Colorado, never to be seen again.

In terrorist trials over the past 15 years, federal prosecutors and judges have gained extensive experience protecting intelligence sources and methods, limiting a defendant’s ability to raise irrelevant issues and tightly controlling the courtroom.

A phrase that made its official debut this week “common sense” conservatism. I tend to agree with Albert Einstein “Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen.” But since it is Sarah Palin and the far Right’s new catch phrase we’ll be hearing it repeated ad nauseum. IS THERE AN ECHO IN HERE, OR IS IT PALIN?

…it’s all about jobs, it’s all about Americans who are hurting right now and what those solutions are that are so obvious, so commonsense that need to be plugged in. And those are Republican, they’re commonsense conservative principles that we just need to apply.

****

… it’s a clearer and clearer picture that what Americans are seeking, even in a district there in New York, they are seeking commonsense, conservative solutions to all the challenges that we’re facing. I’m glad to see this.

As No More Mister Nice Blog notes this is Palin’s substitute for actual solutions and policies. Her cult-like followers pick it up and fill it with the content of their imaginations. Kind of like sharing a communal bong of ideology. It saves having to actually know things and confusing people with hard facts and difficult decisions. More here, Sarah Palin Tells Rush Limbaugh the Magic Word

Unemployment?

But those commonsense solutions there, especially with the cutting taxes on the job creators? That’s not even being discussed.

Healthcare reform?

Not when there are commonsense solutions to meeting health care challenges in our country… So lots of commonsense solutions that need to be plugged in before ever considering federal government taking it over.

The 2010 elections?

It’s all about Americans who are hurting right now and what those solutions are that are so obvious, so commonsense that need to be plugged in.

So the benefits Americans are now reaping from the eight years conservatives ran the White House and the six years conservatives ran all three branches of government was simply a failure of conservative common sense ( thanks for the confession M’s Palin). But if you give them back that control, this time they really promise to be “plugged in” to the common sense that they have not managed to get right for the last fifty years. Sarah Palin and Her Lies (And Her Fans Who Attack Her Critics

From my post as an outside observer, it seems to me that Sarah Palin doesn’t care much about the truth. In that way, she is a very special liar. Instead, Palin seems to love the effect her disingenuous pronouncements have on her audiences and so she just runs with them. Her fans adore her claims about “death panels” and about Obama supposedly “palling around with terrorists” and all the rest. Look at how they roar with approval and fervor when she tosses that red, bloody moose meat to them – how can the mere (non) truth-value of what she is saying ever compete with that? Plus, the fact that her taunts drive her detractors over the edge – well, that just adds to the fun!

Sarah Palin seems to relish the reaction she gets to her claims and complaints. Among her core fan base, the theme that the mean media and the full-of-themselves campaign staffers were unfair to noble, authentic, small-town Sarah seems to be a winner. Whether it is really true is almost irrelevant.

The first test match against Sri Lanka at Ahmedabad ended in a draw. Not very surprising, considering that 14 out of the 30 tests between India and Sri Lanka have been drawn, quite tamely most of the time. In fact, my memory of India-Sri Lanka games between 96 and 2000 oscillates between

Jayasuriya walloping India in the one-day games and every batsman walloping every bowler in the test matches.

Given that history, why is there such a hue and cry this time around about a boring draw? The answer lies in the statistics : 6 centuries, a double century and just 14 wickets, in other words -  a terrible pitch. There has been no shortage of brickbats for the BCCI and the groundsmen for preparing such a blatantly batsman-friendly track. You could hardly fault Chris Gayle for not caring about test matches.

The remedy everyone wants is a better balance between bat and ball. But you start wondering why the balance has to be only between batsmen and fast bowlers. Every mention of a sporting wicket is accompanied by the words fast, bouncy and seaming wickets. What about spinner friendly tracks ?

Between the 1987 series against Pakistan and the series against South Africa in 2000, India did not lose a single series at home. As far as I can remember, in almost every game the Indian spinners would terrorise the batsmen right from the tea break on day 1. Also, of the 37 tests played in this period in India, a little over a quarter of them, 10, were drawn compared to close to 37% of drawn tests world over in the same period (Agreed, this percentage would go down heavily if you don’t count matches involving New Zealand or Sri Lanka!). So why are spinner-friendly tracks treated as badly as the batsman-friendly ones, or even worse perhaps?

There seems to be a deep-rooted prejudice against spin bowling. A spinning wicket is called a “dust bowl” but you’d never hear a seamer’s paradise being addressed as a grazing field. The playing conditions must be ridiculous if Kumble can get his leg spinner to turn whereas there’s never a murmur about conditions that allow “bowlers” like Collingwood and Ganguly to thrive. India gets bowled out for 100 in Durban because Indians can’t play fast bowling but South Africa gets bowled out for 121 at Kanpur because the pitch was terrible. Clive Lloyd submitted his report on “bad pitch conditions” at Ahmedabad during the 2005 test between India and Sri Lanka, but no one reported the Bridgetown strip where India was bowled out for 81.

It’s high time the concept of a level playing field is redefined. The kind of tracks we had in Chennai through the 90s are perfect examples of a good balance between the bat, which would reign for the first couple of days and the (spinning) ball, which would torment the batsmen on days 4 and 5. Yes, the fast bowlers would be wasted on such tracks, but  no one ever shed tears for spinners at the WACA, Perth or Kingsmead, Durban.

Demonising the flat tracks is acceptable, but “dust bowls” too? That’s not cricket!

Response to Editorials article, 2009, Mind the spin, Nature, Vol 461 (29), 29 Oct, p1174.

URL: http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v461/n7268/pdf/4611174a.pdf

In response to the editorial about the recent announcements and spin surrounding the HIV vaccine trial in Thailand, I think the issue of spin comes back to an ever present problem the relationship between science and society that is slowly being addressed. I believe a solution to reduce spin is to readdress the expectations about research from all parts of society – the public, the media, and the scientists themselves. Practitioners and researchers in science communication have been advocating various approaches to reduce the spin in science. My view is that we need to address the three stakeholders in communication of science – the scientists, the public, and the media. The public is one stakeholder, and there is a need to increase the public’s awareness that scientific results are not always simple to interpret and are not always clear-cut positive or negative. With the public’s increasingly easy access to scientific information I think we are getting to a more science-savvy society. However, sometimes the promises and hopes of “magic” cures may fog up the clear thinking that is needed to properly critique scientific discoveries. The scientific community is another stakeholder, and they should not fear positive or negative feelings about their results from the public. What they should care about is reporting the scientific truth of their results, and that all science is a “work in progress” with more work and fact-searching to come. However, I’m not sure how we can change the culture of spin and emphasising positive results in an ever more competitive funding environment that seems to reward “ground-breaking” and positive results. Finally, the third stakeholder, the media, needs to be trained to reduce sensationalisation of stories, and be trained to analyse and question the study methodology and findings more. Science communicators are training the media to be more science-savvy, and I think one important thing that journalists should learn from science is that scepticism is always a useful quality to start with when reporting discoveries, even in the face of what may seem like fantastic positive results. In the battle to reduce spin, these are only some of the things to consider.

We were born yesterday,
and more this morning,
and even more we hope tomorrow.

Why, I asked,
are babies born so naked,
with their water flowing to ground, and
their fire flowing to sky
so perfectly –  so automatically?

It creates currents that form
the vortical human mindscape
where every spin the now-ist sees
as yesterday’s pre-reality.

You can’t take a sacred snapshot twice:
no matter how terminally indignant
the weekly pattern-monger’s habit,
Love remains the fulcrum and
always takes a stand above it.

It’s a fragile eternity that yeilds
an allergy to urgency,
no appetite for the Bantu fractal or
the circumdancing flower of homo-spiritus,
or the growing rampant glory of identity
taming the local lizard.

I see the buds on gravid branches
all watching in their special ways
to be the stone, the bird, the tree,
the proactive jazz blossoms,
the spin-bombs of living Logos
bringing on more contractions…

What’s up at the farm? Well, we have been in planning mode with one night a week devoted to planning what to plant, when to plant, how much to plant and where to sell. It’s pretty exciting and the initial planning session outlined our primary goal of being able to grow to sell next season. Planning is also helping us prioritize what we need to do. Below is what we have accomplished to date:

1. Measure planting area: the plot is 40′ x 120′ or 4800 sq. ft. However, after accounting for the edges, compost, water source, and space between rows, the area left for planting is only about 2700 sq. ft. A quick plot out in visio shows that we can put in about 34 – 25×2” beds.
2. Determine what to plant: We are using the SPIN guides to determine best crops for planting. Lots of work to still be done on this part of the planning process. Will post more when we have some idea of what we are doing.
3. Figure out planting schedule: when do we plant, how long until harvest, and crop rotation schedule – will have to post more on this when we have something to share.
4. Find markets: We have reached out to local farmers market leaders, including those at LEAF, Tremont Farmers Market, and Kamm’s Corners Farmers Market. We have also heard rumors about a new farmers market in Lakewood and are trying to get more information about that as well. The plan is to find out if they are accepting new vendors and what the process is to become a vendor. We are also attending a session hosted by City Fresh to learn if there is an opportunity for us to plant and sell something to them.

More to come soon!