We are a commune of inquiring, skeptical, politically centrist, capitalist, anglophile, traditionalist New England Yankee humans, humanoids, and animals with many interests beyond and above politics. Each of us has had a high-school education (or GED), but all had ADD so didn't pay attention very well, especially the dogs. Each one of us does "try my best to be just like I am," and none of us enjoys working for others, including for Maggie, from whom we receive neither a nickel nor a dime. Freedom from nags, cranks, government, do-gooders, control-freaks and idiots is all that we ask for.
A practice version of Idiot Wind from 1974. Final lyrics of this tough, pained song still evolving in this tape. He was not happy when Sarah dumped him and his kids to run off with some con-man. Doubt he ever really got over that.
"Idiot wind, blowing every time you move your teeth..."
Foggy drizzly Atlantic morning beach hike, Newcomb Hollow to Cahoon's Hollow, and back. Big shorebird migration last week. Hundreds of Least Sandpipers and Bonaparte's Gulls. Lots of Grey Seals people-watching. Great Whites seal-watching, I guess, too.
Besides multi-generational family tradition and the regular presence of my very high-energy sibs and their interesting kids (I went for an early morning jog - 5:30 or so, and ran past the town tennis courts. "Hey, Bird Dog - I have a spare racquet in my car". My brother and sis were playing tennis already, so we did Canadian doubles for an hour), I'll offer some reasons we love it there, and a few pictures,below the fold:
9:1 Wisdom has built her house, she has hewn her seven pillars. 9:2 She has slaughtered her animals, she has mixed her wine, she has also set her table. 9:3 She has sent out her servant girls, she calls from the highest places in the town, 9:4 "You that are simple, turn in here!" To those without sense she says, 9:5 "Come, eat of my bread and drink of the wine I have mixed. 9:6 Lay aside immaturity, and live, and walk in the way of insight."
It's Summertime. People like to get outdoors early to run, bike, or swim in the sea for an hour or so. It feels great, but, other than wholesome recreation and mental health, what is it good for? I will try to discuss these things.
Our posts about what I term Phys Ed are meant to be about general conditioning for relatively-healthy people of any age rather than training for specific activities. That's why we recommend 1/3 weights, 1/3 "Cardio," and 1/3 calisthenics. With that said, I'll review some general ideas and misconceptions (expecting arguments from readers). People use the term "Cardio" for many things, but we intend it to mean training of the heart muscle.
1. "Long Slow" exercise, often termed Cardio, is not Cardiac Training. Swimming a mile, jogging 3-5 miles, biking for a few hours, doing 45 minutes on the elliptical or treadmill doing Long Slow do not elevate your heart rate enough to challenge your heart. Ideally, you want to stress your heart because that is what Cardio is meant for. Intensity is more important than time from the heart's standpoint, same as with weight training.
That doesn't mean that those activities are a useless component of general fitness, just that they do not build cardiac strength. If you can run or jog 3-5 miles, you might not be fully fit but you are better than most slobs.
To strengthen your heart and increase your Cardiac Output, you have to push your heart muscle in the same way that you push other muscles with weights and resistance. That means basically heart rate stress. If you can work your way up to maintaining 80% of your max heart rate for 30 or 40 minutes, I'd say that is very good indeed. How to determine that is at the end of this somewhat lengthy post -
Still, we feel it's a better idea and more efficient to do HIIT cardio training which pushes your heart to as close to 100% for brief periods - 30-60 seconds followed by a slow recovery of 3X the sprints. 20-30 minutes of that once or twice a week is good. This can be on the road, elliptical, rower, in the pool, or on the treadmill or stair machine. Max effort, max sweat.
A birthday this week, and I am one year stronger, one year more agile, one year more energetic, one year looking fitter.
Calis are for your athleticism. The below may not sound grueling, but it is more exhausting than weight-training days if you minimize rest time. I do two hours of calis weekly, 1 calis class and 1 on my own. This was the mix I've been doing on my own recently:
Elliptical warm-up, 3 mins Band walks leg warm-up (sideways, forward, backwards, monster walk)
Each circuit below 2-3 times, overall takes me about 1 hr with 1-min breaks between rounds -
Circuit 1:
Dead ball floor slams High step-up and press heavy ball 2 min jump rope singles
Circuit 2:
Kettlebell swings Burpees 2 min jump rope running man
Circuit 3:
Kettle bell lunges Squat and overhand and underhand dumbell curls 2 min jump rope, single footed
Circuit 4:
Farmer's Walk - heavy kettles Push ups Pull-ups
And finish up with a round of heavy ball wall slams
There’s no doubt that individuals acting privately – in families, in friendships, in free markets – often say and do childish, stupid, and sometimes even destructive things. But there’s also no doubt that the forum that brings out, magnifies, and amplifies – and, unlike in private settings, actively encourages – human childishness, stupidity, and destructiveness is politics. Compared to any randomly chosen government official, the typical consumer, worker, business executive, entrepreneur, and investor is more logical than Mr. Spock, more sober than a devout Morman, more intelligent than Einstein, more wise than King Solomon, more creative than Edison, and more resolute than Helen Keller.
Government power, a vast, organized, and living body, naturally tends to grow. It feels cramped within its supervisory mission. Now, its growth is hardly possible without a succession of encroachments upon the field of individual rights. The expansion of government power means usurping some form of private activity, transgressing the boundary that I set earlier between what is and what is not its essential function.
The Nastiest Feud in Science - A Princeton geologist has endured decades of ridicule for arguing that the fifth extinction was caused not by an asteroid but by a series of colossal volcanic eruptions. But she’s reopened that debate.
While meandering around the alleys near downtown Wellfleet last week, we stumbled on this white elephant. Naturally, I was mainly attracted to its barn. The place is for sale. A 10-minute walk to the village.
It's safe to say the place could probably use some work. Roof looks great but I wonder about the age of the wiring, but from the photos it looks pretty up to date inside.
12 bedrooms, said to have been built in 1800 but I doubt that. The cool thing is that it was the home of Wellfleet's most famous son, Captain Lorenzo Dow Baker. Sea captain and entrepreneur, he's the guy who introduced the banana to the US and Europe and founded the company which became the United Fruit Company, now Chiquita Brands. Cool guy, cool life.
What Are Red Tides and Why Are They Getting Worse? 
Photo is
It's Summertime. People like to get outdoors early to run, bike, or swim in the sea for an hour or so. It feels great, but, other than wholesome recreation and mental health, what is it good for? I will try to discuss these things. 