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.
Snowy day here in Yankeeland. They used to call it "snow", but now they call them "Snowstorms" and give them names. Dramatizing ordinary weather. What's the matter with Yankee people these days? The timidity. Mrs. BD ain't askeered. She's off to Philly this morning, weather be damned.
Took Mrs. BD to the Balanchine/Stravinsky program with the New York City Ballet last weekend. One of her Christmas presents. I thought it was a heck of a show, even though I am neither a balletomane nor a Stravinsky fan (Mrs. BD is a dance fan, regardless of style or tradition.) I do find Balanchine's style more accessible to me than classical ballet or modern dance.
NYC is the world center of dance for a good reason - tons of fans, and not all gays by any means. NYCB is almost always sold out, and there are ways to get reasonably-priced tickets.
The lobby of the David Koch theater last weekend, with cool balloon decor:
Costco on a Saturday morning is an American place. I made my every 5-6-month pilgrimage yesterday. Of course it was busy, and filled with people of every size (including an obese woman in an electric cart whose equally-obese aide could barely keep up with the cart), age, class, color - and every language known. Lots of cute little kids or all sorts of cute races.
All filling their baskets with their preferred products of American abundance at reasonable prices and in high volume. It's a kick to go for staples, but 2-3 times per year is enough for me. Mrs. BD gives me a list, but I do whatever I want.
Heard at the cheese place there, a mom to a little girl: "Honey, let's get Dad some good cheeses. He loves cheese. He's like a mouse." Of course I make some impulse buys, like their Kerry Gold Irish cheese. Good stuff, like cheddar but better than cheddar. And a pack of their amazing ribeyes of course. $50 for a 5-pack of thick and fatty ribeyes? Since Mrs. BD and I share one ribeye for a supper, that's a $5 delicious and protein-packed supper for this couple which lifts weights and exercises daily. If you exercise hard, you need that nutritional fat. Nothing to do with that silly cholesterol nonsense.
Word to the wise: their house brand (Kirkland) extra virgin olive oil is as good as anything anywhere.
20:2 I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery;
20:3 you shall have no other gods before me.
20:4 You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.
20:5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me,
20:6 but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments.
20:7 You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not acquit anyone who misuses his name.
20:8 Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy.
20:9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work.
20:10 But the seventh day is a sabbath to the LORD your God; you shall not do any work--you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns.
20:11 For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day and consecrated it.
20:12 Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.
20:13 You shall not murder.
20:14 You shall not commit adultery.
20:15 You shall not steal.
20:16 You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
20:17 You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.
High step-ups (14-20 inches - or maybe even 24" depending on fitness level and your height) are plyometric in some ways because, even though they do not involve jumping, the step should involve explosive movement. It almost has to. It is calisthenic, not weight-lifting. It is tough to get up there repeatedly.
It's good to do them forward and also sideways on a box. It they are too easy for 20 reps with each leg, raise the height or grab a hand weight or kettlebell to raise the intensity.
3 sets of 15-20 on each leg is good leg exercise - quads, glutes, and hammies. With exercises like this, use a 30-40-second plank as a recovery before the next set so you aren't just standing around. These step-ups will help with your box jumps too - not to mention your mountain hiking which is the important thing because fitness may be made in the gym (and with nutrition) but it is for living life vigorously rather than being a lazy book-reading and internet-surfing slob like I used to be.
I suspect those Czechs and Slovaks would understand very well the mentality that got those two food service workers at NYU fired. We don’t even know if those fired workers were conservatives or not. All we know is that they were denounced by this middle-class black daughter of a Chicago administrative judge, and now they are jobless, with the scarlet letter of Racism staining their resumés forever.
Plyometric calisthenics entail more-or-less explosive, usually full-body, movements. Other examples might be jumping burpees, donkey kicks, jumping lunges, high-box step-ups, high wall-balls, and squat jumps.
As I become fitter, my ability to do box jumps is improving. I am now able to do a good series of 18" box jumps. The young athletes I see get much higher. Although these are muscle- and agility-training exercises, they are also HIIT cardio. 15 box jumps gets my heart pounding through my chest. (My gyms use soft boxes, to avoid bleeding shins. Crossfit uses hard boxes, of course.)
Where I work out, we have to do Birthday Burpees. That is, your age in burpees on your birthday. Not non-stop, of course... unless you can. Burpees are plyometric calisthenics.
Bragging about how they met Mick Jagger. Brian was the foundation. He could play anything. Best rock/pop band ever. Beatles quit rock quickly in their brilliant and short-lived career. OK, McCartney went back to rock on his own and did very well.
Metcon ("Metabolic Conditioning", also sometimes named "Cross-Training" or "Athletic Conditioning") classes are satisfying experiences if you want to work to your max. These are general fitness classes, with plenty of high cardio and total-body muscle use, but no muscle-building. It's a type of workout for which you need a class with an enthusiastic and demanding leader.
No metcon exercises require much technical training or athletic ability. It's the repetition that gets you. These classes will kick your ass more than any hour of powerlifting. The routines and the rest times are timed to the second (eg 5-second rests and 15-second rests). Your real rest and recovery comes after the 50 minutes is over.
Trainers who run metcon classes usually vary the routines from week to week. Right now, I do one metcon class/week to complement the other exercises I do. I'd like to fit in another. My experience is that at 5 or 6 AM you really are not eager to face this trial, but after a 5-minute warm up with all the friendly people, you feel ready to get going. You might hate to go, but are always glad you went. I am not the oldest guy or gal in my class, but I guess I am on the upper level of age with more than a touch of grey. So what? Bring water.
For example, the guy below runs a two-ring metcon circus. (Sometimes my classes actually require four rings. A quarter will be running sprints, a quarter rowing sprints, a quarter squat and presses, and a quarter doing burpees). "Five, four, three, two, one - Switch!" A Metcon routine example:
Trump represents such a monumentally grotesque embarrassment to the permanent Washington establishment that they will pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the removal of this odious caitiff.
And in the process abandon all reason and decency.
“So now we know that the Parkland shooter was known to the local police, who did nothing. He was known to the FBI, who did nothing. His unstable behavior was known to teachers, who did nothing. The armed guard at the school stood there with his thumb up his butt while the the school was being shot up, and did nothing. In other words, we have a avalanche of failures from the highest levels down to the lowest. Every rule, every procedure, every safeguard that was put in place to stop these shootings from happening failed to stop this one from happening because the adults who were entrusted with the responsibility to keep shootings from happening did not do their f*ing jobs. Everybody knew the kid had serious problems, but nobody wanted to step up and actually do anything about it. And now we’re treated to the spectacle of these fake ‘townhall’ meetings organized by left-wing agitators who teach the kids to recite the anti-gun talking points that they want them to say and we’re supposed to just nod our heads and pretend that all we need to do is pass a few more laws and then everything will be just ducky. Sometimes I think we’re all just cardboard cutouts living in a Potemkin village."
Northern Italian menu on restaurant row. The Fegato alla Veneziana (Calve's Liver, Venetian-style) was the best I've ever had. Everybody with us agreed. The Vitello tonnato (Veal with Tuna Sauce) was also delicious. Not quite as good as Mrs. BD makes, but very tasty and delicate.
They do have a popular pasta-tasting menu item but when we do fine Italian, we usually don't bother with pasta. Who needs it, with so many other tastier, less-filling things?
We recommend the cheerful place. It's just a few steps from Barbetta (Since 1906) which is equally good but more formal, hushed, less fun (and more expensive).
Police are systemically racist. Police act stupidly. Police are overmilitarized. Give the police all your guns. Hey, guys, you can't expect armed police to charge mass shooters. All of these statements are being promulgated by the same people.
8:31 Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.
8:32 He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.
8:33 But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, "Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things."
8:34 He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.
8:35 For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it.
8:36 For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life?
8:37 Indeed, what can they give in return for their life?
8:38 Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels."
Snowy day here in Yankeeland. They used to call it "snow", but now they call them "Snowstorms" and give them names. Dramatizing ordinary weather. What's the matter with Yankee people these days? The timidity. Mrs. BD ain't askeered. She's off to Philly this morning, weather be damned. 
Roger Bannister, 
