Maggie's FarmWe 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. |
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Saturday, December 5. 2015Gibe, Jibe, and JiveThursday, December 3. 2015Favorite total body killer exercises: Weighted calisthenics to "Rage, rage against the dying of the light"
Notice how prosperous people in the US look strong and trim into their 70s and 80s? It's not automatic. They work at it to stay fit for life, and they do not pig out despite wanting to give in to comfortable slobbery like the last generation. Giving up on vitality because of lack of will and effort (aka laziness). Sex life, too. Jumping rope and jumping jacks are great calisthenics that belong in any fitness routine, but it's the heavier, intense ones that test your body and character, that try to kill you. What fails to kill you makes you fitter. My program (and Mrs. BD's program which is roughly the same but she does yoga too) includes 3 sets of squat/presses, or burpees, or heavy ball smashes, or lunges with weights, or step-ups with presses - all with planks between sets. That's a Superset. Looks easy but it's a killer. Doing 3 sets of one or more of the above five days/week adds good intensity and variety to a fitness program. Thing is, you have to push it to the limit and that takes mental discipline because it is HARD WORK and IT HURTS and YOU WANT TO STOP. Thus the character factor. No pain, no gain. Right now, for example, I do the squat-presses with a 30 lb. heavy ball. If you can easily do 20 reps, raise the weight and God bless. Take a 1-minute plank to "rest" between sets and get right back to it. (nb, As I have said, we do mainly heavy weights 2 days/wk for an hour, heavy calisthenics 1 day/wk for an hour, and cardio intervals 4 days/wk for 40-70 minutes depending on how much time I have free. To ramp up intensity, my boss wants 3 of any one of these supersets daily. Call me insane. It pays off. I fit into my age 32 tux except the shoulders are tight now. If it kills me, I'll be a fit corpse.) Get to it, Bulldog.
Posted by Bird Dog
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15:37
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Wednesday, December 2. 2015Let's move Christmas to January 25, and change it completely!I understand the historical reasons that Christmas is on the winter solstice/Saturnalia in western Christianity, but I'd like it later. That's just one thing. Most of my grinchiness has to do with the feeling of pressure to pack everything in. I hate pressure and hassle, love serenity. - Mid-winter gets dreary in New England unless you ski a lot, or go away. A later Christmastime would brighten it all up. They say Jesus was probably born in April anyway. - We are not too big on giving presents at Christmastime at the Maggie's HQ now that the kids are older - and my extended family has banned them. How about if we all agree to quit with the gift-giving or just limit it to home-made jam, cookies, and pies or a bottle of something, and honor the season by getting together, singing carols, and with gifts to charities and churches? As a compromise, keep kids' stockings for chocolates and candy canes and things like that. Maybe some cash for the older ones. - Last year, Mrs. BD's present to me was Torture: A trainer 3 days/wk and a 6 day/wk exercise program. Some gift! I have stuck with it, though. She likes to feel the bulging muscle and appreciates the lack of fatigue climbing mountains. A year of squats with presses? At 5 am? Lovely gift! - Which is worse? Putting the decorations all around the house, or taking them down in a few weeks and packing them away? - Which is worse? Dragging in and putting up a live dead pagan tree with all of the family mementos on it, or getting rid of it before it burns the house down? (I simplified some of this chore years ago by keeping all tree stuff in drawers in the parlor.) - Outdoor Christmas lights. They all seem to commit suicide while being stored in the attic, but not before they writhe around in the dark to create annoying tangles. Yes, they are cheery though. I keep mine lit all through January because of the trouble, and just throw them in the trash after. - Christmas Cards. OK, they are a good way to stay in touch with people we care about. But there is so little time in which to do it, and you have to find a decent photo. Plus updating one's address book is a major pain. We've missed a year or two, and I hope nobody took it personally... - Parties. Too many, too jammed together. A normal fellow wants just so much social festivities, like one per week - and not more. Party-hopping to fulfill obligations is not really fun, but more like a duty. It is not misanthropy - if I were willing to drink more, it might be jollier. Must admit, though, I do like to touch base with all of my pals, fellow-church people, colleagues, and acquaintances at Christmastime. It might not happen much, otherwise. - Charity events. Why do so many of them now? Well, having run a large conservation charity for about 12 years (as a semi-involuntary volunteer), I know why: people feel more generous and more festive now - and drink more. So it's about $. - Mrs. BD has, and goes to, all of these festive Christmas teas and luncheons. I think that's great because guys are not invited. I believe she is in charge of a big fancy luncheon today with dressed-up ladies and carols and, if I heard her right, Santa hats or reindeer horns required to make it less stuffy. You can get them at CVS. Sorry to inform the loony campus feministas, but normal ladies still like to get dolled up for Christmas luncheons and teas, and to enjoy a cocktail or two with their buddies. - Just one black-tie event per Christmas season is plenty. I will resist two. - Wife says "Hey, BD, let's throw a casual party here on the Saturday before Christmas. We can invite 70 or 80 of our best friends, and get a pianist." Sheesh. Great idea, in theory. Do I have to vacuum and move furniture? Does the idea of baby Jesus mean a lot to me? You betcha. To me, it means the promise of a birth, or re-birth, of the spirit of Christ in my heart. There is great power, great significance, in that. I really do come from Yankee Puritan stock, and I guess some of that sticks. FYI, The Puritan War on Christmas
Posted by Bird Dog
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12:10
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Monday, November 23. 2015George Washington didn’t intend Thanksgiving to be a day for offering up glib platitudes that require no thought, no effort and no sacrifice.
I agree with this guy. There is much to be pissed off today in the land of the free, home of the brave. America was never meant to be a place where people lived in fear of their "public servants."
Posted by The News Junkie
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15:16
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Sunday, November 22. 2015The Silk Factory
In Florence, the Antico Setificio Fiorentino since 1786. Their warp technology invented by Leonardo. Two cool videos.
The Privilege of Luxury - Short movie from Antico Setificio Fiorentino on Vimeo.
Posted by Bird Dog
in History, The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
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15:30
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Stave Puzzles
Posted by The Barrister
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14:58
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Trollope
Intellectuals called him "a people-pleasing boor." In his bicentennial year, the long-overshadowed novelist finally gets his due. Overshadowed by Dickens, of course, who was a consummate people-pleaser. Was, and is.
Posted by The Barrister
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13:25
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Saturday, November 21. 2015Carlo Crivelli: the best Renaissance painter you’ve never heard of
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05:07
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Friday, November 20. 2015Keith Richards' Library
Posted by The News Junkie
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05:18
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Thursday, November 19. 2015Sleight of Hand with Ricky JayGood Fun
Posted by Bird Dog
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16:02
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A November Survey: Basic non-academic life skills to be learned in youthEvery person's list will vary due to geographical, climatological, financial, and cultural matters, but I think it's a good topic to think about, especially for parents. Regardless of their genitalia or gender identification, what are the basic life skills you want/wanted your kids to attain before they are/were kicked out of the nest and sent on their way in life? I'll begin with my How To list which is probably somewhat New England-oriented (my partial list, as an example), How To: Ride, handle, and care for a horse, ski, sail a boat and handle a powerboat in rough weather, ride a bike, handle all types of firearms, catch and clean a fish, train and handle a dog, change a tire, drive a tractor, tap a Sugar Maple, swim, golf, play tennis, play some team sports, throw every kind of ball, tie knots, play some card games, play an instrument, split wood, identify basic local birds, trees, and animals, go to church, exercise daily, basic cooking, try every sort of new food, perfect table manners and social conversation, dress appropriately to occasion, write a thank-you note and a condolence note, deliver a brief speech to a crowd, make a garden, pay attention to geography and geology, cement a post, use basic tools (and chain saws for boys), do laundry, clean a house, start a fire, tell a story without boring the listener, drive a stick shift, and, not least, travel internationally with confidence. Put your ideas about basic life skills in the comments, please.
Posted by The Barrister
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13:46
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Wednesday, November 18. 2015Retirement moneyThe Twenty-First Century Retirement Model Is Coming into Focus:
Those old-time pensions are a thing of the past, except for some government employees.
Posted by The Barrister
in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
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13:00
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Marketing Science
Posted by Bird Dog
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12:57
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Tuesday, November 17. 2015Fit for Life: Neglected muscles
Limitations I have found in my (recent) mixed cardio-resistance-endurance program are strength and power in my extremities, ie forearms and lower legs. Those tend to be neglected in resistance work. They are more or less expected to respond in strength to the other things you do. That is true to a point, perhaps, but, for examples, but my dead lifts and kettlebell walks are limited by my grip strength. Lower leg strength is needed for everything you do, posture and agility, and especially to prevent injury. What I am learning is that I have to strengthen everything to pursue my maximum functional endurance. The two go hand-in-hand.
Posted by The News Junkie
in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
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13:17
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Monday, November 16. 2015Fizzicle Phitness: BicepsBiceps are not major functional muscles. There are only three good reasons to strengthen biceps in isolation: arm-toning for middle-aged women, showing off in wife-beater Ts - and, usefully, to provide some complementary balance for the far more useful and important triceps. However, fact is that most upper-body chest, core, back exercises, and full-body exercises and body-weight calisthenics like pull-ups and ropes activate biceps enough without needing to do very much of those muscle-isolating "curls for girls." Expert Answers: Are Bicep Curls Really Useless? As BD has said, the Maggie's fitness philosophy for sedentary-working people is about overall fitness, muscle and cardiovascular endurance, athletic functionality, posture, core strength, and good body-weight management rather than body-building and body-sculpting. Maximally-functional for life, not for the gym, prison yard, or for the Gay Parade.. In my view, the more muscles an exercise stresses, the better. Besides intense interval cardio, what kills me but makes me fitter are pushing the full-body, mixed cardio+strength+core exercises like ball smashes, ropes, lunges with kettles, pull-ups, burners, and the like. You just do them until you break.
Posted by The News Junkie
in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
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13:25
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Sunday, November 15. 2015Francine's InterviewBorn in 1933, Francine Christophe was deported with her mother at the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in 1944.
Posted by Bird Dog
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16:42
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Saturday, November 14. 2015Grand Central Depot/Terminal/StationImages below via the excellent Ephemeral New York The original train shed of Grand Central in the background, on 4th Avenue (now Park Avenue), with cows. (1870s photo)
1871
1898
The spiffy new terminal in 1913:
Posted by Bird Dog
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05:32
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Friday, November 13. 2015Today's speed
Posted by The Barrister
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16:51
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What is a chota peg?Also known as a chhota peg. It's a term from the Raj, a "little drink" of whiskey. 30 ml. or about an ounce. I knew a guy who named his sailboat that.
Posted by The News Junkie
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14:19
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Not everything can be "fixed," and not everybody can be controlled
A whike ago I referred to "the tragic view of life" (as opposed to the utopian) in Social problems without solutions and the police state.
Posted by The Barrister
in Politics, The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
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13:38
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Thursday, November 12. 2015Deadly Sins: A reader survey The social justice warriors (known now as SJW) have a big problem with how you think and how you talk. Even one or two of them can express "outrage" or feign feeling traumatized, and then you become controversial in the press. It should all be funny, but it's not funny because you could lose your job. Freedom of speech does not protect your job - even in academia. People tiptoe around the office as if in an Orwellian world, and nobody says what they really think. So my query to readers is this: What are the thought crimes today which could get you in trouble?
Posted by The Barrister
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13:54
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Wednesday, November 11. 2015Middle-aged "Head, Shoulders"Explained, from Mrs. BD - Head (Botox, hair-do and coloring)
Posted by Bird Dog
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17:12
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Science Is Neither 'Settled' Nor 'Skeptical'
However, scientists are human, live in a given culture of knowledge and assumptions, and become attached to their ideas. Nobody wants to see his pet theory, worked on for 15 years, blown away by fresh data. Science Is Neither 'Settled' Nor 'Skeptical'
Posted by The Barrister
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14:16
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Cabin porn
Posted by Bird Dog
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05:07
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Tuesday, November 10. 2015A Brief History of the English LanguageOver the transom - The History of the English Language
Posted by Gwynnie
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17:14
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