March 2012
1 post
February 2012
37 posts
WatchFrank turner interview and sweet Hold Steady cover.
The Secret to Eternal Youth Unlocked? →
Although I think that in the 21st century, the best way to be healthy is to aproximate the way that paleolithic man ate and lived (minus the extensive fighting and trauma of course), I’m still pretty fascinated by the role modern technology might play in longevity. I’ve read Ray Kurzweil’s books and think the whole “singularity” concept might be a possibility, but...
I’m at an outdoor bar in St Petersburg, Florida having crab legs and sweet potato fries. Not bad. The only downside is that instead of having sports on the tvs, they have NASCAR. Which is as boring as I suspected it would be.
Damn. Couldn’t improve on my 113. Oh well. Bring on WOD #2.
CrossFit Games Open WOD 12.1: 113 Reps (so far)
I did the CrossFit Games Open WOD 12.1 yesterday and got 113 reps. Not bad, but a few short of what I wanted (120). I’m going to give it another go today, but I’m not feeling quite as sharp as I was yesterday so we’ll see what happens. I think I’m going to go out a tiny bit slower and hope my endurance holds up better. Per minute I want to get 20-18-17-17-16-16-16 for...
The good news of today is that Ryan Braun won his...
The bad news is that now we’re destined to hear sports writers that got C’s in science classes talk about how he “got off on a technicality.” First off, “technicality” is a bullshit term invented by people that lost. “Losers,” if you will. It’s a loaded term designed to make people think that justice has been cheated even though the outcome...
As Many Burpees as Possible in 7 Minutes →
That’s WOD #1 for the CrossFit Games Open Sectional. If I can refrain from throwing up, I feel alright about this. The link shows the girls that got second and third overall at last year’s games get 128 and 107 burpees respectively. I really feel like I could break 100. I think I’ll shoot for 20 a minute for the first 2 minutes, then 15 a minute after that, for a total of 115....
Have you seen those ads for “Cenegenics” in in flight magazines? The ones with the head of an old man clearly photoshopped onto a body builder’s body? Well, I think I just saw that guy in the Philly airport… and it might not be Photoshop…
It always amazes me when, once a year, otherwise reasonable people walk around all day with smudges on their foreheads. Religion really is fascinating.
This Sucks: Owner says Rosebud, Times theaters to... →
The Making of Homer At The Bat →
This is a sort of fascinating article about a classic episode of The Simpsons.
When The Bodyguard came out in 1992, I distinctly recall people mocking Kevin Kostner’s haircut. I just caught 5 minutes of the movie and it looks like he’s sporting the same haircut I am right now.
The real most interesting man in the world dies at... →
At 9, he settled a dispute with a pistol. At 13, he lit out for the Amazon jungle.
At 20, he attempted suicide-by-jaguar. Afterward he was apprenticed to a pirate. To please his mother, who did not take kindly to his being a pirate, he briefly managed a mink farm, one of the few truly dull entries on his otherwise crackling résumé, which lately included a career as a professional gambler.
...
Tumblr is really pissing me off right now.
RIP Frank the pepperoni/cannoli guy →
Pitchers and catchers report to camp. Spring has arrived.
It’s like Ghandi said, “a smile don’t cost nothin, sugar.”
Lin is not Tebow
For some reason, lots of idiotic sports pundits have felt the need to compare Knicks’ breakout star Jeremy Lin to shitty Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow. Jeremy Lin played basketball in the Ivy League in college, went undrafted, bounced around a few NBA benches and D-League teams, and then due to injuries got a chance with the Knicks and kicked ass. Tebow was the most decorated...
Casablanca: The Best Love Movie Ever--And Possibly... →
I agree with Jesus Diaz about this:
Casablanca has it all and, on top of that, it’s the perfect lovers movie. It’s also the perfect heroic movie. And the perfect drama. And the perfect noir film. And the perfect—the perfect everyfuckingthing, really. From the razor sharp clockwork dialogue to the plot to the direction to the acting. Oh, the acting. Every single actor and actress is...
Why Don't Americans Elect Scientists? →
Yes, this.
China has even more scientists in key positions in the government. President Hu Jintao was trained as a hydraulic engineer and Premier Wen Jiabao as a geomechanical engineer. In fact, eight out of the nine top government officials in China have scientific backgrounds. There is a scattering of scientist-politicians in high government positions in other countries as well. German...
“During the course of this litigation, many have played a part:
To the United...”
– http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/federal_judges_order_takes_swipe_at_politicians_who_demagogued_school_praye/
“If you haven’t heard, today is Valentine’s Day, the worst holiday known to...”
– http://www.jamesaltucher.com/2012/02/what-to-do-when-she-leaves-you/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+jamesaltucher+%28Altucher+Confidential%29&utm_content=Google+Reader
The Scale of the Universe →
This is Amazing
Sometimes..
.. when I see ads for shows like Jersey Shore or Dr. Phil or the one about Bruce Jenner’s stepkids or any of the ones enntirely about cupcakes, I think that these shows have to be part of some sort of secret government program to take away voting rights from stupid people or something. The right to vote is typically regarded as pretty F-ing fundamental, but could you imagine anyone...
Catching Up With Independents: the voters who keep... →
Yes, this.
Yet a mere nine days before the beginning of 2012, a USA Today study found that Republican registration in the 28 states where party affiliation is recorded was down 800,000 since 2008, including 350,000 in eight swing states. Who’s gaining? Not the governing Democrats, who deservedly lost twice as much. It’s the ranks of the unaffiliated that have grown by 400,000, including 325,000...
Why Heavier People Should Pay More to Fly →
Yes, this. I understand that there will be people who are over any weight limits through no fault of their own (Shaq?), but for the most part, weighing a lot is completely optional. People should be charged accordingly.
Between 1926 and 2008, the average weight of an Aussie female adult increased from 59 kilograms to 71 kilos and the average weight of an Aussie male adult increased from 72 to...
I just signed up for the Milwaukee Lakefront...
This should be an interesting experiment. I just signed up for the Lakefront Marathon. My plan is to train using CrossFit Endurance (or similar program) mostly. I haven’t really paid all that much attention to CrossFit Endurance so far, but I think I get the idea. This is definitely going to push me to study up on it. I plan on doing my regular CrossFit programming 4 or 5 times a week,...
January 2012
57 posts
The TSA's War on Innocent Travelers →
Yes, this.
Are There Fundamental Laws of Cooking? →
Since I started eating paleo(ish), I’ve been doing a lot more cooking. I’ve always like to cook but was limited to about 8 different dishes, 4 of which are different kinds of chili. I’m learning a lot about the basics for the first time now. As somebody who’s always been interested in science, and newly interested in cooking, I really liked this articel.
“Cooking...
Of all teams, shouldn't the Tigers know better?
The Tigers gave Prince Fielder a 9 year, $214 Million (or something) contract. The Tigers used to have Cecil Fielder. Shouldn’t they know how this story turns out? Hahahahahaha.
Added: Cecil was awesome. For exactly 2 years. In 1990 and 1991, when he was age 26 and 27 he had VORPs of 46.2 and 34.6. Then he turned 28 and the decline started. His VORPs over the next 5 years with the...
HyperVocal: 10 Debate Questions That Will Stir... →
hypervocal:
Eighteen debates. Well, 18 chances to deliver mini-stump speeches instead of actually debating.
This coming Thursday will mark the 19th debate among people who mostly agree, hilarious considering we only get three debates in the general election for candidates who don’t. Go figure.
It’s all…
Yes, this.
Richard Branson on the war on drugs →
“For all the successes I’ve had in business, I’ve also learnt to accept when things go wrong, work out why, and try to find a better way. The war on drugs is a failed enterprise. We need to have the courage to learn the lessons and move on.”
The Best Way to Stop Your Child Becoming an... →
Yes, this.
Urban Dictionary Word of the Day: Congressional... →
To loosely read or breeze through a document, likely missing a fair amount of the information contained within.
How tough will the upgrade be? I’m not too sure, I only gave the guide a Congressional Review.
Atlantic Magazine Article: Can Water Save... →
He founded the Milwaukee Water Council and launched an annual water summit. A couple years later, the United Nations named Milwaukee a ”Global Compact City” with a focus on water. Last year, with $50 million in state backing, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee opened the country’s first-ever School of Freshwater Studies and Marquette University added a water law program.
The...
Dear Son, On the occasion of you going into outer... →
This is a great letter from Scott Carpenter’s father written before Carpenter became the 4th American to space and the 2nd to orbit the Earth. I went to space camp when I was in 2nd or 3rd grade, so I learned all about the Mercury astronauts. I actually retained most of it pretty well. About a year ago I was playing bar trivia and the question was literally this: “Who was the 2nd...