Tag Archives: rest day read

July 4, 2010 · 10:28 AM

WE THE PEOPLE

Preamble to the United States Constitution

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

Constitution

I have always felt the most important and most beautiful three word in the entire United States Constitution, maybe even in the history of this great nation, are the first three, WE THE PEOPLE. Everything our country is about is right there in those three words. Everything our country was forged and fought for is right there in those three words. It is ALL about WE THE PEOPLE.

It is not the We the Three Branches of Government (which is the way our elected folk in Washington, DC have grown to think). It is not the We the Corporations of America (or whichever foreign entity own the majority shares.) It is not about one race, one group or one religion. It is not about landowners, homeless, rich, poor, smart, stupid, tall, short, incredibly sexy or incredibly unattractive. It is WE THE PEOPLE!

In the late 1700’s The Founding Fathers said WE THE PEOPLE and they damn well meant WE THE PEOPLE. After fighting and arguing for years to write the Constitution, these men truly understood the power of the collective, the power of WE THE PEOPLE. They knew, even all those years ago, that whatever changes and problems arise in technology, society and policy, WE THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES can fight through these and wind up a greater nation. They did not say it would be easy (take the Civil War, for example), but if we stand together and work together for the common good, we will emerge tall and proud.

The Founding Fathers were perhaps the greatest collective intellect in the history of modern civilization. They knew what the hell they were talking about. So we, the 2010 (and 2015) version of Americans, should swallow our excessive pride, boot our empty arrogance to the curb, heed the advice of the Founding Fathers and get back to the basics of WE THE PEOPLE.

Happy Independence Day!

1SigningtheConstitution

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June 29, 2010 · 6:44 AM

Dr. Lon Kilgore’s Genetic Potential

Rest Day Read (SR-34)
Genetic Potential by Dr. Lon Kilgore
“Humans are built to be active to survive, but the modern sedentary lifestyles lead to inactivation of the genes related to survival (the fitness and performance genes)”
“What is preferable for most of us is a broad-spectrum adaptation that will make a more functional human animal. To be truly fit to survive, fit to live, fit to work, fit to play, we need to drive across-the-board adaptations, aerobic and anaerobic, metabolic and structural, and we need a system of training that activates every performance gene in its path. Unlike weight training or traditional endurance work alone, Cross-Fit style mixed-mode training capitalizes on an athlete’s complete set of performance-related genes and produces a comprehensive fitness adaptation.”
Dr. Lon Kilgore hits the nail on the head with this article. Genetically, we Homo sapiens are designed and programmed to lead a physical lifestyle, yet we are constantly inventing and choosing ways to avoid or hide from our genetic destiny. Fortunately, there is a simple solution to this complex problem, become physically active and become physically active across the board with a variety of strength, power and endurance activities. There is great wisdom in Dr. Kilgore’s words, but we must implement these ideas and begin to use exercise to trigger the dormant genetics we have neglected. Change will happen. It has to happen, it is written in you genes.
Dr. Kilgore is one of the best in my opinion. Of course, being a Kansas State University A&P graduate doesn’t hurt, but he has a tremendous gift for breaking down the complex principles of kinesiology and anatomy & physiology into digestible pieces. His book, Starting Strength, co-authored by weightlifting legend Mark Rippetoe, is a must read for anyone interested in strength training the correct way and a foundation of my personal library. It is a well of information and technique perfectly suitable for self-teaching the basics of strength training in a safe and correct manner. I highly suggest owning and reading this book.
When I used to be the volunteer summer strength and conditioning coach at Clay Center Community High School, my whole program was based on the genetic potential our athletes. We are population of genetically middle/low weight wrestlers. Athletic, explosive, talented, but not big. We could not do anything about our physical size, so we focused on developing explosive powerful athletes that would play violent, aggressive football. Our credo was to get a little more explosive, get a little more stronger, get a little more faster every day! More on this later…

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June 23, 2010 · 11:35 AM

Thrice Blessed: The Rip Van Winkle Story

Rest Day Read (SR-33)
Rip Van Winkle by Washington Irving
“Whoever has made a voyage up the Hudson must remember the Kaatskill mountains. They are a dismembered branch of the great Appalachian family, and are seen away to the west of the river, swelling up to a noble height, and lording it over the surrounding country. Every change of season, every change of weather, indeed, every hour of the day, produces some change in the magical hues and shapes of these mountains, and they are regarded by all the good wives, far and near, as perfect barometers. When the weather is fair and settled, they are clothed in blue and purple, and print their bold outlines on the clear evening sky, but, sometimes, when the rest of the landscape is cloudless, they will gather hood of gray vapors about their summits, which, in the last rays of the setting sun, will glow and light up like a crown of glory.”
Washington Irving not only wrote great stories, but his descriptive narrative virtually takes the reader away to simpler days and transports one right smack into the middle of the Hudson River valley. Look at the passage above and the way Irving described the Kaatskill Mountains. Beautiful stuff.
Rip Van Winkle and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow are foundations of the American short story canon and are two of my all time favorite reads. There are very few characters ever set to paper which are as sympathetic as Rip Van Winkle and his trusty dog, Wolf. I think I would really enjoy sitting around Vedder’s Inn and deliberate the day away. How about you?

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June 18, 2010 · 8:49 PM

The Power of Youth

Rest Day Read (SR-32)
excerpt from 1776 by David McCullough
Chapter Two
Rabble in Arms
“His commitment to the Glorious Cause, as it was called, was total. And if his youth was obvious, the Glorious Cause was to a large degree a young man’s cause. The commander in chief of the army, George Washington, was himself only forty-three. John Hancock, the President of the Continental Congress, was thirty-nine, John Adams, forty, Thomas Jefferson, thirty-two, younger even than the young Rhode Island general (Nathaniel Greene). In such times many were being cast in roles seemingly beyond their experience or capacities…”
The Power of Youth is endless. The Energy of Youth is boundless. The Potential of Youth is immeasurable. I have worked with young athletes for over a decade and I have seen their potential, energy and power first hand. I believe in these young people, they can do incredible things if and when they set their minds to it. I believe they will be able to rise to the occasion when their time arrives. I believe they will be able to solve the “big” problems. I believe they will pick up the balls we have dropped, clean up the messes we have made and ultimately save our asses from ourselves. Have at it, kids!
P.S. I do find it absolutely amazing that right now, I am two years OLDER than General Washington was at the start of the Revolution. This group of amazing young minds and wills not only liberated a young America from England, then the greatest power on the face of the planet, but they also dreamed, devised and implemented the greatest social-political system in the history of civilization. I guess it is past time for me to get to work.

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June 14, 2010 · 8:10 PM

Blame it on Mr. Rogers?

Rest Day Read (SR-31)
Blame It on Mr. Rogers: Why Young Adults Feel So Entitled
by Jeffrey Zaslow, The Wall Street Journal
“Fred Rogers, the late TV icon, told several generations of children that they were “special” just for being whoever they were. He meant well, and he was a sterling role model in many ways. But what often got lost in his self-esteem-building patter was the idea that being special comes form working hard and having high expectations for yourself….”
…The world owes you nothing. You have to work and compete. If you want to be special, you’ll have to prove it.”
I don’t know if you have to blame it ALL on Mr. Rogers, maybe just a little bit. But you have to blame this entitlement attitude on the ” ‘special’ just for being whoever they were” approach our society seems to have adopted. If you work with youngsters, especially young athletes, you have seen an explosion in the prevalence of this attitude. It is a struggle and a fight to convince kids they will reap greater enjoyment, confidence and self-esteem by working hard toward obtaining the goals they set for themselves. Mom and Dad cannot do the work for you. They can complain and moan and groan on your behalf to make things easier for you, but it doesn’t do you a dang bit of good in the long run. There is no way around it, hard work is the magic.

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June 8, 2010 · 11:35 AM

The Monty Python School of Soccer

Rest Day Read (SR-30)
For the 30th installment of this series, we are taking a break from reading and turning our focus to some relaxing sports entertainment. And with World Cup Soccer from South Africa just around the corner, we will pay homage to the world’s most popular sport.
And now for something completely different…

Who in their right mind thinks of this stuff? Man, the Monty Python crew was funny. And no, they weren’t at all in the right mind. Still aren’t. For some reason, I remembered this skit as having a real soccer team playing against the Long John Silvers and they were also celebrating. That may have been even funnier.
When I was young, back in the 70’s, the only place you could see Monty Python’s Flying Circus was on PBS and only late, late, late Saturday nights. It was so cool, such subversive humor for the times. Watching Monty Python’s Flying Circus was like stepping into an alternate reality where us with a whacky view of the world felt right at home. It was like being 14 and sneaking into a R-rated movie.
Of course, the wide open, raw uncensored products of the BBC that we saw, mainly Flying Circus and The Benny Hill Show, were NOTHING like anything on American TV at the time. Brash, raunchy, politically incorrect and made satire of just about anything and everything. Yet, it seems tame compared to some of the crapola put on the airwaves today.
Creativity and imagination are golden. Shock and trash are just venom.

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May 30, 2010 · 8:50 AM

The Pied Piper of Hameln

Rest Day Read (SR-28)
The Pied Piper of Hameln versions collected by D.L. Ashliman
“In the year 1284 after the birth of Christ
From Hameln were led away
One hundred thirty children, born at this place
Led away by a piper into a mountain. “
We all know the fairy tale of the Pied Piper, don’t we? I thought I did, that is for sure. But then I ran across this excellent collection of folklore put together by Professor D.L. Ashliman. If you have time this holiday weekend, sit down and look through the collection. From Robert Browning’s old English poem to short versions from around the globe. Very entertaining stuff.
But, two things come to mind now, as an adult, when I go back to the Pied Piper tale.
1. You can’t trust politicians at their word for as far as you can throw them. Never, never ever.
2. Probably something that never really poked its way into your reality as a young reader of fairy tales, many (okay, most) of these old cautionary fairy tales are seriously sinister and dark. Kids being kidnapped and thrown in an oven by a witch. Sweet Granny disemboweled by a wolf whose sole purpose is to kill a small girl dressed in red. And how about this one; Hate your step daughter because a mirror says she is more beautiful than you? Why not just hire a woodsman to chop out her heart with an axe. Huh? Rumpelstiltskin. Man, I ain’t even going there.
Finally, the quoted passage above is reportedly taken from the wall of the Hameln, Germany town hall, according to a Jacob and Wilhem Grimm version of the story. I know it is probably not the easiest thing to chisel a passage like this into a wall, but can it be any less emotionally invested? Talk about concise, journalistic style…just the facts, mam.

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May 19, 2010 · 11:21 AM

For Real, Invisibility Cloaks?

Rest Day Read (SR-26)
Metamaterial Revolution: The New Science of Making Anything Disappear.
by Fred Hapgood, Discover Magazine March 10, 2009
“The goal at hand, changing how objects interact with light, seemed at first blush to be routine; people had been manipulating visible light with mirrors and lenses and prisms nearly forever. But Zhang, a materials scientist then at the University of California at Los Angeles, knew those applications were limited. Based overwhelmingly on a single material, glass, the technologies were restricted by the laws of optics described in standard physics texts. The engineers in the room hoped to smash through those barriers with materials and technologies never conceived of before. The proposals included crafting what amounts to an array of billions of tiny relays; in essence, the relays would capture light and send it back out. Depending on the specific design of the array, the light would be bent, reflected, or skewed in different ways.”

Yep people, this means invisibility. Definitely a ways down the road and depending on the ironing out of some technical glitches, but amazing technology, to say the least. As my one-of-a-kind Grandpa Bosley would say when presented with such modern inventions as the cordless phone, heart pacemakers, cruise control, car air conditioning and microwave ovens, “Well, I’ll be damned”.

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May 7, 2010 · 9:54 PM

The Creative Process in Action: Moby on NPR

Rest Day Read (SR-24)
The Creative Process
Moby: One Song, Two Days, Three Versions
from NPR’s Project Song by Bob Boilen
“I kicked off the songwriting process by showing them a series of photographs and words…Moby and Scarr are both drawn to an image of a man in the woods wearing a trenchcoat. There is a brown suitcase on the earthen floor beside him, and his head looks like a glowing storm cloud.
Next, I gave them a series of words to chose from. Moby picks the word “flight”. Scarr chooses “Sunday”, which Moby calls “the most depressing day of the week”.
Not long after, Moby puts the card with the word “Sunday” printed on it, along with the photograph, on a nearby chair. He picks up the bass guitar and immediately starts playing a riff in the key of E. Turns out, this hastily played baseline would become the bedrock for their new song.
Just six hours later, the first of three versions of “Gone to Sleep” was recorded.”
The creative process has always intrigued me. Creativity is vital to excellence. Creativity separates, it is the cream which rises to the top. I have always been interested in what makes greatness, in particular, Malcolm Gladwells writings on the subject. The great trainers I follow, Crossfit, Gym Jones, Dan John, Mike Rutherford, Coach Rod Cole, CrossFit Kids, Marty Gallagher, Mark Rippetoe and Dr. Lon Kilgore, just to name a few, are all very creative in their expertise and approach to their craft. The great football coaches I idolized, Hank Stram, Vince Lombardi, Mike Ditka, Bill Belchick, Mary Schottenheimer, Urban Meyer, Bill Snyder all use their creativity to innovate and dominate the sport. The beauty of what they all do is truly an art form.
This article, audio file and video of Moby creating a song from a photo and word on the NPR program Project Song shows the creative process at its best. Moby is completely in the zone, absolutely, completely focused on his purpose, as he and partner Kelli Scarr attack the creation of the piece. It is pretty cool stuff. Listen, watch, learn and enjoy.
Makes one wonder just what exactly it is in the small percentage of differences in the genetic code between Homo sapiens, that allows for such variety and creativity in our species.

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April 28, 2010 · 11:34 AM

Summer Conditioning: Fail Cycle

Rest Day Read (SR-22)
Failure by Mark Twight of Gym Jones
“The gifted athlete who sails from one success to the next with little effort or training knows nothing of himself or how he might behave when truly pressured.”
Whenever I think I know what it is all about, whenever I think I have reached an acceptable, comfortable level and the good I am doing is good enough, I always seem to find a way back to Mark Twight’s essays on the Gym Jones web site. He always slaps me back into reality, back into challenging myself and pushing forward. Gym Jones always reminds me just how behind the game I am.
Back when I was training athletes, I lived by the philosophy of the Fail Cycle. I give you a task, first you would cuss me out and complain, then you would try and fail, beaten and broken. Then you would go home and it would eat at you all night that you failed. Then you would come back and work your ass off until you complete the task. Then a new, more difficult task would be handed out and the cycle starts again.
I admit, I used to worry about some of the stuff I would ask the athletes to do. But I also knew that we weren’t big, fast, or terribly athletically gifted as a group, so we had to prepare with maximum effort mentally and physically to turn our bodies into weapons. Their jelly-legged, exhausted, dead-ass tired bodies would drag themselves off the floor or dusty ground, give me that “you SOB” glare then go home. But the next day, they would come back fresh and ready to go.
It may sound weird to most, but seeing kids fight through those demons and push their mental and physical barriers, seeing them get up after being beat down and move forward a better man, is the one thing I miss the most about not coaching anymore. I do miss Friday nights, but I REALLY miss summer mornings at 6:30 AM.
No wonder the mothers worried so much…

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