Touching my toes

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ForwardbendLast night’s yoga class focused on the forward bend. We spent almost 90 minutes stretching, loosening muscles and joints, learning a little about body mechanics.

Kevin, the instructor, pointed out that touching our toes (or the floor) wasn’t really the point of our exercises, but merely a small measure of our progress.

It’s been a while since I touched my toes without bending my knees. At the beginning of the lesson, I was a good 6 inches from the floor and my lower back went to Defcon One. But by the end of the lesson, I was able to touch the floor (while making sounds that would shake a Gitmo guard).

At one point I was looking back between my legs at a middle-aged woman, bent double with her elbows on the floor. Oh my.

Last night’s lesson erased any notion that yoga is not exercise. When it was over, I hobbled down the stairs to my car and had a good long cry.

The TSA Show

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KnifeI recently asked a friend, who travels frequently, about airport check-in security. He laughed and pulled out his Swiss Army knife. Not one of the tiny pin knives, but a knife with a four-inch blade.

“I forgot I had this in my pocket and went right through security.”

Isolated incident? Maybe. But does any reasonable person honestly believe we’re any safer on a plane than we were on September 10th? Do you think a terrorist group couldn’t smuggle a Stinger shoulder-fired missile into this country, park near a major U.S. airport, and knock down a plane? Remember, he’s not trying to get away.

So what’s all the TSA frenzy about. Show. A highly visible charade that accomplishes two things: 1. Persuade the American public their government is doing something to keep them safe. 2. Remind them they must be fearful and trust the government… to keep them safe.

Kerri Walsh’s ass

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KerriwalshI’ve packed my little bag and said goodbye to Barb. As soon as I can come up with Kerri Walsh’s phone number I’m going to call her and have her come get me. We’ll tell people I’m her father (okay, her grandfather). I’ll be the one crouched by the net, ready to towel off my Goddess of Beach Volleyball.

Seriously, this is the only sport worth waiting in line for. I’d like to meet the person who came up with the idea of sponsoring the back of her bikini bottom. [Photo: Kerri (6’3″) hugging her teammate Misty May-Treanor (5’10”)]

Reality spill on aisle six

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“Janet Coats, editor of the Tampa Tribune, sat down in her newsroom to tell the staff about layoffs, reorganizations, new ways of doing business, and harsh realities and an intern named Jessica DaSilva recorded the event with appropriate admiration.

My favorite bomb: “People need to stop looking at TBO.com [the newspaper’s affiliated web site] as an add on to The Tampa Tribune. The truth is that The Tampa Tribune is an add on to TBO.” — Jeff Jarvis’ Buzz Machine

If this is true for newspapers today, will it be equally true for TV and radio tomorrow? And when that day comes, what will it mean for networks and others who provide programming (content?) for those stations.

Steampunk gas mask

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Leathergasmask

Three reasons why I don’t own this steampunk gas mask: a) I can’t imagine where I’d wear it, b) It’s probably hot as hell, c) and damned expensive. But I’d be set for all Halloweens to come.

Like many others, I developed an appreciation for steampunk from the novels of William Gibson.

“Steampunk is a subgenre of fantasy and speculative fiction which came into prominence in the 1980s and early 1990s. The term denotes works set in an era or world where steam power is still widely used—usually the 19th century, and often set in Victorian era England—but with prominent elements of either science fiction or fantasy, such as fictional technological inventions like those found in the works of H. G. Wells and Jules Verne, or real technological developments like the computer occurring at an earlier date.” – Wikipedia