Wednesday, January 31, 2024
Weekly Short Stories: 1995 Science Fiction, Part 4
Tuesday, January 30, 2024
Another Turn Toward Southern Stars in March
Melissa and I have planned a western Caribbean cruise for the beginning of March, in a few weeks. Since we are going to be going back to more southern latitudes, I thought it might be a good idea to study my star maps and reacquaint myself with the constellations that I normally wouldn't be able to view at my 30 degree north latitude. You might have noticed that I had dropped my "constellation of the month" feature on this blog...most of the rest of them appear in the southern sky, out of my range. This might be an opportunity for me to, at least temporarily, revive that feature. I think the southern constellations I'm most looking forward to seeing revolve around the super-constellation Argo, now officially broken up into Vela, Puppis, and Carina...along with ancillary smaller constellations in and around them...looking forward to seeing what I can see...
Monday, January 29, 2024
Skipping Running Races I've Signed Up For
Sunday, January 28, 2024
Chiefs and 49ers Shine in NFL Conference Playoffs
I watched most of the NFL conference championship playoffs today, the winners going on to the Super Bowl, to be played on Sunday February 11th in Las Vegas, Nevada. The first game was the American Conference championship game between defending Super Bowl champs Kansas City Chiefs and the favored home team Baltimore Ravens, while the nightcap was the San Francisco 49ers hosting the upstart Detroit Lions for the National Conference title. Kansas City and San Fran prevailed 17-10 and 34-31, respectively...I felt the losers played strong but made too many mistakes. In particular, that Detroit coach has a problem with settling for field goals on stalled drives. So the Super Bowl is set and I'm pulling for KC with its State Farm Insurance and Head & Shoulders Shampoo connections. I will say one more thing: I'm sick and tired of watching the reactions of Taylor Swift, girlfriend of Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce and who attends his games. I actually tried to like her music and never could see what the big deal was...she seems more of a professional celebrity than a true artist, basking in idol worship from her adoring fans. And that Detroit coach...whew, I don't think I could root for this hyper-aggressive dude even if I lived in Motown...
Saturday, January 27, 2024
Skipped 15K Race This Morning
This Saturday morning I woke up feeling a little under the weather, but I had already signed up to run a 15K race east of town. On top of this it was forecast to be unseasonably hot and humid...and it was! I decided to give my poor old body a break and skip the race...at 9:45 when I would have been in its closing stages, I checked the temperature and humidity: 72 degrees, 81%...ugh. I plan to run some throughout the year and the summer months here in northern Florida can be much, much worse than this morning was, but for today at least I'm passing on the long-distance running races. I still plan to run some today, but at a more relaxed level and in the more amenable environment of my home. Turn on the YouTube, I'll be virtually running to the NYC Marathon again.....
Friday, January 26, 2024
Quote of the Week...from Charles Herman
Thursday, January 25, 2024
Just Finished Reading Outlive by Dr. Peter Attia
Wednesday, January 24, 2024
Weekly Short Story: 1995 Science Fiction Short Stories, Part 3
Today I look at yet another "long" short story, a novella-length tale that editor Gardner Dozois seemed to love including in his anthologies, this volume covering 1995: The Year's Best Science Fiction, Thirteenth Annual Collection. 1995 was special to me in the world of passive spectator sports. The Florida Gators football team went undefeated in the regular season and won yet again the Southeastern Conference championship...only to get thoroughly crushed by Nebraska in the national championship game. And the Atlanta Braves, which I had been following since 1979, finally pulled off a World Series title, this one against the Cleveland Indians. But back to that story...
Tuesday, January 23, 2024
Recent Inclination for Reading Nonfiction
If you've been reading this blog lately, you might have noticed that, while I'm still doing my weekly science fiction short story reviews, just about all of the rest of my reading has been non-fiction, specifically oriented toward self-improvement, fitness and health. Although I'm not yet prepared to deliver a more detailed review of the book I've just finished reading, Outlive by Dr. Peter Attia, it, along with much of the material I've recently consumed, has made a deep impression on how I view fitness and health...especially at my age of 67. Much of what I read only affirmed a lot of what I had already been doing, which on the physical level was self-empowering instead of self-enfeebling following a medical diagnosis I had lived with after late 2011, culminating in corrective open-heart surgery in 2021. The famous Christmas Story movie line "You'll shoot your eye out, kid!" comes to mind as I resisted the impulse to take it easy and not take any chances exerting myself...yet my own thoracic surgeon assented to my choice to stay active (within certain limits), which I did for more than a decade before undergoing the procedure. Yes, I feel vindicated through my recent readings, but also challenged as there are other measures I could have been taking but haven't. A lot of this will come out in my review article on Attia's book: I should write it in the next week or so...
Monday, January 22, 2024
Checking Out Some More Recent Music Albums
Last November, seeing that I hadn't paid very much attention to the ongoing music scene in 2023, I decided to check out some of that year's album releases, focusing on artists I already liked. The best albums, far and away, were Cracker Island by Gorillaz and Memento Mori by Depeche Mode. Well, it's January of 2024 and I'm looking for some new material to listen to. To that effect, I've dug back a bit into the previous year and am checking out some new albums as well. In the next few days I'll be listening (on YouTube) to: I/O by Peter Gabriel, Danse Macabre by Duran Duran, Hackney Diamonds by the Rolling Stones, Rewind Forward by Ringo Starr, and...to be released on 1/26...Wall of Eyes by the Smile. Should be yet another fun listening adventure...
Sunday, January 21, 2024
Enjoyed the Weekend
Saturday, January 20, 2024
Walked the Depot Parkrun 5K This Morning with Melissa
This cold Saturday morning, with temperatures approaching freezing at sunrise, Melissa and I again drove down to Gainesville's Depot Park to walk the 5K (3.1 miles) distance at the weekly Depot Parkrun. It felt a lot colder to me than the half-marathon I ran in Hawthorne the previous Sunday, but Melissa seemed to handle it a lot better. She set the pace for the four laps, showing a lot of energy and progress with her walking. And she made her goal of breaking one hour, finishing with me at 57:26. Unfortunately, since Parkruns don't use chip timing and instead depend on the timekeeping volunteer syncing with the token-dispensing volunteer to time the finishers, this time around they were off by a couple of runners and as a result posted our times as being a lot faster. Maybe they'll remedy the mistake, maybe not...but in any event we shredded last week's time. Click HERE to view the posted results. It was so cold that I kept my hands in my jacket pockets the entire walk, and when Melissa took off her sweater about halfway through, I wrapped it around me over my jacket and two shirts, still shivering underneath the layers. Next week I'm signed up to run in the Newnan's Lake 15K race, which I've done three times in the past. Melissa and I signed up as volunteers for the February 3rd Parkrun. Hopefully in the next two weeks the weather will cooperate, but then again that's part of the random element that makes it all more interesting, sometimes chillingly so...
Friday, January 19, 2024
Quote of the Week...from Cees Nooteboom
Life is a never-ending cross reference. ---Cees Nooteboom
Thursday, January 18, 2024
Just Finished Reading Master the Marathon by Ali Nolan
Wednesday, January 17, 2024
Weekly Short Stories: 1995 Science Fiction, Part 2
Tuesday, January 16, 2024
Just Finished Reading The Cancer Code by Dr. Jason Fung
I recently discussed the book Life in the Fasting Lane, with Dr. Jason Fung, a nephrologist (kidney specialist), as a co-author. I just finished reading another book, a 2020 solo work of his, titled The Cancer Code. It explains the dynamic processes involved in this devastating and complex disease as well as the history of how medical science and physicians have evolved its definition and treatment. Dr. Fung elucidates three major stages of how cancer has been viewed: first, it was seen as an uncontrollable growth and reproduction of the body’s cells in a particular place. Second, it was seen as mutations on the gene that made cells cancerous. And now, the growing consensus is that, while the first two views are correct, they are relatively limited in usefulness, and that cancer is an atavism, that is, reversion to the cell’s more primitive unicellular organism form through a shedding of the genetic material within it that hitherto put it in cooperative relationships with other body cells, making it a competitor cell instead of a cooperative cell. One of the factors leading to this transformation is a chronic period of stress on the affected cell, not killing it but rather forcing it into fending for itself. Also, the author discusses different types of cancers and the process involved in metastasis, which is the spread of the cancer cells to other parts of the body. Fung stresses that cancerous cells mutate much more readily than normal cells, and that there is a strong statistical correlation between diabetes, obesity, and some cancers…the hormone insulin seems to be a strong contributing factor as the sugar it causes to be released in the body serves as fuel for the cancer cells and their reproduction. I don’t want to make it sound as if Dr. Jason Fung is making simplistic points…he goes into a lot more detail about this scourge than I’ve been able to stumble through with this review. I recommend this book…you’re bound to come out of it more enlightened about cancer, its nature, causes and possible ways to combat it…
Monday, January 15, 2024
On This Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
Sunday, January 14, 2024
Ran the Mary Andrews Half Marathon in Hawthorne This Morning
Saturday, January 13, 2024
Walked the Depot Parkrun 5K with Melissa This Morning
Friday, January 12, 2024
Quote of the Week...from Groucho Marx
The secret of life is honesty and fair dealing. If you can fake that, you've got it made. ---Groucho Marx
Thursday, January 11, 2024
Just Finished Reading Life in the Fasting Lane by Dr. Jason Fung, Eva Mayer and Megan Ramos
Having just read the book Life in the Fasting Lane: How to Make Intermittent Fasting a Lifestyle...and Reap the Benefits of Weight Loss and Better Health...whew, let's shorten the title a bit...I'm a little hesitant about writing and putting out this review. The reason is that I've discovered over the years that, while it's often inadvisable to bring up sensitive topics like religion, politics and money, diet is something I suspect a lot of folks take special offense at if the message differs from their deeply entrenched beliefs or challenges their choices about eating...or not eating. And it's exactly that, eating or not eating, that is what this collaborative effort is about, authored in alternating sections by nephrologist Dr. Jason Fung, lay person Eva Mayer and medical researcher Megan Ramos. Their operational definition of fasting is simple: it's the time you're not eating. The premise of fasting is that the body is either storing energy or burning it. Energy is produced for the body when eating...after a certain period of not eating, the body switches from energy storage (into fat) to energy burning (from fat). Although the authors say that intermittent fasting, which can be done in short stretches of a few hours at a time...wrapping such a span around one's sleeping time is a common method...is easy and simple and it doesn't make one constantly hungry as continuous snacking does. I say keep the rules to a minimum, but as is usually the case with these kinds of programs, they also start laying down different stipulations...sigh. I've known for years that, at least for me, creating longer time intervals between eating (while forgoing snacking)...the essence it turns out of intermittent fasting...has helped with my level of energy and trimmed excess weight. This book is good at getting people, especially those with obesity issues, motivated and started. Unfortunately, for someone like myself who has reached where they want to be, they don't have a lot to offer in the way of maintenance strategies. Throughout my life as long as I can remember, I have loved eating, and recently have enjoyed many a robust meal and dessert as I lost weight through spacing out my meals and thoroughly enjoying their wide, tasty varieties (and generous portions) when it was time to chow down. Dr. Fang claims that the calories-in/calories-out approach to dieting misses the crucial fact that it is hormones...most specifically insulin...that decide whether the body will use or store its fat. And a major factor in insulin production (or not) is whether you're eating or not eating. Okay, I've laid it all out...believe whatever you want to believe. I didn't approach reading Life in the Fasting Lane as a prescriptive guide to fasting/eating. I already had my own experiences and wanted to see how they related to others'. Although I thought the authors were sometimes a bit nit-picky about their rules, which they like to terms as "hacks", I was in general agreement, although I never have experienced the obesity issues that beset Ms. Mayer...
Wednesday, January 10, 2024
Weekly Short Stories: 1995 Science Fiction, Part 1
Tuesday, January 9, 2024
Very Windy, Stormy Weather Coming Our Way in Northern Florida This Afternoon
Monday, January 8, 2024
Just Finished Reading A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson
Bill Bryson has written a number of books...A Walk in the Woods, from 1998 and describing his attempt to hike the Appalachian Trail...is my first of his but most probably not my last. His humorous style, mixed in with a copious presentation of facts about this great American walkway that stretches all the way from northern Georgia through Maine, is something I'd like to see more of in my books. After beginning reading...my wonderful sister had given it to me as a present...it soon occurred to me that in some ways it resembled a 2015 movie I had recently seen starring Robert Redford. Sure enough, it was the cinematic adaptation of this very book, with the same title...apparently Redford had read it and was determined to make a movie based on it. I didn't care too much for the movie, which to me leaned to the maudlin side of things a bit too much, but the book was sharp and funny. Bryson wants to walk the Appalachian Trail but is concerned that maybe having a partner on the trek would make it safer and more endurable, so he recruits his friend "Stephen Katz" (a pseudonym for the book) to accompany him. He probably should have picked somebody a little more prepared than Katz, although their stumbling adventures, interactions and conversations would fill many of the book's pages. Long story short, the two don't even come close to covering the whole trail, although after a break Bryson returns to hike sections and Katz even rejoins him at the end. If you want to read a humorous account of hiking while learning some real facts about the Appalachian Trail and this part of America, this is a good starting point...
Sunday, January 7, 2024
NFL 2023 Regular Season Closing Out...in Early '24
Saturday, January 6, 2024
My Swimming & Running: Yesterday, Today and Next Weekend
Just when I was starting to be convinced that the New Year's "resolutionists", as I dub them, had begun to retreat back into their normal state of unmotivated mediocrity, I was dismayed yesterday to get to my gym, Gainesville Health and Fitness, a little past nine in the evening to discover that members had taken up all the swimming lanes in their generous indoor pool. Since I had picked Friday as my "swim day" of the week, I might have to change it to another day, say Monday, since folks often stay up later when they're leaning into the weekend. As it was, I went over to use one of their elliptical cross-trainer machines and then fiddled around with light weight settings on their overhead press and chest press weight machines...I've been advised in the past couple of years by two different physical therapists to work out some with light weights. After I did that I peeked back at the pool and it seemed there were some available lanes, so I went back and did six laps, no doubt looking completely awkward and uncoordinated as I struggled with the freestyle crawl, backstroke and breaststroke to cover the distance. All in all it was a positive gym experience, but I was frustrated at the overcrowded pool that late in the evening. Hopefully either some of its users can demotivate themselves a bit or Monday might be more amenable to my own schedule. As for this morning, I'm usually out at Depot Park running its free 5K Parkrun, but it was raining at the time pretty strongly. They still held the event as they didn't get any lightning, but for me I was fine letting it ride until next week. Speaking of next week, on Sunday the 14th the Florida Track Club will be holding its Mary Andrews Marathon/Half-Marathon race at Hawthorne. I signed up for the half-marathon. Although I was interested in the marathon and thought I could cover it, the race organizers placed what I think was an unreasonably strict cap of 5 hours for the event, beyond which they would refuse to time finishers...how tacky and elitist! I'm reconsidering my membership to the Florida Track Club as I get completely different...and much more negative...vibes from their people than from those in charge of the Parkruns. Doesn't mean I won't run in the FTC races from time to time, though. Yet their attitude makes me wonder: after all, their posted mission statement is (italics mine) "Our mission is to build the local running community and act as a network that supports runners of all ages and abilities"...
Friday, January 5, 2024
Quote of the Week...from Bilbo Baggins
Thursday, January 4, 2024
About New Year's Resolutions
Wednesday, January 3, 2024
Weekly Short Stories: 1994 Science Fiction, Part 8
Tuesday, January 2, 2024
My Reactions to Yesterday's College Football Playoff Semifinals
Yesterday I watched parts of the college football playoff semifinal games on TV...for some reason they decided to broadcast it on several different channels. The first contest was the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, pitting #1 seed Michigan against #4 Alabama, each led by established and successful prima donna coaches. Before the game I thought 'Bama was the better team, but the Wolverines, especially their incredible, intelligent and aggressive defense, impressed me. Unfortunately for them, they kept turning the ball over and thus had to come from behind to win an overtime game they should have prevailed in by at least a couple of touchdowns In the nightcap action, it was Washington vs. Texas in New Orlean's Sugar Bowl...once again one team, namely the Huskies with their high-flying passing offense, should have won going away, but poor time management and questionable offensive calls during the closing minutes of the contest kept the struggling Longhorns in at until the very final play. So it's Washington against Michigan, at Houston in the championship game. I'm planning on watching at least some of it, but I don't really have a clear preference. Sometimes when you watch highly competitive sports like this, it appears that neither side wants to win, what with all their mistakes. Yet I think that's primarily a symptom of the intensity and skill of the opponents involved, with each side trying their hardest to force errors on the other. I never bet on sports and always ultimately regard it as a form of entertainment, refusing...unlike in my younger years...to take any of it too seriously. Still, I'm curious who will win the title, the game to air on Monday evening, January 8th...I plan to be at work, though...
Monday, January 1, 2024
Ran Gainesville's Depot Parkrun 5K This New Year's Morning
Happy New Year Everybody
I wish you all a most happy New Year in 2024, may your lives be blessed and full of good memories to come!