Science Channel Show About Reality

I am not a scientist by training, not even an engineer or technician. I have taken science courses in college, though, and continue to maintain a healthy interest in it. But I don't have the specialized training needed to fully understand the cutting edge of new research, nor do I possess the extensive mathematical prowess needed to make my way through some of the branches, most notably physics. But that shouldn't keep me from writing about it, though. After all, I am affected by scientific research, for better or for worse, and also tend to share in its subsidy either directly through my taxes or indirectly through private companies (which pass on the cost of research to the customer in their goods and services).

The Science Channel is one of my favorite channels to watch. Not that I like everything on it: they seem recently to be ominously turning down the road of fiction programming, something more appropriate to the Sci-Fi Channel. But there are some really good shows on it nonetheless. The other night I saw one of these, which dealt with how today's physicists are coming up with theories and ideas concerning the basic nature of reality.

I probably am off a little with my accuracy in describing the different viewpoints I heard. But still, I was amazed at how divergent many of the top physicists were in their take on the basic nature of the universe and reality. One conjectured that, since time depends on mass to have any meaning, and that at the origin of the big bang there was a singularity which made time irrelevant, then our own universe eventually will expand and cool to the point where only massless photons are left. And thus no time, fulfilling (at least in the mind of this particular physicist) the prerequisite for another big bang to a new universe. Another physicist had a similar idea, only that it was black holes that were the spawning grounds for new universes. Renown Stanford physicist Leonard Susskind, largely known for his holographic theory that supposedly allows for information to be preserved in the event horizons surrounding black holes, postulated that there may be a holographic projection of all of our three-dimensional reality elsewhere in the universe. And then he pulled a mind-job on everyone by suggesting that perhaps what we perceive as reality around us is nothing more than a hologram.

Susskind, with his ideas, still stressed the point that it was through mathematics that he developed his theories. In fact, without this tool, scientific advancement would be very, very limited. And then another physicist came on the show to deliver the coup de grace: maybe mathematics isn't a tool that humankind has invented and developed over the centuries. Maybe instead mathematics IS the underlying structure of reality and we are gradually becoming more aware of it. Upon hearing this I felt like screaming in frustration...

Congrats to the Mavs

So the Dallas Mavericks were able to put away the supposedly-invincible Miami Heat four games to two in the National Basketball Association final series to claim their first championship ever. Good for them! I liked the way they worked as a team, and it reminded me of the way that the Boston Celtics played. As for the Miami Heat, they can have their superstars, for all I care. I am sick of this ongoing melodrama about the hurt feelings of their moody forward Lebron James, who apparently is of the attitude that he can just "turn it on" in a game whenever he happens to be in the mood...

Lord of the Rings: I Have Issues

I loved reading J.R.R. Tolkien's classic three volume fantasy series Lord of the Rings, and I also love watching the three-movie film adaptation thereof. There are however some problems I have with Lord of the Rings, mainly concerning the movies.

When I sat down to watch the first movie The Fellowship of the Ring, I was very eager to see how the movie would portray my favorite character Tom Bombadil. Who, you might say, is that? Well, if you didn't read the book you wouldn't know: director Peter Jackson and his cohorts apparently thought that THREE WHOLE CONSECUTIVE CHAPTERS of the book could be dispensed with, completely omitting any reference to this puzzling character and his interesting domain, which was located between the Shire and the town of Bree. Go figure...

Then there is the matter of the great ring itself. Whoever possessed it and kept it on their person never physically aged, as neither Gollum nor Bilbo Baggins did. Once Bilbo relinquished it to Frodo, though, he quickly aged, and by decades. But with Gollum, he was deprived of it for many years but DIDN'T AGE! H-m-m...

And what about the way the movie series treated the treacherous wizard Saruman? In the first movie, he was so powerful that he could control the weather from many miles away. But once the Ents flooded out Isengard in the second movie The Two Towers, he was just left alone in his tower without any power. In the book, he escapes with Wormtongue to stir up trouble later in the Shire, something also completely ignored in the films.

The Nazgul, or "Riders in Black", never made much sense either. In The Fellowship of the Ring, they were confined by land on horseback and allowed themselves to be swept away by an enchanted elvish river. And one man, Aragorn, was able to fight off the entire lot of them with an also-unexplained short respite of time following this feat. Later, in The Two Towers and the final book/film The Return of the King, the Nazgul return but are much more powerful and imposing, flying around on their powerful demonic dragons. Yet, in a scene at the end of the movie (but not in the book), they discover the whereabouts of the ring but retreat too easily.

There is something in the films that was a bit unsettling to me, something that I had alluded to in a much earlier blog article. Did you notice that the elves, Gandalf, and Aragorn all spoke the King's English? Other "good guys" like common hobbits and dwarfs spoke in in brogues like one would find in Scotland or Ireland. But the bad guys like Sauron or the orcs? They spoke with common Cockney-like accents. This gave an elitist, aristocratic connotation to the conflict between good and evil, and I objected to that.

Finally, I object to the way that Jackson and Co. tried to get around the aforementioned three chapters that they left out of the first movie by finally reintroducing the characters of Merry and Pippin in the most improbable setting of a maze-like cornfield miles away from Frodo and Sam's starting point for their trek. They could have done better, I think.

Still, I love Lord of the Rings and consider the film version as the best thing in cinema to come out this century so far. I wonder, though, how much they are going to alter the wonderful story The Hobbit when that movie is released. I shudder at the thought...

Title Series Format Change Suggestion

I have noticed over my lifetime (or at least my sports-following portion thereof) that for most of a sports season, there is relatively little interest among the general population. Even with initial playoffs or crucial regular-season-ending contests, the die-hard fans may get all pumped up with excitement but folks who usually don't follow sports still aren't in on what's going on. But once we get down to the final championship event(s), then suddenly interest explodes among the population. The Super Bowl, World Series, and NBA Championship Series stand out in professional sports in this regard. I couldn't get a reasonable discussion going with most people about these sports during the regular season, but come that final time in the season when it's down to two teams fighting it out for the title, then it's quite easy to talk about it with just about anyone.

As for my suggestion, I don't know what more could be done to improve professional football; college football obviously needs a playoff system to give that final game a greater sense of legitimacy. Due to the physically demanding, violent nature of the sport, football titles are decided by single games. In other professional team sports, though, a best-of-seven series is usually played. Currently, the National Basketball Association championship is being played out in a series between the Miami Heat and the Dallas Mavericks, with the latter leading three games to two so far. The first to reach four wins the championship. But why not change it so that one team, with a minimum of four series wins, must take a two-game advantage over the other in order to claim the championship? This wouldn't change a lop-sided mismatched series, which for all practical purposes needs to be finished and dispensed with. But what about those nail-biting close series, often ending up tied 3-3 with a climactic final game to decide it all? Oh, that last seventh game is a big attention grabber, to be sure. But then it's over. Imagine instead that the two teams are closely matched (like Miami and Dallas currently are) and neither has enough of an edge over the other to muster up a two-game edge. We could then go on for weeks with a great series, with one team finally winning by, say, something like a 20-18 margin.

They should drag out that final series and squeeze as much interest as possible from it. My proposal would do just that. I wouldn't recommend it for just any playoff series (remember, public interest isn't that great early on). Just for the championship series when everyone is getting in on the excitement.

Just think of all the beer commercials this would generate: we could get our economy "afloat" again...

Haze Reprieve Gives Way to Outdoor Run

This morning I experienced a reprieve from the stinky haze permeating the air over Gainesville when the wind shifted to an easterly direction. This gave me the opportunity to do some road running for a change, instead of the indoor treadmill. It was great to get back outside on my old course, covering 8.15 miles in 1:16:41. Of course, this was at my monotonously regular running pace!

Speaking of the haze, I reported that it is primarily due to a large forest fire (about 5,000 acres) in Levy County, adjacently to mine. But I suppose I should step out a minute from my pity party and count my blessings: Arizona has a monstrous, uncontrollable fire on its hands that is about to enter New Mexico. And there is a fire raging in Miami that is 50,000 acres in size!

But at least for my area, there is rain forecast for the next few days. But whether it will fall on that fire is problematic: don't large brush fires interact with the atmosphere and actually alter the weather, keeping rain away from them? I thought I heard that on TV once, or maybe I just dreamed it...

Starbucks Crowds Me Out

The Starbucks store on Newberry Road that closed down recently shouldn't be affecting me, since I had pretty much stopped going there long ago. Unfortunately, though, the customers who used to do business there have gone to other Starbucks. Including my favorite, the Magnolia Parke location. Lately, I have had repeated experiences of walking into this Starbucks with the intent of sitting inside for my coffee and some studying, and then turning about-face and walking right on out when it was apparent that all seats were taken.

That's too bad, because I have begun to frequent some of Starbucks' competitors, places that actually provide seating space for their customers.

Running Away From the Haze

The smoky haze primarily originating from a large forest fire in Levy County SSW of us has made running outdoors not a very advisable option for me. Especially when I have the alternative of running on the treadmill at my local YMCA. Monday, which started out hazy but then turned into a very rainy, stormy day for Gainesville (but unfortunately NOT for fire-ridden Levy County), I ran on the treadmill for 9 miles and felt pretty good afterwards. Today, with no rain in sight, I struggled through the haze to my car, coughed a little on the way and rushed into the YMCA holding my breath. Then I ran another 8 miles on the treadmill.

I could run on the treadmill like this all summer if I had to, but doing so makes the eventual transition to road running more difficult. I just wish that fire was gone.

By the way, I have decided at least for the immediate future to cross-train on non-running days at the YMCA with weight training and their elliptical machine. Tuesday I performed 330 reps on six different weight machines that exercised my upper body and abdomen. I used the elliptical cross-trainer for 40 minutes. Then, at home I did some work on our portable step-exercise machine. What I'd like to do is add some leg-strengthening weight training to this routine. I have heard that such training can be valuable in preventing injuries of the kind I experienced this past January (IT band).

Simple Faith

I tend to look askance at organized religion. Simple religious faith should unite people, not divide them with all kinds of special rules, stipulations, and rituals. Each organized religion says they have the only prescription for spiritual growth and the "good" afterlife based on their own preciously-held rules, names, and catch-phrases. If you talk to any true believer in one, to be sure, they will tell you that behind the utterances and ritual one must "feel it" in the heart as well. Maybe, but a Christian will still insist on the rituals as the required public expression of salvation. And a Muslim will point to the phrase in the Qu'ran that converts to that religion must utter to gain favor with Allah as a true believer.

I tend to have problems with religious people who get completely entangled in their own particular faith's doctrines and subdoctrines, especially elements thereof that assign exclusivity to that religion and consign nonbelievers to suffering after death. Instead, I respect...no, I ESTEEM those who may be members or part of the culture of a particular religion but themselves practice something I call "simple faith".

Underlying simple faith is the idea that life is a mystery, and so is death. What death is like, we don't know. And if there is any special meaning or power behind our lives and our "reality", we don't know either, based on what we can detect with our senses. But if there is, then we can entertain a hope that death is a transition from one type of existence in one reality to another, and that "God", if you will, is a protector and guide to help us on our way, both in this life and thereafter. Having this simple faith can help its possessors to feel empowered to make something of their "earthly" lives with some feeling of confidence that it is meaningful and that all is not lost with death. If you want to call God whatever name your specific religion uses (or forbids), then go ahead. Just don't get hung up on names, unless of course you just have as an agenda the desire to set yourself apart from others with the aim of somehow feeling superior to them.

Illegal Immigration Issue

Concerning the illegal immigration issue...

Proponents of strict enforcement of American immigration laws are often hammered as being "racist" or anti-immigrant. I have read and heard countless exhortations by well-meaning people (including President Obama) who, like me, want reasonable immigration reform that is realistic and compassionate toward those here without documentation. One of the arguments I hear, though, is patently condescending: we are a nation of immigrants, those currently here without documentation are the same as all of the others who passed into this country while following the law, and if you don't like the largely uncontrolled, primarily-Mexican influx then you must be racist or at least xenophobic (and therefore in need of this patronizing rebuke).

I remember in the not-too-distant past how refugees to the U.S. from Indochina often encountered hostility from some of the "natives": they were seen as "outsiders", supposedly taking away people's livelihoods by working cheaply or setting up competing businesses. But these were admitted into the country within the parameters of immigration law, with many more never making it into the United States. To the ones opposing those refugees, a rebuke about us being a nation of immigrants would be right on target and not condescending. After all, they came here within the confines of the law and were a true continuation of our admirable tradition of enhancing our national diversity through immigration.

Now I have no doubt that there are xenophobes among those clamoring for strict immigration enforcement. They are particularly strong among those who want the millions of illegal immigrants rounded up and summarily deported, even those who have been here for many years. But I can see that those arguing for strict enforcement have some good points without automatically attributing their motives to prejudice.

It is important to provide an avenue for legal residence to those currently in this country outside the law for a number of reasons. For one, they need to be able to rely on police protection and feel that they are not under the yoke of those who would exploit their vulnerable undocumented status to their own nefarious ends. For another, this is America, dude! You know, the land of the free! And when I interact with others in this great land, I want to feel that they, like me, are free to exercise all of their constitutional rights and to hold their leaders accountable. Only with the type of reasonable immigration reform proposed by our present and previous presidents, representing both major parties, can this be achieved.

But please, let's can the condescending lectures, O.K.? I also think our national borders need to be made more secure. That doesn't make me a bigot.

Hot Weather and Smoky Haze

The last couple of days have been stifling-hot, with temperatures climbing in the afternoon to the upper nineties. To compound the effect, a thick smoky haze from many area fires has descended upon the Gainesville area, making issues of breathing second-hand smoke from cigarettes a moot point. There is no way I am going out in this horrible weather to run, so for a while at least I am hitting the indoor treadmill at my local YMCA. Hopefully, some rain is forthcoming and we'll eventually begin to see the typical summer afternoon showers that make living here enjoyable, or at least bearable. But for now it's almost uninhabitable!

I have noticed that the haze is much worse during the evening hours, but I can now detect it throughout the day...

Orlando Visit

I went with my wife today to Orlando, where she had to go to do a mandatory part of the Masters-level class she is currently enrolled in online. Melissa attends the University of Central Florida, but does the bulk of her academic work online from home. Today, though, we were in eastern Orlando at UCF. What is it about this very crowded, noisy city that makes me want to quickly return to Gainesville in a way that ultracrowded Manhattan didn't on my visit there?

I believe that my problem with Orlando is its vast, sprawling nature wholly dependent on street traffic, in combination with lots and lots and lots of people. When I let Melissa off for her class, I drove around trying to find a place to get a good cup of coffee and study. I drove through the UCF campus, where no-parking signs were everywhere (unless you had bought a permit) and some for-pay parking garages, of which I felt no desire to avail myself. So although there were some places I could have gone at UCF, I ended up passing through the campus and back out on the main highway. I found a nearby Starbucks, but every table was taken. I skipped the local fast food places like Burger King and McDonald's, which was probably a mistake. Finally after driving around for several miles, I came across a Dunkin' Donuts that was right off of Colonial Drive. It was a big place, with an even bigger crowd of customers. But I did manage to get a seat and studied some amid the enormous din there. It was awfully unpleasant, though.

If you exclude my theme park experiences there, I don't like to visit Orlando. And I don't like anything to do with driving down its congested streets, full it seems of crazy drivers. Nothing personal, but to me it is an ugly, noisy, overcrowded sprawl. Probably like Los Angeles in miniature! If you like that kind of environment, then go for it! I won't be hanging around, though...

On the other hand, to be fair about it, if I actually lived in Orlando and had roots in the area, I might have a different take on it. But just passing through as a visitor is no fun!

Dallas Does It Again

A few days ago I wrote how the National Basketball Association Dallas Mavericks made an incredible late-game comeback against their playoff opponent Oklahoma City, after I had given up on the game to watch another TV show. Last night they did it again, although I was at work during the game and unable to watch. Their victims this time were the Miami Heat, their opponent for the NBA Championship series. After Miami had easily handled the Mavericks in game one, the buzz around the sports media was that the Heat were too hot for anyone to handle. And it looked like that last night, too. Midway through the fourth quarter they were easily handling Dallas, 78-63. Then the Mavs stormed back, with their stars Nowitzki, Kidd, and Terry leading the way. They pulled out their comeback with a 95-93 improbable victory, and on the road. The next three games will be home games for Dallas, so they now have a real opportunity to do damage to Miami's presumed cakewalk to the championship.

Bummed Out on Negative Personal Narratives

I am really tired of being expected to sympathetically listen to other people as they emotionally spew out their very personal hyperjudgemental rancor about others. I don't know how to change this: these people seem totally focused on the negative aspects of certain relationships they have and tenaciously refuse to consider the bigger, more complete picture that includes the positive. I have come to the conclusion that this negativity is at best a form of manipulation of me as a hostage listener and is at worst a psychological disorder, with negative feelings and their open expression feeding on themselves and demanding more and more.

This isn't just one person, either. I see it all around me in various settings. It tends to make me more susceptible to spiritual feelings only in the sense that it appears that demons have a hold on these very negative people. All I want to do when around them is escape.

I am 54. That isn't young. I would like to look forward to my remaining future years as a time of happiness, health and positive relationships. But not around these people, the way they currently are! It matters not what shortcomings they see in others: I have only one option, which is to tune them out...

Spoon June

Spoon is a Texas-based multihyphenated modern-indie-alternative-rock band that has been around since the nineties. Unfortunately, I only have their music that has been released since 2002. They are very good, with strong perscussion/guitar/keyboard interaction in their songs, along with group cofounder, singer/songwriter Britt Daniels' idiosynchratic raspy voice as lead vocal. Even if you don't normally listen to this genre of music, you may have heard their 2006 hit I Turn My Camera On on a TV commerical a few years back.

I Turn My Camera On was the song that made me notice this talented and creative band. Their material, like that of Regina Spektor and Radiohead, is all eminently listenable and there are several tracks on their albums that I have come to like a lot. In fact, I have recently begun to solely listen to my collection of Spoon's music (in shuffle mode) on my MP3 player while running (succeeding Regina and Radiohead for this honor). June looks to be a month full of Spoon listening...

The following is my personal "Top 25" list of Spoon songs. Please keep in mind that I don't yet have their early albums, though. I do have Kill the Moonlight [KM], Gimme Fiction [GF], Get Nice! [GN], Ga Ga Ga Ga [GGGG], and Transference [T]. I have put the above-indicated abbreviated forms for the corresponding albums next to each song.

Here's my list:

1 My Mathematical Mind [GF]
2 The Ghost of You Lingers [GGGG]
3 Don't Let It Get You Down [KM]
4 Goodnight Laura [T]
5 Merchants of Soul [GF]
6 Someone Something [KM]
7 Don't You Evah [GGGG]
8 The Mystery Zone [T]
9 My Little Japanese Cigarette Case [GGGG]
10 I Turn My Camera On [GF]
11 Stay Don't Go [KM]
12 The Way We Get By [KM]
13 You Got Your Cherry Bomb [GGGG]
14 I Summon You [GF]
15 Small Stakes [KM]
16 Paper Tiger [KM]
17 Is Love Forever? [T]
18 The Underdog [GGGG]
19 Jonathon Fisk [KM]
20 Sister Jack [GF]
21 Well-Alright [Dark Was the Night compilation]
22 Who Makes Your Money [T]
23 The Delicate Place [GF]
24 Dracula's Cigarette [GN]
25 Tasty Fish [GN]

The Swing Voter Bloc: Fools

Please, somebody explain to me the American voter. In 2008, Barack Obama won the presidency with a majority of votes cast. He also won the state of Florida over his Republican opponent John McCain. Two years later, in statewide races for the U.S. Senate and Governor, teabagger Republicans Marco Rubio and Rick Scott won their races, respectively, putting into office candidates with a diametrically opposite view of how to govern than Obama. Now just a few months after they took office, public opinion polls have Governor Scott with an approval rating under 30%. And he's only been doing what he said he was going to do when he was voted into office!

Now polls are showing President Obama ahead in Florida against the GOP, and incumbent Democratic Senator Bill Nelson has a commanding lead for reelection next year. Huh? I thought the tea party reigned supreme here now!

What is wrong with voters? What I see here isn't a thought-out shift in political philosophy that is reflected in the polls. Instead, it looks as if we, as a collective body of voters, are suffering from mass attention deficit disorder and vote strictly on emotional impulse!

Sure, there are those who stick to their own political perspective and consistently vote in accordance with it. I'd like to believe that I am one of them. But a frighteningly large portion of the electorate seems, at least to me, to be a bunch of silly, easily manipulated fools. Sometimes they vote as I vote on election day and sometimes the other way. But they are still fools regardless. No wonder candidates are now advertised and sold nowadays like sports cars, beer, and laundry detergent!

St. Augustine Memorial Day Outing

Today I took my family for a Memorial Day outing in St. Augustine, which is about 75 miles east of Gainesville. We split the time up between the beach and the old city (St. Augustine, founded by Spain in the late 16th century, is the oldest city in the U.S. in continuous existence). For the beach part, we went to Anastasia State Park, one of the nicer parks I've been to. While in the pretty turbulent ocean, I practiced swimming, concentrating mainly on trying to improve my breaststroke form. This was interesting as the waves were pretty strong around me, quite a different experience from my local YMCA pool. It was a pretty good workout, though. But I think I prefer swimming pools to the ocean, at least when they are actually open and have available lanes.

The old city was the same as I have come to know it from several previous visits spanning the last 25 years. We browsed through different stores and had dinner at Meehan's Irish Pub and Restaurant, not to mention some coffee and chocolate from other stores. We didn't buy much merchandise, preferring instead to simply enjoy each other's company as we leisurely browsed around and took in the surroundings.

Our day together was full of laughs and good feelings, elevating my spirits and making me look forward to the busy week ahead of me.

Theme Park Weariness

From late 2002 through 2006 I was an avid thrill ride fan, enjoying theme parks like Busch Gardens, Universal Studios Orlando, Disney World, Wild Adventures, Cypress Gardens, and Dollywood. Before this time I had been afraid to ride any roller coaster, and any ride that flipped me over or dropped me quickly? Forget it! It took my two fearless children to shame me into gutting it out through some scary rides, and before I knew it I was hooked on them. But my children have since been growing up and now have other interests. The rides never did take hold with my wife, so it often seems that I am the only one left with a real desire to visit a theme park. And even with me, I am not 100% on board with it, either.

For one, just to get to one of the relatively close parks involves some tedious long-distance driving for 100-140 miles. That, simply put, is not a fun ride for me! Then, when I'm finally at the park, there is the chronic problem of having to wait in long lines just to enjoy a ride that often lasts only a couple of minutes. On top of that, it seems that usually several of the rides are in disrepair at any given time, and some of them are my favorites.

So when I read about some of the new rides coming out at places like Busch Gardens, Sea World, and Universal, I wonder to myself whether I really want to invest the time, effort, and expense to go try them out. Shoot, I haven't even tried out any of the rides at Sea World, but I don't see any visits there in the foreseeable future.

Years ago I saw a promotional show on TV about Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, Virginia. They had a wonderful steel coaster called Alpengeist (similar to Tampa's Montu), and a man who liked this ride so much he had ridden it more than 500 times rode it again for the cameras. I bet that dude probably lived across the street from the park!

When I occasionally go to South Florida for family reasons, I check out a place in Dania called Boomer's, which is primarily a large arcade building with a whopping giant wooden roller coaster towering over it. I just drive over there during my visit, park my car for free, buy my coaster ride ticket, and walk right up and get on the coaster with nary a wait nor hassle.

Why can't other places be like that? They wear me down.

About My Chinese Study and Reading of Late

I am currently adding about 2,500 Chinese characters to my personal vocabulary, doing this in a painstakingly methodical fashion. Much of this involves looking up words in dictionaries and adding them to a "grand notebook" that I have constructed, holding new words learned along with where I encountered them. I am also inserting Japanese transliterations of the characters that they have incorporated into their language.

All of this takes a lot of time, but it is interesting that, when I have free time, I do a lot of writing that involves little actual thinking. And when I am involved in something else, I can mentally multi-task and practice my newly-acquired vocabulary from memory. Hopefully, this all will lead to me being able to more fully enjoy exposure to Chinese (and eventually Japanese) by being able, as I currently already am with Spanish, to pick out, either from reading or listening, the gist of what is being expressed in that language.

One result of this increased emphasis on foreign language study has been to reduce my time in reading fiction. Usually I am working on one or two books, but lately that has slowed down. Now, at certain times I still pick up a book, concentrating now on getting through Stephenie Meyer's interesting Twilight saga. Yes, this series is primarily targeted at teenage girls, but I enjoy it, too! I am currently beginning Eclipse, the third book. By the way, I have carefully avoided the movies made from this series, preferring instead to give my own imagination a workout, thank you.

Workout Room Supplants Swimming

As many articles that I have recently written about swimming, you might come away thinking that I am a hard-core fanatic about the subject. This is not so, though. What I have been trying to do is TURN myself into a fanatic, because I have reasoned it out and believe that swimming is a very healthful and potentially enjoyable form of physical activity that can endure with my passing into the "golden years" of life. But transforming that conclusion into reality is another matter...

This week I completely skipped out on swimming, substituting my YMCA pool sessions with intense workouts in their adjacent "wellness center". I found that doing weight training and using the elliptical cross-training machine gives me a better workout than swimming. There is no competition for access as I have to endure at the pool. It also doesn't matter what the weather is like outside: I am pretty much guaranteed a seventy-something degree environment that is nice and dry, without the need to spray on sunscreen. And like with running, after my indoor workout I am hot and sweaty but don't have the pool water to wash off of me. Also, I don't need to deal with that water seeping into my body through swallowing and sinuses.

Today I had a great time in the workout room. I looked out at the pool, where one of the local elementary schools had sent some of their students to play today. It was packed, and the swimming lanes were reduced for the occasion. But managing to get a lane wasn't enough: the swimmers had to endure large beach balls continually drifting over into their paths. I saw one swimmer doing several meters with a ball riding his back! I said to myself, "Isn't it nice to not be there right now!"

My main issue with swimming is access. The other problems are either resolvable or are things intrinsic to the activity that I have to adapt to. But I don't see that access issue improving in the near future and, besides, I have for now quite an acceptable alternate with the weights and elliptical trainer. Not that I've given up swimming, but something has to change to make it less of a hassle for me.

I Don't Get the Sport of Bicycling, I Guess

Many years ago, I was seated in the middle of one of those obnoxious small groups that tend to plague my existence on Earth. It was at someone's house and there were several married couples informally sitting around the living room "shooting the bull". One woman, her proud husband right beside her, beamed that she had purchased a bicycle and was going to ride it and enjoy it (my words), but her hubby, who was a mechanical engineer by trade, had pointed out to her that something called "gear ratios" or the like was a little off kilter with the bike. So she didn't ride it and, boy, wasn't she glad! I sat there dumbfounded: I don't think I ever spent more than $115 on a bicycle and I sure as all don't think that I ever gave a hoot about its mechanical details. I would get on a new bike, ride it around, and if it felt good, then it was a winner, pure and simple.

I have piled up many miles just riding my bicycle around town over the years, but I am not into the culture and expense of maintaining the activity to the level that others insist upon for themselves. For example, I am not going to shell out a couple of thousand dollars just for a bicycle. Nor will I wear that tight, stretchy bicycling clothing that may be good while on the bike but completely foolish looking once off. I also don't have the bicyclist posture of practically hanging over the handlebars, and I have the seat low enough that I don't have to dismount every time I stop. But I get around anyway.

I was watching the Tour of California bicycle race on the Versus Channel the other day. It was the first leg and was 76 miles in length, starting from the Lake Tahoe area and ending through the streets of Sacramento. With that much distance, you might think that at the end the pack would be spread out a bit. But you would be wrong.

At the end, ALL of the bicyclists were clumped together as in one mass. The finish was so close that everyone was given the same time. As I was watching the race, it looked to me like someone had cloned one bicyclist, along with the bicycle, everyone looking damned near identical with only their clothing and helmet colors to distinguish them.

I don't get this mass photo finish after 76 miles, I don't get the heavy expense, I don't get the conformity of appearance.

I don't get the sport of bicycling, I guess.