Enjoyable Treadmill Workout

Tonight I enjoyed the beginning of my weekend as a severe thunderstorm descended over my area, sending temperatures plummeting 20 degrees and giving me the excuse to forego running through my neighborhood and instead go to my local air-conditioned gym and use one of their treadmills.  This I did and easily amassed five miles, wondering to myself if maybe I'm not so out of shape after all (I could have run further).  It could well be that I have just become more sensitive to very hot weather over the years.  I looked back on my records with awe when I saw that I had regularly gone out on ten-plus mile runs in stifling summer mid-nineties conditions.  And then put in full, strenuous work days!  Of course, my mind back then was set on me getting in condition to run 26.2 mile marathon races, a feat I briefly attained early in 2011 but then quickly abandoned in favor of the more reasonable 13.1 half-marathon race. 

Although the treadmill is good to me, I still feel the need to do road running as well.  I may just take some days and run shorter distances on the road and alternate these with longer treadmill workouts...

Summer Heat, Out of Shape

The dog days of summer are definitely here in northern Florida, with the temperatures daily climbing into the low 90's.  Right now the temperature, according to my weather station on TV, is 91 degrees although just below that figure is shown the predicted high for today: 86!  We're getting some relief from time to time, though, with some thunderstorms bringing some welcome coolness.  The humidity is low at 44 %, so despite the heat I went outside running.  My main problem with running isn't the summer heat, or even the right foot pains that I've previously discussed here.  No, dang it, I am out of shape, having put on a few pounds and then having to carry those extra pounds each time I take a step.  Time for me to shape up...

Announcer Crosses Line Ripping All-Star Game

I usually drive to work around 10 pm and last time was no exception.  While on the road, I often fiddle around with my car radio with the usually vain hope of finding anything worthy of listening to.  One of my regular "visits" while radio surfing is WRUF-AM, a local sports talk station on 850 kHz.  When I tuned in last night, some announcer was carrying on about how uninteresting and irrelevant the annual Major League Baseball All-Star game is.  To drive home his point he asked the listening audience who among them would really be willing to pay the asked admission price and attend the game, without someone else footing the bill for them.  Then he said that he himself sure wouldn't.  Fine, I tend to agree with this dude's viewpoint on the subject.  Then, however, he went on to call the next pitch...OMG, this guy who was just ripping apart the All-Star Game was one its PAID play-by-play announcers!

That crossed a line, in my opinion.  When you're on the job getting paid to promote your business, you don't go public with your negative opinions.  I've watched sporting events before that quickly became lopsided, with the eventual winner assured early on.  And each time the announcers would make the best of the situation, using their skill as professional broadcasters to liven things up and make it more appealing for the viewer to keep tuned in.  Not trash the event and then not blame the public for disliking it, too.

By all accounts, anyway, last night's All-Star Game turned out to be pretty interesting, I hear, with the American League pitchers putting on an appropriately "stellar" performance with a strong 3-0 win over the National League.  I probably would have enjoyed watching at last some of it had I not had other things occupying my time then...

Too Much Sitting Harmful to Health

I happened upon a Runner's World magazine the other day, this August's issue.  On the cover was a teaser heading asking if sitting wasn't the new smoking.  What were they talking about?  Well, at the time I couldn't delve into the magazine. Later, though, at a local bookstore, I found a copy, SAT DOWN, and read the article in amazement.  It turned my view of the concept of "rest" on its head.

Sitting for extended periods of time apparently has the effect of shutting down the body's metabolism, essentially negating the positive effects of exercise (even long-distance running) and exposing the body to increased dangers of all sorts of maladies, heart disease, diabetes, and even cancer among them.  Concurrent with this charge against extended sitting was the warning that watching TV for long stretches was bad,too...unless the viewer was standing, of course. 

We here in Western culture are a sitting people by habit.  We sit when we drive, when we study, when we eat, when we watch movies or TV, when we socialize...and for many of us, sitting dominates our work time.  Yet too much of it can slice years from our lives and make what we do have a time of worse health.  But what can I personally do to reduce my daily sitting time?

The article didn't exactly go into the idea of lying down instead of sitting; I've heard, though, that lying puts less strain on the spine.  Still, unless you're using the time that you lie for necessary sleep, I don't think you're going to eliminate the bulk of the hazard associated with sitting by just getting horizontal.  So we're left standing with...standing!

Fortunately for me, my job doesn't necessitate sitting.  As a matter of fact, none of it, sans the break periods, allow it!  So I don't need to come up with special strategies that office workers might need to stand up on their jobs.  Good.  But I still have to drive...riding a bicycle doesn't present itself as a practical, reliable form of transportation.  Maybe in 1980, but not now.  And when I am with other people in social settings, often I will need to sit just to fit into the group.  So where can I reduce my sitting? 

The big area is when I am at home watching TV.  This may take a lot of intense effort to undo a lifetime of brainwashing, but I will work to replace the deeply ingrained habit of sitting in front of the television set with that of standing.  Keep tuned for my progress in that regard. Along with curbing sitting while watching TV, I also need to replace the idea that sitting is necessary for "rest" and a "break" and instead see how far I get standing instead. 

I don't know which will be harder: changing how I watch TV or taking breaks while standing.  Should be an adventure of sorts... 

TV Pickings Slim, Where's the WNBA?

I was doing my "coach potato" thing last night, channel surfing around the television universe.  It was slim pickings, sad to say, with the Al Pacino celebration of gratuitous violence, Scarface, on one of the channels being the best selection available.  But although Pacino's performance as the anger-management-challenged thug Tony Montana was riveting, I just couldn't take the lengthy scenes with Michelle Pfeiffer's languid, flat performance.  So I did what many others probably did: I switched to my DVD/Blue Ray collection, picking Lord of the Rings to watch.  Oh, there could have been a different option for me had the NBA Channel not been displaying a bit of sexism in its programming...

For years the National Basketball Association has been promoting its own sister league to the men's...the WNBA (Women's National Basketball Association), which wisely plays its schedule during the summer to avoid conflicting with the men's league play.  I've watched a few games so far this year during the rare times that they've seen fit to broadcast any, and I was impressed with the skill and spirit shown by the players.  So far, I like the Phoenix Mercury, but I haven't seen enough of the other teams to really settle down to follow one particular team over the others.  You might think that a Saturday night might be a great opportunity for the league to showcase its women's basketball and increase its popularity.  But you'd be wrong...

Instead, the NBA Channel kept the WNBA off and showed men's Summer League games.  These feature players who are trying to make the regular teams; not even the second stringers are here!  But that's what was shown, so I opted for Frodo, Gandalf, and company instead.

Maybe the NBA Channel (or even possibly ESPN) will choose today to show some exciting WNBA action.  There are some interesting scenarios taking place in the league.  The Phoenix Mercury are doing better than last year, while last year's champion, the Indiana Fever, had a terrible start due to several key injuries in their starting lineup.  Can they get back on track in time to make the playoffs?  The Atlanta Dream are dominating the East, but to me the Minnesota Lynx, who lost in the finals to the Fever last year and are leading the West, seem to be the dominant team in the league so far.  But even if they show some other teams playing each other, I'll watch.  Who knows, I just might find "my" team!

Rare Saturday Morning at Starbucks

As I write this, it is late morning on a Saturday.  I am sitting in my "spot" at the local Magnolia Parke Starbucks studying and writing.  It's just like the good old days, before I switched my work hours to the graveyard shift back in March.  But last night I was off and I reverted, like always, to my habit of sleeping the night away.  So I'm pretty refreshed right now, as opposed to how I usually am at this time of day: worn out and sleepy.

I had been experiencing second thoughts about having changed my work hours from the afternoon/evening shift to the late night/early morning hours.  As it has now turned out, though, I would have been reassigned to this time slot anyway by management and to a location that I have been trying to avoid working at over the years.  So now the hours aren't so cool, but the duty assignment works just fine...so I think I came out on top, considering the circumstances.

I'm fortunate that I came into Starbucks today at the moment I did, for that empty seat I like so much was available in spite of the place being very busy.  And soon after I got here it became even busier.  Saturday is a busy, busy time for this Starbucks!

The remnants of tropical storm Chantal are forecast to spread through and sit over Florida this weekend, dumping copious amounts of rain on us.  I have a few outdoor projects that I would like to work on.  Right now the sun is out, but I see the clouds starting to accumulate.  Oh well, I have some "indoor" projects to occupy myself, too...

Running Progress and Upcoming Half-Marathon

I have been continuing to make some progress with my recovery from a right foot injury, increasing my daily running without noticing any increased pain or discomfort levels.  But I still need to carefully monitor my situation and be prepared to slacken off the running should things begin to worsen (hopefully it won't).  Just having lightened up on my running during the last two months, though, has taken its toll on my endurance, with just getting through previously easy distances something of a chore.  Still, I am making progress with this as well, managing somehow to run 5.1 miles earlier today.  The stifling hot, muggy summer weather we're experiencing right now in northern Florida isn't making it any better.  When it gets too bad, though, I can run indoors on the treadmill (which is what I did today). 

It looks as if there will be a half-marathon race staged right here in Gainesville, on the last Saturday morning in September.  The course will wind all through the University of Florida campus, something that has great appeal to me, a Gator alumnus.  I'm assuming (perhaps wrongly) that this event will take place on a Saturday in which the UF football team will be out of town, playing elsewhere.  Considering what I have recently been through with this foot problem, being able to enter and finish this race would be a great personal victory. But regardless I'm still going to have to continue taking things one day at a time...

Zimmerman Trial Spin on the Five

I was watching The Five on Fox News yesterday afternoon, and they were discussing the George Zimmerman murder trial, which is winding down and will be soon going to the jury for deliberation.  Greg Gutfeld made a comment that I have to take great issue with.  He said that the confrontation between Zimmerman and Trayvon Martin, which culminated in the latter's death by a gunshot wound, shouldn't be viewed in the context of race, but rather as simply a fight between two men.  Leave race out of it, Gutfeld maintained.  I see it differently, though...

Had Zimmerman not been profiling this young black man walking through the neighborhood and then pursued and openly confronted him, armed, then we wouldn't be having a murder trial...or a death.  No, although I am seeing a great amount of emphasis being placed during the trial about who was "on top" during the final struggle between Martin and Zimmerman, and whether the killer performed his deed in "self-defense", the conservative spin-doctors are actually, in my opinion, displaying racism by surgically removing the subject from their analysis.  It's really very similar to saying that, since blacks have a tendency to be profiled by the police for arbitrary traffic stops, then any ensuing complication to such an encounter that results in arrest or injury to said citizen can't be interpreted in a racial context.  But the profiling creates the situation!

Then the "Five" panel (not just Gutfeld) kept going on about how "race" was being injected into this case by the media.  No, as soon as I heard of this story, I immediately saw what was going on myself without the need for any further "assistance" from the media.  But if I or anyone else takes the information that is presented and arrives at independent conclusions, then that is supposedly the media manipulating me.  I beg to differ with such hogwash.  Especially when those espousing that viewpoint are themselves shoveling in the manipulation...

Petty Political Spinning Undermines Deeper Issues

If you tune in to various political shows on television or radio, you're bound to get immersed in a lot of banter aimed at disparaging those political leaders or media commentators with differing views.  On TV, Fox News and MSNBC feed off each other's programming, regularly and derisively quoting snippets of comments their own commentators disagree with.  Leaders or candidates for political posts have their statements, personalities, and personal lives torn to shreds by their opponents in the media.  Sometimes the criticisms are relevant, but regardless the aim is to create doubt in the mind of the viewer as to the trustworthiness of the targeted individuals. To a degree I can understand this as, after all, nobody wants to elect someone who is incompetent, ignorant, or dishonest.  Unfortunately, our current electoral process seems to force candidates into showing themselves to be these very things. So for a voter to say that a candidate whose political orientation doesn't fit with their own viewpoint is speaking out of both sides of their mouth is really just a little bit ingenuous and self-deceiving when, after all, "their guy" is in all probability doing the same thing.  The only difference is the free pass being given to the latter.

Apart from being careful to avoid electing someone who is criminally insane to office, I think that, instead of harping on gaffes and the tedious political spinning dominating the media,  it would be a better idea for each of us within the electorate to decide where we stand, not only on the various issues that concern us, but also on the underlying political philosophies that underpin the parties which provide us these admittedly imperfect candidates (and they are ALL imperfect).  I can't make others deal with politics like this, but at least I can for myself...  

My June 2013 Running Report

It's been a few days since I have had access to a computer to file a blog article, so my June 2013 running summary is a little bit delayed.  But here it is anyway...

In June, I still had the ongoing issue with my right foot.  Still, I seem to have learned how to manage it by following prescribed daily stretching routines, wearing sturdy shoes, and applying ice to the heel after running to keep down inflammation.  There is still some pain, but it isn't intensifying.  And my running has been increasing: I ran a total of 43.97 miles for the month, running on 19 days.  That's an improvement from May's bleak totals.  My longest run was 4.3 miles.  Taking into account alternative "MECT" (see earlier article) activities, the total June mileage goes up to 54.57 miles.

I can feel that my endurance has slipped quite a lot over the last couple of months. And I don't enjoy running and its effects as much as before, with this problem of foot pain nagging me like this.  Still I plod on, hoping that in time I'll return to an earlier level of enjoyment...

Filtering Out Value from Commentators' Garbage

I have been watching Fox News Channel some of late, but not with any delusional notion of getting anything resembling "fair and balanced" news coverage and analysis, despite that channel's ridiculous claim.  No, I am instead intent on receiving their conservative take on things in their full bias, and not necessarily because I am shifting in my political leanings.  For I am coming to an uncomfortable conclusion about how American society is becoming so polarized between those espousing leftist or rightist leanings that they tend to view the "other side" in terms of being enemies and evil.  I think of lot of this has to do with how people receive the often viciously critical commentary on TV and radio without understanding how to filter out the often legitimate message from the bullcrap that accompanies it.  For example, one day on Fox News Channel's late afternoon show The Five, panelist Greg Gutfeld expressed his view that the NSA's amassing of cell phone records was justified to protect us from terrorists.  Fine, I get it.  Then on a later show, though, the same Gutfeld included NSA on a long list of "scandals" he attributed to President Obama.  The substance was his earlier comment; the bullcrap was his latter. 

Laura Ingraham, an acerbic hard-right ideologue, was filling in for Bill O'Reilly another night when she made some reasonable arguments questioning the need for a comprehensive immigration reform bill.  But she had to then get personally derisive about Obama, spinning (on the "no-spin" show) extremely negatively on his ongoing European trip and how weak and irrelevant he appeared.  As a matter of fact, Ingraham couldn't use the name "Obama" in a sentence without saying something personally derogatory about the man.  Bullcrap.

These politically-slanted commentators are entitled, I suppose, to rant irrationally with personal disdain about whomever they want.  But doing this makes the task of filtering out the often very compelling, relevant points they are trying to make from the nonsense quite tedious and difficult at times.  Too bad. 

Both Greg Gutfeld and Laura Ingraham are obviously very intelligent people, with substantial talent in the way of expressing themselves and doing so with a flair for humor.  But both have also succumbed to this nasty tendency I see too often in the media to be personally derisive of those with views different from theirs while turning a blind eye to those flawed individuals (aren't we ALL flawed) with whom they share the same politics.  They can do better than this!

Still, I'm realistic about the state of things in the media.  It's up to ME to listen carefully to what is being said and to intelligently discern what is true and significant among what is largely verbal garbage...

Travel as a Goal in Itself

There are a couple of people in my life who, although they retain a nominal home address, more often than not seem to be on the road, traveling to other destinations. One has a calling to the Christian mission field while the other has nuclear and extended family members strewn out all over the country, putting out much time, effort, and expense visiting these and in turn, traveling with some of them to other places.  Both have definite purposes and reasons for their travel, to be sure.  But I can't help but think that there is something intrinsic to the process of travel itself that draws them to it, not just their stated goals. 

I am not by nature a traveler, although destinations are another matter entirely.  For example, I rather dig visiting theme parks and enjoy roller coasters and other thrill rides.  But there aren't any theme parks within 97 miles of my house, although between 97 and 135 miles there are nine (Valdosta's Wild Adventures, Tampa's Busch Gardens, and Orlando's four Walt Disney World parks, Universal's two and Sea World).  But the thought of driving to any of these and back, even to Wild Adventures (the nearest one) is definitely a negative drag on the experience, something that subtracts from my ultimate enjoying and which wears me down.  If I could just step through some interdimensional door and come out the other side into one of these places (similar to how Stephen King's Roland character in the Dark Tower series stepped through such a door on an isolated beach into our world to recruit Eddie for his cause), that would be all right with me.  For I generally disdain the process of travel.  But for those who seem addicted to it, they like it all: the preparation, the packing, the unpacking, driving, flying, going through airports and stations, renting cars, making reservations, driving, riding,... you name it.  No, I don't like to go places, generally speaking.  But there are a lot of places that I would like to BE at, without the hassle of travel...

Three Very Successful NBA Coaches Let Go

Within the National Basketball Association's Western Conference are three franchises that have provided their cities' fans with a lot to cheer for and be excited about.  The Los Angeles Clippers, Memphis Grizzlies, and Denver Nuggets each enjoyed exemplary seasons in 2012-13, all finishing high in their divisions and making the playoffs.  The Clippers actually did something unheard of for that franchise: they flat-out WON their division after playing second fiddle within their own city for so many years to the Lakers.  The Grizzlies went far into the playoffs, making it to the Conference finals.  And the Nuggets, with their fast style of play, won for their head coach the league's prestigious Coach of the Year award for 2012-13.  Yes, for Los Angeles, Memphis, and Denver, their respective coaches Vinny Del Negro, Lionel Hollins, and George Karl must feel pretty confident, respected, and accepted...right?  Well, not exactly...all three were summarily fired immediately after their season ended! [Caveat: Hollins wasn't technically fired: his contract just wasn't renewed.]

Ironically, there seems to be an almost circular shuffling around with these coaches and teams! Denver now wants Hollins.  I don't get it: it is as if every NBA franchise owner is suffering from the delusion that their team alone has the talent to win it all...and if it doesn't, regardless how ultimately successful it was, that "failure" must be the head coach's fault.  Well, I really liked Lionel Hollins as a coach and will follow him in the future, pulling for whichever team is wise enough to sign him.  As for the Memphis Grizzlies, I'm finished rooting for them...

Greg Gutfeld and Bill Maher

Greg Gutfeld and Bill Maher, who are respectively conservative and liberal commentators, each with his own regular TV show, are often abrasive, sarcastic, and personally derisive of others with the opposing worldview.  Yet at times I find the two both essentially saying the same thing.  The following is a case in point.

During the latest revelation that the National Security Agency has collected the contacts of millions of Verizon cell phone customers in the pursuit of potential terrorists, many opinion makers from opposite ends of the political spectrum have interpreted this as an example of government gone too far and as an assault on individual liberties...namely in terms of violating the Fourth Amendment that was designed to protect privacy.  But both Gutfeld and Maher have exasperated their respective political allies by coming out in favor of the NSA action, each agreeing that national security and the protection of the people against attack...especially nuclear attack (both specifically mentioned this)...is paramount and trumps any claims for the sake of personal privacy.  I agree and would like to add that the government is also constitutionally mandated with protecting its people and borders against attack from abroad.  

Still, I have to say that Maher is more consistent with his views.  After all, when discussing even very moderate, limited firearms regulation following a recent series of brutal public mass murders involving automatic weapons, Gutfeld refused to acknowledge government's legitimate role to protect its citizenry from THIS legitimate threat.  To him, the Second Amendment matters (although the Fourth doesn't, apparently).  At least Maher is consistent by supporting gun control legislation.

Both Gutfeld and Maher are nonreligious, although again there is a difference between the two.  To his discredit, Maher tends to ridicule religion and those who are adherents, while Gutfeld displays a more mature respect for those whose views on the subject differ from him.  Of course, it might also be said that he isn't particularly tolerant of Islam (neither is Maher, for that matter). Not that I would completely criticize either for this, though, as it seems to me that many followers of this important world faith could benefit from some needed maturity and grace when it comes to THEM tolerating others with different perspectives.

I don't subscribe to HBO, which carries Bill Maher's show Real Time.  I have seen some excerpts of it from time to time, though, and watched an episode once when my local cable company was showing HBO for free as a subscription promotion.  I do get Fox News, which has Greg Gutfeld on quite a lot.  Although he is virulently and irrationally biased against Obama, I find myself enjoying his delivery and humor.  It kind of reminds me of Maher, as a matter of fact.  Of course, the latter has had a tendency to go overboard about Bush. But although I see some entertainment and informational value in watching these two, don't get me wrong:  in them I see the kind of snide, repulsive smartass arrogance I've experienced in my own life from certain other types, mainly from back in high school.  Maybe that says something in itself: essentially Gutfeld and Maher present themselves as adolescent personalities who never completely psychologically grew up...

Perfunctory Continuity Entry

Just to establish a sense of continuity, I am submitting a short entry to demonstrate that I haven't completely forgotten about this blog.  One problem I am going through is that I don't feel that sense of readership that I had in olden times when I would publish on it.  And quite frankly, I'm not sure that I particularly WANT some people to read it, anyway, considering the attitudes in others I've experienced of late.  I still have my own opinions about a wide range of topics: I just don't feel very motivated in expressing them, that's all...

The Meaning of a Communication is the Response You Get

I'm a bit skeptical of organizations that tout how comprehensively benevolent their agenda is for humankind...Neuro-linguistic Programming, or NLP...which sounds super-scientific, doesn't it...is an example.  You can look them up if you'd like...I'm not interested.  But I did indirectly pick up one of this self-help group's precepts...through Tony Robbins...which is very profound and true when it comes to interpersonal relationships: The meaning of a communication is the response you get...

If a mother or father tells their child to do something, it may not be enough to just say it and walk away.  Instead, asking the child to repeat what was said and to say whether they understood completes the communication while imparting a sense of personal responsibility to the child.  Likewise, I have personally discovered in my workplace that expressed expectations of employees need to be accompanied with their acknowledgement of those expectations.  Yet when it came to my own experiences throughout the elementary and high school years, nothing of the sort ever happened between any of my teachers and myself...

The responsibility for seeing that a communication is effective is on the communicator to be proactive in seeking a response from the party receiving it...and it needs to be done on an individual basis, not just in a large group setting.  In a classroom setting, the tendency from my own experiences in school was for the teacher to hand out "learning activity packages"...i.e. enhanced syllabi...and speak to the students as a collective body from the front of the class, if at all.  To be sure, students were accorded time to meet with teachers and ask questions if they took the initiative to do so, but NOT ONCE in my twelve years from the first grade in 1962 to graduation in 1974 did any teacher approach me one-to-one to establish that I knew what the class was about and what was expected of me.  Furthermore, NOT ONCE in those twelve years did any teacher ever approach me as an individual human being to encourage me or tactfully ask if I had any difficulties I wanted to share with them.  I DID experience, on a number of occasions sprinkled throughout those years, teachers angrily coming to me and chastising me about something or another...often with me being totally innocent while in the process humiliating me in front of classmates...but even then they weren't interested in my point of view: my role apparently was to keep my mouth shut and stay out of their attention range...

Once I saw a Twilight Zone episode titled Changing of the Guard that featured an elderly teacher forced into retirement.  He had spent his entire adult life teaching his pupils and remembered every one and their idiosyncrasies.  In despair he feared he had wasted his life to no effect, but his old students from years back returned one day and assembled...from the "twilight zone"...each telling him what a difference he had made in their lives.  I wonder about all of the teachers I had...and whether they could even get a row of students to speak for them, much less a full classroom.  If I sound bitter, I am: I think that there were crucial periods in my childhood when a positive, encouraging word from a teacher would have made all the difference and have changed my life...but it never came.  Yet I'll bet each and every one of the teachers I had were confident that THEY were doing their job well as it pertained to me, who was to them merely a name attached to a face that I doubt hardly any of them remembered (or cared to) only a few years later.  To them I say: if you think you taught me something but never knew me as a distinct person with my own identity and personality...and viewpoint...then you have failed at your job.  I sincerely hope that my readers' school experiences with their teachers were different from mine...maybe you had some of those great interactive teachers like in those NEA television ads...

So direct interactions would be more effective if the speaker asked for pertinent feedback from the one spoken to.  But what about writing?  After all, I am communicating here and that's true whether or not the reader agrees with me.  Obviously, people can choose whether or not to read what I write...but if they do, then wouldn't it seem appropriate to offer at least some perfunctory acknowledgment that they had done so?  I post links to this blog on Facebook, which offers this sort of feedback system to postings.  And while I tend to skip over others' posts that may contain interesting content but are merely copy-and-paste exercises on their part, when I read something that is original and relatively coherent...and I believe to be directed either at me or the general reader...I have a tendency to click on "like" and sometimes even volunteer a comment.   Some of my articles are likewise directed at certain folks I have "befriended" on Facebook.  Now many don't read my writings but for those who do, wouldn't it be an act of constructive friendship to at least acknowledge me...or better yet...write your own reactions in a comment? 

Speaking of blog comments, there are two ways to accomplish this: one is if you are getting it through my Facebook link...just use this site's comments feature as you would any other post.  But you can also bypass Facebook and submit a comment directly to this blog by clicking on the "Number of Comments"  or "Post a Comment" links after the end of the individual article.  It won't be printed until I have read it...you can even request it remain unprinted or even write anonymously...and would finally appear on the blogsite right after the article.  A little more of a roundabout way, but it gives you more flexibility and enables those not on my Facebook page to communicate as well...

From Star 99.5 to Party 99.5

One of the more interesting radio stations we've had here in Gainesville is on 99.5: WBXY.  Until just a few days ago it had an all-talk format, branding itself as "Star 99.5".  Its owners, however, did not see their expected return on their investment and dramatically changed the programming to around-the-clock electronic dance music, with the new appellation "Party 99.5".  I have mixed feelings about this change, which on the surface seems to cater to the more vacuous, bubble-headed elements of the listening community.

Ever since I switched in March to graveyard shift at work, I have been listening more to talk radio.  One station, 97.3 WSKY, broadcasts George Noory's Coast-to-Coast AM show.  Depending on the guest and topic, I might listen in...but usually I switch over to 99.5 (until the change, that is).  Opposite Noory, at least until 3 AM, is Jim Bohannon, a conservative talk show host who nevertheless is more typified by his rationalism than by any ideology.  But from 3 to 5 was when I REALLY tuned in to this station, because that was when one of this age's truly amazing radio acts was on: Phil Hendrie.  Hendrie has had a show for several years in which he interviews a variety of guests, with the aid of his studio on-air assistants...and some of the guests substitute for him on the air as well.  These people have very idiosyncratic views, to say the least, and their personalities can be a little over the top.  But the amazing thing about all of these people is that they are ALL Phil Hendrie himself, casting his voice around seamlessly from one character to another without arousing any indication that he is up to this grand subterfuge of impersonation.  What a talent!  My favorite of his many characters is the overly sensitive, lawsuit-compulsive Steve Bosell.  I'll miss Phil with the programming change.  Ditto to a lesser degree for Jim Bohannon.  But WBXY also had some folks that, in my opinion, were little more than vile hate-mongers: Michael Savage and Mark Levin.  And the FoxNews hack for the Republicans, Sean Hannity, also had his show as well.  Maybe these extremist right-wing "stars" will soon get back on in Gainesville on other stations, but for now I feel no loss at their current absence.

As for the new programming, I like it.  The driving, pounding music is very energetic and fun to listen to.  I think that if one just wanted to get a good exercise workout in their own home, they could just turn on this station at any time of the day or night and just dance to it!

June Starts With Run

I began the month of June with a couple of runs, one being for 2.28 miles around my neighborhood.  My foot felt fine and I could have gone further, although I clearly wasn't in my earlier fitness level.  Nevertheless, I ran the same pace I usually do.  Hopefully, I'll be able to resume regular running again, albeit with rest times interposed between runs.

My May 2013 Running Report

This past month, my right foot had some pain issues, and I laid off the running for much of the month.  I ended my 370-day streak of running on the 6th, and won't be consciously trying to run on consecutive days for a protracted period anymore!  During the period away from running, I tried some alternative cross-training activities, to which I assigned "miles-equivalent" values, or MECT.  My total actual running mileage was 28.54 miles, my MECT was 13.36 miles...so the total in May was 41.90 miles.  I ran on 13 days, but with cross-training I ended up working out on a total of 19 days.  My longest run was for 4.51 miles.

I am trying some medically-suggested strategies for dealing with my foot problem, and perhaps this will enable me to resume a reasonable, albeit more moderate running regimen.  But only time will tell...  

Rush and Styx on Palladia

The other night on Palladia Channel I was watching a couple of concerts.   The first was by the Canadian band Rush, a trio that has amassed a very impressive amount of recorded work over the past 39 years.  The other featured Styx, also a band with its own resume of very popular music.  With the latter, I have enjoyed several of their songs but never got around to buying any of their albums.  I liked Too Much Time on My Hands, Come Sail Away, and most of all...Mister Roboto.  It was this last 1983 hit and the subsequent concert tour that year that reportedly caused a severe rift between front singer and creative force Dennis DeYoung and Tommy Shaw, leading to a permanent, very acrimonious split.  So I was surprise to see them back together.  But wait, that wasn't DeYoung up there singing, was it?  No, as it turned out, the rest of the band, seeing the cash cow in keeping their name and trading in on it, just played on, pretending that this integral member had never existed.  That would be like the Beatles acting like Lennon never had been there.

In stark contrast was Rush, with their members bassist/keyboardist/vocalist Geddy Lee, lead guitar Alex Lifeson, and drummer/lyricist Neil Peart bringing down the house with a closing finale performance of their first hit Working Man.  These are people who knew how to stay together over the years and work out the inevitable issues that arose between them.  I have a special respect for them and others who have persevered like this (the Rolling Stones prominently come to mind).

I already have several of Rush's albums.  My favorite songs of theirs are the aforementioned Working Man, Spirit of Radio, Red Barchetta, Vital Signs, Subdivisions, and New World Man.  And the 1981 album Moving Pictures is one of the very best rock albums ever made, in my opinion. 

And they're still together, no doubt planning to come up with another album!