Be Strong

Just last Saturday I was feeling sorry for myself for not getting off the couch. I spent most of my day watching two movies back to back and then a hockey game later that night, followed by another movie. This was of course due to a relatively late night the night before. It was also my rest day but even on rest days I do something i.e. work around the house, walks, light hike...

But after I thought of that I was reminded of all those times that I may have made excuses to not do something physical or challenging (be it mental, emotional or physical) and I am not proud of those moments. Luckily I don’t make excuses often as I get a great deal of enjoyment from pushing myself to do better, to succeed, to overcome... It is the reason we complete school. Compete for a career or position. Take care of our kids. Train for health. It is why most of us continuously push ourselves to meet all the little and big goals in all realms of life.

But there is a flipside to this, isn’t there? I have talked about it again and again; excuses. The other day when I sat on my couch, and did absolutely nothing, I was thinking of these excuses we create for ourselves and end up believing them, they become a part of our life.

Perfect example I asked a friend if she thought she was addicted to smoking or if she chooses to smoke. She was the first person ever to give me the intelligent and realistic answer without having succumbed to denial: "I suppose everyone who smokes is (addicted), including myself. I know it is gross and terrible for my health, but I make no attempt to quit.

Most people I ask that question usually state: I chose to smoke because I like it. No you chose to smoke because you are addicted to it and the addiction tells you, you like it.

So the point is that when I thought of this in great detail I decided to think of how I inspire myself to stay healthy and active and often it comes from within, or those around me or sometimes I seek the inspirational lives of others. I decided to search for others who have overcome far greater challenges and see what they have accomplished

Thanks to Crossfit CDA I came across the post, aptly titled, No Excuses. It begins with

"I’m tired. I’m getting over a cold. I’m too old. I’m too fat. Working out makes me sweat. It’s too cold. It’s too hot. I’m sore. I don’t have enough time. I have 2 kids. My job is too stressful. The gym is hard.

The blog showcases athlete and author of; No Excuses: The True Story of a Congenital Amputee Who Became a Champion in Wrestling and in Life, Kyle Maynard. Born with congenital amputation of the forearms and lower legs. Kyle has accomplished a great deal and as his autobiography states; "he excels: as a champion athlete, inspirational speaker, college student (who can use a cell phone, type fifty words a minute, and maintain an A average), and male model.

So the next time you start reminding yourself of those excuses take some inspiration from this man;

Having a hard Day? I know I am Bored as Hell...

Meeting my time for the 10 last year I decided to tackle the half marathon, 21K, and although I had a week off of training from an injury and another from a slight cold, my training is coming together. I have 3 more weeks of speed training as I finished hills last week and started speed this past week. It is amazing what proper training will do as yesterday I ran my 18km run and from all the weeks of increasing by 2 km and then going back down I was moving rather quick right till the last K. Mind you my legs were finished after but that is expected after running 18km, close to race pace.

I love cult films and find they are far superior to the crap that comes form the mainstream Hollywood, think that is why I prefer shows like Sopranos over movies as well. Anyway a great portion of cult films are Horror and slasher flicks. I enjoy both genres based on a decent story and/or unique story (the grind house collection for example) and the ones that are truly well done and watching a director get better and of course the ones with a decent amount of cheese that just makes it entertaining (especially the 70’s and 80’s stuff).

Now as far as progression; Rob Zombie. He started with House of a 1000 Corpses and I must admit I was not expecting much but was hoping there would be something there and there wasn’t. Then I was blown away by the jump he made in Devil’s rejects just amazing movie, really well done. Then came his Halloween remake and again the progression was there a terrific movie, not to mention his wife Sherri Moon Zombie’s progression as an actor.

So I have been downloading a great deal of these types of movies from Night of the living dead 1968 to Dead Air 2008 (featuring a Zombie cast member, Bill Moseley who was great in TDR). Great site for everything evil and scary http://www.horror-movies.ca/ just don’t get caught watching trailers of horror movies at work, it is difficult to explain why you are watching Zombies killing humans and so on…The pic above is from High Tension a remake from an earlier French slasher film. High Tension pays homage to the 70’s films as well.

Some fun at work. A great prank for your colleague, in my case my supervisor, use clear packing tap and tape the top portion of their receiver to the base of the phone. I could not stop laughing this morning as I watched the phone almost fly across the room and miscellaneous items being strewn about during the chaos. Good thing he has a sense of humour…it was also pay back for a few things he had done to me.

A Few Things...

Stealing a form from SBP since I have been off for so long I thought that I would post a few updates and thoughts;

- In recent months it seems that time is just flying by. I really wouldn’t mind creating a time machine, not to travel back and forth, just to for pause or slow mode. A great deal of my time has been training for the up coming Ottawa race weekend half marathon.

With obtaining my goal of a 45 minute 10K last year, I original though of going for a sub 45 but have decided that I wanted the extra distance. The training has also rendered me back at the chiro’s office as well as getting some sports massage therapy. The clinic I go to do wonders for my injuries and with some rest and ice I seem to be back to form and hope it didn’t set me back all that much.

- I have also been working on a green committee at work with a couple colleagues while also attempting to write a green article for the green section of our bimonthly newsletter that circulates throughout the bank. Once it has been edited by the chief editor I will be sure to post it.

- While passing the pro-choice protestors that line the street directly across from an abortion clinic near my building, I have been asking myself how long it will take before I make a comment. All I want to ask is; why they are such fair weather protestors? I agree with freedom of protest (except what they are attempting to do which is remove other people’s choice based on a bogus religion, so the whole idea is wrong) but it seems funny that on the cold or snowy days there was maybe 2 to 4 protestors and I am being generous. But now that the nicer weather is here they are out in one big massive heard of close minded, brainwashed catholic mindless fanatics. When I saw them approach a 15 year old girl to ‘talk’ you know these people need to be stopped…or maybe they should save their own lives by getting one.

- Politically I am not shocked at all those individuals who are asking "why hasn’t Barack fixed the world yet?" Also I am not super shocked that he is more conservative then most figured he would be. One does hope that he gets the full eight years as it is obvious that four years is only enough time to decent damage, and it takes a greater amount of time to do good.

Oh and speaking of this subject, I really hope one day I can become a CEO of some major corporation so I can drive the behemoth directly into the ground while watching all those parish along the way and wait for that final gasp of air as its limp figure thuds against the pavement face first, only to be given a bonus from a ‘stimulus’ program and asked to fix what I already fucked up. And then what I would do, and this is just me, I would ride that dwarfed company right back up to the heavens, receive the praise of being a financial and enterprising guru, and then proceed to drive that son of a bitch right back down again, because kids if history tells us anything is that we reward incompetence; reference Bush 2004, Merrill Lynch's Stan O'Neal, NHL teams who get a point for overtime, or lets face it, society as a whole. A little less patting on the back and a little more kick in the ass is needed. We are getting soft on one another excuses are simply a simple way of avoiding the truth.

- I am getting uber stoked for my upcoming trip to Europe. While in school I was able to travel to Peru, the first spring, and then Mexico for my honeymoon, which is now three years ago. So it will be really exciting to get on a plane, trek and sleep in the alps (which just look amazing and I am sure the pictures don’t do any justice), stay in mountaineering and trekking capitals like Chamonix in France and Courmayeur in Italy. Finally we will see some major cities including Paris, Venice, and Rome to name a few. Can’t wait!

This trip also requires a great deal of training and preparation. I have been throwing crossfit back into my regular routine on a weekly basis. Utilizing a great deal of the movements with the repetitions and pace is ideal for our 7 day trek through the Alps.

- While thinking of the trip, we were watching one of our new favourite channels RUSH (HD). They showcase high adrenaline travel, sports and so on. They have a series of episodes that showcases pro-big mountain skiers’ base jumping sometimes with pro base jumpers. The other night they were in Chamonix France. It was interesting to see the area we will be in but more interesting is that there are no official rules agents base jumping in Europe so there is greater range and what better range would you want then skiing off a cliff and opening a chute? This show has sparked the question of; when are we going to go skydiving? The itch is getting stronger and I am hoping for summer of 2010 or 2011 in the latest. Here are some clips from the show.

- I am also working on a separate blog with a different spin. This was also another reason why this blog has been put on hold slightly.

More here then expected…I shall return.

Dave Grohl.

Sitting here I am bombarded by the deafening and bone rattling sounds of Probot. Funny thing is that I would have never put heavy metal and Dave Grohl in the same sentence but here I am listening to Red War featuring Max Cavalera (Soulffly) with Grohl at the drum set hammering out some of his best. But Probot will come up a little later as the project itself is worthy of some reflection.

I had no idea on how to even begin this process. The biggest problem is attempting to forget what Grohl has done musically since the fall of Nirvana. The list is so impressive that there are very few rock stars that could ever have a similar resume. From Foo Fighters to his contributions with; Motorhead, Toni Iommi, Eddie Vedder, Paul McCartney, Queens of the Stone Age…I could honestly keep going but I think the point is made; the guy is revered by some of the greatest.

As I was reading everything I could about all members of Nirvana (including Kirst Novoselic' Blog at Seattle Weekly really worth taking a look at) I personally don’t think the band would have continued on after grunge. I could see some sort of album afterwards but it most likely would have ended up being something like Mad Season.

Assuming that the band would not have continued on or would Grohl be who he is now...these questions are as hard to assume or fathom as; Would Jesus have been as popular if his mother would have been knocked up in the old fashioned way (new way then I guess)? or would have Adolf Hitler chose the same path in life if he hadn’t read anti-Semitic literature including Martin Luther's On the Jews and Their Lies, in a very influential part of his life? We can only make assumptions.

But concerning the Grohl question and without knowing the individuals in question or ever being around these people it isn’t an exact answer but I do believe that even if Kurt would not have tragically taken his own life, Grohl while with Nirvana (for whatever amount of time that would have lasted) would have had side projects and other bands to work with.

The answer can be traced Grohl believing that his style was negatively affecting Nirvana. Grohl wouldn’t even contribute his writing with the band as he believed it would ruin them for good. But he was still writing and creating songs on his own and then the clincher was an indie album named Poketwatch.

The album was written and produced by Grohl as a solo project which enabled him to lay down ten songs that, now knowing the Foo’s, would be its ground work. The album was hard to find but when I did I couldn’t stop listening to it. It resembles a rough Foo Fighter sound with some heavier punk influence including scratchy vocals that were fitting of the time.

So there you have it Poketwatch sealed the deal for me making me believe there is no doubt he would have had at least a similar path to that of what he has had. From Nirvana to the Foo fighters or the influence on the Queens of the Stone Age and even though you may not be a metal fan you should sit down and listen to the homage Grohl created for those greats in metal that influenced him so much.

This aforementioned album is under the name of Probot. It only has one collaborative album to date but I hope that Grohl will continue on this in the future. To hear Lemmy from Motorhead sing Shake your Blood with Grohl on the drum set is, for the lack of a better word, mind blowing. The song is steeped in old school metal mixed with the originality of Grohls writing and harmonious nature.

Then when I think of his range I think of when I listened to the awe inspiring acoustic/classical guitar song The Battle of the Beaconsfield Miners for the first time, I literally had chills. I then find out several months later that this song was dedicated to two miners who were trapped in the mine they were working in. Grohl sent them a letter stating his support and thoughts of the two men with a deal stating: "Though I'm halfway around the world right now, my heart is with you both, and I want you to know that when you come home, there's two tickets to any Foos show, anywhere, and two cold beers waiting for yous. Deal?

The two miners took him up on it and had a ‘meet and greet’ at a Sydney acoustic performance with the Foo Fighters. I mention this song and side story only as a confirmation of his talent along with his contribution and utter devotion to music perfection and above all a true understanding and respect of what real and true music is.

Why Me?

My new blog title is a poem from author, poet and painter D.H. Lawrence. His genre resided in modernism and a societal deconstruction as a result from industrialization. His main themes were society and sexuality and later of religion and the occult – funny how many Christians have this obsession.

The title of this particular poem is;

"Self-pity". So let’s look at it again;
I never saw a wild thing sorry for itself.
A bird will fall frozen dead from a bough without ever having felt sorry for itself.

There are only two lines to this poem but every single time I read it, it seems to be infinite and filled with meaning and power. Obvious but...First line: statement referring to a wild or free animal never accepting self-pity. Second: an example: even in death the ‘wild thing’ never regretted possible failure.

This got me to thinking about how humans on the other hand have the ability to allow themselves to be affected by self-pity. Some of us tend to almost bathe in it at times more then others. When some of us have a run of bad luck, a common reaction is to ask "why me?" This is normally followed by our preferred method of ‘dealing’ with this rejection or misfortune i.e. not leaving the comfort of home, turning to a vice i.e. food or alcohol, and so on.

Now to be fair to us humans, we live and deal with emotions, sympathy, empathy and for some of us sensitivity. But these feelings should not allow us to use them to fuel depression resulting in excuses.

We have recently ended our first month of 2009 and with reference to things I have said about "obtaining goals" the first month of the year is probably the best time to start reflecting on the positive things we would do in the new year, i.e. resolutions. [Ok at this point I may come across as a bit of a jerk (ya I know what else is new?) but I will explain later why I am not.]

Ask yourself; Am I meeting those good intentions? That question must be reviewed with any promise we make to ourselves. Each of us must answer this honestly, if we do not we are lying to ourselves and failure is immanent. It is acceptable to have a few missed steps as long as we recognize why, get back to it and learn from our mistakes as to avoid failure.

Part II; will be posted later today. It was just a little to long to put in as one.

What we don't see...

Recently I have been doing a great deal of reading involving military history, manoeuvres (w/ positive and negative outcomes), weaponry and so on. When I was asked why? not long ago the simple and straight answer was; military and war interests me. Just that simple it is like being a civil war buff or a car buff; "so Biff wants to be a Buff"….that kind of thing.

Anyway the other reason that just came up recently as to why I am doing this is that I am working on a story or article if you will, about soldiers in today’s day and age. Not to release anything I will keep the core of it to myself.

No matter if you disagree with the wars at present or war in general we all have to support the troops. They do something they take pride in and believe in and even if some of them don’t believe fully in the reasons for certain wars, they still fight as it is what they were meant to do. It’s what they train for and want to do and they do so with their life on the line and require our support for that reason alone.

During my research I have not only read a great deal of articles and stories online I have also been watching historical movies (only the ones that actually have truth to them, not Navy Seals with Charlie although I do like that movie) and documentaries also first hand videos on Youtube by soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. I suggest if you ever wonder what war looks like to take a look.

Obviously it is nowhere near what it would be like to be there but it gives you a small window of perspective. I will also state that if you chose to look at them, do be careful. If you do not want to see anything too graphic stick to the videos that do not have warnings stating: Graphic Material or similar phrases, some of it is hard to watch. The ones that don’t usually depict soldiers that were nearly hit by IEDs, fire fights in streets, air strikes and so on.

Now although I am not done I wanted to write this because there is a major part of a soldier’s life that is left behind when they head overseas. Family, friends, and children wait and hope that their loved one will be back safe and sound.

Last night I was watching a special on the doctors who left Canada to help those in Afghanistan. They showed the story of an afghan boy who was near an IED when it went off and was severally injured and now will be scared for life mentally as well as physically. And most of us say (I was one of them) "this is hard to watch" but this is someone’s reality as we see it through a television screen.

That was not where I wanted to go right now but it is part of it. Reason being is that I came across this picture and story (which follow) this morning and couldn’t even go on reading anymore. None of the most graphic videos I have watched (and I have watched many) from these wars ever hit me as hard as the story last night and this story did;

Todd Heisler The Rocky Mountain News; picture and story I used from this link.

The night before the burial of her husband's body, Katherine Cathey refused to leave the casket, asking to sleep next to his body for the last time. The Marines made a bed for her, tucking in the sheets below the flag. Before she fell asleep, she opened her laptop computer and played songs that reminded her of 'Cat,' and one of the Marines asked if she wanted them to continue standing watch as she slept. "I think it would be kind of nice if you kept doing it," she said. "I think that's what he would have wanted."

Before you die; A few more.

One on the more practical side of the list as opposed to the ones I spoke of last time, is to volunteer for peace work in a third world country. Parker and I have always planned on giving back and helping others by taking a month or so of holidays to help in anyway that those needing it could use it in countries in Africa for example.

A hiking trip to base camp Everest which again in on the more practical side. The only exception is finding the time and it would have to be tied into a longer trip to spend some time in Asia and/or head to Australia or New Zealand. There are many of these trips on the list leaving me feel that there are some many places and so little time.

One that is high on my list and always have been that is slightly impractical due to costs, is obtaining my helicopter pilot license. I have always wanted to fly a helicopter and think that the opportunity of maneuvering a machine like that and to see the ground below in that fashion would be fantastic. Hell I could even kill two stones with one bird by flying a helicopter to the top of a mountain and ski down it, of course someone else would have to fly it down for me of course.

But could you imagine getting enough couples together or your buddies to rent a copter and say, oh I don’t know, fly to Vegas, NY, a hiking destination (within reasonable distance of course) what ever the imagination can come up with…of course I figure it would be hard to convince people to fly with me…

All though it is rather cliché it is still on the list just the same; skydiving. It isn’t high on the list but its there and the reason why it is that not matter if its mountain biking, skiing, or boarding…whichever the sport we always strive to get better. One of the main objectives most of us have is to get better and more efficient at jumping specifically with the size of jumps.

The bigger the jump and the more speed you can carry into them. Obviously, the higher you will go. This free moment in free air is the excitement or rush we are after. It makes us feel free, powerful and vulnerable to the outcome all at the same moment. It is an amazing feeling.

So when I think of those jumps on skis or on a bike I can not fathom the feeling one receives from free falling from a plane. Imagine falling at 190 km/h (120 mph) that has to be one hell of an experience.

Before you die; The List.

This is something that many of us think of from time to time and some take it more serious then others. A few years ago my wife thought that we should actually sit down and make a list of things that we actually wanted to attempt, accomplish or experience before we perished. The idea was to create a list starting with the most tangible and realistic to those more challenging and improbable ideas. They are all potential challenges or impressive events from travel to a specific task i.e. finishing a marathon. Each varies in probability due to timing for some and/or financing for others.

The other day I started thinking of this list and I can not remember what sparked it but I believe it had something to do with an ill individual completing a race or hike as it was one of the things they had always wanted to do sick or not. So I thought of my personal list and started going through some of the things accomplished and to my surprise I am not doing bad. Graduating from university was high on the list as it was around the time I had to decide if I was going to apply or not. These are the types of things I had but I also had some fun stuff too.

One last thing before I start, although this topic is somewhat sad or morbid, in a way it really isn’t. Although we all have varying levels of acceptance of our own death, the fact remains that we all have one thing in common no matter who we are; we are all going to die eventually. This is why the list should be something of enjoyment for ourselves a sort of reminder of the things that we want to do while we have the chance.

Many people share some of the more common ones on travel, completing a marathon, writing a book and so on. So I thought that I would start with the ironic ones that are only ironic as they belong in the category of;

Things I want to do before I die that may actually result in my death while doing them.

Since we are in heavy snow season and areas like Revelstoke are prime for avalanches I thought that I would start with a skiing adventure that I would like to complete at least once in my life; Heliskiing.

For skiers there is nothing better then gliding into fresh powder with your skis and breaking trail at your local hill. Most local hills in the eastern areas only have about 500 to a 1000 vertical feet on the small side and approximately 2100ft (Jay) on the bigger end. Even places (although I want to go and not saying it is small by any means) Whistler and Blackcomb have a combined elevation of 10000 ft and it is not necessarily all accessible.

Now if you were to say multiply that feeling by about 100 you have heliskiing. A seasoned and prepared big mountain skier can break trail in DEEP powder and be skiing down 7000 to 15000ft of ski hill. Companies like Great Canadian Helisking will guarantee 72600 vertical feet of skiing over 5 days, that’s 14000ft a DAY!

But these amazing views, deep powder and lengthy descents come at a price, both financially and physically. You need to be avalanche ready and mentally prepared for this grade of adventure. Weather is always the first factor and in the high mountains can change in literally minutes. Helicopters, although agile, are still affected by high winds and of course gravity. Helicopters can also initiate avalanches upon landing as well as after dropping of its cargo and taking off.

Once out of the copter and on the hill there is still the decent to think about. Although that massive terrain to ski is impressive but is also quite deadly. A skier or boarder must use common sense with ski conditions as if the top layer is lose and the bottom is complete ice or over if there is reduced friction in certain areas depending on the ground surface then avalanches are common.

Tree wheels and crevices are extremely dangerous. Many people get trapped in a tree well where trees that might be 10, 15feet…or more could be buried by massive amounts of snow but the branches create a space big enough for a person to fall through the snow and be buried themselves at the base of the tree. Same can obviously happen in a crevasse.

So although it is not number 1 on my list, heliskiing is definitely high on the list of those things I want to do before I die that may actually result in my death while doing them.

The list will continue as I have time and for now other next few days of holidays and up coming weeks and moths of winter I will be more then happy with local ski hill trips as well as the backcountry trips, which have a potential for avalanches, are comparably a little more tame then heliskiing.

Personally I feel we should all have this list, feel free to add yours as I go through mine.

A Few Things

First off; it is winter out and I could not be happier. This weekend I will be scoping out some trails that might be perfect for backcountry skiing and that are not a 2 hours drive in one direction. The only thing that is missing form my ski kit are new boots and I am on the hunt for those at the moment. Added bonus to my backcountry skis I was missing a few screws (yes just as I am in the head) for the bindings and one day walking by a neighbors garbage I found an old pair of alpine skis and the screws were the perfect size.

Hmmm come to think of it I really hope those skis weren’t just resting on top of the garbage can??? No pretty sure they were done as they were not in good shape. But with the new screws alpiners, and skins (that I have been told my brother in-law has an extra pair for me) that makes my entire backcountry ski conversion FREE! SO brand new skis for ski hills and updated backcountry skis for backcountry.

Oh and at the T & L sale in the summer I scored an awesome helmet for 75%off. Helmets are great for ski hills, terrain parks and a must for skiing in backcountry where falling into tree wells, off rocks or directly into trees are all common hazards. So not free but at only $50 I was rather happy. Although I am in for the weather we will see if the Christmas mood changes as I am not in that yet.

Speaking of skis I may need to grab some cross-country skis for work for the next little while. That is of course if the OC Transpo and the city can not come to an agreement before 12:01am Wednesday morning. The idea that I only live 4.4kms door to door I would much rather walk which would take about 45mins. But in the snow carrying my gym stuff lunch and so on, this extra 1.5 hours a day would be a pain.

This would mean that I would have to be out of the house by 6:35am and not a minute later. Then after work got to the gym from 45mins to an hour and then walk home around 530 putting me there at about 6:20 that isn’t all that bad and the extra cardio would be great but it consumes a great deal of time in an already busy season.

I do have spare mountain bike tires that I put screws in for traction but there are still the chances of skidding into traffic or other larger objects. So it will be a waiting game to see if the strike actually happens and if so it will be a last minute decision.

Regardless I hope that those involved get there proper raise they require after the long freeze on wages. But with the union not even bringing offers of 7% over 3 years to their members…it’s not looking good. I don’t know enough at this point for the overall negotiations to state if one side is being unfair over the other. Is the City holding out to not have to pay what these employees deserve or are the Transpo employees holding out for an increase that is not justified. I have been busy but am attempting to catch up on this story today.

Finally in the Coldplay vs. Satriani case I have heard that Satriani attempted to contact Coldplay months before he ever filed charges, stating that he would prefer to stay out of legal proceedings. Obviously the band was never in touch with Satriani and thus the charges were filed.

I was listening to Satriani’s song, ‘If I could Fly’ and Coldplay’s garbage Viva la ‘coño’, and I as I went back and forth I could hear the similarity but needed to hear them side by side. I then cam across this clip; Did coldplay copy Joe Satriani? Take a listen to it and you tell me.

Pathetic.

Day in and day out we all take things for granted, it is part of human nature it seems or at least it seems that we have allowed it to become this way. Those of us that reside in wealthy nations do it all the time in one form or another. How many times do we stop and think about how great we have it and how many don’t? I know personally we attempt to as much as we can and do what we can but it is not enough.

Our time in history is one of the most affluent, especially here in the west. We are feeling the pinch of a financial downfall at the moment but nothing close to the 30’s or the hardships felt in third world nations each day.

We (North America) have been involved in a war in the Middle East for many years. It has provided some success, although it may have been started for various reasons and through some lies, it still produced some positive outcomes. But the numbers of fallen soldiers and innocent victims is nowhere near any of the world wars. Added to that the socioeconomic times we have are far greater then those who preceded us.

We over eat and drink while others fetch water from a well and must eat food we would turn in disgust from. We have more objects and items for entertainment than necessity while others have shelter and nothing more. We have more clothing and footwear for every activity and outing while others don’t even own one pair of shoes.

"I see all this potential, and I see squandering. God damn it, an entire generation pumping gas, waiting tables; slaves with white collars. Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don't need. We're the middle children of history, man. No purpose or place. We have no Great War. No Great Depression. Our Great War's a spiritual war... our Great Depression is our lives. We've all been raised on television to believe that one day we'd all be millionaires, and movie gods, and rock stars. But we won't. And we're slowly learning that fact. And we're very, very pissed off."
~Chuck Paulinick~

In a round about way the quote states that we have it all but we waste it chasing things we don't need. Oh I know we all know this and that I am pointing out obvious examples but it will all be forgotten in a few minutes once we distract ourselves. Last week I followed the Mumbai incident as it unfolded. People died needlessly and we see it all the time and it is a passing news story. More die in Iraq, protesters or enraged in Pakistan, Nigeria and the list goes on.

My point? Do you know what the most disgusting, frustrating, embarrassing, and disgraceful article I read was?

"Wal-Mart worker trampled to death."

Why? Because last Friday was Black Friday in the U.S. "Come on out and get some great deals people!" That’s right the biggest shopping day of the year.

A person died from shopping!!!? Are you fuc*kin kidding me! What the fu*k…?

I personally make a conscious effort to stay away from Wal-Mart because of their practices, but the blame here sits on the shoulders of the people stampeding into the store to SHOP! I hope every single person that ran into that store lives the rest of their lives with utter guilt and hatred for themselves that they can hardly help from vomiting when they look in the mirror each and every day.

Come on Forts who are you kidding? Those who do care will feel some remorse but others that were there that day will simply chalk it up as an unfortunate accident, because really it is an unfortunate accident. Now don't get me wrong we should all be able to enjoy the fruits of our labour but there is a limit.

And it does not remove the fact that in North America one of our top stories and tragedies is "Wal-Mart worker trampled to death" so that we can shop, shop, shop. Sick!

As North Americans many of us are truly pathetic.

You know the stickers and patches that say "Mean People Suck"? I think we might just have to alter it to;

North American People Suck!

Waiting.

Of all the things we get annoyed with I would have to say waiting is one of the worst. I have a great deal of patience and can wait for most everything. But when it comes to a test or evaluation, which you are prepared for, waiting can be excruciating.

Mentally it plays on your mind as you go through everything that you must do to complete the task at hand. Go through it to prepare and reduce stress but think about it to much and you begin to over stress yourself or begin thinking about; what if I do this wrong? Or what if I am to slow?

In most cases with exams, or waiting on a decision or results, running, specifically long runs, helped burn some of the energy and on the road for 8, 10 or more kilometres, I was able to clear my head. But in this case I can’t even do that. I need to limit the amount of physical activity I do today to a short run and tomorrow even less with some stretching and long walks, hardly enough to burn the extra energy and clear my head.

So from here on out I will be listening to motivational words, for example, the Inches Speech from Any given Sunday on my iPod helps through training and other times (can’t believe that speech got so popular that some high school and NCAA coaches use it from time to time). Listening to some of my heavier and/or more energetic music (can’t believe it but a few hip hop songs have made it on my iPod for energy during my training sessions).

Sports psychology is a huge part of these sorts of events. I am happy knowing that playing on teams and being in competitive situations similar to this in the past helps. A person without an athletic mind is will not have the same advantage. But in times we need that push from an external source. Music is a great place to find this push.

The great thing about music is that it comes down to personal choice and what makes us as individuals move fast or push harder -bottom line what gives us energy? For me it ranges from bands like, Joe satriani, metallica, tool, slipknot, alexisonfire, Dropkick murphys...Sometimes even a few epic songs from the 300 soundtrack will be added to provide energy.

But even at some times someone like eminem or Kid rock will be added to the playlist. It all depends on what you need at that specific moment and/or for the specific task at hand.

For now back to waiting and listening to some more inspiration.

Stuck In The Middle Yet Again.

White powder and suspicious packages had the center block (original building that stands between our east and west 12 floor towers) of the Bank of Canada closed for business yesterday. The package was left in the early morning hours directly in front of the doors entering the building. The men in green (Hazmat) were dispatched and the robot went to work attempting to decipher the contents of the package.

It turned out that the package was not a bomb but possibly a case of Bananas resulting in a great deal of lost time, traffic disruption and one hell of an expensive training session for all the emergency services personnel involved. But it did start some interesting conversations the idea of feeling safe or not.

This is similar to that of the abortion clinic package from a couple weeks ago. The interesting thing about the conversation these events spawn are the utter frustration people have with one another as one group states the other is to paranoid and the paranoid people are insulted and pissed off at those who are indifferent. This is common in these situations and many of those who stay and work and don’t leave seem to think that those who leave are a) taking advantage of the situation and just want the time off for free. Or b) they are being paranoid of something that is ‘probably’ nothing.

First thing about this is if I can get some time off with my bosses consent and I don’t have to use my time for it then wouldn’t anyone take that??? Who dosen’t want more time off? Don’t get me wrong I like to work and have a good work ethic but I do not live to work, I work so I can get the money I need to live and do the fun stuff I like while I am not at work.

The second thing is this, if someone does not feel comfortable in a situation it is their right to state so and remove themselves from the situation if they so desire. If given the opportunity don’t you think that those "paranoid" people in Oklahoma would have wanted the chance to say "I don’t feel comfortable and want to leave"? May they rest in peace.

The images (like the one above) of that horrible day are tattooed on all our minds as one of the most tragic forms of malicious attack we have seen. When these historic moments are in our mind and then we flash back to what many people felt here in the Bank yesterday, it puts things into perspective.

Now I am not saying that every time something happens people should run and hide and nor should they be blinded by fear mongering and propaganda. But at the same time when an individual feels uneasy and uncertain of the outcome of unknown motives of others they should not be ridiculed for it. I mean there was a suspicious package with white powder in the vicinity.

So this leaves me stuck in the middle as I was not paranoid or overly concerned yesterday but I will admit that I was not completely comfortable knowing that there was at least the possibility of a grave outcome. It is a fine line between thinking the ski is falling and being oblivious to the possibility of someone claiming a new target. Where do you stand?

I’ll have a Veinte, iced, cinimon, spilt shot espresso, mint, mocha frappe, latte, crappe, dappe, with a hint of a frothy loan, thanks…

The times they are a changing, we all need to get out there and help our local little guy and BUY! BUY! BUY! All the grassroots protestors need to ban together and hit the streets to get the word out. Signs need to go up, flyers must be passed around and for the love of god let the press in on it.

The issue? There is a company that is in dire need of our support so that it can continue to exist on the small scale that it has for years. Already jobs have been lost and stores have been closed. We need to make sure this does not continue or the company will tank for certain. It is our duty to help out these individuals…

Oh no wait sorry my mistake must have been the cold I have and the breakfast martinis I consumed with my lucky charms this AM. The profits are falling as is the status as one of the most affluent companies in the U.S.

That’s right Starbucks is having trouble. My thought; good, for a few reasons 1. it annoys me that I see one on every single corner when I go to work. 2; they are not a very good role model in the areas of environmental stewardship nor are they to be revered for their treatment of those who pick the addictive coffee bean. 3. Their utter monopolization with cut throat (smart business) tactics of buying out leases of their smaller competitors and adding a shop every few hundred meters to not allow others to open shop. Good business for them bad for the little guy and the market as a whole.

But in all honesty who would have thought that we would be reading an article like this; "SO the froth has been blown off Starbucks' profits." Although it is a cheesy play on words it is still the bold (sorry couldn’t help myself I guess) truth that is now facing the gargantuan Starbucks franchise.

The article itself outlines how the Coffee juggernaut has actually lost 97% of their profit in the fourth quarter. The company has attempted to mitigate this loss by "…cutting nearly 1,000 non-retail jobs and closing 600 outlets, including 61 of its 84 cafés in Australia.

This seems to be interesting trend that is affecting many larger corporations and many having their starts in the U.S. Obviously the markets volatility is not helping anyone but usually the big guys are not hit this hard. In this case that isn’t the only factor. It seems that many individuals have simply lost interest as research is showing less traffic to these outlets.

Regardless I personally attempt to stay away from Starbucks and purchase more fair-trade an help out local coffee shops but must admit the Grande bold pulls me in from time to time.

Prediction

It is never easy to make predictions unless you have a decent amount of information and insight to base it on. When it comes to politics, and more specifically, voting there are many factors that need to be considered.

Tomorrow’s election is a rather big event for the U.S. and is probably one the biggest decisions American’s have had to make in many years. Tomorrow’s result will be of one with major consequences. McCain gets in probably more of the same. Obama gets in he needs to ensure that there is proper and timely change. Either way, the incumbent and his staff will be taking on one of the toughest jobs during one of the worst times in history for the U.S.

Does Obama have this election in the bag? HELL NO! Although he is behind this does not mean that McCain can’t have a comeback. Early polling numbers are just that, early. They do not necessarily represent all those who are coming out. Yesterday they stated that of roughly 27 million in the early vote showed Obama as the leader. Unfortunately that number is less then ten percent of the U.S. population.

With the research I did and the help of CNN’s calculator, here is my prediction (and hope) for tomorrow’s election. I think that in the end it will be closer then this, but with many ‘Red’ States showing a decline in their allegiance to the Republican Party it will be interesting to see. But again we must wait. Mine is the second one and can see that unfortunately I could not use the ‘undecided’ or ‘leaning’ options.

Get out there and Play!

Unless you have lived in a war torn country you don’t know what it is like to live your life in fear and uncertainty. You will never know how you will feel when you are confronted by disconcerting situations. You will never know what it feels to be unsure when a bomb will go off or armed police will start shooting in the streets. But in our post 9/11 world North Americans have felt a very small level of what hostile country citizens must live in on a daily basis. And in Canada we are even further removed and less affected as those in obviously New York City for example.

Ok where am I going with this? Simply put I felt a terrifying feeling yesterday with the uncertainty of needing to be concerned or not. Day in and day out I see protesters continuing on their vigil while opposing the existence of an abortion clinic in downtown Ottawa. Personally while I applaud their tenacity to continue their silent protest and believe in freedom of protest, I also disagree in their prolife argument.

But these are not the people that gave me the odd felling. The sinking feeling came on as I left the gym on lunch. My gym is located in a adjacent building to the abortion clinic but exits on a perpendicular street. As I came out I could see flashing lights from fire trucks, police cruisers and police on motorbikes cruising down an empty street that is usually consumed by downtown rush hour traffic. I was told immediately to walk the opposite way I was going.

Once I made my way around I was told what the there had been a suspicious suitcase that was tossed from a vehicle on the sidewalk directly in front of the abortion clinic. The clinic is situated only two blocks from our parliament buildings and a few hundred meters from the Bank of Canada, a great spot to make a statement.

In the end it turned out to be nothing but someone’s garbage they believe. Was it also an attempt to send a message to the staff at the clinic as; ‘you never know’? Who knows as that is merely an assumption. But the idea that there was possibly a massive bomb a few hundred meters from my desk not only made me feel uneasy but also made me think about those who deal with this as a daily norm.

The weirdest thing this week was the feeling of somewhat respect for John McCain. Not McCain now but over 30 years ago when his plane was shot down in Vietnam. I read an article over the weekend about his service and thought there was something more to this man. He fought for his country and what he believed was right and didn’t try to weasel his way out of it.

Of course this quickly turns as the article was about his alleged ‘torture’ from his captures. Supposedly there is disbelief in McCain’s accounts. Add to that; this was a long time ago and he is not the same man now and the idea of respecting him would be in the same column as respecting a baseball player that has a contract substantially higher then that of the budget of some third world nations.

Finally; speaking of that, the confusing and somewhat pathetic comment of the week pertains to baseball. How I never really thought of this as stupid before I have no idea. First thing baseball is never on in my home, and for good reason. But this morning watching the highlights I heard that the "World" series was postponed during a 2 all tie! What could have been the reason to stop such an important game?

Was there a brawl leaving only pitchers able to swing a bat? (Although I have been told that one of the pitchers actually hit a home run! Well done, can’t believe it is so hard for them (pitchers) to hit that ball, you’d think by this point in their lives they would have figured out what 10 year old kids do every single day).

Did a craved fan run out on the field and shoot some players? Did the umpires walk off the field stating that they would not work until their contracts were negotiated? Did someone steal all the plates? Or was it locusts falling from the sky and Moses himself parting the urinal troth in the men’s bathroom?

Nope it rained. Yup that’s right baseball players don’t play in the rain not really sure why that is actually. I mean really these are the guys that would make fun of soccer but at least these guys can take a little dampness. I mean if it was really that important of a game would you not have played in the rain?

And you can not make the argument that the ball would be slippery and ruin the game. You ask any receiver, kicker, quarterback…that has ever played at Lambeau Field in -20 weather what is like throwing or catching a ball in those conditions. Or soccer players that play 90 minutes on a cold wet pitch in Northern England.

Come on play in the rain you bunch of Nancy’s.

Getting back to Normalcy

-The picture is from a thread I came across. Someone had created but could not find his site. I just had to post it

Short update and will be back to bloggin by the weekend;

I wouldn’t mind getting back to as close to normalcy as possible. The last many months have been, well the first word that comes to; chaotic. And last weekend was the topper. Monday I returned home from a three day road trip to see my first live NFL game where the Bills met the chargers. I was in awe and felt that it was an interesting spectacle and I hadn’t even stepped foot into the building.

Tailgating has become an art form to those who attend games regularly and it showed. Other then car camping I have never seen anyone get a full table, small BBQ, and pot of pulled pork set-up with beer in hand so fast before. It was a great time and the football game made it even better. It was a great game.

The reasons why this weekend was officially the topper are 1. My liver hates me, 2. I need some rest and 3. My fire exams (CPAT) will not be far off now. I am currently back into full training mode and will be continuing to do so up and till and proceeding the exams.

Before I was sick for about a week (last week) and all the weekends of mayhem, my Fran time was actually down to 4:10. I hope that by CPAT time I will have Fran at a sub 3 minute mark. This will not be easy as I saw the guys that did it in Manchester just over 3 minutes and it looks PAINFULLY FUN!

So the goal is there and it relates directly to the CPAT as although I want to pass it, I also wouldn’t mind getting as low a time as possible. A significantly low time will not hurt in the recruiters’ eyes. The passing time is sub 10m20s and there are many varying finishing times but the fastest I have heard of was 6m40s. Not sure where I will be as far as time goes but I will and am doing what it takes to get a respectable time.

That’s all for now and will have more to follow.

Music Minute

Can’t say that I am overly surprised but it seems that Wolfmother has possibly relinquished their last howl. Yes the band is disbanding, or at least a few of them are. It seems that during a recent concert fans of the band noticed some weird tension on stage and arguing during the performance.

Immediately after the performance Myles Heskett and Chris Ross stated that they were leaving the band. The official statement revealed that the band members have inconsolable differences i.e. they don’t get along and hate each other.

With the two of them gone unless Andrew Stockdale is good at performing as a one man band, I think he is pretty much done for the time being at least. The reason why I wasn’t overly surprised was simply the fact that their self titled debut album was truly remarkable.

It was a unique sound with influences from the greats of the 70’s and every member of the band performed in what seemed to be flawless unforced harmony. When this hits that hard you have to wonder if a band has the ability to create better or the same in the future.

Even the truly talented bands will have hits and misses; refer to, The Stones and ‘Dirty Work’, oh and ask Neil young what he was thinking when he produced ‘Everybody’s Rocking’. This means that you always have to be weary of a band letting you down with a limited amount of artistic ability and inevitably becoming a one hit wonder, one album wonder in Wolfmother’s case I suppose.

I suppose this is why I ask a great deal from the bands that I love. I want them to perform at the top level of their ability and creativity every single time. You create amazing work for several years but if there is a point where albums are not coming out like they were or coming out just as quick but filled with utter garbage then there is no shame in calling it a day and walking away from the art.

Just adding to this if you can only put out one album of good material and proceed to never produce anything again or the rest of what you attempt to release is crap, I start to wonder if I should even listen to the original (talented) album that I once thought was worthy.

Example Bush, or Bushx as the were known until the Canadian band, Bush, signed to allow them to use the name, produced a decent first album that was well received in the 90’s during the grunge phase. When we waited in anticipation for their second what did we get? Actual a not that band album but not great as it was merely a watered down version of their first album with some synthetics thrown in.

Then came the most insulting thing a fan can receive from a band. Something that screamed; WE HAVE NO TALENT WHATSOEVER BUT WE WANT YOUR MONEY JUST THE SAME! This was of course Deconstructed and Bush thought the idea of taking their greatest hits from their DEBUT album and re-mastered them. You can not do that unless you have pumped out at least half a dozen amazing albums and do a greatest hits.

At least the way I see it, and I have never listened to their first album ever again The End. Fuck can’t believe I just wasted that much time talking about a crappy untalented tit like Gavin Rossdale. Back to the music tomorrow, an update on my Fran benchmark time and here is the WOD I made up today after a arm warm-up. I really liked it and will be playing with it some more over time.

5 rounds for time; 25:44
20 Pull-ups
20 Abmat sit-ups
15 Deadlifts 65lbs
15 DB swings 35lbs
10 24" box jumps
10 KTE

Fallen Hero.

Although I am not a firefighter yet, hoping it is soon, it still hits home when I hear of a tragedy like the one that took place in North York this morning. Early this morning, after a propane blast set the Sunrise Propane Depot a blaze, veteran firefighter Bob Leek’s lifeless body was found by a fellow firefighter. He was said to have died of a heart attack.

Leek was a 25 year veteran of the force and was a district chief. He was said to be an intelligent fireman with a decorated career, a mentor to recruits and a friend of many.

In honour of District Chief Bob Leek, I have posted the firefighter’s prayer. R.I.P.

When I'm called to duty, God wherever flames may rage, give me strength to save a life whatever be its age;

Help me to embrace a little child before it is too late, or save an older person from the horror of that fate;

Enable me to be alert to hear the weakest shout, and quickly and efficiently to put the fire out;

I want to fill my calling and to give the best in me, to guard my neighbour and protect his property;

And if according to your will I have to lose my life, bless with your protecting hand my family, and guide them to your light.

A Responsible Steward.

I hate spending money on foot apparel unless they are for hiking, biking, or running. I own many pairs of the previously mentioned footwear for the varying uses. Work or ‘stylish’ shoes is where I tend to pinch that penny till it almost turns to dust - this is not an exaggeration. I would basically buy cheap brown leather shoes and would wear them thin. The back-up that I kept in my work cabinet was a pair of brown Doc Martins, yes I said it, that I have for over 10 years now. That is penny pinching where it counts.

While purchasing some much needed running socks, I happened to notice the Keen walking shoes wall and found the answer to my dilemma. Brown durable leather shoes for walking around town and an appropriate style for work. But I left the store trying to make myself believe that my old Docs were still good enough and didn’t need replacing. But several more miles in the old shoes told me different.

I have always liked Keen sandals even though I had never owned a pair myself. I found that their ongoing pursuit of making durable footwear adventurers was only trumped by their passion of making them through environmental, social, and corporate responsible ways. I learnt a great deal about the company while selling them at Trailhead.

But that was not where they stop. Keen supports workers rights organizations that assist in attempting to maintain said rights. They fund raise and donate vast amounts of money that is set aside from portions of their budget. Keen also moved sustainability to higher echelons by looking into their buildings right down to creating a smaller and 100% recyclable shoe box.

I decided to try them on and only after a few minutes I was hooked as they seemed extremely comfortable and the style suited me well. I think the other major reason was that I knew I was standing in shoes that were made with many elements of sustainability, human rights and human assistance in mind. Even when I noticed later that the tag stated ‘Made in China’ I decided to ask the company why this was and sent them an email.

Not expecting a response as many corporations wouldn’t even give you the time of day. Not only did I get a response but I received a personal response that outlined my concerns and informed me of the company’s initiatives and hopes to change this process as it moves along. I was extremely impressed and have created a dialogue which as Ash from Keen states "this is the only way change takes place" [through dialogue].

During the discussion Ash lamented similarly to my own feelings understanding that in North America we too often are swept up by marketing tools and do not stop to look into what we are actually purchasing. I make mistakes and sometimes by those things that I know I shouldn’t but for the most part I attempt to buy right and buy smart only when buying new is necessary.

They are a company that make an affordable shoe (my Briggs were only $119) that you can feel good about buying. Check out the Keen site for the entire history as I can not do them complete justice here.

Where’s Karl and Fran’s not easy, take that back.

*The Karls. Karl Meltzer and his dad look at the map before Karl Jr. begins his quest.

UPDATE: In June I wrote a little blog about ultramarathoner, Karl Meltzer, and his quest. Meltzer is attempting to break the Appalachian Trail record and cover 2174 miles (3478km) in 47 days. I have been following the coverage at one of his websites, Where’s Karl. With the use of Spot, powered by Google, you can track Karl’s daily performances. it is now day four and everything is looking good.

Although it is in the early going he has hit his daily goals for distance and is a little bit slower then who usually predicts but only by about 40 minutes and that isn’t bad considering that he is running anywhere from 40 to 50 miles a day. With that kind of distance it is hard to estimate an accurate finish time day in and day out.

One of the most grueling being 38 miles with 8000+ feet of elevation gain and lose in 11h and 48m. Or like today’s 50 mile gauntlet that is 80 kms, and still leaving him with approximately 2052 miles and roughly 42 days to go. Just another tidbit he is also burning ~6200 calories a day. The words determination and mental preparation does not even apply. This is a completely different from of drive that very few people can achieve.

Regardless setting these can be accomplished by most if we apply ourselves properly and do not limit ourselves in our individual pursuits.

Alright the title above also relates to Fran and some of you probably know what I am talking about. I completed Fran as a warm up from getting back after a very tiring 5 or 6 days of moving, unpacking and hosting guests. My time really wasn't that important to me that day as I was tired and just wanted to grease the joints sort a speak.

Then the next day I completed Grindy. I wasn’t sure what a decent time was for it as I had not done it before and had seen many varying times on other crossfit site and really had no clue how I would do. But when I grabed my stop watch from the bar it was hanging from I was amazed to see a 12:13 finsih. I couldn't believe that I completely tore the grinder up.

The other thing that I realized was that I have been getting faster and stronger over the past couple weeks in preparation for the upcoming firefighting physical times trials that will start at the end of September, and the actual test in October/November. When I posted my time on the Crossfit Regina site I noticed a link to a video showcasing the record breaking completion of Fran by Josh Bridges.

Bridges was given his Nave Seal Trident on June 20/08 and only a few days later on the 24th decided to attempt a new record for Fran. This video showcases Bridges elite physical conditioning as he destroys Fran with a 2:02. Now he uses kind of a kipping pull-up for some but for the most part is right to form.

Besides are you going to tell a Seal that completed Fran in just over two minutes that his pull-ups weren’t clean? God you wouldn’t get the words out before you would be swallowing your own blood and teeth. Just kidding I am sure he is a nice guy. Here is the video its worth the inspiration and in the least to watch a great accomplishment.

With the aforementioned improved training I have done I also decided to set a new goal for myself. While training I will attempt to get faster and faster at Fran and hope to get to an extremely respectable time. I am not going to state my goal time or when I plan to go for my best time until after I do Fran for a second time on Monday or Tuesday of next week.

I want to try it again with more vigor along with the idea of trying to go faster and faster. Once I get that time in mind I should be able to set the goal for the very near future. Not saying I will be able to come close to a 2:02 but anything around 3 would be nice, but we will soon see.