Nelson is one of the best places to live in the world, I think, a “mountain sports hotbed”.

My family had a summer house nearby for 30yrs.

I’ve always loved Nelson.

In town for a Gymnastics clinic, I finally got the chance to kayak the beautiful river. Under the famed bridge.

That’s my host, Steve.

catastrophic gymnastics injuries – Barkat Ullah

On September 28, 2010 By Rick McIn friendsLeave a comment

My friend Barkat from Bangladesh has now completed his 3rd year of an honours University program … and is looking to travel abroad for more education.

Does he look like a “physically challenged” athlete to you?

He is.

Barkat was a full-time gymnast who had competed internationally in Asian regional competitions. One day he decided to do some circles on pommel horse without any matting in place. He slipped, falling as he had thousands of times before, but this time somehow landed in such a way as to damage his upper spine. A fluke.

He was partially paralyzed.

If that happened to you, how would you respond?

It would either crush your spirit. Or you would get SUPER tough.

Today, with the support of family, friends and his Gymnastics Federation, Barkat is one of the most inspirational athletes I know. Charismatic, enthusiastic, well-spoken in English, he has redirected his talent into studies at Jahangirnagar University outside Dhaka.

Within months he became the University champion at able bodied table tennis, the only sport left he could do with limited lower body mobility.

He and I spoke at length about the future of Paralympic sport in his fast developing country. I believe Barkat will be one of the leaders.

I’m researching Paralympic sport right now, encouraging Barkat to get involved as an organizer now, despite his youth. He’s planning on organizing at the two largest Universities in Bangladesh, as a start. Paralympic Table Tennis, as a start.

If you have any advice or information that might help his cause, please leave a comment.

Everyone in the gymnastics community worldwide needs rally around any of our athletes catastrophically injured.

Leave a comment if you have any recommendations for him. A College or University that supports physically challenged athletes. Barkat has some financial backing, but he’d love to apply for any available scholarship.

HELP – I’m a coffee ADDICT

On September 28, 2010September 22, 2010 By Rick McIn food, product endorsements1 Comment

An undisguised cry for help.

Daily Honesty Box:

… I love Starbucks. I know it’s probably a terrible waste of money, but I love their coffee. But it’s more than their coffee. It’s the whole “Starbucks Experience” that I love – the atmosphere, the comfortable chairs, the lighting, the music they play, and the smiling, friendly people who greet you and make you feel like you matter by catering to your personal tastes. …

Taking Comfort in Rituals

Actually, I’m not all that much in love with Starbucks burnt coffee.

But as a provider of free wireless internet, Starbucks is beloved to me.

If they sold cocaine instead of caffeine, I’d still likely be taking comfort there.

Snake Oil in the Supermarket

On September 27, 2010September 22, 2010 By Rick McIn economics, food, health & fitness, product complaints1 Comment

Scientific American on Greenwashing:

Food-makers should have to prove the validity of their health claims …

In March the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued warning letters to 17 food and beverage manufacturers concerning false or misleading health and nutrition claims on their products. It was an unusually expansive crackdown for the agency, whose regulatory power over food companies has declined over the past decades, thanks to Congress and the courts, which have tended to come down on the side of the food companies. …

In 2006 Europe began holding food makers to rigorous scientific standards. Since then, the European Food Safety Authority has rejected, on the basis of insufficient evidence, a whopping 80 percent of the more than 900 claims they have assessed thus far. …

Differences between the lenient U.S. system and the more restrictive European system are easily apparent. For instance, visitors to the Web site for Activia (www.activia.com)—a yogurt product from Dannon—will have a very different experience depending on which country they indicate they are from. The U.S. version prominently displays the product’s putative health benefits, asserting that it can “help regulate your digestive system by helping reduce long intestinal transit time.” …

Snake Oil in the Supermarket

I assume over 80% of green packaging and health claims are tainted.

YouTube getting artsy fartsy

On September 26, 2010September 20, 2010 By Rick McIn Google, product endorsements1 Comment

I don’t know about you, but I watch far more YouTube than traditional TV.

Can you get this on your regular boob tube? …

Out of 23,000 artistic video clips submitted to New York’s Guggenheim museum through the YouTube Play program, 125 have been selected as finalists. …

Here’s the kind of stuff they picked.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

… Twenty of these videos will be part of an exhibit at the Guggenheim and associated museums around the world, …

Mashable

LOVE Google Reader fullscreen mode

On September 25, 2010September 19, 2010 By Rick McIn Google, internet, product endorsementsLeave a comment

People often ask me how I can track so many different sites online: gymnastics and hiking.

I can’t.

Google Reader, a website, does it for me.

They’ve added a killer feature that I’ll use 400 times a day:

… we thought we should give our users a chance to maximize their screen space whenever possible… thus fullscreen mode was born. You can toggle the fullscreen mode through the ‘f’ key. Additionally, you can use ‘shift + u’ to show and hide the navigation panel so you can easily change what you’re reading without leaving fullscreen mode. …

… Mostly you use 5 keyboard shortcuts: j, k, o, f, and u

Easy.

Pranav Mistry – SixthSense

On September 24, 2010September 20, 2010 By Rick McIn product endorsements, things getting betterLeave a comment

Sam showed me this most amazing technology. It’s the future, for sure. Pranav Mistry will go down in history as one of the genius people who invented it.

Sixth Sense has been awarded 2009 Invention Award by Popular Science.

In 2010, he was named to Creativity Magazine’s Creativity 50. Mistry has been called “one of ten, best inventors in the world right now” by Chris Anderson.

Next step? … Pair SixthSense with Tan Le’s wireless headset that reads brainwaves!