doggie treadmill

I needed this last week!

While my parents were away in Mexico, I was walking their dog — Pete — four times a day.

With this ingenious device I could have stayed on the internet and indoors even longer.

I think I’ll get one for all my dog owning friends for Christmas!

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The world of couch potatoes

GOOD NEWS – arms makers going GREEN

You, me, every politician.

Why not the arms industry?

I want to THANK bomb makers for THINKING OF THE CHILDREN.

British arms manufacturer BAE Systems is designing “environmentally friendly” weapons, including “reduced lead” bullets, “reduced smoke” grenades and rockets with fewer toxins, The Sunday Times said.

Other initiatives include developing armoured vehicles with lower carbon emissions, safer and more sustainable artillery and even recycling or composting waste explosives, the newspaper added.

“Weapons are going to be used and when they are, we try to make them as safe for the user as possible, to limit the collateral damage and to impact as little as possible on the environment,” Debbie Allen, BAE Systems’ director of corporate social responsibility, was quoted as saying.

‘Green’ arms the new killing trend « Terryorisms

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Arms Industry – Wikipedia

photo – Acrobatics at Muscle Beach

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Acrobatics at Muscle Beach, originally uploaded by ExperienceLA.

Muscle Beach, California. Summer 2004.

video – first day on a snowboard

After years of pretending to want to try it, I finally did.

George took me out for a couple of hours on the bunny hill at gorgeous Schweitzer ski resort, Sandpoint, Idaho. (It was named after an old Swiss hermit.)

I had always suspected I would be lousy at boarding. And quickly injured.

But my first day went well. It was fun and I made steady progress.

I am looking for another half day … SOON.

Click PLAY or watch the short video on YouTube.

want to sign-up for fitness “boot camp”?

01fitn190.2.jpgMy preference for getting in shape is to schedule a long hike.

But the military boot camp fitness model is gaining momentum:

Despite the images on the covers of fitness magazines, real workouts are not pretty. Now, some men who understand that are signing up for men-only boot camps, the new manly man’s way to lose some fat and build some muscle, and perhaps ego. The New York Times reports on the trend, telling us that the camps, usually run by former military people or personal trainers, involve high-intensity moves like sprinting, jumping jacks and calisthenics that rely on one’s own body weight to perform push-ups and pull-ups.

Roughly three dozen all-male camps have cropped up in the last 18 months and at least five are in the works. Oh, and one more thing, the Times reminds us, for all of those womanly women, there are women-only boot camps.

SportsGeezer: Boots Camps: The Manly Man’s Way to Fitness

A Boot Camp for Men With a Shy Side – New York Times

(via Two-Heel Drive)

what’s with Canadian weather?

Returning from sunny Australia to mucky Canadian winter has been a drag. Everyone here has a cold or the sniffles.

For the first time in my life I’ve started to think about living in a warm climate, and commuting to the cold for a brisk, refreshing change.

But what warm, bright climate suits me best?

I like dry rather than humid.

…

The leading contender in the retirement property sweepstakes is still Bolivia or southern Peru. Lake Titicaca is like the Mediterranean without chain-smoking Italians. Or many people at all, for that matter. This is the most crowded town on the coast.

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Copacabana, Boliva

more photos

cycling photos – Warren Long

More than anything else, Warren was the inspiration for my becoming a bicycle commuter.

He rides to and from work in frozen Saskatoon. And has done so for maybe 10 years. That’s “75 minutes on a bad day in winter as compared to 25 minutes on a good day in summer.”

If Warren can do it, obviously anyone can.

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He’s posted 547 photos from his work commutes over the years.

smokers – weak or stupid?

Right.

Trick question.

Smokers are both weak and stupid.

If I had to choose just one cause to crusade, it would not be global warming or AIDS. It would be anti-smoking. There is no upside to smoking.

It’s expensive, dirty and — most importantly — offensive to ME.

Tasmania is great. But young people on that island below an island still think smoking is cool. Backward, or what?

A high rate of smoking, to me, is a sign of an uncultured society.

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E lost 40 pounds

Congratulations.

His diet / exercise regime is working well. He hopes to lose even more to get to a goal weight.

I happened to see an excellent TV documentary on the history of research on the Atkins diet. Current thinking is that the high protein content “sates” the appetite. That Atkins dieters who are “allowed” to eat all the fat and protein they wish … actually choose to eat fewer calories.

Interesting.

This is the truth about the world’s most famous, most glamorous and most controversial diet. The Atkins diet says that eating fat can make you thin. It says you don’t need to bother watching the calories.

… But many scientists think it is scientific nonsense. Some even believe it is dangerous. Horizon cuts through the confusion and provide the answers.

When Dr Atkins first launched his diet, he was accused of breaking one of the most fundamental laws of nature. Scientists said that if you eat more, you’ll get fatter. They also said it could kill. Fat
increases your cholesterol levels. You’d get a heart attack.

The only problem was that people who followed the Atkins diet got thinner. Much of the rest of us got fatter. Then came studies showing that cholesterol levels can actually improve on the Atkins diet.

So what was going on? Horizon’s investigation seems to show that the diet may really work – but for a reason and in a way that no scientists or even Atkins himself had seriously considered.

The Atkins Diet – BBC

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The Piton: There Is A Post In Here Somewhere

video – Apple Steve Jobs Keynote – Greenpeace

To coincide with the 2007 Macworld Expo keynote by Steve Jobs, Greenpeace has created this fake presentation in which Apple premieres a “green” iPod with new recycling and take back policies.

Video: Fake Apple Steve Jobs Keynote by Greenpeace (TreeHugger)

Click PLAY or watch the spoof video on YouTube.