"Kinda weird"
QOTD
He’s not
that kind of person. … He’s a nicer guy than I am, to be honest with you.
- Kobe on D-Wade breaking his nose at the All-Star game, yahoo link
1. New affirmative action
The feds wants affirmative action for the disabled.
Employers and business groups are trying to stop an Obama administration
effort that calls for federal contractors to hire a minimum number of
disabled workers and could penalize those who don't by revoking their
contracts.
- U.S. Pushes Target for Hiring the Disabled
I believe the proper vernacular is that the disabled have a right to having a job. I hope we can throw in free birth control for the disabled as well.
2. Why does Johnny fear heights?
You gotta love retro experiments on babies. This one is great. They plop junior down and the see if he'll crawl over a cliff (clear plexiglass) to get to his mother. Cool.
3. I heart Ozzie
Ozzie has has a rule in his new gig as Miami Marlin manager: be on time for the National Anthem.
QOTD
A lot of people have been killed trying to make this country free for
us. You should be there for at least two minutes.
Respect that, especially if you come from another country. You should be
there an hour before. I think it looks good for baseball if you're in
the stands and you look at the team respecting the flag and the
National Anthem…Kids can see that, the respect.
- Ozzie Guillen, yahoo link
Respect. Excellent.
4. Born to Run
Book:
Born to Run by Christopher McDougall
Review:
2 bill-stars (out of 5)... not good
Good reads link:
www.goodreads.com/review/show/288993735
I agree with a lot of the substance in Born to Run. I'm a recreational runner, and I fully appreciate the zen aspects of running and running for the joy of it. I even buy some of the author's barefoot running thesis. But Born to Run is written like an article in one of those magazines like Men's Health or Runner's World or something. The writing style is pure hyperbole. This runner is the most amazing ever. Every female runner is an incandescent goddess. Each race and experience and drinking binge is EXCELLENT and AWESOME!!! Blech.
The focal point for the author's over-the-topness (he he) is the remote Mexican tribe that runs long distances in the Copper Canyon: the Tarahumara (
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarahumara_people). McDougall empowers this tribe with virtually having found the meaning of life in their isolated caves. Well, OK. But it's ironic (and moronic) that the author dotes on the holistic qualities of the tribe, and yet his aggrandizing of the Tarahumara has a decidedly American feel to it. It almost feels like he is marketing the tribe... and, of course, himself.
This was a 1-star book for me, but I added a star because of some of the interesting facts that McDougall included:
- US marathon running, sort of, peaked with Frank Shorter in the 1970's. McDougall attributes this to the artificial nature of the training and preparation that our runners go through now. They have lost their joy of running.
- Women are slower than men, in every distance from 40 meters to a marathon. But after 26 miles, so-called ultra-marathons, the gap between men and women mysteriously disappears. On a percentage basis, more women finish ultra-marathons than do men. Interesting.
- Running injuries are on the rise, and it seems that being injured is a practically a part of distance running these days. The author attributes this, in part, to running shoes. The idea is that the cushioning of running shoes leaves your feet weak and this shifts the stress of running to the rest of your body. That sounds intriguing to me. I might incorporate some barefoot runs (on a track or field) as part of my running this summer. We'll see.
Running barefoot... too bad we're a little beach poor here in Illinois.
Oh, one last side note. Wow, I'm a real outlier on this book. Goodreads loves it, and many reviewers seem truly inspired by the book. It's cool. I say... Vive la différence!
yow, bill
