CURRENT EVENTS

AWPC World Powerlifting Competition

BOOK OF THE WEEK

Mind Gym

By Gary Mack with David Casstevens

I can’t even recall how many times I have tried Visualization without success. This time, I read this book over and over and I spent a month or so daily visualizing throughout the day every aspect of what I was going to do at the AWPC World’s from my warmup lifts through my three competitive attempts.

This book was written for athletes, but I think you can apply it just as well to other situations.

In Mind Gym, noted sports psychology consultant Gary Mack explains how your mind influences your performance on the field or on the court as much as your physical skill does, if not more so. Through forty accessible lessons and inspirational anecdotes from prominent athletes–many of whom he has worked with–you will learn the same techniques and exercises Mack uses to help elite athletes build mental “muscle.” Mind Gym will give you the “head edge” over the competition. (Source: Amazon)

MOVIE OF THE WEEK

I tried to watch a number of movies this week, but they were all so bad that I ended up making this film the movie of the week. In my defense, I was trapped in an airplane and had already seen any sort of worthwhile movie they had to offer.

As for this movie, I think the title says it all. Unless you really like Sam Elliot, I would pass on this one too.

The Man Who Killed Hitler and Then Bigfoot (2018)

MUSIC OF THE WEEK

All Shook Up

By Elvis

ART OF THE WEEK

This is definitely a classic photo. Although I have never been to the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, I understand you can purchase the picture there.

The President and The King

  EXTRAORDINARY PERSON OF THE WEEK

 Elvis

(Jan. 8, 1935 – Aug. 16, 1977)

I think the following video does an excellent job of letting you know about Elvis, The King Of Rock N’ Roll.

THIS WEEK’S JOKE

PHYSICAL TRAITS

It is important to eat right and here is an opportunity for you see see Elvis actually making is fried peanut butter and banana sandwich.

Queen wrote Crazy Little Thing Called Love as a tribute song to Elvis.

Elvis liked the song so much he recorded it with Freddie Mercury right there in the studio.

CHARACTER TRAITS

It is so hard for me to believe, but there are people out there with the attitude that if you lend them money, it means you don’t need it back.

SOCIAL TRAITS 

LEARNING TRAITS

MISCELLANEOUS

LAST WEEK’S POLLS

CURRENT EVENTS

AWPC World Powerlifting Competition

BOOK OF THE WEEK

Power: A Scientific Approach

By Frederick C. Hatfield, Ph.D.

I read this book back in 2002, when I started competitive powerlifting. The book came out in 1989, so it was a bit dated when I first read it. Every so often I look it over and although 30 years have gone by since this book first came out, obviously some of the information is dated, but others parts of the book are as valid today as back in 1989. Plus, the book is very readable.

Dr. Fred Hatfield, presents Power, his most advanced, most comprehensive book to date on the science of strength training. Revealing the latest discoveries and techniques, Power translates these findings into relevant, understandable training advice.

Dr. Hatfield delves into the intricacies of strength–its eleven types and seventeen sources. He explains how the body builds strength and how scientific methods can improve it. He considers issues both physical–fatigue factors, recovery times–and mental–concentration, motivation, and stress.

He also explores the crucial role of diet and nutrition, providing programs for integrating training with proper diet and supplementation schedules and giving sound advice on pre-contest and performance diets.  (Source: Amazon)

MOVIE OF THE WEEK

I almost went with the film Rocky, but I suggested that film before so I thought I would suggest something a bit different. This film can create a lot of emotions in a person, so if you are looking for something light, you may want to pass on this one.

The Wrestler (2008 film)

Mickey Rourke gives a performance for the ages in The Wrestler, a richly affecting, heart-wrenching yet ultimately rewarding drama. (Source: Rotten Tomatoes)

MUSIC OF THE WEEK

I was going to use the theme song from the movie Rocky,

but I decided to go with this instead.

Tuff Enuff

By The Fabulous Thunderbirds

Sorry, I tried not to use the Rocky Theme song,

but could not help myself

ART OF THE WEEK

Monument to Joe Louis

Also Known as The Fist, is a memorial to the boxer at Detroit’s Hart Plaza. Dedicated on October 16, 1986, the sculpture, commissioned by Sports Illustrated magazine from the Mexican-American sculptor Robert Graham, and poured by the legendary bronze artist, Rolf Kriken, is a 24-foot-long (7.3 m) arm with a fisted hand suspended by a 24-foot-high (7.3 m) pyramidal framework.

It represents the power of his punch both inside and outside the ring. Because of Louis’ efforts to fight Jim Crow laws, the fist was symbolically aimed toward racial injustice. Graham referred to the sculpture as a “battering ram”. (Source: Wikipedia)

  EXTRAORDINARY PERSON OF THE WEEK

I would be reluctant to be a member of any gym that did not have a picture of Arnold on its walls.

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (Born July 30, 1947) is an Austrian-American politician, actor, filmmaker, and former professional bodybuilder. He served as the 38th Governor of California from 2003 to 2011.

Schwarzenegger began lifting weights at the age of 15. He won the Mr. Universe title at age 20 and went on to win the Mr. Olympia contest seven times, remaining a prominent presence in bodybuilding and writing many books and articles on the sport. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest bodybuilders of all time, as well as the sport’s most charismatic ambassador.(Source: Wikipedia)

THIS WEEK’S JOKE

PHYSICAL TRAITS

CHARACTER TRAITS

SOCIAL TRAITS 

LEARNING TRAITS

MISCELLANEOUS

LAST WEEK’S POLLS

CURRENT EVENTS

¿Qué Pasa? or What’s Happening?

Picture taken of Gun Map at Art Prize in Grand Rapids, MI a few years ago.

Waco, Texas

Twenty people were killed and dozens more injured on Saturday morning in a massacre at an El Paso, Texas, Walmart that was packed with back-to-school shoppers, making it one of the deadliest mass shootings in U.S. history, officials said. (Source: ABC News)

Dayton, Ohio

BOOK OF THE WEEK

Anger

By Thich Nhat Hanh

I read this book back in 2008 and although I am a fan of self-help books and even wrote one myself. I’m sorry to say that like all the many diet books, nothing can help you until you are ready to help yourself. Still I think such books are  motivators for those who really do want to change.

It was under the bodhi tree in India twenty-five centuries ago that Buddha achieved the insight that three states of mind were the source of all our unhappiness: wrong knowing, obsessive desire, and anger.

All are difficult, but in one instant of anger—one of the most powerful emotions—lives can be ruined, and health and spiritual development can be destroyed.

With exquisite simplicity, Buddhist monk and Vietnam refugee Thich Nhat Hanh gives tools and advice for transforming relationships, focusing energy, and rejuvenating those parts of ourselves that have been laid waste by anger. His extraordinary wisdom can transform your life and the lives of the people you love, and in the words of Thich Nhat Hanh, can give each reader the power to “change everything.” (Source: Goodreads)

MOVIE OF THE WEEK

Medici The Magnificent

Netflix Season 2

If you have been following this blog, you know that I watched Season 1 of the Medici, so it is no surprised that I have just finished watching Season 2. Season 3 of the Medici has already been filmed and will be released on Netflix in early 2020.

I

MUSIC OF THE WEEK

I came across this video and liked it. I hope you do too.

Km Music’s Brimful of Asha (Norman Cook Remix)

By Cornershop

“Brimful of Asha” is a 1997 single by British alternative rock band Cornershop. The recording originally reached number 60 on the UK Singles Chart in 1997. After a remixed version by Norman Cook became a radio and critical success, the song was re-released and reached number one on the UK chart in February 1998 and number 16 on the US Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart. The lyrics are a tribute to Asha Bhosle. (Wikipedia)

ART OF THE WEEK

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein

Here is another play that I saw at the LookingGlass Theater on Michigan Ave. while I was recently in Chicago. I have no idea how many plays I have seen in my life since I’ve been a season ticket holder for several decades at various theaters. However, this play was certainly memorable. If you are in Chicago, I urge you to see it.

  EXTRAORDINARY PERSON OF THE WEEK

Mary Shelley

Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (30 August 1797 – 1 February 1851) was an English novelist who wrote the Gothic novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus (1818). Her father was the political philosopher William Godwin, and her mother was the philosopher and feminist Mary Wollstonecraft.

After Wollstonecraft’s death less than a month after her daughter Mary was born, Mary was raised by Godwin, who was able to provide his daughter with a rich, if informal, education, encouraging her to adhere to his own anarchist political theories. When Mary was four, her father married a neighbor, with whom, as her stepmother, Mary came to have a troubled relationship.

In 1814, Mary began a romance with one of her father’s political followers, Percy Bysshe Shelley, who was already married. Together with Mary’s stepsister Claire Clairmont, Mary and Shelley left for France and travelled through Europe. Upon their return to England, Mary was pregnant with Percy’s child. Over the next two years, she and Percy faced ostracism, constant debt, and the death of their prematurely born daughter. They married in late 1816, after the suicide of Percy Shelley’s first wife, Harriet.

In 1816, the couple famously spent a summer with Lord Byron, John William Polidori, and Claire Clairmont near Geneva, Switzerland, where Mary conceived the idea for her novel Frankenstein.

The Shelleys left Britain in 1818 for Italy, where their second and third children died before Mary Shelley gave birth to her last and only surviving child, Percy Florence Shelley. In 1822, her husband drowned when his sailing boat sank during a storm near Viareggio. A year later, Mary Shelley returned to England and from then on devoted herself to the upbringing of her son and a career as a professional author. The last decade of her life was dogged by illness, most likely caused by the brain tumor which killed her at age 53. (Source: Wikipedia)

THIS WEEK’S JOKE

PHYSICAL TRAITS

Here is some advice for us older guys.

CHARACTER TRAITS

SOCIAL TRAITS 

LEARNING TRAITS

MISCELLANEOUS

LAST WEEK’S POLLS

CURRENT EVENTS

What city is this?

I was on a vacation last week and filmed this activity at a city park.

BOOK OF THE WEEK

Expect The Unexpected

(Or You Won’t Find It)

By Roger Von Oech

I first read this book back in 2001 and I just finished reviewing it again last week.  I find it just as interesting and thought provoking as when I first read it and the various times over the years that I have reviewed it.

Heraclitus lived 2,500 years ago, but his adages, including “You can’t step in the same river twice” and “Dogs bark at what they don’t understand, ” remain surprisingly relevant today. Expect the Unexpected or You Won’t Find It uses 30 of Heraclitus’s epigrams to unleash creativity (Source: Goodreads)

MOVIE OF THE WEEK

Once Upon A Time In Hollywood

I just saw this film and it brought back some memories.

Even if you aren’t from my time

I think you will enjoy this movie.

A faded television actor and his stunt double strive to achieve fame and success in the film industry during the final years of Hollywood’s Golden Age in 1969 Los Angeles. (Source: IMDB)

MUSIC OF THE WEEK

This is strange, but I found it rather captivating.

Kenzo World (2016)

Music

Message

ART OF THE WEEK

Hamilton (The Play)

I saw Hamilton last week and thought it was absolutely terrific and lived up to all I had heard about it.

  EXTRAORDINARY PERSON OF THE WEEK

Alexander Hamilton

Alexander Hamilton (January 11, 1755 – July 12, 1804) was a statesman, a political theoristand an economist. He was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. Hamilton was the United States’ first Secretary of the Treasury. He was known for the creation of a national bank.

Born on the island of Nevis in the Caribbean, Hamilton moved to New York. When the American Revolutionary War started, Hamilton served in the Continental Army. He was a close aide to General George Washington. After leaving the military he started a bank. He was one of the framers of the United States Constitution. Along with James Madison and John Jay, he wrote the Federalist Papers, which supported the new Constitution.

Hamilton became the Secretary of the Treasury under George Washington. He helped set up the United States’ financial system. Hamilton supported a national bank as well as the funding of the national debt. A leader of the Federalist Party, he was a long time rival of Thomas Jefferson. He was killed in a duel with political rival Aaron Burr in 1804.

Today, Hamilton is usually thought of as one of the most important of the early leaders. Hamilton’s portrait appears on the United States ten-dollar bill. 

Hamilton’s Early Life

Hamilton was not born in the United States. He was from the Caribbean island of Nevis. His father was James Hamilton and his mother was Rachel Fawcett Lavien. Hamilton’s mother had a child from a previous marriage that she left behind when she moved to Nevis. At the time, she was still married to another man. This meant that Hamilton was illegitimate. He was very sensitive about this fact. His father had left him as a child. Two years after this tragedy both Hamilton and his mother became sick. Hamilton recovered, but unfortunately his mother died. He was grief-stricken and moved in with his cousin. His cousin committed suicide.

In 1772 Hamilton went to New York to continue his education. He attended Kings College, now called Columbia University, until 1776.

Anti-Slavery

Hamilton was very anti-slavery. Along with John Jay he was a leader of the New York Manumission Society. The society worked to end slavery in New York and supported manumission, which is the practice of slave owners freeing their slaves. The society would get slavery abolished in New York. Hamilton also had great respect for the small Jewish community in America and was a major supporter of religious freedom.

(Source: Wikipedia)

THIS WEEK’S JOKE

PHYSICAL TRAITS

I was going to ask for french toast,

but instead I think I will have an egg white omelet.

CHARACTER TRAITS

SOCIAL TRAITS 

LEARNING TRAITS

MISCELLANEOUS

LAST WEEK’S POLLS

CURRENT EVENTS

Apollo 11

Apollo 11 was the spaceflight that first landed humans on the Moon. Commander Neil Armstrong and lunar module pilot Buzz Aldrin, both American, landed the Apollo Lunar Module Eagle on July 20, 1969.

Armstrong became the first person to step onto the lunar surface six hours later on July 21; Aldrin joined him 19 minutes later. They spent about two and a quarter hours together outside the spacecraft, and collected 47.5 pounds (21.5 kg) of lunar material to bring back to Earth.

Command module pilot Michael Collins flew the command module Columbia alone in lunar orbit while they were on the Moon’s surface. Armstrong and Aldrin spent 21.5 hours on the lunar surface at a site they named Tranquility Base before rejoining Columbia in lunar orbit. (Source: Wikipedia)

BOOK OF THE WEEK

The Origin of Species

By Charles Darwin

So far I am on page 85 of this book. It isn’t exactly very easy reading, but it is an important book and I thought I should read it.

MOVIE OF THE WEEK

Medici: Masters of Florence

Netflix Season 1

I’ve watched four episodes of Season One and found this series to be very well done.

A political family drama set in Florence in the early 15th century. Cosimo de’ Medici finds himself at the helm of his supremely wealthy, banking dynasty family, when his father, Giovanni dies suddenly.

MUSIC OF THE WEEK

I’m a Believer

By The Monkees

ART OF THE WEEK

The Field Gallery

Cape Cod

I was at in Cape Cod back in 2006 and came across this Gallery with their interesting statutes. 

The Field Gallery offers a comfortable, supportive, ever-changing exhibition environment, featuring contemporary art by both emerging and established artists. Founded in 1970, the gallery hosts three spaces with rotating exhibits of paintings, sculpture, photography, jewelry and more. Outside, the large field is home to the whimsical sculptures of Field Gallery founder Thomas Maley, the modern stone sculptures of Lew French and many others. We continue to host an impressive group of more than 25 talented artists all with an island connection and endless Vineyard charm.

The Field is one of three locations in the Granary Gallery Family. Be sure to also visit the Granary in West Tisbury and North Water in Edgartown. Each gallery reflects the unique and diverse personality of the Island, our artists, staff and, our customers. A warm welcome by our knowledgeable staff awaits your arrival. (Source: The Field Gallery)

  EXTRAORDINARY PERSON OF THE WEEK

Neil Armstrong

Neil Alden Armstrong (August 5, 1930 – August 25, 2012) was an American astronaut and aeronautical engineer who was the first person to walk on the Moon. He was also a naval aviator, test pilot, and university professor.

A graduate of Purdue University, Armstrong studied aeronautical engineering with his college tuition paid for by the U.S. Navy. He became a midshipman in 1949, and a naval aviator the following year.

He saw action in the Korean War, flying the Grumman F9F Panther from the aircraft carrier USS Essex. After the war, he completed his bachelor’s degree at Purdue and became a test pilot at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA).

Armstrong joined the NASA Astronaut Corps in the second group, which was selected in 1962. He made his first spaceflight as command pilot of Gemini 8 in March 1966, becoming NASA’s first civilian astronaut to fly in space. During this mission with pilot David Scott, he performed the first docking of two spacecraft; the mission was aborted after Armstrong used some of his re-entry control fuel to stabilize a dangerous roll caused by a stuck thruster. During training for Armstrong’s second and last spaceflight as commander of Apollo 11, he had to eject from the Lunar Landing Research Vehicle moments before a crash.

On July 20, 1969, Armstrong and Apollo 11 Lunar Module pilot Buzz Aldrin became the first people to land on the Moon, and the next day spent two and a half hours outside the spacecraft while Michael Collins remained in lunar orbit in the command module. When Armstrong stepped onto the lunar surface, he famously said: “That’s one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind.”

THIS WEEK’S JOKE

If you are young, you may not get this joke.

PHYSICAL TRAITS

Stress is incredibly harmful to you.

CHARACTER TRAITS

SOCIAL TRAITS 

It seems so many ladies like a bouquet of red flags.

LEARNING TRAITS

It is wonderful to study and learn things; however, if you don’t put what you learn to actual use, what is the point.

MISCELLANEOUS

LAST WEEK’S POLLS

CURRENT EVENTS

Ross Perot

Ross Perot, businessman and former presidential candidate, dead at 89

Ross Perot, the billionaire businessman who twice ran for president in the 1990s, has died at the age of 89.

Born in Texas, Perot made his fortune by founding and running two technology companies, Electronic Data Systems and Perot Systems.

He ran as an independent presidential candidate in the 1992 election and as a third-party candidate in the 1996 election. (Source: Associated Press)

BOOK OF THE WEEK

This week is again about books, rather than a book.

MOVIE OF THE WEEK

Elementary: Miss Understood

Season 7, Episode 8

I have no idea what this episode is doing in the final season of Elementary. It just seemed like filler. Nevertheless, I still enjoyed seeing Homes and Watson even if this episode didn’t seem to have a reason for being.

 

MUSIC OF THE WEEK

Let’s Have A Party

By Wanda Jackson

Wanda Jackson was only halfway through high school when, in 1954, country singer Hank Thompson heard her on an Oklahoma City radio show and asked her to record with his band, the Brazos Valley Boys. By the end of the decade, Jackson had become one of America’s first major female country and rockabilly singers.

ART OF THE WEEK

Mona Lisa

I believe most of you are familiar with Mona Lisa. But not many of you know that Mona Lisa was into fitness and maintained an impressive fitness regimen. She not only had a nice smile, but also an impressive set of abs.

  EXTRAORDINARY PERSON OF THE WEEK

Charles Darwin

Charles Robert Darwin, (12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist and biologist, best known for his contributions to the science of evolution.

His proposition that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestors is now widely accepted, and considered a foundational concept in science. In a joint publication with Alfred Russel Wallace, he introduced his scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection, in which the struggle for existence has a similar effect to the artificial selection involved in selective breeding.

Darwin published his theory of evolution with compelling evidence in his 1859 book On the Origin of Species. By the 1870s, the scientific community and a majority of the educated public had accepted evolution as a fact. However, many favoured competing explanations, and it was not until the emergence of the modern evolutionary synthesis from the 1930s to the 1950s that a broad consensus developed in which natural selection was the basic mechanism of evolution. Darwin’s scientific discovery is the unifying theory of the life sciences, explaining the diversity of life.

THIS WEEK’S JOKE

PHYSICAL TRAITS

CHARACTER TRAITS

SOCIAL TRAITS 

It is important to have a good friend, as this clip demonstrates

Lion Attacked by Clan of of Hyenas

LEARNING TRAITS

People who receive things without effort tend to not appreciate the effort that went into providing them those things.

MISCELLANEOUS

I don’t think this was what he wanted, 

when he asked for a wake-up call.

LAST WEEK’S POLLS

CURRENT EVENTS

Nike

Nike recalled these shoes because someone found the Betsy Ross flag on them offensive.

BOOK OF THE WEEK

This week is about books, rather than a book.

MOVIE OF THE WEEK

I just watched this movie and I believe it started out as a serious documentary. However, somewhere down the line I believe the film makers decided to have some fun with John DeLorean’s adopted-son. Watch the movie through its end and you will see what I am saying.

Framing John DeLorean

MUSIC OF THE WEEK

Since there has been so much talk about North Korea, I thought perhaps it was times for this video.

Someone Put Some Bee Gees Over North Korean Marching

ART OF THE WEEK

Bay City Fireworks 2019

For the last three years, we’ve been going up to Bay City, MI; to see their fireworks display. I’ve never been disappointed. Film can’t really do this art form justice.

  EXTRAORDINARY PEOPLE OF THE WEEK

George Washington

George Washington (February 22, 1732 – December 14, 1799) was an American political leader, military general, statesman, and Founding Father who also served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. He led Patriot forces to victory in the nation’s War for Independence. He presided at the Constitutional Convention of 1787 which established the U.S. Constitution and a federal government. Washington has been called the “Father of His Country” for his manifold leadership in the formative days of the new nation.

San Francisco Mural

San Francisco will spend up to $600,000 to paint over historical artwork at a public school depicting the life of George Washington, a mural once seen as educational and innovative but now criticized as racist and degrading for its depiction of black and Native American people. The “Life of Washington” was painted by Victor Arnautoff 83 years ago.

Arnautoff is considered to be one of the foremost muralists in the San Francisco area during the Depression. The San Francisco School Board’s decision to paint over his mural is prompting some to worry that other artwork from the so-called New Deal era could face a similar fate because of changing sensitivities.

Others have applauded the move. (Source: CBS News)

THIS WEEK’S JOKE

FB has to be careful because on all the spam on the internet.

PHYSICAL TRAITS

Don’t we all wish it was that easy; but it isn’t. 

CHARACTER TRAITS

SOCIAL TRAITS 

LEARNING TRAITS

MISCELLANEOUS

LAST WEEK’S POLLS