Month: June 2021

Adding, aging

Workout notes: late start. Rehab, pull ups: 10 singles, 20 singles, 10, 3 sets of 5.

Push ups: 3 sets of 40. Curls: hammer: 3 sets of 10, regular: 3 sets of 10, rows: 3 sets of 10.

Then 31 minutes on the home bike (10 fake miles)

Then PT: learned a few new moves to try. My weakness: isolating muscles..breath holding.

Shoulder: still somewhat achy from Saturday’s foolishness.

I am trying; shoulder is still too tender to swim seriously and the butt won’t let me walk too much; cardio is mostly indoor cycling.

Age

It seems as if some liberals are shocked that ..or flat don’t believe that Mein Kampf is read in public schools. We did read passages..we did have it in the library and ..well, let’s just say that I did not make it through…too turgid.

I wonder if that is how it goes today: reading implies endorsement?

I honestly do not know.

Anti-Racism This is also a change; back in my day, it was bad, bad, bad to pretend to notice race; “colorblindness” was the goal. The idea: judge individual actions.
Now: one is supposed to notice …and take into account one’s status as “privileged” or “not privileged” and actions are judged on said privilege.

I remember the movie “Guess Who is coming to Dinner.” THAT was liberal race relations …state of the art, in 1967. Perfect Black guy and, of course, at the end, the old white man sets everyone straight (yes, it is part of the plot; the would be husband will not agree to marry the lady unless her father approves.) The movie would be ripped to shreds now-a-days. But then…it was OUT THERE.

Better

Deadlifts, then a 1.38 mile walk, then 31:30 on the home stationary bicycle.

So far, no shoulder pain today…it was kind of bad last nigh.

10 x 134, 10 x 184, 10 x 224

Work set (on the 3) 3 x 257, 3 x 257, 3 x 257, 3 x 262, 3 x 262 (sort of routine)

high handles: 3 x 284, 3 x 284

then the walk; 1 mile in 15:41 and 1.38 total; note I used an elliptical step pattern (feet on separate tracks) and tingles didn’t get significant until .7 or so, and no pain for 1.1 or so.

Then the indoor cycling.

Note: rehab exercises take forever. It comes with the territory, I suppose.

Sets 3, 4 and 6 are shown.

Progress? Or Charlie Brown kicking the football?

Ok…yeah..”progress” then…regression.

But today: I went to the Riverplex, did my rehab (a LOT of exercises; none hard..but time consuming), tried the elliptical and got in 30 minutes (3.18 miles), more rehab, 1 mile on the track (16:51 for 8 laps; 7.9 laps to the mile), more rehab and made myself quit. And…my leg felt GOOD when walking back to the car. Hmm.

Part of me says “buy a home elliptical trainer” but my goal is to not need it…eventually.

What irks me..is it wokeness? Or is it something else..

I read this tweet and something came to mind:

I want to make it clear: I see Critical Race Theory (CRT) as an academic construct originally designed to understand law; its basic premise, as I understand it, it is necessary to take race into account when understanding public policy, public institutions, law, etc.
And when one does the calculations to see whether a policy or a law is good, one has to view it from many angles, including from those at the bottom of the economic and social scale.

But I am very much a non-expert; I haven’t even read, much less digested, the primary sources.

And I honestly think the debates over CRT being taught in public grade schools (and public universities) are not completely in good faith; one side points out that what is being taught is NOT CRT..but ignores the genuinely kooky nonsense that is taught in the name of being “anti-racist” and the other side tends to label anything they don’t like as CRT and to exaggerate the amount of kooky nonsense that is out there.

In a country our size, on statistical grounds, we are all but certain to have a few kooks in the educational sector.

Anyway, regardless of what CRT is and whether or not some ideas are closely tied to CRT…these politicians…Republicans…are seeking to BAN speakers on college campuses?

Where have we heard that before? Hmmm….

As I’ve said before, “political correctness” is NOT unique to the left wing; if anything, the right wing variety has a lot more money behind it.

Then I read another post about someone being aghast that their father found out about an “IDW” (Internet Dark Web) person and wants to read their ideas.

You also see some posts about kids visiting their parents and programming their TV sets to NOT receive Fox News.

And that sort of attitude is part of what grates me about “wokeness”. I am fine with people expressing ideas that I don’t agree with. But I bristle when someone thinks that they are somehow qualified to tell me what speakers a campus can book, what speakers I can listen to (sans interruption).

Look: I am as capable as anyone else of determining which ideas are bad and which ones are good. In fact, I see myself as much more capable of making that determination than the mediocrities on social media or of, say, other woke faculty members or students, etc.

So, part of what I object to is the de facto censorship and the fact that the wokes or the Bible Beaters or the right wing Q-anon embracing nut jobs thinking that the rest of us needs protection from corrupting ideas.

Workout notes: weights only; shoulder ache last night. Wonder if the shoulder ache came from positioning on the stationary bicycle?

pull ups: 10 singles, 20 “on the 10 second), set of 10, 3 sets of 5 (last set a penalty set for partial reps). Sissy push ups: 3 sets of 40, one of 20 (miscounted the last set of 40?)

Tons of rehab exercise (30 minutes worth, at least),

curls: 6 sets of 10: 3 hammer with the multi-grip bar, 3 with the curl bar, 3 sets of 10 rows with 134. In the second video, you can hear me talking to my wife…being annoyed that my working out has not given me an attractive body.

James Bond on film

My takes on each

I’ve linked to a free Youtube copy of this 50 minute “shot live for TV” Bond production starring Barry Nelson, who plays a US agent. Yes, the fight scenes are Kabuki like (not intended to be realistic) but I still found this to be a fun show. And note that this is one (of 2?) place where Bond gets tortured and is shown being in agony. He gets out but by cunning, not gadgets.

First James Bond on the big screen, and this is where he gets his personality. This is the “Bond. James Bond” line starts. Note: no real gadget stuff here; just heady agent stuff and a very cold blooded kill: “That’s a Smith and Wesson. And you’ve had your six.” The special effects and the technology are laughably bad but..hey…

I’d consider this one to be a classic and required watching for a Bond fan. Classic fight on a train between Bond and one of the best henchmen of the series (Grant). You also have Kleb with her shoe with a blade, and the awesome briefcase with gadgets. One of my favorites. Canonical.

Some rank this as the best Bond of all time. I might agree or I might say that others deserve it more. But the classic villain, the awesome henchman (Odd Job) who was, in real life, an Olympic medalist in weight lifting (and even had his own commercial based on that character!)..”shaken, not stirred” and Pussy Galore, one of the iconic Bond girls. This is an absolute must for one who wants to learn about Bond. Note: this one also features a significant pre-title scene featuring Bond (the one from From Russia, with Love featured…Grant..) Canonical. Favorite.

Follow on to Goldfinger; this features some cool footage of the British Vulcan bomber and an undwerwater fight scene; this introduces the “special unit being transported just in time to save the day” (the Army in Goldfinger was there when the crime was being attempted) Yes, Bond coerces sex in this one..

One of my favorites. Sure, Bond being made to look like a Japanese is ridiculous (and his pidgin Japanese in a Scottish accent doesn’t persuade) and there are other highly non-PC aspects..and an absurd plot. Still …a LOT of fun and the ending..the ninjas attacking the crater…fantastic. I still smile when I remember this one. “Kill Bond. NOW.”

George Lazenby’s bond. Absurd plot ..one of the most ridiculous ones, even by Bond standards. Telly Salavas is a scream as Blofeld ….and Bond gets married…but..well….. and there ARE awesome ski scenes (done by a professional). Note: the Bond family motto shows up again decades later in a Pierce Brosnan Bond. Not one of my favorites (still fun) but probably canonical.

This one got panned by critics. But I loved it. Las Vegas, space lasers and some awesome henchmen (Mr. Wint and Mr. Kidd) One of my favorites.

Roger Moore takes over here; this one deals with the drug trade and is a take off at the blacksploitation films of the period. The Villain is cool…as is the henchman. And yes, silliness ramps up here…running across alligators, a villain that “blows up” at the end, a scene with clueless southern lawmen..etc. Though this is not one of my favorites, while being fun, I’d consider it to be canonical.

This one gets panned by the critics, though I loved the villain ..was lukewarm on Nicknack (played by “De Plane de plane” guy) and the sheriff J. W. Pepper makes a gratuitous appearance. You see a bit of Bond’s cold ruthlessness mixed in here. The hapless Bond girl helper Goodnight adds comic relief..

I think this was Roger Moore’s best Bond film and probably an essential Bond; it mixes silliness with ruthlessness (killing of henchman Sandor), introduces Jaws and features Barbara Bach as the Russian agent XXX..whose lover, a Russian agent, is killed by Bond in the pre title segment. One of my favorites. Canon.

This one gets panned…Bond in Space! But I thought it was a lot of fun. Jaws appears here too. Though the Bond girl is herself an agent ..yes, her name is Goodhead, but she is anything but helpless. The gadgets do jump the shark here, especially with that ridiculous boat that changes to a car. One of my favorites.

Good, solid spy yarn, and one of my favorites. Bond shows the range of emotions, and ruthlessly kills a hit man who had previously killed a friend of his..just after he tosses a trinket to let him know where the revenge is coming from. There is a double cross (surprised me when I first watched it) and some good climbing scenes…and a clever henchman almost kills Bond toward the end.

I didn’t like this one when I first saw it…but really liked it seeing it the second time. Oh, this was silliness…including Bond doing a Tarzan yell while swinging on tree vines (really) and telling a tiger to “stay” (and it worked). Lots of dark humor here, as well as some cold war drama; just chill and go along for the ride. And yes, Octopussy was “not quite a Bond girl but a lover” who had an private army of women in red spandex bodysuits.

  • Never Say Never again

This was a non-Eon affair and so isn’t part of the “official cannon” but starred an aging Sean Connery, featured a weight room fight scene (henchman was, in real life, a professional wrestler), featured underwater scenes and submarines. The story line was very similar to Thunderball, though with cruise missile warheads and different targets. Good Bond fun.

This was Roger Moore’s last effort. I didn’t like it when I first saw it..the second time I saw it, I realized that the villain (Christopher Walken, chief henchwoman (Grace Jones) really were a lot of fun. So..the most annoying part was the main Bond girl, who really did little other than scream when scared and yell for Bond to save her; the old Damsel in Distress trope. Toward the end, I was cheering for the bad guys to “get her.” She was irritating!

This is Timothy Dalton’s first Bond, and I enjoyed it. The first scene was outstanding. Yeah, there was a Cold War theme, an unconvincing Bond girl, and the Mujahideen being the heroic unit that saved the day. Overall, great movie; Dalton played a more human Bond. Yes, this is one of my favorites.

This was one of the darkest Bonds and, this one is one of my favorites. Sanchez was outstanding as a villain and Dario was one of the best henchmen of the Bond series. Yes, the individual body count was high, meaning a lot of one-on-one kills.

Pierce Brosnan takes over and this is usually rated as a Bond classic. It has the space gadget, several good villains/henchmen, including a woman who kills during sex AND a computer wizard nerd! There is a bit of shoot-em-up at the start, and the villain is almost a match for Bond. This features a couple of classic kill quips. While this is not one of my favorites..I like it, I’d consider it to be essential for the Bond canon.

This one features a media mogul as the evil villain, and yes, he certainly is. There is some Rambo like shoot-em up (where the Stormtrooper caliber henchmen shoot at and miss while Bond runs with two machine guns..but…well..I do like the villain.

The title is the Bond family motto (explained On Her Majesty’s Secret Service) and another nuclear submarine plot. But IMHO, the “dual villain” (Elektra) steals the show…and there is a cold blooded kill…Bond killing someone he had previously slept with (and got double crossed by). Heck, this one is fun; it is not as highly rated as Goldeneye but I enjoyed it.

Last one..jumps the shark with the ice stuff at the end..and perhaps the cheesiest, most ridiculous scene in a Bond movie ever (ice -berg infested water surfing). But the double header “kill the bad guy” scene at the end is cool where Bond and NSA agent Jinx kill the “bad guys”. The start is unusual (Bond released by a deal with the North Koreans) and the invisible car. Jinx is pretty cool…so I’d say this isn’t as annoying as View to a Kill, though …is more ridiculous.

One of my favorites; I’d consider this one to be an essential Bond (canon). It goes back in time and plays on a classic theme. Daniel Craig takes over as Bond here and plays a dark, more real character. Bond gets tortured and is shown being in agony..and a surprise ending…on many levels.

Meh…so-so, in my opinion, though the kill as the end is a classic. The plot is kind of dumb. It is hard to follow at first, though it does pick up where the previous movie left off.

One of my favorites and I’d call this one an essential Bond. The villain Raoul Silva (who was the villain in No Country For Old Men) is out of this world good..the plot..the action…the interplay with Bond and M (Dench’s last performance) is just outstanding. One could make a case that this was the best Bond movie ever.

Ok, this one, while not…well…bad…is ok. Blofeld returns. There is a lot of “shoot ’em up” here and the ending is interesting. Still…Craig had set a high standard and this one doesn’t meet it, in my opinion. Even the eye-gouging henchman is..well..isn’t Grant/Odd Job/Dario quality.

Lots of time

Well, rehab continues and I have a couple of new exercises to the mix. One is a hip hinge. And I wonder how tight hamstrings might have contributed to it. Good news: last night’s sleep was MUCH better, BUT I did rotator cuff exercises prior to going to bed.

Today: yoga, .6 miles (5 laps around the Riverplex track; got to tingles) and 45:43 for 14 fake miles on the stationary cycle…..

Note: the Riverplex is pretty empty and class attendance is way down.

I still have hope, but man, are my exercises time consuming.

Diversity statements and other woke matters

I talked a little about some push back against “required diversity statements” for those applying for faculty jobs here.

So, on a related note, the Florida Governor is requiring students, faculty and staff to complete viewpoint surveys. Now I do NOT know whether these will be anonymous or not and if they are, that makes them a different animal than the required “diversity statement.” And these appear to be “after the fact”; not “to see if we will admit you or hire you” sort of thing.

I will be following this to see what develops.

Clothing:

This was part of a Twitter dust up about women in academia and clothing:

I think this started it all:

Now some of the conversation is that “sexy attire and intellectual accomplishment are independent” and I’d agree with that.

But for me, the issue is: is there event appropriate, situationally appropriate attire?

I’d say “yes”; one can make a statement with attire and how one is dressed can affect how one is perceived (“serious?” “professional?” )

I’d venture to say that some attacking this lady for saying what she did would attack this scientist:

(context: here)

But..in “woke friendly” communities, there ARE double standards based on “privilege”: some think that males should NEVER comment on what a woman wears (unless it is something with, say KKK or a swastika) and, due to “privilege”, women have license to do that to men.

BTW, I did think this shirt was a bad shirt for the occasion …but thought the pile on was unwarranted …(maybe some gentle correction would have been better: psst: dude: bad shirt; wear something else next time)

And..this is one reason I think that academics get is so completely wrong when it comes to politics or to getting the public to go along.

Critical Race Theory interesting discussion here:

This won’t change anyone’s mind but it might help the skeptic see what the other side thinks.

23 June: physical

Ok, I had shoulder pain last night while trying to sleep..AFTER picking Barbara up at 1:05 AM. …after laying down. Hmmm….

Today: I cut back; pull ups (50 reps), sissy push ups (3 set of 40), curls (4 sets of 10; 2 in the “hammer curl” position) and deadlifts: 4 sets of 10: 134, 184, 224, 251 (high)

Then PT; today gave me more take home exercises to do; pushing is still painful with my right arm. Some ache in the left glute.

I am trying to isolate one glute cheek at a time and am having difficulty doing so.

Also, certain hamstring stretches do play a role; time to do MORE of those. Perhaps yoga kept the piriformis syndrome at bay for a long time.