playlist: oldies and newbies

we live with a sense of ingrained nostalgia, reaching instinctively for things gone past, reacting by reflex for the idyllic memories of the way things were anytime we are confronted by the shock of something new.

we do not like the new. we do not like its imposition of change. we do not like its demands to break with calcified tradition and fossilized custom and hardened formula. we hold to the habits of the old. cling to the comforts of conformity. reach for the slumber of habits and memories. and turn away from awakening in the disdain of another day.

we want one but not the other. we want nothing with the either. we want to see never of both.

auld lang syne
unknown: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vu8hwvvmEhc

die toten hosen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNxELGnGiGM

but it doesn't have to be this way.

there does not need to be a shock with the new.

there does not need to be the slumber of habits and memories.

there does not need to be never of both.

love will tear us apart again
joy division: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yTIpcwBTTs

nerina pallot: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ega_kJQF0GY

sometimes, the new is not a demand to break.

sometimes, the new is a memory. an attempt to remember. and reach out from a place unknown to a place familiar. and realize that change came from and change is going to the same place: somewhere.

and somewhere can be someplace very special.

just can't get enough
depeche mode: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0NuvwTuHV0

the saturdays: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9hq0ODBIII


there she goes
the las: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVd2x0EpnYA

sixpence none the richer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvuD7HII1b0


rocket man
elton john: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzrKlEtxTx4

me first and the gimme gimmes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8KPcjdvdD9k


let your love flow
bellamy brothers: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dft63gHqqKo

petra haden and the sell-outs: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKHnpwAJ02E

and so the new can be every bit the same as the old. with the same feelings. with the same emotions. with the same stories with the same messages told the same way for the same reasons to the same people with the same hopes and dreams and aspirations and ideals and imaginations and visions of what once was and what now is and what will be.

regardless of time. regardless of space. regardless of who or when or what or why or how.

it's all the same.

it's a hard knock life
annie: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LR80EEsWauU

jayzee: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekomM8aobQo


tears of a clown
smokey robinson: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2kxlZDOHeQ

the english beat: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0zBXpWMJOY


i fought the law
bobby fuller: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPXnoLAEUSQ

the clash: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16u0wwCfoJ4

stray cats: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfzVDZWV4mw

green day: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TOVkiBE2r4

because we are one and the other. we are all things with the either. we are always of both. old and new. in the connection most profound and eternal:

the race, the journey, the path that is the singing of the song called life.

and that is what we make of it.

stand by me
ben e king: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vbg7YoXiKn0

playing for change: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Us-TVg40ExM

videos: strength training (part 3)

note: this is the 3rd in an ongoing, non-regular, non-periodic series on strength training in terms of endurance sports. you can see parts 1 and 2 here:

• strength training, part 1
• strength training, part 2

i found some more Youtube videos regarding strength training. you can add these to the library of videos. these are a little different, but i consider that useful in the sense that it provides some new ideas to help mix up workouts and keep things from becoming monotonous.

there's 2 series of videos from Canada, courtesy of the Ottawa Triathlon Club (i love the way the guy pronounces "about" as "aboooooooooot"!), with 1 for basic and another for advanced strength training. the basic weight training series has 4 parts:

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmMSHlMiZ7Q
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dug0sky-bOQ
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5C40jr9JfA
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymGvpTgKYvk
  

the advanced weight training has 3 parts (although, the video info says it's part of a 4-part series--i couldn't find the 4th, so i'm guessing it was just mislabeling?):

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uL-QrrERqIk
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDjaTbXTgDo
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EyM87CW7Xg
  

i also noticed that Triathlete magazine is now making Youtube videos, and they have a good one for strength training (and they should make more):

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LxQdEeQU9s

in addition, i came across this one, which i found to contain some of the same exercises that i use:

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIIiEmqOHsk

i should point out that all of the videos here involve exercises that seem to have come from Pilates (or Pilates-type workouts), which focuses more on the core and joints with the development of supporting and stabilizing muscles. as a result, i'll venture to argue that these exercises are NOT meant to develop overall muscle mass (i.e., bulk) or even raw strength, but instead more to help balance the overall musculature and thereby prevent injury. so take them for what it's worth.

but as i mentioned at the start, they still provide some alternative exercises to help mix up the routine. especially as we head into the winter months and the looooooooooong interminable (some say agonizing) season (some say purgatory) of indoor (some say claustrophobic) workouts.

enjoy!

international talk like a pirate day 2009 (channeling captain jack sparrow)

ok. it's time for a day off. i'm not doing or talking or thinking about anything related to sports today. i'm sore. i'm tired. i'm hungry. and i'm really interested in nothing other than going back to sleep. and the only reason i don't is this:

today, Saturday, September 19, is International Talk Like a Pirate Day.

i've written about this before:

• http://jonathaninthedistance.blogspot.com/2007/09/international-talk-like-pirate-day.html

i'd forgotten about it, but then i saw the CNN news report on it (see below), and was reminded about it once again. ahhhhhhhhhh. yes.

one of the dreams in my life has always been race in pirate gear, dressed up like my hero, Captain Jack Sparrow. i haven't had such blessing to do so, but this day lets me ponder the possibilities. and it will come. yes, it will come. by the doors of Davy Jones' locker and the beatin' heart of a dead man's chest, i'll represent the pirate's code and make for a race day yet!

yes!

YES!!

YEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!

ahoy! avast ye scurvy dogs!!! prepare to be boarded and thrown to the mast!

arrrrrrrrrrrr!!!

and just what be International Talk Like a Pirate Day, you ask? ye can learn more here:

• http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/09/18/talk.like.a.pirate/index.html?eref=igoogle_cnn

celebrate this day with me, my hearties. and know we be not alone, for their be proof that thar be others like ourselves makin' merry on here day:

• http://www.piratesmagazine.com/

and no, we be not bad. why even yon magazine New Yorker espied our trade, and offered up compliments:

• http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/books/2009/09/07/090907crbo_books_crain?currentPage=all

and just so you know me hero, Captain Jack Sparrow, i'll leave you with this tale:

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qeCr1UUb-UQ
  

so celebrate! tell all the mateys. and tell 'em i sent ya! and remember: this is the day you will always remember as the day you met...Captain...Jack...Sparrow!

arrrrrrrrrrrr!

vancouver 2010: green olympic village

hmmmmmmm...

the 2010 Winter Olympics in Canada are supposed to continue the trend towards more eco-friendly sports events, with the Olympic-related construction in Whistler and Vancouver aimed at fulfilling the goals of sustainable development. as part of this, the Olympic village in Vancouver is intended to be a model of sustainability, and has been touted as an example of what will eventually become mixed-use mixed-residence green urban living, accommodating businesses and residences spanning low-to-high-income populations.

you can see Vancouver's plan on their website, as well as on the BBC's video report:

• Vancouver: http://vancouver.ca/olympicvillage/greenbuilding.htm
• BBC (w video): http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8246260.stm

there's also 2 excellent websites with computer renderings of the completed project:

• Inhabitant: http://www.inhabitat.com/2008/07/10/2010-winter-olympics-going-green/
• Greensource: http://greensource.construction.com/news/2009/090507vancouverOlympicVillage.asp

the project features the usual assortment of sustainable practices: use of solar energy, energy-efficient construction, catchment of rain water, recycling of human waste, etc. all of it takes advantage of Vancouver's natural environment. it's also serving to replace some of the more decayed parts of the city's waterfront with more attractive cityscape matching the existing urban environment. quite impressive, seeing how Vancouver is already--if you've ever been there, you'll know that it is one of the most beautiful urban areas of the world, with immaculate shorelines, well-laid street grids, abundance of green space, and all of it within minutes of some of the most beautiful sea and mountain terrain you will ever see (at least, it is during the summer...the winter is a bit of a different story).

it's quite commendable. and something i'd like to see more sports venues, especially the mega-events, try to aim for.

however, i'd be remiss if i didn't point out that this kind of construction isn't without some issues. i came across this piece:

• Grist: http://www.grist.org/article/2009-07-15-green-vancouver-olympic-village-problems/
  

it doesn't reveal anything tawdry, like corruption or sleaze or anything of that sort. but it's interesting in that it shows that the Vancouver Winter Olympics are experiencing the same issues as all other Olympic construction: cost over-runs, decreasing profitability, over-optimistic plans, scale-backs in aspirations, etc. which essentially demonstrates that green, eco-friendly sports tied to sustainable development are not immune to the issues typical to other mega-sports events. in other words: it may be a good cause, but it still has the same problems.

i wanted to make this point because a lot of the time we tend to associate good causes with ideal scenarios, with the assumption that because we aim for something noble (e.g., green Olympics) that we will be magically transported to a land where everything is easy.

but life doesn't work that way. and it's dangerous to think so. because things invariably do run into challenges, and any assumptions of easy lead inevitably to disillusionment--and worse--cynicism. and that leads to the most tragic outcome of all: abandonment of a worthy cause.

i think it's important to remember the lessons of our sport...or any sport. things aren't easy. especially if they're good. if anything, one of the reasons some aspirations are good is because they're hard. because this shows what a challenge they pose, and what achievements they are, and just what they can teach you in accomplishing them.

good things are good because you have to be good to deserve them. you have to earn them. you have to change. you have to be better than what you are now.

european runners

for those of you into cross-cultural exchange, ASICS recently published the results of their multi-national study on running habits in Europe. you can access it here:

• http://www.everythingaboutrunning.asics.eu/

don't be fooled by the spare nature of the entry page. click on any one of the countries or the more general "Europe" and you'll find a lot of content regarding the nature of runners and running across the continent. it appears to have been a pretty big project, with the sample size being 3,500 runners from 7 countries ranging in age from 15-65.

i find this fascinating. whether you're European or not, what's clear is that there are very clear differences with respect to running that are identifiable based on culture on a national level. the results of the study show that different nations have different levels of running, with different motivations and different patterns. it makes you wonder what aspects of the culture in each country led to its respective relationship with running.

of course, the differences may be trite, considering that the study points to a single simple result: Europeans run. nothing earth-shattering there. and what you would expect given that ASICS sponsored this study.

but i think there is some insight provided by the study in terms of why Europeans run. and i do think it's important, because it shows that even though many people share a common passion for a common activity, they find very different reasons and very different ways to do so. which suggests that the activity--and by extension any activity (swimming, biking, running, sewing, playing cards, throwing rocks)--can be universal, particularly in the sense of being something that can unite people and societies who are so different. and better yet, it can then thereby indicate how we can seek to do so.

something we can probably use in this world.

that was yesterday

you did it. you made the milestone. you accomplished the achievement that preoccupied your mind all this time. dreams, hopes, aspirations. they all came true. and it was all because of you. it was not easy, and it took a lot from you, and you made sacrifices, and you had to work harder than you'd ever thought possible. but you did it.

and the way it makes you feel is literally like you are on top of the world. in ways you've never felt before. it's the feeling of victory. of triumph. of being a champion. and you want to feel this way forever.

and you take the congratulations. and you allow the contentment. and you grant the conceit. and so go to bed believing that it will always be this way.

but then you wake up.

and it is early dawn, and the light has broken the darkness, and the sun is rising to speak its story, and you are alone in the solemnity of the silence. and as you lie there, the moment goes before you, and runs to the rest of the day, and then to the limits of your life and from there onwards to forever. forever beyond your grasp.

just like yesterday.

and you realize then that whatever you did is now just memory, whatever you accomplished is now just past, whatever you felt is now just gone.

because that was yesterday.

and you learn then that there can be no congratulation nor contentment nor conceit, and that you must rise from bed knowing that it must always be this way.

because that was yesterday.

and you understand that all there is now is now. this moment. this thought. this touch this sight this smell this sound this breath. in the warmth in the light in the fragrance in the whisper in the heart of this brand new day...which beckons you forth to begin once more your journey towards its milestones.

now.

this day.

and every day that is to come after.

because now is the realm of the real and tomorrow is the realm of imagination and you are the path that leads from one to the other.

now.

this day.

and every day that is to come after.

and so you start, and begin again, and do so the way you do when you begin a trail anew: with nothing, except for you and now and this day and every day that is to come after.

and everything else?

that was yesterday.

luz long and jessie owens

this past week was the 2009 World Track & Field Championships in Berlin. apart from the sports, this year's competition was notable because it was hosted in the Olympiastadion, which was first made infamous as the site of the 1936 Berlin Olympics but ultimately became famous as the site of the transcendant performance of Jessie Owens in the face of Nazi Aryanism.

one of the lesser-known stories of Jessie Owens at the 1936 Olympics was his relationship with German competitor Luz Long. which is a shame, considering the significance of the message their relationship leaves for the rest of us. this post is my part in the efforts to keep that message alive.

in recognition of the event, the International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF) made it a point to celebrate Luz Long and Jessie Owens this year in Berlin, placing them as a media centerpiece of the championship, asking athletes to carry a sticker with the initials "JO" (for Jessie Owens) on their uniforms, and hosting a press conference with the families of Luz Long and Jessie Owens. you can read about the commemoration at the following:

• http://berlin.iaaf.org/news/kind=100/newsid=52558.html
• http://berlin.iaaf.org/news/kind=100/newsid=53668.html
• http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/other-sports-news/the-herald-archive-1.824197#
  

for those of you who don't know, the story that was told by Jessie Owens in later years essentially goes like this:

at the 1936 Olympics, Jessie Owens was struggling with the preliminaries in the long jump. he'd fouled on 2 jumps by stepping past the take-off plate, meaning that with a 3rd foul he would have been disqualified. German jumper Luz Long gave Owens advice and assistance, with the tip that he mark a spot well in advance of the take-off plate so that Owens would avoid fouling. Owens did so, and managed to land a clean jump and qualify for the finals.

reportedly, Hitler was furious, especially since Long's advice subsequently allowed Owens to then break the world record and go on to win the gold medal. it didn't help that--in full view and open defiance of the Nazi leadership--Long embraced Owens and helped lead the crowd in cheers for him. Long and Owens became friends thereafter.

unfortunately the story has a bittersweet ending. Long was drafted into the German army during World War II and was killed in Sicily. still, Owens regularly visited Long's family in the years following the war, and made it a point to tell Long's children the kind of man he was.

i should note here that in recent years this story has been assigned to apocrypha, with a number of sources questioning whether it ever really happened. observers claimed they never saw the alleged long jump exchange between Long and Owens, and Owens himself eventually admitted to some distortion of events because he said it made for a version the public preferred to hear.

you can read the account of the story, as well as the subsequent historical revisionism, at the following:

• http://espn.go.com/sportscentury/features/00016393.html
• http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=111878822
  

despite the discrediting of the legend, i still hold to some core set of facts about Luz Long and Jessie Owens that are not in dispute:

• Luz Long and Jessie Owens were direct competitors in the long jump at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin in Olympicstadion
• Luz Long embraced Jessie Owens in congratulations on his victory and world record in the long jump before the entire stadium
• Luz Long and Jessie Owens maintained a correspondence with each other in the years after their competition
• Owens communicated with Long's family in the years after Long's death
• the picture at the beginning of this post of them together was one of a series taken at the 1936 Olympics, and the picture is not one of rivals, but of friends
  

i hold to these facts because they still preserve the core message of the story. and to me, the message is more important than any questions regarding events, because it forms the point of what Luz Long and Jessie Owens were about. and the point is best summarized by a sentence--and this too is undisputed fact--in the last letter Long wrote to Owens before Long was killed:

"someday find my son ... tell him about how things can be between men on this Earth"

you see, we tend to become cynical in life. we tend to give up on ideals and aspirations, turn away from what should or can or hope to be. we rationalize such surrender, tell ourselves that all of this is nothing but dreams, say to each other that the world is about reality and that reality is about what we need to be. we do this so often that we come to believe it to be the truth.

and because of this, we end up accepting the world the way as it is. that it won't change. that it can't be better. that it has set the conditions for our lives, and that there is nothing we can do to make it otherwise.

and it is because of this that human history is the tragedy that it is.

but

it doesn't have to be this way.

it. does. not. have. to. be. this. way.

we can do something to make it otherwise. we can set the conditions for our lives. it can be better. it will change. the world can be more than it is. the world can be more than reality and more than reality is what we need to be. we can be about dreams. about should and can and hope to be. about ideals and aspirations.

and it can be as simple, as elegant, as graceful, as eternal, as powerful, as supreme, as just reaching out across the gulf that lies between us and connecting one soul to another in an act as pure as the first communion.

and in that moment of unison we redeem ourselves and make human history the triumph it was meant to be.

i believe that Long's last letter to Owens speaks to this message. and i believe that his death was a sacrifice that should not be allowed to have been made in vain. Owens certainly deemed it important enough to follow through on his friend's request to speak to his children about the kind of man their father was.

and their father was the kind of man who was about more than the world around him...and who at a certain moment in history dared to make the world more than it was.

i can only hope that somebody can tell my kids the same thing about me.