Year of the TIGER!!!

A little late but not so sorry...
As of February 14th the Year of the Tiger began:

Tigers are physically powerful, gracious, independent and brave, they are extremely bold animals. They are friendly and loving but can also selfish and short tempered. Tigers seek attention and power; frequently they are envious in a relation. Tigers live dangerously which often leads to trouble. They are intolerant, take risks and are always searching for excitement. Tigers are also instilled with a good dose of courage.
The Tiger has an overpowering attraction and is very kind and always takes on the character as protector. The Tiger flourishes by power and attention and takes advantage of all circumstances it gets itself into. The Tiger is a natural leader and loves to be the centre of attention. As a rebel it goes up against authority and speaks out about wrongs in society, and willingly puts up objections. Even if you don’t agree with the beliefs of the tiger you admire his way to protest. Just as how their counterparts in the jungle are impulsive, so too are individuals born in the Chinese Year of the Tiger.
When people think of tigers, it is their vigor and power that comes to mind first. But it has also been noted that tigers are known to share and are unselfish animals. The reason people admire the tiger is due to the fact that they are ferocious and domineering on the outside, but they are just as noble and distinguished on the inside. These are the same personality attributes that persons will have who are born in the Year of the Tiger.

So be bold, be brave and be courageous. And do it quick as we only have until February 10th 2011.

Its not so bad

Day two - Master Cleanse

11:40 PM - 200.5 LB

Kind of a cop out not eating today. The food shared at our break the fast was so delicious and I limited myself to living foods. Greens or mostly greens. The tea has not yet produced the effect I was looking or hoping for, maybe with more time. Tomorrow the true cleansing begins.

Seven Years in Tibet

Great Movie, nothing like the book. I hope that the book is seen for its historical content as compared with the movies false personalities and story lines. The book adds a sincere sense of life and death that the group faced within the many months wandering from Indian through Tibeten countryside in winter. Eventually actualizing their dreams of reaching the forbidden city of Lhasa and being granted permission to live there during the war. Greeted constantly by the hospitality of the Tibetan people who gave of precious food supplies to support these two escaped German climbers considered prisoners of the English war efforts. With strict respect for ancient tradition the Tibetan people had effectively kept the outside world from deteriorating their strict love for one another and family and giving to all those in need. Refreshing to come across when compared to the society we currently live in. Granted it was not a perfect place, the upper plateaus of Tibet were littered with bandits who fall upon all they come across with lies and deceptions and tricks to steal all their possessions or murder them. Many of these bandits victims were pilgrims who had been traveling great distances at a serious cost to themselves and their standings. I could continue on and on about the book. Perhaps the primitive nature of their surroundings and customs that is most alluring to the senses longing for a society where all ants and worker bees fulfilled duties with an yearning to support the structure of the nest, hive, community, government, or country.

I love Brad Pitts work in Seven Years in Tibet and his other movies during that time period. But Heinrich Harrer is the true German climber of whom the story is told better in word than motion picture and hopefully someday they will make the movie of his story in Tibet.

The Master Cleanse

The Master Cleanse
Day 1. Research and Deploy

4:51 PM - 204 lbs.
So far my plans have included a last meal and purchasing a laxative tea that I might have just drank to much of. I read the directions after I started drinking it. I have tried this before and have never truly prepared for it properly. I am overcome with resolute commitment to following the cleanse until I purge myself of the physiological need to eat. Lots of reading worshiping the porcelain shrine is in store for my future ten to twelve days. I have noticed discomforts in my abdominal region for some time now and know its time to take over and get back my bowels. Herbal tea should be doing its thing hopefully prior to my soccer game at around 9 o'clock this evening. Its about five and I am not sure if its the workout I just had or the herbal tea causing that rumbling in my tumbler.....

The best running shoe

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The best running shoe may be none at all, U.S. researchers said on Wednesday.

Sports | Health | Lifestyle

Runners who eschew shoes may be less likely to do serious injury to their feet, because they hold their feet differently, Daniel Lieberman of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts and colleagues found.

Writing in the journal Nature, they said runners who wear shoes tend to hit the ground with their heels first, whereas barefoot runners put the balls of the feet down first.

"People who don't wear shoes when they run have an astonishingly different strike," Lieberman said in a statement.

"By landing on the middle or front of the foot, barefoot runners have almost no impact collision, much less than most shod runners generate when they heel-strike," Lieberman added.

"Most people today think barefoot running is dangerous and hurts, but actually you can run barefoot on the world's hardest surfaces without the slightest discomfort and pain. All you need is a few calluses to avoid roughing up the skin of the foot."

Lieberman and his colleagues at Harvard, the University of Glasgow, and Kenya's Moi University studied runners who had always run barefoot, those who had always worn shoes and runners who had abandoned shoes.

Barefoot runners had a springier step overall, and used their calf and foot muscles more efficiently, they found.

Demonstrations can be seen here.

People used to running in shoes should not start barefoot trotting right away, Lieberman cautioned. "If you've been a heel-striker all your life, you have to transition slowly to build strength in your calf and foot muscles," he said.

But he noted that evolution is on his side.

"Humans have engaged in endurance running for millions of years, but the modern running shoe was not invented until the 1970s," Lieberman said. Rival German companies Adidas and Puma made running shoes a household item.

Running shoes are big business. Nike Inc had $4.4 billion in revenue in its second quarter.

(Editing by Cynthia Osterman)

Book presents

I was been given great books this year. First was Three Cups of Tea-
Alpine climbers lost in the Himalayas stumble upon a village that receives and aids the lost climbers. Climbers promise to return and build schools and have continued to do so to this day throughout Pakistan and Afghanistan and all along the Himalayas. Their efforts have proven concrete evidence of education as a weapon against terrorism, far more effective than terror itself. Awesome.
Second was The Last American Man-
Recounts the events in the life of an outdoor enthusiast who sets out to teach all those he comes in contact with the benefits of living a more primitive lifestyle. Through thick and thin the hero lives his ways and in also sets records for equestrian feats. Eustace Conway is said hero and has his own 1000 acres where he farms in a primitive way and lives off the land as well as holds a camp for teaching future generations the benefits of being a real human. I cried at times and laughed many times, maybe even a mixture of both once or twice.

This is the year of the books. So far so good. Theodore Roosevelt used to read a book each day before breakfast. His biography is next on the list. Its a workout just opening and I hope to be a stronger person after having read it. To little emphasis is put on studying these greats today. Caught up in the rush of technology I feel there is a lot of good stuff falling through the cracks. It feels so good to finish a book. I can actually feel my lexicon growing. And it feels delicious.

The Song of the Earth

I live in memory
But I am not any such thing that you can touch as a pleasure, or lust for spring
Sing the song of the earth and know everything

I am a lazy river forgotten within you
But I am not any such thing you can deny
Sing the song of the earth and you must cry from the waves lapping at your door

We all fawn overreaching beyond humble goals
Thinking that by trying or dying we needn't finish what we started
Sing the song of the earth and millions die
Telling stories backwards

We rumble our feet to no response
Cut down every tree to count the rings
Hallow to the core her supple body
And demand the void to come before us
Sing the song of the earth and know the secret is no seeker after all

We sing the song of the earth as we rest
As the old scenes are worn down with rain
Children are allowed to forget
So we live as memory and they live tomorrow

The song of the earth is never done
So sing it as it must be sung
Into my ear she'll listen
Confessing all

-Billy Corgan