Sarah Palin’s farewell address was nothing short of … confusing. It was 2300+ words of … rambling. In the midst of trying to find punctuation between her deep breaths, in her latest attempt at public speaking … I was confused.
For those who are interested, you can view the full text here.
But apparently I missed something important. Perhaps she is really light years beyond what we all think. Maybe she is a brilliant – poet? As always, William Shatner brings this all into focus, once and for all.
If I didn’t know better, I would think that Palin had been studying Kerouac …
The Tour De France is a sporting event beyond all others. For three weeks, cyclists hammer through the Pyrenees and Alps on their way to Paris. Throw in a team time trial, a couple of individual time trials – and it becomes, without a doubt (at least for me), the most challenging sporting event in the world. [note: that doesn’t include single day events, of course!]
For seven years (1999-2005), we watched Lance Armstrong dominate the Tour. After his last win in 2005, he took a short 4 year hiatus, returning to professional cycling earlier this year at age 37. For those of us in Austin, it was a fantastic seven years. Armstrong did more than hold his own for three weeks. We got to see glimmers of what I call “classic Lance” …
Forty years ago today, Neil Armstrong took the legendary “one small step for man” onto the surface of the moon. It was July 20, 1969 – and it would have a huge impact on our world and our thinking.
I have always been fascinated by the space program. Frankly, I think that the original pilots in the X-1 program (i.e. Chuck Yeager) were “the real deal”. On October 14, 1947, he broke the sound barrier. Until then, everyone thought that you could approach it, but not break it. Yeager simply “went there” mentally in a very Wild West fashion and lo and behold, they broke the barrier – physically and more importantly, mentally.
We were entering into what will viewed as an incredible era in our civilization. This era is a phenomenal example of ingenuity, of technological advancement, of “pushing the envelope”. The sound barrier was just a beginning …
I hate to admit, but the heat has gotten to me a little earlier than usual this year.
So far this spring and summer, Austin has had something to the effect of 32+ days over 100 degrees. The typical annual average? Eleven. Holy Heatwave, Batman, this has been one hot summer thus far - and we're barely past the solstice!
With that in mind, I thought it would be appropriate to post a few thoughts about the heat - and, specifically, training in these dastardly conditions.
There are moments that make you stop - and pause. Moments in which your awareness is heightened, and your mind goes into "retrospective mode".
I had one of those moments a few days ago. A sad moment. A funny moment. A disheartening moment.
I still get my Queen's Alumni newsletter sent to me. Some months, I read it with greater attention than others, and as luck would have it, this was one of those months. Sitting at the kitchen table, cereal bowl in front of me, Queen's Alumni Review being reviewed. I like reading the sections that have brief little reports from my decade of graduation. Occasionally I will see a little tidbit on someone I know, or perhaps someone that lived in Gordon House (my dorm) or was affiliated with the physiotherapy program. It's great to see what has happened to people as they have gone down the many roads that life provides all of us ... and where we end up - mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritually - in the process.
They have birth notices, career and life updates, and death notices.
And as I turned the page, there it was - on the bottom of page 43 ...
It's a strange new world in Alaska this Independence Day. Sarah Palin has resigned as Governor of Alaska.
In a bizarre press conference yesterday, she rambled her way onto the national stage - again. What a strange speech, full of bizarre analogies, half-baked thoughts - and a lot of deep breathing. I really had thought that her 15 minutes of fame might be over (at least for a couple of years), and that Tina Fey was going to get a well-deserved break from her Palin skit (brilliant though it was). I guess I was wrong.
The bottom line is this: she gave up on the job with 18 months remaining. She gave us the analogy of a basketball point guard moving the ball up the court. Well, based on her day yesterday, she may have broken the full court press - just long enough to turn the ball over and walk off the court. She quit. It is pretty hard to "create change" when you give up the reins to the horse (using an analogy I am sure she would appreciate). But I am sure there are many self-promoting reasons why she did this.
This is beyond being "quirky". This is beyond "Sarah just doing her thing" . and don't believe the spin about lame duck governors at the end of term or that she is a "political maverick" or that she is no longer going to be in politics - though somehow she will continue to fight for change.
As Anderson Cooper noted yesterday - "how is she going to do this - her own TV show?".
Stranger things have happened.
Let's face the harsh reality of politics - yesterday displayed the beauty of true Washington politics. And here's how .
There is nothing like it in sports. Game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals.
In an era of pro sports going 80 games (or more) just to decide who makes the playoffs ... it's hard to get terribly excited anymore. Big salaries, no team loyalty by the players - it's all become a little boring. There are few pro team sports that I will bother to watch anymore. But the Stanley Cup finals always gets my attention - especially if it goes seven games.
If you're a kid growing up in Canada, you play it in your head over and over again ...
You're out playing street hockey in the fall, or on the frozen river in the winter. You probably just finished shoveling the fresh snow off the ice. There are a couple of rudimentary goal posts. They might be a spare pair of mittens, or a couple of small piles of snow. You might be out in the moonlight, or perhaps the glow of some fluorescent lights that make the bay look just like the inside of Maple Leaf Gardens - at least to those who are there, ready to play. It might have been just a pick-up game amongst the kids in the neighbourhood, but to everyone there, it was always game 7.
And every time you hit the ice, you play the scene over and over and over ...
Up to 60% of runners will sustain an injury within any given year. Poor running mechanics, in conjunction with poor, ineffective and outdated training methods, can pose a significant injury risk. "RunSmart" was written to address these issues in the running community.
"Running Injuries: Etiology And Recovery- Based Treatment" (co-author Bridget Clark, PT) appears in the third edition and fourth editions of "Clinical Orthopaedic Rehabilitation: A Team Approach" by Charles Giangarra, MD and Robert C. Manske, PT.
Allan Besselink, PT, DPT, Ph.D., Dip.MDT has a unique voice in the world of sports, education, and health care. Read more about Allan here.
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