The sets for each circuit are divided into six categories labeled Push, Sit, Pull, Dip, Squat, Extend.  Essentially these are push-ups (chest), sit-ups (core), pull-ups (lats, back, biceps), dips (triceps), squats (quads, gluts, and calves), and arm extensions (shoulders).  Each circuit generally has a different exercise for each of the six muscle groups, though because of the limitations of a no-weights routine, some exercises by necessity repeat themselves.

In following the workout, move vertically through the matrix columns, performing each exercise one or two reps short of muscle failure during the first four circuits and to failure the last two circuits.  Rest 30 seconds between each circuit, but otherwise move through as fast as possible without compromising good form.

Matrix 360 should be performed 3 times a week (M.W.F.) with cardio of your choice the remaining three days (T.R.S.).  Personally I like doing cardio twice and yoga once.  To keep your muscles from getting use to the workout and plateauing, after the first two weeks, reverse the workout and perform it backwards for two weeks.  Alternate every two weeks forwards and backwards.

Tips:  If you’re a bit out of shape, start out doing 3-4 circuits and build up to all 6.  But don’t wimp out.  Push as hard as you can.  For exercises that may be particularly hard (pull-ups and vertical shoulder presses especially) do as many as possible, even if it’s just one, and then go to a modified version (such as feet on a chair etc) - do whatever it takes to work out the muscles.  Finally, in some circumstances, pull-ups may not be possible given lack of robust door-jams (my preferred method) or available trees (yes you can work outside or by the pool) - in this case just omit the exercise or substitute a cardio move such as jumping jacks, jump squats, etc.

The above graphic gives the matrix layout along with my latest workout numbers, having just started last week.  If you want to try out Maxtrix 360, drop me an email and I’ll explain the individual exercises.

Cheap-chicken ad from KFC hides true cost of food; here’s a tastier, low-cost alternative. Read more…

“The Butterfly” played by Barak Bruerd on an Overton Low D

As an Irish musician (a very flexible term when applied to myself), I have a certain affinity for flutes and whistles.  So it’s no small thing for me to have sold my Copeland Low D whistle on ebay.  Copeland whistles are the Cadillac of Irish whistles.  They are hand made from brass and are the only conical bore whistle made from actual tube (versus sheet metal wrapped around a mandrel and welded).  As opposed to cylindrical tube instruments, a tapered bore balances pitch across both the high and low octaves and allows for a more consistent tone.  The Copeland design innovates on many fronts, most notably drawing on the designs of organ pipes which have a wall around the windway to stabilize the tone.  When constructing a whistle there are over a hundred points which must be carefully balanced to achieve desired pitch, tone, responsiveness and other qualities.  Woodwind crafting is both a science and an art.

But I sold my Copeland and bought an Overton.  If Copelands are the Cadillac then Overtons are… well, actually I know nothing about cars so I really couldn’t make a very good association.  I suppose the Overton would be one of those cool vintage sports cars from the 50s that have a personality all their own; a few quirks and design flaws but that just contributes to the allure.  Not that there are any design flaws in an Overton - quite the opposite.  But the tone quality of the Overton has it’s own quirks and imperfections which lead to the captivating sound they produce.

While the Copeland is rich and pure and almost reedy due to the dense nature of brass and the smooth polished edges, the Overtons carry breathy over-tones and subtle harmonics, which create an ethereal quality that sings of foggy moors and woodland glades.  The Copeland whistles have an aesthetic that is unrivaled; the conical taper, rounded head joint, and brass patina make it an absolute work of art.  The Overton on the other hand is a brushed-aluminum tube with a square head joint that mirrors the raw utilitarian heritage of the clans of old.   The Copeland is a tribute to the achievements of science and modern instrument crafting while the Overton is the father of all low whistles.

Both rank at the top of any professional Irish musician’s instrument list.

So why did I get rid of my Copeland?  It’s really a matter of economics.  I loved the Copeland, but to a large degree the sound is too perfect.  Not that I don’t love perfect sound, but it sounds like a flute and I have flutes.  The Overton has a sound all it’s own that is mystical in all the imperfections that captivate the imagination and you simply cannot achieve that on a flute.  I would have kept the Copeland except that Copelands are expensive and I can own several keys in an Overton for the price of one Copeland.

I also have two complaints about the Copelands.  I’ve discovered two flaws in the conical bore instruments that are improved on by their more primative cylindrical sisters.  The first is a very weak low E - the second note from the bottom.  The physics of the bore force an extremely small hole which results in a choked sound compared to the root note or the third.  The second is that while the tapered bore allow for extreme resonance in the low register and rich tone in the mid-range, the taper constricts the airflow necessary for the high register which leads to a somewhat shrill quality to the notes leading up to the third octave.  For someone like me who appreciates the full range of notes that Irish fusion demands, that upper range is extremely critical.  Trad players may not find this range quite so useful, but it has found its way into the modern styles of players like Davy Spillane and Cormac Breatnach and I appreciate the versatility.

Someday when cash becomes available I may re-purchase a Copeland.  There’s a sterling silver model that is extremely mellow.  But for now I’ll be playing to the organic roots of Ireland.

Nope, not my comments, thoughts or even rants about the World Bank.  Literally “me” on the World Bank website.  Mostly it’s just a pictoral link to my website with a tag line of “see what other young people are up to in the world of international development”.  Somehow they found my website and just cut and pasted my profile picture up there.  Pretty spiffy.

I was not really prepared.  As I turned the corner, my eyes took it in, and I felt my lungs fill with air, and let it all go,  as if I had just beheld a great waterfall, or a mountain vista.  It was nothing of the sort.  But it was still breathtaking.  It was around 3:30pm.  I looked at the sky, which had turned a woolen gray, and then back at the paper where I had scribbled the information.  I wasn’t really sure what to expect. My oldest son draped in a replicated Union army cap and coat, and my youngest bundled up against the short bursts of winter wind, and spray of cold rain, walked with me, the two blocks from our house to a quaint little house and barn that had been preserved as a reminder of a great and bloody battle.

It was the anniversary of the Battle of Franklin, one of the most gruesome battles of the Civil War.  We were the first spectators to arrive.  The busy street had been blocked off for hours, as a small handful of volunteers placed a candle in a white paper bag for each of the nearly ten thousand soldiers that lost their lives during that fateful day of November 30th, 1864.

We walked slowly down the rows and rows of white bags that stretched out of sight, and down the street.  Perhaps it was the combination of gray clouds, misty rain, and the fact that history becomes decidedly more important to me when I am walking along with two little people who represent the future. But I was struck by the magnitude of such a display.  I was sobered by a visual of what “ten thousand” looked like.

I began to consider what it must have felt like to be there.  Both sides fighting, moved onward by a sense of purpose and conviction that was worth overcoming fear and entering even unto death.  Have I ever experienced or even witnessed two passionately opposing forces at the climax of purpose? Have I ever felt the weight of the kind of upholding of a belief that springs from the core of their souls or the urgency to protect something that rests as the very foundation of humanity?  I have never been to war.  I have appreciated it’s brutal power, and have even hovered around the ripple effects of it’s deadly sting, as friends have dealt with the loss of loved ones.  But I was humbled by the view in front, and all around me as I walked, and counted and imagined the faces and stories of each of those soldiers.  It is regretable that the story of American History must hold the Civil War in it’s pages.

Today is another day to remember.  There is another battle that our streets are not lengthy nor wide enough to hold the number of luminaries to represent all that have fallen during the fight.   It is the fight against HIV/AIDS.  And today, I remember the hands of men that I have held while doing my best to comfort them in their dying hours.  I remember the stories of hopelessness, of fear, of despair that blanketed the air of entire communities like the gray clouds of November in Franklin, TN.

But there is so much risk in thinking about too many stories at once.  Without a way to visualize millions of faces, I am reminded that AIDS is a disease that kills one person at a time.  It is a disease that destroys the body, one blood cell at a time.  It destroys families one person at a time.  It creates a void, a deep emptiness where hope and health should be,  one story at a time.  And so today,  I am thinking about how I can help one person.  How I can love and act, and advocate on behalf of one person.  And in the midst of this great and challenging fight, we may one day realize that we have the opportunity to not be able to visualize the millions of stories that have regained their threads of hope, and sustained their health.

Can you think of a person?  Can you put yourself in the place of someone wrestling with HIV/AIDS?  Do you wonder what their fears might be? Do you wonder what their families might be going through?  Do you consider the moment that they have to bring the news of their illness to their family? Is there room in your heart,  in my heart to feel what they feel?

Today is World AIDS Day.  To most of us, it is just another day.  What would it take for us to remember there is no such thing as “Just another day.”  And what would it look like to do our best to ensure that those wrestling on this day under the weight of this disease can make it to the next?

It is in our hands.  It is our ideas, our passion, our willingness to learn, to fail, to search, to love, and to fight that will bring forth the ideas and the designs to beat HIV/AIDS.

It is my hope that we will continue to feel the urgency of this great need.  It is my desire that we will continue to open our hearts to the stories of people all around the world that suffer.

I believe that God has given us this great privilege to be a part this great act of healing.  Please join us in praying, in knowing, in loving, and in serving.

And maybe we can one day celebrate by saying, “Happy World AIDS Day!”

Peace to you- Dan Haseltine

——————————

Blood:Water Mission is combatting AIDS not only through clean water & sanitation projects, but by directly funding health clinics, community health workers, and support groups, which help in the prevention, treatment, care and support of communities affected by AIDS.

Do Something Now. Donate today to continue supporting the work of Blood:Water Mission.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT

For more information on World AIDS Day visit the World Health Organization’s website HERE where you can read a statement from WHO Director-General Dr Margaret Chan reflecting on some of the achievements of the past 20 years.

Donald Miller has a an excellent post on his blog talking about his journey in shedding his bias against the democratic party and coming to a positive understanding of what each party has to offer and why he voted Obama.  Read more…