The mind rules the body

The boys have been moving through their Kung Fu training really well over the last 2 years and recently moved into the more challenging brown belt training. At this point in training there is a lot to remember.  A great deal of focus is required to make it through the different sets of forms, styles and “other things”.  I’m consistently impressed with what they do.

BUT I’ve noticed that now, with school in session, that their progress has slowed and with the holidays in swing they are even regressing a bit so this Saturday we stayed home to do training rather that going to their normal lesson.

What could a father who is not trained in Kung Fu teach his kids???  Well, obviously I can’t teach them kung fu… I mean, I’m no Keanu Reeves but I remembered something that I shared with the boys and it’s something that I want them to remember throughout life…. the power of visualization.

As we stood in the living room and they each struggled through a long set of forms with 22 movements I had them stop, go sit in separate rooms and close their eyes and go through the form in their head a few times.  Following that I did a little lesson on the whiteboard… amazingly they didn’t go to sleep… amazingly they asked questions.. BUT… I don’t want them to forget the lesson which is why I’m adding it here.

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Maybe you heard the now famous story of a Dr. Blaslotto who, many years ago did an experiment at the University of Chicago with some basketball players??  Well if not here is the short version…

He took a group of players and split them into three groups:

• The first group actually went on the court and practiced free throws from the foul line.  They did this every day for 20 minutes.
• The second group did NOTHING…. no practicing. Lazy bums.
• The third group VISUALIZED the full act.  They didn’t play, just sat quietly watching mental movies of themselves make perfect shot after perfect shot… the arc of the ball, the sound of the net, the motion of their muscles.. the thrill of each successful shot.

When will they release? GA Power knows.. but they're not telling you.

Here is the number. If you call it please just leave me a note in the comments if you get up to date information or not. The release information is about 2 minutes into the call. 404-329-1455 – It should be updated twice daily by 11AM and 11PM. Here is more Morgan falls information on my Chattahoochee River page.

Activity Log:

12/6/2011: Up to Date
12/7/2011: Previous Days report
12/8/2011: Not current
Friday, December 16, 2011 2:40 PM: Previous Days report and.. it cut off before finishing. 

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• Tuesday, December 06, 2011 11:50 AM
• Called George - Hydro Relicensing Project Manager
• Was told this is not as simple as it seems… it’s complex.. etc. Basically excuses as to why it CAN’T be done.  He took my number and said he would have an engineer give me a call BUT.. When I asked for a small window of transparency into the release schedule the call ended… I didn’t hang up on him. I waited about 2 minutes and called him back but he didn’t answer so I left a voice mail. Wow. I think I just got hung up on.
• I found lots of great information about the dam in this archive (includingGeorge’s number) so browse it for yourself as well.
• Tuesday, December 06, 2011 12:10 PM
• George Called me back and said that something must have broken the connection.. neither of us were on a cell phone but… ok. He went on to tell me that the number had updated information today and you know what?  IT DOES!!  First time ever. Weird. BUT.. do you know what’s REALLY weird.. is how he had just spent 5 – 10 minutes of the previous call explaining to me why it wasn’t possible. Here is the number if you want to call it yourself: 404-329-1455
• The bottom line is I don’t care if it’s complicated, I don’t care whatever… I would just like it updated on a daily basis and to also have a web address to allow for quick checks just like they do with the Buford Dam Release Schedule.
• Wednesday, December 07, 2011 3:29 PM
• Never got a call back from the engineer yesterday.
• Thursday, December 08, 2011 10:39 AM
• Got a call from an engineer… Wow. Was told everything I needed to know and then some, this lady really knew her stuff.
• As it turns out there has been a technical problem with the call line and they didn’t know it wasn’t being updated. They have created a ticket with their internal IT department and should get it running again soon.
• Expect the information to be updated by 11AM and 11PM each day.

As I’ve used the Chattahoochee River over this summer I found one consistent source of frustration and that is Morgan Falls dam. Whether you plan on boating below the dam and CAN NOT find out what time they will be releasing or if you’re coming down the river from the top at Bull Sluice lake and they’ve just released water, lowering the lake levels which leaves you dragging your boat through knee deep mud, there’s just no way of knowing.  On one of the fishing forums someone said the best way to know is when you least expect it, expect it and while that’s funny and true it’s a sorry excuse for management of a public resource.

Georgia Power manages this dam and as I noted in my main Chattahoochee River post, they provide a number for you to call to get information about the dam. Unfortunately that number is useless from a release perspective, if you want to listen to it here it is.

I think it’s their duty to provide this information to the public. I’m not saying it’s easy but I’m certain that they know what they are going to do at the beginning of each day which is to say they actually have a plan and since they have a plan then why wouldn’t they share it.

Making a recording and posting the information on a website couldn’t take more than 5 – 10 minutes and I think that in not making this investment they are making a strong statement… that it’s not worth it.  That’s not acceptable.

So I’m going to propose to Georgia Power that they make this information available on a daily basis and I encourage you to do the same. If you make any calls or know anything I encourage you to leave information in the comments section. I will get back in touch with you and go from there.

I know this isn’t going to be fast and will take some time and probably many more people than myself will need to become involved in order for this to happen but I’m in it for the long haul and look forward to seeing Georgia Power do the right thing here.

Just reading this title makes me tired but it’s time to get tired again. Many of the challenges that I did earlier this year had such great results and now without them I’m not exercising again. So, time to get back at it. This month I’m going less for big volume on a single exercise and more for overall fitness.  If things go well I may just set a similar yearly goal for 2012 that is broken down into 30 day challenges but how this particular challenge goes will have great bearing on that decision.  OK, not really much more to say about.  Time to shut-up and work out.  If there are any noteworthy events I will list them down below.. and if you get this post in email or RSS you will never see the updates.

First the Charts and down below that.. the updates.

 

 

 

 
I’m the only one doing cruches.. don’t think the kids really need that as much.

 
I’m also the only one doing jump rope.. Rope was the single most effective exercise I did last year, losing nearly 10 pounds in a month and more than an inch from my waist.. Let’s see what happens this time.

No News is Good News

That’s fast.. as in, abstain, give-up, quit, refrain, REFUSE.

I’m a long time news junkie. I check it when I wake up, throughout the day and usually before I go to bed so through my actions, whether I like it or not, the news of the world has a big impact on my life.  I know I’m not alone in doing this though.  It’s this ‘news all the time’ mentality that has allowed multiple round the clock radio and TV ‘news’ channels to profit and prosper and that’s fine… just not for now… for at least this month and after that we will see.

Over time I’ve opened my eyes and ears to so many bad stories about bad people and other useless figures and hardly a shred of it has been information that I can use in my life or even act on.  Stack on top of that the fact that I regularly get the distinct impression that I’m being manipulated and lied to and you have a recipe for bloated discontent.. and I’ve had enough.

So, for the month of December (and a few days in November) I’m going on a news fast. No news, none of the time… well, I will still keep up with the weather. I will probably post my thoughts about this challenge along the way and maybe even write some “news” of my own. Either way, I’m looking forward to the absence of noise over the next month.. I don’t expect it to be easy but I do expect it to be good.
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12/1/2011
Great day. The drive to work was a bit quiet without the news. It’s amazing how much you actually think when someone else (the radio) isn’t talking all of the time. I kind of like it but my mind was kind of running too wild to catch much of what was going on… like it was excited to have someone to listen to it. I think in time that voice will be more intelligible and I can benefit some from this quiet time. So.. onto the real news of the day.

S had her final class over at KSU and did something really cool with her yoga class. She bought about 100 glow bracelets, blacked out the gym, turned off the lights and did what I call ‘glowstick yoga’. She had 40 – 50 people in there and they all loved it… and I love it. She’s amazing, creative and changing lives through her passion for fitness. People laughed and smiled and said their goodbyes for the semester and S came home with the biggest smile on her face.

I went to work at Andretti Speed Labs/Cart Racing for the day. Work had the Christmas event there and it was a lot of fun.. though I came home smelling like exhaust. If you happen to go… don’t get car 8.. it’s slow.

E was having some breathing issues and had to get checked out of school. I went and picked him up and we ate at Willies.. Ummm.

I stayed up a little too late watching Walking Dead on Netflix.. Zombie movies.. Really can’t get enough of them.

The Two Wolves

A Cherokee elder was teaching his grandchildren about life.
He said to them, “A fight is going on inside me… it is a terrible fight between two wolves.
One wolf represents fear, anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, hatefulness, and lies.
The other stands for joy, peace, love, hope, humbleness, kindness, friendship, generosity, faith, and truth.
This same fight is going on inside of you, and inside every other person, too.”
The children thought about it for a minute. Then one child asked his grandfather,
“Which wolf will win?”
The Cherokee elder replied…

“The one you feed.”

This is what we are supposed to be doing

The feeling of being hurried is not usually the result of living a full life and having no time. It is on the contrary born of a vague fear that we are wasting our life. When we do not do the one thing we ought to do, we have no time for anything else – we are the busiest people in the world.

- Eric Hoffer

Last school year we were doing it all. Football, soccer, basketball, cub scouts, kung-fu and anything else we could cram into our lives. We were the busiest people in the world… or it felt like it.  This year the pendulum has swung in the other direction and only kung-fu remains. As a result, we have more time to spend time with each other and I think that’s what we are supposed to do. Weekend river trips, fitness challenges, Friday night family movies, riding bikes, jumping on the trampoline, reading together and even responding to impulses. Life is unquestionably better, more real and more full of what matters.  I can’t say that we will always stay true to this pattern but I will always remember this quote and hopefully when the kids get old enough to begin managing their time, they will take it to heart as well.

This certainly doesn't look good.

Have you ever heard the phrase “shake the dirt off of your shoulders“?  Had you heard about it prior to Jay-Z?  Me either, but I’m not going to let that get in the way of a really good lesson.

The origin of this term comes from a story in which a donkey falls into a well and cannot get out. The farmer tries to get the donkey out by rope, unsuccessful in his attempt. He decides, instead, to just give up and bury the donkey in the well. As the farmer begins filling the hole with dirt, the donkey becomes depressed, realizing that all of the dirt on his shoulders and back were going to eventually bury him. He then thought of an idea: I can just shake it off and step up. Therefore, he could just die by doing nothing and getting buried, or shake the dirt off his shoulders and step up to the occasion. So when you have a problem, will you shake it off and step up or be buried?

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I’ve told this story to my boys a number of times already over the years and it usually has a positive effect but maybe I should give it a rest for a while and call on it again in a few years… it’s too powerful to dilute through abuse and overuse.

Pastor Niemoller

“First they came for the Jews, but I did nothing because I’m not a Jew. Then they came for the socialists, but I did nothing because I’m not a socialist. Then they came for the Catholics, but I did nothing because I’m not a Catholic. Finally, they came for me, but by then there was no one left to help me.”
– Pastor Father Niemoller (1946) German Lutheran pastor arrested by the Gestapo in 1937

This is a quote I ran across for the first time around 1999.  I saw it posted on the wall, in a small frame at the offices of an Episcopal Church I cleaned on the weekends. It resonated deeply with me then as it does now.  It’s “we’re all in this together” message is timeless and crucial for our increasingly diverse society. Belief, doctrine, dogma… we will never all agree on things but for basic human RIGHTS we will sometimes be called and challenged to stand with those we agree with and even more difficult, with those we despise.

Likely

I come across so many things that I want to share with my children.  Songs, stories and ideas about how to treat people and go about life but many times these lessons are beyond their current years or are things that will be better to reinforce over time.  Since I have a tendency to forget these lessons myself I’m going to make a series of posts about just such things.  I will include my commentary when it seems right or when I have time and may just include the a copy of the ‘thing’ on it’s on.

Here is a link to where they will all go:
Things to tell the kids

Started using Spotify last month.. like it. This also brought back something I used to do with Rhapsody and Grooveshark which was make a monthly playlist of songs (new and old.. more old than new) that were in heavy rotation for me during the month. Maybe you’ll find some old favorites on this list and even better, some new favorites.

2011 – Sept

Toro Y Moi – Still Sound
Flobots – Handlebars
Jamiroquai – Virtual Insanity
Jamiroquai – Space Cowboy
The Naked And Famous – Young Blood
M83 – We Own The Sky
Explosions In The Sky – Your Hand In Mine
Sigur Ros – Sigur 4 (Untitled)
Foster The People – Pumped Up Kicks
Foster The People – Helena Beat
Phoenix – If I Ever Feel Better
Bon Iver – Skinny Love
Bon Iver – Flume
Iron And Wine – Naked As We Came
Ray LaMontagne – Trouble
Ray LaMontagne – You Are The Best Thing
Ray LaMontagne And The Pariah Dogs – Beg Steal Or Borrow
The Avett Brothers – Shame
The Avett Brothers – Paranoia in B Major
Broken Social Scene – Sweetest Kill
The Avett Brothers – The Weight of Lies
Bloodhound Gang – Foxtrot Uniform Charlie Kilo
Band of Horses – Detlef Schrempf
Cage The Elephant – Shake Me Down
Crazy Town – Butterfly
Eddie Vedder – Rise
Ben Harper – Gold To Me
Kings Of Convenience – Cayman Islands (Album Version)
John Mayer – Free Fallin’ – Live at the Nokia Theatre
Ludacris – Southern Hospitality (Featuring Pharrell)
Dynamite Hack – Boyz In The Hood
Diplo – Pick Your Poison feat. Kay
Beastie Boys – Intergalactic
Ween – Piss Up a Rope
Oakenfold – Starry Eyed Surprise
CIRRUS – Half a Cell
AWOLNATION – Sail
Ratatat – Wildcat
Front 242 – Crushed
Fila Brazillia – Airlock Homes
RJD2 – Ghostwriter