Fractal Contrarianism

The problem with contrarians is that if they attract enough agreement then whatever internal pressure demands a contrarian stance will push them to split with whatever consensus they've actually helped build in the first place. This leads to some good unintentional comedy in the blogosphere if you don't take things too seriously (e.g. the "paleo" ..uh.. "community").

And speaking of taking things too seriously -- I'm not sure if this is related to contrarian neurosis, but exercise and weight training people seem to get really emotional over nearly any aspect of their fitness regimes. Maybe there was a secret agreement years ago to go beyond self-parody as some sort of grand social performance art experiment or merely as a defense tactic, but they sure are easy to rile up. 

My current favorite debate: whether deadlifts or squats are more authentically stone-age.  Note the  comments! "Wouldn't picking up the carcass require a posterior chain-centric movement?" Love it! Lucky for me, I've got an unfrozen caveman personal trainer, "Grok", who lives in my loft. I've asked him whether I should work on my lame goblet squats or my wobbly single-leg kettlebell deadlifts today, but the lazy fucker has parked himself in front of the flatscreen with a big bowl of popcorn and refuses to discuss the matter.

Eat What?

some of this, all of that, less of that, more of this, and fucking plenty of this


Seriously, I think PaNu still has the best & most succinct summary. Well worth the 90-second investment it takes to read. This is not low-carb per se:
"

• Note that "Fat" and "Carbohydrate" are macronutrient categories that each contain good and bad.
• Saturated and monounsaturated fat is generally good. More than 4% of calories from PUFA (whether n3 or n6) is bad.
• For healthy non-diabetics, starch (glucose polymers) is good. Excess fructose is bad.
• In wheat, the carbohydrate starch is not the major problem. It is the gluten proteins that come along with the starch.
• So forget "carbs vs fat". It is neolithic agents of disease versus everything else.
• [...]
• If you are not trying to lose weight and you like to eat potatoes and rice, EAT THEM.
• Sweet potatoes, white rice and white potatoes are well tolerated by most people and starchy vegetables per se are not neolithic agents of disease. Many active people without diabetes or metabolic syndrome feel and function better with a fair amount of starch in their diet . YMMV! 

"

Knife Sharpener

Initial impression of Minosharp 3 is quite good. Seems to work great with Global knives, and very easy to use. Much quicker and easier than using a whetstone, and better results so far (for me, anyway). Oddly, looks like they are way more expensive in the US [$74?] than in the UK [£35].

A More Practical, Midwestern Approach to a Repregeddon Scenario

Embarrassing congressman Dan Burton (R-Ind) suggests closing the "loophole", the terrifying security vulnerability, if you will, that is the lack of a protective barrier between the Visitors' Gallery and the House of Reps' floor. He imagines an apocalyptic scenario of terrorists jumping (or perhaps gliding, flying-squirrel style) into the midst of an all-hands vote and detonating all 435 representatives.

As a native-born Hoosier, I am honor-bound to suggest a solution that is a more practical and cost-effective risk-adjusted solution. I propose no barriers. If terrorists do manage to blow up the house of representatives, we simply elect replacements. Problem solved.

Tiger Dad

I haven't been posting as much lately because I've been devoting myself to tiger parenting. Not apex predator husbandry or creating a cereal flake mascot, but good old let's-all-be-as-awesome-as-China child rearin'! Look, the bar is high and I have installed a performance-based culture in my household. Weekly peer reviews determine the daily minutes I allocate to rigorous beatings. I have a set of KPIs as well as some additional metrics that allow me to precisely adjust the amount of verbal abuse I hurl on them. If they miss their SLAs repeatedly I have predefined escalation procedures. This provides clear structure for expectations, accountability, and consequences.

It's quite time-consuming. For example, my oldest was not consistently top of the league tables while playing Call of Duty so I escalated his morning punishment from kneeling on rice to a caning. I also force him to practice Call of Duty in single-player mode for 4 hours per night. This will continue until he is the BEST. It is clear to both of us that I will accept no less. This may seem harsh but you should see how gratifying the moment will be when he goes on a triumphant gibbing streak and turns to me with pride of achievement glowing in his eyes.

In the meantime, I'm writing a book to help you, too, be as awesome as me.

Global Warming And Your Favorite Anecdote

Got fed up with the seemingly endless bleating from climate change skeptics about snowstorms in northern europe and the USA. As if that means anything or is proof that global warming is a hoax, a government conspiracy to confiscate your handguns or something. So it would be just as stupid of me to offer a counter-anecdote that a few days ago it was warm and raining high up in the french alps. Snow in Belgium? global warming is a hoax! Rain at 2000m in the alps in January? global warming is real!

Driving in Snow

I thought Londoners were bad when it comes to driving in snow, but apparently the US southerners are even worse.  This is a demonstration of how not to do it from a CNN article on snow in Atlanta. Should I floor the accelerator in my bmw and let the wheel spin until the car catches on fire? No.

Marking Time

Had a conversation New Year's Eve about the lack of significance, for me, of the "New Year" as a marking point. I cherish the holidays.  There is lovely seasonality to the shortening of the days, the hunkering down around candles and lights and a hot oven, yielding roasts and other comforts savory or sweet that fill the house with reassurance and warmth no matter how grey and cold outside. But the New Year itself doesn't hold much sway.

I have no interest in news wrap-ups of the year that was. The end of the calendar year is a handy marker for some projects of mine, such as rounding up photos for printing, and a worthwhile book-end to the holiday season, but it lacks meaning or weight.  As a time of personal reflection, I find my birthday more meaningful than a calender rollover, but really I mark my calendars more broadly, by school years and seasons. The cycle really revolves around the new school year -- the excitement of fall (the poet's season) -- the holidays, the long winter term and then spring. Another school year finished and a long/short summer for the boys to get caked in a solid plastering of sunshine, clay, and adventures filled with sticks, water, rocks, dogs, cousins....


So back to school soon, and on with the winter!