perjantai 20. helmikuuta 2009

Kieli suomi, mieli puoli

Kuuntelin juuri otetta radio-ohjelmasta jossa haastateltiin apologisti-extraordinaire Ray Comfortia. Comfort on nyt kiertueella uuden kirjansa kunniaksi ("Voit johdattaa ateistin todistusaineiston ääreen, mutta et voi pakottaa häntä ajattelemaan: Vastauksia äksyille skeptikoille") ja on esiintynyt useissa radiohaastatteluissa. Tämä on hänen vastaiskunsa Darwinin juhlistamista vastaan.

Ray ei sano näissä mitään typeryyksiä mitä ei ennen olisi kuultu, mutta juontaja oli selvittänyt Darwinistien juonen perinpohjaisesti. Hänen teoriansa mukaan yliopisto-opettajat opettavat darwinismia, jotta nuoret tytöt saavat päähänsä että he ovat vain eläimiä ja voivat täten tehdä mitä huvittaa. Näin opettajat varmistavat itselleen messevät orgiat.

En muista mikä ohjelma oli, enkä välitä. Toivoisin etten muistaisi kuka Ray on, enkä välittäisi.

29 leukaa perjantain treenisessiolla! Jee! Nyt menen ajamaan toisen jalkani jotta voin taas kuvitella nukkuvani kultamurun vierellä...

torstai 19. helmikuuta 2009

Week 1

So the schedule didn't quite hold, as I did Tuesday's pull-up sets on Wednesday, but nevertheless, Here's this week's chart:



Day 1:
Morning push-ups: 41 + 38 + 51 = 130
A good start taking into account my low expectations. The first thought that occurred to me after this session was that I just might try and get up to 100 consecutive push-ups too (another goal I've had for some time).
Pull-ups: 6 + 5 + 4 + 4 + 4 = 23
On day 1, the program prescribes 5 max repeat sets of pull-ups with a 90 second pause between each. The results were mediocre as I had predicted.

Day 2:
Morning push-ups: 45 + 55 + 50 = 150
Huzzah, improvement!
Pull-ups: 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 1 + 3 = 19
For this pull-up session, I was at the swimming hall gym. I did some light warm-ups beforehand and went at it. The results perfectly matched my expectations. The pull-ups were done in a pyramid patter (first 1, then 2, then 3...) until failure, followed by a single max rep set.

Day 3:
Morning push-ups: 50 + 44 + 41 = 135
Boo, hiss...
Pull-ups: 6 + 6 + 6 = 18
Now the concept of the training set kicked in. The training set is a predetermined amount of pull-ups that you think you can repeat several times in a row. For this first week, I set my training set at a lowly 2. Thus, this day's sets consisted of 3 x 2 pull-ups, followed by 3 x 2 chin-ups and finishing with 3 x 2 pull-ups. The set wasn't too easy because I let myself down into a dead hang between each repeat. I'm still considering if I should raise the training set to 3 for the next week.

Day 4:
Morning push-ups: 41 + 43 + 25 = 109
Even worse! I let my mind wander during the last set and set down my knee for some weird reason.
Pull-ups: 32 * 2 + 1= 64
Done at the university gymnastics room, on several different bars and things you can hang from (rings, ledges). Today the task was to do as many training sets as possible, resting for 60 seconds between each. I didn't count the seconds exactly, but I was at it for about 30 minutes. I could've done more (at least a couple of sets), I'm sure, but the other activities at the gym enticed me to retire early. Apparently, the best environment for these sets is away from any interesting diversions. Again, I started from a dead hang on each pull-up.

Day 5:
Morning push-ups: 51 + 45 + 41 = 137
Again, the last set was cut short. Yargh!
Pull-ups: 8 + 5 + 5 + 3 + 5 = 26
On day 5, you're supposed to repeat the pull-up session from the previous week that you felt to be the toughest. I chose day 1, and improved on the previous result by 3 pull-ups. Improvement ahoy? Oh, and I did these on Wednesday, bah.

The real fun starts later when I start comparing the results from following weeks. I'm also trying to practice my handstands again, and have gained some extra stability during the last week. Handstand push-ups are also getting close to being a reality.

sunnuntai 15. helmikuuta 2009

perjantai 13. helmikuuta 2009

Mission Statement: Upper Body Training

I've let myself go bad. Sitting in front of the computer, slouched over, has taken its toll on my upper body strength. During the next 6 weeks I will be submitting myself to a light regimen of push-ups and pull-ups (plus chin-ups), by following the 20 Pull-ups Program.

Starting today, Friday 13th. It can only get better from here, right?

The program will basically consist of 5 days of training per week, with morning push-ups (3 sets) and a day-specific pull-up exercise later in the afternoon.

I though I couldn't do a single set of over 25 push-ups, but positively surprised myself by starting the regimen out with a three-set push-up session that yielded a total of 130 push-ups when I really put my back into into. Pull-up results are still pending as I haven't yet gone out to the bar. Wait, there's a lame pun in there somewhere...

Updates will be posted at the end of every training week. Instead of the traditional Monday-to-Friday schedule, I opted to go from Friday-to-Tuesday, so I'll be back here on Tuesday for an update pertaining to my progress (or regress).

tiistai 3. helmikuuta 2009

Hot Clitoris Excision Action Tuesday!

Surfing the web is the strangest experience.

I was reading a blog post about moral relativism and it's pitfalls and ran across the word "clitoridectomy". Having the attention span of a hyperactive housefly I detached myself from the ceiling and hovered in a circle, wondering if this word is correctly spelled, since I've known the procedure as "clitorectomy" so far.

The word clitoridectomy (and its widely used sister, clitorectomy) are formed by adding the suffix -ectomy (from greek, roughly translated as "to cut out") to clitoris (if you don't know what this is, ask a girl – if she doesn't know, consult an anatomy textbook together*).

The Oxford English Dictionary only acknowledges clitoridectomy, but a quick Google search reveals that clitorectomy is also very widely used and accepted. The use of the non-canon (yes, I am OED's bitch**) shorter version is rarer, but still surprisingly widely used in technical papers.

The form clitorectomy comes more naturally to me, as this particular suffix is familiar from other words using it and many of these words only omit letters, not add or replace them (as the unexplained-to-me d in clitoridectomy. The suffix is also familiar to humor connoisseurs, as it can be used to form useful words such as humorectomy. As in, "unfortunately I didn't know I'd be writing to a blog read by people who have undergone complete humorectomy".

The thing that inspired me to blog about this was the site that popped up when I initially searched for clitoridectomy. I accidentally typed the word into Safari's address bar, not the search bar, prompting Safari to look for clitoridectomy.com.

I am so overwhelmingly conflicted by this. "Clitoridectomy, your first stop on your hot Web journey." Whisky Tango Foxtrot. I rest my case: the internet is insane.

Right, back to reading that moral relativism stuff.

*dating tips delivered free of charge
** unfunny jokes .50€  per piece, please donate total sum to a fund fighting against forced clitoridectomy