ArchaeoBlog

‘Why I’m suing my gym over their sexist women-only hours’

See, at first I thought it said ’sexiest women-only’ and was completely boggled.

Anyway:

The venue, owned by fitness company Better in association with Camden Council, attracts hundreds of people from all sections of society: religious, atheist, male, female, young and old. There is no dominant demographic. Everybody is welcome and everybody gets on.

But not everybody is equal.

Because, in an age of political over-correctness, they ban all men and boys for 442 hours every year – simply because they are male.

Adding insult to injury, they still charge them the same full-price membership fee as women, but refuse to offer the equivalent option of male-only sessions.

The justification given by the club — “A report by the Women Sport and Fitness Foundation showed that a significant proportion of women (26 per cent) ‘hate the way they look when they exercise. . . .This takes on an even greater significance when you consider that women feel even more self-conscious when taking part in sport and physical activity when men are present’” — is pretty lame, if you ask me. They really ought to reduce the fees on men if they’re going to do that.

A friend of mine didn’t like going to the gym because she was always being hit on or stared at. When I was away from the university for a couple of years and worked out in a commercial gym, it was pretty friendly from what I could tell. There were a couple of guys who kinda hit on the women, but I only saw that a couple of a times in like 3 years. Then again, I went in at 6:30 in the morning which probably isn’t prime time for meeting-and-greeting like that (i.e., gym rat time). I think they may have had a couple of women-only classes, but don’t quote me on that.

We have a few issues with people at the UW facility, mostly overly-macho guys banging weights around and yelling and stuff, but I don’t see too much, you know, bugging of people. Then again, 6:15 in the morning. I’m guessing in the afternoons and evenings it’s a hopping joint.

Anyway, not that this has anything to do with archaeology, but I humored myself with my misreading.

Come to think of it, a large west coast university athletic facility almost is what I misread it to be. . . . .

Sam Parnia – the man who could bring you back from the dead

The Lazarus Effect is nothing short of an attempt to recast our understanding of death, based on Parnia’s intimate knowledge of the newly porous nature of the previously “undiscovered country from which no traveller returns”. His work in resuscitation has led him logically to wider questions of what constitutes being and not being. In particular, he asks what exactly happens, if you are lying dead before resuscitation, to your individual self and all its attendant character and memories – your “soul”, as he is not shy to call it – before it is eventually restored to you a few hours later?

Okay, not really archaeology, but it rather intrigued me. When I first read the headline and the first paragraph or two I was thinking I was going to hear some new! and exciting! It is, kinda, but not really. Back in my EMS days, there was some talk (I think they may have actually implemented a small study on it after I left) of using the “cooling effect” on some cardiac patients out in the field, which supposedly resulted in better outcomes after resuscitation. That’s far more difficult to pull off out in the field than it would be in a hospital trauma center or emergency room.

The key in all this is that he advocates maintaining blood oxygenation for much longer than most consider worthwhile, which is, in essence, hooking up cardiac arrest victims to a machine and running them off of that until they can restart the heart. Also cooling the body to help prevent brain damage. Not really a “new” method or anything, just the application of one well-known principle — you keep the brain alive without a beating heart by running the blood through a machine — and one still (IMO) experimental principle, the cooling. They key, of course, is getting the blood oxygenated very quickly as brain function can start deteriorating very rapidly so you have to have very specific equipment and procedures in place that can be activated quickly.

Joe Weider, Founder of a Bodybuilding Empire, Dies at 93

Joe Weider, a scrawny youngster who sculptured himself with bodybuilding during the Great Depression and created an empire of muscle magazines, fitness equipment, dietary supplements and Olympic-style contests featuring Arnold Schwarzenegger, died on Saturday in Los Angeles. He was 93.

His death, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, was announced by Charlotte Parker, his longtime publicist.

Mr. Weider may not have been the 97-pound weakling of the comic books who got tired of having sand kicked in his face. But as a teenager in Montreal, he hated being roughed up by neighborhood hooligans, discovered bodybuilding in a magazine and bought into it for life. He developed a V-shaped torso with bulging biceps and abs like Michelangelo’s David, and he was still muscular and jut-jawed in his 70s and 80s.

Unlike with Jack LaLanne, I don’t have all that much to do with Weider personally; I was never much into bodybuilding per se, although some years ago I adapted my workouts to more of a bodybuilding routine and it actually did wonders. I even tried protein powder at one point, but it didn’t really do anything for me.* Never followed bodybuilding or got the magazines or anything either. But I think Weider probably did as much as anyone to influence the fitness craze that’s been going on now for several decades and was really the driving force behind Schwarzenegger’s rise to fame and all that did for weight training in general. So, good for you, Joe.

* Actually, the only thing that I’ve ever noticed made a difference — and it’s a big difference — is hydration; if I guzzle 16 ounces of something (usually tea or Diet Coke/Pepsi) first thing in the morning before heading to the gym, it does wonders.

Things Wot I made Then Ate.

At least from my perspective: lying awake in the middle of the night worrying about the most idiotic things imaginable. To wit: Last night I was awake from 2 on worrying that I’d. . . .ruined this stupid Yamaha receiver. Yes, the thought entered my mind that in my zeal to remove the old solder holding the old part in that I probably scraped off some of the traces around the contacts, thus wrecking the circuit. Of course, I suspected that there is some product available for fixing such things, but that didn’t stop me from going whole-hog anxiety attack on it. I did manage to doze off for a bit around 4, but woke up again at 4:30. Hence, tired.

Some combination of mid-life crisis and age or what have you. I’ve been doing this for a few years now, waking up in the middle of the night and worrying things to death. I’ve gotten better the last few months thanks to various mental exercises, but it still hits me every now and then. Still, it can be the most stupid minor things that set me off. “Oh my God, I forgot to water the plants today! I am the worst plant caretaker EVER!” Junk like that.

And, of course, today in the cold light of day I found the right part and the aforementioned repair item.

This thread I found somewhat amusing. The person had bought some “AR” speakers at a Goodwill and was wondering about them. For those not in the know, AR or Acoustic Research were/are a very well respected loudspeaker company, and some of their vintage models (AR-9, AR-2) go for many hundreds of dollars these days. So everyone’s on the lookout for them.

But the guy realized that these were pretty cheaply made. And note the “AR” in the photo is similar to the real AR logo:

But if you look closely, instead of being an “Acoustic Research — Series 660″, it’s really an “Acoustic — Research Series 660″.

Heh. Beware the White Van Speaker brand. . . ..

(more…)

Today was vet day for Jack & Daisy. They don’t like it. At.All. And they know when the capture process is starting. Happily, that went rather well: preparation is the key. Close all doors except for one or two relatively sparse rooms with no furniture to hide under and then shepherd them that way, closing doors behind as you go. And for once I’m not covered in fur! (RIP Badger)