10 September 2011 Entertainment….

Workout notes 4.2 mile run (hilly; cornstalk course) in 40:57; 10:17 was the first 1.05; 9:04 was the last.
Note: this was my best time for this course since March; that is good. But, when I was runnin 23-24 for 5K, I was finishing this course in 35-38 minutes and I am not close to that right now.

Football

Then we drove the 95 miles to the University of Illinois to watch the South Dakota State vs. University of Illinois football game.

The game was close for the first 7 minutes; the teams traded punts. The Jackrabbit punter was outstanding; he averaged 51 yards per punt. But Illinois drove the ball 70 yards to go up 7-0, and the game kind of deteriorated after that. The next U of I possession saw them break a 60 yard run off of an option to set up the second touchdown; on the next play (just prior to the end of the first quarter) an ill-advised Jackrabbit pass was intercepted and returned for a touchdown. So the first quarter ended 21-0.

After that, SDSU couldn’t stop the faster Illinois receivers nor contain the run; they did manage one drive to cut the lead to 28-3; it was 35-3 at the half. This description from Yahoo was apt:

The 215-pound back took a handoff from Scheelhaase at the Jackrabbits 41 with just under two minutes left in the first half and burst through a hole opened by Prosch on the left, running through four would-be tackles on his way to the end zone and a 35-3 lead. South Dakota State linebacker Mike Lien had perhaps the best shot at Young a few yards past the line of scrimmage, but found himself on his stomach grasping at air where Young’s lower leg had been, watching the freshman sprint toward the goal line.

Scheelhaase took a seat in the third quarter with 93 yards rushing and 102 passing yards on six completions.

Illinois’ defense never gave South Dakota State serious reason to believe it could compete with the Illini.

At the half, U of I had over 300 yards of total offense and over 240 yards of rushing; SDSU had only 24.

A long second half drive made it 42-3, followed by yet another interception that was almost run back for a score. The second and third team quarterbacks came in and mopped up; it ended 56-3.

Though SDSU had good size up front and their punter knocked the ball into orbit (51 yard average!) they simply didn’t have the team speed to compete; time and time again the U of I quarterback was able to improvise and the SDSU defenders simply weren’t athletic enough to tackle him.

SDSU was a step down from Arkansas State, in terms of football ability.
Or put another way: a middling Missouri Valley team (I-AA, or “playoff division”) is not as good as a middling Big Ten team.

Next week’s game against the Sun Devils of Arizona State will be a huge step up in competition.

Other: Navy, Texas and Notre Dame all play at the same time. It should be interesting.

(photos from yahoo)

10 September 2011 posts

9-11 stuff….

Mother Jones has a point.

9 September 2011

Workout notes Weights then swimming.
Swimming: 500 of 25 fist/25 free, 500 of 25 free, 50 side, 25 free, 500 of 25 free, 25 back (fins), 250 pull, 250 swim, 200 of drills (fins)

Weights (which came first): lunges, rotator cuff:
Hammer rows: 3 sets of 10 x 200
pull downs: 3 sets of 10 x 140
curls (dumbbell): 3 sets of 10 x 25
bench press: 10 x 135, 10 x 150, 4 x 160
incline: 2 sets of 10 x 115
military press (dumbbell) 2 sets of 15 x 40 seated
military press: 10 x 65 (standing)
abduction: 3 sets of 10 x 180
adduction: 3 sets of 10 x 180
sit ups: 100

Posts
Science
Human origins: more information comes in

The ancient remains of two human-like creatures found in South Africa could change the way we view our origins.

The 1.9-million-year-old fossils were first described in 2010, and given the species name Australopithecus sediba.

But the team behind the discovery has now come back with a deeper analysis.

It tells Science magazine that features seen in the brain, feet, hands and pelvis of A. sediba all suggest this species was on the direct evolutionary line to us – Homo sapiens.

“We have examined the critical areas of anatomy that have been used consistently for identifying the uniqueness of human beings,” said Professor Lee Berger from the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg

“Any one of these features could have evolved separately, but it is highly unlikely that all of them would have evolved together if A. sediba was not related to our lineage,” the team leader informed BBC News.

It is a big claim and, if correct, would sideline other candidates in the fossil record for which similar assertions have been made in the past.

Theory holds that modern humans can trace a line back to a creature known as Homo erectus which lived more than a million years ago. This animal, according to many palaeoanthropologists, may in turn have had its origins in more primitive hominins, as they are known, such as Homo habilis or Homo rudolfensis.

The contention now made for A. sediba is that, although older than its “rivals”, some of its anatomy and capabilities were more advanced than these younger forms. Put simply, it is a more credible ancestor for H. erectus, Berger’s team claims.

Supernova: watch it!

Evolution in action: how a virus spreads itself. Yes, nature is brutal.

Political
Jon Stewart: the Republican base is nuts!

Remember the idiotic cheering at the mention that Texas had killed over 200 people? Yes, some on death row were innocent (didn’t do the crime that they were accused of). Here is one who made it off of death row. This is why I find the people who cheered to be stupid, ignorant or evil.

Paul Krugman
This is a link to a mostly non-technical paper he wrote about how the economists are falling down on the job; there isn’t much political here nor is there much that is prescriptive.

Note: Krugman received advance copy of what President Obama’s job plan would be; he describes how having this “insider knowledge” went to his head, even though it meant very little. Point: sometimes administrations can get favorable press by doing this. Again, this is non-political.

The Obama plan
Krugman: not perfect, but pretty good. The Republicans won’t pass it though.

Robert Reich: the plan is much too small, but he likes the “Give ‘em hell” tone.

Political Humor: pick your favorite Republican!

President Obama makes his case….

We’ll see: will the R’s buy at least a bit of this? Probably not; they want power above all else.
Corporate taxes Simple math!

Calls out the Republicans.

Mocking the Republicans!!!!

current Republicans wouldn’t like Lincoln.

Good try Mr. President, but the Republicans would be just bully with a new Gilded Age.

Talking about togetherness…..SOCIALISM!!!!! well, President O is taking it to them…but will it matter?

Next election: 14 months away; people can’t wait that long.

I am taking this to every corner of the country.

So what will happen? Not much, we’ll hear the same cries of “class warfare”, “socialism”, blah blah.

Here is the text.

Note: Mr. Boehner appears to be open to some sort of compromise. So, can he either get the tea party to go along, or can he and Ms. Pelosi get the moderates together to pass something?

I Agree with Dick Morris…sort of? (Republican Primary)

Indecision 2012 – Oh My God, Rick Perry Is Going to Be Our Next President – The Daily Show with Jon Stewart – 09/07/11 – Video Clip | Comedy Central

Rick Perry takes shots at Mitt Romney before the debate, but Romney doesn’t take them lying down. Airdate – 09/07/11

Indecision 2012 – Oh My God, Rick Perry Is Goin…, posted with vodpod

I though that they were lying

And PolitiFact Confirms it; this is their take on the Republican debate.

8 September 2011 sports stuff

Workout
Yoga class. Then I jogged from the parking lot, under the I-74 bridge out to the gooseloop (just about 1.5 miles).
Then I did last week’s workout: 9 laps of the gooseloop running 7 loops reasonably hard and jogging shorter sections: 1 started at the 1/4 mile mark and did one lap, jogged to the 3/4 mark, did a lap hard, jogged to the 1/2 mile mark (stone bench), did a lap hard, jogged to the 1/4 mark again, etc.

Or put another way: .36 miles hard, .14 easy, .36 hard, .11 easy, .36 hard, .11 easy, .36 hard, .14 easy…end when I’ve finished 7 .36 mile hard segments.

total time: 29:24 for 3.24 miles (9:04 pace); my “faster” (less glacial?) segments are, for now, unsustainable. But that is 2.52 miles of harder running, .72 of recovery. On August 30 I did this workout in 31:08; of course much of the improvement is that I had a very cool (and breezy) day today. But, at times, running felt like it did years ago. That was a good feeling; I didn’t feel my knee until the end of my cool-down.

I walked 4 minutes after the interval session and then jogged back to the car to give myself 10K + a bit.
Afterward: one legged squats, toe raises (negative), lunges (back/front), rotator cuff.

Performance
I read this article about declining performances.

What I think:
1. It takes longer to recover from injury/inactivity when one is older, and I had the running lay-off of well over a year (before and after the knee surgery).
2. I am running with a slightly different gait.
3. Blood donation (double red cell); that set me back.

The positive: I am enjoying the social aspects, and my injuries have largely cleared up. But I have to build up again…slowly…and take care to do ALL of my PT (quite a chore!)

So, it is 3-4 runs (knee), 2-3 walks (piriformis), 3 swims (shoulder), 2 weight lifting sessions (shoulder), and 2 yoga sessions per week. This is a “little of everything”, which won’t get me “good” at anything, but perhaps it will eventually get me fit enough to start training for something…eventually.

And yes, at long last, I am starting to see progress. This has been a good week of training working out, so far.

GOP debate audience cheers Perry’s execution record | Raw Replay

Republican voters at Wednesday night’s Republican presidential debate expressed their approval of the death penalty by giving Gov. Rick Perry’s record on executions some of the loudest applause of the night. “Your state has executed 234 death row inmates, more than any other governor in modern times,” NBC’s Brian Williams …

GOP debate audience cheers Perry’s execution re…, posted with vodpod

No worries about someone being innocent. Those in the crowd: typical Republicans.

You know, gone are the days when you could reason with such “people”. I am beginning to think that we would be better off as two separate countries. I am not alone, at least in believing that the Republicans really are trying to force some sort of authoritarian rebellion or civil war.

Update: Author Will Bunch called this a “pathetic new low in American politics”.
But it really isn’t; evil, stupid people have always been there and right now they support the Republicans.

(For the logically challenged: I am saying that “evil, stupid people” are a proper subset of the Republican party, NOT the whole. Ok?)