jfinnivan Member

I'm currently reading "Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter". Just finished an autobiography of John Lithgow called "Drama", and Steven Tyler's autobiography called "Does the Noise in my Head Bother You?"

Besides my self-defense teaching experience, I can program the last remaining robotic self defense system with my mad programming skills.

Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman - I try to read this once every year. Lord of the Rings Dune The Iliad The Odyssey The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy Many many more....

Have you seen the new series? It's light years better than the old stuff...

Seinfeld Doctor Who Torchwood Storage Wars Star Trek, just about any one Terra Nova Warehouse 13

From Aliens: Hudson: Well that's great! That's just f...ing great, man. Now what the f..k are we supposed to do, man? We're in some real pretty sh.t now! From Army of Darkness: Alright you Primitive Screwheads, listen up! You see this? This... is my boomstick! The twelve-gauge double-barreled Remington. S-Mart's top of the…

Rant mode on. Maybe I'm a little paranoid about stuff I put on the net, but I have this nagging thought that someday, insurance companies will be able to get this kind of information about me, and if they see I've eaten too many twinkies, my rates will go up, or I'll be turned down for medical coverage completely. Google's…

Tell him that since you've started working out, a lot of guys guys are flirting with you.

Isaac Asimov. I once saw Frank Perdue at the airport.

You can tell it's the new year. The gym is full of people I've never seen before. 95% of them will be gone in 3 weeks. I've seen this happen ever year.

I'm in the middle of P90X. I'm loving it, but it can be a hard workout. Like with any workout, you can adjust your level of effort to match your level of fitness. The only problem I'm having is fitting it into my schedule. I can't do it every day, but I do it as often as I can. I just finished phase 1, and will start phase…

When I'm on the treadmill it's all about mental games. I do things like forcing myself to not look at the display until 3 songs have played out, then 4 songs, etc. Also, watching TV helps. If you're a liberal, watch Fox news. If you're conservative, watch the Daily Show. Get outraged! Whatever you need to keep your…

I've been making a ground turkey-based meat sauce lately. I use one of the big jars of Prego heart smart sauce. First, saute 1.5 pounds of ground turkey in some olive oil in a pot, making sure the meat is chopped into small pieces. When it's cooked through, add the sauce and cook for several hours. You can add herbs or red…

This happened to my wife. A few years ago we were walking around at Epcot in Disneyworld. It had just rained, and the ground was wet. She was walking next to a guy, and his shoes were squeaking, so she said jokingly, "you're pretty noisy, aren't you?" He said, yes, it's my fake leg. She looked down and saw that he did,…

Army of Darkness. Basically, anything with Bruce Campbell in it.

I use a HRM, and I burn between 400-600 calories per workout. I'm 53, and weigh 154 lbs. I know that the Body Bugg uses body movement, temperature, etc. for determining caloric burn, and a HRM only uses heart rate. I don't know how real the numbers are, but it seems to work for me.

Interesting. I have an electronic drumming machine I keep meaning to start working with. Maybe this is a good excuse!

Agreed. That's why I'm conditioning at least once per week, and it is slowly getting better. The sliding part is due to simple physics, and is OK as long I maintain my stance and balance. You can grip the floor with feet and toes, but you can only do so much with bare and sweaty feet.

Helping my wife and daughter finish making a home-made garment dummy that's an exact replica of my daughter, using duct tape, plastic bags, expanding insulating foam, a wooden dowel. and a tripod. I kid you not... After that, I will be teaching a karate class at the dojo.

He's a big boy. He can take care of himself. I'm not trying to be insulting, but he is an adult, and is responsible for his own body.

Hmmm. 50 miles. I've been spinning twice a week, which doesn't count, and I was sick for a week.

I burn between 500-600. I'm 53, and weigh 153 lbs.

Earlier this year I took a self defense course taught by some Navy SEALs. It was one of the hardest things I've ever done, especially the mental aspects of it. Now, whenever I'm in the middle of doing something hard, I say to myself "I finished that course, so I can easily do this!". It ALWAYS works for me. I think if you…

You will burn the same number of calories, but you are using your leg muscles in a different way. I suppose there might be a miniscule difference in muscle build-up, which technically could give you a longer lasting calorie burn, much like weight lifting. I suspect the difference is tiny.

Running on a treadmill is very different from running on a road. On a road, you are moving the weight of your body forward. On a treadmill, you're legs are keeping up with the belt, not moving your body. If you try both, you can feel the different muscles coming into play for each. Adding the incline mimics road running…

I have one of these at home: http://www.centurymartialarts.com/Training_Bags/Wavemaster/Original_Wavemaster.aspx I use it more for aerobic punching and kicking drills, because if I go full force with some kicks and punches, I'll knock it over. It's really the only training I do at home, except for an occasional kata. For…

Being hit with bare fists and feet.

Sometimes. I don't try to compete, though. Yesterday, a guy on the treadmill next to me ran 3 miles in 15 minutes...

I use an iPod Shuffle. It's tiny, weighs nothing, and I just turn it on and go. If you want to be able to scroll through a song list and selectively play things, then the Nano is probably a better choice.

Unless you've had extensive training in knife fighting, I wouldn't recommend depending on a knife to defend yourself. Unless you know what you're doing, somebody with something as trivial as a trash can lid (or whatever) could easily deflect your knife and take it away from you.