A Commonplace Book

[mynameisben]

Cut 'n Paste never looked so overdone.

 

[trysail]

http://www.webmd.com/heart-disease/tc/aortic-valve-regurgitation-cause

 

[trysail]

N.B., Kindly forgive my inevitable errors of spelling and punctuation— this is a lot of typing and I don't feel like spending three hours proof-reading it.
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This is an ( admittedly ) eclectic and mixed list of symphonies, concertos, ballet scores and operas. I had to compose its analogue once upon a time to prevent myself from inadvertently purchasing multiple copies of stuff I already owned. Any list is going to betray the preferences of its compiler; it's obvious that I have an affinity for the Romantic orchestral composers, the Italian operas, the Russians and the incomparable Beethoven. I've got no problem with J.S. Bach— I'd rather hear him fart than any of the noise that goes by the name "rap" ; unfortunately, he ( and the Schuberts and the Hadyns and the "Baroques" ) just doesn't set my soul afire.


Richard Wagner
Das Rheingold
Die Valkyrie
Siegfried
Gotterdamerung

Giuseppe Verdi
Rigoletto
Requiem
La Traviata
Aida

Georges Bizet
Carmen

Giacomo Puccini
Tosca
Madama Butterfly
La Boheme

Richard Strauss
Salome
Also Sprach Zarathustra

Bedřich Smetana
Má vlast ( contains "The Moldau" )

Antonín Dvořák
Slavonic Dances
Symphony #9 in E minor ( the "New World Symphony" )

Edvard Grieg
Peer Gynt suite ( contains "In The Hall of The Mountain King" )

Ralph Vaughn Williams
Symphonie Antarctica
Fantasia
A Sea Symphony

Igor Stravinsky
Firebird Suite
Petrushka
Rite of Spring

Ottorino Resphigi
The Pines of Rome
The Fountains of Rome

Jan Sibelius
Finlandia

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Eine Kleine Nachtmusik

Gustav Holst
The Planets

Maurice Ravel
Daphne & Chloe
Bolero

Claude Debussy
La Mer
Afternoon Of A Fawn

Aaron Copland
Appalachian Spring
Rodeo
Fanfare For The Common Man
Billy The Kid Suite

Johanne Strauss
The Danube

Leoš Janáček
Sinfonietta
Taurus Bulba

Manuel de Falla
The Three Cornered Hat

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
Scheherazade
Capriccio Espagnol

Dmitri Shostakovich
Symphony #1
Symphony #7
Symphony #9

Sergei Prokofiev
Peter and The Wolf
Symphony #6 "Classique"

Gustav Mahler
Symphony #5

Aram Khachaturian
Gayane ( contains "Sabre Dance" )

Aleksandr Borodin
Prince Igor ( contains "Polovtsian Dances" )

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
1812 Overture
Nutcracker Suite
Swan Lake

Johann Sebastian Bach
The Brandenburg Concertos

George Frideric Handel
Water Musik

and last— but hardly least— the immortal

Ludwig van Beethoven
Bagatelle ( poco moto ) in A minor ( "Für Elise" )
Piano Sonata No. 8 ( "Pathetique" )
Piano Sonata No. 14 ( "Mondschein" )
Piano Sonata No. 23 ( "Appasionata" )
Symphony #3 ( "Eroica" )
Symphony #5
Symphony #7
Symphony #9 ( "The Choral Symphony," possibly the most magnificent piece of music ever composed. If the 4th movement doesn't make your pulse race, check to see if you've got one ).

 

[trysail]

Every time I read some deluded wizard's predictions of the future, I start laughing. Forecasts of the direction of the stock market, interest rates, petroleum prices or damn near anything else should be laughed at. Nobody can predict these things with any accuracy; only fools believe otherwise.

Rules For Forecasting


• Make lots and lots of predictions; the law of averages says some of them will actually turn out to be right.

• If you ever happen to be right about something, don't ever let anybody forget it.

• When forecasting provide either a number or a date— but never both.

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An excerpt from:
Fiedler's Forecasting Rules

#1 The First Law of Forecasting: Forecasting is very difficult, especially if it's about the future.

#2 For this reason: He who lives by the crystal ball soon learns to eat ground glass.

#3 Similarly: The moment you forecast you know you're going to be wrong, you just don't know when and in what direction...

*****​

#8 Correspondingly: If a camel is a horse designed by a committee, then a consensus forecast is a camel's behind.



As listed in The Official Rules by Paul Dickson. New York, NY, 1981.





​

 

[trysail]

CAMP​

They were the happiest, most carefree days of my life. Whether it was riflery or archery or sailing or swimming or water-skiing or turning a block of wood on a lathe**, it was all glorious fun. As long as I live, I will never forget the pungent and delicious smell of balsam or the sedative of loons calling across a glassy lake or the deep refreshing sleep of a blanket-cool July night.

The trips could be arduous but they provided a tremendous sense of accomplishment.

I distinctly recall my first experience above the treeline and how cool, clean and crisp the air felt after emerging from the claustrophobia-inducing mud, mosquitoes and humidity of the forest. The craziest among us went swimming in snow-melt ponds. I remember reading the sign at the base of a mountain advising climbers to exercise good judgment and relating that hundreds of people had died on it due to exposure and hypothermia. Mid-day lunches comprised of SPAM™-topped ( I kid you not ) saltines and cheese were eagerly awaited and happily wolfed down.

I recall struggling toward the summit whilst enshrouded in the midst of a cloud bank and howling winds that threatened to capsize my 95 pound frame burdened with its 30-pound pack.

The sight of the canoe we unintentionally destroyed by getting caught against a rock in the rapids will be forever seared in my mind. It was an object lesson in the tremendous force exerted by flowing water. The portages were occasionally "character building" as we struggled with the problem of how best to move those classic sixty pound Grumman alumnium canoes over varying distances through mud and mosquito-infested woods. Those damn things sure could cause intense pain after several minutes bouncing about on the top of our shoulders.

Blissful sunny afternoons were spent paddling and sailing our canoes across the lake to the evening's destination. When the wind was right, we'd jury-rig a spar made of paddles and afix ponchos as makeshift sails. With the right combination, we'd surf downwind 'cross a lake without lifting so much as a finger. What days those were! Ne'er other souls in sight with the pine forest shores extending as far as the eye could see beyond the sparkling diamonds of lake-reflected sun.

There was the time we traipsed into the isolated and tiny town by following the railroad tracks that were close by that night's campsite. After a rare treat of somebody else's cooking at a seasonal diner in town, we were absolutely unable to locate our campsite in the dark. After stumbling back to town, the enormously embarrassed counselors were forced to place a collect call back to the home camp to request permission to house us in the town's ramshackle hotel for the night.

The eating occasioned by the bottomless appetites resulting from full days of paddling or mountain climbing was astonishing. I will never forget the morning I ate fifty ( 50 ) pancakes hot off the griddle. 'Twas where I learned to handle a Sven saw and an axe; it was a simple proposition— no firewood, no food.

There was tetherball and badminton and basketball and ping pong games while waiting for the dinner bell to ring. There were the mad pranks. One night, the twenty of us in our cabin arose at 3:00 in the night in order to hide and misplace every single item of loose equipment in the home camp. When 7:00 came, there was no bell that could be found to rouse the camp, there were no tables, no chairs, no balls, no silverware, no kitchen equipment and no plates. The administrators were forced to grant blanket immunity in return for restoration of the facilities.

... the maddest, damndest, gladdest existence ever known to mortal youth.
-H. L. Mencken

​

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** One has to wonder if it is even possible to expose kids to this sort of thing in these days when the threat of litigation is ever present. The thought of all those knives, axes, saws, lathes and guns in the hands of boys between 8 and 14 years old is the kind of stuff that would have shysters rubbing their hands together in eager anticipation.










_______________________________

I used to see them as kids; now I see them as little primates playing at war and establishing a pecking order among themselves. They are, of course, oblivious to that fact.

For millions of years, it was the brute that prevailed. With the transformation of the culture from that of migratory herders to pastoral settlement to urbanisation and technology, it was the Machiavellian who came to prevail.

Before we became a society of transients, the traveling salesman was rightfully discounted and never trusted.

Prior to massive urbanisation and transiency, societies knew who could be trusted. It was widely known who was idle or perpetually gullible or ambitious or sharp or sailed close to the wind. They knew who was wise and patient and possessed of good judgment. It was urbanisation that enabled the ascent of itinerant swindlers, demagogues and Machiavellians.



​

__________________________

November 14, 1981 18.0 miles
November 29, 1981 26.2 miles
September 28, 2014 13.1 miles
October 2, 2016 13.1 miles
October 1, 2017 13.1 miles
October 7, 2018 13.1 miles

 

[trysail]

• 25 minutes on the elliptical "Cross Trainer," Level 12, 3.65 miles, maximum pulse 151 (RPMs @ ~61 ) [ new P.B. 5/2/11 ]
  3.67 miles { 23 minutes at Level 12 with 2-minute cool-down at Level 2 } [ new P.B. 4/7/10 ]

__________________________________

• Monday 9/27/10...............25 minutes@ Level 12...................................3.42 miles ( full session, 171 pounds )
• Wednesday 9/29/10..........10 minutes@ Level 12 ( abbreviated session to lift weights )
• Monday 10/4/10...............23 minutes@ Level 12 + 2 minutes@ Level 6.....3.33 miles ( otherwise, full session— 9:45 for 2,000 meters, 169 pounds )
• Wednesday 10/13/10..........8 minutes@ Level 12 + 2 minutes@ Level 6.....1.31 miles ( otherwise, full session— 9:45 for 2,000 meters, 167 pounds )
• Wednesday 10/20/10........25 minutes@ Level 12...................................3.35 miles ( full session, 170 pounds )
• Sunday 10/24/10....................................... Run 3.23 miles
• Wednesday 10/27/10........25 minutes@ Level 12...................................3.45 miles ( full session— 10:05 for 2,000 meters, maximum pulse 150, 170 pounds, elapsed time 1:05 )
• Monday 11/8/10...............25 minutes@ Level 12...................................3.40 miles ( full session— 10:05 for 2,000 meters, maximum pulse 157, 169½ pounds, elapsed time 1:10 )
• Saturday 11/13/10..................................... Run 3.23 miles
• Monday 11/15/10.............25 minutes@ Level 12...................................3.41 miles ( full session— 9:51 for 2,000 meters, maximum pulse 147, 170+ pounds, elapsed time 1:10 )
• Saturday 11/20/10...................................... Run 3.23 miles
• Monday 11/22/10........................................ Run 3.23 miles
• Wednesday 11/24/10........25 minutes@ Level 12...................................3.49 miles ( full session— 9:41 for 2,000 meters, maximum pulse 151, 172 pounds, elapsed time 1:05 )
• Monday 11/29/10.............35:45 minutes to run 3.25 miles on treadmill................... ( upper body session— 9:40 for 2,000 meters, 168 pounds, elapsed time 1:15 )
• Monday 12/6/10...............15 minutes@ Level 12..............................pace too fast ( otherwise, full session— 9:43 for 2,000 meters )
• Monday 12/13/10.............25 minutes@ Level 12....................................3.42 miles ( full session— 9:46 for 2,000 meters, maximum pulse 154, 170 pounds, elapsed time 1:10 )
• Wednesday 12/15/10........25 minutes@ Level 12....................................3.50 miles ( full session— 9:22 for 2,000 meters, maximum pulse 144, 170+ pounds, elaspsed time 1:10 )
• Wednesday 12/29/10.........5 minutes@ Level 2...( knee problems )..........................( abbreviated session, upper body only— 9:20 for 2,000 meters, 171 pounds, elapsed time 0:40 )
• Monday 1/17/11..............15 minutes@ Level 12..(knee & pacing ).............1.72 miles ( full session otherwise— 9:20 for 2,000 meters, 169+ pounds, elapsed time 1:10 )
• Monday 1/24/11..............25 minutes@ Level 12.....................................3.53 miles ( full session— 9:57 for 2,000 meters, maximum pulse 160, 171+ pounds, elapsed time 1:15 )
• Wednesday 1/26/11.........17:30 minutes@ Level 12...( pace & Monday ).....2.54 miles ( full session— 9:51 for 2,000 meters, maximum pulse 160, 169+ pounds, elapsed time 1:20 )
• Sunday 1/30/11...............35:40 minutes to run 3.08 miles on treadmill......................( 169 pounds )
• Tuesday 2/1/11........................... ( three sets of tennis ) ....................................( abbreviated session, upper body only— 9:15 for 2,000 meters, 171 pounds, elapsed time 0:35 )
• Wednesday 2/2/11...........22:39 minutes@ Level 12...( pace ) ..................3.05 miles ( full session— 9:50 for 2,000 meters, maximum pulse 152, 170 pounds, elapsed time 1:15 )
• Monday 2/7/11................25 minutes@ Level 12.....................................3.42 miles ( full session— 10:06 for 2,000 meters, maximum pulse 156, 170 pounds, elapsed time 1:10 )
• Monday 2/14/11..............25 minutes@ Level 12......................................3.39 miles ( full session— 9:49 for 2,000 meters, maximum pulse 156, 169+ pounds, elapsed time 1:10 )
• Wednesday 2/16/11..........de minimus.................................................................( upper body session only— 9:01 for 2,000 meters, 170 pounds, elapsed time 0:30 )
• Monday 2/21/11..............25 minutes@ Level 12......................................3.52 miles ( full session— 9:51 for 2,000 meters, maximum pulse 154, 169 pounds, elapsed time 1:05 )
• Tuesday 2/22/11.............33:55 minutes to run 3.05 miles on treadmill.......................( upper body session— 9:51 for 2,000 meters, 168½ pounds, elapsed time 1:05 )
• Monday 2/28/11..............25 minutes@ Level 12......................................3.53 miles ( full session— 9:56 for 2,000 meters, maximum pulse 157, 171 pounds, elapsed time 1:10 )
• Sunday 3/6/11................28:34 to run 2.70 miles on treadmill...................................( upper body session— 9:15 for 2,000 meters, 169 pounds, elapsed time 1:05 )
• Monday 3/14/11..............25 minutes@ Level 12......................................3.45 miles ( full session— 10:10 for 2,000 meters, maximum pulse 153, 169+ pounds, elapsed time 1:05 )
• Wednesday 3/16/11.........25 minutes@ Level 8...(Schwinn machine).............2.5 miles ( full session— 9:40 for 2,000 meters, maximum pulse 134, 170 pounds, elapsed time 1:00 )
• Sunday 3/20/11..............30 minutes to run 2.68 miles on treadmill............................( 169 pounds )
• Wednesday 3/23/11.........de minimus..................................................................( upper body session only— 9:40 for 2,000 meters, 172 pounds, elapsed time 0:40 )
• Wednesday 3/30/11.........25 minutes@ Level 12......................................3.53 miles ( full session— 10:17 for 2,000 meters, maximum pulse 153, 171 pounds, elapsed time 1:18 )
• Monday 4/4/11.......................................... Run 3.23 miles
• Wednesday 4/6/11...........25 minutes@ Level 12......................................3.59 miles ( full session— 9:52 for 2,000 meters, maximum pulse 151, 170 pounds, elapsed time 1:19 )
• Monday 4/11/11........................................ Run 3.23 miles in 36:51...................................( upper body session— 10:09 for 2,000 meters, 170+ pounds, elapsed time 0:35 )
• Wedneday 4/20/11.................................... Run 3.23 miles
• Sunday 4/24/11.........................................First bike ride of the year.....................( ~1:00, 8 miles )
• Monday 4/25/11........................................ Run 3.23 miles in 36:04.......................( 165+ pounds )
• Monday 5/2/11................25 minutes@ Level 12.......................................3.65 miles ( full session— 10:00 for 2,000 meters, maximum pulse 151, 169½ pounds, elapsed time 1:20 )
• Sunday 5/8/11................25 minutes@ Level 12.......................................3.58 miles ( abbreviated upper body session only, maximum pulse 148, 167 pounds, elapsed time 0:45... walk 3.26 miles )
• Thursday 5/12/11...................................... Run 3.23 miles in 34:17
• Sunday 5/15/11.........................................Bike ride of roughly 20 miles........................( 2½ hours to old house )
• Monday 5/16/11........................................ Run 3.26 miles in 38:04............................. ( Cold Spring..../time inaccurate due to stopwatch )
• Tuesday 5/17/11..............5 minutes@ Level 12 warmup.............................0.71 miles ( full session— 9:56 for 2,000 meters, 169 pounds, elapsed time 1:00 )
• Thursday 5/19/11..........18:22 minutes to run 1.75 miles on treadmill..........................( 168 pounds )
• Tuesday 5/24/11.............5 minutes@ Level 12 warmup..............................0.75 miles ( full session— 9:29 for 2,000 meters, maximum pulse 144, 167+ pounds, elapsed time 0:50 )
• Thursday 5/26/11...................................... Run 3.23 miles in 34:54.........................( 166+ pounds, first summer-like run: 91°, 62% humidity )
• Monday 5/30/11........................................ Run 3.26 miles in 36:58.........................( Memorial Day triathalon— bicycle 8 miles, swim 15 laps, 91°, 55% humidity )
• Tuesday 5/31/11..............5 minutes@ Level 12 warmup.............................0.69 miles ( full session— 10:21 for 2,000 meters, 167+ pounds, elapsed time 0:55 )
• Tuesday 6/7/11.......Bicycle 30.5 miles from Whitehall to Glen Rock and return in 3:26.....( 166½ pounds, average 8.88 MPH )
• Thursday 6/9/11....................................... Run 3.23 miles......................................( it's a mere 98° outside, followed by 15 minutes worth of swimming )
• Tuesday 6/14/11....................................... Run 3.23 miles
• Saturday 6/18/11...................................... Run 3.23 miles in 33:15..............best time so far this year
• Tuesday 6/21/11....................................... Run 3.23 miles
• Saturday 6/25/11...................................... Run 3.26 miles in 35:13
• Monday 6/27/11........................................ Run 3.23 miles......................................5,324 strides
• Thursday 6/30/11..................Bicycle 21.6 miles in 1:43...........................................( White Hall-Ashland, flying— average speed: 12.6 MPH )
• Sunday 7/3/11..................... Two sets of singles tennis ( R.V.— 6-7, 6-4 ).................( 90° and 60% humidity takes a lot of stamina for 2 hours at midday )
• Monday 7/11/11........................................ Run 2.23 miles, walk 1.00 miles................8,021 strides, 3.78 miles ( 92° and 60% humidity)
• Thursday 7/14/11...................................... Run 3.23 miles in 33:21..........................7,718 strides, 3.68 miles
• Sunday 7/17/11........................................ Run 5.0 miles........................................Through First Landing, part of triathlon ( swim & ride 7 miles )
• Tuesday 7/19/11....................................... Run 2.3 miles........................................Through the swamp
• Wednesday 7/20/11....................................Bike 15.1 miles......................................Three circuits of 64th plus "Hank"
• Thursday 7/21/11...................................... Run 3.0 miles........................................98° and 70% humidity, no shade ( 2/3rds triathlon with swim and dolphins )
• Friday 7/22/11...........................................Bike 13.1 miles......................................Three circuits of 64th plus 2 miles on Cape Henry plus swim
• Thursday 7/28/11...................................... Run 3.23 miles in 34:02...........................(and a bee sting! )...followed by a nice swim
• Sunday 7/31/11.........................................Walk 3.12 (?) miles.................................6,609 strides in 1:00:00 (long strides?)
• Monday 8/1/11..................... Two sets of singles tennis ( WFR— 6-4, 6-1 )..................Easy
• Tuesday 8/2/11......................................... Run 3.23 miles in 33:37...........................Swim 20 minutes
• Friday, 8/5/11........................................... Run 3.23 miles
• Monday 8/8/11......................36 games of doubles tennis and a 3rd place finish- N.H.
• Thursday 8/11/11...................................... Run a timed 5K ( 3.107 miles @ 0.62 miles/km ) in 29:11— 6th place behind the teenagers and a sub-10 minute mile pace ( my best time in a long time— by far )
• Monday 8/15/11........................................ Run 3.26 miles in 36:24
• Wednesday 8/17/11....................................23 games of doubles
• Thursday 8/18/11................................................................................................. 159 pounds
• Friday 8/19/11............................................4 sets of doubles ( won 'em all )
• Sunday 8/21/11.................... Two sets of singles tennis ( R.V.— 6-4, 7-5 )...................9,650 strides, 4.55 miles at 2½' per stride, 2 hours, 85°, 82% humidity
• Tuesday 8/23/11....................................... Run 3.23 miles
• Thursday 8/25/11...................................... Run 3.23 miles
• Friday 8/26/11...........................................3 sets of doubles ( off to secure the vessel from Irene )
• Sunday 8/28/11.........................................Walk 3.26 miles and bicycle reconnoitering of the hurricane damage
• Monday 8/29/11........................................ Run 3.23 miles in 37:26 through all the hurricane debris
• Thursday 9/1/11........................................ Run 3.26 miles
• Friday 9/2/11.............................................4 sets of doubles
• Sunday 9/4/11.......................................... Run 3.23 miles in 33:56 (still slowed by Irene debris), bike 6 miles (Trysail's Labor Day triathlon)
• Monday 9/5/11...........................................3 sets of doubles
• Wednesday 9/7/11......................................2 sets of doubles, 2 sets of singles.............162 pounds

New Year, new post: http://forum.literotica.com/showpost.php?p=38607474&postcount=259

• 25 minutes on the elliptical "Cross Trainer," Level 12, 3.65 miles, maximum pulse 151 (RPMs @ ~61 ) [ new P.B. 5/2/11 ]
  3.67 miles { 23 minutes at Level 12 with 2-minute cool-down at Level 2 } [ new P.B. 4/7/10 ]
• 15 reps lifting 100 pounds on the lat bar
• 15 reps of knee curls lifting 70 pounds
• 15 reps bench pressing 90 pounds
• 15 reps lifting 90 pounds on the lat bar
• 15 reps of knee curls lifting 70 pounds
• 15 reps bench pressing 90 pounds
• 15 overhand arm curls of 40 pounds
• 15 underhand arm curls of 40 pounds
• 25 reps of 110 pounds of overhead shoulder presses
• 1 minute of outstretched arms holding 5 pounds in each hand outstretched horizontally
• 75 crunches holding 10 pounds on chest
• 2,000 meters of rowing in 9 minutes, 30 seconds
• 5 minutes on the elliptical "Cross Trainer," alternating forward and reverse motion, Level 2, 0.60 miles

Total elapsed time: 58 minutes


__________________________
It is amazing; when I was a kid I could do sit-ups all day long. I'd rip off 100 without even stopping to think about it; other people were impressed— I was merely surprised that they were impressed. Today..., it's a little bit of a struggle to do 75 crunches with 10 pounds sitting on my chest. When on the elliptical, I inevitably end up reflecting on the fact that no matter how fast I go I'm still going to end up spending a fixed amount of time in hell— that contrasts with running where I always console myself with the thought that the faster I run, the sooner it's over. At least the rowing machine enables that incentive.



http://forum.literotica.com/showthread.php?p=32848727&highlight=elliptical#post32848727
http://forum.literotica.com/showpost.php?p=28145289&postcount=51