What are you reading now?
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@horace said in What are you reading now?:
@aqua-letifer said in What are you reading now?:
No, always. My point was pragmatic, not scientific.
I agree that it's the best point to make.
For some reason the easiest sort of exercise for me to stick to is walking up hills. (I could stick with walking on flat surfaces too, but that is truly a waste of time.) It hurts, but not like running or cycling. I used to live on top of a big hill and did it every day for years. My weight stayed at a good spot for those years. Then I moved 20 miles away and without the hill, I stopped exercising, and gained many pounds. I've recently started driving back to the hill every day.
I love climbing. Absolutely love it. I also suck at it but I don't give a shit.
Climbing on a singlespeed is really fun. It really tests your balance in addition to being hard as hell. It's also taken me a very long time to actually enjoy it while hiking, but now I do. When you listen to your body and find the right pace that you can maintain, you can scramble up whole mountains in half a day, which I find incredibly cool.
EDIT
Just for goofs, I once made a fixie that I called an Up Bike: the gear ratio was thoroughly stupid but built for climbing up steep hills. But, it was a fixie, so when you're coasting at, say, 6 to 8 mph, the pedals are spinning far too fast for your legs to keep up, so I put BMX pegs on the front and rear wheels to give your feet some place to be.Going downhill on that thing, constantly putting pressure on your arms to hold you up—now that was a serious upper body workout. The first time I tried it my arms were shaking by the time I got down the hill.
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@horace said in What are you reading now?:
For some reason the easiest sort of exercise for me to stick to is walking up hills. (I could stick with walking on flat surfaces too, but that is truly a waste of time.) It hurts, but not like running or cycling.
That is a great workout. When I've been injured, walking on an incline on a treadmill is unbelievably good for cardio - and limits risk of injury.
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"OK, I've been tasked to join 6 other people on a ship to a backwater planet which might be invaded. One of them might be a spy.
But, before we arrive, each of us should tell us about his backstory."
A nice take on the Canturbury Tales.
Only about 10% into it, but it's engaging and fun.
"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08
The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.
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@horace said in What are you reading now?:
For some reason the easiest sort of exercise for me to stick to is walking up hills. (I could stick with walking on flat surfaces too, but that is truly a waste of time.)
Interesting that you say this - I just finished the book "How Upright Walking Made Us Human" and it noted in there that we are such efficient walkers that we do not burn much in calories doing it, but somehow there are multiple other benefits that are not so well understood.
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@george-k said in What are you reading now?:
"OK, I've been tasked to join 6 other people on a ship to a backwater planet which might be invaded. One of them might be a spy.
But, before we arrive, each of us should tell us about his backstory."
A nice take on the Canturbury Tales.
Only about 10% into it, but it's engaging and fun.
That's one of my favorite books. Didn't care for the sequels though.
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@horace said in What are you reading now?:
@george-k said in What are you reading now?:
That's one of my favorite books. Didn't care for the sequels though.
Thanks for the feedback!
Is this one of those "trilogy" books that doesn't finish the story? It really pisses me off when I "finish" a book, only to realize that I need to read another thousand pages to finish the story.
As I said, I've enjoyed the first bite of this book. Hopefully it'll end on a note in which I feel satisfied, but not driven to get the next one.
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@jon-nyc said in What are you reading now?:
Re-reading it, first read it maybe 25 years ago. Exceptional book, holds your attention for all 1250 pages.
Shirer was an American journalist assigned to Europe, lived in Paris and Berlin and Vienna. He became one of Edward R Morrow's guys.
So many casual first person references, not as the story itself, just as side notes. Two examples:
He was in Vienna during the Anschluss.
I had emerged from the subway at the Karlsplatz to find myself engulfed in a shouting, hysterical Nazi mob which was sweeping toward the Inner City. These contorted faces I had seen before, at the Nuremberg party rallies. They were yelling, “Sieg Heil! Sieg Heil! Heil Hitler! Heil Hitler! Hang Schuschnigg!
He was at Munich in September of 38, and describes Chamberlain and Hitler as their meeting ended:
The ice, however, had been broken, and as the meeting broke up at 1:30 A.M. the two men seemed, despite all that had happened, to be closer together personally than at any time since they had first met. I myself, from a vantage point twenty-five feet away in the porter’s booth, where I had set up a temporary broadcasting studio, watched them say their farewells near the door of the hotel. I was struck by their cordiality to each other. Schmidt took down the words which I could not hear: ...
And on and on. It's really gripping. You don't really notice the length, any more than you do in a series that's several seasons long. I mean, other than it takes a couple months to finish. lol
I just finished finished it today. 1711 pages. Though I did put it down for about a month right before September 1st, 1939.
Fantastic book. Definitely the kind you re-read every 10-15 years.
DON’T let them eat cake.
- RFK Jr -
Though next I need to pick up a lighter read.
Thinking of re-reading Bonfire of the Vanities.
DON’T let them eat cake.
- RFK Jr -
@horace said in What are you reading now?:
@george-k said in What are you reading now?:
"OK, I've been tasked to join 6 other people on a ship to a backwater planet which might be invaded. One of them might be a spy.
But, before we arrive, each of us should tell us about his backstory."
A nice take on the Canturbury Tales.
Only about 10% into it, but it's engaging and fun.
That's one of my favorite books. Didn't care for the sequels though.
I loved that book, too. The sequel I started wasn't very good.
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@george-k Ha.
DON’T let them eat cake.
- RFK Jr -
"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08
The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.
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@george-k said in What are you reading now?:
I LOVED Bonfire of The Vanities.
Me too! I heard a discussion of it recently that talked about how relevant it all still is decades later. Made me want to read it again. I’m pretty sure I’ve read it twice already.
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@horace said in What are you reading now?:
The best full body cycling workout is when you "plank":
Link to videoDoing it downhill is one thing, but the best plankers do it uphill.
Carbon aero wheels on a fixie? Silly.
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@jon-nyc said in What are you reading now?:
@george-k said in What are you reading now?:
I LOVED Bonfire of The Vanities.
Me too! I heard a discussion of it recently that talked about how relevant it all still is decades later. Made me want to read it again. I’m pretty sure I’ve read it twice already.
Sounds like the TNCR Book Club's choice for July is Bonfire of the Vanities.
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Project Hail Mary.
Andy WeirIf you liked The Martian you should really like this.
Loving it. Great summer vacation read.
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@bachophile Thanks, Bach. I've not redd The Martian; it's been on my semi-enthused reading list . . . the Look Inside looks great for this one. Love his lively style.
20,038 ratings, 4.5 average stars.
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