By TOM HOLLAND

The American series "30 Rock" has been airing in the U.K. for several years now, and most of it carries perfectly well across the pond. But comedy depends on context, and I was surely not alone among my countrymen in raising an eyebrow at one plot twist. Jack Donaghy, the fictional head of NBC (played by Alec Baldwin), decided to run the network into the ground and, to that end, scheduled a series of shows guaranteed to shed viewers. His great triumph was a concept so... Read full post

In taking a holistic approach to one's health and physical fitness, one has to look at diet. All the current data on healthy eating is pointing to what has been called "lean green" which refers to leaning in the direction of vegetables and away from a diet heavy in meat.  Many doctors are also promoting the recognition that our bodies are the healthiest when we are slightly alkaline in our food intake rather than acidic.  http://www.acidalkalinediet.com/Alkaline-Foods-Chart.htm... Read full post

Monday
Aero House (12:30pm) & Ultimate Conditioning (1pm) @ Crunch, Chelsea
Arms, Abs Assets @ NYHRC, 21st & Park
Just Dance @ NYHRC, 23rd & 6th
Tuesday
Functional Training (8:15am) & Cardio Sculpt (9am) @ Equinox, 63rd & Lex
Cardio Sculpt (5:15pm)  @ NYHRC, Cooper Sq. 
Ass & Abs (6pm) & Funk (6:30pm) @ Crunch, Lafayette & Astor Place
Wednesday
Step Challenge (12:15pm) @ NYHRC, Cooper Sq
Hardcore (6pm) & Arms, Abs, Assets (6:30pm) @ NYHRC,... Read full post

Just saw this great set of videos from a series orginally broadcast on the BBC in the 1980's, called the Way of the Warrior.  It features our school of karate, Goju Ryu, in the traditional Okinawan form.  'Karate' translated means 'the of the empty hand."  Hence this amazing fighting style...
Here are the links to the first four parts of the series. Each segment is about 10 minutes long and really interesting to watch, particularly the detail around sanchine kata in Part... Read full post

"On Thursday afternoon a small group of players led by Steve Fehr, the union’s special counsel, met for about an hour at the N.H.L. office in Midtown Manhattan to discuss penalties for teams caught hiding hockey-related revenue." [NY Times]  
This particular sentence caught my attention in reading through today's article about the potential of a 48 game schedule this season.  It is telling that such a discussion is even needed!  That owners would/could stoop so low as... Read full post

The New York Times states that "Bettman was hired 20 years ago Wednesday [today]. Since his first full season as the commissioner in 1993-94, 2,224 regular-season N.H.L. games have been canceled because of lockouts in 1994-95, 2004-5 and 2012. That is 9.7 percent [of all league games scheduled under his tenure]"! Incredible at best; intolerable at worst... 
20 years is a long time...  Boards of companies large and small, governments, and other institutions around the world all... Read full post

I can't believe that the International Sailing Federation would flip flop on such an important issue as replacing one Olympic sailing sport with another!  It was such exciting news six months ago when the ISAF confirmed the kiteboarding (sport of the future) would replace windsurfing (sport of the past) at the Rio Olympics.  However, apparently as a result of intense lobbying, yesterday the governing body reversed its decision and went back to the status quo...
Here is the link to... Read full post

Sitting in the comfort of my mom's living room in Nanaimo on Vancouver Island, far from the flooded, dark streets of New York, I watch the devastation on television like any other viewer from any other part of the world.  It is hard to believe that just 48 hours ago Ombretta and I were hurricane refugees living in our darkened, communications-less apartment with candles, flashlights and our fireplace to keep us in light and warmth.  Our cell phone batteries, along with those of our... Read full post

With very short notice, only 4 days in fact, Helene, Magnus and I jumped on a last minute holiday to Bitez (Bodrum) in Turkey. Unfortunately Emil couldn't make it since he was on a "Diamond Extreme" survival trip with the scouts.
With only very little time to research the destination we did not know what to expect - other than sun and warmth, and getting away, which is what we needed as a family.
We had a fantastic time, as I think the photos show! Great scenery, great weather, wonderful... Read full post

So this is the latest on the NHL owners play on the lockout: 
http://deadspin.com/5951872/inside-a-secret-nhl-focus-group-how-a-top-gop-strategist-is-helping-hockey-owners-craft-their-lockout-propaganda
  It's just NOT right!