Last Poster #6

[AngryHobbit]

Jokes aside, there are two things I'd adapted from my belly dancing and Barre training into regular life. One is the posture - I talk about it in another video. Now that we have so many more people working from home, I bet a lot of them do not have a well-arranged workspace, and their posture deteriorates. The belly dance starting posture - flat feet, soft knees, tucked-under pelvis, lifted chest, and rolled back shoulders - actually puts one into a constant state of standing plank. If you assume that posture and then just hold out your arms and land on the back of a chair or a wall - you'll see, you are in a plank, with your tummy tucked in and your back good and flat. I'd trained myself to hold that posture as much as possible, including just when out and about. Like, I might be at the grocery store and I remind myself to tuck my pelvis under. It helps develop that body discipline and maintain a good posture as much as possible.

The other thing is the ab strengthening. Because of my spinal defect, my back can absolutely not take conventional crunches. Just... no. So, the back-to-back roll-ups and rolldowns I show in the belly dancing video are the absolute best alternative I found to regular crunches. Try doing that for five minute - you can definitely feel it. Another alternative is offered by the ballet dancer Kathryn Morgan who has a fantastic YouTube channel with lots of workout videos. Her ab exercises do include getting down onto the floor but with the back cushioned - and she shows you where to cushion depending on whether you want to work your upper abs or your lower abs.

Considering dancers are remarkable athletes in their own right, I think it's worth looking into some of their technique for core strength, balance, posture, and limb control even if you are not going to go out and buy hip scarves and bracelets (although they are fabulous and one's life is really incomplete without them).

 

[granfire]

Jokes aside, there are two things I'd adapted from my belly dancing and Barre training into regular life. One is the posture - I talk about it in another video. Now that we have so many more people working from home, I bet a lot of them do not have a well-arranged workspace, and their posture deteriorates. The belly dance starting posture - flat feet, soft knees, tucked-under pelvis, lifted chest, and rolled back shoulders - actually puts one into a constant state of standing plank. If you assume that posture and then just hold out your arms and land on the back of a chair or a wall - you'll see, you are in a plank, with your tummy tucked in and your back good and flat. I'd trained myself to hold that posture as much as possible, including just when out and about. Like, I might be at the grocery store and I remind myself to tuck my pelvis under. It helps develop that body discipline and maintain a good posture as much as possible.

The other thing is the ab strengthening. Because of my spinal defect, my back can absolutely not take conventional crunches. Just... no. So, the back-to-back roll-ups and rolldowns I show in the belly dancing video are the absolute best alternative I found to regular crunches. Try doing that for five minute - you can definitely feel it. Another alternative is offered by the ballet dancer Kathryn Morgan who has a fantastic YouTube channel with lots of workout videos. Her ab exercises do include getting down onto the floor but with the back cushioned - and she shows you where to cushion depending on whether you want to work your upper abs or your lower abs.

Considering dancers are remarkable athletes in their own right, I think it's worth looking into some of their technique for core strength, balance, posture, and limb control even if you are not going to go out and buy hip scarves and bracelets (although they are fabulous and one's life is really incomplete without them).

A lesson I remember form one Balett teacher I had when I was a wee one:
Imagine you are a marionette and have a string coing out of your head which holds you up.
It helped me tremendously with balance when standing on one leg, kicking, or spinning.

 

[_Simon_]

I do, a buddy even has some growing on his property. We have a bootload of different coffees at the house. And friends on the mainland are always sending us new coffees they've found. A buddy just sent some Owls Howl. It's a tad weaker than I like, but okay for an afternoon quick cup....when you don't really feel like a cup of coffee.

I went into a local coffee store here several years ago for breakfast. While there, I asked the Barista what the best coffee he had was. He told me it was Jamaican Blue. It certainly was the most expensive. I bought a pound. Ended up throwing it away after a few cups.

It was the most pussy coffee I've ever had. You could drink a quart of it and go right to sleep. A friend told me it was probably the wrong blend. I replied that that was like saying you didn't eat the right kind of poop.

But I like Kona. What's your favorite coffee? And what's anybody's favorite coffees that are reading this?

Awesome... so lucky! Have never tried Kona before.. our local roaster gets them in green every now and then, but yes it's still quite pricey! One day.

Yesss Jamaican Blue is a bit of a gamble... surprisingly! Not only do you have to nail the roast, but it's gotta be from a good source that grew it well. It's become a very 'popular' high grade coffee, so people are always trying to palm it off no matter the quality, cos everyone thinks it's gotta be good. But yeah, there's definitely some good ones out there of it!

I roast at home like Steve, and recently tried one of my new ones I think I mentioned recently.. ah yep post #8263, Colombia El Mirador, a washed coffee that was just absolutely stunning... scored 87 with the SCA cupping, but was at a really decent price.

Usually my first time roasting a particular bean I don't quite nail as I'm still seeing how it reacts and how to best roast it, but this one just... worked. It is definitely up there with my favourites.. also tend towards Ethiopian varieties, Guji Sidamo (natural or washed), Harrar (natural), and Yirgacheffe (natural or washed).

But there's so much out there... recently roasted one from Cuba which was stunning.. and very different!

 

[_Simon_]

I have a few. There's one from Papua New Guinea that is my hands down favorite: Papua New Guinea Kainantu Sero. I order green beans online, and roast them at home, so I try coffee from a lot of places. This stuff makes terrific espresso.

I also really like Kona coffee, but it's pricey, even when you buy the beans unroasted.

Ah nice, I'll put that on my list to try . It's been a while since I've tried a PNG coffee, Wahgi AA was the last I roasted ages ago and that was delicious.

 

[_Simon_]

Actually, I can drink any coffee and go to sleep...use to work thrird shift in a hospital and I would have coffee at every nurse's station, go home in the morning, have a cup of coffee with breakfast, and go to bed.

I also like Kona, but there was a coffee I use to get that I was quite fond of that was a bit more acidic that Kona. Tanzania Peaberry. And I'm not making that name up either

Yyesss Tanzania Peaberry, been awhile but very fond memories of that one!

 

[_Simon_]

I’ve also been drinking a lot of Burundian coffee lately and really enjoying it.

Nice, some really great stuff coming out of Burundi...

Just roasted up some Uganda Bugisu A Grade (washed) and a Honduras Intibuca a week ago and finally time to taste now.. tend to rest mine about 7 days before trying them as a minimum.. how long do you let yours rest mate or are you a straight into the hopper kinda guy?

 

[Gerry Seymour]

I do, a buddy even has some growing on his property. We have a bootload of different coffees at the house. And friends on the mainland are always sending us new coffees they've found. A buddy just sent some Owls Howl. It's a tad weaker than I like, but okay for an afternoon quick cup....when you don't really feel like a cup of coffee.

I went into a local coffee store here several years ago for breakfast. While there, I asked the Barista what the best coffee he had was. He told me it was Jamaican Blue. It certainly was the most expensive. I bought a pound. Ended up throwing it away after a few cups.

It was the most pussy coffee I've ever had. You could drink a quart of it and go right to sleep. A friend told me it was probably the wrong blend. I replied that that was like saying you didn't eat the right kind of poop.

But I like Kona. What's your favorite coffee? And what's anybody's favorite coffees that are reading this?

I'm not much of an afficionado. I like coffee to have a strong flavor, which usually means a dark roast (yes, I know that means more of the flavor comes from the roast than the original coffee flavor). I brew it strong - it should look about like Guiness - then add a moderate to large amount of cream (or make a latte/café au lait), which is why I want that strong flavor at the start.

I don't like light roasts; they all feel watery to me, even a very fresh roast I had at a coffee shop that proudly roasted their own (and only did light roast).

 

[Gerry Seymour]

Fun coffee fact: roasting actually leeches caffeine out of the beans, so if you took the same beans and roasted one lighter and one darker, the dark roast would taste stronger, but the lighter roast would have more caffeine.

This is part of the reason I brew mine stronger than most folks. I prefer a dark roast, but still want my full allotment of caffeine. I got to drinking so much, I now brew half-caf to keep my caffeine intake reasonable (also helpful for the Hobbit's blood pressure, but that's secondary to my needs ).

 

[AngryHobbit]

A lesson I remember form one Balett teacher I had when I was a wee one:
Imagine you are a marionette and have a string coing out of your head which holds you up.
It helped me tremendously with balance when standing on one leg, kicking, or spinning.

That analogy is still used in ballet and in other dance training. It's such a good one - why change it, right?

Another good one specifically from belly dancing is lifting the hip with the side abs. We have this exercise where we just stand on one leg and move the other hip up and down, with the free foot not touching the floor. So you can't cheat - you can't push it up with the knee. The side abs are doing all the work. At the same time, you have to make sure your standing leg hip is not drifting out, you still have to maintain that posture.

If we translate this into martial arts - think how much easier side kicks would be if you used side abs to help out the leg as it goes up. And if your standing leg was just used to staying in place for whatever amount of time was necessary.

 

[Xue Sheng]

Well, day 4 of my ordered, voluntary, mandatory quarantine..

While scanning channels I just discovered Israeli Krav Maga on JLTV....looks good. "Real" Krav Maga I have always found interesting

 

[Steve]

Awesome... so lucky! Have never tried Kona before.. our local roaster gets them in green every now and then, but yes it's still quite pricey! One day.

Yesss Jamaican Blue is a bit of a gamble... surprisingly! Not only do you have to nail the roast, but it's gotta be from a good source that grew it well. It's become a very 'popular' high grade coffee, so people are always trying to palm it off no matter the quality, cos everyone thinks it's gotta be good. But yeah, there's definitely some good ones out there of it!

I roast at home like Steve, and recently tried one of my new ones I think I mentioned recently.. ah yep post #8263, Colombia El Mirador, a washed coffee that was just absolutely stunning... scored 87 with the SCA cupping, but was at a really decent price.

Usually my first time roasting a particular bean I don't quite nail as I'm still seeing how it reacts and how to best roast it, but this one just... worked. It is definitely up there with my favourites.. also tend towards Ethiopian varieties, Guji Sidamo (natural or washed), Harrar (natural), and Yirgacheffe (natural or washed).

But there's so much out there... recently roasted one from Cuba which was stunning.. and very different!

The variety is what got me into roasting my own, as you can usually purchase the green beans for 1/2 or less of what you'd pay for roasted beans. Yesterday afternoon, after the posts on this subject, I realized I needed to order some more coffee beans, because the shipping for everything is taking longer. I'm really excited. Ordered an Ethiopian dry process bean: Hambela Buku 13 Screen. Never tried it before, but have enjoyed the other beans from Ethiopia. Here's the description:

Ethiopia Dry Process Hambela Buku 13 Screen
Light roasts have a floral aroma, with allusions to dried strawberry and prune, tamarind paste, burdock root, anise and molasses. Rustic fruited notes like Harar with the delicate side of a Guji too. City to Full City. Wild espresso.

 

[Steve]

Nice, some really great stuff coming out of Burundi...

Just roasted up some Uganda Bugisu A Grade (washed) and a Honduras Intibuca a week ago and finally time to taste now.. tend to rest mine about 7 days before trying them as a minimum.. how long do you let yours rest mate or are you a straight into the hopper kinda guy?

Nope. I let them rest at least a week to off gas. I think they're best 2 to 4 weeks after roasting them.

But in a pinch, when I'm completely out... I'll use them right out of the roaster if I need to.

 

[Xue Sheng]

Well, I found an old bag of French roast coffee beans.....didn't know how old....now I am not a big fan of French Roast to begin with, but I can drink it....so I ground it all up, made a cup of coffee.....it was awful.....I am not out of French roast.....and I'm OK with that....currently drinking some generic Peruvian and its not bad....

 

[Steve]

Well, I found an old bag of French roast coffee beans.....didn't know how old....now I am not a big fan of French Roast to begin with, but I can drink it....so I ground it all up, made a cup of coffee.....it was awful.....I am not out of French roast.....and I'm OK with that....currently drinking some generic Peruvian and its not bad....

Any port in a storm. I'll drink a cup of Kirkland brand coffee out of the office Bunn machine, if that's all I have available.

 

[Buka]

In my buddy's yard...

You guys have me all psyched. Once I get back to work and have some cash, I'm going to have to order all the coffees being mentioned in this thread.

What a beautiful thing!

 

[AngryHobbit]

In my buddy's yard...

View attachment 22751

You guys have me all psyched. Once I get back to work and have some cash, I'm going to have to order all the coffees being mentioned in this thread.

What a beautiful thing!

Ohh, how lovely!

 

[Buka]

@Steve,

Thought I'd continue here so as to not muck up the other thread...
You said "
I don't know about other's on this forum, but I think you're one of the few who enjoys movies as much as I do.The Natural is a fantastic movie, but even when I saw it as a new release, I thought, "How old is Robert Redford supposed to be?"

I'm involved with a couple of fun projects. About a year ago a buddy proposed this to a couple of us fellow movie freaks.

"You're on a desert Island for one full year. You have all the amenities and comfort you could want, great food, nice shelter, everything, including a TV and DVD player. But the TV can get no stations. You can take fifty movies with you and watch them as often as you want. Just fifty. Not the movies you think are necessarily the best movies made, just the ones you enjoy watching the most. Name them"

It sounded so easy, so you start writing them down. But when you're a movie fan...movies just keep popping into your head "Oh, heck, can't forget that one, and what about this one etc etc." And as you write them down they remind you of others.

We've been working on this, in spare time of course, for almost a year. My list is finally whittled down to about a hundred right now. It's going to be a beech cutting it down more.

Then, just when this pandemic started, a couple different guys contacted me with "name your ten favorite sports movies." I said I wouldn't play unless it was twenty. We compromised with fifteen. I figured I was golden because I already had that other list from the island scenario. But that was not the case.

Field of Dreams is definitely on the list. I think. This, too, has become far more difficult than I thought.
I'm pretty f'n screwed.

But, man, Keven Costner sure has made some fabulous sports movies.

 

[Steve]

@Steve,

Thought I'd continue here so as to not muck up the other thread...
You said "
I don't know about other's on this forum, but I think you're one of the few who enjoys movies as much as I do.The Natural is a fantastic movie, but even when I saw it as a new release, I thought, "How old is Robert Redford supposed to be?"

I'm involved with a couple of fun projects. About a year ago a buddy proposed this to a couple of us fellow movie freaks.

"You're on a desert Island for one full year. You have all the amenities and comfort you could want, great food, nice shelter, everything, including a TV and DVD player. But the TV can get no stations. You can take fifty movies with you and watch them as often as you want. Just fifty. Not the movies you think are necessarily the best movies made, just the ones you enjoy watching the most. Name them"

It sounded so easy, so you start writing them down. But when you're a movie fan...movies just keep popping into your head "Oh, heck, can't forget that one, and what about this one etc etc." And as you write them down they remind you of others.

We've been working on this, in spare time of course, for almost a year. My list is finally whittled down to about a hundred right now. It's going to be a beech cutting it down more.

Then, just when this pandemic started, a couple different guys contacted me with "name your ten favorite sports movies." I said I wouldn't play unless it was twenty. We compromised with fifteen. I figured I was golden because I already had that other list from the island scenario. But that was not the case.

Field of Dreams is definitely on the list. I think. This, too, has become far more difficult than I thought.
I'm pretty f'n screwed.

But, man, Keven Costner sure has made some fabulous sports movies.

I'll have to take a stab at both of these.

 

[Buka]

I'll have to take a stab at both of these.

It’s fun. And it’s not like we don’t have the time. Although I sure did enjoy doing it at work.

 

[Steve]

It’s fun. And it’s not like we don’t have the time. Although I sure did enjoy doing it at work.

Unfortunately, I'm working more now than I would normally work.