More to the point though, close-grip pull downs (the shapefit.com guys call them v-bar pull downs) target the mid-back area, and using a closer grip means working more of the inner muscles.  Wider grip targets the outer muscles (the guy in the gif is using an even wider v-bar than I was).  It’s good to go somewhat heavy with these too, and when bringing the bar down try to bring it right to the chest.  The amount of time needed to bring it down should be the same on the return, and doing these somewhat slower with good control is key.  Also, try not to let your arms do too much of the work.  They do some work of course, but if you concentrate on pulling from your mid-back then you’ll actually use that area in the movement.  But of course you’re thinking when doing all your exercises anyway, right :)

Image from shapefit.com

Forget it now …the clock has turned and shown its pace
while sleep impedes the answer that I seem to chase.

This makes me sad …”We’ve been blessed with natural resources…“  It’s a comment I overheard by a member of my parliament while on Rutherford’s 630 CHED radio program.  It seems he was upset with Obama’s recent decision to delay the XL pipeline.  From what I can gather, the boundaries that define Canada have been bestowed by some deity with abundant materials that we Canadians can exploit as we see fit.  Sweet, I love deities that play favorites …especially when they’re on my side.

This makes me relieved (click).  I don’t like pirates.  Water-logged or digital.  What I hate worse than pirates though are ‘artistic thieves’ – ones who steal creativity by limiting its growth.  Clay Shirky summed it up well in this recent Ted Talk: “The 20th Century was a great time to be a media company […] If you were making a TV show, it didn’t have to be better than the other TV shows of the day …it only had to be better than the two other shows that were on at the same time.“

This makes me laugh (click).  It seems someone’s been playing the old iPad switch-a-roo, and a few consumers have gotten a bag of clay instead of the real McCoy.  It’s not all that funny if you got one I suppose, but what I’m excited about is for those with time on their hands to throw together some videos/skits with Apple ‘fanboys‘ actually trying to use the product.  Clay iPhones will be the next big seller if I know my trends.

Finally, this makes me wonder… “To admit that our ancestors are bacteria is humbling.  It has disturbing implications.  Besides impugning human sovereignty over the rest of nature, it challenges our assumptions of individuality, uniqueness, and independence.  It even violates our view of ourselves as discrete physical beings separate from the rest of nature and – still more unsettling – questions the alleged uniqueness of human intelligent consciousness.” pg 32.  Dazzle Gradually by Lynn Margulis and Dorion Sagan.

...just one of our many blessings.

That’s what bothers me most about our Government’s ‘git er done’ approach concerning the export of Western oil.  It’s as if jobs, the economy, jobs and more jobs are the only factors worth considering.  That’s the appearance at least, especially if you glance through local media.  I appreciate the concern too of potentially affected communities and the damage a theoretical spill may have on them, but even that is somewhat short-sighted given the ‘earthly’ concerns that spread far beyond our boundaries.  Sure we may provide ‘safe’ oil, ‘secure’ oil and even ‘environmentally friendly’ oil (spin is a wonderful thing) …but for what purpose?  To use obviously.  To use, to generate more use, and to eventually come back to haunt us like a dark cloud might drift across an unprotectable boarder.  The bigger picture needs to be looked at, and I haven’t heard anyone locally suggest talking about it.  Aside from this article in today’s paper that is.  Lol, but I suppose I don’t get out much either.

Mike Robinson also mentioned a book by Thomas Berger – Northern Frontier, Northern Homeland: the Report of the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline Inquiry (1977).  I remember reading this back in one of my early University classes.  I completely forget the course (obviously an option of some sort) and I recall only the Native Canadian instructor and some discussion with my Dad (who worked for oil companies for most of his life) around some things the book had to say.  Again, I don’t recall what we talked about other than talking, but considering how damning the report was then to pipeline development, they probably weren’t the most uninteresting conversations.  But it is odd how, as Mike suggests, we’re still at the same place we were over 30 years ago.  I suppose the national economy isn’t something to write home about, foreign enterprise isn’t as uneventful as it once was and the general state of connectedness we share with other countries is only adding to our pile of concerns …which only makes the lure of easy oil money that much more appealing.

To state the obvious this planet isn’t getting any less crowded.  I don’t think it’s a matter of whether or not these pipelines will happen, but more the case of when they’ll happen.  And unfortunately, given our present concerns at least, I don’t think another 30 years is going to make a difference in how we handle them.  But here’s hoping.

Image from yukondigitallibrary.ca