Not a bad book, but if you’re looking for a serious and deep cultural history of the Alpes, or the mountain areas of Europe in general, this is probably not what you’re looking for.
The Laughter of Monarchs (a brief quote from Mark Twain)
Twain had a low opinion of monarchs and a lower opinion of Americans who sought aristocratic titles.
A Dwarf’s Life in Sixteenth-Century Geneva
We don’t have much detail on the life of the dwarf, Michel Die, but one can’t help but notice the concern that he be treated “humanely,” suggesting that outcome was very much in doubt.
John Muir, Antoine Saunier and the Perception of Mountains in Past Times
John Muir spent his first winter as a shepherd on the plains of the Central Valley. His comments merit some comparison with Antoine Saunier’s description of Geneva in his 1538 prospectus for the Genevan school. Taken together, we have a sense of how the perception of mountains changed in the 300 years between Saunier and Muir and has changed again since Muir’s day.
EPA and DHA for vegetarians (Omega-3 Fatty Acids)
Everyone is talking about Omega-3s, but few people talk about the *variety* of Omega-3s and what that means for vegetarians. Short answer, you need EPA and DHA and algae-based capsules are the only vegetarian way to get significant quantities. That’s the same source fish use… but without all the mercury and overfishing.
Locating Strange Characters in Word Documents with Regular Expressions
Sometimes a Word document you get from someone else will have some strange characters that do not render correctly, either due to missing fonts or incompatible character encoding. Here’s how to find them and get rid of them.
New Rules of Lifting for Abs, by Lou Schuler and Alwyn Cosgrove (review)
This is one of my favorite fitness books ever. Not only is it well-researched and informative, it’s well-written and funny. Not convinced? Read the review…..
What’s Your Real Workout Goal?
Most people are just trying to feel a little less guilty. The shame is, they are doing the most ineffective workouts possible — not enough intensity to get the benefits from a short, intense workout, but not enough volume to get the benefits of an endurance workout. They are in the sour spot. But it’s not complicated to come up with something bette.
Lift Weights Slowly for Good Gains with Less Risk
How fast should you move the iron when you’re weightlifting? You can find experts suggesting everything from explosive movement to very slow movement. Years ago, a famous bodybuilder, whose name escapes me at the moment, was a huge proponent of slow lifting, but as is often the case, these assertions were just anecdotal rather than based […]
The Three Commandements of Claude Paccard
Claude Paccard’s idiosyncratic version of the Three Commandments