RickInOz

A couple of years ago we decided that Rupert Murdoch wasn’t rich enough so upgraded our subscription to a package that allows us to record television. Very handy you might think; and you’d be right. It’s great being able to record shows that would otherwise be missed.

Unfortunately the good folks at Channel Nine are clearly somewhat jealous, so in an attempt to sabotage our planning, they run their schedule late every day. But Rupert didn’t get to be one of the wealthiest media magnates in Australia without learning a trick or two. His company has provided settings to allow the recording to extend beyond the prescribed broadcast period thus providing some insurance against 9′s sloppy time-keeping.

Our sense of smugness was scuppered by 9 upping the ante by slipping so far behind that our 10 minute overrun allowance wasn’t enough. I’m sure you can imagine our frustration when a programme abruptly ends just before the dénouement.

It would be nice to think this was an isolated occurrence. But unfortunately not as the network routinely runs progressively later and later during the day so they can cram in as much advertising as possible. At night, they catch up again due to the reduced demand for advertising timeslots. An astute display of revenue maximisation but frustrating for their viewers. Yet there is no restriction, regulation or legislative clause obliging them to stay on time. So the rot continues and, as a result, they are complained about and to. All in vain as little change has been effected.

This is symptomatic of a wider problem …. namely that of the absolution of individual responsibility. No problem can be blamed on the person any longer. Rather we say it’s society’s fault. Or that the system failed. The list of excuses I’ve heard is endless and arbitrary. Perhaps only a matter of time before the phase of the moon will be considered acceptable grounds for misdemeanour. Whatever happened to the concept that people should be held responsible for their actions.

When I was a kid (and no, this is not one of those “back in the good old days” onion stories) if we screwed around we got a smack. Pretty quickly you worked out the meaning of the word consequence. But in this era of the oppressive nanny-state, any parent who dares to discipline their offspring is vilified as a child-abuser. Naturally I’m not advocating physical violence but wish there was some stick with the carrot. Otherwise, what incentive or, more importantly, disincentive is there for poor performance? And what brake on an atrophy in standards?

Maybe the situation would be resolved if only I could put the Chief Executive of Channel 9 over my knee … metaphorically at least.

As those of you with proboscidean memories will recall that I have been working steadily, albeit inconsistently, on a clinical trial on the use of potassium infusions on the intensive care unit.

At long last we have reached the write-up stage and a manuscript is now in draft form undergoing revisions. It will be some weeks, or maybe even months, before it will reach a publishable state. But at least this now represents some forward progress. Many times I have wondered if it would simply stall and leave me with an academic folly.

If subsequent appearance in print does occur, this will help boost my research credentials at a time when our department is trying to pull its weight as a functional unit of the university. We have great hopes that once expanded and better resourced, we will be able to raise our reputation both locally and internationally. Then I may be able to actually justify the positions the university has bestowed.

While all of this is ongoing, I’m still in the middle of my Masters and having to complete half a dozen assignments a semester, not to mention the 3 hour exams too. The saying is supposed to go “if you want something done, give the task to a busy person” but I reckon my in-tray is sufficiently overflowing at the moment. All of the mental exertion will pay off eventually but it’s hard yards time currently.

So this blog will slow to a bit of a trickle …. well it already has. I think the prolific posting rate of the first couple of years will not return. But hopefully in its place, while rarer, the posts will be off quality and interest. Well, to me at least … and as long as this site remains a benign dictatorship. Speaking of which, after watching “Question Time” in the federal parliament last week, I’m convinced that democracy is fundamentally flawed. A bunch of 10 year old would have been embarrassed.

Best wishes from the Gold Coast. It would be nice to think I’m here on pleasure but sadly not. In an attempt to stay abreast of medical advances and keep my MOPS points up, I’m learning yet more tricks and skills with ultrasound.

This is only one of quite a few trips around the country on business this year as I’ve already been up to the Gold Coast this year, then will be going to Canberra and possibly even Melbourne too. All of which comes as quite a contrast from the hermit years as a pre-exam registrar. Talking to colleagues, this seems the way of modern medicine in Australia as few cities have the resources to provide all of the required teaching and conference opportunities.

The upshot for the individual is the chance to earn some extra airmiles and see different parts of the country. But right now I’m still in the amateur leagues. The next stage is to find some international conferences or meetings to attend. Those provide a great excuse for foreign travel under the guise of professional development. Little wonder that such events are invariably held in rather nice bits of the world. For example, the US critical care society meeting last year was held in Waikiki.

It’s a hard life!

Welcome to my review of the latest release – BodyPump 77. I’ve been out for the past couple of months with a back injury, but made sure to get into the studio for the launch. The tracklisting can be found two posts below so I won’t repeat them here.

Warmup:
In a deviation from normal, we start with a wide-grip. Thereafter it’s fairly standard stuff warming up the back first before moving onto the shoulders. Our legs yet again get pretty scant chance to build any heat with only a dozen squats and the usual 8 lunges per leg. The transition from the lunges feels a bit rushed so you have to be on the ball to get into set position for the underhand rows and lifts. As always we finish with too many biceps reps.

Squats:
This is billed as an easier track than normal, mainly as it’s shorter than we typically get. As such you’ll be advised to add extra weight. I didn’t think it was soft by any means mainly due to the 49 bottom-half reps. The track compromises 4 rounds with the latter two with wide stance. Quick reps are interspersed with slower ones to allow some recovery and the bottom-halves are all in sets of 4 so fatigue isn’t too bad a factor. The intensity does build throughout the track so save something for the last round.

Chest:
A basic but solid track with this release. Rather than try to be too clever it sticks with 4 rounds of near duplicate rep sets. As with Squats, bottom-halves are the order of the day. Each round uses the standard order of slow reps, singles and then the aforementioned bottom ranges. We get a break between rounds 3 and 4 just to shake out some lactic acid, but it’s not a long one and almost worth not bothering to sit up for.

Back:
Be prepared for something very different with this one. The new “innovation” is a clean, press and then rather than bringing the bar back to the knees, we are asked to overhead press it two more times. The track starts with a short warmer round of underhand rows. Then there are 3 main working rounds of lifts, the “innovation”, and then the seemingly obligatory wide-grip triple rows. Each round we are asked to do repeat the overhead work 4 times, so by the end of the track you will have overhead pressed your back weight 36 times. As a result, I’d strongly recommend dropping your weights significantly. The official line is to use Chest weight, but I think even this is too much otherwise loss of technique is almost an inevitability. The inclusion of this move seems rather illogical to me as it puts almost no work into the back muscles (save the trapezii). Instead it becomes a second shoulder track and this is a whopping big error in judgement by the program directors.

Triceps:
This is another good track with enough variety to keep interest, yet sensible structure to maintain the pace. We get 3 rounds on the bench with overhead extensions, presses and the now familiar pullover move. There is a short break after round 2 for a little light relief, but the mix of exercises is such that this break isn’t really necessary. Then we finish with some standing overhead extensions. Normally this type of round seems to be just put in to run out the clock, but this time there is some real bite. There are loads of singles, so to keep proper form and not flare the elbows requires real grit and muscle tone.

Biceps:
Now for the highlight of the release and the pick of the tracks. I’ve roundly criticised many recent releases for having too fast a beat to make the workout worthwhile and feasible. This time the tempo is just right and while the slower ranges almost seem prolonged, it provides sufficient time for the singles not to feel rushed. As with other tracks, bottom-halves are supplied by the truck-load. We also get some full range singles, but there are only 4 each set sandwiched between the bottom-halves so fatigue is more manageable. The last round seems to go on forever, but such is the chop-and-change in rep type that you can keep going.

Lunges:
A rather soft lunge track again, mostly because we only use free weights for the lunges and then only for the static ones. The sets are also pretty short but even with loads of singles both in the static and dynamic lunges, I still barely felt out of breath. There is an option to use the step and you might as well take it as this track needs all the added challenge it can get. We finish with squats which add some intensity into the track but depend on putting a decent amount of weight on. The two sets of 8 bottom-halves finish nicely, but it’s too little too late.

Shoulders:
This is one of the tougher tracks of the release, mainly due to the fast incessant pace. We start with a quick burst of push-ups as a warm-up so no excuses for not doing them all on your knees. Then the reverse fly from #76 gets another run, only this time there are way more reps. We get slow ranges, singles and more slower reps and your rear-delts will definitely feel the strain. Then there are lateral raises and rotator cuff singles. There’s nothing too fancy this time, just a robust challenge. If there is any gas left in your tank, then grab you bar and push out some overhead presses. There aren’t too many but you can be forgiven for feeling them after the punishment of the back track.

Abs:
To start with this track is a good one. We get some crunches with the option to hold a weight for added resistance. Then a sound addition, the oblique crunch. We’ve had this move in Pump before, but not for some time and it’s always good to work muscles outside the rectus sheath. So far so good, but then it all gets let down with the hovers. The plank is a valuable means of building core muscle endurance and working the deeper abdominal muscles. But the program directors have sacrificed function in their quest for “innovation”. We are asked to do the walking legs and walking hands as in previous releases. They are hard enough to do when clustered but now we have to alternate arms and legs. This move is extremely challenging even for those with fantastic core stability and way beyond the bounds of the average Pumper. I’ve been doing a lot of core work recently to get my back strong again and even I found this too much. The studio was full of rocking hips and backs as technique went out the window. Instructors should cue the basics and then offer the LM version as an advanced option to be tried if managing well.

Cool-down:
A relaxed track with all the usual moves. It seemed to be over rather quickly so I wonder if too many minutes are being devoted to the working tracks at the cost of the beginning and finishing tracks. Not much else to say.

Overall Impressions:
On the whole this is a pretty strong release. The music seems to work quite well with the moves and is sufficiently motivating even for dance-heads like me. However there are two major flaws in this release. No prizes for guessing which I’m going to mention – the dangerous inclusion of overhead presses in the back track and the over-complicated hovers.

I think this is becoming an increasing problem for Les Mills and their BodyPump program. It’s been around for quite a number of years now and they are faced with two options. They could stick with getting the basics right and delivering a sound and dependable workout each time. Unfortunately this will be seen as boring or predictable and participant attrition will inevitably accelerate.

The other option would be to keep trying new moves as they are. This works on the gym floor where the variety of machines, decks and weights allow for endless ways of challenging muscle groups. Indeed it is a proven regime keeping the muscles in shock and mandating development of fitness, strength and endurance. However in the studio, there is only so much they can do with a barbell and gravity. As a result, the available exercises are restricted by the limitations of what can be achieved with the available resources. The program directors are obviously keen to try as many variations as possible. But in doing this, they keep finding lemons. And far too many, far too often for my liking. It risks making the program seem confused and directionless. They also keep finding exercises that are frankly too risky and it’s only a matter of time before injuries occur amongst participants … maybe they already are.

The solution has always been to encourage participants to use such small weights that injury risk is negated even if technique is sloppy or exercises unsafe. But this is another problem as it discourages use of decent resistance and, as a result, too many people never add anything and, thus, never really exert any change on their bodies. Too many missed opportunities.

As a result, I’m starting to question the value of BodyPump for anyone other than the casual gymgoer. It’s simply too limited for anyone looking to build serious condition. The cardio components are neither long or frequent enough and the strength components are restricted by the limitations of what can be done with just a barbell.

My fitness levels and strength have increased just from getting back into the gym for the past two months. So maybe I’m going to have to view Pump as just a fun distraction or variety item rather than a core component of my exercise regime from now on.

Communism and oppressive oligarchies have few upsides, but one of them is worker efficiency. In their sweatshops, slackness is punished and outputs maintained by threat. This is, of course, far from utopia but it’s hard to argue with results. Little surprise then that China with it’s parlous human and worker rights is leading the way with its bull economy. Most of this is off the back of a near endless exploitable workforce who are forced to maintain productivity.

Compare that with a certain non-medical department at the hospital I work at. One I am obliged to share an open-plan office with. They have turned dossing and lounging into a science. An average day seems to consist of endless coffee breaks, strolling about the office, irrelevant conversations and other inventive forms of time-wasting. In fact it almost brokers a challenge to find ways to fill the day such that employees superficially appear to be busy, yet have achieved nothing by closing time.

This is not isolated to our office as, on chatting with a colleague who used to work in the insurance industry, it transpires it is commonplace. Obviously my anecdotal evidence is far from infallible, but I suspect it represents a wider phenomenon.

By way of another example, one of the employees of the office I co-share has developed fast reflexes with the “Boss Button“. The door to the office overlooks his desk and on more than a few occasions I have observed a swift maximising of an officious-looking spreadsheet replace a non-work-related website.

I’m not a complete pendant and don’t expect workers to spend every second of the working day slaving away. However the majority of rostered hours should be spent doing the work that people are paid for. It would be interesting to see how much more work output would be achieved if this were the case. Who knows, productivity may actually increase and economies grow without government trickery. Productivity …. what’s that? Just ask the Chinese.

The “Sizzler” previews of upcoming releases were always published in the Revolution magazine released by Les Mills Asia Pacific. It’s not clear whether they were written by the program directors or someone within the LMAP office as they didn’t seem to appear in marketing materials released to other territories.

Those “Sizzlers” published on websites, fora and blogs (including this one) tended to be copy&paste jobs straight from the PDF version of the magazine which was always made available on the LMAP site.

It seems that the magazine has ceased publication as all mention of it and all back-issues have disappeared without trace. Revolution used to mainly act as notice of when the instructor training sessions were due, but now that information is freely available directly on their website so it probably won’t be coming back.

The net result is that, in all likelihood, we won’t get any more “Sizzlers”. Les Mills are even being somewhat coy about the new release as there is no mention of it on their official website.

However, the song/track listing has still leaked and will be:

Warmup: Commander – Spacegliderz
Squats: It’s My life – Swade
Chest: DJ Got Us Fallin’ In Love – Usher feat. Pitbull
Back: Hold Me Tonight (Manox Remix) – Manian
Triceps: I Like It – Tokyo Haze
Biceps: Diamond Eyes (Boom-Lay Boom-Lay Boom) – Shinedown
Lunges: Only Girl In The World (E-Nergy Remix) – Nick Skitz vs DJ Lotus
Shoulders: Ti Sento – Scooter
Abs: We No Speak Americano – Yolanda Be Cool vrs DCUP
Cooldown: One Last Chance – Daughtry

South Australia gets the Instructor Quarterly Workshops next weekend. Which means our local clubs should be launching in early April …. a very late Quarter-1, especially since last year we launched at the end of February, and 76 was as long ago as November.

With my back still under reconstruction, it’s hard to know whether I’ll be able to get into the #77 launch class or not. Either way I’ll still put up a review, but it may be a “side-line” one.

To further richen our experience of life and sample another Australian cultural delight, we went to Sydney last weekend to watch the famous (or should that be, infamous) Mardi Gras Parade.

It started as a political rally desperately seeking equality of rights for gays and lesbians in a narrow-minded society. That was 1978 and a great deal has changed since, both in terms of societal norms and legislative progress. But there continues to be a serious message with the spotlight now on marital rights.

This aside, the festival is now mainly an opportunity for the fabulous people of this land to dress up in some outrageous costumes, bereft themselves of body hair (and this is the boys I’m talking about), and dance themselves silly. As a result, we saw some truly spectacular outfits and floats.

The Mardi Gras has become so ingrained in Sydney culture that even the armed forces, police, fire brigade and local politicians get in on the act. Of course, civil rights organisations and interest groups dominate, but it’s still nice to see traditionally macho professions acknowledge variety of sexuality.

Before you all become too bored, here is what you’ve been waiting for; some glossies. For now, just a sample as it will take me some time to upload the remaining 300:

February and March are very busy months for Adelaide. It almost seems like every organisation wants to celebrate their chosen facet of life at the same time.

There are advantages to this scheme. It draws a large and diverse tranche of visitors to the city, who get to experience all of the gifts on offer. Those of us who live here then benefit from having relative peace for much of the remainder of the year. However all is not rosy and ticket sales have been slipping, perhaps as a result of dilution of attractions and the inevitable ennui to the smorgasbord.

We try each year to be relatively selective about what we see, hoping to get the most out of the various events while still experiencing something a little different. This also on the premise that many shows recur every year, so there’s no need to get round everything at once.

So, this year we started with a wine festival. Nothing new there of course, but it did offer all of the fun of cellar door tasting without the hassle of driving between them. Not to mention not having to dodge the drink-drive limit and worry about mental gymnastics over how much the adult body can metabolise each hour.

Then, for something slightly different we went on a guided tour round the CBD to see some of the interesting street art that is on display in some unusual locations. Depending on your level of anal retention this art form can be seen as outsider expression through to wanton vandalism. My view is somewhere in between, usually in flux depending on whether I perceive the item as aesthetically pleasing or not. Incidentally, that’s my arbiter for what counts as “art” across the board. In other words, my definition of “art” is what the individual, entirely subjectively, finds attractive, rather than what some self-appointed, chain-smoking, conceited snob decrees. Have a look at this and you’ll see what I mean. The imagery appeals to the 80s child in me and the colour and cartoon-esque style appeal to the eye.

Naturally, I don’t expect any one else to agree with me. Which only serves to further exemplify my opinion.

And now onto bronzed, muscular men. Acts in the fringe come in all shapes, sizes and curiosities and the street theatre act we saw were certainly curious. If they’d been under a Big Top and charged tens of dollars for a ticket, I’d have mistaken them for the Cirque du Soleil. Instead, two men in a small park with dodgy Russian accents but a truly amazing display of what the human body can achieve.

Any other year we’d have recessed back into our shells after that exposure, but last weekend we went to see something even more extravagant. More to follow that teaser!

In the meantime, the rest of this post’s pictures are here.

It’s all confirmed now. We’ll definitely be seeing you all in August. The flights are paid for and this time in 5 months time we’ll be propping up the bar at 38,000ft.

The exact minutiae of the trip are not planned just yet but here are, hopefully, enough details to count at advance notice. So, this August:

1st – fly out of Adelaide and land into Changi
2nd – time in Singapore with an old retrieval buddy (you know who you are!)
3rd – fly out and arrive at Heathrow
6th/7th weekend – in Leicester to catch up everyone in the Midlands
13th/14th weekend – in Edinburgh to catch up with an old friend and his ever expanding family
20th/21st weekend – in London to catch up with all of the Southerners
23rd – fly out from Heathrow
24th – back in to Adelaide

The above can be altered infinitely depending on people’s availability. I’ve only put the weekends up first as those are the times that most people will be free so can meet up with us. In between we’ll get round and see everyone else. Obviously some time with my family will feature just in case we’ve forgotten about them over here.

In the mix we’re hoping also to get at least a day or two in Berlin. There’s plenty of historic sites to visit and the city has a reputation as the party capital of Europe. Hopefully we’re not too old yet to enjoy it.

Please let me know soonish if the above doesn’t suit anyone. We’ll try to be flexible, but no promises. Sorry!

I refer of course to our cats. And particularly to their nocturnal activities. Or more specifically those of our oldest.

Milly seems to sleep much of the day, which means that she’s up and around at night. I’m well aware of the crepuscular nature of cats but normally they would be active outdoors. Ours were always a little on the soft side, but more recently they seem to be spending most of their time in the house. Again, I wouldn’t mind this except when it interferes with my life. Being more precise, the part of it in which I’m asleep. Or would be if Milly didn’t come and hassle me about a dozen or more times every night.

She’s demonstrated similar behaviour before and I’ve always been able to either ignore her or remain unconscious. But with age, she has become more persistent and more adept at being annoying. I wouldn’t mind so much but my job has me start most days at 7am anyway, which means I need all the sleep I can get. Not an easy proposition when a distinctly sharp cat decides that because she’s awake in the wee smalls, you need to be too.

I’ve tried many potential solutions including getting up and feeding her, booting her out of the house (figuratively, not literally …. so far), and closing the bedroom door. But none has worked and one way or another she finds a way to disturb us either vocally or tangibly.

Do they make Phenergan for cats?