By Josh Bowen, on Thu Aug 15, 2013 at 8:30 AM ET I’ve often wondered about certain strategies gym goers employ. The one strategy that has vexed my mind is a ritual of sorts and a lot of people do it every day. You know if you do something every day and expect a different result, that makes you crazy rightJ. It is at like the Holy Grail, the very reason people come to the gym and try to eat right, it’s the difference between a good day and a bad day, it is the end all be all. It is stepping on the scale! Don’t try to pretend you don’t do it because we all are guilty, especially in a place where there are scales and we are trying to lose weight, gain weight or stay the same. But the very fact people are control by this instrument, this measurement of body mass can be alarming and skewed. The end all be all may not be “all” its cracked up to be.
Let’s back track for a second. What are we trying to do? Most people? Answer is losing weight. Statistics show the most common goal for any gym goers is losing weight. But that should really be the goal? The answer is yes and no. If you are 50 lbs overweight and you need to lose 50 pounds then I would say losing weight would be a great goal for you. However, if you are trying to lose 10-20 pounds, does it really matter what the scale says as long as your body fat changes? Of course not! I use to tell clients all the time; if I could have you weigh the same weight you are today and look 100% different, would it matter what the scale said? 9 times out of 10, the number didn’t matter.
 But the number does matter to some people and it matters a lot. The measurement of success is housed on an electronically scale that measure your body mass. Forget about how you feel or how your jeans fit, its all about that number! If this applies to you (its ok!) here’s what I’d like you to remember, the most important part of the fitness process is the feeling of pride, confidence and of well being. These we will refer to as the immeasurable, meaning you can’t stick a number to it. Stepping on a scale just gives you a number and tells you whether you are below, above or at where you want to be. Definitely a cliff hanger that sometimes can hit you between the eyes and make you want to quit. My suggestion? Don’t weigh yourself, especially if you feel you begin stressing over it. The emotional impact and feeling of defeat is not worth it. If you want to know how you are doing in your fitness program ask yourself these questions:
- Do I have more energy?
- Do I wake up and go to bed easier?
- Do my clothes feel looser?
- Am I stressed less?
Answer yes to any or all of those and you are on the road to success. A road that is not dependent on the little number on a little scale. It is not the end all be all.
By Mark Nickolas, on Wed Aug 14, 2013 at 8:30 AM ET From Pure Politics, CN2:
The revelations about the National Security Agency’s phone tracking programs are only the latest iteration of the lengths the government has gone to stretch the law in the name of national security, said a former Kentucky political consultant.
Mark Nickolas, now a film school graduate, was selected to film a documentary on Abdullah al-Kidd, who along with the ACLU, has sued the government after authorities detained Kidd in the wake of 9-11 under what’s called the federal material witness law. The film is called A Cloud of Suspicion.
Kidd, a Kansas-born college football player in Idaho who had only recently converted to Islam, was arrested in March 2003 at Dulles Airport and held under the material witness law under the guise of being called as a witness against a fellow Muslim and University of Idaho student. Kidd was held for 15 months and never called to testify.
The New York Times first reported on Kidd’s saga and has followed it as Kidd and the ACLU have taken it to court. Now the ACLU granted Nickolas access to some of its information and key players as Nickolas puts together the film, which he said will show how the Bush administration overreached, the Obama administration failed to correct it and the U.S. Supreme Court has failed to properly check the powers, including when it comes to “abuse” of the federal material witness law.
“You don’t have the same constitutional rights as a witness. You don’t have Miranda rights because you’re not being charged as a criminal,” Nickolas told Pure Politics (2:30 of the video). You’re being held as a witness. So it’s more insidious than what we had ever done before.
(2:30)
Click here for the full story.
Here’s the video:
And here’s Nickolas’ trailer:
A Cloud of Suspicion (Extended Project Trailer) from Mark Nickolas on Vimeo.
By Lauren Mayer, on Tue Aug 13, 2013 at 3:00 PM ET That isn’t actually a rhetorical question – I’m at the age when many women are experiencing heat waves unrelated to the weather. But these days it seems like we’re not alone. So is menopause contagious, or is global warming real?
That one WASN’T rhetorical, because the scientific evidence is overwhelming – not just fluctuations in average temperatures, but polar ice cap melting and rising sea levels are hard to ignore. At this rate, before too long houses in Fresno will be considered beach-front property.
But yet again, there are some politicians who almost willfully ignore the facts. I can agree to disagree with people on the best way to protect the planet, cap-and-trade vs. government regulations vs. investments in smart energy, but it’s hard to have a rational disagreement with someone who claims that since lots of places had snowstorms this past winter, global warming is a liberal hoax. And those people tend to have equally delusional facts-be-damned views on things like Obama’s birth certificate or the benefit of abstinence-only sex education (see Palin: Bristol).
I’m all for gentle delusion when it doesn’t hurt anybody – e.g., I won’t complain when my husband tells me I don’t look a day over 35, and I’ll let it slide when my son insists his room IS organized. But there are real-world consequences toward sticking our heads in the sand when it comes to our environment – I’m hoping that eventually, climate change deniers will be as archaic as those old t.v. commercials where doctors are recommending cigarettes. So here’s a song in honor of debunking deleterious denials…
By RP Staff, on Tue Aug 13, 2013 at 8:30 AM ET From World News Views:
 Matchmaker Café, a pop-up cart at the plaza and beer garden outside upscale hotel Andaz Wall Street, has been serving coffee — and connecting couples — since launching two weeks ago.
The shop is an outpost for longtime New York City matchmaker Nancy Slotnick’s virtual concierge dating service of the same name, which she started in November.
“We’re really happy to have an actual spot for people to meet,” Slotnick said.
“We’re trying to help harness that serendipity that naturally happens between two people — and maybe give it a little bit of a push.”
The cafe, which serves coffee from Brooklyn Roasting Company, is part of the city’s new effort to energize the publicly owned private spaces — known as POPs — that run along Water Street. The program, called Water Street Pops!, includes a variety of activities and events through Labor Day, to help reinvigorate the Sandy-hit neighborhood.
At the cafe, as matchmaker-baristas serve up coffee they also try to find out if the customer is single.
“Since we have a huge sign that says Matchmaker Café, people usually ask about it, but sometimes we just let them know what we’re all about,” Slotnick said.
“The idea is to connect local people with each other, get them offline and actually meeting, even if it’s for a quick 20-minute coffee.”
If single customers are interested, Slotnick takes their picture, chats about their dating life and uploads them into her database of New York City singles.
The single guy or gal can then look through the database of photos on Slotnick’s iPad of other people who stopped by the pop-up cafe, to see if anyone piques his or her interest. If so, Slotnick or one of her matchmakers will make the connection between the potential couple.
For this week, making a call to potential dates is still free, but starting next week Slotnick will charge $5 for three calls and $10 for 10 calls. She also offers longer dating advice sessions and subscriptions to her online dating site, which has more than 5,000 members.
New customer Kathleen Christatos, 27, who stopped by the pop-up recently, said she was excited to get offline with dating, and have Slotnick guide her through the process.
“This just feels simple,” said Christatos as Slotnick emailed several young men from the cafe, whom Christatos chose by perusing the database on Slotnick’s iPad. “It makes it feel a little easier and personal.”
The pop-up is a continuation of Drip Café, an Upper West Side coffee shop Slotnick launched in 1996 which was devoted to helping people find relationships during its nine-year run.
At Drip, customers could spend time flipping through binders of hand-written dating profiles, and then Slotnick would help schedule a date at the cafe.
Slotnick, who was featured on “Oprah” thanks to her cafe and dating book, “Turn Your Cablight On,” said hundreds of marriages came out of her Drip days.
Since launching Matchmaker Café’s pop-up, Slotnick said she has collected about 30 profiles and set up a handful of dates.
“We’d like to make this permanent, and have this in neighborhoods across the city,” Slotnick said. “I think the idea of a cafe is [a] very friendly, inviting place — a regular hangout where you can let your guard down, and maybe be open to something more.”
By Erica and Matt Chua, on Mon Aug 12, 2013 at 1:30 PM ET The period before time, before we started traveling together, we each did a lot of traveling in different areas. In multiple trips, thinkCHUA spent over a year in South America and LOCAVORista spent almost as long in Europe. This means each of us has “been there, done that”, so what do you do when one partner has “not done that, but wants to”?
.
HE SAID…
South America is the first place on this trip that either of us had spent a considerable amount of time. I did the tourist circuit from Tierra del Fuego to Ecaudor almost 10 years ago. We returned because there are so many awesome things to do, many things I missed, and experiences I wanted to share with my wife. The other side of the coin is that there are many overrated tourist destinations that I have no interest in returning to…but they are considered the “must-dos” by fellow tourists and guide books. South America has made us make more compromises than anywhere else on the trip.
Some places I was excited to go back to. One of these was Madidi National Park in Bolivia and the nearby pampas. Containing a startling 44% of all mammal species, I have found memories of piranha fishing, swimming with dolphins, and watching alligators devour capybaras. Excited to go back we booked a trip (this time taking the 50 minute flight instead of the 20-40 hour bus ride). Arriving, we found rainy season had just ended, the pampas were underwater and the mammals had run off. The things I wanted to see together, weren’t there, letting me down and making me question my fond memories.
Then there are the places I don’t want to return to. The places that the Lonely Planet plays up, but having been there I know it’s just not that cool. Not going is hard, I am only arguing to skip something because I have been there, but if I hadn’t gone, I probably would go. So what to do? There is no easy answer, because compromising isn’t an easy answer. I don’t know for certain that LOCAVORista wouldn’t like something just because I didn’t, but I’m also not about to get on a 17 hour bus to check it out. Sadly I had to put my foot down on a couple places and say, “not this trip”.
There are no easy answers…it is so much easier if we just kept going to new places…
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SHE SAID…
Our first date was in South America when thinkCHUA was studying in Chile, we traveled through Peru and I fell in love. I fell in love with both my now husband and South America. I couldn’t wait for the day that I would return and see the amazing sights that thinkCHUA described, I wanted to see the grafitti-filled streets of Valparaiso, the rodents of unusual size in Bolivia and venture to the southern most point of Chile. Little did I know my return visit would be with him and that he wouldn’t want to see all of these things again.
I’m glad I saw the hills of Valparaiso, even though thinkCHUA spent months there. I wouldn’t have wanted to miss this view.
Read the rest of…
Erica & Matt Chua: He Said/She Said: When One has “Done That”
By Saul Kaplan, on Mon Aug 12, 2013 at 8:30 AM ET Magic happens in the interstitial space between silos, disciplines, organizations, and sectors. The word interstitial comes from the Latin “interstitium” which was derived from “inter” meaning “between” and “sistere” meaning “to stand” therefore to stand between. Optimum learning, innovation, problem solving, and value creation happens when we stand between.
To fully realize the potential of the 21st century we must get more comfortable and better at standing between. The imperative is to go from interdisciplinary to trans-disciplinary. Only by celebrating the interstitial space between us will we invent new disciplines and system approaches to enable transformation in our important social systems including education, health care, energy, and entrepreneurship.
And yet we spend most of our time in silos. It is comfortable there. We know the language spoken. We know what is expected and our roles. We know the people who inhabit our silos. There are clear rules dictating our behavior within silos and even clearer rules if we dare to dip our toes into the interstitial space outside of well-marked boundaries. Incentives, performance reviews, and job ladders all reinforce insularity. While technology screams permeability, organization infrastructure and operating norms lean against it. Standing in between anything is often considered a career-limiting move.
Most organizations aren’t 21st century ready. Industrial era structures with hierarchical reporting relationships designed around functions will inevitably give way to networked operating models fluidly connecting capabilities both within and outside the organization. Enabling infrastructure and operating norms will celebrate and reinforce interstitial spaces. Standing between disciplines will become the norm rather than the exception. The enabling technology is already here. We don’t need to invent anything new. It isn’t technology that is getting in our way. It is humans and the organizations we live in that are both stubbornly resistant to change and hesitant to fully explore interstitial spaces. Organizations will either transform themselves to capitalize on the value in interstitial spaces or they will be disrupted in the market by others that do. And for those leaders who think they can wait it out. You can’t, the transition has already started and its pace is quickening. Just ask the youngest in your organization. Waiting is not a strategy and will fail.
 It is easy to see the potential from enabling random collisions of unusual suspects. Just check out any social media platform. Social media is a hotspot for random collisions. You don’t need to hang out in these virtual places long to know they are populated with very unusual suspects. Interstitial spaces are ubiquitous and magic happens every day. We can bring this magic into our organizations, meetings, and gatherings. We just have to resist the normal tendency to hang out with the usual suspects. Most of the conferences and meetings we go to are teeming with usual suspects who love to get together to admire the problem. We sure do love to admire problems. Solution discussions are narrow and tend to shop around old solutions that have been discussed forever. If you want new ideas, approaches, and solutions go to gatherings that you have absolutely no reason to attend other than you might learn something new or meet somebody with a different perspective and experience. Make it a personal goal to attend gatherings where you don’t know the people or subject matter. Or better yet go to gatherings that are designed to bring unusual suspects together and to enable random collisions.
We are only two weeks away from our annual Collaborative Innovation Summit, BIF-6 on September 15-16. The energy at BIF in the weeks leading up to the summit is at dangerous levels. I am like a kid in a candy store and grateful that the summit is sold out again this year. Like-minded innovation junkies immerse themselves among unusual suspects. We design to optimize the interstitial space in between an incredible line-up of innovation storytellers. The event is not about the stories that will be shared from the stage although they will be great. (Stories will be live streamed during the event and videos posted a few weeks later on our site for those interested). The real magic happens in between stories at extended breaks where all participants and those following the conversation in the social media world collide. It isn’t about the storytellers, it is about random collisions in the interstitial spaces that happen every year among the participants and those connected to the conversation. I can’t wait.
The goal is to get better faster. If you want to get better faster hang out in interstitial spaces. Don’t just dip your toes into interstitial spaces but jump in with all the passion you can ignite. Magic happens in the interstitial space between us.
By Julie Rath, on Fri Aug 9, 2013 at 8:30 AM ET
I met Ross D. at a party a few months back, and after one look at him, I knew we had to talk. That nonchalance! That haircut! Here was a guy who owns his look, whether it’s a jean jacket and t-shirt or his “ride or die” vintage leather jacket. So I asked him a few questions…
Rath: What do you do?
Ross: I work in music. I do songwriter/producer management.
Rath: Where do you hang out?
Ross: I live in SoHo and pretty much never leave the downtown area. All my friends make fun of me. Going uptown is like a major travel commitment for me. The Upper East Side might as well be New Hampshire.
Rath: Are you thinking of signing that guitarist behind you?
Ross: If he can play “Stairway to Heaven” with his eyes closed, standing on one foot, while balancing a pineapple on this head then it’s a done deal.
Rath: What do you wear to a meeting with songwriters or producers?
Ross: I usually wear whatever I feel comfortable in. The great thing about working in music is so can dress however you like. It enables you to express yourself creatively, which I feel ultimately helps foster both a creative and productive work environment.
Rath: What’s your favorite NYC music venue?
Ross: I really like Bowery Ballroom. They always have good shows and the vibe is great. Brooklyn Bowl is a cool venue as well. Who wouldn’t like kicking their friends asses in bowling while listening to great music?!
Rath: What sort of outfit do you usually wear when you go there?
Ross: I usually wear whatever I’m wearing to work, etc. However, recently I saw Hole play. I felt obligated to wear flannels and grunge it up.
Rath: Where do you shop for clothes?
Ross: Pretty much everywhere. In the words of my mom “Living in SoHo in like living in a mall”. She is right. It is hard to step outside without buying anything. Trust me, I have the bills to prove it. I love vintage clothes. Eleven on Elizabeth is one of my favorites. LA has GREAT vintage. Jet Rag on La Brea is hard to beat.
Rath: What’s your favorite outfit?
Ross: Definitely my black vintage motorcycle jacket. It took me forever to find the perfect one, but when I did I knew this was my “ride or die” jacket. I love the fact that the damn thing will outlive me and will probably end up right back in a vintage store someday being someone else’s “amazing find”. Full circle. Gotta love that.
Rath: Where did you get that rad haircut?
Ross: Amy at Arte Salon. She is the best. Not only does she give me a dope haircut every time, but she gives me whiskey too!
Rath: Do you spend much time on hair styling, or are you a wash and wear guy?
Ross: I’m definitely a wash and wear guy. Bed head was the best thing to happen to guys since ESPN. I wonder who the genius was that invented this look? Probably some hungover guy that was too lazy to comb his hair before work one day and just owned it. Brilliant.
Rath: Do you have any men’s style pet peeves?
Ross: Wow I have a lot. First off, those knit hats with the baseball brims. They are the worst. This leads me to my next pet peeve…guys that wear knit hats in warm weather. If you are having a bad hair day or whatever just put on a baseball hat. I also really hate sandals. Good for the pool/beach but bad for everyday life. Who in the hell wants to see a man’s hairy feet?!
By Abigail Miller, on Thu Aug 8, 2013 at 11:00 AM ET  As part of an ongoing series to encourage discussion among teen girls and their parents, Abby, age 17, talks about a common mistake parents make in praising children–and how to correct it.
For more information, contact Girls Rock! at GirlsRockKY@aol.com or click here.
Girls Rock! Talks with Abby from Rachel Belin on Vimeo.
By Josh Bowen, on Thu Aug 8, 2013 at 8:30 AM ET
From The Lexington Herald-Leader:
Josh Bowen fitness expert and personal trainer at Fitness Plus 2 shares the secrets to Miss Kentucky Jessica Casebolt’s stage-ready body.
He talks the T.B.D.A.S workout, where people go wrong with their workout and the secrets to getting fit.
By Liz Roach, on Wed Aug 7, 2013 at 1:30 PM ET  Smoke wafts from the barbecue pits, spreading an intoxicating scent over the picnic grounds. Thousands of people line up for pork and mutton sandwiches, drenching them in a signature sauce. A barbecue festival? Nope.
It’s one of the nation’s premier cook-outs: Fancy Farm. Described as “the world’s largest picnic,” the event is an annual fundraiser for St. Jerome’s Catholic Church, located in the small town of Fancy Farm (yes, it’s a real name), Kentucky. It’s also one of the biggest political events in the nation, featuring fiery speeches delivered by Kentucky’s top elected officials.
While political junkies relish the folksy punch lines and witty campaign signs, others avidly anticipate the fixings on offer. Those in-the-know arrive early to join the snaking line to the Knights of Columbus Hall, which contains a famous buffet. Featuring home-style cooked helpings of green beans, purple hull peas, potato salad, corn, more of that Western Kentucky-style barbecue, and a selection of cakes and pies, all of the dishes are grown and prepared by local community members.
With approximately 18,000 pounds of pork and mutton and hundreds of pounds of vegetables cooked up each year, preparing the food for Fancy Farm is a mammoth undertaking. Even the Food Network stopped by a few years ago to cover the festivities.
The lead-up events to Fancy Farm also provide an array of mouth-watering options. From the Marshall County Bean Supper and the Burgoo & Bluegrass dinner on the Democratic side to the Graves County Breakfast and “Night Before Fancy Farm” fried chicken dinner on the Republican side, both parties offer traditional Kentucky dishes to sate the crowds, along with a generous serving of rhetorical red meat.
For a taste of Fancy Farm, check out the photos below:
 The BBQ pits
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But the number does matter to some people and it matters a lot. The measurement of success is housed on an electronically scale that measure your body mass. Forget about how you feel or how your jeans fit, its all about that number! If this applies to you (its ok!) here’s what I’d like you to remember, the most important part of the fitness process is the feeling of pride, confidence and of well being. These we will refer to as the immeasurable, meaning you can’t stick a number to it. Stepping on a scale just gives you a number and tells you whether you are below, above or at where you want to be. Definitely a cliff hanger that sometimes can hit you between the eyes and make you want to quit. My suggestion? Don’t weigh yourself, especially if you feel you begin stressing over it. The emotional impact and feeling of defeat is not worth it. If you want to know how you are doing in your fitness program ask yourself these questions:
