Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Diet Controversy

I'm listening to a radio show where the host has a guest who is a Dr. and a nutritionist. He is advocating a Vegan diet. The doctor is citing study after study that talk about people on a vegan diet having lower incidence of heart disease, obesity, and diabetes. Its pretty much common sense, right?

Well, the host is being a *dick*! He challenges the guest on every statement he makes and is being very pedantic about every generalization the Doctor uses to make a point. The host will mention "some guy" that he's "heard about" who is in their 80s and a life long smoker and drinker and beef eater and saying therefore that the Doctor must be full of $hI+. It's really very irritating!

The host is not usually like that. It makes me wonder if he's just in a bad mood or did this Dr. guy do or say something to offend him somehow.

The other reason I find this irritating is that a lot of the shows callers will say things like "my grandparent ate beef, smoked and drank and ate bacon and was not fat and lived into his 90s and died in his sleep" and then going on to say that simply because that one person didn't die of heart disease then therefore those habits don't have anything to do with heart disease.

What is going on? Do people not understand generalities any more? Did they never learn anything about science, or statistics? Would you really reject the truth of some general statement just because you can think of one example that doesn't fit?

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Ice Cream Social





Here is a picture of me from my Church's newsletter from when our Brass Choir played at this summer's Ice Cream Social.

Pretty good shot huh?

Little Big Band

I joined an old friend tonight and sat in with the Jazz Band he's been playing with for a while. The band is called the "Little Big Band". We played simpler jazz arrangements of big band hits of the 40s (mainly). There are eight members, and the arrangements we played are mostly three part harmonies.

The music was fairly simple, which is good because they are fine with me performing with them one week from tonight at Zeppi's Pizza.

I don't know much about where they play or how often they perform, but the guys were very nice, very laid back, and they seemed to have a lot of fun. They're mostly retired, so just doing this for fun. Seems like a pretty pleasant way to get back into playing Big Band Jazz in front of people.

Quieting My Mind

I've been hearing a lot lately about the benefits of "quieting one's mind". I've heard that spending time alone in a quiet spot, relaxing, letting go of the day's anxieties, emptying one's mind for a time can bring all sorts of benefits into one's life.

What I can't imagine is how to go about actually doing it...

I will be giving it a shot in the near future and will relate my experience here.