Ross Barlow

Shit, I had thought for a minute that you folks had undergone a rare episode of good taste and had banned me! -Ross Barlow.

From where do I get my news? I have not watched TV in decades. When I lived Stateside I listened to radio a lot, and my favorite Classical music station there first offered the surprisingly excellent (but now defunct) Christian Science Monitor News service and then replaced it with the BBC radio news. Now I hear Radio Thailand News (an Australian-affiliated agency, I believe). For print news, I try to go into the city and get a copy of *The Economist* each week (in my mind it is the best English language weekly news magazine of all). *The Bangkok Post* and *The Nation* are the two English language dailies published here in Thailand, but I rarely buy them, instead visiting their websites occasionally for local news (e.g., are the latest developments here under martial law going to upset my plans for rambling about?). On the internet, my first choice is BBC World News online (as well as sometimes looking in on Reuters and AP sites). As an expatriate, it is refreshing to escape excessive US news (and as the election season gears up, I consider this a godsend). My friends on the A2 e-list point me to interesting news stuff that I would otherwise miss, and so do you folks here, which is much appreciated. I read much of ScienceDaily.Com every day. I get regular Stratfor e-briefings, which offer pragmatic geo-political appraisals of events from fresh perspectives that are informed by history, economics, military science, and by intelligence and security analysts. In the main, I am a historian, so I really do not see much happening in today’s world that is new in the overall view of things. As I keep one eye on history and the other on the present, I see this outlook vindicated every day. This still does not keep me from being a news-junky. This ever-unfolding story of humanity is fascinating. -Ross Barlow.

Robert, don't you dare quote me -- ever! -anonymous. P.S. -- Kurt Vonnegut was a delight. I used his short anti-egalitarian story “Harrison Bergeron” for years in my high school classrooms (as I mentioned above in a previous post). Great writer who could get right to the point.

I like this post, Steve. I happen to be re-reading *Meditations* by Marcus Aurelius right now. The Hellenistic world had some great wisdom passed to them from the Hellenic age of Aristotle and his predecessors. The Stoics and the Epicureans had a balanced attitude toward the naturalness of death, as in Epicurus’ famous line, “Death is nothing to us….” And Nock of course had a timeless wisdom. -Ross Barlow.

Good movie, indeed. Asian movie-making is evolving fast. This was a wild hit here. -Ross Barlow.

*Meditations* by Marcus Aurelius is a book for browsing, with a highlighter or pencil to mark your favorite aphorisms. He was writing it for/to himself as a record of his musings. The other Stoics are great too. Seneca, Cicero, and especially Epictetus. They all seemed to have such a calm and solid perspective on the big picture. -Ross Barlow.

Judith, *The Meditations* by Marcus Aurelius is the one to look for. It is not a big book, and it can be found in most decent bookstores. I had a bunch of great quotations from this work that I used as assigned readings in my high school philosophy class, but I left them in the States along with the computer files. But I did buy a copy of *The Meditations* here, so I will post the good ones if I can locate them in the book. -Ross Barlow.

Jessica, you have shared something personal here, so I will reply in kind. I come from a violent past, and anger has always simmered below the surface of my psyche. Anger over irrational students – especially, violent ones -- was contributing to my health problems and a factor in my early retirement as a high school teacher of history and philosophy. Stress and anger were killing me physically, and sometimes I really felt like doing extreme violence to several students. Anger like this translates for me into intense physical pain, high b/p, troubled sleep and bad dreams, so I have become more meditative and learned to let it go. In Vietnam, while back in the relative safety of our hilltop firebase where we could often unload our weapons and kick back, I once got into an altercation with a fellow Marine who was drunk and still pissed off at me for humiliating him in an earlier argument over the existence of God. Days before, I had made him look like the intellectual fool he was, and I had been arrogant and showed him no mercy. He was trying to make me angry enough to fight him by insulting me in every possible way he could think of, with no success. Then he finally did it when he grabbed my copy of *Atlas Shrugged* (the only copy I knew of in Southeast Asia and which would take weeks to replace from the States). He said, “This book is rotting your mind. I’m going to burn it.” And he held out his lighter. I got rather alarmed and angry very quickly. I grabbed my M-16 and an ammo magazine (clip) and said, “Joe, if you burn that book, I’m going to shoot you.” (This is a true story. I remember it like it was yesterday.) Our eyes were locked on each other. He took one step back and flicked the flame of the lighter, holding it to the book’s edge. I responded by slamming the magazine into the well of my rifle. The next step of loading it would have been to pull back the bolt and let it spring back, which would load a round into the chamber making it ready to rock and roll, but I didn’t have to do this because Joe stopped his book-burning threat and flung the book into my face instead. (I would *not* really have shot him. I maybe could have tried to shoot the lighter out of his hand, but muzzle blast at that range could have blinded him or I could have actually hit his hand by mistake in my rage or a stray bullet at that angle could have hit a buddy elsewhere behind us. I was angry, but not insane. I could have shot between his feet. I don’t know what I ultimately would have done, but I wasn’t going to let him destroy my only copy of a favorite book.) I am slow to anger; I mean you really have to push me. I do cool down very quickly, but the immediate rage that I am capable of scares me to this day. I should have just let it cool down after he ended the threat to the book, but something about book-burners in principle and this asshole in particular made me unable to. As soon as the book hit my face, I took the magazine out of my rifle (and there was nothing in the chamber) and I replied to his book-throwing by hurling my rifle at him. He threw it back at me, and that’s when I made a big mistake. Instead of letting the anger go, I got into a fist fight with him. I grew up with boxing gloves and was a really decent boxer, as well as studying a lot of Asian martial arts and receiving USMC infantry close-combat training. But my anger had been fading fast once the book was out of danger, and I found out quickly that this fight was definitely a loser for me. I was only a Welterweight then (about 135 lbs) and Joe was not only a Light-Heavyweight, but he was a good one. Damn good, fast, strong, hard-hitting and mean. I still have a scar on my face today from where I had to get stitched up after this fight. I just could not let my contempt for this idiot allow me to damage myself even more, so I just said, “Joe, I’m not doing this anymore,” and I walked away. Joe beat me bloody in our fist-fight, but I had earlier kicked his ass intellectually. I guess we came out even. And my copy of *Atlas Shrugged* survived. To help deal with my anger, I have found great counsel and solace in reading the Stoic philosophers, especially Marcus Aurelius, who I used to read every morning before students entered my school. As Barbara pointed out above, we cannot always change people that much and at some point we must just accept that they are irrational. The Stoics would say that we should concentrate on changing that which is within our sphere of control: our own thoughts, attitudes, perspectives and reactions toward the people and events that are outside our control. Michael mentioned the word “serenity,” which was a great Stoic value, one to pursue and cherish. Honestly, Asian meditation techniques are the best help for me to cool the fires of anger when they are hot, as well as being an instant stress reliever. They really can work dramatically and quickly, once practiced and habituated, helping both physiologically and psychologically. The old tried-and-true classic that works for me is the simple focusing of awareness on one’s breathing. Breath in slowly, fully and deeply, letting all awareness concentrate on that simple action. Breath out slow and full, letting all the anger and stress flow out of you. Do it again and again until you have regulated your breath, your bodily responses and your emotions back to normal. It relaxes the body and soothes the mind. We breathe both automatically and volitionally, i.e., although breathing is natural and we do it even while sleeping, while we are conscious the quality or nature of each distinctive breath is potentially under our control. When the world around us seems insane and infuriating, we can take a deep slow controlled breath, let it out and take another one. This is within our control, and sometimes, when in the grip of a powerful emotion such as anger, it is the only thing in our control. Once it is learned and habituated, it is easy. Serenity on demand. -Ross Barlow.

Okay, Victor, you are strange. ;-) But we are brothers, because I am a big fan of Bela and Boris as well. Growing up in the 1960s, my friends and I would never miss a “Fright Night Friday” TV midnight double feature with these classics. Bela’s *Dracula* (1931) is great. There were a lot of crap movies made then, as now, but some true gems also. It was Tod Browning who directed *Dracula* (1931). Browning also directed *Freaks* (1932). Have you ever seen this latter film? It is not for the squeamish, and it was banned in Britain. This is High Weirdness and not for everyone. I fear that I will be called “strange” for even mentioning this one. As for Boris Karloff, his Frankenstein roles, especially *The Bride of Frankenstein*, are mesmerizing. On a very different note, Boris did something amazing and strangely charming in his later life on TV (some comedy show) by reciting – as a poem, not as a song – the lyrics to the great song “It Was a Very Good Year.” He sat in an armchair wearing a smoking jacket and looking directly into the camera. I felt that he owned the lyrics at that point. -Ross Barlow.

I finally got to see *The Lives of Others* tonight. I had to go to a seedy old theater in downtown Bangkok to catch it, but I’m glad I did. I absolutely loved it. I wish Ayn Rand could have lived to see this movie. I highly recommend it. It portrays a Stasi officer in East Germay before the end of the Cold War who watches his system work its corruption and ruin on real people. We see the lives of intellectuals and artists who are trapped within a society of “actually-existing socialism.” Can good men preserve their goodness in such a brutal world? Socialism sucks. Try to see this movie. -Ross Barlow.

It appears that *Casino Royale* (2006) has just been (legally) released on DVD, according to the IMDb. Here in Indochina, it’s been out for quite a while. If you missed it in the theaters, now you have absolutely *no excuse* for missing this excellent movie. It may be my favorite Bond flick ever, rivaled only by *Dr. No* (1962). Daniel Craig is smart, tough and dangerous; the women are gorgeous; the action is furious; the locales are exotic; and the plot is romantic. And Judi Dench is becoming my favorite Bond Girl. -Ross Barlow.

Fran, are there any rock climbing possibilities for you there in Cyprus? It is a non-competitive sport, and I think there is a lot of rock on your island. -Ross Barlow.

Just saw *300* today. Outstanding! I loved it. (There is a bit of Rand-related trivia connected to this movie that might not be well known.) This film is not impeccably accurate historically, but the general spirit of the ancient Greeks is represented, and the rigorous Spartan combat ethos and courage are made graphic. ("Graphic" in that it is bloodier than Hell.) The screenplay for *300* was based on the graphic novel series by Frank Miller. I do not know if anyone here has yet mentioned the influence of Ayn Rand on Frank Miller. The IMBd (Internet Movie Database) says in its mini-biography of Miller that he "has said that the Romantic Manifesto by Ayn Rand, a book of collective essays about art and romanticism, helped him to determine how he'd go about creating his heroics.” The bio section on Miller also mentions his influence from Mickey Spillane, as well as similar authors. “Go, tell the Spartans….” -Ross Barlow.

Sorry, Chris, I found *The Historian* by Elizabeth Kostova to be a book I could not put down until I finished it. This disrupted my life for a while since it is 700 pages long. I liked it because I am a historian at heart and it featured historical research as detective work – with life and death consequences for the characters. Also, I am a bit of a sicko and love both Dracula stories and the real-life histories of Vlad the Impaler of 15th century Wallachia, the closest thing to an actual Transylvanian monster. Chris, the fact that you did not like the book probably shows your fundamental sanity and good taste. I have that gothic weird side of my nature that must be fed fresh blood from time to time. It is now after midnight here in Indochina. Excuse me, I must go out and prowl. <slurp> -Ross Barlow.

Steve, it is great to cross cyber-pathways with you again. I thought you had fallen into a black hole somewhere. Hope you are feeling better. I look forward to reading your posts here, as I have always found them to be enlightening and fascinating. You will always be my movie guru. -Ross Barlow.

When I taught high school history and philosophy back in the States, my philosophy elective course was called Great World Ideas. It consisted of lectures and of readings from the great philosophers with a heavy emphasis on rationality and libertarianism. The introductory reading was *Philosophy: Who Needs It?* by Rand. Other readings included portions of Plato’s *Apology*, Aristotle’s *Nicomachean Ethics*, Cicero, Tacitus, Aquinas, Hobbes, Locke, Herbert Spencer’s “The Right to Ignore the State” from *Social Statics*, Albert J. Nock’s “On Doing the Right Thing,” Hayek’s “Why the Worst Get on Top” from *The Road To Serfdom*, David Friedman’s chapter on the Icelandic Viking society under Rule of Law but without a government from his *The Machinery of Freedom*, Rand’s *Man’s Rights* and *The Nature of Government*, plus many other readings. My proudest moment was when two graduates – girls who had both taken this course from me -- came back to visit their old alma mater at Xmas break and appeared at my classroom door. One was a political science major in some college in NYC and told me that my course had given her the basics for a solid understanding of her major. The other one was attending Dickinson College and told me that she xeroxed the lecture notes and readings from my class and passed them out to all her friends in her political science classes, who all raved about the fresh perspectives and the boost it gave them academically. These two girls were ecstatic and wanted to thank me in person. Another great moment was when a former student of mine who had taken my Honors US History and Great World Ideas classes informed me that he had an article published in *Reason*. This provided a sense of renewal for me as a teacher and helped me to continue to give my best for some years to come. Had my health held up, I would still be there enthusiastically cheerleading for rationality and liberty. It warms my heart in the memory. -Ross Barlow.

Go, Robert! You have a lot of fight in you. Knock ‘em dead. -Ross Barlow.

Damn, Brant, that sounds like one hell of a game. I would have liked to have been there to see it. -Ross Barlow.

Evelyn Waugh’s *The Loved One* (1948) satirizes the American funeral business and English ex-pats in America. If you like English humor (humour?), try this short novel. -Ross Barlow.

I want to sing the praises of Treadmills. They are more than worth any expense, as they can be an absolutely great workout routine. I recommend the treadmill as the number one piece of health and fitness equipment for your home. A good 30 minute or hour routine is fantastic and does not have to be boring. Set your treadmill up in front of a TV/DVD setup (or have your TV/DVD on a wheeled cart so you can easily and quickly get it into your workout room, etc.). Watch the news or your favorite movies while getting life-saving exercise. Here, my wife and I have our treadmill set up in our living room in front of the TV, and, though visitors may think it odd, we do have our priorities straight. Have a good reading light over your treadmill. Most treadmills come with a place to set a book, but I have never found them to be adequate. So I improvised. I made an alteration so I could put a big 3ft x 4ft slab of plywood in front of me as a platform for books, magazines, school papers, etc. To support this plywood surface, I cut off a broomstick and duct-taped two sections of it to the treadmill’s front posts so that it formed a tripod with the treadmill’s highest point in its front. When I was a teacher, I spread out student papers for grading in front of me while I walked the machine. I thus turned the most boring activity imaginable (i.e., grading over a hundred student papers and tests) into productive exercise time. It actually made me look forward to the odious task. Even a cheap treadmill will allow you to run very fast or just do a brisk walk, whatever speed you want. The feature of incline-variation is my favorite. Wear a good walking and/or running shoe, keep a water bottle close, and don’t forget the TV remote. If you want to use hand-weights/ Heavy Hands while walking on a treadmill, it works very well, but be sure and get the wider and longer models so you will not hit the treadmill hand-rails while swinging the weights. Wider and longer models are also recommended if you are a large person with either long legs or a wide straddle/width of foot placement. My old treadmill in the States went to my sister’s family back there, and I am really happy to know that they are all using it rigorously during the days of being snowbound or kept from outdoor walking by rain. They have a big-screen TV with DVD right in front of it, and, being movie fanatics, they have an excuse to use it anytime. Here in Thailand, I am living in an urban environment for the first time in my life, and I would go crazy without the treadmill we bought as soon as I got here. I still walk and hike outdoors, but the blazing heat and humidity out there make my feet sore, so indoor workouts can be done with regularity. -Ross Barlow.

This is a great thread, and it is very interesting to read of different experiences and advice about fitness. As a “fitness nut” myself, I have thought a lot about these things and do have some of my own thoughts to share. To answer Angie’s original question (“home fitness or gym, what’s your routine?”), I have never liked gyms because I like to have my own independent schedule based on how I feel. E.g., if I feel like working out at 2am I don’t want to be dependent on a gym’s hours, etc. Plus I am an unreformed loner. As for my other thoughts on this thread, I will split them up into several shorter posts rather than one excessively long one. First of all, I have a lot of injuries and health problems, and I have been learning to work around them. Kat, you said you have back problems, and I can empathize with this. I am 57 and I have a long history of FMS (fibromyalgia syndrome) with extreme sore spots all over my body that become easily injured, especially my upper back. I have to be very careful, as I feel very fragile. For FMS management, regular exercise and adequate rest are imperative, but injuries will often set me back for months. Re: aerobic workouts. With a heel spur, as well as ankle and knee injuries, I cannot run anymore. But I am an avid hiker (as well as backpacker and climber when I can). Two good supplements to walking routines are Heavy Hands (or equivalent small handheld weights) and a treadmill (more about this one later). Re: Heavy Hands or hand-weights. The principle here is to use a carefully selected weight (essentially a dumbbell of any kind) in each hand as an aerobic driver, either while walking, running or even standing still. Recruit the arms to do aerobic work along with your legs. I swear by this exercise. With my injury-prone back, I used only a 3-pound dumbbell in each hand while hiking either a village street or a forest trail for at least 45 minutes. The results were always amazing. It added a great aerobic workout to what would normally only be a walk. It added flexibility and tone to my arms, shoulders and torso, and it also helped the legs dramatically. After several weeks of this routine, I found that I had an incredible “spring” to my steps as I went up stairways. It is a full-body workout, and it helped to keep my back from getting injured in daily tasks. And you can really lose weight with this. As you walk up a hill, you do not need to swing the hand-weights much because your legs are giving you the aerobic workout as they fight gravity going up the grade. As you reach a level section of the trail/sidewalk, you can start swinging the weights as you walk in order to keep the heart pumping. As you go down a hill, you really start pumping the weights to keep up the aerobics. My weight movements while walking were varied according to terrain. E.g., I would hold the weights next to my shoulders and pump straight up, one arm at a time, and I would vary the synchronization of arms and leg stride. There were many more movements I used, and it almost became a dance in its variety. E.g., shadow-boxing, arms circling in a windmill style, etc. Sometimes I wanted to be out of sight of people because it may have looked quite bizarre. If anyone is interested, contact me by PM and I can give more details of my successful routines and movements with hand-weights. “Heavy Hands” is a brand name of, I think, AMF, but any small hand weights will do. The beauty of using these is that a small enough weight resists the possibility of injury but you can up the weight load as you find your true level. The AMF weights were so good because you can adjust the weight per hand up or down by one pound increments. Each handle was a 1-pound weight, foam-padded with screw threads on the ends for higher weight addition. You could screw on the attachments for 2-pounds per hand or for 3-pounds per hand (my ideal level) or for up more and more. Well worth the investment. I have even done Tai Chi with light hand-weights as a variation on that great exercise/meditation. They were a great off-season buildup for rock climbing and backpacking. Primarily they kept up my aerobic fitness and flexibility, and it kept my weight down, all in a fun workout. More later. -Ross Barlow.

Below are links to my two blogs. On my main blog, "Zenwind," the Climbing Log is a historical recounting of my more memorable rock and ice climbs, most of which happened in the 1970s, 80s and 90s. They are often epic adventures that I record partly as instructional material with advice for newer climbers. I also have what I consider to be my more important reviews of books and movies. Use the "Index" to navigate the various categories. This is a slowly updated but more permanent blog. . The second blog, "Zenwind's Musings," is to be updated more often. It was mainly started to let family and friends know that I was still kicking and writing while Bangkok was seeing violence in the streets. Any minor reviews will be here, as well as random updates. I'm probably only writing to myself there, but it keeps the fingers nimble. . -Ross Barlow. . "Zenwind": Climbing Log & reviews: http://zenwind.blogspot.com . “Zenwind’s Musings”: my blog recording recent thoughts and/or adventures: http://zenwindmusings.blogspot.com .

I agree with Judith and others here that an activity does not have to be competitive to be considered a sport. I think that many examples could be listed. Climbing, in its widest sense, is usually considered a non-competitive sport, in that you cooperate with your climbing team members and are competing against gravity (or against the mountain’s difficulties or against your own limitations, etc.). Yes, there is a sub-genus of the sport consisting of competitive climbing, usually indoor climbing-wall competitions where you try to climb harder and/or faster than others. (By the way, the incredible Hans Florine, the longtime speed-climbing champion, was hugely influenced in his life by Ayn Rand.) And, on big prestigious mountain climbs and/or on choice first ascents, there often will be a competitive spirit to be the first on the summit. Climbers are very individualistic with big egos, and competition often comes into the picture. But teamwork for the safe ascent of technically difficult and dangerous climbs is the default rule. Most of my own personally memorable climbs were solo efforts, without spectators. Those efforts were certainly sporting, in that I trained fanatically hard with an athlete’s focus, I tried to stay within a chosen ethical style of climbing rules for myself even in a dangerous situation, and I pushed myself beyond my limits both physically and mentally. (Of course, family and friends have told me that it is not sport, it’s madness.) When I did succeed and pull up over the top, I was the joyful winner, but who did I defeat? Most climbers would say that I defeated something within my own self, something that was too complacent and too comfortable, and I achieved a minor kind of Nietzschean self-overcoming. -Ross Barlow. . Climbing Log: records of my climbing adventures: http://www.lioncity.net/buddhism/blog/zenwind .

In earlier days, I loved ice skating. It was my favorite winter sport while in high school. I remember getting a new pair of figure skates for Xmas, and I took them down to the wooded swamp lands on a New Years Day that was minus 10*F. I skated the streams that wound through the swamp and went up over two levels of beaver dam ponds, using the teeth on the skates to front-point up the frozen wooden dam-faces. You could not venture into the swamp that far at other times of the year, but, when frozen, I could reach this sanctuary. It was a sort of expeditionary solo backcountry skating. Many years later, I would go to a nearby city rink at off-peak times when few people were there. One very old gray-haired lady was always there, dressed in clothing at least three decades behind the times but skating with incredible grace and precision. She moved slowly but deliberately, and she obviously had been a dynamite figure skater in years past. I tried not to let her see, but I would watch her moves closely and then try to imitate them when she wasn’t looking. I learned so much from watching her, especially a new attitude of really *enjoying* the sport as she did. I stopped trying to burn up the ice, hockey style, and learned to glide, to float, and to soar. Here in infernally hot and humid greater Bangkok, the rumor is that there is an ice skating rink in town with skate rentals. I just might look it up. But, as rusty as I am, I probably should bring a helmet. -Ross Barlow.

Jeff, thanks for starting this thread. It is fascinating to hear about what sports different people here like. Also, it has got me to thinking about my attitudes toward various sports over my lifetime, and it is dredging up some fine memories from many decades. I had forgotten how many rich experiences I had and how much fun they were. I wrote above about my love of climbing, but other sports took the center stage for me at various earlier times. My father forced me to play Little League baseball in about 5th grade, and it turned me off because it was not my choice. But it is an elegant game, though, with grace and perfection. In junior high school, I did the pole vault, gymnastics, and a bit of football. But it was Boxing that really grabbed me at 15. I wanted to be a professional boxer, I loved it so much. My father was the best defensive boxer I ever saw, and he taught me well. Moreover, he gave me books on the history of boxing with which I studied classic fights and developed strategy from the experiences of the great fighters. It was with my 3rd set of boxing gloves that I really let the leather fly. I never tried to hit that hard and hurt people, but I dwelt on the science of the sport. Most of my friends could not hit me, as I had a solid defense worked out. But my cousin knocked me on my ass, and I could not figure out how he did it. After he had left, my father calmly told me that it was because my cousin was left-handed and had a left Sunday-punch instead of the more common right. I did not see it coming, as his style was unlike anything I’d seen. My cousin was an insufferable braggart who loved to put people down and, loudly eager to beat me up again, he couldn’t wait to re-match. But I had done my homework. I watched for his haymaker to wind up, and every time he threw it I simply blocked it and tagged him in the face. Then, as I gained confidence and learned his style, I would beat him to the punch with a hard right-cross each time. Totally bewildered and humiliated, he soon gave up on it. I usually try not to even inwardly gloat or brag, but it still gives me great pleasure 40 years later when I meet him at family reunions and he tells me what a great boxer I am and how I trounced him. I remain silent and do not tell him my secret: I simply thought it out according to the sweet principles of the sport. If he would only have *read* and *thought*, he would have killed me with his superior fitness at the time. Later I boxed a little in the Marines, but left the sport soon after. When they stripped Muhammad Ali of his title for politically correct reasons, I never really followed it again. I will write more later about my life with sports, if it doesn’t bore you too much. You have allowed some great memories to come to mind, Jeff, and it is fun to remember them. -Ross Barlow.