Saturday, January 31, 2009

100 Pushups and 200 Crunches

I found these 2 sites that provide a plan which will enable you to do 100 pushups consecutively and 200 crunches(situps). The plan runs for 6 weeks so I've decided to try it out. We here at The Wisdom of Dre try to maintain fairly good conditioning as it is but believe in goal setting as an effective way to stay motivated.

At the beginning of the program, you're supposed to perform a fitness test to bench mark where you are at. I did this in the afternoon after having lifted weights in the morning but my starting point is Pushups: 40, Crunches: 90. As a point of clarification, situps can strain the back and neck so crunches are the recommended abdominal exercise.

If you would also be interested in embarking on this journey with us, we'd welcome fellow travelers along the path to muscular definition.



HundredPushups.com



200 Situps.com

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Royals Fan Fest

On Saturday, I took some pictures for the Star at the Kansas City Royals Fan Fest. There were probably a few thousand people over the course of the weekend. They had skills test like batting cages, pitching speed, pop fly drills, and base running. They also had a hall of fame section which had the World Series trophy as well as some other memorabilia. Both current and former players were there signing autographs. Another highlight was player interviews conducted by fans.

Coco Crisp

David DeJesus

Catching free memorabilia thrown from the stage

World Series trophy

Playing Simon Says

John Buck

Pitching Speed test

Batting practice


For more pictures please see this Community Faces link.

Friday, January 16, 2009

Generous Living

Generous Living by Ron Blue


In Generous Living, Ron Blue gives great Biblically based fundamentals on managing your money and resources. The overarching theme is being generous with your resources, which includes more than just your material finances. This could also incorporate talents and abilities as well as time. By gaining the perspective that everything is God's and we are His stewards of our possessions we bring into better focus how we manage it and the importance of seeking His counsel when making decisions.

This also helps to change the "me/mine" mentality and loosen one’s grasp rather than holding on greedily to the assets under management. When we realize that God can easily give or take away and that we are simply His managers, we no longer worry about holding tightly to "our stuff." This perspective makes it much easier to lend someone your car or volunteer your time or even give your money. Since God is the ultimate CEO calling the shots, if He sees fit to use "our" money, time, or resources, we should give with a glad and willing heart.

In addition to providing insight into maintaining a generous mindset, Mr. Blue also provides excellent practical advice on topics such as defining financial and giving goals and working towards them, creating a budget, strategic giving (meaning research organizations and individuals you give to and expect accountability to their stated mission and how they use the resources rather than giving blindly), estate planning and how to transfer wealth, whether large or small, to heirs and charitable organizations.

While the book was written 11+ years ago and some of the commentary could benefit from updating based on world and market events that have occurred since that time, it contains timeless principles which will apply long into the future.

If you found this review helpful, please let Amazon know at this link.

Thursday, January 15, 2009

C-O-O-O-L-L-L-D-D-D-D

I've decided there are varying types of cold in Kansas City. Cool, Chilly, Cold, Frosty Cold, Snowy Cold, Icey Cold, Hurry-and-warm-up-car-it's-freezing-Cold, Bitterly Cold, and WOW-I've-got-icicles-in-my-beard-after-walking-42-seconds-to-the-car-Cold. There is something that seems very un-"cool" about this. And yes that is a - sign in front of the 4.

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Noise Canceling Headphones Rock! Quietly Of Course


For Christmas, I received Audio-Technica ATH-ANC7 QuietPoint Active Noise-Cancelling Headphones and have been pleased with them thus far. In the time that I've had them, I've tried them out at work, on a plane, as a passenger in the car, and at home. The noise canceling functionality works fairly well. By noise canceling, this does not imply that all outside noise will be blocked out but rather that ambient noise like a heating/cooling system, refrigerator, airplane engine, road noise, noisy neighbors, and co-workers background conversations will be substantially reduced. You can still hear if someone speaks to you but wouldn't really want to conduct a conversation with them on.



Turning on the noise canceling functionality makes a huge difference when listening to music. It gives you the feel that you're actually in the recording studio with the musicians. Be careful to turn the volume down on your computer/stereo/mp3 player prior to turning on the noise canceling capabilities. With my old headphones (non-noise canceling) I normally listened to music on my computer at a Windows volume setting around 18 to 20. With the noise canceling turned on, I set the volume to 3 to 5 with the same perceived volume.

The sound quality of the headphones is also quiet good and you feel as though you're hearing exactly what the sound engineer and music producer intended. I was surprised at how some songs came into better "focus" when using these headphones. With the noise canceling turned on, it helps the little things come through much more clearly and you'll hear things you didn't know were present before. Using these headphones is much like going to the optometrist for an adjustment to your glasses/contacts. Once you have the new prescription, things seem clearer, sharper, and in focus.

When using the headphones over a long period of time, I did notice that my ears got a bit warm but not to the point of being overly uncomfortable. Exercising with these probably will not occur based on not wanting to bathe them in sweat. I'm also not certain how well they would remain stationary when moving around during a workout.

If you're looking for a top quality set of headphones with noise canceling capabilities and are willing to pay a decent amount of money but not excessive, these headphones are a good option.

If this review was helpful, feel free to let Amazon know at this link.

Sunday, January 04, 2009

Don't Laugh It's Paid For


A few months ago, I saw a car in the parking lot with this very humorous bumper sticker. It's a great reminder that you're value as a person is not wrapped up in a car in addition to being just plain smart financially. It reminds me of the intro to Dave Ramsey's radio show. "...where debt is dumb, cash is king, and the paid off mortgage has taken the place of the BMW as the status symbol of choice."

Oh, That I Might Live

This post comes courtesy of my friend Ben McBee. It offers some great insight into the effects of sin.

Oh, That I Might Live

That deadening quality of sin gets you every time. Every time numbing the soul just a little further until you’re left with the gaping wound of stoicism. Only, you have no idea. People see the hole and warn, “You should do something about that!” To no avail, it seems as though vision has gone with feeling.

Til one day.

One brief moment…

You look onto your body in some flash of clarity and see that you’re hurt, badly. You don’t remember it being this bad. Just a paper cut of sorts… now what has it become? You wonder how you ever functioned with such a debilitating injury. Why have you not done something about it?

So. In this brief moment, this clarity, there is a choice to be made. As you look upon yourself you have to decide what you will do about this damaging problem. Before you snap back to the comatose state – what will you do? Address it or push it aside - one or the other must be done.

If addressed, if taken care of, a wound can heal. Yes, there will be scars. Yes, it will hurt. It can be a long process and you may even have to remove whole limbs. Is it worth it?

Maybe not?

Leave it alone. Avoid the pain, pretend it’s not really there. The wound remains infected. Infection spreads throughout the body, damaging everything in its path. A once small wound will now be the death of you.

And death, it would seem, can have some very lasting effects.

Thursday, January 01, 2009

Vision for 2009

I really like the chorus to the Hillsong United song "Came To My Rescue."

"In my life be lifted high
In our world be lifted high
In our love be lifted high"

During 2009 I want God to be lifted high in my life. In whatever I do, I want to lift Him higher and give Him more glory.

I also want to be intentional in the way I spend my time. Time can have a tendency to slip away and by being intentional in how I choose to spend it, I feel like I'll be more effective whether that be in work, play, faith, or other areas.
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